पत्रकारिता में दायरों के निर्माण की ओर

१६-१७ फ़रवरी को फ्रांस स्थित यूनेस्को के मुख्यालय पर “विकिलीक्स के बाद मीडिया जगत और दुनिया का समाचार” नाम से एक सम्मलेन का आयोजन किया गया | चौंकाने वाली बात यह है कि, विकीलीक्स घटनाक्रम के सन्दर्भ में पत्रकारों के काम करने के बारे में बुनियादी सवाल उठाने वाले इस सम्मलेन में विकीलीक्स को ही आमंत्रित नहीं किया गया |

इस घटना ने जहाँ प्रेस की स्वतंत्रता को ले कर यूनेस्को की मंशा पर गहरा प्रश्नचिंह लगाया है वहीँ भेद-भाव, और चर्चा के गैर- लोकतान्त्रीकरण (de-democratization) का ओछा उदाहरण भी दिया है | विचार-विमर्श के मर्म यानि कि विभिन्न एवं परस्पर विरोधी विचारों का एक मंच पर मंथन, को बड़ी ही सहजता से दर किनार करते हुए यह सम्मलेन संपन्न भी हो गया | सबसे अधिक आश्चर्य यह कि, सम्मलेन का उद्देश्य अग्रणी मीडिया प्रतिनिधियों, पेशेवर और “नागरिक” पत्रकारों और मीडिया कानून विशेषज्ञों, के मध्य विचारों का आदान-प्रदान और डिजिटल युग में पारंपरिक पेशेवर पत्रकारिता और नागरिक पत्रकारिता में अच्छे व्यवहार पर चर्चा करना था |

इसमें कोई दोराय नही कि इन्टरनेट के इस युग में विकीलीक्स जैसी पत्रकारिता सरकारों और नेताओं को नाकों चने चबवा दिए हैं, और एक खतरे कि तरह बना हुआ है | विकीलीक्स अपनी वेबसाइट पर सनसनीखेज खबरें जारी करने के लिए जाना जाता है | जैसे कि- गुआनटानामो बे शिविर में कैदियों से संबंधित 779 गुप्त फ़ाइलें, अफगानिस्तान युद्ध में उपकरण के व्यय का लेखा-जोखा, केन्या में भ्रष्टाचार, बगदाद हवाई हमले की फुटेज अपाचे हेलीकाप्टर द्वारा मारे गए लोगों के बीच इराकी पत्रकार भी थे, और भी अनेकों ऐसे ख़ुफ़िया दस्तावेज | आश्चर्य की बात नहीं कि अमेरिका, चीन, युनाइटेड अरब एमिरात्स, थाईलैंड, भारत समेत कई देशों में विकीलीक्स को ब्लाक किया गया है |

ऐसा लगता है कि पत्रकारिता के नए दायरों का निर्माण शुरू हो रहा है | विकीलीक्स इंटरनेट के जरिये व्यक्ति के जानकारी को बाँट सकने की क्षमता का एक उदहारण मात्र है | और इन्टरनेट के इस युग में पत्रकारिता के दायरों का निर्माण किस कदर सफल हो पायेगा यह कह पाना मुश्किल है |

मुझे युनेस्को द्वारा आयोजित सम्मलेन पर विकीलीक्स द्वारा जारी किये गए प्रेस विज्ञप्ति को पढना था | अतः मैंने विकीलीक्स की वेबसाइट खोजने का प्रयास किया | जवाब मिला “सर्वर नॉट फाउन्ड” | कुछ देर बाद मैंने जब प्रेस विज्ञप्ति को खोजने का प्रयास किया तब मुझे इसके ५-६ से अधिक प्रतियाँ मिलीं | ब्लॉग पोस्ट के रूप में कई लोगों द्वारा इस विज्ञप्ति को पोस्ट किया गया है |

यह कहा नहीं जा सकता कि विकीलीक्स को ब्लाक किया गया है या नहीं पर यह साफ़ है कि यही इन्टरनेट कि सच्चाई है | यदि कोई जानकारी किसी एक स्तर पर बंद कर दी जाये, विभिन्न लोगों द्वारा उपलब्ध कराइ गयी अनेकों नकलें उसकी आम व्यक्ति के लिए उपलब्ध है | यह अन्य बात है कि देश के बाहर के सर्वर का इस्तेमाल करते हुए भी यह जानकारी हासिल कि जा सकती है | इन्टरनेट की खूबसूरती यही है कि आम व्यक्ति जैसे कि वो ब्लोगर्स जिन्होंने यह विज्ञप्ति उपलब्ध कराइ, उन्हें जानकारी बना सकने, और बाँट सकने कि क्षमता प्रदान करता है | और इस वजह से जानकारी कहीं न कहीं पर किसी न किसी रूप में प्राप्त हो ही जाती है |

यूनेस्को संवेदीकरण और निगरानी संवेदीकरण और निगरानी के माध्यम से एक बुनियादी मानव अधिकार के रूप में अभिव्यक्ति की स्वतंत्रता और प्रेस की स्वतंत्रता को बढ़ावा देता है | यह मीडिया की स्वतंत्रता और बहुलवाद को लोकतंत्रीकरण की प्रमुख कारक के रूप में बढ़ावा देता है | इस सम्मलेन का इस प्रकार आयोजन पत्रकारिता के साथ साथ विचार-विमर्श की प्रक्रिया के गैर- लोकतान्त्रीकरण की ओर इशारा है |

on Draft NTP- 2011

हाल ही में पेश हुआ राष्ट्रीय टेलिकॉम पोलिसी २०११ का मसौदा सस्ते (यानी किफायती, सामर्थ्य के भीतर) ब्रॉडबैंड की बात करता है | परन्तु हालात कुछ अलग ही बात की और इशारा करते है |

दूरसंचार विभाग ने जनवरी की आखिर में राष्ट्रीय टेलिकॉम पोलिसी २०११ का मसौदा पेश किया है | यह पौलिसी अप्रैल इसी वर्ष से लागू होने कि आशा है | जहाँ एक तरफ यह पौलिसी बाजार में प्रचलित प्रक्रियाओं के माध्यम से स्पेक्ट्रम को उचित कीमत पर उपलब्ध कराये जाने की बात करती है, वहीँ दूसरी तरफ भारतवासियों के लिए उच्च गुणवत्ता, किफायती और सुरक्षित दूरसंचार सेवाओं प्रदान को प्रथम और सबसे महत्वपूर्ण उद्देश्य बतलाती है |

२ फरवरी को 2G स्पेकट्रम घोटाला मामले में आए अदालत के फैसले में अदालत का यह कथन “कीमती और दुर्लभ राष्ट्रीय संसाधन केवल नीलाम किया जाना चाहिए” गौर किया जाने लायक है | अदालत का मानना है कि “जब यह स्पेक्ट्रम की तरह दुर्लभ प्राकृतिक संसाधनों के आबंटन का मामला आता है राष्ट्र को व्यापक प्रचार कर नीलामी की विधि अख्तियार करनी चाहिए जिससे सभी उपयुक्त पात्र इस प्रक्रिया में भाग ले सकें |

अब इन दोनों खबरों को ज़रा जोड़ कर देखें | यह उम्मीद कि जा सकती है कि अदालत के निर्देश का अगली बार स्पेक्ट्रम आवंटन पर प्रभाव अवश्य ही पड़ेगा | 2G स्पेक्ट्रम आवंटन के लिए “पहले आओ पहले पाओ” की नीति अपनाई गयी, जो कि जॉन मैकमिलन के अनुसार आवंटन के चार तरीको में से एक है | यह तरीका यूरोपीय यूनियन के सदस्यों द्वारा अपनाया गया है | १९९० के दशक से नीलामी के तरीके को देशों ने अपनाया है और अधिकतर एशिआई देश अब यही तरीका अपना रहे है | ऐसे में प्रशासनिक प्रक्रिया (जिसे कि beauty कांटेस्ट भी कहा जाता है) या लाटरी के तरीके के अपनाये जाने कि आशा कम है | “पहले आओ पहले पाओ” की नीति का प्रश्न ही नहीं | ऐसे में सिर्फ दो तरीके बचते है – नीलामी, या मुफ्त | हालाँकि यह पौलिसी स्पेकट्रम शेयरिंग की बात करती है परन्तु फ्री या ओपन स्पेकट्रम की बात कहीं नहीं करती | अतः नीलामी के तरीके से इनकार करना संभव न होगा |

अब प्रश्न यह उठता है कि क्या नीलामी के बाद वस्तु किफायती या पहुँच के भीतर हो सकती है ? हम यह बिलकुल न भूलें कि यह पौलिसी पूरे देश में, यानी शहरों और गावों में लागू होगी | कंपनियां स्पेक्ट्रम के लिए बोली लगाएंगी और बेशक, बाजार में न पिछड़ जाने के डर से ऊँची बोली लगा कर स्पेक्ट्रम प्राप्त करना चाहेंगी | इसके बाद नई तकनीक के लिए बुनियादी सुविधाओं को पुख्ता करेंगी, यानी की और भी खर्चा करेंगी | इन सबके बाद, ऊँची बोली लगा कर प्राप्त किये गए स्पेक्ट्रम से कमाई करने के लिए सेवाएं सस्ती कर पाना कम्पनी के लिए संभव नहीं हो सकता |

ऊँचे दाम पर देश के हर इलाके में ब्रॉडबैंड का प्रवेश कितना हो पायेगा यह कहना मुश्किल होगा | परन्तु एक बात तो साफ़ है, उच्च गुणवत्ता और सुरक्षित दूरसंचार सेवाएँ प्रदान करने के बाद, ये सेवाएं कितनी किफायती हो पाएंगी यह तो समय ही बताएगा | अतः इस पौलिसी के प्रथम और सबसे महत्वपूर्ण उद्देश्य के पूरा हो पाने की उम्मीद कम ही नज़र आ रही है |

Is it possible to block internet content?

21 social networking sites including Google, facebook have been asked to block content. Recently the Bhanwri Devi case also raised the issue of media regulation. The media is under the scanner right now, with efforts to block
information. But, in this age of Internet is it possible to completely
block information from the media consumers, as internet changes the
way information is produced and it flows.

Information or content is a critical concept and relates sender &
receiver, message & medium, producer & consumer, relationship between
them, access & denial to access (including conditional denial to
access). In a democracy, information also relates powerful &
powerless, agency & citizen, sharing & controlling.

Internet is amalgamating all existing mass medium technologies onto a
single platform, of which it is the backbone. This virtual space is
growing continuously and is accommodating all other forms of media
content into it, for example text, images, sound and Audio Visual
content (radio, newspaper, TV, books, debate forum, face-to-face
discussions, and telephone). It is encouraging merger of different
kind of boundaries and is taking the shape of a global media for
information sharing.

The consumers of media, irrespective of their age, gender,
geographical location, today produce and share all kind of information
or media content. (For example a video or a blog entry on apples is
produced by fifty individuals in fifty countries spread across all
continents at the same time to be posted and shared on one medium that
is Internet.) Also it is structured in a way that “it interprets
censorship as damage and routes around it” [1], thus making it
difficult to completely deny access to information available on
Internet. Because of Internet, information today is available and
shared to an extent almost unimaginable even 10 years ago. It also
promotes unusual groupings of citizen organizing and using it in
pursuit of various activities, for instance achieving political
objectives, raising public causes, debates, lobbying and advocacy,
resource centres and many.

Internet was introduced in India in 1995.[2] Since then India has
registered rapid increase in Internet usage. Last year there were 81
million users which have been estimated to increase to 237 million by
2015.[3]  With more and more people hooking to Internet, producing,
sharing and consuming content, the earlier relationship of
“information producer -> information consumer” stands challenged with
a new emerging relation of “information producer <=> information
consumer”. In addition to this, as this definition of producer and
consumer merges, possibilities of free speech (crossing the censor on
free speech, identity swapping being one of the benefits of the
medium) over this new medium also increases. “Technology does more
than just allow us to do things, it determines that we will ……
because we can.”[4]

The agencies till recently were largely the producers of
information[5], and thus in terms of relations of power vis-à-vis
information, had control over information production and
dissemination. The citizen was the receiver/consumer of information,
had little choice and little control over production and access to
information. With changing relations agencies are facing changes in
their consumers, who now, not only have access to huge information,
but also, have turned producers, impact dissemination and express
their own personal opinions.

With the consumer of information turning more information hungry and
also becoming a producer of information, with an opportunity to
publish information on a media, it is not possible to censor
information completely. Internet is paving way for a whole new
communications paradigm, which would say- “The Gutenberg era is over
and so is the centralized[6] production of content and unidirectional
bombardment of content[7]“, raising questions on information
production and control.

[1]  John Gilmore as quoted in TIME magazine (6 December 1993),

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Gilmore

[2]  Peter Wolcott, Is the Elephant Learning to Dance- The Diffusion
of Internet in The Republic of India, 2002, p.18 (Launched on 14
August 1995 in India)
[3]  237 mn Internet users in India by 2010: Report, Economic Times, 2
September 2010,

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-09-02/news/27624281_1_internet-users-brici-digital-consumers-brici-countries

[4]  Bramham Daphne, The medium is the message in today’s connected
world, The Vancouver Sun, 21-07-2011,

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/medium+message+today+connected+

world/5136218/story.html#ixzz1T2xYOv6K
[5]  “Direct government intervention and privatization have long been
the dominant institutional approaches to implementing information
policy. Policies pursued using these approaches have tended to result
in a centralized information production and exchange system.”, Yochai
Benkler, THE COMMONS AS A NEGLECTED FACTOR OF INFORMATION POLICY,
www.benkler.org/commons.pdf
[6]  By centralized I refer to control, with inputs in form of
feedback from the consumer, which also is controlled because feedback
is asked only when the Producer wishes.
[7]  Means production of content and its delivery which is more or
less is in one-direction.

Letters float and merge: Time to leave school?

http://www.myeducationtimes.com/educationTimes/CMSD/Special-Education/77/2011111620111116161858579a5bf232a/Letters-float-and-merge-Time-to-leave-school.html

17-year old Urmila old left studies after class V in her school village in Sitapur District, Uttar Pradesh. Her problem was that she did not know what was written, because everything written in the book would float on the book surface and merge into each other. She has dyslexia.

The story sounds like the story of “Ishaan” in Taare Zameen Par. It is true that many children fail to keep pace with studies and gradually drop out of schools as their problems could not be identified. The All India Sample Survey to estimate the number of school drop-outs in the age group 6-13 years was conducted by the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) in July-October 2005, with a sample of 5001 rural villages and urban blocks. The survey (Report 2) reveals that 60.58% of children with multiple disabilities, 47.02% of children with mental disabilities, followed by 41.57% children with speech disabilities are out of schools. Because there is no assessment of figures related to dyslexia in India, it is possible that children who are suffering from dyslexia constitute a good part of these figures.

The Census of India does not count children with dyslexia. However, the prevalence of dyslexia is estimated to vary between 3-10%. Some other estimates say it may affect as much as 10% of all children. Dyslexia is a specific disability in learning to read and spell adequately despite normal intelligence, adequate instruction and socio-cultural opportunities and the absence of sensory defects in vision and hearing.

In dyslexia, the eyes take the correct input, but the points in brain for making sense out of this input are affected. This results in the child not recognising or confusing with the alphabets and words. The child could read a word on one page but would not recognise the same in the next page. They misread by inserting or leaving out letters, for example read-red. They know phonics, but could not sound an unknown word. The reading is slow and laboured and get tired after reading for a short time. They have to put more energy in trying to figure out the words. They often read single words in isolation. Directionality confusion shows up in reading and writing, for example, b-d confusion is a classic warning sign, where one points to the left, the other points to the right, and they are left-right confused. There may be b-p, n-u, or m-w confusion, one points up, the other points down.

The pressure of not keeping pace with studies and fear of scolding from teacher and parents mounts on them. In villages like that of Urmila, where these children have the option to leave studies, they readily opt for this. This is the path Urmila also opted for, though she wants to study more and pass class X.

Recent research suggests that for dyslexic readers, the left brain areas associated with phonetic decoding are ineffective. While a non-dyslexic reader finds such pathways an efficient route to reading, the dyslexic reader essentially becomes entangled in a neural traffic jam. In contrast, dyslexics who bypass these mental pathways, relying more on areas of the brain involved in non-verbal and analytic thought, are able to become capable readers.

Bringing the dyslexics into education and helping them successfully complete education is not difficult, though it requires lot of patience and also experimentation. One-to-one interaction and use alternate strategies of learning could help them. To begin with, a large font in the colour of their choice works well with them. Books with large prints and graphic illustrations also help them. Use of computers is also seen as a proven way to help them in studies. Children could be taught using audio books and videos with or without sounds.

There are many ways in which children with dyslexia could be helped in reading and writing, thereby helping to retain children like Urmila in schools before they get fed-up with studies and opt out of education.

Draft Citizens Right to Grievance Redress Bill 2011 – suggestions invited

Draft Citizens Right to Grievance Redress Bill 2011 has been prepared and put up in the public domain for suggestions/inputs from the stakeholders. The Draft aims at creating institutionalize mechanism to ensure delivery of public services in a time bound manner and redressal of public grievances.

Key recommendations in the Draft Bill are:

1. There will be a Citizens Charter, and a protocol will be put in place.

2. Bill can be enacted as a central legislation under the concurrent list Item 8 (actionable wrongs) and can cover:

1. Central Schemes and Central Government Departments

2. Provide a Platform to States to make this a Grievance Redressal Mechanism for State Schemes and Departments

3. Bill will incorporate the institution of Information and Facilitation Centre in all public authorities to ensure that Citizens can be facilitated and grievances are systematically recorded and tracked using telephone, sms, web etc.

4. First level Redress should be within concerned department as proposed. This should be done through a Grievance Redress Officer in each department

5. The second level redress/ appeal will be at the level of Head of the Department of the public authority.

6. State Grievance Commissions should be set up as second level appellate authorities.

The Draft Bill can be accessed at the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances  website www.darpg.gov.in. All those interested can send their suggestions/comments/inputs within 21 days.

English Classics online

For those who don’t mind reading English classics online, here is a website that offers free reading.

http://www.classicreader.com/

Two beautiful videos by Akira Kurosawa

Must watch

 

Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams – Van Gogh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c52lnUjb-Ss&feature=related

Peach Orchard Song, from Kurosawa’s Dreams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y6yyHGw404&feature=related

 

IT Amendment Act

The New IT Amendment Act passed in the Parliament last December in a hurry carries a new Clause “84 A- The Central Government may for secure use of the electronic medium and for promotion of e-governance and e-commerce, prescribe the modes or methods for encryption.”

The controversy involving Blackberry’s encryption has silenced for now. However, a new encryption policy may be proposed anytime.

IT Amendment Bill, 2008-changes made

The current IT Amendment Bill, 2008, which was passed by the Parliament last December 2008 in a hurry has the following additions to the existing IT Act 2000:-

1. Definition of “Communication Device” is introduced as means cell phones, personal digital assistance or combination of both or any other device used to communicate, send or transmit any text, video, audio or image.

2. Chapter XI on OFFENCES has been greatly modified. Punishment for computer related offences (under sec.43) has been introduced with imprisonment extendable up to 3 years or find extendable upto 5 lakhs.

Sec. 66 (A) punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service,

Sec. 66 (B) punishment for dishonestly receiving stolen computer resource or communication device,

Sec. 66 (C) punishment for identity theft,

Sec. 66 (D) punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource,

Sec. 66 (E) punishment for violating privacy,

Sec. 66 (F) punishment for cyber terrorism has been introduced. Punishment for publishing and transmitting obscene material in electronic form has been changed from upto 5 years imprisonment and upto 1 lakh fine to upto 3 years imprisonment and upto 5 lakh rupees fine for the first conviction, and from upto 10 years imprisonment and upto 5 lakh rupees fine to upto 5 years imprisonment and upto 10 lakh rupees fine for the second or subsequent conviction.

(Sec. 67) Sec. 67 (A) has been added to the Act as saying “whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the electronic form any material which contains sexually explicit act or conduct shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 5 years and with fine which may extend to 10 lakh rupees and in the event of second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 7 years and also with fine which may extend to 10 lakh rupees.”

Sec. 67 (B) on punishment for publishing or transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit act, facilitating child abuse online in electronic form has been introduced in the Bill. The punishment is upto 5 years imprisonment and upto 10 lakh rupees fine for the first conviction and upto 7 years imprisonment and upto 10 lakh rupees as fine for a subsequent conviction.

Sec. 69 has been substituted with a new section which lays the power to issue directions for interception or monitoring or decrypting or cause to be intercepted or monitored or decrypted any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource. This was earlier limited to inerception of any information transmitted through any computer resource. anyone failing to assist shall be punished with upto 7 years imprisonment and fine which is not defined. A separate section about blocking of content has been introduced. This section is

Sec. 69 (A).1. Where the Central Government or any of its Officer specially authorized by it in this behalf is satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so to do in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above,…. for reasons to be recorded in writing, by order, direct any agency of the Government or intermediary to block for access by the public or cause to be blocked for access by the public any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource.

69 (A).2. further says that “the procedure and safeguards subject to which such blocking for access by the public may be carried out, shall be such as maybe prescribed.”

69 (A).3. adds failing to comply with the direction issued would invite imprisonment upto 7 years and also fine.

Sec. 69 (B) says “The Central Government may authorize any agency of the Government o monitor and collect traffic data or information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource”.

3. CERT-In has been made the National Agency for performing functions in the area of cyber security and is made more powerful. In the Amended Bill functions of CERT-In are clearly defined. “emergency measures for handling cyber security incident” has also been assigned. For carrying out functions assigned to it, the agency may call for information and give directions to the service providers, intermediaries, data centers, body corporate and any other person. Any service providers, intermediaries, data centers, body corporate or person who fails to provide the information called for or comply with the direction, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 1 year or with fine which may extend to 1 lakh rupees or with both.

(Addition under Section 70 as 70.A. 6 and 7)- The ISP/person/corporate body receiving orders from the CERT-In would have to comply with that, or face punishment. 4.

Section 77. on Penalties or confiscation not to interfere with other punishments, “No penalty imposed or confiscation made under this Act shall prevent the imposition of any other punishment to which the person affected thereby is liable under any other law for the time being in force” is now substituted with “No compensation awarded, penalty imposed or confiscation made under this Act shall prevent the award f compensation or imposition of any other penalty or punishment under any other law for the time being in force”- Compensation penalties or confiscation are not to interfere with other punishment.

IT Amendment Bill 2008…extended

The Bill stretches its fora including general and larger issues of vulgar SMSes, security of personal information which is available with the corporates, privacy and child porn, cyber terrorism, Internet traffic monitoring and suggests punishment for non compliance thereby.

The extends definition of communicating by means of devices in accordance to the present time. It introduces “communication devices” into the purview of the Act, which includes mobile phones, personal digital assistance which now a days is largely in use to send and transmit text, images, audio or videos.

It validates contract formation, communication of proposals, its acceptance, revocation in e-form. Denying an email communication would not be possible now. It also keeps the option of admission of evidence in electronic form before the court open. It says that the Central Government will notify by means of Official Gazette Notification, an Examiner of Electronic Evidence for providing opinion on electronic evidence, which will be admissible as evidence.

The Bill addresses another matter of concern by making it mandatory for the corporate bodies possessing, dealing with or handling sensitive personal information to implement security practices and procedures. Security procedures for preventing unauthorized access, use, modification, causing damage, and disclosure shall be implemented by the Corporates. Negligence in implementing and maintaining security procedures, thereby causing wrongful loss or gain to any person, by the corporate may invite compensation to the affected person.

Sending offensive SMSes, emails, images, audio or video have been made punishable. Sending false information for causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult,injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill will is now an offense. Deceiving, misleading the recipient about the origin of such a message also is offense, for which the punishment could be imprisonment for upto 3 years and fine.

Persons with interest in putting and sharing porn content over Internet have been taken in the loop. Violation of privacy by capturing, publishing or transmitting images of private area of somebody without consent shall now be punishable. It also addresses child porn on the Internet, which was not a part of the IT Act 2000, says browsing, downloading, advertising, facilitating child abuse on line also, may invite punishment up to 5 years with fine up to ten lakh. The punishment for publication and transmission of lascivious material over the Internet which was imprisonment up to 5 years with fine which may extent to rupees 1 lakh, has been modified as imprisonment up to 3 years and fine up to rupees 5 lakh.

The most important feature of this Bill is that it defines cyber terrorism in details and proposes punishment for it. Denying or causing the denial of computer to any authorized person, attempting to access or access any computer with intention of threatening unity, integrity, security and sovereignty of the India or strike terror in people or a section of people is cyber terrorism. Causing death or injuries or persons with the intention, destructing property, disrupting supplies and essential services to life, adversely affecting the information infrastructure with such intention as described above are now part of cyber terrorism. Accessing any information, or data which has been restricted with reasons for security of the Country, foreign relations is included under the term. Information which can cause injury to interests of sovereignty, integrity security and foreign relations of the Country, to the public order, decency or morality have been included cyber terrorism. The punishment for cyber terrorism as proposed is a jail term which may extend to life imprisonment.

The Bill introduces the concept of monitoring Internet traffic and blocking content on the Internet. It says that the Government by way of notification will create an authority to monitor and collect data related to Internet traffic. Anybody (in charge of the computer) called upon by this authority will have to comply and extend assistance, failing which the person may invite punishment up to 3 years and fine. However, the safeguards and practices for monitoring and collecting traffic data is yet to be proposed. It says if necessary in light of security, sovereignty, integrity, defence and foreign relations with other Nations, public access to any information over the Internet may be blocked. Though procedures and safeguards subjected to this blocking is still to be prescribed, it says intermediaries (service providers) not complying such orders may invite punishment for a jail term up to 7 years and fine.

HC aligns its RTI rules with CIC guidelines

Article in Times of India 6 March 2009

After drawing heavy criticism for framing RTI rules that went against the parent Act, the Delhi High Court, in a major climbdown, has amended some of the rules.
1- Done away with the requirement that RTI applicants show how they are an ‘‘affected party’’ while seeking information, a caveat forbidden by the Act. A notification to this effect has been issued and figures on HC’s website from Thursday.  HC has deleted Clause 4 (IV) of RTI rules that permitted it to allow access of information only to ‘‘affected persons’’ and deny to those who don’t explain their locus on why such an information is required.

2- HC has also tinkered with Section 5 (A) that exempted it from revealing any information which is ‘‘not already in the public domain’’. This meant HC could deny information to a seeker on the ground it was available elsewhere, a rule frowned upon by transparency advocates.

3- The third key allignment lies in Rule 4 (I) that till now gave the court’s public information officer a luxury of 15-20 days to respond to an RTI plea, which sought information beyond his jurisdiction. He has to now inform the applicant within five days and return the plea.

Persons with Autism have no hearing

The only case in India that was up in the the Delhi High Court regarding the rights of identification of persons with autism as them have been disposed off.
It comes as a shock as the case was at an important juncture of designing of a tool for testing ans certifying autism. This should have been followed with recognition of appropriate support tools for them. But, the matter went to the garbage bin.

ICT development Index-India’s position

India lags behind in ICT Index but moves forward in mobile usage. That is what the recently released ICT Development Index released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) reveals. The index is a comparative rating of 154 countries on a 11 indicator based scale over a 5-year period of 2002 to 2007. These 11 indicators are related to ICT access, use and skills, such as households with a computer, the number of Internet users and literacy levels.

The Report places India on a position of 118, with a mere 1 step improvement from 2002. On the ICT DI access indicator India is at 129.

What is interesting is that it shows an increase in mobile cellular penetration from 1% to 20% in past years. But increase in users of internet is still at a low

SRCC switches to laptops in class

13 May 2009, 0128 hrs IST

NEW DELHI: If you dream of studying at Delhi University’s Shri Ram College of Commerce, make sure you have a laptop ready. From the coming academic year, the college is putting an end to the pen-and-paper style of teaching and all students, freshers as well as others, will be required to carry laptops to the classroom.

SRCC will thus become the first college in Delhi University — and one of the first in the country — to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) with classroom teaching. College authorities believe the shift will help improve the volume of teaching and efficiency of students.

“Teachers will take classes using LCD screens

and all students will use laptops. The concept of teachers using their age-old notes for lectures and the students getting them photocopied is set to change. The freshers will be formally informed when they come for orientation on July 15,” said principal P C Jain.

Jain said the SRCC campus would also become wi-fi-enabled soon. “The faculty can access information from the internet in the classroom and share it with students at the click of a mouse. Teaching will become faster as the teachers will no longer be required to write on the blackboard.”

According to Jain, the college will rope in corporates to provide subsidy to students for acquiring laptops while the rest of the amount could be financed by banks. “A lot of our students already have laptops. Others can get laptops financed and pay it back with their first salary as their placement is assured after the final year,” Jain said. He added that there would be no increase in college fees for the purpose.

The college has already started workshops for its teachers to train them on how to hold classes using ICT.

Proposal to exempt file notings may leave RTI toothless

19 Jun 2009, 0422 hrs IST, Himanshi Dhawan & Akshaya Mukul, TNN

In a body blow to claims of transparency, the UPA government has proposed amendments to the RTI Act exempting all file notings except those dealing with social and development issues besides restricting access to pending policy decisions, cabinet documents and exam related documents.

The amendments also envisage increasing RTI fees substantially. The draft amendments — proposed by the DoPT — signal that the government is keen to bring in changes in the law that it had been forced to drop in 2006 under pressure from Left parties and RTI activists.

According to law ministry sources, the draft is at a preliminary stage. “The amendments will be taken up for consideration at the highest level. This is just an initial draft and there are likely to be many changes in it,” source said.

Despite the overwhelming opposition to amendments in the law last time, the government has revisited the clause of allowing file notings only of social and development related subjects. Under the existing draft all file notings that do not relate to social and development issues will be exempt from disclosure if this amendment is carried through.

Amongst the other amendments that are being considered include restrictions on access to cabinet documents, so that citizens can no longer access material and documents on which the union cabinet has taken a particular decision. Exam related information could also be blocked out.

In a move aimed at discouraging “chronic and motivated information seekers” the DoPT ministry has suggested that payment — at present Rs 10 — should be hiked. There is a view within the government that the citizens should be made to pay for the salary of the officers working on RTI besides the amount for photocopying or accessing the information sought.

Another amendment that is being considered is aimed at granting anonymity to officers in those cases where file notings can be accessed. Sources said that this would mean that citizens will no longer have the right to know the name and designation of the officials who gave their opinions or advise on any matter when it was pending before the government even after the decision has been taken while there is also a move to block out any information, legal advice, observation while a policy or executive decision is under consideration.

RTI activists say that these amendments will lay restrict transparency in the government’s decision making process. Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) representative Venkatesh Nayak said, “If any of these amendments are being considered, it would subvert the effort towards accountability and transparency.”

A Commonwealth shame?

Soutik Biswas writes in http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/soutikbiswas/2010/03/a_commonwealth_shame.html

I have just finished reading a 116-page report by a committee appointed by the Delhi high court on the “condition of workers” engaged in construction work on Commonwealth Games sites in the Indian capital. The October Games, on which the government is spending more than $2bn, is the biggest international sporting event India has ever hosted.

The report is shocking. It confirms Delhi’s worst kept secret – how the shiny new stadia and other infrastructure hide the exploitative and unsafe conditions that 150,000 workers have to work under. My colleagues who have ventured out to report the story have come back with tales of workers cowering in fear and refusing to talk, and contractors who hire them refusing to meet for interviews.

Link to Articles

Link to Articles

1. http://www.bapsi.org/bapsi-in-news/opportunity-for-india-in-mobile-telephony

2. http://www.bapsi.org/bapsi-in-news/tapping-technology

3. http://www.bapsi.org/bapsi-in-news/intriguing-silence-on-china-s-cyber-espionage

Almost 600 million Mobile Subscriptions in India

The number of mobile subscriptions on the planet has reached a staggering 5 billion! That’s right folks. There are 5 billion mobile phone subscribers on the planet right now.

According to data released by Ericsson, just a decade ago, the number of mobile phone users was a paltry 720 million. Today, China alone has over 720 million subscribers! The growth has been mostly seen in emerging economies like China and India which continue to add more subscribers at a staggering pace every month. Every day – at least 2 million new people get a mobile connection across the globe.

As mentioned earlier, the numbers coming in from India and China continue to be mind boggling. China for instance currently has over 720 million subscribers followed by India with almost 600 million. If this kind of growth continues almost every person living on the planet will be on the verge of getting a mobile phone in the next few years, After all, the earth “only” has 6.8 billion people!

For companies fearing saturation, the good news is that 3G coverage is still very low and most of the world is still hooked to 2.75G networks. The report states that only 500 million 3G connection exists as of now and that even by 2015 it will reach 3.5 billion users. Even the huge Indian market has just started 3G services with only a few people having 3G access.

Ericsson estimates that the number of connected devices will drive the growth in markets which have already reaches a saturation point. In fact, by the end of this decade, there will be staggering 50 billion mobile devices across the globe!

http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Five_Billion_Mobile_Phone_Subscriptions_Worldwide/551-112266-893.html

‘Facebook mishandles users’ private info’

A Canadian law firm has reportedly filed a class-action lawsuit against the social networking giant alleging that the company mishandled users’ private information and breached their privacy.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/social-media/Facebook-mishandles-users-private-info/articleshow/6146203.cms

SMS Service re-started in Leh

“The Jammu and Kashmir Government has re-started SMS services in
Leh, that had been banned in the state a few months due to security
reasons, to help in relief and rescue operations in the region
devastated by cloudburst and flash floods that have left 145 people
dead…”

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/87080/sms-service-re-started-leh.html
8 August 2010 (PTI)

Solid Research Finds Evidence of Sensory Dysfunction in Autism

Friday August 20, 2010

http://autism.about.com/b/2010/08/20/solid-research-on-sensory-dysfunction-in-autism.htm

//

For years, parents and teachers have arranged environments to help children with autism manage obvious over or under-reactions to sensory inputs.  Too much or too little light, noise, smell, taste or physical sensation, we know, can make it impossible for many people with autism to function well.

Adults on the autism spectrum have the same issues.  As a result, many folks on the spectrum choose living situations and/or careers to accommodate sensory issues.

A whole therapeutic industry has arisen around the idea that some people have “sensory dysfunction,” and that it’s possible to help those people manage their sensitivities.  Sensory integration therapy has, for a long time, been a well-known but marginalized area of practice.

Movie houses (AMC and Regal, for example) are now offering autism-friendly movies that carefully manage the level of sound and light in the theater.

Toy companies and clothing manufacturers produce or market products that cater to the sensory needs of people with autism.  Chewy or “sensory” toys, soft and tag-free clothing, weighted vests and other sensory-friendly products are easy to find with a click of the mouse.

Are all these therapies and products based on misinformation about sensory integration in people with autism?

The answer, thank goodness, is a resounding “no!”  While a new study from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine is not the first to look at sensory integration and find that it is a legitimate issue, it is the first to actually show the differences in sensory integration in the brain.  According to Medical News:

The finding — based on recordings of electrical activity in the brain — is concrete evidence that children with autism spectrum disorders process information differently than typical children, according to Sophie Molholm, PhD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues.

As well as occurring later, so-called “multi-sensory integration” was also less extensive than in typical children, Molholm and colleagues reported online in Autism Research.

[Note: The name of this study is Natalie Russo et al. Multisensory processing in children with autism: high-density electrical mapping of auditory-somatosensory integration. Autism Research, August 17, 2010.  I've been unable to find a link; if you have it, please add it to the comments!]

It’s important to note that while this study does, indeed, point to empirical evidence of sensory processing differences in people with autism, it says nothing about what impacts that difference may have on behavior or cognition.  It also says nothing about how helpful sensory integration therapy or related therapies may be in helping to alleviate sensory dysfunction

Autistic Children Slower to Integrate Multiple Stimuli

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/Autism/21789

Children with autism spectrum disorders are slower at integrating various types of sensory information than those with a more typical development, researchers reported. The finding — based on recordings of electrical activity in the brain — is concrete evidence that children with autism spectrum disorders process information differently than typical children, according to Sophie Molholm, PhD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues. As well as occurring later, so-called “multi-sensory integration” was also less extensive than in typical children, Molholm and colleagues reported online in Autism Research. Action Points  <!— –> Explain to interested parents that children with autism spectrum disorders are slower and less effective at integrating various types of sensory information (“multi-sensory integration”) than those with a more typical development. Explain further that it is unclear how such changes in multi-sensory integration affect specific types of behaviors found in children with autism spectrum disorders. The notion that difficulties with multi-sensory integration lie at the root of autism spectrum disorders has been popular for some time. “It’s a new catch-all term,” Molholm told MedPage Today.But there has been little verification of the idea and what research has been done has had equivocal results, she said. “There is basically absolutely no empirical data to support the idea or to guide how you would deal with it if it were a problem,” Molholm said. Despite that, there is a cottage industry on the Internet that offers to treat deficits in multi-sensory integration in children with autism spectrum disorders. To help fill the information gap, she and colleagues measured electrical activity in the brains of 17 children ages six to 16 with autism spectrum disorders while they watched a silent movie and were given unrelated auditory and tactile sensations. Seventeen typically developing children — matched for age and intelligence quotient — underwent the same testing, in which the auditory and tactile sensations were given separately and then together. The researchers summed the responses to the single sensations, as measured by high-density electrophysiology, and compared them with responses to the combined stimuli. The combined responses of all the children exceeded the sum of the single responses — an indication of multi-sensory integration. But the autistic children had less pronounced differences, the researchers said, suggesting their integration was less effective. As well, the multi-sensory integration took place within about 100 to 200 milliseconds of the stimuli in the typical children, the researchers found, but only occurred after about 300 milliseconds in the autistic children. The finding doesn’t mean the autistic children can’t integrate different types of stimuli, but it does show that they do it differently, Molholm said. The research also says nothing about how such differences affect behavior. “That’s the ultimate quest, but we aren’t there yet,” she told MedPage Today. “This is straight brain measurement, which we don’t yet correlate with behavior.” It’s also a highly artificial experiment, she said, and she and colleagues are now trying to see what happens in more real-life situations. For instance, it’s known that typically, people hear speech better if they can see the lips of the person speaking. What’s not known is if people with autism spectrum disorder get the “same boost in perception” from the multiple sensory inputs, she said. The study had support from the National Institutes of Health, the Wallace Research Foundation, Cure Autism Now, the Fondation du Québec de Recherche sur la Société et la Culture, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. No other disclosure information was given.

History of EVMs in other countries

United States (data from www.electionfraud2004.org and others as indicated):

• In April 2004, California banned 14,000 EVMs because the manufacturer (Diebold Election Systems) had installed uncertified software that had never been tested, and then lied to state officials about the machines. The machines were decertified and criminal prosecution initiated against the manufacturer.

• In the 2004 presidential elections, in Gahanna, Ohio, where only 638 votes were cast, George Bush [ Images ] received 4,258 votes to John Kerry’s 260

• A study by UC Berkeley’s Quantitative Methods Research Team reported that irregularities associated with EVMs may have awarded 130,000-260,000 votes to Bush in Florida [ Images ] in 2004

• There have been at least the following bills in the US legislature, all of which were the result of perceived problems with EVMs. (It is not known if any of them has passed; HR = House of Representatives, the lower house, and S = Senate, the upper house):

• HR 550: Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2005
• HR 774 and S 330: Voting Integrity and Verification Act of 2005
• HR 939 and S 450: Count Every Vote Act of 2005
• HR 533 and S 17: Voting Opportunity and Technology Enhancement Rights Act of 2005
• HR 278: Know your Vote Counts Act of 2005
• HR 5036: Emergency Assistance for Secure Elections Act of 2008

• In 2006, a team of Princeton University computer scientists studied Diebold Election Systems EVMs, and concluded that it was insecure and could be “installed with vote-stealing software in under a minute”, and that the machines could transmit viruses from one to another during normal pre- and post-election activity. Diebold, now Premier Election Systems, is the largest US manufacturer of EVMs

• In 2006, computer scientists from Stanford University, the University of Iowa and IBM suggested that Diebold had “included a ‘back door’ in its software, allowing anyone to change or modify the software… A malicious individual with access to the voting machine could rig the software without being detected”.

Germany (2009)

• The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany declared EVMs unconstitutional.

The Netherlands (2006)

• The ministry of the interior withdrew the licenses of 1187 voting machines because it was proven that one could eavesdrop on voting from up to 40 metres away. The suit was brought by a Dutch citizen’s group named ‘We Do Not Trust Voting Machines’. This group demonstrated that in five minutes they could hack into the machines with neither voters nor election officials being aware of it.

Finland (2009)

• The Supreme Court declared invalid the results of a pilot electronic vote in three municipalities.

United Kingdom (2007)

• The Open Rights Group declared it could not express confidence in the results for the areas that it observed. Their report cites “problems with the procurement, planning, management and implementation of the systems concerned.”

Ireland (2006)

• Ireland embarked on an ambitious e-voting scheme, but abandoned it due to public pressure

Brazil (2006)

• There were serious discrepancies in the Diebold systems predominantly used in Brazil’s 2006 elections.

Another blocking of Internet content

Some lewd remarks made against Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil
published on a website has led to blocking of hundreds of websites in
India since August 9 2010.

This happened apparently due to wrong interpretation of a Mumbai court
for blocking the offending website http://donotdial100.webs.com by the DIT.

Instead of blocking particular website, the DIT blocked the IP address
:- 216.52.115.50 that hosted the offending website, resulting into
blocking of hundreds of other websites hosted by webs.com as well.

Cyber Police Station of the Mumbai Police had registered a case
against an unknown person, who allegedly published some “derogatory
and lewd” contents on the erring site against Patil.

At the request of the Mumbai Police, V V Bambarde, Additional Chief
Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM), Esplande, Mumbai, on August 7 directed
the CERT to block the website.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/597396.aspx

Virtual space, spech and ….

Yes, it’s true that the Internet potentially offers significantly larger audiences to electronic pamphleteers than they’d ever find on any street corner, even in Times Square; and for better and worse, a few break through, thanks to their demagoguery or thoughtfulness, marketing acumen or luck. But the Internet is an ocean, and without a berth on a corporate or corporate sponsored ship, most people will quickly sink, or swim unnoticed. And, while the street is a public place in which the government’s powers of eviction are limited by First Amendment rights, the Internet has always been (pardon the metaphor shift) a gated community. If virtually anyone can enter, the right to remain and speak your mind is generally subject to corporate control, as the WikiLeaks fracas has shown.

This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/12/wikileaks-and-the-unfree-market/67979/

CAG cannot be the only basis for cancellation of spectrum: SC

The Supreme Court made it clear that the CAG Report cannot be the only basis for cancellation of licenses for the 2G spectrum and any decision taken by the government on the issue will be subject to the outcome of the petitions pending before it.

“Everything they (government) do after filing of the petition, is subject to the outcome of the petitions,” a bench comprising Justices G S Singhvi and A K Ganguly said. “We do not know what they are doing. But if they do, it is subject to the outcome of our order,” the bench said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/CAG-cannot-be-the-only-basis-for-cancellation-of-Spectrum-SC/articleshow/7402812.cms

Autism’s moral judgment gap explored

Imagine navigating a world of social situations in which you are a very poor judge of other people’s motivations and state of mind. It could seem like a very random world indeed.

That is the world as seen through the eyes of someone with profound autism.

Without the capacity to infer or deduce correctly what other people know, and why other people act as they do, one’s sense of cause and effect is severely impaired. When bad things happen, you can only assume it was the work of bad people acting badly. That a person could innocently do harm by acting on a mistaken belief would be difficult for you to understand.

Most humans develop this so-called theory of mind by the time they are 4 or 5 years old, and it helps shape our sense of moral judgment. While those with autism may develop such social-reasoning skills late, some never develop them at all. People with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder, such as Asperger’s syndrome, often manage to develop strategies that help them deduce other people’s states of mind and thus function in society. But a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that these people still have trouble using theory of mind to make complex moral judgments.

Researchers from the MIT recounted the following to 54 subjects (roughly half of them diagnosed with high-functioning autism) and asked them to rate the morality of the main actor:

A woman named Grace is touring a chemical plant with a friend and takes a break to get her friend and herself coffee from a machine. At her friend’s request, she adds white powder from a bowl labeled “sugar” to the friend’s coffee. The white powder is actually a deadly material left there by a scientist at the plant, and the friend dies after drinking it.

People without autism — at least those older than 5 — typically do not judge a person’s behavior immoral if the person has acted with good intentions but on the basis of bad information. But subjects with high-functioning autism were far more likely than their “neurotypical” peers to judge Grace harshly in this instance.

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-autism-judgment-20110131,0,5225784.story

Demand for a corruption free state, Join

Demand for a corruption free state, Join Anna Hazare: http://indiaagainstcorruption.org/

chinese website www.ibribery.com blocked

Chen’s website, www.ibribery.com, drew 200,000 unique visitors in two weeks. Its anonymous posts mentioned officials who demanded luxury cars and villas; police officers who needed inducements not to issue traffic tickets; and doctors receiving cash under the table to ensure safe surgical procedures.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/22/censors-shut-chinese-bribery-website

SMS app for deafblind

Anmol Anand, a Student and Arun Mehta, a Technologist have just written some free software that would allow a person both deaf and blind to receive and send text messages using an Android-based smart phone. Some information is at http://www.bapsi.org/Home/pocketsms-for-android and a video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jisK0N7JF4

Forward this information to those in the deafblind community who would benefit from the app.

Android Tablets Grab 20 Percent

Android Tablets Grab 20 Percent of Market Share
http://www.pcworld.com/article/238007/android_tablets_grab_20_percent_of_market_share.html

Dengue outbreak now in 16 of 30 dist.

Dengue outbreak now in 16 of 30 dist. in Orissa. From 124 sample tested in 3 govt. medical college hosp., 29 were +ve. http://ow.ly/62Ezp

Soon after Independence day

Today, the next day after the Independence days 16 August 2011, begin with censorship of individual rights of hundreds. People were arrested since last night at JP park. Dhara 144 lagoo. Today in morning Anna was arrested from his house, and denied the right to protest peacefully. With him thousands of people who wanted to come to support Anna were denied their right to a non-corrupted country.

The line of difference between democratic rights and dictatorship blurred today.

Salt, Suti to Corruption

India has come a long way indeed. Less than 24 hours after the Independence day celebrations (remember in the evening people fly kites as a symbol of freedom) one censorship was induced on individual’s right to protest. Mass arrests were done late night. Anna Hazare and thousands of supporters were arrested. What is significant is that we have grown from salt to corruption.

Roads are mostly filled with either Gandhi topi adorned people or police. Thousands and thousands are on road – young, old, women, from every nook and corner of the country. This gives us a very important signal. After Salt and Suti which pulled all Indians to the roads, bonded them together for the cause and encouraged them to stand for their rights and fight, it is probably corruption which today binds every Indian to come on road and shout slogans to fight for their rights. Yes, it is true, everybody is pissed off with corruption and the very term “corruption”.

History has been written today.

History has been written today. The chapter needs to be finalized yet. I am Happy could be a part of it. Our children would be happy when they would realize that their parents were not passive when history was being written, during the first people’s movement of Independent India (post-emergency).

Media, which is largely criticized for looking for food …….. hats off….. did play a very crucial role in its success by not letting Anna out of their cameras, and constantly feeding information to people by all means.

Another demand: August should be declared Independence Month, (Aug 15 & 27  today). And Jan Lokpal Bill should be enacted in January 2012, giving us two reasons to celebrate these two most important months of Independent India.

How to teach your child when you have little time

How to teach children specially when you are working, and have little time for your child. Here is what I do. I prepare (1) short videos using my webcam (2) record what child needs to learn in my voice on computer (3) make short animation videos in my voice from 30-40 still slides.
The resulting file I save as an avi or, wmv and associate it with my media player. The shortcut of the file I save at the desktop.
I have taught my child how to use computer, switching om, shout down, how to open files, enlarge  screen, using keyboard and mouse. He sits and opens his file which he understands by the beginning letter of the file name, which I always make in capital. He himself opens the file, and does his work.
His senses listening and seeing are totally involved in the activity, which he himself controls. The interface is computer which allows him to do replays as many times as he wants, without affecting the voice quality. It is like TV for him, so he saves time from TV for this. And he has total control over all this.
Try this method, this would surely work.

Holistic teaching for children

Recently Fancy dress competition was organized in Chicku’s school I took this as an opportunity to tell him about Gandhiji and Annaji. I told him stories of of Gandhiji, Ahimsa and freedom struggle at bedtime. Showed him pictures of Gandhiji. He also watched the film Gandhi with me.

After this I pulled pictures of Anna, from Internet and his speech from youtube. We decided that he portray Anna Hazare. I found a long speech of Anna, which I trimmed to fit in 2.21 minutes. The avi of this speech I placed centrally on my desktop.

Now was the time to understand things. So he understood why Anna Hazare fasted. How his mother uses RTI letter to get information. Who is Congress, What is the National Flag etc. He watched news of Anna. The slogans echoing in different corners of the colony and of the road made him know the whole thing. So he took very less time to understand what Anna wants to communicate.

NO POLITICS PLEASE IN GOVT SCHOOLS

It is shocking to note from today’s newspapers that the Delhi State Education officials have issued an order making it mandatory for administration of all its schools to invite the MLAs to its annual functions as a Guest or Chief Guest. Few years ago, when Social Jurist through Adv Ashok Agarwal lodged a complaint with NHRC raising issue of violation of child rights by Govt Schools bIt is shocking to note from today’s newspapers that the Delhi State Education officials have issued an order making it mandatory for administration of all its schools to invite the MLAs to its annual functions as a Guest or Chief Guest. Few years ago, when Social Jurist through Adv Ashok Agarwal lodged a complaint with NHRC raising issue of violation of child rights by Govt Schools by inviting politicians in public functions and getting school bags etc distributed to the students in full public view, the Delhi Govt had put a ban on the same.y inviting politicians in public functions and getting school bags etc distributed to the students in full public view, the Delhi Govt had put a ban on the same.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/167844673250090/

Irom Sharmila

Irom Sharmila, fasting for the last 11 years for the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), must “reach out to people across the country” like anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare to make her cause known, says former union home secretary GK Pillai.

AFSPA enables security forces to shoot at sight and arrest anybody without a warrant if an area is declared disturbed. Sharmila is currently in an isolated room of Manipur’s Jawarharlal Nehru Hospital.

http://www.newsbullet.in/india/34-more/16693-irom-sharmila-must-reach-out-to-people-pillai

What is civil society

In his “Prison Notebooks”, Antonio Gramsci discusses civil society, offering an interpretation which goes back from Marx to Hegel, who saw civil society in all sorts of social interactions, not just in economics. Gramsci went a step further, and divorced the notion of civil society from economic interactions. He said that civil society consists of cultural institutions, notably the church (growing up in Italy, the church rather obviously gets in the way of a purely economic, Marxist view of society), but also schools, associations, trade unions and other cultural institutions.
http://www.fathom.com/feature/122536/

Civil Society (in German bürgerliche Gesellschaft or bourgeois society) refers to the system of social relations based on the association of people independently of the State and the family which first emerged in Europe in the seventeenth century. Civil society is characterised by “free” labour and a commodity market, a system of law enforcement and voluntary association.
http://www.marxists.org/glossary/terms/c/i.htm

the part of society that consists of organizations and institutions that help and look after people, their health, and their rights. It does not include the government or the family. http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/civil-society

The World Bank has adopted a definition of civil society developed by a number of leading research centers: “the term civil society to refer to the wide array of non-governmental and not-for-profit organizations that have a presence in public life, expressing the interests and values of their members or others, based on ethical, cultural, political, scientific, religious or philanthropic considerations. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) therefore refer to a wide of array of organizations: community groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), labor unions, indigenous groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, and foundations”.
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/CSO/0,,contentMDK:20101499~menuPK:244752~pagePK:220503~piPK:220476~theSitePK:228717,00.html