Vandana Shiva, the Dehra Dun girl, who started her campaign for environment protection and human rights with the Chipko Movement in her native Uttaranchal, has come a long way to be rightly selected for the prestigious Sydney Peace Prize. The announcement was made on Monday by the Sydney University.

The Indian Sub-continent Times grabbed the opportunity to be the first to interview Vandana Shiva in New Delhi over phone.

Here are the excerpts from the interview:

The IST: Namaskar Vandana Ji, and congratulations on being selected for the Sydney Peace Prize. How do you feel about it?

V.S. Thank you, I am humbled by the announcement and the award will certainly give a boost to my drive to work hard for the environment protection and work with more vigour.

The IST: How and where did you begin your campaign for environment protection?

V.S.  My father was a Forest Conservator in Dehra Dun. I participated in the Chipko Movement started by Mr. Sunderlal Bahuguna and Sarlaji in the 1970s against the felling of trees to set up stone quarries. I was just a volunteer and I was still a student doing PhD in Canada. I would come from Canada frequently to support the movement. Sunderlalji and Sarlaji were more like family members and very close to my parents.

The IST: What hurdles did you face and how did you overcome?

V.S. The Environment Ministry asked me to carry out a survey on the stone quarries in the Dehra Dun and I faced a strong opposition from the Quarry owners and people associated with it. They pressurised me against conducting the survey. The Quarry owners were exploiting labour. But I persisted with the survey and the Government ordered closure of the Quarries. Slowly, one after the other, all Quarries closed down.  

The IST: For a lay man’s understanding how you do connect Human Rights with Environment Protection?

V.S: Of course they are connected. The life is provided by the Earth and Article 21 of the Constitution provides Right to life. People are being displaced for mining or setting up big industries. They are losing their livelihood and forced into deprivation of food and other necessities. Like in Jharkhand, the tribals have been displaced for the Bauxite mining. The mining was going against the Article 21.

The IST: You have quoted Mahatma Gandhi in your book Earth Democracy: The Earth doesn’t belong to Man but Man belongs to the Earth. But there are boundaries ….How you plan to realise the dream of earth democracy?

V.S.  This is not a dream but a reality. We have to work for a cleaner environment while protecting the rights of human beings, looking after their needs.

 The IST: What’s your view on India’s stand on Copenhagen summit?

V.S: The Government of India was never clear then and even after the Copenhagen Accord as to what they should do about the reduction in emissions.

 The IST: How can the partnership of industrial development and environment protection work?

V.S: Of course, they can work together. The Industrial development should not be at the cost of the local people rather it should be for their benefit, without displacing them. It (the Government) should go by the wishes of the people. Before setting up an industry, the people of the area should be asked

The IST: You have been a crusader for the empowerment of women. What is your view about the 33 per cent reservation for women in parliament? Do you believe quantity can replace quality?

V.S: I am not into the party politics but it is no use having the numbers if there is no real empowerment of women as we fear the women coming to the parliament would be the daughters or the wives of wealthy business houses or dynastic political families. So, this would not be the real quality empowerment.  

The IST: Thank you Vandana Ji.

V.S: Thank you; see you in Sydney in November.

 Earlier,  A Sydney University media release said Dr. Vandana Shiva is  being feted for her “courageous leadership of movements for social justice – the empowerment of women in developing countries, advocacy of the human rights of small farming communities and for her scientific analysis of environmental sustainability.”

“Vandana Shiva’s work highlights the fundamental connection between human rights and the protection of the environment,” said Mary Kostakidis, Chair of the Sydney Peace Foundation.

“Governments worldwide seek her counsel on sustainable development. She offers solutions to some of the most critical problems posed by the effects of globalisation and climate change on the poorest and most populous nations. Her voice is an essential one as we consider pressing decisions facing the global community.”

Speaking from Delhi, Dr. Shiva said “I am honoured and humbled to be chosen to receive the Sydney Peace Prize. It will add new strength to my work in making peace with Mother Earth. The protection of biodiversity, support for women in agriculture and for all subsistence farmers are human rights issues which Iwill address in Sydney.”

Professor Stuart Rees, Director of the Sydney Peace Foundation, described Dr Shiva as an exciting choice for the award.

“Many communities are threatened by the consequences of global warming, yet in Australia the movement to address this issue has gone to sleep. Vandana’s presence in Sydney in November should wake them up,” said Professor Rees.

Praising Dr Shiva’s last book, Soil Not Oil, which identifies ecologically sound and socially just ways to protect the planet, Professor Rees remarked, “We should not need the pollution from a massive oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico to remind us of Vandana’s leadership and wisdom.”

Dr. Shiva will give the City of Sydney Peace Prize Lecture in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House on November 3rd. She will receive the 2010 Sydney Peace Prize on the evening of November 4th and will be the guest of 1,500 high school children in a traditional peace festival welcome held at Cabramatta High School on November 5th.

Born on November  5, 1952 in Dehradun to a father who was the conservator of forests and a farmer mother with a love for nature. She was educated at St Mary’s School in Nainital, and at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Dehradun. Shiva was trained as a gymnast and after receiving her B.Sc. in Physics, she pursued a M.A. in the Philosophy of Science at the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada). In 1979, she completed and received her Ph.D. at the University of Western Ontario. Her thesis was titled “Hidden Variables and Non-locality in Quantum Theory“. She later went on to interdisciplinary research in science, technology and environmental policy, at the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore.

Vandana Shiva has fought for changes in the practice and paradigms of agriculture and food. Intellectual property rights, biodiversity, biotechnology, bioethics, genetic engineering are among the fields where Shiva has contributed intellectually and through activist campaigns. She has assisted grassroots organizations of the Green movement in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Ireland, Switzerland and Austria with campaigns against genetic engineering. In 1982, she founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, which led to the creation of Navdanya. Her book, “Staying Alive” helped redefine perceptions of third world women. Shiva has also served as an adviser to governments in India and abroad as well as non governmental organisations, including the International Forum on Globalisation, the Women’s Environment & Development Organization and the Third World Network. Vandana Shiva participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project in 2007. She is a councillor of the World Future Council.

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The Indian Government has once again threatened of strong action that will affect one of the biggest revenue earning industries for the Australian Government — education. To begin with let’s presume the attacks are racially motivated, it is then up to the Australian government or the police to prove it otherwise.

According to a combined universities survey conducted recently, one in five Australians has been a victim of racist verbal abuse such as offensive slang names for different cultural groups, or swearing and offensive gestures, while 11 per cent feel they don’t belong or are inferior. An 85 per cent say racial prejudice exists in the nation. The study found that 6.5 per cent of the 16,000 Australians surveyed were against multiculturalism.

The controversial former Telstra chief Sol Trujillo who quit recently, described Australia, he called home for four years as racist, backward and like “stepping back in time”. He had told BBC in an interview: “I think it was evident in a lot of ways with me personally but more importantly with others.” … that [racism] does exist and it’s got to change because the world is full of a lot of people and most economies have to take advantage – including Australia – of a diverse set of people.

Nearly, four years ago, Harmohan Singh Walia, a Federal candidate for Labour party during the previous elections, was assaulted and his turban thrown on ground and was called Taliban by some teenagers at a railway station when he was returning from work. Quite recently, an employee of City Rail was meted out a similar treatment in a bus early morning in Seven Hills when he was going for work.

Recently, the Sydney film festival was held and there was no Indian film shown in the event when India is the largest producer of feature films. Similarly, India was not invited to the Sydney Writers’ Festival when this year’s Bookers’ Prize winner was an Indian.

A couple of years ago, the Howard Government started citizenship test ostensibly to make the immigrants integrate with Australian society. Everyone opposed the test terming that the integration is a two-way process and unless the white Australians do not understand other cultures, integration is not complete.

Australia is multi-cultural country and this has been emphasised by various political leaders at various functions and occasions. A beginning to this effect was made soon after the 9/11 incident, when a public reception was orgainsed by the New South Wales Government for the Imam of the New York mosque. This was done to show to world that Australia was multi-cultural. But the “public” reception held at the St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney was attended only by political leaders, including Premier Bob Carr, Police and Army top brass and other dignitaries.

There are Multicultural Affairs ministries and ministers with similar portfolios in each state and there is no Indian function which they would miss and where they are not in praise of India, its culture and people. The prominent among them being, Mr. Laurie Ferguson and Ms. Virginia Judge, who has spent her childhood in Jor Bagh area of New Delhi and quite often wears a sari and a bindi on her forehead. Both of them have a very good understanding of India and Indian culture.

The message of multi-culturalism, it seems, is confined only to the political level and does not percolate to the community or grass-root level as is evident from the above few mentioned incidents. In most cases of violence/attacks, it is the wayward teenagers who enjoy the legal ‘immunity’ and are not disciplined either by their schools (if they are attending at all) or their parents.

Legal Freedom: In law, the term minor (also infant or infancy) is used to refer to a person who is under the age in which one legally assumes adulthood and is legally granted rights afforded to adults in society. Depending on the jurisdiction and application, this age may vary, but is usually marked at either18, 20, or 21. Specifically, the status of minor is defined by the age of majority.^]

In countries like Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, a minor is a person under 20 years of age. In many countries, including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Brazil and Croatia, a minor is presently defined as a person under the age of 18. In the United States, where the age of majority is set by the individual states, minor usually refers to someone under the age of 18, but can be used in certain areas (such as gambling and the consuming of alcohol) to define someone under the age of 21.

In Australia, there are several gradations of responsibility before full legal adulthood. Those under age ten are free of all criminal responsibility under the doli incapax doctrine of UK legal tradition. Those under the age of fourteen are presumed incapable of responsibility, but this can be disputed in court. The age of full legal responsibility is 18 except Queensland where it is 17. The age of majority in all states and territories is 18.

Under the provisions of Australian laws, a minor can only be cautioned and no charges can be laid against him. The Police officer can only informally advise the offending minor or in some serious cases have meeting with the parents or carers. Hence, we see spurt in reported cases of racist or opportunistic attacks.

Indians take a lead: In order to inculcate an understanding of different cultures, the Indians have led the way. The Indians observed the martyrdom day of Guru Tegbahadur by distributing drinks at various locations in Sydney CBD (In India chabeels are set up to distribute sharbat). They also distributed reading materials among members of different communities so that these communities can have an understanding of the cultures of other communities living in Australia.

The Government should be thinking something on these lines while strengthening the criminal laws.

 The onus is on the Government who is seeking heavy fees from the international students and providing them no facility. The universities are enrolling these students but there is no provision of accommodation no travel concession unlike local students who are paying less than the half fees. It most cases, the number of students is greater than the hostel accommodation available. In fact, there should be a law that a university should not be allowed to enrol international students if they do not have enough hostel accommodation.

Last year, in the wake of the attacks on Indian students, a string of meetings, conferences had been organised and assurance of safety was given. Yet these assurances failed to get translated in to action.

The community can understand that one-to-one policing is not possible in any country; at least the government can formulate strict laws that could instill a fear in the minds of the perpetrators of crime.

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Who does not enjoy browsing in pre loved shops in search for a good bargain?

 Keep in mind that the 2^nd hand goods are carrying subtle energies, storing memories of their previous owners, their moods, their vibrations, their energies, their laughter, their joy too of course! Displaying pre-loved items in your home will have an impact on your life; so follow these suggestions to take essential precautions.

 Mirrors

To my understanding and my perception, and… having visited and consulted so many houses over the past 17 years, I can tell you that mirrors are real gateways to spirits. They also act like sponges and ‘keep in mind’ all what happened in their vicinity. This is one of the reasons why having mirrors in a bedroom (new or old mirrors) can be disturbing your sleep, having babies waking up at night crying for no obvious reason. Do you have a mirror reflecting your body when laying in bed? It is recommended to cover it during your rest.

 Mirror ‘As New’ -> Need to be perfectly flat and levelled – any distorted mirror will reflect a distorted view of your persona. Tiled mirrors can only ‘cut’ you into pieces and could have a subtle impact on the reason why you are loosing self-confidence.

 Mirror ‘Second Hand’ -> Has to be cleansed thoroughly to remove as much as possible from its past memories.

Two steps are essential:

Step 1 – Use cleaning product (e.g. Windex) OR a few drops of vinegar and salted water + paper towel to give a sparkle AND make sure that you add your intent of cleansing all memories from this newly bought item.

Step 2 – Put the mirror outside on your lawn facing up during the full moon to remove any old energy.

 Furniture

Inherited wooden furniture, vintage and antique items also have their own stories and past memories. Clean the wood with professional products adding your intent of clearing the vibes and energies of the previous owners. Whenever possible, put outside overnight in the full moon if too heavy to move out, repeat the first clearing suggestion  for  9 consecutive weeks (one day a week).

 Jewellery

A dear friend of mine offered me a gorgeous real pearl necklace over 100 years old that she had received herself from an old and dear friend. As soon as I put it around my neck to show her how good it looked on me, I felt strangled. To avoid hurting her feelings, I did not mention anything about this incident but simply asked what had happened to her friend. She was a sad lady who went though tough times in concentration camps during the 2^nd World War. Her life sadness was carried in the pearls. I decided to cleanse this necklace several times during the full moons with respect of who she was and what she had lived. Today I wear it proudly for special occasions without feeling any negative effects and feeling very special to have such a valuable item from someone who I now better understand, respect and honour.

 Clothes

To get rid of the energies stored in second hand clothes, simply wash them before wearing. Buying leather or suede clothes are more difficult to cleanse as perspiration together with memories cannot be washed out; put those items regularly in the full moon.

 Decorative items

Only display in your home items in perfect condition. Avoid buying craft goods without knowing “the mission” that the craftsman gave to them – by this I mean warrior masks, African amulets and assimilated.

 I recall a story of a lady whose boy friend avoided sleeping at her place. Checking her bedroom she had displayed on each side of the bed two large PNG warrior masks that were protecting her… they did their job! When she removed them, the boy friend decided to move in within that week.

Now, feel and have another look at the items displayed in your home; what do they remind you of? Do you feel happy with each of them or is t time to prepare a bag and drop some at the Charity shops. Enjoy your de-cluttering!

 — Roseline Deleu, International Feng Shui Master and Best Selling Author

Visit www.fengshuisteps.com for your free “Feng Shui Life Quiz”

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Team India after its series win over Sri Lanka in Mumbai

After over 77 tests and remaining minnows for several decades, India today became the number one team in Test rankings following it victory over  Sri Lanka by an innings and 24 runs in the third and final cricket Test to clinch the three-match series by a 2-0 margin. Needing just four wickets to record an emphatic victory, the hosts took just about 40 minutes to polish off the visiting team’s tail to record their second consecutive innings victory.

Resuming at 274 for six, the Sri Lankans lost their heroic captain Kumar Sangakkara (137) in the very first over and were bundled out for 309 with Zaheer Khan being the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 5/72. The Sunday crowd at the Brabourne Stadium, hosting a Test match after a gap of 36 years, witnessed a historic moment as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men crowned themselves the number one team.

The crowd erupted into a frenzy as Muttiah Muralitharan edged a flighted delivery from Harbhajan Singh to Dhoni to bring down the curtains on the Lankan innings.

The Indian players hugged each other and a beaming coach Gary Kirsten greeted them as they returned to the pavillion.

The victory has given India three points in the ICC rankings, taking their overall tally to 122 and leaving them ahead of South Africa and Sri Lanka in the ICC table.

The teams will now gear up for two Twenty20 matches in Nagpur and Mohali followed by a five-match one-day series which begins at Rajkot from December 15.

The match would be best remembered for the blazing 293-run knock that Indian opener Virender Sehwag played. The right-hander, however, missed out on becoming the first batsman in the game’s history to score three triple tons.

Such was India’s dominance that Dhoni’s men completed the comprehensive victory in just 7.4 overs this morning.

Zaheer hastened Lanka to their doom by claiming three of the last four wickets to finish with his eighth five-wicket innings haul.

The 31-year-old pacer’s figures in the morning sessions read an astonishing 4-1-21-3. Sri Lanka needed 59 more runs to make India bat again but with just four wickets in hand to start the day, only a miracle could have saved the match for them.

After having brought down the visitors to their knees last evening, India dismissed Sangakkara off the third ball to start their victory march.

Zaheer swung the ball a bit away and Sangakkara, who struck his 20th four off his previous ball, was drawn to it like a magnet but only managed to edge it to counterpart Dhoni.

He could add only four runs to his overnight score and fell for 137 in 349 minutes after having prevented the hosts from sweeping to victory last evening.

Zaheer then dismissed Rangana Herath in his third over, caught by a diving Pragyan Ojha at short mid-wicket.

Muthiah Muralitharan then used the long handle against Zaheer by carting the bowler for three fours in one over before the left-arm pacer sent back overnight unbeaten batsman Nuwan Kulasekara.

Kulasekara, resuming at 9, could not negotiate a rising ball from Zaheer and edged it to second slip fielder VVS Laxman. He added 10 more runs including two boundary hits to his individual score.

Harbhajan then brought down curtains on the match by having Muralitharan caught behind as he tried an almighty heave to give Dhoni his sixth catch in the match.

Spinners Harbhajan, who looked unimpressive for the major part, and Pragyan Ojha finished with two wickets apiece for 80 and 84 runs respectively while S Sreesanth bagged 1 for 36.

It was the second successive innings victory for India following their resounding win by an innings and 144 runs in the second Test at Kanpur. The first Test at Ahmedabad was drawn.

It was also India’s 101st Test win and their fifth at this venue in 18 matches.

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The latest inflation figure in the country has slipped down the 12 per cent mark which, if nothing else, should at least give a psychological relief to the people; the same way as a mere marginal increase in the inflation rate would ring the alarm bells in the media leading people to be overduely concerned about the issue. But a marginal fall in the inflation rate is not something one can be satisfied with. What, however, is a matter of satisfaction is that the phase of constant rise in inflation seems to be over.

During his recent trip to the United States with the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters that inflation rate will return to single digit by the end of current fiscal. Some even believe that a single digit figure will be achieved by the end of December and by March the position would be still better.

The Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Shri Pronab Sen is of the view that inflation will remain in double digit until January, due to the base effect and higher prices of manufactured products.

Dr. Ahluwalia however indicated that the government is not in favour of taking excessive harsh measures to check inflation because that will impact the growth of the economy.

The government has already taken a number of measures to increase the domestic supply of goods and services in the country. For this purpose while the import of goods has been liberalised, restrictions have been placed on the exports of certain commodities. For instance, in the case of pulses, customs duty on imports has been reduced to zero, until March 2009. Simultaneously a ban has been imposed on its export up to March end. Custom duty on semi-milled or wholly-milled rice too has been completely done away with, till March 2009. Export of non basmati rice was banned and the minimum export price of basmati rice was raised to $1200 per tonne . In the case of wheat there will be no import duty till December this year. In order to pave the way for increased supply of edible oils, a commonly used medium of cooking in India, a number of steps have been taken. Customs duties on crude and refined edible oil have been reduced by about 50 percent and now range from 20 to 27.5 percent. Simultaneously, the import of crude edible oil at zero duty and refined oil at 7.5 percent has been allowed. Customs duty on palm oils too was reduced by 10 percentage points. The 4 percent additional countervailing duty on all edible oils was also withdrawn. Export of all edible oils has already been prohibited.

Customs duty on maize imported under Tariff Rate Quota of five lakh metric tonnes was also done away with. Import of Portland cement, other than white cement, was exempted from countervailing duty. At the same time, export of cement was banned. Basic customs duty on various kinds of steel too was either reduced or done away with. On cotton imports the 10 percent customs duty along with 4 percent special additional duty was abolished. Crude oil and petroleum products also received a favourable consideration. In the case of crude oil customs duty was done away with. On petrol and diesel it was reduced from 7.5 to 2.5 percent. On other petroleum products it was halved to just 5 percent. Excise duty on petrol and diesel too was reduced by Rs. 1 per litre. What is a matter of some consolation is that the international price of crude oil is coming down and has already reached $ 94 a barrel. If the trend continues it will bring down the inflation level in the days ahead.

A series of monetary measures too have been taken to deal with the situation. These include repeated increases in the cash reserve ratio of banks and the Repo, as well as reverse Repo rates. The purpose is to check the flow of liquidity into the open market and thereby reduce the price level.

The problem is that just like any health care medicine, the economic measures mentioned above have a negative aspect too. They can impact the growth rate also if adopted without proper monitoring.

The real treatment of the problem is to increase the supply position. This is bound to happen as soon as fresh crops come to the market. In the long run, the government needs to draw a strategy to ensure that agriculture produce in the country, which continues to be our mainstay, increases. Since food represents more than half of the expenditure of a vast majority of our poor population, adequate attention needs to be given to this aspect.

The question now is how far is the meltdown in the US financial market going to affect the Indian economy. Dr. Ahluwalia maintains that its’ direct impact on India has been negligible. There is also a silver lining. The country has ample stock of foreign exchange reserves. So we should be able to deal with the situation that may arise temporarily in the financial markets. But the US financial turmoil is not likely to end anytime soon. Economists believe that this may happen only by the end of the next year. As such India cannot be completely insulated against the economic uncertainties in future. Even the US government believes that the massive bail- out package of $ 700 billion that it has approved may not be enough to stave a financial turmoil in the US. The sub- prime crisis in the United States is a matter of concern since it is exerting pressure on the financial systems and growth implications around the world.

Ultimately it boils down to somehow increasing the supply of goods and services in the market by increasing the imports and reducing or stopping altogether the exports of certain key commodities, reducing money supply in the short run and ensuring proper distribution of whatever stocks are available. That is precisely what the government is doing right now. How soon it can overpower the monster of inflation can be anybody’s guess. All that we can say right now is that we seem to have crossed the inflation hump. — PIB

*Freelance Journalist

Disclaimer :  The views expressed by the author in this feature are entirely his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of PIB

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By R.C. Rajamani

The world has changed drastically and dramatically since the passing away of the “Father of the Nation” sixty years ago. Political and social tensions have increased. Of course, war and violence were not unfamiliar to the world during Gandhi’s lifetime. But the menace of terror is a phenomenon that came much later. Acts of violence during his time were not targeted at innocent people and soft targets. Even those acts he did not approve of as he preached non-violence. Today, acts of terror are being committed and brazenly justified as means to political, social and economic ends. Worse, they are sometimes being given a religious dimension.

As Arun Gandhi,a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and the founder of the MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, New York, argues, “Violent and aggressive civilisations have thrived momentarily but in the end they have all met a very violent end, it is the comparatively more humane and non-violent societies that have been blessed with longevity”. As he points out, the power of non-violence has been best proved in the liberation of South Africa and the fight for civil rights in USA.

Nelson Mandela originally believed in a violent freedom movement against the pernicious apartheid regime but after he studied Gandhi during his long imprisonment, he altered his approach and brought a welcome change in his country without further bloodshed.

In the United States Dr. Martin Luther King fought against race and colour prejudice and got dignity and equality for his people by resorting not to bombs and bullets, but to non-violent methods of mass civil disobedience and passive resistance. It is well known that the Leader drew inspiration from Gandhi.

Gandhi never wavered in his unshakable belief in non-violent protest and religious tolerance. When Muslim and Hindu compatriots committed acts of violence, whether against the British who ruled India, or against each other, he fasted until the fighting ceased. Independence, when it came in 1947, was not a military victory, but a triumph of human will. To Gandhi’s despair, however, the country was partitioned into Hindu, India and Muslim, Pakistan. The last two months of his life were spent trying to end the appalling violence in the name of religion.

For Gandhi Ahimsa was a Dharma. It never bothered him if it was a plant of slow growth. Satyagraha, the pursuit of Truth, fully imbibed with Ahimsa, was the only weapon he used to fight his political battles with the British. Though he faced many trials and tribulations all along, he finally won freedom for India. It was possible because he was steadfast in his beliefs, political philosophy. It was possible also because he was brave and humble at the same time. Above all, the Mahatma was free from hatred. Herein lies the solution to the world’s many conflicts today. If people are free from hatred, they can find answers to any question, political, economic and social.

Needless to stress that such an approach would demand both-courage and freedom from ill-will among nations. Gandhi was always ready to negotiate and discuss. In the late 1920s he opposed the exploitation of the textile workers of Ahmedabad by the mill-owners. But he did not seek a strike to end it. He favoured discussion, dialogues, conciliation, arbitration and adjudication as the last resort.

Gandhi lived an austere life, practiced strict vegetarianism and abstained from alcoholic drinks, tobacco and even the milder stimulants like coffee and tea. His attachment to simple natural remedies against illness and disease and his radical ideas on education find expression in the system of governance. Village economy and village self-rule are being followed in the running of the Panchayati Raj system. His stress on basic education finds expression in the universalisation of elementary education. His fight for women’s rights and emancipation also find expression in the current efforts to give them a place of importance in political decision-making.

Gandhi’s relevance today was acknowledged globally when the UN General Assembly observed, for the first time, the Mahatma’s birth anniversary as the International Day of Non-Violence on October 2 last year. The day now forms a significant occasion in the calendar of the world body. — PIB

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