NPSC day 2: Talks on conflict mgmt in cyberspace, schools
The National Progressive Schools' Conference (NPSC) entered the second day of its 52nd iteration, taking forward this year's message of 'conflict management and peace education in schools'.
The second day started with a light-hearted performance by ventriloquist, Santhosh — known for his work in the field of puppetry and story-telling — which was followed by an address by Sudhanshu Trivedi, member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha.
Trivedi said teachers are architects of the society's future. 'The pivotal people in this journey forward are school children, whose mindset and orientation are yet to be decided…Knowledge without proper direction can have disastrous results,' the MP said.
The next session was an expert dialogue on 'Conflict in the cyberspace: Exploring the inter section of technology and peace building'. From discussing the impact of technology in the wrong hands to introduction of certain courses in schools to navigate the technology-rich era, the discussion involved cyber law expert Pawan Duggal; Microsoft director Bhaskar Basu; and IPS-DCP IFSO, cyber crime Hemant Tiwari.
Emphasising on the importance of digital literacy and how enhanced knowledge can use technology as an enabler, Bhaskar said, 'A child's wellbeing is getting shaped by the digital world they are interacting with.'
The stage was then opened up to Ameeta Mulla Wattal, chairperson and executive director, education, of Innovations and Training DLF Schools and Scholarship. Wattal performed on the 'Voices from the Bard: Memory, Meaning and Metaphor', which focused on Shakespeare and his works.
The performance was followed by a student-teacher discussion on resolving classroom conflicts. Several principals and student ambassadors from various schools took part in the discussion, with students describing how growing up with social media has led to newer problems.
Throughout the discussion, several principals present at the conference pointed out that the only way out of 'these blurred boundaries' was to be open to conversions, highlighting the importance of empathy along the process.
Rahul Singh, chairman, CBSE and M J Akbar, author, journalist and ex-member of Parliament, also addressed the event.
'We have to address reality because peace cannot exist behind the mask of an alibi. The route to peace lies along the path to truth. Teachers and educators are the bridge we need. Only they can bring the truth to young children and build the peace we all need,' Akbar said.
The event ended with a cultural performance, focusing on unity and cooperation. The performance, 'Ekam Sat' (The truth is one) was presented by a group of dancers under Padma Shri awardee Prathibha Prahlad.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Print
2 hours ago
- The Print
Even America can't control Trump—Rathore retorts as he defends diplomatic response to US deportations
' Yeh jo antarrashtriya diplomacy hai, uske andar lagatar hamari Ministry of External Affairs doosre deshon ke saath baat karti hai (The Ministry of External Affairs is in constant touch with other countries when it comes to international diplomacy),' he said. ' Aur is case mein America ke saath baat kar rahi hai. Abhi hum jab baat kar rahe hain, usse kuch din pehle hi hamare External Affairs Minister America mein the. Nishchit roop se yeh saari baatein ho rahi hain (In America's case, our external affairs minister (S. Jaishankar) has just concluded a visit to the US, all these conversations are definitely taking place).' At a press conference on 11 years of the Modi government, in Bikaner Tuesday, Rathore fired a sharp retort when asked why New Delhi hadn't taken a more forceful stand against the treatment of Indians overseas. New Delhi: Days after a video surfaced of a young Indian man being pinned down and handcuffed at New York's Newark airport, Rajasthan cabinet minister and BJP MLA Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, while defending New Delhi's response to US deportations of Indian nationals, said even America cannot control its president Donald Trump. He went on to say: 'Jis Rashtrapati ki aap baat kar rahe hain, usko America hi nahi control kar paaya. Toh Bharat toh baatcheet kar hi raha hai (The President [Trump] you're referring to, even America couldn't control him. So of course, India is engaging in dialogue).' Without naming Trump, Rathore appeared to draw a contrast between India's steady diplomatic engagement and America's own internal challenges during the Trump presidency, which saw frequent and often sudden shifts in immigration policy. His remarks come amid outrage over the latest incident, which follows a spate of deportations of Indian nationals from the US. In February, there was an uproar over visuals of Indians being deported in handcuffs, with even their legs chained as they were being brought back in a US military aircraft. Jaishankar had at the time said that the use of restraints has been standard operating procedure by US authorities since 2012. Nearly 16,000 Indians have been deported from the US since 2009, for attempting to enter the North American country illegally, the external affairs minister had informed the Rajya Sabha then, adding that New Delhi is engaging with the US to ensure Indians deported are not 'mistreated' in any manner by American authorities. (Edited by Gitanjali Das) Also Read: There's an all-new N-word now. And India's soft power has become its hard liability
Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Manoranjan Kalia criticises Aam Aadmi Party for unfulfilled promises and appointment of outsiders.
Ludhiana: Senior leader Manoranjan Kalia on Wednesday launched a blistering attack on the (AAP), accusing it of betraying its 2022 poll promises and advancing the political ambitions of Delhi Chief Minister at Punjab's expense. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Speaking at a press conference, the former Punjab cabinet minister took aim at what he described as AAP's failure to deliver on its lofty revenue claims. "Kejriwal had promised ₹54,000 crore without burdening the public—₹20,000 crore from sand mining and ₹34,000 crore by eliminating corruption. None of that materialised," Kalia said. Kalia also questioned the motives behind AAP nominating sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sanjeev Arora as its candidate for the upcoming Ludhiana West bypoll, alleging a larger scheme to vacate a seat for Kejriwal himself. "The public must ask why a Rajya Sabha member is contesting an Assembly seat. Is it to make way for Kejriwal in the upper house?" he asked. Further sharpening his critique, Kalia accused the AAP government of sidelining local talent by appointing "outsiders" to key posts. He cited the appointments of Reena Gupta as chairperson of the Punjab Pollution Control Board, Deepak Chauhan to the Large Scale Industries Board, Prabhvir Brar to Punsup, and Shalin Mitra as OSD to the health minister. "This sends a dangerous message—that Punjabis are not capable of handling their own state's institutions," he said. In a direct attack on Arora, Kalia alleged that the AAP candidate's company misused 43 acres of land allocated at subsidised rates for industrial development by repurposing it for residential and commercial use. "Land acquired for one purpose cannot be diverted. This is a clear violation," he said. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now When asked whether the land-use changes took place during the previous Congress regime, Kalia maintained that the issue transcends party lines. "The AAP government was elected on an anti-corruption plank. If they were serious, they would have taken action. Instead, they rewarded Arora with a Rajya Sabha seat and now want him in the Cabinet." The remarks set the tone for an increasingly combative contest in Ludhiana West, as the BJP positions itself as a watchdog over AAP's governance record and alleged cronyism. MSID:: 121781217 413 |
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
3 hours ago
- Business Standard
Multi-partisanship for reforms can help India unlock stalled growth
Following the global multi-party outreach to articulate India's response to Pakistan's state-sponsored terrorism, the Prime Minister spoke of institutionalising the idea. The idea of multi-partisanship is undoubtedly inspired. It is a pity no one has thought of applying the concept in other critical areas of governance. For instance, a multi-party consensus on economic policy would be splendid, especially since much of stalled next-gen reform requires buy-in from state governments ruled by parties in opposition to the ruling coalition at the Centre. Right now, a majority in Parliament thanks to its allies means that the ruling dispensation does not need to take anyone in the Opposition on board to fulfil its political agenda. With Operation Sindoor, Narendra Modi was pushing at an open door when it came to multi-partisanship. Getting a consensus on economic reform is a different matter. It requires negotiating contradictory political calculations. It may not always work but the consequences of a lack of political consensus has proven a significant hurdle for private investment in the kind of job-creating greenfield manufacturing projects that India urgently seeks. Consider land acquisition. All private companies struggle to acquire land at scale because of the stiff stipulation in the Land Acquisition Act requiring 80 per cent prior consent from affected families (70 per cent in the case of private-public partnership projects) plus a social impact study. As a workaround, corporations employ land aggregators as intermediaries to pool in parcels of land, but the process is cumbersome, expensive, and ultimately self-defeating. Yet, difficulties in acquiring land have been a key reason India has struggled to make a success of its nearly two-decade-old Special Economic Zones policy, which was supposed to provide the rocket fuel for India's economic growth a la China. Instead, the government has successively scaled down rules governing minimum SEZ size, a change that has not made an appreciable difference to investor interest. When the Modi government first came to power, it briskly sought to underline its pro-business credentials by passing an ordinance easing the land acquisition pre-conditions in some cases and doing away with the social impact study. The amendments were passed in the Lok Sabha but stalled in the Rajya Sabha, where the ruling party did not have a majority. Though the ordinance was re-promulgated three times, it was allowed to lapse. The political furore that chipped away at the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'common man' positioning has not encouraged the party to reintroduce it in its second or third terms. Ructions over land acquisition for private investment burst into contemporary political consciousness in the 2000s in West Bengal and reflects how competing political interests can stall progress. An attempt at consensus between the belatedly reforming Left Front government in West Bengal and Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress over the Tata Nano plant in Singur would have been a sensible route. Had the plant come up, it would have been a game changer for a declining state. But Ms Banerjee's decision to co-opt a traditional Left Front bastion — peasants and cultivators, land losers in the Singur project — weakened the prospect of negotiating with a regime backing big business. The same impulse encouraged her to back land-losing protesters opposing a chemical hub proposed by the Left Front government in Nandigram and Nayachar. Land loser championship brought Ms Banerjee to power in the state but this recent history has not inspired business and industry. The thing is, this situation need not be zero-sum. Politicians have to legitimately consider the welfare of land losers in large projects even if the compensation is generous. What will they do with the money? Where will they go? At the same time, discouraging investment for lack of land is hardly helpful to a state where quality jobs are scarce. And yet we have the experience in China of balancing land-loser apprehensions with the famed Township and Village Enterprises that came up alongside mammoth factories. Instead of the confrontational approach of ordinances, a multi-party consensus exploring such a solution on a national scale could well have positioned India as the first choice for global investors' China Plus One strategies — ahead of Vietnam, Mexico or Indonesia. Labour reforms, another obstacle for large investors, has had a marginally better fate. In 2019-20, Parliament enacted four labour codes to streamline and consolidate labour laws to improve its 'ease of doing business' ranking. Though the World Bank discontinued the ranking in 2021, the government persisted with its efforts to persuade states to enact the laws. The fact that the BJP or its allies are in power in 21 of the country's states and Union Territories has played a role in expanding the adoption of these codes but the results are variable. For instance, according to research by Business Standard, 20 states/Union Territories have adopted the higher thresholds for hiring and firing and 25 have committed to fixed term employment and 31 will relax laws to permit women to work at night. So land and labour, the two key factors of production, remain sticking points in the reforms portfolio as do power pricing and the bewildering variety of local approvals that investors need before setting up a unit. Picking the brains of the best political leaders in the business across party lines in unravelling these Gordian knots in the ease of doing business would be better than packing them off on taxpayer-funded foreign trips where the outcomes are yet unclear.
