Inspiration for male dancers

Nartaka Dance Festival dedicated exclusively to presenting male dancers. In 2012, the festival expanded to include a Malaysian chapter. The Nartaka Dance Festival, Malaysia, conferred its first Malaysian Lifetime Achievement Award to dance icon, Dr Chandrabhanu, who has inspired many male dancers to pursue dance.

Joining Dr Chandrabhanu in Malaysia for the festival were the male members of the Jambudvipa ensemble: Sam Goraya, S Sujeevan and Wee Hong Chin. They presented Odissi dance items over several nights of the festival.

biography told of much suffering in the beginning to establish himself and to be recognized as a dancer. My admiration for him has to do with his perseverance, and that he created an identity and a career through his own ingenuity,” said Dr Chandrabhanu. Dr Chandrabhanu identified with Sir Ram Gopal also partly because of his Burmese antecedent, being part Burmese himself. Much later, after seeing Rudolf Nureyev and Nijinsky, he was determined to redefine the male dancer’s role in the artform.

invaluable experience in Western performing arts and theatre studies. He was fortunate that his main guru in Bharatnatyam, Adyar Lakshman; and his guru in Odissi, Bijoy Senapati; encouraged him. Yet, says Dr Chandrabhanu, “... there is still a terrible stigma attached to male dancers today. I believe that one’s persona is really made up of both the male and female psyche. One should have the freedom to explore both psyches.” dr Chandrabhanu recently received the Nartaka Award 2012 for lifetime achievement and contribution to Indian classical dance in Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia.

For the past six years the Natyanjali Trust (of Chennai), founded by the late Jayalakshmi Satagopan has been organising the

Dr Chandrabhanu reflected on his career in a conversation with Ramli Ibrahim the well-known Malaysian dancer, about male dancers and the award, and said he was greatly inspired by legendary dancer Sir Ram Gopal in his adolescence. “I never saw him dance live, but saw films and photos of his stage presentations. He must have inspired both male and female dancers all around the world. His

As a child Dr Chandrabhanu was fortunate to have the support and encouragement of his father in dance, the arts and theatre, because he himself had been involved in amateur theatre as a youth in Penang, and because his grandmother (the Burmese connection) who lived in Bengal was described as a dancer by profession, what today is known as a ‘nachwali’.

Spending a year in the USA as an exchange student in 1968-69 exposed Dr Chandrabhanu to

The biggest challenge he faced was creating a career here in Australia while maintaining contact with Malaysia and India. In Australia Dr Chandrabhanu strived to get non-western arts and dance accepted and treated seriously, and his background in social theory helped.

What does he instil in his dance students today? Dr Chandrabhanu stresses the importance of the principles of hard work and discipline, to treat dance as yoga and meditation.

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Indian scientists devise 16 disaster management drugs

Preparing to deal with any future chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents, Indian scientists have devised 16 drugs that can be used for disaster management. These include an anti-cyanide drug, an anti-nerve gas drug and an anti-toxic gas drug.

Several radioactive decorporation agents and drugs for anti-cyanide, anti-nerve gas and toxic gas injuries have been approved by the Drug Controller General of India as trial drugs.

Developed by scientists at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) here, the drugs have passed the efficacy test and will be cheaper than those currently available in the market.

“Sixteen new drugs have been approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) as trial drugs for disaster management. These include an anti-cyanide drug, an anti-nerve gas drug, an anti-toxic gas drug and several radioactive decorporation agents,” Aseem Bhatnagar, in charge of the project at INMAS, said in New Delhi recently.

These will be used as samples for the users, including the armed forces, the paramilitary, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Ministry of Health.

“Batch production of these drugs is being undertaken in collaboration with the pharmaceuticals industry through contract manufacturing. About 50,000-200,000 doses (licensed for human use) are expected to be manufactured by March 2013,” Bhatnagar said.

The DGCI approvals cover all-India use for 15 years for any number of victims.

Since there cannot be proper phase two trials of drugs useful in disasters, their use in any future incident has been approved as trial drugs due to a legality.

“These shall also be used for continuing clinical trials and for stockpiling. This is necessary to effectively plan stockpiling cost and perpetually (it is envisaged to provide the drug at cost price to the users). The average cost price is expected to be less than

15 percent of market price in all cases,” Bhatnagar said.

Several of these drugs have been patented by the defence ministry.

“The contract has been given to pharmaceutical companies to ensure that quality checks and pricing remains the prerogative of the defence ministry. Besides, adequate stocks can be retained in a costeffective way and companies can initiate mass production in case of a disaster without any time wastage,” Bhatnagar said.

INMAS previously made and supplied drugs against nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) incidents during the 2010 Commonwealth Games and to meet an emergency requirement of the Indian Navy.

“We also plan to keep some with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for usage during any disaster,” Bhatnagar said.

Scientists say that research and development and coordination will enhance the shelf life of NBC drugs by 60-100 percent and this project is planned in coordination with other government agencies.

“A mission mode project is planned to establish nuclear security in the national capital region by way of drugs, equipment and training to six echelons of medical services around Delhi under a project for seven years,” Bhatnagar added.

INMAS had developed a skin radioactivity decontamination kit (shudhika) that was given for production to a company in Pune.

“Its market cost is more than Rs.12,000 and we are developing it for just Rs. 1,000 (less than $2). Five hundred such kits will be made available to users, including the services, as samples by March,” Bhatnagar said.

India hopes to reduce trade deficit with China

The new year could see the balancing of trade between India and China a bit.

Three joint working groups on trade, services and investment will meet in February to discuss issues affecting bilateral trade and investment.

Among these, market access for Indian companies in China is a major concern for commerce ministry mandarins, who are otherwise confident of reaching the target of $100-billion bilateral trade by 2015.

“The problem for the sustainability of this trade is that India’s trade deficit with China jumped to nearly $40 billion in the last fiscal year,” Asit Tripathy, joint secretary in the commerce ministry, said in New Delhi on the sidelines of an event organised by the India China Economic and Cultural Council to promote the first China-South Asia Expo to be held in June in Kunming, capital of China’s Yunnan province.

In 2011-12, trade between the two countries stood at $75.45 billion. While India’s exports were at $17.90 billion, imports stood at $57.55 billion.

The deficit has widened over the last two fiscal years due to lower Chinese import of iron ore and copper that account for almost half of India’s exports to China.

As a corrective measure, India has offered a large range of products from drugs and medicines to diamonds, seafood, and agricultural produce like rice and beef, textiles and light engineering goods to China to balance massive imports of manufactured goods from that country.

Indian officials have presented to their Chinese counterparts a list of 916 items that could be sourced from India.

India wants greater access for its valueadded products and wants China to increase government procurement in sectors such as pharmaceuticals.

“Up to this point there has only been some response on the pharmaceutical sector and a few agricultural products,” said Tripathy on the status of the long list of goods for market access.

On most products and sectors there is however nothing forthcoming from the Chinese, he said.

He was hopeful that the first joint working group meetings would help begin progress on the market access for Indian goods.

“On the trade deficit with China one must consider that we are also importing products that are required here in India,” Tripathy, a negotiator with the Chinese, said, giving a rounded perspective on trade deficit.

Former cricketer Rusi Surti dead

Former India cricketer Rusi Surti died in Mumbai on January 12. He was 76.

Surti represented India in 26 Test matches between 1960 and 1969 scoring 1,263 runs with a highest score of 99. He was a brilliant all-rounder and claimed 42 wickets, with best bowling figures of 5/74.

He was known for his all-round ability and set new heights with his athletic fielding. He settled in Australia after faring well on India’s 1967-68 tour here.

Surti had been in critical condition for the last few days and was being treated at the Jaslok hospital in Mumbai.

The former Queensland-based all-rounder was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and put on a ventilator.

A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) revealed the former cricketer had suffered a massive stroke, which led the doctors to put him on ventilator and other life-support systems.

Niranjan Shah, vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), expressed his shock over the loss of life.

“A great loss to the cricketing world and his soul may rest in peace,” said Shah.

India’s forex reserves down by $1.5 bn

India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves decreased by $1.58 million to $294.99 billion for the week ended Jan 4, data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed recently in Mumbai.

The reserves had increased by $39.6 million to $296.57 billion for the week ended Dec 28, 2012.

The foreign currency assets (FCA) - the biggest component of the forex reserves - went down by $951.7 million at $261.06 billion, according to the weekly statistical supplement released by the RBI.

The FCA went up by $63.9 million at $262.01 billion in the previous week.

The central bank said FCA in US$ terms included the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies held in reserve, such as the pound sterling, euro and yen.

Gold reserves value dipped by $583.3 million and stood at $27.21 billion.

The special drawing rights (SDRs) decreased by $34.7 million to $4.40 billion during the week under review, while reserves with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) went down by $18.2 million to $2.30 billion.

The SDRs had decreased by $15.9 million to $4.43 billion during the previous week, while reserves with the IMF had went down by $8.4 million to $2.32 billion.

Technology will change the face of education: BITS vice chancellor

While faculty and infrastructure deficits are major hurdles in increasing the reach of education in India, Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) vice chancellor Bijendra Nath Jain says there is a need to take note of the changing pedagogy and using technology to fill the gaps in the system.

“People haven’t quite understood there is shortage of faculty, and technology can address it,” Jain said recently in Pilani, after the premier technology institute launched a service to connect all its campuses through video-conferencing.

The future of education depends on such initiatives, Jain noted.

“Indian students prefer to take a research or teaching job abroad but not in India. It is a problem for society, which does not value the worth of a teacher. Even the compensation is very low,” he said.

“We have not understood the pedagogy is changing,” the vice chancellor said.

“It used to be teacher going to a classroom, giving a lecture... But today, all the information is already on servers. Classroom contact is still required for clarifications of doubts, but most of us have not understood that growth of education will now depend on how we use these technologies,” Jain added.

BITS is one of the leading technical institutes in India and a deemed university. The new technology is launched along with the BITS Alumni Association (BITSAA), BITS campuses in Pilani, Hyderabad and Goa through an advanced wireless and internet-based technique.

Called BITS Connect 2.0, it uses immersive telepresence, high-definition video conferencing and live streaming technologies for interaction between the different campuses.

The technology is Web-based and uses a high internet bandwidth to ensure glitch-free transmission and high quality picture and sound which make it a good alternative to face-to-face appearance.

It has an edge over normal video conferencing through the internet or Skype as it assures high quality. It has been used to create a classroom and a conference room in each of the three campuses.

“The classrooms can seat 180-200 students and are equipped with a high definition screen. The rows for students are equipped with microphones and push buttons. Pressing the button automatically focusses a high definition camera on the student, making the interaction more personal,” the vice chancellor pointed out.

The conference room is also equipped with a semi-oval table, with another half oval being visible on the huge screens mounted on the wall.

“It gives a feeling of sitting face-toface in a conference - as if it is a large oval table,” explained Prem Jain, Chief Mentor, BITSConnect 2.0 and a member of the Alumni Advisory Council that has substantially assisted in developing and implementing the technique.

“In the classroom, students can even have eye-contact with a teacher who is in a different campus,” Prem Jain added.

Elaborating on the technology, the vice chancellor said: “It will hugely help in coping with the faculty shortage. It will also facilitate conferences and campus interviews as people won’t have to drive all the way down to Pilani.”

BITS Pilani also was one of the first Indian universities to set up IP Telephony, Gigabit Ethernet and Wireless accessibility on campus with BITSConnect 1.0 in 2003.

Commenting on the technique, noted industrialist and BITS Pilani Chancellor Kumar Mangalam Birla termed it a “significant step forward that extends the boundaries of technology-enabled learning”.

A similar network across major Indian universities has also been launched by the central government under the National Knowledge Network.

Faculty shortage is a major problem faced by India as it attempts to provide educational opportunities for its growing population.

According to a task force constituted by the human resource development ministry, there is a shortage of 300,000 faculty members at present.

Such is the extent of that shortage that the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology have proposed mentoring the top 15 percent undergraduate students from IITs, National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) and National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) through a teacher training programme.

Speaking about the role of private universities in the growing education market, the vice chancellor said the contribution being made by private institutes was still to be recognised.

“The role of private universities has to be understood, encouraged and recognised. Not all government universities are good and not all private universities are bad,” Jain added.

India sees 57 percent dip in new HIV cases in a decade

The number of new annual HIV/AIDS cases in India have dropped by 57 percent in the last decade as against 20 percent globally, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said recently.

“In the last decade, the global average declining rate for new HIV infections was 20 percent, in India it is 57 percent,” said Azad at the closing function of the third phase of the Red Ribbon Express in New Delhi.

A recent report by National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) said India has seen new HIV cases go down from 2.74 lakh in 2000 to 1.16 lakh in 2011 - an overall reduction of 57 percent.

Devoted to fighting HIV/AIDS, the third phase of the express train came to a final halt at the Safdarjung Railway Station in New Delhi after covering over 160 stations in 23 states.

It was flagged off Jan 12, 2012 on the national youth day.

In its journey of one year, 90,000 people availed the HIV/AIDS counselling in the train, on the platform and around the train halt-stations. Apart from spreading awareness on HIV/AIDS, the train also conducted general health check-ups.

The first edition of the express was launched in 2007 while the second phase was flagged off in 2009.

Vivekananda is more relevant today’

Swami Vivekananda and his beliefs have become more relevant for today’s society which is under turmoil and suffering from social evils, say his followers and eminent citizens.

“His teachings are very much relevant today. In fact, they are the need of the hour considering the turmoil our society has been going through currently,” Magsaysay Awardwinning author Mahasweta Devi said on the eve of Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary in Kolkata recently.

“There are so many social evils and the way to eliminate them is to head the path shown by Swamiji - the path of compassion, brotherhood, humanity and, of course, love for the country,” the author and social activist said.

The views of Mahasweta Devi resonated in those of another social activist Swami Agnivesh who called Vivekananda a “secular, spiritual leader”.

“He is relevant today as much he was during his lifetime. He was far ahead of his times in his beliefs and thoughts. In fact, in today’s world the right way ahead is to follow his footsteps,” Agnivesh said.

“It would be grossly unjust to brand him just a Hindu spiritual leader. He was as much a social and a political leader. His preaching are as much about patriotism, social and political equality as about spiritualism.

“He could instil inspiration in all, be it freedom fighters, religious and spiritual people or the ordinary man.

“It is great tragedy that there still persists casteism, gender discrimination and communalism in our country,” added Agnivesh.

Swami Smaranananda, vice president of Ramakrishna Mission - a philanthropic and spiritual organisation founded by Vivekananda, quoted a saying by the monk to show his relevancy in modern times.

“Swamiji used to say: ‘You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul’.

“If only people could follow this simple saying the world would be far better a place to live,” Smaranananda said.

Pakistan committed to giving MFN status to India

The Pakistan government recently said it was committed to implementing its decision to grant most favoured nation (MFN) status to India.

The assertion over the MFN status came from Pakistan’s foreign office in the evening as a clarification following Pakistan Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani’s reported comment that Islamabad had some reservations over granting India MFN status.

The commerce ministers of the two neighbours would hold talks on the reservations soon, Pakistani TV channels had quoted Jilani as saying.

Rubbishing all such reports, the foreign office in a statement clarified that the Pakistani government was committed to implementing its decision of granting most favoured nation (MFN) status to India.

Stating that the foreign secretary’s remarks had been reported out of context, the foreign office said: “The foreign secretary had actually said that certain stakeholders have some reservations on the MFN status.” Pakistan would continue its efforts to establish normal trade relations with India, the statement added.

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