CSR not mandatory for Public Sector companies says Veerappan Moily

CSR not mandatory for private sector companies: Moily Posted by: "Sheetal - Karmayog" info@karmayog.org Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:24 am (PST) CSR not mandatory for private sector companies: Moily The government on Wednesday clarified that the new Companies Bill is not going to make spending on CSR activities mandatory for companies. "There is some misconception among the public that CSR will be mandatory...I would like to make it clear that it is not at all correct," Corporate Affairs Minister Veerappa Moily told reporters at the National CSR Conclave here. According to Clause 135 of the Companies Bill, 2011, every company with a net worth of Rs 500 crore or more, or turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or more, or a net profit of Rs 5 crore or more in a financial year, will have to form a CSR committee consisting of three or more directors, of which at least one director should be an independent director. Moily further said the government's initiatives on CSR are strong enough and this is the first time in the world that companies have been mandated to constitute a board for formulating CSR policies. "So this should show that we are serious enough. If for some reason the company fails to do so, the board will prepare a report explaining the reasons for doing so and give it to the shareholders," he said. In addition, he said the government is continuously updating the CSR guidelines for companies across all sectors. "We are trying to build up a CSR culture in the country like in the West and all companies are on board with us on this issue," Moily said. On being asked why there is no provision for penalising companies that do not comply with the CSR provisions, he said, "The CSR is a rule of law and not a rule by law. So we are confident that the companies will come up with new avenues to execute CSR... so there is no question of penalising them." Unlike the provisions stipulated for private companies in the new corporate law, spending on CSR activities is mandatory for PSUs and non-adherence to the guidelines attracts penal action. Under the CSR provisions for PSUs, a company with a net profit of less than 100 crore will have to spend 3-5 per cent of it on the CSR. Those PSUs with a net profit of Rs 100-500 crore a year will have to earmark 2-3 per cent of it for CSR. A company with a bottomline of Rs 500 crore and above will have to set aside 0.5-2 per cent for CSR activities, which should preferably be related to its business as a natural corollary. According to the norms, investment in CSR should be project-based and mere donations to philanthropic/charity bodies would not be treated as this activity. Furthermore, expenditure related to staff benefits will not be counted as CSR. URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/csr-not-mandatory-for-private-sector-companies-moily/articleshow/11541015.cms

The crisis in the Indian Education sytem

The crisis in learning: why increased spending is not improving outc Posted by: "Sheetal - Karmayog" info@karmayog.org Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:22 am (PST) The crisis in learning.....Rukmini Banerji Why isn't increased spending on education translating into better outcomes for children? The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2011 was released on January 16. Data collected from 558 rural districts, over 16,000 villages, 3.3 lakh households and 6.3 lakh children point to two clear national trends. Both of these need to be better understood, as they have important implications for growth and equity in India. First, nearly 50 per cent of rural children (age 6-14) pay for their education either in a private school or to a private tutor and benefit from this personal investment. As far are private inputs into elementary education are concerned, Indian states and regions can be neatly categorised into slabs. On the one hand, states in the northern belt - Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh - have private enrollment levels that are above 30 per cent, and rising. In the Northeast, more than 40 per cent of all rural children in Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya are enrolled in private schools. South of the Vindhyas, between 30 to 40 per cent of rural children in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh go to private schools. And then there is Kerala, where children attending government schools are now in a minority (at 40 per cent). On the other hand, there are states like Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal, where private school provision is low and most children attend government schools. Here the additional supplement for learning comes in the form of "tuition" classes . On average, across Std 1-5 close to 50 per cent of all children take paid classes outside of school. Adding together the proportion of children who go to tuition classes along with those who go to private schools we find that half of all children access some form of private education services. The HRD ministry's calculations for 2008-10 suggest that the current average per child expenditure by government is close to Rs 6,314 per year. The budget for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Government of India's flagship scheme for elementary education, has gone from Rs 7166 crore in 2005-2006 to about Rs 21,000 crore last year. Despite the rising expenditures on elementary education, parents seem to be increasingly "voting with their feet" and choosing private options. In the last five years since ASER started its annual measurement, private school enrollment across rural India has gone from 18.7 per cent to 25.6 per cent and some states getting close to the 50-50 mark. If this trend continues, then it is not impossible that in five years, children going to government schools will become a minority in India. The second headline from ASER 2011 has to do with the low level of basic learning outcomes of children, especially in reading and arithmetic. This estimate is half of all children in Std 5 cannot read Std 2-level text. Forty per cent of Std 5 students cannot correctly solve a 2-digit subtraction problem with borrowing. But this is not news anymore. For the last six years, ASER has been reporting similar findings. What is new is the hint that the already low levels may be witnessing a further decline. This year's ASER findings indicate that learning levels are lower as compared to last year, especially in government schools in the Hindi-speaking states. Domestic efforts at measurement of learning outcomes such as the annual ASER surveys, periodic studies by Educational Initiatives and NCERT are increasing. There is also an accumulating body of research by internationally known academics such as Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, Karthik Muralidharan and Lant Pritchett. Taken together, these point to a serious and deep crisis in learning in primary schools. The recent, much publicised PISA 2009+ result is the latest addition to the list. Many of these studies go beyond pointing to the problem, they also outline what "works". The growing body of empirical evidence shows that the increased expenditures in education are not translating into better outcomes. Yet, the Central government remains steadfastly focused on inputs and outputs and does not seem able or willing to bring issues of children's learning to the centre of the stage either in policy or in practice. There is no shift towards tackling the problem of low learning in a direct manner. Nor is there any effort to understand how expenditures can be made more effective in terms of learning outcomes. In a way, the provisions and norms of the RTE are used to justify the continued thrust on inputs. Much of the substance of the results framework of the annual planning documents in elementary education continue to be concerned with infrastructure, teacher recruitment and training. There is only a fleeting mention of reporting of learning outcomes towards the fag end of the list. In the SSA planning documents, there are only two line items where states and districts can directly plan and implement learning improvement programmes if they should wish to do so. These are (a) the innovation grant of Rs 1 crore per district, and (b) the learning enhancement programme. Together these account for less than 1 per cent of the total education budget (and 3 per cent of SSA budget in 2010-11). Expenditure tracking efforts by Accountability Initiative indicate that these expenditures are slow and tend to happen towards the end of the financial year (which is also the end of the school year). Expenditure on teacher training is about 2 per cent of the total SSA budget in 2010-11. Given the current guidelines by Government of India, it is not clear how a massive push for improvement of learning outcomes will be fuelled, if at all the government at any level should want to do so. The writing on the wall is clear and it is getting bigger and bolder each year. Ordinary people are able to read it. People are voting with their feet and trying to effectively use the resources they have to get the "best" education their money can buy. But policy makers and planners and those who control the expenditure of public funds on education are either unable or unwilling to read this writing on the wall. Without basic education, the future of children is grim. If 100 million children today do not get even the basic skills of reading and arithmetic, it is unlikely that India will grow into a mature economy or a mature democracy. The right to education promises many things. In addition to teachers in every class, drinking water, boundary walls and so on, it speaks of quality education at the appropriate age-grade for all children. By just providing inputs we are not bringing in equity. Unless the entire expenditure and the effort behind the provision of schooling is translated effectively into learning outcomes, the real battle for equal opportunity will be lost and our large and growing public expenditure in education wasted. The writer works with Pratham and ASER Centre URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-crisis-in-learning/901183/0

Socialblood on facebook- Easy accesss to blood in emergencies

Karthik Naralasetty: socialblood saves lives Yahoo! India – Mon, Jan 16, 2012 Email Print Donating blood has gone the social network way, and has become much easier and accessible. www.socialblood.org is a social platform designed to serve a pool of emergency blood donors in 18 countries. All you have to do is become a member of the Socialblood.org on Facebook. The brainchild behind this innovative service is 22-year-old Karthik Naralasetty. A Rutger school dropout, he started a technology company called redcode Informatics in 2009. By 2011, socialblood.org came into being. The idea behind this was sowed when he witnessed a family in India struggling to find regular blood transfusions for their four-year-old daughter to treat her for a genetic blood disease called thalassemia. Naralasetty says, “We created a social campaign that takes advantage of Facebook as a platform to connect citizens of the same blood group and quickly locate emergency blood donors. One of the most urgent needs in case of emergency is quickly locating blood donors so we created www.socialblood.org.” Furthermore, there are eight Facebook groups for eight blood groups and is opened to the general public. Through the Blood Groups website, global citizens are asked to join a selection of eight different Facebook Blood Groups: A+, A-, B+,B-, AB+, AB-, O+ and O-. If there is a need for a specific blood type, a message will go out to all the members of that particular blood type group. In the coming days, socialblood plans to partner with hospitals and NGOs across the globe who are willing to take the advantage of the network and help people who need blood. Launched in July 2011, this social network has grown in leaps and bounds with over 2000 members as of today. Naralasetty expects to reach 10,000 members in all the groups by the mid of 2012. Their numbers in Brazil have been particularly impressive with 300 people joining their respective blood groups and sending out information and alerts in less than a week. In November 2011, he won the Staples Youth Social Entrepreneur Award for his work at socialblood.org. Nalarsetty’s future plans include currently working on a website that allow users to sign up with their Facebook accounts, and using both data from Facebook and fetching the location data from the users’ browser, it’ll place them on a map. People searching for donors will then be able to press a button on the website and enter the blood type they require and the website will help them locate people within a five-kilometre radius who’ve registered as donors. If no one is found, the search is expanded to the entire city. Besides this, Naralasetty plans to work on Android and iPhone apps, too.

NRI family suicide in Dubai

Indian man, daughter found dead in suspected suicide attempt in Dubai By ANI | ANI – Mon, Jan 16, 2012

Dubai, Jan 15 (ANI): An Indian man and his daughter have been found dead inside their apartment in Dubai while his wife is hospitalised in a critical condition in an apparent mass suicide attempt. Rijesh, 32, his wife Sreesha, 30, and five-year-old daughter Avanti, from Kannur district of Kerala, were living in a building behind the Al Musalla Tower in Bur Dubai. According to Gulf News, Dubai police found the man hanging from the ceiling in his flat and his little daughter dead in her room without any apparent signs of what caused her death. The man's wife was found in the bathroom screaming hysterically after slashing her wrist and was hospitalized in a critical condition. According to sources, police were informed after the family did not respond to repeated calls by relatives on their phones, and the neighbours grew suspicious when the family did not respond to the doorbell. The incident has sent shockwaves across the community as residents are baffled by what could have pushed the young family to take such extreme measures. According to the report, Rijesh was working with a consultancy firm and recently moved to an electronics company and his wife Sreesha was working with a private company. The daughter was attending kindergarten at an Indian school. (ANI)

Aasra at the Mumbai Marathon 15th January 2012

20 creative geniuses who were also mentally Ill

Dear Johnson My name is Emma from Accreditedonlinecolleges.org. Just wanted to drop you a line as a new fan of (AASRA Suicide Prevention http _aasra.forumotion.net). It's great finding a blog with such informative resources and creative insights. On a related note, we recently published an article that deals with Mental Health, so we thought you might want to share it with your readers. It's called 20 Creative Geniuses Who Were Also Mentally Ill, and you can find it here: (http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.org/blog/2012/20-creative-geniuses-who-were-also-mentally-ill/) Thanks for your time, and keep up the great work! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Sincerely, Emma 20 Creative Geniuses Who Were Also Mentally Ill Jan 8th, 2012 Both serious academics and pop psychologists appear preoccupied over finding definitive links between mental illness and influential, brilliant creative output, with floods of studies attempting to make sense of it all. Whether or not such a connection genuinely exists, of course, will probably remain in the theoretical realm for the foreseeable future. One can certainly alter the course of human achievement without any sign of mental illness or distress. And, despite unfortunate, prevailing stigmas often painting those with psychiatric concerns as incompetent or incapable of accomplishing much of anything to their fullest potential, it is entirely possible to exist as both a genius and a troubled individual. Without the following thinkers, mankind would end up denied some incredible insight into the elations and despairs inherent to existence. To condemn them for the pain so many were both with — or conditioned into by external circumstances — is, in some ways, to condemn the species itself. Vincent van Gogh Probably more than any other influential, creative mind in history, renowned painter Vincent van Gogh is so often cited as the quintessential troubled artist. His tragic life ended in suicide at age 37, and experts continue debating what diagnosis afflicted him; bipolar disorder, complications from epilepsy, or schizophrenia remain the most popular candidates. According to his correspondence, van Gogh experienced at least two major depressive episodes, followed by intensely innovative periods. Sylvia Plath Lauded for her deeply personal writings, much of this great American poet's oeuvre illustrated the very real suffering she experienced as a result of bipolar disorder. Semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar pulled from Sylvia Plath's own personal experiences with self-mutilation, suicide attempts, depression, insomnia, paranoia, and other manifestations of her diagnosis. Following a grim suicide, her work eventually became integral in helping mainstream readers better understand how mental illness impacts patients. Ludwig van Beethoven Psychology was not exactly a cohesive discipline in Ludwig van Beethoven's time, of course, but that doesn't stop contemporary professionals from analyzing his personal letters and other writings. The brilliant composer admitted to harboring suicidal thoughts, and some experts believe his cycles between crippling depression and wildly fertile creativity signaled bipolar disorder. Other theories posit that a history of physical abuse at the hands of his alcoholic father, which may have instigated his eventual deafness, left him traumatized and troubled in perpetuity. Martin Ramirez Fans of art history and The New York Times both consider Martin Ramirez's collages and drawings some of the most essential examples of Art Brut (or "outsider art") ever. During his three decades in a California mental health facility, he produced hundreds of pieces, attracting attention for particularly showstopping line work. The completely self-taught Ramirez lived with schizophrenia, although debates continue waging over whether or not it held any significant influence over his eventual oeuvre. Virginia Woolf Virginia Woolf likely experienced bipolar disorder during an era when medical professionals proved poorly equipped to deal with the symptoms and presentations. Writing offered one of her only solaces for channeling the transitions between suicidal depression and overwhelming elation, as her doctors preferred isolationist bed rest worsening the condition. Unfortunately, the solution eventually drove the modernist author to drown herself as a means of quelling the emotional and physical torment stemming from both her diagnosis and the loneliness of the main treatment option. Elliott Smith A history of abuse as a child — details of which neither friends nor family will disclose — drove this influential, introspective singer-songwriter to depression, substance abuse, and suicide. In all likelihood, his heavy heroin usage acted as a means of alleviating both the lingering trauma and resulting descent into despair; even after jettisoning the habit, though, Elliott Smith's music garnered acclaim for its honest depiction of wrenching emotional (and physiological) pain. From a Basement on a Hill currently stands as one of the scene's most earnest albums exploring the internal struggles of the not-so-willingly alienated. Eugene O'Neill Depression ran in this Pulitzer and Nobel-winning playwright's family, afflicting at least both parents, a brother, and even his children, two of whom eventually killed themselves. Eugene O'Neill himself grappled against alcoholism in response to the condition, to the point he attempted suicide and spent a stint in the hospital. Adding to the tragedy, a misdiagnosis of Parkinson's Disease (which was more than likely late-onset cerebellar cortical atrophy in reality) meant he ended up ingesting drugs that did nothing for his increasing physiological pain, including tremors and brain shrinkage, which exacerbated his mental health in turn. Michelangelo Buonarroti Literal Renaissance man Michelangelo Buonarroti garnered almost as much fame for his nasty temper and antisocial tendencies as his genuinely breathtaking sculptures, paintings/frescoes, architecture, and (to a lesser extent) poetry. Along with severe knee, kidney, and bladder issues plaguing him for much of his existence, the brilliant artist's output features a common melancholic, sometimes defeatist or fatalistic, theme. Obviously, at this point one cannot present a definitive diagnosis, though mental health professionals believe first-person accounts of his erratic behavior reveal a man with bipolar disorder, clinical depression, or both. Brian Wilson Regardless of one's opinion regarding surf, pop, and psychedelic rock, nobody will deny that The Beach Boys left a significant impression on the music industry; frontman Brian Wilson typically earns most of the credit for their widespread success. A mélange of drug use, depression, and schizoaffective disorder plagued him with hallucinations, paranoia, bouts of overeating, and stints in bed sometimes lasting months on end. These days, Wilson does not shy away from detailing his experiences, hoping that the honesty will help others come to terms with their own mental health struggles. Amy Tan The Joy Luck Club still sits on English class syllabi across the nation, and for good reason; few novels delve so deeply into the oft-marginalized experiences of Chinese-American women with such deft insight. Author Amy Tan hails from a family plagued with depression and suicide, and when symptoms of the former started creeping in, she panicked to the point she denied herself valuable treatment. But once everything grew almost entirely unbearable, Tan courageously entered psychotherapy and started on a Zoloft regimen that met her personal needs. Edvard Munch Even individuals largely uninterested in the art world still know expressionist masterpiece "The Scream" through pop cultural osmosis (or, at least, news regarding a plethora of thefts and theft attempts!); artist Edvard Munch's entire body of work encompasses some truly amazing paintings, drawings, prints, and etchings beyond that, of course. Growing increasingly hermitic as time ticked forward, he oftentimes found himself crunched beneath despair due to his own poor health, losing his mother and sister at an early age, an emotionally estranged father, frustration with the art scene, and a mounting obsession with death. Anxiety and depression, as one can imagine, fueled some of his most powerful, memorable images — including his most famous piece. Kurt Vonnegut One of America's most beloved 20th century wits fell into such a heavy state of depression for a time — to the point he ditched his celebrated writing career almost entirely. Breakfast of Champions marked his emergence from the period, and Kurt Vonnegut also followed it up by openly talking about everything the experience entailed with the hopes of promoting mental illness de-stigmatization. Part of him, however, always thought that some degree of melancholia was absolutely essential in cobbling together literary masterpieces. Frida Kahlo For much of her troubled life, Frida Kahlo found herself forced to live with a staggering array of neurological, physical, and mental conditions; almost all ended up depicted in her art with the raw honesty that landed her a laudable spot in history. Decades-long battles with immense physiological pain eventually led her to start relying on increasingly heavy painkillers to dull the depression, which in turn stoked suicidal thoughts, especially after her art began declining in quality. She died of a pulmonary embolism instead of her own hand, but her masterpieces remain among the world's most effective, evocative creative depictions of pain ever produced. Woody Allen Anyone who's ever sat down with a Woody Allen film probably wouldn't be surprised to find out about his ongoing fight against depression, nor the fact that he uses comedy as a coping mechanism. The roles he assigns himself grow organically from his own perspectives, flaws, and experiences, serving as both self-assessment and an effective glimpse into how anxiety comes to shape a patient's life. Movies, however, do not offer the only creative solace — he has also written extensively about depression and anxiety, usually with a splash of his signature humor. Philip K. Dick Drug abuse, particularly hallucinogens, and mental illness involving visions (more than likely schizophrenia exacerbated by rampant LSD usage) almost singlehandedly kickstarted the entire cyberpunk genre. One of pioneer Philip K. Dick's seminal novels, VALIS, exists solely because of the visual and auditory experiences resulting from this mix. His depression, nervous breakdowns, and anxiety over a dead twin sister receive less attention than the other conditions, but still left a major mark on the science fiction classics he published. Mark Rothko Mark Rothko, the genius abstract expressionist, only started garnering his current acclaim after committing suicide in 1970. Episodes of crushing despair pockmarked most of his life, costing him his first marriage and requiring medication (which, tragically, he voluntarily overdosed on) to curb. Because Rothko also dealt with almost manic periods of lush creativity, leading some contemporaries and mental health experts to postulate that he may have experienced bipolar disorder comorbid with his depression. Daniel Johnston For most of his life, this acclaimed outsider artist and singer-songwriter has grappled with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, though none of that prevents him from enjoying a sizable fanbase. After moving to Austin, he earned attention by giving demo tapes to those falling within his orbit, quickly garnering enthusiastic listeners eager for his next live performance or art show. Many of Daniel Johnston's drawings feature pop culture fixtures like Captain America as well as his own imagined creations, such as Jeremiah the Innocent — of whom a very famous mural sits in his adopted Texas home. David Foster Wallace When renowned postmodernist author David Foster Wallace took his own life in 2008, friends, family, and fans reacted with both shock and understanding. For 20 years, he received both therapy and medication for severe depression, and an improperly coordinated switch between prescriptions may have very well triggered his unfortunate passing. The experiment ended up inspiring a far darker period than Wallace had ever encountered, sadly reflecting the realities of many individuals whose medications damage their brain chemistry beyond repair. Ian Curtis Joy Division vocalist Ian Curtis, one of the most iconic frontmen of post-punk, committed suicide at age 23 and launched a maelstrom of speculation which almost rivals that surrounding Kurt Cobain. Some blame his epileptic seizures, others his regular difficulties with woman (and, according to his family, everything else) for the debilitating depression encompassing his entire life — though nobody suspected it would end so tragically. Even before Curtis' death, Joy Division defined the British post-punk sound almost singlehandedly, and musicians today still consider them a major influence. Jackson Pollock A history of substance abuse and bipolar disorder ravaged one of the premiere (and obviously controversial!) abstract expressionists; in all likelihood, the former existed as a means of coping with the latter. A brilliant painter whose splattered works even now elicit either frothing mouths or enthusiastic hosannas, both conditions instigated major gulfs between his friends, family, and lovers alike. Evidence exists suggesting that Jackson Pollock struggled immensely with the extreme reactions to his art and mounting fame, which may have very well worsened his already stressful mental state.

How your memory works

Hi Johnson, I work with Onlinecolleges.net. We recently published an article that you may be interested in entitled, “How Memory Works". I thought perhaps you'd be interested in sharing this article with your readers? After having followed your blog for a while, I feel that this one article would align well with your blog's subject matter. If interested, here's the link for your convenience: (http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2012/01/09/memory-works/). Either way, I hope you continue putting out great content through your blog. It has been a sincere pleasure to read. Thanks for your time! Regards, Jasmine Hall ------------------------------------------------------
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