धुंडिराज गोविंद फाळके ऊर्फ दादासाहेब फाळके

धुंडिराज गोविंद फाळके ऊर्फ दादासाहेब फाळके (एप्रिल ३०, १८७०; त्र्यंबकेश्वर, महाराष्ट्र - फेब्रुवारी १६, १९४४; नाशिक, महाराष्ट्र) हे चित्रपटनिर्मिती करणारे महाराष्ट्रातील व भारतातील पहिले चित्रपटनिर्माते होते आणि यासाठीच त्यांना भारतीय चित्रपटांचा जनक मानले जाते . १९१३ साली त्यांनी निर्मिलेला राजा हरिश्चंद्र हा चित्रपट मराठी व भारतीय चित्रपटसृष्टीच्या इतिहासातील आद्य चित्रपट होय. १९३७ पर्यंतच्या आपल्या १९ वर्षाच्या कारकिर्दीत त्यांनी ९५ चित्रपट व २६ लघुपटांची निर्मिती केली. त्यांच्या चित्रपटविषयक योगदानाबद्दल भारतीय चित्रसृष्टीतील सर्वांत मोठा पुरस्कार त्यांच्या नावाने दिला जातो.
 इ.स. १८८५साली त्यांनी सर जे.जे. स्कूल ऑफ आर्ट, मुंबई येथे प्रवेश घेतला. इ.स. १८९०साली जे.जे.तून उत्तीर्ण झाल्यावर ते कला भवन, बडोदा येथे शिल्पकला, तंत्रज्ञान, रेखाटन, चित्रकला, छायाचित्रणकला इत्यादी गोष्टी शिकले.

त्यांनी गोध्रा येथे छायाचित्रकार म्हणून व्यवसाय सुरू केला. परंतु, गोध्ऱ्यात झालेल्या ब्युबॉनिक प्लेगाच्या उद्रेकात त्यांची प्रथम पत्नी आणि मूल दगावल्यावर त्यांना ते गाव सोडावे लागले. लवकरच, त्यांची ल्युमिएर बंधूंनी नेमलेल्या ४० 'जादूगारां'पैकी एकाशी, जर्मन कार्ल हर्ट्‌झ याच्याशी ओळख झाली. त्यानंतर त्यांना 'भारतीय पुरातत्त्व सर्वेक्षण संस्थे'साठी ड्राफ्ट्समन म्हणून काम करण्याची संधी मिळाली. त्यांच्या धडपड्या स्वभावामुळे लवकरच ते नोकरीच्या बंधनांना कंटाळले व त्यांनी छपाईचा व्यवसाय सुरू केला. शिळाप्रेस छपाईच्या तंत्रात ते वाकबगार होते. त्यांनी राजा रविवर्मांसोबत काम केले. पुढे त्यांनी स्वत:चा छापखाना काढला, तसेच छपाईची नवी तंत्रे आणि यंत्रे अभ्यासायला जर्मनीची वारी केली.

छपाई व्यवसायात त्यांच्या सहकाऱ्यांशी त्यांचे विवाद झाले आणि फाळकेंनी छपाईच्या व्यवसायास रामराम ठोकला. पुढे "लाईफ ऑफ ख्रिस्त" (Life of Christ) हा मूकपट पाहिल्यानंतर त्यांनी आपले लक्ष हलत्या चित्रांच्या (चित्रपट, English: Motion Pictures) व्यवसायाकडे वळवले व १९१२ साली त्यांनी राजा हरिश्चंद्र हा पहिला मूकपट काढला जो ३ मे १९१३ साली मुंबईच्या कॉरोनेशन चित्रपटगृहात (Coronation Cinema) प्रेक्षकांसाठी पहिल्यांदा दाखवण्यात आला.

सलीम यांची एक रचना

सलीम यांची एक रचना
--------------------------------

आज कलम का कागज से
मै दंगा करने वाला हूँ,
मीडिया की सच्चाई को मै
नंगा करने वाला हूँ

मीडिया जिसको लोकतंत्र का
चौंथा खंभा होना था,
खबरों की पावनता में
जिसको गंगा होना था

आज वही दिखता है हमको
वैश्या के किरदारों में,
बिकने को तैयार खड़ा है
गली चौक बाजारों में

दाल में काला होता है
तुम काली दाल दिखाते हो,
सुरा सुंदरी उपहारों की
खूब मलाई खाते हो

गले मिले सलमान से आमिर,
ये खबरों का स्तर है,
और दिखाते इंद्राणी का
कितने फिट का बिस्तर है

म्यॉमार में सेना के
साहस का खंडन करते हो,
और हमेशा दाउद का
तुम महिमा मंडन करते हो

हिन्दू कोई मर जाए तो
घर का मसला कहते हो,
मुसलमान की मौत को
मानवता पे हमला कहते हो

लोकतंत्र की संप्रभुता पर
तुमने कैसा मारा चाटा है,
सबसे ज्यादा तुमने हिन्दू
मुसलमान को बाँटा है

साठ साल की लूट पे भारी
एक सूट दिखलाते हो,
ओवैसी को भारत का तुम
रॉबिनहुड बतलाते हो

दिल्ली में जब पापी वहशी
चीरहरण मे लगे रहे,
तुम ऐश्वर्या की बेटी के
नामकरण मे लगे रहे

'दिल से' दुनिया समझ रही है
खेल ये बेहद गंदा है,
मीडिया हाउस और नही कुछ
ब्लैकमेलिंग का धंधा है

गूंगे की आवाज बनो
अंधे की लाठी हो जाओ,
सत्य लिखो निष्पक्ष लिखो
और फिर से जिंदा हो जाओ

Women Empowerment - A reality or Myth

The Government of India had ushered in the new millennium by declaring the year 2001 as 'Women's Empowerment Year' to focus on a vision 'where women are equal partners like men'. The most common explanation of 'women's empowerment' is the ability to exercise full control over one's actions. The last decades have witnessed some basic changes in the status and role of women in our society. There has been shift in policy approaches from the concept of 'welfare' in the seventies to 'development' in the eighties and now to 'empowerment' in the nineties. This process has been further accelerated with some sections of women becoming increasingly self-conscious of their discrimination in several areas of family and public life. They are also in a position to mobilize themselves on issues that can affect their overall position.

The latest news items regarding violence committed against women reveal that women's position has worsened. Tulsidas' verse from Ramayana 'Dhol, janwar, shudra, pashu, nari ye sub nindan ke adhikari' highlights the discrimination and deep-rooted gender bias which still exists in all sectors on the basis of caste, community, religious affiliation and class. The Constitution of India grants equality to women in various fields of life. Yet a large number of women are either ill equipped or not in a position to propel themselves out of their traditionally unsatisfactory socio-economic conditions. They are poor, uneducated and insufficiently trained. They are often absorbed in the struggle to sustain the family physically and emotionally and as a rule are discouraged from taking interest in affairs outside home. Oppression and atrocities on women are still rampant. Patriarchy continues to be embedded in the social system in many parts of India, denying a majority of women the choice to decide on how they live. The over-riding importance of community in a patriarchal sense ensures that women rarely have an independent say in community issues. Female infanticide continues to be common. Statistics show that there is still a very high preference for a male child in states like UP, MP, Punjab etc. The male to female ratio is very high in these states. Domestic violence is also widespread and is also associated with dowry. Leaving a meager number of urban and sub-urban women, Indian women are still crying for social justice.

A review of government's various programmes for women empowerment such as Swashakti, Swayamsidha, Streeshakti, Balika samrudhi yojana and another two thousand projects reveal that little has been done or achieved through these programmes. The discrepancy in the ideology and practice of the empowerment policy of women in India constitutes its continued social, economic and social backwardness. Women make up 52% of our country's population. Hence there can be no progress unless their needs and interests are fully met. Empowerment would not hold any meaning unless they are made strong, alert and aware of their equal status in the society. Policies should be framed to bring them into the mainstream of society. It is important to educate the women. The need of the hour is to improve female literacy as education holds the key to development.

Empowerment would become more relevant if women are educated, better informed and can take rational decisions. It is also necessary to sensitize the other sex towards women. It is important to usher in changes in societal attitudes and perceptions with regard to the role of women in different spheres of life. Adjustments have to be made in traditional gender specific performance of tasks. A woman needs to be physically healthy so that she is able to take challenges of equality. But it is sadly lacking in a majority of women especially in the rural areas. They have unequal access to basic health resources and lack adequate counseling. The result is an increasing risk of unwanted and early pregnancies, HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. The greatest challenge is to recognize the obstacles that stand in the way of their right to good health. To be useful to the family, community and the society, women must be provided with health care facilities.

Most of the women work in agricultural sector either as workers, in household farms or as wageworkers. Yet it is precisely livelihood in agriculture that has tended to become more volatile and insecure in recent years and women cultivators have therefore been negatively affected. The government's policies for alleviating poverty have failed to produce any desirable results, as women do not receive appropriate wages for their labour. There is also significant amount of unpaid or non-marketed labor within the household. The increase in gender disparity in wages in the urban areas is also quite marked as it results from the employment of women in different and lower paying activities. They are exploited at various levels. They should be provided with proper wages and work at par with men so that their status can be elevated in society.

In recent years there have been explicit moves to increase women's political participation. The Women's reservation policy bill is however a very sad story as it is repeatedly being scuttled in parliament. In the Panchayati Raj system, however, women have been given representation as a sign of political empowerment. There are many elected women representatives at the village council level. However their power is restricted, as it the men who wield all the authority. Their decisions are often over-ruled by the government machinery. It is crucial to train and give real power to these women leaders so that they can catalyst change in their villages regarding women. All this shows that the process of gender equality and women's empowerment still has a long way to go and may even have become more difficult in the recent years.

The main reason for the contradiction is that, targeted schemes tend to have only limited impact when the basic thrust of development is not reaching an average woman, making her life more fragile and vulnerable. To make a positive change basic infrastructure should be provided in every village and city. To begin with, providing safe drinking water supply and better sanitation not only directly improved the lives and health of women but also reduces their workload in terms of provisioning and ensuring such facilities. An access to affordable cooking fuel reduces the need to travel long distances in search of fuel wood. Improved transport connecting villages with each other and with towns can also directly improve living conditions as well as unpaid labour time spent in transporting household items. It can also lead to access to a wider range of goods and services plus a better access to health facilities. Expenditure on food subsidy and better provisions for public distribution services directly affects the lives of women and girl children in terms of adequate nutrition. The patterns of resource mobilization by government also have significant effects on women that are usually not recognized. When taxes are regressive and fall disproportionately on items of mass consumption, once again these tend to affect women more. This is not only because the consumption of such items may be curtailed but also because the provisioning of such items is frequently considered to be the responsibility of the women of the household. Also credit policies reduce the flow of credit to small-scale enterprises thus reducing the employment opportunities for women. There is a need to have women-friendly economic policies that can enhance their social and economic position and make them self-reliant.

There is no doubt about the fact that development of women has always been the central focus of planning since Independence. Empowerment is a major step in this direction but it has to be seen in a relational context. A clear vision is needed to remove the obstacles to the path of women's emancipation both from the government and women themselves. Efforts should be directed towards all round development of each and every section of Indian women by giving them their due share.

Digital democracy

Digital democracy here refers to the use of digital communication technologies to enhance the democratic process by, among other things, making the process more accessible, increasing and enhancing citizen participation in public policy decision making, and increasing government transparency and accountability.

In recent years, we have seen a broad disenchantment among people with civic engagement and representative democracy. In the mid-1990s, however, the growth of the Internet revitalized the democratic imagination:

1. The Internet promised to revive the civic sphere and extend community life by providing broad, diverse forums for discussions.

2. The Internet enabled many-to-many citizen interaction that invited online political debate, deliberation, consultation, decision-making, administration, and scrutiny as well as online mobilizing, organizing, petitioning, and protesting.

3. The Internet made polling, plebiscites, and elections relatively cheap and accessible. Conceivably, the voice of the people could be expressed regularly and loudly, expanding popular decision-making and closing the gap between citizens and their representatives.

 Ideally, netizens online, disciplined deliberations will produce sober, wise recommendations for policy-maker and law-maker consideration. In effect, deliberation will make the demos safe for democracy.

EXAMPLE:

There is a new game on the Web, sometimes of dubious significance. But its real significance lies beyond what it shows right now. I am talking about “trending.” Last week, while the country was absorbed watching the verdict in the Ayodhya dispute between Hindu and Muslim groups, Twitter, the 

micro-blogging site, was abuzz with some Indians celebrating the verdict’s online glory, when Ayodhya became the top trending topic during the course of the day.

For the uninitiated, “trending” is a reference to the number of times a topic is discussed on Twitter: a score of its importance and popularity. You can also find the Yahoo home page (www.yahoo.com) capturing the latest Web trends. Yahoo also has its Buzz (buzz.yahoo.com) that measures popular stories and topics.

While on Twitter, this is about what is being discussed by tweeters or stories viewed and shared, in Google Trends (www.google.com/trends), you can compare search volume patterns across specific regions, languages, and time periods. The Twitter trending is better called “hot topics” while “hot searches” in Google Trends reflect popular searches (other than routine things like weather) as an indicator of popularity.

For Indian tweeters (still mostly in English), it was a parochial victory when their favourite topic surged ahead of US-dominated topics.

Now, consider a future in which Internet-enabled tablets and smartphones, highly affordable in fast-growing Asian economies, generate more and more searches and tweets. What happened with Ayodhya is the result of both global interest and the surging use of Twitter in India.

The rise of a connected world is going to even out cultural biases inherent in the current digital penetration levels led by the US.

As the Idea Cellular commercial (with the memorable slogan, “What an Idea, sirjee”) showed, the social use of SMS voting, tweets and searches will help policymakers, officials, leaders and companies view social trends and adapt their behaviour suitably.

In a connected world, twe-ets and searches have become live, real-time symbols of democracy at work — and it is no longer about the affluent because connections and devi-ces are ever more affordable.
Social media trends mark a new frontier in the Internet revolution — through the rise of digital democracy

Folk media

Folk media is an effective means of communication in today’s world since it not only helps connect people with their cultures but also revives the lost culture of the society. Folk media forms the language of expression for the local populace and gives them a chance to voice out their opinions on various issues. It depicts the constantly changing face of any society along with its virtues and vices. It is a method to underline certain dominant ideologies of the society through its own people. If observed closely, traditional folk media is an excellent tool to enhance communication and promote dialogue at the grass root level of any society.

The most popular form of traditional folk media is the folk dance. Colorful, vibrant, melancholic, elegant, graceful — all these attributes form the core of folk dances. They attract audience since the tunes are generally feet tapping and very well liked by the local crowd. The folk dances vary in range from the mountains to the plains to the desert to the coastal areas. Every geographical area differs in the type of dances that it offers. For example, in India, Punjab has Bhangra as their folk dance which is energetic and colorful for it is a dance of celebration for them while down south in Kerala, their folk dance is Mayil Attam( the peacock dance) which is elegant and is performed at village get-togethers. Traditional folk dances are an excellent mix of traditional folk music and folk tales that help communicate messages in an effective manner.

Folk music is yet another popular form of folk media. Music is governed by the language, colloquial accent, and instruments used by the local people. Thus, each territorial area has a distinct folk music of its own. Folk music is especially admired since it does not require elaborate set ups or any preparation. Wherever a crowd gathers, people begin to sing and others gradually join. Lyrics of folk music are pretty striking since they echo the problems of the people with a satirical taunt to the government and the officials. Folk songs of Bihar, UP, MP are very satirical and are often used effectively before elections to keep the people from getting allured by false promises.

Street theatre is one more form of folk media that is being used widely to propagate socio political messages and to create awareness for social issues. A group of people perform on streets, and gather crowds. The objective here is to make people a part of the play and thus convey the social message. Thus, even a common man identifies with the issue and becomes a part of the act. Street plays are short, direct, loud, and over expressive since they are performed in places where there are huge crowds. They are known to propagate strong social reforms and are considered as powerful tools to mobilize crowds towards a certain matter.

Puppetry is another form of folk media that is equally entertaining and informative. Puppets come in four basic types- glove puppets, string puppets, rod puppets and shadow puppets. Each type is found in a particular state like glove puppets are found in Kerala, Odissa, and Tamilnadu. Puppet shows follow a story, a popular legend or a folk tale and end in a moral or social message. Children, adults, aged — all enjoy puppet shows. Paintings and sculptures also form an integral part of traditional folk media. The paintings depict life and socio-cultural environment of local people. This is a form of expression without words or music. They are not just images but give us a clear idea of what the people face in a societal setup, their problems, their struggles etc.

Thus, traditional folk media is much more than mere song and dance. They are a medium of expression for the common man, and a way to vent out his feelings. Along with mainstream media, even traditional folk media must be encouraged so that our grass roots are as strong as the class on top of the pyramid!

Human Development Index (HDI)

The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone. The HDI can also be used to question national policy choices, asking how two countries with the same level of GNI per capita can end up with different human development outcomes. These contrasts can stimulate debate about government policy priorities.

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and have a decent standard of living. The HDI is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of the three dimensions.

The health dimension is assessed by life expectancy at birth, the education dimension is measured by mean of years of schooling for adults aged 25 years and more and expected years of schooling for children of school entering age. The standard of living dimension is measured by gross national income per capita. The HDI uses the logarithm of income, to reflect the diminishing importance of income with increasing GNI. The scores for the three HDI dimension indices are then aggregated into a composite index using geometric mean. Refer to Technical notes for more details.

The HDI simplifies and captures only part of what human development entails. It does not reflect on inequalities, poverty, human security, empowerment, etc. The HDRO offers the other composite indices as broader proxy on some of the key issues of human development, inequality, gender disparity and human poverty.

A fuller picture of a country's level of human development requires analysis of other indicators and information presented in the statistical annex of the report.

Basic Needs Model

Basic Needs Model

Model: A simple description of a system, used for explaining how something works.


Introduction: The Bariloche Foundation in Argentina (1972) first developed a world model to show the possibility of meeting the basic needs of people all over the world based on certain assumptions.


Important points of BNM:


Development must reach to the poorest of the poor and satisfy their basic minimum needs e.g. food, clothes, shelter, education, healthcare etc. by providing employment and income.
It was an attempt to deal directly with the world poverty by meeting the basic needs of the lowest 40% income groups.


The model advocated for the satisfaction of non-material needs for quality of life once the material needs are satisfied.


In this model, the emphasis shifted from measuring income per capita as a growth indicator to measuring the physical quality of life (PQLI) as the indicator of welfare. PQLI is measured by life expectancy, infant mortality rate (IMR is the number of deaths of infants under one year old in a given year per 1,000 live births in the same year. India=55, Sierra Leone=160.3, USA=6.3, World=49.4 IMR as per 2006 United Nations Population Division report) and literacy.
In this model there is increased emphasis on the importance of equitable distribution of rewards, quality of life and meeting basic human needs.


BNM and causes of underdevelopment:


The model points out a few causes of underdevelopment as given below:


Poor organization of the poor. Organization of the poor serves three purposes: first to participate in community life; second, to overcome the mere survival strategy; and third, to break a pattern of powerlessness, exploitation, permanent indebtedness, and a state of dependency bordering slavery.
Lack of proper policy framework for development. It should have multiple growth goals: a commitment to development from bottom-up; local self-reliance; grass-root organizations participating in planning, decision making and implementing in areas affecting communities; substantial allocation of national funds for health, education and housing in favour of the lowest 40% income.
Information Poverty. There is information poverty among the 'have-nots' and communication gap with the 'have'.


Communication Model in BNM:


Decentralization (to give some of the power of a central government, organization, etc. to smaller parts or organizations around the country) of communication networks and democratization of their control would be essential pre-condition for the success of BNM.
Decentralization and rural integrated development in this model suggest two-way communication, both top-down and bottom-up in the development infrastructure.


The top-down communication is from the govt. to the masses for awareness of the basic amenities provided. A bottom-up communication from the people to the development planners for need based programs.


Role of communication in BNM:


In BNM, the emphasis is on inter-personal communication channels, which are used to inform, educate, motivate and persuade the masses with support from the mass media.




The govt. should provide community TV, radio sets and newspapers etc. and make use of satellites and other improved methods of broadcasting, such as short-wave, to the poor who have low physical accessibility to mass media because of low purchasing power or living in areas where reach of the media is low.
Along with physical access, it is necessary to have access to the operation of community media. This will safeguard against information blockage to the have-nots.
The efforts to meet the basic needs and to affect the required attitudinal changes require unprecedented inflow of information into the village capable of reaching the poorest of the villagers as well.


Therefore, it is necessary to develop programs designed to transform the village from the traditional society into and Information Community of a new kind.


Conclusion: Though the BNM is not yet considered as a replacement for development strategy but it has contributed a lot in shaping the policy of many developing countries.