Monday, April 26, 2010




Full name: Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite.Date of birth: May 15th 1982.Place of birth: Brasilia, the administrative capital of the Brazilian Federal District.Height: 1.82 m (6 ft). At age 12, Kaká was considerably shorter than his father and brother; medical tests showed that his bones suffered growth delay; for two years, Kaká was submitted to growth treatment, to reach normal height. Kaká was born in Brasília. From age 4 to 7, his family lived in Cuiabá, following his father, a civil engineer.At age 7, the family moved to the city of São Paulo, in the neighbourhood of Morumbi, near the Stadium of São Paulo FC. As FIFA says, "Kaka fails to fit the Brazilian stereotype of the kid from the favela who first played the game in the street with a ball made from rags. Coming from a comfortable and cultured family, Kaka kept up his studies for as long as they were compatible with his profession.".His talent was soon recognized. A professor called the family and suggested enrolling him in a football school. At age 8, Kaká was playing with São Paulo FC, where he succeeded in all categories. At age 14, Kaká used to wake up two hours early, to keep up with his studies; Kaká managed to conclude the intermediary cycle (eleven years) in Brazil, before dedicating exclusively to football.Kaká is religious. Since early adolescence, he's been attending the evangelical Church Renascer.
Religious, Kakácommemorates God
His religiosity grew stronger after an accident in 2000. During holidays, Kaká dove into a shallow pool and beat the head against the floor; immediate exams didn't show anything. A few days later, while training in São Paulo, Kaká felt a strong pain and found out that he had broken a cervical vertebra; Kaká had to wear a treatment jacket for two months. Returning to football was uncertain; "the doctors said I was lucky; I am certain that it was God's will", says Kaká.In 2000, Kaká was champion of the Junior championship, in São Paulo. In 2001, he became professional; his first match was on February 2nd, and his first goal on February 5th. In the decision of the high profile Rio-São Paulo tournament, Kaká (then Cacá) scored the two goals that gave the title to São Paulo over Botafogo. .On 31st January 2002, Kaká debuted with the National Team, playing against Bolivia; on March 7th, against Iceland, he scored his first goal.In 2002, Kaká went to the 2002 World Cup. He played only a few minutes in the match against Costa Rica. In the final match, against Germany, when the Brazilian victory was defined, coach Scolari attempted to put Kaká to play; the last images of the game show Kaká waving desperately to the referee, asking for a break, but there was no time. Kaká was, anyway, world champion.São Paulo FC and Kaká had a non-official agreement with Milan AC: he would stay in Brazil until 2004 and then would move to Italy; São Paulo could collect a few championships, and Milan would have a more mature player. However, feeling that other teams were talking to Kaká, the Milan directors (particularly Leonardo, who played with the Brazilian team in the cups of 1994 and 1998) decided, in 2003, to antecipate the transfer
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Thursday, April 15, 2010

POWER AND SIMPLE ABRAHAM LINCOLN



Quotations by Author

Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)
16th president of US

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.
Abraham Lincoln
- More quotations on: [Success]
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

Abraham Lincoln
- More quotations on: [Silence]
Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. As a peacemaker the lawyer has superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough.
Abraham Lincoln
Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived.

Abraham Lincoln
- More quotations on: [Victory]
He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of any man I ever met.
Abraham Lincoln
- More quotations on: [Language] [Ideas]
I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts.
Abraham Lincoln
I will prepare and some day my chance will come.

Abraham Lincoln
If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?
Abraham Lincoln
If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.

Abraham Lincoln
If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend.

Abraham Lincoln
It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.
Abraham Lincoln
- More quotations on: [Vices]
It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.
Abraham Lincoln
Let me not be understood as saying that there are no bad laws, nor that grievances may not arise for the redress of which no legal provisions have been made. I mean to say no such thing. But I do mean to say that although bad laws, if they exist, should be repealed as soon as possible, still, while they continue in force, for the sake of example they should be religiously observed.
Abraham Lincoln
- More quotations on: [Laws]
Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
Abraham Lincoln
- More quotations on: [Happiness]
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.
Abraham Lincoln
- More quotations on: [Character] [Power]
No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar.
Abraham Lincoln
No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.

Abraham Lincoln
Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves.
Abraham Lincoln
That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and, hence, is just encouragement to industry and enterprise.

Abraham Lincoln
The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
Abraham Lincoln
Whatever you are, be a good one.
Abraham Lincoln
When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, persuasion, kind unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. It is an old and true maxim that 'a drop of honey catches more flies than a gallon of gall.' So with men. If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what he will, is the great highroad to his reason, and which, once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing him of the justice of your cause, if indeed that cause is really a good one.

Abraham Lincoln
When you have got an elephant by the hind leg, and he is trying to run away, it's best to let him run.

Abraham Lincoln
Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.
Abraham Lincoln
You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.
Abraham Lincoln
You may deceive all the people part of the time, and part of the people all the time, but not all the people all the time.
Abraham Lincoln
'Tis better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.
Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)
- More quotations on: [Silence]
When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.
Abraham Lincoln, (attributed)
- More quotations on: [Religion]
You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.
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People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.
Abraham Lincoln, in a book review
Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention.

Abraham Lincoln, in a letter to J. M. Cutts, October 26, 1863
Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.
Abraham Lincoln, letter to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, July 18, 1864
- More quotations on: [Truth]
Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's Own Stories
- More quotations on: [Character]
I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than
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strict justice.

Abraham Lincoln, speech in Washington D.C., 1865
- More quotations on: [Justice] [Mercy]
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863
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It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863
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Saturday, April 11, 2009

National Child Labour Project



Initiatives towards Elimination of Child Labour – Action Plan and Present Strategy



The problem of child labour continues to pose a challenge before the nation. Government has been taking various pro-active measures to tackle this problem. However, considering the magnitude and extent of the problem and that it is essentially a socio-economic problem inextricably linked to poverty and illiteracy, it requires concerted efforts from all sections of the society to make a dent in the problem.
Way back in 1979, Government formed the first committee called Gurupadswamy Committee to study the issue of child labour and to suggest measures to tackle it. The Committee examined the problem in detail and made some far-reaching recommendations. It observed that as long as poverty continued, it would be difficult to totally eliminate child labour and hence, any attempt to abolish it through legal recourse would not be a practical proposition. The Committee felt that in the circumstances, the only alternative left was to ban child labour in hazardous areas and to regulate and ameliorate the conditions of work in other areas. It recommended that a multiple policy approach was required in dealing with the problems of working children.
Based on the recommendations of Gurupadaswamy Committee, the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act was enacted in 1986. The Act prohibits employment of children in certain specified hazardous occupations and processes and regulates the working conditions in others.

The list of hazardous occupations and processes is progressively being expanded on the recommendation of Child Labour Technical Advisory Committee constituted under the Act.
In consonance with the above approach, a National Policy on Child Labour was formulated in 1987. The Policy seeks to adopt a gradual & sequential approach with a focus on rehabilitation of children working in hazardous occupations & processes in the first instance. The Action Plan outlined in the Policy for tackling this problem is as follows:
Legislative Action Plan for strict enforcement of Child Labour Act and other labour laws to ensure that children are not employed in hazardous employments, and that the working conditions of children working in non-hazardous areas are regulated in accordance with the provisions of the Child Labour Act. It also entails further identification of additional occupations and processes, which are detrimental to the health and safety of the children.
Focusing of General Developmental Programmes for Benefiting Child Labour - As poverty is the root cause of child labour, the action plan emphasizes the need to cover these children and their families also under various poverty alleviation and employment generation schemes of the Government.
Project Based Plan of Action envisages starting of projects in areas of high concentration of child labour. Pursuant to this, in 1988, the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme was launched in 9 districts of high child labour endemicity in the country. The Scheme envisages running of special schools for child labour withdrawn from work. In the special schools, these children are provided formal/non-formal education along with vocational training, a stipend of Rs.100 per month, supplementary nutrition and regular health check ups so as to prepare them to join regular mainstream schools. Under the Scheme, funds are given to the District Collectors for running special schools for child labour. Most of these schools are run by the NGOs in the district.
Government has accordingly been taking proactive steps to tackle this problem through strict enforcement of legislative provisions along with simultaneous rehabilitative measures. State Governments, which are the appropriate implementing authorities, have been conducting regular inspections and raids to detect cases of violations. Since poverty is the root cause of this problem, and enforcement alone cannot help solve it, Government has been laying a lot of emphasis on the rehabilitation of these children and on improving the economic conditions of their families.
The coverage of the NCLP Scheme has increased from 12 districts in 1988 to 100 districts in the 9th Plan to 250 districts during the 10th Plan.
Strategy for the elimination of child labour under the 10th Plan
An evaluation of the Scheme was carried out by independent agencies in coordination with V. V. Giri National Labour Institute in 2001. Based on the recommendations of the evaluation and experience of implementing the scheme since 1988, the strategy for implementing the scheme during the 10th Plan was devised. It aimed at greater convergence with the other developmental schemes and bringing qualitative changes in the Scheme. Some of the salient points of the 10th Plan Strategy are as follows:
Focused and reinforced action to eliminate child labour in the hazardous occupations by the end of the Plan period.
Expansion of National Child Labour Projects to additional 150 districts.
Linking the child labour elimination efforts with the Scheme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan of Ministry of Human Resource Development to ensure that children in the age group of 5-8 years get directly admitted to regular schools and that the older working children are mainstreamed to the formal education system through special schools functioning under the NCLP Scheme.
Convergence with other Schemes of the Departments of Education, Rural Development, Health and Women and Child Development for the ultimate attainment of the objective in a time bound manner.
The Government and the Ministry of Labour & Employment in particular, are rather serious in their efforts to fight and succeed in this direction. The number of districts covered under the NCLP Scheme has been increased from 100 to 250, as mentioned above in this note. In addition, 21 districts have been covered under INDUS, a similar Scheme for rehabilitation of child labour in cooperation with US Department of Labour. Implementation of this Project was recently reviewed during the visit of Mr. Steven Law, Deputy Secretary of State, from the USA. For the Districts not covered under these two Schemes, Government is also providing funds directly to the NGOs under the Ministry’s Grants-in-aid Scheme for running Special Schools for rehabilitation of child labour, thereby providing for a greater role and cooperation of the civil society in combating this menace.
Elimination of child labour is the single largest programme in this Ministry’s activities. Apart from a major increase in the number of districts covered under the scheme, the priority of the Government in this direction is evident in the quantum jump in budgetary allocation during the 10th Plan. Government has allocated Rs. 602 crores for the Scheme during the 10th Plan, as against an expenditure of Rs. 178 crores in the 9th Plan. The resources set aside for combating this evil in the Ministry is around 50 per cent of its total annual budget.
The implementation of NCLP and INDUS Schemes is being closely monitored through periodical reports, frequent visits and meetings with the District and State Government officials. The Government’s commitment to achieve tangible results in this direction in a time bound manner is also evident from the fact that in the recent Regional Level Conferences of District Collectors held in Hyderabad, Pune, Mussoorie and Kolkata district-wise review of the Scheme was conducted at the level of Secretary. These Conferences provided an excellent opportunity to have one-to-one interaction with the Collectors, who play a pivotal role in the implementation of these Schemes in the District. Besides, these Conferences also helped in a big way in early operationalisation of Scheme in the newly selected 150 districts.
The Government is committed to eliminate child labour in all its forms and is moving in this direction in a targeted manner. The multipronged strategy being followed by the Government to achieve this objective also found its echo during the recent discussions held in the Parliament on the Private Member’s Bill tabled by Shri Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi. It was unanimously recognized therein that the problem of child labour, being inextricably linked with poverty and illiteracy, cannot be solved by legislation alone, and that a holistic, multipronged and concerted effort to tackle this problem will bring in the desired results.

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Friday, April 10, 2009

Dhoni Captains The World - When Will An Indian Leader Do That?


Recently, Wisden, The Book of Cricket, introduced its Inaugural Wisden XI, their Cricket Team of the world's best 11 players. Their aim is to "recognise the best Test cricketers of the calendar year, and to endorse Test cricket as the highest, most skilled, form of the game, the least subject to the intrusion of time."

According to Wisden, the criteria for selection are simple: the best eleven to play a Test match, no matter the opposition, guided by performances in 2008, and taking into consideration the amount of Test cricket they played in the year, the quality of their opponents, and that indefinable blend of class and form.

We were delighted to see that the Indian Captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was chosen by Wisden to be the Captain of Wisden XI. Besides Dhoni, four other Indian Cricketers were selected, including the great Sachin Tendulkar, recognized by many to be the Greatest Cricketer ever, even eclipsing the legendary Don Bradman of Australia.
Behind India's five, the team included two players each from Australia & South Africa and one player each from England & West Indies. (see content.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/398701.html)
Ian Bishop, the former West Indies great bowler, chose Dhoni as Captain because "his charisma, which seems to permeate the Indian dressing-room and bring the best out of his team". We could not agree more.

The Indian Cricket Team was a superb collection of players well before Dhoni became its Captain. But, the Indian Team was regarded as a soft and brittle team which succumbed when challenged by the aggressive, sometimes bullying Australian Team. We recall an Australian writer telling an Indian commentator (in www.bbc.com) that the"Indian players were good, middle class boys whereas the Australians were a team of "goondas" or a thuggish group of nasties".

Dhoni changed the character of the Indian team. Under his leadership, the Indian Team became the aggressor with players like Harbhajan Singh (another selection in the Wisden XI) getting penalized for being too aggressive and trash talking. The "new" Indian team defeated Australia in their first series under Dhoni's leadership. We recall an article about this series in bbc.com that remarked that "the Indian Team played like Australia and the Australian Team played like India".

This was due to Dhoni. Under his leadership, the Indian Team changed from being a brilliant but brittle team to a mentally tough, indomitable team which found ways to convert potential defeats into victories. It is because of these mental qualities that the Indian Team, captained by Dhoni, recently won its first ever series against New Zealand in New Zealand.


Wisden chose India's opening batsman, Virender Sehwag as Wisden's Leading Cricketer in the World, 2008, a singular honor. We love Sehwag's selection but what matters more to us is the main reason for his selection. What was this reason?
Wisden said "Sehwag did so by taking the task of opening Test innings to a new level. He sought, and often achieved, mental domination (emphasis ours) from the first ball by scoring faster than any other opening batsman has ever done on a regular basis in Test cricket: 85 runs per 100 balls in the calendar year, without any soft opponents; Sehwag also scored at 120 per 100 balls in one-day internationals." (see content.cricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/398689.html ).
Wow! An Indian Batsman described as having "sought and often achieved mental domination". This is a dream come true for life long fans like us.

In this blog, we have bemoaned the fact that India's leaders have made India a soft country, a country that is forever praised (in a left handed way) for its "tolerance" and is feared by no one. This is why, we believe, India is always attacked and bullied by terrorist groups in India's neighborhood and India is always taken for granted on the world stage.
When will a leader emerge in India like Mahendra Singh Dhoni who can change India's attitude, its spirit and add mental toughness to the other great qualities & successes of India? We await that day. Until then, we are willing to support a "Dhoni For Prime Minister" campaign.
Editor's Note: The batting order for the Wisden XI is Virender Sehwag (India), Graeme Smith (South Africa), Ricky Ponting (Australia), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Kevin Pietersen (England), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India), Harbhajan Singh (India), Mitchell Johnson (Australia), Dale Steyn (South Africa) and Zaheer Khan (India).
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