Tuesday, April 19, 2011

[ZESTCaste] ‘Separate electorate necessary to empower Dalits'

http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/18/stories/2011041857360400.htm

Karnataka

'Separate electorate necessary to empower Dalits'

Staff Correspondent

KOLAR: Varthur R. Prakash, MLA, has said that the Union and State
governments should consider providing separate electorate for Dalits
and backward classes people as advocated by B.R. Ambedkar in the Poona
Pact.

"Dalits and backward classes are yet to enjoy political power even six
decades after the Independence. These sections of society can achieve
emancipation only when they get political power," Mr. Prakash said
after inaugurating a function to mark Ambedkar's 120th birth
anniversary, at Arahalli on Sunday.

He suggested that Union Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily and Minister of
State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa, both of whom represent Lok Sabha
constituencies where Dalits and backward classes people form a major
section, to take initiative in this direction. He proposed a movement
to create awareness in this regard.

As only the rich could contest in the present election system, only
the "creamy layer" of Dalits and backward classes would be able to
enjoy political power. Separate electorate was the only solution to
overcome this situation, he added.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Yuvaka Sangha had organised the programme.


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[ZESTCaste] RPI for dalit, adivasi members in Lokpal Bill drafting panel

 

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5128477

19/04/2011
RPI for dalit, adivasi members in Lokpal Bill drafting panel

Lucknow, Apr 19 (PTI) Demanded inclusion of two members of dalit and
adivasi communities in Jan Lokpal Bill drafting committee, the
Republican Party of India today said a letter have been sent to the
Prime Minister in this regard.
"I want two representatives of dalit and adivasi communities in the
Jan Lokpal Bill drafting committee and have written in this regard to
PM Manmohan Singh and the committee president Pranab Mukherjee," RPI
chief Ramdas Athawale told reporters here.
Taking pot-shots at Baba Ramdev, Athawale said anti- corruption
crusader Anna Hazare should not take support of the yoga guru as "he
has amassed huge amount of black money".
"Hazare should not take support of Ramdev and film actors as they have
amassed huge amount of black money," he said.
On RPI''s electoral prospects in Uttar Pradesh, Athawale said the
party''s organisation base was in place in all the districts and it
would contest all 403 seats in the state polls, due next year.
"We will go it alone, as of now," he said.

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[ZESTCaste] Atrocities against Dalits on rise in NDA rule: RJD

 

http://www.zeenews.com/news700560.html

Atrocities against Dalits on rise in NDA rule: RJD
Updated on Sunday, April 17, 2011, 21:35

Patna: The opposition RJD on Sunday slammed the NDA government for the
alleged rise in attacks on dalits in Bihar citing the recent report of
arson at Harchanda village in Darbhanga district as the latest
instance.

"The dalits are being attacked and traumatised by influential people
right under the nose of the NDA government," RJD Chief General
Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Kripal Yadav told reporters here
after returning from Harchanda village.

The dalits of Harchanda village were living in constant fear of those
people who torched their houses a fews days ago and broke the statute
of the dalit icon B R Ambedkar and vandalised a temple, he said.

The police have not arrested the real perpetrators even though the
number of dalits, arrested and booked under various provisions of the
law was high, Yadav said.

State RJD President Ramchandra Purve has demanded a compensation of
Rs. five lakh each to the aggrieved dalit families and adequate
security to them, besides repair of damaged Ambedkar's statute and
dalit's temple, besides the arrest of attackers and their time-bound
prosecution.

The RJD will launch a statewide agitation soon if the state government
failed to accept their demands, he said.

PTI

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[ZESTCaste] PhD student’s death sparks protests

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/phd-students-death-sparks-protests/777954/

PhD student's death sparks protests

Deepu Sebastian Edmond Posted online: Tue Apr 19 2011, 01:35 hrs
New Delhi : The death of a PhD student at the National Institute of
Immunology (NII), which police are treating as an unnatural death, on
Monday led to protests and demands for an independent inquiry into the
case.

Linesh Mohan Gawli, a 27-year-old Dalit from Dindori in Jabalpur, was
found dead on Sunday. It is suspected that he took his own life by
consuming poison.

"His room was locked from inside. As of now, it is a case of unnatural
death. He had taken poison. We have sent the viscera for a chemical
analysis to find out the exact cause of death. The report is awaited,"
said Vijay Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (South).

A group of students from Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Indian
Institute of Mass Communication protested outside the NII on Monday.
They demanded an independent inquiry into the death of Gawli.

The students claimed this was the third such incident in as many years.

"In February 2010, a PhD candidate committed suicide. Another student
had done it earlier. We suspect work pressure forced these students to
take the extreme step," said Sandeep Singh, president of the All India
Students' Association.

"Students sign in at the labs at 8 in the morning and put in a minimum
of 10 hours each day. In extreme cases, they stay on till 4 in the
morning and return in four hours," said one student.

Administrators of NII were not available for comment.

Four representatives from among the protesting students who were
allowed to meet NII authorities claimed their demand for an
independent inquiry had been rejected.

The NII is a close-knit community of about 50 professors and 400
research scholars.


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[ZESTCaste] It's Reddys vs Velamas in T land

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Its-Reddys-vs-Velamas-in-T-land/articleshow/8022716.cms

It's Reddys vs Velamas in T land
TNN | Apr 19, 2011, 04.12am IST

HYDERABAD: Worried that the Reddy community would be marginalised in
the Telangana region if TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao and his
family continue to call the shots in the separate state movement,
several leaders from this forward community cutting across party lines
are rallying to dilute KCR's hold on the T movement.

Sunday's incident in Ranga Reddy district in which TRS activists
hurled eggs at the convoys of Union petroleum minister Jaipal Reddy
and home minister Sabita Indra Reddy is said to be an offshoot of this
clandestine war going on between the Reddys and the Velama communities
to which KCR belongs.

The Reddys are closing ranks by spreading across the message within
the community that it is only the KCR family (including son and
Sircilla MLA K Taraka Rama Rao and daughter and Telangana Jagruti
president K Kavita) and the Velama community, who would stand to
substantially gain as the Telangana movement gathers strength.

"Chandrasekhar Rao has already taken a stranglehold on the T movement.
In case he is able to deliver Telangana, there would be no political
growth in the region except that of the KCR clan and those of his
community," said a leader from the region.

In terms of numbers, the Velamas constitute a minor section of the
Telangana population while the Reddys are dominant both in numbers and
in clout.

"In order to break KCR's hold on the separate state movement, the
strategy is to strengthen the agitation under the political joint
action committee (JAC) headed by M Kodandaram. Towards this end, once
the TRS distanced itself from the million march held on March 10,
Jaipal Reddy and Sabita Indra Reddy have prevailed upon Kodandaram (a
Reddy himself) to ensure that the event was a success. That is the
reason why the TRS is targeting these two leaders in particular," said
the sources.

Attempting to use Kodandaram as the front man, Jaipal Reddy is said to
be playing a key role in getting together the leaders of his community
in the region.

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[ZESTCaste] Dr. Ambedkar International & Jeewak National Awards 2011 ceremony held at Nagpur (India) on 16th April 2011. [1 Attachment]

 
[Attachment(s) from Dr. Milind Jiwane included below]

* Hon. Shyam Tagade felicitated by Dr. Ambedkar International Award 2011
* Dr. Aglawe, Dr.Dahat, Dupare, Shende, Dr.Tanksale, Bhongade, Ms. Chaware
felicitated by Jeewak Awards 2011.
An eminent organization Jeewak Welfare Society , has organized
National & International Awards Ceremony at Vidharbha Hindi Sahitya
Sammelan Hall, Sitabuldi, Nagpur(India) on Saturday , 16th April 2011 at
6.30 P.M. An eminent personality Hon. Shyam Tagade, Director of Dadasaheb
Phalke Film Nagari, Mumbai felicitated by Dr. Ambedkar International
Award 2011.
On that ceremony, following dignitaries were present.
* Chief Guest : Hon. Dr. Pankaj Chande, Vice Chancellor of Kavi
Kalidas Sansktrit University, Nagpur
*Chairperson : Dr. Milind Jiwane , Chairperson of World Buddhist
Conference 2006 at Nagpur (India)
* Other Jeewak Awardees :
Prof. Dr. Pradeep Aglawe – Jeewak Shikshak (Teacher) Award
Hon. Prabhakar Dupare – Jeewak Patrakarita (Journalism ) Award
Dr. Rajabhau Tanksale- Jeewak Udyojakata (Industrialist) Award
Hon. Suryabhan Shende - Jeewak Samajik (Social ) Award
Hon.Vilas Bhongade- Jeewak Kamgar (Labor ) Award
Ms. Mayuri Chaware - Jeewak Kala (Special ) Award
* Anchor : Mrs. Sulbhashri Sirsat
* Vote of Thanks : Ashok Kolhatkar
With regards.
Mrs. Vandana

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Attachment(s) from Dr. Milind Jiwane

1 of 1 Photo(s)

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Re: [ZESTCaste] People remember Ambedkar's contributions to society

 

Respected Siddhartha Kumar ,
You may be aware that I am moderating http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org
which is running FREE ONLINE eNālandāResearch and Practice UNIVERSITY and
BUDDHIST GOOD NEWS letter to VOTE for BSP ELEPHANT for Social Transformation and Economic Emancipation to attain Ultimate Bliss.
Sending around 3300 emails daily. But Yahoomail and gmail are not working well. Please give your valuable suggestion to overcome this
problem. If you agree I can send one portion of the total emails for you to forward the contents I send to you. you may kindly send some
of your friend's mails to do the same.
with regards and lots of metta
J Chandrasekharan
232LESSON 19 04 2011 Kalaka Sutta At Kalaka s Park FREE ONLINE eNālandā Research and Practice UNIVERSITY and BUDDHIST GOOD NEWS letter to VOTE for BSP ELEPHANT for Social Transformation and Economic Emancipation to attain Ultimate Bliss-Through http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org
THE BUDDHIST
ONLINE GOOD NEWS LETTER
LESSON 232
COURSE PROGRAM
Kalaka Sutta: At Kalaka's Park
On one occasion the Blessed One was staying in Saketaat Kalaka's park. There he addressed the monks: "Monks!"
"Yes, lord," the monks responded.
The Blessed One said: "Monks, whatever in the cosmos — with its devas, Maras, & Brahmas, its generations with their contemplatives& priests royalty & common people — is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, attained, sought after, pondered by the intellect: That do I know. Whatever in the cosmos — with its devas, Maras, & Brahmas, its generations with their contemplatives & priests, their royalty & common people — is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, attained, sought after, pondered by the intellect: That I directly know. That has been realized by the Tathagata, but in the Tathagata[1] it has not been established.[2]
"If I were to say, 'I don't know whatever in the cosmos... is seen, heard, sensed, cognized... pondered by the intellect,' that would be a falsehood in me. If I were to say, 'I both know and don't know whatever in the cosmos... is seen, heard, sensed, cognized... pondered by the intellect,' that would be just the same. If I were to say, 'I neither know nor don't know whatever in the cosmos... is seen, heard, sensed, cognized... pondered by the intellect,' that would be a fault in me.
"Thus, monks, the Tathagata, when seeing what is to be seen, doesn't construe an [object as] seen. He doesn't construe an unseen. He doesn't construe an [object] to-be-seen. He doesn't construe a seer.
"When hearing...
"When sensing...
"When cognizing what is to be cognized, he doesn't construe an [object as] cognized. He doesn't construe an uncognized. He doesn't construe an [object] to-be-cognized. He doesn't construe a cognizer.
Thus, monks, the Tathagata — being the same with regard to all phenomena that can be seen, heard, sensed, & cognized — is 'Such.' And I tell you: There's no other 'Such' higher or more sublime.
"Whatever is seen or heard or sensed
and fastened onto as true by others,
One who is Such — among the self-fettered —
wouldn't further claim to be true or even false.
"Having seen well in advance that arrow
where generations are fastened & hung
— 'I know, I see, that's just how it is!' —
there's nothing of the Tathagata fastened."
MAY YOU BE EVER HAPPY, WELL AND SECURE
MAY YOU LIVE LONG
MAY ALL SENTIENT AND NON-SENTIENT BEINGS BE EVER HAPPY
MAY YOU BE ALWAYS HAVE CALM, QUIET, ALERT,ATTENTIVE AND
EQUANIMITY MIND WITH A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING THAT
NOTHING IS PERMANENT

From: Siddhartha Kumar <mailsiddhartha.k@gmail.com>
To: zestcaste <zestcaste@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, 15 April 2011 6:51 PM
Subject: Re: [ZESTCaste] People remember Ambedkar's contributions to society

 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur/People-remember-Ambedkars-contributions-to-society/articleshow/7988291.cms

People remember Ambedkar's contributions to society
TNN | Apr 15, 2011, 12.51pm IST

KANPUR: The 120th birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar was celebrated with
enthusiasm on Thursday.

Several programmes were organised to commemorate the father of the
Indian constitution. Banners and posters were put by various political
parties at prominent crossings to mark the occasion. The authorities
and the staff of Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and
Technology organised a function. The teachers pledged to adopt the
teachings of Ambedkar.

Local unit of UP Mahila Congress committee, led by secretary Swati
Verma, garlanded Ambedkar's statue. They distributed sweets to the
children of Gadiana, Gopal Nagar and Macharia localities. Pannalal
Kashyap, secretary UP Congress Committee and other activists of the
party organised a function at Rail Bazaar crossing. They pledged to
remove the prevailing casteism in the country.

Ambedkar Young Mens Association, Gwaltoli organised the birth
anniversary as light festival. MLC KK Gautam said that Ambedkar had
dedicated his life for the welfare of dalits and minorities. UP
Pichara Dalit Sanyukt Mahasabha organised a function at E block in
Panki. It leader Pankaj Jaiswal said that Ambedkar had dedicated his
life to remove casteism and for the development of backward castes.

Bhartiya Dalit Panther held a function at Govind Nagar and said that
Ambedkar had taken pledge to remove casteism from the country. A rally
was also taken out by Bhartiya Dalit Panther. A procession was also
taken out which passed through Vivek tiraha, Gwaltoil and chai
Bangalia area. Valmiki Samaj Ambedkar Manch organised a function at
Latouche Road and asked the people to follow the footsteps of
Babasaheb.


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[ZESTCaste] Remembering DR Ambedkar

 

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-15/nagpur/29421294_1_social-justice-dr-ambedkar-babasaheb-ambedkar

Remembering DR Ambedkar
TNN, Apr 15, 2011, 04.57am IST

NAGPUR: "Thanks to the Constitution drafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar,
India has been able to safeguard its democracy while most nations in
the neighbourhood have failed on this front.

Even a person in tattered clothes goes to the polling station to
exercise his franchise making India a vibrant and strong democracy,"
said state social justice minister Shivajirao Moghe while paying
tributes to architect of Constitution on his 120th birth anniversary
on Thursday. At a grand ceremony organised on the occasion here, as
many as 57 individuals and eight institutions from across the state
were conferred with the Dalit Mitra awards. The award, each carrying
`15,000 cash, memento, certificate for individual and `25000 in case
of institutions is given by the social justice department to honour
those contributing towards uplift of the oppressed. Minister for food
and civil supplies Anil Deshmukh, minister of state for social justice
Sachin Aher were guests of honour while Moghe presided over.

"Ambedkar created history by facilitating conversion of lakhs of
people from oppressed classes to Buddhism. The beauty of his action
lies in the fact that not a drop of blood was spilled in this mass
switching over of faiths," said Moghe.

In his address Ahir hoped that those receiving the awards would
inspire others to work in the field of social justice.

Deshmukh reminded that the state was always proactive when it came to
protecting interests of the backward classes. For the nearly 150
welfare schemes that are monitored by the social justice ministry, in
this year's budget the outlay has been increased to `4234 crore.

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[ZESTCaste] Ambedkar, the forgotten free-market economist

http://pragati.nationalinterest.in/2011/04/ambedkar-the-forgotten-free-market-economist/

Ambedkar, the forgotten free-market economist

in Perspective by B Chandrasekaran — April 14, 2011 at 12:45 am


On April 14th the world will celebrate, no matter how ignorantly, the
120th birth anniversary of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar for his role as
chairman of the Constituent Assembly's Drafting Committee, as an icon
of the Dalit community, as the first law minister of independent
India, for his conversion to Buddhism, for his debates with Mahatma
Gandhi—for all possible reasons except for being a radical economist
of his time. That too, a free market economist.

In fact, several scholars have claimed otherwise, the most recent of
them being Anand Teltumbde in a recent issue of the Economic &
Political Weekly writes:

The protagonists of globalisation have tried to project him as a
proponent of the free-market, indeed, as a neoliberal, and have even
gone to the extent of painting him as a monetarist (monetarists are
supposed to be the intellectual initiators of neoliberalism) to claim
him in support of their propaganda. In any case, how many Dalits, even
among the educated ones, know what monetarism is? Ambedkar, who
publicly professed his opposition to capitalism throughout his life,
was thus wilfully distorted to be the supporter of neoliberal
capitalism, which globalisation is!

The truth however is quite on the contrary. While Ambedkar is
routinely portrayed as an intellectual who wrote against capitalism
and free markets, and advocated socialism, a few well-informed writers
like Gail Omvedt have claimed otherwise. Ironically one of the reasons
for the prevailing misconception is the volume of Ambedkar's scholarly
output. With contributions in political science, sociology, law, and
other fields spanning over four decades, much of his work on economics
has been neglected.

This meant that the academic community in India did not go on to
develop Ambedkar's ideas on economics, some of which anticipated
important threads of 20th century Western economic thought, like
"economic and political decision making in an environment of dispersed
knowledge" and "alternative monetary systems (and the) denationalised
production of money". Ambedkar wrote extensively on finance, monetary
economics, banking systems, and interstate financial relations.

Perhaps the only exceptions to the gross neglect of Ambedkar's
writings on economics in India are the works of Srinivasa Ambirajan
and Narendra Jadhav.

Mr Jadhav argues that:

…one finds the widespread ignorance regarding Ambedkar's
contribution as an economist unfortunate. This lack of awareness, to
an extent, could be explained by his phenomenal contributions in other
spheres such as law, religion, sociology, and politics, which might
have overshadowed his contribution to economics. Yet it is surprising
that even the so-called expert studies on the evolution of Indian
economic thought…do not seem to take much cognisance of Ambedkar's
contributions.

There is no work reinterpreting Ambedkar's writings on economics from
a twenty-first century perspective.

Ambedkar was an authority on Indian currency and banking in the early
decades of the 20th century. He was trained under scholars like Edwin
Cannan, Edwin Seligman, John Dewey, James Robinson, and James
Shotwell. Both his MA and PhD degrees (from Columbia University) were
in Economics. He also received a DSc degree in Economics from the
London School of Economics. He was familiar with the works of Carl
Menger, who founded the Austrian School of Economics in the 1870s.
That said, he remained an independent rational thinker, favouring
empiricism and logic, rather than favouring any particular economic
system or ideology.

Ambedkar's magnum opus, The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origins and
Solutions, was first published in 1923. This was republished as the
first volume of the History of Indian Currency and Banking in 1947. In
his forward to the book, Cannan wrote:

I do not share Mr Ambedkar's hostility to the system, nor accept
most of his arguments against it and its advocates. But he hits some
nails very squarely on the head, and even when I have thought him
quite wrong, I have found a stimulating freshness in his views and
reasons. An old teacher like myself learns to tolerate the vagaries of
originality, even when they resist "severe examination" such as that
of which Mr Ambedkar speaks.

Cannan went on to say that "In his practical conclusion, I am inclined
to think, he is right".

In the very first chapter, Ambedkar holds that:

Trade is an important apparatus in a society, based on private
property and pursuit of individual gain; without it, it would be
difficult for its members to distribute the specialised products of
their labour…But a trading society is unavoidably a pecuniary society,
a society which of necessity carries on its transactions in terms of
money.

In fact, the distribution is not primarily an exchange of products
against products, but products against money. In such a society, money
therefore necessarily becomes the pivot on which everything revolves.

With money as the focusing-point of all human efforts, interests,
desires, and ambitions, a trading society is bound to function in a
regime of price, where successes and failures are results of nice
calculations of price-outlay as against price-product.

Essentially, he emphasises that a "sound system of money" is the
foundation for specialisation in production and trade among
individuals in society, without which the prosperity of society would
not be possible.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Ambedkar was an original thinker as
it appears from his skilful analysis of the political economics of
British India. Contrary to popular belief, Ambedkar believed in the
principles of free markets and advocated free banking (against
government monopoly of printing legal tender), gold standard,
decentralised planning, private property rights, economic freedom,
free enterprise and individual liberty. Moreover, Ambedkar understood
the knowledge problem in society and its relevance for decentralised
planning. Ambedkar also vehemently criticised Keynes and others for
favouring Gold Exchange Standard rather than Gold Standard, and
extended the argument of the law of consumption.

The three following examples from Ambedkar's writing substantiate this
view. First, in his statement to the Royal Commission on Indian
Currency and Finance in 1924-25 (whose recommendations established the
Reserve Bank of India) he submitted that:

One of the evils of the Exchange Standard is that it is subject to
management. Now a convertible system is also a managed system.
Therefore by adopting the convertible system we do not get rid of the
evil of management which is really the bane of the present system.
Besides, a managed currency is to be altogether avoided when the
management is to be in the hands of the Government. When the
management is by a bank there is less chance of mismanagement. For the
penalty for imprudent issue, or mismanagement is visited by disaster
directly upon the property of the issuer.

But the chance of mismanagement is greater when it is issued by
Government because the issue of government money is authorised and
conducted by men who are never under any present responsibility for
private loss in case of bad judgement or mismanagement.

Ambedkar thought that the government should not print the currency,
instead the private banks should print and thus there will be
competing currencies with direct responsibility. This is one of the
core principles of the Austrian School of Economics.

Second, on the issues of knowledge problem and decentralised planning
Ambedkar wrote (in his PhD thesis) that:

By centralisation all progress tends to be retarded, all
initiative liable to be checked and the sense of responsibility of
Local Authorities greatly impaired…centralisation conflicts with what
may be regarded as a cardinal principle of good government.

Thus, centralisation, unless greatly circumscribed, must lead to
inefficiency. This was sure to occur even in homogeneous states, and
above all in a country like India where there are to be found more
diversities of race, language, religion, customs and economic
conditions.

In such circumstances there must come a point at which the higher
authority must be less competent than the lower, because it cannot by
any possibility posses the requisite knowledge of all local
conditions. It was therefore obvious that a Central Government for the
whole of India could not be said to posses knowledge and experience of
all various conditions prevailing in the different Provinces under it.
It therefore, necessarily becomes an authority less competent to deal
with matters of provincial administration than the Provisional
Governments, the members of which could not be said to be markedly
inferior, and must generally be equal in ability to those of the
Central Government, while necessarily superior as a body in point of
knowledge.

Ambedkar further went on to say that the only argument on the above
the Government of India could make is that it has "all power in its
hands, not from principle but from necessity. That necessarily arose
out of its constitutional obligations." There are similarities
between Ambedkar and Hayek's view on knowledge problems and therefore
need for decentralisation in planning. Note that Ambedkar wrote these
ideas decades before F A Hayek published his classic article on The
Use of Knowledge in Society (1945).

Third, while reviewing Bertrand Russell's Principles of Social
Reconstruction, Ambedkar pointed out what Russell failed to figure out
in his theses on the law of consumption.

…the utility of an object varies according to the varying
condition of the organism needing satisfaction. Even an object of our
strongest desire like food may please or disgust, according as we are
hungry or have over-indulged the appetite. Thus utility diminishes as
satisfaction increases.

Ambedkar would have been against a Planning Commission with powers to
plan for the whole country without adequate knowledge about it. A good
government cannot issue paper money irrespective of goods and services
produced in the economy. There is a greater convergence in the
writings of Ambedkar and those of B R Shenoy, Hayek, Ambirajan and
Ludwig Von Mises. However, there is virtually no literature exploring
the possibility of understanding of these writings from a comparative
perspective. The economic historians have starved young minds by
focusing the politically motivated debates for far too long.

B Chandrasekaran works in the area of public policy and blogs at Hayek
Order. This essay is based on a paper presented by him at the Austrian
Scholars Conference 2011 organised by the Ludwig Von Mises Institute.


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[ZESTCaste] Calm finally returns to Gandhi Vasahat area

 

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-17/rajkot/29444119_1_communal-clashes-strict-vigil-peace-march

Calm finally returns to Gandhi Vasahat area
TNN, Apr 17, 2011, 10.36pm IST

RAJKOT: Normalcy has returned to Gandhi Vasahat area of the city
which, on Ambedkar Jayanti, had witnessed communal clashes over
desecration of a statue of Dr B R Ambedkar. However, police continued
to maintain a strict vigil though no incident was reported on Sunday.

Sporadic incidents of violence continued to haunt the area after April
14. A house was set on fire on Friday night and some properties too
were damaged. Police commissioner Geetha Johri and local politicians
took out a peace march a few days ago even as combing in the sensitive
area was intensified.

Observers said that in most of the recent cases of rioting, the
miscreants were mainly those who were either into liquor or gambling
business. Even a small issue was enough to trigger communal riots in
the area and, therefore, it is important to put behind the bars the
regular trouble-makers, they added.

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