International Mother Language Day, 21 February: Titbits & the theme in 2021

Human beings are endowed with many qualities and one of the qualities is talking /interacting with others. I personally feel if interaction is in mother tongue/mother language both feel happy.  As per an estimate 6500 languages are spoken across the world which is really unique. Some of the languages are spoken by huge numbers of people and are spoken by less number of people. Only eight people speak a language known as Bussu. On the other hand, the top 12 most spoken languages in the world (millions speak) are English, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, French, Arabic, Bangla /Bengali, Russian, Portuguese, Indonesian, Urdu and German. It is noteworthy to mention that globally around 40 per cent of the total population does not have access to an education in a language they speak or understand. Nevertheless, progress is being made in mother tongue-based multilingual education with growing understanding of its importance, particularly in early schooling, and more commitment to its development in public life.

  The idea to celebrate International Mother Language Day was the initiative of Bangladesh. It was approved in 1999 UNESCO General Conference and from 2000 it is being celebrated in the world. “UNESCO believes in the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity for sustainable societies. It is within its mandate for peace that it works to preserve the differences in cultures and languages that foster tolerance and respect for others”. 

The theme of the 2021 International Mother Language Day is, “Fostering multilingualism for

Inclusion in education and society,” recognizes that languages and multilingualism can advance inclusion, and the Sustainable Development Goals’ focus on leaving no one behind.

“UNESCO believes education, based on the first language or mother tongue, must begin from

the early years as early childhood care and education is the foundation of learning.

UNESCO’s celebration of International Mother Language Day calls on policy-makers, educators and teachers, parents and families to scale up their commitment to multilingual education, and inclusion in education to advance education recovery in the context of COVID-19”.

Background of International Mother Language Day: The celebration came up in tribute to the Language Movement sacrificed by the Bangladeshis (then the East Pakistanis). When Pakistan was created in 1947, it had two separate geographical locations: East Pakistan (presently known as Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (known as Pakistan). In 1948, the then Government of undivided Pakistan declared Urdu to be the only national language of Pakistan, albeit Bengali/Bangla was spoken by the majority of people of then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The people of East Pakistan protested. They claimed Bangla/Bengali should be one of the national languages, in addition to Urdu.

Unfortunately to counter the protest, the Government of Pakistan banned public meetings, rallies etc. The students of the University of Dhaka, with the support of the general public, arranged huge rallies and meetings. But unfortunately on 21 February 1952, police opened fire on rallies and killed  Abdus Salam, Abul Barkat, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abdul Jabbar and Shafiur Rahman and also hundreds of others injured. This was a rare incident in history, where people sacrificed their lives for their mother tongue.

Long live International Mother Language Day.

 The following websites have been consulted while writing the article:

1)     https://blog.busuu.com/most-spoken-languages-in-the-world/

2)     https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/motherlanguageday

3)     https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/imld_2021_concept_note_en.pdf

4)     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mother_Language_Day

DDr Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad 

 

Global Trade in Plastics: Few Points from UNCTAD Report

Many of us use plastic at least for marketing purposes because it is easy to carry. As a sequel use of plastic has been creating many issues in the present world.   In this article, a few points about the types of plastics and its trade for the leading countries are presented. The points have been collected from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Report published in  December 2020. So, the article is exclusively based on the points collected from the Report.
1) According to the Report plastic has been creating pollution in the  world. And this pollution has fuelled environmental debate since the 1950s.
2) The plastic life cycle starts when oil and gas are extracted then refined  by the petrochemical companies.  Fossil fuel feed stocks for plastic productions are the outputs of the oil and gas refining process and  the key inputs for virgin plastic polymers.
3) There are about 30 different types of primary plastic polymers in the first stage of the plastic life-cycle.
4) The buyers convert the pellets and fibres into value-added plastic products (intermediate or final )that are tradable internationally.
5) Although there are many plastic products traded internationally, some of these are plastic packaging, synthetic textiles and finished clothes, construction materials and industrial machinery, electrical and electronic goods, beauty and household consumer products, paints , coatings and markings, auto mobile parts etc.
6) Total trade in plastic products (excluding feed stocks and additives) was  US$ 1008 Billion in 2018.
7) It may be mentioned that in case of primary forms of plastic, the United States, Germany and the Republic of Korea were the top three exporters in terms of value. On the other hand, China , Germany and the United States were the  top three importers in 2018.
8) In case of manufactured plastic goods in intermediate form , China  is the main exporting country.
9) On the other hand, in  case of synthetic textiles China is the leading exporting country.
10) The Report also reveals that Bangladesh, Brazil, the Philippines, Egypt , Indonesia and Pakistan are the main importers of intermediate forms of synthetic because this in turn they use  to manufacture final products.

 Before conclusion, I wish  to mention from the Report that the main content of  the research paper is that international trade plays an important role across the life cycle of plastics. “Both the volume and value of trade are higher than commonly estimated and efforts to properly capture such trade face a number of methodological challenges”.

Savitribai Phule: Birthday Tribute & Pronam to the Great Lady

   On 3rd  January , 1831, a great lady, endowed with a holy soul was born  at Naigaon of  present Maharashtra who is still in the heart of millions of Indians because of his noble and great deeds albeit her activities irritated those days some  men in that area. She is none other than Savitribai Phule, who is considered as one of the pioneers of the feminist movement in India by spreading women education.  She started the first school for girls in the country in 1848 at Bhide Wada, Pune. During her activities albeit many men in the society could not tolerate in those days but her husband Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, was one of the pillars supporting her journey.  Because of his support, she was moving alone which in Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s poem, we find “Jodi Tor Dak Shune Keu Na Ase Tobe Ekla Cholo Re (If no one responds to your call, then go your own way alone)”.     Savitribai set up India’s first women’s school consisting of different castes at Bhidewada, Pune and became the first woman teacher in the country. Thus the concept ‘inclusive growth’ can be observed from her activities. It is pertinent to mention that in her lifetime she initiated to set up 18 such schools in the region. Because of her activities, many mainly upper caste people who opposed Dalits education were annoyed. To dampen her spirit, they even threw cow dung and mud at her while she was going to the school. Also, her immense contribution was recorded for abolition of slavery and discrimination on the grounds of caste and race. She is regarded as the mother of Indian feminism.    Mahatma Jyotirao Phule presented Savitribai Phule and his own work in an interview given to the Christian missionary periodical, Dnyanodaya, on 15September 1853, saying, “It did occur to me that the improvement that comes about in a child due to the mother is very important and good. So those who are concerned with the happiness and welfare of this country should definitely pay attention to the condition of women and make every effort to impart knowledge to them if they want the country to progress. With this thought, I started the school for girls first. But my caste brethren did not like that I was educating girls and my own father threw us out of the house. Nobody was ready to give space for the school nor did we have money to build it. People were not willing to send their children to school but Lahuji Ragh Raut Mang and Ranba Mahar convinced their caste brethren about the benefits of getting educated”.      

   Savitribai Phule was not scared of her death. She and her adopted son, Yashwant, started a clinic to treat those affected by the worldwide Pandemic of the Bubonic Plague when it occurred around Nalasopara in 1897. She came to know that the son of Pandurang Babaji Gaekwad had contracted the Plague in the Mahar settlement outside of Mundhwa. She immediately rushed there and carried him on her back to the hospital. In the process, Savitribai Phule caught the Plague and died on the night of 10th March 1897.

On the occasion of her birthday, I extend my respectful Pronam to her. 

The following websites were consulted while writing the article:

1)    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savitribai_Phule

2)    https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/who-was-savitribai-phule-remembering-indias-first-woman-teacher

3)    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekla_Chalo_Re

4)    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Pune-university-to-be-renamed-after-Savitribai-Phule

 Dr Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad

Few important findings from FAO’s Report on Fish

 

Nature has created many things in the world of which again many are known to us and many are unknown. Fish is an item which contains omega-3 fatty acids. Incidentally our bodies don't produce omega-3 fatty acids so we should get them through the food. Two omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish - EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).These essential nutrients keep our heart and brain healthy. In addition, fish provides nutrients and micronutrients that are essential to cognitive and physical development, especially for the children. Fish is popular in the world and many varieties are available. In India fish is popular among the Bengali, Assamese, Odia, Malayali, many tribes of north-east and others. It is commonly said that most of the festivals and functions like marriage, house-warming etc., Bengali people irrespective of caste offer fish to the guests. However, fish supplies are failing to meet demand and there are major shortages in some critically poor countries where they are needed most. Worldwide, little more than 250 million people depend directly on fisheries and aquaculture for their livelihoods and millions are employed in fisheries and aquaculture value chains such as processing or marketing. Many poor people often rely on fishing as a primary source of income. These small-scale fishers are particularly vulnerable as fish stocks diminish. Increased productivity from sustainable fisheries and aquaculture can be a driver for rural development by mitigating risks to livelihoods and contributing to income generation and employment. Improving the productivity of fisheries and aquaculture is vital to reduce hunger and poverty for millions in the developing world. Sustainable, productive fisheries and aquaculture improve food and nutrition security, increase income and improve livelihoods, promote economic growth and protect our environment and natural resources. Anyway, Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Report on “Life below water Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources” (www.fao.org/sdg-progress-report/en/#sdg-14) portrays gloomy picture about fishery. Few points are presented from the Report. The first and foremost point is that, “Oceans are the world’s largest ecosystem, home to nearly a million known species, and play a vital role in regulating the global climate system. However, their ability to continue supporting the global population’s economic, social and environmental needs is being compromised. Despite some efforts in conserving oceans, decades of irresponsible exploitation have led to an alarming level of degradation. The sustainability of global fishery resources continues to decline, though at a reduced rate, and while many countries have made progress in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, a more concerted effort is needed. Increased support for small-scale fishers will be critical in light of the coronavirus pandemic to allow them to continue earning a livelihood and nourishing local communities”. Few other important points are:

Ø  Although global marine fish landings is  relatively steady at around 80 million tonnes since 1995, the sustainability of world fishery resources has been declining.

Ø  The proportion of fish stocks sustainably declined from 90 percent in 1974 to 65.8 percent in 2017.

Ø  The good news is that despite the continuous deterioration, the rate of decline has slowed down over the past decade.

Ø  Geographically, there are great variations in the proportion of sustainable fish stocks.

Ø  Some regions are experiencing significant increases in fishing on their stocks. Others have good rates of stock recovery.

Ø  In 2017, the Mediterranean and Black Sea continued to have the highest percentage of stocks fished at unsustainable levels (62.5 percent), followed by the Southeast Pacific (54.5 percent) and Southwest Atlantic (53.3 percent). On the other hand, the Eastern Central Pacific, Southwest Pacific, Northeast Pacific, and Western Central Pacific had the lowest proportion (13–22 percent) of stocks fished at biologically unsustainable levels.

Before winding up, I wish to mention that in 1975, WorldFish was set up as an international, non-profit research organization with headquarters in Penang, Malaysia, and offices in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. WorldFish’s mission is to harness the potential of fisheries and aquaculture to reduce poverty and hunger in developing countries. It is evident that worldwide different organisations have been working to scale up fish production. Also in the context of our country, it may be mentioned that the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) was established in 2006 as an autonomous organization under the administrative control of the Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Government of India to enhance fish production and productivity in the country and to coordinate fishery development in an integrated and holistic manner. An extensive range of fishery development activities viz., intensive aquaculture in ponds and tanks, culture based capture fisheries in reservoirs, Coastal Aquaculture, Marine-culture, SeaWeed cultivation, establishment of infrastructure, fishing harbours and fish landing centres, fishing dressing centres and solar drying of fish, domestic marketing, deep sea fishing and tuna processing, ornamental fisheries, trout culture, artificial reefs technology upgradation and capacity building of fishermen and fish farmers are being supported through the State Governments/Implementing agencies.

The following websites have also been consulted while writing the article:

1)      https://www.google.com/search?q=importance+of+fish&rlz

2)      https://www.worldfishcenter.org/why-fish

3)      http://nfdb.gov.in

 Dr Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad Dated 12/11/2020

 

Forests Sine Qua Non for Human Lives: Few Facts from Recent Reports

The forests have great importance for survival of human beings as we depend on forests because forests provide us wood, air, and also offer watershed protection, prevent soil erosion and mitigate climate change. It is estimated that the world’s forests house more than 50 percent of the world’s plants and animal species. The highest biodiversity ever recorded on land is in the Amazon rainforest, specifically the area where the Amazon meets the Andes Mountains in Peru and Ecuador. The forests in Borneo, New Guinea, north-western South America and Central America, and the Congo Basin are other hotbeds of species richness. Also the statistics reveal that some of these forests accommodate more than 300 species of trees and plants in each hectare. While the exact number is still being debated, scientists agree that the world’s forests have hundreds of billions of trees. According to an estimate in 2015 in the world there were three trillion trees, including 1.4 trillion in the tropics and subtropics, 700 billion in boreal areas, and 600 billion in temperate regions. It is estimated that 15.3 billion trees are cut down every year and 46 percent of the world’s trees have been cleared over the past 12,000 years. It is pertinent to mention that boreal areas comprise the northern biotic area characterized especially by dominance of coniferous forests. On the other hand, the temperate regions are part of the earth's surface lying between the tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle in the Northern Hemisphere or between the tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle in the Southern Hemisphere, and having a climate that is warm in the summer, cold in the winter, and moderate in the spring and fall. Based on the recent publication few facts are presented here.  According to the latest data based on  the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020, the proportion of forest area of the world’s land area has gradually dwindled from 31.9 percent in 2000 (4.2 billion hectares) to 31.5 percent in 2010, further declined to 31.2 percent (4.1 billion hectares) in 2020. Also the data reveal that forest area losses amounted to almost 100 million hectares in the past two decades, however the rate of loss has slightly slowed down within the past ten years. Some of the facts across the world are presented for the benefit of readers and researchers.

·         Most of Asia as well as Europe and Northern America showed an overall increase in forest area from the year 2000 to year 2020, due to afforestation and landscape restoration efforts and natural expansion of forests in those regions.

·         Large forest area losses were reported in the past twenty years in Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa and South-Eastern Asia. These losses were mainly due to the conversion of forest land for agricultural use for crops and grazing.

·          Least developed countries (LDCs) and landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) are particularly affected by forest area losses.

·         In Latin America and the Caribbean, the forest losses decreased in 2010-2020 compared to the previous decade, while increases were observed especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-Eastern Asia.

The following websites have been consulted for writing the article:

1)    https://news.mongabay.com/2016/03/10-facts-about-forests-for-international-forest-day

2)    http://www.fao.org/sdg-progress-report/en/#sdg-15

 

 

Dr Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad

 

Birthday Tribute to Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar: A Philanthropic Protagonist

      From Raja Ram Mohan Roy to Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, all the leading personalities of the nineteenth century (including Gurudev Rabindranath and Swami Vivekananda) were in one way or another influenced by 'universal rationalism' and because of them many social reforms took place in those days in Bengal.  Among the top leading personalities, on 26September in 1820 Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay/ presently many Bengalis write Banerjee instead of Bandyopadhyay i.e. inter changeably used) was born in then Bengal, present West Bengal of India. Because of his immense knowledge and wisdom, he is known as Vidyasagar means ‘Knowledge of Ocean’. He was also known as ‘Dayar Sagar’ or ‘Karunar Sagar’ (meaning ocean of kindness) because of his generous nature and kindness. His enormous contribution for the development of the society is gratefully remembered by all not only in India but also in Bangladesh which I observed when I was in Bangladesh. He was asocial reformer and advocated widow remarriage and worked against polygamy. Because of his initiative, the Widow Remarriage Act was passed in 1856 making the widow marriage legal.   Ishwar Chandra ji worked relentlessly to deliver equal education to all men and women irrespective of their caste, religion and gender. He was a great figure for the promotion of women education. According to him, with education only women can live in society with dignity. Vidyasagar ji lobbied for girls’ school and for this; he went door to door requesting heads of families to allow their daughters to admit inthe schools. And it is believed that he could open 35 schools for girls throughout Bengal where around 1300 students were enrolled. It is pertinent to mention that because of his hard labour and subsequent support received from John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune, the first girls’ school in India, the Bethune School was established on 7 May, 1849 in Calcutta, now Kolkata. From1 May 1855, Vidyasagar was appointed as the Principal of Sanskrit College and also as Assistant Inspector of Bengali Schools in four districts of southern Bengal: Nadia, Hooghly, Burdwan and Medinipur. He toured the ends of four districts. One of his achievements was to establish a total of 20 'Model' /Adarsh Bangla schools, five in each district from 22 August 1855 to 14January 1858.He worked as a Sanskrit professor in Sanskrit College, Calcutta. While he was principal of the college undertook some reforms and one was admission of students belonging to marginalised groups (present SC/ST) as earlier they were not allowed admission. Further, when he was Professor in Sanskrit College successfully included English and Bengali as medium of learning, in addition to Sanskrit. During his lifetime, Vidyasagar wrote many books and thus enriched the education system. In present days, he is remembered inmany ways, inter alia of which are: Vidyasagar Setu, a bridge over the Hooghly River in West Bengal; Vidyasagar College in Kolkata is named after him, as well as Vidyasagar University in Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal; for his selfless service for the marginalised people of then Bihar present Jharkhand, a railway station has been named as Vidyasagar Station in Jamtara district of Jharkhand and Indian Post and Telegraph Department issued commemorative stamp in the name of Vidyasagar  in 1970 on occasion of his 150 birth anniversary.       In addition to above, I have observed many people across India keep their son’s name Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar/ Vidyasagar (prefix as family name). When I visited Bangladesh I was astonished to observe his popularity among the people of Bangladesh.   Vidyasagar ji although had passed away on 29 July, 1891 but many still remember across India and Bangladesh. Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore respectfully in 1891, soon after the death of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar ji wrote, “One wonders, how God, in the process of producing forty million Bengalis, produced a man.”

Dr Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad

 

 

COVID-19 and World Economic Situation: A Glimpse  

COVID-19 has created havoc in the world as every country has been suffering quantitatively   and qualitatively and economic crisis is shuddering.  Let me first present quantitative data in this context and as per South China Morning Post (14/9/2020), altogether   confirmed COVID-19 cases were 28,999,180 (about 3 Crore). And unfortunately, total deaths across the world were 923,994 and cases of three top countries as per the number of deaths are concerned, were USA 194,081, 131,625 in Brazil and in India 79,722.  While talking about the qualitative data, I am presenting facts and figures from the e-book, “COVID-19 and Global Food Security” published by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), 2020. As per the publication, “little more than half of the world population is currently under some form of social distancing to contain the health crisis”. Further, as sequel of COVID-19 and social distancing etc., millions of businesses have been closed. The International Labour Organization has predicted around 200 million workers might lost their job because of COVID-19.  In the United States, virtually 22 million people lost their jobs by the first part of April 2020. In view of the grim situation, the Governments in Europe and the United States have promised unprecedented fiscal and monetary incentive measures to reimburse for the income losses of businesses and workers and to contain an unavoidable economic crisis. “But the relief responses of low- and middle-income countries have thus far been more limited”. Further, it is evident from the publication that 140 million people (20 % from the present level) could be in the group of extreme poverty (based on $1.90 poverty line) in 2020 which is very unfortunate.  This in turn would lead to food insecurity, low purchasing power of the people.

It is evident that COVID-19 is leading to global economic recession in 2020. And looking at the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) it is evident that in 2020 across the world many countries will face negative GDP. In one line GDP means, the total value of goods produced and services produced in a country during one year.  For the negative GDP, few data are presented here from IFPRI publication. In the world real GDP might scale down to (−) 5.0 percent and the prediction for the developed countries and developing countries are (−) 6.2 percent and (−) 3.6 respectively. And the real change in the GDP for other regions are, Africa south of Sahara (−) 8.9 percent, South Asia (−) 5.0 percent, Southeast Asia (−) 7.0 percent and Latin America (−) 5.9 percent. So it is evident that worldwide negative growth is observed because of COVID-19.  And if growth is negative then its impact will be awful on ‘Multiplier Effect’. For the benefit of readers I wish to mention that in macroeconomics, Multiplier is a factor that measures how much an endogenous variable changes in response to a change in exogenous variable. One simple example is if more people get employment then their purchasing power will scale up and they will purchase more goods and commodities and thus industry will flourish, economy will develop. On the other hand, high unemployment because of job lost will have bad ‘Multiplier Effect’. Anyway, in case of our country, I wish to mention, from the publication that, the Union Government’s relief package, popularly known as Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (Prime Minister’s Scheme for the poor), is meant at providing safety nets for those badly hit by the COVID-19 lockdown. “However, it is inadequate in the face of the enormous scale of the problem. Nobel Prize economists Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerji say that the government should have been much bolder with the package’s social transfer schemes. The $22 billion in spending is only 0.85% of India’s GDP”.

Before conclusion, from the IFRRI Report I am quoting, “While the agriculture and food sectors have been identified as essential in most countries, we also assume some supply disruption caused by reduced labor mobility (for example, for seasonal migrant labor) and further, that perishable farm products suffer greater postharvest losses of 5% due to logistics problems and demand fallout”.

Dr Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad