Violence Begets Violence
The fierce battle of survival in the context of the present globalization-liberalization intensifies the group clashes throughout the country, particularly in Assam, and the ruling classes facing acute economic crisis will look forward for the fascistic forces to rise to power to save them. So the huge 'black' and dirty money helps strengthen the ploy.
Gautam Chaudhuri, Delhi

Sailendra nath Ghosh
Born on April 19, in 1923 in the sleepy village of Sapmara in Diamond Harbour subdivision of North 24 parganas West Bengal, Sailendra Nath Ghosh arrived into an unjust world. His early impressions would have been of the rich and sensitive ecosystems of rural Bengal that are now endangered, indeed almost obliterated—an ecosystem uneasily balancing agronomy and land rights, family ties and fish stocks, aquatic biodiversity and riverine navigation. He was born to middle class parents who soon became paupers since they were trapped in a century old feudal system.

An outstanding student expected to top in 1940 moved to the then Communist Party of Pre-Independence India as a freedom fighter and party worker in 1938, in 1940 he was an adult education worker of the party and met Shefali his late wife, a co-worker and freedom fighter in the party.

From 1953 to 1957, he was the Secretary, Department of Economics of the Communist Party of India. In 1957, he moved to the Congress Party of India and was the Research Officer for the AICC Economic Review from 1958 to 1959.

He was awarded a Doctorate (Honoris Kocausa) by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in 1959. He joined the Petroleum Information Service (later Renamed the Bureau of Petroleum and Chemical studies of the Government of India) in 1961 and remained there until 1974 as the director. From 1973 to 1974 he was the Member Secretary of the Government of India High Powered Committee for the Review of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). (The Malaviya Committee) He was a member of the Government of India Delegation to the World Petroleum Congress at Tokyo in 1975.

He has been a freelance writer and social and economic reform activist since his retirement from Government service in 1977, in addition to being with the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR) Fellow from 1978 to 1981.

This may be why Sailen Ghosh always knew he would have to change the world. After a stellar career in energy policy and ecological research, Sailen Ghosh, a nonagenerian, has been confined to his home for the last many months, yet with firm faith in the power of the written word. Despite being weak in body today, he had retained his charecteristic strength of will and integrity, and continued to write eloquently from his sick bed.

Sailendra Nath Ghosh left us on the late hours of the 17th of October 2013.
Arindam Bose, New Delhi

Education in the 12th Plan
The 12th plan (2012-17) has been envisaged as the Education Plan and the Prime minister Dr Singh is particularly enthusiastic about education since 2005. Manas Joaarder (MJ) has rnarshaled considerable statistics and information and has shown the hollowness of such claims and past achievements and developments to expose the sham nature of these claims. [Frontier, Autumn Number, Oct 6-Nov 2, 2013, p 53] Even the achievements of some developing countries like Malaysia, Thailand, China, Brazil's records are better to say nothing of developed countries.

Had Indian records on Education were better the writer (MJ) perhaps would have been happy. This is because he has neglected to see that all such third world countries including India, has neglected to see that adopted development patterns subtly imposed by the World Bank, IMF and other lending agencies aims at increasing the stranglehold of big Capital and big corporations, who are intent on imposing high technologies and force the whole economies to gear to depend more on export market instead of developing their own internal domestic market .This is the only way out for developing countries as has been shown by Amit Bhaduri in his recent book "Unnayner Bikalpa Path : Sabar Haathe Kaaz" (Bangla)

Education, particularly tertiary and professional education, has now so evolved that it serves mainly the high tech big capital either in India or in the DCs, particularly the USA. Manas Joarder has not exposed the social and economic role of education. More investment and more care has gone to tertiary education . Still he has rightly shown that University education in India has immensely deteriorated despite its considerable growth and investment. The present writer with his considerable experience in University education in WB has witnessed the gradual erosion of quality in tertiary education in India including that in WB. All of his education was completed in the 1950s when the universities perpetually suffered from financial distress and teachers' emoluments were very low particularly when compared to the present, and pollution and degeneration in most of the universities has become a common knowledge now a days. The writer (MJ) has rightly shown that the emphasis and mind-set of the high ups in the Government falls short of even of their purported aims and claims, though these are questionable and he has issued a warning that "all that glitters is not gold".
M N Majumder, Kalyani

Frontier
Vol. 46, No. 21, Dec 1 - 7, 2013

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