Panjab University Research Journal (Arts)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
PANJAB UNIVERSITY RESEARCH JOURNAL (ARTS) Volume XXXIV Nos. 1 & 2 April - Oct. 2007 (Diamond Jubilee Year) Editor-in-Chief M.R. KHURANA PANJAB UNIVERSITY CHANDIGARH Patron Vice-Chancellor R.C.Sobti Editorial Board M.R.Khurana (Editor-in-Chief) Manju Jaidka (Editor) Members Anil Raina (English) Dharmanand Sharma (Philosophy) I.D.Gaur (History) Jagmohan Chopra (Hindi) Rajesh Gill (Sociology) Ronki Ram (Political Science) Sanjay Wadwalkar (Mass Communication) Shankarji Jha (Sanskrit) Shelley Walia (English) V.V.Upmanyu (Psychology) Technical Production Jatinder Moudgil, Manager, P.U.Press, Chandigarh Subash Chander, Manager, Publication Bureau, P.U., Chandigarh Officer Staff Asha Rani Office Panjab University Research Journal (Arts) Department of Economics Arts Block-III (Top Floor) Chandigarh- 160014 Copyright 2007: Panjab University Research Journal (Arts) It is hereby asserted that all the rights with respect to the material published in this journal are vested in the publisher. Therefore, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or translated, in any for, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Inquiries regarding reproduction in any manner, in whole or part, in English or any other language may by addressed to the Editor-Chief, Panjab University Research Journal (Arts). However, the Editor-in-Chief takes no personal responsibility for the opinions or views expressed in the articles published in this Journal. PURJA is a liberal journal and often publishes opinions and views of the writers that are not strictly in consonance with those of its editorial policies. Contents Articles Page From the Editor’s Desk M. R. Khurana i–v Editor-in-Chief Manju Jaidka Editor Education and Quality Gaps in Indian Workforce: G.K.Chadha 1-38 What Does Future Demand ! Globalization, Public Sphere and Community Media: Abhilaksh Likhi 39-50 Issues, Initiatives and the Road Ahead Johl Diversification Scheme: A Critique H.S.Shergill 51-62 Stock Prices and Money Velocity in India: A Note Debashis Acharya & 63-70 Arun Kumar Goaplswamy Domesticating the Global: The Global as an Entity in Yasmin Ibrahim 71-78 the Home Space Globalization and the “Unfinished Business” of David Waterman 79-88 Postcolonial Studies Identity and ‘Erasure’ in Salman Rushdie’s Ahmad M.S.Abu Baker 89-98 Midnight’s Children Globalization and Resistance Akram Khalifa 99-106 FDI Determinants in India Sanjay Kaushik & 107-122 Ashok Kumar Muslim Communal Politics and Partitition of India: Amarjit Singh 123-136 A Historiographic Resume From the Editor’s Desk Ever since the onset of the ongoing phase of globalization in the aftermath of the Second World War, world community has been experiencing a lot of churning. The process of economic liberalization and market reforms attendant on globalization, while exposing economies to intense global competition, has also thrown open several opportunities and challenges for almost all economies of the world, be they rich or poor, or large or small. It is being argued that capitalization of these opportunities can hold nations in good stead and place them on a higher trajectory of socio-economic modernization. By implication, economies failing on this front, are bound to face disastrous consequences. To put the record straight, these challenges and opportunities make the global socio-economic set-up ever- evolving with rapid changes in several possible manifestations. As an integral component of the existing set up, we, the global citizens of today, are increasingly moving into a world of ideas. The emergence of ideas is catching up, so much so that the world of commodities, which until now seemed to be ruling the roost as an important parameter of socio-economic development and that of material abundance of the developing societies, is now getting left behind as a beaten old track. The nuances of ongoing socio-economic, cultural development amply reveals that the physical volume of goods as an indicator of socio-economic advancement of our society is increasingly becoming a matter of bygone era. The emerging knowledge-driven economy seems to be progressively making a new demand on its creators, managers and explorers. This, in turn, is posing new challenges and opening new opportunities for the traditional centres of knowledge, i.e., the institutes of higher learning as well as research and development and management institutes. In view of this very fact, it is being observed that in the emerging scenario, the existence, emergence and persistence of ideas are capable of spelling doom for posterity, as also bestowing hitherto unheard of prosperity of several forms. In either case, ideas are going to capture the centre stage in the evolving socio-economic, cultural and technological set up primarily because they are going to condition our growth and survival strategies. It is the currency of ideas which is growingly assuming the utmost importance in the globalizing socio-economic set-up in which the first-mover advantage always remains with their originators, be they individuals or countries. We strongly feel that the uniqueness of the evolving growth process which primarily focuses on ideas needs to be taken cognizance of, comprehended and analysed so that its contribution towards development policy is brought out in ample measure. With these considerations in mind, we have in this volume put together the ideas emanating from various disciplines such as English, Economics and History. The lead article is by G..K. Chadha who in his paper “Education and Quality Gaps in Indian Workforce: What Does Future Demand?” raises some pertinent issues as assume tremendous significance from the view point of the growth of the Indian economy in the emerging scenario. Thanks to the intense competition unleashed by the growing process of globalization, an educated workforce is becoming an indispensable pre-requisite for improving productivity levels, cost efficiency and competitive strength of the developing (i) economies, including India; the emerging technology-institutional-human interfaces are relentlessly defying the frontiers of ordinary human capabilities, most ostensibly the glaring educational deficiencies of the people at work. The paper argues that the Indian workers’ human capability index, most expressly reflected by their educational attainments, has undoubtedly been improving over time, yet, as late as the middle of the present decade, there are various economic sectors, and various activities within each sector, where the element of human capability continues to be vulnerable; a vast majority of workers, especially those in the rural areas, are still illiterate or semi-educated. Professor Chadha pleads for (i) a thorough change in our approach towards education, learning, if we can, from the experience of many other developing economies, (ii) special attention for education in rural area, (iii) a positive policy bias for female education, (iv) specific regional policy outfits, and (v) training/ retraining of the existing workforce. Abhilaksh Likhi in his paper “Globalization, Public Sphere and Community Media: Issues, Initiatives and the Road Ahead” endeavours to look at the struggle of local communities to create democratic media systems as transnational conglomerates consolidate their control of the global mediascape. Besides exploring today’s global scenario and the various ways in which the local communities make use of various technologies such as radio, television, print and computer networks for purposes of community communication, he delineates the broader theoretical and philosophical issues that surround the relationship between communication, community, media systems and the public sphere in civil society. In this context, the paper also brings to the fore the scant scholarly attention that community media has received over the years despite efforts towards bringing about a New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO). Enabling a seamless fusion of theory and practice, the paper through illustration of grass roots initiatives from around the world, seeks to fathom the diversity and commonality of community media. It asserts that community media, in the future global context, will play a critical role in promoting cultural production and communicative democracy within and between local communities. In his critique of the Johl Diversification Scheme, Prof. H.S.Shergill argues that the said diversification scheme (2002) accepted and adopted by Punjab Government to shift 10 lakh hectares out of the cultivation of wheat and rice to other crops, is full of serious flaws. In his opinion, the scheme on implementation would make the farmers suffer a net loss of Rs.13, 280/- per hectare per year, even after receiving the proposed cash compensation of Rs.12, 500/- per hectare. The other strata of the society such as the farm labourers, Harvesting Combine and Tractor owners, Commission agents, Marketing Committees and Mandi Board, Labour working in grain markets, and Transport and Truck owners, etc., would also tend to lose. The total loss to Punjab economy as a whole from such a move, in his opinion, measures to be to the tune of Rs.2778.99 crore, i.e., 17.54 per cent of state domestic product originating in agriculture. In addition, this scheme will not only have an adverse impact on country’s food security, but also is unworkable due to its unfulfilable pre-conditions. He forcefully argues