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EMINENT LECTURE BY SHRI. MANOHAR JOSHI
FORMER SPEAKER LOKSABHA
On “Qualities of a Good Political Leader”
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 30th OCTOBER’ 2007 |
Mr. Manohar Joshi, the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and former Speaker of Lok Sabha visited MIT-SOG on 30th October 2007. He came up on essential qualities of a political leader to the participants of MIT-SOG.
While addressing to the participants he said that there is absolute necessity of trained politicians and the dream comes true through MIT-SOG. Today people do not respect politicians, but once upon a time, a politician was treated like God. (E.g. Leaders of freedom struggle) and therefore image of a politician needs to be changed today. Mr. Joshi expressed a confidence that MIT-SOG students will be transformed in to good leaders resembling the leaders of our freedom struggle.
He further stated that there is definite sign to become a politician. The aim of a politician is to serve the people. Politics is not the aim; it is a means to achieve the end to serve the people. He said that there is politics everywhere; right from the home, wife, family, teachers, partners, society and everywhere so he felt it better to join the politics straight way. Politics is not as bad as the people think because they are aware of the negative part of it while the positive part is shadowed. Many things can be achieved through politics. There are leaders in every walk of life say business, education, sports, nature and everywhere. Therefore, good people need to join politics. In politics, sky is the limit. Reaching to the highest post is possible in politics.
Regarding business and politics he says that both the things should not be done together. We need to choose either of them. Young people in this age should make decision about what they are opting for. Whether they want to be good business and earn as much money as they can or to be a political leader and serve the nation and gain respect. One must not mingle politics and business together because people misinterpret the money earned in business to be excavated by corruption in politics.
While differentiating business from politics he says that business is easier that politics; business is limited to either family or a small number of people in the organization but politics extends to vast number; business is carried out in own interest while politics is people's interest; business have quick returns while in politics it takes long time and patience plays important role; Accountability is an important factor in business but politics lack accountability; RTI and media does not apply to business up to some extent but RTI and media had politics transparent. Finally, when it comes to goals, making good money is what the priority in business while to serve the country and earn good respect is the goal of politics.
To the gist of the lecture Mr. Joshi said that a politician must possess certain qualities like confidence, courageousness, Concentration, Passion, Ethics & Principals, Morality, Power, Charisma, Vision, Positive Approach, Dynamism, Able Administrator, Good Orator, Punctuality, Knowledge of various subjects, A good actor.
He also urged the participants to respect everyone who approached them.
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EMINENT LECTURE BY SHRI. ARUN BHATIA,
FORMER COMMISSIONER - PMC
On "Leadership in Politics"
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 27th OCTOBER' 2007 |
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Mr. Arun Bhatia a bureaucrat turned politician is a staunch opponent of corruption in the system. His entire service period in the bureaucracy sets an example of his commitment towards his principles. He inspired the MPG-03 participants of MIT-SOG in below mentioned words.
He said, "Leader must fight evils of the society like corruption. Today religious leaders do not talk about the social problems. Our governance is very primitive. We have informal democracy. The poor suffers while the rich keeps his mouth shut and is happy because good governance is absent. A situation like this brutalizes honest and good people.
"Governance is management of power. Good governance implies decentralization, delegation of powers and accountability. Those in power must account for their failure. Power must be reduced. It can be done by dividing it or fragmenting it and applying checks & balances. Frequent elections make government accountable and reduce the concentration of power. It evaluates the representative and enables the public to analyze him."
"We must try to understand the framework of democratic governance. There are sources of legitimacy and mechanisms for transferring power in democracy. We elect rulers who are servants to the people. In democracy, there is change in the government without bloodshed. Still, democracy in India has certain lacunae. People are not directly the part of governing process. It lacks direct empowerment and participatory governance to citizens. The countries in Europe and Australia had accepted participatory democracy. However, the process has not yet started in India."
"Right to Information incepted European countries 15 years before it came to India. However, RTI act does not covers important issue like annual confidential report (ACR) about an officer in bureaucracy. India has been importing reforms from the western countries. Hence, full potential of RTI is not attained."
"Whistle blowing is revealing the bad things to media with keeping it secret about the organization in which one works. However, in India we do not have any law to protect the whistle blowers. It is as basic as RTI act. Even we do not have law to protect the witnesses. Section 197 of the IPC and Section 27 of the Evidence Act should be thought of and be amended."
He said that any system becomes corrupt because majorities are corrupt and thus honest people are dishonored.
While concluding he said that one must learn to criticize the system. He even urged the participants of MIT-SOG to take up the subject of 'Reform Agenda For India' and to come up with suggestions for civil service reforms, electoral reforms and judicial reforms. |
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EMINENT LECTURE BY SHRI. SHIVAJIRAO PATIL, (KAVEKAR),
Ex.-MLA, MAHARSHTRA
On "Panchayati Raj Government"
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 26th OCTOBER' 2007 |
Panchayati Raj Government is a strong foothold of democracy in India. Panchayati Raj has evolved over a span of time and 73rd constitutional amendment has raised it to the apex of democratic process. Shri Shivajirao Patil Kavekar while addressing the students at MIT School of Government stated this.
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Lord Ram learnt the lessons of leadership in hermitage of Sage Vasishtha. The learning was a part of 'Ashram Vyavastha'. If a small industry is to be setup, we need experts. Then why cannot we have experts in politics where the entire fate of the country is decided? However, in India no other institute can impart the kind of education needed in politics other than MIT- SOG. Today 95 % MLAs do not know what is legislature and hence today's politicians lack the necessary knowledge.
- The local self-Govt. has evolved over a span of time. There was a head of village in 'Gana Rajya' during Vedic period. During Mauryas a 'Janpath Samitee' (group of elites) helped the head of the village. Mughuls decentralized local self-govt. into provinces, Zilla and Gram Panchayat.
Panchayati Raj is divided at 3 levels.
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Gram Panchayat: Gram Panchayat with its Gram Sabha is the base body of Indian democracy. Members of G.P. ranges from 7 to 17. Various departments of G.P. are- public welfare, animal husbandry, Water management, Sanitation & cleanliness. Now a day there are certain restrictions on G.P. members not to have more than 2 children. Gram Sabha has to call for at least 6 times in a year. There is right to recall practiced with 20% voters who are not defaulter of the G.P. voting against the Sarpanch. There is audit conducted in Gram Sabha. If women of the village demands ban of alcohol by majority, it can be practiced. If a member of G.P. makes illegal acquisition of land he can be removed. G.P. has its income sources from the tax collected from the villagers and the fees received for distributing various certificates.
- Panchayat Samitee: P.S. is the middle body of local self-govt. It has very little rights. It acts as a mediator between grampanchayat and Zilla Parishad.
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Zilla Parishad: Members of ZP ranges from 50 to 75. It has various committees like standing, animal husbandry, health, construction etc. The major income sources of ZP are the 0.5% of the total stamp duty collected in the district. It has its own Cess Fund. The state govt. & the central govt. funds for various schemes.
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EMINENT LECTURE BY SHRI. JAMES MICHAEL LYNDOH
Former Chief Election Commissioner of India
“Electoral Reforms”
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 12TH OCTOBER’ 2007 |
| Mr. James Michael Lyngdoh, the former chief election commissioner of India visited MIT School of government on 12th Oct. 2007. He spoke on prevailing election scenario and election reforms in the following way.
He had visited Kennedy School of Government, Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs but MIT-SOG is much more practical. The world trend is of liberal democracy & capitalism. India has unusual crises of near zero governance. Politics has become game of numbers. There is real need to re-examine the system to have better political leaders. Elections are fairer. What qualifies a person to be a leader? What have you done to serve the community? Law on elections, constitution and representation of people's act are at theoretical level. One person is equal to another theoretically. But one is superior to other practicaly; there is no emphasis on quality. Quality is shadowed by experience.
His Recommendations-
- Imposition of present.
- Involving of chief justice.
- Having a mixed system of first pass first.
- 50%+1 votes for a person to win the election.
- Democratization of working of political parties.
- Restrictions on Exit Polls. Methodology in not proper. They have inaccurate information and notorious reputation.
- No government sponsored advertisement within 6 months before elections.
- De registers the politicians & political parties.
- Resorting of section 77
- Annual audit of political parties and the politicians.
- State funding of elections.
- Politicians convicted for murder or rape must be debarred. Criminal law must be changed. Conviction must be classified into
3 categories.
A. Offense like rape, murder, foreign exchange, narcotics must disqualify candidate.
B. Offense like foods, drugs, dowry must have imprisonment of 6 months.
C. Accused must have imprisonment of 2 years. Criminal law doesn't apply to sitting MLA or MP directly, they are allowed to file petition within 3 months. By the time he still continues to get benefits. Person convicted must be disqualified permanently.
- Under estimation of assets. If all the assets of politicians is put together it would solve lots of problems.
- The expenditure of the candidate excludes the expenditure incurred by the political party.
- Donor to political parties receives heavy tax benefits.
- Election commission does not display the expenditure of every candidate on web.
- Media expenses.
- Political party splits not allowed, but merger with another party is allowed with 2/3rd of the total member joining the different party.
- President's rule is not a good idea. The idea came from Bangladesh.
- Non politicians are not better cleaners of the society while politicians are.
- Election Commission is the best institution and is most respected.
- Regulation of political parties and their democratization is necessary. The internal elections of political parties are not democratic.
- Final Recommendations:
1. Winning person should get at least 50% votes.
2. 50% seats will be allocated to proportional representations.
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EMINENT LECTURE BY Miss. VANDANA CHAVAN
Former Mayor – Pune Municipal Corporation
“Global Warming”
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 9TH OCTOBER’ 2007
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Mrs. Vandana Chavan, the Former Mayor of Pune Municipal Corporation was invited as eminent faculty to share her views on Global Warming. She stated the seriousness of global warming and the effective ways to avoid it in the following way.
"In past few years the world is experiencing heat waves, famine, unprecedented rainfall, floods, damage and loss of crops, increase in vector diseases, increase in health problems, cyclones, deaths and devastations of properties. This is because of global warming. India as a forthcoming super power needs to think seriously about this natural calamity. Glaciers on the North & the South poles are melting. By 2020 Himalaya will reduce 1/5th of its total mass. Ganges and Bramhaputra floods will wipe out wild life and the crops adjacent. Global warming is changing the world climate."
"Carbon dioxide is retained and forms a layer on atmosphere to increase the temperature of the globe, is called as global warming. Global warming is the ultimate result of manmade luxuries, vehicles, industries, burning fossil fuels, thermal power plants, and deforestation, garbage generated and dumped collectively to generate methane gas. Garbage must segregate into dry and wet garbage. Increase in the number of automobiles is one of the reasons. To tackle this problem, good public transport system must be encouraged. We must observe Carpool (not to use private vehicle) a week. Cleaner fuels like CNG; bio-diesel must be utilized. Awareness about timely servicing of vehicles will also reduce carbon dioxide emission. There must be timers on signals so that people switch their vehicle off till the signal turns green. We must use bicycles wherever possible. We must walk wherever possible. We should phase out old vehicles, which do not follow the euro II or Euro III norms. We should eat local stuffs, fruits and vegetables to avoid transportation activity, which will save fuel and in turn avoid global warming. We should use electricity efficiently. We must switch off the electrical appliances whenever not necessary. We must shift to CFLs instead of bulbs. We should construct eco houses to avoid use of electricity and to harness maximum natural resources."
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EMINENT LECTURE BY SHRI. ANANT DIXIT, Editor – LOKMAT
On “ETHICS IN MEDIA”
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 8th OCTOBER’ 2007 |
Mr. Anant Dixit is a senior editor working in Lokmat a fourth leading daily in the country from last 4 years. He worked with Sakal another leading daily of Maharashtra for 26 years. During his address - he conveyed his message in following way - "There is no last word in journalism. A fundamental objective of journalism is to make people aware. News is collection of information & knowledge. Information is basis of assessment & exposure of knowledge. Everywhere same framework does not apply. Information must be accurate, fair and must have some substance to develop and change society. Changes in society should be interior and not only exterior. There is no place for idealism now days in society. Significance of media is as a path director in various fields like art, culture, science, history etc. In media words are important. They are the medium of expression. They provide infrastructural information. World is rotating around the concept of market. Audience, consumers & listeners are taken to be care of. Freedom struggle was powered by media. Freedom fighters used media effectively. Media is a requirement of society. E.g. - As there is a need of fresh vegetables for healthy body so there is a need of healthy knowledge for fair mind. Media Represents Indian democracy. Media cannot solve the problems but can canalize the way of answering to the problems of various types.
A news writer, photographer, Editor, cartoonist they all are journalist. Ethics in Freedom of press- "More freedom makes media bad and less freedom makes bad media." In 1975 emergency, censorship was imposed on media. Forces of society themselves should act as censors.
Media should not publish a matter, which is not verified, read, looked by. Published matter must not raise any questions in the mind of readers. Curiosity is the birthplace of any news. Songs sang by children decides the fate of the country. News must not have any incitement to communal passions. There must not be slanderous writings. Journalist should not judge the story. Journalist should be a good listener.
No body should invade anybody's private life unless and until it affects the environment socially, economically. News must be confirmed from the concerned person.
In case of victims of sexual exploitation, the basic responsibility should be not to reveal the name of the victim. Impact of media must be to control & curb such evils.
Journalist must be aware of the constitution. Indian democracy is a functioning anarchy. Constitution has united people together. Reply statement of anybody is his right.
Media should have its own self-regulation or code of conduct. Many a times in a subjects like communal riots and national security electronic media excites communal passions. People trust media, they have faith in media and media should not tarnish this faith. Besides market economy values are important.
Journalist should visit public places and should respect sources of news. Writing of a journalist must be of his own. Journalist should have open mind about ideology. Media is a instrument to analyze the situation. It's a path director to various segments of society. Under estimating or humiliating a human being is the worst thing. Human being is the highest thing in the world. Journalist should encourage positivism and reality. Journalist must have capacity to read between lines. To understand a problem is a difficult task. Language must be simple and flow full. Command on language is considered as strength in media. Priorities are getting changed day by day. Experience does count but younger generation has greater potential. There must be re-education of educated generation. Freedom is important in democratic society. Media works under political and commercial pressure. Presence of mind is important in media.
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EMINENT LECTURE BY SHRI RAJDEEP SARDESAI – Chief Editor CNN-IBN
“Relations between Media & Government”
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 5TH OCTOBER’ 2007
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A good leader uses media.
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Credibility and conscience going down. Promotion of negativism in media.
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Narendra Modi is a good orator and successful in utilizing media.
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Immature politicians end up confronting with media.
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Power of media has increased with increase in irresponsible attitude.
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Future of media lies in going for regional channels and not in being Delhi centered. There must be bottom to up approach of the media and not top to down.
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Politicians should learn about technology and its effective usage in communicating people. Future is multi-media. May be in future private radios be allowed.
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Politician must not have enmity with media nor friendship but both must work together.
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Today’s media needs regulations but not from the government but the internal code of conduct. It must function like a penal code.
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Political leanings of various channel is not 100% true.
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Infotainment of media is dangerous. Page 3 news is being displayed on page 1. Page 3 news must exists but they must be on page 3.
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Normal rules do not apply to country like India.
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Tactics to use media-
- Time management.
- Project positive sides.
- Maintain friendly relations with media.
- make oneself aware of all the things happening around.
- Keep calm and cool.
- Concept of human worship won’t work in politics. A good leader takes everybody together.
- Media appreciates transparent people.
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EMINENT LECTURE BY Prof. Vaishnavi
“Human Resource Perspective towards Government & Policy Making”
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 14TH SEPTEMBER’ 2007
EMINENT LECTURE BY SHRI R. C. IYER – IAS (Former Upa Lokayukta)
“CORRUPTION IN INDIA”
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 13TH SEPTEMBER’ 2007
In a democracy no one should be afraid of answerability or being subject to public scrutiny.
While corruption exists all over the world including in developed democracies, question is one of degree. The problem in India and other developing nations is that corruption at the cutting edge, which is the interface between the citizen and instruments of the state, at that level has still not come down significantly.
Part of the problem, is the desire of the elected representatives of the people wanting to share power and therefore patronage at that level as a means of garnering votes at the appropriate time.
The other part of the problem is the inability or lack of application of the mind of the higher bureaucracy in giving clear, unambiguous instructions to the cutting edge level regarding the manner of exercise / delivery of services at that level.
Any approach towards reduction of corruption has got to be multi pronged and it is pointless trying to blame only the politicians – while it can never be eliminated completely anywhere in the world – efforts to reduce it will have to be a continuous exercise.
EMINENT LECTURE BY SHRI. VIKAS MATHKARI
Leader of Opposition – Pune Municipal Corporation
“Role of a Corporator”
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 11TH SEPTEMBER’ 2007
Mr. Vikas Mathkari – Opposition Leader in Pune Municipal Corporation – was invited to speak on Role of the Corporator – and gave detailed account on how the Corporator nurtures his ward and how he spends the money allotted to him for developmental work in the ward. He also spoke on how adverse political practices stall the developmental work and explained how the civic corridors are agog with all kinds of stories about corruption witnessed during giving out tenders etc. He also gave a detailed account of how he begins his day with a routine morning walk in his ward and listening to complaints from the civilians about sanitation, water problems, road conditions etc. Then it is time to go to the PMC Office to speed up the work and to meet officials about solving citizen’s problems. By evening he again visits his ward to meet people from his ward. Finally, he has to read up the files for the next day meeting.
EMINENT LECTURE BY HON’BLE HOME MINISTER FOR HOME, LAW, JUSTICE & HUMAN RIGHTS AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS - SHRI M.P. PRAKASH
“IS RURAL DEVELOPMENT & PANCHAYATI RAJ A UTOPIAN IDEA?”
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 12TH SEPTEMBER’ 2007
Speech by Hon’ble Mr. M.P. Prakash:
. Leadership – a leader is one who dealer in hope.
.India stands for urban area of the country and Bharat is the rural area.
.Vinoba Bhave: “The age of religion is over and the age of spiritualism has started.” Religion is a way of life, chasing the attainment is an experience- religion and spiritualism is a wisdom given by our forefathers.
.Strength to protect democracy – people are dumb and the government is deaf. Leaders should articulate and present the problems of the people and relate them to the government – representative democracy- just cause and response- maturity of the people and their readiness to work and survive. Maturity and will of the people to obey the laws.
.Panchayati Raj: Balwantrai Mehta drew the people to governance- right to make a mistake besides corruption.
Ram Rajya, utopian concept – India a huge country – wide diversity – never a nation – Maurya period – Mughul period- was a nation culturally, religiously, spiritually and not a nation administratively.
.Churchill had negative views regarding independence of India and thereafter consequences. But Gandhiji insisted “We don’t want your good government rather we want our own government.”
.There wasn’t any mention of lower democracy in the constitution of India. Dr. Ambedkar & Gandhiji had difference of opinion on lower democracy.
.Article 40 of the constitution states about self governing units- their role- functions – and duties.
.Lower democracy is playing important role.
.Coalition govt.- people’s understanding- fraction of mandate- ideologies is perishing- to avoid election expenditures & maintain government.
.Karnataka is the first state to lend farm loans at 4%.
.Karnataka banned lotteries, country liquor.
Politics is a art of possible
Suvarna Karnataka – to provide all amenities to the public.
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EMINENT LECTURE BY SHRI PRAVINSINGH PARDESHI JI
MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONER, PUNE
ON “DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN INDIA”
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 31ST AUGUST’ 2007
Shri Pravinsingh ji emphasised the need to let the free market to flow in to those public sectors where the government has not been effective. According to him, in India the government should confine to those areas only where it can deliver effectively and where the private players are not ready to invest. The degree of efficiency in services and the economic returns will be comparatively more than the present system. When the number of private players are more, in a particular service, the efficiency will go up and the prices will come down to an affordable range for the common man. The government as a regulator can get the profits from those private players in cities and this profit can be compensated in providing subsidies in rural areas. These subsidies will not cost the treasury of the government, so this selective public-private partnership will be fruitful for all variants (economic) of population.
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WORKSHOP on CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT
BY Dr. Suneelam, Dr. V.B. Singh & Dr. Abay Dubey
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 24TH AUGUST & 25TH AUGUST’ 2007
EMINENT LECTURE BY SHRI AVINASH K. SAHAY JI
ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONER INCOME TAX (SYSTEMS), PUNE
ON “MEDITATION AS A TOOL FOR TOTAL EMPOWERMENT”
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 23RD AUGUST’ 2007
Shri Avinash Sahay ji stressed the need to understand our body and the mechanism which functions in tandem with the nature. He emphasized the need to maintain harmony with the external environment. He also reiterated the importance of Mediation in today’s retro lifestyles where most of us undergo all sorts of stress in our daily lives. He not only demonstrated various meditation techniques to participants but made them practice a few so as to bring about a complete balance.
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EMINENT LECTURE BY SHRI MANINDER SINGH BITTA JI ON
“ATTACK ON PARLIAMENT: A SPECIAL FOCUS ON TERRORISM”
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 14TH AUGUST’ 2007
The participants of Master’s Program in Government had the privilege to have amongst them Shri Maninder Singh Bitta ji, President, All India Anti-Terrorist Front and Former President Youth Congress as an eminent faculty on 14th August 2007. In his mission to combat terrorism, Bitta ji has survived more than a dozen attacks on his life. Still undeterred, he continues to serve his cause. He spoke on “Attack on Parliament: A special focus on terrorism”. He shared his own experiences of fighting with anti-national elements since his younger days. He ignited the minds of the participants by paying tribute to our freedom fighters such as Veer Bhagat Singh and also expressed his frustration with today’s political leadership. He asserted that the problem of terrorism cannot be resolved without a strong political will. Towards the end of the session, he answered various queries of the participants satisfactorily.
EMINENT LECTURE BY SHRI MADAN NAGARGOJE – IAS
“Max-D:MADAN’S EXTENSION OF DARWINISM”
AT MIT-SOG CLASSROOM ON 13TH AUGUST’ 2007
On the 13th of August, the students of MIT-SOG (MPG Batch-03) had the privilege of being addressed by Shri. Madan Nagargoje – IAS, a young, dynamic and extremely intellectual civil servant who has not only managed to ace all his academic exams but has also been an excellent sportsman all his life. The subject that he chose was Max-D, his indigenously devised philosophy on leadership, which stands for Madan’s extension of Darwinism. As the name suggests his philosophy draws inspiration from Charles Darwin’s theory concerning evolution and natural selection.
Speaking about leadership he said that the masses need a leader. He added that a “leader must be selfish”. The essence of this line could perhaps be traced to the phrase that is emblematic to Darwin’s theory - “survival of the fittest”. Selfish, when applied to leadership, doesn't mean "selfish" at all. It’s like being a selfish gene. It means, instead, an extremely important quality for which there is no good word in the English language: “the quality of being copied by a Darwinian selection process” or in this context, the quality of standing out as a leader amongst a billion people.
Further he gave us the mantra of “adaptation, mutation and super-transformation”. He gave us his invaluable study techniques which he has given some unique names like “troll” which means going for a stroll alone, “wabler” that is talking to oneself, “socrates” giving the answer of a question in a question.
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