Người Neanderthal có dùng lông vũ để trang điểm?

Did Neanderthals use feathers to deck up?

ANI
London, February 22, 2011

A new study has found that Neanderthals may have used feathers as ornaments most likely in the same manner they used shells.
Archaeologists say they have found evidence that Neanderthals were using feathers as ornaments 44,000 years ago.

Marco Peresani at the University of Ferrara in Italy found 660 bird bones mixed in with Neanderthal bones in Fumane cave in northern Italy.

His team found that many bones were strategically cut to take the feathers off them, reports New Scientist. Peresani doesn’t think the feathers belonged to birds eaten because many of the species are poor food sources and fletched arrows had not been invented at the time.

While Joao Zilhao at the University of Barcelona in Spain says it is more evidence that Neanderthals were as cultured as H. sapiens, Thomas Higham at the University of Oxford says Peresani has pushed his data too far.

The study appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.


Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Did-Neanderthals-use-feathers-to-deck-up/H1-Article1-665376.aspx

Xem lại thời điểm con người có mặt tại Ấn Độ

Revised. The time man reached India

 

Charu Sudan Kasturi, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, January 28, 2011

Modern humans may have reached India and other parts of South Asia thousands of years earlier than was previously thought, scientists have indicated, using fresh archaeological evidence that may force a revision of early human history. A team of scientists from the US, Britain, Ukraine, Germany and the UAE have discovered artifacts that suggest that modern humans left Africa and reached eastern Arabia about 125,000 years ago. The research will be published in the Friday edition of the journal Science.



The findings could dramatically alter the history of our species, which till now was believed to have expanded from Africa - home to the first modern humans - about 60,000 years ago.

"These 'anatomically modern' humans - like you and me - had evolved in Africa about 200,000 years ago and subsequently populated the rest of the world," said lead author Simon Armitage from the University of London.

"Our findings should stimulate a re-evaluation of the means by which we modern humans became a global species."

The research corroborates work three years ago by Michael Petraglia of the University of Cambridge, who found artifacts in Andhra Pradesh suggesting that humans lived in India before the Mount Toba eruption 75,000 years back.

Most evidence till now has indicated a massive exodus along the Mediterranean Sea or along the Arabian coast about 60,000 years ago.

But the team of researchers led by Hans-Peter Uerpmann from Eberhard Karls University in Germany found tools dating back over 100,000 years at Jebel Faya in the UAE.

The findings suggest that modern humans could have reached Arabia - and then India - directly from Africa rather than via the Nile valley or the Near East, as researchers have earlier suggested.

 

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Revised-The-time-man-reached-India/H1-Article1-655475.aspx

Chủ nghĩa tư bản: điều chỉnh, xây dựng lại và chuyển đổi

Capitalism: regulate, rework, transform

 

K. S. Jacob
The Hindu
January 21, 2011

Economies should combine the efficiency of capitalism with socialistic ideals of equity and justice.

The liberalisation of the country's economy resulted in tremendous progress, sustained growth and increased wealth. Yet, the incredible indices of development mask inequity and the human cost of progress. For millions of Indians, hunger is routine, malnutrition rife, employment insecure, social security non-existent, health care expensive and livelihoods are under threat.

Capitalism's ability to improve economies is not in doubt. It has always argued that what is good for large corporations is good for national economies. Gross domestic product figures inflated by phenomenal successes of the rich are often very impressive. However, they conceal the poverty and suffering at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Nevertheless, there is a perception among capitalists that the system is fair and allows for growth of all sections. The fact that those who do not have capital (finance, land ownership, education, health, etc.) have little chance of economic progress is never acknowledged.

Greed and excesses

Inequity in the capitalistic system is a given. Hence, controlling the excesses of capitalism, while allowing for economic progress, is a serious consideration before mature democracies and governments. However, others argue that such controls are only possible in theory and do not work in practice. Capitalism, driven as much by individual greed and aspiration as by individual capital, will always strive to break free of controls. The rich, who control capital, contend that minimal controls are required for free markets to flourish. They support minimal taxation policies, reject increased levies to meet public expenditure and oppose enhanced duties for social justice initiatives. Nevertheless, these viewpoints actually cover libertarian beliefs that governments have no right to tax people because taxation is nothing but stealing personal property obtained by merit, history and inheritance.

Capitalists also control governments, even hold them hostage. The funding of elections by private capital mandates moderation in the election rhetoric of politicians, during their tenure in government. Consequently, most governments take up right-of-centre positions, which do not allow for taxation policies required for social justice in our grossly iniquitous world.

Nevertheless, the recent collapse of many international banks, the massive bailouts required by many reputed pillars of finance for survival and the global economic recession exposed the limitations of the capitalist system. They documented the excesses of unregulated capitalism and laid bare the greed and intellectual dishonesty undergirding the system. Surely, a more honest conceptualisation of the conflicts of interest and biases among the rich and powerful players who have benefited from the system is needed; the focus on the wealth created should also highlight the resultant gross inequity.

Models of control

China's economic success has shattered many a capitalistic myth. It has emphasised the phenomenal success of direct governmental controls on the market. It has also underscored America's amnesia about its own industrial policies used to protect national interests. The U.S. government controls on steel and railroads in the 19th century and on the agriculture and defence industries in the 20th century supported sections of the American market and economy from external competition, thus cementing their success.

The collapse of the Irish economy, lauded as the perfect example of free market success, also refutes many free market myths. Its abysmally low rates of corporate tax attracted international corporations to relocate their headquarters to Ireland. The country gained a few thousand clerical jobs in exchange for its charity towards the rich. Ireland also subscribed to other free market folklore and allowed for unregulated speculation and trade in its financial sector. Its recent financial collapse and bailout have left all its citizens paying for the greed and errors of its rich bankers.

Free market arguments are always used by rich and developed nations to prise open poor economies to their advantage. The conditionalities imposed by their banks (read the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank) in exchange for credit have crippled many a developing economy by removing trade barriers and reducing subsidies, which are required to protect local and fledgling markets against international competition. The obvious double standards on protectionism by rich nations are never mentioned.

Regulated capitalism

Economic structures should combine the efficiency of capitalism with socialistic ideals of equity and justice. The key question now is: “Who should regulate capitalism?” The answer is: national governments. Governments in poor countries as representatives of the population, the majority of which subsists on $1 a day, owe it to their people to provide social justice. Although some regulation exists and programmes for social justice have been rolled out in India (the National Rural Health Mission, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, etc.), they are employed to mitigate the effects of structural violence and as a vote-winning strategy rather than as a commitment to uplift the poor. The national health budget was reduced to 0.9 per cent of the GDP in the 1990s. Although the United Progressive Alliance was voted to power on its promise of raising it back to 2-3 per cent, this has yet to materialise. The ruling class (read politicians, administrators and their corporate partners) seems to employ social justice projects to soften democratic opposition to its capitalistic ideas of development. These schemes seem to be measures to prevent open revolt by the poor, rather than solutions to produce an egalitarian society. However, gross underfunding of such schemes ensures the success of capitalistic ventures, thus increasing privatisation and running down the public sector.

Massive corruption, exposed in the 2G spectrum and Commonwealth Games scams, is also maintained by a convenient nexus among politicians, corporations, civil servants, the judiciary, the police and the rich in civil society, who disagree with the strategy for social change or are impatient to increase their personal wealth. The administration refuses to clean up the system, as it would expose the extent of the rot within. Opposition to the Right to Information Act also stems from a similar nexus.

The lack of significant differences among various political groupings over financial and economic policies reflects the insensitivity of the ruling class to the needs of the majority. It mandates that the people, with their electoral power, should regularly ensure changes in governments, which over-promise and under-deliver. Although the lack of credible alternatives limits impact, it remains the only check on the ruling class and governments.

Individual or collective aspiration

The vision for civilised societies, enshrined in many national constitutions, has to be the fulfilling of the collective aspiration of the vast majority. While free trade policies are good on the average for rich and developed nations, individuals with limited capital within these cultures also suffer when they lose their jobs to Bangalore or to Shanghai. Specific protections are good for emerging markets, as they benefit the vast majority in the region and allow time to improve efficiency and competitiveness.

The focus on the collective aspiration of the majority of India's population, of moving out of poverty, is a just cause. National policies and programmes should cater for the needs of the majority rather than adding millions to the coffers of the wealthy. The magnitude of subsidies for the corporate sector and the scale of corruption in business dealings also suggest that the amount of monies actually available for social justice programmes exceed all expectations and require only political and administrative will for implementation.

China has reworked capitalism on its own terms. It has showed the way in using direct government control to protect its economy, create wealth and improve its indices of health and human development. It leads India on these indices, arguing that investing in social justice projects for the majority will provide the demographic dividend needed for economic prosperity.

There is need to transform capitalism, redesign and root it in the Indian context. Capitalistic beliefs often result in a lack of understanding, and disregard for the lot of the average citizen. The wealthy have hijacked public spaces, shared resources, economic rights and political processes and have skewed the national debate. Democratic systems demand solutions, which are sensitive to the aspirations of the majority. Economic growth will have to translate into basic needs for all. History will judge whether our very own IMFwallahs are instruments of the rich or use their intellect, positions and power to bring equity for the majority, the poor. The government will need to fulfil the Directive Principles enshrined in the Constitution, and its commitment to the human rights of the majority of the population. The interdependent nature of our modern world argues for a fair deal for all. Universal development will result in a stabler and more secure world.

(Professor K.S. Jacob is on the faculty of the Christian Medical College, Vellore.)

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article1109228.ece?homepage=true

Đọc là cơ sở để tiến tới nền dân chủ

Reading is basic to democracy

Krishna Kumar
The Hindu

The teaching of reading during early childhood — when attitudes, habits and skills acquire life-long foundations — assumes crucial significance for the efficient functioning of democracy.

Literacy is the foundation of school education but in our country the term ‘literacy' is used almost exclusively in the context of adults. This is not surprising, given the embarrassingly large share of India in the global count of adults who can neither read nor write. Why India's share has not dwindled significantly is partly related to the fact that the years spent by children in primary schools do not necessarily make them literate. Many who acquire a tenuous grip on literacy during those years fail to retain it in the absence of opportunities to read, compounded by elimination from school before completing the upper primary classes. Even in the case of those who acquire lasting literacy, schooling fails to impart the urge to read as a matter of habit. Those who learn to perceive reading as a means to expand knowledge and awareness are a minority. Sensational surveys of children's poor performance in reading tests throw little light on the deeper problems that the teaching of reading in India suffers from. If these problems are not addressed in an institutionalised manner, the newly enacted law on the right to education will remain ineffective.

The ability to decipher isolated letters of the alphabet is not a promising beginning in the child's progress towards becoming literate. However, this is precisely what conventional wisdom tells teachers to focus on. The wisdom is based on millennia-old practices which enabled a few children to become literate. When we apply this wisdom today, we forget that the method worked in a socio-cultural context which was altogether different from our context now. When literacy was confined to a thin upper strata of society, the teacher demanded from his wards a mastery over letters and sounds for its own sake. It took years to acquire such mastery, and the methods used to ensure it included oppressive drills and a punitive regime that can have no place today. When people feel nostalgic about traditional education, they forget that it was based on a view of childhood few would approve today. Moreover, the traditional system had no intention to cover all children. The methods it used for the teaching of reading are unsuitable for a universal system of education. The traditional approach does not recognise the child's nature and agency, nor does it respect individual differences.

New approach

The traditional methods are incompatible with the modern psychology of childhood and the knowledge available today on the acquisition of language-related skills. Contemporary expertise is based on the premise that children have a natural drive to explore and understand the world; hence, reading should give them the opportunity to make sense of printed texts from the beginning. ‘Making sense' as an experience involves relating to the text, generating a personal engagement and interpretation. If children are not encouraged to relate to the text, or if the text they are given has little meaning or relevance, the outcome will be a crude kind of literacy, which will remain isolated from their intellectual and emotional development. If this wider meaning of reading is applied to make an assessment, our system of primary education will arouse far greater concern than children's test scores in achievement surveys do. Persistent effort under the pressure to perform does make children capable of reading aloud a written text, but they fail to find any meaning in it. And the ability to decipher a text mechanically does not encourage children to actively look for new texts to read. The anecdote narrated by ChinnaChacko, a former member of the NCERT, in a paper she presented at the International Reading Association in 1971 continues to hold true. When she asked a child to read aloud, he asked: “With the text or without the text?” Reflecting on the methods used in Indian schools for teaching children how to read, ChinnaChacko wrote: “Many things are done the same way they have been done for centuries and, as a result, our primary teacher-training schools and primary schools are like museums in which old ways are carefully preserved.”

The cost of this museum-mentality is high, if we take into account the role that a reading public plays in a democratic order. The practice of democracy assumes both the habit and the capacity in all citizens to engage with matters which transcend personal or immediate reality. We can call it the metaphysics of daily life under modernity. It compels every member — without exception — to share a collective anguish and to respond to it in one way or another. Engagement with this expanded universe cannot be sustained without the tools of literacy, in addition to — and not as a substitute of — the oral means of interaction. In this model, reading serves as more than a skill; it becomes an aspect of culture. It must enable citizens to reflect on what is going on, not merely a skill to decipher printed texts. From this larger perspective, the teaching of reading during early childhood — when attitudes, habits and skills acquire life-long foundations — acquires crucial significance for the efficient functioning of democracy. This perspective implies drastic changes in the currently practised pedagogy of reading in pre-schools and the primary classes. Instead of letter-recognition and mechanical decoding, pedagogic effort must focus on building bridges between words and meanings, and on nurturing an interpretive stance from the earliest stage. This kind of pedagogy requires meaningful texts and a sustained use of children's literature. The texts used for the teaching of reading should treat the child with dignity, showing respect for the child's inner drive to interpret and relate. The sociology of the text content is equally important. We need texts that make children excited about the social and cultural diversity that they encounter in their ethos. We also need kind and affectionate teachers who are themselves habitual readers and can encourage each child to perceive reading as a means to pursue his or her own interest.

NCERT's role

A 40-part series of books for beginner readers, published by the NCERT, successfully responds to these various expectations. Entitled Barkha, this series was prepared by the department of early literacy and libraries under a special project of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The little books included in this series mark several innovations, including those in design and illustration, and not just in the conception of child-centred narratives. In place of the usual patronising attitude towards children that we see in educational literature, the Barkha books present real children, doing the kinds of things ordinary children do at home and in the neighbourhood. A radical attempt has been made in these books not just to move away from stereotypes, but to challenge them. It is the first time in India that a graded reading series, with a literary approach to reading, has been introduced. The early literacy department of the NCERT, which created this series, has been working with several State governments, encouraging them to develop similar material in their languages and to train teachers to adopt the imaginative approach to reading what Barkha represents.

Strangely enough, the NCERT has decided to close down the department that was promoting this approach. This is not the first time in India, or within the NCERT itself, that a distinct attempt to focus on reading and libraries has been prematurely abandoned. Institutional vicissitudes are much too common to require comment. One can only hope that the Ministry of Human Resource Development, which controls the NCERT, will review this decision and restore early literacy's academic identity. Strong institutional leadership is required to motivate State governments, NGOs and private publishers to take children's literature, especially its neglected aspects like design and illustration, seriously. The illustration copied here from a children's book recently published by the National Book Trust shows how insensitive even a reputed publishing house can be towards violence on women. After decades of advocacy for gender-sensitive material for children, the larger scenario remains quite alarming. Many NGOs have now taken to publishing for children, and in the absence of expert guidance and institutionalised review processes, they are churning out poor quality material, often with explicit ideological bias. State governments purchase such material with the copious funds that the SSA provides for classroom libraries. The NCERT does need to play a leadership role in this anarchic scene.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article1103118.ece?homepage=true

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