US visa applicants to give social media IDs? 
times of india 31.03.2018

Washington: The US state department has come out with a new proposal mandating all US visa applicants to submit their social media user-names, previous email addresses and phone numbers, vastly expanding the Trump administration’s enhanced vetting of potential immigrants and visitors.

In documents published in Friday’s Federal Register, the department said it wants the public to comment on the proposed new requirements that will affect nearly 15 million foreigners who apply for visas each year. The new rules would apply to virtually all applicants for immigrant and non-immigrant visas.

Previously, social media, email and phone number histories were only sought from applicants identified for extra scrutiny, such as those who have travelled to areas controlled by terrorist organisations. An estimated 65,000 people per year are in that category. AGENCIES

Move may affect 7 lakh immigrant visa applicants

The department estimates it would affect 7,10,000 immigrant visa applicants and 14 million non-immigrant visa applicants, including those who want to come to the US for business or education, according to the documents. The public has 60 days to comment on the revised procedures before the office of management and budget approves or rejects them.

If approved, applications for all visa types would list a number of social media platforms and require the applicant to provide any account names they may have had on them over the previous five years.

Only applicants for certain diplomatic and official visa types may be exempted from the requirements, the documents said.

NOW, DON’T GIVE CASH, JUST SCAN AND PAY 
01.04.2018

For 80-year-old pensioner Devaraj, standing in the serpentine queue at the bank to withdraw money for his family’s monthly expense has been a daunting task, every month.

Similar has been the case with Meera, an IT professional. She says, “I hate it when all I have in my wallet is a ₹2,000 note and everybody from the vegetable vendor to the grocery store guy refuses my purchase because I do not have change.”

Although many pay bills online, when it comes to day-today transactions, they are forced to use cash. However, Equitas Bank has recently launched Digi-Chengai — a project initiated to transform Chengalpattu towards a cashless economy by enabling digital payment solutions.

Elaborating on the initiative, Sanjeev Srivastava, President and Country Head, Equitas Small Finance Bank says, “There is no investment or any rentals involved in enabling Scan and Pay. Merchants can increase their revenue, not miss out any customer, and eliminate the problem of loose change, which is a major concern. We hope to lead the way in the digital banking space and promote financial inclusion of the underserved segment with this venture.”

The bank has conducted awareness programs for all shopkeepers and merchants in Chengalpattu and has provided customised QR stickers for about 500 merchant outlets, which would expand to cover over 2,000 merchant establishments of all sizes shortly. Any customer who shops can download the BHIM App developed by the Central Government and link their account and scan the QR code so that the exact money gets transferred. Customers can make such payment from any bank account that they have. The customer and merchant will get a confirmation message instantly.

VP Jeyaseelan, Sub-Collector of Kanchipuram, who announced the initiative, says, “A smartphone can now become your wallet where you can pay anyone and everyone — from a tender coconut seller to a supermarket, without physical cash. I appreciate the efforts of Equitas bank in promoting an alternative mode to cash to transform Chengalpattu town to a cashless economy.”

The bank also offers a variety of other digital services such as POS at merchants, QRbased acquiring, payment solutions, net and mobile banking, mobile top-ups and corporate net banking. 



(L-R) John Alex, Head, CSR Initiatives, Equitas; MB Nirmal, Trustee; VP Jeyaseelan, Sub-Collector; Dr CK Gariyali, Trustee and Sanjeev Srivastava, President and Country Head

THAT VAZHAPPAZHAM SCENE 
times of india 01.04.2018

Ask any Tamilian what the most famous Tamil cinema joke of all time is and invariably there will be only one answer — the ‘Vazhappazham scene’ from Karagattakkaran. I heard of this scene much before I saw it. A friend from school had seen the film and he narrated it to a bunch of us. He could barely contain himself. He would start laughing uncontrollably in the middle, he would wipe the tears from his eyes. We thought he was crazy! Where was the joke? What was funny about one guy repeating a sentence again and again?

Ah! Therein lies the magic of cinema. How we hooted with laughter when we saw it ourselves. I personally got hiccups that would not go away for hours.

That scene is at the heart of the Goundamani-Senthil partnership. They may have acted together before, but this defined their shtick, established the roles each would play and set them up for posterity.

It has been duplicated, remade and recast so many times by generations of comedians that it might well be a genre by itself. The most notable example, Vadivelu’s “Kaiya pudichi izhuthiya?”

Key to the joke is, of course, the performance of both of them, but let’s dig deeper.

Karagattakkaran might well be inspired by the classic Thillana Mohanambal, Sivaji Ganesan and Padmini’s tour de force. As established there and in countless concert halls, the guy playing the melody, whichever instrument, is usually the leader, with the rhythm section cast as his sidekicks. It is interesting to see that Gangai Amaran reverses the roles here — with Goundamani playing the thavil and yet lording it over the nadaswaram-playing Senthil. I have a feeling that the director was making a point.

Now, the joke itself. One of the things that makes Karagattakkaran a classic is how beautifully it nails the rural milieu, which is why I was surprised to hear that the entire sequence was shot in AVM Studios.

Real care has been taken to present the situation authentically. Note the deft touches in the setup scene where Goundamani asks Senthil to get him the two bananas. You know that Goundamani has just had lunch because it’s a very Tamil thing to have a banana after, but also note the toothpick he has in his mouth (Pic 1). The rest of the music troupe is playing cards in the background, again typical (Pic 2). When Goundamani asks Senthil to get him the bananas, Senthil asks “Rasthaliya Poovam pazhama?” Anybody who has ever got bananas from a bunk-shop will know that these are the two breeds always readily available but Rasthali is the more expensive one so one needs to know which is preferred. Even in the bunk-shop, there is a guy working on a maavaatra kal in the background (Pic 4). All these factors contribute to the immersive nature of the film.

Only midway into the scene, after Senthil buys the bananas does Ilaiyaraaja play his iconic BGM (ta ra tatara ta ra ra….not to be confused with Vikram Vedha’s tharara rararara…). If you observe closely, it coincides with the flashpoint of the scene. After buying the banana, Senthil shrugs and starts eating one. That shrug is the smokinggun (Pic 4). Senthil knows the consequences that will come; the crime is premeditated! Much like in the recent balltampering episode this is the important point. Maybe Bancroft should just have persisted with that black cloth he showed the umpires by saying “Adhaan saar ithu!”

What follows is, of course, the stuff of legend. Senthil’s wide-eyed innocence and Goundamni’s slowly escalating fury is outright hilarious (Pic 5). Junior Baliah, who is stunt-cast to reprise the role of his dad in Thillana Mohanambal, tries to intervene (Pic 6), so does Kovai Sarala, to no avail (Pic 7). Like a guilty character in an American courtroom drama that keeps saying “I plead the fifth amendment” Senthil has only one thing to say.

Go ahead, make your Sunday much better by resurrecting your memories of this scene on YouTube.


THE WORD VIEW

CS AMUDHAN

CS Amudhan has a background in advertising and is the director of Tamil cinema’s first spoof film, Tamizh Padam


THE SCENE HAS BEEN DUPLICATED, REMADE AND RECAST SO MANY TIMES BY GENERATIONS OF COMEDIANS THAT IT MIGHT WELL BE A GENRE BY ITSELF. THE MOST NOTABLE EXAMPLE, VADIVELU’S “KAIYA PUDICHI IZHUTHIYA?” 

Depending too much on data is bad for your company 
01.04.2018  times of india 

Managers are fixated on metrics these days. Everything from sales to your individual performance needs to be measurable. Decisions should be based on metrics, not judgment. Jerry Z Muller, author of ‘The Tyranny of Metrics,’ says this blind faith on metrics is not doing us any good.

While biases can colour our judgment when data is not available, Muller says too much data replaces management with ‘managerialism’, which is the belief that “all organisations are fundamentally the same and can be managed by the same tools...”

By this logic, “the head of a corporation becoming the president of a university or the head of a department of the federal government” is perfectly normal. Muller says this negates the importance of judgment acquired by personal experience and talent.

Under managerialism, metrics become the basis for rewards, which actually hurts performance, Muller shows with examples. For instance, if hospitals start scoring their surgeons on the success rate of surgeries, wouldn’t the surgeons avoid all risky surgeries? It will not only hurt patients who are in urgent need of an operation but also the surgeons themselves who will miss out on important learning opportunities.

When workers are told which metrics they need to work on — this happens in every workplace now — they do so mechanically to the detriment of other goals. For instance, if teachers are to be judged on the scores of their students, they will stress on rote learning. If CEOs are judged on stock prices, they will focus on quarterly profits while reducing spending on research. If police are promoted on the basis of crime statistics from their area, they will try not to note some crimes, or register cases under milder sections.

“In general a focus on measured targets discourages innovation — if the goals are specified in advance, there is little room for initiative, not to speak of risk-taking.”

Muller does not deny the importance of metrics, but he says they cannot be used effectively without judgment. Instead of being the basis for reward and punishment, they should be used to improve performance.

“Judgment is a matter of discrimination: of knowing which cases are harder, more challenging or more important than can be captured by a standardised measurement. And that discrimination is only possible when the judgment is linked to a sense of the overall purposes and peculiarities of one’s office, department, clinic or organisation.”

For more: Knowledge@Wharton


NOT BY DATA ALONE: Use judgement too

Older people are happier because they live mindfully

times of india 01.04.2018

Old age means creaky bones and other ailments but it is also a time of inner calm. Research shows older adults experience more positive emotion than younger people because they live more mindfully.

Youth is a time for plans and ambitions, and the mind is focused on the future. Young people do not worry about the years they have left. However, once people begin to accept that their days are numbered, they become less likely to do things without paying attention.

“It was their focus on the here and now — their greater mindfulness compared to young people — that explained their good moods. The higher their mindfulness, the better they felt.”

But old age is not a binding condition for mindfulness. If you wish to be calm and happy, you can cultivate mindfulness at any age, with practice. It will be useful in your daily life: “The cultivation of mindfulness may be an adaptive means of maintaining emotional well-being when faced with life’s challenges.”

For more: greatergood.berkeley.edu

The stupid reasons why Delhiites kill each other 

From stabbing a delivery guy who was late to beating a customer who complained about food, murders over trivial issues are on the rise. Is impulse killing Delhi’s new problem?

Himanshi.Dhawan@
timesgroup.com   01.04.2018

As if road rage weren’t bad enough, now even minor things like brushing against a person or an inconvenient delay seem to be provoking Delhiites into whipping out knives and guns.

Delhi Police data seems to confirm this. While the number of murders declined from 528 in 2016 to 487 in 2017, murders over trivial issues or sudden provocation as a cause rose from 16% to 18.6%.

What makes people turn violent over petty issues? One of the first studies to examine the differences between impulsive murders and premeditated crimes was conducted by Northwestern University in the US. “Impulsive murderers were much more mentally impaired, in terms of both their intelligence and other cognitive functions,” wrote Robert Hanlon, an expert in clinical psychiatry and neurology and senior author of the 2013 study.

Nearly all impulsive murderers have a history of alcohol or drug abuse and/or were intoxicated at the time of the crime — 93%, compared to 76% of those who strategised about their crimes.

Criminologist Rajat Mitra says most perpetrators in such cases experience “explosive rage”. “Such people are already deeply angry with themselves and the world and often suffer from impulse control disorder. Very often they consider themselves to be failures and victims.” And when a fight over a trivial issue occurs, it touches a raw nerve and acts like a trigger. Such people often report a feeling of calmness after the act. “Their vital signs like blood pressure go down and they experience a high,’’ says Mitra.

• Cannot live without your phone? One Delhi resident was willing to kill for it. Last week, 30-year-old Kamal Deep and her brother allegedly stabbed a Flipkart delivery man because the mobile phone she was supposed to get from the e-commerce site reached her 20 minutes late.

• Last month, Pawan Kumar, 30, was beaten to death with a ladle when he complained about the quality of food in an east Delhi dhaba.

• And a New Year eve’s party went sour for another Delhi resident Vinay Bhati, 30, who was shot and injured. His ‘crime’ was that he accidentally bumped against a man inside a tony south Delhi bar.

• In December, Rohit Saluja, 25, was attacked with knives by three men who tried to stop him from urinating in the open in Timarpur. The victim said he was first lectured on Swachh Bharat

• A month earlier, 24-year-old law student Ashish Bhardwaj, was shot dead after a man objected to his sitting on a park bench and asked him to leave. When Bhardwaj protested, there was an argument and the man pulled out a gun and opened fire.

SUNDAY PROFILE
BEING NIRBHAYA’S MOTHER 

One brutal night transformed Asha Devi into the fearless woman who now speaks up for the voiceless

Himanshi.Dhawan@timesgroup.com   01.04.2018

Asha Devi Pandey, a barely literate woman from a small Uttar Pradesh village, did not know what to say when mikes were thrust in her face the first time five years ago. Her daughter was brutally gang-raped and left to die. The nation was repulsed and jolted. Thousands took to the streets to demand justice, forcing the powers-that-be to rewrite the law against rape. And the trial of her daughter’s attackers began. Something snapped. From another faceless, voiceless migrant whose home and family was her universe, Asha Devi became Nirbhaya’s mother.

“I never imagined my child would be taken away from me like this,” she says. “Right after the incident when my mouth would be dry, when I felt I had no voice, the media came to talk to me. I opened my mouth and the words just tumbled out. Now, it is no longer so difficult. I speak my mind no matter who is on the stage.’’ That hard-won courage was in evidence when she recently took on former Karnataka DGP HT Sangliana for his misogynistic remarks at a Women’s Day event in Bengaluru. The ex-top cop commented on Asha Devi’s physique, saying he could well imagine how beautiful her daughter must have been. He capped his speech by saying that when overpowered, one must surrender to save one’s life.

In an open letter, Asha Devi tore into Sangliana. “You have not just insulted my daughter’s sacrifice but also our struggle to get justice. You are suggesting that my daughter should have surrendered and she could have lived. Then why don’t we ask the Army jawans on our border to surrender so that they can stay alive?” she asks.

The voice is louder now but five years have done little to numb the raw pain in it. But Nirbhaya’s mother is now the symbol of every woman’s fight against discrimination, injustice and the humiliation she must face to bring her assaulters to book.

Nirbhaya too is no longer just her daughter, an average 23-year-old paramedical student chasing her dreams. That girl is now in some corner of the house, packed into a box with her clothes, books and belongings. Nirbhaya is now a symbol of all that is wrong with society, and her mother must carry on the battle the young woman fought from her hospital bed to bring her attackers to justice.

In her home in Delhi’s Dwarka, a poster showing a flame is pinned in the backdrop, helpful for media interviews. There are certificates and plaques displayed in a glass showcase in the living room.

Asha Devi and her husband, Badrinath, have shared the stage with presidents, prime ministers, foreign diplomats, Union ministers, policemen and civil society activists. They have spoken to packed halls, received awards to honour their daughter’s memory and given away awards in their daughter’s name. Nearly every month there is a “women’s empowerment” function that the two end up attending. The functions go little beyond felicitations, but the couple rarely refuse an invite. “If I don’t get on the stage and speak about my daughter’s case, people will forget her. They have already forgotten her…’’ Asha Devi’s voice trails off.

Within days of Nirbhaya’s gangrape inside a bus on the night of December 16, 2012, arrests were made. Men, women and children in various cities took to the streets to demand a stricter law, even capital punishment for rapists. Consequently, a more stringent anti-rape law was passed and a government fund established to improve the safety and security of women. The protests sparked books, poetry, art, and a searing documentary featuring the rapists.

“No one knew me, no one knew my daughter but so many people came to protest. I was so hopeful that something would change. Surely my daughter’s death would not be for nothing,” says Asha Devi. Now, she’s not sure. Of the six attackers, a juvenile has already served his three-year term and been rehabilitated. One committed suicide in prison and the remaining four have recently filed a petition in Supreme Court seeking review of the death penalty. ‘’They are still alive and their families can meet them. It is our fate to wait,” she says.

“When you face difficulty, you tell yourself there is some good at the end of it. That hope makes you move ahead. But now I can see the truth. There is no hope, there is only disappointment,’’ she says. And it is not just about her daughter, it is about the Nirbhayas across the country.

Asha Devi repeatedly mentions the recent rape of an eight-month old in Delhi. “Things are just getting worse.” It is this lack of hope that keeps her up on many nights. But this is something only she knows.

Both Badrinath and Asha Devi receive calls from parents of young girls who have been molested, raped, killed. Often, the parents have no clue about who to complain to, have no resources to pursue cases or have been stalled by the police and authorities. “Mothers call me... They think because I have gone through this, I will understand what they are going through,’’Asha Devi says. The months spent inside police stations and outside court rooms have helped create a network of lawyers, cops and NGOs that she can use. A phone call from her ensures that an abduction complaint pushed aside gets the station officer’s attention or a rape trial that has been pending gets legal representation. This week, a 15-year-old girl from Jharkhand who was working as a domestic help was found hanging at her employer’s residence in Delhi. The teenager’s parents called Asha Devi, who approached the Delhi Commission for Women and helped get the case registered.

The battle has just begun, Nirbhaya’s parents know. Even for those ready to fight for justice, harassment, indignity and humiliation awaits in the neighourhood, at the police station and numerous court hearings. Hope or no hope, there is only one way to go about it. “They say…samaj kya kahega? Mein kehta hoon, kya kahega? Humne kabhi aankh nahi churayee, aur na churayenge (Parents say what will people say? I tell them, what will they say? We have never backed down nor we ever will),” says Badrinath.


HELPING HAND:

Parents who don’t know how to get justice for their girls turn to Asha Devi. She calls station officers to get cases registered, and lawyers for legal aid