16

DELHI

THE HINDU

TUESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2012

BOOK REVIEW
Bhupendra Yadav t is heartening that Dalit Studies is expanding as an academic eld. The market is ooded with books on the people who inspired Dalit emancipation, the movements for recognition of Dalit identity, the measurement of Dalit disparity, the Dalit assertion for equal redistribution of socio-economic wealth, and so on. This book is a welcome addition to the literature on the subject. The author, Badri Narayan, a home-grown social historian and cultural anthropologist, already has to his credit three much-acclaimed works. A signicant piece of research, The Making of the Dalit Public in North India is remarkable for three reasons: it operationalises ideas of leading philosophers on a small village; its ndings break new ground; and its methodology is innovative.

Forthcoming review

The Red Market On the Trail of the Worlds Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Trafckers: Scott Carney; Hachette India Publishing, Gurgaon

To see the world in a village

I
of Dalit life are generally very dismal. Hence, any publication that documents hard facts about educational disparities and socioeconomic inequalities is bound to make for heart-rending reading. Badri has been careful not to fall for this easy way of making an impact. Instead, he has married the concept of public sphere to the anthropological data collected by his team from Shahabpur, a village on the Allahabad-Lucknow road. Habermas propounded the concept of bourgeois public sphere in the context of his theory of making social values through rational communicative action. He said such a public sphere initially emerged in the 18th century European cafes with help from the print media of the time. Feminist socialist Nancy Fraser spoke of multiple public spheres in unequal late-capitalist societies. Badri endorses this idea and goes on to show how history, and historical personalities and events in the Nara-Maveshi movement were viewed differently by diverse sections. Most of the Dalit-related studies either describe the like Brahman sankhbajayega/Hathibadhtajayega (Brahmins will blow conch shells/the Elephant [symbol of Bahujan Samaj Party]will advance). Caste identity is used more like clothes that can be worn, cast away, or changed at will to suit ones convenience.

KNOW YOUR ENGLISH

benets of development, while ensuring their self-respect and dignity. This is what the Congress appears to be hoping for. It is possible to see a world in a grain of sand, said William Blake. Methodologically, this book has demonstrated just that. Badri, along with his team, collected qualitative, anthropological data from a village in Uttar Pradesh, and this seems to be typical enough and adequate for one to understand the social phenomenon of status churning in the entire State. However, Badri has missed an important study. After listing the village studies by noted scholars, he says none of them documented social upheavals and the struggle for freedom and equality launched by oppressed groups in post-Independence India, which resulted in violence, massacres and genocides of the marginalised and Dalit sections of society. But this deciency was lled by Arvind Narain Das through his Changel: The Biography of a Regrettably, Village. Changel nds no mention in Badris work. What is the meaning and origin of lily-livered? (K.V. Dinesh, Trichy) This expression has been part of the English language for a very long time and is frequently used in everyday contexts to mean cowardly. When you call someone lilylivered, you mean that the person is a weakling; someone who can be easily pushed around. Other expressions that have the same meaning are white-livered and pigeon-livered. *The lily-livered Head of Department refused to take action against the students. *Unlike her husband, Usha is certainly not lily-livered. Dont underestimate her. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that the liver was not only the seat of love, but also the seat of virile passion like courage. According to them, the liver of a person full of passion would be red or reddish brown in colour. When you accuse someone of being lily-livered, you are suggesting that his liver is like the lily white or rather pale in colour. It lacks the blood to make it reddish brown. Whenever the Greeks sacriced an animal before a battle, they always checked its liver. If the liver of the animal was red, then it was seen as a good omen. If, on the other hand, it was pale, it signied defeat. What is the meaning of fructuous? (S. Rakesh, Kanpur) Like its opposite infructuous, a word that many Indians are fond of, fructuous meaning fruitful or productive, is not listed in all dictionaries. When you describe a piece of land as being fructuous, you are suggesting that the soil is highly fertile. The trees in such a place bear a lot of fruit. The word comes from the Latin fructus meaning fruit, and it is used in formal contexts. As far as the pronunciation is concerned, the rst syllable rhymes with the word truck. The following u is like the u in put and the nal syllable sounds like the ous in fabulous. The word is pronounced FRUCK-tyu-es with the stress on the rst syllable. *The time has come for us to move on. We need to nd fructuous land. What is the meaning of She is high maintenance? (M. Harini, Coimbatore) The expression high maintenance is mostly used in informal contexts with reference to women. It became popular thanks to the movie When Harry Met Sally. When you label a woman as being high maintenance, you are implying that she is very demanding. She expects her partner to pay a lot of attention to her; she constantly needs to be reassured about her looks and about his love for her. The partner also needs to spend a lot of money on her to keep her happy. The opposite of high maintenance is low maintenance. *Taranaths new girlfriend is extremely high maintenance. What is the meaning of rst night? (N.Ramachandran, Chennai) In India, the expression is always used to refer to the rst night spent together by a newly married couple. The term rst night for a native speaker of English is always associated with the world of theatre. It refers to the rst public performance of a play; the night on which a play is presented to the public for the rst time. The star received a thunderous ovation from the rstnight audience. ****** The trouble with women is that they get excited about nothing, and then marry him. Cher
S. UPENDRAN

Cultural recognition
The BSPs zig-zag route to power and its tactical alliances or blind opposition can be explained in terms other than philosophical. Like most other groups seeking to assert their identity, Dalits too ght more keenly for cultural recognition than for economic redistribution. The Dalit activists seem to be hurt and provoked more by culturerelated insults and humiliation heaped on the community than by the economic injury inicted by exploitative practices. In their ght for social, political and cultural equality, they would be prepared to confront and force a showdown with the dominant socio-political structure. But the same activists may not mind assimilation with it, if that could get for them the power and

THE MAKING OF THE DALIT PUBLIC IN NORTH INDIA Uttar Pradesh (1950-Present): Badri Narayan; Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 595. social formations of caste/ traditional cultures or document developmental politics. Breaking fresh ground, Badri however narrates the making of the political public through struggles by the Dalits against dominant castes. The same dominant castes may join the Dalit political public using slogans

Public sphere
First, the book seeks to put social theory to some good use in understanding the changing context of Dalit assertion. The bare facts

FROM THE BLURB

Public Health in India Critical Reections: Imrana Qadeer; Daanish Books, C-502, Taj Apartments, Gazipur, Delhi-110096. Rs. 750. The discipline of public health is a contested terrain where governments, institutions, medical professionals and academics have been engaging and inuencing one another. Imrana Qadeers

work represents the strand of critical public health which questions the dominant approach to health research and policy. This is a collection of her articles grouped under four heads: knowledge and pedagogy in critical public health; the health status of Indian people critical reections; policies and planning for health in India; and health and ill-health in a neoliberal world. Discussing the continuities and discontinuities in the Indian context, Qadeer says it is a matter of great concern that the majority of public health professionals are busy offering solu-

tions on how to rope in private sector into partnerships and how private insurance schemes could be used to standardise therapeutics. She contrasts this with the national commitment to providing basic health care irrespective of paying capacity. The need, according to her, is to begin afresh, not with equity and efciency but with the ethical question: Development of what and for whom? Community Policing Misnomer or Fact?: Veerendra Mishra; Sage Publications India Pvt., Ltd., B1/I-1, Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area, Mathura Road, New Delhi-110044. Rs. 695. The concept of community policing, which encompasses a variety of philosophical and practical approaches, is still evolving.

Basically, it is a system where management serves to guide and motivate rather than dictate the subordinate eld ofcers on how they should act, and also ensures that the police ofcers are fully equipped with all the resources necessary to tackle the problems of the area under their charge. Although much discussed, the idea has not caught on either because of impediments in the organisation settings or due to suspicion lurking in the community. The book under review discusses how a smooth transition to community policing requires due recognition of the new responsibilities and decision-making powers of the eld ofcers and how that should be backed fully by the entire organisation. Drawing

upon four case studies from Madhya Pradesh and Timor-Leste, the author, Veerendra Mishra, elucidates different policing concepts such as police syndrome, tracking participation footprint and image dating/image mapping. Regretting that neither the police nor the community seems to have realised the importance and inevitability of partnership in the right sprit, he says in conclusion that the sooner they realised it the merrier and safer it would be for both.

upendrankye@gmail.com

BUSINESS
Hyundai Motor launches Eon-D variants
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: Hyundai Motor In-

M&M to reopen XUV500 bookings

Mulls draw for allotment in case of huge response
NEW DELHI: Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra on Monday said it would re-open bookings for its latest SUV (sports utility vehicle) model XUV500, for a limited period of ten days, starting January 25 after suspending it last year due to overwhelming response. The company further said in case bookings exceed 7,200 it would undertake a draw for allotment of the SUV. To ensure that our customers do not have to wait beyond a reasonable period, we are undertaking an XUV500 draw, which will ensure fair and transparent allotment of the vehicle to our customers who get selected in the draw, M&M Senior VicePresident (Marketing, Automotive Division) Vivek Nayer said in a statement. The draw process would be validated by the professional services rm, Deloitte Tou-

Vodafone India begins IPO process

NEW DELHI: U.K.-based telecom major Vodafone has moved a step further to list its India operations by roping in investment bank NM Rothschild to assist the listing plans. According to sources, Vodafone India has roped in investment bank NM Rothschild to assist the company in its listing plans. When contacted, the company spokesperson, however, declined to comment. Sources said Rothschild would assist Vodafone to clear the regulatory hurdles, help in price discovery and valuation, restructure the complicated shareholding pattern and even help appoint the bookrunners at a later stage. Last year, the company had organised in Mumbai a meet of global investors and analysts in which it had disclosed nancial and other operational details. Vodafone India Chief Executive Ofcer Martin Pieters

dia has launched three new variants of the Eon-D Lite plus, Era plus and Magna plus. All three variants will also come with LPG options and will be priced at Rs.27,000 more than the non-LPG option. H. W. Park, Managing Director and Chief Executive Ofcer, Hyundai Motor India, said in a release that the Delhi ex-showroom price for D-Lite plus that was loaded with air-conditioning and power steering would be Rs.2.98 lakh (Rs. 3 lakh). It offers a host of features all for less than Rs.3 lakh. Era plus will further offer front power windows and central locking facility and it is priced at Rs.3.12 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The Magna plus comes with a two-Din audio system with USB and Aux and is priced at Rs.3.42 lakh (exshowroom Delhi).

che Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd. (DTTIPL), as per mutually agreed scope and terms between M&M and DTTIPL, the statement added. The company said customers would have to pay Rs.80,000 for the XUV500 draw application form. Re-

sults of the draw would be announced by February 15. The new bookings for the XUV500 will now extend to 19 cities in India, including Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Ludhiana, Jallandhar, Patiala, Chandigarh/Panchkula, Kochi, Tri-

vandrum, Kozhikode, Trissur, Coimbatore, Nagpur and Nashik, the company said. After launching the vehicle on September 29 last year, the company had temporarily suspended new bookings in October as four months production of over 8,000 units was sold out within just ten days. The vehicle was available only in ve cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, and Pune then. The company has hiked the prices of XUV500 in the beginning of this month with its three variants becoming dearer by Rs.30,000, Rs.50,000 and Rs.55,000 (exshowroom, Delhi), respectively. The SUV was launched at introductory prices ranging between Rs.10.80 lakh and Rs.11.95 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). PTI

also made an internal announcement to employees, updating them with the IPO plan. India is one of the biggest markets for the company. It has nearly 146 million subscribers. Last year, Vodafone had bought out Indian partner Essars 33 per cent stake in the joint venture for $5.4 billion. That transaction took Vodafones ownership to 75.35 per cent, more than the prescribed foreign direct investment (FDI) limit of 74 per cent. Domestic company Piramal Healthcare picked up a strategic 5.5 per cent in Vodafone for $640 million. The Piramal investment helped Vodafone meet regulatory requirements. The Vodafone Group entered India in 2007, after buying out Hutchisons 67 per cent stake in its telecom venture with Essar for $11.2 billion. PTI

Rupee recovers 15 paise

MUMBAI: Moving in tandem

with stocks, the rupee recovered its early losses to close 15 paise up at nearly one-anda-half-month high of 51.37/ 38 against the dollar on Monday. Dealers said foreign fund inows, mainly into debt, helped the rupee to recover its early losses. Late recovery in equities and mild dollar selling also helped the local unit to stretch gains for the third straight trading session. The rupee settled at 51.37/38, a level not seen since December 2, 2011. FIIs infused almost $2.89 billion in debt market while picked up shares worth $543.12 million in the current calender year till January 13. PTI
EXCHANGE RATES
Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit except yen at 4 p.m on January 16

Currencies U.S. Dollar Euro Pound Sterling Jap Yen (100 Units) Swiss Franc Singapore Dollar Australian Dollar Canadian Dollar Swedish Kroner Danish Kroner New Zealand Dollar Hongkong Dollar Malaysian Ringitt Kuwaiti Dinar UAE Dirham Bahraini Dinar Qatari Riyal Saudi Riyal Omani Riyal

TT Buying 51.17 64.84 78.35 66.64 53.62 39.62 52.75 50.15 7.31 8.72 40.56 6.59 16.28 182.57 13.93 134.90 13.50 13.10 132.50

TT Selling 51.49 65.26 78.86 67.09 53.97 39.87 53.09 50.49 7.36 8.78 40.84 6.63 16.42 184.37 14.02 137.45 13.90 13.30 134.15

Automatic Data buys Ma Foi Consulting

Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP), provider of human resource outsourcing, payroll services, tax and compliance services, benets administration and accounts payable solutions, has acquired the Indian payroll business of Randstad Holding nv, Amsterdam, from its Indian subsidiary Ma Foi Randstad for an undisclosed sum.

New coal price norm to push up cement prices

NEW DELHI: The price of a 50-kg bag of cement may go up by as much as Rs.9 this month as the new coal pricing mechanism adopted by Coal India has increased the production cost for makers of the building material, Crisil Research said here on Monday. Cement players will try to pass on the cost increase resulting from the new pricing policy adopted by Coal India, with effect from January 1. Hence, we believe that panIndia cement price is likely to rise by 2-3 per cent in January, said Crisil Research Head Ajay DSouza.

Sensex gains after initial fall

MUMBAI: The Bombay Stock

Earlier, the price of coal was xed on the basis of the moisture and ash content present in coal.

Average price
The average price of a 50kg bag of cement fell by one per cent in December vis-avis November to Rs.285, despite strong 13.4 per cent growth in demand vis-a-vis the corresponding month last year to 20 million tonnes. The improved pace of construction activity would also support demand growth during the month, aiding the price rise, Mr. DSouza added. During April-December of the current scal, cement consumption grew by 5.9 per cent to 160.3 million tonnes from 151.4 million tonnes in the same period last scal. PTI

Exchange sensitive index, Sensex, erased early losses and ended higher by 35 points at 16189.36 on Monday against 16154.62 last Friday as ination logged a sharp dip, investors, however, remained cautious because of weak global cues due to credit downgrade of nine euro-zone countries by ratings agency S&P. Capital goods and IT stocks rallied. However, renery stocks, mainly the BSE index

Services
Ma Foi Consulting Solutions, the Indian company acquired by ADP from Ma Foi Randstad, offers managed payroll services and social benets administration to clients across India through a fully customised payroll engine.

Fresh practice
Deviating from its earlier practice, CIL started pricing coal on the basis of gross caloric value the energy produced by burning it with effect from January this year.

heavyweight Reliance Industries, were at the receiving end. The 30-share Sensex resumed weak and fell by 117 points due to sluggish Asian stocks on persisting eurozone debt crisis and S&Ps cutting of credit ratings of nine European nations including France (the regions second largest economy). The Sensex bounced back to close at ve-week high of 16189.36 as a sharp fall in ination numbers released on Monday boosted investor condence. Analysts said ination at two-year low of 7.47 per cent for December raised hopes that the Reserve Bank would cut lending rates in view of moderation in the rate of price rise. The 50-share index, Nifty, gained 7.90 points at 4873.90. Overall, Infosys, L&T, ITC, TCS, SBI, Tata Motors, BHEL and Bharti Airtel supported

the market. Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, HDFC, HUL, ONGC and NTPC fell. Analysts said investor sentiment remained cautious despite fall in ination, especially on RBIs lowering lending rates. Increasingly divergent views are being generated among market players whether the RBI could take any easing stance in its policy
BULLION RATES
January 16 rates in rupees with previous rates in brackets

meeting next week. said Milan Bavishi, Research Head at Inventure Growth and Securities. Overall, 15 of the 30 Sensex scrips closed in the green. The market breadth on the BSE improved slightly as 1,403 stocks closed with gains while 1,344 nished with losses. PTI

Source:Indian Bank

Chennai Bar Silver (1 kg) Retail (1 g) 24 ct gold (10 g) 22 ct.gold (1 g) Mumbai Silver Standard gold Delhi Silver Standard gold Sovereign

51,870 55.50 27,730 2,593

(51,545) (55.20) (27,645) (2,585)

52,190 (51,930) 27,470 (27,455) 52,150 (52,000) 27,890 (27,840) 23,300 (23,300)
...ND-ND