Lead India: A Times of India Initiative

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ABOUT THE MISSION

India Poised to India Realised
Today, we celebrate the birth anniversary of a remarkable man who inspired India to come together as a nation and overcome insurmountable odds. There were many facets to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi: he was a contrarian who taught the world to think different; a political saint who demonstrated that morality, compassion and politics needn't be mutually exclusive, indeed, they can go hand in hand; a superb communicator who mastered the art of coining memorable catchphrases — Do or Die, Quit India, An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind. But above all else, he was a leader who showed that leadership isn't about the arrogance of power but the humility of service. India, and the world, may never ever again see a Mahatma Gandhi. But that's not to say all of us can't learn from him. His message still touches a chord within all of us — witness the huge success of Lage Raho Munna Bhai. But somewhere, the Indian political system seems to have failed him. It's hard to avoid feeling that if the Mahatma were to come back today, he'd be deeply disillusioned by what he'd find. Corruption, criminal links, inefficiency, greed, myopia, arrogance, casteism, communalism, divisive policies the — list of flaws goes on and on, each one a painful reminder of how far we've deviated from Gandhian idealism.
But a spark lives on within many of us, and it refuses to die. We believe that things can be made better, and we refuse to abandon hope even in the face of overwhelming cynicism. It's that hope that inspired The Times of India to launch its Lead India initiative. A hope that has been vindicated many times over, with 32,682 valid application forms pouring in across India. The task: zero in on eight candidates per centre
We debated. We argued. We agonized. Finally, we reached consensus. And so, on the day that India celebrates the birth of the man who was arguably its greatest leader ever, we present sixty four new leaders for a new India.
These eight candidates per centre will be further reduced to three, from which one winner will finally emerge to represent the city in the national finals. How will we decide the three finalists from each city? We won't. You will. Over the next few days, we'll run a series of pages in which we'll tell you more about the candidates, their beliefs, plans and ideas.
If you truly believe India deserves a new kind of leadership, then please do make an informed choice. It's your vote. Make it count.

 

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http://www.lead.timesofindia.com

 

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VOTE, BOOT & REBOOT

Westminster system or proportional representation? Winner-takes-all or preference voting? Whatever the system, elections remain critical. TOI looks at the various ways in which democracy functions


In the race to be a leader, it’s not enough to be armed with the qualities of leadership. It’s not enough to have charm, wit, intelligence, vision and efficiency. These have to be seen in a leader because in a modern, secular democracy, the vote still remains the single most important determinant and key to success. The goal is the office of power! Yes, of course, in some countries power flows from the backing of the military or by invoking divine legitimacy or boasting of a royal bloodline. But modern democracies and representative governments are like a complex mainframe computer where the user gets a go at changing the software every four or five years.
Elections don’t imply democracy. Malaysia and Singaporean systems are technically democracies, but citizens don’t have the freedom to choose because those with a monopoly on power limit wares on the shelves.

In the US, voters directly elect the president, whereas in countries like India and Britain, voters have no role to play on who will eventually lead the nation. France has a refinement in the form of a run-off vote that is called if no candidate on the ballot for president gets more than 50% of votes. Then a run-off is held between the two highest polling candidates.

In most countries, the legislature that is directly elected by the citizenry is the more powerful house. Elections for elders, as members of the upper houses (Rajya Sabha here, the House of Lords in UK & Senate in the US) are open only to elected representatives in the states and national legislatures and not to the citizenry.

But, whatever the form, elections remain the most critical democratic instrument. They compel or encourage politicians and policy makers to pay attention to citizens. There is widespread consensus that competitive elections, more than any other feature, is the hallmark that sets apart a democratic system from a dictatorship or a theocracy. Yet, democracy isn’t perfect and doesn’t give the citizenry rights over decision-making. Most systems allow citizens a

Referendum on the country’s top political office or the ruling party, but then block them out of decision making for five years. Election outcomes don’t depend only on popular votes but also on the rules used. The seat allocation rules vary from country to country. It is a question of how votes are computed and how seats are allocated. Some electoral rules favour the largest party or two largest parties, so the third-ranking parties are denied seats and tend to shrivel. Some others give even the smallest parties a chance to obtain seats in proportion to their percentage of votes. This often enables so many parties to gain seats that governments tend to be coalition ones.

There just isn’t any best way. Some countries value Proportional Representation (PR), that is, seats allocated in proportion to votes obtained, but the resulting coalition government tends to be unstable. The Westminster system, which we inherited from the British, gives primacy to stability and hence gives the largest party a comfortable majority so that it can rule alone even if it received less than 50% of votes polled. However, the result may be gross under-representation of minorities, which is sometimes addressed by reserving seats for them.
The Westminster system is a firstpast-the-post method, which completely ignores the candidate who may have got just one vote less. It creates governments, as we have seen in our own Parliament repeatedly, which cobble a majority in the legislature but may not control a majority of popular votes. The party’s share of parliamentary seats takes precedence over popular votes.

In the PR system, seats are divided according to the share of votes obtained by the party. In some countries, mostly Scandinavian, voters can also indicate a choice for particular candidates, but in countries like Spain and Germany, voters can check on the party only.


The Times of India presents Lead India - An India Poised Initiative

 

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There are few events in ancient Indian history that continue to grab as much attention as Ashoka’s renunciation of violence. The catalyst for the change in Ashoka’s worldview — who was the usual warrior king of the times and is even said to have killed his brothers in a fit of rage — was the Kalinga War. All this changed after the war, which took place around 265 BCE and, according to Ashoka’s edicts, claimed over 100,000 lives. The carnage deeply scarred Ashoka and radically changed the nature of his empire.

Ashoka embraced Buddhism and adopted ahimsa as his official policy. In one of his edicts, Ashoka declared: “The killing, death or deportation of a hundredth, or even a thousandth part of those who died during the conquest of Kalinga now pains Beloved-of-the-Gods. Now Beloved-of-the-Gods thinks that even those who do wrong should be forgiven where forgiveness is possible.”

The latter half of Ashoka’s reign was marked by acts of piety and tolerance. Ashoka turned his attention to building stupas — including the Sanchi stupa — rest houses and roads. A policy of accommodation and alliance with neighbouring kingdoms was followed. He also sent out Buddhist missionaries to distant places.

The decision that Ashoka took on the bloody plains of Kalinga transformed him from a bloodthirsty conqueror to an apostle of peace. That is how India and the world remember him. Ashokan pillars, which were strewn across his enormous empire, are now the emblem of India and the dharmachakra (the wheel of righteous duty), that crowned the columns, has found a place in India’s flag.

 

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Basically its a nationwide competition of Ideas to improve India. It might be anything: Social work, entrepreneurship, mass movements, etc.
The winner will be given help to finance his ideas, as well as access to experts and press coverage.

 

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TOI campaign wins India's first-ever Grand Prix at Cannes
17 Jun 2008, 0122 hrs IST,TNN


CANNES: The Times of India's Lead India campaign has become the first-ever from India to win a Grand Prix Lion at the Cannes advertising festival.

The Cannes Lions, as the festival is known, is the international advertising fraternity's equivalent of the Oscars or the Grammy Awards.

A select international jury on Monday picked ad agency JWT India's Lead India entry from nearly 1,700 entries in the direct marketing discipline.

The crowning moment came at 10.30 in the morning, when at a packed press briefing, the Direct Lions jury announced TOI's pioneering campaign as the Grand Prix winner. Marcio Salem, head of the Direct Lions jury, said Lead India prevailed "with a big majority" as it was "a wonderful piece of work".

Winning a Grand Prix Lion - the highest award in any advertising category at Cannes - is every ad man's aspiration, and the honour, once bestowed, lasts a lifetime. So much so that winning the Grand Prix is even seen as a matter of national pride among delegates - it's the one award that transcends organizational rivalries and interests.

Commenting on the win, Vineet Jain, managing director of The Times of India Group, said, "The Lead India campaign was a campaign for India and not just a campaign for The Times of India. The Grand Prix goes to India, not just TOI. We are humbled by the recognition it has received globally. At the same time, we are proud that we've brought India its first-ever Grand Prix. TOI has always been a trendsetter and I hope this award is the beginning of more such awards for India in the future."

Jain added, "As a paper, TOI has been actively campaigning, on behalf of its readers, for positive social change. We believe our readers have a right to good governance and access to better education, health and civic infrastructure - ultimately, to a quality of life that is commensurate with India's status as an emerging superpower."

Agnello Dias, national creative head of JWT India, said, "I am astounded and ecstatic that something that started in our minds could go on and beat the rest of the world. I believe this campaign would not have been possible with any other brand but The Times of India. For JWT and me, it is an honour and privilege to work with the TOI Group."

Jury chief Salem said the Lead India campaign was selected for the Grand Prix because, "The objective of direct marketing is to communicate and move people. This campaign moved an entire country."

Jury member Janet Barker-Evans said the purpose of direct marketing is to get a response from people, which Lead India achieved admirably.

"I have never seen such a phenomenal response to a direct marketing campaign," she admitted. Another juror, Mauro Alencar, said: "I am proud to be part of the jury that chose this entry. It's one that has created a paradigm shift in direct marketing."

If Lead India has wowed the international ad community, it has worked as a big morale booster for Indian ad professionals.

"This is absolutely delightful news," said Piyush Pandey, chairman & national creative director, O&M India. "This is just a way of telling the world India has arrived. And a way of showing youngsters that everything is possible if you have a big idea."

Prasoon Joshi, chairman, McCann India, said, "I really think the world has started listening to us—a few years ago, this might not have been noticed and they might not have cared. Now we matter."

TOI campaign wins India's first-ever Grand Prix at Cannes-Europe-World-The Times of India