Personality Development
CMS creates a better future for all children by maximising
their opportunities through quality education and initiatives for unity and development.
November 2019
From the President's Pen...
Prof. Geeta Kingdon, President, CMS
Dear Parents,
Students of classes 8 to 12 of all CMS campuses participate in the Chief Justices (CJ) conference each year. By way of orientation prior to the conference, they are given some materials and encouraged to think and to write essays about the scheduled themes, but the most exciting part for the pupils is their actual participation in the conference itself.
Only CMS students have the opportunity to participate, and they do so in two different ways. Firstly, students who volunteer for the Youth Leadership programme take part in 10 preparatory sessions each of 3 hours on Sundays from July to early November, to prepare for their close engagement with world leaders, Chief Justices and judges; some of these students present the Children’s Appeals, and others engage by asking the assembled senior world judiciary their searching, sometimes complex and sometimes discomfiting questions! Secondly, students of classes 8 to 12 attend the plenary and parallel sessions of the conference on any one day of the conference, where they get a four-hour opportunity to hear the speakers, and also raise their questions / offer their perspectives on the conference themes.
While not all students may be aware of the enormity of the opportunity their active participation provides, the positive impact of such participation is incalculable, even though it is not immediately visible. Since students are intellectually engaged in discussion of contemporary world affairs in the presence of eminent international dignitaries and legal luminaries, they sense that their perspectives are valued, and they become aware of the importance of their concerns in the world, which boosts their self-worth, self-concept and confidence.
That the opportunity is priceless is attested by discerning parents and students alike. As one IAS officer parent of a young CMS alumna aged 19 years old attending college in south India requested: “Can my daughter be allowed to accompany any one of the judges at the conference please? She can fly back for the conference. I received training on how to deal with dignitaries in Mussourie when I trained as an IAS officer, but I want my daughter to have that opportunity right now”; and as another student who had the opportunity to meet the Dalai Lama at one of the past CJ conferences said: “I put down the fact of my attendance at this important conference, and the opportunity it provided (to interact with the Dalai Lama and pre-eminent judges of many countries) on my personal statement in my university application for Oxford University, citing that as a factor that inspired my interest in the study of economics and politics” – this student went on to do a BA degree at the University of Oxford. The number of CMS students choosing to study law at university has greatly increased in the past 10 years, which may be partly inspired by their attendance at the CJ conferences. So, if your child is in classes 8 to 12, please make sure she/he takes full advantage of participation at this year’s (imminent) conference!
UN International Day of Non-Violence
Bapu's 150th Birth Anniversary celebrated
Chief Guest Mr Uday Bhan Singh inaugurating the function
CMS celebrated the 150th Birth Anniversary of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi at CMS Gomti Nagar Extension Auditorium on 1st October 2019. On this auspicious occasion, around 3000 CMS teachers and staff took out a 'Prabhat Pheri' led by the CMS Founders, Dr Jagdish Gandhi and Dr (Mrs) Bharti Gandhi and CMS President Prof. Geeta Gandhi Kingdon. Chief Guest on this occasion was Mr Chaudhary Uday Bhan Singh, State Minister, Khadi and Village Industries Board, UP. Cultural items and Bapu’s favourite devotional songs formed part of the festivities.
Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru
(i) On 13th December, 1946, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru moved an Objective Resolution in the Constituent Assembly which was passed on 22nd January, 1947. The seed of Article 51 was sown in that Objective Resolution in the part relating to International Relations.
(ii) When the Constitution was being drafted, in the Draft Constitution, the said Article was included as Article 40 which related to International Peace & Security and India's international relations.
(iii) Amendments were moved on Draft Article 40 and after a lot of discussions and debates, Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution - Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, accepted the Article in the present amended form, which was finally passed by the Constituent Assembly and is numbered as Article 51 of the Constitution of India in the form mentioned below: (It became the Law of the Land on 26th January, 1950)
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
*Article 51 Of The Constitution Of India
- promote international peace & security;
- maintain just & honourable relations between nations;
- *foster respect for international law ...; &
- encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration.
The above Article 51 is included in Part IV of the Constitution of India relating to Directive Principles of State Policy, which were initially considered as not enforceable. But the position was changed by 25th Amendment 1971 of the Constitution which upgraded the status of Directive Principles vis-a-vis Fundamental Rights and further augmented by rulings of the Supreme Court, which are as follows
1. 25th AMENDMENT ACT - 1971:
Article 31-C, added by the Constitution (25th Amendment) Act, 1971, seeks to upgrade the Directive Principles. If the Directive Principle aim at promoting the larger interest of society, the courts will have to uphold the case in favour of Directive Principle in case of conflict with Fundamental Rights.
2. Ruling Of Supreme Court In 1973:
Ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of Kesavananda Bharati vs. State of Kerala in which it is ruled that
(a) 'Moral Rights' embodied in Part IV are as equally essential features of the Constitution as Fundamental Rights and are fundamental in the governance of the country and all the organs of the state are bound to enforce those directions.
(b) The Directive Principles act as a check on the government; theorized as a yardstick in the hands of the people to measure the performance of the government. Therefore, the government should keep these principles in view while framing laws and planning its activities and actions as these principles are fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the state to apply these principles in making laws.
We, the peace loving people of India and 2.5 billion children of the world (including the children of India), have been watching helplessly for the past 68 years (since commencement of the Constitution of India in 1950).
During the all these years no endeavour has been made to follow the mandate of Article 51 of the Constitution of India. It is now becoming unbearable to experience further agony, fear, anxiety and terror any longer.
Terrorism, fear of more wars, ecological imbalance and insecurity among the human race is prevalent in the present World scenario. We, the citizens of India, are now losing patience and cannot wait till eternity to fulfill the wishes and dreams of Mahatma Gandhi and Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru and all the members of the Constituent Assembly.
Appeal to the Government of India
- Since no endeavour has been made in past 68 years, a full fledged endeavour is needed, as intended in Article 51 ("shall endeavour") by nothing less than calling a meeting at New Delhi, India of all the leaders of the world, as India alone cannot fulfill the dictates of Article 51.
- We have requested the Government of India to consider implementing Article 51, in action and in spirit, by calling a meeting of World Leaders for providing a safe and secure future to world's over two billion children and the generations yet-to-be-born, to deliberate on the formation of a NEW POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ORDER OF THE WORLD (on the pattern of the European Parliament of 28 countries and European Currency 'EURO' of 18 countries.
- The 53rd Session of the UN General Assembly held on 10th May, 1999 reflected a consensus to establish a New Political and Economic Order of the World and on 26th May 2000, Dr Jagdish Gandhi from India, also moved the same resolution in the UN Millennium Forum of 1350 representatives of NGOs & Civil Society Organisations of the world held at UN Headquarters in New York from 22nd to 26th May 2000, where over 1000 NGOs and civil society organizations also proclaimed that formation of a new political and economic order of the world was highly desirable. India is the only country in the world which has a constitutional mandate in Article 51 coupled with the philosophy of 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam' and 'Jai Jagat' propagated by Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave and therefore, India must take early initiative in this direction to save the future of over two billion children of the world and the generations yet to be born.
"Mankind's problems can no longer be solved by National Governments, what is needed is a World Government and this can best be achieved by strengthening the United Nations System." -Jan Tinbergen
World Parliament for World Unity & World Peace
‘United Nations General Assembly must be turned into World Parliament to enact
World Laws.'
World Government for Global Governance, World Unity and World Peace
‘The United Nations Headquarters must be turned into the Secretariat of
World Government.’
Meeting of World Leaders
A meeting of world leaders must be called at New Delhi by Government of India as it is the largest mature democracy of the world. Article 51 of the Constitution of India is a mandate given to the Government of India to fulfill its inter-generational responsibility and save the future of mankind and the world's over 2.5 billion children and generations yet-to-be born, which are the common denominators of all the nations of the world.