EDITORIAL 30.06.10

Please contact the list owner of subscription and unsubscription at: editorial@samarth.co.in 

 

media watch with peoples input                an organization of rastriya abhyudaya

 

Editorial

month june 30, edition 000554 , collected & managed by durgesh kumar mishra, published by – manish manjul

 

Editorial is syndication of all daily- published newspaper Editorial at one place.

For ENGLISH  EDITORIAL  http://editorialsamarth.blogspot.com

THE PIONEER

1. ELUSIVE RAINS, PARCHED LAND
2. NEEDLESSLY AGGRESSIVE
3. REDEFINING STATE AND NATION - SUNANDA K DATTA-RAY
4. RENEW FOCUS ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT - S NARAYAN
5. MONSTER TURNS ON MASTER - SANKAR SEN
6. ISRAEL DEMONISED BY BIASED MEDIA
7. G20 SUMMIT DECIDES TO DEAL WITH DEBT - ANDREI FEDYASHIN

MAIL TODAY

1. NUCLEAR DEAL WITH CANADA SETS RIGHT AN ANOMALY
2. KASHMIR MESS LARGELY A FAILURE OF IMAGINATION - BY MANOJ JOSHI
3. ACTIVIST'S QUEST FOR A BETTER PUNJAB - VIKAS KAHOL
4. PASWAN IS BACK
5. BABUS ' GIFT' MOON WATER CREDIT TO US - BY SAVITA VERMA IN NEW DELHI & MAX MARTIN IN BANGALORE
6. MOVING FORWARD WITH PROMISES...
7. DR. MGR'S STUDENTS NOT ONLY HAVE SECURED DECENT POSITIONS IN INDIA, BUT ALSO

THE TIMES OF INDIA

1. BOOSTER SHOT
2. SAFEGUARDING PEACE
3. LOOKING BEYOND THE HYPE - SUMIT BHADUR
4. 'FOR THE FIRST TIME WE HAVE THE POWER TO ERADICATE A CANCER'
5. ENGLISH HATAO - JUG SURAIYA

HINDUSTAN TIMES

1. PUT A STOP TO REMOTE CONTROL
2. READ MY MIND
3. FOREVER LEFT HANGING - MURAD ALI BAIG
4. MAKE WAY FOR THE LADIES - GULU EZEKIEL
5. SHOOTING SELF-GOALS - PREETI SINGH
6. CONTROL YOUR THOUGHTS - HEMPRABHA CHAUHAN

THE INDIAN EXPRESS

1. COLLATERAL BENEFIT
2. THE PROFESSORIATE
3. IT TAKES A COUNTRY - SAUBHIK CHAKRABARTI
4. CROSSING THE GOAL LINE - SUDEEP PAUL
5. TRANSFORMING SANITATION SCENARIOS IN CITIES - ISHER JUDGE AHLUWALIA
6. SMEARING COLOURS IN SOUTH AFRICA
7. RESTRAINT IN KASHMIR
8. THE GREAT GAME FOLIO - C. RAJA MOHAN

THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS

1. POVERTY ON TWO WHEELS
2. CHANGING ULIPS
3. SBI SETS THE NEW BENCHMARK - SHOBHANA SUBRAMANIAN
4. HOW ASIA CAN GET AHEAD - KALPANA KOCHHAR
5. GENDER BPOS - GOUTAM DAS

THE HINDU

1. BRINKMANSHIP POLITICS
2. AUSTRALIA'S CHANGE OF GUARD
3. MERCY PETITIONS: INHUMANE PROCRASTINATION - T.R. ANDHYARUJINA
4. MIGRATION IN PROGRESS: FROM PRINT TO THE WEB - PRANAY GUPTE
5. GIVE CASH TO THE POOR TO SOLVE WORLD POVERTY - ADITYA CHAKRABORTTY
6. TORY CUTS LEAVE BRITONS SEETHING - HASAN SUROOR
7. THREE FIRMS RANK HIGHEST ON ACCESS TO POOR - DONALD G. MCNEIL JR

THE ASIAN AGE

1. WHO'LL SAVE INDIA FROM THIS PLUNDER?
2. IN NOWHERE LAND - P.C. ALEXANDER

DNA

1. JAMMU & KASHMIR SIMMERS
2. TECH SOLUTION
3. ISI ON THE MOVE AGAIN
4. NEW AGE MEDIA IS NOT MAKING US STUPID - STEVEN PINKER

THE TRIBUNE

1. VALLEY AT BOILING POINT
2. DEAL ON DEFICITS
3. TIGHT AUSSIE NORMS
4. BP OIL SPILL AND BHOPAL - BY SHASTRI RAMACHANDARAN
5. HOME REMEDIES - BY S. RAGHUNATH
6. THE ABSENCE OF ANY SYSTEMATIC STUDY BY INDIAN OR FOREIGN SCIENTISTS HAS LEFT - PROF NARESH KOCHHAR
7. QUESTION MARKS OVER CLAIMS - SP SHARMA

MUMBAI MIRROR

1. FINDING OUR INNER NEMO

BUSINESS STANDARD

1. ENTERPRISE INDIA
2. AMBITION IN THE SKY
3. SENSE IN TAX CODE - SURJIT S BHALLA
4. NIPPING AN IDEA IN THE BUD - A K BHATTACHARYA
5. BENDING RULES OF BUSINESS - M J ANTONY
6. ARE INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS LIABLE?

 THE ECONOMIC TIMES

1. LAW AND ORDER IN KASHMIR
2. IRDA SHOULD SHUN POPULISM
3. ENGLAND LOSE WORLD WAR-III!
4. ILL-INFORMED DEBATE ON OIL DECONTROL  - ANKLESARIA AIYAR
5. IS PETRO-PRICE REFORM ADEQUATE? -
6. RIGHT MOVE IN OIL, FOR NOW - JAIDEEP MISHRA
7. THE NEW GOSPEL OF GIVING - VITHALC NADKARNI

DECCAN CHRONICAL

1. MANMOHAN SCORES A COUP AT G-20
2. IN NOWHERE LAND - BY P.C. ALEXANDER
3. THE BLACK AND THE WHITE OF SOUTH AFRICA - BY ROGER COHEN
4. 'AFSPA HAS PERCEPTION PROBLEMS'
5. STORY OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS -  BY DAVID BROOKS
6. REPENT FOR THE SAKE OF LOVE - BY SADIA DEHLVI

THE STATESMAN

1. VIOLENCE UPSURGE
2. LINGUISTIC PRIDE
3. DE-STALINISATION 
   BALLOONING EXPENDITURE - DHIRES BHATTACHARYYA
4. THE FORGOTTEN VILLAGES - DEBRAJ BHATTACHARYA
5. DRIVER, MY DRIVER! - ISHWAR PATI
6. THE BIGGEST DEFICIT IS DEMOCRATIC

THE TELEGRAPH

1. NOT YET FULL
2. LANGUAGE PRIDE
3. A LEGACY OF SIBLINGS - MRINAL PANDE
4. ARTIST WITH A FAITHFUL EYE  - NORMAN HUTCHINSON (1932-2010)

DECCAN HERALD

1. SHOW RESTRAINT
2. DOING IT RIGHT
3. THE WRONG CHOICE - U R RAO
4. US NEEDS AN AFGHAN STRATEGY, NOT AN ALIBI - HENRY A KISSINGER
5. NEVER A DULL MOMENT - MAYA JAYAPAL

THE JERUSALEM POST

1. HEALING JEWISH RIFTS IN THE 'THREE WEEKS'
2. LION'S DEN: JIHADI UNDERCUTS PRESIDENT - BY DANIEL PIPES
3. CENTER FIELD: LOOKING MONSTROUS, FEELING VIRTUOUS
4. YALLA PEACE: IS THIS WHAT ISRAEL HAS TO OFFER? - BY RAY HANANIA
5. WHY AID THE ENEMY? - BY EFRAIM INBAR
6. SILWAN – 'IT'S THE ECONOMY, STUPID' - BY MATI GILL

HAARETZ

1. A PERSONAL FAILURE, NOT A SYSTEMIC ONE
2. MAKEUP EXAM - BY ALUF BENN
3. BEHIND THE SHALITS' BACK - BY AVIRAMA GOLAN
4. WHY ISRAELI ACADEMIA WILL BE BOYCOTTED - BY MOSHE SHOKED
5. OFF THE LINGUISTIC MAP - BY AMAR DAHAMSHE

THE NEW YORK TIMES

1. WHO WILL FIGHT FOR THE UNEMPLOYED?
2. THE PRICE OF BROADBAND POLITICS
3. ANTIBIOTICS AND AGRICULTURE
4. THE WRONG WAY AND THE RIGHT WAY
5. A SPLIT-SCREEN TALE OF TWO GENERALS - BY MAUREEN DOWD
6. THE REAL PALESTINIAN REVOLUTION - BY THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
7. WHY WE TALK TO TERRORISTS - BY SCOTT ATRAN AND ROBERT AXELROD
8. THE SPY WHO CAME OUT TO THE SUBURBS - BY DAVID WISE

USA TODAY

1. OUR VIEW ON BANKING OVERHAUL: FINANCIAL REFORM MEASURE MAKES THE SYSTEM SAFER
2. OPPOSING VIEW ON BANKING OVERHAUL: BAILOUT NATION - BY JEB HENSARLING
3. ANOTHER TEA PARTY ENIGMA: FOREIGN POLICY - BY LIONEL BEEHNER
4. WHY CAN'T WE TEXT AND DRIVE? SCIENCE - BY ROBERT PETRANCOSTA
5. RUSSIAN SPY CASE IN A WORD: BIZARRE - BY LEON ARON AND KEVIN ROTHROCK

TIMES FREE PRESS

1. THE GUN-RIGHTS MESS
2. REP. WAMP'S NEW GOAL
3. PAINFUL AREA JOB LOSSES
4. 'THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS'
5. ODD ALLURE OF ILLEGAL COCKFIGHTS

HURRIYET DAILY NEWS

1. FROM THE BOSPHORUS: STRAIGHT - SEN. ROBERT BYRD: MUCH MORE THAN A 'FRIEND'
2. WHEN ANKARA SAYS 'PEACE' TURN AROUND AND RUN AWAY! - BURAK BEKDIL
3. THE AKP'S HAMAS POLICY I: HOW TURKEY TURNED - SONER CAGAPTAY
4. TURKEY'S HEATHROW RESURRECTING ITSELF
5. TURKEY'S IRAN POLICY: MOVING AWAY FROM TRADITION? - İLTER TURAN
6. 'OBAMA DOES NOT NEGOTIATE WITH ERDOĞAN'
7. GOOD NEWS… - YUSUF KANLI

I.THE NEWS

1. UNACCOUNTABLE DEEDS
2. DEADLY GAS
3. UNDER THREAT
4. NEED FOR EVEN-HANDEDNESS - SHAMSHAD AHMAD
5. THE CONSULATES SNAG - BABAR AYAZ
6. FAKING IT - AMEER BHUTTO
7. WOLVES ON THE PROWL - RAOOF HASAN
8. THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL? - ANJUM NIAZ
9. MCCHRYSTAL'S EXIT 0 RIZWAN ASGHAR

PAKISTAN OBSERVER

1. GOVT'S APATHY CAUSES HUGE LOSSES
2. ANOTHER FEATHER IN INDIA'S CAP
3. EDUCATION CITIES FOR FATA
4. NOW GEN PETRAEUS TURN IN BARREL - ASIF HAROON RAJA
5. MYTH & REALITIES OF N PROLIFERATION - SYED MUHAMMAD ALI
6. DO TERRORISTS HAVE RELIGION? - AFSHAIN AFZAL
7. THE BLACK AND THE WHITE OF IT - ROGER COHEN
8. PLEDGING NO REVENGE - SAEED QURESHI

THE INDEPENDENT

1. WATERLOGGING
2. HELPLINE AWARENESS
3. ERROR, FOOTBALL AND TRUTH..!
4. OF FISH, FRUITS AND FORMALIN - M. SERAJUL ISLAM
5. BIG FINANCE ROLLS ON - WILLIAM BRITTAIN-CATLIN

THE AUSTRALIAN

1. BRACING FOR THE BROWN OUTS
2. BROADCASTER CAUGHT NAPPING BY OWN SCOOP
3. WHEN KEVIN WEDGED HIMSELF

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

1. GILLARD'S TAKE ON POPULATION
2. WORLD CUP BID MUST AVOID A PROFESSIONAL FOUL
3. BAKER'S ON TOAST, AND DESERVEDLY SO

THE GUARDIAN

1. POLICE: FORCE OF NUMBERS
2. IN PRAISE OF … WALES'S ANTIPODEAN ASCENDANCY
3. RUSSIAN ESPIONAGE: SPIES LIKE US

THE MOSCOW TIMES

1. AN IMITATION EMPIRE - BY YULIA LATYNINA
2. MOSCOW SHOULD NOT PLAY BY NATO'S RULES - BY ALEXEI PUSHKOV
3. BUSINESS IS DRIVING US TOWARD A NEW ERA  - BY KLAUS KLEINFELD AND WILLIAM COHEN

THE JAPAN TIMES

1. SHADOW OVER SUMO WORLD GROWS
2. MR. KAN MEETS MR. OBAMA
3. KOREAN PEACE STILL ELUSIVE, SIX DECADES ON - BY DENNY ROY
4. EUROZONE ISN'T DOOMED YET - BY HANS-WERNER SINN
5. CANBERRA'S BLOODLESS COUP - BY ALAN GOODALL

THE JAKARTA POST

1. FPI NO PROBLEM
2. THE BIRDS AND THE BEES ON BOARD NUH'S ARK - JULIA SURYAKUSUMA
3. THE PKS EXPERIMENT – SUNNY TANUWIDJAJA

CHINA DAILY

1. PROFOUND PACT
2. EXPANDING COFFERS
3. HUMAN HAND
4. THE POLITICS OF A NON-POLITICAL AGREEMENT - BY SHIH CHIH-YU
5. TWEAKING SINO-AUSTRALIAN TIES - BY GUO CHUNMEI (CHINA DAILY)
6. US PLAYS KOREAN CARD TO PERFECTION - BY LI QINGSI (CHINA DAILY)

THE HIMALAYAN

1. URGENCY SPEAKS
2. SUSTAIN IT
3. COMMUNITY, REDD AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ALL IN LINE - DR. INDRA PRASAD SAPKOTA
4. TOPICS: THROUGH THE MISTY EYES - NEELU SUBEDI

DAILY MIRROR

1. EU AND UN
2. UN SHOULD NOT HINDER DEVELOPMENT AND POLITICAL PROCESS - DEVANANDA
3. DOMESTIC DIMENSION OF SAFEGUARDING SOVEREIGNTY
4. A NEW WAR : SL BACKED KP VS INDIA BACKED TNA  

***************************************

******************************************************************************************

THE PIONEER

EDITS

ELUSIVE RAINS, PARCHED LAND

DOES GOVERNMENT HAVE A CONTINGENCY PLAN?

After much hype and hoopla over the prediction of the south-western monsoon being on time and the promise of abundant rains made by the Indian Meteorological Department, despair, if not gloom, has begun to set in across large swaths of the country. This year's particularly harsh summer continues to torment both cities and villages in central and northern India, giving rise to a lurking fear: What if the monsoon fails again? The IMD had predicted normal rains last year too, only to be proven wrong; the resultant drought has adversely impacted one and all, its savagery most felt in galloping food prices and runaway inflation. True, there is time yet for the monsoon to set in, but with each passing day, as further delays are announced by the IMD, concern is beginning to turn into alarm, especially for farmers with parched land. We are now told that the monsoon, after progressing smoothly in its initial phase, has stalled and will miss its date with north and central India. As if that were not bad enough, we have also been told that so far there has been a 12 per cent deficit in rains. Though the dreaded El Nino has dissipated, this has not been able to provide any succour. La Nina, which usually promises good rains, continues to play truant. What is worrisome is that with a deficit of 12 per cent, if the monsoon does not quickly revive and gather momentum by next week, the situation could turn tricky — as much has been confirmed by the IMD. This, in turn, raises the spectre of drought and its attendant consequences. Is the Prime Minister, who has been waxing eloquent on how to manage the global economy and save the world, aware of the monsoon playing hide-and-seek? Are his Ministers preparing for the worst? Or, as in the past, they are blissfully ignorant and couldn't care a toss? Cynical as it may sound, we cannot rule out the possibility of some of them rubbing their hands in glee at the possibility of a failed monsoon leading to a food crisis which in turn shall necessitate emergency food imports at exorbitant prices that will help some individuals feather their nests while the masses are left to cope with further inflation. If the Government is prepared for a second successive year of drought, it should take the people into confidence and tell them how it proposes to deal with the situation and shore up its dreams of near double-digit GDP. Mere bunkum and bogus assurances won't do.

The June-September rains are the main source of irrigation in India. The monsoon is vital for the production of paddy, sugarcane, oilseeds and other important food crops. How much of the expected agricultural output has been affected by the delayed monsoon? What does it do to foodgrain supplies? These are questions that cannot but be bothering the people as they wait for the elusive monsoon clouds and the even more elusive rains. Ironically, rather than take pre-emptive measures to hold the price line and stave off a crisis similar to last year's, the Government is busy taking steps that will lead exactly to the opposite. The sudden hike in fuel prices, at a time when inflation is running riot, merely to showcase the Government's efforts at reducing fiscal deficit at the G-20 summit — nothing else explains the timing of the flawed decision — and so that Mr Manmohan Singh gets a pat on the back from world leaders who are least interested in the plight of India's masses, speaks volumes about the uncaring UPA regime we are saddled with.

 

***************************************

 

THE PIONEER

EDITS

NEEDLESSLY AGGRESSIVE

BHARDWAJ IS NOT NEW DELHI'S VICEROY

There are ominous signs of an incipient political confrontation between the Government and the Governor emanating from Karnataka which reflect poorly on the current occupant of the Raj Bhavan in Bangalore. Ever since Mr HR Bhardwaj, who was dropped by the Congress from the UPA2 Government at the Centre — as Union Law Minister in UPA1 he had served his party well and demonstrated his loyalty more than once by tweaking, if not twisting, the law, but there was little left for him to do — was packed off to Karnataka, he has chosen to play an active political role than spend his days in splendid retirement at the tax-payers' expense. He is not the first Governor who sees himself as New Delhi's Viceroy, nor shall he be the last. But what makes Mr Bhardwaj particularly undesirable as Governor is his penchant for backroom politics and natural urge to spite Opposition parties, more so the BJP. There is also the additional factor that while the Congress may have thought it fit to put him out to pasture, Mr Bhardwaj believes that he can still make a meaningful contribution to his party by making things difficult for the BJP and Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa. Since politics for most of our cynical politicians bereft of ethics and morality is the art of the possible, he may have convinced himself that by causing political instability in BJP-ruled Karnataka he will succeed in sufficiently impressing his party's supreme leader about his indispensability at the Centre. As the adage goes, hope springs eternal in the human heart; in Congress loyalists, it gushes, no matter how down and out they may be.

What should concern people, however, is the mischief potential of an active politician in Bangalore's Raj Bhavan. Mr Bhardwaj's several attempts to create problems for the State Government are known to all. So is his despicable effort to create a rift between the State Government and the Election Commission of India and thereby embarrass both the Chief Minister and his senior Ministers. This does not bode well. If there are specific complaints against Ministers, irrespective of their nature, they should be definitely looked into by the appropriate authority. But allegations, unless established as facts with the help of irrefutable evidence, cannot become the basis for sacking Ministers or initiating disciplinary action against individuals. In any event, Raj Bhavan does not have the power to arbitrate or the authority to sit in judgement, nor can its occupant arrogate to himself or herself the right to play ombudsman: A duly-elected Government which enjoys majority in the Assembly and popular support is answerable to the people, not the Governor. Mr Bhadwaj would do well to accept this fact. If that makes life too boring for him, we can only wish him tough luck. Of course, he has the liberty to dump it all and return to Delhi. That's entirely his choice.

 

 

***************************************

 

THE PIONEER

EDITS

REDEFINING STATE AND NATION

SUNANDA K DATTA-RAY

Kyrgyzstan's emergence as Central Asia's only parliamentary democracy should not distract attention from the parallel race riots that again pose a questionmark over the future of multi-ethnic states. India may have been a nation long before it became a state, as Mr Jaswant Singh claims, but some historians still do not discount the possibility of countries like India, Indonesia and Russia one day splitting at the ethnic seams. They predict that the future belongs to smaller mono-ethnic states where a common cultural heritage creates a sense of identity that inspires and sustains economic growth.

This seems a contrary destiny for what is trumpeted as a borderless world. But while immigrants to the US willingly reshape their identities to conform to the 'American Dream', people elsewhere are becoming more possessive about the culture, language and religion that set them apart. Since ethnic form also often masks political identity, this means rival communal claims to political power. It also points to a role for trans-national organisations that can ensure administrative uniformity without violating ethno-nationalistic sentiment.

Belgium illustrates the extent to which nationalism feeds on economic and political factors and can, therefore, be subsumed under the over-arching authority of an organisation like the European Union. The kingdom's current political deadlock was caused by the emergence of two evenly-matched parties, the New Flemish Alliance in Flanders in the north and the Socialist Party in the French-speaking south, in the recent election. Even the cause of the election reflected the inability of Flems and French to live harmoniously for Prime Minister Yves Leterme resigned in April following disputes over the areas surrounding Brussels, the capital, a French-speaking enclave in Flemish territory. The electoral outcome confirmed the division and refuelled the break-up fears.

No wonder General Charles de Gaulle remarked that the British invented Belgium to annoy the French. For ignoring ethnic logic, the 19th century British helped Dutch-speaking Flems (about 60 per cent) to secede from Holland and join French-speaking Walloons (31 per cent) to create a kingdom for Queen Victoria's beloved Uncle Leopold.

Demographic inconsistency also explains Kyrgyzstan's anti-Uzbek riots. One-sixth of the population was liquidated when the Kyrgyz revolted against Tsarist Russia in 1916. We do not know how many Kyrgyz perished under Stalin who is unlikely to have treated them more benevolently than he did the Cossacks, but Kyrgyzstan's borders are a relic of imperialism so that the Kyrgyz comprise only 65 per cent of the population. Moscow protects the 13 per cent Russians but Uzbeks (14 per cent) are at Kyrgyz mercy.

As events in East Pakistan, Timor Leste and Sri Lanka have confirmed, there are usually sound political or economic reasons for nationalistic fervour. Kyrgyz wrath exploded when Russia raised the price of energy and was vented on the Uzbeks for several reasons. They occupied fertile lands that Kyrgyz farmers coveted, they supported President Roza Otunbayeva in a region that backed the ousted President Kurmanbek Bakuyev, and Kyrgyzstan has an undemarcated 130-km border and territorial disputes with Uzbekistan.

Nor is Belgian tension only about language. Though in Flanders, Brussels enjoys bilingual status and is dominated by French-speakers, to the annoyance of the Flemish who, being richer, want more power in regional hands. They also complain of having to subsidise wasteful, leftist French-speaking southerners, knowing that Belgium's economic cohesion would be threatened if transfers of money from the north to the south stopped. The New Flemish Alliance tapped into this resentment.

A decisive outcome would have simplified Government-forming but the New Flemish Alliance is just one seat ahead of the Socialists in the Lower House of Parliament. That suggests that instead of separating, the two groups might settle for a loose federation. A similar formula might have spared Sri Lanka the agony of a bitter civil war if Sinhalese diehards had not been convinced that federation was the thin end of the wedge of secession. Jawaharlal Nehru thought a confederation would take care of the problems as then articulated of Jammu & Kashmir and East Pakistan, while creating a bridge for cooperation between India and Pakistan. Today, only a federal solution gives Iraq's Kurdish minority self-Government and preserves the fragile unity of a country that, too, the British created with no regard for ethnic homogeneity but to serve Britain's imperial purpose.

Iraq is not the only victim. The receding tide of Empire has left behind a number of states in Asia and Africa whose boundaries do not conform to national logic. These are not so much "imagined communities" in Benedict Anderson's sense as imperial provinces that decolonisation has forced into independence. Nigeria fought a bloody war to prevent Biafra separating. So did the Congo to hold on to Katanga. Mineral wealth rather than national loyalty accounted for both campaigns. But ethnic cleansing has already occurred on a vicious scale in several regions and border revision is bound to follow.

Europe is familiar with the process. Nationalism provoked two World Wars, led to the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires, and more recently of multi-ethnic Yugoslavia. Belgium and Switzerland are now the only two European states without a single overwhelmingly dominant nationality. Today's map of Europe testifies to the triumph of ethno-nationalism. Some might say that with Basque nationalists lurking in Spain and other small groups in the Balkans — and, of course, Russia's Chechens — the painfully drawn-out process of ethnic disaggregation is still not complete. But the EU and Nato can be relied on to ensure there are no major jolts.

The Indian Union performs a similar function. Leaving aside mystic claims of a sense of nationhood predating political unity, the real reason for India holding together despite a million mutinies is that good governance and parliamentary democracy (both relative) have invested the Indian label — originally an administrative device — with political and cultural content. Diverse races and religions have acquired something in common as a result. Even those who might still chafe at the common nationality cannot deny they have gained much from its system of markets, communications, public services and finance.

Trans-national groups like the Organisation of American States, Association of South-East Asian Nations, Gulf Coordinating Council, Organisation of African Unity and even our own moribund South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation might one day be able similarly to compensate for the weaknesses of small states driven by ethnic sentiment rather than hard logic.

-- sunandadr@yahoo.co.in

 

**************************************

THE PIONEER

EDITS

RENEW FOCUS ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT

S NARAYAN

As if the present rate of inflation at 17 per cent were not enough, the Government has set the fuel prices on fire. The common man's back is already breaking due to the high cost of food and essentials. Yam is selling at Rs 100 a kg, ash gourd at Rs 30, French beans at Rs 100, tomatoes at Rs 40, cluster beans at Rs 60, colocasia at Rs 50. The price of apples is over Rs 100, banana Rs 35, plums Rs 100. The price of cereals has also shot up to unimaginable heights. And now due to hike in fuel prices, all these prices will shoot up due to rise in transportation costs. The price of cement and other construction material will go up as also the cost of accommodation and other infrastructure projects. For senior citizens, it is simply unbearable as interest rates on bank deposits have been reduced simultaneously.

It is not clear if the Government is really concerned over the matter. It is said 90 per cent of our requirements of crude are imported. The prices and inflation depend on this factor. Yet the number of personal vehicles on the roads is increasing resulting in humongous fuel consumption and atmospheric pollution. Most of the personal vehicles do not carry passengers to their full capacity. Their owners drive around with the air conditioners on full blast. They constitute 80 per cent of the vehicles on the roads while buses for mass transportation constitute only 20 per cent.

While decontrolling fuel prices will bring down the deficit, the Government needs to formulate a policy for mass public transportation to reduce congestion, pollution and global warming instead of encouraging mass automobile manufacture. As an immediate measure to discourage private cars on the roads, it should subsidise fuel prices like diesel for mass transportation. The affluent should be made to pay for their transportation from their pockets.

Besides hike in parking charges, taxes on entry and exit of cars should be raised. Entry tax into the central business district of cities and other congested zones during peak hours should be introduced as in Singapore or the UK. This could take care of the problem to a great extent.

 

***************************************

THE PIONEER

OPED

MONSTER TURNS ON MASTER

ONCE NURTURED BY THE PAKISTANI STATE, ESPECIALLY THE ISI, JIHADIS ARE NOW INCREASINGLY ATTACKING PAKISTANIS. THE MASSACRE OF AHMEDIYAS, WHO ARE TREATED AS SECOND CLASS CITIZENS IN ISLAMIC PAKISTAN AND DENIED EQUAL RIGHTS AS MUSLIMS, HIGHLIGHTS THE GROWING CLOUT OF THE PUNJABI TALIBAN. UT ISLAMABAD IS NOT UNDULY BOTHERED

SANKAR SEN

On May 28, there was a massacre of over 100 worshippers at two mosques in Lahore by Pakistani militants. The worshippers belonged to the Ahmediya sect, one of the religious minorities in Pakistan that the Government machinery either discriminates against or declines to adequately protect. The Ahmediyas are regarded as heretics for believing that Mohammed is not the last prophet.

According to police sources, Punjabi Taliban groups were behind the massacre. Following the twin strikes, the militants also carried out an audacious attack on a hospital in order to free one of the captured terrorists receiving treatment. Though they did not succeed in freeing him, they killed four policemen and a patient before escaping. The victims in the mosque massacre include a retired Army Lieutenant-General and several former judges and civil servants.

In the past, Punjabi militants have been somewhat distinct from militants from tribal areas and the Pakistan armed forces retained a semblance of control over them. This is no longer true. The growing role of Punjabis marks a major escalation of extremist threats in Pakistan. Punjab is the heartland of Pakistan and home to its political and military elite. Many Punjabi Taliban leaders have received military training which makes them more lethal than rural Pashtoon fighters. Pakistan is now witnessing a coalescence of various militant jihadi groups. According to Bruce Riedl, a former top official in the White House National Security Council dealing with South Asia, the big danger is that these groups are fighting for recruits from the same Punjabi families and clans that the Pakistani Army recruits from for its Officer Corps.

Southern Punjab has become a hub for Punjabi militants who maintain close touch with the Taliban and travel to the tribal belt for both training and combat. The traffic is in fact two-way with Punjabi militants providing safe havens to Taliban fighters and commanders when needed. Indeed, the Taliban movement in Pakistan is now dominated by Punjabi militant groups once created and controlled by the ISI. Like Frankenstein's monster, these groups have now joined Al Qaeda and the Taliban to battle the Pakistani Government. Their goal is to spread the message of their rigid, intolerant interpretation of Islam to the heartland of Pakistan and beyond.

The extremists' goals have become increasingly maximalist. Many seek just not to liberate Kashmir but see eventual control of territory within India as the true prize of their struggle. Addressing a gathering at Kuba mosque in Islamabad on February 5, 2008, Nasar Javed, a Lashkar-e-Tayyeba functionary, said, "The Government of Pakistan may have abandoned jihad but we have not. We will continue to wage jihad till eternity."

According to political analyst Hasan Askari, the militants have polished their approach, expanded their arsenal and improved their tactics. They also seem to be targeting the Army as well as the police — their original targets. The federal Government says that Punjabi groups have been responsible for most of the daring strikes in the province, but authorities in Lahore continue to deny their existence. The provincial Law Minister insists that he did nothing wrong to canvass for votes in the company of some of these militant leaders. While the Uzbeks, Chechens, Arabs and other foreign fighters who have found refuge in Pakistan's tribal areas have no option but to fight the Pakistani Army, the Punjabis have the option to return to their own province and stage more attacks.

Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf outlawed two Punjabi extremist groups — the Sipah-e-Sahaba and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi following attacks on the Shia sect. Many Jhangvi fighters then moved to North-Western Frontier Province. They are now the operational arm of the Al Qaeda and the Tehreek-e-Taliban. Rohan Gunaratne, the author of Inside Al Qaeda, says that it is difficult to distinguish between the three groups.

Islamabad is trying hard to stop other militant groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad and LeT from joining the Taliban. Jaish-e-Mohammad, based in Bhawalpur, is ambivalent when it comes to fighting the Pakistani state. The 50,000-strong LeT, the largest Punjabi militant group, has so far not responded to the Taliban siren call. The LeT was responsible for perpetrating the massacre in Mumbai in November 2008 that pushed the two countries to the brink of war. Though sympathetic to other jihadi groups, the LeT has not been taking part in the current spate of attacks because it still has close links with the ISI.

Many suspect that Punjabi groups are still accorded some kind of protection by the ISI. Punjab Government official says the activities of Punjabi groups are not sectarian but directed mainly against India. Domestic terrorism is not on their agenda. The killings in Lahore have brought to the surface the rift between the Central Government and the administration in Punjab. Interior Minister Rehman Malik declared that an operation has to be launched to flush out these Punjabi groups. According to him, groups like Sipah-e-Sahaba and Jaish-e-Mohammad are part of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The Punjab Government, however, does not agree with this assessment. There has been no disarmament or de-mobilisation programme for the Punjabi Taliban because every Pakistani Government has so far denied that they exist.

The Punjabi leadership has come to the forefront because of the American success in targeting the Pashtoon militants. In comparison to the rag-tag and bobtail Pashtoon, Punjabi Taliban are highly trained and motivated. Another new group calling itself the Amjad Farooqi Taliban comprising Punjabis claimed responsibility for attacks on Rawalpindi military headquarters and three security installations in Lahore as well as a suicide attack in the North-Western Frontier Province. Pakistan, therefore, can no longer afford to limit its fight against the terrorists to the north-west. Terrorist groups are now striking roots in Punjab and the distinction between those that the state is willing to tolerate and those it wants to curb is rapidly fading.

The growing nexus between the jihadis based in FATA and extremists outside the region is one of the most troubling recent developments. According to Ms Ayesha Siddiqa, a security analyst, "If the Taliban spreads its tentacles across the province this would change the battlefield completely." Although the number of jihadis operating on the Pakistan and Afghanistan border is not very large, their growing ideological appeal represents the biggest threat to Pakistan and other countries targeted by the jihadis, including the US.

There is, however, one heartening trend. Some civil society groups in Pakistan have been increasingly vocal in demanding action against terrorist groups for the horrendous bloodletting since the mosque massacre. They have also been rooting for a crackdown on Jamaat-ud-Dawa'h. Their protests offer a glimmer of hope.

-- The writer is former Director, National Police Academy, and former Director-General, National Human Rights Commission.

***************************************

THE PIONEER

OPED

ISRAEL DEMONISED BY BIASED MEDIA

STORY AFTER STORY APPEARS IN NEWSPAPERS CRITICISING ISRAEL FOR DEEDS THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN COMMITTED OR ARE MANUFACTURED AS PART OF THE ARAB PROPAGANDA TO DEFAME THE JEWISH STATE. IT'S A THROWBACK TO MEDIEVAL TIMES WHEN ANTI-SEMITISM WAS FASHIONABLE

BARRY RUBIN

Israel is subject daily to scores of false claims and slanders that receive a remarkable amount of credibility in Western media (as also elsewhere), academic, and intellectual circles even when no proof is offered.

Palestinian groups (including the Gaza and Palestinian Authority regimes), associated local and allied foreign non-government organisations, radical and anti-Israel groups, and politically committed journalists are eager to act as propaganda agents making up false stories or transmitting them without serious thought or checking.

Others have simply defined the Palestinians as the 'victims' and 'underdogs' while Israel is the 'villain' and 'oppressor'. Yet truth remains truth; academic and journalist standards are supposed to apply.

While regular journalists may ask for an official Israeli reaction to such stories the undermanned Government agencies are deluged by hundreds of these stories, and committed to checking out seriously each one. Thus, the Israeli Government cannot keep up with the flow of lies.

So the key question is to understand the deliberateness of this anti-Israel propaganda and evaluating the credibility of the sources.

An important aspect of this is to understand that Israel is a decent, democratic country with a free media that is energetic about exploring any alleged wrong-doing and a fair court system that does the same. To demonise Israel into a monstrous, murderous state — which is often done —makes people believe any negative story.

Some of these are big false stories — the alleged killing of Muhammad al-Dura and the supposed Jenin massacre — others are tiny. Some — like the claim Israel was murdering Palestinians to steal their organs — get into the main Western newspapers while others only make it into smaller and non-English ones.

Taken together, this campaign of falsification is creating a big wave not only of anti-Israel sentiment but of anti-Semitism on a Medieval scale, simply the modern equivalent of claims that the Jews poisoned wells, spread Bubonic Plague, or murdered children to use their blood for Passover matzohs.

Come to think of it even those claims are still in circulation. Indeed, on June 8, the Syrian representative at the UN Human Rights Council (oh, the irony!) claimed in a speech that Israeli children are taught to extol blood-drinking. No Western delegate attacked the statement.

Here are three actual examples of well-educated Westerners believing such modern legends reported to me recently by colleagues:

n A former classmate, one told me, claimed that the Palestinians are living in death camps, being starved, etc. Asked to provide facts and provided with evidence to the contrary, he could provide no real examples. Finally, he remarked, "The truth is always somewhere in the middle."

n Hundreds of American college professors signed a petition claiming that Israel was supposedly about to throw hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of the West Bank though there was zero evidence of any such intention and, of course, nothing ever happened.

n A British writer of some fame claimed, on the basis of an alleged single conversation with a questionable source, that Israel was preparing gas chambers for the mass murder of Palestinians. When asked if she was really claiming this would happen, she stated that it wasn't going to happen but only because people like her had sounded the alarm to prevent it.

And what of the accusations of genocide contained in an article by sensationalist Israeli reporter Uzi Mahnaimi (even though his stories almost always prove to be wrong The Sunday Times never learns) and the respected Marie Colvin's November 1998 in The Sunday Times reporting Israel was attempting to build an "ethno-bomb" containing a biological agent that could specifically target genetic traits present amongst Arab populations? Or the Guardian's more recent distortion of documentation to claim that Israel was selling nuclear weapons to South Africa?

There is no limit. When stories are proven wrong, the damage remains, apologies are non-existent or muted, and no lesson is learned because the same process is soon repeated. (In The Guardian, it is repeated not only on a daily basis but sometimes several times a day!) But perhaps readers could learn to disregard what they have repeatedly seen has been untrue?

Note, as in so many of these stories, the Israeli goal is said to be murder pure and simple. The message conveyed is: What kind of people would behave this way? The Israelis (or Jews in general) not only don't deserve to have a state, they don't even deserve to live. Wiping them off the planet would be doing the world a favour. Hmm, where have we heard this before?

Having seen so many such stories disproved over the years — as Israel's credibility, while not perfect, has compared favourably with that of any Western democratic state — one might think a lesson would be learned. But as the great American journalist Eric Severeid remarked many years ago, nothing can protect someone when the media sets out deliberately to misunderstand and report falsely about them.

The writer is director of the GLORIA Center, Tel Aviv, and editor of the MERIA Journal.

 

***************************************

THE PIONEER

OPED

G20 SUMMIT DECIDES TO DEAL WITH DEBT

RETRIBUTION FOR UNBRIDLED CONSUMERISM? THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO REPENT FOR GOVERNMENTS: SPEND LESS

ANDREI FEDYASHIN

Of all the challenges discussed at the G20 summit in Toronto, the largest and most pressing was Government debt and related issues — unsustainable budget deficits and the need for tax increases and cuts in social programmes, pensions and wages.

The leaders of the world's 20 largest economies were forced to acknowledge that the world needs to start sobering up after a 25-year debt-fueled bender. The G20 comprises the 20 largest economies in the world, with the European Union counting as one member. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and the European Central Bank also participate in G20 summits. The group accounts for 85 per cent of the global GDP.

Serious economists have long compared debt and alcohol. The cheap loans of the 1990s and the early 2000s were certainly no less intoxicating than wine, whisky or vodka. Many borrowers simply could not resist taking out more and more easy loans. They lost control, much like alcoholics who cannot stop after the first shot. The inevitable hangover came in the form of the global financial crisis, and it has lasted for over a year already.

Others go even further, calling the debt trap divine retribution for extravagant spending and the arrogance of unbridled consumerism. As proof, they point out that the words 'debt' and 'sin' are synonyms in Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus and his disciples.

How simple it would be if debtors and sinners could find salvations in indulgences, like the final statements of G20 summits. But life is more complicated than that. Governments will have to reform their own spending and work together to reform the entire global financial system. They will have to learn to live within their means and borrow only when absolutely necessary. The debtors and sinners must repent. And there is only one way to repent in the global economy: To spend less.

But can they do it? The severity of the sins (and the hangover) varies from country to country. Russia has been more fortunate than most thanks to its stabilisation funds, which were financed by high oil and gas prices. It has the least debt (including sovereign, business and consumer debt) of the 20 leading economies.

Russia's debt-to-GDP ratio is currently 71 per cent, according to the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI). The world's biggest debtors are Japan (471 per cent), Britain (466 per cent), Spain (366 per cent), France (322 per cent) and Germany (286 per cent). The foreign debt of the United States is 296 per cent of GDP, China's is 158 per cent and India's is 129 per cent. This translates into hundreds of billions of dollars.

When a country's debt exceeds GDP several times over, this means it is borrowing much more than it takes in. The figures cited by the McKinsey Global Institute are stunning but by no means record-setting; they are still manageable. The countries in serious trouble are Iceland (1,200 per cent) and Ireland (700 per cent).

Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark are the exceptions. Norway's GDP actually exceeds its foreign debt by 156 per cent, Finland's by 57 per cent and Sweden's by nearly 20 per cent, even though they have tons of social programmes and a generous safety net that Americans can only dream of. In these countries, the Government spending actually benefits the economy. This is a testament to Scandinavian socialism.

There comes a time, even in large economies like the United States, when a country's ability to absorb debt reaches a limit — when each borrowed dollar yields less and less return. According to US statistics, each borrowed dollar yielded nearly 90 cents of profit in the 1960s compared to just 10 cents in 2010. The debt super-cycle has petered out; the time has come to start repaying our debts, as the G20 leaders affirmed in Toronto.

They have agreed that there should be common principles, but methods should be differentiated for and tailored to national circumstances.

The problem is that the United States, Japan, and especially Europe are overly optimistic about the prospects for economic recovery. The world's wealthiest countries are facing major demographic changes, and the generation of the 2030s will be forced to pay the debts incurred in the 2000s.

The population in Japan, Britain, France, and Germany is aging so fast (and their senior citizens are living much longer and better) that in a few years a single working citizen in these countries will have to pay for the pension of one or two retirees. Rapid economic growth is simply not possible in the face of a declining workforce, which means that debts will not be repaid quickly.

***************************************

 

******************************************************************************************

MAIL TODAY

COMMENT

NUCLEAR DEAL WITH CANADA SETS RIGHT AN ANOMALY

 

THE circle has turned full in India- Canada relations. Just two weeks ago, Canada accepted full responsibility for the bombing of an Air India Boeing 747 " Kanishka" by Khalistani terrorists. On Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper signed a civil nuclear agreement over a quarter of a century after Ottawa reneged on a previous deal.

 

In 1974, protesting India's first nuclear test at Pokhran, Canada had terminated all nuclear cooperation with India and dealt the fledgling Indian civil nuclear programme a near- mortal blow. The reason for the Canadian action was that India may have used nuclear materials supplied by it for the Cirus ( Canada India Research US) reactor for making the explosive device.

 

This agreement pre- dated the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty or the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and the only commitment India made was that the US- supplied heavy water that was used to start up the reactor would be used only for peaceful purposes.

 

The worst impact fell on India's nuclear power programme which was based on the CANDU ( Canada Deuterium Uranium) reactor.

 

It would be safe to say that almost all of India's nuclear power programme is even today based on CANDU derived technology which India had to learn from scratch.

 

India has now upgraded the old 200 MW CANDU design to 640 MW. Meanwhile, Canada has developed more advanced designs of 700- 800 MW and even a 1000 MW reactor.

 

Canada, of course, holds some 20 per cent of the world's reserves of natural uranium.

 

The combination of advanced technology and nuclear materials makes Canada a good partner for India's civil nuclear programme.

 

Hopefully, the two countries will be able to work out an effective implementation plan and make up for the lost time.

 

ANOTHER CUSTODIAL DEATH

IF evidence was really needed about how brutal policemen can be in their ways, it is to be had from the death of a Government Railway Police constable in police lock- up in Kaushambi district of Uttar Pradesh.

 

That the Saini police could fatally injure Ansar Ahmad, who was in uniform when he was detained, is also an indicator of the treatment cops must be meting out to civilians, especially those from the poorer sections.

 

The incident should once again highlight the continuing problem India has with custodial deaths and torture. Figures collated by the Asian Centre for Human Rights say nearly 1,500 custodial deaths take place in India every year. The atmosphere of impunity under which our agencies function can be gauged from the fact that few convictions have been recorded for custodial deaths.

 

While the Centre is to be commended for introducing the Prevention of Torture Bill 2010 in Parliament, greater transparency is needed on its provisions. Simply acting on the Law Commission's recommendation of placing the burden of proof on law- enforcing agencies in the case of a custodial death, will greatly redress the situation.

 

LET THE JARAWAS DECIDE

IN not many places do you see a battle between the desire to save an ancient culture and the temptation to bring it into the socalled mainstream. The Jarawa tribal culture in the Andaman Islands is one such.

 

The Unesco wants the 300 remaining Jarawa tribals left in the island's jungles to retain their identity by closing the Andaman Trunk Road, while the local MP wants them to integrate with the mainstream. This is a debate whose answers are not easy to find, and they are certainly not to be found with politicians whose motives are always suspect.

 

Integrating them with the mainstream would mean introducing them to modern, urban amenities, but also its numerous ills.

 

For one, once the integration takes place, the Jarawas would run the risk of exposing their complex, yet fragile ecosystem to the settlers. Second, the Jarawas could end up being discriminated against in a completely modernised world, which could subvert their identity once and for all.

 

The Jarawas must not be forced to walk this tightrope and must get all the space they need to take these decisions by themselves.

***************************************

MAIL TODAY

KASHMIR MESS LARGELY A FAILURE OF IMAGINATION

BY MANOJ JOSHI

 

THERE should be no doubts in anyone's mind that what is unfolding in the Kashmir Valley is not part of the separatist game plan. While alienation and angst may be the cause for young men to come out and take on the police, their motivators are hardened militants who operate in the shadowy world of subversion, insurgency and espionage.

 

But let us be equally clear that the big failure has been New Delhi's. The present mood in the Valley has been set by large public agitations such as those related to the Amarnath Yatra in 2008, followed last year by the Shopian rape case protests.

 

The failures can be divided into three— that of imagination, anticipation and that of management. There is little use blaming Omar Abdullah for the problem. The responsibility must be shared between the state and Union governments and the answers that are needed can come only from the effective team- work of the two.

 

All this is to state the obvious.

 

The failure of imagination lies in the inability of Manmohan Singh's government to build upon the solid foundations of the 2003- 2007 period when the ceasefire on the Line of Control came into effect and Pakistani infiltration markedly declined, as did the violence in the Valley. One indicator of this is that the number of security personnel killed went from a high of nearly 300 in 2004 to 80 or so in 2009.

 

Instruments

 

In all fairness, the Prime Minister did a lot in terms of resolving the issue with Pakistan. It were his personal efforts that led to the breakthroughs in opening up the LoC to trade and to advancing the back- channel discussions till they narrowed the Indian and Pakistani positions dramatically. But, where he could have done more, he failed. This was in negotiating with Kashmiri parties to draw down the separatist agitation.

 

True, this was a more complex task since there were so many more variables at play— the various Kashmiri political parties, the different groups of militants and Kashmiri civil society elements and so on. But it is difficult to avoid the feeling that this was due to a shortfall in the effort, rather than the degree of difficulty that was confronted.

 

The issue of anticipation and management must rest with the intelligence and security establishment in Srinagar and New Delhi. Anticipation can only help you if you have the managerial abilities to deal with the situation and, important in the current context, the effective instrumentalities to do so.

 

It has been 70 years since the Central Reserve Police Force was founded to take on the resurgent national movement in 1939. It's been sixty plus years since India became free, and two decades and more since the force was first deployed in Jammu & Kashmir, yet there has been no change in its organisation, principles and ethos. It was— and it remains— essentially a crowd control force which relies on the sequence of tear gas, lathi and bullet. Across the world, even in authoritarian states like China and Iran, managing violent demonstrators and crowds has become a fine art, but in India, it remains a uniquely brutal colonial- era industry.

 

North Block refuses to see the Kashmir problem in any but a transient mode.

 

The assumption is that the Kashmiris can be defeated through attrition brought on by applying overwhelming force. What it is doing to the security forces has been amply manifested in the instances of suicides of personnel posted in operational areas. What it is doing to the civilians has been clear to us in the past few days.

 

Because the Ministry of Home Affairs has worked with the assumption that status quo ante will soon be achieved, they have yet to train the kind of police forces that are needed to cope with the demands of the long haul.

 

Tactics

 

The ad hoc approach is manifest in the fact that the CRPF is being used as a crowd control force in most of India, an urban counter- insurgency and anti- riot force in the Kashmir Valley and a rural counter- insurgency force in the jungles of Dantewada— and it is not being adequately trained and equipped for any of these tasks.

 

In Kashmir, for instance, though the challenge has morphed from the early days of the insurgency to a sophisticated political struggle, the CRPF has not changed in terms of equipment, organisation and doctrine. The CRPF needs a new set of crowd control equipment, training and orientation.

 

There is a two- track struggle going on in the Valley. The first is a military conflict involving Pakistan- trained and armed militants who are adopting the clever tactic of mostly lying low and allowing the overground elements to stoke anti- Indian fires. The second is a civil protest movement which is a mélange of separatism, Islamism and alienation against misrule and lack of avenues for productive employment. It is important to understand the difference between the two and to acknowledge that to counter them require two different sets of tactics.

 

The military challenge is easy to handle and it has been handled competently by essentially containing the Pakistandirected insurgency. The civil challenge is more complex and is not being handled well at all. Instead of using a mix of political, police and psychological tactics, we are witnessing a military response, or, to be precise, a paramilitary one.

 

RAF

 

The same Union government decided in the early 1990s that a special force was needed to handle communal violence and so the Rapid Action Force was created as a sub- unit of the CRPF. But it took three decades of communal violence and its increased virulence for the Home Ministry to finally act. In fact the RAF's model of independently mobile units with specially selected personnel who are trained and equipped for their specific task is a good one for Kashmir. To this end personnel need to be educated on the sociology and pathology of street violence, and the units asked to familiarise themselves with the sensitive areas.

 

All that is lacking is imagination in North Block, and some bureaucratic energy, to create such a special force for the Kashmir Valley.

These days it is difficult to avoid a sense of déjà vu on Kashmir. As in 1990, the heart of the separatist struggle has shifted to Baramulla and Sopur, which are strongholds of the Jamaat- e- Islami. Then, as now, the CRPF is playing a stellar role, or to be accurate, the role of a dark star that sucks up every possible effort to normalise the situation.

If things continue the way they are doing, you can be sure that we are far from resolving the Kashmir problem, even after discounting the Pakistan factor.

manoj.joshi@mailtoday.in

***************************************

MAIL TODAY

PATIALA PEG

ACTIVIST'S QUEST FOR A BETTER PUNJAB

VIKAS KAHOL

 

BRIJ BEDI— an industrialist turned social activist— has started a crusade to educate underprivileged slum children and improve the lives of people in Amritsar. Known to be eccentric, Bedi would also prick the consciousness of common people and confront the authorities for solutions to some common public problems. In 1999, the plight of the dwellers of Maqboolpura— a slum which became notorious as the "Place of Widows" — moved Bedi.

 

Drug addiction had claimed many lives in the locality leaving their traumatised spouses and small children to fend for themselves. Almost every household in the area had witnessed at least one death due to drug abuse. Bedi decided to set up a school to rehabilitate the children of Maqboolpura.

 

He met a teacher couple in the locality— Ajeet Singh and Satpal Kaur— who promptly agreed to let Bedi convert their doublestorey house into a school for the children of drug addicts. The family of five moved to their master bedroom.

 

The school began with about 25 students and has now gone up to a strength of about 550 students— majority of them being underprivileged girls.

 

Bedi's wife, the first woman IPS officer Kiran Bedi, also visited the school in 2003 and started bearing the educational expenses of the students. Springdale School— a leading educational institution in Amritsar came forward for training the teachers of the school.

 

The Harmony Movement awarded the school for its selfless efforts and Bedi received the award from the Dalai Lama in 2003. He purchased a plot with the award money. A three storey building was built on it after a London-based NRI contributed Rs one lakh.

 

Once the school took off, various Indian organisations and individuals settled in countries like UK, USA and Canada pitched in for funding the education of the children.

 

Bedi also been raising his voice on road safety. As Chief Traffic Warden he constantly attempted to educate people and help the police improve traffic management in the city. He was shocked to learn that most of the bus and auto- rickshaw drivers did not have driving licenses. He is outraged that the politicians and bureaucrats themselves violate the norms in Punjab. He opines that people lack road sense and pose a danger to commuters.

 

A few years ago, when Bedi discovered that the Baba Atal Sahib Gurdwara in Amritsar was set to replace the centuriesold paintings and murals with ceramic tiles, he cried foul.

 

He picked up his camera and photographed the paintings and murals. He raised the issue with the authorities and highlighted the importance of preserving this rich heritage. The curators responded and the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee ( SGPC) acknowledged the worth of this treasure. The paintings and murals are being preserved now.

 

T HE root cause of the problems in Punjab's cities and other parts of the country, according to Bedi, is the way bureaucrats function.

They are indifferent to social and public issues and do not guard the citizens' rights to freedom and education. Moreover, they do not address the issues of public interest when they are in conflict with political motives.

 

" Public servants stoop so low that they become politicians' servants. The problem lies in the faulty system of recruitment and training. Leaders should resolve against wasteful ceremonies and spend the money on improving the quality of education. Policies should be in the larger public interest. The people should stand up for restoring order in their own neighbourhood, then the scenario in the whole country will change," says Bedi.

 

MERCHANTS OF SUFFERING

PEOPLE suffering from various diseases " owing to" the high concentration of Uranium and other dangerous heavy metals in the water in Punjab's Malwa region are upset due to the " gimmicks" of some NGOs to gain popularity.

 

Recently, while the people suffered, some volunteers affiliated to these NGOs tracked media persons to mark their presence on the TV screens and newspaper columns. They told the media about the problem of toxins in the water but they failed miserably to locate the affected villages during one of their visits to the border area.

 

One such NGO representative intimidated some local social activists by demanding that the activists arrange for " accommodation in a better hotel" for their stay during their second visit.

 

The residents have been upset that these selfappointed guardians have been concentrating on publicity instead of trying to provide health care to the affected children and old people. " What will people gain by making it to the newspapers if the authorities and NGOs do not care to ensure their treatment," said a resident.

 

The recent studies have revealed that hair samples taken from 80 per cent of the neurologically disabled children, and their drinking water contained high levels of uranium, a radioactive element. The claim was however countered by some government authorities.

 

POLITICS OF WATER- SHARING IS ON THE BOIL

FORMER Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh has again stoked the politics of interstate water sharing. Singh — under whom the Punjab Legislative Assembly passed a law in 2004, which annuled the water sharing agreements with its neighbouring states— told Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal to safeguard the interest of Punjab since the matter was coming up for hearing in the Supreme Court on July 4. The President had referred the Punjab Termination of Water Agreements Act 2004 to the SC. Singh said " Badal's past history has been of doing anything to safeguard his own interests, even to the extent of supporting Haryana." Singh seems to sparked off a chain reaction, with Badal saying that the river water flowing through Punjab into Haryana was Punjab's property and the former should pay royalty for the water. This incensed Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda. He retorted that Punjab had failed to honour the water sharing agreements and should compensate Haryana for using its share.

 

Meanwhile, Himachal CM PK Dhumal also remarked that the rivers flowing through Punjab start from Himachal therefore both Punjab and Haryana need to pay Himachal.

 

Pritam Singh Kumedan, an expert on river water issues also jumped into the fray. He claimed that the non- riparian states— Haryana and Rajasthan — were not entitled to any share in Ravi, Beas and Sutlej water since there was no " surplus" water. Kumedan claims that Punjab owns the river waters. This has been contradicted by former Haryana finance minister Sampat Singh.

Vikas.kahol@mailtoday.in

***************************************

MAIL TODAY

RAISINA TATTLE

PASWAN IS BACK

 

LOK Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan understands the virtue of patience.

 

For over a year now his sprawling bungalow in the Capital had nearly turned into a deserted mansion. But now it is bristling with activity. For, the LJP leader is back in the Capital as a Member of Parliament through the Rajya Sabha route.

 

The house, next door to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's bungalow, was kept on for a whole year by Paswan despite losing the Lok Sabha elections. But now that he is back in Parliament, his occupation of the house has become legal again.

 

NO LUCK FOR MEIRA

MONSOON rains have ditched Delhi and it seems the weather gods have also not been kind to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who has been travelling away from the Capital a lot in the break between the budget and monsoon sessions of Parliament.

 

During most of her travels abroad away from the sweltering heat of Delhi, she was promised the prospect of delightfully cold weather. The Speaker duly packed her woollens and headed for the various destinations such as Luxembourg, Hungary and Swaziland. Sadly, sunny days prevailed wherever she went and the extra bags ferrying woollens were never opened. She still seemed determined to try her luck in Mongolia where again cool weather conditions had been forecast before her departure.

 

Last heard, the Speaker was still waiting to use the additional baggage.

 

VISIONARY KALAM

WHEN in office, former President APJ Abdul Kalam was known as one of the most " active" presidents, one who never shied away from speaking his mind.

 

Even after vacating office Kalam continues to have an active public life. Addressing a convocation ceremony of pharmacy students at a university in Mysore he made an impassioned plea for weeding out spurious drugs.

 

He exhorted the pharmacy students to equip themselves with the knowledge and ability to prevent entry of unauthorised drugs into circulation.

 

He placed before the postgraduate students a vision for the pharma industry for 2020 and said this industry in India should set a target of increasing its turnover from the present $ 17 billion of generic drugs for domestic and export markets to $ 100 billion.

 

PAWAR'S SNUB

SHARAD Pawar has again made it clear that he is not ready to play second fiddle by merging his Nationalist Congress Party with his former party, the Congress.

 

The NCP dismissed with contempt a suggestion of a close associate that the party should merge with Congress to save the country from communal forces.

 

" Some individuals speak out of their personal frustration. I don't think it merits any political response," party general secretary D. P. Tripathi said.

 

He was reacting to the suggestion of Ratnakar Mahajan, founder member of the party that the NCP should merge with Congress.

 

Mahajan had written a letter to Pawar saying, " Even you ( Pawar) have, on several occasions, said NCP has decided to support Congress to save the country from communal forces and there was no reason to justify existence of a separate party." Evidently, Pawar does not agree.

 

BABUS ' GIFT' MOON WATER CREDIT TO US

BY SAVITA VERMA IN NEW DELHI & MAX MARTIN IN BANGALORE

INDIA had an irreplaceable opportunity to go down in history as the nation which discovered water on the moon.

 

But bungling Indian officials ensured that " the credit was taken by the US" instead, a leading scientist has alleged.

 

Rajesh Kochhar, a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( CSIR) Emeritus scientist at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, said water was first discovered by an Indian payload onboard Chandrayaan- 1.

 

But a " wrong decision" by the Indian Space Research Organisation ( ISRO) to publish the discovery in an international journal delayed the announcement, which was instead made by the US team, that had also made a similar discovery later.

 

A similar discovery made later by American payloads was published much before the Indian paper.

 

" India had the opportunity to be the first past the post, but it chose to be an alsoran," Kochhar has written in a letter published in scientific journal Current Science . " ISRO could have published a paper on the discovery immediately in any of the Indian journals or put it on their website or come out with a press release. Then, anybody working on the same subject would have had to take note of ISRO's finding. Instead, the find ended up being a me- too paper," he said.

 

But ISRO scientists dismissed Kochhar's claims as insignificant. " We wanted to publish the finding first in an international journal, with a rigorous review," said Prof J. N. Goswami, the principal scientist for the Chandrayaan mission.

 

" It is not a discovery that holds importance only for India. It is something which is significant for the whole world," he added.

 

Goswami said true to scientific traditions, he decided not to go to the media before publishing the finding in a peer- reviewed publication.

 

" We wanted to prove it beyond reasonable doubt — no one should question our discovery," he said. ISRO research teams would soon be announcing more findings, he added.

 

R. Sridharan, former director of the Space Physics Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram and the lead author of the ISRO paper in Planetary and Space Science , also dismissed the " notion of competition" with his western counterparts.

 

" People are trying to overplay things," he had commented in an earlier interview.

 

" We don't care about who published the paper first." " Our finding stands on its own merit. There has been no direct evidence for water vapour on the moon ( before the ISRO finding)," Sridharan added.

 

BJP MLA jailed for his role in Orissa riots

 

PTI

 

BJP MLA Manoj Kumar Pradhan was sentenced on Tuesday to seven years in prison by a fast track court for his role in a murder during communal riots in Orissa's Kandhamal district in 2008.

 

The 36- year- old Pradhan was taken to jail within hours of judge S. K. Das convicting him and pronouncing the quantum of punishment.

 

Along with him, another convict Prafulla Mallick was ordered to pay a fine of Rs 6,000 each. He was also awarded a jail term of seven years.

 

Pradhan was accused of being involved in the killing of Parikhita Digal, a Christian from Budedi village on August 27, 2008. The police had registered a case against Pradhan under various sections of the Indian Penal Code ( IPC) including 302 ( murder).

 

However, Pradhan's lawyer Ramesh Mohanty said the court found Pradhan guilty under Section 326 ( voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 147 ( rioting) and 149 ( unlawful assembly) of the IPC. Pradhan's other lawyer Ajit Kumar Patnaik said the MLA's name did not figure in the original FIR filed by the victim's wife, Kanaka Rekha Naik, at Raikia police station. His name was added during the hearing of the case.

 

" I have the highest regard for the judiciary.

 

We will appeal against the verdict in a higher court," he said.

 

***************************************

MAIL TODAY

MOVING FORWARD WITH PROMISES...

DR. MGR'S STUDENTS NOT ONLY HAVE SECURED DECENT POSITIONS IN INDIA, BUT ALSO HAVE SECURED ADMISSIONS IN UNIVERSITIES ABROAD

 

The Dr. M. G. R. Engineering College has successfully completed through two decades, being originally started in the year 1988 and the Thai Moogambigai Dental College in 1991. The Dr.

 

M. G. R. Educational and Research Institute, a deemed university, came into existence in 2003. All the courses conducted by Dr. M. G. R. Engineering College are accredited by NBA of AICTE. All the Courses conducted by Thai Moogabamigai Dental College are recognised by the Dental Council of India.

 

Dr. M. G. R. Educational and Research Institute University through its Dr. M. G. R. Centre for International Studies has signed many MoUs with foreign universities such as University of Sunderland ( UK), University of South Australia, Perth College ( Scotland) and University of Farleigh Dickenson ( USA).

 

The University is also poised to enter into an agreement with Government of Malaysia and Government of UAE for establishing off- shore campus centres at Malaysia and Dubai respectively.

 

A 500- bedded ACS Hospital is functioning for the past two years at their medical campus at Velappanchavadi. It has six fully equipped operation theatres with all other required equipments and surgical instruments required for the MBBS Degree programme. The Medical College has commenced classes from the Academic Year 2008- 2009. Apart from this the deemed university also offers B. Sc. - ( Nursing), B. P. T., M. P. T. and B. Sc. ( HMCT). The University conducts B. Tech. and M. Tech. part time programmes in engineering disciplines for the benefit of those working in industries.

 

On the placement front, 75 per cent of their eligible candidates have been well placed. Several of their students have secured admissions in universities abroad, and some have secured very decent positions in India.

 

ONE OF ITS KIND FIRM

ShadWell'S is empowering education service providers and institutions with effectiveness to manifest

 

ShadWell'S is an education management company registered under the Indian Companies Act, 1956. It imparts education of international standard through holistic approach and producing exorbitant quality output to cater the current professional demand.

 

ShadWell'S extends complete education solution setting it apart as the forefront education management company in the international scenario and first of its kind in India. The portfolio of services capitalises in new generation programmes catering the Education and Employment Habitat.

 

The service umbrella extends to ShadWell'S Media Services, Event Management; Training Modules, Publishing, Human Resource Management, Entrepreneurship Development Forums and a wide range of Knowledge dissemination Platforms. Its core competency is sharpening the student's output, also empowering education service providers and Institutions with effectiveness to Manifest.

 

ShadWell'S bridges the gap between the Knowledge starving and the resources with optimal delivery with effective innovations on a perennial basis and its making a difference.

 

Growing trends in the market was capitalised and an effective platform was created by ShadWell'S for the training of the international finance and accounting courses in this part of the country. The warm acceptance in the market itself showed the potential of the programme and the mileage of the efficient delivery by ShadWell'S. It has been delivering highly competitive ACCA Programme marking exuberant success for the programme initiations in the campus.

 

SAVEETHA OFFERS A BIG SCHOLARSHIP

One of the premier universities in India, Saveetha University is pleased to announce MM Scholarship for the academic year 2010- 11. Since its inception, Saveetha Group of Institutions has been extending scholarships for meritorious students. Dr. N. M. Veeraiyan, Chancellor, Saveetha University, has announced the management's consent to offer a scholarship of more than Rs. 7 crores for the students enrolling in the academic year 2010- 11.

 

On celebrating the 11th rank offered by Anna University among all the affiliated colleges, the management of Saveetha University believes that this scholarship would encourage students to pursue their career without any barricade.

 

For all the institutions in Saveetha University, all class toppers will be given 100 per cent fee waiver. For all the PG Courses, 100 per cent and 50 per cent fee waiver will be extended depending on the score in national level/ state level entrance exam.

 

Saveetha University also helps the students to avail government scholarships under various categories. In the

academic year 2009- 10, Saveetha Engineering College helped the students to avail scholarships worth Rs. 50 lakhs from various central and state government bodies.

 

***************************************

******************************************************************************************

THE TIMES OF INDIA

 EDIT PAGE

BOOSTER SHOT

 

As a potential source of cheap and environment-friendly natural gas, shale gas can revolutionise the global energy sector. More and more players outside North America - a pioneer in the business - seem to think so and want to be early birds to catch the worm. Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) sealed a far-sighted $1.35 billion deal on a US shale field, its second big-ticket investment in such assets in America. State-owned ONGC has a pilot project to drill wells in the Damodar basin. Neighbouring China too has woken up. Its largest state oil firm has engaged a Canadian company on possible joint stakeholding in exploitation of British Columbia's reserves. That two of the world's most energy-starved emerging economies have jumped on to the shale gas bandwagon is good news for global clean energy development.

Thanks to shale gas, the US has a gas surplus. Having drastically cut prices even while pushing green energy use, it's a ready example to emulate. Both Asian giants need to prune dependence on fossil fuels and contribute to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. In India's case, imports service nearly 25 per cent of its gas demand, estimated to grow rapidly in the coming years. And, as the planet's fifth largest consumer of energy, it's burdened with a mammoth import bill for 70 per cent of oil needs. With sizeable estimated shale deposits in the Gangetic plain, Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan and coastal regions, it can turn to shale gas in a big way since new drilling technologies have made extraction viable.

In this context, China has fashioned a memorandum of cooperation on shale gas with the US. This is expected to lead to transfer of know-how and technology to help it capitalise on huge domestic reserves. Unfortunately, despite talks on the subject, India hasn't pursued a similar partnership. Without the requisite technological expertise, the authorities will find it difficult to implement any national production blueprint. One major reason RIL has tied up with US companies is reportedly to acquire skills in the trade.

Also, India has no business-friendly policy on harnessing non-conventional energy sources. Firms can produce conventional oil and gas. But they have to keep their hands off, say, coalbed methane or shale gas even if they discover coal seams or shale deposits in their exploration blocks. This is patently absurd. India gets periodically trapped in politically fractious debates on fuel price rise or decontrol. Why not instead deal seriously with the structural challenges of energy hunger? Since gas can be a cheaper, cleaner alternative to oil, a promising resource like shale gas shouldn't lie untapped. The faster policy change enables seismic surveys to locate deposits and allows extraction as well as facilitates building of a gas distribution network throughout the country, the better for India's energy future.

 

***************************************

THE TIMES OF INDIA

 EDIT PAGE

SAFEGUARDING PEACE

 

The violence over the last fortnight in certain parts of Jammu & Kashmir stands out in stark contrast to the gains in peace and development in the state. Though militancy in the Valley is at an all-time low, forces are at play to keep the overall atmosphere volatile. There is a pattern to the series of protests that has seen protesters clash with security personnel, prompting the latter to retaliate. This in turn provides fuel for more violent demonstrations. The only people who stand to benefit from such cascading violence are hardline separatists. In recent months, the latter have found themselves being steadily marginalised. It is very important that the mainstream political parties in the state see through the separatists' ploy and deny any political space to the hardliners.

In order to achieve this, they must first stop the blame game amongst themselves and work together for the interest of the state. Second, they must divide the separatist ranks by engaging and weaning away the moderates. And, third, they must work towards making the state administration more efficient. There is a strong case for enhancing the quality of the state police force. It is absolutely imperative that the Jammu & Kashmir police adopt the primary role for maintaining law and order. In this regard, the force needs to be better trained and equipped to handle all kinds of incidents, not relying on the central paramilitary forces alone. It is a mix of good administration on the ground and prudent politics that Jammu & Kashmir needs.

 

***************************************

THE TIMES OF INDIA

EDIT PAGE

LOOKING BEYOND THE HYPE

SUMIT BHADUR

 

Is big-bang innovation about to arrive in India or is it struggling due to judicial intervention and inadequate protection of patent rights? Several recent newspaper reports indicate that while talking about 'innovation' may be the flavour of the month, what it takes to make it happen is either not understood or willingly glossed over. It must not be forgotten that the primary driving force behind innovation is that of making profits, what the celebrated economist Joseph Schumpeter termed entrepreneurial "raw instinct". An Austrian who also taught at Harvard, Schumpeter was probably the first economist to elaborate on the incredible power of technological innovation in the growth of a capitalist economy and coined the phrase "creative destruction", something that is brought about by new technologies replacing the old ones.

The game of innovation in the 21st century reflects the spin and hype of our time but the most discernible changes are those brought about by globalisation. Low-cost labour in the developing world and uniformity in patent rights in more than 100 nations are the two factors that have had maximum impact on the innovation process. An educated workforce with specialised knowledge and abundant spending on research are critically necessary for any innovation. However, for a commercially viable technological innovation there are many other factors such as intellectual property law, tax codes, patent procedures, export controls, credit policies etc that come into play. The apparently conflicting signals from the innovation scene in India are to be understood against this backdrop.

A plan for an investment of Rs 10,000 crore for an innovation park spread over 5,000 acres in Mumbai metropolitan region that would employ 25,000 scientists of 100 nations initially, and on completion will generate almost a million jobs in allied sectors, is apparently under scrutiny. The proposed areas of technical activities read like a laundry list - no fashionable area of science is left behind. Why is it difficult to take this grand road map for innovation seriously?

There are many causes, but the track record of the Indian corporate houses over the last several decades and the nearly dead scientific competency in India are reasons enough for being sceptical. Setting up research laboratories, spending money and bearing the risk of long-term projects that may or may not lead to winning technologies are certainly not the hallmarks of Indian industry. With very few exceptions what passes in the name of research and development by industry is nothing more than glorified quality control and technical service.

This is evident from a cursory examination of the number of granted patents to Indian corporate houses in the US patent database. As the patent examination procedure in the US, though far from ideal, is a lot more rigorous than in India, it is that much more difficult to get away with false claims of novelty. Buying turnkey technologies from the West by paying hefty licence fees has been the only visible technology strategy for almost all large Indian corporate houses. Is there any reason to think that the setting up of an innovation park would either propel them towards serious R&D or tempt them to change their technology buying habits?

The proposed innovation park is supposed to focus on several areas, many of which are biology related. Indian pharmaceutical companies will presumably be among the potential customers for new technologies. In the pharmaceutical sector, Indian players have so far enjoyed a specific advantage for the so-called generics drugs, i.e. pharmaceuticals for which the patents are no longer valid. Teaching and research in organic chemistry in India have traditionally been better than that in the many other areas of science. In developing cheaper manufacturing processes for a known organic molecule, it is this knowledge and competence that come into play. The recent adverse court rulings in India on litigations brought about by global giants such as Novartis AG, Bayer etc have less to do with country-specific judicial perspective and more with lack of genuine innovation. A patent application with negligible technical novelty that delays the onset of competition by taking advantage of a legal loophole is a well-known tactic of large pharmaceutical companies the world over. It is to the credit of the Indian judiciary that it has interpreted the law keeping the interest of the huge majority of the Indian population in mind.

Discovering a new drug is a different ball game. It is a very expensive and lengthy process that requires integration of several scientific disciplines and associated skills and, like most major discoveries, a considerable amount of luck. All over the world, large pharmaceutical companies are trying to cope with the increased cost of R&D and reduced numbers of new drugs. There may be an opportunity for innovation there but it is difficult to see how issues related to risk, ownership and cost are going to be resolved in an innovation park set up with scientists from 100 nations.

Innovation with an Indian face can only happen when corporate houses walk the talk by aligning their Schumpeterian "raw instinct" with the PM's oft-quoted words about 'technology-led accelerated inclusive growth'.

The writer is a visiting professor at Northwestern University, US.

 

***************************************

THE TIMES OF INDIA

EDIT PAGE

'FOR THE FIRST TIME WE HAVE THE POWER TO ERADICATE A CANCER'

 

Every fourth woman with cervical cancer is Indian. Some 130,000 are diagnosed and 74,000 die of it every year. This despite it having a known primary cause, the human papilloma virus, HPV, and being preventable. Qiagen NV, makers of the 'gold standard' Digene HPV test, joined hands with Kolkata's Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute to launch the first, large-scale cervical cancer-screening programme in April 2009. Peer Schatz, Qiagen's 40-something CEO, spoke to Bachi Karkaria at the path-setting Women Deliver conference in ashington, DC:

What makes the Digene HPV the 'gold standard'?

The technology plus the validation. The test is robust yet clinically sensitive in identifying the true disease. The HPV is a complex virus, there are 100 different types, of which over 13 are known to lead to cancer. The others result merely in 'the flu of the cervix'. Our test filters out the not-wanted information and zeroes in on the target. In screening, you want to identify the most number of those most at risk. Validation is equally important. Ours is the only HPV test so fully endorsed by dozens of big clinical studies.

What is the careHPV test?

It is a simple, digital, objective test we developed in collaboration with PATH, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It can be operated by a healthcare worker with minimal lab training; performed where there is no running water or mains electricity; samples can also be self-collected which is critical in the context of cultural barriers; and results are available within two-and-a-half hours, so pre-cancerous lesions can be treated during the same visit. In 2009, a landmark study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that in low-resource settings, a single round of HPV testing significantly reduced the number of advanced cervical cancers and deaths compared with Pap testing (cytology) or the common visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA).

The HPV test is prognostic, showing the likelihood of the disease developing, so it is highly effective in a risk management strategy. The Pap test is diagnostic, and needs very skilled technicians to 'read' the cell structure and decide if it is cancerous. But, just as wi-fi leapfrogged over the limitations of landline, HPV testing can bypass the shortcomings of conventional tests. Where the Pap system is established, it is difficult; but where it's not so entrenched, you can jump in afresh. From the public health perspective, you could get better cervical cancer care in rural India than in Frankfurt, Germany.

So what happens after the screening?

High specificity allows a woman to go home assured that she doesn't have cervical cancer. She can have a single test at a certain age, and repeat it at intervals of 18 months to three years because HPV is a slowly integrating virus. Early detection of it having advanced to the cancerous stage means, after a confirmatory coloscopy, you can treat it with cryotherapy, chemo, or radical hysterectomy depending on its advance. With the combined onslaught of a vaccine and screening, for the first time we have the opportunity to eliminate a cancer.

What are the lessons from your experience?

You need ongoing commitment - from politicians, health and research departments and the local clinical community. Two, it's not true that women 'can't handle' information about this sexually transmitted virus. They do, provided there's the right education and sensitising. Then, it creates a network of awareness.

 

***************************************

THE TIMES OF INDIA

EDIT PAGE

ENGLISH HATAO

JUG SURAIYA

 

On October 25, 2010, a temple is to be inaugurated in UP. This in itself would not be news but for the fact that the temple is to be dedicated to an unusual deity: the English language. The date of the inauguration coincides with the 210th birth anniversary of Thomas Babington Macaulay, whose famous - or infamous, depending on your point of view - Minute on Education institutionalised the teaching of English to Indian 'natives' and, in the process, turned them into brown-skinned Englishmen. The idea was to create a body of English-literate scribes and clerks who would handle the bureaucratic affairs of British India at a fraction of the cost of importing Britons to do the same job. Macaulay's innovation could be said to have been a pioneer version of a cost-cutting BPO.

 

Like other, later, BPOs English in India has been the source of cultural, social and economic controversy. 'Angrezi hatao' advocates, like Mulayam Singh Yadav, have indicted English for severing Indians from their cultural and linguistic roots, and turning them into puppets of post-colonial manipulation. A valid argument, but one which is compromised in that the most vehement of the anti-English brigade tend to send their own sons and daughters to study in English-language institutions, both in India and abroad.

 

Proponents of English - among whom Mayawati is prominent, following Ambedkar's precept of social emancipation through western-style education - point out that knowledge of the commercial language of the world has given India a huge headstart in the global market, a headstart that countries like China are desperately trying to narrow by giving top priority to teaching English to their own populations. Seen in this light, Macaulay's motivated gift to us is not a bane but a boon. And, like all boons, deserving of a shrine in its honour.

 

By all means let's have a temple to English, and that too in the so-called Hindi heartland. But why inaugurate it on Macaulay's birthday, thus underlining the fact that English was an alien and exploitative imposition on us by our foreign rulers? Why not instead inaugurate the temple on the birthday of independent India, on August 15?

 

The real problem with English is that we continue to see it as a foreign language, as a gift, or a burden, bestowed on us by the British. We need to free ourselves from this idea. In much the same way that IPL has transformed and indigenised the once-English game of cricket, we have Indianised English through everyday conversation, advertisements, popular entertainment and serious literature. Indeed, we are not the only ex-colony to have done so. American English - with its distinctive spelling and vocabulary - has long enjoyed autonomy from its colonial parent. Similarly, there is Australian English (or Strine, as it calls itself with its characteristic nasal twang), New Zealand English, and Jamaican English, to name only a few variants of the E-word.The fact is that the E-word - English - has long become obsolete. The recognised language of international communication ought not to be parochialised by nominal association with a small, rainy island of diminishing consequence in the realm of global affairs. Like the brand name of cricket has become IPL, English needs a new brand name which reflects both its international reach and the many contributions made to it by India; which today possibly has more 'English'-speaking people than any other country in the world.

 

The British didn't give India independence; India won its independence. Similarly, over the years we have won over English - the state language of Nagaland, incidentally - and made it our own. So by all means let's chuck out English as she is called and introduce by its appropriate name a language which is both international and Indian at the same time. How about Interboli?

 

***************************************

******************************************************************************************

HINDUSTAN TIMES

OURTAKE

PUT A STOP TO REMOTE CONTROL

To be in Kashmir Valley at any point of time is to be in a room filled with inflammable helium. Despite all the 'invisible' signs of normalcy that breaks out — which in this state can, at best of times, mean the absence of 'abnormalcy' — all it takes to start a fire here is a spark. Such a spark was struck on Sunday when a youth was killed, allegedly by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) opening fire against a procession in north Kashmir. Less than 24 hours later, two other Kashmiris died under similar circumstances, with some 60 people injured in the clash between protestors and the police. One key facet of Kashmir's bushfires is how quickly politics becomes a fuel in the furnace. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has already asked New Delhi to 'control' the CRPF, a rather strange request considering that the force's operational duties fall under the state's purview. The CRPF, on its part, has denied that its personnel had fired live rounds of ammunition at the mobs who had attacked J&K policemen and paramilitary posts. The fact that Mr Abdullah is seeking out an easy scapegoat in the CRPF fails to hide his administration's increasingly pellmell and unsuccessful approach to tackling what could very well be a resurgence in separatist activities. As a result, the only certainties we are left with are that three people, including a 10-year-old schoolboy, have died after being struck by bullets, and that the situation, instead of being brought under control, has further escalated.

One of the major crises afflicting the 'management' of riots in India is that it isn't 'managed'. The usual reaction has been that the hands of the security forces were forced and a 'last resort' option to contain mobs had to be taken. The photograph of a Kashmiri policeman lying on the ground and being thrashed by protestors may provide grist to this mill, but the fact remains: mob violence is countered by an asymmetrical counter-violence by government forces. This is not confined to Kashmir; we have seen this being played out time and again in other parts of the country as well. But to put it plainly: such an approach doesn't work especially in Kashmir. If it did put a cap on the domino effect of mob violence followed by police-CRPF counter-violence followed by mob counter-counter-violence, it would still have been a firefighting strategy. Instead, what's unleashed is the clichèd 'spiral of violence'.

It's bad enough to keep passing the buck from Srinagar to Delhi. But it's far worse for people entrusted with the job of dousing a fire to actually fuel it. Proper riot-control skills must be imparted to our security forces. And the response can no longer be the standard ones: that we already have such skills in place and that 'our men didn't do it'. The bottomline is containment, even if it means not shooting people dead.

***************************************

HINDUSTAN TIMES

THE PUNDIT

READ MY MIND

Face it, India and Pakistan will have to think of new and inventive ways to broker a lasting peace. To our chagrin, Pakistan is, on the face of it, one or two steps ahead of us. In what could be a new chapter of in-your-face diplomacy, the Pakistanis have used the good offices of a renowned face reader, who is also the director-general of South Asia, to get a look at what Indian officials were thinking as talks began again last week. He nipped across to study the fetching visage of Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and was also in Delhi earlier this year with an official delegation.

How can we respond to this? We could send along Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who will be able to look beyond the face and into their respiratory systems. Or we could send across the hugging sanyasin, Ma Amritanandmayi. Nothing like a feel of diplomacy at close quarters. But what is puzzling us is why this face-reading officer has not been used to greater good in reading say, the bushy-bearded visage of Osama bin Laden. Could his burning eyes give away his location or his attack plans? Could the face reader not have told Pakistan's ally Uncle Sam that General Stanley McChrystal was really thinking the lads in Washington were a bunch of wusses? Of is his expertise race-specific, i.e. those of subcontinental origin?

Now that we know that we can't take Pakistan at face value, should we countenance this rather unorthodox element in the talks? Perhaps. We may not always see eye-to-eye but we will don't mind moving into a phase were we don't have to have a face-off. At the moment, all we seem to have are several faces on both sides, most of whom have launched a thousand slips.

***************************************

HINDUSTAN TIMES

COLUMN

FOREVER LEFT HANGING

MURAD ALI BAIG,

 

It's no surprise that the likes of Mamata Banerjee, the Marxists, most Indian politicians and the general public will be protesting against any price rise. They are all now predictably reacting to the recent price hikes of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). All price rises are inflationary, but these are not nearly as damaging as many seem to think them to be. Very few people realise that the Rs 2 — roughly 5.7 per cent — increase in diesel prices will only affect freight transport costs by a minuscule 0.12 per cent — equivalent to 12 paise on every Rs 100  that you spend on the products that you buy. India's four million trucks have to also pay for finance costs, depreciation, staff salaries, tyres, repairs, taxes, bribes, etc.

Elementary arithmetic makes this easy to understand. The total cost of transport averages just 5 per cent of the cost of most goods and the cost of diesel is about 35 per cent of the cost of transport. Thus the cost of fuel is just 1.75 per cent of the cost of goods. A 5.7 per cent increase on this 1.75 per cent will, therefore, have an impact of just 0.1 per cent. Transporters, bus and taxi companies will, however, routinely demand huge fare increases to exploit the situation and these must be resisted by showing the real economics. Six per cent of India's diesel is also consumed by the railways that transport most of the food grains, sugar, petroleum products, steel, coal, cement and bulk goods, so subsidised diesel for the railways will ensure that the impact on inflation can be further moderated.

As for the politically important farmer community, diesel consumption for tractors and irrigation pumps is estimated at about 20 per cent of total use in India but the cost of diesel is less than 2 per cent of the cost of agricultural products. So a 5.7 per cent price increase in fuel should again have a very marginal direct impact on food prices. Very few of the tractors and pump sets are incidentally owned by poor farmers so there are no weaker farm sectors for the government to protect.

The Rs 3.50 increase in the price of petrol is, however, very unjust. Petrol not only fuels some 14 million cars but also some 80 million motorcycles and scooters that transport millions of middle income commuters who do not  deserve to be punished for an obsolete old socialist shibboleth that cars are the luxury toys of the elite. Petrol consumption is also just a quarter of diesel consumption, so hiking the cost of petrol will not have a big impact on containing the fallout of the rising crude prices.

But the impact of diesel costs will more seriously affect passenger fares of taxis and buses, where fuel also accounts for about 35 per cent of transport costs and a 5.7 per cent price hike on this 35 per cent should result in a small 2 per cent increase in passenger transport costs. Road transportation is today estimated to account for over 55 per cent of India's total diesel consumption.

There is, however, an affluent segment that does not deserve any diesel subsidy. It is roughly estimated that 20 per cent of India's diesel is consumed by industry and private gensets. Most factories, offices, malls, cinemas and condominiums need captive power but they can easily be made to pay a fair market price. Dedicated tankers for bulk supply to them can easily be made to charge the full commercial price.

The cost of petrol and diesel is nearly the same at the refineries, as is clear from the fuel costs in almost all countries. But the Indian government rigs these by a series of costs and taxes to make them over 40 per cent more costly. So the users of petrol vehicles that ferry roughly 200 million people every day, on about 80 million petrol-engined two-wheelers and 14 million cars, are being unjustly victimised. The Rs 3.50 increase in petrol prices will hit their pockets directly. If they feel that the government is being unjust, they could become a sizeable political constituency.

India's diesel consumption is four times that of petrol. So, from the revenue standpoint, every Re 1 increase in the cost of diesel is equivalent to a Rs 4 increase in the price of petrol. The main beneficiary of the continuing subsidy on diesel (and kerosene) in relation to petrol are not the weak sections but rich fuel adulterators. The government must transparently reveal the real costs of all fuels and also show the real impact of fuel cost increases to prevent vested interests from exploiting the confusion.

(Murad Ali Baig is a Delhi-based automobiles analyst The views expressed by the author are personal)

***************************************

HINDUSTAN TIMES

VIEWS

MAKE WAY FOR THE LADIES

GULU EZEKIEL

Saina Nehwal's rise to the top of the world badminton rankings is yet another landmark in the history of women in Indian sports and comes on the 40th anniversary of their first significant international achievement.

It was at the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok that Kanwaljit Sandhu won the first international gold medal for an Indian sportswoman in the 400 metres. This was followed by the PT Usha era of the 1980s while this decade saw the emergence of Sania Mirza and world amateur boxing champion MC Mary Kom.

It was an uphill struggle for sportswomen from the time of Independence till the 60s, with just a handful of sports like tennis, badminton, table tennis, athletics and hockey open to them.

The tiny Parsi and Anglo-Indian communities led the way in those early years and it was in the matter of clothing that sportswomen in India saw their progress stifled. A girl seen in public in shorts or skirts was considered scandalous and it was a common sight to see them competing in salwar-kameez and even saris.

Among the early stars were Roshan Mistry (a Parsi), 100m silver medalist in the first Asian Games in Delhi in 1951; and Stephie D'Souza, the first woman to receive the Arjuna Award in 1963. D'Souza was part of the relay team that won gold in the 4x100m at the 1954 Asian Games and also represented India in hockey. Geeta Zutshi also struck gold in the 800m  in the 1978 Asian Games. But by now the Kerala era in women's athletics was beginning to unfold. This was thanks to the sports hostel concept in the state, under which the government funded the education and training of promising young athletes.

When the Asian Games returned to New Delhi in 1982, M.D. Valsamma was one of the stars with her gold in the 400m hurdles. The Indian women's hockey team also made up for the ignominy suffered by the men who were trounced 7-1 in the final by Pakistan. Angel Mary Joseph, Valsamma, Usha and Shiny Abraham were at the forefront of the Kerala surge while Karnataka produced the first glamour girls of Indian sport in Ashwini Nachappa, Reeth Abraham and Vandana Rao. This trio could not match the medal-winning feats of their Kerala counterparts but captured the media glare with their good looks and daring outfits.

Usha won silver in the 100m and 200m in 1982. For the rest of the decade there was no one to challenge her supremacy in Asia. But Usha's greatest,   and saddest, moment came at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics when she became the first Indian woman to reach an Olympics track and field final in the 400m hurdles, but was edged into fourth place.

Since then only Anju Bobby George has matched Usha's feat when she reached the final of the women's long jump in the 2004 Olympics, having won silver in the world championship at Paris the previous year. That remains the lone medal won by an Indian athlete — male or female — at the world event.

By 1986 Usha was unstoppable. The Seoul Asian Games were an all-time low for Indian sport as they brought India just five gold medals. Four were Usha's, and the fifth was won in kabaddi.

The rapid strides taken by women on the sports field saw them shift their focus, from the 1990s onwards, to the traditionally masculine preserves of weightlifting, boxing and wrestling. Karnam Malleswari and Kunjarani Devi bagged international weightlifting medals galore and when Malleswari won the bronze in the 69kg division at the Sydney Olympics, she set yet another landmark — the first Olympic medal for an Indian woman.

Sania Mirza burst onto the scene spectacularly in 2005 by rising in the world tennis rankings while at the same time turning heads and raising eyebrows. She broke down barriers of gender and religion and had the world media turning its attention to India. Her glam appeal meant that endorsement deals for the Hyderabadi heartthrob were now rivaling those of India's top cricketers.

But the shift from the sports pages to front page news, and then to the glamour of Page 3 — combined with injuries and various controversies — saw Mirza lose focus, rankings and popularity. Today she has been reduced to an also-ran on the world tennis circuit. Her comet-like career has sent warning signs to Saina who, no doubt, has learnt some important life lessons from her fellow-Hyderabadi's sudden rise and equally rapid fall.

In sports as varied as archery, shooting, chess — Koneru Humpy is ranked world number two — to boxing, where M.C. Mary Kom is the four-time amateur world champion in the 46 kg category, women have made impressive strides since Kanwaljit Sandhu's breakthrough feat four decades ago.

Today, thanks to the courageous pioneers who defied the oppressive constraints of a patriarchal society, the sky is the limit for women's sports in India. The forthcoming Commonwealth Games in New Delhi and the 2012 Olympics in London should see this movement reach its pinnacle and bring more glory to Indian sports.

(Gulu Ezekiel is a Delhi-based sports writer The views expressed by the author are personal)

***************************************

HINDUSTAN TIMES

VIEWS

SHOOTING SELF-GOALS

PREETI SINGH

Mandira Bedi, she of the spaghetti strap fame, has done much harm to women sports fans. Till she unwittingly came along and adulterated that heady mix of testosterone and contained IQs with her low necklines and high estrogen quotient, we were doing just fine without dazzling the world with our passion for various sports or their secretly-acquired trivia. We generally ignored the pre- and post-game shows, ogled the hunks in their sweaty team jerseys and enjoyed the game without offering sage opinions on the state of the pitch or painfully dissecting a missed penalty shot.

Well, there had been women commentators before, and here tennis pro Andrea Leand comes to mind, ably volleying with Vijay Amritraj during many Wimbledons of yore. But the rest of us had been able to stay under the radar.

We could happily slip up with our practised ignorance about a sport's finer points or unassumingly slip in a googly from a decades-long familiarity with it, much to the indulgent admiration of the boys. There was no pressure to perform under the cynical gaze of male sports aficionados. To understand the offside rule was a bonus and, alternatively, to have nary a clue about why 22 men would tire themselves silly over a round object was par for the course.

Then someone decided they needed to even the playing field, unleashing an epidemic of female sports jockeys. Suddenly, apathy was no longer an option. We were damned, no matter how well we held our own against those for whom women on a sports field had to be restricted to either wearing short skirts and hopping about on the sidelines, or as screaming bearers of "Ronaldo, will you marry me?" placards in the stands.

With women beating their pants off them in every sphere imaginable, men had long held on to a semblance of control in that last bastion of male hegemony — the commentary box. Especially for 'hardcore' sports like cricket and soccer. And for years, we had successfully let them labour under a valiant compulsion to throw a spotlight on the game and impress us.

No more. The delicate peace has been disturbed for good. Now, even the most innocuous comment is seen as 'doing a Bedi' in the midst of a serious discussion among those who know best. So, even if we open our mouths to ask for that bowl of chips, we're likely to be beaten back by a reminder of various war wounds acquired while actually playing the game on a real sports field. As a result, every time the Fifa World Cup games go into half time I slink off to a corner before they bring on the 'experts'. It matters little whether 'that girl on ESPN' these days knows a thing or two about football or not.

As for me, I haven't a clue about the strategy, or lack of it, that edged the Azzurri out of the contest, but I sure can tell you they fill out their blue jerseys well. And that's been enough to buy my loyalty for the last 20 years, ever since Roberto Baggio made it cool to cry over a silly penalty shot.

***************************************

HINDUSTAN TIMES

VIEWS

CONTROL YOUR THOUGHTS

HEMPRABHA CHAUHAN

 

Modern biology describes man not only as an inter-breeding species, the only such species in nature, but also as an inter-thinking species. 

Man thinks and thinks together and, through such interpenetration of minds, achieves great heights of culture and civilisation.

Our ancient culture is a product of such profound thinking and inter-thinking.

But the rote in our civilisation today is due to the disintegration and misinterpretation of our thought processes.

With change in time, the thinking processes (without a check) have changed the whole scenario of mankind.

Earlier, thought processes were controlled, well judged and a process of discarding un-wanted and irrelevant thoughts were practiced in such a way that mankind's every action was rated according to a prescribed thought and were named within the two-fold realm of dharma or religion.

Dharma or religion was understood as Vedanta.

Vedanta is an integrated philosophy of a two-fold dharma, namely, pravrtti or outward directed action and nivrtti or inward-directed meditation.

Together they form the means for the maintenance of the world on even keel; for they are, verily, the means of the abhyudaya, social welfare, and nihsreyasa, spiritual growth and fulfillment of all beings.

But, with the passage of time we have gradually deprived ourselves of the great discipline of thought and its great energy resources.

We became complacent. With complacency, neglect of dedication and growth of lack of vision took place, which resulted in degradation of humanity and human values.

Today, a man engrossed in sense-objects, knows neither himself nor the Supreme Self.

He vainly leads a vegetative life and ultimately vanishes.

He remains ignorant throughout his life and as ignorant as he was when he first entered this world.

It is only knowledge and control of thought processes that show us the true path and true meaning of life. One therefore must strive hard to shun ignorance and light the lamp of knowledge.

 

***************************************

HINDUSTAN TIMES

FOREVER LEFT HANGING

MURAD ALI BAIG

It's no surprise that the likes of Mamata Banerjee, the Marxists, most Indian politicians and the general public will be protesting against any price rise. They are all now predictably reacting to the recent price hikes of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). All price rises are inflationary, but these are not nearly as damaging as many seem to think them to be. Very few people realise that the Rs 2 — roughly 5.7 per cent — increase in diesel prices will only affect freight transport costs by a minuscule 0.12 per cent — equivalent to 12 paise on every Rs 100  that you spend on the products that you buy. India's four million trucks have to also pay for finance costs, depreciation, staff salaries, tyres, repairs, taxes, bribes, etc.

Elementary arithmetic makes this easy to understand. The total cost of transport averages just 5 per cent of the cost of most goods and the cost of diesel is about 35 per cent of the cost of transport. Thus the cost of fuel is just 1.75 per cent of the cost of goods. A 5.7 per cent increase on this 1.75 per cent will, therefore, have an impact of just 0.1 per cent. Transporters, bus and taxi companies will, however, routinely demand huge fare increases to exploit the situation and these must be resisted by showing the real economics. Six per cent of India's diesel is also consumed by the railways that transport most of the food grains, sugar, petroleum products, steel, coal, cement and bulk goods, so subsidised diesel for the railways will ensure that the impact on inflation can be further moderated.

As for the politically important farmer community, diesel consumption for tractors and irrigation pumps is estimated at about 20 per cent of total use in India but the cost of diesel is less than 2 per cent of the cost of agricultural products. So a 5.7 per cent price increase in fuel should again have a very marginal direct impact on food prices. Very few of the tractors and pump sets are incidentally owned by poor farmers so there are no weaker farm sectors for the government to protect.

The Rs 3.50 increase in the price of petrol is, however, very unjust. Petrol not only fuels some 14 million cars but also some 80 million motorcycles and scooters that transport millions of middle income commuters who do not  deserve to be punished for an obsolete old socialist shibboleth that cars are the luxury toys of the elite. Petrol consumption is also just a quarter of diesel consumption, so hiking the cost of petrol will not have a big impact on containing the fallout of the rising crude prices.

But the impact of diesel costs will more seriously affect passenger fares of taxis and buses, where fuel also accounts for about 35 per cent of transport costs and a 5.7 per cent price hike on this 35 per cent should result in a small 2 per cent increase in passenger transport costs. Road transportation is today estimated to account for over 55 per cent of India's total diesel consumption.

There is, however, an affluent segment that does not deserve any diesel subsidy. It is roughly estimated that 20 per cent of India's diesel is consumed by industry and private gensets. Most factories, offices, malls, cinemas and condominiums need captive power but they can easily be made to pay a fair market price. Dedicated tankers for bulk supply to them can easily be made to charge the full commercial price.

The cost of petrol and diesel is nearly the same at the refineries, as is clear from the fuel costs in almost all countries. But the Indian government rigs these by a series of costs and taxes to make them over 40 per cent more costly. So the users of petrol vehicles that ferry roughly 200 million people every day, on about 80 million petrol-engined two-wheelers and 14 million cars, are being unjustly victimised. The Rs 3.50 increase in petrol prices will hit their pockets directly. If they feel that the government is being unjust, they could become a sizeable political constituency.

India's diesel consumption is four times that of petrol. So, from the revenue standpoint, every Re 1 increase in the cost of diesel is equivalent to a Rs 4 increase in the price of petrol. The main beneficiary of the continuing subsidy on diesel (and kerosene) in relation to petrol are not the weak sections but rich fuel adulterators. The government must transparently reveal the real costs of all fuels and also show the real impact of fuel cost increases to prevent vested interests from exploiting the confusion.

(Murad Ali Baig is a Delhi-based automobiles analyst The views expressed by the author are personal)

 

***************************************

******************************************************************************************

THE INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

COLLATERAL BENEFIT

 

The resignation of Justice N. Santosh Hegde as Karnataka Lokayukta has spotlighted irregularities in the mining sector. He quit last week, saying the state government was not cooperating in the pursuit of cases of corruption. A case he cited then is the transport of eight lakh tonnes of illegally mined iron ore at Bellikeri port, more than half of which subsequently "disappeared". He referred to attempts by the state government to suspend the Karwar deputy conservator of forests who was supervising investigations in the case. The investigation has now been given to the CID, and a forest officer investigating the case transferred.

 

Ironically, these developments substantiate Hegde's argument that the office of the Lokayukta needs to be empowered and engaged imaginatively if it is to substantively fulfil its charter as an anti-corruption ombudsman. The office was introduced following the first Administrative Reforms Commission. The federal equivalent, the Lokpal, has been much debated but is yet to be established. But the experience of Lokayuktas in states too has been chequered. Orissa, for instance, was the first state to pass an enabling legislation (1970), and then the first to abolish it (1993). Many states have not had a Lokayukta. Even within states with the office, experience is varied; and the Hegde controversy shows how dependent its relevance is on the incumbent. Hegde pushed the envelope by enlarging the scope and powers of the office. It is perhaps not incidental that Karnataka did away with the Vigilance Commission in the '80s, and the Lokayukta consequently was sought to fill that vacuum.

 

The second Administrative Reforms Commission has recommended giving the Lokayukta more powers to investigate corruption. Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, who headed the second ARC, told The Indian Express that the Central government is considering key amendments to make it mandatory for each state to have a Lokayukta. A group of ministers is studying various suggestions, but among Moily's recommendations is that the Lokayukta should be relieved of investigations against junior function-aries, so it can concentrate on

 

corruption at the higher levels. It is perhaps collateral benefit that Hegde's resignation has underscored the need for his office. Amending the law could help, in time. But the office's relevance must immediately be honoured through follow-up in the cases that brought around this controversy.

 

***************************************

INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

THE PROFESSORIATE

 

According to the new regulations notified by the University Grants Commission, university faculty will now be tested for their teaching chops as well as the quantity and quality of their published work, which will now determine how they ascend in their careers. Academic performance indicators will score them on teaching duties as well as co-curricular or departmental contribution, and fulfilling these will let them offer themselves for promotion — so they can clamber up the ladder on their own terms instead of being mechanically moved upwards. On the surface, this is an unobjectionable, even important advance, given the need to create a clear, performance-centred ethos in our colleges.

 

First, the larger question — are matters of academic judgment and merit reducible to metrics? Second, why should all university work be judged by the same template? Even an attempt to evolve objective and verifiable criteria drawn up by a screening/ selection committee entails similar difficulties. Subjectivity creeps in at every stage — for instance, the proposed system is heavy on "research and academic contribution" — papers published in refereed journals wins 15 points per publication, and 10 in case of a non-refereed journal. While that will certainly goad faculty to publish prodigiously and boost the journal business, it is debatable how that indicates improvement for all kinds of schools. Also, how is a university equipped to assess previous institutional performance when a faculty member moves schools?

 

This system also mandates specifics — a minimum 40 hours of teaching load a week for 30 working weeks, six hours for research, and the capacity to hire 10 per cent teaching staff on contract. While it is patently important to ensure minimum standards, there needs to be adequate scope for flexibility. A single paradigm cannot apply to all kinds of knowledge production, and while the regulation acknowledges the differing requirements of humanities and science, for instance, the current notification should be a starting point towards a more supple approach. Some institutions might have to rely more on adjunct faculty than on a committed core of research-driven professors. Instead of letting institutions put stress on different areas and place their own individual demands on faculty depending on that self-conception, this regulation appears to fit them all into one supposedly high-yield formula.

 

But comforting as it may be to go quant, it is no substitute for a real test of achievement. Simply mechanising the input process does not produce better output.

 

***************************************

THE INDIAN EXPRESS

COLUMN

IT TAKES A COUNTRY

SAUBHIK CHAKRABARTI

 

Two and a half months away from the second anniversary of Lehman Brothers meltdown, four G-20 summits since those frightening days, but we still don't have a convincing plan and a firm deadline on global financial action. What's G-20 doing? It's doing very well.

 

The Toronto G-20 meeting produced yawn-inducing quasi-commitment that new banking rules will be (make that, may be) produced by 2012. And when will they be implemented? Frankly, no one knows. But no one should care to know. The idea that a world body can produce a detailed roadmap for world finance comes up against the reality that world finance is a collection of national finance models that don't add up.

 

India is the obvious example for us. Heavily regulated banks, a large number of them government owned, a terribly underbanked population — this is a world away from banking reforms of the kind that G-20 talks about. But there are Western examples. The host country for this G-20 summit, Canada, has a banking sector dominated by a few large institutions that are heavily regulated and where banks were largely untouched by the financial crisis. Canadian bank consumers pay a higher price for services but, as Canadian authorities like to point out, they and the banks are safer. Canada will not have much use for a detailed new global bank rule book either. That's why it staunchly opposed the idea of a global bank tax. India should have no time for this either.

 

The argument against a G-20 finance formula however doesn't depend only on examples like India and Canada. America and major European countries were the epicentres of the crisis, where banks took similar kinds of risks under broadly similar kind of regulatory assumptions — even here the simplest of new bank rules won't have much meaning in terms of implementation.

 

Everyone agrees that big American and European global banks that were savaged by the crisis and only survived because of public bailouts need big infusions of private capital. The International Institute of Finance estimates that at the very minimum crisis-hit banks will need around $700 billion (yes, billion) of new equity financing. How to get this money to the banks? How soon? These involve complex questions of national political economy.

 

Crisis-hit banks are right now still wary of lending to businesses, they would rather make quick money by financial trading, which is what they are doing. Also, they are unwelcome in capital markets. Also, they haven't crimped on paying out bonuses and dividends. The ideal alternative scenario is that they are given new standards on how much capital they need to keep with themselves, which forces them to, first, pay out less by way of dividends and bonuses, which also makes them go to capital markets for fresh equity, and thus energised they start lending to businesses and become safer.

 

There's no way, repeat, no way, this can happen as a supra-national effort. What should be the timeframe allowed for banks before they are asked to raise new capital? That's a national political question. The quicker the deadline, the more the chances of a short-term but sharp fall in business lending as banks rush to meet new capital rules. That impacts economic growth. Ergo, that's national politics. European business in general relies more on bank lending than American business. That's one big difference. One deadline for all countries with crisis-hit banks won't work.

 

How fast should banks wind down on paying out bonuses and dividends and start keeping that money for shoring up capital? That's an especially sharp national political question because political classes across countries and within countries have many, many views on that. But without some across-countries consensus on this a G-20 imposed deadline won't have much meaning.

 

Should banks beyond redemption — those so hit by the crisis that even post-bailout they may not be ready for tougher rules — be identified and, if they are, what should be done with them? Again, a sharp national political question. And again, it's being so shows up the futility of trying to fashion a widely applicable roadmap.

 

So if G-20 restricts itself to giving heft to some good general ideas on safety, like strengthening bank capital, and ends up far short of producing a how-to guide, it would do very well. The same holds for the even bigger thing many want G-20 to produce: finance reform. Should banks be stopped from becoming too big so that they can be allowed to fail? Just this one question has complex national political implications, and it is unresolvable at the G-20 level. Or take the apparently simple issue of mortgages, which were at the core of the crisis.

 

In Canada, any home purchase that has 75 per cent or more bank financing is required to be accompanied by a purchase of insurance — a conservative, a priori safety measure. Housing finance in America has been and will be revisited. And after the Goldman Sachs fraud allegations, the political momentum for big reform increased. But can American finance approach Canadian conservatism? That's only for America to find out, not for G-20 to try and figure out.

 

Is G-20 another talking shop, then? No. It can usefully occupy itself as a prestigious forum that makes countries more serious about issues from currency reform to energy policy. As Arvind Subramanian pointed out recently, China's moves on the yuan and India's commitment on oil price deregulation were both aimed at going to the Toronto G-20 meeting with something to show. Remember, also, that post-crisis, G-20 was instrumental in a coordinated effort to ease trade finance; capital for global goods trade had dried up in the wake of the Big Fear. G-20 can and should play a key role in rewriting the agendas of the World Bank and IMF.

 

But the one thing G-20 must not try is to rework finance at a supra-national level. True, this is what G-20 thought it would do as it met after the crisis. True, that was the big idea that gave it prestige. But just because an idea is big doesn't mean it can't be loopy.

 

Remember that other big idea on global finance? Twenty or so big US, European banks were showing the way to the world's financial nirvana. Twenty big governments taking us to new financial nirvana is just as loopy an idea.

 

saubhik.chakrabarti@expressindia.com

 

***************************************

THE INDIAN EXPRESS

COLUMN

CROSSING THE GOAL LINE

SUDEEP PAUL

 

Can we conceive of a historical sequence without causality or consequentiality? If an incident is dropped or altered at any point of the sequence, does the order of incidents or events that follows change? And do the events also change qualitatively, to the point of not occurring at all? Well, ceteris paribus, they do. Frank Lampard and England must be the object of our sympathy (without any of us being particularly fond of the English soccer team or grieving their exit from a World Cup) in being denied Lampard's 20-yard goal against Germany on Sunday. As should Mexico, after the unpardonable decision to let the goal by a Carlos Tevez offside by yards to stand.

 

Lampard and company went too far in claiming that being denied that goal cost them the match — they were clearly outplayed by an immensely superior German side that pumped in two more goals post-Lampard, sporting a flair and flamboyance so uncharacteristic of German football. However, the English and Mexicans were not guilty of a post hoc error in categorically arguing that after the error, things changed, because of that error. That is true, although no one would hazard a guess about alternative outcomes. These were horrendous decisions, and football had to change after this WC, on a scale larger than the back-pass and three points for a win post-Italia '90.

 

So on Tuesday, Fifa and its President Sepp Blatter had to apologise to England and Mexico and announce a re-look at goal-line technology. Nevertheless, Fifa's instant reaction of banning replays of controversial match action on the giant stadium screens was more in character — shooting the messenger, burying its head in the sand of its blindness and arrogance. If anything was more outrageous, it was the press conference after Sunday's errors to which Fifa made it a point to not send a single official overseeing referees. Rather than blame the replays, Fifa should have precluded the real cause for trouble. But to do that it would first need to shed its dinosaur tag.

 

For one, arguments about football's native incompatibility with technology have been made ad nauseum. The game has been cleaned up to the point of a referee asking a goalkeeper to remove negligible confetti from the pitch — and stopping the game for doing so — to say nothing of the protection given to strikers and attacking midfielders (which makes Pele and Maradona rue they were born 40 or 20 years too soon), or the impossibility any longer of an Argentina needing to beat Peru by 4 goals to keep out a Brazil almost already in the final and then cakewalking through that encounter 6-0 (still the worst allegation of match-fixing and bribery in the WC, post-1934 ), or a referee blowing his whistle after the ball is shot and before it entered the net (Brazil vs Sweden, 1978).

 

Yet, errors as witnessed in the 1966 England-West Germany final recur, even if as history's revenge, or Luis Fabiano's double handball goes unpunished — because Fifa keeps insisting that errors are as much a part of the game as goals and fouls. They are, and will be; but not at, literally, gamechanging junctures. Admittedly, referees long ceased enjoying a wide latitude to sway outcomes; and, undeniably, their or their assistants' human eyes and ears will err. But to not come to their aid when help is close at hand, and in the process wound nations and ruin a referee's reputation, is stubbornly callous.

 

Prominently on Fifa's opposing side of the technology divide are the English Premier League and Fifpro, the international players' union and... the entire football-loving world. When Fifa dropped the debate last March, Blatter had argued that video technology was "too expensive" for global application, that it would destroy the game's "flow" and that its evidence was not conclusive. Football is indeed a free-flowing sport, very different from cricket or tennis, which have successfully applied technology but whose success is attributed to their stop-and-start character, deprived of the rhythm intrinsic to football. But then, hockey — football's close rhythmic and rules cousin — uses technology for tight calls.

 

Referees and assistants can make or break a team in a split-second decision. Advocates of goal-line technology argue that the answer in close calls can be provided in half a second. Regardless of the debate between Hawk Eye (used in tennis for line calls, and cricket for lbw decisions by commentators but not umpires) or a micro-chip in the ball, the (Johan) Cruyff line is likely to see ready endorsements after Fifa's latest humiliation — it's all right, in fact necessary, to use cameras for goal-line; however, it's best not to tie that to offside decisions which could further complicate what's already so.

 

Football can never be fully cleaned up. But if it can be made 95 per cent error-free, that's a lot. History's weight is now decisively against Fifa's refusal to evolve. The bottomline will have to be minimum, but indispensable, technology; referring only extraordinary calls; and strictly limiting appeals. If an overwhelming majority desire this change, they can't all be wrong. A little investment in the right place, instead of additional assistants behind goals, and rhythmic interruptions can still stay well below the unwatchable and unplayable mark.

 

sudeep.paul@expressindia.com

 

***************************************

THE INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

TRANSFORMING SANITATION SCENARIOS IN CITIES

ISHER JUDGE AHLUWALIA

 

Until 10 years ago, Alandur, a residential suburb of Chennai in the Kanchipuram district, famous for its ancient temples, had no underground sewerage. As in 80 per cent of the metropolitan area outside the city of Chennai, most households depended on septic tanks with soak pits.

 

The urban landscape of Alandur has been transformed with an infrastructure project which has provided comprehensive underground sewerage network and a sewage treatment plant. Provision has also been made for community toilets on municipal land. This has been accomplished over a period of five years from 2000 to 2005 by empowering the residents of Alandur to take responsibility for finding a solution within the framework of a public-private partnership and become stakeholders in the success of the partnership.

 

The dynamic leadership of a directly elected mayor of Alandur in the late 1990s and the supportive role played by the municipal commissioner enthused the people of the town so much that they were willing to put their own deposits with the municipality to ensure that the project is adequately funded and effectively implemented. The government of Tamil Nadu provided an enabling environment in which the promises could be kept. For example, the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act 1998 facilitated the process of financing and cost recovery.

 

The result of these efforts was visible to us as we drove through the streets of Alandur. Covering an area of a little over 4800 acres, the town today has a population of 1.5 lakh which has basic sanitation facilities expected of a middle class town. With its proximity to the airport, and progress on the metro rail linking the town to Chennai, Alandur is clearly on the move. Not surprisingly, land value has escalated beyond imagination. Price of one ground (2400 sq. ft.) of land which was Rs 3-4 lakh in 1996, increased to Rs 50-60 lakh in 2003, and is now close to Rs 1 crore.

 

Providing water and sanitation to the metropolitan region of Chennai had all along been the responsibility of the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board. The municipality of Alandur decided to take charge in the late 1990s. It all began with a perceived urgent need for sanitation by the then mayor of Alandur, R.S. Bharathi. A major campaign was launched to create awareness on the importance of sanitation and mobilise public support for the project. From distribution of leaflets in English and Tamil and using newspapers and local cable networks on TV to meetings with NGOs and election-style campaigning by councilors and officials, no stone was left unturned to get the message across.

 

The transparency of the process was crucial in inspiring confidence among the residents. Resident Welfare Associations organised the collection drive for deposits (varying from Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 depending on ability to pay) from the public. The separate bank account was monitored by a special committee with the municipal commissioner as chairman and representatives from the three registered local resident welfare associations as members, and its status made public every month. People without bank accounts could deposit cash with the treasury. A special installment scheme was arranged for those who could not pay at one go. A large number of slum dwellers opted to pay for connection to the sewerage network.

 

The original target of raising Rs 3.4 crore was far exceeded to yield a collection of Rs 12.4 crore. Another Rs 2.5 crore was earned through interest on depositing the funds with the Tamil Nadu Power Finance Corporation thanks to an exemption by a flexible state government from placing the funds with a public sector bank where the interest rate was much lower (differential of 5 per cent).

 

A willingness to pay survey of the residents of Alandur was conducted in 1997 by TNUIFSL, a private finance company, which was designated the nodal agency and was responsible for structuring the project, arranging feasibility studies, formulating the contract and arranging the finances. The survey covered a representative sample of households in Alandur whose average monthly income ranged between Rs 1000 and Rs 5000.

 

The tariff regime was designed taking account of the survey findings. It had an element of cross-subsidy built into it. Most residents fall within the category of property area between 500 and 1500 sq. ft. and pay Rs 80 per month. No user charges were collected in the first year. In 2009-10, the collection amounted to Rs. 3.4 crore and the municipality generated a surplus.

 

The project was expected to cost Rs. 34 crore and the financing was arranged such that half the amount would come from the Government of India's Megacity program (a precursor to the JNNRUM) as a loan at an interest rate of 5 per cent and Rs 1 crore as grant. A significant part of the rest, i.e. Rs. 13.6 crore was to come from the World Bank intermediated through TNUIFSL at an interest rate of 16 percent, and a small part (Rs. 3.4 crore) was to be funded by residents' deposits. In the event, the residents contributed Rs. 11.85 crore and only Rs. 3 crore was drawn from the World Bank/TNUIFSL.

 

Consulting Engineering Services (India) were appointed the project management consultants. The project involved the construction of a sewer line covering the entire road length of 137 km, a pump house, 5650 manholes and 23,700 house service connections. The network construction contract was awarded to IVRCL, a private infrastructure company now listed on the NSE and BSE. The company made a 15 per cent return on the construction of the sewerage network.

 

A global tender for a sewage treatment plant of 12 mld capacity on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis with a 14 year concession period was also won by IVRCL. The cost of the sewerage treatment plant (Rs. 7 crore) was borne by the private party. The municipality provided 0.5 hectares of land for the plant and the pumping station. The payment stipulated that the higher the quantity of sewage received at the treatment plant the lower the unit rate. The private company shall also construct another 12 mld sewage treatment plant to meet the town's growing requirements till 2030 by when the population is expected to double. As risk mitigation, a state government guarantee was provided through TNUIFSL to the contractor. The private company is free to add to its revenue by sale of treated water to industry, composting etc.

 

Alandur is an excellent example of the politics of empowerment. It is a welcome and refreshing change from the all pervasive politics of entitlement. Bharathi, the dynamic mayor who was the father of the project proclaimed proudly to us, 'where people are involved, politicians cannot harm the project'. The Alandur project was initiated in the DMK political regime and was commissioned by the chief minister, Tamil Nadu in the AIADMK regime. The project won a National Urban Water Award in 2008.

 

Today, 54 of the 148 municipalities in Tamil Nadu are trying to emulate this model.

 

Alandur has shown how we can and why we must respond to the atrocious state of sanitation across the cities of India.

 

Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia is the Chairperson of ICRIER and Chair of the High Powered Expert Committee on

Urban Infrastructure. Ranesh Nair is a Consultant to the Committee. Views are personal.

 

***************************************

THE INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

SMEARING COLOURS IN SOUTH AFRICA

 

South Africa is a country where race is not the subtext of existence. It's the text. I was at dinner the other night with my cousins, white South Africans divided as to whether they still have prospects here. The elder men said things like, "I now feel like a visitor," or "The future is for the blacks." They see race relations worsening, corruption spreading and inefficiency rampant.

 

Not the youngest among them, a law student in his mid-20s, proud African, brimming with indignation at his elders' perceived conceits: "Is it race or is it class?" he asked. "What is freedom to them?" he demanded, voice rising. "They want houses, schools, sewage. They want justice."

 

Conversation turned to this tidbit: Under apartheid, blacks could not be bricklayers because the job was classified as whites-only skilled labour. The student's mother expressed anger, prompting a furious rebuke from him: "Why are you angry now when you weren't 30 years ago? Your anger's useless now. Drop it. When it would have been useful you didn't have it. Now it's payback time for them."

 

"They" are the eternal other, of course, the blacks in this white conversation, the whites in mirror-image black conversations.

 

There are plenty of iterations of "they" in a land where the 1950 Population Registration Act (evil legislation is always innocuously named) ran a fine comb through types of inferior being, among them Indians and mixed-race "coloureds." Almost a generation from apartheid's end, South Africa is struggling to compose these differences into something foreign to nature: a sustainable rainbow.

 

The world has much at stake in this quest. South Africa — 79 per cent black, 9.5 per cent white and 11.5 per

cent Asian or mixed race — is the ground zero chosen by history and geography for the dilemma of otherness, the violent puzzle of race with its reflexive suspicions and repetitive eruptions.

 

At moments, as during this first African World Cup, the rainbow shimmers. This was supposed to be the competition of smash-and-grab and of machete attacks. Many stayed away.

 

The fear merchants, always hard at work, have been proved wrong. German grandmas do not lie savaged on the road to Rustenburg. Unity has unfurled, calm broken out. Smiles crease black and white faces alike. To the point that the most asked question here is: Will this moving honeymoon last beyond the World Cup?

 

It's a good question. South Africa, in the run-up, smouldered, crime eating at its heart like a surrogate for the post-apartheid bloodletting that never was.

 

There was the murder in April of the white supremacist Eugène Terre'Blanche, hacked to death after the leader of the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League, Julius Malema, revived the "kill the Boer" line of black struggle. There were Malema's endorsements of Zimbabwe's disaster merchant, Robert Mugabe. There was the unhappy sight of the ANC, torn between its liberation mythology and the mundanity of governance, gripped by paralysis as unemployment climbed over 25 per cent and its "tenderpreneurs" prospered.

 

A tenderpreneur is an insider pocketing millions from rigged government tenders for everything from air-conditioners to locomotives. The word denotes failure, that of black economic empowerment, which has come to mean much for the few and little for the many. If the powerful steal with front companies, why should the weak not steal with guns?

 

Yes, as my young cousin said, blacks want justice, from other blacks as well. If President Jacob Zuma does not use the lessons of this World Cup — that colour lines can blur, that things can get done — to build momentum for reform, he will have failed. He must put the tenderpreneurs out of business. He must reverse the crumbling of education. Jobs do not lie in digging more stuff out the ground. The knowledge economy is where opportunity resides.

 

Is it class or race? South Africa is not going to rainbow race away, but it can bring blacks out of their miserable shacks and educate them — if its leaders are prepared to lead by example. I say it's more class than race.

 

I was driving the other day with my colleague, Jere Longman, who mentioned that growing up in a small town in Lousiana in the early 1960s, he would see a "whites only" sign outside the launderette and imagine that meant white clothes alone. Almost a century separated the end of slavery from the end of Jim Crow segregation in the United States. Sixteen years have passed since the first free elections here.

 

There are no quick fixes. But I take heart from the African patriotism of my young cousin. I take heart from another 20-something white South African, a young woman who told me: "I am so happy for Ghana and so proud to be an African."

 

That was after Ghana, lone African World Cup survivor, booted the United States out, a victory dedicated by its players to Africa, Nelson Mandela's "proud continent." We all know what Ghana long shipped to America: slaves.

 

It's a pity President Obama couldn't find time to be here in the land where race is text and the way it gets written will affect everyone's future.

 

***************************************

THE INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

RESTRAINT IN KASHMIR

 

In the light of the turmoil in Kashmir, the CPM says that the alienation of the people is expressing itself through mass protests and strikes when there are atrocities committed by the security forces. Given hardline separatist tactics of inciting the youth to confront the police, it calls for maximum restraint and says stone-throwing youth must be tackled without resorting to firing.

 

The lead editorial in CPM weekly mouthpiece People's Democracy says "what stands out in the J&K situation currently is the complete lack of any political initiative by the Central government" and points out that it was time the UPA gets down to the "serious business of providing the political framework for the process of dialogue and the crystallisation of a political settlement within the state of J&K." "The prime minister's visit to Srinagar in the first week of June was remarkable for the lack of any worthwhile political initiative to tackle the basic problems. The round-table talks have gone nowhere. The UPA government seems oblivious of the need to revive the political process whereby issues such as provision of maximum autonomy for the state and regional autonomy for the three regions can be discussed and concretised alongwith the dialogue with Pakistan which is just beginning to resume".

 

Righting the Left

 

As the Left Front government completed 33 years in office, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee made yet another desperate bid to win back the confidence of the people. He gave an interview to party daily Ganashakti confessing that his government had made mistakes and is trying to make amends.

 

After the setback in Lok Sabha election, he says the Left Front has identified areas in the government's planning and action where mistakes have been made. Bhattacharjee identifies land acquisition as one such area. "We have now become more careful. The policies for acquisition of land for industries and rehabilitation must be made more realistic, so that the peasantry and the people in general accept that and participate voluntarily," he says.

 

"We will protect the fertile lands while non fertile lands would be used for industrialisation. In this case too, we have to be much more sincere on compensation and rehabilitation. If the poor people feel ignored in any area of government and panchayat activities, we have to correct those mistakes. We have to be more sincere about the development of minorities," he says. Besides, he says "there have been instances of undesirable activities which have dented the party's image and "we have decided to rectify quickly."

 

Covering tracks

 

The CPI feels the Group of Ministers on the Bhopal tragedy has made an attempt to hoodwink the people. It says the motive behind the swiftness with which the GoM came out with its recommendations was to "cover up certain serious crimes committed by the Congress regime of the early 1980s and the follies of the rulers in the succeeding years."

 

The editorial in CPI mouthpiece New Age says the "GoM did not feel it necessary (either) to remove the apprehensions in the minds of the people that the judicial process, even at the highest level was manipulated to help the American multinational." "By all accounts, it is obvious that Rajiv Gandhi government had deliberated allowed the American culprit to run away from the country. It could not be the decision of either a state chief minister (Arjun Singh) or the then Union home minister (P.V. Narasimha Rao) alone. The then prime minister was very much responsible for the episode," it says criticising the GoM's silence on this aspect. The compensation package announced has also come under criticism since it has not covered all the victims till date, it says noting that the culprits — Union Carbide and its present owner Dow Chemicals — have not been touched at all.

 

Compiled by Manoj C.G

***************************************

THE INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

 

THE GREAT GAME FOLIO

C. RAJA MOHAN

 

Doing the deal US President Barack Obama is neither endorsing nor rejecting the Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani's shuttle diplomacy to Kabul. Asked on the margins of the G-20 summit in Toronto over the weekend about Kayani's efforts to impose Pashtun militant groups on Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Obama was careful in the construction of his response.

 

"I think it's too early to tell. I think we have to view these efforts with scepticism but also with openness". The president added that "conversations between the Afghan government and the Pakistani government, building trust between those two governments, are a useful step."

 

The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Leon Panetta, was a little more sceptical on whether it was possible to cut a deal with any of the militant groups — the Afghan Taliban or the Haqqani network. "We have seen no evidence that they are truly interested in reconciliation... would surrender their arms... denounce al Qaeda... would really try to become part of that society," Panetta said.

 

Unless the militants are "convinced that the United States is going to win and that they're going to be defeated, I think it's very difficult to proceed with a reconciliation that's going to be meaningful," Panetta insisted. The remarks of the US president and his intelligence chief bring us to the central questions of the current American strategy towards Afghanistan. One is that Obama wants to find a "political" solution to what has become the longest military intervention in American history.

 

Two, it is not a question whether Washington wants to negotiate with the Taliban and other militant groups; the issues are about when and how. What is at stake, then, is not high principle, but the timing and terms.

 

The realists in the administration argue that without gaining the military upper hand over the Taliban, Washington can't persuade them to negotiate reasonably. No one is betting right now that the Americans are in sight of a victory in Afghanistan.

 

The other set of issues are about the terms of reconciliation. As Panetta summarised them, the US wants the Taliban to lay down arms, dissociate from al Qaeda, and accept the current Afghan constitution.

 

The Taliban has its own pre-condition. The international forces must withdraw before any serious talks. For the moment, clearly there is no room for a serious negotiation. What then is Kayani upto? To tease Kabul and/or Washington to scale down their demands for reconciliation.

 

July 2011

 

The negotiation of a political deal will be significantly influenced by how other important political actors in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the region and the United States choose to respond. Of all these actors, the US Congress is one of the most important, for it holds the purse-strings for the conduct of the American war in Afghanistan.

 

At the confirmation hearings of Gen David Petraeus as the new military commander of US and international forces in Afghanistan, the full range of Congressional views — from demands for an early withdrawal of American troops to the removal of an artificial deadline for the beginning of US disengagement — will be heard this week.

 

Obama's opponents from the left and the right would want to shred the deliberate ambiguity that the president has constructed around the date of July 2011 that he set for the "beginning" of a political transition in Afghanistan.

 

The last time he was in front of Congressional panels a few days ago, Gen Petraeus had to carefully skirt probing questions on where exactly he stood on the question of July 2011. The general, whose political skills are widely acknowledged, chose to underline the importance of the ground conditions that obtain in the summer of next year. He would want to make sure there is no light between himself and the commander-in-chief on July 2011.

 

Kayani's ambition

 

Since the partition of the subcontinent, the Pakistan army has been consistent in its quest to establish a government in Kabul that is deferential to Rawalpindi. Success has been elusive, except for a brief period during 1997-2001.

 

Sceptics would argue that for all his recent bold moves towards Kabul, Kayani can't control Afghanistan. They would say the Pakistan army and ISI are good at "deconstruction" but not the "construction" of any thing, let alone a stable regime in Kabul.

 

Cynics would simply add that a Pakistani "triumph" in Kabul will be short-lived and will mark the beginning of yet another cycle of conflict where all internal and external actors regroup. Delhi's worriers would want to know the consequences of a Pakistani hegemony in Afghanistan, even if it were short lived. It is this debate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will have to address in defining the Indian response to Kayani's shuttle diplomacy.

 

raja.mohan@expressindia.com

***************************************

******************************************************************************************

THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

POVERTY ON TWO WHEELS

 

As reported yesterday, an exclusive study done for FE by NCAER-CMCR provides really interesting shades to the 400-million strong mass that has been classified as BPL—a Planning Commission estimate of 37.2% of India's total population. This estimate was made for the purposes of the proposed Food Security Act and in accordance with the methodology recommended by the Suresh Tendulkar committee. The study finds that around a fourth of urban BPL households own a two-wheeler, a third own a colour TV and almost two-thirds a pressure cooker. Findings from rural India also throw stereotypes into the waste basket, with every one in ten BPL persons having a two-wheeler, every fifth BPL village kitchen having a pressure cooker and around 6% owning a colour TV. There is also interesting and upbeat news on the education and employment front. Almost one in five urban BPL households has at least one well-educated—graduate or above!—member and over 13% of them are led by a salaried chief wage earner (CWE). Only under a tenth of rural BPL households have an illiterate CWE. While these findings throw established formulas into a spin, others are along expected lines. For instance, BIMARU states account for around 60% of India's BPL population. The bottom-line takeaway from the huge diversity in disparity thrown up by the NCAER-CMCR study is that the government cannot deliver on its development mandate without more nuancing. The upcoming BPL Census 2011 will have to take careful note of such nuances. As for the endgame, the study provides increased impetus for more carefully targeted BPL support, whether it is via food or kerosene or the like.

 

As the Food Security Bill gathers momentum while winding its way through the NAC and the government, these columns have consistently and repeatedly made the case for improving the mechanisms intended for extending entitlements to vulnerable groups. There is no question that an emerging global power has to show substantive commitment for compensating its poor. It is equally imperative that such a commitment should not endanger India's fiscal stability. This means efficiencies are essential. The NCAER-CMCR study gives us food for thought; it demands that we reconsider all the BPL numbers floating around. Without properly nuanced statistics, there cannot be proper targeting. And in the absence of the latter, we will be looking at more wastage, more fake claims and more inappropriate dole-outs. Nobody could be unhappy that a fourth of urban BPL households possess a two-wheeler, but everybody has the right to wonder how much subsidised grains or kerosene these households are getting. India can redefine its BPL standards to include two-wheelers, but then let's at least be upfront about doing this.

 

***************************************

THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

CHANGING ULIPS

 

Insurance regulator Irda's sweeping changes in the structure of Ulips will pave the way for long-term investments in the product. The extension of lock-in period from three to five years, the minimum guarantee of 4.5% returns on pension plans and a 10-times increase in the minimum risk cover will bode well for those retail investors who are looking at an investment avenue with an insurance component linked to it. Buyers will pay lower charges for the same premium they paid earlier and any top up on insurance premiums will be treated as a single premium, which means that every top-up that one makes will have an additional insurance cover backing it as well. For insurance companies, the new regulations will enable them to get more long-term funds, which will be helpful for the stock markets and funding infrastructure projects. Undoubtedly Ulips, which accounted over 40% of the total life insurance policies sold, were marketed very aggressively by distributors because of the high commission they got. More than Rs 2 lakh crore is mobilised annually as premium from Ulips and the tax exemption has been a major driver behind the success of the product. Now, distributors may not find it lucrative enough to sell the product and, going forward, insurance companies will have to spend more money on consumer awareness and make their products pull-driven rather than push-driven, which has been the case so far. Distributors will see some reduction in volume as is the case with any long-term financial products and they will have to come out transparent on what they promise to investors. As we have argued in the past, the recent spat between the Sebi and Irda has brought the entire issue of mis-selling to the forefront and made the latter come out with a notification addressed to companies to spell out to customers the commissions they pay to agents for selling Ulips and the benefits to a policy holder upon maturity.

 

After a spate of changes in regulations, Irda will now have to ensure that they are implemented in the right earnest and protection of consumers' interest must be the overarching goal. Insurance companies must draw up plans to make Ulips a disciplined investment product and commit investors to pay the premium regularly. As the viability of an insurance company depends heavily on the persistence of products, they will have to ensure that the products do not get surrendered or lapse. Insurance companies and Irda will now have to work in tandem to regain investors' confidence and make Ulips a long-term investment product.

 

***************************************

 

THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS

COLUMN

SBI SETS THE NEW BENCHMARK

SHOBHANA SUBRAMANIAN

 

The shift from a benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) to a base rate regime has been kicked off with State Bank of India (SBI) saying its base rate will be 7.5%. Clearly, India's largest lender doesn't want to outprice itself, although it's possible that a couple of the newer private sector banks may price themselves a tad more competitively. They can afford to do that because they're more efficient and are allowed to be so. But SBI doesn't need to worry about them; no big borrower would want to end up in its bad books. And there are ways of compensating big corporates who may feel they're being charged too much. The other public sector banks will almost certainly follow the leader; it's unlikely any one of them will have a rate that's meaningfully lower than that of SBI's, if at all they do decide to undercut the market leader. SBI hasn't really spelt out how it arrived at 7.5% but the number doesn't really seem out of sync with the cost of money today. AAA companies today are able to borrow at around 6.5% or thereabouts. In a rising interest rate scenario, this could go up to about 7% or slightly higher. On the other hand, a one-year term deposit today costs banks barely 6%, although they may be forced to increase this by at least 50 basis points or more if the demand for credit picks up. Already, the pace at which deposits have been growing has slowed over the past few months.

 

To be sure, the base rate may be just an indicative reference rate because obviously banks will add a spread, depending on the quality of the customer, to arrive at the final lending rate. However, it is an important rate because no bank can lend below the base rate, except to some small-ticket borrowers, bank employees and those who borrow against deposits. It's a floor that cannot be breached and therefore, has some sanctity.

 

For sure, more creditworthy companies aren't about to see their interest costs shooting up; they will shop for credit and it's possible that a couple of private sector banks will be more than willing to lend to them at less than 7.5%. Else, they will pick up some part of their requirement through short-term instruments like commercial paper, as the base rate does not apply to that mode of lending. Indeed, short-term bonds could proliferate. Why shouldn't banks lend to large companies at fine rates? After all, they aren't just focusing on plain vanilla credit when they deal with big companies; they're also pencilling in fees from other services they could offer. As for small companies, if it's true that they were being overcharged without being given an explanation, they will at least know on what basis they are being charged a certain rate. At the end of the day, it would be unjustified for SMEs to expect that they can borrow at anything less than what their risk profile commands.

 

Will the new system ensure that interest rates are transmitted more efficiently across the system, or in other words, will banks quickly heed the signals sent out by the central bank? In the past, the central bank hasn't always been able to get banks to change rates in line with the levels signalled by them. It's hard to tell how things will work this time around but the new system may be more effective since there is a floor in place. In a competitive environment, however, it's only natural that banks would tweak their rates, either for loans or deposits, depending on their individual business economics and strategies. Ultimately, they will look out for their bottom lines of course, making sure that they don't damage their balance sheets.

 

It's true that the BPLR method didn't work and that banks were lending below it. But in all fairness, even after the downturn in the Indian economy, which started in late 2008, the level of non-performing assets in the system didn't really endanger any bank, though it is a fact that a large amount of loans have been restructured. If at all, it was the huge quantum of retail lending, without proper assessment of the credit risks involved, that resulted in huge non-performing assets for a couple of banks. The rate at which the loans were given had less to do with the defaults. Banks may believe that the base rate leaves them with less flexibility, although they have a window of six months to adjust, but since the central bank itself has suggested that the base rate be reviewed at least once in a quarter, it would imply that it wants banks to make changes if necessary. In a competitive market, banks will be compelled to keep costs in check and get cracking on their processes so that customers get their money fast. Otherwise they won't be left with too many good ones.

 

—shobhana.subramanian@expressindia.com

 

***************************************

THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS

COLUMN

HOW ASIA CAN GET AHEAD

KALPANA KOCHHAR

 

Much has been written about the continuing shift in the balance of global economic power towards Asia. The focus has been on the spectacular rise of China and India, and how and when they will overtake the US as the largest global economic powers. But the implications of the ascent of Asia for global economic policy making have been relatively unexplored. Asia's growth story is impressive and is expected to remain so. Asia now accounts for about 27% of world GDP at market exchange rates. In terms of contributions to global growth, the record is even more impressive—Asia contributes close to 50% towards global growth compared to 25% just a decade ago. China has surpassed the level of output achieved by Japan, Korea and the Asean countries when they were at a similar stage in their growth takeoffs. China's population and urbanisation is likely to sustain rapid growth. In India's case, the potential for growth to continue is significant, with the favourable demographic trends (expected to result in labour force growth for at least two decades), urbanisation and investment prospects.

 

Fast forward to 20 years from now and the numbers are truly staggering. By 2030, Asian economies will account for more than 40% of global GDP. They will be larger than the US and EU combined, and larger even than all the G-7 economies put together. Asian economies will be about half the size of the entire G-20.

 

Mirroring their growing economic muscle is Asia's growing heft in global financial markets. From around 30% today, Asian equity markets could reach almost half of world's total market capitalisation by 2030. The global corporate landscape already includes more and more Asian companies, and this will only continue in the future.

 

The sources of future Asian growth, however, will need to be different from the past. Thus far, Asia's growth has been heavily based on exports, primarily to advanced economies in the West. But with those countries likely to continue to see sluggish growth as they recover from the effects of the global economic and financial crisis, exports will not be the engine of growth. Domestic demand in Asia will have to play a stronger role in sustaining growth and therefore the priority is to resolutely implement policies to generate growth from domestic sources. Even as Asia's reliance on domestic demand grows, the region will continue to be increasingly integrated in the global economy. The emerging shift in economic power will involve a continuation of the process of real and financial integration—indeed, in the multipolar world, more linkages will develop across the world, not fewer.

 

The key implication for policy making is that a multilateral approach to policy will remain essential. What does this mean? It means that we will need to do more of three things: 1) analyse shocks and spillovers coming from different economic centres, 2) internalise the consequences that a country's policies will have on other countries and 3) devise mechanisms to cope with global and regional shocks and their spillover effects. All this requires abandoning country silos and embracing a multilateral perspective, a challenge for policymakers and international institutions alike.

 

The IMF and other international institutions and fora will have to play a key role in helping countries analyse, internalise and devise coping mechanisms in a highly integrated world. At the IMF, we are adapting to these new challenges. We are placing greater emphasis on multilateral surveillance, looking at cross-border linkages and spillover effects, especially in our publications. Vulnerability assessments, which help identify the sources and impacts of tail events, have been expanded to include advanced countries and financial surveillance enriched by new tools. The importance of internalising implications of policies has pushed countries during the recent crisis to coordinate their policies more closely—the fiscal stimulus is an example. The G-20 MAP exercise is another avenue to encourage countries to internalise the implications of their policies for others. These initiatives are all work in progress, but will be important contributors to the success of the global economy going forward. Even with better analysis of spillovers and better policy coordination, countries will still suffer periods of difficulty. Hence, the need to devise mechanisms that can help countries cope with these situations. The IMF's new Flexible Credit Line is an example of a mechanism that can help countries limit the spreads of contagion.

 

Asia's ascent is inexorable and so is its integration among economies in this new multipolar world. The world needs Asian leadership to sustain growth and to develop mechanisms to analyse, internalise and devise ways of coping with the inevitable difficulties the global economy will encounter in the future.

 

—The author is the deputy director of the Asia and Pacific Department of the IMF. This article is coauthoured with Laura Papi, division chief in the same department. Views are personal

 

***************************************

 

 

THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS

COLUMN

GENDER BPOS

GOUTAM DAS

 

Give a rural, uneducated man Rs 5,000 and chances are that he'll spend it on alcohol and tobacco. A woman, on the other hand, is more likely to use the same money for her family's nutrition and education. At least that's what the current generation of 'social entrepreneurs' who are setting up BPOs in remote parts of India seem to think. Rural BPOs, as they are called, are hiring women in large numbers and that could have a big say in the social upliftment of rural areas as a whole. Still in their early trial and error days, rural BPOs have the potential to work for everybody—the client, who gets substantial reduction in price; the BPO firm, which has to deal with much less attrition and lower cost of operations; and the employee, who is paid a decent salary that allows higher savings compared to peers in cities as a consequence of spending less on travel and lodging.

 

However, it is surprising that rural BPOs have been able to hire so many women—working if you are unmarried is a social taboo in rural areas. Still, some enterprises ensure they hire only women, in others women account for more than a quarter of employees.

 

Thus, rural BPOs have successfully created a positive working environment. The number of women employees indicates that families see value in such centres. A healthy dose of supplementary income and a steep learning curve are attractive incentives. Most first-time employees who come to rural BPOs are not computer literate and are provided free training. Early results from these centres suggest that after training, the women are able to execute work like data entry, handle health care and insurance processing, as well as other non-voice processes such as scanning and indexing.

 

Working in such set-ups adds to a woman's sense of pride. CEOs believe that working in a new economy industry will help women become role models.

 

—goutam.das@expressindia.com

 

***************************************

******************************************************************************************

THE HINDU

EDITORIAL

BRINKMANSHIP POLITICS

 

Over the past fortnight, the Janata Dal(United) and the Bharatiya Janata Party have practised a form of brinkmanship politics that is not unusual when partners have to go to elections with separate agendas. The latest in the long-winding saga is a possible rapprochement between the sniping allies. Though ideologically incompatible, the JD(U) and the BJP have proved to be a great political fit, with the JD(U)'s OBC base perfectly complementing the BJP's forward caste core vote. Yet politics is not business where tremendous care is taken to preserve a successful model. Like so many of the BJP's other past and present partners, the JD(U) has the self-image of a secular-liberal party practising an inclusive agenda. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is ambitious, image-conscious, and would like nothing more than to be able to win the upcoming Assembly election on his own terms. Naveen Patnaik in Orissa went through the same tensions with the BJP until, on the eve of the 2009 general election, he boldly threw off the Hindutva albatross, striking pay dirt with the gamble. Mr. Patnaik's was a swift, surgical operation that carried conviction with the voters. Unfortunately, Mr. Kumar has played the on-again, off-again game far too long for the electorate not to spot the opportunism in it. There was much talk of a JD(U)-BJP split around the time of the Biju Janata Dal-BJP break-up. Mr. Kumar volleyed and thundered but, as always, withdrew from the brink, going on to pose with none other than Narendra Modi at an election rally in Ludhiana.

 

It is no small irony that today the same photograph — used as advertisement by the BJP — has caused a fresh rift between the partners. Mr. Kumar is justified in taking the BJP to task for the advertisement, which the party appears to have released without the Chief Minister's express consent. Yet even he cannot deny that in 2009 he shared a political platform with Mr. Modi, and seemed none too concerned when the photograph in question appeared in print. Further, Mr. Kumar was a Cabinet Minister at the Centre at the time of the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat. If the Bihar Chief Minister is serious about his secular credentials, he ought to go beyond grandstanding. Gestures such as returning the Gujarat government's Rs.5 crore flood relief assistance can backfire, more so should the JD(U) and the BJP jointly fight the election. For its part, the BJP ought to reflect seriously on its inability to retain allies, the latest instance of this being the unedifying drama played out in Jharkhand. Insider Jawant Singh might have beenfloored by Nitin Gadkari's charm offensive, but external allies willwant verifiable proof that the party has disinvested from its divisive agenda.

 

***************************************

THE HINDU

EDITORIAL

AUSTRALIA'S CHANGE OF GUARD

 

Politics has seen some fast moves but the one that unfolded in Australia last week had to be among the fastest. In less than 24 hours, Kevin Rudd, the hero of Labour party's comeback in the 2007 election and once the most popular Australian Prime Minister, saw the premiership slip from his hands into that of his deputy, Julia Gillard. The revolt within Labour was triggered by the rapidly falling popularity of Mr. Rudd and his government in opinion polls conducted in May. This happened after he deferred a vote on an important scheme to tackle climate change that was promised by Labour during the election campaign. The Emissions Trading Scheme was an initiative to reduce Australia's carbon emissions. But without adequate support for it in the powerful Senate, where Labour does not enjoy a majority, Mr. Rudd had to announce that the government would take a decision on how to proceed on it after a couple of years. It was amid the discontent over this issue that the government slapped a new tax on mining profits. In the face of a high-voltage campaign against the tax by the big mining companies and their shareholders, a beleaguered Mr. Rudd could not convincingly defend the idea that profits from a national resource must be shared nationally. With the government's ratings crashing in every opinion poll, and national elections due next year, a nervous Labour decided swiftly to jettison its leader in favour of Ms Gillard. In the end, Mr. Rudd's two big achievements — ratifying the Kyoto protocol, and a formal apology to the aboriginal people of Australia — were of little help in a high-stakes political battle.

 

The new Prime Minister, the first woman to make it to that office in Australia, faces the task of correcting the course of "a good government [that] was losing its way" and recouping lost ground for Labour. Ms Gillard, who entered parliament first in 1998, is known to be a pragmatic politician. One of her first actions in office was to reach out to the mining companies for negotiations to arrive at a compromise on the tax. She has also promised a review of the government's stand on carbon-trading. With immigration a major issue of concern to Australian voters, Ms Gillard has signalled a break from the Rudd vision of a "big Australia" and her preference instead for a "sustainable Australia." It could end up giving Labour a Right-ish look but her party is unlikely to complain if it can win them the next election.

 

***************************************

 

THE HINDU

LEADER PAGE ARTICLE

MERCY PETITIONS: INHUMANE PROCRASTINATION

THE COURTS OF CIVILISED STATES HAVE RECOGNISED AND ACKNOWLEDGED THAT A PROLONGED DELAY IN EXECUTING A SENTENCE OF DEATH CAN MAKE THE PUNISHMENT WHEN IT COMES INHUMAN AND DEGRADING.

T.R. ANDHYARUJINA

 

Afzal Guru, convicted for his role in the 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament, has been on death row for nearly five years, after his appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court on August 5, 2005. His execution, due on October 20, 2006, was stayed by the government because a clemency petition was filed by his family to the President. A decision on the clemency petition has not been taken till today. In the meantime, Afzal Guru suffers in solitary isolation, not knowing whether he will be executed or not. The agony of his family must not be any less.

 

On September 30, 2009 Home Minister P. Chidambaram said 28 mercy petitions, including that of Afzal Guru, were pending with the President and with the Government of India. He said he would have a fresh look at them and each case would, on average, take three to four weeks. The first case would be the one from Tamil Nadu, which has been pending with the President for 11 years — since April 1988. On this schedule, it was estimated that the government would take two years to decide on Afzal Guru's petition. But suddenly after Ajmal Kasab — the lone surviving terrorist in the Mumbai 26/11 attack — was sentenced to death in May this year, Afzal Guru's case has been taken up out of turn for immediate action. We are now informed that the Home Ministry has forwarded his petition to the President.

 

The courts of civilised states have recognised and acknowledged that a prolonged delay in executing a death sentence can make the punishment, when it comes, inhuman and degrading. The trauma and physical stress coupled with solitary confinement of a convict known as the "death-row phenomenon" is itself a cruel punishment. The prolonged anguish of alternating between hope and despair, the agony of uncertainty, the consequences of such suffering on the mental, emotional and physical integrity and health of not only the convict but also his family should not be allowed in civilised societies.

 

It is a misnomer to describe the petitions made to the President and Governors under Articles 72 and 161 of the Constitution by convicted persons as mercy petitions. The Constitution confers a right on such convicts and a duty on the Presidents and Governors (in reality the respective government) to duly consider the petitions and take action on them expeditiously. Properly exercised, this power of clemency has in several cases in the U.K. set aside miscarriage of justice even by the highest court. But this power has never been exercised properly in a timely and humane manner in India.

 

Keeping such petitions pending for an inordinately long period, the government seems to be totally ignorant of its obligations in law and of the human aspect of the suffering of persons on death row. It treats them as if they are standing in a queue for rations.

 

Of all the cases awaiting execution, Afzal Guru's is the most poignant one as he has been made a political pawn, with the BJP unseemingly demanding his immediate execution and making it an issue in the last general election, while the government thinks it is equally expedient to delay it for political considerations but giving unconvincing grounds such as saying his file was not returned by the Delhi government for four years. It is now revealed by the Delhi Chief Minister that the previous Home Minister deliberately instructed the government not to act promptly on Afzal Guru's file.

 

Afzal's mental agony can be seen from his pathetic statement made in June last year. He said: "I really wish L.K. Advani becomes the next Prime Minister as he is the only one who can take a decision and hang me. At least my pain and daily suffering will ease then." On the UPA government's ambivalent attitude, he said: "I don't think the UPA government can reach a decision. The Congress party has two mouths and is playing a double game." Whatever his crime, surely Afzal does not deserve this predicament.

 

In 1993, in a case of delay in the execution of two convicts in Jamaica and Trinidad, the Privy Council said, "There is an instinctive revulsion against the prospect of hanging a man after he had been under sentence of death for many years. What gives rise to this revulsion? The answer can only be our humanity. We regard it as inhuman to keep a man facing the agony of execution for a long extended period of time. To execute these men now after holding them in custody in agony of suspense for so many years would be inhuman punishment."

 

In 1983, the Supreme Court observed in the Sher Singh case: "We must take this opportunity to impress upon the Government of India and the State governments that petitions filed under Articles 72 and 161 of the Constitution or under Sections 432 and 433 of the Criminal Procedure Code must be disposed of expeditiously. A self-imposed rule should be followed by the executive authorities rigorously, that every such petition shall be disposed of within a period of three months from the date on which it is received." The government has ignored this advice as is evident from the number of prisoners on death row.

 

In its latest pronouncement on September 18, 2009 in the case of Jagdish vs. State of Madhya Pradesh, the court in a strongly expressed judgment noted the cruelty and torture of a prisoner on death row caused by the inordinate delay in deciding his petition. The court cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision which observed "The cruelty of capital punishment lies not only in the execution itself and the pain incident thereto, but also in the dehumanising effects of the lengthy imprisonment prior to execution. The prospect of pending execution exacts a frightful toll during the inevitable long wait between the imposition of the sentence and the actual infliction of death."

 

The Supreme Court's observations require to be stated at length to remind the Government of India of its failure in clemency petitions.

 

The court stated:

 

"We, as Judges, remain largely unaware as to the reasons that ultimately bear with the Government in taking a decision either in favour of the prisoner or against him but whatever the decision, it should be on sound legal principles related to the facts of the case. We must, however, say with the greatest emphasis that human beings are not chattels and should not be used as pawns in furthering some larger political or government policy."

 

It further observed: "Equally, consider the plight of the family of such a prisoner, his parents, wife and children, brothers and sisters, who too remain static and in a state of limbo and are unable to get on with life on account of the uncertain fate of a loved one. What may be asked is the fault of these hapless individuals and should they be treated in such a shabby manner."

 

Continuing, the court stated: "The observations reproduced above become extremely relevant as of today on account of the pendency of twenty-six mercy petitions before the President of India, in some case, where the courts had awarded the death sentences more than a decade ago. We, too, take this opportunity to remind the Governments concerned of their obligations under the aforementioned statutory and constitutional provisions."

 

After the powerful indictment by the Supreme Court of the inhumane practice of the Government of India in keeping mercy petitions pending for inordinate lengths of time, the President and the Government of India are obliged to commute the death sentences imposed on prisoners. This is particularly so in the case of Afzal Guru, who has been made a political pawn. To do this is not only to act legally but to act humanely which is surely expected of the President and the Government of India.

 

(The writer is a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court and former Solicitor-General of India.)

 

***************************************

THE HINDU

NEWS ANALYSIS

MIGRATION IN PROGRESS: FROM PRINT TO THE WEB

THE ONLINE AD BUSINESS, EXCLUDING MOBILE ADS, IS SET TO EXPAND TO $34.4 BILLION IN 2014 FROM $24.2 BILLION IN 2009. NEWSPAPERS CONTINUE TO SUFFER FROM A DECLINE IN ADVERTISING REVENUE.

PRANAY GUPTE

 

1. A prominent example of a print paper opting to transform itself entirely into a Web publication is the venerable Christian Science Monitor
2. With the galloping fortunes of high-technology driven portable gadgets, media organisations see the advantage of pushing content through telephony

 

I was dining with John Seeley in the Grill Room of The Four Seasons Restaurant, the one place in New York where the city's elite habitually congregate for their "power lunch" five days a week. Mr. Seeley, like others in the wood-panelled, Philip Johnson-designed room, is a player — which is to say that, as founding editor of The Wall Street Journal's new "Greater New York" daily supplement, he's someone whose presence is immediately noticed and whose attention is sought, even by other influential figures in a power obsessed metropolis like New York.

 

Mr. Seeley, a trim, bespectacled man in his early 40's, wears his power lightly; he's an old friend, and one of the finest editors I've worked with. He takes his work very seriously, not the least because his new section is competing head-on with The New York Times' formidable local report, both in print and on the Web.

 

One of the topics we discussed was the decline of print publications and the question of whether major newspapers should put up a "pay wall" for the content they offered on the Web. The proprietor of Mr. Seeley's paper, Rupert Murdoch, is an enthusiast of the pay-for-content concept; The New York Times has announced that it will start charging visitors to its popular Web site for much of its content.

 

This topic may not have dominated conversation at every table of The Four Seasons Restaurant. But it would be safe to assume that it was lodged in the minds of the media tycoons there. On this day, the restaurant's other diners included a variety of top media figures, including Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, and host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS; he was lunching with Henry Kissinger, the former U.S. Secretary of State, who privately advises media companies. ( Newsweek has put itself up for sale, and the prospects of a financially viable future seem grim.)

 

Mortimer Zuckerman, publisher of The New York Daily News was there, too; his paper's print circulation has been steadily declining, as is that of its Murdoch-owned tabloid rival, The New York Post. In another corner, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin was eating with Vernon Jordan, arguably the closest friend of former President Bill Clinton, and a former member of the board of Dow Jones, which publishes The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Rubin is co-chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, a prestigious think tank whose Web publications have been winning awards as well as more and more visitors. Still another diner was a top executive of Condé Nast, which recently shut down the bible of the food industry, the monthly magazine Gourmet, and is reviving it as a Web offering.

 

Upturned in the U.S.

 

"Print versus Web" is a topic that has upturned the media industry in the United States, and in many other countries, resulting in significant job losses for print journalists. In 2007, there were 6,580 daily newspaper around the world, including nearly 1,500 in the U.S.; by mid 2010, the overall figure is down by 500, while newspaper revenues have declined by a fifth on account of an advertising fall precipitated by the global recession, as well as a migration of many advertisers to the Web.

 

A prominent example of a print paper opting to transform itself entirely into a Web publication is the venerable Christian Science Monitor, the Boston-based newspaper that was founded in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy. It shut down its daily print edition on March 27, 2009, citing losses of $18.9 million per year versus $12.5 million in annual revenue. It now offers content online on its Web site and via e-mail. John Yemma, the paper's editor, says that the move to go digital was made because the management recognised that the Christian Science Monitor's reach would be greater online than in print. He says that in the next five years the Monitor will aim to increase its online readership to 25 million page-views, from the current figure of five million.

 

In the United Arab Emirates, the daily business daily, Emirates 24/7 — which is owned by the Dubai Government company, DMI — announced a few days ago that it, too, would terminate its print edition. Like the Christian Science Monitor, Emirates 24/7 will be published daily solely as a Web newspaper.

 

While newspapers generally are suffering from a decline in advertising and subscription revenues, rising newsprint costs simultaneously besets them. U.S. East Coast prices — the barometer of global rates for newsprint — rose to nearly $600 a tonne in January 2010, compared to $464 in August 2009. Moreover, new contracts concluded after March 2010 include an additional $50 a tonne. (Indian publishers for whom newsprint constitutes the single largest cost element — accounting for 40 to 60 per cent of total cost, are bracing themselves for this rise, even though newsprint is current exempt from customs duty; publishers import 50 per cent of the 1.8 million tonnes of newsprint used annually.)

 

Here's another set of statistics that should be sobering for the print industry: The online ad business, excluding mobile ads, is set to expand to $34.4 billion in 2014 from $24.2 billion in 2009, according to a report released last week by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The same report says that newspapers continue to suffer from a decline in advertising revenue. According to the Newspaper Association of America, print advertising revenue dropped 28.6 per cent in 2009 to $24.82 billion. The PricewaterhouseCoopers report estimates that print advertising in newspapers will drop to $22.3 billion by 2014. It also estimates that mobile advertising in North America will quadruple from $414 million in 2009 to $1.6 billion in 2014.

 

With the galloping fortunes of high-technology driven portable gadgets such as Apple's iPad and the new iPhone4, media organisations clearly see the advantage of pushing content through telephony. This doesn't augur well for the print industry, although, of course, its decline may not suggest imminent demise.

 

Still, as The Wall Street Journal's John Seeley told me, smart media organisations are revving up their digital technology. "You need to be where the readers are," he said. The Journal is in the comfortable position of having a daily print circulation of 2.09 million, compared to 952,000 for The New York Times. Neither paper is taking its relatively high print circulation for granted — both are spending fresh sums of money on boosting print circulation through ads and provocative marketing. But both are also accelerating their Web operations.

 

(Pranay Gupte is a veteran international journalist and author. His next book is on India and the Middle East.)

 

***************************************

 

THE HINDU

NEWS ANALYSIS

GIVE CASH TO THE POOR TO SOLVE WORLD POVERTY

THERE'S A REVOLUTION IN AID AFOOT: IT'S ALL ABOUT GIVING MONEY STRAIGHT TO THE POOR, AND IT STARTED WITH BRUCE LEE.

ADITYA CHAKRABORTTY

 

The most exciting new idea for tackling poverty and feeding billions around the world has got nothing to do with hydroelectric dams or back-slapping summitry. Instead, this one begins with a story about kung-fu movies.

 

In the mid-90s, Claire Melamed was working in a village in the far north of Mozambique. Nacuca had no electricity, nor running water, and precious few distractions. As the development economist recalls: "Villagers would ask, 'We have to live here, but how come you've chosen to stay?'" Then one day visitors came, bearing entertainment.

 

They were former soldiers from Mozambique's long civil war and, like the other 90,000 or so demobbed men, they were getting $15 a month from donors, along with some funding to start businesses. This lot had pooled the hand—outs to buy a TV, a video recorder and a generator.

 

Oh, and a few old Bruce Lee tapes.

 

The former soldiers toured villages across Mozambique showing copies of Enter the Dragon and Fist of Fury for cash or, failing that, maize and cassava. And they went down a storm in the remote rural yawn of Nacuca, staying for days and playing the same films over and over.

 

New idea in aid

 

What Melamed saw in Mozambique was one of the first major exercises in what is now among the most talked—about new ideas in aid, called cash transfers — or, as a new book title puts it, "Just give money to the poor", as those donors did to the former soldiers. The authors, Joseph Hanlon, Armando Barrientos and David Hulme, count 45 countries that hand cash to more than 110 million families. In Brazil, poor families can collect money from lottery shops. Pickup trucks drive across Namibia, bearing safes with cash machines welded on the front, used by old ladies to take out their monthly pensions.

 

It sounds forehead-smackingly obvious: isn't giving cash to the poor what we do every time we shovel change into an envelope, or pledge a donation to a fundraising telethon? But when that money — whether from individuals or governments or big international institutions like the World Bank — gets to Africa or Asia, it's typically turned into new roads, schools, even community radio stations. The idea is to give poor people the infrastructure and training they need to lift themselves out of destitution.

 

Or perhaps I should say that was the idea. Looking back over the last few years, we see in retrospect a brief golden period for aid. It was marked in Britain by turning Clare Short into the new secretary of state for international development, and defined internationally by the 2005 pledge at Gleneagles of the G8 richest countries to give more money to Africa. And it appears to be drawing to a close. Academics and writers such as Bill Easterly and Dambisa Moyo now gain plaudits for books with titles such as Dead Aid. Recession—hit politicians at events such as last weekend's G20 summit in Toronto avoid even mentioning the Gleneagles promises. And when official money is handed over, it often ends up on the most useless projects. In 2008, Berlin spent half a million dollars on what it called a "basic nutrition project" but which turned out to be a scheme to reduce unpleasant smells from food—processing factories in China and (naturally enough) Germany. That would be called a joke, if it was only remotely funny.

 

Against all that, the idea of just handing over a hefty chunk of the world's $100bn aid money directly to the 1.4 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day is pretty attractive. Less funny business from donors, and far less waste. And what makes this most remarkable of all is that while the rich countries squabble over how much money to give and in what form, this initiative has sprung largely from the poor nations — usually under pressure from some of their poorest people.

 

This is the world of aid turned upside down. A couple of years ago, Oxfam tried the idea out in a few villages in Vietnam. Charity workers gave the equivalent of three years' wages in one go to more than 400 families. When they returned they found that poverty had dropped through the floor, with most of the money spent sensibly on food or fertilisers, seeds and cows. But older people had put some cash towards coffins, explaining that funerals were a major expense. And one group had built a communal house, to practise yoga.

 

It takes a village to raise a child, Hillary Clinton once wrote; on this showing, it takes just a few million Vietnamese dong to raise a village into a bijou Notting Hill.

 

Findings such as these have led the author Joe Hanlon to call for most of the Gleneagles millions to be shovelled into poor people's pockets. That's going too far: individual donations cannot replace schools or hospitals. It may be that giving cash works best when there are amenities and opportunities — and people who can use both.

 

As Richard Dowden at the Royal African Society points out: "Village communities are often tightly controlled by elders, chiefs and kings. Just handing over dollars to a rural community — even to the supposedly poorest people — risks reinforcing that hierarchy." But, qualifications aside, the concept is only going to get more popular. Indeed, New York recently tried the idea with its poor citizens, handing over money if they successfully sent their kids to school.

 

Cash transfers may first have been made in a poor country, but the idea travels well. A bit like those Bruce Lee films. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010

 

***************************************

THE HINDU

TORY CUTS LEAVE BRITONS SEETHING

SLASH-AND-BURN INSTINCTS TO THE FORE.

HASAN SUROOR

 

Nothing riles the so-called Tory "modernisers " — that is, Prime Minister David Cameron and his Notting Hill set — more than the taunt that behind the shining new mask they are the "same old Tories." But the more they protest the more their actions suggest that they are protesting too much. It is barely six weeks since they came to power and, already, their old Tory instincts are on the rampage?

 

The swingeing Thatcher-style cuts to public spending proposed in their first interim budget (the biggest package of cuts and taxes in a generation) was pure old Tory stuff reflecting their deep-seated ideological aversion to the welfare state.

 

The £60-billion cuts which, according to independent experts, will hit the poorest the hardest and could tip the economy back into recession came wrapped up in the flimsiest of fig leaves — namely the claim that they were "unavoidable'' in order to bring down the "crippling" budget deficit which, if allowed to balloon, would wreck the economy.

 

Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz rubbished the claim pointing out that, on the contrary, nothing could be worse than cutting back on spending just when the economy is starting to recover. The reasons for the cutbacks, he suggested, were purely ideological.

 

Indeed, the Tories fought the election campaign on an anti-state platform vowing to dismantle it by handing over more and more functions to the private and voluntary sectors in the name of promoting individual enterprise or what they grandly called the Big Society to replace the Big State created by their Labour predecessors. And they got down to it within days of moving into Downing Street.

 

The Liberal Democrats, their junior partners in the ruling coalition, are clearly embarrassed at having to back the Tory agenda that they had so fiercely opposed during the election campaign. Not surprisingly they are being accused of ``selling out'' to the Tories in exchange for a few plum jobs in the cabinet and deputy prime ministership for their leader Nick Clegg.

 

Many Lib Dems are seething with anger and the party is said to be losing support on the ground with some 48 per cent of those who voted for it at the last election saying they may not vote for it again. Nor are its Tory partners being exactly helpful. Apparently, Lib Dems have become a favourite target of jokes in Tory circles with some openly (and gleefully) saying how the Lib Dems are being used to give legitimacy to a Thatcherite agenda. One senior Tory is reported as saying that they are "like prisoners of war being made to read out our agenda."

 

But forget Lib Dems and their unease over Tory policies. There are fears of a public backlash as the deep spending cuts start to bite. A summer of discontent is said to be looming with trade unions flexing their muscles over threatened job losses and wage freeze reviving memories of the mayhem caused by Margaret Thatcher's slash-and-burn policies in 1980s. What we are seeing is a replay of the same old Tory tactics under a new — and more slick — management.

 

Similarities don't end here. For, it seems, Mr. Cameron's Tories are as blasé about the impact of their policies as were their Thatcher predecessors. In 1981 (sorry to keep harping on the 1980s but that was the period of Tory high noon), as unemployment rose Norman Tebbit , the Tory grandee who became famous for prescribing the cricket loyalty test for Asian migrants, memorably advised the unemployed to stop being lazy and to "get on your bike" to look for work.

 

Thirty years on, another senior Tory has the same advice for millions of people facing unemployment: get a move on, stupid. If there are no jobs in your area, get out and try and find work somewhere else even if it means moving hundreds of miles away.

 

The Work and Pensions Secretary Ian Duncan Smtih, who represents the same constituency that Mr. Tebbit once did, says that people should not sit around and moan if they don't find jobs locally. Instead, they should be willing to uproot their families and move to areas where they might find jobs. Or as Mr Tebbit barked: "Get on your bike mate."

 

The same old Tories? No?

 

And, here's another echo from the Thatcherite 1980s. Remember Enoch Powell, another claw-and-tooth Tory with a visceral dislike of immigrants? He warned that if the influx of foreigners was not checked it could cause "rivers of blood" to flow across Britain.

 

Well, his ghost is still stalking the Tory HQ judging from the party's continuing obsession with immigration. Clamping down on immigration was the Tories' headline campaign plank and, despite resistance from Lib Dems, one of Mr. Cameron's first acts has been to make good on that promise by announcing an annual cap on the number of people coming into Britain from outside the European Union.

 

Indeed, the Tories were in such a hurry to push it through that they have effectively brought forward the original time-line according to which a cap would have come into force only next April. Instead, they have gone ahead and imposed a temporary cap that would care of the nine-months until then. The argument is that it is intended to prevent a last-minute rush ahead of the April deadline but, in truth, it is the Enoch Powell strain of Toryism in operation.

 

Ah, the same old Tories.

***************************************

 

THE HINDU

THREE FIRMS RANK HIGHEST ON ACCESS TO POOR

DONALD G. MCNEIL JR

 

GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and Novartis have taken the top three spots again on the Access to Medicine Index, which ranks pharmaceutical companies on how readily they make their products available to the world's poor. It was the second time the rankings, which were created in 2008, have been issued. This time, 95 per cent of the brand-name companies approached by the Dutch foundation that started the index agreed to provide information; two years ago, only about half did.

 

European companies slightly edged U.S. companies in the rankings, while the four Japanese companies ranked were at or near the bottom.

 

The companies are graded on many factors, including whether they offer lower prices or donate drugs in poor countries, whether they license generic versions of their products or fight to prevent them, whether they donate expertise or money to struggling health systems and whether they do research on neglected diseases.

 

Gilead Sciences and Pfizer rose several ranks from 2008.

 

Those falling in rank were Novo Nordisk, Bayer, Bristol-Meyers Squibb and Merck KGaA (a German company no longer connected to the Merck based in New Jersey).

 

The index, which is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Dutch and British governments, Oxfam and other donors, also issued detailed "report cards" on 20 companies.

 

For the first time, generic drugmakers were ranked separately. Three Indian companies, Ranbaxy Laboratories, Cipla and Dr. Reddy's, took the top three spots. — New York Times News Service

 

***************************************

 

******************************************************************************************

THE ASIAN AGE

EDITORIAL

WHO'LL SAVE INDIA FROM THIS PLUNDER?

 

Karnataka's BJP-led B.S. Yeddyurappa government, under siege following the resignation of Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, has transferred yet another forest official, Ankola's assistant conservator Narendra Hittalamakki, who was investigating the disappearance of five lakh tonnes of iron ore worth $50 million from Belekeri port in Karnataka, impounded en route from Bellary, the state's mining belt. The state government had earlier sought to suspend deputy conservator of forests R. Gokul, who was supervising investigations into the disappearance of the illegal iron ore from Belekeri port.

The speed with which key officials tasked with the investigation are being transferred could be the handiwork of powerful elements within the Karnataka government seeking to shield a powerful mining lobby plundering a key resource that belongs to the state and the nation. This is particularly shameful given the Supreme Court's recent ruling on the matter. While Justice Hegde had trained his guns on the Bellary-based Reddy brothers, ministers in the Yeddyurappa government who enjoy the patronage of senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, there is, as yet, no proof of their involvement. Indeed, the mine barons of Bellary are drawn from every political persuasion. But of this there can be no question — nowhere in the world is a country's natural resource given away as freely as in India.

The issue of illegal iron ore mining in Karnataka has been simmering for nearly a year. Justice Hegde had submitted a 2,000-page report last year detailing the extent of the illegal mining, and the matter is being pursued by a host of Central agencies, including the CBI, DRI, Survey of India, Bureau of Mines, the customs department and the environment and forests ministry. All eyes are now on the Election Commission, which has asked the Karnataka government why it dropped charges against the Reddy brothers and to examine if they should be disqualified as ministers as their involvement in the mining business is a case of conflict of interest. That deal was reached when the Yeddyurappa government agreed to look the other way in a bid to buy peace when the Reddys mounted their November putsch.

With this increased public scrutiny, can the state continue to look the other way? Illegal mining is a hugely lucrative business. The global price of iron ore has gone up from $18 a tonne to around $100-130 a tonne. One can imagine the size of the loot of five lakh tonnes of iron ore that is smuggled out. This is where the clout of the mining lobby comes from. Karnataka is the biggest exporter of iron ore in India — 35 million tonnes a year, which goes primarily to China and Japan. Goa comes second: ironically, in that state, where the BJP is in Opposition, its leader is accusing the Congress of benefiting from the 100 new licences given for mining manganese and iron ore, in addition to the 110 mining leases already in existence. It has been alleged that a particular state minister has cornered six of these licences.

Several politicians and public figures across the country, including Union home minister P. Chidambaram, have called on Justice Hegde to withdraw his resignation and continue his campaign for good governance in Karnataka. While the Yeddyurappa government would like the issue to simply fade away, that is now easier said than done. The state government shifting an investigating officer even after the furore over Justice Hegde's resignation does not augur well for the state or the country. It is a pointer to the triumph of corruption and the plunder of national resources.

 

***************************************

THE ASIAN AGE

OPINION

IN NOWHERE LAND

P.C. ALEXANDER

 

When the Congress Party lost its position as the dominant national party in the 1989 elections, many people believed that this role would be inherited by the Janata Dal coalition under the leadership of V.P. Singh. However, it proved to be much more unstable than the government under Morarji Desai and very soon the country witnessed the rise of a number of regional (state) parties sporting the name "Janata Dal". The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), under the leadership of Atal Behari Vajyapee, emerged as an alternative to the Congress but it was able to retain its position only for six years and had to revert to its role as the main Opposition after the 2004 general elections.

Even though many Congress supporters take the victory in the 2009 general elections as confirming the return of the Congress as the party of governance at the Centre, the trend of voting in some of the large states in India and the number of seats it had won from 1989 does not give much room for such hopes. The Congress' strength in the Lok Sabha rose to 405 seats in 1984, but fell to 197 in 1989. It made a partial recovery to 232 in 1991 but the number of seats fell to 140 in 1996, 141 in 1998 and to 145 in 2004. The 206 seats tally in 2009 is no doubt a significant achievement, but not enough to warrant much optimism. The main weaknesses that plagued the Congress from the mid-60s, such as lack of inner-party democracy, poor leadership in states et cetera, continue even now. In fact, the main advantage that the Congress has at the Centre is that its rivals are in a worse position on the criteria of inner-party democracy and state-level organisational strength.

As far as the BJP is concerned, its unity and coherence as an all-India party has been badly shattered by the electoral reverses of 2009. A great blow to the morale of the rank and file of the BJP has been the open display of divisions and rifts among its national level leaders after the 2009 reverses.

More disappointing to those who were entertaining hopes for the emergence of a viable third alternative has been the trend of decline that has set in most of the small parties. Anti-Congressism and anti-Hindutva had provided an ideological platform for the various remnants of the old Janata Dal and a number of Left parties under the leadership of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), but the CPI(M), today, is in much greater disarray and state of decline than the Congress or the BJP had been at any time in the recent past. The question now is whether the CPI(M) will get enough seats on its own to prop itself as the leader of the Left group in any future third front.

The trend of decline in the small parties carrying the label of "Janata Dal" is more conspicuous than that in the CPI(M)-led Left Front. In the early years after its founding, the Janata Party could attract not only the followers of certain castes, in some states, but also a good number of followers committed to the socialistic ideologies of Jayaprakash Narayan. They claimed to be equally opposed to the policies of the Congress and the BJP, but now people don't know where senior leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav stand. They seem to have opted for a very flexible ideology for their parties, guided more by their personal interests than any principles or socialist philosophy. Their sudden shift from anti-Congressism to the position of supporters of the Congress has landed their parties in a "nowhere land" and stifled the idea of a third front even before it was born. Public would find it difficult to accept their leadership for a third front when they are seen to be guided more by convenience than by their commitment to the ideologies claimed by them till now.
The senior functionaries in Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav's party are members of his own family and he retains a tight control over the affairs of the party without involving the other senior members in the process of decision-making, even on important issues. In Bihar, people will not easily forget the past when Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav could not consider anybody else except his wife to hold the office of chief minister when he had to face certain serious criminal charges. The masses in these states are getting more and more educated and politically enlightened and are no longer convinced about the logic of their top leaders advocating democracy for those outside the party, but practising "one leader dictatorship" within their parties.

Many people who have been watching the record of Nitish Kumar as chief minister of Bihar had developed great admiration and respect for him as a good and clean administrator. In fact, many think that the third front will have a worthy leader in Mr Kumar if Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav are unable to retain leadership in the Opposition front that comprises of small parties. However, the manner in which he has treated Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has now created serious doubts about his potential to develop into an all-India leader.

One can understand his dislike of the poster of his shaking hands with Mr Modi on the latter's visit to Bihar recently but this is not an adequate reason for denying Mr Modi the basic courtesies due to a visiting chief minister. Worse still was the decision of Mr Kumar to return the Rs 5 crores donation that the government of Gujarat had generously given to for the flood-affected people of Bihar. There may be many in the country who do not agree with the way Mr Modi handled the Godhra riots, but one doubts whether they would endorse the methods chosen by Mr Kumar to display his dislike to a visiting dignitary.

Many admirers of Mr Kumar would be disappointed by these developments and one can only hope that a person who tries hard to provide good governance to his state will also become an example for politeness and courtesy in pubic relations, particularly to visitors from outside, however great may be the dislike for the alleged wrong-doings of the visitor in controlling communal riots in his state.

 

P.C. Alexander is a former governor of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra

 

***************************************

******************************************************************************************

DNA

EDITORIAL

JAMMU & KASHMIR SIMMERS

 

It is summer simmer in Jammu and Kashmir again. In 2008, there were protests on the Amarnath shrine land issue. In 2009, it was the rape and death of Shopian sisters.

 

Now, the killing of seven youth by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) when it opened fire at protesters pelting stones in Srinagar, Sopore and Baramulla. The angry protesters, led mainly by the separatist Hurriyat Conference of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, are once again raising slogans of freedom.

 

The other political parties, including the ruling National Conference, blame it all on the CRPF and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The state government finds itself in a tight spot. It is quite clear that Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party (PDP) wants to use this to nail chief minister Omar Abdullah's inept government, while Hurriyat wants to fan the dying embers of separatism. The situation is both prickly and tricky.

 

One of the ways of proving that the state is back to normalcy is to let the political opposition vent its fury through protests as long as they are peaceful. It seems that the presence of Central security forces like the CRPF is a provocation in itself and the protesters run amok. Some would argue that the better way of dealing with the situation is to withdraw the forces to barracks as far as it is possible.

 

It makes sense but it seems that the state police is not yet confident of dealing with the situation on its own. Secondly, both the Opposition and the separatists — there are enough lines to demarcate the two — may not be willing to accept the protocols of peaceful protests. The situation is not special to J&K. Political opposition everywhere in the country has a tendency to push the government to the brink. When it happens in J&K, it rings alarm bells.

 

The other argument that not enough development is happening does not carry much weight but the fact that general protests in the state have a way of turning into a crisis is a matter of concern. In this context, home secretary GK Pillai's statement that the protesters were not innocent civilians but determined provocateurs who violate curfew and attack security posts and use innocents as scapegoats may be true but it is not the kind of statement that will help restore order or soothe frayed nerves.

 

This is not the time for rationalisation of any kind. What is needed is deft handling of the situation, where anticipatory measures would preempt violent protests.

 

***************************************

DNA

EDITORIAL

TECH SOLUTION

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER DAVID CAMERON THINKS THEY SHOULD DO IT, TENNIS SUPERSTAR ROGER FEDERER AGREES AND SO INDEED DOES MOST OF THE REST OF THE WORLD.

 

But the governing body of football, FIFA, is unwilling to introduce the electronic review to the refereeing system in the game.

 

This World Cup in South Africa has been full of referee errors and two bloopers in quick succession on Sunday — in the matches between England and Germany and Argentina and Mexico — provoked the world to sit up and take note.

 

Electronic refereeing is now an integral part of several sports — cricket, tennis, hockey, ice hockey and basketball for instance all use it to assist human judges.

 

All the arguments used by FIFA to block the use of technology during football matches have been answered and dealt with by them. The number of times it can be used is restricted depending on the sport and its particular nature, the procedure is fast so it does not hold up play unreasonably and the cost is offset by the benefits.

 

TV and live audiences in fact have been in complete support of electronic reviews.

 

The fact is that wrong calls or wrong decisions caused by human error can be corrected by technology. If sport is about fair play, then patently erroneous decisions — which can be clearly detected by a television audience — are actually detrimental to the idea of justice.

 

Within a match, the player or players have a limited number of opportunities to score points and if human error steals that chance, then play has not been fair. There is an argument that human error applies to all players so they even out in the end.

 

However, this is not an argument that England,who were denied a legitimate goal because the referee did not see it, or Mexico, who had to concede an offside goal by Argentina for the same reason, are likely to accept.

 

For them this World Cup is over and the fallibility of human error and official obstinacy have been ruthlessly brought home to them.

 

Technology — whatever its problems — has changed the way we live our lives. For each of the things that technology helps us with today, there have been older and more "human" ways to do them.

 

The fact that we have changed and for the most part for the better is because as humans adaptability is our biggest strength. As applies to life, so it applies to sport. It is possible surely to use technology for our benefit and electronic assistance to referees is unlikely to kill football.

 

However, the same cannot be said of the antiquated argument put forward by FIFA.

 

***************************************

DNA

COMMENT

ISI ON THE MOVE AGAIN

 

A few days prior to home minister P Chidambaram's arrival in Islamabad, the amir of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT),  Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, addressed a large public meeting in Lahore, ostensibly to express solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

 

The meeting was attended by senior functionaries of Islamic parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami. The dignitaries were seated with their feet planted firmly on the national flags of India, the US and Israel.

 

There was much raving and ranting about "Hindu-Jewish conspiracies" against Muslim nations, with Saeed proclaiming: "Mossad instructors are training Indian troops to crush the liberation movement in Kashmir".

 

It was also revealed that Shahbaz Sharif, chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province and brother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, had provided Rs83 million to Hafiz Saeed's Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which was declared a terrorist organisation by the UN Security Council after 26/11.

 

Throughout his visit to Islamabad, India's normally candid home minister chose not to publicly accuse Pakistan's government or security agencies of complicity in the Mumbai terrorist attack.

 

There was measured restraint in everything Chidambaram said in public. His refrain was: "Nobody is questioning anybody's intentions. It is the outcome that will decide whether we are on the right track or not. We should allow the outcome to become visible.

 

We have agreed that there are certain outcomes we are looking forward to".

 

It is evident that Indian investigators have picked up a substantial amount of new information during the interrogation of David Coleman Headley in Chicago, which was carried out in the presence of FBI officials. Confronted with full facts of official involvement by Pakistani state agencies and Saeed, Chidambaram's counterpart  Rehman Malik had no option but to promise to look into them.

 

His colleague, foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureishi, however, put on an air of injured innocence, describing Chidambaram's comments implying that Pakistan had not done enough as "unfair" and "presumptuous".

 

While Pakistan has now been forced to accept that material provided by India is not mere 'literature', as its foreign secretary claimed in New Delhi a few months ago, it would be naive to presume that it will act against the real perpetrators of 26/11.

 

Malik may enjoy the confidence of president Zardari, who is known to be against ISI support for jehadi groups like the LeT and the Taliban. But Zardari was unable to persuade Pakistani military establishment to cooperate during a UN investigation into the assassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto.

 

The UN commission investigating the assassination noted: "Ms Bhutto faced threats from a number of sources; these included the al-Qaeda, the Taliban, local jehadi groups and, potentially, from elements in the Pakistan establishment (a euphemism for the military establishment).

 

The investigators have been hampered by intelligence agencies and other government officials." The report also noted: "The Sunni groups are largely based in Punjab. Members of these groups aided the Taliban in Afghanistan at the behest of the ISI, later cultivated ties with the al-Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban groups.

 

The Pakistani military and the ISI also supported some of these groups in the Kashmir insurgency after 1989. The bulk of the anti-Indian activity remains the work of groups like the LeT, which has close ties with the ISI".

 

If there has not been any major terrorist attack after the Mumbai carnage in 2008, it's partly because the Pakistani military establishment is focusing primarily on developments in Afghanistan.

 

The ISI has rendered massive support to Taliban military commander Sirajuddin Haqqani, while the Taliban political leadership led by Mullah Omar enjoys safe haven in Pakistan.

 

Army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani and ISI chief Lt Gen Shuja Pasha are trying to do a deal with president Karzai involving "reconciliation" with the Taliban which, will, in effect, give Haqqani control over southern Afghanistan.

 

It is now known that LeT cadres have joined Haqqani with the aim of targeting Indians in Afghanistan. Given the key role of the LeT and its leadership in the Pakistani military's strategic calculations in India and Afghanistan, New Delhi should be prepared for constant stalling, obfuscation and prevarication by Pakistan in taking any meaningful action against the real perpetrators of 26/11.

 

Chidambaram would be well advised to use the Pakistan army's current preoccupation with developments in Afghanistan to build on the substantial improvements he has effected in India's internal security. India and the rest of the world need, in the meantime, to think over how Afghanistan can be saved from a second Taliban takeover, which will have far-reaching implications.

 

                                                   ***************************************        

DNA

COMMENT

NEW AGE MEDIA IS NOT MAKING US STUPID

STEVEN PINKER

 

New forms of media have always caused moral panics: newspapers, paperbacks and television were all once denounced as threats to their consumers' brainpower and moral fibre. So too with electronic technologies. PowerPoint, we're told, is reducing discourse to bullet points. Search engines lower our intelligence, encouraging us to skim on the surface of knowledge rather than dive to its depths. Twitter is shrinking our attention spans.

But such panics often fail basic reality checks. When comic books were accused of turning juveniles into delinquents in the 50s, crime was falling to record lows. The decades of television, radios and rock videos were also decades in which IQ scores rose continuously.

For a reality check today, take the state of science, which demands high levels of brainwork and is measured by benchmarks of discovery. These days scientists are never far from their email, rarely touch paper and can't lecture without PowerPoint. If electronic media were hazardous to intelligence, the quality of science would be plummeting. Yet discoveries are multiplying like fruit flies. Other activities in the life of the mind, like philosophy, history and cultural criticism, are likewise flourishing.

Critics sometimes use science itself to press their case, citing research that shows how "experience can change the brain". But cognitive neuroscientists roll their eyes at such talk. Yes, every time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain changes, but the existence of neural plasticity doesn't mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into shape by experience.

Experience does not revamp the basic information-processing capacities of the brain. Speed-reading programs have long claimed to do just that, but the verdict was rendered by Woody Allen after he read War and Peace in one sitting: "It was about Russia." Genuine multitasking, too, has been exposed as a myth.
Moreover, as the psychologists Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons show in their new book The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us, the effects of experience are highly specific to the experiences themselves. If you train people to do one thing (recognise shapes, solve math puzzles), they get better at doing that thing, but almost nothing else. Accomplished people don't bulk up their brains with intellectual calisthenics; they immerse themselves in their fields. Novelists read lots of novels, scientists read lots of science.

The effects of consuming electronic media are also likely to be far more limited than the panic implies. Media critics write as if the brain takes on the qualities of whatever it consumes. As with primitive peoples who believe that eating fierce animals will make them fierce, they assume that reading bullet points and Twitter postings turns your thoughts into bullet points and Twitter postings.

The constant arrival of information packets can be distracting or addictive, but it is not a new phenomenon. The solution is to develop strategies of self-control. Turn off email or Twitter when you work, put away your Blackberry at dinner time.

And to encourage intellectual depth, don't rail at PowerPoint or Google. It's not as if habits of deep reflection came naturally to people. They must be acquired in special institutions, which we call universities, and maintained with constant upkeep. They are not granted by propping a heavy encyclopedia on your lap, nor are they taken away by efficient access to information on the Internet.

The new media have caught on for a reason. Knowledge is increasing exponentially; human brainpower and waking hours are not. Fortunately, the Internet and information technologies are helping us manage our collective intellectual output at different scales. Far from making us stupid, these technologies are the only things that will keep us smart. —NYT

 

***************************************

******************************************************************************************

THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

VALLEY AT BOILING POINT

SECURITY FORCES NEED TO MAINTAIN RESTRAINT

 

Jammu and Kashmir is faced with a new crisis today. This can be easily understood by those who might have seen the picture of a jawan of the paramilitary forces, carried in sections of the media, being beaten up by young protesters, near Srinagar, on Monday. Eight young men have lost their lives since Friday in clashes between CRPF men and protesters in the valley. It all started with two suspected terrorists being killed in an encounter with CRPF jawans in the Sopore area on Friday morning. While the security forces claimed that both were terrorists, most local people refused to believe it, saying that one of the persons done to death in the Sopore encounter was an innocent young man. The situation provided an excellent opportunity to separatists to incite youngsters to protest against the "highhandedness" of the security forces. The situation took a turn for the worse with the Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Hurriyat Conference organising a protest march from Srinagar to Sopore.

 

The CRPF, the most visible force fighting militancy in the state, is under attack from the state government as well as the ordinary people. The state government has described it as having gone "out of control". Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed concern to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram over the recent killings of civilians. What steps are taken after Mr Chidambaram's scheduled visit to Srinagar on Thursday remains to be seen, but two state ministers, Mr Ali Mohammed Sagar and Mr Taj Mohideen, have declared that the government has "devised a mechanism" to ensure that there will be "no casualty from tomorrow". Such assurances have no meaning when there is a strong anti-CRPF sentiment all over Kashmir.

 

CRPF men cannot avoid opening fire in self-defence when they fear threat to their lives from emotionally charged protesters. The problem, however, is that every civilian death in a CRPF firing is used by separatists and their supporters to vitiate the atmosphere in the valley. The security forces are faced with a tricky situation. They have to learn to maintain restraint even in most provocative circumstances so that there are no human rights violations. The erring personnel should be punished to ensure that anything that has the potential to derail the drive against militancy in the state is prevented. 

 

***************************************

THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

DEAL ON DEFICITS

G20 ADDRESSES EUROPE'S CONCERNS

 

The Group of 20 ended its summit in Toronto on Sunday by somehow reconciling two divergent viewpoints on how to handle the shaky economic recovery. One school of thought, articulated by President Barack Obama, contended that time was not ripe for a stimulus exit or slowing government spending as this would stunt growth and spur unemployment. Deflation, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was a greater threat than inflation. Dr Manmohan Singh, however, also accommodated the European concerns when he advocated a calibrated approach to the 2008 stimulus phase-out, depending on each country's conditions. This found a wider acceptance and justified President Obama's compliment that "when the Prime Minister (Dr Manmohan Singh) speaks, people listen".

 

On the other side of the table were nervous European countries that had piled up heavy debts and run up unmanageable fiscal deficits while trying to boost growth. They pleaded for cutting deficits and undertaking austerity measures. The European Union did manage to influence the final communiqué to stress on fiscal tightening. As a result, G20 pledged to halve the budget deficits by 2013. Though Europe also secured a push for stronger banking regulation and financial reform, its proposal for a tax on banks to fund future bailouts was dropped after strong opposition from India, Canada and other countries unaffected by the banking crisis.

 

Since Brazilian President Lula da Silva did not turn up at the summit, the other BRIC members – Russia, India and China – called off their scheduled meeting and did not put up a united front on financial challenges. China was appreciated for its currency exchange flexibility but Beijing got the laudatory references removed from the final communiqué. Despite its clout, the US did not achieve much at Toronto. Obama said: "Our fiscal health tomorrow will rest in no small measure on our ability to create jobs and growth today". The G20 communique did not pay much heed to President Obama's otherwise pragmatic advice. 

 

***************************************

 

THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

TIGHT AUSSIE NORMS

INDIAN STUDENTS IN TROUBLE

 

Indian students in Australia are feeling the heat of changes in rules for visas and permanent residency that come into effect there from July 1. So far, there were 400 occupations in the Skilled Occupations List (SOL) which got a person permanent resident status and student visas. Australia has now reduced it to just 181. That means that those international students who pursued courses like cooking, hairdressing or hotel management will no longer be able to apply for permanent migration. That has put the future of around 15,000 Indian students in Australia in jeopardy. Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi visited Australia recently and requested the government to exempt existing students from the new list.

 

Many Indian students had made a beeline for Australia during the past 10 years because certain courses were touted as guaranteed to deliver a visa. Many of them went there on student visas without vocational or language skills. Out of the 41,000 visas issued last year in the skilled category, 12 per cent went to cooks and hairdressers. Nearly three-fourths of those visas went to those — mostly Indians — who had studied in Australia. It is such students who are now in big trouble.

 

The situation is ticklish. While the Indian delegation reasoned with the Australian authorities that since these students were issued student visas despite prior knowledge that they lacked vocational and language skills, they cannot be forced to leave. The Australian argument is equally strong that they were only given student visas and they cannot be given permanent resident status under the new occupations list. Not only that, all 1,300 private colleges have been told to apply for re-accreditation. This will make it hard for them to offer entry into Australia in the guise of providing education. The turnaround should be a warning to all those who are ever eager to try their luck abroad.

 

 ***************************************

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE TRIBUNE

ARTICLE

BP OIL SPILL AND BHOPAL

LESSON TO LEARN FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

BY SHASTRI RAMACHANDARAN

 

There is little in common between BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the December 1984 Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal that killed over 20,000 and left over a million affected with toxins. Except that, the United States is involved in both. In the BP case, as a victim; and, in the other, as the defensive fortress of the man and the multinational charged with criminal and constructive responsibility for gas leak in the Indian city.

 

The world, including developing countries, are well informed of every aspect of the BP spill — its cause, consequences, and, of course, the costs. The oil spill and how US President Barack Obama made BP cough up $ 20 billion in compensation is all too well known. The US and Britain, both nuclear powers separated by the Atlantic and English language, quickly came to terms on what needs to be done in the aftermath of the spill. There was little acrimony and very minor disagreements considering the scale of the disaster and the huge amount.

 

In stark contrast, Bhopal is not on the world's radar. President Obama has no reason to be affected by Bhopal. Even Warren Anderson, Union Carbide's Chief Executive when the disaster struck Bhopal 26 years ago, roams free and, despite an arrest warrant and extradition request out for him, is at no risk of being brought to account. As much as Anderson, Dow Chemicals, which owns Carbide, has rejected liability and stonewalled attempts to make it clean up or pay for cleaning up the toxins that remain at the Bhopal site.

 

It is shocking that Indian corporate houses, as also eminent jurists, should have been rooting for Union Carbide and Dow rather than for their own countrymen, particularly the victims of the gas leak. What is it about Indian capital that makes it betray national interests, or certainly, make common cause with international capital against the Indian people.

 

Like Seveso, Minamata, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, Bhopal in central India is synonymous with one of the worst industrial disasters of the 20th century, the aftermath of which still haunts its long-neglected victims. In fact, Bhopal ranks at the top with Chernobyl. There is no agreement on the number of dead and affected. But there is no disagreement that Bhopal's greater misfortune is that it belongs to the developing world. I had reached Bhopal soon after the gas leak. The place was awash with rumours and speculation. One "rumour" was that Union Carbide had knowledge of an antidote for treating the victims of the gas leak, but it had refused to share particulars about the antidote.

 

Subsequently, there have been other reports of the company being in possession of an antidote. Regardless of

the truth of the matter, the fact that the rumour persists shows the contempt of Western multinationals for lives in developing countries. Neither the Indian government nor its institutions such as the CSIR and the ICMR thought it fit to investigate the technological disaster for its medical consequences.

 

The international community of scientists and bodies such as the World Health Organisation are equally guilty of wilful neglect of their responsibility in the matter. Instead of the culprits being brought to book and delivering justice to the victims, conveniently confusing questions of the company's responsibility and the compensation case's jurisdiction were raised to obfuscate the real issues. And, the issues are legion, including the role of the state, the government, the judiciary, the efficacy of (extradition) pacts between nations and the corporate class in both India and the US.

The cruelest irony was the recent Bhopal court verdict: two years in prison for seven Indian executives of Carbide at the time of the gas leak while the American interests involved continue to go untouched. This raises a number of new issues, not all of which can be dealt with in this space.

 

The most important question today, unlike in 1984, when every issue gets easily internationalised, is: Why is the rest of the world, especially the developing world, silent on Bhopal?

 

When it comes to climate change, the environment, human rights and other such issues, be it in India or China, the West is the first to raise a hue and cry about so-called violations which may not even affect their interests. They perceive this as part of their global leadership role, of a responsibility they owe to the people in the developing countries. But this great injustice, this wilful denial of justice to the victims of Union Carbide in Bhopal has not stirred the messianic zeal of the West, not stricken its conscience nor moved it to act with a modicum of concern for its fellow humanity in the developing world.

 

There is a lesson in this for India as much as for China, both rising powers and aspiring to be superpowers. Their economic clout may grow by leaps and bounds; they may have nuclear deterrence; and their respective governments may be backed by the resolve of over a billion people. But unless they learn to confront and negotiate the prevalent global power structure in defence of their people and secure their national interests, striving to become superpowers is pointless.

 

Just as the developing countries joined hands at the climate change convention, it is essential that they come together, define the issues that is their common lot, and arising from that, set the agenda to determine international equations.

 

China and India should learn from the way the US struck terror in BP and the British government, and silenced everybody else in its single-minded pursuit of making the culprit pay for the damage done to the Gulf of Mexico.

 

Unless the developing countries that matter on the world stage learn to exercise power on issues critical to their people, achievements such as nuclear superiority and GDP growth are pointless.n

 

The writer, who had covered the Bhopal gas leak in 1984 and subsequent developments, is an editor/writer with the Global Times in Beijing.

 

***************************************

THE  TRIBUNE

MIDDLE

HOME REMEDIES

BY S. RAGHUNATH

 

Last Sunday I almost made it to the Guinness Book of Records by hiccuping non-stop for three hours, 58 minutes and 49.7 seconds and Good Samaritans preferring outlandish (and landish) suggestions for relieving me of my distressing affliction were many and rest assured, when my eagerly awaited. 1001 Household Remedies for Hiccups is published, their contribution will be handsomely acknowledged on the fly page.

 

The first to weigh in was the family retainer — a toothless old thing on the wrong side of 90 who should have been pensioned off and sent home packing around the turn of the century.

 

"I know just the right cure for you, sir, "she said trying to look bright (but falling flat on her gnarled face); "I'll take a pinch of methi and sock it in turmeric water and I'll grind it into a fine paste and add a little asafoetida and wrap it in a betelleaf. You stand on one leg facing nor' nor'west and swallow the stuff whole while I chant a mantra in chaste Sanskrit. That's what we do in my ancestral village in Northern Karnataka and not once has it failed!"

 

"Oh yeah, "I snarled between bouts of hiccups," while at it, how about mixing your 'stuff' with a quart of moonshine whisky?"

 

The chap who had looked in to strike a lucrative multilateral barter deal — a plastic shaving mug for a priceless Benares silk saree, said: "I know just what's to be done, sir. You strip to your waist and lie flat on your back, your arms spreadeagled and legs doubled up at the knees, I'll squat on the nape of your neck and pummel you with all the brute strength I've got between your solar plexus and the 12th vertebral rib cage. That'll force the air out of your lungs and with it the hiccups. That's what we do on the North-west Frontier!"

 

"You lay so much as a grubby little finger on me and I won't be answerable for the consequences," I vowed grimly.

 

My next-door neighbour who had looked in to borrow my BPL ration card and misappropriate for herself my monthly quota of sooji and maida said" "what you should do is mix some sour curds and clarified buffalo ghee and swallow it whole!"

 

She didn't get my ration card.

 

The old retainer wasn't thru' yet. "I know an even better cure," she said, "I'll take a little....."

 

I held up a restraining hand.

 

I can appreciate your eagerness to know if any of the above suggestions were of any help in getting rid of my hiccups. Oh yes, very definitely yes. HIC!

 

  ***************************************

THE TRIBUNE

OPED

THE ABSENCE OF ANY SYSTEMATIC STUDY BY INDIAN OR FOREIGN SCIENTISTS HAS LEFT SUFFICIENT ROOM FOR WIDE AND WILD SPECULATION ON THE PROBABLE CAUSES OF HIGH INCIDENCE OF CANCER IN PARTS OF PUNJAB

THE SCOURGE OF MALWA

PROF NARESH KOCHHAR

 

It is well known in Punjab that the Malwa region shows a very high incidence of cancer, stunted growth and other neurological disorders. High level of uranium concentration has been found in the hair samples of children of Centre for Special Children, Faridkot by Dr Caren Smith, visiting toxicologist from South Africa. Blood samples were analysed in a German Lab. Besides uranium, lead, cadmium, strontium, barium were also found in the samples.

 

A study carried out by PGIMER Chandigarh doctors is not tenable because they compared the chemical quality of ground water in and around Talwandi Sabo (Bathinda) with that of Chamkaur Sahib, even though the two regions have different geology.

 

The absence of any systematic study carried out by Indian or foreign scientists has left sufficient room for wide and wild speculation on probable causes for this tragic phenomenon.

 

The high values of uranium have been attributed to Kota nuclear power plant; Khushab heavy water plant in Pakistan; and uranium-carrying winds from Afghanistan, without any scientific basis.

 

Though Malwa is a part of Punjab, geologically it is more akin to Haryana and Rajasthan.

 

There are no rocks exposed on the surface in the SW Punjab. However, the rocks of Aravalli-Delhi ridge and

Malani granites and rhyolites are exposed at Tusham, district Bhiwani, just south of the region.

 

These rocks take a northwest turn from Tusham and become submerged under the Punjab Plains, only to get resurfaced at Kirana Hills, Pakistan. The gravity data have delineated 6 km wide and 240 km long pear shaped body under the Punjab plains covering the SW Punjab.

 

The Tusham granites are high heat producing granites, that is, they are enriched in uranium, thorium and calcium. The uranium concentration in the granites is 8 to 11.5 parts per million (ppm) as compared to the normal value of 4.5 in granites in general. The average crustal value is 2.7 ppm.

 

The main source of uranium appears to be Tusham granites of Malani suite. There is a indiscriminate quarrying of granites being done at Khanak and adjoining areas of Tusham causing a lot of dust due to crushers.

 

Besides, there is a thick evaporites (salt) sequence with a total thickness of 130 m occurring at a depth of 305-350 m, below alluvium in Faridkot and Ferozepur districts. Evaporites also occur near Sirsa in Haryana. The evaporites have limestone, shale, gypsum, halite, sulphate etc. Limestone has 2.2 ppm and shale has 3.2 ppm of uranium.

 

Another natural source of uranium is the thick sediments under alluvium brought down by the Satluj and Beas rivers. In addition, the Satluj flows through Shivalik rocks which have dispersed uranium in them. Apart from these another source could be flyash coming out of the Bathinda thermal plant. Uranium gets concentrated after burning of coal. One kg of coal ash produced 2000 Bq of radioactivity whereas one kg of granite produced 1000 Bq of radioactivity in the environment.

 

A collaborative study undertaken by me and other scientists revealed that most water samples tested for uranium had higher concentration than the WHO-prescribed tolerable limit of 0.015mg/l, with some showing a value 20 times higher, that is 0.316 mg/l.

 

Interestingly, in spite of high concentration of uranium in water, the radon activity is within permissible limits ( less than 400Bq/l) , because the gas escapes into the atmosphere.

 

Detailed study of chemical quality of groundwater in Jajjal, Malkana, Talwandi Sabo, Gyana and adjoining areas has shown that the groundwater in these areas contains more than the permissible limits of fluorine, sulphate, uranium, lead, chromium, and nickel, etc.

 

The high concentration of these elements can be attributed to the subsurface geology i.e. the presence of granitic rocks, evaporites sequence and limestone and dolomites. It may be mentioned that the chemical quality of ground water is influenced by the interaction of rainwater with bed rock, residency time of groundwater and the type of flow and the mineralogy of aquifers.

 

Permissible limit of sulphates in drinking water is 400 mg/l .However some of the samples we analysed , showed a value as high as 880 mg/l. It may be noted that excessive sulphate presence can cause diarrhea.

 

In small doses fluoride inhibits dental caries, while in higher doses it causes dental and skeletal fluorosis. Concentration levels of fluoride reported from groundwater in the study area vary from 0.30 to 3.82 mg/l. Here also, the upper value is way above the WHO limit of 1.5 mg/l

 

Lead is a poison and accumulates in the skeletal structure of human beings and animals. It has adverse effect on the central nervous system, kidney and may cause cancer and brain damage. While the prescribed maximum permissible limit for lead in drinking water is 0.05 mg/l, the six samples showed a range of values from nil to as high as 0.18 mg/l.

 

As is well known, there is indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals in the region as the area lies in the cotton belt of Punjab. The pesticides, phosphates and nitrogen fertilisers also contribute heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic to soil and water.

 

To sum up , the high concentration of hazardous elements in the region can be attributed to the reactions of groundwater with the rocks of buried Aravalli - Delhi ridge and uranium-rich granites of Tusham area along with the evaporites, including sulphur-rich limestone and dolomite which could contribute sulfate, carbonate and salinity to the groundwater.

 

It is unfortunate that we neither have authentic data on human misery nor a systematic scientific study of the causes thereof. There is urgent need for credible research carried out by an interdisciplinary team comprising geologists, medical doctors, nuclear scientists, biologists, anthropologists, agricultural scientists and others.

 

(The writer is from the Geology Department, Panjab University, Chandigarh)

 

***************************************

THE TRIBUNE

OPED

QUESTION MARKS OVER CLAIMS

SP SHARMA

 

Tribune News Service

FARIDKOT: Armed with the report of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) declaring the gamma radiation and radioactivity levels in the soil samples within the permissible levels here, the medical fraternity has put a question mark on the claim of a local NGO that high concentration of uranium and heavy metals in drinking water was making the Punjab kids mentally retarded.

 

The report of a German laboratory confirming high content of uranium and other heavy metals in the water that was recently released by Pritpal Singh, president of the NGO, Baba Farid Centre for Special Children (BFCSC), has created panic, particularly in the Malwa belt.

 

A similar report released by the centre almost a year ago had also created ripples following which a team of BARC collected samples of water, soil and hair of the mentally challenged children. The civil surgeon of Faridkot had also constituted a team of five doctors to look into the issue. He constituted a similar committee last week to probe into the functioning of the BFCSC and also look into the treatment they were providing to the affected children.

 

Civil surgeon, Dr Harjit Bharti, said the purpose was to verify the authenticity of the report and also ascertain whether the Baba Farid Centre for Special Children was being run by qualified staff or not.

 

He said that an enquiry into the functioning of the centre was also initiated by the then civil surgeon last year but the process got bogged down due to a number of enquiries that were ordered by various governmental and autonomous organisations on the complaints of the NGO. Bharti said that the report of BARC had pointed out that of the nine water samples collected from various areas of Faridkot and Amritsar, only three from the borewells of the Narayangarh Gurdwara and railway crossing at Kotkapura and also Taina village were found to be containing uranium beyond the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) limit of 60 micro grams.

 

However, Pritpal Singh contested the report of BARC and claimed that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has fixed the limit of 15 micro grams of uranium content for safe drinking water. He said that the centre was set up six years ago and had started treating the mentally challenged children four years ago during which

 

Dr Manjit Bhalla, a child specialist in the civil hospital, who was also a member of the team that was constituted last year to enquire into the issue of uranium content in water and functioning of the centre, said at least six children undergoing treatment in the centre of the NGO had suffered retardation due to complications at the time of delivery and not due to uranium. Their mothers had confirmed this during the visit of the team to the centre, he claimed.

 

This fact also came to light when a woman from Hoshiarpur I met at the centre she confirmed that one of her twins who suffered oxygen problem at the time of birth was mentally challenged while the other one was a normal child and studying in a school.

 

Pritpal Singh claimed that the committee that had collected the entire record of the NGO  last year did not detect even a single fault in the centre's functioning.

 

***************************************

******************************************************************************************

MUMBAI MIRROR

VIEWS

FINDING OUR INNER NEMO

CONSIDERING OUR DISTASTE FOR MESSAGE-MOVIES, IT'S RATHER ODD THAT ANIMATED FILMS ARE BEING WELL ACCEPTED BY THE ADULT AUDIENCE

 

Afew days ago while sobbing through Toy Story 3 – easily the best big-screen movie experience 2010 has had to offer thus far – I wondered just how Pixar does it. No, I'm not even going to try and crack their shamanistic formulae; they are clearly a cabal of highly efficient wizards, giving us all one masterpiece after another. By now we're used to them routinely albeit miraculously topping their previous efforts with each release, but while they are clearly the world's most consistent movie studio in terms of sheer quality, my ruminations this week are about how solid and unwavering their moral compass seems to be – and how gladly we let their films preach to us.

 

For sermonise they do, despite the gobs of shiny, colourful entertainment on offer. Pixar's films are always built around strong, basic moral cores: Ratatouille is about ambition, The Incredibles is about responsibility, Cars is about pride, Up is about love and commitment, the new Toy Story is about roots and belonging, and Wall-E, while a masterful love story for the ages, warns us against sloth and stupidity. And while unquestionably clever and very well-written, none of these films give their message any elbow-room.

 

Our unanimously lapping up these movies, therefore, is odd, considering our jaded, cynical distaste for the message-movie in any incarnation. We have learnt that mainstream cinema works best when they go for broke with the entertainment – toss us cars and bombs and legs and ha-ha jokes – and while the good guys invariably win, the only message most summer blockbusters aim to provide is that there will be a sequel. Attempts at unsubtle moralising are invariably met with jeers and rolled eyes.

 

Why, then, do we take it from a bunch of vividly conjured-up cartoons? Why is it okay for them to tell us what to do, what's right? Perhaps it is the cloak of children's cinema these films wear for camouflage, a cloak that urges us overgrown-ups to leave the snark aside and try and dial ourselves back down to our younger, more naive selves. If this is the case, then Pixar – and, indeed, any phenomenal children's cinema like Where The Wild Things Are, a passionate celebration of imagination, and the overwhelmingly whimsical The Fantastic Mister Fox – has truly struck gold. Clearly, we want to be talked down to, but aren't comfortable with actors telling us what to do; talking fish, on the other hand, work just fine.

 

 Looking back at the Panchatantra, the brothers Grimm, Aesop and Roald Dahl, this doesn't seem as much of a revelation anymore. Fables, folktales and the best of our children's fiction have always managed to use allegory – and, indeed, animal costumes – to sell us morality more effectively, masked as instructive tales to tell our children what is right and wrong. Pixar and Co are now riding this wave further, using that teach-the-kids pretext to pack in some seriously grown-up thematic heat, and weaving it all together into a story so marvellously amusing and visually spectacular that we applaud louder than the young ones.

 

This isn't just children's cinema anymore. Each film offers moments of severely adult pleasures, the kind we can't quite explain to the kids next to us. Translating them would be futile, and they're best left discovered on their own as these tykes grow into our shoes. For now, let's surreptitiously push fingers behind 3-D glasses and wipe, take big gulps of cola to hide the lump in the throat, and hope nobody sees us cry – even though being driven to such a fantastically undisciplined outpouring of emotion provides the most satisfying motion picture experience most of us have had in ages.