EDITORIAL SAMARTH: EDITORIAL 24.09.09

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Editorial

month september 24, edition 000306 , collected & managed by durgesh kumar mishra, published by – manish manjul

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

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THE PIONEER

GREEN CHANNELS
REINVENTING DELHI
IS UPA WARMING UP TO TALIBAN?-KANCHAN GUPTA
INDIA STILL CARRYING CROSS OF PARTITION-NARAIN SARUP
NOW IMPLEMENT THE IDEAS-JS RAJPUT
MOCKERY OF AUSTERITY-SANDEEP B
MAKING PEACE IMPOSSIBLE-BARRY RUBIN
PATH TO PROSPERITY IN KUTCH LINED WITH GRASS-HARESH PARMAR
MAKING PEACE IMPOSSIBLE-BARRY RUBIN

TIMES OF INDIA

GET CRACKING
SET THEM FREE
THE SPENCE SOLUTION-SUDIPTO MUNDLE
BANKS SHOULD BE CONSUMER-FRIENDLY
PENALTY MAKES BUSINESS SENSE-RATNA GOSWAMI
THE NOSTALGIA ROSSOGOLA-BACHI KARKARIA
WELCOMING DURGA-BARSHA NAG BHOWMICK

HINDUSTAN TIMES

DON’T BLUNT OUR CUTTING EDGE
PRE-GAME, FOREPLAY
KEEP IT ALIVE!-ROBERT SKIDELSKY
WELFARE POLITICS-SUHIT SEN
BITTEN BY THE BUG TAMINGFLU
WAR ON NAXALS - BRING ON THOSE DRONES

INDIAN EXPRESS

WARMING UP
AFTER YSR
SO MANY BARRIERS
THE CHINA CHILL-PRANABDHALSAMANTA
SERVING NOTICE-DESH GAURAV CHOPRA SEKHRI
WHAT A DIFFERENCE THE ONE-DAY MADE-KUNAL PRADHAN
SAYING NO TO THE WRONG DRUGS-SHAMNAD BASHEER
VIEW FROM THE RIGHT-SUMAN K JHA

FINANCIAL EXPRESS

BETTER RULES TAKE OVER
CUT TO CHASE
BAD SOLUTION FOR CHINESE LABOUR PAIN-DHIRAJ NAYYAR
G-20 SHOULD RAMP UP TRADE FINANCE-K VAIDYA NATHAN
MONSOON LESSONS FOR 2010-SANJEEB MUKHERJEE

THE HINDU

BREAK THE CLIMATE DEADLOCK
MOVING FORWARD WITH THE GST
A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR INDIAN SCIENCE -G. RAJASEKARAN
STOP MARKETING INDIA AS A BRAND, SAYS HISTORIAN -HASAN SUROOR
PLANNED FARMLAND SALE TO SAUDIS GIVES PAKISTAN JITTERS -NIRUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN
AN ISRAELI SETTLEMENT IN CLOSE-UP -MARTIN ASSER

THE ASIAN AGE

CLIMATE: US HAS TO ACT, NOT JUST PREACH
A US MOVE THAT IS ALL ABOUT RUSSIA-S. NIHAL SINGH
LIFELONG WAIT FOR DEATH
DALAI’S TAWANG VISIT PLAN MAKES CHINA RED-NITISH SENGUPTA

THE TRIBUNE

RETURN OF FIIS
DISCLOSURE OF ASSETS
WAR AGAINST MAOISTS
COPS AS ‘FOOTBALLS’-BY B.G. VERGHESE
WHEN A PICKLE GOES RANCID-BY AMAR CHANDEL
MEDIA UNDER ATTACK-BY T.P. SREENIVASAN
A QUIET REVOLUTION IN JAPAN-BY YUKIO OKAMATO
BAD DOCTORS ARE OFTEN MEN-BY JEREMY LAURANCE

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

CEASE-FIRE WITH ULTRAS
TEA INDUSTRY
DEBATE OVER H-BOMB ‘FIZZLE’-PRAFUL BIDWAI
ECONOMIC LIBERALISATION AND INFLATION-REHANA AHMED

THE ECONOMIC TIMES

TAKEOVER NORMS SHOULDN’T HINDER M&AS
PITFALLS IN PITTSBURGH
EAT, PRAY, LOVE THE PLANET
ET IN THE CLASSROOM: NEW RULES TREAT GDRS/ADRS ON PAR WITH SHARES
COMPANIES MOP UP RS 3000 CR IN A DAY
JET SEEKS NOD TO APPROACH OVERSEAS INVESTORS FOR FUNDS-ARUN KUMAR
UNLEASH YOUR NATURAL INTELLIGENCE-PARAMAHAMSA NITHYANANDA
THE RAGING BULL VS THE FORMIDABLE BEAR
DON'T LEAVE REGULATION TO THE EXPERTS-T K ARUN
HOW LONG WILL THE GOLD LUST LAST? -NIDHI NATH SRINIVAS
INDIA MORE BALANCED THAN TYPICAL ASIAN GROWTH MODEL: MORGAN STANLEY
'RATING IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR AN AUDIT'-APURV GUPTA
WE SHOULD FIND A GLOBAL PACKAGE ON FOOD SECURITY-G GANAPATHY SUBRAMANIAM
'BANKS' FUTURE HINGES ON LIQUIDITY MANAGEMENT-SUDESHNA SEN

DECCAN CHRONICAL

CLIMATE: US HAS TO ACT, NOT JUST PREACH -BY OUR CORRESPONDENT
A US MOVE THAT IS ALL ABOUT RUSSIA -BY S. NIHAL SINGH
TOGETHER, WE CAN OVERCOME THE CHALLENGES -BY GORDON BROWN
LIFELONG WAIT FOR DEATH -BY AMITABH SINHA
DALAI’S TAWANG PLAN MAKES CHINA SEE RED- BY NITISH SENGUPTA
CRACKS IN IRAN’S CLIQUE -BY THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

THE STATESMAN

NUCLEAR DIVIDE
IT SEEMS CLEAR
ENERGY AND CLIMATE-BHARAT JHUNJHUNWALA
POVERTY PERCEPTIONS

THE TELEGRAPH

BAD FORM
SEEDS OF DOUBT
UNTIL THE NEXT PARTY
WESTMINSTER GLEANINGS -ANABEL LOYD
A NEW STORY IN NUMBERS -R.C. ACHARYA
PROTECTING THE BEAUTIFUL AND ENDANGERED CREATURES -ASHISH KOTHARI

DECCAN HERALD

FARM EDUCATION NEEDS REFORMS-BY Y P GUPTA
HEIGHT OF THE MATTER-BY SATISH K SHARMA

THE JERUSALEM POST

THE MOR TRAVESTY
RIGHT OF REPLY: BNEI AKIVA - TODAY & TOMORROW-YONA GOODMAN
A CRASH COURSE IN GLOBAL ECONOMICS FOR THE G20-DANIEL IKENSON AND ALEC VAN GELDER
MOVIES IN NABLUS, DRAMAS IN BETHLEHEM-DANIEL DORON
RATTLING THE CAGE: PLAYED FOR A SUCKER-LARRY DERFNER
FUNDAMENTALLY FREUND: HE'S NO MAHATMA OBAMA-MICHAEL FREUND
WASHINGTON WATCH: THE 'AGINNERS' AND THE POLITICS OF HATE-DOUGLAS BLOOMFIELD

HAARETZ

DON'T DESCEND FROM THE SUMMIT -BY HAARETZ EDITORIAL
ON OBAMA'S BLOCK -BY ARI SHAVIT
GIDEON LEVY / OBAMA, YOU WON'T MAKE PEACE WITHOUT TALKING TO HAMAS -BY GIDEON LEVY, HAARETZ CORRESPONDENT
THE RESTRAINING OF OBAMA -BY ISRAEL HAREL
THE MODESTY MINISTRY -BY NERI LIVNEH

THE NEW YORK TIMES

WHAT MR. OBAMA SAID, AND DIDN’T SAY
CIGARETTE BAN WITH A LOOPHOLE
A SMALL STEP BACK FROM USURY
PRISONERS’ RIGHTS
A TOM DELAY MAKEOVER -BY GAIL COLLINS
A TINY TAX COULD DO A WORLD OF GOOD -BY PHILIPPE DOUSTE-BLAZY
NUCLEAR-FREE SEAS -BY THOMAS LEHRMAN AND JUSTIN MUZINICH
THE MIRACLE OF DULLNESS -BY ROGER COHEN
A TOM DELAY MAKEOVER -BY GAIL COLLINS

I. THE NEWS

AID FROM US
PRESSURE TACTICS
UNHEALTHY BUSINESS
NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY 2009 – A CRITIQUE-NAVEED EJAZ
19TH-CENTURY MINDSET-IKRAM SEHGAL
JASWANT’S BOOK AND PARTITION-YASSER LATIF HAMDANI
DEATH IN A STAMPEDE-DR ASHFAQUE H KHAN
THE NORTH-SOUTH NEXUS-KAMILA HYAT
ARMY AND PEOPLE-S AUSAF HUSAIN

PAKISTAN OBSERVER

POLITICAL CONTOURS OF EID
NFC RELATED CONTENTIOUS ISSUES
SUICIDAL IDEA OF OPERATION IN SOUTH PUNJAB
REGIONAL SITUATION — A LOOK BACK-KHALID SALEEM
US FATE SIMILAR TO VANQUISHED EMPIRES-ASIF HAROON RAJA
ROGUISH BENT OF INDIAN ARMED FORCES-SAJJAD SHAUKAT
OBAMA’S STRATEGY SHIFT IN AFGHAN WAR-PETER BAKER
THE RAILWAYS & QUEEN’S ENGLISH..!-ROBERT CLEMENTS

THE INDEPENDENT

UNABATED ROAD ACCIDENTS
QUALITY EDUCATION
MAD HUSBAND…!-ROBERT CLEMENTS

THE AUSTRALIAN

GLOBAL ECONOMY NEEDS A NEW APPROACH
BUILDING MOMENTUM
TRUE GRIT WAS IN TOWN

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

THE DIPLOMATIC GLOBAL WARMING
KNIFE BEGINS AT FORTY
AS CHINA SHIFTS ON WARMING TURNBULL FACES THE HEAT
PUBLIC HOLIDAY OR NOT, IT'S STILL SHOW TIME

THE GURDIAN

UNITED NATIONS: LOFTY WORDS, LOW ANTICS
LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: FEAR OF FAILURE
IN PRAISE OF … ENGLISH MUSTARD

THE JAPAN TIMES

MUZZLING THE TOP BUREAUCRATS
CHANCE TO REBUILD IN OPPOSITION
DEAD WALRUSES OF DEFENSE-BY GWYNNE DYER
CHALLENGES FOR THE HATOYAMA GOVERNMENT-BY CHARLES E. MORRISON
GERMAN VOTERS SHUN FINANCIAL CRISIS DEBATE-BY PETER SCHNEIDER
CAN LDP RECOUP THE GLORY DAYS?

THE KOREA HERALD

RULES ON HEARINGS
MISTAKEN DECISION
CUTTING CARBON EMISSIONS IS NOT ENOUGH -ACHIM STEINER
THE CASE FOR A GLOBAL FINANCIAL-TRANSACTION TAX -PEER STEINBRUECK

CHINA DAILY

BOOST FOR SMES
PICKING ON THE PANDA
SUMMIT TO MAP RECOVERY ROUTE
DO NOT WORRY ABOUT INFLATION — WORRY ABOUT ASSET PRICES AND QUALITY
EQUALITY, SOCIAL SAFETY NET ARE THE CONCERN

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THE PIONEER

EDIT DESK

GREEN CHANNELS

WHAT NEXT? TALIBAN TV FROM WAZIRISTAN?

In many senses, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is a ghost from India’s statist, over-regulated past. Its primary function these days is to interfere in the workings of private channels, delay or even refuse licenses to news networks, block automatic renewal for foreign broadcasters — a few years ago, CNN faced problems from a particularly difficult secretary in the Ministry who has since moved to a constitutional office — and essentially function as a rent seeker. However, the Ministry is unwilling to or incapable of curbing the deluge of Islamic evangelist channels that are arriving illegally in Indian homes, courtesy wildcat cable operators who probably receive payola from dubious promoters of these channels. Peace TV is the mouthpiece of a Mumbai-based cleric; ARY TV is backed by a Pakistani business house; Maldives TV and Saudi TV have a single-minded agenda. Many of these channels are uplinked from Dubai and other West Asian locations. Their message is often an exclusivist one and their content is complete unmonitored. They are not answerable to Indian laws. Indeed, Islamic channels have proliferated on Indian television screens in the past few years without anybody bothering to pay attention to their provenance and purpose. Some of these channels may well be above board and perfectly kosher. However, that still does not explain why they don’t follow the country’s laws and obtain necessary broadcasting permission and licenses from the Government. The I&B Ministry has made a mess of its broader administrative role here. Yet, it is not alone in being blamed. The Home Ministry should have been alive to the security risks some of these religio-political networks pose but has chosen to ignore them. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is the agency responsible for ensuring the Cable Television Networks Act is not breached. It can act through the District Magistrate and Superintendent or Commissioner of Police in a particular district. Patently, TRAI and the district-level officials have neglected their duties.

As is obvious, the issue goes beyond a few channels circumventing the law and regulators sleeping on the job. There may be a romantic perception of an illegal, underground media network — newspapers produced by a banned organisation; a dissident radio station in a totalitarian state — but it would be best to recognise that these Islamist channels are not necessarily harmless. Targeting sections of the Muslim population, reaching out to community ghettoes simultaneously by exploiting available broadcast technologies and cable networks, they are liable to be manipulated by groups that threaten Indian security or seek to radicalise sections of young Indian Muslims. As such, it is crucial to distinguish between such motivated networks and, say, an FM radio station run by students on a college campus. Both may be illegal, but only one poses a potential threat to national well-being.

More than anything else, the role of India’s cable operators — a private mafia operation that has muscled its way into neighbourhood monopolies and blacks out channels that don’t pay bribes in the form of so-called carriage charges — is under question. This bunch is ready to carry any channel — whatever its content — if it pays the right price. Any operator that continues to do business with illegal channels must be debarred at once. If India doesn’t act now, the day is not far when it will be woken up to the wolfish sounds of Taliban TV, uplinked from Waziristan.

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THE PIONEER

EDIT DESK

REINVENTING DELHI

NEEDED, GOOD MANNERS AND DISCIPLINE

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s advice to the residents of Delhi to brush up on their manners before the 2010 Commonwealth Games has a distinct air of too little too late. Those who are acquainted with ‘Dilliwallahs’ are all too familiar with the infamous boorishness and crudity that are associated with many of them. Whether it is using abusive language at the drop of a hat or total lack of courtesy or treating every street corner as a public urinal, when it comes to loutish behaviour, Delhiites take the cake. To think that just because Delhi is about to host an international sporting event residents of the city will all of a sudden acquire a sense of propriety is quite fanciful. It will take more than the Home Minister’s well-meaning words to achieve what many would contend is unachievable. And that this has become an issue so late in the day means that we can expect little to change. Had the authorities been more pro-active and started a public sensitisation programme a few years ago along the lines of Germany which hosted the 2006 Football World Cup, there could have been some hope of taming the ill-mannered Delhiite. For the Delhi Government to wake up barely a year before the Games and try and drill some manners and discipline into the people is pointless.

A city is judged to be world-class not merely by the quality of malls, the kind of roads or the number of flyovers it has. The people of the city and the way they treat visitors are as integral, if not more, to this assessment. All world-class cities in the world are special because the people there make them so. This is something that comes from within. No matter how much the authorities try to change the mindset of the residents of the national capital to make them more amiable, unless Delhiites themselves take pride in their city and adjust their attitude, Delhi will never become world-class. This sense of pride will only surface when each and every Delhiite realises that he or she is responsible for the city. If the traffic in Delhi is horrendous it is because Delhiites don’t have the discipline to drive in lanes. If the city is dirty it is because they don’t bother throwing waste in designated garbage bins. And if bus conductors and autorickshaw drivers in the city are rude, it is because Delhiites accept them to be so. It is the characteristic chalta hai attitude of Delhi that needs to change if we are to get somewhere in terms of making the city more hospitable. Therefore, before the authorities start lecturing Delhiites on how to behave, let them gather whatever sense of self-respect they have and do some self-introspection of their own.

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THE PIONEER

COLUMN

IS UPA WARMING UP TO TALIBAN?

KANCHAN GUPTA

The venerable Wall Street Journal, which still takes the business of journalism seriously, has carried an interesting news story in its Wednesday’s edition. Headlined “Indian Minister Urges Afghan Political Settlement”, it is based on an interview with Minister for External Affairs SM Krishna, who apparently spoke to the writer, Joe Lauria, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, which is now in session. The opening paragraph of the story is truly attention grabbing: “India, one of the biggest investors in Afghanistan, believes there is no military solution to the conflict in that country and that NATO combat operations should give way to a political settlement with the Taliban, according to Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna.”

The newspaper quotes Mr Krishna as saying, “India doesn’t believe that war can solve any problem and that applies to Afghanistan also... I think there could be a political settlement. I think we should strive towards that.” According to the daily, Mr Krishna “dismissed suggestions that India’s growing involvement in Afghanistan is intended to encircle Pakistan, a fear prevalent in some circles in Pakistan. ‘I think that is a baseless allegation,’ he said.” Mr Krishna, in his interview, “charged that Pakistan’s disruptive role in the Taliban insurgency continued”, and said “the military situation in Afghanistan was complicated by the ongoing aid for the Afghan Taliban provided by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency”.

A full reading of the news story and the extensive quotes of the Minister published alongside would reveal that he has not suggested a “political settlement with the Taliban”, at least not in so many words. But it is only logical to deduce that this is what he meant when he talked of a “political settlement”. Given the political reality of Afghanistan where the Taliban are determined not to allow democracy and modernism to take root, and want the country to return to the joyless, dark days when a one-eyed monster called Mullah Omar ruled that benighted nation with ruthless force in the name of Islam, the only people you can strike a deal with and come to a “political settlement” are the Taliban.

“If India can work happily with Great Britain after they having ruled us for so long, it only shows that we can play the game,” Mr Krishna told The Wall Street Journal. That is an allusion which only the naïve would miss or misinterpret. In interpreting foreign policy, each word, especially when uttered by the Foreign Minister of a country, is dissected many times over. And the most casual reading of Mr Krishna’s comments would suggest that they indicate a major shift in the Government’s policy on Afghanistan and a break with the national consensus that has helped its evolution: The Congress-led UPA is now willing to “play the game” and cut a deal with the Taliban.

What Mr Krishna has also signalled is the UPA Government’s rethinking on American involvement in Afghanistan. Till now, although India has steered clear of the US-led military intervention in Afghanistan, it has been a beneficiary of everything that has followed the fall of the criminal Taliban regime and the installation of the Government headed by President Hamid Karzai. New Delhi would not have been able to reopen its mission in Kabul and set up consulates elsewhere had Mullah Omar still been in power. Nor would India have been able to re-establish its people-friendly profile among the Afghan masses through infrastructure development and healthcare projects.

It would be foolish to believe that the ‘Indian presence’ in Afghanistan will remain untouched and undiminished if the US and NATO troops were to abruptly pack up and leave that country. A “political settlement” — or, to put it more bluntly, a deal with the Taliban — may please those in the UPA Government who believe Islamism is a benign idea and Islamists are the natural allies of ‘secularists’, but it will be disastrous for India and its national interest.

Since Mr Krishna is the Minister for External Affairs, we must presume that whatever he has told The Wall Street Journal, as well as the implied meaning of his statement, reflect current thinking in South Block. More important, since Mr Manmohan Singh unilaterally frames foreign policy these days, Mr Krishna’s comments must be taken to reflect the Prime Minister’s views — unless they are refuted or denounced by the Government’s drum-beaters in the media. It may not be entirely coincidental that the Prime Minister’s prescription for redrafting India’s policy on Afghanistan bears close resemblance to the current thinking in Washington, DC.

As US President Barack Hussein Obama watches his much-touted AfPak policy unravel, his strategists work overtime to convert the 21st century’s Great Game into a Grand Bargain. Mr Obama spoke of a ‘surge’ in the deployment of US troops, but there are as yet no signs of 40,000 more Americans being sent to win the war against the Taliban. And while policy-makers in the Obama Administration dither, Gen Stanley McChrystal, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has submitted a ‘confidential’ report — whose contents have been leaked to The Washington Post! — to the American President, underscoring the problems posed by “inadequate resources” at his disposal. “Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months) — while Afghan security capacity matures — risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible,” he has said.

While Gen McChrystal has made a case for the immediate deployment of additional soldiers to bolster the presence of 64,000 troops in Afghanistan, Pentagon appears to be divided on the issue. It would like Mr Obama to take a political call on whether to go ahead with the ‘surge’ or begin pulling out troops from Afghanistan, and then strategise on the next steps to be taken. Interestingly, Gen McChrystal is also believed to have said in his report that “while Indian activities largely benefit the Afghan people, increa-sing Indian influence in Afghanistan is likely to exacerbate regional tensions and encourage Pakistani countermeasures in Afghanistan or India”.

That’s an understatement, but it nonetheless accurately reflects the Afghan reality which is intimately enmeshed with the reality of Pakistan’s ‘strategic depth’ policy that visualises Islamabad’s control over Kabul with the Taliban’s help and the imposition of Islamist absolutism. In such a scenario, it is amusing to think of the UPA Government cutting a deal with the Taliban.

Follow the writer on: http://twitter.com/KanchanGupta. Blog on this and other issues at http://kanchangupta.blogspot.com. Write to him at kanchangupta@rocketmail.com

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THE PIONEER

COLUMN

INDIA STILL CARRYING CROSS OF PARTITION

NARAIN SARUP

After reading reading Kanchan Gupta’s review of Jaswant Singh’s book, Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence, “Qatil-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah” (September 6) I decided to share my story with the readers of The Pioneer. I belong to Dera Ismail Khan district in North-West Frontier Province and have suffered a lot due to partition.

In last week of July 1946, at the time of the Muslim league convention under the chairmanship of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, some leaders thundered that they would shed so much blood of Hindus and Sikhs that history would forget Genghis Khan and Halaku. And they proved this to be quite true.

On August 16, 1946, riots began in Calcutta and thousands of Hindus were killed within two or three days. In reaction to ‘Direct Action Day’ riots broke out in Noakhali, Bihar, after two months. Jawaharlal Nehru threatened the people there to stop rioting. However, he did not do so with respect to the rioters in Bengal. Nehru even went to the extent of threatening to bomb rioting Hindus in Bihar.

In Amritsar on March 5, 1947, it was around 1 am that we got to know that Ranjit Cinema had been set on fire and Muslims were attacking Hindus in the dead of the night. Hindus and Sikhs, though quite unprepared for such an attack, fought back and for the next 36 hours fierce battles took place between them and the Muslims. On March 7, 1947, curfew was imposed on the city. How many people had been killed was anybody’s guess. Anyone who saw the city on March 10, 1947, would swear that the city had been bombarded. Thousand were killed and hundreds of women jumped into wells to save their honour. For the next five months riots became a regular feature in Punjab.

Hindus and Sikhs in Lahore fought bravely and were determined not to leave the city. But one night curfew was imposed and a large police force led by magistrate Cheema set fire to the biggest trading market at Shah Almi Gate and it was reduced to ashes.

On August 18, 1947, after the creation of Pakistan, the deputy commissioner of Sherkerpura, a town near Lahore, called Hindus and Sikhs for a meeting and all were shot dead.

I detested Jinnah for what all he had done but I supported his proposal for an exchange of population. Had this taken place, millions of lives could have been saved and most of the problems that India is facing today would have been solved.

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THE PIONEER

OPED

NOW IMPLEMENT THE IDEAS

GOVERNMENT HAS COME UP WITH WIDE-RANGING PROPOSALS TO REFORM EDUCATION. MOST OF THEM ARE LONG OVERDUE AND WILL WORK IN FAVOUR OF STUDENTS. BUT TO IMPLEMENT THESE REFORMS, GOVERNMENT NEEDS INFRASTRUCTURE, WHICH AT THE MOMENT IS WOEFULLY INADEQUATE

JS RAJPUT

The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development certainly has its hands full. Within 100 days, it has successfully stirred the system. Now the right to education will be implemented as a fundamental right; higher education regulatory mechanism may become corruption-free; Vice-Chancellors would be appointed only on merit, and that too by a collegium; there will be no pass/fail system in board examinations; appearance at tenth board examination will become optional; every child will be learning Hindi; children from weaker sections are to get 25 per cent seats in every school; no interviews for admissions; and several other such pronouncements could make anyone happy.

However, the plan and urgency of filling over five lakh posts of teachers in schools and around 20-25 per cent vacancies in universities is a tough task, which is mostly in the domain of State Governments or private entrepreneurs. This has remained ignored for decades. Massive programmes of teacher training and re-orientation would have to be launched immediately apart from rejuvenating teacher training institutions which function under poor conditions.

In Madhya Pradesh, for over 35 years no regular recruitment has been made in the training colleges maintained by the State Government. This also applies to positions for which the Central Government has been ready to reimburse ever since the implementation of the 1986 National Policy on Education. The District Institutes of Education and Training have also met the same fate.

Now, how does one implement the Right to Education Act in right earnest if the soldiers responsible for the frontline action are inadequate in numbers and are neither well prepared nor fully equipped?

The most prominent reform in school education comes in the evaluation pattern. Very rightly, the emphasis on eternal board examination will get reduced. Initially the media reported that school boards would be abolished. It created a big stir. How could the Central Government do it? After all the boards, which are creations of State Governments, serve several purposes and not all of them are academic.

The change in roles and activities of the school boards was long overdue. Now comes the right moment for the boards to transform their work culture, enhance proficiency and learn a few lessons in the new pedagogy, emerging under the influence of ICT in a globalised world. In fact boards have a lot to learn before we prepare the entire system to internalise the transition from the marking system to the grading system.

When asked to name his most favourite of the recommendations, professor DS Kothari said it unhesitatingly that it would be examination reforms! That recommendation was made in the National Commission on Education Report of 1966-68 and was part of the 1968 National Policy on Education approved by Parliament. Resistance to reforms in examinations has been tremendous. Now that the MHRD has shown keenness in actual reforms instead of scoring political points, the initiatives require an apolitical analysis.

Several of these reforms are continuation of earlier recommendations which just remained on paper. One decision that has generated some discussion is that of the tenth board examination being made optional. The commission had recommended that there should be no remark to the effect that a student has passed or failed in the examination. The 1986 National Policy on Education was very explicit about examination reforms. The National Curriculum Frameworks of the NCERT prepared in 1988 and 2000 also recommended grades instead of marks and reiterated abolition of pass/fail system.

It is a rare situation in which the proposals have generally received a supportive response. There are genuine apprehensions which too are being expressed in the quarters that are well familiar with the ground-level realities and also by those who are in the field and will be responsible for implementing the recommendations in schools.

Acute shortage of teachers, laboratories without equipment and unavailability of rich libraries in schools are some of the factors that may cause dilution in achieving the objectives which appear so laudable on paper. In case a teacher is not convinced that by giving grades he/she is performing the assigned task at a higher pedagogical level, children may really be at disadvantage.

Educated parents know it well that world ahead will not spare anyone from facing ruthless competition. They may, consequently, still not permit their wards to opt for the optional alternative at the board exams. Those who are from weaker sections, families which are not so well versed with the future competitions and those who know that their ward is already weak and may not get through, would mostly go in for no exams. The real position would emerge only after 2012/13.

Now that the focus is to shift from boards to schools, responsibilities on teachers will increase as never before. To assess this it is worth the recommendation of the Kothari Commission on improving external examinations. It was to be improved “by raising the technical competence of the paper-setters, orienting question papers to objectives other than the acquisition of knowledge, improving the nature of questions, adopting scientifically-scoring procedures, and mechanising the scoring of scripts and processing of results.”

Now that evaluations will be internal, these may equally well apply to teachers and school as a whole with such changes as the present position may require.

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THE PIONEER

OPED

MOCKERY OF AUSTERITY

IT’S AN ATTEMPT TO COVER UP GOVERNMENT’S FAILURES

SANDEEP B

Our dharmashastras prohibit hoarding of food, or acquiring material possessions, beyond the bare minimum as one of the qualities of an ideal Brahmin. The reason: The more you possess, the farther those possessions divert you from the path of self-study (swadhyaya), penance, and spiritual realisation.

A few thousand years later, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi wore just a loin cloth to cover his modesty because he was appalled by the swarming millions of poor people in India. The third Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri, forbade his family from using his official car for personal purposes, and his position to get jobs for his sons.

These are straightforward and everlasting examples of austerity.

Cut to today. A few weeks ago, Minister for External Affairs, Mr SM Krishna, and Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Shashi Tharoor, famously declared that they wouldn’t move out of the five-star hotels they were staying in. They reasoned it was fine because they paid for it from their personal accounts. This was just the whiff of opportunity that the ruckus-rakers within the Congress were waiting for. It was time for a fresh internal boxing match to ‘show’ who was closer to the throne.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee chided his two colleagues for their vulgar extravagance at a time of rising food prices and assorted economic horrors. Expectedly, Congress president Sonia Gandhi stepped in and agreed with Mr Mukherjee that prices were indeed spiralling through the roof. Post-haste, she laid the foundation stone for the ‘austerity’ show that followed.

Massive retinues of various hues of specialisation — commandos, cops, friskers, mediapersons — accompanied the austerity awareness tours that Ms Gandhi and her son Mr Rahul Gandhi embarked upon. While the mother travelled in economy class by flight, the son preferred the Shatabdi chair car. Congressmen cutting across positions had to grudgingly follow the example. The picture-and-sound-starved media celebrated this show of simplicity with childlike wonder. But the message had reached the intended ears much before this awareness drive. Mr Krishna and Mr Tharoor had ‘seen’ the light and by then had vacated their five-star lodgings.

But the austerity train took a new turn when Mr Tharoor posted a message (or Tweet) about travelling in economy class on Twitter (http://twitter.com/home), a hugely popular micro-blogging Web service. His tweet, “Absolutely, in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows!” in response to a query started ‘Bout 2’ of the boxing match almost immediately. The omnipotent Congress ‘high command’ slammed Mr Tharoor’s tweet and obtained a “clarification” (read apology) from him. A news report quoting Congress sources said that this was the high command’s way of sending a “message” to all “new entrants” that they should “learn the language and culture of this historic party.”

While there’s some truth in the oft-repeated quote from Sarojini Naidu about the cost of keeping Mahatma Gandhi poor, it is undeniable that Gandhi personally led an austere life and inspired millions of Indians to follow it. Lal Bahadur Shastri is remembered with respect bordering on reverence for exactly this reason. However, the politics and character of the Nehruvian Congress stands at the other pole. While Jawaharlal Nehru was quite ostentatious about his extravagance and his contempt for the ‘lower class’ is well-known, the Congress , beginning with the other Gandhi (Mrs Indira Gandhi), very austerely institutionalised corruption, nepotism and intrigue. Little surprise that Shastri is a complete misfit in the ‘language’ and ‘culture’ of this historic party. But today’s avatar of the Congress wants us to actually believe that its ‘spread austerity’ programme is concordant with Mahatma Gandhi’s austerity.

Besides, it is even wasteful to talk about this mindless hysteria, which is nothing beyond a neat attempt to divert our attention from the UPA’s 100-plus days of non-governance. On the food shortage problem and the general wretchedness of the economy, Shastri told a journalist that he would ask the Planning Commission to “have one more column in their charts to show (me) how many jobs will be created after spending thousands of crores of rupees.” He didn’t take his sons, hangers-on, and fellow travellers on austerity train rides.

A truly austere person doesn’t hold Press conferences about it. Austerity is a cultivated trait of character. Enough said.

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THE PIONEER

OPED

MAKING PEACE IMPOSSIBLE

THE KIND OF HARDLINER HE IS, IF MUHAMMAD GHANEIM BECOMES LEADER OF FATAH, THE PA AND PLO, THEN THE WEST SHOULD FORGET ABOUT PEACE IN WEST ASIA IN THE NEAR FUTURE

BARRY RUBIN

There’s nothing written about more often — and inaccurately — than the Palestinians, yet there is curiously little interest about the politics and ideology which governs their behaviour. The same situation applies to the man slated to become that movement’s next leader, only the third to hold that post in 50 years, after Yasir Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas.

The fact that an issue that is supposedly the most important, high-priority question in West Asia, or even the world, is so little studied in depth has a simple answer. The contemporary narrative is that the Palestinian leadership yearns for a state, an end to the conflict, and peace, while the failure to achieve can be blamed on Israel. Yet even the slightest real examination shows the exact opposite is true.

This point is only underlined by looking at the current candidate for next leader, Muhammad Ghaneim, often known as Abu Mahir. Of all those who might credibly have been considered for the leadership of Fatah — and hence of the PLO and Palestinian Authority — he is probably the most hardline one.

Ironically, while media coverage of the 2009 Fatah Congress stressed the accession of young and more flexible leaders, the 72-year-old Ghaneim certainly does not fit that description.

Born in Jerusalem on August 29, 1937, his first political involvement was with the Muslim Brotherhood but he became a founding member of the Fatah movement in 1959 and active ever after, involved mainly in recruitment and organisational matters.

It is difficult to say to what extent Ghaneim’s early involvement with radical Islamism has shaped his thinking and whether it would make it easier for him to reconcile with the even more radical Hamas. Most Fatah and PLO people came out of more secular Arab nationalist or Leftist movements. The only prominent leader who blended an Islamist background with nationalism was Arafat himself, and this certainly remained a prominent theme in his worldview during his entire career.

Ghaneim’s big career break came in 1968 when at the age of just 30 Arafat appointed him commander of Fatah’s forces in Jordan. And later that year, at age 31, he was put by Arafat on Fatah’s Central Committee in charge of the organisation and recruitment department.

It is impossible to overstate the importance of these two jobs. At that time, Jordan was a Fatah stronghold and the group constituted a dual Government alongside that of King Hussein, the country’s nominal ruler. Fatah guerrillas — and shortly after Arafat took over the whole PLO — had military bases from which they launched attacks on Israel across the Jordan River. Arafat must have had an extraordinarily high opinion of Ghaneim to appoint him to such a sensitive post.

Since so much of this task was involved with military matters, Ghaneim took a short officers’ course in China. On his return, in 1969, Arafat gave Ghaneim still a third chore, as is deputy for military issues. While the details aren’t clear this means Ghaneim must have played a central role in planning and implementing scores of guerrilla and terrorist attacks.

The other job was just as important. Ghaneim played a central role in selecting those to be given key jobs and just how much authority each had. Of course, everyone was far below Arafat in power but Ghaneim was about as essential as a second-tier figure could be. That job is also useful in making contacts with those who would continue to be top people in the movement in ensuing decades.

In 1970, Fatah overplayed its hand, was defeated by Jordan’s Army, and had to flee to Lebanon. Ghaneim continued his organisational and military duties there. When the PLO and Fatah were forced out of Lebanon in 1982, Ghaneim accompanied Arafat to Tunis. From 1982 to mid-2009 he remained living there, though as early as July 2007 he may have begun visiting the PA-ruled territories in the West Bank.

Ghaneim didn’t return with Arafat in 1994 because, despite serving Arafat closely and loyally for 35 years, Ghaneim rejected the Oslo accords of 1993 as too moderate. Only continued armed struggle, total victory, and Israel’s destruction were worthy goals in his eyes.

Ghaneim moved closer to the popular Farouq Qaddumi, often referred to as the second most powerful man in Fatah and PLO or as the PLO’s “Foreign Minister.” Qaddumi rejected the Oslo agreement and kept up a close connection with Syria. Arafat undercut him but Qaddumi was so strong in the movement that he could never be fired altogether.

Finally, Ghaneim decided to return and support Mahmoud Abbas. While the details are not clear, this coincided with Abbas naming him as successor, which was certainly a great incentive for changing sides. Despite some analysts claiming that Ghaneim has moderated his positions, there is absolutely no evidence that he has done so.

On the contrary, it is likely that he joined the PA and Abbas because he felt that they were closer to his long-held views in many respects.

Ghaneim has a definite appeal for Abbas as ally and successor. He is one of the few remaining original founders of Fatah and has wide contacts throughout the movement.

On the one hand, he possesses Arafat’s seal of approval historically but on the other hand he is so hardline as to appeal to that powerful tendency in Fatah. In addition, as someone who has been outside the PA politics for 15 years, he was seen as a neutral figure in many petty and personal disputes.

But this is not the man to choose if your top priorities were making peace with Israel and maintaining good relations with the West. He is the man you would choose if you intended to reject compromise, rebuild links to Syria and Hamas, and perhaps return to armed struggle in future.

The writer is director of the GLORIA Centre, Tel Aviv, and editor of the MERIA Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader and The Truth About Syria.

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THE PIONEER

OPED

PATH TO PROSPERITY IN KUTCH LINED WITH GRASS

VILLAGERS MAKE SURE THEY HAVE ENOUGH FODDER TO FEED CATTLE EVEN IN TIMES OF DROUGHT, WRITES HARESH PARMAR

As the saying goes in Kutch, Gujarat, “Banni-Pacchaam area has grass growing in such abundance that if a man stands in between, he cannot be seen.” The lush greenery drew people from far and near, first they came here to graze their cattle and eventually settled down. In times of drought, the contrast between Baani-Pacchaam and other areas became even sharper and tales of clashes between aspiring settlers abound in the region.

Once settled, the sheer luxuriant growth had a sobering effect on the villagers. Realising the enormous value they devised a set of rules for protecting the grass on which their lives depended. While in times of plenty these were followed in a more easy-going way, in times of drought, adherence to these was even stricter. Farming practices were put into practice to ensure no wastage. Grains were harvested while grass was preserved as cattle fodder. Each village had its demarcated area and cattle of each village stayed within those boundaries. The emphasis was on collective conservation and respect for nature and the environment that sustained them.

This carefully evolved pattern of social responsibility however began to change. And that began when the responsibility shifted from the local community to the Government.

Unconcerned with this delicate network of relationships between human beings and the environment, the Government planted ‘Gando Baval’, ostensibly to prevent the salinity of the land and the march of the desert which surrounded the area. This though had a converse effect. The pointed roots of baval plant prevented grass from growing near it. Gradually, the land, which was covered with swaying green grass, turned saline. The worst nightmare of the local communities began to take shape and the grass which drew people like a magnet from all over Kutch was now forcing them to move out.

While communities struggled to cope with this ugly scenario, they were also struggling to find answers, a way out of this road to disaster. Their issue and the way of resolving it lays open a fundamental question to all such situations not only in Kutch but across the country. Can rural communities continue with their traditional occupations and use modern technological advancement to enhance it? Can they take steps to uplift and upgrade such practices so that they do not suffer at the hands of outside agencies, even the Government. Can they aspire to have access to such technical and scientific inputs?

This question has been answered by the people of Tindlava village of Rapar taluka in Kutch, with some innovative interventions from Yuva Institute, which first began its operations after the terrible earthquake in the region. Through its farming and land improvement project, it began a process of regeneration. A plot of land was demarcated for growing grass which was only two kilometers from the village. Then came the challenge of actually growing grass and replicating the intricate web of social equations which sustained it previously. The Mahila Mandal and the Gram Samiti of the village jointly planned the process guided by the institute.

The two-acre grazing field was then fenced with iron wires. The destructive baval plant was uprooted and with the help of another organisation, Sahyog Trust, useful grass varieties like dhaman and dilo planted.

While the trust met expenditure related to grass seeds, wages of labourers and fencing, the process drew its strength from the collective effort of the community. The villagers displayed a rare maturity in crafting their new project, perhaps having learnt the bitter lessons of the past. They now paid utmost attention to protect the quality of the land and their newly inaugurated grass plot.

To ensure that the land does not get washed away, a 500-feet gully has been constructed, plugging it where such a threat exists. Trenches have been dug to preserve the flowing water. Structures now dot the grass plot where water gathers to quench the thirst of cattle.

Today, even in times of drought, the 1,700-strong village community has adequate supplies.

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THE PIONEER

OPED

MAKING PEACE IMPOSSIBLE

BARRY RUBIN

The kind of hardliner he is, if Muhammad Ghaneim becomes leader of Fatah, the PA and PLO, then the West should forget about peace in West Asia in the near future

Ironically, while media coverage of the 2009 Fatah Congress stressed the accession of young and more flexible leaders, the 72-year-old Ghaneim certainly does not fit that description.

While Arafat’s strategy sought these things covertly, the compromises involved in such a pretense were too much for Ghaneim, who openly criticised his old chief. He stayed in Tunisia despite numerous invitations from Arafat, starting in October 1994, to join the PA and instead insisted Arafat cease all negotiations with Israel.

Ghaneim moved closer to the popular Farouq Qaddumi, often referred to as the second most powerful man in Fatah and PLO or as the PLO’s “Foreign Minister.” Qaddumi rejected the Oslo agreement and kept up a close connection with Syria. Arafat undercut him but Qaddumi was so strong in the movement that he could never be fired altogether.

On the contrary, it is likely that he joined the PA and Abbas because he felt that they were closer to his long-held views in many respects.

Ghaneim has a definite appeal for Abbas as ally and successor. He is one of the few remaining original founders of Fatah and has wide contacts throughout the movement.

The writer is director of the GLORIA Centre, Tel Aviv, and editor of the MERIA Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader and The Truth About Syria.

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TIMES OF INDIA

COMMENT

GET CRACKING

The Judges (Inquiry) Bill has been in the making far too long. First introduced in Parliament in December 2006, the government has been sitting on it since. Now law minister Veerappa Moily has assured this newspaper that it will be tabled in the next session of Parliament.

There are several good things about the Bill. It proposes to set up an institutional mechanism to probe complaints against judges before Parliament takes up impeachment proceedings. The Bill would establish a national judicial council (NJC) to investigate complaints of corruption against the higher judiciary. The NJC shall investigate complaints submitted by any person, or upon receiving a reference from Parliament based on a motion moved by 50 Rajya Sabha or 100 Lok Sabha MPs. The five-member council would comprise the chief justice of India (CJI), two seniormost judges of the Supreme Court and two seniormost high court judges; or the CJI and four Supreme Court judges to investigate SC judges. The council would have the powers of a civil court and would be allowed to call on investigative agencies and other relevant records to probe the charges. If the allegations are proven, the NJC may impose minor penalties or recommend the removal of the judge. Importantly, the complainant would be given cover and no court would be allowed to take action against him for contempt of court. According to Moily, declaration of assets by judges, which has become a hot potato in recent times, would be part of the Bill.

After the Bill was introduced, a parliamentary standing committee made several suggestions to improve it. It rightly suggested that the body that is entrusted the job of investigating allegations against a judge should not be restricted to judges. It has proposed that members of the executive, Parliament and the Bar be on the panel. In addition, it has also suggested that the appointment of judges should not be left to a collegium of judges. These recommendations are important given the controversy over the elevation of Justice P D Dinakaran to the Supreme Court despite allegations of corruption against him.

We hope that the suggestions of the standing committee will be taken into account before the Bill is tabled. During the past few months several members of the higher judiciary have been accused of corruption and financial impropriety. It would be a mistake to sweep these allegations under the carpet. A well-framed Bill would go a long way in bringing transparency and accountability to the judiciary.

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TIMES OF INDIA

COMMENT

SET THEM FREE

If HRD minister Kapil Sibal is supposed to be championing much-needed reforms in the educational sector, that isn't evident in his handling of the IITs. The current impasse between his ministry and striking faculty in India's premier engineering colleges is a good illustration of the problems that arise when government is too closely involved with the functioning of academic institutions. The IITs are considered a symbol of modern India's scientific and technical prowess. Students graduating from these prestigious institutions draw substantial salaries. Alumni rule the roost in boardrooms from New Delhi to New York. To see the teachers responsible, in large part, for the enviable reputation of the IITs reduced to agitating against the government for better pay is scandalous.

IITs will be unable to maintain their status as premier educational institutions if they cannot attract and retain the best faculty available. Sibal has argued that since the government funds the IITs, and is answerable to Parliament, teachers should be satisfied with what they're getting. But that fails to take into account the fact that many of the teachers in the IITs have passed up more lucrative opportunities in order to pass their knowledge on to future generations.

The solution is for the government to scale back its investment in the IITs. Currently, the IITs receive all their funding from the government, which gives it the power to micro-manage the functioning of the institutions. The stand-off over compensation is only one way in which ham-handed, and unnecessary, government intervention in the operation of the IITs has manifested itself. Let's not forget that IIT alumni have deep pockets and are willing and eager to give back to their alma mater, if they only had the chance. The government should step back and allow the IITs to raise a share of their own funds. Government funds may be constrained, as Sibal has pointed out. But you can't build great institutions on a shortage mentality. IITs could easily leverage their brand value to raise more resources.

As it stands, less than 2 per cent of world publications in science and technology originate out of India. That situation is unlikely to improve without better incentives, which includes higher salaries, and operational autonomy. India cannot become the global centre for research and development that it aspires to be without high quality manpower. That's what the government ought to focus on. If that involves mobilising funds from the private sector as well as foreign investment, so be it. Let's not pull out old ideological chestnuts to forestall that.

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TIMES OF INDIA

TOP ARTICLE

THE SPENCE SOLUTION

SUDIPTO MUNDLE

The road to global cooperation on climate change mitigation at the forthcoming Copenhagen Summit is currently gridlocked by an apparent direct clash of interests between the mitigation priorities of the developed countries and the growth priorities of the developing world. Nobel laureate Michael Spence has an imaginative strategy for getting around the gridlock that is both fair and efficient.

The International Panel on Climate Change, the acknowledged global authority on the subject, estimates that 50 years down the road the acceptable safe level of CO2 emissions will be about 14.7 billion tonnes or 2.3 tonnes per capita per year. The average emission today is about double that limit at 4.8 tonnes per head. In the absence of a serious mitigation effort this will rise further to about 8.7 tonnes per head or four times the safe limit by 2060 as many large high-growth developing countries approach the living standards and consumption patterns of the advanced countries.

Much of the CO2 emissions come at present from the advanced countries. USA and Canada in particular emit about 20 tonnes per head. The other advanced countries emit between 12 and 6 tonnes per head. Most developing countries, including India, emit well below the safe level of 2.3 tonnes per head and China just exceeds that benchmark. The developing countries accordingly maintain that the advanced countries have the responsibility to curb their emission levels.

However, the emissions balance will continue to shift rapidly if the fast growing developing countries maintain their pace of growth. In 50 years the major share of emissions will come from the developing countries, especially China and India. Hence, the advanced countries maintain that climate change mitigation is not feasible without critical action being taken by these countries. But any commitment to contain CO2 emissions will compromise growth and poverty alleviation in these countries. What is the way out of this impasse?

In the Spence solution, much of the mitigation action at present has to be taken by the advanced countries in the form of a Carbon Credit Trading System (CCTS). First, there has to be agreement on a global carbon emission mitigation time path leading to average emission levels of 2.3 to 3 tonnes per head in 50 years. This determines the available volume of carbon credits or emission rights in a given year. These should be distributed among the advanced countries according to some agreed formula, say in proportion to their population size. The countries should be allowed to exchange these carbon credits between themselves, based on their national priorities.

They should also be allowed to earn additional carbon credits through mitigation activities. These would include behaviour adjustments that reduce per capita emission levels, introduction of lower emission technologies and mitigation activities such as afforestation either in the country itself or elsewhere where the cost of mitigation is the lowest. These two features would establish a price for carbon credits that supports the permissible level of global CO2 emissions and is based on the global marginal cost of mitigation. Of course this will require the establishment of cross-border mitigation arrangements that are collectively described as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol.

The Spence solution does not require developing countries to take any action at this stage except to commit to the international agreement on the time path of global carbon emissions and commit that they would join the CCTS once they reach the living standards and emission levels of the advanced countries. In the next 25 to 30 years many of the fast growing developing countries would 'graduate' to advanced country status and at that stage they would start participating in the CCTS.

In preparation for their eventual entry into the CCTS on favourable terms, it would be in the interest of the developing countries to also engage in mitigation efforts at present to the extent these are compatible with high growth. Their efforts would be facilitated by cross-border mitigation investments and technologies provided by advanced countries which choose to increase their share of carbon credits through the CDM.

The Spence solution is attractive because it is both fair and cost-efficient. But can it be actually implemented? The G20 countries account for 90 per cent of global output and two-thirds of the global population. It is this group plus a few other large emerging economies such as Mexico, Egypt, etc that will have to deal with all the economic and technological challenges of mitigation. That helps because the group is small enough to allow for effective negotiations yet large enough to determine global trends if they do reach agreement. However, the Spence solution also assumes that the technologies and behaviour adjustments required to move along the agreed global emission path will be available. Hence the feasibility of his solution ultimately depends on whether or not the incentives built into the proposed CCTS will be sufficient to generate the required technologies and behaviour adjustments.

The writer is emeritus professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi.

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TIMES OF INDIA

VIEW

BANKS SHOULD BE CONSUMER-FRIENDLY

An RTI query directed to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has focused the limelight on an important although largely unremarked upon problem of the Indian banking system. The thrust of the query was the prepayment penalties levied on loans by private and multinational banks, and the steps, if any, that had been taken to curb it. The RBI's response was illuminating. It stated that it did not approve of such penalties and had advised banks to this effect, calling for self-regulation measures to put an end to such practices. It also admitted that it had received several complaints by bank customers on this issue. But these seem to have had little effect.

The basis of a free market is fair competition. Financial services constitute a market like any other; banks must compete for consumers by offering competitive terms and services. Understandably, a bank will be reluctant to lose a customer who wishes to refinance his loan by availing of lower interest rates being offered at another bank. However, the way to retain him is by offering competitive rates. What banks are doing now instead limiting consumers' choices through financial disincentives is unfair. Neither is it sound business logic. By scrapping prepayment penalties, banks are likely to attract more consumers in a market where the potential for growth is huge.

The system functions differently in many other countries. In the US, for instance, the consumer is given a wide range of choices. If he wishes to avail of lower interest rates, he has the option of signing on to a prepayment clause. But he also has the choice of going for terms that offer standard rates and no penalty on refinancing. Factor in competition between banks serving as a limiting factor on those rates, and consumers' rights are well protected.

The Indian system must be brought in line with these standards. Groups such as the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission have already taken on banks over this issue. Banks mustn't be needlessly conservative if they want to grow the financial services market.

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TIMES OF INDIA

COUNTERVIEW

PENALTY MAKES BUSINESS SENSE

RATNA GOSWAMI

Like any commercial entity, money-lending institutions think about profit margins in order to survive and thrive. So it's hardly fair for the RBI to turn up its nose at the penalty banks slap on loan prepayment. The central bank says it disapproves of loan "foreclosure charges". The result is that it comes out looking like a hero batting for borrowers. Banks, by contrast, come out looking like Shylock.

Financial institutions, however, don't demand a pound of flesh when levying prepayment penalties. It's no secret bankers lend with the aim of making a certain amount of money through interest charged over a stipulated time period. There's an understanding to this effect between lender and borrower, who chooses between a fixed and floating interest rate. If prepayment penalty is locked in, it is to discourage contractual breach and to compensate the lending entity for a loss in case the borrower still wants out. Certainly, people should schedule payback to suit their needs. They can also go for loan refinancing to save money, or move to financing under better terms. But they can't expect to change the rules of the game prematurely in all cases for free. Else, the argument for consumer choice will merely be an alibi for one party in a contract gaining at the other's cost.

Most banks waive the penalty if a borrower prepays from his pocket. But banks shouldn't be expected to oblige customers to the extent of enriching their own business rivals. Why should a lending entity not penalise a borrower in case of prepayment facilitated by another bank's finances, since it stands to lose not only money but also a client to a competitor? Surely bankers aren't in the trade for altruistic reasons. Interest on loan repayments are an important part of their income streams. If it dips for unanticipated reasons, because the customer doesn't keep up his part of the contract, banks are entitled to charge loan foreclosure penalty. Look at the global financial crisis for what can happen when banks aren't conservative.

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TIMES OF INDIA

SUBVERSE

THE NOSTALGIA ROSSOGOLA

BACHI KARKARIA

The less faith we have, the more religion we need to flaunt. The lotus has got mired in a string of muddy pools, but the religious assertiveness powered by Hindutva, and Ayodhya, is flourishing. This year in Mumbai, almost all the Ganpati mandals seem to have segued into Durga pandals. Once just a handful, they have proliferated with the same zeal as Maharashtra’s traditional festival.

This is a good thing and a bad thing. Bad, because the political piggy-backers, chanda collectors and Pujo Committee swaggerers undermine the true spirit of the festival. Good, because it blunts the home-sickness of the uprooted Bengali. But only partly. A pandal alone does not a Pujo make. Besides, most of them are dedicated to ‘Amba Mata’ or ‘Devi’. Neither has the grandeur of a towering Durga slaying the villainous Mahishasura.

So, despite the surround sound of drums and aarti chants, nostalgia, as syrupy as a rossogola, is the chief item on the Pujo menu of all those Bengalis who did not manage to go back to Kolkata for this annual time of reunion and renewal. The same applies to us Hon. Bongs, who may not be to the tangail shari born, but are inextricably entangled in it for life.

So we make the pilgrimage to the Pujo baris in the city of our exile, painfully aware that these are not the real McKundu. Being in just an outpost, far away from the dyed-in-the-oohl home base, they can never be the Full Montoo. Hey Mago! Can Ma Durga feel at home in a place called Lokhandvala, or even a Shivaji Park?

Oh yes, nishchoy, Mumbai’s Pujo pandals all have the special ashtami bhog and the ‘kaalchural’ programme with ‘noted artistes of Kolkata’. Doe-eyed belles do ‘nacka’ (‘nakhra’ is a poor translation) with dreamy-eyed Rahul Bose wannabes. The stalls sell kathi rolls and kantha plus the kitsch-and-carry staples of every mela ground. But wistfulness hangs as heavily on the air as the aroma of frying luchis. Longing is no substitute for belonging.

It felt so much closer to home during the two years i spent in Delhi. Indeed, its Bengalis are so entrenched, that the colony of C R Park seems to have seceded completely from C R Park, Kolkata.

Now that i have returned to Mumbai, it’s back to the nostalgia-dripping rossogola. I slurp on the schmaltzy memories of Pujos past – they are structured, like a Metro, in Phase I and II. The first are those of my own growing up years. The second are the ones filtered through my children. Thanks to fate and a transfer, they too plunged into this magical experience during their emotionally formative years. Pujo-time instilled in both of us the validity of other faiths.

My childhood memories are centred on Dharamtolla St, later canonised as Lenin Sarani. Not that Marxism ever hammered or sickled down the fervour of its grand ‘para’ pandal. Like a relaxing babu’s thighs, it spread across an offshoot of the road, and the canopy of sprinting lights transfigured this otherwise nondescript stretch into a fairyland.

When i returned to live in Kolkata, my children were at the same marvel-prone age. And luckier. Our 6, Sunny Park high-rise had its own Pujo so they got a personalised, 24x4 immersion in the celebration. Their initial intrigue and awe over the unfamiliar idol in the lobby turned into a soothing intimacy as they shot out of the flat with the first whine of the conch and never came up till the last frenetic beat of our flamboyant dhaki. Rishad, 3, was completely in the thrall of ‘Dugga’. Past 30, I think he still covertly is.

It’s strange what you pass on along with the heirloom clock: a susceptibility to both colds and comfort zones.

Alec Smart said, “Is the once-privileged Kobad Gandhy himself a class enemy?”

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TIMES OF INDIA

PUJA FERVOUR

WELCOMING DURGA

BARSHA NAG BHOWMICK

I used to rush, as a child, to see when Durga Puja, the five-day homecoming of the Goddess Durga fell whenever someone handed me a new calendar. I continue to do it as a grown up. My regular electrician in Delhi, a Bengali teenager, came recently to repair a switch and was excitedly telling me about his plans to visit his hometown for the Pujas. Kolkata becomes a Puja madhouse, with blazing lights, millions of people in stiff new clothes shoving and pushing. Entire streets get blocked off by pandals, each gaudier than the next. But Puja is not only about wearing new dresses and offering anjalis. It's a certain feeling that you can recognise when you feel it. At daybreak on the first day of the Pujas, we'd hear the invocation to the goddess on All India Radio echoing across the sleepy neighbourhood and welcoming her home. We heard the same songs and the same voices for decades. I'd walk into the administrative building in my Kolkata office and see the men wearing their once-a-year dhotis and the women in starched cotton saris. The priest would be reciting Sanskrit prayers.

At the end of Durga Puja, we immerse the image of the goddess. Huge processions snaked through the streets of the locality. The drumbeats made the houses tremble. I always feel a twinge of disappointment when it sinks in that the beautiful image of the goddess would be immersed. I wonder then if the goddess misses us. Does she long for the starbursts of fireworks lighting up the night sky and the little clay lamps flickering at every doorway? The throngs of children still wide-eyed at midnight? I tell her not to worry. It's almost like home everywhere in Delhi. I can send giant trays of sweets and fruits to friends and family everywhere across the world for Durga Puja at a click of the mouse, or e-mail them cards for Diwali with images of little lamps and lotuses. The goddess smiles at us. It's a painted smile, but it forgives us still.

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

DON’T BLUNT OUR CUTTING EDGE

Human Resource Development (HRD) ministers may come and go, but the issue of autonomy to institutes of excellences like our Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Management (IIMs) refuses to go away. So it is no surprise that the current incumbent, Kapil Sibal, finds himself up against the staff of the IITs on issues as varied as staff selection procedures to salaries to, of course, autonomy. The HRD ministry wants a cap of 40 per cent on the number of professors who make it to senior grade with its attendant perks and privileges. It also insists that a first class in the preceding degree is a requirement for appointment to assistant, associate and full-fledged professorship. Instead of the present Rs 15,000 per month that goes under the head of scholastic allowance, Mr Sibal wants to introduce a performance-linked incentive scheme.

Where the ministry is perhaps going into micro-management drive is in trying to restrict staff attending international and domestic conferences. The IITs that have threatened to go on a day’s strike to protest what they see as encroachment on their autonomy don’t seem to have reckoned with the determination of the minister to not allow himself to be pushed around. Mr Sibal does have a point when he says that since the government pays salaries, it has a right in these times of cutbacks to refuse to hike pay scales at the moment. His contention that the IIT faculties get paid more than recommended by the Pay Commission is also valid. Many top IIT professors have said that their main concern is governmental interference, and not so much the money. Both the minister and the IITs claim they are acting in the interests of excellence. If so, they should sit down and work things out without the IITs resorting to strikes more suited to those with far more pressing grievances.

The minister, however, should revisit their demands at a later date. Increasing perks and privileges in institutions of excellence is one way to stop the brain drain. It will also attract collaborations with prestigious foreign institutions. If the minister and the IITs play their cards right, we could have a win-win situation on our hands.

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

PRE-GAME, FOREPLAY

Chuck the Kama Sutra in the dressing room laundry bag. If our cricketers really want their bang for their forward drive, they should underline and read coach Gary Kirsten and mental conditioning expert Paddy Upton’s document that stitches Sun Tzu’s 6th century BC masterpiece The Art of War with (William) Masters and (Virginia) Johnson’s 1966 classic Human Sexual Response. While Kirsten and Upton have advised members of the Indian team on many fronts — diet (‘don’t keep an empty stomach’), strategy (‘take preemptive action, not a belated response the way India has conducted warfare down its history’, and personal management (‘accept your flaws instead of blaming others’) — we focus on one issue that we consider to be of vital importance to our cricketers now in South Africa: sex.

You don’t have to be Attila the Hun to know that there’s a correlation between a man’s sex drive and his ability to wage war. The Mahabharata is littered with subtle references to guiding pre-battle hormones to their rightful destinations, while the Iliad, another ancient war epic, leaves the field (of the battle as well as of the bed) open for Achilles, the ideal warrior, to vent off and on the pitch. And for people looking for more practical role models in the world of cricket, there’s always arguably the greatest spin-bowler of them all, Shane Warne. Let’s just say he was no Mahatma Gandhi.

What makes the Kirsten-Upton manual such a noble guide is that it doesn’t shy away from the real world — where a touring cricketer can end up spending hours into the night before the Big Day trying to find a ‘sparring partner’ ready to be his ‘muse’. Some poor blokes, alas, simply end up alone. Which is where the two latter-day Dronacharyas have admirably suggested less lucky players to ‘go solo’ for the sake of the team. After that, “just roll over and go to sleep” in preparation of the Big Game the next day. Surely, Ramakant Achrekar would agree.

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

KEEP IT ALIVE!

ROBERT SKIDELSKY

Have stimulus packages brought the world’s traumatised economies back to life? Or have they set the scene for inflation and big future debt burdens? The answer is that they may have done both. The key question now concerns the order in which these outcomes occur. The theory behind the massive economic stimulus efforts that many governments have undertaken rests on the notion of the ‘output gap’. This is the difference between an economy’s actual output and its potential output. If actual output is below potential output, this means that total spending is insufficient to buy what the economy can produce.

A stimulus is a government-engineered boost to total spending. Government can either spend more money itself, or try to stimulate private spending by cutting taxes or lowering interest rates. This will raise actual output to the level of potential output, thereby closing the output gap.

Some economists — admittedly a diminishing number — deny that there can ever be an output gap. The economy, they argue, is always at full employment. If there are less people working today than yesterday, it is because more people have decided not to work. (By this reasoning, a lot of bankers have simply decided to take long holidays since last September's financial meltdown.) So today’s output is what people want to produce. Attempts to stimulate it will produce only higher prices as people spend more money on the same quantity of goods and services.

A more sensible view is that today’s economy is not producing as much as it could and that there are many more people who want to work than there are jobs available. So a stimulus will boost both output and employment.

But how large must such a stimulus be? The United States Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that American output will be roughly 7 per cent below its potential in the next two years, making this the worst recession since World War II. American unemployment is projected to peak at 9.4 per cent towards the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010, and is expected to remain above 7 per cent at least until the end of 2011.

The US government has pledged $787 billion in economic stimulus, or about 7 per cent of its GDP. Superficially, this looks about right to close the output gap — if it is spent this year. But it is, in fact, a three-year programme. Some $584 billion is allocated for 2009-10, leaving perhaps $300 billion of extra money for this year. Even so, it is not clear how much of that will be spent.

This can be illustrated by a simple example. Suppose the government distributes the extra cash to its citizens. Some of it will be saved. American household saving has shot up from 0 per cent to 5 per cent since the start of the recession, understandably to pay off debt.

Another part of the extra money will be spent on imports, which does nothing to stimulate spending on US output. Let’s subtract 20 per cent for these two items. The bad news, then, is that only 80 per cent of the $300 billion, or $240 billion, will be spent initially.

The good news is that this figure is multiplied over successive rounds of spending, as one person’s spending becomes another person’s income, and so on. The value of the multiplier depends on assumptions about the size of the ‘gap’, ‘leakages’ from the spending stream, and the effect of government programmes on confidence.

Estimates vary from a multiplier of about two all the way down to zero. A multiplier of two would generate $480 billion of extra spending, compared to a multiplier of one, which would generate just the initial $240 billion. If the multiplier is zero, as conservative-minded economists believe, there will be no effect on output, only on prices.

A further source of stimulus is ‘quantitative easing’, or, more simply, printing money. By buying government securities, the central bank injects cash into the banking system. This is intended to stimulate private spending by bringing down the rate of interest at which banks lend to their customers. Extra hundreds of billions of dollars have been injected into banks worldwide by this means.

But the stimulus effect of quantitative easing is far less certain than even that of fiscal stimulus. While the policy caused credit spreads to narrow and bond market liquidity to improve, many banks have been using the extra money to rebuild their balance sheets (the equivalent of increased household savings) rather than lending it to businesses and individuals. Several conclusions can be drawn from what admittedly are back of the envelope calculations. The first is that stimulus packages around the world arrested the slide into depression, and may have started a modest recovery.

Second, it is too early to scale down the stimulus, as Japan and the US seem ready to do. As one British official said ahead of the G-20 summit in Italy in July, “We should start to prepare exit strategies, but we should start implementing them only when [we] are sure [we] have got a recovery that is entrenched and self-sustaining, and I don’t think anyone is saying we are at that point yet.”

Third, existing policy, even if maintained, will not produce self-sustaining recovery. At best, it offers the prospect of several years more of sub-normal activity. A double round of stimulus packages is needed to counteract the real prospect of a double-dip recession.

The time to start worrying about inflation is when the recovery is entrenched. To pay back the debt without strain, we need a booming economy. Talk of government spending cuts is premature. “A boom, not a slump, is the right time for austerity at the Treasury,” said Keynes. He was right.

Robert Skidelsky is a member of the British House of Lords and Professor Emeritus of political economy at Warwick University Project Syndicate

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

WELFARE POLITICS

SUHIT SEN

Let’s begin with a big picture proposition that has been brewing among many political observers since the results of the last general elections became known. It seems reasonable to argue that voters in India are becoming increasingly oriented towards self-interest and accountability as against an electorate influenced by communitarian considerations of one or the other description.

The point is that the UPA, led by the Congress unexpectedly bucked anti-incumbency and hostile circumstances to return to power with a fairly solid mandate primarily because it had delivered on wide-ranging welfare fronts in a way that no government previously had, especially in the post-liberalisation era. This means that large sections of the deprived — those below the poverty line have now been pegged by a committee constituted by the government at 50 per cent of the population — voted on the basis of welfare programmes such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, rather than out of allegiance to membership of putative ‘communities’.

This was, with some exceptions, a country-wide phenomenon, showcased especially in Uttar Pradesh, where the Congress sneaked into second place despite the lack of basic organisation and mobilisational networks, and in West Bengal, where the ruling Left Front was punished after over three decades of cruise control because of its abysmal failure of delivery on the development and social sector arenas.

The recent round of by-elections in several states seems to bear out this hypothesis. Let’s begin with Bihar. The Janata Dal (United) and its ally, the BJP, did badly and were mauled by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in alliance. No one had expected this result. What explains the success of the latter is difficult to identify just now. But it seems clear that the Janata Dal (United) did badly because of two reasons: first, its uneasy yoking with a sectarian party isn’t winning it too many friends. Which is why it is so keen to jettison it. Second, because it commissioned a report on the land question that recommended the delivery of rights to sharecroppers, which must have set off a backlash among the powerful landowning class. Communitarian bonds may be weakening, but no one is arguing that local muscle power does not work — especially when it comes to by-elections, when oversight is less intense and the problem of mobilisation less acute.

The Congress’s contretemps — it has lost seats across states — is clearly explicable in terms of its inability to contain prices, though a clutch of local factors, obviously more important in isolated by-elections as compared to a general election, has played its part. Among the most pre-eminent among the usual suspects has been factional fights and poor candidate selection. This was certainly the case in Delhi, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

A word of caution may be in order. The BJP’s good showing in Karnataka and Gujarat in particular may constitute evidence that the politics of polarisation is alive and doing well in small pockets in the country. If it wants to remain relevant on the national stage, however, the BJP must reflect on the wisdom of randomly extrapolating the lessons from the laboratories of these two states to a national context. Narendra Modi is hardly a leadership option.

Suhit Sen is a Kolkata-based writer

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

BITTEN BY THE BUG TAMINGFLU

SCIENTISTS AT THE Serum Institute in Pune worked feverishly for two months to produce the swine flu vaccine. Now it will have to be tested on animals and humans before it can be sold We are under tremendous pressure (from within and from the society) to develop this vaccine.

RAJEEV DHERE senior director, Serum Institute of India Only the twitter of birds and the humming of machines can be heard here.

Brows knitted, men and women walk from one building to another, ferrying bottles, vials and canisters. They talk to each other in whispers.

These men and women make up the fifty-member team developing a vaccine for swine flu at the Serum Institute of India, a company founded more than three decades ago by the Poonawalla family, which also owns a big stud farm nearby.

Last week, the team's head showed Hindustan Times the first three vials of the vaccine -- the culmination of two months of work.

"We were under tremendous pressure to develop this vaccine," said Rajeev Dhere, 54, senior director, vaccines, at the company. "The pressure came not only from within, but also from society at large."

It all began two months ago, in the last week of July, when Serum Institute became one of nine companies based in developing countries to bag a World Health Organisation (WHO) contract to develop the vaccine. Two other Indian companies, Delhi-based Panacea Biotec and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, were also among them.

It is important for India to produce its own vaccine because foreign companies have committed to supply their output to other parts of the globe, so we will not be able to meet our needs with imports, Dhere said. Imports might be more expensive as well.

Soon after the WHO declared in June that the world was facing a swine flu pandemic, it gave these nine companies the crucial virus strain from which to manufacture the vaccine. It estimates that the virus could infect up to two billion people, or a third of the world's population, over the next two years. In India, the swine flu virus has infected 8,696 people, of which 264 have died, health ministry figures show.

The team at the Serum Institute, which is one of the world's biggest makers of the measles vaccine, has now produced two forms of the vaccine one that can be injected and another that is a nasal spray.

"We achieved our goal because each unit honoured its commitment," said Dhere.

The team began with 10 scientists, but kept growing as the deadline approached.

The skills of influenza specialists, undervalued until the recent outbreaks of various flus, proved crucial.

Leena Yeolekar, 45, a virologist who led the research unit, is one of them.

Thirteen years ago, when she decided to specialise in influenza, her colleagues and professorssaidshewasruininghercareer.

"Then in 2003, came avian flu, and now swine flu," she said, smiling.

But now, her task is done. Going forward, like all new drugs or vaccines, the Serum Institute's swine flu vaccine, too, must undergo clinical trials before it can be sold.

The vaccine must first be tested on animals and then on humans. Dhere's team began trials on mice on September 15. He hopes to complete all human trials by March 2010.

Commercial production is expected to start in April next year, after which the baton will pass to the Institute's pharmacists Ravi Menon and V.B. Vaidya.

They are getting ready to produce 20 million doses of the vaccine a month. For this, they will have to order 30 million fertilised hens' eggs from various hatcheries. (The eggs we eat are sterile.) The embryos in the eggs serve as little factories for multiplying the virus.

The virus is then weakened to produce the vaccine. (All vaccines are essentially replicas of the agents that cause the disease.) But all that is still a long way off.

Right now, Dhere is fending off enquiries from worried parents in Pune, where swine flu struck with particular ferocity.

"They call me every day," he said.

"One parent of a child who died of swine flu called me and said that if a vaccine had been available, his child might have been saved. I almost broke down."

aditya.ghosh@hindustantimes.com Only the twitter of birds and the humming of machines can be heard here.