EDITORIAL 02.11.09

 

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Editorial

month november 02, edition 000339, collected & managed by durgesh kumar mishra, published by – manish manjul

 

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

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THE PIONEER

1. JUST SHOOT, DON'T TALK
2. NO CRISIS MANAGEMENT
3. STATE MUST WIN THIS BATTLE - JOGINDER SINGH
4. PM FORGETS HIS RAJ DHARMA - TRINA JOSHI
5. TERRORISM IN A NEW GUISE - B RAMAN
6. NO TIME FOR REAL ISSUES - SHIKHA MUKERJEE
7. PSUS BETTER ON MANY FRONTS - SHIVAJI SARKAR
8. DEALING WITH ILLEGAL PLACES OF WORSHIP - PRAFULL GORADIA

MAIL TODAY

1. MAOISTS IN QUANDARY OVER PC'S OFFER
2. WEAKNESS PERSISTS
3. END HUSAIN'S AGONY NOW - MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN
4. THIS IS A CLOSED USER GROUP
5. JAIPUR FIRE EXPOSES OUR PLANNING
6. INDIAN TEAMWORK DID AUSSIES IN

TIMES OF INDIA

1. TALKING TOUGH
2. SCRAP THE SCHEME
3. EASTERN PROMISES - BALADAS GHOSHAL
4. 'WE NEED TO HAVE AT LEAST 6 TO 8 LAUNCHES EVERY YEAR'
5. STABILITY WINS OVER CHANGE  - PRITISH NANDY

HINDUSTAN TIMES

1. NOT OUT OF THE WOODS
2. SOME CURDLED LOGIC
3. THE ORIGINAL AAM AADMI LEADER - PANKAJ VOHRA
4. LET'S FACE THE TRUTH

INDIAN EXPRESS

1. TALKING OF TALKS
2. LOOKING BACKWARD
3. READING THE LEAVES
4. RECALLING INDIRA  - MIHIR S. SHARMA
5. MOVE BEYOND KYOTO - YOGINDER K. ALAGH
6. TURFED OUT OF OUR OWN BACKYARD - RAJA MENON
7. MORE POETRY, PLEASE
8. PRINTLINE PAKISTAN - RUCHIKA TALWAR

FINANCIAL EXPRESS

1. CORE QUESTION
2. THE BANK IS CLOSED
3. MRS G AND THE LICENCE PERMIT RAJ - ILA PATNAIK
4. NOT A PERFECT SYSTEM BUT THE BEST WE HAVE - MICHAEL WALTON
5. GEARING FOR GROWTH IN AUTO - YOGIMA SETH
6. REPORT CARD

THE HINDU

1. HOODA CROSSES FIRST HURDLE
2. TAXING FOREIGN INFLOWS
3. INDIA AND ITS TROUBLESOME NEIGHBOURS - M.K. BHADRAKUMAR
4. SOFT FOCUS ON APEC GEOPOLITICS - P. S. SURYANARAYANA
5. PEACE IN LONDON'S FREE SHEET WARS? - BEN DOWELL
6. HORROR STORIES HELP CHILDREN GROW UP - JOHN CONNOLLY
7. MEDIA GREED DURING ELECTIONS POSES SERIOUS ETHICAL QUESTIONS

THE ASIAN AGE

1. A SORRY MESS IN KARNATAKA
2. LEFT MUST PUSH FOR A NEW UNITED FRONT - ARJUN SENGUPTA
3. DON'T UNCORK THE BUBBLY YET! - PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA

DNA

1. MR KHURSHID, CLASS ACTION SUITS SHOULD ALSO TARGET GOVT - R JAGANNATHAN
2. WHY POSTPONE HAPPINESS TO TOMORROW? - SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR
3. FRAYED TEMPERS IN THE TIME OF CLIMATE CHANGE - ARATI R JERATH

THE TRIBUNE

1. TIME TO MOVE AHEAD
2. OFFER FOR TALKS
3. POLICE VS LAWYERS
4. THE WAR WITHIN - BY HARSH V. PANT
5. DREAD OF VASECTOMY - BY G.K. GUPTA
6. NEED TO LINK DEVELOPMENT, SECURITY IN AFGHANISTAN - BY ROBERT B. ZOELLICK
7. UP'S DREAMS AND CHALLENGES - BY SHAHIRA NAIM
8. THIEVES TARGET DELHI'S VIPS - BY DEVI CHERIAN

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

1. DENOUNCING TERROR
2. POWER AND NE
3. INDIA, CHINA AND CONTENTIOUS ISSUES - DWAIPAYAN
4. GURU NANAK'S MESSAGE FOR HUMANITY - LP SINGH

THE ECONOMIC TIMES

1. IDIOT BOX IRRITATES
2. IT FIRMS BEAT EXPECTATIONS
3. FREE UP RETAIL FUEL PRICES
4. LET A HUNDRED THEORIES BLOOM
5. IN RIGHT PURSUIT OF ATMASUDDHI - K VIJAYARAGHAVAN
6. SHOULD DGH BE A MULTI-MEMBER BODY?
7. STRENGTHEN DGH BY APPOINTING A BOARD
8. REGULATOR'S INDEPENDENCE IS CRITICAL
9. LAY'S, KURKURE LOVE MARKS WITH SNACKERS - RATNA BHUSHAN
10. 'THERE IS SUFFICIENT CFS CAPACITY IN NHAVA SHEVA'

DECCAN CHRONICAL

1. A SORRY MESS IN KARNATAKA
2. LEFT MUST PUSH FOR A NEW UNITED FRONT - BY ARJUN SENGUPTA
3. OBAMA'S POETRY NEEDS A WINNING NARRATIVE - BY THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
4. TOWARDS A NEW SOUTH ASIA  - BY SHIV VISVANATHAN
5. NEW LIFE FOR THE PARIAHS  - BY NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
6. OBAMA SHOWS THE DIFFERENCE - BY MAUREEN DOWD

THE TELEGRAPH

1. SUNNY SIDE
2. SAFELY COVERED
3. LEARNING TO MANAGE -  S.L. RAO
4. IT'S GETTING TOO HOT -  GWYNNE DYER

DECCAN HERALD

1. STOP WORK
2. STEADY RISE
3. NAXAL ENIGMA - M J AKBAR
4. NOBEL'S CRITERIA FOR PEACE STILL RELEVANT - BY JOHAN GALTUNG, IPA
5. SEEKING AN IMAGE BUILDER - BY DINESH KUMAR

THE NEW YORK TIMES

1. SIX TESTS FOR EQUALITY AND FAIRNESS
2. THE COURT AND YOUR SAVINGS
3. CAPE WIND
4. MEMPHIS  - BY VERLYN KLINKENBORG
5. TOO LITTLE OF A GOOD THING  - BY PAUL KRUGMAN
6. TEACH YOUR TEACHERS WELL  - BY SUSAN ENGEL
7. FISCAL BLOOD ON THE TRACKS  - BY MITCHELL L. MOSS

PAKISTAN OBSERVER

1. MR PM THE FEDERATION STANDS STRENGTHENED
2. RECOGNITION OF ROLE OF FREE MEDIA
3. CRUCIAL ROLE OF S&T IN PROGRESS
4. MR OBAMA, READ WRITING ON THE WALL - SHUMAILA RAJA
5. FIGHT AGAINST MILITANTS IN S WAZIRISTAN - MIAN SHEHRYAR
6. MAOIST WIDEN DEADLY REACH ACROSS INDIA - JIM YARDLEY

THE INDEPENDENT

1. MOB MANAGEMENT
2. QUESTION OF LIFE
3. THE FIFTY-PERCENTERS...!
4. OBAMA AS 44TH US PRESIDENT AND HIS BAILOUT PLAN - KHORSHED ALAM
5. IS HUMAN SAFETY UNIVERSAL? - MOHAMMAD RAJJA
6. 'CLIMATE REFUGEES' MAY STRAIN SEETHING DHAKA - TAREQUL ISLAM MUNNA

THE AUSTRALIAN

1. CHANGING YOUNG LIVES
2. GLOBAL FORCES STILL DICTATING THE RACE

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

1. GREENBACK PIGGYBACK
2. BUILDING INSURANCE NEEDS RENOVATION

THE GURDIAN

1. AFGHANISTAN: THE ELECTION WHERE EVERYONE LOST
2. HOUSING BENEFIT: 10P TAX RATE REVISITED
3. IN PRAISE OF... ASTERIX

THE KOREA HERALD

1. TROOP REDEPLOYMENT
2. TRUST IMPORTANT
3. ASIAN COUNTRIES WAITING FOR OBAMA
4. DISCRIMINATION AGAINST LEPROSY REMAINS - YOHEI SASAKAWA

THE JAPAN TIMES

1. PUSHING NEW COURT PROCEDURES
2. JAL FROM THE GROUND UP
3. HOW THE U.S. CAN CLEAR GUANTANAMO'S NAME - BY CESAR CHELALA
4. JAPAN'S 'DEMAND MANAGEMENT' AND YEN RATE IN THE GLOBAL CRISIS - BY KUMIHARU SHIGEHARA

 

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THE PIONEER

EDIT DESK

JUST SHOOT, DON'T TALK

WHERE IS THE PROMISED WAR ON MAOISM?

Nobody doubts that the leadership of the UPA Government is serious about tackling the Maoist insurgency. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has repeatedly said Left-wing extremism presents the single biggest internal security challenge to the Indian state. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has appeared business-like and purposeful. Yet, it must be said that the good and encouraging words have not yet translated into hard action. The admission by Mr Chidambaram, while releasing his Ministry's monthly report card this past week, that his offer of talks to the Maoist militia has got nowhere is emblematic of this situation. Mr Chidambaram has asked the Maoists to give up violence and negotiate with the State Governments and/or the Centre. Somewhat contradictorily, he has not asked them to lay down arms. In 2004, after coming to power in New Delhi and in Hyderabad, the Congress top brass, particularly the Government of Andhra Pradesh, initiated talks with Maoists without asking them to disarm. The talks got nowhere. The ultra-Left guerrillas made outrageous demands and eventually returned to the warpath. Given this recent history, it remains a mystery what Mr Chidambaram plans to achieve by yet again seeking to talk to well-armed insurgents. Private armies and terror groups only wave the white flag — and settle for the conference room — when they sense they are in serious danger of military annihilation. If Mr Chidambaram wants to get the Maoists to agree to a peaceful resolution of their so-called grievances, he has to first get police and paramilitary forces to put them on the defensive by severely crippling their bandit regiments and logistical networks. For the moment, the Maoists can be forgiven for believing the Centre is doling out empty threats. It is possible that a rigorous anti-Maoist counter-insurgency plan is being drawn up. It is equally explicable that finalising such a blueprint will take time and the details need not be shared with a nosey media. In the meantime, however, Mr Chidambaram would do well to cease addressing Maoist ideologues through Press conferences, and promising he will persuade State Governments to discuss land acquisition, industrialisation and forest rights of indigenous peoples with them. Mr Chidambaram has no business making such advance commitments on behalf of State Governments. That aside, the Maoists have no locus standi in such matters. If they want to speak up on behalf of ordinary people and allegedly oppressed populations, they should organise themselves into a political party, contest elections and attempt to win a mandate. They can't hold a gun to India's head.

Close to six months have passed since the UPA Government came back to office. From day one, Mr Chidambaram has been remarkably correct in his rhetoric and assessment of the danger posed by Maoists. He has invoked memories of an earlier assault on the sources of Maoist terror, carried out so successfully by Mrs Indira Gandhi's Government in West Bengal and other States in the early-1970s. The country's mood has been readied for a determined counter-attack. Yet, little has actually happened and that is why the Press briefings, the monthly report cards, the repeating of the stock phrases and clichés about the insurgency running through the heart of India are now beginning to appear tired and predictable. It is time to stop talking about talks with the Maoists. It is time to let the Government of India's firepower do the talking.

 

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THE PIONEER

NO CRISIS MANAGEMENT

IOC FIRE HIGHLIGHTS CALLOUS INDIFFERENCE

The huge fire at the Indian Oil Corporation depot in Sitapura Industrial Area on the outskirts of Jaipur that started last Thursday and continued to burn throughout Friday and Saturday exemplifies the heavy price of negligence at such facilities. The fire, which has killed at least 12 people and injured around 200, started when fuel from the depot was being transferred to a pipeline. It is suspected that a leakage in the pipeline caused the fire, resulting in flames that could be seen even 10 km away. Residents of nearby villages had to be evacuated and shifted to temporary camps to avoid further casualties. Although firefighters had been pressed into service to try and control the spread of the flames, the fire itself could be doused only by letting all the fuel in the 11 tankers of the depot burn out. The initial estimated damage from the incident is said to be worth around Rs 500 crore. The usual inquiry committee has been set up to investigate the circumstances that led to the blaze and submit its report within six weeks. Nonetheless, it is unsettling that the authorities have a certain air of apathy about the incident.

Industrial accidents in this country are nothing new. The Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984 at the old Union Carbide Factory is the most shocking such accident that continues to linger on in our collective consciousness. It is perhaps true that industrial accidents cannot completely be avoided. But that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be a zero-tolerance policy towards industrial negligence that could lead to disasters like the one at Jaipur. For this, there has to be a system of stringent checks and balances in place, which in turn needs to be backed up by an effective response system that should be able to immediately swing into action as soon as a possible disaster in the making is detected. It is ridiculous that in Jaipur's case the Government's Disaster Management Committee realised the gravity of the situation only when the fire had gone out of control, some 20 hours after the incident. This is simply unacceptable. If industrial tragedies are to be prevented, the entire response mechanism needs to be far more streamlined and efficient than what it is today. These disasters not only amount to huge losses in public wealth and infrastructure to the nation, but also in human lives that cannot be replaced. How does the Government explain to the relatives of those who perished in the fire in Jaipur that their loved ones died because someone was lackadaisical about performing his duty or because there were no systems of checks in place? Who is accountable for the tragedy? Jaipur should expedite the implementation of concrete industrial safety measures so that ghastly incidents like these never occur again.

 

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            THE PIONEER

COLUMN

STATE MUST WIN THIS BATTLE

JOGINDER SINGH

One of the hallmarks of good governance is to ensure equality of justice and not compromise on basic democratic values. Good governance has been sacrificed more than once at the altar of expediency or for the sake of buying peace.

Instances of this are galore. The rule of law that politicians like to brag about is seldom enforced. Case in point: The latest surrender of the West Bengal Government to the Maoists. The former freed as many as 21 Maoists foot-soldiers in exchange for the life of the abducted police officer in charge of Sankrail police station. Both the West Bengal State and the Union Governments have been flexing their muscle and threatening to take a tough stand against the Maoists. But this they have been doing without ensuring the basic tools that are needed by security personnel who are at the forefront of this battle against the extremists.

It has been reported that 24 policemen, including constables, inspectors and home-guards, all unarmed, were present at the Sankrail police station when the Maoists struck October 20. Not a single shot was fired by them. The reason is that all their weapons were securely locked in the store-room as required under the rules.

In any cases, the weapons they had, that is six .303 rifles, three revolvers, one 9-mm pistol and several rounds of ammunition, were antique and no match for the sophisticated semi-automatic guns used by the Maoists.

What is even more shocking is that till the last Lok Sabha election, the policemen at the station had to make do with lathis. It was only during the election that they received their archaic weapons. Apart from being ill-equipped, the policemen at the Sankrail station had no firing practice and had to live and work in sub-human conditions. Their station has no boundary wall and is situated in an open field with a forest behind it. It is a dilapidated building that houses the main station and the adjacent barracks, which have been rented from a local businessman. The police station has no doors or bunkers to thwart an attack.

It would be wrong to say that Sankrail police station and the poor facilities there are an aberration. In fact, majority of the police stations in the country are no better. But this somehow doesn't concern the powers that be.

Indeed, the reaction of all Governments affected by the Maoist menace is kneejerk. Nobody is clear whether it is a law and order problem or a socio-economic issue. Perhaps it is all these things put together. Everybody has his own interpretation and prescription for solving the problem. In the meantime, the problem continues to aggravate. The Maoists have already declared war against the Indian state. But our Government has not yet formed a concrete policy to deal with the situation.

The Maoists have intensified their attacks in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, in the Gadchiroli region in Maharashtra, and in parts of West Bengal. Policemen who stand in the way of the extremists are usually no match. For example, 18 members of a police party were killed in an ambush in Gadchiroli district on October 8, five days before polling for the Maharashtra Assembly election began. The brutal beheading of Jharkhand Police Inspector Francis Induwar is still fresh in the minds of the people. There are numerous such incidents from across the Maoist-infested States where policemen have been butchered by the Left-wing ultras. The State Governments are lackadaisical about implementing development plans for the tribal areas despite substantial funds being available, but it is the police that pay for it with their lives.

According to the Union Home Ministry's own figures, overall Maoist influence has spread from 56 districts in 2001 to 223 of in 2009. It ranked approximately 70 of these as worst affected.

There is an urgent need to ensure that the poorest of the poor get their share of development of growth. The Government must ask itself what has prevented the delivery of the benefits of its developmental schemes to the deprived masses.

 

It is nothing but corruption which lies at the root of the problem. Maoism cannot be vanquished through big speeches or announcement of grand plans, but only through empowering the poor. Small problems become big if they are not tackled in time. This is what has exactly happened with Maoism.

The ultimate responsibility for maintaining peace and tranquility in the country lies with the Union Government. It might be true that law and order is a State subject. But the Centre cannot shirk its responsibility. The figures speak for themselves. According to Home Ministry data, Maoist strikes on economic targets have increased from 71 in 2006 to 80 in 2007,109 in 2008 and 56 in the first half of 2009

Communication towers have been most targeted this year, apart from power plants, with Andhra Pradesh bearing most of attacks. The police have borne the brunt of the attacks with 44 per cent casualties in 2007. As many as 55 police personnel were killed in a single incident in Bijapur in Chhattisgarh on March 3. A whopping 395 police stations in 11 States reported Maoist violence in 2006 with 93 in Andhra Pradesh alone. Do we need any more proof to underline the seriousness of the Maoist menace?

It is not enough to go on making plans and have a vision as to how to deal with the problem. These things have to be combined with enterprise and action. We must tackle the Maoist crisis head on. This is the only way in which we can hope to win this war. Failure is simply not an option.

 

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THE PIONEER

COLUMN

PM FORGETS HIS RAJ DHARMA

TRINA JOSHI

The dust over the 2G spectrum scam, which has caused a loss of Rs 60,000 crore to the exchequer, is unlikely to settle soon. Following the CBI raids on Department of Telecommunication offices in eight major cities last week, Union Telecom Minister A Raja tried to pull a fast one on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Finance Minister by claiming that the duo were kept in the loop about his moves with respect to 2G spectrum allocation during the tenure of UPA-I. But The Pioneer's exclusive revelation that Mr Raja defied the Prime Minister's written directions to refrain from taking any action without his knowledge and his disregard for the then Law Minister's suggestion of forming an Empowered Group of Ministers to deliberate on the matter seems to have called his bluff.

It may be recalled that irregularities in the allocation of spectrum licences surfaced last year when two of the licencees made a killing by selling, even before going operational, their stakes for eight times the price at which they got the spectrum from the Government. Prior to this event, in January 2008, the Telecom Ministry awarded licences to eight private firms on first-come-first-serve basis. In the absence of any competitive bidding, the licences were awarded based on the prices of 2001 while the actual price should have been six times higher. Contrary to Mr Raja's assertion, this was completely incongruent with the telecom rules.

Although so far the CBI has not named Mr Raja in its FIR against 'unknown officials' of the DoT and 'unknown companies', there is not much Mr Raja can say in his defence. Even if the Telecom Minister is believed to be not on the take, one cannot overlook the fact that the scam happened while Mr Raja was in office, and that the CBI has booked a few of his officials under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Against this backdrop, propriety demands Mr Raja step up to the plate and resign on moral grounds.

This task can be best handled by the Prime Minister himself because he let the matter fester by re-inducting a tainted Minister in the Cabinet. Notwithstanding the allegations against Mr Raja of colluding in the scam, in order to honour the 'coalition dharma' Mr Singh reeled under pressure from the DMK, the Congress's strongest ally, to retain its Dalit face in the second innings of the UPA. Thus, he is guilty of giving precedence to 'coalition dharma' over 'raj dharma'. By faintly responding to the issue, Mr Singh is disregarding his promise of instituting a Cabinet free of corrupt Ministers.

 

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THE PIONEER

OPED

TERRORISM IN A NEW GUISE

HOW DOES THE STATE DEAL WITH MAOISTS WHO HAVE EVOLVED INTO A DEADLY INSURGENT FORCE ACROSS THE COUNTRY, SRIKING AT WILL AND INDULGING IN ATROCITIES? THE USUAL METHODS OF TACKLING TERRORISM MAY NOT SUFFICE AND NEW, INNOVATIVE MEANS HAVE TO BE ADOPTED TO DEAL WITH THIS MENACE

B RAMAN

Since 9/11, one talks of old and new terrorism and modern and post-modern terrorism. The reference is to the modus operandi and tactics used by terrorists and their ability to use modern scientific and technological innovations for planning and committing acts of terrorism. Their use of modern innovations increases the lethality of their acts of terrorism, but, at the same time, increases their vulnerability to neutralisation by the security agencies. The Mumbai 26/11 attack witnessed how the terrorists' use of modern means of communications facilitated not only their acts of terrorism, but also the investigation by the police.

After 9/11, the neo-Taliban of Afghanistan, headed by Mulla Mohammad Omar, has emerged as a modern insurgent force capable of planning and launching conventional-style attacks as well as sophisticated, complex, multi-target and multi-modus operandi attacks involving the use of modern means of communications and weaponry. This should account for its successes against the Nato forces and the Afghan National Army in certain areas and its vulnerability to neutralisation by the Nato forces in other areas due to the interception of its communications.

As compared to the neo-Taliban, the Maoist insurgents of the tribal belt in central India are an old-style insurgent force still using tactics and modus operandi such as ambushes, attacks with landmines and conventional weapons, etc, of the kind used by the communist insurgents of Malaya in the 1940s and of Myanmar and Thailand in subsequent years. Their strong points are not their weaponry, but the support from large sections of the tribal community in whose midst and on whose behalf they operate, their superior knowledge of the terrain and their non-dependence on modern means of communications.

 

The support of the community and their non-dependence on modern means of communications should explain the difficulties faced by the intelligence agencies in collecting human and technical intelligence about them. Their superior knowledge of the terrain gives them an advantage over the security forces. Clandestine, undetected movement through the terrain comes easily to them, but not to the security forces heavily dependent on modern means of transport for their movement.

The objective of any counter-insurgency strategy against the Maoists should be not to defeat them, but to deny them successes through better tactics and better modus operandi by the security forces. This would be possible only with the support of the tribal community. Winning over the tribals through better governance, better development and better redressal of their grievances against the State has to be the core component of this strategy. Disproportionate use of force against the Maoists and the tribals supporting them would drive more tribals into the arms of the insurgent leaders.

Better tactics and better modus operandi by the security forces would mean better capability for the detection and neutralisation of landmines, better skills in ambushing insurgent groups on the move and a capability for rapid intervention. The facts that there have been more instances of successful ambushes by the insurgents than security forces, the deaths of members of the security forces due to landmines continue to be high and the hijacking of the Delhi-bound Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express for over five hours on Tuesday by a group of insurgents without any counter-action by the rapid intervention forces speak of major deficiencies in our counter-insurgency capability.

The incident underlines the need for a specially-trained and equipped special intervention force capable of operating rapidly and stealthily in the rural areas. The National Security Guards, who were used to counter the 26/11 terrorist attack in Mumbai, are specially trained and equipped to intervene in terrorism-related situations in the urban areas. A similar force for rapid intervention against the Maoists in the rural areas is necessary.

Since the Maoist insurgency has spread over a wide geographic area coming under the jurisdiction of the police forces of a number of States, the command and control of the counter-insurgency operations becomes more difficult than in the case of terrorism. Should there be a centralised operational command and control or should the command and control remain the responsibility of the police forces of the affected States, with the role of the Government of India confined to co-ordination, guidance, capacity-building in the affected States and facilitation of the counter-insurgency operations? How to ensure better co-ordination among affected States and joint action where necessary? Should there be a joint action command? If so, how should it be constituted? These are questions which need attention.

 

Andhra Pradesh has had success stories in dealing with Maoist insurgency - through better intelligence, better terrain awareness, better physical security, better tactics and targeted attacks on key leaders. Its example should be of value to other States.

Non-State actors — whether terrorists or insurgents — cannot be defeated like one defeats a State adversary except in exceptional cases such as the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam by the Sri Lankan security forces. The LTTE, under Prabhakaran, conducted itself like a state and paid a heavy price for it. Non-State actors can be made only to wither away through a sustained campaign of attrition with the support of the community. The campaign will be long and has to be sustained. One should not expect quick results.

Hard rhetoric and war cries have no place in counter-insurgency. A state, which is perceived by the community as caring for the people, has greater chances of prevailing over the insurgents than a state, which is seen as indifferent to the problems of the people.

The writer is director of the Institute for Topical Studies, Chennai.

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THE PIONEER

OPED

NO TIME FOR REAL ISSUES

CPM, TRINAMOOL BUSY ABUSING EACH OTHER

SHIKHA MUKERJEE

If instead of minding their rival's business political parties in West Bengal minded their own, there would be less deliberately crafted chaos and greater accountability. The people of West Bengal would not be held to ransom by competing political parties if each side attached some priority to minding their own business and fighting for votes.

Nothing illustrates this better than the handling of the train hijack at Banstala close to Jhargram in the Maoist-infested forests of Jangal Mahal in West Midnapore. There was so much that was said that by the end of the incident, the Union Railway Ministry failed to name the organisation that claimed credit for the successful hijack, the Peoples Committee Against Police Atrocities. Since Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and Union Home Secretary GK Pillai had also charged the Maoists with hijacking the train and the Maoists themselves had taken credit, not naming them was a bizarre lapse.

Since the political rivals — the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Trinamool Congress — are happier engaged in competitive verbal fireworks and consequently suffer from an attention deficit syndrome, neither side is pinned down and held to account. Sometimes, as happened with the hijack drama, it seems that the CPI(M)'s tactics are designed to divert attention and so rescue the Trinamool Congress, rather than push its rival harder up against the wall. In other words, the CPI(M) seems unprepared to go in for the kill as it were and prefers to perform complicated muletas rather than stick the knife in.

Just as the Trinamool Congress is prepared to divert attention from the CPI(M)'s frequently dismal governance by raising the pitch of its accusations to a level where there is only noise and no substance. If either side had studied the classic Death in the Afternoon they would have known that a goaded bull allowed to survive to fight another day is wilier and dangerous or too wounded to go back into the bullring.

If exhausting the competition is what the political class in West Bengal imagine is tactics then there should be no case for complaining about flawed delivery of governance, rent seeking behaviour and indifference to the quality of governance when it does get delivered. Since none of the parliamentary political parties is willing to effectively hold the other to account, it does create the conditions for lawless politics and the politics of annihilation to take over.

If the Union Railway Ministry is asked why it failed to name the perpetrators of the hijack it ducks answering. If the Trinamool Congress is asked why the Railways failed to name the perpetrators it accuses the CPI(M) of conspiracy. The Trinamool Congress is not embarrassed that its leader Mamata Banerjee was described as a "friend" in the scrawled messages that decorated the hijacked Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani. The CPI(M) is not fazed that its supporters obstructed another Rajdhani train two days later and that it does not have the political courage to ban the Maoists, call its Left Front partners to book for parleying in secret with the Maoists, namely Kishenji alias Koteswar Rao.

Politics in West Bengal has become a crude version of what was once upon a time a sophisticated rivalry between contradictory ideological positions and practices. According to Ms Banerjee, she is more truly Left or Marxist because she is pro-poor; her slogan "Maa, mati, manush" being the only evidence till now that she is indeed pro-poor. The CPI(M), according to her, are for big business and anti-people, willing to displace propertied and poor sic farmers, skim the cream off all Government schemes and use it to build ostentatious residences.

If the CPI(M), even before its loudly proclaimed rectification, that is housecleaning exercise, had denied that it was contaminated, by opportunists who routinely abused political as well as administrative power then, it would have had greater political significance. By repeating what the CPI(M) has always acknowledged Ms Banerjee has in effect helped her rivals defend their misdeeds. By waging war against Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for being pro-capitalist, Ms Banerjee has successfully driven out investors and restored the CPI(M) to its original position, at least in its rhetoric.

Such complicity suggests that the Trinamool Congress as much as the CPI(M) are not concerned about improving the quality of life through better governance and responsible politics for the people of West Bengal. Since the two sides, aided and abetted by the Congress are busier minding the other sides business, change, momentum, dynamism, are words evacuated, because politics has rendered them so.

 

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THE PIONEER

OPED

PSUS BETTER ON MANY FRONTS

THE FABULOUS 50 LIST OF FORBES, WHICH FEATURES 13 INDIAN COMPANIES WITH JUST ONE PUBLIC SECTOR NAVRATNA, COMPLETELY IGNORES THE SOCIAL ROLE THAT PSUS PLAY IN INDIA

SHIVAJI SARKAR

As many as 13 Indian companies, including navratna public sector unit BHEL, have figured in the Forbes 50 fabulous list. On one hand, it is a matter of pride but on the other it raises very critical questions: Does the list suggest that our navratnas are not real world class jewels but mere imitation — poor man's gold? Or the listings like that of Forbes have standards that ignore many aspects regarding PSUs?

The concern for 18 navratnas and 56 mini navratnas is legitimate as they are fully funded by the Indian public and have been brought back to health after long nurturing, policy corrections and reduced bureaucratic meddling. Some of them might have gone back to pre-reform era practices but most are known to do well.

This implies that some aspects are being neglected by Forbes. The list includes only companies with a minimum revenue and marketing cap of $ 3 billion along with a five-year track record of operating profit and return on equity.

Forbes claims to have evaluated 910 companies. It whittles the candidates down by first looking at each company's five-year track record for revenue, operating earnings and return on capital. Then most recent results, share-price movements and the outlook for the year ahead are taken into consideration. A loss in the last fiscal year can knock a company out. It also makes judgement calls stated to be based on the differences in transparency, accounting and conditions among countries.

Public sector companies certainly have a better track record in maintaining accounting transparency. The audit procedures are multiple and gruelling. So they certainly cannot be knocked out on this important technical aspect.

Recent trends have shown that they are top on the priority of job hunters as they have emerged as the best employers. However, Forbes has not also made the condition of model employer as being one of the criteria for the selection to fabulous category. Its methodology is strict and adheres to the financial aspect of a company. A company's five-year track record is taken into account to check its consistency and to ensure that one is not awarded for a freak delivery.

Nonetheless, it ignores that public sector organisations in India are set up on no-profit, no-loss basis so that they could deliver their social goals in an objective manner. They were set up largely in all those sectors at the initial stages after independence where the private sector would not dare trudge be it power, steel or heavy industry, where the risk factors were unknown and possibly high.

For instance, ONGC Videsh alone has oil assets worth $ 2.1 billion. If its parent firm, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, is added to it, it would surpass the $ 3 billion criteria. But ONGC also has to ensure that petroleum prices remain affordable despite high international prices. Even now the private sector is riding piggyback on the public sector in many critical areas. Wherever the private sector has decided to become partners, like the highway or power distribution, they are charging the nation too exorbitantly. Alas, Forbes does not take these factors into account.

However, all this does not justify the misadventures, if any, of public sector organisations. The CAG audit and Government's evaluations not only of the 74 navratna and mini navratna but of 160 Central Government PSUs recorded a profit of Rs 91,083 crore in 2007-08. Most of these organisations are also earning profit for over last five years. Investments in the Central PSUs have increased by 8.31per cent. They also earned foreign exchange amounting to Rs 74,283 crore.

It is not to say that there was no loss making units. There were 53 such enterprises, including closed units of the Fertilisers Corporation of India and Hindustan Fertilisers, which incurred a loss of Rs 11,274 crore. Loss-making units like Artificial Limbs and Manufacturing Corporation of India and Food Corporation of India have non-financial social objectives too. While ALIMCO is providing immense services in rehabilitating the physically handicapped, FCI has the objective of ensuring food security.

On the other hand, the 13 companies which have figured in the Forbes list witnessed a compounded annual growth in profits in excess of 10 per cent over the last four years. It is a very high level of profit taking. Such profit taking will induce high prices and inflation.

If Forbes revises its methodology and considers social objectives and appropriate treatment to the labour force, certainly many more Indian public sector companies would find its place in the list. Particularly after the Lehman Brothers scandal, Forbes needs to do that because now it has been internationally established that mere financial performance does not reveal the entire gamut of activities of a corporate group.

The fabulous 50 list should not just speak about so-called financial health but also reveal how good the corporate citizen is at the global level.

-- The writer is a senior economic affairs journalist.

 

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THE PIONEER

OPED

DEALING WITH ILLEGAL PLACES OF WORSHIP

LET'S BEGIN WITH TEMPLES THAT WERE CONVERTED INTO MOSQUES BY ISLAMIC RULERS

PRAFULL GORADIA

The recent Supreme Court order prohibiting the building of places of worship on public land was a reiteration of law. No one can build anything on a piece of land which does not legitimately belong to the person. Land-grabbing is a violation of not only of law but also of the morality of any civilised society.

The court has stressed 'public' land because it has presumed that 'private' property would be taken care of by its owner. But the crime is equally pernicious. State Governments should be supported by all citizens in preventing illegal construction whether with or without land-grabbing.

The court stressed "no fresh construction". For existing illegal structures, it has asked the State Governments to review them "case by case". This is a tribute paid by the judiciary to the secular fundamentalism practiced by most Governments.

How can anyone justify condoning any of the reported 60,000 illegally built temples and mosques in Delhi? There should be no time limitation on the detection of crime and its punishment especially when they have national or civilisational dimensions. There are a number of places of worship in India which were destroyed, distorted, damaged or desecrated by members of other religions.

The tale of Islamic iconoclasm having converted, restructured, rebuilt and destroyed Hindu temples is epical. There are some 3,000 such cases. Among those I have visited, one was the Bhojshala at Dhar on the way from Indore to Mandu.

It was built by Raja Bhoj in the 11th century as a Saraswati mandir-cum-college. It was converted by Amid Shah Daud Ghori early in the 15th century. Several Hindu accoutrements, however, were left alone; for example the portrait of Goddess Saraswati.

In 1935, the Maharaja of Dhar issued a compromise order under the influence of the British resident whereby Hindus and Muslims were allowed into the Bhojshala one day each year. Basant Panchami was the day allotted to the Hindus. However, as part of Muslim appeasement in 1997 then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh relaxed once a year to once a week — every Friday. Whereas even today, no Hindu can enter except on Basant Panchami.

The Lat Masjid also in Dhar is another interesting monument deserving to be dealt with on a 'case by case' basis. It is also, like the Bhojshala, situated on land belonging to the Government, first that of Raja Bhoj and in due course the Government of Madhya Pradesh.

 

It was named 'Lat' after a square pillar of metal similar to the ancient pillar erected near the Qutub Minar. The so-called masjid has no minarets, no hauz for a wash before namaz. It is a four-sided pavilion resting on 300 pillars which are reminiscent of a temple. More uncanny was my experience when I picked up a rather loose rectangular stone that had been used for paving the floor. On its reverse side it had temple carving, as had other stones on the walls.

Kannauj was the capital of Aryavarta whose glories are described first by the famous Greek Ptolemy around 140 AD and later by Farishta, the Persian chronicler of Mahmud Ghazni. This iconoclast invaded Kannauj in 1016 and again in 1018. What happened was researched by Maj Gen Alexander Cunningham, the founder-director of the Archaeological Survey from 1861 to 1885 and subsequently by historian Neave. Stanley Lane-Poole has also left a detailed record. His words: "Of all its gorgeous shrines, not a temple was spared. Nor were the neighbouring (of Kannauj) princes more fortunate".

About a hundred kilometres away is Etawah and its Jami Masjid a number of whose Hindu pillars were subjected to several coats of aluminium paint, which was applied to a surface made smooth by the use of plaster. The attempt was to rub out the embarrassing non-Islamic appearance. The 19th century British judge of Mainpuri district has researched and written about the Jami Masjid. At Jaunpur rests the Atala Devi Masjid, obviously a mandir of the goddess converted into a mosque.

In Europe it was a common practice to restore places of worship when a territory was recaptured. The Oxford History of Islam records that Almohed Mosque at Seville in Spain, completed by 1198 AD, was re-modelled and transformed into a cathedral when the Christians returned to power. Another example was the mosque of Bab Mardum in Toledo which became the church of Cristo de Ia Luz around 1187. The biggest instance is that of the Great Mosque at Cordoba which was completed in 976 by the Ummayyad Caliph, but converted into a cathedral upon Christian reconquest in 1236. Incidentally, today Spain works under a secular Constitution as does India!

Reconversion of churches took place even between Christian countries. After 1797, when a major part of Poland including Warsaw was taken over by Russia, its cathedral was rebuilt into an Eastern Orthodox cathedral. When in 1918 Poland became a single independent state, the edifice was razed to the ground and replaced with a Catholic cathedral as a symbol of national restoration. Sir Arnold Toynbee mentioned this in the second Azad Memorial lecture in 1961. All these and many other examples should be taken up for reconversion by the State Governments.

 

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MAIL TODAY

COMMENT

MAOISTS IN QUANDARY OVER PC'S OFFER

 

UNION Home Minister P. Chidambaram is on the right track in dealing with the Communist Party of India ( Maoist). He has said that the government would be willing to have a dialogue with the Maoists if they halted their violence. This is as it should be; surely the Maoists don't expect the government to conduct a dialogue with them, even while they attack the State.

 

Second, he has made the sensible point that the Maoists need not lay down their arms before talks can begin. It is unrealistic to expect that the Maoists will lay down their arms before talks can begin.

 

Third, he has said that if the violence was halted, the Union government would persuade the state governments to talk to the Maoists on all matters including their concerns on land acquisition, forest rights, industrialisation and development.

 

Nationally the Congress party is leaning towards a conservative approach to land acquisition and a radical one on forest rights and development, so Mr Chidambaram's offer is a smart political move that removes his party from the line of fire that it need not be in.

 

The Maoists are clearly outmanoeuvred and have come up with what appears to be a stock rejection of the offer which claims that they do not wish to betray the " people's interests" and that they would only accept a ceasefire and not the " irrational, illogical, impractical, absurd and obstinate" demand that the Maoists halt their violence.

 

Mr Chidambaram's offer and the Maoists' rejection of it, now sets the backdrop for the expected offensive of the state against the extremists. The government's offer, despite the spate of violence unleashed by the Maoists in October, is good strategy. If the forthcoming police action, too, is conducted with the deftness and restraint that has marked the preliminaries, the Maoists are likely to be in deep trouble.

 

It is therefore of utmost importance that the police action be controlled and precise and that there is no disproportionate use of force or other kind of excess. Mr Chidambaram should select officers who have the imagination and ability to meet the demands of the task. If need be the planned offensive should be delayed and the forces involved put through special sensitisation training that ensures that they do not handle the local people in a manner that alienates them.

 

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MAIL TODAY

COMMENT

WEAKNESS PERSISTS

 

THERE is more to the sustained fall in stock prices over the past couple of weeks than the routine roller- coaster ride of the indices. While ups and downs are normal in stock markets, the steep fall seen in October points to some more fundamental problems with the economy. The bellwether BSE Sensex has shed more than 1,600 points, or over 10 per cent of its value since October 17. The fall is even more surprising, coming as it does on the back of a nearly year- long surge in stock prices.

 

Investors, who were buying heavily into the India growth story a short while ago, have clearly turned pessimistic.

 

There are reasons for their concern. The performance of major Indian corporates in the second quarter has not been exactly encouraging. While most majors have shown growth in both turnover and profits, the rate of growth has decelerated sharply. This points to a weak recovery in the ' real' economy – that part of the economy which actually produces and sells goods and services. The clear signal from the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) that the policy of easy liquidity and benign interest rates put in place after the global financial crisis to stimulate demand, may be soon coming to an end, has also worried investors. The RBI is concerned that the massive sums of cash pumped into the economy as a stimulus measure are beginning to fuel inflation. Added to the drag imposed by the failure of the monsoon, there are grounds to believe that a return to a high growth trajectory is some time away.

 

The government acted with commendable speed when faced with the crisis.

 

It now needs to move proactively in managing the recovery, by judiciously sustaining productive spending on infrastructure and job creation, while cutting back on the deficit.

 

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MAIL TODAY

COLUMN

END HUSAIN'S AGONY NOW

THE ARTIST HAS SINCERELYAPOLOGISED AND REMOVED ALL PAINTINGS IN HIS CONTROL FROM VIEW

MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN, AN ART ICON, HAS BECOME A POLITICAL TOY.

 

The Congress led Union Government has flashed support for his return to India. On 29 October 2009, it declared that it would approach the Supreme Court for a quick disposal of his cases. On 30 October 2009, he was assured ' Z' security. This is clearly a change of heart. In May 2006, Mr. Patil, the Congress Home Minister, issued an advisory to the Police Commissioners of Delhi and Mumbai that " there are grounds to believe that certain paintings of painter M. F. Husain hurt the religious sentiments of the majority community, and, therefore might be a provocation for communal disturbance". In other words: " Prosecute Husain. Criminalise his art as hate speech". Karan Thapar reminded us of an old earlier interview where Congress spokesperson, Jayanthi Natrajan responded on the need for protecting Husain by saying, " I don't think it's the highest thing on our list of priorities at the moment given the act of terror against our country ( and) given ( the) particular situation we find ourselves ( in).

 

It's simply not the job of the government in my view."

 

HARASSMENT

 

After all this, the government now wants to protect Husain and expedite his trials.

 

The hype apart, the offer is a limited offer: the process of criminalisation of his work will continue. He should give up his freedom in exile, give effect to his sentiment to return to India and virtually become a prisoner under home arrest with ' Z security'. Husain pithily remarked that the government has not been able to protect his paintings, leave alone himself.

 

These new proposals are minimalist. They offer little by way of ' law' and an alluring feeler to civil libertarians, secularists and Muslims that the Union Government is prepared to go an inch or two forward.

 

This controversy started thirteen years ago in 1996.

 

In September 1996, Mr. V. S. Vajpayee called Husain a ' butcher' for allegedly painting Hindu goddesses in the nude. No real protection emerged when the Herwitz Gallery was attacked in 1996 and 2004.

 

Husain's South Mumbai home was invaded in May 1998. These sites remain unprotected. Mr. Ashok Pandey offered UP Minister Qureshi Rs. 100 crores to kill Husain and in February 2006, Jashubhai Patel from Gujarat offered 1 kg of gold for gouging Husain's eyes and cutting his hands off. Around the same time the Congress Minority Cell of Madhya Pradesh offered 11 lakhs to any patriot who would chop off Husain's hands for hurting Hindu sentiments.

 

What did the Union Government and State Governments do about these criminal exhortations to maim and kill Husain? An official party protest? None. Legal action? None.

 

Instead eight complaints were filed against Husain all over India. In turn, in April 2006 warrants were issued in Surat and proceedings going on in Rajkot were temporarily injuncted by the Supreme Court allowing Husain to appear through a counsel to apologise. Had this dispensation not been granted, Husain would have been assaulted, possibly killed. Husain's humiliation continued. Eventually on December 2006, all cases were transferred to Delhi. In August 2008 his paintings were not displayed at an art summit even though the government had taken a mildly positive stance that his paintings should be displayed.

 

When Minister Ambika Soni inaugurated this summit on 22 August 2008, the Husain issue was put on the back burner. On 2 March 2009 Himachal removed a chapter on Husain's life from an NCERT book on the basis that this would not " inspire students". In fact, if anything, Husain's ascent from the footpath to India's greatest artist status is nothing if not inspiring.

 

The point is that even protest by political parties was minimal even nonexistent.

 

Meanwhile the legal processes churned on. We know that on 4 December 2006 complaint cases were transferred to Delhi by the Supreme Court. Then, on 8 May 2008 came a remarkable decision by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul which dismissed the case against Husain after balancing protecting art and free speech against the allegations of obscenity, and communalism under the Indian Penal Code.

 

This is one of the most significant decisions on artistic free speech for a long time. Clearly, the rest should follow suit. Now, the government wants to expedite the cases. Surely this should have been done a long time ago. There is a difference between the " law" and the " use and abuse" of the law.

 

LAW

Unfortunately, our law is complainant based. In both civil and criminal law the ground of " vexatious and frivolous" litigation has been narrowly construed to surrender to the view that even if a worthless case has something in it, the trial will go on. The concept of malevolent litigation is limited. The ' abusers' of the law and legal processes have the upper hand. Perhaps, heavy costs in such cases to meet actual expenses and for violation of fundamental rights might deter such ' abusers' of the law.

 

But judges, imbued by their own biases and predilections are mild except in dealing with contempt law in judges' defence.

 

Equally significantly, India's substantive law on hate speech ( whether antifeminist, obscene, racist, anti- dalit or tribal or communal) is drifting from a strictly applied concept of " hate" and what is " objectionable" to a more lax approach of " hurting sentiments and sensitivities". This further strays into virtually forbidding what others do not like. Many people may not like something. They may misconstrue motives. They may politically invent sensitivities to gather support and votes. These are realities of ' hate' speech litigation which is usually inspired by hate. The Husain litigation is an example of this — nothing more, nothing less.

 

Into all this, we have to bring in the concept of apology.

 

Nelson Mandela saved South Africa by his policy of truth, reconciliation and apology. In Indian law there is little scope for apology at pre- litigation and trial stages. Some minor criminal cases are compoundable.

 

Even " hate litigation" has no scope for " reconciliation" and " mercy". I say this because Husain has genuinely apologised to the point of removing all paintings within his control from public view. That a Muslim is prevented from painting Hindu gods and goddesses in forms in which they have been depicted for centuries is tragic. But he has apologised.

 

APOLOGY

What weight do we give to this genuine apology? One complainant in the Supreme Court agreed to withdraw his complaint because of the apology.

Why cannot the others do the same? If they do not, it is because they are diehard fundamentalists committed to being unreasonable.

 

These ' die- hards' are vulnerable to pressure — not just from secularists ( whom they ignore) but from the BJP which should bring peace by publicly declaring that Husain's apology be accepted.

 

Many are not happy with Husain being driven to an apology. But Husain has apologised. What we need is a campaign: " Accept Husain's apology". As far as legal processes are concerned the High Court's jurisdiction should be invoked. Justice Kaul has already given a landmark judgment. The High Court should be urged to decide expeditiously. This litigation has to be brought to an end.

 

Unrelenting fanatics can only be kept at bay by providing security for Husain.

 

In the meanwhile, a 1969 painting of Husain was sold at Christie's, London for Rs. 3.1 crores. But commercial justice cannot be a substitute for a real remedy.

 

The writer is a Supreme Court lawyer

 

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MAIL TODAY

THE LAHORE LOG

THIS IS A CLOSED USER GROUP

 

EVERY year, millions of poor Indians migrate from the villages to the big cities in search of a better future but we are now witnessing a strange reverse migration. It's not the poor and the underprivileged, disillusioned by life in the big bad city returning to their roots. It is the political class that is suddenly realising that home is where your heart — and fortunes — lies. There was a time when politicians chorused " Dilli Chalo"; now they sing " Vapas Chalo". Having lost out on his bid to succeed his father the late YS Rajashekhara Reddy as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, you would expect YS Jaganmohan Reddy, the 36 year old first time MP, to take his job as the elected representative of the people of Cuddapah constituency seriously. Not quite. Jagan is giving serious thought to returning to state politics.

 

He now wants nomination from the Pulivendula assembly seat his father represented either for himself or his mother Vijayalakshmi.

 

The issue is likely to be discussed later this week when the two meet Sonia Gandhi. Two weeks ago, Jagan had met Sonia, after which he asked his belligerent followers who would settle for nothing less than his installation as chief minister, to lie low. Jagan has more than once publicly stated that his actions will never be without the blessings of Soniaji.

 

With the majority of the Congress MLAs and ministers still keeping up the clamour for his elevation, Jagan flew off last week to Bangalore.

 

While the ostensible reason was that he wanted to spend time with his children who study in a private school there, the real reason was that he wanted a break from Andhra politics — to ponder over his future.

 

Jagan is a quick learner He is now convinced that his political future lies not in New Delhi but in Hyderabad. At the moment, with Andhraites still grieving YSR's death, Jagan has got the benefit of a sympathy wave. But time is a great healer and a year down the line, memories of his father would have begun to fade and the overwhelming support that he currently has will begin to wane. At their last meeting, Sonia reportedly told him to wait for his chance. Jagan is keeping a low profile but many ministers who were in his father's cabinet are keeping up the pressure by threatening to resign every now and then. K Rosiah, the incumbent CM who succeeded YSR is over 70 and may not want to carry on for another term. People close to Jagan have reportedly told him that his continued stay in Delhi as an MP would leave the space open for alternative power centres to emerge in the Congress back home.

 

Jagan is not the only GenNext Jagan Reddy politician who feels that the future lies at home. Many young leaders across the political divide are beginning to realise that New Delhi's power structure will not allow them to reach anywhere near the top of the political ladder.

 

The government has tried to give him a false sense of importance by allotting him a huge bungalow in Lutyens Delhi that's normally reserved for senior ministers, but Jagan and others like him know they have no place in the establishment and no role to play. An established succession order is already in place. Rahul Gandhi has his friends, comprising technocrats and dynastic successors like him. They are all talented, but having no stakes in the states, their ambitions are limited to becoming a full- fledged Union minister one fine day. The recent assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana saw the largest collection of political sons and daughters becoming MLAs.

 

From President Pratibha Patil to Union ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushil Shinde, they have all made their children MLAs. Though part of Rahul's A- team, Deepinder Hooda would rather take over from his father as Haryana chief minister rather than take up an assignment at the Centre.

 

After nearly ten years as union minister, Kumari Shelja showed her heart was still in state politics by making a strong bid for chief ministership.

 

Lalu has had enough of Delhi and now rarely steps out of Bihar. Mulayam keeps his options open and so has farmed his family across Parliament and the UP assembly.

 

MK Azhagiri wants to go back to Chennai not because he doesn't know Hindi or English as it is made out to be, but because he realises his limitations. For the sons and daughters of regional satraps, Delhi offers little chance for growth. Sooner or later, they realise that the political pinnacle is the exclusive preserve of a Closed User Group.

 

CONG RIDES ROUGHSHOD OVER ALLIES

WITH each new election victory, the arrogance of the ruling Congress grows, but now it seems to be spiraling out of control. Its latest victim is Mamata Banerjee who is livid after the Centre rejected her demand that the army be deployed in Lalgarh to tackle the Maoists. Those who have allied with her in the past know that hell hath no fury like a Mamata scorned. But the Congress has no such worries and there is clearly a design in the manner it treats her. That Mamata wants to become the next West Bengal chief minister is no secret and it now appears that the Congress will go to any extent to scuttle her plans.

 

This seems to be a rerun of its relations with other powerful allies like the NCP and the DMK in recent weeks. Far from accepting Sharad Pawar's role in the Congress- NCP alliance's remarkable victory, the Congress is still haggling over portfolios leaving the formation of the new government in a limbo. It now wants the home and finance portfolios held by the NCP in the last government, so that it can threaten the partner when the opportunity arises.

 

That's precisely what it did last week when it ordered the CBI to raid the offices of the Telecom ministry headed by the DMK's A Raja.

 

The big partners in the UPA like the NCP, DMK and Trinamool want to know why the UPA coordination committee doesn't meet at all though Sonia Gandhi continues to head it. If the Congress carries on with such brinkmanship, don't be surprised if the big partners form a bloc within the alliance. More parties may then be prompted to join. Farooq Abdullah's National Congress and Samajawadi Party, the latter not in the government but a party whose 23 MPs are crucial to the government's survival.

 

Between them, these parties have about 75 MPs and should they begin to flex muscles, the UPA which technically is in a minority — it's strength is 263, nine short of a simple majority — could be in trouble.

 

BJP SATRAPS FOIL RSS EFFORT TO ORGANISE SUCCESSION

DEATH and defeat brings the family together to commiserate. But in the badly bruised BJP parivar, yet another electoral rout has merely added fuel to the fire that is raging within the party — the battle to grab the leftover assets of that once promising party. Anywhere else, such a downward spiral would have resulted in a purge of the top leadership. In the BJP though, cleanup operations have been put on hold.

 

Last week Mohanrao Bhagwat had a two hour meeting with LK Advani over lunch.

 

The RSS chief's mission was to settle the issue of transfer of power in the party. An earlier schedule for the " smooth transition" fed to the media by various factions had Advani quitting as leader of the opposition after he turns 82 on November 8, following which the process of replacing Rajnath Singh as party president was to be put on fast track. But it appears now that nothing of the sort will happen.

 

The RSS has already ruled out four Ashoka Road backroom operators who had eyes on these posts and I gather that the cabal that reigns at 11 Ashoka Road plans to hang on by hook or crook. They want the order of the changes reversed so that a new party chief is put in place first. Effectively, what this boils down to is that if the RSS puts its own man as party chief, they would persuade Advani to stay on as leader of opposition so that their rule by proxy continues. That's scandalous since the same set of leaders who brought the party to this sorry pass would continue to reign.

 

Ironically, many of these leaders owe their current standing in the party to the RSS and it is for the first time that they are waging an ideological war with their mentor.

 

It remains to be seen if the RSS which is suddenly on an reformative mode will let this set of leaders defy its diktat. Experience tells us that those who tried to derail the RSS from its course have themselves been derailed. We shall wait and watch.

 

IT MAY be just a coincidence but on the 25th anniversary of Indira Gandhi's assassination, are we witnessing a revival of Sikh extremism in Punjab? Of late, large numbers of youth were seen distributing posters of Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale across the state and the police also claimed to have busted a module whose aim was to kill deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. The Congress party is making all the right noises and taunting the BJP to force the police to order a crackdown on the so called extremist elements.

 

The Intelligence Bureau has of late sent several signals to the state government about the increasing role of the ISI to revive Sikh extremism through organisations operating from abroad. The Intelligence Bureau says the flow of funds from overseas has shown an alarming increase. By keeping up the pressure, the Congress hopes to kill two birds with one stone. It wants to widen the rift between the Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP while at the same time weaning away youth from the Akalis. The state government has so far been dismissive about the warnings and refused to order large scale arrests. But judging by the BJP's pathetic plight, the self styled champions of national security may fall in the trap laid by the Congress.

 

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MAIL TODAY

INTERACTIVE

JAIPUR FIRE EXPOSES OUR PLANNING

 

ONE of the sad aspects of the fire in the oil tank farm in Jaipur last week is that none of the authorities was able to offer any concrete solutions to the massive loss of fuel, and as the fire raged on, they watched helplessly and waited for the oil to exhaust so that the fire could end too.

 

What a ridiculous state of affairs? Firstly, the administration had no business allowing a residential and an industrial complex right next to an oil depot.

 

Then, the fact that it did not have adequate measures or training in dousing a fire of this magnitude proves that they had left everything to providence.

 

The silly scene of fire tenders being sent from Delhi and Mumbai to tackle a fire this size would have been laughable if the situation were not serious. Surely they did not think that mere water would contain the fire in a oil depot that millions of gallons of oil? One of the first lessons learnt in this episode is that even the slightest level of administrative apathy and ignorance could cost the lives of several people and financial losses can be immense. The media on Sunday reported that losses due to the fire went above Rs 1000 crore in terms of the fuel lost as well as the damage caused to the nearby industrial area.

 

But bigger than the financial loss is the health and environmental impact on the surrounding villages and towns, and indeed the city of Jaipur.

 

Besides this, there would be tremendous loss in tourism revenue, especially at a time when both Indian and foreign tourists visit the Pink City for its pleasant weather.

 

This fire is indeed one of the sad chapters of our industrial history. Thankfully, the loss of life was minimal, otherwise in terms of abdicating responsibility what is the difference between the Jaipur fire and the December 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.

 

Samarth Kulkarni via email

 

INDIAN TEAMWORK DID AUSSIES IN

THEY often say that it is not just individual performances that matter in cricket, but teamwork. And it is this that helped India win against Australia in the crucial One- Day International encounter at Delhi's Ferozshah Kotla stadium.

 

Even though Sachin Tendulkar started steadily after the Indian bowlers had restricted the Aussies to a meagre 229 runs, it is not fair to expect that the same batsman continue to score very highly match after match. Unfortunately, even Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, two rock- solid players, fell cheaply to Australian bowlers and fielders.

 

It then came down to what is turning out to be the most reliable of all partnerships in Indian cricket – M. S. Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. Their pair reminds one of the Rahul Dravid- VVS Laxman or Sourav Ganguly- Sachin Tendulkar combinations.

 

Both the players timed their innings well and steadied a nervous ship after the first three batsman fell cheaply for less than 60 runs on the board.

Yuvraj, easily the most aggressive and the most elegant player in international cricket today, played a great innings, while Dhoni, who is turning out to be one of the greats of this generation, has made enough runs as captain to prove that he is one of the best.

 

Karun Karkera via email

 

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TIMES OF INDIA

COMMENT

TALKING TOUGH

 

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton's Pakistan visit has been a lesson in adroit diplomacy. Against the backdrop of the Peshawar carnage, she delivered a measured message, allaying fears about the conditions in the Kerry-Lugar Bill, praising the Pakistani military's efforts in South Waziristan and reaffirming the US-Pakistan relationship. But there was a sterner message couched in that non-confrontational approach. Whether Clinton's blunt comments regarding Islamabad's seeming duplicity in taking on the al-Qaeda leadership widely believed to be headquartered in South Waziristan were a deliberate ploy or merely a reaction to hostile questioning by Pakistani students and journalists, the message was clear: Washington has not been deceived.

Other statements made by her regarding the denial, the wilful blindness so prevalent in the Pakistani polity and politics, go to the heart of the problems plaguing the country today. The political space for secular parties has been occupied by weak, squabbling actors. Coupled with this is the continuing process of radicalisation of the Pakistani military and society begun under Zia-ul Haq. In the absence of a credible opposition that can function as a safety valve harnessing the people's discontent over ineffective governance and perceived American infringements of Pakistani sovereignty Taliban-style extremist factions become the only remaining lightning rod for popular resentment. In this environment, for Pakistani politicians to play to the gallery by taking populist stances on issues such as the Kerry-Lugar Bill and relations with India is marked by short-sightedness of the worst kind. By doing so, they actively contribute to the shrinking of the political space available to them, pushing more people to sympathise with hardliners who are perceived as fighting to defend a beleaguered nation and religion.

In this context, those in the Pakistani security establishment who seek to take down the Tehrik-i-Taliban for turning against the state while maintaining al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban as strategic assets should pay heed. So too should US policymakers who are advocating counterterrorism focusing on al-Qaeda as against counter-insurgency taking on Mullah Omar's men. These are false binaries. The links between the various factions are strong. Quite apart from the negative fallout of Washington and Islamabad working at cross-purposes, further crystallising resentment in Pakistan, such strategies would have little chance of purging the extremist elements that today threaten the Pakistani state.

The bombing campaign across Pakistan is intensifying. There are an increasing number of questions about the safety of the country's nuclear assets and the extent of radicalisation of its armed forces. At such a time, Islamabad must, as Clinton put it, start planning for Pakistan's future in earnest. To continue to indulge in the rhetoric of victimhood, on the other hand, would be the worst possible course.

 

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TIMES OF INDIA

TOP ARTICLE

SCRAP THE SCHEME

 

Trust our MPs to come together when the issue at stake is funds to dispense patronage. In a rare case of solidarity, MPs of various parties have unanimously proposed that the allocation for the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) be hiked from Rs 2 crore a year to Rs 10 crore. The government must not only reject the proposal by the Lok Sabha Standing Committee on MPLADS but also rethink the scheme. Since its institution in 1993, MPLADS has been under a cloud; the constitutional validity of the scheme is also under challenge in the Supreme Court.

MPLADS distorts the role of the legislator and upsets the delicate balance of power between the legislature and the executive. The aim of the scheme is not without merit. Every MP is entitled to Rs 2 crore every year to build durable public assets in his constituency a Rajya Sabha MP could use it anywhere in his state. Guidelines have been drawn up to prevent misuse of the funds though studies have revealed massive corruption in the implementation of the scheme. Many states have now replicated the scheme for MLAs, who are likely to demand a hike in their share if MPs have their way.

But corruption is just one of the problems with MPLADS. The scheme is flawed in its conception as it subverts the roles of the legislature and the executive as defined in the Constitution. In a parliamentary democracy, Parliament sanctions funds for projects approved by the House. The executive has to implement the project and the legislature is expected to supervise the executive. The MPLADS provides public funds to be used at the discretion of an individual and, predictably, the money is often used as an instrument of patronage. The quality of public works carried out under the scheme also suffers since the demarcation between the roles of the legislator and the executive are compromised.

The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution set up by the NDA government as well as the Second Administrative Reforms Commission called for a repeal of the MPLADS for these reasons. The scheme also militates against the move to decentralise government wherever possible. The MPLADS is almost a parallel planning system in which central funds bypass the state government and panchayati raj institutions and allow an individual legislator to spend it according to his discretion. The scheme subverts the federal character of our polity. The government must scrap the scheme.

 

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TIMES OF INDIA

TOP ARTICLE

EASTERN PROMISES

BALADAS GHOSHAL

 

Strategic objectives need not be promoted through projection of hard military power alone, as the 'realist' school would have it. Exercise of soft power could be more effective. The liberal institutional approach emphasises culture, ideology and institutions. Soft power strategies rely on common political values, peaceful means of conflict management and economic cooperation to achieve common solutions. India's objectives in its Look East policy and visibility in South East Asia can be furthered through areas education (human resources development), democracy and culture where it has a comparative advantage over other Asian countries.

India's democracy may be messy. But it has shown a lot of creativity in managing a multiracial, multicultural society and, in the process, promoting people's empowerment. India can make an abiding contribution to the process of democratisation and nation-building in the region by helping countries in democratic capacity-building. South East Asian countries are not only multiracial and multicultural, some are also in the process of democratic transformation. The western model is not of much relevance, as their societal and historical circumstances are quite different.

India's experience in nation-building and democracy is much more relevant. Organising elections involving around 670 million voters is an incredible undertaking India is proud of. Helping South East Asian countries in similar transformations can further its interests. Countries like Indonesia, Thailand and even Cambodia could learn from the speed and transparency with which votes are tallied and the extensive powers accorded the Election Commission.

Many Indonesians have great respect for India's democracy despite its shortcomings. While the Indonesian government has implemented devolution of powers, hoping that a fairer distribution of national wealth will reduce separatist sentiments and regional violence, there is lack of local level institutions to absorb autonomy. Here, India can help through its technical cooperation programme, training in local self-government and grassroots level institution-building. With little investment, it can reap rich dividends in terms of promotion of democracy in a vitally important neighbouring country and acquiring the goodwill of its leadership and people.

Higher education is another area. Indonesia is a prominent beneficiary of our technical cooperation programme for developing countries. Around 1,000 Indonesian experts and officials received training in India, which offered over 1,100 scholarships to Indonesian students to study at Indian universities. In May 2007, it opened a vocational training centre and is to establish one in Aceh soon. Also, everywhere in Asia, there is a demand among the younger generations to learn English, the language of globalisation. Whether Myanmar, Cambodia or Laos, our English language teachers could help at much less cost than the British or Australians.

India has a lead in information technology. Many South East Asians are not only interested in studying in our IITs and IIMs, but also want campuses opened in places like Indonesia. Businessmen of Indian origin would be only too glad to raise money to open these campuses and support faculty. What they want is the brand name and some experienced back-up faculty from India. Here again, there are dividends.

Another area is promotion of culture. Indian and Indonesian cultures and values, for instance, are closely related. Civilisational contact between India and South East Asia spans over 2,000 years. If pursued, cultural diplomacy can further cement the bond between the two regions based on pluralist traditions and belief in 'unity in diversity'.

Tourism as a means of people-to-people contact can be an instrument of cultural diplomacy. Indonesia, for example, happens to be the world's largest Muslim country, yet its Hindu-Buddhist cultural heritage is also manifest in the temple architecture of Prambanan and Borobudur in Central Java and innumerable Candis scattered in the area. Indonesians have contributed significantly to enriching this culture. Indian tourists could be encouraged to visit those sites in greater numbers to discover the inherent genius of the Indonesian peoples in cultural preservation as well as the common bonds between the two countries.

Similarly, Islamic heritage and monuments are part of our composite culture, which needs to be presented to the Muslims of Indonesia and Malaysia. Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, Ajmer, Delhi, Hyderabad, Tipu Sultan's abode in Mysore and innumerable Islamic sites and Sufi shrines could be a spiritual feast for them. In that way, they could discover Indian pluralism and multiculturalism.

As for India's Buddhist heritage, Nalanda is one of the world's oldest universities. Apart from Bodh Gaya and Sarnath, it could be a place of pilgrimage for South East Asia's Buddhists. The Nalanda project, with mentors like Amartya Sen, envisages the setting up of an international university. Recalling the glorious past, it would be a "centre of civilisational dialogue and inter-faith understanding". If culture is the most durable bond between countries, Nalanda can be the bridge between Asia's peoples.

Tourism is an important item of our engagement with ASEAN, but not much has been done to promote people-to-people contact. So far, tourism has largely moved in one direction: Indians go to South East Asia, not so much the reverse. To change that, imaginative packages and incentives need to be on offer.

The writer is visiting senior research fellow, Centre for Policy Research.

 

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TIMES OF INDIA

Q&A

'WE NEED TO HAVE AT LEAST 6 TO 8 LAUNCHES EVERY YEAR'

K RADHAKRISHNAN , 60, TOOK OVER AS CHAIRMAN OF INDIAN SPACE RESEARCH ORGANISATION (ISRO) ON SATURDAY AFTER A STINT AS DIRECTOR, VIKRAM SARABHAI SPACE CENTRE IN THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. ANANTHAKRISHNAN G SPOKE TO HIM ABOUT HIS VISION FOR ISRO:

How do you see your new assignment?

It is a huge responsibility. First and foremost, the space programme today is integral for the country's development. India today is a role model for the world on peaceful applications of space research. This was possible because of the vision of ISRO leaders, all of whom favoured a self-reliant programme.

What is the next big step?

For the moment, it is the launch of the GSLV Mark 3 which will take us to the four-tonne launch capacity. Also we will be using the indigenous cryogenic engine for the first time. The launch will also enable us to test several critical technologies like the solid strap on motor with 200 tonnes propellant and liquid stages with 110-tonne propellant. The engine is now being integrated in the launch pad. Satellite-based navigation is another area ISRO is getting into. The GSAT 4 will have a dedicated payload for GAGAN, which is our own version of the GPS.

How much has the country achieved in the area of remote sensing?

We are on par with other global powers in the field. But we still need to develop satellites that look at the atmosphere, study cloud movements etc. Our Cartosat 2 ranks among the best in the world with a 0.8 metre resolution camera on board.

What other challenges lie ahead?

We need to have at least six to eight launches every year to be truly in the race. It is a major challenge. Then there is the Chandrayaan 2 which will launch a rover on the moon. The rover will be an Indo-Russian joint venture.

About the first manned space mission planned for 2015?

ISRO has submitted a project proposal to the government for sending two people on board a space capsule on an orbit around the earth. The craft will not go to the moon but will encircle the earth for about a week. But as far as the people on board are concerned, it requires the same preparations as a moon mission. What should be the environment, the space inside the craft are all standard. Also about recycling of waste, it will be necessary only if it's a long duration flight.

You are very much into performing arts, especially Kathakali. Do you get time to pursue such interests?

I used to dance until a few years ago, not now. I have done roles like Hanuman and Parasuram, but never donned a 'kathi' role which is usually used to portray evil or demonic characters.

 

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TIMES OF INDIA

STABILITY WINS OVER CHANGE

PRITISH NANDY

 

Did the Maharashtra election results surprise you? About 50 per cent people one knows said yes. Why? They were surprised because they expected voters to chuck out this thoroughly useless, inept government that has delivered on no front. The state's infrastructure is collapsing. Power, water, trains, roads everything is a mess. On top of that, the economic downturn, which the government is in denial of, has made life extremely difficult for the common man who is facing salary cuts, disappearing jobs, rising costs, and investment risks.

 

At the same time, the fear of random acts of violence like terrorist strikes and bomb blasts keep him always terrified. In rural Maharashtra things are worse, so much so that farmers keep committing suicide at a rate that would soon challenge hit and run cases on Mumbai's roads.

 

On the other hand 50 per cent people one knows said they were not surprised. What else did you expect? When things are so difficult, do you really expect people to take a risk and vote for change? Every time we've voted for change, things have changed for the worse. We may not have anything good going for us right now but we simply can't afford another painful political upheaval. Let things get better and then we will think about change. In short, these people may not be happy with the way things are but they would like to postpone change till things get better.

 

Interesting, isn't it? That in a country where 40 per cent people go to sleep hungry at night, we are still hesitant to vote for change. So even though everyone hates to see Mumbai and Maharashtra being run so badly, only some crave for change. Others see change as a tricky option and would rather wait it out.

 

The arithmetic of electoral change is also curious. In every constituency, you have just one person representing the status quo. He or she is the face of both failure and continuity. Ranged against that single person are all your options for change. You can pick the one you like. The very fact that there are so many options for change means the vote for change will always be split. This is what gives stability a clear edge.

 

The second factor in every election is the level of motivation to vote. It's sheer nonsense to insist that every intelligent Indian must go out and vote. Not voting is as much a valid political decision as voting. It's not laziness that stops people from voting. It's disappointment. It's the voter's way of saying, "I hate all these thugs and won't vote for any of them. Give me a better choice." If you want more people to vote, the answer lies in institutionalising the not voting option by adding a NOTA button. This will ensure the voter casts his or her vote and yet not vote for any of the candidates available. If NOTA gets maximum votes in a constituency we can demand a repoll with new candidates.

 

The funny thing in the arithmetic of stability vs change is that while opposition parties have to strive for unanimity, to reduce the number of candidates representing change, those in power have to do nothing apart from sitting back and fomenting trouble in the ranks of the opposition.

 

In any case, now that stability has won the mandate and the Congress is all set to rule for another five years, maybe it's time to focus on how to make the government work. For some strange reason, most of us believe we get a chance only once in five years to change the government. Not true. You get a chance every moment, every day to voice your disappointment, your anger, your demand for change and you must voice it. It's your democratic right. It's also the only way to keep a government working.

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

NOT OUT OF THE WOODS

 

The United States' economy has returned to growth after a year of declines. The 3.5 per cent expansion of a quarter of the world's output in July-September of this year signals the US economy is off its deepest point, but it also begs the question: will the recovery sustain? On current indications, no. A cash-for-clunkers scheme to spur automobile sales and a tax credit for home-owners that caused the growth spike are time-bound; the first ended in August, the second closes this month. Excluding automobiles, the US economy grew 1.9 per cent last quarter, and the rebound in construction is reckoned to have added half a percentage point to growth. The Obama administration's fiscal intervention has worked, but consumer spending, which accounts for 70 per cent of demand in the US, does not show signs of reviving.

 

In fact, Americans cut spending by 0.5 per cent in September after a 1.4 per cent rise in August, signaling consumers are unlikely to make a full-fledged contribution to the recovery without handouts. Blame it on a jobless recovery. Profits at about 85 per cent of the companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index beat expectations, according to Bloomberg. Yet the unemployment rate is nudging 10 per cent, highest in a generation. Lean factory stockpiles will drive US growth in coming quarters; the output gains are not expected to ramp up hiring. Jobs must be created and household savings repaired before the US consumer starts spending again. Neither precondition looks imminent.

 

The US is in for protracted adjustments and the rest of the world will have to adapt to this new reality of the reluctant American spender. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates potential growth in the US will remain below 2 per cent for a considerable time on permanent output losses relative to pre-crisis trends. A key challenge facing Asia will be to devise a way to return to sustained, rapid growth in a new global environment of softer G-7 demand. The structural shift requires wider social security to discourage precautionary Asian savings, more robust financial markets to lessen the dependence on foreign capital and flexible exchange rates to restore the global trade balance. "In this 'new world,' Asia's longer-term growth prospects may be determined by its ability to recalibrate the drivers of growth to allow domestic sources to play a more dynamic role," says the IMF.

 

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 HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

SOME CURDLED LOGIC

 

Everything is now linked to climate change. The reason why India won against the  Aussies on Saturday in Delhi can be seen to have been caused by unnaturally high levels of dust particles in the air caused by an Arctic ice-shelf melting on Thursday. The reason why you woke up later than you were supposed to was because the butterfly that was supposed to flap its wing in the Amazon and create a storm in Ontario is dead thereby making your room more comfortable than usual. It now turns out that greenhouse gas emission that has been worsening the monsoon in India (try telling that to people in drought-hit Madhya Pradesh) is responsible for milk becoming more expensive — less rains means less fodder for cows to munch on means less milk from cows. So we have bad news for the lactose-tolerant: Mother Dairy toned and full cream milk will now cost Re 1 and Rs 2 more.

 

But that's not the full tragic story. Akhadas across the country are already wearing a weak look with wrestlers wondering where their next steel glass of cream-topped milk will come from. Coming as this news does only a few months before our athletes participate in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, medal tally forecasts for India are already down. As a result of milk costing more, nervous sports officials who have promised a decent medal haul are already being suspected of ensuring that preparations for the Games are slowed down.

 

So there you are: if the Commonwealth Games don't happen in Delhi, you know what to blame. No silly, not lazy cows, but Earth-destroying humans.

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

THE ORIGINAL AAM AADMI LEADER

PANKAJ VOHRA

 

The 25th death anniversary of Indira Gandhi, arguably the greatest mass leader of the last century, was observed last week. But even after her death at the hands of her bodyguards, she lives in the hearts of millions of Indians who shared her concern for the poor and weaker sections and who supported her politics.

 

Her detractors will always hold the imposition of the Emergency against her. Some may question her other policies. The common belief is that she ordered internal Emergency after she was unseated by the Allahabad High Court in June, 1975. The court upheld an election petition filed by the late Raj Narain, her main opponent from Rae Bareli, on technically questionable grounds. But the truth is that a powerful lobby in the country had been gunning for her since 1967 without success.

 

The reason for imposing the Emergency was Jai Prakash Narayan's call to the armed forces to revolt. There were few options left to her though no one can justify the excesses of the Emergency. Indira Gandhi paid the price and she and her party were rejected by the people in 1977. It is another thing that the same people realised that the new dispensation did not deserve to rule and thus brought her back with a thumping majority in 1980.

Even the late prime minister's critics would concede that the maximum number of legislations of social significance was brought about during her tenure. To name some, bank nationalisation and the abolition of privy purses and privileges evoked considerable debate. A section of the Congress and the entire Opposition ganged up against her only to be humbled in the 1971 general elections. She only said, "Woh kehte hain Indira hatao aur mein kehti hoon ki garibi hatao." (They say remove Indira and I say remove poverty.) The 'Garibi Hatao' slogan became the most attractive in our electoral history.

 

Indira Gandhi's USP was that she specialised in the politics of the aam aadmi and was prepared to take on anybody if it meant standing by her constituency. The onslaught against her started soon after she won in 1967. The first dig at her came from the judiciary in the Golaknath case. The combined opposition then put up former Chief Justice K Subba Rao as the presidential candidate against Zakir Hussain who subsequently died while in office in May 1969. The real power tussle then began and while the Syndicate bosses in the Congress put up Speaker Neelam Sanjiva Reddy as their nominee, she opted for a low profile VV Giri. Among those who supported her at that juncture and helped her overcome her opponents were the late DP Mishra and, of course, the CPI led by SA Dange. Giri's victory by a narrow margin brought her to a position of strength. She called for early elections and won massively.

 

The Bangladesh war and the way she partitioned Pakistan made her an international leader. It is history now that the US seventh fleet had to beat a hasty retreat after she stood her ground against Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. Instead, she signed a treaty with the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.

 

The 1971 Lok Sabha and 1972 assembly polls established her as the country's most charismatic leader. She pressed on with socialist legislation and her left-of-centre policies. During this time, she was guided by many luminaries like PN Haksar, PN Dhar and DP Dhar, among others. The Kashmiri Pandits actually ruled.

 

Her preference for a Kashmiri Pandit as her adviser continued even after 1977 and Makhan Lal Fotedar thus became hers and also Rajiv Gandhi's political adviser. The best tribute to her will for the government of the day to keep the aam aadmi as the main focus of governance. Between us.   

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

LET'S FACE THE TRUTH

SAARC, AS IT EXISTS TODAY, SERVES NO PURPOSE. IT'S BEST TO DISBAND IT AND REGROUP WITH A NEW CHARTER, ARGUES LALITA PANICKER IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN ARGUED THAT IT IS IN INDIA'S INTEREST TO BIND THE REGION, THANKS TO OUR GIANT MARKET. BUT IT IS EQUALLY IN THE SELF-INTEREST OF THE SMALLER ENTITIES TO MAKE SAARC WORK BY ENTERING INTO COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS WITH INDIA

 

Ayear into its transition from monarchy to democracy, and Bhutan is excitedly gearing up to host the 16th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) meet in its tiny capital of Thimpu early next year. Clearly, the Bhutanese optimism stems more from its famed gross national happiness quotient than any real chance that the Saarc meet will bring good tidings to all men. When the Thimpu meet takes place, Saarc will have been around for 25 years and as the popular sitcom character George Castanza says in Seinfeld, it has been about nothing.

 

The only positive thing that has happened in the South Asian region is that we are all, at least in name, now democracies. But has that meant that we see more eye-to-eye these days? Not at all. In fact, the biggest drag on Saarc ever getting off the ground, Indo-Pak relations could not be worse. And deteriorating by the day. With the ghost of 26/11 yet to be laid to rest, no Saarc meet will go beyond the blame game. For a Pakistan which is steadily going down the tube, India can do no right. So we have its interior minister, Rehman Malik, coming up with conspiracy theories that India is funding the Taliban, which is about as probable as Subhas Chandra Bose turning up in Connaught Place for the New Year celebrations. Of all the regional groupings in the world, Saarc's track record has been the most dismal.

 

Intra-regional trade in South Asia is a mere 2 per cent of GDP as opposed to 20 per cent for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and 55 per cent for the European Union.

 

The problem is very simple, Pakistan will just not give in an inch on any issue regarding India, especially trade. It will buy Indian goods at much higher prices from Dubai than directly from India. Each Saarc meet ends up with Pakistan bringing up some footling issue and linking it to Kashmir much to the frustration of the other smaller nations. South Asia has come out of the global recession in a much better shape than many of the big boys. A Saarc meet at this time could work to build up this advantage. Could, but won't.

 

It has always been argued that it is in India's interest to bind the region, thanks to our giant market. But it is equally in the self-interest of the smaller entities to make Saarc work by entering into collaborative projects with India. As Ajay Chibber, Undersecretary-General of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) puts it, "If Asean, which has greater potential for conflict among its member-States than Saarc can get its act together, surely there is nothing to stop us."

 

Saarc, he feels, has tremendous potential but is an empty box today.

 

There are increasing signs that the other South Asian countries have less hopes of Saarc today than they did a decade ago. We have common problems of poverty, food security, human trafficking and terrorism.
But so far, no real effort has been made at intelligence sharing or finding a common platform to address these issues. Of these, one of the most potentially explosive is that of illegal migrants. The demographic patterns of India's volatile Northeast are already changing, thanks to unchecked migration from Bangladesh. Now many might argue that there has been a similar influx of Nepalese across an open border. But the problems of militancy and radicalism that Bangladeshi migrants bring with them, as intelligence sources point out, are not associated with the Nepalese.

 

The problem that India and Nepal face is the trafficking of women and labour. Saarc has long been speaking of a viable mechanism to tackle both migration and trafficking but, predictably, nothing has come of that. So, the question then arises about whether we need to prolong the life of this ineffectual albatross round our neck.
Should we keep propping up a Saarc secretariat with its attendant costs when 25 years down the line, we can't get past the usual Indo-Pak slugfest? The Indo-Pak problem is not going to go away. In fact, Pakistan would be most offended if, for a moment, good sense were to prevail and these tensions would be put on the backburner for the progress of Saarc.

 

The only way Saarc can go ahead and do something constructive is for all the other countries to collectively assert that bilateral issues cannot be discussed and pass strictures against those who do so. There are many in India who now feel that we have left Saarc behind. Perhaps there is merit in this argument when looked at from the economic point of view. But there is no getting away from the fact that India is prospering in varying degrees in a region of immense poverty. We can never ensure our geographical security unless we pull our neighbours out of the morass. Pakistan will just have to be bypassed and greater efforts made by India to engage the others.

 

It does India no credit to be the big kid on the block of countries derisively described as the poor man's club.
Waiting for Pakistan to see sense is akin to hanging around in the bus stop for the bus that never comes. We just have to start walking and get on with whatever business we can transact with the others in the hope that Pakistan will see sense.

 

But at the moment, given Pakistan's Norman Bateslike delusions, it seems unlikely that the Thimpu meet will set the Yamuna on fire. Perhaps a viable answer would be to disband Saarc as it stands and regroup with a new charter that allows for less elbow room for the naysayers to derail matters. It would be better to admit the failure of the present grouping than hang on to something that is long past its sell-by date.

 

lalita.panikkar@hindustantimes.com

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

TALKING OF TALKS

 

Since they are waging a "protracted people's war through the barrel of the gun", Maoists will persist in eliminating their enemies. That came from arrested senior CPI (Maoist) leader Narla Rabi Sharma, as reported in this newspaper on Sunday. If that were not alarming enough, there is also the sophisticated organisational structure and resourcefulness of the Maoists — from elaborate vertical hierarchies and concentric divisions of activity to funds to state-of-the-art weapons to their presence in so many districts in so many states of the Indian Union where they not only offer socio-economic "services" but also engage in large-scale indoctrination in the tenets of their violent creed. They move in quietly, begin their propagandist onslaught, entrench themselves, start recruiting, and then embark on mining roads, blowing up bridges, railway stations, schools, raiding police stations for kidnapping or killing police personnel and looting arms. Their funds and arms come from diverse sources, but of particular concern must be the levies or fines that corporate and industrial giants pay the Maoists to carry on with their economic and industrial operations which are nevertheless anathema to the Naxals.

 

That such insurgents would dismiss Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram's crystal-clear, three-word appeal "Halt the violence" does not surprise. To the home minister's call for an end to Maoist violence and the Union government's offer of facilitating talks between Maoists and state governments on "all matters" — including land acquisition, industrialisation, development and forest rights — the CPI (Maoist) retorted that laying down arms would be a "betrayal of people's interests" and that an agreement might be possible if the Centre abandoned its "illogical", "obstinate" stand that Maoists abjure violence. Of course, technically, the Naxals were not being asked to lay down arms — their doing so is too fantastic to even imagine — but the insurgents leave no doubt through this response that they are nothing but cynical terrorists exploiting those they claim would be betrayed if they stopped killing their "enemies".

 

The home minister had recently made a bold attempt to intellectually challenge Maoist ideology even as his security forces battle the extremists. Now, albeit expectedly, they have rejected his simple appeal. There's no harm in "talking" to Maoists per se, but since they never seem to be in the mood to merely talk, counter-insurgency operations against them must continue full-force. The ultimate and foolproof solution to the Maoist threat is the end of it — and to that end the Indian state must progressively reclaim territory currently in their control and establish the rule of law therein.

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

LOOKING BACKWARD

 

The embattled president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Rajnath Singh, has never been known for choosing his words with care. But, at his best, he has a certain bluntness which is useful — useful in that, without evasion or circumlocution, it tells us exactly how the BJP is going wrong. His most recent statement, at a ceremony felicitating Madhya Pradesh partyman Kailash Narayan Sarang in Bhopal, is exemplary. A law, he said, was necessary to "check" large-scale religious conversion. (A law that he seemed to think would "give freedom to people to choose their religion", which adds an inability with simple logic to Singh's many virtues.)

 

Rajnath Singh might think that fanning the flames of paranoia about a Hinduism under siege might make for good politics. That, for him, might be the lessons of the '90s. But that has been tried ad infinitum recently — and it doesn't work any more. (Remember how the Amarnath land agitation was to be a nationwide stir? And help win the general election for the BJP?) Instead of retreating to that past, the BJP must look forward.

 

More, with every such illiberal pronouncement, the BJP declares itself ever more unready to recover the mantle of being a truly modern party of government. Whatever the genuineness of concerns about how delicate social structures in parts of India that have been unchanged for centuries are being put under pressure by religious activity of one sort or another, there is little that a liberal state can do about it. And if it were to, how short a step is it from interdicting individuals' religious activity that is considered dangerous to social cohesion to clamping down on economic or political activity that does the same? These are questions that any responsible party must ask before proposing constitutional changes. But once again the BJP's leadership has failed the most basic tests — for common sense, and for a liberal sensibility. Let these be the last few months that Rajnath Singh, in particular, is the standard-bearer of India's largest opposition party. The longer he stays so, the more he diminishes us all.

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

READING THE LEAVES

 

Autumn reading, as readers well know, can be particularly compelling. And it is intriguing that Shivraj Patil is applying the finishing touches to his autobiography while shuffling through Jaswant Singh's latest book. May this be a foreboding of things — or publications — to come? As Union home minister during most of the first UPA government, Patil was careful not to give away too much of the internal debate in his ministry and his party on the great security issues of those days. This tendency to discretion had made him a popular speaker of the Lok Sabha, but in North Block this fearfulness of anything controversial brought upon him charges of non-seriousness. So, how may it go with the autobiography? Will these be pages of thoughtfully diplomatic recollections? Or will this reading of Jaswant Singh's Jinnah appraisal be a timely alert to the uses of controversy?

 

Recall Jaswant Singh's Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence for more than the internal contradictions of the BJP it revealed. Recall it instead for the flurry of print runs its publishers unexpectedly — and happily — found themselves forced into. Singh, who had been quietly writing books at a rather fast clip till this summer, had till the Jinnah book revealed little appetite for a rousing political controversy. Whether he knew of its inevitability with the Jinnah book or not — and he certainly could not have anticipated the extreme reaction his party would surrender to — he's been up to the aftermath and now appears determined to be a biographer to the men and women who saw in the freedom of 1947.

 

Books by practising politicians tend to be bland, exercises in political positioning rather than gritty engagement with the people and ideas of their time. But, Mr Patil, it need not be that way.

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

COLUMN

RECALLING INDIRA

MIHIR S. SHARMA

 

Which young party member will be the first to stand up and say it? To say: I believe in the Congress party; but Mrs Gandhi's stewardship, on the whole, did more harm than good. Her life was lived in vain if we don't learn from her mistakes as we admire her successes. The Congress shows little sign of coming to terms with her legacy

 

MOST Indians do not remember where they were when they heard that Indira Gandhi was shot. Not because it wasn't momentous; merely because they can't. On that misty October morning25yearsago,halfoftoday's India had not yet been born. Hundredsofmillionsmorecanonlyhalfremember it, inheriting instead of memories myth and counter-myth.

 

You might think it would be difficulttoexplaintothoseofuswithonly dim recollections of Mrs Gandhi's life what she stood for. But so many try anyway. "Inclusive growth" is merely "garibi hatao" updated, we aretold.Nevermindthatoneactually mentions growth and the other never provided it. There are even claims, either painfully ignorant or shockingly cynical, that bank nationalisation "saved" us from the recession. (Aren't we clever! We demolished a city in 1969 -- and so not a single house fell in that earthquakelastyear!) But those silly stories aren't quite the myths that the rest of us hear.

We hear about how she is missed -because she was an iron-willed leader, wasn't she? Untroubled by doubt in victory, unbowed even in defeat, and weren't children named for her across the world? How many Croatian babies have been named Atal, or Kazakhs named Manmohan? And if she made mistakes, they were similarly monumental -- but don't really tarnish the idea of Indira.

 

So the strangling licence-permit raj which she nourished, and fed, anddefended,andthatsheaboveall others was most responsible for, has its villains, but they don't include her. Instead we hate the avaricious mid-level neta, the tyrannical petty bureaucrat.

 

That is sadly so often the way that leaders of a certain stamp are remembered. For the leadership they provided, regardless of where they were leading us.

 

But surely those whose job it is to evaluate policy would do better?

Unfortunately the Congress party, n particular, seems always looking ver its shoulder, still fearful of nguarded words carrying back to , Safdarjung Road. Any honesty bout Mrs Gandhi from within it is o rare and so heavily bedecked with moderating adjectives and xtenuating circumstances that it is arely recognisable.

 

Why so? It might be tempting to scribe it to Dynasty, which can enerally serve for the intellectually azy as a catch-all reason for anyhing ailing India's politics. After all, ome younger Congressman vouch afed a moment of clarity might well esitate to interrupt the endless monotonous hymns of praise to say, wait a minute, she hindered more han she helped, for that could ound like lèse-majesté, treasonous lmost, an attack on today's leaders y implication.

 

But it is more than just that.

Other leaders in other democracies oo cast shadows that are longer han they should be. Reaganworship in the Republican Party in America is far more intense than mong those that party is soliciting or votes, for example. The simple xplanation is that any party's eaders of today are from the gener tion inspired into politics by the eader of a generation ago; her hold n them is correspondingly greater.

Here, as in so many ways, the gener tion gap, in India in particular, etween the political class and those they govern is telling.

The gap leads them into two confusions. First, they confuse her surviving with her success. The story of Congress from 1966 on is one of fragmentation and failure. She lost state-level leaders, hollowed out the local-level party and the election to lead the Congress Parliamentary Party she won was the last meaningful one the national party has seen.

She had two great electoral successes: one after she ran a campaign cynically promising the end of poverty, storing up all sorts of trouble for later; and one after a non-Congress government that couldn'tgovern.Neitherisacircumstance likely, hopefully, to be repeated. Yet for the Congress's leaders, those were the glory years, the years of dominance, and have taken on a sheen that those who didn't live through them can't quite seemtosee.TheCongress'srecovery from its Kesri-era meltdown has been compared to Indira Gandhi's many comebacks, but in fact it is a tremendously greater achievement.

 

Second, they confuse her policies with her personality. Her concern for India's poorest may have been manifest in her behaviour; but there isn't an economist of worth who won't tell you that more garibi would have been hataoed if the relaxation of the '80s had started 10 years earlier. And most Congressmen under forty would think that, too -- silently.

 

Thosewhoaresteeringtheparty's (only apparently rudderless) slide towards what it was 25 years ago -dominant, yes, but unstable, hollow and standing on the brink of disaster -- should take a closer look at how the rest of us actually see her.

 

On a late October afternoon, walking through the house where Mrs Gandhi lived and died, talking to people from across India on the republican tirth-yatra to Rajghat, India Gate, and Safdarjung Road, you can catch the faintest glimmer ofthat.Wemaysense,intellectually, that she fits all sorts of heroic, even divine archetypes; but even so that doesn't prepare one for the quiet reverence with which the martyred leader is talked about and her relics viewed.And,likeeverywhereelsein India,theaverageageofthecrowdis in the mid-20s. But they aren't dressed austerely at all. They step aside from queues to talk on flashy late-modelmobilephones.Acouple of them talk about how long it took them to get there -- and the inefficienciesoftheDelhibusservice.Not resignedly, but angrily, as if they expect better, for things to change.

 

The Indian National Congress may want to become Congress (Indira) again. But those pilgrims to Safdarjung will not take Indira's policiesanymore.(Norwilltheyhave patience for new ones with the same controlling,statist,dirigistefeel.)And they won't blame Indira if such are inflicted on them. They will blame today's Congress, and say again, unfairly, that it is led by people that arepygmiescomparedtoIndira.

 

So which young party member will be the first to stand up and say it? To say: I believe in the Congress party; but Mrs Gandhi's stewardship, on the whole, did more harm thangood.Herlifewaslivedinvainif we don't learn from her mistakes as we admire her successes. Will anyone say that? Can anyone?

And if nobody can, will Mrs Gandhi wound her party again, 25 years on?

 

mihir.sharma@expressindia.com

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

COLUMN

MOVE BEYOND KYOTO

YOGINDER K. ALAGH

 

In defence of Jairam Ramesh We have plenty of power-grade coal; but we simply cannot burn two billion tonnes of it! It will burn out our own lungs.

 

THERE is a totally unreal aspect to the discussion on India's stand on climate change. Some of our protagonists are stuck in the original Kyoto mould. But there was Bali, the original targets had slipped, so the base year was changed and the intent to cut kept. But that was only the atmospherics. The real issue was the new stand of countries like the US, China, and of other large countries.

 

By this time there was recognition that large countries enter the debate "in a differential manner" to use the jargon. They represent quantum jumps. In a model for India prepared by Kirit Parikh and me, in a business-as-usual scenario India starts demanding two billion tonnes of power-grade coal. Now we have plenty of power-grade coal; but we simply cannot burn two billion tonnes of coal with today's technology! Forget others, it would burn out our own lungs.

 

These studies make the point through quantitative models that large countries, when they grow fast, make quantum jump impacts in the global economy. Kirit redid the numbers for the Planning Commission long-term energy work where he changed the base numbers but the increments remained largely intact. With the quantum jumps negotiators from the period of slow growth have an ostrich-like tendency to get into denial mode. Also the tendency is to talk non-alignment. This is completely misguided; for actually both Nehru and most certainly Rajiv Gandhi, who refashioned doctrine for a fast-growing Indian economy, dealt with these problems in a dynamic mode. They had little patience for those who couldn't keep up intellectually.

 

The joker in the pack here was that Bush America also reiterated the doctrine that countries have to be considered differentially as Kyoto morphed into Bali. One of the most astute insights going into Bali was a Canadian statement that "The US needs to be brought back in the tent, something that will not happen by trying to push American acceptance of the Kyoto framework. The developing world must be included, above all China and India. For that to happen there must be incentives in terms of growth potential for those countries. There are ways to make this happen."

 

Bali was not just Kyoto. It was more. For one thing the original quantitative roadmap was for all practical purposes gone, since the world hadn't lived up to it. Given the flexibility this created in the diplomatic space, the Chinese play their interest very well. At one level they agree with the urge to treat the larger framework of Kyoto as an achievement, but at another they play the negotiating stand of a country which will enter the arena in a big way and is willing to take on that responsibility.

The statements of Premier Wen Jia Bao at the Pittsburgh G-20 meeting with the US were a clear indication of this.

 

Some of us, including Chinese scholars and experts, clarify that this does not mean that everything is smooth and that the Asian countries will play the game as the developed world sets it. Sustainable policies are not just questions of global negotiations, but have to grapple with issues of energy requirements, land use, food demand changes and agriculture and technology for meeting industrial and service requirements. If communities are out of balance with their resource endowments, there can be no question of significant advance in the areas of global concern like carbon sequestration or biodiversity. Strategic policy initiatives in the energy sector come out of all energy models including the ones Environment Minister Ramesh unveiled recently. But the perception that there are possibilities of bringing large countries together in a framework of discussion on such questions is correct.

 

Unfortunately the world has not learnt to negotiate on these terms and the knowledge-base listed remains untouched. The long-term language of the other remains an enigma and that is the problem when large countries come to grips. This is an unresolved question. In August 1982, I was a member of the first Indian delegation which went to China after almost a decade and a half.

Vice Chairman Deng Xiaoping met us in the Hall of People. In 90 minutes he described the path that China took for two decades.

 

Large countries have options and these have to be placed within the design of a global framework. When Ramesh has reportedly said that India can negotiate from a vantage point of what its own long-term plans are, he is not giving up anything. He is laying down a position of strength. It is churlish to force him into a regressive black hole where the past forces back the orderly expanding future.

 

The writer, a former Union minister, is chairman, Institute of Rural Management, Anand

express@expressindia.com

express@expressindia.com

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

TURFED OUT OF OUR OWN BACKYARD

RAJA MENON

 

In all the world, the Indian Navy is one of just two navies still growing. The other is the Chinese Navy. It is no accident that the rise of the two Asian giants is accompanied by a return to their original status as maritime powers. China had its Admiral Zheng Ho and the Grand fleet that came to collect tribute from the littoral countries of Asia — except India. India's maritime power overseas is more long lasting, as the Pallavas under Jayavarman inspired the building of Angkor Wat, the largest planned metropolis in the world of 700 AD. The Chinese Army surprisingly is growing smaller as it models itself on the US Army, relying more on UAVs, wide band connectivity, air mobile troops and helicopter gunships. Not surprisingly, most countries seeking strategic partnerships with India are looking either at its soft power (knowledge and culture) or its overseas power projection capability based on its Navy.

 

The Indian Navy has travelled a long, rough and lonely road to get to where it is, and having got this far, is in danger of losing its way. But to start at the beginning, it was not even a navy in 1947. Endangered by 250 brilliant teak ships built in Bombay by the Wadias, British monopolists forced Wadia to shut down by abolishing the Indian Navy in 1868 and off-sourcing India's maritime defence to the Royal Navy, from Singapore. The British partially made amends in 1947 by loaning to India, senior officers to fill the posts of admirals, naval planners and technology teachers for almost ten years, under the paternal eye of Lord Mountbatten. Doctrine, strategy and tactical documents came with the British officers and led the Navy to look for a future where India would once again be a maritime power.

 

That vision did not have place for Pakistan, a preoccupation that tied down the funding of the army and air force for sixty years. It led to bizarre acquisitions like the fighter aircraft that the air force bought, that could only fly for 35 minutes and the recruiting of lakhs of infantry soldiers to implement the ridiculous political directive of not losing 'an inch of sacred territory . The navy paid a heavy price, by having its budget reduced to 12 per cent of the defence budget, but kept its head and pursued its long term strategic goal.

 

Having come this far, it is in danger of losing its way, as the challenges of the 21st century demand even more courageous decisions than were taken by the admirals of the 1950s and '60s. The threat comes from the aftermath of the attack on Mumbai and by India's limited response to the growing menace of piracy off the Horn of Africa. When Mumbai occurred, the Navy had long felt that the 14 agencies operating at sea should at some stage have a coordinating head. Instead of dealing with the arguments already on the file, the national security apparatus gave the responsibility for coastal security to the Navy, with vaguely defined charters to the coast guard. Similarly, off Somalia, the government for long resisted doing anything at all despite UN resolutions exhorting states to coordinate naval forces to suppress piracy. It even, at one stage, prevented a naval ship close to the scene from intervening in attacking pirates who had hijacked an Indian crew. Under the pressure of UN resolutions, a Contact Group on Somalia Piracy (CGSP) met in January, where the coordination of operations has been handed over to the UK, the judicial aspects to Denmark and the industry aspects to the US. All this has occurred in what is called the 'Indian' ocean.

 

The Indian Navy lost a golden opportunity off Somalia, by not being permitted to join the international coalition and lead it, instead of patrolling one end of it in sulky isolation. The Europeans will never fight piracy — they can't. Every time a pirate is shot, a judicial commission comes all the way from London or Berlin to conduct an enquiry. No pirate has been sentenced adequately, because the eventual concern is the pirate's human rights. The UN resolution actually permits naval forces to enter Somalian territorial waters and 'territory' to suppress piracy. The blue water aspirations of the Indian Navy should have inspired it to the lead International Task Force 151 with the INS Jalashwa — with marine commandos, and army snipers and military police embarked, with powers of arrest — to free the hijacked ships in the ports of Eyl and Hobyo.

 

The responsibilities for coastal security after 26/11 may also lead the Navy into losing its way in an area which is really that of the coast guard's. Just as the army lost its way in counter-insurgency, with the attraction of raising 60 battalions of Rashtriya Rifles, and neglected technological modernisation, the Navy might do the same. To prevent another Mumbai, a blue water navy should really go and pick up Hafiz Sayed, or Dawood or Tiger Memon. If they can't be found in Pakistan, wait till they come to Dubai. After all, the most brilliant tactical action in Afghanistan was fought by US Navy Seals. The ultimate kingpin of Afghan drug smuggling, Haji Juma Khan who allegedly employs Mullah Omar, is now in a Manhattan jail, put there by the US drugs suppression agency.

 

Blue water navies don't patrol the coast in peacetime, doing police work, when the coast guard is available. The Europeans may be happy doing that, for they have no war to prepare for. The Indian Navy is the only punitive instrument the government has in the great swing of power from the West to the East. The Indian Ocean is the theatre of the future. The current vision should be to dominate it strategically. The policeman's duty is important, but let us not lose our way.

 

The writer is a retired rear admiral

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

MORE POETRY, PLEASE

 

More and more lately, I find people asking me: What do you think President Obama really believes about this or that issue? I find that odd. How is it that a president who has taken on so many big issues, with very specific policies — and has even been awarded a Nobel Prize for all the hopes he has kindled — still has so many people asking what he really believes?

 

I don't think that President Obama has a communications problem, per se. He has given many speeches and interviews broadly explaining his policies and justifying their necessity. Rather, he has a "narrative" problem. He has not tied all his programmes into a single narrative that shows the links between his health care, banking, economic, climate, energy, education and foreign policies. Such a narrative would enable each issue and each constituency to reinforce the other and evoke the kind of popular excitement that got him elected.

 

Without it, though, the president's eloquence, his unique ability to inspire people to get out of their seats and work for him, has been muted or lost in a thicket of technocratic details. His daring but discrete policies are starting to feel like a work plan that we have to slog through, and endlessly compromise over, just to finish for finishing's sake — not because they are all building blocks of a great national project.

 

What is that project? What is that narrative? Quite simply it is nation-building at home. It is nation-building in America. I've always believed that Mr Obama was elected because a majority of Americans fear that we're becoming a declining great power. Everything from our schools to our energy and transportation systems are falling apart and in need of reinvention and reinvigoration. And what people want most from Washington today is nation-building at home. Many people, including conservatives, voted for Barack Obama because in their hearts they felt he could pull us all together for that project better than any other candidate. Many are what I'd call "Warren Buffett centrists." They are not billionaires, but they are people who believe in Mr Buffett's saying that whatever he achieved in life was due primarily to the fact that he was born in this country — America — at this time, with all of its advantages and opportunities.

 

I believe that. And I believe that without a strong America — which, at its best, can deliver more goods and goodness to its own citizens and to the world than any other nation — our kids and many others around the world will not have those opportunities.

 

I am convinced that this kind of nation-building at home is exactly what Mr Obama is trying to deliver. But to deliver this agenda requires a motivated public and a spirit of shared sacrifice. That's where narrative becomes vital. People have to have a gut feel for why this nation-building project, with all its varied strands, is so important — why it's worth the sacrifice. One of the reasons that independents and conservatives who voted for Mr Obama have been so easily swayed against him by Fox News and people labeling him a "socialist" is because he has not given voice to the truly patriotic nation-building endeavour in which he is engaged.

 

"Obama's election marked a shift — from a politics that celebrated privatised concerns to a politics that recognised the need for effective government and larger public purposes. Across the political spectrum, people understood that national renewal requires big ambition, and a better kind of politics," said the Harvard political theorist Michael Sandel, author of the new best seller — Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? — that calls for elevating our public discourse.

 

But to deliver on that promise, Sandel added, Obama needs to carry the civic idealism of his campaign into his presidency. He needs a narrative that will get the same voters who elected him to push through his ambitious agenda — against all the forces of inertia and private greed. "You can't get nation-building without shared sacrifice," said Sandel, "and you cannot inspire shared sacrifice without a narrative that appeals to the common good — a narrative that challenges us to be citizens engaged in a common endeavour, not just consumers seeking the best deal for ourselves. Obama needs to energise the prose of his presidency by recapturing the poetry of his campaign."

 

The New York Times

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INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

PRINTLINE PAKISTAN

RUCHIKA TALWAR

 

The much-hyped meeting between Pakistan President Asif Zardari and chief opponent Nawaz Sharif at a reception for the visiting Turkish PM was the talk of the Pakistani press. As expected, the dinner meeting began with a bang but ended with a whimper. On October 26, The News viewed: "Monday's meeting between Nawaz Sharif and President Zardari is expected to end all political and constitutional differences between the two political giants for the time being by focusing on terrorism..." Daily Times disagreed: "However, they do not foresee any breakthrough... But at the same time, they feared increased tensions between the two major political parties will bring the country to the confrontational politics of the 1980s and '90s, which can be harmful for the country in the given security and law and order situation."

 

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on his fourth visit to Muzzafarabad, was reported by Dawn on October 27 as saying: "Turkey will continue to support Kashmiri brethren... Prime Minister Gilani highlighted commonalities in approach on regional issues, urged Turkey to support Pakistan's stand on Kashmir and said it was important to resolve the issue for regional peace. Reiterating Pakistan's desire to maintain friendly ties with all its neighbours, he said: 'the sacrifices and just stand of Kashmiris will bear fruit.' "

 

Unclaimed terror

On October 29, Dawn reported on the bloodbath in Peshawar: "An intelligence official blamed terrorists based in Darra Adamkhel for the attack. 'We intercepted a call last week in which militants were talking about a 'heart-rending' attack in Peshawar...' A shopkeeper said threats had been received with militants demanding that women be forbidden from going to the market. The blast took place in Meena Bazaar and Kochi Bazaar frequented by women..." However, a counterstory in The News was startling: "The Taliban and al-Qaeda have denied involvement in the Peshawar bomb blast and said they do not explode bombs in bazaars and mosques... According to al-Qaeda sources, the elements, who want to defame jihad and refugees, are behind the blast... The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in an email sent to the media also condemned the blast and denied its involvement..."

 

Hillary talk

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was assertive during her ongoing visit to Pakistan. On October 30, Daily Times reported Clinton as saying: "The leadership of al-Qaeda is in Pakistan... I find it hard to believe nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn't get them if they really wanted to... Maybe that's the case; maybe they're not gettable... As far as we know, they are in Pakistan... The percentage of taxes on GDP (in Pakistan) is among the lowest in the world... We tax everything that moves and doesn't move, and that's not what we see in Pakistan..." Dawn added: "She also showed impatience with criticism of The Kerry-Lugar Bill which the army and political opposition have slammed for violating the country's sovereignty... You have 180 million people. Your population is projected to be about 300 million... I don't know what you're gonna do with that challenge, unless you start planning right now." Reporting on the Obama's administration's recently marketed theory of the "good Taliban vs the bad," The News added: "We view extremists and terrorists as a syndicate. But not everyone who picks up a gun is a terrorist. We are determined to root out their leadership. But we are also open to those who change their mind and agree to a view, which is peaceful and democratic in manner. Good Taliban? I don't know about good. But people have been caught up in these activities. Let us root out the hard core and look at the people who renounce violence. We should be open and see them case by case."

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

CORE QUESTION

If any evidence was ever needed to substantiate the claim that we are still at a very nascent stage of recovery, one needn't go any further than examining the latest core sector data. The core sector—cement, coal, steel, crude petroleum, petroleum products and electricity—registered a growth of just 4% in September compared with 7.8% in August. Since the core sector consists of roughly one-fourth of the weightage in the index of industrial production, one can now expect the IIP for September (due to be released in November) to miss hitting the double-digit mark. This is bad news for official government forecasts of industrial output and GDP growth for this financial year. In order to meet the government's targets, IIP needs to grow in double digits for the rest of the year. The sharp dip in September's core sector data clearly shows that this isn't going to be a simple secularly rising recovery process—there will be stops and starts.

 

Interestingly, the very sectors that led the growth in August—coal and cement—are the ones that have shown the sharpest declines in growth rate. Cement is a particularly indicative sector of economic recovery as the demand for cement is highly correlated with the pace of construction activity. Quite clearly, while construction may have recovered from the lows of the crisis, there is still some way to go before its bounce back is sustainable. Taken together, the performance of the core sector is also an indicator of the growth in infrastructure more generally. Much of the focus of the government's fiscal stimulus packages was on infrastructure. It should, therefore, be a matter of concern for the government that activity in this sector hasn't picked up quickly enough, or fast enough. There are obviously time lags between sanctioning a project and the project reaching fruition, but the government might want to think about why the process is so slow in India. In other countries, notably China, fiscal stimulus has already boosted infrastructure. The relatively dull scenario in the core sector also makes one wonder whether RBI has made the correct call by weighing in on the side of inflation rather than growth so early in the recovery cycle. Sure, there is better recovery in consumer durables but that's only taking a partial view of the entire spectrum of industry. Much as though RBI doesn't believe this at all, there still remains a strong case for relaxing monetary policy for the next few months before perhaps taking a call on tightening late in 2010.

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

THE BANK IS CLOSED

Compared with almost any other industry in India, banking is ridden with anti-competitive policy. It is essentially impossible to start a new bank, foreign banks are prohibited from competing in India, and existing banks have to take permissions to open branches. The lack of competition is a critical element of diagnosing why India has such a low quality banking industry, with poor services and high prices. A series of expert committees, most notably the Percy Mistry and Raghuram Rajan reports, have criticised these barriers to competition. Such a policy framework was consistent with India of the 1970s, but is now out of touch with the ethos of modern economic policy. Governor Subbarao has made two important changes to this gloomy picture. First, the setting up of ATMs has been delicensed. Second, setting up branches has been delicensed other than in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities. These tentative moves raise four interesting questions. First, a few years ago, Standard Chartered had asked RBI whether it could open 200 rural branches. This request was turned down.

 

Will this request now be viewed favourably, since RBI is no longer in the business of preventing banks from opening branches in rural areas? Second, why should citizens of Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities be denied the benefits of competition which are being given to other locations? When will branch licensing be completely removed?

 

Third, what will be done about opening up entry into banking? Indian customers of banking services today have three bad choices. The PSU banks do not know how to deliver good services to customers. The foreign banks have been prevented from setting up adequate distribution. This leaves just a handful of choices such as ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank. These banks are faltering on many aspects of customer service: precisely because they face no competition. In every other walk of life in India, competition has come about and the benefits are visible. Would RBI now allow a private equity fund to put down Rs 100 crore in equity capital and start a bank? Fourth, the most important way to rapidly get high quality capabilities into Indian banking remains foreign banks. All foreign banks, put together, are permitted to open 18 branches a year. Removing this licensing requirement remains the most rapid way to improve the quality of banking services obtained by citizens. How and when will foreign banks be able to open branches in India based purely on commercial considerations, without distortions caused by the government? The reciprocity argument, often given by Indian private bankers, is not the point. Even if other countries are silly enough to stop Indian banks from opening branches, we should be smart enough to be more open.

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

COLUMN

MRS G AND THE LICENCE PERMIT RAJ

ILA PATNAIK

The most striking move by Indira Gandhi, before the declaration of the emergency, was a mid-night ordinance in July 1969. At one stroke, the ordinance gave the government control over a big chunk of the savings of the Indian people. On July 19, 1969, India woke up to headlines that India's major private sector banks had been nationalised. That stroke of midnight brought a loss of freedom, economic freedom. Like much of the economic policy of the 1969-1976 period, this was one more instance of power being usurped by the state. From 1969, Indira Gandhi turned left, seeking political support, and India witnessed an unprecedented increase in control raj. Through the seventies, till the end of the emergency, economic enterprise and private initiative were severely restricted.

 

Nationalised banks had social objectives such as lending to the priority sector such as the small-scale industry. But small-scale industry was not industry that happened to be small. Many sectors of industry were not allowed to grow large by deliberately keeping them small. Bank nationalisation was followed by small-scale industry reservation. The policy of explicitly reserving certain items for production by small companies was created. Indian industry has lost out for years because of being unable to harness economies of scale. While the list of reserved items has become shorter, it has not been before China has thundered ahead building large scale industry, while Indian industry has helplessly stood by and watched.

 

But then the logic of control raj can be strange. While on one hand there was a policy that industries should be small, if there was a large industry that wished to become small, the Industrial Disputes Act (IDA) was passed to prevent it. Until then factories with over 1,000 workers used to require government permission for lay-offs. The size threshold was amended in 1976 to 300. In 1982, when Indira Gandhi was back in power, this was further reduced to 100. Even today many industrial establishments require prior permission of the appropriate government before lay-offs, retrenchment and closure. Most problems connected with the IDA arise from this since the government becomes a third party to the dispute even if the employee is satisfied with the severance package. These sections of the Act need to be considered along with other elements of the act which makes any dispute between an employer and an individual workman an industrial dispute.

 

To offer nationalised banks protection from competition, foreign banks were prevented from coming in. Indeed, not just foreign banks, even foreign money was not welcome. Under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), draconian currency controls and restrictions on foreign investment were imposed in 1973. While FERA has been supposedly replaced by a 'liberal' FEMA, the mentality of controls is very much there.

 

The central planning logic went into other areas was well. For example, on February 17, 1976, the Urban Land Ceiling Act was passed. It covered 73 towns and cities and imposed a ceiling of 500 to 2,000 square metres on urban land holdings. It constitutes a major distortion of the urban land market. While this was a state subject, the Constitution allows Parliament to pass a bill if more than two states agree, and this path was chosen during the emergency. Another law giving disproportionate powers to the state was the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Bill proposed in 1967. It became an act and came into force from June 1, 1970. The MRTP Act, which gave huge powers to the government, sought to check the expansion of large industrial houses with assets over Rs 1 crore or where their share in the market exceeded 33 %.

 

The licence and control raj of the 1970s shapes every aspect of Indian banking. Banks need a licence to start and only a handful of new banks have been allowed since the bank nationalisation of 1969. Banks need licences to open branches. Until governor Subbarao changed the rules recently, they even needed licences to open ATMs. Only 18 foreign bank branches are given the licence to open every year. If banks open branches abroad, they need permission. Every product that is launched needs permission from RBI. The authorities decide what the savings bank interest rate is. The authorities decide what the interest rate on lending to certain sectors is. The authorities define who to lend, how much to lend and at what rate to lend. They decide how much a bank has to lend to the government, to the central bank, to agriculture, to small-scale industry, to exporters, to students, to rural businesses and so on. Every element of the life of a banker is dictated by the authorities. The salaries PSU banks can pay are decided by the government, as are pension benefits. Loan decisions are often known to be influenced by politicians. In summary, nearly everything that can kill the growth of a healthy and competitive banking system plagues Indian banking. Undoing all this is going to be a formidable task.

 

The author is senior fellow, NIPFP

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

COLUMN

NOT A PERFECT SYSTEM BUT THE BEST WE HAVE

MICHAEL WALTON

Capitalism is evil. That's the central message of Michael Moore's latest documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story, now showing in the US. It is evil because it is a source of injustice and because it corrupts politics to further its ends.

 

In previous films, Moore has acquired celebrity through his peaceful guerrilla tactics of personal confrontation with corporate leaders, taking the side of working Americans against big corporations and their political allies, whilst appealing to traditional American values. He has attacked industrial lay-offs that destroyed his home town of Flint, Michigan, and the absurdities of the US health system. The fact that he is overweight, wears ill-fitting clothes and a baseball cap only increases his aura of grounded credibility.

 

In his latest film he takes on the whole capitalist system in its American manifestation. There is something genuinely compelling about it. There are the awful personal hardships of families evicted from their homes, after taking out mortgage loans that should never have been approved in a sensible financial system. There is the immoral absurdity of firms taking out life insurance policies on their employees, without the workers' knowledge, and receiving large payouts when they die, whilst their families are left only with their grief. And there are vivid portrayals of the now-familiar craziness of Wall Street excess, supported by government bailouts to keep the system afloat. In characteristic stunts, Moore attempts citizen arrests of the heads of financial firms, only to be kept out of the gleaming buildings by the (usually good-humoured) guards.

 

Moore's two big themes are the social injustice of capitalism, and the power of big corporations over political decision- making and the ideology of the times. There is compelling material on influence—on the extensive links between money and politics, and of the revolving door between Wall Street and government. After the crisis, Moore has common ground with many in the mainstream who are deeply concerned about the influence of big finance.

 

So is there hope? Moore wants radical change. There is not, however, a coherent proposal. There are positive examples of a profitable cooperative bakery, of worker mobilisation to keep a factory open, and of community action to hold off an eviction of squatters in abandoned property. But these have the feeling of isolated instances. He says capitalism can't be regulated, that the alternative to capitalism is democracy. Yet this makes no sense—surely capitalism is about how to organise production, and democracy about how to organise polities?

 

The questions raised are as relevant to India as they are for the US. The tradeoffs are, if anything, more acute. India needs extraordinary growth if deprivation is to be removed and prosperity attained for all. It is hard to impossible to imagine this without some form of capitalism. At the same time, India has exemplified some of the most burdensome—and at times corrupt— forms of state regulation. Moore's view that regulation is not the answer resonates. India is a democracy. That means that tolerance for actual or perceived injustice, for deprivation alongside extreme wealth, is limited. Markets—and capitalism—have to be embedded in acceptable social and human values, not the other way round.

 

And here I think Moore's intuition on democracy is essentially right, even if his formulation of the need to replace capitalism with democracy seems incoherent. The issue is rather one of developing institutional designs that introduce real accountabilities into both capitalist and regulatory structures.

 

What does this mean in practice? It goes beyond periodic elections. Political finance—in both its legal and illegal forms—is a central example. This is especially the case when large capitalist firms have significant power over the state, whether they are 'too big to fail', or simply too influential, through money and connections. Cooperative forms of production and organisation have a role to play—and warrant support—but large corporations are needed for their efficiency and dynamism. This has to be managed. Competition through entry, through financial inclusion and through competition policy is an important part of the answer, but is not enough. Democratising markets also has profound implications for information—in areas ranging from policy on market-based trading of derivatives, to ensuring populations are fully informed of the effects of industrial production on their environment.

 

India needs capitalism for growth. But capitalism needs to be embedded in institutional structures that make both markets and the state genuinely democratic. How to do this is complex and hard, but it is both a possible and an essential task.

 

The author is at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Institute of Economic Change and the Centre for Policy Research

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

COLUMN

GEARING FOR GROWTH IN AUTO

YOGIMA SETH

 

The automobile industry in India will likely show a new high when the numbers for October are released for public consumption. Earlier, in September, industry body Siam had revised its growth targets to double digits as against an earlier projection of 4-5% growth. With a conservative growth of 10%, the total automobile sales in the country are expected to be 1,06,95,730 units in 2009-10—the highest ever in the history of the India automobile industry—as against 1,01,23,988 units in 2006-07 when the sales crossed the 10 million mark for the first time or 97,23,391 units in the last financial year.

 

This is indeed a reason for automobile players to cheer, more so when sales in the European Union are still growing at an average of 3-5% a month despite the scrappage incentives being doled out by various governments.

 

However, what is going unnoticed is that the bare minimum of 10% growth in the current financial year is not anything great considering that sales were flat in 2008-09.

 

This invariably means that the 10% growth of 2009-10 would really be seen over a two year horizon. For a country where penetration level is as low as nine cars per 1,000 people as against 500 cars per 1,000 people in the US, this is certainly moderate growth and doesn't call for a celebration.

 

As commodity prices are hardening and fuel prices continue to be high, it remains to be seen whether the growth momentum of the last few months will sustain over the second half of this financial year as well.

 

In any case, the focus of the industry players should be to continuously improve and upgrade their products and bring about an increase in efficiency in order to be globally competitive.

 

And while car manufacturers in India do their bit by launching new products and upgrading the existing ones, the Centre might also have to play a bigger role by giving incentives for buying new cars, by encouraging users too discard their older ones, as is being done in government funded programmes in Europe and in the US.

 

yogima.seth@expressindia.com

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

REPORT CARD

This study* examines the role of the financial sector in renewable energy development and the obstacles it faces in non-OECD developing and transition countries:

 

Energy firms in less developed economies are largely dependent on external financing to realise new projects. In turn, external financing in these countries relies on the banking sector, as stock and bond markets, as well as venture capitalism are not well-enough established to provide large-scale funding. However, the under-development of the banking sector, coupled with specific renewable energy sector problems such as high up-front information costs and long lead times, hamper the emergence of renewable energy entrepreneurs. The financing problems are combined with the greater issue of energy sector regulations and renewable energy technology policies, which do not always offer a level-playing field for all energy producers as fossil fuel generation often benefits from special incentives. The empirical estimations, using renewable energy electricity generation per capita as a proxy for renewable energy sector development, show that financial sector development does indeed have a robust and significant positive effect on the amount of renewable energy produced, which is independent of energy policy.

 

*Christa N Brunnschweiler, Finance for Renewable Energy: An Empirical Analysis of Developing Economies, Center of Economic Research at ETH Zurich, Working Paper 09/117, August 2009

 

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THE HINDU

EDITORIAL

HOODA CROSSES FIRST HURDLE

 

The first hurdle, they say in hurdling, is not the most difficult one. All the same Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda must be pleased to have the confidence vote in the State Assembly out of his way. With the Congress strength at 40, six short of the majority mark in the 90-member house, Mr. Hooda would have backed himself to win the support of the seven Independents. After all, his party has decades-long experience in this game of wooing outsiders to its fold. He got his seven, plus the support of the lone Bahujan Samaj Party member. Although the Congress was no clear winner in the Assembly contest, it was the only party within striking distance of power, so quite naturally the Independents gravitated towards the Hooda camp. The walkout and abstention by the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) made things easier for the ruling party, which won 47 trust votes as against the immediate requirement of 42. Given the political dynamics in Haryana, the opposition parties — the Indian National Lok Dal, which bagged 31 seats in the election, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which took four, and the HJC (BL), which won six — are unlikely to come together as a coherent unit. With a non-Congress alternative in the current Assembly seeming only a hazy theoretical possibility, Mr. Hooda was able to get off to a flying start.

 

But then the Chief Minister can forget only to his peril that this is Haryana, the State that enriched the vocabulary of political India by giving it the celebrated phrase 'Aya Ram, Gaya Ram,' after an MLA changed parties thrice in the course of a day in 1967. This means that while Mr. Hooda was able, with relatively little effort, to play the current situation to his advantage, he might not be able to do so consistently over a period of five years. Free-floating Independents are traditionally difficult to manage. Mr. Hooda will have to watch his back, and balance different sectional interests as he goes through his term. He will need to bear in mind that ultimately the stability of the government will depend less on accommodation and appeasement of the Independents than on his addressing the concerns and livelihood issues of the people. It can be safely predicted that at the first hint of the government's unpopularity, the supporting blocs will threaten to move away; after all, what bind Independents to the ruling camp are the fishes and loaves of office. With the veteran INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala breathing down his neck, Chief Minister Hooda, unlike in the first term when he had a comfortable majority, must deliver on the governance front quickly. He will learn soon enough that the remaining hurdles present a much stiffer challenge than the first one.

 

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THE HINDU

EDITORIAL

TAXING FOREIGN INFLOWS

 

Brazil's recent decision to impose a two per cent tax on portfolio inflows has wide ranging implications for global finance and for countries such as India. The move is aimed at arresting the sharp appreciation of its currency, the real, which since the beginning of the year has gained 36 per cent against the dollar, undermining Brazil's export competitiveness. This is not the first time that a major developing country has imposed restrictions on foreign inflow s. In 1998, during the Asian currency crisis, Malaysia defied financial orthodoxy and imposed controls in a successful attempt to curb currency speculation, which devastated many of its neighbours. Until recently, Chile, the most successful of the Latin American economies, had required a portion of the foreign investment flows to be kept in an interest-free account with its central bank for a fixed period. The intention behind such controls is to keep a check on footloose global capital that, given both its large volumes and propensity to move in and out of a country in a matter of seconds, threatens macroeconomic management. It also signals a desire to be less dependent on certain types of foreign capital that is less stable. Over the medium-term, if properly implemented, these curbs could add to the repertoire of weapons that governments deploy to prevent asset bubbles.

 

The intellectual basis for the tax is found in the work of the influential U.S. economist and Nobel prize winner, James Tobin who in the early 1970s proposed a small tax — even as low as 0.1 per cent — on foreign exchange transactions to reduce volatility in the markets. Until the Asian crisis, the idea was not popular and even after that it had only sporadic political support. Recently, however, the G20 has asked the IMF to examine such proposals. Well endowed with natural resources, Brazil is having a commodity boom and is among the first countries to come out of the recession. Prudent macroeconomic management over the years has delivered low inflation and created a large middle class. As with India, Brazil's attractiveness to foreign portfolio investors has not been an unmixed blessing. The rupee, like the Brazilian real, has gone up significantly against the dollar. The very large dependence of the stock market on these portfolio flows has been a major cause for concern. The RBI has been assessing the various flows on the basis of their liquidity profiles and risks. The time for a Tobin tax in India may not have come but its underlying principle can no longer be dismissed as being retrograde and impractical.

 

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THE HINDU

LEADER PAGE ARTICLES

INDIA AND ITS TROUBLESOME NEIGHBOURS

A COLOSSAL AMOUNT OF DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE BY THE INDIAN ACOLYTES OF THE "STRING OF PEARLS" THESIS. SOME DISPASSIONATE ANALYSIS WILL BE IN ORDER.

M.K. BHADRAKUMAR

 

Asking the right questions can be terribly important in most circumstances. Especially in the dry pitiless world of international politics littered with bleached bones, of angled skylights and twisting branches. One of India's leading corporate newspapers reported that China has "opened another anti-India front — this time in Nepal … Besides acquiring major construction projects in Nepal, the Chinese are also opening language centres in Nepali citie s … [the] underlying objective appears to be to unleash anti-India propaganda in that country."

 

Past pattern shows that the report may well turn out to be the stuff for India's "China-watchers" to fill up their future columns. A think-tanker may also wet his toes. In these salubrious autumn days in Delhi, a seminar may even be trumped up over high tea to discuss upcoming Chinese language centres in Nepal.

 

However, questions must be asked. How is it that Chinese construction companies' remarkable success in winning projects in Nepal becomes an "anti-India" activity? Doesn't Nepal have a right to award contracts to Chinese companies — just as the Saudis, Iranians, Nigerians or Chileans are increasingly doing? Looking beyond, other questions arise including some troubling ones. Why should China teach the Nepalese their ancient language if the intention is to disseminate invidious propaganda? Chinese, after all, is one of the most difficult languages to master. The Chinese are a practical people and it seems logical that Beijing's purpose will be served quickly and most efficiently if its anti-India propaganda is dished out in Nepalese language. Virginia Woolf compared translations to a mangled train after the accident.

 

What is worrisome is why so many Hindi-knowing Nepalese would want to learn Chinese. Yes, the really troubling question ought to be why India's neighbours are getting so manifestly attracted to fostering close ties with China. It is up to us to find a logical answer, which is possible only in a full and free spirit of stocktaking. Clearly, for posing such difficult questions, a pre-requisite is that we must be a self-confident people. Equally, intellectual forays get delimited when there is a growing "militarisation" of the mind. Lastly, for asking the correct questions, we must have a mind where, as Rabindranath Tagore famously taught us long ago, "the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert of dead habit."

 

Alas, our China-watching has become pedestrian and cliché-ridden. We will pay a price for this since China is a very serious power and it is rapidly transforming. Even assuming that adversarial instincts in inter-state relations could remain immutable, there is a strong case to be made in favour of applying reason while making judgment. What else could we have expected Beijing to do other than what it did when we posed a development project in Arunachal Pradesh to the Asian Development Bank for funding? To frame the question differentially, why is every Indian ambassador expected to take up with maniacal zeal all instances of "cartographic aggression" — display of Indian boundaries other than ditto what India claims? The point is, under international law, precedents could constitute a needless vector. Which is why sometimes a country, rightly or wrongly, may feel compelled to act precisely against precedent-setting joyful mountaineering expeditions and proceed to create a fait accompli — as India probably did in Siachen in 1984.

 

The ADB is a major international institution and Beijing acted in its best interests. There is enough professionalism in South Block to have anticipated the high probability bordering on certainty that Beijing would act precisely in the fashion it did. The question is, why then did North Block press its proposal to the ADB since, as it now transpires, India does have the capacity to mobilise "domestic" funds for undertaking development projects in its sensitive border regions? In retrospect, did South Block know at all what North Block was doing when the latter approached the ADB? Did the Department of Economic Affairs seek MEA's political clearance? These questions are extremely relevant since often enough the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing — including on highly sensitive issues involving relations with Pakistan or China — given the exasperating vanity fair going on all the time between the czars on Raisina Hill.

 

Indeed, our narrative on China gets muddied when we dwell on its dealings with India's neighbours. Our discourses are demanding the impossible — that if China develops friendly relations with its South Asian neighbours, it will be deemed a hostile act. No doubt, India has a right to safeguard its interests against Chinese policies that are patently directed against its interests. Surely, India has the prerogative to build up its military sinews. But then, we should also have the intellectual clarity to frame our responses to the situations surrounding us. Whereas, what is often enough seen is the propensity to take shelter under a dubious thesis that was first propounded by a minor Pentagon analyst in her late 20s — who since moved on, unsurprisingly, to the Rand Corporation — known as the "string of pearls." The advocates of the thesis have vociferously portrayed the Chinese activities in the South Asian region as unalloyed acts of hostility directed against India with the grand design of creating an arc around India's neck that would stifle our performance as a regional power.

 

A colossal amount of damage has been done by the Indian acolytes of the "string of pearls" thesis. Some dispassionate analysis will be in order. Take the three big pearls for a good, close look — Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The recent developments in Myanmar show that not only have the Indian "experts" been completely off the mark in assuming that Yangon was about to become a Chinese pearl, China may actually be caught in a tangled web. Not only does Beijing lack the stranglehold over Myanmar, as our experts blithely believed, but the issue is more about how Beijing could easily extricate itself from supporting the isolated regime in Yangon. We are seeing a curious spectacle of Yangon taking full advantage of Beijing's predicament. To cull out an expression from an American scholar, "Pulled from many directions, China's task resembles balancing a stool missing a leg."

 

Again, too many people in our strategic community seem not to care that Sri Lanka first offered the Hambantota port for development to India. New Delhi thumbed its nose at it, whereupon Colombo turned to Beijing for help. We seemed to have forgotten that Sri Lanka was a sovereign country and wanted to exploit its unique factors to its advantage for economic development. We are no one to dictate whether it needs such modern facilities at Hambantota or has any right to make the port an important transportation hub in the Indian Ocean. At any rate, we have nothing to fear about Sri Lanka becoming a pearl in a Chinese string, as there are very few people on this planet who treasure their autonomy of thinking and action as the Sinhalese do — and to boot, they are first-rate practitioners of the art of diplomacy.

 

Again, reams and reams of paper have been wasted on the Chinese "presence" in Gwadar. But what is coolly overlooked is that China of its own volition turned down the Pakistani offer to run the Gwadar port after its development with considerable Chinese aid. Arguably, China would benefit by direct access to the Persian Gulf but it factored in that a managerial role in Gwadar was superfluous for achieving the purpose. Nor does China harbour rancour that Pakistan decided that Gwadar is best managed by a Singaporean firm with American links. (Curiously, Gwadar has become an American pearl — just as Myanmar too might if the determined American diplomacy toward Yangon makes headway.)

 

China-Pakistan relationship has literally become a no-go area for rational analysis in our country. Myths are galore, pride mixes with prejudice and self-righteousness. Take Chinese "military assistance" to Pakistan. Does China possess the technology, which the U.S. is systematically passing on to Pakistan? Izvestiya reported that during the visit by Defence Minister A.K. Antony to Moscow recently, the two sides discussed the development of a new supersonic missile "invincible to interception," which "no army in the world possesses." Has China, which faces a worldwide embargo, got any competing military technology to pass on to Pakistan? Also, let us not completely overlook that China is coping to balance its "all-weather friendship" when the U.S. is systematically tightening its vice-like AfPak grip.

 

In sum, we need to analyse why our neighbourhood diplomacy is faltering. Ask Bahadur why Maithili isn't good enough for him. The Myanmar regime offered a level-playing field for India. An Indian company could have undertaken Hambantota port development. The Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project offered a rare enterprise for making Islamabad a stakeholder in good-neighbourly relations.

 

(The writer is a former diplomat.)

 

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THE HINDU

SOFT FOCUS ON APEC GEOPOLITICS

POTENTIAL MEMBERSHIP OF THE FORUM OF ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION IS SOMETHING THAT INDIA CANNOT EXCLUDE FROM ITS WORLD-VIEW.

P. S. SURYANARAYANA

 

The forum of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) continues to keep India out. Not just geography but also geopolitics is the basis of this reality. At the moment, there is also no authoritative word whether an APEC summit, scheduled to be held in Singapore this month, will review the India question.

 

Formally, APEC's existing moratorium on admitting new members is due for review at only next year's summit in Japan. In these circumstances, India's non-APEC credentials resonate with the continued exclusion of the United States from the forum of East Asia Summit (EAS). India, like China and Japan among others, is a founding member of the 16-state EAS. And, the geopolitical footprint of EAS does have some overlapping implications for APEC as well. This is an issue that may come into soft focus, more so behind the scenes, during the prospective APEC summit in Singapore in mid-November.

 

Essentially, the Asian and Pacific regions were hyphenated to form APEC as a group of select economies, not sovereign states, along the Pacific Ocean rim. There is nothing wrong with such an identity, except that it has remained a barrier to the entry of India and a few others into this key intercontinental club. The United States, China, Japan, Russia, Australia, several Southeast Asian states, Hong Kong as a special administrative region of China, and the non-sovereign Chinese Taipei are among the 21 APEC economies. A profile of this nature does make APEC an attractive forum for potential members like India.

 

No bets can, of course, be placed with any certainty that India will in fact benefit greatly by becoming an APEC member. However, if APEC now begins to act decisively, it will rank next only to the global Group of 20 (G20) in addressing international economic concerns. And, as a G20 member, India knows that APEC cannot be brushed aside as an inconsequential forum. This is so, despite the fact that APEC is not in the same league as the Group of 8 (G8) industrialised countries. G8 is a caucus within G20; some developing countries too are beginning to coordinate their positions like an informal bloc among the 20 trouble-shooters.

 

Politically, APEC membership can never also match the substantive status of veto-empowered permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council. For now, such a role at the U.N. is surely out of New Delhi's reach, regardless of the spin that India might rather not aspire for an undemocratic veto right. Overall, a potential APEC membership will, therefore, be something that India cannot exclude from its world-view.

 

A sub-optimal scenario is of course possible still. If APEC loses momentum, because of the rise of G20 on the global economic scene, the Asia-Pacific outfit may become a pale shadow of its original self. APEC may then look like the forum of Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), essentially a secondary trade bloc with no mandate for a global role.

 

However, the prospective APEC summit in Singapore can still help keep the forum relevant to the global economy. APEC surely has a very large economic profile that ASEM cannot at all match. Three of the world's topmost economies, including the U.S. as the highest-ranking one, are in the Asia-Pacific forum and not ASEM. Secondly, but no less importantly, new ideas of community-building now resonate across the Asia-Pacific region.

 

Being a unique economic forum, does APEC have a futuristic agenda at all? By window-dressing or real efforts, the U.S. economy is projected to be on its way out of a deep recession, almost just in time for this month's APEC summit. Host Singapore is also exuding a feel-good sense of confidence about not only the City-State's own economic recovery but also the APEC summit.

 

THREE MAJOR ISSUES

Three major economic issues are expected to dominate the summit, according to Michael Tay, APEC's Executive Director, and other officials. For the first time, this forum plans to shine the spotlight on inclusive growth in the member-economies. Broadly defined, inclusive growth denotes concern for the economic well-being of all sections of society. Such growth is a humane version of the statistical niceties like gross domestic product and per capita income. So, if discussed with empathy for people's welfare as the purpose of economic activity, the planned focus on inclusive growth can make APEC better. Other related ideas are sustainable growth and balanced development, according to U.S. officials. Sustainable growth is meant to promote economic activity in a manner designed to ensure planet-friendly climate as well.

 

Trade being an APEC concern, officials expect the prospective Singapore summit to try and give a political thrust to the worldwide Doha Round. The third but not the least of APEC concerns now is to facilitate investment flows, not just trade, across the intercontinental region.

 

The politics of the prospective APEC summit will centre as much on personalities as on some new ideas already in focus. U.S. President Barack Obama and the new Japanese Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, both fond of the mantra of change, will participate. Unlike in the case of the global forum of G20, the essentially regional entities of EAS and APEC have somewhat overlapping geopolitical concerns. It is, therefore, possible that Mr. Hatoyama may, in a broad-brush manner, brief the other APEC leaders about his long-term vision of an East Asia Community. A Japanese official emphasises that Mr. Hatoyama has said that the corner-stone of the superstructure of his foreign policy would be the Japan-U.S. alliance.

 

In this regional political milieu, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd cannot let go of an opportunity to expound his idea of an Asia Pacific Community. The theme will be in tune with APEC's geopolitical sweep. However, the proposal, as outlined by him so far, will allow India, a non-APEC member, a pride of place in a possible Asia Pacific Community. Interesting, therefore, will be Mr. Obama's response, if any, to the new ideas from Mr. Rudd and Mr. Hatoyama.

 

No less important will be the responses from China, expected to be represented by President Hu Jintao at the planned Singapore summit, and from Russia too. Some expert opinions, expressed in other situations, are very much relevant, though, to the present context.

Sheng Lijun, an expert on China-U.S. ties, has seen Beijing as being engaged in bringing about "chemical, not physical changes" in Washington's foreign policy. In his view, both the U.S. and China seek to "reform" each other. Tim Huxley, an expert on Asia-Pacific equations, says that Mr. Hatoyama has not signalled any intention of "breaching Japan's alliance with the U.S." At the same time, he believes that freelance theories about the emerging anti-China coalitions are also "exaggerated" in the present circumstances.

 

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THE HINDU

PEACE IN LONDON'S FREE SHEET WARS?

BEN DOWELL

 

When the final issue of Associated Newspapers' London Lite hits the streets in a month, the British capital's three-year afternoon free sheet war will end. London Lite — which launched in August 2006, 10 days ahead of its bitter rival, the London Paper — will die, having outlasted News International's free newspaper by just 10 weeks. Estimated bill for both companies — £70m. T hese two are giants of British media — Associated owns the popular and profitable Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, News International publishes the Times, Sunday Times and Sun and is part of the Murdoch family empire which includes Sky television. After the bitter war comes the intriguing peace.

 

Already the rumour mill is churning. Was the demise of the London Paper in September the first stage in a deal to give News International a slice of Associated's lucrative morning free sheet, Metro, when the contract for morning distribution at tube stations comes up for renewal next year? Was the axing of London Lite, which starts a 30-day consultation for staff today, the second step?

 

After all, there is a template. Back in 2001, the Guardian Media Group partnered with Associated to print Metro in Manchester, while Trinity Mirror joined forces with Associated in a similar arrangement in Liverpool and Cardiff in 2006. These deals came after bloody regional battles thrust Metro into competition with local papers, which retaliated with their own rival free editions.

 

And the peace was certainly workable, especially as Metro is still, according to a source, in the black even in the middle of the worst advertising downturn in living memory. So could similar deals be done in London? After all, Lord Rothermere, owner of Associated, reportedly attempted a truce with James Murdoch, who oversees News International, in 2008 but was rebuffed.

 

Last week, News International, which was aware of the rumours about a free sheet deal and Metro carve-up, would not comment on or off the record. Associated also declined to comment.

 

But behind the scenes Associated sources play down the speculation, with one insisting it would breach competition rules. Another adds: "Metro is an incredibly strong brand and there is no reason why we would do a deal."

 

Vanessa Clifford, head of press at the media and marketing agency Mindshare, says that News International wouldn't be interested, "having gone through the bother of shutting down the one thing it could have used when the tube contract comes up. The £8m that Metro made at its height is not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things for a company like News International."

 

News International executives are said to be uncharacteristically nervous about perceptions surrounding the decision to axe the London Paper. "It goes against the grain of what Rupert [Murdoch] does, which is support newspapers," says a source there. The overwhelming consensus at Wapping is that it was simply a cold financial decision for a paper that was racking up losses and was going nowhere. Many at the company feel that James Murdoch had lost interest in free newspapers. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2009

 

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THE HINDU

 

HORROR STORIES HELP CHILDREN GROW UP

JOHN CONNOLLY

 

I have a clear memory of arguing with a school friend about which Stephen King novel was the most frightening. He was in firm favour of The Shining, while I believed that Salem's Lot was about as close to pants-wettingly terrifying as one could get without requiring an actual change of underwear. In fact, the discussion became quite heated. A pencil might even have been flung. We were both 11.

 

Now current wisdom might suggest that 11 is a little young to be tackling a great deal, if not all, of the King oeuvre, but books such as Salem's Lot were but one element of a pre-adolescent appetite for the uncanny that encompassed novelisations of old Hammer films, dodgy Pan anthologies of horror fiction edited by the delightfully named Herbert Van Thal, and classics of the genre from Bram Stoker's Dracula to the short stories of MR James. These were "adult" books, I suppose, but when I was a young reader there was no "young adult" genre to explore in fiction. Once the junior section of the library had been exhausted, the adult section beckoned: H.G. Wells to begin with, then John Wyndham, Alistair MacLean and Ian Fleming, before discovering Stephen King and a lifelong love of supernatural fiction.

 

Like a lot of boys, I was curious about the darkness and I quite liked being scared a little, as long as I was in control of the medium. I can't ever remember closing a book because it frightened me, but there were a couple that I tended not to read when alone in the house, or when I was sitting up in bed at night. After all, I might have been adventurous when it came to my literary tastes, but I wasn't stupid.

 

While parents have an urge to shield their children from the realities of existence for as long as possible, we have to remember that those same children are engaged in the first steps of a lifelong exploration of the meaning of the world, and an understanding of its true nature. Part of our responsibility as adults is to prepare them for what is to come. Children instinctively recognise that their existence is predicated upon the good will of the adults they encounter, and the protection of home and family. They worry that such protection may not always be there for them and wonder how they might cope in such an eventuality.

 

Therein lies the power of old folk tales, for they were never meant for very young children. Instead, they contained lessons to be learned about the world for those on the cusp of adolescence. Red Riding Hood warns young women of the predatory nature of men; Snow White speaks of the jealousies that may arise as one generation's time passes, the coming of old age made more painful by the corresponding blooming of youth around it; and Hansel and Gretel shows that parents may not always be around to help and advise, and the greatest gifts that can be imparted to a child are those of self-sufficiency, an awareness of danger and the cleverness required to avoid or overcome it. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2009

 

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THE HINDU

 

READERS' EDITOR : ONLINE & OFF LINE   

MEDIA GREED DURING ELECTIONS POSES SERIOUS ETHICAL QUESTIONS

 

Electoral malpractices such as bribing voters, impersonation, intimidation of voters by the goons of rival candidates, tampering with vote lists, and manipulating the location of polling booths to suit the needs of particular contestants have been as old as the Indian Republic.

 

Many of these complaints were heard in the first General Election, held in 1952. Every subsequent election saw new additions to this list of improprieties, which included abuse of power by bureaucrats and the police in support of the ruling group.

 

The 1970s saw a spurt in electoral violence, large-scale rigging of polls, booth capturing, ballot stuffing, and the mass removal of the names of voters from the electoral rolls. That has been checked, to a large extent, by the various measures adopted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to clean up the electoral process.

 

But the ECI has completely failed in one area, that is, in curbing the corruption of elections through money power. The 2009 elections witnessed the worst in this regard.

 

Truly shocking was what happened during the run-up to the Maharashtra Assembly elections in mid-October 2009 and the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh earlier in the year. In both cases, the authors and chief perpetrators of the election-related malpractices are sadly from the media — which ought to have been, and actually were in the not-so-distant past, in the forefront of the campaign for free, fair, clean, and violence-free elections.

 

SELLING NEWS SPACE

In both States, influential sections of both the print and broadcast media sold their news space or news slots to electoral candidates or their parties, throwing to the wind all professional and ethical norms and probably violating the law as well. In both States, the media, mostly Indian language newspapers and TV channels reportedly made hundreds of crores of rupees in these deals. The transactions enabled the contestants to buy space and publish all they wanted to project themselves in favourable light to the electorate. Those who refused to purchase the "coverage packages" were reported to have been denied publicity.

 

While P. Sainath exposed this shockingly extensive malpractice witnessed in Maharashtra in his edit page article, "The medium, message and the money" (The Hindu, October 26, 2009), the "cash transfer scheme" in Andhra Pradesh involving influential sections of the media, was actually brought to light in May this year by the Press Academy of Andhra Pradesh and the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists based at Hyderabad. But somehow this failed to get wider attention.

 

Thanks to the efforts of the two organisations, the Press Council of India (PCI) is looking into the matter. It has constituted a two-member committee to go into the phenomenon of "paid news." The Press Council's intervention followed a representation to its Chairman, Justice G.N. Ray from a group of senior journalists, who included Kuldip Nayar, Ajit Bhattacharjee, and Harivansh.

 

Many journalists have expressed their anguish over the "selling of news space," which would jeopardise public trust in the media and lower credibility. The Council expressed serious concern over the phenomenon of paid news. It could cause double jeopardy to Indian democracy through a damaging influence on press functioning as well as on the free and fair election process. There was an urgent need to protect the public's right to information so that it was not misled in deciding the selection quotient of the candidates in the fray, the Council said. PCI Chairman Ray described the media "scheme [of] paid news" as "nefarious."

 

IN MAHARASHTRA

As for Maharashtra, the Election Commission is yet to take any initiative in going after this malpractice. Towards the end of his article Sainath appreciates the "fine job" done by the Commission in curbing "rigging, booth capturing and ballot stuffing" through its "interventions and activism." However, he comments: "On the money power front ... and the media's packaging of big money interests as 'news' ... it is hard to find a single instance of rigorous or deterrent action. These too, after all, are serious threats. More structured, much more insidious than crude ballot stuffing. Far more threatening to the basics of not just elections, but democracy itself."

 

The intervention of the Press Council of India and hopefully of the Election Commission can go some way in reiterating the responsibility of the media in putting its house in order, not to speak of its role in ensuring that the play of money power in one of its crudest forms is exposed and curbed.

 

However, the issue needs to be taken beyond this. This may entail taking a fresh look at the functioning of the self-regulating mechanism in the media. More truths have to be brought to light, for instance, the role of journalists in such shameless media misadventures and how far they can be used for or forced into such questionable assignments. Do journalistic ethics concern only journalists? Do they relate solely to the news and editorial functions of the media or also to their business side?

 

These and many other questions may surface in the months and years ahead if such tendencies continue and spread to more sections of the media. The strengthening of the self-regulatory system of the media is certainly an urgent imperative.

 

readerseditor@thehindu.co.in

 

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  THE ASIAN AGE

EDITORIAL

A SORRY MESS IN KARNATAKA

 

The BJP had dispatched senior party leader Arun Jaitley to Karnataka to sort out the mess chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has got himself into with a section of his legislators led by the Reddy brothers, the state's powerful mining magnates who are believed to have played a crucial role in securing the party's victory in the last Assembly election. The mission was a write-off for all practical purposes, and representatives of rival factions are in New Delhi in the hope of a patchup with the purposeful intervention of the national leadership. The trouble, however, is there is no high command at the moment. With the prolonged bickering and bad blood among the most senior BJP leaders, and consecutive defeats in the May Lok Sabha election and in elections to three state legislatures last month, there is no one at the party's national headquarters whose words would be powerful enough to make the squabbling factions fall in line. The loss of moral authority and the loss of leverage, following loss of power in several states — not to speak of the Centre, has robbed the putative BJP brass of the élan needed to deal with renegades. At present there is simultaneously a leadership vacuum and a flux, extraordinary though that may sound. The centre is not holding and no one has an idea as to the incoming top team. Consequently, no individual or group appears to be in control. It is also no longer clear if, given the complexities of the moment, even the RSS, Hindutva's mother ship, is in a position to crack the whip.

 

The ground reality in Karnataka suggests that the chief minister is an influential leader of the Lingayat community, on which the BJP has traditionally depended in the state. Mr Yeddyurappa, personally, is thought to command respect among farmers. That's a powerful combination. As such, entertaining any thought of jettisoning him to appease the rebels is unlikely to produce a satisfactory solution. Besides, Mr Yeddurappa and the core team he leads come from the RSS stables. As such, the ideological component of the BJP legislature party in the state might broadly be expected to abide by their present leader. The root of the problem appears to be the new type of politician who has wormed his way into the BJP. It was a mistake on the part of the party to have encouraged such elements before the election in the hope of cashing in on their financial clout. The fallout is that the faction led by the mining lobby is reported to carry about a third of BJP MLAs in the state. This would make the group large enough to destabilise, if not displace, the government, if it so wished. It is not unlikely that the commercial group is disenchanted as it is unable to prevail on the chief minister in all situations.

 

It will be a pity if the Congress responded to overtures reportedly being made to it by the commercially-aligned turncoats on the lookout for a new government in the state that they might drive. That will detract from the moral standing that the party is gaining nationally. If it is tempted, it may be sure that any government it may hope to form with the aid of the self-seeking mining group will by definition be unstable. Indeed, it appears the instability factor has now been introduced into any equation that may be devised to form a government within the present House. This includes a government based on an intra-BJP compromise, not to speak of one stitched together with the help of H.D. Deve Gowda's MLAs.

 

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THE ASIAN AGE

OPED

LEFT MUST PUSH FOR A NEW UNITED FRONT

ARJUN SENGUPTA

 

The idea of the United Front extends much beyond the simple notion of electoral alliances of different political parties to form a government. The United Front means a combination of political forces to capture power to bring about a transformation of the society. A concrete meaning was given to this term by the Socialist in 1920s. It is the working class parties representing the toiling people who are supposed to lead such united fronts or exercise the hegemony to carry with them all other forces of social change in a set-up of democracy. This is because the working class does not live on exploitation and produces "surplus value", i.e. the value over and above what is needed to reproduce themselves. All other classes live on the surplus value produced by working classes and appropriate them because of their command over capital, through exploitation. That is why according to the Marxists the working class is the harbinger of social change, with all other classes dependent on extraction of surplus value from the production process.

 

The original idea of the United Front was articulated by Lenin in the 1920s, Second International, where he proposed that the working class needs the support of all other classes to bring about social changes. According to Lenin, this was necessary because such a majority is essential to win over state power as a first step towards social transformation and towards socialism. The working class party must earn their leadership of the social forces by formulating programmes, mobilising them and persuading them to join the national democratic movement leading up to eventual establishment of socialism.

 

This position of Lenin was not accepted by many Communist leaders at that time, who did not think it was necessary to ally with different sections of people to get power, as the Bolsheviks did for overthrowing capitalism. Left-wing Communist leaders such as Bela Kun, Thalheimer and Terracini believed that the Russian Revolution was an action of a minority party, disciplined and well organised, without trying to win the masses, ignoring the majority of the working class who were under the influence of the social democracy in Europe. Lenin's denunciation of this stand is very much worth quoting, "Terracini says that we were victorious in Russia although the party was very small. Comrade Terracini has understood very little of the Russian Revolution. In Russia we were a small party but we had with us in addition the majority of the Soviets' workers and peasants, deputies throughout the country. Do you have anything of this sort? We had with us almost half the army with their number at least 10 million men". Lenin spelt out further: "To win we must have the sympathy of the masses. An absolute majority is not always essential, but what is essential to win and retain power is not only the majority of working class (in the sense of the industrial proletariat) but also the majority of the working and exploited rural population".

 

In other words, the working class parties must not only unite themselves but also lead all other national forces of social change and must even be prepared to form United Front governments with social democrats.

 

The world today of course is quite different from the 1920s and the Communists are rarely able to lead a social movement on their own compared with vast number of other political groups having influence on workers, peasants and working groups. But the basic logic of social change brought about by the hegemony of the working class still remains valid because it is only the working class that can bring about changes without exploiting other classes, and even if socialism is difficult to establish, any change to bring about inclusive development would require the leadership of the non-exploitative working class movement. For this as, the 1920s experience taught us, we need a United Front of all the Left parties bringing within this the support of the national bourgeoisie in close alliance.

 

I am underlining this lesson of the Second International for at least the Communists to realise the need for a United Front with the nationalist parties even if the latter may prevaricate on that point. In India today that United Front is led by the main nationalist force of the Congress. They do that because of the compulsions for getting electoral power even if they are not fully supportive of the Communists' idea of social change trying to have a wide-based alliance of all forces calling for inclusive development. Secularism, anti-communalism, anti-casteism and all forces supporting social integration are the natural offshoot of that social movement. All these are natural allies of the Left and even if there may be periodic differences among them on peripheral issues, the basic unity of that class alliance remains fully intact. The Left cannot betray this alliance for gaining temporary electoral advantage or combining with very reactionary movements to get temporarily an upper hand in the electoral process. The Left and the Communists' must be on a constant vision to push forward a national movement but they cannot abandon the basic principle of United Front which was formulated by Lenin and developed by Gramsci in the 1920s' social movement.

 

It is important to remind us of this fundamental principle because India is now passing through a major social crisis. We have all the wherewithal to bring about inclusive social and economic development but the forces of vested interests are stubbornly opposing that trend because that means giving up some of their advantages of going through an unfettered capitalist economic development. But more than that there is an increasing danger of the rise of fascism in the form of either Naxalism or social divisiveness very much dominated by the so-called mastan politics of the footloose lumpen elements who move on from one party to another to dominate social interaction. We have to rebuild the United Front movement and strive for the united forces for social change based on principled politics without looking for tactical advantages.

 

Dr Arjun Sengupta is a Member of Parliament and former Economic Adviser to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

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THE ASIAN AGE

OPED

DON'T UNCORK THE BUBBLY YET!

PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA

 

That the economies of Asia, in particular China, India and Australia, are responsible for whatever growth is currently taking place on the planet is now acknowledged and underlined by the West as well as by multilateral financial agencies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

 

The 3.5 per cent growth in the American economy in the July-September quarter has enthused many into believing that the worst of the worldwide economic crisis is behind us.

 

In India as well, there is no dearth of analysts who are overly optimistic about the proverbial "green shoots of recovery" indicating a bright future.

 

But this is no time for partying. Not as yet. The problems thrown up by the worst recession the world has witnessed since the Great Depression of the 1930s are not going to disappear in a hurry. Consumption and savings patterns in the United States and China are not to change dramatically. The dollar is likely to become progressively weaker. Trade and investment flows across the globe are expected to remain sluggish.

 

Even as economic power balances shift eastwards, few new job opportunities would come up, especially in Europe. The International Labour Organisation believes the world will not return to the employment scenario that existed in 2007 for a few more years, at least not until 2011 or in 2012.

 

As far as the Indian economy is concerned, there is much to be worried about. Agricultural production, after having grown fairly impressively for five years in a row, is going to come down by at least two per cent this fiscal year, or so says Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.

 

Food prices are driving inflation and immiserising the poor despite the government's rural employment generation programme and the rise in the daily minimum wage to Rs 100.

 

The labour-intensive export-oriented sector — including textiles, garments, diamond polishing, leather, handicrafts and marine foods — remain in doldrums with no immediate signs of revival, especially with the rupee strengthening against the dollar. Oil prices that are creeping up and are at present hovering around the $80 per barrel mark seem unlikely to come down.

 

On October 29, the IMF released its "regional economic outlook for Asia and the Pacific" which forecast that Asia would grow by a higher 5.75 per cent in 2010 against 2.75 per cent in the current calendar year. "Just as the US downturn triggered an outsized fall in Asia's GDP (gross domestic product) because international trade and finance froze, now their normalisation is generating an outsized Asian upturn", the report said, even as it categorically stated that Asia was not decoupled from the rest of the world and that the continent's fortunes remain closely tied to that of the global economy.

 

The IMF's latest forecasts say that the large Group of Seven economies would grow by just 1.25 per cent in 2010 recouping only half the contraction estimated for 2009 because private demand in these countries would remain constrained by the crisis. Consequently, overseas demand for products exported by Asian countries will remain subdued. In this "new world", Asia's longer-term growth prospects may be determined by its ability to recalibrate the drivers of growth to allow domestic sources to play a more dynamic role.

 

Chapter III of the report entitled "Corporate Savings and Rebalancing in Asia", points out an interesting paradox. In the past few years, corporate savings have risen even as investments have not picked up. The report raises the question: Why didn't corporations pay out their profits as dividends, if they didn't have suitable investment projects? In seeking an answer to this question, the report says greater financial development and structural reform could reduce companies' need to retain earnings for precautionary reasons.

 

That indeed is the moot point. Asia and India save and do not splurge on borrowed funds as America does.

 

That has saved Asia from the worst ravages of the international financial crisis that it had no responsibility in creating. Greedy investment bankers who were responsible for Wall Street melting down in September 2008 were not exactly role models for the people of the East.

 

On the economy of this country, a just-released report prepared by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) strikes a cautionary note for the diehard optimists. "Despite signs of recovery from the global financial crisis, the GDP growth rate for (India)… is likely to be between 5.8 (per cent and) 6.1 per cent in 2009-10, below the 6.7 per cent recorded in fiscal 2008-09", the report states.

 

The ICRIER study points out that "while there has been an improvement in Indian industry, particularly the manufacturing sector, the adverse impact of the fall in kharif production due to a rainfall deficiency will act as a drag on the overall growth of the economy". Importantly, "in the current financial year, the major policy challenges for the government will come from the sharp rise in inflation and deteriorating public finances".

 

The findings of ICRIER were presented at a seminar organised jointly with the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy on October 14 that was presided over by Dr C. Rangarajan who is head of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council. ICRIER's views, by and large, are quite congruent with those of the government.

 

The message is coming out loud and clear: the economic situation is far from hunky dory. The party had lasted a pretty long time: the broken bottles have not been picked up, the dishes are still dirty and the mess is yet to be cleaned up.

 

Paranjoy Guha Thakurta is an educator and commentator

 

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DNA

EDITORIAL

MR KHURSHID, CLASS ACTION SUITS SHOULD ALSO TARGET GOVT

R JAGANNATHAN

 

Company affairs minister Salman Khurshid spoke last week about creating an enabling law for investors to file class action suits against companies that work against their interests. He also talked about measures to restrict the number of directorships anyone can hold so that independent directors are able to focus more on protecting minority shareholders.

 

These are noble sentiments. But one wonders what will come out of it, for, in the same breath, Khurshid also talked about using the Company Law Board for deciding penalties in class action suits. Perhaps, the newspaper reports were not accurate, but the minister needs to know that existing arms of government do not have the credibility they need to instill confidence in the system.

 

The idea of facilitating class action suits is, however, on the ball. Class action suits are used liberally by US investors and consumers to demand justice and better governance from corporate entities, even though the idea has been abused by so-called "ambulance chasers"--lawyers who fight for free but take a lion's share of the pickings if they win a suit. India does not need ambulance-chasers, but it certainly needs the ability to fight class action suits.

 

If Khurshid wants to improve governance, he needs to extend the idea beyond investors. In India, we need a law to help people demand better governance, and the classes that need to be empowered are not only investors, but also consumers, disadvantaged groups (women, dalits, the physically challenged) and taxpayers. Not to speak of ordinary citizens. All of us need remedies for bad governance.

 

Let's take these four classes and examine how they could seek justice from the relevant organisations or authorities. First, investors. Khurshid assumes that only investors in private listed companies need protection. Not true. Every company needs to be brought under the ambit of class action suits, and especially government companies.

 

I have often pointed out that listed public sector companies are repeatedly looted by the majority shareholder (the government) on the basis of voting power. If Satyam's promoters can be pilloried for defrauding shareholders, why not the overlords of government companies?

 

How is Satyam's robbery any different from that of, say, ONGC, where the government has arbitrarily decided that ONGC should donate its profits to some other company because the government does not have the guts to raise petroleum prices? ONGC is paying for its promoter's political interests, and thus should be sued for misgovernance. Look closer, and investors in almost all government companies will find something or the other to sue the majority shareholder for.

 

Second, it is not true that only listed companies are looting shareholders. Even unlisted companies do the same. Here the public sector fares worse than the private sector. When unlisted private sector companies loot minority shareholders, their actions affect only a handful of fortunes. But when unlisted government companies are poorly governed, they indirectly defraud millions of shareholders.

 

Every unlisted public sector company is owned by one billion-and-odd Indians. So, when a BSNL or Coal India is denuded of cash by ministers or mafia lords with the aid of a corrupt bureaucracy, it is national wealth being eroded. Every taxpayer, who has directly funded Coal India, or every citizen, for whose benefit we have a nationalised coal sector, has thus a right to sue unlisted public sector companies that aren't doing their jobs.

 

Next, consumers. We need class action suits against companies that put out shoddy products. Using consumer courts is not the answer. Their processes are unduly long, and by forcing consumers to come with small, individual complaints, they actually help companies get away with murder.

 

Only the extremely intrepid can afford to spend time and money appearing in consumer courts to enforce justice. Here, too, government needs to be targeted. Every citizen is a consumer of government service, whether it is for police protection or receipt of NREGA benefits. When these services are not provided or provided deficiently, we have a right to sue.

 

When it comes to disadvantaged groups, where the question is often one of discrimination, we have special laws to protect them. But these laws don't work. When justice has to be sought one person at a time, the sheer process of the law is enough to deny justice to many due to systemic delays. Class action is the way out.

 

Khurshid is on the right track. He must convince his ministerial colleagues, especially law minister Veerappa Moily, that class action suits are not just about private companies, but the whole of government.

 

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DNA

EDITORIAL

WHY POSTPONE HAPPINESS TO TOMORROW?

SRI SRI RAVI SHANKAR

 

Every living creature wants to be happy. Whether it is money, power or sex, you get into it for the sake of happiness. Some people even enjoy misery because it gives them happiness!

To be happy, you seek something. But despite getting it, you are not happy. A school-going boy thinks that if he goes to college, he will be more independent, free and, therefore, happy. If you ask a college-going boy whether he is happy, he feels that if he gets a job, he will be happy.

 

Talk to somebody who is settled in his job or business, and you will find that he is waiting to get a perfect soul- mate to be happy. He gets a soul-mate, but he now wants a kid to be happy. Ask those who have children if they are happy. And they say: how can they relax until the children have grown up and have had a good education and are on their own? Ask those who are retired and done with all their responsibilities if they are happy?
They long for the days when they were younger.

 

All of one's life is spent in preparing to be happy someday in the future. It's like making a bed all night, but having no time to sleep in it. How many minutes, hours and days of your life have you spent being happy from within? Those are the only moments you have really lived life. Those were perhaps the days when you were a small kid, completely blissful and happy or a few moments when you were surfing, swimming or sailing or on a mountain top, living in the present and enjoying it.

 

There are two ways of looking at life. One is thinking: "I'll be happy after achieving a certain objective." The second is saying: "I am happy come what may!" Which one do you want to live by?Life is 80 per cent joy and 20 per cent misery. But you hold on to the 20 per cent and make it 200 per cent ! It is not a conscious act, it just happens. Living in the moment with joy, alertness, awareness and compassion is enlightenment. Being like a child is enlightenment. It is being free from within, feeling at home with everybody, without barriers.

 

Don't judge and don't worry about what others think of you. Whatever they think, it is not permanent. Your own opinion about things and people keeps changing all the time. So why worry about what others think about you? Worrying takes a toll on the body, mind, intellect and alertness. It is like an obstruction that takes you far away from yourself. It brings fear and fear is nothing but a lack of love. It is an intense sense of isolation.

 

This can be handled by relaxing and doing some breathing exercises. Then you will realise that you are loved, you are a part of everybody and you are a part of the whole universe." This will liberate you and the mind will take a complete shift. You will then find so much harmony around.

 

To find harmony, it is not as if you have to physically seek it by sitting somewhere for years. Whenever you are in love, your mind is in the present, you feel joyous. At some level, to some degree, everybody is meditating without being aware of it. There are moments when your body, mind and breath are all in harmony. That's when you achieve yoga. The art of living lies in the present moment.

 

The writer is founder of the Art of Living Foundation

 

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DNA

FRAYED TEMPERS IN THE TIME OF CLIMATE CHANGE

ARATI R JERATH

 

Calling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene in the dogfight that's broken out between environment minister Jairam Ramesh and the country's climate change negotiators. The negotiators are up in arms because of the way Ramesh has been embarrassing them with off-the-cuff proposals for a change in India's position on the international climate change debate.

 

At two recent conferences, one in Bangkok and the other in London, the negotiators faced a barrage of awkward questions from their counterparts who wanted to know why the government of India was working at cross-purposes. American climate change envoy Jonathan Pershing buttonholed senior negotiator Chandrashekhar Dasgupta at the plenary session itself, in front of all the other delegates.

 

The Chinese negotiator Yu Qingtai was more discreet but scathing. He dripped sarcasm during a brief encounter with the PM's special envoy Shyam Saran in London. It's being said that Ramesh is fighting a turf battle with the PMO to bring the ongoing climate change negotiations under his ministry. Never mind if it vitiates India's position and makes us look like a divided house at a time when we should be closing ranks for the difficult last lap in Copenhagen.

 

It was kiss and make-up time on the way to Srinagar in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special aircraft last week. The one hour plus flight brought Sonia Gandhi and her mercurial Trinamool partner Mamata Banerjee face-to-face after several weeks of distance, giving them an opportunity to clear recent differences that were threatening to destabilise their alliance.

 

The government's honeymoon with West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya topped Mamata's list of grievances and she spoke her mind freely. She reminded Sonia that she hasn't embarrassed the Congress or the government on price rise, sugar imports and other sensitive issues. So why were they ruffling her feathers by playing footsie with Buddhadeb? She seemed particularly peeved with home minister P Chidambaram and his recent pronouncements on Maoist activity in Bengal. Why so pro-Buddhadeb and anti-Mamata, she wanted to know? Her complaints had the effect she desired. Since the Srinagar sojourn, the Congress has gone out of its way to placate Mamata. Spokesman

 

Abhishek Singhvi addressed a press conference specifically to clear the air that the Trinamool Congress is in no way linked to the Maoists. And look at the change that's come over Chidambaram. He too has gone soft on Mamata and lashed out at the CPI(M) at his monthly press conference on Friday.

 

The government has taken heart from Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao's silence when Manmohan Singh discussed the Dalai Lama with him at the ASEAN summit last week. The two prime ministers were seated next to each other at the state banquet and Singh siezed the moment to raise the issue. Although there was no specific talk about the Dalai Lama's forthcoming trip to Arunachal Pradesh, to which the Chinese have objected in strong terms, Wen read the subtext of Singh's formulation. Surprisingly, he kept mum and his silence has been read here as a signal that while China will make its usual protests when the Dalai Lama goes to Arunachal, it will notpress the issue beyond a point. Interestingly, the official announcement of the visit came only after this little exchange. Obviously, both sides have decided that the war will be limited to words only.

Tailpiece
A disgruntled member of the anti-Advani camp was overheard grumbling during a recent discussion on cricket: our umpire has declared him out but he's refusing to leave the field!

 

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THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

TIME TO MOVE AHEAD

REFORMS CRUCIAL FOR 9-10 PC GROWTH

 

An unexpectedly strong re-election and a government without the annoying dependence on the Leftists should have emboldened the Congress to take up the left-over reforms. But barring PSU disinvestment, nothing has happened possibly because the government was busy fighting the side-effects of world recession. It came as a pleasant surprise to hear the Prime Minister talk of reforms at The Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Friday. The architect of India's much-acclaimed economic reforms knows what needs to be done to push the growth trajectory to 9-10 per cent, his stated target. Even world leaders now listen to the doctor's economic prescriptions as the G-20 summits have shown. Even some old-fashioned leaders with outdated ideologies in the Congress and the coalition government have no choice but to let him carry out his economic agenda.

 

To start with, the Prime Minister has picked up the most controversial of the lot — the financial and labour reforms. Last year's global financial meltdown had turned some the toughest supporters of financial reforms into sceptics. It was the strong regulatory and supervisory mechanism put in place by the RBI which had insulated the financial sector from the global heat. It should, therefore, not be difficult to allay fears, if any, about further opening up of the financial sector. The rigid labour laws, it is well known, discourage foreign firms from setting up shop here. Honda has threatened to close down its Gurgaon plant if labour trouble persists. A corporate and labour-friendly environment has to be created so that the existing companies flourish, fresh investment flows in and more jobs are created.

 

Meanwhile, the government can focus on non-controversial areas like agriculture, rural education, health and infrastructure. Financial constraints put a limit on the government spending in these crucial sectors. There is, therefore, need to put in place a favourable policy regime so that private investment, both domestic and foreign, pours in these crucial areas. The government has to ensure that growth is equitable and benefits reach the less-advantaged in the rural and urban areas. 

 

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THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

OFFER FOR TALKS

MAOISTS WILL BE UNWISE TO SPURN OVERTURES

 

The Union Home Minister's olive branch to the Maoists appears to be getting longer. After holding out the threat of an all-out armed offensive against the rebels, widely expected to be launched after the monsoon, the Home Minister is increasingly seen to favour a dialogue with them. It is not clear whether this is part of a "carrot and stick policy" or if it is designed to make the central government look "reasonable". May be, there is a subtle shift in strategy. Earlier Mr Chidambaram had called upon the Maoists to "abjure" violence or give up arms. But now he seems to be suggesting that they should merely suspend violence even if they do not give up arms. Apparently, engaging the Maoists in talks while keeping the powder dry is not a bad idea.

 

The Home Minister's claim that Salwa Judum, the vigilante group in Chhattisgarh armed by the state to take on the Maoists, has ceased to exist is a welcome development. But just as vigilante groups are not desirable in a civilised state, armed or armchair revolutionaries are also an anachronism in a democratic state. The Maoists have consistently offered a "ceasefire" on condition that the government withdraws security forces from their strongholds. Over the week-end, while rebuffing the Home Minister's overture, they have put forward their own set of pre-conditions for talks. They would like the state governments to stop or abandon all mining projects and scrap all MoUs they have signed with industrialists before they come to the table for talks. No government can, or indeed should, accept these conditions.

 

Mr Chidambaram wants to persuade the state governments to hold talks with the Maoists once the latter suspend violence. The Home Minister specifically singled out the concerns related to land acquisition, forest rights and industrialisation. Although all such concerns need to be addressed in any case, apparently these are being sought to be taken up to assure the Maoists that the government's offer of talks is well-meant.While the underground leaders in different states, particularly in central India, are unlikely to surface, it is possible that non-official channels are at work creating space for the talks at the state level. It will be unwise of the Maoists to spurn the government's overtures.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

POLICE VS LAWYERS

TN ADVOCATES BENEFIT FROM COURT LENIENCY

 

The Madras High Court order holding four top police officials of Chennai responsible for the clash between the police and lawyers on the High Court premises in February last and directing the Tamil Nadu government to initiate disciplinary action against them is not entirely convincing. While letting lawyers completely off the hook, the two-judge bench has only handed out "friendly advice" to them, saying they should dispel the impression that they are a law unto themselves. Considering that this is not the first case of seeming leniency towards lawyers, one is left wondering whether the judiciary tends to be too magnanimous towards the lawyers, even to those who tend to violate law.

 

Surely, police high-handedness was manifest in the manner in which the policemen used disproportionate force, wantonly destroying property and vehicles parked on the High Court premises and beating up lawyers. But as Justice B.N. Srikrishna said in his interim report to the Supreme Court days after the incident, the police initially exercised restraint as the lawyers took to taunting, jeering, gesticulating, and hurling stones. At one stage during the clash with the police, the agitating lawyers even burnt down a police station located within the court campus. While the court has done well to call the senior police officers to account for the police having violated the sanctity of the court, it would be worthwhile to examine whether a mere advice would be enough for a belligerent group of lawyers who have been known to disrupt court work through agitations every now and then.

 

It is apt that the Tamil Nadu government is planning to go in appeal to the Supreme Court against the High Court order. It would be in the fitness of things if the judiciary were to lay down guidelines for the behaviour of lawyers within and without the court premises as Justice Srikrishna has suggested. His recommendation that the Advocate's Act be amended to ensure a better disciplinary mechanism also deserves a close look. As for the police, they surely need to learn some lessons.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

COLUMN

THE WAR WITHIN

MAOISTS MUST BE DEFEATED

BY HARSH V. PANT

 

Recently the Maoists abducted Atindranath Dutta, Officer-in-Charge of Sankrail police station in West Bengal. After 55 hours in captivity, Dutta was released in the presence of national media by Maoist leader Kishenji, who underlined that this was the "first case of release of Prisoner of War" by the Maoists. Dutta's release came hours after the state government let 22 alleged Naxals walk free by not opposing their bail plea. The West Bengal government later admitted that it gave in to the demands of the Maoists to secure the release of the police officer and cited the release of militants in the 1989 Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping case and the 1999 IC-914 Kandahar hijack as precedents. The Home Secretary went to the extent of calling India a "soft state" while the Chief Minister's Principal Secretary admitted that the government "had to bend over backwards".

 

This prisoner swap happened even as the security forces had surrounded the Maoist abductors with their leader Kishenji also part of the squad. They were instructed to call off their operations. This incident once again underscored the growing might of the Maoists and the abject passivity of the Indian State even when its institutions are assaulted with impunity. Not a single day passes by these days when the Maoists do not make it to the national headlines.

 

For some time now we have been hearing the government talking of Naxalism and Maoism in grave terms, labelling them as the greatest internal security threat facing the nation. Yet the policy response has not been up to the mark. It has been full of sound and fury signifying nothing. The UPA government in its first term failed to see the Naxalite threat for what it was — one of the most significant challenges to the very existence of India. As a result, its response was a mixture of denial, accommodation and neglect.

 

With the Left parties as coalition partners and an ineffective Shivraj Patil as Home Minister, the government ended up worsening an already serious situation, giving ample opportunities to the Naxalites to demonstrate their might across an ever-expanding swathe of territory called the "Red Corridor." For years Naxals have been killing security personnel and civilians continuously and consistently with a ruthlessness that is unprecedented, but the Indian State has tended to look the other way while celebrity activists have tended to justify these acts on all sorts of moral grounds.

 

In the absence of leadership from New Delhi, the states decided to chart their own courses and their approaches ranged from offering amnesties to the raising of armed militias like the Salwa Judum. Realising that the situation has got out of control, the UPA government in its second term had no option but to take the threat head on, and it started with the new Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, admitting in Parliament that the national security threat posed by the Maoists had been underestimated for the last few years.

 

Conventional wisdom on tackling Naxalism, much prevalent amidst the Indian liberal intelligentsia, suggests that this is a mere socio-economic problem. And only if we can provide jobs to the disaffected youth and win their hearts and minds, we can prevent Maoism from spreading. This assumption is the basis for the developmental package that the government has announced for the Naxal-infested areas where significant development aid is now being channelled in the hope that this will help in alleviating the perception of alienation from the national mainstream.

 

It is indeed true that good governance and economic growth have simply passed over certain parts of India, and the Naxalites thrive in this developmental and governance vacuum, often supplanting the state's legitimacy. And as the state's authority has eroded, the Maoists have moved in to fill this vacuum by erecting parallel structures of governance. Development, however, is never the goal of such movements. It is all about power.

 

No doubt, a multi-pronged strategy is needed to tackle Naxalism, and one of the planks will have to be to ensure that developmental aid trickles down to those at the very bottom of the nation's socio-economic ladder. But this should not mean that the military defeat of the Maoists should be put on the back-burner. For far too long there has been a complacent attitude regarding fighting these forces. There has been an absurd sentimentality about the Maoists' Leftist pretensions. The argument went that these are idealistic, well-intentioned people who have gone awry but soon they will recognise the benefits of participatory democracy and start engaging with the nation's electoral process.

 

The Congress party remained ambivalent about defeating Maoism and we kept hearing clichés suggesting that development was the only way to tackle the menace of Naxalism, and the Maoists were merely frustrated youth. It is indeed surprising because India has been rather ruthless in fighting other challenges to its internal security, be it in Jammu and Kashmir or the North-East, where all kinds of insurgencies have challenged the might of the Indian State and the nation has never been diffident in responding in kind.

 

As the Home Minister has pointed out, left-wing extremism affects 20 states, and over 2000 police station areas in 223 districts in those states. While 231 security personnel were killed in Naxalite violence in 2008, as many as 250 had already died this year till August. Despite this, the Naxalites have continued to be seen as misguided or harmless or even basically right in what they wish to achieve though, perhaps, a bit too harsh in their choice of means.

 

The Maoists have made it clear time and again that they seek the dismemberment of India and have cynically exploited the genuine grievances of the local population in their areas of operation toward their larger ideological ends. The Indian intelligentsia and the Indian government should disabuse themselves of any possible reconciliation with the Maoists at this juncture. The Maoists have made it clear that they will only come to the negotiating table if security forces are withdrawn from their areas of operation, all arrested Maoists are released and there won't be any precondition of laying down arms.

 

There should be no question of accepting any of these demands. The extremism of their goals and the excesses of their method make them the most dreaded enemies of the country. The main task of great urgency before the government today, therefore, is a military defeat of the anti-democratic Naxal forces. The government needs to re-establish its authority, creating conditions for pursuing an inclusive political process and developmental agenda.

 

As recent events make it amply clear, India has been failing its paramilitary and police consistently. In the absence of adequate personnel, training and equipment, the Indian police have been reluctant to take on the Maoists head-on, making it even more difficult for the local population to challenge the Naxal's might. In the absence of adequate security, a "hearts and minds" strategy is unlikely to work and the local populace will continue to get targeted by both the Naxals and the security forces.

 

In this context, while the recently launched Operation Green Hunt against the Naxalite movement is a step in the right direction, the government will have to think about building institutions of governance rather rapidly after clearing the areas of the Maoist cadre if it wants a permanent solution to this problem.

 

The Maoist insurgency is a blatantly illegal and a no-holds-barred war against the country, against the idea and existence of Indian democracy, and that includes the poor tribals and farmers in whose cause the Maoists claim to fight. It is not only ignorant but also extremely dangerous to romanticise the Naxalite cause. While recognising the limits of Indian democracy and developmental model, there is no need to be apologetic about the ability of Indian democracy in bringing an ever greater number of people, especially the marginalised, into the mainstream. Today it is the Maoists who, because of their destructive tactics and senseless violence, are actually the greatest impediment to the development of the areas for whom they are ostensibly fighting. It is time for India to assert itself as well as expose the intellectual vacuity of their ideology. Anything less would allow such forces to keep working towards the weakening of the Indian State.n

 

The writer is a Visiting Professor at King's College, London.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

COLUMN

DREAD OF VASECTOMY

BY G.K. GUPTA

 

In the mid-1970s a widespread family planning programme was initiated by the government. Police and other officials were asked to forcibly perform vasectomies on men. In order to meet the target, a number of unmarried young men and some ignorant yokels got sterilised.

 

Those days, I occasionally passed through Purkazi, a sleepy town on the G.T. Road, near Roorkee, with a colleague on business trips to the BHEL complex. We usually stopped at a particular shop famous for tea and snacks. Once our halt was much longer due to heavy rain.

 

We enjoyed this forced stay in the midst of a motley company and found ourselves talking to one Chowdhury Ram Singh, who had the bearing of an affluent and influential person. He invited us to his village Kheri some 3 km from the main road to taste fresh gur which he averred was more delicious than the celebrated chocolates. The opportunity to be the guests of an important person was quite appealing. We agreed to visit on our return.

 

On our way back, the weather had become quite pleasant. But the rain had left the area slushy. Our driver was confident of locating the village. Just before entering Purkazi, he took a right turn on the narrow road passing through fields and dwellings. Then, at last, we hit Kheri village.

 

We were sure the villagers would guide us to Ram Singh, who was an important person in the village. There were not many people around but they were avoiding us and quickly getting out of our way. We stopped a few persons but they turned away their faces or took to their heels. They all betrayed some sort of unmistakable hostility. Hopefully, I tapped at a half open door but it was rudely shut and bolted from inside. I could hear low voices of people inside.

 

We were getting late and abandoned the fruitless search. On our way back we entered the shop where we had met Ram Singh. The shopkeeper heard about the queer behaviour of the villagers but then to our surprise, he burst into uncontrollable laughter.

 

When composed, he said that we were lucky for not being badly manhandled as it happened to some people earlier.

 

Undoubtedly, the villagers thought that we were from the government's family planning office and had come to carry out vasectomy operations. Stories of such forced operations on unwilling males were rampant those days.

 

No doubt, to the lynx-eyed villagers, the picture of vasectomy perpetrators was complete — two formally dressed sarkari looking guys with brief-cases, the khaki-clad driver and the while ambassador car.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

OPED

NEED TO LINK DEVELOPMENT, SECURITY IN AFGHANISTAN

BY ROBERT B. ZOELLICK

 

As governments reconsider strategies in Afghanistan, stories abound about why achieving progress in this "graveyard of empires" is so challenging: The country is racked by violence and opium production; confidence in the government is weak; its neighbours meddle; and fiercely independent tribes distrust any intruder — whether from Britain, the Soviet Union, NATO or Kabul.

 

The World Bank Group's experience in Afghanistan reflects all these problems. This is one of the most difficult environments in which we work. Yet we have seen real, measurable progress: in the health sector, education, community development, microfinance and telecommunications. Since 2002, the World Bank has committed nearly $2 billion to these and other projects and manages, with partners, a $3.2 billion trust fund for 30 donor countries.

 

Here are some of the lessons we have learned:

 

First, we need to "secure development" — that is, create a strong link between security and development. Each reinforces the other, especially when we focus on communities and on resolving local-level conflict. A dysfunctional police force, justice and prison system feeds a lawlessness that breeds disillusionment with the government and sympathy for its opponents.

 

Second, corruption can be fought better through design than through calls for virtue or even a slew of investigations. Afghanistan's drug trade risks the criminalization of the state. But there are steps one can take to make corruption harder and less likely.

 

Afghanistan's reform-minded finance ministers have taken practical steps to simplify government processes and add transparency to reduce opportunities for corruption, already raising government revenue 75 percent in the first part of this year. Recently the government slashed the number of steps to register vehicles from some 55 to just a few, reducing opportunities for bribes and increasing revenue.

 

Third, locally led projects are the most effective. The National Solidarity Program, which the World Bank helped launch in 2003, empowers more than 22,000 elected, village-level councils to decide on their development priorities — from building a school to irrigation to electrification.

 

So far, the program has reached more than 19 million Afghans in 34 provinces, with grants averaging $33,000. Development owned by the community can survive amid conflict: When an NSP-funded school was attacked in August 2006, the villagers defended it. The community councils also help build cooperation among villages and with the government.

 

Fourth, while local progress matters, government responsibility and capacity must be built at the national level. Currently, two-thirds of aid to Afghanistan flows outside the government because donors lack confidence in its competence and transparency.

 

But this undermines those trying to build legitimate Afghan institutions. It can also grossly distort resource allocation: Some relatively secure areas are starved of money when they could be producing results. We can work with Afghans to strengthen public financial management.

 

That said, in the absence of strong institutions, and facing considerable corruption, good results have been dependent on one-by-one partnerships with honest, reformist ministers. The new Cabinet must include more such individuals.

 

Fifth, Afghans need to see measurable improvements to their lives, or they will not feel they owe anything to Kabul or local governments. There are success stories: More than 12,000 miles of all-weather rural roads have been built, connecting communities to markets; today, 80 percent of Afghans have access to basic health services, compared with only 9 percent in 2003; 6 million children are enrolled in school, nearly 35 percent of whom are girls, compared with about 1 million students and no girls seven years ago; competitive telecommunications networks now serve about 10 million subscribers. But a lot remains to be done.

 

Stability in Afghanistan also depends on good leadership — especially in critical areas that have lagged behind, such as agriculture, energy, mining and private-sector development. The challenges of securing development so that it is self-sustaining are formidable.

 

But progress is possible if safety is strengthened, the Afghan government assumes ownership, its partners build development through the choices of the Afghan people, and Afghanistan's neighbors decide they are better off with a successful state than with a perilous buffer zone that could send trouble back across their borders.n

 

The writer is the president of the World Bank Group operating in Afghanistan.

 By arrangement with LA Times-Washington Post

 

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THE TRIBUNE

OPED

UP'S DREAMS AND CHALLENGES

BY SHAHIRA NAIM

 

An anecdote recounted by former CPM MP and member of its central committee Subhashini Ali needs to be related to understand the complexity of modern Uttar Pradesh.

 

During the assembly election after the Babri Masjid demolition a journalist friend covering Mulayam Singh Yadav's rally in Etawah had come for dinner. She described Uttar Pradesh as the weirdest place.

 

Substantiating her statement she told Subhashini that when she asked a man his estimate of the crowd, he said: "Barely 10,000 to 15,000 and even they are mostly policemen in plain clothes". The second man believed it to be around 50,000, while the third perched atop a tree claimed that there were no less than 2.50 lakh people, maybe even more!

 

Subhashini told her journalist friend the need to decode each statement. "The first was a Brahmin and a right wing person; the second in all likelihood was a Samajwadi Party supporter and the third on top of a tree was definitely a poor Muslim who would go to any length to keep the BJP away!"

 

This caste and community-tainted looking glasses through which everything is perceived in UP is a major challenge due to which even the fundamental issues of 'roti, kapda and makaan' do not bring the toiling 'aam aadmi' together to question things, said Ali while giving her view on the state of affairs in Uttar Pradesh today.

 

She was speaking at a panel discussion "Uttar Pradesh 2020:Dasha-Disha" (situation and direction) organised by Hindi Hindustan as part of the Hindustan Samagam 2009 to discuss the dreams and challenges before the state during the next decade.

 

Eight prominent personalities participated in the discussion. They included Yugratna Srivasta, the school student who recently made an impassionate speech at the UN, film personality Mahesh Bhatt, young MPs Jayant Chadhury and Jitin Prasada, CPM leader Subhashini Ali, the BJP's Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, former Director General of Police KL Gupta and Magsaysay award winner and social activist Sandeep Pandey.

 

While some painted a dark gloomy picture with little to look forward to, others conducted a post-mortem giving their own reasons for the state's steady decline. The Mandal and Kamandal phase of the state's politics was held responsible for the complete fragmentation of perspectives and even human beings.

 

Most speakers believed that this fragmentation had resulted in a situation that has made the political class believe that it did not have to provide good governance in order to survive. Tokenism and lip service to their specific vote bank are enough to manage a return to power.

 

But perhaps Mahesh Bhatt set the mood in perspective by challenging people to continue dreaming. "A defeated person can rise again but not the hopeless".

 

Describing himself as the peddler of hope, he said that UP with a population of close to 18 crore must be having 18 crore stories – all equally valid. Despair sets in when one believes only one story.

 

The basic challenge that he saw before the state was to try to imagine what kind of human being would walk on the surface of the state in 2020. "Technology and development can bring material prosperity, nothing more. Only a cultural renaissance can revitalise the human spirit and save a person from becoming rootless".

 

The youngest participant Yugratna set the ball rolling by quoting statistics to prove that despite 8 of the 14 prime ministers since Independence belonging to the state (A B Vajpayee won from Lucknow), the state has the worst social and economic indicators. This young participant voiced the need for a vision document to take the state from where it has reached.

 

Talking of dreams, Sandeep Pandey, who quit his teaching job at the IIT, Kanpur, to devote his time to translate his dream of a more equitable society into reality, confessed that today he feels happy if he manages to get 35 kilograms of foodgrains for a BPL cardholder.

 

Strongly believing that most of the problems of the state would be solved even if the large number of innovative poverty alleviation schemes likes NAREGA, Indira Awas, pensions and scholarships reach the truly deserving.

 

Pointing to a very real problem of a Red Corridor extending toward the state, Sandeep introduced three persons – a stone cutter, a whitewash worker and a basket maker whose lives recently turned upside down when their hutments were demolished in the name of cleaning the river Gomti or their reportedly being Bangladeshis or for the sake of a VIP passing that way.

 

"If the system continues to ruthlessly push such people to the margins it should not surprise anyone if they decide to barter their instruments of earning their livelihood with arms".

 

Advocating a participative democracy instead of a representative one, he said that the time had come when the person who is paying for it should endorse every decision before the nation. "Let the gram sabha clear if India should go in for nuclear power or even if more memorials are required".

 

Jayant Chaudhury, the grandson of Chadhury Charan Singh and first-time MP from Mathura, cited the example of Haryana to advocate that smaller states can be better managed. "Today UP is too big to be governed efficiently. In fact the situation is so grim that the state is playing a 'drag factor' in bringing down the averages of various social and economic indicators of the country."

 

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi of the BJP, however, was hopeful that the very fact that people from all walks of life and political affiliations had gathered to ponder over the furture of the state was a positive sign. " I don't remember when I had such a healthy and positive discussion with fellow politicians. Even inside the Lok Sabha we do not listen to others any longer". 

 

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THE TRIBUNE

CHATTERATI

THIEVES TARGET DELHI'S VIPS

BY DEVI CHERIAN

 

Plenty of money is spent on the security of politicians and VIPs in the capital. Yet security is lax. On Monday morning a red alert was sounded across the city when the pilot vehicle of the Rajya Sabha's deputy chairman K.Rahman Khan got stolen. It was fitted with a radio tag that allows its entry into Parliament. It was stolen from the residence of Khan's driver.

 

Burglars struck at the residence of none else than Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken on Saturday. The Delhi Police functions under the MHA. Three unidentified masked men attempted to steal the stereo from a car parked inside the ancestral house of Ajay Maken after tying the hands of the security guard.

 

Then a burglary was reported from the same building where the Makens live. On Friday, the laptop of an officer on special duty (OSD) to Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit went missing. The laptop is always personal and obviously contains sensitive data.

 

Another laptop of an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from Kerala was stolen from the FICCI auditorium. The officer was accompanying Kerala Chief Minister V.V.Achuthananda at a function held at the auditorium where Chief Minister Dikshit was also present.

 

But Delhi is full of VIPs and thieves really don't want to leave them out.

 

CATCHING THEM YOUNG

Rahul Gandhi now plans to start training programmes for students. He also wants to give a "national structure" to the party and build a national student cadre for the Congress.

 

Rahul's is all for democracy, even up to the student level. He has ensured free and fair elections to the Youth Congress and has earmarked a 25 percent quota for women in the NSUI.

 

He is focussing on the NSUI to make it a "vibrant effective body", especially to bolster the Congress's electoral base. An institutionalised form of training will be provided to students on campuses across the country. This class will cover a range of issues: from economic, social and academic to local ones.

 

This is the way to groom future leaders.

 

BJP FACTIONALISM

The three state election results have obviously deflated the BJP, not that it was in any good state before the elections. Time and again one notices that after a loss the BJP leaders who have the gift of the gab are never seen on television. It is left to general secretaries to explain the reasons for the defeat.

 

And spokespersons' loyalties change according to the group they are in. With the Advani phase over, Rajnath Singh is having problems with both the Vajpayee and Advani groups. He will most probably have to form a new team of trusted people.

 

The "have-beens" of these two camps are busy trying to deflate him from behind the scenes. The BJP leaders at the Centre are guys who have no base and think politics can be run sitting in their drawing rooms and giving sound bytes on television while smirking with a know-all expression. 

 

It is a sad situation to see how infighting and ego hassles take a national party down. Trying to befriend the ruling party for your benefit can also lead to a poor opposition, which is also happening in the BJP today.

 

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THE ASSAM TRIBUME

EDITORIAL

DENOUNCING TERROR

 

All sections of people including students paid tearful homage to those killed in the dastardly attack by terrorists in the form of serial blasts on October 30 last year on the anniversary of the black day, which is, no doubt, a positive development, but efforts must be maintained by the Government and other political parties and social organizations to denounce terrorism and killings of innocents. Different organizations organized programmes to pay homage to those killed on October 30 and people of Guwahati city and other parts of the State spontaneously lit candles and earthen lamps to pay their respect to those who lost their lives in the worst ever terrorist attack to hit the State. Even students of different educational institutions came out to pay their respect to those killed by terrorists. But remembering those killed by terrorists on one day of the year will not be enough and it is high time for the masses of Assam to strongly denounce all forms of terrorism to bring an end to the orgy of violence and killing of innocents. Unfortunately, so far, no organization or the Government has been able to build up a mass movement against terrorism to put pressure on the militant groups to come back to the mainstream and seek solution of their problems through discussions and very often, the response of the Government and other organizations after every killing of innocents is a mere condemnation through the media. After the brutal killing of 13 women and children in a blast on the Independence Day in Dhemaji in 2004, cross sections of people came out to the streets denouncing terrorism, but the momentum of the mass outcry against terrorism could not be maintained, which is unfortunate as all sections of people of the State must strongly condemn all acts of violence.

The Government's role in dealing with terrorism should not end only in launching counter-insurgency operations and efforts must be made to build up public opinion against terrorism, which the Government has not yet been able to do till date. The political parties should also play a positive role in this regard and instead of trying to gain political mileage out of the law and order situation, the parties must join hands to put pressure on the militants to give up violence. The students' organizations including the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) can also play a positive role in this regard by building up a mass movement against terrorism and efforts must be made to keep up the momentum of any anti-terrorism movement. No militant outfit can hope to survive without having any public support and it is a fact that mass support to the militant groups is on the wane. This is the time for building up a mass movement to take away whatever remaining public support the militants still enjoy in some parts of the State and the Government as well as any group or organization interested in restoration of peace must take full advantage of the situation.

   

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THE ASSAM TRIBUME

EDITORIAL

POWER AND NE

 

The assurance by Union Power Minister SK Shinde that a thorough third-party assessment of the cumulative downstream impact of the proposed hydro-electric projects in Arunachal Pradesh would precede their execution is welcome. While power is a dire need for a backward region like the North-East, the sheer number of proposed mega dams on a fragile geological zone and a biodiversity hotspot is bound to be fraught with ominous portents. As the scientific community is increasingly pointing out, the loss from such an ill-conceived move could result in irreparable damages to both man and the environment – a loss that would overwhelmingly negate all the benefits sought to be gained from large-scale power generation. Rather than going for production of such huge quantity of power, endeavouring to produce that amount necessary for the North-East would be a prudent proposition.

The minister during his visit to the State also inaugurated the National Power Training Institute in Guwahati, fulfilling a long-standing need of the region. Creating a pool of trained manpower commensurate with the growth of the power sector is an imperative need. The full-fledged training centre – the first to be set up in the North-East — is expected to address long-term needs as well as immediate concerns. The demand for power is said to be growing at a rate faster than the GDP, and this calls for capacity building so that we can match the growth in terms of expertise and manpower. The North-East being an area with huge power potential, it is in our interest that we develop the required expertise and skilled manpower. We already have a major power reform programme in progress, and the Government should ensure that the implementation reflects genuine public interest. The ills plaguing the power sector are many and have to be addressed at the earliest. Acute power shortage apart, nagging irritants persist in the transformation and distribution system, reducing quality and reliability of power. While the power reforms will understandably take some time to deliver the goods, what is difficult to comprehend is why anomalies in small matters such as billing continue to be widespread. This has more to do with efficiency and an honest work culture than with the ambitious reforms. On the whole, the power sector needs a complete overhaul, as it has not just been a cause of misery for the consumers but has long been a stumbling block in the growth of trade and industry, retarding overall progress.

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THE ASSAM TRIBUME

EDITORIAL

INDIA, CHINA AND CONTENTIOUS ISSUES

DWAIPAYAN

 

There cannot be any contradiction over the fact that the diplomatic relations between India and China had begun worsening since the 1962 war between the two nations. But then, in the course of the past three decades or so, there has been much improvement in their relationship. Ofcourse, the boundary dispute between the two neighbouring countries yet to be resolved, but, interestingly enough, this sensitive issue was never allowed to stand as a stumbling block on way to their mutual cooperation for mutual interest at any point of time over the decades.

Candidly speaking, the bilateral relationship became more cordial ever since the visits to China of our country's two distinguished persons, the then President of India R Venkataraman and the former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee a few years ago. Indeed, the tension that prevailed along the Actual Line of Control (LoC) all those years has lessened to a large measure following the recent 13 rounds of Sino-Indian talks on the vexed border issues and on those subjects related to economic, cultural and scientific cooperation.

Given the second position it has notched up in the global economy and its huge profits from India where it has been able to build up a large market of electronic goods, umbrella, mobile phone, digital camera, portable TV set and so on, China does not seem to go to war with India at this instant. Notably, in spite of the severe impact of the global meltdown, the economic growth rate of China is still stable. So is that of India too. China's gross domestic product (GDP) currently is a little over 7 per cent when India's GDP is estimated at more than 6 per cent. Both India and China know it well that they alone can revamp their economies from the clutches of the global recession. Therefore, it does not seem certain that the two nations will go to war at this juncture, leaving their cardinal task of economic growth half-way.

But, ironically, it is in our country that such was hysteria in the media over the alleged Chinese incursions into our territory that some of us were led to believe that sooner than later war clouds would once again loom large on Indian skies. Among the distorted stories sparking fearful anxiety among the people in the country, especially those living in the areas adjacent to the border regions, and depicting our neighbour as an aggressor to spread hatred against it, the most distressing were the allegations of Chinese military build-up and their exercise in Arunachal Pradesh, their violation of line of control for six times, a shooting incident in which two jawans of the Indo-Tibettan Border Force were wounded by the Chinese army.

At last what transpires is that all these allegations were a false one and had noting to do with ground realities in any way. Our Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, National Security Advisor, M K Narayanan and Army Chief Deepak Kapoor, all said in the same vein that China has not entered Indian territory by crossing the border. They added that compared to the preceding year, the incident of this kind has rarely occurred this year, and appealed to the media not to spread propaganda.

Before reporting any news or making any comment on a foreign country, verifying the authenticity of the source from which it emanates is all the more important to skirt a sharp reaction from it. A false or fabricated story may unnecessarily affect the friendly relations between the two countries. But here the media's fault was that they reported Chinese soldiers as invading into Indian territories simply by quoting the intelligence source, but never verified it from other reliable sources such as the Defence Ministry, the External Affairs Ministry, the Army and above all, the civil authority before doing so.

 

Two journalists of a leading national English daily against whom the decision was taken to file a court case for giving the wrong information about the Chinese border incursions could have easily escaped its rigour had they exercised restraint and become cautious at the time of writing the stories keeping in mind the constitutional restrictions on making comments affecting India's relations with a friendly country stipulated in Article 19(A) of the Constitution.

Although the Government of India has made it clear that the allegation of the Chinese border incursions was false, its recent activities have frightened the people of the northeastern region, especially those of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, unnecessarily building up tension along the eastern sector of the border with China. It will not be out of context to argue that in 1972 when Sikkim became a part of Indian republic China did not recognise it as being its unit. Years later it ofcourse had accepted Sikkim as a part of India.

But it is distressing that China should still be unwilling to accept Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India. The most worrisome is that it has recently staked its claim to the State's 90.000 sq.km of land. But Arunachal's total geographical area is 83,743 sq km and the remaining 6,257 sq kms belong to Assam. Then, is it to be assumed that its claim suggests that it also wants to make Assam a part of its expansionist design? So much intent it is on annexing Arunachal that it could not conceal from anybody its "strong disillusionment on the recent visit by the Indian leader," meaning Prime Minister Singh, to the disputed area in disregard of China's grave concern."

Whether China's oft-repeated remark that Arunachal is a disputed area is based on relevant supporting documents or a mere presumption is still unclear. But then, it is true that the indigenous Arunachali tribal people are of the Mongoloid stock and immigrated from Western China thousand years ago. Also, it is true that Arunachal is attached to the Chinese border. Even then, Arunachal's culture, mannerism, religion, tradition and above all, the population pattern, have rarely any affinity with China. Therefore, there can seldom be any valid reason behind why it should stake its claim to Arunachal Pradesh.

Arunachal's indigenous ethnic tribal people, especially those from the Kameng region, are Buddhists. So is the supreme spiritual leader Dalai Lama. That is way they are all his ardent followers. Ever since he had taken refuge in India in 1959 Chinese aggression was at its zenith, the Lama visited Tawang four times. We will again visit there on November 8 with a week-long programme. His is a trip that is purely social by character to be pressed into service for preaching sermons and planting trees there as spelt out in his itinerary, and in no way linked to politics. But it is a pity that China has opposed his visit again this year as it did last year when it had to be cancelled.

Equally obnoxious and provocative, however, has been its latest reported move to build a number of dams on the mainstream of the Tsangpo known as Siang-Dihang in Arunachal Pradesh and Brahmaputra in Assam and a 500-MW hydro-electric power plant near the Tibetan region. Even more depressing is the recent media report that suggests that China is planning to divert the course of the river Tsangpo to exploit it to its own advantage. Although China has reportedly denied having planned so, there is no reason for complacency. Instead of diversion, even if it goes ahead with its plan to harness the Tsangpo by constructing dams as planned, what will be its downstream impact is easily understandable. More than Arunachal Pradesh, Assam may be affected with the drying up of the Brahmaputra and its tributaries.

Peeved and worried over the reported Chinese move to set up dams, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi the other day announced that the State Government would set up an expert committee to assess the likely impacts of such projects on the State. He has already taken up the issue with the Union Foreign Affairs Minister and Water Resources Minister, just on the eve of the October 24 Asean-India Summit near Thailand.

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THE ASSAM TRIBUME

EDITORIAL

GURU NANAK'S MESSAGE FOR HUMANITY

LP SINGH

 

Sikhism, only a little more than 500 years old, is the youngest of the four major religions of the world, viz. Christian, 'Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. Its teachings are most modern, scientific and useful for all ages. These are contained in Guru Granth Sahib, the Guru of Sikhs, So ordained by their last Guru, Guru Gobind Singh at the time of his demise Since then Sikhs have grown into a full-fledged vibrant nation of international fame in all respects. If we study this scripture with unbiased mind and full understanding we find that it is for the whole humanity as it contains solutions of all the problems and ills concerning not only the body and the mind of individual persons but also of families, tribes and societies, national and international communities. All the world thinkers whether religious, social or political like Socrates. Plato, Aristotle, Buddha, Christ and Prophet Mohammad have dealt with the human problems, mostly of their own regions and times, and some of their ideas suit communities of those times alone, but the solutions for human afflictions suggested by Sikhism are for all the communities world over, for all times to come. These are scientifically based on sociological, psychological, economic and political requirements of the people.

Sikhism has proved karam kand whims and rites of no use, as these are meant to exploit the ignorance of the masses about the realities of universe with a view to use them as their puppets. Practical observance of the messages given through Shabad as contained in their Granth helps them to live a happy life both individually and in community, free from all the body, mind, economic and political ills of the world.

'Ek Oankar, Sat Nam, Karta Purkh, Nirbhau, Nirveir, Akal Murat, Ajuni Saibhang, Gur Parsad, is the crux of Sikh thought, which while describing the epithets of God, conveys briefly and meaningfully following important messages to the humans for peaceful living as unlike animals they are blessed with 'Budhi' which they have to use for the benefit and welfare of the entire universe:

Ek Oankar :- By preaching oneness of God and its presence in whole of the universe alike, Guru conveys the message of universal brotherhood without any distinction of cal creed, high and low. This is what UNO has done in their declaration of 'Universal Human Rights'.

Satnam:- In describing God as ever existing, message to maintain ever lasting unity of brotherhood is given.

Karta Purkh:- Description of God as the sole creator of the universe contains message of love and care for His creations to maintain ecological balance in the universe necessary for all round welfare of the world.

Nirbhau:- is the Power we believe in, as fearless, all men/women being part of it and under its tutelage, should become fearless also to resist any mental, economic, social or political exploitation from any quarter.

Nirveir:- The object in describing God as having no enmity towards any body is to inculcate the spirit of mutual love and peace in human beings to avoid any bickering. These two messages of Nirbhau and Nirveir lead to development of character, and also to cement the ties of bortherhood created through the concept of EkOnkar, Sat Nam and Karta Purkh.

Akal Murat :- hammers the idea that God being beyond Time and Space, the soul and Mind never die with the body. This makes one fearless of death and creates the spirit of sacrifice for other's cause. The mind, thus liberated shall, with its colleague Soul,, occupy the new body in a much chastised form leading to the evolution of Gurmukh, the ultimate aim of Gurbani.

Ajuni:- God does not appear in the form of any particular person, like the gods in Hindu Dharma who are used to frighten the ignorant people. This term gives the message of freedom from subordination of any person, howsoever powerful one may be. This builds self-respect-necessary element to lead respectful life ever ready to die for the oppressed.

Saibhang:- This element of self evolvement gives the message to create self confidence for living a respectful vibrant life.

Gur Parsad:- All these elements of happy life can be obtained with Guru's grace. One becomes eligible for this grace when one starts living by Shabad Guru (Gurbani). One needs no outside assistance of any god or his self-styled messengers in the form of Babas clad in low flowing white dresses who suggest karam kands, rites and whims to achieve their grace.

With these messages, Guru Nanak wanted the humans to become self confident, liberated from worldly powers which require them to observe karam kand, whims and rites introduced by clergy to enjoy the fruits of poor man's labour. Creation of this subordinate mentality through rituals, etc. resulted in the enslavement of people firstly of their own blood-sucking rulers, and later, of foreign powers for over 1000 years. Punjab, being on the border, remained the victim of such invaders.

It is no use reciting repeatedly 'EK Oankar, Sat Nam, Karta Purkh, Akal Moorat, Ajuni, Saibhang, Gurparsad ' unless the person pledges to act upon these messages which are exhaustively explained in Guru Granth Sahib. By adopting these messages one can renounce ego, greed, love for worldly things, anger and passion, and become brave enough to challenge aggresssion. These traits enabled Guru Nanak Dev to challenge invasion by Babur, and Guru Arjun Dev and Guru Tegh Bahadur to embrace martyrdom at Lahore and Delhi. It was the principles: 'Enmity towards None and love for all' which made Guru Arjun Dev dissuade Mian Mir from using his occult powers to decimate Lahore and Delhi. Although leaders of Hindu faith had often conspired with the Mughal rulers to inflict unbearable punishments on Sikhs, Guru Tegh Bahadur, enthused with these traits, sacrificed his life to help their kips from Kashmir to maintain their faith against the atrocities ofAurangzeb who wanted them to embrace Islam by discarding Vaneoo'. Because of his unflinching faith in Mool Mantar Guru Gobind Singh sacrificed his entire family. Sikhs happily faced martyrdom by thousands, and faced torture by a ruthless enemy without any fear of death. They pulled down the despotic Mughal Rule and established their rule in Punjab. Sikh history is replete with numerous examples of rare valour shown by those who had created self confidence in themselves by deep faith in Mool Mantar, the basic creed.

(Published on the occasion of Guru Nanak's birth anniversary)

  

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

IDIOT BOX IRRITATES

 

To work out how to operate a television set, you practically have to make love to the thing," the British queen's consort Prince Philip was quoted as saying the other day while holding forth on the difficulty of using modern remote controls. Those who are not particularly fond of ageing royalty could quip that it is asking too much to expect an 88-year-old to even woo the idiot box.

 

Others could quote the calypso which goes: "Old Methuselah was 900 years old/Older than anyone the world has known/One day he thought he'd have some fun/The poor old man never lived to be 901". And Harry Belafonte sang that calypso years before the Punjabi play Chadi jawaani buddhe nu.

Prince Philip is, of course, not just known for his jibes at TV remote controls. The other day, at a Buckingham Palace reception for 400 influential British-Indians in the wake of the state visit by President Pratibha Patil, the prince looked at the name-badge of businessman Atul Patel and quipped: "There's a lot of your family in tonight!". But, then, the prince has been known to ask Australian Aborigines whether they still threw spears at each other. Compared with his other gaffes — he once described Beijing as ghastly and advised British students not to stay too long in the city lest they become slitty-eyed — a comment about making love to a TV set could even be considered positively politically correct!

The only query the comment raises is whether the pages operating the TV remote control were on leave that day or whether Buckingham Palace is now economising on pages. Unfamiliar remote controls can be quite complicated for even those half the age of the United Kingdom's reigning queen's consort. It's only those still in their first childhood who are not intimidated by TV remote controls and who have a great time pressing all the buttons on the remote-control simultaneously without bothering too much about the final effect!

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

IT FIRMS BEAT EXPECTATIONS

 

Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL met or beat street expectations with their second quarter performance, but the IT industry is not out of the woods just yet. Their sequential revenue and earnings growth continues to be muted — quarter-on-quarter revenues grew by less than 5%, and earnings by less than 10%. Industry bellwether Infosys Technologies reported just about 2% sequential growth in revenue and 1% in PAT.

 

TCS saw sequential revenues rise by about 3% and net profit by 7%, while Wipro's IT services revenue grew 3.5% sequentially. HCL reported a 4.2% rise in revenues but profits declined by 3.1%, on forex hedging losses. The worst patch is over, there are evident signs of a turnaround. Net addition to headcount is on the whole positive for all the majors other than Wipro, which alone had added workers in Q1.

In any case, all companies expect their performance to improve from now on, and the US economy's stronger-than-expected turnaround in the July-September quarter should help firm up IT budgets sooner rather than later. The end of recession in the US is critical for the Indian IT industry, as more than 50% of their revenue originates in North America, and the share of that region has been on the rise even as Europe remains relatively depressed. The Indian market, particularly the government, has started yielding large orders as well.

Yet it may be a little too early to conclude that things should improve quickly for the Indian IT sector. While some services, particularly the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) sectors show signs of a turnaround, thanks largely to the stimulus packages handed out by governments, the manufacturing sector in the US and Europe continues to underperform. That would, then, mean that outsourcing projects from the manufacturers need not revive in the near term. The weakness of the dollar and the strengthening of the rupee will pose a fresh set of challenge to the pricing of the contracts.

Volatility in exchange rates has taken a toll on the second quarter results. TCS suffered a Rs 11 crore hedging loss due to the exchange rate movements. HCL too suffered forex losses, while Wipro reported hedging gains. Tech companies should be prepared for more volatility on the currency front in third quarter.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

 

FREE UP RETAIL FUEL PRICES

 

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee insists that the decision to exit fiscal stimulus would need to wait economic assessment of the fourth quarter.

 

But the fact is that crude oil prices have already risen past $80 per barrel in the current rally, and demand is fast picking up globally. So the Centre needs to promptly revise retail prices of key oil products like petrol and diesel without further ado.

A big chunk of the fiscal stimulus in the last couple of years has been on account of huge consumption subsidies for hydrocarbons. But there is simply no fiscal space available any more for open-ended giveaways in oil, almost every drop of which is appropriated by the non-poor.

The fiscal deficit is at record levels. A case can be made that the Centre need not unwind its fiscal stimulus package sans robust indicators of turnaround growth. But to keep retail oil prices gratuitously unrevised despite clearly hardening imported costs would be to send wholly wrong policy signals, needlessly jack up relative prices of 'green' alternatives, and thoroughly misallocate scarce resources of the exchequer too.

The fact remains that the oil market is in a tizzy, again, and the writing on the wall is that oil prices will rise even higher. Besides, the 'financialisation' of commodities like oil — of finance players majorly investing in oil as an asset class — is also a fact. So even if there is no real additional demand for crude, oil prices can be expected to rally simply on the basis of speculative trading.

The FM needs to raise the issue of financialisation of oil at the next G-20 meet, and impress upon the mature markets to put paid to unbridled financial speculation in oil. But for the here and now, we just cannot avoid domestic price revision. Tamely preferring to keep oil prices unrevised for reasons of populism would merely spike receivables of oil companies, who would then have to go for unplanned market borrowings, which, in turn, would raise the cost of funds all round given the volumes in oil. Worse, the Centre would also need to issue IOUs to oilcos — oil bonds — which would need to be redeemed from budgetary resources, and for a number of years. This is not stimulus, but stupidity.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

LET A HUNDRED THEORIES BLOOM

 

The economic and financial crisis has been a telling moment for the economics profession, for it has put many long-standing ideas to the test. If science is defined by its ability to forecast the future, the failure of much of the economics profession to see the crisis coming should be a cause of great concern.

 

But there is, in fact, a much greater diversity of ideas within the economics profession than is often realised.

This year's Nobel laureates in economics are two scholars whose life work explored alternative approaches. Economics has generated a wealth of ideas, many of which argue that markets are not necessarily either efficient or stable, or that the economy, and our society, is not well described by the standard models of competitive equilibrium used by a majority of economists.

Behavioural economics, for example, emphasises that market participants often act in ways that cannot easily be reconciled with rationality. Similarly, modern information economics shows that even if markets are competitive, they are almost never efficient when information is imperfect or asymmetric (some people know something that others do not, as in the recent financial debacle) — that is, always.

A long line of research has shown that even using the models of the so-called "rational expectations" school of economics, markets might not behave stably, and that there can be price bubbles. The crisis has, indeed, provided ample evidence that investors are far from rational; but the flaws in the rational expectations line of reasoning — hidden assumptions such as that all investors have the same information — had been exposed well before the crisis.

Just as the crisis has reinvigorated thinking about the need for regulation, so it has given new impetus to the exploration of alternative strands of thought that would provide better insights into how our complex economic system functions — and perhaps also to the search for policies that might avert a recurrence of the recent calamity.

Fortunately, while some economists were pushing the idea of self-regulating, fully efficient markets that always remain at full employment, other economists and social scientists have been exploring a variety of different approaches. These include agent-based models that emphasise the diversity of circumstances; network models, which focus on the complex interrelations among firms (such as those that enable bankruptcy cascades); a fresh look at the neglected work of Hyman Minsky on financial crises (which have increased in frequency since deregulation began three decades ago); and innovation models, which attempt to explain the dynamics of growth.

Much of the most exciting work in economics now underway extends the boundary of economics to include work by psychologists, political scientists, and sociologists. We have much to learn, too, from economic history. For all the fanfare surrounding financial innovation, this crisis is remarkably similar to past financial crises, except that the complexity of new financial products reduced transparency, aggravating fear about what might happen should there not be a massive public bailout.

Ideas matter, as much or perhaps even more than self-interest. Our regulators and elected officials were politically captured — special interests in the financial markets gained a great deal from rampant deregulation and the failure to adapt the regulatory structure to the new products. But our regulators and politicians also suffered from intellectual capture. They need a wider and more robust portfolio of ideas to draw upon.

That is why the recent announcement by George Soros at the Central European University in Budapest of the creation of a well-funded Initiative for New Economic Thinking (INET) to help support these is so exciting. Research grants, symposia, conferences, and a new journal — all will help encourage new ideas and collaborative efforts to flourish.

INET has been given complete freedom — with respect to both content and strategy — and one hopes that it will draw further support from other sources. Its only commitment is to "new economic thinking," in the broadest sense. Last month, Soros assembled a remarkable group of economic luminaries, from across the spectrum of the profession — theory to policy, left to right, young and old, establishment and counter-establishment — to discuss the need and prospects for such an initiative, and how it might best proceed.

For the past three decades, one strand within the economics profession was constructing models that assumed that markets worked perfectly. This assumption overshadowed a wide body of research that helped explain why markets often work imperfectly — why, indeed, there are widespread market failures.

The marketplace for ideas also often works in a way that is less than ideal. In a world of human fallibility and imperfect understanding of the complexity of the economy, INET holds out the promise of the pursuit of alternative strands of thought — and thereby at least ameliorating this costly market imperfection.

(Co-authored by George Akerlof, Nobel laureate in economics and Professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Stiglitz, University Professor at Columbia University and winner of the 2001 Nobel prize for economics, served as chairman of the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress.)

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

IN RIGHT PURSUIT OF ATMASUDDHI

K VIJAYARAGHAVAN

 

Rightly was it said that happiness is not a station one arrives at, but more so, a manner of travelling. Similar is the case with clarity of the self within, atmasuddhi. Indeed, pursuit of unalloyed happiness or atmasuddhi, as of yoga, is a process of 'bridging the gap' between the present state of one's self (jeevatman) and that ultimate purity or bliss (paramatman). This, thus, is the process of 'joining' (yoga derived from yuj, meaning, "to join"). Indeed, few make it all the way! Even the very reaching out is rewarding by itself.

 

The entire process, an insight would reveal, is centred on attaining that 'flow', whereby one is able to "delight in oneself" and is "fully satisfied in the self by his own self" (the Bhagawad Gita concepts, as in 3,17 and 2,55). In essence, this is effectively and dynamically living out the present, which is possible only when one is freed of the binding effects of all the past — impressions, trauma, memories, resentments and grudges. This, verily, is 'not pursuing the past', expatiated by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese monk, basing on Buddha's great aphorism (sutta).

Practically, the concept, as above, is that of cultivating the art of still remembering all the past but doing so without any rancour or sadness — that art of not ever allowing any occurrence of the past to hinder one's effectiveness or progress.

Indeed, past, which is a cold reality, cannot be wished away. Through cultivation of the four virtues conceived of by Patanjali (Sutra: 1,33) and a choice or combination of time-tested techniques, best suited to the aspirant, he could obtain freedom from many negative impressions of his past, leaving behind for him mainly that storehouse of practical knowledge and wisdom gained from the very same past — that treasure house, which he can always draw from.

All techniques in pursuit of this supreme freedom would involve the three 'Ps' – perseverance, patience and persistence. Right lifestyle, habits, companionship (satsang), exercises for the body, mind and spirit, right values and perception, not being intimidated by others' priorities or opinions, ensuring that there is no slipping back, hitching one's wagon to the highest star, also with equanimity and detachment — these could be basics that could apply to all.

The ultimate objective would be the heaven above, which actually is simply yoga, happiness, self-realisation or atmasuddhi — call it what you will — on this very earth itself!

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

SHOULD DGH BE A MULTI-MEMBER BODY?

 

The government wanted exploration of hydrocarbons to cover the entire country. It also wanted private risk capital, latest technology and competitive efficiency. This led to the opening of upstream/NELP. The system operates under production-sharing contract (PSC). Historically, Dasgupta Committee (1991) envisaged reservoir management as the essential function of a regulator. Kaul Committee (1992) added leasing development conservation and HSE functions.

Narad Committee (2000) tried to trim its wings. The UHRDA approved by the Cabinet (1997) never saw the light of day.

Till date the ministry of petroleum & natural gas (MoPNG) continues wearing all the hats. MoPNG is a party to contract and owns national oil companies (NOCs) with competing interests. MoPNG can for example delay/stop a decision in management committee (MC) through its representatives, without fear of violating PSC which requires its approval in a limited time-frame. The government's reservoir management has also been poor and hence the need of an independent regulator.

The functions of regulator should be limited to contracting properties, reservoir management, HSE practices, ruling on violation of PSC provisions, and timeline violations by operators and government agencies. Regulator cannot be sitting on MC, the decision-making body, whose functioning it regulates. Also, MoPNG should not be sitting on MC, as it sets the policies, discharges them and owns the NOCs. The government representative on MC should facilitate and expedite the projects. It should manage National Data Repository (NDR) and timeline issues with various arms of the government.

Financial control deemed essential should be through audit. Independent tribunal should hear appeal against regulator. 'One member' or 'multi-member' depends upon the scope of responsibility defined. The critical component for the regulator's success is its independence, empowerment, clarity of role, and focus on essentials. An arm's length distance from all other entities is crucial. A successful regulator is a beacon to attract capital, reward efficiencies and protect PSC sanctity.

(Views are personal)

(Association of Oil & Gas Operators)

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

STRENGTHEN DGH BY APPOINTING A BOARD

 

The directorate general of hydrocarbon (DGH) was created by a resolution of the ministry of petroleum & natural gas in 1993, against the backdrop of the opening up of the exploration and production (E&P ) sector. The government had noted recommendations of several committees for setting up an 'independent regulatory body'.

Subsequently, in 2001, the Naresh Narad Committee examined the need for setting up of an upstream hydrocarbon regulatory authority. Though, it recognised the need to distance regulation from government, it was not unanimous on DGH's role. Later, the possibility of authorising common jurisdiction with the downstream regulator (Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board) was also discussed. At present, there is no statutory upstream regulator.

Since its inception, the DGH has been assisting the government in both contractual and technical matters. Of late, there has been a tremendous increase in its workload. With the signing of a large number of production-sharing contracts under seven Nelp rounds, and many blocks reaching the development and production stage, the nature of work has also diversified. The DGH now has to advise and decide on a wide variety of issues including commercial, audit and legal ones. However, the institution lacks senior functionaries at the decision-making level, particularly in the non-technical disciplines. Because of this, many commercial aspects may have escaped close scrutiny.

Hence strengthening the DGH by appointing a board may be better than the present practice of having a single member. The institution would benefit from the presence of several experienced functionaries from diverse backgrounds. This would bring in more objectivity and transparency in decision-making, and put to rest any allegations of arbitrariness. It is always preferable to have a multi-member regulator, and the institution of the DGH, which is a de-facto upstream regulator, would also benefit from having different viewpoints. Any co-ordination and hierarchical issues (within DGH) could be settled by a clear charter of authority. Therefore, it is time to make DGH an independent body, as was recognised by the resolution of 1993.

 

(* Ministry of petroleum and natural gas)

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

REGULATOR'S INDEPENDENCE IS CRITICAL

 

The government wanted exploration of hydrocarbons to cover the entire country. It also wanted private risk capital, latest technology and competitive efficiency. This led to the opening of upstream/NELP. The system operates under production-sharing contract (PSC). Historically, Dasgupta Committee (1991) envisaged reservoir management as the essential function of a regulator. Kaul Committee (1992) added leasing development conservation and HSE functions.

 

Narad Committee (2000) tried to trim its wings. The UHRDA approved by the Cabinet (1997) never saw the light of day.

Till date the ministry of petroleum & natural gas (MoPNG) continues wearing all the hats. MoPNG is a party to contract and owns national oil companies (NOCs) with competing interests. MoPNG can for example delay/stop a decision in management committee (MC) through its representatives, without fear of violating PSC which requires its approval in a limited time-frame. The government's reservoir management has also been poor and hence the need of an independent regulator.

The functions of regulator should be limited to contracting properties, reservoir management, HSE practices, ruling on violation of PSC provisions, and timeline violations by operators and government agencies. Regulator cannot be sitting on MC, the decision-making body, whose functioning it regulates. Also, MoPNG should not be sitting on MC, as it sets the policies, discharges them and owns the NOCs. The government representative on MC should facilitate and expedite the projects. It should manage National Data Repository (NDR) and timeline issues with various arms of the government.

Financial control deemed essential should be through audit. Independent tribunal should hear appeal against regulator. 'One member' or 'multi-member' depends upon the scope of responsibility defined. The critical component for the regulator's success is its independence, empowerment, clarity of role, and focus on essentials. An arm's length distance from all other entities is crucial. A successful regulator is a beacon to attract capital, reward efficiencies and protect PSC sanctity.

(Views are personal)

(*Association of Oil & Gas Operators)

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

LAY'S, KURKURE LOVE MARKS WITH SNACKERS

RATNA BHUSHAN

 

Frito-Lay, the quieter but more resilient snack-foods arm of the $43-billion beverage and foods maker PepsiCo, has staved off the challenge from its first serious national-level competitor in ITC. With a dominant market share in the Rs 3,000-crore branded salty snacks category, the firm says it is fast-tracking on innovation and execution-based growth. Frito-Lay's executive director marketing, Deepika Warrier , spoke to Ratna Bhushan about changing category dynamics, the threat from private labels, portfolio transformation to healthier choices and tapping rural opportunity. Excerpts:

 

Despite ITC's entry into snack foods, Frito-Lay remains the dominant player. What are the challenges to remain

as market leader?

Being market leader means never being complacent. In a hyper-competitive market, we've focused on building intimate connections with consumers (both our core brands Lay's and Kurkure are 'love marks' with Indian snackers). We've repositioned our brands based on relevant consumer insights -Kurkure's tedha hai par mera hai is based on the insight of Indians being increasingly confident about their imperfections. Lay's be a little dillogical is based on the transition head-heart moments in young people's stressful lives.

We've driven up engagement levels and interactivity of our brands with programmes that put consumers in control. We're also getting more regional and segmented in our marketing, supported by regional flavours or the small pack communication developed for lower town classes to support the Rs 3 Kurkure pack. We are maniacal about tracking quality, driving execution and dominance in retail. What we've also stepped up is our pace of innovation. Between 2008 and 2009, we launched close to 20 products including Aliva crackers, Kurkure Desi Beats wheat lime, Cheetos Whoosh whole grain better for you snacks, and Lay's Stax for premium indulgent snacking.

A number of smaller brands and private labels claim to be taking away share from established players like yours. They also play the cheaper price advantage.

Low-commodity prices have seen a spate of low-cost entrants into the category this year. The good news is that they are driving conversion from unbranded to branded salty snacks. We have defined some key tasks to deal with low-cost players. These include stretching the equity of Lay's and Kurkure with low unit price packs at Rs 5 and Rs 3; ensuring that occasional consumers don't downgrade by monitoring the price-value of these brands; and using flanker brands like Uncle Chipps and Lehar namkeens to target this growth opportunity. In modern trade, we are actually holding our own and doing much better than other categories versus private labels.

How important is pricing for a category like snack foods?

Our core portfolio is pretty evenly split between entry-price points (Rs 3 and Rs 5) largely consumed by lower SEC on-the-go consumers, single serve packs (Rs 10) and large take-home bags (Rs 20). We are seeing good growth across price points. The consumer is more value-sensitive and functionality-driven in some parts of the country like the West.

How has Frito-Lay dealt with fluctuating commodity costs?

We've been nimble in pricing and productivity in the face of input cost volatility. For example, we took up pricing through weight-outs across the portfolio to cover unprecedented commodity inflation in the second half of last year. Commodity prices softened in the first half of this year and we put back grams in brands like Kurkure.

Frito has traditionally used celebrities for endorsements. How important is it for a category like yours?

We started using celebrities (Saif on Lay's and Juhi on Kurkure) to drive brand stature, recognition and communicate brand personality in a cluttered foods market which had well-entrenched brands which were over 50 to 70 years old. Both these endorsers over time have become brand properties and enhance creative delivery in clutter.

Any plans to bring in more brands from your global portfolio, or will the focus be more on localised products? Will all the products be focused on the health platform from now on?

We are constantly evaluating an innovation pipeline, which includes testing brand propositions from Frito's global armoury. Our R&D and consumer insight set up in India helps us develop local advantaged innovations while tapping into global expertise. We believe consumers are looking for a variety of convenient snack options, ranging from treats to nutrition. However, the innovation that we're launching also needs to play a key role in our stated goal of portfolio transformation. So, yes, offering consumers healthier snack will be key.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

'THERE IS SUFFICIENT CFS CAPACITY IN NHAVA SHEVA'

 

Rizwan Soomar , MD, Maersk Line (India cluster), responds to a volley of questions from ETSL on the group's CFSs and other related activities in India. Excerpts:

 

What are your plans to exploit the increasing opportunities in Nhava Sheva as your existing CFS facilities are full?
As a shipping line we are in continuous dialogue with present and potential suppliers and their ability to cater to our requirements, including available capacity. The decision to increase capacity is purely a choice of our suppliers, including our independent group company - Maersk CFS.

It is alleged that because your two CFSs are full you divert boxes to neighouring facilities of your choice and it is proving costly to the importers. Comment.

It is a common industry practice amongst the CFSs to utilise each other's spare capacities if there are any seasonal fluctuations, but such instances are rare. While this is done to ensure that the customer does not get impacted with delays due to congestions in terminals/CFS etc., there is no additional cost burden that he has to bear as a result of boxes moving to some other location during this interim measure.

Do you think the proposed Shipping Trade Practices legislations will help scuttle such complaints?

This new legislation will add to the already over-regulated scenario with possible conflicts between some of policies and regulations. The intention may be to regulate the short term or short sighted players in the industry, who are responsible for non transparent/non regulated activities, but it is too early to comment on the Shipping Trade Practices legislation, as it not only depends on the final draft of the proposed legislation, but also the efficacy of the mechanism needed to implement it in a fair manner.

How is the demand-supply situation as far as CFS capacities are concerned in Nhava Sheva?

Looking purely as capacity in and around Nhava Sheva, we believe that there is sufficient capacity to cater to the anticipated growth in the next 2 years.

Some CHAs/freight forwarders are understood to be setting up CFSs in Nhava Sheva. Given their exposure to trade intricacies, how do you expect the competition to hot up?

As mentioned earlier, it is already a very competitive market, which is good for the liner industry which is availing the CFS services. We evaluate our suppliers based on various key capabilities - the basic idea being that the customer should get quality service and his cargo should be well looked after.

Will the large number of logistics hubs that are coming up across the country suffer from issues like connectivity that you have suffered and are suffering?

The CFSs that are coming up across the country are facing a lot of infrastructural challenges currently. There is lack of IT support due to the lack of connectivity, electricity is a problem in a few areas, access by rail and road is limited and each location may bring forth its own set of challenges in terms of the local processes to be followed.

While initiatives by private and government partnerships like the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) will definitely address the growing concerns in terms of connectivity, it is also important to address local connectivity, such as expanding access roads. This will not only assist the industry, but also provide employment opportunities to local communities, besides giving them better access to nearby towns.

How is the response of private investors to infrastructure building, in the absence of government entering the infra sector?

The container business has grown by 15-20% per annum on an average in the last 4-5 years, which is a very healthy rate of growth. The private sector has contributed immensely to this growth. It has made substantial investment in infrastructure building to the container business like ports/terminals, rail services, CFS/ICD services, etc. They have even contributed to the growth and betterment of ancillary services like depots, transporters etc.

However, the role played by the government is crucial for this industry to grow and thrive. It provides a framework and healthy environment for the industry, which facilitates the growth of imports and exports in the country.

A healthy public-private involvement and partnership will drive growth for this business.

 

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                                                                                                               DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

A SORRY MESS IN KARNATAKA

 

The BJP had dispatched senior party leader Mr Arun Jaitley to Karnataka to sort out the mess the Chief Minister, Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa, has got himself into with a section of his legislators led by the Reddy brothers, the state's powerful mining magnates who are believed to have played a crucial role in securing the party's victory in the last Assembly election. The mission was a write-off for all practical purposes, and representatives of rival factions are in New Delhi in the hope of a patchup with the purposeful intervention of the national leadership. The trouble, however, is there is no high command at the moment. With the prolonged bickering and bad blood among the most senior BJP leaders, and consecutive defeats in the May Lok Sabha election and in elections to three state legislatures last month, there is no one at the party's national headquarters whose words would be powerful enough to make the squabbling factions fall in line. The loss of moral authority and the loss of leverage, following loss of power in several states — not to speak of the Centre, has robbed the putative BJP brass of the élan needed to deal with renegades. At present there is simultaneously a leadership vacuum and a flux, extraordinary though that may sound. The centre is not holding and no one has an idea as to the incoming top team. Consequently, no individual or group appears to be in control. It is also no longer clear if, given the complexities of the moment, even the RSS, Hindutva's mother ship, is in a position to crack the whip. The ground reality in Karnataka suggests that the chief minister is an influential leader of the Lingayat community, on which the BJP has traditionally depended in the state. Mr Yeddyurappa, personally, is thought to command respect among farmers. That's a powerful combination. As such, entertaining any thought of jettisoning him to appease the rebels is unlikely to produce a satisfactory solution. Besides, Mr Yeddurappa and the core team he leads come from the RSS stables. As such, the ideological component of the BJP legislature party in the state might broadly be expected to abide by their present leader. The root of the problem appears to be the new type of politician who has wormed his way into the BJP. It was a mistake on the part of the party to have encouraged such elements before the election in the hope of cashing in on their financial clout. The fallout is that the faction led by the mining lobby is reported to carry about a third of BJP MLAs in the state. This would make the group large enough to destabilise, if not displace, the government, if it so wished. It is not unlikely that the commercial group is disenchanted as it is unable to prevail on the chief minister in all situations. It will be a pity if the Congress responded to overtures reportedly being made to it by the commercially-aligned turncoats on the lookout for a new government in the state that they might drive. That will detract from the moral standing that the party is gaining nationally. If it is tempted, it may be sure that any government it may hope to form with the aid of the self-seeking mining group will by definition be unstable. Indeed, it appears the instability factor has now been introduced into any equation that may be devised to form a government within the present House. This includes a government based on an intra-BJP compromise, not to speak of one stitched together with the help of Mr H.D. Deve Gowda's MLAs.

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

LEFT MUST PUSH FOR A NEW UNITED FRONT

BY ARJUN SENGUPTA

 

The idea of the United Front extends much beyond the simple notion of electoral alliances of different political parties to form a government. The United Front means a combination of political forces to capture power to bring about a transformation of society. A concrete meaning was given to this term by the Socialist in 1920s. It is the working class parties representing the toiling people who are supposed to lead such united fronts or exercise the hegemony to carry with them all other forces of social change in a set-up of democracy. This is because the working class does not live on exploitation and produces "surplus value", i.e. the value over and above what is needed to reproduce themselves. All other classes live on the surplus value produced by working classes and appropriate them because of their command over capital, through exploitation. That is why according to the Marxists the working class is the harbinger of social change, with all other classes dependent on extraction of surplus value from the production process.

 

The original idea of the United Front was articulated by Lenin in the 1920s, Second International, where he proposed that the working class needs the support of all other classes to bring about social changes. According to Lenin, this was necessary because such a majority is essential to win over state power as a first step towards social transformation and towards socialism. The working class party must earn their leadership of the social forces by formulating programmes, mobilising them and persuading them to join the national democratic movement leading up to eventual establishment of socialism.

 

This position of Lenin was not accepted by many Communist leaders at that time, who did not think it was necessary to ally with different sections of people to get power, as the Bolsheviks did for overthrowing capitalism. Left-wing Communist leaders such as Bela Kun, Thalheimer and Terracini believed that the Russian Revolution was an action of a minority party, disciplined and well organised, without trying to win the masses, ignoring the majority of the working class who were under the influence of the social democracy in Europe. Lenin's denunciation of this stand is very much worth quoting, "Terracini says that we were victorious in Russia although the party was very small. Comrade Terracini has understood very little of the Russian Revolution. In Russia we were a small party but we had with us in addition the majority of the Soviets' workers and peasants, deputies throughout the country. Do you have anything of this sort? We had with us almost half the army with their number at least 10 million men". Lenin spelt out further: "To win we must have the sympathy of the masses. An absolute majority is not always essential, but what is essential to win and retain power is not only the majority of working class (in the sense of the industrial proletariat) but also the majority of the working and exploited rural population".

 

In other words, the working class parties must not only unite themselves but also lead all other national forces of social change and must even be prepared to form United Front governments with social democrats.

 

The world today of course is quite different from the 1920s and the Communists are rarely able to lead a social movement on their own compared with vast number of other political groups having influence on workers, peasants and working groups. But the basic logic of social change brought about by the hegemony of the working class still remains valid because it is only the working class that can bring about changes without exploiting other classes, and even if socialism is difficult to establish, any change to bring about inclusive development would require the leadership of the non-exploitative working class movement. For this as, the 1920s experience taught us, we need a United Front of all the Left parties bringing within this the support of the national bourgeoisie in close alliance.

 

I am underlining this lesson of the Second International for at least the Communists to realise the need for a United Front with the nationalist parties even if the latter may prevaricate on that point. In India today that United Front is led by the main nationalist force of the Congress. They do that because of the compulsions for getting electoral power even if they are not fully supportive of the Communists' idea of social change trying to have a wide-based alliance of all forces calling for inclusive development. Secularism, anti-communalism, anti-casteism and all forces supporting social integration are the natural offshoot of that social movement. All these are natural allies of the Left and even if there may be periodic differences among them on peripheral issues, the basic unity of that class alliance remains fully intact. The Left cannot betray this alliance for gaining temporary electoral advantage or combining with very reactionary movements to get temporarily an upper hand in the electoral process. The Left and the Communists' must be on a constant vision to push forward a national movement but they cannot abandon the basic principle of United Front which was formulated by Lenin and developed by Gramsci in the 1920s' social movement.

 

It is important to remind us of this fundamental principle because India is now passing through a major social crisis. We have all the wherewithal to bring about inclusive social and economic development but the forces of vested interests are stubbornly opposing that trend because that means giving up some of their advantages of going through an unfettered capitalist economic development. But more than that there is an increasing danger of the rise of fascism in the form of either Naxalism or social divisiveness very much dominated by the so-called mastan politics of the footloose lumpen elements who move on from one party to another to dominate social interaction. We have to rebuild the United Front movement and strive for the united forces for social change based on principled politics without looking for tactical advantages.

 

Dr Arjun Sengupta is a Member of Parliament and former Economic Adviser to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

OBAMA'S POETRY NEEDS A WINNING NARRATIVE

BY THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

 

More and more lately, I find people asking me: What do you think the us President, Mr Obama, really believes about this or that issue? I find that odd. How is it that a President who has taken on so many big issues, with very specific policies — and has even been awarded a Nobel Prize for all the hopes he has kindled — still has so many people asking what he really believes?

 

I don't think that President Obama has a communications problem, per se.

 

He has given many speeches and interviews broadly explaining his policies and justifying their necessity. Rather, he has a "narrative" problem.

 

He has not tied all his programmes into a single narrative that shows the links between his health care, banking, economic, climate, energy, education and foreign policies. Such a narrative would enable each issue and each constituency to reinforce the other and evoke the kind of popular excitement that got him elected.

 

Without it, though, the President's eloquence, his unique ability to inspire people to get out of their seats and work for him, has been muted or lost in a thicket of technocratic details. His daring but discrete policies are starting to feel like a work plan that we have to slog through, and endlessly compromise over, just to finish for finishing's sake — not because they are all building blocks of a great national project.

 

What is that project? What is that narrative? Quite simply it is nation-building at home. It is nation-building in America.

 

I've always believed that Mr Obama was elected because a majority of Americans fear that we're becoming a declining great power. Everything from American schools to our energy and transportation systems are falling apart and in need of reinvention and reinvigoration. And what people want most from Washington today is nation-building at home.

 

Many people, including conservatives, voted for Barack Obama because in their hearts they felt he could pull us all together for that project better than any other candidate. Many are what I'd call "Warren Buffett centrists". They are not billionaires, but they are people who believe in Mr Buffett's saying that whatever he achieved in life was due primarily to the fact that he was born in this country — America — at this time, with all of its advantages and opportunities.

 

I believe that. And I believe that without a strong America — which, at its best, can deliver more goods and goodness to its own citizens and to the world than any other nation — our kids and many others around the world will not have those opportunities. I am convinced that this kind of nation-building at home is exactly what Mr Obama is trying to deliver, and should be his unifying call: Americans need universal healthcare because it would strengthen our social fabric and enable our businesses to better compete globally. We need to upgrade our schools because no child in 21st-century America should be left behind and because we cannot compete for the best new jobs without doing so. We need a greener economy, not just to mitigate climate change, but because a world growing from 6.7 billion people to 9.2 billion by 2050 is going to demand more and more clean energy and water, and the country that develops the most clean technologies is going to have the most energy security, national security, economic security, innovative companies and global respect.

 

But to deliver this agenda requires a motivated public and a spirit of shared sacrifice. That's where narrative becomes vital. People have to have a gut feel for why this nation-building project, with all its varied strands, is so important — why it's worth the sacrifice. One of the reasons that independents and conservatives who voted for Mr Obama have been so easily swayed against him by Fox News and people labelling him a "socialist" is because he has not given voice to the truly patriotic nation-building endeavour in which he is engaged.

 

"Mr Obama's election marked a shift — from a politics that celebrated privatised concerns to a politics that recognised the need for effective government and larger public purposes. Across the political spectrum, people understood that national renewal requires big ambition, and a better kind of politics", said the Harvard political theorist Mr Michael Sandel, author of the new bestseller — Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? — that calls for elevating our public discourse.

 

But to deliver on that promise, Mr Sandel added, Mr Obama needs to carry the civic idealism of his campaign into his presidency. He needs a narrative that will get the same voters who elected him to push through his ambitious agenda — against all the forces of inertia and private greed.

 

"You can't get nation-building without shared sacrifice", said Mr Sandel, "and you cannot inspire shared sacrifice without a narrative that appeals to the common good — a narrative that challenges us to be citizens engaged in a common endeavour, not just consumers seeking the best deal for ourselves. Mr Obama needs to energise the prose of his presidency by recapturing the poetry of his campaign".

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

OPED

TOWARDS A NEW SOUTH ASIA

BY SHIV VISVANATHAN

 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh might be a reluctant politician but he could be a willing statesman. At a recent leadership summit, he said that within the next two decades he hoped for peace in India. But an Indian peace, he added, can only be a South Asia peace and a South Asian peace can only be a democratic one.

 

The Prime Minister's statement should have had a magical effect. As a statement, it was a perfect answer to the carnivores of peace — United States and Taliban — which have destroyed a wonder-ful territory. It is a new dream of democracy which a Manto and Gandhi would have approved of.

 

The Prime Minister did not go beyond the initial statements except for talking about growth and inclusive development. But Prime Minister's do not need elaborate text, they nearly have to inspire, trigger a vision which a nation and community can thicken. South Asia is a truncated entity destroyed by the maggots of violence. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have suffered from the genocide of double partitions. The Partition of 1947 and the genocide of Bangladesh in 1971 destroyed not just our countries but emasculated an imagination. Sri Lanka lies in tatters today claiming a homogeneous stab-ility.

 

Burma is a refuge to every terrorist and smuggler and few realise it could be the home of a new Buddhist imagination. In fact, between the Dalai Lama and Aung Sang Su Kyi, South Asia hosts some of the great Buddhist imaginations.

 

We need to be clear. South Asia can transcend the dullness of a geography text. It is civilisational, in fact multi-civilisational imagination. In a deep way, it is the home of Buddhists, Jain, Muslim and Hindu imaginations. It is also the home of a Christianity that nest-led in long before Christianity went West. This sum of five civilisational metaphors makes South Asia potent, with the availability of metaphors the West cannot dream of. They provide dialects, metaphors that spread like rhizomes across the subcontinent creating an alter-native dream of peace and justice. What one needs is a new South Asian university.

 

The new South Asia University is a commons of South Asian knowledge and practices. It understands the power of waste and the creativity of the informal. It realises that modern science is but one form of beautiful but parochial knowledge which needs to cohabit with the defeated and subsistence ideas and also with civilisational knowledge. A South Asian university must invoke memories in a new way, seek to relate the tribal, oral, peasant and nomadic livelihoods in new forms. As a theory of knowledge, it needs theoretical barriers against obsolescence that allows subsistence a new respect and dignity.

 

Once we lift the barriers between forms of knowledge, South Asia should be confident enough to lift boundaries of the political. For tribes, nomads, children, for livelihoods near the border, identity is stifled by boundaries. Let us make Nandan Nilekani's identity project a South Asia one, recognising ways of life that have seen the border as an osmotic possibility. Open up the barriers between India and Pakistan for trade and culture, wrap up the barb wire between Bangladesh and India so students can travel freely in search of jobs and education. These are not romantic steps but it opens up possibilities people have always thought of. Look at the way language revives and diversity thickens once the border becomes a partial filter.

 

What haunts South Asia is the trauma of a common memory written by official historians. Let Pakistanis understand what happened in Bangladesh. A newspaper like Dawn with its enlightened leadership could become the new university of memory for them. Let the recent projects on Partition be read as the beginnings of a new Truth Commission which tells the Partition story as a cornucopia of recollections.

 

Stories are one legacy every South Asians have and why not honour them. We need a new commons of memory, of hospitality, of syncretism that can provide the basis of a South Asian imagination.

 

We need to translate and recycle democracy. The standard notions of citizenship, rights and govern-ance while valuable somehow destroy the entitle-ments of an informal economy. We need new notions of sustainability, liveli-hood, locality, memory, the civilisational sustainability of keywords that creates inclusive worlds.

 

We need ideas of hospitality which extend from food to friendship, ideas of knowledge which see the limits and possibility of science. Let the new 20-30 odd universities the government is planning to open up be twined with other South Asian imaginations. Allow the thinktanks we are planning to inaugurate become South Asian institutions where the games and scenarios of peace are worked out. Let them dream big in a language that the West may not speak, dreams beyond the Silicon Valleys of the mind. Can we think of projects where rivers emphasise the riverine mind of South Asia, where Himalayas evoke new ideas of biodiversity, and citizenship begins with the homeless and the nomad creating dreams of livelihood we need to consider.

 

Begin with simple gestures that allow for cooperation and reciprocity. Let us make health for all and education

for all, South Asian goals implemented through a South Asian imag-ination. We do need the dullness of the millennium mind announ-cing targets and per-centages, when we should be describing embedded communities.

 

The Indian Institute of Advanced Study at Shimla could create the continuities of South Asian mind by linking climate change, livelihoods and the possibility of a democratic scie-nce.

 

Our plurality need not build an arid secularism but could create new dialects of the political where our democracy goes beyond Rawls and the ideas of liberalism. Himal, a magazine edited from Nepal is doing this already. Add Seminar, and a few Malayali and Bengali journals and the agonal battle for a new imagination has begun.

 

I do not see this as romanticism. South Asia is the one place where only the impossible is possible. It demands the memory of commu-nities revoking the state as a mental uniform.

 

What Dr Singh has begun cannot remain there. A flood tied of ideas must sweep our sub-continent in celebratory response. We do need peace pri-zes as affirmative actions to trigger the process.

 

Shiv Visvanathan is a social scientist

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

OPED

NEW LIFE FOR THE PARIAHS

BY NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

 

Perhaps the most wretched people on this planet are those suffering obstetric fistulas.
This is a childbirth injury, often suffered by a teenager in Africa or Asia whose pelvis is not fully grown. She suffers obstructed labour, has no access to a C-section, and endures internal injuries that leave her incontinent – steadily trickling urine and sometimes faeces through her vagina.

 

She stinks. She becomes a pariah. She is typically abandoned by her husband and forced to live by herself on the edge of her village. She is scorned, bewildered, humiliated and desolate, often feeling cursed by God.

 

I've met many of these women – or, often, girls of 13, 14, 15 – in half a dozen countries, for there are 3 million or 4 million of them around the world. They are the lepers of the 21st century.

 

Just about the happiest thing that can happen to such a woman is an encounter with Dr. Lewis Wall, an ob-gyn at Washington University in St. Louis. A quiet, self-effacing but relentless man of 59, Wall has devoted his life to helping these most voiceless of the voiceless, promoting the $300 surgeries that repair fistulas and typically return the patients to full health.

 

"There's no more rewarding experience for a surgeon than a successful fistula repair," Wall reflected. "There are a lot of operations you do that solve a problem – I can take out a uterus that has a tumour in it. But this is life-transforming for everybody who gets it done. It's astonishing. You take a human being who has been in the abyss of despair and – boom! – you have a transformed woman. She has her life back.

 

"In Liberia, I saw a woman who had developed a fistula 35 years earlier. It turned out to be a tiny injury; it took 20 minutes to repair it. For want of a 20-minute operation, this woman had lived in a pool of urine for 35 years."

 

Wall started out as an anthropologist working in West Africa, and he speaks Hausa, an African language. But he concluded that the world needed doctors more than it needed anthropologists, so at age 27 he went to medical school.

 

He has had a dazzling career as an academic, writing several books and scores of journal articles, but his passion has been ending the scourge of fistulas. In 1995, he founded the Worldwide Fistula Fund, and he has been campaigning tirelessly year after year to build a fistula hospital in West Africa. That has been his life, his dream.

 

Now it is a reality.

 

The West African country of Niger recently approved Wall's plan for a fistula hospital, affiliated with an existing leprosy hospital run by SIM, a Christian missionary organisation.

 

Eventually, when $850,000 in fundraising is complete, a new 40-bed fistula hospital, modelled on the extremely successful Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital of Ethiopia, will rise on vacant ground next to the leprosy hospital. (For information on how to help, please visit my blog, nytimes.com/ontheground.)

 

For the time being, an existing operating theatre in the leprosy hospital has been renovated for fistula repairs. Wall has already shipped a container of medical supplies to Niger, and he expects to go with a team to conduct the first fistula repairs there in December.

 

The day the final approval came through, Wall sent me an elated e-mail message with the news. "There are tears in my eyes," he wrote.

 

Aside from repairing fistulas, the hospital will also organise outreach efforts to promote maternal health and reduce deaths in childbirth. It will also undertake education and microfinance efforts to empower women more broadly.

 

It could be just the beginning. The new hospital is part of a grand vision to eradicate fistulas worldwide by building 40 such hospitals in the world's poorest countries. The plan, drawn up by Wall, would cost $1.5 billion over 12 years and operate as an American foreign aid program.

 

I can't imagine a better use of foreign assistance dollars – or better symbolism than having the most powerful nation on earth reach out to help the most stigmatised, suffering people on the planet. The proposal for the global plan is circulating in Congress, the State Department and the White House, as well as among religious and aid organisations that are lining up to back it. President Barack Obama hasn't signalled a position yet, but I hope he will seize upon it.

 

The new fistula hospital in Niger is a tribute to the heroic doggedness of Wall, and with luck it will be replicated in many other countries. Anybody who has seen a fistula patient after surgery – a teenager's shy, radiant smile at something so simple as being able to control her wastes – can't conceive of a better investment.

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

OPED

OBAMA SHOWS THE DIFFERENCE

BY MAUREEN DOWD

 

Michelle OBAMA had gone up to New York to watch the World Series opener with Jill Biden and Yogi Berra.

 

The US President had dinner at the White House with Sasha and Malia. Then, shortly before midnight, he donned a dark overcoat, boarded Marine One and flew to Dover Air Force Base.

 

On the tarmac in the darkness, he stood at attention, saluting, as 18 flag-draped cases were taken off an Air Force C-17 and carried to Port Mortuary by military teams in camouflage fatigues and black berets.

 

The Halloween-eve parade of death included casualties from America's most horrific day in Afghanistan in four years, and its bloodiest month of the war.

 

It may have been a photo op, another way Obama could show he was not W., the President who started the Iraq war in a haze of fakery and then declined to ever confront the reality of its dead.

 

Certainly, as Obama tries to figure out how to avoid being a war President when he's saddled with two wars, he wants as much military cred in the bank as he can get.

 

But it was also a genuinely poignant moment. It is how we want our Presidents to behave, doing the humane thing especially when it's hard. And Obama, who called it "a sobering reminder" of sacrifices made, signalled to Americans that he will resist blinders as he grapples with the Byzantine, seemingly bottomless conflicts he inherited.

 

Leave it to Liz Cheney, in her continuing bid to out-Cheney her scary dad, to suggest that Obama is a crass publicity-seeker.

 

"I think that what President Bush used to do is do it without the cameras", she told a Fox News radio host.

 

She's right: There were no press cameras at Dover in the previous administration. There was also no W.

 

While Bush occasionally visited the wounded and the families of those killed, he never went to Dover to salute the fallen. And he barred any media coverage of it, trying to airbrush the evidence that the wars he started were not the cakewalks he had promised. He did not attend a single funeral. It reflected an emotional and spiritual smallness typical of his administration, like Donald Rumsfeld signing letters to families of dead troops with an autopen and Paul Wolfowitz understating the number of war dead.

 

Dona Griffin of Terre Haute, Indiana, the mother of Army Sgt. Dale Griffin, who was among those Obama saluted, appreciated the President's presence. "Unless we can see the images and look into the eyes and the faces of those that are sacrificing, we forget", she said on Good Morning America.

 

As Obama conducts his White House seminar on war, Dick Cheney accuses him of dithering. He and W. not only didn't dither before Iraq, they never bothered to ask "Whither?" Debate and due diligence were for sissies. Far more fun playing Jove, heedlessly throwing thunderbolts.

 

President Obama bore witness just as he is deciding whether to accede to Gen. Stanley McChrystal's request for up to 80,000 more troops in Afghanistan.

 

He should keep in mind Cyrus Vance's warning before President Carter decided to send a Delta team to rescue the Iranian hostages (an ill-fated decision that provoked Vance's resignation as secretary of state). "Generals will rarely tell you they can't do something", he said. "This is a complex damn operation, and I haven't forgotten the old saying from my Pentagon days that in the military, anything that can go wrong will go wrong".

 

Barack Obama, the wunderkind who came out of nowhere to win the presidency, was supposed to push America out of the ditch and into a glittering future. But modernity is elusive when you're in a time machine to the 14th century called Afghanistan. The tableau of Obama at Dover evoked the last line of The Great Gatsby: "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past".

 

As Obama comforted families at a tragic moment, he also had to contemplate a tragic dimension of his own presidency: It's nice to talk about change, but you can't wipe away yesterday. Obama wants to be the cosmopolitan President of the world, and social engineer at home to improve the lives of Americans.

 

But what he had in mind for renovating American society hinged on spending a lot of money on energy, education, the environment and healthcare. Instead, he has been trapped in the money pits of a recession and two wars.

 

For now, the man who promised revolution will have to settle for managing adversity.

 

It is, as Yogi Berra said, "déjà vu all over again".

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

SUNNY SIDE

 

The monsoon has come and gone; with it have gone headlines about the worst drought since the beginnings of history. The dry months of June and July were followed by the wet months of August and September; as the heavens opened, prayers to the rain god ceased. Corporation officials ceased their emergency meetings about whether to cut water supply from two hours to one hour a day. The minister of food and civil supplies stopped counting the million tons he had in his warehouses; the minister of agriculture stopped dreaming of lucrative contracts to import foodgrains.

 

But it is not as if there was no drought. Throughout the peninsula, and in much of the Gangetic plain, early rains failed. Since there was no moisture in the soil, crops could not be planted. When the rains came eventually, late planting was possible for some crops. But in the case of water-intensive crops, the water deficit could not be made up. And in those areas where a kharif crop is followed immediately by a rabi crop, farmers had to choose between the two, and most chose rabi. Hence the drought will leave its mark on agricultural production. The total impact may be small. After all, half the production comes in winter; it is likely to be higher rather than lower. And in the water-surplus areas of the east and the north-east, droughts do not have much of an impact.

 

But there will be regions and crops which will suffer. Amongst the regions is the dry centre of the peninsula. In 2006, a quarter of the country's suicides were of Maharashtrian farmers; they are the ones who will feel the pinch this year again. The woes of their neighbours in Andhra Pradesh were compounded by the terrible floods in Krishna this summer. One would have thought that the crops to be worst affected would be dry crops like jowar and bajri. Their output would be lower, but their area did not decline. The only dry crop whose area under cultivation shrank significantly is groundnuts. This is part of a longer trend. Ever since India opened up to imports of palm oil, domestic oilseeds have been declining; Saurashtra's groundnut farmers have to turn to something else. Surprisingly, the other crop to suffer is rice. Grown in wet or irrigated areas, rice is virtually immune to drought. But the floods in southern rivers reduced the area under rice by 15 per cent. There will be a serious fall in the production of kharif rice. The government has stocks, but it always hoards them in bad years. Herein lies an opportunity for Bengal. There will be demand for rice, especially in the neighbouring states of Bihar and Orissa. The farmers in Bengal could make a penny this year. But to do so, they must produce more; and the West Bengal government must allow free trade in grains.

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

SAFELY COVERED

 

Is Cambridge University being tremulous or truly multicultural? It will allow women to wear the burqa below their mortar boards during graduation. The university authorities have said that they "absolutely respect" the students' cultural or religious obligations, and certain items of national dress, military uniform and religious apparel can be worn during formal presentations. This includes the burqa. No decision regarding the burqa can be unself-conscious: too much water has flowed under Western bridges for that. The university had objected to the students' tendency to wear casual clothes to academic ceremonies, and had insisted on the traditional black and white. The statement allowing people to wear uniforms and burqas may be a clarification, but it may also be a tactful retreat.

 

Religion and culture may demand many things; but what does multiculturalism demand? What does it mean, and what does it aim at? The former British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, made no bones about what he thought it meant: integration at the cost of erasing signs of difference. He wanted women to take off their burqas because those signified separation and difference. Across the channel, Nicolas Sarkozy, president of a country less vociferously hung up on multiculturalism than Britain, thinks burqas are a "sign of subservience". The French State has banned all religious symbols, including burqas, from schools. France obviously feels that it must forcibly "help" Muslim women come out of "subservience" — and so redefine the State's duties and authority. In some parts of Germany, teachers cannot wear headscarves. And in Holland's pre-election battle, the leading party in the current coalition government is promising to ban the burqa in public places because its obscuring of identity is a security risk. The ban would — logically — include ski masks and full-face helmets, just as allowing it in Cambridge logically brings in military uniform and national dress. What do the women in burqas think?

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

LEARNING TO MANAGE

PETER DRUCKER WOULD HAVE BEEN 100 YEARS OLD THIS YEAR

COMMENTARAO - S.L. RAO

 

Peter Drucker

 

Like every professional manager and teacher in India, I was deeply influenced by Peter Drucker, who was born 100 years back. I became a manager after studying commerce and economics. I tried to determine his relevance for us in India.

 

Drucker gave me an academic frame that built on my education and a conceptual understanding of management. As a student, I had been attracted by the ideas of Joseph Schumpeter on capitalism and the role of innovation as creative destruction, by those of Frederick Taylor and Frank Gilbreth on ways in which efficiencies could be improved, and of John Maynard Keynes about how economies could be well managed. Drucker wrote about the centrality of the consumer. Theodore Levitt expanded on Drucker in "Marketing myopia" and other writings. Their ideas taught people how to create and stimulate demand.

 

The first book on management that I had read was Drucker's The Practice of Management, which showed how management could make things happen. It bridged the gap between the theories and concepts I had studied and ways to actually make things happen.

 

In 1955, he wrote: "There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer.… It is the customer who determines what a business is. Because it is its purpose to create a customer, any business enterprise has two — and only these two — basic functions: marketing and innovation. They are the entrepreneurial functions."

 

Alfred Sloan as the chief of General Motors showed how large organizations could be managed to achieve complex and ambitious objectives through management, how to segment markets and design products that appealed to different consumer segments, thus maximizing market share and profits. Years later he wrote My Years with General Motors, that described what he had learnt. The lessons that Sloan taught by his work in General Motors were applied in the development of the most complicated Polaris submarine. They have since become part of the training for managing large organizations. Sloan gave Drucker the opportunity to study General Motors closely at the time when Sloan was applying the ideas that made General Motors the largest company in the world and the driver of the American economy. Drucker wrote: "Management converts a mob into an organization, and human efforts into performance." But there is a limit to size in organizations, particularly to those selling services. We learnt this at great cost to the world economy in the recent financial crisis when banks, brokerages, hedge funds, and so on, reached such large sizes that planning, coordination and control became problematic.

 

Even in the command and control economy during the Nehru and Indira Gandhi years, Drucker was relevant to India in the growing and running of large organizations, and in the improving of their efficiencies. Indian companies had their own management ideas. They employed professionals and developed large organizations, distributed manufacturing, managed quality standards, distribution over vast distances, and so on. Professional management enabled the organizing of people to achieve agreed goals in changing situations in a variety of businesses and other occupations in non-profit organizations, government-owned enterprises, health, education, and so on.

 

Jack Welch implemented the Drucker idea that a large organization should aim to be number one or two in its line of business or get out. By a clear focus on objectives, Welch made General Electric the most successful organization for many years. Recently, Indian managers have begun to follow this idea. Similarly, Drucker said that many have benefited from following the idea of empowering workers, treating them as resources and not just as costs. The best examples of this are the highly successful information companies.

 

Long before many began to criticize the declaration of corporate results every quarter, saying that it puts excessive pressure on organizations to deliver short-term results while paying less attention to long-term development, Drucker criticized short-term profit as the principal goal of business. (Unfortunately, India, under Clause 49 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India's listing agreements, has introduced this practice.)

 

He was critical of soaring executive pay. His prescience, if heeded, might have prevented the collapse of financial institutions, especially in the United States of America. Incentives related only to immediate profit performance neglect the long-term consequences of the decisions for which incentives were paid. Fortunately, India with its past history of government regulation to bring about equality of incomes, avoided American excesses. However, Indian salaries soared after 1991, widening inequalities, but not to the extent that they did in the US.

 

Drucker predicted the rise of a knowledge economy and that brains in a workforce would increasingly replace brawn. We have seen this happen in India in our time and Indian companies have developed ways to manage large workforces of skilled people over many different areas, to deliver high quality services at profit.

 

He championed privatization and argued that private ownership gave more incentive for an enterprise to perform well. We have examples of companies that have performed very well after privatization like the Bharat Aluminium Company Limited, CMC Limited, some of the privatized Indian Tourism Development Corporation hotels, and many other State-owned enterprises, including the Delhi Electricity Board. We are also learning that moving the dead hand of the government from enterprises, even by introducing some private shareholding, can improve an enterprise's performance.

 

In the early Clinton years, Al Gore pushed for "reinventing government". This was another Drucker idea. In India, we are seeing the beginnings of this with independent regulatory commissions replacing opaque government decision- making, the Right to Information Act and other legislations that have made the government more transparent and closer to the governed, and the growing emphasis on decentralization. Similarly, India has benefited by lower taxation and the abolition of the licence permit raj since 1991, further examples of reinventing government.

 

Drucker moved innovation from mere technology to management. He wrote: "The second function of a business is innovation, that is, the provision of better and more economic goods and services.... Innovation may take the form of a lower price... be a new and better product... a new convenience or the creation of a new want... finding new uses for old products.... Inovation must be in design, in product, in marketing techniques, in price or in service to the customer, in management organization or in management methods, in materials handling, in manager development." However we still have companies that do not see that the customer (or citizen in the case of the government) has to be at the core of the business.

 

Drucker was convinced that the best hope for saving civilization from barbarism was in the humdrum science of management. He was not willing to leave everything to market forces. There would always be some to exploit others. In India, institutions like regulatory commissions and the competition commission show that we have recognized that markets need regulation. He did not, unlike many others of his generation, admire the command and control model of the Soviet Union. Big government was not the answer. For him, the "man in the grey flannel suit" (adapting the phrase from Sloan Wilson) held more hope for mankind than the hidden hand of Adam Smith or the command and control model.

 

Drucker is criticized because he did not build rigorous systems with complex mathematical logic, as do many management writers today. He is not identified with a great idea as, for example, Michael Porter is with competitive strategy, Levitt with market segmentation, or C.K. Prahlad with core competence, to name just three. Instead, the fact that Drucker's ideas are clichés today is his major contribution. Drucker stands for all professional management. That is his contribution to India and the world.

 

The author is former director-general, National Council for Applied Economic Research

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

IT'S GETTING TOO HOT

FIFTH COLUMN - GWYNNE DYER

 

The news is bad, and it's coming in fast. Turn tens of thousands of scientists loose on a problem for two decades, and the results will seem pathetic for the first few years, because it takes time to gather the data — even to build the equipment with which you gather the data. But slowly the flow of data will grow, and at the end of 20 years you can expect major new insights every month or so.

 

That's where we are now with climate change. September's unwelcome news, from the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Britain, was that if fossil fuel use continues on the present trend line, the planet will be an average of 4 degrees centigrade warmer by the 2060s. This contrasts with the prediction of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in 2007, that we might see 4 degrees centigrade, at the most, by 2100.

 

This month's bad news came from the drilling ship Joides (Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling) Resolution, which brought up cores from the ocean bottom containing sediments dating back 20 million years. The news was that when the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was last at 450 parts per million, the average global temperature was 3-6 degrees centigrade hotter than now. That is bad news because 450 ppm is where we are hoping to halt the rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere this time around. All the world's major governments have agreed that the warming must never be allowed to exceed 2 degrees centigrade, because beyond that we risk runaway warming.

 

Not so, or at least not for long. The leader of the JOIDES research team, Aradhna Tripati, of the University of California, put it bluntly: "What we have shown is that in the last period when CO2 levels were sustained at levels close to where they are today, there was no icecap on Antarctica and sea levels were 25-40m higher." Suspicions that the 450 ppm target is much too high have been growing for some time. Late in 2007 James Hansen, the director of Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, made a public appeal at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union to move to a 350-ppm target.

 

Listen carefully

 

Hansen's study of ancient climates had led him to the conclusion that the first time permanent ice appeared on the planet was when the amount of carbon dioxide fell to 425 ppm some 35 million years ago. His calculations had a possible error of plus or minus 75 ppm, so for safety's sake he settled on 350 ppm as the long-term target for human stewardship of the atmosphere.

 

Hansen even thought that 350 ppm might still be too high, because the 'normal' level of carbon dioxide during the 10,000 years of human civilization was only 280 ppm. Now Joides has given us a more accurate measure of ancient climate, from closer to the present. By 20 million years ago, almost all the ice on the planet had been lost again, due to a prolonged period of volcanic activity in the Columbia river basin of North America. The carbon dioxide emitted by that activity had raised the average global temperature to 3-6 degrees centigrade above the current level. But the actual level of carbon dioxide that caused all that was only 400 ppm.

 

We will be there in five years, but we must not stay there for very long or history will repeat itself. In reality, we are going to go to at least 450 ppm before we get our emissions under control, and then we will have to commence the long and arduous task of getting the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere down to a level that will preserve our present climate. And all through that time, we must prevent the warming from exceeding 2 degrees centigrade, which means that the various methods of geo-engineering to keep the heat down are unavoidable. That is what these numbers are telling us, and we would be wise to listen.

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

STOP WORK

''FUND PROJECTS THAT WILL EASE CONGESTION''

The spontaneous public outcry against the planned underpass at Rabindranath Tagore circle in Bangalore south is symptomatic of the frustration the citizens feel at the callous and cavalier manner in which the civic authorities function. The unprecedented growth and burgeoning traffic have been posing innumerable challenges to urban planners and civic bodies in Bangalore. The problem has to be tackled with a holistic approach with the help of experts in various fields and after taking the local residents into confidence. But as the controversy surrounding the Tagore circle underpass shows, the hide-bound officials of BBMP have -- not for the first time -- taken an arbitrary decision with scant regard either for experts' views or public opinion.

From all the reactions over the last few days, it has emerged that the BBMP, almost secretly, prepared the ground for spending around Rs 20 crore on an underpass which serves no purpose other than enriching some contractors and, perhaps, lining the pockets of unscrupulous officials. The project, shelved three years ago following public protests, has been revived suddenly, even without consulting other agencies like the BWSSB and the telephones department, whose infrastructure lies underneath the road and who have to make alternative arrangements. The work taken up in the last few days and now temporarily halted have already thrown the lives of thousands of people and commuters out of gear, and the fear is that this unwanted monster will end up being one among many wasteful projects in the City. The  silence of the BBMP commissioner and Bangalore in-charge minister over the irrationality of taking up the project is baffling and they need to not only immediately intervene and halt its execution but punish those responsible for clandestinely clearing it.

 

If the underpass at Tagore circle or the one completed at Malleshwaram or the flyover at National College junction are some of the instances of wasteful and mindless expenditure, the BBMP and the government would do well to draw up their priorities right and use the available funds on projects which will ease Bangalore's congestion. The traffic bottlenecks at Wilson Garden or Minerva Circle, for instance, are crying for solution and that's where the money needs to be spent. Let the government constitute an experts committee to study the infrastructure requirements of the City and execute the plans according to its recommendations.

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

STEADY RISE

''THE US TURNAROUND IS IMPORTANT FOR INDIA''

 

The US economy's 3.5 per cent growth in the third quarter (July-September), after four consecutive quarters of contraction, has given a psychological boost to the world, though it is doubtful if the recovery is sustainable. Major economies like Germany and Japan had already turned the corner, but the performance of the world's largest economy is crucial for the world's financial health. The rebound has been largely on the strength of the over one trillion dollar stimulus package the US government unveiled and therefore the rebound has even been called a government domestic product growth. Disaggregated figures of the growth number would support this view. Much of the GDP growth was accounted for by the rise in consumer demand, mainly in car and home sales. The demand in these sectors was boosted by two government schemes which financed the consumers. As they are for a limited period, their impact will soon wear off. Car sales have actually fallen after the scheme was discontinued in August.

The US government is unable to pump in more money into the economy. Unemployment rates are still high. Trade deficit has soared, savings rate is near zero and the dollar might soon start weakening. After the Great Depression the US economy grew for a while to relapse into recession. All these are grounds for caution but the rebound has created optimism. The bounce has come about much earlier than expected. Confidence has risen but the challenge is to ensure the economy can grow on fundamentals, independent of government support.

The turnaround is important for India. Though India managed to sustain a decent 6 per cent growth even in the difficult period, the economy was badly affected by the slump in the US. The software and textiles sectors were the worst hit but they are expecting better days. Since about a third of India's GDP is accounted for by trade, the health of the global economy is an important factor in its growth. Sustained US growth is expected to help Asian economies more now, as the experience of dealing with the downturn has provided them with more safeguards and the ability for a stronger bounce. That has made the wait for US recovery loaded with greater expectations. 

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

NAXAL ENIGMA

''NAXALITES HAVE DECIDED THAT THEIR WAR IS AGAINST AUTHORITY AND ITS STRUCTURE AND SYMBOL AND NOT THE PEOPLE OF INDIA.''

M J AKBAR

 

If so many male members of the Delhi establishment were not irredeemably bald, the loudest sound in the capital would be that of hair being torn in frustration. Those who have rescued their pates with American wigs (probably made with recycled hair from Tirupati) or artificial implants are not going to risk their camouflage by an injudicious display of temperament. So the prevailing noise in Delhi is the sound of gnashing teeth. The despair is over the upsurge of Naxalite violence.

While it is understandable that successful India should get antsy over subaltern anger, perhaps we should pause to consider what the Naxalites have not done; this would shade the focus, which is at the moment concentrated on what they have done.

They did not kill the police officer they picked up in Bengal. They released him in exchange for tribal women in government custody. They did not bargain for the release of their leaders, sending a message to a vast constituency that tribal women were equal, on their scale of values, to the top brass. You can appreciate the electrifying impact on their support base.

And while relief will be the overwhelming sentiment among the passengers of Rajdhani Express, who were unharmed after five hours as captives, they will, on reaching home, search in the debris of memory for some answers. The governments of West Bengal and India were helpless when the train was brought to a halt, and impotent during the hours in captivity.

The authorities did not rescue the passengers. The abductors freed them. These Naxalites have decided that their war is against authority and its structures and symbols, and not against the people of India.

This is a significant shift from Naxalite thinking in its first phase, the decade between 1965 and 1975, when the leadership was with Charu Mazumdar, Kanu Sanyal (a tribal leader) and their intelligent, if apoplectic, student comrades like Ashim Chatterjee, hero and scourge of Kolkata's Presidency College campus.

Then they targeted civilians, whether clerks or kulaks, and semi-civilians like constables. For the first time, traffic policemen in Bengal were forced to wear firearms, and all traffic points had to have at two least two men on duty — one to direct the city's horrendous traffic and the other to guard his partner.

This should have led, at least in my view, to learned internal dialectic debate on "Is the constable a class enemy?" I do not know if it did. What I do know is that when dread of Naxalites seeped down from those at the top of the power-pyramid to those in the middle and the base, it fomented a government-people-political parties partnership that destroyed the Naxalites. The state provided ruthless determination; the people gave information; the Congress and the CPM used their cadres in the counter-offensive.

The Naxalites made a second serious ideological mistake, which they have consciously avoided this time around. The walls of Bengal were daubed with the slogan "Chairman Mao is our Chairman". The Chairman of Beijing may not have been consulted on this honour, but he was not one to kick away a garland strewn in his path.

Those were turbulent times in China as well; the Mao-inspired Cultural Revolution was an exercise in havoc, and mesmerised young Chinese waved Mao's 'Little Red Book' as the magical panacea for their myriad problems. No one wanted any little red book in India.

Mrs Indira Gandhi, who was martyred a quarter century ago, was prime minister for most of that long decade of insurrection. She did not waste any sentiment while dealing with the Naxalite threat.

She gave carte blanche to West Bengal's  political leadership (first, the United Front and then Congress Chief Minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray), police chiefs like Ranjit Gupta and finally the armed forces who, under the leadership of Lt Gen Jacob, played a decisive role in the state response to urban insurgency.

But Mrs Indira Gandhi addressed the fundamental cause of the revolt through a brilliant, almost instinctive manoeuvre. She realised that you could kill Naxalites, but you could not meet the challenge of Naxalism, unless the government brought the corroding problem of poverty to the top of its concerns.

The theme of Indira Gandhi's  re-election and government became "Garibi hatao (remove poverty)". Mrs Gandhi held out the hope that poverty could be eliminated through the democratic process, and was thereby able to convince the base that violence was not an answer.

In the event, Mrs Gandhi was unable to do very much to eliminate poverty — she was partly misled by the 'Congress Left,' which was neither Congress nor the Left. But the special place she still retains in the hearts of India's poor is evidence of her powerful political achievement. The state would not have succeeded as effectively without the parallel political mobilisation by Indira Gandhi.

In 2009, we are not short of Hurray-Henrys who would be happy to mow down Naxalites with blazing submachine guns in order to make India safe for themselves and their self-serving economic policies. They do not realise it yet, but they are going to miss Indira Gandhi.

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

NOBEL'S CRITERIA FOR PEACE STILL RELEVANT

CANCELLING A STUPID BUSH POLICY IS LIKE HARVESTING LAURELS TO STOP BEATING ONE'S WIFE.

BY JOHAN GALTUNG, IPA

 

The Peace Prize, according to Nobel's will, is for "the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses". Only 70 of the 119 individuals and organisations that have won the prize conform to Nobel's will. The prize has been awarded for human rights activism, development and ecology, all important fields deserving their own prizes. But Nobel's foresighted will is crystal clear.

Giving the Nobel Peace Prize to a president for rhetoric, with no real achievement, is like giving a drivers license based on a pledge to drive safely, without any real demonstration.

True, people are touched by rhetoric. There was a change in the international climate in the beginning of Obama's presidency, waiting for deeds to match the words. But the magic started waning not only because there were so few concrete deeds, but also because Obama, when encountering resistance, seemed to leave clear stands for elusive appearance of a consensus, of being bipartisan, betraying millions who voted for him. A person who is led rather than a leader.

People welcomed Obama's promise to close Guantanamo. Why not now? He promised to bring the troops home from Iraq. Then why does he increase the army? He admitted that the US overthrew a democratically elected prime minister in Iran in 1953. Did we hear an apology? He made that great speech to the Islamic world in Cairo. The Palestinians are mainly Muslim. Any follow-up? He stopped using the term "The War on Terror". How about eliminating the war, trying to understand, enter a dialogue? He promised to end torture? Is the UN monitoring?

The Nobel committee mentioned speeches about multilateral diplomacy and a nuclear-free world. Then why not support the Goldstone Report, instead of pressuring the Palestinian Authority to reject it. To move towards nuclear disarmament, why not issue an executive order to destroy 10 per cent of the US nuclear arsenal, inviting the Russians to reciprocate, and to invite the (IAEA inspection of US production facilities suspected of engineering a new generation of nuclear arms?

Obama did cancel the Polish-Czech rocket shield against a Russian attack. But Cancelling a provocative, stupid Bush policy is like harvesting laurels for stopping beating one's wife.

Who should have gotten the prize and did not? The first name that comes to mind is, of course, Mahatma Gandhi, who did not only reduce violence, but negate it, and improved understanding across conflict borders. And yet he died prizeless. The then Nobel Peace Prize Committee consultant, Jacob Worm-Muller, told this author in 1953 that Gandhi was not a real pacifist, because he fought the British Empire, a "gift to civilisation".

The following is a short list of some other non-laureates:

(1) Jose Figueres, president of Costa Rica, for abolishing the army; (2) Jean Monnet-Maurice Schuman, for creating peace by making former Nazi Germany a "member of the family", in the European Community; (3) Soekarno-Nasser-Tito, for the 1955 Bandoeng Conference, and Beograd 1961, for the nonaligned movement, the refusal to be members of two blocs on a potentially disastrous collision course; (4) Jawaharlal Nehru-Zhou Enlai for panchshila, five pillars of peaceful co- existence; (5) Olof Palme, prime minister of Sweden, for the five countries initiative for denuclearisation; (7) Pope John Paul II for work on reconciliation; (9) Hans Kung for his work for a global ethic bridging religions; (10) Lula da Silva, president of Brasil, for bringing the Latin American countries on an equitable, and hence peaceful basis.

What do all of these cases have in common? Incompatibility with Norway's foreign policy. Aligned with the US, that most violent country in modern history, four US presidents and five US secretaries of state were awarded the prize. Norway is a very loyal ally. And it is not Norwegian foreign policy to abolish the army; the European Community-Union in the beginning was also an effort to build a defenses community without the US; Soekarno-Nasser-Tito were seen as anti-West and so were Nehru-Zhou Enlai; Kekkonen, Palme were nonaligned and did what NATO-Norway could not have done; so is Lula; what happened in Leipzig came from the wrong Germany in the wrong bloc; Pope John-Paul II and Hans Kung built bridges, but were both Catholic; and Zapatero was the negation of Anglo-America.

Nobel's criteria for peace are still relevant. Candidates are numerous. Human rights, environment and development should also be praised, but not at the expense of peace prizes in Nobel's spirit.

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

SEEKING AN IMAGE BUILDER

IN THE DAYS OF PERSONAL JETS, WHAT WAS SO GREAT ABOUT IMAGE BUILDERS.

BY DINESH KUMAR

 

It became clear that I was out of touch with the reality of upwardly mobile society until I read this: An advert for an image director. The job description required of him to appropriately position his client in society and help build positive image. There was a hefty salary bracket and perquisites mentioned in the ad, as part of the compensation package that included a midsize car.

Over drinks with friends, I brought out what I had read in the paper to learn that the profession of image builders was much in demand and universities were considering adding the subject in their offerings of liberal arts education. One of them told me that I was still living in the good old days of personal drivers and personal secretaries. Things have changed, dash it, things have changed and when I looked a bit perplexed, I was told that in the days of personal jets, what was so great about personal image builders.

Another friend piped in to say that he knows many who have personal and exclusive physical trainers for their personal gyms and using a corporate lingo, he said that was their differentiation strategy of personae positioning. That is the first step and then there are those who have media managers who ensure the write ups about their clients appear in the press in a favourable stance and also find them a mention in the printed and electronic media. I was still absorbing it all when another category cropped up in discussions and that was the personal physiotherapist and he added that visiting pedicurists and masseurs are passé in the fast developing economy.

Last night I went along with a friend to meet a big wig, he introduced me to his personal physician. Reason: Because he was not sure when he would need medical service here or while travelling.

I gulped and sighed and that I could go only as far in life to have a shared personal secretary and only one personal wife. My self-esteem has undergone such a severe blow that I am seeing a therapist to regain it.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

SIX TESTS FOR EQUALITY AND FAIRNESS

 

Political battles this fall in six different parts of the country could have a profound impact on whether the United States will extend the promise of equal rights to those who are not allowed to marry simply because they are the same sex as their partner.

 

Three jurisdictions — New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia — seem tantalizingly close to securing legislative approval for measures ending the hurtful and unjustifiable exclusion of same-sex couples from civil marriage. But in Maine, Washington State and Kalamazoo, Mich., voters are being asked on Tuesday to strip away vital rights and protections.

 

The dominant Election Day battleground is Maine. Last fall, forces of the religious right backed a successful ballot measure that overruled California's top court by banning same-sex marriage. Now those forces are trying for another mean-spirited victory with Maine's Question 1, which, if approved, would block the legalization of same-sex marriage passed by the State Legislature and signed by Gov. John Baldacci in May. With the outcome likely to be close, a heavy turnout by voters committed to tolerance and justice is crucial.

 

Washington State has yet to approve same-sex marriage. But it took a positive step last May when Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a bill that granted gay and lesbian couples the state-provided benefits that married heterosexual couples have, like the right to use sick leave to care for a partner. Voters should affirm this progress by voting yes on Referendum 71.

 

A third initiative, in Kalamazoo, has the potential to overturn a measure unanimously approved by the City Commission barring discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity in housing, employment and public accommodations. Fair-minded voters should respond by voting yes to uphold the antidiscrimination law.

 

Following the election, attention will shift to New York, New Jersey and the District of Columbia, which stand

a realistic chance of joining the jurisdictions where same-sex marriages are allowed.

 

The New York situation is particularly frustrating. Gov. David Paterson strongly supports granting same-sex couples the freedom to marry, and the State Assembly has twice passed a bill to do so. But the overdue measure has been in limbo because the Democrats who control the State Senate's calendar keep dawdling over scheduling a recorded vote on the floor.

We do not have a precise head count. But we suspect that once the bill got to the floor, a majority of the Senate's 62 members would recognize that same-sex marriage is a fundamental civil right. Continuing to delay a vote shows disrespect for New York citizens injured by the status quo. The time for a vote is right now.

 

In New Jersey, support has been building for a measure allowing same-sex marriages. Legislators should pass it during the upcoming lame-duck session. Gov. Jon Corzine has said he would sign the law.

 

In the District of Columbia, the City Council seems ready to approve a local law legalizing same-sex marriage in the shadow of the Capitol dome. That might prompt a Congressional attempt to tamper with home rule. But the fact that Congress has let stand a recent D.C. law recognizing same-sex marriages legally performed elsewhere gives hope that such meddling can be avoided.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

EDITORIAL

THE COURT AND YOUR SAVINGS

 

The Supreme Court hears arguments Monday in a case about mutual funds and high management fees. Mutual funds are the main vehicle Americans use to save for retirement, and excessive mutual fund fees are another way an underregulated financial industry has been enriching itself at the expense of the general public.

 

Congress wisely put limits on the ability of funds to overcharge investors. The Supreme Court needs to give the law the power that Congress intended.

 

People often invest through 401(k) programs that offer little choice among funds. And when there is a wide choice, mutual funds usually do not compete much on fees. The absence of vigorous competition allows financial advisers to stick mutual funds, and their customers, with excessive fees.

 

While these fees may look small in percentage terms, they have an enormous impact on how much money investors end up with. For example, the Employee Benefits Security Administration has described scenarios of two workers who keep $25,000 in a 401(k) for 35 years. The one who pays 1.5 percent in fees and expenses ends up with 28 percent less at retirement than the one who pays 0.5 percent.

 

Congress addressed the problem of high fees in 1970 by adding Section 36(b) to the Investment Company Act of 1940. It imposes on mutual fund investment advisers "a fiduciary duty with respect to the receipt of compensation for services." Relying on Section 36(b), a group of investors sued Harris Associates, a firm that advises the mutual funds in which they own shares. They charged that the firm breached its duty by charging mutual fund customers fees that could be more than twice what it charged independent, non-fund clients for similar work.

 

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago upheld a District Court decision throwing out the case, based on much too narrow an interpretation of Section 36(b). In a sharp break with previous interpretations of the law, it suggested that the fees charged by an adviser like Harris can only be set aside if the adviser misleads or interferes with a fund's ability to negotiate fees. The law requires more.

 

The Supreme Court should rule that fund advisers have a responsibility to set fees that are comparable to those they charge other customers, and what would be negotiated in a fair, arm's-length deal. It should then order the District Court to reconsider the case.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

EDITORIAL

CAPE WIND

 

After eight years of arduous state and federal environmental reviews, the promoters of Cape Wind, a wind energy project off the Massachusetts coast, had every reason to believe that they were home free. Then the Wampanoag tribes asked the Interior Department to declare all of Nantucket Sound, where the 130 wind turbines would be built, a "traditional cultural property" and, they hoped, block construction.

 

Tribal officials say their culture requires them to greet the sunrise each day and that this ritual requires unobstructed views. Their claim should be rejected by the responsible federal and state officials. Another round of bureaucratic reviews would drag out an approval process that has gone on much too long and give opponents time to find some other way to derail the effort.

 

The tribes' claim seems unsupportable. "Traditional cultural properties" tend to be defined areas — a ceremonial burial ground, for instance — not a huge, unenclosed portion of the ocean. Awarding Nantucket Bay such status could cast a legal shadow over a host of other activities, including shipping and commercial fishing.

 

There is also evidence that the tribes have been working hand-in-glove with the project's main opposition group, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. The alliance includes many local people but has been largely underwritten by wealthy homeowners from Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod who hate the idea of having 440-foot windmills on the horizon.

 

The Minerals Management Service, the agency overseeing the approval process, believes that the claims are bogus. But still to be heard from is Brona Simon, the state's historic preservation officer. If she agrees with the service — and she should — then the matter goes to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. If she does not, then it goes to the National Park Service for further review and then to Mr. Salazar.

 

One way or the other, Mr. Salazar should approve the project. Cape Wind is supported by the Massachusetts government and the great majority of its citizens, who see it as a clean alternative to the power plants that contribute to global warming. Rejecting, even delaying it, would send a dispiriting message to other developers who are further behind Cape Wind.

 

In Europe, wind farms are a familiar sight. If this country is going to do its part to address climate change, they must become more common, and welcome, here.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

EDITORIAL

MEMPHIS

BY VERLYN KLINKENBORG

 

If I had to name the best short story in the form of a song lyric, I suspect the winner would be Chuck Berry's "Memphis, Tennessee," first released as a B-side in 1959. Lately, it has been haunting me — the metrical precision of the lyrics, its emotional realism and, of course, the revelation in the penultimate line. You know the one: that this is a father's mournful love song to his daughter, Marie, who is only 6 years old.

 

What I really find myself listening to is Chuck Berry the sociologist of incredible economy. It's the open-ended plea to that disembodied personage, "Long-distance information." It's the household where uncles write messages on the wall. It's the geographical precision of Marie's home, "high up on a ridge, just a half a mile from the Mississippi bridge." Undercutting it all is the very hopelessness of the singer's plea.

 

The version I know best is the one Johnny Rivers recorded, live, at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood. It reached No. 2 on the charts in July 1964. In some ways, it best captures the internal tension of the song. He plays it bright and clear. His guitar rings through the bridge and chunks away in the verse. His Louisiana twang adds its own geography to the lyric — just listen to the way he sings "ridge." Behind it all are the handclaps of a joyful audience. For the story of a shattered man, this is an incredibly happy song.

 

"Memphis, Tennessee" is also a reminder of how much country there was in Chuck Berry's rock 'n' roll. Just listen to the version recorded by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos in 1965. The swing in Johnny Rivers's version has gone stiff-legged and angular. The melodic line has been straightened by the harmony of Owens and his guitarist, Don Rich. And yet it's glorious, a country plaint closer, in many ways, to the original.

 

I'm no longer surprised by Marie being 6 years old. But her "hurry home drops" do still surprise me, every time. I wonder even now about the operator on the other end of that connection, and the sequel. I like to think that, in the end, the call was placed and a happy ending found, if only in joint custody.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

OPED

TOO LITTLE OF A GOOD THING

BY PAUL KRUGMAN

 

The good news is that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a k a the Obama stimulus plan, is working just about the way textbook macroeconomics said it would. But that's also the bad news — because the same textbook analysis says that the stimulus was far too small given the scale of our economic problems. Unless something changes drastically, we're looking at many years of high unemployment.

 

And the really bad news is that "centrists" in Congress aren't able or willing to draw the obvious conclusion, which is that we need a lot more federal spending on job creation.

 

About that good news: not that long ago the U.S. economy was in free fall. Without the recovery act, the free fall would probably have continued, as unemployed workers slashed their spending, cash-strapped state and local governments engaged in mass layoffs, and more.

 

The stimulus didn't completely eliminate these effects, but it was enough to break the vicious circle of economic decline. Aid to the unemployed and help for state and local governments were probably the most important factors. If you want to see the recovery act in action, visit a classroom: your local school probably would have had to fire a lot of teachers if the stimulus hadn't been enacted.

 

And the free fall has ended. Last week's G.D.P. report showed the economy growing again, at a better-than-expected annual rate of 3.5 percent. As Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com put it in recent testimony, "The stimulus is doing what it was supposed to do: short-circuit the recession and spur recovery."

 

But it's not doing enough.

 

Suppose that the economy were to keep growing at 3.5 percent. If that happened, unemployment would eventually start falling — but very, very slowly. The experience of the Clinton era, when the economy grew at an average rate of 3.7 percent for eight years (did you know that?) suggests that at current growth rates we'd be lucky to see the unemployment rate fall by half a percentage point per year, meaning that it would take a decade to return to something like full employment.

 

Worse yet, it's far from clear that growth will continue at this rate. The effects of the stimulus will build over time — it's still likely to create or save a total of around three million jobs — but its peak impact on the growth of G.D.P. (as opposed to its level) is already behind us. Solid growth will continue only if private spending takes up the baton as the effect of the stimulus fades. And so far there's no sign that this is happening.

 

So the government needs to do much more. Unfortunately, the political prospects for further action aren't good.

 

What I keep hearing from Washington is one of two arguments: either (1) the stimulus has failed, unemployment is still rising, so we shouldn't do any more, or (2) the stimulus has succeeded, G.D.P. is growing, so we don't need to do any more. The truth, which is that the stimulus was too little of a good thing — that it helped, but it wasn't big enough — seems to be too complicated for an era of sound-bite politics.

 

But can we afford to do more? We can't afford not to.

 

High unemployment doesn't just punish the economy today; it punishes the future, too. In the face of a depressed economy, businesses have slashed investment spending — both spending on plant and equipment and "intangible" investments in such things as product development and worker training. This will hurt the economy's potential for years to come.

 

Deficit hawks like to complain that today's young people will end up having to pay higher taxes to service the debt we're running up right now. But anyone who really cared about the prospects of young Americans would be pushing for much more job creation, since the burden of high unemployment falls disproportionately on young workers — and those who enter the work force in years of high unemployment suffer permanent career damage, never catching up with those who graduated in better times.

 

Even the claim that we'll have to pay for stimulus spending now with higher taxes later is mostly wrong. Spending more on recovery will lead to a stronger economy, both now and in the future — and a stronger economy means more government revenue. Stimulus spending probably doesn't pay for itself, but its true cost, even in a narrow fiscal sense, is only a fraction of the headline number.

 

O.K., I know I'm being impractical: major economic programs can't pass Congress without the support of relatively conservative Democrats, and these Democrats have been telling reporters that they have lost their appetite for stimulus.

 

But I hope their stomachs start rumbling soon. We now know that stimulus works, but we aren't doing nearly enough of it. For the sake of today's unemployed, and for the sake of the nation's future, we need to do much more.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

OPED

TEACH YOUR TEACHERS WELL

BY SUSAN ENGEL

 

New Marlborough, Mass.

 

ARNE DUNCAN, the secretary of education, recently called for sweeping changes to the way we select and train teachers. He's right. If we really want good schools, we need to create a critical mass of great teachers. And if we want smart, passionate people to become these great educators, we have to attract them with excellent programs and train them properly in the substance and practice of teaching.

 

Our best universities have, paradoxically, typically looked down their noses at education, as if it were intellectually inferior. The result is that the strongest students are often in colleges that have no interest in education, while the most inspiring professors aren't working with students who want to teach. This means that comparatively weaker students in less intellectually rigorous programs are the ones preparing to become teachers.

 

So the first step is to get the best colleges to throw themselves into the fray. If education was a good enough topic for Plato, John Dewey and William James, it should be good enough for 21st-century college professors.

 

These new teacher programs should be selective, requiring a 3.5 undergraduate grade point average and an intensive application process. But they should also be free of charge, and admission should include a stipend for the first three years of teaching in a public school.

 

Once we have a better pool of graduate students, we need to train them differently from how we have in the past. Too often, teaching students spend their time studying specific instructional programs and learning how to handle mechanics like making lesson plans. These skills, while useful, are not what will transform a promising student into a good teacher.

 

First, future teachers should continue studying the subject they hope to teach, with outstanding professors. It makes no sense at all to stop studying the thing you want to teach at the very moment you begin to learn how.

 

Meanwhile, students should learn their craft the way a surgeon learns to operate: by intense supervision in a real setting with expert mentors. Student-teachers are usually observed only twice during a semester and then given a written evaluation. But young teachers, like young doctors, should work side by side with skilled mentors, getting plenty of feedback, having plenty of opportunities to observe and taking on greater and greater responsibility as they improve.

 

Teacher training can also learn from family therapy programs. Therapists spend a great deal of time watching videotapes of themselves in action, reflecting on their sessions and discussing the most difficult moments with senior therapists to explore other ways they might have responded. In much the same way, young teachers need to record their daily encounters with their classrooms and then, with mentors and peers, have serious, open-minded conversations about what's working and what isn't.

 

Teachers must also learn far more about children: typically, teaching students are provided with fairly static and superficial overviews of developmental stages, but learn little about how to watch children, using research and theory to understand what they are seeing. As James Comer, a professor of child psychiatry at Yale, has argued for years, if we disregard the developmental needs of our students it's unlikely we'll succeed in teaching them.

One more thing is required — give as many public schools as possible the financial incentives to hire these newly prepared teachers in groups of seven or more. This way, talented eager young teachers won't languish or leave teaching because they felt bored, inept, isolated or marginalized. Instead, they will feel part of a robust community of promising professionals. They will struggle and learn together. Good teachers need good colleagues.

 

To fix our schools, we need teaching programs that are as rich in resources, interesting, high-reaching and thoughtful as the young people we want to attract to the profession. Show me a school where teachers are smart, well-educated, skilled and happy to be there, and I'll show you a group of children who are getting a good education.

 

Susan Engel is a senior lecturer in psychology and the director of the teaching program at Williams College.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

OPED

FISCAL BLOOD ON THE TRACKS

BY MITCHELL L. MOSS

 

LIKE a tsunami that follows an undersea earthquake, collateral damage from the collapse of credit markets is about to strike the millions of daily transit riders in America's biggest cities. Public transit agencies in cities including New York, Atlanta, San Francisco and Washington are under pressure to surrender $2 billion from their budgets because financial institutions have spotted a chance to gain a windfall from complicated tax-shelter deals known as "leasebacks."

 

In the heady 1990s, the federal government encouraged these leaseback deals as a quick fix for budget problems. Transit agencies like New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority would sell their railcars and other equipment to banks, which would then lease them back to the agencies.

 

Leasebacks appeared to promise that everyone would emerge a winner. Banks — including many that later took federal bailout money like Bank of America and Wells Fargo — were able to cash in on substantial tax deductions through the transactions. The transit companies, which were paid with a portion of those tax savings, could use the cash to modernize their systems and make safety improvements.

 

Alas, as with any quick fix, the deals have set off a cascade of problems.

 

First, while the Internal Revenue Service declared the deals illegal in 2004, it allowed previously completed deals to remain on the books. And the situation exploded last fall when financial markets crashed and the third-party insurers chosen by the transit agencies as guarantors of the transactions lost their triple-A credit ratings (in many cases, the insurer was A.I.G.). This placed the transit agencies in "technical default" on the leases, even though they hadn't missed any payments.

 

In turn, many of the banks have decided to take advantage of these "technical defaults" to reap a windfall in early-termination payments. By rights, they can immediately demand from transit authorities an amount equal to all their anticipated tax savings. These can run to hundreds of millions of dollars — New Jersey Transit alone is on the hook for $150 million.

 

Virtually all major city and state public transit systems in the country have at least one of these deals still on the books. If they have to make these payments, commuters will bear the brunt, in terms of higher fares and deferred maintenance.

 

A solution exists, however. Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, and Representative John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat, have proposed a bill that would levy a 100 percent excise tax on any lump-sum payments demanded by the banks. This would effectively force the financial industry to stop demanding default penalties and go back to the old lease payment schedule — at no cost to taxpayers.

 

As the nation climbs out of one of its toughest economic crises ever, we cannot be lulled into thinking the problems caused by imprudent financing techniques have vanished. Yes, the transit groups were unwise to get involved in the leasebacks, but that's no reason to let banks continue to exploit loopholes in them at the expense of transit riders. Congress must act to protect commuters and taxpayers from this insidious legacy of a careless period in American finance.

 

Mitchell L. Moss is a professor of urban policy and planning at New York University's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. He is also a consultant to energy companies.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

MR PM THE FEDERATION STANDS STRENGTHENED

 

IN a quantum jump Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Saturday announced the resolution of decades old dispute of hydel profit, which would address the grievances of the NWFP, a vital part of the Federation and help the Province to ameliorate the lot of its people with additional resources. The Prime Minister in his historic announcement said that the Centre would pay Rs 110 billion to the Frontier Government on behalf of WAPDA on account of net hydel profit arrears.

As Mr Gilani made the announcement in Peshawar during his visit, a sense of relief was quite visible in the faces of the Governor and Chief Minister. For the last many years the Province had been demanding that it be given due share in the profit of electricity generated from Tarbela Dam yet Islamabad in its usual carefree attitude was not paying any attention. The successive Governments of NWFP repeatedly raised the issue at the National Finance Commission Awards and Council of Common Interests meetings but the matter of calculation and payment of Net Hydel Profits remained unresolved. Under article 161(2) of the constitution, the net profits earned by the Federal Government or any undertaking established or administered by the Federal Government from the bulk generation of power at a hydro-electric station should be paid to the Province in which the hydro-electric station is situated. Having divergent views, both WAPDA and the NWFP Govt filed suits in courts to get a verdict but the matter lingered on causing a sense of alienation among the people and the government of the Frontier Province. The Prime Minister has done well by taking the historic decision to address the grievance of the Province, as this is the only way to strengthen the Federation, which we may say is a bit fragile. While the Province would get Rs 10 billion from the arrears of the net profit immediately, the remaining amount would be paid in four instalments during the next four years. That would give additional resources to NWFP to cater for its needs rather than looking at the Centre for help. Because of militancy in Malakand and acts of terrorism claiming lives of innocent citizens, there is dire need to increase the strength of the law enforcing agencies and building their capacity. The additional resources we hope would be utilized for improvement in law and order and development of the Province. At the same time we would also urge the Prime Minister to announce the much-awaited Balochistan package without loss of time, which would help improve the situation there.

 

 

 

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

RECOGNITION OF ROLE OF FREE MEDIA

 

IT is a recognised fact that free media has great potential to encourage democratic development by giving people voice and providing a window for transparency in government while access to information has transformed political, economic, and social systems. The media today plays a significant role on decision-making and improvement of the society by providing timely information for actions and educates the public to social concerns, including those of marginalized group.

In this background, the newly appointed Federal Information Secretary Mansoor Suhail has stated that emergence of free and independent media in Pakistan has enabled the masses to have access to information and proving helpful to the elected government to reach the masses more effectively. The statement by the senior most official of the Information Ministry who is an experienced PR practitioner is very encouraging because hitherto normally the media in Pakistan has been target of criticism and frequent interventions by the State functionaries in times when the Government at the Centre faced difficult political situations. We are aware that there are some areas, which needed to be improved, and comparatively a more sense of responsibility shown when it comes to the interest of the country so that people's faith in the State of Pakistan should not be diluted. By and large Pakistani media including the electronic is playing a positive role, particularly at a time when Parliament is not as stable and lacks capacity to assert on key issues. One of independent media's primary roles is to be a watchdog over public representatives actions and on issues of national importance. Media shapes public opinion and influences public policy as we witnessed in the case of fight against terrorism and Kerry-Lugar Bill. Therefore we would urge the Information Secretary that the Government should develop an enabling environment and facilitate the media by laying down a procedure of periodic interaction with the leadership of PFUJ, CPNE, APNS and Broadcasters Association as such an initiative would help grow better understanding between all stake holders and healthy contributions by the media in national affairs.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

CRUCIAL ROLE OF S&T IN PROGRESS

 

PROMINENT educationist Dr Mohammad Afzal Babar who is also President of Private Schools network has emphasised the role of research in science and technology terming it essential to make the country achieve progress in key areas.

This statement is not a new one as we have been hearing and reading such pronouncements periodically but unfortunately hitherto the focus of the Governments and educational institutions had not been on Science and Technology promotion. Countries, which invested heavily in education and research in S&T, are today reaping the benefits by mastering the technology while developing and under developed countries are dependent on them. In the 21st century when hi-tech is the catchword, there is dire need to pay more attention to science and technology. While it is the responsibility of the Government to pay special attention to research in different fields, private educational institutions too are providing general education while charging heavy tuition fee and thus their contributions in this vital sector are negligible. We expect that the President of the Private Schools Network who spoke for research would encourage promotion of science and technology in the private sector institutions. On the Government side it is now somewhat encouraging that the Minister for Science and Technology Azam Swati has taken some initiatives, which if sincerely pursued can be termed as good beginning. Mr Swati, according to reports has been doing a lot of loud thinking to give a boost to several vital research organisations working under the umbrella of his Ministry. Therefore we would urge the government that the Ministry be funded adequately and given a free hand for research and development to attain the goal of economic development.

 

 

 

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

MR OBAMA, READ WRITING ON THE WALL

SHUMAILA RAJA

President Obama, the war-mongering Nobel-Peace laureate has to read the writing on the wall. If he doesn't, he must listen to the American soldiers' views from their areas of 'useless' engagement in Afghanistan. These soldiers are depressed, deeply disillusioned. This is what the chaplains of two US battalions that have spent nine months on the front line in the war against Taliban. They feel that they are risking their lives and that their colleagues have died for a futile mission.

President Obama must have read the report published in The Times that interviewed a number of troops stationed in Afghanistan's Wardak province. The statement of Captain Jeff Masengale of the 10th Mountain Division's 2-87 Infantry Battalion is worth noticing: "We are really in a state of depression and despair and just want to get back to our families. We feel we are risking their lives for progress that's hard to discern. We are tired, strained, confused and just want to get through...We're lost — that's how I feel. I'm not exactly sure why we're here. I need a clear-cut purpose if I'm going to get hurt out here or if I'm going to die. The soldiers' biggest question is: what can we do to make this war stop. Catch one person? Assault one objective? Soldiers want definite answers, other than to stop the Taliban, because that almost seems impossible. It's hard to catch someone you can't see. We want to believe in a cause but we don't know what that cause is." They are tired, frustrated, scared. A lot of them are afraid to go out. Sleeplessness and anger attacks are common.

One of the battalion's 1,500 soldiers are nine months in to a year-long deployment that has proved extraordinarily tough. Their goal was primarily to secure the mountainous Wardak province and then to win the people's allegiance through development and good governance. They have, instead, found themselves locked in an increasingly vicious battle with the Taliban. They have been targeted by at least 300 roadside bombs, about 180 of which have exploded. Nineteen men have been killed in action, with another committing suicide. About a hundred have been flown home with amputations, severe burns and other injuries likely to cause permanent disability, and many of those have not been replaced. More than two dozen mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles have been knocked out of action.

The soldiers are angry that colleagues are losing their lives while trying to help a population that will not help them. "You give them all the humanitarian assistance that they want and they're still going to lie to you. They'll tell you there's no Taliban anywhere in the area and as soon as you roll away, ten feet from their house, you get shot at again." said Specialist Eric Petty, from Georgia. The soldiers joke that their Isaf arm badges stand not for International Security Assistance Force but "I Suck At Fighting" or "I Support Afghan Farmers". To compound matters, soldiers are mainly being killed not in combat but on routine journeys, by roadside bombs planted by an invisible enemy.

The constant deployments are playing havoc with the American soldiers' private lives. They are killing families. Divorces are skyrocketing. PTSD is off the scale. There have been hundreds of injuries that send soldiers home and affect families for the rest of their lives. Many soldiers have lost their desire to help Afghanistan. All they want to go back to their wives and children and visit the families who have lost husbands and fathers over here. Writings are almost on the wall that, America is going to face defeat in its Afghan war. If not the writing, then the words are certainly on the lips of the generals, involved directly or indirectly in this war. A British General has already predicted almost a year ago that, they were fighting a losing war. Now an American General, McChrystal, has asked for changes in the US strategy, for a surge in troops by about 50% - from 68,000 to 98,000.

America's Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz claims in his recently published book, "The Three Trillion Dollar War": on fifth year of invasion, America has already spent $3 trillion in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He claims if all other incidental factors like interest on debt, future borrowing for war expenses, and the cost of a continued military presence in Iraq and lifetime healthcare and counseling for veterans etc are taken into consideration, the real cost would range from $ 5 trillion to $ 7 trillion. The Christian Science Monitor, in a write-up by its staff writer David R Francis, estimates the real cost of the Afghan war at about $ 1 trillion (the September 15, 2009 issue) and, how much is $ 1 trillion, the paper says: "If you had an expense account for $ 1 million a day, it would take 2,935 years to spend $ 1.071 trillion. It means to spend $ 3 trillion, at $ 1 million a day, it would take 7,805 years. Whopping, isn't it?"

With so heavy a burden on America's economy, and consequently on the world's economy, caused by these wars, the looming defeat of America is simply unthinkable. One would not like to see America losing, as it would play havoc with the world economically and otherwise. Its defeat in the wars, in all probability, may also be the start of America's end – both economically and strategically. So far as the impact of this defeat on the world is concerned, this defeat may be totally different from its defeat on Vietnam soil in the early 70s.

In those days there was another superpower in the shape of Soviet Union to relish this defeat (though, of course, in ideological mooring, probably China was more instrumental in that defeat than anybody else). But still there was an uneasy balance between the lefts and rights in that world. Today, there is no other established power to relish America's defeat. Today, it's the non-state actors spread across the world, the general public all around the world that would go into wild ecstasy if America faces defeat at the hands of the non-state fighters in Afghanistan, who are primitive in look and feel, and who has no world power and authority to fall back upon at the times of their needs, as Vietcong used to do in the bygone days in the struggle against America.

These wretched people of Afghanistan fought against foreign occupations,, faced rains of bombardments, got innocent marriage parties annihilated, without getting a single world of sympathy from any corner of the world (while, on the other hand, the Vietnamese got sympathy from at least half of the world through the newspapers, media and literature), and when they would emerge as victorious, the world might be a totally different place to live. Whether any of us would like America's defeat or not, whether any of us would like the America-led status quo of the world changed or not, In Sayef Hussain's words, "this would be the final certification of Afghans' indomitable nature. This would be the final and highly pronounced proof of Afghans' valour, fighting skills and fiercely independent psyche." History has undeniable proofs that Afghanistan never accepted foreign hegemony. The Soviets had a lesson that their misadventure had demolished not only their dream of controlling Afghanistan, like eastern Europe, but also their socialist empire. But America and the West did not take any lesson from history or from the Soviet collapse. They were audacious to prove history wrong. Once, Britain's former premier, Ms Margaret Thatcher boasted that they had won a war against Soviet Union without firing a single bullet. Now the world will probably see very soon the America-led West could not win the war against the heavily under-armed Afghans, even with firing millions of bullets, and raining thousands of bombs on their country. Those petty scholars in our own world, who up till now had enough opportunity to laugh at the Afghan jihadis for fighting America's proxy war against the Soviet Union would probably have the opportunity to laugh at themselves for their childish naivety in understanding Afghan affairs. Obama is sending 13,000 more troops, against 30,000 Gen. McChrystal demanded. More troops will do nothing but to delay defeat for some time. (McChrystal has also urged Washington to pressure India against its increasing influence in Afghanistan otherwise it would exacerbate tensions in the region, especially with Pakistan. He also said the centre of evil is Afghanistan, not Pakistan.) But if America does not read the writing on the wall, it should at least listen to the chaplains at the head of its soldiers engaged in what they call useless and directionless war in Afghanistan. Better late than never.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

FIGHT AGAINST MILITANTS IN S WAZIRISTAN

MIAN SHEHRYAR

Pakistani troops backed by fighter jets launched a major operation against the Taliban in South Waziristan last week, sparking deadly clashes with heavily-armed rebels. The mountain district is part of a tribal belt on the Afghan border that US officials call the most dangerous place in the world and is home to thousands of Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked fighters branded a major threat to the West. Officials say air strikes and heavy artillery are pounding Taliban bases as troops advance north, west and east, after months spent planning an assault seen as a hard test for the military on terrain ideally suited to guerrillas. Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani vowed in a recent meeting not to let terrorists get away with "cowardly acts", and said the military offensive in South Waziristan would be taken to its logical conclusion. He vowed to assist those affected by the unrest in South Waziristan.

"We will provide them Rs 5,000 a month, in addition to ration and relief goods," he said, adding that Rs 2.5 billion had been released to FATA Secretariat for internally displaced persons from South Waziristan Meanwhile, the militants have continued to coordinate suicide bombings and assassinations outside Waziristan . On 20 October 2009, two suicide attacks at the male and female campuses of Islamic University in Islamabad claimed 6 lives and left 22 injured. Schools in all the major cities were closed down by the government on account of the security situation. On 22 October three gunmen on a motor cycle assassinated Brigadier Moin in G-11 in Islamabad while he was on his way to join his assignment in Sudan. The three gunmen were later captured in Haripur area and basically hail from Matta in Swat, the site of the military's previous operation against the Taleban. Moin-ud-Din was the second brigadier ranking officer to have been killed by a spate of violence which had rocked the country the past fortnight, leaving more than 185 people dead. Another brigadier and a colonel were among 23 people killed when Tehrik-e-Taliban militants stormed the army's headquarters in the garrison town of Rawalpindi this month. On 23 October, 7 people were killed at a suicide attack near Kamra checkpost in Attock. However, despite these incidents, the military is determined to carry on its offensive against the militants. The operation is considered to be crucial in arresting the spill over into Pakistan of Taleban and Al Qaeda from the war in neighbouring Afghanistan. Figures vary, but it is estimated that Waziristan is home to more than 5,000 hardened militants besides some 2,000 Uzbek fighters. The army is therefore faced with a mixed enemy, the Uzbeks forming part of the loose coalition of foreign militants that we refer to as Al Qaeda. On 23 October it was reported that six Uzbeks had been killed and books in the Uzbek language were discovered during the operation. The reported death of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) leader Tahir Yuldashev in a drone attack in South Waziristan in August was a big blow to the violent foreign militant group that was waging a fierce campaign against Pakistan and its state agencies. The death of Yuldashev has deprived the IMU of a leader credited with masterminding deadly attacks on military convoys and camps.

But the army has made clear that the military operation is against terrorists and evil doers not against peace loving tribesmen of the area. In fact the government has tried its best to avoid collateral damage once the operation began. There were some initial reports that the operation had begun in the area since June and that the army was ready to start hostilities against the Taliban in the area. The reports were apparently issued to give ample time to the civilian population of Waziristan to leave for safer places and convert the area into a battlefield where the security forces could unleash their arsenal without causing too much collateral damage.

Two days after the operation was launched, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani sought support of Mehsud tribes in the operation against militants in South Waziristan. In an open letter to the Mehsud tribes, the army chief expressed the hope that the tribes would fully back the army in the operation and collectively rise against oppressive elements for a decisive action. He made it clear that the operation in South Waziristan was not meant to target the 'valiant and patriotic' Mehsud tribes, but aimed at ridding them of the elements who had destroyed peace in the region. He said the target of the operation were Uzbek terrorists, foreign elements and local militants. Gen Kayani said the army wanted to provide an opportunity to the Mehsud tribes to once again live in their area in peace. He acknowledged that all tribes, including Mehsud, were loyal to Pakistan and had been working for the 'defence of the country as an army without salary'. He expressed the hope that drone attacks would not be carried out during the operation. 'The government has been telling the United States that drone attacks are counter-productive and that drone technology should be transferred to Pakistan.'

Therefore the military operation is a carefully planned ground offensive against Taleban and Al Qaeda operatives. It is not a brutal operation that is blind to the civilian toll of the conflict.. On 24 October, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira while briefing reporters said the government was taking measures to address the problems of IDPs from South Waziristan. The process of registration of total 20872 IDPs had already been started. "11080 families vacated their houses prior to launching operation in South Waziristan whereas 9792 families became homeless after initiation of operation there".

Moreover, the government has made efforts to gather support for the operation in South Waziristan which now has the full backing of all the political parties in the country. Representatives of all the major political parties were invited to a briefing at Prime Minister's House prior to the launch of the operation on 16 October 2009.A statement after the meeting said there was national consensus to root out extremist elements that had become a threat to national security. The meeting decided that the writ of the government would never be compromised in any part of the country. The military operation in South Waziristan had become unavoidable due to the deteriorating law and order situation. The notorious mountainous area had become a hot bed of terrorist activities being executed throughout the country. In the words of the army chief the situation had become so 'dangerous' because of terrorist activities being planned in South Waziristan that a military operation had become unavoidable.

The battle for Waziristan has been characterized as the 'mother of all battles'. The battle will take place over a formidable terrain covering 2,420 square kilometres. It will take a determined effort from the government to root out terrorists from the area and break their ranks. With the start of the operation the Taleban will try to ignite fires elsewhere in Pakistan as they already appear to be doing. More suicide attacks can be expected in large cities like Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and Karachi. The epicentre of the Taliban and the Uzbek militants lies in South Waziristan. Thus for these militants it should be a battle for existence.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

MAOIST WIDEN DEADLY REACH ACROSS INDIA

JIM YARDLEY

At the edge of the Indravati River, hundreds of miles from the nearest international border, India effectively ends. Indian paramilitary officers point machine guns across the water. The dense jungles and mountains on the other side belong to Maoist rebels dedicated to overthrowing the government. "That is their liberated zone," said P. Bhojak, one of the officers stationed at the river's edge in this town in the eastern state of Chattisgarh.

India's Maoist rebels are now present in 20 states and have evolved into a potent and lethal insurgency. In the last four years, the Maoists have killed more than 900 Indian security officers, a figure almost as high as the more than 1,100 members of the coalition forces killed in Afghanistan during the same period. If the Maoists were once dismissed as a ragtag band of outdated ideologues, Indian leaders are now preparing to deploy nearly 70,000 paramilitary officers for a prolonged counterinsurgency campaign to hunt down the guerrillas in some of the country's most rugged, isolated terrain.

For India, the widening Maoist insurgency is a moment of reckoning for the country's democracy and has ignited a sharp debate about where it has failed. In the past, India has tamed some secessionist movements by coaxing rebel groups into the country's big-tent political process. The Maoists, however, do not want to secede or be absorbed. Their goal is to topple the system. Once considered Robin Hood figures, the Maoists claim to represent the dispossessed of Indian society, particularly the indigenous tribal groups, who suffer some of the country's highest rates of poverty, illiteracy and infant mortality. Many intellectuals and even some politicians once sympathized with their cause, but the growing Maoist violence has forced a wrenching reconsideration of whether they can still be tolerated.

"The root of this is dispossession and deprivation," said Ramachandra Guha, a prominent historian based in Bangalore. "The Maoists are an ugly manifestation of this. This is a serious problem that is not going to disappear." India's rapid economic growth has made it an emerging global power but also deepened stark inequalities in society. Maoists accuse the government of trying to push tribal groups off their land to gain access to raw materials and have sabotaged roads, bridges and even an energy pipeline. If the Maoists' political goals seem unattainable, analysts warn they will not be easy to uproot, either. Here in the state of Chattisgarh, Maoists dominate thousands of square miles of territory and have pushed into neighboring states of Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, part of a so-called Red Corridor stretching across central and eastern India. Violence erupts almost daily. In the past five years, Maoists have detonated more than 1,000 improvised explosive devices in Chattisgarh. Within the past two weeks, Maoists have burned two schools in Jharkhand, hijacked and later released a passenger train in West Bengal while also carrying out a raid against a West Bengal police station.

Efforts are under way to open peace negotiations, but as yet remain stalemated. With the government offensive drawing closer, the people who feel most at risk are the tribal villagers who live in the forests of Chattisgarh, where the police and Maoists, sometimes called Naxalites, are already skirmishing. "Earlier," said one villager, "we used to fear the tigers and wild boars. Now we fear the guns of the Naxalites and the police." The counterinsurgency campaign, called Operation Green Hunt, calls for sending police and paramilitary forces into the jungles to confront the Maoists and drive them out of newer footholds toward remote forest areas where they can be contained. "It may take one year, two years, three years or four," predicted Vishwa Ranjan, chief of the state police in Chattisgarh, adding that casualties would be inevitable. "There is no zero casualty doctrine," he said. Once an area is cleared, the plan also calls for introducing development projects such as roads, bridges and schools in hopes of winning support of the tribal people. Also known as adivasis, they have faced decades of exploitation from local officials, moneylenders and private contractors, numerous government reports have found. "The adivasis are the group least incorporated into India's political economy," said Ashutosh Varshney, an India specialist at Brown University, calling their plight one of the "unfinished quests of Indian democracy."

The Maoist movement first coalesced after a violent 1967 uprising by local Communists over a land dispute in a West Bengal village known as Naxalbari, hence the name Naxalites.Some Communists would enter the political system; today, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is an influential political force that holds power in West Bengal. But others went underground, and by the 1980s, many found sanctuary in Chattisgarh, especially in the region across from the Indravati River known as Abhujmad. From here, the Maoists recruited and trained disgruntled tribal villagers and slowly spread out. For years, the central government regarded them as mostly a nuisance. But in 2004, the movement radicalized, authorities say, when its two dominant wings merged with the more violent Communist Party of India (Maoist). Authorities in Chattisgarh then deputized and armed civilian posses, which have been accused by human rights groups of terrorizing innocent villagers and committing atrocities of their own in the name of hunting Maoists. Now, violence is frequent, if unpredictable, like the ambush near the village of Laheri, in Maharashtra State, carried out by the Maoists on Oct. 8. That morning, following a tip, a police patrol chased two Maoist fighters and stumbled into a trap. Two hundred Maoists with rifles and machine guns lay waiting and opened fire when the officers came into an exposed area of rice paddies. Seventeen officers died, fighting for hours until they ran out of ammunition.

"They surrounded us from every side," said Ajay Bhushari, 31, who survived the ambush and is now the commanding officer in Laheri. "They were just stronger. They had more people." The Maoists felled trees across the only road leading to the village. The police, already wary of using roads because of improvised explosive devices, marched their reinforcements 10 miles through the jungle, arriving too late at the scene. Officer Bhushari said violence in the area had risen so sharply that the police now left the fortified defenses of their outpost only in large groups, even for social outings. The Maoists also killed 31 police officers from other nearby outposts in attacks in February and May. "It's an open jail for us," he said. "Either we are sitting here, or we are on patrol. There is nothing else."Now, Operation Green Hunt portends more confrontation. "Life is very difficult," the man said. "The Naxalites think we are helping the police. The police think we are helping the Naxalites. We are living in fear over who will kill us first." — The New York Times

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

MOB MANAGEMENT

 

The violent clashes that followed a garments factory's abrupt lay-off at Ershad Nagar in Tongi have once again exposed the pitiable weakness of the law enforcement agencies in handling agitating mob. This incident of knee-jerk reaction on the part of the police and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), like many of this kind in the past, points to an urgent need for getting them trained in the art of sophisticated mob handling. In any such confrontation between two parties, the police should play the role of a mediating agency; instead, the impression is that they become a party to the feud which is unacceptable. The policy-makers should now focus on turning the pro-establishment face of the law-enforcement agencies into a pro-people one, as has been the case in a number of Western countries.

Surely, the death of two persons and injury to about 150 others, including members of the police in the Tongi clashes act as a grim reminder of inept handling of agitating mob in times of crisis. Although the Inspector General of Police Noor Mohammad claims that the violent clashes and tragic deaths could be avoided, if his agency had prior knowledge about the factory's lay-off, we cannot be so sure. It has now become an established fact that the law enforcers are used to overreacting whenever they are called to restore peace in time of agitation by the public. Before making a serious effort to bring the feuding parties to the negotiating table, they take recourse to crude methods often using brute force and thus they fail to bring the situation under control. Often they become the cause of escalation of violence.

This is good enough reason for the police to go through radical reform. The department's colonial legacy should be considered a disqualification and its members must receive a different orientation in dealing with the public or agitating mob. This calls for better education, training and equipment so that the law enforcers can take on the challenges coming from highly sophisticated technology-related crimes as well.   

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

QUESTION OF LIFE

 

Amidst reports of extra-judicial killings across the country, law minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed, assured the nation that all such crimes will be investigated after the appointment of an Ombudsman by parliament. This is small consolation as such killing has become a regular feature of our national life. This government, it may be recalled, inter-alia promised an end to all such homicides in its run-up to last winter's general election.
For a time it seemed that the Awami League-led grand alliance would live upto its promise but very soon the dream  disappeared. Reports started pouring in from across the country that "criminals" were summarily disposed of through "cross-fires" and "encounters." How does this kind of killing, prevalent during the four-party alliance government rule, persist till today?

The prime minister on several occasions has condemned such practices and so has the home minister but it continues, as if it has a life of its own. Can it be that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing? On at least one occasion, the state minister for home, Shamsul Huq Tuku, was heard telling the media that there is no extra-judicial killing as law enforcement agencies are firing in self-defence. What we now have is a semantic problem; henceforth, we will have the same thing with a different name.

The Penal Code quite unambiguously mandates that every extra-judicial killing shall be followed up with a judicial inquiry. We do not need promises, we just need the law to be in place. This will establish the reasons and circumstances of death. By promising probe into extra-judicial killings the law minister has also admitted, by default, its occurrence. Now we would like to see the follow-up. It is not immediately clear how and why an issue covered by the CrPC should go to the proposed Ombudsman, as such offices are usually meant for undefined or ambiguous issues, usually related to Tort.  

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

BOB'S BANTER

 

THE FIFTY-PERCENTERS...!

 

"…At least 50% of the newly elected MLA's legislators have criminal cases pending against them and 63 percent are crorepatis…" Hindustan Times, Oct , 24th "This is terrible?" shouted the leader of the MLA's who had been elected to one of the legislature assemblies of the states that had just gone to the polls, "How did this happen?" Said his aide, "Sir maybe the scrutinizing committee didn't do their job well?" Replied the leader, "Obviously they didn't!" his aide. Shouted the leader, "Fifty percent!"

"Fifty percent!" squealed his aide. "That's a huge figure and I want an enquiry immediately! I want to know how they got in! Meanwhile bring them in front of me!" His aide immediately rounded up the Fifty Percenters. "How did you dare enter the house?" asked the leader. "We were elected by democratic means!" whispered the boldest of the lot as the others nodded meekly. "Democracy bah!" shouted the leader of the House, "With representatives like you entering the hallowed precincts of this House the name of this House will be spoiled forever. People will laugh at us!"

"We are sorry!" said the boldest of the Fifty-Percenters. "Sorry? Sorry? Now when it is too late? Now when you have already been elected?" The Fifty-Percenters who were being addressed put their heads down then slowly lifted their heads up to see whether the leader's anger had cooled. "Sir, what is wrong if we just allow them to come into the House?" asked his aide. "What is wrong?" thundered the leader. Aide, "Yes sir?"

"You want to know what is wrong? I will tell you. In the next elections the people will expect all of us to become like these Fifty- Percenters!" A hush grew over the gathering as they realized the terrible truth. "But I have a solution!" said the leader of the House, "You become like the rest of us!"

"How?" asked the Fifty- Percenters. "Go out, commit crimes, get arrested! Kill, bully, champion the causes of goonda lobbies, get cases made against you, get arrested, get convicted, do a few months in jail, then come back here into the House and be welcomed as one of us! And as you do all this you will automatically become crorepatis too!"

"Do we do this during our five year term?"

"Yes!" said the leader, "In the next five years in the House get murder cases, dacoity and gangster cases registered against you, so that we can show the country we are not just a Fifty percent bunch of criminals, but…"

"One Hundred Percenters…!" shouted the House together.

 

 bobsbanter@gmail.com

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

OBAMA AS 44TH US PRESIDENT AND HIS BAILOUT PLAN

KHORSHED ALAM

 

There have been lots of felicitations, comments and observations both for and against the award of the Nobel Prize for Peace to President Obama for 2009, by individuals as well as institutions and the media. Many articles have been published by many writers. It has almost aroused a controversy and the President of the Nobel Prize Award Committee, a former Prime Minister of Sweden, thought it necessary to clarify their position. On the other hand, President Obama himself has accepted it with great humility saying that he did not expect it at this early stage of his Presidency. So I am not going to add another article on that issue.

I intend to go back and recall the process of Obama being elected as the President of the US towards the end of 2008 and his installation as such in January, 2009. And I am adding to that one of his first steps in launching his first Bail-out Plan in the backdrop of the most severe global economic meltdown. His later efforts beyond the borders of the US are left out for some later article if time and patience permit. At this stage I may only invite my readers to the two books, Dreams from my Father and the Audacity of Hope, authored by Barack Obama himself.

Election and Inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th  US President
During the course of US election of 2008 and after, my wife and I had to be in Boston for personal reasons and we had been observers of the whole process from very close quarters through the newspapers and the large number of TV channels. It had been quite an interesting and a stimulating experience.

We had watched the primaries of both the Republicans and the Democrats. In each party's primary the contenders for the Presidential nomination stood before the electors and answered their questions that ranged from domestic to international affairs. On the podium of the Democrats the last two candidates were Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton who eventually stood aside from the race. On the Republican platform Senator McCain was virtually the lone contender worth mentioning. The ultimate contestants were Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. McCain. When the final tallies of voting came in Sen. Barack Obama became the winner and thus became the President-elect of the US.

Immediately thereafter Sen. McCain conceded defeat and rang up Sen. Barack Obama to congratulate him on his winning the Presidential election. The incumbent President George W. Bush quickly followed and congratulated Barack Obama. Obama was waiting in his campaign office in Chicago at late hours of the election night to address and thank his election managers. Sen. McCain was the first person to be thanked by President-elect Obama for his very dignified manner of campaigning all through the election period and Obama sought his support if need be in running the state affairs and garnering political support of his party in getting his policy packages through in the Congress. Earlier Sen. McCain had offered his unstinted support to the administration of Barack Obama if required. Barack Obama had very kind words for President George W. Bush and stated that he had acted as he thought to be right and in the national interest.

Barack Obama's oath-taking would be held on 20th January, 2009, which was about a month later. Meanwhile he started assembling his cabinet colleagues. He picked Sen. Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State. He reached out to the Republicans as well. He retained the Republican Defence Secretary Robert Gates in his position. He had offered the position of Health Secretary to a Republican Senator of Massachusets who had agreed on condition that a Republican should be chosen to be the next Senator in his place and thus the offer did not materialise.

The events of the 20th January, 2009 were something to watch. The oath-taking ceremony of the 44th President of the US was scheduled to take place in the western court of the Capitol Hill where Abraham Lincoln had taken his oath. The Avenue facing the court was made open for the public to attend and it was estimated that more than one million people had turned up to witness the ceremony. The oath-taking was to take place at 12.00 noon sharp and the guests started arriving at the stairs of the western court from 11 0'clock, the Congressmen, the Senators, the members of the cabinet of George W. Bush and perhaps some elites. They entered the court through a door coming out of the Capitol Hill. Towards the end entered the past Presidents-Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George Bush (Sr.), and finally President George W. Bush and Barack Obama appeared at the door almost hand in hand. They were given a standing ovation by all the guests present. Even at that time we found someone asking Barack Obama a question, perhaps concerning some state policy when Obama asked the questioner to refer it to the President George W. Bush saying that at any time there is only one President in the US.

Then the formal ceremonies started. The oath-taking was getting delayed when the last concert was continuing beyond the assigned time. As a result when the clock ticked 12.00 noon, an announcement went out that "Barack Hussein Obama becomes the 44th President of the United States of America" even before he had taken the oath. That was the beauty of the Constitution of the US in which the founding fathers of the Union had laid down unambiguously that the new President would be sworn in every four years on the 20th of January at 12.00 noon sharp. Thus Barack Obama became the President at 12.00 noon even before taking the oath formally.
After the concert Chief Justice Roberts administered the oath to Obama who laid his hand on the Bible while Michelle Obama held the Bible. The Chief Justice committed some mistake in reading out the oath and the President-elect repeated as such. So the oath remained inaccurate, as a consequence on the following morning the Chief Justice administered the oath to Obama once more at the door of the Oval Office before he entered office. It was said that during the Congressional hearing of the Chief Justice Senator Barack Obama had voted against him, but that need not be construed to be the reason for the Chief Justice's faltering with the reading of the oath.

Finally the President made his inaugural speech before the large gathering indicting only a few of his priorities in domestic and international arena. In the domestic field facing the challenges posed by the global recession was clearly high on his agenda, while in the international area he gave the indication of a new beginning.
Speech over, President Obama escorted George W. Bush out of the podium, boarded a car with him sitting on the side a President would sit and drove to the Andrews Air Base nearby. Vice-President Joe Biden and the former Vice-President Dick Cheney on a wheel chair also followed up to the Air Base. Then the President and George W. Bush walked a few steps towards the waiting aircraft from where the latter bid good-bye to the waiting dignitaries, boarded the plane and took off. Vice-President Joe Biden bade farewell to Dick Cheney walking up to his car. That marked the final end of the Bush era. President Obama returned to the Capitol Hill where all the guests meanwhile assembled at the big banquet hall. The President took his lunch with all the guests. Before that there was lot of handshaking, hugging and kissing of the President by the guests. That went on till late in the afternoon. That night the President Obama and first lady Michelle attended a large number of dance parties thrown by his party high-ups and friends. It was given out that the celebrations went on till almost day-break. Even then the President got himself ready for the day's work the next morning and we have seen how he was given oath for a second time.

The President started his Presidency at the Oval Office by signing a few executive orders on the very first day. These must have been prepared by his office at his directive given earlier. The first of the executive orders was ordering the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison, to be completed by a given date. Another executive order put a ceiling to the pay of the Chief Executive Officers of the private companies and banned the use of private jet planes by them. These were executive orders and the President could pass them. The decisions that would require congressional approval had to wait for that exercise. We observed that the President signed by his left hand and for each order he used a new pen which was given back to the aide who presented the files before him for signature.

President Barack Obama's Bail-out Plan

President Obama was aware of the most severe global recession and prepared himself well ahead of and during the course of the election. Earlier President George W. Bush had mounted a bail-out plan of 1 trillion dollars, primarily to help the ailing mortgage banks as well as the banking system as a whole. There were questions raised as to how the bank authorities had utilised the funds offered to them, whether they used the funds to recapitalise the banks or used them to enhance their perks or to support the defaulting clients. President Obama after his victory moved quickly to work with his economic team and leaders of both the parties on an American Recovery and Re-investment Plan that would immediately jump-start job creation and long-term growth. In Barack Obama's own words "It is a plan that represents not just new policy, but a whole new approach to meet our most urgent challenges …. There is no doubt that the cost of the plan will be considerable. It will certainly add to the budget deficit in the short term. But equally certain are the consequences of doing too little or nothing at all, for that will lead to even greater deficit of jobs, incomes and confidence in our economy."
Thus Obama eventually put forward a Bail-out Plan of $ 785 billion, which put retention of public sector jobs of teachers, police officers, firefighters and others who provide public services on the one hand and making investment in priority areas like energy, education, health care and infrastructures necessary to keep the wheels of the economy moving. He also proposed tax cuts to put money in the consumers' pockets to be able to spend. An expenditure proposal necessarily requires congressional endorsement and we observed how vigorously and convincingly President Obama piloted his Plan through. He visited different States and addressed power groups, went on the media in prime time to inform the nation of his plan and to carry them with him. The Plan had been going back and forth between the House of Representatives and the Senate making amendments to his original demand. Finally, President Obama addressed a joint session of the Congress and made his forceful pleading. He had included the unspent amount of $ 250 billion out of President Bush's plan in his total plan.

On 8th January, 2009 President in his remarks to the press warned that the crisis would worsen unless the massive stimulus was passed by the congress. Here I would like to quote some extracts from his remarks to show his persuasiveness and forcefulness envisioning the consequences of inaction.

Quote: "Throughout America's history, there have been some years that simply rolled into the next without much notice or fanfare. And then there are the years that come along once in a generation, the kind that mark a clear break from a troubled past and set a new course for our nation. This is one of those years.

"We start 2009 in the midst of a crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime, a crisis that has only deepened over the last few weeks. Nearly 2 million jobs have been now lost.

"Now, I don't think it's too late to change course, but it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible. If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years.

"We could lose a generation of potential and promise as more young Americans are forced to forego dreams of college or the chance to train for the jobs of the future. And our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and our standing in the world.

"In short, a bad situation could become worse." Unquote.By virtue of President Obama's pleading through the strongest possible arguments his Bail-out Plan was passed by the Congress within one month of his taking office that he had targeted. There were chunks of money for all the States for retention of essential jobs and undertaking infrastructure reconstruction. Like in his book "The Audacity of Hope" where he envisioned a unified America in a multi-racial, multi-faith society with wide income disparity, President Obama expressed his firm conviction of a turn-around of the recession even if that would take longer than anticipated. It had been a great luck for us to watch and hear such a visionary President.

 

(The writer is former Governor of Bangladesh Bank)

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

IS HUMAN SAFETY UNIVERSAL?

MOHAMMAD RAJJA

 

Is human safety universal? Realists, and later neorealists, have seen safety as merely incomplete as well as provisional, for the reason that "war is expected." They consider the world is anarchical. Since they consider the state as the ultimate power, therefore, safety is destined to be "national safety." It presupposes a set of mechanisms to defend a state so that it can continue as a political unit. They include defense against attacks and pressure from outside as well as against any event that could gravely intimidate a country's ruling government from inside. As such attacks can take place anytime, they call for the force. When there is neither war nor other armed disagreement, a state is hypothetically "safe" or "at peace." Southeast Asia calls it "comprehensive security." Many non-state actors, including the non-government organisations (NGOs), propagate this idea.

 

Inclusive security goes further, and presupposes customary military pressure, internal aggression and racial conflicts. The attack on September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Centre in New York, led scholars to reconsider their theories of global relations, particularly relating to aggression conducted by non-state actors towards not only states but towards the common citizen. In 1994, the UN adopted its Human Development Report. Since then, the idea of human security has been attracting the academic world as well as governments. The slogan "freedom from fear and freedom from wants" also became popular at that time. Comprehensive security focuses on the well-being of the human race-not just the safety of the citizens of a particular state cutting across the cultures, genders, and religions. Canada pays more attention to human rights as essential for human safety.

 

Japan stresses more on growth which is reflected in its Official Development Assistance (ODA).
The states in Southeast Asia adopted the concept of human security to defend their national boundaries against military and non-military threats. Malaysia considers illegal drugs, a threat to its nationwide issues like HIV-AIDS, also pose threats to security. National disasters like volcanic eruptions, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes human security also pose similar threats. Human safety could suffer due to unintentional threats as well as planned or controllable threats like armed conflicts, organised crime, and the like. In Malaysia, the concept of human security is new, especially to the policymakers. In its place, human development has been used interchangeably with human safety. This may be due to 'human rights' factor, that was obviously stressed in human security approach.

 

(The writer is a teacher of Gono Bishwabidyalay, Bangladesh)

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

'CLIMATE REFUGEES' MAY STRAIN SEETHING DHAKA

TAREQUL ISLAM MUNNA

 

When a cyclone destroyed her home two years ago, Shahana Begum joined the swelling ranks of Bangladeshi "climate refugees" who, experts say, could one day overwhelm the capital Dhaka.

Shahana's family, like more than half a million people of the impoverished country, lost her shanty home and all her belongings when cyclone Sidr slammed into southern Bangladesh in November 2007, claiming more than 3,500 lives.

"I moved to Dhaka because there was nowhere else to go," said Shahana, for whom home is now a slum on the dry banks of the capital's biggest river. "My husband now works a little as a fisherman up here but we want to take our two daughters back to the south. There's no home for us there and no real work," the 25-year-old said.
Almost two years after the cyclone, the United Nations and aid groups say thousands of families like Shahana's have yet to receive assistance to rebuild their lives. In May this year, another cyclone, which killed 300 people and left 375,000 people homeless, also destroyed 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) of roads and embankments.
The country's leading climate change scientist says it is a sign of things to come. "It used to be that we would have a big cyclone every 15 to 20 years. We are getting a big one now every two or three years," said Atiq Rahman, who was on the UN's Inter-government Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The Nobel Prize-winning IPCC predicts 20 million Bangladeshis will be displaced by 2050 because of sea level rises and an increase of natural disasters caused by changing weather patterns.

The vast majority will be extremely poor and will likely end up in Dhaka's growing slums, according to Rahman, who has repeatedly called for rich nations to start opening their doors to those displaced by climate change.

"There's no question about whether it's going to happen, it's a question of how we respond," Rahman said, with an eye on the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen in December.

Dhaka's population was 177,000 in 1974. Now, with more than 12 million inhabitants, it is one of the most densely populated cities on earth and its infrastructure is buckling under the strain.

The World Bank estimates that the city will be home to more than 20 million by 2020. "At the end of the day people will have to move out of the country. No one wants to leave their home but at the end of the day it will happen. Dhaka is already under tremendous pressure," Rahman said.

A 2006 study found that three million -- or one in four -- of Dhaka's population live in the city's slums, up from 1.6 million people in 1996. "We need better warning systems, better preparedness, better disaster management systems and we need to develop other cities. Dhaka is simply not coping under the strain of rapid urbanisation," said Rahman.

The Bangladeshi government says the country needs five billion dollars in the next five years to offset problems created by climate change, including helping its bursting capital cope.

It wants rich countries to help as part of any deal that emerges from the Copenhagen summit, which will try to hammer out a global warming treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012.

In June this year, the Economist Intelligence Unit's liveability poll ranked Dhaka as the 138th worst city in the world to live, with only Harare in Zimbabwe ranked lower.

The poll cited frequent water shortages in Dhaka, power outages and severe traffic jams, as well as the city's dense population. Bangladesh's second largest city, Chittagong, is home to just three million people and Sweden's ambassador to Dhaka, Britt Hagstroem, said new urban centres were urgently needed.

"There must be other centres developed. Everything cannot be only Dhaka. The city is already huge," she said. Rabab Fatima, of the International Organization for Migration in Dhaka, said Bangladesh had always had a migratory population, because of river erosion, cyclones and flooding.

But, as effects of climate change worsened, an already fragile situation was becoming dire. "If you look at Dhaka, its unplanned and rapid urbanisation is one of the main, direct consequences of environmental degradation," she said.

"Bangladesh is going to see this more and more. It's not going to be a situation that ends."

 

(The writer is a journalist, columnist and Conservator, Wildlife and Environment)

 

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THE AUSTRALIAN

EDITORIAL

CHANGING YOUNG LIVES

NOEL PEARSON IS CREATING A REAL EDUCATION REVOLUTION.

 

ENTRENCHED problems require resolute solutions, which is why indigenous leader Noel Pearson and the federal and Queensland governments are to be commended for a radical new classroom program designed to boost indigenous education standards. From next year, primary school children in Years 3 to 7 attending the new Cape York Aboriginal Academy in the far north Queensland townships of Aurukun and Coen will start school at 7.15am and work until 4.45pm each day. They will be fed nourishing meals at school, and in addition to being thoroughly taught reading, writing, spelling and maths, they will take part in music, physical education and cultural activities.

 

Despite some progress in recent years, the need for a circuit-breaker in indigenous education remains. Cape York has more than 1500 teenage students of high school age, but less than a third are even enrolled. The rest are mainly without skills and are unemployed, facing lives of poverty and disadvantage.

 

The proposed regime promises the tough love that is needed if indigenous children are to reach national education standards. Many non-indigenous children also start the day early and participate in before- and after-school sports or cultural activities.

 

All regular classes at the academy will be taught in English, with ample time devoted to the "basics", providing a strong start for developing the skills and knowledge to progress through to secondary school and take an active place in the real economy. A cultural syllabus, including traditional language studies, will be offered outside regular hours, giving the students the chance to learn and appreciate their community culture. It is a worthwhile part of the overall approach. Pearson has sometimes looked to Australia's Jewish community as a role model of a group that has excelled in mainstream education while also passing on its traditional culture to younger generations.

 

Two things are vital if the academy is to achieve its potential - parental support and dedicated, high-quality teaching. The teachers involved deserve the extra pay they will receive for longer hours. And in the past year, the success of the Families Responsibilities Commission, which counsels parents whose children miss school and links protracted absenteeism to welfare quarantining, has boosted attendances significantly. With such support, the new initiative promises indigenous children fresh opportunities to take control of their own destinies and build lives of real achievement.

 

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THE AUSTRALIAN

EDITORIAL

GLOBAL FORCES STILL DICTATING THE RACE

IT'S GOOD NEWS BUT DON'T OVERSTATE THE LOCAL RECOVERY

 

AUSTRALIANS have cause for celebration today, even if Melbourne Cup day comes with an interest rate rise. Figures from yesterday's mid-year economic outlook were all positive, with lower-than-expected unemployment and higher-than-expected growth. A 25 basis points rise would be in line with expectations, given the need to return to neutral rates after the emergency levels of the global financial crisis.

Even so, it's not yet time to overdose on the champagne. Australia's economy remains crucially dependent on the US and Chinese economies and while the latter is growing at almost 9 per cent, the former remains fragile. Last week's news that the US economy grew by 3.5per cent in the September quarter was rapidly undercut as the Dow Jones dropped 2.5 per cent on Friday, a fall virtually mirrored on the Australian market yesterday. Unprecedented debt levels in the US inevitably will drive interest rates up over the next several years, flattening growth and impacting on the world economy.

 

Some commentators argue Australia's relative success in recent months means we have decoupled from the US economy. Not so. The Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook shows how closely our recovery was linked to the flow-on effect of stimulus spending around the world, especially China. And with China so dependent on exporting to the US consumer, our economic fortunes also remain closely linked to the US via China.

 

In short, Australia, like the rest of the world, needs the US to get back on its feet and demonstrate more than a patchy recovery. But the US faces big challenges. Much of the growth in the September quarter was due to companies restocking after running down their inventories in the crisis. Unemployment is at the highest for a quarter of a century at almost 10 per cent and there is little evidence that companies are in hiring mode. And it is the weakness in the US housing market which is behind the fall in shares.

 

Globally, the key economic issue is the rebalancing of China and the US, now increasingly being seen by commentators as the G2. That nomenclature highlights the extent to which their balancing act of consumption versus savings continues to underpin the future of the global economy.

 

These complex settings mean that the Rudd government must steer a fine line between generating confidence among Australians, and remaining sensibly cautious about the recovery. Even so, at times yesterday, the Treasurer seemed a tad more downbeat than really necessary. The forecasts of 1.5 per cent growth in 2009-2010 and a jobless rate that will peak at 6.75 per cent should at the least encourage the government to continue to address the quality of its stimulus spending to ensure it is productive. In this context we welcome the decision to cut $250 million from the insulation component of the package and acknowledge the steps already taken over schools spending.

 

Perhaps Mr Swan's measured approach yesterday was a reflection of the reality check delivered by the mid-year outlook. For if there was one theme running through the numbers it was that the government will not have a lot of spare cash to play with in the next few years. The timing for an end to the budget deficit underlines this point, with Treasury sticking to the original timetable of 2015-2016 before a return to surplus. There is economic improvement, for sure, but it is not good enough to get us back into the black any faster. It is clear that sustaining the recovery will depend heavily on the private sector kicking in -- in terms of demand and investment.

 

There is room for optimism about an Australian economy underpinned by rich mineral resources and a well-regulated and effective financial system. But the hefty public debt we are now carrying means Canberra will be hard-pressed to attack some of the big challenges facing the nation. These include an orderly but more ambitious framework for the infrastructure we need in roads, trains and ports to extract the maximum value from our natural resources; nuancing our relationship with China to ensure that its investment comes on terms acceptable to both parties; a detailed population policy (immigration and refugees policy included) to see the nation continue to grow; and a tax policy to encourage growth, savings and employment. These are big policy challenges which will depend heavily on sustaining the recovery.

 

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

EDITORIAL

GREENBACK PIGGYBACK

 

THERE seems no end in sight to the beleaguered US dollar's fall from grace and the Australian dollar's meteoric rise. The greenback is tumbling even though figures last week showed the American economy is growing again after a year of contraction. The world's biggest economy grew at an annualised rate of 3.5 per cent in the September quarter, beating expectations and prompting President Barack Obama to claim that the US recession is abating.

 

But the US dollar, the world's most widely held reserve currency, can't take a trick. Investors sold US dollars on the news, as it increases their appetite for riskier currencies, such as the euro, yen and Australian dollar. So good news about the US economy is bad news for the US dollar, and good news for our own currency. It marks a dramatic reversal of fortunes from the depths of the global financial crisis when, even though the US was the centre of the crisis, the greenback rose strongly as investors sought a safe haven.

 

Now that story is unwinding, hastened by the US Federal Reserve's determination to keep interest rates low for some time. But a lower US dollar is a good thing. It should help to correct the global savings imbalance under which Americans spend, racking up debt borrowed from surplus economies such as China. A lower dollar makes US exports more attractive to foreign buyers and reduces American consumers' relative buying power on the world markets. A less severely indebted American economy is in the interests of all.

 

For Australia, the weaker greenback has a particularly striking effect, helping it to rise from lows of about US60 cents earlier this year to now stand above US90 cents. The commodity currency has also been aided by a rebound in commodity prices, fuelled by continued strong demand from China. Investors have also come to view Australian dollars as a safe way to expose themselves to the growth possibilities of China, without investing directly in the country.

 

Australians will need to learn to adapt to life with a currency at, or close to, parity with the US dollar, which many analysts predict will happen next year. Consumers may cheer cheaper holidays abroad and cheaper prices on imported items, but a higher dollar presents challenges, too. Manufacturers, farmers and other exporters will suffer as their goods become more expensive for foreigners to buy.

 

Even as the economic recovery gathers pace, there are more bumps to come.

 

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

EDITORIAL

BUILDING INSURANCE NEEDS RENOVATION

 

THE NSW Government is getting ready for another attempt to fix the home building insurance mess. By law, builders in NSW cannot build homes unless each project is covered by builders' warranty insurance. This is intended to cover their clients in case the builder defaults, or goes bankrupt or dies, or the work is not up to standard. The problem is that in NSW, as in most other states, redress can only be obtained through the insurance as a last resort. Cover may be compulsory, but the client who pays for it must exhaust every other avenue first if something goes wrong - pursuing the builder through the courts for damages, and sending him bankrupt. Only when all that has been done, or if the builder disappears or dies, will the insurance company consider paying out.

 

This obviously is a long and costly process, and for a family in dispute over the construction of their home, a painfully urgent one. Success is by no means guaranteed.

 

Home building insurance was run by the State Government until the mid 1990s when it was privatised. HIH Insurance became a major provider, but its collapse in 2001 and coincidental turmoil in the insurance industry worldwide prompted state governments to find ways to induce insurers to offer home building policies so cover would be available. Insurers were permitted to offer home building insurance as a last-resort policy.

 

This solution to one problem has now produced another: home building insurance is a bonanza for insurance companies, but no longer functions as an effective way to help home owners when builders fail to do their job properly. The exit of two of five providers of home building insurance from the market has triggered a crisis, and the NSW Government is expected to step in. However it does not intend to change the last-resort priority of claims.

 

There is a better way. In Queensland, the State Government runs home building insurance which policyholders call on as a first resort.

 

Claims which are approved - and more than 98 per cent are, compared with less than half in NSW - are paid out, and the insurer - the State Government, in effect - then pursues the builder for redress. Not only that, but according to Choice, premiums in Queensland are substantially lower than elsewhere.

 

In NSW, the Government should indeed become involved in home building insurance, but not to recreate a government-run version of an unsatisfactory scheme. Home building insurance should be reorganised in a way which puts consumer interests first.

 

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THE GURDIAN

EDITORIAL

AFGHANISTAN: THE ELECTION WHERE EVERYONE LOST

 

Abdullah Abdullah's move yesterday to pull out of the second round of the Afghan election was the only real option left for the main opposition candidate. Had it been contested, the runoff would have been just as corrupt as the first round, with stuffed ballots, ghost polling stations, and supporters who voted early and often. The fraud would have been overseen by the same network of cronies who had tried to push President Hamid Karzai through the first round, which was why the incumbent rejected Dr Abdullah's demand to replace the chair of the so-called Independent Election Commission (IEC). This time, however, Washington wants a quick coronation, so a blind eye would have been turned to fraud. Thus Dr Abdullah had no choice but to pull out – and he did so with some dignity, and with his credibility intact.

 

Which is more than can be said for the US and British governments. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton jettisoned the respect earned on a tough diplomatic mission to Pakistan by claiming Dr Abdullah's decision was a personal one that had nothing to do with the legitimacy of the election – even comparing it to her own withdrawal from the Democratic primaries. Unless Mrs Clinton is retrospectively taking a jab at the man who is now her president, she must know that any such comparison is absurd. In the same vein, western diplomats in Kabul began briefing that the 48.2% Mr Karzai achieved in the first round provided a good enough mandate to govern. But in truth the fraud reached well beyond that uncovered by the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission; Mr Karzai's vote share would have been lower if the commission's terms of reference were wider. Besides, the constitution calls for an outright majority and Mr Karzai has patently failed to achieve this.

 

Not only has the president emerged from this election with less legitimacy than he entered it. By abandoning the search for the greatest number of honest votes, western countries ensnared in a bloody intervention have battered their own reputation as honest brokers among non-Pashtun Afghan voters. The international community has overseen an election which failed its own rules, and then rubber-stamped a second term of the man responsible for that failure. The Taliban did not need to murder UN staff to frighten voters away. They have been turned away by Mr Karzai himself. In appearing to condone an unconstitutional outcome, the UN has undermined its already wilting standing on the Afghan street.

 

The international community now places all its faith in the hope that Mr Karzai, once reanointed president, will appoint a technocratic cabinet of ministers. Perhaps he will even prove amenable to western demands for a chief executive. But the odds on him truly fulfilling promises to behave like a good boy must now be low indeed. Remember, this was the man who sent western diplomats packing for attempting to bring Taliban leaders in from the cold. He thwarted Lord Paddy Ashdown's appointment as UN representative to co-ordinate the international aid effort, and he got away with it. The idea that he might now accept anything other than token oversight into the corrupt working of his government is fanciful in the extreme.

 

It is high time that Washington realised that Mr Karzai's interests are not its own and that yesterday's political outcome is the worst possible one on which to base a decision to send more troops. It is not just a question of a corrupt president. The problem lies in the system of government itself. Only constitutional reform, undertaken by a loya jirga (grand assembly) can reconstitute the legitimacy that Mr Karzai has abandoned. Real reform will only be achieved from the bottom up, with the participation of district and provincial councils. With Mr Karzai back in power this will never happen, and British and US troops will be dragged even deeper into a mission that has lost its way.

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THE GURDIAN

EDITORIAL

HOUSING BENEFIT: 10P TAX RATE REVISITED

 

Gordon Brown made a decent fist of contrition when he told his party last year how badly stung he had been by the 10p tax affair. A year on from that half-apology, the government is on course to dock the weekly budgets of families even poorer than the 10p losers – and to sting them for more than twice as much. Worse still, from Labour's perspective, is the fact that the pain is due just a few weeks before polling day.

 

The misery in prospect has received scant attention because it will come through obscure housing benefit rules. Since last year, private tenants on welfare (or in very low-paid work) have been allowed to keep up to £15 a week if they can secure cheap rent by shopping around. The theory was that this would create value-conscious tenants and a competitive market, thereby gradually curbing the rents that the taxpayer has to foot. What mattered most to the 300,000 or so claimants affected, however, was the extra cash, officially guesstimated at an average £8 a week. This sort of money soon becomes indispensable to those scraping by on the £64.30 of jobseeker's allowance. Yet buried in this year's budget was a plan to suddenly snatch it all back from next April.

 

The relevant regulations could be laid any time, and the Liberal Democrat, Sarah Teather, has tabled a motion to try to ensure these do not go through on the nod. The Conservatives are shrinking from the fight, insisting the country's bank balance allows no room for a rethink. Labour has not for the most part woken up to what is happening, although the welfare secretary, Yvette Cooper, has at least acknowledged there is a problem – recently hinting at a select committee that she may take another look at the issue in the context of a wider housing benefit review. No doubt she will face quite a challenge in persuading a cash-strapped Treasury that it must make its savings elsewhere.

 

But persuade it she must, not least as the savings will prove illusory if tenants stop caring about rent levels, and landlords respond by jacking them up. There would also be dire implications for the whole concept of individual budgets, a concept New Labour ultras and Tories alike are keen to extend across the public services. The idea is harnessing clients themselves to ensure public funds are well spent. But if poor people who have taken responsibility – and made tough choices to save on rent – end up providing cover for cuts, then all such schemes could soon become an excuse to spend less, instead of a means to spend smartly.

 

Most fundamentally, this is a cut to signal that it is the poorest who must pay the price when tough times arrive. The 10p tax row should have taught Labour that it, too, will soon pay a price if it forgets its reason to be.

 

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THE GURDIAN

EDITORIAL

IN PRAISE OF... ASTERIX

 

"By Toutatis!" If this invocation of an obscure Celtic God means anything to you, then you'll also be familiar with the peevish canine Dogmatix, a chieftan called Vitalstatistix and Cacofonix, the bard who can't hold a tune. If it doesn't, you could do worse than to acquaint yourself with them and their better-known friend Asterix, the Gaulish warrior and national treasure of French bandes dessinées, who turned 50 last week. The world of Asterix and his improbably large sidekick Obelix (dropped in a cauldron of magic potion when he was a baby, and hence invincible) is one of druids, menhirs and endless feasting on the juiciest of wild boars. It is also a visual and verbal feast, with fantastic and often fantastically detailed illustrations by Albert Uderzo and words by René Goscinny. (The English versions required all the creative powers of their translators, Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge, to put across the punning spirit of the originals, and the results are rightly acclaimed.) Part of Asterix's appeal lies in the gentle prodding of European national stereotypes: the fondue- and cuckoo-clock-obsessed Swiss, the milky-tea-drinking British and the beer-swilling Belgians. But while the parodies are occasionally mischievous, they are also humane. If Goscinny and Uderzo had a message to convey in among all the fun, it was that inflated egos deserve to be punctured – hence the hilarious monikers. You may be a Roman centurion, but no one can take you seriously when your name is Crismus Bonus.

 

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THE KOREA HERALD

EDITORIAL

TROOP REDEPLOYMENT

 

The government last week announced a plan to increase the number of reconstruction workers in Afghanistan and to send police and troops to protect its civilian workers there.

 

The Foreign Ministry said that it would increase the number of reconstruction workers to at least 130 and operate an independent Provincial Reconstruction Team. Currently 25 Korean medical staff and vocational training experts work as part of the U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team inside U.S. Air Force Base in Bagram.

 

Although the exact number of troops to be deployed in Afghanistan has not been announced, reports say that about 300 troops could be deployed early next year.

 

The government plan to boost assistance in Afghanistan comes after a year of speculation on if or when the government would resend troops to Afghanistan. Korean troops in Afghanistan were withdrawn at the end of 2007. In July of that year 23 Korean church aid workers were kidnapped by the Taliban and two killed.

 

For many months, Seoul said the United States had not made any official request for troop deployment. In the meantime, Washington, while not making an outright request, consistently said that if a country wished to assist in Afghanistan, it should do so in whatever capacity it could. Most recently, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates stopped short of requesting troops when he referred to Korea's "changing role as a contributor to global security" before the annual security consultative meetings between Seoul and Washington two weeks ago.

 

The decision to redeploy Korean troops in Afghanistan was not arrived at easily. The government delayed making a decision on how it would participate in the Afghanistan situation and mulled different scenarios - including limiting involvement there to economic assistance.

 

The deployment decision, the government said, was based on the desire to assume a global role commensurate with the country's standing in the international community. It also emphasized that the decision was arrived at independently.

Public sentiment is not in favor of sending troops to Afghanistan. The kidnapping and killing of Korean aid workers is still fresh in the collective memory of the Korean people. Many view the war in Afghanistan as a U.S. war and question why Korea needs to be dragged into another country's conflict. Many remember the Korean lives lost during the Vietnam War when our young men fought along side U.S. troops.

 

The government has its work cut out persuading the public why the country needs to send more civilian workers and the troops to protect them. The government also needs to persuade the parliament - whose approval is required for the troop deployment - why this is in our national interest. It will not be an easy task.

 

Yes, there may be Korean lives lost when troops are deployed. Speaking at the National Assembly, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said that inevitable military engagement and sacrifices will follow once troops are deployed. In discussing the deployment plan, the government must be honest and upfront about the risks to the lives of those stationed in Afghanistan. It should also explain how it plans to minimize the loss of Korean lives as they participate in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

 

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THE KOREA HERALD

EDITORIAL

TRUST IMPORTANT

 

Former Grand National Party chairwoman Park Geun-hye did not mince her words when she said that Prime Minister Chung Un-chan "doesn't get it."

 

She was referring to remarks by Chung that he would like to meet with Park to persuade her on the need to revise the Sejong City project. He also said that the project was a larger national issue, a matter which is more than an issue of political trust. Earlier, Park had said that politics was about trust as she reiterated her support for the project as originally passed by parliament.

 

In a scathing attack on Chung, Park said his attempt to overturn the Sejong City project showed that he did not understand parliamentary democracy or the seriousness of promises made to the people.

 

Park was right when she said politics was about trust. She was also stating the obvious when she said that it was the people that Chung should try to persuade if he wanted to persuade someone. Sejong City is something that the parliament promised the people, she said.

 

Park was the GNP chairwoman when the bill to create a new administrative city - aimed at promoting balanced regional development - was passed by the National Assembly in March 2005. Hence, it is natural that Park supports the original plan. As a politician, she has consistently stuck to broader principles and her determination to keep the original administrative city plan does not come as a surprise.

 

President Lee Myung-bak pledged during his election campaign to proceed with the Sejong City project, Park said. For the government to now say that Sejong City will become a ghost town if the project goes ahead as planned after all the promises made during numerous elections would make it appear that the promises were just to win votes, she said.

 

Since assuming the prime minister's office, Chung has said that he would work to revise the Sejong City plan. With the by-elections over, discussions about a revision will gain greater momentum. However, without winning the support of Park's faction within the GNP, it will be impossible to pass a revision plan in the parliament. The Sejong City conundrum threatens to become yet another highly divisive maelstrom.

 

While Park is right when she said that Chung should try to persuade the people, not her, she should not close the door on discussions about the project. Park said that the original plan should be maintained and "plus alpha" introduced if necessary to make the city more viable. Park and Chung ought to sit down and really talk to each other.

 

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THE KOREA HERALD

EDITORIAL

ASIAN COUNTRIES WAITING FOR OBAMA

 

This is the season for Asian gatherings. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Thailand in late October brought all the key players of Asia together. Come mid-November, almost all of them will meet again in Singapore at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which will include other Pacific leaders, plus U.S. President Barack Obama.

 

Summits are a circus with many rings and acronyms. At the ASEAN summit, the 10 Southeast Asian leaders met counterparts from China, Japan and Korea. These 13 countries then met again with India, Australia, and New Zealand.

 

Some 42 agreements were reportedly penned at the meeting, on issues ranging from outstanding trade and economic matters to the launch of a human rights commission. Not bad for a summit that some feared would not happen at all: an earlier meeting planned for April in Bangkok had been disrupted by protesters - "red shirts" who support ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

 

As for Obama, he will first visit Japan and, while at APEC, will also attend the first U.S.-ASEAN summit. Afterwards, he will go to China and Korea. What additional dimension might America's president bring on his first visit to the region?

 

Obama is still fighting back home for his healthcare initiative, and is hamstrung from acting on climate change in time for the Copenhagen summit, which is to agree on a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol. So there is a risk that he will come to Asia for just a star turn and photo opportunities while reserving his strength for other battles. But more is needed and should be expected of him.

 

Starting with Japan, Obama needs to ensure a good working relationship with Yukio Hatoyama, the new premier. Japan has voiced support for an East Asian community that includes India, Australia and New Zealand, while the Chinese and others question widening the circle. The United States should welcome the Japanese initiative and engage with Asia as a whole. Keeping Japan close is a starting point.

 

Moving onto ASEAN, much attention will be on how Obama interacts with Myanmar's leader, who will also be present. Obama should stand for democracy and help push for a clean vote in the elections that the junta has promised for 2010.

 

But there are other, broader opportunities. ASEAN has been the hub for Asian regionalism, but some in Australia have proposed focusing only on the larger countries. Southeast Asians have a renewed openness towards American leadership, and meaningful initiatives can be started that would resonate with regional aspirations.

 

One such initiative is for freer trade. While the United States has stood on the sidelines, intra-Asian agreements have run ahead. U.S. Senator Richard Lugar has floated the idea of a free-trade agreement between the United States and ASEAN. But, with Myanmar included, this may be too difficult politically, and an ASEAN sub-grouping may be more realistic.

 

Another option is for the United States to press for a Trans-Pacific partnership. This was proposed late in the Bush administration in order to forge links with some ASEAN members - Singapore, Vietnam, and Brunei - as well as others across the Pacific. This could be built up to include other open Southeast Asian economies - Malaysia and Thailand - with the eventual aim being an APEC-wide agreement, which would be an impressive achievement if realized by the end of 2011, when it will be Obama's turn to play host to all the leaders.

 

In this time of crisis and unemployment, the American public may question freer trade. But more and more American businesses realize that still-growing Asian markets are vital for their future profits and overall economic recovery.

 

Most economic frameworks are among Asians only, but an American initiative could trump them and ensure that the region remains open and engaged with the United States. It could also help lessen the tendency of some governments to gravitate ever closer towards the booming Chinese economy.

 

Of course, when Obama arrives in Beijing, he must continue to strengthen cooperation with China. On the economic crisis, climate change and many other global issues, China and the United States are potentially the decisive actors. But the United States must also engage in a more multilateral way to include Southeast Asia's smaller countries. China has been charming them over the past decade, and the United States must offer an attractive alternative.

 

To cynics, APEC is a talking shop, while ASEAN is an arena for an ongoing contest between China and Japan, with India on the side. But, despite the rivalries and all the chatter, it is clear that Asians are coming closer together. And, while Asian regionalism is messy and rife with tensions and flash points, the United States has been the stabilizing power in the region.

 

Obama has the opportunity to ensure that the region continues to see the United States as the essential actor - now more open and helpful than before. If he achieves this, Obama's long trip will be valuable for Americans, and Asians will realize that it was worth waiting for him.

 

Simon Tay is chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs and a fellow at the Asia Society. - Ed.

(Project Syndicate)

 

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THE KOREA HERALD

EDITORIAL

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST LEPROSY REMAINS

YOHEI SASAKAWA

 

TOKYO - Earlier this month, Father Damien was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome. This religious and spiritual ceremony is an opportunity to reflect on Father Damien's life and the lives of those with whom he is most closely associated - people affected by leprosy.

 

In 1873, Father Damien, a Belgian priest, went to live among people with leprosy who had been exiled to an isolated peninsula on Molokai Island in Hawaii. It was a time when leprosy was feared as a dangerous, contagious disease that had no cure.

 

The world is dotted with islands where people with leprosy were once banished, including Robben Island in South Africa, where Nelson Mandela would later serve time as a political prisoner; Culion Island in the Philippines; various islands in the Mediterranean; and five islands in Japan. For the 16 years following his arrival on the island, until he himself died of the disease, Father Damien devoted his life to the welfare of people affected by leprosy on Molokai.

 

Today, leprosy is a curable disease. Since multidrug therapy became available in the early 1980s, some 16 million people have been cured. In 1985, when the World Health Organization set a target of reducing the prevalence of the disease in each country to less than 1 case per 10,000 people, 122 countries had yet to achieve that goal. Today, only three have still to do so. It won't be long before the disease is no longer a major public health problem in any country.

 

But the fight against leprosy has another aspect. By way of explanation, I often use the example of a motorcycle. The front wheel represents the medical battle to eliminate the disease; the back wheel symbolizes the effort on a social level to tackle the stigma and discrimination that leprosy causes.

 

All over the world, people affected by leprosy and their family members have suffered from social discrimination. To escape it, many were forced to form colonies and live on the margins of society. Segregated communities are still found today, and it is extremely unfortunate to find responsible newspapers frequently referring to their occupants by the pejorative term "leper." Such stigmatizing terminology assaults the dignity of people affected by leprosy and is a major cause of the discrimination and prejudice that they suffer.

 

Over the years, people affected by leprosy have had their natural rights denied to them with regard to education, employment, marriage and participation in community life. Even their perfectly healthy children suffer. Hotels and restaurants have been known to refuse entry to people affected by leprosy, who are often denied access to public services. Discrimination is a constant feature in many aspects of their lives.

 

Stanley Stein, who spent some 40 years behind barbed wire as a patient and patient activist at the now-closed leprosarium in Carville, Louisiana, once wrote, "The ravages of the stigma of this disease are as great as the ravages of the germ." I wonder how many people know that the United States, a champion of human rights, denied the vote to persons with leprosy until after World War II.

 

The back wheel of the motorcycle belatedly began to turn when a resolution submitted by the Japanese government calling for an end to discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members was passed unanimously at the Human Rights Council in June last year. Since then, draft principles and guidelines for ending discrimination have been drawn up by the Council's Advisory Committee. These were submitted to the Council's recently concluded 12th session, where members resolved to have a finalized draft presented at its 15th session next year.

 

Slowly but surely, the fight to recognize the rights of people affected by leprosy is bearing fruit. But, as we celebrate the canonization of Father Damien and a life of selfless service, let us acknowledge that it takes all of us to rid the world of discrimination.

 

Yohei Sasakawa is WHO goodwill ambassador for the Elimination of Leprosy, Japanese government goodwill ambassador for the Human Rights of People Affected by Leprosy, and chairman of the Nippon Foundation. - Ed.

 

(Project Syndicate)

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

PUSHING NEW COURT PROCEDURES

 

Before the lay judge system was introduced in May, Japanese courts adopted pretrial procedures to enable the prosecution, the defense counsel and the court to narrow down evidence and points of argument in a case to speed up criminal trials. A recent Supreme Court ruling shows its determination in getting these procedures to take root.

 

On Oct. 16 the Supreme Court sent back to the Hiroshima High Court the case of a Peruvian man charged with sexually assaulting and murdering a 7-year-old girl in Hiroshima in November 2005. The Hiroshima District Court had spent two months on pretrial procedures and had conducted intensive deliberations during five straight days of hearings. Some 50 days after the first hearing, it sentenced the man to life in July 2006.

 

However, the Hiroshima High Court — as the appellate court — sent the case back to the district court because the district court had not examined an investigator's record of an oral statement that might have been helpful in confirming the crime location. The defense counsel appealed this ruling to the Supreme Court.

 

The Supreme Court ruled that because the prosecution had not insisted on having the record used as evidence to confirm the crime location, the district court was not obliged to ask the prosecution to explain the report's content and to prove that confessions by the defendant were made voluntarily.

 

The top court ruled that since the district court is the primary authority with regard to the adoption of evidence, to endorse the appellate court ruling would "run counter to justice." A lawyer for the defendant said the appellate court's ruling helps the prosecution, which apparently erred in its trial tactics.

 

In past trials, an investigator's record of an oral statement often became a focal point, and arguments over the reliability of a defendant's confessions prolonged court proceedings. The Supreme Court ruling underlines the importance of the prosecution, defense counsel and court making thoughtful preparations during the pretrial process so that the first trial, now conducted under the lay judge system, can conclude flawlessly within a short time.

 

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

JAL FROM THE GROUND UP

 

Struggling Japan Airlines Corp., following recommendations made by a task force of the transport ministry, has given up trying to reconstruct itself on its own and has put itself under virtually direct state supervision. Specifically, the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. (ETIC) of Japan, which began operating in October, will take the lead in resuscitating the airline. The government will establish a "headquarters" that includes Cabinet ministers concerned with helping JAL out of its crisis.

 

Pointing out that JAL flights account for about 60 percent of the flights in Japan and that, if JAL cannot fly, it will cause big problems for local economies, Japan as a whole and ties with foreign countries, transport minister Seiji Maehara stressed JAL's strong public character.

 

A reconstruction plan worked out during the days of the previous Aso administration was scrapped. With the new approach, the Hatoyama administration's ability will be tested. Since a large amount of public money is likely to be used, the government needs to fully explain to people JAL's situation and the measures the government plans to take. Public understanding is indispensable.

 

ETIC will evaluate the airline's assets, liabilities and profitability and decide whether government-guaranteed loans should be provided to the company. It is reported that JAL's capital needs to be beefed up by ¥300 billion.

 

JAL is considering abolishing 45 unprofitable domestic and international air routes and slashing its group workforce by nearly 9,000 people. The plan does not include a reduction in the number of pilots, and there is concern that as the government involves itself in JAL's reconstruction, the airline will face more pressure from local governments and politicians to retain unprofitable air routes serving their areas.

 

Banks are bucking pressure to forgive debts amounting to ¥220 billion. There is also the difficult issue of reducing large pension payments to retired workers — a necessary step to rectify JAL's high-cost structure. The task facing the government is enormous.

 

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

HOW THE U.S. CAN CLEAR GUANTANAMO'S NAME

BY CESAR CHELALA

 

TUCUMAN, Argentina — The U.S. Senate decision allowing terror suspects held at the U.S. Navy's Guantanamo Bay facility to be brought to the United States for trial is a significant development toward resolving the human rights issue surrounding their detention.

 

If this facility is finally closed, the next logical step is to return Guantanamo to its rightful owners, the Cuban people. More than almost any other, this measure would assuage the climate of antagonism that now exists between the U.S. and Latin American countries.

 

Guantanamo has a convoluted history. Initially, the U.S. government obtained a 99-year lease on the 120-square-km area in 1903. The resulting Cuban-American Treaty established, among other things, U.S. jurisdiction and control of the area for the purpose of operating naval and coaling stations at Guantanamo. It was also recognized that the Republic of Cuba retained ultimate sovereignty of the area.

 

In 1934, a new treaty reaffirmed most of the lease conditions, increased the lease payment to the equivalent of $3,085 per year, and made the lease permanent unless both governments agreed to end it or the U.S. decided to abandon the area.

 

In the confusion of the early days of the Cuban revolution, the Castro government cashed the first lease-payment check but left subsequent ones uncashed. Since these checks were made out to the "Treasurer General of the Republic," a position that ceased to exist after the revolution, they are technically invalid.

 

The U.S. has maintained that the cashing of the first check implied acceptance of the lease conditions. But the fact that, at the time of the new treaty, the U.S. sent a fleet of warships to Cuba to strengthen its negotiating position fuels the counterargument that the lease conditions, imposed on Cuba under duress, would be void if tested under modern international law.

 

In denying basic U.S. constitutional guarantees to detainees, the U.S. has argued that Cuban sovereignty applies at Guantanamo as it is not under U.S. jurisdiction. If the Cuban government indeed has sovereignty over Guantanamo, then its claims over the area are legally binding and the U.S. is obliged to return Guantanamo to Cuba.

 

Since 1959, the Cuban government has informed the U.S. government that it wants to terminate the lease on Guantanamo. The U.S. has consistently refused the request on the grounds that it requires agreement by both parties.

 

Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, an American lawyer and professor of international law at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations, cites Article 52 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties: "A treaty is void if its conclusion has been procured by the threat or use of force in violation of the principles of international law embodied in the Charter of the United Nations."

 

He added that the conditions under which the treaty was imposed on the Cuban National Assembly, particularly as a precondition to limited Cuban independence, left Cuba no other choice than to yield to pressure.

 

A treaty can also be void by virtue of a material breach of its provisions, as indicated in Article 60 of the same Vienna Convention. According to the original terms of the lease agreement, the Guantanamo Bay territory was to be used only for coaling and naval purposes. Its use as a site for interning Haitian and Cuban refugees and, more recently, as a torture center by the U.S. military, counts as a significant breach, thus fully justifying the immediate termination of the lease agreement.

 

President Jimmy Carter courageously returned the Panama Canal to the Panamanians, setting an important precedent. Carter did what was legally correct and thus lifted U.S. prestige not only among Panamanians but throughout the hemisphere. Similar action by President Barack Obama is needed now.

 

Returning Guantanamo to the Cubans will enable the U.S. to close one of the most tragic chapters in its legal and moral history. And it will compensate Cubans for the miseries they have had to endure for decades because of Washington's misguided policies.

 

Cesar Chelala, M.D., a cowinner of the Overseas Press Club of America award, writes extensively on human rights issues.

 

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

JAPAN'S 'DEMAND MANAGEMENT' AND YEN RATE IN THE GLOBAL CRISIS

BY KUMIHARU SHIGEHARA

 

In the latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) published in early October, the International Monetary Fund notes that achieving sustained healthy growth over the medium term depends critically on rebalancing the pattern of global demand.

 

The IMF calls on many current account surplus economies that have followed export-led growth strategies to rely more on domestic demand growth to offset likely subdued domestic demand in deficit economies that have undergone asset price busts. It also argues that many external deficit countries would need to rely less on domestic demand and more on external demand. How should the recent performance of the Japanese economy be assessed in this context?

 

Japan's economic expansion between 2002 and 2007, the longest in the postwar history, was indeed propelled by sharp advances in exports that accounted for about two-thirds of real GDP growth. Export growth was supported by the yen's fall and growing demand in other Asian countries. In particular, China, a major source of external demand, was boosting Asia's share of Japanese exports to almost half.

 

Export advances, in turn, led to buoyant business investment growth, accounting for a third of the rise in Japan's output. Total output increased at an annual rate of 2.1 percent during the expansion, while private consumption remained weak and underlying inflation negative. Japan's economic expansion stumbled by late 2007, and in the context of the global economic crisis, it has been trapped in the deepest recession of the postwar era.

 

Initially, the impact of the global crisis on the Japanese economy was expected to be limited because Japanese banks and other financial institutions were relatively insulated from financial turmoil. However, between the third quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of this year, Japan's exports fell at an annual rate of some 55 percent in volume terms, the sharpest among countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and double the area's average rate of decline.

 

While exports have rebounded since then, the IMF projects a decline in Japan's net exports (gross exports minus gross imports) for this year as a whole, making a significant negative contribution to domestic output, which is forecast to amount to 2.4 percent of real GDP. As a result of this and a sharp drop in domestic demand, real GDP this year is projected to decline by 5.4 percent.

 

On the other hand, for the United States, the epicenter of the global financial crisis, the IMF projects its net exports to make a positive 1.2 percentage point contribution to real GDP growth this year, the same amount as last year. Thus, despite a sharp contraction of domestic demand, the decline in U.S. GDP is forecast to be limited to 2.7 percent, just half of the output decline projected for Japan this year.

 

For the United Kingdom, another source of the financial crisis, the IMF projects net exports to make a positive 0.8 percentage point contribution to real GDP growth this year, after a positive 0.4 percentage point contribution last year, thus limiting a contraction of U.K. real GDP to 4.4 percent.

 

While the IMF expects a negative output contribution of net exports for the euro area this year, it is forecast to amount to 0.8 percent of GDP, just one-third of the equivalent number for Japan.

 

As a result of such rebalancing, the contribution of net exports to real GDP growth in Japan for the 10-year period of 2000-2009 as a whole is expected to average just 0.1 percentage point annualized while real GDP growth is forecast to average 0.6 percent annualized, according to the OECD Economic Outlook 85 database.

 

Japan will thus most likely enter the second decade of this century as an OECD country that, at the very least, has not worsened global imbalances.

 

In passing, let us note that the contribution of Japan's net exports to real GDP growth was 0.3 percentage point at an average annual rate in the 1980s and 0.1 percentage point in the 1990s.

 

Note also that the equivalent numbers for the 10-year period of 2000-2009 are 0.4 percentage point for Germany, 1.3 percentage points for China and just 1 percentage point for South Korea.

 

It is also important to note that even with no changes in net export volumes, Japan's huge foreign investment income helps to maintain its current account position in surplus, unless oil and other primary commodity price hikes and other terms of trade changes inflate Japan's external payments in dollar terms.

 

Looking ahead, the IMF in its latest WEO notes that the turnaround in the global manufacturing cycle is expected to raise current account surpluses for Germany and, to a lesser extent, for Japan. Indeed, it projects Germany's surplus as a ratio to its GDP to rise to 3.6 percent in 2010 from 2.9 percent in 2009 (compared with 7.5 percent in 2007 and 6.4 percent in 2008).

 

Japan's surplus as a ratio to its GDP, which amounted to 4.8 percent in 2007 and 3.2 percent in 2008, is projected to decline to 1.9 percent this year and then rise slightly to 2.0 percent in 2010.

 

The positive contribution of net export volumes to real GDP is projected to amount to 1.2 percent of GDP for Germany in 2010 after a negative 3.6 percentage contribution in 2009, and to 0.7 percent of GDP for Japan in 2010 after a negative 2.4 percent in 2009. In this context, it is important to note that the most recent rise in the Japanese yen — not reflected in the WEO — by itself should work to reduce Japan's net export surplus projected for next year.

 

Over the medium to long term, as the drag on economic growth from population aging increases, sustaining improvements in living standards in Japan will depend crucially on accelerating labor productivity growth through structural reform.

 

But in the shorter term, the most important issue is how to run demand management policy to achieve faster aggregate demand growth to narrow the existing wide output gap and stem deflationary pressure.

 

On the fiscal front, with government debt having reached the highest level ever recorded in the OECD area, Japan is becoming increasingly vulnerable to a rise in the long-term interest rate from its current low level of around 1 1/2 percent. The task of supporting demand, therefore, falls heavily on the shoulders of the Bank of Japan.

 

Kumiharu Shigehara is president of the International Economic Policy Studies Association. He was formerly deputy secretary general and chief economist of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris and earlier chief economist of the Bank of Japan.

 

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