EDITORIAL 14.01.09

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Editorial

month  january 14, edition 000403, collected & managed by durgesh kumar mishra, published by – manish manjul

 

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THE PIONEER

1. BAD FOR THE IMAGE
2. THE TALLEST AND HIGHEST
3. THE MASTERS OF MASALA FILMS - SHOBORI GANGULI
4. INDIA CONTINUES TO FUMBLE ON CHINA - SANJOG MAHESHWARI
5. CLOSE TO TIPPING POINT - RAJEEV SRINIVASAN
6. KOLLYWOOD CONNECTION - K ARAVAMUDHAN
7. NEEDED, HUMAN INTELLIGENCE - DANIEL PIPES
8. BRAVE SAGA OF RANI AHILYABAI COMES ALIVE - TIEGO BINDRA

MAIL TODAY

1. SUPREME COURT MUST ACCEPT THE INEVITABLE
2. BAD SIGNAL
3. PUNISH ROGUE POLICE
4. POLITICOS ARE TAKING  - BY CK LAL
5. QUANTUM LEAP - DINESH C. SHARMA

THE TIMES OF INDIA

1. CHINESE CHECKERS
2. ELECTRIC SURGE
3. LOSING ITS STRIPES - JEAN-PIERRE LEHMANN
4. THIS IS MERE ALARMISM
5. SHORT IS NOT SWEET HERE - SINDHU MANJESH
6. PUNCTUATED WITH LAUGHS - BACHI KARKARIA
7. BUILDING PARTNERS - NIKITA GARIA

HINDUSTAN TIMES

1. SHOW THEM THE MONEY
2. ON THE THIN EDGE
3. ONCE UPON A TIME… - SITHARAM GURUMUTHI
4. THE WAR WITHIN - SAMAR HALARNKAR

INDIAN EXPRESS

1. A THIN LINE
2. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
3. NO RESULTS
4. SUPREME BUT FALLIBLE - RAJEEV DHAVAN
5. WHY NOT TO LOSE YOUR COOL - COOMI KAPOOR
6. TO SHOOT WITH HONOUR - DEEPAK NARAYANAN
7. COMING BACK TO CONQUER - KUNAL PRADHAN
8. IS CHINA THE NEXT ENRON? - THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
9. BHAGWAT SPEAK

FINANCIAL EXPRESS

1. LET THE BANKING TEASE CONTINUE
2. SWEETEN BY REFORM
3. CHINA STILL REMAINS A TANGLED WEB - RENUKA BISHT
4. SPECTRE OF TURF BATTLE ON SPECTRUM - RISHI RAJ
5. FALLING BEHIND ON GREEN COMPLIANCE - NOOR MOHAMMED

THE HINDU

1. SEIZING THE MOMENT
2. ON A STRONG WICKET
3. CHOICES BEFORE THE AFGHAN CONFERENCE - M.K. BHADRAKUMAR
4. FROM ELUSIVE CURE TO ENABLING COMFORT - ENNAPADAM S. KRISHNAMOORTHY
5. LOOKING PAST THE FACADE OF ROSARNO AFTER RIOTS - RACHEL DONADIO
6. EARTHQUAKE ADDS TO WOES OF A BENIGHTED COUNTRY - HAROON SIDDIQUE
7. IRAQ HAS POISONED OUR FAITH IN POLITICS - JONATHAN FREEDLAND

DNA

1. FEELING THE PINCH
2. BACK TO PLAY
3. NEHRU & OTHER MYTHS - R JAGANNATHAN
4. NOT JUST THE RIGHT, THE LEFT TOO IS AT IT - ANTARA DEV SEN

THE TRIBUNE

1. VERDICT FOR TRANSPARENCY
2. LEND ME SOME MONEY
3. DEMAT OF DEGREES
4. SILENCE OF THE WOLF - BY AMULYA GANGULI
5. NO NEWS, GOOD NEWS - BY S. RAGHUNATH
6. NO PEACE IN NEPAL WITHOUT MAOISTS - BY MAJOR GEN ASHOK K MEHTA
7. ENJOY CHEAP MONEY WHILE IT LASTS - BY HAMISH MCRAE
8. SMALL STATES GOOD FOR DEVELOPMENT ? - BY MANOJ DAYAL

THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

1. BHOGALI'S CHEER
2. GMC VS GMDA
3. ULFA ISSUE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION - HIRANYA SAIKIA
4. CRIME AGAINST WOMEN - DR H K GOSWAMI

THE ECONOMIC TIMES

1. SINNING IN GOD'S OWN COUNTRY - RISHI V K
2. RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
3. DISTRIBUTION REFORM WON'T HOLD PRICES
4. SUPREME COURT SHOULD ACCEPT VERDICT
5. DESTROY THOSE ENVYING ROOTS - PARMAHAMSA NITHYANANDA
6. MINISTERS & BABUS ARE THE LORDS OF PUBLIC SECTOR UNDERTAKINGS
7. TIME TO SEPARATE OWNERSHIP FROM MANAGEMENT
8. GOOGLE'S THREAT: CHINA MAY LOSE EDGE TO INDIA - SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR
9. TIME FOR NEW LAND REFORMS - TK ARUN
10. HIMADRI CHEM EXPECTS REVENUES TO RISE SIX-FOLD
11. WE PLAN TO LEND AGAINST SHARES AS WELL: SANJIV BAJAJ

DECCAN CHRONICAL

1. LANDMARK RULING TO BOOST TRANSPARENCY
2. SPRUCE UP SECURITY - BY ARUN KUMAR SINGH
3. RED ALERT: IS CHINA WORLD'S NEXT ENRON? - BY THOMAS L. FRIDMAN
4. LET'S CALL IT A DRAW?
5. THE BIGGEST LOSER - BY MAUREEN DOWD
6. MAKE GITA YOUR SPIRITUAL GUIDE - BY RAJASHREE BIRLA

THE STATESMAN

1. RANCHI ROULETTE
2. COME CLEAN
3. BACK TO SCHOOL
4. TIME TO TALK? - SALMAN HAIDAR
5. SINKING SUNDARBANS
6. HEEDLESS & CLUELESS
7. YEAR OF BERNADETTE  - NILEEN PUTATUNDA

THE TELEGRAPH

1. BIG LEAP
2. OPENED UP
3. THE YEAR THAT WAS - BHASKAR DUTTA
4. LANDED IN TROUBLE - R.C. ACHARYA
5. A PLACE FOR LOVE AND HICCUPS
6. FUTURE PERFECT
7. IN THE BEGINNING WAS NOT THE WORD

DECCAN HERALD

1. BOW TO VERDICT
2. PRIDE & PREJUDICE
3. THE TELANGANA TANGLE - BY NILOTPAL BASU
4. VENEZUELA SURROUNDED - BY IGNACIO RAMONET, IPS:
5. A PROFESSIONAL PERK - BY KRISHNAN SRIRAM

THE JERUSALEM POST

1. HAITI AND US
2. WASHINGTON WATCH: MITCHELL: BLUNDER OR THREAT? - DOUGLAS BLOOMFIELD
3. RATTLING THE CAGE: TO BE ISRAELI TODAY - LARRY DERFNER
4. FUNDAMENTALLY FREUND: GOING COLD TURKEY - MICHAEL FREUND
5. THE PALESTINIAN PARADOX - ZIV MAZEL
6. FRIENDS IN DEED - DALIA ITZIK
7. ARE JEWS AN INVASIVE SPECIES? - SYDNEY ROSS SINGER

HAARETZ

1. SHAS RUNS AMOK
2. THE BIG BANG OF 2010  - BY ARI SHAVIT
3. WHO HAS MORE HONOR?  - BY ISRAEL HAREL
4. A BORDER AUTHORITY ON THE EGYPT FRONTIER - BY GABRIEL SIBONI
5. THE SPIDER, THE ROAD AND THE OCCUPATION - BY YITZHAK LAOR

THE NEW YORK TIMES

1. HAITI
2. GOOGLE IN CHINA
3. DISCRIMINATION ON TRIAL, BUT NOT ON TV
4. MORE THAN A SCANDAL IN BELFAST
5. GOOGLE TAKES A STAND - BY NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
6. THE 10 PERCENT RULES - BY GAIL COLLINS
7. HAITI'S ANGRY GOD - BY POOJA BHATIA
8. COUNTRY WITHOUT A NET - BY TRACY KIDDER

I.THE NEWS

1. FROM WITHIN
2. DEADLY TRACKS
3. YET MORE MISERY
4. WITHOUT CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERALISM - ROEDAD KHAN
5. EXTENSIONS AND DELIBERATIONS - FASI ZAKA
6. THE BATTLE FOR KARACHI - IKRAM SEHGAL
7. CHANGING PASHTUN SOCIETY - SARTAJ KHAN
8. THE THINGS OF LIFE - KAMILA HYAT
9. SESSION'S AGENDA - MARVI MEMON

PAKISTAN OBSERVER

1. POWER, GAS OUTAGES MAY TRIGGER RIOTS
2. AFGHANISTAN ORIGIN TERRORISM IN PAKISTAN
3. CHINA'S ANOTHER LEAP FORWARD
4. CORRUPTION UNDER SIEGE - BURHANUDDIN HASAN
5. BETRAYAL OF KASHMIRIS, ONCE AGAIN - AFSHAIN AFZAL
6. INNOCENCE IS A CRIME: SINCERITY IS A SIN - ALI SUKHANVER
7. KAIRA VOICES 'MASSES' CONCERN - FASIHUR REHMAN
8. WOMEN'S HUG POWER..! - ROBERT CLEMENTS

THE INDEPENDENT

1. PM'S INDIA VISIT
2. CHILD WORKERS
3. PUT ON HOLD..!
4. ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK - SYLVIA MORTOZA
5. PRIVATE UNIVERSITY: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT - DR M AZIZUR RAHMAN
6. INDONESIAN ATOMIC KITTENS BREAK GLASS CEILING - DR TERRY LACEY

THE HIMALAYAN

1. SCARY SMUDGES
2. DARK PATCH
3. CONSERVATION AID RARELY GETS TO INTENDED BENEFICIARIES - RAMESH PRASAD BHUSHAL
4. WHAT ALL IS BEING DONE TO DEMOCRATISE ARMY - KAMAL DEV BHATTARAI
5. POLITICAL MECHANISM: DYSFUNCTIONAL, IF SELF-INTEREST RULES - PROF. BIRENDRA P MISHRA
6. TOPICS: WHO'S SCARED OF 2012? - BASU RAM LAMICHHANE

THE AUSTRALIAN

1. NICE TRY PENNY, BUT IT'S TIME TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK
2. THE EASY OPTION FAILS AGAIN
3. TV IS NOT THE ONLY TERMINATOR

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

1. AMERICA IS 'BACK IN ASIA'
2. CHINA'S SWEET TOOTH FOR ASSETS
3. VOTERS BETRAYED BY FAILURE TO CLEAN UP PARTY FUNDING
4. YOU CAN'T STUB OUT THE SMOKO WITHOUT A FEW BUTS

THE GURDIAN

1. IN PRAISE OF… FEEDING BIRDS IN WINTER
2. GREAT FIREWALL OF CHINA: A COLOSSAL FOLLY
3. EXPORTS: PASS THE BUCK

THE KOREA HERALD

1. PREPARE FOR TALKS
2. IMPROVE ICUS
3. FAREWELL TO FORMER INDONESIAN LEADER - ANDREW SHENG
4. WE HAVE TO KEEP DREAMING IN 2010 - KIM SEONG-KON

THE JAPAN TIMES

1. SUPPORTING MEDICAL SERVICES
2. INDIA IS TAKING THE FAST LANE TO CAR CHAOS - BY GAUTAMAN BHASKARAN
3. GOOD INTENTIONS, BAD RESULTS - BY DAVID HOWELL

THE JAKARTA POST

1. EXPEDITING BUDGET EXECUTION
2. RI'S INDEPENDENCE DAY: A FORGOTTEN PIECE OF HISTORY - KARINA SOEMARWOTO
3. KEY PERSPECTIVES IN BANK CENTURY BAILOUT - ARKAS VIDDY AND EGGI SUDJANA
4. GUS DUR, THE WORD 'ALLAH' AND RADICALISM - KHAIRIL AZHAR

CHINA DAILY

1. WARNING TO BANKS
2. STUDENTS' LOAN DEFAULTS
3. STOCK MARKET FACING VITAL CHANGES - BY YI XIANRONG (CHINA DAILY)
4. CONFUCIANISM IS MORE ABOUT WAY OF LIFE - BY YAO YING (CHINA DAILY)
5. NON-PROLIFERATION: ONUS IS ON MAJOR NUCLEAR STATES - BY MING JING (CHINA DAILY)

THE MOSCOW TIMES

1. GUBERNATORIAL ROULETTE - BY NIKOLAI PETROV
2. MIGHT MAY STILL BE RIGHT - BY JOSEPH S. NYE, JR.
3. LONG PATH TO EUROPE'S VERY DISTANT UNIFICATION - BY YEVGENY BAZHANOV 

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THE PIONEER

EDIT DESK

BAD FOR THE IMAGE

JUDICIARY MUST SUBMIT TO RTI

The Delhi High Court's verdict quashing the Supreme Court's appeal in the matter pertaining to the position of the office of the Chief Justice of India vis-à-vis the RTI Act should be welcomed as a historic judgement. But that the apex court has decided to further appeal against the ruling before — as strange as it may sound — itself exemplifies how divided the judiciary is on this issue. It will be recalled that in September last year a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court had turned down an appeal by the apex court against a January 2009 ruling of the Central Information Commission. The CIC had held that the office of the CJI did come under the purview of the RTI Act and, therefore, was liable to make public information that was its sole preserve as and when requested under the Act. Following this ruling, Supreme Court judges voluntarily published details of their personal assets on the court's official website but continued to maintain that the office of the CJI was outside the ambit of the RTI Act. Since under a 1997 Supreme Court resolution the judges of the apex court are supposed to file information regarding their personal wealth to the CJI, their assertion meant that this information too was not covered by RTI. This is what led to a second appeal by the apex court in the Delhi High Court. But as things stand, the Supreme Court appears to be in no mood to relent and is willing to fight till the very end to defend its turf.

It cannot be denied that all this is hurting the image of the judiciary. By refusing to be open and transparent under the RTI Act, the apex court is fuelling the perception that the judiciary is unwilling to be accountable to the people and that perhaps it has something to hide. Needless to say this is both dangerous and misleading. For, the role that the judiciary plays as a pillar of democracy is crucial. It is the institution that the people look up to as their guardian of democratic rights and freedom. Thus, anything that casts aspersions on the judiciary's image poses a serious threat to our democracy as a whole. Some of the observations that the full bench of the Delhi High Court made while pronouncing its verdict on Tuesday were telling. It stated that the Supreme Court was strong enough to deal with any misuse of the provisions of the RTI Act against it and that the higher judiciary had an even greater responsibility to maintain its credibility as compared to lower judicial officers. These are observations that the apex court would do well to heed. If all public institutions can be covered by the RTI Act, there is no reason why the judiciary should be treated any different. Plus, fears that public scrutiny of information pertaining to the judiciary will jeopardise the independence of the institution are totally unfounded. Section 8 of the RTI Act clearly lays down 10 categories under which disclosure of information can be refused. This, coupled with the institutional mechanism available in the form of State and Central information commissions to judge the validity of RTI applications, should be enough to allay any apprehensions about compromising judicial independence. Besides, by allowing itself to be open to public scrutiny, the judiciary will only be strengthening its own image in the eyes of the people. The postive factors far outweigh those perceived to be negative. Hence, the Supreme Court should lead the way and set an example by submitting itself to the RTI Act.

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THE PIONEER

THE TALLEST AND HIGHEST

BUT NOT QUITE THE GRANDEST

Building the world's tallest building — be it for residential or commercial purposes, or for that matter to just show off to others that you have got what they haven't — it would seem is fast becoming passé. With Dubai, which is desperately looking for money to tide over a 'minor' cash crunch of a few hundred billion dollars, inaugurating the world's tallest building and restoring to Arabs the pride they lost in 1311 when Lincoln Cathedral loomed taller than the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the race for the 'My Building Tallest' award seems to be over — or, at least, the arrival of Burj Dubai (now re-christened Burj Khalifa but the new name, like Rajiv Chowk, is yet to become popular) in the global real estate market marks a recess before the next race begins. Obviously, nobody is in a tearing hurry to build yet another marvel of engineering feat in this age of economic recession when neither Governments nor consumers are willing to spend more than they can afford to after salting away a substantial portion of their earnings. For the moment, Taiwan will have to sulk with its Taipei 101 overshadowed by Burj Dubai; since the Republic of China can't add floors to what was the world's tallest building till the Emirate came up with its fancy address for those looking for one, it will have to seek solace in the People's Republic of China across the strait coming up with the idea of building the world's highest airport in Tibet. After taking superfast trains to Lhasa, it's now the turn of landing jumbo jets at Nagqu Prefecture.

The proposed airport will be built at an altitude of 4,436 metres, which will make its location 102 metres higher than Bamda Airport in Qamdo Prefecture. The Nagqu Dagring Airport, when it is completed at an estimated cost of 1.8 billion yuan, will be 300 km from Lhasa and further facilitate the integration of Tibet with China, apart from making travel that much more easier for Hans wanting to resettle there. Most important, it will strengthen China's strategic infrastructure in the region: As Beijing prepares to spend billions, New Delhi is yet to come up with a structured plan to build roads, bridges and airports on its eastern, north-eastern and northern frontiers. The so-called strategy to deal with a twin-war waged by Pakistan and China must, therefore, remain confined to notesheets in a file marked 'Top Secret'. Meanwhile, we can delight in the fact that though Ghoom Railway Station is no longer at a height that will impress the world but the breath-taking view from Batasia Loop still remains incomparable and no amount of engineering can replicate it at any price. Building the tallest hotel and the highest airport is not that difficult provided there's money, but recreating the mystique of nature's beauty is quite another matter.

 

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            THE PIONEER

THE MASTERS OF MASALA FILMS

SHOBORI GANGULI

The past decade easily marks one of the most creative, innovative, and commercially successful phases for the Hindi film industry. A decade during which formula (Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham) clicked as brilliantly as experiment (Rang De Basanti); small-budget multiplex movies (Khosla Ka Ghosla) marched successfully along side mega-movies (Jodhaa Akbar); stars with cult status (Khans et al) found themselves in the company of debutants (Neil Nitin Mukesh, Imraan Khan) in cine-goers' hearts; mindless comedy (Singhh is Kingg) appealed to the masses as much as serious meaningful cinema (Yuva, Black); good (Munnabhai MBBS) was as attractive as evil (Johnny Gaddar, Kaminey); the kitschy (Om Shanti Om) merrily co-existed with the classic (Devdas); the innovative (Dil Chahta Hai, Rock On, Dev D) found due space alongside the predictable (Main Hoon Naa); and, candyfloss romance (Kaho Na Pyar Hai) flourished in the company of serious explorations of human relationships (Mr & Mrs Iyer, Chameli). The films cited are only samples of the huge diversity demonstrated by our film industry in recent years.

Among the many trends that have emerged in these years, in a sense the first decade of the new millennium has been simultaneously formulaic and experimental for Hindi cinema, both keeping the cash registers ringing at the box-office. And, no one in the industry can better explain this phenomenon than Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan, one a cult figure whose demigod stature has consistently dominated the characters he has played, the other a method actor who has effortlessly blended into every role that has come his way, each in his respective way a huge commercial success.

Admittedly, the SRK phenomenon is both explicable and inexplicable. The man is an international icon today despite — or perhaps because of — the fact that his films have used the most predictable Hindi film ingredients: Romance, drama, even melodrama, emotion, sentiment, action, foreign locales, all employed in varying degrees to create stupendous box-office successes (from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Kabhi Khushi, Kal Ho Na Ho, Main Hoon Naa, Chalte Chalte and Om Shanti Om). Each one of these films has been overwhelmingly about the charisma of Shahrukh Khan, the characters played by him only incidental to SRK's brand-building. As he once famously said, "My name is enough" to sell a film. Frankly, the Raj Malhotra of Dilwale is not entirely dissimilar to the Raj Malhotra of Chalte Chalte. Because be it a Raj or a Rahul, the characters have always been subsumed by the icon called Shahrukh Khan, much like Amitabh Bachchan's Vijay, the angry young man who would repeatedly return to the screen in the 1970s only to underline the larger-than-life image of the star playing that character.

To be fair, Shahrukh is aware that his persona dominates any character he plays. In fact, this realisation informed his brilliant self-mockery in Om Shanti Om in which he plays a successful film star, Om Kapoor (OK), whose movies all sound and look alike, Switzerland/Scotland in the backdrop, chiffon-clad heroines draped on his outstretched arms, reel after reel. Today brand SRK knows he is bigger than any cinematic frame. He can, therefore, even afford to make fun of his real-life star status, complete with gun-toting bodyguards, in a film like Billu. Or let his celeb arrogance speak in a fairness cream advertisement: "Shahrukh nahin to kya, handsome koi bhi ban sakta hai." That he has not felt the need to reinvent himself yet is explained by the frenzied adulation he continues to get. True, he experimented with Chak De India, which incidentally became a commercial success, but rarely has the superstar ever stepped out of his own image. In fact, most occasions when he has done so he has tripped. Sample Paheli or Swades. Shahrukh's fan-following, therefore, is intensely personality oriented, marginally performance related.

Standing diametrically opposite this iconic star is Aamir Khan whose work pattern has been the reverse. His success in the past decade — he is one of the top box-office drawers in the industry today, rarely any of his films ever disappointing either the public or his producers, including his latest 3 Idiots which has grossed Rs 315 crore in 19 days — has largely flowed from his ability to experiment and become the character he plays, from the heartless Aakash in Dil Chahta Hai (2001) to the endearing Rancho in 3 Idiots (2009).

It all began with the trail-blazing Dil Chahta Hai which went on to redefine many clichés of Hindi cinema, the most significant being the idea of friendship. As the scheming Aakash who thinks nothing of lying to his dearest friends and treats love with utmost contempt, Aamir effortlessly metamorphosed Hindi cinema's clichéd romantic chocolate boy into a more real, human and credible hero in this film. Indeed, Aakash, and not just Aamir Khan the star, remains an abiding character in public memory. Similarly, ACP Rathore in Sarfarosh, Bhuvan in Lagaan, DJ in Rang De Basanti, Nikumbh Sir in Taare Zameen Par, Sanjay Singhania in Ghajini, Ranchoddas (Rancho) Shamaldas Chanchad in 3 Idiots are characters cinema lovers are not likely to forget any time soon. Significantly, each of these is an individual and different with no binding characteristics that would even remotely make them 'Aamir Khan' like.

Admittedly, Aamir has always known to be too much of a perfectionist, a director's nightmare given his own take on every character that he plays, and he clearly does not arouse mass hysteria the way Shahrukh does. One could easily argue that there is too much method in Aamir's performance, including his fetish about sporting a different hairstyle in every film. However, seldom does one ever forget an Aamir Khan role and his box-office records prove that his experiments with radically different characters are a commercial success. Clearly more than sex and Shahrukh sell at the box-office.

As Hindi cinema starts rolling into a fresh decade, it is evident that new talent in the industry will replace the old and audience tastes will continue to be tested and responded to. However, between the two poles that Shahrukh and Aamir Khan stand on what lies is the power of Hindi cinema to be both formulaic and innovative, the two Khans having respectively mastered the art of making masala films appealing and creative experimentation attractive. We must now wait for a whole new generation to see whether it can crack these two distinct mantras of success.

 

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THE PIONEER

COLUMN

INDIA CONTINUES TO FUMBLE ON CHINA

SANJOG MAHESHWARI

The recent news that China has grabbed a huge chunk of Indian territory in the Ladakh region over the years is truly alarming. While the ways of the Dragon remain as inscrutable as before, India's policy on China is still incoherent. The nimbleness New Delhi displays in bending over backwards in all its dealings with Beijing is humiliating. Needless to say this makes it very easy for the Chinese to get away with such shenanigans as issuing dubious stapled visas to the residents of Jammu & Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh, thereby, treating the States as 'disputed'.

It is absolutely baffling that Indian authorities have never been able to strongly protest against China's repeated warnings against top Indian leaders visiting Arunachal Pradesh. Neither has New Delhi been able to do anything about the periodic incursions that the Chinese Army undertakes into Indian territory.

In the Tibet Autonomous Region, Beijing is engaged in major military and defence build-up activities such as construction of roads, bridges, ultra-modern airfields, intelligence and surveillance outposts, etc, accompanied with large-scale deployment of PLA troops, fighter aircraft, tanks and missiles. The Chinese have reportedly also constructed roads connecting several border outposts along the Line of Actual Control with the Chinese mainland, something that will greatly reduce troop deployment time.

The ambitious Chinese project of building a huge dam to tap the waters of the Brahmaputra near the river's source is also reported to be nearing completion. With this done it will become possible for China to parch out the fertile Brahmaputra plains on our side to the point that it will become difficult to grow even a single blade of grass. As the list of hostile Chinese activities gets longer, the alarm bells are ringing loud and clear. But is anyone listening in New Delhi?

At the Copenhagen climate change summit, China was able to derive maximum mileage for itself, mostly at our expense.

As the cat plays with the mouse before killing it, in one recent incident the Chinese authorities have arrested and jailed 21 Indian businessmen during police raids in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. Beijing claims that they are diamond smugglers, a claim that appears to be extremely dubious. But it knows that India is too weak to protest.

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THE PIONEER

OPED

CLOSE TO TIPPING POINT

THE TALIBAN AND AL QAEDA HAVE DEMONSTRATED A SURPRISINGLY SOPHISTICATED GRASP OF BOTH GEO-POLITICS AND TACTICS. IT IS A MISTAKE TO UNDERESTIMATE THEM AS THEY HAVE THE ISI, WHICH EXCELS AT COVERT ACTION, TO HELP THEM. AFTER KHOST, IT WILL NO LONGER BE EASY FOR OBAMA TO CONTINUE WITH HIS SOFT APPROACH

RAJEEV SRINIVASAN

The Jordanian suicide bomber, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, who infiltrated the CIA's Forward Base Chapman in Khost, Afghanistan and killed seven CIA operatives and his Jordanian handler on December 30, last year carried out a picture-perfect strike. Writing in the Wall Street Journal on January 7 ("The Meaning of Al Qaeda's double agent"), former CIA agent Reuel Marc Gerecht said: "Indeed, Al Qaeda did to us exactly what we intended to do to them: Use a mole for a lethal strike against high-value targets. In the case of al-Balawi, it appears the target was Ayman al Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's top deputy."

It was a brilliant operation, and the Americans were sitting ducks. The question is: Why? The fact that the CIA threw normal caution to the winds indicates American incompetence, or, chillingly, desperation. They seem to be clutching at straws, desperate for some success.

On the other hand, ever since US President Barack Obama unveiled his timetable for an American pull-out from Afghanistan, the Taliban and Al Qaeda have gone from strength to strength: The shooting of 13 soldiers at Fort Hood (although this did happen a few weeks before Mr Obama's actual speech, the contours of the plan were known); the Christmas attempt to blow up Northwest flight 253 bound over Detroit; and then the Khost incident itself.

Aren't all of these highly demoralising for the Americans? Even the normally placid Obama is showing the strain — he is under pressure to do something.

Going back to the Khost attack, Mr Gerecht also maintains that normal operating procedure was violated under the orders of the station chief in Khost and several regional CIA staff flew in to have a face-to-face meeting with the supposed informant; he apparently was also not subjected to the usual detailed security check. The incident shows the critical dependency of the CIA on others — for reasons of lack of language skills and of length of tenure.

The fact that the CIA underestimated the enemy's resourcefulness and intelligence also bodes ill for the future. They should have learned that their enemy is capable of surprisingly good tactical operations, and they should have taken due care. There have been at least two previous instances where the jihadis demonstrated a clear grasp of tactics.

The first was the assassination of Ahmed Shah Massoud in his Panjshir Valley redoubt. An unquestioned military genius, Massoud had held off the formidable Soviets for years. He was assassinated in September 2001, just two days before 9/11. Massoud was the Taliban's principal foe as the military commander of the Northern Alliance. Undoubtedly a cautious and careful man, Massoud was tricked into being interviewed by two Tunisians bearing Belgian passports, who posed as journalists — they hid a bomb in the camera.

Then there was the singular incident of the siege of Kunduz in November 2001. In this 'Airlift of Evil', the US allowed Pakistan to spirit away hundreds, if not thousands, of Taliban operatives cornered by the advancing Northern Alliance in Kunduz. Most of the so-called Taliban who were evacuated were senior officers of the Pakistani Army or the ISI.

Clearly, the CIA was bamboozled by the ISI and the Pakistani Army in allowing the airlift. Left to themselves, the Northern Alliance would have overrun the fort in Kunduz and captured the insurgents, thereby breaking the back of the Taliban.

 

These chickens have now come home to roost. The CIA has a history of strategic blunders in Afghanistan, surely because they are misled continuously by the Pakistanis. For instance, as much as 20 per cent of all the billions of CIA dollars funneled into fighting the Soviets went to the ISI's then favourite, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is now an implacable foe of the Americans. Now the ISI are creating myths about "good Taliban" (translation: Those who help the ISI's agenda) and "bad Taliban" (all others). We can expect more American money to be funneled to those intent of killing Americans.

There is now great confusion about the motives of the double-agent al-Balawi. The most obvious hypothesis is that the Taliban/Al Qaeda wished to disrupt Predator and Reaper drone flights that are inconveniencing them by pinpointing their cadre from the air. The drones, as it were, rain down American wrath and have become the US's most successful weapon and it will not be easy to abandon them and for Mr Obama to continue with his soft approach. His Cairo and Ankara speeches, his munificence to Pakistan, etc, have caused his enemies to lose respect for him. Mr Obama, the Nobel peace-prize winner, is perforce going to be a war President.

It is necessary to acknowledge that the Taliban/Al Qaeda have demonstrated a surprisingly sophisticated grasp of both geo-politics and tactics. It is a mistake to underestimate them — they have the ISI, the kings of covert action, to help them plan their operations. In this context, I was amused to come across a report from The Economist of January 24, 2009, titled "The growing, and mysterious, irrelevance of Al Qaeda". Famous last words. A year later, it is not clear it is Al Qaeda who are irrelevant.

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THE PIONEER

OPED

KOLLYWOOD CONNECTION

IN TAMIL NADU, MOVIES AND POLITICS FUSE SEAMLESSLY

K ARAVAMUDHAN

If there is one thing which is common to both Ms J Jayalalithaa and Mr M Karunanidhi it's their love to spend time with their 'brethren' in the film industry no matter how hectic and busy are their schedules. Given the clout enjoyed by the film industry on Tamil Nadu politics, they simply cannot afford to ignore the tinsel world. At least a 'live event' or two have been organised in Tamil Nadu to felicitate the Chief Minister of the day by the film industry on one pretext or another.

A trend is set whereby whenever a new Government is installed in the State, the film industry is usually the first one to host mega felicitation functions. Such shows provide ample opportunities for the film industry to place before the Government a new list of demands peppered with an assortment of thanksgiving speeches, expressions of gratitude for past favours and, even in some cases, forgiveness for past transgressions, as the case may be.

Like the presiding deities of the numerous temples in Tamil Nadu who are worshipped everyday by the devotees with Laksha Archanas, encomiums are showered on the Chief Minister of the day by the badshahs of Kollywood. The poets, lyricists, producers, music directors, actors and actresses sing praises to the life and work of the Chief Minister as if there is no tomorrow. In these events the Chief Minister sits gleefully, without any embarrassment, acknowledges the accolades surrounded by family members and Cabinet Ministers.

With the successful establishment of two television networks — Sun and Kalaignar — within the family and in the absence of distinction between business and politics both at the State and the national level — there is always a need to project the patriarch as the messiah of the masses. Even though it was in 2006 that the present DMK Government was re-elected, still there is no let-up in the number of such functions being organised by the film industry.

The bane of democracy, as they say, is the nexus between politics and business. Businessmen need politicians for protection, favourable laws and lucrative contracts, while politicians need the money of businessmen for themselves as well as to run their parties. It's always a quid pro quo but in Tamil Nadu it is more than evident because of the involvement of the Chief Minister's extended families both in politics and business. Anyone who dares to raise questions is branded a traitor to the Tamil cause!

It is a shame that the DMK, which was built on the self-respect movement and selfless service to Tamil society, indulges in such activities to allow a single family to become all pervasive in the State.

So, in Tamil Nadu the nexus between cinema and politics is never ending because both of them need each other for their survival. The film stars and producers shower praise on the incumbent Chief Minister which he would gratefully accept as he has to stay ahead of his political opponents. Who else other than the film industry in Tamil Nadu can do this? Equally, the film industry needs the State Government's patronage — be it tax cuts or hiking/lowering of ticket prices or anti-piracy measures, allotment of land to film associations, etc.

Recently, participating in a function to distribute the State Government's film awards for 2007 and 2008 in Chennai, Mr Karunanidhi said he attended the function, despite his ill health, as he saw the event as a cure to his illness. On this occasion, among other schemes for the film industry, he also announced the formation of a Film Welfare Board.

"The film world had always been a source of rejuvenation and inspiration whenever I was physically and mentally exhausted in public and political life. It was that affinity that made me reject my doctor's advice to participate in the function," he said.

On this occasion Mr Karunanidhi bagged the Best Dialogue Writer award for the film Uliyin Osai. The funny thing is the award was instituted by the Tamil Nadu Government and recommended by a committee appointed by the Government which is headed by none other than the Kalaignar himself!

With the sudden spurt in the number of films being produced by the Karunanidhi clan — Sun Films of the Marans and Red Giant Movies of Udhayanidhi Stalin — it won't be too difficult to predict which movies will be nominated for the 2009 awards.

 

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THE PIONEER

OPED

NEEDED, HUMAN INTELLIGENCE

TECHNOLOGY AND AN OVERDOSE OF ABSURD RULES ALONE CANNOT ENSURE SAFETY ON FLIGHTS. WHAT IS REQUIRED IS SMART SECURITY PERSONNEL WHO CAN TRAP BOMBERS WITH TRICK QUESTIONS

DANIEL PIPES

 

As hands are wrung in the aftermath of the near-tragedy on a Northwest Airlines flight approaching Detroit, a conversation from London's Heathrow airport in 1986 comes to mind.

It consisted of an El Al security agent quizzing one Ann-Marie Doreen Murphy, a 32-year-old recent arrival in London from Sallynoggin, Ireland. While working as a chambermaid at the Hilton Hotel on Park Lane Murphy met Nizar al-Hindawi, a far-leftist Palestinian who impregnated her. After instructing her to "get rid of the thing," he abruptly changed his tune and insisted on immediate marriage in "the Holy Land". He also insisted on their travelling separately.

Murphy, later described by the prosecutor as a "simple, unsophisticated Irish lass and a Catholic", accepted unquestioningly Hindawi's arrangements for her to fly to Israel on El Al on April 17. She also accepted a wheeled suitcase with, unbeknown to her, a false bottom containing nearly two kg of Semtex, a powerful plastic explosive, and she agreed to be coached by him to answer questions posed by airport security.

Murphy successfully passed through the standard Heathrow security inspection and reached the gate with her bag, where an El Al agent questioned her. As reconstructed by Neil C Livingstone and David Halevy in Washingtonian magazine, he started by asking whether she had packed her bags herself. She replied in the negative. Then:

"What is the purpose of your trip to Israel?" Recalling Hindawi's instructions, Murphy answered, "For a vacation."

"Are you married, Ms Murphy?" "No."

"Travelling alone?" "Yes."

"Is this your first trip abroad?" "Yes."

"Do you have relatives in Israel?" "No."

"Are you going to meet someone in Israel?" "No."

"Has your vacation been planned for a long time?" "No."

"Where will you stay while you're in Israel?" "The Tel Aviv Hilton."

"How much money do you have with you?" "Fifty pounds."

The Hilton at that time costing at least £70 a night, he asked: "Do you have a credit card?" "Oh, yes," she replied, showing him an ID for cashing checks.

That did it, and the agent sent her bag for additional inspection, where the bombing apparatus was discovered.

Had El Al followed the usual Western security procedures, 375 lives would surely have been lost somewhere over Austria. The bombing plot came to light, in other words, through a non-technical intervention, relying on conversation, perception, common sense, and (yes) profiling. The agent focussed on the passenger, not the weaponry. Israeli counter-terrorism takes passengers' identities into account; accordingly, Arabs endure an especially tough inspection. "In Israel, security comes first," David Harris of the American Jewish Committee explains.

Obvious as this sounds, overconfidence, political correctness, and legal liability render such an approach impossible anywhere else in the West. In the United States, for example, one month after 9/11, the Department of Transportation issued guidelines forbidding its personnel from generalising "about the propensity of members of any racial, ethnic, religious, or national origin group to engage in unlawful activity." (Wear a hijab, I semi-jokingly advise women wanting to avoid secondary screening at airport security.)

Worse yet, consider the panicky Mickey-Mouse, and embarrassing steps the US Transportation Security Administration implemented hours after the Detroit bombing attempt: No crew announcements "concerning flight path or position over cities or landmarks," and disabling all passenger communications services. During a flight's final hour, passengers may not stand up, access carry-on baggage, nor "have any blankets, pillows, or personal belongings on the lap".

Some crews went yet further, keeping cabin lights on throughout the night while turning off the in-flight entertainment, prohibiting all electronic devices, and, during the final hour, requiring passengers to keep hands visible and neither eat nor drink. Things got so bad, the Associated Press reports, "A demand by one attendant that no one could read anything … elicited gasps of disbelief and howls of laughter."

Widely criticised for these Clouseau-like measures, TSA eventually decided to add "enhanced screening" for travellers passing through or originating from 14 "countries of interest" — as though one's choice of departure airport indicates a propensity for suicide bombing.

The TSA engages in "security theater" — bumbling pretend-steps that treat all passengers equally rather than risk offending anyone by focusing, say, on religion. The alternative approach is Israelification, defined by Toronto's Star newspaper as "a system that protects life and limb without annoying you to death". Which do we want — theatrics or safety?

The writer is director of the Middle East Forum and Taube fellow at the Hoover Institution. www.danielpipes.org

 

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THE PIONEER

OPED

BRAVE SAGA OF RANI AHILYABAI COMES ALIVE

FACT HAS PUT TOGETHER A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND EXHIBITION DEPICTING THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE GREAT WARRIOR QUEEN OF INDORE, WRITES TIEGO BINDRA

After the hugely successful exhibitions on Aurangzeb, which raised the hackles of communalists and their political mentors, and Shivaji, FACT-India has put together a fascinating exhibition on Rani Ahilyabai, the warrior queen of Indore. The show was inaugurated by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Pune on Wednesday.

"I knew that Ahilyabai had built the Kashi Vishwanath temple," said Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, "but there are many facts about her which I discovered through this exhibition, such as her being a simple girl from a village and having raised a battalion of women." Mr Prafull Goradia, a columnist with The Pioneer and sponsor of the exhibition, pointed out that "it was not men who repaired the damages done by invaders to temples, but a woman of courage dedicated to her country".

FACT-India is managed by François and Namrita Gautier. The acronym stands for Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism. FACT-India not only fights against human rights abuses in South Asia — whether of Ahmadi Muslims and Christians and Buddhists of Bangladesh or the Kashmiri Pandits of India — but also highlights the greatness of Indian culture.

François Gautier said, "In spite of the many abuses on Indian women widely reported, nowhere in the world have women been so honoured like in India. Half of the deities are feminine and the unique concept of Shakti honours the feminine element in all things. Countries such as France or the US never had a woman as their top leader, whereas India had Mrs Indira Gandhi ruling with a strong hand."

India has had many female rulers, warrior women and poet queens, but Ahilyabai Holkar commands tremendous admiration for her accomplishments during her 30-year-long reign. She was noted for her piety, for her administrative ability, for her keen interest in all her people and for an extraordinary amount of building at holy sites all over the country. Visitors to Varanasi know of the golden domed temple of Vishwanath, Lord of the World, in the heart of the city.

Ahilyabai, though a queen, led a simple life as can be seen by the recount of her daily routine: She rose an hour before daybreak to say her prayers. Then she had scriptures read to her, distributed alms and gave food to a number of poor people. Her breakfast, as indeed all her meals, was vegetarian. After breakfast, she prayed again, and then took a short rest. From two to six she was in her durbar; after religious exercises and a light meal, she again attended to business from nine to eleven. She did not neglect the defence of her motherland and employed a French officer to train four battalions of her army, so as to resist the march of the English troops in Gujarat in 1780.

Her life was marked by prayer, abstinence and work, with religious fasts, festivals and public emergencies affording the only change in this routine. Her devotion was to Shiv, although she respected all religions. "Shri Shankara" appeared on all royal proclamations along with her signature. In spite of all that is known about the warrior queen and all that she has left behind —timeless testimonies to her imagination and beneficence — she has not been given the recognition that she rightfully deserves.

 

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MAIL TODAY

EDITORIAL

SUPREME COURT MUST ACCEPT THE INEVITABLE

 

THE Right to Information ( RTI) Act is possibly one of the most significant pieces of legislation that this country has put in place in the past decade, and no greater evidence of this could be provided than the Delhi High Court's decision to put the office of the Chief Justice of India under the purview of this Act.

 

In a historic judgment, a three- judge panel ruled that the Chief Justice of India will have to be accountable to the public and that the office does not enjoy any kind of immunity. Besides, the ruling said, the office of the Chief Justice of India cannot keep under wraps the assets declared by either the Chief Justice or other Supreme Court judges.

 

This is, in fact, the third such ruling — the previous two being that from the Chief Information Commissioner and a single- judge bench of the Delhi High Court — that makes the CJI publically accountable. On its own, therefore, the Supreme Court should have accepted these decisions and renewed public faith in the judiciary.

 

Yet, the Supreme Court has indicated that it will appeal against the ruling in the Supreme Court. This is as bizarre as it can get. For one, it will erode the faith Indians have in the justice delivery system.

 

Two, the high degree of credibility that the office of the Chief Justice enjoys will be negatively affected with this act of one- upmanship. But most important, it reflects poorly on the Supreme Court's attitude towards the nation's high courts, no matter how wisely the judgment may have been drafted.

 

The office of the Chief Justice of India needs to act with greater degree of wisdom and foresight than it has shown so far in this case.

 

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MAIL TODAY

BAD SIGNAL

 

ARMY Chief Deepak Kapoor's decision to issue a show cause notice to four senior army officers, including his Military Secretary ( MS), Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash, seems aimed at buying time. The period of the notice is believed to be 15 days and General Prakash retires on January 31.

 

The Court of Inquiry, whose report was accessed by Headlines Today , is categorical in stating that not only did General Prakash suppress information before the court of inquiry, he also tried to mislead the court.

 

He flatly denied dealing with the businessman to acquire defence land in a sensitive cantonment, but the inquiry revealed that he actively assisted the person.

 

The MS is not an ordinary officer, he is the person responsible for postings and promotions of officers above the rank of colonel in the Army. His misconduct could put a question mark over many of his decisions which have implications for the future quality of senior commanders in the Army.

 

This is the reason why General Kapoor needed to take a clear cut action which would send an unambiguous signal down the line that the Army would not tolerate malfeasance, regardless of the seniority of the officer in question or his proximity to the Chief.

 

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MAIL TODAY

PUNISH ROGUE POLICE

 

THE Supreme Court's order asking the CBI to take over the probe into the Sohrabuddin Shaikh extra- judicial killing has not come a day too early. Eight action taken reports filed by the Gujarat government into the November 2005 killing had discrepancies.

 

Sohrabuddin, his wife Kauserbi and their friend Tulsi Ram Prajapati had been picked up during a joint operation of the Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh police while travelling by bus from Hyderabad to Sangli.

 

Sohrabuddin was killed on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. To destroy evidence, Kauserbi and Prajapati were eliminated.

 

The SC order comes against the backdrop of the state government's efforts to " obfuscate" facts on the encounter deaths. One of these is the focus on Sohrabuddin's criminal links. But that does not explain Kauserbi's murder.

 

One way to stop extra- judicial killings is to amend the law to make an example of policemen like former Gujarat DIG D. G Vanzara and 13 other police officers involved in the case. While the government should show zero tolerance to such killings, the courts can contribute by delivering quick justice because delays could convey tacit state consent for rogue policemen.

 

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MAIL TODAY

POLITICOS ARE TAKING

NEPAL INTO A FREE FALL

BY CK LAL

 

UNLIKE his swaggering predecessor Rukmangud Katuwal, present Nepal Army chief General Chhatraman Singh Gurung is a modest man. He bears the burden of being the first commoner chief of the elite- dominated army leadership with uncharacteristic reticence and disarming humility.

 

Incidentally, these are the very traits that won him his position: when Maoists wanted to replace the obdurate Katuwal with accommodative Kul Bahadur Khadka to facilitate wholesale entry of their combatants into the army, Gurung quietly campaigned for his candidature with the mainstream parties.

 

Fresh from his trip to New Delhi, where he was ordained as the honorary general of the Indian Army, the amicable Gurung told the media that he may well remain in his post for as long as he wished because the current political drift in the country was unlikely to end soon. Since he was slightly tipsy at the time, nobody took note of his outburst. In retrospect, his remarks may have been loaded.

 

President Rambaran Yadav is the supreme commander- in- chief of the Nepal Army, a post earlier held by ruling monarchs who believed that their responsibilities were operational rather than merely ceremonial.

 

King Birendra had once pointedly told then Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai that the royal army was his to do as he wished when the then head- of- government went to the head- of- state with the request for mobilising the defence forces to contain Maoist insurgency. President Yadav acted under similar premises when he overruled the prime minister and restored the sacked army chief to his post through a midnight missive issued in secrecy. This forced Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to resign.

 

Since the ouster of the largest party — UCPN ( Maoists) — in parliament, from the seat of authority at Singha Durbar central secretariat, a ragtag coalition of almost all the rest has been in government for well over eight months. As the mercurial leader of Madheshi Janadhikar Forum Nepal observed, the present government has done nothing other than ensuring its own survival through politics of patronage. The fate of almost 19,000 former Maoist combatants interned at temporary camps remains undecided.

 

No steps have been taken to show that the government is committed to the national agenda of democratising the army, which implies bringing it unequivocally under civilian control, rightsizing the force and broadening its base of recruitment. The peace process lies abandoned as coalition partners compete with each other in deriding the Maoists. The anti- Maoist coalition seems to believe that the army rather than the people of Nepal is their last defence against an outright takeover of the state by leftwing guerrillas.

 

President

 

President Yadav, too, seems to be under similar impression, but with a twist: he considers himself the supreme authority in the land.

 

According to presidential interpretations of the Interim Constitution, the head- of- state will automatically become the head- of- government if the Constituent Assembly fails to frame a new charter within the stipulated timeframe. The President has been telling whoever cares to listen that the Constituent Assembly has no authority to extend its term.

 

There seems to be a tussle between the president and the premier for the leadership of anti- Maoist front in the country. In this self- defeating exercise, the government has lost the will to take the peace process to its logical conclusion and complete framing a new constitution by May 28, 2010.

 

Ever since the Maoists emerged as the largest group in the Constituent Assembly, there have been widespread fear about the real intentions of the party with an active militant wing — the Youth Communist League — and thousands of combatants currently interned in temporary camps. The Nepal Army has not forgotten that they failed to tame these guerrillas. The bureaucracy is apprehensive about its position in a governance structure likely to be dominated by political commissars.

 

Prachanda

 

The media has not forgiven communist guerrillas for their coercive methods during years of armed insurgency. The urban middleclass are fearful that they may lose their privileges if the status quo were to be disturbed. The Maoists may have their core constituency among the Dalits, janjati ethnics and rural poor intact, but these marginalised groups have low presence and little voice in affairs of the state.

 

Dahal knows that he needs something dramatic to stage a comeback.

 

He tried to sway the masses on the issue of civilian supremacy, hoping that raw memories of soldiers in newsroom during Gyanendra's dictatorship will make journalists take his side. It did not work — the middle class loves its military too much to denounce the institution. The Maoist supremo then tried taking ethnic rights activists on board by announcing autonomous states. That too failed to have the desired effect as indigenous communities have realised that their aspirations are unlikely to be addressed by a party in the clutches of Brahmans.

 

The new card that Dahal has pulled from under his sleeve is that of kneejerk anti- Indian rhetoric, a strategy that royalists used successfully for over three decades to maintain themselves in power.

 

Maoists chose Prithvi Jayanti— a day to commemorate warrior chieftain from tiny Gorkha principality who became the King of Nepal by defeating Malla rulers of Kathmandu valley in the late- eighteenth century.

 

The Maoist leaders have been touring disputed sites along the Indo- Nepal border and raising the issue of national sovereignty. It seems to be timed to play down the Indian external affairs minister S. M. Krishna's first official visit to Nepal.

 

Dahal sounds miffed at India for allegedly conspiring to oust him from power and preventing his rehabilitation.

 

He once censured Indian Army chief Deepak Kapoor for meddling in Nepal's internal affairs. Then he claimed that Indians wanted to see his alter ego Baburam Bhattarai as premier, something unthinkable in a hardcore communist party where the leader is always one — supreme, unchallenged and unquestioned.

 

Having taken on the entire Nepali establishment and the Indians, Dahal probably thinks that he has a world to win and nothing left to lose in this war of wits. The first casualty of his misadventure would probably be the new constitution.

 

With a restive military and an ambitious president, the future of democracy appears gloomy. The only hope on the horizon is that Nepal has come out of bigger trials and tribulations in the past relatively safe and this challenge too shall pass.

 

The Indian authorities guaranteed the 12- point agreement signed between parliamentary parties and Maoist insurgents in New Delhi on November 22, 2005. The main premise of the promises made by both parties in that document is that they would abide by the rule of law and give up violent politics. Part of the unwritten understanding was that the Maoists would be given a face saving device by allowing some combatants — estimates vary between 3,000 to 5,000 — to join Nepal's defence forces. Under the pressure of the army, parliamentary parties want to renege on their promise.

 

Insecurities

 

The Maoists had promised to give up violence and return the seized properties within an agreed timeframe.

 

This they do not want to do for the fear of losing their political base among the landless and the lumpen proletariat. The Maoists will have to disband their militant Young Communist League to gain the confidence of other parties. Unfortunately, even parliamentary parties have begun to form their own militant wings.

 

Dahal is hopeful of drawing Indian interlocutors back to the stalled peace process of Nepal. It is said that a superiority complex coupled with an inferior status is the worst psychological state — Dahal's anti- Indian outbursts are probably indicators of his deep- rooted insecurities.

 

The remedy lies in bringing him back to the table. He may not be a dependable politician, but his further marginalisation would undermine the peace process bringing the military brass back on top under the guise of the president's rule. To avoid that outcome, everything needs to be done to complete a new constitution and go for fresh elections, all under a Maoist- led government if need be.

 

The writer is a Kathmandu- based journalist and scholar

 

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MAIL TODAY

DINESH C. SHARMA

QUANTUM LEAP

 

THE FOG DOC DOES HIS BEST TO HELP

FOR ANYONE planning to fly in or out of Delhi — or any North Indian airport — the fog season is a nightmare. It was not like this always. Research shows that the occurrence of fog in Delhi has gone up by tenfold in the past half a century. Perhaps the air traffic too has multiplied by the same factor, resulting in chaos at airports every winter.

 

The question uppermost in everyone's mind is: what are we doing to tackle the situation.

 

Many studies now point out that growing fog intensity is a result of pollution from vehicles, industries, brick kilns and biomass burning as well as increased moisture due to the vast canal network in the Indo- Gangetic plain.

 

So, we need to crack down on all sources of air pollution and also take a hard look at the cropping patterns in the region and ensure efficient use of water. This solution is so complex that it may take years to make any headway.

 

The second question that crops up is: Can we at least predict fog so that we are better prepared ? Fortunately, a beginning has been made at the airport Met office in this regard.

 

We now have in place a " real time, round- the- clock fog monitoring, forecasting and dissemination system"— developed by a young meteorologist Rajendra Kumar Jenamani and his team.

 

Jenamani — a Ph. D from IIT Delhi is no arm chair meteorologist.

 

He has faced vagaries of weather himself — squalls, cyclonic storms, fog, cold, torrential rains, floods— while growing up in a tiny coastal Orissa village Jajpur and working with bare hands in groundnut fields.

 

His father was a devoted listener of weather bulletins on All India Radio and sometimes even used to forecast floods based on predictions made for areas in upper catchment of the Brahmani river which flowed through Jajpur, Jenamani recalled when I asked him why he chose to become a forecaster.

 

The forecasting model that Jenamani has developed has been successful for better fog prediction, though all the information generated is not being acted upon by airlines.

 

He says initial data from the last fog season shows that flight diversions were reduced by as much as 30 percent due to better prediction. During the current season, there were 20 flight diversions on 5- 6 January when 6 to 8 dense fog hours occurred, while only 8 diversions took place on 6- 7 January when the fog duration was 12 hours.

 

However, to avoid delays for passengers, he says, greater coordination is needed.

 

" When visibility reaches zero at mid night and when we have issued a dense fog alert for the next morning, I do not understand why airlines continue to load passengers into aircraft and make them wait for hours till the fog lifts", says Jenamani.

 

Now the Met department is planning to disseminate its fog forecasts to public through text messaging, though it is already available on its website. Also, Jenamani says, only CAT- IIIB Instrument Landing System compliance aircraft must be allowed to operate during peak fog period which falls in the period December 15 to January 31 every year.

 

Getting a measure of heart disease

 

INDIA has a growing burden of heart disease— part of which scientists attribute to genetic predisposition of Indians to it. But it is largely a result of our changing diets and lifestyles.

 

Now scientists have found a strange connection — our environment can alter our genes and this, in turn, lead to heart disease.Researchers from Cambridge have found that specific regions of the DNA in tissues of hearts from heart disease patients contained certain anomalies known as DNA methylation, whereas those from healthy hearts did not. The DNA that makes up our genes comprises four " bases" or nucleotides— cytosine, guanine, adenine and thymine. DNA methylation is the addition of a methyl group ( CH3) to cytosine.

 

When bound to cytosine, the methyl group sticks out. This means it looks different and is recognised differently by proteins.As a result, methylation alters how genes are turned on and off. It is already known to play a key part in development of most cancers, and its role in other complex diseases such as schizophrenia and diabetes is being investigated.Now it is being linked to heart disease as well.

 

DNA methylation leaves ' marks' on the genome, and there is already good evidence that these marks are strongly influenced by environment and diet, says lead author Dr Roger Foo of the University of Cambridge.

 

The findings - published in journal PLoS ONE — deepen present understanding of genetic changes that can lead to heart disease, and how these can be caused by diet.

 

UNDERSTANDING GALACTIC CANNIBALISM

AN international team of astronomers — led by Puragra Guhathakurta of the University of California— has identified two new tidal streams in the Andromeda galaxy, the nearest galactic neighbour of the Milky Way.

 

Analysis of the stars in Andromeda's tidal streams and other components of its extended halo is yielding new insights into the processes involved in the formation and evolution of massive galaxies.

 

The outer halos of large galaxies are built up through the merger and dissolution of smaller " dwarf" satellite galaxies. " This process of galactic cannibalism is an integral part of the growth of galaxies," says Guhathakurta, who presented his findings at the American Astronomical Society meeting last week. The well- mixed population of halo stars in these large galaxies represents the aggregate of the dwarf galaxy victims of this cannibalism process, while the dwarf galaxies that are still intact as they orbit their large parent galaxy are the survivors of this process. The merging and dissolution of a dwarf galaxy typically lasts for a couple of billion years, so one occasionally catches a large galaxy in the act of cannibalizing one of its dwarf galaxy satellites. The characteristic signature of such an event is a tidal stream: an enhancement in the density of stars, localised in space and moving as a coherent group through the parent galaxy. Tidal streams are important because they represent a link between the victims and survivors of galactic cannibalism.

 

Dineshc. sharma@ mailtoday. in

 

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

COMMENT

CHINESE CHECKERS

 

A recent survey indicates that many Americans feel their debt-burdened economy won't be up and running anytime soon. In contrast, latest data shows China racing up the world economic ladder. Many say that, since the Soviet Union's demise, America as global top dog hasn't faced as stiff a challenge as now, with China's remarkable rise and big shadow - as the largest holder of US Treasury bonds - on the US economy. Overtaking Germany as the world's third largest economy sometime ago, China seems braced to outpace Japan soon and - some generously predict - even the US by 2030-40. For now, it's outranked Germany as the world's No. 1 exporter and outstripped car-crazy America in domestic auto sales.

Indeed, China's riding such a wave of liquidity-fuelled feelgood that its central bank has just adopted some restraints, including a surprise reserve ratio hike. Evidently, fears about its economy overheating - and creating asset bubbles - aren't groundless. But even beyond the context of the current global crisis, there are anxieties about the apparent emergence of a new bipolar order. Will China in future become a hostile Soviet-style competitor to America? Or will G2 represent a benign economic symbiosis? So far, US-China ties are marked by cooperation that can be endangered only at mutual risk. Both suggest this equilibrium will sustain, together with China saving less and consuming more and America borrowing and spending less.

Asia's dragon has done a commendable job of integrating with the global economy. But even as it pursues economic success, it must tackle two image problems. One, China's thought to be willing to use economic might to twist arms. Two, it appears unapologetic about tweaking the rules of the game of global trade. Time was when China was viewed in Asia as a welcome foil to America and US-dominated international lending institutions. Today, East and South East Asian nations feel threatened by the dollar-pegged yuan, since they rival China in home and overseas markets. Trade imbalances explain the considerable unease over China's recent free trade agreement with ASEAN.

China's inexorable rise may continue well into the future, but there are several imponderables along the way. Other nations may lose patience with current account deficits they see as owing to China's surpluses piggy-backing on currency undervaluation. Some analysts forecast an inevitable protectionist backlash which, while it won't be good for those raising barriers, will be worse for China's export-led economy. Some US voices have gone so far as to question the utility of free trade for America in the face of China's practices. With crisis-hit America on the defensive, it won't help the world - and certainly not China - if such voices are heeded.

 

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

COMMENT

ELECTRIC SURGE

 

The colour at the recently concluded Delhi auto expo - and the currently underway Detroit auto show - was green. According to a KPMG survey, auto manufacturers, both home-grown and international, are bullish on hybrid systems and battery electric power as technologies of the future. Toyota launched its best-selling hybrid model Prius in India at the Delhi expo, while the country's largest automaker, Maruti Suzuki, showcased a concept electric car. Tata Motors, Hyundai, General Motors and Renault also had electric or petrol-electric hybrid vehicles on display. But without adequate support from the government, India's green car revolution is likely to remain limited to displays in auto shows.

Manufacturers have previously expressed concerns that electric and hybrid cars would be unpopular in India, which is an extremely price-sensitive market. Because hybrid cars are imported into the country as completely built units, they are subject to a 104 per cent import duty, plus other taxes, which push up the cost of such a vehicle to more than double the standard price. The government is considering lowering the import duty on hybrids, which might make them more attractive to Indian consumers. But it needs also to introduce policies and incentives that encourage carmakers to manufacture hybrid and electric cars in India. That would not only keep costs low but also generate high-skill jobs in India.

As part of the deal, the government would need to put in place supporting infrastructure to encourage consumer adoption of these cars. At the moment, only one Indian manufacturer is working to develop hybrid cars. One problem with hybrids and electric cars is that the cost of the battery, which has to be imported, is high, driving up the overall cost of the car. Without incentives to promote their use, hybrids are unlikely to attract many customers. Electric vehicles won't become popular until the government builds or facilitates charging stations that allow users to recharge their vehicles outside of their homes.

Promoting hybrids and electrics makes sense in two crucial ways. One, given the nation's commitment to reduce carbon intensity by 20-25 per cent by 2020 as well as cut dependence on imported oil, Indian policymakers should embrace every opportunity to drive adoption of green vehicles. Two, it would position India as an automotive hub for the future, which will see the adoption of more and more hybrids and electrics.

 

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

TOP ARTICLE

LOSING ITS STRIPES

JEAN-PIERRE LEHMANN

 

When Martin Luther King delivered his legendary speech on August 28, 1963, it would have been impossible even for the wildest dreamer to imagine that in 45 years there would be a Black president in the White House. Barack Obama's election a year ago was the crescendo of the American dream.

It is ironic that this should coincide with what is certainly the tipping point of US decline. During the presidential campaign there was a photograph of Obama holding in his hand the book entitled The Post-American World, authored by Fareed Zakaria. The photograph was used by the Right to vilify Obama and accuse him of all sorts of sins, especially of being un-American or, worse, a traitor.

In fact, it is quite a good book, which basically states the obvious: the absolute and relative power of the US will decline over time, and hence it will no longer be able to dominate the planet as it did for most of the last century. By no means does the book present an apocalyptic vision of the future of the US, nor indeed is it pessimistic.

What the author argues is that the US will need to adjust to a new plurilateral world in which it will be first among increasingly equals. As the unilateralism of the Bush years ultimately forcefully demonstrated, US military power has significant limitations; this will intensify.

Though America's soft power is likely to remain supreme - and indeed it has been rebooted by the election of Obama - its economic and military hard power will inevitably deteriorate. So American universities will remain the magnets of the global brain drain, entrepreneurs from Hyderabad, Accra and Kiev will continue to flock to Silicon Valley with their energy and innovative genius, and American arts and fashions will set global trends.

On the economic front, however, the frailties of the US will be deeply exposed. The dollar will probably remain the international currency, but only because foreign holders of US treasury bonds will wish it. Though the US can be expected to maintain its competitiveness in a reasonably broad range of hi-tech sectors, by next year China will overtake the US as the world's largest manufacturer. China's rising manufacturing competitiveness is not just in the low and medium technology products category, but increasingly in hi-tech as well, notably in a number of leading 'green technologies' where it is surpassing the US.

America's growing economic vulnerability is compounded by the erosion of its military power. And the military costs in turn exacerbate the economic situation - the Iraq invasion has been estimated so far to have cost close to $600 billion, for which there have been no positive returns. While Iraq may remain a quagmire, it is Afghanistan that is likely to end up being a graveyard. Iraq may be chaotic and fraught with the tensions between its different communities, but at least it does have the semblance of some kind of state. It has infrastructure, a middle class and some highly educated people. Afghanistan has no semblance of a state, it has no infrastructure and the female literacy rate there is 12 per cent. Afghanistan has some of the world's worst human development indicators.

Can the US win in Afghanistan? When the US invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, instead of consolidating its position and seeking to "accomplish its mission", it rapidly diverted energy and attention away from Afghanistan to Iraq. It has never been able to recover the ground it thus lost. Thus even if winning today means no more than getting rid of the Taliban, this is not something the US is likely to accomplish.

Quite apart from the fact that eventually it may be easier for the US to extricate itself from Iraq than Afghanistan, there is the added complication that while there is a broad consensus of opinion in the US (and internationally) that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake, this is not the view with respect to Afghanistan. In choosing how to proceed with the war, Obama finds himself between a rock and a hard place; whatever decision he takes - to surge or not to surge - will almost certainly be the 'wrong' one for one reason or another.

That Obama should be presiding over the decline of the US is no fault of his own. Indeed, as noted above, his election has rebooted American soft power and if he succeeds in implementing a multilateral policy, he could considerably assuage the effects of decline. But the overall trend will not be reversed.

What happens in the US has obviously immense consequences for the rest of the world. For the last six and more decades, we (non-Americans) have been able to bask under the protective security parasol of the US and feed off the seemingly ever-expanding American consumer market. This is a situation we are unlikely ever to see again. We will need to adjust to weaker American economic and military hard power. The irony is that eventually it is perhaps non-Americans rather than Americans who may be most discomfited by a post-American world.

 

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

TIMES VIEW

THIS IS MERE ALARMISM

 

It is the same old tired argument trotted out once again. The UK government's adviser on childhood language development, Jean Gross, has announced - apparently, based on a study by a Lancaster University linguistics professor - that the linguistic growth of the current generation of teenagers is being stunted, limiting them to a vocabulary of 800 words a day, when a 1,000 words per day is supposed to be the minimum for adequate communication. As a result, she says, they could be making themselves unemployable. The culprit? Texting and internet chat rooms, of course. It is not an original take on the issue. This kind of conservative stand has accompanied every evolution in communication.

The only constant about language is that it changes. It has been a battleground for the cultural soul of countries through the centuries. The invention of the printing press, for instance, caused firestorms of debate, not to mention heavy-handed interference by church and state. It also democratised language, taking it out of the hands of the clergy and the feudal nobility. Of course, it was decried as perversion of religion and language itself at the time.

Over the past few years, we have been seeing similar reactions to the evolution of language as it adapts to modern modes of communication. A changing vocabulary is not the equivalent of a limited ability to express oneself. And judging employability as Gross seems to have done is logically weak as well. Workplaces are not static set-ups; they evolve as well, along with means of communication. To protest this natural process of change is to merely be atavistic.

At a time when there are general worries about the adequacy of education in UK - as indeed there are in India - it becomes easy to blame technology. However, even if one were to assume that the cognitive skills of teenagers have deteriorated in recent times - for which, one has to say, there isn't sufficient evidence - the cause could well lie elsewhere than the adoption of new technology.

 

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

COUNTERVIEW

SHORT IS NOT SWEET HERE

SINDHU MANJESH

 

For some years now, educationists have expressed concern over the diminishing language skills of school students. This concern has been heightened in societies where children are exposed to, and use, truncated word forms and spellings - the lingua franca of the virtual world. It's uncool to spell right; it's downright boring to construct complete sentences. And if you do either of the above, you are a relic of a time long past.

Well, as long as annoying babble and illegible shorthand were confined to the world of texting and chatting online - where chances are the parties involved understood what each was trying to say - one could just choose to tune out. But, the virtual world is not so far removed from the real one after all. What we do there, how we speak, the way we process information all seep into the way we conduct the business of living in the flesh. This holds true for the influence online communication trends have on our linguistic and communicative ability as well.

Reports now suggest that the average vocabulary of schoolchildren is shrinking sharply. In Britain, the government's adviser on childhood language development, Jean Gross, estimates that British teenagers, on an average, use a limited vocabulary of 800 words a day, less even than the 1,000 thought necessary for non-native English speakers to be intelligible communicators. This, she argues, would be a severe handicap for present-day students when they enter the workforce where they will have to speak normal and formal English. Coherent communication skills are, after all, among the basic prerequisites employers look for in prospective employees.

Tony McEnery, a professor of linguistics at Lancaster University, who has analysed over 1,00,000 words gathered from teenagers' blogs says that the third of the words are "yeah", "no" and "but". Wow! That's rich. Sure, language evolves with the passage of time. But what's happening here is not an evolution of language. It's simply a dumbing down. And there is a difference between simplifying language and butchering it. Where do we want to go from here? Towards more banal brevity or coherent eloquence?

 

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

PUNCTUATED WITH LAUGHS

BACHI KARKARIA

 

Laugh or you might be replaced by an icon. Or, more precisely,  by an emoticon. Or, even more precisely, by a smiley, This generic term covers a multitude of synergies. These can be summoned with the help of varying punctuation marks. A really happy one has two closed brackets instead of just one, like this :- )).  The same emoticon also denotes someone with a double chin, and if you want to show them quivering with laughter perhaps you could replace the ordinary bracket with a curly one, like this  :- }

 

Your friendly search engine will come up with all the possible permutations, and then some. But, today, I would like to present another use for this versatile icon. My proposal is prompted by something that's not at all funny. In fact, it is the eternal bogey of all self-styled humour writers. It starts as a nagging doubt and, before you can say 'Evil Empire' it has ballooned into a primordial fear. The end-of-our -world question is: "Is anyone out there laughing?" Or smiling? Or  -- cringe -even s much as twitching their lips ? 

 

You write a funny line, and then you throw it into the vast dark void. Is it greeted with a resounding roar of awe and appreciation? Or does it sink without even a little gurgle of recognition. We bravely bask in the former presumption knowing full well that the latter is the more correct assumption.

 

So, should the grin-and-tonic brigade be perennially condemned  to an illusory euphoria? Its labour, like the Marxist view of capitalism, carries within itself the seeds of its own destruction. The moving cornea reads, and having read, moves on without the teeniest indication of eye-grin coordination. People continue to react to a piece of general hilarity as if it were a physics chapter on specific gravity.

 

So, should we just wring our helpless hands or resolutely take matters into them?  Is there a way to throw a lifeline to the humourously challenged reader, and, in the process, save ourselves?

Yes there is. If television sitcoms can fill your drawing room with more canned laughs than there are baked beans in a tin, why shouldn't the reader of humour get a similar prompt?  Why not coopt the little yellow fellow, and insert a smiley after every clever play on ideas or words?  With the help of this visual bell, the reader will deliver the Pavlovian response, and life will again be 'all ha-ha, he-he'.

But, it could be quite crude  -- to say nothing of distracting - to be confronted by a  weekly column which looks like a condomless galaxy of  : s. It might also be insulting  to suggest that readers are as so wit-less that  they cannot recognise a joke even if it plonks itself on their lap, and offers them a pun-a colada.

So, instead, how about something a little more sophisticated such as lining up the requisite number of smileys at the bottom of the piece, like this  :::::? It may look like a star rating, but that's not the purpose. The idea is to put as many smileys as there are chuckle-points in the piece, and let the reader see how many s/he  can spot   -- and smile, grin, guffaw or roll in the aisles over.

The ploy has an added advantage. Print has been congenitally disadvantaged vis a vis the electronic media in an age when e-nabled audiences refuse to be passive consumers of news, but demand to be active participants. The smiley line-up can propitiate that deity called interactivity. You could even slip in an extra little :  and have them hooked for hours as, refusing to admit defeat and  humour-deficiency, they  keep re-re-re-reading  the article  to catch the elusive joke.

 

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

BUILDING PARTNERS

CHANGING TRACKS

NIKITA GARIA

 

The giant red blocks lightly held together by two-inch rubber wheels have always been my favourite toy. Trains fascinated me as a child, and the thrill of taking the little object round and round the toy track gave me such satisfaction as to forget about the world entirely. That was until i saw the real version. Real trains are huge and while approaching you at night in their usual rusty maroon avatars with wide beaming lights, they almost threaten to devour you; it's enough to scare a toy train-clutching toddler. However, that day it wasn't so much the sight of the giant-on-wheels but the humans on the ground that broke my reverie. The train came to a sudden jerky halt. Sleeping beauties and beasties apart, curious passengers went out to figure out why the train had stopped. Rumour had it that there was a dharna by the people of a nearby village who were demanding the extension of the railroad network. And hapless passengers like us bore the brunt of their ire.

A similar event a few days ago brought back this memory. Though their demands were similar, the residents of Tajnagar village did not resort to bandhs or violence. Nor was public property damaged or human life threatened. Rather, the villagers peacefully built a station for themselves, all on their own. A constructive way to channel the anger, one might say. After all, they had been demanding a railway station for nearly two and a half decades now but paucity of funds prevented the authorities from granting their demands. Even after its transformation into a profit-making enterprise, Indian Railways seemed to lack funds for the very purpose of its existence, which is to expand train services. I can say, as an optimist, that the people of India have realised their hidden potential - no, it's not their ability to construct railway stations, but a deeper sense of power. The kind of power that makes people do things they never dreamt of. And it's not like the Railways didn't know about the project - they did, after all, agree to stop trains at stations built by people. This sounds like a perfect public-public partnership; if such a partnership doesn't already exist, it must start soon. Very innovative and profitable it is, and as railway officials themselves find the idea to be financially viable, the sooner we have more such collaborations, the better for all of us.

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

SHOW THEM THE MONEY

 

As with its invention of the zero, India maintains a strange relationship with its 'national game', hockey. It prefers to rest on Indian hockey's history and hope that somehow, sometime, our players will suddenly shrug off their torpor and become regular world-beaters again. That, alas, is never going to happen. If the actual game has changed beyond recognition from the halcyon days of Dhyan Chand and other legendary wizards with their curved wands, what has not changed utterly is the approach of Indian hockey authorities to build a national team and sustain it. The deadlock between Hockey India and striking players may have ended with the former announcing that players will be "paid at the earliest" the amounts that they had demanded, but everything seems very murky with the taint of a crisis still very much hanging over Indian hockey.

 

The nadir was reached in 2008 when India failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. Again, that shameful failure was a symptom of an ailment that was left to fester. Hockey India President A.K. Mattoo's statement on Tuesday captured this rot: "It seems for [the players] money is more important than playing for the country." The very fact that someone entrusted with the job of encouraging India's hockey players introduced an either-or into the stand-off smacks of an inability to understand not only the nature of modern professional hockey, but also modern sports in general. An ad hoc product of the Indian Olympic Association, Hockey India, was the result of a 'tear-everything-up-and-start-from-scratch' strategy after the Olympics debacle. But quite clearly, the 'start-from-scratch' part was left hanging. Hockey India has reportedly agreed to pay the agitating players the Rs 4.5 lakh they had demanded. This includes Rs 75,000 per player for the Junior Asia Cup squad, many of whom are now in the national squad, Rs 50,000 per player for the Test series against Argentina, New Zealand and Canada; and Rs 1 lakh for winning the prestigious Azlan Shah Cup after 14 years in 2009. The sports ministry will now be working out a grading system for pay. This has to be made transparent and not put on a shelf to be doled out during every crisis.

 

Indian hockey, as victory at the Azlan Shah pointed, is not without talent or potential. But to feed this talent, one needs to incentivise players. Corporate sponsorship works once a system is in place and when results are there to be seen. What is needed right now is a professional authority to encourage professional hockey in India. And that can't come through bits and bobs, petty haggling and silly talk about 'play for the country, not for money'.

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

ON THE THIN EDGE

 

Different things trouble different people; but when it comes to personal weight, it can almost single-handedly bother everyone. So we are not surprised to read the variety of answers that have come out of a Reader's Digest survey that looked at how different people/countries react to this loaded issue. The poll was conducted in 16 countries and 16,000 people answered the questions.

 

No surprises, though. The answers, in fact, were all out there, a little bit of back calculation was all we needed to do. Is it any surprise that Brazilians feel the most pressure to be thin? After all, they have the carnivals, don't they? Or take for example, Finland: its citizens are most aware of the dangers of obesity. And, they are also the happiest people on earth. Got the link? Happy hormones, of course. China, the report says, is the country that swallows the most diet pills. Aren't they always in a rush to top everything? France is the country most likely to blame the Americans for this problem too. Well, the historic dislike was always there.

 

Last but not the least India. The study says the country has the highest number of husbands who want wives to get slim. Of course, most themselves are not too worried about their well-endowed bellies. Since we have often talked in these editorials about the safest policy of all — eat and make merry, tomorrow is another day — our vote for the most sensible country goes to Hungary which is least bothered about such weighty matters. There you're are just loved the way you are.

 

Any residency permit available?

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

ONCE UPON A TIME…

SITHARAM GURUMUTHI

 

The popular impression is that the composition of Andhra Pradesh is the result of the bifurcation of the erstwhile Madras Presidency and one part merging with the princely state of Hyderabad ruled by the Nizam after 1947. This is not true. The three regions of Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema and Telangana have been under unified control from times immemorial. In fact, the construction of Hyderabad was executed with contributions from all three regions during the times of the Kutubshahi Sultans as early as 1590.

 

The initial setback to the unified province occurred in 1770 when Hyder Ali of Mysore took control of present day Rayalaseema largely owing to the dubious role of the then Nizam who, unable to protect the coastal areas from the attacks of Pindaris and Gajapatis, tried to play a double game with the East India Company (EIC) and the French. When the EIC, which defeated the French, found out the Nizam's game plan, the Nizam made peace with the Company by giving it the rights over the Northern Circars in 1790, along with two other districts in lieu of not paying taxes to the Company. The areas conceded to the EIC were merged with the Madras Presidency. Thus present-day Andhra Pradesh was kept separated for over 160 years.

 

When the EIC, with the help of the Nizam and the Marathas, defeated Tipu Sultan, son of Hyder Ali, at the battle at Srirangapatnam in 1799, Rayalaseema was returned to the Nizam. This, however, was short-lived. When the EIC forced the princely states to sign military agreements to pay the salaries of their standing armies, the Nizam returned the Rayalaseema region to the EIC, which merged it with the Madras Presidency.

 

While the Nizam, left with the Telangana and a few other areas, might have succeeded in not having to pay any taxes to the British, one should realise that it was this development that marked the beginning of a long period of woes for the people of Telangana. Besides Urdu becoming an official language, Muslims got preference in government jobs. Telugu was not allowed to be taught in schools and the people of the region did not have the right to land holdings. Further they were subject to a plethora of taxes: birth tax, death tax, cremation tax, marriage tax, festival tax, profession tax and even a guest tax. Some light at the end of the tunnel appeared only when they were liberated in 1948 by police action.

 

While the people of Telangana were denied land-holding rights, Thomas Munroe, the then Governor of Madras Presidency went to the other extreme by permitting the farmers of Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema to pay their land revenue into the district treasuries, a privilege not available to the farmers in the rest of the Madras Presidency. Arthur Cotton, by constructing two barrages across the Godavari and Krishna rivers turned the Krishna, East and West Godavari districts into fertile lands. All this accelerated the pace of development in these two regions. While Andhra and Rayalaseema were merged into one state in 1953, all the three regions were combined into the present state of composite Andhra Pradesh in 1956.

 

Those on both sides of the Telangana debate should be appraised of all these historical facts and be persuaded to accept Hyderabad as the common capital for both Andhra Pradesh and a future Telangana on the lines of Chandigarh that is shared as a state capital by Haryana and Punjab.

 

Sitharam Gurumuthi is a Member of the State Planning Commission

 

The views expressed by the author are personal

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

THE WAR WITHIN

SAMAR HALARNKAR

 

Teenagers thrive on half-truths and absolute realities.

India was still Indira when I first saw those army regiments marching down Rajpath. To a small-town boy who came from the baking, backward Deccan — a land of quiet desperation, black magic and lost glories — a Republic Day parade conveyed an absolute reality: That these magnificent men marching to Saare Jahan Se Achcha were a cut above, that they could do no wrong.

 

A half-truth mired in a perceived reality fades hard. Whatever I may write today, I guess I still like to believe that India's defence forces, and its judiciary, are the nation's last bastions of righteousness.

 

With the judiciary closer to our lives, the incorruptibility of judges is a weaker half-truth, but it endures. For this I blame my father's old friend, the late James Sequeira Esq., a morally upright district judge in Karnataka. In a time before self-made tycoons and powerful politicians, the judge, collector and superintendent of police were the most prominent men in town. Yet, Judge Sequeira travelled in his personal car, a white Fiat. His wife usually travelled by a tonga or cycle-rickshaw. He practised all that he often preached to wide-eyed me, about simple living and high thinking.

 

Understanding a teenage state of mind is important because India is younger now than ever before. More than 550 million are below 30 years of age, and in their formative years, they will form warped realities from the half-truths on offer today.

 

The army chief is now accused by his rank and file of being soft on some of his generals in a dubious land deal. The Chief Justice of India is not only refusing to open himself and his justices to the Right to Information Act — as politicians and bureaucrats are — but is also seen as reluctant to clean up an admittedly overburdened but increasingly dishonest and opaque system.

 

If these gentlemen do not act immediately, they should never blame young people in this age of media-delivered reality for instant beliefs that permanently damn both institutions and damage India's strongest foundations. General Deepak Kapoor must realise that even modest hopes of filling his 11,000 officer vacancies will quickly evaporate.

 

Absolute realities don't die easily. So, it is important that the truths on offer not just look, but are, complete.

 

Even a depressing first brush with the dark side of the defence forces eight years ago wasn't enough to scrub my reality.

 

In consternation, I watched a neat patch of green — called the Field Marshall Cariappa Park, no less — being demolished in Mumbai's Colaba military area in collusion with a builder. All manner of law was sidestepped and ill-considered permissions granted by an unholy confluence of army officers, bureaucrats and politicians. Not surprisingly, representatives of all three branches of government got flats. My colleague Shailesh Gaikwad (now bureau chief at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai) and I reported the dark deal as it unfolded. The apartment block was delayed, but it was built, and even as I wrote it, I kept asking myself, "Have we got it wrong? How could army and navy officers be a part of this?"

 

So, I was less disbelieving but still crestfallen when news broke last year that four top army generals helped reverse an army objection to the transfer of 70 acres of land near an army base in West Bengal to a dubious educational trust run by a real-estate developer called Dilip Agarwal, a friend of Military Secretary Lt. Gen. Avadhesh Prakash, an officer who the Eastern Army Commander says must be dismissed. That may still happen, but why has he been spared a court martial, under which all army officers accused of wrongdoing, except murder and rape, are tried? As embittered junior officers point out, many have been court martialled for less: fake allegations of sexual harassment and pilfering the odd shipment of supplies.
Only one of the generals, Lt. Gen. P.K. Rath (once slated to be Deputy Chief of Army Staff, now thankfully dropped from consideration), faces a general court martial. The others, Gen. Prakash, 11 Corps Commander Lt. Gen Ramesh Halgali and Major General P. Sen, have been asked to explain their actions. The Eastern Army Commander said last month in an internal inquiry that Lt. Gens. Rath and Sen should face a court martial.

 

It is certainly true that these officers have not been proven guilty. But the Indian Army's summary court martials, introduced after the Indian mutiny of 1856, don't require counsel, detailed judgement or evidence.

 

In trying to find out why their regular army units had rebelled when the Punjab Irregular Force (PIF) — its origins in the old Sikh army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh — had not, the British found that a PIF commanding officer also served as judge and civil authority, feared and respected by his men. The army chief's actions presently invoke no fear among his officers or respect in the young nation beyond the cantonments.

 

Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan will see a greater erosion of faith, a process accelerated in his tenure, unless he starts doing the right thing quickly. As a three-judge bench of the Delhi High Court — an institution that has been a particularly strong votary for justice and truth this past year — said on Tuesday: "A judge must keep himself absolutely above suspicion." If Justice Balakrishnan appeals this judgement in his own court, the suspicion that he has something to hide will stay.

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

A THIN LINE

 

The controversy over the mention of caste against the names of Bihar's Pradesh Congress office-bearers, and the damage control exercise that the Congress had to swing into, draw attention to the thin line between the use of politics for caste-based empowerment and the use of caste for politics. While an important aspect of the controversy will pertain to the legality of the matter — the extent to which the debated list is an "internal document" and therefore not in violation of constitutional proscription of the public use of caste names — it should be borne in mind that there's little as sensitive as the question of caste in a country with a prolonged history of untouchability, discrimination and deprivation. Therefore, every unnecessary reference to caste should be avoided.

 

And what is the necessary reference to caste? The answer to that question lies in India's long march, far from complete, to the empowerment and integration of backward castes, which has significantly defined our post-independence politics. Dalit empowerment, for instance, would not have been possible to attempt without honestly projecting who they are and their plight. That was the rationale of the caste-based regional parties. However, as India moves on to a political narrative of growth and development, there is a general consensus that caste-based politics should now be integrated into a wider aspirational politics. For this purpose as well, to say nothing of the more elemental and traditional reasons of humiliation, insult or injury, the less we bring up an individual's caste the better for us all.

 

But if that is the use of politics in addressing caste injustices, advertising caste variety of members to attract membership or adherence to an organisation could be tantamount to the exploitation of caste for political gains, which is distinct from taking stock of caste representation internally. Political parties, regardless of colour or ideology, owe it to the people of India to take cognisance of that thin line demarcating the acceptable from the unacceptable.

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

 

When the Supreme Court ordered an investigation into the death of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in 2006, the message sent out was clear: there could be more to this "encounter" than met the eye. Some of this message seems to have percolated through: the Gujarat police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) found the encounter to be cold-blooded murder and arrested three senior police officials, including D.G. Vanzara, a deputy inspector general of police. Justice, it seemed, was finally taking its course.

 

Or was it? The CID officer who had arrested the police trio was soon taken off the investigation. The CID ruled out the role of any politicians. Sohrabuddin's brother holds that the chargesheet does not explain how Sohrabuddin's wife Kausar Bi went missing, and the solicitor general punched holes in the Gujarat government's version. The Supreme Court agreed. On Tuesday, more than four years after Sohrabuddin was killed, the country's highest court has stated that there seems more to the case than the Gujarat police's version of trigger-happy policemen hoping to earn "fame and name". The Supreme Court has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate the killing of Sohrabuddin and his wife "including the possibility of a larger conspiracy".

 

Each twist in this case has been disquieting. First of course is the honour-for-killings scandal, in which police officers frame innocents as terrorists and kill them for reward. The second twist is the extent of the intimidation — Sohrabuddin's wife is missing and was allegedly killed; the lone witness was killed off in an "encounter". Third, and more worrying for the long term, is the tardy, possibly motivated investigation that has caused the Supreme Court to repeatedly intervene. With the case now being handled by the CBI, it is hoped that the court's messages are heard. The repeated iteration of no-confidence in Gujarat's state police by the country's apex court must serve as a wake-up call. And the CBI — itself under fire for low-quality work — must pull up its own socks and bring this painful case to a just end.

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

NO RESULTS

 

Google has always had a bit of internal tension making its life difficult. On the one hand, there's its idealistic engineer, "don't be evil" self-image. And, on the other, there's the phenomenally successful tech company, one which essentially dominates Internet advertising, one to which so many of us turn when we've a question to ask that its name has become a verb. Cold business sense and idealism are usually a tough mix: and, so over the past few years, Google-the-company handed out concessions to the government of the People's Republic of China in order to tap the vast Chinese markets — concessions that could be seen as contradicting the "information should be everyone's" ethic of Google-the-idea. Google.cn, for example, blanked out search results related to the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989, as well as results about a corruption investigation into a company once headed by the son of Chinese President Hu Jintao.

 

But it looks, this time, like things have reached breaking point. Google discovered that the infrastructure supporting its free email, Gmail, had been attacked from China; that "the primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists". They, in return, said they are reviewing their China operations: in particular, they are "no longer willing" to continue censoring search results inside China — even though they recognise it might mean the end of their China operations. Of course, that won't be more than a pin-prick for them currently: China provides a mere 1.4 per cent of Google's 2008 revenue of $21.8 billion.

 

This is a confrontation that bears watching. Never in recent history has China's government, and its restrictions on speech and Internet activity, been so openly challenged — at least, never by an opponent of such reach and independence. The government might not back down, feeling they have too much at stake; but what will be the reaction among the highly patriotic users of China's active Internet forums? Will this be seen as an insult to China — or a call to arms? And then there's the even bigger question. Is Google simply bowing out of the China growth story? It might be surprising that a multinational that aims to dominate information flows believes it can afford to do that. Or is it betting not against China's future — but against a future in which China stays as restricted and controlled as it does now? If that's the case, perhaps on this one, Google-the-idea and Google-the-company are acting as one.

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

COLUMN

SUPREME BUT FALLIBLE

RAJEEV DHAVAN

 

Justice A.P. Shah's judgment in the Delhi high court on the applicability of the Right to Information (RTI) Act is as fine as any bench of the Supreme Court could deliver. This is not surprising because Justice Shah is one of the best judges in India today. What was at issue was the right to know information about "assets" officially reposed with the Chief Justice of India (CJI) pursuant to a resolution of the Supreme Court on May 7, 1997 and the chief justices conference of December 1999. If the Supreme Court needed to be reminded of the obvious, Justice Shah declared that these resolutions were binding on the judges. Not to accept their binding nature would have made a mockery of the solemnity of the resolution process. The thought that the Supreme Court and high courts are not bound by their own promise can only undermine confidence in the judiciary as an institution. Information about assets was to be placed with the CJI not in his personal capacity but in the institution of the CJI. Many CJIs have come and gone since the resolution was passed. None of them claimed the information was personal.

 

The Delhi high court took both a wide-angled constitutional view of the issue as well as a narrow view flowing from the RTI Act. The wide-angled constitutional view was that from 1973 the Supreme Court itself has recognised a right to know as part of free speech, election law and, indeed, in the judicial appointment case of 1982. It was on this basis that in 2002 the Supreme Court gave to the people the right to know about an MP or MLA's full background, including financial assets. How come judges were exempt from the very right to know under which parliamentarians had to make a full disclosure to the people? The right to know is a fundamental right following the free speech — Article 19(1)(a) — and life and liberty provision — Article 21 — and international conventions. The significance of this was insightfully acute in two ways. In the first place, even if there was no RTI Act, a citizen or subject could claim to know about things like the financial assets of those who rule us, including the judiciary. Second, that in interpreting the RTI Act a bold and expansive rather than a narrow interpretation would have to be given — even if it affected the judges who could not interpret themselves above the law.

 

As far as the RTI Act is concerned, it surely applies to all "public authorities" established or constituted under the Constitution — Section 2(h). Indeed, recognising this, the Supreme Court had appointed an Information Officer — Section 2(c). The right to information included all information right down to notes and diskettes "held under the control of any public authority" — Section 2(j). The attorney general's view that this information had to be held under some law is fallacious. Ninety nine per cent of information held by most authorities is not retained under a "law" but executive authority. The terms of the act are clear. Such an approach does a disservice to Parliament's clear intentions.

 

All this being settled, the next question was whether the Supreme Court could hide behind any of the ten exemptions provided by the act (Section 8). The Supreme Court's counsel concentrated on the fiduciary relationship clause — Section 8(1)(e) — and the personal information or "privacy" clause — Section 8(1)(j). Significantly the RTI Act overrode all legislations (Section 22). The "fiduciary clause" was really not relevant. Every law student knows that "fiduciary" relations have a special meaning relating to the administration of trusts including corporate management. To expand this further would swallow the act. This is equally true of the idea of "confidentiality". No authority can get out of the RTI Act simply by marking information "confidential". If so, the RTI Act would be ruined. The "privacy" exemption relates to personal information which has no relation to "public activity or interest". Tax returns, medical information, private relations would all be protected, subject to the public interest. Once the Supreme Court (for itself and MPs) had declared that information about financial assets related to public duty and accountability, this did not invade privacy. Most judges in

 

India accept this, why should the Supreme Court argue otherwise as a litigant?

 

The Delhi high court rightly emphasised that disclosures about financial assets are part of judicial accountability including norms of transparency. Ironically, when the Supreme Court judges in 2009 decided in favour of disclosure, they cautiously added possible restraints — not yet elaborated. Taking a balanced view, the high court held that a judge's notes and draft judgments not placed on record could not be disclosed. The efficient functioning of judiciary was protected but accepted international standards of information accountability were to be adhered to.

 

If at the attorney general's behest the secretary general of the Supreme Court was before the court, the latter cannot but have been instructed by the chief justice. Having placed itself before the high court, the Supreme Court should not exercise its right to appeal, so that it sits in judgment over itself. The chief justice has declared that the full court will decide whether to appeal. If that happens, no judge would be entitled to hear the case as they would be both litigant and judge.

 

The RTI Act is clear. If the Supreme Court wants the act changed, this has to be done by Parliament not by one-sided judicial law-making. Until such a law is made (and it should not be) the Supreme Court should not allow itself to twist the law in its favour. The attorney general wants to appeal. Is this his view or that of his client, the Supreme Court, and perforce, the CJI? Forbearance is an option.

 

The writer is a senior advocate at the Supreme Court

 

express@expressindia.com

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

COLUMN

WHY NOT TO LOSE YOUR COOL

COOMI KAPOOR

 

Deve Gowda's expletive-laden diatribe against Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa set a new low in political discourse. While our politicians do indulge in "tu-tu mein mein" abuse in public, usually it is the foot soldiers who do the name calling. But in this case it was a former prime minister who used language which would make a sailor blush. The B-word was uttered more than once, with Gowda accusing Yeddyurappa of even being ready to "eat footwear for money". Gowda also crossed another line by raking up the name of a former lady minister close to the chief minister, in a bid to embarrass him.

 

The issue that incensed Gowda was land acquisition by the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE). It was similarly over land acquisition that Deve Gowda's son H.D. Kumaraswamy had walked out of a coalition government with the Congress some years back. Gowda, however, maintains he reacted strongly to the "agony of the farmers". NICE wants to acquire land for the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor at a price which the farmers feel is too low. Of course, his rivals claim that he lost his cool because it pinched his own pocket.

 

Gowda's outburst highlights the deterioration of public discourse in the country. The growing tendency to vilify rival parties and paint them beyond the pale has made civilised debate between rival politicians almost impossible. Reaching an understanding even on issues on which opposing sides hold a common view — for instance, the pension regulatory act or the Indo-US nuclear deal in the last Parliament — becomes difficult in a vitiated atmosphere, where each side regards the other as untouchable. The unhealthy and unnecessary antagonism between political parties is reflected in the slipping standards of debate in Parliament. Scoring debating points laced with humorous exchanges and quick repartee was the norm in Parliament in the early years of the Republic, where differences in views made for spirited discussions without malice and ill-will. MPs were ready to appreciate the good points of the other side, for instance, Pandit Nehru as prime minister was one of the first to recognise the promise of the new Jana Sangh MP A.B.

 

Vajpayee. Nowadays MPs try to win the argument by sheer lung power, jumping into the well of the House or, at times, getting physical — as Amar Singh did in the last Lok Sabha session, pouncing on S.S. Ahluwalia.

 

While May's Parliamentary Code prohibits abusive language in Parliament, in the open political arena there is no such restraining order. George Orwell once pointed out political speeches are written largely to defend the indefensible so the terms of engagement can get pretty nasty. During election time, even seasoned politicians get carried away and their attacks become personalised. L.K. Advani stumbled badly in the last Lok Sabha polls by describing the prime minister as "useless" (nikamma) and the "weakest prime minister".

 

Neither remark went down well with the electorate. Indeed, experience shows that the public does not approve of name-calling. When Indira Gandhi remarked angrily in an election rally in 1977 that her opponents could "go to hell" ("Jahannam mein jana") her audience was disapproving. When Rajiv Gandhi used the crude phrase "naani yaad kar doonga" it was perceived as being in bad taste.

 

The late Pramod Mahajan often got into hot water for his smart-alec metaphors. When George Fernandes, while campaigning in Bellary, said that Sonia Gandhi's only claim to fame was that she married Rajiv Gandhi and gave birth to two children, he was accused of mocking motherhood.

 

Ghulam Nabi Azad's comment wondering how Vajpayee, a bachelor, could have a son-in-law, was not well received. Sonia Gandhi's description of Narendra Modi as a "merchant of death" (maut ka saudagar) backfired in Modi's favour. Another comment by Sonia, in a speech in Assam, that Vajpayee, then prime minister, had lost his mental balance, was considered beyond the pale. So was Modi's joke comparing Sonia to a Jersey cow and her son Rahul Gandhi to a hybrid calf.

 

Gowda, who has now to contend with angry protests by BJP supporters throughout the state, must surely be ruing his

 

ill-chosen words. While withdrawing his expletives and tendering an apology, he claims in his defence a lifetime in public life where he never uttered a word of abuse previously.

 

coomi.kapoor@expressindia.com

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

TO SHOOT WITH HONOUR

DEEPAK NARAYANAN

 

Watch a clip of India's seventh goal of an 11-goal thriller against Pakistan in the Amstelveen edition of the Champions Trophy seven years ago. Dhanraj Pillay steals the ball off the opponent's stick in his own half, sprints 40 metres, draws two defenders to him and then waits till they commit to the tackle before flicking the ball left to Prabhjot Singh who's charging down the centre as if his life depended on it; Prabhjot without breaking stride pushes the ball ahead into the striking circle where Deepak Thakur, half a second before taking his first touch, drops his right shoulder forcing Pakistan's goalkeeper to dive one way and then shoots into an empty goal. The whole thing takes less than 10 seconds: India 7, Pakistan 4. The players go wild, the crowd goes wild, and back home in India, the media goes wild. Revival on.

 

Can you put a price tag on that burst of speed, on that skill, on that passion? Probably not. And if you did try, the valuation is unlikely to revolve around a daily allowance of US$30 a day, or less, during tournaments, and nothing else.

 

The Indian hockey team's strike, less than six weeks before the World Cup in Delhi, has degenerated into a bit of a circus over the last couple of days. There were allegations and counter-allegations of greed and incompetence after yet another unproductive meeting on Tuesday, and loads of reactions from all over the country (none more dramatic than former players offering to return their Olympic medals).

 

The players felt insulted by the Rs 25,000 incentive they were offered, and said the officials refuse to understand the issue at hand. The officials say they don't have any more money, and that the players are being unreasonable. (A television channel has completely missed the point and started a pool to save Indian hockey, where viewers can send in money for the team. They are not asking for charity, they're asking for a salary and some respect.)

 

That the strike has brought the issue into focus is great, but there's a danger here that it'll get lost under this mountain of emotions.

 

Firstly, playing hockey for India, or any sport other than cricket for that matter, doesn't equate to a steady income. Players get jobs on the sports quota that pay them a salary, but concepts such as match fees or retainers are non-existent. Briefly, in 2003-04, K.P.S. Gill's Indian Hockey Federation had started paying a core group of players a monthly stipend of Rs 25,000 but that lasted only a year. Otherwise, what they get for playing for India is a per diem when on tour. That can't be fair.

 

Secondly, Hockey India's defence is that they can't do any more as they're an ad-hoc body, that they can't make promises that the next elected body is expected to keep. But then why haven't the elections been held yet? There was a November deadline, which came and went. They then set January 29 as the date before postponing that to February 7. The process of handing out of fresh affiliations has taken so long that it's hard not to ask: Will they go to the polls only when they're sure they'll win?

 

The team's official sponsors stepped in on Wednesday and put up an extra crore to end the current impasse, and generous as that is, it doesn't change anything for the long term.

 

In April 2008, the hockey fraternity in India was rejoicing the fact that K.P.S. Gill's and K. Jothikumaran's IHF had been overthrown by Suresh Kalmadi and the Indian Olympic Association. Twenty one months later, it's depressingly clear that not much has changed. Yes, the ad-hoc committee has organised more international tours, and traveling teams are staying in better hotels than they used to. Little else is different.

 

K.P.S. Gill said on Tuesday that this kind of strike would never have happened had he been in charge. That's probably true because the team would've been sacked at the first signs of dissent. He ran the game through fear and apathy. HI's version is negligence and apathy.

 

It takes all kinds to make the world, but you'd be hard-pressed to find an Indian hockey player, current or former, who thinks the administrators have done well, and that should say something about how the game's run in the country.

 

On Tuesday afternoon, two of the three players involved in that dream goal in August 2003, Prabhjot and Deepak, were sitting alongside their team mates facing television cameras in Pune and explaining to anyone who'd hear that they were asking only for what they deserved. Dhanraj, the original rebel, was at the Bombay Hockey Association, reiterating that this was the only way players could make their point.

 

The least you can do is hear them out without insulting them.

 

deepak.narayanan@expressindia.com

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

COMING BACK TO CONQUER

KUNAL PRADHAN

 

My adolescent years were wasted romancing the four major racquet games. There was a time when I could, with only little difficulty, execute the top-spin drive in table-tennis, the drop from the third line in badminton, and my favourite, the wall-hugging forehand in squash.

 

But the one stroke that always eluded me was the single-handed backhand on the tennis court. Whenever the ball came close enough to take a swing, my confidence would shatter, and my hand would automatically head south for a weak slice rather than the full-blooded drive I'd seen Ivan Lendl hit so many times on TV.

 

When I went to the US Open in 1999 (as a certified failed sportsman) for my first international assignment as a sports writer, I was most excited about witnessing some of the finest backhands ever hit — Pete Sampras's down-the-line whiplash, Andre Agassi's double-handed service return and Gustavo Kuerten's jumping crosscourt.

 

But it was a little-known Belgian girl, playing only her second Grand Slam, who provided a vision of pure grace in a first-round defeat to Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo. Then only 17, Justine Henin lost 6-1 6-4, but those who watched her play that day could tell that the fluidity of her stroke was for the ages.

 

Watching her go for a backhand was a rare treat in itself. She would run with her left hand loosely holding the racquet shaft, and then, at the last instant, pull it away to unleash a surge of hidden speed as the ball flew across the net at an unbelievable angle. More than the result, what stood out was the aesthetic charm of her single-handed arc. Not in recent times had a backhand been hit with such poise. In the years to come, John McEnroe would describe it as the greatest in history.

 

Henin went on to win 41 titles, including seven Grand Slams. Then, at only 25 years of age, she announced her retirement in the first half of 2008 while still ranked No 1 in the world. And, just like that, her backhand was relegated to YouTube memory.

 

Henin's return ahead of the 2010 Australian Open starting next week is one of the sports stories of the year, not just because tennis will get its most glorious shot back but also because the women's game has somehow been lost somewhere between the 200-kmph serve of the Williams sisters and the intense rivalry between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on the men's side.

 

That her comeback almost coincides with the reemergence of another Belgian, Kim Clijsters, is the boost her sport desperately needed going forward in an era where equal prize-money at all major events has failed to be backed up with equal interest. Men's tennis has produced a series of unforgettable matches over the last couple of years — Federer vs Nadal, Federer vs Roddick, Nadal vs Verdasco — while women's tennis has somehow been relegated to a sideshow where glamour comes before game. Ever since Anna Kournikova first transformed the sport into a series of hoardings with double-meaning taglines, the interest generated on court has paled in comparison to the buzz outside the field of play.

 

The poster girls — Ana Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic — are down in the rankings. The only constants at the top, Venus and Serena Williams, are surrounded by a bunch of similar-styled youngsters from eastern Europe who are more front office than box office.

 

Now, in 2010, with two women in the latter half of their twenties returning to resume battle with the Williams sisters, the excitement is bound to grow exponentially. In sport, nothing sells like a comeback, and Clijsters's US Open victory in 2009 had already set the tone for what could lie ahead.

 

The Belgians gave tennis its first epic match of the year last week as Clijsters beat Henin in a third-set tie-break to win the title at the Brisbane International. The most important moment came midway in the second set. Clijsters hit a deep inside-out, and Henin, lunging to her left, swung her trademark backhand for a searing crosscourt winner. Twenty months away from the sport, nothing had changed. They paused to exchange knowing smiles across the net, and the capacity crowd laughed with them.

 

Linked together, sometimes awkwardly, right from the start of their careers, the two could well make this women's tennis's year of the un-retirees.

 

kunal.pradhan@expressindia.com

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

IS CHINA THE NEXT ENRON?

THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

 

Reading The Herald Tribune over breakfast in Hong Kong harbour last week, my eye went to the front-page story about how James Chanos — reportedly one of America's most successful short-sellers, the man who bet that Enron was a fraud and made a fortune when that proved true and its stock collapsed — is now warning that China is "Dubai times 1,000 — or worse" and looking for ways to short that country's economy before its bubbles burst.

 

China's markets may be full of bubbles ripe for a short-seller, and if Chanos can find a way to make money shorting them, God bless him. But after visiting Hong Kong and Taiwan this past week and talking to many people who work and invest their own money in China, I'd offer Chanos two notes of caution.

 

First, a simple rule of investing that has always served me well: Never short a country with $2 trillion in foreign currency reserves.

 

Second, it is easy to look at China today and see its enormous problems and things that it is not getting right. For instance, low interest rates, easy credit, an undervalued currency and hot money flowing in from abroad have led to what the Chinese government Sunday called "excessively rising house prices" in major cities, or what some might call a speculative bubble ripe for the shorting. In the last few days, though, China's central bank has started edging up interest rates and raising the proportion of deposits that banks must set aside as reserves — precisely to head off inflation and take some air out of any asset bubbles.

 

And that's the point. I am reluctant to sell China short, not because I think it has no problems or corruption or bubbles, but because I think it has all those problems in spades — and some will blow up along the way (the most dangerous being pollution). But it also has a political class focussed on addressing its real problems, as well as a mountain of savings with which to do so.

 

And here is the other thing to keep in mind. Think about all the hype, all the words, that have been written about China's economic development since 1979. It's a lot, right? What if I told you this: "It may be that we haven't seen anything yet."

 

Why do I say that? All the long-term investments that China has made over the last two decades are just blossoming and could really propel the Chinese economy into the 21st-century knowledge age, starting with its massive investment in infrastructure. Ten years ago, China had a lot bridges and roads to nowhere. Well, many of them are now connected. It is also on a crash programme of building subways in major cities and high-speed trains to interconnect them. China also now has 400 million Internet users, and 200 million of them have broadband. Check into a motel in any major city and you'll have broadband access. America has about 80 million broadband users.

 

Now take all this infrastructure and mix it together with 27 million students in technical colleges and universities — the most in the world. With just the normal distribution of brains, that's going to bring a lot of brainpower to the market, or, as Bill Gates once said to me: "In China, when you're one-in-a-million, there are 1,300 other people just like you."

 

Equally important, more and more Chinese students educated abroad are returning home to work and start new businesses. I had lunch with a group of professors at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, or HKUST, who told me that this year they will be offering some 50 full scholarships for graduate students in science and technology. Major US universities are sharply cutting back.

 

Tony Chan, a Hong Kong-born mathematician, recently returned from America after 20 years to become the new president of HKUST. What was his last job in America? Assistant director of the US National Science Foundation in charge of the mathematical and physical sciences. He's one of many coming home.

 

One of the biggest problems for China's manufacturing and financial sectors has been finding capable middle managers. The reverse-brain drain is eliminating that problem as well.

 

Finally, as Liu Chao-shiuan, Taiwan's former prime minister, pointed out to me: when Taiwan moved up the value chain from low-end, labour-intensive manufacturing to higher, value-added work, its factories moved to China or Vietnam. It lost them. In China, low-end manufacturing moves from coastal China to the less developed Western part of the country and becomes an engine for development there. In Taiwan, factories go up and out. In China, they go East to West.

 

"China knows it has problems," said Liu. "But this is the first time it has a chance to actually solve them." Taiwanese entrepreneurs now have more than 70,000 factories in China. They know the place. So I asked several Taiwanese businessmen whether they would "short" China. They vigorously shook their heads no as if I'd asked if they'd go one on one with LeBron James.

 

But, hey, some people said the same about Enron. Still, I'd rather bet against the euro. Shorting China today? Well, good luck with that, Mr Chanos. Let us know how it works out for you.

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

BHAGWAT SPEAK

 

The lead news item in the latest issue of the RSS journal Organiser titled "Religious reservations violate the Constitution — Mohan Bhagwat" talks about a function attended by Bhagwat. The news story begins with Bhagwat's quote: 'The reservation being granted to some sections of the society by even going against the main spirit of the Constitution will divide the society. The government should refrain from this type of reservation. The so-called minorities are being given much more benefits in the country today than that is being given to the majority community. So much so that belonging to the majority community has become a crime,' said RSS sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat. He was addressing a sangh samagam organised at Magh Mela Parade Ground in Prayag on January 3. The sarsanghachalak was referring to the UPA government's attempts to introduce reservation in education and jobs as recommended by the Ranganath Misra Commission. Prominent among those who were present on the occasion included VHP president Ashok Singhal, former Union HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, former state BJP president Kesari Nath Tripathi. Coming down heavily on the political leaders who are dividing the society in the name of caste, religion, language, community and region, Bhagwat said these leaders have nothing to do with the security and main problems of the country. They want only power".

 

The news item in the RSS organ further adds: "Commenting on the violent agitation going on in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, Bhagwat termed it the handiwork of the political leaders who indulge in petty politics. 'It is due to this petty politics that the leaders are safe and the public property is being damaged there,' he said citing the views of Guruji who had said in 1962 that the states should not be created on the basis of language or religion. But unfortunately this type of problem is seen by all of us today. Commenting on the worldwide concern being expressed over environmental degradation and pollution Bhagwat said the problem of environmental pollution has come into being due to the exploitative western lifestyle and it could not be cured until the world accepts the lifestyle based on the Hindu view that teaches to take as much from the nature as we require. 'The only way to protect the environment is to adopt the culture that teaches sacrifice and the Hindu culture is that culture. We take from the nature only as much as we require,' he said stressing on the milking (dohan) of natural resources rather than exploiting them.

 

Malay discrimination

 

The latest issue's editorial, titled "India should be concerned about human rights issues of Pravasi Bharatiyas", says: "The Union government is very enthusiastic about holding the Pravasi Bharatiya International Conference with great fanfare as it is an occasion to canvass for increased NRI investments and win encomiums from the powerful non-resident Indian community abroad. But unfortunately, it takes little or no interest in addressing the problems of the less privileged Indian community which is looking for support and intervention in the face of near racial annihilation in countries like Malaysia. For the last many years groups of Indian origin people from Malaysia have been petitioning the Indian government of the serious racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing going on in that country. There are some two million people of Indian origin living there, majority of them are Tamil speaking Hindus. They are a proud, hard working, law abiding and tradition bound community. They look to India for cultural and spiritual inspiration. Now, they are seeking political initiatives also... This journal has on a number of earlier occasions reported state sponsored atrocities and discriminations, wanton destruction of thousands of temples, forced occupation of temple property, crematorium and religious intolerance in that country".

 

It adds: "India traditionally has cordial relations with the Malaysian government. India has large areas of mutual cooperation and trade relations with that country. The Indian government with its record of excessive pandering to Indian minorities can canvass and convince its counterpart in Malaysia to be more humane, at least be mindful of the UN Declaration of Human Rights which in itself will go a long way in helping the Indian community lead a life of dignity. It can also open a special wing in the Ministry of External Affairs to register and follow-up on human rights violations and religious freedom of Indian origin overseas communities. This is the least the Government of India can do as it hosts such self-serving jamborees year after year in the name of Pravasi Bharatiyas".

 

Compiled by Suman K. Jha

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

LET THE BANKING TEASE CONTINUE

It is difficult to imagine the heavily regulated and generally sober Indian banking industry being cautioned against risky banking practices. Yet, the ever-conservative RBI has expressed concern over an apparent interest rate 'war' between banks, particularly on offers of home loans. RBI's concern is directed at what are called 'teaser offers'. These offers entail a fixed (and low) interest rate for only the first year or two of the duration of the loan—for subsequent years, the interest rate is charged on a floating basis depending on the rates prevailing at different points in time. The banking regulator is worried about a potential 'payment shock' that a borrower may receive once the loan moves to a floating rate. If many borrowers don't repay their loans, there is a threat of a substantial rise in the non-performing assets on the books of Indian banks. The extremely risk-averse RBI would rather not contemplate such an eventuality. The US subprime crisis is the obvious reference point of their argument. However, in our view, RBI is mistaken in its caution.

 

Competition among banks is good for average retail borrower who needs cheap loans for car and home. If banks today are offering loans at 8% interest even for two years, then borrowers are benefiting, even if they have to pay higher rates later. It is reasonable to assume that borrowers are given full information about the schemes. RBI, instead of stifling growing competition between banks—Indian banking has never been competitive enough—should allow the 'price war'. Needless to say, Indian banks are hardly likely to lend recklessly in any case—that is not the way they operate. One big difference between retail loans made in India and the US is in the way collateral is managed. In the US, banks follow asset-based financing, so they will give a home loan on the basis of what the house a person is buying is worth. The risk is that if house prices collapse, the bank cannot earn back its loan even by taking possession of the house. Indian banks, on the other hand, prefer a cash flow based financing method. More than the value of the house a person buys, they will look at income flows and other, additional, assets. This, of course, means that it's harder to get a loan as an individual but banks err on the side of caution. The reality of Indian banking means that the system is still loaded against the aam borrower. But instead of reforming the system to make it friendlier to the needs of the aam aadmi, RBI continues to obsess with safety. That will mean little if hundreds of millions are excluded from cheaper finance.

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

SWEETEN BY REFORM

 

A major reason for the latest surge in retail sugar prices has been the decision of the Uttar Pradesh government—home to some of the biggest private sugar mills like Bajaj Hindusthan, Balrampur Chini and Dhampur Sugar—to ban the processing of imported raw sugar. The government claims that the decision has been taken to control law and order in the state—limited violence had flared up during the sugarcane growers' agitation on getting a better price for cane. In reality, it is simply an old-fashioned protectionist move to allegedly aid the local farmers. UP's ban has not only locked up almost 1 million tonne of raw sugar in ports, but has also discouraged private millers from entering into fresh import contracts. This is a situation the country can ill-afford, when imports are expected to set the tone for prices in the coming few months. An estimated 4-6 million tonnes of sugar will have to be supplied through imports, because the domestic crop will only produce around 16-17 million tonnes of sugar, while the demand is almost 23 million tonnes in 2009-10. Stopping the movement of raw sugar has pushed up retail prices in Uttar Pradesh, too. So, the UP government's decision is clearly not pro-people even within the state.

 

In the case of most goods, it would not be in the remit of state government to ban sugar imports. But then, as we have argued before, the interventionist policy framework in sugar isn't like that for any other commodity. Curiously, while the onus for framing policies on sugar rests with the Central government, the state governments take the crucial policy decisions on the raw material, that is, sugarcane. It is at this fundamental point that the tussle starts and political competition takes precedence over sensible economics. The UP government's contention that farmers will suffer if imported raw sugar is allowed into the state is dubious—supplies of just 3-4 million tonnes should not have much impact on cane prices, which are already averaging around Rs 2,400 per tonne. In a sensible move yesterday, the Central government allowed UP millers to process imported raw sugar at any location outside UP without bearing an additional excise burden. This should bring relief to consumers in the short run. But, any long-term solution needs effective loosening of controls, both by the Centre and by the states, so that sugar does not become a turf for populist political battles, where consumers pay a high price.

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

COLUMN

CHINA STILL REMAINS A TANGLED WEB

RENUKA BISHT

 

This New Year, plenty of eulogies have been written of the so-called Chinese decade. At its start, the US GDP was more than eight times that of China; it's barely four times larger today. By some estimates, the share of China's private consumption to GDP will overtake that of the US by 2020. An even broader historical sweep has many analysts reading the end of centuries of Western ascendancy into the new US-China relationship.

 

Beyond economic factors, new theses have emerged about the relevance of such sermons on democracy as America has preached through the previous century into the first. After all, the authoritarian Chinese state steered its people to great growth while the Great Recession decimated employment and markets in the US.

 

But there is a disturbing undertone to the China growth story that high-spirited eulogies cannot accommodate. There's a fear that, as far as political freedom and human rights are concerned, the bloody Tiananmen Square suppression of 1989 can't be buried as a footnote in history. Not yet. International businesses also sense this when they accept controls in China that they wouldn't in their home countries. The size and significance of the Chinese market means they don't want to get on the wrong side of its rulers or test their sensitivity. This explains why Google has hitherto kowtowed to Chinese censors. But, in a radical new development, the company seems ready to turn over a more aggressive leaf.

 

Actually, there has been speculation about Google reorienting itself in China since last September, when its country head Kai-Fu Lee resigned and set off an exodus of other local staff. There has always been a disconnect between the 'Don't be evil' motto that Sergey Brin and Larry Page proffered in their 2004 IPO document and Google.cn that was launched in 2006. While their mission document read, "We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served—as shareholders and in all other ways—by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short term gains," Brin and Page repeatedly caved in to demands for censoring search results in China. This was all about 'short-term gains' rather than doing 'good things for the world'. But industry watchers have been seeing this basic conflict coming to a head for some time now, and especially since September.

 

Two developments worth highlighting took place in the interim. First, Google weathered the Great Recession well. In the third quarter, its profits jumped 27% and topped Wall Street expectations. In China, however, while Lee led the company's market share to grow from 21% in 2007 to 31% in 2009, the local contender, Baidu, remained entrenched in the first spot. Whether it was offering more Mandarin-friendly searches or bucking Google at being the first to provide social media for conducting searches, Baidu has remained ahead. After years of compromising with government authorities to grow in the local market, Google's China returns remain an insignificant part of its global revenue. Conventional wisdom says the Chinese market is too big to walk away from, but Google has invested enough to really test this perception. It's actually in a position to defy it.

 

Second, not only have democratic reforms stalled in China, it has in fact been cracking down on dissidence with increasing intensity. Democracy advocate Liu Xiabo was jailed on Christmas Day. One of his last blog posts, before the detention, took note of how much harder it was to mobilise activists in the pre-Web days: "The Internet is God's present to China."

 

Google's plaint this week, posted under the title, A new approach to China, refers to highly sophisticated and targeted attacks on its corporate infrastructure whose primary goal was to access the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. It reads: "We have taken the unusual step of sharing information about these attacks with a broad audience not just because of the security and human rights implications of what we have unearthed, but also because this information goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about freedom of speech." And goes on to say that Google is no longer willing to continue censoring results on Google.cn, even if this means having to shut down the portal and the company's offices in China.

 

Not all companies have the luxury of sidelining the Chinese market and still continuing to grow. But we should not under-estimate the resolve Brin and Page are showing here. There are plenty of bigger and more insulated fish in the global pond, and none of them has staged as bold a confrontation with the Chinese authorities.

 

One must also underline that China has the largest number of Internet users in the world today. If Baidu alone rules, some fear that the Internet will deteriorate into an intranet. But in the face of the political storm gathering over China, it's more likely that consumers will drive it to a more democratic form. Just as, let's face it, they have driven Google back to its 'Don't be evil' origins.

 

renuka.bisht@expressindia.com

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

SPECTRE OF TURF BATTLE ON SPECTRUM

RISHI RAJ

Just when it seemed that the much-awaited and much-delayed auction of 3G spectrum would finally take place, it looks like all signs of movement forward may have turned out to be a mirage. We have been talking about 3G since 2006—models for auction have been designed, different arms of the government are apparently working (supposedly overtime) to have the desired spectrum

 

vacated from the defence services; now there are overriding revenue considerations for a cash-strapped government—yet some seemingly minor inter-departmental rivalry and inconsequential file notings threaten to stall everything.

 

The latest failure on the part of the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) to have the desired spectrum vacated by the defence forces and to come out with a time schedule to have the auctions completed on February 12 is a poor reflection of the working of the government. The differences were minor—with defence forces complaining about some interference in its signals by spectrum allocated to BSNL in some circles and the need to shift it to another band—issues that could be easily ironed out in due course rather than holding up the entire auction process. It seems that despite the eGoM, different ministries are just in no mood to listen to a single authority.

 

These are serious portents for the telecom sector—this auction is crucial as a firm indication of replacing the old system of administered allocation once and for all. But if the delay continues, sections of the industry can immediately put question marks on the efficacy of a system where auctions are a norm but where even a simple auction cannot be conducted in a span of three years. Since spectrum is the basic raw material for mobile operators that sustains even the normal mobile operations we have today, we can't afford a structure that breeds delays. Or else the basic survival of the 500 million-plus subscribers, growing at 10 million each month, and their economic activities that are dependent on such services would be seriously affected.

 

What is the basic problem, whose solution eludes the entire might of the government? Well, it's a very simple one. Before the mobile revolution took place there was spectrum in certain bands being used by a host of government departments, with the largest chunk being with the defence forces. However, with 3G services in mind, in addition to the spectacular growth in 2G mobile services, the department of telecommunications and the defence ministry entered into an MoU by which defence was to vacate 45 Mhz of spectrum (25 Mhz for 3G and 20 Mhz for 2G). In lieu of this, DoT was to make an optic fibre network for defence communications.

 

Now this has become a bone of contention between the two sides resulting in a series of exchanged correspondence, most of which is simple bureaucratic wrangling. The defence forces maintain that they will link vacation of spectrum with development on the construction of the promised optical fibre cable, progress on which has been quite slow. DoT reasons that spectrum was given to defence in phases and its vacation should also happen in the same phased way. Further, the Cabinet has approved the alternate network project and so the defence forces have no reason to feel that DoT is not serious about completing it in good time. More fundamentally, the two sides also disagree on who's the real owner of spectrum—defence or DoT.

 

It is this continuous quibbling that is leading to delays in the auction of 3G spectrum. Without the spectrum in hand, it's very difficult to conduct the auctions because the government plans to take the payment by the successful bidders after the auction while the actual allocation of spectrum would happen later—as and when the defence forces vacate the slots. But if there's protracted delay in vacation, beyond what has been promised at the time of the auction, there might be legal problems.

 

It's precisely to resolve such thorny issues that a plethora of committees have been set up. Sadly, despite the combined efforts of all of them in the last few months, no success has been achieved, as a result of which the first schedule of the auctions from January 14 had to be postponed and now, as reported by this newspaper, the tentative second schedule from February 12 is also highly unlikely. Any further delay would certainly make it impossible for the government to hold the auctions within the current fiscal, ending March 31.

 

If that were to happen, it would be a sad reflection on the policy implementation processes of the government, particularly in areas that need quick decisions and fast implementation. Perhaps what is needed now is intervention from the highest level, perhaps the PMO, which can call a meeting of all the sides and set the final agenda by which everyone has to abide.

 

rishi.raj@expressindia.com

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

FALLING BEHIND ON GREEN COMPLIANCE

NOOR MOHAMMED

India may have earned some goodwill from the international community by promising significant reductions in its carbon intensity of GDP at the recent Copenhagen summit. However, the real challenge lies in implementation. If India fails to meet the challenge, it might end up losing credibility. Unfortunately, the way India is implementing its planned switchover to Euro III and Euro IV norms for auto fuels does not inspire much confidence.

 

Significantly, the roadmap for the phased introduction of cleaner auto fuels was not an initiative of the government. It was prepared at the instruction of the Supreme Court. High content of sulphur and aromatic hydrocarbons in petrol and diesel posed a serious risk to public health. That drew the apex court's attention.

 

As per the national auto fuel policy put in place by the government, oil-marketing companies (OMCs) are required to comply with Euro IV fuel norms in 13 metro cities and Euro III in the rest of country from April 1, 2010. However, now it turns out that public sector OMCs are not prepared to meet the compliance deadline for Euro III norms and are seeking extension. The OMCs' argument is that their refineries might not be ready in time to deliver adequate quantity of Euro III grade auto fuels.

 

The government announced the auto fuel policy in 2003 and OMCs had enough time to implement their product quality upgrade projects to meet the mandatory deadline. However, they have failed to do so. It is incomprehensible why they were so casual in their preparation to comply with the schedule. Were they reluctant to make the required investment in projects not economically profitable for them, and were banking on the government to bail them out?

 

The petroleum ministry is supposed to ensure that OMCs comply with the deadline for the introduction of these cleaner fuels. However, it failed to crack the whip on OMCs. Now the ministry is favourably inclined to their request for extension. Unintentionally, the ministry is sending the wrong message to the international community about India's preparedness to deliver on its carbon emission reduction promise.

 

noor.mohd@expressindia.com

 

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THE HINDU

EDITORIAL

SEIZING THE MOMENT

 

For most of the past four decades, India and Bangladesh have been distant neighbours, separated by distrust and suspicion despite their visceral connections of geography and ecology, language and culture, economics and politics. There have been periods of acute stasis and also moments of hope, when a basic transformation in the relationship seemed possible. But never before has the overall situation been quite as propitious as it is now. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is i n his second tenure as the head of the United Progressive Alliance government and the position of India as a growth pillar in South Asia and the world means the logic of regional integration is more compelling than ever before. In Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina Wajed is once again Prime Minister, this time with a majority so convincing that she need not keep looking over her shoulder to second guess what the Bangladesh National Party of Khaleda Zia might say or do in response to the improvement in bilateral ties with India. Notwithstanding the benign domestic political situation the Congress and the Awami League find themselves in, the governments have a two-year window to bring about a fundamental shift in the structure and content of the bilateral relationship before electoral compulsions kick in once again. And judging by the success of Sheikh Hasina's recent visit to Delhi, a fine start has been made.

 

India has promised a $1 billion line of credit to Bangladesh and a pruning of the negative list of Bangladeshi products that are denied preferential access to Indian markets. It has also agreed to push for better border connectivity so that bilateral trade can increase, and Teesta water sharing has been flagged for discussion. On its part, Bangladesh has dropped its opposition to granting India transit rights. The Agartala-Akhaura rail link will now be developed, creating the potential for railway freight to be sent from Kolkata to Tripura and thence to the rest of the North-East via Bangladesh. On the security front, Dhaka demonstrated its willingness to accommodate Indian concerns by facilitating the handover of ULFA leader Paresh Barua. All this suggests that both countries are serious about opening a new chapter. But one ought not to minimise the challenges that lie ahead. One test will be whether India is prepared to allow Bangladeshi garment manufacturers preferential market access. Another will be its willingness to craft agreements on the equitable sharing of all river waters. As the bigger economy, India needs to go the extra mile in giving a boost to its neighbour's economic potential, especially considering that Sheikh Hasina has moved so far in addressing longstanding Indian requests on transit.

 

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THE HINDU

EDITORIAL

ON A STRONG WICKET

 

The rupee touched a 16-month high of Rs.45.34 against the dollar on Monday, January 10. The trend of rupee appreciation that began in March-April 2009 has accelerated in the new year. The rupee gained almost three per cent in less than 10 working days. In the middle of the previous week, the rupee breached the Rs.46 mark. The Indian currency's strong showing is in line with the strengths exhibited by most Asian currencies recently. Between December 31 and January 6, the Korean won moved up from 1164.000 to 1136 in relation to the dollar, and the dollar also lost ground against the Malaysian ringgit and the Thai baht. The yen moved up rather sharply from 93.02 to 92.20. In a broad sense, the strength of the Asian currencies is attributable to the relatively robust turnaround of their economies in the post-recession period. In contrast, the recovery in the United States has been tepid as well as uneven. The currency markets saw a mild rally in dollar when reasonably positive employment data emerged during the first week of December. However, the unexpectedly large unemployment figures released at the end of the month accentuated the depreciation of the dollar. It is no surprise that economic news from the U.S. continue to have such a major influence on other currencies even after the global crisis. All talk of replacing the dollar as the world's reserve currency has proved to be premature and the American currency retains it pre-eminent position in international trade and currency dealing rooms.

 

In India, the recent gains by the rupee are attributed to a spurt in foreign institutional investment (FII). During 2009, FII flows were estimated at around $17.5 billion. The volume, below the peak in 2007, is high enough to signal a revival of interest in India. There is every likelihood that these flows will swell or at least be sustained as long as returns from India are seen to be higher than in the developed world. A recent statement by the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman ruling out monetary tightening for now is positive news for stock markets: cheap dollar funds will continue to be available for investment abroad. The Reserve Bank of India has not intervened so far probably because a continuous mop up of dollars will mean a large accretion to reserves. Also, domestic liquidity that is already high will increase manifold, fuelling inflation expectations. The strong rupee hurts exports, now recovering after a long period of decline. The forthcoming monetary policy statement will make clear how the balance is to be struck among the conflicting objectives.

 

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THE HINDU

LEADER PAGE ARTICLES

CHOICES BEFORE THE AFGHAN CONFERENCE

ACCORDING TO GORDON BROWN, THE AIM OF THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN LONDON ON JANUARY 28 WOULD BE TO DELIVER "A NEW COMPACT BETWEEN AFGHANISTAN AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY."

M.K. BHADRAKUMAR

 

An international conference in London on January 28 will focus on the eight-year-old war in Afghanistan. Some 70 delegations, including from India, may attend the conference, co-chaired by the Secretaries-General of the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The challenge is daunting as the Afghan war is no more redeemable.

 

An international conference is always an organic entity that evolves in its run-up, especially when an old warhorse like Britain happens to be the master of ceremonies. What began as an angry demand to rationalise the waywardness of the United States strategy in Afghanistan has transformed beyond recognition. Last September, the German contingents in the Amu Darya region perpetrated a horrific war crime by ordering a NATO airstrike on an impromptu gathering of poor Afghans helping themselves to free fuel from a tanker stuck in a bend in the Kunduz river. The German psyche chaffed, having vowed never again to commit war crimes. Reacting to a public outcry on the eve of a tricky national election, Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded that the international community draw a clear timeline to "Afghanise" the war so that Berlin could contemplate an exit strategy.

 

French President Nicolas Sarkozy came to Ms Merkel's rescue and they addressed the U.N. to hold an international conference to set a timeline for the Afghan government to assume the responsibility of the war. It fleetingly seemed as if the tipping point had been reached. Britain promptly appeared on European mainland. Empathising with the German-French demand, it offered to host the conference. Washington seemed disinterested but observers could anticipate that the London conference would be an Anglo-American enterprise.

 

These footfalls must echo in the memory in order to put the conference in perspective. To be sure, Britain will host a gala event — "all 43 powers engaged in the international coalition will attend, together with other regional and Muslim partners and international organisations." Prime Minister Gordon Brown justified that it was "right" for Afghanistan's regional neighbours (such as India) to attend, since "it is very important to recognise that in the longer term, Afghanistan's future is dependent on both non-interference by its immediate neighbours and economic and cultural cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours."

 

Mr. Brown said the aim of the conference would be to deliver "a new compact between Afghanistan and the international community." He underscored that "the first of those priorities is security," which meant expectations that countries like Germany might actually announce "troop deployments building on the total of 1,40,000 troops promised for 2010." Yes, incredible as it sounds, Ms Merkel might actually end up pledging more deployments on top of the 4,500 troops already serving in northern Afghanistan. The German press is reporting about parleys among Berlin politicians to arrive at a consensus figure.

 

Indeed, U.S. Presidents George Bush and Barack Obama have introduced a new subplot to Clausewitzean wars — you raise troop level and rev up the war and thereafter decide when to freeze it and on what terms ("the status of forces agreement," as in Iraq). Mr. Brown said: "I hope the London conference will also be able to set out the next stage in a longer-term plan: the changing balance between [NATO] alliance forces and the Afghan army and defence forces as the number of Afghan forces increases from 90,000 to 1,35,000 next year and possibly to 1,75,000 later." He touched, en passant, on the core issue of "Afghanisation" which, in his view, would form only the second priority — setting out an "outline programme for the transfer of the lead responsibility" to the Afghan forces, which he hoped could begin during 2010.

 

British diplomacy is famous for its tenacity. Mr. Brown said: "London must also encourage a new set of relationships between Afghanistan and its neighbours and, in particular, better joint working with Pakistan." Thus is born a brand new key theme of the conference — Britain will actively work on the setting up of a "regional stabilisation council." After all, as an erstwhile imperial power, that is the least Britain can do for regional stability. The energetic Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, is already trudging the long and lonely diplomatic mill towards the proposed regional council.

 

Meanwhile, the genie is out of the bottle: Mr. Obama's December 1 strategy never intended to focus on a U.S. withdrawal plan. The plain-speaking U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke said on December 7 that Mr. Obama's mind was being widely misinterpreted, in particular the mid-2011 date in his strategy speech six weeks ago. "It's not a withdrawal, but the start of a responsible transition in which American combat troops will begin to draw down," said Mr. Holbrooke, adding another review by Mr. Obama would look at the issue again in December.

 

Mr. Holbrooke was shepherding an attentive gathering of American think-tankers to think straight instead of meandering into silly notions of a U.S. troop withdrawal. He underlined that the U.S. had more important issues to worry about such as promoting reconciliation between the Afghan government and the "relatively moderate" Taliban elements. Mr. Holbrooke, who is in Islamabad for consultations with the Pakistani civilian and military leadership, says the reconciliation process with the Taliban is "high on our personal priority list." Indeed, he already has an able and highly experienced deputy positioned in Islamabad to assist him — Ambassador Robin Raphel, who as Assistant Secretary of State in the Bill Clinton administration was exceptionally well regarded by the Taliban leadership in Kandahar.

 

In essence, the idea of the "good Taliban" refuses to go away. Mr. Holbrooke explained: "They [Taliban] fight for various reasons; they are misled about our presence there. They have a sense of injustice or personal grievances. Or they fight because it's part of the Afghan tradition that you fight outsiders and they have the NATO/U.S. presence conflated with earlier historical events, some of which [read Soviet intervention] are not too far in the past." Therefore, the U.S. strategy's priority in 2010 will be to win over the "non-ideological militants" and entice them to quit the fight and instead help the U.S. forces turn the tide of the war. "It's absolutely imperative that we deal with this issue. If we don't deal with it, success will elude us."

 

Some other templates have also appeared before the London conference. Washington has resumed its covert war of attrition against Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The U.S. has realised that it does not squander much smart power to persuade the inexperienced Afghan parliamentarians to reject those of Mr. Karzai's Cabinet nominees in Kabul who are not Washington's blue-eyed boys — and thereby cast the President in the bazaar as a weak leader as well as debilitate him by breaking up his pan-Afghan coalition of supporters. Washington wants the decks cleared for a "regime change" in Afghanistan as soon as the co-option of the Taliban on its terms is completed.

 

Conceivably, Mr. Obama cannot be a "hands-on" President as regards such political skulduggery in Kabul, but the stench of the eddy is bound to strike his nostrils some day. Mr. Karzai defiantly said last week: "With the international community, I don't need to have their favour … The international community, especially the West, they must respect Afghanistan and its government, and understand that we are a people, we are a country, we have a history, we have interests, we have pride, we have dignity. Our poverty must not become a means of ridicule and insult to us … We're not going to ask [the London conference] for more cash. We are going to ask the international community to end night-time raids on Afghan homes. We are going to ask them to stop arresting Afghans. We are going to ask them to reduce and eliminate civilian casualties … the war on terror is not in Afghan villages. It's not in the pursuit of every man that's wearing a turban and has a beard."

 

Mr. Karzai has reason to be indignant. He just received the report of the Afghan investigation team which looked into the massacre of civilians in two recent U.S. military operations. A statement on Mr. Karzai's website said: "The delegation concluded that a unit of international forces descended from a plane Sunday night into Ghazi Khan village in Narang district of the eastern province of Kunar and took ten people from three homes, eight of them schoolchildren in grades six, nine and ten, one of them a guest, the rest from the same family, and shot them dead." Mr. Karzai's call to the U.S. to hand over the killers has fallen on deaf ears.

 

The non-NATO participants at the London conference such as India will face a tough call as to how far it is in their interest to identify with the patently unilateralist Anglo-American agenda. The bottom line will always be that India should never consider deploying troops in Afghanistan. Fortunately, the U.S. will never disregard Pakistani sensitivities and invite New Delhi, either.

 

(The writer is a former diplomat.)

 

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THE HINDU

FROM ELUSIVE CURE TO ENABLING COMFORT

WE MUST CONSIDER QUALITY OF LIFE AND WELLNESS AS TREATMENT OUTCOMES AND ASK OURSELVES WHETHER THE TREATMENT WE OPT FOR WILL HELP US ACHIEVE THESE OUTCOMES.

ENNAPADAM S. KRISHNAMOORTHY

 

Quality of life is a relatively novel concept that dominates both medical science and health policy today and is widely accepted as the best indicator of outcome of treatment. The focus among practitioners of modern medicine, and indeed, in social consciousness, however, remains firmly on the elusive concept of "cure." The adage among medical practitioners of yore: "to cure sometimes, control often; but comfort always," hints at the importance of l ife quality, one that is forgotten, however, in the quest for miracle cures.

 

That the majority of chronic conditions defy cure is something doctors know, but often choose to be agnostic of. Thus apart from infections, inflammations, metabolic disturbances and transient visitations of their ilk, that respond well to drugs designed to terminate them; and indeed abnormalities of structure (organs that have lost structural integrity) that are amenable to surgical intervention, the vast majority of medical conditions while potentially controllable, are not curable. Diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol levels, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, epilepsy, dementia and a host of other conditions while "treatable" and/or "modifiable" (relief from clinical symptoms and attendant complications) are not "curable." The promise of a "cure" for many chronic diseases thus remains wishful; that rainbow with its elusive pot of gold, at the end of the dark, illness cloud.

 

There is no doubt we are living longer as a society, and this longevity is attributable, in great part, to advances in modern medicine; cardiac bypass procedures, joint replacements, organ transplants and such like. There is ample evidence to support our collective social longevity, the average Indian lifespan having increased by over a third, since the time of independence, the increase being greater in "advanced" societies like Japan. However, whether such longevity leads automatically to enhanced quality of life remains a conjecture. For example, the follow-up data after a cardiac bypass surgery, arguably the best known lifespan enhancing procedure, shows in many studies high rates of depression and cognitive dysfunction (memory and higher order brain function problems) 5-10 years after the procedure. It would be fallacious to blame the bypass procedure for these complications in the brain and mind; after all, had the person with ischaemic heart disease lived long enough, without the procedure, he might have developed these anyway. However, in evaluating the overall "success" of such procedures or advocating their widespread application through policy implementation, these factors must be considered carefully. In this instance, the question that begs our attention is: "while the procedure enhances lifespan, does it enhance the quality of life?" And if it does not for a select group, who constitutes the group? Why not for it? When does it enhance the quality of life, and when doesn't it? What determines the outcome in a given individual? Where and how is this outcome determined? These questions need clear answers and we do not always have them.

 

It is striking how both modern medicine and society are obsessed with the concept of "cure," the quest for magic pills (or, indeed, magic procedures) that will help achieve the longevity goal, being never ending. The energy, enterprise and expense invested in this quest, by affected individuals, their families, and governments are, unfortunately, not always rewarded with a good quality of life after the procedure. Our obsession with "cure" probably comes from two very different directions. The first is idealistic; the tantalising possibility that we will, through advancements in science and technology, "fix" the vast majority of problems concerning the human body. When mankind has learnt to fly, build tunnels through mountains and under the sea, and transport itself into space at will, this aspiration of curing chronic diseases and enhancing longevity does not really seem that distant a frontier.

 

The second, however, probably has more sinister origins that merit careful consideration. The business of curative medicine is enormously lucrative and demands the constant creation of markets that will utilise the goods and services it develops. What could interest the human race more than the possibility of a cure for illness and life-enhancement (with or without quality)? A degree of scepticism of novel, potentially curative treatments is, therefore, warranted in the modern social context, and we must examine carefully whether the promise of "a magic cure" for any chronic condition guarantees alongside an improvement in the quality of life. Thus, while we share a collective belief that people not only live longer due to advances in medical science but also live well, the presumption of a better quality of life, is sadly, in many instances, just that — a presumption!

 

Scientifically viewed, the proof that many modern medical treatments enhance the life quality remains tenuous, to say the least. At a recent lecture in VHS, Chennai, Shah Ebrahim, Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Chair of the South Asian Chronic Diseases Network, a renowned international expert on chronic disease epidemiology, rued our societal predilection for magic bullets (The Hindu, January 9, 2010). Talking about the "polypill" — a combination of aspirin (blood thinner), a Statin (to lower cholesterol levels), and antihypertensive agents (to lower blood pressure) — that is intended to enhance cardiovascular health, he pointed out that simple health promotion measures such as changing over to rock salt from processed salt (high in sodium) and using soya oil as opposed to palm oil (which strangely attracts a lower tax probably due to anomalies in trade policy) were just as likely to improve cardiovascular health. These are far cheaper for governments to implement, and relevant to developing nations.

 

Prescribing the widespread use of the polypill for the middle-aged, as opposed to implementing these simple public health interventions through changes in policy, both health and trade, will be deleterious in many ways, he opined. It will be costly to the nation and poorly sustainable, will have low penetration in society and perhaps, most importantly, take away the responsibility for our health from us, placing it firmly in the hands of the pharmaceutical industry. Further, the former approach, of making people assume responsibility for their lifestyle and diet, alongside the implementation of a complementary government lead policy, is far more likely to enhance other desirable health behaviours in society and, indeed, global health outcomes.

 

Why do we then as a society look to the "polypill" with such enthusiasm or consider it with such seriousness? The answer probably lies in our preference for "cure" as opposed to comfort and life quality. Happily for us, improved quality of life and "wellness," a concept that has traditionally dominated eastern thought and traditional medical systems, is today receiving much global attention. Wellness encompasses both physical and mental well-being, the latter being a dynamic state of optimal functioning referring to the individual's ability to develop his or her potential, work productively, build strong and positive relationships with others and contribute to the community. We must recognise that the prevention and management of diabetes extend far beyond the popular notion of blood sugar control; that cardiac health cannot be achieved merely by unblocking blood vessels and enhancing circulation through a stent or bypass; and indeed that the drugs for dementia available today do not even guarantee slowing of disease progression, let alone cure or reversal.

 

Given this scenario, we as a nation and society must consider quality of life and wellness as treatment outcomes, quite seriously, and ask ourselves whether the treatments we are considering, however technologically advanced and seductive, will likely help us achieve these outcomes. We would also do well to examine closely the role of traditional and indigenous medical systems that have for centuries retained this focus on wellness and life quality through health promotion, prevention of illness, care and comfort for those affected with chronic illness; not merely curative treatments.

 

(Dr. Ennapadam S. Krishnamoorthy is Honorary Secretary, Voluntary Health Services Hospital, Chennai. The views expressed herein are his own.)

 

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THE HINDU

LOOKING PAST THE FACADE OF ROSARNO AFTER RIOTS

IN A BROAD SENSE, THE WORST IMMIGRANT RIOTING EVER SEEN IN ITALY CUTS TO THE HEART OF THE NATION'S DIFFICULT EVOLUTION FROM A PLACE OF EMIGRANTS TO ONE OF IMMIGRANTS.

RACHEL DONADIO

 

The official figures show there are 1,600 agricultural workers in Rosarno, Italy, all but 36 of them Italians. The reality, exposed by the raw and violent riots last week, was far different: some 1,200 foreigners, most of them Africans, earned about $30 a day under the table picking oranges and clementines. Now that the town is largely cleared of foreign labour, the fruit remains on the trees. In other places, $30 is not a living wage. But this is one of the poorest parts of Italy, and many local people do not earn much more, even if most will not pick fruit.

 

In a broad sense, the worst immigrant rioting ever seen in Italy — shocking not only because of the anger of migrants but also for the attacks on them by townspeople — cuts to the heart of the nation's difficult evolution from a place of emigrants to one of immigrants.

 

But it is also a story fixed to Rosarno. The economy is so weak here that locals and immigrants are competitors. In a town where people are reluctant to reveal their last names and often their first, a mysterious element complicates any full understanding of the riots: the ongoing strength of the Calabrian Mafia, or `Ndrangheta, which has deep roots in agriculture. The son of a local organised crime boss was arrested and accused of wounding a policeman in the riots, suggesting that the mafia may have orchestrated the locals' response to the immigrants' violence.

 

"It's a very, very complicated situation," said Francesco Campolo, a police prefect who is one of three interim commissioners appointed by the region to govern Rosarno since the arrest last year of the mayor, who was charged with having organised crime ties. This week, the absence of immigrants, 1,200 of whom were whisked by bus and train to detention centres over the weekend, was clear. On Tuesday, fire-fighters demolished a former factory that served as seasonal housing for many migrants.

 

Authorities are investigating these central questions: How did the protests become so violent? Who, if anyone, orchestrated the citizens' retaliation? And who benefits from the immigrants' temporary or perhaps permanent disappearance from the area? Alberto Cisterna, who oversees Calabria at Italy's National Anti-Mafia Commission in Rome, called Rosarno the Corleone of Calabria, where clans of the `Ndrangheta exert "extraordinary control."

 

Official estimates indicate that the `Ndrangheta did €44 billion, or more than $60 billion, in 2008, in international drug and arms trafficking, public works fraud, usury and prostitution. Many authorities say that in a town where the `Ndrangheta is strong, the presence of the immigrant workers must have been welcome or, at least, convenient. They note that agriculture is not profitable if transportation and labour costs are high and producers pay about 75 cents for a carton of fruit. In any case, most agricultural outfits may have Italians on the rolls but they pay migrant workers under the table to harvest the fruit — if it is harvested. For years, state authorities have not cracked down on the arrangement.

 

Calabria, like other southern Italian regions rich in agriculture, has long benefited from hefty European Union agricultural subsidies. To prevent fraud in which small acreage yielded puzzlingly large harvests, in 2007 the EU changed its rules to base subsidies on the number of hectares planted rather than the tonnes produced.

 

The result, some authorities hypothesise, is that it may be more lucrative for some Calabrian landowners to let their harvests rot on the tree and collect the subsidies than to pay pickers. In theory, the migrants may have become less useful and, possibly, less tolerated. Still, over nearly two decades, their presence had become part of the fabric of Rosarno.

 

This week some local shops were hurting for the migrants' business. "Before Christmas, I baked a whole batch of sandwich rolls just for them," said Letizia Condulucci as she worked the counter at her family's bakery.

 

Like many Rosarno residents, she defended what the townspeople had done over the years to help the migrant workers and was outraged that they had wounded residents. "Ninety-nine percent of us helped them," she said. And in the riots, she said, "they destroyed the town." On Monday evening, Rosarno residents held a peaceful protest, marching through the city's flat concrete grid with a sign that read: "Abandoned by the state, criminalized by the media. Twenty years of cohabitation isn't racism."

 

But conversations with residents revealed a more complex reality. Many used an oft-heard phrase in Italy: "We're not racist, but ..." Ultimately, they tended to say that maybe things were better without the immigrants, since it was hard enough for the Italians to make a living.

 

The city commissioners say the riots were fuelled by wild rumours on both sides. The immigrants had heard that local residents killed an immigrant, while local residents had heard that immigrants had wounded a pregnant woman badly. Both rumours were false, the commissioners say.

 

Still, the violence was dramatic. After immigrants struck residents and shops with sticks and burned and smashed cars, residents began responding with violence. By late Saturday night, most immigrants feared for their safety and voluntarily boarded buses and trains that took them to immigrant detention centres, Rosarno authorities said.

 

Those with residency permits, which Doctors Without Borders says could be as many as half, were free to leave. Alessandra Tramontano, the director of Doctors Without Borders' seasonal workers programme in Italy, said the group was "worried" about where the immigrants would go and "how they will manage the winter."

 

Meanwhile, early Tuesday morning, a special team of Italian fire-fighters was using demolition equipment to take down the factory where many had been squatting in conditions widely denounced as inhumane. Campolo, one of Rosarno's commissioners, said that even before the riots, the city had received state money to remove the immigrant encampment, which sits next to a middle school, and build a playground and sports fields. It also plans to build a meeting centre, with some health care facilities and dormitories, for the migrant workers. Campolo said the city planned to go ahead with the project. "Of course," he said, "for the immigrants, when they come back."

 

(Gaia Pianigiani contributed reporting from Rome.) — © 2010 The New York Times News Service

 

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THE HINDU

EARTHQUAKE ADDS TO WOES OF A BENIGHTED COUNTRY

HAROON SIDDIQUE

 

The earthquake that has hit Haiti, raising fears that thousands have been killed, is the latest in a long line of natural disasters to befall a country ill-equipped to deal with such events.

 

Hurricanes and flooding are perennial concerns for the poorest country in the western hemisphere, which has time and again been dependent on foreign aid in emergencies. In 1963 hurricane Flora, the sixth deadliest Atlantic hurricane in history, devast ated the island. The U.S. weather bureau estimated the death toll at 5,000 and the cost of damage to property and crops at between $125m and $180m.

 

The country was struck by two disasters in 2004. In May, heavy rains caused flooding that killed more than 2,000 people. Four months later, mudslides and flooding caused by hurricane Jeanne, the 12th deadliest Atlantic hurricane, killed more than 3,000 people, mostly in the town of Gonaives.

 

Tragedy struck again in 2008 when four storms — tropical storm Fay, hurricane Gustav, hurricane Hanna and hurricane Ike — dumped heavy rains on the country. Around 1,000 people died and 800,000 were left homeless. The number of people affected by the storms was put at 800,000 — almost 10 per cent of the population — with the damage estimated at $1bn.

 

Deforestation that allows rainwater to wash down mountain slopes is believed to have exacerbated many of the natural disasters in Haiti. Two-thirds of Haitians live off the land and the same proportion on less than $2 a day, so the impact of such tragedies has been long lasting. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010

 

 

 

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THE HINDU

IRAQ HAS POISONED OUR FAITH IN POLITICS

THE IRAQ POISON WILL REMAIN IN THE BRITISH BODY POLITIC UNTIL WE HAVE A TRUE RECKONING.

JONATHAN FREEDLAND

 

So now we know Tony Blair's former director of communications Alastair Campbell's loyalty to his former boss has limits. "If he'd asked me to jump off a building, I wouldn't," he told the Chilcot Iraq war inquiry in London on Tuesday. But even if he draws the line at suicide on command, Mr. Campbell showed he remains utterly faithful to his former master. Asked if he had any regrets about the war in which he served not merely as PR man b ut as principal adviser, he struggled to think of any.

 

He stood by "every single word" of the notorious September 2002 dossier, which declared "beyond doubt" that Saddam Hussein was building a terrifying arsenal of weapons of mass destruction — even though it turned out those WMDs did not exist. When he considered the enormous loss of life the invasion of Iraq had entailed, did he still believe it had been a success? "I do," he said, adding that far from feeling any shame for his role in the greatest foreign policy calamity since Munich, he felt "very proud of the part" he had been allowed to play. Britain too should feel proud of what it had done — ridding Iraq of a ghastly dictatorship — and stop "beating ourselves up" over it.

 

So Mr. Campbell established himself as the last of the true believers, still clinging to the talking points he scripted back in the first years of the last decade, even as earlier witnesses to the Chilcot inquiry have steadily sought to distance themselves from the Iraq debacle. He gave not an inch to the fainthearts who believe that going to war to disarm a nation that had already disarmed was a catastrophic error.

 

Still, despite himself, he let something slip. He admitted that Tony Blair had written to George W. Bush in early 2002, declaring that come what may, Saddam Hussein would be stripped of his WMDs. Ideally that would be done by diplomatic means but, if push came to shove and military action were required, "Britain will be there." That directly contradicted what Mr. Blair, Mr. Campbell and all the others said at the time, as they regularly told parliament, press and the people that "no decision has been taken." Now we have (yet more) confirmation that a decision had very much been taken — that if diplomacy failed, Britain was sworn to go to war.

 

Will anyone care? The five members of the inquiry team will. Their body language suggested an impatience with the alternative reality sketched by Mr. Campbell, in which he simultaneously "bombarded" the intelligence chiefs with instructions to rewrite their dossier yet insisted that they could not have felt a scintilla of even subconscious pressure to beef up their assessment of the threat posed by Saddam Hussein.

 

Beyond the Chilcot panellists, who but scholars and anoraks will really be bothered by what Mr. Campbell and Mr. Blair decided and when? Hasn't the Iraq war, now that the bulk of British troops have withdrawn, passed out of contemporary politics and into the realm of history?

 

NOT QUITE

The answer is: not quite. For the Iraq episode continues to cast a long shadow over our public life. It haunts domestic politics in the present and sets limits for what will be possible in the future.

 

Take one immediate consequence. Even if Labour is not ejected from power until this coming northern spring, the observers of the future will surely conclude that it was the Iraq war that broke the bond of trust between this government and the nation. True, Labour won the election of 2005, but it did so with a meagre 35.3 per cent of the vote in a verdict that was more about the unelectability of their Tory opponents than enthusiasm for Labour.

 

The damage extends far beyond one party. It was the widespread belief that Britons had been led falsely to war that planted the seeds of distrust which grew to full bloom in the MPs' expenses affair. After Iraq, voters believe the very worst about their politicians. There is no graver responsibility than sending men and women to face enemy fire: if our leaders can lie about that, they can surely lie about anything.

 

That, in turn, has fed a disenchantment with democratic politics itself. A refrain chanted with depressing regularity is: "If they can ignore two million people on the streets against the Iraq war then what's the point in ever protesting?"

 

FAITH DENTED

There is a flaw in that logic: democracy does not mean rule by demo, in which policy is determined according to crowd size. But faith in the power of citizens to affect events was badly dented by the experience of February 15, 2003. The effect has been reinforced by the aftermath of the financial crisis. There is perhaps no one in the country — not even the parents of the RBS boss, he said — who can defend the multimillion-payouts to bankers. And yet it carries on, the shower of bonuses falling like fat drops of rain this very week. No one seems able to stop it, just as no one was able to stop that war. The result is a pervasive and corrosive sense of powerlessness.

 

All this is compounded by the fact that, in the Iraq case, none of the consequences one might legitimately have expected has materialised. If there had been even a modicum of accountability, one would expect the guilty men — those who led us to disaster, whether through good faith, incompetence or deception — to have paid a price. They would be consigned to the margins, shamed into a kind of exile.

 

So where are the guilty men of Iraq? A permatanned Tony Blair travels the world by private jet, trousering multiple salaries to pay the £40,000 a month he needs to feed the mortgages on his four homes in Britain. The Foreign Secretary of the time, Jack Straw, still has his seat at the cabinet table. Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary of that era, is alive and well and plotting in curry houses.

 

What of those who were right about Iraq? The one-time Foreign Secretary Robin Cook is dead and one-time international development secretary Clare Short is one of the political undead, severed from her party and cast into outer darkness. There is something unsettling about this fate, in which those who took us into a needless, bloody war flourish while those who opposed it remain as unheeded as ever.

 

More is at stake here than a few careers. The Iraq episode has poisoned public support for any and all military action, including the wars we are still fighting. Hardening public opposition to the Afghan mission is not solely about the loss of life: it is about the loss of faith. After Iraq, whenever we hear our leaders telling us force is necessary, we start counting the spoons. This will matter, if not for this government then for the next one. Let's say a new administration concludes that Iran really is developing a nuclear arsenal, and that its regime genuinely poses a danger to the world's most unstable region. Who would believe David Cameron (the likely winner of the forthcoming U.K. elections) when he began talking about "intelligence assessments" and "credible threats?" Not only has Iraq killed off the 1990s notion of liberal intervention; it may have destroyed for a generation Britons' willingness to use force anywhere.

 

The Iraq poison will remain in the body politic until we have a true reckoning with that episode. The gentleness of most of the Chilcot inquiry's questioning — its reluctance to forensically nail witnesses down to specific answers — suggests that it will not provide that reckoning. But we need it. Until we get it, our system will remain hobbled and haunted by an event that refuses to be laid to rest. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010

 

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DNA

EDITORIAL

FEELING THE PINCH

 

In the face of soaring food prices, government has done what it knows best. It has resorted to bureaucratic decisions.

 

More stocks of wheat and rice — two and one million tones each — have been released into the public distribution system (PDS) and Union food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar while announcing the Cabinet decision at a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon has also announced that zero-duty imports of wheat, sugar, oilseeds and pulses will remain open till the end of 2010.

 

If the price rise is due to shortfall in supply, then these decisions should set right the imbalance. But it does not seem to be a demand-supply dilemma.

 

Pawar did not miss the opportunity to score political points. He pointed out that state governments' off-take from the PDS has been fractional of the available stocks. The blame therefore has been pushed on to the state governments.

 

This has been a familiar ruse of the central governments. But apportioning blame will not help people who are feeling the pinch when the economic turnaround is yet to happen, jobs lost, salaries and wages shrunk and economic experts are bewildered as to the how and why of the price rise.

 

Apart from the shortfall in agricultural production, there seem to be systemic procurement problems. Central government allocating food grains to state governments is turning out to be inefficient. It may be necessary for the Centre to use the Food Corporation of India for procurement as well as distribution in response to exigencies of supply and demand.

 

Private corporations seem to export food grains they procure from farmers and when shortages occur they are not inclined to meet the demand through imports. The zero import duty does not seem to be a sufficient incentive to keep the prices down.

 

The solution of keeping out the private players altogether may not be helpful though that is what many of the communists and socialists favour for the simple reason that government remains inefficient.

 

What is needed is that private players should be responding to the situation, not on altruistic grounds, but from selfish motives. When food shortages and prices get out of hand, it is not just the common people who suffer.

 

The economy suffers too. It makes sense to meet the basic needs of the people in a reasonable fashion so that the pace of economic growth is not impeded. It does not matter whether this is done by the government or by the private players.

 

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DNA

EDITORIAL

BACK TO PLAY

 

The weeklong strike of India's World Cup hockey squad finally came to an end on Wednesday. The players have agreed to resume training for the World Cup slated to begin next month.

 

The crisis has blown over and all is well it seems. However, even on Tuesday, the scene looked quite bleak with Hockey India's interim president Ashok Mattoo giving an ultimatum to the players to resume training within 48 hours or risk being replaced.

 

It was thanks to Indian Hockey's only major corporate sponsor, Sahara, which released Rs1 crore to the cash-strapped federation, that the crisis was averted. The money will be spent to clear the dues of the players.

 

The 22-man squad's demand of Rs 450,000 ($10,000) for each player for outstanding dues and performance-related bonuses had been accepted along with the proposal for graded contracts.

 

The Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi can heave a sigh of relief now. The stand-off had generated a lot of bad publicity for both the association and the federation following incriminating reports in the media about the hockey federation acting as a big bully and the just demands of the players not being met.

 

The players were riding high on the sympathy wave with UP chief minister Mayawati offering Rs 5 crore and even film stars, notably a yester-year actor, pledging to support the team and help in fund-raising.

 

The strike should serve as a lesson for the authorities. The situation wouldn't have snowballed, with the World Cup only a few days ahead had they taken adequate steps to resolve the crisis. It seemed that they were bent on arm-twisting the players into submission. The players, wary of being neglected for so long, had braced themselves for a long struggle.

 

The federation's attitude towards such a crisis doesn't augur well for Indian Hockey. Sportsmen need encouragement as well as patronage to excel. They need to be handled in a way that boosts their morale and helps them give their best for the country as well as to the sport.

 

In India however, such an approach has been alarmingly absent. It is clearly evident that merely according the status of the national sport to hockey will not address the ills it is plagued with. It calls for much more effort than that, which will involve charting a course for the sport to revive its former glory.

 

To begin with, some soul-searching for the administration is highly recommended. It's the right step on the path to resurrection, provided the men at the helm are serious about their intentions.

 

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DNA

NEHRU & OTHER MYTHS

R JAGANNATHAN

 

Shashi Tharoor, minister of state for external affairs, got it both right and wrong on Jawaharlal Nehru because he forgot a basic piece of wisdom: you don't fight foundational myths.

 

Myth-busting is for scholars, authors and retired politicians, whose ranks Tharoor may soon be forced to join given his controversial twittermania. It's not for active politicians who want to leave their mark on history.

 

His remarks on Nehru —- to the effect that he followed a wishy-washy foreign policy driven by Gandhian morality — are a case in point. If you are a Congressman, you have to believe in the Nehru myth.

 

The Nehru myth states, inter alia, that modern India was entirely hiscreation (only slightly true), that he was entirely secular and democratic (not always), that the Nehru family is the only one that has the whole of India's interests at heart (absolutely untrue), that non-alignment was a wonderful thing, and so on.

 

If you are part of a dynastic party, you cannot survive by challenging the Nehru myth. If you do, you challenge the very basis for its existence.

 

No Nehru myth, no dynasty. This is why the Congress cannot put any leader — Sardar Patel, Ambedkar, Jinnah, Rajagopalachari or Rajendra Prasad — on the same pedestal as Nehru despite the fact that they all contributed much to the making of India.

 

Besides, Nehru himself was no perennial success icon. His foreign policy blunders culminated in the humiliation of 1962. His economic policies were equally flawed, as Nehru believed in the Soviet model with minor roles for the private sector.

 

His daughter initially compounded his economic follies, but after the 1980s she started changing course. It took a bankruptcy in 1991 to finally abandon Nehruvian socialism.

 

The reason why Nehru made colossal blunders was simple: he was vain and hence sycophants could take him for a ride. This is why he persisted with VK Krishna Menon long after events proved him to be a liability; Chinese leader Zhou Enlai pulled wool over his eyes by pretending to be a novice in international affairs.

 

Nehru held forth about his views on the world believing Zhou to be a genuine admirer when the latter was actually playing to his ego and neutralising him on Tibet.

 

In course of time, the Nehru myth has been extended to the whole family, from Indira Gandhi to Rajiv to Sonia and now Rahul and Priyanka.

 

Thus, Indira is the social messiah (bank nationalisation, garibi hatao), Rajiv Gandhi is the moderniser and reformer (though Narasimha Rao actually did more in reality), and Rahul the new youth icon and emancipator. You question these myths at your own peril. Tharoor got a rap on the knuckles only for this.

 

Without myths there would be no institutions, for myths are the glue that holds disparate elements together. Whether it is a religion or a corporation, myths are essential and beyond reality.

 

Management writers Jim Collins and Jerry Porras (Built to Last) discovered that successful companies that have survived for over 100 years tended to have cult-like cultures that you could not question. People who questioned the corporate myths ("we are a people-oriented organisation") were ejected fast. You can't be in Wal-Mart and not participate in the company's theme song. You can't be in HP without kowtowing to the HP Way.

 

In Pakistan, they have a Jinnah myth — he was never a pious Muslim, but given his role in the creation of the state, you can't mention it. In India, Jinnah has been demonised (often for good reason), but a rational reassessment is not possible either by the Congress (which believes in the Nehru myth) or the BJP (which has to follow the RSS, which believes in Akhand Bharat, where Jinnah has been given the villain's role).

 

It doesn't matter that Partition has actually created a huge Hindu majority India, of the kind that the RSS could not have dreamed of in a united India. But myths do not need to have a rational basis.

 

It's the same with the major organised religions. You can't be a Christian without believing in virgin birth and resurrection, never mind that these myths are far removed from the message of Jesus Christ and invented much later.

 

You can't be Muslim without believing that before the prophet arrived it was all jahiliya — the age of ignorance — even though common sense tells us humanity always had its dark and bright spots in all ages. Hindus have too many myths to count, but the point is that a thought gets institutionalised only with the help of myths.

 

Myths work best when you pay lip service to them, but don't get hemmed in. If Tharoor wants to change Nehruvian ideas, the best way is to lionise Nehruism and then dump his ideas in practice. This is what we have done with Gandhi. So why not Nehru?

 

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DNA

NOT JUST THE RIGHT, THE LEFT TOO IS AT IT

ANTARA DEV SEN

 

It's so unfair to have different standards for different people. In the interest of fairness, if we fear the Fuhrer of the Marathi manoos we must fear the Fuhrer of the Malayali manush too.

 

Prakash Karat should get the same respect as Raj Thackeray, don't you think? For years, we have been granting special status to the saffron right, making room for their fascist fundamentalism, so why not for the reds on the Left?

 

And why are we horrified that Paul Zacharia, influential author and candid critic of reactionary forces, has been roughed up in Kerala by CPM hooligans for speaking out against their moral policing?

 

And that Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala secretary of the party, justified the act with the usual spiel about the victim inviting the outburst by hurting the sentiments of the people?

 

We can now justify anything at all by claiming to be hurt. Goons of political parties are hurt most easily, usually on behalf of unsuspecting people. Like the dear old red riding hoodlums who accosted Zacharia.

 

It started earlier this month, with these left lumpens being outraged by the private friendship of two Congress leaders, a man and a woman. They accosted the duo at the Congresswoman's house late in the night, dragged them out in front of television cameras and got the two arrested as they hooted and booed.

 

Later, medical examinations proved no sexual contact between the two, but the lurid stamp of a sex scandal would be impossible to erase.

 

Last week, Zacharia spoke out against such ridiculous moral policing. What right did they have, he asked, to barge into a woman's house at midnight and drag her and her friend out to defame her?

 

Morally policing adult men and women was outdated and fascist, he pointed out, and showed how far the once enlightened communists had swung from their roots, how narrow their outlook had become.

 

The left lumpens were hurt. They collared the author on the street and expressed themselves the way they knew best. Then state CPM chief Vijayan defended their hooliganism with missionary zeal.

 

The attackers were hurt because Zacharia's speech showed CPM leaders in a bad light, he explained. "What would happen," he reportedly said, "if a speaker tried to cast aspersions on Christ at a meeting attended by Christians only?" Clearly, in Vijayan's world, these Christians— normally associated with turning the other cheek — would pounce upon the speaker and rough him up.

 

And evidently in Vijayan's communist world, CPM leaders were the new gods. Criticising them was blasphemy. Ironically enough, this is not an alien notion for communists. History is full of examples of left fundamentalism and fascism.

 

But in India, communism did have a human face, it had a liberal, democratic attitude, it supported free speech. At least in the cities. In rural, invisible India such liberalism is often absent, and left fascism rules in communist strongholds. Today, we are upset because that crass village reality has invaded our quaint urban space.

 

These lumpens were members of CPM's youth wing, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). Smothering freedom of speech is not exactly democratic behaviour, but then political words are not expected to behave like ordinary words with mundane dictionary meanings. Like people in politics, words in
politics are untouched by ordinary rules.

 

Put in perspective, the Zacharia incident is hardly shocking. Mob intimidation has long been a part of power politics in our country. It's just that writers and artists are usually attacked by right fundamentalists, not left fundamentalists.

 

The excruciatingly slow justice system, almost crippled by a corrupt administration and crooked investigative process, encourages goonda raj.

 

If we value democratic freedoms, apart from opposing hooliganism we need to recognise and oppose fundamentalism whatever its colour.For freedom of speech is too precious to give up.

 

The writer is editor,The Little Magazine.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

VERDICT FOR TRANSPARENCY

CJI SHOULD ACCEPT THE DELHI HC RULING

 

TUESDAY'S Delhi High Court ruling upholding its single bench order that the Chief Justice of India comes within the purview of the Right to Information Act and that details of judges' assets must be revealed under it, is welcome. In an important order, the Bench consisting of Chief Justice A.P. Shah, Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Vikramjeet Sen not only rejected the apex court registry's contention that the CJI was not covered under the RTI but also emphasised that even income-tax returns and medical records of judges needed to be disclosed if these serve public interest. It observed that the CJI is a "public authority" and hence cannot claim any immunity under the RTI. As the judgement dispels all doubts about the CJI's status vis-à-vis the RTI, the CJI would do well to accept the verdict in the right spirit and refrain from going in appeal to the apex court on the ground that the issue involved interpretation of important points in law and the Constitution.

 

One fails to understand why Chief Justice of India Justice K.G. Balakrishnan is rigid on the issue when he has nothing to hide as regards his assets or decisions taken on the administrative side in his capacity as the CJI. In fact, following public and media pressure, he and his colleagues declared their assets on November 2, 2009, and put the details on the official website. The argument that the independence of judiciary will be adversely affected if judges declare their assets seems specious and unconvincing. On the contrary, it will promote transparency, ensure accountability and strengthen democracy of which the judiciary is an important pillar.

 

The High Court ruling assumes special significance in the context of increasing cases of corruption and misconduct involving judges. As the issue revolving around Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P.D. Dinakaran shows, the functioning of the collegium is shrouded in mystery and one does not know how the high court judges are appointed or elevated to the apex court, their backgrounds and the criteria for appointment. If the right to information is a fundamental right and aimed at empowering citizens, the CJI cannot remain outside the purview of the RTI Act.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

LEND ME SOME MONEY

HELPLESS MANPREET SOUNDS ALARM

 

Being the Finance Minister of a debt-ridden, fiscally irresponsible state like Punjab must be one of the most embarrassing jobs in India. No wonder, off and on a helpless Mr Manpreet Singh Badal erupts in exasperation. With the budget-making exercise under way, the FM is to put his figures together to understand the state of current finances and brief the Planning Commission accordingly next month. He has often spoken publicly how subsidies are bleeding the exchequer, but the other two Badals just ignore or even snub him. Yet he hangs on to power.

 

As successive Punjab governments have been relying on loans to meet their financial commitments, the state has accumulated a staggering debt of Rs 63,000 crore. When the Finance Commission offered last year to defer the recovery of Rs 15,000 crore and cut interest on Rs 25,000 crore of the loan amount provided the state government ends populist subsidies, levies user-charges on services and restores house tax in cities, the political leadership chose to dither instead of lapping up the offer. The Chief Minister deputed his son, Mr Sukhbir Badal, and Industries Minister Manoranjan Kalia to review the subsidies.

 

However, since Mr Manpreet Badal, a vocal critic of the subsidies, was not included in the committee, it became clear the government's intentions were less than honest and the whole exercise was a farce. The committee was given two weeks' time to submit its report. It has taken more than three months and there is no sign of a report. None in the government feels embarrassed selling public land to raise money. Various departments face legal cases from harried citizens for payment defaults. Development has come to a halt. No one even talks about it. Infrastructure, health and education face the brunt of non-governance. The state may invite a financial emergency unless urgent steps are taken to mobilise resources. But is the Chief Minister really bothered about it at all?

 

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THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

DEMAT OF DEGREES

CENTRE'S MOVE WOULD BE A BLOW TO FAKERS

 

The Central Government's decision to make available online in the electronic format all educational degrees and certificates from the school to the university level is a very heartening development. So serious has become the problem of fake degrees and even fake institutions that it was necessary to plug the gaping holes in the system. By setting up a suitable registered electronic depository which would dematerialise the academic degrees and certificates, the scope for fake degrees would be minimised. Not only would the depository store the new degrees that would form part of the national database by assigning individual account numbers and passwords, it would also be assigned the task of converting old degrees and certificates from physical into electronic form. That there is the benefit of experience in the demat of share certificates is a matter of relief. The National Securities Depository Limited and the Central Depository Services Limited, which currently deal in share certificates stored electronically, are well equipped to take on this role.

 

Considering that all degrees that are electronically converted will be preserved on the national database, the need for institutions to maintain physical degrees for years together would be obviated. That would be a big boon for institutions. The problem of replacing lost degrees and certificates would also end. The students on their part would be saved the bother of getting attestation done.

 

Having said all this, it is important that this plan be implemented without any dragging of feet and extended to the entire country so that vested interests do not take advantage of the areas where it is not in operation. The scale of the dematting operation would indeed be a major challenge. It is also time that all unrecognised institutions be given a specific time frame to meet the requirements for recognition so that those that remain outside the system are disallowed from continuing. As for those who continue to produce fake degrees in physical form, the punishment must be swift and stringent.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

COLUMN

SILENCE OF THE WOLF

STRANGE ARE THE WAYS OF NARENDRA MODI

BY AMULYA GANGULI

 

All through the recent brouhaha in the BJP, which saw a change of guard at the top, Mr Arun Jaitley's objections to the party's shrillness and the expulsion of Mr Jaswant Singh, one man maintained an enigmatic silence. Yet, he has often been mentioned as a leader who can revive the party's fortunes and whose brand of politics is seen as a more combative version of Hindutva. Even then Mr Narendra Modi chose to take a back seat while his party grappled with the aftermath of defeats in two successive general elections and an uneasy transition to GenNext.

 

The only event which turned the spotlight on him was his championing of a legislative measure making voting compulsory in local elections. However, the flurry of statements and counter-statements about the controversial step died down as the BJP dealt with more immediate problems such as the assumption of the office of party president by the previously virtually unknown Mr Nitin Gadkari and the government formation in Jharkhand. As a result, there has been no convincing explanation for Mr Modi's aloofness from national politics at a crucial time when the RSS was suspected to be tightening its grip on the BJP through Mr Gadkari.

 

Considering that Mr Modi's name was touted as a possible future Prime Minister by Mr Arun Shourie, among others, on the eve of the general elections, one might have expected the Gujarat strong man to play a more active role. Instead, he chose to behave like a typical provincial apparatchik who has only a minor say in national affairs. Of course, no one places Mr Modi in the ranks of Mr Shivraj Singh Chauhan or Mr Raman Singh or Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa if only because his larger-than-life image cannot be ignored even when he remains in the background. It is also possible that because Mr Modi is aware of the influence which he exerts even when remaining quiet that he does not mind staying put in Gujarat.

 

However, the deliberate shunning of the limelight may not be without a purpose. If a senior police officer, one of the few who defied Mr Modi during the 2002 riots is to be believed, the Chief Minister confided after the outbreak that the violence had gone out of control. Kuchh zyada hi ho gaya, he is supposed to have said. Mr Modi's subsequent behaviour also points to a deliberate attempt to distance himself from the carnage which, he undoubtedly realises, has become a permanent stain on his reputation.

 

Although he has refused to apologise for the disturbances, he has also resisted all attempts to raise the issue at public forums and insisted more than once that he stands for all the people of the state, irrespective of their religion. The post-carnage emphasis on development also underlines a conscious attempt to build a new image of himself, which is different from his earlier hawkish reputation. There are occasional lapses, of course, as during the Sohrabuddin Sheikh episode when he drew cheers from the crowd over the killing of the accused in a fake encounter. But there have been no crude references to the religious backgrounds of Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Mr James Michael Lyngdoh, as in 2002.

 

But even more significant than these uncharacteristic signs of sobriety is the reason which Mr Modi advanced for his preference for compulsory voting. According to him, such a focus on individuals to ensure that they will have no alternative but to cast their votes will deflect attention from treating them as vote banks. As a result, the parties will have to shed their segmented approach in terms of caste or community and accord greater importance to them as citizens. In a way, this approach of treating society as a composite whole is in tune with Mr Modi's development-oriented policies, whose rationale is that a higher growth rate will benefit everyone and not particular groups.

 

For a person whose dubious role during the riots is still being scanned by the Supreme Court and whose attitude towards the refugee colonies housing Muslims was callous in the extreme - he called them child-breeding factories - the turning away of his government's attention from communities to individuals is difficult to explain. What is more, since most of Mr Modi's decisions are seen by his detractors to have been inspired by a sinister motive, even the latest move will be regarded with considerable suspicion.

 

Some may interpret it as the kind of an unofficial census of religious minorities which the Gujarat government initiated after the anti-Christian violence in the Dangs area to identify the members of the community. Since compulsory voting entails the possession of identity cards, it will mean that no one can hide if the law comes into force. As a recent report from Surat said, many Muslims assume Hindu names there to secure employment in diamond units. Such subterfuge will no longer be possible.

 

Notwithstanding such misgivings, there is little doubt that the proposed law runs counter to the basic objectives of caste-based and communal parties like the BSP and the BJP, to name only two, with their targeting of certain groups and demonising of others. It is necessary to remember that even the BSP realised that concentrating only on Dalits would not take it far and that there was a need, therefore, for a rainbow coalition which included the Manuvadi Brahmins, who were previously excoriated as traditional enemies of the Dalits.

 

Similarly, the forced moderation of some of the BJP leaders like Mr L. K. Advani in line with the example set by Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an explicit admission that the Hindu vote was not enough for it to gain power. In some respects, Mr Modi's idea of compulsory voting endorses this inescapable fact of electoral politics where dependence only on a group of voters yields limited dividends.

 

It is difficult to predict the outcome of elections under the new law. Besides, whether the measure will at all be enacted is doubtful because, first, a consensus may elude the political class. Secondly, civil libertarians may see it as an infringement of basic rights since a person should have the freedom not to vote. And, thirdly, the enforcement of the law in so large a country where people are almost always on the move may be as difficult as the decision on the kind of punishment for the absentee voters. The law courts will also be clogged by petitioners challenging their punishment.

 

Irrespective of the fate of the proposed law, what is more relevant is Mr Modi's purpose behind the unusual initiative. It is clear that he wants to project himself as someone different from the average politician who is forever embroiled in ego hassles within his own party and in striking opportunistic deals with other individuals and parties. In contrast to them, Mr Modi apparently wants to demonstrate his intention to rise above mundane party politics and to show that he is concerned with issues which have societal implications. Development is one of them and compulsory voting another.

 

At a time when the BJP is entering the post-Vajpayee and post-Advani phase when it has no obviously popular front-runners among its current crop of leaders, Mr Modi does not want to be seen jostling for party positions with the Jaitleys and Sushmas and Gadkaris, or presenting different interpretations about the inclusiveness or otherwise of Hindutva, or whether December 6, 1992, was the "saddest day" or shauriya divas, as the VHP's Mr Ashok Singhal wants it to be called. Yet, as the Chief Minister tries to reinvent himself, he must be aware that the leopard is not known to change its spots. What is more, he cannot be sure that the BJP and, more importantly, the RSS will endorse his idea of reducing the importance of parties at the expense of individual voters. If his intention is to position himself in a way which will enable him to play a larger role in national affairs, he may not find the going easy.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

COLUMN

NO NEWS, GOOD NEWS

BY S. RAGHUNATH

 

The Editor was grim-faced as he rapped the staff meeting to order. "We're up against it in no uncertain manner, " he said, "our readers are complaining bitterly that we're driving them up the wall and inducing in them suicidal thoughts by publishing unremitting bad news — strikes, bandhs, riots, full text of the Prime Minister's speech on Panchayati Raj institutions and the women's reservation bill."

 

"As you know, it's our established policy only to inform and educate our readers and not instigate them to end it all by reaching for the nearest open razor."

 

"I've decided on a redical U-turn in our editorial policy. From tomorrow, we shall publish only good news and nothing but good news. Bad news is out and out for good. I welcome suggestions."

 

The paper's crime reporter —a veteran of 25 years in covering the police beat said: "I'll do an upfront story to the effect that thanks to improved policing methods and citizens' involvement, the crime graph is showing a downward trend and underline the fact that during 2008-09, there were only 8306 cases of house break-ins compared to 8309 cases during the preceding year."

 

He was handed an urgent note: "Come home immediately. Miscreants have broken into your house in broad daylight and they have gotten away with everything they can lay their hands on, including the imported electronic burglar alarm and the German Shepherd watch dog."

 

The paper's distinguished political analyst said, "I'll do a two-part oped lead article to the effect that with the formation of the Congress-led coalition government at the centre, Indian politics has entered a more mature and healthy phase and instability and fragmentation of political parties should soon be a thing of the past."

 

He was handed a telex message: "Lok Dal (Ajit Singh) has split into Lok Dal (Ajit) and Lok Dal (Singh).

 

The paper's young sports correspondent said eagerly. "I'll do an upbeat story to the effect that Indian hockey is on the comeback trail and retrieve its lost glory, highlighting the fact that in the pre Olympic quarter finals-Indian 'A' team lost by a solitary goal to Kenya 'D' team."

 

He was called to the telephone to take a message: "Indian 'A' team lost by a margin of 18 goals to Rwanda Burundi 'Y' team."

 

The editor was close to despair when the paper's press manager walked into the room.

 

"I'm afraid tomorrow's "Good News Only" edition can't be printed, "he announced gravely.

 

"Why not ? snapped the editor going red in the face.

 

"Because," said the manager, "the printing staff has just gone on an indefinite strike."

 

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THE TRIBUNE

OPED

NO PEACE IN NEPAL WITHOUT MAOISTS

BY MAJOR GEN ASHOK K MEHTA

 

Out of power, the Prachanda-led Maoists in Nepal are like fish out of water. Everything was going for them but for their crossing one red line too many. Sacking the Army Chief, Gen Rukmangad Katwal, who was seen as the last obstacle to absolute power, was their undoing while enriching the Maoist lexicon with the mantra of civilian supremacy.

 

Overgenerous overtures to the Chinese at the party, military, government and track II levels raised hackles in Delhi. Eight months outside Singha Durbar have been a chastening experience for the Maoist grand design of "looking beyond India" — Prachanda's vision of reducing dependence on India.

 

The late King Birendra came to grief exploring this alternative during the economic blockade of the late 1980s, which resulted in the restoration of multi-party democracy. The battle between the old guard and the new revolutionaries over reforming Nepal is at the crossroads.

 

Invoking the lofty principle of civilian supremacy, the Maoists organised disruptive protest campaigns in three phases, which blocked the Constituent Assembly that doubles as Parliament, paralysing the government.

 

This brought no relief to the Maoists despite regular announcements that a new national unity government led by them would soon be in power.

 

Deception and self-delusion have become integral to their bravado illustrated famously by the ill-fated attacks at Khara in 2005 which forced hardliners into realising that the military capture of Kathmandu was not feasible.

 

That was when the ground reality first hit the Maoists. Once again the Maoists have learnt the hard way that they cannot be returned to power through unconstitutional means by winning street battles.

 

Like their leaders recognised in 2005 that India will not allow them to seize Kathmandu, they are belatedly admitting that Delhi's blessings are essential for returning to Singha Durbar.

 

Prachanda observed: "We will have to talk to India" with his deputy party ideologue Baburam Bhattarai adding "It is time to hold talks, not with the puppet (government) but those who run the puppet".

 

He added: "We will declare the constitution from the streets and capture power if the deadline (28 May 2010) to write the constitution is not met."

 

The Maoists are a bundle of contradictions as all the delay is on their account. Mr Bhattarai clarifies: "We know the constitution will not be written so that the Constituent Assembly can be annulled and President's rule imposed".

 

Except for three days the Maoists have not allowed Parliament to function. The same is the fate of the constitutional drafting process with Mr Bhattarai claiming: "Not a word will be written which is not our word".

 

One of the issues Prachanda wants to discuss with Delhi is reducing Nepal's trade deficit, which this year has risen by 40 per cent. Rather than blaming India, notes a Nepali journalist, "Prachanda needs to do some soul-searching to realise to what extent his party has contributed to the demise of the manufacturing sector, export-oriented production and export potential".

 

It is the Maoists' fault, given their pressure on an increase in wages/ allowances, strikes of trade unions, industrial complexes and the transportation sector, power shortages, road closures and excesses of the Young Communist League (YCL) — clearly "it is Prachanda's trade deficit," he adds.

 

Everyone realises that the current stalemate can be broken mainly with India's mediation. Delhi has been instrumental in fashioning major changes in Nepal: ouster of the Ranas in 1950, short-lived experiment with democracy in 1959, restoration of multi-party democracy in 1990 and mainstreaming the Maoists and ending the monarchy in 2005-06.

 

As the back channel the Delhi Agreement of November 2005 between the Maoists and the political parties was facilitated by India. Nepalis say Delhi has a moral responsibility to 'reset' the peace process.

 

Delhi's terms for talks with the Maoists have been communicated to them. These are not different from what Prachanda agreed to in Delhi in 2005 and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2006 — support for multi-party democracy, rule of law, human rights, an independent judiciary, free media and so on, all once anathema to the Maoists.

 

They had also agreed to return the confiscated property and disband the YCL. With Maoists in violation of these agreements, Delhi wants them to be tamed. It is precisely what the majority of the political parties, civil society and the people of Nepal want.

 

To its terms of engagement, Delhi has added its renewed concerns about the Maoist overreach to Beijing and the latter's over-ingress into Nepal. The Maoist response to Indian terms is not known but their call for talks was acknowledged when Ambassador Rakesh Sood met Prachanda before visiting Delhi for consultations over the new year.

 

The present Nepal government without Maoists on board is like a boat without oars. Foreign Minister SM Krishna will be in Kathmandu (January 15) and will meet the Leader of Opposition, Prachanda, among other leaders. They could explore ending the stalemate through the instrument of a package deal, factoring in the concerns of the immediate stakeholders, including the UN Mission in Nepal.

 

Underlining the package deal must be the resolve of political parties to write an inclusive constitution with a national unity government, which includes the Maoists. All previous agreements not honoured will have to be implemented. The integration of the Maoists (PLA) with the Nepal Army has to be the key driver of the compromise agreement. The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu, in an unprecedented step, has disowned the Indian Army Chief's statement rejecting integration.

 

A mechanism for disbanding and reintegrating the YCL, helping Maoists to be taken off the US terror watch list and separate economic packages for the Maoists and the peace process are other ingredients of the package, which will not stick unless there is a referee to monitor the peace process.

 

As the high-level political mechanism has not worked, a more robust body is required. Recommended for the Nobel Peace Prize, Mr GP Koirala, the last of the first-generation leaders, is no longer fit and able to mentor the peace process.

 

Meanwhile, the Maoists have announced the fourth phase of their agitational politics: Accept our leadership of a national unity government or face indefinite countrywide strikes from January 24.

 

They will also target Delhi for interventionist politics. Nudged from their laid-back stance, major political parties launched a show of solidarity on the birth anniversary of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, who founded and united Nepal, repudiating the Maoist declaration of ethnicity-based federal state, which is regarded by most others as a sure means of splitting the country.

 

That the pain caused by the Maoist protest programmes has made them more unpopular than King Gyanendra after he seized power in 2005 is only a Kathmandu-centric view, say Maoist sympathisers.

 

With blood on their hands and power on their minds, the Maoists have one more chance of legitimately reclaiming power — during the general elections after the constitution is written. Time is running out for Nepal. Delhi cannot ignore the Maoist status as the single largest party in the Constituent Assembly. Without the Maoists, there is no peace process and a new Nepal.

 

 

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THE TRIBUNE

OPED

ENJOY CHEAP MONEY WHILE IT LASTS

BY HAMISH MCRAE

 

Interest rates are on the rise again. Not here as yet, nor in most of Europe or in the US. But looking around the world, it is clear that the tide of cheap money will turn in the next few months and the issue will be not where, whether or when, but how quickly rates will go up. And there will be little that an individual country such as our own will be able to do about it.

 

Actually something happened yesterday that highlights what will happen. Up to now there have been a few isolated cases of central banks increasing interest rates – Norway and Australia, for example – but there has been no general movement. But yesterday the Bank of China announced that it would increase the reserves that banks have to hold, the first such increase since June 2008. That is not a headline increase in rates as such but it is a sign of things to come.

 

China matters hugely. It is not only becoming the world's second-largest economy as it is now passing Japan, but it is also the world's largest source of savings. Its banks are the largest in the world: there is no talk of banks being "too big to fail" there. If you look at the world economy as a whole, as opposed to seeing it through a British, European or North American prism, the turning point in the interest rate cycle has now been reached.

 

In any case long-term interest rates are clearly on the rise and have been for some months. In Britain 10-year yields on government securities are over four per cent, whereas back last spring they were only about three per cent. Rates would doubtless have risen faster had it not been for the Bank of England buying so much of the Government's debt under its quantitative easing programme. That is now coming towards its end.

 

The Bank's Monetary Committee can decide to hold short-term interest rates down but it cannot control what happens to longer-term rates. These are determined by the supply and demand for savings around the world, and the UK Ggovernment has to compete for these savings, just like other would-be borrowers.

 

The effect of this is starting to be felt. It is more expensive now to get a fixed-rate mortgage than it was a few months ago. Companies seeking to reduce their bank loans by raising money with bond issues have to pay more for those funds. If there is any doubt about the security of a country's finances, its government finds it has to pay much more to cover its deficit.

 

That is why Ireland and Greece have recently brought in severe budget measures, with clearly more to come in the case of Greece. It is why we too will have to get our public finances under control as soon as possible after the election.

 

But interest rates will rise irrespective of what our next government does – the question is one of degree – and we had better get used to this. Instinctively we know this. One of the really stunning things that has happened in recent months has been the extent to which British households have started to save again.

 

You may recall that a couple of years ago people were actually spending more than they had in income: people borrowed against the value of their houses and used the money to hold up their consumption.

 

That has completely reversed, partly of course because mortgages have become much tighter. Now, savings are up to about eight per cent of income, the highest level since the early 1990s. People who are lucky enough to have mortgages linked to base rates seem to be using the extra monthly savings to pay back their mortgages more swiftly. The world has changed and we know it.

 

What we don't know is how quickly things get back to normal – for it is utterly abnormal to have base rates at 0.5 per cent or to deny savers any real return on their money – and what the consequences of higher interest rates will be. My own guess is that the first rise in UK interest rates will take place some time in the summer and that people will be surprised at the pace at which they subsequently climb.

 

That leads to the troubling possibility that rising interest rates will choke off the recovery. Even if the Bank of England manages to hold down short-term rates for a while, it cannot hold down long-term ones. And if the world is going to have more expensive money, we will too.

 

— By arrangement with The Independent

 

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THE TRIBUNE

OPED

SMALL STATES GOOD FOR DEVELOPMENT ?

BY MANOJ DAYAL

 

India consists of 28 states and eight Union Territories. Recently, the Central Government agreed to form Telangana after the passing of a resolution in the state assembly. However, this sparked a hue and cry in Andhra Pradesh.

 

The formation of a separate state will lead to a lot of financial implications and legislative problems for the government. It is not at all in favour of the public since India is passing through an acute financial crisis.

 

For the formation of a separate state there should be a variety of human and physical capital in terms of administrative capital, legislative capital, and judicial capital and infrastructure with funds from the central government.

 

Under the circumstances, forming smaller states is not at all good for the nation's progress. There would be utter chaos if any more splitting of states is initiated.

 

There are enough legislative norms in the Indian Constitution for protecting individual freedom in respect of language, culture, and other factors.

 

The formation of new states should not be on the basis of politics as without resources small states would face a lot of difficulties. These days the demand for new states is politically motivated with threats of agitations. The Centre should be careful in not succumbing to their ill-conceived motives.

 

A separate commission may be formed to scrutinise the demand for new states.

 

The creation of new states imposes significant administrative costs and financial burden on the exchequer. The public disenchantment in a state is basically on the efficacy of governance, not on the size.

 

A lot of issues associated with large states can be resolved by decentralisation and administrative reforms. This, in turn, leads to overall good governance, and better local management of divisive or contentious issues so that the federal government can handle complex national and international issues better.

 

Unity in diversity has been the real strength of India. When the British ruled India, women and men from different cultural, religious and regional backgrounds came together to oppose them.

 

India's freedom movement had thousands of people of different backgrounds in it. They worked together to decide joint actions, they went to jail together and they found different ways to oppose the British.

 

Interestingly, the British thought they could divide Indians because they were so different and then continue to rule them. But the people showed how they could be different and yet be united in their battle against the British.

 

Modern India presents a picture of unity in diversity where people of different faiths and beliefs live together in peace and harmony.

 

India remains one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world. This is the result of the freedom which every region and community has enjoyed to develop its genius through mutual interaction.

 

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THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

BHOGALI'S CHEER

 

The festive season is once again upon us in the guise of Magh or Bhogali Bihu. Bhog connotes feasting and merriment, which Bhogali Bihu is all about. This harvest related festival unique to Assam is perhaps the most enjoyable of all three Bihus. During Bohag or Rongali Bihu thoughts in young minds might turn to love, but during Bhogali all thoughts, of old or young, without exception, are focussed on filling the belly! None of the two other Bihus require the kind of preparation needed for Bhogali. During earlier days, when the pace of life was slower and demands on one's time less stringent, preparations for Bhogali began at least a month in advance, even while the farmers were reaping in the paddy harvest. Granaries were full, rivers teemed with fish and other aquatic edibles, kitchen gardens or plantations glowed with the fresh green of vegetables. It had been the season of plenty and there had been plenty to cheer about. The stucco thud of the dheki was a common sound heard even in urban areas, the air was redolent with the smell of til-pitha and narikal-laddu. The men folk were busy building mejhis or bhelaghars and arranging for buffalo-fights and other games, while the women were stocking up with provisions for the mandatory visits by friends and relatives. The combined blaze from myriad mejhis was enough to drive the gloomiest fog away.

Times, alas, have changed. It might once again be the festive season, but there is not much to be festive about. Traditional celebration of Bhogali Bihu is becoming a dying culture even in rural areas, change of social mores as well as terrifying demand on every individual's time being some of the causes. After all, few urban women today would undertake the hassles associated with making pithas and laddus at home, when packeted versions of the same are available in the market! But the biggest dampener in celebrating this joyous festival in a befitting manner is, of course, the terrifying rise in prices of food items. If it is the season of plenty, it is so only for those who can afford it, with the common citizen having to make compromises on the hospitality front! However, we must bear in mind that of all festivals Bhogali Bihu is the most community-inspired one, where relatives, friends, neighbours and community members unite as one to celebrate an occasion dear to every true Assamese heart. Even if we cannot whip up the feast associated with this Bihu, it is incumbent that we reinforce the community spirit that this Bihu evokes. Bhogali Bihu too is an apt occasion to commence repairing the ruptures that have appeared in Assamese society. Let Bhogali's cheer be a unifying force; may the mejhi's blaze weld each of us into a common identity.

 

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THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

GMC VS GMDA

 

Indian politicians have contrived many institutions to retain power over sources of finance and influence. They have even gone around the provisions of the Indian Constitution and built up extra-statal bodies. One such example is that of the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), which is not an elected body but is appointed by the Government of Assam (GOA) with the Chief Minister as the Chairman. Over the years people have come to look at GMDA as an extra-statal body which mainly grants building permissions often in contravention of its own rules and regulations. GMDA, therefore, has become a parallel institution compared to the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) which is a duly elected body under Article 243 Q(1) (C) of the Indian Constitution. The Twelfth Schedule (Article 243W) of the Constitution defines GMC's functions. Under entry No. 1 GMC has the power for "urban planning including town planning." Under entry No. 2 GMC has the power of "regulation of land-use and construction of buildings." The Constitution does not recognise GMDA. Of course, the Constitution also provides for setting up of " Metropolitan Planning Committee to prepare a draft development plan for the Metropolitan area as a whole" under Article 243ZE. A "Metropolitan area" has been defined as " an area having a population of ten lakh or more, comprised in one or more districts and consisting of two or more municipalities or Panchayats or other contiguous areas." Again, "not less than two thirds of the members of such Committee (for Metropolitan Planning) shall be elected by, and from amongst, the elected members of the Municipalities and Chairpersons of the Panchayats in the Metropolitan area in proportion to the ratio between the population of the Municipalities and of the Panchayats in that area" under the proviso to Article 243ZE (2). There is also provision for representation in such Committee of the Government of India and GOA. No such Committee for Metrpolitatan Planning, as enjoined by the Constitution, has been set up as yet by GOA. The civil society also seems to be happily ignorant about such a provision.

But what the civil society and the various committees and commissions in the past have done is to recommend withdrawal of the power of building permission from GMDA. The most recent recommendation is that of the Third Assam State Finance Commission (TASFC) chaired by the former Chief Secretary H.N. Das. TASFC categorically recommended that "only ULBs (Urban Local Bodies) should be empowered to grant such (building) permission and to realise the laid down fees". It further stated that "GMC alone should be allowed to exercise this power (of building permission). Such a measure will help augmentation of GMC's revenues, end confusion and help systematise the procedure." GOA accepted this recommendation vide the Explanatory Memorandum on Action Taken laid on the table of the Assam Legislative Assembly by the Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on December 11, 2009. GOA asked the Guwahati Development Department to carry out TASFC's recommendation. This is a welcome decision. The civil society will eagerly await its implementation in the immediate future.

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THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

ULFA ISSUE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION

HIRANYA SAIKIA

 

The Indian Constitution promised constitutional safeguards to the Assamese and economic development of Assam. But thing happened otherwise. Balkanization of Assam took place since 1963 with the creation of Nagaland. By 1972, Assam was divided into four more states. Even Shillong, the century old capital of Assam was left out with Meghalaya. From an area of 2,55,000 square kms Assam was reduced to 78,228 square kms. The division of Assam was avoidable. It went against the recommendation of the States Reorganization Commission of 1953 which recommended even unification of Manipur and Tripura with Assam. The government tried to justify the division of Assam to end armed insurgencies. After four decades of the division of Assam, the region is still disturbed.

Unlike the Nagas, who revolted against Indian domination under Phizo since 1946-47, the Assamese reposed faith on the Indian system and tried to be good Indians. But the great Indian experiment has ended in the devastation of the Assamese. The chronic neglect of Assam and ruthless exploitation of its natural resources by the Indian State pauperized the Assamese. Assam is thus deprived of its legitimate rights on its resources. Though Assam's 5 million tonnes of crude oil worth about Rs 11,000 crore is enriching India's economy every year, the economy of Assam has deteriorated since the time of India's independence. The per capita income of Assam was 4 per cent above India's national average in 1950-51. Today the per capita income of Assam is about 45 per cent below the national average.

The Central government has failed to protect the indigenous people of Assam from being swept away by foreigners from erstwhile East Pakistan and present day Bangladesh. The West Pakistan border was sealed. But the East Pakistan border was kept open. The liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 by India was the greatest foreign policy blunder. Presently the Bangladeshi nightmare is haunting the Assamese. The Assamese are marginalized on socio-economic and political fronts. A fear psychosis has gripped the Assamese. The Indian government remains insensitive to the aspirations and anxiety of the Assamese.

Slowly and steadily, the faith on the Indian system got eroded. The piled up uncertainties and multiple grievances created a congenial atmosphere for the growth of armed rebellion. There is no future and nothing happened as expected. The government also did nothing to restore the faith on the system. The Assamese people felt disillusioned. All modes of peaceful protests, be it for language, refinery, bridge or deportation of foreigners were exhausted. The Assamese were left with no other alternative. Then the protest came in a violent way. They have resorted to the last option. The Assamese have raised arms against the Indian State. Thus ULFA (United Liberation Front of Asom) was born on April 7, 1979 to free Assam from the clutches of the Indian colonial dominion to establish a sovereign socialist republic. ULFA's sovereign Assam was aimed at to define and assert the Assamese people's own destiny. Basically the denial of justice and the accumulated wrong that have been heaped up for years were the reasons for the birth of ULFA.

The armed liberation struggle by ULFA is based on the 'Right to self determination' of the Assamese people which is within the framework of the United Nations Charter. The armed resistance is basically against Indian colonial domination. ULFA's belief in Marxism has given a broader definition to a greater Assamese nationality. ULFA's demand for sovereign Assam has thrown an internal challenge to the Indian nation builders. The government instead of facing ULFA's ideological challenge politically, has taken to strong arms tactics to find a military solution. The government reacted in the most authoritarian way. The State empowered itself by enacting various draconian Acts. An undeclared martial law was imposed in Assam since 1990 which has institutionalized unbridled State power and subverted democracy. The Indian Armed forces were empowered extraordinarily by enacting the most anti-democratic law…the AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) 1958. The Act empowers a Havildar (a non commissioned officer) to shoot to kill anyone on suspicion. On the other hand, the AFSPA acts as a protective shield from prosecuting the armed personnel even for their gross human right violations.

The Indian ruling class is trying to treat the illness without diagnosing the disease properly. The 'Sovereignty' demand of ULFA is a political concept. So, a political concept has to be treated politically. An idea can't be fought militarily. The last two decades of military exercise has proved futile. The Indian State which was itself a victim of two centuries of British colonial domination is trying an outdated colonial policy of military suppression. The Indian State which has done immense wrong to Assam is in a morally weak position. The only way for a peaceful resolution of the 30 year long conflict is by engaging ULFA in a political dialogue. Enough of blood shed has already been shed. An intelligent nation would never waste so much time in finding out a political settlement. The Indian nation builders should analyze the historiography of Assam and address the insecurity and the hurt psyche of the Assamese people.

The concept of 'sovereignty' has under gone changes with time. In the 21st century, the globalized economy has redefined the meaning of 'sovereignty'. Today the countries are inter-dependent for economic, political or military reasons. If democracy is 'by the people' so also sovereignty emerges from people's will. A diversified set of sovereign state structures (like a separate constitution or a flag) could be framed by discussion. The Indian ruling class should be aware of this changing concept of "sovereignty" and find out a non military option to end the problem. Discussing 'sovereignty of Assam' with ULFA does not necessarily mean granting outright territorial sovereignty to Assam.

On August 15, 1947, India became independent. Nehru betrayed the 1934 Congress resolution of drafting the Indian Constitution by a Constituent Assembly duly elected by adult franchise. The Constitution of India which was framed by the Constituent Assembly elected in 1946 election which was held on a limited franchise of 15 per cent of the total population. The Constitutional development in India never reflected the sovereign will of the people. The Indian Constitution was framed according to Nehru's guidelines. The Indian Constitution was an extension of the British legacy with an all powerful Central domination. Gandhi, the father of the nation wanted a loose federation of India. Nehru's strong central policy ended his vision. Like the colonial Constitution, the Indian Constitution concentrated power at the Centre. The Indian Constitution of 1949 was in fact a modified version of the Government of India Act, 1935. The sovereignty struggle of ULFA is an outcome of a people losing faith in the centralized Indian Constitutional setup.

India is a nation in the making. It is basically a subcontinent with diversified regions and peoples, each having its own peculiar national aspirations and problems. Since the Indian Constitution was framed to fulfil the Central hegemony, it has failed to fulfil the diversified aspirations of the constituent States. Out of 1.15 billion people in India, approximately 400 million people live below poverty line. Today, in India 7 States are affected by separatist movements and Maoist struggle has spread to 15 States which prove that there is serious deficiency in the Indian system. Therefore, it requires an overhauling of the Indian constitution. Already the loss in terms of money and men is tremendous. Without domestic peace, India can't move forward. The internal civil wars will drag it backward. The nation builders should leave dogmatic approach and infuse a system of understanding and equal participation. Hence, the Central Government should not waste any more time for initiating a political dialogue with ULFA.

(The writer is a member of People's Consultative Group and the views expressed in the article are his own alone)

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THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

CRIME AGAINST WOMEN

DR H K GOSWAMI

 

Crime against women has become so pervasive – not just in the public place but within the household, in situations where a woman might believe she is safe – that the issue has to be kept in the public eye. A recent report titled "Gender Violence in India" prepared by the Chennai-based Prajnya Trust looks at six kinds of violence: pre-natal sex selection, child marriage and forced marriage, honour killing, dowry death, domestic violence and rape. Statistics of the National Crime Research Bureau (NCRB) reveals that the incidence of reported rape is steadily moving up. These are only the reported cases of rape. For every rape that shows up as statistics, there are many that remain hidden. "Cruelty by husbands and relatives" makeup 3.8 per cent of the total crimes registered under the Indian Panel Code (IPC). In fact, women are likely to face more violence in their homes than out on the streets. Furthermore, one must not forget incidents like dowry deaths that refuse to disappear, as well as'honour killings most prevalent in Punjab and Haryana but also now reported from some districts in Tamil Nadu, especially in the case between Dalits and non-Dalits.

According to a report released by the Centre for Equity and Inclusion (CEQUIN) in New Delhi recently, a vast majority of women believe that Delhi is unsafe for them. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on November 13, 2009, CEQUIN co-founder Sara Pilot said sexual harassment and assault on women in Delhi have become so common that it is generally condoned as a minor act of "eve teasing" and not a matter of grave concern. "The physical and psychological fall-out that such acts have on women and girls are rarely recognised. Their impact in terms of restricting a woman's mobility and access to public places, thereby limiting her access to goods and services, has never been measured. We will work with residents' welfare associations, market associations and schools, to break the stereotypes associated with women. At present, we are working with the Delhi police to create gender sensitisation and refine training modules from the constables to the inspector", said Pilot, who wants to involve all stakeholders in the endeavour to make Delhi a safe city for the fair sex.

The CEQUIN report, based on a survey conducted by the Centre for Media Studies, highlights the response of 630 respondents in the age group of 12-55 years living in the capital city covering educational institutions, metro railway stations, bus stops, market places, residential colonies including slums. The survey points out that Chandi Chowk, Connaught Place, Karol Bagh and Rohini are among the most unsafe localities. Alarmingly, 82 per cent of women felt that the bus is the most unsafe mode of transport in Delhi. Stating that women cutting across age, class and caste barriers were subjected to various degrees of harassment in public places, Pilot said : "What this implies is that freedom of mobility, speech and expression is not effectively applicable to half the population. Women are unsafe to achieve their full capabilities due to social and cultural constraints which often create violent barriers, thus impending their effective economic and political participation."

According to Delhi police, over 1200 women fell prey to criminals in the national capital from January to November 2009. There were 414 cases of rape, 222 eve-teasing, 492 molestation and 112 cases of murder of women. Murder of women has registered a slight increase compared to the figure of 2008. In 2008, Delhi police registered 108 murder cases of women. Out of the 414 rape cases in the city till November 2009, 57 were gang-rapes while the figure of rape committed by a single person was 357. In 2008, the number of gang-rape cases was 60 while the figure of rape committed by single person was 380.

In Assam, the police has registered a total of 4,306 cases relating to crime against women during the period from April 2009 to September 2009. Of this, cases of domestic violence tops the crime graph with 2,464 cases registered during this period. Cases of rape registered during the period stands at 979, molestation cases at 744, murder cases at 81, trafficking at 29 and eve-teasing at 9. This was revealed by the Assam Forest and Environment Minister Rockybul Hussain on December 11, 2009, in the State Assembly in reply to a question from an Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) MLA.

In Sikkim, the recently conducted National Family Health Survey-III (NFHS-II) points out that 19 per cent of women of Sikkim have experienced physical violence while 4 per cent have experienced sexual and physical violence. The survey, conducted among women aged 15-49 years, however, shows that the overall violence against women in this tiny Himalayan State is less than the national average. Significantly, five per cent of married wom- en in Sikkim reported that their husband had physically forced them to have sex. The chairperson of the Sikkim State Women Commission Subadra Rai told mediapersons in Gangtok recently that in most cases domestic violence is not reported to the Commission. Nevertheless, the Commission is actively working towards creating awareness among women especially in rural and semi-urban areas.

Meanwhile, on December 15, 2009, the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram told the Lok Sabha that the police, prosecutors and judges were not following detailed guidelines issued by his Ministry on handling of cases relating to crime against women keeping in mind the sensibilities and sensitivities of the victim. "There are very strict guidelines on how a case relating to crime against women should be investigated and prosecuted. I agree that the guidelines are not followed in some cases by the police, prosecutors and even judges". Chidambaram also said: "The Centre from time to time impressed upon the State governments so that sufferings of the victim were lessened. I appeal to the police, prosecutors and judges to follow the guidelines properly so that problems of the victims are lessened. I hope that the State governments will take the advisory seriously and implement it." The guidelines in the advisory are thorough investigation and charge sheet against accused within three months from the date of occurrence, medical examination in cases of rape without delay and creation of Special Women Police cells in police stations among others.

(The writer is former Principal, Mangaldai College).

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

SINNING IN GOD'S OWN COUNTRY

RISHI V K

 

The recent arrest of a local politician for alleged immoral activities has leapfrogged into becoming one of the most talked-about events in Kerala. The person in question, Rajmohan Unnithan, a member of All India Congress Committee, has been suspended from party and barred from travelling outside Kerala by a local court since his arrest during the night of December 20. Doesn't sound all that abnormal, for India, that is. What is unusual, however, is the way this small-time Malayalam film actor was taken into police custody and charged with such a serious offence.

According to media reports, local activists of DYFI, the youth wing of the ruling CPI-M, and the People's Democratic Party of Abdul Nasser Madani, broke into a house at Manjeri in Malappuram district to find Unnithan with a woman. They accused the two of immoral activity, actually took their photographs and held a public hearing for hours before handling them over to the police.

Unnithan and his 32-year-old female companion, a former Congress Sewa Dal member, were subjected to medical tests and had to spend a night in the police station before being granted bail by the Manjeri first class judicial magistrate the next day. And all this for being in the same house.

Since that day, Unnithan has been using all his time, energy and oratorical skills to explain he was set up and that he had no sexual relationship with the woman in question. Most commentators, bloggers and the public at large are debating what the two grown-ups were doing in the house and trying to guess if any remark from this otherwise small player in local politics may have led to a possible entrapment (Unnithan is known for his sharp and often nasty remarks.

For example, when the Congress invited K Karunakaran to rejoin the party, this is how he explained why the former CM's son Muraleedharan was not invited: "Vada comes free with masala dosa in Udupi hotels, you don't need to order separately.") Meanwhile, the man's own party, Congress, has ordered a probe into the incident.

Very few in the state have come out in the open to say the real issue was about violation of privacy and that consensual sex has nothing to do with illegal trafficking. One prominent person who did say that, writer Paul Zacharia, has allegedly been roughed up by DYFI activists for doing so. That's God's own country. A paradox. It leaves the rest of the country far behind in social indicators such as literacy, healthcare and social awareness, yet Kerala remains one of the most backward when it comes to relationships between the sexes.

Sample this: at the beautiful Varkala beach in south Kerala, Indians are not allowed to bathe at the main beach. It's kept exclusively for foreigners. There's no need to argue with the security guards or local police. Just watching how sensitive sun-bathing foreigners are to local stares is good enough. At Kovalam's famed Hawah Beach too, it's hard to spot brown skin in a sea of bare-bodied sunbathers.

That may sound like other parts of conservative India. But Kerala is 'progressive'. It believes in equality. It voted the first democratically elected Communist government into power. It has implemented land reforms. Here, girl children are taken care of, they are well-educated, confident and most of them work for a living, many outside the state. It's even supposed to be a traditionally matriarchal society!

Yet, here, even young husbands and wives are reluctant to share the same seat in local buses and college boys and girls seem reluctant to mingle with each other outside campuses. It's next to impossible to find a local woman in a bar or see a woman travel alone after sunset. Despite all its progressive claims and the ability of its people to adapt to different conditions around the world — it's said that there are more Malayalis outside the state than within — Kerala remains a male-dominated society that's steeped in moral backwardness. The only probable exceptions could be found among the youth in cities like Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.

In Kerala, it seems, only man is human. He errs. He drinks and robs, and sometimes kills. But a woman is beyond all that. She's a goddess, or furniture, or just a machine. She's incapable of action. She can't sin. She can't really live. Here's the most Catholic society in the world. It lives in a state of false morality that stands between man and woman, increasing their distance and distrust, and turning people into perverts. There are numerous sex scandals and cases of gang rapes. Yet, everybody is busy moral policing. Sex, thus, is one of the original sins in God's own country.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES

 

Can Sherlock Holmes ever be a cool dude? Sure, donning a deerstalker, smoking a pipe and carrying a magnifying glass on your person aren't great fashion tools. Nor are frock coats, top hats, walking sticks and a somewhat dubious sense of cleanliness. So what does a 21st century director do to render the famous detective of 221B Baker Street watchable for the Harry Potter and Da Vinci Code generation?

Why, give him a makeover, of course. So Guy Ritchie's Holmes is without the deerstalker, occasionally smoking the pipe, rarely ever playing the violin (he strums it like a guitar), donning fashionable eye wear (instead of the monocles), bickering endlessly with his 'mate' Watson and prowling London's cobbled streets raining fisticuffs and pistol shots on his adversaries.

A brawny Holmes who's also got his wits about him could have been an interesting interpretation. After all, the Holmes cult has spawned an entire pastiche industry.

Indeed, many of the assumptions about Holmes are just that. Nowhere does Doyle mention the deerstalker or the famous phrase 'elementary my dear Watson'. Many of those assumptions stem from the best-known adaptation of the stories featuring British actor Jeremy Brett in the mid-'80s.

But in his many different avatars, Holmes has never been a yob. He has always been firmly rooted in circa 1895, a gentleman who likes his collars clean and his stiff upper lip firmly in place. In his new persona, Holmes pines for Watson, eyes the fetching Irene Adler in an almost Kate Moss-ish makeover, thinks with his fists and speaks in an accent that's almost Bridget Jones.

It's perhaps a sign of the times that the two recent makeovers of cult British icons saw a more working class accent to upper class ethos. As a result Ian Fleming's one-liner happy 007 turned laconic in Martin Campbell's 2006 hit Casino Royale and the taciturn Holmes turns garrulous in Ritche's latest. Apart from earning the detective a brand new fan following Ritchie has done the impossible — turn Holmes into Spiderman. Conan Doyle couldn't have done better.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

DISTRIBUTION REFORM WON'T HOLD PRICES

 

With food price inflation edging close to 20%, the government has only firefighting measures to offer, and little to address the structural issues that constrain supply. Policy interventions such as duty-free import of raw sugar till the year end, higher open market sales of foodgrains or more channels to distribute subsidised edible oils and pulses are only temporary palliatives that may or may not work.

The government must find permanent solutions to address the shortages in commodities such as pulses whose supplies are limited in the world market. A technology mission on pulses, aggressive procurement to incentivise farmers to raise output and promoting large-scale contract farming overseas would help augment supplies.

Sugar production, on the other hand, is cyclical. Farmers grow less cane if mills pay unremunerative prices, leading to a shortfall and surge in retail prices. Ideally, cane farmers should form producer companies like Amul, to produce sugar and share in the profits arising from shortage of sugar. Sugar cooperatives also seek to do this, except that cooperatives in India have been captured by politicians and bureaucrats.

The Centre should also dump faulty rules set for the sugar industry. It is indeed appalling that it sought to pin the blame on the Mayawati-led Uttar Pradesh government for banning mills from processing imported sugar. The problem was a central excise rule that prohibits an importing mill from outsourcing the processing of raw sugar to another entity.

The rule has been amended only this Wednesday. States have also been advised to remove VAT and other taxes on sugar and impose turnover limits to tame prices. There is, however, no guarantee that all states would follow this advice. Initiatives like augmenting the supply of subsidised edible oil through state-owned agencies are not out-of-the- box solutions.

But a crack down on hoarders and black marketeers is a must to prevent prices from rising further even if it does not bring prices down overnight. Hopefully, the prime minister's meeting with the chief ministers to review the food price situation would set the tone for fundamental reforms in the farm sector to raise productivity.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

SUPREME COURT SHOULD ACCEPT VERDICT

 

Tuesday's ruling by a three-member bench of the Delhi High Court is truly historic. It upheld an earlier judgment of a single judge of the same court, dismissing an appeal by the Supreme Court (SC), that the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) comes within the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Doing so, the high court has sent a clear message: no one is above the law.

This is the most sacred principle in any democratic society and it is heartening that the high court sees no case for any exception. The prime minister and the President are already covered by RTI so why not the apex court judges? The ruling comes in a dispute over whether assets declared by SC judges to the CJI should be disclosed under the RTI Act.

In saying the CJI is a public authority and, thus, bound to provide information about the details of assets held by apex court judges and disclosed to the CJI, the Delhi High Court bench of Justices A P Shah, Vikramjit Sen and S Murlidhar has done the Indian judiciary proud. As Justice Shah puts it, "the declarations are not furnished to the CJI in a private relationship or as a trust, but in discharge of the constitutional obligation to maintain higher standards and probity of judicial life and are in the larger public interest."

We hope the apex court would accept the high court ruling with grace and desist from filing an appeal. Under the law as it stands, the appeal will also be heard by the apex court. This means the SC will hear a case to which it is a party; something that goes against all laws of natural justice.

The SC has always been held in high esteem by ordinary citizens who see it not only as the last refuge of citizens but also as the standard bearer of the highest principles of morality and integrity in the country. It should live up to that lofty ideal by accepting the high court judgment with grace. Right to information, the court has held, is the fundamental right of every citizen.

"The higher the judge is placed in the judicial hierarchy, the greater the standard of accountability and the stricter the scrutiny of accountability of such mechanism," said the Bench. We could not agree more.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

DESTROY THOSE ENVYING ROOTS

PARMAHAMSA NITHYANANDA

 

The enlightened master, Buddha says, 'Destroy those envying roots and enjoy lasting peace.' Just be fully aware when the feeling of jealousy arises. And you will be surprised, it simply disappears. Jealousy cannot be overcome either by escaping from it or hating the object of jealousy.

A woman once hired a professional artist to paint her portrait. The artist carefully made a large portrait and then presented it to her saying, 'How do you like it?' The lady looked at it and said, 'Yes, very nice. But can you add a few things? I want you to add a glittering diamond necklace, a gold watch and bracelet, emerald earrings and beautiful pearl rings on the fingers. The artist was surprised and said, 'But madam, the portrait looks simple and beautiful as it is. Why do you want to add all the jewellery and clutter it?'

The woman replied, 'I want my rich neighbours to see the painting and go crazy when they see all the jewellery that they will think I have.' Understand, the way out of jealousy is not by suppressing it or denying its existence. Expressing and encouraging it is also not the way because then you are not ready to face the jealousy with awareness. Just watch how jealousy arises in you, how it develops into hatred for the object of jealousy, how it creates restlessness and frustration inside you and makes you lose all of your peace and calm.

Be aware of the jealousy instead of hating it or the object of your jealousy. Just watch, as if you have nothing to do with it. Be a scientist in your inner world and let your mind be your laboratory. Just be aware and witness without any prejudice.

Do not condemn the emotion saying it is bad because that is what you have been taught. It has not become your experience. Understand, if it is your experience that jealousy is a negative emotion you will drop it automatically. It has not become your own experience; it is only something that you have picked up from others. Unless it becomes an experiential understanding in you that jealousy and comparison are negative, it will not become a part of you.

Do not condemn the object of jealousy. The object has not generated the emotion from outside. The jealousy is happening inside you. The fire of jealousy can just consume you completely if you don't control it with the fire extinguisher of your awareness. Once you witness your jealousy with awareness, you will realise that it does not have a basis for existence at all. When this happens, jealousy will drop automatically. You won't have to drop it. Be Blissful!

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

MINISTERS & BABUS ARE THE LORDS OF PUBLIC SECTOR UNDERTAKINGS

 

Public sector enterprises are managed by their boards of directors, and not by government , according to the applicable laws and regulations for companies. Government, as the majority shareholder, has reserved some major decision-making powers for itself. The government exercises the powers of a shareholder and also has the right to issue directions to a PSU. Yet, the general perception is that the government manages — mismanages? — PSUs and interferes in their working. What is the reality?

The CEOs and board members of PSUs are appointed on contract by the government, with a tenure not exceeding five years. The renewal of contracts, promotions and transfers of the fulltime directors, including the CEO, are decided by the government . The annual assessment of their work is made by the government . This is largely on subjective considerations. The government for each PSU means the administrative ministry.

The minister and the senior bureaucrats dealing with a PSU exercise most of the powers of the government. This gives enormous control over the PSU top managers. In board meetings, the views of the ministry representative can rarely be ignored. It would be a rare PSU manager who would risk defying 'requests' coming from the ministry. To do so, the person has to be confident of getting a job in the private sector.

The working of PSUs is reviewed by several parliamentary committees. Parliament questions are also asked about various aspects of PSUs' working. The CAG audits the working of PSUs. It is the minister, or the secretary of the ministry, who has to defend the PSU against issues that may be raised by these authorities. Who would risk antagonising one's defence lawyers?

The Prevention of Corruption Act makes it possible to allege that virtually any commercial transaction constitutes criminal misconduct. To do so, the investigating authority has to allege that the transaction caused gain to the other party — which is inherent in any contract or commercial deal — and that this was without 'public interest' or was by 'abuse of position' Neither public interest nor abuse of position in commercial working has been defined. A ministry can initiate an inquiry by the CBI against any PSU top manager , and also refuse permission for their prosecution if it thinks fit to do so. Is it surprising that most CEOs and directors want to keep the ministry happy?

Though the power of control and decision-making are centred in a ministry, the good or bad performance of a PSU does not in any way impact the career of the minister or the secretary. Conversely, PSUs usually provide enormous opportunities for exercise of patronage, and for enjoying benefits and perquisites, without any accountability. It does not require a genius to work out what is likely to happen in such a situation.

The government has taken steps to give more financial and administrative powers to PSUs, especially Navratnas. However, except those lucky PSUs that have controllers who are enlightened and possessed of strong self-control , real autonomy for others remains a mirage. Such PSUs can hardly hope to compete with private companies where employees are motivated and accountable, and are trusted to take decisions and to make the occasional mistake.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

TIME TO SEPARATE OWNERSHIP FROM MANAGEMENT

 

Any opinion on whether the government is mismanaging public sector enterprises (PSE) needs to be evaluated on two distinct time periods: from post-Independence to 1991 and from 1992 to the present. In post-Independent India, the country adopted a centrally-planned model of mixed economy for equitable distribution of national resources and balanced economic growth. This model entrusted a critical responsibility to PSEs for achieving the goal of economic development with social justice. This was a time of extreme deprivation in Indian economy, which was predominantly agrarian and labour-intense with scarce capital resources.

As time passed post-Independence , there were instances of mismanagement , rent-seeking from various quarters. Nevertheless, it was in the post-1992 period when economic liberalisation became the locus standi of corporate PSEs and we witnessed improvement in corporate governance with nine-times growth in net profit and 35% growth in turnover.

The hidden wealth of a large number of PSEs was unlocked with listing on stock exchanges and value creation for stakeholders became a matter of paramount importance . MoU system and Navratna/miniratna and now maharatna were gradually introduced to provide greater autonomy. Today, 18 Navratna companies contribute about 15% of India's GDP. No doubt this is the result of better autonomy and a continual reforms process but, at the same time, there are cases of mismanagement.

Autonomy is a key issue in management of PSEs, but there is a need for complete separation of ownership (government) and the board-level management (PSE). Ownership should not transgress into the managerial domain. There should be a balance between autonomy and state control. The tendency to get involved in actual management of PSEs needs to be revisited by the government. It is also observed that PSEs are not utilising the full power granted to them and knock at the door of the respective ministry before arriving at a decision.

At the same time, administrative ministries interfere in the board meetings through government-nominated directors. The chairman/CEO of PSE does not have control over government director (or independent director) who becomes remote-sensing ballistic control devices on the CEOs! Notwithstanding the above, organisational inefficiencies also crept into the PSEs over a period of time. This resulted in propagation of poor work ethics and lack of managerial accountability.

Other instances of interference by government are with respect to taking government approval for creation of posts above a certain level. The board may be a superior body to decide about growth and running of the company . Creation of posts should be left to the board as it takes a long time to get the clearance of the administrative ministry.

There is also a need to reform the process of selection of directors and CEOs as it takes a long time. Several factors are responsible for such delays, including human weakness. Even the appointment of CEOs needs to be speeded up to reduce the period during which the PSE is being run an acting chief.

Thus, not only government but also the PSEs are responsible for present state of affair. Instead of accusing the government or the PSE, there is need for improvement through open-house interaction that SCOPE can provide.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

GOOGLE'S THREAT: CHINA MAY LOSE EDGE TO INDIA

SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR

 

NEW DELHI: Ever since Barack Obama replaced George Bush, US foreign policy has been drifting away from India and towards China and Pakistan. That drift could be reversed if Google pulls out of China because of Chinese government hacking into its sites to target human rights activists.

Cynics say that US foreign policy and business pay only lip service to human rights or democracy. It is true that if Google exits China, US-China relations will not be wrecked, and US corporates will not switch all their investment from China to India. But, make no mistake, it will hit a nerve in a Democratic administration sensitive to its human rights constituency. And foreign investors in China will start worrying that their own commercial secrets and intellectual property could be at risk because of officially-blessed hacking.

Former president Bush used his limited political capital to push through the historic nuclear deal with India. Although India is far behind China in economic and military terms today, Bush pushed for a special relationship with India as a long-term democratic partner that could counter China in Asia.

Since Obama took over, the mood in Washington has changed palpably. During his recent visit to China, Obama praised Beijing and downplayed old criticisms of China's human rights violations and currency manipulation. This fuelled US media speculation about a new G-2 consisting of just the US and China, and reversed the Bush attempt to promote India at China's expense.

Notwithstanding the nuclear deal, Obama has severely restricted US export licensing for dual-use technology to India.

He does not wish to sell India equipment for nuclear enrichment or reprocessing. An agreement on spent fuel was expected to be signed when Manmohan Singh visited Washington, but could not be finalised.

Obama and Hillary Clinton have bought Pakistan's argument that Indian activities in Afghanistan should be minimised to assuage Pakistani concerns in Baluchistan. Unlike Bush, Obama and Clinton agreed with Pakistan that Kashmir was part of the Taliban-Al Qaeda issue, and sought to appoint Richard Holbrooke as special envoy to India as well as Pakistan and Afghanistan, a move India eventually stymied.

 

However, these changes are less fundamental than an immediate reaction to two crises: the economic crisis at home and the worsening situation in Afghanistan. Much of the US shift towards China is attributable to US economic weakness during the Great Recession, that appears to have ended recently. China has, for years, been buying US gilts, and holds over a trillion dollars of US securities in its forex reserves. If China dumps these on the market, the dollar will crash. However, in 2009 the main buyers of US gilts have been the Fed and other US banks getting Fed finance, with China's fresh purchases being minimal. A crashing dollar will mean a crash in the value of China's forex reserves, so it cannot credibly threaten to dump its US gilts.

With the end of the recession, Obama can shift from the defensive to the offensive on China, and change the emphasis from economic co-operation to human rights. Such a shift will require a topical peg. Google's exit from China could provide just that.

US corporations are not bleeding-heart liberals that spend sleepless nights worrying about human rights. They can be utterly cynical. On hearing that Google might exit China, the Nasdaq saw the share price of Baidu, Google's main competitor in China, shoot up 6.8%, while Google dropped 1.1%.

However, once the recession ends, these corporates will once again be harried by politicians and civil society to display corporate social responsibility, and at the margin this will diminish their enthusiasm to invest in China, especially for export. Besides, everybody knows that the old global imbalances — created when China used an undervalued currency to create huge export surpluses — were a cause for the Great Recession, and must be avoided in coming years. US corporations know they must diversify out of China to other investment destinations, and India is an obvious alternative.

No radical changes will occur overnight. But if indeed it is established that China has been hacking into Google to target human rights activists, US foreign policy and business will tilt away from China to India. What's bad for Google may be good for India.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

TIME FOR NEW LAND REFORMS

TK ARUN

 

Food prices are sky-high and the governments at the Centre and the states can do little more than blame one another. The present rise in food prices cannot be tackled through conventional means, because food prices are going up because of higher demand from all sections of society. In other words, high food prices represent a problem of prosperity and it will only get worse as growth accelerates. It is time to implement radical reforms in farming, to tackle the shortage of food, in relation to rising demand.

The conventional wisdom is that high food prices make the poor worse off. India's growing prosperity and welfare schemes such as the employment guarantee scheme turn conventional wisdom on its head. When people who could never afford to eat their fill suddenly get purchasing power in their hand, the first thing they buy is more food, and better kinds of food. Because the poor are better off, food prices are going up.

In the eighties, the Soviet Union had a food crisis, when their grain output was double India's, for a population that was one-third or so India's. Why did India, with a per capita grain output that was about one-sixth the Soviet Union's, not have a crisis, while the Soviet Union was pushing up world grain prices with panic buying? Because most Indians ate mostly grain, while most Soviet citizens ate mostly meat — in other words, they fed their grain to animals and ate the animals. This is how the bulk of the developed world lives.

Consumption patterns are changing in India, too, with people eating less of cereals and more of pulses, vegetables, milk, meat and eggs. Even the NSSO surveys that sadly underestimate total consumption and yield the horror tales of poverty that warm the cockles of reform critics' hearts show that consumption across the board is undergoing a shift to higher value foods and processed foods. That shift raises the total food demand, even as people consume fewer calories, thanks to ever-diminishing dependence on manual labour.

This rise in demand for food is taking place across the world, as the five years prior to the global crisis had seen growth accelerate everywhere, including in Africa. World food prices are also at a record high, making it difficult to tackle domestic food price inflation through imports. World prices, in fact, put upward pressure on Indian food prices, even as we ban exports and try to keep Indian food prices repressed.

And the trend in food output has failed to keep pace with the demand. The same green revolution of the '60s that ended India's dependence on American aid for food has plateaued productivity in Punjab and Haryana, turned the soil increasingly infertile, and stunted policymaking imagination on raising food output. That green revolution model is not what will work now. We need to think anew, in four directions.

One, the absurdity of growing sugarcane in arid regions of Maharashtra, and not in Bihar and eastern UP, must end. Perverse subsidies make Maharashtra grow cane, instead of focusing on crops suited to its agro-climate, and the pastoral potential that made the Vithoba cult as big as it was in the state. These subsidies must go. If law and order improves to a stage where it is safe to set up and operate sugar factories in Bihar, that state has the potential to be India's sugar bowl.

Two, India faces a massive shortage of water. Groundwater is nearly depleted and surface water runs off to the sea. We need an intelligent combination of large and small dams, planned on a river basin basis. Large investments are required. For them to become viable and free of conflict between upper- and lower riparian claimants on water, we also need realistic water charges, clearly defined water entitlements and democratic management of water supply.

Three, food production and procurement must be planned on a global scale, with Indian-initiated farming in Africa, Latin America and Australia to grow crops in demand mostly in India, such as pulses and oilseeds.

Four, we need a new breed of land reforms in which land is consolidated, rather than fragmented, to accommodate the indivisibility of capital and realise economies of scale and mechanised, know-how intensive farming. For this, we need a new organisational form, to replace the farmer cultivating his field with own, family and some hired labour. Farmers need to be organised into farmer companies that pool land, and acquire organised muscle while negotiating prices for inputs and their produce.

As retail gets organised and can beat farm-gate prices down with their volume purchases, it is vital that farmers achieve organised strength. Farmer companies can do some value addition before selling their produce, raising the value retained by farmers. These can farm oil seeds and pulses abroad as well.

Cooperatives have been failures, except in Amul and Amul-type initiatives. They have been hijacked by politicians, their functioning taken over by officials. Companies represent a viable alternative. Organising farmers into companies is the real challenge. Governments can only aid the process. Politicians invited. Power-brokers excuse!

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

HIMADRI CHEM EXPECTS REVENUES TO RISE SIX-FOLD

 

Himadri Chemicals, a Kolkata-based coal tar company in which Bain Capital has made a Rs 250 crore investment, has lined up major expansion plans. Besides doubling the capacity of its existing plants, the company is also looking at a joint venture in China. In an exclusive interview to ET NOW, CEO Anurag Choudhary says revenue will grow six-fold after the first phase of expansion.

Some of your key user industries, aluminium and graphite electrodes, have been on a roll. How do you plan to meet the surge in demand? Can you give us details of capacity expansion?

The capacity of coal tar distillation plant will go up from 169,000 metric tonnes (MT) a year to 250,000 MT by March 2010. We will also be expanding our SNF (an ingredient that goes into ready-mix concrete) capacity from 8,000 MT to 18,000 MT by March 2010. After the completion of this plan, we have lined up a significant expansion plan.

We will be expanding our distillation capacity of coal tar from 250,000 MT to 400,000 MT. The carbon black, advance carbon material, power plant and SNF business are going to be expanded by more than two-fold. All this capacity will come into full operation in the next 18 months.

You are also planning to set up a greenfield project in China. Can you give us some details on the funding of the project? Also what are your revenue projections for next fiscal?

We are going ahead with a greenfield project in China where Himadri will have 94% stake in the joint venture. This project is coming up in Shandong province and we expect the operation to commence in the next 18 months. After the first phase of all the expansion, we expect our top line to be at around Rs 2,000 crore.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

WE PLAN TO LEND AGAINST SHARES AS WELL: SANJIV BAJAJ

 

Bajaj FinServ, the Bajaj group's financial services arm, reported a three-fold rise in consolidated profits during the quarter ended December 2009. In an interview with ET NOW , Bajaj FinServ MD Sanjiv Bajaj sums up the performance in the last quarter and his plans for the company going forward. Excerpts:

Give us a sense of how the new business premium growth has been in the last quarter.

The new business premium is relevant for the life insurance business where we have shown a 10% increase on the new business premium and a 14% increase on growth premium. If you look at the general business, while our gross premium is flat at Rs 583 crore, profit is up from Rs 17 crore to Rs 29 crore. In the consumer finance business, we have shown a growth in gross income from Rs 158 crore to Rs 250 crore. Profit has grown handsomely from Rs 11 crore to Rs 27 crore. So across businesses, we have seen a significant growth in bottomline.

In the light of Irda norms capping those ULIP charges, what kind of impact do you see in terms of your profit margins and what kind of new products will you be focusing on now?

We have refined our products for them to fall in line with the charges of Irda but most of our products were by and large in line and as a result, we do not expect to see significant difference going forward in our particular case.

Tell us about the new segments Bajaj Auto Finance is looking at to grow the loan book because analysts feel that the lack of access to deposit base may constrain expansion of your loan book size.

We have seen significant growth both at the low and unsecured business, which is consumer durables. I believe we are one of the financiers of consumer durables across the country and we are present in 50 cities. So that portfolio grew well particularly during the festive season and has continued even through December. In addition, on our secured portfolio, which is loan against property, we have seen steady growth. We are doing almost Rs 100 crore of business in a month. We are seeing very stable growth across businesses outside of the two-wheeler business. The two-wheeler business is only captive to our own products and there again, after restructuring the internal processes and team last year, we are seeing very handsome growth in this quarter.

What are your plans for new business initiatives? You are considering entering equipment finance as well. Is that going to be largely in the construction equipment space?

Absolutely right, we see a significant opportunity overall in the construction equipment segment. We are looking forward in the first quarter of the next financial year to enter the segment and we are currently building the team on the construction equipment financing side.

In addition, we currently do loan against shares, but we only do promote our funding over here. We are building the team and the IT platform so that again in the first quarter next year, we are ready to start retail loan against shares as well. So, these are two new businesses that we expect to start in the next quarter.

 

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                                                                                                               DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

LANDMARK RULING TO BOOST TRANSPARENCY

 

In a ruling of long-term import, a three-judge bench of the Delhi high court on Tuesday rejected the contention of the Supreme Court registry and held that the office of Chief Justice of India fell within the ambit of the Right of Information Act as it was a "public authority". Essentially, this means the country's highest judge can be interrogated by any concerned citizen on any aspect of his work and personal life — such as health, and assets and liabilities — insofar as it has any bearing on the public domain. While serious charges of corruption or dereliction of duty have not generally been brought against members of the superior judiciary in this country, especially Supreme Court judges, the position taken by the Delhi high court broadens the question of openness in a democracy, maintaining that this does not come into clash with the idea of judicial independence. Through months of nationwide public debate on whether "judicial independence" could be hurt if frivolous procedures were brought against senior judges, especially over disclosure of their assets and liabilities, the Chief Justice of India maintained this was indeed the case. Parliament, however, rejected this view. In the end, Supreme Court judges who were earlier disclosing their assets only to the Chief Justice, were obliged to make the information public. The high court judgment, thus, goes much beyond the question of disclosure of assets, and by implication covers all aspects of a judge's functioning and personal life if the latter impinges on the public sphere. Laying down a principle, the bench held that "judicial independence" was not a personal privilege available to a judge but a responsibility cast upon him. The meaning of this is clear. Now any citizen, through use of the RTI Act, can question if judicial independence is being put to appropriate use in an efficient manner. Supreme Court judges will clearly be under watch. Whether this is the end of the matter is not yet clear. In a brief interaction with the media, Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan said he would make a considered response to the high court ruling only after going through it. So we don't know yet if the Supreme Court registry will go in appeal against the high court judgment. If it does, the extraordinary situation is apt to arise where the Supreme Court is in a position of sitting in judgment on itself. The law minister, Mr M. Veerappa Moily, has not made his views explicit on the issue, but he appears to give the impression that he might not be wholly comfortable with the radical departure the high court is looking to make. About two months ago, the Supreme Court judges had made their assets public. It was refreshing to see that our seniormost judges are squeaky clean — that in some cases they own assets that may be less than that commanded by successful middle class professionals. SC judges thus need not be apprehensive that their integrity is being assessed. Clearly, the point made by the Delhi High Court is a point of principle really. As Justice A.P. Shah, Delhi High Court chief justice, observed: "After almost 55 years since the coming into force of the Constitution of India, a national law providing for the Right to Information was passed by both Houses of Parliament. It is undoubtedly the most significant event in the life of Indian democracy."

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

SPRUCE UP SECURITY

BY ARUN KUMAR SINGH

 

I visited China in mid-October 2009. The three cities (Beijing, Dalian and Qingdao) which I saw, were as modern as Washington D.C., which I subsequently visited a week later. My Chinese hosts mentioned that all the major Chinese cities are of similar standard, while Shanghai is a generation ahead. I had visited Shanghai in 2000, and had found it to be an ultra-modern city even then. A brief chat with an English speaking salesperson, at a large Beijing departmental store, was revealing. This worker got only one day leave a month, and this explains China's phenomenal economic rise, based on massive exports of practically all commodities. The pragmatic Chinese have put aside ideology, and have put energy-cum national security as the twin pillars which support mass production, export-based national prosperity. Realising that corruption, separatism and terrorism are the biggest threats to national prosperity, as also the one party rule of the Communists, the state is ruthless in dealing with these evils, which have regrettably taken firm root in India.

 

I had visited Tiananmen Square, where a fortnight earlier, the massive military parade had taken place, and wondered whether we in India, could learn a lesson from the Chinese, and perhaps have only one "good" Republic Day parade every 10 years. Imagine the time and money wasted in the annual month-long parade rehearsals, lost productivity, the inconvenience caused to the common working man and the tempting targets put up for the terrorists on every January 26.

 

I also briefly visited the Beijing Olympic village and the ultra-modern stadia where the spectacular 2008 Olympics were held, and felt saddened by the way we are preparing for the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, and the recent December 27 cricket fiasco in Delhi.

 

Qingdao, where the Chinese Navy held its 2009, International Fleet Review is an ultra-modern port city, while the port city of Dalian has a shipyard which is possibly larger than all the eight Indian public sector shipyards combined.

 

The Indo-Chinese energy requirements are similar, but here too, the Chinese are taking rapid steps to boost energy security. Ten nuclear power plants will come up annually, while the planned 7,000 km Turkmenistan to China oil pipeline will add to energy security, as will the Pakistan-China Karakoram highway-cum-oil pipeline, the "string of pearls" Indian Ocean bases, which will be less vulnerable than Chinese oil imports by ships from West Asia and west Africa.

 

Fortunately, in a rather eventless 2009, India signed the Indo-Russian pact which ensures uranium supply in perpetuity for Russian nuclear plants and military cooperation has been extended to 2020, while media reports of India proposing to import 145 American made 155mm "Light" Howitzers is welcome. Also, fortunately, the Indian economy has grown at an impressive rate, thanks to the ingenuity of the Indian trader. Unfortunately, the problems of 700 million poor people, the Naxal insurgency, massive corruption and the external threat environment continue to pose grave problems. Unless, urgent steps are taken, food and water shortages will further aggravate the situation, since India will overtake China by 2050, as the world's most populous nation.

 

The Indian media needs to be congratulated for repeatedly highlighting the inadequacies in our defence preparedness. The news that lack of "environmental clearances" have resulted in only 12 roads built (out of the 73 needed "urgently") along the 4,073 km Indo-China LAC (Line of Actual Control), is only one of the numerous security worries.

The recent January 11, media report that "an official report indicates that India has lost substantial land along LAC to China in the last two decades", is shocking, though not really surprising, in this land of zero accountability.

 

The brief "Copenhagen India-China bonhomie", and Pakistan's present internal crisis, should not cloud our thinking about the threats from China, Pakistan and Pakistani sponsored terrorists. What will India do now that China has occupied substantial Indian land along the LAC? What will be India's response if terrorists take over a "Liquified Natural Gas" ship or a "chemical" ship and explode it in a busy harbour like Kolkata or a petroleum centre like Vadinar? Since no Indian port is Container Security Initiative (CSI) compliant, what will India do, if terrorists use a shipping container to smuggle in a "dirty radio active bomb" to Delhi, via the sea route?

 

It is a fact that no Army in the world gets 100 per cent of its perceived needs, but to be 50 per cent deficient, as indicated by the media reports is shocking, as are media reports that the Army will get all its requirements only by 2027. The Army's proposed doctrine of fending off a simultaneous China-Pak military adventure will need hardware and manpower to make it credible.

 

India's strategic posture received twin jolts from the recent publicity given to the 1998 thermo-nuclear "fizzle", and the failure of two consecutive Agni-II firings. Hopefully, the forthcoming January 2010 repeat tests of Agni-II and Agni-III are successful, and that the subsequent 5,000 km-range Agni-V ballastic missiles are sufficiently tested before being declared operational.

 

The December 23, 2009, announcement by the home minister to set up by end 2010, the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), and a NATGRID (Unified Data Centre for seamless flow of 21 sets of data by 2011) is a welcome move. Having personally seen in 2005 how the US Coast Guard provides coastal and waterfront security to New York, it is my opinion that adequately trained, motivated manpower and modern equipment are urgently needed to combat terror.

 

India, cannot overtake China in the economic or military fields. We can however emulate China's pragmatic approach to national interests. We must also learn from America's ruthless approach to homeland security. The West too needs to investigate, why Muslim youth get radicalised after being educated in their "liberal" environment. 2010, promises to be complex and difficult year, and India must be prepared to meet the challenges.

 

* Vice-Admiral Arun Kumar Singh retired as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

RED ALERT: IS CHINA WORLD'S NEXT ENRON?

BY THOMAS L. FRIDMAN

 

Reading The Herald Tribune over breakfast in Hong Kong harbour last week, my eye went to the front-page story about how James Chanos — reportedly one of America's most successful short-sellers, the man who bet that Enron was a fraud and made a fortune when that proved true and its stock collapsed — is now warning that China is "Dubai times 1,000 — or worse" and looking for ways to short that country's economy before its bubbles burst.

 

China's markets may be full of bubbles ripe for a short-seller, and if Mr Chanos can find a way to make money shorting them, God bless him. But after visiting Hong Kong and Taiwan this past week and talking to many people who work and invest their own money in China, I'd offer Mr Chanos two notes of caution.

 

First, a simple rule of investing that has always served me well: Never short a country with $2 trillion in foreign currency reserves. Second, it is easy to look at China today and see its enormous problems and things that it is not getting right. For instance, low interest rates, easy credit, an undervalued currency and hot money flowing in from abroad have led to what the Chinese government on Sunday called "excessively rising house prices" in major cities, or what some might call a speculative bubble ripe for the shorting. In the last few days, though, China's Central bank has started edging up interest rates and raising the proportion of deposits that banks must set aside as reserves — precisely to head off inflation and take some air out of any asset bubbles.

 

And that's the point. I am reluctant to sell China short, not because I think it has no problems or corruption or bubbles, but because I think it has all those problems in spades — and some will blow up along the way (the most dangerous being pollution). But it also has a political class focused on addressing its real problems, as well as a mountain of savings with which to do so (unlike us).

 

And here is the other thing to keep in mind. Think about all the hype, all the words, that have been written about China's economic development since 1979. It's a lot, right? What if I told you this: "It may be that we haven't seen anything yet".

 

Why do I say that? All the long-term investments that China has made over the last two decades are just blossoming and could really propel the Chinese economy into the 21st-century knowledge age, starting with its massive investment in infrastructure. Ten years ago, China had a lot of bridges and roads to nowhere. Well, many of them are now connected. It is also on a crash programme of building subways in major cities and high-speed trains to interconnect them. China also now has 400 million Internet users, and 200 million of them have broadband. Check into a motel in any major city and you'll have broadband access. America has about 80 million broadband users.

 

Now take all this infrastructure and mix it together with 27 million students in technical colleges and universities — the most in the world. With just the normal distribution of brains, that's going to bring a lot of brainpower to the market, or, as Bill Gates once said to me: "In China, when you're one-in-a-million, there are 1,300 other people just like you".

 

Equally important, more and more Chinese students educated abroad are returning home to work and start new businesses. I had lunch with a group of professors at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), who told me that this year they will be offering some 50 full scholarships for graduate students in science and technology. Major US universities are sharply cutting back. Tony Chan, a Hong Kong-born mathematician, recently returned from America after 20 years to become the new president of HKUST. What was his last job in America? Assistant director of the US National Science Foundation in charge of the mathematical and physical sciences. He's one of many coming home.

 

One of the biggest problems for China's manufacturing and financial sectors has been finding capable middle managers. The reverse-brain drain is eliminating that problem as well.

 

Finally, as Liu Chao-shiuan, Taiwan's former Prime Minister, pointed out to me: when Taiwan moved up the value chain from low-end, labour-intensive manufacturing to higher, value-added work, its factories moved to China or Vietnam. It lost them. In China, low-end manufacturing moves from coastal China to the less developed western part of the country and becomes an engine for development there. In Taiwan, factories go up and out. In China, they go East to West.

 

"China knows it has problems", said Liu. "But this is the first time it has a chance to actually solve them". Taiwanese entrepreneurs now have more than 70,000 factories in China. They know the place. So I asked several Taiwanese businessmen whether they would "short" China. They vigorously shook their heads no as if I'd asked if they'd go one on one with LeBron James. But, hey, some people said the same about Enron. Still, I'd rather bet against the euro. Shorting China today? Well, good luck with that, Mr Chanos. Let us know how it works out for you.

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

OPED

LET'S CALL IT A DRAW?

 

WE NEED TO TACKLE PAK'S PROXY WAR

SHANKAR ROYCHOWDHURY

 

Regaining control over Jammu and Kashmir which was lost to India after the first Kashmir War of 1947-48 remains one of the basic aims of Pakistan's national policy, in pursuance of which Pakistan has fought three unsuccessful wars and undertaken a long- running proxy war since 1989 against this country. The highly emotive issue of revenge against India for Pakistan's humiliating debacle in Bangladesh in 1971 — "Badla for Bangladesh" — has been added on to this and Pakistan has targeted Jammu and Kashmir, specifically the Kashmir Valley, to exact retribution. These intentions remain unchanged to the present day.

 

A section of India's leadership has romanticised the notion of "peace with Pakistan", hoping for a corresponding reciprocity from across the border. The Pakistan Army, which controls the foreign policy of that country, is rightly to be seen as the most radical of hawks that will not turn into the gentlest of doves overnight. The fidayeen attacks in Srinagar are manifestations of the Pakistan Army's policy of proxy war. In such a fight, each attack or bomb blast is an individual injury inflicted on India within Pakistan's larger proxy war aims against this country of "death by a thousand cuts". India's leadership must never seek to minimise this perspective.

 

Pullback, reduction, or withdrawal of forces from Jammu and Kashmir, howsoever described, must be visualised in this broader strategic context. Such moves become a cynical game of political volleyball confined to politicians and their interlocutors in Srinagar and New Delhi. The Jammu and Ladakh regions of J&K, which constitute a sizeable portion of the state, are absolutely against any such pullback. They have never been taken into account in any significant manner by the political actors in the Valley, who dominate the state's political hierarchy, and ignored even by the Government of India. The issue of "azaadi" has been built up into an intensely emotive political programme in the Kashmir Valley by politicians with strong separatist and pro-Pakistan sympathies, whose agendas find disproportionate representation and weightage in the national media. An adequate presence of security forces will always be required in Jammu and Kashmir in the foreseeable future to respond to direct and indirect aggression by Pakistan. In these circumstances, further reductions of force levels in the Valley, beyond the two divisions already withdrawn, would be an unsound decision.

 

Kashmir is an issue of core national security for India on which there can be no weakening or compromise.

Gen. Shankar Roychowdhury,

former Army Chief

 

An impetus to get back to normality

Arun Bhagat

 

The Mumbai-style terrorist attack on Lal Chowk in Srinagar, the sudden increase in the number of attempts at infiltration across the Line of Control (LoC) and movement and encounters with terrorists provide firm indication of attempts at increasing the levels of violence in Jammu and Kashmir. The lull of the past year, the large turnout of voters in the last general election, and the sizeable withdrawal of the Army from the state appears to have caused alarm bells to ring across the border. The handler of the Srinagar terrorist duo was candid when he referred to the militancy in the state as a "dead horse". The People's Democratic Party, the National Conference and the Congress, the three major parties in the state, had welcomed the withdrawals. Separatist groups and Pakistan expressed their misgivings, respectively referring to it as too little and "cosmetic". The United States expressed its appreciation of the move.

 

Troop reduction has been considered time and again for nearly a decade. The improvement in the conditions enabled the government to withdraw troops. A popularly elected government under a young leader with a clean image and the troop withdrawals will certainly enhance the process of normalisation, and propel the "quiet" talks which are proposed. The measure also reveals a willingness on the part of the government to be resilient and a willingness to take risks to reach out to the people of the state. These efforts to win the support and confidence of the people to bring permanent peace has caused dismay among the separatists and their Pakistani inspirers.

The people now need to realise who their true friends are and who merely want to use them for their own nefarious purposes. The Shopian investigations have chillingly brought out the extent and the low depths to which the separatists can stoop to exploit the sentiments and emotions of the common people. A family tragedy caused by an unfortunate drowning mishap was used to whip up emotions and orchestrate violence all over the state. They have no respect for human life.

 

The government must be vigilant to protect the people of Jammu and Kashmir against such persons and the jihadists who misuse and misinterpret religion.

 

Certainly even more troops should be withdrawn as conditions improve. The reduction, however, should not increase in any way the risk to the life and property of men, women and children of the state. The actual ground conditions and the safety of the people should be the cornerstone and the determinant factor.

 

Arun Bhagat is former director, Intelligence Bureau

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

OPED

THE BIGGEST LOSER

BY MAUREEN DOWD

 

Maybe America just didn't want to look at a redhead at that hour.

 

"For the record", Conan O'Brien wryly noted in a statement addressed to "People of Earth" outlining his refusal to host NBC's The Tonight Show if it was shoved back half-an-hour, "I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way".

 

This is the week of the television winter press tour from Pasadena, when the networks traditionally roll out their offerings for midseason replacement shows. But there's only one replacement show that anyone here is talking about: an NBC family drama bloodier than The Tudors and more inexplicable than Lost, a tragedy about comedy featuring an imperious emperor and his two duelling jesters in a once-mighty and now-blighted kingdom.

 

As NBC reeled from the fallout of Jeff Zucker's tacit admission that his attempt to refashion the customary way Americans watch prime time had failed, Hollywood was ablaze with baldenfreude.

 

In a town where nobody makes less than they're worth, and most people pull in an obscene amount more, there has been a single topic of discussion: How does Jeff Zucker keep rising and rising while the fortunes of NBC keep falling and falling?

 

The 44-year-old is a very smart guy who made a success as a wunderkind at The Today Show, but many in the Hollywood community have always regarded him as a condescending and arrogant East Coaster, a network Napoleon who never bothered to learn about developing shows and managing talent. At a moment when Zucker's comedy double-fault was smashing relationships in LA, he showed the talent of a Mafia boss for separating himself from the hit when he went and played in a New York City tennis tournament.

 

"Zucker is a case study in the most destructive media executive ever to exist", said a honcho at another network. "You'd have to tell me who else has taken a once-great network and literally destroyed it".

 

Zucker's critics are ranting that first he killed comedy, losing the NBC franchise of Thursday night Must See TV, where Seinfeld, Friends and Will & Grace once hilariously reigned; then he killed drama, failing to develop successors to the formidable ER, West Wing, and Law & Order; then he killed the 10 o'clock hour by putting Jay Leno on at a time when people expect to be told a story; and then he killed late night by putting on a quirky redhead who did not have the bland mass-market appeal of Leno and who couldn't compete with the peerless late-night comedian NBC had stupidly lost 16 years ago, David Letterman.

 

Zucker is a master at managing up with bosses and calculating cost-per-hour benefits, but even though he made money on cable shows, he could not programme network to save his life. He started by greenlighting the regrettable Emeril and ended by having the aptly titled The Biggest Loser as one of his only winners.

 

Certainly, Zucker greatly underestimated the deeply ingrained viewing patterns of older Americans, who have always watched the networks in a particular way. The kids come home, do their homework, the family has dinner. They're in front of the TV by eight, and 8.30 is known as the dog-walking slot. At 9, it's time for more comedy. As they get tired, they like to watch a fictional drama that leads into the real drama of the late local news. And then they like to laugh again so that those images of war or a local murder are not the last thing they see before bed. America has been watching a very specific sort of guy at 11.35 pm for half-a-century, one who chuckles as Mary Tyler Moore or Sarah Jessica Parker tells an amusing story and lets us drift off by the time some stand-up comic or blow-up starlet tells a salacious joke.

 

Zucker rolled the dice because he wanted to show Jeff Immelt that he could get beyond his Ben Silverman debacle and get prime time to stop bleeding money (a problem he created). But he learned the hard way that it is a lot to undo.

 

As Mark Harris wrote in New York magazine in November, "Zucker has often behaved like the grudging caretaker of a dying giant. ...As much as Jeff Zucker would like to cast the blame elsewhere, substituting number-crunching defensiveness for enterprise, adventure, and showmanship is what helped get NBC into this mess".

 

Consumed with the NBC game of musical late-night chairs, Hollywood machers play a game of trying to figure out the last time there has been a blunder of such outlandish proportions. Despite everything, Zucker just got his contract renewed for three years with the Comcast acquisition of NBC. "Not since J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying has an executive failed upwards in so obvious a fashion", marvelled one TV writer.

 

Another called the Leno experiment the worst mistake made by anyone in television since an ABC Entertainment executive told the Chicago affiliate chief that the network didn't want to own and broadcast the new daytime talk show hosted by a young black woman. Her name: Oprah Winfrey.

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

OPED

MAKE GITA YOUR SPIRITUAL GUIDE

BY RAJASHREE BIRLA

 

Gita is universal in its appeal. Its teachings are religious and community agnostic. Recognised as one of the world's top most spiritual treatises, the Gita is a moral compass that guides mankind on the path of righteousness and truth. The serenity and magnificence of its conception is unparalleled.

 

A contextual reference is appropriate. Known commonly as the gospel of Lord Krishna, Gita textures the most profound discourses given by Lord Krishna to Prince Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

 

As the war between the cousins — the Pandavas and the Kauravas is about to begin, Prince Arjuna of the Pandu clan, is struck with a tremendous sense of despair. This is because he realises fully well that war can only lead to destruction. And that too — the destruction of his kith and kin. He feels that war is futile. It is as this point that Lord Krishna, who acts as his charioteer, expounds various principles. The fundamental premise being that it is a war between right and wrong — "dharma and adharma". Between good and evil. Between darkness and light. Gita thus enshrines principles that are not bound by time. They have a timeless quality about them.

 

The Gita's spiritual wisdom has embellished the lives of millions across the globe, giving them a new perspective. Right from the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi to Aldous Huxley to Albert Einstein. Said Mahatma Gandhi — "When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagvad Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day".

 

Listen to what Einstein has to say — "When I read the Bhagvad Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous".And comments Aldous Huxley — "Gita is one of the clearest and most comprehensive summaries of the perennial philosophy ever to have been done. Hence, it's enduring value, not only for Indians, but for all mankind... the Bhagvad Gita is perhaps the most systematic spiritual statement of the perennial philosophy".

 

On all counts, Gita is the stairway to a higher purpose in life. It teaches how to transcend oneself through contemplation, self-control, meditation and compassion as well. All of which helps quieten the chatter of the mind, which ceaselessly flips from one issue to the other. Gita teaches you how to master the mind through following the path that it enshrines. It transposes you to an entirely higher plane. Giving you inner peace and a kind of tranquillity. Today, more than ever, most people all over the world are seekers of this inner peace. People have begun to realise the need for self-control in the midst of unrelenting stress. We, as a family, look upon Gita as our spiritual guide. Our aspiration is to try and reach the exalted level of the true Karmayogi.

 

Karmayogi ethos says that the fruits of our efforts are not ours to aspire for. We must let them come from the Lord, whenever He wishes to bestow them upon us. This is one of the best lessons from Gita. For in a way it urges us to be totally selfless in our action, to dedicate our work as an offering to the Almighty and to enjoy this journey of life without expectations.Besides my husband Adityaji, I have found in pujya Ma — my mother-in-law, Dr Sarala Birla and pujya Kakoji, Shri B.K. Birla — true Karmayogis, who as the Gita says, "perform their duties equipoised, abandoning all attachments to success or failure".

 Rajashree Birla is the chairperson of the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiativesand Rural Development

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

RANCHI ROULETTE

THE ALL-ROUND REJECTION OF OPPORTUNISM 

 

THE Ranchi roulette wheel is spinning again and there are rumblings of discord already in the chronically unstable state of Jharkhand. This time, the dissent has assumed the form of a duet within hours of the new ministry being rustled up. There are reservations within the Bharatiya Janata Party over joining the Shibu Soren government; equally is a section of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha ruffled over the choice of nominees. The second is decidedly more critical as it involves the stakes of the dominant party. And perhaps it was only to be expected that the Christian segment would lend a minority twist to Soren's honeymoon with the BJP and the composition of the cabinet. This is clear from the recent articulation of the simmering angst by Simon Marandi and the resignation of Stephen Marandi, once a heavyweight, from the JMM.
  The born-again chief minister's renewed pledge on governance may flounder on the rock of in-house dissent. The timing is ominous ~ barely 24 hours after a patchwork quilt of a government was put in place. Personal prejudices and loyalties have seemingly influenced the formation of the ministry. Senior JMM leaders, not necessarily Christians, have been given a short shrift for opposing a coalition with the BJP. Whether or not the JMM will split in the fullness of time can only be speculated upon. Yet it would be no exaggeration to submit that the new ministry carries within it the seeds of instability. 

Post-election, it will not be easy for the JMM to justify its alliance with the BJP before its politically conscious cadres and constituency. The latter are bound to see through this game of opportunism. The future is hazy as the pro-RSS section of the BJP MLAs ~ notably Arjun Munda ~ have also expressed reservations over the tie-up, not least because at least five JMM legislators are said to have links with the Maoists. The formation of the government is as unconvincing as it is opportunistic. With the Congress describing the JMM-BJP engagement as "unethical", Shibu Soren's renewal of democracy appears to havebefuddled the entire political class. And it is his party that stands to lose.

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

COME CLEAN

COMPREHENSIVE CLARIFICATION NEEDED ON SINGUR 

 

At the time the Nano project in Singur was alive, the Tatas had obtained a court order on a specific matter that had prevented the state government from disclosing the terms of the agreement. Almost a year after the project was shifted to Gujarat, there should not have been any obligation on the government to keep the agreement secret, especially in the context of efforts by the Left Front and the Railways to utilise the 1,000 acres, now that agriculture on what was originally fertile land is out of the question. Letters have been exchanged between the Railway Board and the state's chief secretary on the status of the land. While the government had at one stage appeared keen on getting a contentious issue off its chest, the railways had lobbed the ball back in the state's court by suggesting that it wanted the land free from encumbrances. If the railways (read Mamata Banerjee) were to be blamed for setting up roadblocks without a cause, that would be far from convincing after what the chief secretary says about the state not being under any obligation to pay compensation under terms of the agreement, as demanded by the Tatas. The question that follows is what exactly prevents the West Bengal government now from getting the land released so that the railways can proceed with a coach factory as promised by the Union minister.

Inevitably, the matter reverts to the fundamental question of why the state government will not make the Nano agreement public so that alternative routes can be explored. The chief secretary's piecemeal disclosure on compensation only raises further questions. Mamata Banerjee may have been testing the waters. The Railway Board chairman can also quote the rulebook to say that the coach factory can be set up after the title of the land and encumbrances if any are resolved, including the question of whether some legal tangles may have survived. The chief secretary, Mr Ashok Mohan Chakraborty, may be suggesting that the government has nothing to hide but the belated disclosure on compensation indicates there are more questions that need to be answered by the government before another party can enter. Common sense would say it was the Tatas who walked out, hence they cannot possibly claim compensation. But then we don't know the terms of their agreement with the state.

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

BACK TO SCHOOL

QUID PRO QUO IN MANIPUR 

 

STRIKES, bandhs and economic blockades of roads are nothing new in Manipur but forcibly keeping thousands of school and college students away from classes for four months was something unheard of. The 32-party Apunba Lup umbrella organisation thought it fit to involve students in its campaign to oust chief minister Ibobi Singh, holding him responsible for the killing of a former militant activist, Ch Sanjit, on 23 July by police commandos in what it described as a fake encounter and the death in the crossfire of a 23-year-old pregnant woman. Although the Apunba Lup started its campaign almost immediately, three student organisations lent support and closed all educational institutions from 9 September. Following last week's memorandum of understanding between the Apunba Lup and the government, thanks to mediation by senior citizens, students have resumed their classes from this week. To the many who had questioned the Apunba Lup's propriety in involving students, its answer was they had been "misguided with the notion that education is more important than the right to life". It counts among its successes the forging of unity within civil society, forcing the government to refer the Sanjit case to the CBI and exposing the ruling party's real character. On the face of it, the Apunba Lup gained nothing substantial in terms of its basic demand ~ Ibobi's resignation. It merely forced the government to free those agitation leaders booked under the National Security Act and this, as we are inclined to suspect, was the main reason for prolonging the agitation.

The demand for the suspension of the Additional SP of Imphal West and punishment for six commandos responsible for the killing is pending and this must await the conclusion of thejudicial probe. It would have been pragmatic for the Apunba Lup to have suspended its agitation after the government instituted this judicial inquiry. In short, both sides pulled out of a difficult situation.

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

TIME TO TALK?

THE OUT-OF-BOX ROAD MAP FOR PEACE

SALMAN HAIDAR

A major gathering of non-official organisations from India and Pakistan has just taken place in New Delhi. The participants were drawn from more than twenty associations from both countries, representing a variety of opinions and interests, brought together by a common desire to promote peace and reconciliation. After three days of talks, they came out with a fairly elaborate Road Map for Peace. 

By now, Indo-Pak gatherings of this nature have become quite common. From small and difficult beginnings, they have developed into regular events on the calendar, bringing together an ever-increasing number of people who support their work and wish to contribute to it. The organisations and individuals who have put in voluntary effort to stage these meetings have done much to change the atmosphere in the sub-continent. Thanks in considerable measure to their efforts, talk of peace and friendship, and of common interests and purposes, has become a part of the current discourse. What had seemed impossible not so long ago now appears within grasp.

Voluntary bodies

These efforts of voluntary bodies have had their impact, yet ultimately what counts is what governments do. So those in quest of better relations have drawn encouragement over the last few years from the actions of leaders, who have made notable efforts to explore the way forward. Everyone recalls Mr Vajpayee's dramatic bus yatra to Lahore, which opened many doors. Since then, there has been plenty of quiet as well as more public dialogue between officials of the governments. 'Out-of-box' thinking at the top has helped encourage the belief that something can be done, and the two countries are not condemned to an indefinite future of mutual hostility. Talks between the two sides made some progress, somewhat erratically but yet going forward, but petered out as Gen. Musharraf lost his hold and his government faded away. The possibility of resumption was pushed aside by the impact of the 26/11 attacks, and since then the matter has remained in abeyance. Even though the two Prime Ministers agreed at Sharm el Sheikh that it was time for them to start talking again, that has not yet happened. Thus the question of dialogue hangs heavy over the relations between the two countries.
At the conference, the participants united in expressing the belief that resumption of dialogue was necessary and was by now overdue. Moreover, it was felt that once it was resumed dialogue should remain uninterrupted, no matter what attempts were made to disrupt it, for disengaging from contact brought no advantage to anyone.
The vulnerability of dialogue to disruptive acts of terrorism was underlined by the murderous incident in Srinagar even as the conference was being convened. It showed that forces hostile to peace and friendship have not lost their ability to strike. Yet as the Srinagar incident indicated, they would appear to have lost their claim to public backing, so that they are increasingly incapable of halting or deflecting the actions of the governments. Nor have they been able to impose their agenda and put a halt to reconciliation. The latest attack, heinous as it was, could not provoke hostile gestures or a buildup of tension between the two countries. It is a sign of the readiness of the people on both sides to turn away from violence and find another path.

The conference recognised that progress on combating terrorism and fundamentalism was indispensable for good relations. It called for cooperation between the two sides in setting up joint mechanisms and sharing intelligence for this purpose. Closer contact between military and security establishments was encouraged as beneficial to better understanding. Some delegates pointed to India's experience in this matter with China, where regular interaction between military representatives of the two countries had been a stabilising factor along the border. 

Kashmir was recognised as a core issue and the conference called for a genuine and urgent effort to find solutions. A number of specific measures were outlined to this end, such as demilitarisation and troop withdrawals, among others that have been often proposed in past years. It was also suggested, based on the presentation of one of the participants from Kashmir, that residents of that State should enjoy the right to live and work in Pakistan if they wish, on the parallel of Nepali citizens having similar rights in India. Protection of the rights of minorities was another of the proposals adopted at the meeting.

The 'Road Map' points to certain specific steps that are needed now. Among these is the long standing matter of Siachen. As is well known, this issue has been close to being resolved on more than one occasion in the past, only to be derailed by unrelated adverse developments. Meanwhile, concerns about environmental deterioration and high level pollution have grown; also about the rapid melting of the Himalayan glaciers on which depend the lean season flows of the rivers that sustain life in the Indo-Gangetic plains. Conversion of the Siachen region into a high altitude conservation area, or Peace Park, as already envisaged by leaders on both sides, needs to be undertaken as a priority. Apart from its favourable impact on the environment, this would be a major confidence building measure for peace.

Economic exchanges

Measures to permit economic exchanges to grow are part of the 'Road Map'. Experts who spoke on this subject, both academic analysts and businessmen, had a number of suggestions to offer. The imbalance between their economic stakes in each other was noted, with India as much the bigger being better placed to take meaningful initiatives. Thus there is a proposal that India should take unilateral action to open its borders to trade, in the expectation that this will lead to reciprocal action from the other side. Among various practical measures to facilitate the flow of goods, it was also suggested that there should be a joint economic partnership agreement.
The media came under scrutiny, with many participants referring to its baleful role in matters relating to the two countries. A number of steps to apply a corrective were envisaged, including periodic meetings of senior editors. The New Year's Day resolution for better relations of two major news organisations, neither of them renowned hitherto for peacemaking commitment, was taken as an encouraging sign.

This 'Road Map' is more an expression of aspirations rather than a carefully considered set of measures. It points to what would be desirable in ideal circumstances rather than to what is attainable today. It does not shy away from controversy, as for instance in what is said about Kashmir or the request for unilateral action by India on trade. But for all that, it represents the sentiments of many people on both sides who would like to encourage their governments to resume, in right earnest, the search for peace.

The writer is India's former Foreign Secretary

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

SINKING SUNDARBANS

 

Climate change may finally be receiving the attention it deserves in a policy sense, but the plight of people whose lives have already been devastated by climate change has received surprisingly little attention. Fortunately, a new exhibition of photographs from a particularly vulnerable region in India helps to redress this, says ALEXANDER COCKBURN 

 

WITH Copenhagen, Barak Obama's cap-and-trade bill and numerous green policy initiatives coming out of Westminster, climate change is finally receiving the attention it deserves in a policy sense. But the plight of people whose lives have already been devastated by climate change has received surprisingly little attention. Fortunately, photojournalist Peter Caton's new exhibition of photographs from the Sundarbans region in India helps to redress this.

The Sundarbans (meaning "beautiful forest" in Bengali) is a vast area in the Ganges delta comprising a network of 108 swampy, low-lying islands. The area is unique both ecologically, as the home of the Bengal tiger, and culturally — Hindus and Muslims both worship a deity called Bonbibi. The region's low elevation above sea level and proximity to the coast made it particularly vulnerable when Cyclone Aila struck in May 2009, destroying many of the inhabitants' homes.

Caton and his partner in the field, Cris Aoki Watanabe, have been working in India since 2006. Despite four years of experience witnessing the effects of climate change in the Sundarbans, Caton says the devastation caused by Aila still took him by surprise. The island's inaccessibility – it is three to four hours away from Kolkata, the nearest city, and can only be reached by boat – seriously hampered the relief effort and muted the media response.

"On one visit I met a widow who lived alone and had had to flee and set up a new home on three occasions," Caton recalls, and says the Aila cyclone is just the latest sign of the impact of climate change on the region. "I watched children play in their home neighbourhood knee-deep in water."

Rising sea levels destroy not only homes but livelihoods as well because if salt water contaminates the inhabitants' rice paddies then they become unusable for three years. "I met one family which had not slept for four nights for fear of the sea breaking the embankment protecting their rice field. They were working in shifts to repair the embankment throughout the night," says Caton.

Working in the Sundarbans also presented other technical challenges and he says he "was often working in mud not up to my knees, but up to my waist". This, and intolerable levels of heat and humidity, make the approach he took to his photographs all the more extraordinary. He used studio lighting in the middle of inaccessible swamps to give his photographs the same kind of glossy sheen that might be found in the pages of Marie Claire.
Although the people of the Sundarbans are isolated and poor, they are well aware of the causes of global warming. They are angry with the international community for having to suffer the consequences of a man-made catastrophe for which, with one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world, they are blameless. Caton's new exhibition vividly underscores not only the suffering caused by global warming, but the deep unfairness of it.

 

The Independent

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

HEEDLESS & CLUELESS

 

Food prices have escalated and so has administrative apathy. To top it all, ministers and bureaucrats, argues BISWADEB CHATTERJEE, are talking through their collective hat 

 

FOOD inflation has hit the headlines again. It has reached almost 20 per cent to contribute to overall inflation which has spiralled to five per cent. Despite promises and assurances, prices have been on the rise for the last two years. But the powers that be seem to be not taking the crisis seriously.

Rather, ministers and bureaucrats are making such statements as would inspire apprehension, without cracking down on hoarders intensifying the crisis. While the Prime Minister says there is no food shortage, and hence no crisis at all, the agriculture minister says that countrywide rice production has fallen by 10 million tons. The finance minister is doubtful about achieving nine per cent growth in this fiscal year, as agricultural growth up to November last year was below one per cent while the manufacturing and service sectors have shown signs of recovery from the slump. But Pranab Mukherjee hasn't prescribed a definite policy to boost agricultural productivity.
When he suggests, for example, that food imports can defuse the crisis, the commerce minister cries foul. The deputy chairman of the Planning Commission recently said that the situation would look up, assuring adequate stocks of cereals and blaming speculators for the price rise. Montek Ahluwalia has opted to not bluntly follow the government's anti-inflationary monetary policies, but the Reserve Bank differs. Since WPI-based inflation trebled in November to 4.78 per cent — mainly due to the relentless rise in the prices of potato, sugar, pulses and cereals — the central banks predicted tightening of money supply to quell it. Mukherjee, however, thinks it will augment international liquidity to further complicate the picture.

Ahluwalia says food inflation is not the same as inflation; that neither squeezing money supply by raising interest rates nor resorting to imports can drag us out of the mess. As a matter of fact, economists are not sure whether food inflation is a supply- or demand-driven affair. Supposing it has been triggered due to supply side constraints, Suresh Tendulkar, ex-chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Committee, prescribes that the RBI withdraw liquidity — a tried and tested method of quelling demand inflation.

This, however, calls for a cautious approach, as it involves impeding the process of recovery from the manufacturing slowdown. In the wake of unabated price rise the RBI is expected to review its annual credit policy in January next year, although it has already modified its inflation forecast for the current fiscal year from five per cent — projected in October last year — to 6.5 per cent. But C Rangarajan, chairman of PMEAC, suspects that inflation may even exceed seven per cent by the end of the current fiscal, as food output can even turn negative in the last quarter.

Can the poor find any solace amid such divergent perceptions with prices escalating? Aam admi was badly hit with potato prices surging by a whopping 141 per cent in the first eight months of 2009, followed by pulses (40), sugar (37), onion (20), wheat (14), milk (13.6), rice (12.7) and fruits by 11 per cent. Besides, prices of vegetables, eggs and fish have also increased.

Moreover, real wages have hardly increased pushing a majority to the brink of poverty. The present inflation rate of 4.78 per cent has been mostly contributed by food articles, the value index of which rose by 3.2 per cent in November last mainly due to the rise in prices of all types of pulses from two to 14 per cent. Prices of urad dal, rice, wheat, bajra, barley, fish, egg, mutton and poultry chicken, condiments and spices of all types are on the rise. The poor, under such circumstances, are finding it hard to make ends meet.

The opposition failed to utilise the winter session of Parliament to pressure the government into act quickly. While the government appeared desperate to divert attention from pressing matters to almost non-issues like the Liberhan Commission report, it mainly indulged in protests, counter-protests, disruptions and adjournments, thereby wasting precious time. 

The government, it seems, is trying to discharge responsibility by increasing employees' salary, allocating more money in so-called poverty alleviation projects and raising the loanable funds of banks to overcome recession. But such measures will only benefit the affluent. Given India's "organised employment", hardly 10 per cent has what it takes to fight food inflation. What about the remaining 90?

The Prime Minster believes that with economic reforms not only growth but prosperity will reach new heights. The reverse, however, has been proved to be true. As per the Planning Commission's estimates for 2004-05, India's combined poverty ratio is 27.5 per cent; rural and urban poverty 28.3 and 25.7 per cent respectively. The 1999-2000 estimates put these at 26.1, 26.8 and 24.1 per cent respectively. Therefore, in the last five years or so all these figures have spiralled with almost equal rapidity.

Further, food inflation has deteriorated the situation almost beyond repair. The Commission's estimates are based on the minimum nutrition level. If other deri vatives like education, health and sanitation, shelter, drinking water and household durables are taken into account, India's poverty ratio will likely be much higher.
Congress leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyer have realised this, which is why they can be heard saying that 80 per cent of our people can't spend even Rs 20 a day. In contrast, our per capita income is about Rs 38,000,, implying massive income inequality.

Poverty in India has two important features. First, elasticity of poverty with respect to per capita income is below 0.4. As a result, although per capita income grew by 62 per cent, poverty declined by only 22 per cent during 1993-94 and 2004-05. Again, while urban per capita consumption expenditure was 63 per cent higher than in rural areas in 1993-94, it jumped to 88 per cent in 2004-05 indicating a sharp rise in urban-rural disparity over the decade.

Poverty, moreover, is associated with food insecurity. India ranks 66 among 88 countries, according to the Global Hunger Index 2008 prepared by the International Food Research Institute. Over 200 million Indians still live under the most trying conditions. More than 230 million people are undernourished, which is 27 per cent of the global total. To tackle hunger, the government has passed the food security act for those below the poverty line, but such measures mean little or nothing. The National Rural Employment Guarantee and midday meal schemes are yet to deliver. As a matter of fact, government negligence as far as agriculture goes has vastly aggravated poverty and undernourishment. Poverty can never be successfully dealt with if investments in agriculture remain scarce.

Also, public investments account for only a fourth of the total volume of investments and irrigation happens to be the worst affected. Irrigation potential as percentage of the gross cropped area is still above 60, which has contributed to low agricultural productivity. As a result, per capita availability of cereals has fallen. But the government couldn't care less.

 

The writer is Associate Professor of Economics, Durgapur Government College

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

YEAR OF BERNADETTE

NILEEN PUTATUNDA

 

IN the middle of the 19th century, Lourdes was a small garrison town of 4,000-5,000 inhabitants in the foothills of the Pyrénées on the Gave river. Bernadette Soubirous was the eldest of five children of hard-working parents who had fallen on hard times, and from operating a successful mill had been reduced to living in one small room called the Cachot, which can still be seen today. Bernadette could barely read or write and suffered several illnesses that left her weak and asthmatic and small for her age. But from a very early age she showed signs of immense faith in God and when she was told she was stupid because she was unable to learn her Catechism, she whispered in a characteristic way that at least she would always know how to love God.
On 11 February 1858, when she was 14, she, along with her sister and a friend, left home to collect firewood at the foot of a hill called Massabielle where there was a small cave or grotto. To her amazement, she saw the first of q8 visions of a "small young lady" standing in a niche in the rock. The others who were with her didn't see anything. On her next visit, she said the "beautiful lady" asked her to return to the grotto every day for 15 days. At first her mother forbade her from going, but Bernadette persuaded her to allow her to go. The apparition did not identify herself until a later vision saying, "I am the Immaculate Conception", a term Bernadette did not understand then.

Hundreds of people began to gather at the grotto to see Bernadette, and the Blessed Virgin told her to drink of a spring there. Bernadette dug in the dirt for a spring and drank what bits of muddy water she could find. Several days later, water welled up from the spot and it had miraculous healing properties, with 67 "inexplicable" cures being recorded since it was first dug.

After the apparitions, Bernadette stayed away from public life, avoiding the attention her visions had brought her. She joined the Sisters of Charity of Nevers, moving into their convent in a place of the same name at age 22. She spent the rest of her brief life there working as an assistant in the infirmary and later as a sacristan, creating beautiful embroidery for altar cloths and vestments. She contracted tuberculosis of the bone in her right knee and died of the illness in 1879. She was canonised on 8 December 1933, as the Catholic patron saint of sick persons, of the family and of poverty. Bishop Jacques Perrier of Tarbes-Lourdes declared 2009 the "Year of Bernadette".

That year has just gone, so let us quickly review where we stand — 1.02 billion people or one in six of the world's total population are suffering from hunger and a child dies of hunger every six seconds. The recently concluded Copenhagen summit to save our earth was appropriately lambasted by Greenpeace activist Joss Garman as "a historic failure that will live in infamy". It came up with a deal that effectively condemns the African continent to a century of devastating temperature rises. Peace remains elusive as sickness prevails in the minds of some of the world's leaders and militant groups.

Thanks to the Taliban, Pakistan has become what Iraq and Afghanistan were some time ago – perpetual bomb zones, with even mosques and schools not being spared. Iran has been in violent chaos since last June with allegations of Ahmadinejad's victory in the presidential elections being rigged. In the 12 months since Israel's devastating assault on Gaza in Operation Cast Lead, conditions in the Strip "remain wretched", to use Amnesty International's phrase. China's dubious human rights record took another beating when 53-year-old writer Liu Xiaobo was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison for inciting subversion of state power. Last July, some 200 people died and more than 800 were injured in China's restive western region of Xinjiang after a protest in Urumqi turned violent. The BBC's Chris Hogg said the violence was some of the worst reported in the country since Tiananmen Square in 1989. These were just some of the stories of 2009.

For those who believe in righteousness and divine intervention, this is the time to pray that we be rid of devastating sickness and poverty, that we be allowed to drink from Bernadette's spring..

The writer is a social worker and poet

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

BIG LEAP

 

Both India and Bangladesh placed high hopes on Sheikh Hasina Wajed's visit to New Delhi. The agreements signed by the two sides suggest a refreshing change in attitude and political will. It is one thing that substantive steps have been taken to address some long-standing issues such as the trade imbalance, distribution of river water, road and rail transit, exchange of prisoners and the fight against terrorism. But more important was the spirit of accommodation and mutual understanding that informed the agreements and other negotiations. For quite some time, it was precisely the absence of mutual trust that was the worst problem in India-Bangladesh ties. Each side viewed the other with suspicion and allowed the suspicion to overshadow possible areas of mutual cooperation. Even when leaders and officials of the two sides engaged in dialogues, rhetoric took precedence over meaningful plans of action. Economic issues, such as the trade imbalance and transit facilities for goods through each other's territory, became embroiled in spurious political controversies. Some issues, such as the distribution of river water and the trade imbalance, will need to be discussed further. But it now seems that the two sides can engage more openly than they have done in a long time.

 

A qualitative difference in India-Bangladesh ties is crucial to the stability and economic well-being of South Asia. Between them, the two countries have the largest population anywhere in the world, except, of course, China. For both, reducing poverty and reaching the basic amenities of modern living to their people should be the key element of State policy. Nothing can help achieve this better than mutual economic cooperation and democratic politics. If the ties between the two neighbours were strained in recent years, it was mainly because of the rise of Islamist fundamentalism and official patronage to anti-India activities in Bangladesh. Not just New Delhi, but many other governments were worried about the drift in Bangladesh. With Pakistan presenting a dreadful picture, the failure of yet another Islamic state would have been disastrous for peace and stability both in the region and elsewhere. If economy and security are closely inter-linked everywhere, they are more so in South Asia. The India-Bangladesh agreements promise a new beginning, but only sustained engagement can fulfil the promise.

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

OPENED UP

 

An unprecedented situation is a good way to mark new beginnings. Or conclusions. The Delhi High Court has ruled that the office of the Chief Justice of India should come under the purview of the Right to Information Act. By so doing, it has arrived at the concluding stage of a tussle that was initiated in 1997 regarding the declaration of judges' assets under the RTI Act. This is also a rare case in which a high court ruling has gone against the trend favoured by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has consistently argued against judges' declaration of assets by maintaining that too much transparency would affect the independence of the judiciary. It had defined its position against the Central Information Commission's statement that the CJI's office should fall within the ambit of the RTI Act. This happened in 2009, and was followed by the Supreme Court moving the Delhi High Court against the CIC order. The central issue in the argument seems to be twofold. On a practical level, there is wariness about the misuse of the RTI Act regarding the judiciary, with concomitant hair-splitting about information that is "personal" or "held in trust". On the plane of ideas, the issue is linked to independence and dignity: the knowledge of details about judges as citizens may harm the sanctity of the institution of justice.

 

Yet, a possible misuse, or a potential misapplication, of the RTI Act was scotched recently by the Supreme Court when it ruled that a judge cannot be asked to reveal the reasoning behind his judgment. Misuse can be blocked if there is a will to good. Rather, as the high court judgment has pointed out, and as some judges proved by declaring their assets voluntarily, greater transparency will only lead to greater dignity and independence. The judiciary is entrusted with an onerous task by the democracy. The RTI Act, whether used to make judges' declaration of assets mandatory or to glean information about judges' appointments, would demonstrate that such trust is honoured by making the governors accountable to the governed. The aura of overall transparency that a modern democracy requires would be created from the top. In that sense, the Delhi High Court judgment could be pointing the way to a new beginning.

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

THE YEAR THAT WAS

MAYBE IT IS TIME TO SET UP INTERNATIONAL REGULATION FOR FINANCIAL BODIES

BHASKAR DUTTA

 

As I write this, the year, 2009, has just come to an end. This is the time to look back at what has happened during the last year; and also to peer forward to see what is in store for us in 2010.

 

At the end of 2008, every betting man would have wagered a rather large sum on 2009 turning out to be (borrowing a term from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II) "annus horribilis". Indeed, the immediate future viewed from the perspective of December 2008 did look particularly dark and gloomy. The global financial crisis had engulfed much of Europe and North America, and had its almost inevitable effects on the real sectors of the world economy. Leading economies slowed down appreciably, while unemployment levels soared. Virtually every 'expert' agreed that we were heading towards the worst global recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

 

Catastrophes of this magnitude need villains. Not surprisingly, the media went to town lampooning bankers and economists in equal measure. The bankers were criticized because their imprudent loans were largely responsible for the mortgage crisis in the United States of America which was the precursor to the worldwide financial disaster. What was worse was that they were singularly unwilling to wear sackcloth and ashes. In fact, they continued to award themselves huge bonuses. The economists were blamed because they failed to warn the world about the impending crisis. Questions were asked whether economic theory was barren after all, if it could not save the world from such a serious crisis. Never slow in seizing an opportunity to "look good", the Left parties in India gave themselves more than a pat or two because of their attempts to insulate the Indian economy from the rest of the world.

 

The first half of 2009 seemed to follow the script written by the prophets of doom. The world economy continued to sink lower and lower. Finance ministers and governors of central banks of the major economies met frequently, attempting to coordinate strategies for reviving their economies — the attempts to coordinate strategies being an important recognition of the fact that all major countries had to work together in a globalized world. Enormous, truly mind-bogglingly large stimulus packages were promised by both the US and Chinese governments in attempts to boost aggregate demand. On both sides of the Atlantic, governments also departed from a basic tenet of capitalism by propping up large banks which were on the brink of collapsing under the weight of vast sums of bad debt. The danger of systemic collapse was deemed more important than leaving the market to decide the fate of these banks.

 

The second half of the same year was distinctly better. The stimulus packages had their desired effect in almost every country, with the United Kingdom economy being an exception. All the other major economies have recovered and have started recording modest rates of growth. For instance, the latest figures show that the US economy recorded a growth of 2.2 per cent during the quarter, July-September. There is little doubt that the worst is behind us, and that the recession has not been as severe either in magnitude or in duration as the one in the 1930s.

 

Some economists I have met recently regard this almost as a triumph for economics. "Economic theory works after all," is their assertion. Perhaps this warm glow is a natural reaction, since economists have been at the receiving end for almost a year. However, some sense of balance is called for. While it is still too early to come to any firm conclusion about the reasons underlying the short duration of the global recession, economists cannot claim that they have discovered any new theories which have taken us out of the crisis. After all, the rationale underlying the stimulus packages is old-fashioned Keynesianism of 1936 vintage.

There are some important lessons to be learnt from the global meltdown. Perhaps the most important one is that the time has come to set up some kind of international regulation for financial institutions. This will be anathema to many influential economists and so, the finer details of any such regulation have to be carefully worked out. Certainly, attempts to impose strict rules are bound to be shot down. It is also tempting to suggest that banks should not be allowed to become too big. Governments are tempted to rescue large banks when they are on the verge of collapse because their sheer size implies that they would have large ripple effects on the rest of the financial sector. But, then, if large banks know that governments will bail them out, they will be tempted to undertake unduly risky projects since the downside risk is low.

 

Of course, no discussion of the events of 2009 can be complete without mention of the Copenhagen summit or "fiasco" — as it has come to be labelled. Practically everyone recognizes that efforts to prevent global warming must be amongst the most important priorities of the global community. Unfortunately, all countries need to make some sacrifices to ensure a meaningful solution. Since the developed and developing countries could not come to an agreement on the levels of sacrifices that the two sides would make, the final agreement is essentially a toothless document full of platitudes.

 

The last year has also underlined the important shift in the balance of power in the international arena. Everyone realized that the global recovery would be infinitely slower unless the Chinese economy managed to get back to the near miraculous levels of growth that it has achieved in the last 30 years. Indeed, eyes were also focused on the performance of the Indian economy. Although per capita incomes remain low in these countries, the sheer sizes of their economies contribute to their growing clout in world affairs.

 

What does the future hold for India? The finance minister believes that the Indian economy is poised to reach a growth rate of over eight per cent. This euphoria is not misplaced. Even in the worst of times, the economy was quite far away from any recession — we managed to grow at around five per cent. There are also clear signs that the economy has grown healthier. The only sector which is still in the doldrums is the export sector. Since the global environment can only improve over time, even Indian exports will increase, and so Pranab Mukherjee's forecast does seem to have a sound basis.

 

The author is professor of economics, University of Warwick

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

LANDED IN TROUBLE

FIFTH COLUMN -R.C. ACHARYA

 

In mid-2006, no less than the present prime minister had laid the foundation stone at Ludhiana for the mother of all projects — the Dedicated Freight Corridor. With this, Indian Railways was set to embark on a multi-crore venture to set up a direct freight link from the manufacturing bases to ports on the western coast and coal fields and steel plants in the eastern sector.

 

A special purpose vehicle —the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited — was also created to undertake planning and development, mobilization of financial resources, construction, maintenance and operation. However, three years down the line, all it can show for progress are some earth work and bridges on the stretch between Sone Nagar and Mughalsarai, where land acquisition was not involved.

 

The project covers approximately 3,289 kilometres in two sectors. The eastern sector, 1,806 km long, stretches from Ludhiana to Dankuni while the 1,483 km-long western sector starts from Tughlakabad-Dadri and ends at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mumbai. There is also a short section interlinking the two corridors at Dadri. It is certainly an ambitious attempt at a quantum leap in freight transport capability.

 

The DFC envisages state-of-the-art construction technology, upgrading of transportation systems, substantial increase in wagon axle load to achieve significant reduction in unit cost of rail transport, volume and speed being achieved by virtue of it being dedicated to freight trains, and not getting bogged down by having to give precedence to the super-fast ones.

 

Further delay

 

Originally scheduled to be completed in five years, the DFC would provide critical rail infrastructure that promises to benefit importers and exporters, shipping lines and container operators along the western corridor as well as coal companies, steel plants and thermal power stations on the eastern corridor. The initiative had been announced by Lalu Prasad in his rail budget speech in February 2006.

 

In spite of the railways possessing large chunks of land, a project of this magnitude involves the acquisition of substantial tracts, which may prove to be its Achilles heel. Mamata Banerjee's edict, requiring the DFCCIL to negotiate individually with each stake holder, is unlikely to make things easier. However, a major change has been ordered by Banerjee by bringing the new alignment closer to the existing tracks, which would enable it to be accommodated within the existing land, thereby reducing the need for land acquisition by a significant margin.

 

The western corridor is expected to cost Rs 23,680 crore, a hike from the earlier estimate of Rs 16,000 crore. Similarly the cost of the eastern corridor has escalated to Rs 19,613 crore. The total price of the project is now over Rs 43,000 crore, and the delays and demands for raising the price of land are likely to escalate the outlay further. Lalu Prasad had claimed that under him, the railways had earned billions. But Banerjee's recent 'white paper' has punched holes into Prasad's claims. Even then, with the Japan International Cooperation Agency and other funding institutions expressing an interest in pitching in with money, availability of funds may not prove to be much of a problem.

 

However, what is likely to derail the project would be the issue of land acquisition. Post-Singur, farmers are now better informed, and are prepared to fight for a bigger share of the pie. With politicians across all parties ready to fish in troubled waters at the drop of a hat, V.K. Kaul and his team at the DFCCIL will need all the luck as well as dogged determination to complete the project by 2015, the new target date that has now been set.

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

A PLACE FOR LOVE AND HICCUPS

 

The prime minister is scheduled to meet the heads of a few leading cultural institutions in the city. So how are some of these iconic institutions faring?

 

I was dragging my feet as I entered the Indian Museum after almost three years. My experience last time of strolling round this world of shades, with its mildewed walls, heady smell of moth balls, and glass cases cloaked with dust, did not make me eager to retrace my steps. But once inside, I had the sneaky feeling that some things have changed inside the premises, and curiosity drove me on.

 

Most of the galleries on the ground floor looked less sooty than before. Even more surprisingly, the personnel on duty were not dozing or chatting among themselves, but were steadfastly staring ahead. Bawling children, cooing lovers, grumbling crones and rowdy young men could not disrupt their meditation. Taking a lesson from their book, I too decided to concentrate, but on the literature accompanying the exhibits rather than on nothingness. So in the Pottery section, I learnt that pots and shards were essential for "reconstructing (sic) the history of man's struggle towards civilisation". Chiding myself for picking out typos even when I was not proofing copy, I hurried to the deserted Mineral room, and found some discoloured photographs of stones from "Tamal Nadu". The reign of dust was obviously undisturbed in this place, possibly because this was one of the less-visited galleries.

 

Somebody must have hit upon the idea of enlivening the vault-like Geology section with gaily-painted flow charts. Whether the parti-coloured charts serve the aesthetic objective is debatable. But they certainly serve the educational purpose. They recreate the décor of state government schools down to the last detail, including the usual spelling mistakes in the texts.

 

Renovation work is in full swing inside the museum, probably in preparation for the forthcoming bicentenary celebrations. Masons have carelessly draped the ancient statues standing on the aisles with dirty plastic sheets, which cover nothing but their heads. Making my way underneath the bamboo scaffoldings, I found myself in the Anthropology section. That the museum authorities do not have a bright view of human progress could be guessed from the darkness inside this gallery. The ancestors of modern man hunt, gather, or cook in gloomy, dimly-lit glass-covered niches. The entire north wall of the gallery was standing empty, probably waiting for the next mutation of homo sapiens.

 

I entered the Zoology gallery on the first floor with trepidation. The last time I was there, I had been appalled by the declarations of love scratched on the massive bones of mammals by numerous couples who have visited the museum over the years. I searched the skeleton of the Little Piked Whale for those signs of woe, but to my relief, they were not there. The bones have been bleached clean, it seemed. My joy over the erasure of love was short-lived. The gigantic jawbones of a whale that stand on the two sides of the entrance have now become a palimpsest etched with with passionate avowals of love, even for rum, as in the case of one called Mushku.

 

My last stop was the Bharhut Gallery, which I had found locked on my last visit. As soon as I closed the doors of this temperature-controlled room behind me, the dust and noise of the museum were shut off. In the enveloping silence, punctuated only by the soft clicking of the AC machine, I felt afraid even to breathe. I tiptoed past the imposing pillars and railings from Bharhut with friezes depicting episodes from the life of the Buddha in red sandstone. The yaksha-yakhshinis and dwarpalas from first century BC stared out from the panels, and yet their gaze was turned curiously inwards. I shivered in spite of myself. Time stood still, until the gallery door opened again to let in a young couple with a child who hiccuped at regular intervals, shattering the stillness.

 

On my way out, I found an intriguing combination of motion and passivity among the museum personnel. Most of them were scurrying about, but did not seem to know what they were supposed to do. In the room with the closed-circuit television sets, the lone female attendant was in a pensive mood, her eyes not on the screens but on the throng of visitors going up and down the stairs. The sweeper at the entrance diligently wiped one particular spot below the metal detectors, making them go crazy with beeping. As I was taking back my bag, the man at the counter remarked lazily that there is this usual hullabaloo every time some event takes place in the museum. "Kichhudin porei thik hoye jabe (Things will be alright after a few days)," he assured me.

 

ANUSUA MUKHERJEE

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

FUTURE PERFECT

 

I warily peeked inside one of the galleries of the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum on Gurusaday Road. My apprehension stemmed from the low lighting and pin-drop silence inside the museum. I stepped in nonetheless, and the sight of black walls covered with white diagrams of the water cycle or the solar system eased me. I assured myself that since I remember my geography and life science lessons well, I would not feel at a loss here.

 

As I have a tendency to press a button whenever I see one, I was immediately drawn towards a grid that had several red and green buttons accompanying icons of animals, aircraft and the like. This board was meant to demonstrate the sounds produced by these creatures and objects. Instead of reading the text, I pressed the green button next to the picture of a hen. To my surprise, instead of the crow I had expected, I heard a loud voice welcoming me and asking if I wished to participate in the interactive learning session. There was no way I could stop the voice, although I searched frantically for the right button. I was afraid that the guard lurking around would take me to task for touching the museum's objects. As I was guiltily sneaking away from the scene of crime, a boy not more than eight years old gave me a mischievous grin. He seemed perfectly at ease with the museum, with its interactive LCD monitors and sound devices, and amused at the blunders I was making.

 

What I encountered during the rest of my visit was a healthy fusion of traditional science and digital technology. Since 'new age' learning is mostly about the use of multimedia to make education less intimidating, one can get to know much about the effective methods of teaching children from the museum. There were interactive demonstrations of how wind produces energy. Lifelike models showed how the muscles in the human body form the basis of the sophisticated machines we use today. A life-sized steam engine parked on the premises appeared charming to a train-lover like me. But it could also be instructive for an engineering student interested in mechanics. I was surprised at how updated everything was — there was even a panel on swine flu.

 

Climate change being much in the news right now, I was impressed by two models demonstrating the use of alternative energy. One was of a brightly-lit bungalow using solar power. The other was of a self-sustaining household, complete with its vegetable patch, cowshed and well, that used biofuel to meet its energy needs. As I walked out wondering if the models could be put into practice in Calcutta, a carnivalesque sight greeted me.

 

Preparations for the forthcoming science and engineering fair were in full swing. Students were adding final touches to their stalls. This fair is a part of the several activities, camps and workshops the BITM organizes. Here too, climate change ruled the roost. As I caught a glimpse of some unfinished hand-drawn posters that called upon visitors not to "waste the waste", I could not help wondering why these students had used new chart papers to demonstrate recycling.

 

INSIYA POONAWALA

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

IN THE BEGINNING WAS NOT THE WORD

 

What is a public library all about? It is about books, of course. But the true essence of a public library lies in the need to share books. The method of sharing has to be accompanied by the process of collecting books and caring for them. The National Library in Calcutta has the most extensive collection of books, journals and periodicals in the country. Yet a visit to the National Library may not always be pleasurable for a book-lover.

 

People who use the library often find it difficult to get hold of a book in the first place. Adris Biswas, a researcher in popular literature at Jadavpur University, said that the problem is not always the non-availability of books, but the ignorance of most staff members about where a particular book could be found — "It can take [them] up to two hours to find a single book." And when the reader gets the desired book at last, he may not be able to find a quiet place to read it in. Jishnu Dasgupta, a research student at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, complained that he has been disturbed more than once by staff members talking on the phone inside the library.

 

Handling of books, especially the rare ones, is another problem. The Rare Books section has books that are very old, and therefore fragile. Frequent visitors to this section often find these books in a bad shape. Biswas said he found the rare and valuable Battala books in the Ramdas Sen collection carelessly tied with strings. "Despite the fact that the library's collection is of international standards, it often fails to fulfil the readers' needs. Many books are already torn, some are in such a bad condition that they cannot even be photocopied," he said.

 

An effective way to preserve old and fragile books is to digitize them. The National Library has started the process of digitization since 1999, but according to a library employee, the process is moving at snail's pace. He said that while funding is not the issue, the absence of a clear-cut policy is. Moreover, the task of digitizing the huge number of books is being undertaken by personnel who do not have the minimum technical knowledge — "it is our handicap. There are no centralized standard procedures, no technical policies," he admitted. He also said that the library is "definitely understaffed".

 

Why has the library not been able to recruit properly trained personnel to handle the digitization process? Why do staff members at the library, except a few, lack the expertise to find and handle books? And why is the library understaffed, despite having sufficient funds? A library needs to be manned and run by book-lovers. This is hardly the case as far as the National Library is concerned. The reason, it seems, is the politicization of cultural institutions that has now become the hallmark of Bengal.

 

To be fair, some progress has been made. The library has been shifted to a new building with better infrastructure, availability of books has improved, and books are being digitized at last. But is this progress sufficient? "I wish the library is made more reader-friendly, and books are digitized faster," said Sraman Mukherjee, a post-doctoral fellow at the CSSSC. Is this too much to ask of the largest library in the country?

 

ADHEESHA SARKAR

 

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EDITORIAL

BOW TO VERDICT

'THE SC SHOULD ACCEPT THE HIGH COURT'S DECISION.'

 

The Delhi high court's decision that the Chief Justice of India is a 'public authority' under the Right to Information Act and that the citizens have the right to obtain information provided to the CJI by the apex court judges is a landmark decision that will only enhance the status of the higher judiciary. The decision of a division bench upholds an earlier ruling by a single bench against which the supreme court had gone in appeal. It is unfortunate that the supreme court had contested the decision taken by the Central Information Commission that the court should provide information to an RTI applicant on whether the judges had filed the details of their assets before the CJI, and even gone in appeal against the single judge's ruling. The CJI and the supreme court have persistently taken a negative position on the matter which went against the norms of transparency and accountability that they prescribed for other public offices.

The high court's ruling has rightly rejected the supreme court's contention that the CJI holds the information provided by the judges in a fiduciary capacity and in confidence. The issue of trust does not arise here because the asset details are not personal information in a private relationship. The high court has also done well to clarify that the CJI is on the same plane as other judges. That there cannot be different standards for judicial officers of subordinate courts, who have to disclose their assets, and judges of the higher judiciary should have been clear to the CJI even without the high court's observation.

More importantly, the court has also seen the right to information as part of the fundamental right to freedom of expression.While these are clear even to laymen, it is inadvisable for the supreme court to go to itself in appeal against the ruling. That would make the court an appellant and judge at the same time and would detract from the credibility of its decision if it overturns the high court ruling. After the controversy over the judges' assets started, supreme court judges have voluntarily publicised the details of their assets, claiming that a 1997 resolution of the judges on the matter is not binding. The supreme court should accept the high court decision and parliament should make disclosure of assets mandatory by law, if that is required even after the high court decision.

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

PRIDE & PREJUDICE

'SPONSORSHIP BENEFITS MUST REACH THE PLAYERS.'

 

Indian hockey has the uncanny knack of staying in the news for all the wrong reasons. The trophy cupboard has few pieces of silverware of real value but off the pitch shenanigans keep hitting the headlines — be it the selection of foreign coach, the formation of a proper governing body or the naming of the national team captain. The latest, though, took the cake. For sheer timing, the payment dispute between the players and the administrators could not have come at a worse moment. Though the crisis was resolved on Wednesday with team sponsors Sahara pitching in with Rs 1 crore to be disbursed among the players immediately, the ugly situation could have been averted if the officials had shown some foresight.

The World Cup is a little over a month away and a top performance at home is imperative for the sport to survive and to show to the world that this country still has something to offer. Instead, it is the survival instinct of the players that came to the fore as they stood firm on their demand that their dues be paid forthwith. An apathetic officialdom tried everything — from conciliation to flexing its muscles — but loosen its purse strings in an attempt to end the impasse. Even the last card — playing for national pride — cut no ice with the players.

It might be easy to blame the players for showing scant regard for national interests but it is vital to see the issue from their perspective. For long, the administrators have taken them for granted, even as they jostle for power and the pelf. If India finds itself far removed from the top echelons of world hockey — it is now ranked 12 — administrators without vision have to shoulder the blame. When the Indian Hockey Federation was disbanded in the wake of the national team's failure to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games and Hockey India set up subsequently, a better dawn seemed in sight for the sport. But the interim body, still in the process of forming a democratic set up, has failed miserably on all fronts. Hockey might not be a professional sport in this country but playing for mere pride is a notion that doesn't go with the times at all. The benefits of sponsorship have to reach the players if the game is to move forward.

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

THE TELANGANA TANGLE

THE UNION GOVERNMENT HAS TO REALISE THAT NO PARTISAN OR UNILATERAL APPROACH CAN PRODUCE ANY POSITIVE OUTCOME.

BY NILOTPAL BASU

 

The situation in Andhra Pradesh is extremely fluid. Of course, the conflagrations that one witnessed earlier seems to have settled for the time being. The temperatures have calmed down to some extent but, obviously, there is a simmering undercurrent and the situation is far from normal. This was all in the wake of the demand for a separate state of Telangana.

Why did the situation come to such a flash point, in the first place? What is the way for a peaceful settlement? How to go about in dealing with the situation in the immediate term?  These are questions which need to be addressed objectively and soberly; more so, because the eruption over the question of statehood had, indeed, led to a fracturing of the political process and more importantly division of the people of the state along the regional lines.

The question of statehood has remained a contentious issue since the founding of our independent Republic. The reorganisation of the states after independence in order to achieve a better and more rational degree of integration while taking into account, the diverse, composite and plural nature of the Indian society, was always a major challenge.

In fact, the humongous magnitude of the Indian population and the extent of its diversity perhaps have no other parallel in any other part of the world. That the country has managed to stay united and integrated for more than six decades despite occasional outbursts of the nature that we have seen on the question of Telangana is a positive commentary on the eventual ability of our people and polity to work out a course of negotiated settlement on contentious issues.

It is this collective and time-tested experience that will have to be brought into play to understand and address some of the questions that we have asked ourselves. The integration of India by reorganising hundreds of princely states that co-existed with large presidencies and provinces under direct British colonial rule was a complex task. It is the aspiration of the people on a linguistic basis to have a state reorganisation on this basis.

Movements for Vishalandhra, Aikya Kerala and Samyukta Maharashtra were massive popular agitations to lead to the formation of state reorganisation commission under the chairmanship of Fazal Ali. The report of the commission in 1955 led to the formation of united Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

However, it has to be recognised that in a plural and diverse society, the mechanism for administration and governance can never be settled and processes to address the changing aspirations of the people is carried out on a continuum. Since India chose a path of capitalist development, this was an urgent necessity; for such a course of development entails a degree of regional imbalance with emergence of advanced areas and backward hinterlands. To ensure that benefits accrue evenly and alienation does not get intensified along regional lines, the governments have to be always vigilant.

However, the unsettling of the states settled once on a linguistic basis is a very sensitive issue. In fact, in the absence of a consultative and comprehensive dialogue it can actually turn out to be a dangerous proposition. In the case of the present conflagration on Telangana, this is precisely what has happened. Unfortunately, the handling of the issue is symptomatic of what had happened in the past.

 

Little progress

Having amended the constitution and adding Article 371 D, which made special provisions with respect to Andhra Pradesh to the effect that President "may by order ... provide ... for equitable opportunities and facilities for the people belonging to different parts of the state in the matter of public employment and in the matter of education, and different provisions may be made for various parts of the state," precious little had actually been done on the ground to constantly address the sense of alienation of the people in the Telangana districts.

 

The abrupt announcement on the midnight of Dec 9, 2009, by the home minister outside while the parliament session was on with obvious lack of adequate consultation had only precipitated the situation. Though belated, it is positive that the Union government has now started consultations.

But we have seen how parties have come to be divided right down the middle on regional lines. It is obvious that such fissures manifest and mutually reinforce the deep division of the people themselves which has been accentuated by the unimaginative handling of the issue.

That all the eight major parties which were part of the initial process of consultation to issue a common appeal to the people to remain peaceful and restore normalcy in the state is a good starting point. It is this process which has to be carried out in the coming days more vigorously. It is only in an atmosphere of sober understanding and accommodation that the situation can be defused.

The principle to which any long-term solution can be achieved has to be free of emotive upheavals. And the Union government has to realise that no unilateral, partisan approach can produce any positive outcome. It is more so, when divisions within the Congress party has its obvious manifestations.

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

VENEZUELA SURROUNDED

IN 2006, THE CHAVEZ GOVERNMENT BEGAN TO SPEAK OF A '21ST CENTURY SOCIALISM' AND ALBA WAS FORMED.

BY IGNACIO RAMONET, IPS:

Hugo Chavez' assumption of power in Venezuela on Feb 2, 1999, coincided with a military development that was traumatic for the United States: the closure in November of that year of its primary military base in the region, Howard Air Force Base in Panama, as required by the Torrijos-Carter Treaty of 1977.

The soldiers from Howard were relocated to Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico, but after massive protests there, the Pentagon closed  that base as well, transferring personnel to Texas and Florida and the US Southern Command to Miami.

As a replacement, the Pentagon chose four strategically-situated locations to control the region: Manta in Ecuador, Comalapa in El Salvador, and the islands of Aruba and Curacao, which belong to The Netherlands. The US added to their 'traditional' function of spying a few new official duties — combating illegal immigration to the US and monitoring drug trafficking — and various other, covert tasks: controlling the flow of petroleum and minerals, biodiversity, and fresh water. However, from the very beginning their main objectives were monitoring Venezuela and destabilising the Bolivarian Revolution.

FOLs and CSLs

After the Sept 11 attacks, US secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld outlined a new military doctrine to combat 'international terrorism'. He altered the strategy of foreign deployment with massive bases and large numbers of personnel, opting instead for a far larger number of Foreign Operating Locations (FOL) and Cooperative Security Locations (CSL) with less military personnel but ultramodern detection technology, state-of-the-art radar, gigantic satellite antennas, spy planes, surveillance drones, etc.

As a result, the quantity of military installations abroad rapidly jumped to the astonishing number of 865 FOL or CSL-style bases in 46 countries. Never in history had a country so dramatically increased its military presence around the world.

In Latin America, the redeployment of bases made it possible for the Manta unit to collaborate on the failed coup against Chavez on April 11, 2002. Since then, a media campaign directed by Washington has been spreading false information about the presumed presence in that country of cells of organisations like Hamas, Hezbollah, and even al-Qaeda, which, it is claimed, "have training camps on the island of Margarita".

With the excuse of monitoring these groups, and as retribution for Caracas' termination in May 2004 of the 50-year US presence in Venezuela, in 2005 the Pentagon renewed a contract with The Netherlands to widen the use of its military bases on Curacao and Aruba, which are located close to the Venezuelan coast and where US war ships have recently increased the frequency of their visits.

In 2006, the Chavez government began to speak of a '21st century socialism', the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) was formed, and Chavez was re-elected president.

Washington reacted by imposing an embargo on arms sales to Venezuela with the pretext that Caracas was "not collaborating enough in the war on terrorism". The country's F-16 fighter jets went without replacement parts. As a result Venezuela forged an agreement with Russia to strengthen its air force with Sukhoi planes.
On March 1, 2008, with assistance from the Manta base, Colombian forces attack a camp of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the interior of Ecuador. Quito, in retaliation, decides not to renew the agreement on the Manta base, set to expire in November 2009. A month later Washington responds by reactivating the Fourth Fleet (deactivated in 1948) the mission of which is to patrol the Atlantic Coast of South America. A month later the countries of South America meet in Brasilia and  respond by creating the Union of South American Nations and then, in March 2009,  the South American Defence Council.

A few weeks later, the US ambassador to Bogota announces that the Manta base will be relocated to Palanquero, Colombia. In June, with the backing of the US base in Soto Cano, a coup is carried out against President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras, who had joined ALBA. In August, the Pentagon announces that it will open seven new military bases in Colombia. And in October, the conservative president of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, admits that he granted the US use of four new military bases.

And so at present Venezuela and the Bolivarian Revolution find themselves surrounded by no less than 13 US military bases in Colombia, Panama, Aruba, and Curacao, as well as the aircraft carriers and warships of the 4th Fleet. President Obama seems to have given the Pentagon a free hand. Would the people of the world  allow a new crime against democracy to be carried out in Latin America?

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

A PROFESSIONAL PERK

IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO BUY A LOUNGE SUIT OR GET IT STITCHED ON OUR OWN.

BY KRISHNAN SRIRAM

 

What's in a name? For the Bard, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. And trust our own CAG to smell out a scam by a bunch of senior army officers who ingenuously procured golf carts for their favourite course in Chandigarh by describing them as hospital equipment for moving invalid patients.

This reminds me of an incident very early on in my journalistic career. As a young reporter, I was deputed by my newspaper to undergo a war correspondents' course run by the ministry of defence. The idea was to get us familiarised with the army's operations in the aftermath of the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war.

 

Most newspapers picked their youngest reporters for the course and I was the chosen one of my newspaper. We were all required to wear a set of formal 'officers' mess-wear' — a lounge suit — for the duration of the four-week course. Now, with most of us on measly stipends/salaries, it was well nigh impossible to buy a lounge suit or get it stitched on our own. Nor did we own any lounge suit at that time. A substantial chunk of the tour advance taken from our offices, however, came in handy to fund this. While some of us got the suits stitched, yet others went to pick up readymade lounge suits.

It was when we returned after the course that we needed to account for this expenditure. I had listed it as 'lounge suit' in my tour bill along with sundry other expenses and submitted to the news editor. Next day I was called to his room and asked to explain this particular item on the bill.

On being told that the suit was a must mess-wear, he asked me to change its nomenclature to 'army regulation suit.' This, he said, would help offset any audit objections. And true enough it did. So that's how I got a lounge suit gifted to me by my first employer, a rare perk those days! But another reporter sent by a rival newspaper was not that lucky. He had gone and picked up one of the most expensive branded suits and billed the same to his newspaper.

Not known much for charity, the newspaper's management promptly asked him to return the suit to the office. This, notwithstanding the fact that it could fit only an extremely lean 6'2" tall frame. What they could've done with a lounge suit of this odd size is something we never quite figured out, despite being professional reporters. If nothing else, this at least taught us all very early in our careers that everything's in a name, despite protestations to the contrary by the all-knowing Bard!

 

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THE JERUSALEM POST

EDITORIAL

HAITI AND US

 

Nature plays no favorites. It occasionally lashes out with colossal fury at rich and poor alike. On Monday a 6.5-magnitude temblor shook Northern California, delivering yet another warning to one of the world's most affluent regions.

 

But when disaster strikes one of the poorest nations on earth, as it did Haiti just one day later, with the awesome devastation of a 7-magnitude quake, the tragedy becomes all the more overwhelming.

 

Haitians, whose country is among the least developed anywhere and nearly 90% of whom endure extreme poverty, are no strangers to suffering. Their ramshackle shacks, rudimentary infrastructure and flimsy social organizations are no match for far less than the catastrophic forces unleashed upon them this week.

 

Their misery has been exacerbated unimaginably and their plight cannot but tug hard at our heartstrings. We hope medical and rescue teams from faraway Israel can help alleviate even a little of the pain of at least some victims.

 

WHETHER WE regard nature's might from a religious or secular-philosophical perspective, the inescapable conclusion is that no matter how far mankind progresses, we are inevitably reminded of what minuscule features we constitute in the greater scheme. Despite our technological bravura, we still can do little to countermand what forces beyond our control decree. Blows such as those inflicted upon Haiti appear to beg platitudes about humanity's hubris.

 

That said, calamities intensified by a given society's idiosyncratic circumstances mustn't breed smugness here. If anything, Haiti's acute misfortune ought to remind us that we face menaces of our own, which are by and large routinely ignored, notwithstanding political lip service - like the recent government pledge to gear up to quake hazards.

 

By sheer coincidence Tel Aviv this week has been hosting the International Preparedness and Response to Emergencies and Disasters (IPRED) conference under the auspices of the World Association for Disaster Medicine. IPRED aims to provide a platform for networking and sharing lessons from mass casualty events.

 

Col. Bella Azaria, in charge of the IDF Home Front medical preparedness on the community level, noted at the conference that in the past year no fewer than 1,500 small earth tremors were registered in northern Israel alone, and that every century or so we expect a major quake which can potentially kill hundreds and maim thousands.

 

She reminded us that Israel directly flanks the Afro-Syrian fault line, where two tectonic plates rub against each

other. The Dead Sea and Jordan Valley are the physical manifestations of that rift in our country.

 

Geologists warn us that an above-7-on-the-Richter-Scale quake is probable sometime within the next 50 years. It can happen any day and, if of a particularly destructive magnitude and lethally close, no part of the country would be safe.

 

Committees aplenty have been set up and compiled detailed recommendations on how to shore up existing structures and prepare for what could come again; bad though it was, the 1927 quake wasn't the "big one," the once-in-a-millennium mega-event which experts judge we are due to experience soon.

 

The last such massive event occurred in 1033. We are infinitely more densely populated nowadays and hence incomparably more vulnerable.

 

But talk and even blueprints aren't action. New building codes aren't enough, especially when we have no guarantee that they are strictly enforced. Neither is it of any use to tell the public that pre-1976 structures are riskiest.

 

It's another thing to survey all existing buildings and suggest to residents what can feasibly be done to quakeproof them. But obviously, even merely dispensing practical advice costs money - to say nothing of retrofitting old structures.

 

It's only natural for us to dwell on pressing crises - of which Israel suffers no shortage - and put off consideration of doomsday scenarios. It's the norm for elected governments to emphasize the immediately urgent and spend their finite resources on the here-and-now.

 

In Israel, however, frugality may not be synonymous with prudence. Even unavoidable cataclysms can be mitigated. They tend to be worst where the least care is taken a priori to preserve life. Pretending we have time won't make us safer.

 

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THE JERUSALEM POST

EDITORIAL

WASHINGTON WATCH: MITCHELL: BLUNDER OR THREAT?

DOUGLAS BLOOMFIELD

 

The Obama administration says it has a new strategy for reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, but it still faces the same old problems, plus a new one of its own making.

 

George Mitchell, the special Mideast envoy, has dropped the demand for an immediate and total construction freeze in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in favor of moving directly to the final-status issues of borders and Jerusalem. Decisions on those two questions will moot the settlement problem, he said. Mitchell also said he thinks Israeli-Syrian talks can run parallel with the Palestinian negotiations, and final agreements are possible before the end of next year.

 

Poor George. He's become delusional. He, his president and his secretary of state may be enthusiastic and even optimistic about reaching that goal, but the same can't be said for Israeli and Palestinian leaders, who seem more interested in talking about talking than actually talking, and more interested in casting blame than in making tough decisions.

 

Does the Netanyahu government expect the Palestinians to simply give up and accept the status quo, or to bring Hamas into their government and thereby relieve Israel of any pressure to agree to a Palestinian state? Does the Abbas government expect that sticking to its demands will get Washington and the international community to become fed up enough with Israel to impose a deal?

 

NEITHER SIDE feels intense internal pressure to make a deal.

 

PA President Mahmoud Abbas immediately rejected the administration's new approach, renewing his insistence on a total settlement freeze, return to where talks left off with the previous Israeli government and an Israeli commitment to return to the pre-1967 border. He knows his position is a nonstarter but fears backing down now will be seen as weakness. On the other hand, he knows that if he doesn't find a face-saving path back to the bargaining table, he loses his claim to be the man who can best bring peace and statehood.

 

Mitchell tossed a new wrench in the works with a threat to Israel's aid during an interview with PBS's Charlie Rose show last week. It was a relatively mild warning - something both Bush presidents had done - that the US might withhold support for loan guarantees and impose unnamed other "mechanisms." Guarantees are not actual aid but US underwriting of loans to Israel so it can borrow at lower rates. There was no direct threat to cut the billions in actual grant aid plus additional benefits that Israel gets, but any talk of tampering with any part of the aid package only plays into the hands of Obama's enemies.

 

Look for the anti-Obama forces to swing into action. Sens. Joe Lieberman and John McCain quickly warned Congress wouldn't tolerate any cut in aid to Israel - even though the aid itself was not threatened. Just the inference of a threat is red meat for AIPAC and the Right; look for statements from Congress this week, maybe even some letters or resolutions pledging a fight to protect Israel from its enemies in the White House.

 

Various groups can be expected to weigh in along with them, starting with the Republican Jewish Coalition, citing Mitchell's comment as proof that Obama is no friend of the Jews. Watch for some to invoke the president's middle name as more evidence.

 

A State Department spokesman denied Mitchell was sending any signals, but it's hard to believe that was an innocent, off-the-cuff remark from such an experienced diplomat, politician and judge.

 

ADMINISTRATION CREDIBILITY was damaged in the eyes of many friends of Israel last year when it demanded a total settlement freeze and only later talked about Arab reciprocity - which the Arabs privately and publicly rejected. Officials privately admit they're still unable to get the Arabs to pitch in with anything more than gratuitous advice.

 

Mitchell is due in the region next week and is expected to deliver letters of guarantees to each side, telling Israelis the US backs border swaps to allow the retention of some major West Bank settlements, and telling the Palestinians that the June 4, 1967 lines, with slight modifications, should be the basis for any agreement.

 

Chances of success are low thanks to a collapse of trust between the two sides, weak leadership, deep divisions among the Palestinians and wide gaps between the two sides on fundamental issues. Some question whether the administration really is making a serious new move for peace or just marking time until both Israelis and Palestinians get leaders who are ready to make the tough decisions essential to ending the conflict.

 

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, "There is a hunger for a resolution" of the conflict and called it "an imperative goal." You couldn't tell it by listening to Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

 

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THE JERUSALEM POST

EDITORIAL

RATTLING THE CAGE: TO BE ISRAELI TODAY

LARRY DERFNER

 

It's nice to know that the economy's good, or relatively good, and that the hi-tech sector is a miracle, that we're the "start-up nation." There's a lot of economic opportunity in this country for well-educated, shrewd, hard-working people (or well-educated, shrewd, hard-working Jews, anyway). There's great wealth in Israel, a whole class of rich people.

 

That's a change, and a good one. I can't say I'm inspired by it, because there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of trickle-down from all that wealth, but prosperity, even if it's spread narrowly, is a good thing. A positive thing.

 

Other than the economy - the rise of the nouveau-riche and the staving off of recession - everything else in national life, everything else that comes to mind when you think "Israel" or "being Israeli" - is negative.

 

Being Israeli today is about being against. Against Palestinians. Against people who criticize the way we treat Palestinians. Against Muslims in general.

 

That's it. That's what it means to be Israeli, ever since the intifada started a decade ago and we concluded that no Arab could be trusted. Except for its hi-tech image, this is all Israel stands for anymore - being against this one, against that one and against anyone who isn't against them, too.

 

THAT DOESN'T leave many people whom we're with. We're with Republicans. We're with right-wing Evangelical Christians. And that's about all. Everybody else is against us, or they don't know anything about us, so they're neutral.

 

Like the Eskimos. And maybe those Shakers.

 

To be Israeli today is to organize your thinking around the enemy. Without the enemy, you can't understand the world or your place in it. Without the enemy, you don't know what you want - except more money, which is the default goal of the whole human race.

 

What else do Israelis want? We want security! We want those bastards to leave us alone! We want the enemy to go away! Fear and aggression toward the enemy - that's all that drives us anymore, that and the desire for more money.

 

And even if we make more money, what do we want to do with it? Invest it in improving the country, in improving the world? Is that what the start-up nation stands for?

 

When we think of the economy, we think of "me." But when we think of "us," we think first and last of "them." Of course, there are loads and loads of generous, public-spirited Israelis doing great things individually or in groups. But when we're all together as a nation, all we see is the enemy. Stopping the enemy is the only national project we have left. It's the only issue that gets people's attention for more than a day.

 

As for the Jewish part of being Israeli, Judaism in this country is overwhelmingly tribal, to the point of belligerency. Israeli-style Judaism feeds this us-against-them mentality like nothing else except, maybe, the national cult of the military.

 

NONE OF this hard-assedness is new; it was always here. But until this past decade, it had competition from a less fearful, more open-minded, positive view of what it meant to be Israeli. There were people here who talked about building something besides West Bank settlements, fundamentalist yeshivot and border walls. They wanted to stop being obsessed with the enemy, they wanted to go out into the world, and they didn't freak out every time somebody said we were treating the Palestinians badly, because they knew the critic had a point.

 

There were a lot of Israelis like this. They had huge demonstrations, political parties, leaders, ideas. Until this decade, there was a "peace camp," too, not just a "national camp." The two camps fought to determine this country's direction, and it made for a great deal of creative tension in national life.

 

Until this decade, national life was interesting. Now it's deadening. I go back to Haaretz journalist Gideon Levy's quote from a couple of years ago: "There was a time when you'd ask two Israelis a question and you'd get three opinions. Now you only get one."

 

When I try to explain Israel to Americans, I ask them to imagine that 80 percent of their fellow citizens were Republicans. Israel has become a one-party country - the war party.

 

We're at war with the Middle East, with Europe, with liberal Jews in the Diaspora and with a pathetically small handful of dissenters at home. We trust no one. We see anti-Semites everywhere. We'd like to build an Iron Dome over this whole country to keep the world out.

 

There's very little oxygen around here; everyone is breathing the air that everyone else has exhaled. This country has been stagnating for a decade. And we've never achieved such unity.

 

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THE JERUSALEM POST

EDITORIAL

FUNDAMENTALLY FREUND: GOING COLD TURKEY

MICHAEL FREUND

 

Since the start of the week, Israel's media have been in a tizzy. With all the frenzied fury at its disposal, the press has been relentlessly targeting Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, slamming one of the country's most talented diplomats for his handling of a meeting at the Knesset on Monday with the Turkish ambassador.

 

Ayalon had called in Ankara's envoy to protest a new Turkish television show called The Valley of the Wolves which seems primarily designed to foment anti-Semitism. Among other things, it depicts Israeli agents abducting Muslim children in order to convert them to Judaism against their will.

 

The program comes just three months after a Turkish government-run station broadcast a series, Ayrilik, which portrayed IDF soldiers as callous murderers, shooting Palestinian children at point-blank range and massacring innocents by firing squad.

 

Aiming to underline Israel's justifiable displeasure with this crude incitement, Ayalon sought to choreograph the meeting so that the Turkish ambassador would understand that such shenanigans cannot and will not be tolerated.

 

SO HE kept the envoy waiting, seated him on a lower chair and did not smile obsequiously in their meeting, as diplomats are often expected to do.

 

And it is precisely that choreography which has now earned Ayalon the ire of various talking-heads and pundits, many of whom cannot seem to tolerate the idea of a proud Jew standing up for this country's honor.

 

"Humiliation is not a policy," screamed yesterday's Haaretz, as it blasted Ayalon for what it described as his "display of scorn" and "disgraceful theatrical language" toward Turkey.

 

Writing on Ynet, Alon Liel asserted that, "What we have seen here is causing damage to our Foreign Ministry and turning international diplomatic rules into a laughing stock." He accused Ayalon of carrying out "a new kind of diplomacy," and wondered rhetorically, "If next week we will see another anti-Israel TV show produced in Turkey, what will we do to the ambassador then? Ask him to crawl into the room? Beat him up?"

 

There is something truly pitiful about such responses, which say a lot about the limited Jewish self-esteem of those who proffered them. Rather than focusing on the outrageous anti-Semitic and anti-Israel rhetoric that Turkey's Islamist-oriented regime is whipping up with increasing frequency, they prefer to turn their fire on Ayalon for deviating from what is considered standard diplomatic practice.

 

Frankly, I don't think Ayalon has anything to apologize for. The days when Jews must cower in fear and fawn over those who spit in our faces are over. As a sovereign state, we have the right and the obligation to berate those who sully our honor, and Ayalon should be commended for standing up and demonstrating some good, old fashioned Jewish pride.

 

INDEED, HIS critics are missing the mark. Like it or not, Turkey has been steadily embracing a more radical stance ever since Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rise to power earlier this decade. Under his stewardship, the once proudly secular and pro-Western country has shifted gears, cozying up to the likes of radical states such as Iran and Syria. In the past year, Turkey has openly defended Teheran's nuclear program, signed various cooperation agreements with Damascus and moved to expand trade and cultural ties with the two rogue regimes.

 

And in the process, it has increasingly demonstrated outright hostility and antagonism toward the Jewish state. Take, for example, Erdogan's remarks this past Monday at a joint news conference in Ankara with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

 

With barely-concealed contempt, Erdogan said that Israel "threatens global peace" and enjoys "disproportionate power," and asserted that the IDF had attacked Palestinian civilians in Gaza with white phosphorus shells, which he labeled "weapons of mass destruction."

 

During his tirade, Erdogan also condemned Israel for defending itself by carrying out an air strike in Gaza Sunday in which three Islamic Jihad terrorists planning attacks against Israelis were killed. "What is your excuse this time?" he said, as if we owe him an explanation.

 

SOMEONE NEEDS to remind Erdogan that before he goes about lecturing Israel, he would do well to set his own country in order. Just ask the Kurds of southeastern Turkey, who have been targeted for decades by a policy of displacement and forced acculturation. Last month, Erdogan sent the Turkish police to arrest dozens of Kurdish political leaders and activists as part of an ongoing crackdown on the community.

 

He also detained Muharrem Erbey, the president of Turkey's national Human Rights Association, who has been an outspoken advocate on behalf of the Kurds. I wonder what Erdogan's "excuse" is for this.

 

And while the Turkish premier feels free to criticize Israel for its "occupation" of the Palestinians, he does not seem overly troubled by the fact that his own forces have been occupying part of Cyprus since July 1974. An estimated 30,000-40,000 Turkish troops are currently on the island, where they prop up the government of northern Cyprus in defiance of international law and have effectively severed the region in two.

 

Sure, Turkey is a powerful player in the eastern Mediterranean, and it once held out great promise as an example of a secular Muslim democracy. But those days appear to be over, as Erdogan and his Islamist colleagues are clearly leading the country in a very different, and far less friendly, direction.

 

For its own reasons, Turkey has gone cold on Israel, and there doesn't seem to be much we can do about it. However frustrating this might be, we must recognize the reality for what it is, rather than cling to what we might wish it to be.

 

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THE JERUSALEM POST

EDITORIAL

THE PALESTINIAN PARADOX

ZIV MAZEL

 

In spite of Israel's ongoing dialogue with the United States to search for the right formula for the resumption of talks, the position taken by the Obama administration, and the unfair pressure exerted by the European Union, have brought down the fragile structure which had previously made negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians possible.

 

Though these negotiations did not bring about the desired peace, they did constitute an agreed channel for discussions between the two parties and brought about, for instance, the Olmert government's agreement to an American proposal to train Palestinian forces in Jordan under the supervision of Gen. Keith Dayton, thus paving the way for the creation of a regular Palestinian fighting force trained with Western methods.

 

This was a major concession and a risky one. This force is intended to keep order in Judea and Samaria, but who is to say that it would not turn against Israel under different circumstances? Israel has shown a greater willingness in the past year to meet the Palestinians halfway, as exemplified by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Bar-Ilan speech recognizing the two-state principle.

 

Then there was the 10-month freeze on West Bank settlements.

 

HOWEVER, BUOYED by US President Barack Obama's intense wooing of the Muslim world, the Palestinian Authority has chosen the opposite course, refusing to come back to the negotiation table and launching an all-out diplomatic, media and legal war against the Jewish state. The EU is ratcheting up the pressure, and has issued a declaration calling for a withdrawal to the 1967 borders and for Jerusalem to become the capital of both countries. This would, in effect, render negotiations useless by determining their outcome from the outset.

 

It is as if the world has forgotten that Israel already made the most extraordinary concessions at Camp David and in Taba. Yasser Arafat not only turned down the Israeli proposals, he did not make any counter-proposition. The same scenario played out at Annapolis in 2008. According to a lengthy Al-Jazeera interview with Saeb Erekat on March 27, prime minister Ehud Olmert made even greater concessions, but that was not enough for PA President Mahmoud Abbas: He walked out when Olmert suggested a joint administration of the Temple Mount.

 

Erekat also said that when US president Bill Clinton told Arafat at Camp David that he would be the first president of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, but that he had to recognize the fact that vestiges of the Temple were buried under the Aksa Mosque and there would have to be joint administration of the Temple Mount, Arafat put an end to the negotiations.

 

THERE WAS no Israeli denial following these revelations, and recent interviews by Abbas and Olmert support Erekat's version - though the latest round of negotiations carried out by Olmert and foreign minister Tzipi Livni enjoyed a degree of secrecy rarely seen here. As such, the extent of the concessions the two leaders had been ready to make was kept under wraps - perhaps for fear of the impact on the coming elections.

 

That was a colossal miscalculation. The Knesset, the country and the world should have been told that the extremely generous terms offered to the Palestinians had been turned down, putting the blame squarely on Abbas. Such a step would have gone a long way to defuse the situation with Obama and his advisers. It seems that the new government led by Netanyahu had not been fully conversant with the details of the failed negotiations and was thus ill prepared to deal with the accusations leveled against it.

 

Then came the Goldstone Report. The main message there is not so much the totally unfounded accusations of war crimes but an attempt to limit the extent to which Israel is "allowed" to use force to defend itself against terrorist organizations. Such a move was not totally unexpected coming from the UN, especially from the Committee on Human Rights, where Islamic and Arab countries have a decisive voice.

 

What was not expected was that it would lead, for instance, to the White House asking for "clarifications" following a recent operation in Nablus. (In a confrontation with Israeli security forces, three terrorists who had murdered a father of seven were killed.) This demand, made at the request of the Palestinian Authority, constitutes a dangerous precedent. Coupled with the Goldstone Report, it tends to present a difficult dilemma to the government and to the security forces when contemplating military intervention.

 

AT THE same time, terrorist organizations, at the behest of some Arab countries, will be able to keep attacking our citizens while sheltering behind their civilians, in hospitals, in schools and in mosques. Hamas and Hizbullah proclaim on every available channel that they will never recognize Israel and will fight until it has disappeared - without causing an international furor. In fact, Arab organizations, supported by leftist Western groups, are busy getting arrest warrants issued in European countries having relevant legislation against Israeli leaders and army officers for "war crimes," calling for boycotting Israeli products and demonstrating their support for Gaza.

 

In each and every successive confrontation, Arab states and Palestinian movements have been defeated. Now they are seeking other ways to harass Israel. They are waging an all-out media war to blacken its image and ultimately delegitimize its very existence. They are helped in this endeavor by hundreds of leftist organizations and civil society movements in the West. For them Israel is a neo-colonial power, as is the US. But Israel is easier prey because of its size and isolation.

 

Anti-Semitism is also at work here. Palestinian and Arab media, with the full support of the Islamic establishment in Arab countries, use every anti-Semitic cliché in the book, and some of that leached into the West where it led to a renewal of classic European anti-Semitism.

 

Reviled, isolated, the Jewish state is thus facing what is rapidly becoming a strategic threat on its very legitimacy and existence.

 

Here lies the Palestinian paradox: While Israel has made great efforts to move toward a solution, Palestinian leaders, riding the crest of favorable public opinion in the West, are becoming more and more intransigent - and it is Israel which takes the blame.

 

The writer is a former ambassador to Egypt and Sweden.

 

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THE JERUSALEM POST

EDITORIAL

FRIENDS IN DEED

DALIA ITZIK

 

Hadassah's national board will be visiting Israel next week. Like many institutions in America, Hadassah had a tough year in 2009. But all who know its history also know that when the going gets tough, Hadassah rises to the challenge.

 

The women of Hadassah built their first hospital on Mount Scopus during the Great Depression. Their national convention was held here in the middle of the second intifada. They were with us in wars and times of economic stress. Others cancelled; but Hadassah came in full force. Of course, they have also come here in good times, but were never deterred by the worst of times.

 

For me personally, as an Israeli and as a Jerusalemite, Hadassah has a special place in my heart. One cannot think of Jerusalem without thinking of Hadassah, without thinking of its excellent health services, its training institutions, its youth programs which all ensure that our children and grandchildren stay connected.

 

HADASSAH IS today an organization of very dedicated and focused women headed by Nancy Falchuk. Women who serve as models of all that is beautiful and good in our Jewish ideals; women who do not just preach about what needs to be done, but get up and carry out the crucial mission they have taken on themselves. It is an organization of women who work day and night for the cause and - together with the talent and charisma of Prof. Shlomo Mor Yosef, as their director-general - have made Hadassah the amazing organization it is today.

 

When I was deputy mayor of Jerusalem, I remember the late Teddy Kollek saying that during the Sinai Campaign in 1956, it was a Hadassah mission that broke the downward spiral in tourism.

 

"With this kind of precedent," he wrote during his last year as Jerusalem's mayor, "I was not at all surprised 35 years later, when Hadassah moved part of its 1991 mid-winter convention to Jerusalem, arriving here even as Saddam Hussein's Scuds were falling."

 

FOR ALMOST a century, Hadassah has been building Israel. When we declared independence, we didn't need to establish a medical infrastructure, because Hadassah had already built it for us.

 

After all these generations, Hadassah's hospitals are still at the forefront of Israeli medical treatment and research. Hadassah today continues to be a vital and significant factor in our health and well-being.

 

Hadassah youth aliya villages, which rescued so many children from the Holocaust, continue to be pioneers in education for at-risk children. Young Judaea, the leading Diaspora Zionist youth movement, still expresses Hadassah values.

 

During its lifetime it has raised billions of dollars for Israel. But Hadassah's real value is incalculable. One cannot put a price tag on the dedication of an army of 300,000 volunteers in the Diaspora, defending Israel and helping us build bridges to the rest of the world. Israel will always stand by Hadassah, because Hadassah has always stood by Israel.

The writer is a Kadima MK.

 

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THE JERUSALEM POST

EDITORIAL

ARE JEWS AN INVASIVE SPECIES?

SYDNEY ROSS SINGER

 

There is a new biological threat to Jews around the world that has the potential for mass destruction of life. It is not in the form of a disease or mutation. This biological threat comes in the form of a theory.

 

This is not the first time a biological theory has threatened Jews. Eugenics was a biological theory, too, and it fueled and justified the Holocaust. History has shown that biology can be politicized and become a tool of oppression when tainted with human value judgments.

 

Which types of people are worthy of reproduction and which should be culled from humanity?

 

The Nazis had their own answer to that question. However, they also had another biological agenda related to eugenics. That agenda has survived to this day, and has become institutionalized in nations throughout the world, including in Israel.

 

It has to do with defining a biological world order, where every species allegedly has its place. According to this belief, "native" species originated in a certain place on the planet, and that is where they "belong." They should not be moved elsewhere. Introduced, or immigrant, species that come from other parts of the planet threaten these native species and the identity of the environment, and this must not be allowed. Immigrant species that have already become established and threaten the environmental "order" need to be eradicated or controlled, a species cleansing not unlike ethnic cleansing.

 

THE THEORY is called invasion biology. It started with the Nazis, and it now dominates environmentalism worldwide. It extols the "native" and exterminates the "alien." It seeks to purify the environment of the unwanted and destructive influence of "invasive species." As with eugenics, it passes judgment on the value of others and whether or not they should be allowed to live, or be eradicated. In this case, the "others" are plants and animals.

 

But the analogy to humans is clear. As Hitler put it in 1943, "Everywhere we encounter seeds which represent the beginnings of parasitic growths which must sooner or later be the ruin of our culture... [O]ne of the most potent principles of nature's rule: the inner segregation of the species of all living beings on this earth."

 

At a time when the world's environments are under threat from development, pollution and the movement of plants and animals around the globe, the idea of segregating species along nativity lines may sound desirable. Just keep plants and animals where they come from and get rid of those that "don't belong." On the surface, even eugenics sounded somewhat reasonable given the problems caused by overpopulation and the need to keep humanity evolving in a "healthy" way. The problem is these biological theories are loaded with prejudice and value judgment, and when put into practice become tools for political oppression.

 

THERE WAS a time not long ago when the world was seen as a melting pot, and the integration of cultures and peoples was considered desirable. As a result of contact, immigration and assimilation, cultures that once had a relatively unified sense of identity are now changing, alarming the old guard and causing a resurgence of nationalism and exclusivism, along with anti-immigrant hostility. They have gone from promoting immigration to the other extreme of xenophobia. These issues are currently challenging European nations, as Muslims from elsewhere move in, redefine these cultures, and are resisted by cultural preservationists fighting for native rights and bans on immigration.

Likewise, the environment has been treated as a melting pot, with plants and animals transported around the world to increase biodiversity and bring desirable species to new areas. And the resulting threat to the identity of the environment has led to a form of biological nationalism, with laws protecting native species and hostile to immigrant species, a form of bio-xenophobia.

 

Should native people (species) be given priority over immigrants? Should immigrants be controlled, deported or exterminated? Should a culture (environment) change, evolve and adapt as immigrants move in, or should immigration be allowed only if the immigrants assimilate?

 

Most importantly, who has a right to make these decisions? And should the decision be based on nativity, or on the nature of the species, his/her/its qualities and character, and not on its place of origin?

 

THE ISSUE is especially relevant to the Diaspora Jew. Jews are all around the globe, and come in all colors and races. Where are we considered "native"? More to the point, what will happen to us when the "natives" in cultures in which we live decide that we are unwanted "aliens"?

 

Even in Israel itself, the issue of who is native and who is alien is a key cause of political turmoil. To the Palestinians displaced by Jews, they are the natives and the Jews the invaders. The Jews claim they are the natives, displaced from their homeland for centuries. Of course, if you go back far enough, there were other cultures in what is Israel that were displaced by the Jews thousands of years ago and who themselves displaced even more historic cultures.

 

How far back should we go to determine who is native and who is not? This is one major problem with using nativity as a criterion for selecting who or what belongs where. All such judgments are based on a view of history, which is never perfect.

 

In the final analysis, it all comes down to power. When one culture invades another, the victor gets to redefine the culture. When one species invades the space of another, the fittest survives and redefines the environment. To God, and nature, it's all one planet. People, creatures and plants move around. It has been going on for millennia and will continue. It is only to man, with his desire to control and create an artificial order to the world, that nativity has any meaning.

 

Surely, there is a time and place for weeding, selecting and controlling species and people. But we must reject the very notion that some species should be eradicated simply because they are not "native." In human affairs we call this ethnic cleansing and genocide, and we have seen how ugly it is. It is no less ugly when unleashed on a plant or animal, its seeds of intolerance and hatred lying dormant for the next Holocaust.

 

The writer is a medical anthropologist, director of the Institute for the Study of Culturogenic Disease, located in Hawaii, and the author of numerous books on the cultural causes of human and environmental disease, including Panic in Paradise: Invasive Species Hysteria and the Hawaiian Coqui Frog War (Environmentalism Gone Mad!).

 

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HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

SHAS RUNS AMOK

 

Former president Moshe Katsav began testifying this week in Tel Aviv District Court in his rape case. The trial is closed to the public but the start of his testimony reminded people that it is taking place and that it has entered the defense phase.

Israelis have recently been swept into a maelstrom of religious legislation and antidemocratic actions that are harmful to their liberty and way of life. The source of this dangerous upheaval is Shas, whose leaders' wanton conduct has exceeded all reasonable bounds.

Throughout its existence, Shas has never enjoyed such dizzying freedom of action. The party is using it to push a new chametz law that will prohibit the display of leavened products during Passover even in stores and restaurants in neighborhoods where the residents would normally eat chametz. Moreover, Interior Minister Eli Yishai, the Shas leader, insists that the necessary reforms in business licensing be made conditional on increased enforcement of the closing of businesses on the Sabbath. A business owner who does not close that day would not get a license.

Cabinet members from Shas are doing everything they can to scatter public funds to the wind while inconveniencing the same public whose taxes are financing their profligacy. Religious Services Minister Yaakov Margi, who is responsible for 133 wasteful local religious councils, where redundant jobs for pals are rife, now wants even more. He is forcing a religious council on the residents of Shoham, who are perfectly happy with the religious services in their community. And there is no reason why religious services should not be supplied by the local government, in the same way as education, health and social services.

 

The people are paying the price of the competition between Shas' leaders, each of whom wants to show his constituents that he is doing more for them than his rivals. Therefore, not only is the Interior Ministry making life even more miserable than usual for conversion candidates and people needing visas and marriage registrations, but the Communications Ministry is busying itself with halakhic trivialities, and the Education Ministry has to handle the ceaseless demands of the deputy minister from Shas and is giving in to them. And the Religious Services Ministry, which has been reopened after it was shut a few years ago, is milking the public coffers.

Shas uses Israeli society for its own purposes and no one tries to stop it. But we should not focus our complaints on Yishai, or even the party's spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is responsible for this destructive rampage, and it is incumbent upon him to stop it.

But this is unlikely to happen. Netanyahu owes his return to government to Shas, which prevented Kadima's Tzipi Livni from setting up a cabinet after Ehud Olmert's resignation as prime minister. The price for the political deal between Netanyahu and Yishai is now being paid by the public.

 

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HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

THE BIG BANG OF 2010

BY ARI SHAVIT

 

Ehud Olmert believes he has yet to have the last word and will be able to take over Kadima again within a year. Tzachi Hanegbi believes - correctly - that if he manages to evade being convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude he could become a key leader of the Israeli center. Gideon Sa'ar is recruiting masses of supporters. Silvan Shalom isn't about to forget or forgive. Gabi Ashkenazi is casting a giant shadow over the entire system. But there's also talk of a well-known television broadcaster whose father's spirit is upon him. Several other celebrities, it is also said, see the leadership vacuum and are eager to fill it.

The subterranean commotion stems from a simple fact: the present Israeli leadership is miscast. If the political system had worked properly, Netanyahu would be leading a moderate right-wing party, while Tzipi Livni would be heading a moderate left-wing party and Ehud Barak a centrist party. After a brief election campaign, the leaders would have brought all three parties into a single sane Zionist government.

But since the political system isn't functioning, all three leaders found themselves in the wrong parties after the 2009 elections. Netanyahu is trapped in the hands of the Likud's extremists, Livni is trapped by Kadima's Likudniks, and Barak is trapped in a party that loves him just as much as he loves it.

 

All three are unable to implement their true political worldviews. None of them can offer a clear way or decisive solutions. An irrelevant Likud, a Labor that has lost its way and a crumbling Kadima are causing the national leadership to remain stagnant. A distorted political structure is making the next big bang inevitable.

The question is what kind of big bang this will be. There's no point in another maneuver that would enable Netanyahu to get his hands on a quarter of Kadima. Nor is there any point in another shady deal that would enable Livni to get her hands on a third of Labor. The public is sick and tired of dirty tricks and cynical moves. It is demanding a root canal - a structural change of the political system, the creation of a new political situation by means of a different party lineup.

The big bang of 2005 was about dividing the country. Ariel Sharon could not have done what he did by force of personality alone. He needed an idea that would reorganize Israeli politics. So does Netanyahu. If Bibi wants to lead the big bang of 2010, he must base it on an idea. He must offer Kadima's forced converts not just jobs, but a path. If Netanyahu continues wading in the mud he will survive for a while, but will ultimately sink in it. In contrast, if he dares to go out of the box, he has a good chance of making a big comeback. If he proposes a new way of thinking, a new idea and new hope, he will be able to remold Israeli politics.

The new idea is an old one - it's the Zionist idea. At a time when the legitimacy of the Jewish state is coming under unbridled global attack, there is an urgent need to revitalize the Zionist idea. When the Israeli elites turn their backs on the national ethos, there is an immediate need to revitalize the Zionist idea. When most of the children in the first through fifth grades are ultra-Orthodox or Arab, it's a matter of survival to revitalize the Zionist idea. When the State of Israel is becoming the state of Tel Aviv, there's a strategic need to revitalize the Zionist idea. The challenge is one that Israel has not faced since its establishment: that of redefining the Israeli republic.

The silent Israeli majority feels that Zionism is under siege. The threat is posed not only by Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas. The threat lies within ourselves: our moral eclipse, our obtuseness, our lack of feeling, our stupidity. ur loss of faith in our rightness.

So all Zionist parties must come to their senses, come together and take action. If Netanyahu proves he can lead the Zionist coalition and unite the Israeli majority, his leadership will have meaning. But to do so he must make sure that the big bang of 2010 is a Zionist one, not a cynical one.

 

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 HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

WHO HAS MORE HONOR?

BY ISRAEL HAREL

 

It was not Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the man who ceaselessly vilifies Israel and the Jewish People and sows anti-Semitism, whom the Israeli media lambasted. Rather, it was the man who arose, albeit clumsily, to restore the honor of the people and the state which has been raked over the coals for the past few days. The confusion in judging between the wheat and the chaff is not at all coincidental.

True, there are more respectable and efficient ways to restore national honor. But the many detractors forget that the enemies are not Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon - who admitted his mistake - and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

The competition between ex-diplomats, politicians, broadcasters and pundits to be the rudest in criticizing the pair brings back memories of the times when anyone who publicly sought to restore the honor of the Jewish People was shouted down by a meek and frightened establishment for fear of angering the gentiles and bringing disaster upon the community.

 

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The fact that the media stood up almost unanimously to avenge the national honor of the Turks while it harshly scolded those who defended Israel's honor leaves no room for doubt: Turkey's honor is more important than their own country's.

The honor of others - thus with the Palestinians, thus with the Turks - must be carefully protected. Restoring Jewish honor, upon which, among other things, the state of Israel was founded, is passe.

The extent to which national Jewish honor and the Zionist idea are in regression is illustrated by this Pavlovian response: Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar this week directed schools to play - perish the thought - Israeli music. Sa'ar is not Lieberman; he is part of all the right social circles.

Criticism of him is, therefore, gentle, often implied. But when the matter touches the most important issues of all, like the freedom to continue to keep Zionist symbols, a few elementary songs of the homeland, out of Israeli education - the silence must be broken.

There was no end to the ridicule of the initiative, especially on Army Radio. Education Ministry director general Shimshon Shoshani was grilled for daring, astonishingly, to "dictate from above," musical content to the schools.

And rightly so. After all, it was in singing classes that the pioneering and Zionist ethos was inculcated, perhaps even more than in history and literature classes (subjects that were clearly slanted toward the Zionist idea) or even Bible studies. Today, that ethos, in the view of those who were infuriated this week, is chauvinistic.

When we sang off-key the works of Nathan Alterman and Daniel Sambursky ("Anachnu Ohavim Otah Moledet," "Zemer Haplugot"), or Alexander Penn and Mordechai Zeira ("Al Givot Sheikh Abrek"), we quenched our thirst with the living waters of Zionism and love of the land.

Sa'ar will not be taken vigorously to task. His initiative, those who ridicule him prophesize, will simply dissipate. Lieberman is another story: The outsider, who represents a national agenda, is a bull in the china shop of the Foreign Ministry, the DNA of which is stamped with restraint, apologetics and lip-biting.

Therefore the most important matter in this affair is not Erdogan's assertion that Israel intentionally murders women and children and constitutes a danger to world peace (there are quite a few Israelis who believe this), but the (unnecessary) insult to the Turkish ambassador.

 

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 HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

A BORDER AUTHORITY ON THE EGYPT FRONTIER

BY GABRIEL SIBONI

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to build a physical barrier along the length of the Israeli border with Egypt, supported by technical means, is important, and is designed to address the problem of constant infiltration across the frontier. While these components are essential, they should be part of an overall solution, which requires a comprehensive approach to the threat and the development of an operational response to it, including what is required for its implementation. This should begin with operational doctrine and include the forces and methods to be used, as well as consideration of command and control issues.

The construction of a barrier and its accompanying technological support is a costly operation. Completion of the process through the development and implementation of a comprehensive approach, on the other hand, requires mostly thought and organizational coordination. The primary costs entailed have more to do with confronting egos at government ministries and organizations, and less with a need to find financial sources.

The principles of the approach to defense along the Israeli-Egyptian border took shape over the course of years of military confrontation as well as regular security operations conducted in between. The peace agreement has not substantially changed that approach, which continues to be based on military forces "holding a line" under the command of the military division in the area.

 

This operational approach has made it difficult to provide an effective response to border activity involving sophisticated smugglers who know the lay of the land and who act in cooperation with Israeli citizens. Israeli soldiers in turn have difficulties dealing with these citizens due to legal limitations. The threats are many and varied: the penetration of infiltrators and refugees on a large scale; attempts by terrorist elements to get weapons and dangerous substances through, in many instances via criminal activity involving the trafficking of women and the smuggling of goods; and finally concern over shooting attacks and sniping incidents across the border.

The State of Israel is obligated to back the decision to erect a border fence, by developing a more comprehensive response and organizational coordination, thus allowing for an overall approach to defending the border. Such an approach should be based on the understanding that the general response will combine both civilian and military capabilities. Integrated, inter-ministerial operations are necessary to provide the means required.

The capability to intercept both intelligence and operations is of the highest importance, as is the capture of smugglers and terrorist elements. Such capabilities rely on forces which are small and know the territory well. These forces will have to be given police authority so they can also deal with Israeli citizens. Such operational activity must also be supported by intelligence provided by the Shin Bet security service and, beyond that, involve the Immigration Administration, staff from the Interior Ministry and the Tax Authority, and others.

Experience shows that effective cooperation between various professionals requires an integrated operational framework. Creating a command structure with appropriate authority could run up against organizational barriers. An alternative approach could involve the establishment of a specialized authority or administration. This appears to be the best and fastest way to proceed. The body could be made up of existing personnel from the army, the Public Security Ministry and other government ministries; it could supply the necessary command structure to develop the professional know-how and increase familiarity with the territory, which is essential to the success of operations along this border.

This security network will make it possible to develop an optimal operational doctrine, train the necessary personnel and more effectively take advantage of the huge monetary outlays planned along the border. The body could also be given responsibility for the border with Jordan. It seems only the establishment of such a specialized plan can provide the best return on the investment to be undertaken in infrastructure and other means.

The writer is the head of the military research project at the Institute for National Security Studies.

 

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HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

THE SPIDER, THE ROAD AND THE OCCUPATION

BY YITZHAK LAOR

 

Even if the farce staged by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his deputy Danny Ayalon to make the Turkish ambassador feel small is forgotten, Route 443 is a better example of the wide gap between Israelis' self-image and the value of Israel and its arguments in the eyes of the international community. No propaganda campaign based on the cry "Gevalt, they're killing us" can save the occupation from the understanding that this is not a dispute about Jewish existence. Either way, Israel does not know how to defend this existence without groaning that "the spider of the settlements is proving burdensome, please help us handle it so we can continue settling everywhere, including in East Jerusalem."

What does Israeli logic say about Route 443 and barring Palestinians from using it for years, in the best traditions of apartheid? (Which is flourishing here but which we are not permitted to call by that name.) Logic dictates that we need this road because it shortens the distance to Jerusalem and eases congestion on Highway 1. But because this efficient road passes through occupied territory, and has done so for 42 years - a temporary occupation, of course (here, in the script, the Supreme Court justices call for a wink) - it endangers the lives of Israelis. This is because the inhabitants of the occupied territory don't like the idea of their land being used without their permission.

Therefore, for our convenience, we have to prevent Palestinian drivers from using the road. Here, too, the Israeli argument ranges from arrogant fury, as in "Who are you tell us how to defend the lives of our children?" to "After all, we do want to see two states for two peoples, etc." And as always, an examination of the argument reveals that what the Israelis call security, even when they are speaking absolutely sincerely, is not security but ownership of land cleansed of Arabs.

 

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Even when security reasons were not used in the usual demagogic manner, the removal of Arabs from territories inhabited by Israelis has always been described as "security." Anyone who carefully reads the debates about the military government in Arab-populated areas in the 1950s and '60s will see that even in the most penetrating documents written in its defense, security arguments are linked to preventing Arab farmers from entering the land in question. (This is why the military government in Haifa, Jaffa, Acre, Ramle and Lod, in which Jews were settled, was abolished quickly, and the Arabs there bunched together in remote eighborhoods, whereas in the rural areas the military government was retained until 1967.)

Whatever the nature of the solution, from the Israeli point of view it always entails the removal of Arabs from areas where Jews live.

Over the years, Israelis have learned to see any territory in which there are Arabs as endangering their security. To guard against them it is permitted to remove them, or fence them in, or settle in their midst, and then to protect the settlers from the danger to their security, namely the Arabs around them. Thus the barbaric wall that runs "almost" along the Green Line is perceived by Israelis as a security need; it's there to protect the security of Hashmonaim C, Maccabim D, Modi'in Ilit or Beit El. And for their convenience why should we care about the plight of the subjects of the occupation in Bil'in, Na'alin or Bani Saleh?

As the moment of truth approaches, as Israel's role in Western politics becomes less important, Israel and its leaders are depicted as a nuisance when they maintain that this old land dispute is an issue of security. It's not a matter of security, but of a desire for convenience, for more land, more water. Our domestic consensus makes no sense to anyone outside Israel; it's seen merely as a national inability to see the sand running out in the hourglass.
This is how we have arrived at the ludicrous conduct of the Netanyahu-Barak government toward the Palestinian Authority. The two-state solution was a gift the Palestinians offered Israel in the spirit of what Israel has always demanded: "You over there, we over here." But that's not what Israel really wants. Because if you have already conceded that, why shouldn't you concede more and more until you disappear completely behind the walls of your ghetto?

 

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EDITORIAL

HAITI

 

Once again, the world weeps with Haiti. The earthquake that struck on Tuesday did damage on a scale that scarcely could have been imagined had we all not seen the photos and videos and read the survivors' agonizing accounts — of the sudden crumbling of mountainside slums, schools, hospitals, even the Parliament building and presidential palace.

 

Whenever disaster strikes, we are reminded that Haiti is the poorest country in the hemisphere. And each time there is a disaster, this country and others help — for a while. This time must be different.

 

Haiti urgently needs relief to dig out and shelter survivors, and to nurse, feed and clothe people who had little to start with and now have nothing left. But Haiti needs more. It needs a commitment to finally move beyond the relentless poverty, despair and dysfunction that would be a disaster anywhere else but in Haiti are the norm.

 

President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have promised that assistance from the United States will be swift through the coordinated efforts of the military, civilian aid agencies and nongovernmental organizations. The administration must make sure that the upswelling of generosity turns into sustained action, replacing the confusion and chaos on the ground with a rational and effective campaign — first to rescue, then to rebuild.

 

Private citizens can help speed the process by giving generously to charitable organizations that have a track record in Haiti. Those groups know where to direct humanitarian aid and how to spend it prudently.

 

The United Nations mission in Haiti suffered a tragic blow on Tuesday when its headquarters in Port-au-Prince, the nation's capital, were destroyed. Its chief and dozens of employees remain unaccounted for. The organization must find a way to recover quickly to resume its vital mission.

 

Former President Bill Clinton, the United Nations' special envoy to Haiti, has an opportunity to bring all his skills of leadership and persuasion to bear. If ever there was a time for so gifted and trouble-prone former president to make himself useful, this is it.

 

The United States has a special responsibility to help its neighbor. This is an opportunity for President Obama to demonstrate how the United States shoulders its responsibilities and mobilizes other countries to do their full part as well. Even as he urges his administration and others to act, he should remind them — and himself — that this is not the work of a few months. It is a commitment of years.

 

On Wednesday, the Obama administration said it was halting the pending deportation of up to 30,000 Haitians who have run afoul of the immigration agency. The government should now take the next step by granting these immigrants temporary protected status — as it has to survivors of Latin American earthquakes and other disasters — so that the Haitian diaspora in the United States will be allowed to work and send vitally needed money home.

 

An earthquake this size would have been a catastrophe in any country. But this was only partly a natural disaster. Look at Haiti and you will see what generations of misrule, poverty and political strife will do to a country. Haiti, suffering forever, is in the direst straits. But Haitians do not need condolences. They need help and the ability to help themselves.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

GOOGLE IN CHINA

 

Google has taken a bold stand by saying that it would stop cooperating with China's online censorship and may pull out of the country entirely. Google had many reasons to reconsider its presence, but the discovery that it was a victim of a cyberattack aimed at Chinese human rights activists added a powerful one. There are limits to the price an American company should be willing to pay for access to 300 million Web users.

 

When Google took its Web site to China in early 2006, it argued that the positive benefit of giving the Chinese people more open access to the Internet outweighed the negative. But Google said that it would monitor the situation, including what restrictions were imposed upon its delivery of information.

 

The government's policies proved to be deeply troubling. In China, search requests on Google for terms that offend the government, such as "Tiananmen Square massacre," do not work. YouTube, the company's user-generated video site, has repeatedly been blocked.

 

Things have not gotten better. The recently discovered cyberattacks aimed at Google's computers, and those of other companies, are particularly disturbing. A prime purpose appears to have been to hack into the Gmail user accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Google says it has discovered that the accounts of dozens of Gmail users who advocate for human rights in China have been accessed, apparently by deceptive software or other improper means.

 

Google's policies have not always won plaudits. Authors have had to battle to preserve their copyrights in the face of Google's ambitious plans to digitize books — including in China.

 

The company has not resolved questions about protecting users' privacy and has shown an anticompetitive bent with acquisitions like DoubleClick and AdMob. But it has often stood up to censorship, particularly on YouTube.

 

Google's defiance of China is winning praise from human rights groups and open-Internet advocates. The Center for Democracy and Technology said, "No company should be forced to operate under government threat to its core values or to the rights and safety of its users."

 

If Google pulls out of China, the biggest losers would be the Chinese people. Google's search engine provides access to vast stores of knowledge. The Chinese government, which heavily censored the news that Google was protesting its censorship, does not appear to realize that the whole nation would suffer.

 

The Internet is one of the great driving forces in global progress. Entrepreneurs, scientists and artists who have the most access to it will be in the best position to invent the future.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

DISCRIMINATION ON TRIAL, BUT NOT ON TV

 

The trial that started on Monday in San Francisco over the constitutionality of California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage could have been a moment for the entire nation to witness a calm, deliberative debate on a vitally important issue in the era of instant communications. Instead, the United States Supreme Court made it a sad example of the quashing of public discourse by blocking the televising of the nonjury trial.

 

The court blocked the public broadcasting of the proceedings by its familiar 5-to-4 split. In a vigorous dissent, Justice Stephen Breyer correctly objected to the court's highly unusual intervention. He concluded, "The public interest weighs in favor of providing access to the courts."

 

The antipathy of some justices to televising Supreme Court arguments is as well known as it is wrongheaded. But the court's stance against allowing unobtrusive C-Spanlike coverage of its own proceedings should not foreclose public viewing of this case.

 

There have been claims that televising the courtroom proceeding would somehow be unfair to defenders of Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage. They are hazy and unsubstantiated and vastly outweighed by the strong public interest in the airing of a major civil-rights issue. But the Supreme Court's majority bought the false argument.

 

Over the next three weeks or so, the trial will test whether Proposition 8 violates the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection. The trial already has featured emotionally charged testimony about the marriage ban. It is a chance for close cross-examination of opponents' bogus claims that permitting same-sex couples to wed would harm heterosexual marriage.

 

No matter how the trial turns out, the verdict is unlikely to be the final word. There are destined to be appeals, and the Supreme Court may well have the final say. There is considerable anxiety among supporters of same-sex marriage that the case may reach the Supreme Court too soon, while public opinion on same-sex marriage is evolving.

 

Those fears are understandable. But there is a strong legal case that California voters trespassed on the Constitution when they approved Proposition 8. The courtroom battle now unfolding bears close watching, and the Supreme Court should not stand in the way of Americans viewing it and reaching educated judgments.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

MORE THAN A SCANDAL IN BELFAST

 

The struggle for power sharing — and lasting peace — in Northern Ireland has been long and bloody. Political leaders now must make sure that a sordid crisis does not threaten the agreement or the province's future.

 

The government's co-leader, Peter Robinson, has temporarily stepped aside as investigators determine whether he had any role in $80,000 in loans arranged by his wife, Iris, in 2008 and given to her lover, who was a teenage pub operator at the time.

 

The scandal could not have come at a worse moment. Mr. Robinson, the leader of the mostly Protestant unionist political bloc, has been in delicate negotiations with leaders of the largely Catholic republican movement on the big remaining issue in the Good Friday peace agreement: the transfer of police and justice powers from Britain to the province's shaky government.

 

After news of the loans and the affair broke, Mrs. Robinson abandoned her seats in the Belfast Assembly and London Parliament. Critics insist that her husband should have disclosed the loans to parliamentary authorities after he learned of them.

 

Mr. Robinson has retained his role as negotiator on the police and justice issue. It is an open question as to whether he can make progress amid the tabloid melodrama and intraparty machinations. Most of the republican leaders remain intent on securing home-rule jurisdiction, but there are some dissident unionists who want to stay under London's authority and have no compunction about scuttling the peace deal.

 

It would be tragic after centuries of bloodshed to see reconciliation in Northern Ireland founder on a lurid sideshow. If the current government falls, it would be crucial for politicians to remember their obligation under the power-sharing agreement for fresh elections, new leadership and a firmer effort at progress.

 

There must be no turning back toward Northern Ireland's deadly troubles.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

GOOGLE TAKES A STAND

BY NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

 

It has been dispiriting to see America's banks apparently stand for nothing more lofty than plunder. It has been demoralizing to see President Obama hiding from the Dalai Lama rather than offend China's rulers.

 

So all that makes Google's decision to stand up to Chinese cyberoppression positively breathtaking. By announcing that it no longer plans to censor search results in China, even if that means it must withdraw from the country, Google is showing spine — a kind that few other companies or governments have shown toward Beijing.

 

One result was immediate: Young Chinese have been visiting Google's headquarters in Beijing to deposit flowers and pay their respects.

 

China promptly tried to censor the ensuing debate about its censorship, but many Chinese Twitter users went out of their way to praise Google. One from Guangdong declared: "It's not Google that's withdrawing from China, it's China that's withdrawing from the world."

 

Cynics say that Google tried to turn a business setback (it lags in the Chinese market behind a local search engine, Baidu) into a bid to burnish its brand. Whatever the motivations, it marks a refreshing contrast to Yahoo assisting the Chinese government in sending four dissidents — Shi Tao, Li Zhi, Jiang Lijun and Wang Xiaoning — to prison for terms of up to 10 years.

 

"In the 20 years I've been doing this work, I can't think of anything comparable," said John Kamm, the founder of the Dui Hua Foundation, which has enjoyed remarkable success in encouraging China to release dissidents. Mr. Kamm, a former business leader himself, argues that Western companies could do far more to project their values.

 

Google announced its decision after a sophisticated Chinese attempt to penetrate the Gmail addresses of dissidents. The episode and the resulting flap highlight two important points about China.

 

The first is that Beijing is increasingly devoting itself to cyberwarfare. This is a cheap way to counter American dominance in traditional military fields. If the U.S. and China ever jostle with force, Beijing may hit us not with missiles but with cyberinfiltrations that shut down the electrical grid, disrupt communications and tinker with the floodgates of dams.

 

Moreover, China's leaders aren't keeping their cyberarsenal in reserve. They seem to be using it aggressively already.

 

A major coordinated assault on computers of the Dalai Lama, foreign embassies and even foreign ministries was uncovered last year and traced to Chinese hackers. The operation targeted computers in more than 100 countries and was so widespread that Western intelligence experts believe it was organized by the Chinese government, although there is no definitive proof of that.

 

(If this column is replaced on nytimes.com with one under my byline praising the glorious courage of the Chinese Communist Party in standing up to the bourgeois imperialists of Google — well, that would make my case.)

 

A second point is that China is redrawing the balance between openness and economic efficiency. The architect of China's astonishingly successful economic reforms, Deng Xiaoping, clenched his teeth and accepted photocopiers, fax machines, cellphones, computers and lawyers because they were part of modernization.

 

Yet in the last few years, President Hu Jintao has cracked down on Internet freedoms and independent lawyers and journalists. President Hu is intellectually brilliant but seems to have no vision for China 20 years from now. He seems to be the weakest Chinese leader since Hua Guofeng was stripped of power in 1978.

 

Instead, vision and leadership in China have come from its Netizens, who show none of the lame sycophancy that so many foreigners do. In their Twitter photos, many display yellow ribbons to show solidarity with Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese writer recently sentenced to 10 years in prison. That's guts!

 

China's Netizens scale the Great Firewall of China with virtual private networks and American-based proxy servers like Freegate. (The United States should support these efforts with additional server capacity as a way of promoting free information and undermining censorship by China and Iran).

 

Young Chinese also are infinitely creative. When the government blocks references to "June 4," the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Netizens evade the restriction by typing in "May 35."

 

When I lived China in the 1990s, an early computer virus would pop up on the screen and ask: Do you like Li Peng? (He was then the widely disliked hard-line prime minister.) If you said you didn't like Li Peng, the virus disappeared and did no harm. If you expressed support for him, it tried to wipe out your hard drive.

 

Eventually, I think, a combination of technology, education and information will end the present stasis in China. In a conflict between the Communist Party and Google, the party will win in the short run. But in the long run, I'd put my money on Google.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

THE 10 PERCENT RULES

BY GAIL COLLINS

 

If Massachusetts was the Department of Homeland Security, the special election to fill Ted Kennedy's senate seat would have the Democrats about four-fifths of the way up the terror alert code.

 

Green: Everything is fine, and who cares if we spelled "Massachusetts" wrong in one of the ads.

 

Blue: Don't forget to vote. It's next Tuesday. You'll remember to vote, right?

 

Yellow: Bill Clinton is coming for a rally. John Kerry has got to show up, too. I don't care if he just had hip-replacement surgery.

 

Orange: You know, it really doesn't matter whether you win by a million votes or one vote, just so long as you win.

 

The campaign has not hit red yet, although, for the Democrats, the whole world has begun to look orange with dark tints. Like a decaying pumpkin. It cannot be a good sign when the Massachusetts secretary of state has to deny rumors that he plans to stall certification of the election results until after the health care bill is passed.

 

Of course, it's all about the health care bill. "As the 41st senator, I can stop it," Scott Brown, the Republican nominee, says frequently.

 

We will return to our discussion of the Massachusetts special election shortly, after the following special rant about the concept of the 41st senator.

 

* * * * *

 

SPECIAL RANT

 

There are 100 members of the Senate. But as Brown is currently reminding us, because of the filibuster rule, it takes only 41 to stop any bill from passing.

 

U.S. population: 307,006,550.

 

Population for the 20 least-populated states: 31,434,822.

 

That means that in the Senate, all it takes to stop legislation is one guy plus 40 senators representing 10.2 percent of the country.

 

People, think about what we went through to elect a new president — a year and a half of campaigning, three dozen debates, $1.6 billion in donations. Then the voters sent a clear, unmistakable message. Which can be totally ignored because of a parliamentary rule that allows the representatives of slightly more than 10 percent of the population to call the shots.

 

Why isn't 90 percent of the country marching on the Capitol with teapots and funny hats, waving signs about the filibuster?

 

* * * * *

O.K., done now.

 

Martha Coakley, the Democratic Senate nominee, is the kind of candidate who reminds you that the state that gave birth to John Kennedy also produced Michael Dukakis. She is the attorney general, and her speaking style has been compared to that of a prosecutor delivering a summation to the jury. In civil court. In a trial that involved, say, a dispute over widget tariffs.

 

She is so tone deaf that she made fun of her opponent for standing outside Fenway Park shaking hands "in the cold." A week before the election, Coakley was off the campaign trail entirely in Washington for a fund-raiser that was packed with the usual suspects. But undoubtedly it was well heated.

 

Brown, her opponent, is a conservative state senator who believes in waterboarding but not necessarily global warming. When he was 22, he won an "America's Sexiest Man" contest, the prize for which was $1,000 and a chance to pose naked in a Cosmopolitan magazine centerfold. One of his daughters — this is perhaps the best-known factoid in the campaign — came in somewhere between 13th and 16th on "American Idol."

 

"For our family, especially me being on 'Idol' but my dad being in politics, there are always so many people who have something negative to say," Ayla Brown told The Boston Herald this week. Her talent was singing, not sentence construction.

 

(This week Coakley unleashed a hard-hitting ad that charged Brown with being, um, a Republican. Brown's hard-hitting response charged Coakley with running a negative ad. He is generally thought to have gotten the best of that round, especially given that little mishap with the spelling of the name of the state.)

 

Some polls show Coakley with a 15 percent lead. However, others show the race narrowing toward a tie. ("Dead heat," announced a fund-raising e-mail message from John Kerry that seemed intended to induce panic attacks on the part of recipients.)

 

The surveys that show the race being too close to call do not seem as reliable as the ones that show Coakley winning handily, but the Democrats who watch these things say the absentee ballot requests are way up in traditionally Republican areas and down in the places that went hard for Obama in 2008.

 

The tea-party types are euphoric, pouring money in Brown's direction. The people who voted for Barack Obama, meanwhile, are sullen and dispirited. This is, of course, partly because of the economy, but also partly because of the sense that the president is not getting anything done.

 

Which brings us back to the 10 percent rule. Don't get me started again.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

HAITI'S ANGRY GOD

BY POOJA BHATIA

 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti

 

FOR most of the past 20 hours I've been hiking the earthquake-rubbled streets of Port-au-Prince. Tuesday night, when we had less idea of the scope of the devastation, there was singing all over town: songs with lyrics like "O Lord, keep me close to you" and "Forgive me, Jesus." Preachers stood atop boxes and gave impromptu sermons, reassuring their listeners in the dark: "It seems like the Good Lord is hiding, but he's here. He's always here."

 

The day after, as the sun exposed bodies strewn everywhere, and every fourth building seemed to have fallen, Haitians were still praying in the streets. But mostly they were weeping, trying to find friends and family, searching in vain for relief and walking around in shock.

 

If God exists, he's really got it in for Haiti. Haitians think so, too. Zed, a housekeeper in my apartment complex, said God was angry at sinners around the world, but especially in Haiti. Zed said the quake had fortified her faith, and that she understood it as divine retribution.

 

This earthquake will make the devastating storms of 2008 look like child's play. Entire neighborhoods have vanished. The night of the earthquake, my boyfriend, who works for the American Red Cross, and I tended to hundreds of Haitians who lived in shoddily built hillside slums. The injuries we saw were too grave for the few bottles of antiseptic, gauze and waterproof tape we had: skulls shattered, bones and tendons protruding from skin, chunks of bodies missing. Some will die in the coming days, but for the most part they are the lucky ones.

 

No one knows where to go with their injured and dead, or where to find food and water. Relief is nowhere in sight. The hospitals that are still standing are turning away the injured. The headquarters of the United Nations peacekeeping force, which has provided the entirety of the country's logistical support, has collapsed. Cell and satellite phones don't work. Cars can't get through many streets, which are blocked by fallen houses. Policemen seem to have made themselves scarce.

 

"If this were a serious country, there would be relief workers here, finding the children buried underneath that house," my friend Florence told me. Florence is a paraplegic who often sits outside her house in the Bois Verna neighborhood. The house next to hers had collapsed, and Florence said that for a time she heard the children inside crying.

 

Why, then, turn to a God who seems to be absent at best and vindictive at worst? Haitians don't have other options. The country has a long legacy of repression and exploitation; international peacekeepers come and go; the earth no longer provides food; jobs almost don't exist. Perhaps a God who hides is better than nothing.

 

Pooja Bhatia is a fellow at the Institute of Current World Affairs.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

COUNTRY WITHOUT A NET

BY TRACY KIDDER

 

THOSE who know a little of Haiti's history might have watched the news last night and thought, as I did for a moment: "An earthquake? What next? Poor Haiti is cursed."

 

But while earthquakes are acts of nature, extreme vulnerability to earthquakes is manmade. And the history of Haiti's vulnerability to natural disasters — to floods and famine and disease as well as to this terrible earthquake — is long and complex, but the essence of it seems clear enough.

 

Haiti is a country created by former slaves, kidnapped West Africans, who, in 1804, when slavery still flourished in the United States and the Caribbean, threw off their cruel French masters and created their own republic. Haitians have been punished ever since for claiming their freedom: by the French who, in the 1820s, demanded and received payment from the Haitians for the slave colony, impoverishing the country for years to come; by an often brutal American occupation from 1915 to 1934; by indigenous misrule that the American government aided and abetted. (In more recent years American administrations fell into a pattern of promoting and then undermining Haitian constitutional democracy.)

 

Hence the current state of affairs: at least 10,000 private organizations perform supposedly humanitarian missions in Haiti, yet it remains one of the world's poorest countries. Some of the money that private aid organizations rely on comes from the United States government, which has insisted that a great deal of the aid return to American pockets — a larger percentage than that of any other industrialized country.

 

But that is only part of the problem. In the arena of international aid, a great many efforts, past and present, appear to have been doomed from the start. There are the many projects that seem designed to serve not impoverished Haitians but the interests of the people administering the projects. Most important, a lot of organizations seem to be unable — and some appear to be unwilling — to create partnerships with each other or, and this is crucial, with the public sector of the society they're supposed to serve.

 

The usual excuse, that a government like Haiti's is weak and suffers from corruption, doesn't hold — all the more reason, indeed, to work with the government. The ultimate goal of all aid to Haiti ought to be the strengthening of Haitian institutions, infrastructure and expertise.

 

This week, the list of things that Haiti needs, things like jobs and food and reforestation, has suddenly grown a great deal longer. The earthquake struck mainly the capital and its environs, the most densely populated part of the country, where organizations like the Red Cross and the United Nations have their headquarters. A lot of the places that could have been used for disaster relief — including the central hospital, such as it was — are now themselves disaster areas. But there are effective aid organizations working in Haiti. At least one has not been crippled by the earthquake. Partners in Health, or in Haitian Creole Zanmi Lasante, has been the largest health care provider in rural Haiti. (I serve on this organization's development committee.) It operates, in partnership with the Haitian Ministry of Health, some 10 hospitals and clinics, all far from the capital and all still intact. As a result of this calamity, Partners in Health probably just became the largest health care provider still standing in all Haiti. Fortunately, it also offers a solid model for independence — a model where only a handful of Americans are involved in day-to-day operations, and Haitians run the show. Efforts like this could provide one way for Haiti, as it rebuilds, to renew the promise of its revolution. Tracy Kidder is the author of "Mountains Beyond Mountains," about Haiti, and "Strength in What Remains."

 

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 I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

FROM WITHIN

 

The policies adopted by the government and the small group of henchmen who run its affairs are becoming increasingly intolerable for anyone with any measure of rationality or morality. Reaction has come recently from within the party, with senior PPP leader Senator Raza Rabbani demanding during a debate in the Upper House that the Charter of Democracy be enforced and some effort made to offer people the necessities of life as per the manifesto of the party. Senator Rabbani also led a walk-out against the operation in Lyari. There are important questions to be asked here. How long will it be before the PPP leadership begins to see sense? Is it indeed capable of any kind of lucid thinking – or has it completely lost this ability? What Mr Rabbani and others like him say makes sense. It is impossible to continue to rely on mere rhetoric. Even now, despite renewed promises from the prime minister and the president, there is no definite sign of a move to end the 17th Amendment. One wonders why the matter is not moved in parliament, despite what we have all heard about its supremacy and the need to make it sovereign.

The credibility of the PPP is at an all-time low. We wonder how much further it can sink. What is sad is that even now those at the helm of party affairs do not seem to have grasped the full gravity of the situation. There is no sense at all that the crisis we face is being managed adeptly or even with good sense. This of course will, in time, make matters worse. It is essential that more people speak up from within the party. After all its standing in the eyes of people must be enhanced. The leaders who have served the party in the past need to make a bid to save it. Presently it stands poised on the brink of self-destruction. The PPP must be pulled back from this precipice. We must also hope that those running its affairs will show some willingness to listen to voices of reason. Sadly they have failed to pay much heed to the criticism directed this way or to try and adopt any kind of policy reform. They may now be approaching their last chance to do so. Mr Rabbani's words indicate impatience with what is happening is growing rapidly as things worsen on multiple fronts with each passing day.

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

DEADLY TRACKS

 

The accident at a railway crossing in Mian Channu in which at least twelve children and their coach driver died and at least eight others were injured is heart-rending. The prime minister and the president have expressed their condolences and called for the four provincial governments and railway officials to 'ensure the safety of vehicles near railway tracks' and have asked for 'the immediate construction of railway gates and crossings at train tracks for the life protection of the public.' Fine words overlaying a dismal reality of a railway infrastructure that is underfunded, badly maintained and managed by a succession of incompetents who wouldn't know one end of a train from the other. The impression of reality being disconnected from management is accentuated by the federal railways minister, Ghulam Ahmed, saying that the construction of gates is not the responsibility of railways; and that provincial governments and district managers should construct underpasses or flyovers at each point. He revealed that each gate costs a staggering 4.8 million rupees – they are presumably gold-plated and built by workers paid in US dollars at the rate of $100 per day – and that it is 'difficult' to construct a gate at each point. We urge the minister to review both his advice on costings and the possible cost of building over 2,000 underpasses and flyovers.

With that many unmanned, unfenced and ungated railway crossings in the country their upgrading to an acceptable standard of public safety is not likely to be high on the agenda of local railway managers; who have tiny budgets for peripherals such as the welfare of those who cross rather than use, the tracks. As ever in these tragedies there is a pointing of fingers – at both the bus and the train driver. The train driver must be exempt from all blame – he was travelling at speed in foggy conditions with visibility not more than 700 metres, and would have had no chance to stop the train in time once he saw the school bus. The bus driver would not have seen the train until the last moment, nor heard it either as fog acts as an acoustic dampener and his chances would have been as slim as the train driver's. The hard fact is that nobody would have died had the crossing been properly regulated – and ultimately that is the fault and responsibility of the government and the railway operator and not the train or bus driver. Yet another needless waste of innocent life, and yet another railways minister who gives every sign of being unable to find his own nose without both hands and a map.

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

YET MORE MISERY

 

The price of sugar is up at utility stores by a whopping Rs7 per kilo. The slight relief available to people buying the commodity at these stores has vanished. Sugar prices have in fact also risen at other shops, as retailers move in to extract all possible profit from the government announcement as to the price rise. The statement from the finance minister that the step has been taken to cut the difference between the rate of sugar sold at different places makes little sense, given the suffering it has imposed on people who, during the first two weeks of 2010, have already seen an increase in the prices of power, gas and flour.

The situation is a dire one. In every household budgets are increasingly strained. Sugar is an essential item that few can do without. The issue of keeping households running in these circumstances is becoming an ever-bigger one. There are simply no answers for most of the families who struggle to survive and to make ends meet one way or the other. The decision on sugar prices by the ECC also proves the government is oblivious to the plight of people. Its primary duty must, after all, be to protect their interests. This is not happening. Already, on Wednesday, as consumers discovered the price rise, a greater sense of despondency was visible in many places. There seems every possibility that it will grow as the full impact of the latest price rise hits people already struggling to cope with the increased hardships of life.

 

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I. THE NEWS

WITHOUT CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERALISM

ROEDAD KHAN

In the West, democracy means liberal democracy – a political system, prevailing in a free and independent country, marked not only by free and fair elections but also by rule of law, separation of powers, independent judiciary, the protection of basic liberties of speech, assembly and religion, sanctity of contract and property. This bundle of freedoms – called constitutional liberalism – is not synonymous with democracy and is theoretically different and historically distinct from democracy. For much of modern history what characterised governments in Europe and North America, and differentiated them from those around the world, was not democracy but constitutional liberalism. The Magna Carta, rule of law, habeas corpus, are all expressions of constitutional liberalism, not democracy. During the 19th century most European countries went through the phase of liberalisation long before they became democratic.

British rule in India meant not democracy but constitutional liberalism – rule of law, independent judiciary, habeas corpus, fair administration and a merit system. For 156 years until July 1, 1997, Hong Kong was ruled by the British Crown through an appointed governor general. Until 1991, it never held a meaningful election, but its government epitomised constitutional liberalism, protecting its citizens' basic rights and administering a fair judicial system and bureaucracy.

Elections are an important virtue of government, but they are not the only virtue. Democracy does not end with the ballot, it begins there. Governments should be judged by yardsticks related to constitutional liberalism as well. Despite the limited political choice they offer, countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand provide a better environment for the life, liberty and happiness of their citizens than do illiberal, sham, democracies like Slovakia, Ghana and Pakistan under their elected governments. Constitutional liberalism has led to democracy everywhere, but democracy does not seem to bring constitutional liberalism. In fact, democratically elected regimes in the Third World generally ignore constitutional limits on their powers, deprive the citizens of their basic rights and freedoms and, in the process, open the door to military rule, as has happened several times in Pakistan.

Eleven years down the line, in the attempt to build "pure democracy," this is what we get: a spurious democracy brokered in Washington, an accidental president facing corruption and criminal charges, a rubberstamp parliament, a figurehead prime minister and his corrupt ministers, Potemkin villages dotted all over the country, the nation's army at war with its own people, flagrant violation of our air space and national sovereignty by US aircraft, resulting in the killing of innocent men, women and children. No protest by our democratic government, no expression of remorse by our coalition partner in the so-called war on terror, no regret. The state of the federation is chilling. It would stun someone who went to sleep soon after Independence Day in 1947 and awakened in the present.

No wonder, people have lost faith in the democratic process. Elections are rigged, votes are purchased; known corrupt people, tax evaders, and smugglers are foisted upon a poor, illiterate electorate that is unable to make an informed political choice, and then sworn in as ministers. Elections throw up not the best, not the fittest, not the most deserving, but the scum of the community only because they are the richest or are favourites of the people in power.

To appreciate the full bouquet of challenges that "democracy" is facing in Pakistan, look no further than Islamabad. Today Islamabad represents a Pakistan which has lost its independence, a country which has not left the feudal-bureaucratic state of the colonial era; it still awaits a true emancipating revolution. Today if we Pakistanis looked in the mirror, we would not recognise what we have become. Pakistan is not the country it was even eleven years ago. Back then, the country was settled, stable, democratic and free. Today, Pakistan is neither sovereign nor independent. It is a "rentier state," an American lackey, ill-led, ill-governed by a corrupt, power-hungry junta supported by Washington.

How can democracy take roots in such a hostile environment? There can be no democracy, liberal or illiberal, in a country, like Pakistan, which has lost its independence and sovereignty. How can you have democracy in a country where people do not rule and the sovereign power of the state resides elsewhere? "We, the People," are the three most important words in the American Constitution. "We, the People" is a phrase alien to Islamabad.

The idea that you can just hold elections while everything remains colonial, feudal and mediaeval means you won't get democracy but some perversion of it. Elections are necessary, but not sufficient. Elections alone do not make a democracy. Creating a democracy requires a free and independent country, an inviolable constitution, a sustained commitment of time and money to develop all the necessary elements: a transparent executive branch accountable to the parliament, a powerful and competent legislature answerable to the electorate, a strong neutral judiciary, and a free press. To assume that a popular vote will automatically bring about a democratic metamorphosis would be to condemn Pakistan to a repeat of the cycle seen so often in our history: a short-lived period of corrupt, civilian rule, a descent into chaos and then army intervention.

With Gen Musharraf's exit, we thought we had reached the summit. Alas! The ascent of one ridge simply revealed the next daunting challenge. Before he left the stage in disgrace, Musharraf turned over the car keys, under a deal, to those who had robbed and plundered this poor country. No wonder his policies remain unchanged. Besides atmospherics, so little has changed in foreign policy, the war in Waziristan and relationship with America. It took the elected prime minister of Pakistan an agonisingly long period to reverse the dictator's order and restore Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and other deposed judges. He did so in the early hours of the morning, only when hundreds of thousands of people threatened to march on Islamabad.

Around the world, democratically elected regimes are routinely ignoring limits on their power and depriving citizens of basic freedoms. "From Peru to the Philippines, we see the rise of a disturbing phenomenon: illiberal democracy. It has been difficult to recognise because for the last century in the west, democracy -- free and fair elections -- has gone hand in hand with constitutional liberalism: the rule of law and basic human rights." But in the rest of the world, these two concepts are coming apart. Democracy without constitutional liberalism, as we in Pakistan know very well, is producing centralised regimes, erosion of liberty, ethnic conflicts and war.

Contrary to what President Zardari says and believes, today the greatest threat to Pakistan's democracy, in fact Pakistan itself, stems not from religious militancy and sectarianism but from (a) the absence of a genuinely democratic political order, and (b) the surging American imperialism. The Farewell Address of George Washington will ever remain an important legacy for small nations like Pakistan. In that notable testament, the Father of the American Republic cautioned that "an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter." "It is folly in one nation," George Washington observed, "to look for disinterested favours from another…it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character." No truer words have been spoken on the subject. Pakistan is paying, and will continue to pay, a very heavy price for the folly of attaching itself to America. In this country democracy is only permissible when the results are favourable to America.

Governments are instituted to secure certain inalienable rights of human beings as the American Declaration of Independence put it. If a "democratic" government does not preserve liberty and law and does not protect the life, property and honour of its citizens, that it is a "democracy" is a small consolation.

The writer is a former federal secretary. Email: roedad@comsats.net.pk, www.roedadkhan.com

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

EXTENSIONS AND DELIBERATIONS

FASI ZAKA

I have always been curious about the answer to a random question: just how many megapixels is human eyesight? With regular intervals we see new mobiles with cameras whose specifications keep going up a few digits.

As it turns out, the answer is not easy to come by. How I got interested in this question initially was after I saw a photograph of my face taken by a friend with a very powerful digital camera. It had blemishes and imperfections that I never noticed in the mirror. Inadvertently it seemed, the march of technology was creating an unwelcome scrutiny. Photographs will soon regularly reveal what the human eye cannot see.

In the USA many channels have moved to High Definition TV. It's created a similar problem. The focus of the lens and transmission is so sharp that traditional TV makeup does not manage to create the clear complexion and skins that most anchors have artificially powdered on themselves.

The reason for this rather random opening aside is I find that the current march of the judiciary is also going to create a rather microscopic examination of itself, whether justified or not.

The chief justice has asked for the extension of service for Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday. Justice Ramday is a great judge; he took a very committed position as colleagues slowly fell by the wayside when it looked like the judges would never be restored under the PPP.

Of the three notable judges, the chief justice and Justice Bhagwandas (now retired) being the other, Justice Ramday has been the one with a wry sense of humour that would lead to interesting observations during cases; in addition he comes across as extremely charismatic in person.

That being said, asking for an extension is not a good idea. In fact, it can compromise the positive perception of the court. Pakistani courts are replete with examples of cases that challenge extensions. The extension has often been the instrument of less than noble governments keeping extremely pliable civil servants in place to do their bidding. The natural order is blocked, favourites kick in.

I am not suggesting that Justice Ramday doesn't deserve an extension; if anyone does, it's probably him. But does it not compromise the court if ever such a case was to come before them, as it almost inevitably will, given the record of this government?

Second, and this is almost impossible to argue, it puts President Zardari in an awkward position. Let's say, for a moment, he decides this extension of service case with a clear conscience. The choice before him will inevitably be seen negatively, however he decides. If he declines to order the extension, it will be seen as comeuppance for the court's making his life miserable. If he extends, it will be seen as an effort to curry favour, or giving in because he is in a weak position. The question really is: does he have a tangible choice?

Also, it could compromise the court's reputation because the president would essentially have to do it a favour. If some of the bold moves the Supreme Court has been making are to be implemented, the Supreme Court needs to be seen as absolutely above the down and dirty of everyday politicking.

The last real problem with this case is that it can easily be seen as an instance where the Supreme Court is trying to maintain a certain majority of a particular type of legal ideology by keeping Justice Ramday.

What should be the case, and this is crucial, is that Justice Chaudhry's tenure manages to make the Supreme Court a strong institution that can survive once someone with as strong a conviction as himself retires. For that to happen, extensions are not a desired course of practice.

The tense atmosphere of our current executive-judicial relations has created a situation where high-powered lenses are taking snapshots whose scrutiny is severe. The very suggestion of partiality needs to be eliminated if any of the bold judgements that are taking place are to be enforced. It may be unfair that Justice Ramday's extension falls under such a microscope, given his sterling record, but the blowback of the application of the spirit of the law needs to go back to the Supreme Court itself.

The writer is a Rhodes scholar and former academic. Email: fasizaka@yahoo.com

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

THE BATTLE FOR KARACHI

IKRAM SEHGAL

The Ashura procession in Karachi was odds-on favourite to be targeted, yet this was more than just a terrorist attack. The motivated rioting that engulfed Boulton Market is extremely suspicious, the rush to judgment to a "suicide bomber" was unprofessional. The forensic investigation into the arson and looting in the aftermath of the bomb explosion is not yet complete. The reasons need to be uncovered from those arrested, as they may be far more complex. Prima facie this was collateral damage in the battle for turf in Karachi raging between the PPP and the MQM.

The enormity of the security task covering the entire route notwithstanding, the time gap between the explosion and remedial reaction thereof highlights a failure in law enforcement at the highest levels of leadership. Everyone and his uncle was expecting that something would likely happen. The lack of adequate and easily available reserves and the systemic breakdown of command communication are unacceptable. The enthusiastic dumping of blame on each other was pathetic. Everyone responsible in any way for security on that day was culpable for sheer dereliction of duty. There were experienced and able law enforcement officials on or near the spot. Why did they freeze on the job? Hampered by political intercession, in the face of looming disaster they should still have done their bounden duty in enforcing the laws of the land without hesitation, even if it meant going against their political bosses.

The population of Karachi is best estimated at about 15-16 million. Accordint to approximate figures, the largest segment of Mohajirs, or New Sindhis (six million-plus), is followed by Pathans (three million), Punjabis (two million), Sindhis and Baloch about two million together. Immigrants from other areas include those of Bangladeshi origin (1.6 million), Afghans (300,000), Iranians (100,000), Burmese (100,000), and others. In our "winner take all" democracy, the MQM has undeniably the right to rule, but must co-exist with the ANP representing the Pakhtoon community. With a solid constituency in the Sindhi-Baloch population of Lyari and Malir, and a large following among the other communities, the PPP must be part of the city coalition. Spread geographically over the city, Punjabis are divided politically, the PPP garnering most of their support.

Amid ethnic tensions Pakhtoons and Mohajirs in the city, there are Baloch gang wars in Lyari because of drug smuggling and narcotics peddling. "Gutter Baghiha" is now a real focal point of contention. The MQM wants a crackdown on the Pakhtoon population on the one hand and the PPP's power base in Lyari on the other. The federal government is stuck somewhere in between the need for MQM support and satisfying the hardcore ethnic Baloch and Sindhis of the PPP.

Rahman Malik made an absurd statement about "non-state actors" (more recently he referred to them as "gangsters") wanting to create a divide between the PPP and MQM when both are clearly engaged in trying to gain ascendancy in Karachi. The PPP hardcore are up in arms, literally and figuratively. Faced with rebellion from within his own party the federal interior minister as usual went off on a tangent, threatening "immigrants" in Karachi to leave the city within 30 days or face deportation. Seeing that ethnic Pakhtoons from Swat other districts of the NWFP and FATA are all Pakistani citizens, one wonders how anyone can justify deporting them?

A vast majority of the Bangladeshis, Iranian, Burmese and others is legal, and none has ever been involved in a terrorist incident. At the rate of 1,000 per day, deporting 1.6 million Bangladeshis will take some doing, not 30 days but more like 3,000--i.e., about 10 years. Hopefully Rahman Malik will arrange to get back the stranded Pakistanis (about 300,000) back from Bangladesh!

A quick survey showed that 29 buildings of different sizes affected housed 29 different merchant associations of different sizes. Thirteen buildings were declared safe by the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA), 16 had to be (or were already) demolished. Work was started immediately on the 13 buildings declared safe. The "Quetta Market," housing 400 shops, was the largest of the 16 to be demolished. The Nazim got the Association of Builders and Developers (ABAD) to commit to its construction. Within one week some renovated shops of the 13 buildings are already functioning, in another week all will be. Without relying on the government or donated money, at least 40-45 per cent of those affected by the manmade calamity will be humming with business in less than 20 days since the disaster. Putting people back on their feet to energise the economic cycle was the first phase. That's a job very well done. Karachi resilience at its very best!

The Rs3 billion that the federal government pledged along with Rs500 million promised by the Sindh government is still somewhere on its way. The bureaucracy willing, it may one day give relief to the affected people. The American Business Council (ABC) has meantime tapped USAID, which has immediately made $12.5 million available (Rs 1 billion) to be disbursed through ABC on an emergency basis after due verification of claimants. All this recalls the spirit of Earthquake 2005. More importantly, the city coming together at the grassroots level to help its own is extremely good for community morale.

Targeted killings are not new to Karachi. That they have again surfaced after a distinct gap is a matter of great concern. Don't we have enough on our hands because of terrorism? Every time one sees reasons for hope in Karachi, we become mired in another bout of violence. On the surface the incidents sometimes seem to have religious overtones, but they are mostly ethnic. Unfortunately, the people of Karachi are dying because of the resulting crossfire. The city confrontation has its basis in mostly greed and acquisition of power, the underlying reality behind both is land. Militants among the MQM, ANP and PPP are all armed to the teeth. They may well prevent this vast metropolis from being economically and socially emancipated, as was the distinct hope because of the relative peace and progress of the past few years.

Setting aside race, religion and/or political considerations the real battle should not be for land but for the hearts and minds of the populace. Instead of being left to pray for their souls, the PPP and MQM have to get their act together and take a step back from the land craze driving their political ambitions in the battle for Karachi.

The writer is a defence and political analyst. Email: isehgal@pathfinder9.com

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

CHANGING PASHTUN SOCIETY

SARTAJ KHAN

Changes in the Pashtun society can be attributed to a number of factors that are both internal and external. The Afghan wars altered the traditional Pashtun society to a great extent. Historically, the development of productive forces in South Asia is considered a uniform process. However, Hamza Alavi and others challenge this notion. Hamza Alavi pointed out in his research on Punjab that the caste system in the Doaba region of the Ganges was different from the Baradari system of Punjab (Indus Valley) and was closely related to the surplus produced. In case of Punjab it was low while in the Doaba region it was higher.

The same approach can be applied to the Pashtun society too: areas with low or no cultivation, unavailability of water and less fertility due to geographical reasons produced no or very low surplus, and were dominated by a tribal system with chieftains and Maliks on the top. In contrast to this were the fertile valleys and plains, where water was available for irrigation, producing a huge surplus, dominated by the class system with the 'Khanates-landed-class' at the apex of society. Of course, there are a few exceptions where both systems exist side by side. However, there is always an established system of power in society: Maliks and chieftains in the tribal areas, and Khans in the settled areas. Historically, this hegemonic system has been challenged from below whenever an opportunity arises. Moreover, this power system is prone to changes in case of foreign invasions.

As the British Crown replaced the East India Company in the subcontinent after the 1857 mutiny, the Raj introduced a system in the 'settled districts' and FATA which is now crumbling under its own weight and is exposed to changes. The legacy of the Raj still haunts the people of FATA. Even today this legacy is hailed on its official website: "FATA, both historically and traditionally, had a unique administrative and political status from the British times since 1849." Article 247 of the constitution provides it with a status altogether different from the rest of Pakistan. Legislation by parliament cannot be applied in FATA. The areas are administrated dictatorially in the name of the NWFP governor. No guarantee of human rights is provided either. Article 25 of the constitution declares that all citizens of Pakistan are equal before the law. But this is not applicable to the people of FATA. Traditionally Maliks were entitled to 'elect' members for the National Assembly.

In the 1973 constitution, about 37,000 Maliks were entitled to vote. In 1996, allegations of corruption and bribery, and widespread violations of human rights, combined with a long-standing demand from the emerging commercial and middle classes, forced the Pakistan government to extend adult franchise to the tribal belt. But political rights were not accompanied by development and economic stability. Despite many limitations, it was the first major blow to the political hegemony of the decaying hereditary institution of Maliks and chieftains.

The migration since the 1960s and the Afghan war of the 1980s resulted in great changes and implications for the Pashtun society. It culminated in the emergence of new forces on the Pahstun soil. The absence of employment opportunities forced the male population of NWFP and FATA to migrate first to industrial and commercial centres, such as Karachi, and then abroad.

The Afghan war gave rise to smuggling and the culture of weapons and drugs. Similarly the role played by the timber mafia, real-estate barons, land-grabbers, transporters, contractors, certain sections of the armed forces and bureaucracy, traders, and government agents, including councillors and nazims of the military regimes, in changing the dynamics of the Pashtun society cannot be ignored. Their wealth and power have come from sources other than land.

Meanwhile the US-led coalition's invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq outraged the common Pashtun. The increasing resistance from the Iraqis and the Afghans to the invaders, coupled with the first-ever defeat of Israel in Lebanon, accompanied by movements of the national and the petty bourgeoisie on the one hand and civil society and professional classes against the military dictatorship on the other, give a message to the people that the hegemonic role of the state and society can be challenged from below.

However, the movements of the middle classes (the MMA and civil society) in one way or another have disappointed, if not betrayed, the rural poor. Increasingly and hastily, they give way to a more militant leadership that is able to counter the state and society dominated by Khans and Milks at the same time.

Dexter Filkins of the New York Times has said that the rise of the Taliban and Al Qaeda is at the expense of Maliks in FATA. He asserted that first the Taliban marginalised and then killed the Maliks systematically, and in the process 'destroyed the old order.' More than 250 Maliks have been killed by militants since 2005 and even more had to flee to Peshawar and Islamabad to save their skin. But it is important, as noted by Filkins, that "the Taliban have not achieved this by violence alone. They have capitalised on the resentment many Pakistanis feel towards the hereditary Maliks and the government they represent". The New York Times pointed out in a report on the settled areas of NWFP that "the Taliban exploit class rifts in Pakistan".

The old socio-economic system introduced by the Raj and maintained by the Pakistani authorities did work for decades. But it is now too weak to control the downtrodden of society. As the Khans, Maliks and authorities were alienated and they lost hold over society previously controlled by them successfully, the armed forces had to intervene on the pretext of 'restoring peace and protecting law'.

Therefore, the movement of the conservative forces is contributing to accelerate the deteriorating process of a centuries-old order based on exploitation and oppression. But as a movement of the petty bourgeoisie it has a natural inclination to terrorism accompanied by destruction and brutality. To prevent the collapse of the old order, the authorities are collaborating with the Khans and Maliks to form 'lashkars' to counter the movement waged by the rural poor under the guise of Islamism and led by the so-called Taliban. The most significant feature of the lashkars is that these are backed by Khans and Maliks regardless of their political affiliations.

The old order was superfluous even before the American invasion of Afghanistan. But it was perpetuated by the authorities. In spite of small struggles here and there, there was no organised challenged to the old order after the great peasants' uprising in the late 1960s under the Maoist leadership. The process of history is not waiting for 'the progressive forces' to accomplish the task. This time around it seems that the democratic bourgeoisie, enlightened and conscious middle-class intelligentsia and the oppressive proletariat are unable to play their historical roles. There is much confusion on the part of the liberal-left intelligentsia on the nature of this war and the US invasion of Afghanistan. Notwithstanding their militant activities against the ruling elites, the Taliban do not represent progress in any way. It should be noted that neither Khans and Maliks nor the Taliban are progressives. This dilemma is aptly summarised in the words of an Afghan as he said to Robert Fisk: "Nobody supports the Taliban, but people hate the government".

 

The writer is an independent researcher and activist. Email: sartaj2000@yahoo.com

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

THE THINGS OF LIFE

KAMILA HYAT

The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor

The connection between citizens and the state has become an increasingly tenuous one in our country.

To a greater and greater extent with each passing day, people seem to have been left to manage on their own. In parts of Lahore, there has been almost no gas in homes for days. In scenes reminiscent of the dark ages, people in desperation lug home wood or coal to cook on. Queues for oil stoves grow longer by the day. Families talk of struggling to buy cooked food each day at bazaars. The fact that there is prolonged power loadshedding as well adds to the literal darkness – and the cold -- we live in. For over a week, flights have remained stranded for hours at Lahore airport, and the closure of sections of the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway has further impeded all movement. In many ways Lahore seems like a city under siege, sinking under the weight of the constant shadows cast by smog. The rather chaotic handling of the situation at the airport by the national carrier has only worsened suffering. There seems to be little rationale as to when flights take off, which are given priority and who gets aboard.

In Punjab, the rising price of flour has added to human misery. Prices most recently rose by Rs9 per 20 kilogram bag. Sugar has once again begun to vanish and there are predictions of still tougher times ahead as that commodity once again disappears from shops. Simply coping with life has become more and more difficult for most people. An increasing number report that they are simply unable to survive. There is no welfare net to hold them. Some live off philanthropy. Others simply die due to malnutrition, sickness and the other effects of poverty. We rarely hear their stories. Too much space in the media and elsewhere is taken up by the stories of government.

In most cases, little effort is made to link these conditions of people to the growing political turmoil we face. Uncertainty lurks everywhere and has most recently been fuelled by the violence in Karachi which threatens to spiral further out of control. The statement from the president and members of the government about conspiracies and attempts to wreck democracy simply adds to the sense of unease that has been gradually growing for weeks. There is suspicion that mischief is afoot. Past history indicates this is indeed likely. But exactly what form it is assuming is still somewhat unclear.

While some rather irrational comments have come from key figures and multiple fingers pointed at 'non-state' actors who have yet to be adequately defined or identified, the government seems to have been completely missing the point. In any democracy, particularly one as vulnerable as that in Pakistan, the support of people can play a crucial role in the stability of government. It is true of course that even when this exists, it has not been respected. The toppling of the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1977 and the painful end of that sordid chapter in our history is an example of how the will of people can fail to save leaders even when they are backed by the masses. But what is also terrifying is the sharp deterioration in the morality and quality of leadership we have seen over the decades. It is noteworthy that corruption – one of the biggest issues on the political agenda today – occupied a far lower place on the list of public priorities in the 1970s. Levels of competence on the part of ministers seemed significantly higher, and as perhaps in so many other spheres of life the levels of ability and integrity both seem to have slumped.

It is correct to say that these issues should not be linked to the question of attempts to unseat the president or to tamper in the working of democracy. There can be no justification for these efforts. It is evident that forces seeking change are in motion and that at least some of the events we see unfolding are orchestrated. The hallways studded with distorting mirrors in which we live make it, in the words of the former CIA counterintelligence chief, James Jesus Angleton, a 'wilderness' within which it is impossible to distinguish truth from deception.

What our president and government have been oblivious to is the fact that protection can come only from people. Demonstrations of this have come in nations like Venezuela – which shares with us a long history of dictatorship – where people have risen up to prevent the overthrow of President Hugo Chavez. It is hard to even imagine a response of this nature in the Pakistan of today. Disenchantment with the government is high and has grown visibly since 2008. Even now, there seems to be a reluctance to accept the significance of this. Policies that can assist people overcome the deprivations they face remain limited. The focus is on self-preservation at all costs, with little obvious thought devoted to the issue of how this would benefit citizens. There has been a downslide in the conditions of life for over a decade. The latest democratic era has not brought any check or change in this process.

Examples of what can only be described as official irrationality compound this. Days after austerity measures were announced, the most expensive cabinet meeting in history was conducted at an estimated cost of Rs5 million aboard a ship off the Gwadar Port. The size of the federal cabinet too remains humungous, and other issues, like those of missing people, remain unresolved. The latest terse comments from the three-member SC bench hearing the case highlight the failure of the government to tackle the matter in any meaningful way.

The performance of government, the plight of people and the instability of the system are all tied together. They cannot effectively be separated. The uncomfortable history of democratic rule in our country had of course been known before the last election. Sadly this was not enough to compel those elected to power to think a little harder about what governance should mean and how people could benefit from it. This failure is becoming more and more significant today as the situation of people worsens and at the same time the possibility of some kind of upheaval looms terrifyingly closer.

 

Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

SESSION'S AGENDA

MARVI MEMON

For the parliament session starting this month, certain urgent crises need to be discussed and resolved. This will improve the lives of Pakistanis and parliament will be seen as being really effective. Following are some of the issues needing parliament's intervention:

A strategy to manage the CNG, gas and electricity shortages is urgently required. The ordinary Pakistani cannot be expected to suffer under continued and increasing prices of sugar and flour. Similarly, fuel reserves being at rock-bottom or water reserves being at record low levels call for effective corrective action from government. The missed deadline on load-shedding, the regularisation of NPIW employees, the Diamer Dam royalty issues, rental power failures and the inter-provincial water accord allocations need resolution as well. An evaluation of the success of the NWFP, Balochistan and GB packages for improving provincial autonomy and dealing with the war on terror is also required urgently.

On the finance side, the government needs to respond on how it will manage rising inflation combined with circular debt, NFC province capacity issues, the falling FDI, Transparency International's allegations and missed deadlines by the US on the Coalition Support Fund. The government also needs to respond to the growing list of corruption charges levelled against its officials. Along with this comes the moral obligation of NRO beneficiaries resigning from their posts prior to being held innocent or not by the courts.

On the foreign policy side, US and British interference, as demonstrated by statements of visiting dignitaries, the vehicles issues, the visa-screening issues, Blackwater-type agencies' existence in Pakistan, the increasing drone attacks, all need responses from the government.

Regarding India, parliament needs to be given an explanation why Indian appeasement is continuing over non-movement of composite dialogue, the water disputes' non-resolution, Afghan transit trade favouring other countries, Indian terrorism in Balochistan and FATA and human rights violations in Kashmir.

On law and order, spending of the funds given to upgrade the security forces' anti-terrorism capabilities needs to be scrutinised. Also needing attention are rising targeted killings in the country's cities, rehabilitation of and compensation to the IDPs and planning for IDPs of any future operations.

Parliament had been committed detailed investigatory reports of all terror attacks, and had the gaps within the security apparatus been examined, terrorism might have been handled better and the attacks reduced. We also need a report on how the Boulton Market fire and the Ashura blast took place and how the traders and victims are being compensated. Equally important is an appraisal of the national security strategy given by parliament, and whether it is indeed being followed.

As is clear from this, the agenda for discussion and resolution is huge, but still not exhaustive enough. Parliament's getting any of these issues satisfactorily resolved will determine how supreme it truly is. If we spend time on non-issues, and politicking, it will reflect poorly on us. An appraisal at the end of the session will be necessary to establish our success or failure as true representatives of the people.

The writer is a member of the National Assembly. www.marvimemon.com

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

POWER, GAS OUTAGES MAY TRIGGER RIOTS

 

AS power and gas crises assume alarming dimensions, people have started coming on streets to protest against incompetence of the Government to handle the situation and the losses being inflicted by energy shortfalls. In Lahore, people staged demonstration at Shahdara Morr blocking roads linking the city with other parts of the country for two hours forcing the police to resort to baton charge to disperse them. Similar demonstrations were also held in the industrial cities of Sialkot and Faisalabad where people agitated against the curse of load-shedding that is rendering them jobless and halting industrial production.

Unfortunately, this is the situation after expiry of the Government's self-imposed deadline of December 31, 2009 for elimination of the load-shedding. The country is witnessing more power outages these days as compared to the same period last year, which speaks volumes about performance of the Government. And this is not the end, as, according to a former Chairman of the KESC the power shortage this year would reach 6,000 MW as against 4,000 MW last year. There is no relief in sight and aggravation of the situation invariably means further squeezing of the commercial and industrial activities. The situation has been further complicated by gas load-shedding that has not only hit hard domestic consumers but also disrupted normal activities in the industrial and transport sectors. It is all the more regrettable that those sitting at the helm of affairs seem to be totally clueless. The pace of work on construction of major dams including Diamer-Bhasha is criminally slow, no practical measures have been initiated for import of electricity and gas despite feasible offers by Iran, Qatar, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan; and there is lack of focus on indigenous coal, oil and gas exploration. Energy conservation measures have also proved to be mere slogans. Under these circumstances, there are fears that the situation is heading towards large-scale riots, which the Government might not be able to quell through baton-charge. The present Government came to power through votes of the people and it should demonstrate sensitivity towards their problems but so far it has shown lack of concern for their plight. It is more focused on creating tensions every now and then rather than paying attention to the sufferings of the people. The time is running out.

 

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

AFGHANISTAN ORIGIN TERRORISM IN PAKISTAN

 

IN a briefing to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security on Tuesday, the Director General ISI Ahmad Shuja Pash pointed out that Afghan soil is being used for terrorist activities in Pakistan, adding that peace cannot be established in the country unless infiltration from Afghan border is stopped. In a related development, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in Abu Dhabi that the war against Taliban should be fought within Afghanistan and there should be no spill over into Pakistan.

Though it is an open secret that the Afghan soil is being used for terrorist activities in Pakistan yet the statement of General Pasha carries more substance and weight as it comes from a person who has the authority and necessary knowledge to speak on the subject. Ground realities also substantiate his assertions because the way the militants are resisting the full might of the Pakistan armed forces for about a year makes it abundantly clear that they have full foreign backing. Otherwise, it was next to impossible for a handful of elements to put up organized resistance without financial support, training and supply of arms and ammunition. Pakistan has been complaining since long that Indians were using Afghan territory for harbouring terrorism in FATA and Balochistan but the occupation forces in Afghanistan are not taking these complaints seriously. Again, Pakistan has also been telling the US and NATO forces that their surge in Afghanistan would inevitably lead to pressure on Pakistan as militants would make their way to this side of the border but this concern too has fallen on deaf ears. This leads one to believe that all this is happening with the connivance of the occupation forces in Afghanistan and the apparent objective is to soften the country. How is it possible that those who see so-called training camps in Muridke are oblivious of what is happening right under their nose?

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

CHINA'S ANOTHER LEAP FORWARD

 

CHINA has successfully tested a missile intercept system to shoot down missiles in mid-air. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Beijing said the January 11 test of ground-based, mid-course missile intercepting technology had achieved what she described as the expected result and at the same time emphasised the test is defensive in nature and is not targeted at any country.

The Chinese missile intercept test is yet another leap forward, mastery of a very difficult and complicated technology and speaks volumes of advances the country is making in different sectors. The test was conducted not long after the United States approved a sale of advanced missiles to Taiwan, despite strong opposition from Beijing. Missile Defence system is seen as an integral part of national security by many countries which increases deterrent against those nations that would threaten their homelands. China as a premier world power substantially validates the necessity of missile defence as a policy. Earlier China conducted a successful anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons test on 11 January 2007 when a kinetic kill vehicle launched by a medium range ballistic missile destroyed an inactive Chinese weather satellite. The US is the leading power, which had developed surface to air guided missile defence system designed to detect, target and destroy incoming ballistic missiles flying three to five times the speed of sound. It first deployed the anti missile Patriot system during the 1991 Gulf War and shot down some of the Iraqi Scud missiles. In doing so, Patriot became the first anti-missile system to eliminate hostile warheads in combat. After the war it also began to develop the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3). The PAC-3 is a "hit-to-kill" system and destroys its targets by the kinetic energy released in a head-on collision. Anyhow the successful test of the missile intercept system by Beijing is a proof of the vision of Chinese leadership which is focussing to achieve mastery in hi-tech. Unfortunately this vision and approach is lacking in Pakistan and it is time that we should learn from the Chinese experience and focus on Research and Development not only for further strengthening the defence of the country but also in meeting our energy and other needs.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

CORRUPTION UNDER SIEGE

BURHANUDDIN HASAN

It is good news that in a country where corruption has spread like swine flu, which still does not have any dependable cure, Rs. 7.5 billion out of the Rs. 9 billion loan scam of Bank of Punjab have been recovered from Shaikh Afzal owner of the Harris Steel mills who swindled the Bank with the help of its chief executive Hamesh Khan. This was made possible due the prompt action of the Supreme Court on a petition of the Bank of Punjab. How the Bank was swindled is a story worth of a Hollywood movie.

The villain of the piece Shaikh Afzal who was arrested from Malaysia told a fascinating story of lavish fees he doled out to top lawyers of the country who promised him that they would have the cases settled in his favor either on merit or on the basis of their close friendship with the judges giving them hefty bribes. Even after paying hundreds of millions of rupees and dollars to these "respectable" lawyers his cases remained where they were.

The ironic piece of this story is that Shaikh Afzal has prayed to the court that the money he paid to the lawyers in legal fees and kickbacks may be recovered from lawyers and their agents and paid back to him. This is just the tip of an iceberg. There are hundreds of other banks which have gone bankrupt by powerful and influential loan defaulters to the tune of billions of rupees. The Supreme Court has now paid attention to them. This is the only organ of state left which could bring the corrupt industrialists and businessmen to their knees and force them to vomit out the nation's plundered money.

The PPP leaders are right to demand the accountability of PML N & PML Q leaders who have served in the governments. After all they are also Pakistanis - they are not angels. One example is late Mehran Bank. The half built structure of the Bank is still standing on I.I. Chundrigar Road of Karachi. Its founder, Younus Habib is also alive. Those who looted its money may also be alive and enjoying their ill begotten wealth. The mill owners of sugar, who deprived the nation of its much needed sugar, are also thriving on their huge profits. Nobody, not even the Supreme Court could control the sugar mafia.

Here one is also reminded of one fallout of Pakistan's nuclear tests conducted during Nawaz Sharif's rule. As they had forewarned America along with Japan and several other countries of Europe clamped economic sanctions against Pakistan. The government immediately declared emergency in view of what it called the threat of external aggression. A freeze was also imposed on the withdrawal from foreign currency bank accounts ostensibly to safeguard the country's foreign exchange. But on the night t of 28-29 May 1998 some members of the prime minister's staff had the bank vaults opened and withdrew, according to the government's own admission US dollars 200 million while the Opposition claimed that the total withdrawal was of 500 million dollars. Soon afterwards, the government allowed foreign exchange account holders to withdraw Pak rupees from their accounts at an arbitrary rate of Rs. 46 to a dollar; against the prevailing official rate of Rs. 60 to a dollar. People holding dollar accounts suffered great losses.

Among different varieties of corruption the most common is "bribe". A lowly police constable lets a traffic violator go without challan after taking a bribe of Rs. 200 or more as the case maybe. This illegal gratification can go up to several hundred thousand or even crores of rupees if a lawyer could convince a big swindler of a bank that the judge is his friend and he could get him off the hook in a jiffy. Then this glib tongued lawyer disappears and becomes a minister. There are hundreds of such examples of simple or innovative techniques to extort illegal money from the needy. Now since the Supreme Court has ordered probe into the cases of loan defaults and subsequent write offs it has come to light that between 1999-2007, 3300 people including political leaders, businessmen, army officers and journalists have had their loans amounting to Rs. 153.5 billions written off. The details of this great bank swindle have been published in newspapers. One can only hope that these swindlers of peoples' money will be awarded due punishments for their crimes.

It is reported that the list of the beneficiaries of the loan write-off will be presented to the National Assembly very soon. One wonders whether the Assembly will take any action against the culprits, because possibly a large number of its members will be beneficiaries directly or indirectly through their close relatives or friends. It may be recalled that some of the important political leaders and ministers and National Assembly members were involved in the sugar scam. The culprits responsible for the disaster neither identified nor punished. Only the nation suffered. Who cares? I am quite sure that the billions of rupees plundered from the banks will never be recovered nor the culprits will be punished. This scandal too like the sugar scam will dye its natural death. This is the beauty of the most refined techniques of corruption.

It is expected that the Supreme Court, which is the last hope for the people of this country to save them from the plundering of their money by political leaders, bureaucrats and other influential elements, would like to take early action in this matter. People are also expecting the court to take action to have the nation's money deposited by corrupt elements in foreign banks to be brought back to the country which needs it most at this time of economic crunch.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

BETRAYAL OF KASHMIRIS, ONCE AGAIN

AFSHAIN AFZAL

The puppet Chief Minister of Indian held Jammu & Kashmir (IHK), Omar Abdullah met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on December 30, 2009 in New Delhi to discuss the Justice Sageer Ahmad's report (Fifth Working Group) on centre-state relations. During the meeting reports of all the five Working Groups, which were set up following second Round Table Conference on Kashmir in May 2006, were discussed and Omar Abdullah insisted on implementation of these reports. The issues discussed included special status of the IHK border state within the Indian Union, methods of strengthening secularism, rule of law in the state and democracy. Both the leaders discussed steps leading to decentralization of powers and replacement of regular India Army with Para Military Forces. Another important point of discussion was secret, quiet and off the table talks with various independence seeking groups and examination of the question of autonomy in the light of various formulas. Ironically, despite strong opposition from Kashmiri Muslims, Hindu Pandits and other groups across the state, Omar Abdullah is unable to hear the voices of the masses and still insisting on implementation of Working Groups reports.

 

It is interesting to note that while all other Working Groups presented their reports at the third roundtable conference in Delhi in April 2007, the fifth Working Group, headed by Justice Saghir Ahmed failed to submit its report in time. There was not a single meeting of this group since September 3, 2007, however out of the blue, the Group submitted report in the last week of December 2009, at the time when controversy over separate state status to Telegana is in full swing. There is no doubt that it was a golden opportunity for New Delhi to fool the Kashmiris once again. The Kashmiris, irrespective of the fact that they are Muslims, Hindu Pandits or Sikhs, want to get rid of Indian occupational forces and New Delhi-sponsored dictators out from IHK. It is an open secret that they are not likely to compromise or agree to any deal less than complete independence from India Union. Kashmiris want to express their right of self determination in the shape of free and impartial plebiscite. It is worth mentioning here that since partition in August 1947, thousands of Kashmiri Muslims were forced by India to migrate to different Pakistani cities and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The India government and its security forces also expelled the Hindu Pandits from their ancestral houses and orchards which are presently under occupation of Indian Armed forces. Today, the forced-homeless Hindu Pandits are living in miserable condition in various refugee camps in India.

It is quite depressing to note that the Indian government is not interested in providing an opportunity to Kashmiri Muslims and minorities to live with harmony. The Working Committee Reports have authenticated presence of Indian Armed forces by mere relocating the security personnel from agriculture lands to other locations. Indian state-sponsored propaganda machinery is propagating that the recommendations of the Working Group regarding Article 370 is inconsistent with the spirit of the declarations made in the Constituent Assembly at the time of incorporation of the Article in the constitution and that these recommendations will reduce the minority communities of the Jammu and Kashmir State as second class citizens in their own home state. The fact cannot be denied that Article 370 is illegitimate and is in clear violation to 3rd June Plan and United Nations Security Council Resolution. The recommendations in the report regarding the appointment of the Governor in IHK by the Centre would account to depriving Kashmiris of their democratic rights for ever and the state would be directly governed by Centre through representative of Indian Union.

Kashmiri Muslims groups have strongly rejected the Working Committee reports and are not ready become part of the Indian conspiracy once again. Hindu parties including BJP have rejected Justice Sageer Ahmed Report and demanded its revocation. They have also demanded the Prime Minister's intervention. BJP has announced launching of awareness campaign in entire Jammu region on January 4, 2010 and have threatened that if there will be no response from the Centre over the report, mass agitation will be carried out. BJP is also demanding abrogation of Article 370 that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Panun Kashmir has also rejected the recommendations of the Working Group and termed them as a complete sell-out of the interests of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits, the people of Jammu and Ladakh. Panun Kashmir is of the view that the recommendations of the said report have the potential to take the State back to 1952-position and plunge the State in a constitutional and social crisis of an unprecedented dimension. Panun Kashmir claimed that proposal regarding doing away with the Article 356 of the constitution is dangerous manure since IHK is a frontline state. And in the event of an emergency, the Centre would not be able to invoke the provisions of the Article 356 while people of the state would be left at the mercy of the situation. Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) has called Justice Shageer Ahmed report as biased and is of the view that it deserves to be dumped into the dustbin without any further discussion. The Panthers Party Chairman appeal in person the leadership of BJP, Congress, Jammu State Morcha, Left parties and other social groups including Chamber of Commerce, Trade Unions, Bar Associations, Sangarsh Samiti, students and youth organizations and all those who share our view on the fraudulent report of Justice Shageer Ahmed to put their collective efforts to teach and central-State government a lesson forever.

There is lot of opposition to Justice Shageer Ahmed report from every corner of IHK, irrespective of the fact that they are Kashmiri Muslims, Hindus or Sikhs. With the exception of National Conference (NC) and some symbolic Centre-backed parties, everyone is dagger drawn to the recommendations in the report. Generally speaking, it seems that the recommendations are in favour of Kashmiris especially the Muslims but there is a big conspiracy being hatched against every individual linked with Kashmiri freedom struggle. If we trace back the conspiracy, the Indian government at Centre and its Intelligence agencies through a systematic plot divided the people of IHK on ethnic and sectarian lines. Hindu political groups in India exploited the situation to create situation that lead to exodus of religious and ethnic minorities in IHK which in couple of months lead to a very dangerous situation. New Dehli sponsored mass migration of Hindu Pandits and Sikhs and created such conditions in IHK that it became impossible for them to live in the state. Indian security forces ruthlessly massacred Hindus and Sikhs so that mass exodus takes place and blame is leveled on the Muslims. According to Indian official figures, there were three lakh Kashmiri Pandits in IHK prior to 1990 Indian military operation against Kashmiris. In Jammu Valley there was mass migration and their number decreased to 9000 in 1990 which further come down to around 4000 in 2008-2009.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visited Jammu in April 2004 and ordered construction of 5,442 flats at three locations at Jagjiti near Nagrota, Muthi and Purkhoo. His second visit took place in May 2008. There are around 30 organizations/groups representing the Pandit community, many among them are playing in the hands of Indian and foreign intelligence agencies. The increase in activities of Mossad, MI5 and MI6 as well as CIA in IHK has even alarmed Indian agencies. There is a plan to move as many Hindus in IHK, especially in Jammu as possible. The Indian government has made an open offer that those who have sold their properties in IHK prior to 1997 and do not possess any house there are entitled to reimbursement of same amount as cash assistance for construction of houses or collective housing societies. Those who would avail this offer would also be given other incentives including 6000 jobs for unemployed migrant in which half the jobs would be the responsibility of Central Government. Similarly Indian intelligence agencies and their agents have penetrated inside Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K) and have arranged migration of number of Kashmiris, especially refugees from IHK on attractive incentives including cash to each family member and job security. One wonders, how long Indian government would suppress the voices of Kashmiris. The acceptance of offer by some of the helpless Kashmiris is projected as great triumph, forgetting that it has been achieved on bayonet of the gun and blackmailing tactics. It seems that the International Organizations (IO) such as United Nations Organization (UNO) and Non Governmental Organizations (NGO) have sold their conscience and are mere spectators waiting for the extinguishtion of all those who are fighting for their rights.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

INNOCENCE IS A CRIME: SINCERITY IS A SIN

ALI SUKHANVER

Innocence and sincerity are no more admirable traits of a human character; they are simply a sin and a crime. A sincerely innocent person is always rewarded with the violation of his basic human rights. This world of modern temperament never lets an innocent and sincere person live a life of calm and peace; he is always exploited and abused. The people of Pakistan are also being punished and penalized for the sins of innocence and sincerity.

In fact they are peace loving by nature, calm by temperament and loving by creed. That is why most of the time they are unable to understand the hidden cruelties and the concealed conspiracies. Recently there came on the surface a friendship movement, with the name of 'Aman Ki Aasha 'means 'A desire for Peace'. The organizers of this movement claim that it is supported by different NGOs and media-men of Pakistan and India. The aim and object of this movement is to struggle for a closer and cordial relationship between the two neighbouring countries.

It is really a very serene type of effort and surely a very sublime kind of struggle which would be appreciated and admired by most of the Pakistani people but at the same time they would be doubtful regarding the fruitfulness of such adventurous efforts. It is a tradition and culture of India to crush relentlessly every effort done by the people of Pakistan for the promotion of peaceful relations between the countries. In the first week of January, an invitation was sent to different politicians, journalists and other eminent people of Pakistan from different walks of life by India International Centre IIC New Delhi. They are requested to participate in a conference which is going to take place on 10th January in New Delhi. In the introduction note the organizers say; 'India and Pakistan have, for the last 62 years, seen many ups and downs in bilateral relationship. The November attacks on Mumbai completely hijacked the scenario and brought the relationship between the two countries to breakdown point. This was further intensified by the war hysteria whipped up by the religious right wing in both the countries. The conference is being organized to mobilize the peace activists and peace groups.' There would be different speakers from throughout the world .talking on different topics.

The names of the speakers and their topics are also mentioned in the invitation. The eminent speakers from Pakistan include Mrs. Sherry Rehman, Dr.Aisha Siddiqa, Mrs.Madeeha Gohar, Asma Jahangeer, Iqbal Haider, Siraj Malik Abrar, Senator Hasil Bizenjo and so many others. The general topic of the conference is 'A Road map toward peace'. On the second day of the conference the speakers would express their thoughts on a very heart rending type of topic,' The Issue of Autonomy: Kashmir and Balochistan'. Unfortunately most of the speakers chosen to speak on this topic belong to Pakistan. The Indian organizers have very tactfully entrapped the Pakistani scholars to comment on a topic which is nothing but a pure negation of the basic ideology which Pakistan has always been projecting and following. The Kashmir issue has neither any comparison nor any similarity with Balochistan. There is a very clear and obvious difference between these two regions; Balochistan is Pakistan but Kashmir is not India. The Balochis are always ready to sacrifice their lives for their motherland Pakistan; the Kashmiris are never willing to waste their precious lives for India.

Kashmir is a bone of contention but Balochistan is the heart and soul of Pakistan. The Kashmiris are a neglected nation not only from the Indian government but also from the so-called Indian peace promoters who are never ready to raise any voice for the helpless and voiceless Kashmiris; Balochistan is a land which is always taken care of by the people of Pakistan and the government of Pakistan. Recently announced Balochistan Package is the brightest example of the value and worth of Balochistan.

It is true that somewhere in the past the people of this area could not be facilitated and accommodated according to their expectations but now the situation is altogether changed. New projects of development and progress are in process; new funds have been allocated; the young Balochis are being offered so many attractive services in the Pakistan army, new colleges and universities and other educational institutions are being established. It is strongly hoped that within a very short period of time, Balochistan would be leading other provinces in prosperity and progress. In short Balochistan has no similarity with Kashmir.

It is a bitter truth that India is always in a habit of deforming the facts. Simply look at the words stated in the invitation issued by India International Centre IIC New Delhi, 'The November attacks on Mumbai completely hijacked the scenario and brought the relationship between the two countries to breakdown point', these sugar coated words are a double-edged sword of propaganda and nothing else.

Pakistan is now-a-days facing the worst shortage of river waters; the shortfall in the production of electricity and the drying lands have shattered the whole social and economic fiber of Pakistani .This situation is the result of the construction of the Baghliar dam and the Krishan-Ganga Hydro Power Projects by India The government of Pakistan had been protesting against these water projects but the government of India never paid any heed to this protest. And certainly these projects were started and completed a long time before the Mumbai Attacks. Pakistan has nothing to do with the so-called Mumbai attacks and with the 'framed terrorist Ajmal Qassab, so it were not the Mumbai attacks which brought the relationship between the two countries to breakdown point , the story of worsening relationship goes back to the past.

Conferences, seminars and symposiums are civilized and courteous weapons of this modern age. These weapons are designed for the 'wise' people whose wisdom is so meek that they are never able to feel the cruel sharpness of a sword because they are impressed by its flashy brightness. Then there comes a time when they realise that the brightness of the sword was for their eyes and the sharpness for their throats. Such 'wise' people are called the Innocents; and they could never live long because their innocence is soon rewarded with death penalty.

—The writer is a Pakistan based analyst on international strategic and defense affairs.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

KAIRA VOICES 'MASSES' CONCERN

FASIHUR REHMAN

Across the board accountability with the inclusion of generals and judges is not the demand of Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira only but also of the entire nation that has seen enough of injustice and victimization at the hands of people holding the reins of power in different forms and on different platforms. Yes, Kaira is hundred per cent right in his demand which is in fact the demand of the masses. The public opinion is going stronger and stronger with every passing moment that if accountability is to be done, it should not be selective or confined to a few persons or leading figures of our leading structures in whose hands lay the fate of the poor, hapless Pakistanis.

The impression that has now become ingrained in the people's minds is that groupings and mafias had come into existence immediately after independence and by now they have become much more powerful and influential than even the trumpeted establishment, the same establishment whose actual identity is still a mystery but which is labeled as the mother of all ills. The public perception is that instead of removing one name and inducting another in its place, in the list of perpetrators, we should go for comprehensive accountability that ought to be initiated in one go without fixing the timeframes or without protecting certain institutions and individuals.

Now who would differ with Kaira that judges in the past have been endorsing the usurpation of political power by military dictators on one pretext or the other including the infamous 'Doctrine of Necessity'? The question remains unanswered to date as to what moral, legal or constitutional authority was relied upon by those judges to allow continuation of rule by the usurpers who never hesitated to pack up full-fledged democratic systems elected through public mandate? Were those judges above the public will and mandate and, as such, above the law and constitution? And, didn't some judges, in the past, transgress the law of the land to award capital punishment to a highly popular and democratically elected prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto? Wasn't that act tantamount to crushing the will of the people (and supporting the dictator) with one stroke of the pen without any prick of conscience and without any moral, legal authority and precedents?

People from across the length and breadth of our socio-political spectrum rather believe that the judges who acted in an unfair and unjust manner by granting protection and extensions to military rulers, should also be tried in the courts under Article 6 of the Constitution. This article lays down exemplary punishment for those subverting the Constitution by toppling legitimate governments elected by the people. Then, why not try those generals who subverted the Constitution? And why not try those judges who gave those generals the unjust and unjustified justification to continue with their usurpation missions?

Coming to the other point that of misuse of authority for certain motives by the people in power (in its different forms), the question being asked for the last six decades is that why we have not yet been able to devise a system that could prevent the occurrence of such ugly things? And if we couldn't develop such a system, we should have at least been able to develop a system that could not spare the corrupt and the wrongdoers within the protected classes. Of course, there are still many protected classes and structures which are the focus of Kaira's speech which appears to be emotionally charged but which is based on down-to-earth realities that no one can deny on the basis of any subterfuges or complicated interpretations of law.

The message- and demand- is that no one should be spared whatever his or her position or authority or whatever the 'sacred cow' status of such dignitaries and the institutions manned or headed by them. Why don't we realize that the country has gone to the dogs due to this protectionism and selective justice?

And why can't the people pose this question to the deciders of their fate as to why the Co-Chairman of the single largest party, Asif Ali Zardari, with a vote bank of millions, was confined behind the bars for more than a decade without any substantive offence being proved against him? Even if the present set of laws or Article 6 are silent about punishment for this act of injustice, the custodians of people's rights and that of natural justice should come into action to proceed against those presiding officials who had been playing with the law as well as the sentiments of the masses, encouraged by their own 'protected' status.

Let us leave aside whether this demand has come from Kaira or anyone else. We should carry out fair introspection and then answer this question: Can we continue to allow this unfair approach and protectionism for long on the pretext that certain dignitaries and institutions are holy cows who need not be exposed, what to talk of touching them for exercising immense freedom and sweet will to wreak havoc on the people of this land and their representatives?

 

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

WOMEN'S HUG POWER..!

ROBERT CLEMENTS

Yesterday when Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited India, most newspapers carried pictures, not of her shaking hands with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but of Sonia giving her a warm friendly hug.

"Look closely at that hug!" shuddered the Pakistani President as he looked in the general direction of India and Bangladesh, "It's a woman, woman thing! It means they are ganging up against a man, and the only man I can think of is…" "You sir?"

"Yes, yes, it's always me isn't it? "What are you going to do sir?" "Abdicate! Give up! There's nothing you can do when confronted with woman power!" said the President and shuddered again as he looked at the photo. In Sri Lanka both the President and the General who had won the war for him and who was now standing against him in the upcoming election, looked at same picture in their respective papers then looked away then looked at the phone and dialed one another, "I guess there's nothing else we can do but get together!" said the President to his political opponent, "You can't win against women power alone!" "Yes sir!" said the general and donned his uniform again. And in far off America Obama yelled to his missus, "We need a photo of us hugging each other!" "But aren't we always doing that honey?" "It's got to look how these two are doing it!" said Obama showing her the picture. "Husband!" laughed Michele, "When we sisters hug the whole jungle quakes, that's an old Tarzan saying!" "Heck, but I can't let this happen!" "Well maybe you could let me and Mrs Clinton hug each other? What a picture for the world, the president hugging his secretary of state!"

"President?" whispered Obama, "But I'm the president!" "Yeah but once they see that pic, they'll know who the real President is, right Barack?" Obama shivered, as back home in India, the new leader of the opposition shuddered, "We've got to make a woman alliance like this!" he thundered. "We can have Sushma hugging Uma Bharti, or maybe even Jayalalitha?"

"This isn't a photo of two tigresses fighting, whereas Sushma and Uma or Sushma and Jayalaitha would…" "I get the point sir," said his aide quickly, "We don't want to lose the next election too!" "You're a good hugger ma!" said Rahul to his mother that evening and then watched in horror as Priyanka entered and his mother hugged her, "Mom!" he screamed, "What about me?"

"There's more power here!" said his mother, hugging her daughter. Zardari, Obama, the Sri Lankan President, Rahul and India's opposition leader shivered as they looked at the photo again: Woman power was here to stay..!

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

PM'S INDIA VISIT

 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's state visit to India has opened a new vista of mutual cooperation within the framework of three landmark agreements and MoUs and beyond. Agreement on a number of important issues like allowing India to use Chittagong and Mongla seaports through land and rail roads, construction of rail link between Akhaura and Agartala, and cooperation in other areas will take Indo-Bangla relations to a new height. What has been achieved during the visit is due to mutual trust and goodwill, which despite being in short-supply in the past are essential for building meaningful relations between two countries. Which is what was evident during Sheikh Hasina's visit and was duly reflected in the joint communique issued at the end of the talks.
Both the Prime Ministers "agreed to put in place a comprehensive framework of cooperation for development between the two countries" encompassing a wide area including connectivity. It is in this spirit that the two Prime Ministers agreed that discussion on Teesta water sharing should be concluded expeditiously, that maritime boundary should be demarcated amicably. These are positive steps forward although these are expressions of intent. Modalities of implementing these declarations need to be worked out with positive intent so that experts of the two countries can start working on it without delay. On the proposed Tipaimukh dam, India's emphatic assurance that nothing will be done against the interest of Bangladesh is reassuring. India's assistance for infrastructure development in Bangladesh, rail road included, and offer of 250 MW of electricity are welcome.

The two Prime Ministers were unequivocal in asserting that they would fight terrorism at all costs and would not allow their territories for insurgents to launch attacks. Terrorism is a global problem which has affected both India and Bangladesh, and the two prime ministers' resolve to go to any extent to fight this menace will send a powerful signal to insurgents and terrorists wherever they may be.

The most important element in bilateral relations between the two neighbours is economy. The need for removing non-tariff barriers and allowing customs-free access to facilitate Bangladeshi goods to enter the Indian market cannot be over emphasised. The negative list of items also needs to be further minimised. Considering the size of its economy, which is growing, India should be generous in offering Bangladesh necessary facilities to boost exports to its vast market. There should be more interaction between the leaders of the business community of the two countries. It is they who can make valuable contribution to making a quantum leap in our bilateral relations through increased trade and investments. The outcome of the visit will  be far reaching and help remove the political hangover of the past so we can all look forward to better days and build an economically stronger, peaceful subcontinent.

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

CHILD WORKERS

 

One of the starkest examples of legal ambivalence is the continuation of child labour - form notwithstanding. The UN Convention on Rights of Child, a legally binding international instrument and to which Bangladesh is a signatory, provides for a full range of basic human rights. But in reality, the child labour in its myriad and bizarre forms is making a mockery of the legal provisions not only in Bangladesh but also in many other countries. However in countries like Bangladesh, domestic work by children, with rare exception, is marked by one of the worst forms of exploitation and violation of the law.

However the hard fact is that at our stage of socio-economic development we cannot eliminate this curse even if we wanted to do so. Our economy has a long way to go before we can ensure the human rights through opening up equal opportunities for all or even special care for the underprivileged. This is however no argument in favour of inaction so far as the welfare of domestic child workers is concerned.

One of the 54 articles that ensure child rights under the UN convention concerns children's development to the fullest. This is perhaps too much to ask but then there are optional protocols for at least making some amends for the national and individual lapses.

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

BOB'S BANTER

PUT ON HOLD..!

 

"Thank you for being with us, we appreciate your calling, and will be with you shortly, thank you for calling we appreciate your calling and will be with you shortly, thank you for calling we appreciate you..."
"Whoa, whoa, what's happened to him?" I asked his wife as I visited my friend at the hospital.
"He was put on hold when he tried to complain about his mobile bill and they've kept him there through the day," said his wife woefully. "Now he even keeps repeating all the advertisements they play when you are on hold!"

"Effective from January all SMS messages will be charged one paisa. Thank you for calling, we appreciate your calling and will be with you..."

"Why didn't he disconnect?" I asked."He did the day before after being kept two hours on hold, but yesterday he was determined to get through."

"Did he?" I asked.

"I don't know," said his wife wearily. " He's got his phone pressed to his ear. They can't pull it off his hand so I brought him to this hospital," said his wife.

"Thank you for being with us, we appreciate your calling, and will be with you shortly,".

"Has he eaten?" I asked.

"Hasn't touched a morsel," said the wife, " wants to be ready to speak once the customer care attendant comes on line."

"Are there any other symptoms?"

"He hums and sings a tune," said his wife.

"That's the tune they play when they put you on hold," I said as I listened to my friend humming.

"Its terrible," sobbed his wife.

"What?" I asked

 

"His singing," said his wife. "He could never pitch and he sings through his nose."

"Then don't listen," I said and then found myself singing in the same lifeless way my friend was doing.
"Even the nurses have started doing that," she sobbed, "Its contagious. Stop it!"

I looked at my friend as he murmured, "You are in queue, please wait! You are in queue please wait! You are in queue.."

It was later that night my wife let out a scream, "What happened?" I asked, jumping up and out of bed and found her standing over the bed, arms akimbo, staring at me angrily.

"I just asked you if you love me and you murmured, "You are in queue please wait! What are you up to you rascal?"

"It is certainly contagious..!" I murmured to myself and cursed companies who put people on hold and nearly wrecked their marriages.

 bobsbanter@gmail.com

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THE INDEPENDENT

ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK

BID TO HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPEN-FREE WORLD

SYLVIA MORTOZA

 

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is the latest to pledge to do everything in his power to advance the goal of a nuclear weapons-free world. When in 1945, Harry Truman took office as the President of the United States, the secretary of war, Henry Stimson, had to educate him into the portent of a nuclear-weaponised world, a world his country was about to initiate.  Bringing with him a memo - and the solutions to nuclear proliferation it would stimulate - he gave him an aspiration for international control of all nuclear activities worldwide. The memo began "Within four months, we shall in all probability have completed the most terrible weapon ever known in human history. He said, For the "present" the US would be the sole nuclear weapons state however, these prophetic words, "It is practically certain that we could not remain in this position indefinitely." He went on to forecast that easier and cheaper methods to produce weapons would emerge and warned that the resulting bombs might not be the province of the great powers only.

Stimson who was uncertain if the US could mobilise international control of the nuclear challenge said, "It is extremely probable that the future will make it possible to for the bomb to be constructed by smaller nations or even groups, or at least a large nation in a much shorter time," he suggested the President appoint a panel to investigate the possibilities. The result was the 1946 Baruch Plan. But the United Nations never got a chance to implement it because Cold War politics got in the way and, instead over a period of decades, the international community put together a patchwork solution they called the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Regional nuclear-free zones, compensatory military alliances, nuclear export controls, international monitoring and the partial test ban were among the many constituent parts of the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and during the Cold War, these initiatives did contribute to nuclear peace. This 1968 accord is today considered the cornerstone of global nonproliferation efforts, aimed at preventing the spread of atomic arms beyond the five original weapons powers - the US, Russia, Britain, France and China.

Although Ban is optimistic about his endeavour and will press for progress on disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation at a number of major events this year, but how successful he can be in a world where too many countries are knocking on the door of the Nuclear Club.  Many countries now see a nuclear device as the most essential part of a country's armoury, and those that have it are using it as a counter-terrorist measure to meet the challenges of international terror.  So if, as Ban says, "there is a new window of opportunity in disarmament and nonproliferation," how far he can influence India and Pakistan or for that matter, Israel, ran and North Korea is not known.   But as he said, last year we did see several encouraging developments which he summed up in comments to a closed-door meeting with the heads of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the organisations overseeing the treaty banning chemical weapons and the nuclear test ban treaty released by the United Nations. The UN chief said he would build "on the historic Security Council Summit last September, which unanimously approved a US-sponsored resolution, aimed at halting the spread of nuclear weapons and ultimately eliminating them."

The sweeping strategy was endorsed by the UN's most powerful body and urged action on a long list of proposals before the international community, and in various ways reaffirmed support for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The 1968 accord is even today considered the cornerstone of global nonproliferation efforts aimed to prevent the spread of atomic arms beyond the five original weapons powers, the US, Russia, Britain, France and China.  But neither India nor Pakistan is likely to cast aside their nuclear aspirations, which puts Bangladesh in a tricky position.  As an enlightened observer it is aware of the deteriorating internal security climate in non-nuclear weapon states and the smaller economies because the priorities of the Indian agenda will remain the same so long as Pakistan continues to develop and expand its nuclear arms programme. 
Later this month, Ban will attend the Conference on Disarmament, a 65-nation UN body in Geneva, which will hopefully start talks on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty banning production of nuclear bomb material. The conference was deadlocked for 12 years trying to open talks on a treaty, a stalemate resulting in part from opposition by former President George W. Bush's administration but Obama's reversal of the US position led the conference to adopt an agenda for talks in May, but resistance from Pakistan has stalled further progress. In early February, Ban will attend the Global Zero Summit in Paris, which is expected to bring hundreds of international leaders to the French capital to discuss a step-by-step plan for the phased, verified elimination of nuclear weapons. He will then attend the 46th Munich Security Conference which will address the major security challenges including nuclear proliferation and will attend the summit on Nuclear Security that Obama is hosting in Washington in April to bring government leaders together to consider cooperative efforts to track and protect weapon-usable materials and to safeguard against nuclear terrorism.

Zimbabwe's UN Ambassador Boniface Chidyausiku, who chaired the preparatory meeting, credited Obama for reversing Bush's policy but there wasn't enough time to agree on recommendations to the conference that balanced the three pillars of the treaty - disarmament by the nuclear powers, preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and ensuring the peaceful use of nuclear energy - but he was optimistic about progress at the review conference in May. Bangladesh for its part have been urging neighbouring states to make the South-Asian region a nuclear-weapon-free zone.  It asked India and Pakistan to relinquish their nuclear option and join the Non-Proliferation Treaty but to no avail. Now with the political crisis in Pakistan, containing proliferation has become even more important considering Pakistan's growing instability.

The council resolution called for negotiation of a treaty banning production of fissile material for nuclear bombs and establishment of internationally supervised nuclear fuel banks, to keep potential bomb material out of more hands and urged states to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the 1996 pact banning all nuclear bomb tests. Ban said he would promote the universality of all treaties, encourage the Security Council "to provide political support for the full implementation of treaty obligations and the strengthening of the treaty organs." And though everyone agrees proliferation is bad, this has not been translated into an agreement about what needs to be done. At the 2000 session nuclear powers committed to taking "13 practical steps" toward disarmament, but critics complained the Bush administration -- by rejecting the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty - came up short.  The meeting five years later was snarled from the start by Tehran's objection to a phrase in the agenda citing the "need for full compliance with" the Non-Proliferation Treaty. 

Ultimately Iran agreed to a compromise on the agenda text of the global conference and Tehran's decision saved the meeting from an ignoble collapse which allowed delegates to move on to their main purpose - laying the ground work for the 2010 conference that is to review and possibly revise the pact to make it more effective in curbing the spread of nuclear arms. But so long as the nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan continues, and so long as India as India's nuclear armory increases, nuclear arms will remain a major element of their national defense strategies. If Pakistan's nuclear programme worries other countries in the region; it also worries the west because of Pakistan's relationship with China. By the same token, India's nuclear programme must worry the west because of its relationship with Israel and Russia, especially now that it has acquired a nuclear submarine from the latter country.

 

(Sylvia Mortoza is a staff writer of The Independent)

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

PRIVATE UNIVERSITY: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

DR M AZIZUR RAHMAN

 

The overall development of a country, gaining economic resources, increased national income and equal distribution of income are as important as the development of human resources and their equal distribution. So, the nation needs to build human capital resources by educating its people stepwise with higher learning. These human resources play the vital role in order to build a prosperous nation. The equal distribution of human resources can lead the nation to achieve a definite goal.

The individual's economic self-sufficiency, his/her buying abilities and socio-economic status are not equal. Reasonably, in respect of receiving higher education, the solvent and relatively less solvent students are not equally responsible to bear the expenses. Whereas, in many cases, insolvent and less-solvent meritorious students become discouraged and deprived of acquiring higher studies not being able to afford its cost. So, it is exclusively desirable to create equal opportunities for the children of solvent and relatively less-solvent families with a view to ensuring higher education as well as a research-based education system for an equal distribution of human resources. We can contribute a lot for the development of human resources by constructively criticising the ongoing education system of ours and implementing the realistic suggestions. As a result, it creates opportunities for developing the standard of education in primary, secondary, and higher secondary institutions as well as in public and private universities. It also creates facilities for insolvent and less-solvent meritorious students in great numbers to some extent to study.

A country cannot be considered a developed one only based on per capita income of the citizen. It also needs to ensure the equal distribution of resources and human resources. Since the educated manpower plays important roles for overall development of a country, so among many responsibilities, the primary, secondary and higher secondary institutions as well as higher education offering public and private universities have special responsibilities of producing human resources and their equal distributions. Many people believe that only the meritorious students of solvent families study in private universities and in public universities, both rich and poor meritorious students have equal access. But from the view of equal distribution of human resources, in the present context, the students of both rich and poor classes have the right of equal opportunities to study in public universities paying nominal tuition fees. In fact, it is necessary to inquire whether the insolvent meritorious students at all have their access in public universities. Because for the want of money, insolvent and less solvent meritorious students can neither engage house tutors nor get themselves admitted in coaching centres to study. Because of inadequate preparations they are always being deprived of getting themselves admitted in public universities. As a result they cannot obtain good marks in public examinations and university admission tests.

The public universities of Bangladesh follow the tradition of allowing students, without considering the poor or rich to study there with nominal tuition fees or totally free of tuition. It is true that all the meritorious students are not poor. In the past, it was noticed that students from lower middle class families like the postmasters or schoolteachers, would hold the places in the merit list. Lately, the parents who can afford much money for engaging house tutors for their children and send them to coaching centres, their children can obtain good results in all sorts of examinations including university admission tests. On the contrary, many of the children of less-solvent parents, in spite of being meritorious, fail to exercise their merits and also fail to obtain good results in the admission test for not having proper facilities. They seldom get chance of getting themselves admitted in public universities for acquiring higher studies. As a result, genuine meritorious and less-solvent students lag behind in acquiring higher education. This situation by no means can be desirable. The equal distribution of human resources can be ensured to a great extent, if at the time of students' admission, the TIN (The Tax Identification Number) certificates of their parents are scrutinised along with the assessment record of taxes they pay, and based on that, not all but, only the genuine less-solvent students are allowed to study free of tuition fees or with stipend facilities.

According to a report of 2007, nearly 80% or more students of public universities come from middle and higher middle class or solvent families. They are taught nearly free of tuition fees expending the government's tax revenues collected from the common people and allocated for the public university. This system cannot be considered in the present context of reality. Because, the students belonging to these category of families, have golden opportunities of getting themselves admitted in public universities engaging house tutors, paying fees in coaching centres and finally qualifying in admission tests. Whereas, the meritorious students of insolvent families are always being deprived of the chance of getting themselves admitted in the public universities being unable to take full preparation for the admission tests. As a result, we do not have an equal distribution of human resources.

The private university system is establishing itself gloriously as an automatic model in respect of equal distribution of human resources. Because of limited number of seats in the public universities, many meritorious students of solvent families are not being able to get chance there, get themselves admitted in the private universities. As a result, the pressure on government treasury and on public universities have reduced, which is helpful though to some extent to the equal distribution of human resources in society. The private universities are run with the money collected from the students as tuition fees. Yet the private universities are giving opportunity to nearly 20-25% students of less-solvent families to study free of tuition or with affordable expenses. With a view to distributing human resources equally, each of the private universities has made a unique precedent by giving stipends to the less-solvent students. On this head each of the private universities is expending on an average nearly from one to two crores of taka in a year.

If both the public and private universities give the chance to less-solvent students to study free of tuition fees or with stipend facilities, the equal distribution of human resources will be ensured to a great extent. We hope that public universities will limit the opportunity of studying free of tuition fees only among the less-solvent meritorious students and they will also take measures for its proper distribution. And the private universities will keep continuing their development activities.

 

(The writer is Vice Chancellor and Chief Advisor, IPR, Uttara University)

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

INDONESIAN ATOMIC KITTENS BREAK GLASS CEILING

DR TERRY LACEY

 

"The tide is high but I'm holding on. I'm gonna be your number one." So sang the girl band Atomic Kittens. Indonesia is entering what will become its nuclear age, driven by a huge expansion in energy, with key companies like Pertamina and ministries like Finance, Trade, Energy and Mines led by a growing band of atomic kittens as a new generation of top women break though the glass ceiling.

After doubts, Karen Agustiawan keeps her job as president director of Pertamina, Indonesia's top state-owned oil and gas company, while all the directors around her have been washed away by a tsunami of change. (The Jakarta Post 08.01.2010)

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono reportedly understands that Pertamina could become a truly global oil, gas and energy company, pioneering renewable energy as well as optimizing gas and reducing the cost of oil imports. 

The failure to hold up oil-lifting against the trend of decline as reserves were exhausted reflected lack of thrust and investment, not just harder geology and deeper waters.

Now Pertamina will push oil-lifting back up from 174,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2009 to an estimated 193,900 bpd in 2010.

Pertamina could become a global player in the Middle East or the Arab and Muslim world.
But these dreams are impossible if Pertamina, as the top state-owned enterprise in a clutch of increasingly profitable SOEs, is run in the style of an old boys club representing yesterday, as a milking cow for patronage, jobs for the boys and profits for the old elite.

So Pertamina has to change and an atomic kitten may be just the right kind of leader to change it.
State SOE Minister Mustafa Abubakar has now confirmed "The president director will not be replaced" but will keep the job she took up in February 2009, while he confirmed that seven new directors will join Karen on the board of Pertamina, chosen from a list of 25 candidates, "Most of them are from internal Pertamina nominations." (The Jakarta Post 09.01.2010). 

But she will still have to fight for progress against that conservative under-qualified under-capacity male-dominated middle that holds back much of public enterprise and public administration.

Karen is following in the footsteps of Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Indonesia´s  feisty Finance Minister, as she fights back against those blaming her for the bungled bailout of failed Bank Century, while Evita Legowo, director general of  oil and gas in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will be bouncing back in 2010 fresh from failing to find investors for 75 percent of the 40 oil and gas blocks offered for bids during last year,  and as Trade Minister Mari Pangestu soldiers on fighting the good fight for free trade against pessimists, vested interests and protectionism.

Its tough at the top for Indonesia's new generation of atomic kittens, but when the going gets tough, the tough can get going. They can always take a leaf out of the book of life by Margaret Thatcher, buy a new handbag, put a brick in it, and take a swipe in the cause of tomorrow against the nearest man defending yesterday.
The Indonesian atomic kittens are part of the inexorable rise of women in Indonesia and the Arab and Muslim world. The country cannot become the seventh largest global economy by 2040, as predicted by Standard Charter Bank recently, without them.

As Debnath Guharoy writing in The Jakarta Post (12.01.2010) explained recently, women are the boss in 90 percent of Indonesian households in terms of household budget, and control 57 percent of national grocery purchases.

In a nation whose Gross Domestic Product is 60 percent consumer driven, it is women who control most family economic decisions, from buying toothpaste to motorbikes.  So far 25percent of Indonesian women have a job and this is rapidly rising, and more than half of working women go to work on a motorbike.

In five years the number of women riding motorbikes has risen from 11 to 15 percent of the population. The number of women finishing high school has climbed from 21 percent in 2005 to 34 percent in 2009.

The women of Indonesia are getting on their motorbikes and there are a lot more atomic kittens to come. Indonesia needs them to become a world economic power. Yesterday's men will have to learn to accept this and tomorrow's men should welcome it. You can't modernise the nation unless women are included in the driving seat.

 

(The writer is Jakarta-based columnist of The Independent)

 

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

SCARY SMUDGES

Of late, there has been a rise in acts of violence and crime in the Terai districts. People in Parsa, Bara and Rautahat are very much terrified as such horrendous activities have been occurring without any let up. These crimes have been carried out by armed outfits some with political motives while others groups consist of criminals. The victims have been ordinary people such as businessmen and also government officials. Fear has led to members of the business community moving elsewhere to safer places, thereby impacting on the economy of the country itself. These attacks have disrupted normal life and denied the people the right to live in peace. Unidentified groups have killed numerous people. Just the other day an attempt was made to murder the assistant CDO in Parsa during which his police escort was killed. Activists of various political parties have also been killed, and there have been revenge killings and the cycle of violence continues unabated. The armed groups are on a rampage, and they have been carrying out murders, kidnappings and extortions. Many of the victims hesitate to report these deeds to the authorities fearing reprisal and have been doling out hefty ransom amounts as demanded by the criminals as they lack confidence on the security arrangements.

Although the government has been holding talks with many of the armed political groups to end the violence, they have made little headway in trying to get these outfits to give it up and to settle all their demands and grievances through talks. So far the dialogues have proved to be ineffective in halting the violence, so the concerned stakeholders should be serious about settling all issues so that the ordinary people are spared from the violence that have been going on for a long time, seemingly without any end in sight. Meanwhile, the criminal gangs should not be spared, and the law should come down heavily on them so that they are deterred from carrying out their nefarious activities. Some of the criminals are said to be carrying out these crimes from across the border, so the authorities should work in tandem with their neighboring counterparts to nab the criminals to curb the violent activities. In order to deal with the worsening law and order situation, the government had come up with the Special Security Plan. Although the government has claimed success in certain areas, we see that violence is escalating in various places and not only the Terai. Spurts in the crime graph have been reported from several parts of the country, and the capital city too has not been spared. As a matter of fact, although the authorities say that they have succeeded in controlling violent activities, there are those who question this after the recent incidents in which many have been attacked and some died in the process. However, those implementing the security plans say they have taken effective action. In any case, there is a lot to be done to improve the overall law and order situation, while impunity and political meddling in such grievous matters must be done away with so that the trust and cooperation of the apprehensive people can be restored.

 

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

DARK PATCH

As the mercury drops sharply all around the country, the life of the people has become all the more difficult. The foremost tragic news has been of over two scores of deaths because of the cold spell in the Terai. It is supposed to be mid-winter but the sharp edge that the cold had in the past is too towering considering the temperatures that is prevalent these days. Compared to the past few weeks, the chill has definitely increased. However, what more can we except during the height of winter? A little cold is perhaps going according to the cycle of seasons. But, the feel of global warming leading to climate change has been evident with shorter extreme cold spells. This turn of climate change is foreboding enough. The Copenhagen meet did raise the awareness that we are in for trouble due to global warming though only a superficial remedial touch came up as action plan.

If the winter news of shrinking snow cover of the Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and other ranges are to be believed then it is not a welcome one at that. It also points to the rising temperature that is putting the whole eco-system at risk and the process is quite alarming—the very survival of the living creatures on a global level is threatened.

 

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

CONSERVATION AID RARELY GETS TO INTENDED BENEFICIARIES

RAMESH PRASAD BHUSHAL

 

KATHMANDU: The forestry and conservation sector is flush with foreign aid. According to rough estimates, donors have pumped in up to 120 million dollars in Nepal's community forestry since 1980, which is rather high. Receiving huge funds means nothing if the intended recipients don't get the benefits.

The conservation sector depends largely on foreign aid and most of the projects are designed in the capital, setting ambitious objectives. But the real assessment of the work conducted in the field is rarely disclosed.

In most of the projects, the donor calls the shots and the government seems to be like an obligatory recipient. Forest Resource Assessment in Nepal, supported by Finland, aptly demonstrates how the projects are designed. The total budget of the project is about 5.5 million euros but about 4.4 million euros will be spent directly or indirectly on consultants and logistic support for the staff.

According to officials at the ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation, the projects cater to the interests of donors, not the government or the communities. The nation is economically poor but is one of the richest countries in terms of natural resources and biodiversity. There are hidden agendas behind investing in natural resources of Nepal. For one, its rich biodiversity is the best natural laboratory for the researchers from the international community. Secondly, the INGOs are creating employment for the foreigners. In many cases, the highly skilled manpower of the nation is ruled by the low-skilled international manpower.

In most of the projects, government just acts like a sub-contractor of the aid provided to the nation rather than bargaining for better benefits for the communities or the intended recipients and compromises by agreeing to the terms and conditions of the donors. It is not hard to say that the most of the bilateral and multilateral projects have become bargaining tools for the high-level bureaucrats and the aid-sustained intellectuals for their own benefits.

Conservation sector has seen bilateral aid programmes but most were scrapped when the phasing out process began. The reason is not so hard to fathom. Those who could justify their work have stayed on others have left. The project survival depends not on the need of the beneficiaries but the entrepreneurship of those who run the projects. Studies are being sponsored to justify their worth in poverty alleviation. People are being treated as passive subjects and objects of justifying narrow private interests of those who really want the project.

The aid politics of elites is undermining the very process of civic empowerment. It is colonising intellectuals by bribing officials.

The intellectuals have to rely on aid for livelihood. This creates intense competition among different groups to handle the aid. This has come to peak in forestry and conservation, but the national institutions are not proactive. Despite so much institutional development, they still consider themselves as sub-contractors of international or bilateral agencies.

Most of the projects cater to the interests of aid handling groups of elites and the intended recipients are either the workers getting low wages, unpaid facilitators or a good audience, but gain sustainable livelihood. Conservation dependent on the foreign aid has already started to show a negative impact. The government officers who are paid by the government are rushing to the projects rather than utilising their skills and knowledge. The ministry officials make a beeline for the departments that attract foreign aid. They are slowly losing their ground to bargain for the benefit of the intended recipients. The officials have started to think that without the projects they don't have any responsibility to bear and such thinking is rampant in the conservation sector.

The scattered projects in the interest of different groups have dispersed the money but have gained little. Common and concentrated effort is the need of the hour in conservation and the national institutions should dare to bargain on getting more benefits for the communities rather than for themselves and their own institutions.

The authorities concerned need to answer whether there is a possibility to enhance the efforts to conserve the forests and wildlife, if the donors stop providing the fund? Do we have our own agenda or we will have to follow the agenda set by others?

How long will the foreign investment in the name of capacity building run and when will the national intellectuals become capable to handle the nation's agendas on conservation?

 

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

WHAT ALL IS BEING DONE TO DEMOCRATISE ARMY

KAMAL DEV BHATTARAI

 

KATHMANDU: After the Jana Andolan II the issue of democratisation of Nepali Army came into the forefront of politics. Nepali Army remained loyal to monarchy for more than 240 years. It has been practising democratic norms and values after Nepal turned republic.

Mainly, UCPN-Maoist raised this issue stating that democratisation of NA was essential to make it loyal to the civilian government. In other words, it can be called democratic control of NA. Maoists have been claiming that NA is yet to be democratised and brought to the civilian control.

This issue came to the limelight when Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned from the post of Prime Minister last May stating that civilian supremacy over the army was a must. Maoists have been protesting to demand civilian supremacy for the last nine months.

At present there is a debate at intellectual level about making the NA democratic.

Both the interim constitution of Nepal and Comprehensive Peace Agreement have the provisions of democratisation of NA. However, this issue has relegated to the back seat because both the government and parties are giving it less priority.

However, government formed a ministerial level task force and it has been entrusted to prepare detailed work plan to democratise the NA.

Interim constitution and Military Act has mandated the government to mobilise Nepal Army on the recommendations of National Security Council. Such decision should be placed before the Special Security Committee of the parliament for its approval within 30 days.

Former Lt General of Nepal Army CB Gurung reasoned that there were mechanisms but were not functional and effective. He said, "As far as the democratic control of NA is concerned we have some mechanism for that purpose but that the same was not functioning effectively and political leadership was blaming the army for its undemocratic character. We talk about democratisation, but managing the army at the transition phase was sensitive and political leaders should understand that."

Defence minister, National Security Council and certain provisions of Military Act can help government
exercise democratic control, Gurung added.

Kul Chandra Gautam, former Assistant Secretary General of United Nations showed many ways to ensure democratic control of Nepal Army and other security forces in Nepal.

According to Gautam, parliamentary oversight and approval of national security policy is necessary to democratise the NA. He said, "Nepal lacks a broad national security policy as well as effective policy making mechanism. A small expert task force should be formed, under the auspices of the recently formed ministerial-level committee for democratising NA to draft an initial concept paper on the national security and policy making structure."

Gautam reasoned that establishment of a proper and effective Ministry of Defence was must to maintain democratic control of NA. He said, "Modern Nepal never had a functioning Ministry of Defence. Until mid-2006, knowledgeable analysts dubbed MoD a powerless post box for army, with real powers and responsibilities of ministry vested in and exercised by the principal secretariat at the Royal Palace." Other ways to maintain democratic control, according to Gautam, include establishment of effective National Security Council, respect for human rights and human security, rightsizing of Nepali Army and redefining major tasks of the army.

Maoist leader Barsa Man Pun Ananta said democratisation of NA was related to the restructuring of the state. He said, "We should first democratise the country rather than making NA democratic."

Defence Secretary Nabin Ghimire said they were making efforts to democraticise the NA and restructure the Ministry of Defence to make it more effective. He said recently formed ministerial committee would prepare a concept paper on the democratisation of NA, to draft national security policy and materialise security sector reforms.

He added that it was necessary to revamp National Security Council and restructure defence ministry. He said, "We have to accept that Ministry of Defence was the smallest ministry of Nepal and is running with 29 staffers. We have formed another task force to restructure the defence ministry."

Experts opine that civilian government should make the mechanism effective and strong to control and democratise NA rather than blaming army being non-functional. If there are sufficient and clear acts, regulations and mechanism it would not be hard to democratise NA. Mainly, after the Jana Andolan-II we witnessed bitter relationship between the government and military mainly due to the vague and unclear regulations.

 

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

POLITICAL MECHANISM: DYSFUNCTIONAL, IF SELF-INTEREST RULES

PROF. BIRENDRA P MISHRA

 

After all, the long - awaited high-level political mechanism has come into being on January 8, 2010 formally. People are commonly optimistic that the political deadlock may end now. There are some apprehensions in some quarters also as they perceive it negatively since it is facing rough weather from its very inception. The ailing GP Koirala, president of the Nepali Congress, is heading the three-leader high-level mechanism, and the other two members are the presidents of the UCPN-Maoist and CPN-UML. Several leaders in all parties are questioning this decision openly. It is a reality that there are power centres in all parties. It seems that that these leaders have not taken them into confidence before signing the agreement, although they all needed it. Interestingly, among civil society leaders, Daman Nath Dhugana was a leading exponent advocating desperately for a high-level common mechanism of all major parties, including the Madhesi outfits, to coordinate and steer the activities of these parties both inside and outside the CA. But, ironically, the formation of the mechanism was delayed. They put all serious issues on the back burner and got exclusively engrossed in the formation of the government.

Significantly, even before CA election, a group of nine citizens (C-9) including DamanNath Dhungana, Padmaratna Tuladhara, Nilambar Acharyan and others took the initiative to bring the big three— the then PM GP Koirala, the then general Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and president Prachanda together to form a high level coordination committee consisting of Mohan Vaidya "Kiran" (CPN-M), Amrit Bohara (CPN-UML) and Dr.P.S. Mahat (NC)to solve the problems if they cropped up at the time of election.

Actually, a high-level committee was badly needed just after the CA election results, from which the two major political parties, the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML were traumatized by the spectacular victory of the then CPN-Maoist, upsetting the political calculations of these parties turning the politics of consensus, the very basis of the peace process, to the politics of competition. To some observers, the politics of consensus was bid good- bye by the Nepali Congress when it forced other parties to adopt a mixed (parallel) electoral system for the CA election. Before the new government came into existence, the Interim Constitution was amended by bringing the politics of political competition in place of politics of consensus.

The elections of president and vice president added fuel to the fire of political fissure. It took more than three months to frame the new government. The issue of dismissal of the then CoAS Katuwal cropped up and the order of the president negating the unconstitutional procedural decision of the then Maoist led government led to the resignation of the government. After the installation of Madhav Kumar Nepal's government with the help of 22 parties, the Unified CPN-M took recourse to opposing the government and stalled the activities of the House for more than five months for the so called unconstitutional order of the president, affecting not only the constitutional writing process in reality but also the peace process.

The differences between the senior leaders went on widening. They could not meet for months together. The CA committees were not attended by the top leaders due to which some serious issues were not sorted out at committee level and referred to the full CA House for deliberations.

More probably, issues like electoral system, determining the form of governance and restructuring the state lingering for a long time, have been left to be decided by the full CA house. Regretfully, if the political consensus, which was not reached at the deliberations at committee level, is continued in the full house deliberation, the fate of the new constitution is doomed, as every Article of the constitution has to be approved by at least a two-third majority of the House.

People are now questioning the mode, time, effectiveness and the very purpose of this formation. Why could these leaders not meet earlier informally to sort out their political differences? Knowing well that the ground realty of politics has changed drastically as some regional parties have come up showing their mass support after the CA election and the incumbent Prime Minster being kept out of the mechanism, why was the formal declaration of this formation postponed till such time they reached consensus? Have these leaders proceeded in a hurry as they have their own personal agenda?

Why could not these leaders discuss this issue inside the party before announcing this formation? Would this formation be effective if there is opposition within the parties and by the parties remaining outside the formation?

It is felt that if this mechanism does not function properly in the best interest of the nation concentrating on the main issues, the only alternative left will be to invite a third party for mediation to avert the derailment of the peace process and perhaps, the exercise of drafting the people's constitution through the CA will definitely go in vain for ever.

 

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

TOPICS: WHO'S SCARED OF 2012?

BASU RAM LAMICHHANE

 

Proponents argue that planetary alignments will occur in 2012 and will cause problems, probably the destruction of the only living planet Earth. The idea of the world ending in 2012 isn't true. The world isn't going to end on December 21, 2012, just the Mayan Calendar ends.

One of several Mayan calendars is the Long Count calendar, which is reset to day 0 every 1,872,000 days or 7057.5 years. The next reset date, by some calculations, is December 21, 2012. This is not a prediction of the end of the world. The Mayan Calendar has to end someday. Besides, nobody can predict when the end of the world is. You shouldn't always believe what you hear from other people. The scientific evidence about 2012 doesn't side with it. Such rumours are dangerous causing anxiety and depression among the believers.

According to NASA scientist, the widespread internet rumor that the world will end in 2012 due to some event is a hoax. They attribute the hype to 'cosmophobia' fueled by fake science websites and people trying to cash in on public lack of knowledge. The so-called 'Doomsday Objects' are contradictory in nature and description. There is no place for these objects to lurk undetected in the solar system.

The claims of alignments in 2012 and the consequences in general are also false. It is known that planetary alignments occur frequently with no ill effects, and are insignificant to everyone except the astronomers and scientists conerned. They do not cause noticeable effects on the Earth or on the Sun. There will be no spontaneous magnetic field reversal in 2012, that field reversals take a minimum of several hundred years, and that they are caused by the internal geodynamo, not by external agencies such as nearby passing planets.

History has countless examples of people foretelling the end of earthly life. But, all turned out to be false.

A majority of Mayanist scholars (as opposed to proponents of Mayanism and the 2012 doomsday) do not think that the 2012 date relates to a prediction of an apocalypse. In Nepal, neither NAST nor any government authorities has come forward to remove the illusion on this issue, thanks to the political scenario. Take life in a positive manner

 

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THE AUSTRALIAN

EDITORIAL

NICE TRY PENNY, BUT IT'S TIME TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK

IT'S UP TO THE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE THE RUNNING ON CLIMATE

 

THE sooner Kevin Rudd gets back from holidays and takes control of the climate change agenda, the better. It's not that we begrudge the Prime Minister his summer break, it's just that we'd rather like an update on where he is headed in this crucial policy area since Copenhagen scuttled the international push that underpinned Australia's national response.

 

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has been doing her best to hold the line that it's business as usual, despite the fact that the failures at Copenhagen substantially changed the realpolitik of climate change.

 

The hopes of a global consensus, which informed Australia's policy under Labor, have evaporated, leaving us potentially exposed if we do not integrate that shift into our efforts to tackle the issue. Which is why Senator Wong's claim this week that the clock is ticking on Tony Abbott was disingenuous. The government has deadlines pressures of its own in the wake of the debacle at Copenhagen, and the rejection of its emissions trading legislation.

 

Certainly, the Opposition Leader has a responsibility to outline his alternative to the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, which the Coalition blocked before Christmas. But it is the government that makes policy, and it is the government that must launch a new conversation with the Australian public about how it will accommodate the global shift that flowed from Copenhagen's failure. For Senator Wong to blithely argue that time is running out for Mr Abbott denies the harsh reality that Labor faces some complex decisions about ensuring that Australia's interests are protected in any move to a carbon market. Under the deeply compromised outcome of Copenhagen, countries - including Australia - have been asked to submit by next month their targets for emissions cuts by 2020. These will not be enforceable but will provide an idea of who is serious about tackling the issue, and they must ultimately inform Australian policy.

 

The Australian has long backed an emissions trading scheme to insure against the potential dangers to our economy and way of life through global warming. The ETS as characterised by the former Howard government and then refined by the Rudd administration into its CPRS was a practical way to give the planet the benefit of the doubt on climate change. But it was predicated on the development of international commitments and an international carbon market that would not disadvantage Australia, which, while heavily reliant on coal for its national prosperity, produces only 1.5 per cent of the world's greenhouse emissions. It was this global approach that offered a framework of protection to countries as their coal-based industries and products became more expensive.

 

Without a global agreement, Australia has much to lose if it jumps too fast, with coal exports potentially threatened by competitors who do not face the same imposts, and the leakage of coal-based production to non-complying countries. Indeed, Mr Rudd appears to have recognised this, when he said last month that "Australia will do no more and no less than the rest of the world" and ruled out any changes to emissions targets.

 

Even so, it is the case that Australians have been left at best confused and at worst alienated by the fallout from Copenhagen. As economist and analyst Geoff Carmody wrote in The Australian yesterday, the summit was a "substantive failure" and a "procedural debacle" and any other view of it is "dishonest or delusional". Our leaders returned mentally and physically exhausted from that forum, at which Australia persevered with a mature and calm effort to achieve a useful outcome. Now they need to return to the fray with fresh thinking about the issue and a commitment to explain it to the Australian people.

 

Before Copenhagen, public support for tackling climate change was strong, with polls showing about three-quarters of Australians backing action. That support will be tested in the next few months as the government moves to reintroduce its CPRS legislation.

 

Mr Rudd has made the right noises so far, but it is important the government keeps putting Australia's economic interests first.

 

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THE AUSTRALIAN

EDITORIAL

THE EASY OPTION FAILS AGAIN

CANBERRA MUST STICK TO IMMIGRATION PROCESS

 

WHEN self-appointed keepers of the country's conscience are demanding action to assist people they claim are refugees, it is easy for ministers to assume the sensible strategy is one that shuts the activists up. Easy but wrong - as Immigration Minister Chris Evans now knows. Last November, the Rudd government did a deal with a boatload of Tamils stopped in Indonesian waters en route to Australia. The Indonesians wanted them gone but the Tamils would not disembark until Australia agreed to accept them. After a month, the Rudd government gave up, promising that those who were genuine refugees could come to Australia within three months. While it was immensely unfair to people waiting for years in transit camps while their claims are assessed, it was politically convenient, placating the Indonesians and giving the refugee lobby in Australia one less issue to complain about.

 

Not for for long. As Paul Maley exclusively reported in The Australian this week, four of the Tamils approved for resettlement were not cleared by ASIO. Canberra has accordingly flown them from a camp in Indonesia to one on Christmas Island. As farces go, this is hard to beat. The government gave up in the face of the Tamils' tenacity only to leave some of them locked up. The only difference is they are now prisoners of the Australian government instead of the Indonesian.

 

This affair demonstrates what occurs when ministers try to duck the difficulties inherent in protecting our borders. First, the Rudd government signalled to other aspiring migrants that if they push hard enough, Australia will give in. But in now properly refusing entry to these people on national security grounds, it has created a political problem for itself. The longer these four Tamils are detained, the louder will be the calls that the government is being cruel. Already, Tamil activists in Australia are arguing that these people are being misjudged, there are calls for compassion and claims that even if the four turned out to be veterans of the Tamil war for independence in Sri Lanka, this only makes them freedom fighters. Unless ASIO changes its mind or until another country accepts the detainees, Senator Evans must ignore all such special pleading, stick to process and leave them where they are. Ignoring established operating procedure is what got the government into this mess in the first place.

 

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THE AUSTRALIAN

EDITORIAL

TV IS NOT THE ONLY TERMINATOR

RUMOURS OF THE UNIQUE RISKS OF TELEVISION ARE OVER-RATED

 

ACCORDING to medical researchers, watching television can kill - and that includes people who keep clear of the cooking contests and pant along with the biggest losers on the slimming shows. It seems even exercisers who watch television tune out too soon. The problem is less what you do when you are not beguiled by the box as what occurs when you are - which is not much.

 

The researchers say the problem is lack of movement, which increases the risk of death for even fit fans by 18 per cent for every hour spent glued to the tube. This is serious stuff, especially for the Americans who, the OECD estimates, watch eight hours a day, explaining why they can't find Sydney on a map but know every episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch off by heart. We have less to worry about, what with Australians making do with a bare two hours of daily TV.

 

But if lack of movement is the problem, why does TV get all the blame? People generally read sitting still and it takes many more than eight hours to read War and Peace. So where are the warnings that Tolstoy is carcinogenic? As for those who really fear they will watch themselves to death, do your TV viewing on the screen in front of running machines in the gym. You'll still face an increased risk of expiring, but only of boredom.

 

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

EDITORIAL

AMERICA IS 'BACK IN ASIA'

HILLARY CLINTON'S speech in Hawaii showed a notably humbler United States seeking to extend its engagement with Asia and the Pacific - in line with Barack Obama's avowed policy of returning to multilateralism and ''respect'' after years of an abrasive, hubristic unilateralism under his predecessor. It marks, we hope, a stronger voice for diplomacy and her State Department in the councils of Washington.

 

We will learn more as Clinton travels westwards to Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia. But at the East-West Centre in Hawaii she gave us the gist of her message: the Obama Administration wants to be active in building up Asia's security and economic structures, and wants to encourage action by its big and small nations through its regional forums, on problems like nuclear proliferation, climate change and food security.

 

She says no country, including the US, should try to dominate these institutions, but insists that Asia benefits greatly from an engaged America. There is an obvious scepticism about creating new forums, implicitly like the one Kevin Rudd is pushing, and more emphasis on getting results out of the existing ones, notably Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation, the Association of South-East Asian Nations and the East Asia Summit. Be they imperfect or not, Clinton intends showing up, unlike her Bush administration predecessor. America is back in Asia, Clinton asserts, to stay.

 

Clinton's own background will bring some new breadth to American diplomacy. In Port Moresby, for example, as well as possibly launching a massive natural gas project backed by US official loans, she will discuss the low status of women, arguably an important factor in PNG's dismal health, educational and crime statistics.

 

Whether this breadth will show up in more flexibility in strategic issues remains to be seen. A rapprochement with New Zealand in defence co-operation, after the 1980s rupture over nuclear weapons, is long overdue and in accord with Obama's long-term nuclear goals. A concession to Japan's new government and the long-burdened Okinawans, on what seems like an unnecessary new Marine Corps airfield, would also symbolise a new approach.

 

The risk of conflict in Korea and the Taiwan Strait does demand a strong and visible American security presence, but Washington should also be showing that it does not see this as something for all time, whatever happens in Asia: that with political and diplomatic unwinding of confrontations, it could pull back further. The ANZUS treaty and the trilateral dialogue with Japan give Canberra the standing to argue the Japanese corner, too.

 

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

EDITORIAL

CHINA'S SWEET TOOTH FOR ASSETS

 

THE $1.5 billion bid by the Chinese state-owned Bright Food for Australia's main sugar refiner, CSR, marks a welcome turning point in China's investment strategy in Australia. So far, Chinese investment dollars have been mostly aimed at mining companies. This broadening of interests into agriculture should help allay any fears that China is simply seeking a stranglehold over precious national assets like iron ore and coal.

 

It is now apparent that the Chinese Government is staging a co-ordinated attempt to invest more broadly in Australian companies. High corporate profits and an artificially low exchange rate have left China sitting on more than $US2000 billion in government foreign exchange reserves. To date, most of this has been invested in US Government bonds. It is in the interests of the global economy for China to spread its exposure more broadly.

 

The Australian economy has grown fat off exporting minerals to China, particularly iron ore and coal. Presently, Australia does not export any sugar to China, home to perhaps the world's fastest-growing middle class. A bid by Bright Food, as it has pointed out, opens the doors to increased sugar exports to China. Bright Food boasts the biggest distribution network for sugar in China.

 

But certainly boundaries must be, and are being, drawn. The Rudd Government has laid down strict rules about foreign governments investing in strategic Australian assets. China's position as a main buyer of Australian minerals means it should not be able to become a controller of the supply of minerals. It would be worrying indeed if a Chinese buyer were able to control the supply of Australian minerals and dictate a lower price.

 

Investment in the sugar-refining industry is different. CSR buys its sugar from cane growers, rather than owning vast tracks of agricultural land. Bright Food has offered cane growers an ownership stake in the new entity if its bid is successful, and they have cautiously welcomed the move. The Foreign Investment Review Board will scrutinise any takeover and no doubt Wayne Swan will think carefully about what conditions may be imposed on the sale. One strict prerequisite should be a guarantee that, without its sugar arm, CSR will continue to meet its nearly a half a billion dollars of asbestos compensation claims.

 

Ultimately, whether the bid is successful is a matter for CSR shareholders. The bigger picture is that Australia is a small open economy that relies on foreign investment and trade to grow. China has the money. Let the sweet talking begin.

 

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

EDITORIAL

VOTERS BETRAYED BY FAILURE TO CLEAN UP PARTY FUNDING

 

THE promise was clear. Sixteen months ago, the Rudd Government's special minister of state, John Faulkner, vowed to clean up political funding and end the campaign finance ''arms race''. He said: ''The electoral reforms will definitely be in place before the next election.'' Senator Faulkner has long championed such reform, but momentum was lost with his move to Defence. His successor, Joe Ludwig, now refuses to commit to the timing or detail of any legislation.

 

The Opposition is not blameless on this front - last year it blocked legislation to reduce the threshold for disclosure of donations from $10,900 to $1000 - but Senator Ludwig is making excuses for Labor's loss of resolve when he claims he needs to win all-party support. The Age understands broad agreement had been reached on key reforms, including controls on donations to parties and campaign spending, regulation of third parties such as lobby groups and unions, and more public election funding.

 

It appears unions and the ALP machine, notably Victorian Labor, resisted any move on the lucrative stream of money from fund-raising arms such as Progressive Business and from affiliation fees, which give unions a big say in party decisions. It was feared the reforms would hit the ALP harder than other parties. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who hasn't spelt out his attitude to the reforms, rightly says: ''Any new arrangement has got to be fair, it can't favour one side or the other.'' Bipartisanship is needed.

 

Under the status quo, the biggest losers are not the parties, but voters. They should worry about the insidious effect of politicians' reliance on murky funding arrangements to win ever-more-costly elections. All parties must show good faith on these crucial reforms to stop Australian democracy from sliding into the corrupting quagmire of money politics.

 

Source: The Age

 

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

EDITORIAL

YOU CAN'T STUB OUT THE SMOKO WITHOUT A FEW BUTS

PROPER ANTI-ADDICTION MEASURES SHOULD BE PART OF THE WORKPLACE.

 

THE tobacco equivalent of a storm in a teacup must be a blizzard in an ashtray. There is a trace of this in the reactions to the federal Health Department's anti-smoking policy directive due to come into force from February 1; it includes the abolition of ''smoko'' breaks and lighting-up time only during designated meal breaks, but not within 15 metres of the workplace. To the average non-smoker, the logical reaction would be ''about time''; to the serious smoker, however, this is a threat to liberty. In fact, the positive ramifications of the new regulations are only partly assuaged. They cannot really work without proper acknowledgement by the employer that smoking is an addiction that can, with help, be cured.

 

The Health Department's decree is the logical extension of anti-smoking rules that apply in other working and social environments - for example, inside offices and licensed premises, not to mention Victorian school grounds. It is hoped, in time, the ban may spread to all public servants taking smoking breaks. For the moment, however, not everyone is pleased. While smokers, backed by the Australian Council of Civil Liberties, see the ban as ''excessive and heavy handed'', non-smokers, via Quit Victoria, have said they believe they are entitled to an extra week of annual leave to match the cumulative length of the breaks taken by their puffing colleagues.

 

Somewhere in this fug of disgruntlement and counter-disgruntlement, there is a pocket or two of refreshing common sense. For example, the reasons for the directive - to improve the health of employees and ''the professional reputation of the department'' - are, as its author, department secretary Jane Halton, says, ''lawful and reasonable'', as well as being in line with the general cultural shift in response to social pressure over smoking in the workplace. The abolition of smoking breaks should also correct the anomaly between those who take them and their colleagues who don't - a difference that can amount to as much as an hour's extra free time each working day, with resultant loss of productivity and revenue.

 

On January 24, Quit Victoria turns 25. Over that time, the campaign has played an important persuasive role helping smokers in this state to give up the habit. Through its series of public campaigns, including graphic advertisements and readily available help lines, Quit has significantly helped to reduce Australia's per capita consumption of cigarettes at an international level from 10th highest in 1986 to 41st in 2007. At the same time, more stringent government legislation, restricting places where smoking is allowed and access to tobacco products, particularly by the young, and dramatically lurid packaging has reinforced the message that smoking has long lost the pretext of being fashionable, and that it is a killer.

 

There is still a long way to go. One in five Australians still smokes; it kills about 15,000 people a year; and it costs around $32 billion a year in health care, welfare and lost productivity. Worse, the big smoke remains by far the biggest cause of death in this country: in 2008, almost 4000 of a total of almost 33,000 avoidable deaths (just on 12 per cent) were due to smoking-related diseases - more than other drugs, alcohol and road deaths combined. At least the fact these numbers are not increasing means there is hope they will continue to fall.

 

As far as the workplace is concerned, employers must be seen to be conciliatory as well as arbitrary in their attempts to bring smoking under control. It is one thing for the federal Health Department to swallow its own medicine (as it were) by banning smoking during working hours and banishing miscreants to outside a 15-metre radius of the premises. This makes it harder, but not impossible, for them to smoke - a challenge to continue rather than an opportunity to combat an addiction. It is another thing, however, to show sympathy and understanding for an addictive condition and try to assist in its resolution. It is common for work environments to have in place measures to help employees control other personal problems, such as mental illness or alcoholism - so why not tobacco?

 

The important thing is to be supportive rather than intrusive. In this way, it is in the best interests of the physical health of the smoker, the financial welfare of the organisation, and the greater wellbeing of the Australian workforce.

Source: The Age

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THE GURDIAN

EDITORIAL

IN PRAISE OF… FEEDING BIRDS IN WINTER

 

Some birds fly south for the winter. Some stay behind. A few seek refuge in Britain from colder lands to the north. And many of those in fields and gardens need help. "This winter could be the single greatest wildlife killer of the new millennium," the RSPB warned this week. Water supplies have frozen and snow has buried food supplies. The thaw has been slow to come. There have been many far worse winters before, of course, and wild birds have always survived. They will do so again. But the impact of this winter could be proportionately severe. Some species are already found in record low numbers. They will struggle to recover their populations when spring finally comes. Already, in Britain (the RSPB claims) most people put out food for birds, which if true is heartening evidence of human good nature. It is all the more important they keep doing so now, as gardens fill with unusual species, all searching for seeds and scraps to keep up energy supplies. Feeding birds this month offers a rare chance to see redpolls, yellowhammers and tree sparrows among the robins, finches and tits that more often make up backyard populations. It will also keep them alive. Experts recommend sunflower seeds or peanuts, plus millet for smaller birds – but not wheat or barley grains, which only encourage pigeons, less in need of help and more likely to bully their threatened smaller rivals. Bits of bacon rind are bad (fat is no good for feathers). And keep up the habit when the snow goes

 

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THE GURDIAN

EDITORIAL

GREAT FIREWALL OF CHINA: A COLOSSAL FOLLY

 

The great wall, or to be more accurate, walls of China were constructed using local materials – stones where it passed through mountains, and rammed earth over the plains. Its digital counterpart, the great firewall of China, is proving harder to construct and even more treacherous to maintain. Today's nomadic hordes threatening dynastic security don't come from Manchuria and Mongolia. They lurk in internet cafes everywhere. There have been two major breaches within six months. Last June, the Chinese government, the most assiduous internet censor on the planet, dropped (or postponed), its Green Dam project four hours before the censorship software was due to be installed in every computer sold in China.

 

Now it faces an even bigger challenge to its authority as an internet censor: does it accept Google's unprecedented announcement that it will not tolerate censorship of its search engine? Or does it allow Google to pack up and go, not just depriving millions of Chinese internet users in the world's biggest market, but inflicting a large dent in China's claim to have arrived as a key player in the global market, a claim it spent so much time and money on the Beijing Olympics to make? It is an unenviable choice, and possibly the reason yesterday for a rather old fashioned, analogue-era response to a digital firestorm which erupted moments after Google's announcement: complete ­official silence.

 

Google yesterday clambered back on to the moral high ground of this debate, but it was not always so. Four years ago it provoked a torrent of criticism, much of it justified, by agreeing to filter information on politically sensitive topics such as Tibet and the Tiananmen Square protests as the price of entering the Chinese market. It justified the compromise to its "do no evil" ethics by arguing that working on the inside would empower Chinese internet users and help open up a vast market. It did not quite work out like that. Guge, as the company is known in China, got only up to 17% of the queries and 33% of the income, the rest going to its Chinese rival Baidu. It has also noted a chill in the atmosphere, criticised by the government for linking to pornography, suffering blockage of google.docs and its subsidiary YouTube. Google pointedly failed yesterday to blame the Chinese authorities for the cyber attacks which targeted its email service and its corporate infrastructure. But reading between the lines, it is clear that the hackers were not just patriotic computer geeks, but professionals in search of dissidents and the "source codes" of defence firms.

 

Google's motives may be mixed, but it has, at last, done the right thing. The hackers mounted a transnational attack on privacy by trying to obtain user identifier information stored, not in China, but in the US. In patrolling its own firewall, it attempted to breach others which are just as sensitive to their owners. This will not be lost on an international community keen, thus far, to do business with China. The cost of that engagement to the security of corporations around the world may just have grown astronomically.

 

Whoever launched this attack should now be made to pause for thought, because the consequences for China's painstakingly hewn image as a trusted partner on the global economic stage are potentially far reaching. In seeking to track down a handful of domestic enemies, whose threat to domestic stability the government overstates, the hackers have crossed other frontiers that no foreign government, let alone company, would tolerate. Undermining privacy on your own territory is one thing. Doing it on someone else's patch is another. The episode demonstrates the absurdity of the project: the great firewall is a folly which can never be made to co-exist with the demands of becoming the world's largest exporter. Let it crumble, and soon.

 

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THE GURDIAN

EDITORIAL

EXPORTS: PASS THE BUCK

 

Gordon and Alistair have a cunning idea for ­getting out of recession. So do David and George. They all have pretty much the same notions – and it is called exporting your way out of trouble. The logic is simple: consumers and businesses spent the best part of a decade borrowing and spending, and cannot be relied upon to spend Britain's way out of recession. Instead, the rest of the world will have to do it, by buying ­British exports – which are now cheaper since the pound's effective devaluation. Simple, right?

 

Problem is, Angela over there in Berlin has the same idea. As for the Chinese, they have been at this game for a long time now. And Yukio Hatoyama, the new boy in Tokyo, seems to have cottoned on too, going by his ­government's calls for the yen to weaken (and so help exporters). Which brings up to a big question: if everyone is so keen to sell their wares to everyone else, then who is actually going to buy it?

 

That is obviously putting the issue too starkly. Even so, for a country to follow a strategy of export-led recovery requires others to consume. In the global downturn that followed the Asian crisis at the end of the 90s, stricken exporters had a clear consumer of last resort: America. Then the dotcom bubble of business spending came to a head, and rates were slashed to encourage households to spend more. They did, with the results that we know about now. But if business and consumers in both America and Britain have now maxed out their credit cards then it is not clear who the consumers will be. And yet most big industrial economies (and quite a few economies that want to be industrial, such as the fast-growing giant of China) are pinning their hopes on exporting out of trouble. So how will that work?

 

Badly, by first sight. Take a look at the car-scrappage scheme brought in by Alistair Darling just over a year ago. A £2,000 bung to those who traded in their old cars for new, this was meant to be a boost to the UK car industry. Yet two notable winners were Hyundai and Kia – neither major manufacturers in the UK. As a small, open economy, British schemes to boost consumer demand are always going to help domestic retailers as well as foreign manufacturers.

 

As German chancellor, Angela Merkel is in charge of a rich country that exports more than it imports; a perfect candidate to act as a consumer of last resort. But bear in mind her words from an interview last year: "The German economy is very reliant on exports, and this is not something you can change in two years. It is not something we even want to change." With attitudes like that, the global battle for export markets is not likely to end well.

 

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THE KOREA HERALD

EDITORIAL

PREPARE FOR TALKS

 

Seoul has voiced strong opposition to a call by North Korea for talks on a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War, one day after the communist state made the official proposal.

 

The Foreign Ministry said that dialogue on a peace treaty can commence only after Pyongyang returns to the six-party talks on denuclearization of North Korea and progress is made on denuclearization. As stated in the Sept. 15, 2005 six-party joint agreement, the relevant countries can negotiate a peace treaty in a separate forum when there is progress in denuclearization, the ministry said.

 

The White House, even before Seoul issued its official position on the North Korean proposal, reiterated that Pyongyang must return to the six-party talks before negotiations on a peace treaty could take place. Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special envoy on North Korea, after returning from a trip to Pyongyang last month had also said that a peace treaty and other incentives could be broached only after denuclearization discussions gained "significant traction."

 

Monday's North Korean Foreign Ministry statement also said that the six-party talks may convene soon if the U.N. sanctions are lifted. North Korea's arms trade, its main foreign currency earner, has been virtually cut off, with countries around the world strictly imposing the arms trade ban, searching suspicious North Korean ships and even a cargo plane for weapons shipments.

 

The lifting of the sanctions would provide the communist state with a pretext for returning to the talks it abandoned and also provide relief for the badly crippled economy.

 

However, Washington flatly dismissed the North Korean precondition. "We've made clear, going back several months, we're not going to pay North Korea for coming back to the six-party process," said U.S. State Department spokesperson P.J. Crowley.

 

After years of negotiations, little progress has been made in getting North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions. Just when progress seems to be in the offing, Pyongyang takes a step backward or attaches new demands. The conservative Lee Myung-bak administration has maintained a hard line position on the North, remaining resolute on its stance that denuclearization must come before peace talks.

 

So far, Washington and Seoul have stood unified in this respect. However, as the countries in the six-party process prepare for the resumption of the talks - there are reports that the talks could restart in April - South Korea must prepare for the eventuality of peace talks and there is no guarantee that Washington and Seoul will take the same approach on that issue as well.

 

North Korea, which has maintained vagueness on the matter of who the "relevant parties" are in the peace talks, continues to remain vague on the issue. In a press interview, the North Korean ambassador to China said that China and the United States would be negotiating partners for the peace talks. On the possibility of South Korea participating in the peace talks, he did not provide a clear answer, saying that he did not know whether the South was against the peace treaty. South Korea is not a signatory to the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953.

 

That any peace treaty should have South Korea as a participant should not be disputed. However, given the usual North Korean antics, it may well try to use the issue to create a rift between Seoul and Washington.

 

There is no doubt that Seoul should play a leading role in both the six-party talks and any peace treaty talks. The country should never again find itself in a position where its future is left in the hands of others. Already talks, both official and unofficial, are taking place between Pyongyang and Beijing, and Pyongyang and Washington. The South Korean government should take the initiative to open dialogue with the North and the time to do that is now.

 

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THE KOREA HERALD

EDITORIAL

IMPROVE ICUS

 

A recent report by a medical association showed that the medical facilities at intensive care units of the country's university hospitals are inferior to those in other Asian countries.

 

While ICUs at hospitals in Singapore and Malaysia had one artificial respirator per bed, there was 0.46 artificial respirator per bed at ICUs in Korean hospitals. Even the quality of care at Korean ICUs, as measured by how many patients each ICU nurse is assigned to, was the worst among the Asian hospitals surveyed.

 

The Korean Society of Critical Care Medicine, which conducted the survey, attributed the poor conditions here to the relatively low standard of critical care medicine and the large financial losses incurred by hospitals that operate intensive care units. The professional organization estimated that if Japan's regulations on ICU operations - which call for one nurse per two patients and the presence of a critical care specialist - were followed in Korea, it would result in a deficit of 80 million won per bed each year.

 

The report also pointed out that the law does not require the stationing of critical care specialists at ICUs. The law does not specify who can provide treatment to critical patients, allowing interns, residents and non-specialists to treat critically ill patients without the supervision of critical care specialists. This clearly undermines the quality of treatment at ICUs and should be rectified if the standard of medical care in the country is to improve.

 

The government is promoting medical tourism in the country, hoping to attract patients from abroad. In the meantime, critically ill patients here are receiving a low-standard of care. The quality of treatment provided to critically ill patients is a measure of a country's standard of medical care. More importantly, ICUs can save lives. The government should take measures to improve the quality of ICU care in the country's hospitals.

 

 

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THE KOREA HERALD

EDITORIAL

FAREWELL TO FORMER INDONESIAN LEADER

ANDREW SHENG

 

On Dec. 31, as we bade farewell to 2009, the news broke of the passing of Adburrahman Wahid, former president of Indonesia, more popularly known as Gus Dur. My wife and I were in Macassar, the capital of Sulawesi and watched the outpouring of affection and respect for the man who succeeded Presidents Habibie and Suharto at the end of the Suharto era.

 

We cannot understand Asian thinking without appreciating the passing of this Asian giant.

 

Gus Dur was only president for less than two years, from Oct. 20, 1999, to July 23, 2001, having been forced to cede powers to his vice president, Megawati Soekarnoputri. During this short but critical period when Indonesia was still suffering from the Asian financial crisis, Gus Dur gave Indonesia the political space necessary to consolidate its transition from an authoritarian regime to one of the most vibrant democracies in Asia.

 

Indonesia must be one of the most difficult countries in the world to govern, with 240 million people, the fourth largest country in the world in terms of population. With 17,000 islands straddling 5,000 kilometers from east to west, the country is also the largest maritime country in the world, because its geographical coverage is one fifth larger than the United States. Despite having the largest Muslim population in the world, the country is constitutionally secular, because it is also one of the most culturally diverse, having two hundred different spoken dialect and speech groups.

 

It is perhaps that Indonesia is so culturally and economically diverse that world-class art, design, literature and new thinking is being created. You only have to visit Bali to find artists of every country trying to find their own inspirations from this melting pot of cultures. From the early ages, the Moluccas, for example, were the battleground for the spice trade, in which Portuguese, Dutch, English, Arab, Chinese, Indian and local traders were already competing to bring these valuable condiments to the rest of the world. These economic intrusions left their indelible cultural imprints on Indonesian civilization.

 

Gus Dur came to political power from a religious background. He was born into a family of impeccable religious credentials in Jombang, East Java. His grandfather founded the Muslim movement Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest religious organization in Indonesia with 40 million members and his father was the first Indonesian minister for religious affairs after independence. He started early by being a teacher in a religious school (madrasah) in his home town. In 1970, he received a scholarship to study at the University of Al-Azhar in Cairo, but never finished there. Instead, he moved to Baghdad University to complete his higher education.

 

In 1972, he returned to become a teacher at the University Hasyim Asyhari in his home town, as well as being a journalist and writer. From his direct contact with the Muslim community, he immersed himself in the development of the Muslim religious school movement (pesantren), rising eventually to become a key leader of Nahdlatul Ulama. In the 1980s, he came into political prominence because he participated actively in formulating the Pancasila philosophical foundation for Indonesia, namely, belief in the one and only God, just and civilized humanity, the unity of Indonesia, democracy and social justice. In 1998, even though he suffered a stroke that partially blinded him, he formed part of the reform movement that contested the 1999 presidential elections. He stood against Megawati and won, and then persuaded Megawati to stand as vice president for the sake of national unity.

 

Although by his own admission he was not a great administrator, he made several key decisions that held Indonesia together during the tumultuous period after the Suharto regime. Significantly, he opened up the press, removed restrictions on the use of the Chinese language and opened the way for reconciliation in the regional tensions with Irian Jaya (now West Papua) and Aceh.

 

What struck most people who have met Gus Dur was his humanity and open-mindedness to all issues and social problems. He was reputed to have said that he was less disappointed with the loss of his presidency than the loss of his recordings of Beethoven. Here was a person well-read not only in Islam, but also the philosophies of the West and the East and comfortable that no views were preeminent, because he was confident in his own faith and culture. In this sense, no Asian, nor indeed anyone, should feel fearful that his or her own beliefs or views will be drowned or tainted by the West or other beliefs. The world has become too big, too complex and too inter-connected for us to have closed minds.

 

There is of course nothing wrong with closing one's own mind, because that is one's own prerogative, but one should not endeavor to close other minds.

 

All leaders will be judged by history, some rightly, some wrongly. But they will be judged not just by what they achieved in their lifetime, but also by being themselves as human beings. The leaders that I have met and impressed me most were those who touched everyone who met them as sincere humanists, who believed passionately what they wanted to do and also recognized their own failings.

 

Gus Dur was such a leader. He had a great sense of humor, not failing to laugh at his own limitations. How can one not like the man who said, "Suharto was a 'new order' president, Habibie was 'in order' and I am 'no order.'" By being himself, Gus Dur set standards for Asian thinkers that few will be able to match.

 

Andrew Sheng is the author of "From Asian to Global Financial Crisis." - Ed.

(Asian News Network)

 

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THE KOREA HERALD

EDITORIAL

WE HAVE TO KEEP DREAMING IN 2010

KIM SEONG-KON

 

On New Year's Eve we all dream of a brighter future, just like we dream of a white Christmas on Christmas Eve. Dreams, however, often turn out to be only an illusion and can be shattered and debunked easily. Referring to the American Dream, Robert Scholes once wrote: "We had a dream. We have always had a dream. And we pretended it was real until we believed the pretense." Nevertheless, we need to dream on; how can we sustain ourselves without dreaming of a better life and a better world? Dreams come to us when we lie down in the dark, closing our eyes. Then it gives us light and hope, by taking us to the fabulous world we can only dream of.

 

In the early 1960s, a dreamer called Martin Luther King, Jr. confessed his wish: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." On the dawn of 2010, I, too, have a dream that my two children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the prestige of their alma mater, their birthplace, or physical appearances, but by the content of their character.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr. went on: "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood." I, too, have a dream that one day in this sadly torn peninsula, the sons of former pro-Japanese and the sons of former anti-Japanese resistance will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I also have a dream that one day on the green hills of Mount Jiri the sons of former communist guerillas and the sons of former anticommunist soldiers can sit down together to propose a toast for reconciliation

 

I have a dream that this year there will be no more ideological warfare in South Korea between conservatives and progressives. I am grieved when I see our country torn by the battle of two political ideologies striving for dominance. During the Korean War, our parents were frequently stopped and asked on the street by a group of plainclothes vigilantes armed with rifles and bamboo spears: "Are you a rightwing or a leftwing?" Giving the wrong answer would cost their lives. Sixty years have passed, and yet we are still asked the same question. When asked if he is a conservative or a progressive in a recent television interview, the celebrated Korean novelist Kim Hoon hesitatingly answered, "That's a very violent question. If I may answer the violent question with a violent answer, I have to say I am conservative." Not known to be a conservative, Kim obviously did not want to say he is a "progressive," for it means "Marxist" in South Korea. Indeed, how could we choose to be a Marxist when our prosperity heavily depends on the capitalist market economy, and when North Korea continues to constantly threaten us with its nuclear weapons?

 

I have a dream that this year there will be no more skirmishes and factional brawls among our incompetent politicians in the National Assembly. We are so fed up with our belligerent lawmakers who break the law frequently and unhesitatingly, while enjoying immunity unjustly. I have a dream that in 2010 there will be no more workers' strikes in South Korea either, which seriously undermine the nation's image, stability and economic development. No foreign entrepreneur will invest in a country where a huge crowd of workers with red hair bands menacingly wave red banners and violently clash with riot police like a daily ritual.

 

I have a dream that in the year 2010 we will finally be able to release our children from the inferno of the "college entrance exam hell." We urgently need to normalize our secondary education system by radically altering - if not abolishing - the controversial college entrance exam and letting each university create its own standards to recruit and admit students.

 

I have a dream that from this year on we will be able to embrace outsiders and foreigners affectionately - migrant workers, foreign brides, international students, etc - as if they are our dear family members. No more suspicion or exclusion of foreigners and outsiders, so we can become truly global citizens living in a rapidly globalizing world. We must transcend walls of prejudice and cross old boundaries in order to interact with other people and other cultures.

 

Unfortunately, dreamers were all shot down - the Great Gatsby, John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., to name but a few. Yet we cannot stop dreaming. Sometimes our dream is too good to be true, just an illusion that can hardly be realized in the relentless present reality. Nevertheless, we must dream on, until our dreams come true.

 

Kim Seong-kon is a professor of English at Seoul National University and director of the Seoul National University Press. - Ed.

 

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

SUPPORTING MEDICAL SERVICES

 

The Hatoyama administration has decided to raise remuneration to medical institutions for fiscal 2010 and 2011. Although the raise amounts to only 0.19 percent on average, significantly it is the first raise in 10 years. The decision came against the Finance Ministry's demand that payments be lowered by about 3 percent. It is hoped that the decision will serve as the first meaningful step toward resuscitating the nation's medical services, which are collapsing in some rural regions.

 

Every other year the Central Social Insurance Medical Council (Chuikyo) determines how much hospitals and clinics should be paid for medical treatments. Each of the past four remuneration reviews, under the Liberal Democratic Party-led government, resulted in decreased payments. The overall decrease during the period was near 8 percent. The last year that Chuikyo decided to raise remuneration was 2000, when it decided on a 0.2 percent increase.

 

Because of the decline in remuneration over the past decade, many hospital doctors, who often work under harsh conditions, have quit, and the resulting doctor shortages have forced many hospitals, especially in rural regions, to close emergency medicine, obstetric and pediatric departments. Such closures have caused inconvenience and worry for local residents.

 

Those doctors, nurses and others who provide medical services — who had hoped for a bigger increase in remuneration this time — may be disappointed by the 0.19 percent average raise. But financial difficulties faced by the administration should be taken into account.

 

Still, in fiscal 2010 the health ministry's overall spending related to medical services will increase by 4.6 percent to about ¥9.404 trillion.

 

Remuneration is divided into a "main portion" for doctors' expertise in medical treatment and for hospitalization fees, and a "drug fee" portion for drugs and medical supplies. Payments in the main portion will rise 1.55 percent, but payments in the drug fee portion will drop 1.36 percent due to falling drug prices.

 

Within the main portion, payments will rise by 1.74 percent for nondental medical services and by 2.09 percent for dental services. This means that payments for medical services will increase by about ¥570 billion. Of this amount, the health ministry plans to allocate some ¥400 billion for first-stage treatments of hospitalized patients in emergency medicine, obstetric and pediatric departments.

 

The ministry also plans to allocate some ¥40 billion to medical clinics that treat mainly outpatients, and some ¥60 billion to dental clinics. The planned boost in allocation for dental clinics is believed to be in response to the recent closure of many dental clinics. But it also appears to be a reward for the Japan Dental Association's political arm, for its decision to not run its candidates on the Liberal Democratic Party ticket in the coming Upper House election.

 

Before the health ministry's plan can materialize, Chuikyo must work out the finer details. As the plan shows, Chuikyo's main goal is to allocate more money to hospitals.

 

A major issue during Chuikyo's discussions will be possible changes to the followup examination fee system. The initial examination fee is now ¥2,700 at both hospitals and clinics, while the followup examination fee is higher at clinics (¥710) than at hospitals (¥600). The health ministry hopes to remove this inconsistency and have the cost of followup examinations become uniform at around ¥650.

 

The higher fee for followup examinations at clinics has been regarded as an indication of the relatively better economic situation of private practitioners compared with hospital doctors. A health ministry survey shows that on average, private practitioners earn about 1.7 times more than hospital doctors.

 

Health minister Akira Nagatsuma has removed three of the 20 Chuikyo members because they were linked to the 165,000-member Japan Medical Association. Although the JMA includes both private practitioners and hospital doctors, it has tended to emphasize the interests of private practitioners.

 

It is hoped that Chuikyo's decisions will lead to higher wages for hospital doctors. Emergency medicine doctors, obstetricians and pediatricians face a high risk of malpractice lawsuits. They also work long hours due to personnel shortages. The departure of such professionals from hospitals because of inadequate wages further worsens existing shortages. Chuikyo also should not forget about private practitioners who make special efforts to improve the health of local residents.

 

The government should recognize the fact that raising remuneration will have only a limited effect with regard to preventing the collapse of medical services in rural regions. It should consider introducing a compulsory-service system in which doctors are assigned to rural regions and required to serve in their post for a set period of time.

 

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

INDIA IS TAKING THE FAST LANE TO CAR CHAOS

BY GAUTAMAN BHASKARAN

 

CHENNAI, India — India is in the midst of a car boom. At the latest count, there were a staggering 123 automobile models manufactured by 30 companies, and each model comes in several varieties. Despite the recession, the country's appetite for cars appears insatiable. Tacitly encouraging this is the government, which benefits every time a car manufacturer sets up shop in India. The end result is traffic chaos.

 

Sadly, in an overpopulated and poverty- stricken nation like India, where most people cannot afford one decent meal a day, let alone dream of buying a car, the conveyance of choice should be mass public transport, not private vehicles.

 

Over the years, public transportation has been grossly neglected. Kolkata has a subway system that runs only on one north-south corridor. Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore have only now begun to toy with the idea of a subway. New Delhi's subway began operating only a few years ago. Hopefully a good network will be in place by next October, when the Commonwealth Games begin.

 

It takes little intelligence or imagination to understand that since most Indian cities have less than 20 percent road space (compared to the desired 33 percent), the best way to move people is with a well-financed public- transport plan that includes buses and trains. Such modes of transportation could save a mind-boggling amount of road space.

 

Of equal concern is the fact that gasoline supplies will eventually run out. When America and Europe were first becoming addicted to gasoline, the fear of fuel shortages was not an issue. The United States destroyed its railways to promote the car. Even in China, cars are now slowly replacing bicycles in the name of development.

 

That Europe and Japan did not allow their public-transportation systems to go to seed has helped to stabilize their economies since the first oil shock in 1973.

 

In India, the number of two- and four-wheel vehicles began to rise in the 1990s as economic reforms led to better salaries and more ambitious dreams. Indians equate the ownership of a private vehicle with higher social status as well as convenience.

 

In Delhi alone, 1,000 more cars are added to the roads every day and the metro cannot make a significant dent in the resulting chaos. One reason why cars are so popular is the average Indian's obsession with status: Can a low-paid clerk and a vice president working at the same firm be seen together on the train? For some the answer is no.

 

Bangalore will need millions of dollars to unsnarl its traffic by building new roads and upgrading present ones. It would be far better, however, to use funds to build a rapid rail system and improve the public bus service.

 

A few years ago London imposed a congestion tax on private cars and managed to reduce the number of vehicles entering the city center. Manhattan has such prohibitive parking fees that car owners think twice before driving there. In Singapore it can be more expensive to get a car license than to buy a new vehicle!

 

Even as such measures have greatly discouraged private car use, saved on gas, reduced pollution and relieved human misery, India is set to herald a car revolution this year. Last year, Tata introduced the Nano for just about $2,000 and traffic jams are growing worse as this cheap car replaces motorcycles.

 

Most Indian cities have rivers and canals that could be used to transport people and goods, but plans to do so are gathering dust. Underground transportation is taking off at an irritatingly slow pace.

 

Not many people use Chennai's overhead rails because the stations are filthy, the approaches to them are filthier, and the system is not linked to other transportation networks such as buses.

 

Unfortunately it is clear that there is no political will to better India's public- transport system. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh once termed Indian cities "living hells." They are turning even more hellish as the number of automobiles and motorcycles increase.

 

Gautaman Bhaskaran is a journalist based in Chennai, India.

 

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

GOOD INTENTIONS, BAD RESULTS

BY DAVID HOWELL

 

A cycle in which intended results become reversed has overtaken Britain's political, government and social scene.

 

All too many bold promises, targets or programs put forward by the government authorities supposedly to improve the lot of the British citizen, however sincere and well intentioned, have not only had minimum impact but have actually produced the very opposite results from those intended. Thus, for example, all bold efforts over the last decade to narrow the gap between the highest and lowest paid have left the gap far wider than ever.

 

Efforts to spread wealth have concentrated it. Efforts to narrow social divisions have deepened them. Efforts to help the poorest have made them poorer. Efforts to reduce fuel poverty have increased it. Efforts to increase energy security have led to riskier and more unstable supplies. Efforts to ensure better education at all ages, from nursery to university, and increase social inclusion have ended up with more social exclusion, overloaded teachers and closed down university places.

 

Meanwhile, efforts to assist small businesses have stifled them. Efforts to integrate ethnic minorities have increasingly alienated them. Efforts to protect the British rural environment have led to faster deterioration than ever before. Efforts to cement the union of the U.K. have lead to increased separatism. Efforts to reduce the prison population have resulted in record high numbers in prison. Efforts to improve policing have reduced public trust in the police. Efforts to reduce knife crime have resulted in a spate of incidents. Efforts to improve transport flows have worsened them. Campaigns to curb over-regulation have ended up with more regulations and red tape than ever.

 

The list goes on and on. Efforts to modernize the constitution have left Parliamentary government crippled. Efforts to strengthen the House of Lords have weakened it. Trumpeted commitments to more openness in government and greater freedom of information have engendered more secrecy. Efforts to make public administration more accountable and trustworthy have made it less so and destroyed public trust. Cascading statistics have produced less knowledge and more skepticism about official figures.

 

The baffling perversity extends overseas. Despite efforts to place Britain "at the heart of Europe," public EU-skepticism is higher than ever. Despite efforts to stick close to America, U.K.-U.S. relations are at their lowest ebb in years. Efforts to mount a stronger attack on world poverty have held back development through misplaced aid flows. Efforts to build democracies in developing countries have destabilized them. Efforts to increase some sense of Britishness and national purpose and identity amid current global turmoil have in practice lessened and weakened all such sentiments.

 

And after the failed emergence of a grand global deal at Copenhagen on curbing climate change — a fruitless search that was bound to fail — it will no doubt be correct to say before too long that efforts to cut the growth of carbon could well lead to the very opposite outcome — higher emissions and more climate extremes.

 

The consequence of these unending reversals, as loud official promises to go forward take things backward instead, is a steep decline of public trust in government and almost all its pronouncements and works.

 

But not just in government. A wide array of professions and official bodies have seen public respect and trust drain away. Top figures in banking are viewed with contempt. Trust in the media has plummeted. Trust in politicians has withered, especially after revelations about the expenses claims of members of Parliament at Westminster. Trust in the military top brass (although not the deeply admired fighting men and women) and in the Intelligence services has sagged. Trust in scientists, religious leaders, even trust in the reliability and competence of the once universally admired BBC has diminished.

 

"Things cannot go on like this" is the battle-cry of the Conservative opposition and would-be U.K. government — and that is certainly so if British society is to stay stable and unified. But the questions then inevitably follow: "So where are we going? How is the modern nation state to hold together if trust and belief in all officialdom is weakened at every level and the gap between promise and performance so glaring?"

 

To some extent it can be argued that all governments today — whether in the U.S., European Union, Japan or even nondemocracies like China — face the problems of public challenge and empowerment that the information age brings. But an even deeper cause of the malaise lies in the flawed principles and shallow thinking underlying the public policy debate.

 

The flaws are, first, the misplaced belief that the citizen's contentment and fulfillment can be enlarged by government action from above; second, the delusion that government measures can somehow deliver all this promised betterment; and third, the notion that everyone has a right to the good life and it is the government's job to provide it.

 

It was Thomas Paine, hardly a reactionary rightwinger, who warned that "A Declaration of Rights is, by reciprocity, a declaration of duties also."

 

And it was Alexis de Tocqueville and Edmund Burke who reminded us that nations are built and held together not by vainglorious projects from on high but by the small associations and bonds of trust between individuals and within families.

 

In short, governments, political leaders, high officials and appointed experts must be very humble and very honest about the limits of what they can do — probably more so today than ever before. They must grasp that by reaching beyond these limits they will again and again achieve the very opposite of what they hoped for. Good intentions will lead to bad outcomes.

 

When leaders show by the careful moderation of their words, plans and promises that they truly understand this they will begin to restore the ties of trust required to hold society together.

 

David Howell is a former British Cabinet minister and former chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. He is now a member of the House of Lords (www.lordhowell.com).

 

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THE JAKARTA POST

EDITORIAL

EXPEDITING BUDGET EXECUTION

 

There is indeed no longer any reason to delay the execution or disbursement of the government investment budget, as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asserted early last week when presenting thousands of  2010 budget spending warrants worth Rp 1,047 trillion (US$110 billion) to ministers, heads of state institutions and provincial governors in Jakarta.

 

The legal and regulatory frameworks for virtually all aspects of public financial management — budget formulation and execution, public procurement of goods and services and post-audit — have all been reformed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public-sector spending.

 

The budget authorization or warrants are a breakthrough in the process of budget disbursement, especially for the investment budget, which in the past suffered the longest delays. The warrants already stipulate the project manager, treasurer and procurement officer for each investment project, thereby speeding up the bidding process.   

 

Yet another remarkable advance was the establishment of the National Public Procurement Agency, in charge of setting nationwide standard procurement procedures, including standardized bidding documents, and the gra-dual implementation of electronic public procurement to enhance market transparency. Last week's delivery of the budget authorization documents itself was the fastest ever made for annual state budget implementation.

 

The 2009 fiscal year, which ended last month, still left behind Rp 38 trillion (US$3.8 billion) or more than 20 percent of the investment budget for that year unspent due to various problems related to inadequate public budget management and institutional spending ability. But the unrealized investment budget was smaller than the previous years.

 

In the past, inadequate spending capacity of the line ministries and poor budget management on the part of regional administrations, which together account for around 50 percent of the national budget volume, resulted in almost 50 percent of budgeted capital expenditures being spent in the last quarter of the fiscal year. Budget spending (on investment) started slowly, then accelerating towards the end of the year, thereby causing an adverse cycle at the expense of spending quality.

 

But the government seems quite serious now about front-loading budget execution by early delivering of all budget authorization documents so that preparations for project implementation, including tenders, can be expedited.

 

Quick and efficient budget disbursement is most imperative as Indonesia urgently needs more and better spending on its basic infrastructure, such as transport and power-generation infrastructure, and public services. The 2010 budget is also conducive for infrastructure development because this fiscal year, for the first time, applied a performance-based budget system and medium-term expenditure framework to investment budget, instead of an annual cycle.

 

Multi-year budget appropriations for multi-year projects facilitate carry-over budget allocations, unlike the previous state budgets which were tied only to one-year budget appropriation. For example, the Rp 38 trillion carried over from the 2009 investment budget cannot automatically be disbursed this year for the projects for which the appropriations were originally intended.

 

Moreover, the introduction of a performance-based budget system will contribute to further integrating the planning and budgeting processes. In previous years, the decision-making processes between line ministries, the directorate generals of budget and treasury, the national planning agency and the parliament focused on input composition of the budget, rather than compliance of the spending programs with government priorities.

 

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THE JAKARTA POST

EDITORIAL

RI'S INDEPENDENCE DAY: A FORGOTTEN PIECE OF HISTORY

KARINA SOEMARWOTO

 

On Nov. 15, 2009, a seminar was held at the Central Museum of Utrecht, the Netherlands. Besides its title, "Images of the Truth", what made the event interesting was that it analyzed the Indonesian
independence movement from a Dutch perspective in the presence of experts on Indonesia, such as Prof. Dr. Nico Schulten Nordholt, as guests.

 

Had an Indonesian attended the meeting, they would have felt offended at the occasion. If they were familiar with the Dutch view of the issue, only the element of surprise would have vanished.

 

An expressive attitude on the Dutch behalf created the impression that the demand for independence by the indigenous East Indian population was truly notable only after the Japanese presence and the "occupation" by the Westerners. Occasionally, the view that colonization is beneficial to the occupied population was dropped in.

 

Sometimes this was done explicitly, for instance by casually mentioning that roads were built during the Dutch presence, and that the VOC traded with the East Indies.

 

At other times this was done implicitly, for instance by showing Eddy Cahyono's movie Diantara Masa Lalu dan Masa Sekarang (Between the Past and Present) to end the seminar.

 

The latter could be interpreted as taking the essence of the movie of its context, creating an offensive implication of Indonesians.

 

The above forms only one example of an occasion in which Indonesia's independence is perceived as such. This is not a rare perception of Dutch East Indian history in the Netherlands.

 

It is important that the Indonesian people devote their attention to Dutch disagreements on the topic of Indonesian independence, simply because the injustices thrust upon them in the past have not been resolved to this very day.

 

Indonesia declared independence on Aug. 17, 1945, while the Netherlands only recognized Indonesia's sovereignty on Dec. 27, 1949. In the period in between, laws in the Netherlands were hurriedly amended to allow newly drafted soldiers to be deployed to Indonesia at a younger age, starting 1947.

 

It is well known that some of these draftees committed actions akin to genocide and war crimes, often referred to as gewelddadige pacificatie (violent pacification), during the politionele acties (political action).

 

Understandably, it is very unfavorable for today's Dutch government to apologize for "having
stood on the wrong side of history" (as former Dutch foreign minister Bernard Rudolf Bot formulated in 2005) and recognize that Aug. 17, 1945, was the day Indonesia became a sovereign state.

 

Had they done so, it would mean the Netherlands had illegally invaded a sovereign state in the period between August 1945 and December 1949, and may have to pay high compensation for all kinds of damage done unto Indonesia and its people.

 

Yet one may question what right the Netherlands had to send their military to a state that had declared itself independent.

 

As if the newborn country had not undergone enough turmoil, when the Netherlands finally recognized its sovereignty, Indonesia was made to inherit the debts of the former Dutch East Indies.

 

The final amount to be paid was more than 4 billion Dutch guilders, which also covered the costs for the politionele acties, paid off from 1950 to 1956.

 

This amount was almost as much as the money that the Netherlands received from the Marshall Plan. As the amount would have created a leap forward for the Dutch economy, it would have been a significant burden/setback for the newly sovereign nation.

 

It would be utterly unacceptable to simply forget this past by means of invalid excuses such as "leaving the past behind to aim for the future", for it is the past that determines the present, and the present that creates the future.

 

In August 2005, then Dutch foreign minister Bot delivered a speech in which he accepted Indonesia's Independence Day to be on Aug. 17, 1945.

 

However, to accept is not to recognize. Bot further stated that the realization existed in the Netherlands that de facto Indonesian sovereignty began in 1945, indicating this statement was not necessarily lawful.

 

Recognition remains missing. Yet Bot will be granted the Bintang Mahaputra Utama medal at the 2010 Independence Day ceremony, along with another Dutch politician, the VVD (Dutch People's Party for Freedom and Democracy) lawmaker van Baalen.

 

Indonesian Ambassador to the Netherlands J.E. Habibie was interviewed on the Indonesian TV
show Impact on QTV on March 28, 2008. In the past, including in previous interview, the ambassador repeated that the Dutch government had since 2005 recognized Aug. 17, 1945, to be Indonesian Independence Day.

 

In the interview, the ambassador also spoke of the very smooth and increasingly friendly relations developing between Indonesia and the Netherlands.

 

He further said the progressing relations and trade with the Netherlands were beneficial to Indonesia.
The Dutch article "Band met Indonesië Spiegelglad" (Bond with Indonesia Mirror Smooth) from Oct. 13, 2008, stated Bot would be awarded the Bintang Mahaputra Utama particularly because in 2005 "he officially recognized Indonesia's independence".

 

Aanvaard, the Dutch word for "accept", is repeated several times, whereas erken, the word for "recognize", is nowhere to be found in the speech that former foreign minister Bot delivered at the Indië commemoration at the Hague on Aug. 15, 2005.

 

The recipients of the Bintang Mahaputra Utama become our national heroes, whom our soldiers salute with great honor. Given the current situation, such a gesture on Indonesia's behalf is an inappropriate excess of intimacy; a motion of appreciation way beyond necessary, between the two countries involved. With all due respect to Ambassador Habibie, sometimes it becomes ambiguous concerning which team you are rooting for.
The writer is an International Baccalaureate graduate based in the Netherlands.

 

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THE JAKARTA POST

EDITORIAL

KEY PERSPECTIVES IN BANK CENTURY BAILOUT

ARKAS VIDDY AND EGGI SUDJANA

 

The Bank Century bailout policy was implemented, because, as the government argued, it was necessary, otherwise Bank Century Bank would have collapsed.

 

When it did collapse, not only would Century customers be shocked and lose their trust in the bank, but also the customers of other banks would lose trust in other banks.

 

And a run on banks rush would have been the consequence. People would have withdrawn their savings en masse, which would have  massively  their money led to another massive crisis rush like what happened during the 1997 financial crisis.

 

But Let us examine the government policy based on both quantitative and qualitative approaches, to help to decide whether the bailout policy was effective or not.

 

First, let's look at the decision from an economics perspective. We will use  Linear Multiple Regression formulation by puttingusing the input  from the bailout policy variable as a dummy variable, where a 0 score to time series before bailout policy implementation periods  (before December 2008) and 1 score to  time series after bailout policy implementation (December 2008 to November 2009).

 

In this regression the independent variables that  can be used are foreign exchange reserves,  rupiah against foreign currencies especially US dollar, stock exchange rate,  export - import,  bank liquidity, Bank Century bailout policy, while Indonesia's economic growth is the dependent variable.

 

Based on Bank Indonesia's data for for the first quarter in of 2009, Indonesia's economic fundamentals were in a relatively stable condition in facing impacts of the global financial crisis.

 

Foreign exchange reserves decreased to US$50.6 billion, but this amount was still controllable and it was not significant because previously the largest Indonesian exchange reserves had been $57.1 billion in 2007, while some years earlier there had only been between $40 and $50 billion. And this was completely different to what happened during the 1997 crisis when Indonesia only had about $20 billion.

 

In October 2008, the Jakarta Stock Exchange was closed with the composite index at 1,256.70 — a decrease of around 31 percent compared to the month beforehand, and 54 percent below the same period one year earlier — because of impacts of the global financial crisis, but it was not because of Indonesia's economic fundamentals.

 

This could be compared with the data in August 1997, when the Indonesia Stock Exchange composite
index decreased by 34 percent because of increasing of inter-bank interest rates and the rise of  Bank Indonesia's promissory note (SBI) interest rates by between about 28 and 30 percent.

 

During the 1997 crisis, it this rate even went to between 75 percent and 300 percent, which never happen during the 2008 global financial crisis. Inter-bank interest rates and interest rates of SBI increased, but only from 9.25 percent to 9.50 percent.

 

The rupiah against foreign currencies, especially the US dollar, became relatively weak and fell 16 percent to Rp 11,050/USD at the end of October 2008. But it was fluctuative.

 

The situation was much worse during 1997 and 1998 crisis, when  rupiah fell to its lowest level — dropping 600 percent to Rp 16,000 per dollar.

 

Another economic fundament is the inflation rate, and we compare the inflation rates during the 1997/98 financial crisis with those of the 2008 global financial crisis.

 

In October 2008, Indonesia's inflation was at around 0.45 percent, while for the whole of 2008 it was about 11 percent. During the 1997/98 financial crisis period, inflation reached 77 percent.

 

It could be concluded that the bailout policy for Bank Century in Indonesia was not effective and also violateds existing rules and laws.

 

How about from law legal perspective?

 

The House of Representatives' Bank Century Iinquiry Committee should consider to use implementing the law no. 242 in their its inquiry against investigations of Vice President Boediono (in his capacity as former  Bank Indonesia governor), and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani.

 

It also needs to consider to cross-checking data from longer-term (at least from 2006 to 2009).
The Financial Stability System Committee (KSSK) used short-term data (from 2008) to justify the government's bailout policy.

 

It would  also be better for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to explain what he has done in relation to the issuance of the 2008 government regulation in lieu of Law on the  Financial Security Network System (JPSK).

 

According to this Regulation, the Finance Minister and Bank Indonesia Governor can not be punished for policies they issue.

 

The House has refused the chapter 29 of the this Regulation and asked the government to revise
it. However, the government has maintained this regulation as the legal foundation for the bailout decisioning of Bank Century, without any correction as requestedired by the House.

 

It is ridiculous that the government spent Rp 6.7 trillion from state coffers to bailout the bank.

 

Alternatively, this huge sum could have been spent in establishing around 6,700 school buildings,
or paying the yearly salaries of 200,000 teachers , where they each receive  Rp 2.8 million  For their a monthly salary.

 

The House's committee  must be able to acquire and use all necessary evidences  from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and the Financial Transaction Analysis Report (PPATK), to make sure that it would be able to issue the strongest legal recommendation.

Arkas Viddy, PhD  is an international economy researcher  in Australia.

Dr.  Eggi Sudjana is a lawyer.

 

 

 

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THE JAKARTA POST

EDITORIAL

GUS DUR, THE WORD 'ALLAH' AND RADICALISM

KHAIRIL AZHAR

 

Soon after he stepped down as Indonesia's fourth president, I met Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid at a drugstore in Pamulang, and would frequently do so up until his death. There, on the wall next to the entrance, was a big picture of Gus Dur in shorts and a T-shirt.

 

The owner of the drugstore, a Chinese-Indonesian and a Christian (if the crucifix on the wall was anything to go by), was pictured standing next to the sitting Gus Dur.

 

In the picture, the former president is smiling as though he had no worries in the world, or possibly letting visitors know that no obstacles are impossible to overcome.

 

He may as well be saying, "All illnesses have their own medicines. There is also a panacea, a medicine for all kinds of illnesses, and that's our willingness to smile and make ourselves and others around us relaxed."

 

The drugstore owner stands proudly, possibly with a feeling of deep peace or gratitude. Never for a moment does the picture come across as an attempt by the drugstore owner to draw more customers. No, it is more about a son feeling at peace in the presence of his father.

 

But now the son seems to be in angst. He has just lost his guardian father and I am not sure whether he has found another one to ensure things remain on right track as before.

 

The father has gone and the son is now likely to be an orphan for the rest of his life if a (hopefully good) stepfather does not come into his life.

 

The drugstore owner is not alone in facing that destiny. I vividly remember the greengrocer from my previous housing complex. Because I was not watching TV the night Gus Dur passed away, it was she who told me about his death. I did not believe her at first, because we always joked as Gus Dur used to. But she was not joking this time. It was true, Gus Dur had passed away.

 

The greengrocer's family, Muslim and Javanese, seemed to need another great figure as soon as
possible. I do not believe they are floating voices socially, culturally or politically.

 

Gus Dur was someone special for them, mostly spiritually. Given the opportunity, they would have left for Jombang, where Gus Dur was buried, and taken soil from around his grave as a talisman.

 

There was another story. A close friend, a financially less well-off government employee (a division head), told me the movements for a multicultural and pluralist Indonesia were in difficult straits.

 

The activists now face a big problem after having just lost a powerful guard who was able to defend them before the religious radicals and the oppressive government.

 

He may have exaggerated a bit, but there was some truth to it. First, even though it has only happened in Malaysia so far, the ban on non-Muslims from using the word "Allah" seems to reflect the escalation of religious radicalism stemming from trivial affairs in Southeast Asia.

 

In Indonesia, the word has been in use for a long time, albeit with a slightly different pronunciation, and it is not impossible that the radicals are going to issue a similar monopoly on its use or that of any other words, claiming them as exclusively Islamic and not applicable for non-Islamic use.

 

If Gus Dur were still alive, he would joke about it as he did about other incidents related to misunderstanding and exaggerated possessiveness of religious symbols, which are actually profane.

 

The word "Allah" is an Arabic word that predates Islam. The late Nurcholish Madjid (1939-2005) translated it as "Tuhan" in Indonesian, equivalent to "God" with capital G. It is merely a linguistic phenomenon.

 

What matters, in this case, should be the consequences of the belief of the presence of "Allah" in a person's

mind; that his presence, for instance, would steer the believer away from negative thinking about others, or, in Indonesia, from a corrupt way of thinking.

 

The word should be a symbol of the presence of a guard who guarantees peace while reminding against not committing wrongdoings. What use is it, after all, if the word is uttered all the time or possessed exclusively but has no effect at all on the claimants?

 

If Gus Dur were still here, he would also joke about how the radicals are now haunting the mosques, not just in Surakarta (as revealed in a recent study) but also in other cities, towns and remote villages.

 

"Why do these people make a living through planting fear in the hearts of the people?" he might say.

 

Or perhaps he would get mad at the fact that some of the mosques are managed by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's biggest Islamic organization, and one that he once led. Gus Dur, who opened many alternatives to facilitate the need for modernization of his previously "very traditionalist" people, would have seen it as a setback, a move to the Wahhabism of the 18th century.

 

But these are the facts: After the deaths of Harun Nasution (1919-1998), the former rector of Syarif

Hidayatullah State Islamic University and founder of the Islamic thought reform in Indonesia, and Nurcholish Madjid, the death of Gus Dur seems to have eased the way for radicals to radicalize Indonesian Muslims and therefore generate more conflict in a religiously and culturally diverse Indonesia.

 

Hopefully this is all just a though experiment rather than the country's destiny. Yet, as in the Ko Ping Ho series, the Chinese kung fu stories written and published by a Chinese-Indonesian whom Gus Dur was very fond of during his youth, there are always hidden weapons or secret steps available to defeat a knight's enemies.

 

And if the knights should be defeated, hopefully they can find other gurus of greater skill to overcome the offending disturbers and bring back the peace. Rest in peace, Gus Dur.

The writer is a teacher in Jakarta.

 

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

WARNING TO BANKS

 

The sooner-than-expected hike of the reserve requirement ratio for banks highlighted growing concern among Chinese authorities of overheating and inflation pressures.

 

To the surprise of most who did not anticipate a major policy move before the Spring Festival this mid-February, the People's Bank of China announced the ratio's hike on Tuesday. The increase, to take into effect next Monday, is the first of its kind since the global financial crisis hit bottom in late 2008.

 

The move can be viewed as the beginning of China's efforts to absorb excess liquidity. But it is far from certain if Chinese authorities will end the era of cheap money anytime soon.

 

It is estimated that the latest ratio hike will force domestic banks to set aside another 200 billion yuan ($29.4 billion) as reserves to temper the rapid credit lending at the start of the new year.

 

To help lift the national economy out of the global recession, Chinese banks approved more than 9 trillion yuan in new loans last year, more than doubling that in 2008.

 

Managing the consequences of such a credit binge has become a task that has grown more complex than ever for the central bank.

 

On the one hand, signs of slightly overheating and inflationary pressures have emerged that demand a response in policy. Tightening loans now could prevent the economy from becoming too overheated and reduce the need for even more aggressive tightening later.

 

On the other hand, both the recovery of the global economy and the rebound of the national economy are not yet on solid footing to ensure that an early exit from the current credit policy will work. This rationale is why Chinese authorities have vowed to maintain a moderately loose monetary policy to maintain a sound economic growth this year.

 

The latest hike of the reserve requirement ratio sent a warning to Chinese banks that had reportedly made loans totaling almost 600 billion yuan in the first week of January. That rate of credit growth is simply not sustainable and must be stopped as early as possible.

 

Yet, the move may also not be as hawkish as it looks if it indeed mainly helps to absorb excess liquidity in the banking system resulted from rising foreign exchange reserves. The accelerated rebound in exports in the past months has further inflated China's foreign exchange reserves, which reached $2.3 trillion last September.

 

More moderate and targeted tightening measures will be needed in the coming months as signs of overheating and inflation become more evident. But it will definitely take several aggressive interest rate hikes to end the flood of cheap money.

 

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

STUDENTS' LOAN DEFAULTS

 

(Offering low-interest student loans to those who cannot afford a college education is an essential guarantee of equal opportunity.

 

Despite the recent climb in jobless new college graduates, a college education remains an important bridge for rural teens to cross the deep and wide urban-rural divide. It is also one of the few possible paths for urban underdogs to change their lives.

 

Parents seldom hesitate to tighten their belts to make sure their children do not let go of the possibly life-changing opportunity. The government has now helped them with the student loan programs.

 

The wonderful idea once prompted expectations of a circle of virtuousness - needy families would not have to lower their standard of living to support their college-bound teenagers; teens would be better equipped for life's potential challenges and opportunities; the country would see a larger pool of talent; and, of course, banks can collect some, though meager, profits. That should have been a win-win, happy scenario.

 

By the end of 2008, almost 4.4 million students received such loans. But to the disappointment of many, the pattern of virtuousness is now cracking.

 

The negative feedback from campuses over the years has people worrying about the future of student loans. We have been inundated with reports of college students failing to pay back the loans. But the messages from Guangdong province sound more unsettling.

 

When commercial banks involved in student loan programs backed off in 2003, citing difficulties in recovering their money, Guangdong authorities worked out a cooperative program with the State Development Bank that was backed by schools. The colleges pay security deposits so that their students could get money from the bank.

 

The dramatic rise in the number of graduates failing to repay the loans has landed both the bank and province's schools in trouble. Accusations have been tossed around in every direction.

 

The belief that students who have not paid the loans back should be blamed is not totally groundless. We do not like the replies from students that they defaulted on their loans because they had not been properly reminded. For that, they deserve to be reminded they are legally obliged to pay back what they have received from the bank. And perhaps all our youngsters need to be a little more grateful for what they have.

 

But let us not dump all blame on them. Many of them have reasons for defaulting, though that is not an excuse for refusing to pay the pretty low interest. For one thing, we should not ignore the impacts of the increasingly tight job market.

 

It is heartbreaking to hear that some students have said they have to find a way just to feed themselves before thinking of paying their debts. This a very real problem troubling many of today's new college graduates.

 

While fumbling for ways to make student loans affordable to all parties, we must continue to help those young people get jobs.

 

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

STOCK MARKET FACING VITAL CHANGES

BY YI XIANRONG (CHINA DAILY)

In an experimental move to reform the domestic stock market, China's regulators said last week that it will soon allow investors to short sell stocks and buy on margin, following a recent decision by financial authorities to charge taxes on income from transactions on nontradable shares.

 

For the past four years, China has been considering margin trading, in which people borrow money from brokerage firms to invest in stocks, and short selling, in which investors borrow stocks from brokers and then sell them with the assumption the stock can be bought back at a lower cost than the price at which they sold short.

 

These changes, which have been approved by the State Council, will be made on a trial basis by a small number of brokerage firms. The investment moves will be gradually expanded to other securities companies, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said.

 

The securities watchdog also said stock market index futures - contracts to buy or sell at a future date a stock that copies the performance of a stock market index - would be launched at an appropriate time.

 

Despite receiving varied market responses, the two moves are expected to tremendously influence the Chinese stock market, which has drastically fluctuated over the past two years. Launching the two moves also shows that the domestic securities market is taking a big mature step forward.

 

The two moves and the multitude of other stock market policies and regulations adopted by the Chinese government since the start of the year show that authorities are aspiring to develop an upward market.

 

The drastic drop in shares on the market in 2008 has not only caused the value of assets to depreciate by a large margin. Authorities are also now aware that a lingering stock market slump will negatively affect the entire national economy.

 

The downturn of the Chinese economy in the latter half of 2008 was partly blamed on the global economic recession that was ignited by the United States' financial meltdown. But to a large extent, it was also pinned on the drastic decline in the country's exports because of the continuous renminbi appreciation and in the investors' drop in confidence in the stock market.

 

It is particularly important and necessary for the government, under these circumstances, to jolt the fluctuating stock market because it will help restore the market's finance functions that were neglected. It will also restore the public's confidence that the national economy can grow in a sustainable and stable fashion.

 

When share prices skyrocketed last year, they helped stimulate the nation's robust economic growth. Now the nation has the daunting task of figuring out how to carry that momentum forward to maintain economic growth this year.

 

It is increasingly obvious that innovating a well-developed network of systems and regulations for the stock market would be greatly helpful to a stable market. And authorities are keenly aware of this: It explains why they have employed a string of policies and measures within a short period to boost the bullish stock market.

 

Margin trading and short selling can produce more positive than negative effects, as experiences around the world have shown. While signifying a big step toward a matured stock market, the introduction of these financial transactions, along with the expected launch of index futures, meanwhile is expected to fundamentally alter how investors view the country's stock market and its methods of operation.

 

As opposed to other countries around the world, China's stock market in the past stopped short of the role of leverage. Investors mainly used their own money for investments and lacked the opportunities to tap into various financial channels. This model seriously hampered the formation of an active stock market and its expansion. Investors simply cared about gaining access to inside information in this model, rather than analyzing market conditions and how listed companies perform.

 

With margin trading and short selling in place, investors can borrow money from brokerage firm to buy stock and possibly reap a profit if they are optimistic about market conditions. Investors can borrow stocks from brokers and sell them when the risks are right, hoping to buy them back at a lower price.

 

But these investment moves can also add problems to some investors and speculators who try to manipulate the stock market.

 

The moves should spur the domestic stock market and help investors shun market risks. As expansive credit tools, these investment moves must be effectively implemented. Authorities also certainly need to forcefully monitor and supervise how investors use these moves to prevent them from being abused, which can fuel risks in the national economy.

 

To ensure that these investment strategies are smoothly advanced, the country should put in place a sound system as well as regulations that can be effective supervisory tools.

 

The experiences China has learned from tackling the global financial crisis has laid a solid foundation for the nation to practice margin trading, short selling and stock market index futures. The moves could have a positive effect on the domestic stock market and promote its development in a more stable and healthy manner.

 

The author is a researcher with the Institute of Finance and Banking under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

 

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

CONFUCIANISM IS MORE ABOUT WAY OF LIFE

BY YAO YING (CHINA DAILY)

The world's interest in China, its history, culture and economy is not new. But it seems to have reached a feverish pitch now that the country is poised to become the world's second largest economy. One indication of that is the opening of an increasing number of schools for Chinese culture both in and outside the country. And though not entirely true, Chinese culture has become synonymous with Confucianism.

 

That's great news for Kung Peng-cheng, a Taiwan resident and visiting professor at Peking University. Kung has always dreamed of seeing the revival of Confucianism.

 

In his crimson Tang suit with frog buttons, Kung looks more like a man from the late Qing Dynasty. He seems to have stepped out of an even earlier era when he speaks. He is soft-spoken but articulate, quoting from Chinese classics with graceful lan.

 

Kung is a Confucius scholar and follower. He has spent nearly three decades writing, teaching and traveling, similar to what the revered philosopher did more than 2,500 years ago. He is only 53 years old but has already authored more than 70 books on subjects ranging from Chinese literature and history to philosophy and religion. Among his celebrated works are The History of Chinese Literary History and Introduction to Chinese Studies.

 

Kung may be happy at the renewed public interest in Confucianism, but he warns against the tendency of using Confucius' teachings just to make money. It is still too early to say we are in the throes of a cultural renaissance. So, he says, we should do more pragmatic things to carry our culture forward rather than indulging in empty talk about when and how Chinese studies would become a dominant subject worldwide.

 

"Confucianism is first and foremost about education, because education can make everyone a better person," Kung says. Education can help any person to grow into a wise man. For thousands of years, Chinese people have attached great importance to education. And education has played a vital role in making us better students, better employees and better human beings. But today, society is in danger of losing that tradition, because government spending on education (and cultural development) is inadequate.

 

Even the Yangtze River Delta region, with all its talents and economic power, doesn't have good universities except in big cities such as Nanjing and Shanghai. Kunshan, an industrial city in Jiangsu province and home to about half a million Taiwan businesspeople, does not have a single institution of higher education. Many enterprises don't even try to retain talented people who could lead them toward sustainable growth.

 

At the national level, education faces a different kind of problem: uneven distribution of resources. The bulk of government fund goes to the 100-odd key universities and colleges. For example, only three universities are designated as key institutions in Hunan, although the province is about the size of Britain. The rest of the universities and a large number of colleges have to struggle for funds. The case is similar in many other provinces and regions, says Kung, who is former president of Taiwan-based Fokuang and Nanhua universities.

 

Confucius tried to make education accessible to students from all classes. And education has been an equalizing force since then. Kung's personal experience bears testimony to this. He was born in a poor family, removed from science, philosophy and the arts. But thanks to his education he could still read Chinese classics, albeit with the help of his teacher. This transformed him from a teenager good at street fights into a scholar.

 

The widening income gap, however, has now made it even more difficult for poor children to go in for higher studies and change their fate. The wealth divide is actually insulating the social classes further.

 

Of course, the government has to raise its spending on education, Kung says. But it should allow more non-public investors to open schools, too. In Taiwan and Hong Kong, many religious organizations run schools. But on the mainland, Kung says, they rarely do so.

 

Buying and selling diplomas, plagiarizing theses and the flood of insignificant papers in journals pose another type of threat to higher education, and thus to the basic tenet of Confucianism.

 

And then we have people who lambasted Confucianism during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) but today claim to be Confucian scholars. How can we take their thoughts and writings seriously? Kung says.

 

We should understand Confucianism is a philosophy of practice. It is not just readings of an ancient text to pass exams or write books or to sermonize on. A true Confucian scholar is also a Confucian follower. He has to practice what Confucius taught. But how many people do that?

 

Under such circumstances, how can we say Confucianism is undergoing resurrection?

 

A person has to study traditional thoughts seriously either to support or to oppose them. Do we see a lot of people studying Confucianism seriously? Behind all the craze for Chinese studies, in which nationalistic views may have a role to play, Confucianism is still where it has been for a long time: a marginalized subject in universities and a way of living that seems irrelevant in today's society. The reason: our academic set-up, family structure and lifestyle all have changed substantially during the past century, which saw Chinese culture crumble under the weight of Western thoughts and ideas.

 

People of the Middle Kingdom were self-sufficient and self-contented. But they were closed for centuries, too. So when they came to know the progress Westerners had made in science, education, philosophy and culture, they were overwhelmed; they were overcome by a sense of inferiority.

 

This prompted them to try and rid their lives of traditional Chinese culture as quickly as possible. And in their rush to embrace everything Western, they conceived the West to be prettier than it actually was. That's why, says Kung, Chinese were more Westernized than the Japanese and Koreans when the latter were going through a similar process. The sad outcome: Many traditional cultural markers, still evident in Japanese society, have been lost in China.

 

China has followed the West selectively since the May 4th Movement in 1919. Since Chinese misread that Western civilization was only about skyscrapers and cars, they embraced industrialization wholeheartedly and missed out on Western music, literature and arts, sports, philosophy, religion and law.

 

We don't have to lament this if we learn a lesson from history. "This is the time for double enlightenment," Kung says. "We should not just study Chinese culture, but also see Western culture in a new light." Only by doing so can we know the advantages and disadvantages of Western culture, and avoid evaluating our own traditions wrongly.Western philosophers have always looked toward ancient cultures such as Greek and Hebrew for enlightenment. Since Voltaire, Eastern philosophy has become another source of inspiration for them. Western and Eastern cultures both can be invaluable resources for Chinese people, and whether they turn them into wisdom or carry them as a burden depends entirely on them.

 

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

NON-PROLIFERATION: ONUS IS ON MAJOR NUCLEAR STATES

BY MING JING (CHINA DAILY)

This year will be crucial for nuclear arms control.

 

The non-proliferation review conference in May could decide whether the global non-proliferation regime survives or not. And all eyes will be on the United States and Russia to see if the two top atomic powers can reach a deal to reduce their nuclear arsenals.

 

Delivering a speech in Prague in April, US President Barack Obama said his country was committed to seeking "a world without nuclear weapons". Five months later, he chaired a meeting of the UN Security Council, which unanimously supported his vision.

 

Obama's ability to deliver on his promise will be tested this year when Moscow and Washington resume haggling on an arms reduction pact and again meet at the crucial UN nuclear arms conference in May.

 

The success of the month-long review of the troubled 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) will depend largely on whether the American and Russian negotiators agree on a successor pact to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1) to cut nuclear weapons.

 

The US and Russia missed their deadline in December to agree to a new arms control treaty, which would have cut the world's two largest nuclear arsenals by up to a third, though they vowed to generally abide by the old one while continuing negotiations.

 

The overall outline of the new treaty is apparent. At a meeting in Moscow in July, Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev narrowed the range for a cap on warheads to between 1,500 and 1,675, down from about 2,200, which each side now has. They are also expected to lower the ceiling on delivery vehicles - intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-based missiles and strategic bombers - to below 800, from 1,600.

 

Both sides say a successor to START-1 would help restore relations between Moscow and Washington, which recently sank to a post-Cold War low. The new treaty should become another milestone in disarmament and non-proliferation, taking the interaction between the US and Russia to a higher level and reaffirming their common goal of promoting mutual as well as global security.

 

But with the US and Russia still grappling over a few key differences, there are no guarantees that talks would yield a provisional accord. Russia has called for simpler verification procedures for planned cuts in nuclear arsenals, while the US insists on a deal that works for the two Cold War foes.

 

Analysts reckon that the deadline for a new agreement is May, when the non-proliferation review conference opens in New York. The last review conference, in 2005, ended in failure. The promise of the 1995 review conference has not been realized, either. Despite doing remarkable work in many countries, the International Atomic Energy Agency is still short of expertise and resources. Although the present non-proliferation regime has played a positive role in preventing proliferation, it has its shortcomings: limited binding force, lack of effective measures of supervision and sanctions against countries violating the NPT.

 

With by far the world's two largest nuclear arsenals, the US and Russia have the prime responsibility of taking the lead in disarmament. Hopefully, they will ensure that their disarmament process is verifiable and irreversible and that their dismantled weapons are destroyed and not turned into stockpiles. Any new nuclear-weapon reduction treaty should have a strict verification mechanism, and it is important that the major nuclear powers conduct meaningful strategic dialogues to enhance mutual trust.

 

If Russia and the US can send a clear signal to the world that they are serious about disarmament by signing a new pact to reduce their Cold War stockpiles, the NPT will get a new lease on life when its 189 signatories gather to discuss ways of plugging what some see as dangerous loopholes.

 

More importantly, the non-proliferation review conference will be a test: whether the progress in START-1 can be used for a renewed grand bargain between nuclear and non-nuclear countries. Many NPT signatories would like the review conference to call for universality of the treaty - meaning Israel, Pakistan and India should be pressured to sign it and destroy any warheads they might have build.

 

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) withdrew from the NPT in 2003 and tested nuclear devices in 2006 and again earlier last year. Western powers would also like this year's NPT review to agree on a plan of action for strengthening the treaty to make it harder for countries like Iran and the DPRK to acquire sensitive technology and the capability to make nuclear weapons.

 

But rich and poor nations have been at loggerheads over the issue for years. Poor states accuse the big powers of maintaining a monopoly on nuclear technology and want that to end.

 

Wealthy states worry about the threat of nuclear arms races in Asia and in the Middle East, where Israel is widely believed to have a nuclear arsenal, although it does not acknowledge it.

 

They fear that a resurgence of atomic energy across the world will increase nuclear proliferation risks.

 

The balance of the bargain will be debated in the non-proliferation review conference, which hopefully will work out effective measures and reach some substantial agreements. The atmosphere at the last preparatory conference was cooperative, though the underlying risks of paralyzing disputes remain high.

 

But no matter what the outcome of the review conference is, it will still be important for nuclear states to cooperate in maintaining and strengthening non-proliferation - unless the world is prepared to accept unchecked cascades of proliferation that could lead to global nuclear anarchy.

 

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THE MOSCOW TIMES

EDITORIAL

GUBERNATORIAL ROULETTE

BY NIKOLAI PETROV

 

The long New Year's holiday is a perfect time for the authorities to announce controversial and unpopular decisions. The Kremlin usually uses this trick to avoid unwanted criticism and debate. While most of the country was celebrating and few were following political developments, President Dmitry Medvedev announced his gubernatorial "nominations" (read: appointments) for six regions — something that he probably should have done in September or October.

 

Medvedev reappointed the incumbent governors in the Kurgan region and Marii-El republic and named new governors to the Volgograd region and the Komi republic.

 

But by far the most controversial appointments were in the Altai republic and the Primorye region. In 2005, Primorye Governor Sergei Darkin became the first governor to be appointed after then-President Vladimir Putin annulled direct elections following the 2004 Beslan attack. In 2005, Darkin appeared to be one of the more "authoritarian" regional heads because of his past criminal activity. Now, after the authorities conducted a search of Darkin's residence in May and many of his associates have been arrested, the situation has not improved. Yet the Kremlin has once again placed its trust in Darkin.

 

 Similarly, Medvedev has reappointed Altai's governor, former federal inspector Alexander Berdnikov — despite his involvement in a high-profile scandal over the illegal hunting of endangered sheep in the republic and a related helicopter crash in early January 2009 in which Alexander Kosopkin, the Kremlin's envoy to the State Duma, was killed.

 

These examples may prove that the current system is designed to sideline strong governors while keeping afloat those who are more dependent on the Kremlin — in part because they could face serious criminal charges if they don't toe the Kremlin line.

 

At the same time, the heads of the Komi and Volgograd regions are shining examples of Medvedev's generation. They are from the "Golden 100" presidential cadre reserve, both were previously deputy governors and therefore members of the local establishment, and both came to politics from business relatively recently. This could very well be a new Kremlin model for filling gubernatorial posts with members of the local political elite.

 

But looking for a pattern to this process is like trying to figure out how to win Russian roulette. There are far too many unpredictable forces and factors at work, and it is never clear in advance which ones will play the decisive role.

 

What's more, the Kremlin has repeatedly manipulated the number of terms that governors are allowed to serve. This was exploited in 2004, when Putin coerced governors into rejecting the existing system of direct elections. At the time, most governors were nearing the end of their legal term limits and were therefore willing to embrace the idea of being appointed from Moscow to remain in office.

 

Several weeks ago, Medvedev announced that he would like to see governors serving no more than three terms — certainly a long time in office. But to be on the safe side, he left open the option of governors serving a fourth term — "in exceptional cases."

 

Nikolai Petrov is a scholar in residence at the Carnegie Moscow Center.

 

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THE MOSCOW TIMES

EDITORIAL

MIGHT MAY STILL BE RIGHT

BY JOSEPH S. NYE, JR.

 

Will military power become less important in the coming decades? It is true that the number of large-scale, interstate wars continues to decline, and fighting is unlikely among advanced democracies and on many issues. But as U.S. President Barack Obama said in accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in December: "We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth that we will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations — acting individually or in concert — will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified."

 

When people speak of military power, they tend to think in terms of the resources that underlie the hard-power behavior of fighting and threatening to fight — soldiers, tanks, planes, ships and so forth. In the end, if push comes to shove, such military resources matter. Napoleon famously said, "God is on the side of the big battalions," and Mao Zedong argued that power comes from the barrel of a gun.

 

In today's world, however, there is much more to military resources than guns and battalions and more to hard-power behavior than fighting or threatening to fight. Military power is also used to provide protection for allies and assistance to friends. Such noncoercive use of military resources can be an important source of the soft-power behavior of framing agendas, persuading other governments and attracting support in world politics.

 

Even when thinking only of fighting and threats, many analysts focus solely on interstate war and concentrate on soldiers in uniforms, organized and equipped by the state in formal military units. But in the 21st century, most "wars" occur within, rather than between states, and many combatants do not wear uniforms. Of the 226 significant armed conflicts between 1945 and 2002, less than half in the 1950s were fought between states and armed groups. By the 1990s, such conflicts were the dominant form.

 

Of course, civil war and irregular combatants are not new, as even the traditional law of war recognizes. What is new is the increase in irregular combat and the technological changes that put ever-increasing destructive power in the hands of small groups that would have been priced out of the market for massive destruction in earlier eras. And now technology has brought a new dimension to warfare: the prospect of cyber attacks by which an enemy — state or nonstate — can create enormous physical destruction (or threaten to do so) without an army that physically crosses another state's border.

 

War and force may be down, but they are not out. Instead, the use of force is taking new forms. Military theorists today write about "fourth-generation warfare" that sometimes has "no definable battlefields or fronts." Indeed, the distinction between civilian and military may disappear.

 

The first generation of modern warfare reflected the tactics of line and column following the French Revolution. The second generation relied on massed firepower and culminated in World War I; its slogan was that artillery conquers and infantry occupies. The third generation arose from tactics developed by the Germans to break the stalemate of trench warfare in 1918, which Germany perfected in the Blitzkrieg tactics that allowed it to defeat larger French and British tank forces in the conquest of France in 1940.

 

Both ideas and technology drove these changes. The same is true of today's fourth-generation of modern

warfare, which focuses on the enemy's society and political will to fight.

 

Even if the prospect or threat of the use of force among states has become less probable, it will retain a high impact, and it is just such situations that lead rational actors to purchase expensive insurance. The United States is likely to be the major issuer of such insurance policies.

 

This leads to a larger point about the role of military force in world politics. Military power remains important because it structures world politics. It is true that in many relationships and issues, military force is increasingly difficult or costly for states to use. But the fact that military power is not always sufficient in particular situations does not mean that it has lost the ability to structure expectations and shape political calculations.

 

Markets and economic power rest upon political frameworks. In chaotic conditions of great political uncertainty, markets fail. Political frameworks, in turn, rest upon norms and institutions, but also upon the management of coercive power. A well-ordered modern state is defined by a monopoly on the legitimate use of force, which allows domestic markets to operate.

 

Internationally, where order is more tenuous, residual concerns about the coercive use of force, even if a low probability, can have important effects. Military force, along with norms and institutions, helps to provide a minimal degree of order.

 

Metaphorically, military power provides a degree of security that is to political and economic order as oxygen is to breathing: little noticed until it begins to become scarce. Once that occurs, its absence dominates all else.

 

In this sense, the role of military power in structuring world politics is likely to persist well into the 21st century. Military power will not have the utility for states that it had in the 19th century, but it will remain a crucial component of power in world politics.

 

Joseph S. Nye, a former U.S. assistant defense secretary, is a professor at Harvard University and author of "Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics." © Project Syndicate

 

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THE MOSCOW TIMES

EDITORIAL

LONG PATH TO EUROPE'S VERY DISTANT UNIFICATION

BY YEVGENY BAZHANOV

 

The Treaty of Lisbon, which went into effect on Dec. 1, is another chapter in the attempt to unify Europe. But the integration process started long before Lisbon or even the Treaty of Paris — the accord signed in 1951 by France, West Germany, Italy and the three Benelux countries that created the European Coal and Steel Community, the forerunner to the European Union.

 

In the first century B.C., the majority of European nations were "integrated," but only in the sense that they were subjects of the Roman Empire. After the Roman Empire collapsed, the Holy Roman Empire once again tried to unite most of Europe. In the beginning of the 19th century, Napoleon expressed his strong desire to turn Europe into a "friendly, civilized family" without borders or conflict. But roughly a century later, in 1914, Europe entered the most unfriendly, uncivilized and bloody conflict that it had ever seen. Nations had just recovered from the ruins of World War I when World War II turned out to be an even greater catastrophe.

 

The victors in that war swore not only to live in peace and harmony but to create a "United States of Europe." A unified Europe again remained out of reach, however, as ideology divided the people of the continent into two opposing camps: the Western democratic bloc and the Soviet communist bloc. But with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, the question immediately arose: Will the Western camp unravel now that it is without its enemy from the East?

 

Events of the past two decades demonstrate that the desire for European integration remains intact. This is furthered by a steadily increasing interdependence between states in all areas — from the economy and the environment to the fight against terrorism and organized crime. The process of integration has created benefits that nobody wants to reject, including transparent borders, a unified currency and new opportunities for employment and education.

 

Without a doubt, Russia has played an important role in shaping the political, economic and security landscape in the EU. Many in Europe who perceive Russia as growing stronger and having larger global ambitions see it as a potential political, economic and, in some cases, military threat that can only be countered collectively. The EU members that were once subjects of the Soviet bloc have the most cautious — if not hostile — attitude toward Moscow. They are afraid to coexist with their mighty Russian neighbor without protection from the West.

 

The Chinese threat has lately begun to loom on the horizon as well. The giant dragon from the East has underpriced European products on global markets and crushed whole sectors of Europe's economy. What's more, China's military might is growing on the heels of its economic boom.

 

Although the United States is an ally of Europe, it is easier for the EU to deal with Washington as a unified body. For its part, Washington has more respect for the EU as a collective body than it has for any member nation separately. Moreover, when the United States finds itself in an economic crisis or commits some blunder on the world arena, it has a better chance of overcoming the consequences of those mistakes by maintaining close cooperation with Europe.

 

There are other factors in addition to those that now hinder European integration. The most obvious is the presence of powerful national institutions in the EU's member states. Parliaments, judicial bodies, armed forces and secret services are fixated on asserting and preserving the sovereignty of their particular states. In addition, various nations cherish their own particular languages, cultures, religions and traditions. In short, these are all manifestations of the fierce nationalism that permeates practically every nation on the continent. During periods of crises, nationalism assumes its most extreme form, growing into a chauvinistic attitude that pushes national leaders into taking protectionist measures, isolating a state from the outside world and distancing itself from the ideals of the EU.

 

To make matters worse, European states continue to polemicize the memory of past conflicts and offenses. The French idolize Joan of Arc who fought the English, Napoleon who fought all of Europe and Charles de Gaulle who resisted the German invasion. The English, Spanish, Germans and Italians all have their own pantheon of heroes who, in some cases, have gained notoriety for their struggles against the French. It would be difficult to create a single European identity without so much complicated and contradictory historical baggage getting in the way. What's more, the increasing immigrant population that includes Muslims, Buddhists, animists and other minorities makes a unified European identity even more complicated.

 

It is no simple task to find a common denominator among the current demands, interests and positions of Europeans. We run up against this conundrum almost daily. Europe's capital cities hold differing opinions concerning the war in Iraq, the United States, Russia, the Middle East and on hundreds of other major issues. Old Europe has plenty of complaints concerning the new Europe — and vice versa.

 

There is an interesting movement circulating in many European capitals that promotes the idea that the major powers should be broken down into smaller units to promote the federalization of Europe. The most frequently cited example is Switzerland, with its small cantons that provide for true democracy and a successful federation. But this is a nonstarter for several reasons. First, no modern European state would voluntarily and submissively agree to its own dissolution. Second, even if they were to agree, the consequences would be disastrous. Regions and ethnic groups would begin divvying up borders, territories, resources, power stations, holy sanctuaries and so on. Carving up Europe in this matter would hardly be any more orderly or painless than the dissolution of Yugoslavia or the former Soviet Union.

 

In the end, even while Europe continues to work toward greater and deeper integration, it hardly means that the EU will become a global superpower with a unified sovereignty, ideology and geopolitical stance anytime soon.

 

Yevgeny Bazhanov is vice chancellor of research and international relations at the Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy in Moscow.

 

 

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