EDITORIAL 11.03.10

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Editorial

month march 11, edition 000452, collected & managed by durgesh kumar mishra, published by – manish manjul

 

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THE PIONEER

1. COMMUNAL POLITICS
2. BAD LUCK, NIGERIA
3. GIVING WOMEN THEIR DUE SHARE - GAUTAM MUKHERJEE
4. VICTIMS OF NIHILISM - PRIYADARSI DUTTA
5. GUJARAT BREAKS NEW GROUND - KHIMI THAPA
6. POLITICS OVER RED TERROR - SHIKHA MUKERJEE
7. PAYING FOR AFGHANISTAN'S POPPY -  VLADIMIR YEVSEYEV
8. BIHAR'S PARCHED LAND, FAMISHED FARMERS - RAJEEV KUMAR

MAIL TODAY

1. MAMATA HAS BETRAYED HER MYOPIC THINKING
2. SAVE THE KIDS
3. WHY THE MEDIA LOVES SOME DEMAGOGUES - BY JYOTI PUNWANI
4. PATNA DURBAR - GIRIDHAR JHA

THE TIMES OF INDIA

1. SHIFTING GROUND
2. ALL FOR ONE
3. LANGUAGE WITHOUT BARRIERS - SANJIV KAURA
4. YOU NEED TO BE READY FOR IT - REEMA MAITY
5. THE LOSSCAR GOES TO…  - BACHI KARKARIA

HINDUSTAN TIMES

1. WE ARE GAME
2. ATOM HEART BROTHERS
3. HOME AND THE WORLD - RAJIV J. CHAUDHRI
4. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN - SAMAR HALARNKAR
5. THE OTHER BILL

INDIAN EXPRESS

1. TITLE GOES HERE
2. MARSHAL LAW
3. HIGHER CHOICES
4. OLD FRIENDS IN A NEW WORLD - C. RAJA MOHAN
5. A GIFT FOR JOE BIDEN - SUDEEP PAUL
6. COUNTERING THE CRITICS - SUBHASHINIALI
7. NITISH KUMAR, LADIES MAN - JP YADAV
8. VIEW FROM THE RIGHT - SUMAN K JHA
9. WHERE THE GIRLS ARE - SHAILAJA BAJPAI

FINANCIAL EXPRESS

1. HOW TO MAKE INDIA SLUM FREE - MONEY UNSPENT
2. FSDC IS NOT ABOUT TURF, BUT CONTENT - MK VENU
3. WHAT THE WOMEN'S BILL CANNOT DO - YOGINDER K ALAGH
4. GUJARAT CATCHES UP WITH IT - JYOTSNA BHATNAGAR

THE HINDU

1. SAY NO TO RTI AMENDMENTS
2. INDIA'S HOCKEY FUTURE
3. EROSION OF FEDERAL SPACE IN EDUCATION - M.A. BABY
4. ENCORE FOR THE OLD OBAMA MAGIC  - NARAYAN LAKSHMAN
5. RURAL HEALTH: TO TINKER OR TRANSFORM? - K.S. JACOB
6. ONLINE AD SPEND SET TO OVERTAKE PRINT - MERCEDES BUNZ
7. DO BRITISH ASIANS REALLY NEED A SEPARATE RADIO STATION? - HASAN SUROOR
8. PALESTINIANS LOSE CONFIDENCE IN OBAMA: POLL

DNA

1. CHANGE IN THE AIR
2. POINTLESS MOVES
3. THE 'HURT' LOCKER - R JAGANNATHAN
4. THE FOREST OF LANGUAGES AND HOPE - ANTARA DEV SEN

THE TRIBUNE

1. OVERWHELMING RESPONSE
2. FARCE AT PPSC
3. MAMATA'S THEATRICS
4. TOWARDS A NAGA SETTLEMENT - BY B.G. VERGHESE
5. VIGNETTES OF FATHERHOOD - BY ANJALI MEHTA
6. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SHOULD STICK TO ITS ORIGINAL CHARTER - BY S.D. PRADHAN
7. PUNJAB INDUSTRY SINKING - BY KS CHAWLA
8. HEALTH - BY ROB SHARP

MUMBAI MERROR

1. TAKING A LOOK AT GRIEF
2. KEEP IT ROUGH

BUSINESS STANDARD

1. MEDICINES FOR ALL
2. LIMITS TO BIOTECHNOLOGY
3. SWEEPING POWERS, GLARING OMISSIONS - LATHA JISHNU
4. LAOS POWERS AHEAD - BARUN ROY
5. ARVIND SINGHAL: THE FOUR A'S OF EDUCATION - ARVIND SINGHAL
6. WWW.INDIABUDGET 2010-11 - SHANKAR ACHARYA

THE ECONOMIC TIMES

1. ALL IS WELL: NO THREAT TO POLITICAL STABILITY
2. ARBITRARY DOT...
3. 33% BETTER BEHAVED!
4. MUSTER UP THE WILL TO CHANGE ONESELF - VITAL C NADKARNI
5. TAX SOPS ARE DISTORTIONARY BUT THOSE TIED TO INVESTMENT ARE BETTER
6. INVESTMENT-LINKED INCENTIVE WILL HELP HOTELS, TOURISM GROW
7. THE ADVERTISING COUNCIL NEEDS A PARADIGM SHIFT
8. INVESTMENT-LINKED INCENTIVE WILL HELP HOTELS, TOURISM GROW
9. THE ADVERTISING COUNCIL NEEDS A PARADIGM SHIFT
10. ACCOUNTS FROM THE CAPITAL - NIDHI NATH SRINIVAS
11. 'INFINITE DEMAND FOR INFRA SERVICES MAKES THEM EXCITING FOR INVESTORS'
12. 'DATA HAS TURNED CRUCIAL, BUT LAG A CONCERN' - SURABHI & VINAY PANDEY
13. LOCALISING TOP TALENT GLOBALLY IS AZIM PREMJI'S NEW MANTRA - PANKAJ MISHRA & KARTHIK SUBBARAMAN

DECCAN CHRONICAL

1. PITRODA'S DECISION ON BSNL CORRECT
2. TESTING TIMES AHEAD - BY ASHOK MALIK
3. IT'S UP TO IRAQIS TO BUILD THEIR NATION NOW - BY THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
4. WHO WILL FIT THE BILL? - N.K. CHAUDHARY
5. AN AMERICAN IN SAUDI ARABIA - BY MAUREEN DOWD
6. WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT TULSI? - BY V. BALAKRISHNAN

THE STATESMAN

1. LIMITED VICTORY
2. HOPE FOR THE CHILD?
3. OUTSIDERS WARNED
4. CLOSER TO SAUDI ARABIABY  SALMAN HAIDAR
5. THE SOUND OF SILENCE
6. DEFYING THE PASSAGE OF TIME  - SANTANU SINHA CHAUDHURI
7. TRIVIALISING THE EMERGENCY

THE TELEGRAPH

1. BANK'S CAPITAL
2. PRISON NOTES
3. WITHOUT A BIG BANG  - BHASKAR DUTTA
4. CHOICE MATTERS - SUMANTA SEN
5. THE BATTLE FOR PEACE, ALONGSIDE THE WAR ON VIOLENCE

DECCAN HERALD

1. PRESERVE WATER
2. NEEDLESS PHOBIA
3. DEMOCRATIC CHOICE - BY VANDANA SHIVA
4. MOSCOW AND HAVANA: FRIENDS FOREVER? - BY LEONARDO PADURA
5. CRASS LAVISHNESS - BY MIRLE KARTHIK

THE JERUSALEM POST

1. DYSFUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT

HAARETZ

2. THE PM IS FAILING IN HIS DUTIES
3. BROKEN GLASS - BY ARI SHAVIT
4. THANK YOU, ELI YISHAI, FOR EXPOSING THE PEACE PROCESS MASQUERADE - BY GIDEON LEVY
5. FROM 'AJAMI' TO 'BEAUFORT' - BY ISRAEL HAREL
6. A HOME OR A TOMBSTONE - BY AMALIA ROSENBLUM

THE NEW YORK TIMES

1. WHAT GROUND ZERO NEEDS
2. DIPLOMACY 102
3. ANTITRUST AND YOUR VOTE
4. AFTER YOU  - BY VERLYN KLINKENBORG
5. TEACH FOR THE WORLD  - BY NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
6. A LAST CHANCE FOR THE TRADE CENTER TO RISE AGAIN - BY MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG AND SHELDON SILVER
7. BRAKING BAD - BY RICHARD A. SCHMIDT

I.THE NEWS

1. CONTINUING MISSION
2. SLIP OF THE LIP
3. INHERITED SICKNESS
4. NEW SOLUTIONS FOR AFGHANISTAN? - ZEENIA SATTI
5. HOW A NEW CHAPTER OPENED - SALEEM SAFI
6. THE IDES OF MARCH AGAIN - IKRAM SEHGAL
7. RIGHTS WITHOUT RIGHTS - DR FARZANA BARI
8. THE CREATION OF IGNORANCE - KAMILA HYAT
9. CONFRONTING REALITY - TALAT MASOOD

PAKISTAN OBSERVER

1. MUCH-DESERVED EXTENSION OF DG ISI
2. ERDOGAN REFLECTS TURKEY'S PRIDE
3. THE POLICE TOO HAVE A CASE
4. A GOOD INITIATIVE OF PM - BURHANUDDIN HASAN
5. WAR IS WAR, NOT PEACE, OBAMA - MAHBOOB A KHAWAJA
6. BALOCHISTAN AND CONSPIRACIES - MUHAMMAD ALI
7. DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS - EHTESHAM A ABBASI
8. DEBASING INDIA'S DEMOCRACY - BARUN MITRA

THE INDEPENDENT

1. PORK BARREL PROJECTS
2. GENE TECH CROPS
3. CARRYING A BURDEN..!
4. WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS - BADRUL ISLAM
5. BB'S COMMENDABLE STEP  - SULAV CHOWDHURY
6. SUMMIT OF EUROPE'S INEFFECTIVENESS - DANIEL KORSKI

THE AUSTRALIAN

1. A REFRESHINGLY FRANK ADDRESS
2. TROUBLE OVER CLARKE'S MAIDEN
3. MIKE RANN - AND SA VOTERS - NEED TO GET REAL

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

1. THE END OF POLICY
2. MATHS EDUCATION DOESN'T ADD UP
3. SHAPING UP TO FIGHT THE WRONG WAR
4. STATE PLANS MUST ENGAGE, NOT EXCLUDE, PUBLIC

THE GUARDIAN

1. THE ECONOMY: BAD TIDINGS
2. AFGHANISTAN: WAR WITH AN END
3. IN PRAISE OF … PRESIDENTIAL SMOKING

THE KOREA HERALD

1. LESS CONFRONTATION
2. INSTITUTION REFORM
3. THE DANGERS OF DEFICIT REDUCTION - JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ
4. THE MIDDLE AGAINST BOTH EXTREMES - KIM SEONG-KON

THE JAPAN TIMES

1. SECRET AGREEMENTS TO GET ALONG
2. THE U.S. MEDIA BADLY NEEDS A WAKEUP CALLBY TOM PLATE
3. U.S. BASE PROBLEM DRAGS ON - BY GREGORY CLARK
4. FREE TILLY AND OTHER CIRCUS ANIMALS - BY PETER SINGER

THE JAKARTA POST

1. A BIG THUMBS-UP
2. PLURALITY, PLURALISM AND MODERN DEMOCRACY - BUDIONO KUSUMOHAMIDJOJO
3. BENGKULU IS BOUND TO LOSE ITS FOREST AREAS - WIRYONO
4. FREEPORT'S CONTRACT BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT - JOHANNES SIMBOLON

CHINA DAILY

1. WATCHFUL EYES ON GOVT
2. PORTLAND HURTS TIBETANS
3. BIGGER CAKE, BIGGER SHARE
4. DALAI LAMA'S REMARKS CONFOUND BLACK WITH WHITE - BY MENG NA, LHAPA TSERING, JI SHAOTING AND ZHANG LIXIN ( XINHUA)
5. GREAT WALL VITAL FOR PEOPLE'S RIGHTS - BY YU JIANRONG (CHINA DAILY)
6. WEST PUTS CHINA TO GM FOOD TEST - BY HE BOLIN (CHINA DAILY)
7. THAT GREEN TREND MIGHT BE YOUR SKIN MUTATING - BY LISA CARDUCCI (CHINA DAILY)

DAILY MIRROR

1. BRITISH TRADE GAP AND TRADE OF VOTES
2. GSP-PLUS TO GTF-PLUS
3. WOMEN'S REPRESENTATION IN POLITICS - DR. SUDHARSHINI  FERNANDOPULLE – CONTESTANT FROM UPFA GAMPAHA DISTRICT
4. REAWAKENING IN THE EASTERN REGION  - BY T.M.J.BANDARA, DEPUTY PROJECT

THE HIMALAYAN

1. ANY TAKERS?
2. INFLATION PUNCHES
3. STATE RESTRUCTURING :BEYOND IMPASSE AND INFLEXIBILITY - UDBODH BHANDARI
4. TOPICS: WORKPLACE FRIENDSHIP - RANJANA ADHIKARI
5. BLOG SURFS: ATTRACTIONS - VIAJERONG PINOY 

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THE PIONEER

EDIT DESK

COMMUNAL POLITICS

QUOTA WITHIN QUOTA IS UNACCEPTABLE

Having been passed by the Rajya Sabha in what many have termed as a historic vote, the women's reservation Bill is in danger of being turned into a tool for furthering the interests of certain political constituencies. The opposition to the Bill is essentially from three quarters: First, theorists who question the legitimacy of reserved constituencies amounting to almost separate electorates which they say fly in the face of the basic tenet of democracy: Freedom of choice. Second, practitioners of Mandal politics who are demanding a separate OBC quota within the envisaged 33 per cent reservation for women. And, third, politicians who are demanding a Muslim sub-quota within the proposed percentage of reserved seats in the legislatures. All three opposing forces hold little water and much less rationale to back up their claims. At a theoretical level, reserved seats might appear to be antithetical to the essence of democratic governance, but it must be borne in mind that the greatest strength of democracy is its ability to be sensitive to ground realities. Thus, to say that all affirmative action policies are undemocratic would be far too absolute. It is welcome that the vast majority of the country's political leadership has acknowledged the women's reservation Bill as an important mechanism by which the women of this country can be politically and socially empowered.

But the logic that politicians such as RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and SP strongman Mulayam Singh Yadav have put forward to demand a sub-quota for OBCs and Muslims within the 33 per cent reservation deserves harsher treatment. These are people whose politics is solely based on cultivating dedicated vote-banks which they fear will be eroded once the Bill becomes law. It is no secret that the Yadav chieftains have made their political careers on the strength of the Yadav-Muslim vote-bank. Now, with their political fortunes waning, they find themselves staring at a legislation that could very well sound the death knell for their brand of identity politics. Thus, they are trying to browbeat the proponents of the Women's Reservation Bill — which has seen parties such as the BJP and the CPI(M) rise above narrow politics to back the Government on an important issue — into conceding their demand of a quota within the proposed quota. The demand for reserved OBC seats is absurd. The Constitution provides for reserved constituencies for depressed classes, namely Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, which Parliament in its wisdom has seen fit to extend from time to time. The demand for an OBC quota is nothing but the rant of opportunistic politicians who can least claim to have contributed to the welfare of this country.

As far as the suggestion of a Muslim quota is concerned, nothing could be more sinister and divisive. The idea of having separate reserved communal constituencies goes against the very concept of India. The Preamble to the Constitution reads "We the people of India…" and not 'We the Hindus, the Sikhs, the Muslims…'. It is from this ideal of unity in diversity that we obtain our system of democratic governance wherein each MP or MLA represents the interests of his or her constituency as a whole, irrespective of whether everyone in that constituency voted in his or her favour. The demand for a Muslim quota is a throwback to the infamous Morley-Minto 'reforms' for which the people of this land have already paid a terrible price. It deserves not only to be ignored but strongly rejected and repudiated.

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THE PIONEER

EDIT DESK

BAD LUCK, NIGERIA

WORLD CAN'T JUST STAND AND WATCH

The news from Nigeria continues to remain ghastly and grim. Earlier this year, Christians, who have for long been harassed and humiliated and have had to face violence and worse, went on the rampage and killed an estimated 300 Muslims. Last Sunday, the Muslim militias went on the rampage and extracted a terrible revenge, slaughtering hundreds — some say thousands — of Christians. Sectarian conflict in many an African country no longer raises eyebrows elsewhere in the world, nor does it cause concern among those African leaders who have governed their countries well. If truth be told, it is taken for granted as the world focuses on other issues of immediate worry. There is, however, every reason why the international community should take a serious view of the worsening situation in Nigeria, the world's 10th top oil-exporting country, and step in to prevent its descent into uncontrollable violence and chaos. Clearly President Goodluck Jonathan is incapable of managing his country's affairs. Nor does he have an able council to advice and guide him. While a functioning democracy is desirable, Nigeria cannot even boast of a shambolic democracy. Neither can its people look forward to the Army rescuing them from incompetent politicians who are more interested in feathering their nests and looting the country's oil wealth than in enforcing minimum standards of governance and a modicum of rule of law.

Ironically, it is the collapse of the Army, or so we are told, that has led to what is being described as a "dangerous vacuum" in the power structure. The Islamist militias have stepped in, as have armed groups of Christians. What we have is a recipe for unending civil strife and religious violence on a frightening scale. This week's blood-letting, chilling on account of the cruelty that was on display, is the proverbial tip of the iceberg. So where do we go from here? The UN can meet and deliberate on the situation in Nigeria, but that is unlikely to have any impact whatsoever. Nor can homilies mouthed by either Europe or America sway opinion or calm frayed tempers in Nigeria. What could have an impact is international resolve to first punish Nigeria's corrupt elite by boycotting its oil; if that fails to bring them to heel, then the UN Security Council should decide to send in an international force, not for bogus peace-keeping but to smash those who are bent upon destroying Nigeria. The time to wait and watch is long over.

 

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            THE PIONEER

COLUMN

GIVING WOMEN THEIR DUE SHARE

GAUTAM MUKHERJEE

What an ugly spectacle over the women's reservation Bill! Just how can women, more or less half the population of the country, be likened to any minority community, caste or sub-caste group is difficult to understand. Claims, especially voiced by a section of the intelligentsia, that the privileged will hijack the seats reserved for women are as spurious as the opinion of those who argued six decades ago that a semi-feudal country like India was unfit for universal adult suffrage.

Of course, the fact that we are still fighting shy of using universal franchise in larger numbers may, as Mr LK Advani and Mr Narendra Modi have advocated, lead to more attention being paid to making voting compulsory. But that is a Constitution amendment Bill reserved for another, no doubt equally contentious, day in the future.

For the moment, Parliament appears to have one-too-many MPs, including those who tried to stall the women's reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha by raising an unseemly ruckus, who are unable to heed the call of the future, one in which caste, creed and gender may not quite be as important as before. Thankfully, as was witnessed on live television, such uncivil behaviour, shorn of parliamentary norms, is unlikely to be countenanced any more. The suspension of seven MPs proves this. Once the Bill becomes law, we can look forward to better behaviour when a third of the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies will comprise women.

The arguments put forward to block the Bill by the dissenters, mostly to the media, because what was said in Parliament was inaudible, are reminiscent of the bad old proportional representation and separate electorate days of the British Raj. These devices, used in the retreating decades prior to independence, suited the imperial policy of divide and rule. The echo of those times, in the injured victimhood being projected by certain regional parties such as the SP, RJD, BSP and the Trinamool Congress, is not a mere coincidence. It is also instructive that a number of other regional parties, such as the DMK, JD(U) and the AIADMK, have not found anything objectionable in the Bill.

But creating and pushing separate constituencies does confer leverage, especially to further narrow regional interests, and act as a bargaining chip for corruption. The broader point is that the fissiparous voices being heard today on various issues owe their strength to the pampering of various disparate vote-banks by the Congress.

Additionally, the majority Hindus have long been depicted by the Congress as a threatening, communal-minded entity, even as every attempt has been made to encourage the break-down of the majority community into its competing castes. But none of it has been done particularly well, or with sufficient conviction, and even the interests of minority communities have been promoted only in a token manner.

This is tacit continuance of the invidious British policy, dressed up as liberal secularism and concern for the underprivileged. Like Pakistan's nurturing of terrorist groups to extend its strategic reach, such cynical manipulation of the illiterate masses and the downtrodden has a way of coming home to roost. Today, the manipulated have acquired some power of their own and are no longer easy to control.

This Bill may not have been tabled for voting in the Rajya Sabha if it wasn't for Ms Sonia Gandhi. It was her firm stand on pushing through this legislation, pending for over 14 years now, that stiffened the spine of the Congress factotums in the Government.

Simultaneously, the assurances given by the Prime Minister with regard to the safeguarding of "minority interests" during the debate on the Bill only underscores the devaluation of political principles that bedevil us today. Otherwise, there is no reason why the fate of women's representation in Parliament and State Assemblies should be held hostage to the interests of minority communities, male domination or caste politics. Yet, notwithstanding Ms Sonia Gandhi's insistence on pushing the Bill through, the Government would have failed to secure its passage in the Rajya Sabha had it not been for the support extended — and the principled stand taken — by the BJP and the Left parties.

It must be noted that it is a considerably weakened BJP, after two consecutive electoral defeats at the national level, and a nearly marginalised Left, which is likely to be trounced in both its bastions of Kerala and West Bengal in next summer's Assembly election, that have come to the rescue of the Congress. Have the BJP and the Left now veered round to the view that coming together with the Congress on matters of national importance may well be the road to recovery and relevance?

The BJP is not in a position to precipitate a general election any time soon; and this goes double for the Left. But there may be a larger, tectonic shift in the works. After all, who could have imagined at the height of the Cold War that Russia and the West would one day break the ice and cooperate on global issues? Likewise, we could be seeing a new, centrist and inclusive BJP emerging under the leadership of Mr Nitin Gadkari, apart from the new leadership in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. Similarly, we could yet see a moderate Left. However, it's too early to say anything conclusively.

And the Congress, on its part, could be charting a new blue-print of governance, taking a cue from the prescient electoral verdict that returned UPA 2.0 to power while giving a thumbs-down to the blackmailing tactics of the provincial parties. This new alignment of sorts could, if it becomes the methodology adopted repeatedly, also put paid to any radical aspirations on the part of the SP, RJD, BSP and the Trinamool Congress.

The women's reservation Bill will sail through the Lok Sabha thanks to the BJP and the Left rising in support of the Government. It is a foregone conclusion that the proposed law will be ratified by a minimum of 15 Assemblies likewise. It's only a matter of time before this historic amendment to the Constitution becomes a reality.

 

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THE PIONEER

COLUMN

VICTIMS OF NIHILISM

PRIYADARSI DUTTA

A day after the ferocity of the violence at the Mangalore office of Kannad Prabha, and mayhem in Shimoga and Hassan towns of Karnataka over Taslima Nasreen's article, I spent my leisure time watching a few music videos from Pakistan on YouTube. One of those videos, Jugni, featured songs by Arif Lohar, an illustrious folk singer from Pakistani Punjab. Arif's father Alam Lohar was an eminent folk singer of his time and best known for his rendition of Heer Ranjha. Arif, who sings with a chimta, iconic symbol of his blacksmith's caste, could be seen dancing with a posse of gorgeous Punjabi girls. Those girls in salwar-kameez — no burqa nor mini skirts — were hardly distinguishable from their Hindu or Sikh counterparts on this side of the border.

Similar scenes are discernable in Pakistani music videos, stage shows and television shows. Stunningly beautiful maidens are seen singing and dancing in the company of youth who are not bearded or wearing skull caps. Viewers from India might find it difficult to believe that these are images of an Islamic republic. The word Muslim in 'secular' India denotes a convoluted world of burqas, beards, skull caps, Quranic verses and qawaalis. It does not appear, even to the 'secularists', that Muslims could have a folk tradition that has been handed down to them from pre-Islamic times, which is shared equally by men and women. We seek to inspire Muslims to integrate with the larger society on lines of religion. But this only gives a fillip to Islam's male-dominated aggressive agenda.

What is common to Taslima Nasreen and Arif and Alam Lohar, all of whom would have been Indians if frenzied Muslim communalists had not partitioned India? They are all victims of Islam while trying to reclaim and express their humanity. They are products, consciously or otherwise, of a perennial culture shaped by the six seasons, human love, and the open-ended quest for truth. But Islam, which claims itself to be Harf-e-Akhir or 'Last Word', is antithetical to such open-endedness and harmony, hallmarks of Indian culture.

 

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THE PIONEER

OPED

GUJARAT BREAKS NEW GROUND

WITH STATES GRAPPLING WITH THE PROBLEM OF RAPIDLY FALLING GROUNDWATER LEVELS, GUJARAT OFFERS A POSSIBLE SOLUTION: SEPARATING AGRICULTURAL AND NON-AGRICULTURAL POWER SUPPLY IN RURAL AREAS HELPS CONSERVE GROUNDWATER. THE TIME HAS COME FOR OTHER STATES TO TRY THIS OPTION

KHIMI THAPA

 

By 2025, an estimated 60 per cent of India's groundwater blocks will be in critical condition as aquifers are depleting at an alarming rate, states Deep Wells and Prudence: Towards pragmatic action for addressing groundwater overexploitation in India, a World Bank report released ahead of World Water Day on March 22. Already 29 per cent of our groundwater blocks are semi-critical, critical, or overexploited, it adds.

The report comes at a time when India is seen having a decisive role on climate change in international politics. Moreover, the fact that India is the largest user of groundwater in the world, with an estimate use of 230 cubic kilometre of groundwater every year — more than a quarter of the global total — reflects the extent to which groundwater is indiscriminately exploited in this country.

Paradoxically, the grim situation is more due to human activity rather than scarcity of groundwater. It has been found that northern India is heavily dependent upon groundwater for public use and irrigation. Today, groundwater supports approximately 60 per cent of irrigated agriculture and more than 80 per cent of rural and urban water supplies. As climate change will put additional stress on groundwater resources, the report states that recharge is not a sustainable solution and, therefore, calls for investment in effective groundwater management. We can no longer solely depend on replenishment efforts.

It is unfortunate that at present, this inexpensive but precious resource attracts little attention in water resource management discussions. It needs to be realised that groundwater like any other resource can be wisely and effectively managed and thereby avert a catastrophe. In the current scenario where politics and commercial interests heavily weigh on such issues, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat seem to hold the key to sustainable groundwater use.

Andhra Pradesh, where farmers self-regulate the use of groundwater thus providing an alternative to the State's control of water resources, is an ideal illustration of grassroot water management. "Farmers in many cases have voluntarily reduced their water use, and still safeguarded their drinking water supply and crops. This has been made possible due to an exceptional programme of farmer education which has created 'barefoot hydrogeologists'. This approach is immediately replicable in other hard-rock areas, which account for two-thirds of groundwater settings in India," says Sanjay Pahuja, lead author of the report and World Bank's Senior Water Resources Specialist in India.

On the other hand, Gujarat's widely-applauded Jyotirgram scheme, a successful initiative to separate agricultural and non-agricultural (domestic, industrial and institutional) electricity feeders in rural areas is a good model that outlines what a Government can do and should do for better groundwater governance. This scheme, which is credited with reversing rural migration in the State, is driven by ground realities and not mere regulations.

Given the fact that seven States — Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu and Karnataka (mostly in hard-rock aquifers) — account for more than 80 per cent of critical and overexploited groundwater in the country and recharge efforts in predominantly alluvial settings would miss the real problem, makes the Gujarat model feasible to be replicated elsewhere.

The Gujarat model has resulted in more efficient use of power and groundwater in agriculture due to the high reliability of power on a pre-announced schedule matching the moisture stress. As the report points out, this scheme has resulted in 37 per cent reduction in aggregate use of power in groundwater irrigation in 2001 and 2006, and a concomitant reduction in groundwater draft. Such environmentally sustainable growth options are worth replicating in other States. This does not mean that community participation in groundwater governance is not important but, undeniably, the Government must assume greater responsibility in saving groundwater. Therefore, the Gujarat model of separate power supply for agricultural purposes merits replication in other States facing the challenge of overexploitation of groundwater.

Moreover, as chronic understaffing plagues several groundwater departments across our States, it is imperative to end the neglect they are suffering and redefine their roles to meet the challenges of this ever-changing world. It is time we realised that a nation which heavily depends upon agriculture cannot progress without addressing the festering groundwater problem. The course to concrete action must transcend political divides, something which calls for determination and resolve.

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THE PIONEER

OPED

POLITICS OVER RED TERROR

IS INACTION AGAINST MAOISTS CALCULATED INEFFICIENCY?

SHIKHA MUKERJEE

Violence is a quotidian evil. Be it the Maoists or the Constitutional amendment on Women's representation, it is the same thing; the measure of tolerance, a virtue exercised at the expense of victims in this pious polity, is indulging the violent.

It is so commonplace that it can be handled at the slow and creaky pace of a political class that finds nothing abhorrent in deaths or destruction. It is no accident or quirk that even as the Communist Party of India(Marxists) bleed in the turbulent Jangal Mahal-Lalgarh-Bankura region of West Bengal, the State's administration and police machinery seem to be sluggish in their response to organising themselves as a fighting force. It is no accident or quirk that a Congress-led Government that proclaims zero tolerance to the greatest internal threat to security, namely the Maoists, can paint menacing scenarios even as it takes the Home Minister P Chidambaram weeks to follow up on unrolling Operation Green Hunt.

It is no accident or quirk that the Indian state in the hands of a political class such as this can allow associates like Mr Shibu Soren in Jharkhand, Mr Nitish Kumar in Bihar and Ms Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal to be evasive about binding themselves to an agreed strategy for dealing with the Maoist menace. The Indian state is willing to be beguiled by the Maoists demanding interlocutors who are their compassionate crusaders. The game of fiddling while 160 odd districts are ravage by the Maoists is neither accidental nor a measure of the inefficiency, insensitivity or sheer callousness of the political class; it is a calculated and calibrated strategy of feigning blundering incompetence.

What needs to be faced is the dilemma of all Governments at the Centre and in the States between dealing with the Maoists as a straight law and order problem and dealing with the Maoists and their interlocutors as a political problem with complications that include law and order. The absence of clear political will in the matter is obvious.

As a simple law and order problem, the counter offensive against the sustained Maoist violence is the use of maximum force of which the Indian state is capable in order to deal with an internal law and order situation. Therein lies the rub. It remains a hypothetical question as to what degree of force the Indian state can generate, since the Maoists represent a rather unique political problem — they are not terrorists, but like terrorists; they are not separatists or militants aiming to divide the country; they are insurgents.

 

By fighting shy of taking out the Maoists, giving them time to recuperate and recruit by threats or persuasion, the Indian political class is revealing not its weakness but its guilt. The nexus of vested interests that misappropriate and redistribute resources includes politicians from all parties. The virulence of the Trinamool Congress attack on the ruling Communist Party of India(Marxist) in West Bengal is a measure of its complicity in encouraging the Maoists. By ducking attending the strategy meeting called by Mr Chidambaram in Kolkata, the Chief Ministers of Jharkhand and Bihar revealed their complicity too. In Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the links between business, contractors, political middle men and the variety of sangharsh or pratirodh platforms espousing the rights of indigenous populations (tribals, adivasis) is widely known.

Therefore, it is impossible in terms of sheer survival and self-interest, it would appear, for the Indian political class to sanction a take out plan against the Maoists. Why else would Home Secretary GK Pillai use a think-tank platform to indulge in kite flying about the Maoist's menacing plans of organising an army and taking over the Indian state by 2050? Why else would he pooh-pooh the idea as a "dream" a day later?

By delaying the launch of Operation Green Hunt, the Governments at the Centre and in the States are not intensely focussing on preparing for the project, they are buying time on behalf of the Maoists and their interlocutors. The realisation that every State police force has huge deficits of personnel is not a new story; it is an old and stupid one. Recruiting these personnel is a process that everyone knows about so the emergency recruitment drive is yet another silly tale.

Every yarn spun by every shade of vested interest is sillier than the other; like the tale about the tribal way of life and the forcible mainstreaming or eviction. Underlying this story is the idea that left to themselves tribals and their leaders are people of unswerving good faith. Underlying this story is that the belief that tribals can be insulated from the processes of social and economic change in India. Underlying this story is the idea that the defenders of tribal rights are persons of unimpeachable good intentions. Would that if any of this were true.

 

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THE PIONEER

OPED

PAYING FOR AFGHANISTAN'S POPPY

DRUG-TRAFFICKING POSES SERIOUS THREAT TO RUSSIA AND CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES, SAYS VLADIMIR YEVSEYEV

The United States has completed a military operation in Afghanistan's Helmand Province and is preparing a new operation, in Kandahar. The US says its new strategy in Afghanistan does not emphasise action against drug producers.

The US most likely does not want to provoke the wrath of the Afghans, whose welfare largely depends on opium poppy plantations.

According to a recent report published by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, although the area sown with opium poppy in Afghanistan has decreased from 193,000 in 2007 to 123,000 hectare in 2009, the production of drugs there has grown considerably since 2001 and now amounts to 7,500 metric tonne of opium.

Heroin production is a major threat. Secret laboratories in the provinces of Badakhshan, Hilmand and Nangarhar annually produce more than 800 metric tonne of heroin.

However, it is Russia that leads in the number of heroin-related deaths. The UNODC report says addicts in the Russian Federation now consume a staggering 75-80 tonne of Afghan heroin a year, or 20 per cent of Afghan heroin production.

Russians consume 3.5 times more heroin than users in the US and Canada (approx 20 tonne) and nearly two times more than in China (45 tonne).

This UN data is confirmed by Russian sources. In March 2009, Mr Viktor Ivanov, head of the Federal Service for Drug Control, said that there were between two million and 2.5 million drug addicts in Russia, out of which 500,000 were officially registered. Increasing numbers of Russians are dying from drug abuse, 30,000-40,000, according to Government estimates, and the number of drug addicts grows by 80,000 every year.

There are three main drug routes from Afghanistan, the largest of them running via Iran (35 per cent to 40 per cent of drugs).

The second route runs via Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (25 per cent to 30 per cebt), with some 50 tonne of heroin reaching Russia annually, mostly through Kazakhstan. There is also an air route to Russia from Pakistan and Central Asia and sea and air routes from Africa.

The third route runs via Pakistan (25 per cent to 30 per cent of drugs), in particular via Balochistan to Karachi and on to Western Europe by sea.

Tajikistan, where law-enforcement corruption runs rampant, is the main transit country of the northern route. When Russia pulled its border troops from Tajikistan in 2005, the number of illicit drug seizures on the border with Afghanistan plummeted.

Kyrgyzstan has recently doubled its anti-drug trafficking efforts. The Kyrgyz President's commission for drug control is closely cooperating with its counterparts in Iran, which is logical because the growing inflow of drugs is destabilising the situation in the Fergana Valley.

The Government of Uzbekistan is focussing on the problem of drug trafficking across the country, especially after the May 2005 tragedy in Andijan, and because several international terrorist organisations are involved.

Kazakhstan is fighting drug trafficking especially actively. The country's law-enforcement agencies seize more than 23 tonne of drugs every year and liquidate some 200 delivery routes.

So far it is difficult to develop cooperation in combating drug trafficking with Turkmenistan. Although not widely used as a transit route for large batches of Afghan heroin and opium, Turkmenistan is a kind of grey zone inadequately controlled by the international community.

The Afghan Government started fighting drugs as soon as it replaced the Taliban regime. The temporary Government led by Hamid Karzai banned the cultivation of opium poppy, set up a drug enforcement agency and started plowing under poppy plantations.

It was believed then that the production of drugs in Afghanistan would plunge 75 per cent by 2008, but none of the above measures bore this out.

Afghan drug traffic poses a formidable threat to the security of Russia and the Central Asian countries, as the drug flow has grown to an alarming proportion.

The US and Nato troops deployed in Afghanistan refuse to address the problem.

This means that the international community must join forces against this global evil, preferably within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, which comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Iran, India, Mongolia and Pakistan have observer status.

--The writer is Learned Secretary of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Coordinating Council for Prognostication

 

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THE PIONEER

OPED

BIHAR'S PARCHED LAND, FAMISHED FARMERS

AFTER VIRTUALLY DESTROYING KHARIF, DROUGHT IS THREATENING RABI CROPS TOO, WRITES RAJEEV KUMAR

Is Is Bihar plagued more by floods or by droughts? It is not a trite question given the fact the State witnesses both these calamities bringing death and destruction.

In a sense, drought seems a bigger menace than flood as its effects set off a ripple motion affecting agriculture, the main occupation of 84 per cent of the State's workforce (NSSO survey 1999-2000). A reduction in food production is the most tangible and the most disturbing fallout.

 

According to Government statistics, a whopping 1.26 crore people are facing acute food shortage. There is a cyclical pattern - even before the recovery of agricultural produce begins to take root the State gets hit by yet another year of drought. Bihar is in the second consecutive year of drought and in last two years, nearly two crore people have been affected.

Climate change is yet another factor which is worrying farmers and agricultural labourers, people who are already bearing the brunt of drought and consequent food shortage in the beleaguered region. It has led to a warm December with the difference between minimum and maximum temperature being four to five degrees above normal. According to experts, this could lead to 30-40 per cent decrease in mango and litchi yields. Sahjan trees which flower during March are bursting into bloom in October, a speeded up process which can be traced again back to the unnatural rise in temperature.

The late arrival of monsoons has caused an intense water shortage in northern areas of Bihar impacting the kharif crops, including paddy. This year the crops could be sowed only on 23.02 lakh hectare land as against the normal 35 lakh hectare due to insufficient water. The fallout of this is pegged at a decrease of 30-40 per cent in paddy production. The compound effect will carry into the next phase during the rabi season. All these aberrations in nature are leading to food shortage.

Bhojpur district, once called the bowl of paddy, is expected to witness a decrease of 50 per cent in its production. Bhojpur and other 26 districts have been declared as drought-stricken. North Bihar, which is renowned for its maize production, has also been affected by this onslaught. The yields are falling and entire fields are destroyed. While corn is not a staple food of the local population, its value in the markets within and outside the State keeps many a hearth in the region burning.

All this stands jeopardised today. The hilly areas bordering Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh have seen an unprecedented water shortage. Across 17 districts groundwater levels have fallen between 30-70 feet in June. This region is crucial to Bihar's economy and its compromised situation would only contribute to an already bleak agricultural scenario.

But the question arises: What can be done? The link between the declining agriculture in Bihar, consequent food shortage and changes that are being wrought in climatic patterns is undeniable and needs to be addressed.

The grim water situation is playing havoc with cattle, which plays a critical role in the rural economy. Sheep, goats, bulls, cows, buffaloes and chickens are dying in large numbers, itself indicative of a growing impoverishment of village communities. Those who can migrate with their cattle do so. Those who cannot and are forced to either abandon them, sell them at distress prices or simply watch them die

According to a survey by the Tendulkar Committee, 54 per cent people in the State live under the poverty line. Whereas the figures of the State Government show that 75 per cent people live below the poverty line. These are the people who will be hit by the food shortage most.

The situation in Bihar is compounded by the fact that agriculture relies heavily on the monsoons. Only 60 per cent of the entire agricultural land has adequate irrigation facilities. Most of these, hinge on the use of tube-wells, which have a detrimental effect sucking out the available groundwater and leaving the land drier than before. Tube-wells also mean a heavy use of costly diesel in the absence of adequate power supply. Moreover, mid-day meal scheme meant to provide nutritious food to children are in a low-performing mode. Even under the much-touted 100-day National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, labourers are neither getting employment nor unemployment allowance.

It won't be wrong to say that Bihar could very well be facing the worst food shortage of the century.

 

 

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MAIL TODAY

COMMENT

MAMATA HAS BETRAYED HER MYOPIC THINKING

 

IT might seem strange that someone who usually makes sure her voice is heard above the din should have ordered her partymen to stay silent on the women's reservation Bill. On Tuesday, when the landmark legislation was finally put to vote in the Rajya Sabha, the Trinamool Congress MPs abstained. But a day earlier, as parliamentary proceedings were repeatedly held up by the Yadav chieftains, Ms Mamata Banerjee was greatly optimistic on the passage of the Bill. Newspaper reports described how she led her party MPs in singing " We shall overcome" in the Lok Sabha, of which she is a member.

 

So, what happened in the space of a day? The ostensible reason is that she had not been told the Bill would be put to vote on Tuesday. Surely, few will be naïve enough to buy that. It is no secret that the railway minister's true commitment is to West Bengal where elections are due next year.

 

In recent polls she has emerged victorious by successfully demonising the CPM- led Left Front government as anti poor, anti farmer and anti minorities. The anti- Muslim tag stuck to the Marxists primarily as a result of her party campaigns in Singur and Nandigram. It all added up in impressive election victories.

 

Ms Banerjee's about- turn on Tuesday reflects rank opportunism and a measure of agreement with what the Yadav chieftains are saying on the women's quota Bill.

 

It also betrays her anxiety over who will take the substantial minority vote in West Bengal. The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government has decided to implement the Ranganath Misra report by providing reservation in government jobs to the Other Backward Classes among Muslims.

 

She is right in thinking that this could affect her electoral prospects and seems to believe that abstaining from the vote will give a boost to her pro- minority and pro- OBC credentials. But the point Ms Banerjee has missed is that by doing so she has joined hands with parties that brazenly tried to stall a progressive legislation. With a year to go for the Bengal polls, voters have sufficient time to decide whether she deserves to lead them.

 

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MAIL TODAY

COMMENT

SAVE THE KIDS

 

MAIL TODAY ' S report about children dying in a Madhya Pradesh district due to malnutrition and starvation, coming on the back of reports about starvation deaths in Orissa's Balangir district, should make us hang our heads in shame. As many as 46 children have died this way in the tribal district of Jhabua since October last year and a few more ill children could join this list unless emergency measures are taken up.

 

And the irony of ironies is that the villages where most of the deaths have occurred fall in the Lok Sabha constituency of Union Tribal Affairs Minister Kantilal Bhuria.

 

As is common, the district administration is trying to play down the matter, claiming that no deaths have taken

place since January though three children are reported to have died this year. Villagers in the area have poor access to health facilities but health officials say they have been on the job all along organising health camps in the area, a claim denied by the residents.

 

But this is not just about the lack of health care. If children are dying due to starvation or malnutrition it is obvious that their parents don't have enough to feed them properly. This raises vital questions about the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in the district. Villagers say they have NREGA cards but hardly get any work under the scheme, forcing many people to migrate to other places in search of a livelihood.

 

We wonder what Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan, who likes to highlight his pro- development credentials, has to say about the news coming out of Jhabua district though it must be accepted that children dying due to malnutrition is very much a pan- Indian phenomenon. A study has said as many as 2000- 3000 children die every day in India on this account.

 

About 46 per cent of children under the age of three in India are supposed to be malnourished, accounting for a third of the malnourished children in the world. Considering that malnutrition stems from multiple causes things will not change significantly unless we have a comprehensive national programme with the standalone objective of eliminating malnutrition.

 

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MAIL TODAY

WHY THE MEDIA LOVES SOME DEMAGOGUES

BY JYOTI PUNWANI

 

A DAY after the Supreme Court asked Raj Thackeray to avoid provocative speeches, his men were at work again — smashing the glass panes of Airtel and Aircel showrooms across Mumbai and Thane for not having included Marathi in their automated customer service messages, within the deadline given to them by their party. This took place, as usual, in full view of TV cameras, with not a policeman in sight, of course.

 

The bats and hockey sticks swung into action immediately after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president exhorted a packed auditorium to " pull Airtel by the tail.'' He was speaking at the fourth anniversary function of his party.

 

That wasn't the only significant utterance made by Raj Thackeray on the occasion. Expressing satisfaction at the success of his party — it won 13 seats in the recent assembly elections — Thackeray thanked the media for his party's growth, for having " conveyed to people across the state what we were saying, thereby motivating people to trust us.''

 

Dilemma

 

Two years back, when images of MNS members pouncing upon hapless North Indian bhelpuri vendors and taxi drivers in Mumbai had been repeatedly telecast, Thackeray had lashed out at Hindi TV anchors for having passed judgment on him instead of simply reporting. The Hindi and English media were pointedly told they were not invited to his press conference held after the violence.

 

That blazing MNS entry into Maharashtra politics had killed two persons, caused hundreds of North Indians to flee the state in fear and destroyed lakhs worth of public and private property across the state.

 

But even at that time, a leading Marathi newspaper had given the man behind the violence the space to air his views. In a long piece entitled " My stand, my fight'', the main instigator of the violence explained why his men had taken to the streets.

 

Referring constantly to the " goondagiri'' and " dadagiri'' of North Indians in Mumbai, the article warned that if they wanted to live in Maharashtra, they had better assimilate. The piece ended with a call to all Marathispeaking persons to join the MNS " struggle which would eventually be victorious, because no law could stamp out a Marathi mind on fire.'' The fire's still burning. In fact, after it was fuelled in January by the Maharashtra CM, a Congressman, by announcing that only Marathiknowing taxi drivers would get licences, Raj Thackeray redefined " Maharashtrian'' to mean one born, not domiciled, in Maharashtra. A few months ago, at the oath- taking ceremony of newly elected MLAs, his MLAs had slapped Samajwadi Party chief Abu Asim Azmi for taking his oath in Hindi. And at the fourth anniversary function, the MNS chief matched his mentor Bal Thackeray by expressing anger that one of his party leaders had played Holi with ( north Indian) Congress leader Kripashankar Singh. " I will not tolerate such incidents,'' he said.

 

All these acts of Raj Thackeray and his men attract criminal provisions of the IPC. The police won't act, in keeping with their tradition of respect towards Maharashtra's first family. But to be told by this man that we, the media, have helped him reach where he is — is that a compliment? The relationship between the media and rabble rousers has always been problematic. Should we ignore them, or allow their venom to reach those not yet exposed to it? Should their rhetoric be stripped bare in the report to render it as harmless as possible, or should it be reported as such to expose them and provide the government with enough evidence to prosecute them? Should such reports be pushed into the inside pages and always countered editorially? Journalists have discussed these questions, but you wouldn't think so, looking at our record of reporting these leaders through the decades.

 

The media has always been more than generous in its coverage of demagogues, from Bal Thackeray to Sant Bhindranwale, from L K Advani and Uma Bharati during the Ayodhya campaign to Pravin Togadia in 2002, and Narendra Modi and Raj Thackeray today.

 

Inconsistency

 

The hatred spread by these fanatics has never been masked; and the relationship between their harangues and the ensuing violence has been obvious to all. Two official judicial commissions have held Bal Thackeray, L K Advani and Uma Bharati responsible for acts which caused the death of hundreds, but they remain media favourites, endearingly called " Tiger'', " The Iron Man'' and " feisty sanyasin'', respectively.

 

But such generosity has not been bestowed by the same media on other demagogues. Their capacity to spew

poison is as great as the chosen ones; their popularity within their own communities perhaps even greater. Remember Salauddin Owaisi and Kanshiram? Abu Asim Azmi is another worthy candidate. Owaisi, who stirred passions in Hyderabad's Old City, was ignored by the national press; Kanshiram became a national figure but was ridiculed ( the same way his successor is today); so was the fiery Mahendra Singh Tikait.

 

Azmi is positively reviled ( though loved by the Urdu press). Would any Muslim or Dalit or peasant demagogue ever be in a position to thank the media for his success?

 

Majority

 

Others have moved lakhs not on the basis of caste or religious identity but on their class identity — union leaders George Fernandes and Dr Datta Samant in their heyday. But Fernandes became a media favourite ( though he never reached Bal Thackeray's ratings) much after the Emergency ended, not during the great railway strike of 1974 which he led. As for Dr Samant — for Mumbai's English press, Datta Samant was what the Maoists are to TV channels today. Samant's early trade unionism was marked by violence, even murder.

 

But then what else marks the politics of the Thackerays and the Modis? Even those whose words inspire non- violent resistance don't get the chosen treatment. One has only to attend Medha Patkar's rallies to see the effect her oratory has on her audience — people made homeless by " development''. But she's been so demonised – with no little contribution by the media — that her mere presence in Gujarat can spark off attacks on her, and the only time she makes news is when she's arrested.

 

What then makes us so indulgent towards one kind of rabble rouser and so harsh towards another? Why do one class of violent politicians get fawned upon, whereas others get cross- examined and dissected? There's no getting away from it — we in the media love demagogues who preach the politics of the majority; those who prey on minorities, on the ' outsider'. Is their obvious aura of power the attraction?

 

The writer is a Mumbai based journalist

 

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MAIL TODAY

PATNA DURBAR

GIRIDHAR JHA

 

A COP IN A CLASS OF HIS OWN

BIHAR'S top cops are often accused of not being gentlemenly while discharging their duty. More often than not, they are known for enjoying the privileges of office without being people-friendly. But Anand Shankar, who retired as the director- general of police recently, was an exception.

 

On the last day of his service on February 28, Shankar went quietly to his office in his official uniform to hand over charge to his successor Neelmani. Once the formalities were over, Shankar went immediately into the ante-room of his chamber. When he returned after a few minutes, all the police officials present on the occasion were surprised to see him in civilian clothes.

 

" I am a civilian now," he said as if relieved of a great burden. His former colleagues in the department wanted him to keep wearing the police uniform until he returned home in keeping with the tradition. But the outgoing DGP politely turned down their request.

 

Shankar, who was involved in a controversy for sporting a tilak ( vermillion mark) on his forehead during his seven- monthlong tenure, also broke another tradition on the day. He refused to take the official vehicle home on his return.

 

As per Bihar police's tradition, all the top officials of the force push the car of the outgoing DGP while giving him a send- off.

 

But Shankar had his son waiting for him outside his office in his personal vehicle. The former DGP got into his own car and exited quickly out of the Bihar police headquarters. Shankar also returned all the police personnel provided to him by the force.

 

Bihar police had never seen such a quick metamorphosis of a top cop into an ordinary citizen.

 

His conduct should set an example before those ex- officials who find it difficult to get over the fact that they are no longer in the prestigious Indian Police Service ( IPS). Many of Shankar's predecessors had even kept their staff, engaging them in household chores, long after their retirement. Others have lobbied hard with successive governments to get cushy assignments to retain their job benefits.

 

But Shankar apparently wants none of this. Asked about his future plans, he said that he would devote the rest of his life in worshipping the Almighty.

 

His last- day conduct, however, was not all that unexpected.

 

Even while he was in service, he was known for doing things least expected of the most powerful cop in the state. He would often travel incognito in the general bogies of trains to visit different parts of Bihar and get a feedback from the common man on the performance of his department.

 

He also had the forthrightness to give state policemen a piece of his mind.

 

Immediately after taking over, he asked cops to desist from hankering after ill- gotten money and run their homes " on salary alone". There have been many high- profile predecessors of Shankar but he was the first DGP to exhort policemen to improve their image in the public eye through people- friendly conduct. And he did not do it merely with words. He truly believed that a policeman's primary responsibility is to serve society selflessly without fear or favour.

 

Bihar certainly needs more policemen like him.

 

FILM ACTORS STILL LOVE LALU

BHOJPURI cinema's superstar Ravi Kissen does not hesitate in singing paeans to the performance of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar these days. He says that the state has made rapid strides in many fields under Nitish's leadership. But it is Nitish's political rival Lalu Prasad he wants to act with in a movie.

 

Kissen, who was in Katihar district earlier this week, said it was his long- cherished desire to have Lalu Yadav as a co- star in one of his films.

 

Lalu has not responded to his " offer" yet.

 

But Kissen is probably forgetting that Lalu does not let anybody steal the show when he is around, be it politics or films. The last time Lalu played a bit role in a Hindi film starring Sunil Shetty six years ago, he overshadowed all his coactors.

 

Even his name was used for the title of the film, Padmashri Laloo Prasad .

 

LEADERS GO ALL OUT TO WOO THE MINORITIES

BIHAR'S politicians know the ins and outs of vote bank politics better than their contemporaries from other states. It is only expected of them to harness their skills to woo the electorate belonging to a particular section of society in the election year.

 

Last week, all the top politicians of the state tried to win over Muslims in their own way.

 

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan were all busy paying obeisance at different shrines in and around Patna. Wearing traditional Muslim caps, they offered chadar like true devouts during the annual Urs at a famour mazaar near the Patna High Court. The trio joined the thousands of faithfuls who throng there every year.

 

That was not all. Paswan organised a Muslim rally at the historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna where he called for giving ten per cent reservation over and above the Mandal Commission report to Muslims. Nitish followed it up by addressing a congregation at Jehanabad iterating his commitment to uplift the lot of the extremely backward sections of society. Lalu stressed the need for implementing the Rangnath Mishra Commission and Sachar Committee reports. He also tried to connect with spectators at one place by recalling how he used to attend the night- long qawwali nites in his young days.

 

All of them apparently believe that the Muslims, with 16 per cent population in Bihar, hold the key to government formation in the state. Only time will tell who gets the bulk of votes from the so- called Muslim vote bank later this year.

 

giridhar.jha@mailtoday.in

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

COMMENT

SHIFTING GROUND

 

The historic women's reservation Bill has polarised the polity and that's bound to affect the running of the UPA government at the Centre. The immediate impact of the acrimonious debate in the Rajya Sabha will be on the UPA's strength in the Lok Sabha.

With the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal withdrawing support to the UPA government, the latter now has a wafer-thin majority in the Lok Sabha. That the Trinamul Congress, a crucial ally with 19 MPs, chose not to vote with the government must also rankle. Currently the UPA tally in the Lok Sabha, inclusive of Trinamul members, adds up to only 268. That's four short of a simple majority. There is no immediate danger to the government since it is assured of the outside support of some MPs. Moreover, no political party may want to precipitate a mid-term election. But the Congress will be even more dependent on allies hereafter.

Does this mean a gain for the BJP? Not really. The distribution of seats across parties in the Lok Sabha is skewed against the BJP-led NDA. A consolidation of parties estranged from the UPA in favour of NDA is unlikely at this moment. The SP and RJD spearheaded the opposition against the Bill and targeted the UPA on the pretext that it is against the interests of minority communities and other backward classes (OBCs). They hope to rebuild their old social alliance that included the OBCs and Muslims on this issue. Hence, it's improbable that they'll reach out to the BJP, which shares the Congress's views on quotas for women in Parliament. The Bill has also created divisions within the Janata Dal (United), a member of the NDA. A split in that party could affect the alliance's prospects in the coming Bihar assembly polls.

The immediate focus of parties like the SP, RJD and BSP will be the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar and UP. These parties will aim for a polarisation of voters along caste and religious lines by targeting the women's Bill. How far that'll succeed is anybody's guess. The assumption that communal and caste identities are likely to override gender in an election seems to be driving the politics of SP and RJD. They believe women cutting across caste, class and religious divisions are unlikely to form a vote bloc. The Congress seems to think that women, like youth, could be cultivated as a constituency. It's a gambit aimed at shifting the ground from politics centred on caste and community, a throw of the dice that offers interesting possibilities for the future.

 

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

COMMENT

ALL FOR ONE

 

Despite the ruckus created in Parliament by MPs from smaller allies of the government, it was good to see all of India's major political parties come together in agreement in a matter of historic import. The Congress, BJP and the Left privileged landmark legislation over petty politics in supporting the women's reservation Bill. In much the same way, we believe that political parties should work together to evolve a consensus on security policy.

There are some issues and concerns too important to be affected by partisan rancour. The nation's security is one of them. Given that India is situated in an uncertain neighbourhood, and has been and continues to be a target for terrorist attacks, it is imperative that the nation's political leadership set aside their differences for the good of the country. The CIA recently warned that India is at risk from the al-Qaeda and the Taliban, while the government has sounded a terror alert in Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. At times like this, parties should work together to improve the country's security structures, rather than indulge in political brinksmanship to score cheap points at each other's expense. Unfortunately, after the Mumbai terror attack, parties were busy pointing fingers at each other, while the opposition wasted no time in deriding the government. But the women's reservation Bill proves that there are overarching issues on which political parties are willing to collaborate. They must embrace this spirit of cooperation and come together to develop a new policy on security that will serve the country well.

 

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

TOP ARTICLE

LANGUAGE WITHOUT BARRIERS

SANJIV KAURA

 

"We must at present do our best to form...a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect." With these words, spoken in 1835, Lord Macaulay crystallised an imperial approach to the English language that, unfortunately, continues to work to its detriment today. The old resentments about English being the language of the ruling classes, the old accusations about it being an imposition that dilutes our cultural ethos, continue to be political currency.

And so we have Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Samajwadi Party proposing a ban on English in Indian schools, or the Karnataka government banning 2,100 educational institutions in 2006 for using English as a medium of instruction. But there is a disconnect between the section of the political class that denigrates English, and the aspirations of India's burgeoning middle-class and its poor. They are playing to a constituency that is diminishing by the day. The English language is both an aspirational ideal and a practical tool that propels economic empowerment. The people have realised this even if the politicians who represent them have not.

Consider the evidence, both statistical and anecdotal. A study carried out in Mumbai a few years ago - based on a large sample and published in the American Economic Review - came up with interesting findings. According to it, access to English education reduced gender inequalities and the relevance of caste. It multiplied the choices and career options available to children in urban working-class homes, enabling a far greater percentage of them to move on to white-collar jobs than children who studied in Marathi medium schools.

As a corollary, the broader range of economic and social opportunities available to those from English medium schools also resulted in a much higher percentage of inter-caste marriages among them. Little wonder that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is being forced to shut down Marathi medium schools because of lack of demand. As one BMC official put it, parents feel that English can boost their children's chances of securing a better living.

They have good reason to think so. English has demonstrably been one of the building blocks of India's remarkable economic growth over the past decade. By laying such emphasis on the tertiary sector, the growth model has ensured that knowledge of English becomes an essential part of a professional's skill set. To give just one statistic highlighting its importance, 80 per cent of the sector's offshoring business comes from the US and the UK. But even outside of those two countries, English has established itself as the language of international business. With the high profile role of India's IT and BPO businesses as well as the growing market footprint of multinationals, the language of globalisation and international commerce cannot be ignored.

Little wonder that English-medium schools have proliferated in slums and rural areas. Or that politicians who have no compunctions about employing the rhetoric of linguistic chauvinism send their children to English-medium schools. We have the example of West Bengal as well. It tried to cut back on Eng-lish in schools two decades ago but had to backtrack when the move was seen as contributing to the state's deindustrialisation. Meanwhile, another communist administration - in China - is moving ahead with comprehensive initiatives to teach Chinese children English from a young age in an attempt to win a greater share of the outsourcing pie.

The idea that English education fosters elitism has been an influential one. But the way to deal with this is not by restricting the number of English-speakers even more. It is by widening its reach and democratising it. The elite has the means to ensure access to English, come what may. Locking the underprivileged out would be tantamount to reinforcing their lack of privilege. Let's build on what most of us acknowledge at some level - that knowledge of English can provide access to better jobs, or even raise one's income in one's present occupation.

There's a demand for English at the grassroots, which can't be ignored. The poor scrimp and save, in order to spend their hard-earned money to send their wards to schools that teach English. Implicit in this is an intuitive recognition that knowledge of English can offer an escape route from poverty, at least for the next generation. Let's facilitate that process, and speed upward mobility, by offering the underprivileged access to decent English-language skills free or at low cost.

None of this is to suggest that local languages should be ignored. Our richest cultural expressions can continue to be in these languages, and our educational institutions should do all they can to facilitate this. But there's no reason why multiple languages can't coexist. Indeed, they have done so since time immemorial in this country. English is just a practical skill, a tool of empowerment which will help everyone access the world of commerce and opportunity.

( The writer is CEO-corporate social responsibility, BCCL, heading a trust for imparting spoken English and life skills to underprivileged youth.)

 

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

YOU NEED TO BE READY FOR IT

REEMA MAITY

 

People often harbour flighty notions about married life. And they pay for it. That's why marriage should be approached more scientifically. Prenuptial training in Iran is a brainwave worth emulating. Some will chafe at the idea of official certification of readiness for matrimony. But look at it this way. Governments also manage education and state-appointed teachers certify academic prowess and other skills. What's wrong if the same principle drives online courses preparing the untutored for life's biggest test: keeping one's marriage vows?

With traditional certitudes increasingly called into question, individuals in their personal and professional lives must cope with the pressures and snares of modern life. As society gets more atomised - a seemingly irreversible process - youngsters become more prone to navel-gazing. Love does draw people out from within themselves but it is self-reflective in its core. Marriage is a different, less intoxicating, kettle of fish: two people stick together for good or bad, even when love's first flush has faded.

Prenuptial training can create awareness of marital responsibilities. To argue that matters of the heart can't be taught or graded is to miss the point. Marriage isn't just about the heart's fuzzy universe. It's also about using the head, about knowing the right time to take the plunge. Suitors and wannabe brides, as interested parties, can't dispassionately judge their own battle-readiness. What's wrong if government-designated experts step in? Childhood onwards, girls and boys undergo social conditioning about what it takes to be good wives and husbands. So the objection to prenuptial training as a pedagogical exercise is rather hypocritical.

 

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

 

THE LOSSCAR GOES TO…

BACHI KARKARIA

 

You could title it 'The Hurt Shocker'. That sums up what happened to the women's Bill on Monday even as The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow's unflinching film on the Iraq war, was making Oscar history for the right reasons in LA. There were lots of Kodak Theatre moments inside Parliament House as well, thanks largely to some Inglourious Basterds — spelt correctly.

 

Though Brinda Karat is tailor-made for any brand of red carpet and there's no dearth of glittering cine-MPs, the paparazzi went berserk over Messrs Subhash Yadav and Kamal Akhtar. It's difficult to cast these lumps of dough as a J Lo or even A Jolie, though you could call them the Pitts. But last Monday, they made up in disgraceful drama what they lacked in glamour. Fortunately the next day, Sonia salvaged the Bill, and enabled Indian women to keep their tryst with a greater density.

 

Indeed the parallels between the unceremonious events of the women's Bill and the almost concurrent Oscar ceremony were obvious. Most clearly, The Hurt Locker was the mirror image of The Hurt Shocker, which unspooled in the Rajya Sabha on March 8. 

 

 Both blockbusters were WMDs for IWD since both delivered different bombshells on the centenary of International Women's Day. While the political genre blew a gaping hole in the hopes of a 33 per cent reservation for women,  the Iraq war film was a weapon of  masculine destruction. To more awe than shock, Kathryn Bigelow decimated  ex-husband James Cameron's Avatar. Its budget and box-office takings had been Titanic-sized. So was its sinking. Nominated for nine Oscars, the breathtaking sci-fi epic won in only three categories, all 'only' technical ones. 

 

However, while we went to town and TV on the betrayal of women by the three Yadavs, Ms Bigelow steadfastly refused to fall into the gender trap in her acceptance speech and all subsequent interviews. She could rightfully have gloated since her film licked the cream of Best Director and Best Movie, plus tucked into three side-orders as well.  Kathryn the Great was the first woman director in the 82-year history of the Academy Awards to wrest this top-dog Oscar. 

 

For the record, only three other women directors have even been nominated. Among them was Sofia Coppola in 2003 for Lost In Translation. This too could have been the title of our own Monday hope-buster because it couldn't  translate a 321-vote majority into the awaited result; victory was Lost In Commotion, mercifully only temporarily. Also for the record, on this historic women's day in LA, the Best Actress award did not go to Meryl Stree(p) in the other woman-directed 'Julia & Julia'. It went to Sandra B.

 

 Which brings us to the fact that we can't just say 'Bullocks' to the petty, or rather, small-minded  trio of Sharad, Mulayam and Lalu. This 'Blind Side' has aggressively refused to see the political aspirations of  India's women. To borrow from another film that bombed on Oscar Night, these Yadavs left the gender 'Up In The Air' – till Sonia threw in her ballast.  

 

Alternatively, you can choose the film for which Sandra Bullock got the send-up Golden Raspberry on the eve of her Best Actress Oscar. That movie was titled 'All About Steve'. The Yadav bill-buster is 'All About Peeve'. 

 

 

Whichever way you look at the women's reservation Bill, 'It's Complicated'. It leaves just 282 'open' seats for male politicians in the Lok Sabha, after the existing 122 reservation  for SC/ST, and the proposed 181 quota for women. But, big deal! Ask our aspirants to medical colleges, and they will tell you that there's little difference between the MPs' new predicament and their own long-suffered one. Yes, to continue with the Oscar parallel, there's 'Precious' little difference

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

WE ARE GAME

 

The Delhi authorities appear to have had an epiphany. And it's not because Easter is advancing upon us. They have suddenly realised the larger truth that 70 per cent of dhabas where people go to nibble their favourite street food are illegal. And, heavens above, any moment, the Commonwealth starter's gun will go off. So in the manner of the Queen of Hearts, off with all of them before some unsuspecting soul from the Commonwealth delegation is felled by an unsanitary gol gappa.

 

The immutable truth that beggars inhabit all corners of the city also escaped the eyes of those with a higher calling. So, like you'd return a crate of apples gone bad to the shopkeeper, they too have to go back where they came from. And while schools remain open in icy and scorching weather, they will get a 15-day break when the fun and games begin. In other words, life as we know it will metamorphose come the epochal event. Now many may kvetch and grumble at this. But not those of us with a sunny disposition.

 

Let us take this opportunity to get rid of a few more eyesores like all that encroachments in residential areas and parks. And to have our beloved Municipal Corporation of Delhi workers looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at all times instead of dozing on the job. And perhaps our VIPs could also stay at home so that their screeching convoys don't mow down participants in the Games and those who'll come to see them. And certainly, we should do away with slums and perhaps give people aesthetic housing in Lutyens Delhi where there is a surplus of land. We're really warming up to this now. Oh, and take steps to keep under control that famous Delhi spirit that involves depositing bodily fluids in public and giving anyone who gets in your way a few friendly whacks. Ah yes, we are certainly game for all this provided we are not asked to make ourselves scarce.

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

ATOM HEART BROTHERS

 

Nuclear power wins so much public praise that its advocacy is developing religious overtones. US President Barack Obama called for a nuclear renaissance in his State of the Union address. French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday called for the developing world to seek radioactive communion. Israel has offered to jointly build reactors with its Arab neighbours. Over the next two decades, as many as 400 new reactors, roughly doubling the number running, could come up around the world.

 

Though Asia was largely unaffected, the shadow created by the Chernobyl disaster has largely passed. There're many reasons the nuclear torch has so many bearers. The first is energy. If one believes in the theory of peak oil — that climate change is man-made, or that petrodollars finance Islamic terror — then one believes in the need for a proven alternative to fossil fuels. The second is money. Reactors cost a billion dollars or two, fuelling and maintaining them millions more. Mr Sarkozy inaugurated a nuclear conference this week to showcase his country's prowess in reactors for export. Others are also offering atomic goodies. Reactor-makers now include upstarts like South Korea. Almost every industrialised country produces reactor components. Another cluster provides reactor fuel and others sell uranium. Because owning a reactor, as Iran has shown, means a country also learns three-quarters of the process for building a bomb and because nuclear power still produces the world's most hazardous waste, a nuclear renaissance needs to be accompanied by a policy safety check. In tandem with 9/11, this is why the world non-proliferation regime has been tightening.

 

India has been a nuclear laggard — it plans a dozen new reactors while China plans 300. It no longer has the excuse of sanctions and needs to make up for lost time. This is why the passage of the nuclear liability bill in some form is necessary. It will not only open the door for reactor imports from the US, France and other countries. It will also pave the way for India's own private nuclear efforts. A further step towards accomplishing the latter is ending the Department of Atomic Energy's monopoly. Only such reform will allow the sector to develop the finances and innovation needed for India to become a genuine player in a sector that is now achieving critical mass.

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

HOME AND THE WORLD

RAJIV J. CHAUDHRI

 

Some say multiculturalism has always been an essential part of the Indian spirit. There's a charming story about the earliest Jewish settlements in India I was told by the rabbi of the synagogue in Kochi, Kerala. There was consternation and debate in the court of the local Hindu king when several boats carrying Jews from afar arrived looking for asylum and shelter. How could these aliens live among us without disturbing the peace? The king's advisors said it'd be like pouring water into a glass full of milk: both the water and milk would spill. 'No' said the weary travellers. Rather, it would be like mixing sugar into milk. The milk wouldn't spill; rather, it'd taste sweeter and, therefore, better. Impressed, the king took them in.

 

The story of Modern Indian Art parallels that of Modern India — artistic awakenings paralleling the political awakenings, both dating back to the mid-19th century. While political India was inventing political multiculturalism, artistic India was inventing artistic multiculturalism. Political India institutionalised 20th century political multiculturalism in 1950 when the country gave itself a new Constitution. For political India, multiculturalism was about the viability and survival of a newly-created multi-religious, multi-racial and multi-linguistic nation. For artistic India, it was about freedom, creativity, self-expression and the universal human spirit.

 

Even so, India's political embrace of multiculturalism was important for the artistic community since it confirmed, legitimised and validated the political and artistic awakenings that had been going on for the previous half century and enlarged the space for creative freedom. Embracing another culture is an act that involves both mind and heart. There's an intellectual and cognitive component, but equally importantly, there's also the emotional component.

 

Put simply, you have to feel the culture you are embracing or your art will lack authenticity and vitality. Long before Indian artists looked to western art for inspiration, they embraced the many cultures other than their own in the Indian sub-continent itself. Hindu artists embraced Muslim culture and Muslim artists embraced Hindu culture, Christian artists embraced both, and the many ethnic cultures embraced each other. This challenging, but voluntary, act is rare in the annals of history and its importance and difficulty continue to be underrated in Europe and the US.

 

The embrace of other cultures has taken Indian artists down seemingly unexpected paths.  Thus one finds subjects like the Crucifixion of Christ and the Last Supper treated extensively by Indian artists, both Hindus and Muslims.  They paint these subjects not because they are in awe of their former colonial masters, but because they understand the passion, pathos and symbolism of those stories. And yet there is a difference in their treatment of these subjects, which springs from their individuality and from their Indian background.

 

The question that needs to be asked is: why does one not see paintings of Krishna and Radha — a popular and enduring Hindu subject — by western artists? This is a universal story of divine love that's been extensively treated by Indian Muslim and Christian artists to the delight of all. Perhaps there is ignorance and indifference. But another explanation is that they don't feel themselves equal to the task.  The truth is multiculturalism in art, done well, is emotionally and artistically hard work.

 

Multiculturalism is perhaps the most potent political idea for the world today, and modern India invented it. We invented it. It is the powerful idea that's propelled India's success in the modern world. It's broadened and deepened our democracy, empowered our women and shaped our embrace of modernity, diversity and pluralism. It's the reason why so many of us have achieved great success in the western world and the globalised economy.

 

Since most Indians — and certainly most non-Indians — are oblivious of these origins, this essay is written with the hope that awareness of this important idea will spark reflection and recognition. That, in turn, will deepen the strength of our multiculturalism at home and hasten its spread abroad. And that, in turn, will be good for India and great for the world.

 

Rajiv J. Chaudhri is President, Digital Century Capital. His art collection, 'Bharat Ratna! Jewels of Modern Indian Art', is currently on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

 

The views expressed by the author are personal

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

SAMAR HALARNKAR

 

'I will consume poison and die, but I will not allow the passage of this Bill!'   

 

More than nine months after this grand declaration and frantic efforts to stall a legislation that would push more women into his life, political veteran and Janata Dal (United) President and Member of Parliament (MP) Sharad Yadav — born in the year of India's independence — is alive and well, save for a deep sulk that will probably remain with him for life.

 

While I am no great fan of the Congress party's dynastic habits, I cannot but admire Sonia Gandhi for so determinedly pushing through the 108th amendment to the Indian constitution, reserving 33 per cent of seats in Parliament and state assemblies for women, at the cost of destabilising her government.

 

The women's reservation bill will not become law easily. The Lok Sabha must say yes. At least 15 assemblies must say yes. As that unfolds, the disgruntled old men who opposed the bill, including some Congress allies, are plotting revenge (They are all old men, either too old to change or aged in belief.)

 

But the passage of this historic legislation in India's Upper House will galvanise a deeply sexist and unequal country to accept the coming era more easily. The actual effect of women in power may take years, even decades. The idea of a more equal, more efficient, kinder and prosperous India will begin sooner.

 

On Monday, a United Nations report predicted that India's GDP could grow more than 4 per cent if women were as well represented in the workforce as they are in the US. This lack of female participation is endemic across Asia-Pacific and costs nearly $90 billion, the report says.

 

Aside from being homemakers, as demanding a job as any, more than 140 million women also work outside the house. Need drives most of them; 75 per cent of these marginal jobs are in agriculture.

 

Even when pushed to work, women make a difference. More than 3 million (some school dropouts, some post-graduates) serve day-care and health centres across the country. They are the frontline of the government's efforts to improve rural health.

 

There are islands of genuine hope: women in the infotech workforce went from 4.21 lakh in 2006 to 6.70 lakh in 2008, according to Nasscom; and in two decades, women, as a percentage of those admitted into institutions of higher education, went from less than 8 per cent to more than 40 per cent.

 

That's as good as it gets.

 

In business, where women are increasingly visible, India has the lowest proportion of female employees at 23 per cent, says a World Economic Forum report that surveyed 600 companies in 20 leading economies.

 

The most worrying sign for Indian women is how they are, literally, vanishing.

 

In 1941, India had 1,047 girls for 1,000 boys up to the age of six. At the last census, there were 927 girls for every 1,000 girls. Together, India and China are missing 85 million women, who died from discriminatory health care or were never born at all.

Aborting or killing female babies is rampant across India, especially in northern India. Only Kerala and Puducherry have more women than men.

 

This isn't about caste, religion or any other chimeras that Yadav and his ilk let loose. It's about the best chance possible to change the worst things about India.

 

Might economic progress change the status of women, as some argue? Prosperity appears to deepen the problem. You will find some of India's worst sex ratios in its richest areas, like south Mumbai and south Delhi.

 

Even hopeful statistics hide depressing facts.

 

The 15th Lok Sabha has a record 59 female MPs, or about 10 per cent of seats, the first time this figure is in double digits. What's not so well known: the percentage of total female contestants has been in steep decline since 1957, when 48.89 per cent of candidates for 494 seats were women (they won only 4.45 per cent of seats though). At 10.61 per cent, the proportion of female candidates in 2009 was, save 1996 (a testosterone-ridden election that led to a hung parliament, three prime ministers in two years and new elections), the lowest ever.

 

Opponents of the Bill insist that women of richer means and higher caste will corner reserved seats; that most women will become proxies for a variety of male relatives; that female empowerment must precede reservation.

 

Empowerment, my colleague Shivani Singh says, is like world peace, a great concept for beauty pageants. To succeed, female empowerment must be shoved down the Indian male's throat.

 

The argument about the Women's bill being damaging to women of lesser means has some validity, but in practice, parties in this age of social equity tend to do their own balancing. In Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, more than half of 23 women MLAs are minorities. As for the proxies, India has always been a nation of dynasties, male and female. That won't change in a hurry.

 

Female proxies were indeed the rule after 1993, when a third of seats were first reserved for women in panchayats (village councils). Today, many women do serve as fronts for their male relatives, but, equally, thousands have become exemplars of more responsive, less corrupt governance.

 

About a million women are now elected to India's self-rule institutions, the largest such democratic mobilisation in the world. As they truly grasp the power they possess, these women are changing the fabric of rural India. Let's give them the chance to change the idea of India.

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

THE OTHER BILL

 

Are you against the Bill or for it?

 

Well, the Constitution (109th Amendment Bill) isn't likely to be introduced, let alone passed, in Parliament in a hurry. But yes, I'm against the bill.

 

You're so outdated! To think that there are men like you in today's day and age!

 

I'm not only talking about whether Indians are ready for it yet. My serious worry is that it may be misused.

 

But unless you give it a chance, how can we even move ahead. For crying out loud, this is the 21st century.

 

Then there's the issue of seats.

 

You mean whether to keep the seats up or down?

 

Yes. I mean, in developed countries they at least conduct a referendum. Here, it's being forced into being accepted by people who haven't had even the time to think about it.

 

But you know that no one will ever come out openly against it. Not even Lalu and Mulayam will have the courage to say no, as they will fear sounding not rustic and rural-friendly enough.

 

Frankly, my hopes are up. If  reserving parliamentary seats for women is on the verge of becoming real today, I see it being only a matter of time when, by law, all public places in India will have to provide one unisex toilet for each available one for men and for women.

 

Do say: What kind of scatological nonsense is this?!

 

Don't say: You've come a long bidet, baby!

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

TITLE GOES HERE

 

The UPA grandly promised to make India slum-free in five years, when it announced the Rajiv Awas Yojana, aimed at giving property rights to the urban poor. HDFC Bank chairman Deepak Parekh is now helming an eight-member panel to fine-tune its strategy and flesh out its financial pattern. The housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry had drawn up a rough regulatory framework, which is now being examined by the panel and made workable. Given the scale and velocity of urbanisation in India, it is crucial that the plan is thoroughly thought out and then implemented.

 

Rajiv Awas Yojana is an acknowledgement that slums and shantytowns, which look like belts of squalor and insecurity, are also a creative informal economy — economists like Hernando de Soto argue that giving the poor legal titles to their shelter would inject fresh capital and entrepreneurship into the system. The scheme is premised on the idea that giving them the ability to leverage their property titles as collateral will set off a wave of micro-innovation. The aim is to take the slum out of the slum by incrementally improving services and securing property rights, rather than pushing the poor out of sight to the city's peripheries. After all, they are not scroungers, they are service providers. The cobbler, the dhobi, the chaiwallah, the coolie, the rickshaw driver, the construction worker, the rag-pickers — they provide the abundance of informal services that define the city.

 

Others have argued that granting squatters legal title only enriches speculators and provides an illusion of self-help, while leaving the newest and poorest migrants most vulnerable, vis-à-vis those who have wrested de facto tenure from years of squatting. Either way, the biggest challenge is the lack of updated and accurate data, how little policy-makers often know about the urban poor and disenfranchised.

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

MARSHAL LAW

 

The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2008 was passed with the support of the three largest groupings in Parliament: the ruling alliance, the opposition NDA, and the Left parties. That can hardly be called an anti-democratic development, an "autocratic move", or "tanashahi". But that's how those who object to the bill — primarily Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal and Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party — have responded to its passage. Apparently the suspension of seven of their Rajya Sabha members for snatching copies of the bill, breaking Chairman Hamid Ansari's microphone, and climbing on the table, was anti-democratic in a way that holding up Parliament by doing those things, and by hours of slogan-shouting, was not. On Wednesday, they succeeded in ensuring that the Lok Sabha, too, got no work done.

 

The bankruptcy of these parties' politics revealed itself in their desperate attempts to hog the spotlight over the

passage of this bill. But for too long have individuals felt that forcing an adjournment through disrupting the House is a legitimate legislative tactic. The speaker of the Lok Sabha and the chairman of the Rajya Sabha have traditionally ruled with a light touch, avoiding the use of suspensions, not calling in marshals. The reasons for that have been understandable: the theory that every parliamentarian should have her say, and that closing off "debate", even if that debate has descended to the farcical shouting of slogans, is a bad thing. But that can go entirely too far. Nobody likes to see marshals entering the house; but ensuring that physical intimidation of the chairman and of the business of the Rajya Sabha doesn't take the place of verbal discussion is precisely what they are supposed to be called in to do.

 

Hopefully, this response will mark a turning point in our Parliament's recent history. The willingness of both the political leadership and of the presiding officers of the Houses to crack down on particularly egregious misbehaviour should send a signal that constant adjournments are no longer considered welcome. Both MPs with something to say and the public at large have demonstrated, in this latest case, impatience with the tactic. A firm reminder of what parliamentary discipline entails was long overdue.

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

HIGHER CHOICES

 

The passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday drew attention to the practice of a party whip. The Janata Dal (U) revealed its internal divisions by allowing its MPs to vote according to their conscience. In doing so, the JD(U) cast a light on the extraordinary control party leaderships enjoy in votes to ascertain the will of the House.

 

Unlike the persuasive power of the party whip in other democracies like the US and Britain, and indeed in this country before the adoption of the Anti-Defection Act, the whip in Indian legislatures is an outright coercive tool. Its effect — as it was on Wednesday for the progressive step of increasing the representation of women in our Parliament and assemblies — is to diminish an MP's personal conviction.

 

Curiously, the Women's Reservation Bill too could concentrate greater power in the hands of party leaderships. And as we welcome the legislation's capacity to shake up entrenched hierarchies in our politics, equally there needs to be a nuanced understanding of its potential to further consolidate power among party leaderships. Great virtue has already been made of the geographical reach of the legislation. Over three elections every constituency will have been reserved once. In that one stroke, this is a move bolder than any other affirmative action plan worldwide. There is no denying the entrenched patriarchies in the practice of politics and electioneering. Compulsorily investing women with representation at the constituency level can change how power is negotiated, if not change attitudes. However, the rotation system to achieve this geographical spread is like a

 

lottery system. For a political party, this means a woman candidate could have to be found for a seat till now held by a (male) party MP with longstanding grassroots support there. How will she be chosen? By co-opting the local strongman's biwi-beti, so that he does not field them as "rebel" candidates? Or, given the number of women candidates who must now be nurtured, by having the political party mediate

 

a "deserving" candidate's initiation within local support structures?

 

And what of the uprooted MP? Having lost a traditional stronghold and possibly on the lookout for another constituency, his or her candidature may no longer be fuelled by a grassroots connect. Would this candidate's electoral chances now be ever more dependent on party satraps? In many ways, political parties will be tested in being inventive, enlightened and democratic in making the new choices the women's quota will bring.

 

INDIAN EXPRESS

COLUMN

OLD FRIENDS IN A NEW WORLD

C. RAJA MOHAN

 

As the visiting Russian Premier Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh celebrate the deepening of the Indo-Russian bilateral relationship this week with a range of impressive agreements on defence and nuclear cooperation, China will be the ghost in the room.

 

If the two leaders do discuss the implications of a rapidly rising China for the balance of power in the region that Russia and India share, they are unlikely to say much about it in public.

 

For it is a taboo in the Indo-Russian discourse to mention China except in the context of strengthening the triangular cooperation and its expansion to include other emerging powers such as Brazil and South Africa.

 

This silence, however, is unsustainable as India and Russia come to terms with the rise of China as the single most important geopolitical fact of our time.

 

Delhi and Moscow can pretend in public that they are building an "Eastern bloc" with China to limit the power of the West. In private they cannot but fret about the shifting internal balance within the East amidst the emergence of China as a great power.

 

In any case the Indian and Russian posturing on the "strategic triangle" is unlikely to impress Beijing. After all China has a strong tradition of realism in the conduct of its external relations.

 

Nor can China ignore the fact that the clutch of defence and nuclear deals between Delhi and Moscow will have some impact on Beijing's own perceptions of the balance of power in southern Asia.

 

China has long countered the Indo-Russian security cooperation by expanding its own strategic military transfers to Pakistan. Just as a new phase in Indo-Russian defence cooperation has begun, so has the broadening of the Sino-Pak defence cooperation that includes the joint production of fighter aircraft.

 

It is also not clear if the convergence of Russian and Indian interests in Afghanistan — the most important security challenge in the region — is shared by China, which is a close partner of Pakistan.

 

But first the question of the strategic triangle and its changing political context. The Russian initiative for triangular cooperation with China and India in the mid-'90s was a response to Moscow's fears about a unipolar world dominated by the United States.

 

The once feared "hyperpower" is now widely seen as headed for an inevitable relative decline. And few now doubt the proposition that the principal challenger for the US is China.

 

Unlike the US, which resides in another hemisphere, China is next door to Russia and India and shares massive frontiers with both. For all their anxieties about the US, it is the rise of Chinese power that directly affects the relative positions of Russia and India in the Asian hierarchy.

 

And nothing gives the jitters to Delhi and Moscow more than the prospect of a political accommodation between Washington and Beijing — the so-called Group of Two. Although the idea of a Sino-US condominium has lost some

 

of its shine in recent months, Dr Singh and Putin know that China has begun to outrank Russia, let alone India, in the American strategic calculus.

 

Moscow's security discourse remains focused on the US and NATO. Russia's recently announced military doctrine does

 

not say a word about China. That does not mean Moscow is not concerned about the implications of China's rise.

 

Nor is Beijing unaware of the internal debate in Moscow about a potential China problem. Beijing has also been irritated by the Russian reluctance to open up gas sales (as opposed to oil trade) and its arms transfers to China's neighbours, including Vietnam and India.

 

India's relationship with Russia is often framed, in the public domain, as an anti-American project. But those familiar with the history of Indo-Russian partnership know well that it was shaped as much by Beijing as it was by Washington.

 

The foundation of the Indo-Russian strategic partnership in the late '50s and early '60s took place in conjunction with the rapid deterioration in the ties between the ruling communist parties in Moscow and Beijing.

 

The Indo-Russian treaty of peace and friendship of 1971, in turn, was a direct consequence of the Sino-US rapprochement initiated by President Richard Nixon and his National Security Adviser, Henry Kissinger.

 

If a relatively weak and internally divided China has had such an impact on the Indo-Russian relationship, a rising China will begin to shape the entire global and regional context of the partnership between Delhi and Moscow.

 

India and Russia, then, could do with an honest discussion between their leaders about China. Such a discussion does not mean Delhi and Moscow have to return to their old anti-Chinese ways.

 

Given the centrality of China in world commerce and international politics, there is no way Delhi and Moscow could contain Beijing even if they wanted to. What India needs is not a diminution of the Chinese role in Asia but an expansion of the Russian one.

 

Dr Singh must press Putin to get Russia to pay as much consideration to the Asian balance of power as it does to Europe and the US. The Slavs, like the Indians, love grand-standing on global issues; it is about time that they focused a little more narrowly on regional security issues in Asia.

 

India must encourage Russia to take a more active role in the Indian Ocean. Delhi and Moscow could also begin to promote

 

better coordination between their policies in southern and eastern Asia.

 

India and Russia already have a mechanism to discuss Afghanistan. They must now institutionalise a new framework to discuss the full range of regional security issues in the littorals of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific.

 

The Indo-Russian strategic discourse has been dominated by the nitty gritty of bilateral cooperation and an abstract notion of "promoting multipolarity" during the last decade and a half. As a world of many powers dawns, India and Russia have their task cut out in Asia.

 

raja.mohan@expressindia.com

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

COLUMN

A GIFT FOR JOE BIDEN

SUDEEP PAUL

 

Ben Caspit in Ma'ariv used the phrase that was picked up by the global media to sum up the Mossad's alleged Dubai hit: a tactical operational success, a strategic failure. Almost two months since it happened, and nearly a month since the first outcry, it may seem now that this gruesome murder too will be buried in the annals of covert espionage operations.

 

So it's imperative to understand that Dubai casts a faint and a dark shadow. It was feared to immediately impact the resumption of peace talks, suspended since Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. However, US Vice President Joe Biden's trip to Israel has followed the script: he reaffirmed US support for Israel, expressed high hopes for the indirect "proximity talks", condemned Israel's decision to build homes in East Jerusalem. Israel has desired direct talks, even as Mahmoud Abbas categorically declared that they will not happen as long as the near-absent mutual trust is continuously undermined.

 

The timing of Israel's announcement of the building plans — 112 homes in the West Bank, which it claims were sanctioned before Binyamin Netanyahu grudgingly accepted a 10-month settlement freeze last November; and 1600 in East Jerusalem, which Israel had kept out of the freeze zone — to coincide with Biden's trip (the highest-level so far from the Obama administration) has, expectedly, frustrated the vice president, who was meant to break the ice. The Obama "coldness" felt by leaders across Europe and Asia has a near-zero temperature in a country that feels it no longer has a blind, all-weather friend in Washington.

 

The background to the Biden visit is starker than the actual hopelessness of the proximity talks. It is a prospective Israeli strike on Iran. The building announcements add to the atmospheric noxiousness. What Netanyahu is suspected to be doing is applying the oldest trick in his book — compelling a US administration in love with big ideas to fall back on America's old, unquestioned support for Israel. Meanwhile, Palestinians are clashing with the Israeli police in East Jerusalem, there are fears of a third intifada, and Israel is staring at a possibly violent confrontation with its own rightwing lunatic fringe.

 

The Dubai hit — isolated in itself — casts its fainter, and shorter, shadow over all this; short because its impact on regional politics will not last long. Faint because, despite the substantial digital trail, all the evidence to implicate the Mossad is, technically, circumstantial. Precedent and past record is no proof. And Israel has a policy of "ambiguity" on such operations, never owning up, never denying. As the 27th suspect was identified by Interpol on Tuesday — another

 

Australian-Israeli — Israeli incredulity rose: could the Mossad really have been so stupid as to not even deactivate the CCTV cameras, or take the Dubai police for kindergarten cops? Why steal the identities of so many Israelis with dual nationalities? Why employ 27 (and possibly more) agents when the Mossad has an operational prescription of not sparing two agents where one suffices (Never mind the big teams used after the Munich massacre.)? And why did Dubai's heroic police chief suddenly disappear last week (apparently on pilgrimage to Mecca)?

 

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the Hamas operative killed on January 20, was in Dubai to negotiate a possible arms deal with Tehran — a deal that could alter the tactical balance in Gaza. Two (subsequently three) arrested Palestinians, connected with the hit, were, as per Hamas claims, members of the Palestinian Authority's security apparatus in Gaza, who had fled after the Hamas takeover in 2007. Was it then a Fatah-Mossad collaboration? Was it part of a larger strategy to monitor Iranian business interests that use Dubai's banking system to help Tehran circumvent the sanctions? Iran, right across the Persian Gulf, is Israel's foremost concern; and an Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in Tehran a week before the Dubai hit.

 

The Dubai business has become too complicated to separate the strands and ascertain responsibility. But the muck will stay at Israel's door — even if it's forgiven by allies whose passport regimes were violated, even if it's no lonelier than it already was. Yet Netanyahu's priorities are clearly elsewhere. He believes the political dynamic for Israel can be changed by cornering the US through intransigence, and doing nothing to help the talks.

 

Thus, Dubai's impact on politics will be short and shallow. Its darker, and longer, shadow however falls on the practical and ethical future of covert operations. Covert operations will not end hereafter; they'll change. But Mossad's operability and regional stations stand compromised. Meir Dagan, Mossad's current chief, is being lampooned as the "national blunderer".

 

The Dubai hit will likely remain a "ripping spy yarn" rather than a "bloody scandal", unless the Dubai police manage to end the trail one way or the other. Meanwhile, Israelis and Palestinians will keep walking, without displacement, as they always have. If indirect "proximity" talks, against the backdrop of simmering violence, are to be construed as progress after a decade and a half of failed direct talks, Dubai is politically a drop of water, not the ocean.

 

sudeep.paul@expressindia.com

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

COUNTERING THE CRITICS

SUBHASHINIALI

 

The Women's Reservation Bill, in its tumultuous life so far of nearly 14 years, has sparked off debates and reactions far beyond its limited scope to reserve one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women.

 

The political parties opposing the Bill have concentrated their fire on the issue of "reservation within reservation" insisting that only separate quotas for Dalit, OBC and minority women can ensure the entry of poor and downtrodden women into Parliament. This argument has been echoed in Jaithirth Rao's article ('Let's junk the hypocrisy', IE, March 9), and finds resonance among many sections of society.

 

The truth, however, is that while in the present Lok Sabha there are 17 SC/ST women members, the enactment of the bill will ensure that their number goes up to at least 42. Electoral results of recent years have seen the numbers of elected OBC members climbing to over 30 per cent of the total in most state assemblies and the Lok Sabha. The size of the OBC population and its tremendous political mobilisation ensures that OBC women candidates are also very successful. For example, in the UP Vidhan Sabha, of a total of 28 women MLAs, between eight to ten are OBCs. Once the bill is enacted, OBC women will probably constitute the largest social bloc among the women MPs.

 

It is, however, a matter of concern that the numbers of Mulim elected representatives has dwindled both in state assemblies and in Parliament. This needs urgent attention and addressal but it is not a problem that can be addressed or resolved within the parameters of the Women's Reservation Bill.

 

The March 9 issue of The Indian Express also carries an article by Madhu Purnima Kishwar who objects to the bill on three main counts: 1) that the provision of rotation of seats in the bill will lead to uprooting of legislators after every election and will make women candidates even more dependent on the whims of their male, political leaders and increase the numbers of the

 

"biwi-beti" brigade, exemplified by Rabri Devi; 2) biwi-beti brigade members are bad role-models for Indian women; 3) they actually "block" the way for other women to develop as leaders as has been done by the likes of Pramila Dandavate, Ahilya Rangnekar and Brinda Karat who were all promoted to heading the women's fronts of their parties by their husbands who were party leaders.

 

The principle of rotation of seats has been included in the bill so that in 15 years, the lifespan of the bill, the reservation enjoys a horizontal spread across the country and is implemented in every constituency. Uprooting of elected members is bound to result but under the existing dispensation, it is certainly not a fact that all elected representatives devote themselves to development work in their constituencies or that those who do not are punished by their voters. Electoral reality is far more complex. Uprooting may, in fact, force political parties to become more responsive and responsible and discourage personal fiefdoms

 

The domination of most political parties (and the Left has universally been given grudging credit for being an honourable exception) one or more by political families is certainly a development which is undemocratic. It is astonishing, however, that Kishwar singles out the dangers of the "biwi-beti" brigade, symbolised by Rabri Devi, and bemoans the danger of assemblies and Parliament being invaded by this brigade, but completely ignores the anointing of a long and unending list of "sons" that includes Farooq Abdullah, Rajiv Gandhi, Ajit Singh et al. Kishwar alleges that the foisting of the biwi-beti brigade is done to safeguard family interests but the promotion of the sons has been done for precisely the same reason. Clearly, the serious malaise of political nepotism cannot be remedied by the scrapping of the women's bill.

 

Kishwar goes on to blame "biwi-betification" for the problems that women have in gaining admission to and promotion within party structures by saying that wives of political leaders, who have been made leaders of women's fronts of these parties are responsible for the road blocks faced by other women and cites Pramila Dandavate, Ahilya Rangnekar and Brinda Karat as examples. Pramila and Ahilya came to politics through their militant participation in the freedom struggle as young students. They later married political colleagues but continued to be leaders of struggles for gender equality, for Samyukta Maharashtra and for a host of other causes. To suggest that either of them owed their positions as leaders of struggles and movements, their elections to Parliament or their positions in organisations and parties to their husbands is the most unforgivable and unwarranted slur on their amazing achievements and to their commitment to travel down a very hard and stony path. Neither of them is with us today but that does not mean that such unnecessary and uncalled-for slander will go unchallenged. Brinda Karat has been an activist from her student days long before her marriage. She started working in the All India Democratic Womens Association from its inception, first as a district-level functionary and then, after five years of hard work, became its general secretary. It was while she occupied that post that she initiated a constitutional amendment that has made it mandatory for the key office-bearers at district, state and national levels to vacate their offices at the end of three terms. This has ensured that women activists can develop as leaders and occupy important posts without impediment.

 

The difficulties that women face in entering and advancing in the decision-making bodies of political parties are tremendous and they are being fought at all levels by indomitable women. Making false accusations against those who are in no way responsible for this state of affairs does nothing to help them in their struggle. Kishwar began her article saying that any legislation that claims to favour women sails easily through Parliament. This statement trivialises the difficult, bitter and long drawn-out struggles that have had to be waged for even the piecemeal passage of the Hindu Code Bill and the partial passage of the Women's Reservation Bill. The path to gender justice is an arduous one, marked by these and other significant victories achieved through movements and collective action outside and within Parliament.

 

The writer is president, All India Democratic Women's Association and member of the CPM central committee

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

NITISH KUMAR, LADIES MAN

JP YADAV

 

When Bihar's chief minister Nitish Kumar announced his support for the Women's Reservation Bill, it shocked and angered fellow Mandal politicians — his party chief Sharad Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.

 

Their annoyance was natural — Nitish was part of the Mandal club that had, all along, vowed to oppose the bill "tooth and nail". Nitish, as a member of the parliamentary standing committee that examined the bill had put his dissent in black and white and demanded a quota within the quota for women of disadvantaged and deprived sections. That, however, was more than a decade and-a-half back.

 

Now, as he backed the Women's Reservation Bill, Nitish said: "I think it is an idea whose time has come." His

words clearly signalled his realisation that the language of politics has changed. Unlike Lalu and Mulayam, he does not want to be seen as a leader unwilling to accept current social churning while clinging to the legacy of the Mandal era. It is a deliberate attempt to break out of the brand of Mandal politicians whose significance is eroding.

 

The change, however, was not a sudden one. Indications of an altered outlook were underlined in his government's decision to reserve 50 per cent seats in the panchayats for women, one of his first decisions after coming to power in 2005. Despite opposition from party colleagues, Nitish went ahead. After some expected resistance and tension in Bihar's patriarchal society, the idea was absorbed. Nitish made his thoughts clear last year itself, when party president Sharad Yadav threatened to consume poison to stop the passage of the bill. Nitish then called his party MPs and told them that his views over women's reservation had changed ('Women's Bill quota: Nitish quietly disagrees with his party chief Sharad', IE, June 11, 2009).

 

It is not that Nitish has completely broken away from the Mandal club. In fact, he is being accused of indulging in the most blatant form of caste based reservation through his Mahadalit (disadvantaged Dalits) experiment. Nitish has included 21 of the 22 Dalit castes in Bihar in the Mahadalit list to dole out special benefits. Only the "dusadhs" identified with rival, LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan — have been left out on the pretext that they are a creamy layer among Dalits.

 

In fact, Nitish has resorted to a delicate balancing act — mixing Mandal methods with a dose of modernity. The decision to reserve 20 per cent panchayat seats for Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs) and 50 per cent for women were taken simultaneously. With the first, he enlarged the Mandal pie for a huge chunk (around 30 per cent of the state's population) among the backward castes and tailored a new political constituency and with the second, he presented the image of a progressive politician receptive to change and new ideas. Bihar became the first state to give 50 per cent reservation for women.

 

Reservation for women in panchayats planted the seed for a slow but sure churning in Bihar's patriarchal society . Despite critics citing examples of women being used as rubber stamps, the move unleashed unimaginable visuals in the hinterland. Men accompanying women — as, say, private secretaries — to district headquarters for meetings called by the district magistrate meant a lot in a society where a woman's place is supposed to be inside the four walls of her home. Slowly, Nitish realised that the reservation had created a new constituency for him. Encouraged, he announced free clothes, books and cycles for school-going girls, which created a huge jump in school enrollment. The move reaped political dividends and widespread publicity. The Centre recently borrowed the idea, and announced it in the president's address — a fact that Nitish has flaunted.

At a time when Lalu, Mulayam and Sharad, who rose on the horizon riding the Mandal wave, are struggling to stay politically alive, Nitish has simply adapted to keep afloat. Mulayam continues to be a vocal opponent of English, though English medium schools have now sprouted even in the rural hinterland. Nitish has successfully projected himself as modern, pitching for ideas of development, economic growth and reform that have been shunned by his Mandal colleagues. He is even striking out against the nepotism that is widely considered one of the biggest reasons for the decline of Lalu and Mulayam, who turned their parties into family fiefdoms. Nitish has decided to deny tickets to the kith and kin of party MPs, despite the displeasure of his party.

 

In the run up to the polls, Nitish has killed two birds with one stone. He has consolidated the sympathy generated by panchayat reservation among half of the population, and also sent out the message that he was not averse to upper caste/class women crowding Parliament and state legislatures, as his rivals Lalu and Mulayam fear.

 

jp.yadav@expressindia.com

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INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

VIEW FROM THE RIGHT

SUMAN K JHA

 

THE MOURNING AFTER

The latest issue of RSS mouthpiece Organiser has three-and-a-half pages devoted to the late Nanaji Deshmukh, with a box, picture and introduction on page one, which says: "Nanaji: the messiah of rural self reliance — the saint of Chitrakoot is no more". In a full-page column titled "Nanaji: some reminiscences" veteran RSS ideologue P Parameswaran writes: "Media calls Nanaji a social activist. But he was not one in the usually accepted sense of the term. Social activists of today generally follow the modern Western paradigm. Nanaji was radically different. He was a system builder — a truly Bharateeya system, based on our cultural and spiritual values, tuned to the needs and requirements of the present situation. That is what he attempted in Gonda and successfully executed in Chitrakoot — establishment of a miniature Ram Rajya. That is his real contribution. He was closer to Gandhiji and Shri Guruji (former RSS chief Guru Golwalkar) than any so-called social activists". The Hindi RSS organ Panchajanya has also prominently displayed Nanaji's contributions in its latest issue and discussed his nation-building role in its editorial. It carried a full-page photo feature and two pages, discussing Nanaji Deshmukh's manifold contributions.

 

BHAGWAT'S LESSONS

The Organiser has a full-page item on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's visit to Bhopal titled, "When Hindus become strong, the nation will become stronger". The RSS organ says in the news item: "The Bhopal division of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh celebrated its annual day on February 28, by organising 'Hindu samagam' where more than 3,000 swayamsevaks and 30,000 spectators gathered to salute the saffron flag and to listen to the sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat". The news item quotes Bhagwat as saying that "he criticised the western theory of 'unity only through uniformity' and said that true unity can exist in diversity and India is a living example of the same". Discussing the event, Panchajanya quotes Bhagwat criticising the US, saying that "it wanted to expand its influence in the world" and that "to improve its own financial health, the US was trying to impose globalisation on others".

 

RUDDERLESS FOREIGN POLICY

The Organiser has an editorial titled "The pressure is showing: the PM cannot take criticism" in its latest issue. It says: "A successful foreign policy requires a single source, one clear voice speaking for the country. The greatest damage to India 's image has been done during the Manmohan Singh regime by the general impression, we hope we are wrong, that there are many masters handling the affairs in South Block and the final thrust comes from quite remote sources. There is a widespread feeling that India is under constant nudgings from the US to mend itself and talk with Pakistan. This is tragic enough."

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

OPED

WHERE THE GIRLS ARE

SHAILAJA BAJPAI

 

It's Women's Day, so you switch on the TV set, eager to witness history being made. You expect to watch the Women's Reservation Bill being passed in the Rajya Sabha. All you see are men kill Bill. You expect to see happy women smiling; all you see are grim disappointed faces. You expect to hear cheers; all you get are boos. And when all seemed lost, when you expected the man whose one film had made more money at the box office than any other film ever, to win the ultimate film accolade, Kathryn Bigelow snatched Uncle Oscar away from James Cameron. The director of Avatar had to be satisfied with three Academy Awards and two billion dollars, poor fellow.

 

On Women's Day, you expect to see affirmative action. Since every single TV serial is about women, you expect to see something positive and rousing. Well. On Sajan Ghar Jaana Hai (Star Plus), a woman is tied to a stake and as the drums beat faster than her heart, buckets of Holi water lash her body like whips. Meanwhile, Balika Vadhu (Colors) does a Slumdog Millionaire on us with young children, including girls, being auctioned off by goons to the highest criminal bidder. The goon boss, reclining on his bed with an ugly leer on his face, asks them to perform a 'mujra'.

 

That should have brought out the child activist in each of us. But before we crowd the streets, shouting, "nahin chalegi, nahin chalegi", Jamunia (NDTV Imagine) has something more in store for us. The channel's description of the serial says, "poor humble girl finds her life in turmoil when she moves in with her husband to live in a haunted house". But that is not what we see. We see the pretty young heroine deliberately thrust in front of a bus so that she is injured and her beastly male relative can claim compensation from the bus driver. Then a carrion bird flies over her home and her family blames her for bringing them ill luck. Whereupon, her Mamiji advances upon her with a piece of burning wood. To the unconcealed amusement of her female relatives, the girl stumbles, falls. "Nahin Mamiji," she pleads. Held down by two young female cousins, she is then impaled by her aunt and the last sound you hear as you hurriedly switch channels, is the scream of her pain.

 

From one scream to another. "Ma, mujhe bachcha de deejiye", screams the young girl in Behenein(Star Plus). But Ma slams the door in her face and says she can never have the child back. The girl collapses against the door in tears and loud wails.

 

It's enough to reduce you to tears. Female characters are abused, neglected, mistreated — by men and women. Not one soap at prime time celebrates a woman who is not labouring under the terrible burden of being born a woman in India. The misery is never lightened by anything remotely positive. These women have been stripped of everything except their garish clothes and gaudy jewellery. The characterisation of women as perpetual victims is a terrible crime, as bad as any the female characters suffer.

 

There should be 33 per cent reservation in serials of female characters who are positive role models; we need women who smile, not those who weep, women who are not oppressed by men just as we need men who do not oppress women. Otherwise, young viewers, girls and boys are growing up with negative images of the iniquitous relationship between women and men. It's time to change that.

 

Just as it is time that shows like Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayega (NDTV Imagine) undergo a complete makeover. It is ridiculous to have a show in which the bride is chosen on the basis of her ability to dance, sing, walk the ramp — or whatever. While it is difficult to make such shows intelligent, they could avoid insulting our intelligence and that of the participants. Why do the girls lend themselves to such demeaning exercises?

 

shailaja.bajpai@expressindia.com

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

HOW TO MAKE INDIA SLUM FREE

The government's decision to appoint an eight-member independent committee under the chairmanship of Deepak Parekh to comment on the draft guidelines of the ambitious Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) shows that it is taking the goal of a slum-free India within five years seriously. The appointment of this committee comes soon after finance minister Pranab Mukherjee made a 700% hike in allocation towards RAY in his Budget speech. Deepak Parekh and co are expected to suggest appropriate strategies, financial and others, to make RAY implementable. The key to slum redevelopment and rehabilitation is according property rights to slum dwellers. However, there are two tricky issues which make this more difficult than it sounds. In an interview to The

 

Financial Express last month, the Peruvian economist and property rights expert Hernando de Soto had said that it is wrong to look at slum redevelopment and rehabilitation as simply a housing problem. Because for many slum dwellers, the slum isn't just a house but often also a small factory, warehouse and shop. Unless a slum dweller is accorded property rights in this broad sense (rather than simply housing rights), slum rehabilitation will be a difficult exercise and run into resistance.

 

That conceptual problem aside, there is a real problem in deciding cut-off dates. There is a need to balance the interests of people who have lived in a slum for long and those who are recent squatters hoping to be assigned property rights. This is a tricky issue and perhaps one that the Deepak Parekh committee ought to mull over carefully. Of course, the more fundamental question to be asked is why people choose to live this way in the first place? Surely, if they had a choice, they would not. And that leads to the bigger issue of providing affordable housing to the poor. There are a couple of schemes for affordable housing under the JNNURM, which may be merged with RAY. There is also the possibility of merging the interest subsidy scheme for housing for the urban poor with RAY. But the government needs to think beyond specific schemes about how to increase the supply of affordable housing, built either by the private sector or public private partnerships. There is also the question of the availability of finance. At the moment, it is difficult even for a middle class person to get a sizeable home loan at less than double digit rates of interest. Hopefully, Deepak Parekh and co, apart from the specifics on RAY, will also be able to impress this larger issue on the government.

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

MONEY UNSPENT

In the first four years of the Eleventh Five Year Plan, the government has spent less than 60% of the target for almost all its major social sector plans. And this from a government that is never chary of flaunting its aam admi connection. As a recent news article carried by FE shows, the only exception is the NREGA, where the government is on track to meet its plan target. To recapture the target for the Eleventh Plan for the other schemes, in 2011-12 the Centre will need to double the spending for its social sector budget from the Rs 1.34 lakh crore allocated in Budget 2010-11. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee could face some additional fiscal pressure to make good this difference. What can be the reason for the government to undershoot its target for spending on the social sector so badly? Finance ministry officials privately admit the problem in the sector lies with its absorptive capacity. State governments have found spending on the social sector programmes difficult. The difficulty is similar to the problems international aid agencies also run into. The better-off countries in the developing world, and this includes India, have stronger delivery and accounting mechanisms to utilise more funds. This asymmetry is visible within India too. The poorer states show far less ability to handle the funds earmarked for them and often return unspent. In the government's budgeting format, every time a ministry shows lower utilisation of funds compared with the budget estimate for the fiscal, the next year's budget estimate is lowered. In the process, the five-year targets recede further into the future.

 

What are, therefore, the options to get over this hump? There can obviously be no case for relaxing the rules for allocation, for that will simply be an invitation to pilfer. While the government needs to push the implementing agencies in the short run, in the long term the problem may actually show signs of dissolving, if delivery mechanisms are improved. The states and the local governments have just begun to come to grips with the enhanced fund allocation that began in earnest in the current decade. The NREGA model is itself a reminder of how many experiments were made before we hit upon the right one. So the dichotomy of broken school buildings and crores of unspent funds might litter media reports at the moment, but the delivery mechanisms take time to evolve. The 12th Plan will bear this out.

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

COLUMN

FSDC IS NOT ABOUT TURF, BUT CONTENT

MK VENU

It is most unfortunate that the idea of setting up a Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), announced by Pranab Mukherjee as part of the 2010-11 Budget, is fast degenerating into a narrow turf war between babus in North Block and RBI. No wonder the only issue being debated so far is who should head the FSDC— someone in finance ministry or the central bank. No one is really talking about the real issue of what the financial stability council will do in terms of contributing to our knowledge of potential risks that may emanate from either the domestic or global financial system in the future.

 

Indeed, the Council is being set up against the backdrop of the global financial crises of 2008-09, which did not affect the Indian banking system partly because our banks did no business with their western counterparts in terms of sharing the risks contained in the trillions of dollars of dud derivative assets. Indian banks largely steered clear of toxic assets, although many private sector bankers repeatedly pleaded with the then finance minister P Chidambaram to be allowed to buy into the global derivative market, simply because easy money was being made.

 

As is now widely recognised, India did a decent job of regulating the banks with strict micro prudential norms. RBI discouraged too much easy money coming into the Indian real estate sector, thereby preventing the kind of bubble that got built in the western housing markets. RBI may have gone overboard in other aspects of monetary policy making which impacted growth. For instance, it was criticised for keeping interest rates too high for too long in 2008 which could possibly have retarded GDP growth by a few percentage points.

 

Many central bankers around the world were baffled by the sheer volatility in commodity prices—driven by easy money on Wall Street—which made anticipating inflation behaviour an impossible task. So central bankers ended up making the mistake of raising interest rates too rapidly, not realising that a deflationary bust cycle was around the corner!

 

These are entirely new behavioural issues caused by the high risk taking global market participants that need to be urgently studied. Mind you, these issues have not gone away yet. Cheap money being thrown around in the western financial system is building another commodity bubble. Commodity prices, especially of oil and some metals, are today at the same level as they were at the peak of the 2007 boom.

 

India today is again on the threshold of importing massive inflation from the rising global commodity prices. Human memory is short and we seem to have forgotten about the G-20 promise to study asset bubbles under the aegis of the Basel Committee. India is trying to come back to an 8%-plus GDP growth path and this will become possible only if it can import commodities at reasonable prices to fuel sustainable growth. Assessing and mitigating the risks arising from unusual volatility in asset prices is therefore a very critical task for emerging economies like India.

 

Indeed, these are the real issues which a body like the Financial Stability Development Council must address in a spirit of healthy cooperation with the central bank. One is not sure whether the turf-conscious babus of North Block are at all aware of the big picture that is staring at us. As far as the venerated Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is concerned, the FSDC is another platform which they must capture.

 

So far, the informal word out of North Block is that finance minister Pranab Mukherjee will head the FSDC, which is to be a purely advisory body. The finance minister did well to clarify that the FSDC will not act in any manner prejudicial to the autonomy of the current set of regulators.

 

Some bright babu had also suggested that the FSDC must get a statutory status through an Act of Parliament. An internal note to this effect was  moved. But the seasoned finance minister was smart enough to realise that in a fractious coalition system this would be fraught with other risks. An unpredictable coalition system also cannot guarantee that you get balanced and statesman-like finance ministers all the time. Conceptually, the political class cannot be expected to be detached enough to research and regulate professionally. A body of knowledge, in this regard, is built over the decades.

 

The larger issue is what the government's direct involvement in FSDC will do to the progressive maturing of India's regulatory regime. Over the years, the finance ministry and RBI have evolved a relationship in which the latter has been accorded more and more autonomy to oversee monetary stability and to operate the currency and credit system of the country.

 

This process had gathered momentum after the launch of economic reforms in 1991-92. It is true that RBI is a peculiar multi-service central bank that performs many roles. Central banks in other countries don't get involved in such multiple functions.

 

Managing government debt, micro-regulating banks through a regular reporting process, overseeing development of new financial products which have an impact on interest rates or exchange rates are all functions RBI undertakes at present apart from its core objective of maintaining price stability.

 

It can be argued that RBI has too much on its plate and must gradually divest itself of some of the current roles it performs. If so, this must be done in a manner that does not affect the integrity of the institution which has painstakingly evolved over decades and served the needs of the country.

 

—mk.venu@expressindia.com

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

WHAT THE WOMEN'S BILL CANNOT DO

YOGINDER K ALAGH

The passing of the Women's Reservation Bill by the Rajya Sabha is a once in a long time event. In itself not conclusive, since constitutional amendments are not easy, not the whole solution to the problem since the upper caste Hindu male like me doesn't change that easily. But a land mark all the same. The process started with the 72nd and 73rd Amendments so close to the heart of late Rajiv Gandhi and s ome reflections on that will show the long road ahead.

 

Representation is only the first, necessary but by no means a sufficient, condition for effective participation. I think the Women's Bill is great but we must know that while it is somewhat easier to legislate for representation, it is an infinitely more complex task to create the conditions to obtain effective participation. At least part of the unfulfilled project of the movement to enhance women's as well as other disadvantaged sections' representation has been the mistaken assumption that the translation of representation into participation would be fluid and almost automatic. Given this distinction, it becomes important to examine the institutional mechanisms by which representation is enhanced or inhibited; and explore the conditions, both institutional and social, under which historically disadvantaged groups are able to participate effectively in local government. This means ensuring not only that such groups have access to these institutions, but also that they are able to effectively participate in them, and are in a position to influence decision-making in a way that can be assessed through the policy outcomes that ensue from these processes.

 

The research literature on international experiences with decentralisation, federalism local governance and gender participation shows that decentralisation structures are varied, and dependent on the historical-cultural milieu where they are located. There will still be efforts required in building capacity of such institutions, attending to myriad substantive and procedural challenges associated with participatory, bottom-up planning before the vision can be realised.

 

If panchayats continued to remain in a state of unclear functional domain, without sufficient human and financial resources to enact their independent/ autonomous will, then mere linking of rural development programmes to them would make very little difference in delivery of programmes and outcomes. This argument had two implications; that powerful official agencies must go beyond the cosmetic steps of linking their programmes with Panchayats. panchayats must be seen as partners in determining the entire rural development programme/ scheme cycle and not as mere supplicants. Second, so long as this approach is not adopted, panchayats will continue to be 'subverted', thereby jeopardising the objectives and outcomes of rural development initiatives themselves.

 

Capacity building will enhance quality of participation of women representatives. Many states carry out training and capacity building activity pertaining mostly to the chairpersons of the Panchayats rather than to all the elected representatives. In spite of the obstacles, both institutional and social, the participation of elected women representatives has resulted in both developmental and empowerment outcomes. Women have initiated work on plans of bringing piped water into the villages and also building schools as against infrastructural development favoured by men. Results from a nationwide survey of women's participation in panchayats suggest that a majority of the EWRs report an enhancement in their personal effectiveness and image after being elected. They also report a reduction in household responsibilities. But the politics of caste remains centre-stage in discussions of governance reform.

 

With the rapid changes taking place in the country and the world , governance systems will have to assiduously protect the poor, the oppressed, the vulnerable and the underprivileged. The democratic aspirations of India, enshrined in its Constitution and laws, will have to be met in a fair and transparent manner. Safety nets will need to be developed and implemented as the market economy expands and claims its victims. Poor women, the girl child, the minorities, the tribal and the dalit, the handicapped and the destitute, will need special attention.

 

Some of these have been said before. Yet, all such prescriptions in the past met with limited success as the key precondition, i.e., the appropriate institutional framework, within which these could play themselves out was not available. This week we took another step forward. Jai Ho.

 

The author is a former Union minister

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

GUJARAT CATCHES UP WITH IT

JYOTSNA BHATNAGAR

If there was one area in which Gujarat, the country's numero uno investment destination, had lagged thus far, it was communications and IT. But Trai's latest report is an eye-opener. In the telecom sector at least, it is setting new benchmarks of penetration. As per the survey, Gujarat has a mobile density upwards of 50 per cent making it one of India's most well-connected states. And this is just not limited to urban centres but also reflects a pattern observed in the state's rural areas.

 

Interestingly though, mobile telephony was not an initial hit specially in the late nineties when call charges hovered in the range of Rs 8 per minute. At that time, according to the Trai report, a miniscule 4,000 mobile connections were registered in the state renowned for its discerning value-for-money customers. In fact, it took all of 10 years for Gujarat to touch the magic one crore subscriber mark. With the periodic slashing of rates by service providers thereafter, it has taken Gujarat less than three years to breach the 3 crore mark . Small wonder then that Gujarat has suddenly become a hot favourite among service providers. The focus is now on the rural markets to spur future growth.

 

Giant strides in telecom apart, the state is moving at break-neck speed to cover lost ground in the IT sector too and is poised to notch up over 20 per cent growth in the IT and ITeS sector this year. Preliminary statistics indicate that exports from this sector may cross the Rs 1,500 crore mark during the ongoing fiscal against the single-digit growth predicted by Nasscom for the growth of IT exports nationally. That's not surprising given the fact that Gujarat today has probably the highest number of notified SEZs in the IT space. With 17 IT SEZs already notified and many more in the pipeline with the state government planning to assiduously woo software biggies like Infosys and Wipro to set up and expand facilities in the state, Gujarat is clearly set to ring in a whole new era of growth and consolidation in the communications arena.

 

jyotsna.bhatnagar@expressindia.com

 

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THE HINDU

EDITORIAL

SAY NO TO RTI AMENDMENTS

 

Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi recently took the extraordinary step of unilaterally releasing the minutes of the October 14, 2009 meeting between Union Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Central and State Information Commissioners on a proposal to significantly amend the Right to Information Act, 2005. The meeting's importance lay in the fact that it saw the hopeless isolation of the government side (Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Training) on the proposed amendments. Of the 60 Information Commissioners who attended, all but two were opposed to the idea of tinkering with the historic legislation. What explains such unity of resolve? The DoPT's package contained two 'killer' amendments. The first would include under Section 8 (which specifies exemptions to the Act) applications deemed to be "frivolous and vexatious." The second would bar from the Act's purview any discussion leading up to an official decision. The best judge of whether or not an application is "frivolous and vexatious" is the Information Commissioner who is called upon to decide the issue. In the four-and-a-half years since the Act came into force, no information officer has complained of being overburdened by such applications. Nor is there anything to suggest that government functioning is hampered by the disclosure of official discussions (previously known as file notings) and records of process. The only reasonable conclusion is that both the bureaucracy and the political government fear transparency of process because it will expose wrongdoing.

 

In recent days, RTI queries relating to public spending, governance, distribution of largesse, and even the procedure adopted for deciding awards have proved to be deeply embarrassing for the government. The ghost of RTI amendments has returned – in the controversial form of exemption for the office of the Chief Justice of India. The irony is too glaring to miss. It was the Supreme Court that laid the ground for opening up acts of governance to public scrutiny. In the 1975 State of U.P. vs Raj Narain case, the court said: "In a government of responsibility like ours, where all the agents of the public must be responsible for their conduct, there can be but few secrets. The people of this country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way, by their functionaries…" The RTI Act has empowered the ordinary citizen in a way its architects did not anticipate. Studies have shown its growing appeal across all social strata, which is surely why the government is set on blunting this powerful tool in the hands of the people. Such obscurantism must be seen through and defeated.

 

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THE HINDU

EDITORIAL

INDIA'S HOCKEY FUTURE

 

In three decades, India has not seen any success at the highest level of its 'national game.' The euphoria that followed a win over Pakistan in the ongoing World Cup tournament in Delhi was short-lived. The host crashed to three successive defeats, suggesting an eventual placing not much higher than what India has achieved in the competition since winning its solitary title at Kuala Lumpur in 1975. Ranked 12th before going into this World Cup, the team can be reasonably pleased with a place in the top eight. In the tough world of international hockey, fitness, speed, agility, and tactics, which were displayed so splendidly by the Australian side, count more than reputations. The tournament has exposed the chasm that exists between India and the top teams in these areas. Although chief coach Jose Brasa's assertion that a winning combination cannot be developed in eight months is reasonable, the Spaniard's tenure might come in for review at the end of the Asian Games in Guangzhou in November 2010.

 

There has been improvement in this Indian team but it is not the sort that can make an impact at the world level. Brasa was engaged only after India's failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. It was a humiliating 'first' for a country that has gloried in its eight Olympic gold medals in the sport, though the last one came way back in 1980 in a devalued competition. A player revolt at the Pune camp demanding incentives and annual payments, manipulative establishment politics, and messy litigation marked the run-up to this World Cup. It is time to move on to settling a long-term development plan. Sadly, the authorities hounded Richard Charlesworth, one man who could have helped execute such a plan, out in 2008. The Australian team, under his guidance, has shown in this World Cup why it is rated so high. Any long-term plan should focus on reviving dwindling hockey interest in traditional pockets. The administration should be restructured to meet the demands of the game and to offer financial security to the players without compromising discipline. The national championship and the Premier Hockey League should be revived, along with junior competitions, to widen the base for a talent hunt. This World Cup has aroused pubic interest and passion in a sport that seemed to have been forgotten. Near-capacity crowds at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium and good television ratings augur well for Indian and world hockey.

 

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THE HINDU

LEADER PAGE ARTICLES

EROSION OF FEDERAL SPACE IN EDUCATION

THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT IS IMPLEMENTING REFORMS UNILATERALLY, AS THOUGH EDUCATION IS IN THE UNION LIST. THIS INFRINGES THE FEDERAL SPIRIT OF THE CONSTITUTION AND THE OBJECTIVE OF PROMOTING HARMONY IN VARIETY.

M.A. BABY

 

A spate of reforms in the field of education, some of them already implemented and some awaiting implementation, have brought the subject of education into the focus of public debate. These include the abolition of examinations at the Class X level, the unification of syllabi of higher secondary courses and the introduction of a national common entrance examination. Moves towards public-private-partnership in education, the legislation on the Right to Education, the proposal to create a National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER), and steps towards compulsory accreditation, foreign direct investment and prevention of unfair practices also come in the same genre.

 

To be fair, education is getting the attention that is due for it from the Central government for the first time since the great initiatives in institution-building in the post-Independence period. There is some recognition of the role that education plays in national development. There is a significant national consensus on the three broad objectives of enhancing access, equity and excellence. An increased awareness of the pivotal role of education in national development finds reflection in the Eleventh Five Year Plan. The overall financial allocation for education is five times that of the Tenth Plan. The Prime Minister is justified in calling the Eleventh Plan an education plan.

 

While there are no two views on the need for changes in the system of education with a view to increasing access, equity and quality, the nation is divided on the direction of the changes and the modalities for their implementation. Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal was on record as having said that he would do for the educational sector in 2009 what Manmohan Singh did for the financial sector in 1991. The Minister does not conceal his neo-liberal agenda. While Manmohan Singh had introduced the policies of liberalisation in the 1990s almost stealthily and apologetically, Mr. Sibal is brimming with confidence, giving the impression of an honest and well-meaning reformer.

 

But honesty is not enough in the determination of educational policies. Education concerns all the people. Different individuals and groups have different concerns in education, which have to be reconciled in policy planning and implementation. It is the primary responsibility of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to provide a common platform to contest ideas and aspirations, on the basis of which a consensual agenda of action could be evolved and implemented. It appears that Mr. Sibal continues to act more as an attorney than a judge in these matters.

 

The confusion between the neo-liberal commitments of the Minister and the inclusive aspirations of the people was nowhere more apparent than in the conflicting statements made by Mr. Sibal on the question of the fee structure of students and the salaries of private school teachers. At a meeting of school Principals in Delhi, he declared that private schools in Delhi would be free to charge fees and pay teachers as they liked, once the Right to Education Act came into force. The Delhi State Act that regulates the fee structure and salaries would be rendered inoperative by the Central legislation. But following a volley of protests from the people, he had to clarify the next day that the Delhi State Act would continue to be in force. What the incident brought out was the Minister's divided loyalties. He had a fleeting realisation that his personal and party loyalties to the ideology of liberalisation are at odds with the aspirations of the large majority of the people, to whom he is ultimately answerable.

 

The sad part is that such instances where the voice of the people is recognised are few and far between. In this instance, the response to public opinion was instantaneous, as protests emanated in Delhi itself. But India is a vast country and all the people cannot come to Delhi to impress upon the MHRD about their reservations on decisions that adversely affect them. Hence, a healthy solution to the problem lies in decentralising the process of policy making and implementation. Unfortunately, the MHRD is moving in the opposite direction, at a very fast pace.

 

Take, for instance, the decision to enforce a common syllabus, textbooks and examination for Plus-Two courses. The National Curriculum Framework 2005, drafted under the chairmanship of Professor Yash Pal, observed that the " pluralistic and diverse nature of Indian society" demanded the preparation of " a variety of textbooks and other materials" to " cater to the diverse needs of different groups of students" so as to " promote children's creativity, participation and interest and thereby enhancing their learning." In pursuance of the objective, the States were encouraged to develop their own curriculum framework in a participative manner. The lead that Kerala took in framing the Kerala Curriculum Framework (KCF) through large-scale people's participation extending to the panchayat level received acclaim. Now Mr. Sibal wants to do a volte face, that too without the sanction of a new curriculum framework. This will amount to undermining the structural and curricular reforms initiated during the term of the first United Progressive Alliance government. The administrative convenience that a centralised common entrance examination will provide is touted as the excuse. The objective of education is reduced to coaching students for competitive examinations, conducted in a rigid framework. The idea of education as an inclusive process of unleashing the creative potential of diverse groups and individuals, leading to the creation of harmony in variety, which Professor Yash Pal dreamt of, is lost in the process.

 

The story of the legislation to set up the NCHER is no different. While the broad administrative objective of bringing all educational activities within a single central regulatory framework as suggested by the National Knowledge Commission and the Yash Pal Committee have only been partially met (as medical and agricultural education are kept out of the Commission's purview), the academic objective of giving greater autonomy to universities, colleges, teachers and students have been ignored. The heart of the problem lies in the failure to define autonomy and accountability as the academics' freedom to do what society expects them to do. Such an understanding would necessitate appropriate Central and State regulations, leaving room for academic initiatives and administrative flexibility at the institutional and individual level. The proposed NCHER Bill unfortunately tends to centralise powers in the hands of a few experts, who would be invisibly but effectively controlled by the Central government, leaving little role for States in higher education.

 

The framers of the Constitution, exposed to the trauma of Partition and divisive domestic demands posing challenges to the unity and integrity of the nation, conceived a constitutional framework with a unitary slant. Still, they left education in the State List, obviously in appreciation of India's cultural, geographical and religious plurality. Education was moved to the Concurrent List during the Emergency through strong-arm tactics. Nevertheless, it was done constitutionally, at least in form, through an amendment to the Constitution.

 

Now decisions are being taken by the Central government unilaterally, as though education is in the Union List. In the process it is usurping some of the powers for policy making and regulation that the States enjoyed. The federal spirit of the Constitution is infringed upon in the process. The objective of promoting harmony in variety through a pluralistic educational system is also defeated.

 

( M.A. Baby is Minister for Education and Culture, Kerala.)

 

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THE HINDU

ENCORE FOR THE OLD OBAMA MAGIC

SHOULD OBAMA SEEK TO GO TOE-TO-TOE WITH WOULD-BE MALIGNERS ACROSS THE AISLE? OR, SHOULD HE RETREAT ONCE AGAIN TO HIS ROLE AS A THOUGHTFUL YET HESITANT PRESIDENT?

NARAYAN LAKSHMAN

 

Finally, it happened. It was no more than a flash, of burnished, steely determination glinting in the sun. But it was there and no mistaking it for anything other than the old Obama magic

 

What was so startling about President Obama's fiery, provocative speech at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania on Monday was the powerful surge of déjà vu that it brought, the invocation of a stirring within every member of the audience. By the end of it, all of them were swept away in the crescendo of his words as he roared, "And if you share that belief, I want you to stand with me and fight with me" to thunderous applause. The General had returned.

 

The "belief" that the President referred to, of course, was America's faith in the urgent need for healthcare reform. Why did it evoke déjà vu? Because after weary, interminable months of tackling the relentless siege of opposition obstructionism, the memory of Candidate Obama had, unbelievably, faded.

 

And faded not just for those all-important swing voters in what is still very much a polarised American polity. It had faded for even his strongest base of supporters, the so-called Millennial voters, who until today the polls indicated were disillusioned with the President's inability to deliver change.

 

So low is the ebb of hope today that few would readily recall that this was the man who brought a tired, frustrated and internationally unappreciated America back up to its feet with a renewed sense of purpose.

 

Yet finally, after more than thirteen months of gentlemanly conduct, he stepped out on the front foot and no apologies. Finally, after more than a year of putting his faith in quiet persuasion and patient interlocution, he did more than just block a punch. He rolled up his sleeves (literally, he did). He took off his jacket, saying "It's hot up here!" And, lo and behold, the man started punching.

 

First an uppercut: "When you're in Washington, folks respond to every issue, every decision, every debate, no matter how important it is, with the same question: What does this mean for the next election?"

 

Then a jab: "Every year, insurance companies deny more people coverage because they've got pre-existing conditions. Every year, they drop more people's coverage when they get sick… Every year, they raise premiums higher and higher and higher. Just last month, Anthem Blue Cross in California tried to jack up rates by nearly 40 per cent. Anybody's paycheck gone up 40 per cent?".

 

A feint to the left: "The other day, there was a conference call that was organised by Goldman Sachs… in which an insurance broker was telling Wall Street investors… that insurance companies know they will lose customers if they keep on raising premiums, but because there's so little competition in the insurance industry, they're okay with people being priced out."

 

And finally that killer hook: "So what should I tell these [chronically ill] Americans? That Washington is not sure how it will play in November? That we should walk away from this fight, or [that] we'll do it incrementally, we'll take baby steps? [AUDIENCE: "No!"] So they want me to pretend to do something that doesn't really help these folks."

 

Of course when Obama fights, it ain't no brawl — so he took some time with the Arcadia crowd, as he did for seven and a half hours in a recent summit with Republicans, to carefully lay out the reasons why his reform would help the healthcare system cut costs, increase coverage, reduce its deficit impact and end the tyranny of insurance companies enriching themselves to the detriment of ordinary Americans.

 

The experience was salutary. Obama could not have missed that fact. His audience certainly did not. Yet with all eyes, including Democrats', on Congressional elections in November, Monday's speech and the reaction bring an important behavioural question to the fore: should Obama seek to go toe-to-toe with would-be maligners across the aisle? Or, should he retreat once again to his role as a thoughtful yet hesitant President?

 

In truth the answer may well not matter, because regardless of the stormy weather November may bring, it will

be followed by a whole two years during which possibly 30 million more Americans will be returned to a life of dignity, security and affordable, quality healthcare. And they will not forget their President when he needs them.

 

In Obama's own words, he would have put doing what is right before doing what is politically expedient. If that high moral choice might also result in the transformation of a purely exploitative system, then Republican objections become irrelevant. Let them kick and scream.

 

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THE HINDU

RURAL HEALTH: TO TINKER OR TRANSFORM?

THE POOR HEALTH INDICES AND HEALTH CARE IN RURAL INDIA HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MET WITH LOFTY IDEALS SANS ACTION; THEY DEMAND URGENT AND RADICAL SOLUTIONS.

K.S. JACOB

 

The recent proposal to introduce a new medical course, Bachelor of Rural Health Care, has been met with resistance from many sections of the medical fraternity. Its opponents argue that it will result in second-class health care for rural India and increase the rural-urban divide. They suggest other solutions, including using the services of trained nurses and paramedics and medical practitioners from Indian systems of medicine. The compulsory posting of fresh medical graduates to rural health centres with weightage for rural service in selections to post-graduate courses is also cited as an answer to improve health care in rural parts of the country. Setting up of new medical colleges in north India, an increase in the permissible number of seats in existing institutions and private-public partnerships to improve rural health infrastructure are also suggested as remedies. Most of these recommendations are not new — have been around for decades — and do not directly address the reality of health and health care in rural India. Cynics would argue that these are suggested to tinker with the existing system, with the aim of actually maintaining the status quo.

 

Specialist factories and fetish: Currently, the training of doctors occurs in tertiary-care institutions, with specialist perspectives dominating the curriculum. Referral systems to tertiary care and prevalent narrow expert perceptions result in rare and exotic medical conditions forming the basic case load for teaching. Communication of theoretical knowledge without the transmission of the necessary skill to manage common diseases churns out doctors who are poorly equipped to work in primary care and small hospitals. Lack of clinical skill and absolute reliance on technology make fresh graduates uncomfortable outside a large hospital setting. Their obvious lack of confidence in managing simple diseases forces them to specialise. The long periods of training and the investment of time, effort and money, in addition, to the dependence on tertiary-care support and technology, make specialised physicians averse to working in small hospitals in rural India. Their narrow perspectives and circumscribed fields make them incompetent to manage common problems in primary and secondary care.

 

Compulsory rural service and commitment: Students from very few medical colleges in India have a compulsory obligation to serve in areas of need and in not-for-profit rural hospitals. Such service is enforced through the carrot of additional points for selection to post-graduate courses and the stick, which includes the refusal of certification for failure to serve. While this works well at a superficial level, most fresh graduates are uncomfortable in the alien environments of small hospitals and small towns where they are located. The vast majority complete their time limited obligations and leave; very few choose careers in primary and secondary care, opting instead to specialise and work in urban tertiary care. Such lack of long-term commitment among doctors to work in small hospitals weakens these institutions, resulting in their deterioration and eventual closure. The idea of a brief but compulsory obligation to serve in small hospitals in rural India is, thus, at best, a temporary solution and, at worst, a way to put fresh graduates completely off such service, thereby maintaining the status quo.

 

Health infrastructure sans work ethic: The National Rural Health Mission has had a major impact on the health and hospital infrastructure of rural India. It has brought in budgetary flexibility in the system with specific funding for local needs. It also funds human resource in situations of shortage. And yet, in many places, nothing has changed. While the renovated and clean primary health centres and district hospitals have made a big difference, the prevalent work ethic leaves much to be desired. Years of neglect have resulted in a work ethic which is less than optimal. While many doctors and nurses serve diligently, many are apathetic to the needs of patients. The infusion of money alone will not change the morale or the circumstances of service. Frequent transfers, political interference in postings and the lure of private practice need to be tackled for optimal health care delivery. The audit of the programme, thus far, has been about process. We await the assessment of its impact on health outcomes.

 

Specific intervention or generic personnel: The reality of primary care and rural India demand locally relevant solutions. Training generic personnel with long periods of exposure to tertiary care and then transplanting them to smaller settings is a sure recipe for disaster. The lack of skill and confidence in managing common diseases, the excessive dependence on technology and the different demands of the context make young doctors opt out of such service. They would rather go back to their tertiary care institutions for more training to become specialists. Poor monetary rewards and limited facilities in small towns also add to their woes.

 

The situation described begs the question: Are inappropriately trained generic personnel the solution to the current crisis of health care in rural India or should those who intend to serve in such capacity be given specific training to match their skills to the reality of primary and secondary health care? The generic health personnel currently trained lack the necessary skill to deliver the specific interventions required in small hospitals. Should we tinker with the existing system, which has failed to deliver adequate and appropriate health care to rural India or should we aim at transforming the structure in order to provide good quality health services?

 

Status quo or radical solutions: The fall of socialism and the rise of capitalistic thought resulted in the weakening of the trade union movement. However, the medical profession, the world over, under the guise of being part of scientific organisations, has consolidated its power. Doctors form a powerful trade union, successfully lobbying to maintain their special status, vested interests and their financial clout. Their success is attributed to their ability to disguise their actual intention of maintaining their monopoly on the supply of expertise by using scientific, ideological and moral arguments. The majority refuse to acknowledge the suffering of millions of Indians who do not have easy, affordable and equitable access to health care.

 

The debate on health care for rural India often sheds more heat than light. The majority of doctors will neither work in rural India nor will they allow systems to develop to meet its essential health needs. Yet, they talk of equal status for their rural brethren at every opportunity; they argue for equality of health services for all. Cynics would argue that these attempts are aimed at maintaining the status quo which suits doctors' vested interests. The strategies of centralisation of power and regulation and limitation of the supply of expertise result in their stranglehold on health care delivery. The larger vision of health for all and the need to empower other health workers have always been subservient to their collective self-interest.

 

The way forward

The disparity in health indices, infrastructure and personnel between rural and urban India demands urgent action and radical solutions. Such disparities are due to a toxic combination of poor social and health policies and programmes, unfair economic arrangements and bad politics. China has shown that "barefoot" doctors with specific training in the prevention of diseases and in the treatment of common health problems can improve indices of health. Equitable and accessible health care in Cuba has also demonstrated marked improvement in the health of its people.

 

The bold idea of the new course needs our support. Much needs to be done. Many issues related to the course, its curriculum, examinations, skill sets required, training, trainers, eligibility, practice, regulation and oversight need to be sorted. The course should concentrate on prevention of diseases and on public health. It should train for the provision of basic curative services for priority health conditions. It should transfer skill and confidence. It should set out and teach the criteria for referral.

 

The focus of the current debate should be on the health of the rural population of India. Achieving health standards similar to those living in urban India in the foreseeable future should be the goal. Pragmatism, rather than ideological arguments, is called for. Support for better essential health services, rather than the current status quo of neglect, is a fight for social justice and for the human rights of all peoples.

 

(Professor Jacob is on the faculty of the Christian Medical College, Vellore.)

 

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THE HINDU

ONLINE AD SPEND SET TO OVERTAKE PRINT

MERCEDES BUNZ

 

In September 2009 it was announced that the U.K. was the first major economy where advertisers spent more on internet advertising than on TV advertising, with a record £1.75 billion online spent in the first six months of 2009.

 

Now, a similar story seems to be happening in the U.S. Information researchers and analysts Outsell surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. advertisers in December 2009. They found that in 2010 companies will spend $119.6 billion on online and digital strategies, from search engine keywords to seminars on the web, while they plan to invest $111.5 billion in print such as newspaper and magazine ads. Online's lead over print will still be minor, though, at about 1.2 per cent.

 

However, as companies are restructuring their marketing budget from print to online, they often leave their former marketing partners to invest in other strategies.

 

"Advertisers are directing dollars toward the channels which generate the most qualified leads and most effective branding," said Chuck Richard, vice-president and lead analyst at Outsell. "As they emerge from the recession, they need more accountability, and they're spreading their spending over a widening set of options." Overall, Outsell forecasts that U.S. spending on advertising and marketing will increase in 2010, but by just 1.2 per cent to $368 billion. Print magazine advertising will rise by 1.9 per cent or $9.4 billion, according to Outsell.

 

Outsell's study indicates that ad spending is picking up pace again, but might be directed towards online rather than print. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010

 

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THE HINDU

DO BRITISH ASIANS REALLY NEED A SEPARATE RADIO STATION?

HASAN SUROOR

 

Some six years ago, on a cold and wet November morning a group of bleary-eyed London-based journalists , mostly from India and Pakistan, were bussed to Birmingham to be briefed about the BBC's revamped Asian Network, a digital radio channel devoted exclusively to expatriates from the subcontinent. We were given a day-long tour of its studios and senior executives lined up to underline its significance portraying it as the ultimate symbol of BBC's commitment to Britain's cultural diversity and an answer to the Asian community's "need" for a channel of its own.

 

When asked whether it was a good idea to have a separate channel for Asians when the government's policy was to promote greater "integration" of immigrants and wasn't the BBC "ghettoising" Asian culture by putting it in a "box," the boss of the Network at the time Vijay Sharma protested that, on the contrary, the BBC was trying to give a "voice" to the Asian community.

 

The network, he said, offered a much-needed platform to the Asian youth to showcase their talent prompting two non-Asian journalists in the group to wonder why only the Asian community had been chosen for a special favour. Why not similar channels for other immigrant groups? they wanted to know.

 

Six years later, the Network faces closure as part of the BBC's new policy to concentrate more on "quality than quantity," in the words of its director-general Mark Thompson. The nearly £600 million to be saved by axing struggling channels and curtailing its website would be ploughed into making "high-quality" programmes, he says.

 

The real reason, of course, has nothing to do with any of this. It is to do with the threat from the Tories to freeze the BBC's licence fee revenue (currently £3.6 billion a year) if they come to power after the May elections unless the corporation itself takes steps to cut flab and allow its commercial rivals such as Rupert Murdoch's Sky TV more "space." The Tories' gung-ho approach is driven by a desperate need to have the Murdoch media on their side in the run-up to the elections; and taming the BBC is the price the old man wants for his support.

 

So, if the move goes through after a 12-week consultation the Asian Network which now broadcasts nationally will be replaced by five part-time local services. Predictably, the decision has provoked criticism especially from the Asian artistic community. But there is a view that, with its falling audiences (a 20 per cent drop in the past three years alone), fuzzy programming, a confusion about its target- audience and the growing cost of running it (an estimated £12.1 million a year), the Network had it "coming." Critics agree with Mr. Thompson that this makes it difficult to "justify the level of BBC investment" needed to keep it afloat.

 

The Network's supporters like to portray it as a great creative force but the truth is that with its usual mix of Bollywood music, bhangra , "desi tracks," and news it is simply a slightly more "posh" version of the Southall-based commercial Hindi-language Sunrise Radio. Many believe that with Asian audiences becoming more diverse, the idea of a "monolithic" Asian community which can be served by one single station has had its day; and, indeed, this is reflected in the shrinking listenership figures for the Asian Network. As one commentator pointed out a "station defined by their [Asians'] ethnic needs is no longer the priority it was in the late 1980s."

 

Still, the Network has a solid core of supporters and they are up in arms with Twitter and Facebook buzzing with anger. More than 10,000 people have already signed an online campaign to "save" it. This is in addition to a separate campaign launched by its own staff. Some of Britain's top Asian artists, writers and broadcasters, including Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Gurinder Chadha, have made a public appeal to the BBC to review its decision.

 

In a joint letter, published in The Guardian, they said the Asian Network was a "vital part" of the BBC's public service broadcasting remit.

 

"The BBC we have grown up with has always prided itself on celebrating diversity. In that respect, the Asian Network ...provides a key platform for the national Asian community and offers an outlet to British Asian talent which is demonstrably unrepresented in the more mainstream BBC," they said.

 

With up to 700 jobs at stake, one would have thought that the protest would focus on the effect the closure would have on the future of the channel's young staff, especially in a recession. Instead, the entire campaign is dressed up as a struggle in defence of creativity and cultural diversity.

 

Privately, of course, the staff are worried. One journalist, who didn't want to be named, said job losses was a big issue but added, after a pause, that it was something for unions to sort out. In the rarefied art world it is, obviously, regarded as a bit naff to be seen talking about jobs and security.

 

But coming back to the old question: is there really a need for a separate Asian radio station except as a political sop to the community for its under-representation in the mainstream BBC? After all, it was a former BBC director-general who called it "hideously white, male and middle class."

 

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THE HINDU

PALESTINIANS LOSE CONFIDENCE IN OBAMA: POLL

 

An absolute majority of Palestinians lost confidence in the credibility of U.S. President Barack Obama's efforts to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a poll said on Wednesday.

 

Only eight per cent of the 1,200 people surveyed "are still optimistic about Mr. Obama's seriousness in building a Palestinian state" while 67 per cent said Mr. Obama was not acting properly to settle the conflict on a two-state solution, according to the study conducted in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank by the Arab World Research and Development Centre (AWRAD).

 

When Mr. Obama delivered his renowned speech to the Muslim and Arab world in Cairo last June, 41 per cent of people told a similar survey that they were still hopeful of a change in the U.S. policy in the Middle East, AWRAD said.

 

Sixteen per cent said a Palestinian statehood could be created during Mr. Obama's era but 73 per cent ruled this out.

 

The current survey was conducted between February 25 and 27 after Washington presented a proposal to revive Israeli- Palestinian peace talks by leading indirect proximity talks between the two sides. — Xinhua

 

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DNA

EDITORIAL

CHANGE IN THE AIR

 

It's not easy to justify quotas. Indian politicians have been gung-ho about quotas for so long, that each passing decade has seen more groups, more communities hankering after it. If they demand things loudly enough, they do manage to get something for their efforts. So why should we welcome the addition of such a broad category of beneficiaries (women) as worthy of quotas?

 

One of the main arguments used by the backward class parties in voicing opposition to the Women's Reservation Bill is that it will enable articulate upper-caste/upper-class women to grab the levers of power, nullifying all the gains made by the other backward castes (OBCs) in recent years.

 

Even Muslims seem to be uncomfortable with the idea, even though they have never been beneficiaries of quotas. The bill, it seems, has suddenly woken up every community to demand its share of the spoils. Sooner or later, we will have to start putting a lid on quotas.

 

Even so, this newspaper heartily welcomes the crossing of the first hurdle in the bill — clearance by the Rajya Sabha. There are three reasons why. One, the dramatic increase in the number of women entering legislatures could be a game changer, even if the new entrants happen to be all upper-class women (though that is highly unlikely).

 

The first lot of women beneficiaries could well be the wives of the Lalus and Mulayams, but their large numbers will lead to new thinking. Women congregating in Parliament are less likely to remain yes-women to their spouses and sons. Two, the high visibility of women leaders will give all women a psychological boost, even if there is no immediate change in the kind of laws they enact. Third, it should be possible for such a large gender group to reach out across party lines to work for common programmes that will benefit all. The very fact that the women's bill got support from across party lines is testimony to this fact.

 

To be sure, the quotas are not going to come anytime soon. The Congress, having alienated many of its allies, is in no mood to rush the bill through the Lok Sabha. Once that hurdle is crossed, the battle will shift to the states. The Congress, BJP and the Left will have to move quickly to get the bill passed before male legislators start regrouping and the mood changes to one of active opposition. The spadework better begin now.

 

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DNA

EDITORIAL

POINTLESS MOVES

 

The statement issued at the end of the Copenhagen climate summit last December was a shabby face-saver. It was pushed through at the last minute by US president Barack Obama in his huddle with prime minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese premier Wen Jiabao. It was not something that the summit arrived at through the concerted efforts of all participants.

 

The European Union (EU) kept out, and the African countries were not there. It was implied that the Copenhagen statement was no accord and that it was a mere declaration of intent. Everyone was dissatisfied with the outcome. In short, it was literally inconclusive because there was no basic agreement among the participants.

 

It is, therefore, surprising then that Union minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh should have told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that India is now officially associated with the Copenhagen statement along with Brazil, South Africa and many other developing countries of G77. A non-accord then gets the legitimacy of an accord. Perhaps the government's move makes strategic sense because, as Ramesh has said, it is better to negotiate from within rather than from the outside.

 

The caveats that go with the decision do not exactly inspire confidence. The fact that the statement is not legally binding is hardly needed to be reiterated because no one has accepted it as an accord in the first place. That the intentions mentioned in the statement should be taken forward within the UN framework on climate negotiations is a non sequitur because no climate deal can be made by a group of countries among themselves.

 

The third condition, that the statement should be negotiated within the existing two-track system, does not make much sense either. The statement is being given the official stamp of approval and at the same time an attempt is being made to keep it as a document of limited importance.

 

India's stance on the climate issue is much too tentative. India, like China, the US and many other countries does not want to do too much on the climate issue which will have an adverse impact on the economy. So, what India wants to negotiate or wants to do is tied to its compulsions on this front. Manmohan Singh is aware that climate has long term implications for growth. However, apart from declaration of pious intention, nothing has been done about it. The latest move is clever and smart but it does not help in coping with the core issue.

 

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DNA

THE 'HURT' LOCKER

R JAGANNATHAN

 

If you are wondering what the ruckus was about in the women's quota bill passed by the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, here's the answer: men have their vulnerable spots, and the quota bill gives them a kick in the you-know-where. And you-know-where is not a word beginning with 'b', but 'w'. It's 'w' as in wallet and wealth (ill-begotten), money that's stashed away in private vaults and bank safety lockers — the "hurt" locker, so to speak.

 

Sure, male politicians have the usual fears about female empowerment, but their underlying worry is not about lost opportunities if the bill becomes law — which is some time away. The real, and stronger, reason for their opposition to the bill is that it disrupts their business. For most of our MPs and MLAs, politics is a business, a private business in which you invest money in buying votes and then recover your costs (and more) by ripping off the public and taxpayers in every possible way.

 

The bill, by reserving 33% of parliamentary and assembly seats for women, reduces the number of "businesses" open to men dramatically — and even these businesses are at constant risk since the bill says the women-only seats will rotate. By making all seats uncertain for male politicians, effective power shifts to party bosses since they get to decide who they want in a particular constituency every five years. All the efforts you put in by buttering up the voters will go waste when the seat changes gender.

 

Consider your predicament if you, as a businessman MP (or minister), have managed to get yourself elected from, say, Gulbarga in Karnataka. You make tonnes of money in the five years you get — assuming there is no mid-term poll. You may even do some good for your voters, but at the end of your term, if the election commission decides that your seat will go to women, your investment is at risk. You can try to get your wife or daughter a party ticket, but this puts power in the hands of your party bosses.

 

Your licence to print money is effectively cancelled every five years and you have to bid again, possibly under benami names. Not quite an efficient way to run any business.

 

So, the first step to understanding the sharp opposition to the women's bill is that it ruins an existing business model for politicians. If you don't believe Indian politics is about business from the ground up, ask yourself: what was the money-for-questions scandal all about? Parliament worked up a lather over that Cobrapost expose, which showed that MPs, largely from the opposition benches, were collecting money for raising questions in Parliament. That's a job they are supposed to do free, but when you are in the Opposition, it's lean season in the slush business.

 

So you take what you get. The poor chaps lost their seats just for trying to eke out a living on spartan opposition benches. Another MP went to jail for using his passport to traffic in women and migrants. A third option for backbench MPs is to illegally lease out a portion of their official residences in Delhi to earn rent. Anything to earn a living.

 

Now, let's move up the scale, and look at ministers. This is where politicians scale up a cottage industry into a national enterprise. You make money on every deal cleared by the ministry, every policy flip-flop. You use public sector companies as private property — stuff them with your relatives, use their guest houses for personal purposes. And it need not all be done only for private profit. The UPA used taxpayers' money to get itself re-elected. P Chidambaram used oil bonds to protect his reputation as a responsible spender.

 

The big question: if politicians are protesting the women's bill more for economic reasons than gender ones, why is it that only the Yadavs — the Mulayams and Lalus — are raising a shindig about it? The answer: these are one-man parties, and thus least vulnerable in terms of image among women. It is easier for them to pretend that opposing the bill is about empowering OBCs. The Mayas and Mamatas are miffed purely because it's the Congress that will walk away with the glory.

 

The lineup in favour of the women's bill largely comprised national parties. The Congress, BJP and the Left like it precisely because the bill will shift power from the party's base to the top. It is no longer possible for a strong MP to tell the party leadership to go take a walk if he doesn't get a ticket because there is a strong possibility that his seat may go to a woman.

 

Thus, though the underlying reason is loss of business opportunity for all male MPs, it's the Yadavs who find it

easy to raise the banner of revolt. The bill "hurts" every MP's cash "locker" and Swiss bank balance, but the Yadavs are carrying the can.

 

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DNA

THE FOREST OF LANGUAGES AND HOPE

ANTARA DEV SEN

 

I have just planted a sapling with nice long leaves. That's Shina. It has Bavaria and Koch for neighbours, and is right opposite Multani. I chose this neighbourhood for Shina because if there is anyone that can match Multani's muscle and spirit, it's her. And Shina would get along with Koch, they are both from the hills — though Kashmir and Cooch Behar aren't exactly alike. As they all grow up, they will make up the Bhasha Van — the forest of languages.

 

All 320 of them, with each tree representing an Indian language. Together, they would stand for the amazing linguistic diversity of our country, offering a forest of hope, reminding us of our rich cultural roots and our distinct identities.

 

Yes, there are hundreds of Indian languages. Thousands, if you are lenient with your definition of 'language'. The 1961 census mentioned 1,652 mother tongues in India. But there is a matsyanyaya in language. Bigger, more powerful languages are swallowing up smaller ones, thus wiping out the identities of speakers of those mother tongues, creating language refugees who move to the dominant languages displaced from their beliefs, their cultural roots, their worldview, which were all embedded in their lost mother-tongue.

 

The Bhasha Van is an attempt to counter this dreadful cultural erosion. An initiative of the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre at Vadodara, this was part of the Bhasha Confluence that brought together 600 delegates from far-flung corners of the country. Participants ranged from the writer Mahasveta Devi, veteran Gandhian activist Narayanbhai Desai, linguist DP Pattanayak and several academics and activists, to hundreds of representatives of different tribal and minority languages and dialects. And of the 320-odd saplings planted at the Bhasha Van in the sprawling campus of the Adivasi Academy at Tejgarh, around 300 represented tribal languages.

 

The brainchild of Ganesh Devy, the man behind the Bhasha Centre and the Adivasi Academy, this forest of languages aims to remind us of the lush linguistic heritage that we need to nurture, the sheltering cultural space that we must not allow to wither and die. The tribal languages are at greatest risk and need special care.

 

The saplings were blessed by the guests. "Get the government to deliver, especially in the tribal areas," said Mahasveta Devi. "Don't let government officials get away with doing nothing just because they don't know the local language. They must know it. They need to understand the needs of the tribals. There must be no forgiveness if they don't understand what the locals are saying."

 

Implementation of government policies is possibly our biggest problem. Failure of the government to deliver, especially in the tribal belt, is responsible for the rise of the Maoists. I wonder if the Adivasi Academy could produce primers for administrative officials to introduce them to the language and cultures of each tribal area so that they could indeed understand the problems better and have no excuse for not doing their job.

 

Another pragmatic suggestion came from DP Pattanayak. "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan cannot be successful unless it becomes Sarva Bhasha Abhiyan," he said. Government policies need to reflect the fundamental importance of the mother tongue in education.

Languages, like the saplings planted in Bhasha Van, need to be nurtured, watered, at times even sheltered. That's the only way to protect our various linguistic identities.

 

For when a language dies, we lose a part of our invaluable collective heritage. Like when Boa Sr, 85, the last speaker of the ancient Bo language of the Andamans, died in January, Bo — the language that embodied cultural and knowledge traditions of 65,000 years — died with her.

 

We may not always be able to keep languages alive, but we can prevent them from being killed by neglect. Hopefully, the Bhasha Van would be an important reminder of this.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIA

OVERWHELMING RESPONSE

GO AHEAD WITH BILL IN THE LOK SABHA

 

The passage of the Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill by the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday providing for reservation of 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies has received an overwhelming response from the nation. People from all sections have hailed the vote in favour of the Bill. The support extended by the BJP and the Left parties to the UPA government's historic initiative needs to be appreciated. It is perhaps after many years that the ruling party and the Opposition have joined hands to pass a revolutionary and historic piece of legislation aimed at empowering women. While participating in the debate on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rightly said that the "near unanimity" between the government and the Opposition reached on the Bill is a "living proof that the heart of the Indian democracy is sound and in the right place."

 

Now that the Rajya Sabha has passed the Bill, the government should move it in the Lok Sabha and get it passed in the current session itself. As the Bill enjoys the support of the people, there should be no problem for the government to push through it with a two-thirds majority in the Lower House. Needless to say, the same spirit of cooperation and consensus should mark the passage of the Bill in the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha has put the obstructionists of the Bill from parties like the RJD, the SP and a section of the JD (U) in their place. These prophets of doom have simply no numbers to stall it in the Lok Sabha.

 

After the Lok Sabha clears the Bill, it will be sent to the State Assemblies for ratification. As it is a constitutional amendment, at least 50 per cent of the states (14 out of the 28 states) will have to ratify the Bill. The outcome in the states will be no different, but it is a time-consuming exercise. Women can reap the fruits of the Bill only after some time because even after the Bill's ratification and presidential assent, an independent commission like the Delimitation Commission will have to undertake the exercise of identifying the seats that need to be reserved for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies, before the rotational formula comes into operation.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

FARCE AT PPSC

RESTORE PUBLIC FAITH IN SELECTIONS

 

The Punjab State Public Service Commission is stinking once again. The scandalous recruitment of doctors is bound to remind one of the depths to which the commission's reputation had sunk under its previous disgraced Chairman. Those who thought that the shady goings-on of the past would not be repeated, given the scale of public outrage then, have been proved wrong. The Ravi Sidhu saga has got lost in dilatory legal wrangles. Exemplary punishment has not been handed over in time to act as a deterrent. Hence, ignominy has returned to haunt the once prestigious constitutional body which ought to have made selections without fear and favour.

 

The previous Congress government had exposed the Ravi Sidhu scandal to widespread public applause. Occupying a high moral ground, the then Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, had overhauled the discredited PPSC. For a long time the next Akali-BJP government kept the Congress-appointed commission out of business. It even tried to outsource recruitment work to the UPSC, which declined it. Finally, the government relented and sent a requisition for the selection of 100 doctors in October 2008. Later, 212 more posts were added. Even as the selection process began, some doctors, shocked at the manner of interviews, opened up in the media. One lady doctor lost her job for challenging the selectors.

 

The state public service commissions were made autonomous to insulate them from outside pressure or influence. But they have to be held accountable for wrongdoings, if any. The Haryana Public Service Commission's PCS selections are under judicial scrutiny. The PPSC's selection of undeserving doctors could put the lives of patients at risk and further erode their shaky faith in government hospitals. The muted reaction of the Chief Minister is surprising. Instead of a routine inquiry by the Chief Secretary, the government should thoroughly look into the allegations of favouritism and abuse of power and, if need be, the wrongful selections should be scrapped. Those found guilty must be brought to justice swiftly to keep up public faith in the state health system and the fairness of selections.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

MAMATA'S THEATRICS

SHE MUST LEARN TO BE MORE RESPONSIBLE

 

Ms Mamata Banerjee is no longer a political storm trooper, fighting the police on the streets of Kolkata. But her conduct often belies that fact and does not reflect the sobriety, wisdom and maturity expected of a senior Cabinet minister of the Union government. Her flip-flop this week over the Women's Reservation Bill is a case in point. On Tuesday she declared herself to be 'upset, very upset' and asserted that the Trinamool Congress was opposed to the Bill in its current form. Demanding a special quota for Muslim women, she ordered Trinamool Congress members to abstain from voting on the historic Bill in the Rajya Sabha. But better sense seemed to have prevailed when she told the media on Wednesday that her party was totally 'committed' to the Bill. It has long been known, of course, that she is impulsive. But by defying the principle of collective responsibility and speaking out against the Bill, she only managed to embarrass the government and also herself.

 

Her conduct is indefensible because she was present in the Cabinet meeting which finalised the Bill. She had the opportunity to voice her reservations then. But there is no indication to suggest that she raised the issue of a separate quota for Muslim women in the Cabinet. It evidently was an 'after-thought' that prompted her to espouse a quota within the quota for reasons of expediency. But while she complains of a communication gap and not being consulted, she herself appears to have taken the government by surprise with her public outburst. A far more plausible explanation of her behaviour is provided by her publicly aired complaint that the government appeared to be consulting the Left and not its own allies. The close cooperation between the Congress and the Left over the Bill and the sight of Comrade Brinda Karat complimenting the government for pushing the Bill through could well have prompted Ms Banerjee to lose her composure.

 

Those who have closely followed Ms Banerjee are used to the passionate, sometimes incoherent speeches and often contradictory positions taken in swift succession by the temperamental leader. Although she first became a Union minister in the early nineties, she has been erratic all along, threatening to resign, once throwing her shawl at the Deputy Speaker and on another occasion at a former Railway Minister. It is a pity though because the country, and specially West Bengal, would like her to show greater maturity. 

 

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THE TRIBUNE

COLUMN

TOWARDS A NAGA SETTLEMENT

NEED TO EMBRACE EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES

BY B.G. VERGHESE

 

The talks being conducted by the government with the Nagas through the NSCN (IM) appear to have entered the final lap. Both sides by now well understand the other. After meetings with the Prime Minister and Home Minister, Mr Muivah is currently in dialogue with the new interlocutor, Mr R. S. Pandey, a just retired IAS officer drawn from the Nagaland cadre. He succeeded Mr K. Padmanabhiah, who, over several rounds of talks with Mr Muivah and Mr Iasac Swu, patiently constructed the framework within which a settlement is now sought.

 

The government's acceptance of the "unique" history of the Nagas laid the foundations for trust and further progress. The NSCN (IM) started with two primary demands, sovereignty and Nagalim, or the unification of all Naga-inhabited areas within India (and "Eastern Nagaland" in Myanmar). Over time, the government has more or less been able to persuade the NSCN (IM) that the states within India's structure of cooperative federalism are co-sovereigns within a commonwealth. Going beyond that, however, it has conceded that the Nagas' unique identity merits unique recognition through additional devolution within the 
framework of the Constitution.

 

The NSCN (IM) was asked to consider what part of the Indian Constitution the Nagas were freely willing to accept and what additional heads, safeguards and features they might wish to inscribe within a special "Naga constitution" that could perhaps be incorporated as a separate chapter within the Indian Constitution. Critics might scream, but a moment's reflection will convince them that there are many mini-constitutions or special dispensations within the Indian Constitution. These are spelt out in Articles 370, 371, and 371-A (pertaining to Nagaland) to 371-I and the Fifth and Sixth Schedules, and extend to special affirmative action covenants pertaining to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, the OBCs and religious and linguistic minorities. All these subtle variations are so much part of our constitutional and social landscape and have been so completely internalised that we often fail to notice their existence.

 

Some of this might be done by transferring to the State List certain items that are now in the Concurrent List of

the Seventh Schedule through a constitutional amendment. This should not be problematic as some of this has already been done to a limited extent in the existing Article 371-A. Still wider devolution is possible through Article 258 under which the Centre is empowered to "entrust" to a state "any matter to which the executive power of the Union extends". None of this will affect the unity and integrity of the country because of the accommodative genius of the Indian Constitution. Nor is there any cause to fear a domino effect, whatever others may claim, as the Naga case is sui generis.

 

The other issue of Nagalim too is not intractable. The imagined boundaries of Nagalim, as sometimes drawn, have little historical basis as the Naga tribes, like their cousins in much of the Northeast, have been and perhaps still are migratory. Dimapur, for instance, the most prized territorial plum, was the capital of the Dimasa kingdom. It is now a predominantly Naga city and so it must remain, despite Dimasa claims, as history cannot be rolled back. In any event, Manipur, one of the oldest principalities in India, cannot be vivisected nor will Assam and Arunachal countenance the excision of Cachar and Tirip and Changlang respectively. "Eastern Nagaland", the home of the rival NSCN(K) leader, Mr Khaplang, is in Myanmar.

 

The solution lies not in territorial reorganisation, which will be resented and resisted , but in the coming together of these other Naga-populated areas in a non-territorial entity. This would permit a coming together of all Nagas for purposes of economic, social and cultural development without derogation of current administrative jurisdictions. An example of this is to be found in the existing apex councils first created by Hiteshwar Saikia in Assam to accommodate the common interests of small, scattered tribes like the Tiwas, Rabhas and Mishings, who live in non-contiguous villages spread over a wider area. The apex councils elect an executive body to administer a devolved budget and plan through their 
own key personnel in case of "transferred subjects".

 

In a non-territorial "Naga peoplehood", however, distinctively Naga areas in Assam, Arunacal and Manipur could be empowered to administer common programmes of economic and social development. This could be done by means of any of several administrative devices overseen by the parent state on the one hand that enable the administered units across state boundaries to sing from the same page. At the political level, the all Naga Ho-ho has functioned across state boundaries and even the international boundary.

 

Imaginative and creative solutions are available. Some already exist; others can be enabled by constitutional amendment. The K-Group has denounced the IM-Group for forsaking "sovereignty". These are bargaining counters. Yet, it is absolutely necessary to get on board all shades of Naga opinion, IM, K and the two factions of the Naga National Council that Phizo founded, to endorse an overall settlement. That Mr Muivah is a Thangkul Naga from Manipur and Mr Khaplang a Hemi Naga from Myanmar does not matter. Given a just and true settlement, each can find a place of honour in the new scheme of things. Nobody need feel left out.

 

It is necessary to travel in order to arrive. Both the Naga and the larger Indian leadership and societies need to abandon outworn notions to embrace the emerging opportunities. An end to the Naga conflict will be a triumph and a balm and a signal that insurgency anywhere is not the path to peace and progress.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

COLUMN

VIGNETTES OF FATHERHOOD

BY ANJALI MEHTA

 

I read an interesting article by a friend on types of fathers. It made me think about fatherhood generally and specifically about us as parents. I remember when we were growing up, the sentence "I will tell your father" held a great significance and threat value – fathers were relatively more shadowy and so quite feared.

 

Now, since fathers are in constant proximity to the children, almost as much as mothers, any mystery element is gone and the kids have them figured out completely. The children are fairly confident that fathers can be wound around their little fingers with perhaps greater ease than even the mother.

 

My husband finds fatherhood a very enjoyable and positive experience. There are, however, moments when I

have found him feeling severely challenged.

 

We had taken the kids for a swim and it was time for them to come out of the pool. My son was being particularly recalcitrant about coming out of the water so my husband decided to be a little firm and told him that he had no option but to step out of the pool. His efforts were rewarded by a loud wailing on the part of my son and out of the blue the unfair verdict "you are the worst papa"! Everyone in the pool looked at my husband to see who had earned this title. He became beetroot red.

 

We had taken the kids for a Dhrupad (it's fairly serious, slow, timeless classical music) recital and they were reasonably lukewarm about this style of music. They were both fighting for the chair near me before the show and it was decided that it would be half and half time each.

 

An hour later, my son decided that it was now his turn to sit next to me and asked my daughter to exchange places. She refused. Whereupon his face became set into the expression which comes on just before he is about to begin wailing loudly. I can never forget the look of pure terror on my husband's face as he urgently took my arm and whispered "I think he's about to cry!'.

 

He had visions of our son's loudly familiar wail drowning out the concert completely and thought that they both may well make it to the next day's newspapers entertainment section, for the wrong reasons. I somehow managed to save the situation.

 

My husband never recovered fully — he is always very uneasy when taking the kids anywhere (though they sit very nicely through most performances now ) and keeps searching the children's faces for status checks during the programme.

 

My husband has reached the universal conclusion "there is never a dull moment…"

 

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THE TRIBUNE

OPED

NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SHOULD STICK TO ITS ORIGINAL CHARTER

BY S.D. PRADHAN

 

There have been a number of articles in the print media on the functioning of the National Security Council and the role of NSA. Most of them have emphasised the need for reorganisation of NSC and its substructures as well as for redefining the role of NSA. Before considering these issues, a professional analysis of the objectives of NSC and NSA's role is essential.

 

It is crucial to note that the functions and responsibilities of NSC and NSA have undergone significant changes in the last 11 years of its existence. The Task Force of Sri K.C. Pant had recommended a Planning Commission type organisation to act as a government think tank on security issues.

 

It suggested that the NSC should develop strategies keeping in view the security requirements in the next 5 to 25 years. Such projections were considered necessary to determine our military doctrines and develop plans for the acquisition of technologies and weapon systems, calibrate our nuclear doctrine, modify our foreign policy to develop leverages in the target foreign countries and to take appropriate steps for strengthening our comprehensive national strength.

 

To carry out its tasks, the Task Force had recommended that besides the National Security Adviser in the rank of Cabinet Minister, there should be three Dy NSAs in the rank of Principal Secretary for intelligence, coordination and planning wings. Each of the wings was expected to have full-time members (experts in different fields) to be appointed for 3 to 5 years.

 

The National Security Council was set up in 1998, albeit on a smaller scale in terms of staff. The notification clearly laid down that the NSC's role was to advise the government on security issues, which included internal and external threats, food security and threats to atomic energy, space and high technology as also patterns of alienation in the country.

 

The role of the NSC did not include any executive responsibility. NSA was assigned the responsibility of functioning "as the channel for servicing the National Security Council." NSA was expected to give directions to the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) comprising experts in different fields to focus on priority areas and also to get required papers prepared for consideration by NSC.

 

The Strategic Policy Group (SPG), a body of Secretary-level officials from the key ministries, was tasked to act as the principal mechanism for inter-ministerial coordination and integration of relevant inputs in the formulation of national security policies.

 

However, soon after the establishment of NSC, NSA and NSCS were given additional responsibilities, changing the nature of NSC from a think tank to an executive office. After the Kargil conflict, the Group of Ministers gave NSA the responsibility of chairing the Intelligence Coordination Group's meetings.

 

This body was meant to ensure that the consumers got their requirements from the agencies. It was also expected to evaluate the performance of the agencies. NSCS was expected to project the requirements of the consumers to the intelligence agencies. In addition, the newly created National Technical Research Organisation, the technical unit to support the entire Intelligence community, was placed under NSA. And when the Nuclear Command Authority was created, NSA was given substantial responsibilities connected with it.

 

If NSAs in the past could carry out all the tasks dexterously, the credit goes to their high calibre, competence and rich experience. However, overburdening NSA and NSCS with administrative responsibilities would not be conducive for the growth of NSC as an institution to undertake long-term planning – the very purpose of its formation.

 

Moreover, growing complexities in the security environment would make these tasks further taxing in the coming period. In fact, the tasks of NSA and NSCS are of higher nature than the executive functions. They have to objectively review governmental policies and the manner in which they are implemented and suggest changes and modifications to achieve our national objectives. Expectations from NSC and its substructures is that together they would act as the "Chankya mind" to provide "out-of-box" thinking to the government.

 

Releasing NSA and NSCS from the pressures of administrative responsibilities is essential to facilitate them to concentrate on the basic objectives of NSC to anticipate security threats, suggest coordinated strategies to deal with such challenges and recommend measures necessary for enhancing our comprehensive national strength.

 

While NSAs and NSCS have been sensitising the political leadership on important current threats like the possibility of the use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons, various dimensions of terrorism, implications of growing circulation of fake currency and unrestricted flow of foreign direct investment, now in the present security environment they should also sharply focus on food, water and energy security issues — necessary for building our comprehensive national strength.

 

There is also an urgent need for streamlining the functioning of other two substructures of NSC viz. SPG and NSAB. The SPG is often replicating the task of the Core Group of Secretaries on security matters because of lack of clarity of their charters. The responsibilities of these bodies are entirely different. While the latter deals with current security issues and takes necessary decisions for implementation, the former is meant to "provide relevant inputs in the formulation of national security policies, to act as the principal mechanism for inter-ministerial coordination and to undertake long-term strategic review".

 

For these tasks, the NSA has to provide directions on a continuing basis and NSCS has to provide necessary assistance. For these objectives, NSA must regularly attend SPG meetings. In the past, a few meetings were attended by the previous NSA, Mr M.K. Narayanan, and he was able to provide directions to the members making the discussion meaningful and was also able to get relevant inputs from the ministries/agencies.

 

NSAB is not fully utilised in the tasks of NSC. Its closer integration in the preparation of policy papers is highly desirable. For this, more frequent interaction between NSA and NSAB and provision of a dedicated research staff to assist NSAB are essential. The idea of having a few full-time members should be given a serious consideration.

 

What is required is not the reorganisation but the reorientation of the NSC and its substructures to the original charter.

 

NSA has several responsibilities in the NSC system, which require his undivided attention. Moreover, if NSC and its substructures are directly involved in certain tasks, then objective review of those tasks would not be feasible.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

OPED

PUNJAB INDUSTRY SINKING

BY KS CHAWLA

 

Three years ago the SAD- BJP government came to power in Punjab with the declaration that it marked the end of high-handed governance by Capt Amarinder Singh. Even before they settled down, witch-hunting started. The government hastily registered cases of corruption against Congress leaders.

 

Soon high-sounding development schemes like the metro rail for Ludhiana and the establishment of thermal plants, express highways and airports were announced.

 

The chorus of discrimination against Punjab continued without caring for the fact that the grants pouring through Central schemes like NREGA, the Rural Health Mission and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan could not be put to use for the benefit of the people. Acquisitions of land for SEZs resulted in controversies. As a result, the government had to abandon some of the prestigious projects. The World Class University to be set up at Amritsar with 100 per cent funding by the Centre, awaits the acquisition of land by the state 
government.

 

Factionalism in the ruling coalition stalled the reconstitution of the market committees, improvement trusts and corporations for a long time. Only recently began the process to fill the posts of chairman and member of 
these bodies.

 

The working of the local bodies has remained in jeopardy because of lack of funds. They cannot spend funds collected by them even on development works. Industrial development has not taken place for the past three years and industry is sinking. The new industrial policy has failed to encourage the industry and trade to set up new units. The industry is upset with power cuts and red tape.

 

The industrial development boards have failed to help the industry despite giving the status of Cabinet minister or state minister to the chairmen and vice-chairmen of the boards. They are just a burden on the exchequer. They have no background of the industry. The only consideration is to please the favourites. All major industrial development corporations of the state are bankrupt. The tall promise of wiping out corruption has remained in the election manifesto. No senior bureaucrat has been caught except one.

 

The government has failed to provide the basic health and education facilities to the people. Both these sectors are in a mess.

 

There is a deterioration in the law and order situation. The police reforms suggested by the Supreme Court have not been implemented. The state police continues to be politicised. The state has witnessed the emergence of mafias in the shape of drug mafia, transport mafia and land mafia with the political backing. The poor are becoming victims of these mafias.

 

With the elections two years away, the Chief Minister is now expressing concern over unemployment and drug addiction among youth. He talks of generating employment opportunities for them. The government is filling vacant posts in various departments. Despite the price rise, Punjab has not seen any action against hoarders and black-marketeers. People will not get swayed by gimmicks of the coalition government. Capt Amarinder Singh also followed the policy of pleasing the people during the last two years of his five-year term.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

OPED

HEALTH
HOW TO AVOID BEING ASLEEP ON THE JOB

BY ROB SHARP

 

The accident happened in early March in Reading, but its circumstances could be repeated at any time, anywhere from Penzance to Purley. Pakistani national Shehzad Akbar, 33, made the national news after ploughing his taxi into a tree. He was nearing the end of a 14-hour night shift and had fallen asleep at the wheel. He died shortly afterwards.

 

Such tragic incidents should serve as a wake-up call to a nation sleepwalking its way to an early grave with heavy hearts and droopy lids. A study published earlier this month by the Sleep Council – a charity circumspect enough to promote the benefits of a good night's sleep – told of 36 per cent of Britons sleeping poorly most nights. The average amount of sleep that people get is 6.6 hours – well below the recommended eight hours.

 

There are few who've avoided mainlining stimulants ahead of an exam but sustained tiredness – in its most extreme forms – can truncate lifespans. Lethargy caused by our lifestyles, on the other hand, can cause anxiety, depression and affect our ability to think clearly and react normally.

 

"If you're tired all the time it can be a mask for a variety of different problems," says Richard Vautrey, a GP in Leeds. "It could be stress-related depression, in some cases physical problems; anaemia, thyroid problems, diabetes or low blood sugar. Generally with people who complain there is no one reason that accounts for it; it's often more stress-related or something going on their life.

 

"In general terms people should have a balanced diet, exercise on a regular basis which can help release endorphins from the system which gives people energy; limit alcohol, stop smoking. Looking after your weight can help, it's common sense things. Also get plenty of rest. Some people are surprised that they get tired when they have been working excessively and forget to look after themselves. It's important to do things that can help you relax and unwind."

 

. Woodson Merrell, who has written The Source, Unlock Your Natural Energy, Revitalise Your Health and Change Your Life, suggests the British standard of half an hour three times a week, with a preference for yoga. He advises on useful yoga positions – for their beneficial effect on stress ("staff" – sitting upright, legs outstretched; "cobra" – lie flat on your belly then push your arms out and bend your head back, though probably best to consult a qualified instructor first).

 

"The book is examining how people can take charge of their health and revitalise their energy levels so they can achieve optimum wellness," he says. "Not everyone can do this, however. If you are a type one diabetic, you are probably never going to be in perfect health. But there are various areas – stress, diet, detox, exercise, rest and connectedness – which are important for the average person to consider."

 

He recommends that people take a stress log, work out the areas of their life where they can make a positive change and act accordingly. He also tells us to meditate during the morning, one of the most stressful times of day.

 

"Various studies suggest that when we're sleep-deprived the body overcompensates by producing the hormone cortisol [a stress-related hormone that increases blood sugar] which can make it more difficult to get to sleep in the evenings," he says. "If you don't sleep, you can also retain body fat, which in itself makes you sleepy and can weaken your immune system. It's also about the quality of sleep you get; if you wake up every hour throughout the night you can emerge in the morning feeling like you've been run over by a truck."

 

He recommends baths containing lavender, calming music, abstaining from alcohol, and has some interesting theories on how to stay sleeping if you feel like you're waking up. "If you're coming up into consciousness, and you are at that point where you are still thinking about something in a dream – latch on to the thing you're thinking about. Half the time you will return to sleep."

 

By arrangement with The Independent

 

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MUMBAI MERROR

EDITORIAL

TAKING A LOOK AT GRIEF

IN HIS BOOK A SCATTERINGCHRISTOPHER REID PAYS A SUBTLE TRIBUTE TO HIS WIFE WHO DIED OF CANCER

It may have been because it was a limited edition published by a small press. Or perhaps it was the subject matter of the poems. Whatever the reason, Christopher Reid's book of poems A Scattering, a tribute to his actress wife Lucinda Gane who died of brain cancer, sold out on the day it was published. The first part of the book was written during Gane's illness, the other three at various times after her death.

 For those used to a more vocal form of mourning, the lines with which Reid evokes the long-dreaded moment when life passes into death, may seem too understated. I find their economy perfect: "Sparse breaths, then none-/and it was done." There is no ranting at the gods (Reid doesn't believe in them), or fate or even the cancer itself, "malignant but not malign,/it set about doing-/not evil,/simply the job/tumours have always done: skewing/perceptions, closing down/faculties and functions/one by one."

 So what do you do with your grief, especially when it is considered bad taste to mention the subject, or even the loved one's name in public? There's a wonderful poem called Exasperated Piety in which Reid recalls what the novelist Henry James felt about a society in which "old friends and associates who had died/were not so much forgotten as denied:/a frosty ostracism from the club/ of the left-over living". For this reason, James called London "a terrible place to die in;/ the poor dead, all about one, are nowhere so dead as there".

Grief fuels the poems. Would Lucinda Gane have minded such a public exploration of their life together, Reid was asked. He was certain she wouldn't, he said. She had read the poems he wrote about her during her long and distressing illness, and had thought them his best work. She undoubtedly knew he would continue to write about her. In any case, she was a practical woman, and willed her body to medical science, "because she couldn't bear not to be busy and useful". He walks past the institution that took her body, and thinks it a place that is "hallowed" for him, a place "preferable to either Heaven or Hell". He has to get on with his life, and writing poems about her is, as he says in an interview, "therapy without a cure at the end of it."

Gane's illness created a kind of reversal in the relationship. She is ironical about the role she plays: "I'm being radiant/again aren't I!" He admires her for not being the typical patient as she cheers her nurses, gives advice and support to friends, and encourages her husband "to address his/possible future/with something of her hope".
 Christopher Reid was born in Hong Kong in 1949, and read for a degree at Oxford. He was Poetry Editor for almost a decade with Faber and Faber, and he and his wife also started their own publishing house. He is Professor of Creative Writing at Hull. In January 2010 he won the Costa Book Award for A Scattering, in the poetry section, and also the Book of the Year for the same book. Including this book, Reid has published nine volumes of poetry, and two books of poems for children. He has also edited, among other books, a volume of the letters of Ted Hughes for Faber. The Costa Awards were formerly known as the Whitbread Prize and tend to be regarded as more "populist" than the Booker. All that seems to mean is that the concerns of the books which win the awards in various categories are seen as reaching a wider range of people.

 

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MUMBAI MERROR

EDITORIAL

KEEP IT ROUGH

FACIAL STUBBLE TOPPED WOMEN'S WISH LIST FOR MEN, SAYS A STUDY. JUST WHAT'S IT ABOUT A BIT OF FUZZ THAT'S SO APPEALING?

It's official, ladies! Stubble is sexy. And a huge turn-on. While many women swoon over chocolate-boy good looks or go weak in the knees in front of a clean-shaven sex god, a study reveals it's the stubble that does the trick for them.

A recent poll by a British website that claims to crack a woman's wish-list as far as men are concerned says facial stubble and a geeky personality are top in a list of women's secret turn-ons. Girls may complain it looks unkempt or feels rough, but the unshaven look on a guy is attractive to four females in 10. There have been other studies too which say that hair may be a signal of aggression as it boosts the apparent size of the lower jaw.

Of course, most women might not exactly ponder on the size of the jaw or thickness of the beard, but what matters to them is the spunk and the attitude to carry it off. As Sanchita Roy, an arts student says, "Never generalise about stubble. Whether a man can carry it off well depends entirely on his attitude; it just cannot suit anyone who sports it. I would love to see a Hugh Jackman with stubble but not for instance, a Ruslaan Mumtaz!" Ouch!

Attitude apart, the stubble has now come to be held in high regard as a sign of style and class. Which explains why stars like David Beckham or Gerard Butler in Hollywood and closer home our very own Hrithik Roshan are so successful with the ladies. Never mind the little rashes or redness in the skin after a steamy session in the sack with a guy with a stubble — that, the stubble-votaries argue, is part of the package!

But for a long time, fuzz on the face has been a matter of many     beauty-debates.How much is     too much? What separates the caring-yetmacho look     from the cuddly teddy bears or hirsute masculinity? The answer lies somewhere in between. "I like only those who have a very light stubble, like a morning shadow as I feel that it gives them a more intense look. It gives the impression of a deeper character (rightly or wrongly). Besides, an unruly beard is scratchy on facial contact," says Mariette Valsan, public relations executive.

The right balance is that stubble which offer women the best of both worlds — not too overtly masculine and therefore a put-off, but mature and that which signals sensitivity. Neelam Mane, editor of a shopping magazine explains it best. "There is a difference between facial hair which gives a man a rugged look and that which can easily be called a full-grown beard. Most women would prefer the former, a well-maintained beard is always welcome. Just as long hair looks good on a woman only if it's looked after. My personal favourite is a goatee. I think goatees add a lot of dramatic value to a face." In other words, don't pass off your laziness for a fashion statement. Men, take care of your stubble the way you'd take care of your beard.

So does that mean the rise of the so-called metrosexual man was just a myth? As it turns out, pedicured feet and pink shirts are fine, real women prefer the moderate 'manly man'. And a stubble hints just that — not too rough, but has just the necessary edge. "I agree. A beard completes the face of a man. It makes him look more distinguished, though it is also a reason why a lot of wannabes sport it to catch attention and 'fit in'. Like they do for apparel and hair styles, every man should decide whether they have what it takes to carry of a beard — and a fitting type at that!" says Tejal Daftary, owner of a communications firm. That, kind of, sums it up.

 

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BUSINESS STANDARD

EDITORIAL

MEDICINES FOR ALL

FDI MUST PLAY ALONG

Unrestricted entry of foreign equity into the Indian pharmaceuticals sector is being questioned on three grounds, one serious and two non-serious. The least serious of the three comes from the National Security Council, which has proposed that the sector be put on the "sensitive" list, requiring prior scrutiny by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. This is difficult to understand as there is no intellectual property to guard against foreign takeover, the Indian industry being entirely generic. The second non-serious reason, given by the department of pharmaceuticals, is that Indian firms are not on a level playing field — they do not have deep pockets to do the kind of R&D necessary for survival in a free-for-all which global firms do. But the key example cited in favour of this argumentis the takeover of Ranbaxy by Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo, which happened not because Ranbaxy ran out of money to carry forward the vision of Parvinder Singh, but because his heirs wanted to cash out.

 The department is on firmer ground when it fears that a growing tide of foreign takeovers can impact the pricing and availability of medicines in India. It is in India's national interest to ensure that essential medicines are available cheaply and easily to meet health-care needs. India was able to do this in the last century by ignoring the product patent regime and becoming a global leader in generics, using its chemistry skills to produce quality medicines cheaply. Now that it has accepted the product patent regime, it is faced with a new challenge, a growing tide of evergreening. Global majors, seeing their product patent pipelines dwindling, have resorted to more and more ingenious arguments and devices to prolong the life of patents so that generic substitutes cannot be marketed even after the running out of the original patent. The government has to actively guard against this, all the more so because Indian doctors appear entirely in thrall of costly medicines. If more and more good Indian firms get taken over by global firms, who will challenge patents because it is the former that are the global leaders in doing this? In allowing foreign entry, the government has to ensure that the firms take on an obligation to produce and sell essential medicines cheaply, according to the requirements of national policy.

Of the two devices used in the past to keep medicine prices low, a favourable patent regime and price control, the latter has worked up to a point. Any price control system has its limitations and in the past, populist ministers have sought to unduly extend the list of medicines under price control even as pharma companies have tried to dodge by tweaking formulations. A better way for the government to access good medicines cheaply can be through negotiated bulk purchase for distribution through the public health-care system. This way it can ask for precisely what it wants and talk only to the firms that follow good manufacturing practices. This route can become important over time as the government raises its expenditure on health care, which it must. Also, as incomes rise rapidly, private health-care expenditure is likely to rise even faster. Therefore, the market for affordable drugs is likely to grow long and fast. Foreign firms which play by these rules and get in are likely to reap early-bird advantages

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BUSINESS STANDARD

EDITORIAL

LIMITS TO BIOTECHNOLOGY

DON'T THROW THE TECHNOLOGY AWAY WITH THE SEEDS

The revelation by the developer of pest-protected Bt cotton Bollgard, Monsanto-Mahyco, that pink bollworm pest has developed resistance to the killer Bt gene, Cry1Ac, in parts of Gujarat, and the rebuttal of this by a government-funded cotton research institute have created a fresh, albeit avoidable, controversy around genetically modified (GM) crops. The Monsanto statement had claimed that during field monitoring of the 2009 cotton crop in Gujarat, the company's scientists had detected unusual survival of pink bollworms on Bt cotton hybrid Bollgard in four districts — Amreli, Bhavnagar, Junagarh and Rajkot. The firm also said that this has been conveyed to the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), the apex GM regulator, following the principle of transparency and accountability. However, the director of the Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has asserted that this conclusion is not well-founded as it is based on faulty testing methodology and has not been peer-reviewed. What lends a degree of credibility to the latter view is the fact that this institute has been involved in resistance-monitoring of Bt cotton since 2003 and its director heads the immunity-monitoring panel of the GEAC. Moreover, scientists of the Bt cotton developer firm are also members of this panel, which has neither noticed such resistance among pink bollworm nor reported any such development to the GEAC. Monsanto's claim, on the other hand, is not necessarily well-founded because it is based on just one season's observations when other factors, including weather, could have played a role in facilitating relatively higher survival of a particular pest.

One reason why the company's view is suspect in the eyes of its critics is the feeling that it is seeking to create a market for a new, higher-priced seed. While Monsanto may have business reasons in mind, the fact also remains that its claims should be objectively verified and the farmers properly reassured of the factual position. After all, even GM crops are not immune to disease. Countless good crop varieties have in the past gone out of cultivation because of the loss of their inbuilt immunity against particular pests and diseases. Indeed, even in the case of human beings, pathogens and viruses inflicting them are known to often develop resistance against particular antibiotics, necessitating discovery of newer molecules to treat the diseases caused by them. The same is true in the case of vaccines and medicines used by humans to combat insect-borne diseases and other pandemics. Thus, there is no merit in denigrating new technologies per se. It would also be short sighted to altogether abandon modern biotechnology in the creation of new and better seeds and crop varieties. Be it Bt cotton or Bt brinjal, or any other GM crop, what is really required is that one be on guard all the time in the use of modern science and technology in the unending battle against pests and diseases. Scientists must continue to evolve new varieties of seeds with different kinds of resistance and periodically review them and replace older and outdated varieties or hybrids with superior ones.

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BUSINESS STANDARD

EDITORIAL

LATHA JISHNU: SWEEPING POWERS, GLARING OMISSIONS

THE BIOTECH REGULATORY BILL GAGS DISSENT AND TAKES AWAY THE POWER OF STATES WITHOUT PROVIDING ANY SAFEGUARDS TO FARMERS AND CONSUMERS

LATHA JISHNU

 

Shortcuts always lead to problems, and nowhere is this more evident than in the biotechnology sector. Research in genetically modified organisms (GMOs) crops was permitted, both in the public and private sectors, even before a clear policy was in place and before any guidelines had been formulated on the priority areas for Indian agriculture. Nor was any socio-economic survey, vital for understanding the implications of introducing such high-tech crops, ever conducted before releasing the first GM crop, the Bt cotton. And the regulatory system, manned mostly by bureaucrats till recently, was clearly not up to the task of tackling the complex issues related to the sector because of their limited understanding of the technicalities. The result: A host of concerns about the environmental and health effects of GM crops that have not been addressed clearly.

However, the remedy that the government is proposing in the form of the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill, 2009, promises to compound the problems. What the government wants to set up in place of the Genetic Engineering Approvals Committee (GEAC), the apex regulatory body with representation from several ministries, is a three-member regulator that will act as single-window clearing house for all GM commercial applications. With the processing of such applications as its primary mandate, the Bill, scheduled to be introduced in the current Budget session of Parliament, ignores the basic premise for biotech regulation.

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BUSINESS STANDARD

EDITORIAL

LAOS POWERS AHEAD

ABUNDANT IN HYDROPOWER RESOURCES, IT HAS TAKEN ON THE ROLE OF A 'BATTERY' FOR ITS ELECTRICITY-STARVED NEIGHBOURS

BARUN ROY

Later this month, after four years in the making, Laos' biggest hydropower plant so far, Nam Theun 2, will start producing electricity and selling almost all of it to Thailand. With this will further expand the landlocked country's reputation as the "battery" for South-East Asian nations and its novel way of earning money for its development.

Also, to go into operation soon is another Thai-related hydropower station, the 615-MW Nam Ngum 2, while 17 other surrogate projects are at various stages of planning. At least 45 more projects are being studied for feasibility with the primary objective of exporting electricity to neighbouring countries and earning much-needed foreign exchange.

For Laos, it makes great sense. Its hydropower resources are among the largest in the sub-region but it doesn't have the means to develop these resources on its own. At the same time, its neighbours, mainly Thailand and Vietnam, undergoing rapid economic growth, are acutely starved of electricity. So, why not call in the neighbours and ask them to set up power stations and buy back all the electricity produced by these plants for a guaranteed number of years?

It's excellent regional cooperation too, and, chaperoned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), it's working very well. Of course, Thailand has been buying electricity from Laos since 1971 while Laos gets low-voltage power from Thailand to supply its border areas. But the trade got bigger in 1993 when Bangkok signed an agreement to import up to 1,500 MW of electricity a year from Laos. Through a series of new agreements that followed, Thailand's annual commitment now stands at 5,000 MW till 2015 and 7,000 MW thereafter.

This resulted in the 214 MW Theun-Hinboun project, Laos' first power joint venture with the private sector. It went into operation in 1998, cost $280 million, involved Thai and Swedish investors and is now being expanded. A year later came the 152 MW Houay Ho plant in the southern Attapeu province.

Construction of the $1.2 billion, 1,088 MW Nam Theun 2 plant on Nam Theun River, a major Mekong tributary in central Laos, began in 2005, ahead of the 523 MW Nam Theun 1, with investments from Electricite de France (35 per cent), Lao Holding State Enterprise (25 per cent), Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (25 per cent) and Italian-Thai Development Public Co of Thailand (15 per cent). Ninety-three per cent of its production is slated for export to Thailand, and it's estimated Laos will earn over $2 billion from this venture alone over the 25-year life of the concession.

It's only natural that the success of the power arrangement with Thailand should encourage Vietnam too, whose energy needs are also growing by leaps and bounds. According to agreements concluded so far, Vietnam will import 2,000 MW of electricity from Laos and has lined up a number of projects for achieving that goal. The biggest of these is a 1,400 MW plant in Luang Prabang proposed by Petro Vietnam, while a 210 MW station, Sekaman 3, is being built in Sekong province. Last month, representatives of the two governments met and agreed to speed up the projects.

As the demand for energy rises throughout the Greater Mekong Sub-Region, averaging 10 per cent to 16 per cent a year over the next decade and in step with its fast growing economic activities, Laos' "battery" role is destined to get even bigger in future, and it's only a matter of time before Myanmar, blessed with similar huge untapped water resources, also decides to join the game. ADB, the architect of cooperation in the Greater Mekong area, is now helping develop regional transmission networks to put the regional power trade on more solid ground. A Regional Power Trade Coordination Committee has been formed to oversee various aspects of the trade and develop common standards.

A $20 million ADB technical assistance grant will help develop the first module of the sub-region's northern power transmission project. Though mainly intended to boost domestic supply through 400 km of 115 kV transmission lines, the project will also provide a cross-border interconnection with Thailand. But the major focus is on building a network of 500 kV transmission interconnection, which include the following: (1) Jinghong (China) to Luang Namtha (Laos) to Thailand; (2) Luang Prabang (Laos) to Vietnam; (3) Hating (Vietnam) to Nam Theun 2 (Laos) to Thailand; (4) Pleiku (Vietnam) to Ban Sok/Attapeu (Laos) to Thailand; and (5) Tay Ninh province (Vietnam) to Strung Treng (Cambodia) to Attapeu (Laos) to Ubon Rat (Thailand).

When this basic network comes to be in place, not too far in the future, regional cooperation will acquire a different meaning in the Greater Mekong area. South Asia could have been another territory fit for a similar experiment in neighbourly living, with Bhutan and Nepal taking on the role that Laos plays, but there's simply not the right political desire that could make it happen.

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BUSINESS STANDARD

EDITORIAL

ARVIND SINGHAL: THE FOUR A'S OF EDUCATION

IT IS VERY HEARTENING TO SEE THAT EDUCATION HAS FINALLY STARTED TO ATTRACT THE ATTENTION IT HAS ALWAYS DESERVED

ARVIND SINGHAL

 

It is very heartening to see that education has finally started to attract the attention it has always deserved but was given an inexplicable short shrift especially in the last 20 years or so. While India talked about financial and other reforms, the education sector actually saw even more regressive policy steps and more stifling of efforts to create high-quality capacity from primary schooling right through post-graduate studies.

At this time, there is a lot of optimism about the reforms in the education sector. Hopefully, many of the progressive reformist measures articulated by the Union HRD minister since his induction into the Cabinet last year will see their implementation in the current year itself, creating the right policy framework and operating environment for attracting large investments into the sector. Indeed, India's challenge in the education sector, as it is in all other social and physical infrastructure sectors, is mind-boggling. For a population that is likely to touch almost 1.2 billion by the time the next census begins in 2011, India needs — just to illustrate this humungous challenge — over 1.5 million qualified doctors. Against that, we have no more than 550,000 and of this small number, probably 30 per cent or more may be concentrated in the four metros alone. The current annual capacity for MBBS seats is less than 40,000. India's gross enrolment ratio (number of students in colleges) is just above 10 per cent, while the same for developed nations is over 50 per cent. Just to increase this ratio to 20 per cent in 10 years will require a near doubling of higher education seats in India (the school-going population would have increased by more than 100 million in the next 10 years), needing an investment of more than Rs 480,000 crore. Not only this, 45 per cent of all higher education seats in India are allocated to humanities and arts compared to 3 per cent in Brazil, 14 per cent in China, and 4 per cent in Russia. Not surprisingly, India is way behind in seats available for technical and business/manufacturing-oriented education compared to developed or major developing countries. And finally, while justifiably, a lot of attention is focused on primary education and higher education, and relatively less attention is given to those estimated 400 million out of about 460 million jobs which are skill-based and which require vocational training. Less than 6 per cent of this huge mass of workers receive any form of vocational training. The current landscape of vocational training in India comprises about 5,500 industrial training institutes and about 1,750 polytechnics. China, having a population not much bigger than India's, has over 500,000 such institutes.

While this infrastructure is being created, it is now also important to start giving serious attention — through policy framework — to the 4 A's: Accessibility, Appropriateness, Affordability and Accountability. Accessibility has to be universal in the context of all socio-economic strata of society and across the entire geographical spread of India. Appropriateness has to meet not only the aspirations of the individual but also India's needs, and the demands of the Indian society at large. Affordability has to be seen both from the point of view of the individual who (or whose family) should be able to finance her studies from the school right through doctoral programmes, and also the country (how much it can afford to subsidise since available resources for all infrastructure are severely limited). And finally, accountability has to be seen first from the perspective of the student who would have trusted the system and the regulators with 16 or even more years of her life in the hope that once she completes her education, she would be able to find the appropriate job or vocation for which she has dedicated those years to school and college. Accountability also has to be to the nation so that there are no shortages of qualified people when the population is so large, and so young.

Hence, as the governments (both at the Centre and in states) have, in the past decades, come up with a slew of incentives and subsidies based on backward area development or promotion of specific industrial and service sectors, they must now come up with policies that can direct this new capacity creation in the education sector based on these four crucial principles of accessibility, appropriateness, affordability, and accountability.

arvind.singhal@technopak.com

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BUSINESS STANDARD

EDITORIAL

WWW.INDIABUDGET 2010-11

THE EXPENDITURE CUTS ARE ONE-OFF, TOO MUCH HAS BEEN GIVEN AWAY IN TAX CUTS AND THERE ARE FEW GREEN SHOOTS OF REFORM

SHANKAR ACHARYA

 

Nearly a fortnight has passed since the presentation of the Budget. There has been plenty of intelligent commentary... and some not so intelligent. It's hard to find something new and worthwhile to say. Indeed, the only justification for this column is the hope (delusion?) that there may be a few loyal readers out there with an interest in my views on the subject. So, here goes. I shall be selective.

On television, on Budget day, I rated this Budget "good-average", that is, clearly neither "bad" nor "excellent" in the four-step assessment grid allowed by the anchor. Let's begin with the good. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee gave high priority to fiscal consolidation, after the blow-out of the previous two years, which took the Central government's fiscal deficit to a record 7.8 per cent of GDP in 2008-09 (inclusive of oil and fertiliser bonds) and the revenue deficit to a new peak of 5.3 per cent of GDP in 2009-10. For 2010-11 the finance minister aims for a fiscal deficit ratio of 5.5 per cent, compared to the estimate of 6.9 per cent for 2009-10. This target has the dual virtue of signalling a modest but significant (and timely) exit from the hugely expansionary deficits of the previous two years, as well as heightening his credibility by exactly matching the commitment he gave in the July 2009 Budget. He also committed his government to fiscal deficit ratios of 4.8 per cent and 4.1 per cent for the next two years, marginally improving on the consolidation path recommended in the recently published Thirteenth Finance Commission (TFC) report. However, the finance minister's medium-term revenue deficit commitments were significantly weaker than those recommended by the TFC.

Mr Mukherjee burnished his fiscal consolidation credentials by accepting the TFC recommendation for adopting a government debt-to-GDP target as an integral part of the medium-term fiscal consolidation process. He promised a status paper giving a detailed analysis and a road map, but (and this is interesting) without unambiguously accepting the TFC goal of 68 per cent by 2014-15. On recourse to oil and fertiliser bonds, he was more forthright in eschewing such practices and giving a clear and welcome commitment in favour of fiscal transparency on subsidy accounting

So far, so good. But how good? On closer examination (as T N Ninan astutely pointed out, BS February 27), the 1.4 percentage point reduction in the fiscal deficit seems to rely heavily on a few items: an additional Rs 15,000 crore of PSU disinvestment proceeds (over the Rs 25,000 crore anticipated in 2009-10), Rs 35,000 crore of the much-postponed 3G telecom auction proceeds, about Rs 20,000 crore of absent (in 2010-11) Pay Commission arrears, about Rs 15,000 crore of absent bank loan waiver payments and Rs 10,000 crore of absent oil/fertiliser bonds. Together, these five items add up to Rs 95,000 crore, or all of the 1.4 per cent of fiscal deficit ratio improvement claimed by the Budget speech! The problem is that all (except, arguably, the disinvestment increase) are one-off items. They do not establish a basis for future fiscal consolidation. Where is that to come from?

Since the easy gains from expenditure "reduction" are behind us, it surely has to come from revenue growth. But the kind of strong revenue growth achieved in 2003-08 seems unlikely to be replicable, unless the induction of the postponed GST and Direct Taxes Code in April 2011 can work miracles. In fact, the latter could worsen the fiscal situation, since the current Budget's generous (profligate?) move in the direction of the personal income tax structure recommended by the Code is estimated to cost the exchequer about Rs 25,000 crore in 2010-11. Indeed, the sharp reduction in effective income tax rates announced in this Budget (via big increases in tax brackets) could seriously hobble growth of income tax revenues in future as well and render the task of fiscal consolidation even more difficult. Were they really necessary? If some sops were required for getting the middle class and the media behind the Budget, could that not have been achieved through shallower cuts in effective income tax rates?

Such doubts about the sustainability of targeted fiscal consolidation may have begun to worry the bond market, which saw the 10-year benchmark interest rate cross 8 per cent three days ago. On a recent visit to Mumbai, the finance minister reiterated his Budget reassurance that the government's borrowing requirements (Rs 345,000 crore net and Rs 457,000 crore gross) would not crowd out private investment. After all, the net borrowing requirement anticipated for 2010-11 was a good 20 per cent lower than the humungous Rs 400,000 crore of net borrowing estimated for 2009-10. But what people forget is that the huge borrowing this year has been managed skillfully by RBI in the context of a massive expansion of liquidity, significant open market purchases of government bonds and the synchronised unwinding of the Market Stabilisation Scheme (MSS) accounts.

None of these three mitigating factors will operate significantly in 2010-11. RBI will (rightly) continue its recently begun exit from a seriously expansionary policy and MSS reversal will provide little comfort. Moreover, commercial banks are already holding nearly 30 per cent of their assets in the form of government bonds and may have little appetite for more such assets, which are exposed to capital losses from higher interest rates. So, ministerial assurances notwithstanding, medium- and long-term interest rates are likely to be driven north by the second largest borrowing programme in India's history, to the detriment of investment and growth.

As in Mr Mukherjee's July 2009 Budget, there aren't too many green shoots of reform peeping through. A promising exception is the proposal to begin competitive bidding for allocating coal blocks for captive mines. A more threatening one is the plan to set up "an apex-level Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC)" to "monitor macro prudential supervision of the economy, including the functioning of large financial conglomerates, and addressing inter-regulatory coordination issues". If this FSDC is chaired by the RBI governor, it may be a good way of formalising the existing High Level Coordinating Committee and mandating it to focus on these issues. If it is headed by the finance minister, it would be a manifestly bad idea, as this newspaper has already observed editorially (BS, March 8). First, it could undermine the credibility and clout of the premier regulator on financial stability issues, RBI. No other official institution in India (the finance ministry not excepted) has even remotely comparable expertise and experience to deal with financial stability issues. It would be particularly odd to do such undermining after a global financial crisis in which the RBI's performance has been widely applauded in India and abroad. Second, it could inject a far higher degree of political and administrative control into an arena where professional autonomy should be nurtured. Having interacted closely (from the finance ministry) for 15 years with RBI and Sebi (the last four as the ministry's nominated board member), I have no doubt that the present legal structure and operating convention allows far greater autonomy (from government) to RBI than to Sebi. Little good could come from reducing such autonomy.

For these reasons, I stick to a "good-average" rating for Budget 2010-11.

The author is Honorary Professor at ICRIER and former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India. Views expressed are personal

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

ALL IS WELL: NO THREAT TO POLITICAL STABILITY

 

Is the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in danger of losing its majority in Parliament after the loss of outside support from the Samajwadi Party (SP)and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and after coalition member Mamata Banerjee got lost in a "communication gap" that led her party to abstain on the women's quota Bill in the Rajya Sabha? Should we worry about political stability and coalition chaos once again? Absolutely not. On paper, the UPA now has only a razor-thin majority in the Lok Sabha, against a hypothetically united Opposition. But, the aftermath of the UPA-Left divorce on the nuclear deal serves as a reminder as to how realpolitik goes beyond numbers. So, there are sound reasons to believe that the momentum of politics today favours the desire of the Congress to be bold and take risks, and limits the Opposition's capacity to block the budget or topple the government.

To get the numbers in the right political perspective, one should note that the UPA-II never treated the SP or the RJD as supporters, of whatever kind. If the Congress were willing, the two would have been pre-poll allies and post-poll partners in the cabinet. The Congress rejected the two as allies because that is the only way it can rebuild the party in UP and Bihar. And Mulayam and Lalu know their real danger lies in the Congress taking away their Muslim base.

The women's quota Bill just happened to be the occasion for the Yadavs to end their pretence of an alliance. But, by taking back their threat to move a no-trust motion, they also advertised their own limitations. Mamata Banerjee, too, a day after a short remission to a communication gap, is back to the reality of having to live with the Congress to capture the Left citadel in Bengal. Yes, the combined Opposition could give the government tricky moments through cut-motions. But all Opposition parties know that, at the moment, they cannot risk a fresh Lok Sabha poll. It would also be naive to believe that the Congress has no parallel plot to stabilise its Lok Sabha numbers, which would unfold through rumblings in the JD(U), the SP and smaller parties and repositioning of a party like the Biju Janata Dal.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

ARBITRARY DOT...

 

This should not happen in liberalised India. The Department of Telecom ordered S Tel, a new entrant to India's thriving telecom market, to shut down operations. The order did not say why such a serious decision has been taken, affecting about 5 lakh service providers in three states. It was put out that security concerns prompted the decision. However, the ministry of home affairs has made it clear that it has not asked DoT to shut down S Tel's operations. What it has said is that S Tel should put in place the necessary facilities for lawful interception of communications, as is required of all communication service providers.

So that leaves DoT without any 'security' cover for its decision. What else could be the reason for this sudden, terminal move on DoT's part? Surely, it cannot be related to the possibility of DoT losing, in the Supreme Court, its appeal against a high court order that had upheld an S Tel plea against the unfair manner in which DoT had allotted licences in 2008, arbitrarily advancing the deadline for submission of applications in a manner that favoured some applicants and discriminated against others, including S Tel. The latter had applied for 22 licences, but got only six, and legally challenged the government's action.

After it got orders to stop operations, and prior to the Supreme Court hearing on Wednesday, S Tel wrote to DoT saying that it was no longer interested in pursuing the other licences. The Supreme Court has directed S Tel to file an affidavit explaining what prompted it to write to DoT undermining the case it had won in the high court, on the eve of its hearing in the Supreme Court. The answer, as they say, is blowing in the wind. This cannot be allowed to go on. DoT cannot be run like a fiefdom. The prime minister and the council of ministers have a collective responsibility, which cannot be abdicated in the name of coalition compulsions.

 

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

33% BETTER BEHAVED!

 

Amidst all the debate over the women's reservation Bill in India's House of Elders, otherwise known as the Rajya Sabha, the obvious point was not made that enacting the bill would improve parliamentary dignity and decorum by at least 33%. While paying his respects to his Puratchi Thalaivi or Revolutionary Leader J Jayalalithaa, an AIADMK MP did praise India's women for running the country's households more efficiently than the Union finance minister, but he glossed over the fact that all the MPs who were suspended for almost assaulting India's vice-president cum Rajya Sabha chairman on Monday were men! Some of the suspended MPs were cricketers who had represented their universities but their behaviour showed none of the sporting spirit which has characterised the national women's cricket team even while winning a keenly-contested ODI series against the world champs, England.

Women MPs like Mamata Banerjee have been known to shout and sometimes scream on the floor of the House. Samples of such shrill behavior can be regularly seen on TV chat-shows where the likes of Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan can more than hold her own when it comes to outshouting BJP spokesmen. And one is not referring to the CPI(M)'s Brinda Karat who gets her point across by raising a cultured eyebrow! But, never, ever, even in her shrillest moments, has Mamata didi grabbed the mike on the Rajya Sabha chairman's table. When she gets provoked while presenting her Budget for Bengal, sorry India, the Union railway minister sarcastically shrugs off innuendos that she is favouring her own state by listing the goodies given to other parts of the country like Orissa and rhetorically asking, "Where is Cuttack?" If women MPs carry umbrellas during the monsoon session of Parliament, we can rest assured that it is for defensive purposes like covering their own heads and not for offensive acts like beating up those in the immediate vicinity!

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

MUSTER UP THE WILL TO CHANGE ONESELF

VITAL C NADKARNI

 

Angelo Siciliano was a £97 stripling. One fateful day, when he'd gone to the beach, a bully kicked sand in his face. Humiliated, young Sicilianojoined the YMCA to try out exercise routines to develop his physique. It was while watching a lion in the zoo that he had an Aha moment: "Does this old gentleman have any barbells, any exercisers?" he asked himself. "And yet how is it so strong and husky? And then it came over me," he reminisces in his memoir. "The lion's been pitting one muscle against another!" Siciliano concluded that lions and tigers became strong by muscle resistance and went on to develop his famous 12-step method which transformed the scrawny weakling into the "world's most perfectly developed man".

Siciliano also changed his name to Charles Atlas after being told that he resembled the statue of Atlas supporting earth on top of a hotel in Coney Island, where he worked as a strongman.

The Charles Atlas brand revolved around the insult that made a man out of a mac (changed later to "a champ from a chump"). This is not so much about patented weights and pulleys as about belief. Most of us are very good at describing what is. But how many can muster up the will to believe what can be? That calls for giving up old habits of thought and action.

This is not as tough as it may seem. Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer's research shows that small changes, small gestures repeated slowly and steadily, can make big differences, but "(first) we need to open ourselves to the impossible and embrace a psychology of possibility," she writes in Counterclockwise.

Rather than starting from the status quo, this argues for a starting point of what we would like to be. In the case of Charles Atlas it began with inner vision of a perfectly formed man superimposed on the reflection of the scrawny weakling staring back from the mirror. It's a subtle change in thinking. But too many of us believe the world is to be discovered, rather than a product of our own making and thus to be invented.

"Pursuing the psychology of possibility is itself empowering," Langer insists. "It feels good to have a personal mission, it contributes to a more positive outlook in general, and it works against the idea that the rest of us are soon to follow suit and fall apart. As we actualise the possible, we may find out other interesting things about the world."

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

TAX SOPS ARE DISTORTIONARY BUT THOSE TIED TO INVESTMENT ARE BETTER

 

Every form of tax incentives introduces some distortions in the decision-making process. In choosing between incentive regimes, therefore, it is useful to be clear that this is a choice between different forms of distortions. Before exploring the distortions, it is useful to understanding the distinction between investment-linked and profit-linked forms of incentives, as they are to be applied in India. This terminology is possibly misleading.

In both these incentive regimes, the gains from the incentive regime accrue to the firm only when the firm earns revenues in excess of the cost of running the firm, ie, when the firm begins to earn some profits. Investment-linked incentives provide a deduction from the revenue in computing profits and profit-linked incentives allow for such profits to be deducted from the computation of taxable profits.

The difference however lies in the mechanism used to limit the benefits allowed — the investment-linked scheme implies a limit equivalent to the amount of investment undertaken while the profit-linked scheme limits the number of years the benefit is provided. A more appropriate phraseology would possibly be investment-linked versus time-bound incentive regimes.

Some of the distortions introduced by the profit-based incentive regime are as follows: firms which generate more profit per unit of investment can derive a larger proportion of benefits when compared to a firm where the profits per unit of investment is relatively lower. This would approximately be the distinction between firms with high and low capital output ratio. A unit with a high capital output ratio would be associated with a lower profit per unit of capital invested and hence during the course of the incentive regime, would derive smaller amounts of benefits when compared to unit with a lower capital output ratio. In other words, the profit-based regime would tend to favour firms with lower investment requirements. This seems to have been the case in area-based exemptions for instance.

Similarly, firms with a longer gestation lag would derive a smaller amount of benefit when compared to the firms or activities with a smaller gestation lag. A third form of distinction is between existing versus start-up firms. The profit-linked incentive regime, it is often argued, favours existing units over start-ups.

At the very least, existing firms would have a marketing network which facilitates the sale of products or services of the new unit and hence can record profits and avail the incentives available. In a start-up firm, on average, the development of the economic activity and the market for the same, can limit the extent of benefits the firm can avail during the course of the incentive period.

Since all incentive schemes do introduce distortions, it is fair to recognise that the investment-linked incentive scheme would be associated with a perverse consequence of a preference for more capital intensive activity. To the extent such a regime can encourage larger investments with a smaller potential to withdraw or relocate, investment-based incentives could get closer to delivering the intended benefits of the incentive regime.

Conversely, if it continues to attract firms or units with small scale of investment, the cost to the exchequer could be lower than in the a time-limited incentive regime like the profit-linked incentive regimes. To this extent, the so-called investment-linked incentive regimes appear to be superior to the profit-linked ones.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

INVESTMENT-LINKED INCENTIVE WILL HELP HOTELS, TOURISM GROW

 

The finance minister has created a largely unrestricted provision in Budget 2010 that enables any hotel of two star or above category that starts functioning after April 1, 2010 to avail of full tax deduction on capital expenditure. This provision amends a previous provision that made profits deductible for a certain category of hotels in specified areas.

India as a country has underinvested in its tourism infrastructure for the last 60 years. China has 10 times more and the US 40 times more hotel rooms than India. According to a Knight Frank report, even New York Metropolitan region has as many rooms as all of India. This has led to high room rates and low availability of rooms.

A sweeping provision like this ensures spurt in investment in a sector that has experienced waning interest from investors over last couple of years. There is a possibility of over-investment and misuse, as in any government policy. Small leakages are unavoidable. However, it is time India moved away from a "trading" mindset of immediate profits to investing for the next 10-20 years. The US and then China have successfully used large scale investment — directly or through indirect benefits — to create industries.

The global renewables sector is a great example of a sector that has got created in a short period due to investment-linked benefits in countries like Spain, Germany and the US. Initially wind energy, and then solar energy has been given a tremendous boost through investment-linked benefits that have enabled scaling up of manufacturing capacities and lowering the overall cost of putting up a project.

Once an industry achieves scale, economic benefits accrue to all the stakeholders, especially consumers and employees. It also creates large ancillary industries, which in the instance of hotels can range from training, maintenance, housekeeping, or organised transportation. These ancillary industries can sometimes take a life of their own, and create competencies that can become "sustained national competitive advantages".

Profit-linked deduction can work better in sectors where capital expenditure can be taken care of relatively easily from the cash flows of the companies. It has worked beautifully in the information technology sector, as the sector has been largely self sufficient in terms of growth — capital expenditure with high return on capital employed (RoCE).

Profit linked incentive essentially covers a small gap to ensure self sufficiency. A hotel typically has a payback period of 5-8 years, and doesn't start making a profit until the third or fourth year of commencing operations. Only a small percentage of investors have an appetite for long gestation projects in India, and hence need for an investment linked benefit. Profit linked schemes are also more inefficient and inequitable — putting higher compliance and administrative burden, resulting in revenue loss and increasing litigation.

However, as in all incentive programmes, this cannot be the only strategy to enhance the sector. The objective should be to attract more capital in the sector in the country, and not just garnering a larger share of the currently available capital pool. This can just be a start to a far more comprehensive solution for the challenges faced by the hospitality sector, especially tourism.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

THE ADVERTISING COUNCIL NEEDS A PARADIGM SHIFT

 

YES. The advertising council needs a paradigm shift to remain relevant in these dynamic and brutally competitive times. For one, it has to cease to remain a self-regulatory voluntary organisation. Can a self-regulatory approach reign in the modern-day marketing professionals who treat marketplace as a warzone and make guerrilla warfare their favorite marketing game? Most of them don't think about 'overstatement' or 'ethical consumer approach' when they sit down to list non-real USPs in the name of differentiation.

 

The self-regulatory approach can work only (if it can) for ASCI members. What about others? How can it effectively check an advertisement when the advertiser, ad agency and the media agency are not part of the organization?

Another problem is, it takes far too much time to make a decision. Its consumer complaints committee (CCC) meets once in a month to look into complaints where both complainant and defendant have responded. ASCI gives two weeks to the advertiser to respond and takes 4-6 weeks for an overall decision.

It's a very long time in this age of high-impact properties and high-decibel media bursts coupled with media orchestration. There is ample time for one to plan a hit-and-run campaign and get away with it.

Hours, and not weeks, is the desired reaction time for an effective regulatory process.

As of now, by the time an advertiser complies and stops a campaign (after 4-6 weeks), the damage would have already been done. And ASCI does not have the authority to instruct the advertiser to pay compensation or damages to the complainant. So, to seek compensation, there is no other way except to take a legal recourse.

Also, the regulatory body takes up an issue only after someone files a complaint. It has to adopt a proactive approach to be effective as a watchdog. The self-regulatory and voluntary industry watchdog was a great initiative and ASCI has done a lot of good work in the past. But, clearly, it is time the organization evolved.

In the interest of consumer rights and ethical business practices, the country must have a strong and powerful advertising watchdog.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

INVESTMENT-LINKED INCENTIVE WILL HELP HOTELS, TOURISM GROW

 

The finance minister has created a largely unrestricted provision in Budget 2010 that enables any hotel of two star or above category that starts functioning after April 1, 2010 to avail of full tax deduction on capital expenditure. This provision amends a previous provision that made profits deductible for a certain category of hotels in specified areas.

India as a country has underinvested in its tourism infrastructure for the last 60 years. China has 10 times more and the US 40 times more hotel rooms than India. According to a Knight Frank report, even New York Metropolitan region has as many rooms as all of India. This has led to high room rates and low availability of rooms.

A sweeping provision like this ensures spurt in investment in a sector that has experienced waning interest from investors over last couple of years. There is a possibility of over-investment and misuse, as in any government policy. Small leakages are unavoidable. However, it is time India moved away from a "trading" mindset of immediate profits to investing for the next 10-20 years. The US and then China have successfully used large scale investment — directly or through indirect benefits — to create industries.

The global renewables sector is a great example of a sector that has got created in a short period due to investment-linked benefits in countries like Spain, Germany and the US. Initially wind energy, and then solar energy has been given a tremendous boost through investment-linked benefits that have enabled scaling up of manufacturing capacities and lowering the overall cost of putting up a project.

Once an industry achieves scale, economic benefits accrue to all the stakeholders, especially consumers and employees. It also creates large ancillary industries, which in the instance of hotels can range from training, maintenance, housekeeping, or organised transportation. These ancillary industries can sometimes take a life of their own, and create competencies that can become "sustained national competitive advantages".

Profit-linked deduction can work better in sectors where capital expenditure can be taken care of relatively easily from the cash flows of the companies. It has worked beautifully in the information technology sector, as the sector has been largely self sufficient in terms of growth — capital expenditure with high return on capital employed (RoCE).

Profit linked incentive essentially covers a small gap to ensure self sufficiency. A hotel typically has a payback period of 5-8 years, and doesn't start making a profit until the third or fourth year of commencing operations. Only a small percentage of investors have an appetite for long gestation projects in India, and hence need for an investment linked benefit. Profit linked schemes are also more inefficient and inequitable — putting higher compliance and administrative burden, resulting in revenue loss and increasing litigation.

However, as in all incentive programmes, this cannot be the only strategy to enhance the sector. The objective should be to attract more capital in the sector in the country, and not just garnering a larger share of the currently available capital pool. This can just be a start to a far more comprehensive solution for the challenges faced by the hospitality sector, especially tourism.

 

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

THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

THE ADVERTISING COUNCIL NEEDS A PARADIGM SHIFT

 

YES. The advertising council needs a paradigm shift to remain relevant in these dynamic and brutally competitive times. For one, it has to cease to remain a self-regulatory voluntary organisation. Can a self-regulatory approach reign in the modern-day marketing professionals who treat marketplace as a warzone and make guerrilla warfare their favorite marketing game? Most of them don't think about 'overstatement' or 'ethical consumer approach' when they sit down to list non-real USPs in the name of differentiation.

The self-regulatory approach can work only (if it can) for ASCI members. What about others? How can it effectively check an advertisement when the advertiser, ad agency and the media agency are not part of the organization?

Another problem is, it takes far too much time to make a decision. Its consumer complaints committee (CCC) meets once in a month to look into complaints where both complainant and defendant have responded. ASCI gives two weeks to the advertiser to respond and takes 4-6 weeks for an overall decision.

It's a very long time in this age of high-impact properties and high-decibel media bursts coupled with media orchestration. There is ample time for one to plan a hit-and-run campaign and get away with it.

Hours, and not weeks, is the desired reaction time for an effective regulatory process.

As of now, by the time an advertiser complies and stops a campaign (after 4-6 weeks), the damage would have already been done. And ASCI does not have the authority to instruct the advertiser to pay compensation or damages to the complainant. So, to seek compensation, there is no other way except to take a legal recourse.

Also, the regulatory body takes up an issue only after someone files a complaint. It has to adopt a proactive approach to be effective as a watchdog. The self-regulatory and voluntary industry watchdog was a great initiative and ASCI has done a lot of good work in the past. But, clearly, it is time the organization evolved.

In the interest of consumer rights and ethical business practices, the country must have a strong and powerful advertising watchdog.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

ACCOUNTS FROM THE CAPITAL

NIDHI NATH SRINIVAS

 

What would a rich India look like? No need to imagine it in your head. A closer look at Delhi is enough for a blinding road-to-Damascus moment. Simply put, if India becomes as prosperous as its capital, we've got it made.

Delhi is India's most upwardly mobile state. And for most Indians, the Dilliwallah'slife is the stuff of dreams. The common man on the capital's streets (obviously, that includes women) usually lives in a family of five, including two kids. Nine out of 10 men can read and write. So can seven out of 10 women. It's a city of shopkeepers and people who list their business as 'service-providers'. And they are doing well. The average Dilliwallah earns close to Rs 70,000 a year, says NSSO's latest survey. That is three times what the average Indian makes. A majority of families own their house. Most houses have an electricity connection and a LPG cylinder in the kitchen. Meters, however, are another matter.

An average Delhi family spends about Rs 7,500 a month, which is 60% more than what the aam aadmi in the rest of India would expect to spend. In keeping with their carpe diem philosophy, Delhites spend more on entertainment every month than they do on medicines and doctors. And they spend Rs 600 on tea, coffee, tobacco, alcohol, cold drinks, snacks and mithai. Diets are rich and loaded with animal protein. Families don't mind shelling out Rs 1,000 a month on milk, paneer, dry fruits, eggs, fish and meat.

 

In a city where middle class incomes are more ubiquitous than middle class values, appearances are everything. A family spends about Rs 7,000 every year on clothes and shoes. Another Rs 4,000 goes toward buying toiletries, cosmetics and other stuff to look good. A Delhite's aspirations are as powerful as his road rage. To keep up with the Kapoors, families spend upwards of Rs 3,000 a year on white goods, TV, furniture, mobile phones and other symbols of the middle class lifestyle. Of course there is poverty. Out of every 100, 15 persons are officially poor. But it's a tad less ugly poverty. In the rest of India, the poverty line starts at Rs 539. In the capital, you are poor if you earn Rs 612. In short, the average Delhi resident earns three times more than the average Indian. He has access to all the basic amenities of urban life. And if he spends more, he also enjoys a significantly higher quality of life. Even the villages around Delhi are more prosperous than villages elsewhere in the country. Imagine what would happen to our economy, factories, farms, schools, and shops if everyone in India began earning and consuming like Delhi! Overdrive doesn't describe it. It would be a market on steroids.

To get an idea of the potential numbers, look at food. The average Delhite consumes 7kg wheat a month. People in the rest of India each eat about 5kg. It's partly habit, of course. But Delhi families eat more wheat also because they can afford it. Atta is much more expensive than rice or coarse grains. Plus they eat out more often. Suppose each Indian starts eating that extra 2 kg wheat a month. India would then need 93 million tonnes of wheat to feed us all. What is the best we could do over next four years? 86 million tonnes, according to the National Food Security Mission. We would see a similar demand explosion in everything from cooking oil, sugar, and dals to tellies, toothpaste, cars, schools, medicines, and cinema halls. If incomes in India rise to match Delhi's level, it will become a mega challenge to keep pace with its consumer demand. Obviously, the rest of the world will have to pitch in with its factories and farmland. That makes this challenge an equally fantastic business opportunity.

Sure, India's incomes won't jump overnight to match Delhi. But it is certainly a far more measurable and visible economic goal than peeping over the Great Wall to benchmark how we are doing. Who needs China when we have Chandni Chowk? India would do enormously well if it simply becomes one big Delhi, economically speaking, of course. Because that's where the cloning should firmly stop. No amount of money would make it worthwhile to live among a billion-plus Delhites. And their toxic driving habits.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

'INFINITE DEMAND FOR INFRA SERVICES MAKES THEM EXCITING FOR INVESTORS'

WITH STRONG POLICY SUPPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE WILL CONTINUE TO BE A FAVOURITE SECTOR, GOING FORWARD, SAYS MADHABI PURI-BUCH, MD AND CEO, ICICI SECURITIES , IN A CHAT WITH ET NOW .

India has been one of the better performing emerging markets so far this year, thanks to strong FII inflows over the past few weeks. What's the quantum of FII inflows you expect in the current calendar, and which sectors do you see the money flowing into?

I would expect between $18-20 billion of FII inflows this year, with a 70:30 mix between secondary and primary markets. A sizeable chunk of money is likely to flow into public sector divestments and infrastructure companies, which require a lot of capital for their growth.

Let's talk about global institutional investors. Are there are any specific themes they are looking to play?

I would say three things are emerging. FIIs invest in India through three types of funds, India dedicated funds, Asia funds and emerging markets - usually BRIC - funds. The people responsible for making these allocations to India are clearly very upbeat about India. The Union Budget has been a big positive, and therefore, the allocations to India are clearly on the rise. The second trend is of valuations.

Because of the volatility due to global events, investors are seeing opportunities arising from any sharp corrections. The third trend is in terms of stock picking. It is clear that the 85% rise in the market seen over the past year is unlikely to be replicated soon. So, the focus will be more on identifying stocks that are likely to outperform the broader market.

Which sectors are looking attractive at this point in time and where would be funds making fresh allocations?

We believe that this is not really a play on taking a 3-month or a 4-month or a 6-month position, but at the minimum, a 1-year to 3-year time-frame.

So, the first bucket of sectors that we like are fundamentally infrastructure, especially in terms of sub-sectors such as power, roads, irrigation. And increasingly, what I like to believe is now social infrastructure, which is education and health services. Clearly, the demand for these services is infinite.

We have the level of penetration so low that there is tremendous growth opportunity. The policy support for this sector is strong and these are capital consuming industries. So, I would expect the infrastructure sector continuing to be a favourite, going forward. The second set of growth will come from sectors that have helped boost the economy.

 

They have shown a turnaround, but valuations are yet to catch up. So, for instance, sectors like media or hospitality clearly fall into this category. And lastly, I would say defensive sectors such as FMCG and pharma, primarily driven by domestic demand, would also continue to do well, going forward.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

'DATA HAS TURNED CRUCIAL, BUT LAG A CONCERN'

SURABHI & VINAY PANDEY

 

India's entry into the league of fast-growing economies was accompanied by a thrust on fiscal responsibility, which necessitated an improvement in the quality of macroeconomic data. While the base year for the GDP has already been revised, the IIP and inflation data will also be revamped soon. Dr Pronab Sen presided over this exercise in his capacity as the country's chief statistician. Dr Sen, whose term is coming to an end later this year, explains the impact of these changes in conversation with ET. Excerpts:

What are the major changes that have come about during your tenure in the ministry of statistics and programme implementation?

There are two big things and they are also related. The first is that statistics have now become an integral part of public discourse. This has led to a lot more scrutiny of statistics. So a lot more questions are being asked and a lot more demands are being raised. While this could be interpreted as critique, what has happened is that the statistical system has started to feel more important than before. Earlier it was felt that it was being neglected... that has changed now.

We had a 25-year period where the base year for data didn't change and no one asked a question about it. Newspapers reported the data as a two line item. There was no pressure, and no recognition. I think both have come now, which is a good thing.

The pressure helps bring out the weaknesses of the statistical system. The government's responsiveness has improved a lot and that's really the big change.

What were the drivers of this change?

I think that 2008 and 2009 were extraordinary years. Suddenly, the decision makers both in the government and the private sector realised that for them to be able to do anything meaningful, they really needed data. So in a sense it was fortuitous.

Where do we stand in terms of quality with regard to data on GDP?

Lets start with GDP. The Indian National Accounts are probably one of the best in Asia. In some respects, we are at par with some of the developed countries. The system of national accounts after 1968 was revised in 1993. We didn't really start implementing the 1993 revision and were only thinking about it till 1998. We started to implement it in 2003 and completed it by 2006. We are amongst the four countries in Asia, who have done the 1993 revision. The next revision of the S&A 2008 was released by the end of last year and we have already started the process of implementing it.

At the moment there's a workshop going on in the ministry on implementing S&A 2008. India is the first country in the world, where IMF is conducting this workshop.

Price indices are still perceived to be of poor quality...

On the price indices, I think there is a legitimate debate—whether the whole sale price index (WPI) is the right index or whether we need a general consumer price index (CPI) than a group specific CPI. Ideally the price index that we should have is one we need for our purposes. The two CPI indices that we have— for agricultural labourers and for industrial workers, are CPIs for the poorest components of the society. So if poverty reduction is on the top of our agenda, then we need CPI indices for those groups. We won't get any additional insight, if we have a CPI for the middle class.

Similarly, there is a lot of debate on the WPI versus the producer price index (PPI). My personal take is that 95% of all people in the debate don't even know what it is. The question we need to ask is what is appropriate for our use. The WPI is the only index that's measuring what is happening at the mandi level. In our discussions regarding food price inflation, we always talk about hoarding and market manipulation.

 

Where does that happen?

That happens at the mandi. Suppose if we move to the PPI, we wouldn't be collecting mandi prices at all but what the farmer gets at the farm gate. The entire chain of intermediaries between the farmer and the mandi would vanish. Is that what we want?

So it's not a failing of the statistical system. If the Planning Commission, the finance ministry and RBI which ultimately are the users of the data tell me that they want something different, we'll produce it. It's no great trick. If I can produce the CPI by collecting the data at the retail level, it's easy enough for me to do it at the farm gate level as well. The same bunch of people will do that as well.

And what about industrial data?

Industrial data is a bigger issue. We used to have a very good IIP in the bad old days of the license raj when every producer was compelled by law to report. Since licensing went, that compelling force has gone. Now submissions are entirely voluntary and this results in faulty reporting.

How can the savings and investment data be improved?

We are actually pretty good on the aggregate. Our problem is really on the break up, especially with residuals. We don't have direct measures of household savings or investment, which are residual items, while we have direct estimates of public and corporate savings and investments. Any error of measurement in these components gets reflected in the residual data. So the household component is not very reliable.

That's why the Rangarjan committee had recommended that there should be some data on household savings and investments so that at least we know what the direction is even if it is not very precise. We have had pilot surveys and will have another one on it soon, but the simple fact is that nobody is willing to tell you what their assets or savings are. We suspect it'll be much more than what's reflected in the residual category.

Where are we in terms of quality of data?

The quality of data is very good. The question is about the frequency and the time lag of the data. There are certain kinds of data where the frequency is unacceptably low, like employment. We give a national estimate once a year. But at the state level we can't give it any more frequently than five years. Perhaps this was not much of an issue earlier, but now employment is a major issue and in my opinion there should not be less than a quarterly estimate. That's in a sense the biggest lag.

The five yearly frequencies on the social variables such as poverty are probably acceptable as they don't change that quickly, but unemployment does.

 

Is a two-month time lag on the GDP acceptable? Also what is the broad agenda for addressing the time lag?
For GDP, two months is better than the world average. The SDDS requirement—the most demanding statistical requirement, is three months. When we started our quarterly estimates, we had a three-month lag, which we have reduced to two months. At the moment we are not really trying to compress it further but in any case it can't go beyond one and a half months, as we just won't have the data really.

On the broad agenda, we would like the IIP and the WPI, the CPI to all come out in at least seven days to two weeks sooner than they do now.

Is the institutional arrangement to deliver all this falling in place?

It's slowly falling in place. We are suffering from the skill deficit. But the fact is that today I am hamstrung by one very simple thing. Out of 3,900 odd field investigators, I have 1200 vacancies. One third of my positions are empty, which affects what we can do. There's no point asking for more funds from the government, as funds are not the issue.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

LOCALISING TOP TALENT GLOBALLY IS AZIM PREMJI'S NEW MANTRA

PANKAJ MISHRA & KARTHIK SUBBARAMAN

 

At 21, he took over a struggling vegetable oils company and turned it into a global giant straddling information technology, engineering and consumer products. At 64, when he is not attending board meetings or sitting through power point presentations, Azim Hasham Premji treks through the wild countryside of southern India, pondering new ways of keeping himself and his company fit. In a freewheeling 90-minute chat with ET, Premji opens up about succession, the challenges facing Wipro and the Indian economy. Excerpts:

What are your thoughts on the Women's Reservation Bill? An across the board attempt by companies to draft women at the top has not been successful. What do you think are the reasons?

We are looking for a women director but we're unable to find the right, qualified person. That's because we want to do some rotation on the board as some people are getting old and the same names keep coming back time and again. Unless we get someone from the social sector which is what we'll probably do. Not from the commercial or business sector.

I'm sure you can but when you stack it up versus the male candidates, the lack of availability of talent is so much more. We'll probably eventually settle for somebody from the social sector or for a foreign lady. In our search for foreign directors, we are trying to see if we can get a woman. Our first preference should be a lady director.

You did say the recovery is beginning to take shape a year back and that India would be the first country to get out of slowdown and subsequently you were proven right. If you look back what is the one big lesson that India Inc could learn from the slowdown?

 

I think the one big lesson which the whole system has learnt from this is that it has got back a higher sense of reality among younger people who just saw their careers in one direction and their salaries in one direction. It was going up and up and up. So to that extent I think it's got back some measure of maturity in terms of what the realities of the marketplace are, in terms of cycles and what the reality of working for stable successful companies is in terms of meaningfulness.

So far as leadership in India is concerned, I think to the credit of leadership they have done an exceptional job of rising to the challenge whether it be in terms of trying to differentiate themselves, whether it be in terms of fundamentally looking at their companies, in terms of strategy, productivity, whether it be fundamentally looking at areas where they needed more tight management of costs.

The general conservatism of Indian banks, basically a culture which was set by the public sector banks, has really mitigated the crisis vis a vis other countries. Sure there were one or two banks which went overboard in terms of growth which have also pulled back, but there was no major crisis in our banking sector.

Is this the right kind of approach?

If you don't underestimate the innovation which banks are doing in terms of products, I think there's less of 'funny money' going around. And I don't think, except in the case of a few banks, we have an overriding culture of having a very large percentage of variable pay, which was really a motivation to just get carried away. In public sector banks it's virtually zero but even in private sector banks the variable component in Indian banking sector is relatively low.

Are you optimistic now about the economic scenario? Do you see a different kind of atmosphere?

Even the finance minister's budget is based on 8.5% of growth, correct? That's not unrealistic, if we have a really good monsoon, we can probably better that. I just think that our finance minister and the prime minister should be conservative on the fiscal deficit. They should not compromise anymore than what is absolutely necessary to compromise. I wish the opposition were a little more realistic on issues like this.

Are you happy with the steps that the government has taken to rein in the fiscal deficit and grow the economy?

By and large, the budget is a mature budget, whether it is in terms of a little more emphasis on primary education, higher percentage of planned expenditure on infrastructure, the focus on sustaining the focus on renewable energy. I think the key issue is execution, and they must execute, that's what differentiates us from China. Execution is absolutely the key, and ministries which are not executing should be made accountable, ministries which are executing should be applauded.

The global situation is a lot better than what it was but there seems to be a new storm brewing? People are talking about a sovereign debt crisis? What are your thoughts?

Everything seems to be spinning around Greece. I don't know too much about Greece. It is not a large economy, and I don't think you are going to get any large scale bail out taking place. The worst economy which's taken the brunt has been UK. And we have been operating in UK for a long time, we have a large stake in UK and business still continues. I think part of it is also hyped up because of poor Gordon Brown getting bad press all the time. The media really seems to be after that poor fellow. Spain is going through a hard time, Italy is going through a tough time, and these economies constantly go through good and bad times. But we are working in France and Germany and we are back to business as usual.

What about the US?

Our estimate is that the US will get a GDP growth of around 2-3% this year, probably closer to three per cent, with contained inflation. I think decisions are getting made, I don't think business leaders are in a mood to add headcount so the unemployment situation will continue to be what it is ie 9-10%. But we are not expecting any double dip. Europe is following the US in terms of recovery by may be about six to nine months because they woke up to the crisis later. We are finding decision making is back, which is reflected in the estimates that Nasscom has also given for the next year --13 to 16%--I think that's a reasonable estimate.

The jobless recovery, that everybody has been talking about, and in the past you have also commented on protectionism and the flavours of it that you see in the US. How do companies like yours deal with it especially when such issues rear their heads during times of slowdown and high unemployment? Is there a way to deal with this protectionism?

I think our approach is simple, we are localising more and more. Our objective is quickly to get up to at least fifty per cent of the people we have working overseas to be locals. We have started recruiting from campuses in a big manner for several reasons. Three reasons. It's a good insurance against any more restrictive visa policies, which encourages local employment. Two, it positions us well for certainly state government business if you focus on critical masses in some states. Three, it's cost effective compared with sending people on visas.

First of all you pay the visa fee, you pay transfer-in transfer-out expenses for their family, then you have to pay them comparable American wages because the laws are very clear on this and they are very strict on it. And the market situation demands it because you send good people there, among your best people you send there and if you don't pay them comparable wages, they would leave you, why should they work for you. And that H1B visa is fungible, it can move from company to company, it's not that they are locked in as a unique visas for Wipro wherein if you leave Wipro the visa gets terminated.

So the issue is you must get the talent, you must be willing to invest in training that talent, and you must be able to pick quality talent as a brand like you can pick quality talent in India. Best people want to join you in India. So if you position well, concentrate on a few universities and you can build a brand. People think well of you, the students think well of you, faculty thinks well of you. You have a strong reference base of ex-students.

 

Does localisation fit in well with the globalisation agenda of companies such as yours? Does globalisation mean that you have to hire locals, be seen as a local player?

I think the most acid test to globalisation is how much of your top management, senior leadership is local, not just the soldiers. Any fool can do that. We have been moving well on that. Our global head of sales and operations is a lady. She's an American. Our global head of consulting and our global head of telecom we just announced--Mark Fleming is also an American. The head of Europe we just announced is an Englishman. Our head of China is Chinese, the head of Japan is Japanese. For all practical purposes, our partner in Saudi Arabia, is very active. He is the managing director, chairman of the company. He works very closely with us. We are systematically trying to induct talent which can rise quickly.

All this is entirely merit-based, the conscious policy of hiring foreigners?

Entirely merit based. How can you compromise on that?

 

What difference does it make whether a guy in charge of a certain country is a local or a foreigner? How does it matter?

Our experience is in certain conservative countries, local talent is more accepted. Two, you can get talent today. In the past 18 months, due to the slowdown, you can get talent. You wouldn't like Hindustan Lever to have 20 expat directors here, would you? It's the same approach.

What is the next big step for Wipro? What are the issues that you and others in the management are focused upon?

I think it's building domain understanding in the areas you focus on. Whether be it energy or utilities, retail, large format retail or fast moving consumer goods retail, insurance securities or banking. I think the leading companies are investing and building the understanding about customers' business. That's moving up the value chain because then you are able to configure and give solutions to the customer on a proactive basis. I think people are investing, we certainly are, to be able to conceptualise, bid for and execute large complex projects. So it's complex project management. I think people are investing in having more payments lined to outcomes model. You take the risks of outcomes. I think people are investing in building more local presence, because it's required to have a local presence. I think good companies are investing in consulting, we are investing in high end consultants, primarily because they bring thought leadership. People are investing much more in large account management, because large accounts are really manned by 'mini CEOs' who really bring out everything of that organisation into the account and are responsible for growth, satisfaction of the account.

Is clean energy the next big shift for Wipro?

It will be a big business, but why talk too much about something that is still not clear. If you'd asked me when we went into software in 1987, whether we would be this big, I wouldn't have known. I think it's an interesting field and it converges with our existing expertise well. So it's not entirely a diversification, it's an interesting extension of all our competencies, market presence, distribution. We also service 3-4 million outlets including in the villages because of our consumer business and there is interesting potential for renewable energy products in villages whether it is solar lamps or solar cookers, stripped down smart grids. Sanitation has fallen below standard to the point that even for a village stomach it's reached some 'animal level' of quality. Water tables are falling. We then can also exploit our consumer distribution for that. Which other company can exploit that?

We are doing some good work in eco energy, it's a new business which is now getting segregated as a focussed business for us --Wipro Eco Energy. We think there is a very interesting future prospect in that business.

We are basically, in very simple terms, consultants and system integrators. We can give recommendations on how you can save energy in very simple terms, from 15-50%. We started this business a little over 15-18 months ago and we are gaining traction in it because as a company we bring unique technologies and understanding.

We are also a water company, so we understand water purification, recycling. From our consumer care and lighting, we understand fairly serious optimization of processes to save energy and conserve energy and we have a very strong brand in India and the Middle East. Customers trust us with the solution and we are hardware agnostic. We look for the best solution in solar, thermal, biodiesel; so we are not wedded to any one technology or a company which helps us recommend solutions impartially to customers.

The critical issue is for you to get your act right, prioritise the right thing. If you spread yourself too thin then your cost of marketing becomes unaffordable. Then you don't make money. But we see that we must own the customer, to us that is more important than owning the technology or hardware. We must own the customer because that's the axis on which you can really build success.

Any particular green technologies?

Solar. To the credit of the prime minister, it's a very progressive policy they have come up with, it's a very generous policy. People are willing to make big bets, big investments because you are assured of a certain internal rate of return and technology is available to build very competent solar farms. We are a 'Sun-rich country'.

Is India playing catch up with China and US in clean energy? Are we ambitious enough?

India has become an interesting centre for manufacturing, for some of the components, some assemblies, frameworks on the renewable energy. I don't think today any major fundamental research is being done in that area within India like in China. China is getting into much more than what people are realising. They are saying that how can I jump to leadership position globally in the next transition technology, which is what electric car is. I mean they can change the ballgame in the automobile industry with an electric car versus a conventional car. The same thing they see in renewable energy, they can change the ball game. India is not doing that, but India, because of the size of its market and the fact that it makes sense to manufacture it here, can be interesting.

Would you be interested in solar manufacturing?

Provided it does not hurt our agnosticism. We don't want to be associated with any one company, because it's a volatile field.

If one could broach the sensitive issue of succession planning. All big Indian companies are now doing this as they become global. It is widely perceived that your son Rishad is the heir apparent. How would you and Wipro approach the issue of succession planning?

You know, we have a very structured process for succession planning including for my job. It's reviewed by the board in depth in terms of strategy once a year and some reviewed by the board between two to three times in the year. It's based on the best person for that particular job.

My son is not even a vice president, he joined at the sub-general manager level, he's now become a general manager. He's much too young to be in contention. He is doing well with us. He entered on merits, we went through the whole process of due diligence and getting interviewed by all the board members and there's no bias. He brings credentials, which is good. It's an elaborate process. Why complicate his life more? He's worked in a good professional balance, let him keep working in the job.

He represents ownership in a way, if something was to happen to me, which I think is the main security you want. That doesn't mean he necessarily has to be an active CEO of the company. At an appropriate stage he can be an active member of the board representing ownership.

Would that mean there will be other claimants for the CEO position?

Absolutely, no question about that. I mean the signals are quite obvious. Our joint CEO structure has worked well, in fact we have repeated it in our foundation. We call them co-CEOs there,it's a nicer term than joint CEOs. You know if people have worked as a team, it works well. You must ensure that there is no politics building among the employees or among the participants, which is not difficult if people have worked together.

Do you think Indian companies should look at having foreign CEOs?

I think people should look at it. But we believe that a CEO for our operations, because of the mass of employees ebbing in India, should have an Indian face, a very high Indian familiarity. And we have experimented with Vivek Paul, so we know the pros and cons, we have unique advantage of experience. People are critical in this business, it's not customers. Customers can be serviced by travel. All CEOs today travel 100-150 nights a year that's part of the hazard of being in this job, part of the requirements of this job.

Will you look within first?

We will always look within. It's only when we have a vacuum within that we will go out. For a position like that, cultural continuity of the organisation in my view is very important.

So your son could represent ownership on the board and you may be succeeded by a CEO?

Absolutely. Because there has to be continuity in ownership, otherwise it will be irresponsible.

Is there a need to have one of the CEOs based in the US?

It has an advantage. What we are doing now is that we are putting SBU heads there. So the healthcare head is based in Boston, energy and utilities head is based in London. The manufacturing head is based now in California. All these units are roughly a little under billion dollars. So if you look at size of our operations, roughly this will represent 40% of our revenues. And if you take the aggregate, I would say about half our business is based overseas. It's not a bad idea (having one CEO based overseas).

 

What is the process for handing over your responsibilities?

There is a process in place. How can I spell out all the details?

How many years would that take to happen?

I am not hanging up my shoes quickly. I will get more involved in our foundation because we are seeing some significant upscaling there and that will require time.

What further moves are you contemplating in that direction?

We are setting up a university now and there is an ordinance from the state government. Hopefully it will be passed in the state assembly now and we are in the process of procuring land. We will set up a university which will focus on training teachers, focus on training administrators in the area of education. There's thrust on primary education. There are 600 teachers to be trained in every district, we will also set up resource centres in every district to be able to give onsite execution support. The plan is fairly large scale. It will be a very large committment we are making, much beyond what we are doing today in our foundation. In Wipro, we are doing some very good work on applying thought in schools. We have been doing it for 8-9 years and basically what we do is work in

 

city schools not in rural schools like we do in the foundation. We do various interventions in those schools with over 230 partners. Their idea is how we upgrade the quality of learning and teaching. We charge them anywhere between 25-75% depending upon their affordability and we have covered nearly 800,000 students--not small. We have got schools such as the Doon School, Delhi School, so our programme is evidently very high standard.

Then we have Mission 10X, which we launched a little over two years back and have covered close to 600 colleges and 10000 teachers. We train engineering professors in these colleges, we work with them in upgrading their curriculum.

What will be the scope of foundation?

The focus today is primary education in the villages of India but the dimensions of what kind of interventions we do will be significantly scaled up, significantly value-added. We would probably add some miscellaneous programmes and support it on a long term basis.

The university can be big, and if we are successful we can duplicate this in other states. It can be a big operation. There are 6 million teachers in primary education in our country, so that is the scope of the challenge. Now, there is a also a spate of private schools coming in the villages, so already about 20% of primary education in villages is becoming private. I think they will pay for quality education even in the villages, which means that these schools can afford to hire and pay more to teachers. So talent will be sought after.

The last few weeks must have been challenging considering that one of your employees committed a fraud and it was not detected for some three years?

Don't take it out of proportion. My personal view is that it became sensationalized much more than what it

deserved.

Your response seemed a little out of character......?

How? Why?

People have come to expect proactive transparency from Wipro......

What was the scale of operation? Rs 22 crore worth of embezzlement out of which nearly Rs 13 crore was returned by the person. Look at the size of our company, look at the size of our profit flows and look at the size of this thing. There are many areas where we are firing employees all the time, offences relating to Rs 50 lakhs, Rs 100 lakhs, Rs 2 crore, cheating on purchase, cheating on facilities management contracts--it happens in every organisation. We are ruthless on this in terms of rooting it out and firing people.

This was on a larger scale, and was carried out for a longer period of time. It so happened that the unfortunate person committed suicide. We debated if we needed to issue a communication but we decided it was inappropriate. We have a very mature board of directors who agreed with us. People have gone through much bigger crisis in the past. So they had gone through the fire before, and they said this was not a case to make a public announcement and we followed that viewpoint.

At an appropriate stage when the investigations were over and we started taking actions, we made the announcement. We made a judgment and you can say that may be we should have made the announcement earlier.

What about private equity?

We've had our share of problems and our share of successes, which has not been carried by the media. Coronation is a good one, we've invested in NSE, our healthcare investment onclogy unit, Kumar's its doing very well. Subhikhsa was an error we made.

How did that happen? What has come out of it?

You may see more visibility on it going forward, let's wait till then. Subhiksha was unfortunate. I think it's a retail equivalent of Satyam. I think the media has completely ignored it, it's a very interesting minefield for you. It's an out and out fraud, there's no question on it. The company law board is investigating it. There was an overstatement of accounts, fake inventory, fake bills, fake companies that money was transferred to. At the time of investment that was not visible to us.

What has been the feedback from ICICI?

That's a private conversation. Let's bring it to a head and close it.

What happens to that investment? Has it been written off?

Let's see. It's a public litigation issue. It was a governance issue and the level of ethics which really rattled investors in terms of transparency. It makes it difficult for others to now have the same courage to invest. It was also a failure in our due diligence.

Were you misled into making an investment?

We are at a subjudice stage, let it come to a head. The Company Law Board is involved in it. We wish they would get more involved in it and at a faster pace.

What really drives you?

At the end of the day, it is a race with yourself. I work intensely and also take time out through short breaks, I go trekking. Competition keeps you on your toes. Everyone who is more successful makes you look small. IT is a competitive industry with high standards.

India has done very well as an IT services powerhouse. But there are people who say that India must take the next big step towards developing products. There must be an Indian Apple and an Indian Google? Why do we think that has not happened as yet?

Frankly, I don't think too much of investment is being made. Our focus is on services. But what you must appreciate on products is that it requires very intimate access to market intelligence, it's fundamentally different, people don't realise. And in a product company, R&D is a subset of the total expenditure, the expenditure on sales and marketing is significantly more. So you immediately lose your arbitrage of development because marketing and sales have to be local, it cannot be done remotely. Two, it's much more risky and three, it requires a strong brand or a very well focused OEM nature. I think there have been some successful products. Finnacle is a good job, but it took them a long time. Finnacle is a good example of a successful product, but how many others are there?

What we are building is solutions. We give a retail solution on display, to optimise display. So we are talking about solutions which you are able to surround with services so they accelerate the process of giving serviceas to a customer. We invest in frameworks, which accelerate process of giving a solution. We invest in non-linearity model. We are not building any Microsoft or Lotus 1, 2, 3. We are primarily a services company and we intend to focus on that. We are not doing any major investments outside of what I discussed in products.

I think you have to appreciate that product is a different business, completely different. Contrary to that, many product companies are getting into services, but there are not many services companies getting into products. IBM is now doing that.

How would you assess the Indian companies versus the global service providers?

I think you are increasingly finding the line between the large top three top four companies like IBM, Accenture and the leading Indian companies clearly disappearing. We are learning their business, they are learning our business, which is very good from a customer's point of view because it generates more competition, better pricing, more customer sensitivity. We are investing in consulting, domain skills, senior architects, building competencies in building very large multi year cross functional cross geographic projects. Indian companies are winning more and more of the $100, $200 million projects. The customers are more and more shifting away from billion dollar contracts, and saying let us break the contracts, into two or three contracts of say, $200 million each and then look for best in class for each of those. We play the pilot role, the captain role because then we get more competition, we have less dependence on one party, can negotiate better terms. The trends are really to make the field more 'free for all', which I think is good. We are investing a lot in technology, a lot in building solutions, in non-linearity, renewable business models, which are not one-to-one with people, and so is our competition.

Accenture employs 175000 people, and they will be having 45-50,000 people in India, and they have something like 15,000 in Philippines. They also have a reasonable workforce in China, so for Accenture more than 50% is from 'non-emerged' countries. And if you see, within that how much is American, I don't think it's more than 30-35%, so how can you call them an American company. Now they have shifted their corporate to Ireland, so nationalities are also disappearing in companies.

Are you happy with quality of entrepreneurial talent currently in the country?

I am very impressed with the second generation which is stepping into the shoes of first generation. I deal with them because India is a very large market for us.

High quality. They are gutsy, they are reasonably well qualified professionally, they are determined to build strong professional cadres under them and they are willing to get talent from outside.

Do you work with outside experts such as professor Ram Charan?

We work with Ram Charan, we have been doing that now for a past year and half because we value his wisdom. He has some interventions with us which we find useful, he does senior level training programmes. I use him as a personal bouncing board because I find he is a very mature, wise person. It is like we use our directors as personal bouncing boards because of their background, their wisdom, maturity, and understanding of the business. We run two global programs in leadership. We have a very structured system of leadership training, supervisory level, middle and top management level, which we think is probably the finest in the country, in terms of the way it's executed. We will be investing in a central leadership institute much beyond what we have here, we are outgrowing this. In fact, we were reviewing plans for that yesterday. We have a leadership feedback system which we have been running for 16 years, which we will again fine tune it in terms of the next wave. We use that as an important tool to assess leadership talent, coach leadership talent, mentor. It's a mature process which is working well.

We encourage people to job rotate. We are encouraging our best people to take foreign assignments. We have been doing successful cross functional transfers also across businesses, across functions because it gives breadth and experience.

Every time we speak with you, we manage not to talk about the consumer business. How is the consumer business faring?

Our focus is India, the Middle East, Far East into China and some parts of Africa. We are not focussing on Europe and America at all, that's not where we are acquiring or building organically. Our focus is primarily on toiletries, including soaps. We are confident we can grow that business 20% a year. Now we are reporting the size on a quarterly basis, it's profitable, gives good return on capital.

The success we are getting in the road construction business--it's a huge market for us. So if Kamal Nath is really able to take this to 20 kilometres a day, which I think he will, it's certainly three times what we inherited. We are seeing it in demand, a surge in demand is taking place because we supply components for the equipments which are used in road construction -- rollers, handling equipments.

You had earlier spoken about the state of infrastructure, roads in and around Bangalore and you tried to get yourself involved in those discussions. Has anything changed now?

Let's break up infrastructure. One is telecommunications, where things are moving well enough. There's no question as we are getting best in class here. The second is civil aviation, things are moving well in our country. Some of the airlines we have here are equal to the best in the world. Every customer who visits here endorses it. There is some movement taking place in the ports, there is privatisation going on. It's not as fast-paced as in the case of civil aviation. I think if the Prime Minister focuses on it, it will happen quickly.

This is because there is private money to be made and there is a good public-private partnership which can be worked out. Road construction is moving, this will not just be national highways but also interconnecting highways and I'm confident with the leadership we have in Kamal Nath, road construction will move. I think what is happening in power is that investment is coming in but this problem between distribution and manufacture is just not getting resolved, with the result that projects are getting delayed. But interesting privatisation is taking place in distribution, including this new trend on smart grids where there is a potential power saving of 20-25%.

The commerical aspect for a private enterprise is that I can enter it if I can fix the distribution losses and eliminate theft, there's money to be made. But power will be a ten- year problem. I don't think you'll see a lackof shortage of power. Falling water tables is also a serious problem, its not getting the attention of the government. Cities are also getting from bad to worse, whether in terms of municipal infrastructure, water pollution levels or traffic. There has to be a very major national initiative on public transport, high-quality metros.

In my opinion, a measure that should be very unpopular has to be imposed. There has to be a punitive tax on cars. Which city doesn't have traffic? City commute has to move drastically to public transport. It's not practical to have so many cars on the road.

Is there a business opportunity in terms of solving the problem?

Consultancy in that area is very specialised and we are not in that area at all.

Are there other diversification prospects in clean energy?

Not at the moment. All our businesses have so much headspace. Take our hydraulics business, we are the largest at 4.5% global market share. We can certainly aspire to have 15% market share, globally. We can increase the size of the business three times overnight. Even in the most fragmented industry, the market leader should have 15% market share. That's not unreasonable to expect, if you really put your shoulder behind it. We can grow that business.

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                                                                                                               DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

PITRODA'S DECISION ON BSNL CORRECT

 

The cancellation of the Rs 30,000-crore tender by BSNL for the 93 million lines to be laid underscores the unending roadblocks faced by this once-upon-a-time telecom giant. The problems of this once blue chip corporation started when the then telecom minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran, delayed the first tender, which was floated in 2006 for 45 million lines. By the time he was ready to take a decision he was eased out and the current telecom minister, Mr A. Raja, took over. This delay led to BSNL facing the pinch of capacity constraints. After further delay under Mr Raja and some bickering over price, it was decided to float this 93-million-line tender, which made history as it was the largest ever tender floated in the world for the telecom sector. The process that followed was mired in controversy and court cases and the last straw was a corruption charge made by one of the BSNL board members. The matter went before the Central Vigilance Commission last year, which concluded that there was no transparency in awarding the tender. There was an uproar among the workers of BSNL and allegations that BSNL would not be able to compete at this rate. There is no doubt that there is huge money involved in the deal. According to industry sources, these huge deals attract payments of two per cent kickbacks on equipment value and services. In this case, the amount involved would be around Rs 500 crores, which is big money. Sam Pitroda, known as the telecom czar during Rajiv Gandhi's government and who is now an adviser to the Prime Minister, was appointed to resolve the issue arising out of the CVC's observations. On February 15, 2010, nearly two years after the tender was issued, he recommended that the tender be scrapped and a fresh tender awarded in 60 days. He also said he preferred the Bharti model where, instead of buying equipment, BSNL should buy capacity. Now, in a new twist, another BSNL board member has alleged that BSNL does not need such huge capacity and that it has not used at least 29 per cent of its existing capacity. This may not be entirely true because in South India BSNL has some genuine difficulties in using capacity. In all these twists and turns, the battered telecom major has seen its market share down to around 12 per cent and is now in sixth position. Even Idea, a newcomer, is bigger. Its balance sheet has taken a beating as its profits were down for the second year in succession to Rs 575 crore at March end 2009. Behind the vacillating fortunes of BSNL there seems to be a not-so-hidden message that all is not well between the telecom minister, Mr A. Raja, and the government. In recent times all important decisions relating to the telecom industry have been taken outside the telecom ministry. Whether it is the 3G spectrum auction or the improvement of BSNL and MTNL, it was either the government or an empowered committee that took the decisions. Mr Pitroda has recommend a three-member committee to evaluate the new tender and has set a deadline of 60 days. One hopes that further time will not be lost beyond the 10 months that have already gone by. But Mr Pitroda's decision is a good one. If the Rs 30,000-crore tender was allowed to go through, it would have been disastrous for BSNL.

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

TESTING TIMES AHEAD

BY ASHOK MALIK

 

National politics operates in two concentric circles. The inner circle concerns the day-to-day running of government and of Parliament. Parliament is a universe of its own. Its motivations and stratagems — floor coordination, cornering the government, dividing the Opposition, pulls and pressures within committees — are dramatic and all-important to its practitioners. To be fair, this is something of an illusion in the context of real politics. It does not necessarily mirror electoral realities or influence the popular mood.

 

The second, outer circle is about the actual momentum among the people, and the ability of political parties to mobilise voters or offer attractive election-time platforms. Often, this has little to do with the limited games within Parliament.

 

That caveat is important before assessing the implications of the political theatre that led to the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha on March 9. Its impact on Parliament in the coming weeks is likely to be monumental. Just how it will play out in broader, mass politics is another matter.

 

It is now being recognised that the Congress has pushed through the bill at massive cost, at least in the short term. It has three pitfalls to contend with.

 

First, the entire chapter showed the Congress' parliamentary managers as decidedly amateur. With deft positioning and old-fashioned legislative doggedness, the BJP and the CPI(M), the principal Opposition parties, succeeded in bottling up the government and splitting it from key allies. In a sense, this episode was a test for the new leaders of the Opposition — Ms Sushma Swaraj in the Lok Sabha and Mr Arun Jaitley in the Rajya Sabha — and they came out with flying colours. The Congress walked right into a trap.

 

Remedial action will have to be taken. The UPA government's parliamentary affairs minister is Mr Pawan Kumar Bansal. He is simply not senior enough for the job, especially at a juncture when the Congress does not have a majority in the Lok Sabha and the treasury benches are not in a majority in the Rajya Sabha.

 

Mr Prithviraj Chavan, one of Mr Bansal's ministers of state, is responsible for the Rajya Sabha. As it happens, he is also minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office and, independently, handles the science and technology portfolio. Party sources say Mr Chavan has been repeatedly asking to be relieved of his parliamentary affairs duties as he doesn't have the time or bandwidth to spare.

 

This situation is no more tenable. If and when a Cabinet reshuffle takes place — perhaps this summer, as some expect — a new parliamentary affairs minister, a senior Congress MP with a vast cross-party network, needs to be appointed.

 

Second, in the 2009 general election, the Congress won 206 seats on its own and a relatively comfortable mandate for the UPA. It was spoilt for choice in picking supporters. Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP), Mr Lalu Prasad (RJD) and Ms Mayawati (BSP) were all willing to do deals, but the Congress could afford to snub them, and play off one against the other and act tough.

 

Conditions seem dramatically different today. The BJP and Left have backed the government on the Women's Reservation Bill but can be expected to oppose it on other counts. If the Yadavs are added to the Opposition numbers, if the BSP shifts as well and if the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, which is partnering the BJP in a government in Ranchi, are factored in, the government's strength in the Lok Sabha comes down to 276 in a House of 543.

 

To understand the compromises this may entail, it is worth noting that the 276 figure includes two independents the Congress would not ordinarily want to be associated with: Mr Madhu Koda, the disgraced Jharkhand politician, and Jayaprada, formerly of the SP but now run by Mr Amar Singh. Alternatively, it could court Mr Jaswant Singh, the member from Darjeeling who believes Jawaharlal Nehru was more to blame for Partition than Muhammed Ali Jinnah.

 

Nobody is suggesting that the government is in imminent danger. Yet even everyday legislative business can become a bit of a problem. Deals will be called for. Mr Amar Singh could be back in business. Ms Mayawati may ask to be cajoled and persuaded each time there is an important vote in Parliament. A government that was walking three feet in the air has hit the ground with a rude thud. Indeed, this week's events have also opened up the intriguing possibility that the Congress leadership may not have a five-year timetable for this government.

 

Third, there is no guarantee that the Bill that will be introduced in the Lok Sabha will be identical to the one the Rajya Sabha has cleared. The "minority question" could acquire a life and momentum of its own.

 

Correctly or incorrectly, a growing section of Muslim politicians are of the view that women's reservation will limit opportunities for them. This perception has been encouraged by the Yadavs with trademark crudity ("jung aur jihad"). However, on March 8, it also led to Muslim MPs within the Congress repeatedly petitioning Ahmed Patel, the Congress president's political secretary. The idea has gained ground that the number of Muslim MPs in the Lok Sabha (it is 28 at the moment) could decline even further and a community that makes up 14 per cent of the population could be severely under-represented.

 

In the near future, the Congress will face a serious challenge on the subject of Muslim representation in Parliament. Among its allies, the Trinamul Congress has raised the first cry. Its regional rivals — the Yadavs in Bihar and UP, Mr H.D. Deve Gowda in Karnataka, perhaps the TD in Andhra Pradesh — are likely to take a maximalist position and convert this into a demand for Muslim reservation per se: in jobs, educational institutions and, of course, the legislature. The Ranganath Mishra Commission report, which makes a case for minority reservation, could become even more of a political hot potato.

 

It is here that consequences of the Women's Reservation Bill drama could jump orbits, and move from the confines of Parliament into the larger electoral arena. They have the potential to galvanise the Other Backward Class chieftains who were till the other day facing political oblivion. The Yadav-Muslim coalition was built amid the turbulence of the Ayodhya dispute in the 1990s. It had lost its raison d'être in recent times, and the verdict of 2009 reflected this. Now it may just have another emotional theme to exploit. Completely inadvertently, the Congress has left its adversaries smelling a chance.

 

- Ashok Malik can becontacted at malikashok@gmail.com [1]

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

IT'S UP TO IRAQIS TO BUILD THEIR NATION NOW

BY THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

 

Of all the pictures I saw from the Iraqi elections last weekend, my favourite was on nytimes.com: an Iraqi mother holding up her son to let him stuff her ballot into the box. I loved that picture. Being able to freely cast a ballot for the candidate of your choice is still unusual for Iraqis and for that entire region. That mother seemed to be saying: When I was a child, I never got to vote. I want to live in a world where my child will always be able to.

 

God bless her. This was a very good day for Iraq.

 

To say that mere voting or an election or two makes Iraq a success story would obviously be mistaken. An election does not a democracy make — and Iraq's politicians still have yet to prove that they are up to governing, nation-building and both establishing and abiding by the rule of law. But this election is a big deal because Iraqis — with the help of the United Nations, the US military and the Obama team, particularly vice-president Joe Biden — overcame two huge obstacles.

 

They overcame an array of sectarian disputes that repeatedly threatened to derail this election. And they came out to vote — Shias, Sunnis and Kurds — despite the bombs set off by Al Qaeda and the dead-end Baathists who desperately want to keep the democracy project in Iraq from succeeding. This latter point is particularly crucial. The only way Al Qaeda, Baathism and violent Islamism will truly be defeated is when Arabs and Muslims themselves — not us — show they are willing to fight and die for a more democratic, tolerant and progressive future. Al Qaeda desperately wanted the US project in Iraq to fail, but the Iraqi people just keep on keeping it alive.

 

And how about you, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran? How are you feeling today? Yes, I am sure you have your proxies in Iraq. But I am also sure you know what some of your people are quietly saying: "How come we Iranian-Persian-Shias — who always viewed ourselves as superior to Iraqi-Arab-Shias — can only vote for a handful of pre-chewed, pre-digested, "approved" candidates from the supreme leader, while those lowly Iraqi Shias, who have been hanging around with America for seven years, get to vote for whomever they want?" Unlike in Tehran, Iraqis actually count the votes. This will subtly fuel the discontent in Iran.

 

Yes, the US's toppling of Saddam Hussein helped Iran expand its influence into the Arab world. Saddam's Iraq was a temporary iron-fisted bulwark against Iranian expansion. But if Iraq has any sort of decent outcome — and becomes a real Shia-majority, multi-ethnic democracy right next door to the phoney Iranian version — it will be a source of permanent pressure on the Iranian regime. It will be a constant reminder that "Islamic democracy" — the rigged system the Iranians set up — is nonsense. Real "Islamic democracy" is just like any other democracy, except with Muslims voting.

 

Former US President George W. Bush's gut instinct that this region craved and needed democracy was always right. It should have and could have been pursued with much better planning and execution. This war has been extraordinarily painful and costly. But democracy was never going to have a virgin birth in a place like Iraq, which has never known any such thing.

 

Some argue that nothing that happens in Iraq will ever justify the costs. Historians will sort that out. Personally, at this stage, I only care about one thing: that the outcome in Iraq be positive enough and forward-looking enough that those who have actually paid the price — in lost loved ones or injured bodies, in broken homes or broken lives, be they Iraqis or Americans or Brits — see Iraq evolve into something that will enable them to say that whatever the cost, it has given freedom and decent government to people who had none.

 

That, though, will depend on Iraqis and their leaders. It was hopeful to see the strong voter turnout — 62 per cent — and the fact that some of the largest percentage of voting occurred in regions, like Kirkuk and Nineveh Provinces, that are hotly disputed. It means people are ready to use politics to resolve disputes, not just arms.

 

We can only hope so. US President Barack Obama has handled his Iraq inheritance deftly, but he is committed to the withdrawal timetable. As such, our influence there will be less decisive every day. We need Iraqi leaders to prove to their people that they are not just venal elites out to seize the spoils of power more than to seize this incredible opportunity to remake Iraq. We need to see real institution-builders emerge, including builders of a viable justice system and economy. And we need to be wary that too big an Army and too much oil can warp any regime.

 

Iraq will be said to have a decent outcome not just if that young boy whose mother let him cast her ballot gets to vote one day himself. It will be a decent outcome only if his life chances improve — because he lives in a country with basic security, basic services, real jobs and decent governance.

 

I wish I could say that that was inevitable. It is not. But it is no longer unattainable, and I for one will keep rooting for it to happen.

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

WHO WILL FIT THE BILL?

ELECTORAL GAINS WILL BE TOO LITTLE

N.K. CHAUDHARY

 

If Bihar's Chief Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, believes that his opposition to the JD(U)'s official position, which endorses quota-within-quota in the Women's Reservation Bill, will help him win back Bihar's restive upper castes in the Assembly polls, he may be disappointed.

 

While the gamble may help Mr Kumar consolidate his assiduously created image of being the most progressive politician — one with a national vision — of a state that has supposedly improved rapidly under his stewardship, there lies a wide gulf between the manufacture of positive perceptions and reaping the dividend of this in electoral battles.
Mr Kumar was hailed in 2006 for giving Bihar's women 50 per cent reservation in panchayati raj and local urban body elections. However, reports abound of elected women representatives routinely working as their husbands' handmaidens in the public arena without possessing the requisite skills for independent decision- making.

 

The upper castes may find some solace from Mr Kumar's U-turn from his earlier support to a quota-within-quota in reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures, but electoral gains from this may prove to be too little. To an OBC leader such as Mr Kumar the upper castes were critically useful in installing his JD(U)-BJP government. But that goodwill eroded gradually as distrust grew between the upper castes and Mr Kumar due to his government's pro-dalit and pro-minority steps. This was reflected in the JD(U)'s setbacks in Assembly byelections in September 2009, and in the rebellion by several upper-caste JD(U) leaders.

 

Mr Kumar's popularity faded among the upper castes as he was seen as being too pro-dalit. But his failure to implement land reforms has alienated the dalits and backward castes from him. Mr Kumar had raised hopes by setting up a commission for land reforms with the avowed aim of ensuring that no family in the state remains landless. But when the D. Bandopadhyay Commission's recommendations came last October, the chief minister backed out. The reason was an upper-caste backlash manifested through the results of the byelections the previous month.

 

Worse, the divide in the JD(U) over the Women's Reservation Bill has sent a negative message to Bihar's electorate and is likely to damage the credibility of the party's MPs and MLAs who looked torn between Mr Kumar and party president Sharad Yadav. This has effectively made Mr Kumar a lonely figure. Considering that the JD(U)'s robust optimism is based on the personal charisma attributed to Mr Kumar, his combative stand on the Bill has harmed his own and his party's electoral prospects in Bihar.

 

Prof N.K. Chaudhary is former head ofeconomics department, Patna University

 

A well-calculated political move

 

Kishori Das

 

By differing with the JD(U)'s official position so emphatically articulated by party president Sharad Yadav, Bihar Chief Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, looks like he may have taken a risk for the Bihar Assembly polls due in November. It is also true that the success of the strategy might depend on how effectively the Opposition parties like the RJD play the game. However, looking at Bihar's traditional voting preferences based on the identity of various social sections, it is perhaps only the Yadavs who will still stick with Mr Kumar's arch rival Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav's RJD. Nearly all the other communities that might play a crucial role in the Assembly election have been appeased in numerous ways by Mr Kumar in the last four years of his term.

 

Mr Kumar's astute managerial skills have cornered his other major rival and dalit leader, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, the LJP founder-chief who is now left with the support of only his own community, the Paswans, also known as Dusadh. In his quest for creating a reliable votebank for himself and the JD(U), Mr Kumar played a shrewd move last November by expanding the controversial Mahadalit category to include 21 of Bihar's 22 Scheduled Castes. The strategic exclusion from the government's new welfare-oriented category were the Dusadhs, Bihar's second largest dalit group. This has effectively shrunk the LJP chief's political prospects. In recent months the upper castes had come to increasingly show their indignant defiance to Mr Kumar. The Women's Reservation Bill provides the chief minister a most timely opportunity to mend fences with them. The general perception across Bihar is that a quota-within-quota for women's reservation in Parliament and the state Assemblies will limit the upper castes' political clout. This is what makes mr Kumar support the Bill in its present form.

 

Bihar's upper castes, which helped bring the JD(U)-BJP to power, are feeling neglected primarily due to Mr Kumar's stress on the empowerment of those who are marginalised in socio-economic terms. Dissident JD(U) leaders like Mr Prabhunath Singh demanded last month that Mr Kumar provide a 10 per cent reservation for the upper-caste poor.

 

The chief minister apparently believes that at the present juncture the absence of a quota-within-quota in the Women's Reservation Bill will not hurt the OBCs and backward castes in Bihar to the extent that they will turn against him. On the other hand, he calculates that his opposition to Mr Sharad Yadav will make him popular with the upper castes. Kumar, of course, will need to make efforts to ensure that Mr Lalu Yadav is not able to transform his resentment into a mass movement.

 

Kishori Das is a human rights activist and chairman of Backward Classes Coordination Committee

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

AN AMERICAN IN SAUDI ARABIA

BY MAUREEN DOWD

 

I was tempted to turn my abaya into a black masquerade cloak and sneak into Mecca, just hop over the Tropic of Cancer to the Red Sea and crash the ultimate heaven's gate.

 

Sir Richard Burton, the 19th-century British adventurer, translator of The Arabian Nights and the Kama Sutra and self described "amateur barbarian", was an illicit pilgrim to the sacred black granite cube.

 

He wore Arab garb and infiltrated the holiest place in Islam, the Kaaba, the "centre of the Earth", as he called it, in the Saudi city where the Prophet Mohammad was born.

 

But in the end, it seemed disrespectful, not to mention dangerous. So on my odyssey to Saudi Arabia, I tried to learn about the religion that smashed into the American consciousness on 9/11 in a less sneaky way.

 

And that's when the paradox sunk in: It was nearly impossible for me to experience Islam in the cradle of Islam.

 

You don't have to be a Catholic to go to the Vatican. You don't have to be Jewish to go to the Western Wall (although if you're a woman, you're squeezed into a slice of it at the side). You don't have to be Buddhist to hear the Dalai Lama speak — and have your picture snapped with him afterward.

 

A friend who often travels to Saudi Arabia for business said he thought that Medina, the site of Mohammad's tomb, was beginning to "loosen up" for non-Muslims. (As the second holiest city in Islam, maybe they needed to try harder.) But the Saudis nixed a trip there.

 

I assumed I at least could go to a mosque at prayer time, as long as I wore an abaya and hijab, took off my shoes, and stayed in the back in a cramped, segregated women's section. The magnificent Blue Mosque in Istanbul, once the centre of one of the greatest Muslim empires, is a huge tourist draw.

 

But at the Jidda Hilton, I was told that non-Muslims could not visit mosques — not even the one on the hotel grounds.

 

A Saudi woman in Jidda told me that the best way to absorb Islam was to listen to the call for prayer while standing on the corniche by the Red Sea at sunset.

 

That was indeed moving, but I didn't feel any better equipped to understand the complexities of Islam that even Saudis continually debate — and where radical Islam fits in. Or to get elucidation on how, as Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria put it, "the veil is not the same as the suicide belt".

 

Couldn't Mecca, I asked the royals, be opened to non-Muslims during the off-season?

 

The phrase off-season, as it turns out, is not conducive to an interfaith dialogue. But couldn't they build a centre to promote Islamic understanding in Mecca or Medina?

 

Saudis understandably have zero interest in outraging the rest of the Muslim world by letting members of other faiths observe their deeply private rituals and gawk at the parade of religious costumes fashioned from loose white sheets.

(Osama bin Laden's jihad, after all, began with anger about American troops being deployed to Saudi Arabia during the first gulf war, which he considered a profanity against sacred ground.)

 

Still, I pressed on with Prince Saud al-Faisal. With his tinted aviator glasses and sometimes sly demeanour, the Saudi foreign minister has the air of a Hollywood mogul — if moguls wore thobes.

 

I noted that when 15 Saudi hijackers joined four more proponents of radical jihad and flew into the twin towers, Islam had been hijacked as well. He nodded.

 

King Abdullah's formal title is "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques". And Saudis are very eager to remove the restrictions on visas and enhanced airport security measures slapped in place by America after 9/11.

 

So isn't there a way for Saudi Arabia to shed light on Islam and reclaim it from the radicals?

 

"Well, at least leave one place closed for the moment", he said, looking askance at the mere question. "We only have Mecca now and Medina. Everything else is wide open now".

 

Wide open is not a description that applies to anything in Saudi Arabia. Besides, I said, there were objections when I tried to go to a mosque.

 

"Well, you know, it depends who you ask", he said. "Somebody in the hotel who doesn't want to run into trouble may tell you no. Mecca is a special case. It's written in the holy book that only Muslims can enter it because of an incident in the past where somebody desecrated the mosque in Mecca.

 

"But for other mosques to be entered, there is absolutely no reason why not. If you go to a mosque and you want to see the mosque and somebody prevents you, you can go to the emir of the region and ask to see the mosque and he will take you there".

 

Sure. Just call the emir. I bet he's listed.

 

In the end, I did see the Haj. When I got home, I went to the Imax theatre at the Smithsonian and bought a ticket to Journey to Mecca. I was surprised when the movie said that the Kaaba was built by "Abraham, the father of the Jews" — a reminder that the faiths have a lot to learn from each other.

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT TULSI?

BY V. BALAKRISHNAN

 

The basil or tulsi, as it is commonly called, has been considered a holy plant and plays a major role in the rituals of our country.

 

Traditionally, our ancestors used to keep a tulsi leaf behind the ears during prayers and even afterwards. But does it have anything other that ritualistic relevance?

 

The most powerful point of absorption in the human body is right behind the ears. It is believed that the skin in this area easily absorbs the medicinal element of the leaf. This is why the sages of yored urged people to wear it.

 

In the forecourts of our houses, tulsi is usually planted in a raised ground and is also well protected. Krishna tulsi is preferred to other varieties.

 

One should go round the plant chanting specific hymns. While plucking flowers or leaves also, one is supposed to utter certain hymns. The holy plant should be left intact on Ekadasi, on Tuesdays and Fridays and in the evenings.

 

One verse says:

 

"Thulanam dathum, Akshamaa Thulasee"

 

(One that has nothing to stand equal to it, is tulsi)

 

And another adds:

 

"Naraanaryaschathaam drishtwa, Thulanaam dathumakshamaa, Thena naamna cha Thulaseem"

 

(Espying her, man and woman could not find one equal to her. Hence they called her tulsi, meaning one having no equals.)

 

When we visit temples, we are given holy water whose main ingredient is tulsi leaves. This holy water has the effect of medicine, so to say.

 

In foreign countries, there is a sort of pure water named "clustered water". American scientists have found out clustered water prevents the dangers of widespread pollution.

 

It is highly pure and has minerals that keep the body healthy and alert. Two drops of clustered water added to a glass of ordinary water is a sure-shot health drink. It is now found out that tulsi water has the same properties as clustered water has!

 

Celebrated Indian Scientist Dr T.P. Sasikumar has conducted research in this regard. He collected the tulsi water used to bathe an idol and conducted an experiment. To everyone's amazement, he found that this water had all the properties ascribed to the clustered water!

 

Likewise, banyan trees too play a major role in our belief systems. These trees are grown in the premises of all famous temples. Sages have made it a rule to circumambulate the tree when you visit the temple. Banyan tree lets out oxygen in abundance. The huge tree provides cool shade also and its appearance reminds us of the all-pervading Lord Siva.Going round the tree and breathing in the fresh air is indeed a good exercise. It revives the lungs and purifies the organ. Hence in every respect it is advisable to circumambulate the banyan tree.

 

Sages of ancient India linked plants and trees to our belief systems and rituals to offer people a healthy, nature-friendly and blessed life.

 

— Dr Venganoor Balakrishnan is the authorof Thaliyola, a book on Hindu beliefs and rituals.

 

He has also written books on the Vedasand Upanishads. The author can be reachedat drvenganoor@yahoo.co.in [1]

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

LIMITED VICTORY

MYRIAD STRUGGLES AHEAD 

 

HISTORY will take its time making a determination if changed realities actually reflect all the glowing expectations raised with the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill by the Rajya Sabha. The impact of social legislation cannot be felt overnight; indeed there are valid doubts if substantially more women in the legislatures will translate into the ultimate, desirable goals of empowerment and elimination of gender-bias. Such discussion is, however, jumping the gun. Of immediate relevance is whether the government makes bold to process the legislation in the Lok Sabha at an early date (after which 15 state legislatures must ratify the Constitution amendment). To wait for all financial business to be cleared (the Finance Bill is traditionally voted in the second half of May) would confirm both that it is "chicken", and that the 8 March date in the Rajya Sabha was just another example of the tokenism that has ever marked not just the Bill but the empowerment of women at large. Delaying the action in the Lok Sabha ~ where the chief opponents have more muscle, and as the debate in the Rajya Sabha revealed, the demand for sub-quotas cannot be wished away ~  would dilute much of Tuesday's euphoria. Until that is done there will be speculation about the varied spin-off: the government's majority in both Houses being precariously reduced after the loss of RJD and SP backing, now some problems with the Trinamul too. Perhaps the government's greatest source of comfort is that it is unlikely that the Opposition will push things to the extreme ~ nobody appears prepared for another call on the voter. The impact on not-too-distant Assembly polls could, perhaps, be more telling. 

 There is, however, no scope for speculation over the need for the Congress/UPA to come up with more effective floor-management should the Bill move to the Lok Sabha. Even as there must be total condemnation of the despicable conduct, reluctant acceptance of the inevitability of physically ejecting the disruptors from the Rajya Sabha, there can be no denying that the glory of Parliament has been smeared. More so because some of that disgrace might have been averted had the floor management been competent, which includes the exercise of persuasive power. On day-one, there was no strategy evident, though after abandoning "consensus" for "majority" trouble was only to be expected. Day-two saw some over-reaction, that the delayed move to suspend the disruptors was effective till the end of the current session appeared excessive. What prompted that tough reaction, even a bid for a vote sans debate which the BJP scuttled (Mamata slammed all that as  "bulldozing") and putting so much on the line despite internal apprehensions? Genuine commitment to the "cause"? Or stern instructions from the Congress president not to let her personal prestige get punctured? Her legion of admirers, particularly those required to project the overlapping image of her and the party, will no doubt hail her courage, use all the superlatives at their command. Yet others will quietly recall with trepidation what happened 35 years ago when the Congress party and government bent over backwards to implement the diktat of another Mrs Gandhi.

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

HOPE FOR THE CHILD?

LABOUR INPUT AND THE MIDDAY MEAL SCHEME 

 

There is an extremely important connection between the economics of the midday meal scheme and the considerably higher outlay proposed in this year's central budget. It is generally known that the food dished out is sub-standard and bereft of the nutritional content so essential for a child at the threshold of learning. Far from being an incentive, the midday meal has served as one of the many deterrents to primary education. It is imperative, therefore, that  the financial constraints, that are ridiculous even to imagine, be addressed across the country with the hiked outlay that has been proposed by effecting a cut in the expenditure on centres of higher learning. Chief among these constraints is the pittance ~ it would be an exaggeration to call it an honorarium ~ that is paid to the self-help groups (SHG) that prepare the meals. If the five members of each group are together paid Rs 600 every month, it works out to Rs 120 on an average. This isn't even a living wage. If Mr Pranab Mukherjee's higher outlay is to be meaningfully utilised, the cost of the labour input is one of the critical issues that needs to be settled. The latest report of the Pratichi Trust focuses on Bengal, but this is a fairly all-India phenomenon, one that is not confined to the state's region of endemic poverty ~ Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum and West Midnapore. It if calls for a substantial increase in the payment to self-help groups, so be it. The scheme will languish further if the staff running the kitchens, however dilapidated, are either under-paid or virtually not paid at all.

  The budgetary allocation leaves little or no scope for contrived excuses. Aside from the labour input, the outlay ought to address the malaise overall, chiefly the poor quality of the food that is served, as often as not unfit for consumption. No less crucial is the diversion of the food to the open market. If honestly utilised, this year's budgetary allocation ought to bring about a nationwide dramatic improvement in the midday meal scheme ~ a primary segment of primary education.

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

OUTSIDERS WARNED

FEAR HAUNTS MANIPUR STREETS 

 

IT would be interesting to see how the Ibobi Singh government tackles the potentially dangerous situation arising from the "quit notice" issued by the Revolutionary People's Party ordering all outsiders to leave Manipur by 31 May in view of the "growing hatred against them". Constitutionally, an Indian citizen has the right to settle and earn a livelihood in any part of the country and it is the duty of the government to protect that right. The RPF has identified outsiders as those entering the state after 1949. Manipur was already an Indian state at the time but the outfit is yet to accept what it calls the "forceful" merger of the princely state in October 1949 without the people's consent. Locals have been told not to deal with outsiders by way of renting out houses, selling land, engaging them as labour or having them as business partners.  There will, however, be no restriction on outside students studying in Manipur institutions and those visiting in connection with sports and cultural activities. Over the past three years unidentified gunmen have abducted and killed as many as 50 "outsiders", mostly floating daily wage-earning migrants. The RPF's threat cannot be  brushed aside because since 2000 its ban on the screening of Hindi films, playing of songs and display of signboards is being dutifully observed and no government has been able to circumvent this ban. An arrested cadre is said to have told the police that the objective behind the killing of "outsiders" was to destabilise Ibobi's Congress government. Two years ago, the dominant and oldest outfit, the United National Liberation Front, suggested it would be better for all concerned if newcomers left Manipur as they were depriving its indigenous people of jobs that were rightfully theirs. It, however, denied having indulged in killing anyone. Hopefully, the state government will be able to assess the situation and take appropriate action.

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

CLOSER TO SAUDI ARABIA

IMPERATIVES OF RELIGION NO BAR TO EXPANSION OF TIES

BY  SALMAN HAIDAR

 

FOR years now, India and Saudi Arabia have been poised for a major advance in their relationship but something has held them back. There is no good reason for it: their interests, especially in economic matters, are complementary and encourage them to look to each other for mutual advantage. Moreover, both are moderate in their dealings with the world, factors for stability and continuity.

India's booming economic growth makes it a highly desirable partner for the entire region, and Saudi Arabia's standing as the premier oil country hardly needs emphasis. India's large Muslim community can be regarded as an important cementing factor, while the millions of Indians who live and work in Saudi Arabia give weight and body to the relationship. In present-day circumstances, both countries feel the pressure of religious extremism and fanaticism, against which they make common cause.

These and other factors create the basis for much closer ties between them. This was the case even four years ago when the King came here on one of the rare visits India has received from a Saudi monarch. Now the return visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh confirms the trend and will accelerate the pace. It helps that these two leaders know each other well, having first met more than 15 years ago, one as Crown Prince, the other as Finance Minister. Their personal association has now taken fuller shape.

'Strategic relationship'
THE Prime Minister's visit was  a success at many different levels. It was marked by some special features that honoured the individual, like the opportunity to address the Shura Council and the conferment on him of an honorary degree. In the course of the visit, the two leaders decided to upgrade India-Saudi ties to a 'strategic relationship' ~ this concept has become somewhat overused but a look at the communiqué suggests that in this instance it was more than just a form of words. The document mentions several substantial issues on which they agreed to work together and describes a wide range of shared interests. Looking back, it can be seen that India and Saudi Arabia have come a long way from the constraints that affected their relationship when they were on opposite sides of the strategic argument, whether during the Cold War, or the oil crisis of the early 1970s, or the OIC, or sundry regional affairs.

By contrast, today they seek to cooperate in matters of security and against terrorism, and to share information and intelligence, which bespeaks close political understanding between them. The signing of an Extradition Treaty sets the seal on this aspect of their evolving relationship. From India's point of view, the treaty will bring Saudi Arabia into creating a tighter net against criminals from the region who are responsible for violent activities on Indian soil. 

The Riyadh Declaration calls for tolerance, religious harmony, and brotherhood, irrespective of faith or ethnic background. It is a striking formulation that provides an underpinning for the partnership to which the two countries aspire. For India, being secular, subscribing to these concepts comes naturally. Saudi Arabia, however, is theocratic in structure, its monarch the keeper of the Muslim holy places, its Constitution the Holy Quran. It has thus sometimes been too readily assumed that Saudi policy is driven by religious considerations, especially in its dealings with other Muslim states in the region, and that this can affect its view of India. But the Riyadh Declaration shows this is not so, and the imperatives of religion are no bar to the expansion and development of Saudi Arabia's relations with India and with other secular countries. It is an important point to note. 

Another striking feature of the Declaration is what it says about Palestine. India has been a consistent supporter of the Palestinian cause, in its direct dealings with that land and within the non-aligned movement, and Yasser Arafat was a frequent visitor to New Delhi. While there has been no change in state policy, in recent times India has not been very vocal on the subject. Meanwhile, its relations with Israel have developed rapidly, especially in the sensitive area of arms purchases, so that it is sometimes assumed that India's relative quiescence on Middle Eastern matters is brought about by its reluctance to complicate relations with that country. Such an assumption has an impact on both domestic and regional opinion. It is, therefore, salutary that the joint declaration in Riyadh sets out with clarity where India and Saudi Arabia stand on this important issue. In the Riyadh Declaration, the UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 are invoked, as the bedrock of the peace process and of the various Peace Plans that have been floated from time to time. Among these is the Arab Peace Plan, which is endorsed in the declaration. The two sides call for the establishment of a Palestinian State, and a two-state solution of the Middle Eastern problem. The policy of establishing settlements on Arab land by Israel is denounced. On the issue of Palestine, therefore, the Riyadh Declaration should help clarify where India stands and rebut accusations of a change of approach.

Appeal to Iran

THE declaration also goes into the tricky issue of nuclear weapons and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). It makes a call for West Asia and the Gulf to be kept free of these weapons, which can be regarded as being a comment on Israel, which is the only regional nuclear country, albeit an unacknowledged one. Iran's ambiguous handling of this issue is also referred to in the communiqué, which urges that country to clear doubts about its nuclear programme. India has been making similar demands in the IAEA and it would appear that these concerns are strong in the region itself, where the Iranian programme can have the most direct impact. 
Another regional matter that figures in the joint declaration is that of Afghanistan. Saudi Arabia had a major part to play in supporting the mujahideen who confronted and ultimately defeated the Soviet forces in Afghanistan. But it is wary of the Taliban who are creating havoc in that country today. Thus there is common ground between that country and India in this matter, and this is set out in the document.
Putting it together, the Riyadh Declaration identifies a significant set of issues on which the two countries have found common ground. The Prime Minister's visit should clear the way for a big expansion of their ties. Economic issues like trade, investment, energy security, among others, provide much practical ground for joint activity. The strengthening political relationship provides plenty of encouragement to potential participants, official and non-official. The road has been cleared. We must now await effective efforts to advance further.
The writer is India's former Foreign Secretary

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

THE SOUND OF SILENCE

 

The urbane, respectable and polite faces tell us that Indian women are going places but what they don't tell us is that there are millions who are not even aware that they now have a place to go, says ANISHA BHADURI
A sense of entitlement is a very helpful thing. For one, it puts an end to the debate over who is entitled, to what and how much. For another, it is non-negotiable, absolute. Once the limits have been set and the boundaries defined, the intended beneficiaries identified and made aware of the benefits, and the rules about who qualify and who don't codified, entitlement is legitimised. Right out there, to be plucked and bitten into at will with all the abandon and intent one becomes rightfully entitled to. But as long as entitlement is just so and not a consideration thrown in as an afterthought.

For more than sixty years now, Indian women have been caught in a curious limbo. The proverbial "nowhere women", to paraphrase John Lennon, "sitting in her nowhere land, making her nowhere plans… doesn't have a place to go, doesn't know what do to, isn't she a bit like a female Indian?" They are burnt as brides, become mothers on touching puberty, forced to abort female foeti as a way of life other than being raped, heckled, subjected to domestic and other routine violence. Their self-esteem crushed, their value as human resources negated.
But this is India and we all know about statistics. And of their morbid suggestions. Such is life. But we are also an up-and-coming democracy, the biggest in the world, already being bracketed with the mightier nations thanks to our glistening promise of a double digit growth and a burgeoning middle classes to facilitate it. More statistics, but the kind that make us feel good. The kind that tells us that everything would get even better if we levelled the playing field a bit more, get more politically correct and try and shed the sociological solecisms that have so far firmly branded us er, well, backward. The world's glare, thanks to our pecuniary promises, is on us but, hey, the slip is showing.

So what does a parvenu struggling to pick up the etiquette to eat at the table of the politically-correct tribe do? It tries to do the right things. Not necessarily the appropriate or the remedial but the acceptable right things. Things to drown out the deafening silence of more than 60 years of executive and legislative complacence.
Silence, that sociologist Michel Foucault defines as: ""Silence itself ~ the things one declines to say, or is forbidden to name, the discretion that is required between different speakers ~ is less the absolute limit of discourse, the other side from which it is separated by a strict boundary, than an element that functions alongside the things said, with them and in relation to them within over-all strategies.... There is not one but many silences, and they are an integral part of the strategies that underlie and permeate discourses."
For a country of remarkable traditional orality, there are many Indian silences. Silence of conformity, silence of respectability, silence of ambition, silence of self-abnegation. And, also the silence of acknowledged self-delusion.

For a strategically silent government, which occasionally erupts in bursts of self-congratulatory spiel, there's probably nothing wrong in taking to that universally-accepted currency of politically-correct tokenism to defeat the silence of inaction sometimes. So we have a woman President, and a woman Speaker, a woman Ambassador to the USA and a woman foreign secretary. And, also a woman head of the ruling party. The urbane, respectable and polite faces of all these successful women tell us what we don't need to know but the world does ~ that Indian women are going places.

What they don't tell us or can't is that there are millions of rugged, not-so-respectable and betrayed female faces in this country who are not even aware that they now have a place to go. A place called entitlement. A defined, rigid, so what if only 33 per cent and no more and no less? A place, nevertheless.

Entitlement is a gritty, 11-letter word. Certain to shake the acquired self-confidence of dedicated chauvinists. No wonder it took the Indian legislature more than 60 years to make some sense of it.

The writer is Deputy News Editor, The Statesman, Kolkata

THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

DEFYING THE PASSAGE OF TIME

SANTANU SINHA CHAUDHURI

The time was in the 1950s, and the place was Calcutta. We lived by the side of a main thoroughfare of the city, close to a busy crossing. The front of every building had several stores. The shop that sold sherbet had an array of bottles containing enticingly colourful liquids. On the dirty footpath in front of the shop, a man would crush a chunk of ice in a bag by hammering it with a wooden club. Hygiene was obviously not high on his agenda, but his clients survived.

At the junction, there was a large building that had a bank, a photography studio, many residential flats, and a portico. Under the portico, an elderly man sat beside the main entrance and sold newspapers and magazines. He was called Master Moshai by everyone because he had been a school teacher in East Bengal before Partition. I won't be able to explain why I liked him, but he did impress me with his quiet dignity. One day, Master Moshai was seen with a bandage round his head. He had been to a football match the previous day. A supporter of East Bengal club, Master Moshai had applauded a fine goal scored by their opposing team. Hence a laceration on his head! I came across many such instances in my childhood.

Opposite our house, across the tram line, was a cinema, a perennially noisy place. Many young ruffians earned their daily bread by selling movie tickets in the blackmarket. When the theatre started showing a potential blockbuster, there would be a commotion. Nowadays, prices of legal tickets are far more than what these goons would have ever charged their clients, even after the impact of inflation.

I saw my first movie there: V. Santharam's Do Aankhe Barah Haath. I could more or less follow the story of the jailor and six murderers he tried to reform, but the unforgettable Lata Mangeshkar song "Aye maalik tere bande hum'' did not make any impression on me then. The hard work done by the men and their mentor produced tangible results in the shape of a rich harvest. Towards the end of the movie, when the six reformed men were being beaten up by villagers threatened by their enterprise - that is how I remember the film - I cried bitterly. I didn't know then that the film was based on the true story of a Gandhian experiment, but those two hours left an impact on the rest my life.

There was a grocery and a workshop next to our building. The workmen were grimy and their trousers were always smudged with oil and grease. I think they repaired automobile radiators in that workshop. However, the middle-aged man who sat behind a big weighing balance hung from the ceiling in the grocery was an antithesis of the dirty workmen. He was always in a clean white dhoti and a white shirt and had a dab of sandalwood paste on his forehead, a mark of Hindu religiosity. It was a one-man show by the Hindi-speaking Lalaji who weighed everything from sacks of grain to handfuls of spices, put the merchandise in neat paper bags, calculated the cost faster than any cash register would, accepted cash and returned the balance. Whenever mother ran out of something in the kitchen, she would send me to Lalaji's store. I admired his silent efficiency. He spoke little and never smiled. Neither did I ever see him glum, unhappy, or agitated. He went on doing the same thing day after day, wearing a mask-like impassive face. Running the store had possibly become automatic and natural for him, like breathing. Almost forty years later, after we had stopped living in that house for decades, I was shocked to see him sitting behind the weighing balance with the same impassive face, wearing the same white shirt, and sporting sandalwood paste on his forehead. Somehow, he had defied the passage of time and hadn't aged at all. Then it dawned on me: the man who sat before me was the son, not the father

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

TRIVIALISING THE EMERGENCY

 

What kind of image of themselves and of Parliament are the honourable members sending to children and indeed to the whole world, asks Rajinder PuriSeven MPs were forcibly expelled from the Rajya Sabha by Marshals of the House. This was done after the MPs refused to vacate the well of the House, continued to shout slogans, disallowed the House to proceed with business and forced three adjournments. Eventually the Chairman called the Marshals to evict them. The event evoked strange reactions.

One of the evicted MPs, Ejaz Ali said: "This is dictatorship. What happened to us is dangerous for democracy. It is for the first time in Indian history that MPs have been marshaled like animals". It is truly shameful that this happened for the first time in the history of Parliament. This should have happened much earlier. Because it was not for the first time that MPs behaved like hooligans. The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Hamid Ansari, deserves praise for exercising his prerogative to enforce discipline that ought to have been done years ago.
The MPs are enraged for being administered discipline. Until now they often behaved as if they were above the law. It now seems that they believe they are even above Rules of the House. They seem to believe that they are even above the norms of decent, civilized conduct. RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav said that the event heralded another Emergency. He was echoing the sentiments of many fellow members.

Sadly enough the arrogance of status seems to have afflicted all MPs. In an otherwise masterful speech, Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley likened the incident to the manner in which MPs opposed to the 42nd Amendment had been jailed by Indira Gandhi. Later, this undemocratic amendment was rolled back by Parliament. Does Jaitley seriously believe that dealing with rowdy hooliganism in the House under the rules of conduct is comparable to the imposition of the Emergency in which thousands were jailed in order to preserve in office a corrupt and unlawful prime minister? Perhaps Jaitley was trying to bond with potential allies. But surely there should be some limits to politicking!

It is a sad reflection of the lack of real self-esteem that MPs have about their importance. Millions of children watched their deplorable antics on television. For millions of children these MPs could be the role models they would like to emulate. What kind of image of themselves and of Parliament are these honourable members sending to the children and indeed to the whole world?

The writer is a veteran journalist and cartoonist

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

BANK'S CAPITAL

 

Economic boycotts, blockades and divestment campaigns have been used as powerful weapons in the realm of international policy. Expect boycotts and blockades to be used by the Opposition in Parliament against the government's divestment, or rather, its proposal to reduce its stake in the State Bank of India through the State Bank of India (Amendment Bill) 2010, which was reintroduced on Monday. The United Progressive Alliance government originally introduced the bill in 2006, and this version is broadly along the same lines. The amendment seeks to reduce the government's shareholding in the SBI down to 51 per cent. Unlike with other public sector undertakings, the government does not intend to raise any proceeds for managing its fiscal deficit from this reduction in its stake in the SBI — the government currently holds 59.4 per cent — but is doing this to allow the SBI to raise capital from the markets, of anywhere between Rs 11,000 crore and Rs 15,000 crore. The SBI reportedly plans to raise Rs 40,000 crore over the next three years; the chairman, O.P. Bhatt, has talked of raising about Rs 20,000 crore through a rights issue in the next 18 months.

 

From a capital adequacy perspective, the SBI does not need the additional capital; but it does need the money for growth and expansion of its balance sheet. The dilution would also help the bank become more independent in appointing senior management personnel, and even give investors a bigger say in the management; anyone with Rs 5,000 worth of shares in the SBI can contest a directorship. But in the next decade, the SBI will continue to have a large government stake; the Reserve Bank of India uses the SBI to manage its foreign exchange reserves, and to manage its oil imports.

 

There is another possibility: for the government, reducing its stake in the SBI down to 51 per cent could be a trial balloon to test how greater reductions in its ownership of banks are likely to be received. Most opposition parties have steadfastly blocked this idea as exemplifying deeper financial sector reform; proponents of reform, on the other hand, want the government to reduce its stake to 40 per cent. And even in other public sector bank divestments, the government is unlikely to realize any money for its fiscal purposes. Already, the government has very little capital space in most public sector banks anyway; and the pursuit of fiscal consolidation will constrain the government's ability to provide more capital to the banks to continue growing. The opposition parties have too many blockades to manage; adding one more could prove counterproductive to their interests.

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

PRISON NOTES

 

Freedom and imprisonment obviously do not make much of a difference to Irom Sharmila Chanu. Nor can the supposed symbolism of her release from a prison in Imphal on International Women's Day mean anything to her. But her 10-year-long hunger strike, intermittently broken by the authorities force-feeding her, has given a new meaning to the power of democratic dissent. The government has not conceded Sharmila's demand for the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. She is perhaps reconciled to the fact that the act will be in force in Manipur for many more years. That she continues with her fast despite this knowledge makes her protest even more potent. The government has its own arguments for continuing with the act, but it is clearly uncomfortable with the moral strength of her protest. Sharmila has always wanted to do precisely that — make the government answerable for the excesses committed on innocent people in the anti-insurgency operations in Manipur. If that goal is even partially achieved, her campaign will have been largely successful. The way she has inspired large numbers of women in Manipur to raise human rights issues is also a measure of her success.

 

However, Sharmila's protest has its lessons far beyond Manipur. Secessionist rebellions in the Northeast or in Jammu and Kashmir, and Maoist revolts in other parts of India have repeatedly pitted the State against human rights groups. For all its moral strength, Sharmila's protest does not answer crucial questions about the State's response to armed rebellions. Excessive use of force by the State is not only morally wrong, it is also a bad battle strategy that alienates the common people from the law-enforcing agencies. But the terror tactics of insurgent groups in Manipur and elsewhere make the debate on human rights abuses very complicated. Manipur's armed insurgents threaten not just the Indian State but also the common people who value peace and democratic politics. Ultimately, Sharmila's message is all about freedom from fear.

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

WITHOUT A BIG BANG

SEEMINGLY SMALL MEASURES IN THE BUDGET CAN MAKE AN IMPACT

BHASKAR DUTTA

 

Several commentators on the various television shows after the budget used practically the same words to describe the Union budget for the next fiscal year. All of them felt that the budget reflected the personality of its maker — devoid of any frills and, in fact, almost boring — but are budgets meant to be titillating? — yet pragmatic. I have not met Pranab Mukherjee and know nothing about him. But I do agree that his budget is very workmanlike and pragmatic. While there are no big-bang reforms, some seemingly small measures can have very far-reaching consequences for the future.

 

The main thrust of this budget is towards improving fiscal discipline. The fiscal deficit for the fiscal year 2010 is sought to be brought down to 5.5 per cent of the gross domestic product, with a promise to reduce this even further during the course of the next couple of years. Importantly, the finance minister seeks to do this without taking recourse to any draconian measures of taxation — quite the contrary, because his new tax proposals have been relatively mild. In fact, the increase in net tax revenue due to additional taxation is estimated to be only Rs 20,000 crore.

 

Of course, Mukherjee has luck on his side. Unlike the current year, he no longer has to provide for additional resources in order to finance stimulus packages, since the economy has been restored to health. Moreover, he has already paid off all the arrears on account of the last Pay Commission award. Neither does he have to write off bank loans for farmers. The last two items account for a tidy sum of Rs 35,000 crore. The finance minister also hopes to collect fairly large sums from disinvestment (Rs 40,000 crore) and the auction of 3G telecom licences (Rs 35,000 crore).

 

Apart from disinvestment — which the government can in principle carry out in small doses for several years — the others are fortuitous in the sense of being one-off items. Neither can the finance minister claim much credit for them. However, what he can claim credit for is his promise to curtail non-plan expenditure. The budget estimates that this will grow only by about 5 per cent. Of course, we will have to wait till the end of the next financial year to see whether he has actually achieved this target.

 

His new direct tax proposals are relatively simple. He has given the middle class an unexpected gift by widening the tax slabs so that the higher marginal tax rates kick in only at much higher levels of income. Households willing to invest in new infrastructure bonds can also deduct an additional Rs 30,000 from taxable income. The direct tax proposals on the corporate sector are more or less revenue neutral, with the surcharge being reduced to 7.5 per cent; but the rate of minimum alternate tax is being increased to 18 per cent.

 

Practically everyone had expected the finance minister to reverse the earlier reduction in the rate of central excise taxes. The rate had been reduced as part of the stimulus package, and even the corporate sector was prepared for some increase. Mukherjee must have pleased everyone by effecting a very modest increase of only 2 per cent. Quite surprisingly, the most controversial feature of the budget — one prompting the unprecedented walk-out by all Opposition members of parliament — was a similar decision to increase the customs duty on crude oil and refined petroleum. The customs duty on these products had been reduced earlier when the international price of crude had reached stratospheric levels. Since current crude oil prices are considerably lower, the finance minister sought to restore duty to its earlier level. Of course, this increase will have an impact on prices. But, so will the across-the-board increase in excise rates. Why did the Opposition not protest when excise rates were increased?

One of the most important features of the budget has attracted relatively little attention. This is the attempt to widen the reach of the service tax. The transport of goods on the railways, air travel and real estate will now be subjected to service tax, and clearly more items will be included in due course. The services sector as a whole is now the overwhelmingly largest contributor to national income. Unless this sector contributes its share of tax revenue, the government will be confronted with two very stark options. Either it will have to impose very draconian rates of taxation on other sectors, or it will have to live with a diminishing ratio of tax revenue to GDP. This ratio has already dropped quite alarmingly to just over 10 per cent from the earlier level of 12.5 per cent before the onset of the global recession. This has caused the revenue deficit to reach 4 per cent of GDP. Clearly, there is no way in which the health of the exchequer can be restored unless the base of taxation is widened. Moreover, the new areas to be brought into the tax net must be precisely those areas which are likely to grow at levels faster than the average rate of growth of the economy. The services sector stands out as the prime candidate!

 

It is almost an axiom that no budget can be without at least some minor irritants, and this budget is no exception. There was at least one act of commission which I found particularly disappointing. This was the throwback to a bad practice of the past. Earlier finance ministers delighted in proposing several exemptions to the normal tax rates. These exemptions typically did not have any obvious rationale, and so the blatant use of discretionary powers always raised the suspicion that the exemption was brought about through the successful efforts of some powerful lobby. This year too, some of the exemptions granted by Mukherjee defy logic. Why on earth do toy balloons deserve an exemption? Or, for that matter, magnetrons used in microwave ovens? The latter is not an item used by the 'common man', while there are surely many more important steps the government could have taken to improve the lot of children.

 

What can we expect in the future? Mukherjee has promised to implement the goods and services tax by April 2011. If he does keep his promise, then the next budget will be amongst the most important ones in several decades, since it will transform the system of public finance in the country. Clearly, no one will be able to call that budget boring or drab.

 

The author is professor of economics, University of Warwick

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

CHOICE MATTERS

SUMANTA SEN

 

Any mention of peace-talks with Naga rebels tends to elicit a yawn. And not without reason. For well over a decade now, such talks have been held at long intervals in New Delhi, Bangkok and elsewhere, but without any appreciable progress. The only success that has been achieved so far is that they have kept alive the ceasefire, and peace in Nagaland remains undisturbed. Otherwise, the general feeling is that the impasse will never end.

 

This time round also, there is little to suggest that cynicism would be replaced by hope. On his arrival in the nation's capital and before meeting the prime minister, the leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, T. Muivah, again spoke of sovereignty and of Greater Nagaland including the Naga dominated areas of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. But the fact that his earlier demand, that he be given an audience with the prime minister, had been met must have satisfied him to some extent.

 

This was evident from his decision to talk even with a new interlocutor about whom he had some reservations. R.S. Pandey, the new man in, is an IAS officer of the Nagaland cadre. Muivah and his team obviously knew that sitting down to talks with him will mean they were indirectly giving credence to a state government, which they had all along refused to recognize. Even then, they did not walk out and this should raise expectations of a positive note creeping in at last. It is too early to talk of any settlement, but perhaps for the first time, Muivah, Isak Chishi Swu and others have decided that the time has come to take the road towards that goal.

 

Plan ahead

 

And there is some reason for that. Muivah and his comrades had earlier proceeded on the assumption that the situation within Nagaland would be such that the Centre would be pressurized into granting them a fair measure of their demands. For some time, things went their way as a parallel government came to exist and the rebels called the shots. New Delhi, however, held on, and today things are not exactly what they used to be. Not only in Nagaland but also in the entire Northeast, the younger generation is much more eager to be a part of the mainstream and to avail themselves of the opportunities it offers.

 

Many of these youths have talents in various spheres and they cannot afford to keep themselves aloof. At the same time, they want their identity in terms of culture recognized and respected within the Indian Union. Muivah and Swu are witnessing the changes in Nagaland and must have realized that pressures for sovereignty can no longer be kept up. They also know that the closer they move towards a settlement, the more they will be able to isolate the rival faction, the NSCN (Khaplang).

 

That group also knows this, and in its desperation, is now seeking to create inter-tribal tension by saying that Muivah and his friends, being Tangkhul, do not represent the 'real' Nagas. This is unlikely to cut much ice unless overground politicians begin to talk along the same lines.

 

As for a Greater Nagaland, the demand continues to be raised in the Ukhrul district of Manipur, dominated by the Tankhul Nagas. But this is also a pressure tactic. The NSCN leaders must be aware that the Centre cannot create a situation that will earn it the anger of three states.

 

The pressure on this count is to wrest as much autonomy for Nagaland as possible. Sorting out all this will take time, and here a lot will depend on the attitude of the international Christian community — how long will it extend its support? For the rebels, time is running out. While New Delhi can play the waiting game, the choice for the rebels is simple: either play a role within the Constitution or end up like the Naga leader, Angami Phizo, on foreign shores.

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

THE BATTLE FOR PEACE, ALONGSIDE THE WAR ON VIOLENCE

 

The Maoist threat cannot be tackled effectively unless the state government improves the standards of its intelligence agencies, writes Shyamal Datta

 

The unseemly controversy over the contradictory statements by the state home secretary and the director-general of police on the reported intelligence input warning of an attack on the Eastern Frontier Rifles camp at Shilda in West Midnapur caused serious embarrassment to the Left Front government. Even murkier was the quixotic appearance of the special inspector-general, EFR, before the media, covering his face with a black cloth for 'safety', assailing the district superintendent of police for not accompanying him to the Shilda camp and changing its location. His conduct tarnished the image of the state police, adding salt to the wound. Everyone was flummoxed by the pusillanimity of the government, which stopped at seeking an explanation from the officer for such an act of indiscipline.

 

Both incidents could have been avoided. It is worth remembering that the bureaucracy and the police are not trained to handle the media, which are often on the lookout for statements that could be used to belittle the government. But officers, senior or junior, love the idea of appearing before the camera without much preparation, and thus fall prey to the designs of the media. A professional approach would be to approve the brief for the media in advance, and leave it for the spokesperson of the ministry or department to handle it. In the other case, it was unfortunate that the special IG put himself above service, deciding to hog the limelight through theatrics. He failed to appreciate that his 'safety measure' was going to cause a colossal damage to the police fraternity. It was unpardonable.

 

The Shilda massacre demands an urgent assessment of the Maoist movement to capture power through the barrel of the gun. The state needs to have a strategic outlook to shape its policies, including the one that would deal with internal security. The policy must include dimensions that go beyond paramilitary concerns. There are two schools of thought on the modalities of tackling the Maoists. The school that supports coercion and the blatant use of force believes that in terrorizing, the fear of reprisals far outweighs the desire to help the extremists. The use of power to destroy and impose punishments compel people to shun the company of the revolutionaries, and the path of violence.

 

The school opposed to the paramilitary approach, on the other hand, believes that coercion generates more heat than light. It proves counter-productive when brutality makes the Red Guards desperate to lacerate the underbelly of the government and society. Indiscriminate use of force can also inspire the protagonists of the movement to carry on with the struggle against the State with greater resolve. It triggers a groundswell of support for the movement, and widespread publicity to fuel the militancy further. The 'hearts and minds' approach, therefore, prescribes management and containment of violence for restoration of the writ of the government in the 'liberated areas' by meeting the basic needs of the people, including security.

 

The success of this endeavour will not only challenge but also weaken the popular base of the extremists. The areas under Maoist influence have to be liberated and a semblance of governance established by revamping the institutions and the systems charged with enforcement and delivery. There is a natural tendency in the people to align themselves on the side of those who are able to provide safety and services aimed at addressing their grievances. However, the use of force will remain the first and last line of defence against any compromise with the security of life and property. The only precaution that needs to be taken is to exercise force with greater care so that mindless actions by the State do not exacerbate extremism.

 

The strategy must have a provision for engagement with the receptive elements of the movement. The Maoists are still very much in the minority. The areas under their control are limited; so is their influence. Ground realities demand that the strategy to combat them be more political than paramilitary. Negotiations for peace and settlement must be integral to the strategy. The alienated must be brought into the mainstream by meeting their aspirations. The task is so huge that it cannot be done by the government alone. Besides a close coordination among departments, ministries and agencies of the government, careful networking with the bordering states and non-State actors is essential to strengthen the campaign. Efficacy of governance will create greater confidence and flow of public support in the disturbed areas. The mechanism for negotiation should be kept separate from the campaign to "clear, hold and build". The progress achieved in these three areas will help pave the way for reintegration. The State must have the skills to wage concurrently the battle for peace and development as well as the war on violence.

 

Intelligence plays the role of a force multiplier. It has to be refined and operationalized. Intelligence dies a premature death when ignored and debunked. Such instances are common. The intelligence input during Kargil, 9/11 or 26/11 met with the same fate. It is difficult to gather intelligence about militant and terrorist organizations which operate with a considerable degree of secrecy, and use force as the main instrument of operation. There is an element of unpredictability in the time, place, date, nature and targets of the attacks.

 

It is impossible for intelligence agencies to live up to the peoples' expectations all the time. Intelligence flows in bits and pieces. No one possesses all the pieces of the puzzle or the full picture. One has to connect the dots — and some of the dots may be missing or not have the numbers. It is then that the expertise of analysts becomes necessary to study the trends, interpret the fragments, and assess the designs of the enemy. Before 9/11, bits of information was available pertaining to the plans for an aerial attack. Those involved in the planning reportedly gave as many as 11 opportunities to the State to intervene, but all were ignored because none in the establishment could imagine that al Qaida could execute such a diabolical plan. It is said that the failure of the agencies in the United States of America was one of imagination, not of intelligence.

 

Strategic and tactical intelligence are mostly operational. These demand a follow-up on the ground, verification of factual inputs, and tasking of intelligence operatives for further details to fill up the gaps. A painstaking exercise between the intelligence and the law enforcement units is essential to track the status of the input, to separate the chaff from the grain, and monitor progress, before using intelligence to neutralize the threat. The objective should be to try stay a few steps ahead of the adversaries and do all that is necessary to deter, defeat or destroy the sources of threat. A comprehensive strategy has to be drawn up with effective instruments at different levels of the state and the Centre. High-quality resources and technology will be necessary to vest the instruments with the required competence. Intelligence gathering and investigation call for special aptitude and skills, different from normal policing work. These are not everyone's cup of tea.

 

At present, when threats are diverse, it is impossible for any single intelligence agency to survey all the information and produce intelligence that is actionable. It demands a framework of seamless relationships with agencies at different levels and places for action to be integrated and intelligence to be productive, both in content and application. The acid test of the efficacy of the intelligence machinery will be judged by a decline in the incidence of violence and security threats.

 

The Marxists are well-known for their disdain for intelligence from official sources. They tend to rely more on information received from party sources. This mindset must change when the challenges are stupendous. It is imperative that the Marxist leadership moves with the times and develops a healthy respect for the intelligence hierarchy. Any dithering may cost the state dear. Some of the institutionalized arrangements that have helped intelligence agencies build a direct channel of communication with the top echelons of the administrative pyramid can be made stronger by removing the aberrations that may have crept in over the years. The revamping of intelligence with improved resources is also long overdue.

Alongside this, the civil police, neglected and politically manipulated, must be assured the freedom to operate without fear or favour. They must uphold the rule of law to win public support. The harassment of innocents must be checked, giving way to professional rectitude. The abysmally low police-public ratio must change.The number of police stations in India has risen from 12,000 at the time of Independence to only 14,000, when the population has increased fourfold and modern policing has become far more complex. Police stations are chronically understaffed and ill-equipped. On the yardstick of 22 policemen per 10,000 people, the country needs an extra 3.4 lakh policemen. So the recruitment and training of the police need to be taken up on a war-footing, along with the proper strengthening of the legal system for effective action, quick disposal of cases and speedy delivery of justice.

 

In the Operation Green Hunt, the Central paramilitary forces are expected to bring to bear on the state police their rich experience in combating insurgencies. A close collaboration with the state machinery will help harness the latter's reservoir of knowledge pertaining to topography, local conditions and people. This will go a long way in improving the quality of policing as well as operations. The success of the operation at Lalgarh police station is a clear indication of the results that may be achieved when the two work in tandem. It is necessary for the security forces and the police to give the administration space to work safely and closely with the people. The success of their actions would help make the idea behind the revolution irrelevant.

 

Finally, the success of the policies will be judged by the normal flow of life with people moving about without fear on their mind, and by the priorities of the government focused on development and growth, not on mere elimination of extremism. Lasting victory will come from a vibrant economy, political participation of the deprived, and the restoration of hope for those living on the margins of human existence.

 

The author is former director of the Intelligence Bureau, and the former governor of Nagaland

 

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******************************************************************************************DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

PRESERVE WATER

''WATER IS NO LONGER A PLEN-TIFUL NATURAL RESOURCE.''

 

The alarm sounded by the World Bank over the sinking ground water table in India is not new. Experts and agencies both inside the country and outside have many times drawn attention to the depletion of ground water, shrinking of water bodies and the prospect of a severe shortage of water in the coming years. The awareness that water is no longer a free and plentiful natural resource but is a precious economic commodity and imperilled social asset is yet to sink in. Therefore over-exploitation, misuse and lack of conservation and augmentation efforts are the norm in the country. The scenario is bleak across the world, provoking comments that countries may in future go to war over water. But the situation is specially critical in India with an increasing population exerting greater pressure on the resource for agricultural, drinking water and industrial purposes.

The World Bank has projected that 60 per cent of the country's ground water blocks will be in a critical condition by 2025. The over-use of water could lead to a reduction of agricultural output by as much as 25 per cent and lead to serious drinking water shortages. Industry will also be badly affected by the shortage. The only solution is efficient use of water at personal and community levels and conservation. Better irrigation techniques, distribution of water through leak-proof canals and education of farmers on the optimum use of water will help to stop the depletion of ground water.  Efficient use of water for irrigation can go a long way in maintaining the present availability. Proper user charges will help to inculcate a sense of thrift and economy among individual and domestic users. Rain water harvesting and preservation of lakes and other water bodies have been much talked about but action on the ground is unsatisfactory. More research and development of technologies are needed in areas like desalination. Budgetary allocations for water conservation and augmentation efforts are meagre. They should be increased and efficiently utilised.

Karnataka has to take urgent and effective steps to preserve its ground water resources because it is the most drought-prone state in the country after Rajasthan and its ground water management has been poor in large areas. Committed and effective measures can make a difference, as is shown by Gujarat. Construction of large number of check dams and improvement in irrigation facilities saw the water table going up in that state last year.

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

NEEDLESS PHOBIA

''RESTRICTIONS DON'T GO WELL WITH LIBERAL ETHOS.''

 

Restrictions on the movement of people do not mix well with free thought and exchange of ideas in a democracy. India has always prided itself on the freedom of expression it gives to its citizens but this freedom will not be complete if its citizens are denied access to different points of view, emanating from outside the country too. The restrictions on foreign academics visiting India to attend conferences are not in conformity with the liberal ethos in the country. The restrictions are claimed by the government to be based on security considerations but it cannot be taken at face value. Foreign scholars are required to take security clearance from the home ministry if they have to attend conferences on 'sensitive political and social subjects.' The Union home secretary has clarified that the government is considering a relaxation of norms for genuine scholars. But this is poor consolation because those who sit in judgement will be bureaucrats who are not qualified to make such judgements.

It has been noted that the restrictions inhibit the visits of scholars especially from our neighbours. This is very undesirable because free exchange of views between intellectuals in the country and in its immediate neighbours is necessary for improving the political relations and for building better social and people-to-people relations. The Track II interactions between personalities and organisations in India and Pakistan have helped to improve the social relations between the two countries. A veto power for the government in the matter of who should attend conferences in academic institutions also goes against academic freedom and the autonomy of these institutions. Access to different perspectives from other parts of the world can only be beneficial to Indian scholars and academics.

Security is an easy excuse for governments all over the world to curb the movement of people and free expression of views and opinions. The rules and procedures used for that often amount to thought policing. In practice these rules hardly contribute to improving security. They instead give a bad image to the country and give rise to criticism that our democratic credentials are not strong enough to withstand unfavourable and unpleasant views. Openness and encouragement of debate will strengthen the country more than misplaced security considerations and unjustified phobias.

 

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DECCAN HERALD

DEMOCRATIC CHOICE

BIOTECH TECHNICIANS NEITHER HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE OF GENE ECOLOGY NOR THE EXPERTISE IN MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES.

BY VANDANA SHIVA

 

After the minister of environment Jairam Ramesh announced a moratorium on Bt brinjal, article after article in the media has denounced the decision, saying such decisions should be left to 'scientists.' The issue is however not science vs anti-science. It is reductionist science vs systems science. The moratorium took into account the best of science.

Many scientists have called for caution and for full and independent assessment. Dr Pushpa Bhargava, the leading scientist who established genetic engineering in India, has been the most vocal voice against Bt brinjal. The so called 'scientists' speaking most vociferously for Bt brinjal are in fact 'technicians' who are using an outmoded reductionist science to develop GM crops for corporations like Monsanto/Mahyco.

Leaving biosafety decisions in their hands is unethical and risky for society. It is unethical because developers and promoters of a technology cannot decide if it is good for society or not. This is an example of conflict of interest. It is risky because they lack the scientific expertise needed for biosafety assessment.

They are like makers of refrigerators who have no idea that the chlorofluorocarbons they use can make a hole in the ozone layer. They are like makers of cars who have no idea that the emissions of their cars pollute the atmosphere and destabilise the climate. Production expertise is not the same as impact expertise.

Genetic engineering is based on reductionist biology, the idea that living systems are machines, and you can change parts of the machine without impacting the organism. Reductionism was chosen as the preferred paradigm for economic and political control of the diversity in nature and society.

Genetic determinism and genetic reductionism go hand in hand. But to say that genes are primary is more ideology than science. Genes are not independent entities, but dependent parts of an entirety that gives them effect. All parts of the cell interact, and the combinations of genes are at least as important as their individual effects in the making of an organism.

More broadly, an organism cannot be treated simply as the product of a number of proteins, each produced by the corresponding gene. Genes have multiple effects, and most traits depend on multiple genes.

Genetic engineering moves genes across species by using 'vectors' — usually a mosaic recombination of natural genetic parasites from different sources, including viruses causing cancers and other diseases in animals and plants that are tagged with one or more antibiotic resistant 'marker' genes. Evidence accumulating over the past few years confirms the fear that these vectors constitute major sources of genetic pollution with drastic ecological and public health consequences.

Risk assessment

Biotech technicians do not have either the scientific expertise of gene ecology or the expertise in the multiple disciplines that are needed for the risk assessment of GMOs in the context of their impact on the environment and public health.

Real scientists know that mechanistic science of genetic reductionism is inaccurate and flawed. Deeper research has led to the emergent field of epigenetics. Epigenetic mechanisms can edit the read out of a gene so as to create over 30,000 different variations of proteins for the same gene blueprint. Epigenetic describes how gene activity and cellular expression are regulated by information from the environment, not by the internal matter of DNA.

The limitation at a higher systems level is even more serious. Bt brinjal is being offered as a pest control solution. A gene for producing a toxin is being put into the plant, along with antibiotic resistance markers and viral promoters. This is like using an earth-mover to make a hole in the wall of your house for hanging up a painting. Like the earth-mover will destroy the wall, the transgenic transformation will disrupt the metabolism and self regulatory processes of the organism.

Genetic engineering is 'high tech' like the earth-mover, but it is also crude tech for the sensitive task of maintaining the ecological fabric of agriculture to control pests. Pests are controlled through biodiversity, through organic practices which build resilience to pests and disease. In Andhra Pradesh, a government project for non-pesticide management has covered 14 lakh acres.

The scientific alternative to the crude tech of putting toxic genes into our food is agro ecology. The International Assessment on Agricultural Science and Technology Development has recognised from a global survey of peer reviewed studies that agro ecology based systems outperform farming systems using genetic engineering.

Epigenetics and agro ecology are the sciences for the future. Reductionist biology is a primitive science of the past.

Our decisions about food and agriculture need to be based on the best of science, not the worst of science. They definitely should not be based on a crude technology parading as science.

Because we are what we eat, and food enters our bodies, citizens must have a choice about what they eat. The democratisation of science and decision making has become an imperative. All human beings are knowing subjects and in a democracy people's choices must count.

That is why the public hearings on Bt brinjal were a democratic imperative. Those who say our food choices must be left to biotech technicians are working against both science and democracy.

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

MOSCOW AND HAVANA: FRIENDS FOREVER?

BY LEONARDO PADURA

With books in hand, the Russians have returned to Cuba. For 30 years they were an indispensable presence on the island. The then Soviets provided socialist Cuba with international political, economic, and military support in a world clearly divided between two blocs and swept by the frigid winds of the Cold War and threats of atomic conflagration.

 

We Cubans had electricity and watched television thanks to Soviet oil; we read books and periodicals printed on the paper they sent us; we built up a defence with their weapons and equipment, baked our bread with Soviet wheat, and ate tins of 'Russian meat'. During these three decades, tens of thousands of Cubans studied in Moscow, Leningrad and  Kazan and thousands returned with Russian brides.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, and with it the indestructible friendship, the oil vanished as well, and the paper, and the wheat. The new countries that sprung up from the ruins of the union unanimously opted for a return to capitalism, and capitalistically demanded money for trade. Cuba had to maintain its system of socialism in the most desolate solitude.

Reversal
As soon as this provider of technical assistance and resources collapsed, its previously suffocating and expanding presence in the Cuban culture and daily life ended in an instant. Of the Russian women married to Cubans, most fled, unable to take the chronic blackouts and shortages.

No visible traces were left of the 30-year social, cultural, and political marriage: not a single custom, popular dish, or even military base, all of which vanished as well. The Russian footprint in Cuba was simply wiped clean, and in no time at all nothing remained of the complicity between the two countries aside from a few ideological notions and political practices that even the Russians would eliminate in their own country but that Cuba's leaders chose to retain.

In recent years, Moscow has initiated a rapprochement with Cuba, urged by prime minister Vladimir Putin, who has sought to revive Russian pride and greatness and its prominence on the political map. Cuba, crippled by a tightening US embargo, has long needed all the political support and economic and trade help it could get. It responded enthusiastically to this gesture. The exchange between the countries revived, though in a different form: it was no longer a product of socialist geopolitics but rather a group of tactical, trade, and political agreements based on common interests between two countries with different, if not antagonistic, economic and ideological systems.

This new contact has brought with it various psychological and historical advantages: a nostalgia for the old days of brotherhood, or the fact that virtually no historical analysis of what happened in the Soviet Union in its 70 years of socialism, deeply scarred by the political methods of Stalin, was to be found in Cuba.

Now, with books in hand, the Russians are returning to the island. The Russian Federation was the guest of honour at the Cuban Book Fair. The event was transformed into a platform for a massive disembarking of figures from Russian politics and the contemporary Russian art scene. Books, films, and dance companies were at the forefront of this attempt to restore the closeness between the two countries shattered for almost two decades, during which insults and accusations of disloyalty were exchanged in abundance.

Though the Cuban press may at times filter, for example, commentaries on the devastating effects of socialist realism on Russian art, it is clear that the image Russia is presenting of itself and its present bears little relation to what it was in the 1990s, when the country tipped into the void, and the cradle of the socialist revolution renounced the principles that it had proclaimed for 70 years, opening its arms and soul instead to the most savage form of capitalism in what we in Cuba called the 'desmerengamiento', or the collapse of the great meringue.

This stable and  prosperous country, respectful of the differences between us today, is nonetheless, a capitalist country, and for reasons of  dialectical and economic logic, it must carry along with it the characteristics of the system studied and condemned by Marx  which led the Bolsheviks to foment  revolution so many decades ago. Perhaps the most unexpected lesson generated by these developments is that we are learning, now, that there are evil and less evil forms of capitalism, and that the past is a book from which we can lift favourable chapters and skip over those that stir contention, for the benefit of politics. Always politics. IPS

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

CRASS LAVISHNESS

BY MIRLE KARTHIK

THE FOOD WASTED AT WEDD-INGS COULD FILL A NUMBER OF HUNGRY STOMACHS.

 

Come March, the wedding bells start ringing. You know the fever has begun, when the saree shops put up their advertisements with mega discounts. It's boom time for priests, cooks, owners of wedding halls, hirers of lights, vessels, shamianas, taxi operators, decorators, florists and a whole lot of supporting services. A closer look into this marriage world is in itself a study in human psychology. It's virtually a game of one-upmanship, with each family trying to outdo the other in the scale of lavishness.

It begins with the invitation itself. Gone are the days of the plain white card. It's now a silken flower or heart with beautiful calligraphy and Sanskrit verses from Kalidasa. Or it is handmade paper with Khadi embellishments for that ethnic touch. Next is the venue. The most sought after halls are those with air-conditioning, marble flooring, polished granite cladding, bathrooms and toilets that stun you into hesitation in using them and a façade that is a mélange of architectural styles. And the rental, — my hand trembles in trying to  type it out. The chandeliers look like they belong in Buckingham Palace.

The stage decorations. A setting fit for a celestial wedding. The decorators album contains designs that would outdo the palace of Indra. Artistic pillars, chiffon drapes, exotic fruits suspended between shell strings. The cost? My eyes blur in counting the zeroes. Now, proceed downstairs to the dining hall. Do you want north Indian? Or Chinese? Or the various chaats? How about Mumbai pav bhaji?  

Come on, try mixing gobi manchuri with masala dosa. Fruits mixed with grated carrot and chopped cucumber? Sweets, varieties of ice creams, dry fruits? I'm salivating as I write this. The bill? The stomach churns at the mere mention.

As I stand in the serpentine line of guests to greet the couple, the sheer waste of all this pomp and show makes me ponder. The amount of food wasted would have satiated a good number of hungry stomachs. The money spent would have helped treat at least 10 cancer patients, unable to take life-saving treatment. But I know that mine is a cry in the wilderness.

 

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THE JERUSLAM POST

EDITORIAL

DYSFUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT

 

Israel could not have asked for a better beginning to Biden's visit this week. Now it must rebuild Washington's trust.

 

Israel could not have asked for a more positive beginning to US Vice President Joe Biden's visit this week. Positive body language abounded, with all the requisite hugs, warm gestures, smiles and general good vibes.

There were verbalized emotions, such as the vice president's comment to President Shimon Peres that Israel "captured my heart." Biden even made declarations with diplomatic ramifications. The cornerstone of the Israeli-US relationship, he said on Tuesday, "is our absolute, total unvarnished commitment to Israel's security," and then managed to top even that with the adamant declaration that "there is no space between the US and Israel when it comes to Israel's security."

After almost a year of distance – most notably contrasted with President Barack Obama's June 2009 Cairo speech that focused on reconciliation with Islam – the Biden trip, with its private meetings aimed principally at coordinating strategy for thwarting Iran's nuclear drive, was turning out to be everything that an embattled, nervous Jewish nation could dream of.

As Israeli Apartheid Week draws to a close, it sometimes seems that the only real friend Israel has in the entire world is the good old US of A, and the Biden visit was confirmation of that partnership. By sundown Tuesday, it would have been fitting to note that on another Tuesday, the third day of creation, God said "and it was good" twice.

But then it happened. A three-year chain of bureaucratic events climaxed to spectacularly damaging effect. In a staggering example of diplomatic obtuseness, the Interior Ministry's Jerusalem Regional Planning and Construction Commission announced the approval of 1,600 additional housing units in Ramat Shlomo, a haredi neighborhood of 20,000 in northeast Jerusalem – inside the sovereign city limits, but squarely over the pre-1967 Green Line.

Safeguards that some previous governments had put in place to ensure the careful handling of such sensitive issues were plainly not in effect this time. Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas), preoccupied with a coalition crisis over  conversion policy legislation, said he was not informed of the decision, nor would he have expected to be. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had evidently failed to make it clear that he wished to be informed of any such developments, and thus was not alerted ahead of the announcement.

Biden and his wife Jill arrived over an hour late to dinner with Netanyahu and his wife Sarah on Tuesday night. And when they finally did show up, they brought with them what constituted a major league castigation. "I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in east Jerusalem," Biden said, in a statement released during dinner. "The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I've had here in Israel."

SUCH RIGHT-hand-not-knowing-what-the-left-hand-is-doing blunders strike a blow to Israel's image, and a blow on more substantive levels too.

For a start, the Netanyahu government looks completely incompetent. If the announcement on Ramat Shlomo had been a calculated, coherent decision aimed at torpedoing the fledgling "proximity talks", or aimed at expressing an unshakable commitment to the fast-growing haredi population desperately in need of housing, its merits or failings could have been legitimately discussed.

But the reality is much more prosaic – and worrying. The expansion of Ramat Shlomo accords with broad government policy. Differently timed, and ideally quietly explained to Washington ahead of time, it might have prompted public displeasure from the United States – that the administration had tried and failed to persuade Netanyahu to extend the settlement-building moratorium to east Jerusalem – but likely no more than that.

Instead, because of sheer ineptitude, the timing of the announcement immediately threatened the "proximity talks" in which Netanyahu has stressed Israel has a profound interest. It united the Palestinians, the Arab world and much of the international community in a chorus of anti-Israel condemnation.

And most unhappily of all, it embarrassed our most important ally at a time when this ally, as represented by Biden, was making a heartfelt effort to improve relations and assure Israel of its abiding support.

It seem fair to assume that, in the long run, the truly deep and significant bonds between our two countries will endure. The shared values and interests, many of them encapsulated in the commitment to freedom and democracy, plainly outweigh even significant missteps like this one. But to attain these common goals requires avoiding serious mistakes that embarrass our friends and strengthen our enemies. To attain these common goals requires profound trust between allies.

Now Israel must set about rebuilding that trust.

 

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HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

THE PM IS FAILING IN HIS DUTIES

 

The government once again made a foolhardy, unnecessary and damaging mistake, with the announcement that the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee has given the go-ahead to build 1,600 new housing units in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, which sits beyond the Green Line, on the same day that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in the capital for a visit.

Biden's visit was aimed at opening a new chapter in the Obama administration's relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as demonstrating America's commitment to Israel's security, advancing peace in the Middle East and thwarting the Iranian nuclear threat. The vice president had been effusive in his statements of support for Israel - until, that is, he learned of the latest construction plans in East Jerusalem. Following that disclosure, Biden issued a condemnation and arrived late for dinner at the Prime Minister's Residence. Any diplomatic achievement yielded by his visit quickly gave way to an embarrassing faux pas.

Netanyahu passed the buck to Interior Minister Eli Yishai, who expressed "sorrow for the distress" and proceeded to blame Planning and Building Committee subordinates "for not updating him." These responses are ridiculous, and only serve to present the government as an unruly organization whose officials operate without any supervision or direction from above. It is hard to believe that Netanyahu and Yishai were unaware that such a vast construction project was in the works; if they really did not know, then they failed in their duties.

 

The real problem, however, is not the timing of the announcement or the act of insulting a crucial ally - which are in themselves quite serious issues. Rather, it is the government's policy, which from the outset spawned this damaging project. Under the cover of nicely worded statements touting two states for two peoples and the hoopla over the renewal of indirect negotiations with the Palestinians, Netanyahu and his government continue to establish facts on the ground - and in such a way as to conquer yet another hill and another path, while populating East Jerusalem with more and more Jews.

Rather than making conciliatory gestures toward the Palestinians and promoting an end to the conflict, the prime minister is sabotaging any chance of an agreement on the issue of Jerusalem. His construction and settlement ventures do not contribute to Israel's security or economic prosperity. Instead, they render the chances of a diplomatic solution more remote, fuel greater frustration among the Palestinians, and degrade Israel's international standing. This campaign to consolidate control over East Jerusalem must be stopped.

 

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HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

BROKEN GLASS

BY ARI SHAVIT

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu handed U.S. Vice President Joe Biden broken glass. Netanyahu had not intended to do so, of course. He wanted to give Biden a tree-planting certificate in honor of Biden's mother. But his need to lean on the podium while addressing his guest caused the certificate's glass frame to shatter silently. When the festive moment arrived to proffer the gift to Israel's greatest friend, it turned out it was broken to pieces. The only thing the prime minister could offer the vice president was broken glass.

The moral is clear, but unforgivable. There has been tension between Washington and Jerusalem for a whole year. At a time when the two countries should be coordinated against the Iranian threat, they are having trouble functioning as allies. In recent months a major effort has been made to ease the tension and restore the intimacy between the governments. Biden's visit was to have been the peak of renewed rapprochement and the turning over of a new leaf in the relationship between Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama.

It started out on the right foot and created a real feeling of closeness. But on Tuesday evening, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee approved the construction of 1,600 new apartments in Ramat Shlomo, beyond the Green Line. Thus the committee made clear that there are more important things than the Iranian threat and the alliance with the United States. The committee spit in the face of both the friendly vice president and the friendly superpower. It disfigured the face of the State of Israel with acid.

It's enough to make you pull your hair out. The threat against Israel is unprecedented. Our need for the United States is unprecedented. At this critical juncture, any national interest should be subservient to the supreme interest of strengthening this alliance. But now of all times, at the most sensitive moment, Israel chooses to act insanely, sabotaging national security with its own hands. The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee has committed an act whose implications might be no less serious than the act by Mordechai Vanunu.

Netanyahu washed his hands of it: He did not know, he had no intention, he just leaned on the glass. But this time Netanyahu can't run from responsibility. Biden's visit is of strategic importance. Jerusalem is an issue of strategic sensitivity. Ahead of a visit of strategic importance, the prime minister must ensure that a matter of strategic interest is properly managed. On his own initiative, he should speak with Interior Minister Eli Yishai and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to ensure that there are no surprises. If Netanyahu did not hold such conversations, he made a serious mistake. If Netanyahu did hold such conversations, he's not really in control of the government and state. Either way, the outcome is grave. Netanyahu's country did not resemble a Silicon Valley country this week. It seemed like a miserable and shameful shtetl of a country. A Chelm of a country.

The problem is deep. Over the past 20 years Israel has shown amazing capabilities in technology, economics and security. But the success is overshadowed by two fundamental problems: the government's weakness and the continuation of the occupation. The government's weakness results in the flourishing of the private sector and the free market, while the state is not functioning and public systems are deteriorating. The continuation of the occupation makes Israel disfigure itself and its image; with its own hands it undermines the legitimacy of Zionism.

These two fundamental problems create a clear and present danger. Their fatal combination makes Israel unable to act rationally against a threat to its survival.

This week's scandal should sound a warning in Netanyahu's office. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has no better ally today than the loony Israeli right. No one is helping the Shi'ite zealots more than the Jewish zealots. Day after day, the settlements in the West Bank serve the centrifuges in Natanz. If sane Israel does not wake up, it will be defeated by the metastasizing of the occupation and the lack of the central government's ability to stop it. When the test comes, the national body could be found cancerous to the marrow.

 

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HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

THANK YOU, ELI YISHAI, FOR EXPOSING THE PEACE PROCESS MASQUERADE

BY GIDEON LEVY

 

Here's someone new to blame for everything: Eli Yishai. After all, Benjamin Netanyahu wanted it so much, Ehud Barak pressed so hard, Shimon Peres wielded so much influence - and along came the interior minister and ruined everything.

There we were, on the brink of another historic upheaval (almost). Proximity talks with the Palestinians were in the air, peace was knocking on the door, the occupation was nearing its end - and then a Shas rogue, who knows nothing about timing and diplomacy, came and shuffled all the proximity and peace cards.

The scoundrel appeared in the midst of the smile- and hug-fest with the vice president of the United States and disrupted the celebration. Joe Biden's white-toothed smiles froze abruptly, the great friendship was about to disintegrate, and even the dinner with the prime minister and his wife was almost canceled, along with the entire "peace process." And all because of Yishai.

 

Well, the interior minister does deserve our modest thanks. The move was perfect. The timing, which everyone is complaining about, was brilliant. It was exactly the time to call a spade a spade. As always, we need Yishai (and occasionally Avigdor Lieberman) to expose our true face, without the mask and lies, and play the enfant terrible who shouts that the emperor has no clothes.

For the emperor indeed has no clothes. Thank you, Yishai, for exposing it. Thank you for ripping the disguise off the revelers in the great ongoing peace-process masquerade in which nobody means anything or believes in anything.

What do we want from Yishai? To know when the Jerusalem planning committee convenes? To postpone its meeting by two weeks? What for? Hadn't the prime minister announced to Israel, the world and the United States, in a move seen at the time as a great Israeli victory, that the construction freeze in the settlements does not include Jerusalem? Then why blame that lowly official, the interior minister, who implemented that policy?

What's the big deal? Another 1,600 apartments for ultra-Orthodox Jews on occupied, stolen land? Jerusalem won't ever be divided, Benjamin Netanyahu promised, in another applause-winning move. In that case, why not build in it? The Americans have agreed to all this, so they have no reason to pretend to be insulted.

The interior minister should not apologize for the "distress" he caused, but be proud of it. He is the government's true face. Who knows, perhaps thanks to him America will finally understand that nothing will happen unless it exerts real pressure on Israel.

What would we do without Yishai? Biden would have left Israel propelled by the momentum of success. Netanyahu would have boasted of a renewed close friendship. A few weeks later, the indirect talks would have started. Europe would have applauded, and Barack Obama, the president of big promises, would even have taken a moment away from dealing with his country's health-care issues to meet with Netanyahu. George Mitchell, who has already scored quite a few diplomatic feats here, would shuttle between Ramallah and Jerusalem, and maybe Netanyahu would eventually have met with Mahmoud Abbas. Face to face. Then everything would have been sorted out.

Without preconditions, certainly without preconditions, Israel would have continued to build in the territories in the meantime - not 1,600 but 16,000 new apartments. The IDF would have continued arresting, imprisoning, humiliating and starving - all under the auspices of the peace talks, of course. Jerusalem forever. The right of return is out of the question, and so is Hamas. And onward to peace!

Months would go by, the talks would "progress," there would be lots of photo ops, and every now and then a mini-crisis would erupt - all because of the Palestinians, who want neither peace nor a state. At the very end, there might be another plan with another timetable that no one intends to keep.

Everything was so ready, so ripe, until that scoundrel, Yishai, came and kicked it all into oblivion. It's a bit embarrassing, but not so terrible. After all, time heals all wounds. The Americans will soon forgive, the Palestinians will have no choice, and once again everyone will stand ceremoniously on the platform and the process will be "jump-started" again - despite everything that the sole enemy of peace around here, Eli Yishai, has done to us.

 

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HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

 

FROM 'AJAMI' TO 'BEAUFORT'

BY ISRAEL HAREL

 

Just hours before Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony, Scandar Copti, one of the co-directors of "Ajami," announced that the film does not represent Israel. At around the same time, MK Jamal Zahalka was taking part in an Israeli Apartheid Week event at McGill University in Montreal, pouring oil on the flames of the Arab-Jewish rift. At a special Knesset session to honor the 12 members of the pre-state Jewish underground militias who were hanged by the British during the Mandate era (known as the olei hagardom in Hebrew), MKs Ahmed Tibi and Talab al-Sana called these men terrorists.

As a movie, "Ajami" is no better or worse than others of its ilk created around the world that tell nearly the same story. In every part of the world in which national minorities fight the majority (especially when the fight regularly erupts into verbal and physical violence), the reality is even worse than in Israel.

It's reasonable to assume that had the film not been set in Jaffa, where, it is implied, the sad state of the Arabs is the consequence of the Jewish sin of "the occupation of 1948," it would likely not have been nominated for best foreign film. Similarly, "Beaufort" and "Waltz with Bashir" were nominated for Oscars because they were critical of Israel.

 

The political statement made by Copti turned "Ajami" from a movie into another link in the fight waged by the Palestinians in Israel against the state of which they are citizens. That makes it just like disrespecting the memory of the olei hagardom or accusing Israel of being an apartheid state even though the Israeli Palestinians' rights as citizens here exceed those of any Arab country (and include supernumerary rights, such as exemption from mandatory military service).

It can be assumed that the Israeli Arabs would present their position more moderately (and thus more effectively) were it not for the encouragement they receive from Jewish entities in the areas of art, culture, academia, philanthropy and the media. A large proportion of Israeli films, both features and documentaries, focus on and promote the Palestinian narrative, whether directly or indirectly. This narrative blames the Jews for all the ills of the Arab community - the result of the mother of all occupations, that of 1948.

All Israelis seeking public funding for a movie are aware that aid from international foundations, and even Israeli ones, depends on the submission of a screenplay that is critical of Israel. No filmmaker could obtain funding from a European or even an Israeli foundation (including governmental ones) for a movie that presents a balanced view of Israel, much less a positive one.

The result: Dozens of "checkpoint films" telling the story of Arab suffering. None of the films in this genre delves into the reasons behind the checkpoints or asks about the mass killings that were prevented by the capture of terrorists or timely discovery of explosives at those very checkpoints. Many of these films show women weeping and crying out next to their demolished homes.

The movies - in Israel, too - evoke sympathy for the oppressed and that is their purpose.

But not a single movie has been made that shows the reasons leading up to the demolition of the homes, that tells the story of the hundreds of Jewish victims who were murdered by the terrorists whose homes were subsequently destroyed.

Had they not wallowed in the mire of "We have sinned, we have trespassed," it is doubtful that "Ajami," "Beaufort" or "Waltz with Bashir" would have gotten so close to the pinnacle of Hollywood recognition. It is fashionable today to criticize or even to hate Israel. Among those contributing to hatred of Israel are, in addition to filmmakers, Israeli intellectuals and artists from other disciplines - and for exactly the same reasons that the filmmakers are so eager to make their self-flagellating films.

 

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HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

A HOME OR A TOMBSTONE

BY AMALIA ROSENBLUM

 

Last week, at an event at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds, hundreds of young people joined a new "purchasing group" set to build high-rise apartment buildings in that city. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, a storm was brewing over a plan to demolish homes in Silwan. Ostensibly, these are the two extremes of Israeli life: Glittering towers in the big city on the one hand, and confrontations between settlers and Palestinians on the other. But actually, those extremes have a common element: the centrality of the home as a symbol in Israeli society.

A home, in the form of a roof over one's head, is a fundamental human necessity, so it's a central symbol everywhere in the world. The Americans have cliches for it: "There's no place like home" and "Home is where the heart is." And here, Yankele Rotblit has written: "How good it is that you've come home, home - that's really all there is." But what is that "all"? What exactly does "home" mean to us?

Home is warmth, stability, family. Home is where you live. But do these values explain fully why it's so important for us to own our homes? The towers up for sale at the Fairgrounds event don't yet have all the necessary permits; still, the organizers said, every two minutes a new customer joined the purchasing group. Today you need more than 100 average monthly salaries to buy a typical apartment in Israel, but according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, this has not prevented 69 percent of households from owning their homes. This is one of the highest rates in the world. In Germany the figure is only 42 percent, in Denmark 51 percent, in France 55 percent and in Austria 56 percent.

 

It's true that it's customary to regard buying a home as an investment, although according to a recent Technion study, in Israel you're better off economically renting than buying. It's also true that we wandered the globe for 2,000 years and we want, just for a moment, the security of owning a place where we can take off our shoes without the fear of being forced to move out. However, it's also possible that the lust for one's own home is driven by a darker belief, a belief that finds expression in buying and building homes for ourselves but sealing them up or demolishing them for others.

This is because hiding away among all the pleasant and sentimental emotions evoked by the notion of a home is a primeval belief that home is not only a shelter but also the force of life itself. It's as if someone who buys a house gains eternal life, and someone whose house is demolished is wiped off the face of the earth. This not entirely conscious belief gets us into trouble. It fuels our readiness to mobilize for an enormous economic effort to become homeowners, and it ignites the impulse to destroy thousands of homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as a punishment, or because they were built without a permit - permits that are impossible to obtain.

The bind we're in is thus made worse because apparently this concept of a home is prevalent among Israeli Arabs, too. In urban Arab communities in Israel, 92 percent of the people own their own homes - almost the entire population. And "May your house be destroyed" is one of the gravest curses in Arabic.

Tragically, it seems that Israelis and Palestinians share the attitude that a home is proof that its owners exist, or in other words, it's a monument. That is, homes derive their power as an emblem not because they are perceived as a place for living, but because deep inside, we see the home as a place in which to die

 

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EDITORIAL

WHAT GROUND ZERO NEEDS

 

Ground zero is no longer the depressing place it was a few years ago. The important public structures are starting to take shape — the memorial to the victims, Santiago Calatrava's birdlike transportation hub, and 1 World Trade Center (the centerpiece once known as the Freedom Tower), 20 stories high and climbing.

 

But as has been true since the beginning, the commercial parts of the project — skyscrapers financed by both public and private money — remain mired in controversy. And at the heart of all this, not surprisingly, is the developer Larry Silverstein, whose powerful supporters now include Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

 

Mr. Silverstein wants what he has always wanted: more money from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the owners of the site, to build three huge office buildings on speculation. These are hard times to get tenants and private financing. So Mr. Silverstein wants the authority to be his banker. The Port Authority has already agreed to help finance one of his three buildings, but it should be very stingy with the rest. It has many other, far more important demands on its funds, including upgrading bridges, tunnels and airport terminals.

 

The city certainly doesn't need three new office buildings immediately. The commercial vacancy rate downtown is 11 percent and is expected to worsen as some Wall Street firms shrink and others relocate. The last thing a battered downtown needs is a nest of empty office buildings.

 

Mr. Silverstein leased the World Trade Center a few weeks before it was destroyed and has since claimed the right to rebuild the office space with the authority's help. An arbitration panel rejected his main complaint — that the authority's delays cost him money by forcing him into a bad market. But the arbitrators also ordered the two sides to resolve the matter on their own by Friday or risk the panel imposing its own solution.

 

In recent days, Mr. Silverstein has promised to use more of his own money, with strings attached. The authority has agreed to finance one skyscraper as well as a five-story podium for retail stores that could serve as the base for a second tower. A third tower would be on hold, possibly turned into much-needed green space.

 

The ring of skyscrapers was a dynamic part of the architect Daniel Libeskind's original master plan for the site. Given the right market conditions, they may someday appear. But the Port Authority should not be obliged to provide what the market and Mr. Silverstein cannot. It must keep its finances safe for the region's transportation facilities and concentrate on making sure that the memorial is available to visitors by Sept. 11, 2011.

 

For Mr. Silverstein and the mayor, that memorial — and not simply 4 million square feet of extra commercial office space — should be the goal.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

DIPLOMACY 102

 

Vice President Joseph Biden Jr. used rare and decidedly undiplomatic language on Tuesday to upbraid Israel after it announced plans to build 1,600 new housing units in a Jewish neighborhood of East Jerusalem. "I condemn the decision. ...," he said in a statement.

 

The Obama administration is understandably furious. Mr. Biden was in Israel working to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. The word came after he had spent the day vowing the United States' "absolute, total and unvarnished commitment to Israel's security."

 

Aides say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was blindsided by the announcement from Israel's Interior Ministry, led by the leader of right-wing Shas Party. But he didn't disavow the plan. And it is hard to see the timing as anything but a slap in the face to Washington.

 

There were conflicting reports on whether the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, would go ahead with "proximity talks" — in which George Mitchell, the Middle East envoy for the United States, is supposed to shuttle between Jerusalem and the West Bank in hopes of making enough progress to revive direct negotiations on a two-state solution. Mr. Abbas should stick with the talks.

 

President Obama seriously miscalculated last year when he insisted that Israel impose a full stop on all new settlement building, only to have Mr. Netanyahu refuse. The goal was — and is — just. The Palestinians are legitimately fearful that the more Israel builds in the West Bank or East Jerusalem the less likely it is to ever negotiate away any disputed territory. A settlement freeze could well have jump-started serious negotiations.

 

But one of the basic rules of diplomacy is that American presidents never publicly insist on something they aren't sure of getting — at least not without a backup plan. By the time Mr. Netanyahu finally acceded to a 10-month partial halt that exempted Jerusalem, the Palestinians felt so burned that the peace effort collapsed.

 

It must be noted that Mr. Obama and Mr. Mitchell also failed to persuade Arab leaders to agree to make any gestures to Israel in return for a settlement freeze.

 

The Obama administration worked hard to get Mr. Abbas to agree to renewed talks, arguing that more stalemate was not in the Palestinians' interest. And it made some rare headway with Arab leaders, persuading them to endorse the American proposal for talks — giving Mr. Abbas needed political cover. Suggestions that Arab leaders might now renege on that support are worrisome.

 

Mr. Mitchell will have to keep working all sides to move this ahead. He must continue to press Israel on the settlements issue. And if Israel is to make real concessions, it will need more than gestures from the Arab states.

 

Mr. Biden said on Wednesday that the administration would hold both Israelis and Palestinians "accountable for any statements or actions that inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of talks." That would be a very important start. We also hope that if progress lags, the administration will be ready to put forward its own proposals on the central issues of borders, refugees, security and the future of Jerusalem.

 

Mr. Obama has another chance to move the peace process forward. This time he has to get it right.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

ANTITRUST AND YOUR VOTE

 

When the nation's largest voting machine manufacturer, Election Systems and Software, acquired the voting machine business of Diebold, the nation's second-largest manufacturer, it set off alarms for anyone who cares about election integrity. The combination meant that 70 percent of the nation's voting machines would be provided by just one company.

 

The Justice Department has now announced that it intends to block certain parts of the deal on antitrust grounds. That is a very welcome step, but the department and Congress need to do more to protect the vote.

 

After the 2000 presidential election, and Florida's hanging chads, states vowed to replace old-style voting machines with new and better technology. The electronic machines now in use across the country have their own serious problems. They are far too vulnerable to hackers, and unless they have voter-verifiable paper trails and careful audits their results are not trustworthy.

 

The Justice Department is right to try to block the deal between the voting machine makers. It was a clear violation of antitrust law and a clear threat to the public interest. Less competition would mean less choice for states and localities looking to buy and service voting machines — and even less incentive for industry to produce first-rate products. We hope a federal court approves the Justice Department's decision and that Election Systems and Software quickly finds a buyer.

 

The Justice Department's work should not end with blocking this one sale. It also needs to keep a close eye on widespread reports of anticompetitive behavior by Election Systems and Software and other vendors. It should look in particular at how Election Systems handles sales of service contracts for voting machines, which are a big revenue generator, that make it hard for other companies to compete.

 

Congress also should hold hearings to investigate that and other reports of anticompetitive behavior in the industry. It also should set strong standards for voting machines, including a federal requirement for paper trails and audits. The security of the vote is too important to leave those decisions up to local governments or an industry with a less-than-stellar track record.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

AFTER YOU

BY VERLYN KLINKENBORG

 

Recently, I have been considering the four-way stop. It is, I think, the most successful unit of government in the State of California. It may be the perfect model of participatory democracy, the ideal fusion of "first come, first served" and the golden rule. There are four-way stops elsewhere in the country. But they are ubiquitous in California, and they bring out a civility — let me call it a surprising civility — in drivers here in a state where so much has recently gone so wrong.

 

What a four-way stop expresses is the equality of the drivers who meet there. It doesn't matter what you drive. For it to work, no deference is required, no self-denial. Precedence is all that matters, like a water right in Wyoming. Except that at a four-way stop on the streets of Rancho Cucamonga everyone gets to take a turn being first.

 

There are moments when two cars — even four — arrive almost simultaneously. At times like that, I find myself lengthening my own braking, easing into the stop in order to give an unambiguous signal to the other driver, as if to say, "After you." Is this because I'm from the East where four-way stops are not so common? Or do most California drivers do this, too? I don't know. What I do know is that I almost never see two cars lurching into the middle of the intersection as if both were determined to assert their right of way.

 

I find myself strangely reassured each time I pass through a four-way stop. A social contract is renewed, and I pull away feeling better about my fellow humans, which some days, believe me, can take some doing. We arrive as strangers and leave as strangers. But somewhere between stopping and going, we must acknowledge each other. California is full of drivers everywhere acknowledging each other by winks and less-friendly gestures, by glances in the mirrors, as they catapult down the freeways. But at a four-way stop, there is an almost Junior League politeness about it.

 

And when the stoplights go out at the big intersections, as they do sometimes, everyone reverts to the etiquette of the four-way stop as if to a bastion of civilization. But there are limits to this power. We can only gauge precedence within a certain distance and among a very small number of cars. Too many, and self-policing soon begins to break down. But when we come one by one to the quadrille at the four-way corner, we are who we are at our best, bowing, nodding, and moving on. VERLYN KLINKENBORG

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

TEACH FOR THE WORLD

BY NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

 

A drumroll, please. In a moment, the winner of my 2010 "win-a-trip" contest.

 

But first, a message from the sponsor — that's me. A generation ago, the most thrilling program for young people was the Peace Corps. Today, it's Teach for America, which this year has attracted 46,000 applicants who are competing for about 4,500 slots.

 

Peace Corps and Teach for America represent the best ethic of public service. But at a time when those programs can't meet the demand from young people seeking to give back, we need a new initiative: Teach for the World.

 

In my mind, Teach for the World would be a one-year program placing young Americans in schools in developing countries. The Americans might teach English or computer skills, or coach basketball or debate teams.

 

The program would be open to Americans 18 and over. It could be used for a gap year between high school and college, but more commonly would offer a detour between college and graduate school or the real world.

 

The host country would provide room and board through a host family. To hold down costs, the Americans would be unpaid and receive only airplane tickets, a local cellphone and a tiny stipend to cover bus fares and anti-malaria bed nets.

 

This would be a government-financed effort to supplement an American public diplomacy outreach that has been eviscerated over the last few decades. A similar program, WorldTeach, was founded by a group of Harvard students in 1986 and does a terrific job. But without significant support from the American government, it often must charge participants thousands of dollars for a year's volunteer work.

 

Teach for the World also would be an important education initiative for America itself. Fewer than 30 percent of Americans have passports, and only one-quarter can converse in a second language. And the place to learn languages isn't an American classroom but in the streets of Quito or Dakar or Cairo.

 

Here's a one-word language test to measure whether someone really knows a foreign country and culture:

What's the word for doorknob? People who have studied a language in a classroom rarely know the answer. But

those who have been embedded in a country know. America would be a wiser country if we had more people

who knew how to translate "doorknob." I would bet that those people who know how to say doorknob in Farsi

almost invariably oppose a military strike on Iran.

(Just so you don't drop my column to get a dictionary: pomo de la puerta in some forms of Spanish; poignée de

porte in French; and dash gireh ye dar in Farsi.)

 

American universities are belatedly recognizing how provincial they are and are trying to get more students abroad. Goucher College in Baltimore requires foreign study, and Princeton University has begun a program to help incoming students go abroad for a gap year before college.

 

The impact of time in the developing world is evident in the work of Abigail Falik, who was transformed by a summer in a Nicaraguan village when she was 16. As a Harvard Business School student two years ago, she won first place in a competition for the best plan for a "social enterprise." Now she is the chief executive of the resulting nonprofit, Global Citizen Year, which gives high school graduates a gap year working in a developing country.

 

Global Citizen Year's first class is in the field now, in Guatemala and Senegal, teaching English, computers, yoga, drama and other subjects. Ms. Falik is now accepting applications for the second class, and in another decade she hopes to have 10,000 students enrolled annually in Global Citizen Year.

 

Getting young people more engaged with global issues is also the aim of my annual "win-a-trip contest," in which I take a student with me on a reporting trip to the developing world. And without further delay: The winner this time is Mitch Smith, a 19-year-old from Overland Park, Kan., who is studying journalism at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He's a terrific writer who has never been outside the United States, so stay tuned for his blogging and videos from Africa later this year. (One possibility is an overland journey from Gabon through the two Congos to Angola).

Congratulations as well to the runner-up, Saumya Dave, a medical student who took a leave from Drexel University so that she could study writing at Columbia University. The other finalists are Kate Eaneman of the University of California at Berkeley and Matt Gillespie, a recent Stanford graduate now at the Hunter College School of Education. And thanks to the Center for Global Development for whittling down the pool of 893 applicants for me.

And for those of you who didn't make it, ask President Obama to create a Teach for the World so that you can win your own trip.

•

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

A LAST CHANCE FOR THE TRADE CENTER TO RISE AGAIN

BY MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG AND SHELDON SILVER

 

AFTER years of false starts and broken promises, we have reached a defining moment in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center. By Friday, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the site's developer, Larry Silverstein, must make a choice: Will they broker a compromise that allows them to move forward with rebuilding the historic heart of our city? Or will they allow their dispute to return to arbitration, condemning the World Trade Center site to years more of delays?

 

For the two of us, the choice is clear. In the days after our city was attacked, New Yorkers vowed to rebuild, to make Lower Manhattan whole again. And with new schools, parks and housing, it has been rejuvenated as a dynamic, bustling community. There has also been some important progress at ground zero. The memorial is on track to open in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks, next year. The tower at 7 World Trade Center is a commercial and critical success. Construction of the Port Authority's 1 World Trade Center, Mr. Silverstein's 4 World Trade Center and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Fulton Street Transit Center is well under way.

 

But the latest stalemate between the Port Authority and the developer, which has been dragging on since last summer, now threatens to overshadow and overwhelm all of the progress. At the root of their dispute is financing for the office towers that are to be built along Church Street, on the east side of the complex. With capital markets still tight, Mr. Silverstein is seeking credit assistance from the Port Authority for two of his skyscrapers; but the Port Authority is willing to fully back only one of them.

 

Because the new World Trade Center has been designed so that all the buildings share key infrastructure, an indefinite delay for one building would delay the entire eastern side of the site. That would mean the loss of 10,000 construction jobs and leave us with an enormous empty lot where we should have a revitalized Trade Center.

 

That outcome is unacceptable. And it doesn't have to end up this way: Mr. Silverstein and the Port Authority have one day to hash out an agreement that fulfills their moral obligation to our city.

 

Several months ago, the two of us spelled out a compromise. It's a deal that's still within reach. Our proposal would require Mr. Silverstein to invest significantly more equity and take on more risk, and the Port Authority to provide more temporary credit assistance to move construction forward on both towers.

 

Mr. Silverstein has been receptive to this plan, but the Port Authority has not, couching its opposition as an effort to protect taxpayers and preserve its ability to pay for other transportation and development projects in the region. Its continued intransigence, however, comes with its own price.

 

Delays at the site have already cost the Port Authority tens of millions of public dollars. Not only would further delays cost much more, but rent proceeds from a thriving World Trade Center would provide money for the Port Authority's other transportation projects around the city, including Moynihan Station and a new passenger rail tunnel under the Hudson River.

 

From the beginning, the redevelopment process was always intended to be a public-private collaboration. We need a reinvigoration of that partnership now more than ever. The parties have one day to produce a realistic schedule, a budget and a financing plan for the World Trade Center. The future of Lower Manhattan — and a piece of our national pride — depend on it.

 

Michael R. Bloomberg is the mayor of New York. Sheldon Silver is the speaker of the New York State Assembly.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

BRAKING BAD

BY RICHARD A. SCHMIDT

MARINA DEL REY, CALIF.

 

THE Obama administration has said that it may require automakers to install "smart pedals" on all new cars. This kind of system — already used in BMWs, Chryslers, Volkswagens and some of the newest Toyotas — deactivates the car's accelerator when the brake pedal is pressed so that the car can stop safely even if its throttle sticks open.

 

The idea is to prevent the kind of sudden acceleration that has recently led to the recall of millions of Toyotas. Federal safety regulators have received complaints asserting that this problem has caused accidents resulting in 52 deaths in Toyotas since 2000. Smart pedals might help prevent more such accidents if the cause of unintended acceleration turns out to be some vehicle defect.

 

But based on my experience in the 1980s helping investigate unintended acceleration in the Audi 5000, I suspect that smart pedals cannot solve the problem. The trouble, unbelievable as it may seem, is that sudden acceleration is very often caused by drivers who press the gas pedal when they intend to press the brake.

 

From the mid-1980s until 2000, thousands of incidents of sudden acceleration were reported in all makes and models of cars (and buses, tractors and golf carts). Then, as now, the incidents were relatively rare among car crashes generally, but they were nevertheless frequent and dangerous enough to upset automakers, drivers and the news media.

 

I looked into more than 150 cases of unintended acceleration in the 1980s, many of which became the subject of lawsuits against automakers. In those days, Audi, like Toyota today, received by far the most complaints. (I testified in court for Audi on many occasions. I have not worked for Toyota on unintended acceleration, though I did consult for the company seven years ago on another matter.)

 

In these cases, the problem typically happened when the driver first got into the car and started it. After turning on the ignition, the driver would intend to press lightly on the brake pedal while shifting from park to drive (or reverse), and suddenly the car would leap forward (or backward). Drivers said that continued pressing on the brake would not stop the car; it would keep going until it crashed. Drivers believed that something had gone wrong in the acceleration system, and that the brakes had failed.

 

But when engineers examined these vehicles post-crash, they found nothing that could account for what the drivers had reported. The trouble occurred in cars small and large, cheap and expensive, with and without cruise control or electronic engine controls, and with carburetors, fuel injection and even diesel engines. The only thing they had in common was an automatic transmission. An investigation by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration found no electro-mechanical defects to explain the problem. Nor did similar government studies in Canada and Japan or any number of private studies.

 

In the Toyota situation today, some have suggested that unintended acceleration has been caused by floor mats or sticking throttles, but there is considerable doubt about these explanations, and the search for the smoking gun continues. One thought is that computerized engine management systems or electronic controls may be to blame. And so it is interesting to note that unintended acceleration in the 1980s happened before the arrival of drive-by-wire controls and computerized engine-management systems.

 

Back then, many of us who worked in fields like ergonomics, human performance and psychology suspected that these unintended-acceleration events might have a human component. We noticed that the complaints were far more frequent among older drivers (in a General Motors study, 60-to-70-year-olds had about six times the rate of complaints as 20-to-30-year-olds), drivers who had little experience with the specific car involved (parking-lot attendants, car-wash workers, rental-car patrons) and people of relatively short stature.

 

Several researchers hypothesized how a driver, intending to apply the brake pedal to keep the car from creeping, would occasionally press the accelerator instead. Then, surprised that the car moved so much, he would try pressing harder. Of course, if his right foot was actually on the accelerator, the throttle would open and the car would move faster. This would then lead the driver to press the "brake" harder still, and to bring about even more acceleration. Eventually, the car would be at full throttle, until it crashed. The driver's foot would be all the way to the floor, giving him the impression that the brakes had failed.

 

In the cases that went to court, jurors naturally asked, why would a driver with decades of driving experience suddenly mistake the accelerator for the brake? And why would the episode last so long — often 6 to 10 seconds or more? Wouldn't that be ample time to shut off the ignition, shift to neutral or engage the parking brake?

 

First, in these situations, the driver does not really confuse the accelerator and the brake. Rather, the limbs do not do exactly what the brain tells them to. Noisy neuromuscular processes intervene to make the action slightly different from the one intended. The driver intends to press the brake, but once in a while these neuromuscular processes cause the foot to deviate from the intended trajectory — just as a basketball player who makes 90 percent of his free throws sometimes misses the hoop. This effect would be enhanced by the driver being slightly misaligned in the seat when he first gets in the car.

 

The answer to the second question is that, when a car accelerates unexpectedly, the driver often panics, and just presses the brake harder and harder. Drivers typically do not shut off the ignition, shift to neutral or apply the parking brake.

 

In 1989, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration concluded that the incidents of unintended acceleration by the Audi 5000 were mostly caused by this kind of pedal error — not some electro-mechanical defect in the vehicle. To fix the problem, Audi designed something called an automatic shift lock, which, when the car is being started, keeps the transmission in park unless and until the brake pedal is depressed. If the driver should press the accelerator instead of the brake, the vehicle remains safely in park.

 

(In a car with a manual transmission, a driver is naturally prevented from making a simple pedal error, because even if his right foot goes to the accelerator instead of the brake, the car still will not move unless he also intentionally lifts his left foot from the clutch.)

 

Audi ultimately gave the world's other automakers the rights to the patent on the automatic shift lock and by the mid-1990s virtually all new cars had adopted the feature or some variant of it. Incidents of sudden acceleration when people started their cars dropped sharply. The shift lock not only made people safer but also provided evidence for the hypothesis that most of the problems had been caused by driver error.

 

Yet the automatic shift lock did not entirely do away with sudden acceleration incidents — as the Toyota problems illustrate. The fix now championed by the Obama administration could work in situations in which there is an actual vehicle defect. It would tell the car that if it receives signals to both accelerate and brake, the accelerator should go dead so that the brake alone will work.

 

But this smart-pedal system can be of no use if the driver is simply pressing the accelerator and not touching the brake. The unintended acceleration — and the crash — would still occur.

What the smart pedal may do, however, is finally give us a sense of whether sudden acceleration tends to stem from operator error. If the reports of acceleration continue (and the smart pedals work properly), then there will be nothing and no one left to blame but the driver.

 

Richard A. Schmidt is a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

 

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******************************************************************************************I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

CONTINUING MISSION

 

The ISI chief Lt-Gen Shuja Pasha has been given a year's extension as a three-star general. He is expected to continue at his present post. The move coincides with similar extensions given to other military men. The purpose seems to be to ensure that the military effort against militancy which is currently underway continues without any disruption. This is sensible, given that in the past there has been doubt over the degree of military commitment to the battle against the Taliban. It is only over the past two years that we appear to have succeeded in putting together a team determined to take on the militants and do everything possible to defeat them. There is now, perhaps for the first time, conviction in the country that the military does truly mean business. This is vital to injecting hope in a nation where there has been far too much despondency. For the first time we can see before us the possibility of an all-out defeat for the militants. We must hope the decision will ensure that there is no going back in the effort against militancy. Persisting with the kind of effort we see now is the only way to achieve this. It is true that in the longer run this needs to be combined with much more, but there is no getting away from the fact that defeat on the ground in physical terms is absolutely vital to getting anywhere at all.

There is another dimension to this. Unlike other ISI chiefs in the past, who had quite evidently seen themselves as above civilian authority, Lt-Gen Shuja Pasha has been willing to brief parliament on efforts against militancy; indeed he has even given an interview or two talking about the role of the agency. This is significant in a country where the military agencies in particular have remained shrouded in shadows zealously guarding all that is happening from the eyes of ordinary people. A change in this is vital. We need greater trust between the men in khaki uniform and the people they serve. In the past this has been sadly missing. The relative candour and tact adopted by men such as the ISI chief can help build this. The extension granted in service is therefore a wise step. It is important that the team we have assembled to fight militancy be kept intact till the final target is achieved.

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

SLIP OF THE LIP

 

The president, after creating a degree of consternation at the APNS award ceremony in Islamabad by saying that the 17th Amendment would be done away with by the end of next month, quickly clarified himself by saying he had actually meant the end of March. We must hope this indeed is nothing more than a slip of the tongue. All of us have been waiting far too long for the Constitution to be restored to a document that more closely resembles the 1973 model. The reduction in the powers of the president that would come with a scrapping of the 17th Amendment could do a great deal to restore stability and the balance of power within our country. Despite the many claims on this count made by the prime minister, few are as yet convinced that parliament is truly a sovereign body. Most believe the actual process of decision-making takes place at the presidency. This perception – whether fact or fiction – does a great deal of damage to the working of our democracy. Things could change after the 17th Amendment is scrapped.

There is also the question of the credibility of the government. We have been hearing promises for too long that the 17th Amendment will go. There has been a clear reluctance on the part of the president to do this. We must hope that he has now seen that there is no good in persisting with this attitude. Now that he has given his word in public, Mr Zardari must indeed ensure the 17th Amendment goes. Both he and the prime minister appear now to be saying that the date for this will be around the end of March. The date of March 23 is also being mentioned. We hope that this does indeed happen over the coming weeks.

 

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I. THE NEWS

INHERITED SICKNESS

 

The news from Balochistan of around a dozen children suffering from a rare – and almost invariably fatal – skin disease that results in damage being caused by ultraviolet light highlights problems caused by ignorance and lack of awareness across our country. The illness is reported to be genetic in nature and largely a consequence of marriages between close relatives over a number of generations. Other serious sicknesses, including thalassaemia, are frequently the result of similar factors. So too is congenital deafness and deformities of the kind seen recently at Rehri Goth in Karachi. Though legislation to test people before they are married has been proposed, there is as yet no implementation. What we need is far more awareness. People need to know that marrying first cousins brings with it certain risks in many cases. Such marriages of course continue to be favoured given that ties between young people continue in most cases to be 'arranged' by elders and the presence of traditions that bar marriage outside clan or caste.

The story from Balochistan has been taken up by the media. But television channels can potentially play a far greater role in educating people about such issues. By doing so a great deal of suffering and misery could be reduced. A key to this though lies of course in educating people and widening the still limited net of literacy. People able to read are also able to access a far broader range of information. Indeed curricula at schools should be used to inform children – at the appropriate level – on health matters. Programmes aimed at this have had great success in other countries. We need to emulate their example and ensure we do all we possibly can to save people from harm caused by inherited factors which give children sickness as a part of their genes.

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

NEW SOLUTIONS FOR AFGHANISTAN?

ZEENIA SATTI

The Pentagon's seemingly wise new solutions for Afghanistan are divorced from reality and likely to suffer the fate of Obama's pre-election slogan of change. It is being said about Marjah that "we cannot win this war, but we can help the Afghans win it." The question is: which Afghans and what kind of help? The footage of troops interacting with the locals showed a mere five to six dust-covered old men carrying blankets given by US Marines. The town-hall-style meeting with Afghan civilians showed forty to fifty elderly Afghans whose spokesmen sang praise of corruption-free Taliban rule. In a blockaded combat zone, there were no mobile camps run by the Marines for wounded civilians or captured Taliban. With three Marines to every Afghan soldier, only 2 per cent of army and police recruits from the south, and Dari as the language of training, the political conciliation of Marjah is ill-conceived. At the national level, the Karzai government is born of massive electoral rigging and violates the core principle of democracy: respect for individual vote. It carries no legitimacy whatsoever with the Afghans, though he is acceptable as the "lesser evil" to America and India.

There is thus a tension between the local control of democracy and the American control of democracy in Afghanistan. This tension is hardwired into America's Afghan venture. Any government in a box that the US generals are ready to roll out after "clearing" an area will be a government that is not born of legitimate political practices--i.e., is not a democratic government. Going by the Afghan tradition of dealing with illegitimate governments, there is every reason to expect the Taliban will return once the Nato troops move out of Marjah and other areas of operation throughout the country.

The ideal solution would be for the US troops to leave Afghanistan, followed by fresh and fair elections under UN auspices. With foreign troops gone, combat fatigue will make the Afghans turn to nation-building. Just a fraction of US war capital could help a truly elected government build schools, hospitals and infrastructure with the same sincerity which galvanises the amazing Afghan resistance. There has been no Stinger missile display in Afghan resistance that would point to foreign hand equipping it. That is why the American media has started talking about the Afghan resistance with respect. The media's focus on Afghans' commitment to their independence has now replaced the focus on latter's stupid involvement with Osama bin Laden ten years ago.

The departure of US troops can only be facilitated through a dialogue. Unfortunately, the Afghan resistance lacks a sophisticated leadership capable of handling the complexities of dealing with the US to Afghanistan's benefit. Already, a very auspicious moment has been missed. The first six months of Barack Obama's ascent to office, followed by Washington's acknowledgment that 70 percent of Afghan Taliban were not US enemies, was a propitious time for the Afghan resistance to start negotiating, with the caveat of resuming combat in case of unacceptable terms. This would have strengthened Obama's position vis-à-vis the Pentagon-CIA-Corporate nexus, raising his domestic stock, versus the neocons who got America stuck in a quagmire in Afghanistan, with no exit strategy. The nexus has now prevailed over Obama's promise of change.

Afghanistan stands a historic opportunity to prosper due to being a potential hub of energy supply from Central Asia to Pakistani, Indian and Euro-American markets. The emergent and advanced economies have an ever escalating demand for the ever diminishing fossil fuels. Central Asia is rich in its deposits but is landlocked, except through transit via Russia, China, Iran, or Afghanistan-Pakistan. Given regional and international political realities, Indian and Euro-US markets are vying for the Afghan-Pakistan route.

In the offing is lucrative pipeline links to Afghanistan's immediate neighbours to the west, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (through which all of the rest of Central Asian energy supply can flow through Afghanistan) and in the east to Pakistan and through it to India.

If the US had not invaded Afghanistan and thereby destabilised the whole region, Afghanistan stood an unprecedented chance of economic cooperation and integrated infrastructure development, leading to prosperity for all its inhabitants. India and Pakistan would have had incentive to resolve their outstanding issues through dialogue. Afghanistan would have integrated into regional and world markets, which in time would bring progress functionally related to such integration. Pakistan could have risen as the new regional hegemon, offering military protection through defence pacts to Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and dealing with India on equal terms.

The fallout of American intervention weakened Pakistan and turned India into a bully. The religious radicalisation of the region now augurs ill for India's long-term security. Afghanistan, instead of enjoying cultural exchanges and integrated infrastructure development with Central and South Asia, is engulfed in war, terrorism and misery. The American economy crashed, which made its military ventures far more destructive to its population's welfare then ever before. No good has come of the neocons' venture into Afghanistan.

If such a situation is not reversed through a meaningful dialogue in Afghanistan, the logical progression of events points to local genocide. Washington has decided to sustain its otherwise unsustainable suburban lifestyle through military means, deployed for securing competition-free access to fossil fuels. By the time the US has taken its Afghan surge to a logical conclusion, the Pakhtuns will most likely be wiped off the region, and what is left of them will be a diaspora of biblical tragic proportions. Their women could be faced with starvation or prostitution (as did Iraqi women), their children sold into slavery. The US will try to change the ratio of ethnic composition of Afghanistan to produce a state with a majority Uzbek, Turkmen, Tajik and Hazara mix, which can be integrated into Central Asian region in a politico- economic framework. One of the most heroic people on earth, and one of the most honorable cultures in human history are faced with extinction at the hands of Western forces in Afghanistan because the former lack wise leadership and the latter thinks it can kill without accountability. The precise number of dead in the region has never been released by the Pentagon.

This is all the more tragic because for once in history, the Afghans stand a chance at rapid economic development. They can enjoy border-free trade with Central Asia in the northwest to Pakistan in the east. Afghanistan can establish a free trade zone at the very centre of its land, between Mazar-e-Sharif in the north to Qal'eh Now in the south, and between Kabul and Kandahar in the east. The Afghan free trade-zone could be the hub of international economic activity on the one hand and a source of national integration on the other. It could provide the Afghans livelihood and service the emerging Asian economies with their largest pool of the world's rapidly enriching population. Every major energy corporation in the world is waiting to put up shop in the region once peace is established. The Pakhtun habit of hard work could make them the most coveted local work force for corporate ventures. Jobs with lucrative salaries to tremendous business opportunities could make the Pakhtuns of the area thrive instead of dying in dust for the honour of their land and the love of their religion.

The US is not telling that it wants control of an energy corridor through Afghanistan. It is presenting. instead, fake goals such as dismantling of Al Qaeda, because it has pitched its oil seeking wars of aggression as "defensive." If Washington spoke the truth, instead of being funny and offering money to the fighters to capitulate, maybe the Afghan resistance would acquiesce to an arrangement of mutual benefit.

If violence continues, genocide is the only logical conclusion of Obama's Afghan surge. If resistance starts to prevail, B52s will roll in. Any other goal setting by Pentagon is a delusional venture into imaginary successes denied by reality.

 

The tragedy can be averted but for lack of local leadership.

The writer is a Washington-based consultant on geopolitics.

Email: zeenia.satti@yahoo.com

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

HOW A NEW CHAPTER OPENED

SALEEM SAFI

The misunderstandings between Pakistan and Afghanistan should not be attributed to the wrong policies of Kabul alone. The monumental mistakes of our own policymakers in tackling the situation in Afghanistan after the US attack and the subsequent fall of the Taliban have contributed in equal measure to the Afghans' hostility towards Pakistan.

For the last eight years our policymakers ignored the importance of courting Hamid Karzai. With the exception of Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Mehmood Khan Achakzai and Afzal Khan Lala, who have a good understanding of Afghan politics and society, no one supported the idea of developing close contacts with the Afghan president.

However, the emergence of Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, two staunch anti-Pakistan political leaders, as opponents of Karzai in the recently held presidential elections came as a rude shock to our policymakers.

Pakistan had established secret contacts with Abdullah in the initial stages of the presidential campaign. Pakistan even promised to support him and Dr Abdullah was keen to get this support. However, later good sense prevailed in Islamabad and the policymakers decided to favour Karzai.

For two years preceding the presidential elections, the United States, with the firm support of Britain, was making all-out efforts to get rid of Karzai. Initially, Karzai was subjected to a smear campaign in the Western media. But this strategy failed to pay dividends. Then the US tried in vain to introduce, test and support other personalities against Karzai. In this endeavour, the US and its allies went to the extent of supporting even Gul Agha Sherozai, governor of Nangrahar province. But every effort met with failure, and ultimately the alliance of those opposing Karzai chose Dr Abdullah as their favoured candidate.

The United States itself demanded that Pakistan support Abdullah. Every American diplomat in Islamabad insisted on this, but Pakistan did not oblige and stood by Karzai to the end. Knowing that Saudi Arab and Turkey supported him in the re-election bid due to Pakistan's efforts, Karzai was grateful to Pakistan for its support in his victory.

In opposition to Pakistan, India and Iran extended all-out support to Abdullah. Kabul's intelligent chief, occupying this position thanks to US support, also openly supported Abdullah against Karzai. This situation pushed Karzai away from these countries and towards Pakistan.

Before the elections, the United States had been certain that Karzai would be unable to secure more than 50 per cent of the votes in the first phase. But Karzai exceeded this percentage. After the initial election results, the powers opposing him decided to make the election results controversial. In this phase, Pakistan again stood by Karzai while the US was firmly behind Dr Abdullah. It was the first occasion that Pakistan did not listen to American dictates regarding its policy towards Afghanistan.

In the whole scenario, the work done by Pakistan's ambassador to Kabul, Muhammad Sadiq, was important. Pakistan for the first time has the right man to lead its mission in Kabul. Being a Pakhtoon, Sadiq knows well the intricacies of Afghan traditions. Therefore, he changed the traditional bureaucratic approach and pursued an open-door policy to exploit all avenues and opportunities. He changed the past practice of exclusive diplomatic focus on the eastern and southern Pakhtoon belt and gave equal importance to the leaderships of northern and western Afghanistan.

His endeavours evoked unexpectedly good response from leaders of western and northern Afghanistan. Additionally, during his long stay in the United States, for education and for diplomatic assignments, Mr Sadiq developed a thorough understanding of US thinking and policies and as such was well-equipped to deal with all players.

While the eastern and southern leaderships of Afghanistan traditionally have good relations with Pakistan, the real spoilers hailed from the north and west of the country. If any leader from the east and south ever became anti-Pakistan, his attitude was either the result of Pakistan's persistent blunders or of pressure from the power-wielding northern leadership.

Pakistan seems to be in a positive fence-mending role with the central and northern leaderships of Afghanistan for the last few months. These efforts were bolstered by the fact that almost all powerful northern leaders were Karzai's allies. The Uzbek Rasheed Dostam and the important Hazara community's leadership supported Karzai in the presidential elections. At the same time, Karzai nominated the most powerful Tajik leader, Qasim Faheem, as vice president to chip away Tajik support to Abdullah Abdullah.

The rapprochement between Pakistan and Karzai has had a positive influence on his anti-Pakistan allies. Therefore, this leadership came closer to Pakistan due to Karzai's active role as a peacemaker. Karzai's efforts for the patch-up continue.

The aforementioned factors ultimately transformed Kabul's attitude towards Pakistan. And this trend may very well continue if Islamabad and Kabul avoid future blunders. To avoid any problems, Afghanistan and Pakistan must discuss all issues on bilateral level, without any third-party mediation. Such a policy will push the United States, India and Iran out of the equation and pave the way for durable friendship between the two countries.

Afghanistan's problem stems from persistent foreign interventions. Karzai needs to hold direct talks with the Taliban and must satisfy their demands, including the demand for ouster of foreign forces from Afghan soil. The Taliban and other Islamist forces must reciprocate Karzai's positive overtures. The realignment of these opposite camps will bolster Karzai's confidence to deal with foreign forces from a position of strength.

Pakistan has legitimate interests in Afghanistan and, as such, Karzai should heed Islamabad's calls for the protection of Pakistani interests. Reciprocally, instead of exploiting Karzai's weaknesses, Pakistan must play a positive role in the development of reconciliation between the Taliban and Kabul.

Unity among Afghans is a recipe for peace in their country. Intervention by foreign elements will always ignite fires, instead of helping to end internecine wars in that country. A durable peace between Islamabad and Kabul can only be ensured through direct bilateral talks by pushing out India, the United States and Iran from the equation.
The writer works for Geo TV. Email: saleem. safi@janggroup.com.pk

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

THE IDES OF MARCH AGAIN

IKRAM SEHGAL

Democracy of sorts came back into being in Pakistan on Feb 18, 2008. The 1973 Constitution, hamstrung by its principal author himself within hours of its enactment, had been systematically disfigured over 25 years of manipulation by those who excel at circumventing the laws of the land and adapting it for that of the jungle. Conspiracy theories abound about the 17th Amendment's promised repeal (the March 23 date pledged by the prime minister has now been moved to the end of the month).

Will the proposed amendments suit the ground realities in this country? History has shown that there is good reason for Pakistanis to hold their breath in and around the Ides of March, or shortly thereafter. This season seems to be no different!

Feb 18, 2008, was also a good day for the armed forces of Pakistan. Within 90 days of taking over as chief of the army staff, Kayani took the army (and the intelligence services thereof) away from the electoral process, thus ensuring a fairly free and transparent elections. The army spent 2008 reorganising and training for counter-insurgency, sometimes on-the-job, but, above all, instilling and inculcating the motivation to take on militants running riot in vast areas along our north-western borders. When in May 2009 the "clear and present danger" threatened by Sufi Mohammad provided the "casus belli," the army was ready for action. Swat became a defining moment, South Waziristan followed within months.

During a recent trip abroad there were moments one came close to tears listening to praise (at times given grudgingly) for the Pakistani army's magnificent performance in battle, for someone used to constant disparagement of the uniform, this turnaround in perception was overwhelming. That the success was possible because of the shedding of precious blood by our officers and jawans was not lost on the intelligentsia, in contrast, a motivated Western media has been niggardly in recognising this. Alarmed detractors, both inside and outside the country, initiated an obnoxious campaign to tar and feather the army's success. A Newsweek cover story blatantly touted the Indian canard of an ISI-supported Lashkar-e-Taiba "looking west."

Three years ago Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry stood his ground in the face of a uniformed "show of force." Hopefully, the affect of the superior judiciary coming into its own will permeate downwards to the lower courts, with greater pressure than the present trickledown effect. The justice the common man requires is the purview of lower courts, which are presently wallowing in corruption. Similar to the cleansing of the superior courts, action must be taken to get rid of corrupt and/or ill-motivated judicial officers down the line. The chief justice and his fellow justices in the Supreme Court and the provincial High Courts should bone up on Clausewitz's first "Principle of War," the "selection and maintenance of Aim."

What the Supreme Court faced down in February was only one of many "dirty tricks," of which there will be plenty in future. What are the Honourable Justices doing about those who function as upholders of the rule of law? What has been exposed recently on TV was abhorrent. When criminals function in the name of justice, justice becomes a crime.

 

The 1973 Constitution is weighted heavily in favour of the prime minister's authority. There must also be sufficient balance between the president and the prime minister. Mian Nawaz Sharif's many accomplishments, such as the nuclear explosion, energising Pakistan's economy and making it business-friendly, came to naught when he tried to take on the armed forces and the judiciary.

If the president's special powers are clipped under the 17th Amendment, will things change? Separation of the powers defined in the 1973 Constitution notwithstanding, the personality of the individual and the perception of his authority also matter. Technically, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee is the superior officer. However, who carries greater clout, he or the chief of the army staff?

Gilani must be commended for not allowing things to get out of hand on one issue after another with the opposition, the superior judiciary and the army. He often plays the good cop to Zardari's bad cop, and both manage the charade well. In matters of critical importance the man from Multan has virtually no say. If one day he should discover his self-respect and self-esteem, politically he is non-consequential, too weak to attempt even a "Leghari." Loss of 17th Amendment powers notwithstanding, Asif Ali Zardari can consign Gilani to the political dustbin whenever he wants. If his own party revolts against him, could Gilani depend on the opposition to stand by him in a vote of confidence? So why should Zardari care about his powers being taken away by the 18th Amendment?

Zardari's dominating input as president will continue to remain. Take the example of Nasim Beg, a superb technocrat who would make an excellent finance minister. Unfortunately, he carries the Zardari tag. Can Gilani even dream of appointing his own man instead of Beg in this critical slot? Indeed, can he take a stand or critical issues and tackle some influential advisors? Undercutting the reputation of the government, these dubious characters only pay lip-service to the prime minister's authority because they well know Asif Ali Zardari will never play second fiddle to Yusuf Raza Gilani.

The real (indeed, only) reason for the present apprehension about the 17th Amendment is about the selection of the next COAS. Because of the special circumstances prevailing and the success achieved by the army under his watch, Kayani commands tremendous respect, both within the armed forces and with the US and Coalition partners, and we cannot afford to lose this potential. Moreover, he has still some miles to go to rid the army of all the undeserving individuals who were promoted by Musharraf, as well as correcting other anomalies that have been tarnishing the army's image.

However, giving Kayani an extension will upset the schedule of career planning carefully crafted to ensure a smooth and equitable process. The many extensions Musharraf gave to himself destroyed this system. While an extension must remain a possibility in the present situation, Kayani could be elevated to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, with priority being given to his choice as successor as COAS. A father figure is needed not only as a calming influence but to maintain the continuity of military non-intervention. Let's face it: democracy is being sustained despite provocations today because of Kayani's single-minded commitment to the process. Remember Murphy's Law, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Hopefully this month of March will be unlike others, and we will have a smooth transition from what presently is a presidential system in all but name to, theoretically at least, parliamentary democracy. The ultimate question is, does this parliamentary system, where legislators do everything under the sun but legislate, really suit Pakistan?

The writer is a defence and political analyst. Email: isehgal@pathfinder9.com

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

RIGHTS WITHOUT RIGHTS

DR FARZANA BARI

The UN theme this year for Women's International Day was "Equal rights, equal opportunities: progress for all." One wonders how to commemorate the day around the theme when rights and opportunities are simply disappearing from the lives of everyone; men, women and children. What progress is there to be claimed for all? What seems to be in progress is poverty, hunger, disease, unemployment, inflation, suicide bombings, humiliation and violation of human rights by the state agencies and institutions. Are we then asking for equality in police torture recently shown on television channels? Equality in sharing the brutality of the factory-owner who kidnapped, chained and tortured a laborer in Gujranwala? Do we want to share the humiliation of bus hostess in Sialkot? Do we want to have equality in the fate of Shazia, the young domestic servant who was tortured to death?

The new social, economic and political realities here are creating new vulnerabilities for women who are at the receiving end, suffering the most because of their already disadvantaged social positioning in the society. The war on terror has created a new category of the vulnerable; the widows, orphaned children, and families abandoned by the Taliban who left their homes. Against this backdrop of rising violence, militancy, crumbling economy, and the deteriorating law and order situation, the issue of gender equality is clearly been put on the back-burner now.

The Constitution of Pakistan is full of contradictions regarding equality of rights for men and women. While the Article 25 of the Constitution stipulates that "there shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex alone", there are several laws in the statute that negate equal rights to women such as the Hudood Ordinance, the Law of Evidence, Qisas and Diyat, the Citizenship Rights, etc. When equality of rights is not even established in the constitution of the country, how can we expect the same in practice?

The PPP government, despite its pro-women credentials, has taken few steps to repeal discriminatory legislations against women. Contrary to the expectations of women's rights groups, the Parliamentary Committee for Constitutional Reform has refrained from proposing the removal of the discriminatory laws. However, the government deserves appreciation for the two very important bills passed by parliament -- the Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill and the Protection Against Acid Crimes, and Rehabilitation of and Compensation For Victims of Acid Crimes Bill.

The bill regarding protection against sexual harassment of women at workplace will not only provide a safe working environment to female workers, it will also legitimise and strengthen women's presence in the public arena. Another important bill, on domestic violence, that was passed by parliament could not get through the enate and was referred back to the parliamentary committee.

The resistance in passing the bill in the Senate illustrated the patriarchal mindset of the members present in our legislative bodies that refuse to criminalise violence on women inflicted by their family members. While successive governments have ignored the need to put a system in place that would systematically gather information on violence against women to address the issue effectively, the data gathered by NGOs shows an alarming increase in such violence. A recent study conducted by an NGO reported a 13 per cent increase in anti-woman violence . The media is also playing a vital role in highlighting such issues through reporting cases of violation of women's rights. And yet our legislators are not interested in providing a legal cover to women against such crimes.

Equality of opportunities and progress for all also seems irrelevant in the context rising unemployment. Industrial units are closing down, agriculture is suffering due to non-availability of electricity and water, etc. Opportunities to find work and to live with dignity are shrinking for the masses. Despite the popularity of discourses regarding gender equality at the state and societal level, and despite the higher level of gender consciousness, a lot of gains made by women over the past years are under threat because of the overall deterioration in the political and economic state of the country. People expect their governments to guarantee rights by creating opportunities for growth and progress for all. These expectations are particularly high when governments are democratically elected. That is why the people of Pakistan always fought and sacrificed their lives for the supremacy of democracy in the country. Democracy was not offered to the nation on a platter. In fact, the present democratic dispensation is the result of the longest resistance movement in the political history of the country where people fought for rule of law and against military dictatorship in the hope that democracy will ensure equality of rights, opportunities and progress. However, today our democratic government is failing us on all counts.

The hold of the establishment over decision making in financial and political matters of the country may be cited as one of the reasons behind the failure of successive civil governments in fulfilling people's expectations. The only way forward for the people of Pakistan in general and women in particular is to mobilise and organise themselves and force the establishment and the government of the day through their collective voice and will to re-orient national priorities in favour of the people.

The writer is acting director of the Centre of Excellence in Gender Studies at Quaid-e-Azam University. Email: farzana@comsats. net.pk

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

THE CREATION OF IGNORANCE

KAMILA HYAT

The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor

There can be no doubt that the past seven years, since private media channels went on air in late 2002, have created a kind of revolution in the country.

Never before in the history of Pakistan have so many different opinions aired so openly on television channels. The majority are fiercely hostile to the government. For those of us who remember the long years when only PTV flicked onto air during the 1980s broadcasting seemingly endless images of the late General Ziaul Haq and his henchmen, the change is nothing short of startling. It is also encouraging that this media has adopted a life and will of its own, fighting back against attempts to stifle it – most notably in 2007 when the channels run by Geo, and more briefly several other networks, were taken off the airwaves by the Musharraf regime.

But, while the electronic media has certainly opened up debate on all kinds of issues and with its tabloid-style reporting created a kind of obsession with news, the question is also what thought processes it is encouraging. The volume of religious or pseudo-religious programmes on television, when all the channels are taken collectively, is enormous. Some analysis suggests it is indeed higher than any other kind of programming. Cable operators report that channels which exclusively broadcast religious programmes are much in demand, with some households tuning out music and entertainment channels, and leaving only these to play on. The same kind of narrow morality that has been a factor in the Basant ban which has so drastically altered the Lahore winter skyscape appears to apply here. Reflecting the views of the Taliban, people see TV as essentially 'evil', but religious programmes as good. Even though he has mercifully vanished from our screens, the ghost of Zia lives on.

A new report, produced by Islamabad-based researchers, documents how religious programmes depict women, non-Muslims and key national issues. The results, with the full report yet to be released, look potentially worrying. The authors of the study call on parliament, the judiciary and PEMRA to check programming that promotes hatred, goes against the rule of law or channels that are not licensed but still offered to viewers by cable operators. It indeed also notes how a 'good Muslim' is presented by these programmes and the advertisements played during the broadcasts, with extortions to do more than practice the tenets of faith by donating money to specific causes or otherwise supporting them.

Beyond religion, it would be interesting also to study the extent to which television promotes superstition, in all its various forms, with programmes that delve into the possible presence of ghosts in our midst or encourage callers to discover their 'future' by speaking to soothsayers of various kinds. Some channels put out programmes that suggest various semi-religious means be used to combat illness. Others insist medicines for conditions such as diabetes be abandoned in favour of concoctions of various kinds. Conventional practitioners, also through television, have in some cases described the damage such advice can cause. In some cases it is believed to have resulted even in avoidable death.

Ignorance comes in many forms. On our channels, often hosting 'religious' programmes, we have hosts who promote hatred against non-Muslims, others who frequently speak on channels glorify the Taliban, advocate the Pakistan military engage in a global battle to defeat anti-Muslim forces led by India and Zionists and promotes violence in various ways. In some cases the purpose seems to be to specifically direct messages the way of the urban youth – with some popular 'hosts' combining the ideas listed above with appreciation for 'modern' lifestyles. Judging by the messages posted on websites, and the views of many younger people, it appears a large number are taken in. Some seem to believe the impossible dreams of glory and greatness through military conquest put out to them, failing to recognise that reducing India to a dot on the map is not something that can, in the real world, happen. It is quite conceivable that the establishment has a role in the promotion of some of the personalities supporting these views and the campaigns that aim to convert them into heroes. It is worth noting that a specific effort seems to be made to target the youth, especially those who may in the future influence opinion.

Other programmes appear to be aimed at women, sometimes exploiting their vulnerabilities. Like the Taliban found in Swat, women can determine a great deal within homes. Surveys also show that they are among the most ardent viewers of television programmes, selecting most often a mix of Indian soaps and their depiction of reality alongside religious shows and a mix of other programming.

It is of course the weaknesses of our political parties and their many failings that have pushed people into the attractive world of fantasy. In times when Pakistan ranks as a nation with amongst the lowest development indicators in the world and when its citizens are a constant target of suspicion at international airports and other places, it is perhaps tempting to believe that our forces could actually capture much of the world or that the solution to our problems lies in adopting a more passionately religious lifestyle. Realistic, 'pro-people' solutions, in the form of a political agenda that includes major land reforms and the adoption of other policies that could benefit ordinary people, have not been effectively put forward by our political parties, including those that claim to lean to the left.

The mindset created by the media is a rather mixed one. The exposure to an unrelenting diet of TV, with sets staying on for almost all the 24 hours of the day in many households, has altered lives. Thinking has also changed. The new openness we see is without doubt positive. Media images of the flogging of a young woman in Swat, or more recently torture by the police, have played a part in shaping attitudes. They have also generated debate on all kinds of topics that had for decades remained taboo in our society. But the electronic media has in other cases also pushed thought in a specific direction taking it towards obscurantism and ignorance – and this is a disturbing trend in a society that badly needs meaningful change.

Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

CONFRONTING REALITY

TALAT MASOOD

With a $1.4 trillion GNP, India ranks as the world's 10th largest economy. The Indian leadership has been working along the lines of a well conceived plan to transform India into a military and strategic power. They plan to spend $100 billion during the next ten years on acquisitions to modernise the structure of their forces and the arms buildup will continue until they feel confident of having achieved a level of conventional and strategic parity with China.

Delhi's competitive nature of its relationship with China fits remarkably well with the US' designs and grand strategy in the region. For Pakistan to expect that India would restrain its regional or global aspirations to reduce Pakistan's insecurities would be unrealistic. This development has to be viewed in the context of the India-China-US triangle. The other converging factor between the US and India is the fight against the Islamic radical elements.

There is no doubt that the Mumbai incident (26/11) has left a huge imprint on the Indian psyche. This fact is not well understood in Pakistan and understandably so because terrorist acts are a common occurrence here. Indians of course argue that militants that are now hurting Pakistan are its own creation and that it has failed to stop these organisations from operating freely.

The responsibility on the leadership of both sides is to ensure that the militant organisations do not become so strong as to put at risk the lives of millions of people. And any disaster of this nature can only be averted through dialogue and mature conduct as nuclear powers. There is also a need to educate the public of the consequences of a nuclear catastrophe.It is an irony of fate that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is among the last generation of Indian leaders who genuinely desire peace with Pakistan. He indicated even during his first term in the office that he was serious in bringing about a rapprochement with Pakistan. But he was then heading a minority government and was too preoccupied with the Indo-US nuclear deal. With great difficulty he overcame the opposition of the coalition partners to the deal and at one occasion he had to put at stake the future of his government.

In his second term, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh heads a government in which Congress is in clear majority. Despite the serious setback in Indo-Pak relations and strong opposition from within his party, Manmohan Singh is supposedly still interested in working out an Indo-Pakistan deal. The problem is that he is not sufficiently strong to overcome the opposition from within the party and the establishment to take the leap forward for finding a solution to Kashmir and other problems that have bedeviled the relationship between the two countries.

The PPP and all other major political parties on our side are willing to extend the hand of friendship and the government has repeatedly expressed its desire to engage in a structured dialogue with India. But with the low credibility of our top leadership and their weak grip over major policy issues, India would prefer to stall. Also, our military's attitude towards jihadi groups and our relations with India also seems to be unclear. Last year our economy grew at two per cent as compared to India's which was 7.5 per cent and may move to 9-10 per cent in the coming years. With militancy still not under control, our economy will remain under great distress. We must confront the reality of how will we sustain a growing defence budget with a feeble economy and lackluster governance. The writer is a retired lieutenant-general. Email: talat@ comsats.net.pk

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

MUCH-DESERVED EXTENSION OF DG ISI

 

THE head of the country's elite intelligence agency, the ISI, Lt General Ahmed Shuja Pasha has been given one-year's extension in his service. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has given approval for the purpose on the recommendations of the Ministry of Defence.

It is indeed a positive development that will not only help further improve the excellent performance of the organization he heads but would also best serve the interests of the country in a complicated security scenario. General Pasha is considered as a highly professional and committed officer, who has done a remarkable job in giving new directions to the working of the premier intelligence agency. His extension has assumed significance and become meaningful in the backdrop of the country's ongoing war against terrorism. It is widely believed that it was because of the right kind of background and expertise of the General that the country has been able to achieve a breakthrough in counter-insurgency. The success is directly linked to the right kind and precise nature of intelligence gathering that has helped the Pakistan Army and the law enforcing agencies to eliminate militants with minimum collateral damage. He is said to have introduced modern intelligence gathering techniques including high tech devices not only to fight militancy but also counter conspiracies of our enemies. It is in this background that we have been pleading in these columns that there was a need to retain services of officers of his calibre, experience and expertise as he has become a symbol of the country's success in the fight against militancy. Hopefully, his continuation would send right kind of message to all quarters about the continuity of the country's policy as well as decisive progress in the war against terrorism. Extension by the Prime Minister in the service of the ISI Chief has also quashed apprehensions being expressed by some political circles that this could become a cause of some kind of friction between civilian and military leadership and proves that the two have unanimity of view on the issue. We hope that during his extended tenure, General Pasha would be able to further galvanize the performance of the agency, which is seen by every Pakistani with respect and held in high esteem because of the remarkable services being rendered by it to further the cause of the country.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

ERDOGAN REFLECTS TURKEY'S PRIDE

 

TURKISH Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has upheld the country's self-respect and pride by adopting a dignified stance in the latest diplomatic row with the United States. Turkey has recalled its ambassador from Washington following adoption of a resolution by the US Congress panel branding the World War-I massacre of Armenians as genocide.

The Turkish Prime Minister has declared that he will not send back the ambassador unless the United States clarifies the situation. Though the move has been initiated by a panel of the US Congress yet it is in line with the track record of the United States to pressurize, harass and arm-twist even its staunchest of allies. Turkey is one of the closest friends and allies of the United States and, therefore, has every right to take it as an affront. One fails to understand what was the need to dig old graves when the issue has the potential to harm relations between the two countries. But the US-led West has been indulging similar tactics in other parts of the world and the Western countries openly favour others especially their co-religionist on issues involving Muslims even if the latter are on the right side. We have seen this all along in the Middle East conflict as well as in Sudan where the United States and its allies have waged a venomous propaganda campaign to malign the Sudanese Government on the Darfur situation. The West also adopted similar tactics in Indonesia and supported Christians mutiny for independence in East Timor. History tells that Armenians were better off during Ottoman rule and excelled in every field but they were instigated for a revolt by the West. Armenians also have a history of conflict with Azerbaijan and is in illegal occupation of about 20 per cent of its territory. In this backdrop, the American move is clearly a reflection of bias against Muslims and, therefore, the response of the Turkish Prime Minister is befitting and needs to be appreciated by all.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

THE POLICE TOO HAVE A CASE

 

GUJRANWALA Police achieved a major success when it killed two proclaimed offenders in an encounter in Khanewal on Monday. The proud people of Gujranwala who were victims of the notorious gang heaved a sigh of relief and in fact overjoyed and in their reaction showered flower petals at the Police Party that was bringing back the corpses.

However some NGOs took the opportunity to criticize the Police and even Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that if the Police had displayed dacoits corpses on roads, they would face action according to the law. No doubt Islam as well as the law of the land prohibit disgracing the dead and we don't think that it was the intention of the Police party that were shifting the dead bodies. SSP (Operations) Malik Tariq commenting on the reports clarified that the Police had not displayed the dead bodies and the people after learning about the killing of the two proclaimed offenders themselves had gathered around the van. The huge gathering was a testimony to the extent of the agony they were passing through and the relief they felt on the death of the two criminals who had killed police personnel and kidnapped people for ransom. One must also praise brave Head Constable Muhammad Yasin who sacrificed his life during the encounter. We are of the opinion that the Police too have a case to prove that they pay the price by giving their lives to ensure security for the citizens and deserve recognition from every one rather than criticism. Our society has been brutalized to such an extent that no one feels secure and police is held responsible for its failure. In such an environment, if honest and dedicated policemen act on the call of the duty they deserve encouragement. Citizens too on several occasions in the past apprehended criminals in Karachi and other cities and handed them over to Police which we think is a positive development. Though there are black sheep in Police, who misuse the law and indulge in inhuman acts against innocent people to extort money like the incident in Chiniot a few days back, it is rather harsh to criticize Policemen who perform their duty as a religious obligation.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

A GOOD INITIATIVE OF PM

BURHANUDDIN HASAN

 

In the tradition of US Presidents, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has taken a bold democratic initiative to present himself to the people through weekly broadcasts on Radio Pakistan. The purpose of this exercise seems to be to inform the people about the government's performance on a weekly basis. This is indeed an admirable move to remain in touch with the people and get their feed back. One of the great secrets of the success of this initiative would be the sincerity of purpose rather than propaganda to camouflage the failures of the government.

In his first broadcast last Friday the prime minister expressed his sensitivity over what he called "ethical norms of the opposition and the media while criticizing the government". This is no doubt a very fair observation. The criticism should always remain within the norms of ethics and politeness, but the government is also expected to show broadmindedness to accept the fair criticism on major national and international issues though it may sound a little harsh. There is no doubt that ever since all restrictions have been lifted from newspapers and private TV channels they have gone haywire and some of their reporters and anchors in their enthusiasm to take the lead over others indulge in brash investigative reporting without proper verification. This is one of many curses of over commercialization of the media and daily increasing greed for profits. This tendency no doubt has damaged the credibility of the media and the norms of decent and good journalism. There is need that journalist organizations themselves frame their code of ethics and norms of good clean journalism. The rat race among TV channels and commercials producers has reached the proportions of madness among major players. Millions are spent and millions earned every day in a product which is produced for hardly 20% of the country's population which is receiving TV signal in their homes. This is a great waste of money for a nation in which more than 30% people are poor who can hardly earn enough to provide two squire meals for their families. The government has to look urgently into this fiasco.

The prime minister said in his broadcast "priorities" of his government were to combat terrorism, reduce poverty, bring down prices and maintain law and order. He forgot to mention corruption which is the main source of all our problems. Our economy is in a terrible mess and is barely surviving on IMF loan and American dole. Without stable and self sufficient economy no country can provide jobs to the unemployed, nor can it multiply its energy resources which are badly required for our industrial production and exports. Prices of food and consumer goods have sharply increased and the value of the rupee has gone down for the first time in many years. The law and order situation is obviously very bad with daily robberies and murders of innocent people. Hardly a day passes without suicide attacks some where in the country.

There has of course been considerable progress in the war on terror, thanks to the sacrifices of our armed forces. In fact our score card of success in the solution of all our core issues has been nil. The government has, however laid great emphasis on Benazir income support program and Benazir Employment Stock Option schemes which will cost billions of rupees to take shape. These programs have been launched at the cost of high profile full and half page color ads in newspapers. Such programs are in fact propaganda gimmicks for PPP, and would likely make people dependent on easy money. They are no substitute for employment and hard earned wages. Besides, they have ample prospects for corruption. It may be recalled that Nawaz Sharif government in its second stint introduced Khidmat Committees with great fan fair to serve as watch dogs on the corrupt elements in the country. Unfortunately, these committees themselves became hot beds of corruption. Even the head of this organization, a retired Major General was found involved in corruption and was sacked.

Unfortunately, one remark in PM's speech that all the targets set by the government to address the peoples'

roblems had been achieved was considered by the media as a joke of the year. As stated above, all the core problems of the country are alive and well, most importantly the economy of the country is still in a precarious condition despite heavy injection of foreign aid and loans. The resignation of Shaukat Tarin at this stage when economy is facing manifold challenges is a great loss. Before his departure Mr. Tarin said that lack of good governance, war on terror and decline in investment are the main challenges facing the economy. He said that strong political commitment is needed to steer the country out of the current economic crisis. This is clear indication that Mr. Tarin was fully conscious that good governance and political commitment are both lacking in the present setup. In fact the main reason of his resignation was his differences with the "Jiala group" in the cabinet on certain projects which smelt of corruption. I had the opportunity to work with Mr. Tarin when he was General Manager of Citibank in Karachi many years ago and I served as Media Adviser to the Bank. I found him an honest and upright person and an accomplished financial expert.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

WAR IS WAR, NOT PEACE, OBAMA

MAHBOOB A KHAWAJA

 

It is the policy of the United States government to provoke violent extremist groups into action. Once they are in play, their responses can then be used in whatever way the government that provoked them sees fit. And we also know that these provocations are being used, as a matter of deliberate policy, to rouse violent groups on the "Af-Pak" front to launch terrorist attacks. "The hell of human suffering, evil and oppression is paved with good intentions. The men who have most injured and oppressed humanity, who have most deeply sinned against it, were according to their standards and their conscience, good men; what was bad in them, who wrought moral evil and cruelty, treason to truth and progress, was not at all in their intentions, in their purpose, in their personal character, but in their opinions." (Robert Briffault, Professor at Cambridge University (The Making of Humanity, London, 1918)

Dr Ali Shariati, the visionary Muslim scholar once noted: "when people live in darkness, they loose sense of direction." For long, America floats in darkness without purpose and sense of direction until its political bankruptcy has become a fact of life. Like the actors, its leaders pretend to be an invincible superpower always keen to make peace, not war. Most contemporary politicians do read Machiavelli's Prince to perform at the global stage. President Obama on the election night 2008 spoke of "remaking America" but while accepting the controversial Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo argued not for much needed peacemaking to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, rather he defended the Bushism of waging aggressive wars against the poor and destitute nations, out of the scope of the US animosity radar. Let us say that to kill millions of innocent human beings just to prove that America can and will institutionalize insanity, not reason in an age of reason. President Bush and his neoconservatives warmongers invested heavily to make America morally, politically and financially bankrupt by waging the bogus wars on terrorism. There was a strategy in No Strategy after the 9/11 events to demonstrate to the fearful American masses that something forceful was being done to protect the US security interests. The ultimate aims of the wars on terrorism were to create more terrorism and to destabilize those nations having reservoirs of untapped oil and gas resources and to crop up new markets for the American corporations to sell more arms and weapons. If President Obama is true to his words on political change ("Yes we can"), why would he continue to follow the Bush war agenda? Chris Floyd ("Darkness Renewed: Terror as a tool of Empire", ICH, 04/2009), provides an explicit answer to human curiosity: "But leaving aside for now the ever-thorny matter of divining the varying proportion of connivance, acquiescence, foreknowledge, exploitation, incompetence and fate involved in 9/11, we can say this as an established fact: It is the policy of the United States government to provoke violent extremist groups into action. Once they are in play, their responses can then be used in whatever way the government that provoked them sees fit. And we also know that these provocations are being used, as a matter of deliberate policy, to rouse violent groups on the "Af-Pak" front to launch terrorist attacks."

To spotlight the cruelty of the on-going wars for fun, Gordon Duff ("The Baggage of America Extremism: No Enemy, No Negotiation, Only the Dead are Real", ICH, December 16, 2009), outlines the dilemma: "We had become addicted to the "black and white" version of Bushitism to the extent that we, as a nation, have given up thought entirely. We know we can't win. Do we expect an army of angels to come down from heaven, the ones Cheney, Bush and Rumsfeld dreamed of, or are we going to start acting like a world leader again."

America has a history of self-engineered wars. But the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan made America bankrupt in global political standing and credibility, crippling its much acclaimed superpower status and role in global affairs when its in-house corruption dismantled the financial institutions, the hub of American dream of world leadership. The move of time and history for change that cannot be stopped, the evolution of the change process seem to have phased-out America to become artifacts of the junk history, and to phase-in new emerging nations of financial trust and productivity to assume the new role of global leadership replacing the US, what President Obama is most afraid of. It is not the Audacity of Hope but consequential dictate of history when nations and leaders violate the Laws of God, and challenge the limits of reason, they end-up in self defeat and destruction. If diplomacy was the foremost choice to search for feasible political accommodation, President Obama did not bother to use it; instead he continued the Bush dictum of insanity in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Negotiations cannot convince al-Qaida's leaders to lay down their arms," Obama claimed in Nobel Peace Prize Speech. "To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism, it is recognition of history." History offers a learning role that you could not comprehend it. History shall judge you Mr Obama by your actions, not claims. With escalating war efforts and additional troops to kill more innocent civilians and disturb the Afghan graveyards, you have kept the insane momentum to airlift more men and material to Afghanistan and that does not signal peacemaking at all. After the American failure in Iraq, You want to conquer Afghanistan and Pakistan to maintain the Bush contracted gas and oil pipelines that sound against the Nature of Things and it is not going to happen in the foreseeable future.

President Obama claimed optimism to brining change to America- "Yes we can" but ended-up encompassing the same old sadistic strategy to become war President, not a peace President. Yes, he changed the image of America, first time a colored President of visible minorities is elected to make a new beginning in American political affairs. A dot representing the Audacity of Hope on the ever large social and political white screen to enter the White House complex. One fundamental factor is often ignored by American scholars that none of these guys waging the wars from their drawing rooms ever fought on a real war front, they simply know how to talk, but war is not about talking, it is killing others and nothing else. C.E.M Joad, the celebrated author (Guide to Modern Wickedness, 1936), noted pointedly: "War is like a forest fire, once it is started, none can set bounds to the resulting conflagration …as when one throws a stone in a pond ripples spread out in all directions… so in war the professed war aims are submerged in the waves of fear and ferocity by which the minds of the belligerents are swept and in which, presently reason and humanity are engulfed."

In an information age, knowledge driven global culture of dialogue and diplomacy, America and Britain and their conveniently bribed allies went to promote freedom, human rights and democracy in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan but ended-up as nations engaged in fighting the war of aggression against the people and faiths, not threatening anybody's security or integrity. They are the same who rushed to set –up the UN at the end of the WW2, an institutionalized cover-up to hide the future ambitions of arrogance and ignorance to the consequences of the wars. The planet Earth is not created nor built by the nation states claiming membership at the UN. The comprehensive system of life and resources on the planet Earth is God-given gift to mankind, and its violation and exploitation will be checked by God as it happened to many in the past only to be found as artifacts in museums and history books. History offers a learning role but nations and people denying the role of history ultimately cannot escape the wrath of history. Winning the wars was not part of the American aims and strategies but killing and destabilizing the poor nation was, and it has achieved that aim. All actions have reactions. The consequences are yet to come. Gordon Duff (The Baggage of America Extremism…" 12/2009) picks up the argument:

"Eight years of bizarre "Christian Zionism," a military run by religious fanatics and a government of drugstore cowboys and phony evangelists was unprepared to guide a superpower toward policies of responsible world leadership. Now, President Obama is afraid to stop "driving over a cliff" simply because nobody wants to tell the American people the truth, how stupid and useless we have actually become, and how idiotic our policies have been. It is assumed that so many Americans are mentally defective, addicted to imaginary vaccine plots and secret UN invasions, that acting like a responsible and intelligent world leader would not seem "credible."

There is something fundamentally wrong with the American thought process on the War on Terrorism. American people would need to see and understand the real world affairs that their leaders and government are terrorizing the humanity with no other reason except to assume political domination and control the natural resources of the helpless nations under the false pretext of "terrorism", and simply to manage the fast growing and financially strong Arabian herd. David Perez ("Imagine", Information Clearing House, 02/2009), attempts to set out the humanistic concerns:

"Imagine being in a room of maimed, deformed and tortured Iraqis, Afghans and Palestinians, accompanied by widows and orphans mourning because their entire family has been exterminated. I imagine this roomful of walking dead sitting around while my friends and I discuss how "realistic" we in the U.S. must be with our electoral politics, how our expectations need to "practical," how peace is just so damn "complicated." …. imagine these victims looking at us with blank, scarred faces as we congratulate ourselves for selecting a new President who talks about "our God-given right to lead," about our duty to spread U.S.-style democracy throughout the globe, and how we are now just so "proud to be American."

For centuries, British and other European powers enjoined a history of colonizing the Muslims by force and killing millions and millions on this planet to enlarge the scope of their empires. Exploiting the natural resources and colonizing the poor and helpless by cruel wars were not the choices of the liberal democracy at that juncture of living history. Nobody calls them terrorists as they now claim to be civilized defying the facts of history. America could have learnt from the despotic Europeans who fought and killed millions in the two world wars before settling in at the EU tables to define the religious unity and common interests. Those who engineered the wars are in graveyards, unable to be questionable. Surely, they knew how to escape the dictate of history and now the future European generations are pretending to be civilized after being in the dark ages for centuries. Recently, the 111 years old last remaining WW1 British soldier made it clear before dying (BBC, 10/2009), "we don't know why we fought and killed other fellow human beings. Wars do not seem to solve any problem." One wonders, why human beings fight with their fellow human beings.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

BALOCHISTAN AND CONSPIRACIES

MUHAMMAD ALI

 

With the announcement of the Balochistan Package, most if not all of the major concerns of the Baloch Nationalists have been complied with. Three months down the line, most of the stakeholders have fully absorbed the contents and have understood its implications. The next stage is the honest implementation of the package to benefit the ordinary Baloch in the long term. Unfortunately there are scattered voices opposing the comprehensive package. They can be identified as the ones whose monopoly will be disturbed after the empowerment of the common Baloch. Through his deep vision, the Prime Minister had identified the problems of Balochistan in the earlier part of his regime. That is why he set course on this issue with a democratic solution in mind. Instead of forcing a personal solution, committees were set up at various levels to get input from the affected quarters. At the same time all national parties were also taken into confidence about the need of presenting a special package, as well as the details of various incentives offered in the package. That is why this package has helped most Balochis in joining the mainstream nationalist thinking of Pakistan.

Political and ideological concerns of some quarters about the upright implementation of the package are not unfounded. No doubt, Balochistan has suffered in terms of general development, health and education in the past. Even then it is difficult to comprehend the scepticism displayed by some pessimists. It may well be argued that difference of opinion is the soul of the democratic process, and therefore, should not be discouraged. But the involvement of Indian elements in the internal affairs of Balochistan is a cause of distress for all Pakistanis. The unwarranted interference from India includes the seminar titled "India-Pakistan Conference – A Roadmap towards Peace" staged at New Delhi's India International Centre from January 10th to January 12, 2010. This seminar was hosted by a not-so-well-known organization Focus on Global South, which is believed to be funded by Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). The seminar ran along controversial lines discussing the possibilities of establishing peace in the region. Among different segments, one was designed to hit specifically at Balochistan was titled "Issue of Autonomy: Kashmir and Balochistan". Reportedly this segment was included on the special request from RAW's analysis wing[1]. The nefarious aim was to draw a comparison between the freedom movement in the Indian Occupied Kashmir and the RAW-sponsored separatist movement in Balochistan.

In order to gain credibility, some Pakistani politicians, activists and journalists were also invited to attend the seminar. Coincidentally all of the Pakistani guests are well-known for their tilt towards India, and therefore, have remained quite controversial in their political orientation. Their thoughts and ideology have frequently collided against the national state policy and the declared interests of Pakistan. Those who were fondly invited by the RAW-funded organization include human rights activist Aasma Jehangir, journalist Malik Siraj Akbar, former minster Iqbal Haider and Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo. Considering the wicked mindset behind this programme, it is not surprising that no Pakistani officials were invited, nor was any attendance seen from the High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi. Those Pakistanis who attended the seminar were bribed in different ways, both directly and indirectly. That is why after return to Pakistan they have started playing the Indian tune, and knowingly or unknowingly, deeply hurting the Balochistan cause. Those who are becoming a mouthpiece for the notorious BLA (banned and declared a terrorist organization by Pakistan as well as many other countries), should travel in the interior of Balochistan, and communicate with the ordinary people who are not really interested in a deadly confrontation against the people and Government of Pakistan. They have started seeing some light as the outcome of Prime Minister's Balochistan Package.

They are not only cooperating with all law-enforcing agencies but have also spoken out loudly against the return of Pakistan Army from their areas. The people from Sui in general and Dera Bugti and Kohlu in particular have resented against the withdrawal plans of the Army. In other areas too, the presence of Frontier Corps is seen as a stabilizing force. Nonetheless, the replacement of certain Army units with those of the Frontier Corps has already started. The deployment of Frontier Corps is seen more amicably, because the troops are local Balochis who are better familiar with the local customs, traditions and language. Therefore, they are seen as a local force under the aegis of the Government of Pakistan. The Frontier Corps is already working under the instructions of using minimum force whenever operating anywhere inside Balochistan. Quite contrary to the perception being spread by proponents of RAW's ideology, there are no military operation in progress anywhere in Balochistan. There were only some static deployments of the Army, which are being replaced with the local troops of the Frontier Corps. All plans for the development of new military cantonments have also been shelved, in line with the demands of nationalist leaders. By the way, there is a growing representation of various Baloch tribes in the Armed Forces of Pakistan. Many brave Balochis have sacrificed in the currently progressing Operations Raah-e-Rast and Raah-e-Nijaat. Those injured are welcomed in the native towns/villages as defenders of the country, and those who have laid down their lives in Swat or Waziristan are truly hailed as heroes. Just last month, the father of Lieutenant Safiullah Marri Shaheed (who laid down his life fighting militants along the western border) claimed at his son's funeral ceremony that he would not hesitate in offering his other son for fighting against the terrorists in the defence of Pakistan. There has never been a doubt about the loyalty and patriotism of the ordinary Baloch whose bravery has served to motivate people belonging to other provinces as well.

The Baloch have also welcomed the offer to empower talented youth from both urban and rural areas of the province. The Government plans to provide 20,000 jobs to the unemployed youth of Balochistan. The Provincial Government has already given the department of Services and General Administration the responsibility to collect froms and undertake the recruitment process. The major steps like release of the missing persons, payment of royalty of all provincial resources to Balochistan and even the payment of outstanding dues to minimize the outrage in the minds of hostile elements will go a long way in countering the conspiracies to damage our country. The introduction of political reforms alongwith full expansion of local infrastructure to absorb the future developments will open many doors in future for better reconciliation and stronger integration with rest of the country.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

EHTESHAM A ABBASI

 

The Punjab Government had imposed ban on construction within the territorial limits of Tehsil Murree immediately after Pakistan Muslim League (N) established Government in Punjab, along with a coalition Government in Federal. The local aides of Main Shahbaz Sharif advised, Chief Minister Punjab from day first, to impose ban on construction whereas the Chief Minister Punjab had not bothered to go in the nitty-gritty before imposing this unjust ban.

Construction is one of the biggest industries of the country and hundreds of thousands of people are earning their livelihood through construction industry. Only four lines of bureaucratic decision of ban on construction in Murree affected thousands of people and they are unjustly deprived of their basic right for supporting their families and children. This is not the way for imposing such bans. To stop illegal construction government must use its machinery and power. That is legitimate. Citizens support that.

There exists a government body under the name of Tehsil Municipal Administration with all powers and expertise. Punjab Government had no right to involve in matters of Tehsil Municipal Administration; however they can make checks and balances over TMA authorities who are responsible for all sorts of construction at TMA's jurisdiction. After encroachment on the basic rights of people of the locality in imposing ban on all types of construction, local aides of Mian Shahbaz Sharif had started targeting their political opponents under the guise of Punjab Government orders for demolishing operation against illegally constructed buildings, although this operation utilizing massive police force was clearly unlawful and in violation of the law of the land. Building once raised under the umbrella of existing government functionaries like TMA which is headed by Deputy Commissioner (DC) presently DCO, District Coordinating Officer, Rawalpindi, cannot be demolished in such operations, whereas according to Punjab local Government ordinance such illegal constructed parts of buildings can be regularized after imposing fines at per square feet which are very much essential for raising funds of government and government can generate billions of rupees in this context. Revenue generation must be a target to overcome financial crisis of government.

And by applying this kind of strategy in future no one will try to violate the building bye-laws, seeing that penalty against illegalities during construction in not affordable. On the other hand government should take strict punitive actions against TMA employees who are responsible for violation of building by-laws. Even at very lower level of clerk's and building branch staff, Tehsil Municipal Officers are living luxurious lives with large amounts of bank deposits, bungalows and plots etc which certainly does not match their salaries and earnings. A foolproof investigation is required for every employee of TMA Murree and if someone is found in illegal practices, his illegal assets must be captured and seized by government and examples should be set so that no one in future tries to cross his limits.

Behind all this game Punjab government is claiming that due to illegal constructions natural beauty of Queen of Hills is perishing. This is totally a foolish concept. Whenever or wherever a building is raised after approval of TMA authorities, during the early procedure of sanctioning building plan firstly it is required from Divisional Forest Officer, Murree, with full responsibility to ensure that in the plot no cutting of trees is involved or if involved then in such cases building plan committee headed by DC, Rawalpindi sanctions approval for raising construction. Another important department, soil conservation is also involved for approval of building, whether this soil is fit for construction of building or not. Moreover along with these two departments four more departments of Punjab government give No Objection Certificates that they have no objection for raising construction in such plot or area. If an investor who is raising building in any part of TMA jurisdiction, after fulfilling all the formalities and after paying all government duties and fees according to law of land even then government imposes such illegal bans in shapes of directives then it means that by imposing such type of bans Punjab Government's decision is invasion on basic rights of people. This type of unjust decision must be rectified with immediate effect. On the other hand, present Punjab government with same Chief Minister in their tenure of 1997-1998 had auctioned government hotel along with more than hundreds of kanals of land through Privatization Commission (Cecil Hotel) only at eighteen crore rupees. At that time the actual cost of land was more than 1.5 billion rupees. The investor who had purchased this land by an underhand deal gave bribery in millions of rupees to the high-ups. After transfer of property rights hundreds of trees were removed from that area which is a big threat in form of big landslides in future.

This is all just shedding of crocodile is tears by Punjab government imposing of ban is necessary for saving beauty of Queen of Hills. On the other hand once again, Mian Shahbaz Sharif, Chief Minister, Punjab had ordered SNGPL authorities to ensure Gas connection at a newly built villa of his son Hamza Sharif at Dhunga Gali. This Gas connection will cost 7.5 billion rupees to the poor government of Pakistan and cutting more than six thousand precious and old trees. Can we imagine this project will leave how much soil erosion and serious environmental effects and thousands of trees mostly of hundred to five hundreds of age will vanish within one month with this bureaucratic decision? People of the area are seeing, examining this surprisingly that what their leaders are doing. I appeal to Chief Minister to take argent notice of my complaint. It is in the larger national interests.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

DEBASING INDIA'S DEMOCRACY

BARUN MITRA

 

It was advertised as a historic day. On March 8, the centenary of International Women's Day, India's governing coalition planned to present the country with a constitutional amendment reserving 33% of the seats for women in national and state legislatures. However, it was not to be. The failure of the amendment to pass was dubbed by the law minister a national day of shame, as a few unruly MPs, particularly in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house, created such a ruckus that the house had to be adjourned six times. But it has also exposed the widening gap within the governing allies, and it is likely to be a close race in the Lok Sabha, the lower house. Increasing women's participation in politics sounds like a fine idea in principle.

But its implementation would have grave consequences for the country's quality of governance and political culture. A comfortable majority in the parliament professes to support the women's reservation bill, with dominant parties on both sides of the political divide in favour. However, the truth is that many members are apprehensive about the consequences. And that opposition can't be explained away as simply the vested interest of male politicians. First of all, the justifications for the amendment don't stand up to scrutiny. If there is indeed political and social support for greater participation of women in politics, nothing prevents political parties from choosing more female candidates. Nor would reservations somehow change the status of women in the country—some of the worst forms of discrimination against women continued to take place even after Indira Gandhi became prime minister in the 1960s. And finally, outstanding women leaders like Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu and Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal have come up on their own through persistence and political acumen. In the name of empowering women, the bill is actually is very paternalistic, believing that women cannot make it in politics on their own. More importantly, the bill poses a fundamental threat to the nature of India's representative democracy.

While the reservation of a small number of seats for certain castes might be accepted as a temporary anomaly necessary to correct historic wrongs, a reservation for such a broad section of the population inevitably undermines India's "first past the post" electoral system. The bill moves India toward a proportional representation system dividing the population on sectional lines. This represents a fundamental change from the basic design of the constitution, and the debates in the constituent assembly, when the notion of separate electorates was considered and rejected. In the current system, parliamentary constituencies are comprised of a wide range of people, forcing candidates to build a social and political coalition to have a reasonable chance of winning the election. It is this tendency to bridge the sectional divide among the population that has been the hallmark of Indian democracy, where diversity has only strengthened the political institutions. If India is to tread the path toward ensuring representation according to the diversity of the population, by adopting a kind of proportional electoral system, then the social coalition will inevitably break down, leading to increased political instability. The demand for a sectional quota within the women's quota would be a logical demand in that direction. And the next step could be to demand political reservation for men as well along sectional lines. This would signal the end of the idea of India.

Accountability to voters will also be reduced. At one stroke, by rotating the constituencies reserved for women, an enormous political churning will be triggered. Legislators who have built up their own independent base of support within their constituencies will be forced out of office. Two-thirds of the sitting members of the legislature may have to surrender their seats under a rotational reservation for women. In effect this will disempower the voter, and reduce the incentive for elected representatives to be seriously concerned with the issues affecting their constituencies. Party leaders stand to benefit the most from a system where the voters are not in a position to assess the performance of their representative. The parties will have to constantly put forward for new candidates, and these are chosen by the leadership—there is no inner party democracy in India. Hiding behind the fairer sex, entrenched party leaders are solidifying their authority over their backbenchers. This represents an extension of the anti-defection law which was passed by the Congress government of Rajiv Gandhi in 1986, when it had an unprecedented majority in Parliament. Under this law, a legislator is required to vote along party lines or face disqualification from parliament.

Now Sonia Gandhi is now attempting to push through a constitutional amendment that deals another body blow to representative democracy. At a time when the rest of the world is just beginning to appreciate the democratic miracle that is India, it is ironic indeed that the country's own political leadership is seeking to change its democratic character to further its own narrow interests. The writer is director of the Liberty Institute, an independent think tank in New Delhi. — The Wall Street Journal

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

PORK BARREL PROJECTS

 

The government decision to allocate a lump sum fund of taka 15 crore to each of the 300 members of parliament for development projects, has provoked wide reaction throughout the national media. Some are criticizing it because it violates the basic principle of separation of power between the legislature and the executive. However, the planning minister, air vice-marshal (retd) A K Khandaker, said though the project "has been undertaken due to demand from the MPs," this money would not go to the legislators directly, rather it would be spent through the local government engineering department (LGED). We hope this is true.
Evidently, there is a strong case for balanced regional development. For too long the development process in the country has been lop-sided and all development work has been concentrated in a few favored areas of the country. This is not good for anybody. In the short-run the favored areas may feel happy but in the long-run they may feel the backlash because of the resulting development disparity.

As it is, the per capita allocation of funds in Bangladesh is low and for the neglected areas it is even lower. Clearly public investment has to be scaled up. And the way to do so is by increasing revenue mobilization and also involving the private sector in infrastructure projects under the public-private partnership (PPP) program. But so far, there has not been much progress in this regard.

The finance minister had earlier said that there would be regional budgets along with the national one. But the nation is yet to see progress in this direction. This kind of budgetary structure would have improved the overall situation in the country and strengthened the local government. But then it is not an easy task, as it entails capacity building of the organizations involved.  Nevertheless there has to be movement in that direction. So far, there has been none, and this makes people skeptical and they fear that they will see more of the same in the future. That, we believe, would be very unfortunate. 

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

GENE TECH CROPS

 

While inaugurating the Bangladesh Seed Conference and Seed Fair 2010 at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, agriculture minister Begum Matia Chowdhury said the government would cautiously introduce gene technology based crops varieties in the country in order to increase food production and attain food security. The Minister also said the government would ensure the interests of the farmers and protect them from any distress situation and urged seed traders for doing their business keeping in mind the farmers' interest.
Foreign minister Dr. Dipu Moni, speaking as a special guest, said innovation of higher yield varieties of crops should be taken up through regional cooperation. She said during its previous regime AL introduced high-yield crops in the country and the present government is providing all supports to the farmers for increasing food output. While FAO Representative to Bangladesh, Ad Spijkers, said growing population pressure on land and water resources means that Bangladesh has to adopt modern, efficient technology in order to maintain growth in food production to achieve and sustain self-sufficiency in food. This sound very good but many developing countries lack the technical and management capacity needed to review tests and monitor compliance of gene tech crops.

We presume that, when the agriculture minister speaks of gene tech she is referring to the biotechnology that refers to the technique that uses living organisms or parts of these organisms.  Certain fragments of DNA that can be easily identified can be used to select individual plants carrying beneficial genes and characteristics. Plants can then be obtained from small plant samples grown in test tubes, which is a far more sophisticated form of the conventional planting of cuttings from existing plants. But a report by the International Food and Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said, though a growing number of countries have begun investing in developing national bio-safety frameworks for these kind of crops, progress is slow.  To this we would add, caution must be the byword.

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

BOB'S BANTER

CARRYING A BURDEN..!

 

Quite often in our lives we wonder why we've been lumped and dumped with a particular burden and as I read this little story sent to me, I thought it gave me some insight to the same question:

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the huge granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens. "Great", she thought. "Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry."

She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge.

But it just wasn't there. She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens.

When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of a verse from the scriptures, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth."

She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

 The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."

I think it would do all of us some good to say, "God, I don't know why You want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if You want me to carry it, I will."

True isn't it? Our load could be someone else's answer to prayer!

You may be looking after a sick parent or spouse, and wonder why you have to do so, "Don't I have a life?" you shout, and maybe what you don't see is that grateful parent or person, thanking the Lord for answering her prayer of being so lovingly looked after.

Are you carrying a burden? Carry it cheerfully; you could be God's answer to someone's prayer..! 

 — bobsbanter@gmail.com

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THE INDEPENDENT

WHEELS WITHIN WHEELS

BANGLADESH-INDIA RELATIONSHIP

BADRUL ISLAM

 

The idea of Swadeshi or "one's own country" is one of the noblest conceptions that have stirred the heart of humanity and was the quintessential factor, that influenced two partitions, within the sub-continent: first partition, 1947 created India and Pakistan, the second partition, 1971 confirmed birth of Bangladesh. Why did this happen?  Freedom is the birth right of every nation; secondly, the country's interests were made subservient to the interest of the "rulers".

In his book, "The Saga of Struggle and Sacrifice" Pranab Mukherjee wrote, "Much had been done by Great Britain for the benefit of India, and the whole country was truly grateful for it. She had given them order, railways and above all the inestimable blessings of Western education. The more progress the people made in education and material prosperity, the greater would be the insight into political matters and the keener their desire for political advancement." Precisely with this view in mind, once I wrote, that determining public opinion and reaching a national consensus are a must before the government signs any agreement with India. This basic exercise would have generated a debate within the Parliament and the Opposition (being the next representative component) and obtaining national consensus would have given the Prime Minister more leverage to strongly bargain the issues with India.

The visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her entourage to New Delhi, India (January10-13, 2010) was laudable as she was honoured with the Indira Gandhi Award for Peace, Disarmament and Development, for 2009. Bangladesh feels proud of this achievement. Success of this visit lies in mutual trust and implementations. However, the visit also has generated controversial opinions causing polarisations and confusions among citizens, which are detailed herein for readers to judge. Taj Hashmi writes, "At times rabidly loyal Awami supporters convey the wrong message to the detriment of their country, party and leader. Not only anti-Awami leaguers consider the party 'pro-Indian' but some immoderate supporters of the party unwittingly also give similar impression about their party. BNP supporters, on the other hand, knowingly or unknowingly, give the impression that they prefer Pakistan to India, if not to Bangladesh." Professor M. Maniruzzaman Mia writes, "We have conceded everything that India wanted but we have not managed to receive anything in return except the warmth of India's friendship. One wonders whether this friendship is between the peoples of two neighbouring countries or between the two parties that have come to power here and in India." Mahfuz Anam writes, "The history of mutual suspicion, petty bickering on trade negotiations, cavalier attitude on border killings, dangerous gamesmanship with arms smuggling, etc. of the last three decades of Bangladesh-India relations would not normally justify the agreements that Sheikh Hasina penned two weeks ago. Only a vision would." Predictably the Bangladesh Opposition led by Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and supported by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have called the agreements a total surrender of Bangladesh's interest to India.
As a Bangladeshi citizen, my concern is, (1) whether the visit, actually enhances good friendship and cooperation for economic benefit, and (2) whether adequate measures have been ensured to improve respectability, integrity and security of Bangladesh.

To understand the economic benefits, let me explain first, the $1Billion line of credit, offered by India, is not free and 1.7 percent charge is to be made, 5 years grace period and to be repaid back by twenty years (bangladeshinfo.com). Calculation on this basis indicates, at end of 20 years, we have to return $1billion plus interest amount $255,000000. The principal amount to be used for development of roads, railway tracks, bridges, railway lines, purchases of locomotives and coaches, buses, dredgers for river, all this for India to develop its North-East States (earlier this type of credit was not offered). However, clarification is needed on the methods of purchase and whether source of purchase, from this credit is restricted to India or open to competitive purchase from other international countries. The joint communiqué  indicates that Nepal, Bhutan, India and its N-east states will use the Ashuganj, Chittagong and Mongla ports but terms and conditions for use of ports, cargo type and its taxation plus customs security procedure are not indicated for analysis. It is imperative that a transparent method be used for its finalisation, as Indian Government has its Army stationed in these States to contain the high level of insurgency. The predicaments of both areas, West Bengal and North-East States, are a result of financial disparity and mismanagement by the central Government.
Now on integrity and security of Bangladesh. The BSF killed a total of 898 unarmed Bangladeshis since January 1, 2000 i.e. 89.8 a year. A more gruesome case reported in an English daily on February 5, 2010: BSF, BDR trade gunshots; BSF kidnaps BDR soldier, returns after 10 hours. The soldier was shot at close range without any provocation and at gunpoint kidnapped into India. Instead of responding to a Flag meeting by BDR officials, BSF resorted to firing into Bangladesh territory late evening. This prompted BDR to fire back and guards of both countries exchanged about 100 gunshots. Finally, flag meeting was held and soldier returned.
These incidents are repulsive and such trends are dangerous, therefore requires immediate attention and action from Indian Army, under supervision of Indian senior-most politicians. "India will not take any step that would hurt Bangladesh", this oft-repeated vague jargon should not be accepted by Bangladesh any more, particularly in view of the recently signed three agreements on cross-border terrorism, organized crime and drug trafficking. Indians failing to control their armed personnel tantamount to terrorist act, deplored by the International Community, with which India wishes to become a partner on security affairs of the region. India is fully aware that in normal peace time the internationally accepted rule is to "arrest" only, illegal persons crossing into the territory, intelligence surveillance, and support to immigration and customs officials. Additionally, India has plans to contain insurgents in the North-East States and also the Maoist/Marxist insurgency in West Bengal, declared as "Red Corridor Zone". Myanmar had given a "cold shoulder" attitude in response to India's proposal for cooperation in this exercise. The five principles of Non-Aligned Movement and the Gujral Doctrine are known to both Bangladesh and India, and one fails to understand why these are not followed as the basic intentions to enhance peace, friendship and cooperation between both the countries. So, what can India do? The good intention should be augmented by prompt solutions to pending issues and recent Joint Communiqué. Late J. N. Dixit former Foreign Secretary in his book "Liberation and Beyond" advocated that outstanding issues like the Ganges water sharing issues, delineation of  maritime boundary, transfer of enclaves, offering  transit facilities to Bangladesh to trade with Bhutan and Nepal, etc. be solved soon. He also mentioned that while late Sheikh Mujibur Rahman reaffirmed his gratitude to India for supporting the liberation struggle he desired that India-Bangladesh relationship be imbued with a spirit of equality. Late Mujib was clear in his mind that he did not wish to be over-dependent on India. He did not wish that Bangladesh to be clubbed a client State of India, as was being anticipated by many political observers and analysts from different parts of the world. Will Sheikh Hasina at present follow the visions of her late father?

Ms. Smruti S. Patel, Research Fellow, Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, offers her personal, but valuable opinion. India needs to walk the extra mile and, if necessary, provide unilateral trade concessions already hinted by the finance minister. But any concession or policy announcements must not be allowed to get tangled in bureaucratic red tapes leading to broken promises; India's offer of half a million tons of rice during Sidr being a case in point. Appreciating her opinion, let me highlight another case in point, that of the issue of Tipaimukh Dam which in tandem with the Farakka Barrage water sharing problems, deserves immediate attention. River waters of Padma are already drying. "As the foundation is laid, so the walls of the house will rise."  Bangladesh and India should follow this old adage given the fact that there is a wave of gratitude and confusions all around them. Leaders, bureaucrats, citizens and media have to work unitedly with positive attitude, and adopt a transparent system for its success.

 

(The writer is a freelancer and worked for Foreign Chartered Coasters Administration, BITWA and various UN Agencies in Dhaka, Somali and Uganda)

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

BB'S COMMENDABLE STEP

PRO-FARMER BANKING SYSTEM

SULAV CHOWDHURY

 

The recent initiative of Bangladesh Bank (BB) to open an account at the commercial banks by depositing just 10 takas by the farmer is indeed highly laudable, ignoring whether banking system or trend could support it or not. A country, where pretty much 75 percent of total population lives by cultivation and farming, can't afford sticking to traditional and orthodox banking system. It needs something more innovative and pro-poor approach to help them out and for ensuring at least a modest living style for them. We salute Bangladesh Bank for coming out of shell and taking recourse to a pro-poor approach that never have many thought about before or showed courage to start off.

Bangladeshi farmers have been religiously deprived of getting apposite attention of the concerned departments and ministries since Bangladesh came into being. They have had to purchase chemical fertiliser at an exorbitant price, been unable to pump water onto the arable lands due to shortage of power supply and finally sell the paddy at the lower cost due to the clout of profiteers. At the same time, those who have cultivated on others lands have had to dole out two-thirds of the total production to the landlord. Thus they have been victimised and impecunious over the years. Though we have forayed into establishing industry-based economy to race with other fast-growing countries, we have no scope to veer away from attending to the farmers as they constitute of major portions of our population.

The farmers have never been able to get to the banks to open accounts. They have never imagined of putting money by for their future. Here Bangladesh Bank had a huge responsibility to come up with newer ideas to reach out to them. But it has remained unattended for long and the sufferings of the farmers have accrued. So, the recent decision of opening bank accounts by minimal deposit is indubitably a milestone in helping the farmers out. Now the farmers will be more attentive to their rights and at least feel courage to approach banks for loan and other suggestions.

Rice is staple food of Bangladesh and we have no other alternative but to cultivating lands for rice. The farmers are very poor and they don't have adequate money in hand to toil the lands. We have registered on many occasions that they have been running after the profiteers for cash during the season. Once they get trapped to them, the whole shebang of producing rice becomes a horrible job for them. Bangladesh Bank should look into the matter seriously and consider loan disbursement to the farmers without interest during the cultivating period. It can be a three-month bank-farmers agreement as from cultivating to reaping paddy takes about months. If Bangladesh Bank distributes loan, farmers will not have to go to the middleman. And as a result, their profit will remain in their hands. However, to make this happen, Bangladesh Bank has got to create a database of the farmers and peasants so that no fake farmers can obtain the facilities that have been made for the original ones.
Fertiliser distribution and proper irrigation management can be done by a concerted direction of ministry of agriculture, Bangladesh Bank and local administration just to diminish the illegal profit-making mechanism of the dealers and middlemen. Farmers mostly being uneducated and ignorant of governmental initiative, they tend to be swayed. The dealers employ this foible of the farmers and peasants and make a killing! A proper monitoring system should therefore be developed and Bangladesh Bank's intelligence wing can be given the responsibility to document the illegalities in this respect.

Rotation crops are ideal for containing the fertility level in the fields. But farmers aren't intelligent enough to think of alternative methodology so as to keep the fertility level intact. Bangladesh Bank should expand their pro-farmers initiative a little further and can start out a farmer-teaching scheme to inculcate them with modern cultivating methodology and agricultural technique. This must help the government to touch their goal of being a self-sufficient country in food. To date, no scheme has been initiated that is genuinely dedicated for farmers. We think, as Bangladesh Bank has extended its hands to help the farmers, it can go even further and bring in an agricultural revolution through educating in scientific means. 

We strongly believe that farmers are the vitality of our rural economy. If their hands can be made strengthened, the picture of the rural areas must experience a dynamic change. And it is authentic that rural economy will bring forth no result unless a change is done ere long. Hence Bangladesh Bank has a huge chance to pioneer the pro-farmers activities and be a role model. We want banking system to be working for people, not making people trapped in banking rules. That is where the central bank has spaces to work.

(The writer is Secretary, BKMEA)

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

SUMMIT OF EUROPE'S INEFFECTIVENESS

DANIEL KORSKI

 

The European Union likes summits. Just look at the way it reacts when the other side decides not to show up (for example, its response to President Barack Obama's decision not to attend the May EU-US summit in Madrid). If the EU wants to be taken seriously and have a tangible impact, it needs to learn that talking about the right things is no substitute for taking the right kind of action.

No policy area better illustrates this EU preference for talk over action than Pakistan. The Pakistan-EU summit will take place on April 10, a follow-up to the first meeting last autumn. But you would be hard-pressed to know anything about the event, since nobody is taking ownership of it: not Herman Van Rompuy, the European Council's new permanent president; not Catherine Ashton, the EU's new foreign policy chief; not even Spanish Prime Minister Luis Zapatero, who has pushed Spain onto the stage in plenty of other areas.
The reason is simple: the EU has nothing new to say or offer. Pakistan desperately needs the EU's vaunted expertise in police training. But any deployment of trainers is seen as too dangerous, expensive, and likely to fail. Instead, individual member states are going it alone, with their own bite-sized assistance projects.
The EU is equally unlikely to change dramatically its development-aid policies towards Pakistan. Questions of capacity, corruption, and quality assurance remain unanswered, and with the US granting $1.5 billion a year for five years, any change in the EU stance would be relatively insignificant.

There is also the question of President Asif Zardari's government. Since his five-year term began in September 2008, Zardari has found it hard to assert his authority. Like his predecessor, General Pervez Musharraf, he is in danger of falling victim to a tide of anti-Americanism, fueled by disquiet over US policies in Pakistan, such as the use of military drones and covert operations.

Unlike Musharraf, Zardari cannot count on the support of the army, which remains Pakistan's most powerful state institution. It has already reacted furiously to attempts to curb its powers and rein in the activities of its intelligence apparatus. Sensing Zardari's weakness, his main rival, Nawaz Sharif, is said to be plotting a political comeback.
Given this context, the Pakistan-EU summit will come and go, with barely the caterers noticing. The EU will remain a minor player in Pakistan. Does this matter? Even the engaged US finds it difficult to attain its aims: witness the Pakistani interpretation of America's $7.5 billion aid package as interference rather than goodwill. So why should the EU even bother?

There are perhaps three reasons. First, the EU needs to focus on Pakistan because terrorists in Pakistan focus on the EU. In its 2009 intelligence assessment (the TE-SAT Terrorism Situation and Trend Report), Europol concluded that Pakistan [has] replaced Iraq as preferred destinations for volunteers wishing to engage in armed conflict. A senior EU official spelled out what this means: there had been many cases in the recent past where either Pakistanis were coming to Europe or young EU citizens were going to Pakistan for training and being brainwashed.

An effective Pakistan policy would depend in part on changing US policy. But, in order to be taken seriously by the US, the EU needs to bring well-developed, well-resourced policies to the table, rather than 27 half-baked ideas. So a second reason for revamping the EU's Pakistan policy is to be able to help shape US policy rather than be a passive by-stander.

The third reason is that, despite its aid and effort, the US is unlikely to be able to meet its aims alone. The US made Pakistan a top-priority Cold War ally. As a result, many unsavory aspects of Pakistan's conduct went unchallenged by America, while its military and intelligence services were handsomely resourced.
This nurtured two types of anti-US sentiment. Ordinary Pakistanis hate the US because they believe that America supported years of oppression and military rule, while Pakistani elites are wary of anything that may undermine the position they have come to enjoy. The US, therefore, will never be seen as a constructive partner in Pakistan's development. This leaves the door open to the EU, which is recognized as a consistent supporter of democracy.

There are many reasons to be wary of greater EU engagement in Pakistan, but foreign policy is not about easy problems; it is about addressing the difficult issues that affect people's lives. Pakistan matters to Europe, and Europe could matter much more to Pakistan. If the EU wants to be a serious global player to which the US turns as a credible partner (showing up at its summits, for a start), the Pakistan-EU summit is a good opportunity to start replacing words with action.

 

(Thee writer is a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.)

 

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2010.

 

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THE AUSTRALIAN

EDITORIAL

A REFRESHINGLY FRANK ADDRESS

ANNUAL LEADERS' MEETINGS WILL PROGRESS THE RELATIONSHIP

 

AUSTRALIA's bilateral relationship with Indonesia, one of our most important, has taken on a welcome new maturity. Counter-terrorism, the demise of Bali bombing mastermind Dulmatin and action to stamp out people-smuggling are all vitally important. But in his speech to a joint sitting of federal parliament, the first by an Indonesian leader, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono yesterday correctly identified the potential for an even broader and deeper engagement.

 

Dr Yudhoyono's speech was that of a statesman, who has stepped up to the challenge of leading the world's fourth-most populous nation, which is also the world's largest Islamic nation and, these days, a lively democracy. He was refreshingly frank when he urged the people of both nations to look beyond age-old stereotypes - such as some Australians regarding Indonesia as authoritarian, expansionist or a hotbed of Islamic extremism and some Indonesians remaining suspicious that "White Australia still persists".

 

But it was Dr Yudhoyono's expression of sympathy to the families of the five Australian newsmen killed at Balibo 35 years ago that underlined how far the relationship has progressed. A former army general and platoon commander in East Timor, the President's gesture showed a keen appreciation of Australian sensitivities. After decades of rancour over the Balibo atrocity, such a statement was long overdue. Shirley Shackleton, the widow of one of the five men, Greg Shackleton, welcomed it as a "miracle".

 

As the President and Kevin Rudd acknowledge, there is a solid basis for closer economic ties between the nations. Indonesia's 240 million people have an annual GDP of $562 billion, compared with Australia's $1000bn. But Indonesia enjoys the third-highest growth of G20 nations and has a strong, emerging middle class. Australia is only the 12th-highest foreign investor in Indonesia, putting less than half a per cent of overseas investment into our near neighbour.

 

Jakarta's move to make people-smuggling a criminal offence, punishable with five years' jail is welcome, as is Australia's generous aid package to alleviate the plight of 35 million of Indonesia's poorest. But it is the annual leaders' retreat, to take place alternately between the nations, and annual meetings of Indonesia's and Australia's foreign and defence ministers that promise to progress the relationship, regardless of new obstacles and ongoing challenges.

 

It was no surprise when Indonesia signalled its reluctance to back Australia's push for a new Asia-Pacific community. Mr Rudd's desire for an updated multinational regional architecture, drawing together nations as diverse as Australia, the US, China, Japan, India and Indonesia by 2020 is commendable. But Jakarta has long regarded the 10-nation ASEAN group as a priority. And ASEAN nations are wary of any move that would dilute their collective clout.Like Australia, Indonesia is an important member of APEC. And while Australia is not part of ASEAN, it is one of 27 nations in the associated ASEAN Regional Forum, which also provides a mechanism for dialogue. Now that Indonesia's position is clear, Australia's focus should be on further building the bilateral relationship. The nations are doing well, with 69 ministerial visits between them already since the Rudd government came to office. And the President's successful Australian visit is a good sign for the future.

 

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THE AUSTRALIAN

EDITORIAL

TROUBLE OVER CLARKE'S MAIDEN

CRICKET CAPTAINS' PRIVATE LIVES ARE NOT FRONT-PAGE FODDER

 

MICHAEL Clarke is the standout contender to succeed Ricky Ponting as Australian Test captain. Ponting, 35, might reasonably expect to retire after the Ashes series, which starts in November. But if Clarke aspires to the privilege of leading a Test team, he must be prepared for the obligations the job demands. He has not helped his career by missing a one-day game in New Zealand while he returned to Sydney to support fiancee Lara Bingle. The model, TV skater and compulsive twitterer may feel wronged by Australian rules footballer Brendan Fevola, who circulated a nude picture of her, but Clarke's co-starring role in the Bingle soap opera has not helped his reputation, or that of the game he loves. NRL administrators know the damage that has been done by a series of players' scandals on tabloid front pages and cricketing authorities are right not to tolerate such behaviour. However well he spun the ball, Shane Warne's antics meant he was never going to captain Australia, a point Clarke should consider in regard to his fiancee's exotic lifestyle.

 

Naturally there is sympathy for Clarke, who is going through an emotionally difficult period. But Allan Border was right - career cricketers, especially those aspiring to lead Australia, "either have to have a smooth relationship or be single".

 

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THE AUSTRALIAN

EDITORIAL

MIKE RANN - AND SA VOTERS - NEED TO GET REAL

ELECTORATE MUST SEE BEYOND THE SURFACE IN A CLOSE POLL

 

NOBODY wants a hung parliament - especially not in South Australia where the main parties have at times found it hard to achieve a clear win. But that could be the result from the March 20 election, given Newspoll has Labor and the Liberals split 50-50 on the two-party-preferred vote. That Premier Mike Rann is apparently struggling to capitalise on his solid record, even against a neophyte Opposition Leader of a lacklustre party, shows the problems even competent politicians face in convincing voters to stick with them long-term. Mr Rann has an additional problem in the allegations about his private life that should not have any part to play in voters' judgments - but, of course, do.

 

South Australians may appreciate that whether Mr Rann had an affair with Michelle Chantelois has little bearing on his ability to keep the unemployment rate at the lowest in the country or to deliver another 100,000 jobs in the future. But his varying responses to that story over the months have raised questions of trust and led many voters to give Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond a closer look than they might have done. Her direct, community-based appeal has been a contrast to Mr Rann's reputation as the professional politician who has majored in spin. Not helping either is the fatigue factor. Mr Rann has led Labor for 15 years, including eight as Premier, and there are valid questions about whether he will stay for the full term if re-elected. All these factors have changed the dynamics of a poll in which, three or four months ago, Labor looked unbeatable. Time then for Mr Rann - and the electorate - to get real. The Premier could start by showing more hunger for the job, not just to achieve another term, but so Labor can consolidate the state's future around mining, defence industries and the service sector. No amount of apologising will reverse voter distaste for his perceived personal indiscretions. Rather, the Premier must convince the electorate he can be trusted with the state by reminding them of Labor's achievements on the economy, jobs and infrastructure - and of the opposition's inexperience.

 

The government's decision not to focus on Mr Rann during the campaign was based on fears the Chantelois affair made him an easy target. At times, the party has appeared reluctant to roll out its star. But as Labor's strongest performer, Mr Rann must get back on the front foot: he cannot leave the job of securing a third term to a front bench that includes unpopular figures such as Treasurer Kevin Foley and Attorney-General Michael Atkinson. And Mr Rann should avoid the ugly populism he demonstrated yesterday with his claims the Liberals are soft on law and order. The capable Ms Redmond has surprised during her presidential-style campaign. Her plan to rebuild the Royal Adelaide Hospital on its existing site and a new sports stadium on the site Labor has earmarked for a new hospital has gone down well. But to be considered as more than the "anyone but Rann" candidate, she must overcome perceptions she is a novice. Ms Redmond has made a good start as leader, but years of infighting have left their mark on her party.

 

With just nine days of campaigning left, both she and Mr Rann have their work cut out to earn a convincing endorsement from voters.

 

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

EDITORIAL

THE END OF POLICY

 

ONE of the oddities of Sydney is that intelligent policy-making has largely been taken over by gifted independents. The Herald even had a go, last year inviting Ron Christie and other experts to redesign the city's transport system.

 

We did this reluctantly: it is not, after all, the normal job of a newspaper. Although younger readers may be surprised to read this, it was once the role of state politicians to develop effective policies to solve problems. But the current government and opposition have walked away from this responsibility, and others are trying to fill the vacuum.

 

The Christie report was published last month. It included specific infrastructure proposals and a recommendation for an independent board to take control of the state's transport needs. It would develop a plan that would be put to the people at a general election. If approved, the plan would have to be implemented by the party that took power.

 

The Christie proposals were much discussed and received some praise, but had little influence on subsequent government transport announcements. These, as is often the case, seem to have been plucked from the air. This is regrettable, although, given the remote likelihood they will ever be implemented, it was probably an efficient use of resources.

 

A group of business people called the Committee for Sydney last week agreed with Christie's suggestion that transport planning be elevated above politics , and suggested amalgamating local councils to facilitate infrastructure projects of city-wide significance.

 

Yesterday the NSW Business Chamber made public a set of "10 big ideas to grow NSW" based on a substantial consultation process. The chamber noted, as many have before, that NSW has lost its way since the 2000 Olympic Games, and that this is in part due to a failure of vision. "Growth has slowed," its report began. "Unemployment is above the national average, and Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia are experiencing the fruits of growth and investment. NSW needs to embrace a renewed sense of purpose, urgency and energy."

 

The chamber 's proposals include some business-friendly ideas, such as cutting employment taxes, and also a version of the Herald's call for an independent transport body. Other ideas include a three-year audit of all government activities to identify opportunities to increase efficiency, some political amalgamation (reducing 41 local councils to 10), and the creation of a department of business growth.

 

All these are worthy of consideration. Indeed, many people have good ideas for improving Sydney. What a shame none of them is in government.

 

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

EDITORIAL

MATHS EDUCATION DOESN'T ADD UP

 

''SOME [students] just love the conceptual beauty of calculus and algebra, and the challenges they provide," says Professor Gavin Brown's review of mathematics education, which this week declared a crisis in Australia. It goes on to point out, with delicate understatement, that "these children are relatively few in number".

 

Indeed they are. Very few children are in a rush to get to their maths homework after school. But the review's point that there is a much broader target audience than the maths naturals is well made, as is the suggestion that teaching applied maths - linking the numeric abstractions with practical uses of numbers and statistics - is the way to draw them in.

 

Dr Louise Ryan, the chief of CSIRO Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics, makes the point that mathematics evolved as the language of science, and is essential background for any quantitative-based research. A solid footing in maths is grounding not only for careers at CSIRO or the Bureau of Statistics, but is integral to Australia's continuing competitiveness in engineering, technological research and development, environmental and health sciences, geography, meteorology, economics, banking, finance and risk assessment. It has been argued that one of the reasons Australia weathered the financial crisis well was because our risk assessment - which depends on high-level maths - was superior to that of many overseas banks. The international competitiveness of our banking and finance industries cannot be sustained if the supply of mathematicians continues to decline. It is not just a boffin problem.

 

In 1995 Australian students in year 8 maths performed better than comparable students in the US and England. By 2007 this was reversed. Australian students had dropped below those countries and were greatly outperformed by students in most Asian countries. In the couple of decades between the clever country and the education revolution, the state of maths in Australia has deteriorated badly.

 

The review points to a shortage of skilled maths teachers, which has triggered a drift of students away from the discipline. Its recommendations for a compulsory maths training program for primary teachers, and for programs to raise awareness of the broad importance of maths skills across a range of disciplines are sensible.

 

Short of cloning those students enamoured with the conceptual beauty of algebra, Australia needs remedial university maths classes to reverse the decline and must expect to have graduates in the short-term with weaker degrees. It shows just how bad things have got.

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

EDITORIAL

SHAPING UP TO FIGHT THE WRONG WAR

 

AUSTRALIA is an island. And, as successive interpreters of the national ethos have noted, that geographical fact has determined so much of the nation's history. In strategic terms, Australians have long looked fearfully towards the archipelago that curves across the north of their land, and at the sea-air gap that separates them from it.

 

At various times they have expected invaders to come either from the archipelago or through it, though only once, during World War II, has there been a real prospect of such an invasion. And even that is a matter of contention: military historians disagree about whether the Japanese had firm intentions of occupying Australia in 1942. But the fear continues, expressed in popular anxieties about asylum seekers who arrive by boat, and in a different way in debates about the sort of defence force Australia should have. What priority should be given to defending the sea-air gap from potential invaders, and what sort of weaponry would be needed to do it?

 

Doubts about the assumptions underlying such debates have this week been expressed from a surprising quarter: former chief of the army Peter Leahy, who now heads the University of Canberra's National Security Institute. In an Age interview, Professor Leahy said the wisdom of equipping the Australian Defence Force for a war it was unlikely to have to fight was questionable. The strategic environment was changing, he said, from threats based on ''territory and sovereignty'' to ''terrorism, transnational criminals and cyber warfare'' in the context of ''food, water and energy shortages, climate change, pandemics, mass migration … failed and failing states''. The funding balance, Professor Leahy suggested, should perhaps tilt away from multibillion-dollar weaponry such as the planned new joint strike fighter, new submarines and destroyers, and towards the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Federal Police and aid agencies.

 

It could be argued that it is not so surprising that Professor Leahy holds such views: he is an ex-army man, after all, and naval or air force officers, the beneficiaries of the big-ticket items on order for the ADF, might see it differently. Yet he was not arguing that, for example, Australia has no need for combat aircraft, but rather that the number, as well as the type, required should be debated.

 

So it should, and Professor Leahy is to be congratulated for initiating a more fundamental debate about Australia's strategic priorities than typically takes place. It is time Australia shaped its defence forces to meet real needs, not old fears.

Source: The Age

 

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

EDITORIAL

STATE PLANS MUST ENGAGE, NOT EXCLUDE, PUBLIC

PEOPLE MUST BE WON OVER TO HIGHER-DENSITY AND SOCIAL HOUSING.

 

THE upper house yesterday censured state Planning Minister Justin Madden over a memo, drafted by an adviser, that outlined a strategy of sham consultation. He is the first minister in a century to lose two votes of no confidence, although in reality he probably felt all the pain of ''being flogged with a warm lettuce'', as Paul Keating once said of debating opposition leader John Hewson. For one thing, opposition charges about proper process ring a little hollow when an upper house inquiry into the matter only begins hearings tomorrow.

The government labelled the vote a political stunt, albeit one that is unlikely to get much attention. It is on dangerous ground, though, in ignoring public concern about fast-tracked projects. Premier John Brumby has conceded there may be ''a perception about process'' in planning. Yet even after being warned of community concerns, Mr Madden set aside his hat of Minister for Respect to flatly dismiss these. ''I don't believe that the vast public are upset because I am not being inundated by emails or comments,'' he said. ''It may be small groups, but what we won't have is these projects delayed or scuttled, particularly by federal backbenchers who are just trying to get some attention for themselves.''

 

Two points need to be made. There is a broader concern about fast-tracked projects, which threaten to alienate the public and, as a result of little public input, could lead to inferior designs, which residents must live with for decades. Second, Labor's internal critics stress that they want more social housing, one of the main goals of contentious projects in Coburg and Geelong. The Age has long called for more social housing and has supported plans for higher-density living. We are far from alone in lamenting the effects of the NIMBY syndrome, which means such essential projects can be blocked at a local level; Mr Brumby cited the case of a single objector to the CBD Common Ground social housing project when it was called in.Other projects have been called in to meet the tight deadlines of the federal government's $5.6 billion Social Housing Initiative as part of its economic stimulus package. These require 75 per cent of 4500 homes in Victoria to be built by the end of this year, and the rest by mid-2012 for the state to receive funding. These constraints prompted the Brumby government to seize planning control from councils last year and suspend notice and appeal rights for residents until 2012.

 

Federal Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek says it is important to keep up the momentum of the projects and ''for the state government to manage community expectations as well''. This should not be only a matter of managing the politics, although the Brumby government needs to avoid self-inflicted damage in an election year. At that level, this is an issue of style, and Mr Madden has been clumsy.The more substantial aspect of management is engaging communities in the process of creating liveable suburbs for the next century. Projects such as those in Coburg and Geelong have lasting and significant impacts on communities, but were signed off without notice. The lack of transparency suggests contempt for residents and for valuable local knowledge that could improve such projects. Even if the usual process is suspended to meet deadlines, that does not justify keeping people in the dark. The affected communities insist they have no issue with social housing, but have every right to be angry if they are denied a chance to ensure the results are as good as they can be.

 

If the government believes in its vision for social housing and medium-density living - and it should, since this is critical to sustainable development - it must be open with the public and explain how that vision applies to each project. It can reject the views of the upper house, but not of the public. If it tries to fob off Victorian communities, they get the final say in November.

Source: The Age

 

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THE GUARDIAN

EDITORIAL

THE ECONOMY: BAD TIDINGS

 

Gordon Brown's best chance of winning the election is to keep warning that the Tories would rein in spending too soon

 

Warning: what follows will depress you. When Gordon Brown said yesterday that "there are still real risks to the recovery" he was if anything understating the hole the economy is in. As chancellor, Mr Brown was often surprisingly accurate in his economic forecasts (it was the tax revenues he overestimated, but that is another story); yet this rather gloomy prediction – an extraordinary statement to make for a party leader going into a general election – may if anything prove to be not gloomy enough.

 

Consider a few scraps of recent economic news: over two years of the pound dropping like a stone – and exports in January suffered their worst drop since the summer of 2006. Yes, the medium-term outlook is slightly better – but it is still not healthy. What about the housing market, that traditionally go-go area of the UK economy? Well, the mini-boom of last year appears to have puttered out, going by the recent slide in approvals for mortgages. Again, that may improve – but low interest rates are not working their usual magic (something to do, surely, with the high-street banks not passing on the easy credit they have been getting from Threadneedle Street). Look too at the results from Northern Rock yesterday which indicate that without record-low rates and a lot of forbearance by the mortgage lenders home repossessions would be a lot higher.

 

As for the rest of the world, in the former powerhouse economy of the US, Wall Street is enjoying more stable banks and a tearaway stockmarket – but the housing market (which is where the global economic crisis began) is in deep trouble. Repossessions are at an all-time high; home sales are plunging (again, despite a record-low Fed funds interest rate) and the house-building industry is on its back. Consumers in Germany have gone awol. One can point to explosive growth in China, and a relatively healthy Indian economy – but these are not major markets for British exports. The brute fact remains that unless and until the western economies pick up, the UK's best hope is to continue on state life support.

 

The recent spurt of relatively good economic news (the confirmation that the UK is out of recession, a few positive business surveys) may now be followed by a stream of bad tidings as the various bits of fiscal stimulus are suspended and banks continue to be miserly with their loans. For Mr Brown, this means his best chance of winning the election is to keep warning that the Tories would rein in spending too soon and too unfairly and hurt the worst-off. That is broadly true, but Labour should lighten the gloom with some proposals for how it will rebuild a shattered manufacturing base and an economy still too dependent on the City.

 

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THE GUARDIAN

EDITORIAL

AFGHANISTAN: WAR WITH AN END

 

The conditions exist for a settlement, which would limit Taliban influence to the south, preserve advances and cut corruption

 

Two thoughtful speeches this week dealt with the challenging legacy of America's war on terror. The first was given in London by Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former head of MI5. She spoke about the use of torture by American intelligence. Britain did not, she said, condone its use or carry it out directly, but nor did this country try as hard as it should have done (or perhaps at all) to discover what its allies were up to. As a result Britain gained information from suspects subjected to extreme and illegal techniques, while claiming that it did not condone the use of them. That is a greater matter for shame and scrutiny than the government seems able to admit, connivance being only one or two steps short of commission.

 

The second important speech this week was made in Boston by David Miliband, the man who as foreign secretary has had to deal with the consequences of torture and the wars which brought it about. His words repay close analysis, since they stand above the routine, as a signal to the future rather than a justification of the past.

 

"In 1988, I would never have believed that 2010 years later I would be British foreign secretary explaining a war in Afghanistan," Mr Miliband began. That was a clue to the direction of his thinking. He knows that the Afghan war has gone wrong, cannot be won in military terms and in the form it is being fought is destroying Afghanistan rather than saving it. He could not say this directly, but did so instead by proposing a change of strategy, in which dialogue and serious compromise matter more than fighting.

 

"Talking to the Taliban" has become an easy slogan for many critics of the war, but it has now also become official British and – in some regards – US policy. "A political solution to all conflicts is the inevitable outcome," the US general Stanley McChrysal said recently. Or as Mr Miliband put it in his speech: "While violence of the most murderous, indiscriminate and terrible kind started this Afghan war, politics will bring it to an end on the back of concerted military and civilian effort."

 

The foreign secretary does not need to persuade the British public. Six British deaths this month in Sangin alone are miserable evidence of the military struggle, and Mr Miliband is not the only politician who would like to see the fight come to an end. The American surge will not be sustained beyond 2011, as the presidential election comes closer. All this has added urgency to the search for an alternative. Tentative contacts with some Taliban figures, and a sham of an Afghan election to return a discredited president, are not in themselves a political solution.

 

A precipitate Nato pullout would require a latter-day version of the Soviet government's departing advice to its Afghan ally in 1989: "Forget Communism, abandon socialism, embrace Islam and work with the tribes." It would lead to the swift collapse of the Kabul regime, and chaos afterwards. But fighting on is no better. The answer, as Mr Miliband recognises, is some combination of less fighting and more talking, which could lead to a deal. This deal will not be the same as the "reconciliation" which has always been on offer – allowing Taliban fighters to surrender. The west and Kabul must compromise too. One target of Mr Miliband's speech was President Karzai, who has long since ceased to be anything other than an obstacle to a settlement. As the foreign secretary put it: "Without a genuine effort to understand and ultimately address the wider concerns which fuel the insurgency, it will be hard to convince significant numbers of combatants that their interests will be better served by working with the government than by fighting against it."

 

The conditions exist for a settlement. It would limit Taliban influence to the south, preserve advances such as female education, cut corruption and the number of foreign troops. Mr Miliband is right to be brave.

 

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THE GUARDIAN

EDITORIAL

IN PRAISE OF … PRESIDENTIAL SMOKING

 

It's better for Obama to have the odd puff if the alternative is keeping all that stress bottled up inside

The Guardian kicked the habit long ago, banning smoking from the office years before it became the law of the land. So of course we applaud President Lula of Brazil who has given up smoking – 50 years after he started. Apparently it was sheer force of will that did it: no nicotine patches, no gum, no tablets. Good for him. Meanwhile, Lula's counterpart in Washington still struggles against the demon weed. Barack Obama has tried and tried to give up but – as his first presidential medical confirmed last month – success has proved as elusive as his healthcare reform bill. Some will condemn the US president as weak-willed, a poor role model for America's impressionable teens. We take a more charitable view, for we are reminded of the fate of one of Mr Obama's predecessors. Lyndon Johnson resisted temptation and smoked not once during his more than five years in the White House. The instant he left office, however, boarding the plane home to Texas, he pulled out a cigarette. One of his daughters immediately yanked it from his mouth, with a warning that he was killing himself. He snatched it back, saying, "I've raised you girls, I've been President: now it's my time." He then embarked on what historians regard as a "self-destructive spiral", dying four years later. Given that history, perhaps it's better for Obama to have the odd puff if the alternative is keeping all that stress bottled up inside. When it comes to presidents and smoking, we ought to lighten up – and let them light up.

 

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THE KOREA HERALD

EDITORIAL

LESS CONFRONTATION

 

Unionists promoting a third national umbrella labor group claim one of the two established groups is "too confrontational and ideological" and the other is "too authoritarian and bureaucratic." Their criticism may not be far off the mark, if not entirely true.

 

While promising to take the middle road, the new group, which goes by the name of the Labor Alliance for New Hope, has committed itself to "serving the interests of workers and the nation." It cannot be a lofty goal by any means. It is just a modest one.

 

But will the new group live up to its commitment? That may be anyone's guess, given what the militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the less confrontational but more bureaucratic Federation of Korean Trade Unions have done in the past.

 

Both claim to put the interests of unionists ahead of everything else. But leaders of the two national labor groups have more often than not placed their own interests above those of the unionists under their wing. Some of them have used their union positions as a springboard for election to the National Assembly.

 

Against this backdrop, the new umbrella labor group is offering an alternative - an action that is in itself a great service to those fed up with either the KCTU or the FKTU. More than 50 unions have applied for membership with the new group since its launch on Thursday last week.

 

The number of unionists under its wing, though approaching 130,000, is much smaller than those of the established two - the FKTU with 720,000 and the KCTU with 650,000. True, the new group will have to go a long way before it establishes itself as a rival powerful enough to keep the others in check.

 

Nonetheless, the new group expects to double its membership when a revised labor law goes into effect, permitting more than one union to be in operation at one workplace in July next year. Their goal cannot be brushed aside as overambitious.

 

The reason is that workers disgruntled with their union affiliated with either the FKTU or the KCTU may freely choose to part with the union and create a new one with the third national umbrella labor group.

 

In the past, quite a few unions have attempted to dissociate themselves from the KCTU because of its militancy - the labor group frequently stages outdoor protest rallies for political purposes. But not many have been successful because of the tight rules, which, next July, will be easy to circumvent.

 

The prospect of en-masse desertion appears to be taming the KCTU, whose leadership has recently promised that participants in its protests will not wear red headbands - a symbol of militancy. In an abrupt change of opinion, its chairman said last week, "We at the KCTU will shed our image as a militant group, launch a more moderate labor movement and, by doing so, endear ourselves to unionists and the nation."

 

The chairman went on to say, "There is no longer a place where we can wear red headbands and wield steel pipes in a radical protest." He added the KCTU would call its deputies to a national convention just once a year. In the past it has called a general meeting several times a year, mostly for a general strike.

It will certainly take time until the KCTU chairman proves himself a successful proponent of moderation. In the past, similar calls for moderation have often been drowned out by vociferous demands for combative action against not just employers but the government.

 

But the unmistakable fact is that the KCTU is pressured to change its course of action since the emergence of a third national umbrella labor group. This is a welcome development.

 

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THE KOREA HERALD

EDITORIAL

INSTITUTION REFORM

 

President Lee Myung-bak has launched a war on corruption, singling out venal local powerbrokers, corrupt educators and senior public officeholders open to bribery as his target. On an order from Lee, his aides in the Blue House, officials from the prime minister's office, prosecutors, and other law-enforcement officers are investigating corruption cases involving those groups of people.

 

The declaration of a fight against corruption follows recent reports on cases involving principals and other educators suspected of bribery. Moreover, a growing number of political aspirants are suspected of making under-the-table deals with party officers for nominations as the local elections are approaching.

 

Also of great concern to Lee is a lesson he has learned from his predecessors that some of those close to the president succumb to temptations of bribery, beginning as early as the third year of the president's five-year term. Now in his third year of governance, Lee is repeatedly warning his aides to guard against a "moral lapse," renew their commitment to public service and push ahead all the reforms they launched at the outset.

 

As he has mentioned, a campaign or two cannot eradicate corruption no matter how intensive they may be. He needs to fight it all year round. He also needs to become realistic and aim at reducing corruption to a tolerable level, instead of promising to "root out all types of corruption," as he did. Corruption does not just die hard. It never dies.

 

Here again, prevention is better than punishment. As such, Lee will do well to launch legal and institutional reform geared at removing potential sources of corruption.

 

One case in point is a proposal to revise election-related laws to ban party nominations for election to the post of a municipal mayor or a municipal council member. Few would believe municipal administration requires party backing.

 

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THE KOREA HERALD

EDITORIAL

THE DANGERS OF DEFICIT REDUCTION

JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ

 

NEW YORK - A wave of fiscal austerity is rushing over Europe and America. The magnitude of budget deficits - like the magnitude of the downturn - has taken many by surprise. But despite protests by the yesterday's proponents of deregulation, who would like the government to remain passive, most economists believe that government spending has made a difference, helping to avert another Great Depression.

 

Most economists also agree that it is a mistake to look at only one side of a balance sheet (whether for the public or private sector). One has to look not only at what a country or firm owes, but also at its assets. This should help answer those financial sector hawks who are raising alarms about government spending. After all, even deficit hawks acknowledge that we should be focusing not on today's deficit, but on the long-term national debt. Spending, especially on investments in education, technology and infrastructure, can actually lead to lower long-term deficits. Banks' short-sightedness helped create the crisis; we cannot let government short-sightedness - prodded by the financial sector - prolong it.

 

Faster growth and returns on public investment yield higher tax revenues, and a 5 to 6 percent return is more than enough to offset temporary increases in the national debt. A social cost-benefit analysis (taking into account impacts other than on the budget) makes such expenditures, even when debt-financed, even more attractive.

 

Finally, most economists agree that, apart from these considerations, the appropriate size of a deficit depends in part on the state of the economy. A weaker economy calls for a larger deficit, and the appropriate size of the deficit in the face of a recession depends on the precise circumstances.

 

It is here that economists disagree. Forecasting is always difficult, but especially so in troubled times. What has happened is (fortunately) not an everyday occurrence; it would be foolish to look at past recoveries to predict this one.

 

In America, for instance, bad debt and foreclosures are at levels not seen for three-quarters of a century; the decline in credit in 2009 was the largest since 1942. Comparisons to the Great Depression are also deceptive, because the economy today is so different in so many ways. And nearly all so-called experts have proven highly fallible - witness the U.S. Federal Reserve's dismal forecasting record before the crisis.

 

Yet, even with large deficits, economic growth in the United States and Europe is anemic, and forecasts of private-sector growth suggest that in the absence of continued government support, there is risk of continued stagnation - of growth too weak to return unemployment to normal levels anytime soon.

 

The risks are asymmetric: if these forecasts are wrong, and there is a more robust recovery, then, of course, expenditures can be cut back and/or taxes increased. But if these forecasts are right, then a premature "exit" from deficit spending risks pushing the economy back into recession. This is one of the lessons we should have learned from America's experience in the Great Depression; it is also one of the lessons to emerge from Japan's experience in the late 1990s.

 

These points are particularly germane for the hardest-hit economies. The United Kingdom, for example, has had a harder time than other countries for an obvious reason: it had a real-estate bubble (though of less consequence than in Spain), and finance, which was at the epicenter of the crisis, played a more important role in its economy than it does in other countries.

 

The U.K.'s weaker performance is not the result of worse policies; indeed, compared to the United States, its bank bailouts and labor-market policies were, in many ways, far better. It avoided the massive waste of human resources associated with high unemployment in America, where almost one out of five people who would like a full-time job cannot find one.

 

As the global economy returns to growth, governments should, of course, have plans on the drawing board to raise taxes and cut expenditures. The right balance will inevitably be a subject of dispute. Principles like "it is better to tax bad things than good things" might suggest imposing environmental taxes.

 

The financial sector has imposed huge externalities on the rest of society. America's financial industry polluted

the world with toxic mortgages, and, in line with the well established "polluter pays" principle, taxes should be imposed on it. Besides, well-designed taxes on the financial sector might help alleviate problems caused by excessive leverage and banks that are too big to fail. Taxes on speculative activity might encourage banks to focus greater attention on performing their key societal role of providing credit.

 

Over the longer term, most economists agree that governments, especially in advanced industrial countries with aging populations, should be concerned about the sustainability of their policies. But we must be wary of deficit fetishism. Deficits to finance wars or give-aways to the financial sector (as happened on a massive scale in the United States) lead to liabilities without corresponding assets, imposing a burden on future generations. But high-return public investments that more than pay for themselves can actually improve the well-being of future generations, and it would be doubly foolish to burden them with debts from unproductive spending and then cut back on productive investments.

 

These are questions for a later day - at least in many countries, prospects of a robust recovery are, at best, a year or two away. For now, the economics is clear: reducing government spending is a risk not worth taking.

 

Joseph E. Stiglitz is University Professor at Columbia University and recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics. His most recent book Freefall: Free Markets and the Sinking of the Global Economy is available in French (Le Triomphe De La Cupidite, Liens Qui Liberent) and will be available shortly in Japanese, Spanish, German, and Italian. - Ed.

 

(Project Syndicate)

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THE KOREA HERALD

EDITORIAL

THE MIDDLE AGAINST BOTH EXTREMES

KIM SEONG-KON

 

Whenever something big happens, for example, if a Korean athlete wins a gold medal in the Olympics, Korean television companies always get overexcited. They virtually disregard all other news in order to highlight the big event continuously. Then they cancel regular programs, including popular soap operas that housewives cannot live without, in order to rerun the big event again and again until viewers become sick and tired of it. Words like "moderation," "temperance" or "restraint" do not seem to exist in the vocabulary of Korean broadcast companies, which obviously do not know the famous maxim, "He who drinks a little too much drinks much too much."

 

Such extremism can be found in schools as well. When we are young and vulnerable, we should be taught to see the world without prejudice or preconception. That is why students are introduced to many aspects and views of human civilization and history at school. While reading and learning about the world from different perspectives, young people can gradually develop the ability to make their own value judgments. This process is what we call an "education."

 

As intellectual guides, therefore, teachers should only aid in the process of intellectual maturation of their students. They should not brainwash students with certain political ideologies or turn them into their political disciples. Unfortunately, however, some radical teachers in our country today still try to mold the vulnerable minds of our students and pollute their innocent souls with obsolete Marxist ideology. Recently, a middle school teacher took his students to a pro-North Korea/anti-America political rally. Surely he crossed the line as a teacher who should teach from a neutral stance. Intoxicated by self-righteousness, however, these radical teachers claim that they are "educating" their students to build a better world. According to these teachers, we can make a "better world" through a social revolution that overthrows the rich, privileged conservatives. Conveniently, this "noble cause" justifies using any means, including brainwashing vulnerable young students or bringing children to their demonstration sites.

 

There is a saying that something is not right if a man is not a leftist in his 20s, or if he remains a leftist in his 40s and 50s. In South Korea, however, quite a few people in their 60s and even 70s still remain stout leftwing activists. It seems that these radicals can never escape their intellectual puberty saturated with pseudo-heroism. However, history has proven that both socialism and communism are debunked Utopian pipedreams.

 

In a popular television drama, "Bones," a former radical leftist regretting her turbulent past writes to her daughter: "Without understanding, compassion, and love, you can't change the world; a dogmatized political ideology only kills people and destroys the world." Yet our extreme leftists still seem to be full of vengeance and hatred, and are destroying the world with their violent social revolution that will inevitably kill many people as collateral damage.

 

Extreme rightists and corrupt capitalists should be admonished as well. When referring to Marxism and industrial capitalism, Thomas Pynchon poignantly criticized the two ideologies, writing, "Underneath, both are part of the same creeping horror." Indeed, both Hitler and Stalin were nightmarish tyrants who massacred many innocent people for their extreme political ideologies. Why then do our leftists still naively believe that they can build a socialist paradise on the Korean peninsula?

 

Like a pair of wings, moderate left wings and moderate right wings are necessary to maintain the balance of a society. Indeed, nothing is wrong with left or right until they are pushed to the extreme. For example, many intellectuals and writers are moderate leftists because they take the side of the underprivileged, rather than the wealthy and politically powerful. Perhaps the greatest problem lies in our social atmosphere that does not allow the middle ground and forces us to choose one of the two extremes.

 

As for me, I trust neither extreme left nor hardcore right, and neither radical progressives nor corrupt conservatives. For example, I once signed the petition to abolish the National Security Law and then withdrew my signature after realizing we may still need the law to protect our nation from communist infiltration. Later, I also signed a petition in protest against the Roh administration for steering the nation in the wrong direction and then withdrew my name after finding out the protest was sponsored by paleoconservatives. I feel sad watching the hostile confrontation of the extremes in our country: between belligerent radicals vs. hardcore conservatives and extreme left vs. extreme right.

 

In his celebrated essay published in the 1960s, Leslie A. Fiedler emphasized the importance of "the middle against both ends." In Korean society, however, there seems to be no place for moderate people even in 2010. When they went out into the street, our ancestors walked unflappably in the middle of the road, believing the old saying, "The superior man walks on the wide road." We need to learn from our ancestors' wisdom to avoid extremism and encourage those who walk down the middle of the road.

 

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

SECRET AGREEMENTS TO GET ALONG

 

A Foreign Ministry panel of experts on Tuesday concluded that secret agreements existed between the United States and Japan concerning the "bringing in" of U.S. nuclear weapons to Japan, military operations of U.S. armed forces from Japanese bases in an "emergency" on the Korean Peninsula, and cost burdens shouldered by Japan in the 1972 reversion of Okinawa from the U.S. to Japan.

 

Time and again, the former Liberal Democratic Party administrations had denied the existence of such agreements. It has become clear that they did not tell the truth to the people. In departing from their practice, the current Democratic Party of Japan administration should now take the opportunity to maximize transparency in diplomacy. In some situations, the government may have to conduct diplomacy secretly. In such a case, the government must keep accurate records so that later generations can clearly understand what happened and why.

 

As to the secret agreement on "bringing in" nuclear weapons, the panel said the Japanese government told the Diet — in connection with the signing of the 1960 Japan-U.S. Security Treaty — that stopovers in Japan as well as transit through Japanese territorial waters of U.S. military ships carrying nuclear weapons would be subject to prior consultation as required by the treaty. Japan found that the U.S. saw things differently, the panel said.

 

Therefore, the panel said, Japan and the U.S. decided to leave the matter "ambiguous," allowing the possibility that U.S. ships carrying nuclear weapons might make port calls in Japan or transit through Japanese territorial waters without prior consultation. It said this "tacit agreement" became firm after U.S. Ambassador Edwin O. Reischauer told Foreign Minister Masayoshi Ohira in April 1963 that port calls or transit by U.S. ships carrying nuclear weapons did not constitute "introduction" of nuclear weapons, which was subject to prior consultation.

 

In 1967, Prime Minister Eisaku Sato declared Japan's three-point nonnuclear principle of not "producing," not "possessing" and not allowing the "bringing in" of nuclear weapons. The third point has been interpreted to mean that Japan would not allow either the stationing (introduction) or transiting of nuclear weapons on its territory, or port calls by ships carrying nuclear weapons.

 

As to the earlier administrations' explanation that there had been no "bringing in" of U.S. nuclear weapons into Japanese territory because the U.S. had never asked for prior consultation, the panel said, "The Japanese government offered dishonest explanations, including lies, from beginning to end," thus torpedoing the traditional explanation.

 

The panel's findings prompted Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada to say that he could not rule out the possibility that U.S. ships carrying nuclear weapons made port calls in Japan or transited through Japanese territorial waters.

 

But the panel said that because of U.S. President George H.W. Bush's 1991 announcement that the U.S. would withdraw tactical nuclear weapons from its naval ships, the port call and transit issue no longer troubles Japan-U.S. ties. The U.S. also maintains a "neither confirm nor deny" policy with regard to the deployment of nuclear weapons.

 

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama declared that Japan will continue to uphold its three-point nonnuclear principle, adding that U.S. nuclear and other deterrence is necessary for the Japan-U.S. security arrangement and for the Asia-Pacific region. The Hatoyama administration should use this chance to cooperate further with the Obama administration in working out effective ways to prevent nuclear proliferation and to remove seeds of conflict in East Asia. Both countries must strive to prevent the development of any situation that might lead to threats to use nuclear weapons.

 

Other findings by the panel:

 

(1) Although a concrete document verifies a secret pact to let U.S. armed forces operate from Japanese bases to cope with an emergency on the Korean Peninsula, the pact lost its effect after Prime Minister Sato announced that Japan would not oppose the U.S. taking up the matter for prior consultations.

 

(2) Japan agreed to shoulder $20 million, including $4 million the U.S. was supposed to pay to help restore U.S. military areas to farmland, in addition to the original $300 million planned for Okinawa reversion. But no binding written agreements exist.

 

(3) Although secret minutes signed by Sato and U.S. President Richard Nixon were found recently — in which the U.S. was allowed to bring nuclear weapons into Okinawa in an emergency after its reversion to Japan — the minutes did not go beyond the November 1969 joint statement by the two.

 

During its study, the panel noticed that some important documents that should have existed were missing. The Diet should call witnesses to pinpoint who is responsible for the disappearance of the documents by invoking Article 62 of the Constitution, which empowers the Diet to conduct investigations related to the administration of government.

 

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

THE U.S. MEDIA BADLY NEEDS A WAKEUP CALL

BY TOM PLATE

 

Different societies allow their news media different roles. In most countries the media is subordinated to power, whether of the government or the ruling class. Surprisingly or not, the American model is not widely emulated globally.

 

Unfortunately, these days, it is not even widely admired within the United States. This is beyond sad.

 

A recent column expressed my view that the feverous coverage of Tiger Woods' private life was beyond all good taste and professional reserve. Actually, I thought it was totally disgusting. This view appeared to be widely shared.

 

One e-mail from a reader in Southeast Asia more or less spoke for many others received: "I full-heartedly agree with you. This kind of prurient media circus nauseates me no end. Tiger Wood's affairs should remain between him and his wife, or between him and the women who agreed to have affairs with him, unless a crime has been committed. Bravo."

 

A reader in South Korea e-mailed: "I agree with your article 100 percent. The media knows no bounds and their recycles often run stories into the ground."

 

But a contradictory salvo from a serious professional (whom I greatly respect, so I wish to keep his identity private) completely shook me up. "I have never read such complete ———— [well-known four-letter word] in my life."

 

That ribald response bothered me not because it was critical of my column (big deal!) but because it reflected what I fear is an attitude of widespread denial in the established U.S. commercial news media. They may not know what has hit them; worse yet, they may not realize what is going to hit them.

 

Let me explain.

 

The current crisis in the U.S. news media is usually attributed to technological or financial factors. But my view is that the crisis is largely spiritual. When the heart and soul of something is lost, darkness and disintegration are not far behind.

 

Journalists all over the world used to admire the U.S. news media; some still do. The power of our journalists to set the agenda, topple presidents and in general scare the living daylights out of political and public figures used to trigger an envious drool from journalists in other lands. But to see the U.S. media fall over themselves in the race to the bottom of propriety has been sobering indeed. The sordid specter even raises doubts about the quality of our democracy.

 

Not too many American journalists are aware of their role-model status. Few perhaps care one way or the other. Except for the U.S. foreign correspondents, after all, the worldview of the average journalist here does not extend much beyond Washington, as if that provincial city were the center of the political universe — which of course it once used to be.

 

But that was then, and this is now. Like our melting ice caps, the American news media is shrinking in size — and significance — and much more precipitously. Today, loud-mouthed, know-nothing bloggers vie for influence and effect with heretofore famous New York Times columnists. Network-news divisions downsize while new Web news sites spring up like springtime weeds in an abandoned lot. Seasoned journalists willingly defect from established news organizations to start up or join existing Web sites. In 10 years the American news-media landscape will be barely recognizable.

 

America's iconic media institutions are receding so dramatically that new jobs are scarce and existing ones are evaporating. The ultra-premier publications — Time magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post — once led the professional pack triumphantly and proudly. At Time, all the stupid if tantalizing gossip was rightly ghettoized into one page of the magazine: People. No more. Now People is not only its own magazine, but Time is more like People today than the Time of yesterday.

 

I feel sorry about what's happening. Now an issue of a news magazine comes to your home that looks so

anorexic and so feeble that you feel bad for it. I don't even consider myself a subscriber anymore; the decline is so pathetic, I view my subscription check as a sort of a charitable contribution, as if saving the imperiled jobs of an endangered species: the traditional American journalist.

 

All of this may well be somewhat exaggerated, to be sure. Time and The Washington Post and ABC News still have significant clout. Some of my students would still drown their two little pet Pomeranians in a bathtub to land a job there. A major American newspaper columnist probably still has more pull than the average U.S. congressman (though that's perhaps not saying much).

 

But the trend lines are near- catastrophic, and, if you believe they will proceed apace, they contain evil seeds to transform American democracy in ways we surely cannot predict. The insistence of the quality news media on joining the race to the slimy bottom will only hasten their irrelevance.

 

The tragedy is that I do not believe they really understand that.

 

Veteran U.S. journalist Tom Plate's 2007 book on the American media, "Confessions of an American Media Man," will be reissued in May in a second edition. © 2010 Pacific Perspectives Media Center

 

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

U.S. BASE PROBLEM DRAGS ON

BY GREGORY CLARK

 

The loud dispute over the future of the U.S. Marine Air Station at Futenma, Okinawa, is puzzling. Even U.S. officialdom agrees that this base causes enormous inconvenience to the residents of Ginowan city who are forced to live alongside. Plans to have it moved have been around for years. But to where?

 

Even the very reasonable proposal by Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada that the noisy helicopter base functions be moved to the vast U.S. air base at nearby Kadena is rejected. There are technical problems, it is claimed. But Futenma helicopters are happily sharing the Kadena base while the Futenma landing strip is being repaired. Sources say the real problem is traditional U.S. Marine-Air Force antagonism: that the Air Force has yet to be reconciled to the idea that the originally sea-based marines should have air power also.

 

So Japan is thrown into base chaos simply because of an irrational U.S. military factional dispute?

 

Then there is the messy dispute over numbers and functions. Most also agree that there are too many U.S. troops based in Okinawa. In 2006, Japan and the U.S. prepared what they called a "Roadmap for Realignment," with Japan promising to pay $6.1 billion to cover much of the cost of moving 8,000 of the Okinawa-based marine troops to Guam by 2014.

 

To satisfy the marine forces remaining in Okinawa it was proposed to build a new environment-destroying airport at Henoko in Nago Bay well to the north of Futenma. That construction is now on hold as Tokyo tries to deal with airport opponents. But the quota for the Okinawa-based marine force is only 18,000, and departures, mainly for service in Afghanistan, bring the total down heavily.

 

So an expensive, locally opposed airport must be built just for those remaining after the 8,000 have moved to Guam?

 

The Japanese Foreign Ministry says that it is mainly the marine command units that will be moved to Guam — that operational combat units will remain in Okinawa and will need the brand-new Henoko airport. But Japanese opponents of both the Henoko and Futenma airports say they have U.S. data that proves the Futenma-based operational units, including those noisy helicopters, were also supposed to move to Guam under the 2006 agreement. Yoichi Iha, mayor of long-suffering Ginowan, has visited military authorities in Guam and says he has confirmed the data.

 

Now we also have a U.S. environmental impact report issued in November 2009 that lists three combat or training units as moving to Guam so that Guam can become the key U.S. military base in the western Pacific. So why the Tokyo bureaucratic insistence that the Futenma combat units have to remain in Guam until an alternative base is prepared, ideally at Henoko?

 

The obfuscation continues. A Diet-based group of Okinawan and Social Democratic Party members has tried to follow up on Iha's claims. But Japanese defense and Foreign Ministry officials summoned to group discussions insist blandly that the midsize helicopters that the mayor has confirmed as moving to Guam will in fact come from the U.S. Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture rather than Futenma. But the officials refuse to show the documents that the group demands as proof. As one member of the committee put it to me, the bureaucrats have yet to realize that a new government is in power.

 

In theory, at least, Guam is where the Futenma marines should be based since their main task is training Southeast and South Asian defense forces, and Guam is better located for that. But both Tokyo and Washington now seem to insist that providing an alternative base — Henoko ideally — is a condition for closing that much-hated Futenma base. Maybe the need to supply troops and helicopters to Afghanistan has convinced them of Okinawa's advantages.

 

For sticky fingers in the Japanese ministries involved, there is also the inviting prospect of being able to control the funds needed for a new base. For the U.S. military, a new base would be an attractive addition to its vast inventory of overseas bases since Okinawa offers a better lifestyle than isolated Guam. It also means access to the "sympathy budget" funds that Tokyo seems willing to keep on providing for U.S. bases in Japan.

 

In effect Tokyo, which says it needs the bases for its security, is picking up the tab to train U.S. troops for service in Afghanistan.

 

Why is Japan so generous? And why does it want those U.S. bases in the first place, with all the costs, problems and denial of sovereignty they seem to entail?

 

No other self-respecting Asian nation would be so tolerant. One theory says Tokyo really does believe it needs U.S. bases to counter alleged threats from North Korea and potentially from China, and it is happy to dump most of them on the long-suffering Okinawans. Another says it is part of the Japanese mentality: In international affairs, as in daily affairs, the Japanese dislike having to go it alone in the world.

 

As Australian scholar Gavan McCormack puts it, they may actually enjoy being a U.S. client state. Or that it is pure inertia: The 50-year-old Japan-U.S. alliance is now part of a Japanese psyche impervious to change. Yet another theory says it is more calculated: that Tokyo realizes it needs all the U.S. help it can get if it is to counter-balance Chinese influence in Asia.

 

Yet another says the web of U.S.-Japan military/industrial/bureaucratic corruption that we glimpse occasionally in the never-ending military equipment procurement scandals is now too deep to be exorcised.

 

Finally there's the simple fact that U.S. foreign policy increasingly is being dictated by a Pentagon that has little respect for Japanese, let alone Okinawan, feelings. As recent article by George Packard in U.S. Foreign Affairs magazine puts it: "It is time for the White House and the State Department to reassert civilian control over U.S. policy toward Japan, especially over military matters."

 

Gregory Clark is a longtime resident in Japan and vice president of Akita International University. A Japanese translation of this article will appear on www.greegoryclark.net.

 

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

 

FREE TILLY AND OTHER CIRCUS ANIMALS

BY PETER SINGER

 

MELBOURNE, Australia — Last month, at the Sea World amusement park in Florida, a whale grabbed a trainer, Dawn Brancheau, pulled her under water, and thrashed about with her. By the time rescuers arrived, Brancheau was dead.

 

The death of the trainer is a tragedy, and one can only have sympathy for her family. But the incident raises broader questions: Was the attack deliberate? Did the whale, an orca named Tilikum and nicknamed Tilly, act out of stress at being held captive in a sterile concrete tank? Was he tired of being forced to perform to amuse the crowds? Is it right to keep such large animals in close confinement?

 

Tilly had been involved in two previous human deaths. In one episode, a trainer fell into the pool and Tilly and two other whales drowned him. In another, a man who appears to have gotten into the enclosure at night, when Sea World was closed, was found dead in the pool with Tilly. An autopsy showed that he had a bite mark. One of Tilly's offspring, sold to an amusement park in Spain, has also killed a trainer, as have orcas in other parks.

 

Richard Ellis, a marine conservationist at the American Museum of Natural History, believes that orcas are smart and would not do such a thing purely on impulse. "This was premeditated," he told The Associated Press.

 

We will never know exactly what was going on in Tilly's mind, but we do know that he has been in captivity since he was about 2 years old — he was captured off the coast of Iceland in 1983. Orcas are social mammals, and he would have been living with his mother and other relatives in a pod. It is reasonable to suppose that the sudden separation was traumatic for Tilly.

 

Moreover, the degree of confinement in an aquarium is extreme, for no tank, no matter how large, can come close to meeting the needs of animals who spend their lives in social groups swimming long distances in the ocean. Joyce Tischler, of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, described keeping a six-ton orca in Sea World's tanks as akin to keeping a human in a bathtub for his entire life. David Phillips, director of the International Marine Mammal Project for the Earth Island Institute, which led the efforts to rehabilitate the orca Keiko — made famous by the movie "Free Willy" — said "Orcas deserve a better fate than living in cramped pools."

 

But if we are pointing the finger at Sea World for what it does to its captive animals, we should also look more broadly at the way we confine performing animals. In most countries, it is possible to visit zoos and see bored animals pacing back and forth in cages, with nothing to do but wait for the next meal.

 

Circuses are even worse places for animals. Their living conditions are deplorable, especially in traveling circuses where cages have to be small so that they can go on the road. Training animals to perform tricks often involves starvation and cruelty. Undercover investigations have repeatedly shown animals being beaten and given electric shocks.

 

Several countries — among them Austria, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, India, Israel and Sweden — ban or severely restrict the use of wild animals in circuses. In Brazil, a movement to ban wild animals from circuses started after hungry lions managed to grab and devour a small boy.

 

Several major cities and many local governments worldwide do not permit circuses with wild animals. Last year, Bolivia became the first country to ban all animals from circuses. That decision followed an undercover investigation by Animal Defenders International, which exposed shocking abuse of circus animals. Now the British government is holding a public online consultation on the use of animals in circuses. Many hope it will be a first step toward a ban.

 

Attempts to defend amusement parks and circuses on the grounds that they "educate" people about animals should not be taken seriously. Such enterprises are part of the commercial entertainment industry. The most important lesson they teach impressionable young minds is that it is acceptable to keep animals in captivity for human amusement. That is the opposite of the ethical attitude to animals that we should be seeking to impart to children.

 

Nor should we be swayed by the argument that circuses provide employment. The human slave trade also

provided employment, but that was no argument for perpetuating it. In any case, in many countries that have restrictions or bans on circuses with animals, human-only circuses have flourished.

 

There is no excuse for keeping wild animals in amusement parks or circuses. Until our governments take action, we should avoid supporting places where captive wild animals perform for our amusement. If the public will not pay to see them, the businesses that profit from keeping animals captive will not be able to continue. When our children ask us to take them to the circus, we should find out if the circus uses wild animals. If it does, we should explain to our children why we will not take them there, and offer to take them to a circus that does not.

 

Peter Singer is professor of bioethics at Princeton University and laureate professor at the University of Melbourne. His books include "In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave," and, most recently, "The Life You Can Save." © 2010 Project Syndicate

 

 

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THE JAKARTA POST

EDITORIAL

A BIG THUMBS-UP

The nation was eager but paused upon monitoring media coverage Tuesday of the National Police's determination to trace the whereabouts, pursue and eventually shoot dead three terror suspects, including the much sought-after Dulmatin — allegedly one of the masterminds behind the devastating 2002 Bali bombings.

 

The delayed shared feeling of relief immediately turned into a massive expression of joy as National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri confirmed Wednesday that the DNA test results on one of the three bodies matched perfectly those of Dulmatin's mother, Masniyati, thus eradicating previous doubts of the authenticity and accuracy of the police's operation target.

 

We therefore give a big thumbs-up to the police force for its success in diminishing — at least temporarily — the scope and range of terrorist activities at home and within Southeast Asia, as Dulmatin was a key player in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including foreigners, and who had since then reportedly been on the lam in the southern Philippine jungles, helping the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group's activities there.

 

We express our deep sorrow for the deaths of three police officers killed while carrying out their duties in the massive police hunt for terrorists in the jungles of Aceh province recently.

 

The police's success Tuesday was a repeat of last year when the police's special Detachment 88

counterterrorism squad managed to kill the most wanted terrorist, Malaysian national Noordin M. Top, in an armed clash in Surakarta, Central Java, in mid-September.

 

However, the police should not rest on their laurels. Tuesday's successful operation showed clearly that the threat of terrorism is still with us and will continue to haunt us.

 

Such an operation is considered a partial resolution of the problem of terrorism in the country and Southeast

Asia. The police's operations to run after, arrest and/or kill the terrorists will not be able to permanently tackle terrorism. As many observers and experts have said, arresting/killing the terrorists is like the routine activity of mowing the lawn — sooner or later they crop up again as time passes.

 

The root causes of terrorism — such as poverty, social injustices and misguided religious teachings — have a greater influence on nurturing terrorism. Therefore, more comprehensive and integrated measures are needed in an effort to permanently tackle the problem of terrorism here and in the wider region. To make it a success, joint efforts from all elements of the nation — the people, the government, law enforcement agencies and NGOs — are urgently needed. They should join hands in settling the problems of poverty, including job unavailability, unemployment, and housing and food scarcity; establishing social justice through faithful implementations of the rule of law; and providing pluralistic religious teachings that recognize the presence and progress of different faiths and help settle differences in religious concepts and beliefs in a peaceful and democratic manner.

Those are indeed long-term and tangible measures that are difficult to perform. But that does not mean they are unfeasible or unattainable.

 

 

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THE JAKARTA POST

EDITORIAL

PLURALITY, PLURALISM AND MODERN DEMOCRACY

BUDIONO KUSUMOHAMIDJOJO

 

The Indonesian public recently witnessed how the majority of members of their House of Representatives who voted against the 2008 Century Bank bailout celebrated their victory like a team of high school students cheering after having won a basketball match.

 

As an anticlimax, the President delivered a "not guilty plea"-like speech that had the effect of proving the weak points in Indonesia's hard-won democracy.

 

That is tragic enough. While the Indonesian people grabbed their political freedom from the authoritarian Soeharto regime 11 years ago with much suffering, we are still in limbo over how to make reasonable use of our painfully won freedom.

 

The fragmentary constellation of political forces crystallized in the House precisely reflects the "human condition" (Hannah Arendt, 1956) of an Indonesian pluralistic society that does not necessarily embrace pluralism.

 

In fact, the other way around: Indonesia's political leadership, at the national as well as at the regional level, produced by the 11-year process of reformasi demonstrates that they are still trapped by an obsolete, pre-democratic, inward way of thinking.

 

Deep in their hearts, most Indonesians are yet to liberate themselves from the authoritarian subconsciousness when dealing with "the other", which was a mentality prevalent during the era of Soeharto.

 

As a result, after 11 years we have yet to learn much about how to practice modern democracy. Although the Indonesian people have learned a lot, and quickly, about conducting civilized general elections, most of our politicians are novices in listening to "the other" and exchanging qualified argument.

 

Modern democracy requires us to know how to govern ourselves as a reasoning public, to differ in opinion constructively, and to conduct the uneasy and complex give-and-take practice of building fair consensus (John Shattuck, Testimony On Human Rights In Indonesia, 1998).

 

Indonesians, and particularly their elected political leadership, are yet to realize that the modern democracy that we are employing has its own stringent qualifications.

 

Let alone because it is being practiced by a society of more than 220 million people scattered in various geographical, sociological, religious and ideological spaces, with meager experience of self-government.

 

The plurality of a society may become advantageous; however, it requires that its people have the
capacity to respect pluralism, which in many respects implies accepting the coexistence of people with a variety of backgrounds and differing opinions.

 

As a matter of logic, absolute majority domination is unlikely in a pluralistic society, save if subdued by a dictatorship. If the mainstream of a pluralistic society thinks and behaves the way of a homogeneous one, they will find it difficult to build consensus and will only end up in the perennial quandary of making dispersed rather than consistent decisions.

 

We have left behind an authoritarian era that had produced a belying stability and ushered our people into a way of thinking that would not be commensurate to coping with the challenges we must face, nationally as well as globally.

 

To date we believe that democracy is the best systemic option among the poorer performing systems, although we are still unclear about which democracy we should develop that is commensurate with Indonesia's specific requirements.

 

The first of the challenges we must cope with is the fact that Indonesian society, like many others in the world, is becoming more complex in itself.

 

Taking into account Indonesia's population of more than 220 million, we must master a rather sophisticated self-government in order to prevent our sociological complexity turning into social anomaly.

 

The second challenge lies in our failure to realize how late we are in responding to the effects of the globalization process, already triggered in the mid-1970s.

 

The way Indonesian politicians responded to the coming into force of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area arrangement in January 2010 simply demonstrates that most of us are still day-dreaming amid the furor of rising cross-border regimes.

 

We have been oblivious of the changing and challenging international constellation when we cannot afford such negligence, indeed because we are not an island in the world.

 

Forget China or India; just think about Brazil which in the mid-1970s was at a similar stage to Indonesia in many respects. Both countries prevail over a vast territory with a large population and rich natural resources, the most significant difference being only in that Brazil is a continental, while Indonesia is a maritime, state.

 

The lesson from becoming aware of all the above lies in our obligation to listen to each other rather than closing our ears.

 

We need to think in broader schemes and longer terms rather than desiring to establish new provinces or separate new districts.

 

We must understand the coming of the metanational paradigm instead of bickering about primordial party interests.

 

We need the courage to admit that we have been left way behind in terms of global competition rather than being self-complacent about a historical past that remains debatable.

Modern democracy requires us to know how to govern ourselves as a reasoning public, to differ in opinion constructively.

 
The writer is a professor at the School of Philosophy, Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung.

 

 

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THE JAKARTA POST

EDITORIAL

BENGKULU IS BOUND TO LOSE ITS FOREST AREAS

WIRYONO

 

In response to requests by many governors in Indonesia for a review of forest areas, the government has just issued a government regulation on the changes of designation and function of forest areas (PP 2010/10).

 

The change of designation of forest areas means converting part of or the entire forest area into

other types of land use, while the change of function of forest areas means changing the function of

part of or the entire forest area to a different one.

 

The Forestry Law classifies forest areas into three functions: conservation forest, protection forest and production forest.  

 

Conservation forest is the most protected area, while the production is the least.  Conservation forest is divided into three categories, namely, nature refuge areas, nature preservation areas and hunting parks.

 

The first category is divided further into two categories: strict nature reserves and wild animal refuge areas.  

 

The second category is divided into three categories, namely national parks, nature tourism parks and grand forest parks.

 

Forest exploitation is forbidden in all categories of conservation forest, but limited nature tourism may be done except in core zones of national parks and the strict nature reserves.

 

The conservation forest is completely managed by the Forestry Ministry through its Conservation of Natural Resources Agency and its National Parks Agency.

 

Local governments have no control on the conservation areas and they certainly do not like this situation. They often say that they are the ones who own and protect the forests but get nothing from them.

 

The third type, production forest, is divided into three categories: limited production forest, permanent production forest and convertible production forest.

 

In limited production forest, limited logging is permitted, while convertible forest is the easiest one to be converted for other types of land use.

 

Protection forest is not divided further into other categories.

 

Logging is forbidden in this forest, but limited, sustainable use of non-timber forest products is
permitted.

 

It is also possible to get permits for wildlife breeding, bee keeping and the planting of forage, ornamental plants, and mushrooms within the protection forest.

 

The water resources within the protection forest may be used for commercial purposes.

The production forest and protection forest are managed by the local government, but the Forestry Ministry still controls the regulations, so the local governments have no freedom on what to do in these forests.

 

They are not happy with this situation either. To have full control over the land, the local government must first make a request to the Forestry Ministry for the legal conversion of the designated forest area into non-forest designated areas. Currently, the Ministry is reviewing those requests.

 

To get a comprehensive evaluation of the requests, the Ministry has established integrated teams, one for each province.

 

The team members come from all directorates general and the Research and Development Agency at the Forestry Ministry, the Home Ministry, the Environment Ministry, the Indonesian Science Institute, universities, the National Land Agency, local forestry offices and local planning agencies.

 

 I happen to be a member of the integrated team to review the request from the governor of Bengkulu. As many

as 35 forest areas in Bengkulu province have been proposed to be revised.

 

Seven of the proposed areas are designated as conservation forest, eight sites as protection forest and the rest production forest.

 

There are proposals for almost 100,000 hectares of forest area to be converted into other land use, and about 24,000 hectares of land for change of function, from the more protected categories into less protected ones.  

 

The most common reason for the revision is that the forest areas in question are now practically non-forest and have long been occupied by people.

 

For example, 6,300 hectares out of 13,500 hectares of Bukit Kaba Nature Tourism Park have been illegally converted into settlements, coffee plantations and used for other agricultural crops.

 

Three definitive villages are established within this conservation forest. School buildings, health
facilities, village administrative offices, asphalt roads and traditional markets can be found in this forest area.

 

Part of this conservation forest (6,300 hectares) is proposed to be converted into a non-forest area. According to

the 2010 government regulation No. 10, conservation forest is not allowed to be converted into a non-forest

area.

 

But, it will be almost impossible to expel all the people from the forest and demolish the social and economic

infrastructure built within the forest area.

 

Another reason for the revision is that there are large reserves of mineral ore within the forest. According to the Forestry Law, no mining is permitted in conservation forest, while in protection forest open mining is not allowed except for the 13 mining companies which had been issued a permit before the issuance of the law in 1999.  

 

In Seluma regency in Bengkulu a permit for iron mining in a strict nature reserve was issued several years ago, and exploitation had even been attempted, before it was halted by the police. The mining company owners were tried in court but were acquitted by the district court, a verdict subsequently confirmed by the Supreme Court.  

 

This conservation forest is proposed to be changed into limited production forest, where mining is possible.

 

It will be difficult to defend this strict nature reserve from the functional change into a less protected category such as production forest, because the current conditions do not meet the criteria for a strict nature reserve.

 

The Bengkulu Natural Resource Conservation Agency fails to show the highly specific plants, animals or ecosystem types that need strict protection. The government regulation stipulates that the failure
to meet the criteria for a conservation area is a prerequisite for functional change into production or protection forest.

 

The pressure for forest area conversion is increasing in Bengkulu in accordance with the increased need of land due to population growth. The 100,000 hectares of forest areas proposed to be converted into non-forest use by no means include all troubled forest areas.

 

Other forest areas have been occupied by villagers and illegally converted into other land use types.  Unless the Forestry Ministry can ensure that growing and maintaining forest is economically profitable to villagers and local governments, it is only a matter of time that production and protection forest areas will be converted into other land uses.

 

 The conservation forests, which are better protected and in relatively better condition, will finally be gone too. Other provinces may be in the same situation, or even worse.

 

We cannot afford to lose our precious forests. It is, therefore, urgent that the Forestry Ministry genuinely works toward making sound forest policy and create applicable regulations to make sure that local people and governments will get economically tangible benefit from forests.

The pressure for forest area conversion is increasing in Bengkulu in accordance with the increased need of land due to population growth.

The writer is a lecturer at Forestry Department, University of Bengkulu.

 

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THE JAKARTA POST

EDITORIAL

FREEPORT'S CONTRACT BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT

JOHANNES SIMBOLON

 

The recent announcement by PT Freeport Indonesia that it plans to sell a 9.36 percent stake to the Papua provincial government has revived the question: How many shares is the company obliged to sell to Indonesia under its contract?

 

While all foreign mining companies who signed contracts of work (CoW) under the 1967 Mining Principles Law have to sell a stake to Indonesian parties (either the central government, regional governments, state-, provincial- or regency-owned companies or Indonesian-controlled private firms) under the so-called "divestment obligation" after a certain period of production, Freeport claims it has no such obligation.

 

"Although we are not required to sell an interest under the contract of work, we have been engaged in good-faith discussions with the province of Papua to determine if a sale of an interest to the province at fair value is feasible," a spokesman of the American mining giant Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., which controls PT Freeport Indonesia, was quoted by Dow Jones newswires as saying.

 

The 1967 law has been replaced by the 2009 Mineral and Coal Law which maintains the divestment obligation although the amount of the stake that foreign mining companies have to divest under the new law has been reduced to 20 percent from the 51 percent under the contracts signed under the previous law.

 

The central government already has a 9.36 percent stake in PT Freeport Indonesia.

 

PT Freeport Indonesia, the operator of the world's largest gold mine and third-largest copper mine in Papua, signed its first CoW in 1967. The contract was renewed at the end of 1991.

 

The content of the second contract was not divulged to the public until the middle of 1998 after the forced resignation of Soeharto, who was known to have good relations with Freeport's management.

 

It was American scholar Jeffrey A. Winters who first set off the controversy over Freeport's contract by saying Freeport's second contract came as a result of collusive practices.

 

Ginandjar Kartasasmita, who was Soeharto's energy and mineral resources minister from 1988 through 1993 and thus responsible for the extension of the Freeport contract, explained that, like any other foreign mining companies, under the contract extension, Freeport was obliged to divest up to 51 percent stake to Indonesian parties within 20 years, that is, by the end of 2011. (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 19, 1998)

 

If Freeport sells 20 percent of its shares on the Indonesian Stock Exchange, the contract stipulates the company is only obliged to divest 45 percent of its shares.

 

The remaining 25 percent can be sold to the Indonesian government, or firms through direct
placement.

 

Different from contracts awarded to all other foreign mining companies however, Freeport's renewed contract, a copy of which was made available to this writer, has the so-called "escape clause" which reads: "If there is a regulation which imposes more lenient divestment terms [for foreign companies], the lenient divestment terms will be applied."

 

Freeport's then president Adrianto Machribie confirmed the existence of the escape clause to the writer.

 

Three years after Freeport got its second contract, the Soeharto administration issued the 1994 government regulation, which eased mandatory divestment requirements for foreign companies.

 

According to the regulation, Indonesian shares in foreign companies can be kept as small as 5 percent.

 

Following the issuance of the regulation, Freeport's management requested the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) free it from the divestment obligation under the 1991 contract
The BKPM issued a letter stating the escape clause applied.

 

Machribie said since the BKPM had issued a letter confirming that the escape clause applied, Freeport was no longer required to divest up to 51 percent of its shares. (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 20, 1998)
Machribie's statement sparked protests from legislators, who insisted that Freeport's contract was categorized as a lex specialis (special law) or equal to a law. Because of its high status in the country's legal system, all provisions in the contract could not abrogated by a lower ranked government regulation.

 

They said the application of the 1994 government regulation to Freeport's second contract remained invalid until after it had been approved by the House of Representatives. Under the previous law, all CoWs awarded to foreign investors should first gain approval from the House.

 

It remains unclear if the House later approved the application of the 1994 governmental regulation to Freeport's second contract.

 

The controversy over the Freeport contract later waned as the legislators did not see the urgency of the issue, given the fact the deadline for the divestment was still many years away.

 

Furthermore, even if Freeport was willing to divest up to a 51 percent stake, the legislators
doubted if there was any parties in Indonesia who could afford to buy the stake.
Now, however, the situation has changed. Local companies have become stronger financially, which was evidenced by the success of the Bakrie group together with the West Nusa Tenggara provincial and regency administrations, backed by Chinese sovereign funds, in acquiring a 21 percent stake in PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara.

 

Soon after the acquisition of the Newmont stake, unconfirmed rumors had it that Bakrie was eying the Freeport stake and the Papuan provincial government would rather cooperate with Bakrie in buying the Freeport stake like the West Nusa Tenggara administrations did,  than do so on its own.

 

The question is: How many shares is Freeport obliged to sell to Indonesian parties?  Is it no shares, as claimed by Freeport? Or 51 percent as stipulated in the 1991 contract?

 

Or 20 percent as stipulated in the newly issued 2010 government regulation on the execution of mineral and coal mining business activities, which is one of the regulations implementing the 2009 Mineral and Coal Law?

 

And will there be a court battle to settle the issue?

The author is a staff writer

at The Jakarta Post.

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

WATCHFUL EYES ON GOVT

 

Of the many promises in Premier Wen Jiabao's government work report, the most impressive is the vow "to create conditions for people to criticize and supervise the government".

 

Public oversight has been an integral part of the authorities' efforts to clean up government. Yet few take it seriously because everybody knows how difficult, if not impossible, it is.

 

Even with the latest rules requiring government institutions to share information, it usually takes a good fight for a citizen to acquire information that should have been available. With bureaucratic agencies continuing to operate in the dark and the public effectively excluded from the decision-making process, the talk of supervision is probably just a bunch of hot air. Even when people do see something wrong, more often than not, they have to battle their way just in order to have their stories heard.

 

But Premier Wen's promise to "create conditions" is inspiring because it instills hope. The National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee's subsequent vow to start addressing inquiries to government ministries is an encouraging step in that direction. To practice supervision, the NPC as the national legislature needs to make up its mind. The general public, however, needs everything other than resolve.

 

But it's not that necessary conditions do not exist. We have a near-perfect constitutional framework and heaps of regulations that should facilitate public scrutiny over the government. And there is a complete network of xinfang offices that is charged specifically to hear and handle complaints from the public.

 

Trouble is, they do not work, or do not work the way they were meant to.

When Premier Wen pledged to "create conditions," what first came to mind was to make those impressive designs work. There is no cure for corruption if public supervision remains an empty vow and if criticizing the government continues to be a costly adventure.

 

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

PORTLAND HURTS TIBETANS

 

While many in the international community are watching with anxiety to see if Washington moves to repair its ties with Beijing, a reckless decision by an American city is rubbing salt into the unhealed wound of the world's most important bilateral relations.

 

The city of Portland, Oregon, proclaimed Wednesday, March 10, their "Tibet Awareness Day" despite strong opposition from the Chinese government.

 

While most people and most countries in the world recognize Tibet as part of China, the decision by the American city interferes in China's internal affairs and is an open defiance of China's state sovereignty.

 

It could have an adverse effect on Sino-US relations, which has yet to recover from major deterioration following Washington's $6.4-billion arms sale to Taiwan and US President Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama.

 

The designation of the "Tibet Awareness Day" was apparently orchestrated by the Dalai Lama clique, which has been engaged in activities aimed to separate China and undermine Tibet's stability in the guise of religion.

 

It is still beyond our belief that politicians in Portland have chosen to celebrate a handful of fanatics trumpeting Tibet independence while turning a blind eye to either history or the status quo of present-day Tibet. History has told us that Tibet has always been a part of China, and there is ample evidence proving the fact that Tibetan people now enjoy a much better life and enjoy the full freedom of religion.

 

Americans are well-known for putting individual freedom above everything. While the city of Portland entertains a few Tibet separatists, has it ever occurred to its decision-makers that their move are infringing on the interest of 2.8-million Tibetans here in China?

 

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

BIGGER CAKE, BIGGER SHARE

 

If a justifiable wealth distribution system epitomizes social justice and fairness, the government has much to do to improve the system.

 

The investigation and research that Chairman Wu Bangguo of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee promised Tuesday for this year indicates that reform to income distribution will be carried out in the 12th Five-Year-Plan period (2011-15) to benefit low-income residents.

 

More than 72 percent of surveyed residents believe the current wealth distribution is unfair, according to the All China Federation of Trade Unions. More than 60 percent said that the exceedingly low incomes of laborers are the most prominent of issues.

 

The proportion of laborers' income in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) has been declining from 51.4 percent in 1995 to 39.7 percent in 2007.

 

So the first problem is how to make the cake bigger, which is the very prerequisite for the increase of incomes for residents.

 

However, as statistics show, the income gap has been widening in recent years. The Gini coefficient, a measure for the inequality of wealth, is said to be 0.46, and that means 10 percent of urban families enjoy 45 percent of the total urban wealth.

 

With the diminishing proportion of total income for residents in the total GDP and the ever-widening income gap, it is inevitable that those workers at the bottom of the income ladder will see a lower-than-expected increase in their incomes.

 

Hopefully, the NPC investigation and research will provide enough facts for a shift in the central government's policy, which could make the wealth distribution system more fair and just.

 

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

DALAI LAMA'S REMARKS CONFOUND BLACK WITH WHITE

BY MENG NA, LHAPA TSERING, JI SHAOTING AND ZHANG LIXIN ( XINHUA)

 

 Around 10 o'clock Wednesday morning, incense smoke enveloped the Drepung Temple in the holy city of Lhasa. Pilgrims, most in traditional Tibetan costumes and with prayer wheels, kowtowed along the streets outside.

 

Inside the temple, lamas were chanting scriptures while pilgrims kowtowed in front of the statue of Buddha. One pilgrim sat in front of a lama, receiving blessings.

 

Some Tibetan construction workers were also there, busy renovating a major hall in the temple.

 

Around the Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple, there were streams of pilgrims, chanting scriptures and kowtowing to make long prayers.

 

In the same morning, the Dalai Lama blamed the central government for intending to "deliberately annihilate Buddhism" in his speech to mark the 51th anniversary of his exile.

 

In the speech delivered in the northern Indian hill town Dharamshala, the seat of his "government in exile", the Dalai Lama said that the Chinese government is "putting the monks and nuns in prison-like conditions."

 

"Dalai Lama's remarks confound black with white," said Sun Yong, vice director and research fellow with Tibetan Autonomous Region's Academy of Social Sciences.

 

Kelzang Yeshe, research fellow with China Academy of Social Sciences, said to better protect Buddhism, the country has invested more than 700 million yuan for maintaining monasteries in Tibet Autonomous Region since its reform and opening-up drive.

 

"In monasteries, monks freely conduct religious practice and learn scriptures. But monks are Chinese citizens as well. That's why they need to receive patriotic education. It is a normal practice," he said.

 

Zhang Yun, research fellow with the China Tibetology Research Center, said people could easily tell that Dalai Lama's accusation was unfounded if they visited the monasteries in Tibet.

 

"The Dalai Lama has his own ulterior political motives by saying so," he added.

 

Pasang Wangdu, research fellow with International Association of Tibetan Studies, said there are more than 1,700 monasteries and 46,000 monks in Tibetan Autonomous Region. "We have plenty of religious venues and people enjoy full religious belief freedom."

 

"It is the Dalai Lama who always makes use of monasteries to conduct separatist activities. It is a worldwide tradition that religion should not interfere a country's judiciary and administrative system," Sun Yong said.

 

No countries in the world would tolerate separatists, no matter who they are, being monks or laymen, he added.

 

"The Dalai Lama should admit Tibet is an inalienable part of China and the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing China. The talks between the central government and the private envoys of the Dalai Lama, in essence, are the talks among Chinese people. Foreigner's interference is unacceptable," said Sun.

 

In his speech, the Dalai Lama expressed his worries about the "damage" of Tibetan culture, language and the natural environment of the Tibet plateau.

 

In the past eight years, the central and regional governments have invested more than 6 billion yuan in ecological conservation and environmental protection in Tibet, while the other environmental protection program with total investment of 9.8 billion yuan has been approved, announced by the Tibetan regional government on Sunday.

 

Nine-year compulsory education has been widely implemented in Tibet. Local illiteracy rate has dropped from 98 percent 50 years ago to current 2.4 percent. Local schools teach both Tibetan and mandarin.

 

From December 2006 to 2009, Tibet regional government launched a comprehensive survey on intangible cultural heritage and discovered 406 items of intangible cultural heritages. The central government and regional government have earmarked 24 million yuan on the protection of intangible cultural heritages.

 

"The worries of the Dalai Lama are really unnecessary," said Zhang Yun.

 

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

GREAT WALL VITAL FOR PEOPLE'S RIGHTS

BY YU JIANRONG (CHINA DAILY)

Social unrest and mass protests can be prevented if the abuse of power is checked and antiquated rules are appraised

 

Eruptions of social disorder and protests will trouble China this year as they did in recent years, but they will continue to be confined to several regions.

 

These events of social unrest are unlikely to escalate into a large-scale and consistent mass movement across the nation and unlikely to alter China's political landscape.

 

But there is a caveat. Any ill-conceived government measures, such as its stubborn adherence to the belief that non-violent and public demonstrations, protests and strikes would constitute a major threat to their rule, could possibly force these peaceful incidents into a position that the government will not be able to control. That would bring some political risks to authorities.

 

To defuse social contradictions and potential conflicts that are stewing in this country, some practical measures should be taken to mitigate the strained ties between some local governments and citizens that remain tense in several regions.

 

Some unreasonable rules and regulations that have long governed society should be rewritten to put citizens' rights from the Constitution into force. One of the biggest embarrassments facing China's law is that from time to time it is overridden by administrative power. The country's "rule of law" has not been fully fulfilled.

 

Facts prove that many clauses of the country's laws fail to protect people's rights and interests while their rights bestowed upon by the Constitution turn out difficult to be fulfilled. All these have deepened public consciousness that they would face an uphill task in fighting for their legal rights. A typical case is China's regulation on home demolitions and urban resettlement. Although the regulation has become a source of public dissatisfaction and violent confrontations, the country's property law and Constitution have failed to help homeowners fend off these violent demolitions. As a result, it's not uncommon for some to take some extreme actions to fight off brutal demolitions, such as self-immolation and attacking, sometimes killing demolishers.

 

The law's inability or failure to protect their rights has further fomented public resentment toward local

governments. Instead of directly confronting local governments, people who feel unprotected are choosing to spread rumors and their dissatisfaction via the Internet or cell phones when an infringement upon public rights takes place. At times when an individual's complaint or issue is mishandled, the situation will turn awry and extreme actions, even violence, result.

 

It is also common for people whose resentments have been repressed and who have no outlets to vent their angst to burst out in an unexpected manner even if their rights are not directly violated. That could explain why some common criminal and civil cases, which could have been resolved through the legal framework, escalate into violence and even into large-scale social unrest.

 

To reduce the number of mass incidents and ease friction between the government and public, some effective measures should be taken to protect people's rights and change those unreasonable and long-governing rules and provisions.

 

But any effort to rewrite unreasonable rules is expected to be a long process. That makes it necessary for the country to gradually find practical solutions.

 

On the other hand, measures should be adopted to check unbridled public power to ease public dissatisfaction and mitigate social unrest. Facts prove that people's declining trust in public power has ultimately caused a number of mass incidents in recent years.

 

The eruption of the Shishou Incident in Hubei province last June was mainly because of the lack of trust among local residents in the ability of the local officials to maintain social order and judicial justice. The lack of trust mainly comes from the increasing number of inequalities in society.

 

As the market economy develops and reform deepens, the diversification of China's social stratum, interests of groups and their values has accelerated, and the gap between the rich and poor and between urban and rural areas have become more pronounced. Poverty and inequality have become much worse. All these problems will surely continue to drain people's confidence in local governments in maintaining social justice and equality. To recover public trust, the abuse of public power, a source of social injustice, should be checked.

 

To rein in public power, the country's current system of the National People's Congress should be improved. For instance, more competitive elections of congressional deputies should be adopted. Communications between deputies and voters should be improved. If this happens, deputies will be forced to share their opinions with voters and to exercise checks on public power if elected.

 

Workable measures should also be taken to maintain the authority of the Constitution and give the country's judicial body a bigger role in restraining grassroots governments. Concrete steps should also be taken to separate courts at the intermediate and grassroots levels to keep local governments and local officials from intervening in the handling of cases.

 

The author is a researcher with the Institute of Rural Development under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

 

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

WEST PUTS CHINA TO GM FOOD TEST

BY HE BOLIN (CHINA DAILY)

Food security has always been a vital issue for China. And given its population of 1.3 billion, it is even more important today. Most of the debates on the problem concentrate on whether the rate of increase of farm products can catch up with the country's population growth. And it seems to be the right focus.

 

But there is at least one person who disagrees. Proper research and use of agricultural strategy have a greater role to play in ensuring food security, says Li Changping, director of the China Rural Reconstruction Research Center of Hebei University.

 

China could face an agricultural crisis if the basic economic system of the countryside is damaged, Li says. The government should stick to the existing system of collective ownership of rural land and the two-tier operation mode, comprising collective management and household responsibility.

 

Li warns that China's food security may be threatened - despite people having enough to eat - if foreign capital gets to control the agriculture sector. Experts who claim to have a "modern outlook" toward agriculture may laugh at Li. But the former chief of a township in Hubei province knows what he's talking about.

 

Li made headlines in 2000 when he wrote to Zhu Rongji, then premier, about the plight of farmers and the vulnerability of agriculture. He quit his job after that so that he could devote his full time to research on agriculture and farmers.

 

Talking to China Daily, Li begins the support of his argument by playing down the concern over grain output, which is surprising. Since the foundation of the People's Republic of China, he says, the country's grain yield has doubled - just like its population. Technological progress, better land arrangements and improved agricultural tools will help increase grain output further. And though the country's population will increase, it is not likely to cross 1.55 billion in the next few decades. So, Li says, feeding the people should not be a problem.

 

Problems such as soil erosion, deterioration in water quality and climate change that could stagnate or reduce agricultural output are solvable, Li says, but the "weaponization" of farm products is not. Since ancient times, speculators have hoarded major farm products and used it like weapons to extract their pound of flesh from the people. As the saying goes, "he who controls the food supply shall control the world".

 

It is this lure that has driven some Western countries to devise and practice food "weaponization" programs since the end of World War II. Their strategy has been three-pronged: genetic modification of seeds, laying down grain products' standards and trade rules, and strategic arrangements on the policymaking level.

 

The West has been using the technology to modify seeds' genes not only to increase agricultural production, but also, and more importantly, to kill the traditional seed banks of other countries. Once the West succeeds in its endeavor, these countries would become totally dependent on its genetically modified (GM) seeds and lose their ability to ensure food security for their people and even have sovereignty over farm products.

 

Western countries have been trying to "colonize" the production of rice, wheat, potato and other food products, too. Li says such seeds are more dangerous to China's national security than opium in the 19th century.

 

Today, the West controls the seed market and has mastered the art of right pricing. And since farm product

prices fluctuate easily, anyone with a 10 percent share of a product's market can cause a 50 percent hike or slump in its price.

 

Apart from peddling GM seeds, Western countries have also set trade rules and international standards for agricultural products. They have refused to stop giving subsidies to their farmers in their bid to control countries' farm products, seeds and pricing mechanisms. That China's soybean industry is now controlled by American capital points to the success of Western countries' food "weaponization" strategy, Li says.

 

China can develop its farm sector in two ways. It could either stick to the existing system of collective ownership of rural land and the two-tier operations, or it could take the road to capitalization and integration of its farm products. If it chooses the first, it could increase its agricultural production by 20 percent. But if chooses the second, it will be inviting trouble.

 

To explain capital's involvement in agriculture, Li says causing a disturbance in the supply chain of the farm products that a company controls is the simplest way for it to make higher profits. Unfortunately, instead of taking preemptive action against such a possibility, China's agricultural policies are yielding more room to international capital.

 

In contrast, Western countries have made food a part of their national security plan. Food security is as important as economic security or social and political stability for them. When former US president George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to grant subsidies to farmers who used their produce to make biofuels many laughed it off as an unprofitable move. But the same people were shocked to see it pay rich dividends when oil prices soared from about $40 to $147 a couple of years ago.

 

Bush's move proves that in this age, most major farm products can be used as weapons by linking them with oil, US dollar, the international exchange rate, or spot or futures markets.

 

So China has to ensure that its other farm products don't go the soybean way. And to do that, it has to toughen its stance against Western countries at talks on agriculture and set up strategic research institutes and policymaking departments that would advice the government on what to do and when.

 

CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

THAT GREEN TREND MIGHT BE YOUR SKIN MUTATING

BY LISA CARDUCCI (CHINA DAILY)

When, in the 1960s, I started to talk about "paper recycling" to my students, I was seen as a Don Quixote by my peers.

 

Recycling was so costly at the time that it wasn't worth it. It took 25 years before people became used to the reality of recycling paper. Through the decades, recycling efforts have been made around the globe. "Green" has become a common adjective when talking about industrial production as well as food production.

 

Despite their high prices, "green" light bulbs or energy-saving bulbs have become accepted and popular. In

China, they now light millions of Chinese households. But suddenly and recently, it's come to light that these bulbs can cause a high level of mercury pollution.

 

Still, governments and producers have not come up with measures to cope with the pollution. Only in Guangdong province, the government has subsidized rates to promote the use of eight million of these green bulbs. It's urgent that a practical and effective system be established to recycle such a massive amount of bulbs.

 

If the used bulbs are not recycled, said Liu Hong, an expert in energy research, "more than 117 million tons of water will be polluted" in Guangzhou alone this year. According to Liu's statistics, a single energy-saving bulb contains 0.5 mg of mercury, enough to pollute 180 tons of water. If the used bulbs are buried, the soil will be contaminated as well.

 

But the manufacturing of these bulbs is also a poisonous process. On May 3, 2009, the Sunday Times printed a story called " 'Green' light bulbs poison workers". The article was posted by Michael Sheridan from Foshan, a city in southeastern China.

 

Sheridan wrote that "when British consumers are compelled to buy energy-efficient light bulbs from 2012, they will save up to five million tons of carbon dioxide a year from being pumped into the atmosphere," but the price to pay for that is a huge number of Chinese workers poisoned by mercury, as China supplies two-thirds of the compact fluorescent bulbs sold in Britain, adding that "an industry that promotes itself as a friend of the Earth depends on highly toxic mercury."

 

Public concern has risen about mercury poisoning. Dozens of workers interviewed anonymously have given detailed accounts of medical tests that found they had dangerous levels of the toxin in their urine. One test found 68 out of 72 workers were so badly poisoned that they required hospitalization.

 

In Jinzhou, Central China, 121 out of 123 employees had excessive mercury levels, up to 150 times the accepted standard. And so it goes in Anyang, in Shanghai, and at the Guizhou cinnabar mine, the main source of mercury, where workers inhaled toxic dust and fumes as the material seethed in primitive cauldrons to extract the mercury, with no one wearing a mask or protective clothing.

 

On Aug 18, 2009, Kate Kelly, author of a six-volume history of medicine, wrote that the United States Congress had passed a bill that provided for the phasing out of all incandescent light bulbs by 2014 (100-watt bulbs cannot be used after 2012). The alternative compact fluorescent light bulbs are said to be 75 percent more energy efficient and are promoted as longer-lasting than incandescent bulbs.

 

However, the move is more complex than consumers might realize because all fluorescent bulbs - the classical officestyle long tubes as well as the new spiral bulbs for households - contain mercury. While the mercury content in each bulb is quite small, it still requires protective measures when a bulb is accidently broken.

 

The room must be ventilated immediately and everyone should leave the room for 15 minutes to avoid breathing the mercury vapors. A vacuum should not be used and the broken pieces should be picked up by hand (or broom) and sealed in a plastic bag. Many municipalities specify that this waste should be taken to a hazardous waste dump rather than being thrown in the regular trash.

 

All the bulbs that are not recycled but thrown in the trash and dumped into local landfill ultimately become polluters. With the rain, mercury seeps into the water supply, exposing both animals and humans to more mercury in the environment.

 

As it is not easy to save the goat and the cabbage in the same operation. It is urgent that a recycling system is set for energy-saving mercury bulbs. In 2008, experts reported only 2 percent of all the "green" bulbs were being recycled. While waiting for a fully efficient recycling system, used bulbs should be kept in a proper disposal place.

 

If not, says Govi Rao, chairman of Lighting Sciences Group, we will be responsible for the "mutation of the human race by poisoning our environment with mercury." In the United States, Ikea and Home Depot have started offering locations to dispose of used bulbs.

 

It's high time China attached importance to poisoning "green lights".

 

The author is a Canadian scholar in Beijing.

 

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DAILY MIRROR

EDITORIAL

BRITISH TRADE GAP AND TRADE OF VOTES

 

With just two months to go before the general elections Gordon Brown's Labour government is rushing for desperate moves to save his party at polls.

 

Telegraph went to town early this week pointing out as to how Brown's government was pushing through major housing projects, new pension schemes and computer contracts in a last ditch attempt to woo voters.

 

This is despite regular statements to the effect that the government is out to cut public spending.

 

Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude is already on record that "Labour's actions resemble a dying administration making reckless and irresponsible spending commitments to wreck the finances for any incoming government".

 

And this is when the country is experiencing the worst trade gap in three years making the economy look quite unstable.

 

It is against this background that UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband who got into hotwater for speaking at the Global Tamil Forum decided to send Under Secretary of British Foreign Office Sir Peter Ricketts to Sri Lanka. There is no way of Miliband visiting Colombo these days after making the controversial opening speech at the GTF meeting and also more than that he would not risk the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora vote by paying a visit to Colombo now.

 

Given the desperate bids by Gordon Brown to hold on to office one needs not to be a genius to realize as to why Brown himself met the GTF members even after the Sri Lankan government lodged a protest over the move by Miliband to address the conference.Back to Miliband, well the Foreign Secretary became the laughing stock of the US and UK when he paid a lavish adulatory praise on Obama administration by calling it 'brilliant' at a time even when the administration itself had admitted several setbacks in their plans.

 

In a bid to further placate the US and of course to slience the critics at home Miliband is slated urge the Afghan government this week to work hard for a political solution, the BBC reported yesterday.

 

And the latest one hears is that the accusing finger has been pointed at Brown's government especially at David

Miliband for putting pressure on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to appoint an expert panel to advise him on Sri Lanka. It is assumed that it is the Labour government which is praising Obama administration to hilt is putting pressure on the US to rope Ban Ki-Moon in to their mission to woo voters back at home.

 

The Labour government may shrug shoulders and say 'another conspiracy theory'. Well Labour has to prove that it is otherwise by action.

 

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DAILY MIRROR

EDITORIAL

GSP-PLUS TO GTF-PLUS

 

Ahead of the parliamentary polls in Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his ruling SLFP-UPFA combine could not have asked for better allies than the US and UK. Between them, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband may have revived the already-fading memories of the LTTE in the minds of the average Sinhala voter. Add to that the 'American intervention' of the kind that US Assistant Secretary of State, Robert Blake, made on the 'Fonseka arrest episode' and the divided Opposition in Sri Lanka can count out this poll, too - after the disastrous start their unity provided in the presidential polls earlier in the year.

 

 There is no denying the Anglo-American interest in the restoration of human rights, as per their perceptions and prescriptions for and in Sri Lanka. There is also no denying the increasing international concern for an early political settlement to the ethnic issue. It may also owe to the perceptions of individual nations about the impressionist politics of the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora, starting with the violent end to the 'Eelam War IV' and thus to the 'larger Tamil cause' in the island-nation.

 

The European Union's decision to suspend GSP-Plus facility was aimed at bringing around the Sri Lankan Government, to do the right thing on the human rights front. That the EU gave ample time, and also evidence to what it considered were rights violations of the kind that did not fit in to their agenda for duty-concessions for importing textile goods from Sri Lanka. Despite earlier attempts to address the EU concerns in ways that it thought fit, Colombo did not flinch. The decision, when announced, did not have any impact on the presidential polls, either as the ruling combine feared or the Opposition hoped for.

 

Harsh words and harsher measures of the kind leave a bad taste. People may forget it, politicians may forgive them, but institutional mechanisms of permanent bureaucracy in every country have a memory that is both rigorous and retrievable. When it is all over, and the Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Fonsekas of the island-nation may have their rights restored - be it political or personal - in whatever form that would pass muster in the eyes of the international community.

 

Among them, those that believe in astrology, or those that are fatalists, as most Sri Lankans do, may even dismiss it as a passing phase that could not have been avoided. Yet in the Establishment Sri Lanka, those memories would remain. The victim-hood of a small nation would continue to haunt future relations between nations and peoples, independent of what the political class of the day could prefer.

 

In a recent media interview, President Rajapaksa said how the West was offering 'humanitarian aid' and not 'developmental assistance' that his country badly needs. The message was clear. Now that the ethnic war was behind the nation, Sri Lanka would go to whoever offered 'developmental assistance'. China and Russia would fit the bill - as neither would also ask uncomfortable questions on the rights front. The two are also 'veto powers' in the UN Security Council. So, no sanctions, please….

 

 The way the Sri Lankan Government handled the GSP-Plus issue after the EU made its decision known with a six-month notice for the withdrawal of concessions to take effect should have sent out a clear signal to other nations wanting to 'arm-twist' Colombo into accepting their yard-stick for good governance. Or, at least that is how officials and ministers in the Sri Lankan Government have sought to indicate their understanding of the increasing concerns of the West towards human rights violations of one kind or the other.

 

  If the idea was for the EU to hope that the fear of losing elections would bring around the Rajapaksa dispensation to do their bidding on the human rights front, it should have known better. As much as the European Union, domestic political critics of the Sri Lankan Government have been talking about the loss of jobs if and when the GSP-Plus facility was withdrawn, long before the 'ethnic war' came to an end. That did not cost President Rajapaksa his office in the re-election - not even votes, if one were to draw out figures in this connection.

 

Today, ahead of the parliamentary polls, it is the European Union that is talking about restarting the dialogue with a post-poll administration in Colombo, for the EU to revisit its decision on GSP-Plus. Clearly, the European Union officials in Colombo and Brussels do know as to who runs the show under the Executive Presidency scheme in Sri Lanka - or, which party or alliance is most likely to win the parliamentary polls.

 

 The success of the military campaign that the now-detained Gen Fonseka led against the LTTE owed to a variety of coordinated factors, starting with the direction that the political leadership gave, and the risks that it was willing to take in terms of pressures of the GSP-Plus kind that the international community was ready to apply even before the conclusion of the 'terrorism-driven' war. If anything, it only helped the political leadership and the Government to keep up the rousing sentiments of 'Sri Lankan nationalism', as different from 'Sinhala chauvinism'.

 

 It is not as if the average Sri Lankan (read: Sinhala, if you wish) is against the Government offering an acceptable political solution to the Tamil community. Throughout the ethnic war, when national and personal security were on the top of the minds of the citizenry, they seldom engaged in discourses on issues such as power-devolution and political solution. Now, when they may be physically ready for the change-over, they are mentally pre-occupied still with one election after another, as their political leaders and their parties are.

 

GSP-Plus to GTF-Plus - II

Fonseka's candidacy in the presidential elections and his detention since, have helped to retain the campaign focus of the parliamentary polls on the war, yet. The days of the average Sri Lankan voter taking about 'human rights' as understood by the West may still be far away. It is in this background the posturing by US Assistant Secretary of State, Robert Blake, commands attention.

 

It is another matter that the Blake statement was followed by the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband addressing the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) at London, and his Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, appearing with the GTF delegates on the House of Commons complex. That they all happened in a week when the International Crisis Group (ICG) came up with a long report, urging the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora to distance itself from the ways and waywardness of the LTTE should not be overlooked, either.

 

  Whatever the intention, Secretary Milliband's speech is open to interpretation that he was not against the GTF's goal but only against the LTTE's ways. Whatever be the domestic political and electoral compulsions, if any, the British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary conferred a rare honour on the GTF, considering that it was only the inaugural session of the organisation.

 

By observing that the one-time LTTE-centric Tamil Nationalist Alliance (TNA) back home "should not fail representing the hearts of the Tamils", the GTF also indicated that it did not possibly represent any credible Tamil political party in Sri Lanka, capable of negotiating a political settlement with the Sri Lankan State and the Sinhala polity. It is anybody's guess how the Tamil politics in Sri Lanka would be played out during the run-up to the parliamentary polls, or how the TNA or any other would conduct their affairs in the post-poll scenario, particularly in the context of finding a negotiated settlement to the 'ethnic issue', which is still a live concern.                          

 

It is possible that the British Government and the ruling party may be hoping that early recognition for what they may perceive as a moderate Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora grouping may motivate them to stay on the narrow path. The GTU is identified with those Diaspora groups that are actively creating a 'trans-national Tamil government'. It is also wedded to the idea of 'self-determination', internal and external, as defined in the 'Vadukottai resolution', for the creation of a 'Tamil Eelam' -- and not the 'Oslo Declaration', where the reference was to internal self-determination.           

 

Does it all imply that the GTF would act as a pressure-point not only on the Sri Lankan Government and the Sinhala polity, but also on the Tamil polity nearer home - and could count on the blessings of the West, starting with the UK? It is one thing even for the EU to take a collective decision on GSP-Plus but another for the UK, a member of the European Union, to make a political posturing of the kind that has far-reaching consequences for Sri Lanka, its domestic politics and international relations.

 

If the idea is to encourage the Diaspora not to take to the LTTE's ways, and to 'encourage' the Sri Lankan Government to talk to them, negotiations of the kind would make sense only if the GTU leaders and members transplant themselves to native Sri Lanka. There is however nothing to suggest that any or all of them is anywhere close to being keen on adopting such a personal decision - which alone could have far-reaching political consequences of the kind envisaged.

 

With Assistant Secretary Blake doing some tough talking on the Fonseka arrest, as if they were all timed well, the Anglo-American efforts at holding the Sri Lankan Government and the Rajapaksa leadership accountable for whatever they are now being charged with can only prove counter-productive. For starters, Colombo lost no time in not only criticising the British and American Governments, it also reiterated its decision to haul up Fonseka also before the civil courts - as much as the military court. So much for good intentions, did you say?

 

 Politics and political leadership in Sri Lanka have moved away from the urban elite, for good. Independent of the 'war victory', Candidate Rajapaksa's election in 2005 and re-election since are indicative of the changing voter-perception of his national leadership. Fonseka may have followed, but he came too early, with too little to offer and too little time to gain wider acceptance in the social and societal planes, where he may have belonged in political terms.

 

Despite the urban-rural divide and elitism and non-elitism still being at the centre of the national political discourse, the turn for the Fonsekas with little or no political background may have come in good time. S W R D Bandaranaike seemingly took post-Independence politics away from the urban elite, to rural elite. Slain Premadasa took it away from the elites of all kinds - but it was all short-lived. Rajapaksa's election and elevation were in the natural course of socio-political evolution that could only be delayed but not denied.

 

The choice of President Rajapaksa over Candidate Fonseka is indicative yet of the voter-preference for a time-tested politician over a testy General, who was at the wrong place at the wrong time - but was made to believe that he was at the right place at the right time. What more, Candidate Rajapaksa first, and President Rajapaksa since have known that they are contesting nearer home - and their constituency and concerns are nearer home - real and realistic, and that there was nothing 'ethereal' about them.

 

The attitudes, approach, lingo and body language of the new-generation leadership in Sri Lanka is different from what the West has got used to It happened with the Tamil leadership long ago - it is happening in the larger Sinhala polity now. Even when a change was sought, the preference was for a Fonseka, not a return to a Ranil W - not to mention that an endorsement by a Chandrika Kumaratunga made any difference. The shoe, it needs to be understood and acknowledged, is on the other foot. It is also pinching….

 

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DAILY MIRROR

EDITORIAL

WOMEN'S REPRESENTATION IN POLITICS

WOMEN NEED WOMEN TO UNDERSTAND THEIR ISSUES

DR. SUDHARSHINI  FERNANDOPULLE – CONTESTANT FROM UPFA GAMPAHA DISTRICT

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Q: What do you think of the women's representation in politics in Sri Lanka and what is it that female candidate offer the public over the promises made by a male candidate?

 

Women should be encouraged to participate more in politics. It is well understood that their primary role is being mothers and good wives, but there are women who have the necessary ability and background to do well in politics.

Women need women to understand their issues and problems. Women are naturally closer to women. But the situation is such that women without a political background just cannot survive in politics these days.

 

Q:Do you think that there needs to be a legislative move to improve women's participation in politics? And when/if you are appointed to parliament will you push for it?

Of course, it is difficult for women to enter politics of this country with the preferential votes system. It needs to change. 

 

Q:Is it that the political sphere is not ready for more women or that women are not ready for politics?

Women are different from men. It is not to just subscribe to a stereotype, but even biologically women have a different role and function in society. Women are naturally good listeners, they are not violent, but gentle. The use of drugs and alcohol is very minimal with women. It is not to say women are weak. Women need to join politics because they need to bring about a change. Increasing women's representation is only discussed and not seen in practice.

 

Q:Politics, as they say, is a very dirty game and in Sri Lanka where it is male- dominated dirty game how does a woman participate while still retaining her dignity?

You have to change it in some way. Politics can be very rewarding and will make you feel happy at the end of the day if done properly. There will be many challenges, but there should be a starting point. I just ignore most of the comments. I don't get excited as I used to earlier and I'm not hasty anymore. After all, I have 21 years of experience.

 

Q:What do you think of the calibre of  female candidates contesting the upcoming Parliamentary Elections?

There are candidates of various calibres and they all have important functions and roles. We have actresses and sportswomen and candidates from numerous fields.

 

Q:They say that most women already in politics are there because of their husbands or fathers? What are your comments on this?

I am used to this life because of my husband. I was with him for 21 years and I played a silent role supporting him while being a mother to our two children. It still has not been easy because I had more time for my children when I was a practicing medicine. But with politics you devote your time to the welfare of others. Also, I have worked as a consultant for maternal and child health and I know the areas I want to develop when I am elected. I also want to focus on parenting because with me family always comes first. I also want to help children with disabilities and widowed women.

 

Women have to come in to make a change

Ferial Ismail Ashraff – Contestant from UPFA, Digamadulla District.

Q:What do you think of the women's representation in politics in Sri Lanka and what is it that female candidate offers the public over the promises made by a male candidate?

 

I think it is very important that Sri Lankan enter politics because it is a sphere where they are extremely underrepresented. People have a very negative idea about politics and politicians. Woman can change the situation and make it positive.

Q:Do you think that there needs to be a legislative move to improve women's participation in politics? And when/if you are appointed to parliament will you push for it?

 

We have something called a political culture that has been in place since 1977. When we talk about political issues we refer to many issues. All this time there have been promises, but no implementation. Women have to come in to make a change because we have a different angle from which we look at things.

 

And since there is a reluctance on the part of women to enter politics a legislative move would spearhead a move to introduce women in to politics. It would be good to have even a quota system to start things off. Once women do take it up I would say that they will take to politics like ducks to water [laughs]. This is my humble experience.

 

I like facing that challenge of male colleagues telling me there is only one way to do things and I respond saying no there is another way of approaching issues and that I will do it. I enjoy that challenge of proving them wrong.

 

Q:Is it that the political sphere is not ready for more women or that women are not ready for politics?

Women are reluctant, especially with the negative politics. Everything in the country is related to politics. There will be a politician involved somewhere even to build public toilets. Landing a job is no longer on merit, you have to have a politician to pull strings. This has to change. There are basic needs that have to be provided regardless of political affiliations. Only women can change this culture.

 

Q: They say that most women already in politics are there because of their husbands or fathers? What are your comments on this?

It is a question coming out. This is definitely something within them. When you're looking at politics from the outside you wonder whether to tread or not. But when you have been working in politics and been involved in it over a number of years it is easier to come in to politics. You have already been introduced to the field.

 

Q:What do you think of the calibre of the female candidates contesting the upcoming Parliamentary Elections?

I do not have anything to say of their calibre. When they have feelings for the people, when they understand people and their problems I think they do have to take up politics. It is a question of interacting, understanding and delivering. If they can do this it is more than a qualification.

 

 Q:What advice would you give young women hoping to enter politics in the future?

We need young blood and we need more women in politics. We need to more people from different walks of life, different specialities. They first need to work with senior politicians and at the same time be a reviving force.

 

The Daily Mirror spoke to two women candidates, of the forthcoming Parliamentary Elections,  Dr. Sudharshini  Fernandopulle and Ferial Ismail Ashraff  . Both are from the UPFA and were interviewed by

Dilini Algama

 

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DAILY MIRROR

EDITORIAL

REAWAKENING IN THE EASTERN REGION

WAR AFFECTED COMMUNITIES   – EXPERIENCES OF AMPARA DISTRICT

BY T.M.J.BANDARA, DEPUTY PROJECT

Director, Re-awakening Project, Ampara District

 

Continued from yesterday

On the other hand, serious environmental pollution caused by stagnant water (Poor Drainage) during rainy periods is the main reason which made people to place high priority on drainage disposal. The RAP has already constructed a few drainage disposal systems at the cost of 15.0 Millions in some selected locations after evaluation of technical feasibility and sustainability of those projects. However, prior to commencement of such projects it is extremely important for us to properly understand the following human induced constraints which can otherwise lead to total failure of such drainage improvement projects.

 

The housing and other development activities carried out in these villages has not been in conformity with natural landscape. Most of the natural Drainage ways through which excess run off previously found its way to lower lying areas are either blocked or obliterated due to construction activities. The Drainage Disposal System suggested by people will only be successful if these artificial drainage barriers are removed. Will people agree to do that ?  

 

The elevation difference between the sea and the adjacent high land where drainage improvement proposals are envisaged is so little and hence the slightest barrier in any part of the drainage way will make the entire drainage system ineffective. Similarl if holistic approach to drainage disposal system where cleaning and maintenance of the entire drainage network is not adopted it is very unlikely that the proposed drainage improvement pogrammes can yield desired results.     In many instances, it has been found that the drainage ways constructed after spending millions of rupees by various organizations have failed because of the callous use of drainage ways as Dumping sites by the people themselves who at the beginning was very keen to have the drainage ways established.

 

Rehabilitation of Minor Tanks

The rehabilitation of minor tanks is another important Infrastructure Development facility which can yield immediate benefits to rural communities. Providing supplementary irrigation for paddy in maha season and the use of rice lands for cultivation of Other Field Crops during yala season which otherwise remains abandoned for want of irrigation water would ensure a year round income for the beneficiaries of these villages. With the completion of these projects, the RAP (with technical guidance from DOA) is planning to establish Yaya demonstration on OFC cultivation in paddy lands, the practice with which the farmers in Ampara District is not so accustomed to as compared to those in other parts of the Dry Zone in the country. Two minor tank rehabilitation projects with the total cost estimates of about 6.0 Millions are now in progress in Maha Oya and Padiyatalawa D.S. Divisions.

 

In addition, about 30.0 millions will be utilized for the improvement of other infrastructure facilities like, Construction of Agricultural Roads, Bridges, Culverts and common buildings etc in some selected locations in the focal villages.

 

Livelihood Support Activities

This is the most important component of the RAP where soft loans and grants have been released among the beneficiaries to start livelihood activities of their interest. About 24.0 millions of Rupees have already been distributed among 3200 beneficiaries and it is expected to release further sum of Rupees 15.0 millions for this purpose. The number of loan beneficiaries gradually keeps on increasing every month with recoveries of loans being redistributed among more and more people by respective Village Development Organizations which have been formed especially for the Implementation of RAP activities.

 

Paddy farming

Agriculture being the mainstay of economy of the people in Ampara, majority of beneficiaries requested loans for agricultural purposes and the most number of applications received was for paddy cultivation and rain fed and irrigated Agriculture. The main purpose of paddy farmers for seeking financial assistance from RAP was to settle outstanding loans which they claimed to have obtained from money lenders but, this claim  was somewhat ambiguous and  not in agreement with the project concept, according to which, increase of farmer income to substantial level using project interventions was the most anticipated output. Therefore, as a strategy for increasing rice yield, SRI method was introduced among paddy farmers. The adoption of SRI has not only contributed to yield increase but also has encouraged farmers to use Organic manure and indigenous pest management practices which will in the long run be beneficial for restoration of declined fertility status of soils while ensuring pollution free Agricultural environment. Furthermore, in certain areas (Dehiattakandiya) where soil condition is suitable (Reddish Brown earths) soft loans have been provided for farmers to start OFC cultivation in paddy lands during Yala season.

 

Upland annual crop cultivation

In terms of economic returns, the rain fed upland farming can be considered as the most uncertain Agriculture related LSA in Ampara District because, weather vagaries in this region are such that very often  crop failures can occur either due to too much of rains or too little rains or both. This is the main reason for relatively lower recovery rate reported among the loan beneficiaries involved in upland rain fed farming. Furthermore, the soil erosion too has been reported to be very high under this particular land use system causing drastic reduction in crop yield and unfortunately the farmers were not aware of the fact that the main attributing factor for yield reduction is the accelerated soil erosion. Therefore, with the intervention of RAP, soil conservation demonstration plot has been established in Maha Oya D.S. Division to educate farmers on simple biological and mechanical soil conservation measures to be adopted in upland farming.  

 

 Establishment of fruit Gardens

The climatic condition in Ampara District is such that wide range of fruit crops can be grown. However, when compared to other areas in Ampara, the unique climatic conditions prevailing in Maha Oya and Padiyatalawa D.S. Divisions provide highly favourable environmental conditions for cultivation of fruit crops.  As reported by Panabokke high diurnal temperatures experienced in this area increases the Brix sugar level of Sugar cane and other fruit crops like pineapple causing very sweet taste in fruits. Therefore, in keeping with one crop for one village policy of the government, soft loans have been provided by RAP among number of beneficiaries in 02 focal villages for cultivation of pineapple. Although the people were a little hesitant at the beginning, with the training and encouragement given by the Department of Agriculture small (homestead) scale pineapple cultivation programmes have been started in Maha Oya and Padiyatalawa areas. In the 02 D.S. Divisions the total extent of land falling within this particular agro ecological region is estimated to be about 59000 Ha. Assuming that about 70% of the land extent available is utilized for other purposes, there are still about 17000. Ha of land available for commercial level fruit crop cultivation.

 

Dairy Farming

This is another important component of LSA in Ampara District which should receive high priority. Except in a few highly congested Divisional Secretariat Divisions along the coastal belt, Dairy farming could be promoted in many parts of the District. There are large extents of lands in Ampara which cannot be utilized for intensive agriculture because of their shallow soil depth but highly suitable as grazing lands. Furthermore, the paddy lands fed by major irrigation schemes with their antecedent soil moisture also serve as productive grazing lands during fallow periods. Therefore, there is tremendous potential for Dairy farming in Ampara.  As an encouragement for those who are already involved in Dairy Farming, the RAP has provided soft loans ranging from Rs.20000.00 to Rs 30,000.00 among a few beneficiaries for improvement of infrastructure facilities such as cowsheds. In addition, with the support of suitable resource persons, training on Artificial Insemination, value addition, and organic manure production etc has been arranged for them.

 

Promotion of small industries and other business enterprises

As indicated earlier in this article, the Ampara District, with its diverse resource base provides ample opportunities for implementation of wide range of livelihood support activities. Depending on resource availability in different focal villages, soft loans have been provided for Backyard poultry, Inland fishery, Sawing, Cane as well as pottery and many other small industries and enterprises. 

 

Capacity Building of Beneficiaries

The lack of adequate knowledge on Resource Identification and their rational utilization, Value addition, market linkages etc among beneficiaries has prevented them tapping full potential level of resource available within their reach result in low income generation from the LSA with which they are presently involved in. Therefore, training programmes in the forms of lectures, seminars, workshops and study tours etc have been arranged in order to update the knowledge of RAP beneficiaries.

 

The RAP, with its implementation period not extending for just more than 02 years is still at its infancy compared to numerous other projects which were in operation in Ampara District for a very long period of time with somewhat similar objectives. The experiences of these projects convey very strong message that no matter how much of money is spent as loans and grants, unless there is strong will power, devotion and Perseverance among beneficiaries, the objectives envisaged under such projects become unachievable. Therefore, the RAP, while providing loans and grants for the poor is also trying its level best to revitalize or rejuvenate inner souls of the disillusioned group of the community so that without being self-centered they would be able to look at community development from broader perspective and contribute wholeheartedly for the development of their community. It was with this strategy backed by strong will power that enabled people to build Prakrama Samudraya and Tissa Wewa during good olden days when kings were ruling this country..

The Ampara District is endowed with wide range of Natural resources. There is no dearth of human resources either. What is mostly needed today is to make up our minds and get ourselves organized in such a manner so that we should be able to forget individual preferences but instead place community development at the top of the ranking table of priority needs, and then work towards achieving the goal of livelihood improvement of most vulnerable people in the district, The day that we achieve this goal, Ampara will be one of the richest and prosperous Districts of this country and in fact that is the sole aim of RAP.   

 

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

ANY TAKERS?

Even as doubts are being raised as to whether the new constitution will be promulgated on the stipulated date of May 28, the Constituent Assembly (CA) has effected the 10th amendment in the timetable for the drafting task. There are many who question the goal of the constitution being completed in the next 78 days when seemingly nothing has been accomplished in the past more than a year and a half. With this latest amendment, the deadline remaining the same, only a sense of credibility has been maintained for the august CA. Repeated amendments in the work schedule has not achieved the purpose, and it seems almost far-fetched to think the latest one will. Taking into account the time constraint, the only obvious intent has been to shorten some of the procedures which had been the fixtures when the constitution drafting journey had been initiated post-CA election. This is to say that certain democratic says will have to be shinted aside all because of the time that would be required like sending the completed draft to the people for their suggestions-a time consuming process-which the less than three months do not allow. A review would show that the political parties represented in the CA have yet to sit down in earnest for the constitution drafting process.

All know the contentious issues as related to forms of governance and state restructuring, but serious deliberations to sort them out has not emerged courtesy the indifference of the political leaders who matter. The High Level Political Mechanism had been formed with great hopes of delivering results but it is lost in its own web. Again the leaders have failed to give in their rigid stances to arrive at consensus by breaking out of their partisan interests. The UCPN-Maoist was for ever found to be raising new demands that were unreasonable over a period of time that had the other political parties in a quandary. The inability to reach a consensus, thus, compelled the CA to make one amendment after another in the schedule for drafting the constitution. However, the leaders of the major political parties are making their commitments for promulgating the constitution within the given time, but without any concrete action plan to dislodge the issues of their disagreement. And, it points to only one thing that the stakeholders have something concealed in this regard which they have not been divulging or misleading the public at large.

Were the constitution not promulgated in the given timeframe, the consequences could be disastrous. Now with no time to lose work should immediately begin for compiling and consolidating the reports into a draft constitution. It is a conundrum as to what makes the big party leaders shy away from coming together to get the constitution drafting work completed, that is to say find ways and means to overcome the contentious issues. If they want to do so they could, instead of shying away from the real task but going for inflammatory speeches at other forums. The CA has facilitated the statute drafting process through the 10th amendment, and it is for the concerned parties to heed the call to maintain their dignity and integrity in front of the electorate.

 

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

INFLATION PUNCHES

The inflation figures provided by the central bank of Nepal for the month of February and January this year at 18.1 per cent and 17.8 per cent respectively makes the people go around hopping furiously. If it had only been a case of mutton going dearer by Rs 50 to Rs 500 per kilo, we would rather cut it out of the home menu. But, the cutting edge is that barring some vegetables, the price of every other commodity of daily need is rising as if there were no tomorrow. The government is supposed to do some checks-and-balances but the free market stuff gets in the middle, and then it is inaction all the way. The officials can bring out a number of excuses for their photo sessions, but that is not going to feed the people with the right amount of nutrition which comes at a ice.

For most people, apart from the unemployed, the incomes change only after a long duration, but the market prices can within a matter of hours. The safety valve is nowhere to be seen, and as usual the blame is put on last year's scanty rain that is adverse weather pattern. To call a shortfall and do nothing to match words for action in the food security mission just shows how shallow the concerns of the officialdom is.

 

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

STATE RESTRUCTURING :BEYOND IMPASSE AND INFLEXIBILITY

UDBODH BHANDARI

 

Nepal can draw upon the knowledge and practices of restructuring and peace processes from various parts of post-conflict African continent that will, no doubt, lead us to overview the substance of post-conflict social transformation and nation building process.

Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia, Nigeria and others have come out of the bitter experience of the past and headed towards the restructuring, at least within its ethno-political and nationalist ground.

As regards the political process, we can study the African specialty where the peace making strategies composed of addressing roots of conflict and ensuring inclusive approach to state restructuring were banked on.

National reconciliation, reintegration, socio-economic opportunities for ex-combatants and victims were to be categorized under peace building programs. It can be instrumental to Nepalese polity too.

For economic recovery and reintegration purpose, national development process and rehabilitation of critical infrastructure is core to the post-conflict national economy of any country. With the revelation of current facts in its Nepalese specialty, we have the figures, according to Nepal Living Standard Survey (government sponsored survey under Central Bureau of Statistics, not yet updated), that obviously uncover the scenario of poverty and unemployment penetrating the agro-based rural population chronically with its roots spreading significantly among Dalits and various ethnic groups. The agriculture sector has evolved as the stumbling block to economic restructuring and reforming.

Land reform has been very much a cornerstone in agro economy in post-conflict Africa with people becoming the cognoscenti locally and nationally. With making a slogan, "Put small farmers first and put farming first to empower them", experts in Africa call on world leaders to apply its six interlinked imperatives in policy and practice: safeguard natural resources; share knowledge; build local access and capacity; protect harvest; enable access to market; prioritize research imperatives.

Social progress, mainly, encompasses rebuilding of social capital, basic social services, relevant institution and guarantying social security. Social capital was firstly used to study social cohesion and personal investment in the community and refers to connections within and between social networks. Social capital is desideratum in post-conflict societies, since it is vigorously damaged with destabilization of social system during the conflict period. If it is made to revitalize, disillusionment with the state and society will be removed by depersonalizing the conflict. The onus is on the state to revitalize and resurrect old sick institution and discover new ones.

As for human security and post-conflict reconstruction, both human and state securities are two distinctive terms and practices as being applied in ruined states, but the terms are not dichotomy.

The practice and philosophy of state security lays exclusive stress on the survival of the state and territorial sovereignty, whereas human security emphasises survival of the people and socio-economic development that intends to protect human well-being. Nepal's post conflict state security vis-à-vis entanglement with neighboring countries should be reviewed.

Human security comprises of various human related security- political, economic, food, health, environmental and community level. Despite many differences on the emergence and resolution of conflicts in Nepal and Africa, some commonalities pertinent to threat to human security- job and income insecurity evolving with limited access to socio-economic opportunities, labor market instability, unemployment, evolution of no publicly financed social protection programs or other forms of social safety net can not be less emphasized and overlooked. Unless and until these factors of human security remain insurmountable and are not made instrumental in strengthening the on going peace process, abuse of authority with a ritual practice of impunity will always be rampant.

The common points of conflict management and resolution can be summarized with the development of : long term political stability and economic development; democratic governance with its country specialty that can ensure economic growth and wide distribution of benefits; social justice; proportionate representative of minorities, ethnic group, marginalized, disadvantaged, woman, indigenous to state and non- state body .; review and change in the structure and mechanism of multilateral institution providing 'external assistance'.

Last but not least, the progress in the conflict management and state restructuring can be measured and experienced with some Human Security Performance Indices that should be assessed by all in order to achieve wider national interest.

 

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

TOPICS: WORKPLACE FRIENDSHIP

RANJANA ADHIKARI

 

Workplace friendship can have a profound impact on your career. A friend on the job can provide valuable feedback on your performance, act as a sounding board or be your column of support simply by being there. Most people get new jobs because their friends referred them. Striking workplace friendships is often instinctive. You may pick up good vibes from a cherry smile, a hearty handshake or a friendly nod. But are these enough to sustain a friendship? Is it not necessary to rekindle the flames or douse them as the need arises? What happens when professional competition presents itself as a challenge between two corporate friends?

Are you capable of handling workplace friendships? Where do you draw the line between friendship and professionalism? Workplace friendships that go sour can prove detrimental to a flourishing career. Workplace relationship combined with the fuel

of ambition, set in a corporate milieu where progress is a game of musical chair, strain the cooperative relationships between colleagues. It is, therefore, imperative that you know who your friends and enemies in the workplace are.

So, you should put friends through a test because your 'friend' could be that 'enemy' you cannot see. What you need most from your workplace friends are honesty, trustworthiness, reliability and confidentiality. If you have 'friends' who violate these tenets, then be warned that they may not to be your friends at all. One-way to test this is to mention something 'in strictest confidence' to a friend. If it comes back to you a week later through another source, that answers the question.

Look for inherent behaviors style in your colleagues. If someone in your group is instinctively helpful no matter who is in trouble, always comes to the rescue of the underdog, then he is the kind of person who will stand by you when everyone else is critical of you. It pays to observe people when they think no one is watching. It normally gives us insights into their behavioral patterns that can serve us in good stead, when it matters most. Because of the pros and cons of developing friendships at work, you have more at stake when deciding whether to enter into a workplace friendship. The right group of friends can be a great influence in your career.

 

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

BLOG SURFS: ATTRACTIONS

VIAJERONG PINOY

 

Arriving at the Sunrise hotel in downtown Kudat, this man Peter who has a car tried to persuade us to go with him to the tip of Borneo, his quoted price is 60 ringgits total and some additions for extra attractions like the longhouse, the gong factory and some beaches, anyway we told him we shall think about it and get back to him tomorrow. Right now we need to check in. The receptionist told us the cheapest room is 25 ringgits for a double fan room, we wanted to see it, it's at the top floor and when we saw the room full of graffiti in the wall and stinky we decided to upgrade a bit. We ended up in an a/c room with cable tv and indoor toilet for 48 ringgits. The room is old but better looking.

We are both starving so ended up walking to the esplanade and found some stalls selling seafood grilled. One piece of mid-sized fish for 1 ringgits and mid-sized squid for 1.5, super cheap! Su had to get back later to get more change as he paid more than he should, we realized later.— travelblog.org

 

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SAMARTH

a trust – of the people by the people for the people

An Organisation for Rastriya Abhyudaya

(Registered under Registration Act 1908 in Gorakhpur, Regis No – 142- 07/12/2007)

Central Office: Basement, H-136, Shiv Durga Vihar, Lakkarpur, Faridabad – 121009

Cell: - 0091-93131-03060

Email – samarth@samarth.co.in, central.office@samarth.co.in

Registered Office: Rajendra Nagar (East), Near Bhagwati Chowk, Lachchipur

Gorakhnath Road, Gorakhpur – 273 015

 

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