EDITORIAL 19.04.10

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Editorial

month april 19, edition 000485, collected & managed by durgesh kumar mishra, published by – manish manjul

 

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THE PIONEER

1. OBAMA'S N-PARTY
2. ON A POSITIVE NOTE
3. LONG HAUL LIES AHEAD - JOGINDER SINGH
4. SHOW HIM THE DOOR - M RATAN
5. TERROR'S OWN COUNTRY - VR JAYARAJ
6. OBAMA ON THE SPOT
7. NEW START TOWARDS SAFER WORLD - ILYA KRAMNIK
8. STRAYING OF ANIMALS REMAINS A CHALLENGE - LAVKUMAR KHACHAR

MAIL TODAY

1. STUCK IN CITY AND NO QUICK WAY OUT
2. BY FAIZAN HAIDER IN NEW DELHI
3. LINGERING CLOUD WILL WORSEN AVIATION CRISIS
4. CONG FORCES KIDS TO ATTEND UP RALLY - BY PIYUSH SRIVASTAVA IN LUCKNOW
5. TORNADO RELIEF WORK STRUCK BY GRAFT CHARGES - BY SUJIT NATH IN NORTH DINAJPUR
6. RAISINA TATTLE
7. CONGRESS DECLARES SHASHI OUT
8. NATWAR DRAMA ACTION REPLAY?

THE TIMES OF INDIA

1. RULES OF THE GAME
2. THE CHAOS PRINCIPLE
3. VIOLENCE ON THE WANE - DILEEP PADGAONKAR
4. 'I'M NOT LEAVING TAMIL CINEMA FOR HINDI'
5. POINTS TO PONDER - J S RAGHAVAN

HINDUSTAN TIMES

1. ALL OUT IN THE OPEN
2. IS THE WORLD SAFER NOW?
3. A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN - ASHOK MALIK
4. DON'T CRITICISE COLLEAGUES IN PUBLIC - PANKAJ VOHRA

THE INDIAN EXPRESS

1. OUTSIDER-INSIDER
2. LINE DANCING
3. BALLOT BULLY
4. IN AN ALPHABET SOUP - MK VENU
5. HEARTLAND ATTACK - SUDHA PAI
6. RADIOACTIVITY AT NANDA DEVI - INDER MALHOTRA
7. THE DANTEWADA DOCTRINE - T.V. RAJESWAR
8. CASHEWS AND BACKWATERS - SARITHA RAI
9. VOTING FOR THE DEAD

FINANCIAL EXPRESS

1. WHY RBI SHOULD NOT TIGHTEN YET
2. A DIFFERENT SOUTH
3. IS THERE TOO MUCH ONUS ON RBI? - BIBEK DEBROY
4. MAKING A CASE FOR THE FSDC - ANURADHA GURU
5. PRIVATE EQUITY IN RETAIL - RAJAT GUHA

THE HINDU

1. DAMNING INDICTMENT
2. REGULATORY TUSSLE
3. UNCORKING THE SPIRIT OF COPENHAGEN - SUHASINI HAIDAR
4. THE REBIRTH OF THE INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN - PRAVEEN SWAMI
5. TWO BILLION LAPTOPS? IT MAY NOT BE ENOUGH - RANDALL STROSS
6. FEEDING BILLIONAIRES
7. HEALTH CARE WOES: NEED FOR DOCTORS, FUNDS

THE ASIAN AGE

1. ASH CLOUDS THROW WORLD INTO A SPIN
2. FOOD SECURITY FOR ALL
3. SLOW DOWN, GET SOME PEACE

DNA

1. RELICS OF THE PAST
2. MOVING QUESTION-HOUR
3. THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION'S LIMITATIONS - MADHAV CHAVAN
4. IT'S HARDLY A GENTLEMAN'S GAME THESE DAYS - ANIL DHARKER

THE TRIBUNE

1. THE IPL MESS
2. WHO KILLED BENAZIR?
3. FLIP-FLOP ON SMS
4. PROBING BENAZIR'S KILLING - BY K. SUBRAHMANYAM
5. POETRY, PROTEST AND HOSIERY - BY NIRUPAMA DUTT
6. THE MAOIST MENACE - BY MAHI PAL SINGH
7. KHAP PANCHAYATS: DUTIES FIRST - BY ANIL NAURIYA
8. CHATTERATI - BY DEVI CHERIAN

MUMBAI MERROR

1. TIME FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH

BUSINESS STANDARD

1. CAN'T AUDIT GOVERNMENT
2. STAY COMMITTED TO SPACE
3. VINAYAK CHATTERJEE: MORE GOOD NEWS THN BAD
4. FLOATING VIEW ON FIXED RATES - A V RAJWADE
5. IPL'S ROYAL CHALLENGE - SUNIL JAIN
6. GULF IN KERALA - SANJAYA BARU

THE ECONOMIC TIMES

1. WIND IN THE WILLOWS
2. UNFAIR USAGE POLICY
3. THE COMMON WEAL
4. BANK CREDIT GROWTH TO SPIKE UP - CHETAN AHYA
5. PRAHALAD WILL ALWAYS BE TOP OF THE PYRAMID - KUMAR MANGALAM BIRLA
6. UNDERSTAND FAILURE, THUS MINIMISE IT - K VIJAYARAGHAVAN
7. TIME FOR A MEASURED RESPONSE - MYTHILI BHUSNURMATH
8. 'ALL CITIZENS NEED TO HAVE PAN CARD' - HEMA RAMAKRISHNAN
9. WE NEED RS 10K CR TO MAKE OUR ROLE MEANINGFUL: KG KARMAKAR, MD NABARD - PRABHA JAGANNATHAN
10. WE'LL CROSS RS 1.50 L-CR BIZ BY SEPT: CMD, ANDHRA BANK

DECCAN CHRONICAL

1. ASH CLOUDS THROW WORLD INTO A SPIN
2. FOOD SECURITY FOR ALL - BY ARJUN SENGUPTA
3. SPARKING INNOVATION, RAISING CAPITAL IN US - BY THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
4. KOLKATA HEATS UP, DELHI PACIFIES
5. DELHI SOOTHES MAYA'S NERVES
6. A CHURCH THAT CAN MAKE MARY SMILE - BY NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
7. SLOW DOWN, GET SOME PEACE - BY AMRIT SADHANA

THE STATESMAN

1. MAYORAL FIASCO
2. SETTLED IN SUDAN
3. OLD HEADACHES
4. CHIDAMBARAM MUST QUIT - BY SAM RAJAPPA
5. HOW THAROOR'S ACTS BENEFIT THE NATION
6. SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND
7. 100 YEARS AGO TODAY

THE TELEGRAPH

1. FILMY FLAVOUR
2. INEXPLICABLE
3. SEEDS OF CORRUPTION - S.L. RAO
4. GHOSTS FROM THE PAST - GWYNNE DYER

DECCAN HERALD

1. LAUNCHED TO FAIL
2. BRIC BATS FOR SECURITY
3. YET ANOTHER PLAN TO END CHILD LABOUR - BY KATHYAYINI CHAMARAJ
4. AT HATHIMS, SCRAMBLING FOR OLD BOOKS - BY LAKSHMI NAIR

THE JERUSALEM POST

1. CONTINUING HERZL'S DREAM - BY DANNY AYALON
2. BORDERLINE VIEWS: WALKING THE TRAIL AT 62 - BY DAVID NEWMAN
3. THE REGION: NO LONGER TOUGH ENOUGH? - BY BARRY RUBIN
4. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY WISHES FROM A PALESTINIAN - BY AZIZ ABU SARAH

HAARETZ

1. IN ITS 62ND YEAR, ISRAEL IS IN A DIPLOMATIC, SECURITY AND MORAL LIMBO
2. A LETTER FROM MY FATHER - BY ZE'EV SEGAL
3. DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR AND INFERIORITY - BY YEHEZKEL DROR
4. ISRAEL USES INDEPENDENCE DAY TO TURN ITS BACK ON THE ARAB PEACE PLAN - BY AKIVA ELDAR
5. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF PALESTINIANS UNILATERALLY DECLARE TATEHOOD? - BY SHLOMO AVINERI

THE NEW YORK TIMES

1. CASSANDRA, THE IGNORED PROPHET OF DOOM, IS A WOMAN FOR OUR TIMES  - BY ADAM COHEN
2. A CASE OF DISCRIMINATION
3. THE F.C.C. AND THE INTERNET
4. THE ICELANDIC PLUME
5. THE EXTREMISTS NEXT DOOR - BY EILEEN POLLACK
6. WHAT WE LEARNED IN OKLAHOMA CITY  - BY BILL CLINTON
7. SKY ABOVE, DISASTER BELOW - BY CAROLYN HART
8. HOW WE PICKED OURSELVES UP – BY MIKE EASTERLING
9. LOOTERS IN LOAFERS - BY PAUL KRUGMAN

TEHRAN TIMES

1. DISPATCH FROM CHINA: NUMBER 15 HAS LEFT THE BUILDING - BY RAMZY BAROUD

I.THE NEWS

2. SUGAR AGAIN
3. NO FLY
4. ACID ATTACKS
5. DUBIOUS GAINS AT THE NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT - ASIF EZDI
6. THEY'RE COMING — FOR GOOD - ZAFAR HILALY
7. THE CURSE OF BORROWING AND INTEREST - DR A Q KHAN
8. QUESTIONS THAT REMAIN UNANSWERED - AMEER BHUTTO
9. ECONOMISTS SANS RESEARCH - MUHAMMAD YASIR KHAN
10. DARK CITY BLUES - CHRIS CORK

PAKISTAN OBSERVER

1. GEN KAYANI'S APOLOGY IS NOT ENOUGH
2. WILL PAKISTAN TURN INTO KYRGYZSTAN?
3. DYING AGHAZ-E-HAQOOQ-E-BALOCHISTAN PACKAGE
4. GIVING BY ONE HAND, TAKING AWAY BY OTHER - DR SAMIULLAH KORESHI
5. REGIONAL DIALOGUE VS STRATEGIC DIALOGUE - EHTISHAM AMIR
6. US ECONOMIC ONSLAUGHT ON IRAN - DR SYED JAVED HUSSAIN
7. RENEWED SECURITY TRENDS - LUBNA UMAR
8. OBAMA'S FARSIGHTED NUCLEAR STRATEGY - JIM HOAGLAND

THE INDEPENDENT

1. LOCAL TECHNOLOGY
2. GREEN TAX
3. JUMP TO THE TREE ACROSS..!
4. ENDING THE ENERGY CRISIS
5. FORREST COOKSON
6. IS RECESSION OVER? - KEVIN G. HALL

THE AUSTRALIAN

1. THREE-RING CIRCUS POLITICS
2. REFORMS WORTH PURSUING
3. SCHOOL FUNDING REVIEW OPENS NEW OPPORTUNITIES

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

1. TAX REPRIEVE FOR SAVERS
2. THAILAND'S CLASHING COLOURS
3. GAMING BUYS ITS WAY INTO THE FOOTBALL CULTURE
4. A STEP CLOSER TO A NUCLEAR-FREE WORLD

THE GUARDIAN

1. HEALTH: LOW PROFILE, HIGH STAKES
2. IN PRAISE OF… THE HAIKU
3. WOMEN AND THE ELECTION: FAIRER SEX

THE JAPAN TIMES

1. ADDRESSING FOOD SELF-SUFFICIENCY
2. NO CHANGE OF TACK IN NORTH KOREA
3. TERRORISTS GAIN FROM INEQUALITY, RECRUITING THOSE WITHOUT OPTIONS - BY GAUTAMAN BHASKARAN
4. DIABETES EPIDEMIC THE PRICE OF CHINA'S GROWTH - BY CESAR CHELALA
5. PLAYING ENDS OFF THE MIDDLE

THE JAKARTA POST

1. INDONESIA'S FATE AFTER ACFTA: A GLOBAL PLAYER?
2. FREE AND ACTIVE FOREIGN POLICY IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD - HADIANTO WIRAJUDA
3. FOI LAW TESTS PUBLIC TRANSPARENCY - WARIEF DJAJANTO BASORIE

CHINA DAILY

1. QUAKE REMINDER
2. DEBATE: HIGH-SPEED RAIL
3. PRICKING THE BUBBLE
4. RAISING THE BAR TO PUNISH CORRUPTION - BY CHEN JIEREN (CHINA DAILY)

DAILY MIRROR

1. BIG LOSERS; TRANSPORT, POWER, PORT AND MIHIN
2. SUPPORT SLIPS AWAY FROM INDIA'S MAOISTS - BY GEETA PANDEY
3. PREPARING GROUND FOR A WELL ADMINISTERED SYSTEM
4. DE-BRUTALISING THE SRI LANKAN PSYCHE: LITERACY NEEDS TO BE DELINEATED
5. IT IS TIME TO REMIND THOSE PROMISES

THE MOSCOW TIMES

1. LENIN'S SCENT STILL LINGERS
2. BY ALEXEI BAYER
3. KREMLIN PULLS PR COUP AFTER KYRGYZ REVOLUTION - BY VLADIMIR FROLOV
4. BRIC OFFERS AN ALTERNATIVE WORLD ORDER - BY ANDREJ KRICKOVIC AND ADRIAN PABST

THE HIMALAYAN

1. BE REALISTIC
2. FIRE SCARE
3. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: SOME ASPECTS - DR. SUMAN KUMAR REGMI
4. TOPICS: MAGIC OF BREAKFAST - RAJIB RAJ ACHARYA
5. BLOG SURF: EASTER EGGS 

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THE PIONEER

EDITORIAL

 

OBAMA'S N-PARTY

HOST WAFFLES AT HIS PET SUMMIT

The two-day Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington, DC, this past week more or less confirmed President Barack Obama's crowning as Jimmy Carter, the Second. Like his one-term predecessor from the 1970s, Mr Obama is increasingly beginning to resemble a lacklustre chief executive, completely at sea in the power districts of Washington, DC, and obsessed with woolly-headed but ultimately unachievable global goals. Mr Obama has been calling for nuclear disarmament. However, not only does he not have support within his own establishment, he is also somewhat disingenuous about the project. The target of his rhetoric is other countries, rarely the United States, which has more nuclear weapons than the rest of the world put together. Simultaneously, the US is preparing the ground for the revalidation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. However, it is making no effort to make the NPT contemporaneous and to recognise genuine nuclear powers, like India, that are outside the NPT ambit simply because they have never signed it. These conflicting signals, combined with Mr Obama's trademark waffle, made the Washington Summit successful only in the eyes of the US President's camp followers. As such, Mr Obama has several sets of conflicting priorities before him — maintaining the US' nuclear-weapons primacy as well pushing his utopian ideas of nuclear disarmament; seeking to secure the world from nuclear terrorism and preventing Al Qaeda access to the Bomb, while also pretending he can talk a civilian nuclear deal with Pakistan. In short, he is trying to be too many things to too many people.

It boils down to priorities. As Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pointed out at the summit, nuclear terrorism is "a grave threat" and concern number one for the world community. There are several potential sources of nuclear terrorism. The US and Israel are worried about the Iranian nuclear programme and of material from it reaching groups such as Hamas and being used against Jewish and/or Western targets. Yet, the Iranian nuclear weapons programme — illicit as it is — exists in a context. It is a Shia response to the arming of Sunni powers, and to the perception that the Pakistani Bomb provides a nuclear umbrella to Saudi Arabia. The strongest argument, even deterrent, against Tehran's nuclear mission would be to place curbs on Islamabad's nuclear facilities, bring in AQ Khan for questioning before a credible international panel and search and completely destroy the so-called 'Nuclear Wal-Mart' he had assiduously built, supported by the Pakistani military brass, over a quarter century. Yet, this calls for tough decisions and playing hardball with Pakistan — not something Mr Obama is inclined to do in his current mood.

As a result, the US President is focussing his energies on other areas — from sanctions against Iran to renewing old arms-limitation treaties with Russia to selling dreams about total disarmament. India has no problems with disarmament. In fact, in 1988 Rajiv Gandhi suggested what remains the most credible plan for disarmament — and one every successive Government in New Delhi has backed — that called for simultaneous cuts by all nuclear-weapons countries with extra effort from those that had the biggest arsenals. If nuclear disarmament needs to be discussed, that 1988 plan should be the starting point. There is no point reinventing the wheel and pretending the world had not thought of these issues till the grand day in January 2009 when Mr Obama entered the Oval Office.

 

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THE PIONEER

EDITORIAL

ON A POSITIVE NOTE

BRIC MAKING ALL THE RIGHT NOISES

The latest summit of the BRIC group of countries in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia has been promising indeed. The leaders of the member nations — Brazil, Russia, India and China — held constructive talks on a variety of global issues, indicating that the group is slowing but surely making its presence felt in the international arena. Among the subjects that were discussed, UN reforms featured prominently. The group believes that a restructuring of the international organisation is in order to reflect the current geopolitical scenario. In this regard, the leaders at the summit supported the expansion of the UN Security Council and backed the contention that India and Brazil should get permanent seats in the same to make the body more inclusive. The other issue that was given a considerable amount of time during the talks was the global economic recovery. The BRIC leaders made it clear that though economies around the world were slowly turning the tide, there was still a lot to be done in order to ensure that a certain level of consistency is achieved. In this respect, they called for greater macro-economic cooperation between the countries to strengthen the global economic foundation. But the issue on which the four countries seemed to have maximum momentum is climate change. The four leaders reaffirmed the principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as well as those of the Kyoto Protocol and the Bali climate summit. They also called upon the developed nations led by the US to facilitate greater diffusion of green technology to the developing nations without further delay. It will be recalled that India and China had worked closely to broker a non-binding agreement at the last climate talks in Copenhagen which has been endorsed by 112 countries. The BRIC countries' posturing on the issue is a clear indication of their clout in this regard.

Although it is fairly early in the day, it is quite apparent that the BRIC group is quietly carving a niche for itself in a world that has essentially been under the hegemony of the US and its allies for the last two-and-a-half decades. Depending on the amount of political capital it is able to generate at international fora in the years ahead, it is not impossible that the BRIC format comes to be emulated by other countries as well. If that indeed becomes a reality, we could well be looking at a multi-polar world with several non-regional groupings making their voices heard. This could provide the international community with alternative avenues and wean it away from US-centric globalisation; an interesting proposition indeed.

 

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THE PIONEER

EDITORIAL

LONG HAUL LIES AHEAD

JOGINDER SINGH

In one of the worst Maoist attacks, 76 security personnel — 74 belonging to the CRPF and two to the Chhattisgarh Police — were killed in the thick forests of the Dantewada district on April 6. Not only were the security men butchered by the Left-wing extremists but the latter also took away their arms and ammunition.

This is neither the first nor the last bloodbath that we are going to see in the war against Maoists who are determined to usurp the authority of the state. Indeed, the guerrillas top the list of attacks on our security forces. The following are some major instances of Maoist attacks:

April 4, 2010: Maoists trigger a landmine bombing, killing 11 security personnel of the elite anti-Maoist Special Operations Group in Koraput district of Odisha.

February 15, 2010: 24 personnel of the Eastern Frontier Rifles are killed as Maoists attack their camp in Sildah in West Midnapore district of West Bengal.

October 8, 2009: 17 policemen are killed when Maoists ambush them at Laheri police station in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.

September 26, 2008: Maoists kill BJP MP from Balaghat Baliram Kashyap's sons at Pairaguda village in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh.

September 4, 2008: Maoists kill four villagers in a forest in Aaded village in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district.

July 27, 2008: Six people are killed when Maoists trigger a landmine bombing in Dantewada district, Chhattisgarh.

June 29, 2008: Maoists attack a boat carrying four anti-Maoist police officials and 60 Greyhound commandos on the Balimela reservoir in Odisha, killing 38 security personnel in all.

June 23, 2008: A group of motorcycle-borne Maoists open fire in Lakhisarai district court premises in Bihar and free four of their comrades, including the self-styled zonal commander of Ranchi.

June 16, 2008: Maoists kill 11 police officers in a landmine attack followed by armed assault. In a separate attack, four policemen are killed and two others seriously injured when Maoists ambush them at Beherakhand in Palamau district, Jharkhand.

June 13, 2008: Maoists launch two landmine and bomb attacks in a small town close to Bokaro, killing 10 policemen and injuring several others.

May 22, 2008: Maoists kill 16 policemen in the jungles of Gadchiroli district, Maharashtra.

April 13, 2008: 10 paramilitary troops are killed in eastern Odisha when Maoists attack a bauxite mine in Koraput district.

The biggest problem in dealing with Maoist violence has been that strategies, lack of intelligence and perceptions vary from State to State and from occasion to occasion. The authorities are simply not decisive enough. The causes of Maoism, estimated to be a Rs 1,500-crore empire, are variously described as a law and order problem or a movement deriving its strength from the lack of development and employment opportunities in the affected areas. Perhaps, it is a combination of all such factors.

The Central forces are trying to help the States regain control of the so-called 'occupied' or 'free zones' that Maoists have created. It is for the States to ensure that development follows the forces. The most important development work that needs to be undertaken in the Maoist-affected areas without delay is the building of good roads so that poor villagers and tribals can have access to the facilities that are available to the rest of the country.

Nonetheless, the vicious cycle of fear and killings is something that is always going to come in the way of the those wanting to undertake development projects or improve the existing infrastructure in the Maoist-dominated areas. People would rather be safe than stick their necks in a fight between the insurgents and the Government. No investor is going to invest in any area plagued with violence and unabated killings.

The world has known only two ways of resolving any dispute, that is, first, by using force and, second, through negotiations. Unfortunately, no party that is winning a war wants to come to the negotiating table. As long as the Maoists know that they are winning they will not hold dialogue with the Government. They have had undisputed run of the areas under their control due to the indifference of the civil administration.

About 5,000 security personnel have been killed since Maoists unleashed war on the Indian state. For Maoists — or Naxalites or whatever we may choose to call them — this is a no-holds-barred war. But on the part of the Government, there is quibbling over whether the state should use the Army and the Air Force against the insurgents. A specious argument doing the rounds is that a country's military should not be used against its own people. On the other hand, Maoists don't give a hoot about killing fellow Indians which, by the same logic, are their own people.

When the very existence of the country is at stake, following the policy of 'willing-to-strike-but-afraid-to-wound' is not only futile but also counter-productive. Nobody worships the setting sun. Here, unfortunately, the setting sun is the Government which, for one reason or another, has not been able to establish its authority. It has no law to specifically deal with such cases and crimes.

An important factor which needs to be borne in mind is that without the involvement of well-trained, well-equipped and motivated State police forces there is no way that the problem of Maoism can be tackled effectively just by using Central forces who are neither familiar with the local terrain nor aware of the local culture or languages in the Maoist-affected areas. At present, State police forces are ill-equipped, ill-trained and ill-prepared for tackling the Maoist menace. The Centre should handsomely fund and train them since after all Maoism is a national problem.

Unless a strong message goes out to all disruptive forces, including Maoists, our security forces will continue to be nothing more than cannon fodder. Any more killings of security personnel engaged in the battle against Maoists will not only demoralise them, but also send a wrong message to the people living in Maoist-dominated areas that the Government and its security forces are weak. The Left-wing extremists have already warned the authorities of more lethal attacks in future. The Government must steel its resolve to win this decisive war, and both the Centre and the States should prepare for the long haul ahead.

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THE PIONEER

EDITORIAL

SHOW HIM THE DOOR

M RATAN

This refers to the report, "Tharoorgate stalls Parliament"(April 17). It is beyond comprehension how an international diplomat with many years of service in the UN, who even contested the UN Secretary-General's post and last year became a junior Minister in the Government in his favourite area of foreign affairs, has managed to turn the tables on himself. It shows sheer stupidity, immaturity and insensitivity.

Thanks to his own imprudence and indiscretion, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has been guilty of several faux pas in the recent past — his remarks on 'cattle class', his disagreement with his own Government's visa policies and his comment about Saudi Arabia being an 'interlocutor' between India and Pakistan have truly embarrassed the ruling coalition. Despite widespread criticism of his irresponsible utterances as a member of the Union Council of Ministers, he, hitherto, has been spared the rod, possibly due to his closeness to the Prime Minister and the Congress president.

But his latest foray into the Kochi IPL consortium franchise, supposedly as a mentor to 'benefit' his home State of Kerala, appears to be the last straw that broke the camel's back. The disclosures about the nature of the shareholding of the consortium and the allotment of 'sweat equity' in 'undilutable perpetuity' to a female friend of Mr Tharoor, amounting close to Rs 75 crore without investing a rupee, take one's breath away. Yet Mr Tharoor continues to plead his innocence. His plea is that his only interest was to bring IPL to Kerala. But the phony nature of his claim becomes obvious if one closely looks at the composition of the ownership of the Kochi franchise — there is only one Keralite with one per cent stake, the rest 99 per cent equity is held by non-Keralites. If Mr Tharoor was truly sincere in his concern for Kerala's share in the cricket pie, he could have mobilised Malayali entrepreneurs. He could have even opened up a world-class cricket academy in Kerala with his MP funds.

 

Instead, he has dragged himself into yet another needless controversy with no regard for the Government he represents. It is time he is given the boot.

 

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THE PIONEER

EDITORIAL

TERROR'S OWN COUNTRY

ISLAMIST TERROR IN KERALA HAS CONNECTIONS WITH SEVERAL FORMER NAXALITES WHO ARE NOW IN THE BUSINESS OF RIGHTS PROTECTION AND PROMOTION. MOREOVER, THE FACT THAT MORE THAN 75 PER CENT OF ALL THE TERROR ACCUSED AND SUSPECTS IN THE COUNTRY ARE FROM THE STATE IS ENOUGH TO EARN KERALA THE TERROR HUB TAG

VR JAYARAJ

Terror, in the current sense of the term, has been lying in hibernation in Kerala from early-1990s but authorities failed to identify it. They are paying the price now. The first sign of God's Own Country's plunge into terror culture was seen when Islamist leader Abdul Nasser Madani's Islamic Sewak Sangh aroused curiosity and awe with strange-liveried "volunteers" guarding programme venues with a command force's alertness and pride. Even then the bosses of the so-called secular parties tended to underestimate the obvious, saying that nobody could shatter God's Own Country's communal harmony and love for peace. After almost two decades, they are now beginning to understand —though without much conviction — that had been wrong. As some kind of Kerala links are seen with several national and international jihadi terror plot in the recent times, the police and political leaders are forced to admit that Kerala, after all, need not be the secular paradise of peace they once thought it was.

Terror of another kind has been there in Kerala since the end-1960s and this was directly related to the Spring Thunder in the distant hills of Naxalbari in West Bengal when hardliner communists believed that China's chairman Mao Tse Tung was 'our chairman'. It was the time when Kerala Naxalites were in the fast embrace of the theory of annihilation of class enemies and the result was bone-freezing terror as they decapitated "feudalists" when in fact there was nobody in the State to fit the definition of the term. The annihilation theory stayed on with them till 1980 when the last Naxalite-sponsored murder took place in Kenichira in the hilly Wayanad region. By then the Naxalites had begun to split into groups with serious ideological differences and the outcome is that some of the fiercest campaigners of annihilation are now famous apostles of parliamentary democracy. The tragedy is that these men and women do not have a justification to offer to the descendants of Narayanan Nair of Kongad in Palakkad and Mathai in Kenichira who were killed for the sake of the chimerical revolution. With that history smeared in blood in the background, Kerala is now becoming a host of Maoists from the Red corridor who look for rest, rejuvenation and resource mobilisation.

 

This background of Communist terror is behind the tendency of the remnants of the 'Naxalite saga' to help their ideological brethren from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Dakshina Kannada (erstwhile South Canara) and elsewhere. Intelligence agencies reported in the beginning of March that Maoists from the Red corridor had been collecting arms, ammunitions and explosives from Kerala using their local contacts, who obviously were the old-time worshippers of Naxalite guru Charu Mazumdar. It was found that the Red terrorists had collected country-made guns from Thrissur and Palakkad districts, known once for the proliferation of Naxalites, and explosives from central Kerala where Maoist guerrillas were known to be on under-cover operation in the guise of migrant workers in granite quarries and brick manufacturing units. Mallaraja Reddy, a dreaded Maoist from Andhra Pradesh was arrested from Angamaly in central Kerala in December, 2007 when he was on a 'mission' in the State. It was then proved that his local aides were some Naxalites who had turned rights activists.

But more shocking was the revelation by two Maoists caught by the Gujarat Police. According to them, some guerrilla combat gurus from the New People's Army of the Communist Party of Philippines had imparted month-long weapons training to Maoists from several parts of India in some Kerala jungle. The recruits, numbering over 25, included the two under custody and Adivasi and Dalit activists. The strange thing is that the Kerala Police, ruled by Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, a member of the CPI(M) Polit Bureau, is yet to wake up to the seriousness of reported incursion by foreign guerrillas into the State for subversive activities. Shocks do not end there. Last week, the Central Intelligence Bureau found that about a dozen hardcore Maoists from the Dakshina Kannada region entered into Kerala territory through the northern jungle borders on a 'mission' which was yet to be identified. The group, including some six women extremists, had escaped to Kerala after an encounter with the Karnataka Police near Udupi. As usual, there was no confirmation or denial from the Kerala Police but they have at least started efforts to step up reconnaissance along the borders.

The other side of terror — jihad —is far more serious and extensive in God's Own Country and bosses of the so-called secular parties are partly to blame for its growth. That the Congress-led UDF and CPI(M)-led LDF had unanimously passed a resolution in the State Assembly demanding release of Madani in 2006 from the Coimbatore prison where he was lodged in the Coimbatore blasts case was a typical example of this. The more interesting aspect of Islamist terror in Kerala is that it has connections with several former Naxalites who are now in the business of rights protection and promotion, Dalit outfits who crave for just social recognition and a good life — but through the wrong paths — and several other groupings. Though jihadi terror has been reality in God's Own Country since the start of the 1990s, the first major act was seen on September 9, 2005 when a group headed by LeT's south India commander Thadiyantavide Nazeer, accused in several terror cases including the Bangalore blasts of 2008, set a Tamil Nadu bus on fire to expedite the release of Madani. Madani's wife Sufiya, who had enjoyed opportunities of meeting almost all top leaders, including even the country's then Home Minister Shivraj Patil, is 10th accused in this case.

That was just the start. On March 3, 2006, Nazeer and his men carried out two simultaneous blasts in Kozhikode city, which, according to sleuths, were part of a "dry run" for the Bangalore blasts. On August 15, 2006, a group of SIMI activists held a secret meeting at Panayikkulam near Kochi, which is now seen as the launch-pad of the Indian Mujahideen-sponsored terror strikes in the country. In December, 2007, SIMI held a full-fledged training camp among the temperate hills of Vagamon in Idukki district and this was the practical springboard of several LeT terror acts that shocked the nation. All this while, religious classes and Twareeqat camps were going on with the main mission being recruitment of young men into LeT. In October 2008, four jihadis from Kerala were killed by security forces in Kupwara sector, Kashmir when they were trying to cross over to Pakistan for advanced terror training. The biggest of the shocks with regard to jihadi operation in Kerala was the revelation that Tahawwur Hussain Rana had held an extensive tour of Kochi prior to 26/11 and that he had got local help for this. All these events gave Kerala a prominent — if not the central — spot on the jihadi terror map of India. More than 75 per cent of all the terror-accused and suspects in the country are from Kerala. That much for the myth of God's Own Country's enduring religious harmony and sociology of peace.

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THE PIONEER

EDITORIAL

OBAMA ON THE SPOT

US CONGRESS CONFRONTS HIS WEST ASIA POLICY

The US Congress is back as a factor in US foreign policy. Partly because the Obama Administration has pushed it too far to do unpopular things; partly because members are no longer in awe of the President's alleged invincibility and much-declined popularity. Many Democratic members see their whole careers flashing before their eyes. And, of course, there's the Administration's decision to pick a quarrel with Israel.

For the first time since Mr Barack Obama took power, we're seeing a bit of a congressional revolt even from his own side of the aisle. The two issues are Israel and Iran.

On Israel, 76 senators — including 38 of 59 Democrats — signed a flattering but critical letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging reconciliation with Israel. Another 333 House members signed up, including leading Democrats. The letters blamed the Palestinian leadership — and rightly so — for the lack of serious negotiations.

They noted that "it is the very strength of our relationship (with Israel) that has made Arab-Israeli peace agreements possible, both because it convinced those who desired Israel's destruction to abandon any such hope and because it gave successive Israeli Governments the confidence to take calculated risks for peace.

On Iran, a whopping 363 members of the House of Representatives urged Mr Obama to put "crippling" sanctions on Iran, taking "tough and decisive measures," and urging him to make sure Tehran doesn't get nuclear weapons.

Thus, Congress is challenging Mr Obama's policy on four levels:

1. It's not tough enough

2. The proposed sanctions are too toothless (and on this one, see below)

3. Sanctions have taken too long.

4. Instead of waiting for the UN, the US Government should show leadership and act on its own along with willing allies.

Moreover, even while the House passed a sanctions measure by a huge majority in December and a similar Bill went through the Senate in January, to my knowledge the Administration has never taken any position on the proposal.

And now things are about to get worse.

 

Secretary of Defence Robert Gates admitted that the US Government is ready to water down the sanctions even further in order to get a UN Security Council resolution supporting additional action against Iran. The rationale for this is to say that this consensus can then be used as a basis for additional sanctions by countries acting on their own, what Mr Gates called, "a new legal platform." He explained, "What is important about the UN resolution is less the specific content of the resolution than the isolation of Iran by the rest of the world."
The Los Angeles Times thought this, at least partly an excuse for failure to be able to get more:

"Gates' comments were the clearest sign yet that the Administration, facing continuing resistance from other countries to the harshest of the proposed measures, is lowering its sights. US and allied officials have given up on prospects for a ban on petroleum shipments to or from Iran, and some allies have questioned other potential measures."

It could be pointed out that the second Bush Administration also settled for lightweight UN resolutions, but it was far more determined to follow up with a tough strategy. Equally, Russia and China can be wreckers in violating stronger sanctions, but they are not so likely to respect weaker ones either. The bottom line is that not only can Iran get off easily but the signal conveyed undermines the hopes for future containment possibilities.

Moreover, I think this situation largely reveals a fundamental flaw in the Obama worldview: What should be important is a tough and effective strategy based on strong US leadership which is going to intimidate Iran at least to some extent. Instead, we get the priority on consensus, to avoid any sign of the dreaded 'unilateralism' or masterful American leadership which horrifies Mr Obama regarding past US policy. This approach is likely to continue after a UN resolution. Far from unleashing an aggressive US strategy against Iran, the follow-up is more likely to be an anti-climax.

Consequently, Mr Obama may succeed in passing muster as legalistic while being hailed by the poodle brigade in the media. But it will fail at the ostensible goal of the entire exercise: Stopping Iran now or making Tehran act more cautiously in future.

A parallel situation is now going on regarding Syria's providing of advanced Scuds to Lebanon. The US State Department reaction was a joke: We are going to study this! Compare that to the French response. We must update our thinking. For years we spoke of the timid and unreliable Europeans. Now, in many respects, France (along with Germany and the UK) is bolder and braver than Obama's American policy.

 

Mincing no words, the French Foreign Ministry called the Scud transfer "alarming" and pointed out that such activity was in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which "imposes an embargo on the export of arms to Lebanon, except those authorised by the Government of Lebanon or the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon."

And this is the key! What good is it to get a new UN Security Council resolution if the US Government won't even enforce the previous ones!

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

 

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THE PIONEER

EDITORIAL

NEW START TOWARDS SAFER WORLD

WASHINGTON AND MOSCOW HAVE BENEFITED FROM SIGNING THE ARMS-CONTROL TREATY. THIS CAN SERVE AS AN EXAMPLE FOR OTHER NUCLEAR POWERS NOW EXPECTED TO JOIN RUSSIAN-US AGREEMENTS

ILYA KRAMNIK

On April 8, Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed the treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.

The new document replaces the 1991 Soviet-US START-I agreement, which expired on December 5, 2009, 15 years after its entry into force, and the May 2002 Russian-US Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty.

The media has already reported that the treaty stipulates 1,550 warheads on deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles, on deployed submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and nuclear warheads counted for deployed heavy bombers.

Under the treaty, "each party shall reduce and limit its ICBMs and ICBM launchers, SLBMs and SLBM launchers, heavy bombers so that the aggregate numbers do not exceed 700, for deployed ICBMs, deployed SLBMs, and deployed heavy bombers; 800, for deployed and non-deployed ICBM launchers, deployed and non-deployed SLBM launchers, and deployed and non-deployed heavy bombers."

A study of the treaty's text makes it possible to single out the following aspects determining the new configuration of the strategic nuclear balance:

1. Unlike the START-I agreement, the new document stipulates no restrictions on the area and number of basing areas of land-mobile ICBM systems of the RT-2PM Topol (SS-25 Sickle), RT-2UTTKh Topol-M (SS-27 Sickle B) and RS-24 Yars (SS-X-29) class.

2. The treaty sets tough limits on non-deployed launchers of ICBMs, non-deployed ICBMs and non-deployed SLBMs, and seriously reduces overall delivery vehicle ceilings. This largely evens out the difference between US and Russian capabilities for maintaining their respective nuclear potentials.

Under a special statement signed together with the treaty, Russia reserves the right to exit from the treaty in case it feels threatened by the development of US missile defence systems. The parties have also agreed that existing missile defence systems do not undermine the effectiveness of strategic offensive arms.

It should also be noted that the lack of restrictions on basing areas of land-mobile ICBM systems virtually rules out the creation of an effective missile defense system capable of intercepting such ICBMs in the foreseeable future.

4. The parties are free to determine the structure of their respective nuclear triads comprising aerial, naval and ground-based delivery vehicles. In this situation, Russia is free to resume construction of ICBM trains.

5. The treaty sets no limits on the deployment of ground-based ICBMs with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles. Consequently, Russia will be able to retain its ICBMs of the RS-20 Voyevoda (SS-18 Satan) and RS-18 (SS-19 Stiletto) type and to develop new types of MIRVed ICBMs.

6. Under the document, strategic offensive arms subject to this treaty shall not be based outside the national territory of each party. This caveat rules out any incidents similar to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis and considerably simplifies mutual verification of strategic offensive arms.

7. The 1,550 warhead ceiling does not mean that each party will have the same number of nuclear warheads. Under the treaty, one nuclear warhead will be counted for each deployed heavy bomber which can carry 12-24 missiles or bombs, depending on its type. Consequently, Russia will retain 2,100 warheads and the US, which has more heavy bombers, will have about 2,400. This gap will be reduced as the US decommissions B-1B bombers serving with its strategic nuclear forces and converts them into conventional bombers, which are unable to launch nuclear warheads unless subjected to lengthy refitting.

The new START Treaty is organised in three tiers of increasing level of detail. The first tier is the treaty text itself. The second tier consists of a protocol to the treaty, which contains additional rights and obligations associated with the treaty's provisions. The basic rights and obligations are contained in these two documents. The third tier consists of technical annexes to the protocol.

These documents define the treaty's terms and stipulate new verification procedures for monitoring compliance with the treaty. Although the voluminous protocol has to be studied in great detail, the first impression is that Russian and US negotiators have done a good job and have specified mutual positions to the greatest possible extent in order to avoid any uncertainty.

In conclusion, one can agree that both the US and Russia have benefited from signing the treaty, which can serve as an example for other nuclear powers now expected to join Russian-US agreements.

 The writer is a military affairs columnist based in Moscow.

 

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THE PIONEER

EDITORIAL

STRAYING OF ANIMALS REMAINS A CHALLENGE

UNMONITORED AREAS OUTSIDE RESERVES BECOME NASCENT POACHING ZONES, WRITES LAVKUMAR KHACHAR

Sometime back, on television tiger bone whiskey was being touted for sale in China! Earlier the same day Satyendra Tiwari, a wildlife guide had posted a blog on a tiger having killed a girl from a village bordering the Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Both these episodes bring into focus, in a stark way, disturbing questions which we need to ask ourselves.

Are we in India really contemplating issues of protection of our wildlife in general and the large carnivores in particular with any degree of seriousness? It is a sad reality that today the Indian tiger, the Asiatic lion and for that matter other larger mammals like gaur, rhinoceros and elephant are not secure.

Beyond the rhetoric of saving the big cats, we have failed to see the value of a living tiger to the communities around our national parks. And how communities can be co-opted and oriented towards protecting this wildlife heritage. In Gujarat, there has been a ray of hope. Lions in Brihad (Greater) Gir are gradually spreading out well beyond the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary and being accepted so far with a measure of proprietary pride by the people. This kind of human-wildlife interface needs to be defined, expanded and established to provide the existing population of wild carnivores with absolute security.

However, tigers have vanished from Siraska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan. The figures from the Ranthambhore also do not seem to augur well. What really happens on the ground? Much of it remains shrouded in mystery but we can take a calculated guess.

Assuming that an area is well-managed, the wildlife population will continue to grow until such time it reaches an optimum. The animals would typically begin to spread out well beyond the protected area as happened in Brihad Gir and sure to come into conflict situations with human beings. Moreover, it is this unmonitored area that becomes the nascent poaching zone.

It would be worthwhile to track the diminishing numbers and overlay it with the available land reserved for them. Ranthambore, one of the first nine reserves at the launch of Project Tiger, has 13 adult male and three male sub-adult tigers while female adults are 17 and female sub-adults three. Of this total of 36, one male and three female have been sent to Sariska and two females have died. This leaves only 31 tigers at Ranthambore. The adjacent Sawai Mansingh Wildlife Sanctuary is known to have five tigers with two more in outside protected areas. The total of 38 tigers may be a conservative estimate, subject to correction but there is an implicit message there. Five hundred square miles would seem to be adequate for 12 adult males. It would be natural for the stronger and more dominant males to hold the largest, prime territories while the younger males and the displaced older ones would spill over to peripheries outside the reserve. These males would then come into conflict with human habitation. It is precisely at these intersections that the greatest danger to these big cats lies. It is here that the temptation and the opportunity to kill tigers for economic considerations fructifies.

Do our authorities have any advance planning for such outward movement resulting from success of their protective measures within the reserve? This would need a creative and sage thinking process to keep the twin objectives in focus, protection of the wildlife and human habitation.

 

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MAIL TODAY

COMMENT

STUCK IN CITY AND NO QUICK WAY OUT

BY FAIZAN HAIDER IN NEW DELHI

FLYERS who were the first ones to be stuck at Delhi's airport after flights were cancelled over the weekend because of the closure of European airspace might not be the first ones to leave the Capital.

As the airline industry is still unsure when operations to European countries will resume in the wake of the volcanic eruption in Iceland, they have started strategising to manage the backlog of passengers.

The Indian carriers have decided to follow international guidelines according to which the passengers who have booked their flight on the given day will be given priority.

" Suppose the operation starts from Wednesday, those who have booked Wednesday's flight will be given priority. We won't accommodate passengers already stranded for say four days, at the cost of these people," said an official of an Indian carrier.

With flights being cancelled for four consecutive days till Sunday, as many as 4,000 passengers are likely to be stranded in Delhi.

" International airlines operating from Delhi carry 200 passengers on each aircraft. Air India and British Airways operate two flights daily from Delhi to the affected countries while Kingfisher and Jet Airways operate one flight each. Considering a minimum of 200 passengers per flight, at least 4,000 passengers are now in Delhi. There are also a few international carriers whose passengers are stuck in transit in Delhi. If we count these people as well, the number of stranded passengers could easily touch 10,000," an aviation expert said.

There are many Indians stuck in Europe.

Kapil Kaul, an aviation expert, has been stuck in the Netherlands for the past four days. " I am trying to book train tickets to Rome and exploring other options," Kaul said over phone.

A group of 77 people who were supposed to travel with Swissair are lodged in The Park, New Delhi. The Zurich- bound passengers are worried about their schedule. " Some passengers have urgent work and have requested the airline to adjust them on some other flight. Most of them aren't travelling to the affected countries, but as the airline operates to these sectors and cancelled the flight, they have been affected," a hotel official said.

The stranded travellers may have provided boosted revenue for the hospitality lot. The industry is apprehensive that if the situation remains the same over a few days, they may run out of rooms.

" We haven't reached the stage when we'll be short of rooms, but a lot of customers are extending their bookings. At the same time, some are cancelling bookings because they are stuck in the affected countries," said Akhil

Mathur, marketing director of Le Meridien, where some stranded travellers have put up. Some passengers have also been accommodated at The Lalit.

The ministry of external affairs has decided to extend the visas of stranded foreigners. Indian visa rules state travellers have to leave the country 24 hours before their visa expires.

Through Sunday, there was a clampdown on flights across much of Europe, posing a growing problem for thousands of travellers stranded worldwide.

The European aviation agency Eurocontrol said only 4,000 flights were expected in the European airspace on Sunday, compared with 24,000 normally.

It said 63,000 flights had been cancelled in the European airspace since Thursday.

With agency inputs

 

AI RESUMES US FLIGHTS

HERE'S some good news for travellers stranded in India.

 

Air India has decided to resume its non- stop flights on the Mumbai- New York- Mumbai and Delhi- New York- Delhi sectors from Monday.

 

They will operate on alternative routes.

 

" As there is a backlog of passengers, they are advised to contact Air India before proceeding to the airport," a spokesperson said.

 

The departure and arrival timings of the flights are: AI 141/ 140 ( Mumbai- New York- Mumbai) departing at 12.45 am and AI 101/ 102 ( Delhi- New York- Delhi) departing at 12.25 am.

 

Jet Airways has resumed its Delhi- Toronto and Mumbai- New York flights with a stopover in Athens.

 

Mail Today / New Delhi and PTI

 

LINGERING CLOUD WILL WORSEN AVIATION CRISIS

THE AIR travel disruption because of the ash cloud cover could have far- reaching consequences, based entirely on how long it lasts, something even experts say they cannot predict.

There are three main scenarios for how events could pan out.

CLOUD REMAINS

 

If the cloud remains over Europe for a sustained period of time, perhaps weeks or longer, western military resupply flights to Afghanistan would be heavily affected. Western European troop contributors would become entirely dependent on the US for supplies and medical evacuation flights.

 

US forces would also be heavily affected if they could no longer use their logistics and medical centre in Ramstein, Germany.

 

Major international meetings may have to be cancelled, rescheduled or simply go ahead without European policymakers. The travel sector will also be severely hit.

But some people stand to benefit from this scenario — teleconference, shipping, rail and road transport operators. So would airports just outside the cloud, suddenly in great demand from airlines and shipping firms as new hubs. That could benefit countries along the edge of the cloud including Ukraine, Turkey, as well as Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain.

 

CLOUD CLEARS, BUT ERUPTION CONTINUES

Experts warn that as long as the eruption continues, the risk remains that a renewed outflow of ash or certain wind patterns could produce the same effect again in the coming months.

This time, airlines would be less taken aback but there would still be little they could do to prepare.

 

The threat of a renewed shutdown might deter both business and leisure travellers from booking flights, holidays and hotels, hitting the industry even if the cloud itself never returned.

 

Again, rail, road, sea cargo and teleconference firms could see an increase in demand.

 

CLOUD CLEARS SWIFTLY

The best case scenario — the volcano could cease erupting, stop emitting ash, winds could shift away from Europe or the gas cloud could be dispersed unexpectedly quickly — although so far none of these shows any signs of happening.

 

Airlines and air freight companies would immediately scramble to make up for lost time, repatriate and relocate passengers, aircraft and cargo.

 

Even if the cloud clears, some travel will still be cancelled in the coming days. Firms have asked employees to put off all non- essential travel in the next 7- 10 days.

 

TESTING THE SKIES

NETHERLANDS and a few other countries have started test flights to see if jets could safely fly, either below or over the ash clouds.

 

Dutch airline KLM and German airline Lufthansa carried out test flights in their countries' airspace to see if it is safe for planes to fly.

 

KLM said its aircraft had been able to fly its normal operating altitude of 13 km over Dutch skies and no problems had been reported.

 

German carrier Lufthansa said it flew 10 planes from Frankfurt to Munich at lower altitudes.

 

" We have found nothing unusual, neither during the flight, nor during the first inspection on the ground," KLM chief executive Peter Hartman said.

 

THE SOOTHING EFFECT

DAILY MAIL

TEMPERATURES in Europe could rise as a result of planes being grounded across the continent, according to research.

 

A study conducted after commercial flights were grounded for three days following the 9/ 11 terror attacks found the average daily temperature range in the US rose markedly — exceeding the three- day period before and after by 1.8 degree Celsius.

 

Scientists claimed this showed that clouds formed by the water vapour in the exhaust from jet planes have a small but significant effect on daily temperatures.

 

TREMORS IN ICELAND

Reuters

POWERFUL tremors from the Icelandic volcano rocked the countryside on Sunday as eruptions hurled a steady stream of ash into the sky.

 

Ash from the volcano drifted southeast towards Europe, sparing capital Reykjavik and other more populated centres but forcing farmers and their livestock indoors as a blanket of ash fell on the surrounding areas. Iceland's Met office said tremors from the volcano had grown more intense and had increased from a day ago, but the column of steam and ash rising from the volcano had eased back to four to five km from as high as 11 km when it started erupting.

 

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MAIL TODAY

COMMENT

CONG FORCES KIDS TO ATTEND UP RALLY

BY PIYUSH SRIVASTAVA IN LUCKNOW

 

CONGRESS general secretary Rahul Gandhi flagged off 10 ' Chetna Rath Yatras' on Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14 to make people aware of the ' misrule of the Mayawati government. Ironically, students of two schools in Uttar Pradesh were made to attend a public meeting in the scorching April heat and participate in one such rally.

 

On Friday, Union minister for minority affairs Salman Khurshid and filmstar- turned- Firozabad MP Raj Babbar were supposed to address a rally in the Naraura area of Bulandshahr.

 

To make their rally impressive, two local Congress leaders wanted the presence of school students at the venue. The two — R. P. Sharma and Umesh Singh — are managers of J. P. Memorial School and Blooming Bud School respectively.

 

They disbanded classes of the Class I to VII students and had them taken to the venue. The children, aged five to 12, were made to wait at Narwar Ghat, where the party had organised a ' Ganga Puja'. The students were made to stand in the heat for three hours before the organisers realised their mistake.

 

The guardian of one student of JP Memorial School came to know about the incident and registered his disapproval with the principal.

 

He said Sharma and Singh had been asked by Congress MLA Pradeep Mathur to shut down the school for the day and send the students and teachers to welcome Khurshid and Babbar.

 

" I reached the river bank along with a handful of guardians as soon as I came to know about it.

 

We warned the teachers accompanying the children that we would register a case against them. We also called up Singh and asked him who would be held accountable if the students fell ill because of the heat. He realised his mistake and asked the teachers to take the students back," the parent said.

 

Singh passed off the incident as a routine outing for the students.

 

" We had taken them for an outing. I did not know they went to the place from where the yatra was supposed to start.

 

I reached a few minutes before the leaders arrived and asked the teachers to take the children back," he said.

 

Mathur feigned ignorance. " I don't support the use to children in a public meeting. I will inquire about it and ensure it is not repeated," he said.

 

piyush.srivastava@mailtoday.in

 

TORNADO RELIEF WORK STRUCK BY GRAFT CHARGES

BY SUJIT NATH IN NORTH DINAJPUR

 

CORRUPTION in disaster- stricken areas is almost a given. The latest to prove this are the tornado- hit zones of West Bengal.

 

Five days have passed since a devastating tornado flattened 50,000 houses and killed 43 people in six blocks of the state's North Dinajpur district.

 

Ministers and district officials have been making their presence felt on television channels talking about their tireless efforts to cope with the disaster.

 

However, right under their noses, relief materials are being siphoned off.

 

Two sacks of puffed rice, six sacks of rice and half a tin of jaggery are allotted to be sent on rickshaws to the affected villages. In reality, only one sack of puffed rice and two sacks of rice are loaded onto each rickshaw.

 

" Half a tin is supposed to contain 8 kg of jaggery. At least one kg is missing from every tin. Some people are minting money by siphoning off the food," said Kush Burman, a panchayat worker.

 

" The panchayat chief never lets us attend meetings called by the block development officer. We are never shown the actual list of relief materials sanctioned either," Burman said.

 

When asked why she did not give field workers a copy of the list of relief materials, Kamalabari gram panchayat chief Susmita De said, " That is not necessary. I just inform them over phone when the relief materials are being sent." Civil defence minister Srikumar Mukherjee said nearly 60,000 tarpaulin sheets had already been distributed among the affected.

 

However, at Bazargaon, a large number of people set up road blocks claiming they had been sleeping under the open sky for the last three days.

 

RAISINA TATTLE

 

UPSET DIGVIJAY

AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh's move to take on Union home minister P. Chidambaram has not come as a surprise to many in the Congress.

 

Singh had been upset with Chidambaram over his failure to order a probe into the September 2009 Batla House ' encounter'. He had also suggested that all matters related to terrorism should be handled by the National Investigation Agency instead of the state police. Both proposals were reportedly vetoed by Chidambaram.

 

However, some in Congress circles believe that Singh's remarks on Maoists are a " command performance" aimed at placating civil society, which was agitated by the Union home minister's hawkish approach.

 

THAROOR SUPPORT

AWAY from home, minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor is getting support from his country cousins. In Washington, members of the Federation of Kerala Associations in North America met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he was in the US. The charter of demands made to Singh did not have a ' save Tharoor' phrase, but in private conversations, the matter was reportedly raised.

 

WHO'D BE HIS MAN?

THE APPOINTMENT of new army chief General Vijay Kumar Singh sees the departure of a senior Major- General from the position of a crucial public interface.

Though this officer had completed more than three years in his current posting and was in any case due for rotation, his departure is being viewed as connected to the retirement of General Deepak Kapoor.

 

People in the know of things say the position that the Major- General was " adorning" is actually a discretionary post held by officers proximate to each serving army chief.

 

So with General Singh at the helm now, he would like a man of his own liking for the post.

 

QUICK CHANGES

RARELY does a chief secretary, who heads the bureaucracy of his or her parent state, seek central deputation. But things are a little different in Kerala. The current LDF government has already seen seven chief secretaries seeking central deputation, though it still has a year to go, thanks to several babus successfully seeking transfers to Delhi.

 

It is certain that Kerala chief secretary Neela Gangadharan, a 1975 batch IAS officer, will join the justice department at the Centre as secretary. Gangadharan is said to have had differences with the state government.

 

The incumbent, Bhupinder Prasad, an IAS officer of 1976 batch, is tipped to take over as chairperson of the Inland Waterways Authority. While Prasad's exit from justice department has been mysterious, there is speculation in some quarters that LDF government's term will come to an end with its eighth chief secretary.

 

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MAIL TODAY

COMMENT

CONGRESS DECLARES SHASHI OUT

 

Congress core group made it clear that he could no longer be a minister.

 

Sources said that the decision to ask Tharoor to resign was unanimous in the core group. No one batted for him. Singh was reportedly informed that intelligence agencies had found evidence of impropriety against the minister. The spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said that the Tharoor's resignation letter had been sent to the President with a recommendation that it be accepted.

 

That the minister should be asked to go had the sanction of the Congress brass – the Prime Minister, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, home minister P. Chidambaram, defence minister A.K. Antony and Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Gandhi. Sources said that the Prime Minister was earlier a "bit lenient" on Tharoor whom he considered a competent minister and a cut above the regular Congress politician. But, he accepted the majority view on the issue.

 

The party leadership told Singh it would be difficult to weather the storm in Parliament were Tharoor to continue.The sources said Mukherjee made a "presentation" to the Prime Minister based on the investigation by the income-tax authorities and intelligence agencies. He reportedly said there was enough evidence against the minister for his involvement in the IPL Kochi deal. Singh was also briefed separately by the Intelligence Bureau on the Tharoor case.

 

Mukherjee is also learnt to have impressed upon the Prime Minister that the government should not let the Opposition parties corner him at a time when the government had a bunch of serious legislative business such as passing the budget, tabling the nuclear liability Bill and tackling issues like price rise.

 

The finance minister made a strong case against Tharoor's continuance as minister, saying it was not an issue on which the party or the government should stand up in defence. Antony also backed this position, reportedly saying, "All of us already advised him to step down, but he insisted that he is innocent. If he is innocent, he should step down and prove his innocence."

 

The Congress core group meeting was held against the backdrop of a shrill Opposition seeking Tharoor's dismissal over his involvement in the controversial purchase of the IPL Kochi franchise and sweat equity worth Rs 75 crore of his friend Sunanda Pushkar. The high command was unhappy that Tharoor had not kept the party in the loop on his IPL deal.

 

The controversy had been on the boil for a week – since April 11 – when Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi gave out details of the Kochi franchise owners on Twitter. As a result, Pushkar's name and Tharoor's involvement in the issue came into the public domain. On a day of fast paced developments, Tharoor first met Singh on Sunday noon for about 45 minutes during which is he is understood to have explained his position in the wake of allegations that he helped Pushkar to acquire a sweat GOING HAMMER & TONGS The IPL scandals have shown how politicians and businessmen are manipulating the bids on the teams — Murli Manohar Joshi, BJP leader ' equity in the Kochi IPL franchise. Even as he called on the Prime Minister, Pushkar surrendered her equity in the Kochi franchise and quit Rendezvous Sports World, part owners of the franchise. It was clearly a last ditch bid to save Tharoor's job.

 

It did not. In fact, the BJP and the Left parties promptly rejected the gesture saying that Pushkar's belated action did not absolve Tharoor of the charge of misuse of office. They said that by giving up her free equity, she had admitted her and Tharoor's complicity in the matter.

 

At 6.35 pm on Sunday, Sonia Gandhi drove to PM's 7, Race Course Road official residence for a one-to-one meeting. Half an hour later, the core group met and discussed the entire gamut of the IPL controversy, and its political fallout on the remaining part of budget session of Parliament. After the meeting, the Prime Minister directed Tharoor to step down and subsequently, at about 9.20 pm, the minister drove to Race Course road in his personal car jettisoning the ministry's beacon car. He was closeted with Singh for about an hour and when he emerged he did not confirm whether he had resigned.

 

Sources said the PM and Gandhi are keen to accommodate him in some other capacity when the dust settles down.

 

NATWAR DRAMA ACTION REPLAY?

THE Shashi Tharoor resignation drama bears an uncanny similarity with the sacking of former external affairs minister Natwar Singh nearly five years ago. Both handled the ministry of external affairs (MEA), which does not involve major financial transactions unlike many other ministries, yet both were charged with financial impropriety. Another similarity was their proximity to 10 Janpath and the Gandhi family.

 

Just like the row that embroiled Singh, which surfaced within one and a half years of UPA-I being in the saddle, the Tharoor controversy has erupted as the UPA-II is about to complete a year in office. The two also spoke in their defence in public on the same news channel. Over the past week, Tharoor faced what sections in the Congress referred to as the "Natwar Singh-Volcker report test". Singh's closeness to the Gandhi family is not a secret. It was the same family which encouraged Tharoor to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Thiruvananthapuram.

 

Both Tharoor and Singh had initially rejected the demands for their resignation. Their assertions of defence were also along the same lines. The two leaders said a Congress minister cannot resign if the BJP so wishes. To a pointed query on whether he ever purchased oil from former Iraq President Saddam Hus-sein, Singh had said "never". Tharoor, too, said he had never indulged in any corruption. Tharoor, as a former UN official, will need no introduction to the Volcker report. The Volcker Committee — set up by the UN to inquire into the oil-for-food programme — named Singh, his son Jagat and some other Indian companies as beneficiaries of the scam.

 

His defence, like Tharoor's, failed to convince the party's top brass. When Natwar was finally sacked by the Prime Minister, none of his friends in the party stood up for him. Tharoor also didn't get much support. It is another matter that he was always seen as an outsider. In Natwar's case, Sonia Gandhi had publicly criticised him and said in an interview that he had misused the name of the party and that she felt extremely betrayed. Natwar had said allegations in the Volcker report were an attempt to malign one of the most well known, oldest and secular parties in the world. IPL chief Lalit Modi ignited the Tharoor controversy a week ago when he revealed the ownership pattern of the Kochi IPL team.

 

 

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

 COMMENT

RULES OF THE GAME

 

The entry of the income tax department into the IPL spat was unavoidable. Available evidence certainly suggests that all's not well with the premier league's financial dealings. The matters that need to be probed are no longer limited to the last round of team auctions and the ownership of the Kochi franchisee. The whole league is now under a cloud of suspicion. Questions have been raised about ownership details of other IPL franchisees and previous auction processes. The IPL, and itsmother body, the BCCI, have been blamed for lacking in transparency and having too many things to hide. A clean-up of the cricket establishment has become necessary.

The conduct of the two men in the spotlight, Shashi Tharoor and Lalit Modi, certainly calls for explanation. The relinquishing of a Rs 70 crore stake in the Kochi IPL team by Sunanda Pushkar, Tharoor's close friend, does nothing to dispel suspicion that Tharoor unduly influenced the deal between her and Rendezvous World, and may in fact deepen them spelling out trouble for Tharoor. Modi, who's taken the credit for making IPL a success story, needs to explain his multiple roles in the cricket establishment. There are other players in the shadows who too need to come clear on their roles in running the game. Conflict of interest is not a cricketing term. But too much of it appears to be around in cricket these days.

Cricket is a business enterprise in India and its patrons can't any more justify their involvement in the management of the sport as 'purely for the love of the game'. The kind of love they are showering on the game could kill it. It's better that these patrons declare their business interests transparently. IPL has so far been a remarkable story. The format mixing sport and entertainment has caught the imagination of players, fans and big business. It has provided a platform for numerous youngsters to showcase their talent and rub shoulders with international players.

Unless nurtured carefully, IPL stands to lose the gains it has made in the last three years. The fear that sleaze money and betting rackets may capture the league is real. Cricket has been a victim of betting syndicates and match-fixing in the past. Some of it originated in India and it took a while for players and fans to recover from its impact. A transparent system of fund-raising and decision-making must be put in place to ensure that the game is protected from carpetbaggers and dirty money.

 

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

 COMMENT

THE CHAOS PRINCIPLE

 

Technology is a dream about control, but sometimes nothing can be done to forestall chaos if nature asserts itself. Huge plumes of ash clouds spewed by an Icelandic volcano beneath a glacier that began erupting on Wednesday last have forced most European airports to shut down. The billowing smoke, ash and dust have thrown a veil over the sky, severely hampering visibility, sending local flights as well as international flights routed through Europe into a tailspin. That a natural phenomenon could throw life into such disarray in an instant, without prior notice particularly when the world is so proud of its sophisticated technological achievements that have created the intricate itineraries of globalisation we have become used to only shows that no matter what we do, control still eludes us.

Technology is no different from magic, according to the visionary science fiction writer Arthur C Clarke. One might also add that magic is all but useless in the face of what myths describe as "the fury of nature". That airlines are making huge losses, that tulips awaiting shipment out of Europe are wilting in airports and that passengers are stranded midway, their carefully worked out itineraries turned topsy-turvy, make no difference to nature. The disruptions caused by the volcanic eruption in Europe and across the world are said to be larger than 9/11's aftermath, even if political repercussions are hardly likely to be of the same scale or duration as 9/11. If the upheavals and trauma the world experienced post-9/11 were man-made and avoidable, the only way to deal with natural disasters of this magnitude is to wait them out. Even in modern life, we need to accommodate uncertainty.

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

 EDITORIAL

VIOLENCE ON THE WANE

DILEEP PADGAONKAR

 

SYDNEY: The Australian government's recent moves to address upfront the causes that led to a spate of attacks on Indian students over the past one year, taken after an exchange of a number of high-level visits, will go some way to repair the damage they caused to relations between the two countries. However, much work remains to be done on both sides to clear misperceptions, do away with sterile posturing and identify areas where the two can work together for their mutual benefit.

New Delhi remains wary of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's much vaunted admiration for China and all things Chinese. His first visit abroad after taking over office was to Beijing. Since then, many of his foreign policy pronouncements have echoed those of China. His views on developments in South Asia would bear this out. Rudd believes, for example, that the solution to the Afghan crisis lies in the stabilisation of the entire region. And the way to stabilise it is to make Kashmir an independent state. Once the Kashmir dispute is settled along these lines, Australia would support India's bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and agree to sell uranium to India. All this, experts here argue, is music not only to Chinese ears but to Pakistani ones as well. Indeed, over the past three years, Australia-Pakistan relations have been on the upswing. Australia has emerged as the most important training ground for the Pakistani army.

Needless to say, the views attributed to Rudd to 'stabilise' South Asia have been met with a derisive sneer in New Delhi. This is as it should be. That, however, is no reason for India not to engage Australia in a sustained dialogue on a host of commercial and strategic matters of mutual interest and concern. There are compelling reasons to do so.

One relates to a growing wave of anti-China sentiments in the country. Influential sections of the media were outraged when a Chinese court awarded a stiff jail sentence to Stern Hu, a well-known Chinese-Australian businessman. They denounced the lack of transparency in the Chinese judicial system and generally railed against China's scant respect for the rule of law as the term is understood in democratic countries.

There have also been a series of articles in leading newspapers on China's aggressive pursuit of its economic interests. In The Australian (April 5, 2010), David Burchell likened China to European monarchies of the 18th century. "Albeit fortified by the weasel of words of a half-remembered Marxist-Leninist gospel", he wrote, "the Chinese government views international trade as a kind of military campaign, at the conclusion of which there will be victors and vanquished, and in the course of which hapless civilians may regretfully suffer." He went on to add that Beijing has mollycoddled dictators like Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and secured that country's natural resources at rock-bottom prices. This, he wrote, was a "strange new species of colonialism, devoid of the specious moralising of the old colonialism, but even more efficient in its methods".

What galls the experts is that the Australian authorities are clueless about how to respond to the "cycle of aggression and anxiety, bravado and injured pride that dominates China's conception of its world role". Turn by turn, as Burchell wrote, "they appear to be churlish or obsequious or unconvincing in their protestations". The experts believe that the economies of China and Australia are far too enmeshed for their relationship to strain to breaking point. They are quick to add, however, that Rudd, who faces an election later this year, cannot afford to dismiss the growing criticism of China out of hand.

It is in this context that influential voices here have begun to call for closer ties between India and Australia. In an article published in The Sydney Morning Herald (April 2-4, 2010), Richard Woolcott, a former secretary of the department of foreign affairs and trade, urged the two countries to "move well beyond the three Cs: curry, cricket and the Commonwealth". After lauding India's growth rate and its vibrant democracy, he emphasised the complementary character of the economies of India and Australia on several issues: in resources, agriculture, services and renewable and clean energy technology.

Closer cooperation has become all the more urgent in view of a new development that is certain to boost Australia's economic performance over the next few decades: the discovery of three huge oil and gas fields off the coasts of south Australia, western Australia and Queensland. To sustain a rapidly expanding economy, Australia will need to significantly enlarge its skilled manpower pool, attract investments in a number of areas and, in turn, engage in developmental activities abroad.

Here lies India's opportunity. Australia can go a long way to meet its energy security needs. Indian managerial and technological talent will also be in great demand. This in turn will increase the clout of the Indian diaspora here. And on the strategic front, no two countries are better placed to make common cause to combat terrorism and piracy on the high seas. It is vital for New Delhi and Canberra not to lose a moment to place their relations on the fast track.

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TIMES OF INDIA

 

'I'M NOT LEAVING TAMIL CINEMA FOR HINDI'

 

Since making his acting debut two decades ago, Tamil superstar Vikram has done more path-breaking work than any of his colleagues. After doing blockbusters including Sethu, Dhill, Gemini and Dhool and winning a national award for the role in Pithamagan, Vikram is all set to make his Hindi film debut with Mani Ratnam's Raavan. He spoke to Subhash K Jha:

Are you looking forward to your entry into Hindi cinema?

The work in Mumbai is so exciting. When i saw Rang De Basanti, Lagaan, 3 Idiots and My Name Is Khan, i wanted to be part of them. I wish we could make films like that in Tamil. Most Tamil films are rustic, rural, rugged and violent. Many of them are set in Madurai, which is known to be an aggressive city.

How does it feel to be at the top in Tamil cinema for so long?

I always behave as though every film of mine is the first. And i try doing something different each time. It's like chess for me. I've done very few films. By the time i release one film, my contemporaries complete and release four films. In the year that i had Aparachit, Vijay had six films and Ajith had four.

 

Tell us about your family life?

My wife Shailaja is a teacher in psychology. She's recently started teaching in a very well known school in Chennai. I discuss my career with her, bounce off ideas. I've also become half a psychologist. My daughter is 12 and my son is eight. My son is totally hooked to cinema. He wants to be an actor. But i'd rather he concentrated on his studies. I'm sure he'll do great in movies some day. I'm also moving towards direction with every movie. It's subliminal. But i am learning on the sets all the time.

Many of your Tamil films have been remade into Hindi, for example Sethu which was Tere Naam in Hindi?
Salman Khan is a good friend and he did a good job. It was based on the Tamil director Bala's own experiences. So i guess the creator's influence was stronger in Tamil. I lost about 16 kg for my character in the second-half when he goes into the mental asylum. I had one chapatti, one egg white and a glass of beetroot juice as my meal for the day every day. I used to walk to the location, which was 16 km away.

Which version of Raavan will you and your family watch first?

That's a domestic dispute right now. Tamil or Hindi is a toss-up. I'm not leaving Tamil cinema for Hindi. I've four films to shoot in Tamil. I've already started my next Tamil film, a psycho-thriller directed by Selvaraghavan where i've three roles. I've a film about a stage actor from the 1930s. I can't do routine films. The acting bug bit me when i was in class 3. My audience has been growing since then. When we were shooting in Orchha no one recognised me and then suddenly my driver asked me if i was the actor from Aparachit. It gives me a kick to be recognised.

How's your Hindi?

Not too good. My co-star Abhishek Bachchan has been helping me with my Hindi lines in Raavan. Abhishek is one of my best friends. I am known to be the prankster. But with Abhishek around i had to withdraw from the brat race.

 

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

 EDITORIAL

POINTS TO PONDER

J S RAGHAVAN

 

'Who will be the faultless nuptial partner to a lady tennis champ? A tennis pro? Or a cricketer?' was the topic for the friendly debate of our Sundowner Club. Badri, the kick-ass grass-court aficionado was to lock horns with Atma, a Mongoose bat fireworks fan, with none officiating as chair, line, straight, leg or third umpire.

Nursing his margarita, Badri served a sizzling ace. ''A tennis beauty performing solo at the centre court under the intense gaze of several spectators should have more guts in her persona than in her well-strung racket. With not a nano moment to relax, she should be as agile as a fighting cheetah. Imagine linking her lot with a laid-back test cricketer who may move in spasmodic jerks like a container truck in peak-hour traffic. It will be worse than harnessing a thoroughbred, lively, two-year-old filly to a lumbering tonga. No way. A tennis lass should marry only a tennis lad who will undoubtedly be open-hearted, exposed to French, US, Australian and any other Open. So, it is advantage to Mr Tennis.''

Atma closed his eye shutters to marshal his thoughts. He took a moody sip of his brandy and soda and bowled a tantalising googly. ''You're all wrong. Badri old chap, don't you know, 'like poles repel and unlike poles attract'? Agreed, a supple, sun-tanned, long-legged tennis beauty will be frenetic. She has to be. But if her marriage were to click, her mate has to be a perfect foil. No one is better suited for such a role than a cricketer. An all-rounder who bats, bowls or serves drinks, hands over towels and gently massages where and when necessary would be an ideal companion. A 50-50 or a 20-20 day-night player, he will be a virtual Ardhanareeswara, granting his mate matching status, without calling himself the malik. And so, Badri, the cricketer-suitor wins the toss.''

Munching a parabolic potato chip Badri picked up the thread. ''This one sure tastes bland like your argument. Should take both with a pinch of salt. Atma, you're a married man. Don't you know what a wife resents is being shouted at by her husband at the top of his voice? D'you think a macho cricketer hubby will not howl, angrily, "howzaat!!'' frequently to intimidate, browbeat and unsettle her? Besides, a cricketer worth his bat or ball has to spit like a spray gun at the grounds be it Kotla or Lord's. Disgusting. And deplorable. These habits might eventually surface at home. But tennis is a class apart. Le magnifique. Atma, modern cricket is no longer a gentleman's game. Look at the batsman, armoured like King Arthur out to fight the Saxon invaders. Pity there are more bouncers inside a cricket stadium than a seafront strip joint. But tennis is not a menace. Dennis is. We may have an occasional McEnroe picking up a row. Or a statuesque Serena grand-slamming a diminutive line umpire. But those intemperate outbursts are rare double faults. Tennis is top drawer. And so it should be a straight set for a tennis hubby.''

 

Atma didn't seem to be stumped by the tie-breaker. He took time like a batsman openly adjusting his strategic guards prior to his blitzkrieg. ''Don't you know a tennis player is a lone ranger at the court with no support? Not so in cricket. The whole team will be on its toes, out to give a groundswell of support to the player when he bowls. Such a cricketer will be like a scion of a populous joint family, with solid advice always handy. Badri, lemme tell you, he will be a big hit in tackling matrimony. I bet if the guy breathing cricket marries the lass giving tennis its deuce, his devi's cup will overflow with unbounded joy. Over.''

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

ALL OUT IN THE OPEN

 

Historian Ramachandra Guha once raised a very important question: historians dig up archival letters to know about a person and his relationship with others. A Jawaharlal Nehru biography, for instance, cannot do without a careful study of the letters he wrote. But what happens to future biographers in a world where everyone writes emails and hardly letters? Well, catching emails of greats in the future may still be a daunting task but the American federal government announced last week that the Library of Congress will keep an archive of every public tweet made on Twitter.

 

The move makes total sense, considering the fact that unlike private letters, tweets, by definition, are for public consumption. On last count, some 55 million tweets are sent to Twitter every day. That number is going to rise. Keeping public and historical utility in mind, Twitter, the company, has allowed access to the entire archive of public tweets (some, for strange reasons, are 'privacy protected') to the Library of Congress. We guess it's up to the Library of Congress archivists to decide how to catalogue the whole cosmos of tweets. But with no one getting to know how a young tweeter may turn out to be one day, it's probably best to archive all the tweets posted ever.

 

One query: does a tweet from, say, a celebrity that says nothing apart from, "Hd an awsm tme @ Lalit Modi's aftr match party!" make it to the hallowed pages of history for a future research? Or will the tweechivists only take note of Shashi Tharoor posting, "U folks are the new India. We will 'be the change' we wish to see in our country. But not w'out pain!" We prefer the former. But hey, we're not the Library of Congress.

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

IS THE WORLD SAFER NOW?

 

Charges of fraud against Wall Street's most powerful investment bank Goldman Sachs for designing a derivative based on sub-prime mortgages in 2007 that was deliberately meant to lose value because of short selling have caused ripples in international capital markets. The Sensex was caught in the tailspin, snapping out of a nine-week winning streak. With memories of Lehman Brothers' collapse fresh in the minds of investors the world over, there is reason to be alarmed over new evidence of excesses committed by Wall Street bankers that led to the biggest crash since the Great Depression. The Goldman scrip plunged 13 per cent on Friday and shares of the other leading underwriters of collateralised debt obligations — Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, which owns Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup — declined by between 9 and 5 per cent, although most of their deals included actual mortgage-backed securities and not synthetic derivatives of the Goldman variety.

The unusually strong indictment of Goldman Sachs by an embattled Securities and Exchange Commission feeds into the political mood in Washington to bring derivatives into the regulatory ambit. Draft legislation, supported by President Barack Obama, intends to slap new restrictions on major banks, curtailing their opportunities for profit and revenue growth. The timing of the SEC lawsuit could help drum up support on Capitol Hill for the Democrat Bill, but White House may be able to tone it down to fit with other proposals that form Congress' efforts to reform the financial regulatory system. Either way, the $450 trillion over-the-counter swaps market in the US will face greater oversight.

Increased public scrutiny of investment banks with big infusion of taxpayer money in the aftermath of the sub-prime crisis should be able to contain the fallout of more such instances of creative deal-making coming to light. International financial markets are still fragile and the nascent recovery could be easily upended. Yet the world is better placed today to deal with a crisis than two years ago. For one, the regulators are extra cautious as new rules are being written to avoid a recurrence of the American flu. Financial institutions are also better capitalised now to be able to withstand any falling dominos. And governments across the globe are primed to push money into the system to avoid a financial meltdown. There may be legitimate fears of a double-dip global recession, but the Goldman Sachs episode is far from being a trigger.

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

ASHOK MALIK

 

Government doctors are severely restricted in seeing patients outside their places of work.

 

Even so, the quest for extra money sometimes gets the better of them. This has led to 'private practice' becoming a charming euphemism for anybody exploiting his regular responsibilities for a fast buck.

 

At the root of the Indian Premier League (IPL) mess are three individuals, two with a high profile and the third unknown till recently. Even so, common to them is the perception of 'private practice'. Whatever their bravado before carefully-selected television cameras, both Shashi Tharoor and Lalit Modi have a lot of explaining to do. On his part, Shailendra Gaikwad, the sacked CEO of the Rendezvous consortium that won the IPL's Kochi franchise, has to dispel the notion that the corporate structure he put together was not institutionalised embezzlement.

 

Begin with Tharoor. Through the many controversies, usually trivial, he has been involved in since he became a minister, Tharoor's defence has been that India and the Indian media have misunderstood him, his sensibility and his vocabulary. Others have pointed out there is a disconnect between a man who has lived abroad for 35 years and the country he has come back to.

 

None of this is relevant to the IPL debate. A minister goes around introducing a lady to social friends and political colleagues as his future wife. Then, he 'mentors' a collective of business interests and urges it to bid (and win) a prized sports franchise. The lady, with a professional reputation that can only politely be described as hitherto under-reported, ends up with 5 per cent equity free of cost.

 

Such an episode would have been considered a conflict of interest anywhere. In the United States and Britain as well, it would have led to a media storm. Consider an analogy. Tony Blair, as prime minister, makes a public statement saying he supports and 'mentors' a British consortium's bid to win the right to build a new European Union office complex in Brussels. After it wins, the company gives away 5 per cent of its equity free to Cherie Blair and claims this is advance payment for legal services the lady will render. Would even Tharoor have found it believable?

 

For the most part, the composition of the Kochi consortium is above board. There is the family behind Anchor Electricals, whose products are in about every home in middle India; there is a diamond magnate with facilities stretching from Mumbai to Antwerp. These people put in the money for the $333.33 million IPL bid. Yet at some point Shailendra Gaikwad, the promoter/'CEO' of Rendezvous Sports World, the entity at the core of the consortium, hijacked the enterprise.

 

Consider what Gaikwad did that was just not on. He unilaterally appointed his cousin, Satyajit Gaikwad, as Kochi franchise 'spokesperson'. In a clumsy attempt to protect Tharoor, Satyajit accused Narendra Modi and Vasundhara Raje of conspiring against Kochi. Satyajit is a former Congress MP; he was removed as All India Congress Committee secretary after a financial scandal in Andhra Pradesh. In seeking to convert the Tharoor squabble into a Congress-BJP battle, he was not acting on party orders. He was only covering up for cousins and cronies. It was pure, undiluted private practice.

 

The Gaikwads insisted no favours had been done to Tharoor's 'girlfriend' (to borrow an expression Satyajit used on television). She was given sweat equity in anticipation of services over the coming years. However, she was not an employee of the company — as sweat equity recipients legally should be — but an external consultant. Interestingly, among those given 'free' or 'sweat' equity in exactly the same fashion are Pushpa and Kisan Gaikwad, Shailendra's parents. Kisan is a retired irrigation official and Pushpa a home-maker. What services will they be rendering to the Kochi IPL team and for how long?

 

Finally, there's Lalit Modi, the commissioner of the IPL who can be matched in self-promotion only by Tharoor. It is now fairly obvious that Modi was handing out 'informal guidance' to potential bidders. Was he talking up the market, incorrect as even that would have been, or was he creating conditions for specific bids to be successful? In this context, Tharoor's terming of Modi as someone who presented himself as a "trusted friend" and "guided us through the process" is telling.

 

Was similar 'guidance' offered to bidders when the eight original franchises were sold in 2008? Is Kochi the only franchise with multiple proxy ownership suspicions — another person is supposed to be standing in for a Mumbai-based former cricketer — or does this cosy matrix extend to other teams? In handing out jobs and contracts at the IPL, did Modi invite tenders, issue job ads or did he just do as he pleased? In 'guiding' bidders and, initially, attempting to fix parameters so that only two bids were valid for — coincidentally — two franchises, was he acting on behalf of two powerful ministers who were themselves 'mentoring' teams? Is corporate governance alien to the IPL?

 

Like Tharoor and the Gaikwads, Modi can't pretend the questions aren't genuine. Maybe the IPL would be better off without them. Right now it resembles a gravy train.

 

Ashok Malik is a political commentator

 

The views expressed by the author are personal

 

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HINDUSTAN TIMES

DON'T CRITICISE COLLEAGUES IN PUBLIC

PANKAJ VOHRA

The signed article by senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh in a national daily attacking Home Minister P. Chidambaram is another indication of a fierce power struggle within the party. Singh was not alone in criticising the home minister — his party colleague Mani Shankar Aiyar also agreed with him "one lakh per cent". Singh claimed that he has been a victim of Chidambaram's "intellectual arrogance".

Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi also seemingly does not agree with the home minister's approach in tackling the Maoists. For the three of them and with many others in the Congress, the Naxal problem is not merely a law-and-order issue but also has socio-economic and political dimensions to it.

Chidambaram, however, remains focused to take on the Maoists head on. He told the Lok Sabha that the murder of 76 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in the jungles of Dantewada in Chhattisgarh recently should be treated as a wake-up call. He added that the tragedy must lead to greater resolve, determination and fearlessness in dealing with Naxalism as a law-and-order problem.

Within the Congress, many agree with Singh. But the question that arises is that why someone as senior and politically astute as the former MP chief minister should take a public position against his party colleague? Many find it hard to believe that he acted on his own and feel that he must have been prompted by someone to air his views.

His views on the government's Naxal policy came shortly after the Cabinet Secretary, K.M. Chandrashekhar — who was acting at the instance of the prime minister — circulated a note among all UPA ministers which said that Chidambaram alone was authorised to speak on the Maoist problem. Singh in his article wrote that the home minister should not have taken a sectarian view on the issue. Instead, Chidambaram should have put up the issue before the Cabinet for formulating a holistic approach to deal with the problem, Singh added. After all, it is the collective responsibility of the Cabinet to deal with such situations.

Though Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi tried to play down the controversy by declaring that the senior leaders should discuss their views on sensitive matters within the party forum and not go public, Singh's attack on the home minister was supported by some Congressmen. Some also saw the criticism as an attempt by the senior leader to convey to the high command that Chidambaram's approach on issues lack political depth and the party might have to bear grave political consequences in the future.

While Chidambaram has got huge endorsement from the Opposition parties including the BJP in the fight against Naxalism, there are sections within the Congress who feel that he needs to be more approachable, flexible and understanding on many issues instead of being "rigid and arrogant", as suggested by Singh. This section also feels that a home minister should always be a man with political insight and experience.

It was not without any reason that most home ministers who served under Indira Gandhi were always former chief ministers. The tradition of appointing former CMs as home minister had its own political logic but the trend was broken by Rajiv Gandhi when he appointed Buta Singh as the home minister. Narasimha Rao reverted to the Indira Gandhi-style and appointed S.B. Chavan as his home minister. But the UPA's two home ministers since it came to power in 2004 — Shivraj Patil and Chidambaram — have never been chief ministers.

The times are changing and it requires new solutions. There have to be strong reasons for the prime minister and the Congress president to opt for Patil and Chidambaram for this sensitive ministry. If other Congress leaders have reservations about the policies and approach of the home ministry, they should, as Dwivedi suggested, raise it first at the party level.

Whatever be the compulsions, Congress leaders must desist from criticising their colleagues in public. People are watching and the party will feel the heat when the appropriate time comes. Between us.

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THE INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

OUTSIDER-INSIDER

 

Out of the many lessons to be taken away from Shashi Tharoor's spectacular self-destructiveness, the saddest would be that lateral entry into politics is not all it's cracked up to be. Those who came into government after proving their professional mettle elsewhere, it was expected, were going to be a rejuvenating force. They would amp up the government's metabolism, supply new and interesting ideas, and provide a bracing counter to those who had got too cynical about politics.

 

Tharoor won Thiruvanathapuram with a dramatic mandate, but how has he repaid that trust? After he was made a junior minister for external affairs, his cockiness resurfaced. He talked of changing the system — but after he got inside the political tent, he figured it was bad only for those outside, and proceeded to embrace the worst of Delhi's political culture. Instead of trying to dismantle the IPL oligarchy, he jumped right in, cutting deals and favour-mongering. Meanwhile, he continued with the too-cool-for-school moves — forced out of his fancy hotel, he mouthed Congress pieties on austerity, but playfully undercut them on Twitter. He was obliged to toe his ministry's line on visas or his party's beliefs about its own leaders, but his convictions were larger. He was in Indian politics, but not of it. He has made his party look like a fusty encumbrance, while he had a direct line to the 'new India.' New India deserves better.

 

Why is Tharoor's infraction so unforgivable? Because he stands for those who explicitly promised otherwise. This episode has not only depleted his own credibility, but also undermined the idea of the accomplished outsider who can tilt the political field. It has undermined a case for professional expertise in government, in part for the guarantee of personal probity. Certainly, those who parachute into politics could be just as likely to play the insider's game, once they are inside. But government and politics in India are particularly closed to giving leadership roles to those without long apprenticeships. Tharoor, as Pied Piper, has now put the system on guard. Fortunately there are redeeming examples like Nandan Nilekani, pouring his experience and intellect into the UID project with quiet efficiency. It would be a terrible pity if the Tharoor example was snatched up those who wanted to keep politics and governance a closed ladder. But it should certainly dent the empty, untested, unqualified enthusiasm about PLU politicians.

 

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INDIAN EXPRESS

 

LINE DANCING

 

Committees regularly submit a revised estimate of the number of people below the poverty line, with perhaps a slightly different set of measurements, and then various ideological positions are loudly reiterated — the number's too low, it's too high, it's the consequence of callous neoliberalism, it's the product of the ever-expanding demands of the poverty ayatollahs. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the decision by a panel from the Planning Commission to go with one particular estimate for the Food Security Act — based on a formula devised by a committee led by former economic advisor Suresh Tendulkar — traverses the path of least political resistance, rather than one born of some internal logic, economic or humane.

 

On the one hand, there was the obvious desire of many in government to limit the state's responsibility, and therefore its expenses and the strain on its budget deficit. They'd prefer an earlier Plan panel estimate — around 27.5 per cent. That became politically difficult when it was denounced as effectively hollowing out the idea of food security, already chosen by the Congress as its big plank for the UPA's second go at government. From the other direction, pressure began to mount on the food security bill's drafters from some outside government to forget the whole question of who would qualify, and make the right to state-supplied food a universal entitlement — surely a right should be accessible to everyone?

 

Into this squabble the Plan panel has dropped its ungainly compromise. For other government schemes, the old number's true; but for food security, the Tendulkar commission's formula is. That will raise the number of those eligible for free food significantly — but nobody's sure how much. One widely-quoted number is to close to 10 crore families; some states put it over 11; the Planning commission deputy chairman, doggedly optimistic, puts it somewhere between 7.5 and 8 crore. The worry is that this demonstrates, again, a dangerously half-hearted commitment to food security: dangerous because it will neither be abandoned nor effectively implemented, and we could wind up with a system that feeds too few but costs too much.

 

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THE INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

BALLOT BULLY

 

In December 2009, the Gujarat assembly passed a legislation making voting compulsory in local self governance bodies, and empowering the legislature to pass rules to penalise non-voters. Now comes news that the Gujarat governor has returned the bill, on the ground that its provisions violate the Constitution.

 

The idea of compulsory voting has been studied extensively as part of efforts to make elections reflect literally the will of the majority. But these proposals have always come up against a most basic question: how democratic is compulsory voting? The simplest argument in favour of compulsory voting is that it causes little inconvenience. Besides, compulsory voting may be viewed, not as a burden, but as an entitlement. Bosses, for instance, would have to give employees time off to exercise their franchise. Making voting mandatory would also remove any structural impediments that may dissuade certain sections from exercising their franchise. But it is the third argument that is the most compelling: at a time of low voter turnouts and disenchantment with the electoral process, the law will bolster legitimacy in our frail democracy.

 

Yet, coercion and democracy cannot go hand in hand. The right to dissent by not voting is in itself democratic. Forcing people to turn out to vote are rituals more common to authoritarian states; they go against the grain of our well entrenched electoral mores. And on question of legitimacy, turnouts in Indian elections today are not low, by global standards. In fact in recent elections they have been rising. However, the bottomline is this — it is the job of candidates and political parties to campaign amongst the electorate to plead their agenda and even to convince voters to turn out in their support. If a voter chooses not to show up on election day, that is her right.

 

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THE INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

IN AN ALPHABET SOUP

MK VENU

 

The most curious aspect of the unseemly public spat between the stock market regulator, SEBI, and insurance regulator, IRDA, was its timing. Tens of millions of small investors have been sold what is called a unit linked insurance policy (ULIP), which is essentially a mutual fund investment with an insurance component added to it. SEBI regulates the mutual fund industry and IRDA the insurance sector. A dispute arose as to who would regulate a hybrid product like ULIP, which has both a mutual fund and an insurance scheme embedded in it. Mind you, this dispute has been festering for some years now. SEBI has been concerned that insurance agents are selling what is really a mutual fund with a massive upfront commission of up to 30 per cent, the burden of which falls on the hapless investor. SEBI, on its part, strictly regulates the commission charged by mutual fund sellers so that the small investor gets the maximum benefit.

 

In a way, SEBI was totally justified in issuing a diktat that all investment products sold by insurance agents needed to be approved by it. The insurance regulator made matters worse by issuing an order that insurance companies could continue selling ULIPs as they did earlier. The market has been totally confused as to which regulator's orders to follow. The finance minister has now said the matter is best resolved by a court of law.

 

The whole episode has indeed caused a significant setback to the smooth development of regulatory institutions in the financial services sector. The timing of the unseemly episode suggests a section of the finance ministry may have even wanted this old dispute to come to a boil so as to project the importance of the Financial Stability Development Council (FSDC), which was announced in the Union budget. Indeed, the FSDC's minimalist mandate is to act purely as a body which will resolve jurisdictional disputes among financial regulators.

 

However, since the FSDC will be run by bureaucrats in North Block, you can expect it to act like an ever expanding biological organism which will try to develop a maximalist mandate in quick time. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is acutely aware of this tendency, and will therefore tread with caution on this one. For starters, he had discouraged the initial idea that the FSDC must have a statutory status derived from an act of Parliament. That would have created an ongoing conflict between the FSDC and other financial regulatory bodies like the RBI, SEBI, IRDA and so on. In fact, the finance minister made it a point to reassure the RBI board last fortnight that the FSDC will only have a sort of advisory role, and that it will not in anyway impinge on the autonomy of existing regulators.

 

Indeed, the ongoing dispute between SEBI and IRDA masks a bigger intellectual debate over the nature of financial sector reforms and regulation India needs over the next few decades to support its rapid rise as a global economic power. This debate must be conducted in an open and transparent manner, involving all the regulators. This will help strengthen the overall integrity of regulatory institutions in the financial services sector. It will also help in avoiding the spectacle of regulators slugging it out in public, and the finance ministry watching from the sidelines. This debate must also define the mandate of the FSDC in clear terms, without any scope for confusion.

 

A senior bureaucrat from North Block recently made a presentation on FSDC's potential role in a closed door seminar. At the outset, he indicated it will not be a super regulator. So far so good. However, he listed four broad categories of activity that the newly formed body could do which he claimed were "currently not being done". Financial stability and financial market development were listed as two areas not being addressed.

 

As for financial stability, India's record in maintaining financial stability in the wake of the global financial crises has come in for praise from all quarters, domestic and foreign. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh explicitly praised the efforts of the RBI in Mumbai last week in maintaining financial stability in the wake of the global crises. He not only praised the present governor, D. Subbarao, but also described the central bank as having been prescient in acting against a potential property bubble in India. So it may have been somewhat presumptuous of the North Block mandarin to claim that FSDC is the body which could better address the issue of financial stability.

 

To be fair, there is ample scope to further develop the financial markets in which a lot of inter-regulatory coordination is required. The prime minister too was emphatic that India needs to develop further a sophisticated financial services market to serve the growing needs of the domestic economy. All regulators must be brought on the same page to make this happen.

 

However, it must also be recognised that the intellectual thought process which resulted in the decision to create FSDC began some time early 2007, at the peak of the global economic boom. Indeed, there was a growing consensus then that India must move towards much greater convertibility on the capital account, probably at a faster pace. The prime minister himself had initiated the debate on the subject. The further reform and regulation of the financial markets was discussed against this specific backdrop during the boom period.

 

The global financial crisis, as we all know, has somewhat changed the terms of debate. Even the ayatollahs of capital convertibility at the International Monetary Fund are reinterpreting their cast-in-stone wisdom, advocating caution on capital account reform for emerging economies. Speaking at the 75th anniversary of the RBI, Dr Singh also suggested caution on reform of the capital account.

 

This appears to be the larger intellectual backdrop against which India's financial regulatory regime will be

developed and altered. The minor and major issues of coordination between existing financial services regulators are indeed important. However, what is most critical is whether the finance ministry and the RBI are on the same page in regard to the pace of reform on the capital account. This subsumes everything else.

 

The writer is Managing Editor, 'The Financial Express'

mk.venu@expressindia.com

 

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THE INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

HEARTLAND ATTACK

SUDHA PAI

 

The Congress rath yatras flagged off by Rahul Gandhi on April 14 to mark its 125th anniversary in Uttar Pradesh are part of the ongoing attempt to revive the party in the state. While this endeavour began in the mid-2000s and more seriously in 2007 after the BSP captured power, it assumed greater steam after the Congress (in deep decline), obtained 21 seats in the 2009 national elections. This win accorded it, for the first time since the 1980s, greater centrality in UP politics and, following the decline of the BJP and the poor performance of the SP, brought it into direct confrontation with the BSP. Uttar Pradesh being a politically important state, this exercise has significant implications for national politics.

 

Rahul Gandhi's efforts point to a meticulously planned, three-pronged agenda based upon the "politics of youth, employment and development". First, bringing in fresh blood, a younger generation of workers, cadres and leaders who would help reconstruct the party organisation in a state once famous for its "machine"-like structure extending from the village to the state capital. This has been attempted through youth camps and recruitment drives in colleges/universities in a number of cities aimed at attracting the younger generation. Equally important are the attempts to hold organisational elections to revamp the party structure at all levels and introduce fresh leadership.

 

Second, Gandhi has adopted an agenda for rapid economic development of UP, based on the premise that the identity politics that engulfed the state for two decades has lost ground, and political parties need to cater to the strong expectations of the electorate, of development. The Mayawati-led BSP government, on assuming power in 2007 also redefined its priorities as development of all social segments and backward regions. Accordingly, Gandhi in his campaigns has sought to highlight the BSP government's neglect of the backwardness of regions such as Bundelkhand. The region with 21 assembly and four Lok Sabha seats is a stronghold of the BSP, where the Congress hopes to gain a foothold using the politics of development. This explains the start of Gandhi's campaign against the BSP from this region; the appointment of former Jhansi MLA Pradeep Jain as the minister of state for rural development at the Centre; and demands for the establishment of a Bundelkhand Autonomous Authority, a financial package for large-scale irrigation in the region, trifurcation of the state, and finally the establishment of a separate state of Bundelkhand to upstage this demand by the BSP. Strongly criticising these demands as Central interference, Mayawati has in response announced a number of welfare programmes for the region including revival of the defunct Bundelkhand Vikas Nigam.

 

Third, Gandhi hopes to rebuild the Congress party's traditional support base among the Dalits. He has attempted to woo them by visiting Dalit homes across UP and stressing on their problems of livelihood and dignity. The party also hopes its revival will help regain upper caste support. These efforts have created direct confrontation with the BSP which, since the late 1980s, has replaced the Congress as the party of the Dalits and more recently obtained the support of the upper castes to capture power. Mayawati, despite the majority she enjoys, has had to retreat from her new sarvajan to her traditional Dalit-bahujan constituency, which is feeling marginalised. This is evident from the politics of symbolism like "currency garland" rallies, building of memorials and renewed calls for a Dalit PM. Massive rallies by both the Congress and the BSP on April 14 turned Ambedkar's birth anniversary into a trial of strength between both parties.

 

Will the massive mobilisation by the Congress party under Gandhi make his "Mission 2012" of capturing power in the next state assembly election successful? While it is early days yet, the Congress faces a Herculean task with enormous challenges from within and outside. UP is a big state and obtaining a majority requires performing well beyond family strongholds. Organisational hurdles such as building strong local leadership and machinery across the state, internal elections, removing factionalism, finding winnable candidates with clean records, have yet to be resolved. Despite the discourse on development, Dalit/OBC issues retain importance and the BSP's success in the by-elections last year indicate that Mayawati's grip over her Dalit-Bahujan constituency remains strong, while the SP remains a contender with its vote-percentage remaining intact in 2007. What is clear is the emergence of a highly competitive, no-holds-barred political rivalry in the run-up to the next election, between the Congress attempting to regain lost ground as a broad-based party and the BSP attempting to consolidate its position as a party of disadvantaged sections with a Dalit core.

 

The writer is professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University

 

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THE INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

RADIOACTIVITY AT NANDA DEVI

INDER MALHOTRA

 

Having written last fortnight about the U-2 episode of 1960 that almost literally exploded into the faces of both the United States and Pakistan, it seems only fair to record that just over two years later, this awe-inspiring aircraft came within our ken, too. It flew from the military airport of Jhabua to keep tabs on China. These operations that went on for quite a while were top secret, of course, so few heard of them until many years later. But even if the U-2 missions had become public immediately, no one would have minded. For, the U-2 was welcomed in India soon after the trauma of the 1962 war with China. National anger against it was intense.

 

The Russians surely knew what was going on, but they didn't mind and so kept quiet. After all, for the U-2s taking off from Jhabua, the target were the Chinese, not them. By then the Sino-Soviet split was also out in the open. The Americans were on cloud nine. A country that had shunned them for so long was at last collaborating with them and offering them facilities they needed badly. Their hunger for spying on China was insatiable. Therefore around the same time they, in partnership with their Pakistani allies, were clandestinely fixing under the wings of PIA aircraft flying to China, equipment to measure radioactivity along the route. When the Chinese eventually got wind of this "perfidious" activity, the chairman of Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was made the scapegoat.

 

It is perhaps needless to add that the presence of U-2s at Jhabua, and a lot more, were part of the ongoing negotiations for military-to-military cooperation between this country and the US under which New Delhi had great expectations of American air support. Orissa's maverick politician and several times chief minister, Biju Patnaik, had been co-opted into Jawaharlal Nehru's inner circle entrusted with defence planning and delicate negotiations with the Americans. As an adventurous pilot, he considered himself an authority on air power. In Ambassador's Journal John Kenneth Galbraith gives a delightful account of the first time Patnaik came calling on him: "The first thing he asked was whether the embassy was bugged. When I assured him it wasn't, he relaxed and raised matters so secret that we did not even discuss them". Anyhow, as reported on this page earlier (IE, January 8), high hopes about American military aid came to naught.

 

Cooperative relations between our Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the CIA had begun well before the Nehru government had felt the pressing need for American military aid, especially in the arena of air warfare, and these persisted even after the 1965 US embargo on military aid to both India and Pakistan. The IB was then a monolith comprehensively controlling all branches of intelligence; the legendary B. N. Mullik was the intelligence czar. From British days, the IB had inherited the philosophy, reinforced by the Cold War that Communism, too, was monolithic and therefore all Communist countries were equally dangerous. It is remarkable therefore that in his three-volume My Years With Nehru Mullik has recorded that Nehru told him not to worry about the Soviet Union, but to concentrate on China. Incidentally, the prime minister gave this directive, disguised as advice, during the notorious Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai era.

 

Interaction between the IB and the CIA started gathering momentum after the Dalai Lama's flight from Lhasa and escalated as tensions with China mounted. After the brief but brutal border war no holds were barred. In any case, the IB had neither the resources, nor the technology nor the expertise that the CIA could muster in a jiffy. To work jointly with it, in relation to China, was therefore in the best interest of the Indian intelligence establishment.

 

It was against this backdrop that the CIA came up with the brilliant idea of placing a super-sophisticated electronic listening machine on an Indian mountain peak to record what the Chinese authorities, especially military and atomic, were saying to one another. The only way to power this wonder device was to have a nuclear isotope that would generate electricity forever. Only the CIA would monitor the intelligence gathered but would share it with the IB.  Mullik couldn't have agreed to this plan without a nod from Nehru in the last year of whose life the nuclear pack was installed at Nanda Devi. Some dubbed it "an eye on the top of the world". The cover for the operation was simple. An Indo-US mountaineering team was going on a routine expedition. Even so, the porters that carried the unusual cargo must have felt the heat that the nuclear isotope inevitably generates. Yet not a word about this extraordinary intelligence feat leaked out for 13 years.

 

And then the storm burst late in 1977 when the Janata government, headed by Morarji Desai, was in power. The sensational leak took place in the US presumably because in the meantime, signals had stopped reaching the CIA monitors. All concerned assumed that avalanches and snowdrifts had perhaps swept the machine away from its original site. Intensive searches failed to locate it, and this gave birth to the theory that the Chinese might have removed it!

 

The moment the story broke in America, all hell broke loose in this country. Desai's own statement in Parliament was critical of the Nehru government. Atma Ram, then chairman of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and a confidant of Desai, inveighed against fellow scientists for having agreed to such a dangerous venture. Paradoxically, while the entrenched anti-American sentiment erupted with full force, votaries of closer friendship with the US heaped praises on it for its help against the Chinese. However, the loudest protests came from the worshippers of the Ganga who screamed that the holiest of the holy rivers had been made radioactive. They calmed down only after meticulous tests from Gangotri to the ocean proved that no such thing had happened.

 

Can the lost nuclear pack still cause a catastrophe? Eminent nuclear scientists, including a highly respected former chairman of the AEC, assure me that at this distance of time there is no such danger.

The writer is a Delhi-based commentator            

 

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THE INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

THE DANTEWADA DOCTRINE

T.V. RAJESWAR

 

Analysis of the Maoist attack on the CRPF team at Dantewada on April 6, 2010 has brought forth certain facts: there was poor intelligence, there was no co-ordination between the state police and the CRPF force which undertook the operation and there was no quick response after the attack had taken place.

 

Taking the first question of intelligence, the CRPF has been encouraged to have their own intelligence units to collect local intelligence instead of depending entirely on inputs from state police or Central agencies like the Intelligence Bureau, or IB. There was a report that the IB had communicated information about the movement of certain Maoist elements in the Dantewada area and about the presence of two senior Maoist leaders, two days earlier. Whether there was such an input and if so, what action was taken, is now a matter for enquiry by the Ram Mohan team appointed by the home ministry.

 

As for co-ordination between the state forces and the CRPF, only a head constable of the local police was, reportedly, part of the CRPF force which was attacked; apparently a DIG said that he was not aware of an operation in that area. If so, there was something seriously wrong. The CRPF was not supposed to undertake an expedition of this nature without collaboration and coordination with the state police.

 

After the attack, there appears to have been a deplorable lack of follow-up. After the CRPF force was trapped and butchered by the Maoists, they collected weapons and in some instances watches and personal belongings. This must have taken some time. Thereafter, the Maoists reportedly split into two groups, with the major group trekking towards Malkanjigiri in Orissa which lies across a rivulet east of the attack site. A minor team reportedly went westwards towards Maharashtra or Andhra Pradesh. The attack reportedly started a little before six am and lasted some time. Did senior officers in the state think of alerting their counterparts in neighbouring states? If prompt alerts had been sent, particularly to Orissa, the major group which entered Malkanjigiri could have been intercepted. Strangely, there were no reports of any of the attackers of Dantewada having been intercepted or encountered in any retaliatory operations. Apparently barring seven or eight Maoists reportedly killed during the attack, most of the remainder got away, with no hot pursuit.

 

The Maoists have declared certain areas dominated by them "liberated zones". The Dantewada area is one; there are others in Bastar and the area extending south-westwards towards Mahadeopur on the Godavari, bordering Karimnagar district in Andhra Pradesh. In these zones, the Maoists could be tackled only after proper recce-ing, collecting adequate intelligence, enlisting cooperation of the local villagers and mounting surprise attacks. That was done in some states with remarkable success, such as in Andhra Pradesh.

 

The main problem is enlisting cooperation from locals. It was reported that after the Dantewada attack, people fled neighbouring villages fearing reprisals from the police. This speaks eloquently of the total lack of understanding between the two. What would help is a fortified police post near a village or a group of villages, so that the villagers feel safe; each inter-connected with the others, and with the central unit or the nearest police circle or taluk and district HQ, from where help could be rushed when needed. In the computer age, such interconnectivity has been brought about in most states.

 

In the mid-'40s, fighting Communist guerrillas in Malaya, the British developed successful jungle-fighting techniques. The central theme was organising massive resettlements, of nearly 500,000 jungle-dwellers, to new regions, creating clusters of villages, thereby denying supplies and contacts to the terrorists. Once civilians were safely removed, the insurgents were clear targets. All the same, the counter-insurgency lasted 12 years, the only war the West won against Communism, unlike the failures in Korea and Vietnam. In the fight against the Mizo insurgency, the army and the police were permitted to try this; a large number of villagers were rounded up and resettled so that the Mizo rebels were isolated, fought and eliminated eventually.

 

Times have changed and what was possible then cannot be tried out now. In any case, the affected area is too large. Hence winning over locals, assuring them of protection and giving them all facilities available under various government schemes, while establishing fortified check posts, is the only possible way out.

 

The CRPF and other paramilitary forces which may be inducted in these operations have to be adequately trained. This hardly needs stressing. The men have to be adequately clothed, equipped and looked after. Complaints, such as from the two camps recently attacked, that basic amenities were not available, should become unpleasant memories.

 

And finally, all concerned should keep the media at a safe distance. The habit of giving out news on operations or whatever else, the moment a video-toting media man appears, should be stopped. There need not be frequent press interviews on how to strengthen firepower like adding UAVs, helicopters, and so on.

 

In his reply to the debate on the Dantewada attack in the Lok Sabha on April 15, Home Minister P. Chidambaram gave a detailed account of the various steps taken to counter the Maoist insurgency, and his discussions with the CMs and senior officers of each of the states concerned. The accusation that the threat was underestimated during UPA-I is unfortunately true to some extent; it fell to Chidambaram to deal with the problem in all its dimensions. Not all CMs have been fully cooperative, and some of them are too sensitive to anything sounding like criticism from the Centre. Yet, as the minister pointed out, if the Dantewada massacre was not a wake-up call, nothing would wake up this country and itsParliament. Hopefully, the states concerned will rise to the occasion and deal with the situation in close collaboration with the Centre.

 

The writer retired as Director, Intelligence Bureau. He has served as governor in Sikkim, West Bengal and UP

 

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THE INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

CASHEWS AND BACKWATERS

SARITHA RAI

 

Mahatma Gandhi once declared that India lives in its villages. Wandering away from India's metropolitan cities, including its Fifth Metro, can provide a fresh new perspective on vast swathes of this country. Navigating through the byzantine canals in the backwaters of Kerala's Kollam district last week was a revelation. The boatman steered the canoe through some of the narrowest, unexplored inland waterways. Lining the canals were small homes with goats tethered to the coconut fronds in front. Women wearing the typical Kerala mundu went about the day's washing in the canals. Bare-bodied toddlers and school going children scurried around many of the homes. People stopped short to stare.

 

In one such small canal, a bunch of children ran through the trees, keeping pace with our canoe, shouting, "America? India?" At another place, children shrieked, "India! India!" Obviously, the Indian tourist had arrived at the remotest of these backwaters, it was no longer only the Americans and the Europeans renting houseboats and traversing these tiny channels. The small homes intermittently gave way to large, slushy paddy fields covered with gauzy blue nets. They are newly converted shrimp farms. Where the fields were not covered with nets, the farmer, his wife and sometimes even their children stood watch on the sides of the fields, sporadically shouting, "Whoa, whoa" to scare away the egrets preying on the baby shrimps.

 

Further along, in a clearing amongst the fields, a group of young boys played that game with a bat, ball and stumps. The batsman hit it hard; there were shouts of "four, four" and one player raced amongst the coconut trees to retrieve the ball. As we cruised past, our boatman Thilakan declared, "IPL". The game is no longer cricket. It has been consumed and replaced by a bigger, glitzier brand name. IPL has become to cricket what Cadbury became to chocolate and Xerox to photocopying.

 

Our boatman spoke only a smattering of English, and conversation involved extra effort on both sides. Some things have not changed, not even in very literate Kerala. Thilakan's daughter was 20, soon to graduate with a BSc degree from a college in a nearby town. Next stop? In Kollam, for a female graduate, only marriage.

 

We drifted along ever-picturesque canals during the course of the day, jackfruit trees and lotus ponds lining the sides. At one spot, the sound of carpentry rent the air. Two men were busy inside a large, half-built boat, hammering away small coils of coconut fibre into the recesses in the wood. A small, newly-made canoe floated in the nearby water. One of the boat makers looked up to proudly say, "Nano boat".

 

Two days later in the bustling and prosperous plantation town of Kollam, formerly Quilon, rows of mega-sized hoardings displaying the latest in gold fashions. The hoardings were sometimes interrupted by signs displaying, "Welcome to Kollam, cashew capital of the world" or "Welcome to cashew country". Commodities broker S.D. Menon says that India's consumers have recently upturned the cashew trade.

 

Gone are the days when roasted, salted cashew was a cocktail snack offered to customers only in the biggest bars and lounges in India's metros. These days, says Menon, small packets of roasted nuts — granted, not the most superior grade — are available to customers in the smallest of drinking holes in India's small towns at Rs 40 a piece. Packets of the best grade cashew sit next to imported pistachio on supermarket shelves.

 

All this has had an impact on the cashew business, says Menon. Cashew traders who were steadfastly loyal to foreign buyers, are now sniffing at them. Local markets are paying good prices. "The whole attitude of the cashew trader has changed, and why not? India now consumes more cashew domestically than it exports," he says. So India and Indians are a reckoning force whether for Japanese cars, adventure holidays, foreign banks or Indian cashew.

 

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THE INDIAN EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

VOTING FOR THE DEAD

 

It comes down to this in the end — the minority of the living, a mere 6.7 billion people on a fragile planet, and the majority of the dead, numberless and stretching back over an expanse vaster than the iciest steppe. Do you choose the minority or the majority? For whose account do you labour?

 

Those may seem strange questions. But a clear demarcation line separates regions able to look forward, even over history's wounds, and those unable to escape the clutches of the dead. Yehuda Amichai, the fine Israeli poet, once observed of Jerusalem that it is "the only city in the world where the right to vote is granted even to the dead." The Middle East holds pride of place when it comes to morbid retrospection. Before moving from Europe to the United States, I spent several years in places obsessed by the past — the Balkans and Berlin. During the Yugoslav wars, lives and landscape were devastated by the abuse of memory. A past of perceived persecution and loss was the weapon of choice for nationalist leaders bent on stirring violence. It proved potent — to the tune of more than 100,000 dead.

 

I learned a few things over the corpses and plum brandy. The first was how blinding victimhood can be: the historical victim — Serb in this case — cannot see when he becomes the chief perpetrator of violence. The second was that nothing forges national identity — Bosnian Muslim in this case — faster than persecution. The third was that arguments about who came first to the land or the "reality" of national identity can never be settled: they are the stuff of myth. The only relevant issue is whether or not to set the arguments aside in the interests of a better future.

 

As Tzipi Livni, the former Israeli foreign minister, once told me: "We cannot solve who was right or wrong on 1948 or decide who is more just. The Palestinians can feel justice is on their side, and I can feel it is on my side. What we have to decide is not about history but the future." Not history but the future: Germany, when I lived there in the late 1990s, was shifting its gaze after decades of wresting the truth from half-truths. The capital returned to Berlin — full circle and near closure. I went to all the Nazi camps. Often I encountered Israeli kids on school trips wrapped in national flags. They were learning what "Never Again" means, anchoring identity.

 

The lessons of history are important. One, surely, is the nightmare of war. Israelis and Palestinians have proved incapable of moving beyond it. The number of Palestinian refugees in 1948 is disputed, but one U.N. report in 1950 estimated 711,000. The U.N. now has 4.7 million registered Palestinian refugees. If there is a more depressing statistic on this planet, I don't know it.

 

In Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Iraq, where more than 485,000 Jews lived before 1948, fewer than 2,000 remain. The Arab Jew has perished, but is not a refugee. He has no "right of return." Germans have no right of return to Silesia; nor Turks to Greece.

 

I have no argument with the "right of return" as a Palestinian bargaining chip. As an objective, I have every objection. It locks Palestinians in an illusory past.

 

So I am immensely impressed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's state-building efforts in the West Bank, an eloquent way of saying today's children matter more than olive groves three generations distant.

It demands an Israeli response worthy of it. The rest of the world is moving on.

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

WHY RBI SHOULD NOT TIGHTEN YET

 

The general consensus among analysts of the Indian economy is that RBI will raise key policy rates in its annual credit policy on April 20. Inflation, as measured by the WPI, is close to 10%, well above RBI's level of comfort. And the central bank has given sufficient indication that it believes inflation is no longer restricted to just food. While it is perfectly reasonable for RBI to be concerned about inflation, it is our considered view that it is still too early to begin a serious tightening of monetary policy. For one, inflation as measured by WPI will abate in a couple of months from now once the high base effect takes root. Second, food inflation, too, has shown some signs of moderation and, if the monsoon begins well, the rate of food inflation will slow down. Third, there still isn't the smoking gun sort of evidence of inflation having spilled over to commodities beyond food and fuel. The chief economic advisor hasn't got tired of making this point repeatedly in the last few weeks. On the other hand, there are plenty of reasons to believe that while growth has recovered, it is nowhere near as robust as it was in the pre-crisis period. And as our columnist today points out, India's big boom between 2003 and 2007 came on the back of low real interest rates. A boom isn't likely to return in a tight monetary policy scenario.

 

RBI could face an additional headache if it decides to hike interest rates immediately. Since the US Fed seems intent on continuing with a low interest rate regime for now, there will be plenty of cheap dollars that will be looking to flood the Indian markets when interest rates are hiked here. This will put additional upward pressure on the rupee, something RBI has tended to frown upon in recent years. The central bank will likely intervene in the foreign exchange markets and that will lead to a different set of unnecessary complications. There is no doubt that RBI is in a difficult spot and some of it is the government's fault. Runaway food inflation might have been contained if the government had acted swiftly, especially on imports. But the government has shown little inclination to carry out the kind of structural reforms that are necessary to rein in supply-side inflation. So, RBI is left to clean up the mess with the rather blunt instrument of monetary policy. At the very least, RBI should ensure that monetary tightening proceeds very gradually, so that the real economy doesn't get choked like it did in the summer of 2008.

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

A DIFFERENT SOUTH

 

The back-to-back meetings of the IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries in Brazil last week, attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, may be celebrated by some as the 21st-century avatar of South-South cooperation. But it's more complicated than that. For one, South-South cooperation 1970s and 1980s style doesn't exist any more. The set of countries which were present in Brazil have clearly broken away from that old forum of South-South cooperation, the G-77. In fact, all the IBSA and BRIC countries are part of the G-20 which is, in the post-financial crisis world, the premier body for international coordination, at least on economic matters. Interestingly, the BRICs were clumped together by a Wall Street analyst based on their economic potential—Russia though has fallen somewhat off the radar in the period since then.

 

Still, it isn't easy even for India, Brazil, South Africa and China to find common ground largely because whichever way you look at it, China is racing ahead of the others. Its economic and political clout is far more than the other three countries. In fact, on all major issues, particularly the economy, there seems to be a move towards a G-2 of the US and China as is borne out by the running battle of US deficits and the undervalued yuan. The challenge for India, Brazil and South Africa, and this is why IBSA may be useful, is to find a voice and clout that can match China's. It is, of course, in each country's individual interest to engage with China, rather than confront it—there is much to gain from closer trade with China, for example. At another level, it makes eminent sense for India, Brazil and South Africa to stay out of the US-China dispute on the yuan, even though a US victory on this matter will help exports of all the IBSA countries—the fallout of a trade war on the other hand will be harsh. But it isn't all about China vs the rest. There are areas in which India, Brazil, South Africa and China can find common ground—climate change could be one sphere, trade negotiations could be another, as could be the restructuring of the IMF and World Bank to give greater representation to these emerging economies. Interestingly though IBSA excludes China and BRIC excludes South Africa, and the excluded parties want to be very much a part of both the clubs. It isn't every time that the two groupings will meet back to back.

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

COLUMN

IS THERE TOO MUCH ONUS ON RBI?

BIBEK DEBROY

At one level, the precise number doesn't matter, unless it crosses into double digits. Almost all discussion on inflation is centred on WPI, point-to-point WPI at that. Whether WPI-based inflation was a shade lower than 10% in March and whether it will be a shade more than 10% a few months down the line, is not really the point. Actually, because it is point-to-point, it is by no means obvious that such inflation will be more than 10%. In aggregate all-commodity terms, when did the base increase significantly last year? From around July. Consequently, it is possible for WPI-based point-to-point inflation to cross 10% between April and June and then decline. However, RBI had hoped for 8.5% by the end of March and double digit is double digit. More importantly, this inflation is no longer food price inflation alone. Food price inflation has been ascribed to assorted red herrings, including mismanagement and drought. However, medium-term reasons behind food price inflation (increased demand, stagnant supply) aren't going to go away. And spliced to that, manufacturing, fuel and power inflation has also increased.

 

Notwithstanding the Opposition's attack in Parliament on the price rise, no one has yet taken to the streets and there are no immediate elections. But that doesn't mean the government can afford to twiddle its thumbs. The Budget for 2010-11 expects real growth of 8.5% and inflation of 4%. The latter is inflation as per the GDP deflator and is annualised. The GDP deflator has moved in line with WPI, but there is a big difference between point-to-point and annualised WPI. Annualised WPI, or the GDP deflator, will probably be closer to 6%, which means the government will have under-estimated inflation (though higher inflation is good for deficit numbers). However, how are we going to get that growth of 8.5%? Industrial growth and export numbers look more respectable than they actually are. They are being compared to a low base of 2008-09 and a comparison with 2007-08 shows that growth isn't that robust or broad-based yet. Public expenditure has been constrained in this year's Budget. We don't have growth impulses like farmers' debt relief and 6th Pay Commission unlike last year.

 

Is there enough steam in private consumption or private investment expenditure? The high growth from 2003 to 2007 was due to a decline in real interest rates and also an increase in public and private sector savings. Will these recover? As a government, there are thus question marks on both growth and inflation.

 

On both, there are reform measures that are as long as one's arm and on both, the government has faltered. Consequently, we are left with the knee-jerk reaction of monetary policy, even if monetary policy is not the answer. If there is one thing that is certain about April 20, it is that rates will be hiked. The uncertainty is about what will be hiked and by how much. While inflation is not about food prices alone, food prices still remain the core concern and are partly contingent on the monsoon, on which there is uncertainty and no information. Despite expenditure being contained in the Budget and the government's borrowing programme in 2010-11 being lower than expected, there is uncertainty about supplementary demands for grants and public expenditure commitments because of the right to education and right to food acts, even social security for the unorganised sector.

 

To return to April 20, a hike in CRR seems certain, perhaps by 0.5%. There is enough liquidity in the system; the problems lie elsewhere. Therefore, a CRR hike is less damaging than a hike in policy rates. But can RBI stay away from hiking policy rates entirely?

 

Almost certainly not. If policy rates are hiked by 0.25%, the government will show a greater tolerance for inflation and a greater concern for growth, though this doesn't mean policy rates won't be increased further down the line. If policy rates are hiked by 0.5%, the hardening of monetary policy will occur sooner. However, further down the year, we are talking about hardening of interest rates (irrespective of how they are measured) by at least 1%. Several government spokespersons have talked about the resumption of growth at 9%, acceleration to 10% and overtaking the Chinese rate of growth within a few years. At a generic level, growth can be driven by private consumption, private investment, public consumption or exports. Not only is the global recovery somewhat uncertain, it is clouded by protectionist elements. Consequently, recovery of growth to 9%-plus levels will have to primarily depend on endogenous sources. With the inevitable hike in real interest rates, it is a moot point whether savings (private corporate and public) and investments will increase to warrant growth at double-digit levels. Similar questions can be raised about private (with a deliberate switch from urban to rural India) and public consumption demand. But these aren't questions RBI is expected to provide answers to.

 

The author is a noted economist

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

MAKING A CASE FOR THE FSDC

ANURADHA GURU

 

The Budget 2010-11 recognised the importance of financial stability in light of the fact that the "financial crisis of 2008-09 has fundamentally changed the structure of banking and financial markets the world over." The finance minister, in his Budget speech, announced the setting up of an apex-level Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) to strengthen and institutionalise the mechanism for maintaining financial stability. The council will, without prejudice to the autonomy of regulators, monitor macro-prudential supervision of the economy, including the functioning of large financial conglomerates and address inter-regulatory coordination issues. It will also focus on financial literacy and financial inclusion.

 

Why this emphasis on financial stability? Why now and not earlier? These are some questions that come to mind following this Budget announcement. Given the indubitable importance of maintaining stability in the financial system, what are the arguments for the intervention of public authorities in restoring or promoting financial stability?

 

The crisis that engulfed the world financial order in 2008 can, in retrospect, be said to have been caused by the contagion effect of one institution's failure spreading to the others, as a result of a general breakdown of the trust of investors in the ability of financial institutions to meet their liabilities, which is the cornerstone of a 'stable' financial system. Further, it is quite obvious that these institutions responsible for the contagion effect were institutions of systemic importance to the financial system as a whole. Like any other major reform measure in the financial markets, the FSDC, too, is in response to a crisis situation that served as a trigger for this announcement. Though India's financial systems escaped the effects of the global financial crisis, the movement towards the FSDC is a step in the right direction, aiming to ensure that the mishappenings in western countries do not happen here.

 

The foremost task of the FSDC would be to objectively define 'financial stability' in the Indian context, as there is no internationally accepted definition. One definition is that a 'financially stable' system can be said to be one that is robust to macroeconomic disturbances and thus able to withstand unforeseen shocks, relying on its stable 'key institutions', so that there is a high degree of confidence that they would continue to meet their contractual obligations on their own. Financial stability means not only an absence of actual crisis, but also the ability of the system to limit and manage imbalances before they assume a magnitude that threatens itself or the economic processes.

 

However, this definition is incomplete, as it does not define the 'key institutions or SIFIs', which are fundamental for the maintenance of financial stability of the system. There is a huge debate on which institutions, in a financial system, are most important for ensuring stability and the criteria of choosing one over the other. When the US government went all out to bail out AIG but not Lehman Brothers, many questions on this line were asked. What kind of financial institutions are 'too big to fail' or are SIFIs for the financial system? Most importantly, to what extent and in what manner should public authorities intervene to maintain stability of the system and how to deal with moral hazard issues arising out of this intervention?

 

The next assignment of the FSDC would perhaps be to identify SIFIs in the Indian economy. Issues that would need to be debated are: should banks be treated as being in the same league as non-banks. in the context of financial stability and possible bailouts; is failure of a big bank the same as that of a small bank; and should the central bank be concerned about volatility in asset prices that may lead to instability among financial institutions? Then it would be essential to draw out a supervision framework for SIFIs, recognising that they ought to be such as to remove the advantages derived from becoming systemically important and to create time-consistent incentives for them. Also, there may be certain financial markets of more importance than others in ensuring stability of the system as a whole. Which are these and how to differently regulate them?

 

It would also be important to assess the ways in which financial instability interacts with the real economy to either amplify or moderate the effects of initial shocks. Thus, it is important that regulators responsible for oversight of different financial institutions interact and cooperate closely among themselves and with those responsible for stability of prices and the real economy. The FSDC could be the forum for such interactions.

 

The author is a civil servant. Views are personal

 

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FINANCIAL EXPRESS

EDITORIAL

PRIVATE EQUITY IN RETAIL

RAJAT GUHA

 

The government's proposed move to allow foreign private equity firms to invest in single-brand retail firms would be a boon for foreign retailers as they would be able to dilute stakes in the retail business in favour of foreign funds. Apart from easing the investment burden for the foreign retailers, the move is also likely to bolster investment in the sector.

 

Current rules allow 51% FDI in single-brand retail. While there are no further sub-clauses, in recent years, FIPB has been insisting that only brand owners can invest in such ventures. This has precluded the role of other investors, including private equity players who are often interested in investing in the take-off stages of retail ventures. This practice has not been received well by the industry, as the government seems to be blocking funding options for foreign retailers, apart from keeping the FDI cap in single brand retail at 51%. The need of the hour is to allow 100% FDI in single-brand retail. There is hardly any country that has capped FDI in retail of single brands. This rule has even forced the world's biggest furniture retailer Ikea to walk out of India.

 

Whether foreign private equity funds can invest in retail companies, franchisee-led or foreign- owned, has been a grey area for long. The matter came to light when a prominent franchisee filed an application before the FIPB seeking permission for fund infusion from a foreign private equity firm. The board rejected the proposal as the Indian company was the franchisee of a global brand targeted at children. The company was asked to alter the proposal. But it seems the government has changed its mind about allowing foreign PE firms to invest in single-brand retail, as it thinks it would lead to more investment in the sector. At a stage when we were hoping that the government would further liberalise the foreign investment policy by raising the FDI cap in certain sectors, if the government does not clear air over such petty issues, it will definitely send out wrong signals to investors.

 

rajat.guha@expressindia.com

 

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THE HINDU

EDITORIAL

DAMNING INDICTMENT

 

The much-awaited United Nations report on Benazir Bhutto's assassination has no answer to the question that has bothered Pakistan and the world since that wretched December day in 2007: who killed her? This was expected. The terms of reference of the three-man commission, appointed by the U.N. at the request of the Pakistan government, were to establish the "fact and circumstances" of Benazir's assassination. It was understood that the commission, headed by Heraldo Munoz, the Permanent Representative of Chile to the U.N., would not carry out a criminal investigation to ascertain the mastermind behind the gun-and-suicide attack that killed Benazir as she left an election campaign rally at Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh. But within the limited scope of its mandate, the commission has produced a valuable document. Its report is the first comprehensive, independent reconstruction of events before the assassination and after. It contains several new facts and insights about the fatally inadequate security provided to a former Prime Minister by the Musharraf regime, and the criminally shoddy investigation into her killing. The commission's conclusion, that the Musharraf regime was deliberate and discriminatory in not responding to Benazir's security requirements, and that the investigation into her killing was blocked at every stage, is a damning indictment of the government of the day.

 

This is the first time an official, public international document has raised questions about the invasive role of Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies in running the country, its links with the Taliban and the jihadist groups fighting India, and the adverse consequences all this has had for Pakistan. Daringly, the report calls for an investigation into the role of the dreaded "establishment… the de facto power structure that has at its core the military and intelligence agencies" in the assassination. For the Pakistan Peoples Party, which has built itself as the main opponent of the establishment as well as its victim since the times of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the report is a vindication. It is also a part explanation of why the PPP, despite taking office within four months of Benazir's killing, launched a proper investigation only in October 2009, after being goaded by the commission. It remains to be seen if this investigation can proceed along the lines urged by the commission in its report. But this seems doubtful, if the government's mysterious end-March request to the commission to delay the report by two weeks and, then, its attempts last week to withhold the document from public release are any indication. Given the nature of the Pakistani state, it is more likely that the truth behind Benazir's killing will never be known.

 

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THE HINDU

EDITORIAL

REGULATORY TUSSLE

 

Even after the government persuaded last week the Securities Exchange Board of India and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) to seek a legal mandate from a court on the issue of regulatory oversight of the unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs), the tussle between the two regulators continues. So does the uncertainty over the ULIP schemes that are by far the most popular of the products offered by the life insurance companies. The capital market regulator, in a new circular, has asked all the new ULIP schemes to be registered with it, while allowing schemes in existence before April 9 to continue. It may be some time before the courts decide on issues such as this. Besides, legal rulings, dependent as they are on scarce precedents, are not the best way to demarcate regulatory authority in the financial sector. One reason for the confusion is the wide disparity in the age of different regulators. The RBI, now in its 75th year, has been the country's principal financial regulator taking on a wide range of functions including those which, in other countries, are in the domain of specialised agencies. Of course, the RBI too has been ceding territory, for instance, to NABARD, the apex development institution for agriculture set up in 1981.

 

The reason why the differences between SEBI and the IRDA have escalated may have to do with the fact that both are relatively new institutions carving out regulatory space in areas that were hitherto minimally regulated. The SEBI Act was passed in 1992 while the IRDA came into being in 1999. It will take a while for precedents to be set in the regulation of products and services that were previously offered by government-owned monopolies which, it was mistakenly believed, needed no independent regulation. Until competition came through economic liberalisation, the LIC had a monopoly over life insurance and the Unit Trust of India over mutual funds. The ongoing fracas shows how difficult it is to demarcate regulation in the case of hybrid products belonging to two or more financial domains, in this case insurance and capital markets. As financial disintermediation gathers pace, many more complex products, drawing on capital markets, insurance, and banking will be offered. The SEBI-IRDA tussle might be the most visible manifestation of inter-regulatory differences but there are others where coordinated regulation would have helped. A case in point is the debt market where both the RBI and SEBI claim jurisdiction.

 

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THE HINDU

LEADER PAGE ARTICLES

UNCORKING THE SPIRIT OF COPENHAGEN

FOR A HOST OF REASONS, INDIA AND CHINA WILL FIND THERE IS NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT TO MAKE A NEW START IN THEIR TIES.

SUHASINI HAIDAR

 

Asian giants with a mountain of mistrust between them: that has been the view of India and China for decades. Yet, as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travelled West last week — amid a focus on the drift in India-United States ties, and a freeze on Indo-Pakistani ties — his most productive meetings may well have been with our eastern neighbour, engaging President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the summits in Washington and Brasilia.

 

The meetings were their first since the surprising show of unity India and China put up at the climate change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 — which many are crediting with also changing the climate of ties between New Delhi and Beijing. According to Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, who has made five trips to China in the past six months, "Just as we mark BC as the beginning of the new age, so too in India-China ties, there is a BC — Before Copenhagen, and after." Before Copenhagen, was of course, annus horribilis — filled with heated exchanges over incursions, stapled visas, and China's ire over Indian official visits to Tawang.

 

The new spirit, one that we saw glimpses of during the Rio and Kyoto environmental conferences, comes this time amid a flurry of engagements between New Delhi and Beijing, which mark 60 years of diplomatic ties. In both China and many parts of India, the 60th year is considered auspicious (in Tamil Nadu a man who turns 60 celebrates shashtyabthapoorthy and remarries his wife to renew vows). For a host of reasons, India and China will also find there's no time like the present to make a new start in their ties. The immediate dividend from Copenhagen was seen when External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna visited Beijing this month and announced the setting up of a hotline between Mr. Wen and Dr. Singh. At a reception hosted by the Indian embassy, Chinese special envoy Dai Bingguo dropped in unannounced and stayed for an unprecedented two hours. He then met with his counterpart Shiv Shankar Menon in Brasilia, agreeing to restart the border talks that have been stalled since last August, along with Prime Minister Singh and Premier Hu Jintao.

 

Even the official language seems to denote a shift — last week, the state-owned China Daily ran an editorial that advocated closer Sino-Indian ties, on the lines of the "all-weather friendship" China has with Pakistan. Certainly, a turnaround. "An Asian century will remain a dream," it said, "unless India and China resolve their differences."

 

At the same time, the Indian Defence Ministry annual report for 2009-10, released last month, makes no mention of any border tensions during the year, noting that the armed forces of the two countries have, instead, made considerable progress in ties. "A regular mechanism for exchanges in the military sphere has been established through the ongoing confidence building measure," it concludes, while noting China's major military modernisation drive.

 

Beyond military matters, the two sides may also be able to build confidence, even a compact on terror — China is increasingly worried about the possibility of jihadi terror in the western province of Xinjiang. In the past, it caused a strain in Sino-Pakistani ties only when Chinese nationals were kidnapped or attacked in Pakistan. But now, evidence of groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Hizb-ul Mujahideen training and supporting the separatist Uighur movement poses a threat in China too. According to one official, Chinese security chiefs were particularly upset after having been handed transcripts of conversations the 26/11 terrorists had with their Lashkar handlers, who gave the orders to execute a Singaporean national they mistook for a Chinese. As India lobbies the world for action against the Mumbai attack planners, China-watchers say it may have Beijing's ear, as China is more willing to listen and worried than ever before.

 

The largest worry for China, however, remains the threat of an economic collapse — which some economists are already predicting. In an article, China's Red Flags, journalist Edward Chancellor warns that China's status as the world's largest exporter also makes it extremely vulnerable to any slowdown in demand, given that the exports consist largely of semi-processed goods from the Far-East finished in China. In December 2009, China posted a 2.8 per cent decline in exports and a whopping 21 per cent decline in imports. Despite its massive $39-billion trade surplus, Mr. Chancellor likens the economy to the bomb-laden bus in the Hollywood thriller Speed that will explode if it goes below 50 miles an hour — "Were China's economy to slow below Beijing's 8 per cent growth target, bad things are liable to happen," he concludes, adding all the new infrastructure and excess capacity would be rendered worthless. Of course, doomsayers were wrong earlier but with money supply rising at a dangerous 26 per cent annual rate, the inflation and real estate boom combination does worry Chinese leaders as the recent National People's Congress proceedings reveal.

 

As a result, India looks a more attractive market for sales and investment for China — deals for infrastructure in particular, like the $1.5-billion bid the Chinese State grid corp. has just won from Vedanta Resources in Orissa. In return, it is India's expertise in Information Technology that China is recognising more and more and, for the first time, state contracts in IT have considered Indian companies. On a recent visit to Beijing, this writer heard the phrase: "Chinese hardware in exchange for Indian software" more than once from officials.

 

The other genuine concern expressed was over the impact of China's strict "one-child" policy on the future. Demographic projections show that the Chinese working population ratio (the 18-60 age group as a ratio of the whole) will begin to decline from 2015. China will grow old before it becomes rich, goes a saying there. This may open up the possibility of China issuing H1-B-type of visas to Indian skilled professionals soon.

 

Finally, it is the strategic mindset that needs to be upgraded: fears of Chinese 'encirclement' must not cause unreasonable alarm and Indian under-confidence, as they did last year. 2010 is not 1962 — in terms of both comparative Chinese capability and Indian incapacity. China seems to want to clear the air on border issues including Arunachal Pradesh now, even as India remains true to its word on the recognition of TAR (Tibetan Autonomous Region) and Taiwan as part of the PRC. Interestingly, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram's visit to Tawang earlier this month was accompanied by none of the angry voices from Beijing that the President and Prime Minister's visits last year attracted.

 

While that may not in itself be a significant shift in position, it may be yet another indicator of China's desire to engage with India that is causing many in the West to sit up and take notice. In his just published work, Shifting Superpowers: the emerging relationships between U.S., China and India, Martin Sieff surmises: "The strategic environment in the early 21st century is nearly the exact opposite of what it was at the time of the India-China war of 1962. Then Mao was able to turn his back on Taiwan and attack India — today China has been working hard to resolve its remaining border disputes with India in order to free up its forces to concentrate on Taiwan."

 

There is no denying the massive mistrust the two countries have for each other, mired in the 1962 war, built over the years of China's relations with Pakistan and India's relations with the Dalai Lama, and heightened in more recent years by the fear of a cyber war. It is one of the reasons why all India-China conferences prefer to begin with long descriptions of their historical ties, rather than contemporary history — speaking of 2,000 years of a civilisation friendship rather than the last few decades of diplomatic ties.

 

But as a young Chinese journalist pointed out at a recent media conference in Beijing: "Enough of the old ties — it's now time for young China to engage young India and the other way round." And, to perhaps allow the newly uncorked 'spirit of Copenhagen' to flow into other aspects of their relationship too.

 

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THE HINDU

THE REBIRTH OF THE INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN

SATURDAY'S BOMBINGS IN BANGALORE ARE A GRIM REMINDER THAT THE JIHADIST MOVEMENT IS FAR FROM SPENT.

PRAVEEN SWAMI

 

Less than an hour before police surrounded the Indian Mujahideen bomb-factory hidden away on the fringes of the Bhadra forests in Chikmagalur, Mohammad Zarar Siddi Bawa had slipped away on a bus bound for Mangalore — the first step in a journey that would take him to the safety of a Lashkar-e-Taiba safehouse in Karachi.

 

Inside the house, officers involved in the October, 2008, raid found evidence of Bawa's work: laboratory equipment used to test and prepare chemicals, precision tools, and five complete improvised explosive devices. Even as investigators across India set about filing paperwork declaring Bawa a fugitive, few believed they would ever be able to lay eyes on him again.

 

But in February, a closed-circuit television camera placed over the cashier's counter at the Germany Bakery in Pune recorded evidence that Bawa had returned to India — just minutes before an improvised explosive device ripped through the popular restaurant killing seventeen people, and injuring at least sixty.

 

Dressed in a loose-fitting blue shirt, a rucksack slung over his back, the fair, slight young man with a wispy beard has been identified by police sources in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka as "Yasin Bhatkal" — the man who made the bombs which ripped apart ten Indian towns and cities between 2005 and 2008. Witnesses at the restaurant also identified Bawa from photographs, noting that he was wearing trousers rolled up above his ankles — a style favoured by some neo-fundamentalists.

 

Bawa is emerging as the key suspect in Saturday's bombings outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore — a grim reminder that the jihadist offensive that began after the 2002 communal violence in India is very far from spent.

 

THE OBSCURE JIHADIST

Little is known about just what led Bawa to join the jihadist movement. Educated at Bhatkal's well-respected Anjuman Hami-e-Muslimeen school, 32-year-old Bawa left for Pune as a teenager. He was later introduced to other members of the Indian Mujahideen as an engineer, but police in Pune have found no documentation suggesting he ever studied in the city.

 

Instead, Bawa spent much of his time with a childhood friend living in Pune, Unani medicine practitioner-turned-Islamist proselytiser Iqbal Ismail Shahbandri. Like his brother Riyaz Ismail Shahbandri — now the Indian Mujahideen's top military commander — Ismail Shahbandri had become an ideological mentor to many young Islamists in Pune and Mumbai, many of them highly-educated professionals.

 

The Shahbandari brothers' parents, like many members of the Bhatkal elite, had relocated to Mumbai in search of new economic opportunities. Ismail Shahbandri, their father, set up leather-tanning factory in Mumbai's Kurla area in the mid-1970s. Riyaz Shahbandri went on to obtain a civil engineering degree from Mumbai's Saboo Siddiqui Engineering College and, in 2002, was married to Nasuha Ismail, the daughter of an electronics store owner in Bhatkal's Dubai Market.

 

Shafiq Ahmad, Nasuha's brother, had drawn Riyaz Shahbandri into the Students Islamic Movement of India. He first met his Indian Mujahideen co-founders Abdul Subhan Qureshi and Sadiq Israr Sheikh, in the months before his marriage. Later, Riyaz Shahbandri made contact with ganglord-turned-jihadist Amir Raza Khan. In the wake of the communal violence that ripped Gujarat apart in 2002, the men set about funnelling recruits to Lashkar camps in Pakistan.

 

Early in the summer of 2004, investigators say, the core members of the network that was later to call itself the Indian Mujahideen met at Bhatkal's beachfront to discuss their plans. Iqbal Shahbandri and Bhatkal-based cleric Shabbir Gangoli are alleged to have held ideological classes; the group also took time out to practice shooting with airguns. Bawa had overall charge of arrangements — a task that illustrated his status as the Bhatkal brothers' most trusted lieutenant.

 

Bhatkal, police investigators say, became the centre of the Indian Mujahideen's operations. From their safehouses in Vitthalamakki and Hakkalamane, bombs were despatched to operational cells dispersed across the country, feeding the most sustained jihadist offensive India has ever seen.

 

COMMUNAL WAR

Like so many of his peers in the Indian Mujahideen, Bawa emerged from a fraught communal landscape. Bhatkal's Nawayath Muslims, made prosperous by hundreds of years of trade across the Indian Ocean, emerged as the region's dominant land-owning community. Early in the twentieth century, inspired by call of Aligarh reformer Syed Ahmed Khan, Bhatkal notables led a campaign to bring modern education for the community. The Anjuman Hami-e-Muslimeen school where Bawa studied was one product of their efforts, which eventually spawned highly-regarded institutions that now cater to over several thousand students.

 

Organisations like the Anjuman helped the Navayath Muslims capitalise on the new opportunities for work and business with opened up in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia during the 1970s. But this wealth, in turn, engendered resentments which laid the ground for an communal conflict. In the years after the Emergency, the Jana Sangh and its affiliates began to capitalise on resentments Bhatkal's Hindus felt about the prosperity and political power of the Navayaths. The campaign paid off in 1983, when the Hindu right-wing succeeded in dethroning legislator S.M. Yahya, who had served as a state minister between 1972 and 1982.

 

Both communities entered into a competitive communal confrontation, which involved the ostentatious display of piety and power. The Tablighi Jamaat, a neo-fundamentalist organisation which calls on followers to live life in a style claimed to be modelled on that of the Prophet Mohammad, drew a growing mass of followers. Hindutva groups like the Karavalli Hindu Samiti, too, staged ever-larger religious displays to demonstrate their clout.

 

Early in 1993, Bhatkal was hit by communal riots which claimed seventeen lives and left dozens injured. The violence, which began after Hindutva groups claimed stones had been thrown at a Ram Navami procession, and lasted nine months. Later, in April 1996, two Muslims were murdered in retaliation for the assassination of Bharatiya Janata Party legislator U. Chittaranjan — a crime that investigators now say may have been linked to the Bhatkal brothers. More violence broke out in 2004, after the assassination of BJP leader Thimmappa Naik.

 

Iqbal Shahbandri and his recruits were, in key senses, rebels against a traditional political order that appeared to have failed to defend Muslim rights and interests. Inside the Indian Mujahideen safehouses raided in October, 2008, police found no evidence that traditional theological literature or the writings of the Tablighi Jamaat had influenced the group. Instead, they found pro-Taliban videos and speeches by Zakir Naik — a popular but controversial Mumbai-based televangelist who has, among other things, defends Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin-Laden.

 

"If he is fighting the enemies of Islam", Naik said in one speech, "I am for him. If he is terrorising America the terrorist—the biggest terrorist — I am with him." "Every Muslim" Naik concluded, "should be a terrorist. The thing is, if he is terrorising a terrorist, he is following Islam". Naik has never been found to be involved in violence, but his words have fired the imagination of a diverse jihadists — among them, Glasgow suicide-bomber Kafeel Ahmed, 2006 Mumbai train-bombing accused Feroze Deshmukh, and New York taxi driver Najibullah Zazi, who faces trial for planning to attack the city's Grand Central Railway Station.

 

Language like this spoke to concerns of the young people who were drawn to separate jihadist cells that began to spring up across India after the 2002 violence, mirroring the growth of the Indian Mujahideen. SIMI leader Safdar Nagori set up a group that included the Bangalore information-technology professionals Peedical Abdul Shibli and Yahya Kamakutty; in Kerala Tadiyantavide Nasir, Abdul Sattar, and Abdul Jabbar set up a separate organisation that is alleged to have bombed Bangalore in 2008

 

STORMS OF HATE

Well-entrenched in the political system, Bhatkal's Muslim leadership has been hostile to radical Islamism. Efforts by Islamist political groups to establish a presence there have, for the most part, been unsuccessful. But authorities acknowledge Bhatkal, like much of the Dakshina Kannada region, remains communally fraught. Small-scale confrontations are routine. Earlier this month, the Karavalli Hindu Samiti even staged demonstrations in support of the Sanatana Sanstha, the Hindutva group police in Goa say was responsible for terrorist bombings carried out last year.

 

Pakistan's intelligence services and transnational jihadist groups like the Lashkar nurtured and fed India's jihadist movement — but its birth was the outcome of an ugly communal contestation that remains unresolved. Even as India's police and intelligence services work to dismantle the jihadist project, politicians need to find means to still the storms of hate which sustain it.

 

 

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THE HINDU

TWO BILLION LAPTOPS? IT MAY NOT BE ENOUGH

THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO THE DREAM OF ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD IS COST.

RANDALL STROSS

 

One Laptop Per Child is a nonprofit group that thinks big. Since 2007, it has sold inexpensive but rugged laptop computers to the governments of less-developed countries. The goal is to equip each of the 2 billion children in the developing world with his or her own computer.

 

It's been slow going. About 1.6 million of the group's laptops have been distributed to date, said Matt Keller, vice-president for global advocacy at the OLPC Foundation, based in Cambridge, Mass. Today, the largest concentrations are in Uruguay, at around 400,000, and Peru, at 280,000, followed by Rwanda (110,000) and Haiti and Mongolia (15,000 each).

 

In 2006, the OLPC Web site pitched its laptop as a technology that "could revolutionise how we educate the world's children.'' Today, the "R" word is gone. Now the site speaks in more muted language of "developing an essential resource — educated, empowered children."

 

"The biggest obstacle to our spreading the dream is cost," Keller said.

 

Ninety per cent of the machines have been paid for by the recipient countries' governments, whose resources are extremely limited. I asked Keller if project leaders had reconsidered the "per child" part of the programme. "One Laptop Per Classroom" certainly doesn't have the same ring, to be sure, but it would better diffuse the benefits in the short term, helping a greater share of those almost 2 billion children who have not been reached.

 

He said that such a change was out of the question.

 

"One-on-one, child-to-laptop — the interactive nature of that experience is the heart of what we do," he said.

 

When a child owns a laptop, he added, the school day is effectively extended from a few hours to 12 to 14 hours — however long the child is awake, and wherever he or she happens to be.

 

Some Microsoft researchers in India have investigated how to give those same children better use of PCs that are already in place, even though one machine is shared by many. In one project, Microsoft's programmers developed software that added multiple cursors on the screen, each controlled by a separate mouse. Software written for the paradigm allows students to compete or collaborate on multiple-choice questions. It was well received in schools, and Microsoft turned it into a free product called MultiPoint.

 

"We jokingly call it 'One Mouse Per Child,'" said Kentaro Toyama, who led the project while he spent five years in the Technology for Emerging Markets group at Microsoft Research India.

 

Toyama, who received a computer-science doctorate at Yale, left Microsoft last December and is now a research fellow at the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley. He has been giving talks at American universities about the "technological utopianism" that he sees in initiatives like One Laptop Per Child, Intel's Classmate PC, and even MultiPoint. He says such initiatives rest upon a myth that "technology is the bottleneck in developing countries."

 

Lots of other things are bottlenecks, too, he says — including institutional limitations, economics, the basic service infrastructure and politics. Nor is technology synonymous with education.

"Initially, we had the idea that PCs could make up for teacher absenteeism or poor training," he said. "But studies of PCs in schools are mixed, at best. Most show that a good school with good teachers can do positive things with PCs, but that PCs don't fix bad schools."

 

Describing technological utopianism, he said, "What it comes down to is this: Everybody is looking for a shortcut."

 

Keller said of Toyama's remarks: "There is no silver bullet, he's right." But Keller argued that literacy skills and access to information were prerequisites for economic and political growth and that "technology can help foster these things."

 

Among the infrastructure problems that the Microsoft research team saw in rural India was unreliable electrical power. It spurred another Microsoft research project that provided farmers in one district with cell phones that supplied the same information via text messaging that the farmers had obtained from PC centres.

 

Many OLPC laptops are equipped with solar panels that can recharge the machine in three hours, providing four to six hours of use. Keller said a new model would be introduced early next year that would demand much less power. The new machines will have cranks and charge quickly: A minute of cranking will yield 10 minutes of use.

 

Keller has some moving stories to tell about his visits to villages that have received laptops _ and about the natural facility with computers of children everywhere.

 

"I've been in Rwanda where the laptop was introduced into an environment where previously there had been no electronic devices," he said, "and within three to four days you have 10-year-old girls and 8-year-old boys who are using the laptop as efficiently and effectively and creatively as I can.''

 

He is now lobbying to secure funding from the U.S. government to provide an Internet-connected laptop for every child in Afghanistan. At a cost of $250 a laptop, the project would cost about $750 million.

 

In Kabul, Keller said, Afghanistan's education minister told him that the project "would allow girls to study and connect within the safety of their own homes." It's an almost irresistible vision. But a sceptic would point to the lessons of history and say that technology never works in isolation.

 

( Randall Stross is an author based in Silicon Valley and a professor of business at San Jose State University.)

 

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THE HINDU

FEEDING BILLIONAIRES

 

P. Sainath has raised some pertinent questions in his analytical and incisive write-up "How to feed your billionaires" (April 17) on the freebies being handed over to the corporate sector and other influential people on a platter at the cost of the aam aadmi and the average cricket fan. He has also, rightfully, questioned the credentials of the major section of the media for its reluctance to ask "larger, harder questions" on the murky state of affairs in the IPL and the BCCI. In view of the sordid drama unfolding in full public glare, it is imperative that the IPL-BCCI affairs are looked into with a magnifying glass and the findings brought out in the public domain.

M.K. Bajaj,

Zirakpur

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The article was timely. Blending cricket with corporate and celebrity culture, the IPL has emerged as the most colourful sport India has ever seen. Doled out with some masala like cheerleaders, the gala event has been received with unprecedented fanfare and it pours in copious revenue. While the corporate media need something colourful to fill their columns and airtime, politicians want issues such as insurgency, price rise, and poverty brushed under the carpet. In other words, India is trying to project an image that is not true. The IPL is an important element of this deception.

K.K. Abdul Raoof,

Aligarh

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What began as a new form of Twenty-20 cricket has now grown into a commercial monster with billionaires and politicians controlling it. It has started eating into the public exchequer by extracting huge tax concessions, the services of security personnel and electricity at the cost of children's education. The IPL has become a platform for the vulgar display of wealth when half our nation worries about its next meal.

Shaila S. Shenoy,

Mangalore

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While finding fault with the IPL's excessive commercialism, the article raises some fundamental questions. Nothing mirrors the widening gap between the rich and the poor in our society more starkly than the IPL T20 tournament. While millions are struggling hard to eke out a meagre existence, the sharks in business and politics are busy capitalising on people's love of cricket to make millions. The stark contrast should stir the nation's conscience. The increasing popularity of the game in its 20-20 format is no justification for the accumulation of wealth in its name.

G. David Milton,

Maruthancode

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First, the article appeared to be an attack on the billionaires listed on the Forbes list. But a closer look revealed the anguish of the writer over the link between politicians and industry and the comfortable cohabitation of political parties on the BCCI-IPL platform. With so much of money involved, one wonders what we have to brace ourselves for in future. After reading the article, I am sure, many like me will stop showing interest in the IPL matches.

S. Suryanarayanan,

Sydney

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The article has exposed the role of the politico-corporate nexus in siphoning off the resources necessary for improving the lot of the impoverished millions. It is shocking to note that major sections of the media have worked up the IPL frenzy, contributing to the numbing of people's senses to the effects of insensitive acts such as holding night matches when the country is reeling under power cuts. When such blatant misuse of scant national resources takes place with the government's support, how can we blame the impoverished sections if they turn extremists?

Kasim Sait,

Chennai

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While crores of ordinary people in our villages and towns are deprived of access even to drinking water, let alone food and shelter, the governments' offer of huge tax concessions, security and infrastructural facilities to the IPL, mainly to benefit the rich, is not only amoral but also shameful. This highlights the heartlessness and hypocrisy of the capitalist system operating in a liberal democracy.

G.N. Rao,

Hyderabad

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That a country plagued by communal violence, caste-based violence, terrorism, naxalism, population explosion, poverty, and corruption is capable of managing a mega cricket event like the IPL with a view to benefiting multi-millionaires and billionaires is indeed ironical. Ought we not to be ashamed?

R. Sridhar,

Chennai

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Just before the French Revolution, Queen Marie Antoinette is supposed to have said: "If people have no bread, let them eat cake." It appears that our ruling classes — from the government, the media, Bollywood to the corporate sector — are saying, "what if people have no food, water, healthcare or schools, let them watch cricket." Sooner or later, the reality will bite and, then, heaven help us all!

Cynthia Stephen,

Bangalore

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Murky dealings, tax evasion and concealed freebies have drained our pockets and patience. In a poor country like ours, the buying and selling of sportsmen is nothing short of unabashed display of corporate greed. When the glamorous IPL literally bathes in the limelight, the common man gropes in the dark due to power cuts in scorching summers. As avid cricket lovers, we are deeply pained that a great game has become a commercial nightmare.

Francis Kuriakose &

Deepa Kylasam Iyer,

Puducherry

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Mr. Sainath is right in saying we are feeding our billionaires. We should be proud of the fact that four of our countrymen are part of the Forbes Billionaires List and contribute what we can to help them maintain their rankings. Because the list attracts the media more than anything else. Daridranarayans, who go to bed hungry every night, are omnipotent. When people see them all around them, what is the need for the media to report about them?

As for the waiver of entertainment tax, IPL cricket is the only sport in our country which brings many an activity to a standstill. If not such a mob-frenzy game, which other activity is eligible for a tax waiver? One wonders whether hockey, the national game, is watched even by its sponsors.

M.S.R.A. Srihari,

Khammam

Murky IPL

 

The editorial "Murky IPL games" (April 16) has rightly emphasised that the IPL draws heavily on public resources and the public has every right to know the details of funding and shareholding from the consortiums. People cannot be fooled in the name of spectacular entertainment. That the IPL organisers shifted the venue of the tournament outside the country last year because the government expressed its inability to provide security in view of the general election bears testimony to their sense of commitment.

P.R. Thiruvengadam,

Coimbatore

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Besides cheerleader culture, the IPL burlesque has been munificent in providing much more to the cricket crazy people of India. This time, it has made us witness an all-out war between the corporate sector and politics — corporates who count their profits and politicians who have no regard for their actual responsibilities. A lot is happening in the name of IPL. Both Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor should step down.

Dipin Damodaran,

New Delhi

College for NRIs

 

The Karnataka government wants to invest Rs. 500 crores for a state-of-the-art medical college targeting NRIs. When did the people elect a government so they can provide state-of-the-art facility for foreign nationals or residents with no apparent benefits to the population that elected it? The result is inflation and cannibalisation of faculty from other medical schools. What a disgrace! They are equating medical education to firms that export IT services. The Karnataka government should focus on improving facilities that benefit the local population.

Prabhudev,

Austin, Texas

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THE HINDU

HEALTH CARE WOES: NEED FOR DOCTORS, FUNDS

It is noteworthy that health care-related subjects have been capturing media attention and holding it on for three months now. It started in February 2010 with the proposal for a short-term medical course to expedite the process of expanding the number of doctors serving in rural India. There has also been some focus on the inadequacy of funds to implement health care schemes and the need for increased spending on them. And then came the report that the Union Cabinet has given approval to a bill that would regulate private hospitals andpave the way for guaranteeing "the right to emergency care" for accident victims and the like.

 

As a prelude to ensuring 'the right to emergency care,' the Union Cabinet recently approved the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2010; the hope is it will be placed before Parliament soon. The Bill makes it mandatory for all clinical establishments in the country to provide treatment to any person in an emergency condition. When the Bill becomes law, it will be the first piece of legislation to make it obligatory for the clinical establishments to provide emergency treatment to the needy.

 

RELUCTANCE TO TREAT ACCIDENT VICTIMS

The Bill does not prescribe imprisonment for non-compliance, but it gives powers to the registering authority to impose a hefty fine (up to a maximum of Rs. 5 lakh). If not paid, the fine amount will be recovered under the Revenue Recovery Act. Clinical establishments are generally reluctant to treat accident victims, fearing legal problems, and so refer them to government-run hospitals. Several private hospitals and nursing homes refuse admission to women if they are not prepared to pay the treatment charges in advance.

 

The new enactment followed a Supreme Court direction, as far back as 1989, that emergency care should not be denied to anyone for any reason. In Parmanand Katara vs Union of India, the court accepted an application by an advocate. Referring to a news item titled "Law helps the injured to die" in the Hindustan Times, the lawyer brought to the court's notice the difficulties those injured in accidents faced in accessing to life-saving medical treatment. Many doctors and hospitals refused to treat them unless certain formalities were completed in these medico-legal cases. The Supreme Court directed the medical establishments to provide instant medical assistance to the affected people, notwithstanding the formalities to be followed under procedural criminal law. It has taken 21 years for the executive to come up with draft legislation on the subject.

 

The rigorous pursuit of neo-liberal reforms and the consequent withdrawal of the state from many areas in the social sector stood in the way of regulating private sector service-providers in respect of medical care. However, persistent efforts by social workers, political activists, and women's organisations have put some constructive pressure on governments at the Centre and in the States to think of some pro-poor healthcare reforms.

 

Welcoming an editorial titled 'Empowering patients' in The Hindu (April 12, 2010) on the subject, a reader, S.V. Venugopalan of Chennai, stresses a patient's right to be kept informed of the nature of his or her ailment and the risks involved in the treatment. "Universal health care and an inclusive health agenda put in place by the Central Government alone will make hospitalisation an encouraging experience rather than a nightmare," he writes. Well said.

 

Another aspect of health care that has been highlighted by Union Minister of Health Ghulam Nabi Azad is the poor status of public health and inadequate funding of medical care in rural India more than six decades after Independence. Mr. Azad's admission came as his Ministry was celebrating across the country the fifth anniversary of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). The Mission has achieved several targets but its major objective of putting a reliable rural health system in place needs a lot more attention, according to a study.

On the positive side, both maternal and infant mortality rates have come down to some extent — the former from 304 to 254 for 1,00,000 live births and the latter from 66 to 53 for every 1,000 live births. There is visible growth in the field of institutional delivery, which means more women go to hospital for childbirth under competent guidance. However, neo-natal deaths present a huge challenge in States like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and chronic malnutrition and under-nourishment continue to take an appalling toll.

 

One of the major challenges in rural healthcare, according to Mr. Azad, is the inadequacy of funds for schemes in villages. "Rural health," he points out, "needs a lot more attention and the government spending of just one per cent of the GDP on health is too low. We need to increase public spending."

 

Shortage of qualified doctors

The third and other intractable problem is the well-known shortage of qualified doctors willing to serve in rural areas. The situation in 150,000 'Primary Health Centres' (PHC) in rural India is appalling. Since these PHCs have no doctors, many poor people have started going to the nearest town for treatment. Mr. Azad has highlighted the fact that 80 per cent of India's medical human resource is serving just 20 per cent of its people, most of whom are living in cities and towns.

 

The decades-old shortage of doctors has assumed emergency proportions in rural India, which accounts for a population of 740 million people. In the primary and community health centres, not more than 25,000 doctors are working, with a doctor-population ratio for the rural areas being 1:30,000 against the all India ratio of 1:1,722, which by itself is far too low.

 

This is in spite of the fact that every year, thousands of medical graduates are coming out of medical colleges, including many private colleges. A sizeable number of these doctors take up jobs in western countries. In the 1970s and 1980s, when there was an exodus of doctors, engineers, and technologists from India, there was some attempt to woo them back, on the moral ground that they had to return to Indian society some of the benefits they had received, for example through the state subsidising their education. Relatively few responded. Now, thanks to the withdrawal of the state from funding professional education, it is not realistic to expect the young men and women who study in private colleges spending several lakhs of rupees to be swayed by such arguments. It is also not surprising that the government's appeal to medical students and young doctors to serve in rural areas has met with no worthwhile response.

 

Course in rural medicine

Under the circumstances, the central government has turned to desperate alternatives, such as the proposal to start a three-and-a-half-year Bachelor of Rural Medicine and Surgery (BRMS) course for doctors to serve in rural areas. The proposal has apparently won the government's support, though it has attracted a lot of flak from the medical community and the media.

 

There are also moves to woo medical students with incentives. Mr. Azad has announced that new medical colleges would be opened across the county and the number of seats would be increased in the existing colleges. Interestingly, when this newspaper published an editorial, which highlighted the need to attract medical graduates in a big way to serve in rural areas but argued against the short cut of introducing a diluted medical course for rural India, as many as 40 readers responded with their comments and prescriptions. The newspaper also published some lively articles on the subject, one of which was by former Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, who expressed himself against the short-term course on the grounds that it was "discriminating" in nature and was "against the spirit of the Constitution and human rights."

Mohammed Zainulabddin, writing from Gulbarga, expressed the view that rural folk would consider the proposed short-term course as discrimination and a violation of basic human rights. He suggested that pharmacy graduates, who have gone through a four-year course, be trained for the purpose. Their subjects of study are almost the same as those of medical students, with the notable exception of Clinical Practice. An additional one-and-a-half year course for pharmacy graduates on Clinical Practice would make them better qualified than perhaps a BRMS, the reader felt.

 

Professionally and intellectually as well as socially, there is no justification for making the kind of rigid distinction between urban and rural India that the proposed short cut implies. According to the World Health Report 2009, the world's population is shifting towards urban areas, with an estimated 49 per cent living in urban areas in 2007. Today's village is not what we knew 30 years ago. What justification can there be for segregating doctors, stipulating that this category with this diluted qualification can work only here and not there?

readerseditor@thehindu.co.in

 

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THE ASIAN AGE

EDITORIAL

ASH CLOUDS THROW WORLD INTO A SPIN

 

Just when airlines worldwide were beginning to recover from their worst-ever financial crisis, disaster struck once again — in the form of the volcanic eruption on the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland. This forced the cancellation of thousands of flights, in Europe and elsewhere, and left lakhs of passengers stranded at airports everywhere. Northern Europe, expectedly, bore the brunt of the impact, with thousands forced to switch to road, rail and sea ferries to reach their destinations. Some left in the lurch at airports hired taxis, and trains and inter-city buses in Britain and Europe were solidly booked. But in our globalised world, people in far continents could not be left unaffected. North America was badly hit as 300 of 600 trans-Atlantic services were cancelled. In India, too, West-bound travellers suffered long waits at airports, with no certainty if they could fly at all or not. Many heading for European destinations aborted their travel plans altogether. Others going to North America were stuck too, with some good news finally coming on Sunday: that Air India planned to resume certain nonstop services to the United States with some re-routing. Jet Airways too planned to fly to the US by re-routing via Athens. Things look more uncertain for those booked on British Airways or other European carriers.

The bottomline was that passengers found themselves helpless, but for once, despite the massive dislocations, there was remarkably little evidence of protests or outrage. Perhaps there was realisation that there was little that the airlines could do — they really could have no Plan B for this situation. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, heading back from the IBSA-BRIC summits in Brasilia, was also affected — the planned stopover in Frankfurt had to be cancelled, and his special Air India aircraft instead flew over Africa, making a halt in Johannesburg, on the way home. Other world leaders caught overseas — particularly European ones — were much worse off. In some cases all that they could do was to fly to the nearest airport still functioning, and traverse the rest of the journey by train or limousine.

The volcanic disaster is a reminder that despite the many technological marvels of the past century and more, Mother Nature still reigns supreme over our planet. As Ralph Waldo Emerson had said: "Everything in nature contains all the power of nature." Or as Buckminister Fuller reminded us: "One outstandingly important fact regarding Spaceship Earth is ... that no instruction book came with it." Highly-advanced jet aircraft are no match for plumes or ash from the volcano which are believed to contain minute particles of silicate that disable their powerful jet engines. There was a really scary incident 28 years ago when all four engines of a jumbo jet became disabled during an earlier volcanic eruption in the Pacific region, and a tragedy only averted due to the presence of mind of the pilot who put his huge aircraft into a steep dive to escape from the ash. It is ironical that unlike the jets, older propeller-driven aircraft would have had no problems with volcanic ash — as these do not suck in air like jet engines. Nature can thus get the better of the most advanced technological marvel. The jet engine, given its size and weight, has phenomenal thrust, but its Achilles heel is that it needs clear air to provide this thrust.

The airlines are still trying to calculate their losses — current and potential, particularly if there is no quick end to the problem. IATA made a rough guesstimate at $200 million; others have put the figure at roughly $16 million a day. The insurance companies too are keeping their collective fingers crossed.

 

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THE ASIAN AGE

EDITORIAL

FOOD SECURITY FOR ALL

 

The recently proposed food security bill can become another landmark scheme of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, comparable to the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). It is under Mrs Sonia Gandhi's personal initiative that the UPA adopted NREGA earlier and again has pressure to implement the scheme initiated in the Congress election manifesto will initiate the scheme this year. It is the most effective anti-poverty measure to be adopted by any government anywhere in the world.

Before the scheme is actually adopted it is necessary to openly debate its provisions. The proposed National Food Security Act is a first step towards ensuring food security to all citizens in the country. It focuses primarily on below poverty line (BPL) families with a minimum quantity of foodgrains per month. The current Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) scheme under the public distribution system (PDS) provides for 35 kg per BPL family per month with Rs 3 per kg for rice and Rs 2 per kg for wheat. The eligible people for AAY are the poorest of the poor who do not have even two square meals a day and in May 2005, the number of beneficiaries came to 2.5 crore households which is 38 per cent of the total BPL households. The idea is to extend this programme to all the BPL households in the country, with an almost revolutionary impact on our food security system.

I would want everyone to discuss an alternative: instead of extending this programme to all the BPL families we should extend the coverage universally, i.e. whole population of the country. This would not only simplify the scheme but it will also practically eliminate the scope of leakage currently severely affecting our PDS. That would of course bring a substantial increase in the subsidies, if the non-BPL families fully avail of these facilities. But there is every reason to expect they will not because most of the non-BPL families are expected to go for higher quality of food with much lower transaction costs for securing them from the market. A 35 kg per family of foodgrains is much lower than the international standards of 60 kg per family. The richer sections would try to acquire that from the markets rather than through PDS. That has been the experience of some of the southern states that have adopted universal coverage. So a provision made in the Budget for universal coverage of the programme for India may not be actually utilised. If, however, the claim on the budgetary resources becomes too high for the government to afford, I would suggest the quantity of food be reduced from 35 to 25 kg instead of limiting it mainly to BPL families. Indeed in actual practice, the amount of foodgrains used has been less than 20-21 kg per family mostly because of huge transaction costs and leakages in the system. If everybody is entitled to 25 kg per family and the requirements above that can always be procured from the local market, incentives for diversions would almost disappear.

My main problem for using the BPL criteria for PDS is that it is virtually impossible to arrive at a consensus about that number however much Planning Commission may provide their estimates. The number of people below a calculated poverty line is a statistical concept, which would be very difficult to apply to the concrete situations on the ground. The criteria for poverty vary from state to state almost entirely determined by political pressures of groups and subgroups. Currently the number of BPL families based on 93-94 poverty estimates of the Planning Commission and March 2000 population estimates is only 6.52 crores. If this is revised by the latest poverty estimates of 2004-2005 and population of 2009 it would be reduced to 5.91 crores. But different states have used different criteria of poverty estimates and issued BPL ration cards according to their estimates, amounting to 10.68 crores today with many states demanding for raising the numbers further. An attempt to limit these to a statistical average will be almost impossible. While the Planning Commission estimate is about 27.7 per cent of people below the poverty line based on calorie content of minimal food baskets, the Tendulkar Committee estimate is about 37 per cent and the Supreme Court appointed expert N.C. Saxena's estimate is above 50 per cent.

On the other hand, the current system of identifying BPL families or AAY families is full of loopholes with scope for discretionary identification by officials susceptible to bribes and other kinds of pressures. The matter gets even more complicated when attempts are made to provide additional 10 kg to above poverty line families. A Planning Commission 2005 report hold that 58 per cent of the subsidised foodgrains issued from the Central government do not reach the BPL families because of identification errors and non transparent practices in the implementation of the schemes. Thirty-six per cent of the budgetary subsidies are siphoned off, and only about 42 per cent reaches the targeted BPL group.

Every attempt should now be made to simplify the scheme that can be effectively done if we make the system universal and not depending upon the identification and estimation of the BPL families.

This of course would not make the system perfect and it is important that the government concentrates on improving the governance of universal PDS rather than wasting time on identifying the poor. The first requirement would be to improve the working of the Food Corporation of India, which is supposed to procure food from the surplus states directly from the producers and transport them to the deficit states. The problem is much more serious at the level of the states. Many of them are unable to lift the allocated foodgrains because of shortage of resources. The Centre has to play a major role in helping the states, if necessary with substantial loans so that foodgrains are available at the fair price shops when a consumer demands it. The fair price shops themselves have to be supported with incentives and if necessary with transport and storage facilities.
A universal PDS for the provision of subsidised foodgrains to all consumers would not obviate the need for reforming the delivery system through PDS. The new food security act must provide for methods of improving the delivery and monitoring their effectiveness.

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

 

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THE ASIAN AGE

EDITORIAL

SLOW DOWN, GET SOME PEACE

 

We are living in a world obsessed with speed. Everyone wants to do things fast, go fast — for what? Just because we have developed fast cars, fast computers, fast machines, do we have to move faster? Sometimes speed is just for the heck of it. Now no one can deny that speed is heady, it gives excitement and thrill but it has also caused a lot of stress in life.

Speed and efficiency have created more worry, more anxiety than relaxation and comfort. Granted that technology saves time, but people don't know what to do with the saved time. What's the best use of this time? Even if time is saved, you will worry and become anxious and ask for some entertainment in that time. Somehow you want to kill that time. The problem of the contemporary people is they are uncomfortable if they have nothing to do. They don't know the joys of being unoccupied, the luxury of it.
The modern man needs to learn to be unoccupied for some time in 24 hours. Too much occupation with outside has disconnected him with himself. This is the reason why people are so stressed these days. They have to understand that time is their friend, not a foe.

What people need is to remember themselves, to connect with themselves. After all, the hustle and bustle of life is for our own well-being, happiness and peace.

Make a small change in your daily routine: slow down. Just by slowing down ordinary activities, you will see how peaceful you become. You don't have to go to a sacred place and spend time in meditation. Your daily chores will have a flavour of meditation.Osho suggests some simple exercises :

l Eat slowly — take your time. If you eat in 10 minutes, take 20 minutes. Enjoy the food. Chew it more; it will be digested better. Your body will feel more at ease and at home. And when the body is at home, the mind too feels at home.

l Sometimes when you don't have anything to do, just sit silently doing nothing. There is no need to read the newspaper or to watch the TV. Don't be in such a mad rush to occupy yourself. That is a way of escaping from yourself. So sometimes when you have nothing to do, feel happy that you can indulge in the luxury of doing nothing. Just sit silently, look at the stars or at the trees, listen to the birds or just close your eyes and look inward. Silence gives rest to the brain cells, it rejuvenates them. Your whole body will feel as if it is freshly showered.

l Slow down your speed in everything you do: walk slowly, talk slowly, breathe slowly, and by and by your energy stuck in the head will come to the heart and your tightly wound nerves will start relaxing. You will come to know the beauty of inactivity, the beauty of passivity. These serene moments replenish the drained energy. As a result it will increase your capacity to work.

By Amrit Sadhana

 Amrit Sadhana is in the management team of Osho International Meditation Resort, Pune. She facilitates meditation workshops around the country and abroad.

 

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DNA

EDITORIAL

RELICS OF THE PAST

 

An interesting element of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) summit communique at Brasilia on Thursday was the suggestion that the group should have a greater say, including higher voting rights, in two of the most influential economic bodies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB).

 

Reform of the "Bretton Woods twins" should be on the agenda of the G-20 summit coming up in Seoul this November.

 

There seems to be a desire on the part of BRIC to assert itself. This could be a deceptive signal. Despite some murmurs, the big emerging economies do not seem to be ready to take the lead in world economic affairs.

 

What they seem to want is due recognition from the dominant western countries of their new strength by way of according them ceremonial deference in the existing order.

 

There has been talk of altering the global financial architecture so that the new economic realities are reflected in the structure of the IMF and the World Bank, which were created at the end of the Second World War against memories of the Great Depression of the 1930s.

 

The system, despite distortions caused by the excessive power wielded by the United States, functioned well enough for most of the 20th century.

 

The World Bank played a good part in lending to the poorest of the poor, and the IMF threw them lifelines and dollops of advice when they got their macroeconomics wrong.

 

But in today's world, many of the systemic issues are not concentrated in the Third World. The latest meltdown began in the heart of capitalism — the US — and the IMF was fairly clueless on it. Money for the poor is also coming from sources other than the World Bank and the IDA, its soft-lending arm.

 

Against this backdrop, it is worth questioning the relevance of unreformed institutions like the IMF and the World Bank. While the big donors — the US and Europe — are unlikely to give up their leverage with these institutions, perhaps it is time to apply some pressure for change.

 

The ideal way to do this is by creating alternative institutions. It should be possible for India, China, Russia and Brazil to fashion institutions which will reflect the new power structure — though India's unresolved political problems with China may queer the pitch.

 

Till that happens, the BRIC group will remain hobbled by its own internal contradictions.

 

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DNA

EDITORIAL

MOVING QUESTION-HOUR

 

Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar is reportedly mulling over the idea of shifting question hour from its present opening slot in the morning to some other time of day.

 

Her reason: question hour involves one of the most crucial transactions of the house, where members seek information from the government, grill ministers and uphold the principle that the Union cabinet is accountable to the house.

 

Unfortunately, for many years now, the house has often been disrupted in the mornings because opposition parties choose to stall proceedings for some reason or the other. Result: question-hour goes out of the window.

 

Kumar's concern is partly justified, though some may say that instead of shifting question hour she should ensure that parties and members give up the unseemly practice of shouting slogans, walking into the well of the house and leaving the speaker with no option but to adjourn it.

 

Ideally, the problem should be tackled at source, by getting party leaders to ensure that members do not disrupt the business of the house no matter what the immediate provocation.

 

But this is not something that should be the sole responsibility of the speaker.

 

The treasury as well as opposition benches have an equal, and perhaps greater, responsibility in ensuring the smooth functioning of the house.

 

The idea of shifting question hour, though, is not a bad idea in itself.

 

It need not be seen as just a way of avoiding the morning troubles that have become so much part of the routine in the house nowadays.

 

Moving it to an afternoon or evening slot will ensure that members as well as cabinet ministers are present in the house in the latter part of the day.

 

Currently, when there are no noisy protests, most members leave the house early. And it has to be mentioned that even the press gallery empties out.

 

Much of the discussion on important legislation is usually carried out in a near-empty house. If legislation is discussed in the morning, this might ensure that more members will be present.

 

And this could help in highlighting the legislative business of the house, which is indeed its core function.

 

To be sure, our legislators may well decide to create a ruckus whenever they choose to do so, but a change in question-hour timing is worth a try. There's nothing to lose anyway even if doesn't work.

 

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DNA

THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION'S LIMITATIONS

MADHAV CHAVAN

 

The Right to Education Act, like any other law, has some inherent limitations imposed by the thought behind it.

 

Its benefits are further limited by the ability of the state or the citizen to enforce it.For one, the constitutional amendment to make free and compulsory education a fundamental right does not go beyond the age of 14 (eight years of education). This is the first limitation of the law.

 

The upper limit of 14 years was probably appropriate in 1950 but not now. Similarly, the lawmakers did not include pre-school or early childhood education in the right. As a result the current act will ignore these age groups unless individual states want to make separate laws extending the limits.

 

In Maharashtra, where all girls and several social groups are assured free education up to Std XII, why should the state government not extend the age limit?

 

States such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Himachal, Nagaland, and Karnataka have, by and large, saturated the supply of schools and teachers although there is a district to district, city to city unevenness and some last mile issues that will have to be corrected.

 

Most states, thanks to work done over the last five years, have opened schools within one km of almost 98% of rural habitations and teacher recruitments are one.

 

So, setting a goal to extend the right to education up to at least 16 years of age by 2015 is possible in large parts of India.

 

Simultaneously, recognising the critical importance of early childhood education to the development of a child's faculties, the government will do well to extend the lower limit of the law at least to age three.

 

There are two factors that are helpful in this. First, under orders from the Supreme Court, the government is obliged to universalise the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) — the anganwadi network — to each habitation.

 

This has largely happened, although not satisfactorily on the quality and efficiency parameters, in most parts of India. ICDS is expected to deliver education along with other services but this aspect was never stressed.

 

So, a structure exists, which can be leveraged. Secondly, it is observed that half of the five-year-olds in the country are already enrolled in Std I although the new act only talks about ages six and higher.

 

So, getting the other 50% of five-year-olds to attend a pre-school in the school premises is just a short hop.

 

Another limitation in the law is continuation of the traditional stress on inputs without adequate attention to outcomes.

 

If a child goes to school for three, five, or eight years, what should his/her learning achievement be? If some basic minimum learning is not achieved, should it not be considered a violation of the child's right to education?

 

In my opinion, it is not only possible but also necessary to conduct standardised tests after classes 2, 5, and 8.

 

These can be text-book independent, stress-free, on-demand examinations conducted by independent agencies. Unless such independent assessment is conducted, the quality of learning in government schools will decline.

 

It is because of the poor quality of learning in government schools that parents with even limited means choose to put their children in low-cost private schools, which may not be all that good either.

 

The new law is designed to make these low-capital, low-cost schools impossible to survive because for them to be recognised they will need to have a good building and a playground, while also paying prescribed salaries to trained teachers.

 

In a city such as Hyderabad, close to 4,000 such schools will face closure.

 

The numbers are likely to be almost as high in every big city of Uttar Pradesh and some other states.

 

Will the government find the space and funds to replace these schools?How will the population react to these closures given their perception of government schools? Will the government actually have the moral, political, and financial strength to close them down in three years?

 

The much discussed 25% reservation in unaided schools will have interesting consequences, assuming that such reservation is implemented systematically and properly.

 

On the one hand low-cost schools become non-viable, and the cost of private schooling will skyrocket as salary and capital investment needs shoot up.

 

On the other hand, if the government schools fail to deliver the quality that can meet the aspirations of the growing middle income population, the law will not be enough.

 

A social conviction that children of the rich and the poor should study together will be needed if the law has to be effective. There is no leadership today that can actually provide this conviction.

 

In conclusion, the government will have to take drastic and urgent steps to ensure improved quality of education in government schools that focus on measurable outcomes. A beginning has been made, buta long and difficult road lies ahead for the Indian child.

 

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DNA

IT'S HARDLY A GENTLEMAN'S GAME THESE DAYS

ANIL DHARKER

 

Whatever the reason, some Tweeters are now having to face the real world and in this real world both Shashi Tharoor and Lalit Modi will either lose their jobs or have their wings clipped considerably.

 

A lot of questions are begging to be asked. Like who are Gaikwads and do engineering skills equip you to run a sporting franchise?

 

Sunanda Pushkar modestly says that, "people cannot accept that an attractive woman can also be a business woman." As it happens, most people can accept that an attractive woman can be a businesswoman. In fact, most people will welcome attractive women being businesswomen.

 

The point Sunanda Pushkar misses — quite possibly deliberately — is that it's not her face that people are bothered about, it is what's behind that face.

 

When she talks about 'extensive international business experience' is it as extensive and so unusual that it merits Rs69 crore sweat equity?

 

And that, too, given as a percentage fixed in perpetuity and guaranteed against dilution? How many IIM graduates with international experience of a few years are given a deal like that? So if people call this a sweetheart deal with a snigger, do you blame them?

 

Apart from the Kochi franchise's less than credible foundation, the income-tax and enforcement department's investigations will finally give us some clarity on the ownership of other franchises.

 

Here we have to ask the central question: Why were the IPL franchises covered by "a code of confidentiality" (in the words of the BCCI secretary)? Any company formed in this country is subject to a host of regulations, including full disclosure of shareholding. Why should IPL be different?

 

Some might argue that owning a franchise is a kind of private investment such as buying real estate or art which does not have to be publicly disclosed.

 

But that argument cannot hold when you consider how very public the IPL is. In fact, its success depends on the very fact that people across the country take a huge interest in IPL.

 

That does not include just the cricket itself but also the finances of the team, the cost of each player and who owns what. In such a situation, it's wrong to ask for confidentiality.

 

This cloak of secrecy has already fuelled ugly rumours about slush funds, black money and even underworld money coming into the IPL. Is that good for the tournament or good for cricket?

 

Lalit Modi's own conduct has been arrogant in the extreme as if the success of IPL somehow puts him above good business practices and even above the law.

 

What is immeasurably worse is that seemingly intelligent people are saying IPL matches are fixed and they are saying it with absolute certainty.

 

A moment's thought will tell you it is impossible to fix cricket matches.

 

How do you fix a game where 22 people are playing? Do you 'fix' all of them? And do you 'fix' all 22 in the next match? Are all cricketers such good actors that they can put on such a show of celebration when they get a wicket?

 

Some say you need to bribe only a couple of players to fix a match. How absurd is that? We have seen again and again that even when two key batsmen fail, there are others who play a winning innings.

 

What about dropped catches? "That's fixed!" the conspiracy theorists say. In that case the ball must be bribed to find the fielder who has been fixed so he can drop the catch! How do you bribe a ball? With promise of extra spittle?

 

Absurd though this kind of talk is, it shows that once a game gets murky, it begins to lose all credibility. That's why it's important to get to the bottom of IPL finances.

 

It's not just Tharoor, Modi and the others who are on trial. It's the game of cricket itself.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

THE IPL MESS

CASH-FLUSH LEAGUE MUST COME CLEAN

 

Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi would have never imagined that the IPL would turn into such a mega money-making machine in so short a time. Nor would he have imagined that his giving out details of Rendezvous Sports consortium, the franchisees of the Kochi team, on Twitter would start a fire which would engulf him too. His spat with Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor has turned so ugly that Modi is as much in trouble as the minister. In a way, it is good that the controversy has turned the spotlight on the functioning and funding of the IPL and all the 10 teams – eight existing ones and the two news ones, Kochi and Pune, for whom auctions were held on March 21 this year.

 

It appears that there are skeletons galore in the cupboards. The Enforcement Directorate suspects large-scale money laundering in purchase of some of the franchises. Some of the franchisees are corporate entities and it would not be difficult to trace their funding. The real messy area is where the teams have been bought by multiple owners. The authorities will have to look carefully whether some of the well-known people who picked up these teams were only a front for the real investors.

 

It is really amazing that the Kochi and Pune teams went for a staggering Rs 3,200 crore. Was someone trying to park unaccounted money? Some stakeholders are alleged to have routed their money through tax-haven countries. Just as the role of Mr Shashi Tharoor and his friend Sunanda Pushkar calls for scrutiny, it is necessary to go with a fine toothcomb over the dealings of Mr Lalit Modi. There are allegations that his kin hold big stakes in Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab. The affairs of a high-value venture like the IPL, which is expected to generate an income of around $1.6 billion over five or 10 years, must be absolutely transparent. 

 

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THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

WHO KILLED BENAZIR?

UN PROBE FAILS TO UNRAVEL MYSTERY

 

The UN Commission of Enquiry that probed the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has held responsible for her killing not only the then Musharraf regime but also the provincial government of Punjab and the Rawalpindi police. There is little new in this. That their role was questionable is a well-known fact. The charismatic woman leader died in a suicide bomb attack along with many others after she had addressed a massive rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007. That she could have been saved had the government provided her adequate security, as the report highlights, is what her party, the PPP, has been saying ever since her killing. She was not given the level of security as was her due as a former Prime Minister. Why?

 

Benazir, who had been living in self-imposed exile for many years, was allowed to come back to Pakistan to contest the February 18, 2008, elections after a deal with the Musharraf regime. The ruling General was initially reluctant to enter into any kind of deal with her, but ultimately agreed to under US pressure. He suspected her, but could do little as Uncle Sam had his own scheme of things for Pakistan, the so-called key ally of the US in the war on terror. Since she had been expressing strong views against terrorists, the US wanted her to be allowed to share power with General Musharraf, who had by then fallen from grace with Washington DC. She, too, had indicated that anything could happen to her. She was assassinated by men of Baitullah Mehsud, the late chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, as the official claim goes, but there is strong suspicion of the ISI's role in her killing.

 

It is not without reason that the UN probe team faced non-cooperation at various levels from government functionaries despite Benazir's widower, Mr Asif Zardari, being President. The UN commission has expressed the belief that "the failure of the police to investigate effectively Ms Bhutto's assassination was deliberate". The police could not play its role properly owing to pressure from various quarters, including the Pakistan Army-controlled ISI. The PPP government says it is satisfied with the UN probe report, but the whole truth is still not known. And there is little chance of the whole truth coming out as it will be embarrassing for the all-powerful Pakistan Army. 

 

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THE TRIBUNE

EDITORIAL

FLIP-FLOP ON SMS

DOT BLANKET BAN DEFIED LOGIC

 

It would have been comic but for the implications. The strange case of first imposing a blanket ban on mobile Short Messaging Services ( SMS) used by post-paid subscribers in Jammu & Kashmir, and withdrawing it within three hours of notification on Friday last week, shows the Central authorities in poor light. It is inconceivable that a decision of such importance, involving a sensitive state like Jammu & Kashmir, could have been taken in isolation by the Department of Telecommunication. Consultations should have taken place at the highest levels, the pros and the cons discussed and the stakeholders taken into confidence before the notification was finally issued, making the ban effective from midnight. That is the way the government and the bureaucracy normally function. But the sequence of events leads one to the conclusion that rules of executive business were not duly followed in this case.

 

Even a plain reading of the notification, issued ostensibly in 'national interest' and due to 'security considerations', makes it look absurd. Had the ban been imposed on pre-paid subscribers, it would still have made some sense because of the ease with which people secure pre-paid SIM cards by furnishing incomplete or incorrect addresses and other details. But post-paid subscribers, who do not just receive bills at homes and offices but also make payments through banks, have presumably better credentials and can be tracked more easily and faster. And yet the notification allowed the SMS service to be used by the pre-paid subscribers, although restricted to 10 messages per day, while denying the facility entirely to the post-paid subscribers. It certainly defied logic.

 

Carelessness in the bureaucracy is common enough. But in this case a misunderstanding has been suggested as a plausible explanation for the embarrassing faux pas. It seems a ban had been sought on bulk text messaging services in the state so as to restrain agencies from sending out information of dubious quality to thousands of recipients. The bureaucrats in the DoT apparently failed to differentiate between SMS and 'bulk' SMS. But even if such charitable explanation is accepted at face value, it would still indicate a dangerous degree of indifference, incompetence or lack of communication skills among the babus. It remains to be seen if some accountability is fixed and the sequence explained to Parliament, which is in session.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

COLUMN

PROBING BENAZIR'S KILLING

PAKISTAN ARMY CAN THWART US PLANS

BY K. SUBRAHMANYAM

 

The best-known victim of terrorism in Pakistan was former Prime Minister and PPP leader Benazir Bhutto. The elected Pakistan Government approached the United Nations to appoint an enquiry panel to go into the circumstances of her assassination. The UN appointed a panel with Ambassador Haraldo Munoz of Chile as chairman, and former Attorney-General of Indonesia Marzuki Darusman and Irish police officer Peter Fitzgerald as members.

 

While President Zardari and General Musharraf, among others, appeared before the panel and made their depositions, it has been refused access to Army officers and those belonging to the ISI. In spite of this, the UN panel has concluded its task and delivered the report. It is a devastating indictment of the Musharraf administration and the intelligence services. The panel had a very limited reference to investigate the circumstances of the assassination and not to fix responsibility.

 

The panel has concluded: Ms Bhutto faced threats from a number of sources. These included Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, local jihadi groups and potentially from elements in the Pakistani establishment. But the Pakistani investigation after the assassination focused on pursuing "lower-level operatives," not those further up the hierarchy.

 

Pakistan's powerful ISI conducted parallel investigations, gathering evidence which was only selectively shared with the police. The failure of the police to investigate effectively Ms Bhutto's assassination was deliberate. "These officials, in part fearing intelligence agencies' involvement, were unsure of how vigorously they ought to pursue actions, which they knew, as professionals, they should have taken."

 

The commission urges the Pakistani authorities to carry out a "serious, credible" criminal investigation that "determines who conceived, ordered and executed this heinous crime of historic proportions, and bring those responsible to justice."

 

"Doing so would constitute a major step toward ending impunity for political crimes in this country," the report said. To address the broader issue of impunity for political crimes, the commission called for Pakistan to consider establishing a "fully independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate political killings, disappearances and terrorism in recent years" and provide victims with "material and moral reparations… the autonomy, pervasive reach and clandestine role of intelligence agencies in Pakistani life underlie many of the problems, omissions and commissions set out in this report."

 

The commission urged the government to conduct a thorough review of intelligence agencies "based on international best practices" and reform the police to ensure "democratic policing" and protection of individual human rights.

 

There can be no greater exposure of the Pakistan Government's hypocrisy in fighting terrorism and the total helplessness of the civilian government before the Army and its intelligence services. The UN commission itself, though set up at the plea of the present government run by the party which Benazir headed at the time of her assassination and whose widower heads it now, was powerless to order the Army and the intelligence sevices to give evidence before the panel. When civilian politicians and civil society of Pakistan are that spineless it is unrealistic to expect them to have the guts to prosecute Hafiz Saeed and Ilyas Kashmiri, the protéges of the Army and the ISI. The Pakistan Army and the ISI did not hesitate to assert their authority over the civilian government in spite of the provisions of the Kerry-Lugar legislation which require the US Secretary of State to certify to the Congress civilian control over the Army.

 

There are reports that in pursuance of the recommendation of the UN commission the Pakistani Government will appoint another investigative body to probe the case. At this stage, with the Pakistani Army fighting the Pakistani Taliban, it may be easier to put the blame on Baitullah Mehsud, then leader of the Pakistani Taliban, killed in a US drone strike, while whitewashing that at the time of the assassination the Pakistani Taliban was a protégé of the ISI.

 

The Pakistan Army permitting the government to set up a "Truth and Reconciliation and Commission", as recommended by the UN panel, does not seem to be possible! The UN report could not have come at a more inappropriate time for Pakistan. On April 28-29 the SAARC summit is to be held in Thimphu and the question will arise whether a meeting on the sidelines of the summit between Dr Manmohan Singh and Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will be purposeful. This UN panel report makes it clear that the Pakistani civilian government cowers before the Army when the ISI covers up the assassination of its own tallest leader.

 

The UN report hints that the motivation for Benazir's assassination could be her expressed desire to settle the Kashmir dispute and pursue better relations with India. It is also to be taken note of that as General Musharraf made some progress on the Kashmir issue through the back channel talks, he lost the support of his corps commanders and was forced out of office. General Kayani in his February media briefing has cited Kashmir and water (which very much involves Kashmir) issues as justification for India-centric force concentration on 
their eastern borders.

 

The General appears to be under the impression that the US, determined to exit from Afghanistan in 2011, has to depend on him and, therefore, they have to give in to him on his mollycoddling the terror outfits. This is a different situation from the one that existed during the Bush administration. Prime Minister Gilani and Foreign Minister Qureshi have disowned the Musharraf era understandings so far reached during the back-channel dialogue. The persistence of the present Army-subordinated civilian government on the resumption of the composite dialogue may well be to denounce the Musharraf regime's back-channel understanding on the Kashmir issue.

 

Till now the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the investigation into it were domestic matters for Pakistan. Since a UN panel has submitted its report, it is no longer a domestic issue. The Rafiq Harriri assassination in Beirut was not treated as a domestic issue after it had been investigated by a UN panel. It is reported that President Karzai of Afghanisyan visited Benazir personally and warned her of the impending plot to assassinate her and offered the services of his intelligence service to protect her. She is reported to have declined the offer.

 

The US administration was keen on the return of Benazir to mainstream politics of Pakistan. Its plans for her were totally wrecked by the assassination. Therefore, this needs to be taken by Delhi as a regional one with the US and Afghanistan. The behaviour pattern of Pakistani intelligence under the patronage of the Army in this case, where the US planned a major regime change in Pakistan and was successfully foiled by the ISI, is surely a road-marker for what the Pakistani Army can do to the US scheme of things for the AfPak region in the days to come.

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THE TRIBUNE

COLUMN

POETRY, PROTEST AND HOSIERY

BY NIRUPAMA DUTT

 

Poetry, protest and hosiery do make for an uncanny threesome. But then opposites have a magnetic way of reaching out to one another. So it is with India's own Manchester. Yes, the reference here is to apna Ludhiana which as an industrial city is known for its bicycles, motor cycles and more. This city has surprisingly nurtured a large number of poets.

 

Many would know of Urdu poet Sahir Ludhianvi, who brought a lot of glory to his city whose name he carried with him as he rose to great fame writing lyrics for Bollywood films.

 

But Sahir was not the lone poet of Ludhiana which is at times also referred in slang as Lousiana. Recently, the town was once again the focus of the literati with the coveted Birla Foundation Saraswati Award, with a generous combination of Lakshmi too, going to the contemporary bard of Punjab: Surjit Patar of course. Patar is indeed the homegrown poet laureate whose talent blossomed in the hosiery city. Once again Ludhiana has been done proud and one is musing about the versifiers of this city.

 

Interestingly, the poets here have shown their merit in Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi. Before the Land of Five Rivers was split into two rivers and a half each: Urdu was the literary language and among the contemporaries of Sahir was another celebrated poet called Ibn-e-Insha, who went to same Government College as Sahir. Insha later migrated to Pakistan but was implicated by the martial law regime in the Rawalpindi Conspiracy Case with senior poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

 

Insha then chose self-exile in England and continued with his poetry and his protest for a just and social order. Sahir's poetry was also one of protest and although he was expelled from the college during British rule but the college chose to honour him at its Golden Jubilee function in 1970.

 

Another contemporary of Sahir and perhaps some years older to him was a people's poet called Painter Bawri. A signboard painter by profession he filled the city with banners mourning Sahir when the latter passed away in October,1980.

 

Two other friends of Sahir who wrote and lived poetry in this town were Krishan Adeeb, writing in Urdu, and Ajaib Chitrakar in Punjabi. Trade union leader Madan Lal Didi who wrote revolutionary songs in Urdu was yet another Ludhianvi as was professor Satyapal Anand, who wrote in Urdu and English.

 

Well, the Ludiana roll of poetic honours would not be quite complete without the mention of famous Punjabi poet Mohan Singh who spent the last years of his life there as Professor Emeritus in Punjab Agricultural University and, of course, Kumar Vikal, the well-loved Hindi poet who grew up in Ludhiana but moved to Chandigarh later.

 

So one salutes the poetry and protest within of this hosiery town and hopes that this tradition always remains. A happy note as one ends is that women too are now joining the ranks among poets of the Ludhianvi breed.

 

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THE TRIBUNE

OPED

THE MAOIST MENACE
LET TRIBAL PEOPLE LIVE ON THEIR LAND

BY MAHI PAL SINGH

 

Since the massacre of 76 CRPF personnel by the Maoists at Dantewada, on April 6, 2010 heated debates have been taking place in the media about how to tackle the menace. In these debates spokespersons of major political parties, retired military and police officers always end up holding the commanders of the para-military forces and the Central and state governments responsible for the strategic loopholes in the planning, training and equipment of these forces for such disasters.

 

They also put the responsibility of these killings squarely on the Naxalites/Maoists, sometimes touching upon the lack of development in the tribal areas also as being responsible. These speakers are also vocal in denouncing killings by Maoists and almost always shun discussing incidents of killing, rape, torture and burning the houses of tribals by the para-military forces.

 

This turns the whole discussion one sided, as a result of which the only solution which appears in sight to end the menace seems better equipment and facilities to the personnel and a greater political will on the part of the government to decimate the Maoists through brutal armed force.

 

Members of the civil society who get loud applause from informed gatherings in various hall meetings end up making fools of themselves before the studio audience even when they are invited to these discussions. In fact, they are called there to be befooled by proving their arguments lame in comparison with those clamouring for a more powerful offensive against the Maoists by the security forces.

 

But the question is who is to blame for this? How do these intellectuals and academics fail to seem convincing? Or, are all of them supporters of the Maoists as is alleged on the floor of the studio? Yes, if the impression gathered at these studio discussions is any yardstick. And they themselves are to blame for this situation because they do not denounce Maoist violence in unequivocal terms, however brutal it might be, while criticising violence perpetrated by the para-military forces.

 

There should be no difficulty for the so-called Gandhians, and other votaries of democratic values, in criticising Maoist violence in clear terms because it cannot be denied that even amongst the Maoists there are sections, which are engaged in abductions, extortions and killing of those whom they perceive as police informers, and such people are also poor tribals. There is no denying the fact that many of them, or maybe most of them, have been pushed to the wall and forced into taking up arms against the state due to gross state negligence resulting in deprivation, hunger and starvation, police brutality and injustice, rape, burning of their houses for eviction of their land to be handed over to multinational corporations etc., (though there might as well be hard core Naxals fighting in favour of their political ideology).

 

Otherwise, the ranks of the Maoists would not have swelled menacingly only within the last few years since when government-sponsored land-grabbing exercise for the benefit of MNCs has started or intensified, not for the development of these tribals but for the profit of the MNCs. Otherwise what can explain the displacement of 3.5 lakh people from 700 villages of Dantewada district alone which have been burnt by the security forces and the volunteers of Salva Judum, a self-styled army of goondas against which even the Supreme Court has made critical remarks.

 

And, of course, the political bosses have a clear stake in all this as was exemplified by the discovery of more than Rs 4,000 crore of unaccounted for money discovered from Madhu Koda, the former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, which is known for its mineral wealth, and everybody standing in the way of its loot by these political bosses, whether tribal or Maoist, is their sworn enemy and their governments, though harping on the cord of development which has remained only on paper all these years, would use any amount of force to displace and decimate him/her branding him/her as anti-national and Maoist because just by hanging that tag around anybody's neck, like the albatross, the security forces assume the right to torture and kill innocent people with impunity. The arrest and incarceration of Binayak Sen for more than one year on purely concocted charges of being a Maoist sympathiser is a point in question.

 

Those intellectuals, if there are any, who harbour the imaginary notion that some day the Naxalites/Maoists will throw out the modern state with the force of arms and will establish a truly democratic state should understand that it is not possible to overthrow a state defended by a modern and well-equipped army. Secondly, and even more important, that the government established after such an overthrow is bound to be a dictatorial government led by a group of dictators, not a democratic state with equal rights to every person because no dictator can afford to give the right to dissent to any citizen. Even an imaginary situation like that can be detrimental to whatever democratic space exists today even in this sham democracy of ours.

 

A philosophical and social movement against the forces of exploitation can be launched for educating the masses about protecting their rights within the framework of our Constitution. Let us not underrate the understanding and power of these people to throw out governments by pressing just one fingertip, not at the trigger of the gun but at the electronic voting machine. So the intellectual class should have no hesitation in condemning violence, whether indulged into by the Naxalites/Maoists or by the state. And if the government is really serious about ending this menace, first it should announce on the floor of the Lok Sabha an end to the policy of forcible acquisition of land. Then it should undertake a comprehensive programme of implementing the provisions of Part IV of our Constitution entitled "Directive Principles" of the State Policy" in right earnest, particularly in these tribal areas so that these people can live an honourable life at the place which belongs to them.

 

The Maoists then will get no sympathisers. It is only after that that the government will be justified in launching an operation like Green Hunt if anybody lifts arms against the state. Till then the butchery indulged into by the state as well as the Maoists must stop because every bullet, whether fired by the security forces or the Maoists, brings down a poor man who could otherwise contribute to the development of the country with his hard work.

 

The writer is the National Secretary of the People's Union for Civil Liberties

 

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THE TRIBUNE

OPED

KHAP PANCHAYATS: DUTIES FIRST

BY ANIL NAURIYA

 

One probable meaning of  "khap"  is "application of mind". It is often used popularly as a verb, as in "sir khapana",  to indicate a tiresome exercise of the mind. It might have been expected, therefore, that the   meeting of the  Khap "Mahapanchayat" in Kurukshetra on the Jallianwala Bagh Day would  have had a semblance of a cerebral outcome. In fact, the upshot has been disappointing  and suggests that the khap leaders have still not come to terms with the real issues involved.

 

That rural communities in and adjoining Haryana have been lagging behind modern India's  social jurisprudence is well known. The  demand at the Khap Mahapanchayat that the Hindu Marriage Act be amended to bar marriages within a gotra is noteworthy for a reason not  quite foreseen by the khap leaders.

A few spokesmen of the khap panchayats have sought to suggest that there is an evolution of opinion within the Haryana region which now needs to be taken into account by  amending the marriage laws so as to incorporate such opinion.  In fact, khap pretensions of one kind or another have been heard throughout the twentieth century and have been rejected by India's leading thinkers from Gandhi, through all committees established to reform Hindu law up to Ambedkar and HV Pataskar.

 

When in the 1920s, British state institutions were boycotted as part of the non-co-operation movement, attempts were made by some local people to confer civil and criminal powers upon village elders. The concept was scotched by none other than Mahatma Gandhi. This was even though he otherwise favoured  panchayats and  spoke of village republics. Some panchayats resorted to social ostracism of opponents as part of the non-co-operation movement. This led Gandhi to warn: "Ostracism of a violent character such as the denial of the use of public wells is a species of barbarism, which I hope will never be practised by anybody of men having the desire for national self-respect and national uplift" (Young India. December 8, 1920).

 

If any panchayats were formed in the course of the movement, what should be the sanction for the enforcement of any order passed by such a panchayat? To this question  Gandhi gave a creative and subtle answer.  He proceeded first to lay down  stringent guidelines for and  duties to be performed by panchayats and the answer to the powers and sanction of the panchayat emerged from these guidelines and duties themselves.

 

Gandhi specified the duties to be performed by such panchayats. These were : (a) The education of boys and girls in its village; (b) Its sanitation; (c) Its medical needs; (d) The upkeep and cleanliness of village wells or ponds; and (e) The uplift of and the daily wants of the so-called untouchables. A panchayat which fails without just cause to attend to these duties, may, according to Gandhi, " be disbanded and another elected in its place".

 

And the sanction behinds its orders and judgements? Gandhi now delivered the coup de grace: "Where a panchayat is really popular and increases its popularity by the constructive work of the kind suggested in clause 9, it will find its judgements and authority respected by reason of its moral prestige. And that surely is the greatest sanction any one can possess and of which one cannot be deprived". (Young India, May 28, 1931).

 

He was raising what political scientists would call the question of legitimacy. In other words, there is no power without responsibility and performance of duty. Where such duty is duly performed, the panchayat would require no other authority to enforce any  reasonable directions that it may give. 

 

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THE TRIBUNE

OPED

CHATTERATI
CRICKET, POLITICS AND THAROOR

BY DEVI CHERIAN

 

Politics is often deep, dark and dirty. Cricket is also very often a cesspool. When the two meet, the result is naturally toxic. It is into this mess that Shashi Tharoor decided to step in. As a mentor to the Kochi team he may well claim that he was after all only acting in his role as a member of Parliament.

 

But in comes companion Sunanda, (from Kashmir to Dubai via Canada) along with OSD Jacob from Dubai. This gang from Dubai has made Tharoor the main talking point of Delhi as no other junior minister has been in the last several years. The talking on a rude first strike by Lalit Modi has now opened up a can of worms that Tharoor with his UN experience could simply not have been prepared for.

 

It didn't help matters that Sunanda's past too came under scrutiny. Sunanda was earlier seen in Delhi circles accompanying the Minister of State from gallery openings to smaller intimate gatherings.

 

CONGRESS IN DISARRAY

The Prime Minister's long foreign trips often throw up local fracas. His no-comment approach often douses flames before they flare up. Digvijay's comments from America, while on a personal visit, about Chidambaram's anti-Maoist policy was one such.

 

It showed the Congress ranks in disarray even during Parliament's discussion on the Dantewada massacre. Because the two leaders are senior, Delhi's political pundits began to make multiple interpretations.

 

As if that is not enough, we also have a whole clutch of Union ministers who have run out their Rajya Sabha terms. Since all of them were also too nervous to attempt a Lok Sabha outing, they are now dependent on the Congress high command.

 

So "mantris" keep one hand on their "kursis" while signing files with the other. Some are even doing cross-country official trips to woo states which may have spare Rajya Sabha capacities but whose Chief Ministers are nervous about accommodating outsiders. All of this surely makes for a government that is nervous.

 

POLITICS AND CELEBRATIONS

Amita Modi Singh's party last week had guests from all walks of life. It was a little late to celebrate her husband, Sanjay Singh's victory in Uttar Pradesh. Nevertheless, the party was full of people from different spheres — from Shiela Dikshit to Kapil Dev. One thing one gets to see in Delhi's political parties is that MPs, cutting across party lines, are there at their colleagues' functions. Sanjay Singh's youngest daughter, Akansha, played a gracious hostess with her mother.

 

Bollywood stars are often visible in Delhi's parties. Jackie Shroff was a little uncomfortable wearing a suit in this heat. Nafisa Ali, Sangeeta Bijlani, Rudy Pratap Singh and Raj Babbar all had a great time, being their boisterous selves.

 

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MUMBAI MERROR

EDITORIAL

TIME FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH

IT IS A VERY SERIOUS MATTER THAT EVEN AFTER SIX DECADES OF INDEPENDENCE, THE BENEFITS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT HAVE NOT REACHED A SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGE OF INDIAN POPULATION

 

It is one of the delicious ironies of Indian politics that the Congress, the 900-lb gorilla, got two of its catchy vote winning slogans thanks to the opposition. In the 70s, Indira Gandhi's Congress came up with the smash hit of 'Garibi hatao' in response to the opposition's single point agenda of 'Indira hatao'.

 History was repeated in 2004 when the NDA's refreshing campaign of 'India Shining' made the Congress rediscover its love for the aam aadmi and the fashionable politically correct slogan of 'inclusive growth'. As Victor Hugo pointed out perhaps inclusive growth is an idea whose time has come. Thanks to information technology and breakthroughs in telecommunication, the world has become a global village. Developed countries discovered that economic growth need not always create jobs. There could be jobless growth, growth without vision and even futureless growth threatening environment. In India it is the politicians who discovered the need for inclusive growth. If nothing else, the recurring problem of terrorist attacks has highlighted the fact that at least one religious group does not feel included in the mainstream. Similarly, the repeated violence of Maoists in tribal areas of the country are a reminder that a section of the tribals feel that they have not been included in the process of economic development of the country. It is really a serious matter that after six decades of independence, the benefits of economic development have not reached a significant percentage of the population.

E c o n o m i c growth is promoted if productive employment is provided. Jobs empower people by conferring purchasing power on them. Hence the vital need for economic growth along with creation of jobs. Politics and government are concerned with a quest for power. In a democracy capturing power is through the process of elections and hence the supreme importance of nurturing vote banks. Inclusive growth is one sure formula for winning the loyalty of vote banks. In recent times inclusive growth in Indian political dialogue has come to focus on the minorities, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes as well as other backward classes.
   Creating wealth and jobs is the function of business while profit making and protecting the interests of investors is the priority of the corporate sector. It is the pressure from the government that at last has made the Indian corporate sector look into the issue of inclusive growth. CII the premier body representing India Inc. has undertaken exercise in promoting inclusive growth. While it is easy to pay lip service to the concept of inclusive growth it is necessary to recognise the fundamental dilemmas in the political and business approaches towards achieving inclusive growth. Unless these are resolved inclusive growth will remain an elaborate exercise in hypocrisy.

In politics the basic dilemma is this. For the sake of nurturing vote banks political parties all the time emphasise separate identities like minorities, SC, ST or OBCs. If the focus is so much on identities how can an inclusive mindset be developed which would include the mainstream of the society? Psychological inclusion may be evaded even if economic inclusion takes place. No wonder we are noticing a gradual reduction in the overall sense of patriotism. How many of us feel that we are Indians first?

   The dilemma of business is totally different. The basic focus of business is on profit making and wealth creation. By definition many of the groups excluded so far from the mainstream lack the skills and mindset needed for business.

In this context the best approach for corporate India to adopt is to emulate what the Japanese industry did after the second WW II. After the defeat of Japan, the allied powers under General McArthur introduced in Japan the labour laws of the US. The Japanese industry had the vision to convert the conditions imposed by the new legal environment into an opportunity and came up with the concept of lifetime employment. In the next three or four decades the Japanese industry was able to beat other countries in the global competition by nurturing its labour force using this principle. The Indian industry will similarly have to not only meet the skill gap but also come up with innovative concepts so that inclusive growth does not lead to loss of produc-

 

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******************************************************************************************BUSINESS STANDARD

EDITORIAL

CAN'T AUDIT GOVERNMENT

AFTER CAG INDICTS RAJA, WILL ACTION BE TAKEN?

 

AFTER CAG INDICTS RAJA, WILL ACTION BE TAKEN?

The questions the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has asked the communications ministry under A Raja really cut to the heart of the heart of the 2G licence scam in 2008, a scam estimated by many to have cost the government around $8-10 billion in terms of lost revenues. That year, instead of auctioning, the ministry decided to allocate licences to a handful of firms at exactly the same prices that were paid way back in 2001 when similar licences were last auctioned. Like most other observers at that time, CAG has asked the ministry for an explanation as to why, when it had announced that licence applications would be taken till October 1, 2007, it then decided to issue a press release on January 10, 2008, saying that only those applications that had been received till September 25, 2007 would be considered. This January 10 press release ensured that of the 575 applications the ministry got for licences/spectrum, only 232 were processed. After this, the CAG queries get a lot more specific and even tougher to dodge. CAG says while the decision to process applications received up to September 25 was taken in November 2007, it was made public only on January 10, 2008 — why the delay, CAG wants to know. On January 10, 2008, CAG has found, another press release was issued, asking companies to assemble in the ministry by 4.30 pm on that day. This release was not issued through the Press Information Bureau as normally happens but was put only on the ministry website. In other words, only a limited number of firms got to know this. This second press release, CAG says, was uploaded on the DoT site at 2.45 pm on January 10, 2008 but 78 applicants managed to submit their bank drafts by close of day — since such efficiency is not normal, it suggests a handful of firms had their drafts ready even before the press releases were issued.

The real issue, however, goes way beyond this. Let's assume CAG finds the ministry's replies unsatisfactory. What then? Can we expect the government to take some action? The answer seems unlikely if you look at the fate of various other CAG reports of importance. When CAG did an audit of the celebrated VDIS amnesty scheme of 1997, it drew attention to very serious flaws — accused persons in various scam,s such as the cobbler scam in Maharashtra or hawala transactions, were allowed to get amnesty though the law was clear they were debarred; since amnesty-seekers were allowed to declare their wealth in the form of silver and state when they had bought the silver (in some cases, the silver declared was claimed to have been bought way back in 1933), this effectively lowered the VDIS tax rate from 30 per cent to around 2 per cent; a similar fudge was noticed in the case of jewellery where people were allowed to say they had bought the jewellery in 1986 when rates were much lower. Yet, no action was taken. When the Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) was privatised, CAG found there was a difference of over Rs 3,000 crore in the total receivables depicted in DVB's balance sheet and that worked out by the consultant — this allowed a lower valuation in the sale price. Once again, no action. Look at the Action Taken Notes for various CAG reports and there is a huge gap, sometimes as high as 50 per cent. In other words, an exceptionally high proportion of CAG reports don't result in the government taking credible action. So why bother?

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BUSINESS STANDARD

EDITORIAL

STAY COMMITTED TO SPACE

GSLV D3 FAILURE SHOULD NOT DEMORALISE, BUT REVITALISE

 

GSLV D3 FAILURE SHOULD NOT DEMORALISE, BUT REVITALISE

The failure of the GSLV D3 launch and more specifically, the failure of the indigenous cryogenic engine is undoubtedly a major setback for the space programme. It must have been heart-breaking for the development team that slogged 17-odd years. But the crash has to be taken in its stride and written off to statistical probability. Just five nations have reliable cryogenic technology. All have research budgets that dwarf ISRO and all went through decades of tests and experimental failures. Cryogenic engines use super-cooled gases (usually liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen) as fuel. As the liquids mix and vapourise in the rocket chamber, they expand explosively, imparting thrust. In theory, it is the most efficient form of rocket propulsion. But while the principles derive from Newtonian mechanics, the technical challenges are staggering. Cooling gases to -190ºC and storing them as liquids until the optimum moment is difficult. Things can go wrong at many stages. ISRO will have to work out what exactly did go wrong. There can be no question about staying committed to the programme. Space capability depends on reliable cryogenic engines and India cannot piggyback indefinitely on Russian cryogenics. ISRO possesses only two Russian engines at this instant and there are no guarantees the Russians will sell any more. GSLV D3 with all payloads costs Rs 330 crore. The engine itself costs around Rs 180 crore. These are drops in the ocean of potential returns. India's entire space programme spends Rs 5,800 crore per annum, that is around 0.1 per cent of GDP.

 The return is already many multiples of expenditure. The potential returns could be much higher. Satellite capability has helped extend the TV-Telecom footprint to remote areas where satellite-based technology costs a fifth of the alternatives. Licensing fees and revenue shares from those services already pay for the entire space programme with plenty to spare. In addition, sat-technology has enabled mapping, remote-sensing and zoning services. Improved road planning, municipal tax collection, safe drinking water and irrigation programmes, as well as better weather and crop forecasting, can be attributed to satellite capability. The potential for use in anti-insurgency exercises also exists. Again, the returns exceed the expenditure by magnitudes. Indigenous cryogenic engines will make India a major player and a possible game-changer in the multi-billion-dollar commercial satellite market. According to estimates published in MIT's Technology Review, India may eventually be able to put payloads in orbit at costs of $67/kg. The Russians charge $3,500/kg for a commercial payload and NASA charges even more.

If those estimates are near-credible (they are endorsed by at least one NASA adviser and ISRO has some patents on the designs), an Indian presence would change the market dynamics. Hence, there are sound commercial reasons for the "haves" to be reluctant to share technology. Well-vented fears of potential dual-use in the missile programme may just be a convenient excuse. It is true, however, that cryogenic engines are critical to inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) design. From South Block's perspective, whether India develops ICBMs or not, possessing cryogenic capability could scarcely hurt.

Given the multitude of reasons to push on with the cryogenic engine development programme, the political establishment should back it to the hilt despite this setback. Give ISRO the time and resources to return to the drawing board and seek solutions.

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BUSINESS STANDARD

EDITORIAL

VINAYAK CHATTERJEE: MORE GOOD NEWS THN BAD

THE 11TH PLAN'S MID-TERM APPRAISAL OF INFRASTRUCTURE BRINGS GOOD NEWS ON THE MACROECONOMIC FRONT, BUT THERE ARE CONCERNS

VINAYAK CHATTERJEE

The 11th Plan's mid-term appraisal of infrastructure brings good news on the macroeconomic front, but there are concerns

The daylong infrastructure conference in the Capital's Vigyan Bhawan on March 23, organised by the government, was a grand success by all counts. Several senior ministers spoke, key ministries presented their plans and the audience engaged in lively discussions in the conference that was inaugurated by the prime minister.

More importantly, the occasion saw the unveiling of the Planning Commission's mid-term appraisal of investment in infrastructure in the 11th Five Year Plan Period (2007-12).

 First the good news:

# The government has started using gross capital formation in infrastructure (GCFI) as per cent of GDP as a standard measure of performance evaluation, and is sharing it publicly. This has taken some doing — over five years of pressuring the government to do so. While the statistical superstructure to deliver this routinely (like any other macroeconomic data) is still shaky, the Planning Commission has made enormous effort to get GCFI mainstreamed. The effort is appreciated.

# GCFI has more than doubled from about 3.5 per cent in 2000-2001 to an expected 7.55 per cent by 2012. This is a major structural shift in the Indian economy, achieved within a decade. Argumentative democracies do work!

# The 11th Plan is projected to close at 7.55 per cent GCFI, a whistle away from the target of 7.6 per cent. This is commendable, considering that as a nation we are blase about meeting targets.

# We are going to meet the magical, and oft-touted number of $500 billion for the 11th Plan. There is an "apples and oranges" issue here that the composition of the $500 billion achieved is strictly not comparable to the planned components, but so what? Even at an overall level, if we hit the number, we should have reason to cheer.

# What's really interesting is that during the 10th Plan, about 25 per cent of the total investment in infrastructure came from the private sector. In the 11th Plan, it is expected to rise to about 36 per cent, even higher than the government's own expectation of 30 per cent. Thus, all this talk of public private partnership (PPP) and encouraging frameworks for private capital to flow in etcetera is not all hot air but is actually resulting in a quiet but tectonic shift in India's infrastructure landscape.

# The 11th Plan saw two years of a global economic meltdown, severe drought and a limited period of recessionary conditions in the domestic economy. In spite of these negative external conditions, we appear to be still meeting the overall numbers.

# The nation has the required confidence now for the prime minister to publicly say, "Preliminary exercises suggest that investment in infrastructure will have to expand to $1,000 billion in the 12th Plan period. I urge the finance ministry and the Planning Commission to draw up a plan of action for achieving this level of investment." And this is to be attempted with a private sector share of 50 per cent, and a GCFI of 9.95 per cent.

Let us now take a look at the achievements sectorally. The bad news starts flowing in on closer examination of the sectoral break-up.

# The entire transportation and logistics sector (one-third of the total infrastructure sector) — made up of roads and bridges, railways, ports and storage — is clearly a troubled area. There is already the acknowledgement that by the end of the Plan period, it would at best achieve 77 per cent of the target. Even with this revised target, 67 per cent is left to be achieved in the last three years of the Plan period. With all the known delays, it would not be too much of a shock on March 31, 2012 to see that the real achievement is only about 65 per cent. It is probably no surprise that Rakesh Mohan has been appointed to head a committee of national importance to look into this area.

# The electricity prognosis appears optimistic. The 11th Plan document projected capacity addition of 78,700 Mw with a capital outlay of Rs 6.67 lakh crore. Credible voices from within the government have clearly articulated that actual performance is likely to be at best 50,000 Mw. While it is understood that not all the outlay is for generation, a slippage of 37 per cent should broadly suggest a final investment of around Rs 4.2 lakh crore against the stated 99 per cent achievement figure of Rs 6.59 lakh crore.

# To address the "apples and oranges" issue as well as factor in some dollops of realism, the picture that emerges is somewhat less ebullient (see the bottom part of the table). If we were to remove Rs 4.3 lakh crore from the 11th Plan revised estimate, then the adjusted total would be Rs 16.24 lakh crore, giving a 79 per cent achievement. If we further remove the unexpected bonanza of another Rs 0.87 lakh crore on account of telecom, the achievement is further reduced to Rs 15.37 lakh crore or 74 per cent. Then it is not the 99 per cent achievement of the magical $500 billion number, but is closer to $370 billion.
 

ANALYSING THE ACHIEVEMENT Mid-term appraisal of 11th Plan (2007-2012) infrastructure investments
	Rs lakh crore		%
Sector	11th Plan projection	11th Plan revised  projections in March, 2010	Achievement expected (%)
Electricity	6.67	6.59	99
Roads and Bridges	3.14	2.79	89
Telecom	2.58	3.45	134
Railways	2.62	2.01	77
Irrigation	2.53	2.46	97
Water Supply and Sanitation	1.44	1.12	78
Ports	0.88	0.4	45
Airports	0.31	0.36	116
Storage	0.22	0.09	41
Oil and Gas Pipelines	0.17	1.27	747
Total	20.56	20.54	99.9
Reworking achievement		Reduction (Rs lakh crore)
Transportation and Logistics with 65% achievement instead of 77%		0.83
Electricity sector		2.39
Inclusion of data on investment in oil pipelines – not part of Projections		1.08
Total		4.3

Kahlil Gibran said, "The significance of a man is not in what he attains, but rather what he longs to attain." In that spirit, if there are a few more items, like oil pipelines, that can be added to the list by March 31, 2012, who knows India may well and truly hit the $500 billion number... and march on to the $1,000 billion number for the 12th Plan!

The author is chairman of Feedback Ventures. He is also the chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry's National Council on Infrastructure, Views expressed are personal

 

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BUSINESS STANDARD

EDITORIAL

FLOATING VIEW ON FIXED RATES

IT IS TRULY AMAZING THAT THE VIEWS OF IMF RESEARCHERS ON EXCHANGE RATES HAVE SWUNG SO MUCH IN A DECADE.

A V RAJWADE

It is truly amazing that the views of IMF researchers on exchange rates have swung so much in a decade.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is supposed to be the repository of economic wisdom and we in the developing world have, for long, been expected to listen to its sage advice. Recently, even G-20 has started to look to the IMF for, in effect, becoming a think tank for global policy issues. The question is whether such trust is well merited or IMF's views are more a reflection of an empirical, rather than a principles-based, analysis.

 On the subject of exchange rates, consider an article titled "Choosing an exchange rate regime" (Finance and Development, December 2009) by Atish Ghosh and Jonathan Ostry, which summarises the evolution of IMF's thinking on the subject over the last decade. It starts with the fact that "the 1990s… saw a spate of capital account crises in emerging market countries, with sharp reversals of capital inflows leading to collapsing currencies and underscoring the fragility of… fixed exchange rate regimes".

In a sweeping condemnation of fixed exchange rates, it glosses over some points:

# Fixed exchange rates had worked extremely well for 25 years.

# The system collapsed when capital flows started dominating the foreign exchange market.

# The basic cause underlying the 1990s crises was not fixed exchange rates per se, but pegging them at an unrealistic level, disregarding the effect on competitiveness of the domestic economy and its reflection in the current account balance.

As a result of the 1990s experience, the article argues that by 1999, "the received wisdom was that simple pegs were too prone to crisis and that countries should adopt either 'hard' pegs — such as monetary unions or currency boards — or, at the other end of the spectrum, free floats in which the market determines a currency's value without government intervention": the so-called "corner" solutions. However, the received wisdom of bipolar prescription had to be discarded in short order with the "collapse in 2002 of Argentina's hard peg". The 2003 review, therefore, "concluded that emerging market countries — and developing countries as they became more financially integrated — should adopt freely floating exchange rates". It also found that "emerging economies captured little inflation benefit from pegging".

The latest 2009 review "based on a data set of IMF member countries over the period 1980-2006 is the most comprehensive study of exchange rate regimes" and comes to yet another conclusion: "Growth performance is best under intermediate exchange rate regimes — those that maintain relatively rigid exchange rates but do not formally peg to a single anchor currency." It is truly amazing that IMF researchers and, following therefrom, policy advice have swung so much in a decade. Remember that IMF's original purpose was the administration of exchange rates; it should, therefore, have enough expertise on the subject; and the exchange rate is the single most important price for an economy in a globalised world. To add to the confusion, the article goes on to claim that "pegged exchange rate regimes are associated with better growth performance than floating regimes — but only if they are able to avoid real exchange rate overvaluation and loss of competitiveness".

One wonders whether the last point lets the cat out of the ideological bag: "Real exchange rate overvaluation and loss of competitiveness." By implication, the statement concedes that there is such a thing as a reasonable exchange rate which can be estimated with acceptable accuracy. But market fundamentalism denies this: the correct price is what a market determines it to be, and the real economy has to adjust to its violent and often illogical (on fundamentals) fluctuations. This has been the Chicago School theology for a long time and the IMF has been under its ideological sway for the last few decades.

Therefore, it talks of bipolar prescriptions; of intermediate regimes; of umpteen other concepts instead of stating the simple truth, which is, developing countries should choose an exchange rate regime which ensures that the tradables sector is reasonably competitive in the global economy. One measure of this is a properly constructed real effective exchange rate index. Another is a current account surplus or deficit not exceeding, say, 2 per cent of GDP — a larger deficit foregoes potential growth and employment, and may not be sustainable, and can lead to a crisis. On the other hand, a larger surplus reduces affordable consumption, when increasing consumption is the goal of economic policy, and can be inflationary.

In my view, for this purpose, the current account number should exclude remittances which, though classified as current receipts, are more in the nature of capital flows. The financeability of the deficit, through capital inflows or remittances, should not unduly influence the exchange rate policy. A corollary is that capital flows may need to be controlled in the interests of a reasonable exchange rate. On the last point, a recent IMF Staff Position Note, Capital Inflows: The Role of Controls, by Jonathan Ostry and others, grudgingly concedes that "controls that limit debt inflows (and debt flows recorded as financial FDI) might usefully supplement prudential regulations aimed at curtailing domestic credit booms and unhedged foreign-exchange-denominated lending". But more on this paper in a later article.

avrajwade@gmail.com 

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BUSINESS STANDARD

EDITORIAL

IPL'S ROYAL CHALLENGE

COSMETIC CHANGES LIKE CLIPPING MODI'S WINGS ARE NOT THE ANSWER

SUNIL JAIN

Cosmetic changes like clipping Modi's wings are not the answer

Going by the income tax raids on the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the stories about how the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) plans to clip IPL Chairman Lalit Modi's wings, it's not too difficult to see how things will unfold in the Modi-Shashi Tharoor saga. Tharoor may get away with a light censure given that it's difficult to pin down how exactly his "mentoring" helped the Kochi franchisee. BCCI-IPL bigwigs have already said they'll declare the names of the owners of all franchises; they'll probably force Modi to agree to consult the IPL Governing Council on everything — certainly the IT investigations will act to curb his bravado. This, however, can only be the beginning of the clean-up process, not the end — and it's difficult to see how only Modi can be blamed for the rot in the BCCI-IPL stable.

 Let's take, first, the argument that since the Kochi franchises bid the highest sum ($333.33 million over 10 years) ever in IPL's history, Tharoor couldn't conceivably have helped them. By contrast, it is argued that a franchise — Rajasthan Royals —in which one of Modi's relatives has a large stake, was sold for the lowest price ($67 million in 2008) among all the IPL franchises. This is perhaps Tharoor's best defence. But probe it a bit and it may not amount to much. For one, the question that needs to be asked is whether the franchises have the financial muscle to pay the kind of money they've bid for — we don't know if it is true, but Modi says Tharoor called him up and asked him not to ask too many questions when he wanted to know who the real owners of the franchise were. Given all the fuss about Know Your Customer for banks and mobile phone firms, and about not allowing shady investments into the country, it is unacceptable that franchises be allowed if the source of their funds is not known — in fact, Modi has said that BCCI President Shashank Manohar also asked him to gloss over the ownership structure.

Readers would also do well to recall the struggling baseball club called the Texas Rangers that was bought by George W Bush in 1988. In 1990, when his father was US president (he was vice-president from 1981-89), Bush managed to convince the city of Arlington to largely fund a swanky stadium, and the profits from the increased ticket sales went almost entirely to the Rangers — the Rangers even got power to decide what land they wanted acquired and, needless to say, the value of Bush's investments rose many times over. Whether Tharoor is in a position to swing lucrative post-bid deals for any franchisee is not the issue, what's important is that various politicians are, and that's why it is so important to delink sports from politics.

And while there are the obvious questions that will hopefully get answered about whether Modi's associates/relatives got sweetheart deals from the IPL, there is little doubt the IPL is run in an opaque manner — BCCI-IPL derives its legitimacy from the fact that the government has anointed it as the custodian of cricket in the country, but its politician-administrators run it like a private firm. Long before the Tharoor fight came out in the open, Modi shocked everyone by jacking up the net worth criterion for the new bidders to $1 billion, effectively ensuring that just two firms bid for the two cities up for bid — this was reversed and the IPL Governing Council got more bids. But no one thought it problematic that Modi remained in charge even after something so blatant. And, as Shekhar Gupta has pointed out in The Indian Express, what does it say of the way the IPL is run that the owner of India Cements who is the secretary of the BCCI is also the owner of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise; that the brand ambassador of CSK was the head selector for the country's cricket team; that the BCCI has contracted Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri as commentators and anyone who wins the broadcast rights to the IPL series has to have BCCI-appointed commentators?

Since gate money is an important part of the revenue stream for any franchisee, it is curious that no one in the BCCI-IPL set-up asked how someone could be bidding for a Kochi franchise when the city has no stadium. Till a stadium comes up, the Kochi team will be allotted different stadiums across the country for different matches — but without knowing which these were and how big they were, how did a bid take place? Once again, evidence that the bid process wasn't as rigorous as you'd like it to be.

Or, take the agreement that the IPL had with Multi Screen Media (formerly Sony). Sony won the bid for 10-year coverage of matches for $1.02 billion in 2008. The IPL cancelled the contract the next year, citing grounds like poor quality broadcasting. Sony took the IPL to court; the IPL began discussions with other competitors and then renegotiated a new nine-year contract with Sony for $1.64 billion. This helped the IPL get more money, but no independent mechanism exists to ensure such renegotiations are fair.

It is expedient to blame all of this on Modi, but few others in the BCCI-IPL set-up have done anything about it — no one even protested when, for instance, the BCCI used its clout to ban players who joined Zee TV's Indian Cricket League (ICL) and even got PSUs to take action against cricketers who worked for them and joined the ICL (the Delhi High Court had to intervene). If this opportunity is used to clean up the cesspool called Indian cricket, we owe a debt to Mr Tharoor for unwittingly bringing it all out in the open. For starters, an independent audit into BCCI-IPL's functioning is called for.

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BUSINESS STANDARD

EDITORIAL

GULF IN KERALA

THE KOCHI IPL CONTROVERSY ALSO DRAWS ATTENTION TO THE CLOUT OF GULF-BASED KERALITES

SANJAYA BARU

The Kochi IPL controversy also draws attention to the clout of Gulf-based Keralites

It all began in Dubai. Shashi Tharoor's political career, his friendship with his political aide-cum-Man Friday Jacob Joseph, the dalliance with Sunanda Pushkar and the idea of a Kochi IPL cricket team. When Mr Tharoor left New York, after a 30-year career with the United Nations, he did not choose either Thiruvananthapuram or New Delhi as his home. It had to be Dubai — a natural nest for a globalised Keralite, like most of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

For three decades now, the "Gulf" has become the bridge between home and opportunity for millions of Malayalees. It is not often recognised that the coconut, cashew and cardamom-growing economy of Kerala, with an educational system that supplied talent and a trade union system that suppressed it, would have sunk into the Arabian Sea if its people had not set sail for the Persian/Arab Gulf.

It was at the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, that Raju Kurian, now an officer of the Reserve Bank of India, did the first important study, way back in 1977, on the impact of "Gulf migration" on Kerala's economy. In the intervening three decades, Kerala has been enriched by the now famous remittances of its Gulf workers. From being the non-English-speaking, mundu-clad working class, the Gulf migrant has become the globetrotting wealthy arriviste, investing in malls and hotels, in business and politics, with friends in high places in the Gulf and New Delhi!

Kerala's Gulf diaspora lacked only one thing. An icon, a globally recognisable face, a man for all seasons. That vacant slot was filled by an energetic diplomat whose global branding had been done by the Indian government's ill-advised decision to extend its support to him when he chose to field himself as a candidate for secretary-general of the United Nations.

When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set up his Global Advisory Council, the Bengalis could boast of an Amartya Sen and the Gujaratis of Jagdish Bhagwati on the council. The Tamil diaspora contributed the mathematics Abel prize winner Srinivasa Varadhan and business czarina Indira Nooyi. The Malayalee diaspora was, however, represented by a real estate businessman, P N C Menon, who had made his millions in, where else, the Gulf and our own Mr Tharoor of Afras Ventures, Dubai!

For the people who can legitimately take pride in producing some of India's best brains, scientists and educationists, it must have been disconcerting that their best global icon was neither a Nobel nor an Abel prize winner, nor a global CEO. In the event, Mr Tharoor did well for himself and made his friends and admirers in Dubai proud. Not surprisingly, he chose a sport he and India loved. The heady cricket cocktail of money, glamour and political power, he may have thought, would take his political career to the next level.

Unlike investors in most other cricket teams, who hail mostly from the states that the teams are identified with, the Kochi IPL team has a large number of non-Malayalees, and the only Malayalees investing come from, where else, the Gulf! The Gulf connection has become vital for Kerala. Not surprisingly, the United Progressive Alliance government chose a Keralite for the job of Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs. The Ministry of External Affairs typically posts either a Muslim or a Malayalee to embassies in the Gulf.

It is a historic relationship that the Malabar coast has had with the Arab world. The only other Indians who can claim an equally ancient and intense relationship with the Arab world are the Gujaratis. It is not at all surprising that the Kochi vs Ahmedabad contest for the next IPL is intimately linked to the UAE links of so many from both states.

It is also interesting that some of the most financially successful Indians, ranging from M F Husain to Sania Mirza, so many from Bollywood and so many from India's Page Three crowd have a UAE or Qatar connection! Unconfirmed reports suggest that several Indian politicians, business persons and film and media personalities own fancy apartments in Dubai and have business interests there.

Apart from the fact that the 1.5 million Indians in the UAE, and the 3.5 million in the region as a whole, are an important source of foreign exchange remittances, contributing over US $50 billion every year, the UAE has emerged as India's major trading partner, competing with China and the European Union for the top slot.

Some part of this recorded trade is a reflection of the unrecorded trade between India and Pakistan, with Dubai being the "transit" port. When the India-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) comprehensive economic cooperation agreement is done, the two economies will come even closer. Dubai free port has its attractions for India's upwardly mobile and globally integrated elite. For good reasons and dubious ones, the India-UAE connection has become a vital aspect of India's external economic links.

While this connection is important for the economies of several states, including Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh (especially Surat and Hyderabad), nowhere is this link more visible and vital than in Kerala. Mr Tharoor has, therefore, very cleverly stitched up a political support base for himself, spanning the Arabian Sea, linking the moneybags of the Gulf with the youth of Kerala.

Mr Tharoor's appeal to regional sentiment in Kerala is not surprising. Regional chauvinism is the first refuge of the globalised Indian seeking a political career. For all his hubris and bravado, his westernised accent and media-savvy persona, Mr Tharoor has climbed onto a familiar political platform that many upwardly mobile Keralites in Dubai may be happy to invest in.

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

WIND IN THE WILLOWS

 

Neither the burps of an unpronounceable volcano in Iceland nor the Kochi kerfuffle are to blame for the latest bug to hit world cricket, but the portent is equally calamitous. A bunch of nations with clearly no idea of or love for the game — the European Union — have decided to "outlaw before export" an insecticide called methyl bromide because of its potential to damage the ozone layer.

 

Not that the bat business has the volumes to significantly add to the climate change problem, but try telling that to squeamish Eurocrats. For no fault of their own, therefore, (like air passengers across Europe) 100,000 traditional willow clefts are grounded for the time being. They cannot leave England without a fumigation certificate nor land in India and Pakistan to be made into bats without being treated with methyl bromide.

Ironically, just as the IPL and other leagues expand the game and its enthusiasts, many English companies involved in the £10 million bat industry now face the prospect of being bowled out within the year. That's just not cricket.

Just like the unexpected debut of Kochi in major league cricket, the Kashmiri willow — long derided by the British as 'inferior' — could use this unexpected run-out of East Anglia to finally walk up to the crease in the Test and county leagues as a viable alternative. In cricket, the last men in can pull off the most astounding coups.

So, the Indian scientists' quiet ongoing project to develop and propagate straight-grained , blemish-free Silex alba coerulea trees in Kashmir — the only willow variety suitable for top-grade cricket bats — could finally pay off now. The English companies would then have reason to regret that their colonial forebears in India ever introduced the willow to Kashmir in 1927 as cheap wood for fuel and wicker work. For now India has a bat to beat them with.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

UNFAIR USAGE POLICY

 

India's internet service providers must stop the pretence that they actually offer unlimited download packages, and invest more in capacity to service a fast-expanding customer base and to vastly raise data transfer speeds.

 

For the capacity expansion part, they can get help from the government, particularly its virtually untapped Universal Service Obligation Fund, but to stop fooling the public on service packages, they must act on their own, without waiting for the regulator to step in. ISPs downgrade connection speeds of subscribers who download huge amounts of data, even if they are on unlimited usage plans.

The ISPs call this fair usage policy, but the practice is objectionable. True, there are no free lunches and unlimited data download packages are not intended to privilege a few users to hog bandwidth, reducing effective speeds for other subscribers. Every user of the internet should be assured of a minimum acceptable download speed.

So, there is a case for ISPs to penalise heavy users. The trouble is that not all service providers inform their subscribers, and particularly the older ones, upfront when such policies are implemented. The problem is not unique to India. Internet users across the world have been involved in bitter battles with service providers for interfering with their free access to internet, as in the case involving Comcast.

In this particular instance, Comcast is said to have degraded speed of connections that were used for bandwidth-hogging peer-to-peer applications such as Bit Torrent for downloading music and movie files. Service providers like Comcast are believed to not just reduce speeds, but also to carry out deep packet inspection, looking at what their subscribers' downloads contain, and to act on that information. This, too, is unfair practice. Indian regulation must proactively prevent such practice.

India needs vastly superior data transfer speeds. Instead of justifying misleading packages on the ground that only speeds are limited, but not data volumes, ISPs should work on making 4 mbps the hygiene dataspeed. Copper in the last mile can be replaced with optical fibre and radio waves to enable faster and uninterrupted connectivity.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

THE COMMON WEAL

 

Some banks are, indeed, too big to fail, under the current regulatory regime. But they are not above the law, not even the biggest of them. This is the principle that has been brought into play by the US Securities and Exchange Commission's prosecution of Goldman Sachs for securities fraud.

Now, the specifics of the charge that has been brought against the bank are such that Goldman, bristling with indignation at the accusation and resolve to fight it out in the courts, may well be found not guilty. But the prosecution is bound to have two salutary effects, apart from reinforcing the principle that no one is above the law. One effect would be to lay bare the mechanics of the bubble that finally burst in 1998 and brought most of the world economy to its knees, for public education.

Such literacy is essential in a world where finance will and should continue to evolve. The other effect is to raise the pressure on legislators in the US to bring in laws that regulate big finance in a meaningful fashion.

The G20, in its Pittsburgh summit last November, had outlined an ambitious agenda to regulate finance on matters ranging from the quality of securitised assets and compensation of financiers to leverage and capitalisation, asset prices, standardisation and exchange-based trading of derivative products. The political will has been weak in the country at the heart of the financial crisis, the US, to move ahead with the agenda of regulatory reform.

Without US leadership, leave alone US participation, the needed coordinated changes in regulation of finance across the world just will not happen. The SEC-initiated prosecution of Goldman Sachs should give US legislators the political courage they need to bring about substantive regulatory reform. It is relevant to note that President Obama has now said that he would veto any bill that skirts serious reform of regulation. What yet remains to be questioned is the fluid mobility of the same set of individuals across the semi-permeable membrane between big finance and the government.

The immediate impact on Goldman and other bank share prices, and on the markets as a whole, might be negative in the very short term. This is not a major source of concern, except for those who make their living off temporary fluctuations of the markets.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

BANK CREDIT GROWTH TO SPIKE UP

CHETAN AHYA

 

Last year, around the same time, the Indian banking sector was still grappling with the adverse impact of global credit crisis. Non-performing loans were rising and banks were risk adverse, cutting back loan growth. After an unprecedented boom during the four years ending March 2008, bank credit growth had decelerated to a 12-year low of 9% yoy as of end-October 2009. However, after a period of slowdown and adjustment, banks are beginning to embark on a path to grow loans at a rate closer to the pre-crisis period of 27.8% yoy (average) during 2004-07.

Indeed, over the last few months, it has already bounced back to 16.7% yoy as of March 26, 2010 in line with our expectations. Incremental bank credit to GDP is rising too. After collapsing sharply to 4% of GDP in October 2009, incremental bank credit to GDP has risen to 7.4% as of the fortnight ended March 26, 2010.

Banks balance sheets have healed significantly. A quick revival in global risk appetite also meant that Indian corporate sector could access risk capital from international capital markets easily. This helped the corporate sector to repair their balance sheets faster, thus reducing the risk of vicious feedback of large non-performing loans in the banking system, increased risk aversion and slower growth.

We believe the underlying impaired loan ratio (reported non-performing loans plus restructured loan portfolio) has already peaked. This will help increase the confidence of the banking sector to accelerate loan growth. Revival in capital inflows, liquidity support measures from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has already resulted in sharp decline in lending rates, thus incentivising the borrowers.

The most important driver to this rise in loan growth will be the demand from the corporate sector. Industrial production (IP) has seen a V-shaped recovery over the last nine months. India is one of the very few countries in the Asia-Pacific region that did not see any major decline in its industrial production during the credit crisis period. Moreover, IP growth has accelerated to 15.1% yoy in February 2010 from the trough of -0 .2% yoy in December 2008, driven by a quick rise in capital inflows, expansionary fiscal policy and low interest rates. Indeed, seasonally adjusted IP increased 14% between February 2010 and May 2009 (in just nine months). We expect IP to remain strong in the coming months.

Whilst first six months of acceleration in industrial growth since trough in March 2009 was largely government spending and private consumption driven, over the next 12 months we believe that, as private consumption moderates, the rise in corporate capex and exports will ensure a strong growth trend. Typically, bank credit growth lags IP growth by 4-6 months.

Moreover, rising inflation will also be reflected in stronger nominal credit demand. WPI non-food inflation is rising quickly. Non-food WPI inflation has already moved up to 7.2% yoy as of February 2010 from -0 .4% in November 2009. Corporate pricing power is coming back against a backdrop of tighter capacity utilisation and rising global commodity prices.

With rising oil prices, the working capital demand of oil companies is also likely to pick up to the extent that the government refrains from increasing domestic fuel prices. Other global commodity prices have also moved up sharply. Commodity Research Bureau's global commodity index is up 30% compared to levels a year ago. The combined effect of the higher output and rising prices should push the corporate credit demand up sharply.

In addition, over the next six months we believe the investments will also pick up.

A sharp rise in output over the last nine months has begun to take capacity utilisation closer to full. Unlike in the previous cycle, when the recovery in growth gradually allowed adequate time for the private corporate sector to initiate capex plans, in the current cycle , the recovery in growth has been sharp and the business investment cycle was hit badly. The transition from low capacity to close-to-full capacity utilisation is occurring in a much shorter period. For instance, in the current cycle the seasonally-adjusted industrial production index has risen 15% cumulatively in 11 months from the trough whereas in the previous cycle , the seasonally-adjusted industrial production index took around 26 months to rise to close to 15% cumulatively from the trough.

Moreover, exports recovery will mean even faster improvement in capacity utilisation. We believe private corporate capex will accelerate over the next six months. Moreover, infrastructure spending will also further accelerate with renewed effort from the government towards that.

All the macro indicators are indicating that bank credit growth will spike up over the next 4-5 months. We believe that bank credit growth will accelerate to 24%-25 % yoy by August 2010 from the current 16.7% yoy as of the fortnight ended March 26, 2010. Indeed , we think that the RBI would need to quickly lift policy rates toward normalised levels to prevent overshoot of economic growth and a rise in credit demand above 30% yoy in the next few months. Over the next 12 months, the government's borrowing needs will also be high competing with the private sector's credit demand.

Any delay in rate hikes would also push aggregate demand higher than the domestic capacity creation pushing current account deficit to vulnerable levels. The four-quarter trailing current account deficit has already widened to 2.5% of GDP.

What can go wrong with our optimistic outlook for loan growth? We believe the key risks to our optimistic credit growth outlook are a potential double dip in developed-world growth and risk aversion in global financial markets.

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

PRAHALAD WILL ALWAYS BE TOP OF THE PYRAMID

KUMAR MANGALAM BIRLA

 

Professor CK Prahalad will be remembered among the greatest thought-leaders of the 21st century. His path-breaking work on strategy undoubtedly represents one of the defining points in the evolution of management theory. He broke from the mould of purely analytical and mechanistic ways. Instead, he advocated the need to lift our sights from merely incremental change to revolutionary change. Truly, he lifted management thought to new levels of excitement and activism.

He was an alchemist. He worked with missionary zeal to get Indian businesses to uncover the immense possibilities at the bottom of the pyramid. This not only because of the latent business opportunities, but because of his conviction — that's how the poor could be uplifted. And that's how businesses could win the legitimacy and trust that they deserved. His contention, that business interests and the interests of society could be intertwined, has been a powerful message. Doing business and doing good did not have to be two distinct initiatives.

His cutting-edge ideas and wisdom have a timeless relevance. In early December last year, we had Prof Prahalad talk to our senior management team, during the course of which I spent considerable time with him. In one of our conversations, he said, if you want to be focused on the next practice, you have to worry about weak signals. You must look at the periphery. You must see what the outliers are doing, connect the dots and see a new pattern.

Think about creating the future for yourself as running a 400-metre marathon at a time. This calls for urgency, speed and stamina — all at one go. And these, he said, are the watchwords for management.

He also pointed out how the basic drivers of structural change are going to be connectivity, inclusive growth, sustainability and global markets. And therefore, there is emerging a new logic for global management. He called it "20 hubs and no spokes". I remember him saying — if you do not start with a legacy mindset, you can innovate like crazy. Do not worry about the learning curve, worry about the forgetting curve. Forgetting may be more difficult than learning.

Today, if one were to carve out the equivalent of a Mount Rushmore for management thinkers, I am sure, Prof Prahalad would have to belong there. He will always remain on top of the pyramid. We are deeply saddened by his sudden demise.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

UNDERSTAND FAILURE, THUS MINIMISE IT

K VIJAYARAGHAVAN

 

Besides resentment, represented by the letter 'r' in the word 'failure' , six more 'failure' traits, as respectively denoted by the other six letters of this word, are listed by Dr Maxwell Maltz in his book, Psychocybernetics — frustration , aggressiveness (misdirected ), insecurity, loneliness, uncertainty and emptiness.

 

Release from resentment is directly linked to one's delighting (muditha) in the virtuous manifestations all over. Therefore ,freedom from this pernicious affliction would naturally also help the aspirant to obtaining, step by step, release from other six 'failure traits' too. Nevertheless, towards obtaining tangible paradigm shift, a deeper comprehension of Dr Maltz's analysis of these six traits would also be pertinent.

Concerning 'frustration', Dr Maxwell Maltz sums up, "Chronic frustration means that the goal we have set for ourselves or the image we have of ourselves is inadequate or both" . The key lies, therefore, in reworking on one's goals and priorities and, thus, altering one's own self image in the required manner.
'Aggressiveness', by itself could be positive and becomes a 'failure trait' only when it is misdirected. Dr Maltz rightly observes, "The best channel for all aggression is to use it up as it was intended to be used — in working toward some goal".

On 'insecurity', Dr Maltz observes how we often compare our actual abilities to an imagined perfect ideal. He also notes that man is only a "goal-seeking mechanism" , not arriving ever at any absolute quality or destination.
'Loneliness' also is best countered by getting accepted through social contacts and contribution , without fear of ridicule or humiliation, while 'uncertainty' , which too stems from this, is rooted in sheer inaction for fear of possible failure or rejections.

In a similar manner, the feeling of 'emptiness' is often generated by trying for 'success' to please others, inconsistent with one's own true inner needs. Naturally so, even after obtaining the desired objective, one feels unfulfilled and empty, as if he had got something which he had not deserved.

Analysing and thus understanding various issues linked to the 'failure mechanism' within, would, thus, help unravel the bottlenecks to progress . This process also is the first and major step in resolving these for commencing one's quest for the 'success mechanism'!

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

TIME FOR A MEASURED RESPONSE

MYTHILI BHUSNURMATH

 

It is almost a given that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will tighten monetary policy tomorrow when the governor presents the bank's annual monetary policy statement for the current fiscal. The only question is whether he will opt for a slam dunk — raise the cash reserve ratio (CRR) or the quantum of their deposits that banks must compulsorily keep with the RBI as well as the repo and reverse repo rates, the rates at which the bank provides and absorbs funds to/from banks. Or settle for a more middle-of-the-path response. May be a hike in the CRR alone, eschewing for now the temptation to tweak the repo and reverse repo rates in a scenario where, quite frankly, both are largely irrelevant.

Either way, he will need to send a stronger signal than earlier. With the wholesale price index in double digits and food inflation (again at the wholesale level) hovering close to 20%, the RBI is dangerously behind the curve. We now have the dubious distinction of the highest rate of inflation, year-on-year , among emerging markets, barring Russia, Pakistan, Venezuela and Egypt, according to the table of Economic and Financial Indicators in the latest Economist magazine .

Worse, we are one of the few countries where the magazine forecasts inflation trending up, rather than down. In a country where the numbers below the poverty line range from anywhere between 300 million to 700 million (!) depending on what yardstick you take, that is unconscionably high.

Even granting the RBI, unlike many inflation-targeting central banks, has to juggle multiple objectives — growth, price stability , financial stability, managing the government borrowing, etc, — it would be hard not to conclude that on the inflation front it is guilty of sleeping on the watch.

Regardless of whether its soft touch was because of political compulsions or not, the end result is the same: higher-than-warranted inflation because of its tardiness in reacting to sure fire indications of demand pressure. After all it knows, better than most, that monetary policy is a notoriously imprecise tool. Moreover, it acts with a long time lag, especially in the Indian scenario where financial markets are fragmented; we still have administered interest rates in some sectors and interest rates on government debt, that sets the floor for all other borrowing, is not exactly freely-determined by market forces.

What all this means is that the RBI, in common with central banks elsewhere, has to be proactive rather than reactive. But more importantly, it has to go that extra length compared to central banks elsewhere because it needs to factor in the additional drag on account of the ground realities of the Indian situation. It needs to 'see' a little further ahead.

True, divya dhristi (divine vision) of the kind given to Sanjaya in the Mahabharata is not given to central bankers, but unlike ordinary mortals who have to wait for the official release of data on inflation, industrial production, asset prices and so on, the RBI is expected to have an informed view, ahead of the market.

In which case, it is abundantly clear it had called wrong in the past. No central bank that presides over an average WPI of over 8% and a CPI of well over 13% can disown responsibility on that score.

The question is should it make 'amends' for not acting in the past by over-reacting now? Or should do what it is best at and take a calibrated approach, since whatever it does today will have an impact only about 12-18 months down the line? This is where central banking differs from rocket science.

Consider. On the external sector there is not much the RBI can do. Capital flows are notoriously fickle. And in a scenario where for a variety of reasons we cannot leave the exchange rate entirely to market forces, any intervention to influence the exchange rate will impact monetary policy.

On the internal front, it is on a better wicket, but only slightly so. Given the dominance of fiscal policy over monetary policy, whether it will be able to impress upon the government that spending like there is no tomorrow can lead to but one result: 'no tomorrow' ! At least not one that any of us would want to wish for!

So it boils down that the only aspect of its policy formulation over which there is some certainty is essentially only one: the state of the economy. Here the signals are fairly clear. With industry showing strong growth for the third month in a row — February numbers were over 15% — manufacturing up 16% and capital good 44%, there can be no case for holding back.

But given the much greater uncertainty on other fronts, it is better to proceed cautiously. Tighten a little, and then, if necessary , tighten some more depending on how the situation unfolds (without getting doctrinaire about acting only on policy dates). It could do no better than follow Oliver Cromwell's advice to his men: 'trust in God and keep your powder dry'. Hopefully with a happier outcome!

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

'ALL CITIZENS NEED TO HAVE PAN CARD'

HEMA RAMAKRISHNAN

 

All eyes are now on S S N Moorthy. A quintessential tax sleuth, he is following the money trail in the Indian Premier League to establish the identity of franchisee owners. Moorthy stepped in to steer the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in January last year, when the country was battling the worst-ever economic crisis after the global meltdown. The task of tax collection was daunting. With the economy showing distinct signs of recovery, the top tax administrator is confident of collecting every penny due from taxpayers this fiscal year.

"We will pursue tax reforms. Our priority is to ensure better compliance and taxpayer services," says Moorthy. He is on the job. Last month, the CBDT took a crucial decision to deduct a 20% tax at source from those who fail to furnish their permanent account number (PAN). The move has far reaching implications. Even a farmer, who does not pay tax on his farm income, has to obtain a PAN if his interest income is over Rs 10,000 a year. The low profile CBDT boss says the new TDS rule will apply to all.

"Ideally, all citizens should have a PAN. This will help the tax department track the audit trail of each and every financial transaction. The tax administration is making it easy for people to get a PAN, besides ensuring timely refunds."

Should not tax authorities go after the big fish, who evade taxes rather than squeeze incremental amounts from those whose incomes already leave audit trails? Moorthy says the tax administration is equipped to nab all tax evaders, with the tax information network that gathers information on large financial transactions. Glitches, if any, will be ironed out once the tax administration is fully modernised. Eventually, all taxpayers will file their returns electronically and this will significantly reduce the interface between taxpayers and tax administrators.

He admits income-tax returns can be made more saral (easy) if tax laws are simple This will happen once the direct taxes code (DTC) comes into force. "The objective is to have simple and transparent tax laws, moderate tax rates and a quick dispute redressal mechanism."

So will the revised DTC end tax-exemptions? For instance, will savings instruments such as the public provident fund (PPF) be taxed at the time of maturity? This was the original proposal. The CBDT chief does not want to be drawn into any controversy and only says the code is being reworked. But he defends the existing regime on tax treatment of savings instruments — PPF is not taxed at any stage — saying such incentives are needed in a country that does not have proper social security system.

Moorthy chaired an internal panel to rewrite the tax code in his earlier stint as director general (investigation), Mumbai. This group pitched for strengthening enforcement to plug tax evasion. He does not deny that the problem of tax avoidance and evasion is growing, with companies structuring their deals in tax havens. He is clear that India should get its share of tax dues in cross border deals if the income is generated here.

Should we not have more aggressive approach to check tax evasion using tax havens? Particularly considering that India has not made any headway in negotiating its tax treaty with Mauritius, though there are concerns about round-tripping of investments. Efforts are on to renegotiate the treaty, states the CBDT chief.

When will India conclude reworking its tax pact with Switzerland to secure information on Indians, who have stashed away money in numbered accounts? "We have started our negotiations with Switzerland to make changes in the provisions relating to exchange of information. But it is difficult to put a time-frame on when these negotiations will end."

At least nine tax havens are in talks with India to enter into an exchange of information agreement, after the G-20 threatened to clamp down on non-compliant jurisdictions. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is driving this initiative. All these efforts will check tax evasion and avoidance through cross-border deals, says Moorthy.

Will India become an OECD member? "We have some reservations with the OECD model. We want to maintain our neutrality and are not in a hurry to take up OECD membership." Moorthy's main mission now is to ensure that his team collects Rs 4,30,000 crore from taxpayers this fiscal year.

 

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

WE NEED RS 10K CR TO MAKE OUR ROLE MEANINGFUL: KG KARMAKAR, MD NABARD

PRABHA JAGANNATHAN

 

Set up as an apex development bank to facilitate rural credit flow, regulate regional rural banks and cooperative banks, and to assist the RBI in rural credit operations, the National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (Nabard) has been crying out loud for a role makeover in the new market environment. Managing director KG Karmakar talks to Prabha Jagannathan about his plans that include bringing farm loan interest rate down to only 4%. Excerpts:

The 11th Plan envisages exponential growth in the non-farm sector...

We see three interdependent sectors of rural growth as equally important: on farm, non-farm and off-farm. The big question is how to reduce the risk factor for the farmer. We need a farming system attuned to the needs of small and marginal farmers. Non-farm activities have also begun to claim an increasing amount of our total investment credit. About 65% of our Rs 12,000-crore investment credit went to rural housing and other sectors.

Innovative insurance measures have failed to take off?

The NAIS (National agricultural insurance scheme) is flawed. Farmers in parts of Jalgaon district (Maharashtra) had in fact taken the Agricultural Insurance Company of India Ltd to court against it. The NAIS has the taluka as the basic unit whereas it should have the village, or even each farmland. If there is drought in one part of the taluka, at present, it is construed that the entire taluka was drought-struck or vice versa. Despite this, the Subhash Chandra report has been gathering dust with the Planning Commission. Innovative products such as weather-based insurance have also not done well.

Credit access to small farmers and labourers remains poor...

Small and medium farmers comprise about 85% of the total. Nabard is planning to organise joint liability groups for landless farmers and sharecroppers countrywide to improve their virtually nil credit access and increase their bargaining power. We also need to strengthen the tech input for small farmers to improve their productivity and earnings. It is possible to promote accessible technology to them through micro farming. The market is viable, if not highly profitable one. Problem is, hardly anybody is willing to tap into it. We also need a fairly good seed distribution system to increase productivity. The ideal germination rate is 85%.

The claims are 95% germination rate. In reality, however, the germination rate is only 55% since, despite certified and quality seeds, the intermediary intervention still remains high, injecting spurious seeds into the system. That impacts both production and productivity. However, of late, the NREGA has changed the rural landscape to a good extent and in states such as Punjab, even small farmers have invested in harvesters because farm labour from Bihar, UP, prefer a good earning at home rather than migrate to Punjab.

You had assigned a study on "coping mechanism" farmers?

There is good scope for work on micro-pension and micro-insurance. Very poor people need the former but no one is working on that. Those with assets will go in for the second but the link is only through SHGs. Companies such as LIC which have, in conjunction with local NGOs, sold micro insurance products that provide social security to underprivileged people such as Jeevan Madhur are not pushing it enough.

Doesn't Nabard need re-positioning to make it more business-like?

We wanted to play a prominent role in all of the Centre's rural development programmes but that hasn't happened. Take horticulture, though. We're not even there. Our consultancy unit did assessment reports in various sectors. We prepared a long term plan on cold storage and rural godowns, which has been accepted. We didn't take any money from the government. Restructuring plans now could mean a hiving off separate unit. We cannot make maximum profits like the private sector because of our objectives of covering the risks of the vulnerable sections.

In the changed market environment, what is Nabard's revised goal?

Our aim is to bring down farm loans to 4% as suggested by the national commission of farmers. This budget increased interest subvention on short term farm loans by 2%, bringing the effective interest rate on farm loans to 5%. Some state governments have already started the subvention. I think banks would look forward to such initiatives which would also temper their risk aversion.

 

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THE ECONOMIC TIMES

EDITORIAL

WE'LL CROSS RS 1.50 L-CR BIZ BY SEPT: CMD, ANDHRA BANK

 

RS Reddy has been a banker for almost four decades, starting in Bank of India, where he rose to the post of general manager. He was posted to Union Bank of India as executive director and then deputed to Andhra Bank in 2008 as its chairman and managing director. He speaks to Sangita Mehta about challenges and his plans for the bank.

The Reserve Bank of India's annual policy statement is only a day away, what are your expectations?

With inflation numbers the way they are, I expect a rate hike of 25 basis points in repo and reverse repo. The quantum of increase will be based on RBI's balancing act between inflation and growth. Another change could be the tweaking of provisions on standard assets to act as a buffer for any likely slippage of restructured accounts. Second, risk weights on unrated accounts reverting back to 150% from the present 100% for the purpose of CRAR (capital to risk-weighted assets ratio).

How has the year been for Andhra Bank and what are the plans for this financial year?

The year gone by has been path breaking for us. Deposits grew by 30%, CASA by 22%, advances by 27%. All sectors contributed in the growth, MSME grew by 55%, retail banking by 45%, agriculture by 30%, corporate by 18%. The prospects for the coming year are also exciting. We completed our zonal managers' conference for setting targets, on April 5, 2010, itself. We are targeting 25% growth on deposits and 27% on advances. By September 2010, we hope to cross Rs 1.50 lakh crore, making us a large-sized bank. The graduation from small to mid and large will be in just 18 months.

Andhra Bank is generally seen as a regional bank with 75% of the branches in Andhra Pradesh. What steps have you taken to change this image and project the bank as a national bank?

This is absolutely a wrong perception. Sixty-six per cent of our branches are in Andhra Pradesh and approximately 50% of our business comes from branches outside the state. The loan book of Andhra Pradesh has large exposures of companies incorporated in the state with projects outside Andhra Pradesh further diversifying our business. Last year, 116 out of 121 branches were opened in states other than Andhra Pradesh. Most of these were opened in the North, West and East zones. This trend is likely to continue. While expansion of our pan-India network is the best way of increasing visibility and an all India image, today, Andhra Bank is perceived as a pan-India bank outside Andhra Pradesh since we have taken large exposures in big corporates having national presence.

Now that Andhra Bank has achieved 100% core banking solution (CBS) what are the new kind of services you would be offering to customers?

It has been a little over a year since 100% CBS was rolled out. Customer service has undergone a paradigm change, post CBS with any branch banking, SMS alerts, near-zero ATM complaints, centralised pension processing cell, tele banking, reminders for payment of instalments, etc. Further, measures on customer satisfaction are being rolled out shortly with SMS service to register complaints. We are leveraging technology to expand our clientele base and also bring back clients who left us some time back due to lack of cutting edge CBS technology then.

You are already a partner in the joint venture (JV) for insurance. Do you have any plans for other non-banking businesses?

This joint venture has done exceptionally well on its four odd months of existence this year. IndiaFirst collected a premium of approximately Rs 250 crore. The target for the year 2011 is Rs 750 crore. God willing, we will exceed that. Yes, we have plans for other joint ventures some are on the drawing board stage, some at the discussion stage. We will announce these, once something firms up.

Every bank is seeing a huge level of attrition among employees. What is your plan to tackle it and what is your HR policy?

At the middle and senior levels, there is absolutely no attrition. At the entry level and junior officers' levels there is some, which has very little impact. In the meantime, there are various initiatives to ensure a healthy HR policy namely, yearly promotions, performance-based incentives, training in premier institutions in India and abroad, etc. A 2020 club is in place comprising officers retiring after 2020. A fast-track career growth path is set out for them. On the HR front, there are no issues of concern. Our major thrust is to reskill existing staff to work in today's competitive environment.

Financial inclusion is gaining lot of prominence from RBI. What are your plans?

In line with RBI directives, we are covering all unbanked villages with a population of more than 2000 by the end of 2011. Our board's approval for going in for an end to end format, where a Section 25 company will be providing the complete solution for the above said villages. We are going to have features such as inbuilt overdraft facility and issue of Kisan credit cards to those who are not already covered. We have opened 7.74 lakh no-frills accounts so far, covering 2,174 villages enabling payment of wages under NREGS and Social security pensions. In fact, our bank already has large number of self-help groups (SHGs), around 2.35 lakh groups, where the bank has financed Rs 1,900 crore. Andhra Pradesh is ahead of other states in financial inclusions. We are co-ordinator for state level bankers' committee (SLBC) in Andhra Pradesh and also monitoring the financial inclusion plan of all banks in the state.

 

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                                                                                                               DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

ASH CLOUDS THROW WORLD INTO A SPIN

 

Just when airlines worldwide were beginning to recover from their worst-ever financial crisis, disaster struck once again — in the form of the volcanic eruption on the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland. This forced the cancellation of thousands of flights, in Europe and elsewhere, and left lakhs of passengers stranded at airports everywhere. Northern Europe, expectedly, bore the brunt of the impact, with thousands forced to switch to road, rail and sea ferries to reach their destinations. Some left in the lurch at airports hired taxis, and trains and inter-city buses in Britain and Europe were solidly booked. But in our globalised world, people in far continents could not be left unaffected. North America was badly hit as 300 of 600 trans-Atlantic services were cancelled.

 

In India, too, West-bound travellers suffered long waits at airports, with no certainty if they could fly at all or not. Many heading for European destinations aborted their travel plans altogether. Others going to North America were stuck too, with some good news finally coming on Sunday: that Air India planned to resume certain nonstop services to the United States with some re-routing. Jet Airways too planned to fly to the US by re-routing via Athens. Things look more uncertain for those booked on British Airways or other European carriers. The bottomline was that passengers found themselves helpless, but for once, despite the massive dislocations, there was remarkably little evidence of protests or outrage. Perhaps there was realisation that there was little that the airlines could do — they really could have no Plan B for this situation. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, heading back from the IBSA-BRIC summits in Brasilia, was also affected — the planned stopover in Frankfurt had to be cancelled, and his special Air India aircraft instead flew over Africa, making a halt in Johannesburg, on the way home. Other world leaders caught overseas — particularly European ones — were much worse off. In some cases all that they could do was to fly to the nearest airport still functioning, and traverse the rest of the journey by train or limousine. The volcanic disaster is a reminder that despite the many technological marvels of the past century and more, Mother Nature still reigns supreme over our planet. As Ralph Waldo Emerson had said: "Everything in nature contains all the power of nature." Or as Buckminister Fuller reminded us: "One outstandingly important fact regarding Spaceship Earth is ... that no instruction book came with it." Highly-advanced jet aircraft are no match for plumes or ash from the volcano which are believed to contain minute particles of silicate that disable their powerful jet engines. There was a really scary incident 28 years ago when all four engines of a jumbo jet became disabled during an earlier volcanic eruption in the Pacific region, and a tragedy only averted due to the presence of mind of the pilot who put his huge aircraft into a steep dive to escape from the ash. It is ironical that unlike the jets, older propeller-driven aircraft would have had no problems with volcanic ash — as these do not suck in air like jet engines. Nature can thus get the better of the most advanced technological marvel. The jet engine, given its size and weight, has phenomenal thrust, but its Achilles heel is that it needs clear air to provide this thrust.

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

FOOD SECURITY FOR ALL

BY ARJUN SENGUPTA

 

The recently proposed food security bill can become another landmark scheme of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, comparable to the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). It is under Mrs Sonia Gandhi's personal initiative that the UPA adopted NREGA earlier and again has pressure to implement the scheme initiated in the Congress election manifesto will initiate the scheme this year. It is the most effective anti-poverty measure to be adopted by any government anywhere in the world.

 

Before the scheme is actually adopted it is necessary to openly debate its provisions. The proposed National Food Security Act is a first step towards ensuring food security to all citizens in the country. It focuses primarily on below poverty line (BPL) families with a minimum quantity of foodgrains per month. The current Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) scheme under the public distribution system (PDS) provides for 35 kg per BPL family per month with Rs 3 per kg for rice and Rs 2 per kg for wheat. The eligible people for AAY are the poorest of the poor who do not have even two square meals a day and in May 2005, the number of beneficiaries came to 2.5 crore households which is 38 per cent of the total BPL households. The idea is to extend this programme to all the BPL households in the country, with an almost revolutionary impact on our food security system.

 

I would want everyone to discuss an alternative: instead of extending this programme to all the BPL families we should extend the coverage universally, i.e. whole population of the country. This would not only simplify the scheme but it will also practically eliminate the scope of leakage currently severely affecting our PDS. That would of course bring a substantial increase in the subsidies, if the non-BPL families fully avail of these facilities. But there is every reason to expect they will not because most of the non-BPL families are expected to go for higher quality of food with much lower transaction costs for securing them from the market. A 35 kg per family of foodgrains is much lower than the international standards of 60 kg per family. The richer sections would try to acquire that from the markets rather than through PDS. That has been the experience of some of the southern states that have adopted universal coverage. So a provision made in the Budget for universal coverage of the programme for India may not be actually utilised. If, however, the claim on the budgetary resources becomes too high for the government to afford, I would suggest the quantity of food be reduced from 35 to 25 kg instead of limiting it mainly to BPL families. Indeed in actual practice, the amount of foodgrains used has been less than 20-21 kg per family mostly because of huge transaction costs and leakages in the system. If everybody is entitled to 25 kg per family and the requirements above that can always be procured from the local market, incentives for diversions would almost disappear.

 

My main problem for using the BPL criteria for PDS is that it is virtually impossible to arrive at a consensus about that number however much Planning Commission may provide their estimates. The number of people below a calculated poverty line is a statistical concept, which would be very difficult to apply to the concrete situations on the ground. The criteria for poverty vary from state to state almost entirely determined by political pressures of groups and subgroups. Currently the number of BPL families based on 93-94 poverty estimates of the Planning Commission and March 2000 population estimates is only 6.52 crores. If this is revised by the latest poverty estimates of 2004-2005 and population of 2009 it would be reduced to 5.91 crores. But different states have used different criteria of poverty estimates and issued BPL ration cards according to their estimates, amounting to 10.68 crores today with many states demanding for raising the numbers further. An attempt to limit these to a statistical average will be almost impossible. While the Planning Commission estimate is about 27.7 per cent of people below the poverty line based on calorie content of minimal food baskets, the Tendulkar Committee estimate is about 37 per cent and the Supreme Court appointed expert N.C. Saxena's estimate is above 50 per cent.

 

On the other hand, the current system of identifying BPL families or AAY families is full of loopholes with scope for discretionary identification by officials susceptible to bribes and other kinds of pressures. The matter gets even more complicated when attempts are made to provide additional 10 kg to above poverty line families. A Planning Commission 2005 report hold that 58 per cent of the subsidised foodgrains issued from the Central government do not reach the BPL families because of identification errors and non transparent practices in the implementation of the schemes. Thirty-six per cent of the budgetary subsidies are siphoned off, and only about 42 per cent reaches the targeted BPL group.

 

Every attempt should now be made to simplify the scheme that can be effectively done if we make the system universal and not depending upon the identification and estimation of the BPL families.

 

This of course would not make the system perfect and it is important that the government concentrates on improving the governance of universal PDS rather than wasting time on identifying the poor. The first requirement would be to improve the working of the Food Corporation of India, which is supposed to procure food from the surplus states directly from the producers and transport them to the deficit states. The problem is much more serious at the level of the states. Many of them are unable to lift the allocated foodgrains because of shortage of resources. The Centre has to play a major role in helping the states, if necessary with substantial loans so that foodgrains are available at the fair price shops when a consumer demands it. The fair price shops themselves have to be supported with incentives and if necessary with transport and storage facilities.

 

A universal PDS for the provision of subsidised foodgrains to all consumers would not obviate the need for reforming the delivery system through PDS. The new food security act must provide for methods of improving the delivery and monitoring their effectiveness.

 

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

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

SPARKING INNOVATION, RAISING CAPITAL IN US

BY THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

 

You've heard that saying: As General Motors goes, so goes America. Thank goodness that is no longer true. I mean, I wish the new GM well, but our economic future is no longer tied to its fate. No, my new motto is: As EndoStim goes, so goes America.

 

EndoStim is a little start-up I was introduced to on a recent visit to St. Louis. The company is developing a proprietary implantable medical device to treat acid reflux. I have no idea if the product will succeed in the marketplace. It's still in testing. What really interests me about EndoStim is how the company was formed and is being run today. It is the epitome of the new kind of start-ups we need to propel our economy: a mix of new immigrants, using old money to innovate in a flat world.

 

Here's the short version: EndoStim was inspired by Cuban and Indian immigrants to America and funded by St. Louis venture capitalists. Its prototype is being manufactured in Uruguay, with the help of Israeli engineers and constant feedback from doctors in India and Chile. Oh, and the CEO is a South African, who was educated at the Sorbonne, but lives in Missouri and California, and his head office is basically a BlackBerry. While rescuing General Motors will save some old jobs, only by spawning thousands of EndoStims — thousands — will we generate the kind of good new jobs to keep raising our standard of living.

 

It all started by accident. Dr Raul Perez, an obstetrician and gynecologist, immigrated to America from Cuba in the 1960s and came to St. Louis, where he met Dan Burkhardt, a local investor. "Raul was unique among doctors", recalled Burkhardt. "He had a real nose for medical investing and what could be profitable in a clinical environment. So we started investing together". In 1997, they created a medical venture fund, Oakwood Medical Investors.

 

Perez had a problem with acid reflux and went for treatment to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, where he was helped by an Indian-American doctor, V.K. Sharma. During his follow-ups, Dr Sharma mentioned those four words every venture capitalist loves to hear: "I have an idea" — use a pacemaker-like device to control the muscle that would choke off acid reflux.

 

Burkhardt, Perez and Sharma were joined by Bevil Hogg — a South African and one of the early founders of the Trek Bicycle Corporation — who became CEO. Together, they raised the initial funds to develop the technology. Two Israelis, Shai Pollicker, a medical engineer, and Dr Edy Soffer, a prominent gastroenterologist, joined a Seattle-based engineering team (led by an Australian) to help with the design. A company in Uruguay specialising in pacemakers is building the prototype.

 

This kind of very lean start-up, where the principals are rarely in the same office at the same time, and which takes advantage of all the tools of the flat world — teleconferencing, email, the Internet and faxes — to access the best expertise and low-cost, high-quality manufacturing anywhere, is the latest in venture investing. You've heard of cloud computing. I call this "cloud manufacturing".

 

"In the aftermath of the banking crisis, access to public markets is off-limits to start-ups," explained Hogg, so start-ups now have to be "much leaner, much more capital-efficient, much smarter in accessing worldwide talent and quicker to market in order to do more with less". He added, "$20 million is the new $100 million".

 

And technology is making this all possible. Chris Anderson of Wired magazine pointed this out in a smart essay in February's issue, entitled "Atoms Are the New Bits".

 

"'Three guys with laptops' used to describe a Web startup'", he wrote. "Now it describes a hardware company, too" thanks to "the availability of common platforms, easy-to-use tools, Web-based collaboration, and Internet distribution... Global supply chains have become scale-free, able to serve the small as well as the large, the garage inventor and Sony".

 

The clinical trials for EndoStim are being conducted in India and Chile. "What they have in common", said Hogg, "is superb surgeons with high levels of skill, enthusiasm for the project, an interest in research and reasonable costs". This is also part of the new model, said Hogg: Invented and financed in the West, further developed and tested in the East and rolled out in both markets.

 

What's in it for America? As long as the venture money, core innovation and the key management comes from here — a lot. If EndoStim works out, its tiny headquarters in St. Louis will grow much larger. St. Louis is where the best jobs — top management, marketing, design — and shareholders will be, said Hogg. Where innovation is sparked and capital is raised still matters.

 

You don't hear much about companies like this. America's national debate today is dominated by the ignorant ramblings of Sarah Palin, talk-show lunatics, tea parties and politics as sports — not ESPN but PSPN. Fortunately, though, we still have risk-takers who are not paying attention to any of this nonsense, who know what world they're living in — and are just doing it. Thank goodness!

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

KOLKATA HEATS UP, DELHI PACIFIES

DELHI SOOTHES MAYA'S NERVES

 

If you want to persuade the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Ms Mayawati, then you should meet her in Delhi. So the saying goes. According to insiders, Delhi does wonders for the Iron Lady's famous temper and whenever she is there, she becomes more patient and reasonable.

 

A senior Indian Administrative Service officer, Vijay Shankar Pandey, who was unceremoniously removed from the CM's Secretariat last month after the currency garland controversy, recently met Ms Mayawati at her Delhi residence. She not only gave him a patient hearing but also accepted his explanation.

 

Two days later Mr Pandey was reinstated in the corridors of power and is now posted in the Chief Minister's residence.

 

After this, officers, ministers and MLAs are making sure that they get to meet the Chief Minister in Delhi and not Lucknow. No wonder trains and flights to Delhi are packed with high-profile passengers.

 

Marxists thank Mamata

 

Last week, Kolkatans were forced to echo T.S. Eliot's famous line "April is the cruellest month" when the mercury touched 41°C in the city and climbed to 43°C in some districts.

 

The oppressive heat and humidity became even more unbearable because of the frequent load shedding.

 

Faced with a major power crisis, the administration asked the people not to use airconditioners between 6 pm and 10 pm. The state government explained that it had been forced to undertake load shedding as there was a shortfall of around 1,000 MW against a demand of nearly 6,000 MW.

 

But a Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader chose to look at the brighter side. Maharashtra, he said, was grappling with a demand of 16,000 MW.

 

"West Bengal should thank the Trinamul leader, Ms Mamata Banerjee, for bringing industrialisation to a halt, since otherwise, the demand for power would have gone up and so would the length of the power cuts", he quipped.

 

Naveen's libidinous colleagues

 

Nothing seems to be going right for the Orissa Chief Minister, Mr Naveen Patnaik. His party has been in news for all the wrong reasons. Firstly, a veteran party Lok Sabha member — who defeated a Congress stalwart in the last Lok Sabha polls — was reportedly caught red-handed from a luxury hotel in New Delhi while romancing with a call girl. Both were taken to the police station.

 

However, before the police registered a case against the first time MP, two top and influential Biju Janata Dal leaders — who are well known in the Delhi socialite circles — jumped into action and managed to release their colleague. In the second case, a servant working at a party MP's residence was arrested on the alleged rape charge. If sources are to be believed, the angry bachelor chief minister — apparently peeved over such developments — has asked the party leaders to follow the spiritual path to ward off such "unwarranted nuisances".

 

Loyal to his portfolio

 

When asked to comment on rumours that the Union minister of state for external affairs, Mr Shashi Tharoor, might marry a third time to his close friend, Dubai-based Sunanda, a senior BJP leader quipped, "It seems Mr Tharoor is taking his portfolio rather seriously. Three women from three different continents! And there are four continents still remaining".

 

Sibal a high-flier

 

The union human resource development (HRD) minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, may perhaps soon qualify as the Cabinet member who has travelled the most.

 

He is currently on a tour of Australia and New Zealand to discuss several issues, including problems being faced by Indian students in these countries.

 

Since the United Progressive Alliance government started its second tenure, the HRD minister has travelled to the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Malaysia and the United States.

 

The frequent trips by the Mr Sibal are also bringing cheer to the officials in his ministry. They use his absence for rejuvenation and relaxation.

 

They have all been feeling stressed out by the minister's overdrive in pushing through several legislations and his attempts to reform the education system.

 

A disaster movie

 

The commissioner of Lucknow, Mr Prashant Dwivedi, is not a regular movie buff but when he recently saw Well Done Abba that highlights corruption, he was so impressed that he decided to recommend the film to all his colleagues.
Recently, after a meeting of district magistrates, the commissioner asked them to stay back for the day in Lucknow and see Well Done Abba. He even arranged for the tickets and sent his subordinates packing to the multiplex.

 

Now we hear that his bosses are angry with the commissioner for his "audacity". Well Done Abba shows how funds for welfare schemes are being siphoned off by state officials and this is exactly what the Congress is accusing the Mayawati government of doing.

 

The big shots feel that the commissioner has actually ratified the Congress accusations. Now there is talk of Mr Dwivedi getting a transfer, when the poor man had actually expected a "well done" from his bosses.

 

Let's have honest corruption

 

Like most others, the people of Bharatpur also accept that corruption is a universal phenomenon. However, they do insist that the corrupt should be honest — that is, they should not take bribes and then cheat. A group of people in Bharatpur protested recently in front of the residence of an Indian Police Service officer, demanding that he return the money he took from them for closing some cases. "If you take money, you should keep your promise", said one protester. After the strange protest came to the attention of the police top bosses, they sent a team of cops to protect the officer. He slipped out of the city, unnoticed by the protesters.

 

A civil supplies department official faced the same situation in Baran district when he got transferred and ration dealers gheraoed him insisting that he return all the bribe money. "No one complaints when you take bribe and do the promised work", said a villager.

 

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

A CHURCH THAT CAN MAKE MARY SMILE

BY NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

 

I heard a joke the other day about a pious soul who dies, goes to heaven, and gains an audience with the Virgin Mary. The visitor asks Mary why, for all her blessings, she always appears in paintings as a bit sad, a bit wistful: Is everything OK?

Mary reassures her visitor: "Oh, everything's great. No problems. It's just... it's just that we had always wanted a daughter".

That story comes to mind as the Vatican wrestles with the consequences of a patriarchal pre-modern mindset: scandal, cover-up and the clumsiest self-defence since Watergate. That's what happens with old boys' clubs.

It wasn't inevitable that the Catholic Church would grow so addicted to male domination, celibacy and rigid hierarchies. Jesus himself focused on the needy rather than dogma, and went out of his way to engage women and treat them with respect.

The first-century church was inclusive and democratic, even including a proto-feminist wing and texts. The Gospel of Philip, a Gnostic text from the third century, declares of Mary Magdalene: "She is the one the Saviour loved more than all the disciples". Likewise, the Gospel of Mary (from the early second century) suggests that Jesus entrusted Mary Magdalene to instruct the disciples on his religious teachings.

St. Paul refers in Romans 16 to a first-century woman named Junia as prominent among the early apostles, and to a woman named Phoebe who served as a deacon. The Apostle Junia became a Christian before St. Paul did (chauvinist translators have sometimes rendered her name masculine, with no scholarly basis).

Yet over the ensuing centuries, the church reverted to strong patriarchal attitudes, while also becoming increasingly uncomfortable with sexuality. The shift may have come with the move from house churches, where women were naturally accepted, to more public gatherings.

The upshot is that proto-feminist texts were not included when the Bible was compiled (and were mostly lost until modern times). Tertullian, an early Christian leader, denounced women as "the gateway to the devil", while a contemporary account reports that the great Origen of Alexandria took his piety a step further and castrated himself.

The Catholic Church still seems stuck today in that patriarchal rut. The same faith that was so pioneering that it had Junia as a female apostle way back in the first century can't even have a woman as the lowliest parish priest. Female deacons, permitted for centuries, are banned today.

That old boys' club in the Vatican became as self-absorbed as other old boys' clubs, like Lehman Brothers, with similar results. And that is the reason the Vatican is floundering today.

But there's more to the picture than that. In my travels around the world, I encounter two Catholic Churches. One is the rigid all-male Vatican hierarchy that seems out of touch when it bans condoms even among married couples where one partner is HIV-positive. To me at least, this church — obsessed with dogma and rules and distracted from social justice — is a modern echo of the Pharisees whom Jesus criticised.

Yet there's another Catholic Church as well, one I admire intensely. This is the grassroots Catholic Church that does far more good in the world than it ever gets credit for. This is the church that supports extraordinary aid organisations like Catholic Relief Services and Caritas, saving lives every day, and that operates superb schools that provide needy children an escalator out of poverty. This is the church of the nuns and priests in Congo, toiling in obscurity to feed and educate children. This is the church of the Brazilian priest fighting AIDS who told me that if he were pope, he would build a condom factory in the Vatican to save lives.

This is the church of the Maryknoll Sisters in Central America and the Cabrini Sisters in Africa. There's a stereotype of nuns as stodgy Victorian traditionalists. I learned otherwise while hanging on for my life in a passenger seat as an American nun with a lead foot drove her jeep over ruts and through a creek in Swaziland to visit AIDS orphans. After a number of encounters like that, I've come to believe that the very coolest people in the world today may be nuns.

So when you read about the scandals, remember that the Vatican is not the same as the Catholic Church. Ordinary lepers, prostitutes and slum dwellers may never see a cardinal, but they daily encounter a truly noble Catholic Church in the form of priests, nuns and lay workers toiling to make a difference.

It's high time for the Vatican to take inspiration from that sublime — even divine — side of the Catholic Church, from those church workers whose magnificence lies not in their vestments, but in their selflessness. They're enough to make the Virgin Mary smile.

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DECCAN CHRONICAL

EDITORIAL

SLOW DOWN, GET SOME PEACE

BY AMRIT SADHANA

 

We are living in a world obsessed with speed. Everyone wants to do things fast, go fast — for what? Just because we have developed fast cars, fast computers, fast machines, do we have to move faster? Sometimes speed is just for the heck of it. Now no one can deny that speed is heady, it gives excitement and thrill but it has also caused a lot of stress in life.

Speed and efficiency have created more worry, more anxiety than relaxation and comfort. Granted that technology saves time, but people don't know what to do with the saved time. What's the best use of this time? Even if time is saved, you will worry and become anxious and ask for some entertainment in that time. Somehow you want to kill that time. The problem of the contemporary people is they are uncomfortable if they have nothing to do. They don't know the joys of being unoccupied, the luxury of it.

The modern man needs to learn to be unoccupied for some time in 24 hours. Too much occupation with outside has disconnected him with himself. This is the reason why people are so stressed these days. They have to understand that time is their friend, not a foe.

What people need is to remember themselves, to connect with themselves. After all, the hustle and bustle of life is for our own well-being, happiness and peace.

Make a small change in your daily routine: slow down. Just by slowing down ordinary activities, you will see how peaceful you become. You don't have to go to a sacred place and spend time in meditation. Your daily chores will have a flavour of meditation.

Osho suggests some simple exercises :

* Eat slowly — take your time. If you eat in 10 minutes, take 20 minutes. Enjoy the food. Chew it more; it will be digested better. Your body will feel more at ease and at home. And when the body is at home, the mind too feels at home.

* Sometimes when you don't have anything to do, just sit silently doing nothing. There is no need to read the newspaper or to watch the TV. Don't be in such a mad rush to occupy yourself. That is a way of escaping from yourself. So sometimes when you have nothing to do, feel happy that you can indulge in the luxury of doing nothing. Just sit silently, look at the stars or at the trees, listen to the birds or just close your eyes and look inward. Silence gives rest to the brain cells, it rejuvenates them. Your whole body will feel as if it is freshly showered.

* Slow down your speed in everything you do: walk slowly, talk slowly, breathe slowly, and by and by your energy stuck in the head will come to the heart and your tightly wound nerves will start relaxing. You will come to know the beauty of inactivity, the beauty of passivity.

 These serene moments replenish the drained energy. As a result it will increase your capacity to work. — Amrit Sadhana is in the managementteam of Osho International Meditation Resort, Pune. She facilitates meditation workshops around the country and abroad.

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

MAYORAL FIASCO

A PARTY WITH LIMITED OPTIONS

 

Individual preferences, we would have thought, are of no consequence in the CPI-M ~ be it a full-time card-holder carrying out orders from Alimuddin Street or a lawyer like Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya who was immersed in his profession before he stepped into the shoes of the Kolkata mayor. The CPI-M was more confident during the municipal election in 2005 when Trinamul was linked to the NDA than it is now when successive elections have signalled a change in the public mood. To this must be added the performance of the Left-controlled municipal board which has left the Mayor looking for escape routes rather than claiming any success in vital areas like the supply of drinking water, waterlogging, garbage disposal or work culture. It is not surprising, therefore, that Mr Bhattacharya should cite personal reasons for not wanting to contest the election on 30 May. The point being debated is that the CPI-M can no longer claim that its soldiers are obliged to put the party above personal interests. This applies not only to the outgoing mayor but to others who have put in claims

or objections ~ unprecedented in a Stalinist outfit.

Marxist sympathisers would cite this as evidence of a healthy trend that accommodates dissenting voices although it marks a deviation from the accepted line of democratic centralism. Others would ascribe the democratisation at the grassroots to the growth of factionalism that Alimuddin Street hasn't been able to cope with. The move to project Mr Bhattacharyya again as the party's mayoral candidate was intended to emphasise that the CPI-M had no reservations about his or the municipal board's performance during its just concluded term. On the other hand, the outgoing Mayor may have his reasons for not wanting to run into an anti-incumbency wave and in fact compelling the party to respect a personal decision. If all this presents the ruling CPI-M with perhaps its worst dilemma during its long tenure, it is made worse by growing demands from its allies. Alimuddin Street is now seen to be compelled to make all the compromises it can to sustain the impression of both a united Left and its confidence in confronting a resurgent opposition. But the mayoral fiasco would confirm that it has very limited options.

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

SETTLED IN SUDAN

FRAUDULENT MANDATE TOWARDS REFERENDUM? 

 

OF far greater moment than the outcome of the elections in Sudan has been its conduct. The beleaguered African nation ~ one of the poorest in the world ~ has just gone through the first multi-party election in  its history and with the outcome a virtually settled fact. Fraudulence is a built-in facet of a system with the person being sought by the International Criminal Court for his atrocities in Darfur set to be elected unopposed. To that extent, Sudan can be said to have surpassed the spurious exercise in Afghanistan and Iran. The principal opposition parties have boycotted the election, citing extensive fraud. Virtually unopposed, the election is a walkover for President Omar al-Bashir. However dubious, he will secure the mandate that he craves merely to entrench himself further still. And as in Iran and Afghanistan, the USA, the UN and the EU have been helpless witnesses to the incredible extent of the fiddle. Having invested a fair amount, they are much too aware that a Head of State, indicted for war crimes, will be re-elected. The participation of the people must itself be open to question. The election has been held amidst the fighting in Darfur, thus excluding the thousands of unregistered people in the refugee camps. Neither the South nor the North were prepared for the process, which could well have been deferred. The government in Khartoum has had its way by repeatedly rejecting the calls for postponement. Bashir will be a victor without legitimacy. He direly needs this mandate to protect himself from the ICC. Small wonder there is speculation that the two parties, the southern-dominated SPLM and the NCP of the north have struck a deal. In return for his mandate, Bashir may agree to a referendum on the secession of the South next year. That referendum will almost certainly supercede the election, which will not be the gateway to democracy but to deeper chaos in a country that could be split across the middle in time.

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

OLD HEADACHES

POSSIBLE NEW SOLUTIONS

 

EDUCATIONAL aids have re-invented themselves over the years. Even the blackboard, for which no effective alternative has been found, is seldom made of board these days, perhaps not even coloured black. But one irritant has persisted, for users in India at least, the "dust" from the chalk with which the writing is done. Teachers, obviously, are the worst sufferers. Some get by with the odd sneeze and cough, for others the consequent respiratory condition could be more acute. That has long been accepted as an occupational hazard, hardly given a second thought. Now some relief could be in the offing. After seven years of toil, scientists at the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute in Bhavnagar (Gujarat) are confident enough to cry "eureka". While traditional manufacturers, mainly in the small-scale sector, use gypsum as raw material, the dons at the CSMCRI have opted for a product based on calcium carbonate which will be superior in several respects. So far so good, but given the huge gap between "lab and land" it could be quite some time before the new chalk is commercially produced and widely marketed. Still, at least someone thought of the teachers' plight. Wonder if judicial directive, that too from a lower court, will suffice to deal with another time-tested difficulty ~ deciphering a doctor's handwriting (funny, their bills are clear enough). For long it was felt that only pharmacists could solve the puzzle, fill out a prescription correctly but recently another dimension of the hassle has come into focus. An Additional Sessions Judge in the Capital has issued directives to all hospitals and the local government to ensure that medico-legal reports are computer-typed, not handwritten. That would save the court's time in "detecting" what the report contained and hence better serve the interests of justice. While he did point to several other shortcomings in the reports, particularly autopsy reports, his stress on their being typed will be well taken. Yet who can forget the story of how a would-be wife-poisoner was nabbed by the cops as he waited for his prescription to be filled. The chemist explained his suspicions were aroused "cos the writing was too clear to be a doc's".

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

CHIDAMBARAM MUST QUIT

IT IS A QUESTION OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST

BY SAM RAJAPPA

IF Palaniappan Chidambaram, Union home minister, was sincere about owning moral responsibility for the Dantewada massacre of 76 men of the Central Reserve Police Force by Maoists in Chhattisgarh on 6 April, he would have resigned instead of merely offering to resign, and the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, should have accepted. His continuance in the home ministry has become untenable because he could have a vested interest in clearing forest areas of their tribal habitations and handing over the lands to multinational mining companies, including the London-registered Vedanta Resources plc, promoted by Anil Agarwal of Sterlite fame, whose director Chidambaram had been till the time of taking over as finance minister in the first UPA government.

In the 2004 Annual Report of Vedanta Resources, its chairman, Brian Gilbertson, recorded: "On 22 May 2004, Mr P. Chidambaram resigned from the Board, following his appointment as Finance Minister in the new Indian Government. I would like to thank him for his contribution and I am sure he will play a pivotal role in the continuing development of India." There is direct, credible incriminating information about Chidambaram's intimate relationship with the Vedanta group which has the biggest stake in the acquisition of India's tribal territory. A lot of information is contained in Rohit Poddar's book titled Vedanta's Billion$, first published in California in 2006, but banned for distribution in India. If Chidambaram is not removed from the home ministry and a person without such conflict of interest appointed in his place, and if the government persists with Operation Green Hunt to turn the 'red corridor' into a 'corporate corridor,' there is every likelihood of the nation heading for civil war.

A product of Harvard Business School and a great admirer of former US President George Bush's "war on terror,' Chidambaram is keen to launch the full might of India's armed forces, the army, air force and the paramilitary to fulfill an agenda of 'securing territory' for mining multinationals. In pursuit of this agenda, paramilitary forces have been given the American-inspired 'area-domination' mandate to clear the tribal areas of insurgent groups, hold the territory to ensure that Maoists are unable to re-enter, and finally, prepare the ground for 'developmental' projects by corporate houses. The Maoists have not seized any territory. They have turned the natural habitat of the poor tribals, with their support, into their strongholds because the mainstream political parties, particularly the Congress and the BJP, have virtually abandoned them.

Had the CRPF's 62 Battalion observed the minimum precautions required in a counter-insurgency operation, the Dantewada massacre and annihilation of the entire Alpha Company of the Battalion would not have happened. No matter on which side of the fence one is, the Maoist massacre of jawans is indefensible and deserve to be condemned. The solution to the problem, however, does not lie in deploying the army and the air force, as Chidambaram's battery of media spin masters is braying. Fortunately for the nation, the Army Chief made it clear that "our polity is wise and astute enough not to deploy the army against Maoists who are not secessionists." Equally commendable is the view of the Air Force Chief who said: "Our training and weapons are meant for enemies across the border and to inflict maximum lethality on them. We cannot do this on our own people."

When Chidambaram visited Lalgarh in West Bengal on 2 April, called the Maoists "cowards hiding in jungles," said the buck stopped with Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in clearing the area of rebels and vowed to rid the nation of "Maoist menace" by 2013, he  virtually signed the death warrant of the 76 ill-trained CRPF jawans who were already on their 'area domination' mission of Dantewada. The Maoists hit back with a vengeance in less than 48 hours. Somewhat rattled by the sudden turn of events, Chidambaram called the Maoists savages more dangerous than jihadists. The Maoists believe they are waging a just war to protect the tribals from being evicted from Dandakaranya and handing over the land to national, transnational and multinational mining corporations for which the government had signed a series of MOUs, including several secret ones.

 

Dandakaranya is a vast forest area spread over parts of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkand, Orissa, Bihar and West Bengal.

Tribals, numbering about 85 million in he country, had been living in this area for millenia. They are the poorest and the most neglected section of society. In fact, they are sitting on billions of rupees worth of minerals buried under their land. The vast majority of them are illiterate. The few schools the government had built in their respective states have been commandeered by the government to billet paramilitary forces engaged in Operation Green Hunt, which explains why the Maoists have been blowing up school buildings. The mid-day meal scheme has not reached tribal children.

The Right to Education Act or the Woman's Reservation Bill have no relevance to them. Unless they are allowed to live with dignity and respect and not cheated by denying them royalty, Maoists would continue to hold sway over them. The root of the problem is the displacement of tribals to cater to the greed of about 100 families who control more than 25 per cent of the country's wealth. Chidambaram is clearly on the side of these 100 families and not of the toiling masses. If only he had utilised his legal acumen and expertise in championing the cause of the tribals instead of their oppressors, he would be furthering the cause of the party that had given him power and pelf. Instead, he chose to be the legal adviser for the collapsed US energy corporation Enron when it tried to extend its criminal reach to India in the 1990s, and the environment pillaging and tribal tormenting Vedanta. Of India's total aluminium capacity of 1.3 million tonnes, Vedanta will account for 885,000 tonnes once its Jharsguda smelter in Orissa is commissioned in coming months.

In a move to make the best use of Orissa's bauxite and coal deposits, Vedanta is creating 1.6 million tonnes of smelting capacity at Jharsuguda to be backed by a five million tonne aluminia refinery at Lanjigarh and a power complex of 3,750 MW. If Vedanta has its way, then all its capacity will be on ground by 2013 coinciding with Chidambaram's targeted year for completing Operation Green Hunt.

To understand Chidambaram's agenda, one should have a close look at his lectures. In his Mahendra lecture delivered at Harvard Business School in Boston in 2006, he described the first three decades following India's independence, which covers the entire period of Nehru's premiership, as the "lost years during which the nation's economy was directed by the government and closed to the outside world with abysmal results."

 

Addressing a US business audience in 2007, Chidambaram said India was facing the challenge of "leveraging huge natural and human resources to ensure rapid economic growth. But attempts to make quick and efficient use of resources such as coal, iron ore, bauxite, titanium ore, dimonds, natural gas and petroleum are thwarted by the state governments and interest groups." Any wonder dyed-in-the-wool Congressmen like Digvijay Singh and Mani Shankar Aiyer find it difficult to go the whole hog with Chidambaram?

Sterlite, a Vedanta group company, was involved in evasion of huge amounts of Central excise and customs duty and after an inquiry was ordered to pay Rs 249.30 crore in 2003. The company filed a writ petition in the Bombay High Court with Chidambaram as counsel and obtained a stay of recovery proceedings. After becoming the finance minister in 2004, Chidambaram failed to initiate any significant move to recover the dues from Sterlite. According to the banned book of Poddar on Vedanta, Sterlite's share price shot up 1,000 per cent in 2003 when Chidambaram was on its board of directors.

The Pension Board of the Church of England had invested £3.8 million in Vedanta Resources.company shares, believing it to be an ethically run company. On the recommendation of the Ethical Investment Advisory Group which found the tribal people in the mining area had not been treated properly by Vedanta and in the absence of a new approach from the company, the Board withdrew the church's investment last year. It speaks volumes for the company's corporate governance and social responsibilities. To facilitate Vedanta achieve its ambition of emerging as the world's largest metals trading company by 2013, must the nation sacrifice its poor jawans?
The writer, a veteran journalist, is Director,  Statesman Print Journalism School.

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

HOW THAROOR'S ACTS BENEFIT THE NATION

THE ENTIRE SHASHI THAROOR EPISODE MAY HAVE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH CORRUPTION OR FAVOURITISM. IT COULD BE RELATED TO HIGH POLITICS, SAYS RAJINDER PURI, TONGUE FIRMLY IN CHEEK

 

There are many wild theories going around about what really happened in the Kochi franchise of the IPL. All these theories could be hogwash. Political analysts may have missed the real story in the Shashi Tharoor episode. Contrary to the popular view, this entire episode may have had nothing to do with corruption or favouritism. It could be related to high politics. A reliable source with high contacts offered to this scribe an entirely different theory about what really lay behind recent events.

According to my source, Shashi Tharoor was not interested in helping anyone obtain the Kochi franchise. Nor did he have a personal pecuniary interest. He behaved the way he did because he is on the payroll of the BJP. My source pointed with an air of awe how Tharoor single-handedly demolished the credibility of the Congress. This was something that the entire Advani team had failed to accomplish. According to my source, RSS is elated with Tharoor's performance. If the BJP ever gets back to power, a senior cabinet post, if not the PM's post, is assured to him.

Nagpur was bowled over by Tharoor's masterful display. He destroyed two important foreign visits of the Prime Minister. When Dr Manmohan Singh visited Saudi Arabia, Tharoor with a few well-chosen words drew all attention away from what the PM obtained in the visit. Instead, the MEA had to work overtime denying that India had invited Saudi Arabia to be a mediator in the Kashmir dispute.

Similarly, after the recent Nuclear Security Summit, nobody is mentioning a word about what the PM accomplished in Washington or in Brazil. Instead, Tharoor has once again succeeded in drawing national attention to the IPL and Kochi. The poor PM is left languishing in the dark while Tharoor hogs all the limelight.

But what is the political impact of this drama?

My source said: "Strangely enough, what Tharoor has done is not all negative. It is true that he has destroyed the reputation of the UPA government and dwarfed all the achievements of the PM. But Tharoor's actions have also benefited the nation."

"In what way? I asked.

"Just think", my source said in a hushed voice. "If the Shashi Tharoor controversy had not erupted, all of us would still continue to be bombarded with the Sania Mirza-Shoaib Malik stories!"

The writer is a veteran journalist and cartoonist

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND

WHEN THE JUNTA BANNED TRADITIONAL PROTEST SONGS, ITS LEADING EXPONENTS CHOSE A LIFE OF EXILE. ANDREW BUNCOMBE MEETS THEM IN NEW DELHI

 

First comes the sound of hand drums, followed by a voice that is steady and persistent. As Ngwe Toe leans back and angles his words towards the microphone, his lines are met by a chanting group which takes up his theme and sings back at him, as a call and response. "The religion in our country," sings Toe, as the group answers for him, "is Theravada Buddhism." The activist continues, "The colour saffron is growing everywhere."
The group responds, "The monks are very graceful, but now their power has been drained. They are hiding in the remote areas."

As the drums continue in a dreamy loop, Toe implores, "Tell me why." The chanters tell him, "The military devil is rising up."

This is a traditional Burmese protest song with a modern twist. For generations, the people marked their new year by performing Thangyat – songs and skits that gave voice to local grievances.

In 1988, the year in which the military authorities violently crushed a series of democracy demonstrations with the death of at least 3,000 people, the junta decided it had endured enough protest and banned the tradition, threatening jail for anyone who dared to disobey.

But the generals could not stop Thangyat, merely drove it overseas. Now, communities of exiled Burmese around the world put together their own collections of protest songs, which are sold on CDs and even broadcast so that residents listen secretly on their radios.

One of the most famous and popular groups, of which Ngwe Toe is a member, is based in the west of Delhi. Ahead of the traditional four-day new year celebrations, or water festival, the activists recorded and released a new collection of songs, music and poetry entitled Gaining Victory for Us and Defeat for Them.
"During the festival, it is a tradition that if there is something the people do not like, it will be criticised – be it politics, social affairs or food," said Zin Naing, who escaped to India after the 1988 uprising and who helped produce the recording.

There are an estimated 6,000 Burmese exiles in Delhi, most of them from Chin state, on India's north-eastern border. Many of them took part in the 1988 uprisings and came to India, which at the time was critical of the military authorities and welcomed the refugees. Most have never dared to even visit their home country since.
Ngwe Toe, the 40-year-old lead singer, fled when he was just 19, leaving behind all his relatives. His father died in 2003, but he dreams of returning to the country with his wife and young son, and of being able to show his child to his mother.

In the meantime, he takes some measure of comfort from imagining his family furtively listening to the songs of protest that he and his friends have recorded. "It's like a rap," he said. "I say the first line and then the others respond with the second. It's a call and response, and when I am singing, I am shouting these slogans with emotion. I am very focused on the song. I would be happy if my mother hears it, and would then be able to give the message that her son is involved in the politics."

The lyrics for the song performed by Ngwe Toe were written by a Buddhist monk, forced to escape to India after taking part in the so-called Saffron Revolution of September 2007, when tens of thousands of monks and citizens took to the streets of Rangoon and other major cities demanding democratic reforms.
The monk, U Dhamma, a smiling, round-faced 23-year-old, fled after he and several other monks from his monastery joined the demonstrations in the northern city of Mandalay. "I took part in the marches. I thought there would be a revolution. I believed in democratic rule," said the monk, who crossed into north-eastern India in January 2008 and now lives in the same dusty Delhi neighbourhood as many other exiles.

Those who wrote the collection of protest songs have had no shortage of material to inspire them over the past 12 months. Last year, the junta extended the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for 18 months, after she was convicted of breaching the terms of her detention when an uninvited US tourist swam to her lakeside home.

Then, last month, the regime announced new rules governing the controversial election due to be held later this year. The rules effectively bar Ms Suu Kyi from standing and say that her party, the National League for Democracy, would have to oust her if it wished to field candidates. The NLD has announced it is boycotting the election.

It is not just the junta that comes in for criticism in the Thangyat. While the songs indeed condemn the regime's alleged nuclear ambitions, the election and the country's poverty, the NLD and even politicians in exile are also subjects of satire.

Such humour has long been a tradition of subtle dissent in Burma. One of the country's best-known comics, Zarganar, spent many years making barbed puns about the regime. Eventually, in 2008, the junta ran out of patience with him and seized on an interview he had given to the BBC criticising the authorities' response of the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. He was jailed for 59 years, a sentence reduced to 35 on appeal.
Likewise, in Mandalay, members of a famous comic troupe known as the Moustache Brothers have been in and out of jail as a result of their performances making fun of the junta. The exiles, who put together the protest album, remain confident that change can come. The song performed by Ngwe Toe says the monks will lead the transformation.

The Independent

 

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THE STATESMAN

EDITORIAL

100 YEARS AGO TODAY

 

The Bandmann Opera Company is now in Hong Kong. Ever since the Company left Calcutta they have been playing to record houses. Two visits have been paid to Shanghai. The Company is due back in Calcutta in the middle of May. Mr Maurice Bandmann is now on his way to England to conclude arrangements for next season.

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

FILMY FLAVOUR

 

The Indian Premier League has pioneered a new game of cricket, but in another respect it is turning out to be traditionally Indian — it is picking up a quintessentially filmy flavour. No Indian film is complete without a hero and a villain. The IPL drama started with only one of the two, but it has found an excellent actor to play the other. In one respect it betters Bollywood. The latter's heroes and villains are cardboard characters; it is impossible to mistake one for the other. But between Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor, the choice is entirely open; at least for now, the honours are equally divided. At the outset, the third essential element, a ravishing beauty, was not quite there. It was artificially brought in by Juhi Chawla and Preity Zinta amongst the owners. But theirs were cameo appearances; when, rarely, the camera focused on them, they waved coyly, and went back to their role as boring owners. The drama their performances lacked was made up for by the entry from the western entrance of Sunanda Pushkar; there may be doubts about her wealth, but there can be none about her looks. She has hitherto kept out of the limelight. But that is only likely to enhance the mystery surrounding her.

With so much juicy action going on, Indians should be dancing with joy. But here comes our killjoy element; instead of enjoying their good fortune, most spectators — especially the grown-ups — are outraged. They find something unsavoury about the entire situation; the fact that they cannot agree on what it is makes things even worse. Is it the fact that Mr Modi has not been entirely neutral between teams — some would say not entirely above board? But irrespective of whom he likes and does not, the League continues. No one except a paranoid astrologer would think that Mr Modi can influence the outcome of the matches; at any rate, the performances match the normal uncertainties of cricket, and there has been no whiff of rigging till now. And given the lack of bonhomie between Mr Modi and Mr Tharoor, the looks of Ms Pushkar are unlikely to make any difference to the fortunes of the enterprise she partly and fictionally owns.

 

There are two plays being performed before India — the League, and the Twitter. If the two were to get mixed up, they might vitiate each other's outcome. For those whose faith in cricket as a gentlemen's game still survives, that would be a tragedy. But a tragedy for now does not look even possible, let alone likely. True, either play may have an end not entirely to one's liking. But that is inherent in games of chance; those who do not like uncertainty should keep as far away from cricket and real-life drama as they can. For the rest of us, it is a great show; long may it go on.

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

INEXPLICABLE

 

Cruelty can go to inconceivable lengths where a woman is concerned. Maheswari, a 26-year-old woman in Andhra Pradesh, was doused with kerosene and set alight allegedly by her husband and in-laws for being fat. She had been married for three years and had continued to put on weight. Instead of trying to find out whether she was suffering from ill-health, her husband forced her to an abortion in case she gave birth to an overweight baby, and refused to let her out of the house in daytime since he considered her obesity shameful. But that did not stop him from milking this shame for gifts from her father, including furniture, a motorbike and an air-conditioner. All Maheswari could do was accuse her husband, mother-in-law and sister-in-law of setting her on fire just before she died.

 

Reminiscent of Ayesha Siddiqui's statement that the cricketer, Shoaib Malik, had married and then left her because she was fat, Maheswari's murder shows that obesity has been added to the list of women's 'flaws'. And that they can be tortured and killed on that pretext. Obesity may have its roots in a medical condition, and should at least be looked into. But while India now worships an imposed ideal of slimness, it also nurtures the old callousness towards women's health. What is startling is the vicious cruelty that is unleashed by such a minor cause. Maheswari's murder exposes the crudeness that underlies the Indian attitude to women. A new bride is a source of wealth, squeezed out of her natal family by open or covert blackmail, and she is also at the mercy of her husband and in-laws, to live and die at their will. The laws against dowry torture and domestic violence become irrelevant against this implacability. Maheswari's story would seem incredible to an outsider. Why should the way out of a marriage with an undesired partner be a hideous murder? It is as if Indians have an insatiable craving to make vulnerable women suffer and die. Ultimately it is this inexplicable perversity that has to be addressed.

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

 

SEEDS OF CORRUPTION

TECHNOCRATIC DECISIONS FOR POLITICAL OBJECTIVES

S.L. RAO

 

Government decisions were based on deep-rooted leftwing ideology, lack of foresight or practical experience, and self-enrichment. They have led to consequences that the nation has suffered for years. With difficulty it is trying to reverse some.

 

Jawaharlal Nehru's overwhelming dominance over Indian public opinion for most of his time in power muted any opposition to his policies. Policies might have been better with debate and dissent. Some of them were non-alignment in foreign policies; the desire to acquire Kashmir; taking the Kashmir issue with Pakistan to the United Nations; industrialization as the key to take India out of poverty; more emphasis on higher and professional education than on schooling; priority given to curative health over public health (safe drinking water, sanitation, and so on); dependence on an inherited administrative service for execution of all government policies; unlike with the defence forces, not insulating police functioning from political interference; making government-owned enterprises subservient to the civil services; not setting standards of accountability and penalties for non-performance on government functionaries and so on. In recent years, adverse consequences or present-day irrelevance of these policies have sapped the country's strength. Many are being questioned and reworked, though there is resistance.

 

I think that the seeds for large-scale corruption in the government were sown when Nehru did not insist on strict penalties for venal officials and politicians (unlike Singapore). The root of the problem of corruption was Gandhi asking the first Congress ministers to live simply and serve the people. Nehru in response got all ministers to "voluntarily" cut salaries. This sowed the seeds for many of them earning much more by illegal means ostensibly to feed visiting constituents, fight elections, contribute to the party, and also build post-retirement estates.

 

At Independence, the best organized among labour were the industrial unions, controlled by different political parties. Media and elected representatives of every political party gave trade union concerns an importance out of proportion to their share in the population or the economy. Agricultural policies were founded on the need to ensure that the urban industrial worker got foodgrains at low prices. The plight of farmers and landless labourers depending for incomes on agricultural produce was ignored. Distortions in agricultural policies today are the results. We pretend to support the farmer through minimum support prices that are the same as procurement prices; fertilizer subsidies that actually mostly benefit the fertilizer manufacturers; and declining public investments in real terms in building assets for agriculture. Distorted policies and inadequate investment have lowered agricultural productivity and impoverished the farmer. Farmers have reacted by substantially increasing production of horticulture, milk, and so on.

 

The Food Corporation of India is believed to be the most corrupt among public enterprises. Many dip into its revenues — politicians, FCI officers and other intermediaries. Some farmers pay bribes to procurement officers. Many FCI officers pay more for lower quality, showing it as higher quality. There is also much illegal income from contracts for transportation, handling, storage and so on of the procured grain. For years now, governments have ignored suggestions to change from physical procurement and delivery to, instead, the giving of cash or "stamps" to farmers (or poor households) who have to be supported. Alternatives have yet to be even tested.

 

In many cities, ration cards meant for the very poor to get grains at cheap prices are in excess of populations. Many deserving poor do not have cards. Bogus ration cards enable the transferring of substantial quantities of cheap foodgrain for sale in the open markets. Various intermediaries rip off public money during procurement, handling, transportation, storage, identification of the poor, and distribution of the cheap grains. Vested interests prevent changing a proven inefficient and corrupt system to the detriment of the poor and the farmer. No alternative is in place.

 

Kerosene is given to the poor at very cheap rates at government cost. Repeated studies show that at least 40 per cent of such kerosene is diverted into the market, and adulterated with diesel by truck operators who make extra profits. No alternative to physical delivery of ration kerosene has been permitted by politicians (many own carriers) and administrators. Similarly, lower priced fertilizers for farmers to improve their earnings mostly benefit the manufacturers. There is no sign of government finding alternatives. Misguided politicians thought they would get farmer votes by pricing urea especially low. While urea is used most, it has to be balanced, depending on the soil and the crop, with phosphatic and potassic fertilizers. These are expensive. Farmers overuse urea and damage land and crops. Now the government is trying to restore the price balance but may not undo the damage of years of fertilizer imbalances.

 

George Fernandes as industries minister in the Janata government reserved over 800 products for small-scale industry. He did not know that industry is a spectrum from tiny to the largest industries that exist to satisfy market demands. They succeed when they are efficient, produce high quality products, service customers to their satisfaction, and meet market needs. Reservations placed a heavy burden on Indian industry and exports because of higher costs and poorer quality. Studies showed that reservations benefited only the well-placed producers. The majority of small-scale producers did not get any advantage from reservation. In recent years, governments are gradually removing reservations. But India lost out in competitiveness.

 

Many labour-intensive industries like garments, leather, toys, were reserved for the small-scale industrial sector. India, with similar advantages to China in these industries, is a small exporter of these while China dominates world markets. Chinese factories employ thousands, while Indian factories are small in scale because of reservations. Gradual rolling back of this policy is inevitable to counter vested interests that include politicians.

 

Indian labour laws emphasize employment irrespective of the viability of the industry. So employment cannot be reduced if markets go against a product. Employers are unwilling to employ large numbers, fearing unaffordable wage bills when demand declines. A social security system should have been created to protect such displaced workers instead of making the employer bear a burden he cannot afford.

 

Every ministry has public enterprises under its control. Ministers and officials avail themselves of many perquisites from these and are the super-bosses of public enterprises, with major decisions requiring their approvals. Disinvestment and privatization have now begun, albeit slowly.

 

The Indian stock markets have witnessed major share price fluctuations. Foreign institutional investors sending funds from Mauritius are exempt from capital gains tax and send money in and out as they book profits. This results in large inflows and outflows of foreign exchange, making for fluctuations in the exchange value of the rupee. Mauritius is the largest foreign investor in India, said to be the repository for politicians and others sending funds by the havala route, laundered through the stock markets. No government has taken action.

 

For some, the motivation behind power is the wish to do well for the nation. For others it is to acquire wealth. There are too many ministries at the Centre and states. Subjects are broken into components to create more ministerial berths for politicians. There is little coordination and holistic decisionmaking. Interrelationships between components and subjects are neglected; for example, health (spread among the ministries of health and family welfare, chemicals and fertilizers and water), or energy, (spread among coal, oil and gas, power, renewable energy and atomic energy). The country has paid a high price in poor health status, deaths, fake drugs, and so on, and half the population is without safe and affordable energy in order to create jobs for politicians.

 

In India, politicians aided by the bureaucracy have held the country back by thoughtless decisions based on poor grassroots knowledge and poor implementation. In many sectors we need technocratic decisions to implement political objectives. What we have is politicized implementation of unclear political objectives.

 

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

 

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THE TELEGRAPH

EDITORIAL

GHOSTS FROM THE PAST

GWYNNE DYER

 

First, a tragedy that almost sinks beneath the weight of a huge historical coincidence: a plane carrying the political and military elite of Polish society crashes, killing everybody aboard, on its way to Katyn to commemorate the murder of a previous generation of the same elite by Stalin's secret police in 1940.

 

Then the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, whose early career was spent in a tamer version of that same secret police, does something remarkable. He tells a Russian television channel to show Andrzej Wajda's 2007 film, Katyn, in prime time. It's more than an apology. It's a national act of penance.

 

Poland's historic tragedy is that it is located between Germany and Russia. Twice the country vanished entirely, partitioned between its more powerful neighbours — the enduring symbol of the second partition being the Katyn massacre. In 1939, when Hitler and Stalin invaded Poland, 22,000 Polish officers fell into the hands of the Soviet Union. Some were professional soldiers, but most were reserve officers, who comprised the country's intellectual elite. Stalin had them all murdered by a bullet in the back of the head.

 

Stalin's aim was to "decapitate" the Polish intelligentsia and make the absorption of eastern Poland into the Soviet Union easier, but Hitler betrayed and attacked his ally in 1941. When the invading German troops reached Katyn, they found the mass graves of the Polish officers and invited international observers to examine the site. That was when the Great Lie was launched.

 

Moscow insisted that it was the Germans who had massacred the officers. The American and British governments backed the Soviet story because Stalin was now their ally in the war against Hitler. Only after 1945 did they question it.

 

So, the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre was a fraught event. Prime Minister Putin invited his Polish equivalent, Donald Tusk, to a memorial ceremony in Katyn, but President Lech Kaczynski was not invited. Tusk would settle for a vague expression of regret, but Kaczynski was an old-fashioned nationalist who wanted the Russians to apologize on their knees.

 

Fresh start

Tusk came, and Putin duly expressed his sorrow for the "victims of Stalinist terror", but he didn't even mention the word "Poles". Great states never really apologize, you know. Kaczynski, enraged, invited himself to another ceremony three days later, and brought half of Poland's political, military and journalistic elite with him.

 

Putin showed up at Katyn again to meet him. When the news of Kaczynski's plane crash came in, he looked utterly stricken. Finally, the grim reality of the place and the occasion got through to him. Now, the apology was real and specific. Now, Wajda's harrowing film on Katyn, previously only seen on a specialty channel, got a prime-time broadcast. Now, the Russians finally got why the Poles don't trust them.

 

The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, has announced that he is going to Poland for Kaczynski's funeral. Before he goes, he should look at one photograph. It was taken in 1984 on the World War I battlefield of Verdun, where a quarter million French and German soldiers died in 1916. By 1984, France and Germany were in the European Union and Nato together, but they were still not really friends.

 

Then, President François Mitterrand of France and Chancellor Helmut Kohl of Germany commemorated the 70th anniversary of World War I. Looking out over the killing fields, they did the only thing they could. They held hands — and Franco-German relations changed for good. If Medvedev can find a way to do something as simple but powerful as that, he could start a new chapter in Russian-Polish history. The people are ready for that.

 

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******************************************************************************************DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

LAUNCHED TO FAIL

'SPACE PROGRA-MMES HAVE GROWN THROUGH FAILURES.'

 

The failure of the launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)-D3 with India's first cryogenic engine has disappointed not only the scientists and engineers of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) but also the entire nation. The failure was unexpected because the engine had been in development for years and had been tested to the best technological satisfaction. The cryo stage was required to work in space for only 720 seconds but it had been tested successfully on the ground for up to 1,000 seconds. It was not tested in weightless conditions but this would not have been possible, and was perhaps not needed. The failure was a setback but there is no need to lose heart. Only five other countries — the US, Russia, France, China and Japan — have mastered the cryogenic technology. They had failed many times before achieving success. ISRO had sought to develop the technology after Russia refused to transfer it to India on US pressure. The technology is very complex, and however successful it is in simulated conditions, there is a chance of error in actual flight. The first attempt often becomes an experiment and a trial.

There have been failures in the past in India's space efforts. The first attempt of an SLV rocket  in 1979 was not successful. There have been failures since then with ASLV and PSLV launches too. GSLV launches in the past have met with some kind of failure or the other. But the space programme has grown through these failures  and became sophisticated enough to send a probe to the moon. The PSLV has proved to be very dependable, and has performed well in the last 14 consecutive flights. There is no doubt that the cause of last week's failure will also be identified correctly and the glitches removed.

ISRO has said that a successful launch using a cryogenic engine might take about an year's time. The delay might affect the Chandrayan-2 mission which has been scheduled for 2013.  Satellite launches will become much cheaper with cryogenic technology and become commercially attractive too. About Rs 335 crore was spent on the GSLV-D3 launch. The advanced communication satellite GSAT-4 cost Rs 150 crore. It was also experimental. It is pointed out that ISRO should not have risked launching a costly and experimental satellite in a test flight, however certain it was of the success. The view is not entirely wrong.

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

BRIC BATS FOR SECURITY

''BRIC HAS EMERGED AS A STRONG GROUP.''

 

While the nuclear summit in Washington last week expressed the will of the world to ensure the security of people and nations from threats posed by terrorists, the IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) and BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) summits that followed in Brasilia were an affirmation of the role of rising powers in ensuring the world's financial and political security. The two groupings are different. IBSA has a political character as all three members are democracies. BRIC is more economic; it represents about one-fifth of the world's GDP and 40 per cent of its population. It has emerged as a strong group championing its own rights and those of other developing countries. The economic decline of the rich countries has given it greater clout.

This assertiveness was reflected in the deadline of a few months set by the BRIC meet to reform the IMF and the World Bank through voting power and quota rule changes, and to give greater legitimacy and representativeness to these institutions. The G-20 summit last year in the US had made promises in this regard but the easing of the world financial crisis has made the developed world go slow on them. The Brasilia meet also saw the group reaffirming its common positions on climate change, energy, trade, terrorism, agriculture and UN reforms. It was not that there were no  differences. These also came to the fore when Russia and China did not openly support the claims of India and Brazil for permanent seats in the UN Security Council, but only called for a greater role for them in the world body.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made the BRIC position clear when he said that it wants "to play a role in shaping the pace and direction of global economic growth." This assertiveness has come from better realisation of power and a sense of common purpose. On political issues also both the forums have tried to co-ordinate their views. The BRIC joint statement was silent on the US demand for more sanctions against Iran, but the IBSA opposed them. The Chinese and Russian positions, opposing sanctions, are well-known, and it has done well to withstand US pressure to back its aggressive posture against Iran. With G-20 becoming a more representative and influential forum in place of G-7, BRIC and IBSA, whose members are key members of G-20, can play a crucial role is shaping its policies and decisions.

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

YET ANOTHER PLAN TO END CHILD LABOUR

BY KATHYAYINI CHAMARAJ

Harping on poor quality of schools for drop-outs, critics forget poverty and lack of basic services for the poor.

 

 

The state labour department is drawing up its third Action Plan on Child Labour in the space of nine years. The most the Plans seem to achieve is a shifting of the deadline to end child labour — this time to 2020. Simultaneously, the education department is busy drawing up rules to implement the Centre's momentous Right to Education Act which has come 60 years too late. Never mind — better late than never.
A dominant feature in all Action Plans on Child Labour has been the acceptance of child labourers as a fait accompli and thus the plan's focus on their rehabilitation involving stipends, bridge schools and measures to address their families' difficulties. But the fact is that more than 95 per cent children are enrolling in Class 1. Then, why is none questioning why the education department allows them to drop out, education having been declared a fundamental right by the supreme court decades ago?

Ostrich-like behavior

Strangely, the education department defines a drop-out as a child which has not attended school for 90 continuous days. Children are bound to become child labourers during this lengthy period of the education department's ostrich-like behaviour of closing its eyes to the phenomenon. Could not the same measures of addressing the child's and the family's vulnerability been undertaken at the very first signs of the child being absent, say for three days instead of 90 days? Why do none of the Action Plans on Child Labour or education Acts have a protocol for the education and other departments for this?
If the education department were to forestall dropping out by identifying and giving stipends to vulnerable children and getting other departments to address the constraints of the families, on condition that the child attends school, the problem of further drop-outs and rehabilitation of child labourers would not arise.

It seems that some CSOs too are happy to run rehabilitation schools for child labourers with grants from various sources and are loathe to work with schools on total retention of enrolled children, lest the stream of drop-outs for them to rehabilitate dries up, putting in peril the very raison d'etre of their existence.

None can deny that much needs to be done with regard to the poor quality of schools to retain children. But by always harping only on the poor quality of schools as the main cause of children dropping out, critics are ensuring that less attention is paid to the more often-quoted reasons of poverty and lack of basic services and amenities to the poor — such as day-long child care and piped water supply — preventing children from completing even eight years of schooling. The critics are, willfully or otherwise, being a party to the age-old but continued tradition of denying education to the poorer classes. This is also making school authorities content to merely look inward at the school and tinker with quality issues, while keeping their eyes and ears closed to the larger societal issues preventing children from attending schools.

However, though the labour department has set up a task-force involving several department heads to prepare the Action Plan, with convergence between various departments as its theme, this writer was witness to two highly-placed education department officials saying, "Convergence between departments will not happen in this lifetime, forget it," and "Child labour is the concern of the labour department, I don't want to waste my time discussing issues that are not my concern".

The distance between the two departments of education and labour was also foregrounded recently by the CM himself announcing  peremptorily that education will be made compulsory until Class X while the latest Action Plan on Child Labour is still talking of 14 years or completion of Class VIII as the age when a child may work.  Should there not be congruence between the age at which compulsory education ends and employment begins?

How many more statistics on the extent of out-of-school children and child labourers shall we keep reeling off decade after decade? How many more heart-rending stories of the violence meted out to child labourers shall we keep narrating? How many more action plans shall we draw up which remain only on paper?

 

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DECCAN HERALD

EDITORIAL

AT HATHIMS, SCRAMBLING FOR OLD BOOKS

EVERY CONCEIVABLE INCH OF THE SHOP IS CRAMMED WITH BOOKS.

BY LAKSHMI NAIR

 

As the incense smoke curled and danced, and prayers spiralled upwards, time stood still inside the Baba-jan Dargah. Opposite the dargah was another slice of heaven in the form of a charming old bookshop called Hathims.

Hathims is a second hand book shop filled with books that are salvaged from its sister concern Mustafa Scrap Shop. Mohammed, an effervescent 85-year-old, mans the bookshop.

Hanging out with its more admirable neighbours comprising cloth shops and jewellery stores Hathims is easily miss able except for one distinctive feature.  Its cobalt blue wooden shutters, which stands in stark contrast to the surrounding cityscape.

Located in one of the numerous back lanes that dot Pune, Hathims is frequented by office goers stopping by to pick up an old issue of 'Readers Digest' or 'Time' magazine, school children browsing through Tinkle comics or knots of college girls giggling over a sizzling Mills and Boons book.

Every conceivable inch of the shop (which includes the floors) is crammed with books. On long white wooden shelves, which hug the walls, are arranged the novels. The hardbacks find pride of place in a small glass topped counter. An ante room adjoining the main shop is filled with magazines.

A rusted rickety chair, that doubles up as a footstool helps one to browse through the upper shelves. Although requiring the balance of a tight rope walker, you often came across a gem as you dangerously swayed on the chair.

All the while, like an absent minded professor, Mohammed flits around his shop, stopping only to give the books a quick dusting. Bent with age he is always willing to dazzle you with his friendly gap toothed smile, which makes a trip to this humble bookshop all the more worthwhile.

Hathims is among the last few stalwarts of old Pune which soldier on, as the burgeoning city stamps out all things of its glorious past and reinvents itself as a glitzy new metropolis

 

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THE JERUSALEM POST

EDITORIAL

CONTINUING HERZL'S DREAM

BY DANNY AYALON

 

The verbal terrorism and attacks on our legitimacy will fail just as every other tactic before it.

This year we celebrate 62 years since the reestablishment of the State of Israel and 150 years since the birth of the Zionist visionary Theodor (Binyamin Ze'ev) Herzl. We can look around our nation and take enormous pride in what we have achieved in the few decades since Jewish sovereignty returned to the land of our fathers.

Herzl famously wrote, "If you will it, it is no dream" more than 100 years ago, but unfortunately he died only a few years later. His dream, a Jewish state, would against all the odds be recreated in its ancient land, as he prophetically stated, less than five decades later.

Today, most of us have not known a time without the State of Israel. Few alive remember the battles, the struggles and sacrifices that the early Zionists and even early Israelis had to endure to ensure that Herzl's vision would not remain a dream. Too many take the presence of Israel for granted, and this has allowed us to become complacent about its role and its future. We must never forget that we are a reborn nation surrounded by many enemies intent on our destruction.

When David Ben-Gurion read the Declaration of Independence at the Tel Aviv Museum in 1948, the ink had barely dried before five Arab armies invaded our infant state to destroy us. For many decades afterward, Arab armies would attempt to destroy Israel on the conventional battlefield, but none were successful.

Today, we can claim with pride that we have the strongest military in the region and those hostile to us have learned they cannot defeat us this way.

Next, our enemies tried to defeat us economically. The Arab League initiated a boycott against our state when we were welcoming hundreds of thousands of our brothers and sisters from around the globe. They issued ultimatums to every company in the world, telling them that if they conducted business with the Jewish state, they would not be able to conduct business with any Arab state. Today we have one of the world's strongest economies and are about to join the OECD, the forum of the most powerful global economies.

After economic warfare also failed, our enemies began an unconventional and terrorist war against us. Israelis and Jews have been butchered in their thousands by extremists who chose their death over our life. Although no one can claim that the threat is 100 percent extinguished, we have managed to beat this scourge and today far fewer innocent people are being killed by terrorists, even though there are still daily attempts.

HAVING FAILED on so many occasions, our enemies have lately discovered a new way to attack us. This is through the current delegitimization campaign and so-called "lawfare" and may prove to be our toughest battle yet. Our enemies know they have distinct advantages that are difficult to contend with. They have an automatic majority in international institutions and have created an orchestrated system to tar the Jewish state as akin to the Nazis or the racist apartheid regime. They prevent us from speaking on campuses or having our voice heard in forums, and deny us freedom of speech because they know that if our voice is heard our enemies' flawed narrative will collapse.

Although few know it or report on it, the Organization of Islamic Conference clearly stated on a number of occasions that it initiated the Goldstone Commission. How many of those who scream about Israeli war crimes know they are the mouthpiece of autocratic regimes? How many of those who read about the attempted arrest of Israeli officials in Europe realize that these attempts are initiated, supported and funded by those in our region who will not allow a woman to vote and kill or oppress their own people?

However, the verbal terrorism and attacks on our legitimacy will fail just as every other tactic before it. Nevertheless, to win this battle we must reinforce education about our history and purpose. We need to further the understanding of our historical, religious, moral and legal rights. Too few of our people understand that our modern legal rights are not based on history, religion or the Holocaust, as important as each of these is, but because the international community came together in 1920 as rarely seen before and conferred national rights in Eretz Yisrael to the Jewish people.

LESS THAN a week after we celebrate Independence Day, we will commemorate 90 years since the San Remo Conference. Few nations can show such a determined and unified statement of intent for their national aspirations. When we add this to the corpus of international statements, resolutions and treaties, we will find that although we are perhaps the only member of the United Nations whose legitimacy is regularly questioned, few nations have such modern legal instruments as the Jewish state with which to cement our legitimacy. We need to learn these facts and teach them to others.

 

On this Independence Day, many see the glass half empty. We have so many challenges and obstacles to overcome. However, we should remember our achievements. Intellectual property will become the greatest resource of the 21st century, and Israel stands at the forefront of innovation and technology. Its inventions and technological knowledge are making the deserts bloom in Africa, saving millions of lives through medical innovation, creating alternative energies and securing the future of many people around the world.

We have continued Herzl's vision, even after our independence, and are dreaming of bigger and better things. This is why we have a bright future, and we can make it even brighter, not only for Israel, but for all the people who are inspired, assisted and supported by Israel.

The writer is deputy minister of foreign affairs.

 

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THE JERUSALEM POST

EDITORIAL

BORDERLINE VIEWS: WALKING THE TRAIL AT 62

BY DAVID NEWMAN

 

The Israel Trail has become one of the movable places where differences are overcome and where people listen to each other.

 

 

Four days before Independence Day, a memorial ceremony took place at the Moshav of She'ar Yashuv in the North in memory of the soldiers who lost their lives in the 1997 helicopter disaster. But this is no normal memorial ceremony – it marks the end of a two-month trek along the Israel Trail, starting in Eilat and ending at the place of the disaster. The two-month hike, which has now become an annual event, was set up by the parents of one of the dead soldiers in his memory.

But this has become much more than simply a hike. It has become a meeting place for people and groups within this diverse society to meet, walk together, talk, discuss their different views and perspectives on the state of the nation.

Each day is accompanied by a workshop or a seminar, to which outside speakers are invited. The topics cover the whole range of social, political and cultural issues which face Israeli society. There is a core group of about 60, with others joining and leaving on a daily basis. At the height of the walk, during Passover, there were days on which participants numbered a few hundred.

This is not the only group. The Israel Trail has become a popular breakaway for many people who do not have the time, desire or resources to travel abroad and are seeking to do something different – they may choose to walk the entire trail, or just parts of it, all of which (except for some parts in the South) are relatively easily accessible. It is a way of breaking out of life's daily pressures and remembering just how diverse this country's landscape is, despite its extremely small size – from the aridity and deserts of the South to the mountains, water and greenery of the North.

It has also become a place for chance meetings – along the trail, at temporary camp sites and arranging rides to and from the starting points along the trail. People assist each other, offering food, hospitality and emergency medical care. There are Israel Trail "angels," people who live in communities along the trail and who offer hospitality and food to the hikers.

 

It has become one of the country's great spontaneous social experiments, proving that people can get along with each other if only they would live and let live, rather than attempt to impose their own lifestyles and beliefs on those who do not think or behave like them.

AS WE celebrate another year of independence, Israeli society has become increasingly diverse. From left to right, religious to secular, wealthy to poor, this has indeed become the "normal" society which David Ben-Gurion wished for, with all the expected goods and bads. Long gone are the days when there was a single national ethos of state building, characterized by a single and unquestioning form of patriotism, greater social and economic egalitarianism (if only because there was little wealth to go around) and a single hegemonic national ideology imposed upon the country by a small, but powerful, ruling elite of the Mapai leadership.

Today, politics and religion have become more diverse than in the first two decades of the country's existence. Mizrahi society has become empowered, the haredi world has grown beyond all expectations, while the influx of a million immigrants from the former Soviet Union has changed the social and cultural structure of large parts of society. While the younger generations have become completely disenchanted with the political institutions and their corruption, they have also become more socially aware and concerned about the ills of society.

The thousands of small nonprofit welfare and social organizations, grassroots organizations which have few resources other than their own willingness to act, operate throughout and across society, bringing people together and improving quality of life for tens of thousands.

But one thing remains unchanged. The Israel-Palestine conflict continues and, as we enter out 63rd year of independence, looks as far from being solved as at any point in the past 40 years.

Even this does not deter the hikers on the Israel Trail. It is quite common to come across secular, left-wing youth who shout the evils of occupation, dialoguing with right-wing settlers who are walking the trail to show their love for the Land of Israel. It is a sort of neutral space, not linked into the political hierarchies or ideological rigidity which is so characteristic of Israeli politics.

IT IS unfortunate that two large groups in society are not yet part of this great social experiment. Both the Arab and haredi populations, both of which experience the most rapid growth of all population groups, still find it hard to break out of their social and spatial exclusion – the Arabs because they find themselves unwelcomed by the Jewish majority, the haredim because they want to create their own voluntary ghettos which will not be infiltrated by outside influences. Occasionally, one may encounter members of these groups along the trail, but this remains the exception.

 

Dialogue, the ability to be different and respect the difference of the other, to live and let live – all these are characteristics which are sorely missing in large parts of contemporary Israeli society. The Israel Trail has become one of the movable places where difference is overcome and where people are able to listen and be listened to. If anything is worthy of the Israel Prize, this year or next, it is the organizers of the Israel Trail. But then again, it has come about because of so many people who have developed it from grass roots upward, that it would not be possible to award it to a single individual. At 62, the Israel Trail has become a symbol for the sort of society we should aspire to be – internally diverse but respectful of each other.

The writer is professor of political geography at Ben-Gurion University and editor of the International Journal of Geopolitics.

 

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THE JERUSALEM POST

EDITORIAL

THE REGION: NO LONGER TOUGH ENOUGH?

BY BARRY RUBIN

For years we spoke of the timid and unreliable Europeans. Now, in many respects, they are bolder and braver than the US.

 

The US Congress is back as a factor in US foreign policy. Partly because the Obama administration has pushed it too far to do unpopular things, partly because members are no longer in awe of the president's alleged invincibility and popularity. Many Democratic members see their whole careers flashing before their eyes. And, of course, there's the administration's decision to pick a fight with Israel.

 

For the first time since Barack Obama took office, we're seeing a bit of a congressional revolt even from his own side of the aisle. The two issues are Israel and Iran.

On Israel, 76 senators – including 38 of 59 Democrats – signed a flattering but critical letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging reconciliation with Israel. Another 333 House members signed up, including leading Democrats. The letters blamed the Palestinian leadership – and rightly so – for the lack of serious negotiations.

They noted that "it is the very strength of our relationship [with Israel] that has made Arab-Israeli peace agreements possible, both because it convinced those who desired Israel's destruction to abandon any such hope and because it gave successive Israeli governments the confidence to take calculated risks for peace."

On Iran, a whopping 363 members of the House of Representatives urged Obama to put "crippling" sanctions on Iran, taking "tough and decisive measures," and urging him to make sure Teheran doesn't get nuclear weapons.

Thus, Congress is challenging Obama's policy on four levels:

1. It's not tough enough.

2. The proposed sanctions are too toothless (and on this one, see below).

3. Sanctions have taken too long.

4. Instead of waiting for the UN, the US government should show leadership and act on its own along with willing allies.

Moreover, even while the House passed a sanctions measure by a huge majority in December and a similar bill went through the Senate in January, to my knowledge the administration has never taken any position on the proposal.

And now things are about to get worse.

SECRETARY OF Defense Robert Gates admitted that the US government is ready to water down the sanctions even further to get a UN Security Council resolution supporting additional action against Iran. The rationale for this is to say that this consensus can then be used as a basis for additional sanctions by countries acting on their own, what Gates called, "a new legal platform." He explained, "What is important about the UN resolution is less the specific content of the resolution than the isolation of Iran by the rest of the world."

The Los Angeles Times thought this was , at least partly, an excuse for the failure to get more: "Gates's comments were the clearest sign yet that the administration, facing continuing resistance from other countries to the harshest of the proposed measures, is lowering its sights. US and allied officials have given up on prospects for a ban on petroleum shipments to or from Iran, and some allies have questioned other potential measures."

It could be pointed out that the second Bush administration also settled for lightweight UN resolutions, but it was far more determined to follow up with a tough strategy. Equally, Russia and China can violate stronger sanctions, but they are not likely to respect weaker ones either. The bottom line is that not only can Iran get off easily, but the signal conveyed undermines the hopes for future containment possibilities.

Moreover, I think this situation largely reveals a fundamental flaw in the Obama worldview: What should be important is a tough and effective strategy based on strong US leadership which is going to intimidate Iran at least to some extent. Instead, we get the priority on consensus, to avoid any sign of the dreaded "unilateralism" or masterful American leadership which horrifies Obama regarding past US policy. This approach is likely to continue after a UN resolution. Far from unleashing an aggressive US strategy against Iran, the follow-up is more likely to be anticlimactic.

Consequently, Obama's policy may succeed in passing muster as legalistic while being hailed by the poodle brigade in the media. But it will fail at the ostensible goal of the entire exercise: stopping Iran now or making Teheran act more cautiously in future.

A PARALLEL situation is now going on regarding Syria's providing of advanced Scuds to Lebanon. The US State Department's reaction was a joke: We are going to study this! Compare that to the French response: We must update our thinking. For years we spoke of the timid and unreliable Europeans. Now, in many respects, France (along with Germany and the United Kingdom) is bolder and braver than Obama's policy.

 

Mincing no words, the French Foreign Ministry called the Scud transfer "alarming" and pointed out that such activity was in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which "imposes an embargo on the export of arms to Lebanon, except those authorized by the government of Lebanon or the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon."

And this is the key. What good is it to get a new UN Security Council resolution if the US government won't even enforce the previous ones?

The writer is director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center and editor of Middle East Review of International Affairs and Turkish Studies.

 

His personal blog can be read at www.rubinreports.blogspot.com

 

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THE JERUSALEM POST

EDITORIAL

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY WISHES FROM A PALESTINIAN

BY AZIZ ABU SARAH

Although Palestinian and Israeli narratives are different, our vision for the future can be one.

 

It might be hard to believe that a Palestinian would wish an Israeli Jew a happy Independence Day, but I am only following in the footsteps of another Palestinian I know, Ibrahim from Hebron.

Three years ago, I was cohosting a bilingual (Arabic and Hebrew) radio show at Radio All for Peace in Jerusalem with my Israeli cohost, Sharon Misheiker. Our weekly show happened to air on Israeli Independence Day, and on that day we invited Ibrahim, a peace activist, to talk about the land that had been confiscated from him for the building of the separation barrier.

I remember that Ibrahim spoke with compelling passion and heartbreaking emotions about the loss of his farmland, which had been a main source of income. Before ending the conversation, we asked him how he felt about Independence Day, and we received a surprising answer.

With his characteristic candor, Ibrahim told us that he had already called his Israeli friends and wished them a happy Independence Day.

Sharon and I were shocked.

Ibrahim told us that he received the same response from all his Israeli friends: silence, shock and disbelief. They didn't know what to say. They were caught by surprise. They had never heard a Palestinian wishing them a happy Independence Day.

Some of his left-wing friends asked how he could do so, when the holiday was celebrating the same event that was causing much of his suffering. He could have used that chance to recount history according to the Palestinian narrative: He could have said something about the Deir Yasin massacre, or the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who were left homeless after 1948 war. But he didn't. Instead, Ibrahim simply said happy Independence Day, and in doing so took the first step toward building a different kind of relationship between Israelis and Palestinians.

WHY WAS this step important? Part of the Israeli narrative describes a long history of suffering which hit the highest point with the Holocaust and the fear that Arabs would drive the Jews into the sea.

For years, Israelis have heard that Palestinians would never accept Israel's existence and would always work to destroy it. Many Israelis don't believe that Palestinians accept the reality that we are stuck here together. They doubt that Palestinians also dream of a peaceful tomorrow, where freedom prevails and safety is realized. This narrative of pain and fear has captured the minds of Jews, even though Israel has developed one of the strongest militaries in the world.

When Ibrahim uttered the words "happy Independence Day," he challenged that narrative of fear and doubt, and assured his Israeli friends that he knows they are here to stay, and accepts that. He wanted to let them know that he is not waiting for a chance to strike back. In essence, Ibrahim was digging a grave for the narrative of fear and replacing it with a narrative of hope.

For all of us, the past is painful and our narratives are very real to us. For the Palestinians, our pain of the Nakba is still fresh. The lost olive groves, orange groves, vineyards and homes which are part of the Palestinian identity and heritage, the stories, poetry and songs of Palestinian life in what became Israel will always be there.

 

These are collective memories that will always be carved in the heart of every Palestinian. But memories, pain and longing do not have to lead to revenge and destruction: They can also be motivation for a new tomorrow.

 

When Ibrahim's friends asked him how they should respond to his wishes, Ibrahim had a simple answer. He asked them to wish .

Although Palestinian and Israeli narratives are different, our vision for the future can be one. We can all unite and work toward the overdue dream of a viable Palestinian state before it is too late. It is time for our people to not let the past rob us of our future, but rather let it motivate us toward actions of hope.

The writer is the director of Middle East projects at the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University and a winner of the Eliav-Sartawi Award for Common Ground Journalism. His blog can be found at http://azizabusarah.wordpress.com

 

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HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

IN ITS 62ND YEAR, ISRAEL IS IN A DIPLOMATIC, SECURITY AND MORAL LIMBO

 

The joy attendant on Israel's Independence Day traditionally focused on emphasizing the growing list of the young state's achievements and the sense that the country was progressing toward a better future - one of peace, enhanced physical and existential security, integration into the family of nations and the region, and a normalized existence. But the country's lifespan, which was considered a great virtue in and of itself during the first few decades, has become secondary to a far more important question: Within what dynamic is Israel operating? Is time on Israel's side? Is it setting goals for itself and working toward their realization? Has it blossomed into maturity? Are its citizens more secure and happier? Does it greet the future with hope?

Unfortunately, Israel's 62nd Independence Day finds it in a kind of diplomatic, security and moral limbo that is certainly no cause for celebration. It is isolated globally and embroiled in a conflict with the superpower whose friendship and support are vital to its very existence. It is devoid of any diplomatic plan aside from holding onto the territories and afraid of any movement. It wallows in a sense of existential threat that has only grown with time. It seizes on every instance of anti-Semitism, whether real or imagined, as a pretext for continued apathy and passivity. In many respects, it seems that Israel has lost the dynamism and hope of its early decades, and is once again mired in the ghetto mentality against which its founders rebelled.

Granted, Israel is not the sole custodian of its fate. Yet the shortcomings that have cast a pall over the country since its founding - the ethnocentrism, the dominance of the army and religious functionaries, the socioeconomic gaps, the subservience to the settlers, the mystical mode of thinking and the adherence to false beliefs - have, instead of disappearing over time, only gathered steam. The optimistic, pragmatic, peace-seeking spirit that once filled the Israeli people, in tune with the Zionist revolution, which sought to alter Jewish fate, has weakened. And it is not clear whether the current government is deepening the reactionary counterrevolution or merely giving it faithful expression.

 

On the eve of Independence Day last year, we wrote in this space: "Stagnation has taken the place of change. Not only does this government, which was formed not long ago, not bode well for hope and change. It champions a policy of regression in a number of areas: the diplomatic front; the Palestinian question; the state's attitude toward the settlers; issues of state and religion; its handling of Israeli Arabs; and its general behavior toward our Arab neighbors and the world. Whoever clings to the vision of 'managing the conflict' and despairs of reaching a solution to the conflict will find himself treading water. Instead of growing and reinventing ourselves, we will be the ones managed by crises."

It is saddening to discover that all these fears came true this year, to an even greater degree than we expected. When the prime minister's main message to the country is that we are once again on the verge of a holocaust, and his vision consists primarily of delving into the Bible, nurturing nationalist symbols and clinging to "national heritage sites," it seems that Hebrew independence has become a caricature of itself. One can only hope that forces within the nation will soon arise to reshape the state and the leadership in a way worthy of us all.

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HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

A LETTER FROM MY FATHER

BY ZE'EV SEGAL

 

The first letter ever written to me was penned on the day Israel's independence was declared. But the letter was never sent. It was written by my father, Zvi Segal. I was a year and four months old at the time. My father stashed the letter away in a drawer of his desk. He never showed it to me. I discovered it after my mother, who survived my father, also died.

Since its discovery, I have read the letter every year on Independence Day. It appears here with minor deletions.

"...These words are being written on a great and glorious day, a historic day - the proclamation of our state, the State of Israel. May you understand the holiness of this day and may it be forever engraved on you, as it is engraved on us, forever and ever. I hope that your heart always beats for the sake of the homeland, and that you and your generation will be able to work and grow in our rebuilt homeland. And may you be a mensch. That's the most important thing."

 

My father was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1908. He grew up in Riga, Latvia and was a member of a Zionist student organization called the Hasmoneans of Riga, a Revisionist group that brought together many young Jews. Aharon Rabinovich - whose daughter Sarah was married to the late Haaretz military affairs commentator Ze'ev Schiff - was his close friend. The thread of Zionism always linked us together, even at times of disagreement.

My father completed his law degree in 1931 and made aliyah a few years later. In 1938, he returned to Latvia on a mission, the details of which he always refused to discuss. In Riga he tried, without success, to convince members of his family to make aliyah. That was the last time he saw them. His uncles and aunt were taken from the Riga ghetto with their families and shot to death in the Rumbuli forest outside Riga.

I came full circle almost 80 years later, at the law school where my father studied: Last summer, I went to Riga for the first time with members of my family, and with friends who also had roots in Riga. At my father's university, I met with experts in public law to discuss constitutional judicial review by the courts over legislative action. Judicial review is already accepted in Latvia, though it still engenders criticism by Israeli politicians.

At the end of the meeting, the dean of the law school gave me a book with details of the school's graduates. It included the names of Jews, many of whom perished in the Riga ghetto or were murdered in the Rumbuli forest. The book also contained details about my father, including his work over the years in welcoming immigrants from the Baltic republics.

From my father, I learned a love of Israel that is undiminished even if one does not think defense is a magic word that justifies every act. When I write about justice, equality and the rule of law, engraved in my memory is a conversation at my parents' house in the distant 1950s, when my father told my mother he was offered a post as a district court judge, but conditional on his leaving the Liberal Party to which he belonged and joining Mapai, the ruling party of that day. When I subsequently said in a civics class at the Ironi Aleph high school in Tel Aviv, where I studied, that political considerations influenced the appointment of judges, I was thrown out of class.

In advance of Independence Day, my parents and I used to reread the Declaration of Independence. My mother Leah - who was born into a Zionist family in Russia, and whose father was a Prisoner of Zion - found the ban on discrimination against women in the declaration and was inspired by it to volunteer at the legal advice bureau of the Women's International Zionist Organization.

My father and I found the declaration's emphasis on liberty, on which the High Court of Justice based itself when, in Justice Shimon Agranat's historic ruling in the "Kol Ha'am" case in the 1950s, it carved out freedom of expression and of the press. I heard about the ruling for the first time from my father when I was 13. My father viewed this freedom as essential to a liberal democratic society.

This year, as every year, I taught my university students about the Declaration of Independence and explained that it should be seen as a document of constitutional importance, whose application to real-life situations must be constantly reexamined. It is not hard to see that we are far from realizing the declaration's credo - with regard to equality for the Arab minority, which it promises, and with regard to religious freedom, including freedom from religion in the Jewish and democratic state.

In his letter to me, my father wrote about "the holiness of this day" on which the state was declared. I now think that at least he was spared the Holyland case, as well as other cases over the past 20 years that have cast a shadow over the integrity that was always his guiding principle. When I fight for the rule of law in government, I feel that I am fighting in his name, too.

 

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HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR AND INFERIORITY

BY YEHEZKEL DROR

Among the main reason for the decline of states, history has shown, is overweening self-confidence and arrogance. This was the conclusion reached by Thucydides in his account of the Peloponnesian Wars - considered the first political-military history ever written.

His central thesis, largely accepted by contemporary scholars of ancient history, is that by the 5th century B.C.E. Athens had become Greece's superpower. It practiced democracy (according to the lights of that period), and it enjoyed economic and cultural prosperity, with flourishing literary and art scenes.

But with its success Athens' appetite grew, accompanied by a gravely distorted interpretation of reality. It launched a series of imperialistic wars, including an invasion of Sicily, and ended up surrendering totally to Sparta and its allies, thus setting off political and military decline.

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The main reason for this debacle was hubris - a grave sin in ancient Greece - that excessive arrogance that is born of success and that leads those afflicted with it into behaviors that lead them to a bad, bitter end.

The idea is expressed remarkably well by the Biblical phrase "And Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked" (Deut. 32:15), interpreted as meaning that an excess of good things leads to evil.

An example from personal experience illustrates the phenomenon. In the years preceding the Six-Day War, I was involved in a number of initiatives aimed at improving the decision making process in the government. These included the establishment of the National Defense College; the training of professionals in policy and budgetary planning in the Finance Ministry's school; Levi Eshkol's initiative to set up an Israeli institute for policy studies, and the formulation of a doctrine for managing government ministries.

After the war, all of these activities were suspended. When I asked senior government figures for the reason, I received a simple, clear-cut response: "Look how successful we are, so stop nagging us about flaws in governmental thinking."

Then came the Yom Kippur War. After it, a number of improvements were gradually introduced, such as the establishment of the Planning Division of the Israel Defense Forces, and of a national security team in the Prime Minister's Office (which became the National Security Council), and the reopening of the National Defense College and more.

But the shock of the Yom Kippur War was not enough to remove the fat that was hardening the brain, in the form of illusions about Israel's power. This is because those illusions have profound roots in the heroic success of Zionism and the establishment of the State of Israel, which have almost no historical parallels.

The combination of the miracle of the founding of the state (against the backdrop of the Holocaust, no less), the "miracle" of the Six-Day War and the quasi-messianic meanings both of these events have among the religious and the secular populations is what is responsible for the creation of the illusion that we have developed about our strength.

The gravest results of this dangerous fallacy have been the absence of a worthy effort to exploit the victory in the 1967 war to advance peace; uncontrolled settlement in Judea and Samaria; and the most extreme of all the illusions: the concept of a "Greater Land of Israel."

On top of these illusions there is an seemingly contradictory factor - existential fear, springing from the Jewish people's past and from the confrontation with today's enemies, the Arab states. Paradoxically, this fear combines with the successes to increase the perceptual dizziness about everything having to do with Israel's potential ower and its limits, so that delusions of both grandeur and inferiority have evolved.

The practical and paralyzing expression of these two aspects is the hopeless adherence to the idea of the "Greater Land of Israel" among part of the population and support for excessive Israeli surrender of moral and security assets, without appropriate compensation, among another part.

This is the deep reason behind the foot-dragging by the government over peace negotiations, the confusion among the elites, the lack of any authentic spiritual or values-oriented leadership, and the hostility fraught with disaster between the various groups in the population.

This is why Israel cannot take advantage of its strengths in order to secure durable diplomatic-security achievements at the price of giving up on fantasies. Instead, it has placed itself on a slippery slope, at the end of which we will have to make concessions without getting anything in return. We need to sober ourselves up and begin behaving according to the idea that if Jeshurun lost some weight instead of waxing fat, he'd be a lot wiser and kick less.

 

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HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

ISRAEL USES INDEPENDENCE DAY TO TURN ITS BACK ON THE ARAB PEACE PLAN

BY AKIVA ELDAR

 

If I am you and you are me, I am not me and you are not you"

 The Kotzker Rebbe.

This was one of our most independent years ever. Completely independently, we decided to welcome the vice president of the United States with an announcement of new construction in East Jerusalem; the deputy foreign minister independently humiliated the Turkish ambassador; the foreign minister independently boycotted the president of Brazil; the Knesset independently sabotaged relations with the European Union via legislation that would limit its donations to human rights groups; the government independently decided to bait the Muslim world by declaring holy sites in the occupied territories as "heritage sites."

 

The extremists who gathered on Massada also decided independently, some 2,000 years ago, to commit suicide. Since then, the term "independence" has acquired a meaning more complex than an act or decision by an individual or group that takes no account of others or of the environment. In modern Western society, independence is not considered the freedom to do whatever one wishes. Responsible governments, like adult people, must find the right balance between the particular and the global. The policies they shape reflect a compromise between the interests of their own community and the interests of the international and regional community.

Sixty-two years after Israel declared independence, its right-wing government is entitled to decide that the time has come to annex Ariel, Ma'aleh Adumim and the Jordan Valley - just as the Labor government did 43 years ago, when it decided to annex a sizable territory to Jerusalem. This year, too, Israeli citizens are entitled to celebrate Jerusalem Day in the only capital in the world that hosts not a single embassy. Benjamin Netanyahu can even propose that U.S. President Barack Obama append his list of questions to the Wye Agreement, the road map and the Annapolis Declaration. After all, Israel is an independent country.

The phrase "the 62nd year of Israel's independence" is undoubtedly the angry response Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon would make to reports that the Obama administration intends to present its own peace plan. The man who was Israel's ambassador to Washington said that by doing so, the U.S. would become a "party to the conflict." In other words, today, the U.S. is not a "party to the conflict." The implication is that in order to respect Israeli independence, the American administration is required to forever put up with the Israeli occupation and ignore the settlements. The U.S. is a "party to the conflict" only when Israel requires an airlift of arms, sanctions against Iran or a veto of unpleasant resolutions at the United Nations.

Shortly after the previous independence day, it seemed that Netanyahu had struck the right balance on how the conflict should be resolved between the particularist worldview he shares with most members of his government and the positions of the world's major powers. Moreover, it appeared that the support he expressed in his speech at Bar-Ilan University for a solution of two states for two peoples reflected recognition of the fact that Israel's independence will not be complete until the Palestinians receive their own independent state.

Instead, the Netanyahu government has implemented the views of the majority of independent Israel's Knesset, which supports the policy of settlements in the West Bank and deepening the Jewish hold on East Jerusalem. To fend off pressure from abroad, Netanyahu has once again transformed the Jewish Diaspora into a defensive army against the might of the nations of the world. The leader of "independent" Israel has transformed Jewish activists into "parties to the conflict" between his government and the American administration (we, of course, are allowed to meddle in American politics).

In its 62nd year of independence, as it has every year since March 2002, Israel is taking advantage of its independence to turn its back on the Arab Peace Initiative. This year, too, it is ignoring a plan that offers it normalization in return for a withdrawal from the occupied territories and a just and agreed resolution to the problem of the Palestinian refugees in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194.

What would the fathers of Zionism have said had the Arabs (with the support of all Muslim countries) presented them with such a proposal 62 years ago? And what significance do the wonderful words of the Declaration of Independence have today: "We extend our hand to all neighboring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East."

It is true that we are entitled to replace the hand extended in peace and neighborliness with a hand that digs the foundations for more outposts and more graves. After all, we are independent. Happy Holiday.

 

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HAARETZ

EDITORIAL

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF PALESTINIANS UNILATERALLY DECLARE STATEHOOD?

BY SHLOMO AVINERI

 

 

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad recently announced that his government intends to declare an independent Palestinian state in the summer of 2011, even if no agreement is reached with Israel. This statement obviously generated unease in Israel, and not only among supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu's government - especially as it was accompanied by hints that European countries, and even the European Union itself, would recognize such a unilateral declaration of independence.

The unease and the concomitant apprehensions are understandable, but they may well be fundamentally misplaced. After all, anyone with eyes in his head, unless he is a prisoner of empty slogans or committed to political correctness, must admit that even if negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians resume, the prospects for an agreement are nil. And this is not due solely to the positions of the Netanyahu government: Its predecessor, led by Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni, negotiated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for two whole years and made him very generous offers, but still never managed to reach an agreement.

The reasons are clear: On the core issues - borders, Jerusalem, refugees - the gaps between even the most moderate positions on both sides are so wide that no rhetoric, and no assertive American involvement, is capable of bridging them. Anyone who thinks otherwise is indulging in pipe dreams.

 

Therefore, we should seriously consider what would happen if the Palestinians were indeed to declare a state and win relatively broad international recognition. First of all, it is clear that Israel would announce that this unilateral declaration nullifies all prior agreements between it and the Palestinians, from Oslo on; that it is released from all the obligations it has undertaken, including the economic ones; and that it will henceforth relate to the areas under Palestinian control as foreign territory. It is also clear that all Israeli obligations arising from its military control of the territories would be abrogated under both Israeli and international law. Not everyone would accept this argument, but it would not be possible to ignore it.

A unilateral Palestinian declaration would not change the situation on the ground. By itself, such a declaration could not bring about the evacuation of the settlements, regardless of whether the Palestinians say they accept the settlers as citizens of their state or continue to claim that the settlements are illegal. The same of course goes for East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians would presumably say they see as their capital.

What a unilateral declaration of independence would generate, however, is a fundamental change in the nature of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Instead of a dispute between Israeli occupiers and occupied Palestinians, it would become a dispute between two states. An independent Palestine would undoubtedly claim that Israel is occupying its territories, but so does Syria.

Moreover, if Palestine were independent, Israel would have no responsibility for the Gaza Strip, and the Israel-Gaza border would become an international border like that between Egypt and Gaza. Hence Israel would not be obligated, inter alia, to allow passage between its territory and Palestinian territory, just as there is no such passage between Israel and Syria.

Of course the matter is not that simple, but any measure that would make the Israeli-Palestinian dispute more "normal" - that is to say, a dispute between states - would also advance the prospect for negotiations: It would be far easier to conduct negotiations on borders, the future of the settlements, territorial exchanges, Jerusalem and other issues between states.

One must hope that this scenario does not deter members of the Palestinian leadership and make them change their minds. On the contrary, they should take their destiny into their own hands and stand up to Israel as a full-fledged state. In so doing, they would free both themselves and us of the occupation and do what they have not managed to do since 1948, and what we have not managed to do since 1967. This is the only way to realize the vision of two states for two peoples.

 

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******************************************************************************************THE NEW YORK TIMES

EDITORIAL

CASSANDRA, THE IGNORED PROPHET OF DOOM, IS A WOMAN FOR OUR TIMES

BY ADAM COHEN

 

In "Treme," HBO's new series about New Orleans, a college professor played by John Goodman railed against the needless tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. The storm was a natural disaster, he says, but the flooding that followed was a man-made catastrophe, decades in the making. Many people knew about the threat, but no one did anything about it.

 

Mr. Goodman's blustery tirade about warnings not heeded channeled a national anger that extends well beyond Katrina. We are living in an age of Cassandra, in which experts and ordinary people are regularly grabbing the appropriate authorities by the lapels and warning them of impending disasters — almost invariably to no avail.

 

Harry Markopolos, a Boston financial analyst, has been out promoting his new book, "No One Would Listen." It is an account of the eight years he spent trying to persuade the Securities and Exchange Commission that Bernard Madoff was running a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Mr. Markopolos recounts his tireless efforts to wave red flags in front of government watchdogs. In the spring of 2000, Mr. Markopolos says he tried to explain to a senior S.E.C. official why Mr. Madoff's numbers did not add up, but "it very quickly became clear he didn't understand a single word I said after hello." In the end, perhaps $65 billion disappeared, much of it belonging to charities and retirees.

 

There have been decades of urgent reports about sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, including a 1963 letter that recently surfaced in which the head of a New Mexico Catholic order recommended to the pope that pedophile priests be removed. Cases of abuse in the United States have been drawing attention at least as far back as 1985, when a Louisiana priest admitted to abusing 37 children. A 1992 meeting of bishops in South Bend, Ind., admitted that some bishops had hidden abuse cases. Still, just last year, the Diocese of Memphis and the Dominicans agreed to pay $2 million to a man who reported being abused as a teenager in 2000.

 

There were plenty of warning before the financial crisis of 2008. In 2000, Edward Gramlich, a Federal Reserve governor, cautioned that new subprime lending practices were making risky mortgages available to people who could not afford them. He urged the Fed to send examiners to investigate, but as a Times headline later reported, the "Fed Shrugged as Subprime Crisis Spread."

 

Critical warnings about the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were also ignored. Harry Samit, a Minnesota F.B.I. agent, warned in an August 2001 memo to higher-ups that Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker, was a terrorist intent on hijacking an airplane. Mr. Samit said that he sent 70 separate warnings.

 

The complaint by Mr. Goodman's character is based in fact. The Times-Picayune of New Orleans did a prescient series on the city's vulnerability to a major hurricane, and the dangers were known nationally. In 2002, an article that I wrote on this page warned that if a bad hurricane hit, New Orleans "could fill up like a cereal bowl" and might even disappear.

 

In Greek drama, Cassandra, daughter of King Priam of Troy, was given the gift of prophesy by Apollo, but when she spurned his advances, he ordained that her prophecies would not be believed. There is no such simple answer today for why so many warnings are ignored.

 

Incompetence often plays a role. So does ideology: one reason Mr. Gramlich, a Democratic nominee, was ignored was that his warnings clashed with the antiregulatory convictions of the Bush administration. In other cases, to borrow Al Gore's phrase, an "inconvenient truth" imposes burdens that people don't want or threatens powerful interests. And a key reason Louisiana and the nation did not rally to better protect New Orleans was simply inertia.

 

Predictions of disaster have always been ignored — that is why there is a Cassandra myth — but it is hard to think of a time when so many major warned-against calamities have occurred in such quick succession. The next time someone is inclined to hold hearings on a disaster, they should go beyond asking why particular warnings were ignored and ask why well-founded warnings are so often ignored.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

A CASE OF DISCRIMINATION

 

Hastings College of the Law, part of the University of California, rightly prohibits student organizations from discriminating. A Christian group that bars non-Christian and gay students sued the school for denying it funding and access to its facilities. The Supreme Court hears arguments Monday in the case. It should rule in favor of Hastings.

 

To qualify for official recognition, and receive money from a publicly financed university, groups at Hastings are required to adhere to the school's nondiscrimination policy, which says that official student groups cannot refuse membership on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or other prohibited factors.

 

For years, the Christian Legal Society chapter at Hastings adhered to this policy. In 2004, it changed course and required members to sign a "statement of faith" that denied membership to students who did not share all of the society's religious beliefs, as well as gay students. Hastings told the society that it could not remain a recognized group and receive money from the school unless it stopped discriminating.

 

The society refused, and when the funding stopped, it sued, claiming that its First Amendment rights of free speech, free association and free exercise of religion were being denied.

 

Under California law, it is illegal for postsecondary educational institutions that receive state money to discriminate on the basis of religion or sexual orientation. The school correctly determined that the law requires it to ensure that its student organization program does not permit discrimination. The school also has the right to pursue its own educational policy of promoting diversity and opposing discrimination.

 

Students at Hastings who want to join together in more exclusive arrangements are free to do so. They can form unofficial student groups. But Hastings is right that groups that bear its imprimatur, use its name and logo, and receive public funds must not discriminate.

 

In 2006, the Federal District Court that heard the case ruled for Hastings, and a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed unanimously. The panel said that the school's rules were "viewpoint neutral," since they imposed a requirement of openness on all student groups, and were also "reasonable." It was right.

 

The Christian Legal Society is not being denied any First Amendment rights. It is being told that if it wants an official association with a public university and public money, it cannot deny gays, non-Christians or members of any other protected minority equal rights.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

THE F.C.C. AND THE INTERNET

 

With the Internet fast becoming the most important communications channel, it is untenable for the United St

ates not to have a regulator to ensure nondiscriminatory access, guarantee interconnectivity among rival networks and protect consumers from potential abuse.

 

Yet that's exactly where the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit left us all when it said this month that the Federal Communications Commission didn't have the authority to regulate the Internet — and specifically, could not force the cable giant Comcast to stop blocking peer-to-peer sites.

 

The decision, in the words of the F.C.C.'s general counsel, Austin Schlick, undermines the agency's ability to serve as "the cop on the beat for 21st-century communications networks." It also puts at risk big chunks of the F.C.C.'s strategy for increasing the reach of broadband Internet to all corners of the country and fostering more competition among providers.

 

Chairman Julius Genachowski said the commission is not planning to appeal the decision, and is studying its options. The F.C.C. could try to forge ahead with its broadband plan despite the court's decision. Or Congress could give the F.C.C. specific authority to regulate broadband access.

 

But the court tightly circumscribed the F.C.C.'s actions. And with Republicans determined to oppose pretty much anything the administration wants, the odds of a rational debate on the issues are slim.

 

Fortunately, the commission has the tools to fix this problem. It can reverse the Bush administration's predictably antiregulatory decision to define broadband Internet access as an information service, like Google or Amazon, over which it has little regulatory power. Instead, it can define broadband as a communications service, like a phone company, over which the commission has indisputable authority.

 

The F.C.C. at the time argued that a light regulatory touch would foster alternative technologies and aggressive competition among providers. It assumed that the Internet of the future would be dominated by companies like AOL that bundle access with other services, justifying its conflation of access and information.

 

And it claimed that it could still regulate broadband access even if it was classified as a service. All it had to do was convince the courts that it was necessary to further other statutory goals, like promoting the roll-out of competitive Internet services. This legal argument did not hold up.

 

Any move now by the F.C.C to redefine broadband would surely unleash a torrent of lawsuits by broadband providers, but the commission has solid legal grounds to do that. To begin with, the three arguments advanced by the F.C.C. during the Bush years have proved wrong.

 

Rather than seeing an explosion of new competition, the broadband access business has consolidated to the point that many areas of the country have only one provider. Broadband Internet has unbundled into a business with many unrelated information service providers vying for space on the pipelines of a few providers.

 

And most persuasively: broadband access is probably the most important communication service of our time. One that needs a robust regulator.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

THE ICELANDIC PLUME

 

When severe storms blow through, meteorologists can track their path and predict with considerable confidence when the disturbance will end. Volcanoes don't blow through. Even with all of the sophisticated monitoring technology and expertise, no one knows when the eruptions at Eyjafjallajokull — the Icelandic volcano now venting ash into the atmosphere — will subside.

 

That uncertainty only deepens the sense of helplessness across Europe, where much of the airspace has been closed since late last week, stranding millions of passengers across the globe. Even President Obama had to forgo his planned trip to Poland for Sunday's funeral of President Lech Kaczynski.

 

Like the ash cloud, the economic costs of this eruption are immense. The airlines, which estimate that they have lost about a billion dollars worldwide, are pressing officials to allow at least some flights to resume. For all that, the physical damage is minute, especially when compared with the recent earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and China. Luckily it has taken no lives.

 

What Eyjafjallajokull has done above all is force upon us a visceral awareness of our interconnected world — woven together by the crisscrossing of airline routes. For all of the talk of globalization, we see what a global construct our sense of normality really is.

 

With luck, the volcano will simmer down soon and the ash plume will disperse. Flights will resume, business will begin to make up its losses, and weary travelers will safely find their way home. It will be a long time before we forget the threat that lies smoldering under an Icelandic glacier. Or its lesson that even in the 21st centry, our lives are still at the sufferance of nature.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

THE EXTREMISTS NEXT DOOR

BY EILEEN POLLACK

 

Ann Arbor, Mich.

 

I MOVED to Michigan eight months before Timothy McVeigh blew up the Murrah Federal Building. Although he wasn't a member of the Michigan Militia, he did attend one of their meetings and practiced building bombs at a farm 120 miles northeast of Ann Arbor. One of McVeigh's most fervent supporters, Mark Koernke, worked as a janitor at the University of Michigan, where I teach, and in his off hours hosted a vitriolic radio show on which he espoused the militia's most radical, violent views.

 

After the carnage in Oklahoma City and President Bill Clinton's exit from the White House, much of the militia activity in Michigan and elsewhere seemed to subside. Mr. Koernke was sent to prison for fleeing the scene of a robbery he didn't commit and resisting the efforts of the police to question him.

 

But I knew the extremists were still out there. One afternoon in 2003, I was reading about a particularly racist and anti-Semitic group called the Christian Identity movement when I received a call from Zingerman's Deli to come and finalize plans for my son's bar mitzvah. A block from the deli, I noticed several Christian Identity bumper stickers on the truck in front of me.

 

Then came the 2008 presidential campaign and the militias regained strength. Last month, nine members of the Hutaree, a band of self-styled Christian revolutionaries, were arrested in and around Ann Arbor for allegedly plotting to kill police officers and any non-members who happened upon their "reconnaissance operations" in the woods. A few days later, I came across a Webcast of the "The Intelligence Report," on which Mark Koernke, who had served his time, was treating his listeners to the ominous click of a bullet being loaded in a gun and the warning that anyone who breached his "perimeter" would be shot.

 

And today, thousands of militia members from around the country, many of them armed, plan to march in the capital and in Virginia to "celebrate" the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing and "restore the Constitution."

 

The problem here in Michigan is knowing which militia members are dangerous and which aren't. Not long ago, I attended Tax Blast, an annual event put on by the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia. Families chowed down on pulled pork sandwiches; a tiny girl in pink clutched a stuffed dinosaur. The lid on one chafing dish read "Kosher Meals Available"; it stood empty until a man wearing a pistol and a black T-shirt reading "When I Snap You'll Be the First to Go" filled it with Hebrew National hot dogs.

 

True, the militia member at the registration table was selling copies of the I.R.S.'s Form 1040 to be used as targets for the shooting contest that afternoon. And army boots, fatigues and hip-holstered black pistols were the style of the day. But attendees seemed more interested in demonstrating that they were in no way affiliated with the Hutaree than in shooting up tax forms. The Southeastern Michigan Volunteer Militia spokesman even hinted to me that he and his guys had alerted the F.B.I. to the Hutaree's agenda, a suggestion later confirmed in news reports.

 

I don't usually feel threatened by the militias. Most members are just indulging their fantasies of being warriors without having to sign up for the Army. They want to be heroes and save their neighbors from disaster.

 

Many of the guys in the yuppie southeast Michigan branch of the militia consider themselves socially progressive libertarians and welcome anyone — Jews, blacks and Muslims included — who is willing to defend Michigan from invasion, whether by the federal government or foreign forces.

 

But when I read on the Hutaree's Web site that they were prepared to use violence "to defend all those who belong to Christ and save those who aren't," I wondered what they intended to "save" me and my Jewish and Muslim neighbors from.

 

And so, despite my desire to preserve my civil liberties, I can't help but be grateful that the federal government has the power to keep an eye on extremists of all kinds. I only hope it remains able to figure out which members of which militias are harmless, and which are serious about assassinating police officers or shooting people like me who might wander into the woods while they train for Armageddon.

 

Eileen Pollack, the director of the creative writing program at the University of Michigan, is the author of the forthcoming book "Breaking and Entering," a novel about the militia movement.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

WHAT WE LEARNED IN OKLAHOMA CITY

BY BILL CLINTON

 

FIFTEEN years ago today, the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City claimed the lives of 168 men, women and children. It was, until 9/11, the worst terrorist attack in United States history. But what emerged in its aftermath — the compassion, caring and love that countless Americans from all walks of life extended to the victims and their families — was a powerful testament to the best of America. And its lessons are as important now as they were then.

 

Most of the people killed that day were employees of the federal government. They were men and women who had devoted their careers to helping the elderly and disabled, supporting our veterans and enforcing our laws. They were good neighbors and good friends. One of them, a Secret Service agent named Al Whicher, a husband and father of three, had been on my presidential security detail. Nineteen children also lost their lives.

 

Those who survived endured terrible pain and loss. Thankfully, many of them took the advice of a woman who knew how they felt. A mother of three children whose husband had been killed on Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 told them, "The loss you feel must not paralyze your own lives. Instead, you must try to pay tribute to your loved ones by continuing to do all the things they left undone, thus ensuring they did not die in vain."

 

We are all grateful that so many of the attack's survivors have done exactly that. We must also never forget the courageous and loving response of the people and leaders of Oklahoma City and the state of Oklahoma, as well as the firefighters and others who came from all across America to help them.

 

In the wake of the bombing, Oklahoma City prompted Congress to approve most of the proposals I submitted to develop a stronger and more systematic approach to defending our nation and its citizens against terrorism, an effort that continues today, as we saw with President Obama's impressive international summit meeting last week to secure all sources of nuclear material that can be made into bombs.

 

Finally, we should never forget what drove the bombers, and how they justified their actions to themselves. They took to the ultimate extreme an idea advocated in the months and years before the bombing by an increasingly vocal minority: the belief that the greatest threat to American freedom is our government, and that public servants do not protect our freedoms, but abuse them. On that April 19, the second anniversary of the assault of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, deeply alienated and disconnected Americans decided murder was a blow for liberty.

 

Americans have more freedom and broader rights than citizens of almost any other nation in the world, including the capacity to criticize their government and their elected officials. But we do not have the right to resort to violence — or the threat of violence — when we don't get our way. Our founders constructed a system of government so that reason could prevail over fear. Oklahoma City proved once again that without the law there is no freedom.

 

Criticism is part of the lifeblood of democracy. No one is right all the time. But we should remember that there is a big difference between criticizing a policy or a politician and demonizing the government that guarantees our freedoms and the public servants who enforce our laws.

 

We are again dealing with difficulties in a contentious, partisan time. We are more connected than ever before, more able to spread our ideas and beliefs, our anger and fears. As we exercise the right to advocate our views, and as we animate our supporters, we must all assume responsibility for our words and actions before they enter a vast echo chamber and reach those both serious and delirious, connected and unhinged.

 

Civic virtue can include harsh criticism, protest, even civil disobedience. But not violence or its advocacy. That is the bright line that protects our freedom. It has held for a long time, since President George Washington called out 13,000 troops in response to the Whiskey Rebellion.

 

Fifteen years ago, the line was crossed in Oklahoma City. In the current climate, with so many threats against the president, members of Congress and other public servants, we owe it to the victims of Oklahoma City, and those who survived and responded so bravely, not to cross it again.

 

Bill Clinton, the founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation, was the 42nd president of the United States.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

SKY ABOVE, DISASTER BELOW

BY CAROLYN HART

 

Oklahoma City

 

ON the calm and beautiful Wednesday morning of April 19, 1995, our plane took off at 9 a.m. from the Oklahoma City airport, bound for Dallas and a connection to Los Angeles. As we ascended, I looked out the window.

 

I will always remember what I saw.

 

A huge, swirling column of black smoke and debris rose into the cloudless sky. I turned to my husband and said, "Something dreadful has happened downtown."

 

The plane continued to climb, leaving Oklahoma City behind. No announcement was made. We landed in Dallas, deplaned and walked into the concourse. The ubiquitous television screens all held the same image: frantic, dazed, desperate people fleeing down a street.

 

It was not a foreign street. It was Broadway in Oklahoma City and they were running away from the crumbled ruin of a building downtown. The first report said the bomb brought down the federal courthouse. My husband, Phil, is a lawyer and we were frightened that many people we knew might have died. That report was in error. The cratered structure, with a day care center in its basement, was the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

 

My husband's firm is downtown. On an ordinary Wednesday, at about 9 o'clock, he would very likely have been passing the Murrah Building. That he was traveling with me was unusual, as he rarely accompanies me on my book-related events. But one of my novels was being filmed for a television movie and I had been invited to visit the set. I felt much too shy to go to Hollywood by myself. It took a great deal of pleading to persuade him to come along.

 

If he hadn't...

 

Ralph Thompson, a close friend and then a federal judge, had just arisen from his desk in the courthouse, which was right across the street from the Federal Building. Ralph walked to the doorway to his anteroom to speak to his secretary. Timothy McVeigh's truck exploded. A shard of glass speared Ralph's chair at the level of his throat.

 

If Ralph had been sitting there at work...

 

Ralph and his family were blessed. Phil and I were blessed. Everyone knows someone who has a story. There were countless lives spared by fortuity or by God.

 

But so many were not. I think of them whenever I drive by the memorial and see those chairs, forever empty.

 

Carolyn Hart is the author, most recently, of "Laughed 'Til He Died."

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

HOW WE PICKED OURSELVES UP

BY MIKE EASTERLING

 

Tulsa, Okla.

 

IT was a moment, and a sensation, experienced simultaneously by hundreds of thousands of people — a jarring impact that shook foundations, rattled windowpanes and loosened dust from ceilings up to 55 miles away. We didn't know it right away, but at 9:02 that morning of April 19, 1995, life in Oklahoma City underwent a powerful change in a heartbeat.

 

Soon I was at the office of The Oklahoma Gazette, an alternative weekly, supervising our coverage of the bombing. I dispatched reporters to the scene, keeping in touch with each on the phone while monitoring developments on TV. My first trip to the blast area didn't come until that night, when I found myself on Interstate 235 east of downtown.

 

The highway provided a clear view to the west, and the scene was striking. Most of downtown was pitch-black, but several blocks on the north side were brilliantly lighted. I had the fleeting impression I was staring at a high school football stadium, a sight familiar to anyone who grows up on the Southern Plains. Then I realized that I was seeing emergency lights brought in to help rescue workers dig through the rubble in a futile search for survivors.

 

The air of gloom that developed in the aftermath was unrelenting. Businesses remained open, but crowds were lifeless. I noticed it most vividly during an overnight drive to Dallas a week later, when a companion and I both remarked on the palpable difference we felt by the time we were an hour south of the city. When we returned the next day, that crushing sense of despair was still there, saturating every aspect of life. It seemed like days, perhaps weeks, before I heard someone laugh in public again.

 

Eventually, the network TV cameras disappeared, and Oklahoma City returned to the anonymity it had long been accustomed to. Coming to terms with loss was not a swift or easy process. For years afterward, many of us feared the bombing would come to define the city.

 

But that has not happened — much of downtown has been rebuilt, and the city has emerged stronger and with a more positive identity. There is no victim mentality, just a sober and respectful consideration of the past.

 

Mike Easterling is a reporter at Urban Tulsa Weekly.

 

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THE NEW YORK TIMES

LOOTERS IN LOAFERS

BY PAUL KRUGMAN

 

Last October, I saw a cartoon by Mike Peters in which a teacher asks a student to create a sentence that uses the verb "sacks," as in looting and pillaging. The student replies, "Goldman Sachs."

 

Sure enough, last week the Securities and Exchange Commission accused the Gucci-loafer guys at Goldman of engaging in what amounts to white-collar looting.

 

I'm using the term looting in the sense defined by the economists George Akerlof and Paul Romer in a 1993 paper titled "Looting: The Economic Underworld of Bankruptcy for Profit." That paper, written in the aftermath of the savings-and-loan crisis of the Reagan years, argued that many of the losses in that crisis were the result of deliberate fraud.

 

Was the same true of the current financial crisis?

 

Most discussion of the role of fraud in the crisis has focused on two forms of deception: predatory lending and misrepresentation of risks. Clearly, some borrowers were lured into taking out complex, expensive loans they didn't understand — a process facilitated by Bush-era federal regulators, who both failed to curb abusive lending and prevented states from taking action on their own. And for the most part, subprime lenders didn't hold on to the loans they made. Instead, they sold off the loans to investors, in some cases surely knowing that the potential for future losses was greater than the people buying those loans (or securities backed by the loans) realized.

 

What we're now seeing are accusations of a third form of fraud.

 

We've known for some time that Goldman Sachs and other firms marketed mortgage-backed securities even as they sought to make profits by betting that such securities would plunge in value. This practice, however, while arguably reprehensible, wasn't illegal. But now the S.E.C. is charging that Goldman created and marketed securities that were deliberately designed to fail, so that an important client could make money off that failure. That's what I would call looting.

 

And Goldman isn't the only financial firm accused of doing this. According to the Pulitzer-winning investigative journalism Web site ProPublica, several banks helped market designed-to-fail investments on behalf of the hedge fund Magnetar, which was betting on that failure.

 

So what role did fraud play in the financial crisis? Neither predatory lending nor the selling of mortgages on false pretenses caused the crisis. But they surely made it worse, both by helping to inflate the housing bubble and by creating a pool of assets guaranteed to turn into toxic waste once the bubble burst.

 

As for the alleged creation of investments designed to fail, these may have magnified losses at the banks that were on the losing side of these deals, deepening the banking crisis that turned the burst housing bubble into an economy-wide catastrophe.

 

The obvious question is whether financial reform of the kind now being contemplated would have prevented some or all of the fraud that now seems to have flourished over the past decade. And the answer is yes.

 

For one thing, an independent consumer protection bureau could have helped limit predatory lending. Another provision in the proposed Senate bill, requiring that lenders retain 5 percent of the value of loans they make, would have limited the practice of making bad loans and quickly selling them off to unwary investors.

 

It's less clear whether proposals for derivatives reform — which mainly involve requiring that financial instruments like credit default swaps be traded openly and transparently, like ordinary stocks and bonds — would have prevented the alleged abuses by Goldman (although they probably would have prevented the insurer A.I.G. from running wild and requiring a federal bailout). What we can say is that the final draft of financial reform had better include language that would prevent this kind of looting — in particular, it should block the creation of "synthetic C.D.O.'s," cocktails of credit default swaps that let investors take big bets on assets without actually owning them.

 

The main moral you should draw from the charges against Goldman, though, doesn't involve the fine print of reform; it involves the urgent need to change Wall Street. Listening to financial-industry lobbyists and the Republican politicians who have been huddling with them, you'd think that everything will be fine as long as the federal government promises not to do any more bailouts. But that's totally wrong — and not just because no such promise would be credible.

 

For the fact is that much of the financial industry has become a racket — a game in which a handful of people are lavishly paid to mislead and exploit consumers and investors. And if we don't lower the boom on these

practices, the racket will just go on.

 

 

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TEHRAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

DISPATCH FROM CHINA: NUMBER 15 HAS LEFT THE BUILDING

BY RAMZY BAROUD

 

Li Changchun is often referred to as one of the most powerful men in China, in Asia and, increasingly, in the world. He is a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee. On April 8, he awaited our arrival at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Between him and I stood a group of newspaper editors from throughout Asia, along with giant pillars, thick walls and a strict protocol that had to be followed to the letter, or to the number.

 

Yes, to the number. I was Number 15. I needed to remember this fact at all times. I also needed to be constantly aware of the identities of Number 14 and Number 16. This was to ensure the lineup was adhered to without fail wherever we were -- whether lining up outside the Great Hall of the People, standing in line to shake Li Changchun's hand, or sitting in the large, well-lit room among a circle of editors. The editors sat and assiduously listened to Li, who spoke with the authority and power of a man known to be Number 5 in China. Or was it Number 3? Frankly, I cannot remember; I was nervously trying to remember my own number, and the ones before and immediately behind me.

I was in Beijing to attend the China Daily-Asia News Network Conference. This was focused on climate change and the environmental challenges facing Asian countries, especially following the failure of the Copenhagen meeting last December. Media producers grappled with their responsibility towards the increasingly pressing subject. Chinese government officials labored to showcase their country's efforts in lowering carbon emissions, carefully juxtaposing their success with the failures of Western governments, and the U.S. government in particular.

Major polluters took on the position that their companies were incessantly trying to curb emissions, and some went as far as to discuss the need to "educate the public" regarding their responsibility towards the environment. It took me a while to wrap my head around this one: the world's largest contributors to environmental damage reaching out to the public and asking them to play a positive role in challenging global warming and climate change? Go figure.

At times, and despite clearly sincere efforts put forward by newspaper editors, the whole event seemed an exercise in futility. The government official, as all government officials everywhere, blames some other official of some other government. The polluters argue that they too are doing their part, and are in fact practically adopting progressive stances.

A leading Coca-Cola Company executive who addressed the conference, for instance, sounded more like an environmental champion, a Greenpeace activist even. In the meanwhile, media men and women stood quietly puzzled; they needed the ad revenues from the company (and other similar companies), along with governmental approval to make their work possible. At the same time, they are, in theory, the voice of the voiceless, the representatives of those who are suffering, and will continue to suffer, as a result of the dramatic, rapid and destructive environmental challenges.

It's a stand-still. The trio has every interest in keeping the discussion alive, but very little reason to move forward in any substantive way. Any discussion of lowering carbon emission becomes immediately political: fingerprinting, accusations and more. A new cold war around the theme of global warming is already underway. The "U.S. vs China" scenario will remain until a paradigm shift takes place. Meanwhile, the Maldives will continue to sink, followed by 14 percent of Bangladesh.

So what are the media to do? Most of them rely on the same business model that requires the constant funding of the same companies, and often governments that have themselves disproportionately polluted our environment. These companies and governments have also stifled the debate on finding a sensible exit from the quagmire in every way imaginable.

Perhaps the media should be reconsidering the entire business model. Those who are sincere in wanting to educate, engage and influence the public sphere need to first liberate themselves as far as possible from the controlling grip of corporations. Only then will they be able help us to act upon the challenges facing our world as a result of man-made environmental disasters

Until this happens, we will continue to talk gibberish, using all the right terms, all the positive clichés, and yet we will achieve nothing but a few feel-good moments at yet another conference in yet another crowded city, itself polluted to the core.

Now back to Li, No 5 (or 3). The man was in fact much more pleasant than one would expect, considering the very rigid protocols and security checks that greeted us. He spoke comfortably and freely. He joked often. He spoke of the need for a unified Asian media voice to counter the influence of Western media. He challenged accusations that China is a closed society, and spoke of the rapidly growing number of websites, blogs, and the increasing access of foreign journalists and media to his country.

In fact, the discussions at the forum by various Chinese officials and by Li himself were filled with juxtapositions and comparisons between China and the West, "us vs them", "they say, we say ..." The editors from Number 1 through Number 18 (myself included) listened and politely nodded.

If the world can indeed afford a new cold war on political, economic and trade grounds, the environment can hardly afford such quarrels. The icecaps are melting; the Borneo rainforests are shrinking by the day; the list of endangered species is growing; drought, floods and other such tragedies are affecting millions, destroying lives and scarring generations.

The fact remains that human suffering simply cannot be politicized. And it must no longer be held hostage to numbers, clichés and slogans.

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com

 

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 I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

 SUGAR AGAIN

 

Sugar once again comes over the horizon. This humble basic staple makes regular appearances in the media as the star of melodramas and tales of corruption of colossal proportions, and now a new epic is about to hit the screens. This time it concerns not the dodgy dealings of parliamentarians who also happen to be sugar mill owners; but the mysterious tender to import 300,000 tons of the white stuff worth Rs13.6 billion which has been given to 'a favourite importer' sans benefit of competition and at a fixed price rather than the previously agreed index base. The Finance Ministry has raised a number of objections to this obviously irregular arrangement but these have been ignored by the Commerce Ministry, that want the Finance Ministry to provide the funds to underwrite the deal which it is currently unwilling to do.

Inter-ministerial warfare is nothing new, and goes on to a greater or lesser degree all the time, but it is the sheer scale of the latest outbreak of hostilities and the willingness of the Commerce Ministry to drive a coach and horses through agreed procedures and pricing structures that marks this one out as more than a skirmish. Internationally the price of sugar is dropping, and paying a fixed price rather a price determined by a fluctuating index, may leave us considerably out of pocket as Pakistan plc; but the importer profiting considerably and doubtless greasing a few palms at the Commerce Ministry as he does. If the tender is awarded (it was due for award last Saturday) but without a commitment by the Finance Ministry to provide the funds we could find ourselves importing sugar at $100-$200 over the market price per tonne! As per the script the Commerce Ministry is denying any wrongdoing, but somebody somewhere had turned the procedure for the acquisition of imported sugar on its head. There had been an agreement that sugar would be bought against the fluctuating index so that maximum benefit could be derived from the lowering of prices – the latest proposal to buy at a fixed price reverses that, though who reversed it and on what authority is unclear. What is clear is that once again patronage and favouritism are the order of the day rather than what might make good economic sense. The sugar was due for import in order to avoid the kind of crisis we had last year. A forlorn hope and some sweetie somewhere may just find his pockets full of gold.

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

NO FLY

 

Icelandic volcanoes with unpronounceable names are unlikely to feature much in the news agenda of the subcontinent, but Mt Eyjafjallajökull has grasped the attention of tens of thousands of us who live there and particularly those who are planning on travelling to European destinations. Mt Eyjafjallajökull has erupted, hardly unusual for a volcano in Iceland which is one of the most volcanically-active countries in the world, and is currently sending out a stream of dust and gas. Normally this would be nothing more than a footnote to the news, but the fact that the cloud of dust has risen to between 30,000 and 40,000 feet and has drifted across much of Western Europe, means that it presents a significant hazard to passenger aircraft which typically cruise between 30,000 and 40,000 feet. Volcanic dust enters the engines causing 'flameout' or shutdown and abrades the windscreens of aircraft making it impossible for pilots to see where they are going. Consequently virtually all the major and most of the minor airports in Europe are closed, and until the cloud clears there will be no inbound or outbound traffic.

One immediate consequence of this is that flights from Pakistan to the UK and the rest of Europe are either terminated before they arrive or are not taking off at all. There are already passengers stranded at various airports across the Arabian Peninsula and the situation is likely to persist for several days. Virtually the entire air transport system of Europe and much of the rest of the world has been brought to a standstill because of an eruption by a not-particularly-large volcano. The episode provides yet another object lesson as to how much we are at the mercy of natural forces, and this in a week that saw another earthquake in China that left as many as 2,000 dead. Much we control, but the natural world remains beyond us.

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

ACID ATTACKS

From time to time we continue to hear news of acid attacks on women. As such attacks have increased over the last decade the horribly maimed and disfigured faces of the victims live in our nightmares. To their credit, a number of brave women have come forward with their stories and taken cases to court. Their efforts have helped expose the extent of the menace and the petty disputes that often lead to the hurling of corrosive substances on the faces of women. Minor marital disputes or small quarrels among neighbours have in the past been a factor in this.

A number of organisations have come forward to aid victims. This too is creditable. The surgeries offered and the support extended have made it possible for some women at least to move back towards normal life. International organisations have also in some cases stepped forward to offer what help they can. Women badly burnt or blinded have as a result received treatment in leading hospitals overseas. The greater media coverage has also highlighted the plight of victims. But the fact is that there has been no let-up in the number of cases. Indeed these appear to increase by the year according to figures issued by rights groups. It is also possible that a large number of cases go unreported and therefore undocumented. What we need is far more action from the government. Rules exist against the open sale of acid and other similar substances. These need to be implemented. Otherwise there will be no end to the cases we continue to see and the suffering they inflict on victims.

 

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I. THE NEWS

DUBIOUS GAINS AT THE NUCLEAR SECURITY SUMMIT

ASIF EZDI

At his meeting with the Pakistani newsmen in Washington at the conclusion of the Nuclear Security Summit, Gilani was jubilant. He said his visit had by and large been "very successful". Not a single head of state or government had raised concerns about Pakistan's nuclear programme. Obama himself had said that Pakistan's nuclear programme was in safe hands. "President Obama is totally convinced that our command and control system is undoubtedly effective. We could not have expected more," Gilani exulted. The confidence shown by the international community in the safety of Pakistan's controls over its nuclear assets had given increased legitimacy to the country's nuclear programme. This was a great victory for Pakistan.

Even after making allowance for the fact that the government is under an occupational compulsion to put a positive spin on every situation, Gilani's exuberance was quite out of place. Two days earlier, Foreign Minister Qureshi had said that Obama had given the assurance that Washington had no "sinister designs" towards Pakistan's nuclear programme. For Pakistan to believe these assurances, if they were given, would be highly irresponsible.

It is an open secret that Washington harbours doubts about the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and stock of weapons-grade material. The US has provided technical assistance to Pakistan to lessen that risk. The source of that danger, as Washington sees it, lies not so much in inadequate arrangements to guard our nuclear programme physically but in the possibility that the Pakistani military and nuclear establishment could be infiltrated by Al Qaeda sympathisers. Washington has therefore prepared plans to seize and destroy Pakistan's nuclear assets in certain eventualities. One of those contingencies, but probably not the only one, is an imminent danger of Pakistan's nuclear weapons or material falling into the hands of non-state entities like the Taliban and the Al Qaeda. Those plans exist and have not been given up, no matter what Obama told Gilani. In fact, they are being refined all the time and constantly updated with the latest intelligence. Should Washington decide at any time to act on these plans, it will not be stopped by any promises of good behaviour that Obama might have made to Gilani. The best protection of our nuclear assets would be to keep the American intelligence guessing about their location.

In public and in his meeting with Gilani, Obama refrained from raising questions about the security of Pakistan's nuclear programme. At his press conference following the summit, Obama said there had actually been progress over the last several years with respect to Pakistan's nuclear security issues and expressed confidence about the security "around" Pakistan's nuclear weapons programmes. But that did not mean that there were no improvements to be made. Obama tempered his remarks by adding that every country had to take better steps to secure nuclear material.

But Obama has also been very clear about his views on the main source of the nuclear security threat. Less than an hour before his meeting with Gilani, Obama painted a dire scenario of nuclear terrorism from Al Qaeda which, as the US officials never tire of pointing out, is based in the "border regions between Pakistan and Afghanistan." The single biggest threat to the US security, Obama declared, may it be short-term, medium-term or long-term, came from the possibility of a terrorist organisation obtaining a nuclear weapon. That was something that could change the security landscape of the US and around the world for years to come. Al Qaeda, he said, was trying to secure nuclear weapons and it had no compunction about using them. The political, economic and security ramifications of such a detonation would be devastating.

Gilani's claim that Obama was "totally convinced" about the security of Pakistan's nuclear programme therefore does not quite accord with the US policy on the issue. That policy has not changed after the summit. Nevertheless, a certain degree of satisfaction is in order at the fact that the Indian plan to use the conference to censure Pakistan for being a "proliferator" and for lacking the ability to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists did not materialise. One Indian columnist wrote with obvious relish before the summit that some of the focus at the summit was indirectly likely to be on Pakistan and "watching Islamabad squirm is always satisfying."

When that pleasure was denied, Manmohan Singh tried to put the best face forward. He expressed gratification that the international community was finally taking note of India's long-held concerns about the activities of nuclear traffickers and about nuclear terrorism. Earlier the world used to listen to India but now it had recognised that these were genuine concerns. That, he said, was a matter of some satisfaction for India.

As another proof of India's prescience, Manmohan Singh recalled Rajiv Gandhi's plan for global nuclear disarmament presented in 1988, whose wisdom the world was now belatedly recognising. India's earlier calls for a world free from nuclear weapons had not been heeded, Manmohan Singh lamented, but today the world was veering around to the vision India had put forward.

Gilani's assertion that the legitimacy of Pakistan's nuclear programme has been enhanced by our participation at the summit reflects a basic flaw in approach. Pakistan's nuclear deterrent is completely legal because it is not in violation of the country's obligations with respect to any treaty or international law. Pakistan does not need to "legitimise" it or strive for the recognition of its status as a nuclear-weapon state, certainly not by seeking endorsement from the US or any other country.

What we must do instead is to use to the full our diplomatic leverage to get access to civil nuclear technology as a solution to our growing energy deficit. Gilani did well to take up the issue at the summit. But it seems he did not raise it directly in his meeting with Obama. Gilani has to explain why he shied away from talking to the US president on such an important matter.

Fortunately, Gilani did not give in to Obama's demand that Pakistan give up its opposition to the commencement of negotiations on a treaty to halt the production of weapons-grade nuclear material. The pressure on Pakistan by the US and the international community to change this stance will mount in the coming weeks and months. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is planning a meeting of world leaders to push for the treaty. If Pakistan links negotiations on the treaty with the question of access to civilian nuclear technology, the international community could be made to rethink its double standards on the issue.

If the success of Pakistan's nuclear diplomacy at the summit has been overstated, the gains of Gilani's handshake diplomacy at his two meetings (or non-meetings, to be accurate) with Manmohan are even more dubious. For Gilani to have taken the initiative for one such encounter was probably right and necessary. But doing it twice devalued the significance of the gesture.

Manmohan tried to belittle the generosity of spirit behind Gilani's initiative of greeting the Indian prime minister. As Manmohan put it at a press conference, he had "run into" Gilani twice. They had exchanged pleasantries and he had complimented the Pakistan prime minister on the passage of the constitution amendment bill but there was no serious discussion. Manmohan also repeated Delhi's stance on the resumption of a composite dialogue: if Pakistan took credible steps to bring the perpetrators of the Bombay attacks to book, India would be happy to begin talks on all issues.

At Yekaterinburg last year, Manmohan publicly rebuked Zardari to his face before running cameras. At Washington, the Indian prime minister again chided his Pakistani interlocutor, but this time at a solo news conference. After these two incidents, Manmohan needs to be taught a lesson in the elementary etiquette of summit diplomacy. At the very least, Pakistan should leave it to the Indian side to seek a meeting with Gilani at the upcoming SAARC summit in Bhutan. In any case, they need it more than we do.

The writer is a former member of the Pakistan Foreign Service. Email: asifezdi@yahoo.com

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

THEY'RE COMING — FOR GOOD

ZAFAR HILALY

Let's, for a change, jump to some conclusions, ignoring the caution that it is wiser not to do so. Let's also examine the portents, rather than the contents, of the recently concluded US-Pakistan dialogue with a little more imagination than what is usually on offer, or permitted. What does it suggest?

Well, to begin with, that the talks not only went off well but, perhaps, too well. The Pakistani participants seemed over the moon, and so too their American counterparts. The former were rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of goodies to come, while America, having restored trust between the two sides and with Pakistan fully on board, feels that it could still emerge from Afghanistan with its reputation intact. Of course, that is wishful thinking. The Taliban will retreat in the face of McCrystal's oncoming "surge" and Pakistani pressure on their safe havens. But they will adjust and return to do battle. The Taliban, after all, are masters of their trade. Nevertheless, the vibes from the Washington meeting suggest that a breakthrough has indeed occurred. America is returning to Pakistan not to merely visit, or hang around, but to roost. It plans to be involved up to its neck in Pakistan. And the involvement will be close, intense and hands-on. And, what is more, America has, as its willing partner, the Pakistani military under Gen Kayani.

The transformation of the relationship—from diffident allies to partners, from having a stake to co-ownership of Pakistan's future—stems from Washington's belief that Pakistan must be saved, in spite of itself, for the sake of America's own security. There is simply too much at stake. For Washington, acting like a backseat driver won't do. The time has come for America, conjoined by Pakistan's military, to take the wheel and chart the course. Without tinkering overly with the present system, the authors of this…let's call it the "New Order," mean to improve its working. The agenda will be nation-building-plus. Elected civilian governments will be the rule, but they will have to function within clearly defined economic and political parameters. The authors mean to be heard and obeyed, though seldom seen.

In return for allowing America a decisive say in Pakistan's foreign and domestic affairs, and for unreserved willingness to cooperate in military matters, many good things are on offer:

1. Immediately, the IMF will be told to be more accommodating when it comes to enforcing its lethal regimen of ever-increasing taxes in lieu of subsidies. 2. The army can confidently expect to get more of what it requires, for doing more of what America wants. 3. A well-funded effort made to address Pakistan's energy shortfall is likely to get underway as soon as projects identified by Pakistan pass American scrutiny. 4. India has already been approached to be less demanding and cantankerous, and restart the composite dialogue. "Secret orders" by Obama to this effect were reportedly issued earlier this year. 5. Foreign investment in Pakistan is being canvassed with, perhaps, America letting on quietly that it will be safeguarded. 6. Such an assurance, along with a good chit from the IMF, will enable the Friends of Pakistan Group to release moneys pledged earlier but withheld for fear of lack of transparency. 7. Meanwhile, the water crisis has been broached. Old dams will be dredged, canals lined, and much else done to improve the water supply. 8. At the end of the line, or somewhere in the middle of this ambitious agenda, if things go well, will be civil nuclear cooperation. 9. A seat at the table for Pakistan when it comes to deciding Afghanistan's future setup has probably been conceded and, to cap it all, American assistance to achieve whatever is doable on Kashmir.

It is an ambitious menu, no doubt, but few will have failed to notice how much it blends with the 56-page list, unfairly dismissed as a "wish list," handed over to the American side during the visit. A "wish list" is what you ideally need but cannot afford, not what is available for the asking if you cooperate and fulfil your side of the bargain.

There are several telltale signs that the "New Order" is being put into place. At America's insistence the cofounder of the "New Order," Gen Kayani, was made to attend and take the credit for the foreordained success of the Washington Dialogue. Twice the dates of the meeting were postponed while the government dallied with the question of his inclusion. The treatment extended to him during the visit was perhaps unique in terms of importance, given his standing in our own order of protocol. According to sources, Gen Kayani was "bugled" into the Pentagon when he arrived, a rare honour.

In preparation for the "New Order" Mr Zardari has been stripped of all his powers, less on account of the Charter of Democracy and more because Mr Zardari tends to abuse his powers rather than use them responsibly. Of course, Mr Zardari is being allowed to sell it as selflessness personified. Soon to go will be Mr Zardari's controversial henchmen; they will likely be picked off, one by one, in the forthcoming trials and be replaced by carefully vetted men like Hafeez Shaikh. Mr Zardari himself may remain untouched for the moment, unless, of course, he hastens his own demise by acting up. And, if the judges become too unwieldy, a standoff between the two organs of the state can quickly be made to rebound to the detriment of both. With Gen Kayani now sure to get an extension or, better still, a promotion to the post of chairman of the Joint Chiefs, with enhanced powers, and Obama likely to win a second term, if only because its voting him out will traumatise American society, just as much as voting him in brought it together, the course is set. We are in for a period of stability in Pakistan. Noticeably, the Stock Market is booming.

How will the "New Order" be received? The major political parties will have to play ball. But as they are willing to play any game, even Russian roulette, in return for the pelf of office, this should pose no problem. Besides, they are used to taking directions; indeed, they are at a loss when acting without them. Even Nawaz Sharif, the one holdout, is rumoured to have "matured" after some tutoring. Moreover, the group of Kashmiris and East Punjabis around him are true survivors. They know how to adjust when the need arises. So much so that, when it happens, they will relish the crackdown on their ilk, the Punjabi fundos, as being long overdue. As for the populace, they are already disillusioned with the political parties. They have had it up to their gills with corruption and bad governance. They will welcome any relief that the "New Order" promises. In any case, it is not as if despotism is being imposed. The faces of those holding political office will remain comfortingly familiar and the font of democracy will be in place. Only the puppeteers will have changed.

The arrival of America with a decisive voice in government will undoubtedly fuel religious opposition. Links between religious political parties and the militant lashkars and jaishes, that are already fairly pronounced, will no doubt increase; however, their popularity need not. Moreover, the retaliation that they will invite by, for example, the closure of madressahs affiliated with them could deprive them of an important source of revenue. Thus, while their opposition to the "New Order" can be taken for granted, so too can its inefficacy.

Pakistan clearly needs a second wind if it is to emerge from the morass we are in. The advent of the "New Order" may just be the break we need. What do we have to lose?

The writer is a former ambassador. Email: charles123it@hotmail.com

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

THE CURSE OF BORROWING AND INTEREST

DR A Q KHAN

The word "borrowing" in itself looks so simple, but it has been responsible for untold and unimaginable hardship and misery to many. Only someone who has been a victim of this curse, whether lender or borrower, knows the consequences.

Almighty Allah has clearly warned against it in the Quran:

1. As for those who devour interest, they behave as the one whom Satan has confounded with his touch. Seized in this state, they say: Buying and selling is but a kind of interest, even though Allah has made buying and selling lawful, but interest unlawful (haram). (2:275-276)

2. Believers! Have fear of Allah and give up all outstanding interest if you do truly believe. But if you fail to do so, then be warned of war (chastisement) from Allah and His Prophet. If you repent even now, you have the right of the return of your capital; neither will you do wrong nor will you be wronged. But if the debtor is in difficult circumstances, let him have respite until the time of ease, and whatever you remit by way of charity is better for you. If only you know. (2:278-280)

3. Believers! Do not devour interest, double and redoubled, and be mindful of Allah, so that you may attain true success. (3:130)

4. Whatever you pay as interest so that it may increase the wealth of people does not increase in the sight of Allah. As for the Zakat that you give, seeking with it Allah's good pleasure, that is multiplied manifold. (3:39)

5. And for their taking interest which had been prohibited to them, and for their consuming the wealth of others wrongfully, and for the unbelievers among them, we have prepared a painful chastisement. (4:161)

 

Borrowing is easy, but the problems start when the time comes for repayment. We are all aware of the negative effects of borrowing and even a beggar, upon receiving alms, will pray for you by saying: "May Allah protect you from borrowing and from dependent on others."

Despite these warnings, some people (rarely are they genuinely needy people) still buy on loan. Contrary to organised lending facilities, shopkeepers often hesitate to do so, as they usually end up losing their money. For them, lending is easier that recovering. In larger setups, thugs are hired to coerce lenders to return what they had borrowed. We have recently tried following the Indian practice of hiring khwaja saras to sit and sing in front of the houses/offices of loan defaulters in an effort to shame them into repaying their debts.

We often see that banks and other lending institutions are ruthless and harsh in recovering loans from the financially underprivileged while at the same time writing off billions of rupees in loans from the influential. The poor are often forced to sell property and or belongings to pay off Rs50,000 or so while the wealthy go off scot-free. Sometimes it even leads to suicide due to inability to repay.

There are many different kinds of borrowing, some of which can be summarised as follows:

Between shopkeeper and customer. The "borrower" here usually belongs to the low-income group. They buy at deferred payment and then pay when they receive their salaries. This kind of lending usually takes place between people who are known to each other and hinges on mutual agreement.

Between landlord and peasant. The peasant pays back the amount borrowed after selling his crop. However, here the rate of interest is always high and often not covered by the sale of crops. Often the peasant is forced to mortgage his land and ends up losing it. The entire peasant family then ends up being servants (read slaves) of the landlord. Unfortunately, this curse is quite common in Pakistan. It is not unusual to see a cruel landlord chaining the entire family and treating them as slaves. Thanks to the activities of the judiciary, such cases are now being exposed and are being dealt with severely and many families have been liberated.

• Between friends and family members. Here the victim is usually the lender, not the borrower. The borrower uses reasons of medical treatment, marriage of children, repayment of loans, etc., and promises to return the money as soon as possible. This "as soon as possible" often never materialises and the lender, poor fellow, due to many considerations, never presses the matter, thus losing his money. The borrower may then move on to his next victim.

• Between businessmen/industrialists and lending institutions. This type of borrowing is usually done very cunningly by using connections and influence and with the connivance of the lending institution. The value of the mortgaged property is estimated exorbitantly high or with insufficient collateral coverage in order to obtain a large loan. It is this abhorrent practice that is one of the main factors in breaking the back of our economy. Corrupt bankers and cunning industrialists/businessmen swallow billions of rupees every year, the latest example being that of Bank of Punjab losing almost Rs10 billion. Recently published statistics show that almost Rs100 billion was written of as "bad loans" during the Musharraf era. Over the last few decades, bad loans worth more than Rs250 billion have been written off. Ours is the only country where the writing off of loans is common practice. While the defaulters are still billionaires owning huge villas and expensive cars, the country suffers. Recently the Supreme Court has taken notice of this menace and is trying to have the money recovered. The amounts written off are from the taxpayers' money and while the already rich benefit, the ordinary citizen gets very little return on his deposits/savings. This curse started with the nationalisation of banks and industries and the rulers appointing their relatives/friends as heads of these institutions. Now it became simply a matter of easy mutual connivance.

• Between Pakistani governments and international lending institutions. Corruption, mismanagement, the writing off of huge sums of money as bad loans, etc., has resulted in the country having to borrow billions of dollars from international institutions and foreign countries. The annual rate on these loans alone exceeds one billion dollar annually. The various institutions have a hold on us like an octopus holds its prey. We have to comply with their conditions and obey their dictates, often to the detriment of the national interest and the common man. Then there is no other option than to raise the prices of essential utilities/commodities, thus increasing the stranglehold on the poor. But then, as beggars, one can't be choosers.

Every rational thinking Pakistani is worried. One wonders why a country with 180 million people, with many natural resources and with a reasonable number of educated and talented people should find itself in this situation. We are plagued by bad governance, corruption, nepotism, dishonesty, hoarding, adulteration, etc. In my personal opinion there are two main causes for this malady. 1) Our selfish, corrupt, bad administration, and 2) the poor performance of our financial managers. Bad governance and corruption lead to the break-up of all institutions and because of mal intent, the blessing (barkat) of Almighty Allah has disappeared. The progress, prosperity and development of a country depend on the performance of its financial institutions. In our case, both the leaders and the financial institutions have failed to deliver the desired results. All we can do is pray for a miracle, but miracles don't happen when people indulge in wrongdoing and disobey the clear edicts of Allah.

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

QUESTIONS THAT REMAIN UNANSWERED

AMEER BHUTTO

The writer is vice-chairman of Sindh National Front and a former MPA from Ratodero. He has degrees from the University of Buckingham and Cambridge University.

Twenty-eight months after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, including an unexplained 15-day delay requested by the Zardari government, and a reported cost approaching a hundred million dollars, we finally have the report of the United Nations Inquiry Commission (UNIC) on the tragic incident, and all the report amounts to is a big fat nothing. It answers no questions, identifies no culprits and unearths no motives. It is a redundant reiteration of the doubts and suspicions that have haunted the nation since that fateful day in December 2007.

This should surprise no one. How could the UNIC be expected to uncover the truth when there was no post-mortem report for them to examine, since no post-mortem was allowed, the scene of the crime was hosed down within hours of the attack to eliminate all traces of evidence, Musharraf, whose government the UNIC holds responsible for alarming lapses in security arrangements, was not available for questioning. And the Pakistani authorities, according to the UNIC, created obstacles for them in the conduct of the inquiry and did not allow them access to various key sources of information.

Under such constraints, and given the rather restricted frame of reference they operated within, they could do no better than to produce such a futile document. It was a waste of time and money.

But was that the objective? To waste time? Procrastination and delay is this government's established modus operandi on all fronts.

The restoration of the suspended judges and termination of Governor's Rule in Punjab was delayed as much as possible, until the long march forced the government's hand. The judges' appointment issue was dragged on until an obvious contempt of court loomed over the government. The Parliamentary Committee for Constitutional Reform dragged its feet for months until the NRO verdict was announced and the government needed to distract attention and have something positive to show. This government never does anything until action becomes absolutely unavoidable.

Despite the public chest-thumping and tear-shedding, why let almost 28 fruitless months lapse, only for us to be led into a foreseeable cul-de-sac, when a criminal inquiry at home could have been carried out quickly and cheaply, under a judicial commission aided by a team of high-ranking law enforcement and intelligence officers? But the troubling thing about such inquiries is that once the bloodhounds are let lose, there is no controlling where they might go and what they might find.

The government has a lot of explaining to do on this count. Will it now follow the UNIC recommendations and conduct a proper criminal investigation? Will we witness further dilatory tactics? It has even been reported in the press that the government tried to delay making the UNIC report public, but its efforts were foiled by the UN, which felt the report was too important to keep secret.

Even before Benazir Bhutto had been laid to rest, voices were raised about a UN inquiry. The new People's Party leaders even rushed to write a letter to the UN secretary general asking for such an inquiry, not knowing that the UN deals not with private persons but with recognised states and international organisations. The United Nations is a forum for the resolution of conflict between nations and promotion of world peace. It is not a police station. It is not the UN's responsibility to carry out murder investigations, for which it is ill-equipped anyway.

If the Zardari government was so anxious to carry out investigations into the Mumbai bombing incident, its reluctance to investigate a murder on Pakistani soil and its preference to lob the ball into the UN's court defy justification. This is all the more puzzling since Zardari is on record as having declared, in a speech in Naodero, that he already knew the identity of the killers. Would it not have been much simpler, quicker and cheaper to hand over their names to local investigating authorities?

According to the UNIC, the government failed to make adequate arrangements for Benazir Bhutto's security. This is obvious, but the UNIC also points out that the security arrangements made by her own party were inadequate. Should her party not have been more vigilant than the government could be expected to be?

Interior Minister Rehman Malik reportedly tried to convince the UNIC that he was not in charge of Benazir Bhutto's security arrangements, but it refused to accept his denials, pointing to a body of evidence that suggested otherwise. Rehman Malik's denial and the UNIC's rejection of it are crucial. Much can be read between the lines in this. He happened to be one of the occupants of the backup vehicle following Benazir Bhutto's vehicle. This backup vehicle, instead of transporting the bleeding Benazir Bhutto to hospital, inexplicably bolted from the scene. Despite its questioning of Rehman Malik, it is surprising that the UNIC failed to explain even this irregular conduct. A man who failed to provide security to one woman is now responsible for the security of the nation.

The UNIC views Benazir Bhutto's murder against the background of the deteriorating relationship between her and Gen Musharraf after her return to Pakistan. American journalist Ron Suskind wrote in his book that Musharraf had warned Benazir Bhutto that her security would depend upon her collaboration with him. What needs explaining is this: if Benazir Bhutto became unacceptable to Musharraf and his puppet masters, what made the new People's Party leadership acceptable to them? If the goose was not good enough, what made the gander palatable?

If Musharraf is indeed the prime suspect, then more questions emerge. When Zardari had himself expressed suspicions regarding Musharraf immediately after Benazir Bhutto's murder, why was Musharraf allowed safe passage by this government after his resignation? Why did he enjoy VIP treatment and full presidential protocol even after he resigned? Why has this government remained reluctant to prosecute him, if not for Benazir Bhutto's murder, then for crimes against the nation, including the demolition of democracy and massive corruption? Everyone is now clamouring for filing a murder case against Musharraf. But what is the use of closing the door after the horse has bolted? Why did they let him get away?

The widely held view is that Musharraf quit office only after a deal had been worked out under the sponsorship of a foreign power that gave him safe passage and immunity from prosecution. Deals seem to be the pivotal cog in this murder mystery. Deals to bury the transgressions of the past. Deals to turn adversaries into allies to fulfill the mission and mandate of sponsoring foreign powers. Deals to give safe passage with immunity from prosecution. Deals to transfer power to the new chosen ones, wreathed in smiles.

These deals may have cost Benazir Bhutto her life. This once proud and sovereign state has become a pawn in the hands of foreign powers that have their own vested interests in this region, now more so than ever before, and some of our politicians are their willing instruments as long as the gora sahibs maintain them in power.

Why has a criminal investigation not been launched in Pakistan? Why was a post-mortem not allowed? Why was the scene of the crime washed away to destroy evidence? Why was there a lapse of security? Who benefited the most from the murder? These and other questions that the UNIC left unanswered in its report need to be answered soon if the truth is to emerge. There is more to this murder conspiracy than meets the eye. All the slain leaders of this land, from Liaquat Ali Khan to Mir Murtaza Bhutto, and now Benazir Bhutto, lie in their final resting places with the truth interred with them. But regardless of what any inquiries or reports might say, the people know better.

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

ECONOMISTS SANS RESEARCH

MUHAMMAD YASIR KHAN

Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought. -Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Despite the uni-dimensional education policy focus on churning out PhDs in every field, we have not yet settled for the reality that we are nowhere in the world when it comes to research on economic and social policies.

In any other country a field left so wide open could not have been up for grabs for so long, yet not a single domestic expert seems keen on taking advantage of the situation here. First, without going into individual profiles, let us analyse our experts. A strikingly high proportion of our economic and social development experts have been ex-employees of multilateral agencies. Even those associated with academic institutions have mainly been drawing significant income from working on "projects" as "consultants", focused mainly on compiling "reports". If such is the cadre of experts tasked to provide informed advice on matters of economic policy and development, no wonder we are getting nowhere with our policies.

Our ministries have a severe lack of capacity for conducting quality research on any aspect of the policies formulated by them. The government seems to have completely outsourced policy-making to donors and multilateral organisations. Experts are hired to compile reports and even more are appointed to make policy documents based on these reports. It is ironic that these very same experts are then hired from the donors' side to reformulate the policies after some time. There is a complete institutional failure to develop inquisitive and probing researchers within the setup of ministries, who can at least provide some kind of feedback, if not wholly take the task of policy research, into the policy-making process.

A prime example of the lack of research capacity can be noticed at the premier policy-making body in the country - the Planning Commission. According to its website, this body is entrusted with "organising research and analytical studies for economic decision-making", besides formulating five-year economic plans for the country. Surprisingly, however, this body – whose main function is to conduct research for economic decision-making - is headed by a respectable atomic energy expert, not an economist. The commission itself includes only four PhDs out of its total eight members, signifying just how much we value research. The story does not end here; under the publications section on the Planning Commission's website, one finds the refreshing heading of "Research Papers of P&D Staff"- however, enthusiasm soon wanes when one finds that apparently only one member of the staff, Dr Karamat, seems to be interested in research. Dr Karamat again is not an economist; he is a health sector specialist.

The current mindset of our economic policy experts cannot be changed overnight. But it is about time we start moving in the right direction. For now we have a golden opportunity with the return of exceptionally brilliant young minds, well-trained in economic research from world-class western universities, via the Fulbright and other scholarship programmes. If the current mindset continues, we run the risk of wasting the young talent, continuing to depend on multilaterals for policy-making and carry on pretending that we know everything about our economy, when in truth we do not.

Email: myk2111@columbia.edu

 

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I. THE NEWS

EDITORIAL

DARK CITY BLUES

CHRIS CORK

We all have the blues from time to time. Those days when nothing seems to go right and even if it does it doesn't go right in exactly the way you wanted. You wake up with that grumpy dissatisfied feeling; nobody can do anything that makes you happy and you are determinedly miserable. It can last for days, the blues. Weeks. Months. All sorts of things can bring on a bout of the blues from a broken fingernail to the recipe that failed to delight the hard-to-please guest. And electricity. Or its absence. Bahawalpur had a dose of the blues last week that continues as these words are typed and very nearly turned into psychotic axe-wielding brick-hurling tyre-burning violence. The dark blue mood was brought on by a marathon powercut that by the afternoon of last Wednesday had the banks musing on the wisdom of pulling down the shutters on the ATM machines – and when the banks do that you can sniff the same trouble in the air as they can.

Passing down Circular Road on a day when the sun was in brain-frying mode it was almost eerie - few cars, fewer pedestrians and apart from bakeries and the never-closed-as-far-as-I-know RhimJhims Tobacco Store, no open shops. The shutterdown in protest at the loadshedding was almost universal, and small knots of people stood around looking like they were trying to decide if they were blue enough to make a bit of a rumpus. Small knots of police looked at them, and in the end it was far too hot for a bit of ad-hoc rioting and so everybody sloped off home to houses that were as powerless as the people who lived in them.

There was power in my house but of the very expensive sort created by a UPS system for the computers and a noisy smelly generator at the back that gulps petrol like a man dying of thirst. A rhythm has developed. The power drops, the UPS picks up the computers and if power is not returned after an hour off goes the fridge, off go the mains and on goes the generator. The TV is left on as it is an indicator of when the power comes back – the picture reappears and the cycle is reversed. Off goes the generator, on goes the mains and the fridge and the UPS unit begins to charge up again. This may happen five or six times over a day depending on the outtages and can turn the cheeriest of souls into an ultramarine monster. Currently it is costing around 300 rupees a day to fuel Mrs Genny – work out for yourselves what that does to the monthly budget.

Seeing an entire city switched on is a startling sight. From a velvet blackness punctuated only by the lights winking at the top of the mobile phone towers and the faint orange glow from the airport to the south, to twinkling vibrancy in the blink of the eye. My house and a couple of others had stood out as islands of light, marking us as rich enough to hold the darkness at bay which may not be the best of advertisements considering the prevalence of armed robbery hereabouts. But it was the dark and fanless houses that preoccupied me. Blue as I was it will have been as nothing compared to what others less fortunate – poorer - but perhaps more angry, were experiencing. There was no power during the time it took me to write this piece. Fridge off, mains off and where is the petrol can? Anybody seen the petrol can? Dark city blues…

The writer is a British social worker settled in Pakistan. Email: manticore73@gmail. com

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

GEN KAYANI'S APOLOGY IS NOT ENOUGH

 

IT is good of General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani that he set a tradition of tendering apology to the Kukikhel tribe for the loss of civilian lives during a military operation in Tirah Valley on April 10. The rare move on the part of the COAS reflects how he feels for the innocent people who were killed or suffered losses.

The COAS in his statement offered heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and assured that he has ordered measures to avoid re-occurrence of such incidents in future. However we are sorry to point out that the apology would be of no consequences to the bereaved families who are in a state of shock, women crying and wailing over the loss of their bread earners and small children. In addition their houses have been destroyed and thus left with no shelter or earning members for the families. Of course it is understandable that in such situations collateral damage is unavoidable yet in our view maximum precautions should be taken while launching an operation on the basis of hard intelligence. Yes, it is true that the militants who are causing immense damage to the security and stability of the country are hiding all over the tribal belt including inaccessible Tirah Valley and they could be targeted only through air power, yet utmost care is needed to avoid civilian losses. We suggest that the affected families must be adequately compensated like those who lost their dear ones in blasts. At the same time while hard core militants must be pursued and nabbed, it is advisable that lower cadre militants might be persuaded to lay down their arms in return for amnesty and possibly with offers of jobs, that would be available when reconstruction activity starts in the area. We have been suggesting in these columns that the operation against militants should go on along with dialogue. Local people have their own grievances against the civilian officials and they must be heard. We may point out that when US is in touch with the Taliban through back door channels and President Hamid Karzai too is interacting with "Brother Omer" why Pakistani authorities are reluctant to negotiate in order to persuade our people to lay down arms and join the mainstream of national life. The militants have learnt the lesson that they cannot fight with Pakistani army and one is confident that they would respond to the offer of dialogue if extended through proper channels.

 

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

WILL PAKISTAN TURN INTO KYRGYZSTAN?

 

WITH load shedding goes beyond their patience, people are coming on streets in almost all cities and towns across the country in general and in Punjab particular blocking roads, setting on fire tyres, damaging public property and traffic signals. On Saturday there were massive protests in Rawalpindi and Dina in Jhelum against the power outages during which one person was killed and several injured when police opened fire to disperse them.

These protests are of daily occurrence where people beat their chests, raise slogans and clash with police. It is one aspect of the worrisome situation in Pakistan. Another is lack of respect for law of the land and people have started taking law in their own hands as they have lost faith in the promises made to them for the redressal of their grievances and in the machinery responsible for ensuring peace and order. There were protests against kidnapping and killing of a young girl in Lahore last week while in Karachi people apprehended dacoits and instead of handing them over to the police, burnt them alive sometime back. These are just two instances otherwise there had been many incidents of this nature all over the country. It is in this perspective that some concerned people have started comparing deteriorating law and order situation in Pakistan with Kyrgyzstan where people revolted against the Government and forced the President to flee for life. However in our view Pakistan is not Kyrgyzstan. We are a stable society, much much far ahead than many of the Third World countries and the situation is not as bad though problems are there and with the passage of time these would be resolved. The need of the hour is that the Government should give some thoughts to the views of people who are comparing Pakistan with Kyrgyzstan and take immediate remedial steps to resolve the problems of the masses so that they could resume their normal lives instead of coming on streets to register their difficulties.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

DYING AGHAZ-E-HAQOOQ-E-BALOCHISTAN PACKAGE

 

PEOPLE in Quetta observed a complete strike on Saturday against suicide attack in the civil hospital a day earlier, target killings and deteriorating law and order situation in the provincial metropolis. All major business centres and markets remained closed on the call of the traders representative body which was endorsed by mainstream political parties in the Province.

Target killings and blasts claiming lives of innocent people are of daily occurrence and certain groups of people, playing in the hands of our enemies are also violating the sanctity of Pakistan's flag and national anthem. People were forced to observe the strike to draw the attention of the Government, as they believe that there is none to provide them security. The Chief Minister who is heading a fifty member strong cabinet appears to be totally helpless and some time his conduct indicates that he is totally oblivious of the situation. Knowledgeable circles are openly saying that India and other countries are funding and arming the extremist elements for the attainment of their ulterior motives. These outlawed and criminals have no regard and concern for their motherland but lust for money. It is in this perspective that Gwadar Port which was inaugurated with lot of fanfare and declared as a gateway to Central Asian Republics is almost in a state of decay. The PPP Government took the praiseworthy initiative when Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani announced Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan initiative with the objective of bringing much needed development in the Province and remove sense of deprivation among the masses. Though the Prime Minister had formed a monitoring committee to ensure implementation of his initiative yet there is complete silence and no progress on it. No one knows what is state of this package and in fact it is reported that it is dying down. Why it is so is a big question and it is high time that responsible authorities should look into fast deteriorating situation in Balochistan. We may also say that time is running out.

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

GIVING BY ONE HAND, TAKING AWAY BY OTHER

AMBASSADOR'S DIARY

DR SAMIULLAH KORESHI

 

I must admit that it was a hasty judgment on my part in believing in an earlier article that the "Eighteenth Amendment" had restored "Democracy", the phantom we have been chasing for the last four decades. (I disagree with those who claim in an attempt to defame the founding fathers by the hyperbole "It has been the same for the last sixty years"- absolute not - I made this mistake because I did not act on the advice to read the fine print before making a decision. What the Amendment has in reality brought is Wadera or a wadera dynastic "democracy".

It is quite clear that under the illusion that the Committee was going to delete such articles as 58 (2-b) from the Constitution, and power was being transferred from the President to the Prime Minister and the Parliament was being made the seat of all decisions, the smart people revised about one third of the 1973 Constitution to give in place of the previous system Amendments with a blue print of a Wadera dynasty democracy. This system would be one tier higher than the new system of an empowered Prime Minister and empowered Parliament.

So, at first glance at the Amendments an impression is gathered that by removing the obnoxious articles which had made Prime Minister an errand boy of the President and made the Parliament like a rubber stamp a "democratic" order is being established, but only till some vital ifs and buts are discovered in reading the text further.

Briefly, to avoid technical language of the Amendment: Prime Minister can be elected by a minority and will not be required to get a vote of confidence. This is most unusual because it is universal practice in all parliamentary form of governments for the Prime Minister to get a vote of confidence even if he does not enjoy majority but only plurality in the House. It seems that this provision has been provided for the eventuality that PPP gains plurality but is denied majority in any future elections and retains its Sind vote bank but gets slim upport in other provinces.

Another provision which is most unusual – in fact does not exist in any democratic system in the world is Article 63 A of the Amendment which gives power to the Party Head to disqualify virtually any (dissenting) member of the Parliament of his party as member . Senator S M Zafar was right in objecting to this clause to unseat a party member even if the Party Head is unelected, or even exiled or residing abroad permanently. It is this provision and deletion of the requirement of the annual elections in the Political parties which change the nature of the Constitution from democractic to Wadera or dynastic democracy, if such a thing can be called democratic.

By removing the constitutional requirement of having annual elections in the Party , it is permitted that the same party bosses remain in power and have the power to be the Qabza Group. Normally such persons are the waderas with dynasty claims to be in control of the Party. It negates democracy and allows dynastic control and in practice keeps wadera power base in tact.

An interesting explanation of who the Party heads are, since it omits mention of the Chairman or President of the Party as its head but just uses a broad description. It is defined in the Constitution Amendment as follows" Explanation: "Party Head" means any person by whatever name called, declared as such by the Party". This seems to have been put to make Mr Zardari as the Party Head since the Chairman of the Party is Bilawal and too young to assume this responsibility. His over all control over the Government is thus ensured.

Let us take the implications of this provision on democracy. Since the Party Head can remove even the Prime Minister it retains in fact the power to control the Members of his party in the Assembly and Senate. He can pull strings in the Parliament sitting outside it or if President in the same manner as he did through Art 58 (2b). Hence it takes away the freedom given to the Prime Minister not to be removed by the President . This is where this provision takes away the empowerment of the Prime Minister other wise granted by repealing Art 58 (2b). Come to consider the effects of this provision of powers of the Party Head, this means that there will be another tier of unseen players of politics controlling the deliberations of the Parliament . A tier above the Parliament where super deliberations will and can take place making Parliament subordinate to the inter-Party Heads parleys, etc. In other words the Parliamentary system will be for mundane issues but vital issues will be at this super leadership level. This is not parliamentary democracy, as it is understood and practiced in all democratic rules.

Another objectionable element of this Amendment is to introduce a divisive concept of ethnic nationalism, that is by giving the seal of approval to the name of Pakhtunkhawa even though with a feeble suffix Khyber to the new name of the NWFP or Sarhad Province. After all, the province had been known for a long time as Sarhad and no other area was identified by this description. This name has a historical connotation and associated with a failed project when it had become manifest that Pakistan was coming in existence. Abul Kalam Azad in his "India Wins Freedom" had described how it was raised in the Congress by the founding father of ANP. Pakhtunkhawa is not just a description, it has a history. In fact in Hazara area, in public demonstrations this very fact was raised. It is surprising that Muslim League with any alphabet should not be mindful of these facts. It is the custodian of Pakistan idea, ideology and history. It a mistake when Nawaz Sharif became double minded on naming the Province as Pakhtunkhawa. At first he rejected the name and then in three days he changed his stand. He should have known what the Quaid had said on ethnicity. He had said if you start thinking as Balochis, Pakhtuns, Punjabis, Bengalis, Pakistan will disintegrate. The excat word he used was "disintegrate" A national leader should decide firmly what is good for the country and national cohesion and having done so, he should stick to his stand. This can be done softly without adopting a confrontationist posture but firmness on basic issues is essential.

Future will be the judge whether the fears that acceptance of Pakhtunkhawa has opened a pandora's box for decimation of the present state quo. One must remind politicos that one should be very careful in disturbing the status quo which has existed for quite a long time for it becomes time tested. To resort to an excuse that the name or practice was creation of the "colonial" days of British rule is hardly logic. No doubt the British were colonialist master but they have done many good things. Would one like to dismantle Guddu Barrage because it was built by the British and so on so forth. For wadseras who flourished under colonialist patronage, and were bestowed Jagirs for services to the British Raj this charge is quite amusing. India whose democratic credentials are accepted by the world, is six times bigger in population and area than Pakistan, but it has kept in tact many British practices like District administration. One must say the Administration during the Raj was hundred time more efficient than we had after independence. This is just to underline th

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

REGIONAL DIALOGUE VS STRATEGIC DIALOGUE

EHTISHAM AMIR

 

Beating war drums and shouting jingoistic slogans have been one of the favorite pastimes of humans. Domination of territory around one's nation is an ever alive dream of Homo sapiens. Methods of conquest and dominations have again been almost consistent i.e coercion and use of force. Instinct of survival and expansion of one's influence is one of the strongest motives in pages of history. Moralists may have arguing to restraint the warfare but ultra nationalism refuses to be yoked.

With development of human civilizations over millennia's, lesser violent means are also resorted to subdue, subjugate or influence countries in one's neighbourhood and beyond. With extremely inter linked world of ours time due to scientific discoveries and inter dependence; it is prudent to consider the influence can be accrued by mutual accommodations of competing interests than proxy wars and perpetual hostility.

Recent Pak-US strategic created lot of hype in media. A lot has been written and spoken about it. What however was starkly absent from discussion was as to why should Pakistan always bank on benevolence of other countries? When will we decide to stand on our own feet, carve out our own path and decide our own destiny?

To summaries the expectations of Pakistani nation from strategic dialogue with USA, we wanted USA to keep India away from Afghanistan, we wanted USA to influence India to resolve water crises, we wanted USA to help us over come energy crisis. It astonishes that all these and far more is well within our own grasp. We can get all of these by playing our own cards smartly. And, we don"t need tutelage of any body in these matters, only and only, if we decide to take realistic stock of our strengths and weaknesses. We may have to shed some of the prejudices and fantasies in the process. Afghanistan is a sovereign country and can choose its friends and partners. She has been rocked by invasions and proxy wars of last three decades. Should we avert another proxy war after USA decides to withdraw its forces? Is there any way to strike an accord with competing interests of regional player in Afghanistan and develop on it instead of fighting for a bigger piece of cake? Does realism give us some answers to Post-USA Afghanistan? Answer to all of the above is, an affirmative.

Pakistan, Iran and India have traditionally been trying to exert influence in Afghanistan. Last three decades witnessed this vicious campaign with its horrifying consequences. None has been able to exclude the other completely from Afghan arena. Does this give us some lesson for future? Lesson perhaps is that all three must not insist on complete domination and give way to others, too. Fate has ironically linked these four countries and there is no escaping to it now.

Pakistan wants secure western borders and neutral, if not friendly, Afghan govt. pretty legitimate interests. Iran would wish to nip any threat to its revolutionary ideology in bud in its surrounding. Turkey, Pakistan and Iraq are no threats to it. Afghanistan being a weak state poses mortal danger to her. Moreover, Iran would like to further its historical and traditional links with central Asian states (CAR) and turn these relations into economic profits. Again, very legitimate interests indeed. Pre partition India has had historical links with Afghanistan and beyond including CARs. It is a rising economic power and wants newer markets and energy resources which are available in and around Afghanistan. Pakistan is presently, ideally placed in geo-economic jigsaw puzzle. On its west, there is energy surplus (Iran, CAR) and on its east is energy hunger (India, China). Can Pakistan become the bridge? Indeed it can, if we jettison prejudices and embrace Real politick for a while. To hypothesis, Pak can provides corridor to Indian goods traveling to Afghanistan and beyond to CAR on profitable terms to her own economy. India can also receive energy through Iran-Pak-India and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipe lines. Pakistan retains pivotal position for Indian economic growth and develops a strong bargaining leverage. Iran is also dependent on Pakistani good will for exporting energy to India and subsequently, to China. Stable and peaceful Afghanistan is a linchpin in this hypothesis. It is no novel hypothesis, indeed. What is being emphasized is however, that to manifest this hypothesis, we need no US auspices. Pakistan can do it by herself.

All three have competing interests in Afghanistan. But all three can join hands to complement each other as well and take sufficient size of the pie. If these three choose to act otherwise, whole region and lot of world beyond will remain in perpetual poverty and lag in economic terms.

Who takes the lead? It is considered that Pak must retain initiative. We have a win-win situation. Indian have already explored to bypass Pakistan and their trade to CAR goes through Iran, Caspian sea and surrounding. Well established road, railway and sea ports serve their purpose. But if we offer them shorter, cheaper route, economic gains to Indian business class will be mouth watering. Once Indian trades and receives energy through Pakistan, we can then proceed with negotiations over Kashmir and water disputes. In absence of any leverage, we can only talk of "Water War" , which has unthinkable consequences for nuclear belligerents. Pakistan has paid dearly for its past Afghanistan policy. We reaped bitter harvest of investing in Taliban and religious fanaticism. Here is the chord for mutually beneficial relations with Iran. Pak-Iran can join hands to curb extremism in Afghanistan and accommodate each other in Afghan Arena. For Gawadar and trade of CARs diverting to it, we must remember the words of Iranian minister "there is enough trade in the world to benefit every one". Pakistan would thus pose no significant trade loss to Iran. We can also seek Iranian help in negotiating with Indians.

Pakistan and Iran has contested for over three decades to retain commanding position in Afghanistan, but to no avail. Should both learn to accommodate each other and gain mutually? There is no dearth of optimism in both countries.

By agreeing to resolve their issues by themselves, all three can stay immune from unwanted outside pressures. After all, India has been jealously guarding its neutrality in foreign policy for most of its past. Civilian nuclear deal is not a favour to India by USA. Its serves American business interests well.

Most of the work has to be done in Pakistan since the entire envisaged plans places heavy political price on Pakistani leadership and intelligentsia. We have fed the nation of empty rhetoric's for over six decades. Of course India is no benevolent country once it comes to Pakistan. That does not however suggest that we waste a heaven given opportunity.

It serves our strategic interest in more ways than we can contemplate. When tensions grew post Mumbai terror attack, we were left with no bargaining chip sans, nuclear posturing. When we sit over energy pipes to India, it will take more than madness for Indians to escalate tensions. We can then bargain over water disputes since we will have leverage over their trade route and energy pipe lines. Modalities can be easily worked out if political decision is taken.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

US ECONOMIC ONSLAUGHT ON IRAN

DR SYED JAVED HUSSAIN

 

The United States is cruising along a course to impose stricter sanctions on Iran but presently will be satisfied with the fourth set of sanctions that are not so biting. According to Paul Richter of Los Angeles Times reporting from Washington , the Obama administration signalled Wednesday 14 April, that the United States would accept weakened United Nations sanctions against Iran as a way to quickly assemble a broad international coalition against Tehran 's nuclear program.

The same report quotes Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates as saying, 'a Security Council resolution "provides a new legal platform" for individual nations or groups, such as the European Union, to take more stringent action. In that way, the U.N. resolution acts as a "launching pad" for economic strictures that are much tougher than those adopted by the world organization.'

The US is leading, in its own right, a world movement for economic sanctions against Iran allegedly pursuing a clandestine Nuclear programme directed towards making a nuclear bomb. Iran has all along been claiming that its nuclear programme is peaceful and is directed towards meeting country's energy, medical and scientific needs. America and its close allies are not ready to believe. Since 1979 Islamic revolution of Iran and especially taking hostage of American Embassy staff in Tehran in the early days of the revolution, relations between two countries have remained at the lowest edge. Mutual suspicion is difficult to overcome. Since 2006 the US is pursuing a definite course that is hurting Iran 's economy to certain extent although adamant Iranian leadership claims that the UNSC sanctions have failed to get the desired results.

The US Set the Stage for Sanctions when on 31 July, 2006 in resolution 1696 (2006) the UNSC under US manipulation 'demanded that Iran suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, and gave it one month to do so or face the possibility of economic and diplomatic sanctions to give effect to its decision.'

First Set of Sanctions followed. On 23rd December, 2006 the UNSC adopted resolution 1737 (2006) in which it 'imposed sanctions on Iran, blocking the import or export of sensitive nuclear materiel and equipment and freezing the financial assets of persons or entities supporting its proliferation sensitive nuclear activities or the development of nuclear-weapon delivery systems.'

At that time Qatar did not approve of the resolution. Its 'representative said he had not approved of proceeding with the vote when his region was "inflamed". Proceeding to action at the present critical time neither served regional security nor Council unity. There was no harm in waiting for a few days to exhaust all possible means to identify Iran's real intentions and the degree of its readiness to cooperate, especially since it had not rejected the package presented to it (by the six countries); it had only asked for some time to reply. The Council had certainly waited longer to act on questions of greater urgency. Qatar was totally committed to ensuring nuclear non-proliferation and ridding the Middle East of those weapons, but failure to take into account the above mentioned concerns, as well as the prevailing conditions in his region, was not helpful, he said.'

The US did not remain content with the first round of sanctions and on 24 March 2007 in resolution 1747 (2007) of the UNSC, it had the second round of sanctions against Iran and called 'upon all States to exercise vigilance and restraint in the supply, sale or transfer directly or indirectly from their territories or by their nationals or using their flag vessels or aircraft of any battle tanks, armoured combat vehicles, large calibre artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles or missile systems as defined for the purpose of the United Nations Register on Conventional Arms to Iran , and in the provision to Iran of any technical assistance or training, financial assistance, investment, brokering or other services, and the transfer of financial resources or services, related to the supply, sale, transfer, manufacture or use of such items in order to prevent a destabilizing accumulation of arms.' Third Set of Sanctions came in early 2008 when on 3 March, 2008 in resolution 1806 (2008) the UNSC, under a lot of mongering and bickering on part of the US, slapped third round of sanctions against Iran. In the resolution 'states were called upon to inspect cargo to and from Iran of aircraft and vessels owned or operated by Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line, provided "reasonable grounds" existed to believe that the aircraft or vessel was transporting prohibited goods.' The US does not mind criticism on its policies in the Gulf as long as it is able to hurt Iran . The US obsession to Iran is consistent with its earlier behaviour patterns with countries it has considered its enemies. The US contraption of death and destruction will not stop until it has completely neutralised its target. Only time will tell it can keep up its unblemished record in case of Iran .

Sanctions on Iran have not gone without their share of criticism. In 2005 a report regarding the effects of sanctions on Iran was presented at the 36th session of the International Civil Aviation Organization. The report stated that the U.S. sanctions had endangered the safety of civil aviation in Iran because it prevented Iran from acquiring parts and support essential for aviation safety. The report also stated that the sanctions were contrary to the Chicago convention (to which the US is a member). The ICAO report said aviation safety affects human lives and human rights, stands above political differences, and that the assembly should bring international public pressure on the United States to lift the sanctions against Iran.

 

'According to reports from Iranian news agencies, 17 planes have crashed over the past 25 years, killing approximately 1,500 people.' Unscrupulous agents of death in America lose all sense of appropriation and humanity when they deal with Iran . It is being punished for the crime it has not committed yet and has expressly declared its intentions as well for not committing it.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

RENEWED SECURITY TRENDS

LUBNA UMAR

 

The production of indigenous unmanned aircrafts famously known as drones by the collaboration of an Italian company at Kamra based Pakistan Aeronautical complex is one of the biggest achievements so far in the war against terrorism that may aid the Pakistan army to root out extremist occupation on its land with much more ease and efficacy. This can be done without the need for US intervention as the US drone strikes had caused severe collateral damage while infuriating the inhabitants of tribal areas that in turn resort to violent reaction against them by targeting various sensitive institution.

The drone codenamed 'Falco' which according to a Pakistan Air Force spokesperson, is an advanced, tactical UAV designed by Selex Galileo Italy which would address current and future surveillance and reconnaissance needs of the Pakistan Air Force. Apparently, the Pakistan government had been for a long time now, urging the US to provide drone technology so that aid the forces in combating militancy as the Pakistani forces were way behind in technology in comparison to the militants who possessed arms and war gadgets of a much technologically higher quality.

The constant and vehement denial of the US in supplying drone technology despite continuous and repetitive demands from president Zardari based on allegations on Pakistan for being susceptible to leak precious information to the Taliban by warning them prior to the attacks, had changed into semi acceptance after the strategic dialogue as the US had agreed to provide the technology which portrays a changed US stance towards Pakistan.

This enables the Pakistan armed forces to take matter into their capable hands to carry out a productive, and less destructive in terms of collateral damage, operation to rid their soil from a deeply infested evil. However, the armed forces of Pakistan are seen to be conducting various exercises in which the PAF war exercise named 'High Mark 2010' in which the pilots of the Pakistan air force have successfully conducted landing and takeoff operations from the motorway. This has come as a response to the blatant Indian show of air power conducted a few months back, a demonstration of war exercises during which mock enemy bunkers were hit and targeted with rockets and bombs that hid the entire desert of Pokhran on the Pakistan border in dust. A display of Indian air power right on the border had signified India's deep rooted need to establish supremacy by revealing its war readiness which the PAF has shattered as the Indian exhibition was nothing in match to the awesome presentation of firepower and aerobatics by the Pakistan Air Force. There has always been a trust deficit between the two countries as the biggest hindrance in the initiation of peace process has remained India's hegemonic mindset. Apparently this lack of trust compels India to keep a high vigilance on its borders with Pakistan, a fact that is confirmed by India's jumping to the immediate conclusions of blaming Pakistan for the 26/11 attacks which legitimizes India's occupation in building a war empire as it is seen busy in modernizing itself militarily. Which demands that Pakistani should also equip themselves accordingly. This exercise 'High Mark 2010' has proved as a landmark development in the defense of the country as it is for the first time ever that such a feat was accomplished. This valiant act of flawless accuracy and precision shows a newly developed flexibility in the security doctrine of the air force which aims to address the internal threat while making it clear that this exercise is not aimed to threaten but to defend the space against India. This has helped to include Pakistan in the short list of countries that are able to use the motorway as a runway in cases of emergencies. Many witnessed this sheer display of metal and might which made the nation proud of its guardians and protectors.

The PAF has also been playing its due role in the war on terror as it was, for the first time, tested during the Swat operation last spring where it successfully targeted some of the Taliban's key hideouts with minimum collateral damage followed by using jet aircrafts that had softened key positions before army could launch its ground attacks in SWA. The efforts of PAF were acknowledged by the US and in addition to other equipment, the US has decided during the recent strategic dialogue between Pakistan and the US, to provided latest F-16 jets to increase strike capability, a fact which is being rigorously criticized by the Indians as they see it as a threat to themselves and are bent on preventing the deal to materialize. Furthermore, one of the biggest field excercise 'Azm-e-Nau of the Pak army is scheduled on the 10th of May 2010 during which more than 20000 jawans and officers will take part. This exercise would basically revolve around fighting terrorism along with traditional warfare as it encompasses a comprehensive conceptual framework of warfare that deals with a much wider and diverse threat. This exercise that is to follow shortly after the PAF war exercise 'High Mark 2010' is indicative of the strength of the Pakistan armed forces that addresses the aggressive enemy policy which has been displayed in various instances.

Chief of army staff Gen Ashfaq pervaiz Kiyani had declared the years 2009-2010 as the 'year of training' based on the current security scenario that engulfs the nation in the clutches of the terrorists while a threat lies on the eastern borders as well. Under this back drop the army exercise Azm-e-Nau has come as the most significant episode of the 'year of training' as it aims to fulfill the main objectives that had been set forth for this training that was supposed to spread over a period of two years.

Apparently, the Pakistan armed forces have modified their doctrine, which was much needed, as Pakistan is facing an increased threat from multiple horizons on both the western and eastern borders, which compels Pakistan to use both air and land forces simultaneously while launching operations against the terrorists. The previous India-centric policy has seen a major shift as it incorporates skillfully delineated plan to counter home grown insurgents most effectively and completely by using similar guerilla tactics used by the militants themselves. While the acquisition of drone technology that finally has materialized plays a pivotal role as it would increase the efficiency that may result in a quick and immediate conclusion to this war that has besieged the nation in its clutches. It is hoped that with this shift in the war paradigm and a renewed security trend Pakistan will finally be free from a grotesque era of an interminable conflict to move towards genuine progress that every citizen desperately awaits.

 

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PAKISTAN OBSERVER

EDITORIAL

OBAMA'S FARSIGHTED NUCLEAR STRATEGY

VIEWS FROM ABROAD

JIM HOAGLAND

 

President Obama has turned the once utopian-sounding idea of global nuclear disarmament into a useful tool for US foreign policy. His well conceived, confidently executed three-part movement in statecraft this month should banish the notion that Obama's ambitious nuclear goals spring from naiveté or inexperience.

In the space of two weeks, the president put his own stamp on the Nuclear Posture Review released by the Pentagon on April 6, closed the deal on a modest but necessary strategic-arms treaty with Russia and then hosted a 47-nation summit that adopted his view that nuclear terrorism poses the biggest single threat to global stability.

That does not mean that we are on the verge of a world without nuclear weapons. Enormous hurdles — Iran; North Korea; Russia's growing reliance on tactical nuclear weapons in its military doctrine; the volatile nuclear triangle formed by China, India and Pakistan — remain. But Obama has laid a foundation for greater multilateral action to control nuclear weapons and materials. He set an important example for his peers by taking control of the drafting of the Nuclear Posture Review — a document few if any of his predecessors bothered even to read fully, experts tell me. He has accepted presidential responsibility and authority for shaping the nuclear weapons and strategies that the United States will now develop or abandon.

"President Obama was making editing changes in the Nuclear Posture Review right up to the last minutes before it was to go to press," says William J. Perry, defense secretary in the Clinton administration and a member of a quartet of elder statesmen whose advocacy of nuclear disarmament has informed and influenced Obama's thinking.

The president used the review process to force the national security fiefdoms in his administration to sign up to his vision — and the means for achieving it. "They were not lined up that way two months ago, and it took a lot of work to get it done in a way that his predecessors have not done," according to Perry.

The declaration is normally the handiwork of military officers, scientists and theoreticians who bargain with each other to produce a technocratic summary of who does what, and gets what, to manage the US nuclear arsenal. But Obama turned the review into a political document that redefines the Cold War concept of deterrence in ways that reduce the role of nuclear weapons in US defense strategy.

That will give Obama new political and moral authority in arguing for international action to deter Iran from developing nuclear weapons and to get North Korea to reverse its outlaw nuclear program. The emphasis in the posture statement on engaging China in multilateral arms control discussions now that the United States and Russia have formally agreed to reduce their strategic arsenals again is also a step in a new and right direction for US policy.

The US and Soviet intercontinental arsenals are no longer the world's greatest nightmare. Graver threats stem today from the large number of tactical — shorter-range — nukes that Pakistan threatens

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

LOCAL TECHNOLOGY

 

How unfortunate and shocking it is to know that there is no taker of a cutting-edge technology developed by the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) for tanning hides! The BCSIR duly informed through letters the tanners of the merit of their newly developed technology and requested them to use it for leather tanning. But its request was simply ignored. Why the tanners showed no interest in the hundred per cent chrome-free method of tanning is a mystery. If it is not costlier than the traditional tanning process using chromium, why should the tanners not readily grab the opportunity?

When our local contribution to cutting-edge technology is so negligible, it is very sad that the best use of such technologies is not ensured. One silver-lining though is that an export-oriented local company has finally taken note of this technology and is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with the BCSIR soon. Against the disconcerting report that the leather factories at Hazaribagh are a major polluter of the Buriganga river depositing heavy metals, including chromium in the riverbed, using chrome-free technology should be mandatory for all tanners there. After all, their relocation to Savar has been delayed time and again on various pretexts and until they move to their new location, they will continue to pollute the river.
The industries minister was unaware of the development of chrome-free leather technology and now that he knows, he is reportedly keen to make its use mandatory by the tanneries. Both health hazards and threat to environment point to the fact that chrome-tanning process be banned in the production of crust leather. It has already caused incalculable damage to the river and the environment of the city and allowing the tanneries to cause further damage would simply be suicidal.

In this context let us make it a point to encourage our local scientific and technological endeavour. The sooner we begin to appreciate and utilize our own successes in scientific and technological research, the better for the country. 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

GREEN TAX

 

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) has proposed imposition of "green tax" on polluting industries. This kind of tax is in vogue in many countries of the world and has helped countries clear up the smog and protect ecologically-sensitive areas. For Bangladesh it is all the more important as it is ecologically highly sensitive. Besides, given global trends our gene pool may prove to be our greatest asset in the not-too-distant future.
Therefore, a lot is at stake. If this is not taken care of now, they may be lost forever. In the short-run, rivers and other water bodies that constitute approximately one-third of the land mass of the country have rapidly undergone transformation to the point that supplying freshwater  to the capital city, Dhaka, has become difficult. It has the potential of snowballing into a massive movement with or without political support. And much of the blame must be borne by the industries and services that use the river as a dumping ground. Repeated requests to install effluent plants have gone in vain. Therefore, the government should now think of pinching them where it hurts most -- in their pockets.

The government must have a good "policy mix" where the "carrots and sticks" are rightly mixed. There must be incentives for "good behaviour" and penalties for "bad". If that is not done much of Dhaka's life-support system will be gone before long. 

Already we have had some results of improving the environment with the banning of the two-stroke engines. But then evidently that is not enough. Dust pollution has become a major health hazard, too. If the cost is calculated in terms of lives lost and the health costs citizens have to bear, it will far outweigh the benefits accrued. Therefore, a cost-benefit calculation needs to be done. And money needs to be raised for "cleaning up the act."

In the West Bengal capital, Kolkata, a massive effort to clean up the River Ganges has paid dividends. There is no reason why we cannot do the same here. The technology is there and what we need is the determination to do the same.

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

 

JUMP TO THE TREE ACROSS..!

 

Was away for a week in the company of a very close friend of mine who is also a writer, and a famous one at that, with a couple of books to his credit. We sat nights discussing the plight of our breed who spin words that hardly spin money. I knew some of the problems he was facing and the struggle he was going through to make two ends meet. I shared with him my own, and yet, through it we smiled; we wouldn't give it up for anything else, writing was an addiction!

And then he told me the story of another writer:

"When I was a young writer with a very uncertain income, I went into a quiet park to contemplate a serious problem. For four years I had been engaged but didn't dare to marry. There was no way of foreseeing how little I might earn in the next year; moreover, we had long cherished a plan of living and writing in Paris, Rome, Vienna, London--everywhere. But how could we go three thousand miles away from everything that was familiar and secure, without the certainty of some money now and then?

At that moment I looked up and saw a squirrel jump from one high tree to another. He appeared to be aiming for a limb so far out of reach that the leap looked like suicide. He missed--but landed, safe and unconcerned, on a branch several feet lower. Then he climbed to his goal, and all was well. An old man sitting on the bench said, "Funny, I've seen hundreds of 'em jump like that, especially when there are dogs around and they can't come down to the ground. A lot of 'em miss, but I've never seen any hurt in trying." Then he chuckled. "I guess they've got to risk it if they don't want to spend their lives in one tree!"

I thought: A squirrel takes a chance--have I less nerve than a squirrel? We were married in two weeks, scraped up enough money for our passage and sailed across the Atlantic--jumping off into space, not sure what branch we'd land on. I began to write twice as fast and twice as hard as ever before. And to our amazement we promptly soared into the realm of respectable incomes.

Since then, whenever I have to choose between risking a new venture or hanging back, those five little words run through my thoughts: "Once there was a squirrel.."

And sometimes I hear the old man on the park bench saying, "They've got to risk it if they don't want to spend their lives in one tree."

Yes that's true isn't it? Not only with writers, with anybody who follow a dream. I don't know what your dream is dear reader. It could be giving up a lucrative job to be a businessman, when all the world tells you not to quit your job! It could be giving up money and position to work with the under privileged or amongst the sick and suffering; whatever it is you need to take a risk to follow your dream.
Let's pursue our dreams and jump to the tree across..! 

— bobsbanter@gmail.com

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

ENDING THE ENERGY CRISIS

FORREST COOKSON

 

This is the concluding article of four that review the problems of the energy sector. The first dealt with natural gas, the second with the supply of electrical generating capacity, and the third with the alternative fuels available. This final article deals with the five issues that have been the basis for the failure of the Government to manage the energy problem. What the nation faces in April 2010 is not something new; the inability to provide sufficient electrical energy to meet demands is a constant characteristic of life in South Asia and in Bangladesh in particular. The underlying reason is the poverty of the country and the shortage of resources to solve the problem. But there are six other factors that contribute to the difficulty. This article reviews these five and attempts to explain why these have contributed to the difficulties in this sector.

Lack of skills in implementation

Implementation of complex projects demands certain skills and approaches that are not compatible with the attitudes, training, and personality types that characterise the higher civil service. The failure to implement is pervasive in bureaucratic systems. Rather than discussing the difficulties I will list six characteristics of a good implementer: One can see for oneself why these are missing from senior bureaucrats.

Time sensitive: To achieve completion of an event within the time specified is one of the highest goals of an implementer. When concern for time is absent then implementation lags. This is a missing gene in the bureaucrat. One of the reasons that the military is much better at getting things done is that by training the military officer is very time sensitive. There seems to be no concern whatsoever in the energy sector to meet the deadlines needed to implement projects.

Involving all levels: Good implementers ensure that everyone involved in the project is engaged and everyone works as a team. This is not the approach usually followed in government project implementation which emphasises secrecy, blocks sharing of information, and is hierarchical rather than cooperative.

Frequent coordination and conferences: Implementation requires regular meetings and sharing of information. Instead too often there is reliance on written communications which are slow and often ambiguous lacking in precision and detail. Further, there is a widespread belief that information is valuable and keeping it from others gives one an advantage in the struggle for reputation and promotion. Since success in work accomplishment is secondary to intrigue and seniority, the human resource management methods discourage coordination.
Immediate access to legal opinion: Good implementers have regular and prompt access to legal opinion. Instead the existing government system of centralised provision of legal opinion both weakens the importance of such opinion and delays actions. The lack of easy access makes all bureaucrats lawyers-most of whom have neither the training nor experience to make sound judgments.

Focus on critical issues: The good implementer knows the critical issues that will delay the project and focuses on insuring that these are resolved first. This is supported by use of modern management techniques such as PERT that organise the steps in a project and determine the critical ones, delay of which will result in a longer time for completion. Without such methods it is very difficult for an implementer to focus on the critical issues.
No second thoughts: Once the decision to implement is made, there should be no reconsideration. Instead in Government bureaucratic systems, unless kept on point, some participants will reconsider the project and may try to impose their views on what is to be done. Such behaviour has disastrous consequences for implementation.

In my opinion it is the failure to follow these basic principles that has resulted in the constant failure to implement energy projects by the government organisations. Whatever the project-Government owned, but implemented by a contractor; IPP projects or other PPP type arrangements; or regulation of private projects---

 

the Government participants need to follow these six rules to ensure rapid action.

Pricing: The treatment of prices in the energy sector for the past 25 years has been completely wrong. The emphasis on subsidies rather than cost recovery has distorted the sector. This is further complicated by the decision to charge high taxes on some energy transactions. To overcome this BERC needs to change its approach and bring order to this field. There are six points:

a. Low prices encourage waste. Low effective prices emerge in the system from illegal connections, corruption in the collection of amounts that should be paid and the official charges and tariffs being kept low to help the poor. Of course this largely helps the rich and promotes waste.

b. The calculation of the cost of production is the fundamental estimate that is needed. This calculation is based on actual expenditures but appropriate corrections need to be made for gaps in the data and an appropriate rate of return imposed on all investments. Further the treatment of depreciation charges must be adjusted for replacement costs, not original cost. Preparing conceptually proper and accurate cost estimates is the heart of the work of BERC.

c. Setting prices. Currently BERC pays much attention to affordability and access to service. By doing so BERC is usurping the power of the Parliament. Only Parliament has the power to spend the money of the Republic. BERC sets prices that are below the cost of production and hence forces the Government to subsidise the energy sector. BERC has no legal authority to do any such thing. BERC's responsibility is to calculate the correct costs of the energy supplies and then to set prices to cover the costs. If the Government appropriates money to subsidise the energy costs then that is legal and correct. But this should be an explicit and transparent act of appropriation with payment to the energy companies to ensure costs are covered. BERC should not usurp the powers of Parliament.

d. What to do about system losses? This is one area of cost estimates where BERC has to make a conceptual choice. As suggested above there is a substantial loss from behavior such as illegal connections and manipulation of meters. Who should pay for these losses? Is this a cost to the general public [i.e. covered by the Government?] or is this a cost that should be covered by existing users? The argument for the government covering the costs of the losses is that it is unfair to impose such costs on those people who are in a legal relationship with the power companies. On the other hand it is the failure of the power companies to manage their affairs that is the source of these losses. In my opinion the existing legal users should pay for the losses, but the billing and regular publicity should make it clear how much this is. This is the choice I believe BERC should make as it cannot force subsidies on the Government. Public opinion should be used to attack these illegal activities and perhaps the power distribution companies will be shamed into reducing the losses.
e. The Government misunderstands what energy costs! One of the problems not yet solved is how much all of the grand plans are for the energy going to cost. On the power plants operated by Government there will be awards to low bids that will deliver poor quality plants. On the IPPs if the price is too low good companies will stay out. The rejection of the winning Bibiyana bid by a Korean company because the Government thought that the price was too high is an example of the problem. The overall approach that is being followed-high cost fuels and small plants is going to drive up the cost of energy with serious negative consequences for the growth of industry.

f. Untangling royalties: For gas and coal the price should comprise the operating costs of the production facilities, a return on the investment, depreciation at replacement cost and royalties on the natural resource to reflect its value to the society. In determining the cost of natural gas BERC must allow for this depletion or use of a natural resource. When the gas production fields are privatised a royalty should be imposed on the gas. Now the Government levies a high tax on the gas which serves as a kind of royalty. BERC needs to work out appropriate levels of royalty to be used as privatisation goes forward.

Maintenance
Government operated facilities are usually under maintained. First financial surpluses are often low and government is anxious for revenues both factors leading to delay of maintenance. Good maintenance for a complex facility requires disciplined actions and precise following of instructions. Unfortunately shortage of spares, purchase of low quality spares, and delay of required actions all contribute to deterioration of equipment more rapidly than is expected.

Maintenance problems are made worse by deliberate mismanagement of spares. Every warehouse is a feast! Government owned enterprises pay no significant bonuses for performance. Hence management has no motivation to carry out good maintenance, to avoid running up high costs for poor quality spares, and to rigorously maintain schedules.

Government enterprises in the energy sector have failed to maintain acceptable levels of maintenance. Only private energy companies can be expected to follow correct maintenance procedures as it is in their interest to do so.

Use of private sector

Throughout this series I have emphasised the importance of privatisation of the energy sector and the emergence of a strong BERC as the necessary components of a sector strategy. The Government corporations have failed. They have failed to provide the energy the economy needs, they have failed to run their own operations efficiently, they have been unable to contain the corruption in the distribution systems, and they have failed to regulate such components of the sector as are in the hands of the private sector. It is remarkable that in the face of failure over more than two decades there is no serious effort to change things. As I concluded in the second article so long as power generation and distribution are in the hands of government corporations the system will fail. Trying to fix these corporations by giving them more projects is like curing an alcoholic by giving him a case of whiskey. Both the World Bank and the ADB have worked on trying to achieve privatisation although they seemed to have surrendered and are reported ready to finance state owned enterprises.
Of course this is the time the donors should make it clear that they will have nothing to do with the energy sector if things are going to be run by government enterprises. The reason PDB's plan will fail is that two thirds of the planned generation facilities are going to be in the hands of the Government. This cannot be financed and it cannot be constructed efficiently or, on the evidence, operated efficiently. There are many problems but the basic difficulty is the purchase of the lowest cost offer and then making it very difficult for the contractor to do his work. Ultimately one gets poor quality power plants-the best power plants operating today are the two built by AES where the Government had no role whatsoever in the technology, control of the construction and testing of the plant. These plants have worked very well as they are well maintained by proper scheduling and use of good quality spares. That is what the government plants will never achieve. Every Bangladeshi knows that the purchase of spare parts by government organisations is a matter of great malfeasance and one of the consequences is that quality spares of the needed type are rarely available and Government owned facilities and equipment do not work so well. Next door in India, West Bengal experiences tremendous power shortages.
So there it is: if the Government continues the programme of state owned enterprises operating in the energy sector the problems the sector faces will not be cured. Things can be made better for a while, as the first AL Government achieved, but then it will fall apart again. It is not that Bangladesh enterprises cannot handle the energy sector, they certainly can, but government owned enterprises cannot.

Reduction of waste

The waste in the energy system is tremendous. The household use of gas is a scandal where since the cost of using more gas is zero one uses as much as one wants without concern for the cost. CNG costs are so low that this contributes to widespread use of cars that otherwise would not be used. No doubt this contributes to the traffic conditions in Dhaka. The businesses bribe the meter readers; the meter readers extort money from the customers. Poor quality meters are used throughout the gas and power systems with inaccurate readings and frequent breakdowns; for some low cost meters it is easy to manipulate the reading. There are vast numbers of illegal connections that waste gas and electricity since they do not have to pay for an extra unit. [I.e. marginal cost is zero]. The electricity distribution systems are models of waste with little effort to improve the existing substations. There is leakage or waste of gas and of electrical energy everywhere. Only in private operations is there emphasis on efficiency and waste reduction.

I estimate based on existing studies, expert opinion, and what happened in waste reduction programmes in the USA, that 30 per cent more electrical energy can be delivered at virtually no extra cost if the waste can be significantly reduced. The private sector might be able to accomplish some of this as they have done with the parts of the distribution system. There are a few parts of the Indian electrical distribution system that are operated by private companies and they experience little system loss. On the other hand the government operated plants in India experience horrific system loss.

 

Financing
The final point to be raised is financing the energy sector. The gas and coal sectors will take care of themselves. These types of operations have well established procedures for financing and if everyone concerned believes the terms and conditions are good enough, then the financing will be forthcoming.

To be continued

 

 

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THE INDEPENDENT

EDITORIAL

IS RECESSION OVER?

KEVIN G. HALL

 

Most mainstream economists think US's deep recession is over, but a special body that makes such a determination took a pass Monday, saying what many Americans intuitively feel, that the data remain inconclusive.

The National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonprofit group of economists, determines when recessions start and end as part of its work in calculating the peaks and troughs of the business cycle.
The bureau's Business Cycle Dating Committee met last Friday and concluded that the jury is still out on the recession's end, announcing that decision on its Web site Monday.

The committee reaffirmed that the recession began in December 2007, but its seven members couldn't determine whether the recession has ended.

"The trough date would identify the end of contraction and the beginning of expansion. Although most indicators have turned up, the committee decided that the determination of the trough date on the basis of current data would be premature," the committee said in a statement. "Many indicators are quite preliminary at this time and will be revised in coming months."

One reason for a cautious view is the stubbornly high jobless rate.

Unemployment remains anchored in the ballpark of 9.7 percent. March employment numbers finally showed a solid gain of around 162,000 jobs, partly aided through government hiring to conduct the 2010 census.
Although economic expansion usually is marked by two consecutive quarters of growth, the committee wants to see more evidence of strong and consistent job growth as an indicator that businesses are hiring on the basis of a firming economy.

"We will be ready to assign a particular month to the date of the trough when data revisions have settled down and the expansion has continued to the point where a sudden reversal would constitute a new recession and not a continuation of the one that started in December 2007," Robert Hall, a Stanford University economist and the chairman of the bureau's committee, told McClatchy. "If current forecasts hold, that time will come in a matter of months."

Hall was optimistic, however, that the economy is on the mend.

"In my personal view - not in my capacity as chair of the committee - I'd say that despite the fact that the contraction was the deepest by all measures since the Great Depression, the pattern of the recovery, to date, is not terribly different from earlier recessions," he said.

What's different this time, however, is the record numbers of long-term unemployed. Some 15 million Americans are unemployed, 6.5 million of them for half a year or longer. A full 16.9 percent of the work force is either jobless, working part time because full-time work isn't available or wants to work but hasn't looked in the past month because of bleak conditions.

It's why a sluggish recovery still leaves fear about a possible dip back into recession late this year.
"The question is, are businesses going to feel confident enough ... that they think the recovery is firmly in place and therefore they're going to want to hire? And will they have access to credit to do so?" asked Gus Faucher, the director of macroeconomics for Moody's Economy.com, a forecaster in West Chester, Pa.
The Obama administration, stung by an overly optimistic unemployment forecast last year, maintained a cautious view.

"We will leave it to outside economists to determine whether the recession is over in technical terms, but for the millions of Americans still struggling, the president will continue to push for policies that lay the groundwork for businesses to grow and for American families to get back on their feet," said Amy Brundage, a White House spokeswoman.

The president of the National Bureau of Economic Research, James Poterba, cautioned in an interview that the committee's work only marks turning points and doesn't capture what ordinary Americans are feeling.

"Recovery and recession are about directions up or down. You can be moving up from a low base and moving down from a high plateau," he said.

A decision on putting a firm date on the recession's end is expected in coming months as more reliable economic data come in, Poterba said.

 

—McClatchy NewspapersComments

 

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THE AUSTRALIAN

EDITORIAL

THREE-RING CIRCUS POLITICS

TASMANIANS DESERVE BETTER THAN THE CURRENT SHAMBLES

A MONTH after the Tasmanian election, the state remains in political limbo. The power-sharing arrangement between the ALP and the Greens, which always promised to be tenuous, has reached stalemate and is going nowhere unless a compromise can be found.

The Greens, after capturing 20 per cent of the vote and five seats, a poor third behind the Liberal Party with 10 seats and 39 per cent of the vote and Labor with 10 seats and 37 per cent, were entitled to precisely nothing by way of ministerial leather. In their arrogance, they have thumbed their noses at Labor Premier David Bartlett's offer of a cabinet position and are holding out for two cabinet jobs out of nine. They are even refusing to consider his offer, which smacks of desperation, to consider a second Greens ministry after trialling the first.

Governor Peter Underwood invited Mr Bartlett to form government after the Premier reneged on an earlier commitment Labor would not initiate or support a "no-confidence" motion against a minority Liberal government. Greens leader Nick McKim played a part as kingmaker by anointing Mr Bartlett as the Greens' preferred premier.

Mr Bartlett should have stuck to his word and refused to deal with the Greens, something he ruled out during the election campaign as a "deal with the devil". Had Mr Underwood given more weight to that broken promise in deciding who should form government, the state might not be mired in such a mess. The instability is eroding confidence in Tasmania's system of democracy. If not resolved quickly and decisively, it will undermine the state's economy.

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THE AUSTRALIAN

EDITORIAL

REFORMS WORTH PURSUING

HOSPITALS ARE STRUGGLING WITH AGED AND MENTAL HEALTHCARE

THE death of Lyji Vaggs, 27, a sufferer of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, who tried and failed to gain admission to the Acute Mental Health Unit of Townsville Hospital last week highlights the gross inadequacy of mental healthcare in Australia's public hospital system. So does the fact that in Adelaide, psychiatric patients are held in hospital emergency units for days because of the shortage of beds in psychiatric wards.

Whatever the outcome of today's COAG meeting to determine the future of hospital reform, improvements need to be achieved in several key areas. One is mental health, which is closely related to the wider issue of "bed blocking" -- the problem of patients staying in hospital because there is no other suitable place for them to be looked after.

In the lead-up to today's meeting, NSW Premier Kristina Keneally has put forward a proposal that is worth considering as a means of advancing reform. Yesterday, on ABC television, Ms Keneally argued that if the commonwealth was to take full funding responsibility for aged care and primary care, it should pay, on a per-patient basis, for those people in hospitals receiving either aged care or primary care.

At any one time, thousands of hospital beds across Australia are occupied by senior citizens with nowhere else to go as they await places in nursing homes. Thousands more beds are occupied by nursing home residents sent to hospital because many aged-care homes lack the facilities and medically qualified staff to care for them properly.

For the same reasons, if the federal government is responsible for primary care, it also makes sense that it should pay for "sore throat patients" and others swamping emergency wards who would be better treated at general practice clinics. Australia has one of the highest rates of hospitalisations in the OECD, a problem the Rudd government has moved to tackle in at least one area with bonus payments for GPs to encourage more diabetes patients to be treated at primary care level.

Progress in speeding up admissions to emergency departments and cutting waiting times for elective surgery cannot be achieved without reforms to mental healthcare, aged care and primary care.

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THE AUSTRALIAN

EDITORIAL

SCHOOL FUNDING REVIEW OPENS NEW OPPORTUNITIES

JULIA GILLARD IS WISELY AVOIDING LATHAM-STYLE CLASS WARFARE

JULIA Gillard has had a productive first term as education minister, driving the national curriculum and providing accountability through national testing and My School. After pledging to review and reform the waste that has marred the $16.2 billion school building program, she has turned attention to one of the most controversial areas of education, school funding.

The current funding model has served Australia's schools well by and large, underpinning genuine choice for many parents. State schools are funded primarily from the GST revenue by the state and territory governments that administer them. While private school funding is contentious among such groups as public sector teachers' unions, the socio-economic status model on which it is allocated is needs-based while respecting the entitlements of all taxpayers' children to some support from the public purse. All systems, however, can be improved and need periodic reviews to iron out anomalies, improve efficiency and ensure that particular sectors are not being disadvantaged. For these reasons, the review announced by the Deputy Prime Minister is welcome.

In her Sydney Institute speech last week, Ms Gillard steered well clear of the class warfare rhetoric that helped her former leader, Mark Latham, lose the 2004 election with his "hit lists" of private schools singled out for funding cuts and freezes. The fact is that private schools reduce the taxpayers' burden by educating 33 per cent of Australian children, including more than 40 per cent at senior secondary level. When federal and state fundings are combined, the average $11,874 provided to each state student compares with an average $5810 for independent school students.

Ms Gillard insists that the review is not about taking money away from schools, an assurance that prompted Tony Abbott to question its value if the inevitable outcome is more spending. Much of the review's value, in fact, will depend on the specific questions that shape it, to be released later this month.

In her performance so far as Education Minister, Ms Gillard has shown a determination to put students first by challenging left-wing taboos. She has been prepared to stand up to opposition from the teachers' unions to testing and transparent results reporting. In that spirit, Ms Gillard should take the opportunity that this review affords to look closely at education vouchers, a funding model that neither side of Australian politics has yet endorsed but which would improve quality as well as choice.

In a voucher system, funding is attached to the pupil and goes to the school he/she attends. Choice is built in, promoting competition, making schools responsive to students' needs and parental expectations and allowing good schools to flourish and mediocre ones to close. It is the antithesis of the flawed "equality of outcomes" approach that has done so much to dumb down education in Australia, and more so in Britain. There, Conservative Party leader David Cameron is campaigning for a voucher system, based on the Swedish model, to afford parents greater choice and to lift standards. In Australia, vouchers would especially empower parents, who have had no alternative other than the nearest state school. Institute of Public Affairs research shows that vouchers would sit well with our state and private systems. And special allowances could be made for such factors as the cost of schooling in remote areas and the needs of students with disabilities and indigenous students.

While funding systems are vital, a closely related aspect of schooling that also needs attention is teaching quality. Teacher shortages are severe in many secondary schools, in particular in science and languages, especially in the state sector. This suggests that career structures and training need improvement. In inviting Australians to regard the school funding review as an opportunity and not a threat, Ms Gillard has opened up what should be a positive discussion leading to improved standards.

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

EDITORIAL

TAX REPRIEVE FOR SAVERS

WE GROW old waiting for the public release of Ken Henry's tax review and the Rudd government's response. But it may be worth the wait if reports of tax breaks for savers who hold their money in bank deposits are true.

Currently, these savers have to pay tax on their interest earnings at their full marginal rate. They are taxed on the outright gain, including inflation, so the effective rate is even higher.

Those who plough their money into superannuation are taxed just 15¢ in the dollar on contributions and earnings. Similarly, there are generous tax savings for property owners, who pay no tax for capital gains on their family home, and for property investors through negative gearing. Share owners benefit from capital gains tax concessions and franked dividends.

Bringing savers into line would erase this inequity between different investment vehicles. This is important because often it is those on lower incomes - students, younger savers, older retirees - who have their money in term deposits and at-call savings accounts. They stand to gain the most from the opportunity to boost savings in midlife, rather than retirement, enabling them to spend more on education or buying a home.

Making bank savings more tax-advantageous might cut other forms of investment, though, such as voluntary superannuation contributions - so the government might have to cap the interest income that can be tax-free or tax-advantaged at, say, $10,000 or $20,000.

More broadly, people would benefit from a system in which banks raised more from domestic deposits, rather than depending on offshore borrowings. The global financial crisis underscored Australia's vulnerability on that: borrowers ended up paying the price as the international cost of funds rose.

Taxing deposits at a lower rate would be a windfall for the banks. It would be counterproductive, though, if they were able to lower the interest they pay, or increase fees. A standard tax-preferred savings product with strict guidelines on fees and charges that all banks could offer to customers would be one way around this.

Tax reform on deposits must go hand-in-hand with reform of superannuation and housing taxes to ensure tinkering in one area does not have unintended consequences in others. It would be a shame, for example, if tax saved on deposits was simply ploughed into bidding up house prices. Tax reform is a delicate jigsaw. We look forward to seeing how all the pieces fit.

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

EDITORIAL

THAILAND'S CLASHING COLOURS

THE REDS used to be under the beds, and the Greens have been known to sit in trees, but in Thailand people wear their political colours on their sleeves. Red shirts, yellow shirts, even a few pink shirts pack the political wardrobe. Red is the colour of the working poor, supporters of the exiled populist and millionaire businessman Thaksin Shinawatra, whose ouster as prime minister in 2006 and subsequent conviction for corruption made him a martyr for those helped by his rural development and welfare programs. The yellow shirts are those who preferred politics before Thaksin, when political leaders were mere proxies of the military and the palace.

Since recovering from the 1997 Asian financial meltdown, Thailand has had relative stability and prosperity. But, as in many parts of the world, the economic cream has floated to the top, creating conditions for unrest among the general population. In that, perhaps, lies a lesson for us all, but there is also a sense of elite politicians conning the public into fighting battles for them, and with tragic results The death of 23 people in violence between protesters and troops has supercharged the protesters' cause. Someone will have to carry the can for the carnage, probably the Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, whose Democrat Party faces dissolution after the Election Commission found it accepted illegal campaign donations. The red shirts' capacity to defy Abhisit's state of emergency by taking up positions in central Bangkok has further undermined confidence in his coalition government, especially among business people losing millions due to the disruption.

The man best equipped to resolve the crisis, 82-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, is in hospital. The military seems as divided as the country, with support for the red shirts strong among lower ranks, and the top brass favouring the pinks or yellows. With the army chief, Anupong Paochinda, declaring politicians, not soldiers, must resolve the problem, some kind of post-Abhisit political arrangement leading to early elections is the most likely outcome. If the king is incapacitated, the army reluctant to intervene, and politicians cannot sort out the problem, the sooner voters get a chance to do so the better. But the quality of democracy is strained when it becomes no more than a palette of colourful proxies. By one estimate, Thailand has undergone 18 military coups since 1932. Jungle green could still be the colour to watch.

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

EDITORIAL

GAMING BUYS ITS WAY INTO THE FOOTBALL CULTURE

ON AND off the field, Brendan Fevola has the ability to show off the best and worst of the AFL. The Brisbane Lions footballer, recently of Carlton, has confessed to another long-rumoured off-field problem. He has a serious gambling addiction, has had for a few years, and his debts reportedly total six figures. It is a ruinous result for Fevola, a man with an already troubled reputation. His problems also reflect badly on the AFL, which has actively promoted the rise of sports betting (while barring players from betting on games).

Of course, footballers are as likely as the next person to enjoy a punt of the non-footballing variety, and Fevola is not the first to fall prey to the lure of gambling. Former Melbourne footballer and gambling addict David Schwarz is calling on his own experience of ruin and recovery to help Fevola. Fevola's admission, however, comes at a time when the AFL itself does more to promote gambling than ever before.

Betting on football has been legal for 20 years, but it is only recently that the Brumby government and AFL changed state legislation and league rules in ways that enabled betting agencies to directly harness the market power of AFL club brands to expand their businesses. Deregulation by the government, in 2008, followed fierce lobbying by the gaming industry. This allowed betting agencies licensed elsewhere to advertise in Victoria and to sponsor sports clubs and events. Victoria also approved betting via TV remote controls on horse racing, opening the door to the use of this technology for any live broadcast. The easier it is to act on impulse in the excitement of the moment, the greater the risk of gambling addiction.

As ever, though, the miseries of problem gamblers - and of their families, friends and employers - were outweighed by the financial considerations for the government, which relies on gambling taxes to swell its coffers regardless of economic cycles, and the AFL. The change delivered millions in betting agency sponsorship deals. Deals were signed with almost all clubs after AFL boss Andrew Demetriou gave approval in January. The AFL also sought changes to federal law. Its submission to a federal inquiry stated: ''The AFL would like to suggest amendments to the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 such that betting online during sports events, or after an event has commenced, is no longer prohibited.''

And so it has come to pass, very profitably for betting agencies and the AFL. The league's partnerships with major agencies soared in value after the changes in state law and it is also paid a dividend of about 5 per cent of all corporate bookmakers' gross profits on AFL games. Scandals overseas highlighted the risks of corruption associated with betting, and the AFL has gone to great lengths to protect the integrity and business value of the sport.

Less evident is concern for the impact on potential problem gamblers of the merging of football and gaming brands, as ''in play'' betting becomes a ubiquitous feature of scoreboards, websites and TV coverage. Fans' identification with clubs and players is used to lure them into betting, with the agencies, AFL and clubs sharing the spoils. Sports betting, which is dominated by young men gambling on AFL and NRL matches, is the fastest-growing gambling sector, increasing by up to 30 per cent a year. Gambling is being normalised as part of the Australian football experience, as even children weigh the odds.

Prolonged exposure to the gambling bug has cost Brendan Fevola dearly, and he is not an isolated case. Ironically, he was paid by an online site to be a high-profile promoter of poker, the very game that, along with horse racing, nearly destroyed him financially. Asked as recently as last July about his gambling, Fevola responded: ''Have I got a problem? No.'' Now that he has admitted the terrible extent of his troubles, he must work to overcome them. Unfortunately, the AFL and state government remain in deep denial about their culpability for problem gambling.

Source: The Age

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THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

EDITORIAL

A STEP CLOSER TO A NUCLEAR-FREE WORLD

THE favoured line among critics of US President Barack Obama is that he is a rhetorician but not an achiever. It has become harder to sustain since the centrepiece of his domestic agenda, healthcare reform, passed Congress, but it has been heard again in the wake of last week's nuclear-security summit. The meeting, attended by representatives of 47 nations, including Australia, was touted as the most important diplomatic event in the US since the founding of the United Nations in 1945.

Yet, according to the critics, it produced little more than words, especially on the toughest issues: devising measures to prevent nuclear weapons or radioactive materials falling into the hands of terrorists, and reaching an effective global agreement on how to curb the nuclear ambitions of rogue states, especially Iran and North Korea.

Such criticism is rather like the view of those who argued that since Mr Obama could not persuade all sectors of American opinion of the merits of widening health-insurance cover he had little prospect of persuading anyone. The Obama strategy - which by now should be familiar even to the President's most obdurate critics - has been to build broad agreement slowly, and it was evident again at the summit. This was a beginning, not a last-ditch attempt to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

Mr Obama did not come to the summit empty-handed. It was preceded by his agreement with President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia to cut each side's nuclear stockpile to 1550 warheads, a pact that in turn had been made possible by his announcement in September last year that the US would alter its anti-missile defence system to a configuration Russia finds less threatening. Washington's greatest concern, he made clear, was now with Tehran. This was leading by example, and many nations came to the summit with what President Obama called ''house gifts'': promises to dispose of enriched uranium or plutonium that could be used to make bombs.

The summit's real achievement, however, was to restore the central position of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in global weapons control. The treaty, which will be reviewed next month at a conference in New York, had been regarded as moribund because new nuclear-weapons states such as India and North Korea are not signatories to it. But the US, Russia and China now agree on the need for weapons control, if not yet on the precise path to it. The hitherto elusive goals of a ban on production of fissile materials and a ban on testing are now a step closer because of what the summit has started.

Source: The Age

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THE GUARDIAN

EDITORIAL

HEALTH: LOW PROFILE, HIGH STAKES

THE NHS WAS RECENTLY RANKED BY IPSOS MORI AS BEING SECOND ONLY TO THE ECONOMY IN DETERMINING HOW THE NATION WILL VOTE

The weekend polls pointed to a sudden shift in the political weather, but the vicissitudes of party conflict are underlain by the everyday concerns of the voters, which move at glacial rather than cloud-like speeds. Foremost among them is the NHS, recently ranked by Ipsos Mori as being second only to the economy in determining how the nation will vote. You would hardly know that from the coverage of the campaign so far. Still less would you guess that the Conservative party is planning to entrench a regime of competition which could shake up British healthcare just as dramatically as the leaders' debate has shaken up the election.

The relative quiet over the NHS is in part a tribute to Labour's record. Thirteen years ago winter crises arrived with Christmas, and many people died while waiting for surgery. The survival of the service itself was not guaranteed, and right through the last two elections the Conservatives proposed diverting funds into subsidising private medical insurance. Labour won that argument and nudged the whole debate to the left. The Tories have not only ditched their old policy but are now committed to spending (slightly) more on health than either other party. To acknowledge all this is not to deny some serious stains on the government's record. Foremost among them has been an obsession with shiny new hospitals of the sort in which Labour launched its manifesto last week. As the money dries up – and make no mistake, it soon will – the damage done by this preoccupation will show. Investment in community healthcare that can keep patients in their homes is urgently needed to make the NHS sustainable through the ageing years ahead. Fewer such investments will be made due to the resources committed to paying off all those costly PFI deals on new infirmaries.

The Conservatives' big idea for making scarce resources go further is their trusted formula of market forces. The party's tactic of hugging the doctors close obscures this, as does its energetic campaigning against every hospital merger. Indeed, the real strategy is only half-evident in their manifesto, which bemoans targetry and proposes a new board to divvy out funds. One detail that does not make it into the little blue book, but which is plainly set out on the Conservative website, is a new economic regulator, with a remit to "promote competition".

With the Conservatives now committed to paying for the NHS through taxes, and with Labour accepting a role for private providers, it can seem like there is little to choose between them. But, as the postal sector demonstrates all too clearly, an economic regulator can unleash a whirlwind. After ministers handed Postcomm supervisory power over Royal Mail, it interpreted its pro-competition remit so zealously that it forced the operator to maintain relatively high prices on bulk deliveries, to ensure that private rivals had the chance to undercut. While big businesses have enjoyed access to new couriers, Royal Mail itself eventually reached such a dire state that the Hooper report urged the government to rewrite the law to clarify that competition was a mixed blessing. And in healthcare, the final legislative recourse against independent regulation might not be available, thanks to the pro-market drift of European competition law.

Independent health regulation might prove irreversible. It would without question drive those hospitals and surgeries deemed less efficient to the wall, and it would also attract new business players into the market. Good thing too, say its advocates, who believe that it is only through such means that productivity will be forced up. Others, including the Liberal Democrats, who caution that marketisation must not overpower democratisation, might worry about hospitals being taken out of elected hands. But whatever its merits, an economic regulator is surely one idea whose health deserves careful scrutiny before polling day.

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THE GUARDIAN

EDITORIAL

IN PRAISE OF… THE HAIKU

LAST WEEK HERMAN VAN ROMPUY PUBLISHED A WHOLE VOLUME OF POETRY, IN ITSELF A SURPRISE

Beneath the impassive breast of the new president of the European council, Herman van Rompuy, must beat a previously undetected sense of humour. Last week he published a whole book of poetry, in itself a surprise. Most remarkably, his passion is for a form of Japanese verse that is the bureaucratic equivalent of the limerick. The haiku is arguably the shortest of poetic forms, but it is claimed to be the one with the most rules: in three short lines, containing neither more nor less than 17 syllables, five in the first and third lines, seven in the second line, it must also contain a reference to season, should be naturalistic and observational in substance, and it should be divided into two independent parts. A style that requires such concentration in so tight a space suggests a writer facing the gloomy prospect of aeons of time before him in which he must maintain an appearance of interest in subjects so arcane that trying to fit a dozen or so words into a small, formal grid is more attractive. Naturally, the added challenge for a Eurocrat is that each poem has to be capable of translation from the original Dutch into English, French and German (although Mr van Rompuy delegated that part of the job). None of the above applies to the haiku written by the Japanese masters of the form, and may not apply to those written in a foreign language either. Like many publications from Brussels, there is some uncertainty about the rules. The only thing that is absolutely clear is that there are a lot of them.

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THE GUARDIAN

EDITORIAL

WOMEN AND THE ELECTION: FAIRER SEX

 

The election is shaping up as one in which women as players slowly fade out until, like the Cheshire cat, only a nice smile is left

 

Harriet Harman assured the Guardian on Saturday that the reason why nearly a quarter of women had yet to make up their minds how to vote was because they were being "discerning". Perhaps she meant they were trying to discern the women in the campaign – the women, that is, rather than the wives. When it comes to Africa or Asia, the politicians are only too keen to emphasise women. David Cameron repeated the mantra yesterday: women are the drivers of political renewal and sustainable growth. The voters are anxious for both these things at home, and yet the election is shaping up as one in which women as players slowly fade out until, like the Cheshire cat, only a nice smile is left.

 

The absence of women is not new, but it does seem especially stark this year, despite a government which can claim progress towards gender equality as a notable achievement. So‑called women's issues are always addressed indirectly, in calibrated messages that reflect what the pollsters hear from their focus groups. In the same way that politicians discuss efficiency savings rather than raising the fear of more general cuts, they make the family the surrogate for every female concern. Of course many of the things most women worry about do relate to their families, but this narrowing focus also reflects the finding that a relatively small group of middle-class young mothers could be decisive in 100 marginal seats. These polls explain why all the party leaders have contributed to a well-known supermarket's mums campaign. Politicians don't kiss babies any more, they address them as consumers.

 

The same polls explain why David Cameron declared Mrs Cameron his secret weapon, and Sarah Brown is pitched by the media as her rival. It is not because women voters think that the Sam 'n' Sarah show has anything to do with politics (they don't; a YouGov poll suggested they deeply resent watching wives paraded on the political catwalk). What the wives do is make women voters believe that their husbands are human.

 

This election, however, will have effects on women which are nothing to do with whether the prime ministerial consort has a nice smile, or whether the man himself has a winning way with a stroppy toddler. Two-thirds of public servants are women: they are the teachers, the doctors, and the much more cuts-prone home helps and dinner ladies. They use public services more, and – as mothers and carers – do most of the dropping off at the schools and the surgeries that will soon feel the squeeze. So women will bear more than their share of the burden, when the cold steel is finally felt. This is not an election about yummy mummies, it's about real women's real lives.

 

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

ADDRESSING FOOD SELF-SUFFICIENCY

 

The Hatoyama administration March 30 introduced a basic food, agriculture and agricultural-village program. Among other things, the program calls for raising Japan's food self-sufficiency rate from the current 41 percent to 50 percent (calculated by calories) in 10 years. This goes beyond the 45 percent target of the previous Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito administration.

 

To achieve the goal, the administration will depart from traditional policy, which has leaned toward nurturing large-scale farming households. The program features measures aimed at ensuring the continuation of agricultural production not only by large-scale farming households, but also by small and part-time ones. Prominent among the new ideas is a system that will directly support individual farmers by partly compensating them for loss of income. The administration will also assist farmers to process and sell their products.

 

Japan's calorie-based food self-sufficiency rate is low compared with other developed nations. The rate for Britain and Italy is between 60 percent and 70 percent, and the rate for both the United States and France tops 100 percent. There is a view that the calorie-based rate does not reflect reality, because of the low calorie count of nutritious vegetables and fruits. Japan's food self-sufficiency rate in terms of gross output is currently about 65 percent.

 

Japan's self-sufficiency rate for rice, wheat and barley is about 60 percent — still low compared with other developed nations. The self-sufficiency rate for wheat is especially low at less than 15 percent. The administration proposes increasing wheat production by using a two-crop system. It also calls for increasing the production of rice for use as cattle feed.

 

Giving farmers incentives to increase their productivity is a prerequisite for increasing the food self-sufficiency rate. The administration must closely examine whether the income compensation system, which has just started, is effective in this regard. If necessary, adjustments must continue to be made so that the system can serve its intended purpose.

 

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

NO CHANGE OF TACK IN NORTH KOREA

 

North Korea's rubber-stamp legislature concluded its latest session April 9 in Pyongyang. In the one-day session, the 12th Supreme People's Assembly approved the government activities report, this year's budget and last year's settlement of accounts, revision of the constitution and a number of personnel and organizational changes.

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il failed to show up at the session. Although it was speculated that Mr. Kim Jong Un, the leader's third son and heir apparent, would attend, he did not.

 

No clues emerged as to North Korea's basic foreign policy. The assembly made no mention of the country's diplomatic stance toward South Korea, the United States or Japan. It also continued its habit of keeping mum on other important issues. There was no mention of the redenomination of its currency, the won, on Nov. 30, 2009, an event that caused great confusion among North Korea's people. No details were available as to the nature of the constitution revision. Although it was reported that industrial production in 2009 exceeded that of 2008 "greatly," no figures were given.

 

This year's budget projects that revenue will grow 6.3 percent and expenditure 8.3 percent from last year.

 

The expenditure breakdown shows defense accounting for 15.8 percent of the total budget, the same as last year. Spending on agriculture will increase by 9.4 percent (compared to a 6.9 percent rise last year), and spending on light industry rises by 10.1 percent (compared to 5.6 percent last year). These increases reflect North Korea's policy of "improvement of people's lives."

 

But Premier Kim Yong Il made it clear that North Korea will stick to "the socialist principle in the economic guidance and control" and also pursue a policy of "improvement through self-reliance." The legislature session introduced no law designed to increase foreign investment.

 

North Korea has a goal of becoming a "powerful and prosperous country" by 2012. One wonders how it can achieve that goal if it remains economically isolated and does not work to improve relations with the U.S., South Korea and Japan.

 

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

TERRORISTS GAIN FROM INEQUALITY, RECRUITING THOSE WITHOUT OPTIONS

BY GAUTAMAN BHASKARAN

 

CHANNAI, India — The recent massacre of 80-odd para-military soldiers by the Indian rebel group the Maoists was terrorism in its bloodiest form.

 

The mayhem occurred in the central state of Chhattisgarh. It is here that the Maoist rebellion is most intense, and India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh, was bang on when he equated this revolt with terror some months ago.

 

Maoists are also known as Naxalites, after the district of Naxalbari in the eastern state of West Bengal, where they first staged an armed uprising in 1967. The two most important Naxalite leaders, Charu Mazumdar and Kanu Sanyal, were brilliantly intellectual, but extremely frustrated with the corrupt state machinery that ignored and humiliated poverty-stricken villagers, especially landless laborers. Mazumdar and Sanyal also attracted young students, disillusioned with the system. Many of them fancied themselves as budding scholars and thinkers, and were inspired by former Chinese leader Mao Zedong's teachings. In fact, the Naxalite movement was applauded by China's People's Daily at the height of the Cultural Revolution as "as a peal of spring thunder."

 

However, the Naxalites were wiped out in the mid-1970s, when the Indian government threw hundreds of them, mostly students and young men, into jails, where they were reportedly tortured and even killed. Mazumdar himself was a prison casualty. He was brutally tortured for 12 days before he succumbed to his injuries. Sanyal later claimed to have broken away from the path of violence. He committed suicide last month.

 

Naxalism went out of fashion for some years before it re-emerged as several armed factions. The biggest were the People's War Group and the Maoist Communist Center, and the two merged to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in September 2004. Today, the party has thousands of armed fighters and an equal number of firearms, which are supposedly being supplied by China. Their arms training was allegedly given by Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

 

The Maoists never had a problem finding grassroots support. Whether it was West Bengal in the 1960s and the 1970s or now in the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, the rebellion has been attracting downtrodden men. They have no clue about Mao's ideology. They do not care, but they have readily picked up guns to kill in order to try and better their own lives in a society run by inefficient, corrupt bureaucracy and government.

 

The Maoists admittedly use force and terror, even to recruit cadres, but they are highly disciplined and organized, choosing their areas of operation with great diligence and after detailed study. They identify the pressing grievances of the poor and exploit them.

 

Let us take the case of Dantewada in Chhattisgarh, where paramilitary forces were ambushed and killed by several hundred Maoists. Thickly forested, Dantewada is home to tribals who have been exploited for decades and pushed to the bottom rungs of the society. There are hardly any schools there, nor medical facilities. Most of the tribals are illiterate. They live by selling forest produce, but the markets are far away and the few roads that exist are poor.

 

The government accuses the Maoists of blocking development. The Maoists retaliate, in this case, by saying that building new roads will merely make it easier for the administration to plunder forest wealth. Ajay Sahni, who works for a Delhi think tank, says that it is a question of "asymmetrical expectations. People expect the state to provide for them, and it is failing; any good coming from the Maoists — social work, land redistribution, a price rise for local produce — brings disproportionate gratitude."

 

The only way out of this web of misery and conflict is for the administration to assert effective control through a streamlined police force. But in independent India's six-odd decades, there has hardly been any police reform. Policemen continue to be poorly paid and hence tend to be corrupt. The profession has lost its appeal: There are just 55 policemen for every 100 square kilometer in India. In Chhattisgarh, there is a paltry force of 17 officers, and nobody wants to police places like Dantewada, where the job is singularly dangerous.

 

Added to this, is the federal-state discord over security. This is a state subject, and each state chooses to deal with Maoist terrorism in its own way, with the federal government not yet able to formulate a national policy. Days after the federal home minister, Palaniappa Chidambaram, held the West Bengal Chief Minister responsible for the Maoist atrocities there by saying that the "buck stops at the chief minister's table." The rebels struck at Dantewada, where federal forces have been in command.

 

The Maoists have sent their message loud and clear. While they may not yet have the power to demolish the government in New Delhi, they can create havoc in the countryside and throttle development in some of the most backward areas in India. By this, the Maoist rebellion can worsen social inequality and thus strengthen its own cause by attracting more have-nots.

 

Gautaman Bhaskaran is a journalist based in Channai, India.

 

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

DIABETES EPIDEMIC THE PRICE OF CHINA'S GROWTH

BY CESAR CHELALA

 

China has a serious problem with diabetes, which has reached epidemic proportions in the country. This is the conclusion of a group of researchers from Tulane University and colleagues from China, whose findings were published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 percent to 95 percent of all diabetes cases among adults.

 

According to the study, 92.4 million adults in China age 20 or older (almost 10 percent of the country's total population) have diabetes, and 148.2 million adults have pre-diabetes, a condition that signifies high risk of developing overt diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease. Of particular significance is the finding that the majority of diabetes cases are undiagnosed and untreated.

 

These figures indicate that China has edged ahead of India to become the country with the highest number of diabetes-afflicted people. The diabetes epidemic is not only a serious public health problem, but can also have serious economic repercussions as well. A study found that estimated medical costs for diabetes and its complications accounted for 18.2 percent of China's total health expenditure in 2007. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that diabetes, heart disease and stroke will cost China approximately $558 billion between 2006 and 2015.

 

Experts associate China's rapid economic development with increased urbanization, physical inactivity and unhealthful diet — all important contributing factors in the development of diabetes. Until just over a decade ago, diabetes was relatively rare in China.

 

Environmental toxins may also contribute to recent increases in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes. This is the opinion of experts who found a positive correlation between concentration in the urine of bisphenol A, found in some plastics, and type 2 diabetes.

 

Obesity has been found to contribute to approximately 55 percent of Type 2 diabetes. A study on the importance of lifestyle factors showed that those who had high levels of physical activity, a healthy diet, did not smoke and consumed alcohol only in moderation had an 82 percent lower chance of developing diabetes.

 

The increased rate of childhood obesity between 1960 and 2000 is believed to have directly contributed to the increased frequency of type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents. According to a 2004 survey, there were more than 60 million obese people in China, and another 200 million who were overweight.

 

Type 2 diabetes diabetes is a form of the disease that results from insulin resistance, or when cells fail to use insulin properly. Type 2 diabetes affects approximately 8 percent of adults in the U.S, and 18.3 percent of Americans aged 60 or older, according to the American Diabetes Association. By comparison, the worldwide prevalence of diabetes across all age groups was estimated to be 2.8 percent in 2000, and is expected to rise to 4.4 percent by 2030. Presently, the rate of increase of diabetes is much greater in China than in Europe or the U.S.

 

Diabetes and its consequences have become a major public health problem, not only in China but in many

industrialized countries. It is imperative that, as recommended by the authors of the study of the situation in China, strategies be developed and instituted for preventing, diagnosing and treating diabetes in the general population.

Dr. Cesar Chelala is an international public health consultant.

 

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THE JAPAN TIMES

EDITORIAL

PLAYING ENDS OFF THE MIDDLE

 

Komeito, the third largest political party in Japan, is striving not to antagonize but to be friends with as many rival groups as possible in a determined bid to win in the Upper House election scheduled for this summer. The principal reason for pursuing this tactic, which has been described by some as "omni-directional diplomacy," is to give added color to the 80th anniversary this year of the founding of its parent organization, Soka Gakkai, a Buddhist lay organization that claims to have followers among 8 million households in Japan.

 

As the political arm of Soka Gakkai, Komeito was a junior partner in the previous coalition government with the Liberal Democratic Party. Lately, Komeito has made various moves that are interpreted by political observers as signs of it trying to be friendly with rival parties.

 

For some time from the beginning of March, Yuichi Ichikawa, former Komeito secretary general, stopped making public appearances at the party's official functions. On Jan. 18, Ichikawa, who had retired from politics in 2003, made a political comeback by being appointed as the party's "permanent adviser." Ichikawa is known to have close relations with Ichiro Ozawa, all-powerful secretary general of the DPJ.

 

It seems that Ichikawa's disappearance is camouflage meant to give the impression that Komeito is distancing itself from the DPJ, which has been hard-hit by political funds scandals surrounding Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Ozawa.

 

Behind the scenes, however, Ozawa met secretly with Einosuke Akiya, who was head of Soka Gakkai from 1982 to 2005, on Feb. 26. It is suspected that they discussed close collaboration between the DPJ and Komeito in preparation for the Upper House election. Although leaders of both parties deny such a meeting ever took place, rumors have it that it was attended by Azuma Koshiishi, head of the DPJ Upper House caucus, and possibly by Ichikawa himself.

 

There is also an interpretation that Ichikawa's comeback is aimed at blocking Junya Yano, who was chairman of

the party from 1986 to 1989 but retired from politics in 2003. Yano, in a lawsuit in 2008, demanded that Komeito pay him ¥55 million in compensation for forcing him to suspend his activities as a political commentator.

 

Observers point to two factors that have led the Komeito leadership to present the party as distancing itself from the DPJ. One is that a majority of Komeito veteran lawmakers have a strong allergy to Ozawa, who they say is too dictatorial a politician. The other is that the party is still not sure if it wants to dissociate itself from its former ally, the LDP. Conversely, the LDP cannot afford to lose support from Komeito altogether in the upcoming election.

 

On March 9, leaders of the LDP and Komeito met at a Tokyo hotel. LDP Secretary General Tadamori Oshima complained to his Komeito counterpart Yoshihisa Inoue about the latter's campaign to set up a multiparty panel to discuss a total ban on political contributions from corporations and other organizations. The LDP opposes such a ban.

 

Oshima is worried not only about a possible loss of collaboration with Komeito on contributions and other issues. What the LDP fears most is the consequences of Komeito's decision not to support LDP candidates in the Upper House election.

 

Although Komeito chief Natsuo Yamaguchi hinted March 14 that his party would not support those running on the LDP ticket, he at the same time admitted that on local levels, it would be impractical for the two parties to do away with "community-based human relationships."

 

According to a Komeito lawmaker, cooperation with the LDP is indispensable if Komeito wants to have LDP candidates call on voters to vote for Komeito in proportional representation and at local assemblies. Komeito cannot ignore LDP members, who still have influence on local administrative matters that directly affect Soka Gakkai members. This leaves Komeito in the difficult position of wanting to move closer to the DPJ while at the same time be friendly with the LDP.

 

Behind the scenes, meanwhile, Komeito is trying to establish cooperation with a minor party, Your Party or YP (Minna no To), in local elections. The YP is headed by Yoshimi Watanabe, who revolted against the LDP leadership and broke away in January 2009.

 

One influential Komeito leader admitted that if Komeito is to form a coalition with the DPJ after the Upper House election, it has to prove itself to be a viable political force by winning in the forthcoming election. That explains why Komeito is so anxious to promote its "omni-directional diplomacy" of enhancing ties with other rival groups.

 

Perhaps the best example of Komeito leaning toward the governing DPJ may be that its lawmakers cast affirmative votes on two major legislative bills sponsored by Hatoyama and his ruling party: a bill to provide monthly allowances to families with children and another to make high school education free. The LDP opposed both.

 

Another sign, according to observers, is the resignation of Takenori Kanzaki as a member of the Lower House. Kanzaki, who headed Komeito from 1998 to 2006, served as the chief architect of the coalition with the LDP, which lasted from 1999 to last year. He had long sought to resign for health reasons, but the party leadership would not allow him to do. The fact that his wish has now been granted is interpreted as a message to the DPJ that Komeito is no longer tied to its former partner.

 

On Dec. 28, Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai's daily newspaper, carried this big headline: "The 80th anniversary of the foundation is coming. Victory, victory, grab a victory!" Soka Gakkai will celebrate the 80th anniversary of its founding on Nov. 18. To crown the anniversary with a victory, Komeito has no choice but to promote friendly ties with as many rival political parties as possible.

 

This is an abridged translation of an article from the April issue of Sentaku, a monthly magazine covering the Japanese political, social and economic scenes.

 

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THE JAKARTA POST

EDITORIAL

INDONESIA'S FATE AFTER ACFTA: A GLOBAL PLAYER?

MOHAMMAD JIBRIEL AVESSINA AND PATRYA PRATAMA

 

There are two extravagant-phenomena that should be noticed in the Indonesian domestic sphere since the global economic crisis began: the emerging swelling of pride as one of the few nations that still produces positive economic growth despite the global slump, and the sense of being recognized as one important global player on shaping the post-crisis economic order in connection with Indonesia's participation as the only ASEAN member state that is included in the G20 summit.

 

This dream-sense of "being a global player" was soon realized as too farfetched. Beside the current important elements of strong economies such as infrastructure, IT and human resources, Indonesia's state of mind isn't ready to play this global player role yet.

 

This is explicit when we talk about the fiercely domestically debated ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) that has been underway since January 2010. The discourse circulating in Indonesia's domestic area shows how unmatched the sentiments of second or third world player is, compared to the sentiment of being a global player.

 

More alarmingly for us, the above factors are simply at the top of the iceberg that reflects Indonesia's unpreparedness to become a global player. The lack of cultural heritage mentality of being the victim of
the world system is obvious, especially when we take a look at public discourse reflected in the media.

 

Indonesian people (including political parties, civil society groups, the media) still feel that they are actually the systematic victim subject of the world economic system arranged by conspiracy of the external forces (in popular term "The West").

 

We, as a nation, haven't seen enough efficiency to explore our pride and that the world is an opportunity to project our national interest. On the contrary, we keep waiting without doing anything, obsessed with trivial matter, hoping that the world will eventually get better and help Indonesia flourish.

 

This sort of cultural-mentality is observable in the issue of the ACFTA. The idea of being afraid that economically integrating with the world, let alone with China, has always been portrayed "anti-nationalistic" or "Western apparatus".

 

I argue that even if the Indonesian government as well as Indonesian business players had prepared in the most thorough manner I would doubt that domestic sentiment supports ACFTA or any other free trade agenda.

 

Moreover, even if the Indonesian government is succeeded in renegotiating the agreed the ACFTA, I
fully doubt the sentiment would change either.

 

One specific factor that is in line with this "under-developed mentality" explanation is that there is practically no significant mass voice supporting the ACFTA or any other FTA initiatives from Indonesia. Indonesia's business players are largely cautious about the idea. Indonesian's leading NGO concentrating on the FTA matter such as the Institute for Global Justice is even known as anti-free trade.

 

Moreover, Indonesian student movement activists, the last hope if we would like to see Indonesian future direction, are generally not aware of such issue and seem to be more attentive to the current domestic political drama. In short, there are currently no significant domestic forces in the domestic Indonesian sphere that focus on preparing Indonesia to integrate strategically with the world economy.

 

One reason that is acceptable is the fact that the few Indonesian reformers, be it academics, politicians, or civil society groups, haven't been successful in transmitting the message to a large mass of Indonesian people that Indonesia will indeed gain advantage if it's successfully and strategically integrated with the world's economy.

 

These reformers, some of them educated well either in the Indonesian education system or the western education, haven't been successful in forming a strong domestic alliance which is badly needed to garner public support toward opening up and seeing the world as full of economic opportunity.

 

The process surrounding Indonesia's participation within the ACFTA should be a test case. If the Indonesian government, already in hot water regarding the domestic cheap political scandal drama, succumbed to domestic pressure to seriously neglect the implementation of the ACFTA, the image of Indonesia as a growing regional and global player will surely be affected for several reasons.

 

But this "imagery" reasoning may not be substantial, however being a global player isn't all about economic and military power, it is about having a mentally fit condition as a nation to set up image power or, as Joseph Nye says, soft power.

 

Indonesians should understand that to become a global player is not a given destiny, it is a workable destiny.

 

The case of the ACFTA is just one example of the shortcomings of Indonesia's main tool to become a world player, the mentality. The Indonesian public should understand that no society emerges as a global player if they keep closing their mind and become a society separate from the outside world.

 

We can never project our own worldview of a just and prosperous world if we put barriers on our borders.

 

Indonesian politicians should stop playing domestic power politics for short-term goals. Indonesian NGOs should better prepare Indonesian people to feel empowered and thus take opportunity abroad. The Indonesian business sector should work harder and become free of government protection to gain profit. Indonesian academics should get out of their academic nest and voice our standing in the world.

 

Then and only then, the new global player of Indonesia can arise.

Mohammad Jibriel Avessina is an anthropologist. Patrya Pratama is a researcher at the Faculty of Social and Political Science, the University of Indonesia.

 

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THE JAKARTA POST

EDITORIAL

FREE AND ACTIVE FOREIGN POLICY IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD

HADIANTO WIRAJUDA

 

The "free and active" foreign policy term was coined by Indonesia's first vice president Mohammad Hatta in 1948 as a response to the polarism of the Cold War.

 

In 1953, he wrote an article in the Foreign Affairs Journal where he underlined that "free" meant Indonesia should act independently in international affairs and "active" stipulated the need for Indonesia to partake in the creation of world peace.

 

The global environment then was problematic in a sense that a small and weak country, like Indonesia, either had to ally with the east or west bloc. Indonesia's foreign policy is unique in the sense that it has always been influenced by historical factors. The Asian-African Conference in Bandung in 1955 was one significant example.

 

The world has changed. The end of the Cold War led leaders to adapt to the new world order championing, inter alia, democracy and global free trade.

 

In a globalizing world, state's borders are arguably eroded by the interlinking of issues and interests that often required unconventional interstate relations in cooperation.

 

Indonesia's foreign policy principle however has not changed theoretically although the implementation has always been in pragmatism. As a global citizen, I am asking myself what should be done by Indonesia to uphold its international status profoundly.

 

Many scholars and experts agreed that Indonesia, given its size and potential, should significantly offer more of its role to the international community.

 

That bears the consequences that isolating ourselves from the global economic integration is not an option and allowing a space for any efforts that could lead to democratic setback at home is not in our best interest.

 

In this sense, theoretically the principle of "free and active" sounds a troublesome doctrine knowing that strategic partnership — a loose term currently used often to replace "alliance" — with countries or a single country becoming an inevitable manifestation in Indonesia's interstate relations. For instance, in East Asia alone Indonesia signed partnerships with China, Japan and South Korea — all emerging markets.

 

In practice however the "free and active" doctrine inevitably safeguards Indonesia from being heavily dragged into the courtyard of a certain actor in international affairs. The principle is consequently seen as an ideological buffer for the country to remain as a strategic player.

 

More importantly, in ASEAN, Indonesia is praised for its pursuance of independent action in global affairs and appears to be the only country in the region that considers a doctrine as a pillar for its foreign policy.

 

It holds strongly in the minds of Indonesia's political actors that Dewi Fortuna Anwar (2003), in a paper presented at the Forum on Regional Strategic and Political Developments in Singapore, stated that "the doctrine has become part of Indonesia's national identity".

 

Of course, to rigidly uphold the doctrine in a globalizing world will only complicate Indonesia's stance. Quoting Dino Patti Djalal, Indonesians should now be creative.

 

Creative in interpreting and implementing the "free and active" doctrine because there are many attractive fields for Indonesia to be involved. Creative would also mean that a multitasking diplomat is needed.

 

At least this is what the President expects diplomats to be — intelligent analyst, opportunity seeker, image builder and an eloquent lobbyist. For one to say, "I have no expertise in trade, or I did not come for an international relations background" is an obsolete expression today.

 

Yes, it is impossible for one to master all, nevertheless it has always been possible for one to understand the context of, and the concept we advocate in, Indonesia's foreign relations. Creative could also mean to effectively utilize the power of public opinion to support our foreign policy projection.

 

Aside from the allegation that sometimes the public are ill-informed, the fact that it can generate stronger voice abroad cannot be undermined. Sukarno's policy on Malaysia in 1960s was valid evidence.

 

The doctrine remains a valid principle to behold, nonetheless, it should be combined with a creative way of implementing.

 

The utilization of public opinion and the thinking out of the box method should be applied not only to conduct our diplomacy, but also to ensure the relevance of the doctrine in today's globalized world.

 

The writer is a PhD student at the International Relations Department at the LSE, London, and a founder of the Youth Initiative for Democracy and Development (YIDD). This is his personal opinion.

 

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THE JAKARTA POST

EDITORIAL

FOI LAW TESTS PUBLIC TRANSPARENCY

WARIEF DJAJANTO BASORIE

 

In September 2008, the Institute for Information Flow Studies (ISAI), a Jakarta-based freedom of information advocacy group, requested the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) be more transparent by providing its details on the salaries of its commissioners.

 

The NGO also asked the anticorruption body for information on its budget and on what it does with the corruption money it has recovered. The ISAI also wanted to know the specifications of the surveillance equipment the KPK has used successfully in its much publicized sting operations.

 

The KPK provided information on the first two items but not the third. For the specs of its bugging devices, the KPK said the details were confidential.

 

The ISAI's purpose in the information-seeking exercise of public bodies, was to test the Access to Public Information Act (Keterbukaan Informasi Publik or KIP in Indonesian) that was enacted on April 13, 2008.

 

Two years after its passing, time needed to develop the necessary infrastructure, this 64-article freedom of information (FOI) law becomes effective April 30, 2010.

 

The FOI Act works on the MALE principle: maximum access, limited exemption. The major aim of this law, stated in Article 3, is to assure citizens of their right to know about public policy making, demanding transparency of public bodies.

 

Under this law, all public bodies are obliged to disclose the public information they keep. Public bodies are public offices as well as NGOs that receive funding from the state budget and donations from community and foreign sources.

 

However, Article 17 of the law lists at least 10 types of exempted information. This includes disclosing information that may obstruct law enforcement, negates protection of intellectual property rights, endangers state security and defense, revealing Indonesia's natural wealth, that may harm national economic resilience, be detrimental to foreign relations, reveal authentic deeds such as inheritance papers of a personal nature, exposes a secret of a private nature, that is confidential memoranda between and within public bodies, and also information deemed not for disclosure by law.

 

Despite these exemptions, much latitude is still open for a call to disclosure for information to prevent impropriety in public offices. The current tax broker scandal involving prosecutors and police officers is one example.

 

Investigators, the press and members of the public who seek such information may not be initially successful in procuring the information. The office that keeps the information may resist.

 

The ISAI has faced such resistance from the Health Ministry, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and BPMigas, the oil and gas regulatory agency.

 

The Health Ministry refused to provide data on its health insurance for lower-income people for 2007.

 

The TNI rejected the ISAI's request for the findings of the inquiry of the Officers' Honors Council (Dewan Kehormatan Perwira) on the disappearance of human rights activists in 1997-1998. And BP Migas denied access to the work contract details on the oil-rich Cepu mining block in Central Java.   

 

In such a situation, the Information Commission plays the role of arbiter. Established under Articles 23 to 34 of the FOI Act, the seven-member Central  Information Commission is tasked to deliberate and rule on public information disputes.

 

Five-member provincial, city and district level commissions have also been created for the same purpose. The independent Commission also has the function to form a general policy and implement directives in serving public information.

 

If the Information Commission rules in favor of the information seeker but the public body that holds the information refuses to release it, the latter will have to face the full weight of the law.

 

Under Article 52, a public body can face a one-year jail sentence and a Rp 5 million (US$550) fine for refusing to release lawfully requested information.

 

In the two-year period before the public information act became effective,  preparatory measures taken included developing the Information Commission at the national and local level, the drafting of implementing regulations, designing an information service system, and opening a public information unit in public bodies manned by officers tasked with storing, documenting, and serving the information.

 

One regulation that should be considered relates to charges for information requests.

 

This is to preclude any illegal levies for such requests, says Notrida G.B. Mandica-Nur, director of the Indonesian Research and Development Institute (IRDI). Notrida has authored a 177-page Access to Public Information Manual for the use of information and documentation officers. The IRDI has been conducting training of trainers' workshops on the new law.

 

According to Central Information Commission chairman Ahmad Alamsyah Saragih, only seven public bodies have developed internal mechanisms to implement the FOI law.

 

They are the National Police, the Health Ministry, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, the government of Central Java province, the State Comptroller's Agency (BPKP), and the Financial Transaction Reports Analysis Center (PPATK). The Communications and Information Ministry, however, has also set up a Public Information Agency.

 

The National Police has undertaken detailed preparatory work. In November 2009, public affairs chiefs at all 31 provincial police headquarters gathered in Jakarta for a workshop with the theme, "Opening Space for Public Transparency".  

 

One major output of the workshop was a draft on police procedures in servicing public information.

 

How well the procedures work and how much transparency the National Police is willing to offer is being tested with the pile of scandal-prone cases now in its in-tray. All public bodies are now on notice.


The writer teaches journalism and has conducted workshops on development reporting at the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute (LPDS) in Jakarta.

 

 

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

QUAKE REMINDER

 

As one of the major causes behind the high death toll in the April 14 Yushu earthquake, adobe houses point to the underdevelopment in the remote county in western China.

 

Most of the houses in the area are traditionally constructed with adobe and crumbled into pieces as soon as the quake struck. People in these damaged structures choked to death under the debris. That is mainly why the death toll from the tremor has exceeded 1,700. The number of those injured in the disaster hit more than 12,100 in Yushu, which has a population of 100,000.

 

With a lack of industry, the poorly developed agricultural sector in the quake zone could have hardly provided locals with sufficient income for them to construct brick, let alone quake-resistant concrete, homes. Yushu is just one of many such places that have yet to see a substantial rise in people's living standards, because of an underdeveloped economy.

 

The latest earthquake should refocus attention on the imbalances in the country's development. The gap between the developed coastal areas and the central and western regions is huge. That is why the central government has launched the campaign to accelerate economic development in these inland regions. That is also why China is still a developing country.

 

Late leader Deng Xiaoping, who was also the architect of the country's reform and opening up, proposed common prosperity as the aim of our development.

 

There is still a long way to go before we realize this goal.

 

Provinces, regions and people from all walks of life are being mobilized to help Yushu's quake victims through these trying times and aid them in reconstruction.

 

This should also be a reminder that the world's largest developing nation still needs to fight the uphill battle of helping the vast, underdeveloped regions catch up with modern development

 

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

DEBATE: HIGH-SPEED RAIL

 

With its extensive size and large population, the country is set to expand its railway network. Two experts give their views on the future of its high-speed rail.

 

John Scales: Combination of supportive features

 

China is engaged in the largest national railway expansion program since the 19th century. Part of this program will construct a high-speed passenger railway network that will become the largest in the world.

 

An important question is: How should plans for high-speed railways be viewed in the context of economic development? Even if high-speed railways in a developing country find a market of travelers willing and able to pay for the evident, personal benefits they derive from faster rail travel, this itself does not imply that there is developmental interest in this sector of the transport industry.

 

Indeed, if the question is considered in this light, it might be said that fast travel is luxury consumption. It is generally affordable only by those in developing countries who have by definition already raised themselves above the masses of the poor, who are rightly the focus of much of the world's development.

 

But is this narrow view justified? In the view of financial development institutions such as the World Bank, it is not. And it is certainly not a view that is applied when congested conventional roads are replaced by high-speed, high-quality expressways, where the consumption benefits of savings from travel time by higher-income, private car owners are routinely included in project appraisal methodologies.

 

A country's plans to build high-speed rail lines or even, as in China, a high-speed network, will inevitably affect the overall performance of its transport system, operationally, financially and environmentally. That performance is important in economic development.

 

In operational terms, a high-speed line will naturally provide faster speeds of travel for its users. But it may also free-up capacity on existing lines for other transport and affect interconnected modes, as well as alter both trip patterns and the relative use of different modes of transport. Fundamental changes in accessibility and mobility will influence national and regional economic development.

 

In financial terms, the decision to sink public investment into high-speed rail will inevitably divert resources from other public investments in transport infrastructure or from outside the transport sector. Moreover, the long-term financial sustainability of high-speed rail may be a serious issue for national budgets. Resource allocation and budget in transport are clearly important to economic development.

 

High-speed rail will also have various environmental and social consequences that may be negative or positive. Certainly, a high-speed passenger train will use more energy and generate more greenhouse gases than a slower passenger train over the same route. But if the higher speed attracts passengers away from road and air transport and, as in China, free up rail capacity for freight, it may reduce the overall long-term carbon intensity of the transport system. It will also reduce road accidents and avoid other externalities associated with private vehicle travel. For example, the International Union of Railways claims a high-speed train can carry eight times as many passengers as an airplane over a typical distance, using the same amount of energy and emitting one-quarter of the carbon dioxide for each passenger.

 

It follows then that the overall developmental benefits of high-speed rail can be neither asserted nor dismissed out of hand. Proposals need to be assessed on its merits.

 

To be successful, a new high-speed rail system needs to be built in corridors where railway capacity is already heavily utilized, indicating that new capacity is really needed. It must use management and engineering techniques that ensure capital and maintenance costs will not spiral out of the range of affordability and, crucially, with the right demand profile. This means sufficient numbers of people who can afford premium fares. A suitable corridor internationally may be one that connects two large cities 100-500 kilometers apart (Seoul-Busan, 420 km, Rome-Milan, 514 km, London-Paris 495km), but it may also be a longer corridor that has large cities located every 200 to 300 kilometers apart (Tokyo-Osaka 700 km, Beijing-Shanghai, 1,300 km and Beijing-Guangzhou, 2,100 km).

 

China satisfies most of the success factors, particularly on its busiest passenger corridors where existing lines are congested and limit passenger and freight growth, the latter creating bottlenecks on development. But as the main links are completed and the network extended into corridors of lower demand, it will become more challenging to meet the test of affordability by sufficient number of passengers. This will also create an increasing burden of debt charges that cannot be recovered directly from users and which in most countries have been picked up by taxpayers.

 

The combination of supportive features that exist on the eastern plains of China such as congested existing lines, high population density, rapidly growing disposable incomes and prevalence of many large cities in reasonable proximity to one another, are not all found in most developing countries. Most countries also do not enjoy the potential for a single-minded, collective effort and high production economies in system construction that arise when a government can commit the country, politically and economically, to a decades-long program over a vast land area. The factors that create supportive public investment programs come together in China in a way that is distinctly favorable to delivering an efficient, high-speed passenger rail network.

 

The author is the transport sector coordinator for the World Bank Office, Beijing. This article is excerpted from an upcoming report by the World Bank on high-speed rail.

 

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

PRICKING THE BUBBLE

 

The second blow that the central government dealt to the red-hot property market has come much sooner than expected. Just two days after it decided to lift down payments and second-home loan rates, the State Council announced on Saturday that commercial banks can refuse to issue loans to third-home buyers in cities where housing prices are rising too quickly.

 

Such continuous, heavy moves are meant to drive home the message that the government is very serious about reining in runaway property price hikes.

 

After several rounds of tightening measures failed to cool the property market in recent years, housing prices in many major cities have not only reached record highs but also accelerated their surge. Last month, property prices in 70 major cities rose 11.7 percent from a year earlier, the highest since records began in 2005.

 

The worst global economic crisis in decades that broke out in late 2008 has understandably prompted Chinese policymakers to take a much more accommodating stance toward real estate investment, a major contributor to economic growth.

 

The Chinese economy has rebounded so strongly out of the global recession that it registered an 11.9-percent gross domestic product growth in the first quarter, the fastest expansion in nearly three years. It is high time for policymakers to carefully weigh the risks of property bubbles against the growth momentum that a dynamic property market provides for the national economy.

 

The latest efforts to cool the property market shows the authorities have fully recognized both the danger of a looming property bubble and, more importantly, the huge cost of not pricking it in time. But more efforts are needed to keep various speculators at bay, to ensure the sector's healthy development.

 

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CHINA DAILY

EDITORIAL

RAISING THE BAR TO PUNISH CORRUPTION

BY CHEN JIEREN (CHINA DAILY)

 

Last week, courts in Beijing and Chongqing municipality convicted two Chinese officials.

 

Wen Qiang, former deputy police chief of Chongqing, was sentenced to death after being found guilty of protecting mafia-style gangs, taking bribes totaling 12.16 million yuan ($1.79 million), and owning a huge amount of money and assets he could not justify.

 

Wang Yi, former vice-president of the China Development Bank, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for accepting 11.96 million yuan in bribes.

 

Under the country's Criminal Law, an individual taking bribes of more than 100,000 yuan, with the crime defined as "particularly serious", faces the death penalty. As Wang Yi had confessed to his crimes and returned all the money, the court said his death sentence does not have to be carried out immediately.

 

The verdicts of the two cases are more significant in raising the problem of penalty reform for crimes involving corruption and bribery. The Criminal Law stipulates that embezzlement of more than 100,000 yuan is the starting point for capital punishment. The purpose of setting such a low starting point is to deter officials. But problems emerge once the amount of money a corrupt official takes in bribes exceeds 100,000 yuan.

 

Zhang Jun, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, once said that the sentence for embezzlement and bribery ranging from 100,000 yuan to 100 million yuan has been treated more or less the same, and in some cases criminals who took bribes of more than 10 million yuan even received less punishment than those who accepted several million yuan less in bribes.

 

It has been suggested that in order to guarantee fair punishment, the starting point for meting out the death penalty for embezzlement and bribery should be significantly raised, for example, to 10 million yuan. While this seems to be fairer in terms of capital punishment, two problems remain: The term of imprisonment for those who take bribes below the starting point; and the unfair punishment for those who embezzle more than 10 million yuan.

 

I believe that the crux of the problem lies in the rigidity of non-capital punishment for embezzlement and bribery.

 

Under current judicial practice, those accepting bribes of less than 100,000 yuan will be imprisoned one year more for every 10,000 yuan they receive. Those who take bribes of more than 100,000 yuan will be jailed one year more for every 100,000 yuan taken, and those who take more than 1 million yuan will be given life sentences or the death penalty with a two-year reprieve. Those who take more than 10 million yuan are likely to receive the death penalty.

 

However, except for the death penalty, most corrupt people will be able to complete their prison convictions in a relatively short time through avenues such as mitigation and medical parole.

 

Therefore, China should adjust its system of punishment, at least through special provisions, to raise the maximum fixed-term imprisonment from the current 20 years to 50 years or 100 years. The deterrence through prolonged incarceration can be even more powerful than the death penalty.

In addition, the Criminal Law should stipulate a specific standard for capital punishment over embezzlement and bribery. All the personal property of those convicted should be confiscated as well. This also applies to the property of their family members once it is proven to be part of the corruption. Only by so doing can a sound institution deter corrupt officials.

 

The author is a news commentator. The article first appeared in Nanfang Daily.

 

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DAILY MIRROR

EDITORIAL

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BIG LOSERS; TRANSPORT, POWER, PORT AND MIHIN

 

It's easy to blame it on the global economic down turn, however everyone knows it has got much less to do with the latest Central Bank Report data that indicates dismal performances by key ministries.

 

While the Central Bank appears to have made attempts to camouflage the losses with sugar-coated apologies it is obvious that poor policy and weaknesses at the operational stages had made a mess out of certain sectors.

 

As for transport, the Railway alone lost 4,768 million rupees last year, up 4.7 percent from 2008 and had recorded a marked drop in cargo and passengers.

 

In the case of the Port sector there's hope that Sri Lanka would perform miracles with the ambitious Hambantota Port project which is to be completed in 15 years in four phases. Great. However what many fail to see is that, in order to make sure that Sri Lanka has the efficiency and fiscal discipline for Hambantota, the government has to prove itself with the Colombo Port – by displaying that it has the focus and especially the fiscal discipline to handle another one.

 

The same should be said about the Power sector. Rather than going for heavy duty and somewhat archaic projects by concocting inflated demands, attempts should be made to ensure a greater thrust towards renewable energy. Although there's a declared goal of producing 10% of the country's power generation through renewable energy sources by 2015, lack of direction has made it an unattainable goal as things stand now.

 

Besides, the Central Bank says that Mihin Lanka which is subsidized by the government has lost more than 930 million in the year 2009!

 

People who voted the UPFA into power for a variety of reasons certainly would not tolerate the government coming up with another set of excuses as for the failure of these ministries and the said airline. At the April 08 polls, war victory still mattered a lot for people and so were the weaknesses of the opposition. Though governance was a great concern people still went ahead in their millions and voted for the government hoping that the second term would see a complete overhaul in the criteria of selecting Cabinet ministers.  

 

It goes without saying that the UPFA has too many big talkers but only a handful of doers. If the chatterers who do not perform are given top jobs, the five hub concept will remain a distant dream that this country will never achieve. Everything will depend on how President Rajapaksa chooses his Cabinet.-

 

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DAILY MIRROR

EDITORIAL

SUPPORT SLIPS AWAY FROM INDIA'S MAOISTS

BY GEETA PANDEY

 

Earlier this month, Maoist rebels in India carried out their most audacious attack in the central state of Chhattisgarh.At the crack of dawn they ambushed a large group of paramilitary soldiers returning from a patrol in the dense jungle of Dantewada district.

 

They killed 74 troops, one policeman and one driver - they also took 75 weapons. The killings have stunned the authorities and put the spotlight on India's Maoist strategy. Last October, the government announced a "massive anti-Maoist offensive" in several states, including Chhattisgarh, and more than 50,000 troops have been deployed with the aim to "fight the rebels, restore domination, and develop".

 

Earlier this week, the home ministry said an additional 6,000 central forces would join the battle.

 

Law and order issue?

 

But some - even within the government - have been questioning whether the Maoist problem can be tackled simply as a "law and order" issue? "He (Mr Chidambaram) is treating it purely as a law and order problem without taking into consideration the issues that affect the tribals," a senior leader from the home minister's Congress party, Digvijay Singh, wrote in the Economic Times newspaper. "We can't solve this problem by ignoring the hopes and aspirations of the people living in these areas... In a civilised society and a vibrant democracy, ultimately it is the people who matter," he added. But the government, it seems, is unfazed by the criticism.

 

Speaking in parliament on Thursday, Home Minister P Chidambaram said "we need a strong head, a stronger heart and enormous staying power" to deal with the Maoist problem - which the Indian prime minister has described as the biggest threat to India's internal security. The home minister's statement makes it amply clear that the government is determined to go after the Maoists. And it appears as if the public is behind him.

 

Touching a chord
The Dantewada killings may actually help the government's campaign - although the incident was a big setback for the authorities, it has been an even bigger public relations disaster for the rebels. hotographs of wailing family members mourning the dead troops and burning funeral pyres, have touched a chord with many across India.

 

Many of the dead soldiers were young men in their early twenties and many of them came from poor and underprivileged families. Some were reported to be the sole bread-winners for their family. In a remote village in Chhattisgarh, the sister of a slain policeman appeared before local television cameras to challenge "the Maoist leaders to come and convince me about the cause they are fighting for".

 

She said she wanted to ask the rebels why they killed her brother, who was a poor Christian tribal - the same group of people the Maoists say they are fighting for. Anti-Maoist sentiment is very visible in the media and the calls for the government to come down hard on the rebels are getting louder.

 

'Indefensible'

 

Some have even suggested that the government use air raids to target the insurgents. "The ambush... must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. No matter which side of the political divide you are on, the violence is indefensible," senior columnist Vir Sanghvi wrote in the Hindustan Times newspaper. "In every complicated political situation, there is usually a turning point, a stage when people say 'enough is enough'. I suspect we have now reached that point."

 

Mr Sanghvi says it is "tragic when a government has to use force against its own people, but there comes a time when a government has to assert itself".

 

The editor-in-chief of the Indian Express Shekhar Gupta advises the government to "settle down for the long haul" and "do not close your options" in dealing with the situation. "Insurgencies in India," he writes, "follow a pattern pretty much like a bell-curve. The graph of violence rises in the initial period, producing more and more casualties on both sides.

 

"But at some stage the rebels come to the realisation that this state and its people are too strong and resolute to be ever defeated, no matter what the score, in a particular day's battle in a long war."

 

'Mistakes'

 

Mr Gupta, says the Maoists will come round "once you convince them of the futility of war". That is unlikely to happen anytime soon. The Maoists derive their support mostly from the tribal populations who have endured poverty and neglect at the hands of the authorities during years of bad governance.

 

A senior official who has formerly served in the region told the BBC, "Some beginning has to be made. A lot of mistakes made over the years have to be corrected." Public anger is now being heard everywhere and no one seems to be prepared to hear pro-Maoist voices any more. Many are agreed, however, that no matter who fires the gun, it is the poor and the ordinary citizen who almost always bears the brunt.

 

Courtesy :BBC News, Delhi 

 

 

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DAILY MIRROR

EDITORIAL

PREPARING GROUND FOR A WELL ADMINISTERED SYSTEM

 

Alexander Pope's saying in his essay on 'Man', "For forms of government let fools contest; whatever is best administered is best: for modes of faith let graceless zealots fight; he can't be wrong whose life is right …" comes inevitably to the minds of the discerning when they observe the goings-on in the country. Today, much discussion revolves around the type of political system the country should adopt to eliminate the present weaknesses and improve the administrative machinery. 

 

Various forms have been proposed throughout by political parties and constitutional experts for amending or replacing the present constitution with another. But nothing was accepted and proceeded with. And the same constitution and the electoral system remain intact despite their weaknesses and inadequacies. However, it appears that an opportunity has now arisen for proceeding with the required reforms after the UPFA emerged with a commanding majority in the new parliament.

 

While such a prospect for reforms exists, doubts have arisen whether our politicians would have the ability and the inclination to make whatever system the country adopts, run smoothly. These doubts have created by the contemptible conduct of our political leaders. Unbridled personal ambition and acquisitive passion seem to characterize their political conduct. The people witnessed how candidates waged an internecine battle for preferential votes repudiating thus party discipline and their collective avowals to be of good conduct during the election campaign.

 

Whatever the pious and patriotic intentions they express and impressive declarations they make about doing various things for improving the state of the country and alleviating the sufferings of disadvantaged people, it is no secret that most politicians, here – or anywhere else - are motivated by thoughts of self-aggrandizement. It is indeed human nature that people endowed with wealth and financial stability desire popularity, power and prestige. That is why most of those with inherited wealth in this country took to politics in the past. They utilized their assets to achieve their ends.

 

 The situation, however, is different today. While some with inherited or acquired wealth get into politics with good intensions, others with borrowed or ill-gotten gains take the plunge for increasing their assets - it is said, as some persons' hunger grows with eating, some individuals' greed too grows with new acquisitions.

 

Though few and far between, there still are politicians who are moved by the humanitarian impulse to serve the people. Some, of course, inherit politics from their ancestors. So, whatever the motives or intentions that impel them, the general effect of their actions could be regarded as beneficial because they render some service to the community. 

 

The voters, during the election, were told by many to choose politicians of high caliber as their representatives, without being swayed by advertising and propaganda that bloated their images beyond limits. While some voters boycotted the election - either because of the absence of a list of suitable candidates to choose from or because of their disgust over the obstacles to a balanced election campaign - others constituting 50 percent of the total number of voters made their choice.

 

The results indicate the extent to which advertising and propaganda had influenced their decisions. It appears nevertheless that the voters have generally been able to send to parliament a batch of politicians who could be trusted for rendering an honest service to the country. A group of politicians who had acquired notoriety for their obstreperous conduct also have been selected probably in recognition of constructive work they have done in their respective areas.          

 

The behavior of our politicians is indeed complex and requires special study. The people, meanwhile, have to tolerate them and try to get the maximum good from them for the country's benefit. It is for this purpose that a proper political framework has to be created.

 

Without letting fools contest over it, as Alexander Pope says, it is for the far-thinking leaders of all political parties to take up the task responsibly. The system thus evolved should be able to check politicians' bad behavior and enhance their positive qualities. It is laws, more than anything else, that ensure people's good social conduct. Constitutional provisions and electoral rules could therefore be depended on to alter the conduct of politicians. It would thus be possible to bring the country under a well administered system. 

 

What is important is to approach this task of reforms bereft of political partisanship. It was because of the one-sided efforts that marred the past attempts at giving the country a constitution that facilitated the solution of national problems and ensured the country's progress.

 

Past attempts, however, were not completely bereft of beneficial results. The 1972 Constitution marked the beginning of a new era for evolving an indigenous political system suitable for a developing country with a heterogeneous society such as ours. The 1978 Constitution, despite all its flaws, constituted another bold move in the search for a suitable system for the country. The present endeavour should be to learn from these experiments and go forward to achieve the desired goal.

 

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DAILY MIRROR

EDITORIAL

DE-BRUTALISING THE SRI LANKAN PSYCHE: LITERACY NEEDS TO BE DELINEATED

 

For a nation that was born without war and violence, Sri Lanka is more brutalised than most others born in the midst of them. It is the first time in decades that the nation is not faced with the possibility of war and violence returning in the foreseeabe future. This has recreated the kind of environment and provided the required time for the Sri Lankan State to humanise the national psyche, and instil the confidence that it remains that way.

 

Nationalist concerns and economic issues were the causes for the emergence of a violent streak on either side of the ethnic divide, within and outside the contiguous geographical areas that have delineated respective dominance. If someone thought that re-distribution of the demographic dominance would change all that, it is not do be.

 

Development and/or devolution will produce results only if the sum of the accruing benefits is more than individual elements. Prescriptions, as they exist today, from whichever side they come from, do not make for this sum. National energies should be expended not on patch-up interims, as in the past but on wholesome solutions with a roadmap of sorts, encompassing all these elements and more.

 

IT-cum-English education
President Mahinda Rajapaksas efforts on the IT-cum-English education front needs to be read in context. So should be the Governments current development model. Literacy needs to be delineated from higher education, and redistribution of wealth replaced by redistribution of opportunities.

 

Half-hearted and often tilted attempts from the past as happened after the advent of universal adult franchise as far back as 1931 -- need to be replaced by a Millennium Model for sustainable growth and development. Voter is the master, yes, but the voter does not have mastery. All this requires national consensus that goes beyond addressing development or devolution or both, if such a model is not to suffer the fate of earlier attempts of the kind.

 

Political discourses on issues such as these are not going to end with electoral victories or losses. The past holds the candle, here again. Thoroughly beaten parties from one election have pushed the other side to the precipice and predicament in another poll. The cycle repeats itself with the voter alienating non-subsistence peripheral groups out of electoral reckoning, this time. This one is independent of the ethnic divide and is true of the nation as a whole.

 

National Government

 

A National Government with or without the single largest party or alliance having an absolute/brutal majority is a theoretical possibility. Mention used to be made of it at various stages of the ethnic war, particularly when the Government was on the losing side, both on the war front and on the legislative front at the same time. Yet, it remains a political anachronism in the Sri Lankan context.

 

It is thus that the terms majority and majoritarianism have often found contradictory applications in the political discourse from time to time, but to no avail. Greater are the benefits of development nearer home or afar for the average Sri Lankan, shriller have the voices of dissent become. Dissent does not translate into destruction, if the transformative causes are addressed in time. Sri Lanka has learnt it the hard way, and cannot allow history to repeat itself.

 

Finding an acceptable political solution to the ethnic issue is the only way for easing tensions within the Tamil community. Empowering the entire people through higher education and thus ensuring better employability, accompanied by better health care and keeping prices and inflation under control, are all aspects of State responsibility even in ordinary circumstances.

 

Higher the quality of living, higher becomes the quality of life and expectations flowing from it. It is an irreversible process that has to be accommodated in the national scheme of things, if the Sri Lankan State has to evolve as a working model in thepost-war era. Inclusiveness cannot, and does not, stop with people(s) but would extend to cover perceptions and prescriptions. Sri Lanka has paid in the past for overlooking this proposition.

 

Freedom is all about overcoming fear. Whether State-sponsored or society-inspired, fear has to be removed from the minds of the people to whichever constituency they belong. These constituencies did not exist when Sri Lanka was born. The Sri Lankan State created them. Competitive nationalism was a contribution and product of the Sri Lankan State.

 

Not all poor nations and peoples resort to violent means to find solutions to issues impinging on nationhood and unity. Many may not even be in a position to find solutions they do not find eternal peace elusive, either. It has not made them violent. Sri Lanka became one.

 

Sri Lanka has understood war and violence. It has not benefited from peace as yet. It needs time, and it has to be given time. Fast-tracking in the name of finding acceptable solutions on an early date can be as dangerous as allowing issues and aspirations to snowball. It has to find new solutions to new issues, for a New Sri Lanka in a new world, which however has already arrived.

 

A beginning should be made here and now and can be made here and now for the nation to begin addressing the concerns and issues involved. Now that the war is over, and so are the twin-polls, when security-threats from the war may have still prevailed, an end to years of emergency will not only humanise the population, it will also de-brutalise the State structures and individuals.

 

If immunities have to be conferred on either side, post facto, if that would help take the nation forward, they may be collectively considered as a first step towards reconciliation by and within the Sri Lankan scheme and system. Dismantling the High Security Zones (HSZ), and replacing them with customary camps of the armed forces where they may serve the causes of national security in an emerging environment, would go a long way.

 

Other initiatives and exercise are all there and should be considered but they, for now, can even wait, not these ones!

 

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DAILY MIRROR

EDITORIAL

IT IS TIME TO REMIND THOSE PROMISES

 

The number of seats each political party wins at a parliamentary election does not matter in respect of the betterment of the country and the people, whereas the fact whether it is a simple majority or a two thirds majority that the victorious party has, matters more. Likewise the commitment and a practical programme for the implementation of the professed policies of a ruling party are more important than its policies themselves. 

 

However, people and the media are more interested in the number of seats each party has won at the April 8 parliamentary election, the person going to be the Prime Minister and the Speaker, the person who obtained the highest preferential votes or the highest percentage of preferential votes and the number of votes Sanath Jayasuriya, Paba and Geetha Kumaratunge got.  These things have a remote bearing on easing or aggravating the problems the country is faced with.

 

Politics is just a game or a gamble to large majority of the people in the country. They simply pick up political parties to support on trivial grounds, sometimes at the expense of their own self, family, area and /or the community. Then the only thing that matters to them is winning in elections and arguments, irrespective of the policies of the party of their choice and the methods pursued to win the election. After choosing a party they support any policy the party leaders put forward and any action the leaders take.

 

For instance, given the present context, it would be difficult for one to explain the grounds on which the SLFP / PA supporters gave Chandrika Kumaratunga 62 percent of votes in the 1994 Presidential Election when she campaigned for a political solution to the ethnic problem. They also argued in support of Kumaratunga's ceasefire agreement with the LTTE in 1995 but were against that of Ranil Wikremesinghe's which was fundamentally the same as the one signed by Kumaratunga. This is the general voter's mindset.

 

On the other hand large majority of United National Party (UNP) supporters were praying in private for the defeat of the security forces when the troops were advancing rapidly, smashing LTTE fortifications from 2006 to 2009. The same UNP leaders shamelessly went before the people and called for a mandate at the 2010 January Presidential Election in the name of the war victory and General Sarath Fonseka who spearheaded the victorious military campaign against LTTE.

 

The most ridiculous part of the voter attitude is their justification of price hikes when the party of their choice is in power and the amassing of wealth by those party leaders. Also they pray for the failure of any noble plan or programme of other parties. This is the general psyche of not only the least educated voter, but also most of the educated politicians.

 

Normally the supporters of the party in power prefer to forget the election promises of their leaders whereas the opposition presses for the keeping of ruling party's promises, the very ones they criticized or ridiculed during elections previously held. Thus the UNP which was then stood for the Executive Presidency demonstrated in the Lipton Circus in Colombo on July 15, 1997 demanding the scrapping of the very system.

 

Now that the United Peoples freedom Alliance (UPFA) has won elections to the Presidency, the Parliament and all the provincial councils, except for the one in the North which is yet to be held, still the ears are filled with election rhetoric. The election victory euphoria would die down in a few weeks as happened in respect of the euphoria over the war victory and then sometimes everything would go on as usual without any major change.

 

However, the first act of the new Government would be to appoint a cabinet and other Ministers. It is up to the people who voted and openly supported the ruling party at the Presidential Election as well as the General Election, going against the tradition, to help the leaders to keep the promise of appointing a smaller cabinet. If voters forget the promise there is no point in blaming the leaders for breaking them.

 

The country does not need three Ministers for the subjects of land, land development and agriculture, since all three are intertwined and interdependent. There is no need to have six Nation Building Ministers, as one Minister with that responsibility can replace even the entire cabinet, if he is vested with corresponding powers and performs his duties as connoted by the name of his Ministry. Therefore the government can have a smaller cabinet.

 

The UPFA has seemingly placed more emphasis on electoral reforms than on the transforming the Executive Presidency, the most serious promise it had given to the people during the last two Presidential elections. Unlike the Mahinda Chintana of 2005 the "Mahinda Chintana 2010- the Vision Ahead" presented during the last Presidential Election did not envisage the abolition of the Executive Presidency, instead it proposed to "convert Executive Presidency  into a Trusteeship which honours the mandate given to Parliament by being accountable to parliament, establishes equality before the law, is accountable to the judiciary and enacts laws that are accountable to the judiciary, and is not in conflict with the judiciary."

 

Keeping the promise on the Executive Presidency would be the biggest political change and the achievement that the Mahinda Rajapaksa government could make. It also would not be difficult to do so if there is a will on the part of the leaders of the government, since there is a consensus in the country on the issue. Surely it would be a bold decision on the part of the UPFA leadership.

 

Interestingly, on the day Sri Lankan people voted for a stronger parliament the people's representatives of Pakistan voted overwhelmingly to give their  parliament the ultimate powers of governance. The Pakistani Parliament and the Senate unanimously passed the 18th Amendment to the Constitution to scrap the Executive Presidential system and to vest the parliament and the cabinet with executive powers. 

 

The best part of the story is that the Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari himself, despite having long been accused of misuse of power, has initiated the move to forgo executive powers vested in him for good and to transfer them to the parliament. Now Pakistan has reverted back to the Westminster constitution promulgated in 1973 at the behest of the founder leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. 

 

However, promises might be ignored unless some sort of pressure or persuasion from the voters and only cadre based parties like the JVP has a mechanism for the rank and file to exert pressure, for some extent, on the leadership.

 

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THE MOSCOW TIMES

EDITORIAL

LENIN'S SCENT STILL LINGERS

BY ALEXEI BAYER

 

During the Soviet era, Vladimir Lenin's mausoleum was the focal point of Red Square. It sat right in the middle of the square and was watched over by a military guard that changed at the stroke of the huge Kremlin clock in an elaborate goose-stepping ceremony.

 

It was the center of the country's political life, too — the only place where the average Russian saw his leaders in the flesh. The Politburo reviewed twice-yearly marches of their loyal citizens while standing, quite literally, upon the founder of the Soviet state.

 

Communism was supposed to be the creed of the future, but its prophet lay mummified in a pyramid harking back to ancient Egypt or Persia. (The word "mausoleum" comes from Mausolus, the Persian satrap of Caria from the fourth century B.C.) The long line of waiting visitors matched the countless other lines snaking outside stores across the Soviet Union, as people hoped to buy chronically scarce food and consumer goods.

 

Writer Sergei Dovlatov put it best when he claimed that so many places in the Soviet Union stank so badly because the country's main corpse had never been properly buried.

 

In modern times, the mausoleum has been eclipsed by other attractions on Red Square, including the rebuilt Iversky Gate — it was blown up by the Bolsheviks — and the old GUM department store, transformed from a grim showcase of Soviet economic failures into a mall of overpriced Western boutiques.

 

In winter, when a skating rink sponsored by clothing designer Bosco di Ciliegi opened on Red Square, the mausoleum looked somehow diminished and shunted aside.

 

This parallels the fate of its occupant. While passions still rage around Josef Stalin and attempts are being made to revive his reputation or place his portraits on Moscow streets, Lenin's monuments dot the Russian landscape without much controversy. No one seems to care, even though there is much to the thesis that Stalin merely put Lenin's ideas into practice.

 

Lenin may be irrelevant, and the 140th anniversary of his birth may pass almost unnoticed on April 22, but his embalmed body still occupies the mausoleum. A team of highly trained professionals is still employed on a full-time basis to keep his remains in fine fettle.

 

Calls to give Lenin a decent burial have been heard for years. Even those who consider the man to be a criminal and a monster object to using his body as a kind of macabre, circus-like attraction for out-of-towners. More to the point, however, is that preserving a shrine to the founder of Soviet communism — along with the mini-cemetery for Soviet-era luminaries just behind the mausoleum — is completely inconsistent with the values of a new, democratic Russia. How can the country move forward and find its place in the community of nations if after two decades it hasn't yet been able to rid itself of such embarrassing and destructive symbols of its past?

 

The problem, however, is deeper and stems from the generally ad-hoc nature of the Bolshevik regime. When Lenin died in January 1924, his cohorts couldn't figure out what to do with his body. Ignoring his express wish to be buried near his mother in St. Petersburg, they decided to pretend he didn't die completely and that he was still present — at least in the flesh. Apparently, even today the Russian government can't find a better solution.

 

Alexei Bayer, a native Muscovite, is a New York-based economist.

 

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THE MOSCOW TIMES

EDITORIAL

KREMLIN PULLS PR COUP AFTER KYRGYZ REVOLUTION

BY VLADIMIR FROLOV

 

As the Kyrgyz opposition was taking control of the nation's cities after violent mass protests against the corrupt rule of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, it got strong support from an unlikely source — the Kremlin.

 

While the United States, the EU and China were still referring to Roza Otunbayeva as "the leader of the opposition," Moscow became the first country to recognize the new government in Bishkek.

 

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin quickly offered Russian financial aid to the new Kyrgyz authorities — over $50 million in emergency assistance. Almazbek Atambayev, the deputy head of the interim government, flew to Moscow the day after Bakiyev's ouster in Bishkek .

 

Moscow had more than one grudge to bear against Bakiyev. He failed to deliver on his promise to close the U.S. airbase at Manas and reneged on an agreement he signed with Medvedev last year to establish a military training center in Kyrgyzstan for the Collective Security Treaty Organization. In addition, Bakiyev and his entourage have reportedly embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars of Russian financial aid and have seized assets in large Russian companies that operated in the country.

 

The Kremlin had been in close touch with the opposition leaders long before the events of this month and quietly supported their campaign to depose Bakiyev. The Kremlin's strategy was to gradually build internal pressure on Bakiyev and orchestrate a parliamentary protest to make him step down. But a series of hasty and uncoordinated decisions by the opposition to initiate mass rallies in major cities overtook the Kremlin's planning. 

 

Moscow's immediate public support for Roza Otunbayeva, interim head of the provisional government, gave the opposition a modicum of international legitimacy to consolidate power. Russia then helped the new leaders in Bishkek find the best way to orchestrate a legitimate transfer of power to the interim government, pressuring Bakiyev to resign and leave for exile in Kazakhstan.

 

President Dmitry Medvedev personally worked with U.S. President Barack Obama to develop a seemingly unified international response to events in Kyrgyzstan. It would be inaccurate to say that the Kremlin has suddenly developed a taste for promoting democracy in Central Asia. But the revolution in Kyrgyzstan demonstrates that democratic regime change is now an effective instrument in Moscow's toolbox.

 

Vladimir Frolov is president of LEFF Group, a government-relations and PR company.

 

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THE MOSCOW TIMES

EDITORIAL

BRIC OFFERS AN ALTERNATIVE WORLD ORDER

BY ANDREJ KRICKOVIC AND ADRIAN PABST

 

Thursday's summit meeting of the BRIC countries was overshadowed by Iceland's ash clouds and a devastating earthquake in the Chinese Himalayan province of Qinghai. But building on the first edition in 2009, the four leaders consolidated cooperation and agreed to proposals for forthcoming Group of 20 negotiations on a post-crisis economic architecture. As such, the BRICs reflect and reinforce the global shift of power away from the triad of the United States, Europe and Japan that has been dominant for the past 30 years.

 

Coined by Goldman Sachs in 2001, the idea of BRIC — Brazil, Russia, India and China — was dismissed at first as little more than a clever marketing tool for big, emerging economies that have little in common except perhaps a desire to counterbalance Western hegemony. Moreover, the global crisis seems to have exacerbated existing rifts and diverging interests between the four, undermining even the economic basis for closer links. With Russia's economy lagging behind the rest, the BRICs appear to lack substance and cohesiveness.

 

At the same time, however, the group's diversity is its greatest asset. The political, social, economic, cultural and religious differences are a microcosm of the whole world — a multipolar globe in miniature that is far more representative than the G7. Indeed, the BRIC group cuts across the old dichotomies of East-West and North-South. It has become a key component of the G20 and acts as a new bridge between developed and developing countries.

 

The opportunities for further economic integration are evident. Brazil and Russia will continue their leadership roles in developing and trading natural resources, while India and China will remain global leaders in manufacturing, services and technology. All four have bounced back from the recession and are sustaining the global recovery. On current trends, the group's combined share in global gross domestic product should reach 60 percent by 2050. The countries' growing economic weight has turned BRIC into a formidable bloc in the new multipolar world order.

 

That the BRIC forum is no mere talking shop is equally clear. At the summit, the leaders agreed on a common strategy for the forthcoming G20 meetings aimed at reforming the global financial system. They will jointly demand a "substantial shift in voting power in favor of emerging market economies and developing countries," as the summit communique states. The group is also determined to rebalance and diversify the global economy, in which there will be a greater role for the state, regional trade and new currency arrangements less dependent on the dollar or the euro. While plans for an alternative world currency have been put on ice, the BRICs will increasingly use their own currencies in mutual trade and investment relations.

 

The BRICs also have some common views about the principles that should govern international relations — ones that diverge from those of the West. With their growing power and financial clout, they harbor geopolitical ambitions to change the very structure of global governance. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the host of the summit, said, "The BRICs have a vital contribution to make to the creation of a new, fairer, multipolar world order."

 

They take a strong stand in support of state sovereignty that clashes with Western insistence on human rights and global market democracy. For the BRICs, a strong and sovereign state is necessary to guarantee domestic stability and defend society from exploitation at the hands of outside powers. They believe that every nation has a right to choose its own path toward development and modernization. Hence, the emphasis on state power in the economy.

 

From this perspective, a pluralistic world in which states respect each other's sovereignty is more stable than one in which great powers impose their values on others — and destabilize domestic societies in the process. The BRICs were fiercely opposed to Kosovo's independence, and they are all taking a strong position against expanding sanctions on Iran. Even Moscow's support for "smart sanctions" is qualified by President Dmitry Medvedev's conviction that sanctions alone are generally counterproductive.

 

The four BRIC countries are developing a powerful and compelling critique of the current world order that resonates with people outside of the West, a critique coupled with fresh ideas for a new system of global economic and political governance. Since 1945, Western countries have monopolized the role of global rule-making and reduced the rest to the position of rule-taking. The fallout from Iraq and the economic crisis have put an end to that.

 

Within the G20, the BRICs represent the only non-Western group currently capable of becoming global rule-makers. Last week's summit is another important step on the road to an alternative world order.

 

Andrej Krickovic is a researcher at the energy and resources group at the University of California, Berkeley. Adrian Pabst is a lecturer in politics at the University of Kent. Both are part of an international project on BRIC 2025, a study of future scenarios for global politics from the perspective of the BRICs.

 

 

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

BE REALISTIC

With only thirty nine days left for the promulgation of the constitution claims that it would still be possible for all purposes sound hollow. It is time to be realistic with the things as they are and the Constituent Assembly yet to sit down in earnest to draft the constitution. The major political parties are particularly to blame for this state of affairs with the Maoists being the worst offenders with their non- cooperation throughout the entire period that had been allotted to writing the new statute for the nation. This has clearly belied the trust the people had reposed on them. Instead of engaging in the constitution writing task that they had been given, what was seen was embarrassing jockeying for power amongst the political leaders. As things stand now, even if the constitution was drafted now it would still not have sufficient time to undergo all the necessary formalities before it could be approved. There is simply no time for this. In fact, several political leaders are already on the record for having said so, and this appears to be practical and realistic. Yet there are some who still want the people to believe that the constitution is possible if a consensus was reached. But current political developments are such that instead of the rift between the political parties being narrowed, it is being widened.

What more the contentious issues have hardly made any progress such as the integration and the rehabilitation of the former Maoist combatants. Although most of the major parties have agreed on the recent modalities for their integration and rehabilitation, the Maoists for their part have not agreed to the same and they are for ever creating newer and newer hurdles. Instead the Maoists are saying that they have decided to launch a people's movement to topple the government to ensure a timely constitution. Thus, the Maoist claim that the peace and statute drafting processes will not proceed as long as Madhav Kumar Nepal is prime minister does not hold water. The real issues that seem to have stalled the constitution drafting process include some core issues, such as restructuring the state, forms of governance, inter-relation between the judiciary, parliament and the executive, the election system itself, formation of the local bodies and distribution of power and resources between the federal government and the provincial units. The major political parties have miserably failed in arriving at a widely acceptable formula to build consensus needed to frame the constitution.

For a consensus the other political parties have made some demands that the Maoists must comply with including the dismantling of the paramilitary structure of the Young Communist League. However, by all accounts it looks like the Maoists have not schewed their predilection for guns with reports pouring in that they are conducting trainings of their cadres to take part in uprisings to capture the state powers. This is most distressing particularly as the nation is in a critical transient period when all the political parties should work in cohesion so that the sacrifices made by the martyrs in the People's Movements materialize.

 

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

 

FIRE SCARE

Fire gutted at least three houses in Naradevi Friday and a storehouse of Nepal Bank Limited at New Road was badly damaged by fire Saturday. Lessons learnt from these incidents were how ill-prepared the fire fighting equipment were and how difficult it was to douse the fire because of the difficulty of procuring water for the purpose and to reach help in the inner city with narrow roads. Although there were no human casualties, the fires destroyed property besides making the local residents apprehensive that the fire would spread further. Although all the fire engines available in the capital city were put to use to put out the fires they were not enough, and it took them hours to take the fires under control.

This gives rise to fears that there is little that could be done in case the fires were in a larger scale with the present fire fighting potential available. Since many of the houses are highly inflammable such tragedies in future cannot be ruled out. So as to avert such mishaps, not only in the capital but all parts of the country, some degree of preparedness is called which so far is woefully lacking.

 

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: SOME ASPECTS

DR. SUMAN KUMAR REGMI

Within the last decade, Intellectual Property (IP) has gained greater prominence in international commercial relations tween countries. IP has been on the front screen of international relations since the later 19th century. Its growing importance prompted the creation of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 1970. The WIPO, which became a specialized agency of the United Nations in 1974, currently administers 23 IP treaties. The goods and services produced and traded within and between countries is increasingly the product of intellectual capital and no longer dependent on traditional factors of productivity such as land and labor. International efforts to promote and protect IP have expanded beyond the WIPO and have become part of the global trade agenda. The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS Agreement), administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO), places an obligation upon WTO member states to implement proper IP protection systems. While the protection of IP pre-dates the 1994 TRIPS Agreement by over a century, the TRIPS Agreement helped to further catapult IP into the international spotlight.

The possession of IP rights is an asset by itself, which can be sold, traded or licensed for benefit. Research institutions are seeking to protect their scientific advances as they themselves can benefit financially from them. Indigenous knowledge or traditional knowledge (TK) is now recognized as a country's wealth. Demands from indigenous communities for recognition of their IP heritage and for the sharing of benefits derived there from are well known. The WIPO has spearheaded attempts to find ways of adapting existing IP laws to the protection of the IP of holders of TK.

The scope of subject matters falling within the ambit of IP has increased significantly. The revolution in information communications technology (ICT) and the developmental priorities of many countries in the world have spurred reactive and proactive responses, which place IP at the heart of national and international commerce and politics. The emergence of on-line shopping or electronic commerce, has led to discussion on IP aspects of electronic commerce-copyrights, trademarks and protection of software. Domain Names are the value of Internet domain names as trademarks and the problem of cyber-squatting. The latter problem has led the WIPO to establish an Arbitration and Mediation Center. The preservation, management and sustainable use of genetic resources and of associated traditional knowledge, as well as the sharing of the benefits that they offer, are headline news today. They are topics that occupy public debate in a wide range of sectors, including: food and agriculture; biological versity and environment; innovation and regulation in biotechnology; economic, social and cultural development; cultural policy and human rights.

With the recognition of IP as an economic and cultural asset with high value and mobility, those in need of training in the field of IP have expanded accordingly. The increased scope of beneficiaries and consequent interdisciplinary nature of the task at hand is underscored by a brief look at the consecutive steps in the IP value chain. The first step consists of IP assets creation. This can be done either by importing technology from other countries, or by creating IP as a result of research or innovation.

Some types of IP, such as patents, require registration at government authorities for the protection of legal rights. Next is commercial exploitation of IP. It involves, for instance, the implementation of a project to manufacture goods protected by IP rights, and licensing of IP if the owner of IP is not interested in making his own production. It is the maintenance and management of IP. Certain IP rights can infringe other rights or vice versa; these types of situations need to be reviewed to decide whether it is worthwhile maintaining such rights, as their maintenance may require additional resources. If IP continues to be used, it may need marketing of goods in which IP is embodied. Such marketing efforts and brand making need to be enhanced through the strategic use of certain types of IP, such as trademarks, geographical indications and industrial designs. This continuous chain will create sustainable economic development with an accumulation of national knowledge and the enhancement of technological capacity. An effective IP value chain needs not only proactive support from the government and civil society, as well as academia, but also the mindset of innovators, entrepreneurs, inventors, authors, and performers who are actual creators of IP assets.

IP areas are now common goals for many persons, which share many similar problems. Cooperation among them is necessary. During the past few years, several have established strategic alliances (not only in the same country but also cross-border partnerships) leading to the exchange of knowledge, and the sharing of useful information.

(The writer is associated with Trade and Export

Promotion Centre-ED)

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

 

TOPICS: MAGIC OF BREAKFAST

RAJIB RAJ ACHARYA

Breakfast is a wonderful way to start the day as it boosts vitality, lifts the sprit and gives enough fuel to the body to keep it going steadily. Breakfast means a break from fasting, for while we are asleep we stay without nourishment, and our blood sugar level drops by almost one-third. If dinner the previous evening was taken around nine then there will be a gap of eleven hours before breakfast. Even if those long hours were spent restfully, yet abstinence leaves the brain famished.

Those who can't be bothered about the morning meal assume that by skimping on breakfast or skipping it entirely won't really matter.

On the contrary, such self-denial does affect both the physical and mental efficiency. Though, food provides nutrients at any time of the day it's the morning meal that is vital for daylong sustenance.

There are a few who often miss breakfast to maintain a slim and trim figure not realizing that this can lead to malnutrition. As such, breakfast skippers can develop heavier bodies than breakfast taker, for by mid-morning they experience exhaustion and lassitude and are tempted to wolf down a huge lunch resulting in extra calories.

So whether dieting or otherwise one need not be strict about the morning meal and tax the body with hunger pangs. And remember being thin is not necessarily being healthy!

In case you are under some mental stress and want to avoid breakfast then take some fruit with your morning

tea before setting off from home. No matter what problems you are facing try to retain a healthy appetite and stay calm. This will enable you to get handle problems and help you solve your difficulties.

It was Dr J. H. Kellogg's search for an easy to digest food for his patients that led him in 1980 to prepare fine toasted flakes from maize; and with it the first cereal for breakfast was born. Since then a variety of cereals are produced from rice, wheat, and oats giving a wide choice of textures and tastes.

In most homes, breakfast is a leisurely morning meal on weekends and holidays. When the captivation aroma of food wafts from the kitchen it exhilarates ones appetite and invigorates the sense.

It is said that a tasty nutritious breakfast can end early morning blues and bring cheer and contentment all day long.

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THE HIMALAYAN

EDITORIAL

BLOG SURF: EASTER EGGS

CHILDRENSMINISTERBLOG.COM

As Christianity spread, more familiar traditions, symbols and celebrations of spring were associated with Easter -Christ coming back to life after death. One of the oldest spring symbols is the egg. The oval shape of the egg was the same shape for a raindrop and a seed. These two were important life-giving elements. The egg itself promises new life as in spring, birds, and many other animals are hatched from eggs. In fact, the Persians, Hindus and Egyptians elieved that the world began with a single egg. In ancient China, Rome, and Greece, eggs were given as springtime gifts.

In Poland and Russia, hours are spent on drawing intricate designs on Easter eggs. In England, members of the royal families gave each other gold covered eggs as Easter gifts in the Middle Ages. The most famous Easter egg decorator was Peter Carl Faberge. He designed eggs from gold, silver and other precious gems for the kings of Europe and czars of Russia. These eggs are priceless now and can only be found in museums and private collections.

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