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Saturday,
May 18, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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These “letter bombs”! Reward for brilliance Another financial scam |
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World reaction on Gujarat
Moneyorder mystery
Learning to change attitudes
Socialism has failed in India
Aspirin checks cardiovascular disease
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These “letter bombs”! The two “letter bombs” procured and released by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh the other day have enough political explosives to hurt Mr Parkash Singh Badal in today’s changed atmosphere in Punjab. Why the former Chief Minister should have formally written to the Prime Minister last October for the elevation of PPSC Chairman Ravi Sidhu as a member of the Union Public Service Commission is intriguing. Did he act under pressure from his close associates? Was it treated as a routine exercise in political management solely prompted by “the interest of the people of Punjab and the border state”? Should we believe that Mr Badal was unaware of Mr Sidhu’s “hidden” agenda? It must, however, be said to the credit of the former Chief Minister that he has graciously acknowledged having written two letters to the Prime Minister seeking Mr Sidhu’s placement in the UPSC. He has, understandably, denied any “personal motive” behind these letters. He has also claimed that he was then not “aware of the credentials of Sidhu”. Even if Mr Badal is to be believed, this does not speak well about his style of governance. Mr Badal is an honourable person. He has earned his reputation as a soft-spoken, mild-mannered and caring politician. He successfully completed his five-year term as Chief Minister before losing power in the February Assembly election. What is puzzling is Mr Badal’s sheer indifference to the basics of statecraft. In the first place, he was just being casual while writing letters to Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee on his official letterheads and seeking a favour for the PPSC Chairman. He followed up these communications with phone calls. A thorough gentleman that he is, Mr Badal was at least being consistent in his elevation pleas for Mr Sidhu. This raises the second point of propriety of such a move. We are firmly of the view that appointments in critical areas, particularly those concerning public institutions like the PPSC and the UPSC, should never be made on political or monetary considerations. These positions are sacred and constitutionally protected. They demand the observance of certain ethics in public interest so that the PPSC-type scams do not spread their tentacles. In any case, these positions should only go to persons of integrity and standing. Of course, what is right and what is wrong can be seen and interpreted differently by varied interest groups. This is, in fact, the tragedy of India’s new political culture. Virtues are viewed differently on the other side of the “power fence” and hence distorted thinking, duplicity and double standards in the behaviour pattern of politicians these days. It was wrong on the part of the former Chief Minister to have sought the PPSC Chairman’s induction in the UPSC with the Prime Minister’s help without verifying his credentials. This goes against the basic tenets of governance. Mr Badal has only himself to blame if Capt Amarinder Singh is taking full advantage of the former Chief Minister’s ill-thought-out “routine exercise” with all his honourable motivation
for “the people of Punjab”. Who can he blame if the needle of suspicion gets pointed towards Mr Badal? We hope Capt Amarinder Singh will learn from his predecessor’s mistakes and avoid repeating them as has been the practice with most rulers in Punjab and elsewhere. Corruption-free and clean governance is not a matter of rhetoric; it has to be an article of faith and practice. |
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Reward for brilliance The success of 19 candidates from Chandigarh, including one from Panchkula in the civil services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission this year, is remarkable. Our candidates — Mr Abhishek Jain and Dr Dinesh Arora — have bagged the third and fifth ranks respectively at the all-India level. The 46th, 47th, 50th and 62nd ranks have also gone to our boys and girls. With their brilliant performance, they have not only won laurels for themselves but also for Punjab and Haryana. The fact that most of the successful candidates hail from humble background, some of whom failed to clear the Punjab Civil Service (PCS) examination, as they reportedly could not offer hefty bribes to the scam-tainted Punjab Public Service Commission Chairman Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu, speaks volumes about their merit, distinction and, above all, the credibility and impartiality of the UPSC. This time too, the civil services continue to attract engineers and doctors. One reason why professionals are able to do well in this examination is that they are bright and diligent compared to arts students. Often they take arts subjects and are able to compete with arts students with ease. There is a general impression that the former have an edge because while they are invariably thorough with science subjects and quickly grasp humanities and social science subjects in the run-up to the examination, the latter find it difficult to catch up with science subjects. Engineers and doctors continue to prefer the IAS because the higher civil service in India constitutes the super-elite cluster in the social pyramid and the status attached to it is unique. They get top level policy-making positions in the government only by joining the IAS even though the cost is the sacrifice of their technical degrees. A career in the IAS promises security, status, time-scale promotions, power and authority. Moreover, the IAS is a compendium of services and the variety of experience it offers stands in sharp contrast to the private sector job (despite attractive salary) with only one kind of work all one’s life. In the IAS, even a superannuation may be the beginning of a second career. In Japan and France, candidates for civil services examination can take only social science subjects, the governing philosophy being that students should decide at an early age whether they would like to be specialists or seek a generalist career. India, however, allows professionals to take engineering and medicine subjects in the civil services examination with a view to injecting technical and scientific output in public policy-making. This is good from the administrative point of view. At the same time, suitable measures are also needed to streamline the engineering and health services because it costs a lot for the country to prepare an engineer or a doctor. The focus should be on the optimum utilisation of doctors and engineers who are the permanent assets of society. The career prospects in the specialist services should be substantially improved and the emolument structure bettered so that these services are able to at least match, if not outshine, the IAS. Moreover, as in France, in India too, the middle and senior level positions in the technical departments of the Centre and in the states should be manned by members of specialist services alone. |
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Another financial scam Scams, it seems, have ceased to surprise or shock. They have become an acceptable part of the system. The latest securities scam involving some Rs 268 crore perpetrated allegedly by seven brokerage firms, including Home Trade, has not outraged the people in general, although the issue has reached Parliament and has political ramifications too. One reason is the scandal being a bit technical, not many understand it. But it is no less serious than the previous scams that had shaken the country’s financial system and the common man’s faith in it.The latest entrant to the Harshad Mehta-Ketan Parekh hall of shame is an upstart former banker, Sanjay Aggarwal, who used to broker trade in government securities with his e-firm, Home Trade, operating from a lavishly furnished office in Mumbai having facilities like JVC screens, a gym, a snooker table and a fruit buffet for its 70 employees. Starting his career with a multinational bank, the bachelor broker, who is in his late thirties, rode the dotcom bandwagon with a helping hand from his NRI brother. He led a flamboyant lifestyle and entertained his clients in five-star hotels. He roped in Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Sachin Tendulkar, who appeared in Home Trade advertisements. Seven cooperative banks in Maharashtra entered into transactions in government securities with Home Trade and other lesser known entities without checking their antecedents. All were operating illegally and did not have wholesale debt market memberships as required under the law. The scandal surfaced on April 25 this year when the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank reported default by five firms which failed to deliver securities worth Rs 124.6 crore. SEBI suspended Home Trade and the RBI initiated action against the cooperative banks which had violated its guidelines. These are the broad contours of the scandal. The latest is the entry of the Enforcement Directorate, which will look into the deployment of funds by Home Trade. It is believed the money has not been invested in the equity markets and may have been sent abroad. The rest of the story is on expected and familiar lines like the Opposition blaming it on the failure of the regulatories bodies and the government denying any lack or laxity of vigilance. Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has denied any “systemic failure”, an expression which Dr Manmohan Singh had used to describe the Harshad Mehta securities scam. One political fallout is the pointing of an accusing finger at Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, which is said to have links with some of those running the cooperative banks involved. The fragile nature of the financial system, particularly the malfunctioning of the cooperative banks, has once again been exposed and one can only expect proper corrective measures to be put in place so that swindlers don’t play with the system and get away with it. |
World reaction on Gujarat The terror of Gujarat was not the only shock that India encountered in the year 2002. The fact that the world woke up to horror when Gujarat happened and many Indians turned into beasts should not have caused any surprise. Indians realised that when they act with a dip in humanity the world would be bound to wake up in horror. The most guilty of experiencing the surprise at the world reaction were the government and its spokesman. If the Ministry of External Affairs gave the lead in this it should take the most blame. Its reaction should have been mature and sober. But it put its tail up. Did it want to give the impression that nothing untoward had happened? Or, that India should wall itself up against outside interest? This was woefully wrong, as it was in almost everything concerning Gujarat. If the Prime Minister was advised to visit after one month, did the government think that the rest of the world would wait too? The Ministry of External Affairs should wake up to the challenges of the 21st century. There are two aspects of the interest Gujarat evoked in the world outside. It could in a way be flattering that when things go wrong in India so much of the world reacts with horror. It should teach us that the world cares for us and does not expect any wrong doing from the land of Gandhi and Nehru. The other aspect is that when things go wrong here, the world does not leave India alone but starts asking questions. This gives the government the impression that others are interfering in what is happening in India. Pardon, the Foreign Office should re-educate itself. It is up to us to choose how we interpret these two reactions. This time the government, especially the Prime Minister and the Ministry of External Affairs, reacted with anger and discomfiture. “Don’t send sermons to us”. That was the theme of the Indian response. This was questionable as it came from one who was known for liberalism and a wide-awake concern for what happens in India. The world did not accept this line. In fact, the reaction of many in India was that if you do act badly, the world is bound to react and you should listen to it. It is a small world now. The world is shrinking. When things go wrong, you cannot believe that others will not react. “India is being preached about secularism. We do not need to learn from others what secularism and pluralism are all about,” Vajpayee said in one statement. True, but very wrong as a reply from a statesman. We may not need to learn from others but when things go wrong, the world will talk no matter whether we like it or not. Some countries have taken a deep interest in what happened in Gujarat. The world has been told over the last 50 years that we are building a secular and plural society and when that is attacked it naturally turns its eyes on us. We cannot stop the concern. All that we can do is to tell other countries what we are doing to set matters right. It will be puerile for a country as great as India to tell the world to shut its eyes on us. Among the countries which have taken a heightened interest in Gujarat are the European Union, Canada, Australia and Britain. Pakistan has tried to take advantage. Fundamentalists everywhere almost made out: “We knew this about India”. True, they must not interfere but if they speak out and wonder why India is behaving like this, we must explain to them and not object to their taking interest in us. We should tell them what Vajpayee has fortunately already said: “Our foundation is very strong. There is no reason why people, who in the present circumstances have deviated, should not come back on the right path.” This is the correct way of dealing with it. But to tell them not to send sermons to India does not behove India. When the emergency was imposed in India in 1975, the world took an active interest in what was happening and the very people who are asking others not to give sermons to India welcomed that interest. One of the worst statements from the so-called defenders of India was from the Union Minister for Human Rights, Mr Murli Manohar Joshi, who went on to say that the other countries should look at their own human rights record. This was uncalled for, almost taking the fight to the streets. What should have been an academic give-and-take was sought to be made into a slanging-match. And to have the Human Rights Minister speak like that! Said Mr Joshi: “In America, they treat blacks in a far worse manner. The only difference is that they try to conceal their deeds while we do not hide what we do.” How can anyone hide what happened in Gujarat, Mr Joshi? This is an uncalled for comment on a country whose friendship India values. And here you slap it with something which it does not deserve. The people with which our Foreign Office has been negotiating, like Colin Powell, are blacks. And the world knows that the condition of blacks has been improving over the years. Vajpayee should restrain such ministers, just as Advani did in the case of George Fernandes when he said that this is not the first time that raping and killing had happened in India. Similarly, Mr Joshi too should have been disciplined. The Foreign Office should have behaved better, as many experts who deal with such situations have pointed out. Instead of wasting time in arguments whether the European Union sent a demarche or not, this clerical rigmarole should have been got over by a straightforward talk to the diplomats, taking them into confidence in telling them what had happened and what was being done to contain the evil that had clouded India. This is how mature nations behave. Instead, we went into polemics. The European Union, some of whose representatives came to India on routine visits, stood by their stand. With a thousand people killed, no one would listen to our plaint that we don’t need sermons. In difficult times we should show restraint. Don’t get taken in by the way people like Mughabe or Musharraf behave in dealing with criticism. This would not help us; it would lower our prestige. One point of caution. Some of the diplomatic missions have been accused of leaking out their reports in New Delhi on Gujarat. This is offensive and should not have been done. It is not their business to leak out their confidential reports which are written and are meant to give their point of view to their own governments. These should not have been leaked out in India. This was a breach of protocol. Yet, it should be conceded that if these missions wanted to convey what conclusions they have reached, they could have leaked them out in New Delhi as well as in their own capitals. The effect would have been the same. But the missions should have behaved better. Indian authorities do indeed get annoyed by any hint of interference from other counties. This is because of past history. The case in point is Kashmir. In this many countries tried to interfere. These were opinions made to subvert India’s image. This happened throughout the history of the Kashmir dispute. In this not only India but also Pakistan and the Anglo-American bloc of that time were involved. This had become an international issue. But Kashmir is different from Gujarat. Gujarat was a shame and Kashmir symbolised our aims for a pluralistic society which Gujarat tried to break.
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Moneyorder mystery The eventful year of 1947 saw our family migrate from areas forming parts of Pakistan to Delhi. I was just over five and not been to school yet. A few months later I was put in a municipal school in Delhi. Ramesh, my elder brother, two years my senior in the same school kept a watchful eye over me. Apart from acting as a “Big Brother” he gave me the much-needed coaching in English, maths etc in the years to follow. Ramesh was always very serious and hardworking in his studies. He slogged and literally burnt the midnight oil (since we did not have electricity for some years). This pushed him up to one of the top three positions in his class in the middle and higher secondary classes. In 1955 Ramesh filled up an application form for Joint Services Wings (JSW) examination conducted by the UPSC for selection of armed forces officers. JSW was the previous avtaar of the present day NDA examination. The application form required a deposit of perhaps 10 rupees as fee. However, there was a category of candidates enjoying “Refugee Concession” for whom the fee was just one rupee. So, Ramesh asked Papaji if we had an evidence to show that we fell in the category of refugees. Till then our Papaji had not known the context in which such an evidence was required. He dismissed the thought with a degree of contempt and remarked: “In 1947 we were refugees and were given Refugee Card. But it never helped us in our quest for food, clothing and shelter”. When told of the purpose, Papaji dug into a personal archive of papers and produced the Refugee Card. With the help of this card Ramesh promptly filled up the form and deposited the same along with a postal order of one rupee. Later that year he took the written examination and found no difficulty to clear the same. There was quite an excitement when he got an interview call to appear before the Services Selection Board. Second-class railway fare with free board and lodging was to be provided by the government and interview was to last three days. All this against a fee of rupee one, he thought! Well, he came back from the interview without making the grade and got busy with his studies, classroom lectures and science practicals. Very soon the dream of becoming an army officer was happily over. Barely a month later around noon there was a heavy knock at the entrance door. My mother opened the door and found the area postman to enquire if Ramesh Chander was home since there was a moneyorder for him. Quite puzzled my mother suggested to check again if there was a mistake. “No, mataji There is moneyorder for Ramesh Chander. It can be given only to him and none else”. He was told that Ramesh was away to school and, therefore, could not collect the moneyorder. Umed Pal, the postman left with a promise to come back next day. Around the same time next day, Umed Pal called again to deliver the moneyorder to Ramesh Chander, the addressee who was, however, away to his school. This time our papaji was home and sought to know the details from Umed Pal. Very politely and firmly he said: “Sir, I am bound under rules to hand over the moneyorder only to the addressee against his acknowledgement duly witnessed. Please sir, ask Ramesh Chander to come and sign. I’m in a bit of rush to go”. Our papaji, in a very persuasive tone requested Umed Pal to come again either in the evening or next day. Next day, a Saturday, Ramesh was advised to miss his school to be able to meet the postman. Everyone in the family was curious to know the details of the fortune that was on way in the form of moneyorder. Ramesh was being quizzed whether he had lent out some money to a friend or had participated in a raffle or crossword puzzle. On Saturday we were all ready to receive Umed Pal. The waiting for him seemed to be endless. Every knock on the door would sound a “red alert” for us. Finally, around two in the afternoon, Umed Pal showed up and was warmly received by Ramesh who was still clueless about the fortune in store or his benefactor. As advised, he put his signatures at two places. Then Umed Pal addressed Papaji to verify since the addressee happened to be a minor. That done, a witness had to be arranged from the next door. This entire exercise was done in army style precision. Now Umed Pal asked Ramesh to hand over one anna coin. Totally puzzled but not willing to take a risk, Ramesh reluctantly took out an anna coin and slipped it into the hand of Umed Pal. Finally, Umed Pal, our postman, took out a one rupee note along with the MO counterfoil to hand over to Ramesh. The counterfoil reads: Refund of JSW Examination fee
— Re. 1-0-0 Less: MO Commission — 0-1-0 Net
— 0-15-0 |
Learning to change attitudes It is a matter of deep concern and surprise how we carry on such senior responsibilities without being aware of the consequences of poor preparation and inadequate performance. In fact, it is a case of innocent ignorance or negligence. It is innocent ignorance as long as one is not aware of but it is negligence once one is. I am making this observation on the basis of feedback I recently got from a class of senior police officers on a special course on development of positive attitudes. The training is being given by professionals provided by NIS, Sparta Group. We in police training regularly conduct courses to train our trainers in training skills because unless our attitudes are evaluated and corrected merely lecturing will not give the desired results. We have to be willing educators. The question is how do we inculcate the willingness, since willingness comes from within oneself. It is like thirst for water. How do we create the thirst? And how do we reach out to individuals who will be willing to be thirsty? In other words how do we create a willingness to address their inner selves? Also these are all senior police officers, having put in long years of service, seen harsh realities of public life from very close quarters; ‘suffered” their seniors; and perhaps passed it on to their juniors or members of the public whoever were on the receiving end. Alongside they also have their entrenched mindsets, habits, egos, and lifestyles Also when changing themselves carries no incentive of promotion or even a posting of their choice! Yet we decided to proceed and we go on. I recall when we initiated our first course. We engaged the NIS - Sparta to design and go ahead. We called for nominations. Nominees came with some skepticism. What would a police course on attitudes give? Same platitudes? Same boring lectures? Monotonous sermons from seniors yet again? But it came out to be different! The training was ‘hands-on’ awareness with tremendous self audit. It was a trunk full of communication and listening skills, an attitude of understanding others point of view: *Evaluating their inner selves, * identification of attitudes in relation to others, * handling of communication and their emotions, *their fears, doubts and insecurities, *how do they enhance their capability of understanding each other, *their relationships, * skills and tactics of getting along better with each other, *ways and means of meeting personal needs, * their own attitudes, positives and negative, and *creative problem solving. The police officers alongside got training in patterns which lead to success and to enhance expression skills. They were additionally trained to make presentations and then prepare one on the subject of their own choice. The trainees also went out for rock climbing to demonstrably work as a team. They had a camp fire. They ate together, sang and danced. They worked on their core values and conflict management. I took the feedback from officers who had done one such course much earlier and had field tested their new found learning. It was so encouraging that it compels me to share for the benefit of all who can get similarly inspired by reading these experiences. Here are some extracts from individuals who willingly opened up on my asking a simple question. “What is the one change you experienced after the course?” I present two answers here: (a) “After an exhausting day whenever I went home I used to have a huge argument with my wife on going out. I needed to be home to rest and my wife needed a change of scene. But after this course I decided to use my adult stage. I did not get angry. I explained to her, and said I promise we will go tomorrow. She did not believe me. But I kept my promise and we did. But after that I sat down and explained to her. Telling her how she has been in a child stage and I in that of a parent. She stubborn and I advising. But if we both be adults we will understand each others needs better and become accommodative. She asked me where had I learnt it from: I said the Adventure in Attitude Course. She and I have not fought since then. It worked”. (b) “Madam (addressing me) you recall I took a letter of recommendation from you for the admission of my son. The letter is still with me. I did not use it. After this course I spoke to my son. I told him. You are having 95% marks, why should you be afraid of competing on merit. Let us have confidence and apply and let us see what happens. Madam, my son topped in the exam whichever school he sat in. He now stands first in his class and is a class leader. I thank you for the course. I gained confidence from this”. I told her, “Do you realise that you have given a life-long gift to your son which will go on to make him a confident man, all his life. Do you realise what as a mother, you were passing on your own lack of confidence on to the child”. She said, “Yes I do”. Others too were equally interesting. The more I heard them, the more I felt convinced how even in the very basics we do not train or groom ourselves and go around in the world pretending to be “Know Alls” or ‘BIG’ or ‘Mature’ or ‘Wise’ or ‘Senior’ or ‘Elder’. But then equally was it evident that it is never late to learn. As is evident, results do not take time to flow. The lesson is, begin from wherever we are and sooner the better. |
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Socialism has failed in India India was on the cover of Fortune magazine two weeks ago. As its cover picture, the world’s leading business magazine had a scrawny, ill-clad Indian peasant checking prices of commodities out on his simputer – a peculiarly Indian touch-screen device no bigger than an electronic diary. The headline, beside him, says ‘India taps into the Future but can it escape its Past?’ The story inside says that if India’s economy is to keep up with its population growth we need to create 10 million jobs a year between now and 2010 for which we would need the economy to grow at 10% a year instead of the 5.4% it grew at last year. Can we do it? Not according to the report card that accompanied the article which grades us after making this depressing comment: India knows what it needs to do to catch up to other Asian countries, but it seems to lack the discipline to do so. The report card gives us C minus in competitiveness and business climate – uncertain political climate, low literacy, high tariffs. A ‘C’ for trade ‘with 16% of the world’s population, India accounts for just 0.6% of global trade. It hopes to reach 1% by 2005’. We get Ds for jobs and productivity, an F for infrastructure ‘less than five feet of paved road per person. Overcrowded trains. Long port delays’ and the only area in which we score an A is in controlling inflation: lower energy costs and falling prices for manufactured goods have cut inflation to 1.3%, the lowest rate in more than 20 years’. If the statistics sound bad the ground reality is much worse. The average Indian knows little about economics or systems of governance. The average Indian will never get the chance to travel abroad so that he can compare his own country to others but even the poorest, most illiterate Indian knows that by the standards of the 21st century, Bharat Mata looks really bad. If in our villages – where 70% of Indians continue to live – the average person can aspire to little more than the barest minimum by way of living standards – a roof over the head, two meals and a subsistence salary – things are not much better in our commercial capital: Mumbai. Half the city’s population lives in slums so hideous they would be considered unfit for human habitation even by the standards of the world’s least developed countries. Home is usually a windowless hovel that opens onto streets paved with uncollected garbage and filled with the stench of open drains. Our villagers at least still have clean air to breathe. In the slums of Mumbai even this most essential of life’s requirements is unavailable. By 2015 when this city’s population is expected to reach 27 million it will, in all likelihood, be nothing more than a vast slum. As it is, it can claim credit for containing the largest slum in Asia:
Dharavi. If you think Mumbai looks bad you only need spend an evening driving through the streets of our smaller towns to see how much worse they look. Once beautiful, civilized, elegant Lucknow, for instance, now looks as if it has been converted into a vast, hideous, unplanned housing estate with the only elegant, tree-lined streets being reserved for ministers, ex-ministers, Chief Minister and ex-Chief Ministers. And, there, dear readers lies the crux of our problems. We will never get prosperity, development, beautiful cities or 21st century amenities as long as we allow our political leaders to live a lifestyle that they deny us. Why should they be allowed to live in the best part of town if they cannot provide us with the basic amenities of 21st century life? Why should they surround themselves with bodyguards if they cannot provide us with ordinary policing? Why should they be allowed ‘perks’ such as gas connections and free electricity and water if they cannot provide it to the people they are elected to represent? These are questions we should be asking our political leaders and if we do not it is because we have been fooled into believing that we live in some kind of socialist paradise in which the state knows best. The irony is that even in the so-called role models of socialism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, when the veils of censorship and the iron curtains were lifted, what we saw was not socialist paradise but a socialist nightmare. The rest of the world gasped in horror at the failure of the economic system that was going to change the world but the average Indian saw nothing because our own socialist rulers had cleverly kept him illiterate and in subsistence conditions so grim he barely had time to lift his head at the end of the day. But, if he cannot be blamed for not seeing the grim realities of failed socialism who can be blamed and should be are our socialist intellectuals. Not just our politicians who know that they lie when they tell you about the wonders of socialism but our journalists and economists who continue to talk of the wonders of socialism knowing that it failed in Europe and that China stopped being socialist in its economic thinking a very long time ago. In Delhi’s drawingrooms and its glittering halls of discourse and debate I am continually astonished by the number of leftist intellectuals who still get listened to seriously. In fact, if someone did a survey, it would end up revealing that there are still more lefties in the nooks and crannies of the corridors of power than those who dare to defy them. Anyone who goes a step further and proudly proclaims themselves to be believers in free markets and capitalism continue to be treated as if they had some kind of infectious disease. And, so secure is the position of the leftist intellectual or economist that he usually gets away with making outrageous statements like how privatisation is destroying our public sector and how economic liberalisation has led to a collapse of the social welfare system. When did we have a functioning social welfare state, I asked one of these interlocutors of socialism recently and he looked at me with an expression of complete astonishment. What did I mean by my question? Well, I said bravely, look at our state-run schools, hospitals, orphanages, women’s homes, prisons and which one of these institutions can we describe as in the ideal socialist mode? The Delhi intellectual glowered furiously. We had never had socialism in India, he said angrily, that was our problem. If we had these institutions would have been different. Were they different in the former Soviet Union? Was the standard of living in Romania or Czechoslovakia worth emulating? Are we better off trying to emulate France or Germany? The discussion did not get much further because the leftist left in a huff. But, he and others of his ilk of which there are still far too many in the corridors of power need to be confronted and reminded that we have been ‘socialist’ for fifty years and that Indian socialism failed in almost every sense. Fortune magazine is right when it says that India knows what needs to be done it is just that we seem to find it so hard to find political leaders who are prepared to do it. |
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Aspirin checks cardiovascular disease Known for its benefits to heart disease sufferers, aspirin is also an effective tool in preventing cardiovascular problems. “Aspirin is widely used to prevent heart attacks and strokes, but it is assumed that its effects are solely attributable to its blood thinning actions. But our research turns the clock back on aspirin,” said Patrick Valance, study author and Professor of Clinical Pharmacology at University College, London. The results of the study suggest that “some of aspirin’s effects really are due to its anti-inflammatory properties, which people have known about for 100 years or more,” said Vallance.
AFP
Housework improves health? It’s exhausting, time consuming and although it counts as physical activity, housework does not improve health or help to shed those excess pounds, British researchers have said. Brisk walking is a much healthier option and a better way to keep fit than mopping floors, dusting and cleaning windows, particularly for older women between the ages of 60-79. “Older women need to be doing more physical activity. Housework probably does cut the mustard,” Dr Shah Ebrahim, an epidemiologist and expert on ageing at the University of Bristol, in southwestern England, said. In a survey of more than 2,300 elderly women in Britain, 10 per cent said they enjoyed brisk walking, one per cent did more than 2.5 hours of gardening a week and more than half reported doing heavy housework. But Ebrahim and his colleagues said although housework requires physical activity it does not seem to have any health benefits.
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