E D I T O R I A L   P A G E

EDITORIALS

PM speaks out on Iraq
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee chose the right occasion to spell out India’s stance on the Iraqi crisis vis-vis the USA. He could find no better opportunity than the one provided by Tuesday’s function to mark the 533rd birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the messiah of peace, equality and human brotherhood. He reminded the USA of its responsibility towards the UN Charter, which stood for respecting national sovereignty under all circumstances.

Massacre in Andhra
The increasing violence perpetrated by the People’s War Group in Andhra Pradesh is cause for serious concern. Close on the heels of the bomb blast in a state road transport corporation bus, that killed 20 people and injured 17 in Eturunagaram forest area in Warangal district on Monday night, the Naxalites have blown up Thummalcheruvu railway station in Guntur district on Wednesday, damaging the communication system.

A nuclear North Korea
The five superior members of the global community have nuclear weapons. But no one can question them on the self-acquired right to build up an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. They have given themselves the certificate of being too civilised and responsible to use them for causing havoc in the world. But what about the rogues? American President George W. Bush calls them the "axis of evil".

OPINION

India and ASEAN connection
Time for regional economic initiatives
G. Parthasarathy
The first ASEAN-India Summit held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, sets the stage for New Delhi to move purposefully ahead in developing a broad strategic partnership with the countries of South-East Asia. While Indian political leaders constantly talk about how they will end poverty, the leaders in East and South-East Asia speak about how they will enhance the prosperity of their peoples.

MIDDLE

Working with a dead horse
Shriniwas Joshi
When you get no more out of it, try as hard as you can, you are said to be working with a dead horse. Ask a small child studying in KG, “What would you do, beta if you find that you are riding a dead horse?” The child would immediately reply. “Uncle, I would dismount.” But not so in the government. We try many strategies to work with the dead horse.

Sathya Sai Baba: the apostle of truth
Dalip Singh
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is an embodiment of truth, righteousness, peace and non-violence. This writer has been camping for the past few weeks at Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh, the birth place of Sathya Sai Baba. One fine morning, inspired and activated by a divine impulse, he had a clear vision that the only remedy to eliminate global terrorism lies in the divine intervention of Sathya Sai Baba. He is the Yug Avthara.

Why some opt for renewable ties
Hugh Wilson
Last month, a couple I know sat down to a carry out a full and frank discussion on the merits and problems of their relationship. The talk lasted three hours, and by both accounts went well. There were niggles, of course, but the atmosphere was friendly and the negotiations productive.

Special force to protect Bihar tourists
PATNA: Bihar plans to set up special police stations at its tourist sites to protect visitors, especially from touts looking to make a fast buck. Minister of State for Tourism Suresh Paswan said the government had decided to set up such police stations to create a tourist-friendly atmosphere.

• Health of Indians has improved: WHO

• Knee replacement for worshippers
  
  
  

EDITORIALS

PM speaks out on Iraq

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee chose the right occasion to spell out India’s stance on the Iraqi crisis vis-vis the USA. He could find no better opportunity than the one provided by Tuesday’s function to mark the 533rd birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the messiah of peace, equality and human brotherhood. He reminded the USA of its responsibility towards the UN Charter, which stood for respecting national sovereignty under all circumstances. Without mentioning it in so many words, Mr Vajpayee disapproved of the American scheme to bring about a regime change in Iraq. He declared that no power, even if it was a super power, had the right to impose its will on another country. It is only the people of a country who can replace their ruler if they so desire. “All issues relating to Iraq”, he pointed out, “should be sorted out under the auspices of the United Nations”. In today’s conflict-ridden world, the UN has acquired special significance. The USA, the sole surviving super power, is showing a growing tendency to force the world body to play its role in accordance with Washington’s strategic and economic interests. With India having highlighted the UN role in the context of the US-Iraq standoff, the international community should redouble its efforts to avert the possible American military attack on the beleaguered West Asian nation.

Iraq, which has maintained traditionally friendly relations with India, has had great expectations from New Delhi. A few days before Mr Vajpayee’s significant speech Baghdad had requested India to send its own team to monitor the work of the UN weapons inspectors already on the job in Iraq. Baghdad doubts the neutrality of the UN team. It strongly feels that an Indian presence will not only enhance the credibility of the UN inspectors’ report but also prevent the development of a provocative situation for the Iraqi government. If Iraq really has a programme of weapons of mass destruction, it should make a declaration on its own and abandon the course in the interest of peace, as Mr Vajpayee has suggested. If it has nothing like this, then it should feel relaxed. But the truth is that nobody knows the truth. It is widely believed that Iraq has agreed to allow the UN weapons inspectors to do their job under Security Council Resolution 1441 to buy time to avert a military campaign against it by the USA. It is trying to involve India to convince America to resolve the crisis through dialogue. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, perhaps, thinks that India is the ideal country to play the role of an effective mediator. How serious he is in this regard can be understood from the fact that he has deputed his Information Minister, Mr Mohammad Saeed Al-Sahaf, to convince India to realise its special position and take greater interest in the matter. Mr Sahaf will be in New Delhi today to meet Indian leaders. India should use its good offices with the USA to make America agree to finding an honourable solution to the problem through dialogue. War may lead to disastrous consequences for the whole world. India’s success in the matter will add to its stature as a peace-loving country in the comity of nations.

Massacre in Andhra

The increasing violence perpetrated by the People’s War Group in Andhra Pradesh is cause for serious concern. Close on the heels of the bomb blast in a state road transport corporation bus, that killed 20 people and injured 17 in Eturunagaram forest area in Warangal district on Monday night, the Naxalites have blown up Thummalcheruvu railway station in Guntur district on Wednesday, damaging the communication system. The first incident was a sure case of mistaken identity. The Naxalites thought that policemen were travelling in the bus. For quite some time now, the state police have been using public transport buses as a decoy to travel to interior areas for fear of Naxalite attacks. It was only after the horrendous incident that the PWG men realised their mistake. The ghastly massacre of innocent passengers, mostly tribals, is a chilling reminder of the torching of Kakatiya Express near Hyderabad by PWG men a decade ago in which nearly 50 people were charred to death. At that time, the PWG had regretted it as “a mistake”. What would it say now? Civilians or policemen, the PWG’s gameplan is fraught with dangerous consequences. Fear psychosis grips Warangal district as the Naxalites have taken the law into their hands. They seem to function as a state within a state — something which cannot be endorsed by legitimate institutions of governance. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has rightly observed that the PWG men have a single-point agenda of killing policemen and politicians. But what would they achieve by resorting to violence and mayhem? It would further alienate the Naxalites from the mainstream. Their mindless actions will further widen the hiatus between them and the government.

The Naxalites will have to understand that they cannot achieve their goal of socio-economic emancipation with guns or timer bombs. It is time they realised their dangerous mission and make peace with the law and order authorities. If land reforms, agriculture production and socio-economic development of the neglected regions really top the agenda of the Naxalites, they need to exert consistent pressure on the government of the day under the normal law of the land and through legitimate channels of communication. Admittedly, the entire Telangana region heaved a sigh relief when relative peace prevailed during the talks between the government and the PWG. Why cannot both sides try to revive the peace process again in the larger interest of the state? Andhra Pradesh has paid a heavy price because of the Naxalite violence and its spread to the coastal region, including other states, bodes ill for the country. The government too should show political sagacity and try the negotiation route again. The Centre should chip in, if need be. Resumption of talks should not be seen as weakness, but as the foundation on which mutual trust and confidence could be built for a realistic and meaningful resolution of the problems.

A nuclear North Korea

The five superior members of the global community have nuclear weapons. But no one can question them on the self-acquired right to build up an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. They have given themselves the certificate of being too civilised and responsible to use them for causing havoc in the world. But what about the rogues? American President George W. Bush calls them the "axis of evil". Iraq has been singled out as the world's enemy number one in spite of official denial of the charge of amassing weapons of mass destruction. Iran is maintaining a diplomatic silence and is working behind the scenes to get its name struck of the list of the evil nations. But how should the global community react to the official admission by North Korea that it indeed has nuclear weapons? Pyongyang Radio reported in a Korean language report that the country has nukes "and other strong military weapons due to the nuclear threats by US imperialists". The global community had forgotten the jargon used by the shrinking comity of communist nations after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But Sunday's announcement by North Korea's official radio channel confirmed the suspicion that the leftist jargon is alive, though not kicking, and that the threat to world peace is real. The main factor behind the increase in the level of insecurity at the global level is not the potential of either Iraq or Iran or North Korea to unleash havoc. Never mind what the USA and its allies say. The threat comes from the element of anarchy over who has the right to acquire nuclear weapons.

The threat to global peace comes from the action of and reaction to the moves of the allies and the members of the "axis of evil". North Korea-watchers believe that the "first confirmation of possession of nuclear weapons" was meant to send out the message that it too "was entitled to have them to protect its sovereignty from US threats". The announcement has understandably caused dismay in Japan and South Korea, the two neighbours who have an unstated hostile relationship with the communist nation. India too must officially convey its concern to the United Nations and the "chosen five" because Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme is run on clandestine supplies of uranium from North Korea. South Korea has said that the announcement by Pyongyang Radio was perhaps a "slip of the tongue". If this was the case, North Korea has allowed the suspense to grow by not denying the report. The USA had allowed oil supplies to the communist country under a 1994 agreement that North Korea would freeze its nuclear programme. America may terminate the oil deal to express its displeasure over the audacity of a puny nation to raise its voice against the threat to its sovereignty from the self-professed global policeman. The "slip of the tongue" has revived memories the crucial role the Non-Aligned Movement played in ensuring global peace during the period of the Cold War. Pyongyang Radio's advertent or inadvertent announcement and the threat of war with Iraq should leave no scope for doubt that the world still needs neutral players for ensuring peace. But where is NAM today?

OPINION

India and ASEAN connection
Time for regional economic initiatives
G. Parthasarathy

The first ASEAN-India Summit held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, sets the stage for New Delhi to move purposefully ahead in developing a broad strategic partnership with the countries of South-East Asia. While Indian political leaders constantly talk about how they will end poverty, the leaders in East and South-East Asia speak about how they will enhance the prosperity of their peoples. While the founding members of ASEAN started at about the same economic level as us four decades ago, they have rapidly overtaken us in the prosperity of their peoples and in their human development indicators. The global trade of ASEAN countries is around eight times that of India. What they have achieved is today recognised as an economic miracle. There is much to learn and benefit from their example.

When ASEAN was founded in 1967, it sought not only to enhance cooperation, but also to have a harmonised approach to issues of foreign policy and national security. The ASEAN members developed close relations with the USA and its allies and embarked on an era of rapid economic growth. Despite differences, they presented a united front when Vietnam intervened militarily in Cambodia. Further they did not allow bilateral disputes to cloud their larger vision for progress and prosperity. The Philippines and Malaysia have a territorial dispute over the territory of Malaysia’s second largest state — Sabah. Indonesia also has territorial claims in Sabah. But unlike Pakistan, the Philippines neither holds progress in bilateral and regional cooperation hostage to the fulfilment of its territorial ambitions, nor does it arm and train its citizens to promote violence and terrorism in Sabah.

The ASEAN member-states also take a coordinated and unified approach to security issues. Even though Singapore and Malaysia may have had some misgivings about Indonesia’s initial response in dealing with terrorist organisations like the Jamiyah Islamia, they did not allow these differences to be exacerbated by public posturing. Further, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) has enabled the relatively smaller and less powerful ASEAN states to engage China in the presence of powers like the USA on their territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where China has used its superior naval strength to assert its territorial claims. ASEAN and China have agreed “not to allow existing differences to hamper the development of friendly relations and cooperation”. Despite this, China’s growing military and economic muscle remains a source of growing concern within ASEAN.

While India’s membership of the ARF does enable it to participate in regional security issues, we would seriously undermine our long-term economic and strategic interests if we do not take note of China’s rapidly expanding economic profile in our eastern neighbourhood. While India’s bilateral trade with ASEAN is currently around $10 billion annually, China’s trade with the grouping reached $ 41.6 billion in 2001. Moreover, while India has a substantial trade deficit with ASEAN members, China has a trade surplus. The Phnom Penh summit saw the signature of joint declarations on comprehensive partnership between ASEAN on the one hand and China and Japan on the other. foreign direct investment in ASEAN-member states by Japan alone in the last decade was around $ 55 billion. Two-way trade with Japan was $ 109 billion in 1996. At the same time, the Phnom Penh Declaration with China speaks of the determination of the two sides to progressively liberalise and promote trade in goods and services as well as promote cooperation in agriculture, human resource development and facilitate investment in the region. Most importantly, the two sides have agreed to expeditiously negotiate in order to establish an ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement within 10 years. In the meantime, the process is to be moved forward by an “early harvest programme” through which duties and other restrictive regulations on commerce will be progressively eliminated even before the Free Trade Agreement is concluded.

India has moved at a much slower pace than China in its efforts for economic integration with ASEAN. We have only now set up an India-ASEAN Task Force on economic linkages that is to finalise an India-ASEAN Framework Agreement for Economic Cooperation before October, 2003. Further, while China is moving ahead purposefully in exchanging tariff concessions and concluding a free trade agreement with ASEAN within the next 10 years, our approach has been far more cautious. Given this approach, we may find ourselves in a situation where Chinese products that already have a competitive edge over our products will soon have greater tariff benefits in ASEAN markets than us. We have only ourselves to blame for this situation. The mandarins who run the Commerce Ministry are generalists with little knowledge of the outside world. Their approach on issues of trade and market access has necessarily been protectionist and counterproductive. At the same time, given our disinclination to effect drastic changes in crucial areas like the power sector and reservations for small-scale industries and the sad state of our infrastructure, we may well find that we will become even less competitive globally in the manufacturing sector than we are at present.

Economic diplomacy now seems to be regaining its rightful place in South Block. But the decisions that will make us an economic player of some consequence in our neighbourhood have to be taken by our political leadership as a whole. We would first have to recognise that another round of drastic economic reforms and rapid infrastructural improvement are imperative if we want to catch up with and become competitive with our eastern neighbours. We would also have to recognise that with moves towards free trade becoming an integral feature in South-East Asia, we would also have to economically integrate with countries in our neighbourhood. Given Pakistan’s belief that it can hold economic integration in South Asia hostage to its irredentist aims and claims in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere in India, attempts to develop a South Asian Free Trade Area or a South Asian Economic Community are necessarily going to be stalled and delayed. While SAARC need not be ignored, we should be realistic about its limitations. We would have to use mechanisms and forums other than SAARC to promote regional economic integration. We would also have to ensure that the mandarins of Udyog Bhavan do not hinder moves in this direction. They have been remarkably shortsighted in dealing with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

New Delhi should reinforce its regional initiatives for economic integration by seeking bilateral arrangements for free trade with countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand — all in the Bay of Bengal region. It is also imperative to move in this direction with Singapore. The BIMSTEC forum comprising Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar should be made more purposeful by moves for the entire Bay of Bengal basin to be converted into a free trade and common investment area. It is important even now to undertake such measures to promote economic integration in our neighbourhood.

Apart from economic cooperation, terrorism and energy security should remain important issues in our interaction with ASEAN. Terrorist networks functioning earlier predominantly in Afghanistan and Pakistan are now active in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Despite official denials, there is growing evidence to suggest that terrorist organisations and their mentors are becoming more active in Bangladesh. These are challenges that have to be addressed by us jointly with our ASEAN partners. We now have an agenda for growing cooperation and economic integration in the coming years with the members of ASEAN.

MIDDLE

Working with a dead horse
Shriniwas Joshi

When you get no more out of it, try as hard as you can, you are said to be working with a dead horse. Ask a small child studying in KG, “What would you do, beta if you find that you are riding a dead horse?” The child would immediately reply. “Uncle, I would dismount.” But not so in the government. We try many strategies to work with the dead horse.

First one is that we change the riders by issuing transfer orders. Sometimes the change is so sudden and quick that the rider had remained unaware of the fact that the horse that he was riding was actually dead and the order for sharper whips that he had placed for making the dead horse gallop would definitely result in audit paragraphs. His consolation, that time, is that it was the next rider who would have to settle the paragraphs as he would be settling the audit objections and paras left for him in another department by his “forerider”.

Second one is that we appoint a committee, with one important member from the finance department, to see what is wrong with the horse. This committee, by special order of the government, is at liberty to visit other sites, most important being foreign developed countries, to see how they ride the dead horse. The committee, in its best wisdom, may also indulge in gathering knowledge whether the videshi horse is actually dead or not and also to clandestinely find out if some other animal has been camouflaged as horse to hoodwink the Third World nations.

Third, we start a course in the Institute of Public Administration with honoured horse-and-buggy faculty that tries to imbibe upon the present riders that if the members of the faculty in their times could ride the dead horse successfully, why cannot the present leg-stretchers do the same with so many technical gadgets at their mercy.

Fourth, we institute a thorough case study with SWOT, (Strength Weaknesses, Opportunity and Threat) analysis of the dead horse in order to know if there is any forthcoming Threat to our “Wednesdays habit.” Have you not heard of Wednesdays habit? Researchers have found out that on Wednesdays birds sleep with one eye open and half of their brain awake. The only other creature to do that is the government employee in its natural daytime habitat. The difference, however, is that the birds do it once in a week whereas the “public homo sapines” do it on all weekdays.

Fifth and lastly, we appoint advisers, who had had their merry-go-round rides. They are called honorary because they do not draw salary from the government but are on “T4U” basis i.e., transport, telephone, tenement and teas are made available to them free of charge. And when they relinquish the peacock throne they issue a press note stating that had the government accepted their mantras and tantras, the horse would have run but with the present set-up and mind-set, the horse is bound to go to a different species of animals, viz. dogs. Consultants, generally superannuated persons, are also appointed who are aware of the qualities of the dead horse but itch to prove that the horse with motto “citius (faster)-Altius (higher)-fortius (stronger)” is capable of achieving the Olympian heights. 

OF LIFE SUBLIME

Sathya Sai Baba: the apostle of truth
Dalip Singh

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is an embodiment of truth, righteousness, peace and non-violence. This writer has been camping for the past few weeks at Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh, the birth place of Sathya Sai Baba. One fine morning, inspired and activated by a divine impulse, he had a clear vision that the only remedy to eliminate global terrorism lies in the divine intervention of Sathya Sai Baba. He is the Yug Avthara. The same Rama and Krishna who had incarnated in Thretha and Dwapar Yugas respectively.

Sathya Sai Baba is Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient. The aim and purpose of his mission is to restore world order through truth, righteousness, peace, love and non-violence. He can clarify all queries regarding the existence of life on any planet since He is the creator of the universe, which is his mansion. Funds now being wasted in weaponry and outer space exploratory projects should be diverted to the welfare of mankind thereby ushering in the Golden Age of Sai Baba’s concept. Sai Baba is capable of rendering all stockpiles of weapons ineffective, inoperative and even make them disappear from earth. He says, “I can turn sky into earth and earth into sky”.

The concept of the advent of Avtarhood has its birth in India. Lord Krishna, the God Incarnate in Bhagavad Gita has stated, “Whenever the practice of Dharma (righteousness) is on the wane, restore Dharma Incarnate”. We should have been looking around to trace the divine entity of Krishna’s concept in the prevailing chaotic circumstances to seek His guidance. Fortunately for humanity, Sai Baba compassionately and benevolently declared his advent in these words:

“For the protection of the virtuous, for the destruction of evil-doers and for establishing righteousness on a firm footing, I incarnate from age to age. Whenever Ashanti (disharmony) overwhelms the world, the Lord will incarnate in human form to establish the modes of earning Prashanti (peace) and to re-educate the human community in the path of peace”. Strife and discord have robbed peace and unity from the family, the school, society, the religions, the cities and the state. The arrival of the Lord is also anxiously awaited by saints and sages. Sadhus (spiritual aspirants) prayed and I have come”.

Sai Baba transformed Puttaparthi village into a modern town with all the infrastructural facilities. It boasts of a university where free education up to post-doctorate level is imparted to students. It also has a most modern super-speciality hospital and a mega water project supplying tap water to over a thousand villages of Anantapur District.

Sri Aurobindo, the great seer, thinker, spiritual and philosopher, had in his celestial heights experienced and envisioned the descent of God on November 24, 1926. He announced in unmistakable proclamation that God has descended on the earth. But he did not know where exactly on earth God had descended. Since that historically memorable day, November 24 has been celebrated with pomp and show every year by his devotees the world over as Siddha Day and The Revelation Day. Little anyone then had realised that Sri Aurobindo’s revelation referred to Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba having taken birth at Puttaparthi until He himself had disclosed and declared it on May 23, 1940.

Sai Baba’s glance falls all around. He not only sees everywhere; he is everywhere. How else can we explain the showers of vibhuti (sacred ash) that falls from His pictures in the shrines of devotees in lakhs of towns and villages all over the country and abroad?

Why some opt for renewable ties
Hugh Wilson

Last month, a couple I know sat down to a carry out a full and frank discussion on the merits and problems of their relationship. The talk lasted three hours, and by both accounts went well. There were niggles, of course, but the atmosphere was friendly and the negotiations productive. By the end of the session, both parties had concluded that their relationship - though some way short of perfect — was certainly worth continuing. Next spring, they’ll sit down and do it all again. They are, it should be said, a thoroughly modern couple. They have been together for three years, but won’t cohabit, and lead independent social lives outside their (monogamous) relationship. The theory behind their twice-yearly relationship appraisal is simple. If the relationship is going well, they hammer out any problems and agree to reconvene six months later. If it’s going badly, either party can decide to walk away from it on the spot, without recriminations and with no, or fewer, hard feelings. It’s the romantic equivalent of an employment review at Enron: there’s always a chance someone will get the sack.

‘It started when we were having real problems,’ says Andy, 32. ‘We spent a long and fractious day hammering out all our grievances, and then said: ‘OK, maybe we can make a go of this, let’s review it again in six months’ time.’

When that came round, we still had problems but things had got better, so we gave it another six. And it carried on from there. Now, we’re scrupulous about it — twice a year — and if either of us has lost that loving feeling, we can finish it, no questions asked. But I don’t think that will happen soon.’

Taking a relationship in six-month chunks might seem an overly pragmatic way for people who sleep together to behave, but it’s part of a trend toward short-term thinking among ostensibly committed couples. It’s not a million miles away from the philosophy of another couple I know, for instance, who celebrate the passing of each year together with the sort of energy and extravagance that used to be reserved for important wedding anniversaries. And it has an echo in the down-to-earth realism of couples who base their cohabitation on short-term rental contracts and a clear understanding of what belongs to whom, rather than dreams of where the baby room might be.

According to Dr Elayne Savage, author of “Breathing Room: Creating Space to Be a Couple”, renewable relationships are further evidence of a modern ambiguity toward long-term commitment. ‘Renewable relationships might be the answer for those who are increasingly uncomfortable with total commitment,’ she says. `Many people want the companionship from a relationship and yet, at the same time, fear losing their independence. If many of us were honest, we’d acknowledge we are more or less marking time, that we have one foot in and one foot out. Sometimes that’s because other thoughts take up a lot of space in the relationship, such as fantasies about other people, fantasies about long-lost loves, fantasies we play out on the computer.’

And as that implies, one advantage of this sort of arrangement is that it’s never too long before you’re free to reciprocate those fleeting glances from the other side of the office, while still enjoying the financial and emotional advantages of coupledom. Renewable relationships are a practical manifestation of the mindset that American academic Bernard Farber identified over a decade ago as ‘permanent availability’. Even people in relationships like to stay on the market.

But to their advocates, there are other, less morally dubious, benefits. For a start, the practicalities of separation are less complex on a short-term contract, or when both parties know from the outset where the cat will end up.

Opposition to renewable relationships does not just come from social conservatives or religious zealots, though. Savage fears that, if a relationship is renewable, there’ll be a temptation not to renew it, even if it’s fundamentally sound. And, of course, the romantic view is that love just doesn’t work like that; only real commitment brings those full-on, blissed-out benefits. But for an increasing number of us, a relationship with an easy escape hatch is just a practical solution to a practical problem: if it all goes pear-shaped, we want the getting-out bit to be as pain-free as possible. The Guardian 

TRENDS & POINTERS

Special force to protect Bihar tourists

PATNA: Bihar plans to set up special police stations at its tourist sites to protect visitors, especially from touts looking to make a fast buck. Minister of State for Tourism Suresh Paswan said the government had decided to set up such police stations to create a tourist-friendly atmosphere. “Specially trained tourist police would be deployed at all these police stations,” Paswan said. Bihar has selected Bodh Gaya, Vaishali, Rajgir, Barabar and Patna as the first five sites for the special force. Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Barabar and Patna make up the core of the Buddhist circuit in Bihar. Vaishali and Patna make up one corner of the Jain pilgrim circuit.

The tourist police would be given lesson on their area’s history, especially on the significance of the Buddhist temples, monasteries and Bihar’s art and culture, officials said. The special force’s watch would begin at the points of arrival of visitors like the airport as well as railway and bus stations. The tourist police presence would be strong at the more popular historical sites. IANS

Health of Indians has improved: WHO

Indians have witnessed a commendable improvement in their health during the last decade with several of the health parameters, including life expectancy at birth and women’s overall life expectancy showing upward trends, a new United Nations report has said.

Life expectancy at birth over the period 1990-2000 has gone up by 0.2 years in just one year and stood at 60.08 years in 2001 as against 60.6 in 2000, the WHO report has said. Women’s overall life expectancy was higher — 61.7 years against 60 years for men. But in the younger age, the report estimated that 98 females per thousand births died as against 89 males, before reaching the age of five last year. However, as they grow up, women live longer. In the 15-59 age group, 291 males per 1000 died compared with 222 women. The fertility rate during the decade went down from 3.8 to 3.1 giving an annual growth rate of 1.8 per cent, it said.

The report revealed that the Healthy Life Expectancy (HALE) went up from 51.2 in 2000 to 51.4 last year with males expected to live 51.5 healthy years and females 53.3 years. The report also brought out the fact that the population of people above 60 was rising slowly. In 10 years between 1991 and 2000, the percentage of people above 60 rose from 6.9 per cent to 7.7 per cent for a population which was estimated to about 1.03 billion last year. India’s spending on health as percentage of the GDP has remained more or less stagnant during 1995-2000 with major expenditure done by private sector, while the government pooled in less than 19 per cent, the report pointed out. PTI

Knee replacement for worshippers

PATNA: A Britain-based NRI orthopaedic surgeon has invented a technique that will help worshippers with knee joint problems to kneel and pray. Dr Vinod Singh, who claimed to have invented the technique for knee replacement for those suffering from osteo-arthritis, said it would provide flexibility and help people in Asia who knelt while worshipping.

Singh, who hails from Bihar, is an orthopaedic consultant in England. Singh was here to participate in six-day-long 47th annual conference of the Indian Orthopaedic Association (IAO). “Muslims and Hindus suffering from serious knee joint problems may easily offer prayers by using my knee replacement technique”, Singh said.

He said most of the surgery techniques developed in the West did not provide flexibility for kneeling or bending that was needed for people in the East. IANS

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

A wise man, however — whether he has no desire at all or is actuated by all sorts of desires or seeks liberation (final beatitude) — should worship the Supreme Person with intense devotion.

— Shrimad Bhagavata

* * *

— Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Sri Rag M3, page 28