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Gory violence Quota
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Big
fish, bigger tackle
How long will the
boom continue?
Speech-struck
IN FOCUS
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Gory violence TWO unrelated incidents of gory violence on the same day, one in a tea garden in West Bengal and another in a small village in Uttar Pradesh, show what havoc a mob can cause in a fit of rage. The first took place in Dalgaon tea estate near Jalpaiguri. Enraged tea garden workers hacked to death 19 persons, including two women, and later burnt them at the house of a former CITU leader. At issue was the recruitment of three outsiders as “babus”. Tea gardens in West Bengal and Assam are passing through bad times. Many are on the verge of closure. Unemployment is rampant. Those working in this particular garden felt there were qualified locals to take care of the jobs. The ensuing clash escalated into firing, infuriating the mob into setting the house of the man responsible on fire. Such violent clashes have become a common event in the tea gardens. The government is oblivious of the situation. The short-sighted policy of allowing labourers owing allegiance to the unions floated by the ruling parties to indulge in terror tactics is the bane of the tea industry. Only now is the government waking up to the reality that the daily round of agitations, bandhs and violence has led to a flight of capital. The common worker has nowhere to go, fanning more bloodshed. This further frightens the industry. In Dostpur Shivli village of Unnao district in UP, damage caused to the paddy crop of a family by the goats of another sparked a conflagration. Seven members of a Dalit family were burnt alive in their house. The crime was perpetrated by the pradhan of the village and his supporters, who also happened to be from the Dalit community. Had the killers been from another caste, it could have led to a serious caste confrontation. The lesson in that is that what are usually portrayed as atrocities on a particular caste are at times nothing more than personal rivalries. |
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Quota quotient THE Supreme Court seems to have erred in a way in applying different yardsticks for providing reservation to various medicine courses. It ruled that while the ceiling of reservation should not exceed 50 per cent of the total seats for admission to MBBS and postgraduate medical courses, there should be no quota for superspeciality courses in medicine as reiterated in an earlier ruling by the court. If the apex court recognised the fact that merit should be the sole criterion for admission to superspeciality courses, that too in the era of liberalisation and globalisation, why can’t the same criterion be applied to MBBS and postgraduate courses as well? How different are the MBBS and postgraduate students when compared to their seniors in superspeciality courses? If the logic of merit should be applied to the latter, there is a stronger reason for applying the same to the former as it is the entry and most crucial level for doctors. Unfortunately, the apex court has missed an opportunity to correct a major flaw in the admission system. Reservations to any course, professional or non-professional, cannot be endorsed for the simple reason that a country that has the vision of becoming a major global power cannot forge ahead with doctors, engineers, scientists and civil servants entering the system through the backdoor of caste-based quotas. If reservations will have to continue to correct the age-old societal injustice, why not give the backward class candidates incentives and opportunities for developing themselves instead of compromising merit in the entrance examinations or job promotions? Sadly, our political masters at the Centre and in the states have been perpetuating the reservation system with a view to protecting their vote banks. The Supreme Court has, however, taken the right stand in recommending a common entrance test for determining the merit of the students for admission to MBBS and postgraduate courses. Owing to different admission systems prevailing in states, the students from various parts of the country were put to hardship. The common entrance test should, hopefully, attract the best talent in the country and fill the gap in the admission system. |
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Big fish, bigger
tackle AS an old Chinese saying goes, a stupid officer with a sense of humour produces good comedy. But an officer who forces others to take his stupid orders seriously creates a farce that can sometimes end in a tragedy. It is difficult to find the right slot for the group of officers of the Special Task Force set up at great public expense by the Karnataka government for nabbing Veerappan. It has now decided to use satellite cameras for tracking him down. The decision of the STF to use satellite cameras for tracking the elusive crook's movement may actually turn out to be as wise a move as any that have been taken so far for nabbing him. Since expenses do not seem to be a problem for sustaining the war against Veerappan, how about launching a satellite for keeping a heavenly watch on the activities of the sandalwood smuggler, elephant poacher and cold-blooded killer? The satellite may not help the task force, because men, not metal, bust crimes and nab criminals. But future generations will at least have a more authentic account of the life and time of Veerappan, minus the distortions that have been noticed in the subjective narration of Nakeeran's Editor, who has had the rare privilege of playing the role of messenger between the law and the outlaw. No great harm will be done to the cause if the authorities decide to seek the services of the surviving members of the cast of "Dad's Army", a rib-tickler of 1968-77 vintage produced by the BBC. Dad's Army's passion, more than mission, was to capture Hitler. If they are set upon Veerappan, they will produce either good news, by stumbling upon his hideout, or rich comedy. And at less cost than the public is being made to bear for witnessing the tragi-comedy of the STF. |
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If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success. — John D. Rockefeller |
How long will the boom continue? PREDICTING stock-market behaviour is perhaps the most foolhardy of tasks. Of all economic phenomena that occur, movement of share prices is arguably the toughest to anticipate or foresee — governed as these are by a host of non-rational emotional, psychological and subjective considerations. Be that as it may, questions naturally arise at this juncture as to whether the bullish phase in India’s stock exchanges can be sustained over the next few months, if not longer? Or, given the volatility displayed by share price movements in recent times, will the euphoria end sooner than expected? To what extent have the markets been influenced by the strong fundamentals of the economy? And to what degree is the current boom a consequence of hectic buying by foreign institutional investors? On November 3, the day Y Venugopal Reddy, the recently-appointed Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, announced its monetary and credit policy, the sensitive index of the Bombay Stock Exchange soared by 165 points to break the psychological barrier of 5,000. Such a gain was not just the highest rise since March 14, 2001. The sensex crossed the 5,000 mark for the first time since October 11, 1999. The index went on to touch its highest level in more than three and a half years, more specifically, since April 13, 2000.What market observers are now asking is whether or not the sensex would cross the 6,000 mark as it did on only one occasion in the past, namely on February 11, 2000. A few points should be noted in this context. The sensex is an index comprising only 30 of the most actively traded
The fact is that the shares of as many as around 10,000 firms are listed on the two dozen stock exchanges that exist in the country, all but a few of which are virtually defunct. On any given working day, between one million and two million transactions take place utilising the services of more than 10,000 registered brokers and sub-brokers. Now who determines how share prices move? Could it be the collective psychology of millions of small investors that determines the rise and fall of scrip values? Not a hope. Could it be the sentiments of representatives of large corporate bodies, banks, financial institutions, mutual funds and such players that exert an influence on markets? Only up to a point. Then, who indeed does determine in which direction the stock-markets move? The answer to this question is simple: they are the 500-plus foreign institutional investors (FIIs) who operate over 1,300 sub-accounts in India’s stock exchanges. An FII is an institution established or incorporated outside India that invests in securities in this country. A sub-account could include foreign corporate bodies, institutions, individuals, funds or portfolios established outside the country (whether incorporated or not) on whose behalf investments are made by an FII. Since September 1992, FIIs have been allowed to invest in Indian securities. The current bull-run as well as earlier bull-runs have been largely fuelled by FIIs. If one looks at the past decade, net cumulative investments by all FIIs have reached a figure in excess of $ 20 billion (or the equivalent of around Rs 1,00,000 crore). What is noteworthy is the fact that the involvement of FIIs in Indian stock markets has been steadily on the ascendancy. Till the end of April 2001, net cumulative investments by all FIIs were lower by less than a quarter of the amount at present or below $ 14 billion. In the current calendar year, FIIs have pumped in close to $ 5 billion into Indian markets, including $ 1.4 billion during the month of October alone. A number of research studies have indicated that the mood in the country’s stock exchanges is being increasingly determined by purchase and sale decisions of FIIs who often tend to act as a “herd” and that there is “significant correlation” between FII inflows and the movement of major indices like the BSE Sensex and the National Stock Exchange’s Nifty. Plot the net inflows of FIIs on a chart and the graph would be virtually a mirror-image of the movement of the Sensex or the Nifty. An analysis done by the watchdog of the capital markets, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has shown that around 14 per cent of the funds brought in by FIIs could be illegal money belonging to Indians who are bringing it back to the country following the strengthening of the rupee vis-à-vis the US dollar. Such funds are recycled either through the deployment of “participatory notes” (that conceal the identity of the real holder of the funds) or through overseas corporate bodies controlled by non-resident Indians. What is even more significant is that a study has shown that all FIIs put together hold as much as 30 per cent of the equity capital of the 10 largest Indian companies and nearly 20 per cent of the equity of the top 50 companies in the country. Domestic financial institutions like the Unit Trust of India, which used to be the movers and shakers of the stock markets not very long ago, are today playing a subservient role. At the same time, what cannot be denied is that if (thanks largely to a good monsoon) the real rate of growth of India’s gross domestic product increases by close to 7 per cent during the current financial year - as the RBI Governor pointed out - we could perhaps be fastest growing country in the world after China. In other words, it would be logical for large pension funds and other foreign investors to look towards Indian markets as a lucrative place to park their money. Still, the RBI Governor was cautious in the credit policy about a further lowering of interest rates and increasing liquidity in the financial system by increasing banks’ cash reserve ratio. This means Venugopal Reddy is worried not only about the Union Government’s high fiscal deficit but also about the possible impact of the deficit on inflation. Further, despite the fact that interest rates in nominal terms are at their lowest in 30 years, investments in greenfield projects are yet to pick up. To return to the question with which one started this article, how long will the bullish trend in share prices be sustained? Will victories for the Congress party in the elections to the assemblies of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi dampen investor sentiments? Will FIIs start booking profits as the calendar year draws to a close as they have in the past? Only time can provide answers to these questions. Till then, it would be prudent to keep your fingers crossed. |
Speech-struck THERE are public speakers and there is the public to be harassed by them! In this great country of ours there is hardly any occasion which is not an occasion for speech making. The other day I went to a classical music and dance programme and the half a dozen men on stage, including the local politician, continued speaking for full two hours before the programme could begin. By that time half of the audience had left and the dancers with their makeup drying on their faces had dozed off. In fact, I remember a funeral when a VIP had died in our area and as I went to his house to pay my last respects I found a politico gathering a small crowd of mourners around him and giving them a speech on the dead and death! But it is not politicians alone who love giving speeches; it seems to be a national obsession. Our writers and journalists are also giving speeches and not necessarily doing it better than the politicians. Then there are environmentalists, feminists, social activists, culture vultures et al, all busy making loud noises sound like deep thoughts! But the modern-day religious gurus have made a five-star culture out of speech making. They fly from one place to another, gather a number of rich and famous around them, live in swanky accommodations and give discourses to the not so famous and rich! From individual speech making to institutional speech making religious discourses and sermons have come a long way. There was a time when the likes of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa believed that practice is better than precept; today’s “babas” beg to differ. But there is nobody to beat the politician in doling out sheer twaddle as if it were the profoundest truth of life! A good way to describe most speeches of the politicians would be to quote Winston Churchill who had said of Lord Charles Beresford in the House of Commons — “Before they get up they do not know what they are going to say, when they are speaking they do not know what they are saying and when they sit down they do not know what they have said.” And they do not bother if the audience die of boredom in front of them. You may yawn, shuffle in your seats, clap at inopportune moments, keep looking at and tapping your watches to make certain they are going or show signs of terrible restiveness in any other way but the politician would go on and on. Such is the art of indifference carefully cultivated by him. The other day there were a number of speeches on our President’s speech in Parliament and a number of leaders gave long speeches taking sides on whether the speeches should be long. Finally our dear Atalji expressed himself in favour of short speeches; but he forgot to enlighten his companions of the fact that short speeches need preparation (which most leaders do not have) while long speeches require only effrontery (which leaders have in plenty)! Wasn’t Woodrow Wilson credited with this classic comment — “If you want me to speak for 10 minutes I shall come next week; if you want me to speak for an hour I will come tonight?” Right from the time we are born we are treated to speeches and sermons everywhere. Now even before birth “garbh sanskar” is being done through CDs. In such a speech-struck society what does a child do when he grows up? Obviously give speeches! |
IN FOCUS
WITH a building and general infrastructure that is the envy of many a medical college in the region, a relatively new campus and a student strength of 50 per class, Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32, Chandigarh, has a lot going for it, if only it were not for the problems it has been facing with members of the faculty, some of whom are unhappy with the recruitment and promotion rules. A high-level of cleanliness is what strikes a visitor to this complex that was set up in 1991 on the initiative of the then Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Harmohan Dhawan, who used his clout with the Chandra Shekhar government to push through the project. The GMC-32 focuses on teaching the MBBS students. Not even the PGI has this facility and, thus, there was a gap that this college has filled. It was precisely this plea that allowed the authorities to convert the proposed General Hospital in Sector 32 into a teaching hospital. The All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, gives instruction to the MBBS students. The college caters to only those students who have cleared the class XI and XII examinations from Chandigarh, and overall, the intake of students, who take the common entrance examination before coming in, is good. They say they receive far more individual attention than their counterparts in Punjab and Haryana, where often as many as three times these students study in a class. Right now, many classes are held in the serai building, which was originally built to provide attendants of patients with temporary accommodation. Modern buildings have been built on the adjoining campus and many departments have already been shifted there. Besides the MBBS, the college also offers various MD courses. Though the college dates back to 1991, its recruitment rules were only notified in 2003, which led to infighting within the faculty. Many members of the faculty are critical of the rules, which, according to them, will lead to further hardships. Especially criticised is the composite method under which promotees will have to compete not only against regular employees, but also against those on deputation. Various members of the faculty described how a person on deputation would have a “vested interest” in not promoting his junior, since the promotion would adversely affect his tenure. “Why would they give their juniors good annual reports, knowing that if the juniors were promoted in time, those on deputation would not be needed?” says a senior member of the faculty. Recruitment rules Dr H.M. Swami, Director-Principal of the college, when asked, said the recruitment rules were indeed neither transparent nor uniform. “There should be same rules for everyone,” he maintains, adding that he has been working towards that objective. This is a major issue with the faculty and there has even been litigation on it, but till now, no new transparent set of rules has been adopted. Various ad-hoc norms—promotion, composite method and open selection—have been used to make appointments, and what norm will be used for which appointment varies from case to case. This anomaly has bedevilled the institution and there have been allegations of interference by persons in the Chandigarh Administration. However, overall, the college can fairly claim that it does not have to face the kind of political interference that the other medical colleges in the region have to deal with. The Medical Council of India and the college had been at loggerheads whenever the former took exception to the number of persons on deputation, though “there is no such person on the faculty now,” according to Dr Swami. Other than the faculty, nurses and administrators, employees in the other departments are contractual and, according to various sources, the policy of recruiting such employees in the position of driver, ward attendant, laboratory assistant and so on has paid dividends in terms of the quality of service. Generally, a contract is for a year and extendable up to three years. There are two contractors who bid for these services. There are nearly 700 contractual employees in the college. Teach less theory The 110-strong faculty is hugely talented, say the students. They claim that the strength of the faculty is double the strength in most other colleges in the region, and the student strength is less than half. This should lead to the students getting more attention from the teachers, which is so most of the time, but the students say: “The teachers should give more time to students.” They also want the focus to be more on clinical study and less on theoretical study. There are nearly 140 senior residents and 65 junior residents. Patients admitted to the hospital said mostly it were the residents who took care of them, and many times, they did not get the attention of the doctors themselves, who were always too busy to attend to them. The hospital also trains students of homoeopathy, who say that the treatment that they get varies from individual to individual. “Some are kind, but many are brusque, as if we are a burden on the hospital,” said one group. Much of the nursing staff is not from the region and this makes it hard for the patients and the attendants to communicate with the nurses. Patients did not speak in glowing terms about the nursing staff. However, the helpful attitude of the administrative staff came in for a particular mention from the students, who said they did not experience the kind of problems that their counterparts faced in the other colleges. Finally, a CT scanner, which was to be installed in 1998, is being installed next month, though there is no MRI scanner as yet. Overall, the standard of equipment and its availability is good, since it is a new and well-funded institution with caters to only a limited number of students. Students from the previous batches, who are now studying for the MS degrees, have seen the transition. The college has been growing, and overall, the equipment is of the requisite standard, they say. They point out how the library has grown over the years. It has 6,800 books and is open till 10 pm. The books and the other reading material are adequate, given its age, and students have access to the Internet through three computers and Medline CDs updated till 2000. The employees in the library were helpful, the students said. Limited housing is available for the faculty, while most of the students are day scholars, and nearly 100 of them live in the hostels. The girls’ hostel has not had a regular canteen for the past one month, which has caused the students inconvenience. The girl students complain of a lack of recreational facilities in whatever little free time they get. Overall, the boarder said the schedule had not been made keeping their interests in view and it left them with little time to visit their families. The Website of the college needs updating, and has information that is outdated. If we were to go by the Website, Dr Mann is still the head of this medical college! Computerisation can indeed help the hospital become more efficient and it is on the cards, says the Principal, who adds that he is trying to decentralise his powers, but this move is in a nascent stage. What is really required is transparent, properly framed rules for recruitment and promotion. This would take care of a major source of discontent, but it is not for the head alone to do this; the Chandigarh Administration and related bodies should also play a role and help this medical college strengthen itself. |
It was He who created you from dust, making you a little germ, and then a clot of blood. He brings you infants into the world; you reach manhood, then decline into old age (though some of you die young), so that you may complete your appointed term and grow in wisdom. — The Koran Honour is attained not by appeasing others. It is gained and preserved only if God so blesses. — Guru Nanak Fame is a vapour; popularity an accident; riches take wings; the only certainty is oblivion. — Horace Greeley Unintelligible language is a lantern without light. — C. Simmons Dreams are real as long as they last. Can we say more of life? — Henry Havelock Ellis |
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