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Resignation, for what? Partners in progress |
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Fortress America
DMK gives up on NDA
Yuletide’s love and joy
A recognition for India’s IT sector: Karnik
From Pakistan
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Resignation, for what? MR Chagan Bhujbal resigned as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra owning up "moral” responsibility for the attack on the office of a television network by his supporters. Had they just carried the flags of the NCP, Mr Sharad Pawar and not Mr Bhujbal would have had to apologise for the incident. They carried the photographs of their leader to give him a valid "moral" reason for stepping down. The media, which could be spared of the attack and Mr Bhujbal’s so-called “moral responsibility”, can only hope that the Mumbai episode does set a trend for other politicians to follow for getting out of tricky situations they have a tendency to land in. When his name first cropped up during investigations of the fake stamp paper scam he tried the routine tricks of the trade. Step number one was to deny having anything to do with the scam, which may turn out to be the mother of most acts of political corruption in free India. The moment his name got clubbed with Abdul Karim Telgi, the main accused, he got himself admitted to a private ward of a plush hospital. That was meant to demonstrate to his detractors the "traumatic" effect of the accusation on his fragile health. Not that anyone is going to shed tears over Mr Bhujbal's fall from political grace, but Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has a personal reason to celebrate. The former Deputy Chief Minister had sworn to finish his boss while walking out of his sena of lumpen elements. As a Congress member and later an NCP leader he somehow managed to remain in the spotlight of controversy. If powerful vested interests do not manage to subvert the fake stamp papers investigation, and if Telgi survives the illness he is said to have suffered while in jail, an unspecified number of politicians and bureaucrats may find themselves in the dock. Whether Mr Bhujbal's name will figure in the list will be known only after the inquiry is completed. |
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Partners in progress THE Bill passed by Parliament on dual citizenship fulfils a long-pending demand of the non-resident Indians. Under the Bill, adults who were born to Indian citizens or former Indian citizens will be able to get Indian citizenship without having to forgo the citizenship of the countries in which they live. At present this facility is available only to some select countries. In other words, only a small percentage of the NRIs will be able to avail themselves of this facility. One reason why it cannot be extended to more countries is that those countries too should have no objection to their citizens holding dual citizenship. As it is, many countries abhor the idea of their citizens having extra-territorial loyalties. But then the idea of granting dual citizenship is not to promote such loyalties. As a rule, non-resident Indians do not want to forsake their Indian connections for emotional, cultural and social reasons. They cannot snap these ties just because they happen to live in foreign shores for reasons of job or occupation. The NDA government has been particularly indulgent towards the NRIs. Rules have been amended to enable such people to make investments in the country. And to take care of their needs on a regular basis, an Ambassador was also appointed. What's more, international conferences of PIOs are organised in New Delhi to crystallise these ideas. Critics of the dual citizenship policy see in it the BJP's desire to ingratiate itself to the NRIs, who have been among the most vociferous supporters of the party's Hindutva agenda. Whatever be the motivating factor, the facility should not remain open only to a select few. That the NRIs play a major role in the economic development of the country goes without saying. They are certainly entitled to some credit for the foreign exchange reserves crossing the $100-billion mark. They can play a greater role if they emulate the Chinese and use their resources for the country's development. There are sterling examples of individuals setting up educational institutions and hospitals and instituting scholarships to repay their indebtedness to the motherland. These need to be replicated on a large scale to make an impact on India's development. One can only hope that the Bill will serve this purpose. |
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Fortress America THERE was a time when it was called America the accessible. It is withdrawing inwards and into isolation. As if the visa requirements were not intrusive enough already, these are being made even more suffocating from January 5. Under the new entry-exit system, every visitor will be photographed and fingerprinted and checked against a national database for criminal backgrounds and any terrorist links. A few months later, all applicants for US visas at embassies and consulates-general around the world will have to provide fingerprints and a photograph – grandly named “biometric identifiers” – at the time of visa interview itself. All this is ostensibly being done to provide security. But what the policy planners seem to have forgotten is that in most parts of the world, fingerprinting is something which only criminals have to undergo. Meting out the same treatment to each and every visitor takes the security aspect a little too far. Visitors have already made their anger known. Young Europeans are thinking twice about visiting the US because they don’t want the hassle. They think it is better to go to France or Germany. According to The New York Times, some European diplomats also have started warning their American counterparts not to expect them in the US anytime soon if they have to submit to fingerprinting. What the Americans must realise is that they cannot turn the country into a fortress where they don’t let even birds fly. The horror of 9/11 has understandably turned the country extra cautious but such a massive setup may not be the right answer. Just as the US high-tech wizardry was unable to stop the World Trade Centre plane attack, the excessive dependence on “Big Brother is watching” apparatus may be misplaced. After all, hardcore terrorists do not always enter a country through legal channels, where they have to leave fingerprints for record. Nobody knows it better than India – and America must learn from its experience.
Why should you mind being wrong if someone can show you that you are?
— A.J. Ayer |
DMK gives up on NDA THERE is nothing surprising or unexpected about the decision of the Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) to quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ruling in New Delhi. Long before this denouement its shadows had been visible. Some may argue that what has taken place is not a divorce but separation. For, while announcing his party’s withdrawal from the Central government and from the NDA, the DMK supremo, Mr M. Karunanidhi, has added that it would continue to offer “issue-based support” to the NDA government “from outside”. This, however, is a mere camouflage. For, the DMK’s discontent with the BJP had crossed its threshold of tolerance nearly two years ago when the saffron party, particularly its Tamil Nadu unit, had started courting — politically speaking — the state’s strong-willed Chief Minister and the supreme leader of the AIADMK, Ms J. Jayalalithaa. The bitter rivalry between her and Mr Karunanidhi is shocking even for a country known for implacable personal hatred among its politicians. The DMK leader was only looking for a suitable occasion to walk out of the NDA. The BJP’s badmouthing of him over his demand for the repeal of the draconian POTA provided him with it. Why then has Mr Karunanidhi maintained a tenuous link with the NDA for the present at least? Obviously, for two reasons of which the more important seems to be his belief that this might offer him some “protection” against Ms Jayalalithaa’s capricious vindictiveness. Secondly, rather than make his breach with the NDA final and irrevocable at this stage, Mr Karunanidhi — in accordance with the long-established pattern of politics in this country — has chosen to keep all his options open for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. It is remarkable that, when asked whether he would contest the parliamentary poll in partnership with the NDA, he had answered that he could not say anything at this juncture. Whatever the causes of the DMK’s exit from the ruling combination at the Centre, there is no doubt that its consequences would be more than considerable. The complex and often volatile politics of Tamil Nadu has reached a turning point, and whatever turns and twists follow would have their impact on national politics, too. Obviously, the latest developments in Chennai have opened a window of opportunity for the Congress that is in a pathetic, indeed pitiable, state because of its shattering defeat in the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, followed by the drama of mass resignations by party functionaries and Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s quick rejection of these. In Tamil Nadu, the Congress has been in the political wilderness since 1967. For its presence in the Lok Sabha, it has been dependent on its alliance with and magnanimity of one Tamil party or the other. In 1996, the then Prime Minister and Congress president, Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao, had made the blunder of allying his party with Ms Jayalalithaa who was at that time hugely unpopular. In protest against this folly, the bulk of the Tamil Nadu Congress leaders, headed by Mr G. K. Moopanar, had left the party formed the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) and joined hands with Mr Karunanidhi and the DMK. Consequently, the rout of both Ms Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK and the Congress was complete. Mr Karunanidhi ruled supreme in Chennai for five years; in New Delhi the TMC became an important constituent of the Third Front government, led by Mr H.D. Deve Gowda first and then by Mr Inder Kumar Gujral. Typically, the BJP entered into an alliance with Ms Jayalalithaa in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections and this contributed to its ability to form a government in New Delhi. Ironically, she was primarily responsible for bringing this government down a year later by a single vote. During the fresh election that the country had to endure, Mr Karunanidhi and the DMK became the BJP’s valued allies. Now yet another change of partners in Tamil Nadu appears likely, perhaps almost certain. The Congress, in search of like-minded parties as allies after the drubbing it has received, has every incentive to join hands with the DMK. After his parting of the ways with the BJP, Mr Karunanidhi, too, has in the Congress the only mainstream all-India party he can align himself with. Even so, the Congress might find it embarrassing to follow this logical course because not so long ago it had accused the DMK of complicity in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination and pulled the plug on Mr Gujral’s government for his refusal to drop DMK ministers. This problem could be aggravated if, as seems most likely, Mr Karunanidhi would want the MDMK, the party of Mr Vaiko, to be a part of the wider “secular coalition”. Mr Vaiko, still in prison under POTA, is a much more vocal sympathiser of the LTTE that masterminded and executed the gunning down of Rajiv than any DMK leader. In spite of all this, however, reports from Chennai suggest that secret talks for an alliance are already taking place between the Congress and the DMK. The Tamil Nadu Congress chief now is Mr G. K. Vasan, a son of G.K. Moopanar, who had left the Congress to form the TMC. Like his late father, Mr Vasan has very friendly relations with Mr Karunanidhi and other DMK leaders. For his part, the DMK leader is painfully aware that association with the BJP has deprived him of the Muslim minority’s support. Because of several of her excesses — such as her onslaught on The Hindu, to say nothing of the court cases against her that the Supreme Court has had to transfer outside Tamil Nadu — Ms Jayalalithaa’s position has been eroded more than somewhat. The BJP’s presence in the state is still limited. A combination of the DMK, the Congress, the two communist parties and some Tamil groups would, therefore, pose a formidable challenge to a BJP-AIADMK partnership. This cannot but affect materially the composition of the next Lok Sabha that would, in all probability, be even more fragmented than the present one is. If the DMK can win, say, 25 seats, sharing about 10 or 12 with the Congress and some more with other allies, Mr Karunanidhi would be in the kind of commanding position that Mr Chandrababu Naidu, with 30 MPs behind him, has held during recent years. What this will mean for the Congress would depend on how well or badly it fares elsewhere, especially in North India where at present it is moribund. |
Yuletide’s love and joy THE food and good fellowship, the golden flames of Yule log and delicious cakes, bewitching greenery and fir trees, enormous gifts and greetings all commemorate different aspects of the festive season, especially, on Christmas. Fires and lights as a symbol of warmth and eternal life have always been associated with the winter festival both for Pagans and Christians. Since the middle ages, evergreens as symbol of survival have been associated with Christmas. The exchange of attractive cards has commercialised Christmas in such a way that the personal visit of goodwill, greetings as well as accosting has almost become obsolete or out of fashion. The first Christmas card is believed to have been designed in England in 1843. In the beginning it was disliked by Christians of Puritan morality and was considered as an act of sacrilege, antilegalistic or against the teachings of Christ but now a days the whole festive fervour depends on the fascinating beauty of commercialised Christmas cards of latest design. The Christmas tree is very common all over the world to decorate the houses. Likewise Christmas tree is evergreen usually a balsam. The use of evergreen trees on festivity or other occasions of significance was an archaic custom of Egyptians, Chinese and Hebrews. They also used wreaths and garlands as a symbol of prosperous life. The greenery is indeed the manifestation of nature, rather a precious gift with soothing effect. This has also been replaced with modern gadgets of computer devices shining with quick little gleam like the eyes of a gyrating damsel whose dimpled laugh enthralls countless on the way. By claiming boastful consumer culture, we cast off the slough of time honoured traditions, ways or beliefs which once enriched our heritage to be an exception. The Germans set up a “Paradise Tree” in their houses on December 24 that is celebrated as the religious feast day of Adam and Eve. The traditions and customs have developed from several sources as a result of the coincidence of the celebration of the birth of Christ with the Pagan agricultural and solar observances at mid winter. In the Roman world, the Saturnalia (December 17) was the time of merrymaking and exchange of gifts. December 25 was regarded the birth date of the Iranian mystery God Mithra, the Sun of Righteousness.....” I shall hear the echo of my prayers from Thy Abode of Songs”..... The post biblical traditions have now supplied names of the Astrologers or Magi or Wise men who visited baby Christ such as Casper, Melchior and Bathasar. Bathasar is believed from India because astrology was at its peak in those days. Others are surmised to have their origin in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and Persia (Iran) respectively. They were guided by the star because they did not know scriptural prophecy. It is accepted in toto that the Wise Men were the first to pay homage to baby Christ. The celebration of the nativity is attested in Rome in A.D. 336 (where Epiphany — January 6 — commemorated the visit of Magi). Although there are various theories on the selection of December 25 to be a Christmas day, the most widely accepted is that this date had already been a major Pagan festival, that of “Sol Invictus”, the birth of the “Unconquerable Sun making the winter solistice or the sun’s triumph over darkness. With the triumph of Christianity, Christmas replaced the Pagan festival. As I have mentioned in the beginning, Malaki also applied the Zoroastrian’s metaphor for Jesus as “The Sun of Righteousness”. Jesus’ unusually close association with downtrodden, crestfallen, women or innocent children and showing favourable attitude toward them in His later life and teachings both point toward a normal home and social life during his formative years. |
A recognition for India’s IT sector: Karnik
INDIA hopes to generate billions by keeping awake when the US works. And losing no time are the IT-enabled services and software companies that are lobbying for US business in a positively aggressive way. Their task is tough: to promote India but without giving room for resentment. Leading this initiative is none other than the President of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), Mr Kiran Karnik. Premier American business magazine, Forbes, which recently selected Karnik as the “Face of the Year”, calls him as “the man trying to direct the path of offshoring”. For the man himself, it means a lot about the Indian IT industry and software professional fraternity, which has been primarily instrumental in bringing about a paradigm shift in the country’s development growth path. “To me this is a sign of recognition that India has arrived on the world stage. It is a recognition of the maturity of the Indian IT industry of coming of age of the sector in the global arena”, he told The Tribune on Wednesday. Despite the growing global backlash against outsourcing of call centre and back office operations to India, the country seems to be emerging as a preferred destination for many a firm in the UK and the US. The Nasscom chief feels that the problems presently confronting the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) segment could continue to linger on for some time to come. “These are not going to go away even as we may wish these should. It is partly related with the growth in the US economy as it has got connected with the loss of jobs in that country. The pressures and pulls are going to be there. And with the US facing an election next year, it appears, it is going to be bit of a political issue”, he observed. Significantly, Mr Karnik’s selection by Forbes as the `Face of the Year’ comes during a year when the Indian IT sector, particularly the IT Enabled Services (ITES) and the BPO segment, was facing a lot of flak in the Western world as it was held responsible for reducing employment in those countries. Nasscom has projected that despite the growing backlash, the momentum seen by the Indian companies in ramp-ups and client addition will be sustained in the coming days as the economic logic of outsourcing jobs to India is strong enough. Mr Karnik believes that a lot needs to be done to keep the momentum going. “We have to maintain our competitiveness. There are several important aspects that we need to address on an urgent basis. First, at no cost can we allow erosion of the competitiveness of our human resource, which is the basic raw material in the IT sector. While there is no problem in the short term, it could of critical importance in the medium to long term. We have to make sure that quality of our graduates in software and other streams continue to maintain the same level of proficiency”, he pointed. The second important aspect, he said, was that of the support infrastructure. “Power supply is one example of this. While everybody has a standby in case of a power failure, poor supply only reduces our cost efficiency”, the Nasscom chief observed. The recent acquisition of an Australian firm by Infosys has been termed as a landmark development. For many, this acquisition is a sign of maturity of our IT companies, their coming of age as it were, when they do not have to compete on the basis of wages alone. Karnik concurred with this opinion and said that more and more such acquisitions by Indian companies would happen in the times to come. “I think we are going to see more such acquisitions. This reflects the moving forward and more broadbased organic growth of Indian companies by entering new markets”, he said. The IT sector continues to remain fragmented with the top five companies - TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Satyam and HCL Infosystems - contributing just one-fifth of the sales of the entire IT sector. Though companies such as Silverline, DSQ Software, Trigyn, Pentasoft and NIIT have witnessed a decline in sales, the share of the top IT companies in the industry’s revenues has not changed. Obviously, other companies are growing at higher than industry rates, thus preventing the share of the top IT companies from increasing. Mr Karnik believes that “there is a beginning of the trend that smaller companies are driving volumes in IT space.“ Some of them are beginning to do exceedingly well and companies such as Cognizant and Mphasis are an example of this phenomenon and they are new rising stars in the IT horizon. While in the short run, say for a period up to five years, the top five companies will continue to dominate, in the medium and short term, from a period between five and 10 years, we could see some interesting churning take place in the industry”, he said. Mr Karnik also believes more and more Indian IT companies are beginning to become multinational corporations (MNCs) in the true global sense of the term by bridging the cross-cultural divide. “Signs of this are already there and even companies such as NIIT, apart from Infosys and Wipro, are well on track to becoming MNCs. Many Indian IT companies today are operating from multiple locations and they have development centres and not just sales offices. For becoming an MNC, a company needs to draw talent globally, which these companies are doing. ”, he said. |
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From Pakistan ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has reiterated his government’s commitment to continue efforts for the stability and continuity of the democratic system in the country. He was speaking at a meeting with party heads of the allies of the Pakistan Muslim League at the Prime Minister’ House here on Tuesday. The Prime Minister took the allies into confidence with regard to the understanding reached with the MMA leadership recently on the issue of constitutional amendments. He said an amicable settlement between the government and the Opposition augured well for the future of democracy in the country. He hoped that the political atmosphere would undergo a pleasant change as a result of the Treasury-Opposition understanding, and parliament would be able to concentrate on its job of legislation. —
The Dawn. Incorrect information
troubles airlines
LAHORE: The weather reporting division of the Civil Aviation Authority (CIA) for air traffic control at Lahore Airport is allegedly providing incorrect information to the airline operators intended to land in, causing enormous financial loss to the airlines for undue diversion to other airfields. Sources disclosed that one PK-391, operating from Rawalpindi to Lahore and scheduled to land at Lahore Airport at 8.20 pm, was given incorrect weather report on December 20. The staff at the weather reporting division of CAA gave information to the aircraft that visibility at the airport was 1.5 km. But the aircraft, on the contrary, reported to the control tower that the airfield was visible from nine nautical miles, a distance much more than 1.5 km, and landed safely. It may be noted that the weather forecast for the same aircraft at the time of departure from Rawalpindi was that the visibility would reduce to 800 metres at Lahore Airport. — The Nation Real estate business
in chaos
LAHORE: The real estate business is once again a shambles as a steep decline has been noticed in the buying trend during the last few months, said market sources. “Though an effort is under way to hold the dwindling prices of the developed as well as underdeveloped plots in different areas of the city over the last one month, still the genuine buyer is looking miles away from the commission agents of real estate builders,” the sources added. Cost-cutting measures have recently been adopted in a number of real estate offices where the managerial staff has been slashed down to meet the changing business environment. — The Nation NWFP to preserve
historical assets
PESHAWAR: The MMA government in Frontier has rebuffed any Taliban-like drive to destroy statues of the Buddha but showed its commitment to preserve historical assets throughout the province. “We are keen to preserve our historical assets for the future generations,” NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani said while addressing the inaugural function of an Islamic gallery at Peshawar Museum. He assured full support of the Frontier government for the protection of historical sights and having new museums in different parts of the province. —
The News International |
As little as humanity will ever be without religion, as little will it be without Christ. — Strauss Woe and weal are all in God’s will. — Guru Nanak O Bhavani, I remember You who is the cause of samsara, who is the mother and the father, the granter of auspiciousness who stalls evils, who stopped the sacred fire ritual, whose form itself is auspiciousness, who is the mother, and the one who carries the great bow, Trayambaka. — Shri Adi Shankaracharya There is only one standard by which we all can measure our values: the guidance which the Lord brings for each age. — Baha’u’llah Each work has to pass through these stages — ridicule, opposition, and then acceptance. Each man who thinks ahead of his time is sure to be misunderstood. So opposition and persecution are welcome, only I have to be steady and pure and must have immense faith in God, and all these will vanish. — Swami Vivekananda |
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