O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

Needless fears 
Outsourcing is not bad for US
THE US outsourcing alarm is, no doubt, poll driven with Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry leading the pack in expressing exaggerated fears over job losses. India’s gain is not at the cost of America’s pain. 

Jaya’s wealth case
SC should now ensure speedy trial
TUESDAY'S Supreme Court ruling dismissing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s appeal, seeking the transfer of two disproportionate assets cases against her and four others from Karnataka to another state is welcome.

Fodder for thought
Only Mungeri Lal cannot become PM
NEVER dismiss a politician's claim lightly. Specially if he answers to the name of Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav. He told Doordarshan News that he will "definitely" become Prime Minister one day.

• Thought for the day

ARTICLE

No end to resistance
Is Iraq heading towards civil war?
by Maj-Gen Ashok K. Mehta (retd)
IS Iraq slipping into civil war? In a shift in strategy, the Iraqi resistance is targeting all the three communities: Shias, Sunnis and Kurds. On two successive days recently, 100 Iraqis were killed, mostly security forces, coinciding with the visit of the UN team to assess the prospects for an election.

MIDDLE

‘Moneyvaadi’, not ‘Manuvaadi’
by Shriniwas Joshi
OUR scriptures say that the world is an illusion — “maya”, so do not run after money. But Vic Oliver thinks that man is always gauged by money. A man running after money is money-mad. A man keeping the money with him is a capitalist.

OPED

Improper disposal of dead animals
Region needs more carcass utilisation centres
by Aditi Tandon
IN the absence of proper dumping sites, carcasses are left in the open in Chandigarh’s periphery, often close to residential areas, threating public health, the environment and flight safety. Until December 8 last year, carcasses were officially dumped in the open in the Indira Colony area of Manimajra.

Breathing in four stages — Taoist style
by Barefoot Doctor
I USED to go for a 5km run every day. It was one of the most pleasurable addictions I could ever imagine. T’ai Chi is unquestionably sublime and yoga fundamental, but there’s nothing that beats a good 5km run o’er hill and dale of a morning to make you feel high as a kite.

IT jobs face realignment
by Ashok Easwaran
A small but vocal group of American columnists and economists, among them Prof Jagdish Bhagwati, has asserted that the hysteria over outsourcing to countries like India is based on exaggerated fears.

REFLECTIONS

EDITORIALS

Needless fears 
Outsourcing is not bad for US

THE US outsourcing alarm is, no doubt, poll driven with Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry leading the pack in expressing exaggerated fears over job losses. India’s gain is not at the cost of America’s pain. Companies move jobs to low-cost countries because of their own cost-cutting compulsions. Besides, only 2 per cent of India’s software revenue of 10 billion comes from the US. The issue has provoked analysts and columnists, among them Prof Jagdish Bhagwati, to tell the American political leadership that the hysteria over offshoring may be good politics, but it is bad for their economics.

Had the anti-outsourcing noises remained confined to the US elections, India need not have worried. But these are being followed by legislation at the federal as well as state level. There is also a talk of tax incentives for US companies that keep their jobs within the country. Besides, on the pretext of data security, the US government is now considering a ban on outsourcing of financial services. Trade unions in Britain too are becoming more strident over the misplaced fears of job losses. There is no better way of countering all this than by launching a media campaign that outsourcing is in their own interest. Informed commentators are already doing this. Now the Indian government too has initiated steps to “sensitise the media, think-tanks and legislators in the US and Britain on the actual dynamics of outsourcing”. Someone should educate John Kerry also; he is worried for no reason.

Jaya’s wealth case
SC should now ensure speedy trial 

TUESDAY'S Supreme Court ruling dismissing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s appeal, seeking the transfer of two disproportionate assets cases against her and four others from Karnataka to another state is welcome. The court has rightly dismissed her plea to transfer the case to Pondicherry, Kerala or Andhra Pradesh. Clearly, the grounds on which she had sought the transfer of the case were unrealistic and not based on facts. There is nothing wrong in the relations between the people of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which are warm. The courts in Karnataka are functioning properly. It was unfair on Ms Jayalalithaa’s part in raising the Cauvery issue and the question of her security before the court to justify the transfer of her case from Bangalore. The Karnataka government has already constituted the special court in Bangalore. A special judge has also been appointed. In addition, the translation of voluminous trial documents from Tamil to Kannada is nearing completion. There is indeed no valid reason for the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to seek the transfer of the case.

Now that the Supreme Court has cleared the decks for Ms Jayalalithaa’s trial at Bangalore, the special court should expedite the Rs 66-crore case. As Ms Jayalalithaa is the head of the Tamil Nadu government, she should avail herself of the opportunity to face the trial and get herself acquitted. Otherwise, her moral authority to continue in office will be in question. The Supreme Court had transferred the disproportionate wealth case from Tamil Nadu to Karnataka only because the trial was not proceeding fairly. The court’s ruling that the cause of justice was subverted by the Tamil Nadu government exposed Ms Jayalalithaa’s attempts to buy time and evade justice. Further, even though she has been acquitted in the Tansi land deal case, the Supreme Court has ruled that her conduct in that case was unbecoming of the high public office she holds. Let the Karnataka special court do its job without hindrance. 

Fodder for thought
Only Mungeri Lal cannot become PM

NEVER dismiss a politician's claim lightly. Specially if he answers to the name of Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav. He told Doordarshan News that he will "definitely" become Prime Minister one day. The joke could be on those who doubled up with laughter when he declared himself as the future political top boss of a country of over a billion people. The only assertion that could have justified a gentle smile was the one about "I am not going to die early". Wish him long stay in this world and sweet dreams.

Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav’s plans are tentative for various reasons. It is possible others wanting to be Prime Minister are one too many. Among the current crop of former Prime Ministers only Mr V. P. Singh and Mr Inder Kumar Gujral may not want to repeat the experience. But Mr Chandra Shekhar and Mr H.D. Deve Gowda have reached a point in their political life where they have nothing to lose by showing interest in the assignment of leading the country again. Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Ms Mayawati and Ms Jayalalithaa are the ladies-in-waiting for the top job just in case the BJP and its partners in the NDA leave some scope for their rivals. It must be remembered that in a functioning democracy anyone can become Prime Minister. Just about anyone, with the exception of the much reviled Mungeri Lal.

Thought for the day

I am not only witty in myself, but the cause that wit is in other men. 

— William Shakespeare

ARTICLE

No end to resistance
Is Iraq heading towards civil war?
by Maj-Gen Ashok K. Mehta (retd)

IS Iraq slipping into civil war? In a shift in strategy, the Iraqi resistance is targeting all the three communities: Shias, Sunnis and Kurds. On two successive days recently, 100 Iraqis were killed, mostly security forces, coinciding with the visit of the UN team to assess the prospects for an election.

The third Iraq war has entered the 11th month though Operation Iraqi Freedom ended on April 9, 2003, and President George Bush announced “Mission Accomplished” on May 1. Only one part of the mission, the capture of Saddam Hussein, has been achieved. Regime change and WMDs, core causes for the war, have not materialised. On the other hand, a low intensity conflict and terrorism that were initially neither recognised nor acknowledged have engulfed Iraq. Guerrilla attacks, car bombs, suicide strikes and human bombers have entered the fray. The war after the war has moved from the Sunni triangle north of Baghdad, first to the Shia centre skirting the south and then north. It has spared no one, especially the collaborators of the occupation forces.

Till February 13 as many as 530 US soldiers had been killed since the start of the war on March 20 last year. The number of wounded has crossed the 1300 mark. This does not include the nearly 100 casualties for coalition partners. At least 3000 civilians are reported killed and 7000 wounded (the true figures may never be known). Many of the civilian casualties were due to the air campaign of shock and awe. The human cost of this war will never be known.

The guerrilla war has become deadly. November 2003 was the bloodiest. At least 104 coalition soldiers were killed in a single month, US topping with 79 fatalities. The resistance, grown from 500 in July 2003 to around 5000 now, was staging 33 attacks a day. These are down to 25 a day. January 2001 was the worst month in the 15-year-long proxy war in J&K, but Indian security forces faced on an average a mere three attacks a day losing 30 Army soldiers that month and 240 for the year. The capability of the resistance needs to be measured more by its motivation than the availability of destructive hardware. WMDs may not have been found but caches of conventional weapons and ammunition are strewn in abundance.

3 Infantry Division, which spearheaded the capture of Baghdad during the mopping-up operations, alone found 2.5 million hand-held weapons, 50,000 heavy machine guns, 10,000 grenades, 50,000-rocket propelled grenades and 20,000 mines. Dozens of arms dumps were destroyed. The resistance forces are using the ones not found.

When US Special Forces captured Saddam on December 12, 2003, most analysts felt that the resistance would peter out. Quoting Egyptian writer Sayyed Nassar, who interviewed Saddam three weeks before the invasion of Iraq, Gulf News reported on December 16 that Saddam’s humiliation would sharpen Iraqi appetite for revenge against occupation forces. Iraq has opened a new front for terrorism. Signs are that far from crumbling, the underground forces are gaining ground. The capture of a top Al-Qaida leader, Hassan Gul by Kurdish forces in northern Iraq last week, shows that the faithful are converging in Iraq. While the Iraqi resistance is fighting the guerrilla war, Al-Qaida is orchestrating terror attacks. The Iraqi Army and the Republican Guards did not stand and fight but melted away, perhaps to fight as resistance forces another day.

In the dust and din of suicide bombings, one should not forget that the US-led coalition forces fought a swift and sharp war capturing Baghdad in three weeks and liberating Iraq. The only deterrent was the fear that Saddam might use WMDs. The row over the imagined possession by Saddam of WMDs has reignited the debate over the political manipulation of intelligence to justify the intervention in Iraq.

Operation Iraqi Freedom was characterised by bold and imaginative use of mechanised and special forces. For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the US committed its ground forces without a preparatory bombing campaign, and unlike in Afghanistan, minus the equivalent of a Northern Alliance. The coalition forces cleared all of Iraq, from Basra to Mosul, unlike just Kabul and Kandahar in Afghanistan.

The military advance to Baghdad, nearly 600 km in two weeks, was the fastest in recent military history. After the coalition forces seemingly being stalled for a week, Baghdad reappeared in the crosshairs of the coalition forces on account of three events: The commando action at Karbala, capture of Saddam international airport and the three consecutive reconnaissance missions into Baghdad that resulted in its capture. Commanders intuitively sensed opportunities and exploited them. The operational mantra was: speed, flexibility, audacity and decentralisation.

Lt-Gen AAK Niazi, the overall commander of the Pakistani forces in East Pakistan who surrendered to the Indian Army in 1975, died last week. There is an uncanny resemblance between the wars in East Pakistan in 1971 and Iraq in 2003. After 9/11 the war in Iraq was inevitable. Similarly, after the military crackdown in East Pakistan in 1970-71 and the influx of 10 million refugees into India, a military showdown was certain. The US had been planning the war since the end of the second Gulf War in 1991. The 13 years of US sanctions and no-fly regime was in effect the continuation of war by other means. India took 10 months to stage-manage its diplomacy and military operations.

Like the secret Operation Southern Focus in Iraq that was fought between June 2002 and March 2003, just before Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Indian-trained and Indian-led Mukti Bahini operated inside East Pakistan for roughly the same duration. India intervened in East Pakistan without a UN sanction, much like the unilateral action by the coalition forces in Iraq, though many argue that India was invited by the Bangladesh government in exile.

The similarities between the military operations in Iraq and East Pakistan are also striking. Thrust lines converged on Baghdad and Dacca respectively. Both were prized objectives. Psychological warfare was a force multiplier in both campaigns. Both sought regime change and liberation from tyrannical rule. But there were differences too. Unlike the Iraqis, the Pakistan military put up stiff resistance. While the US enjoyed air supremacy, India had only air superiority. India did not carry out an indiscriminate campaign of shock and awe. In fact, Dacca was merely buzzed, not bombed, while Baghdad was devastated. Indian forces had full local support and an eye on hearts and minds. The coalition forces had little or no support. No wonder, Maj-Gen Nazir Husain Shah, GoC, Pakistan 16 Infantry Division in Bogra, said after the surrender that India “won because it had fought a righteous war”. The Indian Army pulled out of Bangladesh within weeks to avoid the badge of an occupation force.

The war refuses to stop. Iraqi under the occupation forces is fast becoming a breeding ground for terrorist groups. Given the strength of the resistance, the restoration of normalcy, holding of elections and a reduction of US forces before the Presidential election are a tall order. The ultimate irony of Iraq, like that of Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia and others, is that you end up reconstructing what you have destroyed. The situation in Iraq will be a lot worse before it can get any better.

MIDDLE

‘Moneyvaadi’, not ‘Manuvaadi’
by Shriniwas Joshi

OUR scriptures say that the world is an illusion — “maya”, so do not run after money. But Vic Oliver thinks that man is always gauged by money. A man running after money is money-mad. A man keeping the money with him is a capitalist. He who spends it is a playboy. He who doesn’t get it is a never do well. He who doesn’t try to get it lacks ambition. If he gets it without working for it, he is a parasite; and if he accumulates after a lifetime of hard work, people call him a fool who never got anything out of life.

Alexander Pope, you were a futurist.

OPED

Improper disposal of dead animals
Region needs more carcass utilisation centres
by Aditi Tandon

Carcasses decay in the open, right next to a residential area in Mauli Jagran, near Chandigarh. — Tribune photo by Manoj Mahajan

IN the absence of proper dumping sites, carcasses are left in the open in Chandigarh’s periphery, often close to residential areas, threating public health, the environment and flight safety. Until December 8 last year, carcasses were officially dumped in the open in the Indira Colony area of Manimajra. After this land was acquired for the Chandigarh Information Technology Park project, the contractors had no place to dispose of dead animals.

There is sufficient raw material for a CUC in Chandigarh. The number of large and small animals slaughtered per day is 250 and 500, respectively. The average yield from large animals is 8 kg per day, while from smaller ones it is 0.2 kg per day. The total yield from dead animals per day in Chandigarh has been roughly worked out at 5,200 per kg per day. The total raw material available for processing in a CUC per day in the UT will be 8,300 kg per day. Experts suggest the figures are extremely viable economically.

Breathing in four stages — Taoist style
by Barefoot Doctor

I USED to go for a 5km run every day. It was one of the most pleasurable addictions I could ever imagine. T’ai Chi is unquestionably sublime and yoga fundamental, but there’s nothing that beats a good 5km run o’er hill and dale of a morning to make you feel high as a kite.

Once the rhythm’s engaged, the air passing in and out should sound something like, ‘Hhm-hhm, Whh-whh’. If using four-stage breathing while walking or running, time each stage to coincide with a footstep, as in ‘Hhm’ and step, ‘Hhm’ and step, ‘Whh’ and step and ‘Whh’ and step. If lifting, pushing or pulling something heavy, simply set up a moderately fast four-stage breathing tempo and keep doing it until the action is successfully completed. If using it while having sex, something the male of the Taoist species has practised for the past 5,000 years or so to help control ejaculation, keep the breathing tempo slow and steady. — The Guardian

IT jobs face realignment
by Ashok Easwaran

A small but vocal group of American columnists and economists, among them Prof Jagdish Bhagwati, has asserted that the hysteria over outsourcing to countries like India is based on exaggerated fears.

With the tempo of the US presidential election campaigning picking up, the cries against outsourcing have become more strident as political hopefuls try to outdo each other in their intention to “protect American jobs”.

India-born Jagdish Bhagwati, Professor at Columbia University, called the outcry a case of bad economics. Referring to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry’s speeches, Bhagwati wrote in the New York Times that “his economics is faulty. The practice only adds to the overall economic pie and improves the competitiveness of American companies.

“In a world economy, firms that forgo cheaper supplies of services are doomed to lost markets, and hence production. And companies that die out, of course, do not employ people.”

“The fact is that when jobs disappear in America it is usually because technical change has destroyed them, not because they have gone anywhere. In the end, American ever-increasing dependence on an ever widening array of technology will create a flood of high-paying jobs requiring hands on technicians, not disembodied voices from the other side of the world.”

Some economists have said it was ironic that America, which has so stridently preached the gospel of free trade, should move towards protectionism.

Columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote in the New York Times: “The alarm seems overwrought — and dangerous — for it is likely to fuel calls for protectionism. A dozen years ago there was a similar panic about high tech jobs going abroad, and people said that Asia would be making computer chips while Americans produced potato chips.”

A study by Catherine Mann of the Institute for International Economics draws parallels with the apprehension among American autoworkers when the door was opened to Japanese cars. Mann concluded that outsourcing raised American productivity, gave the economy a boost, increased foreign demand for US products and left America better off.

“If some kinds of work can be done just as well for a lot cheaper somewhere, that is where US companies will go to get their work done. If we (in America) don’t like that, then it is time to return our iPods (assembled in Taiwan), cell phones (manufactured in Korea) and our J Crew shirts (sewn in Indonesia). We can’t have it both ways,” one economist said.

Others noted that what makes it so disorienting for Americans is not just the change but its speed. After the agricultural era of 80 years, industrial jobs endured for about 50 years before the twin pressures of cheap competition overseas, and labour saving automation rewrote the rules again. IT jobs are facing realignment after only 20 years.

Columnist Kristof said the outsourcing scare should be an opportunity for Americans to “bolster our second rate education system”. An Indian friend of his had told him, Kristof said, that children in Bangalore learn algebra in elementary school, leaving the average middle class child in Bangalore with a much higher grounding in math and science that the average kid in the US.

Wired magazine notes that Indian companies like Hexaware have scored a Level 5 rating from Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute — the highest international standard a software company can achieve. The message - Indian software services score not just in price but quality too.

Wired quoted from an interview with Aparna Jairam, a project manager at Hexaware Technologies in Mumbai, who was “doing a $70,000-a-year US programmer’s job for the wages of a (US) Taco Bell counter clerk”.

Noting that many Indians can quote verses from the Bhagwad Gita, “which gives advice on how to survive and more important how to live” Wired says: “One stanza from the Geeta seems apt in this moment of fear and discontent.” It is Krishna’s advice to Arjuna on the battlefield: “Your very nature will drive you to fight. The only choice is what to fight against.” — IANS

REFLECTIONS

However poor the offering, if it is made with love and earnestness, it is acceptable to the Lord. The way to the Highest is not by way of subtle metaphysics or complicated ritual. It is by sheer self-giving, which is symbolised by the offer of a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water. What is necessary is a devoted heart.

— Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in The Bhagavad Gita

If you go on working with the light available, you will meet your Master, as he himself will be seeking you.

— Shri Ramana Maharshi

Whatever God willed, has come to pass; for, there is no other Doer except Him.

— Guru Nanak

The best and noblest lives are those which are set towards high ideals. And the highest and noblest ideal that any man can have is Jesus of Nazareth.

— Almeron

Hypocrisy, the only evil that walks invisible, except to God alone.

— Milton