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Hurry up, Hurriyat Power can’t be
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People’s computer Focus on functions reduces cost The dream of inexpensive computers is now turning into a reality. We will soon have computers costing less than Rs 10,000 with the essential features of a regular personal computer, including the software for word processing, spreadsheet, personal information manager, e-mail and web-browser.
When TV errs
The story of two
graves
Bush’s
demand for Russian apology US to raise
nurses’ quota Delhi
Durbar
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Power can’t be free Forced
by the worsening power crisis and an unobliging Centre, the Maharashtra Government has decided to stop free power to the state’s 25 lakh farmers from June 1. The Sushilkumar Shinde government used the free power gimmick to win the October 2004 assembly elections. The Deshmukh government has not let down the farmers altogether and will subsidise power to them by paying Rs 1,200 crore to the Maharashtra State Electricity Board annually. Still Tuesday’s decision will save the state Rs 500 crore a year. It does not require an expert to explain how free power can be ruinous to a power board. The Punjab State Electricity Board stands as a testimony to that. If given free, power or water are used recklessly, depleting the scare resources. Still populism prevails and voters allow themselves to be befooled. Andhra Pradeh and Tamil Nadu are now the only states in the country to persist with the free power folly. In the past few weeks Maharashtra, including commercial hub Mumbai, has witnessed frequent power disruptions due to the demand-supply
mismatch. The state faces a power deficit of 3,500 MW. Over the years after a disastrous deal with the now defunct US multinational Enron, the state has failed to tap other power sources as petty politics came first and power pilferage remained unchecked. In one year alone — 1999-2000 — the extent of power theft doubled. Now when the situation has turned grimmer, the state expects a Central bailout to tide over the current shortage and revive the Dabhol power project. The dark power scenario is not confined to Maharashtra. Most state utilities are nearly bankupt, lacking resources to generate additional power to meet the growing demand from industry, agriculture and households. Also, there is widespread apprehension about the efficacy of the reforms with vested interests vehemently opposing them. The Centre has passed the Electricity Act, 2003, to guide state power reforms, but political will is missing and populism is resorted to for short-term goals like winning an election. |
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People’s computer The
dream of inexpensive computers is now turning into a reality. We will soon have computers costing less than Rs 10,000 with the essential features of a regular personal computer (PC), including the software for word processing, spreadsheet, personal information manager, e-mail and web-browser. Mobilis, a Linux-based mobile desktop and two of its variants — Mobilis Wireless and Sofcomp, an ultra-compact desktop — would play music and movies, have a text-to-speech conversion facility and a built-in support for Kannada, Hindi and Marathi. According to Encore Software, a Bangalore-based firm that has, with the government’s support, made the machine, the low-cost computer will have no hard disk but built-in memory and the facility to plug in memory cards for more storage. It will run on rechargeable batteries. Encore’s earlier venture into hardware was Simputer, which has now found defence and other applications. Though these computers set new benchmarks, there have already been some inexpensive ones in the market, especially those marketed by Xenitis and Celetronix. It seems these companies have hit on the right formula of bridging the digital gap by making a functional computer, rather than an aspirational product. Basic users like students, small shop-owners and educational institutions will find these machines useful. Encore’s computer will not have the facility to play games, which will enhance its value in the eyes of parents, though it might make it unattractive to some young users. Computers need not be all-in-one machines that do everything. These should be functional aids. The recent initiative has helped to show that India is not only a globally recognised software services powerhouse, but it can also combat the handicap of high input costs and tax rates for hardware by innovative thinking and using low-cost software. Computer prices in India have followed the global pattern and have been coming down. With the introduction of the new machine, it can be said that the PC has now become the people’s computer. |
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Striking manners are bad manners. — American proverb |
When TV errs
The
hue and cry raised about TV contents a decade ago was concerning violence and vulgarity. We now seem to have reconciled to that fact. For, the concern now is about immoral and obscene contents. With the multiplication of music channels and the launch of DTH platforms recently, more civil society groups are joining the chorus for some pro-active initiative to curb such uninhibited tendency of TV channels. With such contents getting added now in regional languages, as if in competition with “foreign music channels” being downlinked in the country, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting itself has taken the initiative by holding consultations with stakeholders to find ways of curbing such trends. As a nation we need to realise that television as a medium and its contents, more specifically, have far more implications for the viewing public with long-term impact at the individual and societal level. Peculiarities of TV are different from those of the print media in terms of use, contents and influence, particularly on vulnerable sections like women and children, who constitute three-fourths of all viewers in the country. All channels should do something about basic “national issues” (like illiteracy and healthcare problems) as an obligation. A broad list of such concerns or issues can be formulated by the TV channels themselves from time to time, taking cue from the Constitution, national policies etc. But it should be left to individual channels to use their own ingenuity as to what. When or which issues they need to highlight. Some of the channels have, in fact, been doing so. Decency (of programmes) is concerned with the sensitivities of the people — both the viewing public and the larger society. If telemarketing on cell phones is “invasion into privacy and amounts to harassment”
of subscribers, as the Supreme Court has observed, TV programmes could be several times more of that to the viewers. Creativity without concern is a misnomer. They are two sides of the same coin. The landmark judgement of the Supreme Court that “airwaves belong to the public and hence their use need to be independently regulated, and that broadcasting should not be used for “private profit” is something which the governments
since have ignored despite the deteriorating trends for the last couple of years. The existing legal regulatory provision in the context of TV contents (programme and advertising codes) are outdated or irrelevant or inadequate to tackle the issues arising out of today’s television scenario. Adding to this is the anomaly between cable TV channels and those of DTH. Even the Cinematographic Act of 1953 need to be modified urgently with demarcation from feature films. There are no studies on the long-term effect or impact in the country. In the absence of an independent monitoring system for TV contents, television rating of viewership (TRP) is the only driver of contents. But this is often misleading, and is adding to the problem. Perpetuating and echoing all that the concerned citizens are worried about today. In fact, the best of creative talents in the country has been suppressed unwittingly because of the TRP criteria. Also, TRP is advertising-driven, not editorial or viewer-concerned. Also at present there is no reliable mechanism in operation to enforce neither of the
existing provisions, not even blatant violations of whatever regulations are there, as if the government is helpless in this regard. It is high time we took some initiatives to restrain and moderate TV contents. Of course, the best bet is for channels themselves to observe restraint on their own. Not just in the context of certain individual programmes or time chunks. Some specific provisions could be way of codes/standards for various contents, timings, rating of contents based on contents etc. Some of these provisions could be by way of licensing conditions and even linked to licence renewal, Viewers can be alerted in advance, with a pre-announcement by giving a description of programmes just before telecast, and channels could also have a fixed time for such advice to parents/teachers in the case of children. Many more such suggestions can be given. The initiative of consultations by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is timely and deserves to be appreciated. But unless such a meeting is followed up with much needed specific and concrete measures towards restraining the contents of TV channels in particular it will remain as a futile exercise. No legislative provisions are good enough, if not backed up by larger public concerns and initiatives. If the public is made sensitive about long-term implications of television contents for children, for example, they would not remain passive as they are today. Parents have as much responsibility in moderating the television viewing habits of their children. So also teachers and the education system in promoting discriminative viewing. Civil society has a responsibility to come up with appropriate measures locally and be active and alert about certain contents of the television channels. There is no one legal authority today to actually regulate TV contents. Despite the fact that none of the provisions of the cable TV Regulation Act is applicable to the broadcasters or producers, too much is expected from them. In any case, there is no mechanism to enforce any of the provisions however outdated they may be. Several
initiatives in this regard are called for. First and for most, the channels themselves should come up with their own codes and compliance mechanisms of such self imposed standards. But since not all channels available in the country or even registered in India, they can be expected to do anything like that also because their sole concern is to maximise viewers” somehow. As such, there must be a public policy for all channels including the down-linked ones. And, there must be legal provisions to make broadcasters and even production houses responsible. Since the self-regulation approach in the present competitive and free-for-all situation has not worked, it cannot be depended entirely. There should be legal provision and procedures for enforcement and complaint redressal procedures as an obligation. All that is not possible without an independent and competent authority separately for content regulation and for their compliance. This authority should address itself with all contents. Music videos should be shown on TV only after they obtain a certificate as a mandatory condition. Monitoring has to be by an independent body involving eminent citizens and by professionals with no business links with advertising, producers and channels. But their participation in the process is desirable. Waiting for a Convergence Bill and a Broadcast Bill earlier we have perhaps allowed the situation to deteriorate. In any case, since the broadcast scenario today calls for a s separate authority for content regulation, the government should no longer wait and see. The writer is Chairman, Centre for Media Studies, New Delhi. |
The story of two graves For most of the people of my generation who are born a couple of years after the partition of the country, Urdu language is seen as a relic of a bygone era. My late father took great pains to make me learn it and gradual practice and company of Urdu laureates whom he often used to invite induced in me a deep sense of appreciation for its poetry. I am fascinated by the inimitable flight and fancy of the work of Ghalib, who is said to have given brain to Urdu poetry which was till then dominated by the people of heart. The other day when I was in Delhi for some work, I decided to pay obeisance to this great poet, by visiting his grave situated adjacent to the shrine which is the final resting place of the famous sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia and his ardent votary Hazrat Amir Khusro. As untidy and unhygienic conditions around most of the religious places of either Hindu or Muslim faith do not matter, finding way through an unending stream of beggars I reached Ghalib’s grave. It was a scene which will continue to disturb me for rest of my life. The grave which is situated under a small marble canopy was strewn with betel splits, lot of dust and bird droppings. The “caretaker” told me that since very few people visit it, it is cleansed only once a week. Outside the canopy the graves of his wife Umrao Begum and other siblings who died in their infancy were in equally neglected state. At this moment my thoughts travelled back to a few years when I visited poet Iqbal’s grave at Lahore. It was a majestic and magnificent mausoleum situated near the imposing Badshahi mosque. There were regular guards drawn from the police who stood in attention at the gate. The big chandeliers, sparkling surroundings and floral wreaths were in sharp contrast to what I was seeing at Ghalib’s grave. One can differ with Iqbal’s philosophy but there is no denying the fact that he was the greatest Urdu poet after Ghalib. I asked my son who was accompanying me to buy a few rose strings from the flower sellers sitting outside the shrine of the sufi saint. As I was offering the floral tributes to Ghalib, I was feeling indebted to this all-time great poet for what he has given to us. Equally matching was the sense of shame for what we have done to the memory of a man who is considered a jewel of India’s composite culture. While coming out I couldn’t help recalling his famous lines which today seem to be prophetic -
Hue mar ke hum jo ruswa, hue kyoon na gharq-e-dariya, Na kabhi janaza uthata, na kahin mazar
hota.
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Bush’s demand for Russian apology by K. Subrahmanyam ON the occasion of the 60th commemoration festivities of the end of World War II in Europe, US President George W. Bush has raised questions about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, occupation of the Baltic States by the Soviet Union following that and the Soviet imposition of communism in Eastern Europe at the end of the war in 1945 and demanded that Russia should apologise for those acts. There can be no two opinions that all those acts were wrong. Those acts were perpetrated by Joseph Stalin, the Russian dictator who subjected the Russian population itself to much greater tyranny. If the present Russian Government is to apologise for Stalin’s tyranny, do the United States and Western countries have a clean record to demand such an apology? The second World War was fought by the allies under the principles of Atlantic Charter proclaimed by Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. Immediately after signing of the charter when the question was raised in British Parliament whether the principles of the charter applied to India, Churchill replied, “I have not become the first minister of His Majesty’s Government to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire.” It took some half a century after the war for the Western powers to decolonise all over the world and give up apartheid. Even as the US Afro-Americans were fighting in Europe to save democracy they did not have the benefit of civil rights which they earned after two decades of hard struggle after the war, only in 1965. The Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact can be compared to Kissinger’s secret visit to Beijing in 1971. That visit and the combined support of the US and China extended to the Pakistani Generals sustained the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Bangladesh in 1971. The US understanding with China, in turn, resulted in both countries extending support to genocidal Pol Pot for years after his overthrow. The US now admits that for the last 60 years it pursued a policy of preferring stability to democracy in the developing world and, consequently, supporting dictatorship, especially in the Islamic countries. There was no condemnation of bloody colonial war in Alegeria and sustenance of apartheid in South Africa. These acts were justified in the name of fighting the cold war against the Soviet Union. If that was good enough justification Stalin could have claimed that he needed to impose his dictatorship on Eastern Europe on the same ground. There is no doubt that democracy is to be preferred to dictatorship. But those who were defending democracy had double standards - one for themselves and for Europeans and another for all other developing countries. The US was prepared to compromise on communist tyranny in China in pursuit of its cold war against the Soviet Union. In 1971-72 the Maoist tyranny in China under the conditions of the cultural Revolution was far worse than the tyranny in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe under Brezhnev. Yet in terms of real politik the US Presidents were prepared to cultivate China to contain the Soviet Union and break it up. Perhaps, that was a good and pragmatic strategy and the US came out victorious. But there is no justification for the US leadership, which condoned the genocides of Pakistani Generals, the Maoist gang of four, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussain and excesses of apartheid to wax eloquently moralistic at this stage. Studies have shown that the 1,000 bomber raids over German cities, the fire raids over Japanese cities and the dropping of two atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, all of which resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties and the total neglect to disrupt the communication infrastructure of the concentration camps were inexcusable. But there are no demands for apologies. The celebration of May 9, was meant to felicitate the unmatched sacrifice of the people of the Soviet Union in the war against Nazism. They won the war against Hitler in spite of blunders committed by Stalin. The war was and is called the Great Patriotic War of the people of Russia and other republics that were then part of the Soviet Union. Stalin’s morals in respect of international politics were not very different from those of Western imperialists. The occasion was meant to celebrate the victory over Nazism. Therefore, it was particularly inappropriate to bring in the Moltov-Rebbentrop pact and the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe on this occasion. It was the like the pot calling the kettle black. But May 9, 2005, was a unique occasion when 53 world leaders stood side by side and paid homage to those who died in a war that ended Nazism. Since then there has been no international war involving more than one major industrial power. The cold war, in spite of 45 years of nuclear missile confrontation with armed forces facing eyeball to eyeball ended in the Paris Peace Accord. President Putin correctly focussed on the new global threat of terrorism. Some of the international media chose to focus on the undoubtedly genuine grievances of Eastern European countries. They could easily have added that not only the Eastern European countries exchanged German occupation for Soviet occupation, the end of war was not a victory for freedom for most other countries in the world which were under colonial occupation. Indonesia, Vietnam, Kenya, Yemen, Cyprus, Algeria, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique and South Africa had to fight anti-colonial wars against Western powers. Even today the people of Islamic countries like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have to suffer lack of democracy because of US support to their rulers. The lesson of the second World War is clear. Those who resort to appeasement be it of Hitler, Stalin, dictatorial Islamic regimes and other regimes like China and Saudi Arabia finally cause greater damage to themselves and the world. Democracy cannot be spread and sustained through double standards. |
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US to raise nurses’ quota The US Senate has passed a Bill that makes it harder for citizens to get driver’s licences and bans them altogether for illegal aliens. It also increases the number of foreign nurses that can come into this country as well as removes the cap on seasonal guest workers under H-2B. The Senate unanimously approved the conference agreement on the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 1268) that was for increased funding for Afghanistan and Iraq. For weeks now, political and civil rights activists have opposed the Real ID Act provisions and most Democrats have opposed the restrictions it puts on people seeking asylum in this country. It also has stricter rules for driver’s licences, which, they contend, create something like citizenship identification. Under the Real ID provisions, all states must require proof of lawful presence in the US if their driver’s licences are to be accepted as a form of identification to a federal official. Boarding a commercial airplane and entering a federal building or a nuclear power plant are among the official federal purposes. Some concessions were made allowing states to issue “driving certificates” that do not meet the national requirements, but they would not be valid for official purposes. The terms of these cards would be a maximum of one year. Temporary driver’s licences issued to foreign visitors by a state must expire when the visitor’s visa expires, with a maximum term of one year. Some provisions allow immigration judges to determine the credibility of an asylum seeker. It calls for immediate removal of terrorists as well as criminal aliens, and illegal aliens from the country, though it does say that this can be done after proper judicial review. Aliens will therefore not be allowed to appeal their deportation. The final Bill includes funding for 500 additional border patrol agents, 50 immigration and customs inspectors, 168 enforcement agents and detention officers, and 1,950 detention beds. But along with these restrictions, some concessions were made increasing some foreign worker quotas. The Mikulski amendment was included in the final Bill, exempting H-2B seasonal guestworkers who have worked in the U.S. in the past from the 65,000 annual cap. An additional 50,000 foreign nurses will be permitted to enter the country. And about 10,500 Australian guestworkers will be allowed to enter the country annually under terms similar to the H-1B high-tech visa category. — IANS |
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Delhi Durbar When
the UPA government came to power last year, surprising even its own constituents, everybody was asking only one question: “how long will it last?” As it happens, the government is now completing one year in office and it doesn’t want the celebrations to be an extravaganza, especially after it had lambasted the NDA government’s “India Shinging” campaign. Consequently, the UPA government has planned a series of “low-key” celebrations, which will begin on May 18. This will be followed by the public release of its progress report on May 22. Managing ACRs Nothing seems to be confidential about the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) of government officials, going by the latest L V Saptharishi controversy. The highly appreciative remarks about him by former Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley were public knowledge. What is not known is that Mr. Jaitely’s Commerce Secretary Deepak Chatterji had apparently made adverse remarks in Mr. Saptharishi’s ACR, contradicting his minister’s appraisal. Questions are now being raised about these contrary reports. Although nobody in
bureaucratic circles is saying anything publicly, a senior Election Commission officer merely relates a story to make a point. He narrates how a junior colleague had very helpfully filled out her own ACR, including the portions which were to be written by her supervisor, and even went to the extent of placing herself in the “outstanding” grade. All her boss was expected to do was to sign the report. Again,
nobody is saying anything but bureaucrats maintain there is a lesson to be learnt from this episode. Lucky for
some When former Andhra Pradesh Governor Sushil Kumar Shinde was in Delhi, the 80, Lodhi Estate bungalow was allotted to him. A believer in numerology, he erased the number from his name plate. He is convinced that his luck changed subsequently as he was picked to be the Congress party’s vice-presidential candidate followed by the Chief Minister’s gaddi in Maharashtra. The bungalow was
subsequently allotted to AICC general secretary Ambika Soni, who “handed” it over to the party, which went on to win a surprise general election last year. All the “plotting and planning” was conducted at this numberless bungalow. Protectors or predators? The tribal rights Bill has thrown up a controversy with a number of young MPs, including Rahul Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia, objecting that it would further endanger the dwindling tiger population. The Bill’s opponents have, however, provoked sarcastic comments . Most target the “Mahraraja from Gwalior”, particularly when Jyotiraditya Scindia spoke in favour of protecting these majestic animals. “Who went for shikars, whose walls in the fort proudly display the priceless catch and the commentary of heroism in nabbing the tigers,” was one such remark heard in the corridors of
Parliament. Perhaps, the “Maharaja” can fault the tribals who guided the erstwhile royalty to indulge in its passion for hunting. A point to ponder. Contributed by R.Suryamurthy, Gaurav Choudhury and Anita Katyal
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From the pages of Patriotism in India PATRIOTISM in Medieval India had come to mean love of one’s own particular village, city, or perhaps kingdom. This meaning continued to be attached to it down to very recent times; but now, thanks to British supremacy and its concomitants, it has come to mean something much wider; and an enlightened native of India no longer allows his patriotism to be confined within the boundaries of his village, city or even province, but extends it throughout the whole length of the land from Kashmir to Cape Comorin.
Such is Indian patriotism of the present day, and it is no less novel than it is striking. The deluded European who is blind to the signs of the times thinks that this patriotism is but the ideal of visionary “babus”, but we know that it is not a mere vision, a fantasy or imagination, but a stern reality which... Heroes, will manifest itself as strongly as does the sun in the meridian of a summer sky.
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Disease, decay and other troubles weigh me down, and give me enough sorrow. You are of indomitable valour. O compassionate one, grant me devotion to thy feet and love towards you. — Shri Adi Shankaracharya Inactivity should be avoided by all means. Activity always means resistance. Resist all evils, mental and physical; and when you have succeeded in resisting, then will calmness come. — Swami Vivekananda May all the beings see me as a friend; may I see all the things as a friend. — Rig Veda I salute Him who is generous, who is ever devoted to Shri Rama, whose deeds are great, who appears with mace to his enemies, who is ever serene in attitude, the destroyer of darkness, and whose body is mighty. — Shri Adi Shankaracharya He who has worshipped the Great Giver of life has earned more merit than those who bathe at the sixty and eighty places of pilgrimage.— Guru Nanak A devotee who can call on God while living on a householder’s life is a hero indeed. God thinks: “He is blessed indeed who prays to Me in the midst of his worldly duties. He is trying to find Me, overcoming a great obstacle — pushing away, as it were, a huge block of stone weighing a ton. Such a man is real hero.” — Shri Ramakrishna Even as a tortoise draws in its limbs, the wise can draw in their senses at will. — Shri Krishna
(Bhagavadgita)  |
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