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Firmness
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Gods’ politician
Strategic thinking
Dancing to her tune
India not to dilute
N-deterrent capacity: Anand Sharma Stress from
partner’s condition Chatterati
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Bird flu threat The
bird flu, which had been raging in several countries since 2003, has finally reached India. This time lag has been a blessing in several ways. One, a quick response team is already in place. Two, considerable stocks of medicines have been accumulated, although drug companies lament that these are not sufficient to take care of the problem on an all-India basis. And, three, the possibility of panic reaction has been considerably reduced taking a cue from the other East Asian countries which tackled the problem fairly efficiently. If the persons assigned to handle the menace do their job properly, there is no reason why we cannot get over the threat. Right now the flu has been detected in Maharashtra. But it is prone to spreading quickly. All precautions must be taken to eliminate this possibility. A large number of chickens will have to be killed. That is a small price to pay for the risk to which they now expose human beings. Right now, the deadly avian virus has not mutated to the extent that it can be contracted by one human from another. But again, that possibility is very much there. The government and the public must work in tandem and follow all the guidelines strictly so that the disease does not reach epidemic proportions. This is all the more necessary because of the disturbing reports from Maharashtra that when some poultry farmers initially detected dead birds, instead of burning the carcasses as advised, they simply threw them far away from their premises. Punjab and Haryana are chicken surplus. So, the risk from the imported birds is minimal. Migratory birds are considered carriers of bird flu from one country to another. Mercifully, since the weather is exceptionally warm this February, the birds are already on their way back home. Still, very strict vigil will have to be mounted. Besides keeping an eye on the spread of the disease, the government will also have to extend a helping hand to the poultry farmers who will be in deep financial trouble because the public is likely to cut chicken and egg consumption because of the prevalent fear. |
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Gods’ politician A
CONCLAVE of “gods” at Naggar in Manali has said “no” to the Alfred Ford-sponsored $150-million Himalayan Ski Village project. Had the report come a century earlier, it would not have raised any eyebrows. This clever stratagem has been adopted by some vested interests to scuttle the project that would give a fillip to tourism and benefit the people of Himachal Pradesh. The 100 or so “oracles” who passed on this verdict to Mr Maheshwar Singh of the erstwhile royal family of Kullu and former BJP MP from Mandi, put the rider that the “gods” were amenable to change their opinion if the project was suitably altered. All this smacks of a political conspiracy. Whatever the “gods” have said should have no bearing on the decision-makers in the state. They should weigh the pros and cons of the project and take an appropriate decision in the best interests of the state. Their job is to enforce the rule of law, rather than the rule of those who claim to speak gods’ language. It is unfortunate that political leaders are exploiting the superstitious beliefs of the people for their petty gains. If decisions are taken on the basis of what the “oracles” say, governance will become impossible in the country. The Constitution specifically enjoins the state to promote the scientific temper in all aspects of life. It is an offence to pander to the superstitious beliefs of the people or to promote them. What Naggar has been witnessing is nothing but misuse of the religious sentiments of the people to oppose a developmental project. There can be differences of opinion on the environmental sacrifices the region has to make for the success of the Himalayan Ski Village project. These need to be addressed by having the project vetted by knowledgeable people. If necessary, the promoters should make suitable changes in the project but in no case should those who should remain in the woodworks be allowed to come out and speak on behalf of “gods”. God has given man the necessary faculties to choose between the good and the bad and there is no need for any intermediaries of the type who surfaced at Naggar on Thursday. |
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Act as though what you do makes a difference. It does. — William James
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Strategic thinking The
Prime Minister speaking at the Association of Indian Diplomats, while releasing their newly launched journal referred to the dearth of strategic long-term thinking in our country. The Prime Minister himself is currently facing a crucial test on long-term strategic thinking while taking decisions on the country’s nuclear policy and its relationship with the United States and the rest of the world. In the absence of a strategic establishment and long-term future oriented strategic thinking the tendency among our political class, bureaucracy, academia and media is to extrapolate the past into the future and move along the beaten track. Statesmanship invariably involves making continuous changes in policies and taking the world by surprise. This is what Kissinger and the Chinese leadership did in 1971, obviously to their mutual benefit. But the burden of conventional established thinking is not easy to overcome. In 1962 very few in India believed that there was a serious conflict between the Soviet Union and China and the former had stopped all supplies of aircraft spares to the latter. Consequently the Chinese Air Force was not in a position to fly. Yet in its ignorance, the India leadership believed that it would be risky to use the Indian Air Force on the Himalayan Front lest the Chinese Air Force should retaliate on a large scale. We know the consequences of such wrong assessment arrived at without adequate data. Similarly at present there is not adequate appreciation about the new world views developed by President Bush and Dr Condoleezza Rice. In their view the international system is now a balance of power consisting of six nations - US, European Union, China, Russia, Japan and India. Today, even as they understand it, the shift of the centre of gravity of the international system from the Trans-Atlantic region to Asia, necessitates developing a balance of power in Asia as a subsystem of the world balance of power. India will play a crucial role in this balance of power. Further they also look upon India as a partner necessary for the future economic growth of US and as a source of brainpower to enable the US to sustain its leadership in technological and scientific arenas. Therefore, there is a radical change of attitude towards India totally different from the one adopted through the cold war and a decade thereafter. Yet, many in India argue that this is not a genuine change just as our predecessors misjudged the Sino-Soviet conflict. Contrast this attitude of extrapolationism of our political class, with the alacrity with which Mao Ze Dong and his colleagues seized upon the offer of Dr Kissinger in 1971. Unlike the case of India and the US which had never fought a war, China had fought a bloody war with the US some 18 years earlier, in which Mao Ze Dong’s son was killed. The Chinese gave monitoring stations to the US, allowed themselves to be described as “Eastern NATO”, fought a war with Vietnam, the country that defeated the US, harmonised their policies in respect of Cambodia and Afghanistan with that of the US. Above all, China decided to discard Maoism and communism and embrace market economy. In turn, China benefited enormously in economic terms and started building itself up as a world class power. The US detaching China from the Soviet Union, finally succeeded in containing the Soviet Union to its collapse. Today the US strategy towards the international system is undergoing yet another major change with the rise of China and India as major powers in addition to the European Union, Russia and Japan. The US acknowledges the balance of power and that, in the words of Dr Condoleezza Rice, “the prospect of violent conflict between great powers is becoming ever more unthinkable. Major states are increasingly competing in peace, not preparing for war”. The US also understands that new global threats to be faced do not arise from aggression of major powers but from terrorism, pandemics, weapons of mass destruction, organised crime, narcotics etc. The US is also engaged in getting major nations together in the G-8 grouping on financial issues, WTO on trade issues and the GNEP on energy issues. Its effort is to mobilise global action even while retaining leadership in its hands. The degree of US hegemony will depend upon the resistance it faces from the other five balancers of power. The US will obviously try to have better relations with each one of them than they will try to have with each other. The US is trying to incorporate India in this global system. Without getting incorporated in this system and playing a global role along with other balancers, talk of resisting US hegemony is meaningless. Of late, even the Chinese appear to be showing signs of their realisation that India is a necessary player, even for resisting US hegemony in the balance of power. Exceptionalisation of India from the Non-Proliferation Treaty is not for non-proliferation purpose but for admission of India into the global balance of power. On this, while the US is leading the move it may be noted that all other players, the European Union, Russia, Japan and even China, are backing US. No doubt the enhancement of relations with the US is a necessary precondition to India’s acceptance as a global balancer of power. Once India is in the global balance of power system it would be able to follow a truly independent foreign policy unlike in the non-aligned era in which India theoretically had only three options on every issue. Now India will have five options. The more beneficial aspects of six-nation balance of power system over the bipolarity and non-alignment have not been appreciated by our political class and elite since the world had not known the balance of power after the outbreak of World War I. The new balance of power of six nations will be more stable than the 19th century European balance of power because except for Japan all others are nuclear weapon powers. Japan has the US nuclear alliance and is technologically in a position to become a nuclear weapon power at short notice. Therefore, the discussions now under way are not just about number of reactors to be put under safeguards but about India being accepted as a legitimate nuclear weapon power through the exceptionalisation move and in the balance of power club of six. This is the long-term strategic thinking which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has to persuade our political class and elite to adopt. He shows every sign of being himself convinced about it. Will he able to sell it to his political colleagues and top
bureaucracy?
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Dancing to her tune I
was keen about my daughter Neha’s admission to the nursery class. Had applied in many prestigious schools of the city. A status symbol these days! Admission fever had gripped me. I would revise rhymes with her day in and day out. I won’t let her relax even while eating. Would ask her names of vegetables and fruit. Identification of colours, figures, shapes et al would be a regular exercise. Even at night I would tax her brain till sweet slumber overcame her. I cooked minimum possible to spend more time with Neha. Sometimes sandwiches or simply bread omelette would do. Quite often home delivery services of some good restaurant would be utilised. Revising rhymes or teaching her how to greet ma’am and what not on the planet would give me splitting headache. Tea or coffee would come to my rescue. My husband suggested I should go in for CDs of rhymes. Not a single day was wasted in buying them. Despite my best efforts she won’t give up watching TV especially dance numbers that had generated lot of hype recently. At last the D Day arrived. I got her ready in time. Purchased a soft pink frilly frock especially for this occasion. Bought matching lovely clips and shoes too. She was at peace and quite playful, but myself! Better don’t ask. Oh! a mere pack of nerves. Was eager to revise everything with her before we left for the school. Even in the car I kept her busy answering my queries. The school premises offered a rich and colourful feast to the eye. Tinytots dressed in baby pink, satin blue, rich yellow and blazing red frisked about. It was virtually a riot of colours like the sweet peas, dahlias, pansies and poppies blooming in the same bed in spring. Some kids clung to their mothers while some got familiar with others and played. I stood holding Neha’s hand asking the colour of the frock and clips etc. she had put on. I threw her a bait, “Dearie, I shall buy you more CDs if you answer the ma’am properly.” In my hearts of heart I felt that was how the roots of corruption were laid down right in the childhood. At last, Neha was called in for interview. I gave her last-minute instructions and imparted an affectionate pat on her back. She went in confidently while I felt fidgety. Anyhow, the ordeal was over soon. She came out smiling. Anon I asked her which rhyme she had recited. Prompt came the reply: “Das bahane kar ke lai gaya dil...... and danced to it. See madam gave me chocolate too.” To my surprise she started dancing to her favourite dance number there and then. People present over there appreciated her dance and commented: “Your daughter is very confident.” To me it seemed heavens had fallen on my poor pelt. God bless the kids and the mod times they have been born in. I sank in the chair holding my head in both
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India not to dilute N-deterrent capacity: Anand Sharma Q: Will a nuclear energy cooperation deal be in our pocket by the time French President Jacques Chirac leaves India? A: Well, we are very keen on closer cooperation with France and we do have a strategic relationship. We have an understanding on the civilian nuclear energy cooperation programme and the talks have progressed well. Q: Are these talks at the level of the National Security Advisers of the two countries? A: The NSAs definitely. And the two foreign offices. Surely we want it as a bilateral agreement. That would be a positive step forward in our overall endeavour keeping in view the July 18 agreement reached with the US and the subsequent talks which are going on. Eventually this will help in persuading the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) to remove all restrictions and allow India access to nuclear technology. And removal of these restrictions would give India access to all advantages and benefits which advanced nuclear weapon states have. Q: What kind of restrictions you want to be removed? A: We have to access fuel. We have to access the latest technology. We have been suffering from nuclear apartheid for the last three and a half decades. When we say advantages and benefits, that would be the same which the advanced nuclear States have. And then also we are conscious that when you have advantages and certain rights, then we will have the same duties and commitments towards safeguards which the nuclear states have. Q: It is felt the nuclear deal is not going to be inked during the French President’s visit. Your comments? A: When two countries talk, they do not put a deadline. There is a broader agreement and the July 18 statement which Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr Bush signed received wide support. Q: What are the bottlenecks in finalising the nitty-gritty of a nuclear deal with France? A: Eventually even this will be linked to the overall endorsement of the NSG because France is also part of the NSG. We want an agreement with France which is an important P-5 country and a nuclear power. Q: Coming to the Indo-US nuclear deal and the ongoing separation exercise pertaining to civilian and military nuclear facilities, two specific concerns have been raised: One, that India is throttling its long-term strategic programme on diktats of the US; two, that India will be compromising in a big way the secrecy of the separation exercise as the list would be debated openly by the US Congress. Your comments? A: The very separation exercise mentioned in the July 18 agreement recognises that India has a strategic nuclear programme. In other words, it gives India a de facto nuclear weapon power status. I can only say what the Prime Minister has gone on record as saying that it will be India’s right to list its facilities as civilian and certain facilities as strategic. That process is on. It is our sovereign right to make that
separation. India will not compromise on the further development of its nuclear programme nor would it compromise with its strategic programme. I don’t think that the secrecy of our nuclear programme will be compromised. Secondly, there is no changing of the goalposts, either by the US or by India. It has to be within the defined parameters and in the spirit of the July 18 agreement. Let me tell you in this context that much of the reports are speculative. Q: What about the concerns expressed by the Indian atomic establishment about the Indo-US nuclear deal? Are they on board? Is the US shifting its goalposts as alleged by AEC chief Anil Kakodkar? A: They are very much on board. They were involved, very actively, before the July 18 agreement and they continue to be so. Anybody who talks of India making compromises on its long-term strategic programme is ill-informed. It is not correct. Whenever the agreement is ready, it has to be to the full satisfaction of the scientific community and the bottomline is that India will not dilute or compromise its nuclear deterrent capacity as well as further development of the strategic programme. And when we talk of the minimum nuclear deterrent, again we will determine what the minimum nuclear deterrent has to be. Nobody is going to tell us what our minimum nuclear deterrent should be like. We, that is the government, the security establishment and the nuclear establishment will determine what the minimum nuclear deterrent should be. |
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Stress from partner’s condition The
elderly really can die of a broken heart not only when their spouses die, but even when they are hospitalized. But the problem reflects increased stress more than romantic loss, according to the first large study to examine the phenomenon. Studying the Medicare records of more than half a million couples, researchers found that the more burdensome and stressful a spouse’s condition, the more likely their partner would die themselves, according to a report Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The death of a spouse increases a man’s risk of dying in the next year by 21 percent and a woman’s risk by 17 percent. Hospitalization of a spouse increases the risk almost as much in the first month, but over the long term by only about a quarter of that amount. The study is the first quantification of a phenomena that doctors and those who care for the elderly know well. Christakis and sociologist Paul D. Allison of the University of Pennsylvania studied 518,240 couples with a mean age of 75 for the men and 72 for the women. The couples were tracked for nine years. Previous studies have shown that the illness of a spouse affects the partner’s health. Christakis and Allison wanted to see if a spouse’s illness had an even more serious effect, increasing the risk of dying. Men proved to be at the greatest risk from the so-called widower effect or caregiver burden. If their wives were hospitalized for dementia, about 8.9 percent of men died within a year, compared to the normal rate of about 6.4 percent per year. For psychiatric illnesses, about 7.5 percent died. For stroke, about 6.9 percent. But if the wife was hospitalized for colon or several other types of cancer, the husband’s death rate did not increase. The researchers suspected the reason was the long periods of good health that cancer patients can experience. For women, the rates were slightly lower. When a spouse was hospitalized, they found, the partner’s risk of dying increased significantly for a month or so, then slowly declined before rising again after six months or more. Older men and poorer women seem to be the most vulnerable. The causes of death included heart attacks, suicides, inattentiveness, accidents and infections, Christakis said. They will be examined in greater depth in a future study. The study didn’t examine the reasons for the increased risk, but many are obvious, experts said. If you are 40 when your spouse dies, it is possible to learn to take over those tasks, she said. But when you are in your 70s or older, it is much more stressful. Many bereaved partners increase harmful behaviors, such as drinking, Christakis noted. Others simply stop taking care of themselves. Why men suffer more from the loss of a spouse is really not clear, the researchers said. Much sociological research, however, shows that men derive a greater benefit than women from being married, and that may play a crucial role. The take-home message from the study, Christakis said, is that “physicians really need to pay as much attention to the spouse as to the sick person, and anticipate the problems that can occur.” — LA Times-Washington Post |
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Chatterati It
is amazing how Valentine Day has become the big fat business of love for shopkeepers. This “firangi” festival is now much more popular than Holi and Divali for our westernised youngsters. Shiv Sainiks or policing cannot stop these romantics. Valentine cards and gifts can also be given to the mother, sisters and other relatives. But let’s face it — youngsters today do splurge much more than our generation ever did on trying to woo or keep their loved ones. Every hotel, restaurant, garden cashes in on romance. The good news for many was that the demolition-affected shops of designers were giving more than 60 per cent discount. Hey! red roses, heart-shaped cards are no longer just an urban fashion. Even in a small town like Chamba, cards were sold at Rs 600 a piece. In China plastic surgery clinics reported a high-risk business as instead of roses a perfect face for the sweetheart seems to be the new thing. A Buddhist
circuit? With the beginning of the Budget session our ministers seem to be getting their act together. We heard Lalu tell us that there will be no hike in railway fares. We have the Congress sort of instructing the Finance Minister that the Budget should be people friendly and then we have the articulate and hard-working Ambika Soni taking on her new assignment with utmost seriousness. The Congress wish list includes benefits for farmers, urban and rural backwards as well as the minorities. The suggestions are made in the light of the AICC economic resolutions during the Hyderabad session. Making India accessible and tourism friendly with complete transparency. With the visa-on-arrival facility and development of the Buddhist circuit to improving the infrastructure at our heritage sites. An MPs’
club? The MPs are absolutely in a fix about their MPLANDS funds. After some unfortunate members have been caught, the other MPs are now thinking 10 times before using their extra money. Right now the main thing as we all are aware is that how difficult it is to get a membership of a prestigious club in the Capital. The MPs have requested the speaker to convert the Constitution Club into a modern happening hub where the gym spa and whatever it takes to make it into a trendy hotspot of the VIPs. After all the case of Pawan Bansal is still fresh in a public memory of misuse of funds to get a honorary membership. With so many high-class young energetic new generation MPs we do need an elite club. They have got an impeccable plan for the Urban Development Ministry, which needs to show their plans the green light. It will be easy to shake off the pre-liberalisation tradition. |
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From the pages of All Parties’ Conference
In spite of confident predictions to the contrary, the All Parties Conference has not ended in a fiasco. That it has not so far achieved its object cannot be denied, but this is scarcely a matter for surprise when the importance and magnitude of the issues it has to tackle are taken into account. Let no one forget that in the deliberations of this Conference and of similar other bodies India is really in the birth-throes of a new life. That life has hitherto been the dream of the poet, the yearning of the patriot, and the ideal of the common man. It takes some time and no small effort to translate this dream, this yearning and this ideal into an actual reality. In the words of Burke, “How weary a step do those take who endeavour to make out of a great mass a true political personality!” Impatience at this stage one understands; it may be helpful; it is sometimes actually divine. But despair is at all times unmanly and kills the soul of a people as of an individual. After all, freedom and self-government would not be half the precious things that they are if they could be had without paying the price for them that we in India are paying…. The very fact that after the fratricidal strife of the last decade it has been found possible not only to hold a conference of all parties and all communities, but to conduct its deliberations in an atmosphere remarkably free from bitterness or rancour is a substantial advance. |
You may do a hundred physical exercises to strengthen your body but it will still remain as fragile as a china cup, vulnerable to illnesses. Make your mind strong like a fortress by controlling your thoughts. Then no temptation will succeed in contaminating you and leading you astray. — The Buddha (O you who believe) enter not houses other than your own houses, until you have asked permission and saluted their inmates. This is better for you that you may be mindful. But if you find no one therein, enter them not, until permission is given to you; and if it is said to you, go back, then go back; this is purer for you. — Islam One must learn to give up lust, anger, Greed and establish mastery over the six senses (hearing, touch, sight, taste, smell, and mind) by the purified intellect. —
Bhagvad Gita Let there be no distinction between rich and poor, high and low. I own no property and yet I feel that I am perhaps the richest man in the world. —
Mahatma Gandhi All are contained in the one Lord, and the one Lord pervades all. — Guru Nanak |
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