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Kasab’s
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Thwarting
terror
Cut
motions, privacy, corruption
Delhi-cious!
Limited education Greece: Collapse or
salvation? Delhi Durbar
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Sports & politics
The
Union Sports Ministry’s decision to revive a 35-year-old fiat imposing a 12-year cap on the tenure of people heading National Sports Federations is a small step in the right direction. However, critics are certain to question the wisdom of placing a ceiling on sports bodies and not on other democratic institutions like Parliament. Some will point out that the International Olympic Committee, most international sports federations and even the Board of Control for Cricket in India have similar caps in place. But it cannot be denied that politicians, industrialists and businessmen have been heading sports bodies for far too long for comfort. Their stranglehold not only indicates their failure to develop a professional body of managers but their long tenures also prompt the suspicion that promotion of sports may not be the only motive of these busybodies. The move to clip their wings is unlikely to go unchallenged though. While the Delhi High Court did hold in the matter of the Indian Hockey Federation that Government guidelines governing the NSFs were valid, binding and enforceable, sports bodies are unlikely to give in without a fight. It is indeed hard to dismiss lightly the allegation that the ministry is playing to the gallery. The tenure of office-bearers, after all, is the least of the afflictions ailing the sports bodies. Mismanagement, bad governance, misuse of funds, wastage and cronyism by these bodies have come in the way of promoting infrastructure and a healthy sports culture in the country. It is the sports ministry which failed to crack the whip. It always had the power to enforce transparency and accountability, besides calling for more judicious and optimum use of grants. But more often than not the ministry failed to exercise its authority, and not because of the tenure of office bearers in the sports federations. It is easy to see why sports bodies find it attractive to have politicians at the helm. Dealing with the bureaucracy, red-tape and the system is easier with them around. But if the ministry is serious about cleansing the system, promoting a healthy culture and helping sports bodies become more vibrant, it will have to do much more than just disburse grants and impose ceilings on the tenure of office-bearers.
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Thwarting terror
Terrorists
are known for their ability to spring a surprise, but in the US all attempts made by the forces of destruction so far after 9/11 have ended in a fiasco. Their latest bid in New York City’s famous Times Square on Sunday was foiled after a foot patrol officer noticed a parked car with a box inside with smoke coming out of it. Soon the New York police went into action and defused the “amateurish” bomb, which could have led to a “very deadly event”. A major combing operation is on to arrest the culprits. Going by the US record, those behind the heinous act may be taken into custody soon. The incident may lead to greater pressure on the Obama administration to be even tougher while dealing with terrorism. Interestingly, the car bomb was spotted in the Times Square area soon after the US administration issued an advisory to the American citizens visiting Delhi to be extremely careful about their safety owing to intelligence inputs that terrorists might attack some busy area in the Indian capital. Security has been tightened in Delhi, but that is not enough. The police in Delhi and elsewhere in India need to be as vigilant and efficient as the police in the US has been. The US security agencies, including the police, have proved that terrorists may try any trick but they are unlikely to succeed in the country which remains on top of their hit list. The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the unsuccessful car bomb attack by which it had planned to avenge the killing of what it calls “Muslim martyrs”. This may, however, be a gimmick to show that the extremist movement is capable of harming American interests on the US landmass. Who is behind the condemnable act will be known soon with the conclusion of the investigation launched by the New York authorities. The Americans have proved that they leave nothing to chance when it comes to handling security matters. They may appear to be harsh at times, but that is how they have been successful in proving smarter than terrorists. India needs to learn a lot from the US to foil the designs of terrorists.
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If you try to nail anything down in the novel, either it kills the novel, or the novel gets up and walks away with the nail. — D. H. Lawrence
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Cut motions, privacy, corruption Contrary
to breathless news reports, cut motions in Parliament are not unique but commonplace though unsuccessful in bringing down governments. However, the Left Front-BJP 13-party cut motions on a budgeted increase in fuel prices, supported by all state governments, was lost by 88 votes, destroying the rosy calculations of an unprincipled Opposition and leaving the Left and BJP red-faced, not for the first time, and desperately searching for other straws to clutch, such as the irresponsible Bharat Bandh that followed. The idea of bringing the government down was not altogether absent. However, several factors weighed. Had the government fallen, there was no credible alternative. The UPA would have remained a caretaker pending fresh polls that would have been unpopular and probably seen an opportunistic Opposition alliance fall apart and likely to lose further ground. The RJD, the SP and the BSP too were not ready for a fresh poll and bought peace. In the result, the abstentions and crossovers were predictable and Shibu Soren’s crude somersaults in keeping with his past. The Congress too made its deals. But when you win in politics, much is forgiven and forgotten. Rising prices are worrying. But ignoring the global recession and severe drought and demanding more pro-poor expenditure without corresponding fiscal prudence and measures to restore growth was unconvincing. Meanwhile, the repeated blocking of the House on issues the government was willing to discuss, such as phone-tapping and the IPL controversy, was downright objectionable and undemocratic. In the result, many of the budget grants, as usual, had to be guillotined. An Opposition that seeks accountability has become an enemy of accountability through such unparliamentary antics. Reports of sleaze in the IPL are still unfolding. Tax and other investigations are in progress. But the way this was hyped, reduced to titillation and innuendo and grabbed the headlines was astonishing. IPL “culture” is no longer cricket, whatever the branding. Notwithstanding its merits and appeal, it has become a manipulative combination of greed money, film stars, politicians, businessmen, the underworld, advertising, sales promotion, entertainment and, allegedly, match fixing and betting. The current inquiries into financial and other misdemeanours must be pursued and the process cleaned up and subject to transparent regulations, minus politicians. Other matters of moment, concerning security and corruption, intruded thick and fast. Outlook magazine broke a story regarding “phone-tapping” of Sharad Pawar, Digvijay Singh, Prakash Karat and Nitish Kumar a couple of years ago in the course of technical intelligence surveillance operations by the National Technical Research Organisation. This body was established after Kargil to strengthen the nation’s defences against subversive and terrorist elements. It operates mobile devices equipped to monitor electronic communications in ether rather than by physically tapping phones. It appears that the conversations referred to could have been innocently and passively trawled in an electronic sweep by off-the-air GSM/CDMA monitoring devices and subsequently leaked by disgruntled NTRO employees. The charge of political spying is exaggerated and any suggestion of deliberate abuse on government orders was strongly refuted by the Home Minister, who promised to make a statement in Parliament after due inquiry. The Opposition and sections of the media cried foul with some insisting on a Joint Parliamentary Committee to look into the matter. This was justifiably dismissed by the Prime Minister as excessive and the motion of privilege sought to be moved against him for making this “policy” statement outside Parliament another bit of theatre. What the episode tells us is that there is scope for abuse or even innocent misuse in such gadgetry and that safeguards need to be inbuilt in procurement and operating procedures, now that these devices have been obtained by several police and intelligence agencies and perhaps by private parties. Privacy is an (inferred) fundamental right and must be protected against an intrusive or vindictive state. Whistleblowers too must be legally protected. But perilous times, with unscrupulous state and non-state actors on the prowl, also call for stout defences against catastrophic mischief. People cannot demand that the government should do everything possible to prevent terror attacks, economic sabotage and other subversive acts and cry foul the moment something is done to prevent dire hazards. Intelligence must be accountable and appropriate checks and balances built into the system and reviewed from time to time. Hopefully, this is now being done. With regard to the Madhuri Gupta spy case too, one should best await the result of investigations without jumping to extreme conclusions flavoured by party-political bias. Not everything should be treated in a partisan manner at the cost of national interest. What the enemy cannot do is often achieved by warring “nationalists” out to prove their patriotism and discredit the other. This must stop. When it comes to corruption, the nation must band together to fight a growing menace pervading politics, commerce and institutional life. The sordid story of the Medical Council of India president, Dr Ketan Desai, found selling certification to sub-standard medical colleges for gratification is particularly disgraceful. Likewise, the appointment by the new Meghalaya Chief Minister, Mukul Sangma, of 17 legislators as parliamentary secretaries with the rank of ministers of state, in order to prevent this rabble turning against his ministry, is not merely absurd but open bribery. The conduct of the ministerial Reddy brothers, Karnataka’s iron ore kings, and the Union Telecom Minister, D Raja, in defying the Prime Minister in setting questionable 3-G spectrum auction is shameful. Such actions should be promptly investigated and coalition partners told that there can be no connivance or coalition in
crime.
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Delhi-cious! News
has reached us claiming that Delhi is the most popular city among foreign tourists. Contrast this claim with the Economist Intelligence Unit’s survey done some years back which dubbed Delhi as the ‘third worst city’ for foreigners and one is bound to get confused. The impression given historically may be that “Delhi is the capital of the losing streak. It is the metropolis of the crossed wire, the missed appointment, the puncture, the wrong number...” but when it comes to the aspects of health and safety; culture and environment; and infrastructure, Delhi is the third worst city in the world to live in, for foreigners, after Port Moresby in Papua Guinea and Karachi in Pakistan. I have no reason to differ with the survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit as also FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) but going by the accounts of the travellers and chroniclers, it is a mixed bag of impressions but largely in favour of the Indian capital, and yes a bit, against Karachi. John Foster Fraser, in his Round the World on a Wheel, (1899) describes Delhi as “the most uncertain minded of cities in the world. It is like a fidgety girl who will first sit here and there, then somewhere else, and 50 square miles of ground and 20,000 ruins tell where it has rested. The modern Delhi is like the capricious girl grown up—charming and imperial. But also, like so many grown up and charming ladies, Delhi is a city with a past.” Through a letter written to her family on February 18, 1916, Gertrude Bell, having enjoyed the hospitality of the Viceroy conveyed her impressions of Delhi as: “Though I knew the plans and drawings I didn’t realise how gigantic it was till I walked over it. They have blasted away hills and filled up valleys, but the great town itself is as yet little more than foundations. The roads are laid out that lead from it to the four corners of India, and down each vista you see the ruins of some older imperial Delhi. A landscape made up of empires is something to conjure with.” Our own VS Naipaul, in An Area of Darkness (1964) strikes a satirical note when he says about Delhi that “The streets were wide and grand, the roundabouts endless: a city built for giants, built for its vistas, for its symmetry: a city which remained its plan, unquickened and unhumanised, built for people who would be protected from its openness, from the whiteness of its light, to whom the trees were like the trees on an architect’s drawing, decorations, not intended to give shade: a city built like a monument.” In 1874, Edward Lear in a letter to Lord Carling Ford exhibited interesting wordplay — “Delhi, where I stayed 10 days making Delhineations of the Delhicate architecture as is all impressed on my mind as in Delhi by as the Delhiterious quality of the water of that city.” As for Karachi, George Woodcock, in his Asia’s, Gods and Cities exclaimed, “It rises from a barren desert.” Care for the other impression about the city? Well, it goes like this—Karachi, the Americans say, “is half the size of Chicago cemetery and twice as
dead.”
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Limited education
On the contrary, foreign governments may not allow to open Indian universities on their land and even if it is so, there will not be students to take admission in these universities for obvious reasons and hence it will not be an economically viable proposal. Therefore, the opening of foreign universities on Indian land will not be on equal academic and economic footings. To avoid any kind of exploitation on either side, all the collaborative programmes of creative and dispersive higher education should be designed to the benefit of the Indian population which needs a definite development in the global and national context. The best way to achieve this is that foreign activities in higher education in India should be regularised through the Indian education system, either governed by the Government or semi-government organisations. Higher education has two ingredients: (1) creation of knowledge through research in the basic principles to understand complexities of the phenomenon and to use this knowledge for the development of new technologies for the comprehensive growth of all living beings and (2) teaching of graduate and professional courses with information of the latest developments in the disciplines concerned. However, it is further emphasised that the creation of new knowledge through research is very basic for the quality teaching of graduate and professional courses. A foreign institution of higher education without first-rate research programmes cannot justify the quality teaching to graduate and professional course students in India. In the modern concept “knowledge is the property”. Every country protects its research knowledge to keep up the pride and priority. Patents are registered for economic gains in the process of global industrialisation. Mostly, in the foreign collaborative research programmes, Indian researchers work in foreign laboratories. However, the outcome of this research programmes remains the property and patent of the host nation. Although Indian researchers do get experience to work back at home. The above academic and economic imbalance has to be addressed in collaborative higher education programmes. There are very few occasions, mostly in arts and culture education where researchers from abroad work in India for a substantial time and research output are shared by both countries. Foreign universities are keen on soft knowledge expansion i.e. teaching programmes for graduate and professional courses pertinent to the market forces. However, the following facts should also be kept in view. The Indian young population is growing at a faster rate as compared to the developed countries. In the present situation, it is assumed that India does not have the desired infrastructure to provide the required education to the young students. Due to economic progress of the country, the income of the middle class population has increased. Their family size is small and parents are in a position to spend any amount of money for their child’s education for a degree which helps in searching a financially lucrative job anywhere in the world. Indian psychology still persists that a degree of any foreign university is superior to an equivalent degree of Indian universities, although it is not at all true except a few leading universities in Europe and the US, specially in science subjects. In view of these facts, developed countries are keen to collaborate in the knowledge dispersive (teaching of graduate and professional courses) part of higher education for well-defined economic gains. In my opinion, as we are aware of problems of regional and national developments, India should strongly interact and adopt the experience of foreign universities, but keeping in view the geography, culture, historical background and other regional and national interests. It is very likely that due to geographical and cultural attitude differences foreign education may be of limited use to us and vice versa. In conclusion, we should have all the collaborative programmes for national and regional developments through Indian educational institutions with all modifications and modulations in the context of Indian circumstances. The writer is a UGC Emeritus Fellow and Professor of Physics, Panjab University, Chandigarh
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Greece: Collapse or salvation?
A choice
“between collapse and salvation”. Such were the words with which Greece’s finance minister hailed the bailout agreed on Sunday between Athens, Brussels and the IMF, which will enable Greece to access €110bn over the next three years. Unless the German parliament baulks at offering a sizeable contribution towards this huge rescue package, in which case all bets are off, phase one of the drama is over in the sense that Greece will not default on May 19, the deadline by which it has to make a large debt repayment to its creditors. What happens then depends partly on whether Greece’s fractured and mistrustful society can put up with the austerity measures to which the Prime Minister, George Papandreou, has agreed in order to obtain the bailout money. Another unknown is the degree to which enforced belt-tightening will push Greece’s economy further into negative growth. The deeper the recession the less likely it is that Greece will ever repay anything. The temptation to default will then return. A final decision on whether Greece belongs in the single currency zone, therefore, has only been deferred. Several of Greece’s regional neighbours, meanwhile, will be cursing its profligacy for having damaged their own European Union membership prospects. Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia among others are all sitting in the EU waiting room, reflecting on the extent to which events to the south have hardened the phenomenon known in the EU as “enlargement fatigue” into something more like outright enlargement hostility. All have jumped through numerous hoops to harmonise their standards to those of the EU. All manage their finances far more responsibly than does Greece, yet their membership prospects have suffered nevertheless because without German support they can get nowhere – and Germany is not enlargement-friendly right now. The hope must be that Greece bends but does not break over the next few years, and that the reforms which the EU and IMF insist on do not impoverish Greeks but ultimately create a more open and entrepreneurial society. At the same time, Greece’s neighbours should not be held hostage to a positive ending to the Greek drama. It would be ridiculous if the noble idea of EU enlargement were to perish altogether, as a consequence of what is going on in Athens. Several countries outside the EU, looking in, remain desperate to give the EU their best shot. It would be a pity if their chances to do so were blighted forever on account of their neighbour’s behaviour. The bailout plan is more concrete and vastly more expensive than previous, vaguer European bailout pledges which have failed to quell a concerted market assault on Greece – and the euro – in recent weeks. In return, the Greek government has agreed to slash its spending deficit from nearly 14 per cent down to 8.1 per cent this year by imposing even steeper cuts in public sector wages than previously introduced, lower pensions, and an additional two percentage-point rise in VAT to 23 per cent. A depressed-looking Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, told a televised cabinet meeting in Athens: “It is an unprecedented support package for an unprecedented effort by the Greek people. These sacrifices will give us breathing space and the time we need to make great changes. I want to tell Greeks very honestly that we have a big trial ahead of us.” Many Greeks – and some economists in other countries – warn that the medicine is so strong that it could kill the patient and plunge Greece into a deep economic depression. Stathis Anestis, a spokesman for the private-sector union, the GSEE, said: “These measures are tough and unfair. They will lead workers into misery and the country deeper into recession.” The success of Sunday’s package will no longer be measured on whether the financial markets continue to bully Greece. EU governments are also desperately hoping that banks and hedge funds will realise that, ultimately, they are on to a loser if they bet on the default of any Eurozone country. — By arrangement with
The Independent
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Delhi Durbar New
and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah does not lack wit and humour and he was at his best in the Lok Sabha the other day. But at the end of the day he realised his wit could carry him only this far with Speaker Meira Kumar. Replying to queries from Congress MP from Punjab Pratap Singh Bajwa, who put a long query of 10 sentences during zero hour on Friday, the minister decided to reply in Punjabi. Barely managing a sentence right (earlier he sought the indulgence of Samajwadis for his ignorance of Hindi), Abdullah persisted with his replies in Punjabi – a language even more foreign to him than Hindi. And to cap it all, he looked around for appreciation of his feat expecting a “well-done” from members. Instead came the gentle rap from the Chair that he had violated a rule. “Honourable Minister, as you know, members are allowed to speak in the House either in English or Hindi. If you want to speak in any other language in future, please give a notice so we can arrange an interpreter. Others must understand what you are saying,” the Speaker told him. An unsuspecting Abdullah was humbled.
Harsimrat flies plane
BJP leader Arun Jaitley has always been immensely popular with journalists. They flock to his durbar, whether in the Central Hall or in his huge Parliament room. His repertoire is full of long forgotten anecdotes and stories of fellow politicians and older journalists. His USP is a general irreverence for some of the senior politicians even those from the Sangh, without sounding too impolite. Rarely is he overawed by any of his fellow travellers. But Prakash Singh Badal’s daughter-in-law and Sukhbir Badal’s wife Harsimrat Kaur falls in a different category. She has impressed Jaitley not just because she is good looking and at ease with the English language but also because she is rich. She flies her own plane on the weekends to her constituency Bathinda and is highly religious and a complete vegetarian. She is also trying to turn hubby Sukhbir into a vegetarian and teetotaler.
A surprise for Hooda Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Mirchipur in Hisar, Haryana, to condole the death of the Dalit victims of caste violence there last week came as an unpleasant surprise for the local administration. But as a senior Congress leader pointed out when Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was happily ignorant of Rahul’s plans, why blame the poor district administration. Rahul’s visit to Mirchipur accompanied by Union minister Prithvi Raj Chauhan, was the best kept secret ostensibly because the Congress did not want this sombre occasion to be turned into a circus by party workers. Perhaps the party also wanted it to be a surprise for Hooda. Normally the state administration is given a prior notice since Rahul Gandhi is protected by the SPG. It naturally reflected badly on Hooda’s credibility in Congress circles in the Capital. That is also because sections within the Congress have started noticing that the Chief Minister spends more time in the corridors of Parliament than his own state. Contributed by Aditi Tandon, Faraz Ahmad and Vibha Sharma
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Corrections and clarifications n The headline, “SEBI makes small, big investors on par” (Page 15, May 3) is wrong. “SEBI puts small, big investors on a par with …” would have been apt. n
The box with the story “Gill applies brakes on tenure of Kalmadi & Co” ( Page 1, May 3) mentions Digvijay Singh of Congress as the president of Indian federation of shooting. The Digvijay Singh in question is an Independent MP from Bihar and not the Congress leader from MP. n
From the headline “India, Pakistan begin today” (Page 22, May 1) it is not clear that it refers to the T-20 World Cup. n
A news report had the headline “Hizbul militant on the run shot dead” (Page 6, April 25) which is incorrect. The correct word is Hizb, not Hizbul. ‘Ul’ is a preposition. Hizb-ul-Mujahideen means party or group of Mujahideen. Despite our earnest endeavour to keep The Tribune error-free, some errors do creep in at times. We are always eager to correct them. This column appears twice a week — every Tuesday and Friday. We request our readers to write or e-mail to us whenever they find any error. Readers in such cases can write to Mr Kamlendra Kanwar, Senior Associate Editor, The Tribune, Chandigarh, with the word “Corrections” on the envelope. His e-mail ID is kanwar@tribunemail.com. Raj Chengappa
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