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Politics of
agitation Stop this farce |
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Who killed
Benazir?
Changing security
environment
Better late than
never
Hi-tech industries in
disarray as polluting minerals are rationed
The ecological
risks of clean energy’s ‘dirty little secret’
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Stop this farce
This
New Year’s Day, the Union Territory of Chandigarh elected its 17th mayor as an annual much-publicised exercise, though lacking in substance. Ever since the Municipal Corporation came into being in 1996, the elected and nominated councillors have been electing a mayor and his two deputies which has been preceded by the usual excitement of lobbying and horse-trading. Except that, the stakes are low, as the mayor of Chandigarh has the shortest tenure and is among the most powerless in the country. Unlike the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, where a mayor’s tenure ranges between two-and-a-half years and five years, Chandigarh’s mayor has a mere year-long tenure. This is considered so short that rarely has a mayor bothered to shift into the official house in Sector 24. Behind this short tenure lies a policy of reservation. During every five-year tenure of a general house, the mayor’s post can be held only twice by a general category candidate; twice by a Scheduled Caste candidate and one of who must be a woman; and once by a woman irrespective of the category she belongs to. In addition, mayors have no worthwhile executive powers. Every project passed by the general house, comprising 26 elected and nine nominated councillors, requires clearance of the UT Administration, an institution that is the preserve of the IAS. The farcical structure of the Municipal Corporation is such that recently the mayor had to call off a general house meeting after a two-and-a-half-hour deliberation on an action-taken report on pending projects, all because it was suddenly discovered that the Municipal Commissioner, an IAS officer, was on leave and in his absence no amendments could be made to the existing policy. Chandigarh is the only Union Territory where people’s say —a fundamental characteristic of any democracy — is nearly absent. If the government is indeed serious about providing people’s representation, then it should either empower the mayor and the councillors or scrap these institutions altogether and save tax- payers’ money. |
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Who killed Benazir?
The
report of the latest enquiry into the December 27, 2007, assassination of PPP leader Benazir Bhutto may lead to a major image loss for the Pakistan Army. The findings of the probe, conducted under the supervision of Interior Minister Rehman Malik, have it that the plot to eliminate the former Prime Minister was hatched at the residence of a brigadier. This means that former President Gen Pervez Musharraf, who was also the Chief of Army Staff then, cannot escape questioning. But that will be too risky for the PPP regime, including President Asif Ali Zardari, as General Musharraf is still revered by most top Generals, including Army Chief Gen Ashfaque Kiyani. Benazir fell to her assassin’s bullets in Rawalpindi when she was back home after ending her self-imposed exile following a deal she had entered into with General Musharraf. The then Musharraf regime had apprehensions that if she was allowed to take part in the 2008 elections she would become Prime Minister again and make life hell for the ruling General and many others on his band wagon. The probe report has obviously mentioned his role in Benazir’s killing as the Federal Investigation Agency of Pakistan is reported to have prepared a tough questionnaire for General Musharraf. The report, which names nine guilty persons, including four who are dead, was about to be presented at the Naudero meeting of the PPP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) on the occasion of the third death anniversary of Benazir, but President Zardari got it held over till the next meeting of his party’s CEC on the pretext of Bilawal Bhutto, the heir-apparent to the Bhutto legacy, not being present. The truth, however, is that most of the surviving accused persons are army personnel. Mr Zardari is faced with a dilemma: if he shelves the enquiry report forever on some pretext, he will continue to have the blemish that the widower of Benazir has something to hide and hence his reluctance to punish the killers of his late wife. And if he allows the law to take its course, he will be pitted against the army, which has already been against his survival in the coveted position he holds. Irrespective of what ultimately happens, the explosive report has definitely put the Pakistan Army in the dock. |
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The wise man thinks about his troubles only when there is some purpose in doing so; at other times he thinks about other things. — Bertrand Russell
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Changing security environment
This
seems to be the time to woo India as a defence partner. The British Defence Secretary, Mr Liam Fox, was in New Delhi recently promoting the Eurofighter Typhoon as India looks to buy 126 multi-role combat aircraft for its air force. The French President, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy, too has visited India pushing Dassault’s Rafale, which is back as a contender after it was initially knocked out of the race for technical reasons last year. The Obama Administration is also eyeing the lucrative multi-billion dollar tender for medium multi-role combat aircraft of the Indian Air Force. The Russian President, Mr Dmitri Medvedev, came to India firming up an already tight defence partnership. Russia was and still is a huge seller of defence equipment to India, but the Indian government’s outreach to the US and Europe has allowed for a diversification of the defence market. India has emerged as the world's second-largest arms buyer over the last five years, importing 7 per cent of the world's arms exports. With the world’s fourth largest military and one of the biggest defence budgets, India has been in the midst of a huge defence modernisation programme for more than a decade now that has seen billions of dollars spent on the latest high-tech military technology. According to a recent report by the KPMG, India will be spending around $100 billion on defence purchases over the next decade. This liberal spending on military equipment has attracted the interest of Western industry and governments alike and is changing the scope of the global defence market. And yet, just a few weeks back India’s Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik bluntly informed the country that half of the equipment used by the Indian Air Force was either obsolete or obsolescent. Though he assured the nation that the IAF was quite “capable” of carrying out its defensive role, he was unequivocal in his suggestion that most of the hardware used by the IAF was not in the best operational condition. At a time when Indian political leaders blithely talk of India’s rise as a military power, such a statement from the top military leadership raises serious concerns about the trajectory of India’s defence policy. That this is happening at a time when the regional security environment in Asia is witnessing an unprecedented military transformation should make redressing the situation the top priority of the government. India’s security environment is deteriorating rapidly with the prospect of the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, the military taking control in Pakistan, China asserting its territorial interests more aggressively than ever before, deepening Sino-Pakistan military cooperation, internal turmoil in Kashmir and the growing threat from Maoists. As a percentage of the GDP, the annual defence spending has declined to one of its lowest levels since 1962. More damagingly, for the last several years now the defence ministry has been unable to spend its budgetary allocation. The defence acquisition process remains mired in corruption and bureaucratese. A series of defence procurement scandals since the late 1980s have also made the bureaucracy risk averse, thereby delaying the acquisition process. A large part of the money is surrendered by the defence forces every year, given their inability to spend due to labyrinthine bureaucratic procedures involved in the procurement process. India’s indigenous defence production industry has time and again made its inadequacy to meet the demands of the armed forces apparent. The Indian armed forces keep waiting for arms and equipment while the Finance Ministry is left with unspent budget year after year. Most large procurement programmes get delayed, resulting in cost escalation and technological or strategic obsolescence of the budgeted items. Not surprisingly, while the Indian Army is suggesting that it is 50 per cent short of attaining full capability and will need around 20 years to gain full defence preparedness, naval analysts are pointing out that India’s naval power is actually declining. During the 1999 Kargil conflict, operations were hampered by a lack of adequate equipment. The then Indian Army Chief had famously commented that the forces would fight with whatever they had got underlining the frustration in the armed forces regarding their inability to procure the arms they needed. Only because the conflict remained largely confined to the 150-kilometre front in the Kargil sector did India manage to get the upper hand, ejecting Pakistani forces from its side of the Line of Control (LoC). India lacked the ability to impose significant military costs during Operation Parakram because of the unavailability of suitable weaponry and night vision equipment needed to carry out swift surgical strikes. Similarly, the public outcry after the terror attacks on Mumbai in November 2008 was strong enough for the Indian government to consider using the military option vis-à-vis Pakistan. But it soon turned out that India no longer had the capability of imposing quick and effective retribution on Pakistan and that it no longer enjoyed the kind of conventional superiority vis-à-vis its regional adversary that it had enjoyed for the past five decades. The higher defence organisational set-up in India continues to exhibit serious weaknesses with its ability to prosecute wars in the contemporary strategic context remaining doubtful. The institutional structures as they stand today are not effective enough to provide single-point military advice to the government or to facilitate the definition of defence objectives. Coordinated and synergised joint operations need integrated theatre commands, yet India hasn’t found it necessary to appoint even a Chief of Defence Staff. The Indian government is yet to demonstrate the political will to tackle the defence policy paralysis that seems to be rendering all the claims of India’s rise as a military power increasingly hollow. There has been no long-term strategic review of India’s security environment and no overall defence strategy has been articulated. The challenge for the Indian government is to delineate clearly what products it needs and how to build up its own industry in the process by significantly reforming the domestic defence manufacturing sector. In the absence of a comprehensive, long-term appraisal of the country’s defence requirements, there will be little clarity on India’s real needs in defence acquisitions. And India’s rise as a major global player will remain a matter of
potential.
The writer teaches at King’s College, London.
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Better late than never They
briskly walked through the glass doorway into the swanky airport. The cool air of the airport lounge soothed their frayed nerves a bit. Outside, it was a scorching 38 degrees Celsius. They were heading for the cooler Port Louis in Mauritius. It was a welcome break for them from their busy schedules as young company secretaries with a reputed company. That was where they had met for the first time and had eventually got married. How time had flown by and it had been two years since. Only now had they got the time to take this trip, which was perhaps long overdue. Now, they were really late. The husband urged her, rather irritatingly, to walk faster as he heaved their three rather large suitcases onto the conveyor belt. The heaviest of them contained the stuff of their infant son who was bawling incessantly in his mother’s kangaroo sack. She fumbled with the sack and adjusted her son to a more comfortable position as they rushed to the next security check point. Now, this seemed to work as the child paused a little before beginning all over again.This flustered the young mother completely. This constant wailing right under her ears seemed to have started a headache. They seemed to be getting a lot of attention, too, from sympathetic travellers. She embarrassingly tried to calm him down by patting his back. It didn’t seem to work, however. The howling continued. At the airlines counter meant for special packages, the smartly dressed young executive looked at them rather questioningly while verifying their passports. She flashed a meaningful smile as she returned their papers. They could not stop smiling at the muffled noises being made at the counter as they quickly moved onto the next security check. At last, they reached the boarding gate just in the nick of time when the final announcement for their flight was being made. As they boarded the flight, a smile creased their tired faces at finally having made this trip. As soon as they settled down in their seats, the husband gently held her hand. She blushed like a coy bride. Their son had stopped crying as if he, too, had sensed the mood of the trip. After all, they were on their honeymoon on a
special package!
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Hi-tech industries in disarray as polluting minerals are rationed
Rare earths are the 17 obscure metals that are an essential component in many modern applications such as smartphones, computers and lasers. Producing them damages the environment and now China plans to cut down production.
China
has struck fear into Western governments and electronics giants by slashing exports of a highly sought-after array of metals which are crucial for electronics products ranging from iPads and X-ray systems, to low-energy lightbulbs and hybrid cars. In a sign of its growing industrial and political clout, China has cut its export quotas for rare earth elements (REEs) by 35 per cent for the first six months of 2011, threatening to extend a global shortage of the minerals and intensifying a scramble to find alternative sources. Mines in China supply 97 per cent of the world’s rare earths, 17 obscure metals which possess various qualities, such as conductivity and magnetism, that make them an essential component in many modern applications such as smartphones, computers and
lasers.
Commentators said the announcement was probably designed to limit the environmental damage caused by the mines while ensuring its manufacturers were able to meet growing domestic and international demand. However the announcement caused dismay among Western governments, which have belatedly begun to appreciate that China’s stranglehold on elements such as lanthanum, used for batteries in hybrid cars, and neodymium, for permanent magnets in wind turbines, give it immense economic and political power. The US Trade Representative’s office, which advises President Barack Obama, said it had raised concerns with China over the export restraints. Britain, which previously said it was monitoring whether China’s stance on REEs broke World Trade Organisation rules, reiterated its commitment to “free, fair and open markets”. A spokesman for the Department for Business said: “Competitive markets are essential to achieving long-term sustainable growth, which is why the UK supports the need to cut red tape and resist protectionism.” Electronics companies could be hard hit by rising prices caused by the export cut, which was predicted by The Independent in January. The consumer electronics giant Sony described the move as an obstacle to free trade. “At this point in time there is no direct impact on our company. But further restrictions could lead to a shortage of supply or rise in costs for related parts and materials. We will watch the situation carefully,” a Sony spokesman said. Other manufacturers, such as Apple, whose iPad uses rare earths, declined to comment. REEs lie near the surface in only a few, usually inhospitable, areas. During the past 20 years, China has rapidly increased production from a single mine near the city of Baotou, in Inner Mongolia, leading to the closure of mines in the US and elsewhere unable to compete with the low prices. However, a global shortfall now looms because worldwide demand for REEs has almost tripled from 40,000 tons to 110,000 tons in the past 10 years, while China — which accounts for about 75 per cent of usage with the remainder divided between Japan, the US and Europe — has begun to scale back exports, from 48,500 tons a year to 14,446 tons for the first half of 2011. The move has the potential to damage the industries reliant on rare earths, which are estimated to be worth £3 trillion, or 5 per cent of global GDP. The US rare earth mining company Molycorp aims to reopen a mine in the Mojave Desert at the end of this year, which will produce 20,000 tons a year, or about 25 per cent of current Western imports from China, by mid-2012. Deposits are also found in Greenland, opening the prospect of its wilderness being scarred by environmentally damaging mining. “Export quotas continue to be a tool for the Chinese government to limit the export of its strategic resource,” said Nick Curtis, the chief executive of Lynas, which is opening a new mine in Australia and whose share price shot up by 10 per cent on news of China’s move. A global scramble for rare earths has now begun, according to Gareth Hatch, an analyst. “We have a race against time: we’ve found the materials we know where they are, now we have to develop them,” he
said. — The Independent
Fact file
How various industries use rare earth elements
Rare earth elements are in the forefront of global worries over fears that China’s policy of curbing exports will cause shortages. Despite their name, rare earth elements are a relatively abundant group of 17 chemical elements. They were originally described as rare because they were unknown in their elemental form and difficult to extract from the rocks that contained them. Here is a summary of rare earth industrial applications and some key areas where they are employed: Catalysts:
Petroleum cracking catalysts and auto catalysts use lanthanum and cerium. Glass:
Cerium is the major constituent of this sector, where it is used in ultra-violet light filtering. Polishing: A rapidly growing sector that is based on the unique chemical and mechanical properties of cerium in the polishing of glass, including multi-level electronic components. Metal Alloys:
Nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries are the key driver of demand and could put pressure on lanthanum supply. Magnets:
Currently, the most dynamic market for rare earths with growth in demand increasing at 15 per cent a year for the past 10 years, causing neodymium and terbium to increase by more than 40 per cent over the past 12 months. Phosphors:
Necessary for the production of phosphors for TVs and energy-efficient lamps. Ceramics: Yttrium stabilised zirconia is used throughout the resources industry where a material with high-wear resistance is required. Defence industries
Magnets Rare earth magnets are widely used in wind turbines. Hybrid car batteries Every hybrid-electric and electric vehicle has a large battery which is made using rare earth compounds. Mobile phones, laptops Rechargeable batteries used in mobile phone and portable computers require rare earths, which were the key to smaller more efficient battery technology.
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The ecological risks of clean energy’s ‘dirty little secret’ Producing
rare-earth metals carries considerable environmental risks, not least because the ores in which they are found often contain thorium, radium and uranium, which are radioactive. Add to that the toxic acids involved in the refining process, and the “tailings”, or waste sludge, from the mine can be very unpleasant indeed. Rare earths, which are widely used in such green energy applications as electric cars and wind turbines, have been referred to as “clean energy’s dirty little secret”. The environmental difficulties are well illustrated by the Mountain Pass mine in California. Until it closed in 2002, the Mojave desert facility for a long time provided most of the world’s rare-earth metals, but the environmental cost was high. In the 1980s, its owners began piping its waste water, which carried radioactive waste, to evaporation ponds 14 miles away. However, the pipeline ruptured some 60 times — until it was shut down in 1998 — and 600,000 gallons of radioactive and hazardous waste flowed out into the surrounding desert. The company was eventually ordered to mount a major clean-up exercise and was fined more than $1m (£650,000). Mountain Pass closed eight years ago because of the environmental difficulties and because the price of rare earths had dropped, making operations uneconomic. But China’s tightening of supplies has led to a decision by Mountain Pass’s new owners, Molycorp Inc, to reopen it. This year, the company issued shares to raise the $500m that restarting production will cost. One of the great prizes from reopening Mountain Pass will be the rare-earth mineral neodymium, which makes the world’s lightest and strongest magnets, essential for the electric motors of hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius, and for wind turbines. Molycorp hopes to have the mine working again by late 2011 after negotiating environmental
safeguards with no fewer than 18 California regulatory agencies. The company will be spending $2.4m a year on environmental monitoring and compliance — a cost its Chinese competitors may not have to bear. But even if its products turn out to be more expensive, Molycorp has already signed supply contracts with customers both in the US and Japan, such is the demand for rare earths. — The Independent
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Instead of last year’s 22,282 metric tons, China’s Ministry of Commerce revealed the total for the first six months of next year would be 14,446 tons, split among 31 domestic and foreign-invested companies.