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A judicial blow
Crisis deepens in Nepal
Sting in the tail |
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Life after US pullout
Selecting right husband
The Indian pharmaceutical market, in spite of supervision and control by the Centre and state
authorities concerned, needs several reforms to suit the Indian consumer
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A judicial blow THE Parkash Singh Badal government richly deserved the humiliation received from a Full Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which set aside the appointment of Harish Rai Dhanda as Chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission on Wednesday. The appointment, the court says, was “made with a preconceived mind”. Dhanda resigned as an MLA on July 6 to take up the new job and was stopped from taking the oath as a PIL petition challenged the appointment. He was the sole candidate considered and appointed to an important constitutional post. Normally, making appointments is the executive’s job. But top posts cannot be gifted away to political loyalists. The judiciary intervenes if there are no rules or the prescribed rules are violated. A public service commission makes senior-level appointments and people expect these to be fair, transparent and objective. But if the integrity of those taking such decisions is suspect, the loss of public faith in the selection process is inevitable. There is a tendency to accommodate retired judges and bureaucrats for services rendered in the past. Information commissioners are also sometimes appointed arbitrarily. Academics woo politicians for occupying the chair of Vice Chancellor. Go-getters often beat the deserving in the dirty race. All this becomes possible because there are no specific guidelines mentioning the qualifications, experience, age etc required for top posts. This helps politicians but hurts institutions. One chief minister fills the PPSC with cronies and the next refuses to give it any work until he replaces the previous set with his own. This distrust has become quite evident in recent years. Chief Minister Badal tried passing on the PPSC work to the UPSC, which rightly rebuffed him. The government cannot tell right from wrong despite raising a battalion of lawyers raised with the tax payers’ money. A private lawyer was hired to defend the Ludhiana MLA. Institutions and individuals, no matter how powerful, are respected if they act responsibly. Otherwise, courts and people show them their limits.
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Crisis deepens in Nepal THE situation in Nepal is back to square one. With Prime Minister Jhalnath Khanal having resigned, an intensive search for a new leader to head a national unity government has begun. The Constituent Assembly, which has to elect a new Prime Minister, has very limited time as its term is due to end on August 31. The Assembly has a Herculain task to accomplish in a country where earlier as many as 17 attempts were made to get a leader to run the government. Mr Khanal became the Prime Minster on February 3 only after Mr Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, extended his support to him. Mr Prachanda’s Maoist party has the largest representation in the 601-member Assembly. Mr Khanal’s elevation came about with the signing of a five-point deal which he has failed to implement. This was the reason why the Maoists and even members of his own party, the CPN-UML, wanted Mr Khanal to go. The deal had it that the Prime Minister would do everything possible to take the 2006 peace process to its logical conclusion, expedite the constitution-writing programme and ensure that the Maoist militia cadres were absorbed in the Nepal Army. However, the primary task of the Constituent Assembly, formed in 2008 after a proper election, was to draft a new democratic constitution. The peace process cannot be completed without a constitution, as this will have to be followed by a general election. In the search for a new Prime Minister some names have started making rounds like those of Mr Baburam Bhattarai, the second most important leader of the Maoists after Mr Prachanda, Mr Ram Chandra Poudel and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress. The fact that Mr Prachanda and Mr Bhattarai do not pull along well may come in the way of the latter’s winning the race. In any case, at this stage it is difficult to say who will emerge the winner. No two political parties in Nepal have a convergence of opinion. With their bloated egos, these short-sighted politicians are unlikely to settle for a leader so easily.
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Sting in the tail ACUTE embarrassment in Pakistan over the fact that Osama bin Laden was living in a hideout in the cantonment town of Abbottabad was quickly replaced by indignation and anger at the United States for staging the raid that killed the most wanted terrorist in the world. It was clear that Pakistani leadership was kept out of the loop by the Americans. All that American Seals left behind were some dead bodies and the tail section of a radar-evading helicopter used in the operation, which had to be abandoned due to it malfunctioning. The tail section of the helicopter survived the attempt by the US forces to destroy it. By now most of the world has seen pictures of the damaged craft, as well as of other effects of the raid. While there was jubilation in many parts of the world, the Pakistani establishment was on the back foot and retaliated by defending the ISI and seeking out all those who had helped the Americans. The tail too became an issue, as the US demanded, and got it back, but not before, it is now alleged, Pakistan gave its long-time military ally China a look-see, or more. Since the 9/11 attacks, the US has given Pakistan aid worth $20 billion. However, it is no secret that Washington and Islamabad have, more often than not, competing agendas, even on Afghanistan, where the US needs Pakistan’s help the most. Given that a relationship that had seen its share of ups and down has reached a new low, the hawks are active on both sides. The Inter-Services Intelligence agency and the military establishment are not likely to loosen their stranglehold on the civilian government in Pakistan. The diplomats will, therefore, have to work with them even as they strengthen the civilian government, encourage democracy in Pakistan, and address the damage, military as well as diplomatic, that this incident has caused.
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We do not see things as they are; we see things as we are. — Talmud
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Life after US pullout WITH the Americans having announced that they intend to end active combat operations in Afghanistan after the end of 2014, Pakistanis have commenced pondering over what life will be like after that. Optimists, particularly from the military and jihadi groups believe that the American withdrawal will lead to the fulfilment of Gen Zia-ul-Haq’s dream of a Pakistan blessed with “strategic depth”’ extending beyond the Amu Darya and into Central Asia. Others fear that with Taliban extremism already having spread from across the Durand Line into Punjab and even into Karachi, the country is headed for what author Ahmed Rashid once described as a “Descent into Chaos”. Interestingly, a CIA report, entitled “Global Trends 2015”, noted in December 2001: “Pakistan will not recover easily from decades of economic mismanagement, divisive politics and ethnic feuds. In a climate of continuing domestic turmoil, the Central Government’s control will probably be reduced to the Punjab heartland and the economic hub of Karachi.” Rarely has a country’s future been tied as inextricably to the actions in its neighbourhood of a distant power as Pakistan’s future presently is to American policies in Afghanistan. Any hope that a democratic dispensation will soon triumph over military hegemony in Pakistan, as Turkey has now experienced, is a pipedream. Pakistan’s military still believes that the Americans will meet the same fate as the Soviets did when confronted with the forces of “militant Islam” from across the Durand Line. There is nothing to indicate that Rawalpindi has any intention of ending its support for either the Taliban or the Haqqani network. Both Mullah Omar and Sirajuddin Haqqani remain implacably opposed to American proposals on political “reconciliation” in Afghanistan. Neither of them has shown any sign of ending links with the Al-Zawahiri-led Al-Qaeda and its Chechen and Central Asian affiliates. Moreover, the Haqqani network unabashedly supports the Islamic Movement of East Turkestan, infuriating Pakistan’s “all-weather friend,” China. Pakistan’s military has believed in recent years that with the American economy in tatters and domestic opinion becoming increasingly hostile to growing casualties overseas the Obama Administration will quit Afghanistan, paving the way for a Taliban takeover in the not too distant future. Pakistan’s military also believed that given their dependence on its logistical support for supplies to their military in Afghanistan, the Americans were in no position to take coercive measures against their country. These calculations have gone awry. Firstly, it was the combined costs of war in Iraq, estimated at $ 806 billion, together with the relatively less expensive war in Afghanistan that has cost the US taxpayer a total of $ 444 billion over a decade, which was proving unaffordable. Secondly, while Americans have lost 1760 soldiers in Afghanistan over a decade, their high casualties in Iraq, which included 4474 killed in action, made the war highly unpopular domestically. Finally, showing determination to thwart Pakistani blackmail and threats of blocking supply routes, the Americans now move less than 35 per cent of their supplies through Pakistan, with the rest coming across their Northern Distribution Network, assisted by Russia and the Central Asian Republics. Two years ago over 70 per cent of American supplies were routed through Pakistan. Whether it is on the question of the secret approval it gave for American drone attacks on Pakistani territory, even as it raised a public hue and cry on the issue, or in its policy of providing shelter to Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, while claiming to be a loyal ally on America’s “War on Terror”, the duplicity of Pakistan’s military stands exposed before its own people and before the world. But fear of the military and its jihadi protégés constantly stifles liberal voices in Pakistan. The elimination of people like Salman Taseer and Syed Saleem Shahzad is a clear signal that there is little difference between General Kayani and General Shuja Pasha, together with their favourite jihadis on the one hand, and Syria’s President Basher-al-Assad, on the other, when it comes to eliminating manifestations of dissent. The Pakistan Army is finding it difficult to defeat its erstwhile Pashtun protégés in the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. There is, therefore, little prospect of it meeting American demands to act decisively against the followers of Mullah Omar and Sirajuddin Haqqani. Pakistan’s Generals are bent on retaining their jihadi assets in Afghanistan. The United States is determined to ensure that the AfPak badlands straddling the Durand Line are not infested with pathologically anti-American jihadis. The two “Major non-NATO allies” thus appear set on a collision course despite pretensions of seeking mutual understanding. With China upset at Pakistan-based militants challenging its writ in Xinjiang, there is little prospect of Beijing pandering to Pakistan’s jihadi inclinations in Afghanistan, despite its aversion for a continuing American military presence, close to its borders. China’s assistance to its “all-weather friend” will, however, continue primarily to “contain” India. The Russians have made it clear that their air space and territory are available for American operations in Afghanistan against the Taliban as long as they can jointly crackdown on production and smuggling of opium. Unless there is a total meltdown in their economy, the Americans will retain a relatively small, but significant military/air presence in Afghanistan, primarily for counter-terrorism, against groups operating across the Durand Line. There are hints that their military presence in Afghanistan will also be geared to deal with any possible takeover of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons by jihadi extremists, including by extremists within Pakistan’s much vaunted military. The Afghan National Army will, in all likelihood, not be able to retain the control of the areas bordering Pakistan for any length of time after December 2014. India and the international community will have to be prepared for this situation and for the inevitable change in the dynamics of internal politics within Afghanistan, given the deep-rooted non-Pashtun aversion to Taliban domination. We should have no illusions that we can change the jihadi mindset of Pakistan’s armed forces and should learn the right lessons from the heavy price the Americans have paid for their naiveté on the military mindset in Pakistan. We will also have to contribute actively in regional and international forums focusing on AfPak developments. Most importantly, our economic assistance has won us goodwill across Afghanistan. This has to continue. The end-game in Afghanistan has only just begun. Hopefully, our approach to developments in Afghanistan will show greater realism and imagination than our “composite dialogue at all costs” diplomacy. Such realism appeared absent when Pakistan-backed jihadis killed Indian soldiers in Kashmir just after the much-touted visit of Mrs Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan’s Foreign
Minister.
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Selecting right husband
A
girl in her pre-teens resting next to her dollhouse starts dreaming of her knight in shining armour. And after her teens, parents too are on the lookout of the proverbial tall, dark and handsome (TDS) guy though Shahrukh Khan promotes a cream that makes one ‘fair and handsome like him’. This ‘TDS’ longing has resulted in increasing rate of divorce even in India where it still is the lowest — less than 2 per cent but has increased by one hundred per cent in the urban areas in the past five years. It is because we choose a person who looks like chocolate-boy Shahid Kapoor, who has jumped from Kareena to Amrita to Sania to Priyanka and now to Bipasha, instead of the family-man Ajay Devgan type. A recent survey conducted by a magazine reflected that only 44 per cent of married women wished to marry the same man in their next birth. Pity, the ‘saat janmon ka bandhan’ promise failed to cross the pious fire of the wedding mandap for majority of them! Do you want a very intelligent husband for yourself or for your daughter? Beware, Dr Willard F Harley, marriage expert, says, “The girl and the boy should be roughly equivalent in intelligence, within about 15 I.Q. Points.” The common blunder that is committed is marrying potential. The parents think that ‘he has the potential of improving after marriage.’ Girl! Know your would-be hubby’s habits, character, and personal hygiene standards and see if you can live with these as they are now, then go ahead and hold his hand. The experts say that a girl or her family may expect him to change after marriage but mostly the change is for the worst. All this shows that selecting Mr Right is a tedious job. Yes, it is; but a recent survey conducted on 51,000 people in London has made it simpler. Go to the nearest museum or art gallery or a cultural house or a theatre hall and keep an eye on the person who is closest to the one in your heart. He is the person in better shape, both mentally and physically. Such persons have a good state of health, are satisfied with life and their levels of anxiety and depression are very low. The high-sample research of its kind has disclosed: “The biggest beneficiaries were men who were interested in watching and looking at culture rather than actively participating in it themselves.” The study has found that Mr Right should be in the audience but Miss Right has to be on the stage — men gain most from receptive cultural activities and women from creative cultural activities. So, happy
hunt!
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The Indian pharmaceutical market, in spite of supervision and control by the Centre and state authorities concerned, needs several reforms to suit the Indian consumer
Drugs aplenty, but not for common man In India, we have not lagged behind. Our pharmaceuticals, in spite of tough competition, have got entrenched in the eastern, mid-eastern and in several western markets. Some of our pharmaceutical multinationals have already acquired an edge over several well-established foreign multinationals. Our pharmaceutical export revenue is increasing year after year. We are very much in the global market. In India more than 40 thousand pharmaceutical manufacturers of all grades are flooding the market with nearly 50 thousand patent as well as 200 thousand generic drugs and formulations of all types. This number is rapidly increasing every year. The global market harshly enforces specifications and quality control in all respects, retail dispensing, pricing and presentation etc, according to the norms laid down by the respective authorities concerned. The price of pharmaceuticals is the single most pinching problem which makes them out of reach for those who need them the most. It is an irony of paucity in the midst of plenty. About 35-40 per cent of Indians are below the poverty line; 50 per cent are in the middle income group.Only 10 per cent are an affluent chosen few. The cost of a strip of 10 capsules/tablets being not less than Rs 50-60, it is hardly affordable for 70-80 per cent of Indians. The National Rural Health Mission and Health insurance schemes for those below the poverty line, for several reasons, have not taken off and have made no tangible dent so far. The margin of profit in most pharmaceutical formulations and patents is between 100 and 500 per cent. Rigid and intimate scrutiny and price control, both at the Centre and the state levels, is imperative. MOU with multinationals for foreign direct investment should restrict the margin of profits for the price control of products. Preference to generic drugs over patented ones, simple cheaper retail dispensing, packing and packaging can considerably reduce cost and prices. Each strip, vial or bottle should display in a bold print readable without a magnifying glass, the generic name of the drug and its dose. In most cases the name of the manufacturer and the name of the drug covers most of the space.
Quality control Various pharmacopeias — Indian, British, US etc — lay down specifications for each pharmaceutical. After the initial batch, on which the license for the pharmaceuticals depends, subsequent batches tend to compromise on specifications and quality. Therefore, the drug is either less potent, or gives severe side-effects. Therapeutic index (lethal dose divided by effective dose) of every drug is governed by internationally accepted norms. The higher the index, the safer the drug. There should be no side-effects like anaphylactic shock, allergic reactions affecting gastro-intestinal tract, cardio-vascular system and skin rashes. A safe drug with a high therapeutic index should have no side- effects and no contra-indications and antagonism. These specifications need to be scrutinised for every batch of every drug manufactured
by every manufacturer for a foolproof quality control. Is this being done diligently and strictly by those responsible for it? This becomes a big question mark, when several fatal or severely affected cases are reported from hospitals frequently, attributed to drug and vaccine administration, wherein quality control has been compromised. Lately, some foreign multinationals have been permitted to get their pharmaceuticals manufactured in India on a contract basis by Indian manufacturers. It may add to the Indian economy, but little tangible cost benefits have accrued to the consumer. Intensive quality control norms need strict surveillance in such cases.
Spurious drugs The menace of spurious drugs infiltration into the pharmaceutical market is a cancer which needs ruthless suppression and excision. Nearly 1-5 per cent of pharmaceuticals are spurious at present.If this is not nipped in the bud, it will grow parallel with the pharmaceutical industry, quicker than parallel black money economy. Ninety per cent of patients who don’t respond to routine therapy are victims of spurious drugs. Most antibiotics, vitamins and minerals, pain killers and injections are prone to spurious imitation. We need a regular, well-organised pharmaceutical intelligence establishment at the
Centre, the states and every pharmaceutical industrial township with a network of
whistleblowers. The drug control authorities fully satisfy themselves before a drug is approved for marketing. Even then, at times, certain drugs prove harmful on mass consumption. Such drugs are promptly banned and are required to be withdrawn by the manufacturers/stockist from the retail market. In spite of clear ban orders and public announcement by the authorities concerned, there is hardly a chemist shop not continuing to retail such drugs. Do drug inspectors know and check the availability of such drugs at chemist shops?
Strong antibiotics Except for drugs like opium and a few more which under legislation can be sold by the chemist on a prescription by a registered doctor only, all other drugs, including even the strongest antibiotics, are on-the-counter readily available retail items, without any medical prescription.So much so that many chemists even prescribe drugs to the customers and thus add to the ever increasing number of quacks. The Health Minister of India in a public statement on August 2 has expressed serious concern about on-the-counter issue of drugs, especially antibiotics, by the chemists without medical prescription. Hopefully, some action will be taken.
Drug prescription Some non-allopathic practitioners are prescribing allopathic drugs to the patients. This practice is questionable. Each drug has its own pharmacological and pharmaco-kinetic action, contra-indications and antagonism. It is dangerous to prescribe drugs without such knowledge. It is time that a comprehensive legislation dealing with all aspects of pharmaceuticals, superseding piecemeal legislations is enacted for efficient governance and control of India’s pharmaceutical boon, so that it does not become a bane. The writer is Chairman and Managing Director of BCS Katarias Foundation and Health Care India, which is operating several free rural and slums health care centres
Taken for a ride
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DURING the last three decades, pharmaceuticals have shown an explosive growth all over the world. After eatables, cosmetics and textiles, pharmaceuticals are rapidly surging ahead to become the third largest industry in several developed countries, thanks to health awareness propagated by World Health Organisation (WHO).
However, the Indian pharmaceutical market, in spite of supervision and control by the Centre and state authorities concerned, needs several reforms to suit the Indian consumer.