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| Wednesday, February
28, 2001, Chandigarh, India    |
New security
set-up Rumblings in Himachal
BJP Sushma as “Bharat Didi” |
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N-fuel for Tarapur power plant Opening up the road to Mandalay
The story of Balco disinvestment
Fear of being afraid
Vegetarians need a varied diet
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New security set-up IT is not celebration time yet for the armed forces, although the Group of Ministers (GoM) has nudged the decision-making power closer to them. The proposed Chief of Defence Staff, the seniormost of the three service chiefs, will report directly to the Prime Minister as the sole adviser on all matters relating to defence and security. The Ministry of Defence will confine itself to drafting broad policies. It is possible to see in this a perceptible shift of authority from the bureaucrats to the uniformed officers, something they have been demanding for long and also fighting with the Ministry for long. The civilian setup will no doubt mount a rear guard action and try to water down some proposals, but now that the report is with the Prime Minister, only his Principal Secretary and security board chief Brijesh Mishra can influence him. The chances are he will do nothing to insert major changes for two reasons. One, he has been a party to it as a special invitee and, two, it has been cleared by four heavyweights — the Ministers in charge of Home, External Affairs, Defence and Finance. Their signature should insulate the recommendations from meddling civilian officers. Also the fact that the subcommittee which studied the system of defence management was headed by former junior Minister Arun Singh, who enjoys an excellent rapport with the forces. There is more to the new security structure. Administration and logistics will be the sole domain of the defence forces and the procurement process will be speeded up by ensuring active interaction between the services and the Ministry. Innovation goes further. The CDS will be the one to assess threat to national security, collect strategic intelligence and seek foreign cooperation with the help of a senior officer from the Ministry of External Affairs. There will in addition be a Vice Chief of Defence Staff and two deputies. The GoM has not accepted the idea of theatre command but has not rejected it either; it would be tried out in the Andaman and Nicobar islands. Curiously, the report is silent on the question of having a permanent national security adviser, a post now held by Mr Brijesh Mishra who also doubles up as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister. It is a bad miss and the Prime Minister should delink the two jobs. He has brought former RAW chief Dulat to his secretariat which sparked speculation that Mr Dulat is on his way to become the security adviser. Security is too serious a matter to brook a parttime manager. The Cabinet Secretariat will shed control over RAW which will rightly go to the Ministry of External Affairs. The old arrangement was whimsical. There is also a welcome suggestion to build a structural relationship among various intelligence collecting units to be coordinated by a national intelligence board. The emphasis on a new-look intelligence gathering mechanism is a direct and the most obvious offshoot of the Kargil conflict, caused mainly by a failure to notice the steady infiltration of Pakistani regulars. A unified command structure should hopefully overcome such a serious goof-up. |
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Rumblings in Himachal BJP DISSIDENCE is a professional hazard that every Chief Minister has to grapple with, almost on a day-to-day basis. But when the list of rebels baying for his scalp becomes as long as the catalogue of their grievances, the alarm bells should no longer be treated in Mukhya Mantri Nivas as a routine matter. The developments in Himachal Pradesh have already reached that stage. The rebel camp is on the ascendancy these days. The latest to join its ranks is none other than Minister of State for Revenue Rajan Sushant, considered a CM loyalist. He had earlier been close to Mr Shanta Kumar, but of late had been a staunch supporter of Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal. His open criticism of the Chief Minister is something that Mr Dhumal may not have bargained for. This spread of dissidence is a painful indicator that Mr Dhumal is not as good a man-manager as a person in his position ought to be. At the same time, it shows that the administration is not moving as smoothly as it ought to be. There is considerable substance in the various issues raised by Mr Sushant. What is noteworthy is that the real threat is from within the BJP itself. Factional feuding is a harsh reality, which Mr Dhumal can ignore only at his own peril. The Shanta Kumar group had been lying low. Mr Dhumal should not have concluded that it had been vanquished. The best way out would be to sink differences. However, the best is almost always superseded by ego-ordained priorities. There is already considerable turmoil following the registration of FIRs against three ministers in Kangra on a kidnapping charge. Kangra is the largest district of the State and an established Shanta Kumar turf. Growing discontent there can degenerate into a wider geographical conflict. The Sushant factor has already complicated matters. This kind of factionalism will affect both sides and the party as a whole. That is one luxury the BJP can ill afford. Right now, the dissidents are only mounting a challenge without going in for the jugular. But if the differences persist, a demand for change of leadership may emerge. Luckily for the party, the Congress in the State is also suffering from disunity pangs. That, however, should not encourage the BJP to stretch its luck any further. |
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Sushma as “Bharat Didi” WHEN Mrs Sushma Swaraj became Information and Broadcasting Minister for 13 days, during the first spell of BJP rule, she made Doordarshan women newsreaders follow a dress code which matched her strict puritan tastes. Now she has close to four years for making the entertainment channels conform to her views on Indian culture. Even if she tried, it is doubtful whether she would be able to give up the habit of imposing her views on Indian morality on just about everyone within striking distance. Sangh Parivar members evidently come programmed for playing the role of cultural cops. Try telling her that she has no business imposing her will on either the producers or the viewers. If she feels so strongly about the evil potential of television, she should ask Parliament to give her the power she needs to justify her actions. But which Sangh Parivar member has ever bothered about such legal niceties? They are the law and the law enforcers. Her ministry has given up performing the important function of monitoring foreign language radio channels for providing useful inputs to the Ministry of External Affairs. Why? Because monitoring what in her lexicon are "dirty ads" takes priority over what they were hired to do. How the viewers did not become moral junkies during the years Sushma Didi was not in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is a question only she can answer. She would actually be expecting messages of gratitude from countless mothers, sisters, brothers and fathers for saving the nation from going down the path of moral depravation. First she slapped a ban on a toothpaste ad because she did not like the images for marketing the product. And now a mobike ad and one for promoting a popular if also costly brand of jeans have met the same fate. Who can argue with her that she is free not to watch which she finds distasteful. Such an attitude would fly in the face of the training she has received. Logically she should receive an invitation from the Taliban for helping them implement their moral agenda, which is very similar to the one she has chosen for India. Manoj Kumar became the male face of Bharat because of the themes he chose for his films. Mrs Sushma Swaraj believes that posterity will remember her as Bharat Didi, cast in the mould which made Nargis a nationally recognisable face as Mother India. |
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N-fuel for Tarapur power plant BARELY 20 years ago, in April 1981, the then Chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission, Dr Homi Sethna, met American negotiators led by Assistant Secretary James Malone in Washington. Sethna was at the State Department along with the Secretary, External Affairs, Eric Gonsalves, to discuss the supply of enriched uranium for two American produced nuclear power reactors at the Tarapur atomic power station, located near Mumbai. The USA had signed an agreement in 1963 pledging the supply of nuclear fuel for India for these reactors till 1993. In return India had agreed to maintain IAEA safeguards on the spent fuel of these reactors. The US Congress had, however, effectively nullified the provisions of the 1963 agreement, enacted in 1978. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978 imposed new conditions requiring the countries receiving nuclear fuel from the USA to place all their nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards and, in effect, adhere to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). There was little doubt that these provisions were primarily directed against India and aimed at pressurising New Delhi to close its nuclear options and compel it to accept the provisions of the NPT. Dr Sethna’s message to the Americans was clear and blunt. He pointed out that in accordance with the Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties, the 1963 Tarapur agreement had the same sanctity as a treaty. Domestic laws cannot override the provisions of international treaties. He added that India had accepted safeguards on nuclear spent fuel in the 1963 agreement, only in return for continued and uninterrupted supply of nuclear fuel. If the USA did not fulfil its
commitment to supply fuel, India would feel free to revoke existing IAEA safeguards and reprocess the spent fuel. More significantly, Dr Sethna revealed to the American delegation that Indian scientists had developed the expertise to run the Tarapur reactors on a reprocessed plutonium-mixed oxide fuel (MOX). India would proceed to do this in the event of an interruption of nuclear fuel supplies by the USA. Shortly after these exchanges took place, the Reagan Administration let it be known that it was seeking an “amicable disengagement” with India on the nuclear fuel issue. It agreed to assist in getting France to provide India with lightly enriched uranium for the Tarapur reactors. Washington was then also aware that apart from its ability to operate the Tarapur reactors on MOX, India had received an offer from the Soviet Union to provide enriched uranium. The Bush Administration’s criticism of Russia for its decision to provide India with nuclear fuel for the Tarapur power plant should be seen in the light of our earlier experiences on this issue. Washington and its non-proliferation surrogates like Canada and the Netherlands have spared no effort to see that India’s nuclear capabilities are restricted, if not rolled back. Helped by compliant officials in the IAEA, these powers have worked relentlessly to develop nuclear safeguards regimes that would place restrictions on nuclear supplies to India till we accept “full scope safeguards.” They have even got such provisions endorsed in the recent NPT review conference. New Delhi and Moscow need to point out that Russia’s agreement in principle to supply nuclear fuel for Tarapur and construct nuclear reactors in Kudamangalam in Tamil Nadu predate the commitments that the nuclear suppliers group undertook to impose enhanced safeguards in the 1990s. New Delhi would also do well to note that should nuclear fuel supplies for Tarapur cease, we retain the capability to run the reactors on indigenously developed MOX. These developments highlight the fact that despite pious Western professions of the benefits of interdependence and globalisation, advanced countries will continue to seek hegemoy and dominance through restrictions on the transfer of high technology and dual use items. We faced external pressures in the 1960s because we were not self-reliant in agricultural production. We overcame those challenges by embarking on a determined effort for self-sufficiency in food production. Likewise, when the Reagan Administration placed humiliating conditions for the supply of a second super-computer we were able to indigenously use parallel processing techniques to develop our own super-computers that were more effective and far cheaper than the Cray Super Computers that the USA had offered to us. Given the determination and the will, we can meet the challenges posed by technology denial regimes. There has unfortunately been a recent tendency to glibly claim that merely because we have tested five nuclear weapons, we have overcome the challenges we face in getting a measure of strategic autonomy in the contemporary world order. It would be highly dangerous to proceed on this premise, even if the Bush Administration decides to ease some of the post-Pokhran sanctions. Cartels like the London Club and the MTCR have been set to ensure that our strategic autonomy is kept in check. There should be no slackening in our determination to indigenously develop technologies in key areas like aerospace, missiles, nuclear power and weapons systems. It may be argued that a developing country like ours would be better advised to avoid such spending. But it should be remembered that the USA has achieved the position of pre-eminence in the development of new technologies largely as a result of the beneficial spin-off of research in defence and aerospace-related areas. While Pokhran has certainly helped us in achieving a measure of strategic autonomy in the nuclear field, there is much that still needs to be done in areas of key national security interest. We will find that others would be more inclined to cooperate with us in these fields once we are able to place an indigenous satellite in a geosynchronous orbit and develop our capabilities to commission fast-breeder nuclear reactors. Success in such efforts boosts national confidence and morale. There is also no need for us to be as apologetic and defensive as we presently seem to be, every time we test an intermediate or long-range missile. We have a tendency to get overly disappointed at occasional failures in the development of satellites and missile systems. Every country experiences failures and delays in the initial stages of development in such areas. There is unfortunately a tendency on the part of our armed forces to constantly change their user requirements when systems are in the process of being developed. We should develop a sense of pride and confidence in indigenously developed systems. The government should make it clear that while it would be willing to import or seek foreign collaboration in a limited manner for key weapons systems like combat aircraft and tanks, our defence scientists and the armed forces will have to learn to collaborate harmoniously and realistically to achieve increasing self-reliance in our armouries. The goal of bringing the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) into squadron service expeditiously should be pursued with vigour and determination. India will win respect internationally only when projects like the LCA, the Main Battle Tank (MBT) and the Advanced Technology Vehicle are successfully implemented. The development of an indigenous nuclear submarine should be treated as a national challenge and goal. The presence of such a submarine in the Indian Ocean will enhance our strategic potential far more than a dozen fleet reviews. Many years ago visionaries like Dr Homi Bhaba and Dr Vikram Sarabhai spelt out long-term strategies for India to emerge on the forefront of nations in the application of science and technology for economic development. The successes that we have achieved in areas like nuclear energy and space are essentially due to the untiring efforts of such scientists. But one hopes their successors will be more circumspect in being persuaded to make claims about their achievements that call their credibility into question. Recent assertions by some of our scientists about the adequacy of the five Pokhran tests to develop a credible nuclear deterrent, or claims that intermediate range ballistic missiles can be made operational after merely two flight tests carry little credibility either in the international scientific community, or indeed even among their peers in India.
— The writer is India’s former High Commissioner to Pakistan. |
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Opening up the road to Mandalay I wonder if the famous Hollywood duo of the 1940s, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope made a film called “Road to Mandalay” in their unforgettable “Road” series of Zany Comedies. Bing and Bob starred in “Road” movies which took them to Bali, Morocco, Singapore and so on and brought laughter to millions of homes. There isn’t much laughter in Mandalay these days. Not just Mandalay, but the whole of Myanmar which is being ruled by one of the most brutal military juntas in the world. For several years, Myanmar has been the only country in Asia which has not enjoyed any semblance of democracy. This matter was of particular concern to India, which had held high the democratic banner for over 50 years. Yes, there had been historical and cultural ties between the two nations for several centuries. Myanmar, then called Burma, embraced Buddhism which became the state religion. Burma very much figured in the minds of the Indians during the early days of World War-II. Hundreds of thousands of Indians who had settled in Rangoon and other Burmese cities fled the country before the Japanese onslaught. Their march to India was a harrowing experience. They had to walk hundreds of miles through thick jungles and thousands died. The experience created a sort of sympathetic bond between the two nations. This was strengthened after Burma became free. The earliest Burmese leaders, particularly General Aung Sen, were close to Indian leaders and got along well with Jawaharlal Nehru. But the General was assassinated by elements in the armed forces which were inimical to him and the turbulance had begun. Democracy flickered dimly, then was finally extinguished when the present junta took over. The bamboo curtain which enveloped Burma, now called Myanmar, isolated the nation from the rest of the world. It was an isolation sought after by the leaders of the junta who were busy consolidating themselves and did not want any contacts from the outside world. India made some feeble attempts to maintain contacts with its neighbour and did not succeed. The military junta was more at ease in the company of the Chinese leaders who did not care much about democratic ideals. It is under these circumstances that one should view the recent visit of Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh to Burma. By normal standards, the visit was fairly successful. The junta leaders welcomed him warmly and the normally taciturn Jaswant Singh was able to talk to the leaders of the junta. The visit took place amidst controversy at home raised mainly by human rights activists who argued that any state visit by an Indian Minister would lend legitimacy to the military rulers. The situation was a bit confusing because India had granted asylum to a number of political refugees from Myanmar. Defence Minister George Fernandes, who has personally sheltered dozens of dissidents from Myanmar in his official residence, was particularly upset at the olive branch extended to the Generals. Since Mr Fernandes was an important leader in the ruling coalition at the Centre, the decision to send Mr Jaswant Singh on an official visit must have been taken at the highest level. The Defence Minister absented himself from the state functions organised to welcome a group of Generals from Myanmar who were in India last month. His action did not go unnoticed. It was clear that the Ministry of External Affairs was acting on its own on this issue and was keen to drum up as much cooperation and understanding as possible from all the neighbouring countries, including Myanmar. Mr Jaswant Singh, with his low key profile and laid back approach, was ideally suited to mend fences and build bridges. The Generals were quick to respond. After all, political recognition from a large democracy like India did matter to a military dictatorship which had been reviled all over the world. The well-planned visit focused mostly on economic and development issues. Mr Jaswant Singh declared open the 160-km long Tamu-Kalemyo Kalewa Road which was built by the Indian Border Roads Organisation with the help of local labour. The building materials had to be hauled over a rough terrain, all the way from Dimapur from Nagaland. The road was a clear signal that India was ready to do business with a neighbour with whom it had not interacted for years. The new road was only a beginning to a more productive and friendly future. The two nations agreed to set up more border posts for additional trading. We may soon have an Indian consulate operating from Mandalay. Trading with Myanmar could now be easier because junta rule had been accepted by the ASEAN block. But it was certain that the Indian delegation had other plans on its mind. It would value official assurances from the Myanmar leadership that it would curb anti-national activities from its border carried out by insurgents determined to create trouble in the North-East. Though not as troublesome as Kashmir, the North-East comes a close second in being a troublesome cauldron with the extremists allowed to operate from the jungles just across the border. A curb on their activities would greatly help India. The ever-increasing traffic in drugs across the border was a more delicate and sensitive issue. Military juntas all over the world had tended to ignore drug trafficking activities provided they received a substantial cut from the deals. It helped to swell their illegal Swiss accounts. The Golden Triangle region in South-East Asia was a lucrative playground for the drug barons. It had been suspected that some of the top Myanmar leaders were actively involved in drug trafficking. India had to handle this issue with kid gloves. But it was clear that anti-India operations from across the border were being organised and financed by drug money. Mr Jaswant Singh met all the important Generals who constituted the powerful military junta. Though responses to issues of trade were encouraging, there was no hint of any fresh thinking of internal political liberalisation within Myanmar. But these moves could take time. If such changes were forthcoming in the days to come, it was a worthwhile move to renew contacts with an old friend, who, unfortunately had fallen into bad company. In this case, the Generals! |
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The story of Balco disinvestment THE government’s first big-ticket disinvestment deal, selling 51 per cent stake in the profit-making Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco), to Sterlite Industries Ltd has raised several eyebrows. “The government has got the best price from Sterlite,” says Mr Arun Shourie, the Minister of Disinvestment. The actual value realised from the entire disinvestment process was over Rs 800 crore if the capital restructuring, which took place prior to disinvestment was taken into consideration, he says. Under the restructuring, the equity base was reduced by 50 per cent bringing down the equity from Rs 488 crore to Rs 244 crore. An additional Rs 30 crore was realised as tax on the amount treated as deemed dividend. “The deal smacks of scandal and reeks of corruption. The price was low when one considers the fact that Balco has cash reserves and surplus of Rs 460 crore,” disputes Mr S. Jaipal Reddy, the Congress spokesman. Apart from Sterlite, the government had received a joint bid from Alcoa, the world’s largest aluminium maker, and Hindalco Industries, the country’s biggest aluminium producer. Alcoa, however, withdrew from the bid at the last moment. The bid of Hindalco was for Rs 275 crore. The government had fixed a reserve price of Rs 514.40 crore. As per the deal, Sterlite will be acquiring 11.2 crore equity shares of Balco of Rs 10 each for a consideration of Rs 552 crore. This amounts to 51 per cent of Balco’s equity. Based on last year’s earning per share of Rs 2.6, the price-to-earning multiple works out to be 18.8. This seems to be considerably higher than the industry average of 9.4. The private company, which has a market share of 5 per cent to 6 per cent in the aluminium sector, made an offer of Rs 551.5 crore.
The new acquisition will bring Sterlite’s market share to about 20 per cent. Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) established in 1965 is the first public sector company in the primary aluminium industry in India. The company’s production facilities are located in two places — Korba in Chhattisgarh and other at Bidhanbag in West Bengal. While the Bidhanbag unit is equipped to produce with downstream facilities, Korba unit is an integrated aluminium complex. Balco is vertically integrated from sourcing of bauxite from captive mines, refining and smelting to produce aluminium and a variety of semi-finished products. The company as a primary aluminium producer provides substance to vital industries and has supplied special aluminium alloys to the country’s intermediate-range ballistic missle Agni and surface missile Prithvi. The company has been consistently making profit since its inception. Balco’s recorded a net profit of Rs 134.79 crore in 1997-98, Rs 134.77 crore in 1999-2000 and Rs 110 crore in the current fiscal. The Balco Employees Union said the drop in profit before tax is mainly on account of breakdown of one of the units of captive power plants resulting in the outflow of huge amount as power had to be purchased from Maharashtra State Electricity at a high cost and on account of repayment to the tune of Rs 300 crore following a debt equity swap. The Korba plant has a capacity of 2,00,000 tonne per annum (TPA) and is based on Hungarian technology. The aluminium smelter with 1,00,000 TPA capacity, is based on Soviet know-how. Balco’s Bidhanbag unit, near Asansol, was nationalised in 1984. The strengths of Balco is its low cost of production. The depreciated plants even if based on outdated technology have helped in keeping costs of production low and this has led to increased profitability. The area of concern, the Disinvestment Commission report says, was the inadequate supply of ore. Although the operations of Balco are vertically integrated, the ore production is not fully commensurate with the production of hot metal. As a consequence, Balco has to source its ore requirements from other mine sources, which may lead to an increased cost of raw material. The use of Sodeberg cells for the smelter as opposed to the pre-baked process results in a higher consumption. And, Balco’s operations are less mechanised than other players and to that extent, higher employee costs. Even though Balco has enough captive power generation capacity, it has to depend on the state grid for meeting part of its power requirements, the report says. The Bidhanbag unit, a sick company in West Bengal, was merged with Balco. The low capacity utilisation, the high manpower costs, and the inconsistent level of quality of the product are the major drag on the profitable operations of Balco, says the Commission report. The main primary producers of aluminium in India are National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco), Balco and Hindustan Aluminium Company Limited (Hindalco). These three acccount for 90 per cent of the total domestic output. The new owners, Sterlite Industries India Ltd is a major player in copper mining, telecom, optical fibre cables and aluminium foils and conductors. In the financial year 2000, it achieved a sales of Rs 2920.5 crore and net profit of Rs 241.9 crore. The company has been expanding its production capacities to enhance its economies of scale. In November, 1993, it set up a new jelly-filled telecom cables facility at Silvassa in Gujarat. Sterlite has seven plants in India. After its Rs 4.34 crore initial public offering in 1988 to fund growth plans, Sterlite has repeatedly raised funds from the capital markets including a $100 million Euro issue in December, 1993. The company’s product portfolio consists of continuous cast copper rods, copper cathode, aluminium cold-rolled products, power transmission line aluminium conductor, phosphoric acid and sulphuric acid. India has 12 per cent of the world’s reserves of bauxite but produces only 3 per cent of the aluminium in the world. The Disinvestment Commission says despite higher power tariff prevailing in the country, domestic producers measure up to global standards due to captive power plants and low cost of bauxite. Internationally, prices had fallen in 1996 due to a decline in copper prices as aluminium prices are strongly linked with the prices of copper. With no fresh additions to smelter capacity, the price of aluminium is likely to be sustained and even witness an upward trend in the medium term, says the report.
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Fear of being afraid LOOKING at the aerial photographs of Bhuj in the newspapers, I couldn’t help thinking of Hiroshima. Those pictures also showed a similar devastation, of a city flattened to rubble with just the odd tall building standing, though mutilated beyond recognition. Yet, I realised, the comparison was superficial. While an earthquake wreaks the physical destruction of buildings and their inhabitants, the devastation caused by an atomic explosion is horrendous to a degree that cannot be comprehended. In Hiroshima, as documentaries showed, there were fires raging all over the city, and men, women and children with blackened faces and bodies running around desperately, some with their skin peeling off like rags on a poor beggar. The Gujarat earthquake is within our mental grasp, but Hiroshima is beyond understanding. An atomic explosion, above all, releases deadly radiation, about which we know very little. Some say its effects can last a million years. It is ironic that just when in the West, the debate on nuclear weapons and their use has virtually ended, we in India and Pakistan have revived it. The language used by our strategic pundits is full of worn-out cliches, but the jargon is authentic — and outdated. Just when the cold war ended and the big powers began to put their thoughts and energies to creating a nuclear-free world with emphasis on peace and development, we in India started to revive our ancient glory with nuclear megalomania. Mouthing cliches like credible deterrence, graduated deterrence, second-strike capability, our defence and diplomatic experts and our military top brass strut around as though they have discovered the answer to all our problems. Yet, when we see the confusion and chaos with which our administration has responded to a major earthquake, it makes one realise how empty our boasts are and how foolish the adventure on which we have embarked. Within minutes of a nuclear attack (whatever way it may happen), we will be paralysed, and our “second-strike capability” will be zero. Anyway, whoever commits the first strike will have to contend with its effects on themselves. So great and widespread will be the radiation that the attacker himself will be, in effect, committing suicide. A weapon of suicide can never provide deterrence or security. Does the ordinary citizen care enough about these things? Most people would consciously or unconsciously avoid thinking about the prospect of a nuclear war. This attitude is encouraged by official silence on the subject and the acquiescence of the media in maintaining that silence. After the initial bragging about our new acquisition there has been a deafening silence on the strategic and diplomatic purpose of our new toy. We are shown almost daily that latest additions to our collection of warplanes, missiles and other weapons of mass destruction, but the wickedest and most evil in this armoury, the nuclear weapon, is kept hidden from our consciousness. Perhaps because it is beyond our comprehension. Sometime in the late sixties, in England, a great debate erupted on whether the public had a right to be told about the full consequences of an atomic bomb being dropped. A young film maker, Peter Watkins, was commissioned by the BBC to make a documentary on what could happen to a middle-size English city, say Nottingham, if it were the target of a nuclear attack. The film, when it was made, was too gruesome to watch, and the BBC refused to screen it. Most of those who went to a private screening felt that it was, if anything, nowhere near the possible reality in terms of horror. The fact is that the public, in general, does not want to think about such things and certainly doesn’t want to be made to think about them. The well-known science writer, Ritchie Calder, wrote at that time of his experience as a member of the World Health Organisation’s study group on the mental aspects of atomic energy. They were not concerned with influencing military policies but with “nuclear superstition”, that is, what ingrowing ignorance was doing to people. He said: “We discovered that what was being dismissed as apathy was the ‘fear of being afraid’. People knew enough, or suspected enough and retreated. As the group pointed out, they were ‘cowering in the dark caves of their own emotions.’ They were like our Neanderthal ancestors, afraid of the elemental gods, but the new elemental gods were radioactive — unseen, unsmelt, untasted, unfelt, and all pervading. Physical destruction was almost the least of their fears. Irrational fears in terms of psychoses and neuroses are much more dangerous than rational fears which ‘you can take out and look at.’ This convinced me that we must get people emotionally involved.” India’s nuclear programme (if that’s the right word) is based on false ideas of national prestige. If it can’t be given up, at least it can be held back. In any case the public has a right to know what is going on. After all, it is their money that is going down the drain — money that could be better spent. |
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Vegetarians need a varied diet ALTHOUGH
children can grow up perfectly healthily without consuming meat or fish, it is vital that a vegetarian diet includes a regular and plentiful supply of protein, which the body needs to build strong muscles, repair tissues and maintain the effective functioning of its immune and hormonal systems. Proteins are broken down within the body by digestive enzymes and are absorbed into the blood as amino acids (the “building blocks” of protein), which are then used to build and repair cells as needed, any surplus being used either as an energy source or stored as fat. There are two types of amino acids, essential and non-essential, and while the body can generate non-essential amino acids from other sources, it can only obtain essential amino acids from food. If you’re a vegetarian, it’s crucial to eat foods that contain all the essential amino acids, including eggs, dairy products and soya-based foods such as tofu. Beans, pulses, grains, nuts, seeds and manufactured vegetable proteins don’t contain all of the essential amino acids that your body needs, but, combined, they should make up much of the imbalance. If you take lentil soup with crusty white bread, vegetable kebabs with rice and satay sauce (made with protein-rich peanuts) or baked beans with wholegrain toast, for example, your body will be able to maintain a healthy stock of protein, which wouldn’t be the case if you ate baked beans on their own. Many vegetarian children are also in danger of becoming deficient in calcium, so you need to make sure that you have plenty of milky drinks. Although chocolate contains oxalates that inhibit the body’s absorption of calcium, a steaming mug of hot chocolate made with milk will ensure that your body derives at least some calcium from it. Other calcium-rich foods that you should include yogurt, dark-green leafy vegetables and dried apricots and nuts to snack on.
Guardian Girls have a go In a break with a 200-year-old tradition, a woman has been appointed head of the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Clara Furse, a 43-year-old banker, is expected to provide the LSE with a new direction. The increasing globalisation of commerce puts pressure on the exchange to expand, but former chiefs oversaw a failed merger with the German Exchange, Deutsche Borse and rebuffed take-over bids by OM of Sweden and the United States Nasdaq. Furse, a mother of three who speaks five languages, was born in Holland but grew up in Canada. One broker, Brian Winterflood, said, “The boys have made a mess of it, so why not let the girls have a go?”
WFS First plant-based
contraceptive With scientists succeeding in isolating compounds from papaya, which has contraceptive properties, India may become one of the first countries to produce a plant-based oral contraceptive for man. “Four compounds have been isolated from papaya seeds,which have been found to be suitable for use as oral contraceptive”, Dr N.K. Lohiya, Director of the school of Life sciences of Rajasthan University says. The development assumes importance as besides vasectomy — a permanent sterilisation procedure — no safe, effective, reversible and acceptable contraceptive method is available for men, he said. The compounds, which have been isolated by a complex process of extraction, act at the level of epidydimis, a part of male reproductive system, by making the sperms immobile.
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SPIRITUAL NUGGETS O Sword, O conqueror of continents O vanquisher of the hosts of evil. O Embellisher of the brave in the field of battle. The arms are unbreakable; Thy light refulgent; Thy glory and splendour dazzle like the sun. O happiness of the holy, O crusher of evil intent, O subduer of sin, I seek Thy refuge... Victory, O creator of the world, O our deliverer, my Sustainer. Victory, Victory, Victory to Thee. — Guru Gobind Singh Vachitra Natak, chapter I. Tribhangi Chand ****** May thy body be an unfailing instrument Engaged in beneficial pursuits. — Yajur Veda, 4.13 ****** I am the Monarch of monarchs. It is I that appear as all the kings in this world. It is I that appear as all the beautiful flowers in different gardens. It is I that smile with the bewitching faces of all the fairies. It is I that make the muscles of all the warriors move. In me does the whole world live, move and have its being. EVerywhere it is my will that is being done. It is my kingdom that is reigning supreme everywhere. I am manifest everywhere. I fed every being from the minutest creature to the biggest sun. I administer to every being his daily bread. I made the earth revolve round the sun; I was there before the world began. .... I am the Supreme Ether in which are afloat all the universe and all material ether. Like light, I permeate every atom and every object. I am the lowest; I am the highest.... In Jesus I appeared. In Mohammad I revealed Myself.... I am the All, the All. — Swami Ramatirtha, In woods of God Realization Volume IV, lecture 9 ****** I am king of kings, quite unlike my naked self you see, I am a monarch, Sheikh! I am all athirst for Him, And the joy of Him is heaving in my bosom, yet undistracted I lie.... — Sarmad, From Bankey Bihari, Sufis, Mystics and Yogis of India
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