Malaysia’s main appeal 

THERE are three spans to the friendship bridge connecting India with Malaysia in a unique way. That country is the gateway to ASEAN in its role as the dialogue partner. India is keen to establish friendly ties with all South-East Asian nations and hopefully set up a larger free trade zone with itself being a member. Malaysia holds the key to its success. This is what the “look east policy” of India is all about. The second span is a two-way option. India will build a railway line costing $ 2.8 billion and that country, or companies from there, will be constructing 13 national highways or parts of them. It is a sort of exchange of expertise and mutually highly beneficial. Then comes the third facet. It is Kuala Lumpur’s readiness to hire this country’s GSLV to put in orbit its satellites. That will mark the entry of ISRO into the highly lucrative business of commercial launch facilities. It will mean a lot of money but more, it will give a boost to the confidence and reputation of Indian space scientists and technologists. This is a heady mix and the bigger gainer is India and it showed in the body language and also the plain language of the Indian delegation.

The two-way trade is a miserable $ 2.8 billion, mostly in favour of Malaysia. Both want to double it in three years without identifying the areas which will help realise this target. Information technology cooperation and sundry other items cannot fill the gap. But then the trade route to prosperity is not relevant with this country’s ties with the ASEAN nations. They form more or less a free trade zone, the oldest one, and in many ways the economies of India and this grouping is competitive and not complementary. But still ASEAN is important for India in diplomatic terms. Getting closer and finally becoming a full member will formally end the isolation of the Cold War days when this country shunned them as US puppets and they denounced it as a Soviet plant. The region has to get out of this frigid mould, and sooner the better. The railway building deal poses problems. Citing an earlier arrangement, Malaysia wants to pay India in palmolein. That would mean an import of 1.4 million tonnes a year for five years. Again that would mean half the country’s import needs. This is the harsh reality that forced Malaysia to ask for a reduction in the import duty on crude palmolein from the present 75 per cent imposed last December. A cheaper imported oil will hit Indian farmers and also some American countries, among them the USA, which sell soyabean oil now. It is all a mess and the Prime Minister’s delegation has understandably sought more time to work out a solution.

Daunting task for Gogoi 

SOME initial problems notwithstanding, the election of Mr Tarun Gogoi as Leader of the Assam Congress Legislature Party was smooth and on expected lines. Being a sitting MP, he was not given the ticket to contest the Assembly elections, but it was almost certain even during the run-up to the poll that Mr Gogoi would be the next Chief Minister if the Congress secured a majority in the House. Mr Gogoi as PCC chief was guiding the party like the natural leader and the Congress high command obviously noticed this. Of course, his elevation has been possible because Mrs Sonia Gandhi also gave her nod, but in any case Mr Gogoi’s opponents were too weak to put up any serious challenge. Thus all 70 Congress MLAs wanted him as Chief Minister. Four major factors are believed to have helped in scripting the Congress victory in Assam. One, people were sick of misgovernance by the AGP ministry. Outgoing Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and his colleagues were too much steeped in sleaze and very little was being done in the name of development. Two, the AGP forged an alliance with the BJP in utter haste and panic which only consolidated the Congress following among the massive minority vote bank. Three, secessionist outfit ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam) had stepped up its violent activity, giving the impression among the people that life could be better if the AGP government was replaced by a Congress ministry under the leadership of Mr Gogoi. Perhaps, as part of its tactics there was little violence on the polling day. Four, since 1975 the anti-incumbency factor has been playing a crucial role during elections and, therefore, this time it was the turn of the Congress to take over the reins of power.

But the Chief Ministership in Assam is no bed of roses. Since there is no end to secessionist violence, development projects get bogged down in their infancy. The state is in financial straits. Government employees, including school teachers, have not been paid salaries for a long time. Mr Gogoi will have a tough time righting the wrongs committed by the Mahanta ministry. But the most challenging task before him is the establishment of peace, without which nothing is possible. Peace must get precedence over all other things. He is alleged to have strong links with ULFA. If this is true, it should be easier for him to bring the secessionists to the negotiating table and persuade them to shun violence. The Centre must be prepared to extend him all necessary support to achieve the laudable objective. Playing party politics will be ruinous for Assam. 

The new bhadralok at Writers’ Building
How Marxists are “changing” with continuity
by Hari Jaisingh

THOSE who prophesied the doom of Marxism in West Bengal, led by Ms Mamata Banerjee, have been proved wrong. They thought that the bowing out of the towering personality of Mr Jyoti Basu as Chief Minister would result in the collapse of the 25 years of monopoly of power of the Left Front in the state.

They were not wrong at one stage since uninterrupted power had not only corrupted the Marxist system but had also sapped its fighting spirit. Against this backdrop the emergence of the firebrand politician in Mamata was seen as an alternative rallying point by the people.

However, amidst the changing political spectrum in the country, the Trinamool Congress leader kept on switching her friends and foes as well as loyalty and postures and, in the process, exhibited lack of political maturity. The mature bhadralok electorate of Bengal — grounded in the revolutionary mould of defiance — could hardly accept immaturity in a leader. The net result is before us to see clearly.

The Marxists have repeated their electoral success for the sixth time. The Left Front won 199 of the 294 Assembly seats this time against 203 in 1996 and 239 in 1991. The CPM alone bagged 143 seats (five short of absolute majority) against 150 in 1996 and 188 in 1991.

The loss of seats indicates some erosion (just short of 1 per cent) in its massive popularity base. Still, it was a good show by any reckoning in today's complex politics.

The Left Front kept up its winning streak from 1977 under Mr Basu. In the 2001 Assembly poll, it faced the electorate without projecting the grand old man as Chief Minister. Therefore, its success is all the more creditable.

The Marxists' triumph needs to be viewed in the larger framework of alliances and sub-alliances for power. It also requires proper appreciation of how the political system — howsoever ideologically rigid — needs to respond to the people's hopes and aspirations.

The transformation of the Marxists is indeed noteworthy. No longer does the party claim ideological purity, for which it was once known. There is now considerable flexibility in its policies and programmes. Pragmatism is the new mantra while retaining the basic concern for the problems facing the people.

How do we explain the Marxists' success against several odds? First, the induction of Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as Chief Minister, in popular perception, signalled a change—the advantage which Ms Mamata Banerjee wished to wrest for herself.

As already stated, the CPM, at one point of time, was on a losing ground. The people too gave the impression of wanting a change and they found in Mamata the alternative. But her volatile politics like her sudden decision to resign, snapping her ties with the NDA and joining hands with the Congress (which she herself once called the B team of the CPM) exposed her as an unstable politician lacking substance.

Two, Ms Banerjee's style of functioning and leading her party was not relished by her followers. Her repeated resignation dramas and the demand for the imposition of Article 356 in West Bengal on flimsy grounds and frequent tantrums ultimately proved costly politically. She soon became a laughing stock among the educated.

Three, Mr Bhattacharjee, in sharp contrast to Mamata's antics, successfully projected himself as a mature "aaj ka Marxist" rooted in the soil and yet forward-looking in meeting the socio-economic challenges.

Four, the Left Front's triumph can also be attributed to the clean image of Mr Bhattacharjee—just six months in office. He set an example by continuing to live in his two-bedroom flat instead of moving to the Chief Minister's bungalow. In West Bengal, these small things do matter in swinging one's political fortunes one way or the other.

Simplicity in lifestyle and firm commitment to the people's causes have actually been the hallmark of West Bengal's politics for several decades. It also must be said that Ms Mamata Banerjee too enjoys a pro-poor image. She dresses simply and has a very frugal lifestyle. But then her problem is her directionless flamboyancy and cheap populism. She started it well when she became the Railway Minister. But soon her prestige nosedived with her pre-poll decision to switch side and embrace Mrs Sonia Gandhi's party. The Congress president does not count much in West Bengal politics. Ms Mamata Banerjee does, but the last-minute switchover showed her as an opportunist.

Not that her continuity with the NDA would have made much difference to the result. Probably, her overall performance might have been slightly better. In any case, the split in her party as well as in the Congress was not a happy setting for Ms Banerjee-led alliance during the election. The damage was done, especially in view of the fact that she does not have a well-organised, cadre-based organisation in rural West Bengal as is the case with the Left Front.

The moral of the poll story is clear: gimmicks, if overstretched, do not win an election. Politics in West Bengal is a serious business, even though its response system often tends to be emotional.

Mr Bhattacharjee showed freshness both in approach and style of functioning. Though a product of the Jyoti Basu legacy, he projected himself as a people's man with a difference.

Another important factor in the Left Front success has been the well-entrenched rural base of the Marxists. It must be said to their credit that they have been able to bring about land reforms in the state to the advantage of small and marginal farmers. Ms Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and the Congress combination is hardly a match for the grassroots strength of the Marxists.

The shrewd approach of Mr Bhattacharjee can be appreciated from the fact that he identified three areas for major policy changes — education, health and economic reforms. In education, his stress was on excellence which was not projected as elitism. He, therefore, opened the education to quality-oriented private enterprises, especially in management.

In his first six months as Chief Minister, he initiated a number of steps, which, for all practical purposes, underlined the party's new position on reforms. Not surprisingly, his economic agenda relies more on private enterprise without diluting the role of the public sector.

Mr Bhattacharjee's pragmatism is seen to be believed. He has his fingers on the pulse of the people. Realising fully that the state of the economy could make or unmake Bengal politics, his economic agenda lays due stress on reforms. He saw to it that nearly 300 small and big factories were reopened which meant more employment opportunities. The launching of the Wipro unit also sent a clear message to the electorate that there was hope for the jobless . Interestingly, land for the Wipro setup was allotted in the Salt Lake area in a matter of a few hours.

Mr Bhattacharjee gave his economic agenda wide publicity, knowing well that too much of dogmatism in the name of Marx and Lenin would simply be an antidote to the economic revival of the state.

Of course, in the three areas of health, education and economic reforms, the CPM leadership may still be divided. So, the going for Mr Bhattacharjee will not be all that easy. But looking at his political maturity, he should be able to carry the other leaders of the party with him.

The real test for him is how to evolve himself as his own man and reorient the party in his own mould. This will be a tough task.

It, however, needs to be noted that large sections of the urban middle class have returned to the Left Front's fold simply because Mr Bhattacharjee has succeeded in convincing the youth that he not only promises a change, but has actually begun the process. "We are changing," he reportedly told mediapersons after the Left Party's victory. The people apparently endorsed his sober and honest intentions rather than go along with Ms Banerjee's several unknown and untested factors in her highly personalised politics.

In fact, the electorate both in the rural and urban areas have accepted the continuity of West Bengal's new badhralok at the helm who also signifies a silent change. This message cuts across the socio-economic barriers in the state today. Herein lies the success of West Bengal's new Chief Minister, seen as a 21st century reformer while being cast in the Marxist mould of yesteryears. 

Horse sense on the menu
Raj Chatterjee

“EATING horse-meat means eating meat which is superlatively tough; horse-meat is in fact of a tighter texture than beef. It is red and oily. Although it contains much nitrate, it is very doubtful that it will ever become an article of daily consumption. Monsieur de Saint-Hilaire has tried, in vain, by his feasts of horse-meat, to instal this animal in Parisian butcher shops; it is probable that the noble animal which man associates with his military glory, will not serve him as a food except in the exceptional circumstances of blockade and famine.”

Alexandre Dumas, who wrote those words, was proved wrong.

The surgeon-in-chief of Napoleon’s Grand Army, Baron Dominique Jean Larrey, cut off from the commissary after the Battle of Eylau in 1807, discovered that the battlefield could provide meat in abundance from dead horses. Using cavalry breastplates for cooking pans, he grilled chunks of horse-meat seasoned with gunpowder. All this may sound distasteful to us but I have no doubt that the concoction went down well with people who regard a frog’s leg a delicacy!

In the 17th century a group of Englishmen formed the Parisian Hippophagic Society. A hippogriph, incidentally, is a fabled, Griffen-like creature with the body of a horse. Their example was not followed, and the horse-eating club died an early death.

However, until a few years ago, the Harvard Faculty Club had horse-flesh on its menu; though, whether it was a popular item, one cannot say. A certain sweetness in the meat identified it to some extent with beef — or so it was said.

The similarity between the two meats, nevertheless, accounts for the French law forbidding the sale of beef and horse-flesh in the same restaurant. The French do not eat horse primarily for gastronomic reasons, nor for economy, for it is no cheaper than beef. They do so, oddly enough, for health reasons. They believe it to be more “fortifying.” Indeed, horse-meat is rich in glycogens, the principal form in which carbohydrates are stored in animal tissues. Besides, the horse, unlike the cow, is resistant to TB and is not afflicted by tape-worm, sometimes found in both beef and pork. In case I am offending someone’s religious sentiments I hasten to clarify that I am not recommending the consumption of either beef or pork in this country.

Interestingly, horse-meat allegedly possesses aphrodisiac qualities. It is said that Caesonia, wife of the Roman emperor Caligula, used to make love potions for him from the blood of horses which made “the boiling blood run hissing through his veins till the mad vapour mounted to his brains.”

Guilty of murdering teacher

A Florida teenager who shot one of his favorite teachers between the eyes after being tossed out of school for throwing water balloons was convicted of second-degree murder on Wednesday in a case that stirred protests against trying children as adults.

Nathaniel Brazil (14) killed Lake Worth Middle School English teacher Barry Grunow (35) with a 25-caliber handgun last May 26 on the last day of the school year. The boy said during the trial that he pulled the trigger accidentally.

Under Florida’s sentencing rules, second-degree murder usually carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison with a possibility of parole after 25 years.

But lawyers in the case said Judges have some latitude to rule outside the guidelines. Brazill’s attorney, Robert Udell, said he believed Palm Beach circuit Judge Richard Wennet could sentence his client to “anything from zero to life.” Sentencing was set for June 29.

Brazil was tried as an adult for the shooting, sparking protests from rights groups including Amnesty International. They said sending a child to prison for life without parole violated international law.

The trial was the second of a young boy in Florida in recent months. In March, Lionel Tate, 14, was sentenced to life in prison for the beating death of a 6-year-old family friend.

Testimony in the trial showed Brazil was sent home early from school last May 26 for throwing water balloons. He retrieved a “Saturday Night Special” handgun he had found in his grandfather’s cookie tin, returned to the school and shot Grunow in the head at his classroom door.

Prosecutors called the boy a cold-blooded killer and asked for a guilty verdict for premediated murder. Defence attorneys said Brazil made a terrible mistake and asked jurors to find him guilty of manslaughter.

“The lesson that should be taught in this case is get to know our kids better, love our kids more and make sure if there’s something going wrong in their lives, we stop it before...another tragedy like this ever affects any other community like it did ours,” said the prosecutor. Reuters

Why eight glasses of water?

Nutritionists have criticised people’s obsession with drinking water, saying beer can help give us the liquid we need. They say the claim we need to drink eight glasses of water a day is a myth.

The British Nutrition Foundation claims any liquid will do, including a cup of tea, a can of pop or a pint of beer.

Foundation spokesman Gail Goldberg said: “The common acceptance is that we need eight glasses of water a day — where does this number come from? We can work out how much liquid the body needs... but we get liquid from all sources. It’s in our food, cups of tea, coffee, milk, fruit juice and even a pint of beer”. Reuters

For sale: possibly oldest blue jeans

You can’t get any more vintage than this.

A pair of ripped and weathered Levi Strauss & Co blue jeans dating to the 1880s — possibly the oldest jeans in existence — will go up for auction on Friday and is expected to fetch anywhere up to $ 35,000.

“Considering their age, they are in pretty good shape,” said Catherine Williamson, a specialist at the Butterfields auction house which is selling the jeans in conjunction with online auction site eBay in a sale beginning Friday.

"They’ve got some rips, but you could definitely wear them if you wanted to." The jeans, which were dug up in Nevada in 1998, are not the “501” model that has come to define the Levi’s brand but an earlier version known as “denim waist overalls” designed with an extra pocket for mine workers to carry their tools.

Williamson said Levi’s corporate historians had authenticated the jeans as dating back to the 1880s — which could make them the oldest blue jeans in existence, although this was impossible to prove as the company lost its records in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.

Butterfields estimates the old pants could bring in anywhere from $ 30,000 to $ 40,000, noting that Levi’s itself spent $ 25,000 to buy an 1890 pair of “501’s” from a New York city dealer. Reuters

China over-rated as a market?
M. S. N. Menon

DOES China matter, asks Gerald Segal, Director of Studies at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London, in an article in “Foreign Affairs” (Sept/Oct. 1999). Perhaps a very odd question. But his answer makes one sit up. He says that China is over-rated as a market, as a power and as a source of ideas.

Then, why is America so obsessed about China? Because of China’s mischief potential (We are victims of it). China can arm America’s “enemies” and it can also flood the world market with cheap consumer goods.

What made China attractive to western traders and investors was its so-called “huge market”. It was argued, for instance, that if every Chinaman bought one Kodak film roll per year, the West would be rich. This was the argument of the Manchester textile mills, too, in the 19th century. The Japanese were the latest to dream up trillions by the sale of television sets to every household in the world. Alas, things do not work out in this manner! China has no effective purchasing power. It is still a poor country. But it took some time for the world to discover it.

Let us examine some figures. In 1997 China accounted for 3.5 per cent of the world GNP (as against the US figure of 25.6 per cent). China ranked seventh in the world, behind Italy! In per capita GDP, it was 81st- behind Papua New Guinea. And in UN Human Development Index, China was 107th — in the same class as Albania and Namibia. Surely, China has a long way to go to catch up with the great economic powers.

China’s public sector is notorious for its sickness. About 45 per cent of the industries are loss-making. Yet they are being sustained at great cost for fear of mass social unrest, which may threaten political stability. There are already 150 million unemployed in rural China. Another 300 million will be added if the sick industrial units are wound up. All these explain why China is now determined to reduce the population growth to zero.

As far as China’s world trade is concerned, its share was no more than 3 per cent in 1997, about the same as South Korea’s and less than the Netherlands’.

What about Chinese domestic market? Only 1.8 per cent of the US exports went to China (if Hongkong imports are added, it could be 2.4 per cent). But this is equal to what the US exports to Australia or Belgium, and about a third less than what it exports to Taiwan. The EU exports do not fare any better. China accounts for 0.5 per cent of the UK exports (same as to Sri Lanka and less than UK exports to Malaysia). China takes 1.1 per cent of French and German exports. Obviously, the West is thoroughly disillusioned with China’s market prospects.

Then what is the attraction of Chinese trade to the West? The answer is: its cheap and good quality consumer goods. The USA alone buys $80 billion worth of goods from China — textiles, electronic goods and a range of consumer durables like shoes to lampshades. Cheap Chinese goods bring down the cost of living of the western world. This is as good a case for importing from China as for exporting to make profits. A Chinese T-shirt costs as little as $2 against $10 for one made in the USA.

In Asia, the position was somewhat better. China accounts for 11 per cent of Asian trade — about 3.2 per cent of Singapore’s exports, 4.6 per cent of Australia’s 5.1 per cent of Japan’s and 9.9 per cent of South Korea’s.

The booming foreign direct investment (FDI) in China has given China a good image. But 80 per cent of the $45 billion inflow in 1997 came from overseas Chinese, including Taiwanese. But isn’t it surprising that the average investment of America or European Union in China was no more than what they invested in a country like Brazil?

Of late, the Chinese economy has been on the decline, and the FDI flow is slowing, Japanese investment in China has been reduced to half the 1995 figure. And profits are also down. The MNCs have been the most loud in their complaints.

Much has been made of the importance of the Chinese economy to its neighbours in South East Asia. The point is: China is no engine of growth and China’s investment in ASEAN is just 10 per cent of Japan’s investment in the region.

If China is not yet in the class one league in economics - its technological weakness is there for all to see - its military prowess is even more exaggerated. Although it has stepped up its defence budget of late its share of world defence expenditure was less than 5 per cent as against America’s share of 40 per cent (or 300 billion dollars). China cannot take on even Japan. It is true, China is a real threat to Taiwan. But invasion? One must doubt its capacity to mount an invasion against Taiwan. China is way behind the US in military technology.

This explains China’s bitter opposition to the Bush administration’s plan for a National Missile Defence (for America proper) and a Theatre Missile Defence for East Asia. This would degrade the missile system of China. But this is not the true reason for Chinese objection, for even according to US scientists, there is no real defence against missiles. Some are bound to get through. So what’s China’s case? Simply this that it does not want to engage in an arms race against America, in which it is bound to be worsted and worse. It does not want to repeat what happened to the Soviet Union.

That leaves the question: why is Bush keen about the anti-missile defence system? It is true it prevents most of the missiles getting through. But the real reason is: because of his commitment to the military industrial complex, which has already invested more than 5 billion dollars in research. It is argued: even if it is no real defence against missiles, the spin-off benefits from the “Star war programme” will be considerable.

So Washington’s real worry is not about China’s growing war-fighting capacity, but its mischief potential.

China’s arms sales account for only 2.2 per cent of the global sales (it is behind Israel). This does not worry the Pentagon. But military transfers to the “enemies” of America, for example, to Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and others - this is a different matter. As for China’s assistance to Pakistan, this is solely designed to contain India.

It is this mischief potential of China which inclined President Clinton to move off from containment of China to engagement and then to “strategic partnership”. He even gave up the NMD programme in the hope of winning over China to non-proliferation. But China’s clandestine activities continued in spite of US concessions. The point is: why would China give up its real source of strength?

Even today it is Russia which can become an ideological rival to the West, not China. China is no centre of ideas. It holds up no ideal to the world, nor is it an ally of anyone. When Moscow suggested the idea of a trilateral group of Russia, China and India, Beijing shot it down. The Middle Kingdom may be only a middle power, but it knows how to live like a super-power.

The only answer to this is: remove China’s mischief potential.

Now, genetically modified athletes!
Amar Chandel

IF you are an athlete, what are your dreams made up of? Breaking a world record? That too by completing a 100-metre dash in six seconds instead of just under 10? Or running a marathon (42 km) in one and a half hours instead of just over two, and without even being dog tired?

Impossible fantasies? Not really. With the human genome mapped and the recent advances in genetic engineering, these are fast coming into the domain of reality. Scientists say that injecting a gene could increase the oxygen-carrying capacity so much that these impossible feats could be accomplished by at least some athletes. To cap it all, this heightened capacity through a single insertion of genetic material could be retained for months or even years, without having to pop in pills or taking injections repeatedly.

It is only a question of when this is going to happen. Sceptics think that the brave new world is several decades away. Others opine that it may be upon us in about two years. There are some who aver that such genetic material might be already in use in crude forms and athletes might be putting themselves to great risks.

That is why what is a dream come true for the athletes is a nightmare for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Since it is going to be far more dangerous than conventional performance-enhancing drugs, this type of enhancement is giving sports administrators sleepless nights. Their fears are that genetic manipulation will be virtually impossible to detect using currently available methods.

The gap between the two sides in this perennial cat and mouse game can widen further as the technology advances. WADA chairman Dick Pound, a candidate to replace Juan Antonio Samaranch as president of the IOC, is rather reassuring when he says: “At the moment, the fears of genetic manipulation far exceed the capacity”. Others, however, are not so sure. The IOC is determined to be one up on those banking upon doping. “For once we want to be ahead, not behind,” says IOC’s Patrick Schamasch.

Athletes are notorious risk takers. The rewards of running faster, jumping higher and throwing farther are so phenomenal that they can adopt every illicit means. What Ben Johnson did and got caught is emulated by countless others. People are willing to risk their lives in the quest for that elusive medal. A seminar was held recently in New York on the use of steroid by teenagers. Participants were stunned to hear that a basketball player had asked a doctor to break her arms and reset them in a way that might make them longer!

While WADA has decided to hold a meeting on genetic engineering in September, the IOC has scheduled one such gathering for June 6. Athletes, sports scientists, genetics experts, ethicists and policy officials will try to find answers to various burning questions.

While genetic engineering has its risks, it also has tremendous benefits and it might not be feasible to ban it entirely in sports. After all, if the technology can be made safe, it can help athletes heal faster and recover from disease.

The supporters of genetic engineering have even gone to the extent of suggesting two different classes of competition, one for the ordinary human beings and the other for those with bodies that appear human, but have been so engineered and so tuned that these are no longer going to do what the body is designed to do.

Some athletes like Maurice Greene of the USA, who won the 100-metre title in the 2000 Olympics, have posed uncomfortable but extremely valid questions. “What if you are born with something having been done to you? You didn’t have anything to do with it. Would manipulation of an egg or an embryo be considered cheating?” he is quoted to have asked in the International Herald Tribune. Will it be ethical to banish them from competitive sports?

Many such unusual questions are going to crop up in the days to come. The genie is out of the bottle and it will be futile to put it back. The best will be to make genetic engineering safe and put it to good, positive use. 

75 YEARS AGO

Temperance work in Punjab

THE Secretary, Punjab Temperance Federation, Amritsar, writes : The party of the Amritsar Punjab Temperance Federation arranged two lectures in the Government High School and the Bazar of Fazalka and two lantern lectures at Solamanke Headworks, one on each side of the bank, audiences on Temperance and Health and distributed free tracts in Hindi, Urdu and Gurmukhi to thousands. The officers concerned of both places kindly rendered every possible help.

SPIRITUAL NUGGETS

The constant feeling of loneliness

and missing something

is in reality the hidden

unquenched thirst and carving

of the soul for its Lord.

It will always persist

as long as the soul does not

return to its ancient original Home

and meet its Lord.

This feeling

has been purposefully put

in the heart of man.

— Maharaj Charan Singh, Words Eternal

*****

I shall embrace none but Thee;

I have cast away fear, shame and doubt.

O infinite one,

There is an old bond between me and Thee

A close bond formed by the saints

I have surrendered my personal self

at Thy feet;

Is it of no concern to you,

or are you ashamed of me?

Tuka says, the saints have escorted me to you.

Now I will not leave your feet,

O Vitthal.

— Sant Tuka Ram, Abhanga 83 (I, 32)

*****

If the Lord is obtained, all is obtained.

Meeting with the Lord means

meeting with all.

If the Lord is left out,

all is left out.

Without Him

All is naught.

— Dadu Dayal Ki Bani, I:18

*****

God or devil, good or bad are denisens of one's own heart

Where God is there the devil cannot be.

God plays pranks and directs.

He causes tears and quenches tears.

He cures madness and inflicts madness.

God rewards according to the manner

in which He is conceived or approached.

He grants you consolation and courage

Once you have cleansed yourself by tears.

— From the discourses of Sathya Sai Baba