Thursday, February 21, 2002,
Chandigarh, India |
India’s answer to proxy war Ides of March Pre-Budget blues |
|
|
Purging Pakistan of terrorism
Deve Gowda’s battle for political survival
When plague made journalists run
Old people need not worry about losing memory
2000 Physics:
ALFEROV, KROEMER & KILBY
Our idea of human values
|
Ides of March IT is quite tempting to risk riding a tiger when it is headed towards an electoral goalpost. But once there, one has to learn how to dismount without being devoured. That is the sort of dilemma the BJP is facing now at the hands of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The hardcore section of the VHP is angry with the government for its failure to deliver on its promises on the Ayodhya temple and has threatened to go ahead with the construction from March 15. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's quandary is understandable. Whatever promises he may have made to the Sangh Parivar, he has no option as the Prime Minister but to assert that the issue could only be solved either through a dialogue or a court verdict. He is on such a weak wicket that even this much of "firmness" is going to be seen as extreme weakness by the VHP. Ironically, other parties may also find this approach equally weak-kneed, but for a different reason, because they want the Prime Minister to spell out clearly what steps Mr Vajpayee intends to take to ensure that the VHP is not able to carry out its threat. The experience so far has been that despite brave words, the BJP has treated VHP cadres with kid gloves. The temple issue may not be popular enough today to garner many votes, but the BJP cannot wash its hands off it all of a sudden, unless it wants an improbable clean break with the VHP. The party think tank must be scratching its head to come up with some bright ideas to wriggle out of the tight corner. There is, of course, no dearth of those who allege that the sparring between the two is nothing more than a friendly match. According to this line of thinking, the saffron brigade is in a win-win situation. Whatever little votes that the temple move garners will be a bonus. If the BJP does not return to power in Uttar Pradesh, the construction can be a convenient stick to beat the new government with. And if the BJP does manage to form a government, either singly or with the help of allies (read turncoats as well), Ram bhaktas can be sent back to peace stations quietly. If that indeed is the gameplan, it is too clever by half. As it is, the temple issue has lost its electoral sheen. Its repeated revival will only further reduce its efficacy. Not only that, it might even prove counter-productive by bringing together anti-Hindutva forces. |
Pre-Budget blues THE Budget making is now a top secret government exercise. The details creep out in small doses much before the D-day at the end of February. Two pieces of information are vital for the health of national economy and the financial security of the middle class. One, the budget will retain the present corporate tax rates, which means there will be no sharp increase in the tax demands on big companies, which exploit the various exemption loopholes to become no-tax companies. In other words, they shelter behind the tax obligations under several clauses of income tax rules and cheat the public exchequer of thousands of crores of rupees. This will continue in the coming financial year also under the persistent demand of the various chambers of commerce led by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Two, the Finance Ministry has also decided to reconsider the three-year-old policy of a minimum alternate tax (MAT) so that tax-evading companies can feel free, safe and secure. This step will benefit hundreds of thousands of companies from their tax obligations to the government and the state. This is a blatent pro-rich move and this is being set off by a pro-salaried policy of providing higher benefits in terms of income tax rebate on pension funds. There is a flip side to this. Government employees will be asked to subscribe to their pension funds and will get a tax rebate of Rs10,000 in their tax liability. This is an attraction but marks a major shift in the old policy of running the pension fund. Until now, the government ran the fund by forcing the employees to subscribe a small part of their salaries to the fund and contributing a similar amount to it. From now on the employees will fund their pension fund and some private agency will manage the money to provide a reasonable security after they retire. The general tendency in the Finance Ministry is to force these agencies to invest the money in share markets to earn a high return and boost the value of the contribution. Obviously, the government and the Finance Ministry have not learnt from the recent rout of the stock markets and are prepared to gamble with the hard-earned savings of the low-salaried workers. This is a case of not learning from past blunders. |
Purging Pakistan of terrorism IT is time for a reality check on the United States-led coalition’s war on terrorism, especially on where Pakistan fits into it. This has become necessary, indeed urgent, because a whole month after General Pervez Musharraf’s famous January 12 speech, there is no visible sign that the ground situation in any way vindicates the hopes aroused by his beguiling oratory. On the contrary, after his recent official visit to the USA and the praise publicly heaped on him by President George Bush, the self-appointed Pakistani President’s attitude towards terrorism in India emanating from Pakistani soil has become more negative and dismissive than before. Of course, the situation, complex in itself, has been complicated by two factors. The first is General Musharraf’s undoubted PR skills and his success in manipulating public opinion internationally, including in this country, that has enabled him to project himself as a liberal, indeed, secular leader committed to purging his country of terrorist and jehadi elements. He talks of converting Pakistan into a moderate and modern Islamic State. Secondly, and more importantly, with the anti-terrorist war focussed on Afghanistan and in view of America’s high and long-term stakes in the region, its need of Pakistan is as acute as it is obvious. Moreover, the Americans have convinced themselves, not entirely without reason, that General Musharraf is their “best bet” to keep a reasonably stable Pakistan on their side. This suits Pakistan’s self-appointed President to the hilt. To be sure, unlike in the past, the USA, in today’s vastly changed circumstances, is not tilting entirely towards Pakistan but is playing a balancing game between India and Pakistan through triangular tightrope-walking. This policy has been working up to a point until now. But doubts about its efficacy have now begun to arise. Unless the USA acts more vigorously to “persuade” General Musharraf to deliver what he promised on January 12, America’s own sincerity in combating terrorism in all its forms and everywhere would be seriously called into question. One of its own citizens, Wall Street Journal’s reporter, Mr Daniel Pearl, is in the captivity of Pakistan’s diabolical jehadis and terrorists, and nobody yet knows for sure whether he is dead or alive. In such a state of affairs, any temporising by the USA about terrorism in Pakistan would erode American credibility dangerously. Let the succession of events since September 11, when the world is supposed to have changed, speak for itself. As late as on August 14, 2001 — Pakistan’s Independence Day — General Musharraf had thundered that the Taliban was the “reality of Afghanistan” and the world should come to terms with this reality. This was understandable because the Taliban was founded and sustained by Pakistan and its Army, with General Musharraf, as a senior member of the Pakistani Army’s Special Services Group (SSG), playing a role in this act of creation. It was therefore ironic that just over a month later, the General had to eat his brave words, ditch the Taliban so dear to him and scuttle the political and military investment his country had made in the Taliban in the confident hope of acquiring “strategic depth” vis-a-vis India. In short, General Musharraf had to change his Afghanistan policy 180 degrees. This was patently the result of relentless American pressure and the Pakistani President’s realisation that he had no choice. His rewards for this about-turn were also ample. From a near-pariah State, Pakistan almost overnight became a valued and “key ally” in the war on terrorism. The Americans that hadn’t hidden their displeasure when General Musharraf had proclaimed himself to be President, accepted him as such and since then Washington hasn’t tired of praising him as a “courageous leader” of a frontline ally. General Musharraf’s own explanation of the dramatic and painful policy shift to his own bewildered countrymen had the merit of candour. He told them that he had agreed to join the USA to save Pakistan’s sovereignty, economy, “strategic assets” (for which read nuclear weapons) and the “Kashmir cause”. Elaborating the last point, he made the absurd assertion that what was going on in Kashmir was “freedom struggle”, not terrorism. Later, he started omitting this expression when necessary, but never hesitated to repeat it. There has been no change in his basic position on Kashmir. Under the circumstances, protests by India to the USA (and to Pakistan) were inevitable. America’s response was to accept the legitimacy of Indian concerns and to assure New Delhi that these would be addressed but only in the “second phase” of the war on terrorism. The first phase had necessarily to be confined to Afghanistan. At the same time, the USA assured New Delhi that while its alliance with Pakistan was “tactical”, that with India was “strategic”. It also took steps to add substance to relations with India that had been changing qualitatively since the last years of the Clinton administration, and have now been strengthened further through plans for close military cooperation between the two countries. However, Indian feelings over cross-border terrorism could not be assuaged by such measures alone. In any case, America’s balancing game was overtaken by the outrageous attack on Indian Parliament, no different from that on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon in the USA, and could not be sustained in its old format. General Musharraf’s January 12 speech, delivered under intense American pressure and vetted by the US Secretary of State, General Colin Powell, was the US response to the post-December 13 situation, to which the massive Indian military mobilisation had also contributed. But the trouble is that fine words have not been matched by deeds. That is one reason why, despite persistent calls for de-escalation, troops have not been withdrawn from the border and the Line of Control (LoC). Another reason is that this deployment deters the ISI’s attempts to divert to Kashmir the Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters now known to be hiding in Pakistan’s tribal areas. Meanwhile, America’s constant plea that General Musharraf is moving in the right direction, that he has taken some brave steps and that he should therefore be given “more time” has worn thin, even in the eyes of those Indians who were inclined to trust the Pakistani ruler. Reality is turning out to be sadly different from Pakistani pretences as well as illusions of both Americans and Indians. For instance, on the day General Powell was in Delhi last, hopes were running high here that General Musharraf would act fast to send back to India at least some of the Indian nationals on its list of the 20 Most Wanted. Having dragged his feet on this issue for some weeks since then, he has now bluntly declared, after coming back home from Washington, that he would not return any of the 20 fugitives. What lies ahead? Two different views persist in this country. One is that America, for its own reasons, will have to turn the heat on the Pakistani leader. There is some force in this because America’s own interests would be jeopardised if Washington turns a blind eye to Pakistani refusal to end the cross-border terrorism in India. But experience so far belies this expectation. It seems there is a point beyond which the USA would not twist General Musharraf’s arm. This view was forcefully articulated by the Kashmir Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, when he publicly declared in Jammu that America “whispers something in (General) Musharraf’s ears one day and something in our ears the next day. In my view, it is making a fool of both of us.” One can have one’s penny and take one’s choice. But it is obligatory on Indian diplomacy to drive home to the USA the message that the credibility of its commitment to combat terrorism everywhere is at stake. This country’s leverage in America is manifestly limited, but this does not mean that the Indian government should be shy of telling the Bush administration the bitter truth. |
Deve Gowda’s battle for political survival KANAKAPURA, a dusty town near Karnataka’s capital Bangalore, that goes to the polls on February 21 to send its representative to the Lok Sabha, has attracted nation-wide attention. The reason: former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda is fighting a do-or-die battle in Karnataka’s largest parliamentary constituency with a 25-lakh electorate. In the normal course, this byelection would not have hogged the limelight as Mr Deve Gowda has been in political hybernation ever since his defeat last time from Hassan, his home-town. However, what has added spark to Thursday’s by-election is the serious challenge posed by the 41-year-old Congress candidate, Mr D. K. Shivakumar. The latter is the Cooperation Minister and Man Friday of Chief Minister S.M. Krishna. Mr Krishna is leaving no stone unturned to defeat Mr Deve Gowda. The Chief Minister has taken it as a personal fight to the finish and appealed to the voters to elect Mr Shivakumar, maintaining that a vote for the Congress would mean a vote in favour of his government and his style of governance. Like Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Mr Krishna too is hailed as an able administrator. He commands considerable respect among the people of Karnataka for his dynamic and sophisticated approach to various problems and issues, especially his achievement in e-governance and information technology. However, it is doubtful whether the voters will overlook Mr Deve Gowda’s own contributions and track record as a former Chief Minister and Prime Minister. Interestingly, in his election meetings, Mr Deve Gowda says that he will rise like the Phoenix. To buttress his point, he draws the parallel of the Chikmagalur by-election in 1978 which Indira Gandhi won after her humiliating defeat from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh in the March 1977 elections, and then returned to South Block in 1980 after the failure of the Janata Party experiment. He is particularly unhappy with the Congress for having fielded a candidate against him. If reports are to be believed, he met Mrs Sonia Gandhi for help but did not succeed. Obviously, Mr Deve Gowda is desperately trying to get elected to the Lok Sabha this time so that he can play a larger role in the national affairs. His plans and calculations, like any other Opposition leader, stem from the belief that the Vajpayee-led NDA government at the Centre would fall sooner or later if it performs very badly in the Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttaranchal Assembly elections. During the last two weeks Mr Deve Gowda has been slogging it out for over 18 hours a day by covering 50 villages by a canter, followed by a cavalcade of five SPG cars. During the campaigning both he and Mr Shivakumar got encouraging response from the people. But Mr Deve Gowda perhaps has greater stakes in the Kanakapura byelection than any other candidate in the fray. Sir Vidia in India He does not call himself an Indian. He says that his ancestors came from eastern Uttar Pradesh and that is all. In his own words, "I am not English, not Indian, not Trinidadian. I am my own person." Yet V.S. Naipaul is admired in this country like any other successful Indian. A section of influential Indians wants Sir Vidia to be honoured with the Bharat Ratna. The argument is that he may not be a son of the soil like Rabindranath Tagore, the first Indian to have got the Nobel Prize for Literature, but he cannot deny his roots in this country. When he won the Nobel Prize for Literature last October, though after a long wait of 15 years, India did find mention in whatever was said or written about the literary genius. V.S. Naipaul is currently on a visit to the land of his ancestors. If his Kenya-born wife Nadira is to be believed, he may not come back so soon once he leaves India. That is why he is using the occasion to go deeper into the problems faced by the "Wounded Civilisation". Perhaps, he has plans to write another book on this country. The 69-year-old Trinidad-born author has to his credit 24 brilliant works of fiction and non-fiction. In an interview with a well-known journalist carried in a Delhi-based daily on February 18, he clarified his controversial remarks on the Ayodhya controversy. He said: "I am not responsible for how people misuse what I have said or written. My perspective is utterly different and derives from my study and understanding of history. Indian history did not start with the British conquest of India. It began much earlier. "The Muslim invasions had a profound effect on India and this has not been sufficiently examined or acknowledged." One may or may not agree with Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, but his views have their own significance. And he is forthright in expressing his thoughts. If certain people feel hurt, that is not his problem. |
When plague made journalists run “THERE is no fresh case of plague from Himachal Pradesh”. This bit of news must have relieved millions of people of this region from the tension that was mounting among them as reports regarding this dreaded disease started hitting the headlines in the print and electronic media in the past some days. Undoubtedly the happiest lot will be doctors attending on the suspected patients and journalists on the health and Himachal beats . It reminds me of 1994 when mind-boggling reports regarding the outbreak of plague from Surat in Gujarat spread like a wildfire. I was posted at Patiala as a Staff Correspondent then. To prevent this infectious disease from spreading in Punjab, the Health Department put up a special “naka”at the Shambu barrier, near Rajpura, where all truckers were examined by a medical team before allowing them entry into the state. It had been apprehended that truckers coming from Surat might transport the disease to this region. In fact, a number of truck drivers were found suffering from the disease then. Despite such measures, reports of suspected plague cases started appearing in the print media from various parts of the state. A special ward was set up at the Rajindra Hospital, Patiala. A few suspected and a number of confirmed patients were brought to that ward from various parts of the Malwa belt for treatment. Almost all journalists used to visit the emergency wing of the hospital every evening to collect latest information about such patients, fresh cases , results of test reports etc. And the doctor on duty used to disclose everything. As usual, one evening the journalists were trying to get information from the doctor but that day he was not forthcoming with the information. He was probably instructed by the higher authorities not to reveal anything to journalists as reports appearing in the print media had started creating panic in the state. The doctor repeatedly requested reporters to leave as he had nothing to reveal. However, journalists did not budge. In fact, they had information that two fresh suspected cases had been brought to the hospital and wanted to confirm it. As a verbal tug-of-war between the doctor and the journalists was continuing, an old lady with her teenage daughter entered the room. The girl was having bouts of cough, fever and also pain in the upper parts of the body. The doctor, wearing a protective gear, started examining her. After a while his face started turning grim and tense. Mediapersons were watching all this closely and curiously. He put his stethoscope aside, turned towards journalists to say “ protect yourself, it appears to be a case of ......”. Even before the doctor could complete his sentence, the journalists rushed towards the door like a bullet from a revolver. They all ran at a sprinter's speed from the hospital and would have even left the legendary flying Sikh Milkha Singh behind that day. The scene still sends shivers down our spines. I had seen demonstrators taking to their heels following police lathi-charge but our “performance” was certainly better than such demonstrators that day. |
Old people need not worry about losing memory RESEARCH has revealed that older people can improve their memory with a simple method of mental exercise and training, reports BBC. As people age, their ability to process and remember information declines, but this may be partly reversible. US scientists have found elderly people are unable to spontaneously use areas of brain, which aid memory processing. But research suggests that mental training can encourage older adults to use these areas to improve memory. Writing in the journal Neuron, Randy Buckner, who carried out the study, said, “Many people worry about losing their memory and if we can understand what’s going on inside the brain, it is the first step to doing something about it”. Studies have shown the loss of mental ability is partly due to reduced functioning of the frontal cortex — the region of the brain responsible for higher-level intellectual processing. Buckner and his team devised a test in which his respondents were asked to remember a series of words. The results confirmed previous studies that older people do not use the critical frontal areas of the brain as much as younger adults when recalling information. They tried to remedy this by asking older subjects to make an association for the worlds and categorise them as either abstract or concrete. ANI
At 7 ft 9 in, Somalian enters Guinness Book as tallest man
A Somalia born British resident is all set to enter the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s tallest living man. Hussain Bilad tops the scales at 7ft 9in, and now lives in Neasden, north London. The 27-year-old Bilad, who weighs 33 stone, fled the civil war in Somalia last year and has been granted indefinite leave to remain in Britain, takes size 26 trainers, and has to wear custom-made suits. When he is measured for the Guinness Book of Records he is expected officially to surplant the current record holder, 7ft 8in Tunisian Radhouane Charbib. Bilad told the Sun, “I’m proud to be the tallest man in the world and proud to live in England.” He has used his remarkable height to help raise money for African children’s charity and feels that life is easier in the UK than in Somalia, where he was shot in the knee by robbers. The tallest man ever was Robert Wadlow, an American who stood 8ft 11in.
ANI |
|
|
Our idea of human values BLESSED are those values of human life which make it sublime. All countries and major religious groups have their distinct cultures and values practised by their predecessors. Such values signify the glory of those societies and persons. It is known that the foundation of values do not change. However, the prevailing situation around does affect their course to a varied extent. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev willingly gave up their lives for the patriotic values they cherished so ardently. Mahatma Gandhi, Guru Teg Bahadur and the sons of Guru Gobind Singh attained martyrdom by sticking to those supreme values. Many others underwent untold atrocities and torture for values so dear to them. Gradually, human beings developed their values as distinct from animals around them. It was the sense of security which made them live as communities with values essential in society. Soon, human intelligence started to differentiate between the right and the wrong. At first, this was essential for community living but in due course the thoughts became universal. These values also appeared in our scriptures. Our idea of human values broadly dealt with an intelligent analysis of life and environment, human attachment, care for others and self-enlightenment. Man soon realised that physical values can emanate only from a healthy body. So a human had to look after himself in a manner that he could be physically strong, healthy, and live longer. With these, he developed values of human dignity, tolerance, bravery, patience and contentment. He also learnt about ways of earning wealth, spending as well as charity. Our rishis stressed on ethical values which include sacrifice, duty towards own country, service, civilised conduct, respect for parents and elders, respect for law and honest dealings. Amongst intellectuals and spiritual values they guided us towards reflection, imagination, inquisition, scrutiny, devotion towards the Almighty and chanting of hymns in praise of the unseen Force. Improving upon these values further, the great spiritual scholars led us to still higher values of life including sense of compassion, admiration for beauty and nature, understanding of art and the practice of meditation. Thus man lifted himself from the day-to-day problems relating to human body and started his quest towards search and realisation of the Unmanifest. As our forefathers advanced on the above path of self-realisation, their thinking acquired a philosophical foundation and all our religious traditions, lifestyles, literary pursuits and cultural activities emanated from this basic philosophy. Science has proved that the motion in this universe must have a source which provides this activation. This unseen force is called by numerous names. The foundation of human values lies in this one unmanifest power. We call this Entity as the controller and destroyer. A complete understanding of this leads to divinity which should be the final aim of man and this is termed as abhyodaya in our scriptures. Does this realisation lead to life sublime? During my visits to northern Europe and America, I observed a rising desire to know about ancient Indian thought. The Indian communities living there now attend spiritual discourses more than ever before. Once I asked the British Ambassador in Stockholm as to the criteria for inviting dignitaries for the various official parties held in the British embassy. He clarified that a select list was maintained in the embassy and persons were invited by rotation except in the case of diplomats and certain oriental scholars who practised ancient Indian spiritual and cultural values. During an inauguration of the new surgery block of the large Bloomfield hospital in Michigan (USA), thousands of guests including several doctors of the Indian origin were present. As our car entered the concourse we were surprised and gratified to see a large hoarding in red and gold with Sanskrit vedic inscription “Sarve Bhavantu Sukhina. Sarve Santu Niramaya.” Obviously, the international society is seeking solace in those human values Indian scriptures have been preaching for ages. |
|
Impress others By your sweet speech, Your humility, Your universal love, Your steady faith, Your truthfulness. In all the deeds that you perform In all the individuals that you meet In all the thoughts that you entertain You must see the Divine And act accordingly. Mind can have peace only when it merges in the Absolute Consciousness, primal cause and the unchanging existence. Mind has to be trained to develop A taste for the good and godly; Not for money and material gains. Mind is like a pure mirror But it is made impure by our desires. Money comes and goes Morality come and grows. Money can buy plenty of food but it cannot buy appetite and hunger; Money can buy servants but it cannot buy goodwill. It can buy comforts but not happiness. — Sathya Sai Baba *** That which leads a creature into infidelity is neglect of prayers. Not one of you must say your prayers in a garment without covering your whole body. People must not lift up their eyes whilst saying their prayers, or they will become blind. The prayers which are said in congregation increase the rewards of those said alone by twenty-seven degrees. The five stated prayers erase the sins which have been committed during the intervals between them if they have not been mortal sins. — Prophet Mohammed *** O God, our dear Lord, Give us the blessings of this life, and also the blessings of life everlasting. Save us from the torments of fire. — The Dua (prayer) |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |