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Thursday, September 12, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Sept 11: the economic fallout GONE are the days when politicians were bothered about political niceties. There was a time when they would never mention their adversaries’ race, caste, community, religion or place of birth while addressing public meetings. But it seems times are changing. Chirac's plan for Iraq |
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Politics in Musharraf’s Pakistan
RBI’s new Deputy Governor
Polluting water, air
with impunity
Still the chattering of the mind
Saying ‘I do’ gets dearer
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Sept 11: the economic fallout THE September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center towers, it is widely believed, targeted America’s economic might. The Al-Qaeda offensive was symbolic. The Americans themselves like to believe that their relative affluence has created enemies, especially among the deprived. The resultant US “global” war on terror, emanating from Afghanistan, was also calculated to protect its oil interests in the region. So it was all economic in effect. How has the world changed a year later? Because of globalisation, much of the world today depends on the US economy. Happily, the USA has not retreated into a protective shell and its economy, despite bumps, has not slid into recession. Rather, there are positive indications. After 11 frantic cuts, interest rates have almost stabilised. According to a Federal Reserve report, consumer spending is up. More Americans are buying new cars now than they did a year ago. Many economists believe that there is no more than a 25 per cent chance that the economy will sag back into recession. Terrorism did hurt America, but more than that, it was corporate America’s own greed and scandalous accounting practices that led to the collapse of some of the world famous symbols of its capitalism: Enron, Andersen, WorldCom, etc, dragging down stock markets worldwide and leaving millions of investors less secure. How the USA coped with the grim situation is fascinating. Many lessons can be learnt from the way the world power unitedly faced the challenge, restarted the rebuilding process and strengthened its system against a possible repeat action. The worst sufferers were obviously the insurance, civil aviation and tourism sectors. Insured losses were estimated at $ 40 billion. Last November the House of Representatives passed a draft Bill, authorising the government to provide loans for up to 90 per cent of the losses caused by terrorism. US insurers now no longer club
terrorist risk with general property and casualty policies. Half of US businesses have now terrorism insurance. Airlines are now over-cautious about who they fly and how. With travellers back to flying in increasing numbers, the travel industry has overcome the general fear of flying. That tourism has revived is evident from the number of Americans and non-Americans thronging the area around Ground Zero itself. The site of the WTC towers has been cleared of millions of tonnes of debris and the nearby damaged
buildings have been fixed up. The Manhattan telephone network has been restored by 3,500 employees at a cost of $ 1.2 billion. The New York Comptroller has estimated the loss caused to the city by the September 11 action at $83 billion based on the number of jobs permanently shifted out of New York. Financial regulators are busy ensuring that the financial and banking system does not go haywire again in case of any imaginable assault. The war on terrorist funds has been, however, less effective because of informal, non-institutional methods of money transfer. Al-Qaeda and other terrorist outfits are still using the hawala route to finance their activities. As September 11 passes into history, America and Britain in general, and President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair in particular, have added a new item to their unfinished agenda, that is Saddam Hussein. They now talk of war on Iraq, making the global markets jittery again. Gold and oil prices are already on the rise. It seems America has not learnt any lessons from history and is out, once again, to teach someone a lesson or two. |
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Decline in political conduct GONE are the days when politicians were bothered about political niceties. There was a time when they would never mention their adversaries’ race, caste, community, religion or place of birth while addressing public meetings. But it seems times are
changing. There are some who have started indulging in ugly rhetoric, bringing politics to the level of the gutter. Among these worthies is Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. He has been asked by BJP chief Venkaiah Naidu to stop using intemperate language against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the minorities. Mr Modi has tried to explain away his diatribe by saying that he has been misquoted by the media. But can one believe that all newspapers and TV channels failed to do their primary job correctly? This rarely happens. But this is the easiest escape route politicians adopt. So far as his party chief’s comment is concerned, Mr Modi knows this is only an exercise in futility. So long as he is successful in enlarging the BJP’s support base, none of his party colleagues can gather courage to tell him forcefully how he should conduct himself in public. If he has refused to amend his style of functioning after Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee described the tragic happenings in Gujarat post-Godhra (after February 27) as a blot on the face of the state, one should not expect any change in Mr Modi’s conduct after Mr Naidu’s remarks. During his much-publicised “Gaurav Yatra” that began at Phagwel Mr Modi uttered very little which could justify the nomenclature of his election-related programme. What he said at his public rallies mainly covered his two favourite topics: Mrs Sonia Gandhi and the minorities (read Muslims). Since India is a democracy, admired the world over, one is free to choose a topic of one’s choice. But does it behove a politician of Mr Modi’s stature (he is the Chief Minister of a state acknowledged as the industrial hub of the country and where Apostle of Peace Mahatma Gandhi was born) to describe relief camps sheltering riot-victims as “child-making factories”? Should a Chief Minister exhort his supporters to “teach a lesson to those who believe in multiplying themselves”, targeting a particular section of society? Should he refer to Mrs Sonia Gandhi as “gori chamri wali” and a “beti of Italy” who has been allowed by the Congress to become its chief? Earlier, Mr Modi had indulged in this kind of ugly rhetoric by referring to Chief Election Commissioner Lyngdoh’s religious background. This is stooping too low for electoral gains. A politician normally makes highly personalised comments only when he has nothing substantial to say. However, such ugly conduct deserves to be derided to safeguard the country’s image as a mature democracy. Even the BJP needs to be saved from the Modi style of politics. |
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Chirac's plan for Iraq THE
more US President George W. Bush raises his voice for mobilising global opinion in favour of his plan to attack Iraq, the more unconvincing he sounds. British Prime Minister Tony Blair is among the few world leaders who have extended unqualified support to Mr Bush's Iraq agenda. French President Jacques Chirac is among the more vocal opponents of unilateral action against President Saddam Hussein. The US of A may now be the only global super power, but the days of unilateral action are over. Of course, if the US goes ahead with its plan to bomb Iraq, there is little that any nation, big or small, can do to have it put in the dock. However, if President Bush were to listen to the voices of reason, he would get to know that what he is being asked to do is to follow the prescribed procedure for proceeding against one of the three countries that in his view represent the "axis of evil". The United Nations has seldom ignored the will of the USA. As the Bush Administration is building its case for another attack on Iraq, under the pretext of stopping President Saddam Hussein from using weapons of mass destruction, world leaders like Mr Chirac are advocating restraint. No nation dare ask the USA or any other of its nuclear club members whether the weapons "that man Saddam" is said to possess are more destructive than the ones in their own arsenal. America may ignore global opinion against bombing Iraq without producing convincing evidence for its action. But the long-term consequences are not likely to be what the strike seeks to achieve. The better option for President Bush would be to listen to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plea for involving the Security Council in the proposed action. President Chirac is reportedly working overtime for preparing an action plan that would have the seal of approval of the Security Council. He is working on a two-stage plan that could result in the UN authorisation of use of military force against Iraq. The Chirac plan would give Iraq three weeks for admitting UN weapons inspectors "without restrictions or pre-conditions". If President Saddam Hussein rejects their return or hampers inspection work, a second resolution would be passed for military action. This is as it should be. The super power should not only be fair but appear to be fair to all concerned in its fight against international terrorism. President Chirac was careful not to commit French troops while discussing the plan of action he has in mind for giving legal teeth to the US initiative for attacking Iraq. Israel's decision to allow America to use its air bases for the proposed action against its Arab neighbour indicates that the possibility of another war in the Gulf region is real. The Chirac plan provides a legal framework to the Bush Administration to launch a pre-emptive military action in its fight against international terrorism. |
Politics in Musharraf’s Pakistan AS international attention remains focused on the anniversary of last September’s terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, an interesting and intriguing electoral battle is taking shape in Pakistan. General Musharraf is following the path set by past military dictators like Field Marshal Ayub Khan and Generals Yahya Khan and Zia-ul-Haq and imposing his own version of democracy on the hapless people of Pakistan. By a series of amendments to Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, General Musharraf has proclaimed himself President and Chief of Army Staff for five years with effect from the date his electoral process was completed. General Musharrraf retains the power to
dissolve Parliament and make all important judicial and governmental appointments, particularly in the armed forces. Overseeing the working of the democratically elected government will be a National Security Council, in which the armed forces will be significantly represented. He obviously envisages a government in which the Prime Minister will be a figurehead and parliament a rubber stamp. In reality what he intends is that
democracy in Pakistan will be a government of the army, by the army and for the army. General Musharraf has ensured that political rivals like Ms Benazir Bhuttto and Mr Nawaz Sharif are prevented from contesting the elections, in order to see that his hegemony is unchallenged. The Pakistan Muslim League has traditionally had a large number of feudals who are ever ready to join hands with any military dictator and use the official machinery to ensure their electoral success. It has, therefore, not been difficult for General Musharraf to split the Muslim League and form a “King’s Party” that calls itself the Pakistan Muslim League (Qaid -e-Azam). This party (PML-QA), ostensibly headed by Mian Azhar, a rival of Mr Nawaz Sharif, was to have joined a number of others who like them depend on government patronage to win elections, to form a “Grand Alliance” to fight Ms Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Mr Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League, commonly known as the PML (N). The other parties which were to have joined the “Grand Alliance” and at present constitute what is called the “National Alliance” include those headed by former President Farooq Leghari and former Prime Minister Ghulam Musatafa Jatoi. Mr Imran Khan’s Tehriq-e-Insaf has not found it possible to make common cause with these worthies, because Mr Khan suddenly found that it was the PML (QA) that was set to receive the maximum backing of the military government. In the meantime, the mainstream religious parties — the Jamaat- e-Islami (JI), the Jamaat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) — have joined together and formed an alliance called the MMA. Given their reservations about General Musharraf making common cause with the Americans against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, this grouping that has traditionally backed the Army and the ISI in General Zia’s days has turned against the government. The Musharraf dispensation is sparing no effort to see that those who back it, especially from the PML (QA), are elected by using all the powers at its disposal, particularly in the majority Punjab province. Even the selection of
candidates here for the PML (QA) has been overseen by Musharraf protégés
including his Principal Secretary Tariq Aziz and a coterie of specially chosen officials in Lahore. These include Corps Commander (Lahore) General Jamshed Gulzar, Chief Secretary (Punjab) Hafeez Akhtar Randhawa and a former ISI hand-turned-Home Secretary, Punjab, Brigadier Ejaz Shah. The Governor of Punjab, Lt- General Khalid Maqbool, has been sidelined. Reports from Pakistan
suggest that the Corps Commanders in Sind and Baluchistan have avoided joining their colleague in Lahore in an attempt to manipulate the elections. Thus, not everyone in the armed
forces is overly enthusiastic about which direction General Musharaf is proceeding. But even in these provinces the local administration is pulling no stops to make things easy for those the Musharraf dispensation supports. While there was considerable public disaffection against political leaders when General Musharraf took over in October,1999, the good General has not particularly endeared himself to the people after his farcical, rigged referendum. Further, while Pakistan’s external balance of payments may have improved after large doses of foreign assistance, the continuous rise in the prices of public utilities and essential commodities and rising unemployment have only added to the woes of the common man. There
appears to be little doubt that should the elections be conducted in a free and fair manner Benazir’s Pakistan People’s Party will do exceedingly well. The alliance between Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif to take on General Musharraf could well lead to a PPP-PML (N) coalition after the elections. Parties like the Awami National Party (ANP) headed by Asfandyar Wali Khan in the North-West Frontier Province would be only too happy to join such a grouping. But as General Musharraf would not like this to happen, every effort will be made to influence and rig the election results to produce a hung parliament, that can be manipulated by government patronage and coercion. Pakistan is headed for an uncertain and turbulent political future. Should the PPP and the PML (N) come back with a substantial majority they will move to undo the constitutional amendments General Musharraf has effected, either through courts, or through parliament. This will bring them into a direct confrontation with General Musharraf. But if General Musharraf does massively rig the poll as he did the referendum for his “election” as President, he will have even less political legitimacy than he at present has. But what must be encouraging to him has been the virtually unqualified support that he has received from the Bush Administration. Speaking after the rigged referendum, President Bush proclaimed: “He’s still with us in the war against terror and that’s what I appreciate.” Only a few days ago Mr Richard Armitage went even further and tacitly
supported General Musharraf’s decision to continue as President in the uniform of the Army Chief for another five years. But in the past such American support has eventually ended as a kiss of death for Pakistan’s military dictators and resulted in that country being unable to develop a viable system of democratic governance. New Delhi has wisely refrained from commenting on the political processes in Pakistan. The Prime Minister, Mr Vajpayee, has expressed his readiness to talk to any government in
Islamabad that ends the use of terrorism as an instrument of state policy. It is obvious that despite the positive statements emanating from Washington about the contribution of General Musharraf to the war against terrorism, there is a growing realisation that the epicentre of global terrorism has shifted from Afghanistan to Pakistan. Speaking at Bagram, near Kabul, a few days ago the CENTCOM Chief, General Tommy Franks, said: “ Over time the war against terrorism may need to be extended beyond Afghanistan… The relations we have with states surrounding Afghanistan will permit us over time to do this work”. Put bluntly, this was a message to General Musharraf that he should act decisively against Al-Qaeda and its supporters who are now based all over Pakistan, or face the prospect of American intervention in his country. Pakistan has tried to deflect the blame for the escape of Al-Qaeda terrorists to Iran. But, as the recent assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai showed, Al-Qaeda and its supporters are most active near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. It remains to be seen how General Musharraf will deal with this situation and simultaneously manage the political challenges he will face within Pakistan. |
RBI’s new Deputy Governor Dr Mohan replaces Mr Y.V. Reddy who has been appointed Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund. As Deputy Governor, Dr Mohan will look after the Monetary Policy Department, the Department of External Investments and Operations, the Internal Debt Management Cell, the Department of Economic Analysis and Policy, the Department of Statistical Analysis and the Computer Services, the Department of Government and Bank Accounts and the Department of Expenditure and Budgetary Control. His tenure is for three years. Born on January 14, 1948, Dr Mohan received his masters degree and doctorate in economics from Princeton University and BA in economics from Yale University. He is also a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London. Dr Mohan has researched extensively in the areas of economic reforms and liberalisation, industrial economics, urban economics, infrastructure studies and economic regulation. He has authored three books on urban economics and urban development and co-authored one on Indian economic policy reforms. Prior to taking over as Deputy Governor of the RBI, Dr Mohan was Director and Chief Executive of the Indian Council for Research and International Economic Relations and Vice-chairman, Infrastructure Development Finance Company. He was also adviser to the Finance Minister and Chief Economic Adviser between January 4, 2001, and May 15, 2002. He is a member of the Prime Minister’s high-powered Economic Advisory Council. He is also associated with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the Board of Governors, the Institute of Economic Growth; the Board of Governors, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy; the Governing Body, National Council of Applied Economic Research; Board of Governors, Madras School of Economics. He has been the Director of the National Housing Bank, the Industrial Reconstruction Bank of India, the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). From 1997-2202 he was a member of the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (1997-2002) and the Securities Exchange Board of India (2001-02). World Bank Country Director In his own words, Mr Carter has described his new assignment as “challenging and exciting”. Prior to coming to India, he was the Bank’s Country Director in the Russian Federation, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. He succeeds Mr Edwin Lim who retired from the World Bank last month. Mr Carter brings with him rich experience of structural reforms programmes, especially in Russia where a major challenge for the Bank was helping the government deal with the aftermath of the 1998 financial crisis and creating the basis for the economic growth. He was associated with the World Bank support to the Russian government’s coal sector reform programme which has had a beneficial impact not only economically but also socially. More recently, Mr Carter has been helping with the structural reforms in Central European countries which are necessary if they are to benefit from the opportunities that will emerge from joining the EU. Mr Carter joined the Bank in 1972 and has wide global experience. A British national, he holds a degree in engineering and economics from Cambridge University and master’s in economics from Manchester University. |
Polluting water, air with impunity DESPITE as many as 10 Prevention of Pollution Acts under
implementation in Punjab, the scene is dismal and alarming. All the
Acts framed between 1974 and 2001 have failed to stop people from
indulging in every kind of damage to the environment, be it water, air
or soil. To implement these Acts, the state government constituted the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCD) in 1975. About the performance of this board in the past 27 years, the less said the better. Various Chief Engineers from the Public Health Department were posted as Chairmen of this board but nobody’s record is exemplary in punishing the polluters. The Badal ministry took the cake by appointing an unqualified person as the Chairperson of this board. The present Congress government has appointed an IAS officer of the rank of Secretary, Mr Satish Chandra, to the post. A follow-up on the state of pollution in the state has revealed that be it large scale, medium or small industry-- rice-shellers, saila plants, brick-kilns, Cupola furnaces, municipal committees, hospitals or plastic manufacturing units-- all are polluting Punjab. Of the134 local bodies in the state only two -- those at Nangal and Anandpur Sahib -- have installed effluent treatment plants. The rest continue to discharge their effluents into drains without treatment. The same is true of all nagar panchayats in Punjab. As per the records of the PPCD, small industries are the main culprits polluting the environment. As many as 1,570 units have not installed air pollution control devices. Similarly, 2,153 have not sought the board’s consent for discharging effluents into water. Under the rules all hospitals having facilities of indoor patients above 1,000 are required to obtain authorisation from the PPCD for disposing of bio-medical waste. There are 941 such hospitals in Punjab of which only five have obtained the required authorisation. The procedure prescribed for the disposal of hospital waste is very expensive. The Punjab Government has put up a treatment plant at Ludhiana. A private contractor who runs the plant is also responsible for the transport of waste from its client hospitals. The charges depend upon the distance of the hospital. An overview of pollution in Punjab reveals that while tanneries are the main culprits, distilleries are at number 2 and paper mills occupy the third position. Dyeing and pharmaceutical
units are the next in polluting Punjab’s air, water and soil. For the major part of water pollution, only MCs are responsible. Travelling through Punjab, one discovers that the majority of distilleries and paper mills have been purposely put up near the main flood drains of the state. According to the rules, any disposal into these drains is illegal. However, it is a common practice to discharge non-treated effluents into these flood drains. Worse, the Department of Drainage has permitted some paper and distillery units to discharge their effluents into these drains. The biological oxygen demand (BOD) from these flood drains, on an average, should be 3 mg to 4 mg per litre but, shockingly, all the flood drains in Punjab have been tested having 100mg to 150 mg per litre., which is fatal for water species, animals and water is not fit for human consumption at all. The worst case is of tanneries in Jalandhar. Tanneries require huge quantities of water to clean hides. The PSIEC had put up a special plant in Jalandhar with a capacity of 1.5 million gallons of water, which was more than adequate for the existing units. However, with the shortage of water in Chennai and Kanpur, the tanneries there started sending truckloads of hides to Jalandhar. Soon, the overloaded PSIEC unit collapsed and tanneries began digging their own tubewells. The end result is that untreated effluents are discharged into public drains, which ultimately join the Sutlsej river, causing havoc to water species. When the PPCB issued notices to these tanneries, they went to court and obtained a stay in May, 2000. After that none of the Chairpersons of the board ever bothered to pursue the case. “We will now file an application with the high court for early hearing. These tanneries are not only using three times more water than is used in Chennai and Kanpur but also are violating pollution laws by discharging untreated effluents into drains”, said Mr Satish Chandra. There are four distilleries in Punjab, situated in Amritsar, Hamira and Patiala. Their effluent is mostly organic and hence can be converted into compost. Except for the Hamira unit, no other distillery is converting its effluent into compost. In fact, the Central Pollution Control Board has made it mandatory for all distilleries to convert their effluents into compost. The board has issued notices to the rest of the three distilleries. Punjab has eight pharmaceutical companies, including Ranbaxy, DSM, Alfa Drugs and Surya Medicals. Instead of insisting that these units put up their own effluent treatment plants, the PPCB allowed them to dig up evaporation tanks with a polythene sheet at the bottom to discharge their untreated effluents. Over the years, effluents have percolated into the soil surrounding these units. The cost of an effluent treatment plant for a large unit is about Rs 15 crore. The new Chairperson has given the ultimatum to all the units to do away with the tanks and install the treatment plants in a stipulated period. |
Still the chattering of the mind WHEN we face life’s problems and are confronted with turbulent or worrying events, we often get so obsessed with the problem that our minds chatter and weave round and round the problem to no avail. This chattering of the mind disturbs our mental poise and ease and makes us compulsively obsessed with the happenings. The result — a loss of equilibrium and balance. It is the same in situations of conflict, when we get so absorbed by the mutual recrimination and disagreement that our minds remain hopelessly embroiled in the conflict, and we cannot focus on other things or pay proper attention to other matters that demand our attention. In such situations, the best option is to relax ourselves and to shift our focus from the event or the conflict to other more positive avenues. Sometimes, the means to solve the problem may not be in our hands. But the means to live with the problem is in our hands. Sometimes, just quiet breathing and concentrating on our breath can calm us down. At other times, expressing our feelings and our reactions through colour and drawing, through journaling and sharing can lift our spirits. Each must find one’s own unique way of quieting the mind. There is no universal recipe in each particular case, even though there exist many ways and techniques of doing just this. Vipasana or the Buddhist method of meditation works for some. Yogic exercises may work for some. Focusing on other thoughts may work for others. Generally, though meditation does help. Because it not only puts us in touch with the divine within ourselves, but also touches a power in the universe beyond ourselves, that is able to pull us upwards or outwards, away from what is disturbing us. Throughout the day, we are so involved with the events of our daily lives, with our schedules, our plans, our goals and our ambitions, that even in the day-to-day moments and movements, there is often a chattering of the mind. Time is of course structured for us through our daily schedules. Unstructured time can also lead to wastefulness. But to concentrate solely on our material and physical lives results in the mind getting shallow and too goal-oriented. There must be space for us to relax, to evaluate, to discern, to ponder and to see things in perspective. The events and happenings of the day are no doubt important. But to have all our energies absorbed by physical and material details is to miss out an important dimension. Deep down inside us is a felt need for a still mind. In fact, there are ways to experience this stillness in the thick of the battles of our lives. In the midst of confusion and conflict, we can retain a stillness that quietens us and creates a certain distance between us as experiencing selves and our circumstances. To maintain calm in situations of threat, hazards, disorder and conflict is not easy. It is a life-long lesson we have to learn. It comes through practice, through trial and error, through many failed efforts, through the process of human growth and evolution. Stillness is a divine gift. The human heart has divine treasures, which unfold through patient effort and calm. Stillness is not passivity, but experiencing calm in the midst of trials. It is the ability to respond to life with courage and the ability to stand the test without turbulence. But to be still is not to be frozen in one’s mindset or state of mind. Those who are frozen in a certain state do not move and are not evolving or growing. Those who move and flow with life are, however, those who like the ripples in a still pond, experience movement but maintain an underlying stillness that makes life a movement of grace and harmony. All of us in life experience moments of disharmony. We find we are often at cross purposes with life, with events, with daily happenings, with others. Out of all this disorder and disharmony, if we can build lives of harmony and orderliness, we will succeed if not at all times, at least in the most crucial moments in stilling the chattering of our minds. |
Saying ‘I do’ gets dearer MARRYING
in Shanghai now costs eight years' salary of an average Chinese worker as DVD players and cars replace radios and bicycles as essentials for newlyweds setting up their first home, a state newspaper has said. The China Daily said the average cost of getting married in Shanghai was 150,000 yuan ($18,000) -- double the amount five years ago -- while the average urban worker earned 1,530 yuan ($184) a month. Chinese, especially in fast-growing coastal cities like Shanghai, are embracing displays of wealth accumulated since late leader Deng Xiaoping launched market-oriented reforms two decades ago, telling the Communist nation: "To get rich is glorious". Twenty-first century marriage essentials now include a lavish banquet for several hundred guests, studio wedding photos, a honeymoon, household appliances and an apartment. That is a radical change from the pre-economic reform 1970s when a couple amassed a bicycle, a radio and some furniture then had their union rubber-stamped at a local government office. But the traditional Chinese wedding gift is still cash, stuffed in red envelopes which are discreetly slipped to the couple then counted behind closed doors. ($1 = 8.277 yuan).
Reuters |
In existence, the smallest blade of grass has the same significance and the same beauty as the greatest star. There is no hierarchy. There is no body higher, no body lower. Existence is very generous, always forgiving, never punishing. But the only way to reach to existence is through your own innermost silence. Do not obey anybody. Simply obey your being. Wherever it leads you, go fearlessly, in freedom. Once you see a certain truth you cannot do anything other than obey it. But it has to be your seeing, your perception, your realisation. Begin with disobedience. Have you ever felt that existence is miserly? What is the need of so many stars? It is not a poor existence, no. Poverty is man’s creation. There is no need for problems to be. We create problems with one hand and we try to solve the problems with the other hand — and both are our hands. The world can be really a paradise. In fact, there is no other paradise unless we make one here. What you call good and what you call bad are complementaries. They cannot exist separately, they can only exist together. And to put yourself together is the way to see the universe in its totality, in its togetherness. You need power only to do something harmful. Otherwise love is enough, compassion is enough. The truth is a revelation. It is already there. You have not to invent it, You have to discover it. —Shri Rajneesh (OSHO), Words from a man of no words |
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EMINENT economist Rakesh Mohan’s appointment as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India comes at a time when the economy is not in the pink of health. 
Michael F Carter, who recently assumed charge as the World Bank’s new Country Director for India, faces the challenging assignment of reconciling the World Bank’s development paradigm with India’s politically sensitive structural reforms initiative.