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Friday,
March 28, 2003, Chandigarh, India   |
Grim first week Delimitation question
Fund surrender despite crunch |
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Military medium pace
Reformist bureaucrat at the helm of TRAI
Walking nearest to perfect exercise
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Grim first week The Iraqi war has entered its second week with many presumptions and postulates shattered as comprehensively as the buildings in Baghdad and other towns. The USA and its allies are learning to their chagrin that Saddam Hussein is not quite as soft or unpopular as they had made him out to be. His forces are giving them a bloody nose despite much inferior firepower. And the horrors of war have started manifesting themselves. Fifteen civilians lost their lives when a missile hit a Baghdad street. Intentional or otherwise, the carnage has left the Arab world sullen. Elsewhere too, nearly 500 civilians are believed to have died. This human tragedy and suffering is certain to stir the conscience of the whole world. Protests are getting shriller by the day all over the world and people's patience, especially in the Arab countries, might break any time. Others too are getting impatient with the injustice of it all. Why, anti-war demonstrations are drawing more and more people in America itself. This is despite the fact that human casualties on the American side have been minimal so far. Patriotic fervour that helps the family of a killed soldier bear the loss with some semblance of equanimity is decidedly low this time because President George W. Bush has hardly been able to convince all his people that what he is doing was simply unavoidable. Uncomfortable questions are being asked because so far there is no trace of chemical or biological weapons which had provided the pretext for this attack. Fidayeen forces are causing substantial damage. It is now being grudgingly acknowledged, albeit privately, that the American forces raced ahead towards Baghdad leaving their supply lines vulnerable and the guerrilla attacks did them in. Unavailability of Turkish territory as a staging area is also proving to be a great handicap. To make things worse for army strategists, desert is proving to be a tougher adversary than even Saddam Hussein. Sandstorms tend to even out the odds stacked against him. The war nerves are also getting at the American soldiers. There have been several cases of deaths in mistaken friendly fire. Two British soldiers lost their lives in a fight among themselves. Such aberrations are common in any war but the point is that the campaign is not going to be short and clinical as was earlier anticipated. Given the huge difference in the might of the two adversaries, it will be wrong to expect the US forces to get totally bogged down. They have the wherewithal to subdue Iraq sooner or later. But given the sharp reaction in the rest of the world, the USA cannot afford to wait too long. If the campaign drags on much longer, Iraq may prove to be a messy affair for it. |
Delimitation question Even as the Delimitation Commission has started its work of redrawing the geographical boundaries of 543 Lok Sabha and 4,033 Assembly constituencies and readjusting reserved seats, it is facing problems in its work. There are apprehensions among MPs and MLAs over large-scale changes in their constituencies following the fresh delimitation exercise. It is feared that this will lead to a perceptible increase in the number of reserved seats and a corresponding decrease in general seats. Of immediate importance is the demilitation exercise in four states where Assembly elections are due in a few months — Delhi, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. In these states, there is resentment among some candidates. They fear that their electoral prospects would be marred because of readjustment of constituencies. Preliminary reports suggest that after the latest exercise, there will be three extra reserved Assembly seats in Rajasthan and five less in Chhattisgarh. Southern states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka oppose demilitation because they say, it would punish them for their good performance in population control. Factors like good literacy rate, education and so on are responsible for gradual decline in the population rate in these states. Why should they be punished for ensuring population
stabilisation, they ask. Tamil Nadu seems to be worst affected because of the success in population control. Apparently, as in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, politics also plays a role in the exercise, though Mr
B.B.Tandon, Election Commissioner and ex-officio Member of the Delimitation Commission, would have us believe that it is open, fair and transparent. Moreover, political parties are divided over the base year for the current delimitation — 1991 or 2001 census. Delimitation, a constitutional imperative based on the premise of equal representation for equal segments of the population in the legislatures, was frozen in 1976 following complaints from southern states. It was carried out in 1951, 1961 and 1971. It would be better if delimitation is done on the basis of 2001 Census. Since it is a once-a-decade affair, there is rationale behind the suggestion for 2001 instead of a decade-old census figures (1991). Even otherwise, the interests of some states which have succeeded in population stabilisation programme, should also be looked into. Having due regard to the concerns of various parties, Union Law Minister Arun Jaitley held an all-party meeting recently and gave them 15 days time to convey their views in writing, after which he is expected to look into the possibility of an amendment to the Constitution to change the base year of delimitation. In fact, political parties opted for 1991 when the Delimitation Commission headed by Justice Kuldip Singh was constituted in July, 2002, after Parliament adopted the Delimitation Act. Reports suggest that the Union Government feels that if political parties want 2001 as the base year for delimitation, the present contours of Lok Sabha constituencies will remain unchanged for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Time is of the essence and it is believed that the Kuldip Singh Commission would find it difficult to accomplish the task. There is also the pressure from Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe MPs on the commission to complete the exercise soon so that they can enjoy the benefit of the increased population rate among their communities. Rough estimates suggest that the number of SC reserved seats could go up by about four in the Lok Sabha if 1991 was taken as the base year and by as many as 15 if 2001 was the base year. With the Assembly elections hardly seven to eight months away, it is going to be a tough exercise for both the Centre and the Delimitation Commission. |
Fund surrender despite crunch Homilies from the Finance Minister, like “the government is fully committed to modernising the armed forces and equipping them with the best available. This is non-negotiable", sound hollow, somewhat like the armed forces of India. Yes, the over one million strong army, the fourth largest air force in the world, and the biggest navy of the region, are outwardly forces to reckon with, but are hollow inside. The dawn of the decade of the nineties of the last century saw funding for defence plummeting. From a high of 3.58 per cent of the GDP in 1986-87, the nineties saw the defence allocations falling steadily — from 2.88 per cent in 1990-91 they came down to 2.31 per cent in 1999-2000. Thereafter, the figure has hovered between 2.3 and 2.5 per cent of the GDP. The 21st century has seen a continuation of this sorry state, except that in recent years, all Finance Ministers, while pegging the defence budget at generally around 2.4 or 2.5 per cent of the GDP, have never failed to make assurances that “funds are no constraint” where security is concerned! In the fiscal 2001-2002, it was 2.4 per cent; in 2002-2003 it was about 2.5 per cent; and this year the increase, if one can call it that, is so miniscule that it is futile trying to compute a percentage. The allocations for defence this year amount to Rs 65,300 crore. If one compares it to last year's allocations, made in February, 2002, the increase is only Rs 300 crore, but statistical jugglery makes this increase of a mere 0.04 per cent into a hefty (one newspaper used the word “staggering”!) increase of 13.8 per cent. This is achieved by the simple ploy of comparing the allocations, not to last year's budget allocations, but to the revised allocations, which are considerably less, because the stalwarts sitting in the Ministry of Defence have ensured that the allocations for modernisation are not spent, but are returned, on a platter, to the Ministry of Finance as ”unspent” budget. This appears to have now become a norm in the Ministry of Defence, at least for the last three years, for which data is as under: - The Finance Ministry always says that it is not dearth of funds but their utilisation, which is affecting modernisation. They blame the Ministry of Defence, which has demonstrated its inability to spend even the funds allocated. While there is some truth in this, it is also a fact that both the Ministries of Finance and Defence are so steeped in the archaic “procedure culture” of spending money, that while the service headquarters and field commanders are desperate for new weapons and equipment, the files in the Ministries move at a snail’s pace, if at all, and at the end of the day, huge chunks of money are surrendered. Approximately two years back, with much fanfare, a Defence Procurement Board was created, with the specific task of finalising procurement cases of the three services expeditiously. The heads of the Board (there have been two so far) were specially selected for their experience and for their reputation of being go-getters. However, at the end of nearly two years, the results, or rather the lack of them, are there for everyone to see. The Ministry of Defence, instead of being on a procurement spree, is actually on a surrendering binge! It has been surrendering nearly 30 per cent of the modernisation budget. Reasons usually cited for such inexplicable dereliction of duty are antiquated procedures; the unwillingness of bureaucrats in both the Ministries of Defence and Finance (Defence), to take decisions for fear of “scrutiny” by various government watchdogs like the CAG, the CVC, the CBI, Parliamentary Committees and so on. However, this does not explain how officials in every other ministry of the government are willing and able to spend the funds budgeted to their respective ministries! In the case of states, they not only spend their budgets but also overshoot them by mind-boggling figures, resulting in practically all states merrily carrying on with deficit financing! The conclusions are obvious. Neither the political leaders, concerned nor the bureaucracy, which is tasked for the purpose, give two hoots about national security. Merely having large standing armies, navies and air forces, in resplendent uniforms, will neither deter nor dissuade, and nor for that matter enable them to wage a successful war, if the wherewithal in terms of modern weapons and equipment, are not provided to them. We have highly professional, dedicated and brave officers and men in our armed forces, but their achievements will only be marginal with obsolete and obsolescent weapons and equipment, which are gradually increasing in their inventories. Since the bureaucrats are unable to take decisions on procurement issues, why don't we give this task to the newly created Integrated Defence Staff, along with the necessary financial advisers? At least they will not waste their time in covering their backs from all angles, instead of getting on with the task of procurement. The nation cannot continue to remain at the mercy of such cautious officials, when the security of the nation and all its citizens is at stake. The second aspect of the defence budget, which needs immediate correction, is the allocation made to the Army. The Army is the largest component of the armed forces, and in the context of regional security concerns, as well as threats and challenges to the nation, today and in the immediate future, it will be the Army which will play the major role in meeting them. Yet, it is incomprehensible that the increase in modernisation funds is the least for the Army, as can be seen from the following statistics: The breakdown of Rs 9000 crore, which has been surrendered from the budget of fiscal 2002-03, is not readily available, but one can be reasonably certain that the bulk of the funds must be from the sub-allocations of the Army. Yet, the increase in modernisation funds for the army is the least. This is inexplicable, especially when the requirements of the Army are colossal and well known. All arms and services have detailed plans for modernisation, to improve their reduced combat potential. These cover the entire spectrum of conflict, including fighting insurgents and terrorists in J&K and elsewhere. The nation expects practically the “impossible” from the armed forces, and till now they have responded to the faith reposed in them, with great dedication and efficiency. But for how long? If modern weapons and equipment are denied to them, either on account of inadequate funds, or on account of a dogmatic adherence to antiquated and archaic procedures, then they will not be able to deliver. Our defence policies, particularly on meeting the needs of our armed forces, and our very approach to security, continue to be flawed. If urgent action is not taken to set things right, the nation and particularly the government, have no business to ask the armed forces to do the “impossible”. The author is a former Vice Chief of Army Staff |
Military medium pace The term ‘military medium pace’ which was used frequently to describe some bowlers in the just-concluded World Cup has stirred the imagination of the military mind. It has started a lively debate as to its origin and meaning. The first reaction of a military expert of some standing was that it appeared to be derogatory to the defence services. It probably implied that the bowler carried on attacking at the same pace regardless of the punishment or results — like the mass assault tactics of the First World War. But hastily covered his tracks by adding that he was not a cricket buff. Another military thinker of about five years standing — he confessed that he did not use his thinker for 20 years in service — felt that it had something to do with the speed of the infantry. The infantry regiments march at 120 paces whereas the light regiments at 140 paces a minute. Thus bowlers between the speed of 120 and 130 km/h would probably come in this category. We checked if any of the cricket commentator(s) came from the infantry family background but found that we had hit the wall (not Rahul Dravid). A senior tank expert had his own interpretation. As per his vision (the mechanised warfare experts have only vision). The tanks attack at the fastest speed possible except when they have to keep up with the infantry. Thus it could not have come from the armoured corps. He ruled out the possibility of the horse cavalry having any influence with the cricketing world. Another retired officer, who had spent 25 years out of his 35 years at the Army Headquarters said, “the bowler was expected to bowl at a livelier pace than the one he had ever achieved in practice session, so as to contain the marauding opposing batsmen”. To illustrate his point he added, “like a military leader, impeccable character in peace time but a devious, crafty and scheming individual in battle who should fox any foe”. The perception of a young officer was concise and clear. The term implied precision medium pace bowling with guile and craft associated with modern military tactics. This appears to be logical but the cricket expert who coined this term had to be a student of military history or a military leader himself and not just a watcher of the Republic Day parade. One needs to find a cricket commentator who is an avid reader of military history and a fan of the famous historian Liddell Hart. |
Reformist bureaucrat at the helm of TRAI A mechanical engineer from the University of Roorkee, Baijal takes over as the chief of TRAI when fundamental changes — regulatory as well as technological — are sweeping the sector. And he is aware that telecom is one of the few sectors where results of the economic reforms process are directly discernible. During the one-month interregnum which Baijal deservedly got after bowing out as Disinvestment Secretary, he is learnt to have readied himself for the task ahead and has reportedly spent four hours of reading on telecom issues every day. As Disinvestment Secretary since 1999, Baijal’s high-points are the manner in which he handled politically contentious issues — HPCL, BPCL, Maruti, Balco et al. A golf afficianado, with
occasional shots at tennis and squash, Baijal’s immediate task at hand is to arrive at a win-win solution on certain key issues in the telecom sector. Politically, it should be easier as his former boss Arun Shourie is now also the Communications Minister and both of them understand each other well. But the critical issue is how to get the warring parties (WLL and GSM operators) arrive at a mutually-agreeable solution. Technically, Baijal’s job is less of arbitration (there is TDSAT for this) and more of regulation. And the industry is hoping that the appointment of this reformist bureaucrat as the chief of TRAI will mark the beginning of a new regulatory paradigm with lesser friction. Delhi’s new GOC He graduated from the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and the College of Defence Management and has held varied staff and instructional appointments. He has played a vital role during the Bangladesh operations and counter-insurgency operations in Mizoram and Jammu and Kashmir. Maj.-Gen Thomas Mathew commanded a Mountain Brigade in the Eastern Sector and thereafter was the Indian Military Attache in France. More important, he commanded an Infantry Division of the Strike Corps during Operation Parakram. Among other things, Maj Gen Mathew likes to play golf and is also a tennis player of some stature. He is highly adept at horse riding. Married to Mrs Aswathy Elizabeth Mathew, Maj.-Gen Mathew has two grown up sons. His wife is an educationist with experience of teaching at college level and is herself a postgraduate in English literature. His elder son Aneesh is presently doing MBA from Jamshedpur after taking a degree in mechanical engineering from Trivandrum University while his younger son Nishant is presently in the process of completing the course in mechanical engineering. |
Walking nearest to perfect exercise Whether you want to walk to improve your general health, to keep fit, to control your weight or perhaps to recover from a period of ill health, walking can help. In particular, walking has a high impact on cardiovascular disease. Fit and active individuals have around half the risk of cardiovascular disease compared to unfit, inactive people. Fit walkers are less likely to fall and suffer injuries such as hip fractures because the bones are strengthened; less likely to sustain injury because joints have a better range of movement and muscles are more flexible; less prone to depression and anxiety; tend to be good sleepers; and are better able to control body weight. So whichever way you want to do it, start hiking, rambling, fitness walking or just bumbling along with your dog. It might just be the only exercise you’ll want to keep up. Here are ten good reasons to start walking 1 It reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke 2 It lowers blood pressure 3 It reduces high cholesterol 4 It reduces body fat 5 It enhances mental wellbeing 6 It increases bone density and hence helps to prevent osteoporosis 7 It reduces the risk of cancer of the colon 8 It helps flexibility and co-ordination and hence reduces the risk of falls 9 It reduces the risk of cold and flu 10 It helps control
diabetes. The Guardian |
Never talk about the faults of others, no matter how bad they may be. Nothing is ever gained by that. You never help one by talking about his fault; you do him an injury, and injure yourself as well.
*** Never quarrel about religion. All quarrels and disputations concerning religion simply show that spirituality is not present. Religious quarrels are always over the husks. When purity goes leaving the soul dry, quarrels begin and not before.
*** Some are saints and some sinners. The sun shines on good and evil alike. Does he make any distinction? *** That love is highest which is concentrated upon God.
*** The lamp by the light of which one forges a name and another writes a cheque for a thousand dollars for famine, shines on both, knows no difference. Light knows no evil. —From Kalyana Kalpataru, June 1997 |
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Armies (used generically for armed forces here) are judged by their combat potential and not mere size. While size is no doubt important, it is the potential for combat that matters. Gen Dwight D Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe and later President of the USA, had succinctly stated this in these words: “What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in a fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog". It is sad for the country that the “fight” in the army is slowly ebbing, because no worthwhile modernisation has taken place in the last few years. Let us first look at the statistics.
The bulk of funds surrendered are from the Capital Head, although some part of the Revenue Head was also surrendered. The Capital Head is for modernisation, housing and infrastructure development, while the Revenue Head caters for pay and allowances, operations and maintenance, land and works, expenditure on Rashtriya Rifles and so on. With the surrender of such large sums, year after year, virtually no modernisation has taken place. Combine this with the insufficient fund allocations since 1990 and you have a recipe for disaster. The armed forces are a dynamic instrument of the state. They must constantly modernise; otherwise they would lose their efficiency, competence and potential, and would not be able to achieve security objectives of the nation. Technology has a profound effect on the ability of the armed forces to carry out their tasks. In recent years, the pace of change which technology has brought about is phenomenal. It influences all aspects of warfare, from doctrinal to weapons and equipment; and from deterrence to war fighting. If the nation wants the armed forces to be at their optimum best, they must modernise constantly.
Pradip Baijal, former Disinvestment Secretary, has taken over as chief of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the country’s telecom sector watchdog. An IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, Baijal’s new assignment is more likely to be in familiar territory. During his stint as Disinvestment Secretary, Baijal learnt the intricacies of dispute settlement at least in the sense of political opposition to the privatisation process. In fact, his Minister Arun Shourie has never hesitated to wax eloquent about Baijal’s contribution to the disinvestment process.
Major General Thomas Mathew who has taken over as General Officer Commanding of Delhi Area is an alumni of the National Defence Academy. Commissioned into the 2nd Battalion of the Rajput Regiment on December 21, 1968, Maj.-Gen Mathew passed out of the 33rd course of the NDA and the 42nd Regular course of the Indian Military Academy.