 |
Thursday,
April 3, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
No rules for Uncle Sam VAT a protest! Palak metal paneer |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Iraq war: easy victory not in sight
Salute to Sam Bahadur
Military Intelligence gets new chief
Wrinkle remover eases back pain
|
No rules for Uncle Sam Despite the American claim that the war on Iraq is being fought with the “policy of doing all we can to spare civilian life”, it seems very little is being done to save the lives of ordinary people. The missiles and bombs being rained on Iraqi areas for the past 13 days must have caused enormous loss of civilian lives and property, besides destroying television stations and shopping complexes. But the world outside cannot find out the whole truth immediately. The Western media has its own compulsions. Whatever little can be accepted as fair reporting is mainly because of the presence of Arab TV networks like Al-Jazeera. That the war is going on with scant regard for civilian lives and property has been highlighted by this week’s most gruesome incident at the allied forces’ checkpoint in the desert near Najaf. A top US General has expressed regrets over the massacre of 10 civilians, mostly women and children, but that cannot bring the dead back to life. The American apology does not reflect the attitude of the US-British troops in the war theatre. Reports suggest that they consider it as something inevitable in a war of this scale, and hence no question of regrets. Reading between the lines, one gets the impression that warning shots were never fired to stop the vehicle with the unfortunate women and children coming towards the checkpoint. Here the US-British leadership needs to be reminded of the international law which clearly says that attacks on civilian lives and property during military hostilities may constitute war crimes. It is a different matter who will try war criminals belonging to the super power, which has no respect for such laws. As is well known, the military campaign has been launched without the Security Council’s mandate. The allied forces have already lost the propaganda war despite the enormous resources at their command. They expected the Shias and the Kurds in Iraq to welcome the arrival of “liberators” because of the tyrannical rule of Mr Saddam Hussein. This did not happen. Rather it is the other way round. The beleaguered ruler has become a hero not only for all sections of the Iraqis but also for the rest of the Arabs. Even most of the Americans themselves do not approve of the war initiated by the Bush administration. The reason is that the civilised people all over the globe strongly feel that this is an unjust war, bringing untold miseries to innocent Iraqis. Against this backdrop, one fails to understand how the US has gathered courage to point out “worst religious violations” in India in 2002. Though it is a routine report annually released by the US State Department, it reflects the typical attitude of the Americans, who are never bothered about the violations of universally accepted laws by their own administration. The US should realise that its complete disregard for international rules and conventions has been driving the world to a situation from where it will be difficult to come out unharmed. |
VAT a protest! Haryana has earned the distinction of becoming the first state in the country to meet the deadline of introducing the controversial VAT (value added tax) from April 1 despite resistance from traders and despite the Empowered Committee headed by the West Bengal Finance Minister deferring its implementation. Haryana officials are quoted in the media as saying that the state Bill on the VAT does not require the President’s assent. At least six other states — Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka — missed the deadline as their Bills were awaiting the President’s nod. Delhi was the first to indicate its reluctance to implement the VAT decision taken by the Empowered Committee comprising the state finance ministers. Rajasthan followed it. The political leadership in both states, which are going to the polls later in the year, perhaps, realised well in advance the likely opposition to the VAT and decided against displeasing the vote bank of traders and shopkeepers. As resentment against the VAT started building up, other states, including Punjab, thought it wiser not to incur the traders’ wrath and wait for a consensus to emerge. The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre has also thought it prudent to keep a low profile on the issue and, the VAT being a state subject, allow the states to sort it out among themselves. The VAT implementation would have been much easier had a single piece of VAT legislation been introduced throughout the country, instead of each state pushing its own version of the legislation. Besides, the laggard states had not made adequate procedural arrangements for the switchover to the VAT nor made any effort to educate the public about the new system of taxation. The Empowered Committee had no representative of the traders to allay their misgivings, if any, and the committee members, being from the states, focused more on protecting the likely revenue loss of the states and managed to secure a guarantee from the Centre to make good their loss, if any. What are the traders’ objections? One, since tax is to be levied at each stage of value addition, they fear landing in the tax net and face harassment at the hands of tax officials. This fear is misplaced as small traders and shopkeepers have been left out of the purview of the proposed VAT legislation and there is a provision for self-assessment. The tax officials come into the picture only when there is an attempt at tax evasion. Their second objection, which is quite valid, is that the states have not repealed some of the taxes which should have been rolled into the VAT. Third, they complain the states have not made administrative arrangements for the switchover, which is partly true. But why should the traders down their shutters even in the states which have deferred the VAT introduction? And why a bandh on the second day of the agitation when on the very first day it was announced that the Empowered Committee would meet on April 8 to look into their grievances and remove procedural hassles? It is strange that the traders protest against the likely rise in the prices of certain products. Such a rise should worry the consumers who would actually foot the bill. It has taken the country eight years to reach this stage of mobilising public opinion in favour of tax reforms and if the VAT is delayed further on electoral considerations or due to the pressure tactics of the vested interests, it could take years to reach a consensus. It is now or never. |
| Palak metal paneer The level of contaminants in food in India is seldom below the prescribed limit. The grow-quick varieties of vegetables, grains and meat products have added a new dimension to the problem. Life-threatening chemicals are used to make grains grow faster and in abundance. The over-sized
brinjals, apples and broilers too are the result of excessive use of chemicals. Not even the extreme provision of life imprisonment for producing and marketing food items dangerous to human health is likely to make much difference. India is a land where most people learn to live dangerously because to a majority of the population safe and healthy options have never been made available. About a month ago the level of contaminants in bottled water of even leading brands had caused a minor stir in Delhi. There was a bit of official he-haw and that was the end of the controversy. A random check of any brand of bottled water today would show the same level of toxins that had sent alarm bells ringing when the news was first broken. The same is true of the poisoned vegetables and fruits that flood the markets across the country. The growers do not get punished. The sellers are not penalised. And few consumers ever establish a link between their fast deteriorating health and the quality of food they consume. The bulk of the population in Delhi may not even be aware of the alarming report that what is being sold in most places is not Popeye's palak that makes the pipe-smoking sailor challenge even Rambo. Yes, a detailed research, funded by the UK Department of International Development and conducted in Delhi by
Shrishti, an NGO, reveals that the ubiquitous palak and bhindi, that are part of most Indian meals, are highly contaminated. The credibility of the report should not be questioned because of the number of agencies that collaborated in the project. Shrishti involved the Imperial College of London, Banaras Hindu University, Delhi University, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and Development Tracks for studying the quality of vegetables grown in and around Delhi. And what did the study reveal? That 72 per cent of the samples of palak contained lead concentration exceeding the limit mentioned in the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. Nearly 25 per cent of the samples had more than double the dangerous limit. The samples also had a high concentration of zinc. The study was not a rush-job. The team took three years collecting samples from diverse sources and putting them under the microscope. Until the general level of resistance reaches the scale where responsible civic authorities create effective mechanisms for preventing unwholesome foodstuff from reaching the markets all that the consumer can do is wash the fruits and vegetables at least three times to make them "half-safe" for human consumption. Which water should they use? The contaminated bottled water or the droplets that pop out once in a while from the usually dry taps in Delhi? |
Iraq war: easy victory not in sight On Day 12 of Operation “Iraqi Freedom” when these lines are being written, one thing is crystal clear. There is to be no easy or smooth victory in the war that nobody except President George W. Bush of the United States and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain seemed to want. Grim reality on the ground has shattered all the Anglo-American illusions, so widely and loudly voiced by the likes of the US Defence Secretary, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld. The people of Iraq have not welcomed the allied forces as “liberators” but are offering them remarkably tough guerrilla resistance. The Iraqi Army, to say nothing of the Republican Guard fanatically loyal to President Saddam Hussein, has not surrendered but is fighting valiantly. The Saddam regime has not collapsed like a house of cards. And, instead of being won rapidly, smoothly and at little cost, the war is turning out to be a long, hard, costly and painful slog. At the same time it would be unrealistic to jump to the conclusion that the war in the Iraqi desert would degenerate into a quagmire comparable to that in the jungles of Vietnam more than a generation ago. In the end, America’s formidable military superiority would prevail, “no matter how long it takes”, to borrow words from Mr. Bush. But the question is: how long, what might happen during this relatively prolonged period, and why and how has the most powerful military machine in history, belonging to the world’s sole superpower, landed itself in the mess it has? To take up the second question first, the obvious answer is that arrogance of power, combined with a complete misreading of the situation in Iraq, is responsible for the discomfiture of the allied forces and the governments in Washington and London. Some call it “failure of intelligence, in both senses of the word”. To be sure, Mr. Saddam Hussein is not the world’s most prepossessing ruler. He has been responsible for horrendous atrocities on his own people and, of course, on his neighbours. It is possible, indeed probable, that his people hate him. But shouldn’t the CIA, the MI6 and other Smart Alecs in the two allied capitals have anticipated that these very people would hate the invaders of their motherland even more. After all, hadn’t the people and the armies of Stalin’s Russia fought against the Nazis magnificently? The Shias of southern Iraq may have every reason to despise and detest the Iraqi ruler but faced with the Anglo-American invasion, they have fought the invaders so valiantly as to win the admiration of friends and foes alike. They have exposed to wide world the blatant falsehood of the allied forces’ claim of having conquered Umm Qasr, Basra and Nasiriya at the very start of the campaign. Even at the time of writing brisk fighting is going on all these places. A further blow to the Anglo-American credibility is that no one can say what has happened to the entire Iraqi division that was supposed to have surrendered almost on Day One. Has it vanished into thin air or was it a phantom formation to begin with? A more contemptible example of the allied lies is their propaganda blast that it was not their Cruise missile but a misdirected Iraqi surface-to-air missile that had killed a number of civilians in Baghdad. Mr. Robert Fisk of London’s Independent, a veteran and highly respected reporter on the Middle-East has cited incontrovertible evidence, including the engraved code number on the missile’s wreckage, to show that the killer missile was in fact an American one. Moreover, with the help of unedited videotapes of Al-Jazeera TV channel, Mr. Fisk has also proved that the Iraqi civilian casualties are higher than the US admits to. Turkey has doubtless added to the Anglo-American woes. Ankara’s last-minute inability, because of a veto by its Parliament, to live up to its promise to let 60,000 American ground troops to use Turkish soil to open a northern front against Baghdad has meant a major setback to the coalition’s war effort. In the circumstances, Washington’s serious mistake, for which Mr. Rumsfeld is being blamed squarely, was not to have heeded the advice of the Central Command chief, Gen Tommy Frank. He had suggested that the assault on Iraq should be deferred until the crack troops denied entry into the north by Turkey were brought to the south by sea and air. No wonder the latest reports indicate that the march on Baghdad might be delayed by as long as 40 days so that the reinforcements to the tune of 120,000 men, now being rushed to southern Iraq, reach their destinations. Let the allied forces cope with their misfortunes and difficulties of their own creation as best they can. We in this country have to worry about the grim ramifications of the war on us. Some, including makers of policy, are worrying about India’s role in the rebuilding of Iraq after the war is over. This is an important issue, given our stakes in the region, but for the present it must be treated as a sideshow. For, Pakistan next door looks at the Iraq war as a window of opportunity for itself in relation to Kashmir. How well, from its point of view, Islamabad has exploited the situation is best illustrated by the gruesome murder of the moderate Hizb-ul-Mujahideen leader, Mr Abdul Majid Dar, and the unspeakable massacre, 24 hours later, of 24 hapless Kashmiri Pandits at Nadimarg. What followed the two outrages is true to type and ought to be a source of major concern. The sequence of events thereafter speaks for itself. First off the mark was the US-Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Ms Christina Rocca. She duly condemned the Nadimarg outrage, repeated the pious statement that Pakistan must “stop infiltration across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir” and told India that an India-Pakistan “dialogue” was the “centre-piece” of the peace process in the region. For once, South Block reacted sharply though it took care not to mention Ms Rocca or even the US by name. It merely advised those advocating a dialogue between Delhi and Islamabad to “negotiate with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein”. When this statement was released in New Delhi, Mr Bush and Mr. Blair were conferring at Camp David. Evidently at their behest, Foreign Ministers of the two countries, Mr Colin Powell and Mr. Jack Straw, respectively, issued a joint statement. In it they did show some regard for Indian sensitivities. They avoided the word dialogue but did ask of “engagement with Pakistan”. They also demanded “complete respect” for the LoC, and one sentence of theirs did lend itself to the interpretation that they did not believe Pakistan’s disavowal of responsibility for the violence in Kashmir by militants. But on the whole, the statement was so evenly balanced that both sides could broadly “welcome” it, each applauding whatever suited it and slurring over whatever didn’t. For instance, while India is playing up the references to the LoC and the militant violence in Kashmir, Pakistan is jubilant about the US-UK emphasis on India-Pakistan engagement “on all issues, including Kashmir”. It is absolutely ecstatic over the joint Powell-Straw declaration that both the United States and Britain “stand ready” to help India and Pakistan to “reduce tensions and start the peace process”. On both these points India is silent. Pakistan is silent on the specific proposal that the two South Asian countries should implement a ceasefire in the almost unending artillery barrages across the LoC and should also make “moves” for cooperation within the SAARC framework. India’s terse comment on the ceasefire proposal is that if there is an end to cross-border terrorism, the question of firing across the LoC would not arise. The bottom line, however, is that neither this statement nor anything else America might say in the foreseeable future is going to make any difference to the Pakistani-sponsored jihad in Kashmir. General Musharraf is able to thumb his nose at India for two reasons. First, he is confident, for good reason that the US would not lean on him more than it already has. Secondly, and sadly, he believes that after the anti-climax of the massive and prolonged Army mobilisation during last year, India no longer has a military option against Pakistan. |
Salute to Sam Bahadur As Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw turns 90 on April 3, legendry tales of his valour, grit and charismatic wit will do the rounds once again. Although I’ve never had the honour of meeting the “Old Blood and Guts” — I seem to know him well, as father never tired of narrating his numerous “encounters and escapades” with him — first to us children; and then to his grandchildren. Perhaps he wanted to inspire — and inculcate valour — in the coming generations of Wattases; as the stories became grander and grander with the passage of time. However, his favourite after-dinner story was of an episode that took place five decades ago. In the early 1950s father was posted as the engineer-in-charge of the irrigation headworks at Ferozepur and Manekshaw was the swashbuckling Brigade Commander. The headworks was also the border between India and Pakistan with an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation on the two sides. Cross-border firing and skirmishes were a regular feature, calling for close coordination and camaraderie between the “irrigation chaps” and the faujis. A tiny island in the middle of the large sprawl of the mighty Satluj river was of vital strategic importance; and, therefore, a perennial bone of contention. Though under Indian occupation, there were constant — but failed — attempts by the “Pakis” to wrest it, but our valiant sentinels withstood all attacks and held their ground. It was perhaps the monsoons of 1955 — the river was in spate with unprecedented flood levels; and the entire Ferozepur town was in danger of being washed away. Both the army and the irrigation department were on high alert with round-the-clock vigil. Manekshaw, the usual “Captain Courageous”, had gone to the island to cheer up his troops, but got stranded, as the engine of his motorboat conked off. A wireless signal to the headworks was sent, but no rescue motorboat could negotiate the strong current of the water, and would be in danger of being swept downstream, to dash against the barrage gates — a sure suicide! As the situation got desperate, father took a chance with the larger and more powerful irrigation motor launch. Leading a handful of gritty crew, they headed towards the island. But midstream, the propeller got entangled with weeds and the launch came to a halt. Soon, the swirling waters began to sway it towards the danger end. There was little else, but for the “brave hearts” to abort mission and save their own lives! Father, too, peeled off his clothes and jumped into the river to make it to the shore. As a strong swimmer, he got fairly close, but not close enough, up against the heavy discharge of water. Mercifully, he was able to grasp a long rope end and reach back safely to the shore — albeit, sans all clothes! In the meantime, Manekshaw’s boat had got working and he was already back safe and sound. In a spontaneous gesture the smartly uniformed “Sam Bahadur” hugged my towel-clad father and uttered: “You are a bloody bahadur civilian, my friend.” A cocky junior standing close by had the temerity to say: “Is this little island really worth all this risk, sir?” Pat came the reply from a glaring Manekshaw: “Every inch of Indian territory is worth it, you idiot!” If father were alive today, he too would have been in his nineties; and surely wished his ol’ friend 90 hurrahs! Happy birthday Sam Bahadur. |
Military Intelligence gets new chief After the conflict, he got an opportunity to command his battalion in high altitude areas in Arunachal Pradesh at Wangdung in 1985. As a result, he was also given charge of the 107 Mountain Brigade during the counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast in 1995. He held the command of the brigade till 1997. Earlier, he served as the country’s Defence Attache in the Indian High Commission in Nepal for three years — from 1992 and 1995. A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, he has attended the higher command course at the College of Combat and is an alumni of the National Defence College. He has been awarded the AVSM, the SM and the VSM in recognition of his services in counter-insurgency operations. General Khare raised and commanded the counter-insurgency force — Romeo — in Jammu and Kashmir and directed such operations particularly in the Rajouri sector of the state. He has held various staff assignments, including that of a brigade on the Line of Control. He was the Additional Director-General of the MI before taking over as the DGMI from Lieut-Gen O.S. Lohchab. From management to filmdom Bedi says that in the film industry one has to manage creativity with madness. He has no doubt that the industry will reach the level of the world class one day and efficiency will set in. About “Saathiya”, he believes that it is more than a song and dance affair, something that has not happened to Mumbai’s filmdom for a long time. Bedi ventured into films in 1984 after doing his stints at HCL, Sony and Philips. With an MBA in financial management, he comes nowhere close to a Bollywood resident. Delhi-based, the low-key Bedi insists that his films and actors need to be seen and not him. His next venture is based on the 1857 war of independence with a budget of Rs 40 crore. It is designed for a world audience. He is categorical in saying that lately films have flopped because Bollywood has not taken change in its stride. The whole business of entertainment has changed in this country with multiplexes along with the influx of international cinema. He also runs a company that offers film completion services. |
Wrinkle remover eases back pain A new study has found that Botox, an anti-wrinkle treatment, can also help treat lower back pain and other related problems. In numerous studies presented at the just-concluded American Pain Society conference in Chicago, doctors from across the United States and Europe offered new evidence that Botox can indeed work in a variety of situations to treat not only chronic lower back pain, but also sciatica and even some forms of neck discomfort. According to rehabilitation physician Dr. Todd Schlifstein, it offers an important new option, particularly for people who may not respond to traditional care. “It’s not for everybody or for every type of pain, but when it’s used appropriately, it can offer relief, even when other treatments have failed,” says Schlifstein, a rehabilitation physician at New York University Medical Center who did not participate in the conference. Botox is the brand name of a naturally occurring substance known as botulinum toxin type A. The toxin itself is related to botulism, a form of food poisoning that occurs when meat or other foods develop a bacteria known as Clostridium botulinum, states a report in HealthScout. The results of the experimentation with Botox are proving promising for many patients with lower back pain, Schlifstein says “If the back pain is the result of spasms deep within the muscles, Botox used in controlled amounts can offer relief lasting at least three months — and sometimes permanently — from a single treatment,” Schlifstein says.
ANI |
Who wins the Lord’s pleasure? The Lord, O Rama, is pleased with him who is ever endowed with non-violence, truthfulness, compassion and goodwill towards all creatures. —Vishnudharamottara I.58 |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Lieut-Gen Richard Khare, who has taken over as the new chief of the country’s Military Intelligence (MI), is highly recognised for his ability to work on various projects specially in the field of intelligence and counter-intelligence. Having been commissioned into the 5/5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) in December 1966, General Khare saw action during the 1971 Indo-Pak conflict.
With a corporate background, Bobby Bedi, 46, may be like a breath of fresh air that Bollywood requires to overcome the shocks from flops and massive losses. The producer’s first move towards mainstream cinema is with “Saathiya” even though it had a subdued opening in December last year.