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SC on TV ads Infosys’ hour |
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Lara’s Theme
Sinking into Iraq mess
Fixing the ‘policket’!
Pooling water for southern Haryana From Pakistan
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SC on TV ads THE Supreme Court’s directive to the Election Commission on Tuesday to regulate political ads in TV from April 16 to May 10 will go a long way in ensuring decency and decorum in the run-up to the elections. After the country witnessed the shocking spectacle of surrogate ads in TV targetting top political leaders, including the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the dissolved Lok Sabha, the Centre moved a special leave petition in the court appealing for a ban on such ads. On April 2, it stayed the interim orders of the Andhra Pradesh High Court suspending the operation of Rule 7 (3) of the Cable and Television Network (Regulation) Act, 1994, and directed the Election Commission to censor the ads so that they conform to the law of the land. Later, it insisted on a comprehensive methodology to monitor them. The methodology evolved by the Election Commission on the regulation and clearance of TV ads is comprehensive enough and there should be no reason for ambiguity or confusion. More important, it seeks to make the advertisers — be they political parties, candidates or even individual organisations — responsible and accountable for the ads sponsored by them. The Election Commission’s decision on acceptance or rejection of ads is final. However, if any party or candidate is dissatisfied with its decision or that of the state-level sub-committee, it could approach only the Supreme Court. Another welcome feature in the ruling is the financial aspect of TV ads. For instance, advertisers must state on affidavit whether the ad is funded by political parties and whether it is aimed at improving the electoral prospects of a party or candidate. Even private organisations sponsoring political ads should state whether they are meant for supporting a particular party or candidate. This should end the menace of surrogate ads. The mode of payment for ads will have to be by cheque or draft and not by cash. This will not only ensure transparency in the transactions but also make the advertisers responsible. Undoubtedly, the guidelines will enable the Election Commission to restore order in the poll campaign through the electronic media. |
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Infosys’ hour INFOSYS Technologies becoming a $ 1 billion company (revenue: 4,760 crore for 2003-04) is, no doubt, a landmark achievement for India, given the fact that the company was started in 1981 with an investment of Rs 10,000 only by Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy and his friends. Achieving such dizzy heights in a short span is remarkable in corporate history. Today Infosys represents globally the corporate face of India’s excellence in the IT sector. What sets Infosys apart from other companies is the philosophy of wealth sharing that its management adheres to. To mark the momentous occasion, the company has recommended liberal bonus shares (3:1), a final dividend of Rs 15 per share and a special dividend of Rs 100 per share. A company share bought in 1993 for Rs 95 is worth Rs 87,840 today. The promoters owning 22.4 per cent of the company too will take home Rs 193 crore in dividends. None should grudge them this as they fully deserve the fruits of their success. Everyone associated with the company — either as an employee or an investor — has benefited considerably by the management’s giveaways. Significantly, this monumental success has been achieved by observing the rules of the game within the existing much discredited system. All this, said Infosys mentor Narayana Murthy, had become possible because of a set of people who had created lofty dreams. “We can reach whatever landmarks we want to as long as we work as a team and as long as there is fire in our belly.” The challenge ahead is daunting for Infosys: the rupee appreciation may have an impact on future earnings, the salary bill has shot up, the equity is going to increase sharply and, more importantly, there is no respite yet from the rising backlash against outsourcing in the US. One can only hope the company would overcome all such hurdles and continue on its growth track. The success of Infosys sends the message to all entrepreneurs that they too can march forward. |
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Lara’s Theme LARA by scoring an amazing 400 runs has moved up in cricket history. That this is the highest individual score; that he has broken all previous records; that this score ranks superior to the 501 runs he piled up in 1994 in a first class match for Warwickshire against Durham; and that none has ever held better records. But then there's never been another Brian Lara, no less an enfant terrible at 34 than he was at 24, when he created a world record, in 1994, taking 375 runs on the same ground against the same rivals. The facts and figures are fixed. What seems endless are interpretations of the man, the artist, his relationship to the game and to the piece of willow called the bat. This is as complex and challenging as the relationship between that other Lara and Monsieur Komarovsky in Boris Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago. The lyric "Lara's Theme" in Doctor Zhivago is no less enchanting today than when one heard it the first time. Brian Lara's brilliant stroke-play is no less spellbinding for his audience than Lara was to Komarovsky; and he is as ruthless in his pursuit of runs as the fictional Lara was in her infatuation with Viktor Kumarovsky. Lara's theme then emerges to be about youthful passion that is unfathomable for what drives it. Lara started playing cricket when he was three, the youngest of 11 children. At seven he told his sister that he wanted to be the greatest cricketer. When he was barely 20, he swore to Lance Gibbs that he would beat Gary Sobers's world record of 365. He was rebuked for this and many would have awaited his come-uppance. No way. The boy has come a long way from when he played cricket with a marble for a ball and a stick that sufficed for a bat. Carry on, Lara. This is a theme party the world is celebrating. I don’t mind how much my Ministers talk, so long as they do what I say. —Margaret Thatcher |
Sinking into Iraq mess SENATOR Edward Kennedy, the doyen of America’s Democrats, calls it “George Bush’s Vietnam”. In the embattled and blood-spattered streets of Baghdad, Fallujah, Ramadi, et al, the chant has gone up that “American occupiers are worse than Saddam”. Far from being able to celebrate the first anniversary of the felling of Mr Saddam Hussein’s statue, the Americans have had to face the worst two weeks in Iraq since they had declared victory. Comparisons with Vietnam may be exaggerated — at this stage at any rate. But the situation on the ground, both militarily and politically, is grim. Even those observers that are usually sympathetic to the U.S. (never mind its obedient allies such as Mr Tony Blair’s Britain) agree that “things look like slipping out of the coalition’s control”. There was a time when everyone smugly believed that the troubles of the U.S.-led occupying forces were confined to the “Sunni triangle”, an area with Fallujah at its centre where lives the minority sect that was pampered unduly by the overthrown Baathist regime. The Shia majority, ruthlessly repressed and oppressed by Mr Hussein, was generally supportive of the American plans to move towards the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty and eventually towards democracy. Now, however, the U.S. proconsul, Mr Paul Bremer, has succeeded in igniting a virulent Shia revolt, too. It is led by a radical cleric, Mr Muqtada al-Sadr, with an efficient militia at his disposal. More than the speed with which Mr Sadr’s militia took over Tut, Ramadi and other towns (a whole battalion of Ukrainian troops just melted away under the rebels’ assaults, while casualties among American troops and “contractors” were unusually heavy) is the humiliation the American military leadership had to face later. Having announced at first that it would destroy the rebels and have no truck with them, it later backed off, announced a “unilateral ceasefire” and started to negotiate with both Sunni and Shia combatants. Perhaps the shooting down of American helicopters and the burning of the famous Abram tanks had something to do with this. At the time of writing the ceasefire was holding at Fallujah though not in other troublespots. In any case, regardless of the fate of the ceasefire, the entire situation has been complicated by a series of kidnappings involving Japanese, Americans, Chinese and Russian nationals. The hostages reportedly include an Indian national also. There are no Indian or Chinese troops in Iraq. So far the Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Junichiro Koizumi, has been resisting the kidnappers’ demand for the withdrawal of Japanese troops from that luckless Iraq. But this cry has now been taken up by a large section of the Japanese people that are demonstrating on the streets of Tokyo and demanding that the soldiers, who should not have been sent in the first place, must be brought back home immediately. The danger that the Shia revolt, instead of being contained, might spread is real. To be sure, the most respected Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, is not behind the revolt and has indeed been appealing for peace and calm. But he has not said a word against Mr Sadr, nor is he likely to do so. And if the killing of civilians, Shia and Sunni, continues on the present scale — 600 were slaughtered during a week, including in the infamous air attack on the Fallujah mosque at prayer time — even the Grand Ayatollah would not be able to stem the Shia rage. It is the impact of this daunting deterioration in the American position in Iraq on America’s domestic politics in an election year that has hit Mr Bush and his “neo-conservative” cohorts, better known as “neocons”, the hardest. But then they have no one else to blame but themselves. As the hearings of the 9/11 “blue-ribbon” Commission have shown, the Bush team, with the Vice-President, Mr Dick Cheney in the lead, had invaded Iraq on palpably false pretexts. There were no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq and there was no connection whatever between the Saddam regime and Al-Qaida. In other words, the U.S. has the dubious distinction of having unleashed terrorism in a country where it had not existed during the last 25 years. The U.S. Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, had to confess that a vital piece of evidence he had presented to the UN Security Council, in defence of the decision to invade Iraq, had turned out to be “not so solid”. Interestingly, Mr Bush had to eat the humble pie and to reverse his earlier refusal to let his National Security Adviser, Ms Condoleezza Rice, testify to the 9/11 Commission at an open hearing. She did the best she could but her evidence has in no way cleared the administration of charges of wrongdoing. On the contrary, the top-secret document the White House was virtually forced to declassify confirms that even after being warned that Al-Qaida was planning to hijack aircraft for terrorist attacks, Mr Bush had failed to take the Al-Qaida threat seriously. His mind was fixated on the regime change in Iraq. Over Iraq nothing could have damned the Bush White House more effectively than the testimony of Mr Richard Clarke, the U.S. national coordinator for security from 1998 until March last year. He laid bare everything not only to the 9/11 Commission but also in his devastating book, “Against All Enemies, Inside America’s War on Terror”. To add to Mr Bush’s woes, the former British ambassador to the U.S., Sir Christopher Meyer, has revealed in lurid detail Mr Blair’s murky role in the sordid Iraq saga. Under the circumstances, it is no surprise that in America’s latest public opinion polls approval of Mr Bush’s handling of Iraq had plummeted to 40 per cent from 59 per cent only three months ago. His overall job approval rating at 43 per cent is the lowest in his presidency whereas the approval of his Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry, has shot up to 50 per cent. Leave alone Mr Bush’s lack of legitimacy at home. The key question is what he does in Iraq. More troops are surely needed there, but sending them would not be easy. Mr Richard Lugar, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has become the first ranking Republican to declare that the June 30 deadline for the transference of sovereignty in Iraq would have to be postponed. The fat is well and truly in the
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Fixing the ‘policket’! IF India and Pakistan can play cricket for promoting cordial atmosphere, why not the BJP and the Congress in the present vitiated atmosphere of electioneering? My friend Dallabhai, a man who had made a fortune during natural calamities, was lit up with excitement. He roped me in as the sole umpire, since I had no political affiliations and diligently abstained from voting in Lok Sabha elections”. He persuaded a retired judge to be the match Referee. This cricket match had different rules. The batsmen wore pure white dresses. The body-line bowlers used colour-soaked balls. Strangely, it’s the bowlers who scored runs by getting past the opponents’ bats and hitting them on the body or the white dress — bigger the dirty marks, more the runs. Batsmen got no runs but would be out like in ordinary matches to catches etc. Each side would play 30 overs. This combo of politics and cricket was named “POLICKET”, Dallabhai announced at the press conference. Mr Narendra Modi was the natural choice as captain of the BJP team, while Mr Kapil Sibbal led the Congress team. The latter won the toss but offered the choice to the former “as a goodwill gesture”. The two hugged and garlanded each other, while spectators cheered their sportsman spirit lustily. Modi chose to open the bowling. His balls rose sharply and hit the Congress batswoman on her white saree. He pulled out his cell phone and told a reporter: “Read the designs made by my orange balls — don’t they look like a driver and a clerk? The Congress leaders are unfit for even these jobs”. Another batsman retaliated in the next over. He hit the ball hard at an old fielder’s knee-joints. “Your old leaders who had betrayed the freedom movement should leave the field,” he bellowed. “Those of you wearing foreign dresses and wielding foreign bats should be out of the match,” shouted Mr Modi and looked at me. I passed the buck to the Referee who decided that this argument came too late in this match. I intervened to pacify all the parties concerned. Mr Modi admitted that he had said it all “in the heat of the election campaign”. A Congress batsman requested him not to behave like an “unbridled horse”. They all smiled, hugged each other warmly and told the media about their mutual respect and their faith “in our great democracy”. The ultimate winners in all this, they proclaimed, were the “intelligent and wonderful voters of this country.” A midnight knock woke me up. A seedy looking chap, Dallabhai’s agent, handed me a packet: “Sir, your commission in fixing the
mach….”
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Pooling water for southern Haryana
BASICALLY two-third of Haryana faces an acute water scarcity, but the scenario is the worst in the three southern districts of Mahendragarh, Rewari and Gurgaon. In future also the possibility of having adequate water in any conventional ways is not visible. The only hope of getting the SYL canal completed no longer enthuses the peasantry. Entangled in political meandering, the future of the SYL is uncertain. Even if we get our full share from Punjab through the SYL, that would still not satiate the thirst of Haryana. So the search for alternate sources should continue. The Yamuna that flows along Haryana for almost 250 km and is normally in spate during the rainy season, threatening parts of Delhi and UP year after year, affords one such alternative. We can divert 20,000 cusecs of its floodwaters for at least 60 days during the rainy season when the discharge is at least 60,000 cusecs, adding up to 2.4 MAF. Part of it could be utilised side by side and the remaining could be stored by constructing water bodies. Some of it will evaporate and will also get recharged, raising the ground water level, whereas the rest would be enough to irrigate the entire unirrigated landmass of the three most parched districts, the total combined cultivable area of which is about 5.0 lakh hectares. The banks of the Ujina Diversion Drain (UDD), that was designed to discharge the flood waters from this area into the Yamuna, can support the carrier channel and no more land needs to be acquired. The level of the riverbed is low; the water as such will have to be lifted. The water could be lifted in stages, but it would cost a handsome amount. However, when water is just not available, the costs cease to be of any relevance, as water has to be provided at all costs. The water would improve the yields of the existing crop and also make the second crop a possibility. Even if the addition is worth just Rs 10,000 per acre, the total yield for the 12 lakh acres will add up to a huge sum of Rs 1,200 crore every year. This is only one of the benefits, whereas manifold advantages are likely to accrue as will be seen a little later that all the investments will return rather soon.The waters would be carried by lift canals to the Aravali foothills along the banks of the UDD. On the way, the demands of the local area could be met by releasing water for direct use and also for storing in the ponds or local lakes called “Dahars”. The distance of the Aravalis from the Yamuna is only about 40 km and the gradient is also gentle. The bed of the river is at 182 metres, whereas the foothills of the Aravalis are at 192 metres. The water may have to be lifted by 10 to 15 metres in stages. All along the foothills running earthen dams could be constructed on the eastern side from Bhondsi near Gurgaon right up to Ferozepur Jhirka on the Rajasthan border. The width of dams can be as much as the ground conditions permit, but not less than 500 metres. The length of the Aravalis from Bhondsi to Ferozepur Jhirka is around 100 km. There are some gaps and even otherwise, some openings may have to be left for passages. Dams running along say an 80 km stretch will cover an area of 40 sq. km or 4,000 hectares. The height of the series of dams is proposed to be around 15 metres. However, the actual depth of water would per force be lower as the hillside would not have much depth, giving an average water depth of about 10 metres. In 4,000 hectares of ponded area, the water retention would thus be of the order of 40,000 hectare metres. Similar dams could come up on the western slopes towards Rewari as well. Once dams on eastern slopes are full, the water would flow into the dams on the other side across the hillocks through the gaps of openings. An equal storage capacity would be created on the other side raising the total ponded capacity to 80,000 ham or 5 lakh acre ft. The hills so enclosed will also get their normal share of rainfall, adding another 20,000 ham. During the rainy season when the water is lifted, it could be utilised side by side for irrigating the kharif crop and for filling up ponds, dams and tanks of all descriptions. At the end of the rainy season, all these reservoirs should overflow with water. This one single step will bring unimaginable prosperity to the area, uplift the backward Meos and bring them out of their self-imposed seclusion. Wealth helps people open up, turn progressive and vocal as it gives tremendous confidence. The water is the most critical input for the area dependent upon agriculture and the milch cattle. Besides tourism, the waters can be used for raising fish and dairy in particular, as the Meos of this area are traditionally a pastoral tribe. The added advantage of nearness to Delhi and opening to tourism will provide a huge ready market. In addition, it would also become possible to raise quality forests once water is available. Mr Chandra Shekhar, a former Prime Minister, has shown the way by raising thick jungles on hills at his Bhondsi Ashram. It is difficult to imagine the quality, the coverage and the density of the forest cover in this desert area that too at the hilltops by conserving every drop of rainwater. If he could singly create such fantastic forest, the state can work wonders once the river water becomes available in plenty. The bald hills can turn into lush green in 5 to 10 years. The evergreen cover has very positive implications not only for Haryana but also for Delhi. (To be concluded) The author, a senior IPS officer, heads the Shivalik Development Agency of Haryana. The views expressed are his personal |
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From Pakistan KARACHI: Condemning the ministers for demanding that Gen Pervez Musharraf should not shed his uniform, opposition parties have termed it as a pre-planned drama of the General to prolong his power. The opposition parties said the demand of the ministers and some politicians was like the tactics used by the late dictator Zia-ul-Haq to prolong his tenure, and warned that political instability would prevail in the country if General Musharraf did not quit the post of Chief of Army Staff (COAS). Criticising federal ministers Makhdoom Faisal Saleh Hayat, Rao Sikandar Iqbal and Raja Hayat Hiraj, the President of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Sindh, Mirza Jehangir Rehman, stated that, in fact, the NAB-sponsored ministers were trying to save their ministries. —
The News International
Defence budget may go up
ISLAMABAD: The country’s defence budget is expected to increase ‘substantially’ in the fiscal year 2004-05 to meet pressing requirements, particularly of the air force and the navy, Dawn has learnt. The allocation for defence will increase after about a decade. The sources said the relevant quarters were working on budget estimates and the shopping lists of the navy and the PAF. Budget estimates for 2002-03 had projected defence spending at Rs146 billion or 3.6 per cent of the GDP, that was revised to Rs160.1 billion or 4 per cent of the GDP. The allocation for the current year is Rs160.3 billion or 3.6 per cent of the GDP. —
Dawn
Vow to bolster democracy
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Monday reaffirmed the government’s commitment to continue working for strengthening democratic institutions. He was presiding over a meeting of Senators belonging to the PML and its allies in the Senate, at the Prime Minister’s House. The Prime Minister said that stability and continuity of the democratic system was “our most cherished goal and the NSC Bill introduced recently in the Upper House of Parliament was aimed at achieving this objective.” The Prime Minister urged Senators to ensure regular presence in parliament and to actively participate in the debate. Matters relating to the Upper House of Parliament with special reference to the NSC Bill also came under discussion during the meeting. —
Dawn
Hashmi faces disqualification
LAHORE: Lawyers have criticised the sentence awarded to PML (N) Acting President Javed Hashmi, describing its severity as disproportionate to the alleged offence he was charged with. Some lawyers say Hashmi did not commit any offence and that whatever he did was in the fulfilment of his role as an opposition leader. They are of the firm view that he may face disqualification as a National Assembly member. Supreme Court of Pakistan Bar Association President flayed the decision, asserting that his booking in an apparent false case, the trial proceedings and the judgment of the court against Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, conveys a clear message to the people and the parliamentarians in particular that they are supposed to remain mum when it comes to speaking against the government, especially the military “Mr Hashmi has been punished for being the most vocal among the opposition in criticising the policies of the illegal regime of General Musharraf”, Mr Mahmood said. —
The Nation |
At dawn I meditate on the similing lotus face of Lalita, lips resembling the Bimba fruit, nose effulgent with a big pearl, ears adorned with precious eardrops, and forehead decorated with kasturi. — Shri Adi Shankaracharya All other knowledge is hurtful to him who has not the science of honesty and good nature. — Montaigne Birth is the conjunction of the soul with the body and death their disjunction. — Swami Dayanand Saraswati Alms, charity and religious observances cannot equal the contemplation of God’s name. — Guru Nanak The moment you find a defect in another, remember to look within yourself. — Swami A. Parthasarathy |
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