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A great victory Monsoon times ahead |
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Blowing the whistle
Will US succeed in Iraq?
Mail from Pakistan
Foundry industry gasps for breath
Health
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A great victory Rarely has a cricket tour required such an over-use of the word “historic”. The Indian team going there after so many years was itself creating history. The unexpectedly warm welcome they received from the people of Pakistan was equally extraordinary. Winning the one-day series was a momentous occasion and now the triumph in the Test series has simply put the whole affair in the believe-it-or-not category. This is one feel-good script which no one contests. The boys who made the wishes of a cricket-crazy nation come true themselves must be incredulous about it all. What makes the performance all the more incredible is the fact that when the Indian team began the tour, it was thought that it had only a benign bowling attack. There was bite in their bowling, pace and spin. Superlative performances have been churned out by almost all players. If Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid rewrote the batting record books, Anil Kumble, Irfan Pathan and Balaji won honours with the ball. At times Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly did not get going, but men like Yuvraj Singh made adequate amends. That signifies that the men in white (and blue) have matured into a well-knit team which does not depend excessively on one or two star players. At the same time, many new players established their reputation during the tour and will be mainstay of the Indian team for a long time. It was a well-deserved “grand double”, but the people and players of Pakistan must be given credit for being not only worthy opponents but also gracious hosts. What must be remembered is that the victors were decided only in the final games during the Tests as well as the shorter version. The interest in the game remained sustained till the last ball. India brings home the two trophies but the goodwill rolling trophy has to be shared by the people of both countries. It is for the Indian spectators to prove that they can go one-up on their counterparts in the hospitality department whenever they come here. The switchover from bullets to bat and ball will be permanent and so will be the showering of petals instead of abuse. |
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Monsoon times ahead Once again, the country will have an absolutely normal rainfall this year. That is what the Indian Meteorological Department’s newly developed model has predicted. The prediction of 100 per cent rain of the long period average has a 5 per cent margin of error either way. Last year’s figure of 102 per cent rain had propelled an unusually high agriculture growth, which touched a peak of 16.9 per cent in third quarter, spreading cheer all round. Significantly, this year the rain will be more evenly spread. There will be no drought this year in the areas which were rain deficient last year. That is particularly good news for Karnataka and Kerala. The importance of rain is never underestimated by an average Indian. Over 69 per cent of the population depends on agriculture. A drought raises the production cost of farming, pushing growers deeper into debt. A monsoon-driven spectacular performance of agriculture, on the other hand, financially empowers farmers, who pay back their loans and make increased purchases of necessary goods, thereby pushing up industrial demand and boosting the all over growth of the GDP. The country is also able to make higher exports. During the last financial year the exports of agriculture and processed food products grew by 35 per cent, touching Rs 13,828 crore. To maintain the present growth rate and sustain the global interest in the Indian economy, the country cannot afford to be so heavily dependent on rain. Irrigation is still not given the deserved fund allocations. The utilisation of the existing irrigation resources at 85 per cent is far from satisfactory. Besides, the underground
water table in the paddy-growing states of North India is declining alarmingly. Neither the Centre nor any of the states has woken up to this harsh reality with the result that
rain waters continue to go waste and the sub-soil water is not adequately recharged. Water is a precious gift of nature and we have to learn to make a judicious use of it, keeping in mind the needs of the coming generations. Monsoons are welcome, because they bring water for the soil and cheer for the people. |
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Blowing the whistle The Supreme Court’s directive to the Central Vigilance Commission to consider the proposal for setting up a mechanism to protect those who bring to light specific instances of corruption in the government is timely. The issue assumes special significance in the light of the murder of National Highway Authority of India’s Deputy General Manager Satyendra Dubey in November last. Corruption has increased manifold in the government departments, but it has become difficult to tackle it because of the politician-bureaucrat-contractor nexus. The Law Commission has recommended the need for a Whistle Blowers’ Act. Such an Act, if enacted, will not only ensure transparency in administration but also provide a sense of security to whistle blowers. Dubey was reportedly killed because his letter to the Prime Minister’s Office, highlighting corruption in the Bihar stretch of the Golden Quadrilateral project, got leaked. The Vajpayee Government did take the initiative to bring forward the Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Informers) Bill, popularly known as the Whistle Blowers’ Act two years ago but it fell through for lack of effort. This Bill specifically provides for keeping the whistle blower’s identity confidential to let him disclose information without putting his life at risk. Some safeguards were also suggested to check frivolous complaints. Solicitor-General Kirit Raval’s proposed mechanism to protect the life of the whistle blowers merits a fair trial. The CVC has been involved in the exercise for ensuring impartiality and fairplay. But it remains to seen whether it will measure up to the task.
Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.
— Walter Elliott |
Will US succeed in Iraq? Talking to a gathering of the 101st Airborne Division and their families at Fort Campbell, US President George Bush said: “September 11th, 2001, taught a lesson I will never forget. America must confront threats before they fully materialise. In Iraq, my administration looked at the intelligence information, and we saw a threat. Members of Congress looked at the intelligence, and they saw a threat. The United Nations Security Council looked at the intelligence, and it saw a threat. I had a choice to make, either take the word of a madman, or take such threats seriously and defend America. Faced with that choice, I will defend America every time.” Bush’s words reminded me of two other heads of government who held opposing views on the goal of political leadership. First, Abraham Lincoln: You may fool all the people for some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all the time. The other is Hitler who said before he attacked Poland: I shall give a propaganda reason for starting the war, no matter whether it is plausible or not. The victor will not be asked afterwards whether he told the truth or not. When starting and waging war it is not right that matters, but victory. Both Lincoln and Hitler are right in their reading of history. That Bush has told lies about Weapons of Mass Deception does not need any elaboration. His own Deputy Secretary of Defence Paul Wolfowitz admitted that WMD was adjudged as the best ‘bureaucratic reason’ to be projected as justification for the war. Now the question is whether Bush will end up a winner or a loser. Will the American project in Iraq succeed? At this juncture of time, the project’s immediate and overriding short-term goal is to ensure the re-election of the incumbent. Hence there will be a ‘photo-opportunity transfer’ of ‘sovereignty’ to Iraqis without any real change in the state of subordination of the American-appointed ‘Iraqi Governing Council’ or an expanded version thereof. Paul Bremer will be succeeded, perhaps, by an ambassador heading the largest American embassy. In other words, Bush, with the certitude of the somnambulist, is trying to fool all of the people for all time and to prove Lincoln wrong. Bush told his audience at Fort Campbell that the Middle East and the world are safer now because he invaded and occupied Iraq a year ago. Denial of reality is an essential characteristic of the somnambulist. Does Bush live on the same planet as the Spaniards who lost hundreds of people in terrorist attacks on 3/11, or as the Iraqis who have lost more than ten thousand of their kith and kin as part of his misbegotten war on terror? Does Bush know that suicide bombers have killed more than 760 in Iraq since he took over from Saddam Hussein in March last year? Does he know that Israelis are being killed by suicide bombers and that Palestinians are being murdered by the state-sponsored terrorism of Israel? Sorry, the question should not have been raised. Bush has already told us that he does not read newspapers. Perhaps, Tony Blair might have told him that the British intelligence believes that a terrorist attack on London is inevitable and imminent. The long-term maximalist goal is to dominate the Middle East region and re-write the political equations there to Israel’s advantage as seen by the hardliners in that country. A solution will be imposed on the Palestinians by either giving them limited municipal autonomy or by exiling them to Jordan. The production and movement of oil will be controlled so that any targeted state will not be permitted to import or export oil as the case may be. American oil majors and their associates of the likes of Haliburton will reap enormous profits for years to come. Is the long-term goal realistically attainable? The prospects are bleak as of now. There are no good reasons to believe that the prospects will get better with time. In November this year, if Bush loses the election, the Iraq project will be smashed into smithereens. Senator Kerry will seek an honourable exit by pulling out American troops and asking a combination of NATO and the UN to pick up the pieces. Suppose Bush wins. Even then , the project will remain a train destined to crash after running a while. At this stage of the argument, a comparison between Iraqi Resistance and the French Resistance will throw some light on the issue. When France fell to Nazi Germany in the summer of 1940, the general impression in France and the rest of the continental Europe was that in a matter of weeks the mighty German Army would turn against Britain and that the New European Order under Nazi hegemony was about to be ushered in. It was only when Hitler turned against the Soviet Union that the French Communists took the lead to start the Resistance. The first German soldier was killed by the Resistance 14 months after the occupation commenced. It is obvious that it is the Iraqi Resistance that has made all the difference. Imagine a thought experiment: There was no resistance to occupation and an Iraqi government obedient to Washington was in position on day one of the occupation…. Well, one might have found the French , German, and Russian oil companies digging for oil on day two. In other words, the rest of the world either joined America in invading a third-world country, debilitated by 13 years of horrendous economic sanctions, or made ineffectual noises of protest , but started to applaud when Saddam Hussein fell. Of course, the tide has started to turn now with Spain leading. The question of questions is: Will the Resistance fizzle out, as the Americans capture or kill the ‘terrorists’ one by one in Iraq and elsewhere, capture bin Laden and his aides, choke off the flow of funds, and so on? Yes, it is possible that it might fizzle out over a period of time. On the other hand, what is more likely is that for every Resistance activist who gets killed or captured, ten others take his place. It is some irony that the regime change in Madrid, not decreed in Washington, should have taken place even before Bush celebrated the first anniversary of his invasion of Iraq. How many similar regime changes are to be expected before the next anniversary? Who will have the last word, Lincoln or Bush? The writer is a former Ambassador to Italy |
Mail from Pakistan In the last four weeks there's been a deluge of e-mail driven by the India-Pakistan cricket contest. The mail is not about the game, but about the impressions of those who visited Pakistan to watch the matches; and the mail speaks volumes of the tectonic shift in the way Pakistan is seen now, especially beyond the border states of the North and among the youth. Typical of this younger generation is someone like my son, Chetan, who enrolled at NID, Ahmedabad, in Narendra Modi's Gujarat: apolitical, indifferent to larger social and political issues with a general knowledge of Pakistan and its people limited to what they crammed in school texts and had not forgotten. Pakistan was a bad neighbour; at best, a nuisance and at worst an enemy. It was a depersonalised entity and not a peopled place, horriblised as bereft of humanity. The cricket matches have changed all that for ever in the minds of these youngsters, who keep forwarding me "Mail from Pakistan" as if they are akin to discoveries made on an excursion to planet Pluto. One such mail my son forwarded, from Sai Nagesh (not known to me), says it all: Just wanted to share certain overwhelming experiences. Had been to Karachi for the first one-day match. Imagine 39,990 Pakistanis and 50 per cent us Indians cheering lustily 'for' each other and throwing chocolates. Quite a few were carrying flags of both countries imaginatively stitched together. Then they all stood to give a standing ovation to the Indian team. Guy on the street selling bhuttas refused to accept money saying that we were mehman in their country. People rushing to shake our hands on the street and asking us to their homes for dinner. Restaurant owners refusing to accept bill payment after coming to know that we were from India. Everybody we met, and we met quite a few, had some relative staying in India. Star Plus is the most favourite channel in Karachi. There was an Indian TV star called Heena (?) sitting in the stadium. One Pakistani raised an impromptu banner saying "Heena, will u marry me?" Shops gave us 40 to 50 per cent discount on purchases - India again. Taxis, autos, army guys…the list is endless… everywhere it was loads of respect, respect. More than we would get in our own country. It is really sad that we have an impression of Pakistan that is so negative. I shudder to think of the plight of Pakistanis who would come to India when the matches are held here. Sad that we consider ourselves "secular" and yet will spare no thought before making statements about that country. It is sad but true, as this experience teaches one, that "perception is not reality". If Sai Nagesh and my son have gained this much awareness in such a short span, both countries have won, and the scores be damned. At least, they won't have to read the re-written history texts to separate perception from
reality.
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Foundry industry gasps for breath
THE once flourishing foundry industry of Batala is “dead’’. There are hardly any buyers for its engineering machines. Those who had once employed scores of labourers to work in the heat and dust of foundries have closed shop. Majority of them have either opened “dhabas’’ or installed “atta chakis’’. The lucky few have converted their foundry and engineering machine-making premises into “marriage palaces’’, while hundreds have migrated to other parts of the country. There is something in the soil around Batala that had helped foundries to strike roots here, much before partition. No one seems to remember who were the pioneers or when was the foundation of the first foundry laid here. Even today, those who are still struggling to keep up a semblance of foundry industry here, sit beside their “moulding shops’’ waiting for business to resuscitate. Often, they get nostalgic and recall the days of some old names, including the “Be Co’’ foundry, which was owned by the family of Nawaz Sharief, a former Prime Minister of Pakistan. Not long ago, it was impossible to pass through Batala, situated on the Amritsar-Gurdaspur highway, due to an occasional traffic jam or work force hauling and pulling heavy machinery or pony-drawn rehras and trucks chocking the bustling road with an assortment of goods stacked on the berms. It is all gone. Now, one misses the clatter and clutter of machines and hustle-bustle of the town. Come to think of the slump in the business. Against 1,000 foundries and 5,500 small units till the 1980s, today there are hardly 100-odd functional foundries and 250 small engineering units that are barely surviving. The annual business turnover is down from Rs 200 crore to Rs 30 crore, all in a decade. All this despite the fact that Punjab’s Minister of State for Industries, Ashwani Sekri is the MLA from here. Industry has a grudge against him as well. There is a drastic fall in the number of workers — skilled, semi-skilled, unskilled, who would converge here from adjoining villages to earn their “dal-roti’’. Against the 22,000-strong work force, which formed the lifeline of this specialised industry, the figure is barely 5,000 now. One sees on either side of the national highway rows of hundreds of crumbling foundries with faded facades or huge rusted, brown gates tightly shut with wild growth peeping out of the crevices or slits. The General Secretary of the Foundry Industries’ Association, Mr Jaswinder Singh Nagi, apportions blame for the fall of foundry and engineering machines industry as much to that phase of terror when Batala was virtually under siege by militants for weeks and extortions were common as to the policies of the government. “All was well till the 80s. Within a decade, industry was hit both by terrorism and abolition of the freight equalisation scheme in respect of iron and steel in 1992. We are close to the Pakistan border. What damage the two wars with Pakistan could not do to industry and business was done by the policies of the government in respect of coal, steel and pig iron — primary raw material used in the foundries. “Besides, SAIL stopped production of pig iron and passed it on to the private sector. Since this is produced mainly in the East and the South, we suffer. The small units have been deprived of incentives and subsidies. Neither sanctioned money has been disbursed nor the border belt from Gurdaspur to Ferozepore declared free trade zone. Faced with an acute shortage of working capital, we are caught in a debt trap and interest burden weighs us down’’. What Mr Nagi said found an echo in several other wobbling foundry units, whose operators wondered why the PSIEC (Punjab Small Industries Export Corporation) was a silent spectator. It offered pig iron at a rate higher than the market rate. The foundry industry wants the corporation to open a centre here for the purchase and export of engineering machines. The range of engineering machines ‘Made in Batala’ has lathes and machines needed for shaping, wood working etc. A variety of agricultural implements, including chaff cutters that sell throughout the country, are made here. Power is another troubling factor, as is costly petrol and diesel. The electricity supply is erratic and punctuated with outage and fluctuations. Despite all the heavy machines made here, there is not one crane to handle them. Add to this, the lack of proper facilities at the railway station. There is no direct rail link from here with any key business centre in the country. The absence of a railway over-bridge further adds to the woes of the town. Despite claims by the government that the inspector raj has been abolished, each unit survives by keeping the inspectors in good humour. The foundries are also grappling with the pollution control board. “We have no money to install costly anti-pollution devices and the board offers no alternative, affordable technologies”. For revival of the industry, it was suggested that large industrial units should be established that would create demand for ancillary units. The closure of units has hit many residents of 150-odd villages around this town. Employment opportunities are limited. There is a gnawing apprehension that unless attractive, alternative, sustainable jobs are created or technical training skills imparted, youth could fall prey to drugs or alcohol. Thus, the revival of industrial economy becomes imperative for social amity. |
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Health WASHINGTON: A U.S. congressional probe has raised ‘troubling questions’ about whether regulators tried to keep secret information about a possible link between anti-depressants and suicidal behaviour in children, a lawmaker said on Thursday. Rep. Joe Barton, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he may call a hearing to investigate if Food and Drug Administration officials tried to hide a medical reviewer’s conclusion that there was a link.
Drinking causes
gout
LONDON: It’s official —drinking causes gout. But if you must drink alcohol, drink wine, scientists say. For centuries, the painful, crippling joint inflammation has been immortalised by poets and playwrights — more than a few of whom wrote from personal experience — as the curse of heavy drinkers.
Anti-diabetes
treatment
LOS ANGELES: A lawyer for three people who claimed to have suffered liver damage by taking the anti-diabetes treatment Rezulin told a jury on Thursday that its maker, Warner-Lambert Co., withheld information about damage the drug caused in clinical studies. ‘The drug has been recalled, but in its wake there have been many left dead, in need of a liver transplant or with liver damage,’ attorney Thomas Girardi said. Two of the three people he represents have died.
Too much of a
good thing
NEW YORK: Although the dangers of too little sleep are widely known, new research suggests that people who sleep too much may also suffer the consequences. Specifically, investigators at the University of California in San Diego found that people who clock up 9 or 10 hours each weeknight appear to have more trouble falling and staying asleep, as well as a host of other sleep problems, than people who sleep 8 hours a night.
Rows with teenagers
LONDON: Mothers exasperated by petty rows with their teenaged daughters should take heart from new research in Britain which shows arguing may actually be good for their relationships with moody offspring. Research by a Cambridge University academic shows that arguments are often used by teens as a communication tool.
Heart attack in
the morning
LONDON: The first few hours of the morning are the most dangerous for heart attacks and strokes, medical charities said on Thursday. Launching an industry-backed campaign for increased blood pressure screening, the British Cardiac Patients Association and Healthy Heart said ambulance data showed that emergency cardiovascular calls peaked between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Diabetes during
pregnancy
NEW YORK: Women who are physically active seem to lower their odds of developing diabetes when they become pregnant. That comes from a study by Dr. Jennifer C. Dempsey, of the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, and colleagues. They examined recreational physical activity in the year before and during pregnancy among 909 non-diabetic women without high blood pressure.
Alternative cancer Web sites
LONDON: A ‘seal of approval’ scheme is needed to stop complementary and alternative medicine Web sites from endorsing unproven and dangerous cancer therapies, researchers said on Thursday. The call, by Professor Edzard Ernst and colleagues at the Plymouth Peninsula Medical School in the UK, follows findings that show some Web sites promote unproven treatments such as shark cartilage, laetrile and mistletoe. —
Reuters |
At dawn I salute the lotus feet of Lalita, fulfiller of the wishes of devotees, the propeller to cross the ocean of samsara, worthy of worship by Brahma and other gods, decorated by the streaks of lines in the form of lotus, pennant, mace and chakra. — Shri Adi Shankaracharya Ramakrishna came for the good of the world. Call him a man, or God, or an Incarnation, just as you please. Accept him each in your own light. — Swami Vivekananda He alone is dear to God, who utters His name. — Guru Nanak God is great, and therefore he will be sought; he is good, and therefore he will be found. — John Jay |
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