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Centres of profit Tuesday’s crash |
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End targeting Arafat
Flip side of coalition politics
Pristine love
Dumping toxic waste on Aravali hills Doing away with queues for visas
From Pakistan
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Centres of profit THE Supreme Court judgement directing the Delhi Government to regulate the fee structure in all private unaided schools in the national capital is welcome as it is expected to check the unbridled commercialisation of education. The public schools are bound to be disappointed by the ruling but this is the only way to deal with those who have converted the noble cause of education into a profit-making venture. They have been fleecing the parents by imposing hefty donations and various kinds of fees every year. It is a pity that these institutions, even after taking government land at a concessional price, have been refusing to implement the 25 per cent quota for poor children. The government’s policy of allotting land at concessional rates for an educational trust or a philanthropic society for setting up a school is not flawed. What is deplorable is the fact that most schools make huge profits by charging hefty donations and fees from the parents and subsequently channel the money into their business ventures. Some schools are also reportedly running hotels and other enterprises. The Supreme Court’s guidelines issued on Tuesday should hopefully put an end to this practice of commercialisation of education. These guidelines would have served the purpose if they had ensured transparency in the running of the schools. Sadly, most public schools do not follow proper accounting practices. Hereafter, they cannot increase their fees unilaterally as the government will regulate the fee structure. More important, they will have to submit their annual financial statements to the government showing the revenue collected through fees and expenditure before the commencement of each academic session. They could make capital expenditure only from surplus funds and the government has been empowered to prevent the transfer of money from a school’s account to that of the society running it. Since the problems are not confined to Delhi, these guidelines should be made applicable to all the states and the Union Territories. |
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Tuesday’s crash THE exit poll projections of a hung House led to a 213-point BSE sensex crash on Tuesday, wiping out a staggering Rs 55,700 crore of investor wealth in a single day. The last time the stock markets had witnessed an over 200-point fall was when the Tehelka scandal shocked the nation in March 2001. The stock investors would not have pressed panic sales had they taken post-poll political uncertainty into account. They were carried away, it seems, by the ‘India Shining’ campaign and positive media reports, which had convinced many that the BJP-led NDA would comfortably return to power. The NDA may still form the next government at the Centre, but with a thin majority if exit poll results are to be believed. And that would make it harder for the BJP to push reforms. That is why the PSU stocks were hammered the most. The stock markets the world over are known for their unpredictable behaviour. With globalisation, it has become extremely difficult to keep track of every positive or negative development affecting the economy. One piece of bad news can unsettle the Indian stock markets. The BSE sensex is notorious for its volatility. It had been rising steadily on the back of a spate of good news: excellent corporate results with many companies led by Infosys declaring liberal bonus issues, a respectable GDP growth, the forecast of another normal monsoon and the foreign reserves touching $117 billions. The fundamentals of the economy are still sound and there is not much cause for concern except for the rising fiscal deficit. More important, there is a political consensus on economic reforms. The formation of a new government may not pose much of a problem with regional parties flexible in their loyalties. Uncertainty is more about which of the two main parties manages the majority. Remember, it was a coalition government led by Mr P.V. Narasimha Rao which had launched the country on the path of reforms. Coalition governments are here to stay and there is need to isolate economic reforms from politics so that foreign investors get a clear picture of the economy. |
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End targeting Arafat AFTER the killing of two top Palestinian leaders by the Israeli forces, there are hints that Mr Yasser Arafat may also meet the same fate. This alarming plan came to the surface last Friday when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon asserted that he was no longer bound by the pledge he had made to the US three years ago on the safety of the Palestinian Authority chief. Mr Sharon’s deputy, Mr Ehud Olmert, has clarified that there is no such move “this very week, or today, or tomorrow” after the US advice that Israel should honour the promise it has made. Russia and some other countries have also spoken strongly against any idea to assassinate Mr Arafat. But this is not enough. The world community should ask the US to tell the Israeli Prime Minister that no harm should come to Mr Arafat. It should also ask the Israelis to scrap its policy of targeted killings in the interest of peace. Mr Arafat’s confinement to his Ramallah headquarters in the West Bank area should come to an end. After all, he is not a criminal. Reports suggest that Mr Sharon wants Mr Arafat to be forced to shift to Gaza with a view to checking the popularity of Hamas, an extremist outfit, after the killing of its two leaders. This is not fair, to say the least. Mr Arafat, like any other Palestinian in the Palestinian Authority areas, should have the freedom to choose his place of residence. Irrespective of the views held by Israel, Mr Arafat remains the most moderate Palestinian leader. There is no logic in keeping him away from any dialogue for an independent Palestinian homeland as has been the practice so far. Sidelining him amounts to promoting the cause of the Palestinian extremists, who refuse to accept Israel’s right to exist in West Asia. The fast growing popularity of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas is the result of such a policy. It is sad that the US has approved of this dangerous Israeli policy in complete disregard of its responsibilities. |
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In this world I would rather live two days like a tiger, than two hundred years like a sheep. — Tipu Sultan |
Flip side of coalition politics EVEN before the second phase of voting had taken place on Monday, the country — with the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in the lead — had started scanning the post-poll scenario, instead of concentrating on the immediate task of mobilising the voters that evidently contributed to the disquietingly low polling. Indeed, it was Mr Vajpayee who spoke, rather emphatically, of a “realignment of forces” immediately after the elections. Now "realignment of political forces" has been one of the most wistful and frequently used phrases in the Indian political discourse. During the first few months of Mr V. P. Singh’s tenure as Prime Minister, for example, his supporters were predicting merrily that a realignment of “centrist parties” was round the corner. This, they added, would “dump” Rajiv Gandhi “on the scrap heap of history” and strengthen “Raja Saab's government” to an extent that would relieve him of dubious dependence on the BJP’s support “from outside”. What happened instead is too well known to need recounting. Since then the wheel of politics has taken such twists and turns that Mr V. P. Singh, who had relentlessly pilloried and eventually defeated Rajiv Gandhi, is shouting from the housetops that this time around he would vote for the Congress. Others, besides him, are executing similar somersaults and contortions, overtly or covertly. These are feeding the expectations of a churning after May 13 when the electronic voting machines would yield their secrets. The question is why? The most plausible answer is that for all the opprobrium being poured on the exist polls — as was to be expected the Supreme Court has refused to ban or even stay them — their message has gone home. Gone are the glad, confident forecasts of a comfortable return to power of Mr. Vajpayee, carrying the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance on his shoulders rather than vice versa. The talk now is that while the Vajpayee-led NDA would still be in the lead, it might not attain the magic number of 272, with and thus the gap between it and the rival combination would narrow. There is a striking consensus on this among psephlogists, with the solitary exception of Mr. Arun Nehru who sticks to his prognostication that the NDA would win at least 293 seats, with 200 of these going to the BJP alone. And that is precisely where a sudden and conspicuous change in the Prime Minister's stance on coalitions comes in. For months his party had crowed about his historic achievement in leading a motley coalition for full five years. But after the first exit polls, Atalji confessed to the country that he was "tired" of running a 22-party coalition and therefore wanted the people to give a verdict in favour of his party. Later, he backtracked in stages and, on the eve of April 26 voting, reverted to asking for a clear-cut (spasht) majority for the NDA as a whole. Even so, the quest for the post-poll realignment remains, regardless of what this would do to political ethics and sanctity of alliances. Nor is this expectation of brisk trading in turncoats unrealistic by any means. The very nature of coalition politics as it has developed here in recent years takes care of that. Ten political parties that were merrily sharing power with the BJP during the last five years and enjoying the loaves and fishes of office have walked out of the NDA in recent months. Some of them — such as the DMK in Tamil Nadu or Mr Ramvilas Paswan’s outfit in Bihar — are now being advertised as prominent members of the so-called Secular Front against the BJP-led “communal” alliance. The bitter truth is that almost all the political formations that are in the electoral fray, whether individually or as parts of one combination or the other, are in the game only for the sake of power and office. All the talk of ideology, ideals or like-mindedness is bunkum. Coalitions in India are doubtless unavoidable for the foreseeable future. But there is no reason to invest them with virtues and attributes that they do not possess — a pastime in which many politicians and even pundits, some of them well-meaning but self-deluding, are constantly engaged. Regrettably, opportunism is the main motive force behind today’s political coalitions that suits all concerned. In short, with fast increasing fragmentation of the polity, the system has become a gigantic jigsaw puzzle combined with a constantly shifting kaleidoscope. Against this backdrop it is truly remarkable that the main target of the BJP's blandishments should be Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, Chief Minister of UP and leader of the Samajwadi Party, at one time considered a “bulwark of secularism” and a “natural ally” of the Congress. Not only did he reject all the overtures for an alliance by the Congress but also rumours of a “tacit deal” between him and the BJP have been rife for a long time. Even so, it was rather undiplomatic of Mr Vajpayee openly to suggest that after the polls were over Mulayamji might not be averse to joining hands with the NDA. Mr Yadav, through his eloquent and vociferous deputy, Mr. Amar Singh, had to deny this, of course, if only to protect his “special relationship” with the Muslim minority. The denials did not prevent the Defence Minister and NDA convener, Mr. George Fernandes, from announcing that he and Mr Yadav were bound to cooperate after the polls because the two of them were “socialist soul-mates”. Mr Vajpayee, with his customary ambiguity, has since lent support to this sentiment. The likely shape and size of the NDA is not the only subject on which the Prime Minister has been contradicting himself time and again. His statements on various other topics, including the one of succession to him, seem to indicate that he has suddenly come under strain. From all accounts, he has been shaken somewhat by three events. First, the shameful sari stampede in his constituency caused by his own lieutenants. Secondly, Mr Ram Jethamalani's decision, despite his flip-flop, to contest against Mr Vajpayee, accompanied by the former Law Minister’s threats to “expose” the Prime Minister. Thirdly, and most importantly, the RSS leaders are reportedly telling Atalji that rather than head a government that would be at the "mercy" of unscrupulous allies, the BJP should prop someone like Mr Mulayam Singh as Prime Minister. In other words, do in reverse what was done to the BJP in 1996. |
Pristine love LOVE. A beautiful emotion that makes the world go round. An emotion that fills the heart with hope and laughter. I had reasons to believe it was reserved for the latter years of life, as in adolescence or the first flush of youth but as I watch my four-year-old daughter grow, I can sense that she is in love! And that leaves me happy for in its own little way it is her first love and so pure. The intensity of it struck me for the first time when she got back from school and started shedding copious tears for no apparent reason. I was very concerned since she hadn’t been admonished at home. She is a gentle, obedient child and was her teacher’s pet so I knew she couldn’t have been pulled up in school either. Alarmed, I asked her what was wrong and in between sobs she managed to mumble “Kartikeya cried in the class,” before starting howling afresh. I was left astonished. Such empathy for someone her age. She was three years old then. I got more tuned in and would observe her when she would talk about him or his name came up. Her face would be aglow and smile more radiant than ever. Once I gave her some candies and asked her to share them with her friends. On the way to school my nephew asked for some but she said those were for Kartikeya. Crestfallen, he said: “Mein bhi to aapka chubby cheeks hoon!” She did eventually part with some, albeit reluctantly. It never ceased to amaze me when she would say “Kartikeya mera baby hai” or “I love Kartikeya.” She has moved to a new school since and I thought she would forget him by and by but that doesn’t seem to be happening. His feelings for her are similar too. If he sees a dress in a book, he wants to get it for “Tamisha”(for Tanisha). She in turn wants to pick up every single book for him. Otherwise a gentle child, he once grabbed his younger brother by the neck for having pushed her and let him go only after he had said sorry. It is a treat to watch them together even though they don’t talk much. Theirs is a silent kind of love. Their innocence and the purity of their feelings is reassuring. In a world that is seldom kind and selflessness is hard to come by, such a love lifts the spirits. It is a love that is devoid of the stress of commitment and lacks motives, demands and expectations. It is nourished by genuine concern and mutual liking. That is what makes it so pure and special. Love is doing the rounds everywhere and I believe it is largely misplaced with physical attraction being termed love, too. Love, as in true love, is only for a lucky few, if not entirely non-existent. I wish my daughter, among other things but above all of those, true love.
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Dumping toxic waste on Aravali hills
IT is not just the unauthorised miners who have vandalised the Aravali hills, attracting the Supreme Court intervention, the government agencies too are bent on destroying a part of the forest area by dumping garbage there. Trees are being cut indiscriminately to clear the site for urban and industrial waste. This beautiful forest area is covered with trees, some of these very rare and others as old as 50 years. The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon and HUDA had secured a large chunk of land belonging to the nearby village of Gairatpur Bass by reaching an understanding with a former Sarpanch, who had kept the backward and uneducated villagers in the dark. As soon as the villagers came to know of the arrangement through media reports, they realised what the dumping of garbage, part of it toxic, would lead to. Concerned, they called a meeting of the Gram Sabha and the panchayat, which terminated the arrangement. The land on which the garbage and toxic waste was proposed to be dumped is part of the Aravalli hills. During the monsoon, rain waters would carry toxicity of the entire waste into the fields and nearby villages, thus destroying their land and posing tremendous health hazards. The forest area, measuring about 1,000 acres, which will be ruined by the toxic waste, can in fact be converted, through efforts of the community, into a wildlife heritage site, given the advantage of its proximity to Delhi and Gurgaon. According to experts, the area has a good top soil and clean underground water. The very location of a garbage site on the top of a hill is wrong as it violates the guidelines of the
Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000. The rules in fact are particularly emphatic about waste management in a hill area. The Supreme Court has itself said that the Aravalis hill have to be saved at any cost. While this was in reference to mining, the implication is quite clear. The hills cannot be damaged in any way and their greenery has to be preserved. There are alternative lands available at the
outskirts of Gurgaon where mining was carried out indiscriminately. Pits spread over acres of land on the Gurgaon-Faridabad road are available where garbage dumping can be carried out. Their vegetation and top soil have already been destroyed by mining. These can be reclaimed by scientifically using them as land
fills. — TNS |
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Doing away with queues for visas MORE than 27,000 persons from Punjab and Chandigarh applied for British visas through the Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) launched by the British High Commission about a year back. A record number of 1,20,000 UK visa applications were processed by the Mumbai Deputy High Commission in the last calendar year. The corresponding figure for New Delhi was 99,000 applications, Chennai 62,000 and Kolkata 12,000. Under the new system the VFS offices in New Delhi. Chandigarh and Jalandhar as also offices all over the country provide printed information and literature to the applicants. This enables them to make a realistic self-assessment of the merits and demerits of their applications. Besides the reader-friendly handouts helps the applicant to comply with the list of suggested documentation. Under the old system border-line applicants could be advised by the entry clearance officer that their applications was not likely to succeed. The new VFS system provides for greater dispensation of information to the applicants. The new system also reduces the dependence on consultants and agents many of whom charge exorbitant fees even for the most basic information. Some even charge for the application forms which are supplied free of charge by the High Commission. The quality of such street advice is often highly suspect. The New Delhi VFS office has three enquiry clerks attending to queries of a large number of applicants. If you have forgotten to bring your passport size photographs for the application form you need not run out to a photo studio in the nearest market. Photograph facilities are available on the site. Lockers for the safekeeping of luggage and rest room facilities for long-distance travellers in the air-conditioned lounges of the VFS centres. According to Commander Anil Katoch, Zonal Manager, VFS, North Zone, the VFS has a tie-up with Blue Dart courier company for onward movement and submission of passports to the British High Commission, New Delhi. The new VFS system has taken away congestion from the High Commission premises. There are no long queues. Previously at times it was not possible for the High Commission staff to attend to all the visa applications on a given day. Those who could not be attended to despite being issued numbered tokens would be told to come on another day. In contrast under the new system the applicants are required to come to the High Commission only on one occasion. Here again this visit to the High Commission is only in the case of those applicants who want an interview. If no interview is required the passports containing the visa is received by the applicant directly through the VFS centre without even visiting the High Commission. One of the biggest advantages of the VFS facility is that the applicants who are required to appear for the interview can schedule their interview on a date that suits themby arrangement with the VFS office. Outstation applicants, particularly from Punjab, find it very convenient to use the lounge facilities available at the New Delhi VFS office. They are ferried to the British High Commission office in airconditioned buses. This way the VFS office takes care of the board, lodging and travel facilities. Because of these facilities the early morning queues in front of the visa saction of the British High Commission are a thing of the past. The visa section has recently been refurbished. There are no crowds, because a set number of applicants are called for interviews on any working day. The VFS has its headquarters in Mumbai. |
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From Pakistan RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Army is reducing its numerical strength by about 50,000 men which will cut its ‘long tail’ and, at the same time, sharpen its teeth in a cost-effective way. A decision to this effect was taken at the Formation Commanders’ conference which continued at the General Headquarters for a second day on Tuesday with President Gen Pervez Musharraf in the chair. According to an ISPR press release, the sizable savings accruing from a reduction in the troops strength will be directed to enhance the combat efficiency of the army. This reduction in manpower will in no way affect the fighting potential of the army. Rather it will transform the army into a more potent institution, enhance its response capabilities and result in a fine balance between quality and quantity. The participants of the conference were briefed on a restructuring plan that envisaged the Pakistan Army to be ‘lean but lethal’ and hard-hitting. Pakistan currently spends some three billion dollars on its more than half a million standing army. Foreign donors have often urged the country to downsize its armed forces to save funds for the crucial social sector development.
— Dawn
Musharraf’s policies
KARACHI: The PML(Q) President, Ch Shujat Hussain on Monday said that President Musharraf had been informed that the party did not agree with all of his policies but supports him as he had saved the country through his Afghan policy. He was addressing a Press conference at the residence of PML-Q leader Maqbool Shaikh. Shujat said he would refrain from comments on affairs of the Sindh government. “In case, I open my lips, it will have long-term consequences. I should not make any comment on the working of the Sindh government, he added” Shujat said “We have no differences with Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, but in certain matters, there is difference of opinion.”
Concession for
schools
LAHORE: Federal Minister for Education Zobaida Jalal has asked the Punjab Education Minister Mian Imran Masood to look into the possibilities of waiving 15 to 16 taxes on non-profit educational institutions in the private sector. The institutions are not supposed to pay these taxes. Zobaida Jalal stated that more organisations like the Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust were badly needed in Pakistan to multiply the good work. Referring to the incentives for the non-profit private educational institutes, she said the government had announced that their utility bills would be charged in the category of domestic users instead of commercial ones.
Interpol to nab absconders
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has initiated legal proceedings against those defaulters of nationalised banks and financial institutions who fled after striking deals with the NAB for payments of their arrears. NAB chairman Lt-Gen Munir Hafeez disclosed this in an exclusive chat with The News. Such people will have to face the consequences, he said. The attention of NAB chairman was drawn to noted business families of Karachi, Lakhani brothers and Irfan Iqbal Puri, who after entering into deals with nationalised banks and other financial institutions for the payment of their unpaid loans left the country without fulfilling their
obligations. — The News International |
Try to experience the identity of the Paramatman and the Jivatman by listening to the wise words of your Guru with faith. His advice is, ‘Tat Twam Asi’ (Thou Art That). Of course, the Guru’s grace is essential for you to reach that stage. — Sri Rama Sensuous enjoyments yield momentary pleasures but cause prolonged misery. By their very nature, they give maximum sorrow and minimum happiness. They are an obstacle to emancipation and a veritable mine of evils. — Lord Mahavir The hunger of the devotees is the praise of God and his True Name is their sustenance. — Guru Nanak Sun, Moon and stars give light, but Ahura Mazda is the light that lights them to light the world. — Zarathushtra This world is just a gymnasium in which we play; our life is an eternal holiday. — Swami Vivekananda |
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