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Keeping out is wise IIM fees |
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Troubled S. Arabia
Is Chief of Defence Staff needed?
The gritty teacher
Dateline Washington People
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Keeping out is wise Contrary to loud allegations by former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal that the Centre was going to postpone the SGPC elections, the poll process has been set in motion in time. The possibility was indeed there considering that Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has conceded that he spoke to the Home Minister in this connection. Apparently, the Prime Minister was not in favour of meddling in the affairs of the SGPC and his intervention has taken the wind out of the sails of the postponement drive. The decision is sagacious one. The government should steer clear of religious matters as far as possible. Even well-meaning mediation in such matters can be misunderstood. Whoever has taken such a step had ended up with egg on the face. It is another matter that elections of several religious bodies have become so highly politicised that political parties think nothing of taking an active interest in their affairs. But the governments — Central or state — cannot afford to take this risk. There is no denying the fact that vital issues like delimitation of constituencies and participation of Sehajdhari Sikhs in the elections hang fire but the matter is before the court. Had the Congress government agreed to postpone the elections, it would have unnecessarily handed an issue for whipping up an avoidable agitation. The Congress has withdrawn itself but sparks are already flying among various sections of the Akali Dal which are bitterly opposed to one another. Mr Badal has exposed himself to the charge that it was he who was responsible for the delay in the elections ever since these became due in 2001. While he has to do some explaining to his critics now, the Manmohan Singh government has wisely chosen to keep out of what is essentially the SGPC’s internal affair. |
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IIM fees The initiative taken by the new Union Human Resource Development Minister, Mr Arjun Singh, to end the four-month-long stalemate over the issue of tuition fee reduction in the Indian Institutes of Management is welcome. Monday’s meeting between him and the directors of all the six IIMs in New Delhi assumes significance because he called for a consensual approach to resolve the issue within a specific timeframe. Accordingly, the IIM directors will prepare a report on a uniform fee policy on June 6. The Ministry will examine it on June 8. The IIM Boards will meet on June 25 and by June-end, a final decision is likely to be taken. If Mr Singh seeks to resolve the controversy amicably, by involving all the parties, through negotiations across the table, it is certainly appreciable. A marked improvement in the relations between the HRD Ministry and the IIMs after the change of government can be seen. Mr Arjun Singh’s conciliatory attitude towards the IIMs is in sharp contrast to that of his predecessor, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, who seemed to be taking an inflexible position on the issue. There was deep consternation among the IIM directors after Dr Joshi instructed them to slash the annual tuition fee from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 30,000 a year. The directors were upset over the peremptory manner in which the order had been passed without prior consultation with them. They felt that the fee cut was just the beginning of governmental interference into their day-to-day functioning, ultimately leading to an erosion of their autonomy. Apparently, the new HRD Minister would like to convince the IIM directors that he does not intend to ram any policy down their throats and that any decision to be taken will be based on consensus. He has also pledged his commitment to safeguarding the “complete autonomy” of the IIMs. The uncertainty over the fee structure is likely to end only by the month-end. However, before taking a final decision, the Ministry and the IIMs would do well to remember that the fee structure should be reasonable for maintaining the standards as well as for providing a wider access. |
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Troubled S. Arabia The 25-hour hostage crisis involving Al-Qaida operatives in Saudi Arabia's Al-Khobar oil township that ended on Sunday is a clear indicator of the trouble ahead in the richest kingdom of West Asia. This was the third terrorist attack on the nerve-centre of the Saudi oil industry, claiming nearly two dozen lives, some of them Indians. Al-Qaida has targeted Saudi Arabia because of two basic reasons. One, the kingdom is a major ally of the US in the region with its oil industry virtually run by the Americans. Two, Osama bin Laden and his associates believe that if their activities lead to a regime change in Saudi Arabia, it will be a major loss for the super power causing a cascading effect on other sheikhdoms. There is another uncomfortable truth for the Saudi rulers. The terrorist network has its strongest base in that country because of the kingdom's own faulty policies, promoting religious extremism. After all, most of those who carried out the daring terrorist strike in the US in September 2001 were from Saudi Arabia. Al-Qaida has shown a remarkable capacity to strike at will in that country despite the monarchy's claim that it has broken its backbone and will soon destroy the terrorist network root and branch. The happenings in Al-Khobar are bound to cause a flight of skilled workers from there. The troubled situation in West Asia unfortunately can make Al-Qaida only happy. The Americans getting stuck in Iraq and the continuing plight of the Palestinians because of the US failure to tame Israel have strengthened the anti-American sentiment in the entire Arab world. It has never been easier for the terrorist network to find recruits for its destructive projects. Terrorists, perhaps, believe that once they are successful in destabilizing the Saudi monarchy, it will not be difficult for them to work for the downfall of the other pro-US regimes in the region. Interestingly, very few governments in West Asia are against the US whereas the public, by and large, is opposed to it. There is the danger of terrorist masterminds exploiting this situation. |
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The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. — Henry David Thoreau |
Is Chief of Defence Staff needed? ONE of the important national security-related decisions that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukerjee and National Security Adviser J.N. Dixit would be called upon to take in due course would be the advisability or otherwise of creating the post of Chief of Defence Staff, or the CDS as it is often referred to. Ostensibly meant to afford a single window direct and integrated access-and-advice facility to the Prime Minister on all matters concerning the three armed forces — the Army, the Air Force and the Navy — with the fledgling strategic and the Andaman and Nicobar commands now also in tow, it would appear amply clear to many a Service veteran and security analyst that the projected CDS system in its present shape, concept and content would only turn out to be a half cooked and far-fangled idea, whose time in the Indian context has not yet arrived. A decision taken in haste to appoint a CDS, an idea floated by the Group of Ministers in the previous NDA government, without examining in depth the serious implications that such a measure could result, could possibly be one of the first big mistakes that the new government could be making if it persisted with this totally outlandish scheme. The broad contours of the CDS system gradually filtering in from the print media and other sources would be of a 4-star General or equivalent rank flag officer from the other two Services as the Head, a secretariat with the necessary Joint Service Staff and associated infrastructure where the newly raised Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) could possibly be pressed into service for the secretarial role, a rather young and freshly born Andaman and Nicobar Command (it hardly has any troops or punch to speak of), alongside another untested and still not fully firmed in operational command one suspects (known as the Strategic Command) looking after all nuclear assets, as the field formations directly under command. A loosely knit and rather indeterminate monolith at best, with no teeth to affect its own recommendations to the Government, and its Head a mere figurehead at best. In this scheme of things, the Army, Naval and Air Chiefs would continue to exercise all operational and administrative control over their respective forces, and so in essence besides the creation of another headquarters with a few more flag officers from the three Services in attendance, nothing much would have changed. The three Services would continue to function in their own in-house, watertight, exclusive club tie mode with inter-Services rivalry and specific interests in the forefront, and no inter-Services integration worth the name in sight, with an integrated and mutually homogeneous relationship between the Ministry of Defence and the other Intelligence agencies, a cause lost even before it would have reached the drawing boards. Thus, this contingency, where a 4-star General would be the Head, envisages an organisation where its Chief is equated with the other three Service Chiefs holding the same rank, and where the mainstay of the operational punch of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force is not under its control or command. An interesting aspect of the ambiguity in the rank structure that could crop up at some stage in the management of the CDS system needs to be highlighted. If somewhere along the line the command of the three Services is to also rest with the CDS, then someone senior to the Service Chiefs in the rank of a 5-star flag officer would have to be created, throwing wide open another far-reaching issue of the intersay rank structure of the Cabinet Secretary or for that matter the Foreign Secretary, whose rank and seniority (and the order of precedence) would have to be protected. Quite obviously, it is clear from the above stated rank equations that even in a weakly structured CDS system (without the three Services under command, as enumerated earlier), an Army Commander or equivalent level 3-star flag officer as the CDS would be quite unacceptable to either of the Service Chiefs. Such a system would also lead to a duplicity in command and sharing of assets and resources in all the three Services. Some hard questioning is called for on the issue of the CDS system before we land up with a dead duck. A total integration between the Services and the MoD is called for before we can think of going in for this system. Do we have it? The Services would need to be brought into the decision-making loop on defence matters like in the United States where there are bureaucrats from the Foreign Service, Defence and Home (Internal) Affairs, all working with and under the Armed Force officers and vice versa. The Service Headquarters would need to be made an integral part of the MoD, and not work as attached offices as is the case at the moment in our scheme of things in South Block. In India, working out the CDS system would raise another peculiar issue. In our case, it is only the Army which executes exclusively specific tasks with very limited or nil participation of the other sister Services, in fighting the insurgency in the North-East and the proxy war in J&K. This would have to be kept in mind when considering whether only a General should be made the CDS, since a land battle with lakhs of troops committed to the ground would be handled best by only someone who is fully conversant with all the nitty-gritty of land warfare, and holding territory when the battle has been won. There would also be a need to establish integrated theatre commands if the CDS were to be enabled to exercise operational control to realise the full potential of such a system. Because of the vague job content and the disinclination of the Air Force in the Army's system of having five operational commands, like the Western or Eastern Commands to quote just two, it is well known that the Air Force (which incidentally does not believe in the territorially restricted theatre commands), is not inclined to go in for a CDS system as presently envisioned. It is also well known that the establishment of integrated and joint theatre commands will result in the reduction of some C-in-C appointments and one wonders if the Air Force or the Navy is prepared to accept that. A few more questions will arise. Will the appointment of a CDS with the control of the three Services and the Strategic Command not become too powerful a command in itself, and if so what checks and balances would need to be instituted? If the job content of the CDS and the Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff are going to be the same, then why not go along with only the IDS and permit it to be stabilised fully. Would the Chief of Staff Committee, (COSC), a parallel organisation which is basically doing the same job as the CDS, be wound up? If it stays, would there not be further duplication with the CDS system? And certainly, a very pertinent point is: should not such a far-reaching measure before its implementation have the full approval of all the major political parties in the country? No Prime Minister can exercise proper moral authority over the "nuclear button" without the full support of all the political parties in the country. It needs to be also highlighted that a decision so far-reaching as the institution of a CDS for the first time in the country needs to be taken after serious deliberation so that there is no need to reverse it if the system runs amiss later
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The gritty teacher Bhatia Master signifies all the qualities teachers have been known for in our traditions. Up at 4 a.m. after ablutions and barefoot visit to the local gurdwara. By 5 o’clock he is ready for his workday which usually extends up to 9 p.m. and can spill out another two hours during exam season. Children of about a third of Rajender Nagar families might well have benefited from his coaching in maths. He is honest and frank like a karmayogi to the extent of being blunt and deplores the decaying ethical standards of teachers also. Amar Nath Bhatia is happy coaching deserving students gratis. Wearing khaddar he had no use for woollens even in Delhi’s shivering cold recently. He lost his father in infancy but remembers only his uncle for one story. His village, Kot Najibullah, six miles from Haripur Hazara in NWFP of undivided India, had a primary school, raised to middle level later. Hari Chand Bhatia who taught mathematics there was renowned as a very good teacher of the subject. What was also known was his unfailing practice of paying obeisance at the gurdwara a couple of miles away, before going to school. Come hell or high water, he never compromised on this routine. This made him a habitual latecomer at the school, but because of his good nature he was permitted the indulgence. But one day a problem arose. Totally unexpectedly, the District Inspector of Schools arrived at the school for an inspection and that too, punctually. The absence of Lala Hari Chand was noticed. “Where is Master Hari Chand?” the inspector asked, raising his voice a trifle. “He has not come yet, sir,” replied the headmaster meekly. “But why? Don’t your teachers know they have to come in time as a matter of duty?” “They well do, sir. Hari Chand also comes punctually every day; it is only today that he has been delayed a bit,” said the headmaster, hoping all the time that the good man would drop in and help close the matter with a profuse apology. And just then, as often happens, Master Hari Chand stepped in. “There he is,” said the headmaster, relieved. “Well, Hari Chand,” asked the Inspector, turning to him, “why are you late today?” “No, sir,” was the rather uncivil reply, “I come late every day!” The headmaster was perplexed while the Inspector was wide-eyed with wonder at the gritty reply. “Everyday?” he asked, “your headmaster says it has happened only today?” “No, sir,” repeated the teacher calmly, “I am late daily.” “But why? Aren’t teachers expected to be present when the first bell rings?” “Yes, sir, I know. But I come after paying obeisance at the gurdwara and cannot give that up. You can remove me from service if you like, but I cannot stop my daily visit there.” The Inspector gazed at the resolute face of the humble teacher and glanced at the headmaster who didn’t know what to say, and then, broke into a pleasant smile. “OK, Master Hari Chand Bhatia,” he said, “I am happy at your truthfulness and religious devotion. I hope your boys will also learn these qualities from you.” Before departing, he sanctioned an increment of Re 1 in the prevalent salary of Rs 11 p.m. The rules have changed. So also have the practice and atmosphere. One may wonder how a teacher like that would end
today.
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Dateline Washington The recent hiccups in India-Pakistan diplomacy are a natural progression in relations as both sides "feel each other out," say political analysts in Washington. Pointing out that the leadership in Islamabad has had no previous interaction with the new political players in New Delhi, Husain Haqqani, a former adviser to Pakistani prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, said the "personal level of comfort between the principal actors is gone." "Both sides will have to take time to figure out each other," said Mr. Haqqani, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The very fact that there is a new administration in New Delhi, he added, "will certainly slow down the peace process." Ashley J. Tellis served in the State Department as a senior adviser to Ambassador Robert Blackwill at the US Embassy in New Delhi. "There will be an extended transition period where both sides will feel each other out," said Mr Tellis, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "India will have to revisit the entire strategy with respect to how to deal with Pakistan. They have accepted in principle that negotiations are the only way to go." It is crucial, he added, that both sides maintain a "constancy of dialogue." Earlier this week, New Delhi and Islamabad strayed into a tense exchange of words with the latter doubting the former's commitment to the peace process. In a statement, the External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi noted: "EAM has, on all occasions, clearly said that we will abide by the framework of the Simla Agreement, all subsequent agreements and declarations and the January 6 Joint Press Statement, when the Prime Minister of India had visited Islamabad, and after his meeting with the President of Pakistan." "We are somewhat surprised at the reactions in Pakistan to some of EAM's recent articulations of consistent policies of the Government of India, the policies that have been followed over decades and despite several changes in government," the statement said. Both sides need to "come to terms with the fact that the Congress doesn't have much more to put on the table compared to what the BJP put on the table," said Mr Tellis. "Indian bottomlines do not change with respect to who is in power in Delhi." He added that there could be a case for an argument that a Congress government may actually be weaker with respect to concluding an agreement with Pakistan. So what assets does a Congress-led government bring to the table? Its senior leadership comprises people who have great familiarity with Pakistan, said Mr Tellis. And the party has extensive social contacts with Pakistani society. These are two real assets," he said. "But at the end of the day this discussion on India-Pakistan relations will be conducted under the ground rules of realpolitik and the freedom for maneuver is considerably limited." Mr Haqqani noted that the Congress has historically had a "stronger and clearer" opinion of military governments than the BJP was willing to voice. "They [members of the Congress party] are philosophically averse to a military government and that aversion will have an influence on the peace process," he said. Meanwhile, Pakistan, Mr Haqqani added, has always tried to enter negotiations with India from a position of strength. The question, he said, is: will Pakistan see the change of leadership in New Delhi as a window of opportunity in which it can increase its elbowroom in negotiations? "The BJP was unwilling to make any concessions, the Congress will be less willing," he predicted. Acknowledging the domestic situation in Pakistan had become cause of much concern for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Mr Haqqani said if Pakistan insists that a Kashmir solution has to precede normalisation of relations with India, the possibility of normalisation will diminish. On Monday night, Gen. Musharraf spoke to Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee over the phone. The Pakistani leader reportedly urged the former Prime Minister to play a role to help further the peace process. Acknowledging Mr Vajpayee's personal investment in the peace process, Mr Haqqani said the former Prime Minister wanted to be the man "who crossed the Rubicon with Pakistan." "For Mr Vajpayee there was a payoff — a rise in his stature, the ability to go beyond thorny issues and probably a domestic payoff in terms of giving the impression at home that: 'If I can be pragmatic in dealing with Pakistan, I can also be pragmatic in dealing with Indian Muslims.'" On the other hand, the Congress, Mr Haqqani said, does not have any such payoff. "In this case there is no bottom line benefit for the Congress party." Mr Tellis agreed. "There may come a time in future when a Congress leader will make this [peace with Pakistan] his or her cause. But as of today, there is no leader who has made it his or her mission to make peace with Pakistan a personal goal." Predicting a "stretched-out" peace process, Mr. Tellis added, "it is going to be far more delicate." Mr Haqqani concurred. "The peace process will last longer. And the peace will come much later." Children are the future of a country and their healthy future depends on the sort of diet they take. The researchers at the University of Minnesota have revealed that children are not eating the recommended servings from the Food Guide Pyramid and as a result the intake of milk was declining while soft drinks intake and overall food portion sizes appear to be increasing. The researchers examined dietary patterns of 4,144 children to comprehend links between healthful and unhealthful weigh-control behaviors. Healthy weight-control behaviors were defined as increasing fruits and vegetables and decreasing foods high in fats and sugars in moderation. Unhealthy weight-control behaviors were defined as skipping meals, fasting, using food substitutes and smoking. Researchers also determined that girls using unhealthful weight- control behaviours had poorer overall dietary intakes than girls reporting no weight-control behaviors or only healthful behaviours did. Whereas boys who used unhealthful weight-control behaviors did not have poorer dietary intakes than those using weight-control behaviors or using only healthful behaviors. "The key to fostering lifelong healthy behaviour — in children and through our lives — is education. Keeping kids healthy requires coordinated commitment and cooperation from parents, schools, restaurants, the food industry and all health professionals," Jeannie Moloo, registered dietitian and ADA Spokesperson said. —
ANI |
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People His down-to-earth disposition and the smiling face are the talk of the staff in his office. A member of his staff said he had been waiting to see who would take over the ministry before deciding whether he would like to continue. Now the choice was clear. "Now that Mr Dutt has taken over, I think I will stay put here as I like the man. He is a gentleman," said the official. Although this is 74-year-old Dutt's fifth term in the Lok Sabha, this is the first time he has been given charge of a ministry. "I asked Mrs. Sonia Gandhi for this (ministry) only — a ministry where I can perform," the MP from Mumbai says.
Self-made player Akram Shah is India's lone judoka to qualify for the upcoming Athens Olympic Games. And what is the secret of the success of this self-made player, who has been India's No. 1 judoka for a couple of years? It is self-experimentation and learning techniques by watching a lot of videos of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. He used to skip classes to watch these films. "I listen to coaches, but I experiment and adapt also," says Akram, whose pet technique is seonage, or a throw using the shoulders. "I learn by trying out new techniques and do select exercises." The diminutive Akram, an inspector in the Central Reserve Police Force, says he has no special diet for the energy-sapping sport but just multivitamins. "Believe me, I have no preferences for food. My favourite food is chutni-roti," he said. "I like different kinds of chutnies with roti."
Mobike-borne Speaker "Lord Jagannath is the lord of the universe and one does not go before him claiming to be a powerful person," Mohanty said after visiting the 12th century temple in Puri, which is renowned the world over for its annual chariot festival. Mohanty also utilised the opportunity to make a political statement, saying he did not need the police personnel for his security as the state could not even provide them funds for performing their basic job of catching criminals. It remains to be seen how long his zeal lasts. |
He who is unattached everywhere, who neither welcomes nor hates when he obtains good or evil, has his wisdom firmly fixed. — Sri Krishna He who controls the senses and passions and concentrates on the self through meditation and scriptural study definitely practises austerity. — Lord Mahavir The entire Nature is saturated with the divine life of Ahura Mazda. — Zarathushtra God turns one who is pleasing to Him, from a crow into a swan. — Guru Nanak Learn to distinguish between Self and Truth. Self is the cause of selfishness and the source of evil; truth cleaves to no self; it is universal and leads to justice and righteousness. — The Buddha |
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All his life, Sunil Dutt has won friends and influenced people with his sporting nature and characteristic humility. Now that he has become Youth Affairs and Sports Minister, these qualities stand him in good stead. 
Newly elected Orissa Assembly Speaker Maheswar Mohanty is one VIP whom ordinary people will not curse because of the inconvenience that his motorcade causes when he visits a public place. He has made an interesting beginning. Breaking protocol, he rode a motorcycle to visit a temple incognito after dumping his official car and security guards.