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Jammu Police in the dock Textile quotas go |
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Chipping at Babudom How the dickens will it react? It is a cruel paradox that even as the services sector is expanding, the archetypal symbol of service – the clerk – is threatened with extinction. The Himachal Pradesh Government too has decided to wield the axe on clerks: it has abolished 300 of these posts in the name of “fiscal reforms”.
Media: Disturbing shifts
In other words....
Need to break business-politics nexus Delhi Durbar
Why Blair was away on a holiday
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Jammu Police in the dock Now that the Forensic Science Laboratory in Hyderabad has confirmed that the CD sent by the Jammu and Kashmir Police did not contain the pictures of the former Miss Jammu, the police establishment is in the dock. Ms Anara Gupta’s vindication is also indirect confirmation of her allegation that she had been illegally confined and tortured by the cops. Indeed, she had not only been arrested and harassed but was made to “confess” her crime – right in front of TV cameras where a senior police officer sat next to her. So much for the authenticity of confessions extracted by the police! The sordid details of the case tell a grisly story of highhandedness without caring at all about the reputation of a girl and her family. Here it seemed that the police was determined to frame her, come what may. Whether it was done out of pique or due to some pressure is not clear but either way it is a slur on the face of the Jammu police force. The victim is fully justified in seeking Rs 1 crore in damages from the police for maligning her name. After all, all these months she had been made a butt of many salacious rumours and character assassination. Anara Gupta’s family was firm and could afford to fight the case right up to the Supreme Court. But there are many others who are not that well-placed. Can they ever hope to get justice in similar circumstances? The answer, what a pity, just cannot be in the affirmative. What is all the more unfortunate is that the judicial process moved in a way that at early stages impeded Anara’s quest for justice. The police regularly cribs that the public does not come forward to lend a helping hand in investigations. How can the common man be expected to be police-friendly when the sentiment is never reciprocated? Every tale of the torture and targeting of an Anara Gupta can make hundreds, who might not see the police as the villain, change their opinion. |
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Textile quotas go The US and EU-imposed country-by-country quotas on imports of textile and clothing items came to an end on January 1, 2005. This has opened vast opportunities for India’s textile exports. Some of the world’s top textile companies like Wal-Mart are already here to take advantage of India’s low manufacturing costs. Since quality and quantity will decide the winners, Indian companies will have to grow and expand fast. Fortunately, cotton is available in abundance at much lower prices than last year. The textiles being a labour-intensive area, job potential is huge. The Prime Minister has directed the Textile Ministry to list measures needed to boost exports and employment. According to one estimate, the Indian textile industry will invest about Rs 18,000 crore on expansion and create some 12 million jobs, particularly for women. In the post-quota scenario, India’s nearest competitor is China, which, having bigger production facilities, will benefit more. India’s textile and apparel companies are lagging behind in comparison. Besides, India’s textile sector is fragmented. Earlier, it was reserved for the small-scale industries, which limited its growth. Even big textile houses have preferred to set up several smaller companies than have one or two monoliths to save on taxes. Archaic labour laws have also not allowed this sector to expand and modernise. China, on the other hand, has special economic zones with benefits of economies of scale. What will come in the way of India encashing this huge opportunity are the outdated government regulations that hinder the textile industry’s growth. The growth of this sector will mean better prices for cotton growers. Better returns to farmers will bring more acres under cotton, thus boosting crop diversification. Currently, there is a cotton glut and the Cotton Corporation of India is contemplating exports to lift prices. Instead, local mills should be encouraged to buy and store cotton to meet future needs. If there is any sector that deserves maximum benefits, it is the textiles. |
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Chipping at Babudom It is a cruel paradox that even as the services sector is expanding, the archetypal symbol of service – the clerk – is threatened with extinction. The Himachal Pradesh Government too has decided to wield the axe on clerks: it has abolished 300 of these posts in the name of “fiscal reforms”. There were 10,000 applicants for the vacancies, which goes to show just how popular the job is. Yet, popular governments have little choice but to downsize, if not eliminate, clerkdom, to swim with the tides of globalisation. Like much else in this country, the glory of the job of a clerk too can be traced to colonial rule. Macaulay’s famous minute was primarily to educate Indians to succeed as clerks, and yet, the very same British berated India as “a nation of clerks”. They forget that without the clerks their empire would have collapsed. Like the empire, the clerk too has an assured place in history for many a clerk has made history. V. P. Menon, ICS, as Cabinet Secretary was the man who implemented Sardar Patel’s plan for integration of the princely states into the Indian Union. Few know that Menon started life as a clerk in the Imperial Tobacco Company’s factory in Munger (Bihar). Not just life and politics but literature too would be poorer without clerks. Charles Dickens was a clerk as was Franz Kafka. Charles Lamb too was a clerk with the East India Company before he came to be known and celebrated as a man of letters of a different kind. The post of clerk can be abolished but clerkhood is in our genes and the world cannot do without the species. There are law clerks and literary clerks; hotel clerks and airline clerks; government clerks and corporate clerks. Their designations may change but not their role and function. The term “clerk” may be revolting, for its associations with a leaden bureaucratic culture or with “a circumlocution office” as Charles Lamb described. But, beware the revolt of the clerks! They will have their way of taking revenge. |
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Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness. — James Thurber |
Media: Disturbing shifts
President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Justice A.S. Anand made very pertinent observations recently at the IPI-India Award function for Excellence in Journalism. President Kalam said, “the urban-oriented Indian media” should become “media for one billion people” instead of concentrating on the 300 million urban people. Former Chief Justice of India Dr Anand said that “while commercialism has a legitimate place in the business office of the newspaper, it becomes a danger when it invades the editorial room”. Stating that “today, there are some genuine concerns about the way in which some sections of the media function,” he said that “the liberty of the Press cannot be confused with its licentiousness”. They were commenting on recent dramatic changes in the media concerns. What is happening in the media is known to many of us. But why it is happening is not and hardly discussed. With the proliferation of TV, radio and newspapers recently in the country, the overall role, reach and relevance of the media should have expanded much beyond (about two-thirds of people) what it was a couple of years ago. Also, the range of coverage of the news media should have expanded beyond metro cities. But hardly there has been any change in both respects. This was because the competition within and across the media has been for the same sections of people, the ones having deeper pockets. That is how rural reach as well as coverage are still negligible. Some increase in circulation and viewership nevertheless is because of multiplicity, not because of expansion in the reach. That is the ones seeing are seeing more channels or programmes, and the ones reading are reading more newspapers. Despite the boom in 24-hour news channels, their overall credibility has not increased, nor the extent and range of their coverage of India. It is more of the same or same from more. No wonder, newspapers continue to enjoy relatively more credibility and are often checked back for what is seen or heard on TV news bulletins — as if reading is more believable! A research study described this phenomenon as “appetizer effect”. Role and relevance of the news media are to do with their concerns and contents. Until a few years ago these were to do with the “Fourth Estate” notions and “watchdog” standing. For, that is how the news media has been enjoying certain privileges and societal status. The media is expected to have larger and long-range concerns, not just market compulsions or competitive concerns. Today it is more a corporate voice than of the community. New definitions, new news values and new priorities dictate the media today. What does this paradigm shift mean for the dilemma involved in the media operations and to the very credibility of the news media and its accountability. Is the media for public service or for private interests. These include societal concerns versus market priorities, stakeholders vs shareholders, short-term gain vs long-term implications, etc. Then, of course, the controversies to do with blurred distinctions between news and views, news and advertisements, etc. How much do we understand these priorities, pre-occupations and the shifts in the news media? They are not even discussed within the media and by any fora to do with policies and futures. There is no independent and objective analysis of these changes and their implications. How else could it be explained that even a very provocative analysis of the President or the Prime Minister or the Chief Justice of the country in this regard is never followed up. But when it comes to the interests of the individual media, or competitive compulsions between any two media houses, such issues are all over as if they constitute the national agenda. Today advertising and market research in many ways determine the scope of the media, including journalistic trends. With allowing of 100 per cent FDI in both fields in the last couple of years, these functions are in the hands of corporates controlled from abroad. Advertising, market research and media planning set the pace of the media, including in the case of ownership pattern and journalistic trends. Firstly, the share of advertising in the total revenue of media has been on the increase from that of a “supplementary” (25-30 per cent) nature some decades ago to that of a “supportive” one (45-55 per cent) now. In fact, in the case of television channels, advertising has been the “primary source” (50-70 per cent) to the extent of “determining” the priorities and preoccupations. Even in the case of some big newspapers, revenue from advertising constitutes as high as 60 per cent of the total revenue. Secondly, advertising through newspapers and television is mostly by multinationals and big corporates. In fact, top 15 advertisers account for three-fourth of advertising revenue of newspapers and television channels. Thirdly, advertising agency business in the country has been getting concentrated in fewer and fewer hands for the last couple of years. Fourthly, market research is a basis for the proliferation of brands and consumerism as well as for the preoccupation and priorities of the mass media and the very scope and character of advertising. Until a few years ago we had about six or seven market research agencies owned mostly by Indians. Today top seven or eight market research agencies, accounting for more than three-fourths of research, either have already been taken over by one or the other foreign corporates or they have acquired significant interest. More specifically, market research agencies are the ones which also conduct “readership” surveys and “rating” of television viewership, and thereby directly influence advertising agencies as well as the news media as to their priorities and preoccupation. The point here is that the methodology being followed for readership surveys and viewership rating is not without bias in favour of the sponsors and subscribers. Fifth, with the media becoming complex and also specialised, two “new” mediating functionaries have emerged since 2000 with serious consequences to the very nature and character of the journalist-centered “Fourth Estate”. Both these functionaries of media planning and public relations in a way erode into core prerogatives of journalists and their “editorial control”. Adding to these trends have been the ad-hoc decisions of the government without a national media policy and objectives. In fact, by such “reactive approach” and temporal outlook, issues were made further complicated. Further, the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court in 1995 on airwaves was never followed up. In fact, minister after minster violated the spirit of the judgment and went about taking decisions — without reflecting the concern to do with the challenges before the nation and tasks of the news media. The Cabinet Committee currently seized with some of these issues should take note of the emerging media scene and its implications so that the media caters to a billion people and becomes relevant to their aspirations. |
In other words.... Words! Only words! Barmecide of the Arabian Nights offered only wordy honey to a beggar. Have we ever reflected how many times we give wordy benefits or are given Barmecidal claptrap by the people we come across, especially those who live by their wits or eat "jabaan di khatti" as they say in the northern part of India? Presents promised by the politicos remain illusory, imaginary — will-o’-the-wisp. Their honeyed words promise to build even a bridge where there is no river. Fair words butter no parsnips, they forget. The French have an apt term "le mot juste", i.e. the exact word. However, one often uses the word with many meanings, signifying not much. People in turn then also feed you with verbal chicanery. Slums or underprivileged areas? Scabs, blacklegs or extra help? Lie or terminological inexactitude? The list is endless. All are part of the same verbal chicanery. In fact, everyone can make a list from day’s newspapers in the spirit of the character of The Merchant of Venice: "Then let us say you are sad Because you are not merry; and t’ were as easy For you to laugh, and leap and say you are merry Because you are not sad." The technique and degree of this chicanery vary. The same rocket is called on the same day "a factor of peace" and "an instrument of aggression". Atreaty is broken because "arms limitation" is different from "arms reduction". The language system is wrenched off its rails when one calmly uses an oxymoron like "the war for peace", for the word "peace" itself is fractured when forced to contain within itself children and old men, horribly burnt and mutilated. In this system, manufacturers of porn CDs can be seized and goods arrested! "Excuse me" is one of the phrases current today that has lost its original meaning. Today it means, "Get out of the (my) way". "Can I help you, sir?" today means "What the hell (mischief) are you doing here?" Ihave no respect for your opinion is what "with due respect" signifies now. A child of ten described a cow as: It has several sides — right, left, an upper and below. At the back it has a tail on which hangs a brush. With this it sends the flies away so that they don’t fall into the milk. The head is for the purpose of growing horns so that the mouth can be somewhere. The horns are to butt with and the mouth is to moo with. Under the cow hangs the milk. The cow has a fine sense of smell. One can smell it far away. This is the reason for fresh air in the countryside. The marked innocence of these lines needs no sophisticated words to
describe the strong sense of function. Words are fortresses of
thought. However, in these hypocritical times, one has to often read
between the lines to understand the exact meaning of the words, which
is not child’s play. One word is pregnant with both — sense and
nonsense.
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Need to break business-politics nexus In the recent parliamentary elections, which catapulted the Congress-led UPA government to power, the Congress and the BJP spent crores of rupees. From where did the money come? Obviously from bribes given by the industry — you may, if you like, call it under-the-table donations. Rahul Bajaj, a vociferous former President of the CII, has bemoaned at various public fora that politicians never tire of squeezing money out of business houses. The problem is that our Constitution-makers have not provided for any method of financing political parties. The result is that we have witnessed a vile politician-businessman nexus that is the principal source of corruption, which has a cascading effect. An obvious way to break the nexus is to have government financing of political parties. Unlike some of his predecessors, the present Chief Election Commissioner is also in favour of this idea. It is nobody’s argument that government financing will completely eliminate the nexus. But to the extent that the state would meet the requirement of political parties for funds to run their election campaigns, their need to raise money by dubious means would be obviated. A few years ago the Centre for Policy Research, a reputed non-government think-tank, estimated the total cost of parliamentary and assembly elections at Rs. 1,000 crore. If you take into account inflation, a reasonable estimate for today is Rs 1,500 crore. The oft-repeated plea of our rulers — Dr Manmohan Singh opposed the idea when he was Finance Minister — that poverty-ridden India cannot afford the luxury of state funding of elections because the central government is strapped for cash is balderdash. Since elections are a quinquennial exercise, this would mean an annual burden of Rs 300 crore. Can’t a country with a central budget running into trillions of rupees allocate a paltry sum of Rs 300 crore to finance its political parties? What is lacking is sincerity of purpose and political will. Our ruling politicians remain blinkered amidst the continuance of a political system based on institutionalised corruption. A number of advanced democracies have state financing of elections with the result that their political systems are less corrupt. In the US Presidential campaigns are financed by federal dollars. In the recent elections both George W. Bush and John Kerry received funds from the federal government. However, there is no provision for funding of elections to the Senate and the House of Representatives. Candidates for these chambers still rely on “fat cats”. The German system has been reasonably successful in keeping electoral corruption within limits. However, the German system has an obvious defect. The ruling political party starts with an inbuilt advantage as it gets proportionately more funds from the federal government. India copied the British system under which there is no such provision. There is only restricted public funding. Small amounts of money are made available to opposition parties to help them carry out their parliamentary work in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The amount given is £ 3500 for every seat and £ 10 for every 200 votes. In India a provision should be made in the central budget for funding political parties. A special financial corpus can be raised by an election cess. Modalities of the scheme will, of course, have to be worked out. It will be useful to study in detail the American, German and Austrian systems and adapt them to Indian conditions. Even if political parties are funded by the state, they may still raise funds from other sources. There is need for enacting a law requiring companies to give donations to political parties, but this should be done by cheque. Further, a donation of more than, say Rs 5 lakh, should mandatorily be required to be advertised in newspapers. This system is followed in a number of countries in the West. |
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Delhi Durbar There are tremors in the RJD camp that Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav’s campaign in Bihar may suffer a setback. Even as the Congress leadership is not amused with Laloo’s antics, the Election Commission’s legal adviser K J Rao has
submitted his report to the Chief Election Commissioner after touring Patna, Nalanda and Hajipur. Rao had recommended countermanding of the Lok Sabha poll in Chapra. Thanks to Laloo’s battle with the Election Commission, the Congress is now demanding 100 seats in Bihar.
A unique artist
A unique art form called anamorphosis is practised by Avtar Singh Virdi of Jamshedpur. It is claimed that Virdi, 64, is the only living exponent of this art form. At first glance, the drawing appears to be a few odd strokes but when it is reflected on a cylindrical metal base, the distorted images begin to take shape. It began 45 years ago for Virdi when he saw his distorted reflection in a car and felt like painting it unaware that it was an art form. His first portrait was that of a nude woman. He has since gone on to capture the images of President A P J Abdul Kalam, Mother Teresa, U S President George Bush, Amitabh Bachchan, Kalpana Chawla, Sachin Tendulkar and Rabindranath Tagore. Virdi became the first anamorphosis painter in the world to find a place in the Guinness Book of Records. The Sardar retired from Tata Steel in 2002.
Apex court sets
an example
The number of pending cases may have gone up in lower courts over the years, but it has been brought down drastically by the Supreme Court with the streamlining of its case disposal system during the past four years. The pending cases, numbering around 52,000 in the apex court in 2000, have been brought down to less than 20,000 during this period. The apex court has taken up on priority cases pending for longer time and those involving senior citizens. Besides, its Constitution Benches have been sitting regularly on fixed days of a month and delivered several judgements last year. The steps taken by the apex court will, hopefully, be emulated by the lower courts.
CPM’s saffron obsession
Obsessed with BJP-bashing, Marxists seem to see every incident, even the havoc wrought by the tsunami, in relation to the growth of the saffron party. An editorial in CPM mouthpiece People’s Democracy says “the tsunami striking us in the last days of 2004 must be seen not as an ominous signal for the future, but as the culmination of a legacy of hate and destruction that we, the Indian people, unitedly overcame in the political sphere in 2004.”
Meghnad Desai’s
thesis
Lord Meghnad Desai’s thesis that a grand coalition of the BJP and the Congress should take place to remove hindrances in the economic reforms has few takers. A Congress leader who was present when Lord Desai proposed his
thesis said such a coalition was impossible. Coalitions are not forged on economic, but political issues. Lord Desai, however, did not agree. Contributed by Prashant Sood, R Suryamurthy and Gaurav
Choudhury. |
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Why Blair was away on a holiday Hasn’t it been fascinating, the way governments are desperate not to appear to be giving less than the amounts raised spontaneously? Every day a spokesman from Britain or America or Germany makes an announcement such as, “Ah. Now - just to clear things up, when I said on Wednesday that we were giving (pounds sterling)2m, obviously that was just the initial cash deposit. I’m sure you didn’t think that was the whole lot, goodness no, that was just a sort of stocking present, to pay for a few mops and things. Anyway, here’s another load of money, and whatever you might say about this amount the important thing to remember is - it’s more than they’re getting off the French.” Almost as strange is Tony Blair’s reasoning for not coming back early from Egypt, that in the modern world you can be an effective full-time Prime Minister while away on holiday. But if he resumed his full-time duties, what was the point in staying away? Whatever the reason, he’s now got to put up with the added disaster that Gordon Brown is reported to have “upstaged” him by freezing the affected country’s debts. Blair will have to respond, so he might announce a sponsored skydive, or have his head shaved for the appeal. There have been suggestions that his slow reaction is a sign he’s losing interest in the job. But there may be another reason. The Blair team must be aware that a large chunk of the country has already made up their mind what they think of him, as a result of the war. Following the weapons of mass destruction and the missiles that could be launched in 45 minutes and so on, millions would be cynical about his actions whatever he did. It’s as if Jeffrey Archer and the cheating major from Who Wants to be a Millionaire announced they were starting up their own disaster fund. Anyone with any sense would think, “What’s the scam here?” The Blair camp must sense that the old tricks would no longer work. Instead he’s kept a distance, but it’s nice to see that some have been more eager to share how much they care. Yesterday the Daily Mail announced, “The business giants just keep on giving.” One example they give is “Debenhams offered to help by allowing customers to make donations at their tills.” Blair could show a touch of imagination, and say, “The reason I didn’t come back from Egypt was that Cherie’s life guru assured me I could concentrate my efforts far better out there, with all that positive spiritual energy bouncing off the pyramids”. —
By arrangement with The Independent, London |
Failure in public can make the greatest hero an object of ridicule. The beggar trembles before the prince. But when the prince is laid low in contest, even the beggar begins to titter. — The Mahabharata I refuse to buy from anybody anything, however nice or beautiful, if it interferes with my growth or injuries those whom Nature has made my first care. — Mahatma Gandhi Sat (truth) Santokh (patience or contentment), Vichar (contemplation). These are the three virtues which man is enabled to cultivate by the study of the Granth. — Guru Nanak The wise man gets most from other wise men. His mind is open and ever sensitive to words of truth. Like a sponge, he absorbs the knowledge. — The Buddha 
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Bangaru Laxman and Jaya Jaitly, former presidents of the BJP and the Samata Party respectively, against whom cases have been registered by the CBI for taking bribes as alleged in the Tehelka sting operation, should be investigated and prosecuted. The law must be allowed to take its course. But the pertinent question is: which Indian politician’s hands are not soiled by bribes? The fault of Bangaru and Jaya is that they got caught.