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Synergy in energy Bus to Muzaffarabad |
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Fire alarm
Palestinian-Israeli conflict
The most prized possession
Integrated war doctrine required Delhi Durbar
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Synergy in energy FOR the past few months the UPA government has been toying with the idea of merging all public sector oil companies to create one or two behemoths. A committee on "synergy in energy" was constituted to guide the government. On Sunday, at Petrotech 2005, the minister announced that the Prime Minister's Office had given the go-ahead to the committee. Although the experts are yet to examine the issue and give their verdict, which is going to have far-reaching consequences for India's oil sector, the current wisdom is more in favour of the mergers than in maintaining the status quo. Speaking at Petrotech, the Prime Minister himself backed the restructuring idea on the ground of making the oil PSUs globally competitive. There are two main reasons for effecting the mergers. One, the Indian oil PSUs are pigmies compared to their rivals in China, which snatch away all prime contracts by bidding more competitively. India's oil firms put together earned $5.3 billion in 2003-04. In contrast, PetroChina alone made $5.47 billion in the first six months of 2004. Secondly, media reports quoting the Petroleum Ministry indicate that the mega-merger would result in total savings of Rs 25,000 crore in three-four years. Besides, the retail oil prices would fall by about 8 per cent. Another strategy talked about is to allow multinational companies in petroleum retailing and sell to them the real estate and physical assets of the oil PSUs rendered surplus after the merger. Oil is a strategic sector and needs thoughtful handling. A cautious approach would call for a national consensus before undertaking any major initiative. The NDA government had tried to disinvest its stake in the oil PSUs and the Congress, then in opposition, had resisted it. The merger will also lead to job losses and the government may have to shell out some Rs 5,000 crore by way of golden handshake. Creating a behemoth and handing it over to a CEO or a board, no matter how efficient, is risky. A few wrong moves by a bunch of so-called competent decision-makers had ruined Enron. In any case, the government will have to weigh the pros and cons before taking the plunge in this vital sector. |
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Bus to Muzaffarabad PAKISTAN President Pervez Musharraf’s remarks about the proposed Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service show that he is not as much interested in providing this facility to the people of Kashmir as in exploiting their sentiments. That is why his insistence on India agreeing to start the bus service without the requirement of passport and visa. This is not the way to help the Kashmiris on the two sides of the divide to meet their kith and kin. The truth is that it is the Pakistani rigidity that has been coming in the way. The bus service was in existence till 1947, when it got snapped as a result of the first war between India and Pakistan. India wanted it to be revived as a confidence-building measure (CBM) for promoting people-to-people contacts. Initially, it stood for the use of the same kinds of travel documents — passport and visa — as are needed by other Indians and Pakistanis. New Delhi also made it clear that the bus service should not be meant only for the Kashmiris as suggested by Pakistan. India, however, scaled down its insistence during the talks on the subject last month. It agreed to forgo the requirement of visa, saying that passport alone was acceptable as a travel document along with a certificate of residence from the local authority. But there has been no change in Pakistan’s stand. It continues to insist on the local identity papers as the sole travel document. Honesty of purpose demands that Pakistan too should show some flexibility so that the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service becomes a reality. Merely saying that no more CBMs would be acceptable unless success is achieved on this front will not do. Nothing should be done to make the bus service hostage to the question of Kashmir. |
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Fire alarm GURGAON is fast becoming the mall capital of the country, with one gleaming hi-rise building coming up after another. The towers look impressive but they still ring alarm bells because of the apprehensions about safety measures available in them. These fears came true on Saturday when one of the buildings caught fire and the officials found to their horror that the suburb just did not have adequate hydraulic lifts to reach the upper floors. These had to be rushed from Delhi and that took considerable time. It was only thanks to providence that the loss was not substantial, because most of the building was still unoccupied. Otherwise, the accident had all the makings of a disaster. That should set the planners thinking about the advisability of locating so many of these huge buildings in close proximity. Safety standards are very lax in India. Applying these diligently to glass and concrete boxes frequented by thousands of people at any time of the day is going to be a tall order. One wonders if any mock drill has ever been conducted to find out how much time it takes to evacuate any of the malls. Even otherwise, malls are posing several serious problems. Most of them have multi-floor parking bays but the experience so far is that many vehicles spill on to the roads and lanes nearby, leading to traffic bottlenecks and also accidents. It is nobody's case that there should be a ban on hi-rise buildings but what is imperative is that adequate safeguards are in place to take care of emergencies. Safety devices have to take care of the requirements of today as well as those of tomorrow. Since the auction of plots for malls earns the housing authorities a tidy sum, far too many of them are now being sanctioned. Even small-sized towns are involved in a rat race to locate them in large numbers, and in close vicinity. A comprehensive study needs to be conducted to find out their viability and the pressure that these will put on the civic amenities. |
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Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Let us economise it. — Mark Twain |
Palestinian-Israeli conflict
No one will acknowledge it, but slowly and surely the Palestinians are becoming tomorrow’s Kurds — a people without a land. It is a tragic irony that the Wandering Jews have a home, thanks in the first instance to Britain as the then colonial power. They are assiduously expanding it, and the Palestinians are becoming the new wandering people, deprived of their hearth and home, largely due to the unmatched power of the United States, doubly enhanced by the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Now that hosannas are being sung for Mr Mahmoud Abbas in Washington and Jerusalem because he is not Yasser Arafat (despite the recent attack on Israelis at the Gaza crossing), it is time to consider the facts. During the last four years of the Palestinian intifada, the Palestinian Authority’s infrastructure has been almost entirely destroyed, with Arafat confined for years to his battered Ramallah compound until allowed to die in a Paris hospital. True, Israelis have died in suicide bombings but Palestinians have died in the proportion of 10 to 1, if not higher, to targeted Israeli assassinations and the full panoply of modern means of warfare routinely employed to kill civilians and demolish hundreds of Palestinian homes. President George W. Bush, who had followed Israel’s Ariel Sharon in making Ararat a non-person in the manner of the old Soviet system, is congratulating Mr Abbas on his election as the head of the Palestinian Authority. But the warning is clear: all the responsibility of moving the fictitious peace process is the Palestinian leader’s. And Britian’s Tony Blair, ever at the beck and call of Mr George Bush, is organising a conference in London early in March as a re-lunching pad for peace. After Israel snubbed him by declining to attend the gathering, he has obligingly converted it into a tutorial for Palestinians on how to be good boys. Indeed, things are going swimmingly for Israelis. There was once an Oslo process that was supposed to stand on the principle of land for peace, a silly idea in Mr Sharon’s view. So he repossessed Palestinian towns, went on an expansive spree of building illegal settlements, set about erecting a wall to encroach upon more occupied land, cut up the occupied West Bank further into ribbons to build exclusive Jewish roads, planned an apartheid other set of Palestinian roads and, in a masterstroke, announced the unilateral evacuation of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip because it was proving too expensive in men and treasure. All these steps were taken at the altar of fighting Palestinian terrorism. The George Bush administration was more than willing to help. For the first time ever, the US administration gifted the major West Bank illegal Jewish settlements to Israel, and further gifted the most evocative dream of Palestinians, the “right of return” to their homes the Israelis chased them out of in 1948. They were precious gifts for Israel to cherish. The British had given them the right to carve out a state on Palestinian land, and now the sole superpower had granted them the right to expropriate more land, building on their victory in the 1967 war, consigning the painstaking Clinton formula towards the end of his presidency to the wastepaper basket. Yes, there was Mr Bush’s infamous road-map leading to nowhere; Israel greeted it with faint praise and totally disregarded it. The International Court of Justice declared that Israel’s wall was illegal because it went beyond the 1967 borders. With American help, Israel brushed off the verdict; it was a fly to be swotted. And Mr Sharon refined his plans on Gaza to leave it as a vast prison, its land, sea and air borders tightly controlled by Israel and more homes adjoining the border with Egypt were demolished to enable the Israeli army better to control Gaza. Poor Mr Mahmoud Abbas has been left stretching out a hand of peace and friendship to Israel, and President Bush, who had shunned Arafat before declaring him a non-person, is now inviting him to the White House to present the poisoned chalice of a “state”, in effect a host of Bantustans, without freedom, at some indeterminate future. Let him first seek “democracy”, bring Hamas and other militant organisations to heel, take a grip on his multifarious security agencies and then Israel will sit down to talk. There are compulsions that make Europe and the Arab world watch the final rites of a Palestinian state being performed while pretending that they are reviving a comatose peace process. Iraq proved to be the spark that jolted transatlantic relations as never before. The European Union felt that it could not fight too many battles at the same time. Europe’s humiliation was complete in being dismissed as a “quartet”, together with Russia and the United Nations, whose sole job seemed to be to approve whatever America declared. And Mr Tony Blair has found to his cost that Israelis have no incentive to let go of the sole mediator who does Israeli bidding. The United States is the ultimate protector of many Arab governments and they must seek to control the rage in the streets. Perhaps it suits everyone but the Palestinians to pretend that America is the impartial mediator in the Arab-Israeli conflict, that the departure of Yasser Arafat means the beginning of a new era of peace, that Palestinians will get a state of their own. The peoples of the Arab and wider world are more in touch with reality. Israel, with America’s total backing, can deny the Palestinian state at its peril. A favourite theory of the neoconservatives surrounding Mr George Bush has been that the road to Jerusalem leads through Baghdad. Now that Baghdad has proved to be a quagmire for America, the order needs to be reversed. The question, therefore, boils down to President Bush’s ability and inclination to change course to help resolve a conflict that lies at the heart of the Muslim world’s rage at an America determined to support Israel to the hilt to the extent of destroying the prospect of a viable Palestinian state. The signs are hardly propitious. More illegal settlements are being expanded; even railway lines are being laid across occupied land. If the United States and Israel believe that this is the way to bring peace to the region, they are living in a fool’s
paradise. |
The most prized possession
If there was a fire in your house and there was time to save just one thing, what is it that you would save? We should all find a clear answer to this question — it will provide some focus to our lives. When my house caught fire in 1996 we ran around in utter confusion, saving Chinese porcelain, paintings, antique Persian carpets and furniture. Then the beams came crashing down and we stood at the edge of the garden, watching what had once been my home, reduced to a pile of smouldering rubble. And while I watched, I was overcome by the uselessness of the few things that I had managed to save. I should have tried to save my children’s letters, their childhood photographs, their numerous certificates and awards and, above all, the telegram. The telegram came to haunt me all through my waking hours and in my dreams. It was dated 4 Sept 43, addressed to my mother and read: “Message from enemy sources suggests Hari Singh alive and well stop Postal confirmation follows”. My mind now focused only on this telegram and its loss became a physical pain. Later, I went on a short visit to my sister. We avoided any reference to the fire, which had, with one stroke, destroyed everything that could bring back memories of our parents. But when it was time for me to leave she said, “Wait Harish,” went back into the house and returned with a simple, brown, wooden frame. I had forgotten that two years earlier she had had the telegram photostated and framed. I did not dare try to thank her and as the car drove out of the gate I bit my lip and did not look back at her. My father was posted in Singapore when it fell to the Japanese on February 15, 1942. There was no news of him till the telegram arrived. I was too young to remember what my mother had gone through and she never spoke to us about it. Yet every time I saw the telegram, I saw in my mind’s eye my mother, dressed in white, spending all her time in prayer, heard her voice falter as hope gave way to despair, and the pain and misery of a growing certainty that she had lost her husband. Then I saw her trembling hands as she fumbled in opening the telegram, I saw the blank expression on her face as her mind hesitated to take in the meaning of the words. I saw the quivering of her lips, the sparkle of tears in her eyes and the turning again to her prayer book, in gratitude. Now I know with absolute certainty that if a decisive moment comes again in my life, it is the telegram, and the telegram alone, that I will take away with me, without a thought for all the dross that I have accumulated. Are you so clear about the one thing that you would take with
you?
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Integrated war doctrine required
In their article “Needed a cohesive military doctrine” (Jan 8) Vice Admiral K.K. Nayyar (retd) and Vice Admiral R.B. Suri (retd) have analysed the military doctrine in a comprehensive way. However, they seem to have missed a few salient features of the war doctrine announced recently. The Army war doctrine has now been formulated and some parts of it have also been made public. The doctrine advocates that there should be increasing lethality and range of India’s military punch. It has suggested that more focus should be laid on the special forces to carry out operations swiftly over long distances, in recognition of the fact that future wars may happen suddenly, would be short and fought at high tempo and intensity. The special forces can break the backbone of the enemy defences by fast and swift action against enemy logistics. Such a war will require high-level coordination among the land, sea and air units along with the increased reliance on surveillance systems. The Intelligence system needs much more inputs so that the latest information regarding the enemy’s activities is passed on to the armed forces, especially the Army from time to time. The strides made in technology necessitating a transformation in strategic thinking and a shift in organisation and conduct of operations is the driving force behind the new doctrine. A great emphasis has been laid on a secure, sound and secret communication system, making the best use of night firing capabilities. The doctrine offers a clue for advocating reliance on special forces — water energy sources (mainly oil) and even environmental issues may emerge as causes of future conflict. As part of the South Asia region, India has considerable interests in the areas stretching from West Asia through Central Asia and South Asia to South-East Asia. The Indian Ocean region assumes strategic importance due to the high volume of Indian and international trade transiting through the Indian Ocean. Existing and emerging regional groupings give rise to competitiveness with the possibility of increasing instability due to inter and intra-regional conflicts. The region also includes a number of nuclear weapons or nuclear-capable states. The doctrine lays emphasis on augmenting existing strengths, developing new skills, thinking imaginatively and attempting new approaches. It also recognises that the armies should have the capability to operate in a complete spectrum of conflicts in all types of terrains. The Army will be well-equipped for such operations and will not be taken by surprise as it happened in the Kargil conflict. The Army’s war doctrine advocating primacy to land forces during joint operations against the enemy has left the Indian Air Force (IAF) nettled. “Gone are the days when the Air Force was treated like an extended artillery and troop carrier. Air operations have become much more sophisticated and it will be unfair to treat them as secondary players under the command of the Army as is being suggested in their war doctrine,” said IAF sources. IAF sources agree that the main lesson of the Kargil war was the need for smooth and synergetic application of all available sources on land, air and sea to overwhelm the enemy. They also concur on achieving optimal impact by evolving a joint operational plan, which effectively integrates all the designated sources. During the Kargil war, air support in the form of IAF bombers and fighters became operational only three weeks after the conflict began. However, the IAF does not agree with the Army doctrine’s formulation that during joint operations, air power should be in support of land forces’ operations. Further objections arise with the Army’s take on joint planning of air operations, where it has been suggested that the air support operations should be decided by a joint Army-air operations centre and that this body should tell the Air Command about the targets, the degree of neutralisation and the time-frame in which to finish the task. Both the Army and the Navy have articulated their war doctrines after problems in joint operations during the Kargil conflict and the relative smoothness with which the US-led forces coordinated their attacks from the sea, air and land in Afghanistan and Iraq. On the other hand, the two war doctrines brought out by the IAF predate the US-led operations and, therefore, do not fully accommodate the developments in technology that have led to greater integration of the three services during a war. The government is planning to come out with the first-ever joint doctrine, which will be based on the study of military history, principles of war, combat leadership and application of military power in the Indian scenario. The joint doctrine being formulated by the headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff, would broadly cover strategic military aspects and consultations are on with the three services, says the Defence Minister. The Navy and the Army released their doctrines in 2004. The Indian Air Force has had two doctrines. It is, therefore, essential that an integrated war doctrine is formulated. |
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Delhi Durbar Earlier last week another fiction thriller written by another Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer was released at the India Habitat Centre. The novel has been authored by N Parthasarthy, who served in Pakistan as Minister of Press for about three years. However, what seems to have caught the fancy of everyone is the problem of plenty in the IFS forcing a scribe to comment after the release function that the Ministry of External Affairs will soon have to be rechristened as Ministry of Literary Affairs as one after another IFS officers were becoming authors.
Shortage of officers
in MP
About 20 per cent of the IAS officers in Madhya Pradesh are on deputation to the Central Government or on study leave, severely overstretching the remaining bureaucracy in the state. Of the 296 IAS posts in the state, only 232 are filled, leaving the bureaucracy in a crisis. Fiftynine of the 296 officials are on deputation, one has resigned from the services and four are abroad on study leave and will return only after two to four years. Besides, two others have sought permission from the state government to go on deputation. Officials who have stayed back are handling more than one department. Of the 28 Principal Secretaries of the state who are posted in this
capital, as many as 12 are in charge of more than one department.
More power for people
in Rajasthan
Rajasthan is planning to privatise power distribution. The issue is being discussed in the Cabinet. The Chief Minister says the desert state is open to even power generation by private players. "From the present eight-hour power, we want to give uninterrupted power for at least 16 hours a day." Perhaps, not a daunting task, if the people in “power” want to give power to the masses.
Good as ministers
only
Amidst serious deliberations during the meeting of the Central Election Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party last week, an observation made by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had everyone into splits. In the caste-ridden politics of Bihar, the application of a Kayastha candidate was under discussion with those present arguing both in favour and against the candidate in question. Suddenly, Vajpayee intervened saying, “they are only good as ministers but not for contesting elections”. He was apparently speaking from his own experience. After all, he had over half a dozen Kayastha ministers in his Cabinet hailing from Bihar and Jharkhand, but the party lost heavily in both the states. —
Contributed by Satish Misra, Girja Shankar Kaura and R. Suryamurthy |
You must give what will cost you something... then your gift becomes a sacrifice, which will have value before God. Any sacrifice is useful if it is done out of love. —Mother Teresa Retaliation is counter-poison and poison breeds more poison. The nectar of love alone can destroy the poison of hate. —Mahatma Gandhi Servility and flattery have no relation with Sewa performed towards human beings as an offering to God. — Guru Nanak  |
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