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Violent polls Fighting snow Fame to shame |
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Tri-State Assembly elections
Living history
Crop diversification is a necessity Delhi Durbar Rocket-fuel chemical is found in most breast milk samples
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Violent polls LARGE-scale violence of the kind normally witnessed in Bihar was the order of the day during the polling in the lone Ajnala byelection in Punjab on Wednesday. The tell-tale pictures of Congress and Akali workers clashing with spears and guns, unmindful of the news cameramen recording the shocking scenes, are an abiding proof of the free for all that ensued. It is normal for both parties to put the blame on the other but in this case, perhaps, both were guilty because none held its punches. Even more unfortunate was the attitude of the police deployed to prevent any such eventuality. Its inaction was inexplicable leading to allegations by the Akalis that policemen were under instructions to look the other way while Congressmen settled scores with their rivals. This aspect will have to be looked into impartially if the authenticity of the election results is to be ensured. It is one thing for the election observers to say that law and order is not their responsibility but that of the police. But the election cannot really be called free and fair in the backdrop of so much violence and mayhem. The complaints of Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal regarding rigging and booth-capturing deserve serious notice, unmindful of the fact that the Congress has pooh-poohed the allegations. Ironically, the scene in Bihar, the State notorious for poll violence, has been comparatively peaceful this time, with only 12 deaths reported as against 48 in the 2000 general elections. This followed resolute police action against miscreants and some politicians of criminal bent who had been having a free run all along. The message went home quickly and their bravado made way for a tame surrender. That shows that if there is a will to step in, the police can easily bring the situation under control. What a shame that this determination was not to be seen in Ajnala when it mattered the most. There are reasons to suspect that what happened in villages like Chakk Bala might be played out on a much larger scale in future elections. |
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Fighting snow WHEN the going gets tough, the tough get going. As the fury of the nature was unleashed in the form of soft snowflakes that became deathtraps for many unfortunate souls in Kashmir, the Indian Air Force launched helicopter sorties to supply essential commodities. IAF helicopters have been working round the clock to rescue civilians trapped in the snow, on highways and in villages made inaccessible by the snow. They have rescued ailing local women, school-going children, and stranded tourists. The Army, on the other hand, is on the ground, grappling with the realities of the vagaries of weather. At least 23 jawans have been killed because of the weather, and many more have been injured. In spite of that, the Army has mounted major operations to provide relief to the civilian population. With the civil administration ill-equipped and unable to tackle the situation, it is the Army which is spearheading the relief and rescue efforts in the Valley. Soldiers have provided relief and rescued civilians isolated by the weather. Army technicians have also set up communication facilities and its doctors provided medical relief to the civilian populations. Army reserves of petroleum supplies and even food have been released for the common people. The role of the armed forces in tackling disasters has become so ubiquitous that they are almost taken for granted. The forces must be commended for rising to the occasion and providing humanitarian assistance. General J J Singh’s recently enunciated vision of “people’s army” will get a further fillip since right now normal operations have been suspended and humanitarian assistance has come to the fore. When nature unleashes its might, all those affected by it have to act in conjunction in order to best face it. The leadership role of the Army and the IAF deserves to be saluted by one and all. |
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Fame to shame THIS boy – 17-year-old Saurabh Singh of Ballia – now stands on the burning deck. His alleged achievement of topping the “NASA International Scientist Discovery Examination”, which made him the toast of the country, has now left him scorched after 15 days of fame. Whether the student is to blame or his parents, or the outfit in Kota that collected Rs 46,000 for the dubious certificate, this is truly the triumph of hoax over experience. As much as the perpetrators of the fraud – who must be identified and brought to book – the episode exposes how credulous we are as a people; the government of a country that proclaims itself a superpower too was conned to a point where the celebrity whiz-kid had an audience with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Till Rashtrapati Bhavan clarified that Mr Kalam had never appeared for such an exam in 1960 as claimed and purveyed, the entire establishment and the media were basking in the false glory. Only then was it learnt that there is no such exam conducted by NASA, leave alone Mr Kalam or the late Kalpana Chawla appearing for it to have their record bested by Saurabh Singh. The media swallowed the massive hoax hook, line and sinker. That it did so unwittingly is a greater indictment of its mindless quest for celebrities and not an exonerating factor. Mercifully, Saurabh Singh’s appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was called off after doubts surfaced about the veracity of the boy’s claims of being a “topper”. The indignation caused is bound to lead to a lot of unpleasantness for the boy and his family. But if the willing suspension of disbelief on a mass scale is forgivable, then, perhaps, Saurabh Singh and his parents too should not be persecuted if they were, indeed, victims, and not wilful perpetrators, of the fraud. |
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You have to do what others won’t to achieve what others don’t.
— Unknown
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Tri-State Assembly elections THIS country’s claim to be the world’s largest and thriving democracy is not an empty boast. The international community recognises that India alone in the Third World has held fast to the democratic path for more than half a century. The country’s vast size and great diversities — equivalent to those of Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals — make this achievement all the more impressive. There was, to be sure, a glaring breakdown of Indian democracy during the 19-month nightmare of the Emergency (1975-77). But if this disaster proved anything at all, it established that India would be governed democratically or not at all. The point about recalling all this is to draw attention to a clear and growing danger to democracy here that, if unchecked, could distort the democratic system beyond recognition. Sadly, few seem to be bothered about this presumably because of their belief that since nobody — surely not a weak ruling coalition in New Delhi — can abolish elections and get away with it, democracy would be safe enough. Even those appalled by the steady erosion of the integrity of the electoral process console themselves with the notion that this menace is confined to states like Bihar about which nothing can be done anyhow. So why bother? This attitude is extremely dangerous because an ulcer that nobody cares to treat can easily become a killing cancer, and it is in the nature of cancer to spread. In Bihar itself there has been a stunning deterioration in the state of things from one election to the next, which should be warning enough. To the traditional booth capturing, snatching of voting machines, bomb blasts and shoot-outs were added this time two frightening innovations. The first was the rash of kidnappings of schoolboys in the runup to the poll. All of them were miraculously recovered unharmed on the eve of the first phase of polling! For this bizarre outrage, Mr Lalu Yadav, the Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo and the real ruler of Bihar from Delhi where he is Railways Minister, and his colleague in the Union Cabinet but inveterate foe in the state, the Lok Janshakti Party chief, Mr Ramvilas Paswan, are blaming each other. Secondly, and more shockingly, there has been a dramatic display of the vicious clout of the highly pampered champions of muscle-power even from behind bars. The strangest is the case of Mr Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav who, when shifted from one Bihar prison to another, demonstrated that he could be the lord and master of any jail in the state. The Supreme Court then ordered that he be lodged in Delhi’s high-security Tihar prison. To their discredit, the authorities conducted the transfer in a manner that caused nationally televised riotous scenes at both Patna and Delhi railway stations. Ironically, Mr Yadav’s goons chose to beat up the eager beaver cameramen. As “Pappuji” was being escorted to Tihar, the Patna High Court ordered the release on bail of the dreaded RJD M.P. from Siwan, Mr Shahabuddin. The alarmed district authorities immediately
extended him from Siwan, his home base. But because this was clearly not enough, he had to be detained in prison until after the counting of votes! Several other MPs, including a Union Minister, have similarly been asked to leave the areas of their operations. A rising star among them is Mr Sadhu Yadav, a brother of the Bihar Chief Minister, Mrs Rabri Devi. Though not in jail, he was messing around with the conduct of election in his wife’s constituency of Gopalgunj. He has threatened to “take on” the Election Commission after the poll. This makes him the second politician, after Haryana’s redoubtable Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to draw the battlelines against the EC. Not a paragon of democratic decencies, Mr Chautala had tried to defy several directives of the Election Commission, especially in relation to fresh appointments and massive transfers of civil servants. But the EC’s unwise decision to advance the counting of votes in Haryana by four days to February 23 gave the wily Chief Minister the opportunity he was looking for to vent his spleen on the EC and especially on the Chief Election Commissioner, Mr T.S. Krishnamurthi, personally. In doing so, he used utterly undignified language. While deploring this and supporting the EC in discharge of its onerous duties, it is difficult to absolve either Mr Krishnamurthi or the EC as a whole from their share of blame. At first the CEC had spoken out of turn about Justice U.C. Banerjee’s interim report on the Godhra outrage that was followed by the horrendous communal carnage in Gujarat three years ago. Then came the Commission’s questionable order on the counting of votes in Haryana that the Supreme Court has understandably set aside. Mr Chautala’s petulance might have been aggravated by the exit polls that forecast his shattering defeat. But his grievance against the huge interval between voting and the counting of votes is legitimate. In fact, this problem would not have arisen at all if instead of holding the voting in Haryana on the very first day of the three-phase polling stretched over three weeks the Haryana polling were fixed for the last day. Why this sensible course was not followed remains a mystery. No one can deny the difficulties in holding elections in Bihar where security forces, totalling 70,000, have had to be moved from one egregiously troublesome sector to another. Even so, the electoral process, confined to only three states, could have been expedited, if necessary by mobilising a larger number of security personnel. There is surely a lesson here for the future for not only the Election Commission but also the political parties. Does one need to say more to underscore how badly, clumsily and depressingly the game of democracy is being played in this country? What a shame it is that several of the former Communist countries have been holding elections without having to deploy any troops at all, peacefully and smoothly that India just cannot. Nowhere else in the wide world are shoot-at-sight orders necessary at election time. Nothing could have been more controversial, divisive and explosive than the recent presidential poll in Ukraine. There were massive demonstrations lasting days. The Supreme Court in Kiev cancelled a disputed election and ordered a fresh one, in which the initially defeated candidate won hands down. Power passed into his hands without a hitch. A billion plus Indians should ponder
this. |
Living history COMMODORE Babru Bahan Yadav, Mahavir Chakra — the man who led the charge on Karachi” in our war with Pakistan in 1971. This is how our then Naval Chief, Admiral S.M. Nanda, has referred to him, though the Commodore, on his part, would like to give lion’s share of credit for this first offensive operation of the Indian Navy to the Admiral himself. A city within a city is fast coming up to the South-West of our national capital by the name of Dwarka. Sector 2 of this sub-city has an old-age home suggestively named “Godhuli” that alludes to the dusty setting when cows return home raising dust. The place is meant to provide comfort to the people in the final phase of their life. Commodore Yadav is one of the occupants of this senior citizens’ home. Our shipping, no doubt, once ruled the waves both to our West and East. Tragically, however, seas have since been our weakness for many centuries. In fact, a perception prevailed in our minds for a long while that crossing seas was a sin. When Akbar the Great was face to face with the majesty of the sea for the first time on his conquest of Gujarat, he reacted like a child taken to Disneyland. The mighty Aurangzeb paid protection money to the Portuguese for safety of the royal ladies sailing for Haz. In line with this ethos, our Navy was not assigned any operational task during our wars in 1962 and 1965. Our brave sailors carried a sore inside on this count. Thus, when another war broke out with Pakistan in 1971, our Naval chief had a point to prove. It was decided to go straight at the jugular vein of the Pakistan Navy i.e. their base at Karachi. Three missile boats — Nipat, Nirghat and Veer — were deputed to mount the attack. Two Petya class ships were earmarked to accompany them mainly for air cover. This was no armada of any sort, but a lean and mean sneak force, highly vulnerable to air attack and the coastal batteries of Karachi equipped with 16 inch calibre guns. Against all odds, the task force managed to ship within the striking distance of Karachi. Its missiles then let loose a hell on the harbour, setting its oil storage tanks ablaze, besides sinking or crippling around half a dozen war ships, including Pakistan Navy destroyers - Haider and Shahjehan. All this forced the Pakistan Navy to forget about any offensive designs on our shores. They instead decided to sit in the safety of their harbour. The brave Commodore who, thus, wrote himself in our naval history in this operation has finally dropped anchor in “Godhuli” to enjoy the twilight years of his life. After all, every life has an evening to it, unless some unnatural causes deprive it of this
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Crop diversification is a necessity
PROF H.S. Shergill in his article “Punjab should stick to wheat, paddy” in The Tribune dated February 18 has opposed the plans of reducing area under paddy and wheat as, according to him, it is most economical and the falling watertable is not really a serious problem. Unfortunately, his views are totally at variance with the hard facts of agriculture in the state. After expressing self-contradictory views about the justification of maintaining the existing area under paddy, the author has apparently betrayed his confusion by suggesting the enactment of legislation to tackle the problem of falling watertable and to apply a quota system for slowly reducing the area under these crops. It is pertinent to note that the entire concept of diversification in agriculture is centred, around these two issues viz. declining watertable and reduction in area under paddy, which the author has accepted very candidly. The most glaring ignorance on the part of the author is about the alarmingly fast rate of decline in the watertable of the state. Professor Shergill considers this only a peripheral problem of the rice-wheat cropping system. A periodic record of the watertable in Punjab clearly shows a continuous fall since the introduction of paddy in the state. In the 1960s the watertable in the districts of Patiala, Sangrur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Amritsar was above 6 metres. However, with the start of cultivation of paddy and installation of tubewells, the watertable started declining, which even wiped out the problem of water-logged areas. At present the watertable is declining at an alarming rate of 55 cm a year. The area with the watertable deeper than 10 metres was 3 per cent in 1973 which increased to 90 per cent in 2004. The impact of paddy on the fast decline in the watertable is quite obvious. The water requirement of paddy is 180 cm as compared to 45 cm of cotton, 40 cm of maize and 25 cm of groundnut. The shift in area from these crops to paddy has led to a six-fold increase in the total irrigation water requirement of the state. Dr Shergill has further stated that a mere fall in the watertable in itself does not indicate anything which, in fact, should be considered in terms of optimal level of watertable. It is fallacious to state that such an optimal water level depth is yet to be worked out. The optimal watertable is known to be at the level beyond which centrifugal pumps stop functioning. The optimal watertable depth for shifting the pumping system from centrifugal to submersible pumps is 15 metres. It is an established fact that with a rapid fall in the watertable, the tubewell discharge decreases. So increased demand for energy in the form of electricity and diesel would reduce the profits from paddy. Another implication of the declining watertable is that most of the centrifugal pumps are being replaced by submersible pumps that require still higher energy with an installation cost of about Rs 3,000 crore to Punjab farmers. There are other adverse impacts of the excessive cultivation of paddy which is highly irrigation intensive and requires electricity for pumping out the water. About 45 per cent of the total electricity demand in the agriculture sector is concentrated in the paddy season. It creates a seasonal peak in the electricity demand, which has to be diverted from other sectors of the economy to save the paddy crop. It puts the whole power sector and the industrial production out of gear. The state purchased extra electric power costing around Rs. 650 crore from outside the state during the last paddy season alone for which no additional costs could be charged from farmers. The weekly cuts to industry resulted in a net loss of about Rs 5,000 crore through reduced industrial production. In addition, the continuous cultivation of paddy has led to the deterioration of soil health, air pollution due to the burning of straw, use of agrochemicals and erosion of biodiversity. It is due to such effects of paddy cultivation that diversion of area from paddy has become a biological necessity. It is grossly misleading to paint such a proposal of diversification as confusion in the minds of scientists, policy-makers and farmers. In fact, Professor Shergill seems to have confused it by projecting a better economic viability and feasibility of paddy cultivation. Professor Shergill’s other assertions in favour of competitive advantage of paddy over other alternative crops are equally untenable. It is true that at present the paddy-wheat system is highly economical and has a high degree of complimentarity with the concept of national food security. It, in fact, is only this compulsive requirement of food security that the Government of India ensures MSP and official procurement. There are some other alternative cropping systems that either yield the same or higher level of income over the paddy-wheat combination. A study conducted in the Department of Economics, PAU, showed that the returns over variable costs from the rice-wheat rotation were Rs 19,647 per acre. The Basmati-wheat rotation also yields the same level of income i.e. Rs 19,897 per acre. When summer moong was introduced with wheat and basmati, the returns jumped to Rs 23,716 per acre. Cotton is showing signs of revival. Paddy had replaced cotton in a big way in the last one decade. In 2003-04 the realised yield of cotton was 78 per cent of the potential and the returns were higher by Rs 400 per acre than that of paddy. So there is a potential to increase the area under cotton to the tune of 2 lakh hectares. The introduction of dairy also results in a higher level of income. It was estimated that on a five acre farm, the rice-wheat rotation brought out the net returns of Rs 43,510. When 10 cross-bred cows were introduced at the same farm, the net returns increased to Rs 82,750. Dairy can also be a big source of shifting the area from wheat and rice to fodder crops. It has been argued that MSP cannot be given for other crops whereas the fact is that the Government of India announces minimum support prices for 24 different agricultural commodities, though effective public procurement is operative only in case of wheat and paddy. The Government can procure pulses, coarse cereals, edible oilseeds, cotton, etc at the support prices on the same pattern as of wheat and rice. The Punjab Government has already decided to start the purchase of cotton, rapeseed and mustard, gram and lentil and even cotton by the NAFED. We are importing about 20 lakh tonnes of pulses and about 50 lakh tonnes of edible oils every year. The value of these commodities is worked out to be about Rs 14,000 crore. The author states that the wheat and paddy produced in Punjab are competitive in the international market, but the fact is to the contrary. The developed countries provide huge export and other subsidies, which are unlikely to be reduced in the years to come. They are manipulating these subsidies in one way or the other to bypass provisions of the WTO. Since the operation of WTO in 1995 the market price of wheat and rice in India has always been higher than that of the international market. The international price of wheat and rice is Rs 810 and Rs 1080 per qtl, respectively, whereas our own economic cost of these respective crops is Rs 925 and Rs 1263 per qtl. Thus, Punjab can ill-afford to continue with the existing acreage under paddy, which is a great drain on underground water, energy and soil health. There is no dearth of viable alternative crops and farm enterprises, which can easily replace the income being obtained from an exhaustive crop like paddy. It is only due to policy distortions, especially for the support price and procurement procedures that alternative measures are appearing to be less economical. The writer is the Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. |
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Delhi Durbar PREFERRING to remain in the shadows, Birender Singh can emerge as the dark horse for the Chief Minister’s post in Haryana. Unlike Bhajan Lal and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who have thrown their hat in the ring, Birender Singh is banking on his credentials of being a young leader and grandson of Sir Chhotu Ram. Even as the faction leaders are eyeing the Chief Minister’s “kursi” in Haryana, they are all acutely aware this is not possible without the benevolence of Sonia Gandhi.
Chautala-EC standoff The standoff between Om Prakash Chautala and the Election Commission came to a head the other day in the Supreme Court. Chautala has been smarting on several counts and is furious that the EC has been needlessly interfering in Haryana in
transferring officers and blocking socio-economic programmes till the democratic process is completed. He has attacked the constitutional body for the wide gap of more than three weeks between the day of polling and that of counting. During this period the administration in Haryana has virtually come to a halt. The EC had to cut a sorry figure when the Supreme Court insisted that the Conduct of Election Rules should not be
contravened. Thus, the EC’s decision to advance the counting for Haryana came a cropper.
Bhiwani as hub
of industry There is no doubt that Bhajan Lal’s son Kuldeep Bishnoi has played a key role in campaigning for the party. Having stolen a march over Bansi Lal, Kuldeep Bishnoi wants his constituency, Bhiwani, to be developed as a model industrial hub. He believes that necessary concessions and tax holidays can be provided to generate employment and bring industry to Bhiwani.
Economists at
work The first full-Budget of the UPA government is being keenly observed by all and sundry. For one, this is going to be one of the very few
occasions when so many professional economists are actively involved in the Budget-making exercise. Leading the team is the Prime Minister. Sources say that former RBI Governor C Rangarajan is a key member of this core group. The team also includes Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Dr Rakesh Mohan.
Jagjit Singh admirers Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur, are lovers of shabad and ghazals. The other day he released Jagjit Singh’s new album “Sai Dhun”, the sale proceeds of which are meant for the tsunami survivors. Stating that Jagjit Singh’s music provided serenity after a hectic day, the Prime Minister said he and Gursharan Kaur enjoyed the singer’s shabad, kirtan and
bhajans.
**** Contributed by S Satyanarayanan, Prashant Sood, R Suryamurthy and Gaurav Choudhury. |
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Rocket-fuel chemical is found in SCIENTISTS on Tuesday reported that perchlorate, a toxic component of rocket fuel, is contaminating ``virtually all’’ samples of women’s breast milk and is found at average levels five times greater than in cow’s milk. The contaminant, which originates mostly at defense industry plants, previously had been detected in various food and water supplies around the country. But the study by Texas Tech University’s Institute of Environmental and Human Health is the first to investigate breast milk. The findings concern health experts because infants and fetuses are the most vulnerable to the thyroid-impairing effects of the chemical. Breast milk from 36 women in 18 states, including California, was sampled, and all contained traces of perchlorate. Perchlorate blocks the nutrient iodide and inhibits thyroid hormones, which are necessary for the normal brain development and cellular growth of a fetus or infant. A baby with impaired thyroid development may have neurological defects that result in lower IQ or learning disabilities. The researchers recommended that pregnant and nursing women block the effects of perchlorate by taking iodine supplements as a precaution. At the levels they found in breast milk, the scientists reported that a 1-month old infant would take in enough perchlorate to exceed a safe level, called a reference dose, recommended last month by a panel of the National Academy of Sciences to protect infants from impaired thyroid function. “It is obvious that the NAS safe dose ... will be exceeded for the majority of infants,’’ according to the report published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. Some infants would be so highly exposed that they would exceed levels that have altered the brain structure of animals in laboratory tests. The findings come as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is developing an enforceable limit on the amount of perchlorate in drinking water based on the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences panel. Currently there is no national standard. “This is not just another study,’’’ said Renee Sharp, a senior analyst at the Environmental Working Group, which has advocated a stringent national standard. ``It ends the questions about whether women are passing along perchlorate to their kids through breast milk, and the sky-high levels the scientists found put more than half the kids over the safe levels the NAS now recommends.’’ Environmentalists have urged the EPA to set its standard based on the body weight and perchlorate intake of an infant rather than an adult. Toxicologists say that would likely mean a standard of a few parts per billion. Pentagon officials have said that would shut down many water systems across the country and cost the military and its contractors billions of dollars in cleanup costs. They have instead lobbied for a standard of around 200 parts per billion based on thyroid studies of adults. Sharp said that the new findings “will practically force EPA officials to write a drinking water standard that protects infants — not just healthy adults.’’ California has set its own public health goal of 6 parts per billion but it is not an enforceable limit. The Texas Tech researchers, led by Andrea Kirk, reported that the perchlorate in breast milk is not linked to the water the mothers drink. Instead, the main source is likely to be food, which apparently is tainted from irrigation water. The finding that perchlorate is pervasive in breast milk and reaches high levels is somewhat of a surprise to toxicologists, because, unlike many other industrial chemicals, it does not build up in tissues over time. Instead, it appears that the amount passed onto the infant in breast milk is determined by what the mother has just eaten. —
By arrangement with LA Times-Washington Post |
Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action. — Mahatma Gandhi Prayer is light; charity is a proof; patience is illumination; and the Quran is an argument for or against you. Everyone starts his day and is a vendor of his soul, either freeing it or bringing about its ruin. — Mohammed
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