 |
|
In Modi’s service King vs
Maoists |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Sleep
of unreason Asians are night birds of a kind Long years back, on a fateful midnight, Jawaharlal Nehru spoke of how “when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom”. The oratorical flourish is all too well remembered. In retrospect, his words appear to have acquired oracular foresight too.
Shocking signals
When cricket
threatened peace
Aerospace Command a
necessity: new Air Chief Media:
‘faster, looser and cheaper’ Delhi
Durbar
|
In Modi’s service THE irony could not have gone unnoticed. The day newspapers carried reports of BJP president L. K. Advani defending Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, they also carried reports of the latter evoking protests on his arrival at the Kolkata airport. Mr Advani has praised him for his administrative skills that have brought prosperity to the western state. Had that really been the case, a significant section of the party legislators in Gujarat would not have protested against his continuance in office. Mr Advani is certainly privy to the goings-on in the party as otherwise he would not have advised party MLAs not to go public with their protest against Mr Modi. The party chief may succeed in silencing them but their perception of the Chief Minister is unlikely to change. Needless to say, Gujarati enterprise predates the Indian diaspora. Across the darkest reaches of Africa, it was this enterprise which followed the British Raj. Little surprise, the state had been in the forefront of development even before Mr Modi arrived on the scene. Again, it was this enterprise that helped Gujarat overcome one of the worst earthquakes in a short period. Thus the progress the state has achieved is in spite of Mr Modi and not because of him. As for his administrative acumen, it would suffice to recall that then Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee was forced to remind him about his "raj dharma" which, in modern parlance, means the rule of law. Despite the advice, Mr Modi could not be even-handed with his "subjects". Even in terms of pure economics, the pogrom that resulted in the killing of no less than 1,000 people caused greater damage to the state's economy and image than even the earthquake. Yet, it is this man who has been given a clean chit by Mr Advani. By springing to his defence, Mr Advani wants the dissidents to know that he takes a dim view of their conduct. While Mr Advani may succeed in silencing Mr Modi's critics, he will hardly be able to change the people's perception of Moditva, which was mainly responsible for the BJP's defeat in the last Lok Sabha elections. How truly it is said, it is impossible to wake up a person who pretends to be fast asleep! |
|
King vs Maoists India
has once again reminded Nepal that King Gyanendra and the political parties there must join hands to deal with the multiple problems the country is faced with, including the threat from the Maoists. This is in the interest of both the King and the people of Nepal. India cannot resume its military supplies to Nepal unless the democratic process, suspended since February 1, is revived. However, there is no hope of the King acting on these lines immediately. This inference can be drawn from the statements of Nepalese Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey, who met his Indian counterpart K Natwar Singh and others in New Delhi last week. He continued to insist that the King’s decisions were unavoidable under the circumstances. There is the view that the Maoists’ growing links with the Naxalites in India and Pakistan’s offer of military aid to King Gyanendra’s regime would make India review its stand on the Nepalese situation. It is argued that India cannot afford to persist with a stand which indirectly goes in favour of the Maoist drive to take over the administration in Nepal. But the argument applies to King Gyanendra also, whose anti-democratic action has only helped the insurgents. He cannot continue his fight against the Maoist menace without the cooperation of the people’s elected representatives or of the Indian government. Actually, it is the King who needs to change the course he has taken to stop the Maoists in their tracks. An end to the suppression of the democratic forces will obviously result in India reviving its military and other supplies to Nepal. The US and the UK, which have withdrawn their envoys from Kathmandu, may also reverse their decision. This will lead to an environment in which the Maoists cannot feel emboldened. The earlier King Gyanendra has another look at his policy, the better it will be for his country. |
|
Sleep of unreason Long
years back, on a fateful midnight, Jawaharlal Nehru spoke of how “when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom”. The oratorical flourish is all too well remembered. In retrospect, his words appear to have acquired oracular foresight too. The findings of a global survey by ACNielsen confirm that we continue to burn the midnight oil more than many other denizens of planet Earth. The survey reveals that more Asians, from India to Indonesia, sleep less: they go to bed later than people in the US and Europe, but, surprisingly, are up earlier. Indonesians are the world’s most early birds, with 72 per cent out of bed before 6 am even if they went to bed in the wee hours. HongKongers and Taiwanese, too, don’t go to bed any earlier than other Asians, but they more than make up in bed by rising late, often after 9 am. Americans and Europeans, along with Aussies and Kiwis, exemplify the ‘early to bed, early to rise’ adage, which may well explain their being, certainly, healthy and wealthy; as to their being wise, the owls of the world may not agree. These sleep patterns are, indeed, revealing, for the general belief is that people in the tropical countries sleep more because they need more sleep. Yet across Asia-Pacific, the best and healthiest sleepers are in Australia and New Zealand. While counting sheep may come more naturally in those habitats, the researchers say that it is working and waking habits that account for Asians surviving as a sleepless race. Maybe, they have more catching up to do. As the survey suggests, people have to juggle their time between work and family, and this forces them to adapt to longer waking hours. The survey, however, is silent on whether ‘waking’ necessarily makes for ‘working’, and does not clarify whether those who sleep less dream more. |
|
It were not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that makes
horse-races. — Mark Twain |
Shocking signals Taken
separately, the political shenanigans we have witnessed in recent days and weeks are nothing to write home about. Governors' role in the states has frequently come in for criticism. Political parties' desire to wrest power has taken such extreme forms that a party like the BJP thinks nothing of sequestering MLAs in impregnable fortresses to guard against their defection. And central leaderships of parties employ experts in their ranks to engineer circumstances to give their party men victory. It was the conjunction of factors in Goa and then in Jharkhand that has shocked the country and shown the Congress party leadership in particular in poor light. The manner in which the Goa Governor acted first to dismiss the BJP government and then to swear in a Congress government was comical, if it had not been tragic. And the Jharkhand Governor seemingly emulated his colleague by swearing in a JMM-led government only to face the ire of the BJP and the Supreme Court. In both these instances, the Manmohan Singh government had belatedly to intervene to impose President's rule on Goa and to dismiss the JMM government so that the BJP-led dispensation could be sworn in. The question is, how did things come to such a pass? Who is to blame for these demonstrations of utter impropriety and stupidity? Importantly, how can the nation guard against this blatant form of political skulduggery? Governors are political appointees by the ruling party at the Centre. The better ones have traditionally balanced their affiliations with the Central government with an attempt at doing justice in crucial times. Inevitably, the most difficult moments arise when competing parties lay claim to office on the basis of co-opting unaffiliated members. It speaks volumes for the calibre of the present holders of office that they interpreted their function as one of pleasing the Central government, rather than following a set of well-known norms. Second, the country seems to have evolved a political culture in which the holding of power in a state at almost any price is worth all the skulduggery one can think of. Principles or party ideology are given the go-by, extravagant promises are made to attract individual legislators and party strategists are commandeered to twist arms and give inducements in order to produce the magic numbers. One feels almost sorry for Governors, torn between the insistent pleas of rival claimants and envoys of the Central ruling party camping in the state capital to make their point. Decades ago, it was Haryana that had set the fashion for the "Aya Ram, Gaya Ram" phenomenon in Indian politics. It has now become the rule, rather than the exception. The marvel is the utter cynicism and opportunism practised by political parties in achieving their goal of usurping power. It is now the accepted norm that those denied the party ticket will contest elections as Independents and will seek their price (imagine the five Independents supporting the BJP-led government in Jharkhand being all made ministers!). Caste and religion are obvious factors in forming short-term or longer-term coalitions, with the concept of secularism often pressed into service for justifying almost anything. The party system has, as a consequence, been grievously eroded, often being nothing more than opportunistic groupings. One might deplore the BJP's tactic in converting Rajasthan, a state ruled by the party, into a free tourist destination for wayward legislators, but the prime responsibility must rest with the ruling party at the Centre. Events in Goa and Jharkhand would not have spun out of control had there been a firm hand in Delhi making it clear to the Governors of the two states that it expected nothing more or less of them than a faithful implementation of the Constitution and fair play. Whether Congress minders sent to the states queered the pitch is immaterial. The Centre did not give signals that were clear enough. Which brings us to the central problem of the ruling dispensation in Delhi. Given the electoral arithmetic and the nature of the dual arrangement in the Congress, Dr Manmohan Singh had a hard act to follow. By and large, he succeeded in coping with fractious coalition partners and the Communists who chose to support the government without being part of it. Tempers had run particularly high in Bihar, with two of the coalitions leaders, Mr Laloo Yadav and Mr Ramvilas Paswan, at each other's throats and the Congress played a game of one-upmanship in tying up with the JMM in Jharkhand, to Mr Yadav's disadvantage. In an act of atonement, the Congress pledged its support to Mr Yadav in Bihar's government formation. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Congress fell between two stools. The Congress president and chairman of the United Progressive Alliance, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, seemed to be otherwise preoccupied, for a time in the enactment of the Dandi march in Gujarat, and the Prime Minister was apparently concentrating on more immediate tasks of governance. The result was that ruling party strategists sent to the states interpreted their briefs extravagantly and the Prime Minister was not sufficiently alive to the political situation to take firm action on time. After its run of failures, the BJP has taken heart and is exuding a new confidence, more for the record than in substance. Whatever the fate of its new government in Jharkhand, the BJP has not covered itself in glory by making prisoners of independent MLAs for a time. Nor was the conduct of its members in Goa above reproach. The once-proud boast of the party about discipline and probity has long been abandoned in the rough and tumble of politics and the six years of power the party enjoyed at the Centre has given it an obsessive hankering for returning to the seat of power at almost any price in the states and in Delhi. For the Congress, the task is clear. At the very least, a clear signal must be sent out to all Governors that the Centre expects them to do their duty without fear or favour, and greater care must be taken in future in selecting Governors. Given the constraints of the Constitution, the institution cannot be easily altered. Above all, the Congress must streamline and coordinate action in dealing with political crises affecting the party and the government. The division of labour between the party president and the Prime Minister did seem to work well in the initial stages, but recent crises have shown its
limitations. |
When cricket threatened peace Does cricket really promote peace? It is, no doubt, playing a cementing role in the case of India and Pakistan. It has given a fillip to the idea of people-to-people contacts to bridge the gulf between the two countries. But in my own case its role has been negative. It threatened to give me many sleepless nights. And if one doesn’t have adequate sleep during the night one is good for nothing throughout the day. So, it could have led to a serious problem had I not acted in time. The cause would be cricket (my apologies to cricket fans). The trouble began when I told my wife last Friday that I had a plan to register my presence at Mohali’s Cricket Stadium. I am no cricket enthusiast and she is aware of this. But that had nothing to do with my programme. One could find in the stadium many people like me having only rudimentary understanding of cricket. The reason is that being there with a VIP pass in your hand gives you a different kind of feeling. The very mention of the fact adds to one’s position in society. Actually, as a journalist I wished to get a feel of the atmosphere. This was why I tried here and there to get a pass though in vain. Then one day my prayers were answered. A resourceful friend offered to take me to the stadium with his pass. He told me that he could manage an entry without that piece of paper. He belongs to a different class. He offered to help me when I expressed my keenness to watch the match while being in the midst of the privileged people. He had the option of keeping quiet. But this is not the trait of a friend in need. When I mentioned this fact in my house everybody was happy except one person — my wife. Actually, she did not show much interest in what I said. However, the moment it was brought to her notice that soon I would be leaving for the stadium, she burst out: “What is this? Is cricket so important? There are better things to do at home on an off-day (which is what Friday is in my case). Moreover, this is no justice — you enjoying cricket and I suffering loneliness.” This was enough to force me to scrap my programme. I told my friend to excuse me, though I was thankful to him for bringing me closer to realising my Mohali dream. But now I had a different problem. I had to choose between cricket and peace. The choice was obvious. Cricket might have increased the earnings of the businessmen in Chandigarh. It may be a good source of entertainment for others. But I dread the very mention of the seven-letter word. Who would like to have one’s life thrown out of gear? Thank God, I did not enter the Mohali
stadium.
|
Aerospace Command a necessity: new Air
Chief
Facing tough challenges of modernisation and new warfare concepts, the Indian Air Force (IAF) is looking for space-based assets to overcome the 21st century threats, and steadily making up for the depleting strength of its ageing aircraft by inducting advanced mission avionics and precision guided munitions (PGMs) as force multipliers. There is no formal decision yet on setting up the Aerospace Command, but it is important for the IAF to go higher to ensure effective control over the Indian airspace, particularly when satellites and other high-altitude assets would play a dominant role in any future war. In an interaction with these writers on different occasions, the new Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi, agreed that the Aerospace Command "is a necessity" and a "natural progression" for the IAF. Future wars would be fought with real-time information integration and information dominance. Command of low and high altitudes, including space, would have to be managed by the Air Force. World War-I began with dogfights at 5000 feet. They moved higher with the evolution of oxygen masks and jet engines, and in the 1970s, the United States SR 71 and the Soviet MiG 25 reconnaissance aircraft touched the edge of space at 100,000 feet. With the inevitable advent of newer technologies, going higher is natural for the 21st century IAF. Air Chief Marshal Tyagi, the 20th IAF Chief of Staff, and the 17th Indian to hold this esteemed position, said that the IAF would look only at the latest platforms and new digital technologies which are network-centric, and managed from land, air and space-based platforms. As for the ageing
MiG 21s and other Soviet origin jets, he said that it would be some time before the IAF got the new 126 Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) it wanted as well as the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). But it had taken a quantum jump in force multiplication by inducting the SU 30MKI aircraft and precision strike technology through guided munitions, sensors and weapons management software for its existing fleet. In fact, a single SU 30MKI can be more lethal in firepower than an entire MiG 21 squadron but then, an air force needs different types of aircraft for different roles. The new MRCAs, whose induction is likely by the end of the decade, would be far superior in endurance and technology to the aircraft they are replacing, and would meet the IAF requirements till 2030. India has sent an initial Request for Information (RoI) to the United States for F-16, France for Mirage 2000-5, Russia for MiG-29K and Sweden for JAS 39 Gripen. All the aircraft in competition have 21st century production features. The US is keen to sell its F-16. If the IAF goes for it, then it should be the latest Block-60 series, designated F-16 E/F. Its first deliveries are being made only from May 2005 to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force. The F-16E/F is a new generation aircraft, better than the US and Israeli Block 50/52 versions. Both these countries, however, are bound to have some innovative surprises for their respective air forces due to their electronic warfare prowess. India has to keep this in mind and whatever the choice, the IAF would have to introduce some decisive edge by integrating its own secret warfare management tools by delving into the highly talented Indian IT software industry. A new aircraft is considered as inducted into an air force only when three or four of its squadrons become operational. It is important accordingly for Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), which is the lifeline of the IAF, to keep pace with production requirements and ensure that its assembly lines are carefully streamlined to guarantee continuity of supplies not only of SU 30MKIs, but also that of LCAs and MRCAs as and when they start. Whatever the final choice, India would buy only an initial batch of about 20 aircraft in a flyaway condition with the rest to be assembled and manufactured by HAL. The Air Chief Marshal disclosed some positive developments: HAL will deliver the first two Indian-assembled SU 30 MKI aircraft to the Air Force on March 21, adding to its existing fleet of 50 of these frontline jets. And also that the Air Force has inducted all the six IL-78 refuellers it had ordered, giving long-range capability to its Sukhois, Jaguars and Mirage 2000s. It was due to these flying fuel stations that IAF Jaguars went to Alaska for an exercise with the US Air Force last year, crossing the Atlantic in one go. HAL is to deliver eight SU 30MKIs every year to complete an order for some 150 more of these long-range, air-dominance jets. A similar pace is also expected for the LCAs from 2007-08 onwards. The IAF also received ten new and upgraded Mirage 2000 from France last year while a proposal to buy 12 Mirage 2000-5 jets from Qatar is awaiting government clearance. The IAF has already ordered 17 two-seater and 20 single seat additional Jaguars from HAL. Due to the political and bureaucratic indecision of the late 1980s and 1990s, and the resulting delay in ordering replacements for the MiGs, the IAF would lose half a dozen of its 39 squadrons this decade. But, thankfully, steps are already under way at the Defence Ministry to make up for this delay. |
|
Media: ‘faster, looser and cheaper’ Consumers confront an ever-broader river of news from myriad sources, but the standard for gathering and presenting the information tends to be “faster, looser and cheaper” than in the past, according to a survey of the news business released on Monday by a media watchdog group. Internet blogs and cable television programs have led the trend toward a “journalism of assertion” that relies less on reporting than personal opinion, reported the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which is affiliated with Columbia University. That trend makes it more important for all journalists “to document the reporting process more openly so that audiences can decide for themselves whether to trust it,” the organisation concluded in its annual report. On two of the top media stories of 2004, the newspapers, magazines, radio, television and the Internet merited a mixed verdict, the study found. On one hand, the study's review of 250 randomly selected stories buttressed the complaint that President Bush got worse coverage than Sen. John F. Kerry in the 2004 presidential race. Coverage of the war in Iraq, on the other hand, tended to be far more neutral than some critics had charged — with 2,200 stories containing roughly an even mix of positive, negative and neutral accounts. The second annual report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which is based in Washington, focused more on long-term trends and future prospects than on content. The considerable change facing the industry is revealed in a few facts: In just six months, online advertising has increased 30 percent to just under $10 billion and estimated readership of blogs has increased 58 percent. About 32 million Americans say they have obtained information from Web journals. Tom Rosenstiel, director of the research project, said that with the growth in Internet commentary, the culture of opinion journalism has expanded exponentially. Such reporting has its value — exposing, for example, inadequate reporting by CBS News on memos that referred to Bush's military service. But it can also lead the public astray, the report found, such as when it fomented the “unfounded conspiracy theory” that the Republicans stole the presidential election in Ohio. Rather than taking the time to gather and scrutinize each piece of information — the model for the mainstream media — the report said some Internet reporters hewed to another philosophy: “Publish anything, especially points of view, and the reporting and verification will occur afterward in the response of fellow bloggers.” Although the traditional media continue to have struggles of their own, the public's view of the believability of news organisations has stabilised somewhat in the last two years, according to the study, which relied on research by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. About 35 percent of Americans said the media get the facts straight. Only better reporting and increased transparency about tactics will help the media regain credibility, the study concluded. “Since citizens have a deeper range of information at their fingertips, the level of proof in the press must rise accordingly,” it said. “In effect, the era of trust-me journalism has passed and the era of show-me journalism has begun.” The study found reporting of the conflict had slightly more stories with a clearly negative tone than stories with a clearly positive tone — 25 percent negative, compared with 20 percent positive. The largest number, 35 percent, had no decided tone, and another 20 percent were on multiple subjects with no apparent tilt. Newspaper coverage most closely mirrored that balance, while Fox News had the most pronounced slant. The cable television outlet aired twice as many positive as negative pieces about the war. That finding may be partly related to a larger tendency at Fox to allow on-air personalities to offer their personal opinions. Seven out of 10 Fox stories reviewed in the study included opinions not attributed to reporting. That happened in less than one of 10 CNN stories and in less than one in three stories aired on MSNBC. Rosenstiel linked the opinionated nature of Fox programs partly to big-name personalities such as Bill O'Reilly, whose programs are built largely around his musings. But even field reporters on the network employ a colloquial style. In one instance, a Fox newsperson expressed hope that Iraqi forces, rather than Americans, captured a terrorism suspect. In another, a reporter speculated that Martha Stewart might want to buy back her company's stock after the price reached a low
ebb.
— LA Times-Washington Post |
|
|
Delhi Durbar When
the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs met last Friday to review the general political situation, Jharkhand in particular, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is believed to have stressed that the uncertainty with government formation in the fledgling state must end. Jharkhand and Goa had caused avoidable embarrassment to the UPA government, laying it bare to the charge of using the Governors as agents of the Centre in the murder of democracy. Dr Singh’s insistence as also that of Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament that the government had no role to play in Jharkhand or Goa failed to convince the Opposition. The Supreme Court’s intervention in Jharkhand advancing the date of the confidence vote added a new dimension. Clearly, the Prime Minister did not want to prolong the agony in Jharkhand where JMM leader and Chief Minister Shibu Soren appeared nowhere near garnering a simple majority of 41 members in the 81-member assembly. The last straw was the bedlam in the assembly which failed to take up the vote of confidence as directed by the apex court. Under the circumstances, the Centre urged Soren to submit his resignation. He was reluctant to let go the one opportunity that had come his way. It required some forceful persuasion late in the night both by the Congress leadership and the Jharkhand Governor, Syed Sibtey Razi, to bring round Soren, who grudgingly threw in the towel. In any case both the NDA and UPA camps are convinced no government in Ranchi can last more than six months. For the moment, Soren’s dream of lording over Jharkhand has come crashing down. Who
prompted Rahul Gandhi’s dharna? A big question doing the rounds in the corridors of power is who motivated Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi to stage a demonstration before the Gandhi statue in the Parliament House complex last week. Three names are mentioned, but no one is prepared to own the idea that made the youthful Gandhi hold the centrestage even as it gave an
opportunity to the Opposition to raise a finger against the Congress heir apparent. Journalist-turned politician Rajiv Shukla, Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh and New Delhi Lok Sabha MP Ajay Maken are said to have led Gandhi to come out and stage a dharna. Sensitive assignment for Dilip Sinha It is second time lucky for Dilip Sinha, who took over as the new Joint Secretary (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran) division of the Ministry of External Affairs on March 1. Last year he was appointed
JS (XP) and Spokesman of the MEA. But days later, a fresh order was issued and Navtej Sarna was asked to continue as JS (XP). Sinha had to wait for some weeks before he was appointed JS (Establishment) in the MEA. Today he is heading the most happening division of the MEA. The post of JS (PAI) is arguably the most sensitive in the MEA after Foreign Secretary, and in many ways, as pivotal as JS (Americas). Sinha has taken over from Arun Singh, the man who saw Indo-Pak relations swinging from a near-war situation to detente. Singh has every reason to go to Israel as India’s Ambassador as a contented diplomat. During has tenure the nuclear rivals not only started smoking the peace pipe but also completed one round of the Composite Dialogue
process. Contributed by Satish Misra, Rajeev Sharma and S. Satyanarayanan |
It has been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say, do not resist evil: but whosoever smites you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. — Jesus Christ Purity of speech and hospitality is Islam. — Prophet Muhammad When a man gives up completely all the desires of the mind, and himself delights in his Atman alone, then he is said to be a man of steady wisdom. — Sri Krishna The only true duty is to be unattached and to work as free beings, to give up all work unto God. — Swami Vivekananda That alone is good which pleases God. — Guru Nanak  |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
