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Indo-US deal on track Murder most foul |
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Small family norm
Managing defence personnel
The call of the drums
1965 war: facts and fiction Electronic activism on fuel prices Delhi
Durbar
From the pages of
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Indo-US deal on track Wednesday’s exchange of views between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush in Washington showed that nothing would be allowed to come in the way of July’s Indo-US agreement for cooperation in nuclear power production for peaceful purposes. Both sides are fully committed to pushing it through. While the deal has been debated in India and approved by Parliament, as pointed out by Dr Manmohan Singh, the US Congress is expected to be on the side of President Bush. There is no reason to doubt the US commitment when Mr Bush has declared that he is going to get the Congress approval soon. Both sides gave the impression that they would not allow the Iranian factor to become a stumbling block. The US would obviously want India to take care of its concerns vis-à-vis the Iranian nuclear programme, but that does not mean that India’s interests in Iran can be ignored. President Bush appears to be working to build a consensus over the Iranian question with a view to referring the issue to the UN Security Council if Teheran does not close down its nuclear power plants, which, it claims, are meant for peaceful purposes. The Indian view, of course, is different in the sense that diplomacy must be given the maximum chance to tackle the issue. But India and the US are at the same wavelength so far as the cause of nuclear non-proliferation is concerned. This is clear from Dr Manmohan Singh’s reiteration that “India remains resolutely opposed to any programme of weapons of mass destruction”. Considering the US President’s commitment, the lobbies working in Washington against the agreement with India are unlikely to succeed. India has an impeccable nuclear non-proliferation record. Moreover, the US desire to take its relationship with India to a new level is primarily guided by its own regional and global interests. Since there is commonality of interests in various areas like terrorism, promotion of democracy and nuclear non-proliferation, the two countries will find it easier to further strengthen their relations. Irritants can always be overcome if the relations are friendly and there are commitments and the will to do so.
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Murder most foul AS time passes and society progresses, one expects certain social evils to die a natural death. At least it is thought that they will be on the decline. But defying hopes, the recent seminar on female foeticide held in Delhi has brought to light the fact that this evil is on the rise instead. Nearly one million abortions are still done and most of these are cases of female foeticide, stunned participants were told. The consequences of this mass murder are appalling. Female population of the country is fast disappearing. Child sex ratio has marked a sharp decline to below 900 girls per 1,000 boys in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi and Gujarat, according to the 2001 census. Punjab has got the obnoxious “kudi-maar” reputation. Neighbouring Haryana is not far behind. Southwest district of Delhi, Kurukshetra in Haryana and Union Territories like Chandigarh, which are considered prosperous regions, have recorded the worst 50-point decline in the child sex ratio in the last decade. Due to this gender-specific extermination, the social and human fabric of society is under great strain. In such situations, there is a standard cry to tighten law to punish the wrongdoers firmly. But law alone cannot tackle this problem as long as society does not contribute fully. For instance, there is a ban on ultrasound tests for sex determination. But it is an open secret that such tests go on regardless, so much so that by a rough estimate, some two million ultrasounds are performed every year. As long as the insatiable preference for a male issue remains in vogue, the female infants will be at a grave risk. Ironically, women themselves contribute to this selective killing, if not in their capacity as mothers then as mothers-in-law. How inhuman it is to sniff out a life just because it is not male! Yet, people continue to have two faces. One is the public face. Private beliefs in many cases have a son bias. When daughters do not have the right to perform even the last rites of their parents, how can they ever rise to an equal position? Society will keep them under jackboots at its own peril.
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Small family norm UNION Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar’s about-turn on the two-child norm for panchayat members comes as a great surprise, particularly because there has been no change in the Centre’s policy on the need to check the increasing population growth from the grassroots level. He has reportedly written to the states to have a “relook” at the legislation following his ministry’s report that the law on the small family norm has led to “more atrocities on women” as also problems like bigamy, the neglect of the girl child and children being given for adoption. Clearly, these problems purportedly faced by states like Chhattisgarh and Haryana are not serious enough as to call for a rethink of the norm. On the contrary, these are the ministry’s excuses for its failure to enforce the legislation properly. Why find fault with the legislation if atrocities against women increase or the people have no access to suitable contraceptives? The Centre and the states should better tackle such problems through effective administrative measures like, say, widening the basket of contraceptives. Apparently, there has never been any kind of organised opposition to the population stabilisation programme in any state because the people, even those belonging to the lower strata, are not against the small family norm in principle. Therefore, it won’t be difficult for the Centre and the states to popularise the norm. In fact, the legislation’s scope should be expanded from panchayats to Parliament and state legislatures, at least until the population growth gets stabilised. Those states reviewing the norm would do well to draw lessons from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu where the human development indicators and overall health delivery systems are far better than in any of the northern states. Given the political will, every state can achieve this. Suffice it to mention, while upholding the disqualification of a Haryana panchayat member in 2003, the Supreme Court ruled that disqualification concerning the right to contest an election for having more than two children does not contravene any fundamental right, nor does it cross the “limits of reasonability”. Rather, it is a disqualification “conceptually devised in the national interest”.
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Men will not be content to manufacture life: they will want to improve on it. — J.D. Bernal
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Managing defence personnel AT the heart of effectiveness of the armed forces lies its system of personnel management. The adage “Man behind the gun” is still of great relevance despite the technological advancements that have changed the contours of the modern battlefield. Soldiers are often called upon in the course of their duty to make the ultimate sacrifice. This is not easy unless they have the highest degree of dedication, discipline and morale Fighting effectiveness, which is the sum total of the man and the machine, must be maintained at the highest possible level. Huge resources spent in the defence budget every year are of little avail if the man wielding these weapons is not motivated. Motivation is sustained by good leadership. Great emphasis is placed on the leadership in the armed forces, a quality which is fundamentally crucial in the officer corps. The quality of the officer corps is extremely important. The organisation of the officer corps within the armed forces is pyramidal in nature, structured to meet the requirements of the Services. Upward movement in the structure is severely curtailed by the limited vacancies available in the rung above. This results in unavoidable supercession, to a degree, which is rarely seen in any other field in the country. Often good officers, who would have normally gone ahead had they been in any other service, are left behind. For example, in the Indian Administrative Service, every officer normally is promoted to the Joint Secretary level. In the armed forces, however, promotion to the equivalent rank is barely possible for one out of every two hundred officers. That it takes place more than 10 years later than in the other central services, is another story. Frustration and resentment, therefore, build in the system at every selection grade level. The Services have tried to grapple with this problem with cadre reviews without much success. Apart from the promotion prospects, the other reason for dissatisfaction is the equating of ranks with other central services. The armed forces are often called upon to operate with the other services. The Joint Secretary rank was initially equivalent to that of a Brigadier. However, with degradation and erosion of ranks over the years, this equation is no longer there and today a Major-General is equated to a Joint Secretary. Apart from being risky, the path leading up to this rank in the armed forces is so tortuous that this inequality becomes a source of constant dissatisfaction. Every effort by the armed forces to retain the equivalence of their structure has met with little or no success. Low promotion prospects and the lack of respect and esteem, which pervades due to inadequate equivalence with other civil services, are some of the causes of lowering the morale and consequently the overall health of the officer corps in the armed forces. The basic fighting unit in the armed forces is a ship of the fleet in the Navy, a squadron of aircraft in the Air Force or a battalion of troops in the Army. This is the business end which measures the fighting effectiveness of the service. Due to the rigours of the assignment, both mental and physical, it is essential that such a unit is commanded by physically fit persons. Age is, therefore, a vital factor. The older the commanding officer, the greater are the chances of lack of effectiveness and fighting ability. Traditionally, the rank of Captain in the Navy is the highest rank of a commanding officer of a fleet ship like an aircraft carrier or a destroyer/frigate. The age of such a commanding officer should not be more than 37 or 38 years, preferably 35. Fifteen years of service experience is enough to enable command functions of such units to be carried out satisfactorily. The age of the commanding officers in all-three armed forces is well above this mark. Besides the graying of the services, another problem that has afflicted the system due to the proliferation of ranks is that the command and staff functions have become intermingled. The commanding officer perforce has to report to the Chief of Staff rather than the commander. This vitiates the line function of the command and leads to much heartburning. This is manifested by the growing number of officers seeking recourse to courts for redressing their grievances. Mostly these emanate from the promotion system. There was a time when not being promoted was accepted as part of life in the Services. An occupational hazard, at best! At worst one would seek premature retirement to make good elsewhere in life. Not these days. In fact, what has made things worse is that it is the senior officers who have led the way to the courts. What example they set for their juniors is not thought of. Such cases have been on the increase and this does not portend well for the Services. The promotion system, based on numerical assessment, itself is amenable to manipulation and there is growing lack of confidence in its fairness and transparency. What also happens is that officers are not prepared to take any risk or chance of offering a different view from that of the “establishment” - the “zero error syndrome”. Therefore, the personnel management of the armed forces needs to be reformed so that its deficiencies can be minimised, if not removed altogether. Such reforms of the system must peg two objectives. Firstly, the age of the commanding officer of a battalion must not be more than 35 years and, secondly, the equation of a Joint Secretary should be equal to that of a Brigadier. Once these two objectives are fixed, the entire structure can be reconfigured and built around it. The promotion prospects can also be suitably improved by means of reducing the width of the base of the structure by taking in more short service commissioned officers. This would ensure a correspondingly reduced number of core officers in permanent commission, thereby improving the overall promotion prospects. In addition, it should be made easier for officers to seek premature retirement, especially at higher ranks. There is a tendency at times for officers who do not make the higher rank to continue to serve well beyond their capability to contribute effectively to the organisation. The system of personnel management in the armed forces needs to be reviewed and reformed with the aim of ending the present dissatisfaction and improving the fighting efficiency. There is also urgent need to improve the promotion prospects but not at the cost of devaluing the ranks. The equation of ranks with other civil services also needs to be redefined. The credibility of the system must be fully maintained by instituting a fair and transparent system. In all this, organisational goals must prevail over personal aspirations of the officer corps. An introspection of the system by those who are near the top should be done. As a matter of fact, the situation demands that a high-level governmental commission is set up to go into the details of the requirement of providing and equipping officers to meet the challenges to national security in the 21st
century.
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The call of the drums DURING the seventies, every winter, Ranchi used to beckon us. The South Eastern Railway Hotel received us with such warmth that we were overwhelmed. The bungalow-like structures bore the stamp of British taste and skill. The long verandh in front of our room was meant for walking and rumination. The waiters and the roomboys were models of propriety. The old discipline was still very much in force and one really enjoyed its fragrance. Ranchi’s climate has always been bracing and dry. Sanatoriums came up there to minister to the needs of patients with tuberculosis. The moment one got out of Ranchi town, one could go for long drives without encountering a soul. One savoured the profound silence which was the hallmark of pristine nature. Whether it was Itki or Simdiga, Ramgarh or Palamau the empty and inviting roads led you on and on. The journey itself was so pleasurable that the destination didn’t matter at all. Ranchi’s hills were gentle and undemanding. The scenic splendour soothed one’s jaded nerves. The Santhal girls were straight backed with shiny skin and flowers in their hair. They had an unselfconscious animal grace which added to their appeal and distinctiveness. They worked like trojans throughout the day on building sites and quarries. In the evening one found them wending their way to dark villages with a plaintive song on their lips. Their ebullience came out in songs and dances. At night, my wife and I heard the distant pounding of the “madals”. Was it the effulgence of the moon that brought on a festive ambience which they plunged into with such gay abandon? Today, Ranchi is in the grip of urban squalor and vice and lawlessness is all the rage. I can only hope that Santhal culture expressed in eternally simple, incorruptible forms of music and movement will withstand the ravages of time and the imbecilities creeping up on us. The South East Railway Hotel was famous for its Manager, B.S. Rao, who was not just a wonderful person exuding kindness but a very keen musician as well. He would invite us to his bungalow after dusk for a cosy musical soiree. While he played the sitar and one of his relations the tabla, he would make my mother sing some of his favourite ragas and bhajans. Such a world within a world was difficult to imagine when the craze for instant satisfaction was gaining ground. While we were there, basking in the winter sunshine and dreaming of more exciting outings, we ran into a delightful Englishman of the koi-hai days — Major John Baker of Oxfam who adored Ranchi and knew it well when it was an elitist holiday resort. He was a good raconteur and in the evenings in the lounge with a roaring fire in the grate, Major John’s amusing anecdotes and commentaries of British rule in India were most enjoyable. Ranchi threw up different images and all of them left an indelible imprint on our minds.
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1965 war: facts and fiction MUCH has been written about the 1965 war, both in India and Pakistan. India’s official history of this war is still shrouded in secrecy and so are the records and war diaries of Army units and formations. Consequently, much that has appeared in books and the Press is based on heresy. Such writings have raised many controversies. Lt-Gen Harbaksh Singh and his chief of staff, Maj-Gen Joginder Singh, were the two principal actors at the forward end of the Indian side in this war. They have produced a fair record of events in their books, - “War Despatches” by Harbaksh and “Behind the Scenes” by Joginder. Most of the controversies do not bear close scrutiny, are illogical and unrelated to actual events. Inder Malhotra, in a recent article in this paper, has not only revived some of the old controversies, but has added a few more to the list. The genesis of this war is too well known and needs no recalling. So we move to points made by Inder Malhotra. These points and controversies are best weighed against the recordings of the two principal actors at the forward end in this war, the version of the third principal actor, the DGMO of the Indian Army, and circumstantial evidence. All these, when examined in the crucible of simple logic, may help us arrive at more reasonable conclusions. The chief and the DGMO were in Srinagar on Sept 1 and arrived in Delhi at midday. A meeting was held at 3 pm in Army HQ operations room attended by the PM, RM, FM, the Chief of Air Staff and others. The Army Chief explained the situation and the imperatives of opening another front to relieve pressure in the Chamb sector. He sought the PM’s permission to start an offensive against Pakistan across the IB. The PM immediately agreed to the Chief’s suggestion. There was no such thing as, “Lal Bahadur Shastri’s strategy” as noted by Mr Malhotra. Harbaksh in his book “War Despatches” (page 60), referring to events of Sept 1, records the IAF inflicted much damage on own troops rather than the enemy. So it was not the Air Force that brought the Pak offensive in the Chamb sector to a halt, Mr Malhotra. The capture of Akhnoor by Pakistan does not cut off the rest of Kashmir as is contended by Mr Malhotra. There was no delay in getting the IAF on board as is noted by Malhotra. The delay, if any, was due to its own state of readiness. The presence of the second armoured division with Pakistan was known to Army HQ well before the war. So Mr Malhotra is well off the mark when he contends that it was the knowledge of presence of this second division which made “Gen Chaudhuri panic and that he wanted to withdraw Indian forces to East of Beas river, which would have given Pakistan free run it wanted.” Many versions of this alleged proposal of Gen Chaudhuri to withdraw troops behind the Beas have appeared and the controversy persists; available evidence to the contrary not withstanding. Mr K Subramanyam, in a recent article in a national daily, has given a new twist to the prevailing controversy. He records that Gen Chaudhuri had sought the PM’s permission to withdraw troops behind the Beas river and that the PM refused this permission. Subramanyam’s story does not stand the test of simple logic. No Army chief would rush to the PM, without proper consultations with the Army Commander. To contend that he would rush to the PM on an issue of such a grave consequences without proper examination, consultations and assessment, is absurd. The second version of this controversy and repeated by Mr Malhotra is, that when “told to pull back troops behind Beas, Gen Harbaksh refused.” This story of Chaudhuri’s order and Harbaksh’ refusal is equally flawed and baseless. The overall assessment of the situation on the front is made at Army HQ based on information and assessment passed on to it by the forward formations etc. Unless those in contact with the enemy project a very grim and grave picture and the Army Commander’s assessment is that a disastrous situation would develop in holding on to the present positions, why should Army HQ contemplate a withdrawal? On Sept 10, Gen Chaudhuri moved forward to take stock of the situation. He conferred with Gen Harbaksh at Ambala, where Joginder and the Chief’s MA were also present. Gen Harbaksh in his book gives a detailed account of his discussion with Gen Chaudhuri at Ambala on Sept 10; a critical day of the battle in the Khem Karan sector. There is no mention of any order or even a suggestion from Gen Chaudhuri to pull back behind the Beas. Joginder, in his book, also makes no mention of any such order or suggestion by the Army Chief. Chaudhuri’s MA and the DGMO rubbish this story and term it as baseless. Mr Malhotra states that it was the Maharaja of Patiala who dissuaded the Chief from over-ruling Harbaksh. How the Maharaja of Patiala fits into this, only Mr Malhotra can explain. Perhaps it is a case of Indian penchant for “safarish” even in grave issues pertaining to operations! Journalists and historians must delve into the genesis of India so completely ignoring the threat from Pakistan and the subsequent conduct of operations. These are the issues that need a detailed examination to drive lessons for future.
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Electronic activism on fuel prices
The messages speak to frustrated motorists who have seen prices at the pump creep upward but are powerless to do anything about it. The protests come in anonymously written e-mail chain letters circulating the country. Some urge motorists not to buy gas from the largest oil companies or companies that import oil from the Middle East. Many urge recipients to forward the message to 10 people, with the goal of mobilizing millions of people who will force oil companies to respond to consumer demands for lower prices. “Isn’t it funny how the prices sky-rocketed as the storm approached the mainland, even though the gas in the tanks at local stations had been bought and paid for long before that,’’ says one e-mail. ``Nobody begrudges fair profits for any company, but taking advantage like this is criminal!’’ One e-mail suggests such a collective effort could get the world’s largest oil companies to ``choke on their stockpiles.’’ Another suggests it would “hit the entire industry with a net loss of over $4.6 billion.’’ High ambitions, to be sure. But despite the enthusiasm of the participants, such electronic activism has never succeeded in hurting gas companies or lowering prices. According to many consumer groups and oil companies, such e-mails are often based on false premises and take advantage of consumers’ ignorance about the oil industry and why prices go up. David Mikkelson, co-founder of Snopes.com, a Web site devoted to debunking urban myths, said that such e-mails circulate any time gas prices rise but that they generally have little, if any, impact. ``People seem to really be taken in by symbolic protests,’’ he said. ``They want to change things, but they don’t want to actually put out anything in time or effort. It just means instead of buying gas today, you buy it tomorrow.’’ Other e-mails have tried to address consumer frustration by arguing that the United States relies too much on the Middle East for its oil supplies. One e-mail urges customers to protest U.S. reliance on oil from the Middle East and urges consumers to buy gas from companies that do not import oil from that region. ``The Saudis are boycotting American goods,’’ the e-mail says. ``We should return the favor. An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS. Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia.’’ The e-mail cites U.S. Department of Energy statistics, listing Citgo Petroleum Corp., Sunoco Inc., Sinclair Oil Corp. and BP PLC among the companies that do not import oil from the Middle East and lists the hundreds of millions of oil barrels bought by Shell Oil Co., Chevron Corp. and Exxon from the region. According to the Energy Department, the e-mail is misleading. One-third of the nation’s oil imports come from Canada and Mexico, and nearly a quarter of imported oil comes from the Persian Gulf. Although not every oil company obtains its supplies from the Middle East, it is nearly impossible to know where the gasoline at any particular station comes from. Oil companies such as Shell, Exxon Mobil and BP produce and buy their oil from various sources and then sell it to refineries. Some oil companies refine their own oil and sell it to other refineries.
— LA Times-Washington Post
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Delhi
Durbar FORMER US President Bill Clinton’s overnight visit to Lucknow as UP Chief Minister Mulayum Singh Yadav’s guest has foxed everybody in the Capital. Nobody is able to fathom the purpose of this flying visit and how it is expected to benefit the people of Uttar Pradesh. Samajwadi Party’s high-flying leader Amar Singh rolled out the red carpet and put together a guest list befitting the visitor’s stature. “Family members” Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan and industrialist Anil Ambani were naturally present. An act of betrayal Having worked closely with Finance Minister P.Chidambaram, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh was once the hot favourite of the pro-reform lobby and the most vocal and visible advocate of economic reforms. But he appears to have fallen from grace ever since he took on cudgels on behalf of the “jholawalla” brigade. This might have earned him a Rajya Sabha seat and membership of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, but his old friends see it as nothing but an act of betrayal. Bidding for airports The airport modernisation project seems to have run into rough weather. First, Singapore’s Changi airport pulled out of its joint proposal with Bharti. Now German player Hochtief Airport GMBH has expressed its “unwillingness” to participate in the bid with Indian majors L&T and Piramal Holdings. The buzz in the Capital is that the ministry would like to award the contract to a joint venture bid involving a Mumbai-based company, which is also into distribution of energy. Third Front
in Bihar It may not have taken off at the Centre, but a “Third Front” is taking shape in Bihar. Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, and the CPI are all set to go their own way in next month’s poll. They are hoping to get additional support from the CPI (M-L) and the Samajwadi Party. Though the Samajwadi Party does not have much a presence in Bihar, the CPI (ML) has pockets of support and its cooperation has, therefore, become critical for the emerging Third Front. Although the desertion by a chunk of LJP legislators to the NDA has affected the morale of party workers. an optimistic Paswan is banking on a repeat performance. IIT coaching centres The IIT reforms are bad news for private coaching institutes. Having emerged as a virtual industry, the coaching centres promise miraculous results to aspirants. Their earnings are all set to dip with students being allowed only two attempts at the entrance examination. IIT faculty members say a large number of centres are actually run by students who spent years in having coaching, but failed to make the grade. Contributed by Girja Shankar Kaura, Prashant Sood, Smriti Kak Ramachandran and Anita Katyal
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From the pages of Heaviest taxed nation INDIA is the most heavily taxed country on the face of the earth and this fact is universally admitted on all hands except a very few number of Englishmen who try to prove India prospering under English domination; and sometimes an eccentric Indian delivers himself of similar views. Mr Broacha, in his Presidential speech at the Bombay Stock Exchange, tried to prove that taxation in India is higher than in any other civilised country. Whether he was successful in his attempt we doubt very much, though he took only one side of the matter into consideration and by ignoring or minimising the opposite side, tried to prove the truth of his statement. He said: “… 90 crores accrue from revenue taxation. When 90 crores of rupees is spread over a population of 30 crores, the taxation per head comes to 3 rupees.”
First of all, Mr Broacha has committed a mistake in stating 30 crores as the population of British India
when it is only 23 crores. Accordingly his ratio of taxation per head is wrong. |
Reach out with your knowledge. And feel your fingers touch the throne of God. — Book of quotations on Hinduism The ties of marriage are used to seal powerful political alliances. Kings have married their sisters and daughters into powerful clans to assure their support in times of conflict. — The Mahabharata May I be able to listen without distraction. — The Upanishadas
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