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Save the girl child Verdict is out |
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Shia-Sunni war Sectarian violence threatens Iraq’s integrity INSTEAD of finding ways for mutual cooperation and helping restore peace in their war-ravaged country, the Shias and the Sunnis of Iraq have started killing each other, setting off fears of a civil war. Over 200 people have lost their lives in the sectarian violence that has got intensified.
Vote in Vienna
Chandigarh diary
Increasing
population and diminishing resources Managing the next
disaster Chatterati
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Verdict is out THE verdict is clearly out on Sourav Ganguly’s reign as captain, but the man has evidently decided that he will not be ejected from his throne without a fight. A quintessential feature of the ‘gentlemanly’ game of cricket is that when you know you are out, you don’t wait to be given — you walk. Not only has Ganguly no use for such niceties, he wants to stay when all fingers are pointing him towards the pavilion. His aggressive instincts and reputation for being a “scrapper” may indeed have served him and his team well during his hey-day, but have now become a grave embarrassment to himself, his Coach and Indian cricket. Greg Chappell’s charges, as reportedly laid out in the e-mail to the BCCI, are staggeringly serious. Ganguly’s leadership and his mental and physical fitness have all been brought into question. Moreover, Chappell has said that his interest in keeping the captaincy has been such that he has been “creating differences” among team members. To those who have been following the game and its stars, none of this is truly surprising. The tragedy is that a graceful exit by Ganguly would have made people acknowledge his sizeable contributions freely, and also kept the door open for a comeback based on form. Hangers-on chasing personal milestones, holding on by cashing in on star status, personal lobbies, or accumulated privilege, are not new to Indian cricket. They keep deserving talent out, create rancour and prevent the team from playing to full potential. Having appointed Greg Chappell as coach with much fanfare, the BCCI should now support him in his effort to build a professional and capable team. Ganguly should go. The fight may get dirtier. Ganguly has reportedly hinted at other players being unhappy with Chappell. The BCCI, itself a highly politicised body, is preoccupied with its own power struggles. The Coach is feeling the heat of the Indian dressing room, which can rival that of any “cauldron” out in the middle. It may get worse before it gets better. |
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Shia-Sunni war INSTEAD of finding ways for mutual cooperation and helping restore peace in their war-ravaged country, the Shias and the Sunnis of Iraq have started killing each other, setting off fears of a civil war. Over 200 people have lost their lives in the sectarian violence that has got intensified. The most chilling incident occurred when a Sunni-driven explosive-laden mini-van was used as a powerful bomb to kill a group of Shia labourers after promising them jobs. The Shias too have retaliated, but sectarian violence so far has been mostly the handiwork of the Sunnis. The Sunnis appear to be a frustrated lot. They have already been the target of attack by the international coalition forces (read US troops) for their suspected support to insurgency, spearheaded by Al-Qaida’s Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Baath Party remnants. They see no future for them in the emerging Iraq under American guidance. They fear subjugation by the Shia-Kurd combine in a democratic Iraq. Their share in power under the interim arrangement is negligible, with a Shia Prime Minister and a Kurd President. The signs of what is there in store for them are too visible to ignore with a constitution which promises an autonomous status to the areas having Shia and Kurd majority. But it is a suicidal course the Sunnis have taken to. Being in a minority, they cannot have the position they enjoyed during the rule of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. Instead of accepting the fait accompli, they are driving their country towards a civil war in which nobody will be a gainer. If this really comes about, Iraq will cease to be in one piece. In that situation the Sunnis will be left with an area devoid of oil wealth. Moreover, the Shia-Sunni clashes can have their cascading effect elsewhere in the region. It will be the cause for a major crisis in entire West Asia. The trouble must be nipped in the bud in the interest of peace and stability. |
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Well, all I know is what I read in the
papers. — Will Rogers |
Vote in Vienna
The
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) resolution adopted on September 24 on the implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in Iran earned 22 votes in favour, one vote against (from Venezuela) and 12 abstentions. In other words, except for Venezuela, no country found the resolution so objectionable as to vote against, neither the four Islamic countries nor Russia and China, nor the nonaligned. The resolution makes no direct mention of a referral to the Security Council nor of any sanctions. It asks the Director-General of the IAEA to deal with the Iranian authorities further and leaves it to the Board of Governors of the IAEA to address the timing and content of the report required. In other words, the resolution is a victory for all those who advocated that there should be more time for diplomacy to work. Now the Iranians are on notice that they should demonstrate to the world that they are cooperating to the satisfaction of the IAEA to fulfil the requirements of the statute, and should not ask the IAEA and the international community to accept prima facie the verbal declaration that they are not attempting to develop nuclear weapons capability. This suspicion about Iran is rooted in its attempts going back to 1987 to develop uranium enrichment capability with the help of Dr
A.Q. Khan and his associates from Pakistan. Iran carried on for well over a decade with its clandestine activity for uranium enrichment in violation of its obligations under the NPT. It was discovered because of the disclosures of a defector. Enrichment of uranium for civil nuclear energy purposes is permissible. Then why did Iran not notify its activities to the IAEA but preferred to proceed clandestinely? The Iran-Pakistan nuclear proliferation axis is the second proliferation example next to that of the China-Pakistan axis. A major unexplained issue on which the IAEA is still to be convinced is the extent of Iran’s research work on the P-2 centrifuges obtained from Pakistan. Surely, India has an interest in finding out the extent of Pakistani proliferation in Iran and publicising it. Therefore, India cannot have any legitimate interest in not urging further IAEA investigation. The resolution urges Iran to rectify its failures and breaches of obligations. That Iran is not in full compliance of the safeguards is obvious from the fact that there was only one vote against this resolution. For those who bring solidarity with the nonaligned as a factor for voting, it should be pointed out that on the nuclear issue India has never had much solidarity with the nonaligned. The nonaligned legitimised nuclear weapons by extending the NPT unconditionally and indefinitely in 1995. The nonaligned would like to have India to give up its nuclear arsenal. Our interest is in stopping clandestine nuclear proliferation in our
neighbourhood and not to invoke nonaligned solidarity against our own national security interests. Iranian proliferation with Pakistani assistance was not intended to promote Nonaligned solidarity. The Indian Prime Minister has declared that Iran must abide by its obligations to the NPT and India has no interest in seeing yet another state developing nuclear weapons. The IAEA is a technical body and it proved its credentials in 2003 by refusing to endorse the US thesis on the Iraqi possession of nuclear weapons. Therefore, its demand for greater transparency and cooperation on the part of Iran must be supported. France and Germany took principled stand against the US on the Iraqi issue at significant diplomatic costs to themselves. They are now asking Iran to cooperate with the IAEA and that view cannot be ignored. The present resolution just amounts to additional pressure on Iran to expedite and intensify its cooperation with the IAEA and increase its transparency. This pressure is healthy and necessary as Iran and its supporters carried on a campaign that the Iranian deficit in cooperation with the IAEA is a North-South issue and not a proliferation issue. This move almost amounted to cooperating with Pakistan and pseudo-nonproliferation advocates in the US in shielding the extent of A.Q. Khan’s proliferation activities in Iran. This would explain the silence of sections of the US media, academia and legislators about Pakistan’s refusal to allow the IAEA access to Dr A.Q. Khan. An abstention vote by India would have meant that this country connived with Pakistan and sections of the past US Administration and its supporters to hush up the Pakistan-China proliferation activity. It is in the Iranian interest to fully cooperate with the IAEA. It is in the US interest not to drive Iran into a corner. The present resolution promotes a diplomatic solution. By not voting against the resolution, Russia and China have signalled to Iran that it should not depend on their vote if the matter ever comes up in the Security Council. So, the resolution signals Iran that time is not on their side. Therefore, there is no need for the Indian diplomats to be unduly apologetic. They have done right and should not hesitate to say so. No other country except Pakistan is affected by the Iranian attempts to shield its past cooperation with Dr A.Q. Khan than India. Even now there are speculations in the intelligence community that there is a fourth country to which Dr A.Q. Khan proliferated in West Asia. Therefore, India cannot take the same casual attitude on the Iranian proliferation issue as other nonaligned countries have. Iran claims that it has no intention to acquire nuclear weapons. It is in no position to construct nuclear reactors on its own for many years to come. The present contentious issue on uranium enrichment will get sorted out, not before long. Therefore, the vote on the present issue is not likely to have any long-range impact on Indo-Iranian relations, especially as the Indian stand will secure Iran more time to solve the problems diplomatically. Some people raise the question whether there is any bargain with the US on this issue. International politics is all about give and take with other nations. We expect support from France, the UK, Germany, Japan, Australia and Canada on issues like that concerning the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group besides the US. Would it have made sense to have alienated them on a nuclear issue? At the same time, India has not antagonised Russia or China, which just abstained on the resolution and did not vote against. An objective cost-benefit analysis would support the wisdom of our vote in the IAEA.
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Chandigarh diary I have been urging my 10-year-old daughter to keep a diary, since the time we landed in this city, fresh from Austin, Texas. I thought, it would be worthwhile for her to note down all the new experiences —something, I thought would definitely enrich her “American — Born to Indian Parents” lineage. She didn’t really take my advice to heart, since a new world, to her, was a natural phenomenon. Instead of her, I am the one now keeping score — a long intermingled list of positives and negatives. The flowers floored us —flowers everywhere, in all shapes and colour, even on the roundabouts. We gushed over this precious beauty. Then we went to a well-known bakery and found tiny cockroaches embedded in the brown bread. The lady next to me screeched and turned on her heel. The other shrugged her shoulders and said —“Oh, its only a cockroach!” and walked out with the bread. We stood there, completely bewildered. We learnt that McDonald’s burgers here are served, by default, with pudina chutney. Next time, we will ask them to hold it. On a nice fall evening, we saw our neighbour’s 16- year old son beating up their diminutive servant who would be no more than ten or twelve. Just the difference in their sizes and the sight of the young boy cowering was enough for me to leap into the melee. On my intervention, he stopped. But, we wondered about living in a society, which permits this pervasively. We learnt that there are wonderful people here. Some of them restored my faith in humanity. For a change, and a refreshing one, I didn’t have to discuss Thanksgiving sale and Japanese cars at any gathering. Store owners went out of their way to get me a cut of mutton, although, it was break time and the butcher was asleep on a field near- by. I learnt that gardeners rule their domain with zealous force and sometimes plant pumpkin seeds that sprout gourd plants — no questions entertained. We found ourselves double-parked on many occasions. Once, the parking attendants physically lifted the small Maruti and got it out of the way — that time our eyes bulged beyond scientific limits. Sometimes, I stamped my feet and simmered in fury. Many places, we felt, could do with a sign —“Please form a queue.” Many places that have such a sign can do with a sign —“Please follow the science of queuing.” We found delightful dhaba food as far away as Dharampur and I found many good Samaritans who offered to help in changing a punctured tire. I even found a rickshawalla who returned excess money I had given him inadvertently. Chandigarh is the first city where a policeman has offered me a cup of tea. That too, under a blooming Jacaranda tree, overlooking the misty hills across the Sukhna Lake. That was in lieu of his failed effort to find me a motor mechanic early in the morning. What more can I say? I am glad now I am in the business of keeping
journals. |
Increasing population and diminishing resources The
Tribune’s persistence in keeping the public’s attention focused on the problem of over-population may eventually prove to be one of this paper’s major contribution to this country’s betterment. The request for readers to propose action which will curtail population growth could result in some new practical methods which could “catch on” and make a significant difference, not just for we who live in India but for everyone. For those of us who have attempted to understand the world’s population growth and its complexities, The Tribune’s question “What steps should be taken to curb the growth of population?” seems out of place in time. Forty years ago, I believe all would agree that the question would have been appropriate, but in 2005 I am afraid it is no longer the burning question. I readily recall discussing population growth in the 1960s with my colleagues and everyone striving to find a solution which could cause the world’s population to plateau before it reached four billion in 1974. In those days, it was commonly estimated that the world’s resources could support four billion, but those days are long gone. The multiple results of over-population since then have been so detrimental to our environment that I understand that the current estimate of the number of people the world can support is around one billion. For people who are being confronted with these all too sad circumstances for the first time and who thought that somehow science or new technology would solve all our problems this can present an alarming prospect, and will respond to it — as we humans defensively do when faced with a very unpleasant truth — with immediate denial. While that is one way of getting the problem out of one’s mind, it does little to change a situation in which there are simply inadequate essential resources to meet the needs of the people presently on our planet. There is nothing inherently wrong with having 6.4 billion people on earth. The problem is that our limited essential resources are inadequate to meet their needs. The essential resources referred to here are literally the resources essential for human life — air, water, food, and shelter. Recent advances have produced all kinds of amazing beneficial results that would have been unimaginable a short while ago, but there has been no increase in essential resources. Indeed, as the need for resources has increased, the supply has decreased. How this decrease has occurred is not a difficult concept to understand. Every simple farmer who has animals who graze deals with the concept daily. He knows that if he has pasture land that will produce sufficient grass for ten cows, if he puts out more cows to graze, soon all the grass will be gone, but not only that, the cows in their efforts to survive, will commence to eat the grassroots until they too are all gone. What happens next is not difficult to visualise. Our world, with a current population in excess of the world’s ability to support it sustainably, and that last word is most important, has been destroying the environment — which contains our resources — at an alarming rate. Why the idea of sustainability is important, is because we would like to see a world populated with people in the immediate as well as the far-distant future. Just as the less-mentally-gifted farmer will put 20 cows to graze on his pasture which can sustainably feed ten, mankind has put more people on this planet than it can support and we have — in striving to survive — been destroying the very resources which might have supported our children and grandchildren. We do not have far to look, if we want to see examples of people, and indeed whole nations, who seem to ignore the importance of sustainability. Short-term gain is there in the billions of dollars for those who destroy the environment which provides our resources, and less-mentally-gifted humans are having a great time reaping profits yielded by their form of overgrazing! Unhappily, it is not merely their environment that is being despoiled. It is ours, mankind’s. Like it not, it appears we are going to live or die together. The developed nations, with the notable exception of the United States, have been able to curb population growth. Their populations have stabilised and most, again with the exception of the United States, have enacted and rigidly enforced environmental protection laws. The US population would have plateaued along with those in other developed nations in the middle 1970s but as revealed by US Bureau of the Census data, the immigrants and their offspring since that time cause the US to be the only developed nations whose population is doubling. The US continues to be the major consumer of oil and its products, continues to be seen as a major contributor to global warming and alone continues to see a need “for more study to confirm that global warming (even) exists.” In earlier days, it was usual to have a national perspective, not a global one. As some parts of the world became what was then considered “crowded” an immediate solution was emigration. Millions left the more-populated areas to go to the Americas or other areas to find more space, more wealth, more opportunity. In a way, emigration was an escape valve. Now there is no place to go. Some larger national entities, (e.g. Canada and Australia) at a first glance seem to be grossly under-populated, but closer inspection reveals that they have relatively small inhabitable areas. But even if there were still places to go, this still would not solve the problem of shortage of essential resources, because the problem is
planet-wide. The writer, an international public health specialist, resides in Chandigarh.
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Managing the next disaster Understanding
what this hurricane season is really telling us about why we’re so vulnerable to climate-related catastrophes means facing up to an unavoidable fact: Efforts to slow global warming will have no discernible effect on hurricanes for the foreseeable future. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adequately preparing for future disasters are essentially separate problems. Reducing emissions is a crucial environmental, economic and geopolitical goal. But if we are concerned about hurricanes, then we need to manage what is within our control on the ground, not what is proving to be beyond our control in the atmosphere. The truth is, the number and scale of disasters worldwide has been rising rapidly in recent decades because of changes in society, not global warming. In the case of hurricanes, the continuing development and urbanization of coastal regions around the world accounts for all of the increases in economic and human losses that we have experienced. Even if tomorrow we could somehow magically put an end to global warming, the frequency and magnitude of climate-related disasters would continue to rise unabated into the indefinite future as more people inhabit vulnerable locations around the world. Our research suggests that for every $1 of future hurricane damage that scientists expect in 2050 related to climate change, we should expect an additional $22 to $60 in damage resulting from putting more people and property in harm’s way. None of this means that we should not pursue reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or that mitigating climate change is a bad idea. But we simply cannot expect to control the climate’s behavior through energy policies aimed at lowering greenhouse gas emissions. The current international policy framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions — the Kyoto Protocol — is far too modest to have any meaningful effect on the behavior of the climate system. And even the modest agreements reached under Kyoto are failing. For example, the European Environment Agency reported in 2004 that 11 of the 15 European Union signatories to Kyoto ``are heading toward overshooting their emission targets, some by a substantial margin.’’ And the other four are meeting their targets only because of non-repeatable circumstances, such as Britain’s long-term move away from coal-based energy generation. To make matters much worse, most of the growth in emissions in coming decades will occur in rapidly industrializing nations such as China and India, which are exempt from Kyoto targets. Hurricane categories: Hurricanes are categorised by wind speed. Here is how storms are rated and the damage they can do: Category 1 (winds 75 to 95 miles per hour): Damages trees and mobile homes; Category 2 (winds 96 to 110 miles per hour): Roofs, doors and windows can be damaged; Category 3 (winds 111 to 130 miles per hour): Destroys mobile homes; large trees knocked down; Category 4 (winds 131 to 155 miles per hour): Walls and roofs can collapse; doors and windows get blown out; and Category 5 (winds more than 156 miles per hour): Homes and other buildings destroyed. Source: National Hurricane Center. — LA Times-Washington Post |
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Chatterati Never
has the BJP seen such a crisis. Advani is his stubborn best, Vajpayee his silent best, spills a word and then goes mum, and the general secretaries at their running best trying to edit letters, dodge media and support all senior leaders. But what’s new in all this? When a party has just lost an election, this is natural. It happened to the Congress too. How can we forget that? Its’ just that when a party gets to power again everything falls into place. The only difference now is that regional parties are stronger than these two mainstream parties. They have younger leaders and better knowledge of there states. Who can beat Jayalalithaa, Mulayam, Laloo or Mayawati? In Andhra also it won’t be long before Chandra Babu Naidu is back. It’s just that the oldies in these two top parties need to be dispensed with. Vajpayee is still respected and his word matters Advani the poor guy, stands alone today at the top. A sad scene for someone who has been a true soldier of the Sangh. Meanwhile, the second-rung leadership in the BJP is busy trying to lobby for the number one slot. This is going to be a tough call and a dicey one no doubt. Spotlight on sportsmen Dubbed the world’s longest relay in Queen’s Baton relay flagged off from Buckingham Palace by the Queen of England before it reached Delhi’s National Stadium last week. Sports icons like Mahesh Bhupati, Anju Bobby George, and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore were honoured. A feast for the eyes to see that other more deserving sportsmen of our nation rather than our arrogant cricketers were being given such honour. Folk dances, and musical performances by Daler Mehindi, Abhijit Sawant marked the show. The same evening Suresh Kalmadi hosted a high profile dinner. Diyas, flowers, bright cushions, the ultimate hostess Meera Kalmadi, live band etc. Must say one of the most down-to earth genuine couple are the Rathores. A beautiful wife rather not at home with this sudden media attention. Rathore did seem a bit embarrassed by it. Well, it sure seems like celebrations with hard work and organisational skills for the games that will be brought to India in 2010 are here to stay. Women turn to shares Kitty parties at one time were just for bored housewives. They shared recipes and shopping details. They now exchange tips about hot shares as much as they exchange recipes of spring rolls and Mexican trio. This is new age kitty party. They follow CNBC and financial dailies as much as they read filmi gossip. Their share brokers along with personal demat account numbers. With the sensex on a bull run women have taken seriously to stocks and some have even made handsome profits. This is constructive partying isn’t it?
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From the pages of Fine for tola of salt!
The “Statesman” calls attention to a recent prosecution of a Bombay mill operative for infringement of the Government salt monopoly. This unfortunate man, when passing along the foreshore, scraped up a small quantity of natural salt deposited by the sea, amounting in all to about a tola in weight. He was fined Rs 10. Commenting on these facts, our contemporary justly observes: “Could anybody in the British Empire outside India be brought to believe in the truth of this story? And is it possible, even in India, that the Government should allow so shameful a conviction to stand?” The fact is that in India, Magistrates are so unduly swayed by their executive bias that they are prone to convict in each and every case. But this case throws a fierce sidelight as to how oppressive the salt tax has proved on the majority of the people of India, who cannot, labour how they will, manage to eke out a sufficient livelihood. |
Persecution is a bad and indirect way to plant religion. —
Book of quotations on Religion I have brought my love and my meditation into the land where there is no sun and moon, nor day and night. Without eating I have tasted of the sweetness of nectar and without water I have quenched my thirst. —
Kabir Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of travelling. —
Book of quotations on Happiness He is born in vain, who having attained the human birth, so difficult to get, does not attempt to realise God in this very life. —
Ramkrishna Buddhism is the Path of Escape for those seeking the permanent end here and now of all anguish. —
The Buddha |
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