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Lalu in trouble Running on empty |
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Google’s googly
Momentum to UN reform
Coaching Chappell
Distress land sales by Punjab farmers Wider use of statins can save lives Conserving water
From the pages of
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Lalu in trouble Railway Minister
and Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad Yadav is in deep trouble at a time when he is busy with the ensuing elections in Bihar. More important, his continuance as a Union Minister — following the framing of charges against him by Ranchi’s Special CBI courts in two separate conspiracy angle cases of the Rs 950-crore fodder scam — raises questions about probity in public life. Of the 60 chargesheets the CBI has filed against the accused, six are conspiracy angle cases in which Mr Yadav and former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra are the prime accused. In each case, they were booked under various sections such as abusing their official position for causing wrongful gains to themselves and others, forgery, falsification of accounts, cheating, misappropriation and criminal conspiracy. Along with others, Mr Yadav is accused of fraudulently withdrawing animal husbandry funds to the tune of Rs 183 crore from Doranda, Ranchi and Deogarh treasuries. Clearly, Mr Yadav’s plea for his discharge from the case on the ground that he had ordered an inquiry into the misuse of animal husbandry funds (when he was the Bihar Chief Minister) did not stand the test of legal scrutiny for two reasons. First, the same CBI court had earlier rejected a similar petition by him in the same case. And secondly, the case was filed by the CBI suo motu in which Mr Yadav had absolutely no role to play. The long arm of the law seems to be catching up with the accused in the 1995-96 case, but the CBI courts are taking a long time in carrying the cases to their logical conclusion. Till today, just one of the 64 fodder scam cases has reached a conclusive stage; and even in this case, only 11 have been awarded six-year sentence each and fined. Monday’s development follows similar charges framed against Mr Yadav and others in September 2004 for withdrawing funds from the Dumka and Chaibasa treasuries. As this case, involving many top politicians and bureaucrats, has engaged considerable attention of the nation for quite some time, there is need to expedite the trial with a sense of urgency and bring the guilty to book.
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Running on empty WHILE the Centre’s decision to set up a committee under Finance Minister P. Chidambaram to look for ways to ease the states’ debt burden is welcome, the fiscally irresponsible states need to be dealt with sternly to undertake belt-tightening. That state finances are in a mess is widely known. Little known are the steps, if any, states themselves are taking to clear the mess. For lack of any such effort, it is but natural that state expenditures should grow faster than their revenue receipts. State debt has multiplied over the years — from 17.9 per cent of the GDP in 1995-96 to 25.8 per cent in 2001-02, excluding off-budget borrowings. Political and bureaucratic profligacy combined with vote-driven populism has fuelled the fiscal deterioration. But the single factor responsible for unsettling the state budgets is the implementation of the Fifth Pay Commission report. Salaries, pensions and loan repayments eat away almost the entire chunk of revenue in most states, leaving development neglected. High interest rates on Central borrowings are also to blame, but, fortunately, the interest rates are coming down now. State debt has also ballooned due to the Centre’s failure to put a cap on state borrowings. The Centre has been a silent spectator as states violated the law on limiting the size of ministries, and merrily appointed a large number of parliamentary and chief parliamentary secretaries. Ultimately, the people of India have to bear the brunt of fiscal mismanagement. Small wonder, then, that they are among the most heavily taxed in the world. While VAT has been introduced, other local taxes that should have gone have not been scrapped. This has made the political leadership in states, including Punjab, claim credit for a surge in revenue. Yet, tax evasion is rampant and a huge amount is locked in tax disputes because of non-transparent procedures and the politician-businessman-official nexus. The Chidambaram panel should aim to curb extravagance, cut taxes and enforce fiscal disciple in the states before announcing any giveaways, which one hopes, won’t be politically motivated.
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Google’s googly THIS is not the first time that information or tools that are easily available have disturbed people because of their potential to be put to harmful use. Google Earth, the satellite imagery and geographic information service from Google has created a stir with the company freely putting what many governments consider sensitive sites on their web service, complete with three-dimensional close-up imagery and precise location information. All a viewer needs to do is type in an address or a city name and the software “flies to” the site. There are “tilt and rotate” features to view the terrain and buildings, and driving directions. Tourist sites are featured for virtual close-up tours. Of course, much before Google Earth was launched, satellite imagery has been available commercially. Game software like Microsoft’s flight simulator uses satellite imagery to simulate various airports around the world, with detailed terrain and navigational information. Armed forces have been discussing the IT-led “Revolution in Military Affairs,” for more than a decade now. What distinguishes Google Earth is that the basic service is free, and only higher-end “professional services” are charged. Any Internet user can thus use it to view anything from military bases to neighbours’ rooftops. Google has non-real time, but high resolution imagery and road maps for most major cities in America and Western Europe, and more are to follow. Many locations are offered with resolution superior to what India’s TES satellite can manage. Now come reports that following terrorism concerns, the US has prevailed upon Google to “blur out” locations like the White House. An Indian will wonder whether Parliament House and IAF bases do not merit the same concern. Technological advance has its own inexorable logic. States, societies and individuals are benefiting, but they also increasingly have to deal with security and privacy concerns. The goodies of progress always come with a price. And the end-game is far away.
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Prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue. — Francis Bacon |
Momentum to UN reform
IF Mr Paul Volcker is a friend of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, he does not need enemies. Mr Volcker brings out a report on the Oil-for-Food programme each time the Secretary-General is in the limelight, first when he presented his recommendations for reform, entitled “In Larger Freedom”, and now on the eve of the sixtieth anniversary summit of the United Nations. Each time, he stops short of forcing Mr Annan out of office, but finds him guilty of not exercising command over the programme and of tolerating mismanagement and corruption. His personal integrity has not been called into question, but his son’s involvement does not cover him with glory even if he was unaware of Mr Kojo Annan’s activities. There is fresh evidence to suggest that Mr Kojo Annan used his pedigree to advance the interests of his company. As a member of the committee, Mr Richard Gladston remarked, it is “not proven finding rather than an exoneration.” The report flashed harsh light to the most unsightly corners of the United Nations, as the Secretary-General said. No punishment is, however, called for as the final report indicts everybody involved, beginning with Saddam Hussein, described as the “key culprit”, who manipulated the programme for his own benefit, the whole of the Security Council, represented in the Sanctions Committee, established by Resolution 661, the secretariat, the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the Auditors and the General Assembly itself. All of them had the opportunity to prevent the criminal waste of the resources of the programme. Instead, they routinely approved different aspects of it. Since the Sanctions Committee worked on the basis of consensus and not voting, every member of the Security Council virtually had veto power in the committee. The Security Council itself had commended the Oil-for-Food programme repeatedly for its achievements. As for remedies, new structures will be created to strengthen the supervision of the bureaucracy till new disclosures necessitate new machinery. An independent audit office and an ethics office have been recommended for immediate establishment to deal with rampant corruption and inefficiency. The ethics office will inspire and protect whistle-blowers, who bring corruption cases to light. It has been forgotten that an internal oversight office was created on the pattern of the Inspector-General in the US Government with the purpose of rooting out corruption a few years ago at the instance of the US; it did not take long for the head of that office to be found guilty of irregularities. Ironically, it is the same office that has now been entrusted with the follow-up of the Volcker report. As the initial debate in the Security Council showed, there is enough in the report for all concerned to push their respective agendas. The Secretary-General accepted responsibility for the deeply embarrassing criticism of the secretariat that there was “maladministration and evidence of corruption”, and regretted his lack of diligence in pursuing investigations of alleged misdeeds. In the same breath, he reminded everyone that the report also stated that the programme served a useful purpose by providing food and medical supplies to innocent civilians in Iraq. He also reminded the Security Council that the members themselves had applauded the work of the programme and approved every shipment, as required by the Sanctions Committee. He then proceeded to stress the urgency of reform, including additional offices and authority to take action, without waiting for the relevant committees to sanction expenditure. He pushed for his agenda for reform, stating that the findings of the report had made the reforms even more urgent. Mr Volcker managed to put the members of the Security Council also on the defensive by suggesting that they themselves should share the blame for not scrutinising the work of the programme adequately. None of the members, not even the US, highlighted the lapses of the secretariat. Instead, they harped on the humanitarian aspects of the programme and its complexity. Both the US and the UK stressed that Saddam Hussein remained the villain of the piece, who exploited the goodwill of the United Nations towards the people of Iraq. The UK claimed that larger issues preoccupied the council at that time and, therefore, not enough attention could be paid to the operation of the programme. Every member acknowledged that the programme served its purpose and complimented the Secretary-General for appointing the Volcker Committee and for giving it full access to officials and records. There was not even a hint of criticism of the Secretary-General personally. As the Tanzanian representative noted, the lofty goals of the United Nations remained above reproach even after the publication of the report. The overall thrust was that the reform proposals should be pursued and an agreement should be reached in September itself. The US Permanent Representative, Mr John Bolton, did not fail to take a swipe at “dozens of countries, who were in a state of denial” and were blocking the reform process. Mr Volcker characterised the Oil-for-Food programme as “a compact with the devil”, an arrangement with Saddam Hussein himself for the benefit of the innocent civilians of Iraq. It necessarily had to be an unconventional package with certain inbuilt dangers. The programme had to operate with the cooperation of the Iraqi authorities. Some commentators even suggested that the money misused belonged to Iraq and the UN treasury was not affected by the maladministration of the programme. The representative of Iraq said, apparently in response to this point, that Iraq should be compensated for the waste of its resources. The timing of the release of the Volcker report may have helped rather than harmed the Secretary-General and the United Nations. No one wants to lose the momentum in New York towards reform by weakening the Secretary-General’s position. Moreover, the final report did not reveal anything dramatically new that warranted immediate action. The report will figure in the debate more as a call for strengthening the financial and administrative structure of the United Nations than as an indictment of the organisation. The Secretary-General himself appears to be in no danger in the aftermath of the
report. The writer is a former Ambassador of India to the United Nations, Vienna.
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Coaching Chappell
My dear Chappell Bhai, How innocent you are! That’s not the way to do things in India, my friend. You should have been “cautious”, “polite”, “tactful”, “diplomatic” , and “careful about public sentiment “. You should have maintained “decorum”, and gone “through proper channels”, instead of “rushing to the Press”. That is how we hide facts but fool the public about “transparent “ governance. So, you should have gossiped, spread rumours and worked behind the scenes as slyly as possible. Some people call this politicking. Uncharitable ! So what, if you think dear Souravda is unfit to play. Tomorrow you will say that Sachinji is past his prime. God! These small things don’t matter. We are thrilled to see all our players walk in and out — provided they promote strong and durable underwears, soft drinks etc. Hoi, hoi, bubbly, bubleee! Performance? Nonsense. Our batsmen aim at the balls, bowlers do release balls, and fielders do jump and run. What more do you want? Chappell Babu, please don’t be greedy. Dropped catches, runouts etc? Ha, Ha! Look at their old performances — that great catch four years ago, that terrific throw six years ago, that devastating century seven years ago … How can we ignore their past and keep harping on their so-called fitness and current form? Not ethical. We love our heroes, Chappell Babu. We won’t mind even if our fielders arrive on the ground in wheelchairs, one day. Ever seen bowlers in plastered legs ? You may, very soon. Don’t be negative. Think of new techniques to coach them. Indians will always worship such “committed” players, and wear banians and undies promoted by them. Try them yourself — you may get better coaching ideas. Yes, somehow contrive to get a few small struggling countries to play with us. Our heroes will unleash centuries and bowling feats. Our masses will be jubilant as usual, and resume batting and bowling practice in bathrooms and balconies. They will sit glued to the idiot box in new banians and … Your criticism has already set off that great mental epidemic known as “sympathy wave”. Many Indians win elections purely on that basis and become our rulers. So, Chappell Bhai, please control yourself. Your well-wisher,
MUNNABHAI.
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Distress land sales by Punjab farmers RURAL indebtedness has reached alarming proportions in Punjab. Bhutal Kulan, a village in Sangrur district, having around 1,000 acres of land, is up for sale. Local farmers, heavily indebted to money-lenders and corporate banks, are selling their land-holdings at a pittance. It’s the same story in neighbouring Bhutal Khor, which has over 1,200 acres of land. Practically, the entire village is up for sale. So too in Bhutal Khurd, located near Jakhar on the Haryana border. Surjit Singh, a farmer who owns four acres, points out: “Eighty per cent of the land in our village has been mortgaged to banks and money-lenders. Since we are not in a position to repay these loans, and have been driven to a state of complete impoverishment, we are being forced to sell our ancestral land.” The result of such sales is that once-proud self-sufficient farmers now have to eke out a living as daily wagers. Says Hardayal Singh, sarpanch of Govindpura Jawaharwala village. “The situation has become alarming. If the government does not intervene to stop this trend, we will all end up becoming destitute.” Farmers across Punjab insist that distress sales are taking place because local money-lenders are in a position to put pressure on them. Surjit Singh says: “The local arhtiyas know our plight and are able to purchase our lands dirt-cheap. The going rate for this land is around Rs 100,000 per acre. Unfortunately, the majority of farmers are uneducated. In the past they had borrowed small amounts of money from these money-lenders. The money-lenders affixed their thumb impressions on to blank paper and are now demanding three to four times what they had originally given.” A local arhtiya, Lala Charan Das, reportedly bought 80 acres of land in the village. “How come no land ceiling Act is applicable to him?” asks Surjeet Singh. Sunshe Singh and his wife, also from Govindpura Jawaharwala, borrowed Rs 2 lakh from Amar Prakash, a money-lender, 13 years ago. Prakash is now insisting that the amount has tripled to almost Rs 6 lakh. The shocked couple turned to the panchayat for help. “The panchayat has summoned the money-lender twice but he has refused to heed them. He has told them that they can do what they like especially since they have no power to arrest him,” says Gajo Kaur. The pressure on the old couple has been so intense that their only son committed suicide by consuming a pesticide. Malkit Kaur, sarpanch of Malkait village, points out that it’s not just men who are committing suicide. Women-headed households are also being forced to sell off their lands cheap. “With nothing to fall back on and with young children to feed, women are also taking their own lives,” says Malkit Kaur. She cites the example of Sukhpal Kaur, who belonged to Nangla village and was related to her. Her husband was bed-ridden and she had to take care of four children. She had a debt of Rs 70,000 to repay. Unable to repay it, and under pressure from all sides, she ended her life by consuming a pesticide. Inderjit Singh Jaijee, head of the Movement against State Repression (MSR), has been tabulating statistics on the increasing impoverishment of farmers from the Lehra and Andana blocks in Sangrur and Mansa districts. Jaijee, who was earlier an elected representative from Sangrur and whose MSR has been tabulating farmer suicides in Punjab since 1998, points out: “Conservative estimates indicate that an average of 50 suicides take place in the Lehra and Andana blocks every year. If we were to even halve this number, the number of suicides in Punjab’s 100 districts works out to over 2,500 per year… According to MSR estimates, during Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s tenure, already more than 325 farmers have committed suicide. Villagers are selling off thousands of acres and the government is doing nothing to help them.” Dr Ranjit Singh Ghuman, Professor of economics, Punjabi University, Patiala, concedes that a large number of land transactions are taking place. He believes the situation can be altered only if the government takes quick, remedial measures. The government needs to persuade farmers to set up cooperatives along the lines of those functioning in Maharashtra. Only if farmers get involved in marketing their own products will the situation improve,” says Professor Ghuman. He believes the government’s investment in agriculture has decreased substantially. “In 1975-79, agricultural investment was 3.98 per cent of GDP. Today, it is down to 1.5 per cent.” The government’s withdrawal from this crucial area has also resulted in large-scale disengagement of the workforce. Professor Ghuman points out how the rural agricultural workforce has dropped from 55 per cent to 39.4 per cent. Unfortunately, this workforce has not been absorbed in non-farm activities. On the contrary, poverty figures have risen by 6 per cent in the area. Agriculture experts express concern at the impoverishment and increasing landlessness of farmers. Prof H.S. Shergill, from the Department of Economics at Panjab University in Chandigarh, believes that as long as farmers are being forced to take non-institutional credit at 60 per cent interest, they will not be able to break out of the debt trap. Professor Shergill, who authored a study on the increasing indebtedness of the Punjabi farmer a decade ago, indicated that farmers’ debt had reached Rs 135 crore. “Today,” he claims, “that figure has doubled.” He maintains that unless the government changes land ownership patterns and takes a determined stand to fight rural indebtedness, the Punjabi peasantry would become completely impoverished. |
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Wider use of statins can save lives Thousands of people are dying of heart attacks and strokes because life-saving drugs are being wrongly prescribed, doctors say. More than a million patients in the UK are taking statins, the cholesterol lowering drugs which reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. But the drugs are being wrongly restricted to those with high cholesterol when thousands more lives could be saved if they were prescribed to everyone with diseased arteries. The first comprehensive review of the cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins has found they can cut the risk of a heart attack or stroke by one third, if used in a big enough dose. Colin Baigent, of the clinical trial service unit at the University of Oxford, who led the study, published in the online edition of The Lancet, said: “There aren’t many drugs that can do that. Given a decent dose, statins are wonder drugs. [But] they are being used in a less than efficient wayt. What we have found is that if you are at high risk of a heart attack or stroke, reducing your cholesterol, regardless of its current level, will reduce your risk.’ “Many doctors use target levels for cholesterol. If you have an average cholesterol level you might get no statin or a low dose. Of those who are being treated with statins at least half are not getting a high enough dose. “What matters most is that doctors identify all patients at risk of a heart attack or stroke, largely ignoring their blood cholesterol level, then prescribe a statin at a daily dose that reduces their cholesterol substantially. The goal of treatment should be to reduce cholesterol as much as possible. There is a problem of under-treatment.” The biggest benefits were in patients with the largest reduction in cholesterol, irrespective of their starting level before treatment. The review, a meta-analysis of 14 randomised trials of 90,000 patients, found the risk of a heart attack or stroke over five years was reduced by a fifth for every 1mmol reduction in the LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol level. With the correct dose of statins, most people could reduce their cholesterol level by at least 1.5 mmols, achieving a one third reduction in their risk, the researchers said. There was no evidence that statins increased the incidence of cancer, or that low cholesterol levels caused depression leading to suicide, two charges levelled against the drugs. Professor Anthony Keech, of the University of Sydney who co-ordinated the study team in Australia said: “Statins are often prescribed in relatively small doses which may only reduce cholesterol modestly. Our results indicate that the benefits of statins appear directly proportional to the size of the reduction in cholesterol produced by treatment. So, bigger cholesterol reductions with more intensive treatment regimens should lead to greater benefits.” In the UK, six million people are estimated to be at high risk of a heart attack or stroke because they have had a cardiovascular event or are diabetic. A separate study of 90,000 elderly Americans, in Archives of Internal Medicine yesterday, found those taking statins had a 36 per cent lower risk of fractures. —
The Independent
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Conserving water LET’S not become complacent about following proper water-conservation measures. Use common sense to determine the point at which plants need more water. Feel the texture of the soil. Sand requires more water than clay. Soil dries faster in sun than shade, and cool weather greatly reduces water loss. Scratch a little soil with a cultivator and monitor the moisture. Mud is easy to detect. It will pack together or be sticky. Properly moist soil appears darker, crumbles, and feels cool and wet. Weeds are easy to pull. If soil crumbles and powders, it should be watered. Take as little water from your public works as possible. Here are some suggestions for collecting water and irrigating with it: — Collect the water coming from your air conditioner. Condensers are putting out a steady flow of moisture. Most of that water is draining away. Pipe it directly into your garden or collect it in a receptacle and pour it where it’s most needed. Use rainwater the same way. — You can collect a gallon or more a day from a dehumidifier. — To irrigate, always water slowly, almost dripping it into the soil. — Keep the water source close to the ground. — If possible, use a soaker hose or drip line and lay the water into the soil just below ground level. — Early morning watering is the best, but irrigation in the evening has the least amount of evaporation. — Irrigate with ``gray water,’’ or water that would ordinarily be drained away, such as bath, dish and vegetable-cooking water. Pour around the roots of your parched plants. — Gray water is safe to use on fruits and vegetables. Do not wet the foliage of the plants when watering; soak only the ground around the base. — To hold moisture, use mulch. You can use dried grass trimmings, not fresh ones. Lay compost over your beds, and when you water, it will be working organic material into the soil at the same time. — Check for soil moisture at varying depths to make sure you’ve gotten to the base of the roots of the plants without watering too deeply. You can stick your finger into the soil and feel for wetness. Or, use a screwdriver or quarter-inch-diameter wooden dowel to poke into the soil, and check it for moisture. — Don’t water during hot, windy or rainy weather. — Repeat watering is especially important on sloped sites and areas where soil percolates quickly. To test your soil for percolation, dig a hole, and before putting in organic material or plants, fill with water and see how fast it drains. It should run out slowly. If it drains quickly, you will need to irrigate the site often. — Avoid using a sprinkler that throws a fine mist into the air. You want droplets to drench the soil. A mist into the air loses too much water to evaporation. — Keep ahead of weeds. Weeds use moisture; getting rid of them helps keep down the competition for moisture. — Move container plants to sheltered areas, away from excess wind and sun. Lawns are best watered from above. There are varying theories on the intervals. Some schools of thought call for a quarter- to half-inch every other day for lawns in summer. Other, more common guidelines are one inch on the surface once a week; however, it depends on the site you are irrigating. — LA Times-Washington Post
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From the pages of DECENTRALISATION FETISH Mr John
Morley, in his last speech on the Budget, expressed his conviction that the existing unsatisfactory condition of affairs would improve very considerably if the present system could be decentralised to some extent. He has since appointed a Commission to consider the whole matter. The scope of their work, as outlined in the orders of Government, is doubtless a wide one but it remains to be seen whether the members will be able to go to the root of the matter. The constitution of the Commission has not given satisfaction in one essential respect, and it is that the independent Indian element is not adequately represented on it. We have had so many Commissions during the past ten years and these have resulted in nothing advantageous to the country that our countrymen hesitate to feel sanguine about the results of the new Commission.
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The soul rises on the horizon of my intellect. —The Upanishads Thinking about sensual objects creates in us a great desire to possess them. Any thwarting of these desires kindles the fire of anger in us. —The Mahabharata It is not the possession of good things which brings happiness—is the ability to enjoy what comes. Happiness is an attitude. —Book of quotations on Happiness Give of your hands to serve and your hearts to love. —Mother Teresa What is the use of making pilgrimage if you can attain the love of God remaining where you are?
—Ramakrishna |
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