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From Amritsar to Lahore Slow, but on right track |
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Lalu Express Railways going ahead full steam CORRUPTION charges, rusticity and buffoonery are the more familiar features of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s political image. Less known is that Mr Yadav has secured a good report card as the Railway Minister with a well-done note from a hard-to-please Prime Minister.
UN at 60
The old order
Trapped in a bunker Food pyramid for children Delhi Durbar
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From Amritsar to Lahore THE India-Pakistan peace process has got a fresh push with the much-awaited launch of the Amritsar-Lahore bus service being scheduled in November. After all, if it is possible to have buses plying on the Delhi-Lahore and Srinagar-Muzaffarabad routes, there is no reason why there should be no such link between Amritsar and Lahore. If everything proceeds to plan, then a bus service between Amritsar and Nankana Sahib (the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev) would be another lane on the widening highway of people-to- people connection. In fact, there should be no difficulty in making the weekly service between Amritsar and Lahore into a daily affair in the days ahead. Given the enthusiastic public reaction, the bus may be in great demand, calling for increased frequency. What has come to be known as bus diplomacy is playing a major role in promoting people-to-people contacts, so essential as a basis for establishing friendly relations between the two neighbours. It has been proved beyond doubt that there can be no better confidence-building measure (CBM) than enabling the people on both sides to interact. And increased contacts have been creating considerable pressure on New Delhi and Islamabad to ensure that the ongoing composite dialogue process remains on course. No doubt, there are hiccups like the inconclusive talks in Islamabad on Wednesday to expand the air links between India and Pakistan. But such developments, though temporarily discouraging, are unlikely to deter the larger process that is underway. With the increasing bus links between the two Punjabs, it is obvious that visa-issuing facilities are necessary in Amritsar and Lahore to make the journey convenient. The new bus service can give a boost to not only tourism but also India-Pakistan trade which has grown by over 70 per cent in the past two years. It is heartening that Islamabad has allowed the import of vegetables, animal products and sugar through the Wagah border. Wagah can be transformed into a bridge for economic growth.
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Slow, but on right track THE sixth round of talks between the Special Representatives of India and China on the border question which concluded on Wednesday marked the beginning of the second phase of negotiations. Neither side has reportedly gone into the specifics, but the talks have been friendly and constructive all along. The neighbours have been able to narrow down the differences considerably. The border is tranquil. That is what matters the most. The mechanism of Special Representatives was created over two years ago. When the political complexion of the government changed in New Delhi, there was apprehension in some quarters that the exercise may slow down and get diffused. It goes to the credit of the leadership in both countries that nothing of that sort happened. On the contrary, the discussions have acquired a sharper focus following the signing of the landmark agreement on political parameters and guiding principles for settling the border dispute in April this year. The progress made so far has been fairly impressive. Sikkim is no longer an issue in the India-China relations. Trade ties are expanding apace. Border trade is set to resume through the Nathu La pass. Interestingly, the latest Chinese publications do not even mention “border dispute”. This is, instead, called the “boundary question left over by our history”. In fact, the approach followed by New Delhi and Beijing has become an ideal template which can be followed by other countries as well. India has been advocating a similar display of sagacity to Pakistan and Bangladesh. India and China have not allowed themselves to be bogged down by the vexatious border question. Instead, they have made considerable progress on the strategic-economic front. The two giants have stopped seeing each other as rivals, and have agreed to play a complementary role. Both strive to reserve their place on the global high table and have rightly come to realise that they can help each other in this endeavour. What must be noted is that the 1962 conflict apart, they two countries have actualised peaceful coexistence in an exemplary manner.
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Lalu Express CORRUPTION charges, rusticity and buffoonery are the more familiar features of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s political image. Less known is that Mr Yadav has secured a good report card as the Railway Minister with a well-done note from a hard-to-please Prime Minister. When he was given this key portfolio in May, 2004, many had feared “Biharification” of the Railways, and not without reason. His performance as a Chief Minister in Bihar had been far from inspiring. Rather he got involved in what is known as the fodder scam. As the Railway Minister, his initial gimmicks like promoting kulhars and khadi only confirmed the widely prevalent view that the Railways’ downhill journey would now gain momentum. There is, however, a surprise in store for his critics: the Railways under Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav has actually seen a boost in its earnings and a decline in its expenses. The rise in the annual gross traffic income went up from 8.48 per cent in 2001-02 to 15.83 per cent during April-August this year. This has become possible partly because the upper class fares and the freight rates were raised steeply. The Railways’ dependence on government funds has been reduced, the catering and parcel businesses have become profitable, wagons are used more efficiently than before and passenger occupancy has gone up. The funds available with the Railways are now at an all-time high of Rs 6,000 crore. The credit for this, of course, goes to the entire Railway work force, but it is the leader at the top who makes all the difference. The real challenge before the Railway Minister is to keep up this performance. Although passengers have been provided facilities like e-ticketing, automatic upgrades and a functioning enquiry, they are still worried about their personal safety. Rail accidents are rather too frequent and need to be checked as also the growing crimes on trains. Above all, railway projects worth Rs 46,000 crore are pending and should be speeded up. Mr Lalu Yadav’s record is well on track so far, much to the chagrin of his critics.
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One must divide one’s time between politics and equations. But our equations are much more important to me. — Albert Einstein
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UN at 60
THE world summit in New York from September 14 to 16 took place at a time when the very relevance of the UN, the efficacy of the Security Council, the competence of Secretary- General Kofi Annan and the accountability of some of the UN’s officials were in question. Development, security and human rights were at the top of the agenda. Admirers and critics of the UN agreed that to tackle these problems the UN itself needs reform, so that it can cope with the realities of the 21st century. The world has seen many radical changes since the UN Charter was adopted in 1945. That world was shaped by the Cold War and dominated by two super powers. Four European countries had empires in Asia, the Middle-East and Africa, which disappeared, gradually, by the 1970s. In 1991 the collapse of the USSR ended the post-1945 world order; post-Cold War international society is still evolving. The number of UN member-states has more than tripled over the last 60 years to 191 today. States and peoples are still learning how to handle the technological revolution which has led to globalisation. As in 1945, states are the primary actors in the international system but their ability to assert their sovereignty has been diminished by globalisation. And the emergence of new norms stressing human rights and democracy has frequently created tension over the sovereignty of the states and their international obligations. Countries as diverse and distant as India, the United States, China, Russia, Britain and Israel – and more – have had to confront the conflict over sovereignty. Reform is also necessary because the UN appears to have lost some of its credibility. This is partly because the UN and its member-states mistakenly expanded peace operations after 1991, especially in Yugoslavia, Somalia and Central Africa, although the organisation was not equipped to do this. Then, in March 2003, the American invasion of Iraq shook the very foundations of the UN system. The scandal over the Oil-for-Food programme in Iraq has brought to light cases of corruption and incompetence in the Secretariat. The UN staff lacked the management and auditing skills to run a programme that encompassed $64 billion in oil sales and $37 billion in purchases for Iraq. The Security Council itself oversaw the programme. And the US, now one of the UN’s most strident critics, probably ignored Saddam Hussein’s earnings through oil-smuggling to several of its West Asian allies. Mr Annan accepted the responsibility for his failings while calling for reforms to strengthen oversight and accountability, and to increase transparency. At the summit member-states agreed to strengthen the internal oversight capacity of the UN with a view to avoiding more “Iraq-type” scandals. But the Secretary-General has not been given more power over budgets and personnel. Western countries wanted more power to be transferred from the General Assembly to the Secretariat, which would also be made more accountable to independent auditors. Some developing countries resisted these attempts, which they perceived as a threat to their strong position in the General Assembly. The number of permanent members of the Security Council has remained unchanged since 1945. But proposals to expand the council from 15 to 24 members were shelved because of opposition from the present permanent five members — the US, Russia, China, France and Britain. Four aspirants for permanent membership included India, Japan, Germany and Brazil. However, they failed to get support from the 53 member-states of the African Union, without which no proposal to amend the UN Charter would win the necessary two-thirds majority vote in the General Assembly. The Security Council reform has, therefore, been put into cold storage. The summit’s two outstanding achievements were on peace and security issues. For the first time the UN member-states agreed that they do not have the right to do what they will within their own borders, and that the UN, in the name of humanity, has a collective responsibility to protect people from atrocities committed by their governments. In that event the Security Council could authorise military action against any state to stop atrocities against civilians, such as those which occurred in Rwanda, Kosovo and the Sudanese region of Darfur. This implies infringement of the concept of state sovereignty, which has anchored international relations for almost four centuries and guided the UN’s work. Permanent members of the Security Council turned down an Indian suggestion to refrain from vetoing “responsibility to protect” decisions. The US stressed that the “responsibility to protect” was a moral rather than a legal obligation, while some countries feared that it could be used to justify an aggressive foreign policy, such as the US invasion of Iraq. The chances are that in the long run reasons of state will prevail. How can war-torn countries make the transition from war to peace? At present the Security Council deals with the peace and security aspects of conflicts; there is no coordinating body to advise war-ravaged countries on security as well as economic recovery that is essential for domestic, regional and international security. There was agreement on the establishment of a peace-building commission that would help countries to make transitions from armed conflict to peace and development. A comprehensive convention against nuclear terrorism was signed at the summit. But the failure of the UN member-states to agree to a definition of terrorism and to sign a convention against terrorism will weaken their ability to fight terrorism. With more than one billion people living below the poverty line, development issues were given a high priority. The UN called on donor countries to give more aid to revitalise infrastructure and improve health and education services with a view to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Developing countries were asked to craft national strategies to meet MDG targets and to enhance accountable and transparent governance. Before the summit the US demanded removal of the MDGs from the agenda, and opposed the insertion of any legal provision to promise 0.7 per cent of the GNP to overseas development assistance by 2015. A compromise emerged in New York. The summit document notes that “many developed countries” will meet the 0.7 per cent goal while reaffirming the need for reform of institutions, infrastructure and investment conditions by countries receiving aid. At the summit there was agreement that a new human rights body should be created, but decisions on its size, membership and structure have been deferred to the General Assembly. The final summit document is an inevitable compromise. It does not amount to a renewal of the UN, and it augurs that “national interest” will continue to play second fiddle to collective security or international human rights norms. But the international responsibility to eliminate poverty and enhance peace and security remains. It is up to the UN member-states to craft new strategies to enhance the accountability and effectiveness of “their” organisation so that it can better tackle the intertwined global challenges of development, security and human rights.
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The old order JUST about a decade after the British had left India, I found myself posted as the Deputy Commissioner of Dhanbad in Bihar, now Jharkhand. It came as a surprise that the British presence was there everywhere in the district as most of the coal mines were owned by the British companies like Bird and Co. or Shaw Wallace etc. There were exclusive clubs where only the “whites” could become members except for the Deputy Commissioner and the Chief Inspector of Mines who were taken as honorary members. That the old order really prevailed became obvious to us when we went to see a movie and the cinema re-started the movie so that we could see the part that we had missed as we were slightly late. I had to go to Patna by an overnight through train for a meeting. The train started from Dhanbad soon after the dinner time. My wife and my younger brother who was a student in the Dhanbad School of Mines accompanied me to the railway station to see me off. I found that the SHO of the GRP and the Station Master also joined them on the platform to wish a “bon voyage” to me. While my bag etc was being placed in the compartment, I chatted with the gentlemen who had come to see me off. I went into the compartment to place my handbag on my berth when I espied a dirty looking “mal katta” [mine worker] occupying the other berth opposite mine. I came down and told the Station Master that I suspected that he perhaps was not a bona fide passenger. The Station Master checked his ticket and came back to me to tell me that his manager was to board the train from Gomoh junction and till then he was travelling on his first class ticket. I reminded the Station Master that the Railway tickets were not transferable, and one person could not travel for the other. The Station Master was a puny looking
Bengali gentleman. He went up again and asked the hefty “mal katta” to get down the train. The “mal katta” thought that he was within his rights in travelling on his “saheb’s” ticket. He became defiant and abusive. The more the Station Master insisted upon his getting down, the more abusive he
became. Everyone watched this battle of wits and words between the two. I do not know what came over me that I jumped up into the train ,caught hold of the “mal katta” by his neck and physically pushed him out. My orderly in uniform and others did not let him fall on the platform and quietly told him who I was. He just slinked away whereas everyone on the platform was stunned by what I had done. Meanwhile, the train started. My brother who was watching all the drama came to the window opposite my seat and said in my ear: “Virji, a Jat remained a Jat no matter how much he has read and what office he held.” His remark would have made me sink into the ground had I not been sitting in the train. This incident is still used in our family to bring me down if sometimes it is felt that I was taking a bit of airs in describing some personal episode or so. The writer is a former Election Commissioner of India.
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Trapped in a bunker CONSIDERING “golf fanaticism” in the “ Army hierarchy”, it is with certain amount of trepidation that I write this article. I have been regularly amplifying my disdain for golf while in service in various own arm forums during the past three years and, therefore, am not feeling qualmish once, I have started writing. Golf is a game where a player may have to circumvent “course hazards such as water bodies and bunkers”. As would be evident, the requirements for creating and maintaining a golf course are heavy on manpower, water, land, engineering resources( e.g. dozers, excavators) and funds for creating infrastructure. Any organisation striving for excellence, specially the Army, should lay greater emphasis on training. Training bridges the gap between a jawan and the officer (who is often a role model for the jawan) and in the process injects most often imperceptibly core values and discipline. Recently a news item suggested that the parliamentary committee on defence has asked for an inquiry into the large number of mine-related deaths over the past two/three years with the perception that the main cause is the inferior quality of mines. I recollect facts of two major mine-related accidents which took place during 2002 (when the Army had mobilised) at Amritsar and Jaisalmer resulting in the death of 34 Army personnel. Both accidents took place in the harbour areas of two infantry battalions while the mines were being prepared for laying of a minefield. As was evident from various reports in public domain, certain glaring training lapses were noticed i.e. the harbour areas were too compressed and jam-packed with a variety of vehicles; prepared anti-personnel mines were kept in close vicinity; unsupervised unloading of mines was taking place; harbour drills were at variance with ammunition; personnel were not aware of sensitivity of copper azide formation (one of the main causes of ammunition related accidents over the past six decades in our country). In fact in the Amritsar accident, the persons who lost their lives were from an engineer regiment. Engineers in the Army are generally responsible for all aspects of mine warfare i.e. handling/guiding other arms after collecting mines from Ordnance depots, training of all arms in arming/laying/demining etc. The engineers are also generally responsible (wherever they are located) to ensure the “golf course” is prepared and maintained using their resources both in terms of manpower, operational equipment and training time. Wherever a divisional headquarters and an engineer regiment are collocated, it would be the rule to find practically two-thirds of the regiment working on the golf course. I am a gunner (artillery) officer and was decorated for gallantry for doing a good job as a FOO (Forward Observation Officer) with an assaulting infantry company during the 1971 war. One factor/aspect foremost in my thoughts then was that the Pakistani artillery should be degraded to a degree that our infantry does not suffer casualties from shelling and I as a “ gunner” could feel professionally satisfied. During “Operation Vijay”, our Infantry pointed out that they suffered maximum casualties due to Pakistan artillery and highlighted the need to degrade adversary artillery potential in the initial stages of the battle/campaign. This is a sad reflection on the training standards of artillery. Why this lack of training to achieve the same? Artillery being a large arm is also a provider of manpower for the golf courses wherever they are located. Prior to my retirement, I spent nearly three years in a house located next to a golf course. Let me very briefly share as the effort put in to improve an existing golf course. Raw (untreated but meant for the cantonment from civilian reservoir) water sufficient to sustain a township was diverted to the golf course. The requirement of water to sustain a golf course is tremendous and is well brought out in various articles on the Internet. Manpower requirement is very heavy. Working conditions on the golf course for the jawans are inhuman, in fact degrading to all that stands for basic ethos for upbringing of the jawans. Golf is leading to less interaction between officers and jawans. In fact, it is sustaining the Brown Sahib culture where officers strut around the golf course while the jawans are either performing caddy duty/retrieving balls/working on their haunches. What an irony considering that every senior officer pontificates on management/welfare of jawans etc in front of his subordinates. All professional activity to include training/administration of units etc goes for a six after an early lunch when you will find all the golf-playing senior officers making a beeline for the golf course in their respective locations/place of visit. The Army has to look inwards, get rid of its “holy cow” image (as dissent within/ criticism by the media is treated as anti-national). The Brown Sahib culture reflected in a number of manpower intensive activities like golf, ceremonial guards at residence and social activities has to be done away with if we do not want to end up as a “banana republic army” considering the deterioration of training ethos. All land used for a golf course be converted into training areas for practising all aspects of mine warfare, fire planning for attack and its modifications using 14.5 artillery trainers, shooting and small arms firing.
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Food pyramid for children THE federal government on Wednesday unveiled the first ``food pyramid’’ specifically aimed at 6- to 11-year-old children, hoping that sound dietary advice combined with an interactive computer game featuring a rocket ship will help combat the growing obesity epidemic among children. Released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which issued a revised food pyramid for adults earlier this year, the new pyramid underscores familiar nutritional and physical activity messages. It urges kids to fill up on fruit and vegetables, grab whole grains instead of more processed cereals, bread and pasta and to ``get your calcium-rich foods,’’ such as milk. Youngsters are advised to pick up protein—not the greasy fast food burgers, fatty hot dogs and deep-fried chicken nuggets that are often a staple of children’s diets —but rather beans, nuts and sunflower seeds as well as lean meat, poultry without the skin and seafood. Physical activity is another key part of the children’s pyramid, just as it is for the adult pyramid. Youngsters, however, are advised to get at least 60 minutes daily of activity—a goal that few children now meet. Like My Pyramid (www.mypyramid.gov) and My Pyramid Tracker (www.mypyramidtracker.gov), the new pyramid for children is largely Web-based—a fact that drew criticism when the revised adult pyramid was released in April. ``A lost opportunity,’’ is how Walter Willett, a Harvard School of Public Health professor of nutrition, described it, saying that ``only the very most motivated people will go to the Web and dig into this information.’’ Initially, however, the two government pyramid Web sites were so overwhelmed with users that many people could not gain access. Since then, use has declined significantly according to Alexa, a San Francisco-based company that tracks online usage. During the first and second quarter of 2005, online conversation about MyPyramid increased from 6 percent to 10 percent, according to BuzzMetrics, another company that tracks word of mouth research by monitoring 100 online nutrition forums, community message boards, health Web sites and blogs. But that is still less than the 12 percent that BuzzMetrics tracked in the second quarter of 2004 when the USDA was soliciting public and expert input during development of the new pyramid. In a survey of 340,000 consumers who regularly interact with the nutrition sites, BuzzMetrics found varied reactions to the new pyramid: Forty-two percent of all conversation about the new pyramid was negative, 21 percent was mixed and 37 percent was positive. “There was much industry anticipation and media hype, the data suggest MyPyramid’s impact as a trendsetting diet force is minimal and lacking in credibility,’’ said BuzzMetrics senior analyst Alison Kalis. To help entice children to record their food and activity on the site, the USDA included an interactive computer game with a rocket ship that serves as a visual reminder of how well kids are doing for the day. When healthy food and more activity are recorded the rocket ship gets fueled. Put in enough of the right kind of fuel and it can take off. But put in food and drinks high in fat or added sugar such as sodas and the rocket ship could sputter on the launch pad, spewing black smoke.
—LA Times-Washington Post
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Delhi Durbar LAST Sunday when Atal Bihari Vajpayee attended BJP ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s 89th birth anniversary function at the party headquarters, guess who stole the thunder. For a change, all cameras were trained not on Vajpayee but Madan Lal Khurana. Since this was the first major public function to be attended by him after the “expulsion and reinstatement” drama, mediapersons were naturally keen to get some juicy bytes out of the voluble BJP leader. But Khurana, who normally never misses any opportunity to talk to the Press, was surprisingly reticent. The former Delhi Chief Minister refused to rise to the bait despite repeated provocation. “If I even utter a single sentence you will make it a banner headline,” was all he said.
Remembering Ambedkar While the government’s three top law officers, including Attorney General Milon Banerjee, tried their best to defend Governor Buta Singh’s controversial decision to dissolve the Bihar Assembly in the ongoing case in the Supreme Court, the judges were clearly not impressed. They pointed out that ultimately the Constitution’s “moral authority” is determined by the quality of people who are at the helm of affairs. Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, who is heading the bench hearing this case, recalled Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s speech to the Constituent Assembly where he pointed out that you could give the best Constitution to the country but the people who mattered could end up making it worse. Alternatively, you give them the worst Constitution, but the moral authority of the masses could turn it into the best legal document.
Shopping in Dubai Why do people visit Dubai and Singapore so many times though these places don’t have much to offer except shopping malls and food, asked Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel last week while speaking at an interactive session of the FICCI ladies organisation. But he was obviously not prepared for the assertive and articulate women, who did not hesitate to interrupt the minister’s long speech to tick him off. “Can the government offer the same level of cleanliness at Indian airports, the same service and the low fare flights and hotel rooms in India,” asked one participant. Yet another lady wanted to know if “you could please provide more trolleys and potter services for senior citizens and handicapped people at Delhi airport.”
Cricket vs tennis With cricket players and the BCCI locked in a battle, the game’s popularity appears to have suffered while tennis has acquired a new fan following, thanks to Sania Mirza. The new-found high status of tennis was evident when AIR had to pay a whopping Rs 10 lakh to hire commentators for the recent Davis Cup tie between India and Sweden. Private television channels were kept at an arm’s length as Doordarshan had the sole telecasting rights.
**** Contributed by S. Satyanarayanan, S.S. Negi, Manoj Kumar and M.S. Unnikrishnan
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From the pages of THE RECEDING MIRAGE The latest utterance of the London “Times” on the future of Indian politics furnishes a marked contrast to what our contemporary used to indite in the days, not far removed, when it wanted to see the Moderates and the Extremists part company to please its own mighty self. What winning flattery, what artful cajoling, what nice little acts of sweet courtesy, what pleasant ways and captivating manners! Did not its composition bear a look on the outward surface as if from one end to the other it was all a scattering of soft words and honeyed phrases. And yet no sooner did the ill-fated split at Surat come, our contemporary forthwith appeared in a new role. There was no end of teasing and taunting the Moderates, the head and front of whose offending, in the eyes of our contemporary and those of its ilk, consisted in their not cutting themselves adrift from the old moorings and chalking out a fresh path for themselves.
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It sees but appears not to see. — The Upanishads May your deeds be only righteous. — The Upanishads
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