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Leave kids alone In scary zone |
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ULFA at the door Talks will be a minefield AFTER months of intense talks about talks, the Centre and the banned United Liberation Front of Asom will finally be taking the first step on October 25 and 26. New Delhi will sit down with the People’s Consultative Group, a nine-member group of the “like-minded” constituted by ULFA early last month.
Iran’s violation of NPT
Calling names
Civic elections in Andhra Chirac: EC fails to defend Long hours on bicycle may make men
impotent
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Leave kids alone WHENEVER politicians decide to stage a grand public spectacle, they know where to pick up extras, without having to pay for their services. Schools, of course. Innocent boys and girls are made to stand along roads waving flags or to fill stadiums to give a visiting dignitary grand illusions about his or her popularity. So what if the students have to even miss their classes for this kind of forced outing? They get blessed with the “darshan” of the great leaders, don’t they? The practice has become so widespread that most do not even find it objectionable. Be that as it may, even those subscribing to the chalta-hai approach will agree that the organisers just have to take care of the basic needs of the commandeered children like food and water. Organisers of a rally in Kanpur on Gandhi Jayanti addressed by Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh did not. Nearly 10,000 school children were made to wait for four hours under the scorching sun without any adequate arrangement of drinking water, leave alone food. The result? Nearly a dozen of them fainted, with one of them developing a brain clot. Could there be a more brazen display of callousness, that too on the birthday of the Mahatma? Mr Amar Singh has apologised for the incident but has in the same breath castigated his political opponents for “exaggerating” it. He would have obtained a better idea of what the children had to undergo if he had put himself or his children in blistering heat for such a long duration. Perhaps his flight was delayed because of an Army drill as he claims, but was it not the duty of the organisers to take care of the children? Tears of the crocodile variety will now be shed for the hapless boys and girls. Since political opportunism is the only thing that really moves present-day leaders, let it be added that treating children properly makes electoral sense too. They are the voters of tomorrow. Why prejudice them for life through such sickening display of callousness? Politicians may not have hearts but they should use their heads at least. |
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In scary zone THE gravity-defying BSE Sensex, which closed on a new high of 8,800 on Tuesday, has foxed investors and disproved predictions of many an analyst. What worries most is the lack of a serious correction, considered healthy for a rally to sustain. The steep climb has created a scary situation and “experts”, as usual, are doling out explanations. The price-to-earning ratio of the Indian stocks based on the projected 2006 earnings is put at 12.5 per cent, which is considered not very high. A great many long-term institutional investors still find valuations reasonable, particularly in the oil and banking sectors, and point to similar rallies in other Asian countries like Japan and Hong Kong, though the rise there is not to the same extent. As is well known, this is a liquidity-driven rally. Since June foreign institutional investors have been pumping in $1 billion every month, according to a financial daily. Indian mutual funds, too, are on a buying spree. Of late, funds from more countries like Japan and South Korea have entered India. The latest trigger for the bulls has, perhaps, come from the official reports of a surprise 8.1 per cent GDP growth in the first quarter of this fiscal. A good monsoon-led agriculture may not be all that disappointing. The Indian growth rate is a big pull for foreign investors for whom investment avenues have shrunk considerably. Negative reports like the spurt in oil prices, hardening of the US interest rates and predictions of a decline in global economic activity have failed to weigh with investors. Notably, the Indian stock market today is better regulated and more advanced with electronic trading, dematerialisation and shorter settlements. The recent risk-control steps have reversed the dramatic rise in penny stocks. Small investors are turning to mutual funds in increasing numbers for investments in equities. While the risk of too much money being at the disposal of a few “experts” is there, the Finance Minister has ruled out any scam triggering this bull run.
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ULFA at the door AFTER months of intense talks about talks, the Centre and the banned United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) will finally be taking the first step on October 25 and 26. New Delhi will sit down with the People’s Consultative Group (PCG), a The one-year ceasefire with the equally violent National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), a group demanding a separate and independent nation for the Bodos of Assam, was a success of sorts. The ceasefire was comprehensive, and included provisions against any easy re-grouping by NDFB militants. The Centre hopes that the talks with the PCG, to be followed hopefully by talks with ULFA leaders themselves, will also lead to such a ceasefire. Of course, ceasefires, while desirable, do not make the problem go away. Witness, for example, what is happening with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah). One-year ceasefires, extended seven times, led this year to only a six-month extension with no resolution of issues in sight. The NDFB came to the table only after it was severely weakened by raids on its camps in Bhutan. ULFA also suffered in those raids, and in other Indian security forces operations. A likely factor is also the recent success of the Army’s ‘Operation Balwan’ in Tinsukia. Many leaders were reportedly killed, before interlocutors prevailed upon the Centre, talks probably in mind, to hold off. The government maintains that all operations against militants will continue in the meantime. The path ahead is a minefield.
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Few have been taught to any purpose who have not been their own teachers. — Joshua Reynolds
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Iran’s violation of NPT MR
P.V. Narasimha Rao and Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee displayed statesmanship, transcending political differences, to defeat a Pakistani move to get India condemned for alleged human rights violations in J&K at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 1994. India’s then Ambassador to the UN Offices in Geneva, Mr Satish Chandra, recalls the role played by Iran in that debate in the UN. Mr Chandra was told explicitly by his Iranian counterpart that if the Pakistan Resolution condemning India was put to vote, Iran would back Pakistan. When it became clear, however, that the Pakistan resolution lacked requisite support, Iran made a virtue of necessity and advised Pakistan not to call for a vote. India and Iran have cooperated in supporting the Northern Alliance against the Taliban in Afghanistan. They share a common interest to see that landlocked Afghanistan is not subject to Pakistani economic blackmail. Iran benefits by transit of Indian goods to Russia and Central Asia. But Indian and Iranian interests do not always coincide. Iran, unlike Indonesia and Algeria, repeatedly backs the resolutions in the Organisation of Islamic Conference that condemn alleged human rights abuses by us in Jammu and Kashmir and echo Pakistani views on J&K. This happens despite the consistent backing that India gives Iran, by opposing western-sponsored resolutions that condemn human rights violations by the Iranian government. Iran voiced serious concern and was critical of India’s May 1998 nuclear tests. When Pakistan tested nuclear weapons, Iran found reasons of national security to justify the Pakistani action. Iran also moved a resolution at the UN earlier this year seeking universal compliance with the provisions of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) despite objections by India. Should India automatically support the nonaligned countries disregarding its own national interests on every issue? Every nonaligned country except Bhutan and Mauritius voted against India during the Bangladesh crisis in 1971. The position was no different when it came to voting on the US-backed Pakistani proposals to declare South Asia a nuclear weapons-free zone. South Africa led the chorus of condemnation against India after our nuclear tests and became the first nonaligned movement chairman to raise the Kashmir issue at a nonaligned summit. Even today the “New Agenda Coalition” spearheaded by South Africa and Egypt demands that India should sign the NPT. India, Pakistan and Israel did not accede to the NPT in 1968. They were, therefore, not required to place their nuclear facilities under international safeguards administered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). All three countries possess nuclear weapons, without violating any international commitment or obligation. Iran signed the NPT and was required to place all its nuclear facilities under the IAEA safeguards. In 2003 the IAEA received substantive and irrefutable evidence that Iran had violated its commitments under the NPT. From 1987 onwards Iran secretly undertook the construction of facilities to enrich uranium. The centrifuges and designs for the enrichment facilities were provided to Iran by Pakistan’s now disgraced nuclear scientist, Dr A.Q. Khan. The clandestine development of these nuclear enrichment facilities was a violation of Iran’s obligations under the NPT. Under Article XII.C of the Statute of the IAEA this “non-compliance” with the NPT safeguards provisions has to be reported by the board of the IAEA to the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly. This report was not filed thus far by the IAEA because Iran agreed in November 2004 to suspend “all tests or production at any uranium conversion installation” pending the conclusion of an agreement with three European Union powers (EU-3) — Britain, France and Germany. Just one day before the EU-3 was scheduled to present its proposals to Iran, the Iranian government announced that it would resume uranium conversion activities at its Isfahan plant. The IAEA board thereafter decided by a vote of 22 to 1 with 11 abstentions (including Russia and China) to refer Iran to the UN Security Council as required by the statute of the IAEA, after further discussions, scheduled for November. India voted in favour of this resolution. After making some noises that it would consider reviewing its energy ties with India, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, Mr Ali Larijani, said: “I believe friends should not be judged by a single action. Iran enjoys friendly relations with India”. While India has signed a long-term contract with Iran for the supply of LNG, it also has similar arrangements with countries like Qatar. Iranian threats of curtailing energy cooperation with India are thus a double- edged weapon. Further, given the frequent bomb blasts in Baluchistan that disrupt Pakistan’s own gas supplies and the propensity of both Iran and Pakistan to link economic ties to political developments, is it prudent to rush into constructing an Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline? Despite denials by New Delhi, an important factor underlying the position that India took on the Iranian nuclear proliferation was its natural desire to see an end to the international sanctions it has endured for nearly three decades on the supply of nuclear power reactors by the members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) as soon as possible. Following the agreement that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed with President Bush during his visit to Washington in July, important nuclear suppliers like Russia, France, Britain and Canada have indicated their readiness to work together with the US to end the NSG sanctions on India. It would, therefore, not have been in India’s national interest to abstain on the EU-3-sponsored resolution that sought compliance with the statute of the IAEA and reported Iranian violations of its IAEA obligations to the Security Council. It would have been inconsistent for India to claim that it is opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and then condone clandestine Iranian actions violating the statute of the IAEA. Dr Manmohan Singh has stated that India would support the EU-3 initiative on securing Iranian compliance with the provisions of the NPT. Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz indicated that his country would take a similar position on the issue while visiting South Korea and Malaysia. New Delhi should assist in trying to bridge the differences between the EU-3 and Iran, but not budge on its support for reporting the IAEA statute violations to the Security Council and the General Assembly. India should also make it clear at the IAEA that it is inconsistent for an international organisation to focus only on Iran for receiving P1 and P2 uranium enrichment centrifuges from Pakistan. (The P2 centrifuges are reportedly of Chinese origin.) Dr A.Q. Khan supplied not only centrifuge data to Libya but also the design of a nuclear weapon that Pakistan had received from China. The IAEA and the Security Council will have to carry out a comprehensive investigation to establish whether the “Khan Network” provided Iran also with nuclear weapons designs. India should propose a detailed investigation into the role of Dr Khan and Gen Mirza Aslam Beg in nuclear transfers to Iran and a similar investigation into the role of Gen Jehangir Karamat in nuclear transfers to Pyongyang. The IAEA undermines its credibility when it adopts double standards and avoids investigation of those who are “non-NATO allies” of the US, or are permanent members of the Security Council. But can we accuse the IAEA alone of double standards? We have yet to hear forthright condemnation by CPM functionaries like Mr Prakash Karat of nuclear and missile proliferation by China and Pakistan — proliferation that undermines and endangers India’s national
security.
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Calling names
GROWING up with concepts like a rose smelling as sweet even if it is called by any other name, Mohini Giri’s theory on name and feminity came as quite a surprise. It was during a seminar on women, where I represented the Women’s Studies Research Centre, Gauhati University, that I heard the fiery former chairperson of the National Commission for Women talking about social conditioning. Her comment remained etched on my mind. “Girls are saddled with names like Hemlata, Kunjlata (lata meaning a creeper). This instills the feeling in a girl that she is weak and needs the support of a solid trunk to grow in life”. Though the idea was new to me, it made perfect sense. After a short time when I migrated to Punjab, my joy knew no bounds when I learnt about the unisex names in the state. It is a different matter that at that time it was a bit difficult for me to distinguish a boy from a girl by their names alone for, I did not even know the difference between a Singh and a Kaur. If a name like Paraminder is okay for a boy, then it is equally good for a girl. This is the land of emancipation, may be the influence of the Gurus, I thought. However, my euphoria did not last long. My leap from feminism to journalism landed me in realism. It did not take long to learn that the sex ratio in my adopted state was one of the lowest in the country. News on dowry deaths that appeared almost regularly in the local dailies did nothing to support the newly learnt theory on unisex names. Even the weddings I attended gave me an insight into the reality. I saw a lot of money and gifts exchanging hands during those functions, all, essentially, in one direction. Finally, the realisation began to sink in. It was time to discard the unisex-name theory. A girl called Paraminder in Punjab is as vulnerable as a Hemlata in Andhra. In fact, when a Hemlata is trying to grow in life with the help of a man, chances are that a Paraminder may not even get the chance to come out of her mother’s womb to prove her worth. Maybe Shakespeare was right after all. What’s in a
name?
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Civic elections in Andhra THE elections to the 11 corporations and 96 municipalities in Andhra Pradesh are a watershed in many ways. They have boosted the image of the Congress and ensured the stability of the state government. They have exposed the organisational weaknesses of the main Opposition, the Telugu Desam Party. They have quelled the Telangana separatist movement and they have exhibited the maturity of the urban elite as well as common people to keep their counsel despite strong propaganda by the political parties as well as the media. The major gain to the state is the defeat of the Telangana separatist forces who have not won a single municipality on their own, a far cry from what they had projected for themselves. It was clear to everyone that the Telangana Rastra Samithi was propped up by the central leadership of the Congress to defeat the then ruling Telugu Desam. It is known that in 1969, the Telangana Praja Samithi under the leadership of Dr. M.Chenna Reddy got the support from the central leadership of the Congress to check the power of Mr. K. Brahmananda Reddy, the then Chief Minister. The Telangana Praja Samithi won 10 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in the Telangana region in the 1971 election and later merged with the Congress after Brahmananda Reddy resigned. The same recipe is tried this time as well only to find that the Telugu Desam’s Chandrababu Naidu has been an unexpectedly easy walkover. The vituperative utterances of central ministers T. Chandrasekhar Rao and Narendra, aimed to provoke Telangana sentiments proved counter-productive. The Telangana Rastra Samithi has no alternative but to merge with the Congress now. The municipal elections have also shown that the anti-incumbency mood of the people after 15 years of Telugu Desam party rule in the state that was in evidence in the assembly elections has not changed even after 15 months of the present Congress government. The TDP majority was relegated to only six municipalities. That was a very poor show. Mr Chandrababu Naidu has three other adverse factors working against him. The pro-modern and liberal- policy image that he had assiduously built for himself is identified by the people as pro-rich and anti-poor. The youth have also not taken to his generally overbearing attitude. The over centralised party machinery collapsed after the loss of power and failed to convert the huge turnout of people in the election rallies into votes. The Telugu Desam Party and Chandrababu Naidu have to draw their lessons. The party has to become more democratised. In the campaign, Mr Naidu concentrated his attack on the Chief Minister personally. That missed the target and failed in the object as the local body elections were not meant to dethrone Mr Rajesekhar Reddy, whose party enjoys a huge majority in the assembly. The party must focus on peoples’ problems that are many and throw up convincing solutions. The expected balance of advantage by breaking away from the BJP had not been forthcoming. Unlike Mr Chandrababu Naidu, Mr Reddy was able to establish a rapport, particularly with youth in all the three regions as was also evident in the last assembly elections. His strategy in the assembly elections to concentrate on farmers’ problems had paid off. Similarly, in the present urban local body elections, his strategy for urban renewal and campaign towards that end has paid dividends. The setting up of party committees in each town and city in the selection of candidates and campaigning had minimised party wrangles, marginalising dissidents. The power, in any case, has been an elixir for the local leaders to work vigorously for success. The good rain helped to contain the prices and in particular the power rates. The abundant flow of funds from the Centre to local bodies just before the elections to take up water supply schemes, repair roads and take up other works gave a head start to his campaign. The party has won overwhelmingly, capturing eight corporations and 68 municipalities, a record for themselves. The present elections have again proved the maturity of the voters who had turned up in impressive numbers with the voting percentage touching 64. In the assembly elections, they had made up their mind to give a chance to a new party despite intense campaigns by the ruling party as well as the media. In the present elections also, despite equally strong campaigns, people thought that a newly elected government should have enough time to show results. That was wise enough. However, that should not put the elected to complacency. Several problems in the urban areas raised by the people in the campaigns require serious attention and have to be resolved at the earliest. The safe drinking water and sanitation are still pressing problems in many municipalities. It is a sad story everywhere in the country that the office of District Medical Officer, which was one of the three pillars of effective district administration that existed before Independence, has totally collapsed. The public health and sanitation Acts are not enforced. Only the first two decades after Independence saw some commendable work in the extension of public health to the rural areas through community health programmes. The new powers to cities and towns to improve their services under the 74th Constitutional Amendment are yet to be used. The model policy and legal frame-work for traditional functions of the municipalities that the Union Ministry of Urban Development have drafted in 2003 had recognised that lack of sanitation and provision of safe drinking water generally affected the poor very adversely with irreparable damages to their health. But most municipalities have no funds to take up the costly projects. The sore issues that have surfaced in the election campaigns needs to be addressed seriously on a priority basis.
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Chirac: EC fails to defend JACQUES Chirac has launched a direct attack on the economic policies of the European Commission, accusing it of washing its hands of the consequences of job losses. In an outspoken intervention at the World Trade Organisation on Tuesday, the French President said the Commission “does not give the impression of defending the interests of Europe” and claimed it was “going from one concession to another”. His comments strike at the heart of the debate about the future of Europe’s economic and social policy and put him directly at odds with Tony Blair, who will host a summit on the issues later this month. They also represent a direct criticism of the policies of Jose Manuel
Barroso, the European Commission’s president, and his trade commissioner, Peter
Mandelson. President Chirac said the commission did not feel “implicated, concerned or believe that it has something to say” about plans by Hewlett-Packard to cut thousands of jobs in France and other European countries. He said it “does not give the impression of defending the interests of Europe”. M. Chirac is also worried about Mr Mandelson’s pledge during world trade negotiations to reduce agricultural subsidies if other nations reciprocate. Officials in Brussels rejected M. Chirac’s criticisms. Francoise Le Bail, Mr Barroso’s spokeswoman, said: “Even if some people want to make the European Commission a scapegoat, the Commission thinks that, faced with globalisation and the debate on the future of Europe, the EU must present a united front and national leaders must demonstrate a strong European commitment.” The Commission has said it will consider rejigging regional funding to help France to cope with the job losses. It also wants to create a fund to combat the effects of globalisation. But it says that it cannot intervene to stop job losses. “There is no way back to the old days of protectionism and subsidies,” said a commission official. “Politicians do not create jobs, they can only create the right framework.” Some diplomats saw M. Chirac’s comments as a reflection of his political weakness. However, another said: “It is classic Chirac: defining Europe and France as the same thing.” The remarks came as France suffered a “Black Tuesday” of one-day strikes against the government’s own economic and labor policies. Transport was disrupted, schools were closed and demonstrators clashed with the police. President Chirac went on to welcome the decision to start EU membership talks with Turkey, but added the country requires a “major cultural revolution” to make the grade. He predicted that the discussions for entry will take “at minimum, 10 to 15 years”. He said: “Will it succeed? I cannot say. I hope so. But I am not at all sure.” The negotiations with
Turkey will intrude into most areas of Turkish life. After the euphoria of the agreement to start the talks, key European figures reminded Ankara of the need to continue with reforms.
— The Independent
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Long hours on bicycle may make men impotent MANY hours spent riding a bicycle each week could put men at risk of turning impotent, says a new study. And some bicycle saddle designs are more damaging than others, scientists say. But even so-called ergonomic seats, designed to protect the sex organs, can be harmful, the online edition of The New York Times reported. According to research studies published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, when riders sit on a classic saddle with a teardrop shape and a long nose, a quarter of their body weight rests on the nose, putting pressure on the perineum or lower pelvic region. The amount of oxygen reaching the penis typically falls 70 to 80 per cent in three minutes. “A guy can sit on a saddle and have his penis oxygen levels drop 100 per cent but he doesn’t know it,” Joshua Cohen, a physical therapist, said. “After half an hour he goes numb.” “Numbness is your body telling you something is wrong,” said Irwin Goldstein, a Boston urologist. Today’s ergonomic saddles have splits in the back or holes in the centre to relieve pressure on the perineum. But this may make matters worse: the ergonomic saddles have smaller surface areas, so the rider’s weight presses harder on less saddle, Steven Schrader, a reproductive health expert, said. The arteries in the perineum can come under more pressure when they come into contact with the edges of the saddle. Thick gels on saddles can also increase pressure to the perineum because the material can migrate and form clumps in all the wrong places, the study said. Just as many smokers do not get lung cancer, many cyclists will never develop impotence from bicycle seats, the scientists said. What makes one person more vulnerable than another is not known. Body weight seems to matter — heavier riders exert more pressure on saddles. Variations in anatomy may also make a difference. Researchers have estimated that five percent of men who ride bikes intensively have developed severe to moderate erectile dysfunction as a result. But some experts believe that the numbers may be much higher because many men are too embarrassed to talk about it or fail to associate cycling with their problems in the bedroom. The link between bicycle saddles and impotence first received public attention in 1997 when a Boston urologist, Irwin Goldstein, who had studied the problem, asserted that “there are only two kinds of male cyclists — those who are impotent and those who will be impotent.” Manufacturers designed dozens of new saddles with cut outs, splits in the back and thick gel padding to relieve pressure on tender body parts. This does not mean that people should stop cycling, Schrader said. And those who ride bikes rarely or for short periods need not worry. But riders who spend many hours on a bike each week should be concerned, he said. And he suggested that the bicycle industry design safer saddles and stop trivialising the risks of the existing seats.
— Indo-Asian News Service
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From the pages of Class representation The Muslim League does not want merely class or communal representation, but preferential representation as well. The chief whip or spokesman of the League, Syed Ameer Ali, has been all along contending that the share of Muhammadans should be even more than justified by their numerical proportion and we find that this point will also be emphasised by the deputation of the League which will wait upon the Viceroy in a few days. But can the British Government countenance or adopt the principle of preferential representation for one community? Is not that inconsistent with the time-honoured and sacred principles of British rule, viz., of equality of rights and franchises between all the sections of the people? In fact, the principle of proportionate representation which has been so clearly laid down by Lord Morley in his despatch and also by Lord MacDonnell is not only the only feasible basis of representation but does abundant justice to Muhammadan claims, and it is to be fervently trusted that Lord Morley will stand to his guns in this matter.
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The knowledge that the arising of ill is based on ignorance and it is perpetuated by the craving and intoxication for sensuality and sensations, becoming and rebecoming, delusion and ignorance. Stop complaining about your life. Never take for granted all the joys and freedoms you have. Remember those who have less. —The Buddha If you can put a smile on the face of the poor, remember you are doing God’s work and you will be repaid manifold in times to come. Saints have been given their place in heaven by working like this. —Book of quotations on Hinduism Success gravitates toward those who are perceived to be successful. Regardless of how you feel within, you must emanate success if you want to attract people to your cause. —Book of quotations on Success Seeing you once, my love, I would close my eyes to the world forever. —Kabir The best way to predict the future is to invent it. —Alan Kay The Truth is this. Our lives are shaped by our deeds. One who realises this has reached the summit of self-realisation. All his delusions now disappear. He becomes the self-realised one. He serves as an example to those who wish to know the truth. —The Mahabharata Human happiness seems to consist of three ingredients: action, pleasure, and indolence. And though these ingredients ought to be mixed in different proportions, according to the disposition of the person, yet no one ingredient can be entirely wanting without destroying in some measure the relish of the whole composition. —Book of quotations on Happiness
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