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Ties with Moscow Blood relations Sania’s skirt |
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Beyond the Dhaka summit
What Tara Hall taught me
SEWA-Govt row over Jeevika project hots up Warning on global warming Delhi Durbar
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Ties with Moscow INDIA and Russia have cleared the way for taking their relations, particularly in the area of transfer of military technology, to a new plane. Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who concluded his three-day visit to Moscow on Thursday, and his Russian counterpart Sergie Ivanov discussed the details of an agreement on intellectual property rights (IPRs) to be signed during the coming visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The irritants related to the IPRs are believed to have been removed. These were threatening to block the supply of the much-needed spares for the IAF’s aircraft of Russian make and of replacements for those machines whose technology has become obsolete. India had been pressing for the upgrading of the MiG21s, which may no longer be a problem. What is more gratifying is that India and Russia, the traditional friends, may now begin to jointly develop the latest aircraft to fulfil India’s requirements. Mr Mukherjee used the occasion provided by a meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Cooperation to prepare the ground for the signing of a number of militarily significant agreements during Dr Manmohan Singh’s coming visit. The Defence Minister’s discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mr Ivanov have resulted in the drawing up of a roadmap for further strengthening the relations between India and Russia. Experience shows that India can confidently bank upon Russia for any defence-related supplies. After China, India remains the second largest buyer of Russian military hardware, and contracted deals worth $5.12 billion last year, a record till then. Nearly 70 per cent of India’s military-related imports are from Russia. That is why the drive for developing closer relations with Moscow assumes special significance. The two countries have also commonality of views on issues like terrorism and international peace. It should be easier for them to work for greater cooperation to ensure regional and global stability.
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Blood relations POLITICIANS sometimes don’t mind making their followers shed blood to save their own skin. In such a dismal scenario, it was heartening to read about the blood donation camp organised in Bhiwani on Wednesday on the birth anniversary of the late Surinder Singh by his widow and Congress MLA from Tosham, Ms Kiran Chaudhary. It should be among the biggest such camps organised anywhere, considering that an estimated 5,000 persons donated blood in what is not a very large town. Reports suggest that people had started queuing up for registration hours before the camp. They also displayed exemplary discipline. That shows their keenness to do their best for a humanitarian cause. This is the one lead which all politicians must follow. If only they engage in such constructive activities, the negative image that they have come to acquire due to their undesirable deeds will slowly but surely get obliterated. The common man has the urge to do something for society. What he requires is someone to channelise his tremendous energy. That is what real leadership is all about, not the tendency of some others to treat their supporters as nothing more than vote banks or, worse, cannon fodder. One aspect which has not been highlighted as much as it should have been is that the sheer logistics of collecting blood from so many people must have been phenomenal. Doctors’ teams must have converged on Bhiwani from all over the region to undertake the challenging task. Testing the blood, preserving it and transporting it to hospitals where it is needed too were no easy job. The doctors deployed deserve credit for this yeoman’s service as much as the organisers do. The blood donations at Bhiwani will save many lives. Will all MPs and MLAs across the country organise similar camps? The effort could save thousands of
lives.
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Sania’s skirt TENNIS sensation Sania Mirza’s outspoken defence of her sartorial style should silence not only her critics but also the clerics who are obsessed with the length, or rather lack of it, of her skirt. “As long as I am winning, people should not care about the length of my skirt”, declared the sassy teenager whose meteoric rise has taken the tennis world by storm. She might well have added that even when she stops winning, what she wears is strictly her personal affair. The fact that she didn’t chose to say so only goes to show that she is more interested in avoiding irrelevant controversies; and, that she has no intention of joining issue with the clerics. If Sania has chosen to comment now – for the first time in public – on a cleric’s fatwa against the way she dressed on court, it is evidently because she is worried about this tendency gaining. Therefore, the authorities have to ensure that she is not left vulnerable to threats and intimidation; and, that she is insulated from such undesirable pressures and able to devote her time and attention to the game. Apart from the authorities acting to ensure Sania’s safety and security, public opinion too needs to be built up in favour of the young tennis star. The fatwa is not only outrageous but also entirely uncalled for, and this is a point that other Muslim religious leaders must impress on their followers. After all, Sania’s talent, effort and all that has gone into her game and success is not because of her being Muslim. Her religion has nothing to do with her game or the way she attires herself for it, and she is, avowedly, as devout a Muslim as the self-appointed custodians of the faith.
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The enemies of freedom do not argue; they shout and they shoot. — William Ralph Inge
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Beyond the Dhaka summit AS Prime Minister Manmohan Singh candidly admitted in the Bangladeshi capital, 20 years after its birth the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has very little to show for itself. That should explain the note of optimism at the end of SAARC’s 13th summit at Dhaka. In several respects this summit was more productive than the previous ones. The invitation to Afghanistan to become the eighth member of the regional organisation is an important and welcome development that would be mutually beneficial. In fact, Afghanistan, an integral part of South Asia, should have been an original member of SAARC. But that was not possible because at the time of SAARC’s creation, Afghanistan was the cockpit for the most dangerous, decade-long war between the Soviet Union that had marched into the rugged country in support of a friendly regime in Kabul on the one hand and Afghan resistance groups, backed to the hilt by the United States, Pakistan and China, on the other. The religious fervour imparted to the no-holds-barred fight against the “atheist” USSR might have suited General Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan but the US had to rue this when jihadi terrorism, spawned by the Afghan war, ultimately led to September 11, 2001. India’s sufferings on this score began long before 9/11 and continue to this day. Inevitably, therefore, terrorism was high on the Dhaka summit’s agenda. All seven members have reaffirmed their earlier resolve jointly to resist “this scourge” and have also appealed to the outside world not to apply “double standards” to terrorism. These are noble sentiments. But the question is whether, as in the past, so in the future, they would be honoured more in the breach than in observance. As politely as he possibly could, Dr Manmohan Singh has reminded his Pakistani opposite number, Mr Shaukat Aziz, that Islamabad is “not yet doing all that needs to be done to end cross-border terrorism”. To revert to Afghanistan’s admission into SAARC, King Gyanendra of Nepal did insist that this must be linked with China’s request for an observer status in it. Pakistan and Bangladesh evidently shared his view but silently. This appears to have upset some in this country who fear that this would enable China to “demolish” India’s “Monroe Doctrine” that the subcontinent should be this country’s “exclusive backyard”. This feeling is utterly incomprehensible. Who propounded the swadeshi Monroe Doctrine and when? And even if this unstated doctrine was supposed to guide Indian foreign policy, then the fortress was breached way back in 1954 with the US- Pakistan military pact. The China-Pakistan alliance, including Chinese support to Pakistan’s clandestine nuclear and missile programmes, dates back to the 1960’s. In recent years, Belgium and Japan have been playing an active role in the Sri Lanka peace process. In any case, in the post-Cold War world, replete with regional cooperation groupings, almost every major country has an association of one kind or another with a whole lot of such bodies. Both India and China are full dialogue partners with ASEAN as well as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) that deals with security. There is a similar relationship with the European Union (EU). At Gleneagles in Britain not long ago, India had attended the summit of G-8. Such examples can be multiplied but need not be. It should also be noted that the Chinese request is still under consideration and discussion. Moreover, Indian diplomacy has skilfully seen to it that Japan is as much a candidate for the observer status as China is. Later, others might also qualify. The South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) is scheduled to be set up on New Year’s Day, now less than six weeks away. One would have liked to applaud this most heartily but is deterred because a great many hurdles on the high road to free trade remain. They are unlikely to be overcome in such a short time. Bangladesh insists on this country making good Dhaka’s loss on account of abolition of customs duty. Why should the Indian taxpayer be burdened with this? Pakistan’s “negative list” — the catalogue of goods and services in which it cannot allow free trade — is so long as to negate the very concept of free trade area. Pettifogging Indian bureaucracy and trade can also be obstructive. But all this pales compared with Mr Aziz’s declaration before leaving Dhaka that nothing could be done about trade until the Kashmir issue was settled. A day before he left for Dhaka the Prime Minister made a very thoughtful speech on national security of which the media took shockingly little notice. He drew attention to the phenomenon of failed or failing states in the region and invited his audience, consisting largely of security experts, to ponder its consequences for India. What is going on in Nepal or in Bangladesh underscores Dr Manmohan Singh’s point. The Prime Minister’s reference to nuclear proliferation in India’s neighbourhood was doubtless elliptical but its meaning was crystal clear. China has recently shed tears on the possibility of the existing nonproliferation regime being “eroded” by the July 18 Indo-U.S. agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation. The Prime Minister’s gentle words were enough to prick Beijing’s bloated balloon. It was a telling reminder to the world that China has been the biggest proliferator for a very long time, and has not hesitated to collaborate with Pakistan’s infamous Dr A. Q. Khan who ran a global black market in nuclear technology, material, equipment and even weapon designs. Since the Prime Minister was speaking on the 40th anniversary of the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA), the country’s first and premier think tank on security and strategy, he took notice of the useful work done by it over four decades, most notably by its former Director, Mr K. Subrahmanyam, unquestionably the doyen of the Indian strategic community. His “incisive writings” and “holistic” as well as “long-term” view of security, Dr Manmohan Singh added, were useful inputs into policy making. Presenting him with a special award for his pioneering and life-long services to the cause of national security, the Prime Minister commended to the country Mr Subrahmanyam’s principal policy prescription: Choices in the realm of security must be made by “carefully weighing ‘costs and benefits’ and without getting trapped in the ‘black and white’ view of the world, ignoring the shades in between in which the real world manifests itself”. Those carping about the Vienna vote or Kalaikunda exercises should, please, take
note.
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What Tara Hall taught me TARA Hall in Simla, almost a finishing school for girls, would be considered completely anachronistic today, but was a sign of the times, then. The nuns cared more about the way we walked and talked than our pursuit of mathematics or science. “After all” they said, “we’re training the girls to become good mothers and wives”. It was an idyllic life. We lived by the clock with the daily class and home-work routine punctuated with baking cakes, balancing on wooden beams like ballerinas, and preparing for the annual opera, composed by Chopin and Schubert, when we were not singing hymns at rosary or benediction —often in Latin. But there was one exception. Mother Stanislaus, a world gold medallist in geography, imparted instruction on the African veldt, the savannas of Sudan and the prairies of Saskatchewan giving us a head start to score” ‘A’s in geography. Apart from teaching us how to read contour maps, she was responsible for keeping the school accounts, negotiating contracts for the maintenance of that immaculate institution. Quite out of character, she also taught us ballroom dancing every single night from Monday to Saturday. “One two there, one two there, one two there” counted Mother Stanislaus lifting her black serge skirt revealing dainty laced shoes beneath, as she demonstrated the intricacies of the Vienese waltz, the samba and the foxtrot. She taught us to actually listen to the music, to swirl around without bumping, to stay on our toes for eternity and to pirouette to a perfect finish. Each class of perfect young ladies that passed out of Tara Hall probably learnt no chemistry or physics, but certainly would stand their place among the finest when it came to geography and ballroom dancing. Twenty years after I left school I took my two children to see Tara Hall, that lovely grey and scarlet building, its windows sparkling in the afternoon sun. The manicured pathway from the gate led to a Victorian parlour where paintings of the Virgin Mary welcomed visitors. As we entered the gate, I could see two familiar looking nuns walking down, one holding the other’s hand. As I drew nearer I recognised Mother Stanislaus. I weren’t towards her and hugged her. “Mother”, I said, “do you remember me? Shaila?” The blue eyes looked past me completely as though I weren’t there. She did not even notice the two tiny children who stared wide eyed. The other nun took my hand and drew me aside gently. “Mother became a patient of Alzheimer’s five years ago. It is God’s will.” The memories I had treasured for the last 20 years became crumpled waste-paper. Here was Mother Stanislaus in flesh and blood. The same blue eyes, the same peaches and cream complexion, the same composure. But she wasn’t really there. She was like a wax version of that wonderful geography and dancing teacher our cloistered world had known. This gold medallist in geography who ran Tara Hall with the precision of an assembly line and one who had moulded generations of perfect little ladies, was lost to the world and lost to me forever. In memory of Mother Stanislaus my heart reaches out to every family who has to face the tragedy of Alzheimer’s. But it is God’s
will.
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SEWA-Govt row over Jeevika project hots up
THE Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) is to women in Gujarat what Amul is to rural India. Its recent tussle with the Gujarat government is not so much a school master’s attempt to discipline an errant student. It is more the result of a fear psychosis of a system which has all along functioned as the sole distributor of official largesse. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi once said that for every one rupee that the government releases, only 11 paise actually reaches the village. Where does this money go? Obviously, it is siphoned off by the nuts and bolts of the system. There is a politico-administrative nexus up to the grassroots level and a parallel network of vested interests triggering a vicious cycle. Consequently, NGOs are energising self-help groups (SHGs) to take charge of their interests. This is the main cause of tension. In this particular case, the trouble began after the Narendra Modi government accused SEWA of serious financial irregularities in Jeevika project — a Livelihood security project for earthquake affected rural households in Gujarat and stopped release of project funds. The government contended that a special audit of the earthquake rehabilitation project being implemented by the high profile voluntary group had thrown up these irregularities. SEWA has rebutted this contention and instead charged the government with trying to break their organisation. It has hit back conveying its inability to continue with the project as long as the government remains a partner. Additionally, it has decided to move out of all projects of the state government. “The project is funded by a loan from the UN’s International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and the state government pays the Centre an interest of 9 per cent for use of the money and therefore we have a right to monitor proper use of the money”, say official sources. SEWA general secretary Namrata Bali says that the special audit is just meant to harass, discredit and justify the stoppage of funds. A special auditor appointed by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Bangkok, is scrutinising the accounts and a report from an independent authority will soon be there. The state government’s Department for Rural Development has listed out a set of charges based on the report of its special audit. Among others, these charges list that money from the Jeevika project was diverted to pay over Rs 89,402 in festival allowance to consultants and non-employees of the All India Disaster Management Institute (AIDMI). This Institute is headed by Mihir Bhatt, son of SEWA founder Ilaben Bhatt and husband of Jeevika project director, Reema Nanavaty. The Institute was also paid over Rs 14.11 lakh for conducting training and facilitating meetings though no details were produced and Rs 4.89 lakh as reimbursement for three training modules. Initially, no supporting documents were provided. Subsequently, these carried imprints of fudging. Other discrepancies brought out in the audit point to billing the Jeevika project for expenses incurred by SEWA’s sister concerns. Bali says that though all the questions of the special auditors have been addressed, the secretaries are not acknowledging them.” An anguished Ila Bhatt, founder of SEWA, says that the symbiotic relationship between the mother organisation and its sister setups is an integral part of the project document formalised through a proper memorandum of understanding. In such a backdrop, charge of siphoning off funds to sister set ups is absurd”, she says. SEWA has been working with governments regardless of party labels since its inception, she avers. SEWA is a movement of women workers. As a trade union, it has 7 lakh members, and has sponsored more than 100 cooperatives and associations to promote women’s employment, social security and self-reliance. According to SEWA, the IFAD approached it to initiate economic rehabilitation in partnership with the Centre, Gujarat government and SEWA for seven years. Thus, Jeevika project was launched in November 2002. IFAD selected SEWA and its sister concerns as the lead implementing agency to cover 400 villages and 40,000 households in the three earthquake affected districts of Kutch, Surendranagar and Patan. SEWA contends that in the last three years, Jeevika has succeeded in giving direct work and employment to 14,645 families of which 5,316 are the poorest of the poor. It has strengthened local employment resulting in higher earnings for 1,200 artisans and about 1,000 salt workers. It has also developed 32 tools and equipment libraries, and strengthened agriculture and livestock activities. Further, Jeevika has successfully developed 83,654 hectares of land under its watershed development programme besides emerging as a pioneer in forging private sector partnerships in the marketing of agricultural products to strengthen rural livelihoods. Bhatt has clarified that IFAD directly approached AIDMI to be part of the project. Incidentally, Ilaben Bhatt had herself stepped down from all positions in SEWA in 1996. Bali says that the most distressing aspect is the stoppage of release of funds for over 11 months which affected about 14,000 poorest of households in the three districts, bringing starvation, forcing migration and thus, halting the entire process of development. The Gujarat government has asked SEWA to return the funds it received for projects approved by it, completed successfully and already audited. “We have no doubt that the Gujarat government is out to break SEWA, an organisation of the poor, women, and in which all castes and communities work together in harmony. The Gujarat government is out to destroy our credibility, solidarity and reputation”, says Bali.
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Warning on global warming SCIENTISTS have compiled one of the first comprehensive pictures of what the world might be like when climate change begins to dry up water supplies and trigger a dramatic increase in epidemics, disease and death. Teams of specialists have assessed the scale of the danger to human health when a future climate triggers weather extremes such as high temperatures, floods and drought. The chilling findings — published in Nature (November 17) — come weeks before world leaders meet in Montreal to discuss climate change at the first Conference of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. Global warming is likely to affect human health by increasing infectious diseases, exacerbating respiratory illnesses, increasing the risk and severity of flooding and reducing the availability of clean drinking water to millions of the poorest people. The studies also found that the countries most likely to be affected by global warming are those least able to combat its effects. Meanwhile, the nations which contribute most to climate change are those that will suffer the least. Professor Jonathan Patz of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, the lead author of one of the studies, said that it is incumbent on those countries bearing the greatest responsibility for climate change to show moral leadership. “Those least able to cope and least responsible for the greenhouse gases that cause global warming are most affected. Herein likes an enormous global ethical challenge,” Professor Patz said. The World Health Organisation estimated that changes to the Earth’s climate are already causing about 5 million extra cases of severe illness a year and more than 150,000 extra deaths. By 2030, however, the number of climate-related diseases is likely to more than double, with a dramatic increase in heat-related deaths caused by heart failure, respiratory disorders, the spread of infectious diseases and malnutrition from crop failures. Countries with coastlines along the Indian and Pacific Oceans and sub-Saharan Africa will suffer a disproportionate share of the extra health burden, said Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum of the WHO, who took part in the latest study. “Many of the most important diseases in poor countries, such as diarrhoea and malnutrition, are highly sensitive to climate,” Dr Campbell-Lendrum said. “The health sector is already struggling to control these diseases and climate change threatens to undermine these efforts,” he said. Scientists estimate that man-made emissions of greenhouse gases are likely to lead to increase in global average temperatures of between 1.4C and 5.8C by the end of the century.
— The Independent
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Delhi Durbar EVEN though the Assembly elections in Punjab are due in February 2007, former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is planning a publicity blitzkrieg to put his Akali Dal on a firm footing. A PR firm is buying out time in certain TV channels to promote and highlight the youth to promote younger leaders. Simultaneously, it plans to tell people about how Captain Amarinder Singh government has failed to keep its election promises. A source tells us that Capt Amarinder Singh has also sought the advice of a PR agency to boost his image and that of the Congress. This same agency had done its bit in uplifting the image of the Congress in last year’s general elections.
Tiff over Haj pilgrimage The Haj pilgrimage invariably has its share of controversies. This time a tiff is brewing between Union Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed and a minister in the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh Azam Khan. Is it Muslim politics to the fore? Or so it seems. Khan wanted to lead a delegation to Saudi Arabia to oversee the Haj facilities for Indian pilgrims. The MEA vetoed the proposal. The Haj quota is invariably filled by those nominated by politicians. However, the MEA firmly maintained that it will only send government employees and dismissed Khan’s suggestion. Does this smell of a UPA-Samajwadi party rift? The SP leaders would have us believe it is so. Khan, who heads the Uttar Pradesh Haj Committee, has accused Ahmed of playing partisan politics.
DMK ministers tough customers There is hushed talk that the DMK ministers in the Manmohan Singh government are proving to be difficult customers. Captains of industry are somewhat worried that environmental clearances for projects are being inordinately delayed. A case in point is that of Union Environment Minister A. Raja and his ministry taking its own time in giving the environmental report for projects in excess of Rs 50 crore. Raja is not unduly bothered. He and his DMK colleague at the Centre T.R. Baalu apparently have their own axe to grind with the Congress-led UPA government.
Modi on a high Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is emerging stronger and there is no sign of his taking a back seat much to the chagrin of a section in the BJP. He has literally swept the Ahmedabad Municipality and the Nagarpalikas in the state despite what was perceived as a stiff opposition from the Congress, the Sangh Parivar and BJP heavyweights ranged against him. Dissidence notwithstanding, the Chief Minister has managed to hold complete sway and renewing his political contacts with the likes of NCP chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.
**** P.N. Andley, S. Satyanarayanan, Pramod K Chaudhari and R. Suryamurthy
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From the pages of What will war bring?
The magnitude of the present war (World War I) and the immense sacrifices that are being made by several nations have naturally stirred the minds of all thoughtful people. The one question asked is what will the war bring in result not only to those immediately concerned but to mankind in general. If it only ends in the settlement of the immediate causes of dispute and leaves everything else just as before, the world will be profoundly disappointed. It has already been suggested by more than one responsible statesman that the roots of militarism in Europe should be crushed and aggression and menace to peace must be ended as a result of the war. In other words, it will be one of the conditions of the peace when it comes that an aggressive and unprovoked war would in future be impossible in Europe. This is no doubt a great issue and if it means anything more than a paper agreement—a “mere scrap of paper”—its effects will, indeed, be great and momentous. But does it in any way prevent war outside Europe or among their nationalities? Does it in any way improve the position of other nations whenever situations provoking or inciting warfare are created?
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He who performs pilgrimages, austerities and acts of mercy gives alms and gift obtain some honour. He who meditates on him and gifts, obtains some honour. He who meditates on him and worships him with full concentration of mind, heart and soul becomes a source of pilgrimage and is cleasned of his impurity. The self-realised one is neither afraid of life nor of death. He faces both with equanimity. He knows that life and death are stops on the journey of time. No one has been able to resist the invetibility of this journey. Knowing this, the self-realised one remained unperturbed. A man who does not rejoice at birth nor mourn death is really wise. He understands the inevitability of both. He knows that death will follow birth as inevitably as night follows day. No one has ever been able to prevent this. Even the incarnations of Gods have died. The king may have many sons but the subjects may not love all of them equally. The king may have many sons but the subjects may not admire them equally. The king may have many sons but the subjects may not respect their
learning equally.
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