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Congressised BJP In quest of peace |
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Jeers at Eden
N-deal with the US
Still asleep
Follow
Up Sino-Indian
boundary impasse Chatterati
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In quest of peace Israel
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon seems determined to provide the people of his country what they aspire for the most —- peace. He resigned from the Likud Party he had co-founded over three decades ago, and recommended dissolution of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament). His recommendation has led to the announcement of elections on March 28, 2006. Mr Sharon will be entering the poll arena under the umbrella of a new party he has set up, yet he has the maximum chance of winning the elections. He is riding the crest of a popularity wave after his break with the past. He is no longer a rightist hawk as was believed. Two opinion polls held after his resignation from the Likud predict a clear lead for Mr Sharon’s party, Kadima (meaning “forward” in Hebrew). Going by the polls, the Kadima may win about 34 seats in a House of 120. The Israeli Labour Party under a changed leadership, which is likely to get about 28 seats, is believed to be ready to help Mr Sharon form the next government. This was unthinkable in the past. But Israeli politics is getting metamorphosed because of the compulsions of peace. Mr Sharon had serious differences with Likud hardliners like former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Gaza evacuation plan. Yet this helped Mr Sharon emerge as the most popular leader of Israel today. The reason: Mr Sharon and the common man in Israel appear to be on the same wavelength, yearning for peace. This, however, does not mean that his next plan will be Israel’s withdrawal from the Palestinian part of the West Bank captured in the 1967 war. It all depends on the turn the Palestinian militancy takes in the coming months. But there is a possibility of resumption of the talks with the Palestinians once Mr Sharon forms a new government. |
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Jeers at Eden The
good news from Kolkata where South Africa thrashed India in the one-day international cricket match is just one: the spectators rose as one to give a well-deserved standing ovation to the winners. And the worst news is not that India lost a one-dayer by 10 wickets – the first time at home. That’s part of the game; you win some, you lose some. The really bad news is the parochial behaviour of the spectators at Eden Gardens. Generally, Kolkatans are a sporting lot who thoroughly soak themselves in the spirit of a game, be it cricket, football or tennis, and cheer the best team and player. But there are times when the crowd breaks out of the bounds of decency. They may be unhappy at Sourav Ganguly being dropped from the ODIs, but to vent this resentment in the manner they did against captain Rahul Dravid and the rest of the team is abominable. They jeered Dravid and rent the air with mock applause when he was bowled out for six runs. This shames India more than the defeat in the day’s match, and this is not the first time that incidents have fouled the air at Eden Gardens. In the 1996 World Cup semi-final, play had to be abandoned because the crowd could not stomach defeat; and, in 1999, Eden Gardens had to be evacuated of spectators to eliminate the risk of physical injury to the Pakistan players. Coach Greg Chappell did his bit to add to the unpalatable with his obscene gesture on the eve of the match. This was an avoidable provocation, and Chappell should make amends for it. Cricket, far from enduring as a game of glorious uncertainties, is, at least in India, becoming a contest of inglorious controversies. |
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The city is not a concrete jungle; it is a human
zoo. — Desmond Morris |
N-deal with the US
On
July 18, 2005, India and the US signed a landmark strategic agreement having far reaching consequences. There were two important facets of this agreement. First, a belated acceptance of India as a “responsible state with advanced nuclear technology” amounting to tacit US recognition of India’s status as a de facto nuclear weapons power outside the NPT. Second, the US offer to cooperate with India on civilian nuclear energy issues. As per the agreement, the US will work to achieve full civilian nuclear energy cooperation with India as it realises India’s goals of promoting nuclear power and achieving energy security. It will seek agreement from the Congress to adjust US laws and policies. The US will work with friends and allies to adjust international regimes to enable full civilian nuclear energy cooperation and trade with India, including but not limited to expeditious consideration of fuel supplies for safeguarded nuclear reactors at Tarapur. The US will encourage its partners to expeditiously consider India’s request to participate and contribute in International Experimental Fusion Reactor programme. India conveyed that it would reciprocally assume “the same responsibilities and practices and acquire the same benefits and advantages as other leading countries with advanced nuclear technology such as the United States.” These responsibilities and practices consist of the following: One, identifying and separating civilian and military nuclear facilities and programmes in a phased manner and filing a declaration regarding its civilian facilities with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Two, taking a decision to place its civilian nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards. Three, signing and adhering to an Additional Protocol with respect to civilian nuclear facilities. Four, Continuing India’s unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. Five, working with the US for the conclusion of a multilateral Fissile Material Cut off Treaty (FMCT). Six, refraining from the transfer of enrichment and reprocessing technologies to countries that do not have them and supporting international efforts to limit their spread. Seven, ensuring that the necessary steps have been taken to secure nuclear materials and technology through comprehensive export control legislation and through harmonisation and adherence to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) guidelines. The agreement was a signal to the NSG to treat India as a special case as it had unilaterally adhered to all the guidelines of the NPT, NSG and MTCR. International reactions to the agreement were generally positive. Among the nuclear-five or N-5, only China opposed this bilateral agreement on the grounds that this would be a “hard blow” on the global proliferation system. Such a reaction from China was expected. The incongruous part was the opposition within the US and India, primarily due to inadequate consultations and the debate prior to the signing of the agreement. In the US, non-proliferation pandits of think tanks and some Congressmen and officials who were not consulted and felt peeved have mischievously started laying new benchmarks to place the burden of meeting agreement conditions entirely on India. Some US officials have begun to interpret it in a manner that is likely to be detrimental to India’s national security interests. Under Secretary Robert G. Joseph has stated that for the US Administration to seek support from the US Congress and the NSG, the speed with which India places its facilities under IAEA safeguards and the number of facilities that India declares would be a “necessary precondition” for nuclear cooperation. Major differences have thus emerged in the sequencing of steps that are necessary to implement the agreement. In India, the Left parties, already upset over not being consulted before India signed a new framework for expanding Indo-US defence relationship with the US on June 28, joined the National Democratic Alliance in voicing concern over India losing its strategic autonomy through the nuclear deal. Subsequent foreign policy steps over the Iranian nuclear proliferation imbroglio indicate that the government has taken note of their concern. If unreasonable voices and bullying tactics emanating from the US continue, Indian domestic response can be expected to harden further. As part of the nuclear deal, India is required to separate its nuclear facilities for civilian and military use. Nomination of nuclear reactors should not be very difficult for this purpose. Most of the Nuclear Power Corporation establishments could be classified as civilian. The difficulty would arise in dividing research centres like the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, and the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research. Even if some or each of them can be divided, it will be a costly and time-consuming process. The other important issue is that India’s nuclear programme needs plutonium for two reasons: as a component of reactor fuel and for making nuclear weapons. The latter requirement is for sufficient higher purity “weapons-grade” plutonium for a second strike capability to inflict “unacceptable damage” to an adversary who dares to use nuclear or chemical weapons against India. India has to work out these details very carefully. That would take time and require implementation of the agreement in phases. In the short-term, the implementation of this agreement will not change India’s dependence on oil as a major source of its energy requirements. It will take several decades for the newly acquired nuclear power plants to have an impact on the contribution of nuclear power to India’s energy basket. While the nuclear agreement is extremely important for India in the long run, we cannot afford to upset our mid-term sourcing of India’s oil requirements. So far, the Indian government’s stand has been unambiguous and unexceptionable. The Prime Minister’s explanatory statements on the agreement in Parliament clearly spell out the Indian government’s interpretation of the joint statement. “There is nothing in the Joint Statement that amounts to limiting or inhibiting our strategic nuclear weapons programme over which we will retain unrestricted, complete and autonomous control”, he stated. The Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement will be subjected to a long and winding uphill drive in its passage through the US Congress. The Indian government too will face resistance from the detractors of the agreement in Parliament and outside. In the implementation of the agreement, the government must ensure the following: It enhances investment for early completion of the thorium route to nuclear energy so that India’s vast thorium reserves can be optimally exploited for energy security. The terms of the Additional Protocol to be filed with the IAEA are the same as are applicable to the N-5. No additional restrictions must be accepted. There should be sufficient transparency in keeping with the need for confidentiality on the number of warheads required for a second strike nuclear weapons capability. The manner in which India meets the conditions already accepted by it in the nuclear deal is entirely its own business. The US lawmakers and analysts need not be overly concerned with India’s detailed process of implementation. India has never backed out of an agreement or public document that it has signed. But any hasty measures that may compromise India’s national security interests are unlikely to be acceptable to Parliament and the people of
India. The writers are President and Director, ORF Institute of Security Studies, New Delhi, respectively.
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Still asleep I am an optimist in matters of worldly domain. I consider both marriage and job as innocuous events fraught with professional hazards. When I joined civil services my friends envied me. After all you are supposed to be served majestically. You are perceived to command the brazen authority of the government. When you are heading a district, there is an aura added to your work. My friend Vijay cannot forget his first visit to our place. He was greeted with an armed salute by the sentry at guard. But he was shell-shocked when he spotted me attending my seven-month-old daughter. I was unaware of his presence and was genuinely trying hard to help the kid to urinate. I was whistling incessantly and was holding the baby in awkward rustic legs-up position with her back in my lap. Half of my shirt was already smeared with the kid’s shit. For him my involvement in such mundane chore was uncouth. I must have looked like a bourgeoisie indulging in a proletariat act. He had expected me to be surrounded by a coterie of officials, busy reviewing some matter of national interest. My wife was busy attending the elder two-year-old daughter who had already sneaked in the study and was a potential danger for the defenceless files lying there he deftly broached the expected topic at dinner. “I never thought you could be domesticated” he observed. “We must allow the inevitable to happen,” I replied. He, However, looked unconvinced. Kids have a consistent habit of sleeping erratically. It was 11 and the elder daughter was symptomatically tired. It was the right time to strike with sleep-inducing activities. I took her to a separate room and attempted singing lullabies. I had almost succeeded when a sudden shriek pierced the silence of room. The younger kid was now awake and wanted milk. Before my wife could reach her, another shriek aroused the elder one from her slumber. It took me another hour to put her to bed. Then the phone rang untimely. It was a call about fire in some village. Relief and rescue was to be organised immediately. It had to be quick to be effective. The clock stuck two past midnight. I had barely finished coordinating the job when the elder daughter woke up. Now it was her time for feed. Her mother was doing the needful, when the younger kid decided to wake up again. Both the sisters got together in the playing act and there was no way to separate them now. Another hour passed. My wife somehow cajoled the elder one to sleep. However, a phone call again woke me up. There was a major accident on the highway. I went to sleep again at five in the morning after addressing the issue. Vijay was a witness to the entire episode. There a call at 11.30 in the morning. It was a common friend. “Is he still asleep”? the friend asked Vijay about me. He replied curtly: “No. Just
asleep”. |
Follow Up A revolution in the mushroom farming is brimming right in the backyard of Chandigarh in Lalru. Of the 25 per cent quota of mushroom exports from India 24 per cent is being grown at Lalru alone. Malwinder Bhinder, a qualified engineer who had served in the merchant navy for four years, had decided to put up a mushroom farm in 1994 under the banner of, “Agro-Dutch Industries Ltd.” with a capital of Rs 6.2 crore. A follow-up of this venture turned out to be simply mind-boggling and an ideal role model for anyone wishing to touch the sky. Within 10 years this brain-child of Malwinder Bhinder is already exporting nearly Rs 150 crore worth of mushrooms to the US, Israel and Europe. By April, 2006, the export of mushrooms from this factory is all set to touch Rs 250 crore. The enterprising engineer belongs to Chowk Mehta in Amritsar district. After his exposure with the merchant navy, he immigrated to the USA. There he went through a couple of challenging courses to qualify as a professional engineer, which is the compulsory qualification to be a consulting engineer. But the US too couldn’t hold back this engineer as he was yearning to do something extraordinary with endless ideas germinating in his mind. He returned to India and indulged in real-estate business. He was the first to build AC markets with escalators in Patiala and Ludhiana. Although he earned his millions he did not have a sense of satisfaction as real-estate too was not challenging enough. That’s when he studied the market of mushroom farming in India. “There is huge consumption of mushrooms in the West. But India is supplying an almost negligible amount of mushrooms to the Western market. After studying the Indian market of mushroom farming I realised that a professional touch, comparative study of other markets in Asia and a desire to compete were missing. That’s what was challenging enough for me to launch the mushroom farming”, recalls Malwinder Bhinder. At present 60 per cent of the US orders are handled by China while 25 per cent by India and 15 per cent by Indonesia. In China the entire mushroom farming and exports are based on cottage industry. This means that small farmers produce mushrooms at various places which are collected at one place and then exported. China grows mushrooms only two months in a year as per the weather conditions required for the growth of mushrooms. “I put up the farm to grow mushrooms round the year. Besides, our 9,000 tonnes AC plant, we also added a ‘freezing plant’ which could build the stocks for any future orders. To ensure uninterrupted power supply, we have put up our own thermal power plant”, reveals Malwinder. Between 1993 and 1998 at least 35 companies, including the Tatas, the Thapars, and Hindustan Lever, got into the business of mushroom farming. But within 5 years all the 35 companies have closed down. The reasons are not difficult to fathom. Mushroom farming in the first place is a 20-hour job in a day. Secondly, unless one is passionately involved in the cultivation of mushrooms, it is an uphill task to survive in this venture. Today ‘Agro-Dutch Industries has 5,000 employees, including 2,000 women. Interestingly in the mushroom industry a large section of employees are not required to have any qualification. Majority of these 5,000 employees are either uneducated or primary school dropouts. The minimum pay for any employee is Rs 3,500 per month. Hence, totally uneducated people with no age bar have been employed. In South Korea and Taiwan the cottage industry has failed to maintain quality, consistency and around-the-year supply of mushrooms. Eventually, both South Korea and Taiwan, which were the biggest growers of mushrooms in the world, had to bow out of the international market. Malwinder Bhinder is convinced that China too will go their way and the market will be fully available to India, with the kind of infrastructure and expansion that he has already chalked out. Agro-Dutch is the only company in Asia which has qualified to sell kosher mushrooms to Israel. The specific kosher mushrooms are what the Jews of Israel eat The pre-condition of this mushroom is that during the entire production process this is totally quarantined and insulated from all types of bacteria, fungus or inspect-pests. Europe has placed an order of mushrooms worth Rs 5 crore from Agro-Dutch. All food products exported to the US are put to stringent tests by the Federal Drug Administration. Agro-Dutch has passed these tests with flying colours. To meet international standards and safe quality of mushrooms, Malwinder Bhinder has opened his own factory to make quality cans. This factory where 100 people are employed, including 15 engineers, produces 60 lakh cans every month. An additional plant of can production is already under construction, as mushroom exports are rising by the day. And to ensure uninterrupted power supply for can production, he has put up 820 KW generators. There is yet another value addition to the mushroom production in Lalru. Every morning nearly 150 tractor-trolleys line up at the plant to pick up spent compost which Malwinder Bhinder gives away free to farmers. This manure has vastly improved the quality of produce in the surrounding villages and pushed up production. |
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Sino-Indian boundary impasse The
atmospherics between India and China have certainly improved. During the meetings of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on the border or the Special Representative (SR) talks, the environment is relaxed. Even when there is no forward movement, the two sides shake hands and agree to meet again. Let us, however, not read too much into these pleasantries. Whatever little briefing that was given by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) after the last round of Special Representative level talks in Beijing last September, did not give much insight into what transpired and how much forward movement was achieved. Little, if the straws in the wind are any indication. The negotiations appear to have entered a very difficult and complicated stage, and both governments keep their cards close to their chests. The Sino-Indian border issue has entered the real phase. Some trusting Indians, who can influence policy, are mesmerised into thinking that India spurned China’s largesse on the border settlement, from Zhou Enlai’s proposal to Deng Xiaoping’s package deal offer of 1988. Nothing is farther from the truth. Both proposals were trial balloons to read the Indian mind, and removed from the table as “concepts” and not negotiating offers. China does not accept the MacMahon Line and considers it as an imperial and colonial imposition. It, however, claims the territorial conquests of non-Chinese rulers like the Mongols and the Manchus as non-negotiable. If historical claims can be stretched that far back, India can claim a much larger swath. Somebody’s birth in some place centuries ago, indigenous porcelain found near some country in a shipwreck in the 13th or 14th century, etc., is no claims on territory. These are dilatory tactics. The Chinese planners are calculating how the new Indo-US cooperation will play out in the near future. Not commenting much on the Indo-US nuclear agreement suggests Chinese comfort, since, in Chinese perceptions, this may ultimately limit India’s nuclear weapons capabilities. But, India’s vote in the IAEA against Iran would raise serious question in Beijing as to how far India will go to accommodate US strategic interests. China’s security and strategic matrix, in new Indo-US strategic partnership, in their view, has serious implications for Beijing’s quest of “Central Kingdom” status in Asia. Japan is hovering in the shadows of the Indo-US relations, and a strong triangular relationship may be in the making. A close scrutiny of the Chinese activities in India suggests that they have realised seducing the Indian bureaucracy has become difficult. Hence, they are shifting to winning over political sections, the business community and the media. It was, therefore, interesting to read a “People’s Daily” comment that the border negotiating team at the Special Representative level is led by a security expert who does not reveal his mind, and two geopolitical experts. There is no real political referee at this “political level” format. The boundary settlement, therefore, is in for a long haul. There are a lot of references for the Indian policy makers to consider. The road ahead is extremely complicated and there are no easy options. Some hard decisions may have to be taken in times to come, which could be destiny making or destiny breaking. A basic truth: China respects the strong and despises the weak. The need is to work on this Chinese adage. |
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Chatterati Children
teach you at every step — the statement made all the sense to me when a cultural programme organised at BCS, Shimla, for children with so called “disabilities”. Believe me, the children’s “ability” to cope, to deliver, to be happy made me look at my own “disability” of being a so-called “normal” person. We in today’s world are caught up in such trivial thought processes of living a good life that we very often forget what gives us real pleasure. The capability of “Hearing impaired” children to dance to the “visually impaired” children’s song; the capability of a child suffering from muscular dystrophy winning a race; the capability of an older mentally challenged child to assist the younger one to the toilet all left me wondering whether this was a disabled children’s meet or had I stumbled upon a “sign” as Paula C states in the “Alchemist” that nature shows you signs that move you towards your destiny. It made me realise that there is much more to life and happiness than the superficial aspects we get so caught up in! NGOs working in various fields, I’m sure, are doing a wonderful job in the upliftment of children, whether be it children with disabilities or labourers’ children or children living in the streets; but the need of the hour is the involvement of all of us, we the “fortunate people”! A member of a parent NGO trying to run a learning centre for their children. They were barely managing to generate funds to keep a “special educator,” pay the rent and call a physiotherapist once a week and guess who’s assisting them — salaried people who barely earn 10 to 15 thousand a month! So where are we? W’ll not be able to have an integrated society unless we start hearing the voices from far beyond and actually do something about it. Bin Laden perfume Anything sells if you have right publicity. Good or bad does not matter. So soon we will be spraying ourselves with a perfume called Laden. Cashing in on Osama bin Laden’s worldwide reach, a half brother of the world’s most wanted terrorist is bringing out a perfume that he hopes will conquer the globe. Now, this brother entrepreneur is providing a scent that is being advertised as a “gentle message in a bottle for all”, who long for inner peace. Well, this sentiment could not be farther from that promoted by his relative. He is going to make Bin Laden range of jeans too. Now let’s wait and see if for this enterprising younger brother of Osama bin Laden things work. Can you imagine spraying yourself with Laden and then wearing his jeans too? BJP tantriks get active If Congress men and women take their squabbles to their temple at 10 Janpath, dissidence in the BJP is a highly religious matter. BJP politicians in Madhya Pradesh are resorting to various sadhus and tantriks to contain others and promote themselves. If Uma Bharti resorts to a massive “Bagula Mukhi Anushthan” in Datia, Gaur goes to Ujjain to perform “Shatru Nashak anushthan”. |
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From the pages of SIKH GALLANTARY
It was officially announced at Cairo on January 16 that a column from Mersa Matruh dispersed 400 Arabs who had been located 40 miles from that place. The Arabs offered no resistance, but fled on the approach of the British force. Over 100 camels and all the sheep, goats, and tents were captured. There were no British casualties. Details are now forthcoming of the earlier fight on Christmas Eve near Mersa Matruh (where the western Egyptian frontier posts are concentrated). Of the 15th Ludhiana Sikhs, who were co-operating with New Zealand troops, Mr. Malcolm Ross, the official correspondent with the colonial contingent, writes: “The Sikhs fought with great dash and courage, standing up boldly in the open and firing. They seemed to disdain cover, and their somewhat reckless daring won the admiration of every New Zealander……With darkness, the enemy having been driven off, the attack ceased, and our men and the Indians marched back to camp, singing.” |
You will find what you seek, in others. If you seek good, you will find good. Correspondingly, when you look for bad things, you find them quite easily. Our senses are guided by our minds. That is why it is necessary to be able to control the mind. — Bhagvad Gita Innumerable are those who lead a life of falsehood. There are men who do malicious deeds and live in filth. And there are slanderers who carry the load of calumny. I have no words or power to describe him and praise him. — Guru Nanak |
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