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Don’t damn dam Untrusted King |
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Sisters
in arms
US interest in India
Home bound
Changing Mohali Private US
donors outdo their government Delhi Durbar
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Don’t damn dam NOW that the Supreme Court has said that the construction work on Sardar Sarovar Dam will continue and the Centre has given a solemn undertaking before it that it would completely rehabilitate all Narmada oustees before August, the vociferous agitations that have been started opposing and supporting the raising of the height of the dam should be withdrawn. This is a vital issue, which has to be settled through reasoned discussion in a congenial atmosphere, instead of taking recourse to emotive slogans and allegations. The unseemly spectacle of fast unto death, by some like Medha Patkar to get the construction stopped and by others like Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that it goes on, has caused too much of bad blood that the country can do without. What should be clearly understood is that the height of the dam is not the central issue. The decision was not taken on a whim. The go-ahead was given by 70 experts collectively, none of whom was a politician. Only then did the Narmada Control Authority give the green signal. After all, the future of thousands of water-starved villages depends on the final height of the dam. The whole problem is about the rehabilitation work. Construction and rehabilitation are supposed to proceed in tandem. That is not only what the Supreme Court ordered but also what any welfare government should have ensured. Unfortunately, that has happened only on paper. It is not just the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), which is crying foul. The three-member fact-finding group of central ministers led by Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz too has found rehabilitation measures inadequate. That flies in the face of the assertions by the Grievance Redressal Authority and two government commissions. If the persons who have left their hearth and home already have been abandoned thus, what is the hope for the others to be displaced because of the increased height? That is why the extreme trepidation among them all. The apex court has allowed the work to continue for the time being but has also said that it would have no option but to stop it if relief and rehabilitation measures were found inadequate. The clock is ticking. |
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Untrusted King THE days of King Gyanendra of Nepal seem to be numbered. There is no love lost between him and the people, who once revered the occupant of the Kathmandu throne. That is why there are no takers for whatever offers he is making to buy peace, or to ensure his political survival. He expressed his readiness for a dialogue with the agitating Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) and for holding a general election, though without mentioning any specific date, on the Nepalese New Year day —- April 14 —- but nobody took him seriously. His offers were dismissed as meaningless tactics to salvage his position at this late hour. The SPA and the Maoists, who have launched an indefinite general strike for the restoration of democracy, are only waiting for the disgraced monarch to succumb to pressure from the people of Nepal as well as various international quarters. Seen against this backdrop, the King’s meeting with Indian Ambassador Shiv Shankar Mukherjee on Sunday assumes special significance. India, obviously, does not want the Maoists to take advantage of the rising tide of the people’s anger against the monarch. That is why Mr Mukherjee told the King that any delay in handing over power to the SPA leadership would not be in the interest of either the monarchy or the people of Nepal. The mere talk of elections at this late stage is unlikely to help. Once democracy is restored, there is the possibility of the King being able to retain his ceremonial position. If he refuses to see the unfolding reality, even his otherwise loyal armed forces may prove to be helpless. The country’s economy, tottering under the impact of the unending unrest, is about to collapse with the agitation leaders asking people not to pay their electricity, water and telephone bills as also any tax to the government. They have appealed to the Nepalese working abroad to stop sending their remittances back home. Keeping in view the waning trust of the people in the King, it will not be surprising if they listen to these appeals. |
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Sisters
in arms ALLOWING
women in the armed forces to take up combat duties is one military
revolution that has been waiting to happen for quite some time now. A
three-year study conducted by the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS)
has reportedly concluded that women are physically and mentally as
good as, if not better than, men to take on the rigours of combat. For several years now, there has been a generally positive attitude about women in the services. Concerns have been expressed about combat duties on two counts. One is increased vulnerability. The lost-in-hostile territory/prisoner-of-war scenario is often proffered up. The other is the question of providing for separate toilet facilities, which can be a challenge in cramped areas like a warship or a frontline bunker. But it is interesting that men see this as more of a problem than women. The answer, on both counts, is simple. Combat is about extreme violence and that is not edifying for anyone, male or female. It will be increasingly difficult to sustain the argument that women in some way are more vulnerable, just because of their sex. And these are the days of network-centric warfare. Even the infantry solider is metamorphosing into a moving piece of high tech, with sensory, communication and battle-protection equipment of a very high order. As for “logistics” issues, they can be worked around – a mindset change is what is required. The “they can be a distraction” argument can be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. AFMS is going to recommend to the three service chiefs that women be considered for combat duties. It may be a while before a woman engages an enemy fighter in aerial combat, or takes part in an infantry assault on a bunker. But let them train for it. If nothing else, it will have a positive “demonstration effect” on the rest of civil society. |
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They also serve who only stand and wait. — John Milton
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US interest in India
The US perception that the nuclear cooperation with India would benefit both countries equally and also the non-proliferation regime led their leaders to arrive at a decision to go ahead with a mutually agreeable nuclear deal. Accordingly, President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed the deal on March 2, 2006, during the former’s recent visit to India. However, sceptics criticised it on various grounds. Perhaps, they failed to comprehend the larger political objectives. Yet, as the significance of the deal began to sink, the quibbling as seen before too began to subside. The realisation that India’s nuclear weapons programme is there to stay was an obvious reason for the US Administration to try and bring India into the nuclear mainstream. Besides, India’s impeccable non-proliferation record is widely acknowledged. Such a move would, therefore, help strengthen the global non-proliferation regime. While this may as well be the US prime objective, one can hardly overlook other reasons for wooing India in such earnestness. Trade and economy are of cardinal importance in any inter-state relationship. India on its part wanted to end its nuclear isolation and regain access to the global energy market and the cutting edge technologies. Driven by these criteria, both countries in a spirit of give and take reached a mutually acceptable compromise. Notwithstanding that, India made it sure that its strategic autonomy and national sovereignty were not violated in any way now or later. India negotiated the deal with great skill and self-confidence, a feature rarely seen in the past. In fact, it is the best deal India could have got ever. This geo-political alignment will bring the US and India closer to each other than ever before. The US endeavour is to ensure access to areas as diverse as defence, trade, agriculture and education. The US business interests are uppermost in its mind. The Americans see vast opportunities in a country with over a billion population and with the largest middle class (300 million) in the world. Mr Bush’s assertion that the Indo-US deal will ease the pressure on global hydrocarbon resources is only a part of the explanation. What is no less important is the economic factor and the Asian balance of power. According to a CIA think tank, India and China would emerge as major global players by 2020. The political and economic scene will then shift to Asia. What has made India register in the American mind is the fact that India may even emerge an economic and military power sooner than expected. With a billion plus population, highly skilled manpower, democratic polity and geographical advantage, India is viewed as a future asset. India is the world’s largest exporter of academic and technological excellence to the US. There are two million American citizens of Indian origin and almost 80,000 Indian students in the US who contribute to the US scientific and cyberspace revolution. “This deal with India is an opportunity the US cannot effort to miss. It opens the doors to civilian nuclear trade,” said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The US will benefit from selling billions of dollars worth nuclear equipment after not having built any new plant for more than 30 years. In fact, India plans to import at least eight nuclear reactors by 2012. Even if the US companies manage to bag a couple of nuclear contracts, it would amount to thousands of jobs for the Americans. Besides this, the US companies see business process outsourcing to India as a way of remaining competitive. Outsourcing has contributed to a 20 per cent rise in incomes in the US over the years. Defence cooperation is another prime attraction for the US. India buys defence equipment worth a billion plus almost every year. American aviation majors are vying with each other at the prospects of bagging these defence contracts from India. India’s $ 6.5 bn requirement of 126 Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA), which may even go up to 180 to 190 aircraft notching upto $ 10 billion, has the US, France and Russia and other aviation majors drooling at the prospects of big buck. In fact, this is being considered as a “mother of all contracts”. US Boeing and Lockheed Martin are both offering their F/A-I 8 Supper Hornets and F-16 Falcons respectively to India. What’s interesting is that the Bush Administration is actively supporting their bids with the Government of India. President Bush has particular stakes since Lockheed Martin that falls in his constituency is being forced to shut down the assembly lines and lay off thousands of workers for want of orders. Despite the UPA government’s new policy of “Offset” clause wherein 30 per cent of the deal money will have to be invested back in India only, the US is willing to press on against stiff competition from the French, Russians and the Swedes. The offset clause is to help the Indian industry to tie up with foreign firms besides ensuring safety against any country (read the US) imposing sanctions later. The Americans are also eyeing the Indian Navy’s requirement of maritime surveillance aircraft by offering an updated versioin of P-3 C Orion. Besides, the US offer also includes an array of weapon systems ranging from Patriot-3 anti-missile defence system to C-130 J Super Hercules transport aircraft for special operations. The US is aware of India’s perennial defence needs and is eager to grab as much a share of its defence market as possible. The fact that India signed armament deals worth a staggering $ 6 bn in 2004-2005 is enough of an incentive for any defence supplier to drool. With an average of around $ 1.5 bn military procurement every year, any vendor would like to get into the fray. The French have even offered to re-open Mirage-V assembly lines if need be. Otherwise the offer of their latest multimission Rafael to India stands good. The Americans have gone a step ahead by offering the spin-offs from their futuristic F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and F/A-22 Raptor projects. That’s how military-to-military engagements to build confidence were the first step in this direction. The Americans aim is to capture the Indian defence market, hitherto unexplored due to the Cold War compulsions and years of mutual distrust. The US aid to Pakistan proved highly inimical to India’s long- term interest. Pakistan thus developed a parity syndrome and felt it could take on India militarily in pursuance of its objectives in Kashmir. This was the root cause for the widening rift in Indo-US relations. Pakistan has at long last been put in its proper place. The US has realised that while it may need Pakistan to fight terrorism, it’s India with a fast growing economy, burgeoning military potential and the democratic polity that now assumes strategic relevance in the Asian context. That’s what makes India important in US perception. Cold War compulsions left non-aligned India with the losing side. Here is an opportunity for unfettered India to go along with the sole winning side. If the Americans want India to become a world power in the future, so be
it.
— The writer is a former Director-General, Defence Planning Staff,
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Home bound
DESTINY brought us together in the same compartment of Kerala Sampark Kranti Express. My wife and I were excited about meeting our prospective daughter-in-law. But our fellow passenger from Chandigarh had a different purpose for his journey. Doctors in City Beautiful had diagnosed that he was in an advanced stage of cancer. The operation he had undergone three years ago at the PGI had given him only a temporary respite from the dreaded disease. Except for his unkempt beard and general weakness, Mr K.A. George was absolutely cheerful. He had terrible pain when he drank or swallowed anything but he did not show it. Every time we had our meals, he too would have some food, more to keep his wife and son happy than to meet any dietary urge. We exchanged notes on sundry subjects ranging from politics to literature to religion but never to his disease. We heard the story of how during a train journey he met a person who eventually found a bride for his son, now with The Hindustan Times. In this age of withering filial relations, it was a pleasant surprise for us to see his son remaining ever ready to attend to every need of his father. On his part, he seemed to be equally determined to cause the least trouble to his son, whom he would, every now and then, urge to occupy a vacant upper berth and sleep. I noticed Mr George first when he stood beside me at the Mar Thoma Church in Chandigarh. As the Holy Communion service was underway, he took out a few tablets from a small bottle and swallowed them. His granddaughter was at hand to fetch a glass of water for him. For once, I realised that he was indeed unwell. I advised him to sit on a chair, rather than stand. But he smilingly brushed aside my suggestion. I had a little shock when his name was called out to give the day’s sermon. He gently walked to the pulpit. I could only pray that he had the necessary fortitude to deliver a speech. At the pulpit, he was not the weakling, tablet-swallowing faithful. He was an energetic preacher, who spoke from the heart in a language only those who had an exposure to the works of some of the great Malayalam writers like Changampuzha, Vallathol and Asan could have acquired. Of course, he did not say a word about the disease, which had been gnawing at him despite all the chemotherapies he had undergone. As the train chugged on, I wondered how a person could be so pleasant when he knew that he had only a few more days to live. He seemed to echo his master’s words, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” He had no fear of the inevitable. His belief in eternity was so strong that he could take all the pain in his stride. In fact, he looked forward to spending the rest of his life in the house he had built with his limited resources. But that was not to be. Soon after reaching home, Mr George had to be shifted to a hospital where he remained till Saturday afternoon when he was called to his eternal
home.
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Changing Mohali It is not everyday that State maps change shape. But even as they do, the significance of the change does not lie in the marking of a line across that map, but in the way that this change becomes the harbinger of transformation in the lives of the residents. And while drawing a line to give birth to the new district of Mohali is an easy task, the generation of a blueprint for its growth, development and sustenance is bound to be an arduous journey. A journey on which, past experience has shown, even the best of our town planners, revenue officers and administrators, have managed to just stumble through. To have borne the maximum brunt of modernization are the village populations. Village land is acquired for urbanisation. Owners are given a decent amount of cash in exchange for this land. What governments have failed to realize, year after year, is that the villager is exchanging not only his source of livelihood but giving up the only way he knows how to live life. A study conducted by the Government Medical College in Chandigarh has shown that cases of drug addiction and petty crime among children of rural but well to do families had increased in Chandigarh’s periphery. The reason is that after having given up their land, while these villagers had enough cash to live on comfortably, neither the family head, nor the grown up sons, had much to do. There was no land to cultivate and no alternative employment opportunities. It goes to the credit of some forward looking villagers themselves who forced the government to come up with a policy that the farmer is given an alternative occupation like owning a showroom other than having a house of his own in the city. Though a welcome beginning, a much better sharing plan can be worked out. This is just one aspect of this problem. Following the Chandigarh pattern, while the village land is fully acquired, its original core is allowed to stay untouched. In the sea of modernity that is Chandigarh, and now Mohali, there are islands of small, undeveloped villages. It is a common sight on some Mohali roads, when to your left is a high-rise all-glass building and on the right is a village house complete with its brood of cattle. While this might paint a rosy picture of traditional modernity, there is an inherent unfairness involved in this set up. A villager living on the same street as the urbanite however has none of the civic facilities which the urbanite enjoys. Residents of village Matour for example live right in the middle of SAS Nagar township but still have an open drainage system. On occasions, when a drain starts leaking into the neighbouring Community Park of Sector 71, there is a crisis. A move to bring about integrated development of villages within the township was mooted by the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) for this area, but the plan never saw the light of the day. Certain bureaucrat-politician alliances have sounded the death knell of the role PUDA had been playing in urban development for the past decade. Widespread changes forced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the licensing policy for small private colonies, virtually left PUDA without work and its powers were conferred on the Department of Town and Country Planning. Country planners who had never looked beyond the drawing board approved colonies (many even without a singe field visit) while field officers of PUDA twiddled their toes in office. The result has been the sudden mushrooming of small housing colonies in the outskirts of Mohali, Kharar, Dera Bassi and Zirakpur with very little or no quality control. Since majority of these colonies are still being habited, the administrators of the new district can expect distress calls from residents in the coming months. Needless to say regulatory controls over such ventures need to be tightened. Large parts of the new SAS Nagar district would be bound by the Punjab Capital Periphery Control Act. The government recently allowed regularization of all unauthorised structures in the periphery that were constructed before November 1, 2005. Essentially politically motivated, the move was again packed with injustice. This one time regularization saluted the efforts of those who had been violating the periphery act all these years but it meant punishment for those who had followed the rules. The new policy then laid down strict rules for large scale systematic development but left untouched the basic issue of how to streamline and/or allow the mushrooming of small single family dwelling units in the area. Finally, the most important aspect of the new district is its potential to be the land of opportunity for the rest of the state. Other than large infrastructure developers, Mohali has attracted big IT players. Parts of Kharar and Dera Bassi are already on their way to becoming biotechnology- pharmaceutical industrial hubs. In a few years from now, graduates of all disciplines from the state would find that they have arrived at the right time at the right place. Since the main towns would cater to the new demands of these industrial ventures, there also lies a gainful future for the otherwise dwindling breed of small entrepreneurs of this area. Training of raw graduates to make them employable, providing ancillary services like catering, transport, housing, hotels, recreation, in fact anything and everything that a corporate world can feel the need of, can be taken care of by those already based here. The proposed Greater Mohali Development Authority is a major step towards the future of the State but the challenges would have to be met head on, for development requires a progressive vision, sincerity of efforts, transparency of action and above all persistence in the face of odds. |
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Private US donors outdo their government The
spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund will take
place this week, and the workings of these global agencies will be debated
around Washington. But official aid is not the only kind of aid. Unofficial
philanthropy also flows to poor countries, some of it from famous outfits such
as the Ford Foundation, and some from millions of ordinary givers. Conservatives argue that this private aid is less bureaucratic and more effective than the government kind, and that incorporating it into international lists of donors could end the common complaint that the United States is stingy. A new study by the Hudson Institute sets out to prove this point. It concludes that the United States’ private giving to poor countries came to $71 billion in 2004, a sum more than triple the U.S. government’s foreign aid and nearly as large as the $80 billion given away by all donor governments combined. By itself, official U.S. foreign aid comes to a minimal 0.17 per cent of the gross domestic product, the second-lowest share among the 22 rich countries tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Add in private philanthropy, and the United States’ help to poor countries jumps to 0.61 percent of gross domestic product, only slightly less than the 0.7 per cent target urged by development advocates. But who’s giving most of this private aid? Foundations, corporate philanthropic efforts, religious organizations and voluntary aid groups account for only about one-third; fully two-thirds comes from migrant workers sending money home. These worker remittances have become a powerful engine of progress in countries from the Philippines to El Salvador. But these transfers, mainly within families, clearly aren’t the same as “foreign aid” or even “charity.” Moreover, they don’t tend to flow to the regions most in need –notably, Africa. Eliminate these remittances, and the United States doesn’t stand out for its generosity. Official aid plus private charity comes to 0.39 percent of GDP, tying the United States for 10th place in the OECD’s table of donors. Add in a reasonable estimate for private giving in Europe and elsewhere, and the United States slips into the bottom half, according to Steve Radelet of the Center for Global Development. The Hudson Institute is right to draw attention to unofficial aid; private actors can be more innovative and nimble than governments—though they can also be more amateurish. But a nation that wants to lead the world should invest more in the battle against poverty. By arrangement with
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Delhi Durbar K.J. Rao, who was an advisor to the Election Commission, shot to fame for the scrupulous manner in which he conducted last year’s Bihar assembly polls. The tough-talking officer has since retired but has emerged in a new avtaar as an election commentator on a Bengali news channel. Given his reputation, Rao’s comments on the West Bengal assembly polls must be like music to the Left parties, which have come under the Election Commission’s scanner. Rao has given a clean chit to the Marxists, saying there might be some aberrations but there was no such thing as “scientific rigging”, a common charge levelled against the Left front. A ticket, or else Candidates who are denied tickets by their respective parties during elections are known to vent their anger against their party bosses in different ways. The general mode of registering a protest is to hold dharnas and protest marches but in a case of its own kind, Congress member P N Rajenderan, who failed to get a ticket for the upcoming assembly poll in Tamil Nadu, has served a legal notice to the AICC-in-charge Veerappa Moily, for ignoring his claim. He has demanded that the lists include his name as it would improve the party’s electoral prospects. The contents of the legal notice served by Rajenderan through his counsel has even gone as far as to charge that Moily’s demeanor had spoiled the “image of our great leader Sonia Gandhi”, who had reposed trust in him. Rajenderan has also sought an unconditional apology from him failing which, he said, he would resort to legal action.
Soz’s woes Water Resources Minister Minister Saiffudin Soz has had his hands full since he assumed charge of this ministry nearly three months ago. Shortly after he took over, he had to prepare for the budget session of Parliament. He had barely recovered from it when he was plunged into the controversy over the Narmada Control Authority award on raising the dam height which led Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar to undertake a protest fast. Soz first tried to persuade Medha Patkar to break her fast by offering juice to her but failed. The government was consequently forced to convene a meeting of the review committee which, as is already known, ended inconclusively. In his capacity as minister, Soz had the authority to take a final decision but he chose to play it safe and instead passed the buck on to the Prime Minister.
Guilty Dasmunshi When candidates for the West Bengal assembly elections were being shortlisted by the Congress, Parliamentary affairs minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi insisted that his protégé be given a ticket from one of the assembly segments in the Malda Lok Sabha constituency where veteran leader Ghani Khan Choudhary or Barkatda has been the uncrowned king for over two decades. The already ailing Choudhary was hospitalised soon after his candidate was denied a ticket. A guilty Dasmunshi promptly rushed to the hospital and was seen by Barkatda’s side till he died last week. The minister is now nervously waiting to see whether Malda’s electorate will punish him by rejecting his candidate in the coming election. —
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From the pages of Poet Tagore’s protest from sick-bed Dr Rabindranath Tagore has issued the following statement in reply to Miss Rathbone’s open letter to Indians:— “I have been deeply pained at Miss Rathbone’s open letter to Indians. I do not know who Miss Rathbone is, but I take it that she represents the mentality of the average “well-intentioned” Britishers. She is scandalised at our ingratitude — that having “drunk deeply at the wells of English thought” we should still have some thought left for our poor country’s interest. English thought, in so far as it is representative of the best traditions of Western enlightenment, had indeed taught us much but, let me add that those of our countrymen who have profited by it have done so despite the official British attempts to ill-educate us. We might have achieved introduction to Western learning through any other European language. Have all the other peoples in the world waited for the British to bring them enlightenment?” |
Food is the fuel of life. From it comes energy which sustains life. — The Upanishads Why waste this precious life through greed? — Kabir He who is seeking his own happiness and who punishes those who also long for happiness is running after a chimera. No happiness shall come his way for having destroyed that of others. —The Buddha Repel (evil) with what is best, when Lo! he between whom and thee is enmity would be as if he were a warm friend. — Islam None but the creator who created the universe, knows when he created it. — Guru Nanak |
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