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Punish the guilty The glitter of gold |
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End of melody
China stoops to
conquer
House-paint playing
mischief?
Stop wheat imports How not to fight
terrorism Chatterati
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The glitter of gold Surely, this is not the promised ‘Golden Age’ where the price of the precious yellow metal has crossed Rs 10,000 per 10 gm. Instead of adding lustre to the lives of a billion people, bullion markets have soared to a historic peak. So much so that the more gold glitters, the more jitters it is causing. Not just to market men, but to the common people, too. Gold is sought after for many reasons, but has a particular resonance in India where traditionally it is the most trusted investment and most often women’s insurance policy. Little wonder then that the emotional and cultural associations with gold in this country have been seized upon by the World Gold Council and others to boost the sales of the metal during the start of the marriage season. However, not all the market forces and their hard-sell could loosen people’s purse-strings to purchase gold as the prices moved to dizzying heights. Curiously, superstitions as well as secular beliefs give rise to almost similar fears when gold gets priced out of reach. The tradition-minded feel it bodes ill if they cannot buy at least a token of it on auspicious occasions and for marriages. The modern-minded are also apprehensive of difficult times ahead when the investor’s article of faith shoots up in price. High gold prices are associated with economic and political uncertainties, often a global crisis such as war clouds, weakening dollar or spiralling oil prices. Despite the tensions over Iran, there are no signs of a looming threat to the booming markets. Therefore, whether one is an economist or a soothsayer, there appears to be no rational explanation for the phenomenal surge in the price of gold. This suggests that the value of gold has not declined with development and the new savings instruments it has created. Gold remains a sought after item and supply is for ever short of demand driven by both need and greed. Times may have changed, but the value of gold as a touchstone hasn’t. |
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End of melody Pleasing a mass audience is a difficult task which most successful music directors accomplish by taking recourse to vulgarisation of taste. It is only a rare composer like Naushad who wins over an abiding allegiance of the people while strictly adhering to the highest standards of quality and basing his music on classical Hindustani ragas. His career spanned over 60 years out of which the period from the 1940s to the 1960s was his golden era. After that, Indian cinema went into a tailspin when noise was peddled as music. Instead of joining the creaking bandwagon, Naushadsaab of “Mughal-e-Azam” and “Baiju Bawra” vintage decided to step aside, handing over the baton to lesser mortals. He did stage a comeback of sorts in the recent Akbar Khan film “Taj Mahal”, but only to discover the new generation was no longer interested in soulful melodies. He was a pioneer in many ways and also a great experimenter. Although he swore by Indian ragas and instruments, it is he who introduced the accordion in Hindi film music. He also combined the mandolin and the sitar, the clarinet and the flute, with marvellous results. It is only because of the respect and awe that he commanded that Bade Ghulam Ali Khan agreed to lend his voice for “Mughal-e-Azam” and Ustad Amir Khan and Pt
D.V. Paluskar for “Baiju Bawra”. It is his magic touch which took Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammad Rafi to such dizzying heights. Despite becoming an icon in the Mumbai film world, he remained unaffected by the trappings of the tinseltown. The “tehzeeb” and the “nafasat” of his native Lucknow remained with him all along, making him the perfect gentleman. Having so much of talent and yet conducting oneself like the man next door made him a true great. That is why every music lover will find a lump in the throat on his demise. |
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Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. |
China stoops to conquer
The
China-Australia agreement on uranium supply was signed in April 2006, after the Indo-US joint statement of March 2, 2006. Therefore, the Chinese should have been aware of India contesting the perpetuity clause and getting satisfactory assurances on fuel supply. They also knew all about India’s separation plan determined solely by India. Yet China, one of the “legitimate” five nuclear weapon powers, yielded more ground on both issues than India. Their separation plan is to be finalised jointly between China and Australia. Their “perpetuity” clause will not be offset by collateral and multilateral guarantees on fuel supply. Why did China, a country many in India point out as a role model for strategic autonomy, accept such conditions? They yielded on these conditions even after they knew that Indians had got away with less stringent conditionalities. It would be worthwhile if our hardliners spare some time to reflect on this issue. The Americans applied pressure on the European Union countries and succeeded in stopping them from selling arms to China. But the Americans, to whom the Australians are far more loyal than the Europeans, had no objection to their selling uranium to the Chinese. What does it tell us? This makes it clear that the US is sincere in its campaign to spread civilian nuclear energy around the world and especially to the large energy demanders like China and India. Secondly, it tells us that the Americans and the Australians have relatively more trust in India than in China, the proliferator and hence the harsher conditionalities on Beijing than on New Delhi. This also demonstrates that the Chinese are more pragmatic than the Indians. They do not waste time on rhetoric but concentrate on their goal — in this case, getting assured long-term uranium supply for the large-scale expansion of their civilian nuclear energy programme. There was a time in 1950 when Chinese uranium in the Xinjiang mines was the subject matter of tough negotiations. Stalin compelled Mao to sign away the uranium mines to the Soviet Union in return for large-scale military and economic aid to China. Mao had no choice but to comply. In 1956, the tide turned. After the 20th party congress of the Soviet Union and Khruschev’s de-Stalinisation speech, Mao’s ideological support was needed by the Soviets. So, Mao twisted Khruschev’s arm to hand back the Xinjiang mines. An agreement was also concluded on Soviet help to China to build a nuclear weapon. The Chinese yield when they have to and wait for an opportunity to retrieve the situation. Kissinger always admired this Chinese approach. When doubts were expressed whether the Chinese would reach a deal with him as he set out on his secret journey to Beijing in 1971, he said the Chinese were pragmatists and so he did not expect much difficulty. In spite of the Chinese having fought a war with the US costing 200,000 lives only 18 years back (in which Mao’s son, a fighter pilot, was killed), Mao and Zhou had no hesitation in closing the deal with Dr Kissinger. In Kissinger’s view China is a closed society with an open mind while India is an open society with a closed mind. Obviously, China is not looking upon the US as an adversary bent on containing it. If they thought so they would not conclude this uranium purchase agreement with Australia, one of the closest allies of the US. Nor would they accept such stringent conditionalities. China today has overtaken Japan as the largest holder of foreign exchange balance and it has invested most of it in the US. China is likely to overtake the US as the second largest trading country in the world. China’s strategy is to rise “peacefully”. In consonance with that strategy China is trying to expand its energy availability by acquiring uranium and oil. It is today burning two billion tonnes of mostly dirty coal, becoming the second biggest polluter of the atmosphere after the United States. It anticipates that there is bound to be pressure on it to reduce its emission of greenhouse gases. The important point to note, given this background, is that China is prepared to stoop to conquer. So, it accepts harsh conditionalities of Australia. It does not retaliate against the US when Washington applies pressure on the European countries not to sell arms to China. At the same time China is aware that its not taking an aggressive stand is not going to come in the way of its pushing its way ahead to become the number one nation in terms of the GDP on the basis of purchasing parity prices in the next three or four decades. Even in respect of WTO issues China adopts a less strident posture vis-à-vis Western countries than India. The US initiative in respect of extension of civilian nuclear energy to India or helping India in its moves to become a world class power cannot be assessed correctly unless the new global perspective about the rise of China, its energy requirements, and the need for an Asian and global balance of power in the light of the shift of the global economic and technological centre of gravity from the trans-Atlantic region to Asia are understood. Obsession with the obsolete strategies of the nuclear bipolar world and China as a US adversary instead of a rival is befuddling a correct assessment of the contemporary international strategic environment. The Chinese correctly understood that the Americans needed them first to complete the containment of the Soviet Union and, secondly, as a source of cheap consumer goods yielding profits to US multinationals. They discarded their Marxist verbiage against multinationals and made full use of the US interest to advance their economy. They never reminded their population of the Maoist dictum that the primary contradiction in the world was between socialism and American capitalism. They never get worried about American traps and attempts to disembowel them. They knew how to play the balance of power game with Japan, Russia and the European Union. Even as they intensified their verbal war with Japan on the issue of World War II they stepped up their trade with them. They are not going to allow the recent frosty reception accorded to President Hu Jintao in the US to come in the way of their interaction with US industry to their own advantage. Compared to this sober and purposeful behaviour of China, in India sections of people are on the lookout for trivia on which they could take umbrage and strongly denounce India’s integration with the
globe.
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House-paint playing mischief? Until
Independence and, in fact, for a few years thereafter, too, official houses meant for the senior officers of the district used to have vast areas of land attached to them. At one place the D.C. and the Sessions Judge, both of whom were Englishmen, had their houses on adjoining plots, and one wall of each house could just be seen from the other one. One summer when the Judge went on home leave he returned to find that while all the outer walls of his house were painted the customary yellowish colour, just one was flaunting a bright blue shade. He was furious and summoned the
PWD man to explain what had happened. He said that the blue paint had been applied to that wall under the peremptory orders given by the D.C. to that effect in spite of all protests by the engineer. The Judge took up the matter to the government who called for the D.C.’s explanation. His reply was simple. The ghastly yellowish colour of the wall made him feel quite sick and he had the
PWD re-paint only one side of the neighbour’s house, which he, the
D.C. could see from his own residence. The “deciding” authority in the government must have had a bit of a laugh over the scrap, but the formal reaction was a severe reprimand for the D.C. Incidentally many years later I myself had the occasion to occupy that very D.C.’s house, it seems, however, that property can cause problems even without the assistance of colonial arrogance and eccentricity. Some young men assigned work in a new town managed with some difficulty to find a small house available on rent in a suitable area and readily agreed to accept it. They discovered soon though that the landlord was quite a difficult person to deal with, and all along they had trouble with him of one sort or another. When the lease of the house ended after a year, the tenants put their heads together to see if somehow they could get even with the landlord. They wrote a polite letter to him saying they did not want to end on an unhappy note and, if he agreed, they would like to have the house re-painted at their expense before they left it. The landlord could hardly believe his eyes when he read the letter, but the offer was too good to miss. He replied in the affirmative post-haste. He went to look at the house a few days later. He found it painted pitch-black inside and out — along with all the floors and ceilings — without even a square inch of space left untouched by the new brush. Only his very strong constitution helped the landlord survive the
shock. |
Stop wheat imports The
Indian government is planning to import 30 lakh tonnes of wheat, which is in addition to 5 lakh tonnes wheat tendered through State Trading Corporation of India Ltd. (STC) on February 10, 2006. On 1st March 2006, the wheat tender order was given to AWB Ltd., Australia, at the rate of $ 178.75 per tonne which works out to Rs 793/- per quintal. The wheat arrival schedule was from April 2006 to mid-May 2006. However, the first consignment of Australian wheat (50,855 tonnes) got delayed, and arrived at Chennai port on April 25, 2006. The initial testing of wheat by the Chennai port health authorities and the regional plant quarantine station found that the imported wheat was unfit for human consumption. The pesticide content was 0.25 per cent against the permissible level of 0.05 per cent. Further, the Forum for Biosecurity and Food Safety also claimed that the Australian wheat contained 14 weed types. However, on May 2, 2006, the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, cleared this consignment for delivery to the Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) godowns. Since the samples were received at CFTRI on April 29, 2006, four days after the grain reached the port. It is possible that whatever residues were present in the grain had diffused. The question arises as to why India is importing wheat at all. There is enough stock (91.46 lakh tonnes with FCI on May 1, 2006), and domestic production (730.6 lakh tonnes) is expected to be more than consumption (716.1 lakh tonnes) in the current year, 2005-06. Further, why does India emerge as an importer rather than as an exporter like in the past? Have the wheat stocks been mismanaged by exporting 26.5 lakh tonnes per annum in the last five years? The second advance estimates of the Ministry of Agriculture anticipated that wheat production would be up by 10.6 lakh tonnes in 2005-06 over 2004-05. The motive of the government to import wheat is just to ensure adequate buffer stocks, increase domestic supplies and control prices. But it will have disastrous effect on the farmers of the country, particularly in Punjab and Haryana as they will get less remunerative price of wheat and their sufferings would increase. Moreover, imported wheat is of sub-standard quality. It is clear that now, the present government thinks that there is no surplus wheat production and hence there is no need for diversification of agriculture in India/Punjab. The Domestic Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) for wheat was introduced in October 1993, under which the State-wise monthly prices of wheat are being fixed from. February 2003 on the basis of age of the crop, the average freight to the State from the procuring region, and open market prices. Thus, the OMSS prices of wheat are higher than MSP. For instance, during 2005-06, per quintal OMSS price is Rs. 815 (more than Rs. 700 as MSP) in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. This price is Rs. 885 in Kerala, Tamilnadu and Pondichery. The government sold 2.39 lakh tonnes of wheat under OMSS in 2004-05. The Indian government must review the decision to import wheat at this stage in view of sufficient available stocks and bumper wheat crop. In fact, proper management of wheat stocks is needed. Instead of going for wheat import, the MSP of wheat should have been made equal to the OMSS price of Rs. 815 per quintal for wheat surplus states like Punjab and Haryana, as non-remunerative prices had led to acute shortage of wheat in the country. The decision of Indian government to give bonus of Rs. 50/- thus raising MSP to Rs. 700/- per quintal on April 22, 2004, has come too late. Further, the bonus should have been Rs. 150/- per quintal. It is to be wondered how our government is selling wheat at the rate of Rs. 815 per quintal in the open market of Punjab and Haryana, and buying the same from the farmers of these states at the rate of Rs. 700 per quintal. Currently, the Indian government is facing a problem in procuring wheat for the mandatory buffer stocks as the farmers are reluctant to sell wheat at MSP due to high wheat prices in the open market, owing to big purchases by private traders. Therefore, government has to find a way out. Further, the international prices of wheat are also very high. Importing wheat might help in reducing hoarding and result in a fall in the market price. But it is suggested that stock limits on the private sector should be imposed to avoid large scale hoarding that play speculative games with pricing. In Punjab, large private buyers have been paying just Rs. 1/- more than the revised MSP of Rs. 700/- per quintal in connivance with commission agents. They are selling at huge margins to the traders from outside Punjab. Inquiries revealed that the private traders had booked wheat at Rs. 950/- per quintal for delivery in July to southern states. Further, the recent concerns over high wheat prices and dwindling stocks are also due to lower procurement by the government. Till May 1, 2006, government agencies procured only 88.42 lakh tonnes wheat, which is the lowest since the 1997-98 level of 92.98 lakh tonnes. Therefore, higher procurement of wheat should be made in this season. Thereafter, any decision to import wheat could be taken by the government. The wheat quota to the States under APL scheme could also be scrapped for the time being and transferred to open
market.
The writer is with the Department
of Economics, Punjabi University GKC, Damdama Sahib |
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How not to fight terrorism After
four years, numerous appeals, millions of dollars, and a massive investment of government personnel and resources, the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui concluded last week with a life sentence. Many have cited the case as an example of how difficult it is to try terrorists in civilian courts. In fact, it is a lesson in how the government’s overreaching has undermined the nation’s security. Four years ago Moussaoui was on the verge of pleading guilty to offenses that would have resulted in a life sentence. But he was unwilling to accept the government’s insistence that he admit to being the 20th hijacker of Sept. 11, 2001 — an allegation the government has long since dropped. For almost two years, the case was stalled as the government sought Moussaoui’s execution while denying him access to witnesses in its control, who had testimony establishing that he was not involved in the Sept. 11 plot at all. The case ended where it began — with Moussaoui facing life in prison. Meanwhile, at a secret CIA “black site” prison, the United States is holding the alleged mastermind of Sept. 11, Khalid Sheik Mohammed. And at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, it has Mohamed al-Qahtani, who the government now claims is the real would-be 20th hijacker. But the administration can’t try either of these men, because any such proceeding would turn into a trial of the United States’ own tactics in the war on terrorism. The CIA has reportedly water-boarded Khalid Sheik Mohammed—a practice in which the suspect is made to fear that he is drowning in order to encourage him to talk. And Army logs report that interrogators threatened al-Qahtani with dogs, made him strip naked and wear women’s underwear, put him on a leash and made him bark like a dog, injected him with intravenous fluids and barred him from the bathroom so that he urinated on himself. With these shortsighted and inhumane tactics, the administration essentially immunized the real culprits, so it was left seeking the execution of a man who was not involved in Sept. 11. The Moussaoui case is emblematic of the administration’s approach to fighting terrorism. It has repeatedly overreached and sought symbolic victories, adopting tactics that have undermined its ability to achieve real security while disregarding less flashy but more effective means of protecting us. The government has admitted to detaining 5,000 foreign nationals in the first two years after Sept. 11. To this day not one of them stands convicted of a terrorist offense. Early on, the administration labeled the Guantanamo detainees “the worst of the worst.” Yet we now know that more than 250 have been released, that they included boys as young as 13 and that of those who remain, only 8 percent are accused of being fighters for al-Qaida. In December the bipartisan 9/11 commission gave the administration a disastrous report card on its progress in implementing a series of practical security recommendations — such as better screening of cargo on airlines and containers coming into ports, and protection of vulnerable targets such as chemical plants. Tough talk in news conferences, overheated charges that evaporate under scrutiny and executions for symbolic purposes will not make us safer. The administration needs to turn away from symbolism and toward substance if it is to have any hope of protecting us from the next
attack. By arrangement with LA-Times–Washington Post |
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Chatterati For
a change, simplicity was the buzzword at the wedding of Lalu Prasad’s third daughter. It was not like his other daughters’ weddings in Patna which hassled the city and its citizens. The bride, in a deep pink, heavily embroidered, Lehenga and jewellery could be seen from miles. Lalu was in a plain kurta pyjama and Rabri Devi was in a heavily sequined sari and jewellery to match. They stood patiently to do the aarti of the delayed groom. In between thandai, leechi juice and exotic sharbats, the VVIPs found the way to the heavily guarded VIP enclosure, with a live band playing. The elaborate vegetarian menu had desserts from all over the world and the media was going hysterical trying to get pictures of the former Prime Ministers, present Chief Ministers and of course the whole congress community lead by Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi. They were around ten thousand guests, and don’t even ask me how many mobiles got lost, and how the party workers and guests from Bihar were treated. Even though there was a helpdesk at the entrance and gates were marked with duty charts. Just like an exhibition. Auspicious sharing It was a nightmare in Delhi as ten thousand couples tied the knot. On the auspicious occasion of akshay tritiya last week the families and friends went hysterical looking for venues for marriages. Hotels, farm houses and all MCD community halls were booked. Can you imagine the confusion with hardly any water and electricity in the capital to try and accommodate all this? It was a nuisance trying to get hold of astrologers and pundits for this day. This date comes once in a year and it is believed that marriages that take place this day will be blessed and last seven life times. In fact, people were ready to share parks and pundits. There was confusion with baraats getting delayed and even reaching wrong venues. Shamiyana guys were extra quick in lifting their stuff before time, while charging exorbitant rates. The enemy within Everybody in this nation will miss Pramod Mahajan the politician but many of us will miss him as a friend. His sense of humour and wit was always his strong point. Once I happened to be on the same Shatabdi which was carrying Pramod Mahajan with a whole lot of BJP leaders to a party conclave in Jaipur. Pramod did not believe in destiny and was not superstitious at all, but was-God fearing. When my daughter told him that we were on our way to the Dargah he looked at my daughter and said “Mannat mangne se agar mile putrah to pati ki kya zaroorat hai”. When Pramod lost his election in Maharashtra and yet the NDA formed the Government in the centre, I sent an astrologer from Himachal, Prem Sharma, to meet him. Prem came back and told me this person will shine like a star. The next day Vajpayee appointed him his political secretary and then nominated him to the Rajya Sabha to become Union Minister. Pramod did not believe in such predictions either and always said “Mein apni takdir khud banata hoon aur mujhe ajnabinion se nahi apno se hi khatra hai”. Well, he was proved right once again, for the last time. |
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From the pages of Virulent attack on Netaji
By making a fiercely vituperative attack on Mr Subash Chandra Bose the Soviet journal Pravda, instead of succeeding in injuring, even slightly, the prestige, influence and popularity of Netaji, has succeeded in damaging very seriously the cause of Socialism in India. It has intensified further the public prejudice created against what is, indeed, a sound politico-economic cult by the muddle-headed policies and misdirected deeds of the Indian Communist Party. The Indian masses do want the termination of their exploitation by the privileged Indian classes. They do stand for the nationalisation of land and industries. But they are convicted that these things can be effected only after the yoke of British Imperialism, which keeps the Indian nation grovelling in the dust, is thrown off and only if the essential unity of India is maintained. But what did the Indian Communist Party do during the war? It called it a people’s war and instead of cooperating with the Congress in its attempts to eject British Imperialism from India, it strengthened, may be unconsciously, the hands of the latter. Then it allied itself with the capitalist-cum-feudal Muslim organisation, Mr Jinnah’s League, and demanded the vivisection of India. |
See the assembled kings. Lion-chested monarchs, nobly born princes, chiefs of pure and stainless name. Give each a seat that befits his status. A seat wrongly given can sow the seeds of a great war. — The Mahabharata The great one has rinsed away all sorrows and shame. My veil is dyed crimson with the colour of his love. With all my body and mind, I am yours, me beloved. — Kabir All men are standing at the river of life. Most spend their time running up and down on shore, talking, shouting, gesticulating madly. Only the serene cross the river and arrive at the other shore. — The Buddha (O man) and follow not that of which thou hast no knowledge; Surely the hearing and the sight and the heart—of each of these it will (surely) be asked. — The Koran |
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