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Some reservation Self-defeating bandh |
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Power problem
New challenges under Constitution
Enduring reading
When man and mountains meet New rule on simulators could change pilot training Inside Pakistan
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Some reservation THE
passage of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Bill, 2006, by the Lok Sabha on Thursday providing 27 per cent quota for the socially and educationally backward classes in professional institutions like the IIMs and the IITs was only to be expected, given the near-unanimity among all the political parties in favour of reservation. It is an issue on which all the political parties are united to protect their vote banks, despite widespread student protests against reservation when the Bill was proposed six months back. It has taken the total percentage of reservations to 49.5 per cent, just below the 50 per cent ceiling set by the Supreme Court. The IIMs, the IITs and other government-aided institutions will have to reserve seats for the OBCs from March-April, 2007. There will be a staggered implementation of the quota over three years as there are “practical difficulties” like faculty and infrastructure. However, a disturbing aspect of the Bill is its inclusion of the creamy layer for purposes of reservation. Surprisingly, neither the Union Cabinet nor any political party opposed this. In tune with the Oversight Committee’s suggestion, the Parliamentary Standing Committee did recommend its exclusion. But the Union Government did not accept it following considerable pressure from its allies like the DMK, the PMK, the RJD and the Lok Janshakti Party. The Left is opposed to the inclusion of the creamy layer while opinion is sharply divided between the Congress and the BJP on the issue. No one will grudge if reservation is extended to the really deserving ones among the OBCs. But it is certainly questionable when reservation is extended to the creamy layer as this militates against the concept of social justice and equality. Significantly, the Parliamentary Standing Committee endorsed the Oversight Committee’s report that the creamy layer’s inclusion in the Bill would result in reserved seats unduly benefiting the OBCs from the higher income group. The report also said that almost all rural and urban OBCs from northern, central and eastern regions would be deprived of the benefit. There is also the Supreme Court ruling in the 1993 Mandal case against providing reservation to the creamy layer. |
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Self-defeating bandh THE
one-day general strike – the second since the United Progressive Alliance assumed office — called by the Left trade unions did the most damage to the states where the Left is ruling. That means the states — West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura — where the bandh was a total success for the trade unions, particularly CITU were the ones that suffered the worst loss on account of work stoppage. Far from achieving anything, the Left trade unions have ill-served the cause of the political parties to which they are affiliated as also the people and economy of the states where they enforced a general strike. The success of the strike in West Bengal and Kerala sends out discouraging signals about the climate for investment and industrial development in these two states. These two states are already lagging behind as investment destinations and militant unionism is bound to scare away those who are now — after more than three decades — looking to locate industrial projects in these two states. The action of the unions has certainly not helped the governments in West Bengal and Kerala that are seeking to develop IT hubs in their states. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee — who is attempting a new industrial policy to revive the state’s economy and expand employment opportunities — finds himself obstructed by not only political opponents like Ms Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress but also the CITU. It would appear that the CPM has no restraining influence over CITU if the latter is able to go about enforcing a strike and extending it to the IT sector in spite of Mr Bhattacharjee’s exhortations. The Left is shooting itself in the foot if it believes that its trade union affiliates are rattling the UPA at the Centre by such actions. On the contrary, the Left is harming the economic cause of the very states where it is in office. |
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Power problem WHILE in Chandigarh to address a press conference on Thursday, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh did not forget, like his predecessors did in the past, to raise the issue of his state not getting its due share of power and royalty from the Bhakra Dam, the Pong Dam and the Beas-Sutlej link project. Since the case is pending in the Supreme Court, the Chief Minister did not press the issue. Hoping for a favourable verdict in two months, Mr Virbhadra Singh graciously added: “I don’t want to create bad blood on the issue”. The relationship between Himachal Pradesh on the one hand and Punjab and, to some extent, Haryana on the other has soured after the Central package gave a long tax holiday to industries coming up in the hill state. The political leadership in both Punjab and Haryana have publicly opposed the Central bonanza as it felt the sops had placed the industries in their states at a disadvantage and discouraged fresh investment. Mr Virbhadra Singh was on a fence-mending mission to Chandigarh where he sought to dispel the impression that the fast pace of industrialisation in Himachal was at the cost of the neighbouring states. He also took the opportunity to emphasise his own state’s excellence in education, health and social security. While the inter-state power dispute has been rightly left to the court, it needs to be pointed out that, unlike Himachal Pradesh, both Punjab and Haryana are deficit in power and have investible funds to raise their production capacities to meet the growing demand. While Haryana is toying with the idea of having a nuclear power plant, Punjab plans to go in for coal and gas-based power projects. Hydel power is comparatively much cheaper and Himachal is currently taping only 30 per cent of its potential. If the ruling politicians manage to rise above their narrow interests, the three states can collaborate to generate much more hydroelectric power for common benefit. |
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The most damaging phrase in the language is: it has always been done that way.
— Grace Hopper |
New challenges under Constitution THIS Constitution of ours is a truly remarkable document. The more you read its provisions, the more is revealed to you — there are so many things unsaid, unresolved: the fact-situation in any given case reveals new problems of interpretation that must be solved — solved only by the superior courts of the land. Take for instance the cash-for-questions scandal that surfaced recently in December, 2005, when a TV channel presented (thanks to the somewhat dubious advantages of modern technology!) the result of a “sting operation” in which there was offered both audio and visual evidence of particular members of Parliament accepting money for questions to be asked in the House during question hour. The Lok Sabha promptly constituted a committee to inquire into this and on being satisfied that a “scandal” had been correctly exposed by the media, passed resolutions expelling these members. The errant members then filed writ petitions in the Supreme Court, and the question about the “privileges” of Parliament was squarely raised. Our Constitution makes provision for vacation of seats in Parliament (Article 101) and for disqualification of its members (Article 102). Article 102 (e) says that a person shall be disqualified from being a member of either House of Parliament “if so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament”: disqualification laws have been made by Parliament, but no law has yet been made by Parliament, enabling either of the Houses to expel their own members for proven misconduct. So, “expulsion” could only be (if at all) under the Article dealing with powers privileges and immunities (Article 105). Under this article, the powers, privileges and immunities of each House of Parliament are to be such as may from time to time be defined by Parliament by law and until so defined shall be those of the House of Commons and its members. It is well settled in England that if in the opinion of the House of Commons a member has conducted himself in a manner which renders him unfit to serve as a member of Parliament, he may be expelled - and there have been innumerable cases where members have been expelled from the House of Commons on various grounds such as of being rebels, or of having been guilty of forgery, or of perjury or of fraud and breaches of trusts, misappropriation of public money etc. (See Halsbury Vol.34 - Privileges of Parliament - para 1026). Now England has no written Constitution. But under our written Constitution, in view of Article 102(e), should there not be a specific law for this? That was the great question on which the Supreme Court of India heard arguments in Raja Ram Pal vs. The Hon’ble Speaker, Lok Sabha (in writ petition No. 1/2006) - in the month of September and - October 2006; and judgment is now awaited. The cash-for-questions case had some initial hiccups. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha, though given notice by the Supreme Court, chose not to appear - and made some comments with regard to court interference in the internal proceedings of the House. This was a stand which some applauded and others decried, but that is how a participatory democracy like ours functions - and I am glad that it functions that way. The cash-for-question case (and another almost contemporaneous incident that has now also become a “case”) are illustrative of what I conceive to be the new challenge under the Indian Constitution. As I see it, the new challenge under our document of governance is “which body (or institution) is the more significant under the Constitution - Parliament and state legislatures or the courts? The courts - high courts and the Supreme Court - do have a slight edge over Parliament and state legislatures: not because the judiciary is superior to legislative bodies under our Constitution, but simply because although Parliament and State legislatures have the power to make laws, they do not have the power to make judgments or impose penalties that power is always with the courts. One thing is certain - despite the exhortations of the Press Council and our own Law Commission that parliamentary privileges must be codified, I can confidently predict that they will never be codified - simply because once there is an enacted law about privileges, such law would be directly open to scrutiny by courts for violation of fundamental rights: and neither State legislators nor MPs will so easily concede victory to the Courts! The Supreme Court as the final interpreter of the Constitution has the right to frame any question of law arising under the Constitution, and to determine that question for itself. Legislators must never forget this. But when no question of life and liberty of the citizen is involved, (and I would emphasise this - when no question of life and liberty of the citizen is involved the superior courts must leave what happens within the four walls of the Houses of Parliament or of the legislative assemblies, to the members of those bodies. Judges must not forget this either. It is not only the law that demands a hands-off on events happening within the four walls of the House: it is a sense of mutual courtesy; under rules framed by all legislative bodies in India discussion within the House of what judges do or say in court is absolutely forbidden. Mutual admiration between the Houses of Parliament and the courts can never be legislated upon nor mandated. It is not even desirable Some form of tension between the great organs of State keeps each one of them in check. But Parliament and the judiciary must strive towards a greater mutual respect and understanding: like the Kings of the Forest the great organs of state must each keep within their “territory”. In November, 2003, when the Speaker of the Madras State Legislative Assembly committed to prison for 15 days the editor of The Hindu harsh words were freely traded - both inside the Legislative Assembly, and outside in the media; India’s then Prime Minister Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee was asked if he could suggest a solution. In a characteristic one-liner, Mr Vajpayee simply said: “I would advise each of the great institutions of State not to cross the Lakshman Rekha.” Pithily put - As Lord Denning used to say (quoting Churchill, whom Seervai greatly admired), “short words are best, and old words when short are best of all.”n The article has been excerpted from the H. M. Seervai Birth Centenary Lecture delivered in Mumbai recently by the writer, an eminent jurist.
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Enduring reading
THE only mark of distinction that I earned in an otherwise undistinguished scholastic career was at school where, for three years running, I won the library prize. And that was no great achievement. All I had to do was to draw the largest number of books — all of them fiction — from the school library during the calendar year. On parental insistence, I had to read the “greats” of 19th century English literature. But I can’t say that any of them, except, perhaps, Dickens, and Hardy, were my cup of tea. I was in search of “thrills”, innocent ones, and I found them in the salty, sea stories of Conrad and the sugary romances of Ruby M. Ayres. And, of course, there was Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series and the whodunnits of Edgar Wallace and the delightful inanities of P.G. Wodehouse. There was “Sapper”, the pseudonym of a British army officer, whose Bulldog Drummond was a gentlemanly prototype of Ian Fleming’s James Bond whose acquaintance I was to make much later in life. Another favourite was P. C. Wren whose archetypal hero was the upper-crust Englishman who, on his proposal of marriage being spurned by his equally “U” dream-girl, went out to join the French Foreign Legion. After three years under the cruel African sun he returns to England, Home and Beauty only to find that he need never have left them. The negative response from his lady-love, who has been pining for him, was due to a trivial and somewhat stupid misunderstanding. Oddly enough my introduction to what was considered “unsuitable,” reading for young people, came about when I joined the English Honours course at college and had to read Fielding’s “Tom Jones”. As I recall, my tutor, an English missionary, never fully explained certain “earthy” passages in the book. Thirty years later came to India the unexpurgated edition of D.H. Lawrence’s “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”. Originally published in France, its sale had been legalised in Britain a few years earlier. The open publication of this novel by one of the most gifted writers in English literature also opened the floodgates of “liberalised” fiction. There came writers like Harold Robbins and Philip Roth whose money-spinning novels gave rise to the phrase, “nothing sells like sex”. There were others like John Updike, O’Hara, Kingsley Amis (a Booker prize winner) Francoise Sagan and Irving Wallace who gave us a fascinating insight into the lifestyles of the affluent sections of Western societies. I am far from being a prude. The frequent use of a certain four-letter word of Anglo-Saxon origin does not shock me, any more than does another malodorous four-letter one commonly used to express irritation or annoyance by our young people. Yet, I cannot help comparing the far too detailed description of intimate scenes by our modern novelists with the finesse displayed by the greatest of 20th century story-tellers, Somerset Maugham. It seems that many of our brash, young novelists, Indians included, consider it a mark of genius to be “shocking” or “realistic”. Most of Maugham’s plots were woven round adulterous relationships. But his genius lay in the art of suggestiveness. He brings his readers up to the crucial point and then draws a veil, leaving the rest to their imagination. I have seldom picked up one of the “moderns” twice, but I have read each of Maugham’s novels at least four times
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When man and mountains meet THE
brightly-coloured canvas awning erected in the centre of Kathmandu Durbar Square leaked a bit under a grey, dribbling sky but the carved wooden yakshis looked, as always, spectacularly ferocious. Rain in the Kathmandu Valley and snow in its upper reaches lent a somewhat fitting and, according to local belief, auspicious touch to the inauguration ceremony of the two-day Himalaya Tourism Conference 2006, that concluded here recently. Organized by Nepal Mountaineering Association to commemorate International Mountain Day (December 11) and the golden jubilee of the first ascents of Manaslu (8136 metres) and Lhotse (8516 metres), the occasion saw a gathering of mountaineers, lecturers, environmentalists, ministers, government officials and journalists from Japan, China, Chinese Taipei, Pakistan, India and the host country. The first mountaineering meet to be organized after the November 22 peace accord with the Maoists and the nation’s move away from monarchy, it was noticeable for the lack of any photographs or members of the royal family. The chief guest was Deputy Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. Other members of government who participated were Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation Dilendra Prasad Badu, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Pradeep Kumar Gyawali and the Secretary from the same ministry, Madhav Prasad Ghimire. In the era when none of the 14 “eight-thousanders” had yet been climbed, some of them were unwittingly staked out by climbers of certain nationalities. Just as the British kept at Everest until she finally capitulated to them, the French did so on Annapurna and the Germans on Nanga Parbat, while Manaslu belonged to Japan. The French ascent of Annapurna in 1950 proved a watershed and success followed on the others. On May 9, 1956, Manaslu was climbed by Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu Sherpa and on May 11 by Kichiro Kato and Minoru Higeta. Higeta, the lone survivor, attended the event along with Imanishi’s grandson, Gyalzen’s son and Kato’s widow. Slow but fit, Higeta, speaking in English, recalled that the first Japanese expedition to Manaslu in 1954 could not even establish the base camp. “The support and cooperation of the friendly Sherpas made our ascent possible,” he added. It was the first Japanese climb of an 8,000-m peak and the men are heroes in Japan. The commemoration was attended by a delegation of over 100 Japanese mountaineers and journalists. The Swiss Lhotse summiteers, Fritz Luchsinger and Ernest Reiss, who made the ascent on May 18, 1956 - are both alive but too old to travel. The occasion also saw a series of informed presentations and discussions on developing mountain tourism, community-based tourism, and eco-friendly tourism. Tourism is Nepal’s main revenue-earner and an interesting statistic provided at the conference was that, according to the World Tourism Organization, one tourist provides employment to nine people in most countries but the Nepali average is 12 people to one tourist. Mountain tourism constitutes 25 per cent of Nepal’s tourism. During the past five years, when Maoist unrest affected general tourist traffic to Nepal, the stream of mountaineers and trekkers remained unabated. Speaker after Nepali speaker bitterly pointed out that the negative media publicity and travel advisories of those days had been unnecessary. This was seconded by Austrian climber Peter Habeler, who partnered Reinhold Messner on the first oxygen-less ascent of Everest in 1978. Habeler brings Europeans on mountaineering and trekking expeditions to Nepal and emphasized, “Sometimes, I did meet Maoists and they would demand money. But they never harmed or threatened me. They gave me respect. We would have tea and then I could continue on my way.” Currently, 326 peaks are open for climbing in Nepal but steep royalty fees - particularly for the giants and the most coveted of them, Everest - drew impassioned pleas from Tomas Humar, the 37-year-old Slovenian alpinist, and Nazir Sabir, the Hunza from the Karakoram who is the first Pakistani to climb Everest, for their reduction if not elimination. “The countries of South America and Central Asia do not charge peak fees. When climbers come, they spend money which goes to the communities in the mountain areas. The fees go to the governments,” said Sabir. A former minister, he also pointed out, “In 1972, we also started charging peak fees - copying Nepal. Two years ago, we started reducing them. We have also reduced other expedition costs. Now, foreign expeditions in Pakistan need not take Liaison Officers, except in the Baltoro region - because of the Siachen situation. Similarly, in China, one Liaison Officer takes care of 20 expeditions at the base camp.” Nepal charges $70,000 per seven-member team for the classic route on Everest (the Hillary-Tenzing one) and $50,000 for other routes. In stark contrast, China’s Everest fee (raised from 2007 onwards) is $4,900 per person. Other issues that were discussed included the gradual shift by mountain communities from agriculture and animal husbandry to the more lucrative tourism trade and the need to manage mountain tourist inflow so as to increase it. Robert Pettigrew, President, Access and Conservation Commission, Union Internationale des Associations d’Alpinisme (the world governing body for mountaineering) pointed out that Chamonix in the French Alps - where Mont Blanc is located - handles 50,000 tourists a day. |
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New rule on simulators could change pilot training
HE International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), that sets the world’s aviation regulations, has adopted a new standard that could alter the nature of pilot training. In essence, prospective co-pilots will be able to earn most of their experience in ground-based simulators. Before stepping into the cockpit of a commercial jetliner for the first time, pilots usually have racked up hundreds of hours in the air, usually at the controls of small planes. In coming years, they may get most of their flight experience without ever leaving the ground. The move is designed to allow foreign airlines, especially those in Asia and the Middle East that face shortages of pilots, to more quickly train and hire flight crews. The United States isn’t expected to adopt the new rules any time soon, but international pilots trained under the new standards will be allowed to fly into and out of the country. The change is generating some controversy. Safety experts and pilot groups question whether simulators--which have long been hailed as an important training tool--are good enough to replace critical early flight experience. “In a simulator, you have pride at stake,” said Dennis Dolan of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations. “In a real airplane, you have your life at stake.” ICAO officials said the role of simulators has grown substantially in most airline training programs. Airlines often train co-pilots for new aircraft only in simulators, without flying; such a co-pilot’s first flight on the new plane is with paying passengers on board. The new rules apply only to co-pilots of commercial planes. Captains, who are in charge of those aircraft, must have hundreds more hours of flight experience. The new standards will allow people to become a co-pilot on a jetliner with about 70 hours of flight time and 170 hours in simulators. Other licenses require about 200 hours of flight experience. Co-pilots perform many of the same duties as captains. In the US, a co-pilot of a commercial plane must have at least 250 hours of experience, some of which can be earned in simulators. Each country sets its own licensing requirements, which can be tougher than the ICAO standards. The Federal Aviation Administration is not expected to adopt the new license in this country. But experts say that if the number of people learning to fly in the United States continues to drop, the FAA could be forced to adopt the rules. The new standards allow airlines to more properly train and supervise young pilots before they develop bad habits at flight school or flying alone, industry officials said, adding that the devices better prepare pilots for today’s sophisticated cockpits. “Those hours flying solo in a single-engine piston airplane, they do us no good at the airlines, and we can’t monitor the pilots,” said Christian Schroeder, an official with the International Air Transport Association, a trade group that represents airlines. However, safety experts and pilots groups said pilots gain invaluable “white-knuckle” experience during hundreds of hours of flight time in real planes. Flight crews also learn the intricacies and pressures of dealing with air-traffic controllers in congested air space - conditions that are hard to replicate in simulators, the experts and pilots said. In addition, no one has studied whether simulators can safely replace early flight experience, said Cass Howell, chairman of the department of aeronautical science at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida. Still, Howell and others say simulators have helped make aviation far safer than it was just a few decades ago. Full-motion simulators — giant boxes atop moving legs — can toss crews around in bad turbulence and even duplicate the thud-thud-thudding of a jet streaking down a runway for takeoff. Pilots use the devices to practice difficult approaches, recovery from engine failure and extreme weather scenarios that are too dangerous to attempt in an aircraft. By arrangement with |
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Inside Pakistan PAKISTAN, it seems, is bent upon creating a condition in Afghanistan where the Hamid Karzai government will be unable to function successfully. While President Karzai is finding it difficult to withstand the onslaughts of the Taliban, he is getting repeated messages from Islamabad that he should get ready for the repatriation of “some 2.5 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan”. The latest threat has come through a statement made by Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri. Referring to this, a Dawn editorial said on December 13: “For many people, the refugees, a large number of whom arrived in the country (Pakistan) more than 25 years ago, have overstayed their welcome. But it is not only for the security reasons cited by Mr Kassuri that the issue of repatriation has assumed a new urgency. Hosting one of the largest refugee populations in the world, the Pakistan government has for several years now been suffering from Dawn also says, “To them, returning to Afghanistan would mean being uprooted from a country where they have employment and opportunities and where their children have a better future. The issue of repatriation must then allow for humanitarian considerations.” But this does not appear to be the thinking of the Pakistan government. That is why when on December 13 Mr Karzai accused Pakistan of trying to turn his countrymen into its “slaves”, according to The News, Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam responded by saying that Pakistan has to ensure that all the Afghan refugees go back home as early as possible. Her argument, though unconvincing, was that their presence near the border “appears to prompt allegations from Kabul” that Islamabad was aiding the Taliban with a view to not allowing the Afghans to live in peace. Petrol price issue in court The Islamabad government is in the dock over the rise in petroleum prices despite a downward movement at the international level (from $78 to $60 per barrel). Some public-spirited people have taken the matter to the Supreme Court questioning the government’s decision to allow the Oil Companies’ Advisory Committee (OCAC), a private body, to increase the petrol prices when this is the job of the Petroleum Ministry. The News on December 14 carried an interesting and informative article by a former PTV Director, Mr Burhanuddin Hasan, exposing why the petrol prices remain jacked up at the October level, ignoring the fall in the global markets. The oil prices have had a cascading effect on the prices of most other items of daily use, causing widespread resentment among the public. Burhanuddin informs: “Consequently, the government disbanded the OCAC and gave the authority to control oil prices to the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, which has kept the prices at the same high level, in effect transferring the benefit of the fall in the prices to the oil cartels to keep the petroleum development levy at zero.” The writer adds: “According to a report, petroleum prices are likely to remain at the current level for at least the current month to generate around Rs 1.5 billion payable as subsidy to the oil marketing companies against their price differential claims. An amount of Rs 48 billion was payable by the government to the companies against their claims of May 2004-October 2006. Of this amount, Rs 28 billion was paid by October.” In Burhanuddin’s opinion, this “smacks of a big scam”.
Costly medicines Disturbing reports from the price front have at last woken up the Shaukat Aziz government to see how the sick and the aged have been passing through harrowing times because of the medicines getting costlier day by day. The government has decided to make a law to prevent the drug manufacturing and marketing companies from increasing the prices of their products on their own. The idea is to ensure that the price once fixed remains unchanged till at least one year. In an editorial, Jang newspaper, however, said this was not enough. “The sale of substandard medicines and the drugs whose date of use has expired also deserves to be given equal attention. It is a general practice in Pakistan to sell medicines without bothering about their date of expiry. Instead of getting their diseases cured, patients invariably continue to lose health despite being under treatment at reputed medical centres. Their suffering gets multiplied also because of their limited financial resources. It is, therefore, necessary that the government takes the complete picture in view”, the paper pointed out. |
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