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General unrest Feud at AIIMS |
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Search for officers
Rising corruption, black money
Laughter challenge
Doctrine of freedom guides Pak SC Battlelines are drawn in Sarkozy’s France Defence Notes
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General unrest PRESIDENT Gen Pervez Musharraf finds himself caught in a cobweb of his own making. The deepening judicial crisis could have been avoided had he not listened to his misinformed advisers and hangers-on. It is difficult to believe that he took the controversial step of suspending Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry without seeking the opinion of his “trusted” lieutenants or those in charge of his intelligence agencies. Or, perhaps, they gave the kind of advise he wanted, given the fact that he was finding Justice Chaudhry intolerably obstructionist in his efforts to protect his political interests. Whatever the reason, now it is not easy for him to stem the tide against his political survival. The threat to impose an emergency by Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz makes one believe that the General is getting ready to use the ultimate weapon to perpetuate his rule. The decision of the Supreme Court to stay the proceedings of the Supreme Judicial Council, which was to begin hearing on Monday the reference of the case against the Chief Justice, has not boosted the morale of the lawyers and others spearheading the agitation against the government in Islamabad. This was because the court accepted the government’s plea and ordered the constitution of a Full Bench to decide the matter. This is, however, going to further complicate the matters as Justice Chaudhry has objected to the inclusion of two judges in the Bench. Moreover, the massive display of support for him in Lahore and elsewhere shows that the suspended Chief Justice has become the rallying point for the forces bent upon upsetting the General’s political applecart. At a time when General Musharraf finds himself in the dock, his efforts to strike a deal with former Prime Minister and PPP leader Benazir Bhutto are unlikely to succeed. The shrewd politician in Ms Bhutto may find it politically too risky to agree to support the General in his plan for getting re-elected as President by the present National and Provincial Assemblies with his army uniform in tact even if most of her demands are accepted. The General, who has been the target No. 1 of the fundamentalist forces in the post-9/11 scenario, has lost much of the ground he held. It seems his stars are no longer favouring him. |
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Feud at AIIMS THE continued bickering between Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss and All-India Institute of Medical Sciences Director P. Venugopal has affected the normal functioning of the country’s premier medical institute. Unfortunately, both of them do not seem to understand their individual responsibilities and duties towards the institute. The Supreme Court’s advice on Monday to both to mend their ways and collectively strive for improving R&D in AIIMS is timely and appreciable. However, given the year-long differences between the two, it is doubtful whether both would take the advice in the right spirit and behave accordingly. It would be in the fitness of things if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself took the initiative and worked out a compromise between the two. Since Dr Ramadoss is a senior Cabinet Minister, the Prime Minister would be in a better position to tell him to see reason and give up his path of confrontation with Dr Venugopal. Ever since Dr Venugopal’s peremptory dismissal as AIIMS Director by Dr Ramadoss, which was subsequently stayed by the Delhi High Court, the relations between the two have been worsening. Apparently, the minister wants to teach a lesson to Dr Venugopal for his soft corner towards students protesting against the Centre’s 27 per cent OBC quota plan. The latest is the Thorat committee report on caste-based bias among students on the AIIMS campus. There are reasons to believe that despite its good reputation as an institute of excellence, the quality and standard of medical services in AIIMS have been falling day by day. This causes serious concern. There is also an exodus of doctors and specialists from AIIMS to other super-speciality hospitals. Excessive governmental interference in its functioning has considerably eroded its autonomy. It is said that the faculty members are unhappy with the government’s lackadaisical attitude towards their promotional opportunities. The faculty improvement and career advance schemes are not being implemented properly. Dr Ramadoss and Dr Venugopal would do well to concentrate on these issues and strive for the overall academic excellence of AIIMS, instead of wasting precious time and energy in needless quarrels. |
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Search for officers THE shortage of officers in the Indian armed forces has been allowed to persist for far too long. It has been more than a decade since the shortage first attained significant proportions, and ever since, in spite of many efforts, the problem has not been alleviated. If anything, it has worsened, particularly for the Indian Air Force. Parliamentarians regularly ask questions and the defence minister’s response has been to place the latest figures in the House, offering the same tired reasons and “steps undertaken.” The latest figures, presented by Defence Minister A.K. Antony, show that the total officer shortage is 14,165. The Army has a shortage of 11,238 (sanctioned strength 46,615), Navy 1339 (8821) and Air Force 1528 (12,118). Changes over the years have their own story to tell, and particularly disturbing is the fact that the Indian Air Force, which had a shortage of 429 officers in 2005 and 515 in 2003, is now struggling with a shortfall three times as worse, at 1528. Given the technology intensive nature of maintaining and flying aircraft and allied equipment, and the fact that future wars will be fought with even more sophisticated platforms, this shortfall is very serious. Finding quality personnel is a problem all across, but is particularly difficult for the Air Force and the Navy, which demand a higher level of abilities. A rapidly growing private airline industry, which accounts for much of the shortage, will make even more inroads. Even the Army’s shortage, which has nominally dropped from 12554 in 2003 and 12099 in 2005, continues at levels where it cannot but be affecting defence preparedness and the various counter-insurgency operations that the force is engaged in. It also creates a vicious cycle, as existing resources are stretched thin, and personnel begin to feel the pressure - this, in turn, acts as a further disincentive for those wanting to join the service. The latest measures taken to ensure faster promotions can only be part of the solution. Clearly, the government and the forces have failed to meet the recruitment challenge. It is time to tackle the issue on a fire-fighting basis. |
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It’s not what I do, but the way I do it. It’s not what I say, but the way I say it. |
Rising corruption, black money
THE World Bank has estimated cross-border flow of proceeds from criminal activities, corruption and tax evasion between $1 trillion and $1.6 trillion per year, half of which is from developing and transition economies. The corruption money along with the bribes received by public officials in these economies is estimated between $20 billion and $40 billion per year. Alarmed by the huge volume of annual generation of black money and its cross-border outflow, the bank has developed a strategy for the recovery of these assets parked in foreign banks through “Stolen Asset Recovery (STAR) initiative”. The initiative is a well-intentioned and highly needed one. Although the World Bank is taking up this initiative in a collaborative mode with other agencies concerned and believes that the recovery of even a portion of these assets can go a long way in boosting the development of these economies, its success will depend upon the willingness of the international banks to open up and the national governments’ sincerity and will power to seek such information. Whatever it is, the bank has highlighted the menacing problem of the parallel economy, specially in the developing countries. Unless this unaccounted money stacked illegally and in circulation is brought out, no economy can proceed on its optimal growth and development path. It is extremely difficult to estimate this money accurately. This is why the bank has estimated it within a very broad range. Yet, even the lowest estimate is an exasperating figure. The extent of this cancerous menace in India, stalling the inclusive growth and development of the economy, can be easily put at double the level of the white economy. The evidence is simple. Today not only in metropolitan and major towns of the country, but also almost throughout the country no property like a residential building and a commercial site is registered through legal deeds at more than 30 per cent of its real value. It is an open secret and in the full knowledge of political rulers and the administrative set-up of the country. Buying a house in major cities and towns has gone out of the reach of the honest middle class people. Yet, property prices of all kinds have sky-rocketed and are still showing an uptrend. Builders are mushrooming everywhere. Foreign firms are finding India a green pasture in this respect. No one can today sell or purchase any property in India in white money alone! Then, who is buying these properties? It is the corruption money which is running a parallel economy and fuelling an exclusive growth. India can very well plan for achieving even double-digit growth, yet the inclusive growth, as is being adumbrated to be the central theme of the Eleventh Five Year Plan, cannot be achieved in the presence of monstrous amounts of black money in the hands of not more than one-fifth of the population of the country. It will remain a pipedream of the planners and policy-makers. With the fast increasing population of the country, particularly of the poorer segments of society, and their incapacity to provide purposeful education to their wards that would enable them to have gainful employment opportunities, the divide between the unduly rich and the poor is increasing at an exponential rate. Fast coming-up palatial mansions, mind-boggling conspicuous expenditure on marriages and other social ceremonies, and luxurious possessions in the face of at least one-third of the population not having one full meal a day is an indelible evidence of acutely skewed distribution of incomes in society. It is this skewed distribution of incomes and more than two-thirds share of the black money in the hands of 20 per cent rich population that is responsible for the high rate of inflation, upsetting the budgets of the poor and middle class segments. Thus, the so-called inclusive growth and development is bypassing the large majority of the population and they are getting squeezed under the weight of inadequate incomes and fast-rising prices. The government action for taming inflation under these circumstance can succeed to a limited extent only. The Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy aimed at reducing liquidity in the economy affects only about one-third of the money in circulation — white money. Two-thirds money in circulation — the black money — is not affected by these monetary policies. These measures, such as increasing the cash reserve ratio, the statutory liquidity ratio or the bank rate hurt the honest earners, white transactions and genuine borrowers. Black money liquidity, which has a higher income multiplier, is not affected by these measures. As a result, genuine borrowers and investors suffer without much relief from inflationary pressures. Liberalisation of imports can help tame inflation only when the prices of the commodities imported from the international market are lower than the domestic prices. For instance, the government policy of allowing duty-free imports of wheat on government account and by private agencies in the post-harvest period of a bumper crop will have a counter-affect because the world market prices are much higher than domestic prices. This would encourage withholding of the produce by bigger growers and stocking of the commodity by traders and grain handlers. Further, the policy of banning exports and “futures trading” in wheat would hinder the process of genuine price discovery in the international market and the reference price in the domestic market. Such a segmented domestic market goes against the interest of the growers, and scuttles the process of risk management and rational production and marketing decisions by producer-sellers. Yet, it would not tame inflation; rather it can further fuel inflation in the economy through high-priced imports and misplaced sentiments of scarcity created by such imports. This would adversely affect the efforts at promoting inclusive socio-economic development of the country. Thus, the government policies aimed at moderating the rate of inflation, promoting domestic and foreign investment, improving the rate of growth and ensuring inclusive development are bound to hit the rock because of increasing population, extremely skewed distribution of incomes, gainful employment opportunities bypassing the large majority of the population, rampant corruption, constantly rising level of black money and an expanding parallel economy day by day. Unfortunately, our political governance, the mindset of policy-makers and the administrative system have adopted an indifferent attitude towards effectively responding to these basic constraints and negativities that are vitiating the development environment and telling heavily upon the availability of financial resources. The question is: if the World Bank and other international development agencies have expressed their serious concern at the volume and growth of crime with bribe and corruption money getting stashed outside the developing and transition economies, and are in action mode in the form of “Stolen Assets Recovery initiative”, will India also wake up and tackle this problem stalling the economy from moving on to higher inclusive growth and development path?n
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Laughter challenge
Perfectionist. That is how I would describe my wife in one word. She wants everything first-rate. Alas, choosing the man in her life she was a little careless. But she realised her folly early. And ever since has lost no opportunity to refashion me into an improved version — mind, body and soul. Some time back, reading about a survey on what women look in men, she found that sense of humour topped the list. Suddenly, she awakened to yet another imperfection in me. “How often do you laugh in a day?” she asked “Well, I never count.” I said. “You know, children laugh about 350 times in a day. You must laugh at least 100 times!” Now that was too much. On her prodding, I already had to solve one sudoku and one crossword daily to keep my grey cells from greying. I said, “But what do I laugh at?” “Well, to begin with just look at your face in the mirror!” she said laughingly. A poor joke that was. But the message was home. I decided to pep up my humour. Since then, my life became a never-ending quest for humour. Surprisingly, I discovered it easily. Here, there and everywhere. Hey, one has to give just a little twist to the situation to laugh, I realised. One day, after a meeting with one of subordinate officers, in which I found it difficult to keep my cool, I said, “I must say that if I were you, I would refuse to work with a boss like me.” The laughter it drew was truly genuine. And we all parted on a pleasant note. Another day, I told my PA: “Please keep the phone free. I am expecting a call from myself”, and laughed at his puzzlement. Next, I targeted my driver. Once, when he opened the car-door for me to get down, I quickly got out from the other side suppressing my laugh and leaving him red-faced. Thus fortifying myself with humour pills, I decided to show my funny side to my wife. One evening, as she brought tea and was adding sugar, I said, “Make it three spoonfuls!” She was a bit surprised but did as I had told her. But as soon as she added the sugar I picked up the other cup — the one with sugar-free pills meant for her, and began to sip merrily. For a pregnant moment she was nonplussed. Then seeing how hard I was trying to suppress a laugh, she started laughing. And well, I passed the
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Doctrine of freedom guides Pak SC THE judiciary in Pakistan appears to be coming of age and even the whole country is coming out of the shadow of dictatorship. The judgment of the Pakistan Supreme Court suspending hearings by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Ahmed Chaudhary will go a long way in establishing its independence. It has, no doubt, been possible due to people’s support. A day before the landmark verdict, the way suspended Justice Chaudhary got a tumultuous welcome by thousands of people on May 6, who had waited overnight at different places along the 300-km route from Islamabad through which he passed, signifies the change in people’s attitude to take on an autocratic government. Chaudhary bluntly told the crowd that the era of dictatorship was over. It is significant that 16 judges of the Lahore High Court also participated in the rally to express solidarity with the suspended Chief Justice. It is hoped that the Supreme Court of Pakistan has learnt from the blunders it committed earlier and will not prostrate before the army rulers. In Pakistan, the struggle for the independence of the judiciary is as old as the struggle for democracy itself. And this is quite natural because the judiciary can be independent only in a democracy. Pakistan has a history of judges being sacked or forced to resign. But the sacking of Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhary was different and unprecedented in the sense that for the first time a reference was made to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) by the President against the Chief Justice and his suspension (which the Constitution does not provide) or making him non-functional evoked large-scale protests from the bar as well as the public. Justice Chaudhary was initially put under house arrest and also roughed up, and the media was not allowed to report matters. When Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was sacked the bar as well as the bench was utterly divided and the bar remained a mute spectator under the leadership of Abid Hussain Minto. The judiciary in Pakistan has always been in the control of rulers, and the struggle for its independence has been on the national agenda since Maulvi Tameezuddin case against the dismissal of the Constituent Assembly by Governor-General Ghulam Mohammed. Its Supreme Court is the only court in the world to have given cover to military rulers under its novel doctrine of necessity. There are many examples of how the judiciary in Pakistan has been an instrument at the hands of the powers-that-be. It is heartening that the people and the bar have got up and are protesting. In 1997, Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was sacked but there was hardly any protest. However, Justice Shah was also responsible for his undoing as he was made Chief Justice because of political reasons. In 1994, when D. Nasim Hasan Shah retired as the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Saad Saud Jan, being the senior most judge, should have succeeded him. But the Benazir government superseded two senior judges and appointed Justice Shah as he was the lone dissenter in the 11-member bench whose order reinstated the Nawaz Sharif government in Punjab in May 1993 after it was dismissed by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan. Justice Shah tried to make the judiciary totally independent by seeking to usurp the power of the appointment of the judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court from the executive citing the controversial decision of the Indian Supreme Court in Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association v. Union (1993) which laid down that the recommendation of the Chief Justice of India in the appointment of judges would be binding on the government. In 1997, Nawaz Sharif came to power at the centre and introduced several amendments to the Constitution. Justice Shah vacated one of these amendments. Sharif was able to divide judges and one group of judges questioned Justice Shah’s appointment as Chief Justice. Then they said that they would accept Justice Shah as Chief Justice if he gave up trying cases against Nawaz Sharif. Both groups of judges issued separate cause lists. Then the full court of the Supreme Court of 15 judges except the Chief Justice, headed by Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, took up a petition questioning Justice Shah’s appointment. The Quetta Bench of the Supreme Court held his appointment in abeyance and Justice Shah ordered that the circuit bench could not hear such petitions. Later, the Peshawar Bench of the Supreme Court endorsed the decision of the Quetta Bench. Finally, there was an attack on the Supreme Court in Islamabad by members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League on 28 September 1997, and the direction by the Chief Justice to the army to provide protection to judges was not complied. Finally, the government dismissed him and appointed Justice Ajmal Mian, who had been superseded by Justice Shah, as Chief Justice. In protest, President Farooq Leghari resigned as he did not want to be a party to the unconstitutional act. But the people did not protest. Thus, there is no precedent of protest against removal or supersession of judges. Against this backdrop, remonstrations against Chief Justice Chaudhary’s removal signify a noticeable change in the aspirations of Pakistani people. |
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Battlelines are drawn in Sarkozy’s France PARIS — France’s president-elect, Nicolas Sarkozy, vanished on Monday. After being inescapable for months, and after winning a crushing victory in Sunday’s presidential election, M Sarkozy departed for a three-day retreat in an undisclosed destination. Some reports suggested that he had gone to a monastery. If so, the future President had much to ponder – and to pray for. M. Sarkozy, 52, has promised a 100-day blitz of negotiation and legislation to push through the main points of his programme to cut taxes, curb union rights and encourage France to work harder. He is expected to announce his choice for prime minister soon after he formally replaces President Jacques Chirac in the Elysee Palace next Wednesday. The most likely candidate is the former social affairs minister, Francois Fillon, 53. Scattered, violent protests against M. Sarkozy’s election victory continued on Monday but seemed unlikely to develop into outright confrontation with the authorities. Hundreds of cars were burned in poor multi-racial suburbs on Sunday night. Anti-Sarkozy protesters clashed with police in cities across France. Groups of students attempted, without success, to close down a half-dozen lycees in Paris. M. Sarkozy fought a campaign which was highly-charged with right-wing rhetoric. The protesters accuse him of being an “ultra-capitalist” and a man who will unleash police repression in multi-racial suburbs. The President-elect says that “for me there is only one France.” He said that his victory over the Socialist candidate, Segolene Royal – by 53.06 per cent to 46.94 per cent – was the not the “victory of one France over another.” That is not the way M. Sarkozy’s triumph is seen in the poor suburbs surrounding Paris. The national break-down of the vote may have been complex but the polarisation of pro and anti-Sarkozy feeling was crystal clear in the patchwork of wealthy and poor areas around the capital. The super-rich enclave of Neuilly-sur-Seine – where M. Sarkozy was once mayor – voted 86.8 per cent for the new President. The disadvantaged town of Trappes, ten miles away, home to 70 different nationalities, voted 70 per cent for Mme Royal. “Young people here are in a panic,” said Mohamed, a 22 years old student. “They are convinced there will be expulsions, cuts in welfare and tougher line by the police.” M. Sarkozy’s first challenge will be another election – the two round parliamentary poll on 10 and 17 June. On past form, France is likely to give its new President a clear majority. He is then expected to bring the first elements of his economic and social programme before the new national assembly in July. Trades union federations have threatened strikes and demonstrations in September but M. Sarkozy’s team has indicated that it will be prepared to compromise in negotiations before then – up to a point. M. Sarkozy’s first measures are expected to include cuts in income tax, a weakening of the 35 hour week to allow more overtime and reductions in social charges on business. The real confrontation may come over his plans to force trades union ballots for strikes over eight days long and to oblige unions to provide a minimum service during transport stoppages. He also wants to scrap the cherished special rights of railway, Metro and elctricty workers which allow them to retire early on full pensions. M. Sarkozy is under some pressure to choose a left-leaning prime minister, such as the social affairs minister, Jean-Louis Borloo, to pilot this programme through parliament. The president-elect is said to have promised the job to the smoothe-talking and handsome Francois Fillon, a relatively inexperienced politician from Le Mans who pushed through reforms of the French pension system in 2002-4. He has promised to be a hands-on President who will personally appear before the National Assembly – something no previous modern President has done. He has promised to create an official “Leader of the Opposition”, based on the British example. The chairmanship of the finance committee in the new parliament will be offered to an opposition deputy. Who the Leader of the Presidential Opposition might be is unclear. The defeated Mme Royal has hinted that she would like the job but other Socialist politicians – including her partner, the leader of the Parti Socialiste, Francous Hollande – may have other ideas. A blood-curdling post-election-defeat showdown in the Socialist party’s national committee is expected next Wednesday. By arrangement with
The Independent |
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Defence Notes THE Indian Army has received the full complement of 12 Weapons Locating Radars (WLRs), which it had contracted to buy from leading US arms manufacturer Raytheon. While the army had taken the delivery of ten of the 12 ‘Firefinders’ last year, the remaining two were supplied recently. Designated AN-TPQ/37 Firefinder, the radars are used to locate and destroy hostile artillery fire. The army had actually projected their requirement in the early 1980s but their urgent necessity was felt when in the 1999 Kargil war, more than 80 percent of casualties were to Pakistani artillery fire coming from the hill tops. Pakistan then also had the advantage of WLRs, although it had fielded an earlier version. The deal for WLRs, signed in 2002, was the first one India signed with the US in the post-Cold War era. Initially, India looked for only eight WLRs under the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme, but later, another four were added, taking the value to nearly $ 200 million. Although the Indian Army needs a number of WLRs, there is no transfer of technology involved in the deal with Raytheon. The remaining requirement is being met by a newly developed phased array sytem indigenously built by the public sector Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).
BEL and Sweden Incidentally, BEL is in demand for forging alliances with various countries. Recently, Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Carl Bildt was on a two-day visit to India and said that top Swedish firms were upbeat about forging new business ties with BEL in the defence and civilian segments. He said there were many areas where BEL – with its wide range of products from radars to electronic voting machines – and Swedish companies could explore fresh business avenues.
Organ pledging The Indian army has launched a unique programme to get people to pledge their organs. While the initiative was taken some days ago, the army has already managed to hold another camp and brought in its jawans and officers to pledge organs. However, it was not without the addition of the glamour angle that the army could carry out this exercise. At the launching of the initiative, it invited Nikita Anand and Gul Panag, both former Miss India winners, to be part of the programme. Shyama Chona, Principal DPS, RK Puram and Ajit Bajaj, the first Indian to conquer North and South poles also pledged their organs. Another unique initiative was also taken by the Army doctors in the form of launching the Armed Forces Organ Retrieval and Transplantation Authority (AORTA). AORTA aims to increase awareness of organ donations, organ retrieval and transplantation. The efforts of this Authority will be coordinated by Col (Dr) AK Seth. |
True swadeshi is that alone in which all cotton has to pass are carried out in the same village or town. — Mahatma Gandhi Lovers of God do not belong to any caste. The mind, body, and soul of a man are purified through divine love. — Shri Ramakrishna The True One has existed in all ages and will forever be. As regards man, is there yet one who has not ended in death? — Guru Nanak The sun, the day, the moon, the night, and the innumerable stars shall all pass away. Only God is eternal and shall stay for ever. Nanak tells this truth. — Guru Nanak Literary education should follow the education of the hand-the one gift that visibly distinguishes man from beast. — Mahatma Gandhi |
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