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Super One Maya trap |
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Yoga dollarised
Six-day war, 40 years on
Shimla Green, Shimla Clean
The wheat crisis Ladakhi students come together to tackle problems Delhi Durbar
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Super One THERE is more than one India that is shining. Away from the spotlight on the metros and other big cities, are numerous small towns that are proving that given the opportunity and the access, they can produce people to beat the best of the best. Little Kotkapura in Faridkot district in Punjab is not quite back of the beyond, as it has been on the country’s cotton map. The little town has now produced the topper of the IIT-Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). Achin Bansal has every reason to be proud of his achievement. While he did have the advantages of belonging to a well-to-do family, the result busts the myth that only those in the best schools in the big cities have a chance of doing really well in premier examinations. The future of India is as much in its small towns as its big cities. Policy planners have to ensure that access to quality education is not an issue and no one is forced to come to the cities to build a base for sound education. While the premier institutions are few and far between, a situation that in itself calls for change, there is no doubt that the first task lies in strengthening basic education in smaller towns. In these places, some kind of education infrastructure, and the support systems that are needed to make it viable, already exist to some extent. Such initiatives will not only increase the pool of talent available to the nation but will also broaden access to the fruits of the nation’s progress to more and more groups of people. The “Super-30” initiative launched by math wizard Anand Kumar is also a case in point. This year, 28 out of his chosen 30 students, all from disadvantaged backgrounds, have cracked the IIT-JEE. Kumar’s Ramanujan School of Mathematics in Patna provides not just intensive coaching, but also free food and accommodation. Many of the students are from reserved categories, and it is a matter of pride for them that they got through on the general merit list. The talent is clearly out there, waiting for opportunities. Providing access is the key. |
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Maya trap THE dramatic manner in which Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati got her party MP Uma Kant Yadav arrested right at her house when he came to see her in Lucknow on Wednesday deserves to be appreciated. Yadav, who represents Machhlishahr in Jaunpur district, is a history-sheeter and is notorious for his abrasive behaviour. On Monday, he got several shops and a house razed to the ground by his bulldozers to grab a piece of land in neighbouring Azamgarh. His men fired at local people and injured three. After committing a patently criminal act, Yadav was throwing his weight around and evading arrest. An accused in many criminal cases, he, like other MPs and MLAs, perhaps, thought that the police couldn’t touch him because of his political clout. Equally appreciable in this episode is Ms Mayawati’s stern message that her government would not spare any person involved in criminal acts, irrespective of his status. She firmly said that official laxity would not be tolerated in her bid to make Uttar Pradesh a “crime-free state” where no one lived in a state of fear. Consequently, it would be befitting if the Chief Minister cracked the whip on all other tainted MPs, MLAs and ministers too. Let the Chief Minister take the lead in purging the state of criminals masquerading as politicians in all the parties, including the BSP. A beginning can be made by removing her own ministers who have a criminal background. Of late, criminalisation of politics has affected severely the democratic polity and the quality of governance. Those with criminal antecedents should have no place in the system. With so many criminals in Parliament and state legislatures, one can see the damage they are causing to the representative institutions. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee rightly said in New Delhi on Wednesday that political parties should not admit criminals. The increasing menace of criminalisation of politics can be checked at the entry level itself. No political party should give tickets to criminals to contest any election — from panchayats to Parliament. What Ms Mayawati did to her party MP is a good beginning. She needs to sustain this tempo. |
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Yoga dollarised ASKED what he thought about western civilisation, Mahatma Gandhi is reported to have said, “It is a good idea”. It looks like the West is now taking Gandhi’s suggestion seriously enough to actually acquire the “values” of civilisation. In the true spirit of acquiring all that is good and noble and enduring from a great civilisation, the US Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO) is reported to have issued 150 yoga-related copyrights and 134 patents on yoga accessories, besides 2,315 yoga trademarks. Doubtless, the patented value of these would add up to millions, if not billions, of dollars since no one can practice any kriya, asana or breathing exercise without violating the property rights of the patent-holder. It is a wonder that US President George Bush, who has been cosying up to India with nuclear goodies, has not given the least thought to such acquisitions as have raised Indian hackles. Is it possible that President Bush harbours a secret ambition to become the world’s most powerful yogi, now that the commissars have all been banished? If that is the reason, then he does not need to acquire a monopoly on yoga. Any Indian yoga teacher would be delighted to instruct him in all the exercises he wants to master, even if these are not patented by the US. The civilian nuclear deal is already complicated enough. A simple 123 Agreement has led to disagreements resulting in a four plus one conundrum which does not add up to a high five. The India-US relationship would be trapped in confusion worse confounded if the Americans persist with their patenting of yoga postures. Getting into a posture requires the nimble-bodied skills of a contortionist and getting out is not any easier. Yoga kriyas and asanas are neither products nor processes as understood in patent law. They are practices derived from a way of life and can be learnt, but not pocketed like dollars. Yoga exercises, like the many ways of breathing, sitting, standing, squatting and stretching, cannot be patented like brands of pretzels. Anyone who’s choked on a pretzel ought to have learnt that. |
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I will spend my heaven doing good on
earth.— St Teresa of Lisieux |
Six-day war, 40 years on MORE than two-thirds of this country’s present population was born after 1975. So there aren’t many Indians around who remember the landmark Six-Day War in West Asia 40 summers ago in the month of June. But those who do cannot but recall Israel’s stunning and super-spectacular victory over the combined might of three major Arab countries that had been boasting that they would throw the Israelis “into the sea”. The performance of the Israeli armed forces was truly awesome. They extended the fledgling Jewish state’s frontiers staggeringly, conquering Egypt’s Sinai peninsula and the Gaza strip, Syria’s Golan Heights, the entire West Bank of Jordan, and above all — in its psychological and religious significance — the old city of Jerusalem. Yet the irony of ironies is that today no victory in the history of warfare is seen to be so Phyrric as Israel’s legendary one. The reason for this is simple and stark. However joyous and reassuring it might have seemed to the Israelis then, the Six-Day War has turned out to be — in the long run, and especially since the first Palestinian intifada, under Yasser Arafat’s leadership, 21 years ago — a huge calamity, as much for the Jewish state as for its Arab neighbours, particularly the long-suffering Palestinians who are determined to fight back. Far from giving Israel a sense of peace and security, despite the most appalling and counter-productive repression in the occupied areas, the Six-Day war has meant four decades of unending, indeed escalating, misery for the entire region. On this point, there is striking unanimity in most of the serious writing on the subject. The Economist’s cover story, titled “Israel’s Wasted Victory”, says it all — elaborately and in all the intricate details of the tragic tale. Even more remarkable is a dispatch in The Guardian, arguing brilliantly that the Six-Day War “never ended and is indeed raging even today”. Yet another writer has pointed out that time was when Israel “faced the hostility and challenge of 200 million Arabs; today it earns the ire of 1.2 billion Muslims, many of whom are radical and extremists” because the war it launched has “changed the history of the Middle East profoundly”. Perhaps the worst slap in Israel’s face is the shattering of its confident belief in the masterly efficacy of the “strategic depth” it had acquired in 1967. What actually happened was that this depth was made irrelevant by Saddam Hussein’s Scud missiles during the first Gulf War 16 years ago, by the rockets of Gaza and Hizbollah later, and now by the ominous shadow of the widely anticipated Iranian nuclear bomb. A lot more can be said about the catastrophic consequences of Israeli follies, born of arrogance, and of the errors of the Arabs who have never really shown any genuine concern for the poor Palestinians, but need not be. Yet two points of great importance must be made: First, it is scandalous beyond measure that the international community has allowed the barbarous Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands to last 40 long years. The UN Security Council’s resolution 242 put the finger on the heart of the matter when it ruled that Israel should give back occupied lands to the state of Palestine in return for secure frontiers with Israel. Alas, no one has had the good sense to make this only practicable and fair suggestion work. Today the situation is much worse, if only because both the Israeli government and the Palestine Authority are the weakest and most divided than at any time before. Secondly, with the invaluable benefit of hindsight, historians of various countries have established that the war that has wrought such havoc need not have taken place at all. Neither Gamal Abdul Nasser in Egypt, though addicted to rhetorical excesses, nor Levi Eashkol in Israel, who had just succeeded the towering Ben Gurion, wanted war. But both had their compulsions. Nasser was the first to err. The Israeli military leaders forced Eshkol to launch a “pre-emptive strike”. Here I wish to shift from West Asia to South Asia for the good reason that many in this country have been contrasting Israel’s “valiant” policy in defence of its territory and frontiers with this country’s “bumbling” in the face of repeated Pakistani “violation and occupation” of Indian territory ever since its first aggression on Kashmir in 1947. Of the too many myths that have grown around this subject, the most jejune is that it was foolish of Jawaharlal Nehru to agree to a cease-fire in Kashmir with effect from January 1, 1949. He should have given the Army more time to expel the Pakistanis from the entire territory of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Leaving aside the several absurdities of this cherished belief, let me ask with all due respect, whether the history of Israel’s enviable military victory, summarised above, suggests that the clearance of entire Kashmir of Pakistani invaders and even occupation of some Pakistani territory would have solved the problem or made it worse. It is also forgotten that at the end of December 1948, at the height of Kashmir’s winter, to order the Army to throw out every Pakistani was easier said than done. Despite laudable bravery of the officers and men, resources were limited. Retired military officers doubtless have made glib claims. But the reality is quite different. It took weeks to resolve the Poonch situation though the expectation was it would be sorted out in days. Moreover, as veteran diplomat C. Dasgupta has pointed out in his book, War and Diplomacy in Kashmir (1947-48), at that time the British officers still occupied the top positions in the armies of both India and Pakistan, and they were in constant collusion. They were determined not to allow a situation to develop that could lead to a general India-Pakistan war, and they controlled all the logistics. Yet, as he underscores, the commanders in the field did send a column to try out whether a breakthrough could be made across Muzaffarabad. It was ambushed at a place called Jhangar. All this pales, however, before the overriding fact that Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, confident of the loyalty of Kashmiri people to him, plainly told Nehru that he was not interested in the Poonchi, Mirpuri and other Punjabi-speaking areas that now form part of the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). There is plenty of incontrovertible evidence to support this in the public
domain.
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Shimla Green, Shimla Clean
Sitting
in the sublime, I had travelled to the land of nothingness where peace and tranquillity prevailed. Before I could cherish the moment, I felt it might rain. Soon the sky was overcast, dark clouds roared and downpour followed. There was no alternative to sitting in the balcony and counting the people moving out with rain-coats and umbrellas. As luck would have it, within the next two hours the sun started to play hide and seek. The trees, plants, roof-tops, roads and sideways looked washed and cleaned. The splendour of nature was enchanting. My friend and host told me that the government was making all-out efforts for the beautification of Shimla. It has almost become mandatory to paint the roof-tops of the houses either green or red. This will ensure better synchronization with the natural environment and perhaps increase the life of the tin-roofs. The weather was pleasant, there was freshness in the air, traffic on the road moved slowly and people were back to work. We also decided to go out for a drive and shopping. Driving in Shimla is no more a luxury. Gone are the days when traffic was limited and it was a pleasure to drive in the quiet cool air of the hills. Our first hurdle was to park the car. There was a row of cars parked all along the road leading to the medical college and Lakkar Bazar. The prosperity of Himachal was visible with cars of all hues & makes, motor cycles, scooters and buses, well-dressed children returning from schools, shops full of material whether it were clothes, electronic goods or eatables. One felt happy to see crowds of tourists enjoying their holidays at The Ridge. Children were having their pony ride and parents busy munching peanuts and roasted grams, the hotels busy serving tea, coffee and snacks. Even small eating places were having brisk business. We were moving towards Lakkar Bazar when I saw a rain shelter. This seemed to be a new addition; it was not there last year, I remarked. “This is a part of some of the facilities being created”, my friend mentioned. The signboard read: “Shimla Green, Shimla Clean”. Perhaps the authorities expected that people would help in this campaign of having the city “green and clean”. But on the contrary, one could see under this signboard, wrappers of potato chips, empty cups of ice-cream and peanuts, waste paper, etc, all over the place. How I wished that we all cooperate with the authorities to keep the place clean. The Municipal Committee must not forget to place dustbins in the rain shelters to realise the dream of “Shimla Green, Shimla Clean”. |
The wheat crisis Punjab
farmers have contributed liberally to the central pool of food grains. In the past few years, the contribution of the state to the total wheat procurement of the country varied from 50 to 75 per cent. In 2006-07 Punjab contributed to 75 per cent of the total procurement of the country. Production and productivity of the wheat crop in the State however, had started declining since 01-02. Productivity decreased from about 4700 kg/hectare in 99-00 to 4179 kg/hectare in 05-06. Production fell from about 160 lakh tonnes to around 145 lakh tonnes in the same period. Consequently, the market arrivals, which were 105.8 lakh tonnes during 01-02, declined to just 82.2 lakh tonnes last year. The main reasons for falling productivity, production and market arrivals can be attributed to the freeze in prices for wheat crop during 2002-06. The net profit from wheat cultivation declined sharply in view of low prices offered for the crop and higher cost of production due to price rise in inputs such as labour, pesticides and diesel. The profit margin, which had increased by 67 per cent during 95-96 to 01-02, declined by 34 per cent during 01-02 to 05-06. The country exported 34.8 million tonnes of food grains during 2001-06. This included about 13.8 million tonnes of wheat. The export price for the same ranged from about Rs 5 to 7 per kg. It was exported even during 2005-06, when there were clear signals of falling wheat production and increasing demand in the country. Had the country developed scientific storage facilities like silo storage, the wheat grains could have been stored for about 4-5 years without any loss in quantity and quality. The food managers of the country should think of creating such facilities for keeping at least 5 million tonnes of wheat as reserve stocks, over and above the normal requirements of the PDS. To meet the shortfall of wheat procurement in the marketing year 2006-07, the Government imported 5.5 million tonnes of wheat after a gap of 6 years, at an average weighted price of Rs 946 per quintal. Some wheat was allowed on private trade accounts also. All this could not contain wheat prices during the lean period and the price hovered at around Rs 1100-1200 per quintal. This contributed towards a higher inflation rate which touched 6.5 per cent against the desired level of 4.5 to 5 per cent. The Prime Minister has now announced a mission for increasing the wheat and rice production by 20 million tonnes during the next four years. During the current wheat marketing season i.e. 2007-08, the Government of India has enhanced the MSP of wheat by Rs 150 per quintal, including bonus, and the effective price has become Rs 850. This is a fairly good price for the producers compared to the freeze during the 2002-06 period. As on 1st April, 2007, Governments had stocks of wheat above 4 million tonnes, which is as per norms on that day. Wheat production prospects were estimated to be higher at around 74 million tonnes against the revised production estimates of 69.4 million tonnes for last year. The Government has fixed a target of 15 million tonnes of wheat procurement for the current year. However, the target is unlikely to be achieved as the procurement in UP, Bihar, MP and Rajasthan is dismally low. Public agencies in Punjab will not be able to meet their target of 90 lakh tonnes upto 31st May and Haryana may touch 32 lakh tonnes. Since demand for wheat, mainly for the PDS, has been increasing, Government will again have to import some quantity of wheat. Tenders have been invited for one million tonnes. Seven companies have participated and quoted between $265 to $302 per tonne for delivery at Indian ports by 15th August. The price is around US $ 70 higher than the last bid. However, due to stronger rupee against the US dollar in the recent past, the landed price may range between Rs 10.6 to Rs 12.10 per kg. The procurement target seems elusive. The FCI may end up with only 10-11 million tonnes, with a shortfall of 4-5 million tonnes. The procurement year has been extended upto 30th June and those farmers who want to sell wheat to the procurement agencies would continue to get a bonus of Rs 100 per quintal. During the current year in Punjab, i.e. 2007-08, the production is estimated at 142 lakh tonnes and market arrivals at 80 lakh tonnes. It is often stated that farmers are holding wheat stocks for better prices in the lean period as they could get better prices last year after September 2006. According to rough estimates, the big farmers (7 per cent of the total) operating more than 25 acres, cultivate on 23 per cent of the total land in the State. Based on the same cropping pattern, they produce about 40 lakh tonnes of wheat. Even after selling 50 per cent of produce to meet their immediate farm requirements, they have the capacity to store upto 20 lakh tonnes and sell in the lean period. This is not bad. In fact, there is some change in the marketing pattern of wheat during the last 2-3 years. Wheat marketing is becoming a whole year activity and sizeable quantity of wheat was sold last year also in the off-season. This year also wheat may continue to be sold in the off-season. These should not be called hoarding as the farmers are only adopting “orderly marketing” rather than unloading the produce in the mandis immediately after harvest. It is a separate story that a large quantity of such transactions bypass the normal marketing channel and the Punjab Mandi Board and other institutions don’t get market fee and other cesses on such sales. The crop will definitely reach the consumer, though not necessarily through government agencies, but via alternative channels like direct contacts and private traders. The writer is an economist with the Punjab State Farmers Commission |
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Ladakhi students come together to tackle problems JAMMU: It is rare indeed for hundreds of Ladakhi students from all over Ladakh – Leh, Kargil, Dras, Turtuk, Zanskar, Nubra, Changthang and other places – cutting across strong religious and ethnic lines, to come together on a single platform. But when they do, they unite to try and find solutions to the various problems and issues that this over 3,000 member strong student community in Jammu is facing. The Ladakhi students discussed such issues with the vice-chancellor of Jammu University, Professor Amitabh Mattoo. Many such interactions have taken place in Jammu in the past. What made this one special? Four students organisations of Ladakhi students in Jammu – the All Ladakhi Students’ Union, the Students Association of Ladakh, the All Zanskar Students Union and the All Kargil Students Union – joined hands to bring together students from far flung areas of Ladakh on a single platform under the All Ladakh Joint Students Federation (ALJSF). Because of serious differences between the Shia and Buddhist communities in Ladakh, this sort of thing has never happened before. The Noorbakshis, Dards, Aryans and other tribes in the region have their own differences with the majority sections of the community. But during this interaction with the vice-chancellor, all such differences were forgotten. Aimed primarily at highlighting the problems faced by the Ladakhi student community in Jammu, the interaction turned out to be an interesting, open and honest discussion with many Ladakhi students, both girls and boys. The venue, Brigadier Rajinder Singh Auditorium, was not only fully packed, the one-hour event went on for two-and-a-half hours. “Coming from a difficult and land-locked region which remains cut off from the rest of the country during most of the year, these Ladakhi students face many difficulties during their stay in Jammu,” said Mr Ghulam Mehdi, ALJSF secretary. He added that this interaction was aimed at addressing those problems, besides forging unity among various students and students’ organisations from the various parts of Ladakh. Some of the problems included lack of adequate hostel facilities in the summer capital and the fact that the JU library is not open to college-going Ladakhi students but only to those studying in the university. The student asked Professor Mattoo to allow hostel accommodation for Ladakhi students based on the distance they had to travel to Jammu and not on the basis of serial numbe,r and open the Jammu University library to students from colleges who do not possess library cards. “We also want the honourable vice-chancellor to open a distance education cell of Jammu University at Kargil/Leh so that students from rural and poor family backgrounds can avail higher studies,” said Mr Stanzin, a Ladakhi student. The students also said a full-fledged library should be opened in Leh/Kargil not only for reference purposes but also with full study facilities. Facilities like canteen, newspapers, computerised catalogues, heating system, Internet connectivity, conference hall etc should also be present, to enable students to appear for various competitive examinations. “The Ladakhi student community also faces great difficulty when it comes to transportation to Leh, particularly in the winter. Air fares are too high, besides the fact that it is difficult to get air tickets in the winter,” said Mr Mehdi. Responding to all the problems brought to his notice by the Ladakhi students, Professor Mattoo reassured them saying that accommodation for girl students, at least, would soon be taken care of as a new girls’ hostel is being inaugurated which can accommodate about 150 girl students. “Soon, we will also construct a new boys’ hostel which will solve half of your problems,” he added. Professor Mattoo told the Ladakhi students that though he would like to set up a distance education cell of Jammu University in Leh or Kargil, the region comes under the Kashmiri division administratively and so Kashmir University has jurisdiction over Ladakh. “But I will speak to my counterpart in Kashmir University, Professor Wahid, vice-chancellor, in this regard,” Professor Mattoo said, which was greeted by resounding applause from the students. – Charkha Features |
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Delhi Durbar The
turf war let loose within the BJP after the party’s dismal performance in the just-concluded Uttar Pradesh assembly elections is discernible in the BJP National Executive, reconstituted by party chief Rajnath Singh. One change being debated at length is party general secretary Arun Jaitley becoming the UP in-charge. Opinion is divided in the saffron brigade with one section viewing it as a further demotion for the media savvy Jaitley, who was stripped of the spokesperson’s position a few months ago. At the same time the other section feels that it is a recognition of the abilities of the "spin doctor", who played a creditable role in the party’s victories in Gujarat, MP, Punjab and the MCD. They also feel that with the party’s Hindutva agenda taking a severe beating, a return to the development agenda is the way to make political inroads.
Building bridges The Congress has its own ways of wooing UPA alliance partners. On the day Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief M. Karunanidhi met Congress president Sonia Gandhi to discuss the forthcoming presidential elections, the party launched a blistering attack against the BJP on the Sethusamudram project, which the DMK supports fully. The Congress spokesman, who had come prepared with dates about when the project went through various stages of sanction, insisted that the BJP was now raising objections when its own government had approved it. However, the Congress took a safe line on questions regarding the existence of a Ram Setu, saying that the government was carrying forward the project which it had inherited and if there were certain objections, these should be studied.
Against corruption In an image make-over excercise after the recent electoral reversals, the UPA government is planning to strengthen the anti-corruption infrastructure that will provide for close coordination among the Central Vigilance Commission, the CBI, State Governments, industry associations, NGOs and the private sector. The system to be evolved will have special focus on capacity building at all levels, for combating corruption effectively. A draft bill on the mechanism is being deliberated upon by a Group of Ministers. The system would extend to defence procurement as well.
A rare honour An Indian official in the Austrian embassy has created history of sorts. Munish Bahl, who till last week functioned as Advisor, Press Relations and Cultural Affairs in the Austrian embassy, was bestowed the Honour of Merit. Austrian ambassador Jutta Stefan-Bastel conferred the honour on Bahl and pinned a medal on his chest at a function that was attended by diplomats of more than fifty countries. Bahl has now become Deputy Director of the Austrian Cultural Forum in the capital. Contributed by S. Satyanarayanan, Prashant Sood, S.S. Negi and Rajeev Sharma |
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