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Stinging frameup Twin terrors Campus politics |
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N-deal: exaggerated US fear
The benefactor
Fiscal prudence key to Punjab’seconomic revival Melting icecaps are triggering earthquakes Chatterati
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Stinging frameup EVEN when a ‘sting operation’ is conducted purely for the purpose of exposing the black deeds of a corrupt politician or a bureaucrat in public interest, this activity raises several uncomfortable questions about the invasion of privacy and infringement of fundamental rights. When it degenerates into an inducement to crime, it becomes highly undesirable. But what was done in the case of Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya teacher Uma Khurana in Delhi was even worse: an unalloyed fraud and a crime, no less. A so-called TV reporter entered into a conspiracy with a businessman to whom the teacher owed money and used another “budding woman reporter” to allege that the lady teacher was pushing girls into the flesh trade. There could not have been a more grisly fraud but such is the credibility enjoyed by the media that almost the whole country fell for it. Enraged public thought nothing of turning into a mob and taking the law into its own hands. The teacher was manhandled and public property destroyed in protest. The hapless teacher was summarily sacked only on the basis of the TV report. Can any apology now bring back her honour? It is not only the fraudulent reporter who should hang for the crime but also the channel which merrily telecast the programme without verifying the facts. They have not only destroyed the life of a teacher but also killed the credibility of the TV channels. With such wheeler-dealers masquerading as TV reporters, no one is going to believe even a true investigative story. And if the government comes up with a draconian law to curb all sting operations, the media will have only itself to blame, because self-regulation does not seem to have worked. The highly irresponsible act of one channel will make sure that many corrupt public men will never be exposed. Unfortunately, some sections of the electronic media have misutilised the freedom of the Press not only through this misdeed but also several others like showing the pictures of Monica Bedi taken in the jail bathroom. What public purpose was served by that lasciviousness? ‘Peephole journalism’ has no place in a decent society. |
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Twin terrors THE Naxalite attack on the convoy of former Chief Minister N Janardhana Reddy and his wife which claimed three lives is a fresh reminder of the twin threats — of Islamist and Maoist terror — faced by Andhra Pradesh. Although Mr Reddy and his wife Mrs N. Rajyalakshmi, who is a state minister, escaped unhurt in the landmine blast, there is no doubting that they were the targets. Mr Reddy, an MP from Visakhapatnam who as Chief Minister in 1992 imposed a ban on the Naxalites, has for long been on their hit list. This is the second attempt that Mr Reddy has escaped, the earlier one being in 2003. Despite the high security provided to Mr Reddy, the Naxalites were able to target him. The blast occurred on the Nellore-Tirupati road as Mr Reddy was proceeding — in a convoy of 21 vehicles — to Sri Venkateswara University to receive a doctorate. Some four years ago, there had been an attempt on the life of the Telugu Desam Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. The background and circumstances clearly point to an increased threat from the Maoists to not only political leaders but also the state in general. Neither the attempt at negotiations nor the ban, in August 2005, after the talks between the government and the Maoists collapsed has managed to check the firepower and rising tide of violence. On the contrary, it would appear that the Maoists have gained the strength and spread to strike even in places where they were hitherto not operating. The threat of Maoist terror combined with that posed by Islamist groups is a grave situation confronting the state government. While the challenge of Islamist terror has much wider — and cross-border — ramifications, Maoist violence can be tackled by addressing the conditions that breed support for these political extremists. It would be a heavy strain on the resources of Andhra Pradesh to be ever on high alert against both these dangers. In fact, there is every chance that while it is preoccupied with one set of terrorists, the other will strike. In this crisis situation, to minimise the Maoist threat would be both expedient and pragmatic. |
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Campus politics THE Supreme Court has taken a serious view of the increasing violence during students’ union elections in the country and the government’s failure to implement the J.M. Lyngdoh committee’s recommendations in letter and spirit. A two-member Bench consisting of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice P. Sathasivam said on Friday that campus politics had been vitiated to such an extent that students did not follow any norms, spend heavily in the elections and indulge in violence. The main goal of students is to study well and become good citizens. However, what they are doing today is exactly the opposite. They waste precious time in politics, become leaders and give a short shrift to their main mission in life — excellence in studies. In fact, the apex court’s whole idea behind the September 22, 2006, order banning political funding of elections was to ensure that college and university polls were free from the stranglehold of politicians. In its comprehensive report, the Lyngdoh committee had set an age limit for those contesting the elections and suggested that only full-time students with 75 per cent attendance should be permitted to contest. The aim was to prevent political parties from propping up candidates. Barring students with a criminal record, a ban on funding from political parties and a Rs 5,000-campaign expense cap were among the other key proposals. If the nuisance in the run-up to and during Friday’s Delhi University elections is any indication, these recommendations have not been implemented. It is heartening to note that the Bench has asked the Centre to submit a status report on the implementation of the recommendations in a fortnight. Undoubtedly, campus life has degenerated today, especially in cities like Delhi, Lucknow and Kolkata because of increasing political interference. Students have fallen prey to political designs, and unless colleges and universities are freed from the clutches of politicians, it would be difficult for the authorities to create a peaceful and congenial academic enivornment. As the Bench aptly said, the days of “full-time leaders and part-time students” must end forthwith to usher in a new order at the educational institutions. |
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If you don’t believe in cooperation, watch what happens to a wagon when one wheel comes off.
— American proverb |
N-deal: exaggerated US fear
In
the course of the debate on the 123 Agreement, intended to lead to lifting of nuclear technology denial by the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group, two sets of objections have been expressed in respect of the Indo-US nuclear deal. The first is that the imperialist US is trying to make India a subordinate ally through a strategic partnership. The second is that the US is trying to cap the Indian nuclear arsenal and circumscribe Indian technology development. Both objections arise out of an exaggerated fear of US capabilities today, derived from the memories of the Cold War. Some people find it difficult to get over the Cold War experience and come to terms with today’s globalised world of balance of power in which the US is only a constrained hegemon competing and cooperating with the other five major powers — the European Union, Russia, Japan, China and India. During the Cold War the US headed a global alliance structure which included Western Europe, Japan and China after 1971. The nuclear apartheid imposed on India was a direct result of this global dominance of the US in the seventies and the eighties. Because of this all-encompassing military alliance structure the US was in a position to act militarily anywhere in the world outside the Soviet bloc. All the other major powers — Europe, Japan and China — subordinated their policies to US requirements since they all depended on the US for their security. When the Cold War ended the major powers no longer needed the US for their security. All these powers started to assert gradually their autonomy. In a globalised world economy the US was one of the players, though the preeminent player. For the first time in history the US homeland was attacked and now Washington worries about terrorism at home — a totally new experience for the super power. The US could not enlist the cooperation of France, Germany and even Turkey in its operation against Iraq. Though the US spends half of the world’s total military budget and two-thirds of the global military R&D expenditure, its army is of a size that does not permit large overseas deployments. Gone are the days when the US could deploy half a million men in Vietnam and still maintain its confrontationist posture vis-a-vis the Soviet Union elsewhere in the world. In the seventies and the eighties China needed US protection against the hostile Soviet Union and, therefore, was prepared to adapt itself to the US global posture. That is no longer the case. In Japan, there is an evolution in popular attitude about its security. The Defence Ministry has been revived after 60 years. Earlier it was an agency for self-defence forces. Increasingly, a more assertive role for Japan in international relations is favoured. Questions are being raised about the sole reliance on the US security umbrella. The Chinese talk about their fears of Japanese militarisation. Russia, in the wake of the Cold War, during the presidency of Boris Yeltsin, was under US influence. President Putin has rescued Russia from that sorry plight, and today Moscow asserts its role in international councils. Russia has become an energy supplier to Europe, Japan and China and is on the way to becoming the world’s largest energy exporter. Western Europe, freed from security dependence on the US, is competing with Washington. There is a widespread view that the euro may become a rival global reserve currency competing with the US dollar. Air-Bus Industries has taken away half of the global civil aircraft market from the near-monopolist Boeing of the US. Europe is putting up its Gallileo satellite system to be independent of the US global positioning system. Europe and the US have many trade disputes. The expansion of NATO into Eastern Europe is meant to fulfil what NATO Secretary-General Lord Ismay said was its purpose — to keep the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down. Today the expansion of NATO and the enlistment of ``new European’’ countries of Central and Eastern Europe are meant to keep old Europe (France and Germany) down. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki visits Iran and deals with its leadership. President Hamid Karzai disagrees with President Bush on Iran before the TV cameras. General Musharraf does not appear to be unduly cowed down by the bombastic pronouncements of US legislators and officials on Iran. The US is, therefore, not the super power it was in the Cold War era though it is still the most preeminent military, economic, technological power of the world. In today’s globalised world, when developments in the Chinese stock market are bound to affect the other major markets, including those in the US, it is no longer possible to ensure the containment of any major power as could be done with the Soviet Union in the Cold War era. The threats the US is facing now are global and it needs the cooperation of the world community to deal with them. Terrorism, religious extremism, money-laundering, organised crime pandemics, piracy, narcotic trafficking, human trafficking, weapons of mass destruction proliferation to nonstate actors, failing states are today’s security issues. These cannot be tackled by any one state however powerful it may be. If an objective view of the limitations of US power is taken then it will be clear that the international community — the NSG —wants India to be free of technology apartheid and play its due role in the global balance of power since that would contribute to international stability and prosperity. If a hegemonic US is to be countervailed India will be a valuable addition to the balance of power in the eyes of other balancers. If China is to be balanced in Asia in view of the US, the role of India is
crucial.
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The benefactor
That
was a rain-soaked night in Chandigarh some 25 years back. Completely drenched from head to toe, and stepping in on the verandah, I thumped my feet one by one to shake off some water, before pressing the doorbell. My friend came behind me. A woman called up to hold on “for a while”. Some creaking sound from inside and I could make out her steps leading on to the entrance. I had not met her earlier. She unbolted and pushed both door panels. There she was, with her bold and stout built. In her early thirties. And smiling. I had met her husband only once. We had no association except that he had used some of my pieces for the magazine he edited then. He was from Himachal and since he had given me his residential address for posting my stuff, lest it be lost in a bigger postbox, I knew where he lived. That night we were to return to our hometown but the work whole day could not be finished and there was no way out than to stay back. I didn’t know many people in the City Beautiful then. There being no other choice, the decision of trying the editor’s home was taken instantaneously. We hired a rickshaw though my friend hesitated in bothering someone at that odd hour of the rainy night. I introduced myself to her. She let us in, informing that her husband had to go to the Press for some urgent work, and that he would come back in a couple of hours. She then pointed to a settee for us to sit on and a table in the corner to put down our bags. She went to the kitchen to make some tea for us while we exchanged glances. After having tea, we announced our intent to leave. “But why?” she questioned, “I guess you’d come to stay for the night. Isn’t it! Where will you go while it is raining so heavily? Moreover, think of this home as your own.” “That’s so very nice of you and thank you indeed for your kindly feelings but…!” I couldn’t even complete the sentence when she pitched in, “Is it because my husband is not at home? I am not alone in the house. ‘Amma ji’ and my kids are here.” I was hardly able to mutter, “Still…!” when she silenced me once and for all, “What if my brothers should visit us like you have! Should I turn them away?” That clinched the issue and there we were laying cots with bedspreads. Like stones we dropped and slept off. We met her smiling husband in the morning over a cup of tea when he was already awake and reading his newspaper. His looks betrayed all expressions of knowledge of our feeble disposition exposed the previous night. I looked for her around but she had already left for her school. It was a fine sunny day to begin afresh and repose faith in human relations. Thank you,
sister. |
Fiscal prudence key to Punjab’seconomic revival It
is well known that Punjab, which once occupied the top rung in economic status in the country, has gone down the ladder. Per capita income of states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Goa, Pondicherry and Delhi is much higher than that of Punjab. In respect of other states like Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, the difference is sharply declining. If timely measures are not taken Punjab will soon join the category of poor states, as it has been growing almost at half the growth rate compared to the all-India average. The most crucial issue is fiscal performance. Presently, the tax-income ratio in Punjab is much below the national average and in respect of per capita tax it occupies the ninth position compared with the earlier top most position. Its primary deficit has been more than Rs 1000 crore per annum during the last 5-6 years. As a consequence, Punjab has to depend on borrowings to meet its current expenditure needs. Since 2000-2001 the public debt has nearly doubled from Rs. 27 thousand crore to nearly Rs. 53 thousand crore. Although public debt is not bad if used productively for building economic and social infrastructure, its use in Punjab for financing committed consumption expenditure has adversely affected plan and development activities. Therefore, Punjab must learn to tighten its belt and come out of the fiscal mess it has created. Bold and innovative initiatives are required both in the short and long run. The immediate priority is raising additional revenue and avoiding populist measures, which divest the state of its meagre resources. The pattern of revenue of the state reveals that nearly 50 per cent comes from erstwhile sales tax, now called VAT, followed by state excise duty, with nearly 30 per cent share. Land revenue and entertainment tax have become losing sources of revenue and even taxes on passengers and goods are on the decline. Revenue from Motor Vehicle tax is a growing source, which can be further tapped. In view of ever increasing number of motor vehicles many states have already started levying the ‘green tax’ in addition to registration and lump sum tax, on more than 15 years’ old motor vehicles. Many goods and services are now sold with more and more value addition. The base of VAT, therefore, needs to the widened. But unfortunately, because of large scale tax evasion of VAT, Punjab is earning nearly Rs. 1750 crore less than a smaller and younger state like Haryana. Even revenue from stamp duty and registration fee is showing a declining trend, in spite of the growing real estate market and increasing land transactions. Added to this, there is a pressure from the centre to reduce the rates of stamp duty in view of the impending integrated tax on goods and services to be levied in 2010. Punjab government should not succumb to this pressure. Rather, it should tell the centre that in view of their fundamental difference in nature, these two taxes cannot be clubbed together. Then, there is the need to revamp non-tax sources like fees, fines and other commercial and administrative charges. However, such sources/services should be divided into merit and non-merit categories. While primary education, medical services, sanitation, safe drinking waters, etc. fall in the merit category, issuing and renewal of driving licences, transport services, registration of vehicles or property, etc. can constitute non-merit services. In fact, there is a need to have a detailed item-by-item study for every government department so as to identify the potential sources of revenue. But, unfortunately, as reported in the press, two brain storming sessions comprising ruling parties’ leaders have not succeeded in identifying sources to mobilise additional resources, so as to overcome the fiscal crisis. Even the modest measures suggested in the 2007-2008 budget to mobilise additional revenue, viz., tax on change in land use (Rs 210 crore) and enhanced royalty from mining, i.e., sand and bajri Another major source of revenue is the Centre, which contributes nearly 20-25 per cent of states’ revenue. Here a little use of skill and presentation of the case in proper perspective can yield good results. For example, the state succeeded in getting a higher share of 1.299 per cent in the divisible pool of taxes from the Twelfth Finance Commission (TFC), compared with 1.147 per cent recommended by its predecessor. Now the TFC has asked the states to claim a debt write-off equivalent to the amount of reduction in revenue deficit. In fact when octroi (which is inconsistent with VAT) was abolished in the state, the Punjab government could have gone to the empowered committee to claim a legitimate refund. Small savings, as soft loans, are another source of revenue for the states. In view of the spurt in general interest rates, Punjab should forcefully ask the centre to increase marginally the interest rate on non-tax-saving instruments. This will ensure a greater access of resources to the states and at the same time it will be non-inflationary and would not cause any shortfall in Union tax revenue. In the past, too, Punjab has been successfully pleading the financial cause of the states. For example, when the share of states from small savings was increased from 80 per cent to 100 per cent in 2002, Punjab successfully pleaded to introduce debt swap scheme, which reduced the interest burden of states. It is a happy augury that the Punjab government has created a special cell to monitor the central assistance. Yet much more needs to be done. Each and every government department must be held responsible for any shortcoming in the utilisation of central assistance. Simultaneously the government will have to prune and rationalise its expenditure. Expenditure on salaries and pension constitutes nearly three-fourth of total current account expenditure. Wherever possible the government should try to introduce zero-based budgeting, i.e., justify expenditure on each and every item. Under no circumstances should duplication of expenditure be allowed and departments serving the same purpose must be merged. Those which have outlived their utility must be closed. More emphasis should be on outcome in terms of quality, reach and impact of government service. In the long run, Punjab must lay the foundation for decentralisation as envisaged in the 73rd and 74th constitution amendments and start transferring three Fs, viz., functions, functionaries and finance to local bodies. This may solve many fiscal problems of the state besides improving the delivery system. |
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Melting icecaps are triggering earthquakes High
up inside the Arctic circle the melting of Greenland’s ice sheet has accelerated so dramatically that it is triggering earthquakes for the first time. Scientists monitoring the glaciers have revealed that movements of gigantic pieces of ice are creating shockwaves that register up to three on the Richter scale. The speed of the arctic ice melt has accelerated to such an extent that a UN report issued earlier this year is now thought to be out of date by its own authors. American polar expert Robert Correll, among the key contributors to the UN International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report issued in February, described the acceleration as “massive”. Estimates of the likely rise in sea levels this century vary, and the IPCC published a conservative range of between 20 cm-60 cm. But those estimates are now heavily disputed with many scientists insisting that new data collected since the IPCC report suggested a rise closer to two metres. Professor Correll said there is now a “consensus” that a significant acceleration in the loss of ice mass has occurred since the last report. The revelations came at a conference in the north of Greenland, which has drawn world religious leaders, scientists and environmentalists to the Ilulissat Icefjord. Ilulissat is home to the most active glacier in Greenland and it was one of the immense icebergs that calve from it on a daily basis that is believed to have sunk the Titanic. The arctic is acknowledged as the fastest warming place on earth. The local Inuit population whose lives have been drastically altered by the changing climate were yesterday led in a silent prayer for the future of the planet by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the organiser of the arctic symposium and spiritual leader of the world’s 250 million Orthodox Christians. Greenland’s ice cap is immense, the second largest in the world, and its break-up would be catastrophic. The packed ice is up to two miles thick and its total collapse into the ocean would raise worldside sea levels by seven metres. At the Ilulissat Icefjord, 250km north of the Arctic Circle, the advance of the glacier into the sea is now visible to the naked eye. “It’s moving toward the sea at a rate of two metres an hour,” said Professor Correll. “It’s exuding like toothpaste, moving towards us at 15 kilometres per year.” One day’s worth of the Ilulissat ice would provide enough fresh water to supply the largest cities in the world for a whole year n and yet it amounts to only 7 per cent of Greenland’s total melt. As the glaciers thaw, pools of water are forming, feeding fractures in the ice, down which the water flows until it hits the bedrock. “These so-called moulins are phenomenal,” said Professor Correll, who said they had been incredibly scarce when he first visited the glacier in 1968. “Now they are like rivers 10 or 15 metres in diameter and there are thousands of them.” He compared the process to putting oil underneath the ice to make it move forward faster. As the reality of the unprecedented thaw becomes apparent, the consequences are outstripping the capacity of scientific models to predict it. Earthquakes, or glacial ice quakes, in the north-west of Greenland are among the latest ominous signs that an unprecedented step change is underway. Finnish scientist Veli Albert Kallio is one of the region’s leading ice experts and has been tracking the earthquakes. “Glacial earthquakes in north-west Greenland did not exist until three years ago,” he said. The accelerating thaw and the earthquakes are intimately connected, according to Mr Kallio, as immense slabs of ice are sheared from the bed rock by melt water. Those blocks of ice, often more than 800m deep and 1500m long, contain immense rocks as well and move against geological faults with seismic consequences. The study of these ice quakes is still in its infancy according to Mr Morrell but their occurence is in itself disturbing. “It is becoming a lot more volatile,” said Mr Vallio. Predictions made by the Arctic Council, a working group of regional scientists, have been hopelessly overrun by the extent of the thaw. “Five years ago we made models predicting how much ice would melt and when,” said Mr Vallio. “Five years later we are already at the levels predicted for 2040, in a year’s time we’ll be at 2050.” This dramatic warming is being felt across the Arctic region. In Alaska, earthquakes are rocking the seabed as tectonic plates n subdued for centuries by the weight of the glaciers on top of them n are now moving against each other again. In the north of Sweden, mean temperatures have risen above zero for the first time on record. Professor Terry Callaghan has been working in the remote north of the country at a research station which has been taking continuous readings for the past 100 years. His recent findings tally with the accelerating pace of change elsewhere. “Mean temperatures have remained below zero here since medieval times,” said Professor Callaghan. “Now, over the last ten years we have exceeded zero, the mark at which ice turns to water.” “We are looking at a very different planet than the one we are used to,” said Professor Correll. By arrangement with
The Independent |
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Chatterati With
police marching into television channels to search for evidence, suddenly stings themselves are now under public scrutiny. It is important that the media also remembers that it too can be stung. The latest episode involving allegations about a prostitution racket being run from a school also resulted in a mini riot in a locality in old Delhi. But what is unraveling now is a sordid story. The details will no doubt take many twists and turns but this much is certain – the media has been taken for a ride. There is a public need to believe that the media is both impartial and investigative. There is no doubt that stings are often the only way to uncover high-level corruption and miscarriage of justice. Of course, the media stings expose the powerful and the clever who think that they are beyond the ambit of the law. That is precisely why stings had acquired a kind of cult status amongst both watchers and media professionals. The current episode uncovers a dangerous new aspect. If the media can be fooled, if reporters can be cheats and if stings can be fake, then the public faith will be eroded. It is time that the media set its own house in order. It will have to set standards and a moral code for itself. If it doesn’t, the Government may use the excuse of public interest to try and intervene more. That will be even more dangerous. So, let’s hope the thinking elements in the media get together to stop this rot.
Travel with dignity The removal of the ‘emigration clearance required’ formality from October 1 should win the government kudos. Thousands of workers are harassed on this account every day as they leave to work overseas in the Gulf. The clearance had become a source of corruption and had done very little except to make immigration officials, their touts and travel agents very happy and continuously rich. Indian workers going to the Gulf, we must always remember, have been for many years one of the most reliable and sustainable sources of foreign exchange. But we have never given these workers the dignity they deserve. Today their numbers are coming down but it is still not too late to give them a chance to retain some of their dignity. Once this new relaxation gets implemented, let us hope more workers are able to travel freely and leave the country with a smile on their face as they go into hostile lands to earn for themselves and the country.
Cruel police Indian police are not just corrupt but cruel too. The public and cameras watched in horror as a common accused was tied and dragged behind a motorcycle. Such incidents are not isolated. They happen everyday in every thana and even on the regular beat of a constable. It is a combination of corruption, cruelty, and over confidence that allows such an approach of the entire police force to carry on even sixty years after the British left. The common public is still treated like a colonised people. |
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