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Defeat of a
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Cheers round the
clock But Haryana must ensure security at bars LIQUOR vends are an excellent source of revenue. No wonder every government tries to make as much out of them as possible. The Haryana government has now pushed up the target of revenue from excise to Rs 1,440 crore from Rs 1,350 crore in 2007-08.
Turbulence in South
Asia
Medical examination
With symbolism and
a new style, Kevin Rudd changes Australia Legal
Notes Bhai Baldeep’s
quest for divine music
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Fatal freebies PLANNING Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia is the latest to advise the Punjab Chief Minister to stop the free supply of power. Though not known to accept free advice, Mr Parkash Singh Badal this time has limited options. The power regulator has asked the electricity board to levy tariff on those getting free supply unless the government pays the subsidy by February 29. With the Punjab government deep in a financial mess of its own making, it is in a fix. Since the regulator has issued the ultimatum on the directive of the appellate authority, the government can challenge the order only in the Supreme Court. Mr Badal’s largesse has bankrupted the power board, whose accumulated loss reportedly amounts to Rs 6,800 crore. It has no money to enhance power generation to meet the state’s growing needs or even repair the crumbling transmission network which is notorious for leakages. The subsidy is given on the pretext of helping farmers and the poor. Only big landlords, officialdom and ministers have benefited. Senior officials and ordinary citizens all tend to steal power. Many government departments do not pay electricity bills. Even the so-called beneficiaries are unhappy as they hardly get any quality power. Electricity is available only for four or five hours a day, that too at odd hours. Besides, free power leads to an over-exploitation of ground water. It is the poor in general and small farmers in particular who are the worst sufferers of a declining water table. They have no money to install submersible tubewells. Even political benefits of free power are questionable. Mr Badal’s party lost the elections despite first floating the free power gimmick. The Congress stopped the freebie for some time but restored it later only to suffer a humiliating defeat. Yet, no lessons are learnt. Punjab’s tragedy is that it has short-sighted, self-serving leaders at the helm. Agriculture, industry and growth are slowing down as youth leave the state to earn a living elsewhere. |
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Cheers round the clock LIQUOR vends are an excellent source of revenue. No wonder every government tries to make as much out of them as possible. The Haryana government has now pushed up the target of revenue from excise to Rs 1,440 crore from Rs 1,350 crore in 2007-08. Those consuming country liquor and beer will have to shell out Rs 5 more for each bottle. Bottles will also be available in new sizes like 500 ml, 700 ml and also miniature bottles of 90 ml and 60 ml like the ones served on international flights. The new excise policy of the state seems to be promoting the consumption of liquor, but at the same time it has decided to reduce the number of vends in the state from the existing 4,000 to 3,800. But the highlight of the excise policy is not these routine decisions. Instead, the most noticeable part is the tendency to make the policy more “modern”. The state is now willing to keep the bars open for two hours extra after midnight, and even round-the-clock, on payment of an additional fee. Its aim apparently is to target the BPO personnel in cities like Gurgaon who get off duty at odd hours. While such personnel may welcome the round-the-clock bars and also those which can continue to function till 2 am, the others may find this “facility” irksome. After all, drunken brawls are not commonplace at such places. The government will have to make suitable police arrangements to ensure that no misbehaviour takes place in late hours. While the number of vends will be reduced, the Haryana Cabinet has allowed the selling of imported liquor in departmental stores located in shopping malls. Wine was already being sold there. That brings the country closer to international pattern. Also in the works are “ice bars”, which will function at zero degree Celsius temperature providing a new experience to the customers. All that comprises sea change for a state which at one time had prohibition. |
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Long books, when read, are usually overpraised, because the reader wishes to convince others and himself that he has not wasted his time. — E. M. Foster
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Turbulence in South Asia January
and February are described in Delhi as the “Seminar Season”. Friends from far and near descend on the Capital, to discuss international developments ranging from global warming to events in our neighbourhood. The “Seminar Season” also brings in hordes of American and European scholars, who naturally prefer the Delhi fog to the sweltering heat of the Capital’s summer. The last two months in Delhi have been no exception to this phenomenon. But what one has noticed this year is that friends from our neighbouring SAARC countries have been more candid about discussing the neighbourhood, free from inhibitions and acrimony of the past. There also appears to be realisation that despite its shortcomings, Indian democracy has proved to be more vibrant than many in our neighbourhood ever imagined. In candid discussions with friends from our South Asian neighbours, one finds many paradoxes and contradictions. But these complexities perhaps reflect the reality of where we stand today. There is a growing realisation that as a new generation of Indians, free from the inhibitions of their predecessors, run the wheels of industry and commerce in this country, apart from important sections of our national life like the media, Indians are more self-confident about themselves and their future than ever before. One can look at our neighbourhood through different prisms. A Pakistani friend of mine recently brought out some hometruths about the centrality of India to South Asia, when he noted that Indians constitute 80 per cent of the region’s population and account for 77 per cent of its GDP. But my friend also had certain stark statistics to allude to about India and its neighbourhood. The per capita income in South Asia at $ 692 is even below that of sub-Saharan Africa, which is $ 746. Moreover, South Asia has the world’s highest illiteracy rate, at 45 per cent of its population and it has growing rates of incidence of malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening, particularly in India. In contrast to this, a Bangladeshi friend recently spoke with optimism about the prospects for growth in South Asia. It is now acknowledged that led by India with an economic growth of around 9 per cent in recent years, the average rate of growth in South Asia is around 6.5 per cent. The Maldives and Bhutan have preformed extraordinarily well economically in recent years. Despite spiralling jihadi terrorism, Pakistan, with the incredibly low rate of savings of 16 per cent of the GDP, but fortified with massive American-led assistance, has been able to sustain a rate of growth of over 6 per cent in the recent past. A unique feature of SAARC is that while all its members have common maritime/land borders and extensive economic interaction with India, they have little or no interaction with each other. The substantial increase in intra-regional trade in recent years has largely been driven by increases in bilateral trade with India. Sri Lanka has emerged as the most realistic South Asian neighbour of India, by promoting free trade and welcoming Indian private investment. Bangladesh and Pakistan have yet to get over old mindsets on this score. Concluding a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Sri Lanka, covering trade in goods, services and investment, would serve as an example to other SAARC members about the benefits of increased economic cooperation. But everyone agrees that endemic corruption has ruined the standards of good governance in the entire region, with India being a classical case, combining a lethal mix of corruption and criminalisation of politics. South Asia today is among the most volatile regions of the world. Most analysts in India do not believe that there is an imminent danger of Pakistani nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands, though there is unease that things could change if Pakistan does not effectively and expeditiously deal with its domestic turbulence. Pakistan’s Afghan neighbours are livid that the entire Pakistani strategic aim seems to be to convert Afghanistan into a satellite state. With NATO troops in Afghanistan now being subject to increasing attacks from the Taliban, whose leaders are evidently operating out of Quetta, the crucial question before the entire region and indeed the international community is when the Pakistan Army will ultimately end its nexus with and support for the Taliban in Afghanistan and Jihadi groups operating in India. Pakistan’s Western borders have today become the epicentre of global terrorism, whether in Kabul, Karnataka, Madrid, or London. India faces daunting challenges along its eastern frontiers also. Having brokered peace between the Maoists and mainstream political parties in Nepal, New Delhi is now finding that led by their Youth Wing, the Maoists are using intimidation to bolster their sagging political support. Complicating matters further, the Madhesis under the banner of the United Madhes Democratic Front are upping their demands. New Delhi cannot certainly countenance demands for “self-determination” by any section in Nepal, especially in view of the consensus in Nepal about the need for a federal and republican constitution. In its efforts to bring the Maoists into the political mainstream, India has to guard against political turbulence in Nepal spilling over into the neighbouring Indian states like Bihar. A similar problem is faced by India along its borders with Bangladesh, with the military-backed government in Dhaka showing no sign of clamping down on Bangladesh groups promoting terrorist violence in India. Prolonged military rule and a growing nexus between the army establishment, now led by Gen Moeen U. Ahmed, jihadi groups and parties like the Jamat-e-Islami producing conditions for the “Pakistanisation” of Bangladesh, is a prospect that neither India nor the international community can be comfortable with. Faced with these challenges, New Delhi will have to develop a judicious mix of incentives and disincentives in dealing with its South Asian neighbours. Sadly, in dealing with even friendly neighbours like Sri Lanka, policy initiatives are inhibited and stifled by the “compulsions of coalition politics”. Developments in Nepal are becoming intertwined with domestic political rivalries, prejudices and predilections. Admittedly, growing contacts and cooperation within SAARC and expanded civil society interaction have led to a sense of South Asian togetherness and a better appreciation and regard for India’s “soft power’. But New Delhi has failed to raise the diplomatic and economic costs for neighbours who promote terrorism on Indian soil. Most neighbours tend to look at India as a directionless elephant while China, perceived as a supple tiger, is sought to be increasingly involved as a strategic balance. Postures and expressions of good intentions alone can never be a substitute for effective exercise of political will and national power. This is a lesson we have not yet
learnt.
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Medical examination A
reader, writing for the “letters” column of a national newspaper, has suggested that the People’s Representation Act be amended so that a person seeking an elective office is required to compulsorily produce a certificate of physical fitness from a Registered Medical Practitioner. This, he says, will prevent politicians from going abroad for expensive treatment even for minor ailments like ingrowing toenails, at public expense once they have been elected. “The doctor will see you now.” “Come in, Mr Aya Ram. Your colleague Gaya Ram has just been in to see me and he told me all about you. I understand that you’re going to contest the coming Lok Sabha polls and you want a certificate of medical fitness. Let me first check your weight. Kindly get on those scales over there. Oh, you weigh just 30 kg, a light-weight. You’re cut out for a high-end political office.” “Now put out your tongue. Farther, farther what do you mean you can’t because it’s tied at the back? Oh, you’ve got a forked tongue and the art of doublespeak must come naturally to you and I’ve seen better tongues hanging in the butcher shop window. “Now take a deep breath and shout at the top of your voice. Your lungs must be in fine fettle if you’re to conduct yourself effectively as an elected people’s representative. Ah, that’s good. You’ve caused the plaster to fall of the ceiling and I think you’ll make your mark in Parliament. “Let me check the joints of your arms. Gesticulate wildly at an imaginary opponent who has accused you on the floor of the Lok Sabha of massive corruption and misuse of office to amass wealth. Your joints are supple and ther’s no sign of rheumatism or arthritis. “Now for the eye test. Can you read the alphabets on the chart over there? You can’t because you’re illiterate? Oh boy, how can anyone doubt your suitability for high office? “Do you suffer from sea-sickness or air-sickness? Once you’ve been elected, you’ll be required to take off on round-the-world jaunts and pleasure junkets at tax payers’ expense once every fortnight. You don’t? That’s good. “Now for the most important part of this examination the skull check. Shake your head vigorously sideways and up and down. Mmm.... I don’t hear anything and that means your head’s empty and you ought to sail thru’ any election and win by a landslide two-thirds majority.” “Thank you, Mr Aya Ram. You’ve been most cooperative and let me say that in my 25 years of practice, I’ve never seen a finer specimen seeking office. Please call again tomorrow and I’ll have your certificate of medical fitness all ready and signed. And I shall watch your future political career with considerable interest. “Nurse, kindly show Mr Aya Ram
out.” |
With symbolism and a new style, Kevin Rudd changes Australia
Elected
three months ago, Kevin Rudd is Australia’s most popular prime minister in 20 years, according to a Newspoll survey published this week. Seventy per cent of voters declared themselves satisfied with his performance – the highest approval rating for a national leader since Newspoll began asking the question in 1987, and 10 per cent more than Bob Hawke, a well liked former Labor prime minister, at his peak. But surveys and statistics do not tell the whole story. There is a new mood in the country, a sense of rebirth and regeneration. After living through 11 years of conservative rule under Mr Rudd’s predecessor, John Howard, many people say that Australia feels like a fundamentally different place. Some say that Mr Howard’s policies made them ashamed of their nationality. Now, for the first time in years, they feel proud to be Australian. How has the mood changed so quickly? Within 10 days of his Labor Party winning power last November, Mr Rudd had signed the Kyoto Protocol on reducing carbon emissions. Australia had been the only industrialised nation apart from the United States to resist doing so, and Mr Howard – a staunch US ally n was implacably opposed to Kyoto. A week later, the new government scrapped another of Mr Howard’s ideological cornerstones: the ominously named “Pacific Solution”, under which hundreds of asylum-seekers were intercepted at sea, before they reached Australian waters, and shipped to remote Pacific nations to be processed. The policy was supposed to deter “illegal immigrants”, and it helped Mr Howard to win an election. Then last week, as soon as parliament resumed after the summer break, Mr Rudd apologised to the “Stolen Generations” – Aboriginal people forcibly separated from their families as children. Injustices suffered by the country’s original inhabitants took many forms, but the officially sanctioned policy of removing mixed-race children and integrating them into white society is perhaps the most reviled. In 1997 the report of a national inquiry into the practice, which was only abandoned in the 1970s, called for an official apology and compensation. Mr Howard, who had just been elected, refused, claiming it was impossible to say sorry for the actions of previous generations. His stance was a source of great bitterness, and it impeded progress towards “reconciliation” between black and white Australia. Mr Rudd broke the deadlock, with a symbolic yet deeply significant gesture that many Aboriginal people described as the most important thing that had happened in their lives. For other Australians, too, it was a moving and momentous event, and it sparked a remarkable sense of national unity. According to Newspoll, 69 per cent of voters supported the apology. Mr Howard’s Cabinet was dominated by middle-aged men in grey suits. Mr Rudd’s deputy is Julia Gillard, a 46-year-old feisty redhead and former trade union lawyer. His Climate Change Minister is Penny Wong, Australia’s first Asian-born minister and an openly gay woman; his Environment Minister is a former rock star, Peter Garrett. While Mr Howard insisted on living in a harbourside mansion in Sydney, the Rudd family has taken up residence in Canberra, the national capital. Mr Howard was an autocrat; Mr Rudd seems keen on consultation. He plans to hold “community Cabinet meetings” around the country, with (carefully vetted) members of the public able to quiz ministers, and has announced a summit in April of 1,000 of Australia’s “best and brightest” thinkers, intended to map out a strategy for the country’s future. Mr Rudd also has a “razor gang” scrutinising every department’s budget. In the fight against inflation, politicians are expected to lead by example: the Prime Minister has frozen their pay for the next year. Can Rudd do no wrong? The Labor leader is certainly enjoying an unprecedented political honeymoon, and his nickname of Saint Kevin – originally given to him while in Opposition, because of his Christian beliefs – seems to be sticking. But there are small clouds overhead. Mr Rudd’s past dealings with a discredited West Australian lobbyist, Brian Burke, have been aired in the media this week, although his worst sin seems to have been telling a white lie in order to avoid having lunch with Mr Burke. A lavish New Year’s Eve party at the Prime Minister’s official Sydney residence raised some eyebrows, but it turned out that the event was bankrolled by Mr Rudd’s wife, Therese Rein, a successful businesswoman. The couple have a 14-year-old son, and there were mutterings yesterday about taxpayers funding a childminder who is a member of Mr Rudd’s staff. He assured MPs that he would be paying for that employee. Brendan Nelson, a former GP, has the unenviable task of leading the Coalition, consisting of two conservative parties. While Mr Rudd is being called “Mr 70 per cent”, Dr Nelson is Mr Nine per cent, which is a record too: no Opposition leader before him has had an approval rating in single figures. If Mr Rudd seems almost invulnerable, Dr Nelson cannot put a foot right. He persuaded the Coalition to support the Stolen Generations apology, but then made a poorly judged, mean-spirited speech in which he defended the bureaucrats behind the removals policy and highlighted the problems facing dysfunctional indigenous communities nowadays. Although tied to Asia more than the US, the Australian economy is vulnerable, and voters are smarting from an interest rate rise this month n the tenth in a row, the first since the recent election. Expectations of the new government are sky-high, and Mr Rudd will have to make good his grand manifesto promises of tax cuts, an “education revolution”, repeal of widely disliked industrial reforms, and fixing the public hospital system. Symbolism and a new style – the hallmarks so far of the Labor administration – may be laudable. But if Mr Rudd fails to keep the economy on track, or to deliver substance, he may find his popularity plummeting. By arrangement with
The Independent |
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Legal Notes The
government of Punjab and the SGPC are leaving nothing to chance to get a favorable order from the Supreme Court against the Punjab and Haryana High Court verdict, declaring that Sikhs in the state are not a minority community. The government and the SGPC have engaged best of the legal brains – K.K. Venugopal and Harish Salve – to take up their appeals against the verdict. The primary effort of the SGPC and the Badal Government is to get an interim stay from the Supreme Court against the ruling, which has thrown up a major political challenge for them. A three-judge Bench, headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishan, has for the time issued notices on the special leave petitions (SLPs) of the state and the SGPC and their applications for interim stay. Since in such sensitive matters ex-parte stay normally is not given, the apex court has thought it proper to first get a reply from the other side – a student, Shail Mittal – whose petition for admission in an SGPC run institution has thrown up the issue. The Court has given six weeks’ time to Mittal’s counsel to submit a reply. Government and SGPC counsel have claimed that there was not an “iota” of material before the High Court to come to the conclusion that Sikhs are not a minority community in Punjab. The government has taken shelter under the 1925 Sikh Gurdwara Act to justify issuing of a notification in April 2001, declaring education institutions run by SGPC as minority institutions. Another notification in April 2006 regulating admission in health science institutions made Sikhs and Christian institutions as minority institutions. Both these actions have been justified by the government in its SLP. Gujarat probe The Centre is relying heavily on Tehelka magazine’s expose on Gujarat riots to support the NHRC’s pending petition before the Supreme Court for transfer of major riot cases to the CBI, and subsequently to hold the trial outside the state to get speedy justice, as in the Best Bakery and Bilkis Bano gang rape cases. The major riot cases sought to be probed by the CBI by the rights panel include the Godhra train carnage, that triggered the riots and the violence in Gulberga society, Naroda Patiya, Baranpura, Machipith, Tarsali and Raghovpura areas. The UPA Government in its affidavit has requested the Court to take into consideration the Tehelka sting operation titled “The Truth – Gujarat 2000: In the Words of the Men Who Did it” carried just before last year’s assembly election. As the Tehelka report has shown many perpetrators of the law openly admitting of committing the crimes, it makes a strong case for a CBI probe. The government also has cited the NHRC’s observations, clearly stating that there was no doubt about “comprehensive failure” on the part of the state government to control the persistent violation of the right to life, liberty, equality and dignity of the people of the state. All these factors make a strong case for the CBI probe and transfer of the trial outside Gujarat, feels the Ministry of Home Affairs, which has appended the affidavit. Fox Mandal
in London Even as hundreds of foreign law firms are lobbying strongly with the Indian Government to lift restrictions on their entry in the country, one of the oldest and largest law firms in India, Fox Mandal Little, has opened its office in London. Fox Mandal, after setting up its shop in King’s Street, claims to be the first Indian law firm to practice Indian law in England. Its Managing Partner Som Mandal will head the practice office in London, which will have two partners, a consultant and three associates to begin with. The firm will be assisting UK, US and European Union based multinationals in legal affairs relating to investments in India in the wake of some Indian laws posing them real problems. It will also be assisting Indian companies to overcome legal hurdles in setting up their ventures in UK, US and European Union states. Mandal feels that there is a huge market for Indian law firms outside the country in view of India emerging as a strong economic power. This will also help the Indian companies to cut down on the cost on legal matters, which is very high in UK, US and European countries. |
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Bhai Baldeep’s quest for divine music Bhai
Baldeep Singh is a rare artiste and a mystic studying the deeper mysteries of Nad or Svar, — the divinity of sound, of syllable, of voice raised and suspended, of silence within and beyond the voice and of the deep sacredness of Nad. Bhai Baldeep is an exponent of the kirtan maryada tradition that stems from the compositions of the Gurus in the Guru Granth Sahib. He is the 13th generation exponent of this tradition that he has inherited from his grand-uncles and their fore-fathers, specifically from Bhai Gurcharan Singh and Bhai Avtar Singh. He is also a dhrupad and jori exponent as well as a versatile scholar and teacher who attempts to transmit this rare heritage of sacred Sikh music to students in India and abroad. In a unique journey of discovery, Bhai Baldeep’s interest in Nad led to deep research and reproduction of instruments played in the Guru’s courts which are virtually extinct today. The idea was to bring alive the sound of the intense bhakti music as it was played in the 16th century. This search led him through difficult years when he tried to find craftsmen who could replicate these instruments. Bhai Baldeep Singh learned the craft of instrument-making from Gyani Harbhajan Singh. Today he not only makes these instruments but has students to whom he is transmitting this rare knowledge. He is credited with reviving the pakhawaj-mridang and jori of Punjab and has also carved by hand the nomadic rabab, saranda, taus and dilruba. Bhai Baldeep says: “The entire purpose of my existence in the field of arts is as a conservator, especially with regard to the intangible, with the living assets of our heritage. My concept of conservation is to learn and live them.” He adds: “I really pioneered the instrument revival from 1987 onwards. It was back then that I began a hunt for people who could make instruments dating to the Bhakti and Gurbani tradition. My search led me to Gyani Harbhajan Singh Mistry and since the early 90’s I have handcrafted back to life the taus, the dhrupadi rebab, saranda and the jori-pakhawaj of the Guru’s court.” In an attempt to get more organised in the spreading of his unique talents and wisdom, Bhai Baldeep has set up the Anad foundation currently head-quartered in New Delhi, but with ambitious plans of launching a conservatory at the fortress of Sultanpur Lodhi, near Kapurthala. “My vision for the Anad conservatory, an institute of Sikh aesthetics and culture, is really to set up an open university dedicated to cultural studies. We already have a panel of top conservation architects from across the world to initiate the work at the fortress of Sultanpur Lodhi, negotiations for which are currently at an advanced stage.” At Delhi, Bhai Baldeep plans to set up a rare Sikh arts gallery with a unique instruments display. He has also started a concert series called ‘Laya darshan’ to celebrate the richness of rhythm, which began in 2005. Another concert series ‘Jashan’ began in 2006. He also did a concert for peace and understanding at Arizona. The Anad lecture series was initiated in 2007 and lastly, there is the Anad Kav Mala which includes a series of events celebrating poetry, beginning in March this year. |
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