The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Gold on a high
It is a safer investment

The lure of gold continues despite a sharp rise in its prices. It has touched another peak at Rs 18,000 per 10 gm. Indians are the world’s biggest gold buyers and even at such high rates there is no slackness in demand. Traders are piling up stocks in anticipation of an increased demand during the winter wedding season. Apart from its traditional use during social ceremonies and functions in India, gold has emerged as a much sought-after destination for investment. Its price has appreciated 32 per cent since the start of the current year. People now invest in gold exchange traded funds (ETFs), which are now traded at stock exchanges like other funds.

The spurt in gold prices is a global phenomenon. Among the factors driving up the gold prices are: uncertainty about the economic recovery in the recession-hit US and Europe, depreciation of the dollar against major global currencies and a rising inflation. International capital is moving away from risky currency, equity and real estate markets to a safer haven like gold. The near zero per cent interest rate in the US is aiding the flow of dollars to markets in the emerging economies. There does not appear to be an immediate decline in the demand for gold. A recent prediction made in a survey carried out by The Economist of London that the prices of the yellow metal will “continue to hold up well in 2009 and 2010” globally is turning out to be true.

A new dimension to the rising demand for gold is the entry of central banks, which are diversifying their foreign reserve portfolios, mostly held in dollars, to venture into gold investments. India’s Reserve Bank of India recently purchased 200 tonnes of gold from the International Monetary Fund with the twin object of helping the IMF raise money for giving aid to poorer nations and hedging against the dollar slide. So it is not just individual investors who are attracted to gold; countries too are succumbing to its glitter.

Fuel-efficient vehicles
New norms can reduce pollution

The government seems to be earnest in its commitment to save the environment. Close on the heels of announcing new air quality standards, it has come up with new fuel efficiency norms for vehicles to be notified soon. Vehicles shall be rated according to their fuel efficiency that has an indirect correlation with pollution i.e. higher its fuel efficiency the less pollution it will cause. Indeed, the move likely to become mandatory by 2011 is well-intended and can build the country’s energy security and help climate action plan.

The transport sector contributes about 15 to 20 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions, which is likely to increase with further rise in vehicular traffic. With Indian economy growing at a fast clip, vehicular traffic has multiplied manifold. While the total number of registered vehicles in 1970 was about 14 lakh, in year 2009 (till October end) 72 lakh two wheelers and 15 lakh cars have already been sold. The situation in metros is more worrisome. Delhi alone accounts for over 55 lakh vehicles, double the figure in 1991. According to a study, industrial production, motor vehicles and fossil fuels are the biggest potential contributors to increased pollution. Merely laying down fuel efficiency norms for automotive industry may not solve the problem completely. Poor fuel quality, improper vehicle maintenance and faulty traffic planning too cause vehicle pollution.

Yet according to the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, new norms can lead to considerable reduction of greenhouse gases in two to five years. At the same time, the government will have to devise ways to implement pollution norms of vehicles already on the road. The existing rules are being flouted blatantly. The urgent need for an efficient and rapid public transport system cannot be ignored either. Proposed standards must be considered in lieu of the immense benefits in terms of savings in fuel consumption and reduced carbon emissions and must be implemented seriously as and when these become mandatory.

Thought for the Day

Small things, done in great love, bring joy and happiness.— Mother Teresa

ARTICLE

National defence messed up
Politicians the root of the problem
by Inder Malhotra

WITHOUT doubt the Vice-Chief of the Indian Air Force, Air Marshal P. K. Barbora, is a maverick. Or else he would not have been speaking out so bluntly as he has done. For this he has predictably drawn flak.

Those who criticise him for speaking out of turn while still being uniform do have a point. But there is a bigger and more worrying question that needs to be answered: Isn’t every word of what the intrepid Air Marshal has said absolutely accurate? Must the grim state of affairs he has exposed to the light of day be brushed under the carpet again?

Let us leave out the controversy over women as fighter pilots that he started; the Air Force can sort this out. But no more time should be wasted before coming to grips with the key problem: the messing up of national defence by the way politicians and political parties of all hues and the political operate.

Other factors, of course, aggravate this depressing situation. The military itself seems to be reluctant to plan for the long term. To compound this, the three services habitually change their “qualitative requirements” all too often. “Firewalls” between the defence forces and the insufficiently informed civilian bureaucracy of the Ministry of Defence can delay proposals unduly.

It is true that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), despite the good work it has done, is unable to make good its tantalising promises, as the fate of the main battle tank and the Light Combat Aircraft so eloquently underscore. No fewer than 450 LCAs should have been produced by now to replace the IAF’s earlier workhorse, Mig-21. Not one has entered service yet!

This enables the Service Chiefs to demand imports of the latest and best equipment from abroad rather than rely on indigenous production. Consequently, 62 years after independence India has to import 70 per cent of all military hardware.

However, when all is said and done the main cause of unconscionable delay in decision-making is political. At a time when they need to be vigilant against both China and Pakistan, the Indian armed forces are not properly equipped. At one level, it is this country’s alarmingly contentious political culture that is at work. Whichever party may be in power, its adversary in the Opposition resists vehemently all decisions to acquire weapons and equipment. And when the power sea-saw goes the other way, the roles of both sides are immediately reversed.

Suspicions of massive corruption in every lucrative defence transaction, which cannot be dismissed out of hand, have undoubtedly contributed to the virtual gridlock. But no corrupt person — politician, military officer, bureaucrat or arms agent — has ever been brought to book. Indeed, the classic Bofors case that contributed to Rajiv Gandhi’s defeat in the 1989 general election is a telling example of how India handles the gift of the grab in defence purchases.

Without an iota of doubt there was corruption in the purchase of Bofors 155 mm gun. The amount distributed was Rs 64 crore, which is small beer compared with the amounts that are merrily changing hands these days.

Moreover, seven governments have come and gone since Bofors burst on the Indian scene with the force of a mini-nuke. These have included one that vowed to “expose the guilty men of Bofors” within 15 days but couldn’t do so during the 11 months it lasted. Another that ruled for six years was long on the promise to mete out just deserts to the “culprits” but woefully short on performance.

The story became steadily worse. Some people did make money but the gun they bought was excellent, as became evident at the time of the Kargil War. However, so shocking is our defence management and so inflexible our procedure that after putting a blanket ban on any further dealings with Bofors, the government made no alternative arrangement to either buy from elsewhere or manufacture domestically ammunition for the large number of Bofors howitzers.

So when the crunch came, we had no Bofors ammunition, and had to buy it at three or four times the normal price. No one is sure that the ammunition situation is any better today.

Finally, as the fish begins to rot at the head, unacceptable delay in decision-making on defence takes place at the top — at the level of the defence minister and his cabinet colleagues. Sadly, India has not always been well served by its defence ministers. Some of them didn’t have a clue to their critically important charge. Ironically, the cleverest of them, V.K. Krishna Menon, did a lot of damage in his arrogant ways. No wonder, during the border war with China in 1962, the country spent more energy on ejecting him from South Block than on beating back the invaders.

Some times, prime ministers have made the cardinal mistake of taking over the defence portfolio themselves and leaving it to a handpicked minister of state to run it. In Arun Singh, Rajiv Gandhi had an MoS of competence but the two were then drifting apart.

P. V. Narasihma Rao left the Defence Ministry to the tender mercies of Mallikarjun whose best friends never claimed that he had any knowledge of matters military.

Today’s Defence Minister, A. K. Antony, is a senior Congress leader burdened with some party chores unrelated to his official duties and a fine man. But his knowledge and experience of security issues is limited. Moreover, his overriding concern for probity and transparency in defence acquisitions is leading to indecision.

Against this backdrop, let me cite just one example of the resultant havoc. After careful consideration, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had invited offers for 126 multi-role warplanes this country needs. The United Progressive Alliance that has been in power for more than five and half years fully agreed with what the National Democratic Alliance had done.

However, has the desperately needed acquisition of the 126 aircraft moved an inch forward? Meanwhile, the prices of these magnificent machines are piling up as does the ticking meter of a taxi.

As far back as in 1963, the government had planned to have an air force of 64 squadrons. Later, for want of resources, the target was lowered to 45 squadrons. Today, the air force consists of only 39 squadrons of which only 30 are combat squadrons. Indeed, The IAF now is no better equipped than it was in 1962 but we boast of being a “global player”.

MIDDLE

Home and Abroad
by Lieut-Gen Harwant Singh (retd)

At Manmad, we changed train for Ahmednagar. As I got down at the station I was accosted by the railway staff for carrying three items in my baggage. It consisted of a suitcase, bedding and a small radio (transistors had not come into vogue). I was told that penalty will have to be paid. There was no rule where only two items were allowed. Still I opened my bedding, put the radio in it and rolled the bedding and then had only two items. But the railway staff was adamant.

Another member of the staff, from my part of the country, taking me into confidence, suggested that I pay the chap Rs 50 and get him off my back. The railway staff was working as a syndicate. With frayed temper I threatened the stationmaster that I would report the matter to the Railway Board. That got them off my back.

We landed at Harwhich, on the English coast, from where we were to take the train for London. Delayed at the immigration check point, we reached the ticket counter when the clerk was in the process of closing down. He told us that tickets will be issued in the train. But no one came to issue us the tickets. As I got down from the compartment at London station, there was a ticket collector standing nearby to whom I explained that we were told that tickets would be issued in the train, but no one did so. He said, it is not your fault. Someone should have issued the tickets in the train. Well, your journey is over so you carry on.

We were joined in Scotland by our nephew, a government officer, who had taken return train ticket for Glasgow via Manchester, where he had some official work. Return tickets on British Rail are much cheaper. On return journey to London he wanted to travel with us. We had tickets for the direct route while our nephew had one for the longer route. He was worried that his travelling on a different route will come under objection. So we marched off to Glasgow to change his ticket.

While looking for help, we were spotted by a railway official. He said: “Gentlemen you are looking a bit harassed. How can I help you?”

Our nephew, cast as he was in the Indian bureaucratic mould, explained his predicament. His travelling, on the direct route, with his current ticket will be objected. The official told him that he had paid more money for his ticket, being of a longer route and his now travelling by a shorter route, which costs less, can be objected only by a bloody fool!

We bought tickets at Harrisburg for New York, two days in advance of our journey. Later we learned that as senior citizens, we could get a hefty rebate. So before boarding the train we went to the ticket counter and explained the situation to the clerk. He informed us that we should have told him that we were senior citizens. Then he looked at our grey hair and said that he was sorry: he should have realised this on his own. He took our tickets and issued new ones and refunded the excess amount.

Why in India is it so different?

OPED

Migration benefits local economy: UN report
by N.K. Singh

A fact that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan does not know but the UN Development Progam (UNDP) does is that in his state the poverty rate in households with a migrant fell by about half between 2001-02 and 2006-07, courtesy the migration of people from his state to other states.

The same is the case with Andhra Pradesh and several other states in India and in Bangladesh (Page-73 UNDP report on HDI released last month).

Shivraj Chauhans’ and Raj Thackerays’ negative stereotypes portraying migrants as “stealing our jobs”, especially in times of recession, only show their total ignorance not only of the Constitution and the law of the land but also of the interest of the state.

What is a curious paradox is that their wanton “no-outsider” assertion militates against this UN Development Program Report, released last month. The report is devoted to migration.

In the process of assessing Human Development Index (HDI) in various countries, the report focusses on human mobility and development. Strongly advocating legislation for the protection of migrants across the globe, the report enumerates numerous benefits of human mobility.

Detailing multiple benefits that migrations bring about, the report fervently calls all nations to introduce strong legislation to protect the migrants from local (Thackeray-brand) chauvinism and suggests them to imbibe a culture of attracting migrants by providing them facilities like health care and community living, besides education to their children.

It says if migrants raise the population of a place of destination by one per cent, the Gross Domestic Product of that state goes up by at least one per cent.

What makes migration important in India is the fact that it is the only country in the world where regional differences in per capita income are the highest (1:5). That also encourages human mobility from a highly poor state to a highly prosperous state.

A larger example of the reverse being true is scant or no movement from developed countries to developing countries

Most migrants do not go abroad at all, but instead move within their own country. Next, the majority of migrants, far from being victims, tend to be successful, both before they leave their original home and on arrival in their new one.

Reviewing an extensive literature, the report finds that fears about migrants taking jobs or lowering the wages of local people, placing an unwelcome burden on local services, or costing the taxpayer money are generally exaggerated. When migrants’ skills complement those of local people, both groups benefit.

Societies as a whole may also benefit in many ways – ranging from rising levels of technical innovation to increasingly diverse cuisine to which migrants contribute.

The report suggests that the policy response to migration can be wanting. Many governments institute increasingly repressive entry regimes, turn a blind eye to health and safety violations by employers, or fail to take a lead in educating the public to the benefits of immigration.

Using a conservative definition, the report estimates approximately 740 million people as internal migrants – almost four times as many as those who have moved internationally.

Some governments, such as those of Italy and Spain, have recognised that unskilled migrants contribute to their societies and have regularised the status of those in work, while other countries such as Canada and New Zealand have well designed seasonal migrant programmes for sectors such as agriculture.

According to the report, while there is a broad consensus about the value of skilled migration to destination countries, low-skilled migrant workers generate much controversy.

It is widely believed that while these migrants fill vacant jobs, they also displace local workers and reduce wages. Other concerns posed by migrant inflows include heightened risk of crime, added burdens on local services and the fear of losing social and cultural cohesion.

The report cites an example of Gujarat. Young men among the lower caste Kolas in the central Gujarat region of India commonly seek factory jobs outside their village in order to break away from subordinate caste relations.

This occurs despite the fact that factory wages are not higher, and in some cases are lower, than what they would earn as agricultural day labourers at home. Escaping traditional hierarchies can be an important factor motivating migration.

Similarly, India’s ‘argonauts’ – young graduates who helped fuel the country’s high-tech boom in the early 2000s – brought to their jobs the ideas, experience and money they had accumulated in the United States and elsewhere.

The entire software industry model changed as firms increasingly outsourced production to India or based themselves there. In this case, skilled migration brought significant external and dynamic effects, which benefit both workers and the industry in the place of origin.

The report strongly recommends expanding schemes for truly seasonal work in sectors such as agriculture and tourism. We have seen such schemes have already proved successful in various states like Punjab and Haryana in India, besides many other countries.

A universal e-book library
by Roopinder Singh

Life, the iconic American magazine, gained a new life after over 1,860 issues, covering the years 1936 to 1972, were digitised and put online. Computers and the Internet together have created an atmosphere where we expect knowledge and entertainment at our fingertips, not by turning pages, but by tapping at the keyboard. Increasingly, we see that this trend is impacting something that we have taken for granted for centuries – books, the traditional repositories of wisdom, and more.

Books ... we love the content, the feel of the paper they are printed on, what they convey to us and how they enrich us. Yet, books in classical form have limitations imposed by the very factors that make them so alluring – they can get damaged, cost money to print and distribute and have to be physically taken from one person to another, etc.

E-books, or electronic books, promise to transform the content into bits and bytes that can be freely transmitted to all the corners of the connected earth, and beyond, for that matter. You can read what you want, when you want to, and where, provided you have an e-book reader, computer or even a mobile phone handy. A universal e-book library seems within reach.

The Internet giant Google has been in news recently because it is engaged in litigation defending its right to digitise book, following an agreement it penned in 2004 with a number of top university libraries to scan their collections. Over one crore books have been scanned by Google Books and this has made it the owner of the largest collection of titles in an electronic format.

This very ownership has raised the hackles of communities that are defending the rights of authors and copyright holders, as a result of which Google has given full access only to those books whose copyright has expired, or those whose copyright it has bought.

Many books are out of print, but have valid copyrights, which are sometimes difficult to establish. Such books are called “orphans”. Google has made an agreement through which Book Search users can read, download and print out-of-copyright books, freely.

Those books that aren’t actively being published or sold, but are within the copyright period, would, under the latest agreement, be digitised and become available online for preview and purchase.

The income would be shared between various parties. Right now, Google has almost come out of a long and complicated legal battle. Its doggedness is about to pay it rich dividends, since no one can compare with Google Books in the sheer number of titles that they have online, whether in limited view or otherwise.

However, Google is not the first mover in this field, nor is it the only player. Long before Google came up with the idea, other digitisation endeavours were underway, including the Library of Congress’s American Memory project, Project Gutenberg, the Million Book Project and the Universal Library.

Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitise and archive cultural works and to “encourage the creation and distribution of e-books.” It was started by Michael S. Hart in 1971 and is considered the oldest digital library. Effort is made to provide these texts in standard, long-lasting, open formats that can be used on almost any device – computer, Kindle, Sony Reader, or iPhone. Although pioneering, the project has just over 30,000 free e-books to read.

Microsoft has been an also-ran in this endeavour. It started Live Search Books, a project similar to Google Books, in late 2006, but abandoned it in May 2008. All was not lost, since the scanned books are now available on Internet Archive, a non-profit organisation.

The Europeans digitised over 30 lakh objects, including video, photos, paintings, audio, maps, manuscripts, printed books, and newspapers from the past 2,000 years of European history from over 1,000 archives in the European Union. The French National Library’s Gallica links to about eight lakh digitised books, newspapers, manuscripts, maps and drawings, etc.

Lakhs of books to read, and how many readers? Well, lakhs, even crores. Just a day before this article was written, Project Guttenberg showed that 1,01,122 books were downloaded. And the most popular authors? No surprise there: In the last month, the top five downloads were Charles Dickens (48,591), Mark Twain (40,703), Jane Austen (30,929), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, (29,907) and William Shakespeare (28,163). Google, after digitising the Life magazine, has added many others to it its repertoire, and it is a pleasure to browse through them.

Amazon’s Kindle2 has triggered new interest in e-books and it has competitors like Sony nipping at its heels. What exactly is Kindle? Well, this e-book reader is lighter than an average paperback, while being as thin as a magazine. A wireless network connects it in over 100 countries. It can store over a thousand books and the new text-to-speech features reads out to you. As of now, 2,30,000 books and many newspapers and magazines are available. Incidentally, Kindle is also a software program that allows you to download book on to your computers or mobile phones.

Sony has its own readers which compete with Kindle. Sony has a good library also. Its readers have some special features that make them attractive. Other competitors include the iLiad, the Cybook Gen3, the Barnes & Noble nook and the Readius device from Polymer Vision.

Many people use personal digital assistants like Palm TX for downloading and reading e-books, but the main distinction that e-books have is the e-ink screen, a kind of electronic paper based on research started at the MIT Media Lab. The ultra-low power consumption screen is black and white and you can read without glare, even in bright sunlight. The image is stable, unlike computer or phone screens, it does not need to be refreshed constantly. It reflects ambient light rather than emitting its own light. Thus, it is much superior to other displays.

As we see a profusion of e-books and readers, the manufacturers will have to move towards universalisation of standards in technology and in ensuring that copyright violations do not take place. The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown’s latest book, can be downloaded free and publishers are up in arms against the distribution of pirated books through the Net.

This, however, is an old battle, albeit in a new form. Pirated editions of the book are available in Mumbai, Delhi and Chandigarh off the roadside stalls, in the conventional form. Technology is a tool, which can be used positively, or negatively.

As we move towards making books more accessible through digitisation, the idea of a universal library does not seem so utopian. The sheer reach of the electronic medium is staggering, and the written word continues to carry weight, whether it is printed on paper or read on screen.

With a wing and a prayer, Courage gets a pardon
by Alexander C. Hart

One turkey will have plenty to be thankful for this Thanksgiving when he is gobbling about, rather than being gobbled up.He owes his good fortune to President Barack Obama – and his two daughters, Malia, 11, and Sasha, 8.

On Wednesday morning, Obama continued the tradition of pardoning a turkey by granting this year's lucky bird, named Courage, a reprieve from the dinner table.

"I am pleased to announce that thanks to the interventions of Malia and Sasha ... Courage will also be spared this terrible and delicious fate," announced Obama, with the two girls standing by his side. He joked that otherwise he "was planning to eat this sucker."

The 45-pound bird, along with its alternate, named Carolina, were a present from the National Turkey Foundation, which has made similar annual gifts to presidents since 1947. The custom of issuing a pardon began in 1989 under former President George H.W. Bush, Obama said.

Originally from North Carolina, Courage and Carolina are now at Disneyland, where they will live out the rest of their days. Courage will serve as grand marshal in a Thanksgiving Day parade down the park's Main Street USA.

The two fowl received star treatment in Washington. They spent Tuesday night in the pricey Willard Hotel, which also hosted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after that night's state dinner. And they flew to California in the first-class section, not the cargo hold.

From an early age, the birds had been taken to schools so they could become comfortable with people in preparation for their high-profile performance, said Dr. Eric Gonder, who served as Courage's veterinarian.

But Courage's pardon left Gonder conflicted.

"He's a bird raised for meat consumption, so to me it somewhat suborns his purpose and existence by pardoning him," he said. "But if it gives people the opportunity to learn what turkeys are like, that's a good thing."

The event allowed the White House to show off its sense of humor. On Tuesday, the staff released a video with a turkey's eye view of the walk from the White House gates to the Oval Office.

"Tomorrow, one turkey gets a second chance," intoned spokesman Benjamin LaBolt, who narrated the video. "Tomorrow ... one turkey will be trotting a little prouder as he trots down these hallowed halls for an appointment with destiny."

The president used his address to crack a few jokes. Alluding to White House claims about the job-creating effects of the stimulus package, Obama quipped that he had "created or saved four turkeys."

"There are certain days that remind me of why I ran for this office," Obama added. "And then there are moments like this, where I pardon a turkey and send it to Disneyland."n

— By arrangement with LA Times-Washington Post