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PERSPECTIVE

A Tribune Special
Decline of institutions
Systemic reforms imperative to strengthen democracy, says P.P. Rao
I
ndia is the largest democracy in the world and has survived for over 62 years with all its shortcomings. We hope and wish it will emerge stronger.
The problems of today are mostly due to the changed priorities of political parties, drifting away from their ideology. Democracy cannot function without political parties. Regulation of political parties is a felt necessity today.

India, Australia poised for a new strategic tie-up
by Paramjit S. Sahai
T
he significance of Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to India on November 11-12 was lost for the general public, as the media highlighted only on the racial attacks on Indian students in Australia.




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November 27, 2009
Boost for ties with US
November 26, 2009


OPED

On Record
The tragedy in Bhopal continues with a different face: Lapierre
D
ominique Lapierre’s Five past Midnight in Bhopal, which so vividly describes the Bhopal gas tragedy, became a number one international best seller. Harsh Desai caught up with him in New Delhi when he was on his way to Bhopal for the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal gas leak disaster.

Profile
Age didn’t deter him from scaling Everest
by Harihar Swarup
A
T 76, it is said, one puts his one foot in grave and moves deep in the evening of life. But here is a Nepalese climber, Min Bahadur Sherchan, who put his feet on Mount Everest at 76, establishing a new world record. The Guinness Book of World Records has officially recognised him as the oldest man who climbed the Everest.


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PERSPECTIVE

A Tribune Special
Decline of institutions
Systemic reforms imperative to strengthen democracy,
says P.P. Rao

India is the largest democracy in the world and has survived for over 62 years with all its shortcomings. We hope and wish it will emerge stronger.

The problems of today are mostly due to the changed priorities of political parties, drifting away from their ideology. Democracy cannot function without political parties. Regulation of political parties is a felt necessity today.

We have adopted parliamentary democracy after due deliberation. Coalition governments cannot provide effective governance in our country for want of requisite political culture and common commitment to the constitutional goals and values. Fights over distribution of portfolios are common. At the most, they can effect a few cosmetic changes. It is necessary to arrest further deterioration in the quality of public life.

As Nani A. Palkhivala used to say, “If experts imbued with a spirit of dedication and wisdom were to be inducted into the cabinet and were to be allowed the requisite freedom of action, we could transform this country into one of the great economic powers.”

The Election Commission has been doing a commendable job. It would do still better by revising the norms for classification of political parties which grow like mushrooms and to help emergence of two national parties or at least two combinations of parties.

Stable and successful democracies like the UK and the US run with a two-party system. The problem in India is that there are too many political parties. The Commission can attempt a three-fold classification: national, regional or multi-state and state parties. It needs to be strengthened by giving more powers including regulation of political parties, disqualification of defectors, and power to withdraw or cancel the registration granted to a political party if and when the party violates any law or the undertaking given to the Election Commission for obtaining registration.

Now it does not have these powers. The Commission could then tackle parties like the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Shiv Sena. All Election Commissioners should be given the same powers, status and safeguards in the matter of removal from office as the Chief Election Commissioner.

To make the political executive perform better, a few structural changes in the Constitution by amending some provisions governing the executive are imperative. B.K. Nehru’s suggestion to have total separation of the executive and the legislature is not possible, parliamentary democracy being a basic feature of the Constitution. However, it is possible to separate the executive from the legislature to the extent of making MPs, MLAs and MLCs ineligible to hold any executive office other than the post of minister and lay down strict conditions of eligibility for the office of minister simultaneously so that undesirable persons cannot aspire for the office.

If ministership is made inaccessible to all except the most outstanding MPs or a state legislature, it will ensure good governance. In addition, a provision for the direct induction into the Cabinet of outstanding persons of ability and experience to handle the key portfolios, without their having to be elected to Parliament or the state legislature concerned is a felt necessity. They could be made ex-officio MPs, MLAs or MLCs as the case may be to facilitate transaction of business in the legislature.

Dr Rajendra Prasad had mentioned in his concluding address to the Constituent Assembly: “I would have liked to have some qualifications laid down for members of the legislatures. It is anomalous that we should insist upon high qualifications for those who administer or help in administering the law but none for those who make it except that they are elected. A law giver requires intellectual equipment but even more than that, capacity to take a balanced view of things, to act independently and above all to be true to those fundamental things of life – in one word – to have character. It is not possible to devise any yardstick for measuring the moral qualities of a man and so long as that is not possible, our Constitution will remain defective.”

C. Subramaniam, former Governor of Maharashtra, suggested that a candidate for election to the Assemblies or the Lok Sabha must possess a minimum educational qualification of Plus Two (HSC) for the Assemblies and a graduate from a recognised institute for the Lok Sabha or have experience in the functioning of the panchayati raj Institutions or must have done public service in a recognised voluntary service organisation. This cannot be implemented without a strong political will.

Experts have analysed the causes for the decline of democratic institutions and have suggested remedial measures. However, political will is lacking to reform the system. Too many political parties bereft of ideology, consumed by burning desire to capture power and retain it by hook or by crook are destabilising our democracy.

From Parliament down to a students’ union, democracy has come to mean, election of mostly ill-equipped, self-serving and ambitious politicians hungering for limelight and power. The people who are the real repository of sovereignty have been reduced to the position of helpless spectators with a limited right to vote in the elections. Their wishes do not matter at all in the choice of candidates sponsored by political parties. It is desirable to lay down rigorous standards for selection of candidates by political parties by legislation.

Governors hold important positions. In the words of former President R. Venkataraman, they are like emergency lights, which flash when there is need. On two occasions, his role becomes crucial: at the time of choice of a Chief Minister when no party commands majority in the House or the situation in a state warrants imposition of President’s Rule. A Governor is expected to be totally non-partisan like the Speaker.

The Sarkaria Commission in 1988 has given guidelines for appointment of a Governor, but till now no party or parties in power at the Centre have followed the guidelines. They cannot help appointing their own partymen who have not retired from politics.

In the words of Atal Behari Vajpayee: “India rightly boasted of having a great asset in its permanent but non-political and impartial civil services. Sadly, the rot has set in here too”. Now, the general trend of civil servants is to dance to the tune of their political masters rather than stand up and guide them to follow the correct course of action and refuse to obey illegal orders. Corruption has corroded the governing structures as never before, irrespective of the party or coalition of parties in power.

To tone up the efficiency and integrity of the bureaucracy, it is necessary to amend a few provisions of the Constitution. The law should be such as to ensure recruitment of the most meritorious candidates among the applicants, rewarding and encouraging employees rendering outstanding service with promotion etc. and facilitate quick and deterrent punishment to those indulging in corruption or any other reprehensible misconduct.

It should permit showing the door straightaway to all civil servants of doubtful integrity or who have become deadwood having outlived their utility, irrespective of the length of service put in by them.

There are elaborate provisions in the Constitution to ensure the autonomous functioning of Public Service Commissions, independent of the Union and State Governments. It was expected that persons of eminence, integrity and experience in administration alone would be appointed as chairpersons and members of Public Service Commissions. As regards the qualifications for the remaining members, the Constitution is silent. This silence is being exploited by shortsighted and self-centered politicians in power in many cases.

High rate of filing, huge backlog of cases and low rate of disposal plague the justice delivery system. A few Chief Justices of India have openly admitted that there is corruption in the judiciary as well, to a limited extent. It is necessary to provide for premature retirement of judges and judicial officers of doubtful integrity by making suitable provisions in the Constitution and the service Rules respectively. The Bench is not able to attract competent members of the Bar.

The controversy regarding Justice P.D. Dinakaran underlines the need for a better mechanism for selection of judges. I have suggested the constitution of a statutory Search Committee headed by a former Chief Justice of India, which includes representation from the Bar and the Government.

It is possible to improve the situation by recruiting the fresh law graduates from National Law Schools at the lowest level and imparting them adequate in-service training before posting. If governments appoint the most deserving members of the Bar as Law Officers and Government Pleaders in consultation with the Chief Justices concerned, in due course, they could be elevated as Judges of High Courts.

Inordinate delay in the disposal of cases at all levels is a matter of growing concern. It is possible to clear the backlog of cases by introducing shift system in all courts utilising the existing infrastructure and availing the services of reputed retired judges and judicial officers who are fit to serve. With minimum additional expenditure on courts, the litigant public would get considerable relief.

Terrorism is posing a serious threat to the security of India. 26/11 is a rude warning and a wake-up call. Unless we recruit people to the police, paramilitary and security forces on the basis of merit and efficiency, train them fully, give them latest weapons and equipment and motivate them to fight to the finish, it will be difficult to outmanoeuvre the terrorists.

With the kind of coalition governments we have, will they allow such recruitment? We cannot afford to behave like an ostrich. We have to set our house in order and reform the system immediately.

There is no need to despair. India is a country with tremendous potential. We have a clean and competent Prime Minister. By improving the system of governance, phenomenal progress can be achieved within the shortest time.

It is time we proceed to elect men of ability and integrity to the legislatures, appoint qualified and competent ministers, recruit men and women of exceptional merit to services and posts at all levels, plug the loopholes in the Constitution and the laws and march ahead.

The writer is Senior Advocate, Supreme Court. The article is excerpted from his Institute of Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies Tenth G.V. Mavalankar Memorial Lecture in New Delhi on December 4, 2009

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India, Australia poised for a new strategic tie-up
by Paramjit S. Sahai

The significance of Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to India on November 11-12 was lost for the general public, as the media highlighted only on the racial attacks on Indian students in Australia.

This issue has to be seen in the larger context of India-Australia relations. It is not only education alone, but a mix between education and migration as this dream continues to be sold to students. It has reportedly emerged as a two-billion dollar industry for Indian students alone with shady characters operating on both sides. It is, therefore, important that we do not stifle the channels for migration. We need to give time to Australia to resolve the issue.

India-Australia relations, therefore, have to be allowed to run on two tracks simultaneously. Our efforts should be to build on bilateral relations while we continue finding a meaningful and acceptable resolution of the students’ issue. Prime Minister Rudd’s visit was undertaken, keeping in view these considerations.

In his address at the Indian Council for World Affairs, Mr Rudd made a forceful and well argued presentation of an emerging strategic partnership between India and Australia which needed to go beyond the three ‘C’s — Commonwealth, Common Language and Cricket.

He forgot that a fourth ‘C’ – ‘Curry Bashing’ — had been added, which had overtaken all the other three. To do so, he invoked the spirits of Nehru and Gandhi, who as visionary leaders, had seen the emergence of such a partnership, forgetting that these old icons were losing their sheen in India.

Symbolism apart, there are solid grounds to build up a strategic partnership. A partnership where Indian Ocean is not seen as a divide between India and Australia, but an ocean that unites the two countries, whose future would be linked through this water body, as the world starts recognising the strategic role of the Indian Ocean. 
Having realised this, Australia has started harping on its Asian identity while it continues forging its ties around the Pacific. It has, therefore, started taking initiative linking Asia and the Pacific where India could become a part of the new Asia Pacific Community Project launched by Prime Minister Rudd.

In this context, he also reaffirmed Australia’s “firm support for India’s membership of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group”, when the moratorium on new membership ended in 2010. He also reiterated Australia’s support for a permanent seat for India in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). This was music for India’s ears as it feels that it rightfully deserves a place on this high table.

The shape of India and Australia Strategic Partnership was given in the two documents issued on November 12, 2009 — The Joint Statement and the India-Australia Joint Security Declaration. The Joint Statement harped on “shared interests and shared values”, built on “pluralist democracies”, rapidly expanding economic relationship and “a shared desire to enhance and maintain peace stability and propriety in Asia”.

A vigorous bilateral partnership would be built through expanding economic links, cooperation in energy, climate change and water. Australia committed to provide Aus $ 20 million over a five-year period for joint research in dryland agriculture in India under the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research.

Both the countries reaffirmed the need to build a Knowledge Partnership and Australia agreed to commit Aus $ 10 million per annum for five years, with a similar contribution from India under the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund. This would help in building on earlier successful cooperation.

The areas of focus would be energy, food and water security, health and environment. The statement is silent on the sale of uranium. To provide greater content to the strategic partnership, Australia would have to make policy changes for the sale of uranium to India.

Mr Rudd has a job cut out for him as he needs only to convince his party diehards, as the Opposition Conservative Party is already on board.

The second document, India-Australia Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation affirms the joint commitment and establishes a framework for such cooperation. The elements of cooperation would embrace areas, such as information exchanges and cooperation within multilateral frameworks in Asia. It aims taking the defence cooperation to a higher stage, under the earlier framework, as agreed to in MoU on Defence Conference signed in March 2006.

This would also pave way for cooperation in combating terrorism and transnational organised crime, police and law enforcement, disaster management, maritime and aviation security.

There is a greater need to bridge the information gap that exists. Promised steps to provide greater connectivity at the people-to-people through cultural exchanges, exchange of youth leadership and parliamentarians are the right steps in this direction.

The media is the missing link as there is no resident presence either in India or Australia. Let the media also wake up to its social responsibility. While it discharges its responsibility, as an independent channel of news, it should also give a more balanced coverage on the other facets of bilateral relationship.

India-Australia relations are poised for greater heights, beyond the single agenda on students. Students, as future migrants, should be seen as bridge-builders, as has happened in various other countries, where Indian Diaspora is located.

Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had openly lauded the role of Indian Diaspora at the Pravasi Bharati Divas (PBD) Celebrations in 2008 and 2009. Australia, therefore, needs to enthuse a new spirit into Indian Diaspora, including students, by turning them into a new channel and a force in the emerging India-Australia Strategic Partnership.

The writer is a former Indian Ambassador to Sweden and Malaysia

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OPED

On Record
The tragedy in Bhopal continues with a different face: Lapierre

French author Dominique Lapierre shakes hands with children of victims of the gas tragedy during his visit to Sambhawna Trust Clinic to mark the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy in Bhopal
French author Dominique Lapierre shakes hands with children of victims of the gas tragedy during his visit to Sambhawna Trust Clinic to mark the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy in Bhopal

Dominique Lapierre’s Five past Midnight in Bhopal, which so vividly describes the Bhopal gas tragedy, became a number one international best seller. Harsh Desai caught up with him in New Delhi when he was on his way to Bhopal for the 25th anniversary of the Bhopal gas leak disaster.

Excerpts:

Harsh Desai: There seems to be a basic discrepancy between the figures given by you in your book and those taken into account by the Supreme Court in determining compensation. The Supreme Court says that there were 3,000 deaths whereas you say that there were between 16,000 and 30,000 deaths. The Supreme Court says that 50,000 were injured whereas you say that up to five lakh were injured. How do you explain this discrepancy?

Dominique Lapierre: The exact causalities of the Bhopal gas disaster have never really been known. People died on the first night. People died due to poisoning and other causes later. The calculations that we have come to are based on the surveys of research we did for three years with different hospitals with different agencies whose records we checked by calculating the amount of wood used in the days after the tragedy and the amount of white linen used we were able to come to a figure between 16,000 and 30,000.

However, one thing is certain that the figure is way above the figure of 3,000 which is the basis of the compensation given by the Supreme Court. If in Bhopal you were to tell somebody that only 3,000 people died in the tragedy, they would laugh in your face.

HD: How did the Supreme Court get it so wrong considering that they based it on Government figures, Mr. Dominique Lapierre: They might have wanted to minimise the amplitude of the tragedy. I do not know, I do not know. If the figures of the number of dead is wrong, the compensation amount of $ 470 million calculated is also wrong.

DL: It would depend on how much you wanted to give each person. However, the compensation was well below than what should have been given. If you were to give someone whose health has been impaired by the gas compensation, it has to be above Rs 1,50,000 but these arguments can go on endlessly. How much compensation you will give somebody has lost an eye or somebody who cannot breathe. It is way beyond the amplitude and the terrified impact of the tragedy.

HD: Is Bhopal still scarred by the tragedy?

DL: Oh absolutely. It is scarred first for two reasons: lot of victims who have not been compensated 25 years after the tragedy. Secondly, it continues to affect the victims even today; children born are malformed; women suffer from cancer including cervical cancers; there are people who cannot breathe; people go blind, the composition of mythyl isocyanate gas has never been revealed by the Carbide but it seems to have the impact akin to nuclear radiation; in that it enters the genes of its victims and we do not know for how long it will continue to affect its victims. Nobody knows how many generations transmission of the affected genes will continue.

And thirdly, 100 tonnes of effluents have been left on the site and have never been cleaned. Which means that every monsoon the effluents are washed underground but they contain poisons such as mercury nickel and this goes into the ground water and it means under ground water which the water the people living around the factory have to drink. Half of the water supplied to the people living near the site is still of this sort. I and my wife drank a glass of this poisoned water as I wanted to see what effect it would have. In five minutes I got the skin rash. My throat was burning and I was vomiting.

HD: Why has this not been cleaned so far — after all it is 25 years?

DL: One of the reasons is that the Union Carbide has been bought by Dow Chemicals, who says that they were not at the site so they are not responsible. There is an action pending against Dow Chemicals in the High Court of Bombay filed by the victims but that has not been heard yet and the reason Dow Chemicals wont clean it because they are the same company who were responsible for agent orange which destroyed the forest of Vietnam and killed thousands of people. If Dow Chemicals were to clean the mess in Bhopal they would also have to take responsibility for the clean up in Vietnam, if they clean up this they would have to clean up that also.

HD: Has the government not stepped in and done it?

DL: The Prime Minister met victims in 2008 and a commission was appointed but the fact remains that after 25 years nothing has been done Actually, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh went to Bhopal and made a statement that he walked around the plant and its vicinity and that everything was normal. There was a hue and cry internationally and the Minister had to apologise. I too wrote a letter protesting.

HD: Has the $470 million been distributed?

DL: A large portion of this amount has been distributed but not completely and that too in an uneven manner. I know people living in the hills above Bhopal who were not affected by the tragedy who were later compensated and I know people who live near the factory who have not been compensated. My book is the only real documentation of the tragedy and one fall out is that four Bhopals were not built because of this book, one in Argentina, one in Bombay, one in Greece and one in somewhere else; because the chemical industry was absolutely terrified by the story of Bhopal. When you go to Carbide factories in North Carolina, they will give you these lectures about safety and about precautions.

The mistake was about the pesticide plant in the middle of a bustling city of 8,00,000 people. The pesticide sevin was made from the most poisonous gas invented by the mankind — the gas is called methyl isocyanate. In France, one barrel of gas had to be imported. It came in barrel by barrel. It was so dangerous. And in Bhopal thus gas was stored in thousands of litres and the other mistake was to build a factory of extravagant dimension without taking into account what the needs were or what demand was going to be and the problem is that when you were functioning with a logic of capitalism and your plant loses money, what you do is cut costs and what cost you cut first is you cut security.

In the easiest way to cut costs, you have an expatriate American engineer working and you fire him and you replace him with an Indian engineer who is much cheaper, by the end of it to save even $100 a day. You cut the electricity which stops the refrigeration though the methyl isocyanate gas has to be kept at a 0 degree. I have picked up during my research a small piece of plastic which had to be inserted in the pipe during cleaning to ensure that water and the gas do not mix. This was not done on the day of the tragedy because the worker at the site forgot and there was an isothermic explosion which led to this disaster. If this two or three rupee plastic barrier had been put in place there would have been no disaster.

HD: What happened about Warren Anderson? He was arrested and released on the condition that he would come back when required. Why was he let go?

DL: Extraordinary pressure from the American government on the Indian government. There is an Interpol warrant against Warren Anderson and it is known where Mr Anderson is. However, the government does not want him to be produced. They would not know what to do with him. Anderson is not hiding any more. They are going to burn the effigy in Bhopal and short of having him in person. I suppose that is the best thing to do.

HD: What is your take on Bhopal today?

DL: The tragedy which happened in Bhopal on December 3, 1984 continues with a different face with children still are born malformed, women are still struck with fatal diseases such as cancer of the cervix, men are still going blind and people losing their respiratory capacity. The gas methyl isocyanate continued to strike in the genes of the poor affected people like atomic radiation.

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Profile
Age didn’t deter him from scaling Everest
by Harihar Swarup

AT 76, it is said, one puts his one foot in grave and moves deep in the evening of life. But here is a Nepalese climber, Min Bahadur Sherchan, who put his feet on Mount Everest at 76, establishing a new world record. The Guinness Book of World Records has officially recognised him as the oldest man who climbed the Everest. The record was earlier held by Japanese climber, Katsusuke Yanagisawa, who scaled the world’s highest peak at 71. Min Bahadur is in no mood of hanging his boots. “I am not satisfied with the success. I want to climb the summit top once again before I turn 84”, he says.

A former soldier, Min Bahadur says: “Not just for the sake of my nation and myself, but for the sake of whole world with the slogan ‘World Peace for Humanity”, I began this expedition and finally succeeded”. Surprisingly, he did not undergo formal training in mountaineering. Nor is he known in the climbing community. Bold and daring, Min Bahadur hails from Western Nepal and has made a series of adventurous journeys.

Encouraged by Min Bahadur’s example, the Senior Citizens’ Mt. Everest Expedition has named Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya, 80, to break the record set by old people. The mission will be carried out through Asian Trekking Pvt Ltd in the spring of 2010.

Sherchan now wants to devote his entire life in social welfare service. He intends to set up two separate shelters for old-age people and for orphans and street children. He also plans to launch a campaign to protect Mother Earth both from nuclear arms race and global warming.

Mountaineering experts say climbing Everest is becoming more difficult and dangerous every year because of melting ice. The rocks that used to be covered with snow are getting exposed. Concerned at global warming, the Nepal Government proposes to hold before the Copenhagen climate conference a cabinet meeting atop Mt. Everest. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and those politicians who are physically fit will ascend 17,192 ft to the base camp.

The Copenhagen meet aims to highlight the Himalayan glacier meltdown. With the ice melting at a rapid pace, lakes have been formed which could flood nearby villages. In October, the Maldives Government held a cabinet meeting underwater to warn of the effect of the rising sea level.

Appa Sherpa, 49, who first made it to the summit 19 years ago, has come to be known as the fastest climber of Everest. He has been quoted as saying that his latest climb was to raise awareness of the impact of global warming in he Himalayas.

Appa Sherpa’s expedition team has been collecting rubbish from the mountains as part of a campaign to restore its pristine condition. He spent about 30 minutes at the top of Everest, unfurling a banner, saying ‘Stop Climate Change’.

The members of Appa’s expedition bought over five tonnes of mountain trash including parts of a crashed helicopter, old ropes and tents, ladders, metal cans and climbing gear.

Mount Everest, the pride of Nepal and the world, has been a challenging feat for mountaineering adventurers. Every year, expeditions from different countries across the globe make debut in mountaineering, making it a matter of national pride.

The history was stepped out in 1953 by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary and till now 2325 people have scaled the summit.

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