The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Economy on track
But agriculture needs a thrust

The Central Statistical Organisation’s prediction that India’s economy is to grow at 7.2 per cent this fiscal is in line with the RBI’s projection at 7.5 per cent. This will have two implications: One, the government may start withdrawing the stimulus in phases, which means an increase in the excise duty rate and the service tax rate, which were cut to help the industry tide over a difficult situation. Two, the RBI may hike the interest rates any time though it may like to wait for the Union Budget before tightening the monetary policy.

The government had resorted to heavy borrowing (estimated at Rs 4 lakh crore this fiscal) to make up for the losses caused by the tax reductions. The bailout to the industry has lifted the fiscal deficit to a 16-year high of 6.8 per cent of the GDP. The government is now under pressure to raise its income by hiking taxes and roll back the global meltdown-driven giveaways to the industry. The RBI too has advised the government to fix its finances. So this year’s Budget may contain more revenue-raising measures and may not be a pleasant one, especially for the industry. This should not pose problems for the UPA as the general election is away and only Bihar is going to the polls later this year.

A significant but hardly surprising finding of the CSO figures is the contraction of agricultural growth. The overall growth can go up further if agriculture contributes its due share. The high food inflation is already giving jitters to the government. Prices have shot up because of the farm sector’s inability to meet the needs of a growing and prospering middle class. Since agriculture has not yet started facing the heat that industry gets subjected to because of global ups and downs, the governments at the Centre and in states are taking it easy and not spending enough to raise farm productivity and build rural infrastructure. This has to change.

Quota for Muslims
AP fails for the third time

Monday’s Andhra Pradesh High Court ruling striking down the state government’s legislation providing for a 4 per cent quota for socially and educationally backward classes among Muslims is a big blow to the Rosaiah government. This is the third time that the government has failed to carry through reservations for Muslims in the state. A seven-member Bench headed by Chief Justice Anil R. Dave ruled that the 2007 Act is “religion-specific” and encourages “religious conversion” and is thus unconstitutional. It maintained that the legislation failed to define the expressions “Muslim” and “other Muslim groups”. It faulted the surveys relied upon by the AP Backward Classes Commission to enumerate Muslim backwardness for purposes of providing them quota. Since the commission had confined its survey to only six out of 23 districts and completed its work within three days, its report was irrational and unscientific, the court pointed out.

Even as the Rosaiah government has decided to go in appeal to the Supreme Court, the West Bengal government’s announcement of 10 per cent quota in jobs for Muslims under the OBC category has raised eyebrows. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has said that after identifying the educationally, socially and economically backward among Muslims, a quota will be provided to them. It remains to be seen to what extent this survey would be proper and scientific. Otherwise, like the one in Andhra, this too may fail the test of judicial scrutiny.

Meanwhile, Mr Bhattacharjee’s decision to implement the Ranganath Misra Commission report has given a new twist to the controversy. The report, submitted to the Centre in December 2009, had recommended a 10 per cent quota for Muslims and five per cent for other minorities in government jobs. When the Centre is yet to take a decision on it, there was no hurry for Mr Bhattacharjee to rush through its implementation in West Bengal. Clearly, he has done it with an eye on the ensuing Assembly elections in the state. Unfortunately, the Centre and the states are using reservation as a tool to widen their vote banks. The quota for the OBCs has got constitutional sanction but the total quantum of reservation cannot exceed the Supreme Court’s 50 per cent ceiling. Reservations in Tamil Nadu have touched 70 per cent and in Karnataka 69 per cent. The Supreme Court needs to check this flagrant violation by the states for narrow partisan ends.

Thought for the Day

The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for and deserted by everybody. — Mother Teresa

ARTICLE

Deemed university fiasco
Higher education needs reform
by Kavita A. Sharma

A committee of the Ministry of Human Resource Development recommended the scrapping of 44 deemed universities. However, on January 25, the Supreme Court stayed the proceedings of revoking their status. In the meanwhile, another petition was filed challenging the power of the University Grants Commission under Section 3 of its Act to grant the deemed-to-be university status as it had been consistently misused.

The question arises: what is a deemed university to the ordinary mind? The very nomenclature “deemed” university seems strange; an institution is either a university or not. How can it be deemed to be a university when it is not? The idea originated from a desire to accommodate certain university-level institutions that had been traditionally respected for their academic excellence, relevance to the nation’s requirements and their contributions to the development of knowledge and values, but they did not qualify to be universities under the framework that existed at the time of independence. This was done in the form of Section 3 of the UGC Act of 1956:

“The Central Government may, on the advice of the commission, declare, by notification in the official gazette, that any institution for higher education other than a university shall be deemed to be university for the purpose of this Act, and on such a declaration being made, all the provisions of this Act shall apply to such institution as if it were a university under the meaning of Clause (f) of Section 2.”

Basically, the deemed universities represent three types of institutions: research institutions; multifaceted institutions which stress liberal education; and professional institutions. Some of these are financed by the government to various degrees and others are purely private initiatives. The conferment of the deemed university status accelerated after the year 2000. Over 85 came up during the last five years alone.

Why the increase? One reason is because the demand for higher education far outstrips the supply. India has only 11 per cent access to higher education in the relevant age group whereas even mid-level economies have 23-25 per cent. The institutions called deemed universities step in and fill up the gap. They will inevitably continue to do so until it is bridged, whatever the government may say. Further, since the mid-eighties when the economy began to liberalise and expand, the middle class push has been for technical and professional education. This demand was met by a huge increase in the number of institutions in the private sector. No attempt was made to increase the supply in the public sector or through private participation or through public-private partnerships.

Institutions sprang up without following transparent procedures or having any accountability. It led to litigation and court cases rather than well-thought-out academic decisions and nurturing of higher education. Also no proper regulatory mechanism to facilitate quality education was put in place. With time, these institutions began to clamour for acceptability through the deemed university route. The result is for all to see.

Moreover, the bulk of the existing higher education system is by and large so rigid and outdated that most of it produces substandard and unemployable graduates which can lead to social unrest and even criminalisation. Since it is not easy to transform the existing system to make it quality-driven and responsive to societal needs, these institutions step in and at least hold out the promise of something more meaningful than what is available to the students in the current system. The young students and their families are desperate enough to lull themselves into believing that somehow their aspirations will be fulfilled and are, therefore, willing to pay high fees and other costs. It is the same desperation that makes India the highest student-sending country abroad, often at great cost, even to substandard institutions. The estimated outflow of foreign exchange from India in the area of higher education ranges from $ 4 billion to $ 7 billion.

The question now arises: how is a deemed university status accorded? It is done after a due process of inspection by a UGC team of experts while the HRD Ministry may be justified in taking the step that it has, the process of granting cannot be negated without action being taken against the granting authorities. The applying institution cannot be more at fault than the granting body. Further, these institutions have been accredited and, therefore, a question mark also arises on the accrediting body. These have also seen subsequently reviewed and found up to the mark. In many cases, grants have been given to support them. After all these processes, the institution that has been granted the deemed-to-be-university status alone cannot be penalised.

So, what can be done? The first thing is to accept that the post-secondary sector by its very nature has to be diverse which enables students to find their own level and also provides opportunities for improving their qualifications. Once diversity is accepted, all institutions do not have to fit into the parameters of a university. Many of these institutions can be reorganised to provide vocational and professional education at diverse levels.

The challenge is to knit this system into a harmonious whole by finding entry and exit points at various stages in it to enable student mobility and possibilities of constant upgradation of knowledge and skills. The current crisis is a good opportunity to do this. Instead of indulging in a blame game and penalties, why not use the deemed university fiasco as an opportunity to transform these institutions and to reorganise higher education in a way that the government, the private sector and public-private partnerships all have a role to play?

MIDDLE

All is well!
by Ehsan Fazili

For the next couple of months, the sprawling green campus of the University of Kashmir, now dotted with haphazard constructions, would be agog with admission activities. The admission process for various post-graduate courses in 36 disciplines has been set in motion with the declaration of results of the three-year bachelors degree on February 5.

This, however, would be missing the traditional hectic mood of the campus with students from all the three streams of arts, sciences and commerce thronging the windows for getting hard copies of admission forms, submitting these forms and depositing admission fees. The admissions now would be fully e-governed and students will have online services available for filling up admissions forms and fee and access to online syllabus for entrance and previous year’s entrance papers.

A complete SMS-based information system has also been developed to intimate the students about different events regarding admissions.

Things were not the same nearly three decades ago when the admissions to around 20 postgraduate courses were, if not a long drawn process, full of human activity both for the aspiring students and the officials on the campus. This would also provide an opportunity for the students to have a feel of the academic, social, cultural and interactive atmosphere at this highest institution of learning in the valley.

Drawn from various colleges in different areas of the valley, the students during the admission process would be getting acquainted with the richer strata of the educational and socio-cultural emblem, with higher expectations.

Having been a student of English literature at the college level then, it had been my only option for admission to the postgraduate course. I had no other preferences, even as each student would be submitting admission forms in at least three departments, including Law, in the order of preference. That was a hectic process both for the aspiring candidates and the teaching and non-teaching staff in various departments as also in the main administrative block.

The process would be completed by holding interviews for the admissions to each department, a difficult task by the administration. It was equally tough for the students to seek admission in order of preference, most of them getting disappointed. That is what happened in case of my batch in the English department, where over 40 candidates were selected. Out of these around 10 candidates opted out for other preferential subjects. Many others got in for their second preference leaving other courses.

At each level human touch was involved that would definitely contribute to the learning process among the youth. Under the new admission process this touch or interaction would be missing as the students will just have to press the graphic Icon “2010 Admission”. Would it be like producing “3 Idiots” or giving the young people an opportunity of listening to their hearts?

OPED

Sino-Indian space race
Does India really need ASAT capability now?
by Bharath Gopalaswamy and Harsh V. Pant

Taking a serious note of China's growing defence capabilities, particularly its anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon system, Air Chief Marshal PV Naik has sought the development of India's own missile system that can destroy enemy satellites.

“Our satellites are vulnerable to ASAT weapon systems because our neighbourhood possesses one,” Naik said while delivering the Air Chief Marshal LM Katre memorial lecture.

He underlined the need for India to develop ASAT technology and referred to it as “one of our challenges of future war capability.”

Indian communication, weather and remote-sensing satellites are clearly more vulnerable today than they have ever been in the past and their vulnerability has enormous implications for a whole range of areas affecting the day-to-day life of ordinary Indians.

Over the past 20 years, the use of outer space has changed dramatically. From the dawn of the space age to the Cold War era, Russia and the United States were the world's only space powers. Today, more than 41 countries own or operate satellites, about a dozen of them can launch satellites on their own and many more are aspiring for that capability.

At the same time, more and more states are using space for military purposes from communications to mapping to intelligence gathering as well as weapons targeting. Going a step further, it should also be pointed out that even the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008 were orchestrated using space technologies.

To put this in perspective, it is worthwhile to look at the economic dimensions of satellites. In 2007, the space industry revenue was estimated to at $ 123 billion, and the revenue from the GPS equipments alone was calculated to be at $ 56 billion. The number of US jobs supported by the space industry was around 729,000 while the U.S. satellite radio subscribers were approximately 13.65 million.

Going by these sheer numbers, it is no wonder that space occupies a significant part of our lives. In light of this background, it is not surprising that significant developments have occurred in the recent past: firstly, the Chinese ABM test recently, secondly, the Chinese ASAT test in 2007, thirdly the USA-193 tests in 2008 and finally the Indian shift in policy to seek ASAT capabilities.

Last month, China announced that it had conducted a missile defence test that consisted of a ground-based midcourse missile interception technology within its territory. China added that the test has achieved the expected objective and went on to clarify that the test was defensive in nature, not targeted at any country.

It is interesting to note that China is migrating its anti-satellite research into the missile defence arena, India is doing the opposite. In both cases, however, technology is fundamentally the same: the development of kinetic energy interceptors – so called “hit-to-kill” technologies that use a bullet to hit a bullet.

As far back as January 2007, China had successfully tested a direct-ascent hit-to-kill interceptor against one of its old weather satellites. That test appears to have increased the amount of debris (size greater than 1 centimeter) in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) by 15 to 20 per cent, becoming the worst debris-producing event on record. The satellite was orbiting at about 850 kilometres, so the resulting debris is concentrated in a region of space that's heavily used by satellites and already crowded with debris.

How did this test change the risk to satellites? Before the Chinese test, the chance that any given satellite near the altitude of the FY-1C would be hit by debris larger than 1 centimeter – large enough to cause severe damage – was approaching 1 per cent over the satellite's lifetime, generally 5 to 10 years. Since debris from the Chinese test is concentrated near this altitude band, the threat will nearly double for the next 5 to 10 years.

A year later, the U.S military destroyed a defunct and out-of-control spy satellite USA 193 with a specially designed SM-3 ballistic missile with pin-point accuracy. The US described this event as an effort to get rid of the huge amount of toxic hydrazine fuel of the satellite from contaminating the earth causing unexpected health hazard to the humans.

However, it would be really naïve to not acknowledge both the feat that the U.S. military was able to accomplish and the political impact of the test, which was more than the technological achievement. The U.S had tested a similar ASAT weapon in 1985 against a satellite in an even higher orbit by firing an interceptor from an F-15 fighter aircraft.

With this strike, the U.S. once again demonstrated its technical ability to field anti-satellite weapons. The Pentagon had denied that the test had anything to do with ASAT weapons primarily because the altitude of interception was too low for any orbiting satellite. The SM-3 interceptor, which is part of the AEGIS missile defence system, has been used for the first time to shoot down a satellite.

This intercept was made by engaging the target, which was moving at 17,000 miles per hour. It proved that the U.S. have become very good at hitting objects at extremely high velocities when it matters the most and that too with extreme pin-point accuracy.

Both these tests demonstrated that the hit-to-kill technology was a threat to LEO satellites. Currently, India has 12 satellites in LEO out of which, RISAT-1 is probably an attractive target. RISAT-1 is an experimental satellite, which has the capability to operate in all weather conditions. Internationally, RISAT-1 is believed to be dedicated for military applications.

On the other hand, China has 31 satellites in the LEO orbit, out of which 12 of them are dedicated for military purposes. A space war (mutual shooting down of satellites) between China and India will be devastating. India's lack of redundancy in satellite capabilities will compromise its capability to retaliate. The effects in terms of debris will pose enormous risk to not only Indian and Chinese satellites but also to all the other satellites that exist in the orbit.

In the light of these issues, important policy questions arise for the Indian defence establishment: why focus on developing an ASAT technology for a war that India can't win in the near future and everybody loses? The debris issue, which has received far less attention than it warrants, needs to be better understood. Threats to Indian space assets are clearly growing especially in the light of China making moves in that direction.

In the short to medium term India's scarce resources would be better served by focussing on reducing the disparity with China in space. While shielding on satellites can help protect against small particles, most satellites do not carry such shielding.n

Bharath Gopalaswamy is with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Sweden, and Harsh Pant teaches at King's College, London.

Deformed political environment
by Vijay Sanghvi

The increased need to fight terrorism has converted the nature of rule of law from liberal into prohibitive one that impinges up on individual freedom, privacy of life and communication and movement. It has also transformed the character of politics as it has created a distance between the rulers and the ruled.

The security barriers raised to protect politicians have helped moneyed persons occupy a large space in political structures, earlier held by academicians, professionals and social workers.

Ever since the Special Protection Group Act came into existence, the concept of freedom changed with the security needs dictating rules and policies. The threat perception for various decision makers in the political arena made it necessary to post guards at their gates that created the first barrier between leaders and common men.

Unless the personal staff of leaders was able to and did identify visitors to clear their entry, none was admitted. Large throngs of aspirants could be seen waiting outside bungalows of top leaders who had a say in the selection of candidates.

However those who have the ability to mobilise resources could gain an easy entry. Resources mobilising could not be without links with the underworld or those who minted black wealth in ample measure. Those who could mobilise resources could also hire experts for collecting crowds as well when times needed the demonstration of strength of public support.

That ability added importance to their utility and also a scope for introduction of persons who had and would part resources for the party work or even for supporting the lifestyle of those mattered in politics and in the party.

As the need for resources became a paramount factor, those who held purses could dictate their terms. Dedicated social workers could inspire people. Professionals could generate ideas to attract people but neither had resources to bribe voters. The emphasis on economic aspects of life for the past five decades has left an impact even on ordinary minds with enhanced avarice to the exclusion of other values of life.

More than half the members of the 15th Lok Sabha had given sworn claims that they possessed assets running over Rs 10 million.

In Haryana, the Congress had fielded 72 of 90 candidates whose assets were on an average of value of Rs 3 crore. The Indian National Lok Dal had 54 candidates, the Haryana Vikas Party had 49 candidates and the BJP 41 candidates whose assets were on an average worth Rs 20 million.

In Maharashtra the number of persons who own breweries, sugar mills or cooperatives or running business of educational institutes dominates in all four major parties of the state.

Yet another clear indication of the changed character of the party structure was provided by Rahul Gandhi. Like any multinational company that descends each year on India for recruitment of its future staff from the best known educational institutes, Rahul Gandhi has also been dispatching a team of trusted men and women for the recruitment of future leaders. The hand-picked candidates are to be trained before they are assigned new tasks. The old party men can have a chance only if they apply and pass the tests by the teams for recruitment.

Of course, it is argued that such a procedure would ensure that only meritorious candidates get the entry. It may be true but politics is not a service business or a service industry for which such a procedure can be helpful. The selection of ability can be a useful method but the question is: ability for what?

His method does not answer that question. In politics, only men and women who can inspire people to follow them can inspire them to vote also. For that they have to possess intrinsic knowledge of human mind and their social and economic needs.

It would have been more fruitful to turn to them than to pick up young Bairegowdas in Bangalore and Tripathis in Uttar Pradesh only because these recruited young men and women fulfilled three qualifications set up for their recruitment, education, merit and money.

Much more is required to reach the hearts and minds of people. Deformities have crept in because the doors remain shut to ideas but not to resources and also for those who can mobilise them.

How can state support homeopathy?
by Dominic Lawson

The Science and Technology Committee of the British House of Commons met on Monday to conclude its inquiry into alternative medicine. Its members were courteous, polite even to a fault, a far cry from the aggressive made-for-TV grandstanding of the equivalent Congressional bodies in the US; but by the end of a few brief sessions, they had reduced to intellectual rubble the multi-million pound pseudo-medical lobby known as homeopathy – and left equally ragged the regulators and ministers who connive in its skilful mystifications of the public.

In the 18th-century, when Samuel Hahnemann developed the principles of homeopathy, it had one outstanding merit. At a time when doctors readily prescribed mercury as a cure-all, and leeching was standard practice – the days before penicillin, before antibiotics, before streptomycin – a form of medicine which consisted of nothing more than the ingestion of small amounts of water (ceremonially "treated") was much better for the patient than most of the alternatives.

For this to be true it was not necessary to believe Hahnemann's theory: that most illnesses were the manifestations of a suppressed "itch" (a kind of miasma or evil spirit) and that one cured this by somehow finding the substance which caused the "itch" and then diluting it in water. Nor was it necessary to believe, as homeopaths claim to do, that the more you dilute this substance in the water, the more effective the treatment ("the law of infinitesimals") – that, in fact, the appropriate dose is water which has not one molecule of active ingredient in it, but simply "the memory" of it.

Normally, when there is some controversy about the efficacy of a form of medicine using public money, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence would investigate – but, strangely, it hasn't.

Still stranger was the reaction of the Health Minister, Mike O'Brien, when questioned by the Committee. He seemed to accept that the only provable benefit from homeopathic "remedies" was the placebo effect; but when asked if he personally approved of the idea of people being prescribed medicines which were known only to have that effect, he said "No".

Invited then to reject outright the idea of NHS funds being diverted into such "remedies" the Minister replied, "There is a level of public interest and controversy, and there is a strong medical lobby in favour of homeopathy and there is also government funding." Which, as an argument, is at best circular and at worst an admission that this is nothing to do with best medical practice and everything to do with lobbying power and politics.

When asked if there was any known benefit to homeopathic remedies, beyond the placebo effect (otherwise known as gullibility, the “Professional Standards Director and Superintendent" at Boots, Mr Paul Bennett, replied: "I have no evidence to suggest they are efficacious. It is about consumer choice for us and a large number of our customers actually do believe they are efficacious".

There is a perfectly sound commercial argument here and also one based on freedom of choice. Why shouldn't Boots make large profits selling high-priced, impressively-labelled, water tablets to hypochondriacs? .

A BBC Newsnight investigation three years ago revealed that high-street homeopaths routinely recommended their water-with-a-memory as a prophylactic against malaria.

I expect that when the Science and Technology committee releases its report in the next few weeks, it will recommend that the NHS ceases its funding of homeopathic "remedies". I equally expect the Government to carry on regardless: homeopathy has friends in very high places.

— By arrangement with The Independent