|
|
|
|
|
Bail, not jail
The youngest boss at Tatas |
|
|
Helping hand FDI will aid ailing aviation sector No foreign airline is currently allowed to invest in Indian carriers, but this is set to change now as the government mulls over allowing foreign carriers to buy stakes in local airlines.
Dividing UP into four
To Mallya with apology
When cricket played a
big role in politics
A passage to England
A PRODIGIOUS TALENT
|
Bail, not jail While granting bail to five corporate executives, all of them accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, the Supreme Court of India on Wednesday laid down that the discretionary jurisdiction of the court must be exercised with great care.
A division bench comprising Justice G S Singhvi and Justice H L Dattu reiterated that “ bail is the rule and committal to jail an exception” before ruling that the right to bail “is not to be denied merely because of the sentiments of the community against the accused”. It would be improper for any court to refuse bail as a mark of disapproval of “former conduct or to give a taste of imprisonment as a lesson”, said the bench. Punishment, the bench remarked, begins after conviction and judicial custody during trial is ‘preventive’ and not punitive in nature. The purpose of such detention would be to ensure the presence of the accused for trial and to prevent the accused from tampering with evidence or witnesses. Once the investigation is completed, the evidence collected and the chargesheet filed, there would be no reason to deny personal liberty to the accused. Jurisprudence has normally frowned upon imprisonment during trial. An accused is never presumed to be guilty until he is convicted. ‘Bail, not jail’, therefore, is the principle followed by the courts. In recent years, however, trial courts and even the higher judiciary have appeared to favour detention during trial. The courts, while rejecting the bail applications moved by several accused in the 2G scam, held that the ‘gravity of the offence’ and the ‘enormous loss to the exchequer’ required the accused to be kept behind bars. The Additional Solicitor-General appearing on behalf of the CBI also argued that no bail should be granted in ‘corruption cases’. It is a dangerous argument because there would be no need for a trial if the chargesheet itself is assumed to be conclusive evidence of guilt. Significantly, the Police Commission has found that 60 per cent of the arrests being made are ‘unjustified’ and that a vast majority of the inmates in prisons are those who are awaiting trial and who have not been convicted. It is high time trial courts started applying their mind more judiciously instead of mechanically rejecting applications for bail. |
|
The youngest boss at Tatas As the keenly watched exercise to find a successor to Ratan Tata was under way, Cyrus Mistry was not among the hot contenders. Noel Tata, Ratan’s half brother, was the front-runner though the names of Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, Arun Sarin, formerly of Vodafone, and N.R. Narayana Murthy of Infosys had also figured in media speculation.
Management gurus recommend professionals over family members and relatives as CEOs to run today’s complex businesses. However, the Tatas have a tradition of picking one of their own for the top job. To their credit, they formed a committee, which held 18 meetings and carefully weighed the pros and cons before opting for Cyrus. Cyrus Mistry, who will be the second non-Tata after Naoroji Saklatvala to head the group, is a Parsi, is close to the outgoing boss and has age in his favour. At 43 he is a decade younger to Noel, has a good hands-on experience and keeps a low profile much like his father, Pallonji Mistry, who has excelled in construction business. The family has constructed the RBI building, the Taj hotel and the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai. Under Cyrus the SP group, as the family business is known, has built the country’s tallest residential complex, the longest rail bridge, the largest dry dock and the largest affordable housing project and its sales have risen from $20 million to $1.5 billion. Upholding the high ethical values the Tata group is known for, Cyrus has decided to quit the SP group post to take up his new assignment to avoid a clash of interest. Cyrus Mistry faces tough challenges. He will be regularly judged against the redoubtable Ratan Tata, who himself had to face comparisons with his predecessor, the legendry JRD Tata. Ratan has spread the $83-billion Tata group to 80 countries, taking huge risks with the acquisitions of Corus, Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley. Now 58 per cent of the group’s annual revenue is generated from operations outside the country. Managing this sprawling multi-national empire is a tremendous responsibility for any one. Cyrus Mistry has high expectations to live up to.
|
|
|
Helping hand No foreign airline is currently allowed to invest in Indian carriers, but this is set to change now as the government mulls over allowing foreign carriers to buy stakes in local airlines.
It is an indication of growing awareness of the dire straits that the industry is in that security concerns, which have always been at the forefront of rejecting such proposals, have been put on a backburner, even as there is an attempt to build a political consensus that would allow foreign direct investment in this sector. Airlines in India have been hit by multiple factors, including high aviation fuel prices, rupee depreciation, cut-throat competition and ill-timed decisions, which can be attributed to bad management. The bill for all this is estimated at $2.5 billion in the fiscal year. No wonder, private airlines are keen on this measure: Kingfisher Airlines has a net loss of Rs 468 crore, Jet Airways Rs 713 crore and SpiceJet Rs 240 crore for the second quarter of the current fiscal year. The government-owned Air India has been bleeding, too, and has sucked in billions of rupees from public funds to keep flying. FDI has been allowed in the aviation sector, but foreign carriers are barred from having a direct or indirect stake in a domestic carrier. It is only logical to allow FDI by foreign airlines, provided they meet the security concerns of the nation. The proposal by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion to allow 26 per cent FDI by foreign airlines is at variance with another proposal by the Ministry of Civil Aviation which has mooted for 24 per cent FDI. Such differences can and should be ironed out. The aviation sector direly needs both funds as well as other measures that would allow it to get out of the turbulent situation that it finds itself in. When you reach out for a helping hand, it doesn’t really matter whether it is foreign or domestic.
|
|
|
By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach. — Winston Churchill
|
Dividing UP into four UTTAR PRADESH Chief Minister Mayawati’s proposal to divide the country’s most populous and politically key state into four units is both a “masterstroke” and a “pre-poll political gimmick”.
It has sent her opponents into a tizzy and, at the same time, ensured that the issue would divert attention from her tacky track record, especially in relation to corruption and crime, on which the Congress party’s chief campaigner, Rahul Gandhi, has been concentrating. But then, true to her style, she blotted her copybook by seeing through the resolution on the subject in the state assembly without a single minute’s discussion by voice vote, brushing aside as “irrelevant” a motion of no-confidence against her on the ground that the legislature had passed a money bill, and adjourned the House indefinitely in a matter of minutes. This has inevitably become the focus of a united onslaught on her by all the Opposition parties, but she seems unperturbed. She has declared that her immediate task is to forward the assembly’s decision to the Centre so that Parliament can take a call, as required by the Constitution. And, more by innuendo than explicitly, she has stated that she has followed procedures the assembly has witnessed several times when other parties were in power. Her angry critics are threatening to go to the state Governor and, if necessary, to the President. Whatever the outcome of these moves and counter-moves, on the merits of what Ms Mayawati has suggested there is a case. Nor is it the first occasion when the idea of slicing UP has been articulated. It was way back in 1956 that K. M. Panikkar, one of the three members of the States Reorganisation Commission, had, in a note of dissent, pleaded for the bifurcation of UP on the ground that it was too large to be administered efficiently and effectively. He also argued that because of its sheer size it was wielding undue influence at the federal Centre. But the Congress, with its huge majority in both Parliament and the state assembly then, summarily rejected the idea. Govind Ballabh Pant, then Union Home Minister, who piloted the entire exercise of redrawing the country’s political map along linguistic lines, declared: “This land of Ganga and Yamuna, Rama and Krishna would never be divided.” Yet, things have changed since then. In 2000, hill districts of UP were carved out into the state of Uttarakhand. Now the demand is for dividing the plains into four – Paschim Pradesh (also called Harit Prant) in western UP, Poorvanchal or eastern UP, Avadh or central UP, and Bundelkhand in southwest UP which is unquestionably the most backward part of the currently sprawling state. It is the move’s timing that has irked her critics who are complaining that she is playing electoral politics. But it cannot be overlooked that in 2007 she had recommended exactly the same proposal to the Union government that took no notice, leave alone action on it. Today, all three major parties arrayed against her in UP, the Samajwadi party, the BJP and the Congress, are in dismay because the four-sided division does not suit any of them. Only SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, however, has opposed the idea tooth and nail because his followers are not as evenly spread over the four proposed states as the Chief Minister’s Dalit followers are. The two mainstream parties are in a quandary because outright opposition to division could be counterproductive. There may have been no agitation for UP’s reorganisation but there are strong feelings for separation, especially in western UP and Budelkhand. It is, therefore, no exaggeration to say that at a time when the battle of the ballot in the state has already begun, Ms Mayawati has bowled a googly that has stumped her opponents. She is able to argue that she is motivated only by the best interest of the people. Four small states would mean better administration, quicker development and closer contact between the rulers and the ruled. Initially, the BJP was quick to jump on the bandwagon and express itself in favour of small states. But it is now having second thoughts because of reasons others might call communal. It is the Congress, however, that is worst affected. Apart from everything else, as the controversy over the reorganisation of UP gathers momentum, the ongoing agitation for the creation of Telangana will be intensified, and that’s where the rub lies. For on no other issue has the core of the ruling coalition in New Delhi given itself a certificate of indecision, dithering and incompetence as over Telangana. Leave alone its long-standing commitments to Telangana as a separate state since 2001, it conceded Telangana in December 2009 when the chairman of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR), was on hunger strike. Thirteen days later it backtracked because of vigorous opposition to the bifurcation of Andhra in regions other than Telangana. It then took recourse to what every government does to buy time. It appointed the Justice Srikrishna committee whose non-committal report has been gathering dust for a whole year. The Congress leadership then went through an elaborate charade of “consultations with all stakeholders” but still couldn’t come to any decision. On the way back from the Maldives Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the media that in the absence of a consensus Telangana could not be conceded. He surely knows that there would be no consensus within Andhra for eternity. On top of this has come the bigger problem of UP. Unending delay in taking any position on it is going to be the most likely response of the Congress. However, the Telangana is not the only nettle that needs to be grasped. There are also demands for Vidarbha – which had a separate Vidrabha Congress Committee even in the days of the Mahatma – and Gorkhaland. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been telling the Vidarbha Congressmen that whatever was done for Telangana would be done for them, too! Isn’t this situation ripe for the appointment of a second States Reorganisation Commission? This might lead to several more demands for separate states. But it is better that all these be examined and decided upon once and for all, rather than let street agitations and violence sprout in various parts of the country. Thereafter, the issue of states reorganisation can be closed for another half a
century.
|
||
To Mallya with apology Despite Kingfisher Airlines having reached the stage when it could be declared Kangal Carriers any time, the chairman of the sinking company, Vijay Mallya, refused to accept any bailout package. He remarked in his usual flamboyant style that as a “showman” he thrived more on innovation than on donation, no matter what quarter it might come from.
The cash-strapped airline will once again soar high into the skies owing to his innovative spirit. He brushed aside the criticism that his king-size lifestyle and over-indulgence in pursuits like the Formula I race and the IPL matches had led to the company finding itself in difficult straits. An unruffled Mallya announced to the media that his new idea would bring him billions, if not trillions. Elaborating, he said from now on Kingfisher would fly to destinations like Paris, London and Frankfurt, which hold fashion shows and film premiers round the year. In addition, it will fly young men and women to places like Perth and Washington, which hold annual gay parades. However, only singles who are ready to mingle without a jingle will be allowed to board such flights. Mallya disclosed that the airlines had received a super-hot response from singles and spinsters. It is heard that some husbands also approached Mallya to be allowed on such flights during their wives’ absence. But Mallya is tight-lipped on giving any concession to spouses with double standards. “Either wear a sexy flowery check-shirt and a Bermuda on a beach like him or wash utensils at home”, he is reported to have told a friend in private. Throwing the bait further for those with dreams in their eyes, Mallya announced with a ring of airhostesses around him that once the aircraft was airborne, all caution would be thrown to the winds. A passenger can mingle with any single. Kingfisher aircraft will have swanky bars and discos on board replete with imported wines and whiskeys. The aircraft will be full of singles and spinsters. Complimenting himself, Mallya boasted of turning the company from a low-cost carrier to a high-end airline with such bold moves as may leave some in the government red-faced. He, however, hurriedly clarified that the aircraft would be painted red to gel with his red light spirit. Though his airhostesses were the smartest, Mallya was not happy with their desi wear. So, now they will serve all on board in a new and more attractive wear. The move is sure to bring him more funds for his financially troubled airline. This bold move has caught the fancy of most bachelors in India and abroad. It is learnt that the organisers of fashion shows have offered to reserve tickets for their young brigades. Mallya has no dearth of ideas to ensure that his new-generation venture remains
airborne. |
||
When cricket played a big role in
politics This could not quite have been foreseen in that August and September 43 years ago, though there had been enough political chicanery in the preceding year to indicate that huge issues were at stake. D’Oliveira, who died last week at the age of 80, was at the centre of the bitter affair which came to bear his name. After making a magnificent 158 for England in the final Test of the Three weeks of accusation and recrimination followed (which have never been wholly eradicated). It was a dispute that had been brewing for a year. South Africa, still intent on pursuing its racial policy, had made it clear through cricketing and diplomatic channels that if D’Oliveira was selected, they would not allow the tour to proceed. He had grown up as a so-called ‘Cape Coloured’ in the Bo-Kaap area on the outskirts of Cape Town. Against all odds, he had made a new home in England, had forged an improbably successful career as a professional cricketer and become an outstanding Test player. There was fury when he was overlooked for the tour after a six-hour meeting and it refused to subside. Although hindsight suggests that there were, if only just, cricketing grounds for D’Oliveira’s omission, they were devoured by the indignation all around. MCC, which was still running English cricket then, was accused of bowing to the wishes of a heinous regime. When Tom Cartwright, a seam bowler, withdrew from the team in mid-September, the selectors replaced him with D’Oliveira, a batsman who bowled but was not an all-rounder in the truest sense. Immediately the tour was called off by South Africa’s Prime Minister, John Vorster. It was deeply ironic that MCC, viewed in England as the Tory party at play as much as the Church of England was the Tory party at prayer, were seen as more or less left-wing plotters in South Africa. England did not play South Africa again until 1993, after apartheid was dismantled. An entire generation might have passed but without the D’Oliveira Affair, who knows how long it would have taken? It was that affair which caused the world to examine the South African government’s policy closely for the first time and develop a dislike for what it saw. It is easy to overlook the splendour of D’Oliveira as a cricketer. He came to England in 1960 as a professional with Middleton in the Central Lancashire League. That was still the era when small-town clubs employed illustrious overseas players; the unknown South African was patently not one. His journey there had been, not unnaturally, difficult. On the matting and scrubland pitches on which he was allowed to play around Cape Town, he was an outstanding cricketer, a local legend. Anxious to better himself and knowing that it would never be possible in his homeland, he wrote to the writer and commentator John Arlott. He could not have chosen a more receptive or appreciative audience. Arlott, having satisfied himself of D’Oliveira’s cricketing worth, took it upon himself to find him employment. Eventually, he was taken on by Middleton. He always pulled through, and again and again he proved himself to be a man for a crisis. By the end of the season his League batting average was slightly higher than that of Garry Sobers. Word spread, and although Lancashire were foolish enough to turn him down, he was recruited by Worcestershire at the behest of Tom Graveney, with whom D’Oliveria had played on an International World Tour in 1962. D’Oliveira was to make a more or less immediate impact at Worcester. He was a batsman of easy, orthodox, side-on technique, although he had never been coached. His footwork was sound and his wrists were made of steel. But it was his temperament which set him apart. A year after making his county debut, he was picked by England, having applied for a British passport a few years earlier. He was staunch against a strong West Indies side in his first summer, made his first century against India the following season and was part of the team. By then D’Oliveira had trimmed three years off his age and he also learned to like a drink, having been a teetotaller for most of his life. On the tour of West Indies in 1967-68 it was to cause consternation. His performances were poor. In some quarters, where there was an eye on the South Africa tour the following winter, this was a cause of some relief. It reduced the likelihood of D’Oliveira playing. The summer of 1968 was odd. The selectors kept faith with him for the First Ashes Test but then he was dropped despite a fighting, unbeaten 87. His form fell away, undoubtedly affected by the controversy already surrounding the composition of that winter’s tour party. Eventually, D’Oliveira was recalled for the final Test only as the third-choice replacement. Somehow he cleared his mind. He made the hundred after England were in early trouble and on the last afternoon he took the wicket which provoked Australia’s final collapse and allowed England to draw the series 1-1. There were to be more days in the sun. He played his part in regaining the Ashes in 1970-71 under Ray Illingworth; he went on to become Worcestershire’s coach. But those three weeks in 1968 were what enshrined him. — The Independent
|
|
D’Oliveira
was about to give up on cricket when he hit on a desperate idea. Because of the colour of his skin, he would never be allowed to play for South Africa and club-level cricket was as far as it would go, he realised. He wanted to get out and make a career as a cricketer but was resigned to his life as a printer’s assistant. For years he had tried various approaches to play in England but was rejected or ignored at every turn. Then he wrote to John Arlott, the great English cricket writer, who was above all a humanitarian. D’Oliveira and Arlott began a correspondence, some of which is revealed in Peter Oborne’s 2004 biography of the cricketer. "Forgive me for chasing you again," D’Oliveira writes. "I suppose you will be infuriated with me for writing another letter to you." But Arlott replied: "I know how keen you are and I wish I could do more." Arlott contacted John Kay of the Manchester Evening News, an aficionado of League cricket in Lancashire. Kay at first wrote: "I am very much afraid there is no hope of a League post for D’Oliveira next summer. He lacks what the clubs term crowd appeal." Arlott persisted: "I feel that if he could get an appointment it would be a great thing for non-white sport in South Africa. I think that asking him over here might change the sporting and to some extent the political face of South Africa, which seems to me to be very worthwhile." Suddenly, out of the blue, Wes Hall, the titanic West Indies fast bowler, was forced to withdraw from his contract with the Middleton club. Arlott wrote to D’Oliveira: "Now I have an offer for you to play as a professional in England. I cannot pretend that this job would be an easy one. You would be expected to bear a fairly heavy share of the bowling through these long afternoon matches and the professional is normally expected to carry the main weight of the batting too." D’Oliveira’s reply read: "I do appreciate that it will be quite an uphill battle coming from the matting on to the turf. However I will practise four times a week on a turf wicket. There is so much at stake for non-white sport in South Africa that I am quite prepared to face anything." He was not there yet and it took fundraising on a grand scale among his friends and neighbours to pay for his passage to England. But he was, finally, on his way. — The Independent |
|
In many ways the South African government’s imperious fatwa that it would not allow a ‘coloured’ Basil D’Oliveira to play Test Cricket in South Africa was the beginning of the end for the apartheid regime. Endowed with huge talent, Oliveira would have played for South Africa in his teens if only he was born ‘White'. But he had the wrong colour, was born in the wrong country and at the wrong time. Hence, he was allowed to play only in the Non-White League in Cape Town. He soon became a local legend, once hitting seven sixes and a four in an over of eight balls then. In yet another match, Oliveira scored an unbelievable 225 runs in 75 minutes out of the team’s total of 236 runs. Although he lied about his age and managed to start his cricketing career all over again at the ripe, old age of 30 in England, he scored a staggering 20,000 runs at an average of 40.46, hit 45 centuries and picked up 551 wickets with his medium-pace. He ended up playing 44 Tests, scored six centuries and took 47 wickets when Test matches were far fewer. What he would have achieved if he had started playing like others in his teens, is anybody’s guess. But it is a tribute to the cricketer that England and South Africa now play for the Basil D’Oliveira Trophy when they play Test matches. A stand in the Worcestershire ground is also named after him.
|
||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Even
No