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Cross-border trade
Terror gets a new twist |
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Lessons in honesty Corruption breeds in weak institutions SHAMING India by naming it among the most corrupt countries in the world has failed to improve its ranking—in terms of improved standards of integrity among its denizens. Nor did the wholesale exposure of the corrupt by 24x7 blaring media could bring about a difference.
Will UP have President’s rule?
A dress dilemma
Railways: Full steam ahead
Looking for another Scindia
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Cross-border trade
THE exchange of pleasantries and platitudes between the commerce ministers of India and Pakistan notwithstanding, continued distrust, spurts of hostilities, the military’s dominance in Pakistani affairs and the Kashmir issue will not let bilateral trade grow to its full potential. Pakistan’s dithering on a negative list of items should not surprise anyone nor, for that matter, the delay in the grant of “most favoured nation” (MFN) status, which means treating India on a par with Pakistan’s other major trading partners. The Pakistani leadership, even if genuinely keen on promoting trade with India, finds it hard to carry along hardliners, including those in the army. The scope for bilateral trade is stupendous. Pakistanis can benefit from cheap Indian imports, particularly that of pharmaceutical, auto and consumer items. But the country’s leadership lets in fewer than 2,000 Indian items and only 108 by road. India’s economy and population are eight times bigger than Pakistan’s and India is growing economically (7% growth of GDP) at twice the rate of Pakistan (3.5%). Apart from the hardened positions of political opponents, religious fundamentalists and jihadis, a lobby of businessmen fears the onslaught of cheap Indian goods. India, on its part too, does not allow the import of Pakistani textiles. It insists on imposing arbitrary quality standards on Pakistani goods instead of adopting global norms. This is despite the fact that Indian exports amount to $2.3 billion of the total trade of $2.7 billion between the two countries. This is now proposed to be doubled by 2014. There are other issues that hinder the spread of trade: delays in visas, lack of cross-border banking and financing facilities, strict foreign direct investment regulations and absence of a mechanism to settle disputes. The movement of goods is limited to a single road route through Wagah. Many Indian and Pakistani goods are smuggled through other countries or illegal channels, raising costs for consumers and denying revenue to the two governments. This region will grow and prosper only if the walls of suspicion – no matter how high – are brought down though collective efforts.
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Terror gets a new twist
IT
is not surprising at all that Monday’s bomb blast in Delhi involving an Israeli Embassy car came soon after an unsuccessful attempt made at Israeli Embassy employees in Georgian capital Tbilisi. It remains to be investigated to find out the forces behind these terrorist attacks, but Tel Aviv has no doubt that it is the handiwork of terrorists linked to Tehran. Israel had recently warned its nationals visiting India that there was the possibility of such incidents occurring around March 12, the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Imad Mughniyah, a top leader of the Iran-supported Hezbollah outfit, operating from Lebanon. Tel Aviv had issued similar advisories in some other countries too. The Hezbollah and the Palestinian group Hamas have been giving sleepless nights to Israel even before the advent of Al-Qaeda and its associates like the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) on the horizon. There is the possibility that the Hezbollah, getting stronger with known Iranian support, had found recruits in India to harm Israeli interests in this country. Since the Hezbollah is a Shia outfit, it might have engaged destructive elements belonging to this section of society. If this angle has any meaning, LeT support to the Hezbollah plan cannot be ruled, though LeT is composed of extremist Sunnis only. This may be the Iranian way of paying the Israelis in the same coin after the killing of Tehran’s four nuclear scientists since 2010 allegedly by Israeli agents. It is also believed that Israel has a plan ready to launch a surprise attack on Iran’s controversial nuclear plants to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear bombs. Israel may do all it can to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities because it is afraid of Tehran more than any country in West Asia. And Tel Aviv may have silent support of its neighbours, too, who today appear to be more scared of Iran than Israel because of the strong sectarian factor having divided society in the region. India has to remain on the guard to prevent the Israeli-Iranian conflict affecting life in this country. The new angle being seen in the fight against terrorism may make the task of our security forces quite complicated. |
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Lessons in honesty
SHAMING
India by naming it among the most corrupt countries in the world has
failed to improve its ranking—in terms of improved standards of
integrity among its denizens. Nor did the wholesale exposure of the
corrupt by 24x7 blaring media could bring about a difference. Even the
Anna movement failed to leave a dent. We remain incorrigibly corrupt.
Now, the Central Vigilance Commission has a fresh brainwave to root
out corruption from the country, by drilling into the young the evils
of corruption. The anti-corruption watchdog has decided to include
lessons against corruption in school curriculum to promote ethics,
integrity and honesty and to make children aware about the menace of
corruption and its devastating effects on society. The Ministry of
Human Resource Development has agreed in principle and the courses
will be implemented in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)-affiliated
schools. All this sounds good, but the idea lacks novelty. Most schools impart lessons in moral science to its pupils, though, often these are used as a pretext to promote their respective religion or sect. Therefore, instead of inculcating higher values of truthfulness and integrity, the books on moral science end up giving biographical details of the gurus and saints. Forming integrity clubs in schools could be a good idea, but how will the CVC ensure that these clubs do not add up one more chapter in creating favourites among the pupils? Citing
the example of foreign countries is a common practice behind many such
schemes. But the countries rated high on the scale of integrity have
achieved so not by teaching good values in schools alone. Corruption
is a reflection of both social and political values as well as weak
institutions. If we want a society that deals in fairness and promotes
the deserving, we need to strengthen the systems by empowering people.
A beat constable should be empowered to pursue his duty, irrespective
of the powerful position of the offender. Unless implementers of the
system are made answerable at all levels — from top to bottom —
these simplistic solutions will not deliver us from the tag of being
one of the most corrupt nations on the globe. |
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A peace is of the nature of a conquest; for then both parties nobly are subdued, and neither party loser.
— William Shakespeare
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Will UP have President’s rule?
ALL
eyes are focused on the seven-phase Assembly elections in Uttar
Pradesh which began on February 8. The state, having one-sixth of
India’s population, has as many as 403 Assembly seats for grabs. The
UP elections received special attention from the Election Commission
(EC) because of a series of irregularities of various types taking
place in the state. The order of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) for covering the statues of Chief Minister Mayawati and of her party’s poll symbol, the elephant, throughout the state drew protests from Ms Mayawati and other BSP leaders. However, the order was justified by the CEC on the grounds that it was the EC’s responsibility to ensure a level-playing field for all the contesting political parties. During the electioneering process there were some interesting statements made by various party leaders. Speaking at Faizabad, BJP senior leader L.K. Advani said that his party would ensure that a grand Ram temple was constructed at Ayodhya and with the consent of all concerned. Mr Advani stated that he would not consider his political career as a success until a grand temple was built where Ram Lalla was born. He spoke of the Rath Yatra he started from Somnath to Ayodhya and also referred to the issue of black money kept by Indians in Swiss bank accounts. Though the counting of votes will take place on March 4, broad indications show how the wind is blowing. It is agreed by all pollsters and psephologists that there is no possibility of the ruling party retaining power in the state. In the 2007 Assembly elections, the BSP secured a clear majority of 205 seats and was able to form the ministry with Ms Mayawati, who calls herself a ‘Dalit ki Beti’, as Chief Minister. It was a miracle of democracy as former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao aptly put it. However, the miracle seems to be fading in UP. Pollsters do not believe that the BSP may emerge as the largest single party again, let alone coming up with a majority. The largest single party is expected to be the Samajwadi Party with about 125-127 seats. The BSP is expected to lose nearly 100 seats from its present tally. The Congress party is tipped to get about 78 seats while the BJP is expected to win between its present tally of 51 and 57 seats. The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) of Mr Ajit Singh, which is an electoral ally of the Congress, may get around 22 seats. Both parties thereby may reach a tally of about 100 seats, which will become a decisive factor in the process of forming the government. If the SP led by Mr Mulayam Singh and the Congress along with its ally RLD join hands and make a bid for power, it may work out in their favour since these three parties together are expected to secure more than 200 seats and that means a majority of the total number of Assembly seats in the UP Assembly. The picture, however, gets blurred with different claims and statements from various party leaders, particularly those of the Congress. Mr Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary of the Congress, speaking at Varanasi on February 4, reportedly said that the Congress would not tie up with “goons or thieves” to come to power in the state. He added that he was interested in ensuring the return of people’s dignity and pride. Mrs Priyanka Vadra, who has been campaigning in select constituencies, also said that Rahul was not after the post of Prime Minister and that the country already had an honest and able Prime Minister in Dr Manmohan Singh. If psephologists and pollsters prove correct in their predictions, the formation of a government with a working majority is possible when Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s SP and the Congress-RLD alliance join hands. But after the pronouncements of Mr Rahul Gandhi and Mrs Priyanka Vadra, that possibility appears doubtful, particularly if the Congress strictly stands by what Rahul and Priyanka have stated. It is unlikely that the SP or the BSP may consider joining hands with the BJP. And, in any case, the BJP joining with either the SP or the BSP may not lead to the magic figure of 200 plus. Does this mean that UP is heading for President’s rule? Once counting is over and the final scores of the various parties are formally announced, it is entirely possible that certain political parties, including the Congress, may seriously reconsider their stand and think of ways and means of avoiding President’s rule. President’s rule does not help the prospects of any political party. The political parties concerned, particularly the SP, the Congress and the RLD, have important stakes in ensuring the formation of a working alliance. In the event of the Congress standing by what Rahul has clearly stated, leading to the imposition of President’s rule in March/April this year, it may have serious repercussions on the parliamentary elections in 2014. The UPA coalition government, which was formed in 2004 and renewed in 2009, heavily depends on the support of regional parties like the DMK of Tamil Nadu and the Trinamool Congress of West Bengal. The Trinamool chief, Ms Mamata Banerjee, has become difficult in her attitude towards the UPA government at the Centre. She has gone to the extent of saying that she would welcome the exit of the Congress ministers from her coalition government in West Bengal. She has also fielded her candidates in UP and thereby made the chances of Congress difficult. In the south, the DMK leadership has spoken about reviewing its support to the Congress at the Centre since it is upset over the Supreme Court judgment holding Mr A. Raja totally responsible for all the irregularities in the award of the 2-G licences, which have now been cancelled. The SP’s support at the Centre is, therefore, absolutely necessary for the Congress in the 2014 elections. As things stand at present, the UPA-II has to get its mandate renewed. The Congress party’s alliance with the RLD and the induction of RLD leader Ajit Singh as a Cabinet minister looking after Civil Aviation last year, in fact, may have no meaning if that alliance is not put to optimum use in the post-electoral scene in UP. The leaders of the Congress and the RLD as well as the SP may, no doubt, discuss their strategy once the election results are out in the March first week and they decide their future course of action. And then one may find answers to the questions whether UP is heading for President’s rule or not, and whether the electoral picture is becoming more confused so far as the 2014 parliamentary polls are
concerned.
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A dress dilemma
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) stirred up a hornet’s nest sometimes ago when it decided to introduce a dress code under which all women players in future tournaments were required to wear skirts. Players not comfortable in skirts could wear shorts underneath; the international body had clarified to the member-countries. But the skirt rule, as it came to be known, became an issue of intense debate and raised a tsunami of protests all over the world. The intensity of protest was more in Asia where federations termed it as a cultural invasion. Therefore, those opposing the skirt ruling forced the world federation to convene an emergency meeting of the BWF to deliberate on the issue. The meeting took place at Copenhagen in Denmark, the Mecca of badminton. Since India was in the vanguard of protests, it got the first call to speak on the controversial issue. The Indian official demanded that Indian women players should be allowed to play in saris, matched with high-heeled sandals. After all, the sari symbolises the great Indian pride, the official insisted. It was revealed at the meeting that our players Saina Nehwal and Jwala Gutta had already endorsed the great Indian idea. As for men, they could play in dhoti, folded up, with a stripped kachcha (drawers) underneath to cover any (in)decent exposure. The participating delegates listened to this novel demand with bated breath and marvelled at the diversity of Indian culture. Now it was the turn of Pakistan. Its protest against anything Indian was soon too evident. The Pakistanis opposed the Indian preference for sari and dhoti. The official in turn demanded that their women players be allowed to play in salwar-kameez and hijab to showcase the true Pakistani culture. Their men could play in Pathani suits. The official claimed to have support from Pakistani players Umer Zeeshan and Wajid Ali, not a brother of Abid Ali, a former Indian cricketer. At this stage, BWF officials were seen murmuring to each other. Later, it was deciphered that they were pondering over a proposal to seek French President Nicolas Sarkozi’s help to tackle the Muslim problem. The cultural diversity was stretched to the limits when the Afghan official surrounded by gun-toting NATO troops stood up to state his country’s preference. Some officials trembled at the prospect of kidnapping and hijacking. The tall mustached official in a Pakhtoon dress, who was carrying an AK-74 assault rifle, told the visibly scared members that Afghanistan wanted their girls, if they are any, to play in black burqa while their men could play in a Pakhtoon dress with AK-47s hung on their shoulders, in case of any disputed line call. He wanted his players armed to the teeth to duck any drone attack. Most BWF delegates were horrified at this bizarre submission and wanted to abandon the meeting mid-way and run to safety, but they were persuaded to stay on. But there were pleasant moments too. The woman official from Brazil insisted that her players be allowed to play in thongs which would draw spectators and sponsors in hordes to badminton halls across the world. Well, their men could play in shorts, half-naked, as in beach volleyball. But the Danish delegate demanded that their girls be allowed to play in bikinis to sooth the nerves of spectators. This will also promote the game in all Scandinavian countries. Besides, it will cut the cost of tournaments and unnecessary expenditure on clothing. Since the views expressed by member-countries varied between too liberal and too extreme, the officials of the BWF decided to consign the skirt rule to the dustbin of history for
good.
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Railways: Full steam ahead The committee for modernisation under his chairmanship includes Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC, M S Verma, a former Chairman of the SBI, Prof Raghuram of the IIM, Ahmedabad, Rajiv Lal, MD of IDFC, and Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman of Feedback Infrastructure Services. The think tank proposes to prepare a road map for the Railways, which the successive Railway Ministers would, hopefully, abide by. While the Governance Board will go deep into the working of the Railways, and after due deliberations and discussions with most of the stake-holders give directions to the Railway Board for short and long term inputs, the Regulatory Authority would every year set the tariff for freight and passenger services, effectively depoliticising the working of the Railways. Apart from the long list of unviable projects costing over Rs. 80,000 crore still in the pipeline, a reserve of Rs 18,000 crore as available on April 1, 2008, under the Depreciation Reserve Fund, the Development Fund and the Capital Fund has been totally wiped out, thanks to some amazing acts of financial indiscipline. On account of low resource generation, the plan size for the year 2011-12 has been downsized by Rs. 9,076 core to Rs. 48,551 crore. At the same time the revised estimates for ordinary working expenses projected for the year are higher by Rs. 5,138 crore, a good 15.6 % over the budget estimates.
Past follies Undoubtedly the ‘good’ days are over and the time has come to “cut the coat to suit the cloth”. With no room for any half-hearted measures, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi will have to wield the scalpel with a heavy hand, cutting out flab wherever possible — not a very easy or a pleasant task! Undoing his predecessors’ follies — such as the creation of seven new zones by Nitish Kumar which added avoidable overheads — may not be feasible nor lowering the carrying capacity of the wagons to the original design capacity which had been raised in a most cavalier manner by Lalu Yadav for his now discredited turnaround story of Indian Railways. However, he can certainly place a moratorium for the next five years on new projects. The Pitroda committee has reportedly already prioritised projects costing Rs. 56,000 crore, which it would like the Railways to take up in the next five years, relegating the unviable ones to the back-burner. Facing an impending bankruptcy, with the operating ratio zooming past the !00% mark, Trivedi may be able to see the year 2012-13 through with a reported Rs. 3,000 crore one-time loan from the central exchequer, but his options are limited and it is well past the time for palliatives. A set of bold initiatives is called for, which needs him to be perceived as totally apolitical to carry the Railway Board and, most importantly, the 1.4 million-strong workforce with him! It’s time to get back to business with freight being given the pride of place in the Railway’s scheme of things. Unfortunately for any Railway Minister, the most popular moment for him in any rail budget is the announcement of new passenger trains. This needs to placed on hold until such time as the multi-crore Dedicated Freight Corridor in the Eastern and Western sectors gets operational. A tough call for any politician, but then Dinesh Trivedi is not exactly the dyed-in-wool variety – or is he ?
The writer is a former Member (Mechanical), Railway Board. Email: acharya@bol.net.in
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OF
all the political heavyweights who have adorned the corner room on the first floor of Rail Bhavan, Madhav Rao Scindia’s tenure stands out as the golden era, a benchmark difficult for anyone to reach! Being relatively quite junior in the political pecking order, Scindia took over the reigns of the then 1.7 million-strong behemoth only as a Minister for State in Rajiv Gandhi’s government. For the first year he set about getting to know the ropes and once he had got his bearings, knew the strengths and weaknesses of this vast organisation which had to play a vital role as the nation’s economic and industrial lifeline, there was no stopping him. His young and agile mind was quick to grasp what could be done in a short span of time and what was best left as a long-term initiative. Given his boyish charm, carrying the Railway Board mandarins with him was a cake walk! A world-class computerised reservation system which now delivers at the click of a mouse a whopping two million tickets daily from its 8,000 terminals located in over 700 major cities, scores of super-fast inter-city trains reaching passengers to city centres reliably and at a fraction of the cost of airlines are some of his initiatives which have stood the test of time . Aware of the need for a higher market share of freight business, he encouraged CONCOR ( Ccntainer Corporation) to run super-fast container trains from Delhi to Mumbai in 45 hours, in the process winning more than half the market share of valuable export cargos. CONCOR now boasts of a string of over 62 container depots. For him, none of the cheap gimmicks of running new trains or extending old ones at the drop of a hat! Though like any politician he knew that he had to take care of his constituency and in the process of introducing the first-ever Shatabdi Express, its run was extended beyond Agra to his constituency, Gwalior. Borrowing a page from the airlines, he radically improved on-board catering with not only packaged food but also provided electric ovens in pantry cars on each coach to enable passengers to enjoy hot meals while hurtling along at 110 kmph on a fast inter-city run of one of the Shatabdi Expresses. Realising the need for technocrats in this vast organisation to function without fear or favour in discharging their onerous responsibilities, Scindia provided an effective umbrella to eliminate political interference in their day-to-day functioning. He simply channelled all of people’s aspirations put forth by MPs and MLAs through parliamentary committees which he religiously chaired. Of course, decisions undertaken after due deliberations and consultations with those who ran the trains, were not only for the long-term benefit of the largest possible number of people, but also were cost effective, and last but not the least, were required to be completed in a given time-frame. Unfortunately, after Scindia bowed out , fortunes of Indian Railway took a nosedive. He was followed in quick succession by George Fernandes, Janeshwar Mishra and the inimitable Jaffer Sharif, whose now famous ‘Project Unigauge’ put the Railways firmly on the path of financial ruin. Coalition politics soon saw a long list of political stalwarts starting with Suresh Kalmadi, Ram Vilas Paswan , Nitish Kumar, Ram Naik, Mamata Banerjee, once again Nitish Kumar, Lalu Yadav, Mamata Banerjee and finally Dinesh Trivedi taking the stage, a total of 11 changes in the last 22 years! To Nitish Kumar goes the credit of a total disruption of the command and control structure of the Railways by creating overnight no less than seven new zones, taking the tally from a manageable nine to 16, adding avoidable overheads. Ostensibly to improve functional efficiency, it was against all sane advice given to him by no less than seven of the past Railway Board Chairmen. A mind-boggling backlog of Rs. 80,000 crore worth of projects — of which nearly 80% are unviable — is now stuck in the pipeline, and may take more than 30 years to be completed. In spite of promises made by each new incumbent of the Rail Bhavan to review these projects, prioritise and even jettison some of them by consultations, nothing much has materialised. With a looming financial crisis and the need to provide fast and safe transport at the lowest possible unit cost for both passengers and freight, the Railways is fast running out of options. Perhaps another ‘Scindia’ needs to materialise — the sooner the better! — R.C.Acharya
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New trains, extension of the run or increase in frequency of existing trains. n
New projects - even if these are to enhance section capacity. n
Surveys for new lines - which raise hopes for construction in the near future. n
New concessions on passenger tariff - there are already far too many concessions open to gross misuse. n
Station development projects - unless it is a Public Private Partnership initiative. What he should do n
Take up projects already in the pipeline, prioritised by Pitroda committee to be taken up in the next five years! n
Passenger tariffs should be raised to reflect inflation. Set up the Regulatory Authority to fix rail fares and freight. n
Brief details of proposed generation of financial resources. |
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SINCE coalition politics has come to stay here and successive Prime Ministers may not be able to resist even lightweight politicians from claiming the prized ministry of their choice, Railways, for extending support, the Sam Pitroda committee has proposed a brilliant solution in the form of a Governance Board and a Tariff Regulatory Authority. 
What Railway Minister should not do