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Politics over Presidency
The actor has a point |
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Unseemly spectacle
Pakistan’s tottering economy
In praise of father
CINEMA: NEW Releases
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Politics over Presidency
UPA Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee’s victory by a wide margin is now assured as he has got support even from unexpected quarters: the Janata Dal (United), the Shiv Sena and the CPM. Whether it is reforms or the Presidential election, the BJP refuses to rise above petty politics and play the role of a responsible national party by standing for what is in the larger interest of the nation. A political consensus on distinguished candidates enhances the dignity of the offices of President, Vice-President and Lok Sabha Speaker. Politicking diminishes their stature. A contest for the sake of a contest does not make the country a better democracy. Short-sighted, graceless politicians sometimes dictate terms to their parties and the political fight tends to get dirty. Pranab Mukherjee is a formidable parliamentarian and fully deserves to occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan. The CPM is doing him a disservice if it supports him just because he is from West Bengal. NDA allies do themselves no honour if they oppose him just because he is from the ruling alliance. Their candidate, P.A. Sangma, is a respectable leader known for his creditable performance as the Lok Sabha Speaker. But why is he itching for a fight when his own party has abandoned him? He is not the first choice of the BJP, which tried to cajole A.P.J. Abdul Kalam to a contest. But the former President did not want to stoop to a contest to get a second term and in the process emerged taller. Though the UPA has earned a bad reputation for mishandling its allies, at least in the Presidential election it did not let the Trinamool Congress have its way. By rejecting Mamata Banerjee’s choice, fielding Pranab and managing Mulayam Singh, the UPA leadership stopped stubborn allies from muddying waters this time. On the contrary, the BJP could not reach a consensus on anyone. NDA unity stands bruised with JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar declaring his support for Pranab. The Shiv Sena too has made it clear that it can take its own decisions. Even though the outcome of the Presidential election is known, the future of the existing political alignments is not.
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The actor has a point
Aamir Khan
the social activist has deposed before a Parliamentary Standing Committee, recommending doctors prescribe generic drugs, as opposed to branded ones. Many in the medical fraternity have questioned his credentials for speaking on the subject, which he took up in his extremely popular TV programme, “Satyameva Jayate”. As for the actor Khan’s role, he has done nothing wrong — in using his image to highlight an acknowledged malpractice being ignored since long as he has only done public service. It is now up to the stakeholders to do something about it. The medicine market is indeed bad. Aamir’s detractors have cited the WHO to say 25-45 per cent generic drugs produced in India are spurious. There is a flipside to this — it means at least 60 per cent of the generic drugs, which are available at a fraction of the cost of branded ones, are up to the mark. That is what the entire medical system, including the government and private players, has to work on to provide cheap and reliable drugs to the poor. A mechanism has to be evolved to provide the genuine generic drugs (patent-free medicines sold under the salt name, rather than brand) with a stamp of quality that people may be able to identify. The move to set up Jan Aushadhi outlets by the government to sell verified generic drugs was the ideal solution. However, the outlets thus far are too few. As things stand today, the entire pharmaceutical chain — from the producer, the doctor to the chemist — is fouled. And in a country where there are nearly 10 lakh shops selling drugs, there are hardly a thousand inspectors to check the quality. The Drug Controller-General of India says more than 3,000 are required. India is a major pharmaceutical exporter too, supplying medicines in bulk to UN programmes at some of the cheapest rates in the world. Just as foreign buyers visit the Indian factories to check the quality before placing orders, so can the government to start a labelling process. We have ketchup and air-conditioners stamped by government food or standards organisations, but not life-saving drugs!
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Unseemly spectacle
Pragmatism
seems to have prevailed over conventional wisdom in Indian tennis — Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are not going to the London Olympic Games as a team. Beginning in 1996, the two competed in four Olympic Games in the men’s doubles event as partners and never won a medal, not even in Sydney-2000, probably their best chance. They had reached the final of all four Grand Slam events the previous year, winning two. It was around this time that cracks began to appear in the partnership — the reasons were as varied as ego, choice of coaches and, as whispered in the tennis circles, even women. They came back together frequently, especially when playing for the nation, and reached the semifinals of Athens-2004 and quarterfinals of Beijing- 2008 Olympics. They also won gold medals at the 2002 and 2006 Asian Games. But a mere bronze at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, when their combined age was 73, suggested that their days as a team were over, especially as they’d failed to end their squabbling. Thus, the original decision by the All-India Tennis Federation (AITA) to send them to London as a team was quite mystifying. How could two ageing — though still competitive — players who didn’t like or trust each other, had not hit balls or even talked since 2011, forge a strong combination 40 days from now? First Bhupathi and then Paes threatened to pull out of the Olympics, scored points over each other through the media and invoked the interests of the country. Finally on Thursday, the AITA sensibly split the old Olympics firm of Paes-Bhupathi and decided to send two men’s teams — Bhupathi-Rohan Bopanna and Paes-Vishnu Vardhan. Bhupathi wanted this, Paes did not as partnering the lowly Vardhan diminishes his chances. Thus, to mollify him, the mixed doubles team of Bhupathi-Sania Mirza, winners of the recent French Open, has been broken. Paes-Sania would represent India at the Olympics. A sound decision was followed by an unsound one, an unseemly spectacle was played out publicly — all in the name of the nation.
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Trees love to toss and sway; they make such happy noises. —Emily Carr
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Pakistan’s tottering economy
A
few weeks earlier — much before the political crisis following the Pakistan Supreme Court disqualifying Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani — the Finance Minister of Pakistan submitted its fifth budget (a record in this country’s history, happening for the first time!) after the release of its Economic Survey a day before. While the budget goes deeper into the allocations and deficit in the current financial year (2012-13), the Economic Survey highlights the successes and failures of the previous year (2011-2012). What is the economic situation of Pakistan today and what is it likely to be during this year? First, a review of the Economic Survey is necessary before forecasting where Pakistan’s economy is heading towards. The Finance Minister has attempted to present a brave face and rework the numbers in comparison with the previous year, to highlight that though he has not achieved the target he had set the previous year, there was a better performance (even if it is marginal) than the previous year. Consider the following relating to the performance of the economy during the last year. While the target of economic growth was 4.2 per cent in 2011-12, Pakistan ended with 3.7 per cent. However, the Finance Minister would convince the country and the rest of us that still the economic performance was better than the previous year — 2010-11. Sector by sector, the result and the explanation is the same — the target was not achieved, but there was a marginal increase in growth when compared to the previous year. Worse, the government gave three reasons for the failure to achieve the targets — all of them are external. Pinning down the outside factors — war on terrorism, international slowdown and floods as reasons for not being able to reach the economic target — externalise the problem and save the government from doing a thorough audit of what went wrong and what needs to be done. For example, there was a special section in the previous survey on the “Cost of War on Terror for Pakistan Economy” linking the WoT to declining investment climate, rising unemployment, reduced tourist inflow, etc. Coming back to the latest economic survey, it is clear there has been a slowdown in all major sectors in terms of the original target, though most of the sectors have performed marginally better than last year. For example, the agricultural sector, with a target was 3.4 per cent, grew by 3.1 per cent during 2011-12. Growth (or the failure of it) in this sector is the most important, as it is the mainstay of Pakistan’s economy and, more importantly, employs the bulk of Pakistan’s labour force (nearly 45 per cent), especially belonging to the rural population. Same is the case with the manufacturing sector; though it fell marginally short of the expected target, its performance of 3.5 per cent during 2011-12 was better than what it had achieved during the previous year — a paltry 1.5 per cent during 2010-11. There is a pattern to the PPP narrative — though Pakistan has failed to reach the target during the current year, it was better than last year and, more importantly, the real factors which have prevented Pakistan from performing better during the year that got over were external. Is there an element of truth in what the Finance Minister referred to — the international economic situation, WoT and natural disasters as the reasons for the slow growth rate? Or are there other structural problems within Pakistan’s economy that would pull down its growth this year, irrespective of an improvement in the above three external factors? Though the PPP government would like to externalise the economic problems, the real issue is the government, since assuming power in 2008, has failed to address includes the following: tackling the energy crisis, reorienting the public enterprises, reducing the fiscal deficit and creating adequate infrastructure. These factors have not only affected the economic performance so far, but would also impinge on the projected target growth for 2012-13. The energy crisis is perhaps the biggest problem that Pakistan is facing; in fact, bigger than the security fallouts of the war on terrorism. There is a serious shortage of energy — from electricity to gas; during the last few months there has been continuous load-shedding affecting the manufacturing sector, and the day-to-day activities. There were a series of revolts, especially in Punjab, against load-shedding and non-availability of gas. The Chief Minister of Punjab had even warned of a revolution and linked load-shedding to a form of terrorism! Anyone who visits Pakistan today would notice the mile-long queues in front of gas stations. Subsequent governments — led by the PPP, the PML-N and the military — have to share the responsibility for the prevailing energy crisis. Despite the opportunity to attract external investment, the energy sector is one of the most misgoverned sectors today in Pakistan, coupled with corruption. Though the independent power producers and other institutions have the capacity to generate adequate power, a combination of vendetta politics, greedy leaders/officials and bad governance have made the energy sector perform far below its potential, causing a serious ripple effect on the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. The manufacturing sector, especially the big industries, are dependent on the energy sector; the decline in the performance of this sector further affects the agricultural sector of Pakistan and the country’s exports. The agricultural sector is both a consumer and raw-material provider to manufacturing industries. Exports, especially garments, one of the principle revenue earners, has slowed down, increasing the current account deficit. According to the economic survey, trade deficit is $ 12.68 billion this year (compared to $ 8.49 Billion last year). Worse, there is a steep drop in foreign direct investment; according to the survey the decline during the 2011-12 period was over 48 per cent. While the FDI during 2010-11 was around $ 1293 million, it almost halved to $ 668 million during 2011-12. Had it not been for the remittances, which were comparatively better than last year’s, the current account deficit would have reached an alarming situation. According to the survey, there was a 25 per cent growth in the remittances during 2011-12. Will the situation improve during 2012-13? A closer look at the budget presented by the Finance Minister early this month would reveal that it was actually aimed at the forthcoming elections, hence populist rather than addressing serious imbalances in Pakistan’s economy. First and foremost, the present budget is a deficit one; all budgets in our part of the world are deficit ones, but there is a clear strategy to plug the deficit or hopes based on reason and rationality. How will the Pakistan government be able to narrow down the budget deficit? Will the Americans underwrite it? Will the IMF bail out again? With Pakistan being seen as a part of the problem in Afghanistan, neither the US nor the rest of the international community is too keen to invest in Pakistan, thereby reducing the current account deficit. With no programme to restructure the macro-economic sector, the IMF would also be reluctant to bail it out, thereby helping Pakistan to narrow the budget deficit. What will Pakistan do, especially the present government, facing an election shortly? Where is Pakistan’s economy heading for?n The writer is Director, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi.
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In praise of father We had a surprise guest at our house in Chandigarh during the summer vacations this year. The guest was a Colonel in the Artillery Regiment in the Indian Army posted at Raipur in Chhattisgarh. Surprise was not in receiving this guest after such a long time but to find his son, who was born differently abled, oozing confidence and showing great zest for life. What had brought about this metamorphosis? As I tried to find that out, we saluted the spirit of a father who as a coincidence visited us on the eve of Father’s Day. He narrated his story thus that when his son was just five months old, doctors in Chennai diagnosed him with “down syndrome” symptoms. All hell loosened on the family as the Colonel’s father, who by then had retired from the Army, was convalescing on his bed as he had suffered a paralytic stroke. Continuing, the Colonel said that serving in the Indian Army teaches one to fight against all odds and prepares us against most hopeless situations. And this is the time he decided to accept the unusual challenge and groom his son to excel in life. One could see the same glee and pride in the eyes of the father as we see when these brave Army personnel win wars, as he told our family that his son had won a bronze at Special World Olympics at Athens in 2011. Now he is targeting a gold at next Summer Special Olympics, the proud father went on to say. The path to winning ways was most gruelling. The real story of Colonel Yadoo Suri, his wife Darshika and son Rishab had a twist here as all schools refused to admit their son, and there was no special school for such children. The child used to cry “school for me” and it was becoming difficult for the family to take questions. Luckily for the family, they located a Special School run by the Army for such children when they moved to Jodhpur in Rajasthan for the new posting. While most students used to cycle to school, Rishab failed to manoeuvre the simple machine and fell each time he tried his hands on it. As this was making him forlorn and aloof, the family decided to make him a swimmer. The proud father says that swimming is one skill which comes naturally to all human beings and even a small child can swim easily after shedding phobia. Our mission is to open a special school in the hills to groom such special children to face disability. As the family showed us the medals won by the special child before parting company, we were left dumbfounded when the child muttered “Dad Tujhe Salaam”! With moist eyes, I at once recalled a beautiful poem by an anonymous poet: “Don’t laugh at me, /don’t call me names. /Don’t get your pleasure from my pain. /In God’s eyes we’re all the same. /Someday we’ll all have perfect wings. /Don’t laugh at
me.”
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CINEMA: NEW Releases
Gangs, guns & gore Once
there was a clear cut divide between parallel cinema and its commercial counterpart. Today the lines are blurring fast. Yet there are makers like Anurag Kashyap whose cinema stands apart for it off-beat subjects, refreshing treatment and directorial finesse.
Expectedly, the much talked about Gangs of Wasseypur that has been making a buzz ever since it was screened at Cannes Film Festival cuts a ground that is not often seen in Bollywood films. So, virtues be damned…. here people are vicious and revengeful who want their pound of flesh and will go to any length to get it. Indeed, those of us who have grown up on Amitabh Bachchan films are not unfamiliar with revenge sagas. What makes Kashyap's revenge tale inspired from movies like Quentin Tarantino albeit set in erstwhile Bihar a cut above the rest is that it almost turns into a socio-economic comment of the times it spans. Yet, it doesn't do so in a boring documentary style even though some footage of historic moments like the Independence Day and the Emergency is interspersed in between. It captures the essence of different eras through authentic flavour of settings, attention paid to details and musical pieces for which composer Sneha Khanwalkar gets full marks. Besides, the film moves at a suitable pace and even its long length doesn't turn into its nemesis. Of course, those of us used to a linear narrative are likely to get a trifle befuddled in the maze of multiple characters. Add to it generation leaps (there are two happening) and the film demands your full attention all the time. Blink and you miss not just a scene rather the whole plot, more so in the beginning where it takes a while to soak in who is against whom? So you learn it's two sub-sects of Sunni Muslims who are daggers drawn. While you get engaged in the sagas of dacoits who loot trains and the fact that one of them, Shahid Khan moves away to Dhanbad, where in the world of coal mafia he earns new enemies, it often becomes hard to keep track. More so with action and violence happening around. But superlative performances, cinematography, wry often crass humour and Kashyap's unusual directorial style gets you going. Manoj Bajpayye as Sardar, the son of Shahid whose only mission in life is to seek revenge fits into his part effortlessly. The others that leave an indelible mark are Richa Chadda as Sardar's (Bajpayee) first wife and Nawazuddin Siddiqui who impresses with his brief shouldering presence as Sardar's son. May be he has more to do in the second part. Now, this is where lies the rub… The film that as it is packs in so many periods doesn't really end in the conventional storytelling way. Kahani abhi baaki hai… for it has a second part which shall be released later in the year. The directorial strength, however, lies in how while keeping you hungering for more, Kashyap manages to make a high voltage cinematic statement with this one too. Not for the faint-hearted though, especially those who eschew violence and have no ear and stomach for expletives with which the film abounds all the way through.
Lost in time Probably
Priyanka Chopra never left the frames of Dostana, never got a new hair-cut after Anjana Anjaani, did not touch her wardrobe and has not taken that sexy-mushy look off her face. And Shahid Kapoor, someone please tell the chocolate-face hero - mausam badal gaya hai, tum bhi badlo. With this observation rolls out Teri Meri Kahaani, a movie directed by Kunal
Kohli.
First, adjust yourself to the time machine because the minute you get comfortable watching Javed (Shahid Kapoor) falling in love with Aradhana (Priyanka Chopra) amidst the freedom struggle of 1910, the director plans to take the narrative, rather throws it, in 1960, with Govind falling again in love with Rukhsar, the actress. Then the love birds are transported to the modern era. Will someone let love settle somewhere! Thanks to moving back and forth, the story loses its grip. Shahid Kapoor tries to pull off the script with his shayari, but somewhere we miss the real Kamina. Coming to the actress, Priyanka Chopra, please tell her to deliver something different. Turning the radar on to the supporting actors, Prachi Desai and Neha Sharma, have delivered appreciable performances. If you get tired of switching between time frames, focus on the costumes designed by Manish Malhotra. Something is better than nothing; at least Teri Meri Kahaani throws some light on the clothes of the three eras! If nothing seems to hold your attention still, hear the music by Sajid Wajid. Mukhtasar and Allah Jaane offer some respite for sure. If you missed Mausam and Dangerous Ishqq, this one is an amalgamation of both.
Brave enough for this one? Animation
films these days come in different shapes and sizes, all trying to be different, inventive and human, but often falling on their faces. Brave doesn’t exactly fall on its face but comes pretty close to doing so.
Pixar Studios has a big reputation and so does Disney, then why this glitch? In trying to project Princess Meida (voice of Kelly Macdonald) as a mod woman living in a Scottish kingdom of Dun Broch, wanting to choose her own husband, the directors Mark Adams, Brenda Chapman and Steve Purcell give her too much exposure (read footage) and don’t we know anything in excess sucks? Meida is also an excellent archer and outsmarts her three suitors, the sons of Lord MacGuffin (Kevin McKidd), Mackintosh (Craig Ferguson) and Lord Dingwall (Robbie Coltrane). Meida’s women’s lib stance ruffles Queen Elinor (EmmaThompson) but not King Fergus (Bill Connolly), who is still perky despite losing a leg to a monster. The only bright spark in the movie is Meida’s three brothers, real elves. As if three heads are not bad enough directing the film, they add one more Irene Mecchi to write the screenplay. It is Brenda Chapman’s original story and guess she and one of the directors would have done a better job. How much of Chapman’s story remains, God only knows. The show goes on and on, all of 93 minutes, but it still leaves one hazy about the relevance of the title. If one has to look for plus points, well, the lush settings are soothing, but then the characters spoil the broth. It is all so stretched that one wonders which age group (maybe five to eight) will buy it! As for accompanying adults, well need one say more? Play it better, Pixar and Disney. This is a non-starter. All the right moves Shoes
to set my feet dancing, dancing, dancing all the day...”go the words of a 1950s favourite Shoe-makers Shop and it sure rings a bell when Hollywood churns out Dirty Dancing, Flaahdance, Breakdance and Street Dance over the decades like pretty maids in a row. The latest is Street Dance 2 3D and it is exuberant, passionate and frenetic, but the storyline is wafer thin. The best reason to see it is hip-hop, salsa dancer Sofia Boutella, as she is virtually poetry in motion. She is also the back-up dancer for Madonna.
It starts off when Ash, who sells pop-corn, makes a fool of himself by challenging the Invincibles. Eddie (George Sampson) gives him the idea and is therefore entitled to be the manager. The group is made up of the dance group Flawless, which includes blacks and East Asians like Steph (Stephanie Nguyen). Enter Eva (Boutella), the main attraction and romantic interest, because Ash is smitten by her. But she is strictly professional and puts him in his place with effective lines. Otherwise, the screenplay by Jane English is pretty ordinary. Directors Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini do well to maintain the tempo right through the film. Eva wants a fusion of Latin and hip-hop, and they work on it. The big event is in Paris, the city of love. One cannot say there’s too much dancing; it would be superfluous, that’s the only way they are made, catering to the young. A must watch for dance aficionados movies on tv
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