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Politics over posts Burden of bachelors |
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Much ado about nothing
It's time for the poll dance
Countering climate change with smart action
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Politics over posts The
BJP has urged the Election Commission to restrain the UPA from appointing the next Army Chief and Lokpal. While the code of conduct may not bar the appointments since these would hardly influence voter behviour, it is on moral grounds that the outgoing government could consider keeping this in mind. The process of selecting the country's first nine-member Lokpal began well in time but it got embroiled in controversy. Jurist Fali Nariman and Justice K.T. Thomas dissociated themselves from the search committee, realising that they would end up endorsing the government's candidates. An NGO has challenged the rules of Lokpal appointment in the Supreme Court. Normally, the Army Chief's appointment is not politicised. The selection is made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet which in the case of the armed forces comprising the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Defence Minister. The present Army Chief is to retire on July 31 and the next in line is Lt-Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag. Before his retirement in 2012, the previous Army Chief, Gen V.K. Singh, had ordered a discipline and vigilance promotion ban on General Suhag. The ban was lifted subsequently by Gen Bikram Singh. But the BJP’s interventions also seem suspect. Gen V.K. Singh is the party's candidate for the Ghaziabad Lok Sabha seat and his aversion to the Bikram-Suhag succession line is known. If the BJP comes to power, it is likely that he would like to have his say in the appointment. This would be unwelcome because of a clash of interest. If General Suhag is sidelined by the new dispensation, the next in line would be Lt-Gen Ashok Singh, whose son is married to Gen V.K. Singh's daughter. The defence forces should be spared further muck-raking. Only recently, the seniority principle was not applied in the choice of the Naval Chief but then the context was different. In the best traditions of the armed forces, top appointments should be kept above party politics. Since there would still be over two monhs left for Gen Bikram Singh’s retirement when the election results are announced on May 16, the outgoing UPA should go ahead and prepare the ground work for the appointment of the Lokpal and the new Army Chief, but the announcement of the names could be left to the next government at the
Centre.
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Burden of bachelors Khap
panchayats had made news for all the wrong reasons in the past — from banning jeans and cell phones to lowering the age of marriage for girls to blaming Chinese food for rapes. Now, under the growing burden of bachelors, some of whom have formed associations to demand brides in exchange of votes, the Khaps have softened their stance on marriages. Forty-two villages of the Narnaund region have allowed inter-caste marriages and marriages within 'brotherhood' villages. A decision to this effect was taken recently at a mahapanchayat held at
Hisar. The move has been welcomed by youth, though not by a few other
khaps. Haryana continues to have the lowest sex ratio at birth in the country, at 877 girls for 1000 boys, though better than 807 in 2001-03. The improvement has come largely through task forces of government agencies. The skewed sex ratio has led to peculiar problems. A survey conducted by the Red Cross Society of Yamunanagar shows that each of the 7,000-odd villages in Haryana has 150 to 200 youths who are above 25 and unmarried. This has been corroborated by the Drishti Stree Adhyayan Prabodhan Kendra, which surveyed 56,520 residents in 92 villages to find that 13.5 per cent men in the age group of 25-29 were unmarried. In the past when villagers used barter system to exchange goods, marriage norms were tightened to maintain bonhomie among villages. In the age of rapid urbanisation, not marrying women from a cluster of 100 villages and 36 communities limited chances of getting a partner. Brides are now bought from other states. This has further lowered the status of women in the state. Easing marriage restrictions between different castes and villages is a welcome step. It will certainly reduce crimes against women. Khaps can improve the gender graph in the state by practising social ostracism of families that kill female foetuses and by making panchayats gender inclusive.
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Thought for the Day
Question everything. Learn something. Answer nothing.
—Euripides
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FROM the facts published in the party organ it appears that the Sikh Educational Conference which was held at Jullundur in the Easter week was most successful from a financial point of view. The total number of delegates, visitors, special visitors, fellows, members of the Reception Committee, Sahayiks and Mitsahayiks was 5,426, an increase of about 1,000 as compared with the number of the preceding year. The funds collected this year exceeded a lakh of rupees as compared with Rs. 60,000 collected in the preceding year; and a "substantial" portion was contributed by the Doaba Sikhs in America. We need not raise the question now what the Sikhs are doing here to make conditions of life easier for the Sikhs in America and Canada. But it is noteworthy that the Sikhs in exile are more mindful of their duty to the community than the community is of its duty to them. The one lakh includes a contribution of Rs. 35,000 towards the national fund. The Punjab administration
AT the last meeting of the Punjab Legislative Council a note of absolute unanimity was struck by the non-official members on the questions of a High Court and an Executive Council for this Province. The Hon. Mr. Mahomed Shafi made an eloquent and touching appeal to His Honour to signalise his tenure of office by obtaining these boons for the people. Sir P.C. Chatterji, Mr. James Currie, Khwaja Yusaf Shah and R.B. Ram Saran Das lent their support to the demand. His Honour the Lieutenant Governor reiterated the statement made at the previous meeting that he was not in a position to make any announcement on the question of a High Court which was the subject of correspondence with the Government of India.
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Much ado about nothing The Prime Minister and his family understandably feel wounded today, but a re-reading of the book in tranquillity may lend perspective to an honest political biography that fortunately avoids hagiography and does the nation a service by telling the story as it was. At the end, Dr Singh emerges as a man who unselfishly and quietly rendered the state considerable service but, latterly, tragically failed to assert his authority above the din of "coalition compulsions" and inner party intrigue in UPA-II. The government foundered in hopeless indecision and drift. In UPA-I, Dr Manmohan Singh was an appointee of Sonia Gandhi, the Party leader and UPA chairperson. The division of labour was clear. She would manage the party and coalition politics and he, the technocrat, would run the government. The arrangement worked well. The economy prospered and the Indo-US civil nuclear deal and foreign policy initiatives with Pakistan and China were proud feathers in the PM's cap. Come 2008. Baru, by then a trusted confidant, left for academic pastures. The PM's stature certainly contributed to the UPA's electoral victory. But Sonia Gandhi was ill and an ambitious coterie had begun to push for Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister. Mrs Gandhi did not discourage this undercutting of the PM, while Manmohan Singh himself started the process of abdication by repeatedly announcing his readiness to step down in favour of Rahul Gandhi, a callow “youth” with no credentials other than bombast and a family name that he never failed to flaunt. The States started flexing their “federal” muscles to stymie the Centre without being sternly called to order. As “scam” followed “scam”, some based on “presumptive loss” without taking account of huge collateral gain, individual ministers began to take their own line with some senior officials unwilling to stand their ground on principle. The Press broke every semblance of credibility with “breaking news” and The Daily Scream “impact” while the Opposition cried murder. Allegation became fact. Due process was scuttled. Parliament was stalled. And the government remained supine, confused and divided. Though he held the trump cards, as none would have dared oppose him if he had cracked the whip, as over the US civil nuclear deal, there being no alternative and none ready to face elections, he failed to act. The coup de grace came with Rahul Gandhi's contemptuous stab in the back while the PM was representing India at the UN and US. He described a proposed and, indeed, utterly foolish, government ordinance (on not unseating legislators found guilty of criminality until disposal of the first appeal) as “complete nonsense” and “rubbish” whose proper place was in the waste dump. Yet he had been privy to this very decision, as had his mother, but lacked the integrity and gumption to voice his objections at the right time and place. The Prime Minister had by then sadly decided to swallow his pride and soldier on so as not to let the side down when the name of the game, within and without UPA-II, was to get him and ridicule him at every turn. For the Prime Minister's many friends and admirers, like this writer, this was a matter of genuine grief. For the country it was a disaster. Baru has only recorded history - not invented it. The timing of the book was the publisher's call. The truth would not have been less or more true six weeks later. The Opposition has of course been only too willing to make the bogus claim that they now have “insider” confirmation! A few years ago, for whatever reason I was gifted a handsome bronze plaque proclaiming “The Buck Stops Here”. Being of no relevance to me, I presented it to the Prime Minister in the hope that, placed on his desk, it would be an unambiguous assertion to all and sundry as to who was in charge. I do not know what happened to that plaque. Manmohan Singh's legacy will survive this traumatic denouement. As he himself has stated, history will be kinder to him than his present-day critics, who lack his personal integrity and vision. Typical of the man, he and his gracious wife, will move out of the official prime ministerial residence, No. 7 Race Course Road, to his permanent retirement abode in Delhi a day before the poll result is announced - a principled gesture that says so much in a smash-and-grab political culture. The NDA will most probably come out on top in the poll; but it is not certain to this writer that it will gain a majority on its own. And if the gap is wider than the “low” opinion forecasts, who knows the NDA-Plus partners may decide they want a leader who will unite the country. Modi remains a divisive and ruthless figure despite his new rhetoric. Silly interlocutors ask why he does not apologise for 2002. A wrong question. Why should he when he denies any wrongdoing? The right question is: Why has he consistently refused to express remorse at the terrible carnage under his watch? Read the press notes officially issued in 2002 and his broadcasts and speeches. There is not a trace of remorse: only the promise of terrible revenge. The elections will soon be over but not the 2002-related trials and due process. Regrettably, as the election campaign has continued, communal polarisation has deepened all round. The latest barb was on Ambedkar jayanti when the BJP and Modi personally said the Congress had sought to favour Muslims and Christians at the cost of Dalits, witness the Sachar and Ranganath Mishra reports. According to a BJP pamphlet distributed that day, “About 15 crore converted Christians and Muslims will become eligible for reservations along with 22 crore members of the Scheduled Castes”! (Indian Express, April 15). This comes at a time when in Iran, the long-persecuted “Bahai’s of the world” have been gifted by Ayatollah Abdol-Hamid Masoumi-Tehrani, a prominent cleric, an illuminated work of calligraphy of a paragraph from the writings of Baha'u'llah, the Prophet-founder of the Baha'i Faith. Ayatollah Tehrani states on his website that this “symbolic action (is intended to) serve as a reminder of the importance of valuing human beings, of peaceful coexistence, of cooperation and mutual support, and of avoidance of hatred, enmity and blind religious prejudice.” This is a message of remorse and reconciliation. Are we in India listening?
www.bgverghese.com
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It's time for the poll dance The more aggressive ones (often hardcore politicos) not only do their own thing but also ensure the others cannot put their own act together, so they throw the others off balance and raise the pitch to divert the attention. Still others want to buy off the pole where the rest are dancing! Here's God's plenty: You have local clout as in the regular netas ready to commit irregularities (bully, bribe and beat up) for that win, dollops of star power with abhinetas, MTV hosts and models flouting the model code of conduct. Add to this the varsity dada and the neighbourhood goon whitewashing dark deeds with sparkling white kurta pyjamas. While a few in the running add sartorial glamour and colour with caps, turbans and viewer-friendly clothes, others focus on sheer lung power and raising decibel levels. For them, song and dance is more important than just the dance so they make a song and dance of everything they do. Even ear-shattering propaganda is preferable to the verbal harangue and abusive trading of charges. There are no limits, while some lose it totally and lash out by using expressions such as chor, daaku, others carry out Chinese-whisper campaigns. The pitch of the drama soars as girlfriends, wives, sons-in-law and nephews are dragged in for their sins of commission and omission. What adds spice to the poll dance is the refusal of some of the participants to dance to the tune of the conductor. They insist on singing their own raga, howsoever off-key. Not only do their shrill notes raise the tempo and the temperature of the scenario but also entertain the bystanders. With so much of poll talk, hair-splitting and in-your-face ads, spectators too become participants in the IPL or Indian Political League. Howsoever mistaken, their belief is that they have a share in the giant wheel, that one chance when they feel they are the decision makers. Every lane, park and nukkad has a few self-styled poll analysts taking potshots at either local politicians or elaborating on scams and scandals. Since politics is no longer a geriatric club, there are many more youthful faces and voices this time, thanks to the growing number of young voters. Also this time there is a lot more colour and energy too as the conventional khadi has competition from T-shirts, capris, designer saris and denims. The profile of the contestants too is more varied. Besides actors, you have technocrats, babus, army men, policemen, doctors, engineers, writers and activists rubbing shoulders with the conventional netas. What remains to be seen is: Will the common man still face the music after the poll dance is over?
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Countering climate change with smart action Even
before the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) came out with its detailed scientific evidence of climate change and its disastrous consequences, if countries are not alert and pro-active, the unpredictable weather of the last several months was ample evidence of what the scientists foresee. Unseasonal rains and freak hailstorms lashed many parts of the country leaving a trail of destruction. In Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh the loss of standing crops led to a spate of farmer suicides.
A total of 309 coordinating lead authors and review editors from 70 countries were selected to produce the report titled Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. They enlisted the help of 436 contributing authors and 1,729 expert and government reviewers. In Asia the report warns of increase in flood damage to infrastructure, livelihood and settlements. There will be an increase in heat related human mortality — remember the high heat mortality observed in Orissa and across north India as temperatures soared in the summer months. Also, there is forecast for increased drought related water and food shortages. The report concludes that responding to climate change involves making choices about risks in a changing world. The nature of the risks of climate change is increasingly clear, though climate change will also continue to produce surprises. The report identifies vulnerable people, industries, and ecosystems around the world. It finds that risk from a changing climate comes from vulnerability (lack of preparedness) and exposure (people or assets in harm’s way) overlapping with hazards (triggering climate events or trends). Each of these components can be countered with smart action to decrease risk. While Vicente Barros, Co-chair of Working Group II that produced the report, said “We live in an era of man-made climate change….investments in better preparation can pay dividends both for the present and for the future.” Chris Field, also a Co-chair, pointed out “Climate-change adaptation is not an exotic agenda that has never been tried. Governments, firms and communities around the world are building experience with adaptation. This experience forms a starting point for bolder, more ambitious adaptations that will be important as climate and society continues to change.” Wheat and rice cultivation Prof. Surender Kumar of the Department of Business Economics, South Campus of Delhi University, one of the scientists who looked at the impact of climate change on key economic sectors and services, says a 2 degrees rise in temperature will impact wheat and rice grown in Punjab and Haryana. However, the impact will be more on the rice grown in eastern India. In north India, the increase in radiation will offset to some extent the negative impact of temperature. Rice yields may be impacted up to five per cent. Wheat production will be affected more in the rain-fed areas than in irrigated areas. In 2008, Dr Rodomiro Ortiz and other scientists had published a paper ‘Climate change: Can wheat beat the heat?’ in Science Direct, warning that climate change could strongly affect wheat crops that account for 21 per cent of food and 200 million hectares of farmland worldwide. They looked at germplasm adaptations, system management and mitigation as various approaches to reduce the impact of climate change on wheat cultivation. While global warming could be beneficial for wheat crops in some regions, it could reduce productivity in other areas. By 2050 in the Indo Gangetic plains which account for 15 per cent of global wheat production, as much as 51 per cent of the area might be reclassified as heat-stressed, irrigated, short season production mega environment. This could represent a significant reduction in wheat yields unless appropriate cultivars and crop management practices were offered and adapted by South Asian farmers, the scientists pointed out. Heat tolerant germplasm Under the same climate scenarios, area covered by the cool, temperate wheat mega-environment could expand as far as 65 degrees N in both North America and Eurasia. To adapt and mitigate the climate change effects on wheat supplies for the poor, germplasm scientists and agronomists are developing heat-tolerant wheat germplasm, as well as cultivars better adapted to conservation agriculture. Simultaneously, agronomists and extension agents hope to cut CO2 emissions by reducing tillage and the burning of crop residues. Mitigation research promises to reduce emissions of nitrous oxide by using infrared sensors and the normalized differential vegetative index (NDVI) that determines the right times and correct amounts of fertilizer to apply. Wheat geneticists and physiologists are also assessing wild relatives of wheat as potential sources of genes with inhibitory effects on soil nitrification, says the report in Science Direct. In India, there has been an increased focus on food security but the report warns that climate change will affect food security of developing countries —the availability as well as the nutritive value of crops cultivated. In fact, Prof Kumar says the rise in food prices in the last four/five years can be traced to climate change. Lower income groups that spend almost 50 per cent of their earnings on food will be affected. In Indian conditions, even a small dent in agriculture production will have a large macro-economic impact as agriculture production declines. Stress on farm research The expected four to five per cent decline in rice and wheat production will depend on India’s coping strategies — crop diversification and better irrigation facilities. Water that is available will have to be better managed. Though in absolute terms agriculture yields have increased since the green revolution of the sixties and seventies, the rate of increase has been declining since the 1990s, adds Prof Kumar. The government will have to increase farm research and extension development activities. The IPCC assess the scientific knowledge available so that governments can make policy interventions to deal with climate change. For Prof Kumar, the most significant findings are the impact of climate change on manufacturing, services like insurance, tourism and finance. With temperatures rising and increased humidity, the capacity of labour, India’s large work force, will decline. With energies sapped by rising temperatures, they will not have the ability to deliver. Burden of malnutrition, malaria Climate change is projected to increase the burden of major worldwide causes of childhood mortality, including malnutrition, diarrhoeal diseases and malaria. According to Save the Children, 48 per cent of Indian children under five are malnourished. According to UNICEF, one of every three malnourished children of the world is in India. According to Malaria International Medical Corps every year 655,000 people die of malaria, most of them in the African countries. In addition to malaria, India is coping with dengue and Japanese encephalitis. Climate change will also impact tourism and recreation, one of the largest sectors of the world economy, employing 260 million people in 2011 and accounting for 9 per cent of global expenditure. Climate change will affect tourism resorts, particularly ski, beach and nature resorts. This will lead to tourists spending their holidays at higher altitudes. Beach tourism vulnerable Of the 51 countries that have been ranked for vulnerability of beach tourism, India stands out as the most vulnerable and Cyprus as the least vulnerable, according to the report. This means Goa, one of the favourite beach destinations of the world, should be prepared for the drop in tourism as should Puri and other beach resorts of the country. While colder, richer countries will benefit from an expanded tourism sector, warmer, poorer countries will lose out. The economic impacts on the tourism sector are reinforced by the economic impact on the coastal zone. The report also warns of negative impact of climate change on transport infrastructure. Over $ 3 trillion in port infrastructure assets in 136 of the world’s largest port cities are vulnerable to changing weather. Increased storminess in certain routes could raise cost of shipping through additional safety measures or longer routes that are less storm-prone. Increase in storminess at airports, particularly those located in coastal regions, may increase number of weather related delays and cancellations and increase maintenance and repair costs.
Can India stop climate change?
The IPCC report has shown that continuing on the path of high carbon emissions will hurt India’s development and negate what has been gained in improving the standard of living. Just how bad it will get hinges on the choices made. For example, coal-fired power plants are the biggest source of manmade CO2 emissions. India Energy ®evolution, an expert study published by Greenpeace, has shown that by switching to clean energy such as wind and solar, India could bring electricity to the 300 million who are still without it, while reducing emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. At the same time, this would create millions of extra jobs, compared to the low-manpower coal sector. To prove this is not just theory, Greenpeace is building renewable energy demonstration projects in different areas, from an unconnected village in Bihar to the rooftops of central Delhi. All that is required is the political will to create a stable investment environment for clean energy. Coal reserves in India cannot deliver beyond a few years, and coal is a risky investment for industries and the government. However, the cost of solar power is falling, and in a few years is expected to be cheaper than coal. Countries like Germany and China are putting their money in solar energy.
Water fury * An increase in riverine, coastal and urban flooding can lead to widespread damage to infrastructure, livelihoods and settlements in Asia. *
This might mean likely impact on cities such as Mumbai and Kolkata in India and Dhaka in Bangladesh. *
But how bad it will get hinges on near-term choices. * Risk from a changing climate comes from vulnerability (lack of preparedness) and exposure (of people or assets in harm’s way) overlapping with hazards, triggering climate events or trends. *
Each of these components can be countered with smart action to decrease risk. The writer is a well-known environment journalist.
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Sanjaya
Baru
Election
In India up to 40 percent of CO2 emissions come from coal, making India the world's third largest emitter of carbon dioxide after China and the US. The new government must stop and reverse the unbridled surge in coal mining and burning, and open its eyes to other options.