|
|
|
|
|
Taliban terror
Controversial leaders return |
|
|
The question of ownership of media
Equality redefined in Paris
Economic challenges for the new govt
Modi’s development dream & harsh ground realities
|
Taliban terror Karachi
airport became the latest causality of the continuing war by terrorists as it was attacked twice in two days. In a shocking assault on a major airport in Pakistan, 10 terrorists infiltrated Jinnah International Airport on Sunday. They used rockets, grenades and automatic weapons as they wreaked havoc and killed a number of civilians before they were shot down by the military. Security forces too suffered losses, especially those of the Airport Security Force (ASF); 11 of them were killed in action. Naturally the international airport was shut down and operations came to a halt. The terrorist umbrella organisation Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) later claimed responsibility for the attack in which 10 of its militants were killed. The terrorist attack drew international condemnation, including that from India. Ironically, the Pakistan government has been in talks with the TTP. Terrorists have again shown that anyone who tries to have any truck with them does so at his own peril. How can the fact that the TTP has been behind major terrorist attacks be ignored? The peace talks were naturally aborted, even as the air force launched attacks on suspected Taliban strongholds in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The terrorists retorted with another attack on the airport on Tuesday, this time on the ASF camp. Again the TTP claimed responsibility. The second attack seems to have been contained, but it has damaged Pakistan's credibility in maintaining the safety of its vital installations. It also shows the capability of the terrorists to strike deep in Pakistani territory at will, and their ability to infiltrate high-security areas. Even as Pakistani security agencies battle terrorists, it is the long-suffering people of the country who have to generate sufficient pressure on the establishment to make it realise that terror is taking too heavy a toll. The government and the military establishment of Pakistan must finally abandon any notions of negotiating with terrorists and now act in concert to confront terror. The Karachi attacks could then be the beginning of a process that will allow its citizens to live peacefully. |
|
Controversial leaders return
A
bad electoral performance usually drives a party into introspection about what went wrong and how to correct it. Not so in the case of Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali
Dal. A Cabinet expansion post-elections, one thought, would bring in fresh talent to reinvigorate a tired administration. But when the names of the three ministers became public, one could only shake one's head in disbelief. Obviously, no lessons have been learnt. Two of them have a questionable past. Tota Singh was forced to resign as Agriculture Minister two years ago when he was convicted of misusing official machinery. What has changed since then to warrant his return to the Cabinet? Earlier, another Punjab minister, Jagir
Kaur, had resigned after her conviction in the case of death of her teenage
daughter. Sohan Singh Thandal, who is the second controversial MLA to be named a minister, was convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act and forced to quit as Chief Parliamentary Secretary. He was later acquitted by a higher court. He is a Dalit leader representing Doaba and has been accommodated in the Cabinet in place of Sarwan Singh
Phillaur, who put in papers after his son's name figured in the drug racket. What a company an elderly and deeply religious Chief Minister keeps! The Chief Minister is in denial. He rubbishes the partner BJP's charge of political patronage to the thriving drug racket instead of getting it probed by an independent agency. He ignores the damage Akali leaders in charge of police stations are doing. For him the contrived shortage of construction material is no issue. It is politics of appeasement of loyalists that Parkash Singh Badal famously plays. He and his son worked hard for the induction of his daughter-in-law as a Cabinet minister in the Modi government. There is growing resentment in SAD. Senior leaders are being sidelined. Hari Singh Zira has made his disappointment public. A government is elected not just to give jobs to elected representatives but also to serve the people. |
|||||
|
Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.—George Bernard Shaw |
|||||
Another test voyage to Canada
The Calcutta correspondent of the Morning Post (London) gives publicity to a report that a Bombay firm is preparing to charter another steamer to carry 600 Hindus direct from Bombay to Victoria. His own words are: "In view of the need of white labour in British Columbia during the summer season, Hindus never supposed that the order totally excluding all labour would be renewed merely to exclude Asiatics, and resolved to challenge the pre-existing regulations. I learn tonight the important fact that a Bombay firm, under the same supposition, has been preparing to charter a steamer to carry 600 Hindus direct from Bombay to Victoria. In view of the earnest exhortation issued by the Viceroy this scheme may be nipped in the bud, but the Komagata Maru is on the high seas, and must eventually reach Vancouver, when the whole question will be re-opened. It is not true as reported that the vessel called at Calcutta." This is a mere hoax as neither Bombay nor any other part of India is interested in sending emigrants to British Columbia. Punjabees emigrate because they have established a colony there and form more or less a compact people. Travelling dispensaries
Lieutenant Colonel H.E. Drake-Brockman, Director of Nizam's Medical Department, has written an article on travelling dispensaries in Hyderabad State. He points out how usefully they are employed in Egypt and particularly in the United Provinces. He emphasises the opinion that they are an excellent method of medical relief and provide medical officers good opportunities for the dissemination of the principles of sanitation and first-aid. The system introduced on a very modest scale in the Punjab deserves to be widely extended.
|
The question of ownership of media What has taken me aback is that the Press has reported the deal but has preferred to keep quiet. Even though journalism has ceased to be a profession and has become an industry, I was expecting some reaction, at least from the Editors' Guild of India. But then it is understandable when it has rejected my proposal that editors should also make their assets public, the demand which they voice for politicians. Double standards make a mockery of the high pedestal on which the editors sit. I am not against corporations investing in the media. Rising costs and shrinking advertisements have famished the media. Still, ideally, the media should be self-sufficient. But since it is not possible for most in the print and electronic media, there has to be a limit on how far corporations should go. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had put a ceiling on foreign equity at 26 per cent in newspapers. For some reasons, this limit was not extended to television. Maybe, the air is difficult to control. The principle of curtailing the ownership of outsiders is understandable. If foreign equity-a Trojan horse-cannot go beyond a limit, Indian corporations too should have a "Lakshman rekha" which they should not cross. But then they are too powerful because politicians depend on them for their luxurious living and for fighting elections. Needless to say that there is quid pro qua. Some politicians are also said to own or have some shares in television channels. For some reasons, successive governments at the Centre have rejected the demand for a press or media commission. Since Independence there have been only two. One was soon after Independence and the other after the Emergency in 1977. The recommendations of the latter were not even considered because Mrs Gandhi refused to look at any step suggested during the post-Emergency period. (The commendable police reforms report also became a casualty). The government headed by Narendra Modi is a complete departure from the past and should appoint a commission to assess the position of the media since Mrs Gandhi's rule. There has been no appraisal of the role of television because India, not even Doordarshan, was not familiar with the electronic media at that time. The most important aspect is the ownership of newspapers, television and radio by the same corporate house or individuals. Even America has some kind of control over cross ownership. But there is no such bar in India where it is like putting up yet another factory. I am all for the freedom of the Press. In fact, I have been disturbed by the statement of the new Information and Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar. He has, no doubt, assured the Press freedom but has put a caveat that it demands responsibility. Why this reminder is beyond me. The Indian Press has been inferior to none in upholding the value system which politicians have destroyed. There is no example of irresponsible behaviour of the Press since Independence. This cannot be said about the government which had imposed censorship during the Emergency in 1975. Even now, newspapers in several states have to withstand the pressure and punishment of chief ministers. Advertisements, the main source of income for small newspapers, are distributed to reward supporters and are denied to critics. And whatever is spent by the government, it is the tax payers' money. The carrot of advertisements works in Pakistan and Bangladesh as well. Governments dangle it without hesitation. Thus crores of rupees are at the disposal of rulers to exert influence. The story of corporations and individuals controlling the media is no different from that of India. In the last few weeks, I have had an opportunity to visit Bangladesh and Pakistan in that order. Their messy politics and the sway of military in governance deserve a full article. I am limiting my column to the media which, without doubt, influences politics as well. Bangladesh has more TV channels, almost all in Bengali, than daily newspapers. But for a few exceptions — more in the print medium than the electronic one — the opinion is in favour of the government in power. Pakistan, still a feudal state in many ways, has a more assertive media in the subcontinent. Hamid Mir of a television channel was physically assaulted. But there are numerous journalists who brave every day threats. A few are also targets of extremists and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). The media men and women still cover events boldly and by and large truly. What the media can say with authenticity is that the owners of the Press and TV channels are no more foreigners in the entire subcontinent. India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru sought the help of big industrial houses to oust the British ownership of leading newspapers. Bennett Coleman ran The Times of India; foreign owners of The Mail in Madras and The Pioneer at Lucknow changed hands. The Statesman was taken over by a consortium of industrialists blessed by Nehru. True, the media has come a long way. Still the current annual report of the Press Council of India is helplessly demanding that the television channels should come under its purview. The rulers continue to turn a deaf ear to what is asked. The Council says: “For quite some time an issue has arisen about the need for qualification for entry into the profession of journalism. Since the media is a fully developed field and has an important influence on the lives of the people, the time has now come when some qualification should be prescribed by law.” Regretfully, the attention of the media is focused more on marketing and packing. Indeed, they are important, but the content should have the priority. Alas, that is receding farther and farther. |
||||||
Equality redefined in Paris Paris Métro is one of the city's prides. The 214-km mostly underground system has 16 lines and with 245 stations within 87 sq km of the city, it is one of the densest metro systems in the world. It is efficient, obsessively punctual and has a very wide network. ‘To reach anywhere in Paris, you do not have to walk more than 250 metres from a metro station' is the boastful claim of proud Parisians. It was my first ride in the metro. My French friend and I occupied vacant seats. There was a young woman with an infant in her lap who moved around singing. People dropped coins in her box. She was obviously an unwed mother, but no one made her feel conscious. Several smokers indulged freely. Some read newspapers, while some were busy with laptops or books. There was practically no conversation, each minding his or her own business. Privacy in France is fiercely guarded. The compartment got filled at the next station. A lady in her late twenties came and stood by us. I looked round to see if there were any reserved seats for the ladies. There was none. I decided to offer her my seat. As I made to rise, my friend tugged at my sleeve and said, “Don't do that monsieur.” That surprised me. I was following the Indian culture and custom and wondered why I was being restricted. “Why?” I asked. He explained, “By doing so you will cause offence to the lady”. This really baffled me. How could a good, gentlemanly gesture offend a lady? Respect for ladies is and should be a universal phenomenon, I thought. In India the ladies certainly expect and even demand it. “What offence?” I asked. “You see”, he said, using his hands liberally for effect, “By offering her the seat, you are trying to convey a message”. Now I was totally perplexed. My intentions were plain and there was no hidden message in my gentlemanly gesture. So where was the question of causing an offence? I looked at the lady standing there matter-of-factly unaware of the dilemma I was facing. I felt sure she won't see any hidden meaning in my gesture. “What message?” I asked. “You see monsieur”, he said with his usual gesticulation, “By offering Madame the seat and volunteering to stand, you are trying to convey to her that being a woman, she is weaker than you.” |
||||||
Economic challenges for the new govt
The new Parliament has been constituted after a historic election which witnessed unprecedented political debate on ideological differences between main parties. The challenge now is how to revive growth in the domestic economy from its sagging level, in face of a depressed global economy. In the manufacturing sector, growth has been low for the last two years for most of the industry groups, especially capital goods and consumer durables. In the services sector also the situation is equally grim. To revive growth in these sectors is not going to be easy and would involve consistent effort for years. Artificial correction Further, to aggravate the situation, because of El Nino, growth in the agriculture sector is also expected to be low in the current year. The fiscal situation has been deteriorating in the last two years. While, artificially, the gross fiscal deficit (GFD) was brought under control in 2013-14, the quality of fiscal adjustment was not robust. Gross tax revenue recorded a shortfall mainly on account of lower collections under indirect taxes, reflecting a slowdown in the industrial and services sectors, and lower imports. The GFD has been contained due to higher dividend receipts from public sector enterprises, some of them being ad hoc in nature, and reduction in capital expenditure that generally yields growth in future. This “artificial” correction is not sustainable and to create fiscal space, amongst others, the Food Security Act of 2013 (FSA) can be reconsidered as its objective of offering subsidised food-grains to 80 crore people is debatable. In India, according to surveys conducted by NSSO, only about 2 crore people suffer from hunger and need to be mainly taken care of through concerted measures. In sharp contrast, the issue of malnutrition and undernourishment resulting in stunted and wasted growth and high child mortality needs adequate recognition by Parliamentarians. Hence, for healthy India, clean drinking water, better sanitation and distribution of items like mosquito nets and pre-emptive medicines for diseases like malaria, and oral rehydration therapy kits through the public distribution could be more useful. Extension of banking facility The current account deficit (CAD) in case of India has significantly declined in recent months, mainly due to stringent measures clamped by the Government and the RBI. This correction is not expected to be durable but this "artificial" correction has resulted in the appreciated exchange rate which may not be useful for the economy. While China maintains a depreciated exchange rate encouraging exports, India takes pride in an appreciated exchange rate. To enhance employment and growth, it is essential that exchange rate is allowed to find its market-related value so that exports and imports are at their appropriate levels. It is a challenge to change the psychology of people that exchange rate should not be interpreted as reflection of the strength of the country but simply the comparative price and productivity levels in the two countries. Financial inclusion has been a major focus of policy makers in the last decade. Since the nationalisation of the State Bank of India in 1955, nationalisation of banks in 1969 and 1980, the objective has been to extend the banking facility to rural un-banked population. Unfortunately, banking penetration has not exceeded fifty per cent of the population, despite efforts. Financial inclusion not only benefits the banking system by bringing in much-needed financial resources lying unutilised in households but also benefits individual citizens by providing financial services at affordable rates of interest. Successful financial inclusion could lead to higher economic growth that India desperately is looking for and earnest efforts on priority basis, after an appropriate evaluation, are required. Monetary policy The monetary policy in the country plays a very important role in preserving the value of currency. The RBI follows a multiple-indicator approach (MIA) taking into account various considerations like money supply, liquidity, economic growth, external sector developments, unemployment, monsoon, and inflation. The recent discussion of adopting inflation targeting should be carefully examined, in view of the supply bottlenecks, economic situation and demographic trends, before replacing MIA. Rather, in pursuit of the MIA, in the context of expectation formation, it is necessary that debt-management activity is separated from that of monetary management, a norm in advanced and emerging countries. Non-separation can be interpreted to imply that government is able to raise resources at a cost which is lower than the interest rate prevalent in the market. Thus, there is a probability that government will not become aware of the real cost of money that is being liberally spent, mainly, on consumption purposes, while the private sector could be starving of funds. Increased demand for gold The increase in demand for gold is recent years could be an indication that the market is worried about the uncertainty of the value of money. To hedge against uncertainty, the urban population can probably resort to financial instruments, while for the rural population the only resort is investing in gold. Therefore, it would be necessary to consider and provide viable alternatives to the rural population which accounts for 70 per cent of gold purchased in India. The sale of suitable financial instruments through post offices could be considered. In view of the fact that inflation has been high, arguably, the interest rate has persistently been raised in the last two years. This has impacted the investment rate of the economy, consequently leading to lowering of growth rate and employment and negatively impacting consumer demand for durables. Should the political authority worry about economic growth and employment generation or should it only focus on inflation? And what is the tolerant level of inflation? This issue becomes more important in a country dominated by a young dynamic population aspiring for success through employment. These economic challenges are strong and stiff, and would require immediate attention of the new Parliament. But with an empathetic mandate, the new government can meet the challenge. The writer is RBI Chair, Professor of Economics, at IIM, Bangalore |
|
Modi’s development dream & harsh ground realities It would mean revamping agriculture so that small and marginal farmers are more productive and get better returns. Laying down infrastructure conducive to foreign and domestic investment and advancement on the human development front would be important. Improving sanitation, affordable housing, clean water and quality of air in cities are also going to be essential for inclusive growth. The continuation of some of the important subsidies targeted at the poor is also likely. The Finance Minister would have to collect more revenue to spend on the tall order of these achievable, though difficult, targets. It would mean speeding up the GST for better revenue collection. Inflation control cannot be done by monetary policy alone or by manipulating interest rates. Fortunately, as the recent policy shows, the RBI is moving in that direction. In India, the inflation of the past few years has been mainly due to structural problems and high input costs. All prices have been going up — of manufactured as well as agricultural goods. With higher productivity growth, which can only be achieved through higher efficiency in production, inflation can be reined. High interest rates are merely controlling liquidity in the economy and it is affecting investment demand adversely. But if the efficiency of the system, production costs and delivery improve, India will be competitive and exports would rise. The Prime Minister has to ensure that the whole economy runs smoothly and there is good governance in all the states. Only then the goal of inclusive growth can be fulfilled. Lack of access to easy credit is constraining the growth of medium and small-scale industries also. They are the backbone of industrial activity in the country. If industrial growth can be revived, then GDP growth can be higher at 6 per cent and more jobs could be created. The newly appointed Finance Minister has declared that fiscal consolidation will be a priority. The forthcoming budget will reveal how it is going to be done and where the expenditure cuts will be directed. It is essential that social sectors are revamped and higher percentage of the GDP goes towards expenditure on health and education. Already a lot of promises are being made by the new cabinet ministers in the social sector. The health sector needs a thorough revamp. Indians have the highest “out-of-pocket expenditure” on health in the world. It means that the private sector charges exorbitant amounts for healthcare which the poor, who do not have health insurance, have to pay from their savings or borrowings. Indebtedness often reduces people who are above the poverty line to below poverty line. Higher education and skills training would be important in the agenda of new reforms. Hopefully, there would be some dramatic changes introduced to make the youth more employable. The youth are waiting for an economic revival that would increase the number of jobs. Around 10 million job seekers would need to find jobs every year. Regarding corruption and black money stashed abroad, very slow progress can be expected. If Modi is successful, it would be a great coup and the money could go towards development projects. But it is not an easy task for even the US to come out with a list of people who have got black money abroad. With Modi's style of functioning, it is entirely possible that he would get a stranglehold on corruption and people would realise that it is not easy to conduct deals in a non-transparent manner because, if caught, the punishment would be severe. He could address the problem of crony capitalism which is now entrenched in the Indian system. He will be making history if he could eradicate corruption from welfare programmes. He has also appointed a Cabinet Minister to clean up the Ganga — an endeavour that has been ridden with corruption in the past. If he succeeds in this clean -up operation, he would win unprecedented kudos from all. His clean-up drive is laudable. Sanitation and provision of toilets may not seem an important item on the agenda for Big-Ticket reforms, but those who are suffering (especially women) from lack of toilets would greatly appreciate his move to build toilets for women in rural areas. All these are not achievable but do matter for the image of India, to which I think Modi attaches a lot of importance. Tough road ahead
|
|
| 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 | |
I
WAS not surprised when television channels did not cover the taking over of a large television news network by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited. Most channels-roughly around 300-are owned by property dealers who can afford to spend Rs 1 crore, an average monthly expenditure, through money laundering. Every one of them wants to be an Ambani one day. 
T
W