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Wow to
Obama bow? Ebola at
the doorstep |
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SAARC must show results
Many
tales that words can tell
CINEMA:
NEW Releases Admirable
action Quite a
dumb affair
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Ebola at the doorstep An
Indian returning from Liberia has been found to have traces of the Ebola virus after he landed in New Delhi. He has been quarantined, and the government has responded promptly to the incident. A committee has been set up to inspect the level of preparedness to detect and tackle passengers who may have the virus and various other systems strengthened. The focus on airports and seaports is necessary because the virus spreads through people touching the bodily fluids of infected persons, and as such the screening of passengers remains the most effective method of preventing the virus from entering the country. The decision to quarantine the patient, even though he was cleared by authorities in Liberia, is taking abundant caution. It was the prompt action of a doctor in Nigeria saved that country from a pandemic. She spotted a passenger who had the symptoms, isolated him and alerted the authorities. Everyone who had come in contact with him was traced out and isolated. Eventually, the passenger, the doctor and six others died, but her action saved many lives. India has been unaffected by the virus so far, and the country needs to be vigilant in order to ensure that it remains so. The Ministry of External Affairs had taken the unusual step of cancelling the India-Africa Forum Summit scheduled for December due to Ebola. The Health Minister's predecessor had set the ball rolling during his tenure, and now JP Nadda is taking up the challenge. The line between action and over-reaction can be thin at times. The authorities must be caring in their attitude towards any person who is detected with the virus. However, they must remain vigilant at airports, which remain the primary venues responsible for the spread of the virus beyond the borders of Liberia, Nigeria, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, where it is rampant. To keep Ebola out, the government will need to ensure effective coordination between officials of the ministries of health, civil aviation and immigration.
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Thought for the Day
An Englishman teaching an American about food is like the blind leading the one-eyed. —
A.J. Liebling
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The late Earl Roberts and Indians IT cannot be gainsaid that Earl Roberts added his own quota to the deterioration of the martial qualities of the people of this country by greatly narrowing the field of choice for recruitment and by even despising the ancient fighting races of Hindustan, the Maharashtra, the Carnatic and the Telugu country. But what he did in this respect was part of a policy for which individual expert authorities cannot be held responsible; and therefore no criticism of Earl Roberts' remarks is of avail. None the less Earl Roberts and the fullest confidence in the "Native" army men (as he always called our soldiers) and never once wavered in his opinion that they could be trusted to take to their share in fighting any European foe. He prophesised this, if we may say so, over a quarter of a century ago, and that prophesy has now been fulfilled to the letter. Earl Roberts was a consistent admirer of the fighting qualities of the "Natives," albeit he would not believe that they could lead as well be led. He did a great deal to increase the efficiency of "Native" army, to improve their status and advance their prospects.
Sambhu railway collision THE railway collision, which occurred at Sambhu, a small way-side station next to Ambala city towards Lahore, appears from all accounts to have been a serious one. Eight persons including two railway employees were killed and twenty-two injured, most of them slightly, and an engine badly damaged and three carriages reduced to match-wood. It occurred at an unearthly hour between 1 and 2 A.M. in the cold night at some distance from means of relief. It occurred on a double line and between trains moving in the same direction, and which are packed like sardines-the Bombay Mail and Hardwar passenger.
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SAARC must show results The Summit must show results with ‘out-of-box' thinking and not be limited to the agenda and programme set by pre-Summit official preparations. Imperatives for SAARC can be divided into three broad areas, namely, to harness socio-economic synergy offered by contiguous geography and shared history for mutual benefit of peoples; bracing up to the challenges of globalisation in the shape of future global economic downturn, pandemics, climate change and natural disasters; to come to terms with the positives as well as the downside of exploding demographics. This makes a vast agenda. This time, however, the Summit should take a definite step forward and formally declare a categorical commitment to the attainment of a South Asian Economic Union with a definite time-frame and a road map. Working out the inter-connected steps in this regard has been under way but it demands more hard work and unremitting commitment. As was shown by the European Commission in building an Economic Community, the key is forming enduring habits of cooperation. Enhancing regional trade and transport figure uppermost on the agenda since these have direct tangible gains for all. Several studies have assessed the potential for regional trade, from the present low of $22 billion to grow up to $120-180 billion in a full-fledged Free Trade Area in goods and services buttressed by connectivity and inter-related trade facilitation measures. That this is doable is illustrated, for example, by the growth of India-ASEAN trade from $3 billion in 1991 to $75 billion today. Should the geographical proximity not be more conducive in South Asia? Even the modest mechanisms at hand in SAARC can deliver far more than is the case at present. With a default process of Ministerial/Secretary level meetings having set the stage, the Heads of State/Government will spend a day with formal speeches, an informal retreat without aids and the adoption of a declaration. The declaration usually takes stock of and subsumes the reports of ministerial meetings and attempts to list priorities and possible focus on select areas. The last Summit had underlined areas such as the lowering of tariffs and comprehensive trade facilitation in goods under SAFTA and furthering implementation of the agreement on services, energy trade and power grids; facilitation of road and rail transport through motor vehicles and railway agreements; increasing tourism; smoother visa procedures; and upgrading of telecommunication services. In keeping with the past summits this default agenda was incremental; to gradually take South Asian regionalism to levels achieved elsewhere. The coming Summit needs to enhance regional dynamics to target areas with tangible benefits to peoples of the eight countries. For this SAARC must rise above nationalist prisms or factors distorting a regional perspective. The India-Pakistan chemistry habitually hogs limelight, dwarfing the default SAARC process. A clear imperative is to advance it with priority setting and actionable goals instead of letting differences dominate. The Summit should aim for greater common interest of all stakeholders, not just governments. There is need to shake the pattern of one-off events involving the higher leadership but ineffective follow-up without timelines, ‘action taken reports' or accountability. Since the leaders seem to broadly realise the inherent worth of regionalism, they should lay down steps to monitor, review and spur work on Summit decisions. Infrastructure is the key. The Summit must consider promoting project-based cooperation and take up even a sub-region if ready for action. The SAARC Charter provides scope for ventures comprising more than two states, with the concurrence of the rest. Much preparatory work has already been done by ADB recommending steps for enhancing all-round connectivity in the north-eastern sub-region of India in sync with Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal; enabling border management structures, land customs stations, container transits and immigration, banking and telecommunication networks - standard stuff for regional cooperation elsewhere but missing in South Asia. SAARC must not delay these steps. To revitalise SAARC, a high-level independent group of eminent persons should be set up for a periodical review and monitoring of the ongoing progress. The forthcoming Summit must clearly instruct existing mechanisms for cooperation to radically improve working, efficiency and accountability to accomplish the goals set. The SAARC proceedings are not made public at present. This practice should give way to full transparency and public scrutiny. In fact a public campaign is necessary to build a relentless momentum and compelling logic for regional cooperation as was done in Europe. A campaign may also bring out the cost of not doing it; particularly considering the impending threats. Public involvement may engender accountability and encourage shunning of red tape and subliminal misgivings which block traction. Governments are distracted by domestic compulsions; so a dedicated institution like SAARC Secretariat must be adequately equipped, resourced and mandated to implement the Summit decisions. This is long overdue. According higher status, authority and responsibility to the office of SAARC Secretary General, as in ASEAN and other regional bodies, should not be put off. Continued sub-critical achievements risk popular apathy. Much more energy, focus, money and human resources are called for to upgrade SAARC's impact. To strengthen SAARC and speed up work India should offer to bear asymmetric burden without increasing it for members not yet prepared to do so. Goal-oriented South Asian regionalism can make value addition to every one of the regional partners: governments, industry, academia, media and civil society. A problem-solving attitude can make a difference. As developing countries, the SAARC members must make the best of the window of opportunity and improved outlook. Coherence of action, not grandstanding, is the call of the hour. — The writer is India's Ambassador to Austria and
former Secretary General, SAARC (2008-2011)
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Many tales that words can tell Minding one's language is perhaps as complex or even more complex
than minding sheep. Shepherds who mind sheep sit in the shade of a
tree and eat their midday meal, while the sheep grazes around in
idyllic circumstances. Bad weather, stony crevices, the proverbial
wolf or the occasional wild animal is what the shepherd watches out
for when he is minding the sheep. Minding sheep requires a great
amount of alertness and watchfulness. The shepherd has to move from
one spot to another, find a safe grazing ground and then settle down
to watch the sheep. When we mind our language, the mobility of the
body is not a necessary corollary. Since the majority of us are busy
town-dwellers and possibly will never have to mind sheep, the
announcement, "mind your step," repeated at the start of
each horizontal walking escalator at international airport terminals,
works as a good example for analysis. We also call this the walkalator,
which word describes the automated horizontal walking track that moves
stationary or slow-moving people from place A to B. When a person is
about to step on to the walkalator, the automated announcement asks
the passengers to be alert and watchful. It serves as both instruction
and warning. "Mind your language" effects easy
communication. Words used with care and used correctly allow for the
possibility of pleasurable communication. In 1977, there was a popular
TV show, ‘Mind Your language’. A classroom full of students of
different nationalities learnt to speak English at an English Language
School. A great deal of comedy was generated as a result of incorrect
communication. Occasionally politically incorrect and perhaps a wee
bit sexist, the show held its own through many seasons. The
expression "Mind Your language" works as an imperative when
trying to curb the use of inappropriate, un-parliamentary vocabulary.
It is the equivalent of "watch your words." The most firm
rebuke can be expressed by the phrase "mind your own
business", cutting short any kind of undue curiosity expressed
over someone else’s affairs. In all we are required to exercise a
great deal of mindfulness when we choose to speak.
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CINEMA: NEW Releases On a happy note It's clever, witty and entirely segmented. The wayward plot tries to stitch it all together, but the experience is not altogether seamless. One-book wonder Yudi Jaitley (Saif Ali Khan) is living it up on the basis of his past success while Aanchal Reddy (Illeana D'Cruz), bestselling romance author from India who goes to Los Angeles to promote her book, are on the same wave-length when it comes to love, commitment and marriage. But getting them together is the real problem. For most of the first half, the director duo tries to establish Yudi's self-centred philosophies on life and love. He is shown serenading and breaking-up with a series of girlfriends, including one played by Kareena Kapoor Khan. Then there's his almost 'gay' bonhomie with a much-married-and-fighting-it Montu (Ranvir Shorey), an is-it-on-or-off relationship with Vishaka (Kalki Koechlin) and several bump-ins with his alter-ego Yogi, who acts as his love-guru of sorts. There's also an aside about a fading super-star Armaan (Govinda, in his element) while on a visit to the USA for a secret body augmentation job, also seeking out a 'different' writer who could fashion a winning script for the new-look hero, who hopes to waylay both the masses and the classes. So, by the time the two central characters meet, it's basically fast forward to an attraction that doesn't seem to be there other than within the machinations of the script. And as pre-programmed, they have to break-up before they can have a happy ending of sorts. The directors try to incorporate a massage parlour scene to highlight the intent, but the content is not exactly close to risqué or crude for that matter. It's more of sedate enchantment through a series of self-mocking spoofy conversations with liberal doses of stingy barbs about Bollywood and its narcissistic idols. The love story, in fact, becomes poorer because there's much more attention being given to the irreverent sub-plots. It's not an even field and the lop-sided treatment makes the experience less than fulfilling. But, the smartly written humorous exchanges do help in lifting the experience out of the doldrums. The music also blends in with the romantic-comedy setting and the cinematography lends visual delight. Above all, it's the performances that make this light-weight effort a worthy watch. Saif does well in a cleverly delineated double role and Illeana complements him with charming insouciance. Kalki manages to give yet another worthy performance, and Kareena and Preity manage to look interesting in their respective special appearances. The film though belongs more to Ranvir Shorey and Govinda, who bring the house down in their segregated corners. Both are strikingly funny in their free-falling effort to connect with the audience. And that's mainly why this film scores well on the rating scale.
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Admirable action The Equalizer is but a higher-end version of a comic book tale, acting as an origin story for a possible brand new franchise. McCall (Denzel Washington), a former Black-Ops commando, fakes his own death in the hope of living out a quite life in Boston. But, it isn't long before he is lured out of his self-imposed retirement by the plight of young under-age prostitute Teri (Chloe Grace Moretz), who gets targeted by a syndicate of brutal Russian gangsters. So, once he is in the thick, there's no room to move back into hibernation. He assumes the mantle of saviour for the helpless from thereon - using his skills to wreak vengeance on the perpetrators of evil. Denzel Washington takes his stealth vigilante role very seriously and lends a certain mystery as well as majesty to its portrayal on screen. He exudes a serenity and calm while in hibernation, but once on the go, it's the complete opposite. His ability to pre-visualise a potentially explosive situation with precision and consequently dispatch would-be assailants with swift, sharp, often grisly violence, is admirable. He also times his acts to the second. That makes the subsequent action all the more lethal looking. Don't expect Training Day histrionics though, as in this outing he is not expected to mouth much dialogue or express his motivations in words. Fuqua lends latent energy to the narrative, well-aided by beguiling camerawork by Mario Fiore - that lingers over Boston in moody evening sunset shots. That atmosphere is just the right, set-up for the violence that follows. Scriptwriter Richard Wenk's slow-burn approach to thrills makes the events much more weighty while editor John Refoua punctuates it all with a carefully measured pace. Quite a humdinger, this. — JT
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Quite a dumb affair
Infantile flatulent farce with stinking you-see-it-coming-from-a-mile jokes, this one doesn't have anything new to offer other than Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels trying to resurrect their lost glory without much success. The dim-witted pals set out on a road trip and, as expected, bring the house down (if you can call it that?) with adult nappy changes, racist slurs, sexist taunts and numerous insults to humanity in general. After twenty years, this is what you get in the name of fun? The directors are obviously aiming for high returns with this re-run of bad taste. With Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in the driving seat, there is at least some hope of respectability. Both are rubbery and in fine fettle, but the writing is stale and out-of-touch. There's really not much fun to be had despite the all-out effort to create it. — JT
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TV movies Saturday November 22
& PICTURES B4U MOVIES FILMY HBO MOVIES OK STAR GOLD UTV ACTION ZEE CINEMA ZEE CLASSIC Sunday November 23
& PICTURES MOVIES OK STAR GOLD STAR MOVIES ZEE CINEMA ZEE CLASSIC ZEE STUDIO
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