28th February

Neutral Umpire

As the LS Speaker Somnath Chatterjee steps down from the post as well as his political career, the article reviews his career as the Speaker and issues that remained prominent during his tenure.

His tenure as the speaker was dominated mostly by disruptions and walkouts. Most disgraceful incident was when some of the MPs waved bundles of notes as bribed given to them by the ruling party during the vote of confidence. Somnath Chatterjee would be remembered as a Speaker who honestly tried to instill some order and discipline in the house. He talked about implementing several laws provided in our constitution so that disruptive activities could be stopped and the public money could be utilized for some productive work. So much was his frustration with the frequent disruption and indiscipline that he told that the current MPs do not deserve a “single paisa” of public money and that they should all get defeated in the coming elections. However, he clarified later with a regret that the statement was purely out of frustration. 

His understanding of the post and neutrality was commendable. This was the precise reason that he refused to step down even after CPM withdrew support from govt saying that he was elected unanimously and the post is independent of the party decisions. He was successful in bringing the parliamentary norms and behavior to the centre stage. What’s to be seen now is whether these issues will have an impact on his colleagues in future or not.

Beyond the State

The article advocates separation of religion from the state affairs which has been an Indian tradition since centuries but disrupted in the past few years.

As Taliban in Pakistan tries to impose Islamic laws in the governance of day to day affairs, Sri Ram Sena tries to impose Hinduism on the Indian state. Indian state has never defined state in religious terms. Perhaps the major reason is that, unlike Europe, there has never been a well defined church above the state to mandate the governance issues. This is again the reason why multiple religious faiths have flourished in India. Hinduism is a conglomeration of multiple faiths and doesn’t have a single entity called church. Hindu belief of separation of public affairs from religion owes to the ideology that religion should think more about the matters of higher reasoning. The mundane tasks of state and public life should be the responsibility of rulers and not the religion.

Perhaps this should be the understanding of the present time as well. People who try to mingle state with religion are actually trying to vilify the later. Public affairs should be solved with the help of political documents like Constitution and religion should be isolated from it.

27th February

It Won’t Be Easy

The article talks about the US President Barack Obama’s first address to the joint session of the US Congress. The article also seconds the US President’s apprehension not to get into conservative mode which was the main reason for 1930s depression.

The President touched upon every issue ranging from climate control to healthcare and economy to foreign policy. The world is looking upon the US as to provide direction for the future especially with respect to the economic scenario and foreign policy. US has already mentioned Pakistan-Afghanistan region as a “crucial” front and the new administration has already made proactive steps in that context. According to Senator John Kerry, there is a need for intense help to the crippling civilian govt in Pakistan and the non-military aid has to triple in the coming time with a cut in military aid. The outsourcing of war on terror to Pakistan is not an option anymore after the signing of the controversial Swat Deal between Pakistan and Taliban. Obama realizes this very well. On the job front, although restrictions on outsourcing might be politically correct but such a policy would be self-destructive in the globalized world. Obama’s measures to cut the agricultural subsidies and reform America’s defense budget does bring in much needed fiscal discipline. 

However, one thing the President has to take care is to avoid the protectionist ideology which was the major reason for the Great Depression of 1930s.

Spare The Messenger

The article expresses its apprehension over the increasing threat for the media freedom in the subcontinent. The incidents over the past few years in the subcontinent mainly India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka should raise concerns among the advocators of democracy.

The article starts with the recent threat received by a TOI reporter from a lawyer in Punjab and Haryana High Court over the article written by the reporter on the illegal mining being carried out in the Aravallis. The incident marks the increasing intolerance over media scrutiny on the public life in the subcontinent. The problem is that more then often media has been the only pillar that has stood steady for the democratic values in the subcontinent. Extremist forces have always used violent measures against media on the name of perceived insults while the public institutions have succumbed to the wishes of such groups instead of protecting media. The situation is even acute in our neighborhood Pakistan where a reporter was killed and a Press Club was blew up by Taliban as a warning to media. In Srilanka, around 10 reporters have been killed since 2006. Government has often been using War against LTTE as a reason to put restrictions on media and forcing international media like BBC to suspend its local programs.

Media has always stood up to uphold the democratic values in the subcontinent and resist the authoritarian tendencies in politics and society. For the people concerned about the quality of democracy there is a reason to worry now.

26th February

Hey, Big Spender

The article talks about the recent fiscal stimulus packages provided by the government and its implications on the economy. The article also advocates measures in terms of monetary policy as well since much has been done on the fiscal arena.

The recent 2% cuts in excise duty and the service duty would mean a hole of Rs.30k crores in the fiscal deficit. But as a surprise comes in the form of election dates, the model code of conduct is set off and thus govt has to be careful not to attract a charge of electorally motivated measures. The stimulus would definitely boom various sectors across the country but the question is whether these benefits would reach the end consumer or not since the prime objective of the stimulus package is to increase spending. S&P is not optimistic about growth prospects of India as the fiscal deficits already sees 11% figure and if the rating degrades further, it would make it very difficult to attract foreign money besides just depreciation of rupee. 

The tough job would be for the next govt since the burgeoning fiscal deficit would make budget management and debt financing harder. It has to keep a check on wasteful spending while vigorously implement stimulus packages as well as its flagship programs. Given the ample room in the domain of monetary policy, RBI should not step in to touch upon the long awaited interest rate cuts.

Double Trouble

The article cautions the Indian government to be watchful as the neighbors, Pakistan and Bangladesh, get into trouble.

In Pakistan, SC banned opposition leader Nawaz Sharif from contesting elections while told his son Shahbaz Sharif to step down from his chief ministership post in Punjab province. Nawaz Sharif demanded reinstating the SC judges sacked earlier by Parvez Musharraf. However, the President Asif Ali Zardari fears that, if reinstated, the judges would give away harsh judgments against him on the corruption charges. This could lead to wide-spread civil disobedience across Pakistan which cannot come at the worst time when Taliban is trying to take the country hostage, the first step being Swat Valley. In Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Rifles resorted to mutiny on the pay and perks issue as they killed some of their seniors officers and the rest of them being taken hostage. However, the situation would be better under control since the government of Sheikh Hasina Wajed has confirmed the acceptance of their demands. 

For Bangladesh, the recent election win of Awami League has raised hopes for long term political stability after the interim military rule. But, for Pakistan, a civil disobedience would give chance for the military and Islamic extremists to exploit the situation. For India, it is important to watch carefully the developments and remain on guard.

25th February

It’s No Secret

The article has argued against the client privacy rules of Swiss Banks that has made them safe heaven for thousands of swindlers, politicians, tax law breakers as well as terrorists. 

Recently UBS was forced to reveal some of the data about their clients who were allegedly involved in tax evasion crimes in US. While one side of political spectrum opposes such move as it attacks the great Swiss national tradition of banking secrecy, the other side of the political spectrum supports it as a move to greater transparency. Since ages, Swiss Banks have maintained their tradition of client secrecy which has been their USP. However, privacy only holds good till it’s about legitimate money. Besides good account holders, Swiss Banks are becoming safe heaven for people involved in high amount of tax evasion, smuggling as well as terrorists. Recently a UBS banker confessed to have helped in clients’ tax evasion and diamond smuggling. Osama Bin Laden’s money for 9/11 attacks was also parked in Swiss Banks as the investigations have revealed.

The current economic crisis demands greater transparency and reforms in not only the financial services domain but everywhere. The time is to create responsible and responsive institutions. Swiss Banks, by their stubborn client secrecy policy, is in fact helping bad guys. Banks should maintain client secrecy as required by professional norms but also help regulatory authorities and criminal investigators when needed.

None Of The Above

The article talks about the paradigm shift that would be brought in the Indian political system if the “right to case negative vote” becomes reality. 

Last year there were e-mails circulating all over internet regarding the Article 49(O) which essentially said that a voter has the right to refuse to vote after identifying and registering himself. However, this was a self-defeating rule since nobody would bother to go all the way to poll-booth, stand in a queue, undergo the entire procedure and then declare not to vote when he has the option to sit in his house and not go to poll-booth at all. Right to negative vote is different since it allows voter to declare that none of the candidates deserves his vote. SC has decided that the issue should be taken up to the five-judge constitution bench. EC has already given its nod to the rule. The rule is revolutionary since huge number of negative votes would show the protest of voters over the quality of candidates standing up the election. Many candidates in the elections have huge number of corruption charges and criminal offenses which cannot be tolerated. 

Not surprisingly, political parties have protested against this rule. But the point is that if the rule shakes up all the political parties, then it would have served its purpose.

24th February

So, Take That

The article urges the people across the nation to celebrate the success of Slumdog at Oscars and rise above the issues of the origin of the movie or the pity portrayal of India’s poverty. 

India has a reason to celebrate the success of the movie. If it depicts the Indian poverty then it also shows the optimism present in the society. Three Indians, A R Rehman, Gulzar and Resul Pookutty, has won the individual awards and is recognition to the immense international level talent that these people possess. Award won by “Smile Pinki – the story of Pinki Sonkar”, story of an Indian girl who underwent a cleft palate operation, in the documentary category adds to the celebration. Rehman is a true ambassador of India who rules the contemporary music with his incredible fusion of western and classical Indian music. He is confident and comfortable in his role of being a Muslim, Tamilian and above all Indian. The people who won the Oscars are from different religions but they accepted awards as Indians. 

India is an experiment lab for multiculturalism and we have proved that it works. Rehman, rightly, said that he owes this success for choosing love over hate. The best time say this perhaps. Taliban should learn that India celebrates its cultural differences and achievements of its fellow Indians irrespective of religion.

Deep Trouble

The article stresses on need to develop better policies and rules to protect the rapidly depleting water levels and drying up of lakes and put a strict check on the mining activities that is currently carried on in ecologically sensitive areas especially Aravalli hills.

The recent photographs “then and now” of the lakes in the NCR region raise serious concerns about the drying lakes and water shortages. The lakes served dual purpose of tourist destination as well as ground water replenishment. The problem also expands to regions like Rajasthan, MP, Tamilnadu and Orissa. Some ancient man-made reservoirs have survived seasonal droughts while others have dried up mainly due to mining activities and are being turned into real-estate, bus stands or landfill sites. Mining in Aravalli range has to be stopped by SC. Even minor mining leads to rainwater being stored in the catchment areas instead of water reservoirs and the non-porous rocks prevent groundwater rejuvenation while the trapped water is lost to evaporation. The court stay orders are openly neglected by the miners who continue to mine especially in ecologically sensitive areas. 

There needs to be a greater community participation to stop the mining activities in these areas and the central environmental authority has to deal with the clearances issues and disputes to make SC intervene in the rarest of cases.

23rd February

Too Little, Too Late

The article contemplates over the existing lack of accountability and transparency prevailing in the Indian judiciary that weakens the democracy overall.

The recent verdict against Former Union Minister Sukh Ram for allegedly disproportionate funds comes after 13 years of trials and that too only at the trial court level. This is too much time for any judicial system to give verdict for such a high-profile case and with Sukh Ram appealing in the high court; it is less likely that he would get punished in his lifetime. If this is the pace for minister-level cases, then it would take even more in the case of lower rank govt officers and public servants. Such lack of accountability and transparency from the judicial side on corruption issues weakens the overall democratic structure. However, it has been seen that judiciary itself has been found in the dirty game. Although SC Justices reveal their assets to CJI, CJI himself has refused to reveal the information in public. This becomes all and more necessary after recent corruption charges against judges of high court, former CJI and a sitting judge in Calcutta High Court.

In fact, judiciary should be more transparent in corruption issues due to its own role as a watchdog. Since, CJI himself has recommended removal of Justice Soumitra Sen, accused of misappropriation of funds and an impeachment move has been initiated (which cannot be started without signature of at least 100 members of Lok Sabha and 50 members of Rajya Sabha), government should act on it soon instead of shielding the matter.

Catch Some Mice

The article talks about the CPM’s chimera of creating a Third Front at the center since none, Congress and BJP, gave a heed to its socialistic ideologies since capitalism is the only way perceived for the path of progress of the country.

After confronting with UPA over the nuclear deal issue, the CPM has been thinking to create a Third Front to keep both, Congress and BJP, away from center at any cost. However, in the past, such efforts have not been successful due to personality issues, ideological conflicts and lack of coherent political strategy. None other party is a pan-India party as Congress and BJP. Even BSP, the biggest hope for CPM, does not attract national appeal. In such times, a coalition of several small parties at the center with disparate agendas could be no less then a national disaster when the country is already fighting with economic crisis and national security issues.

Incidentally, no party has chased the CPM dream of socialism in India. Even a section of CPM itself feels less convinced about the idea. The CPM govt in Bengal itself has turned practical to invite capitalism in the state since it’s the only way to progress. The author, sarcastically, urges CPM to catch the mouse and not to worry about the color of the cat i.e. focus on the national progress and not the way it is achieved. 

21st February

Lend and Spend

The article strongly calls for use of monetary policy as a stimulus to the economic downturn currently affecting India. 

Although India is being projected to show around 6% growth in the fiscal year 2009-10, there is a room for improvement if India uses its monetary policy judiciously to enable growth as rightly pointed out by the Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. So far the intrepid monetary policy has effectively mitigated the crisis in the Indian market as investment in rural and public sector projects as well as housing has showed positive results along with upturn in certain industries like steel, cement, auto and FMCG. But the time has come when complacency has to go. RBI needs to think seriously on the lines of rate cut as industrial production, consumer spending, investment has gone down, corporate margins shrank and jobs are in danger. Overseas funds are hardly coming and banks have become risk averse as they avoid lending out of fear of defaults. 

Indian consumer has a tendency to save more which is good but not when the expectation is for price fall which creates a deflationary spiral. The 13-month low inflation of 3.92% calls for both, fiscal and monetary, stimulus to spur consumption. What is needed for govt is to provide more fiscal stimulus packages and banks to jettison conservatism. Money that is parked with banks and consumers has to turn into money lend and spend.

To Face The Music

The article talks about the recent development in the forensic technology where DNA can help in generating the entire face which police can then look for. The technology would be available in few years which can then be used in anthropology domain as well.

Till now DNA at the crime site was used to identify a suspect’s DNA with high accuracy (99.99%). This is certainly better then relying on police sketch artists and relying on someone’s memory which is again subjected to individual interpretation. However, as announced at American Association for the Advancement of Science by Mark Shriver, an anthropologist and geneticist at Pennsylvania State University, DNA can now be used to generate a perfect face of a person. The technology is called forensic molecular photo-fitting and relies on mapping genes that are linked with skin pigmentation and other groups of genes that control facial structures to build a complete image on computer. The same technology can also be used to generate a face of a person whose remains have been severely damaged or decomposed. 

Besides forensic, the technology can also be used to generate faces of people who lived in pre-photography era or even the most ancient people and extinct animals.

20th February

Listen To Him

The author appeals the government, especially the defense ministry, to seriously react to the warning issued by Admiral Sureesh Mehta about huge gaps in India’s maritime security.

Compared to US, where the country launched Container Security Initiative (CSI) and Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) within months of 9/11, India’s measures have always been more reactive then a comprehensive policy to improve the security and infrastructure at ports. A bulk of international trade happens through waters and a country has to recognize the danger it faces by ignoring the container security issue. For India, most of the measures are on paper. However, it is not so easy to implement the policies since India has one of most abysmal port infrastructure with massive processing and turnaround times and high marine charges. Implementation is not possible for Port Authorities without passing the cost to shipping companies. Thus, government should bear the cost of initiating container security and improving infrastructure. 

India has avoided signing CSI on the grounds of sovereignty but at the same time hasn’t taken any measures of its own to implement security measures. India cannot expect international community to sympathize with her on the issue of terrorism while taking no action on its own responsibilities. And once the issue of nuclear smuggling through marine route has erupted, it should also come up with adequate prevention measures to avoid any serious consequences.

History’s Lesson

The article criticizes the politically correct protectionism policy followed by several countries across the world at the times of global recession. The article favors free trade and open market as the only solutions to come out of economic downturn.

The recent G-7 summit vowed to resist protectionism in the times of recession but often pledge and practice take different path in implementation. Obama’s slogan of “Buy American” has been scrapped by several countries across the world like China, Canada, and Europe while Brazil is even considering a legal retort in WTO. The French President Nicolas Sarkozy maintained that state aided car firms Peugeot-Citroen and Renault should consider job protection at home and home-bound relocation of overseas production. US has insisted federally aided banks not to hire foreign workers. However, are such measures a panacea to crisis? In the past during the Global Depression of 1930s, different countries erected trade barriers to protect themselves with the most ill-famous Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 that hiked around 900 US tariffs. The Act hit as a bullet to the already deceased economy

India is a classic example of failure of protectionist policies. Even still BJP adheres to its Swadeshi movement to appease local industries. Globalization has enabled huge outsourcing where each country is doing what it is best in. Open markets have enabled most efficient allocation of resources. The key to economic recovery is cross-stakeholding. Economic nationalism is good as political slogan but not enough to recover from crisis.

19th February

Running Out of Time

The article expresses concern over the recent deal between Pakistan and Tanzim Nafeez Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) and its implications in future with a possibility of Taliban takeover of Pakistan and access to nuclear warfare which can be direct danger to US and India.

Entire world has condemned this deal and it seems that the Pakistani premier, Zardari, speaks as a powerless head desperate to push US for military action. Some say it as a tactical move by Pakistan to open a front in Waziristan against TTP. But more troubling is the perception of some general in Pakistan military that Taliban is an asset worth conserving even at the cost of integrity of Pakistan state. Presently Taliban controls the entire area from east Kabul to West Pakistan. However, the game changer would be acquisition of nuclear warfare by Taliban which would be direct threat to India as well as US.

The takeover is similar to the Afghan takeover of Taliban in 1994 and to expect Pakistan military to regain the lost ground would be a grave mistake. Presently the fallout of Pakistan seems to be worst with govt hardly controlling the military and the jihadi elements in close proximity with the generals and ISI.

Space Litter

The article talks about the increasing space litter that is increasing the chances of space collisions in future with the first incident just reported. The author insists on more data sharing and coordination between the space agencies across the world to tackle the issue.

The recent collision between the American communications satellite and Russian satellite in North Siberia has raised concerns of increasing space traffic and a need of a system to control it. The greatest threat is to the International Space Center which can get damaged even by one of the more then hundred pieces of debris the collision has created. Out of more then 300k objects of more then 1cm in diameter are orbiting around the earth but US is only able to monitor around 18k of them. Thus, there is a strong need of combined effort from the space agencies across the world to share the data and coordinate among them to set up Space Traffic Control system on the lines of Air Traffic Control system. 

But this is also a part of the answer since it is said that even if no objects are launched till 2055, amount of debris produced from collisions of dead satellites would overtake the rate of debris removed from space by natural means. So, some agencies are thinking to develop a robotic system to remove debris from space. However, currently, the best way to prevent the damage for govt and commercial satellite operators is to share data among each other.

18th February

Calling on China

The article emphasizes on the fact that US-Asia economic relations can drive the global recovery with a special role to be played by China, the fastest growing economy in the global recession.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s preference of Asia (Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China) over Europe as the first continent for the first overseas trip clearly reflects US belief that Asia has to play a major role in driving global recovery along with US. However, the region itself is in poor state with GDPs falling for all majors except for China which has reported 6-8% growth. But China also has its own set of problems with job losses, FDI slump, housing crisis and vertiginous fall in exports as well as imports. However, the govt in has already ordered army to abbey under any circumstances to contain any social unrest. Huge infrastructure spending is underway and stimulus ($586 billion) was announced last year to recover from global economic downturn.

Its time now for both the countries to rise above the tensions on trivial things and correct the asymmetry that has been exposed in these crises i.e. US borrows and spends while China exports and saves.

A Small Step

The article applauds the Saudi King’s appointment of Norah al-Faiz as the first women minister in the kingdom but clarifies that still there is a long way to go for the kingdom to recognize women as a human being equivalent of men.

Although appointed as a minister, Norah would still be made adhere to the laws that deny personal freedom to women in Saudi Arabia. Yet the kind deserves a clap for making a start. The country has a tainted history as far as women are concerned. Marriage of a 47-year-old man to an 8-year-old girl upheld by a judge, gang rape victim being punished 200 lashes and six months of prison and so many other cases that exemplify the atrocities on the name of religious laws. Islamic conservatives in SA has a very firm grip in the social, political and judicial life of Saudi Arabians and their interpretation of Islam has become a template for other parts of the world as well.

While the world, especially US and Europe, fights vigorously against Islamic extremism, it should also recognize the source of such extremism and exert some influence there as well instead of becoming hostage to the diplomatic ransom of an oil-rich kingdom.

17th February

Holding Steady

The article talks about steps that have to be taken with respect to monetary policy to come out of economic crisis since very little government can do from fiscal side considering the fact that polls would be underway in 2 months from now.

Although India’s economy is slowing down, the government can still fight. Fiscal deficit of 6% of GDP is a major cause of concern not more then the 10% deficit when consolidated Center-State deficit is considered. Talks on further fiscal stimuli are underway and it won’t even have to adhere to parliamentary custom. However, as indicated by Pranab Mukharjee, fiscal consolidation is the mandate for the next government. 

Increased spending on public welfare and infrastructure programs like NREGS and Bharat Nirman is a good sign but the programs have been victim of largely unused funds (64% funds in NREGS unutilized till end-2008), poor planning, time overruns and poor accountability. Poll bound govt has very limited means to introduce recovery through fiscal measures but there is a lot that can be done through monetary tools. India’s better then expected performance cannot be sustained with risk averse banking system. Slashing interest rates is imperative. Although India is the second fastest growing economy in the global meltdown but RBI needs to play a proactive role in order to sustain the momentum.

Zardari’s Admission

The article talks about the recent admission by Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari that the center no longer controls the Swat valley and that Islamic law supersede in the region. The article demands deliberate attempts from international community to restore law and order in Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent its Talibanization.

This incident marks the victory of Taliban in conquering a strategic area on Pakistan-Afghanistan border even as the local civilians are fleeing from the region. Add to it the already strong Taliban force that has the ability to strike anywhere in Pakistan at any time on its will and it suggests that Islamabad is not very far from the hands of Taliban. What’s important is the constant state of denial during the Musharraf era when the military forces in Pakistan, post 9/11, took head on the forces of theocracy and at the same time constantly seek military aid from US to build so called anti-terror (actually anti-India) capabilities. The result is when military entered the rebel-held Bajaur province; they found a strong infrastructure developed by Taliban to build up for a fierce resistance. 

Now, with the border between the two countries almost non-existent, the sins of past have come to face. The strategy now should be to improve civilian infrastructure and developmental aid to Pakistan and cut back the military aid, most of part of which goes to the wrong hands. The world needs to develop a coordinated strategy for stabilizing Pakistan and Afghanistan.

16th February

Act Now

The article tries to set the analogy between US and India with respect to the economic crisis and ascertains the need for stimulus package for the recovery and other growth promoting efforts.

Barack Obama’s revised package of $787b (originally $900b) saw hard way with opposition from Republicans about certain untargeted and untimed expenditures. However, the demand of the situation, financial crisis and large scale unemployment (3.6 million since Dec ‘07) vindicated Obama’s call for such stimulus. Obama’s belief about socially conscious policies on infrastructure, health, education and renewable energy for fundamental structural economic changes is reflected in the stimulus. Declared as worst crisis in the post-war era by IMF, only time will tell if the current stimulus is good enough or not.

For India, the problems are pretty much the same and the stimulus provided by the govt is yet to show its desired effects. Inflation (4.39%) is very low, with an apprehension to go to deflationary path, but interest rates have to be lowered to encourage credit flow to consumers. With 7.1% growth, India has been one of the best performing markets in the world (China – 6.8%). However, IMF says that 2009-10 won’t be consolatory. India needs to prove it wrong.

Go Ogle Earth

The author strongly criticizes the attempt by Mumbai High Court and governments of several nations including US, China, Sudan, Iran and UK to prevent Google from showing high resolution satellite images on its Google Earth software that was reportedly used in recent Mumbai terror attacks. He argues that prohibiting technology is not a solution to terrorism.

Author believes that just because somebody has misused the technology, doesn’t mean that we should ban the technology itself. For that matter terrorists also used Satellite phones, mobiles, walky-talkies, GPS systems, Wi-Fi laptops, blackberry etc. So do we ban these equipments also? Certainly not. In the case of Google, the satellite imagery technology is moving further as ISRO is currently working on Bhuvan, an online mapping system that is 10 times more precise then Google Earth. In fact Google Earth itself is so much comprehensive with details at street level for some of the cities and also a flight simulator that can help a person simulate a flight path before actually going to a destination. Can we stop all these developments?

Stopping all these means we admitted defeat against ill forces. Society develops because of good uses of technology which overweighs the bad. And certainly we all know that prohibition never works. We have to find new ways of existence in newer times. As we did in the past, we ought to overcome this problem as well.

14th February

A Good First Step

The article welcomes the Islamabad’s confession that the Mumbai terror plot was planned on its soil and Pakistani national were involved in the attacks. At the same time author also insists that pressure should be kept on Islamabad to dismantle the entire terror infrastructure especially in the North Western Frontier Province.

Although a positive step by Islamabad, the tension between two countries is far from easing out. It will take a lot many credible and result-oriented steps for Islamabad to resume the dialogue. Pakistan would have to dismantle the entire terror infrastructure especially in the NWFP which is a breeding house for Taliban and Al Qaeda and the country finds itself the victim of terror. Although the international pressure is there at this point of time, but New Delhi has to make sure it continues and doesn’t get out of sight at any moment. 

Post-Parliament attack on 13th December 2001, Pakistan banned LeT but it resumed the terror activities under the name of Jamaat-ud-Dawa. New Delhi has to make sure the mistake doesn’t get repeated this time.

On Track

The article talks about the interim rail budget by Lalu Prasad Yadav that brought in the populist measures considering the election year. However, the article tries to justify the Lalu success by the economic upturn as well as initiatives by his predecessor Nitish Kumar on which he capitalized.

Besides 2% reduction in A/C, 2nd and Sleeper classes, it was the concept of bullet trains that caught the attention of everyone. The freight traffic is targeted to increase to 850m tones in 08-09 from 793m tones last year which is a welcome sign for downturn hit industry. The budget is fairly accurate pointer to Lalu’s performance in his tenure with improved infrastructure, expansion of train services and improved passenger volume. But the credit for this also goes for the economic growth over the past years, change in accounting format, initiatives taken by the predecessor Nitish Kumar in the domains of increased freight load per train as well as retrenchment – an imperative for increased efficiency and revenue savings. However, increased freight load has invited some skepticism with recent complaints on increased rail fractures and train damage. 

However, this doesn’t undermine Lalu’s efforts. But increased OR has raised some concerns. But IR has proved Nitish’s vision of Railways being a viable commercially viable venture.

13th February

Aaj ka MLA

The article contemplates over the recent violent incidents in the assemblies of UP, Orissa and AP. 

The recent violent incidents of chappal throwing, jumping on table, hurling of objects first in UP and now in Orissa and AP assemblies have once again showed lack of basic civic sense in our MLAs. This is not only restricted to State Assemblies but also in the Parliament where violent incidents are very common with an addition of recent incident of money showed by members of opposition as bribe offered to them by the ruling party during their vote of confidence. Average yearly sittings in Parliament have come down by drastic 34% (from 124 in 1952-61 to 81 in 1992-2001). State assemblies are no better with 20 to 50 sittings a year. This disrespect of parliamentary proceedings is the reflection of our dismal polity and disappointing MLAs. 

Over the years, Indian polity has helped poor and backward classes come ahead in politics but there has been no improvement in the norms and respect for institutions like Parliament. This is the biggest failure of our democracy and a part of blame goes to our education system which is unable to instill respect for the rules of democracy. Civics is not considered as an important subject in school. Our legislators are glaring results of this neglect.

Rebranding BJP

The article talks about the recent BJP announcements with regards to its election agenda and suggests the party to refrain from old tried out slogans. 

Party confusion over the agenda was clearly reflected in the recent national conclave at Nagpur, last week. While L K Advani tried to focus on developmental issues, the next day Rajnath Singh clarified the intentions to build Ram Temple at Ayodhya if the party was elected to office. R Singh also talked about failed capitalism and need for a new Gandhian socialism as an alternative to solve the present problems. However, in the era of coalition, it is very difficult for any party to execute all the goals as stated in pre-election time. Moreover, Ram Temple is too divisive an issue to help BJP win the elections. The new social order in India is pro-development and talks about better governance, national security and policies supporting market forces. Parties who talk about these issues are more likely to win elections.

Although BJP is the one who initiated all the mall-pub culture and unleashing the market forces the party is not really capitalizing on it. BJP needs to come out of old slogans now.

12th February

Holbrooke Visits

The article depicts the challenges faced by the US with respect to terrorism as the US government sends Richard Holbrooke to visit South Asia as a special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Unlike the Bosnian insurgency of 1995, where Holbrooke handled the Balkans, the situation is pretty different here. While US pushes Pakistan to drive out the Taliban and Al Qaeda from its North Western province of Baluchistan, Taliban and Al Qaeda operates freely from these areas to retake the charge of Afghanistan again. Besides this, the Pakistan foreign policy itself sees the strategic depth they gain against India on the terror front if Taliban regains Afghanistan. Power of Taliban was recently demonstrated in a terrible suicide attack on the Afghan Ministry building in Kabul. Release of A Q Khan illustrates that if Pakistan is not provided with more aid, it can resort again to proliferation to both state and non-state actors. 

Finally, it’s hoped that the Holbrooke will lead to better understanding of ground realities in South Asia and formation of effective international strategy against terrorism and jihad. India also sees to it that it communicates its point effectively when the US envoy comes to India.

Small Wonder

The article tells about recent advances in quantum computing and its prospects in future with respect to developing highly powerful quantum computers.

A recent discovery by the scientists at University of Maryland reported to have send information from one atom to another located a meter away using a process called quantum teleportation. This transfer happens without any physical medium between two atoms and where the information on first atom simply appears on the second one instantaneously. This state is called “quantum entanglement” where two atoms behave like one entity. The potential here can be used to develop large scale repeater that can network quantum memories over vast distances. 

Finally, quantum computing is million times faster then today’s supercomputing and its property of “superposition” where the atom can be in two states at the same time (‘0’ and ‘1’ unlike typical atom which can store only either of the values). Although presently inefficient, with further research and development the practical benefits of quantum computing in future would be incalculable.

11th February

Crash Course

The article addresses the critical issue of serious reforms that are needed in the Indian Aviation sector in terms of improving services of ATC as well as infrastructure development. 

The recent mishap at the Mumbai Airport depicted the grave flaws in the current civil aviation infrastructure in the country. Post-incident the blame game has already started between ATC, IAF and AI but the FAA (Federal Aviation Association) audit of DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) indicated serious manpower shortage (up to 40%) and need of infrastructure development. Currently the shortage in ATC is due to low pay package and high stress job which results because in spite of safety standards mandate of 10 airlines at a time, a typical ATC staff member handles 30 airlines at one time which makes the job all the more highly stressful. Aviation sector fleet size has seen 23.7% jump in last three years but the infrastructure development is not adequate. Furthermore if FAA downgrades DGCA, it will be difficult for Indian Airlines to open up new routes to US and the foreign airlines wanting to buy equity stakes in domestic airlines would be in miserable situation which will be worst for the already cash-squeezed domestic aviation sector.

Although DGCA has approaches International Civil Aviation Organization for recommendations and feasibility of restructuring the air navigation operations, this time concrete actions needs to be taken instead of on-paper suggestions.

Danger Next Door

The article contemplates over the present status of War against Terror where there is a desperate need to mount pressure on Islamabad on the wake of recent Al Qaeda threat to attack India if India retaliates to 26/11.

Despite of substantial evidence, there has been no action by Pakistan and it has maintained its rhetoric of more evidence to continue investigation. It is also clear that the civilian government there has no control over the military force which is continuously helping Taliban and Al Qaeda while providing safe heaven to them in the Western Province. The entire region is highly unsecure and under control of Taliban. However, the good thing is US has acknowledged this fact and now sees Pakistan as a major security challenge for US as against Iran or Iraq. 

However, post-Al Qaeda threat, it is clear that the terrorist organization is not a threat only to US but also India and in fact India can be the front-line victim of its attacks and it would be unwise to assume that 26/11 won’t repeat.

10th February

It Measures Up

The author here mentions about developing a refined versioned of GDP that is presently proposed by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy to include subjective factors as a part of GDP instead of just quantitative factors.

The commission includes Nobel Prize winning economists Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen. The idea here is to include subjective indicators like happiness, life satisfaction etc but equates human welfare with money then the value. GDP also does not take into account the environmental depletion that takes on account of usage of natural resources in the economic activities. The argument here is that not all economic activities results in social welfare. Thus GDP should cover all the measures that encompass all aspects of human welfare rather then the sum total of all economic activities in monetary terms.

Drawing lines from the UN HDI, the commission need to work on all the indicators of social and environmental development. Thus, we need to supplement GDP, not supplant it.

College Coup

The author criticizes the government move to make UGC regulate the deemed universities across the country with respect to the fee structure and admission process they follow for student intake.

This clearly makes a mockery of definition of deemed universities. Deemed University is a status given to an institution that is seemed to be able to achieve excellence through greater autonomy in terms of fee structure, syllabus followed, student intake process and faculty compensation etc. This does not happen overnight. But then it’s a fair game since the non-performers would eventually get weed out. According to National Knowledge Commission, set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said that present regulatory framework is itself a huge barrier to higher education institutions to grow. AICTE is also being accused of creating artificial scarcity where demand exceeds supply by wide margin. But it’s to be known that demand will eventually match supply when the cost of education falls down.

The current structure of government would only create unemployable graduates and its claim of creating “world class” institutions cannot be realized by just fiat. As per the suggestion of NKC, government needs to create a regulatory authority that regulates these universities in a light manner which is more needed in the current knowledge economy.

9th February

Game On

The article praises the IPL T20 tournament as it has defied the current economic downturn and attracted the investment which shows investors’ confidence in the format. It also talks about IPL’s ability to bridge gap between the nations.

The current IPL auction indicated that investors believe that there is a lot of money into it. Besides this, the format that requires specific skills not necessary derived from the Test or ODI format, gave rise to new stars. Last year IPL stars like Shawn Marsh, David Hussey and Ravinder Jadeja are now a part of national team. In this year’s auction, all-rounders were preferred over one dimensional players. Surprise auction was that of Bangladeshi cricketer Mortaza as KKR eyes Bangladesh as a key market in future for IPL tournaments. IPL has the ability to un-mesh the cricket from nationalism in the subcontinent and bridge the gap between the countries. 

At the end, the author talks about globalization of IPL to attract more market. Already IPL is seen to be challenging English Premier League in terms of revenue and viewership. It’s time to promote cricket as an entertainment beyond nationalism.

Make Him Answer

The author addresses the criticality of A Q Khan’s release on the impact on War against Terrorism and nuclear proliferation market. 

After the release from house arrest, it is imperative for the world community, especially IAEA, to gain access to A Q Khan since he is extremely dangerous with respect to current market of nuclear trade and smuggling going on. Khan is currently the national hero in Pakistan and Islamabad cannot be blamed for Khan’s trafficking. If the questioning is allowed, it could provide a leverage and strength to the civilian government when it comes to Rawalpindi. What could be done by US is to link its aid with the conditionality to gain access to Khan. The danger of allowing him to move freely, especially when Taliban and Al-Qaeda is swiftly entering the western province, is enormous.

Lastly, US recently have placed sanctions on 13 individuals and 3 companies for colluding with Khan. It is important to destroy the network, Khan has built. Although Islamabad says that Khan’s chapter is over, however, western world should ensure it is not.

7th February

Identity Parade

The author ridicules the argument of some lovers of tokenism and also the RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, about making Mayawati or Ram Vilas Paswan, both of them Dalit, the next PM of the country on the lines of Obama, the first black President of United States.

The argument is totally baseless since Barack Obama has not been President of US because he is black, but because of his suitable qualifications for the post, his vision about America and his policy of de-emphasizing his racial identity. Other black politicians like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who stressed racial identity, are no where near the Presidential race. Lalu Yadav’s suggestion to make Mayawati or Paswan, the PM of India, is on the divisive lines of caste based politics. The top post of the country needs to be headed by someone who is secular as well as neutral on caste based lines. The argument for Narendra Modi for his non-qualification for PM is his Hindutva politics and Gujarat centric approach which will not unite India. 

Mayawati and Paswan would have also done lot of benefit to Dalits but then a PM should be someone who can reach out across the society and benefits all castes and religions.

Chanceless Ton

The article talks about the successful 100 days story of the Chandrayaan-1 mission of ISRO and the findings so far from the mission.

With an objective to determine Moon’s early history and evolution, Chandrayaan-1 has so far been hugely successful in conducting various tests and mappings (chemical and mineralogical) besides looking for water-ice in the permanently shadowed polar regions. Availability of water is necessary to establish a permanent Moon base in future. Helium-3 gas, if discovered, would be a possible replacement to fossil fuels in future. The probe has, so far, surpassed all performance expectations and instruments are running exceedingly well. The ISRO mission is expected to bring some unexpected information from the unexplored areas in order to settle a long time debate on Moon’s inception.

Earlier, 30 years back, the rocks that were brought revealed only the information so far that there is existence of water-ice on the surface. Hopefully the ISRO mission would bring results quicker.

6th February

Power to Block

The author talks about the recent SC judgement over the legitimacy of strikes, famously called bandhs, by the political parties. He also talks about the ill effects of this judgement on a public life at large.

The judgement by SC has mentioned that the bandhs are merely expressions of feeling, which is entitled to everyone in a democracy. The SC order comes as a revoke to the earlier ruling by Kerala High Court in 1997 which constituted the present CJ K G Balakrishnan. The author criticizes the ruling with an argument that no party in a democracy has a right to halt the routine activities of citizens, especially who are on daily wages. The author also explains the difference between the general strike and a corporate strike (owing to disputes between workers and management). The general strikes are a good thing in dictatorship where citizens have no other alternative. Strikes by Gandhiji were against British government and were peaceful and voluntary. But contemporary strikes by political outfits are mostly violent and forced. 

The author questions the need of the Tamilnadu strike which had nothing to do with central and state government but something in the different nation. Can we afford it? The author, finally, appeals SC to contemplate the issue once more.

Marriage and Morals

The author has depicted the morality play executed by the ex-CM of UP, Kalyan Singh, on his sudden ‘change of heart’ on the Babri issue.

While SP reads the statements of Kalyan Singh as an apology and mollifies the Muslim supporters who are uncomfortable with the alliance, it is important to know that Kalyan Singh has clearly stated his intention to prevent BJP from coming into power. It is also to be noted that Kalyan Singh doesn’t see any future in BJP right now and the sees SP as a party for his son, Rajveer, in future. Thus, his current statements are based on political compulsions. His intensions to escape the sin of Babri demolition execution is understandable and should not be confused with moral enlightenment. 

Political alliances are often targeted to get the chair and SP is well using Kalyan Singh to expand its vote bank. Voters need to understand this and need to fall for the morality play of Kalyan Singh.