3rd April

Beyond the Law

The article talks about the imprudence shown by the state government of UP in dealing with the Varun Gandhi case when it, unnecessarily, invoked NSA act against him. The case should have been dealt politically and lawfully.

While the state government was right in invoking the relevant laws of Indian Penal Code against Varun Gandhi, by stretching itself to National Security Act, it went overboard. NSA is generally used against terrorists and more so it is used in case any act is committed by an individual which is a threat to national security. Hate speech doesn’t amount to threat to that extent. Hate speech is a political tactic during elections to polarize votes and thus it should be dealt politically. Excessive dependence on law to tackle it defeats the very purpose of challenging it. While the UP government argued that it invoked NSA after Varun supporters indulged in violence in the court premises on Saturday. But then there are IPC provisions to deal with this situation as well. As Varun Gandhi’s supporters allege a political conspiracy in this action, it is now up to SC to take a call on UP government’s decision. The incident signifies the lack of responsibility shown by political leaders while exercising freedom of speech. But such extreme measures of unnecessary invoking laws that should be used sparingly and only in special circumstances, at the end aids the abuser itself. 

However, young leaders like Varun Gandhi should know what is acceptable in political discourse while BJP should show some prudence instead of comparing the situation with Emergency.

Green Leap Forward

The article talks about the steps taken by two of the world’s largest economies, US and China, to switch to green technologies. At the end it talks about the steps needed to be taken by India since it also one of the largest contributors of carbon dioxide emissions to the world.

US President Obama has proposed a slew of new projects to replace the traditional gas-guzzlers with more fuel efficient cars while China, too, seeks to attain the position of lead producer of hybrid and all-electric vehicles in three years. Besides bailing out the ailing car manufacturing industry, the stimulus by Obama reflects the change in policy from oil-friendly Bush era. The new policy also aims to create 5 million green-collar jobs besides promoting energy efficiency in public and private buildings. China also came up with $870b stimulus package for projects in renewable energy and railway transport. While both, US and China, faced criticism on emission of huge amount of greenhouse gases, both the countries have now taken a lead in developing green economy apparently through new technology, increasing public awareness and bypassing conventional fuel-dependent modes of transport. China is also on to provide support services to green technologies like setting up electric vehicle charging stations and subsidizing clean public transport.

For India, Nano is all set to flood the Indian middle-class market. Although it is highly fuel efficient, the aim ought to be to overcome dependence on fossil fuels. Being second most populous country, India is a big polluter. In terms of per capita we may be lowest but then volumes does matter and it is in our own interest to speed up the green projects that are in melancholy for want of incentives.