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EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, , 6 EDITORIAL, , DELHI, , THE HINDU, , MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022, , EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, , Show commitment to equity in the Budget, Limits of power, SC serves a reminder that the House should, work within constitutional parameters, Nikhil Dey & Aruna Roy, , O, , n January 17, 2022, Oxfam, International presented its, annual global “Inequality, Report”. Titled “Inequality Kills”,, the report calculated and present, ed the quantum growth in wealth, of a minuscule few, and the simul, taneous impoverishment of mil, lions of working people. During, the novel coronavirus pandemic,, the report reveals, more than half, the world’s new poor are from In, dia; 84% Indian households have, suffered a loss of income, with 4.6, crore people falling into extreme, poverty. In this period, the richest, 142 people have more than dou, bled their wealth to more than ₹53, lakhcrore. This is clearly happen, ing by design, and can only be cor, rected if our policymakers reverse, their framework of paying lip ser, vice to the poor while making pol, icies that support the rich. One of, the most important places to show, commitment to equity, is the Un, ion Budget; and inequality should, perhaps be discussed threadbare, in India before, and after every, Union and State Budget., , This is the guiding light, There is also a constitutional man, date to reduce inequality. In India, today, some of the most basic hu, man rights that allow people to, stay alive are under threat. It is the, sacred responsibility of the Go, vernment to follow the Constitu, tion, and ensure delivery of these, rights. The policymaking “duty”, of all governments is to follow Part, IV of the Constitution — the Direc, tive Principles of State Policy. The, Budget is one of the most impor, tant annual exercises in state poli, cy, and it is the Directive Princi, ples that should be a guiding light., In terms of inequality, Articles 38, , R, , ussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s com, ment, after receiving a written response from, Washington to Moscow’s security demands, that, ‘Russia doesn’t want wars’ raises hopes of a diplomatic, solution to the Ukraine crisis. Last week saw a flurry of, diplomatic activities aimed at deescalating the situa, tion. Besides the U.S.’s written response to Russia,, which could set the stage for further diplomatic talks in, the coming weeks, French President Emmanuel Ma, cron has held talks with his Russian counterpart Vladi, mir Putin. Mr. Macron and German Chancellor Olaf, Scholz are also reportedly trying to revive the stalled, Minsk process that sought to find a peaceful solution to, Ukraine’s internal conflict between Kiev and the Russia, backed separatists in the eastern Donbas region. Mr., Putin has said the U.S. response does not address Rus, sia’s core security concerns. Fears of a military conflict, are still there. Russia, which has mobilised thousands of, troops on its border with Ukraine, in Belarus in Uk, raine’s north and in Transnistria (a breakaway region, from Moldova) in its southwest, has a clear military ad, vantage. But the West’s willingness to press ahead with, diplomatic options and Russia’s reciprocity suggest that, neither side is in a hurry for armed conflict., There is a strong case for deescalation. Mr. Putin has, already achieved many things, without a shot being, fired. He has got the Western leadership to talk to him, over the contested issue of NATO’s expansion, which, Russia has long been complaining about. By putting a, gun to Ukraine’s head, he has effectively drawn a red, line in Russia’s relations with the West. Also, as the U.S., and its allies are scrambling for economic measures to, punish Russia “if it invades Ukraine”, the 2014 Russian, annexation of Crimea and Moscow’s continued support, for separatists inside Ukraine have practically become, nonissues. Nobody is threatening to punish Russia for, not returning Crimea to Ukraine. The status quo has, been redrawn. Besides, the U.S. has said it is open to, discuss some of Russia’s security concerns, including, missile deployments in Eastern Europe and military ex, ercises in sensitive regions. Russia should accept the, U.S. proposals, deescalate the crisis around Ukraine, and opt for more dialogue on critical issues, including, NATO’s eastward expansion. If it still goes ahead with, an attack, which U.S. President Joe Biden said could, happen, it could well be a mistake. Russia might be in a, position to overrun Ukraine militarily, but what comes, next in Europe’s largest country is as unpredictable as it, can get. If the post9/11 military adventures of the U.S., are any lesson, it is that great powers could clinch swift, victories against weaker countries but could fail miser, ably in sustaining those victories. Mr. Putin should not, walk into the same mistake and thereby push Europe, back into the darker days of the Cold War., , Children and education, The pandemic has also produced a, generation of children who have, forgotten what formal education, is. Many teenagers from poor hou, seholds have already joined the, workforce. In this period, there, has been a 6% cut in the education, Budget. Relying on online teach, ing, accompanied by Budget cuts,, amounts to the institutionalisation, of endemic multidimensional, poverty., The list can go on and on. As we, await Union Budget 202223, will, this trend be reversed? There will, be much talk among affluent ana, lysts cautioning against social sec, tor expenditure, calling them, “welfare and doles”. Programmes, such as the food security Act will, not receive the quantum of alloca, tions needed, even though food, grain stocks are more than 90 mil, , lion tons. The People’s Action for, Employment Guarantee (PAEG), has estimated that approximately, ₹2,64,000 crore will be needed to, guarantee 100 days work for cur, rently active job cards. Even half, that amount is unlikely to be allo, cated for MGNREGA. Social secur, ity pensioners will continue to, face hunger, insult, sickness and, death. One would expect that if, nothing else, their millions of, votes in crucial State elections, would fetch these families some, basic rights. But, in polarised elec, tions, the basic needs of unorgan, ised and voiceless people are easi, ly ignored., Time to generate data, Policymakers will tell us that re, sources are scarce. Oxfam says the, combined wealth of India’s 142 bil, lionaires has increased by a mas, sive ₹30 lakhcrore, in just the pan, demic period. Jan Sarokar, a, network of more than 30 social, sector movements, has suggested, that a 2% wealth tax, and a 33% in, heritance tax on the top 1% of our, population will fetch an estimated, ₹11 lakh crore per annum, to sup, port basic social sector entitle, ments. Suggestions such as this, are already being ridiculed by, market fundamentalists. Which, way will the Government go?, The Bharatiya Janata Party’s, response to most international re, ports has been to claim flawed, methodology and analysis. It is, time to introspect, generate robust, data, and face the truth. The Bud, get is a policy that matters to all., There is, unfortunately, little hope, that this Government will stop this, avalanching slide into a grossly di, vided society. It is perhaps up to, society to stand up and make sure, that we are true to our constitu, tional commitment of building a, more just and equal society. That, is our most fundamental duty., Nikhil Dey and Aruna Roy are social, activists with the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti, Sangathan (MKSS). The views expressed, are personal, , Since Gandhiji does not fit into any hard and fast category, he continues to disturb us, Gandhi and to admire him? Not, because he is the Father of the In, dian Nation, but because he dis, turbs us. He was a chief doubter of, oppressive systems and a rebel, against all forms of hidden and, open authority., , Ramin Jahanbegloo, , T, , he 74th anniversary of Ma, hatma Gandhi’s death pro, vides us an opportunity to, think about his character and con, tributions as an important figure, of world history. Usually, to praise, a historical figure, one tries to en, umerate on their qualities to show, how marvellous they had been in, all areas of life., But Mahatma Gandhi was both, an enigmatic and disturbing fi, gure. He used to think out of the, box. He was an openminded soft, reader of concepts and categories., In this regard, he saw his place, among the weakest and the poor, est. His notion of a just and truth, ful politics was that in such an en, vironment, the weakest should, have the same opportunities as the, strongest. It would, therefore, be, suspect to see Gandhi being cele, brated by the powerful and the, victors and not by the weak and, the defeated., If Gandhi continues to disturb, the powerful and the victorious, it, is because he does not fit in the, victors’ histories and narratives., Why do we continue to read, , An example of simplicity, It is also because in an arrogant, and unchecked civilisation like, ours, Gandhi is a great example of, simplicity and transparency., Gandhi’s simplicity was reflected, in his deeds and acts, but mostly in, his mode of life. Unlike most of us,, not to say all of us, Gandhi had, more joy and fulfilment in pursu, ing less in life than in pursuing, more. The corporate mindset —, that of being successful — which, dominates all aspects of our lives,, did not exist for him. And maybe,, it is because of his pure simplicity, that we continue to have so much, trouble in understanding Gandhi., Naturally, corporates, even when, they use him as a logo or an em, blem, fear him. Maybe because, Gandhi, like Sisyphus, continues, to roll the rock up to the top of the, mountain. With Gandhi we are, never confronted with absolute, Truth. Gandhi is a perpetual truth, seeker. In fact, Gandhi is victo, rious through his effortful trials., His position remains ambiguous, and disturbing., Assuredly, Gandhi was an am, biguous personality, but he never, , LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, Spyware purchase, The Opposition parties are, again hopelessly found, wanting by not getting their, act together (Page 1,, “Opposition slams govt. as, report says India bought, NSO spyware”, January 30)., Let us look at the, statements from the, Opposition, especially from, the Congress and the Left,, following the report by The, New York Times on a, ‘IndiaIsrael Pegasus deal’., Will mere statements serve, the purpose of digging out, the truth? The government, of the day will obviously, duck and obfuscate this, burning accusation as far as, possible. This is an issue, that concerns the privacy of, the citizen., P.K. Sharma,, Barnala, Punjab, , CM, YK, , ‘Duties’ talk, A rightsbased policy framework,, should, therefore, be followed by, the Indian state to protect the, poor and the marginalised. But, the Prime Minister advocates that, people concentrate on their duties, and stop demanding their rights., On January 20, 2022, at the launch, of the Brahma Kumaris’ yearlong, programme of events (as part of, the Government’s celebration of, 75 years of Independence) the, Prime Minister declared, “In the, last 75 years, we only kept talking, about rights, fighting for rights, and wasting our time. The talk of, rights, to some extent, for some, time, may be right in particular cir, cumstances, but forgetting one’s, duties completely has played a, huge role in keeping India weak.”, Ironically, the Prime Minister did, not seem to be referring to his own, duties., In a country like India, reducing, inequality should be a high priori, ty. Today, this principle is being in, verted. The Oxfam report does not, exclusively examine the multiply, ing wealth of India’s billionaires., Let us look outside this 0.00001%, of our population, and for the pur, poses of the Budget, look at their, analysis of basic social services —, particularly those that affect the, survival of the poor., India must be one of the only, countries in the world where dur, ing the COVID19 pandemic the, , wever, it is clear that supplements, come in an extremely miserly fash, ion, causing extensive distress,, and in MGNREGA, undermining, the legal guarantee of work on, demand., During a recent 18day “Accoun, tability Yatra” in the State of Rajas, than, we came across thousands of, cases of needy people not receiv, ing ₹2 per kilo wheat. The answer, to grievances and appeals filed in, writing is that the portal is closed, and no more entries allowed. The, priority list of households under, the NFSA has been frozen in abso, lute numbers, based on a percen, tage determined from the 2011, Census. In the last 11 years, popu, lation increases amounting to ap, proximately 10 crore eligible be, neficiaries have been kept out., Therefore, approximately 12% le, gally entitled people — even chil, dren of existing “priority house, holds” — cannot get subsidised, foodgrain. To use digital codes to, block even the appellate process, mandated by law is a live example, of callous multidimensional in, equality, demonstrating why the, “Inequality Kills” title of the Ox, fam report is poignant and true., , Mahatma Gandhi, the outofthebox thinker, , Risky bets, Russia should do more to reduce tensions, along its border with Ukraine, , health Budget has declined — and, that too by a huge 10% in the last, year. Social security expenditure, has declined from an already path, etically low 1.5% in 202021 to 0.6%, of the Union Budget in 2022. It is at, this end of Budget allocations, where people are deprived of the, most basic services and entitle, ments and are unable to survive., Social security pensions, for the el, derly, for the disabled, and wi, dows have been frozen at ₹200, ₹300 a month for almost 15 years., The Government says there is not, enough money to even index, these to inflation. In contrast, pol, icymakers have just in the last year, increased their own salaries and, pensions through a DA increase to, 28%, and given themselves a bo, nus of 3% — with just the increase, for one crore central government, employees and pensioners costing, the exchequer more than the total, social security pension budget for, 3.3 crore beneficiaries., The Prime Minister’s outburst, against “rights” perhaps explains, his lack of support for the imple, mentation of rightsbased laws., Nevertheless, during the pandem, ic, even his government had to, turn to the National Food Security, Act (NFSA) and the Mahatma, Gandhi National Rural Employ, ment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), to save millions of Indians from, hunger and premature death. Af, ter increasing allocations in the, first phase of the pandemic, allo, cations were frozen, and budgets, were slashed in Budget 202122., The Government said it will sup, plement as and when needed. Ho, , wore a mask. He neither masked, himself nor put a mask on the face, of Indian history., Rather, he challenged Indian, history by asking lucid and limpid, questions from it. As such, in prac, tically all of Gandhi’s historical ac, tions, there was moral or spiritual, interrogation. He, therefore, led, Indians to a historical and civilisa, tional awareness that went as far, as a spiritual conversion to non, violence. That is to say, the Gand, hian maieutic completely reversed, the relationship between a leader, and his people., Like Socrates, Gandhi was a, midwife of minds (Gandhi was ve, ry much influenced by Socrates, and his method of thinking). He re, versed the guiding values of Indian, life. His philosophy was that of a, spiritual exercise, accompanied, by an active reflection on truth, and a lively awareness of all walks, , of life. Gandhi believed that the, true test of life for the individual, can be summarised in two princi, ples: selfdiscipline and selfres, traint. In this relation, he ob, served: “A selfindulgent man lives, to eat; a selfrestrained man eats to, live.” His vision of community, goes in the same direction and, Gandhi gives ethical and political, primacy to the two concepts of, selfrealisation and selfrule. For, Gandhi, a selfrealised and self, conscious community is a society, of citizens who reconcile the self, determination of the individual, with the recognition of the shared, values in the community., Point of self-transformation, Interestingly, in a very existential, way, Gandhi believed in the inter, related nature of human exis, tence. In the same manner, what, interested him in a democracy was, neither representation nor elec, tions, but the selftransformative, nature of the citizens., But we can go even further and, say that for Gandhi, this process of, selftransformation should in, fluence not only the inner life of, the individual but also public life., So, what seems important is the, upholding of the ethic of human, action. And of course, solidarity is, the advancement of that very eth, ic. However, what Gandhi taught, us is that solidarity is not just a, promise of compassion; it is ac, , tually what we can call the wake of, responsibility., Undoubtedly,, Gandhi knew well that global res, ponsibility is nothing but an over, riding loyalty to mankind. It goes, without saying that remembering, Gandhi could be a way for us to be, reminded of our global responsi, bilities and our loyalty to man, kind. Without it there would be no, solidarity and no universal harmo, ny among the peoples of the, world., Need for moral leadership, The pandemic shows us clearly, that our world is in lack of a moral, leadership which can evolve, through experiments of empathy, and by redress of the sufferings, and grievances of humanity. Even, if Gandhi is no more among us, his, spirit has been with the great, transformative leaders of the 20th, and 21st centuries like Khan Abdul, Ghaffar Khan, Martin Luther King,, Jr., Nelson Mandela, the Dalai La, ma, Archbishop Desmond Tutu,, Václav Havel and Pope Francis. As, a global thinker with a transhistor, ical and transgeographical in, fluence, Gandhi was a moral and, political leader who stayed out of, the box. We continue to wrestle, with the radical parts of his vision., Ramin Jahanbegloo is Director of the, Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Non-violence, and Peace Studies at O.P. Jindal Global, University, Sonipat, Haryana, , Letters emailed to letters@thehindu.co.in must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials., , It is unfortunate on the, part of The NYT not to have, divulged its sources — not, even responding to an email, from The Hindu. This does, cast a shadow of doubt on, the veracity of the report. On, the contrary, a sitting, Minister calling The New, York Times a “supari”, (hitjob) newspaper does not, augur well for the image and, the reputation of our country, abroad. Has the Minister, concerned forgotten that our, Prime Minister wrote an, opinion piece in the same, The New York Times, titled, “Why India and the World, Need Gandhi”, in 2019?, ■, , A. Venkatasubramanian,, Tiruchi, Tamil Nadu, , The NYT’s claim that, Pegasus was a larger, backroom deal makes the, , ■, , THE HINDU PHOTO ARCHIVES, , I, , n ruling that the oneyear suspension imposed last, year by the Maharashtra Assembly on 12 BJP legisla, tors was illegal and irrational, the Supreme Court, has set the limits of the legislature’s power to deal with, disorderly conduct in the House. It has laid down a sig, nificant principle that the effect of disciplinary action, cannot traverse beyond the session in which the cause, arose. Citing precedents from rulings of the Privy Coun, cil and the Supreme Court, the Court has sought to read, the power of the House to suspend a member as essen, tially defensive or ‘selfprotective’ so that disorderly, conduct does not overwhelm its proceedings, but it, should not assume a punitive character. Therefore, the, suspension beyond the duration of the session was ille, gal. It was deemed irrational because the need to exer, cise the power was limited to restoring order in the, House; logically, it was not needed beyond the day, or, in case of repeated disorderly conduct, to the session so, that scheduled business could be completed. It has, termed the oneyear suspension as a punitive action, worse than expulsion. Its reasoning is that if a member, is expelled by a resolution of the House, the Election, Commission is bound to hold a byelection within six, months and the member could seek reelection. On the, contrary, the yearlong suspension will mean that the, constituency remains unrepresented, while there, would be no vacancy to be filled through a byelection., The State government argued vehemently that there, was no limit to the action that the House could take for, maintaining order and the Court could not examine the, proportionality of the action. Rule 53 of the Assembly, allowed the Speaker to adopt a graded approach to dis, orderly conduct; naming members after which they, should withdraw from the House for the day, and, in the, case of the conduct being repeated, for the rest of the, session. However, the Government insisted that the sus, pension was imposed under the inherent power of the, Assembly to ensure orderly functioning. Even then, the, Court ruled, in the absence of a rule enabling such a, power, the House had to adopt a graded approach and, that the samesession limit could not be breached. Re, ferring to the bar under Article 212 of the Constitution, on the judiciary examining the regularity of the proce, dure adopted by the House, the threejudge Bench, ruled that the present action was illegal and irrational,, and not a mere irregularity of procedure. The ruling is, yet another reminder to legislative bodies that their, functioning is subject to constitutional parameters. In, an era when the government side accuses the Opposi, tion of being obstructionist, and the Opposition alleges, that it is being silenced, it is gratifying that the higher, judiciary grapples with questions related to the limits of, the power exercised by the majority in the legislature., , and 39 mandate a policy path., Among other important princi, ples, Article 38(1) states: “The, State shall strive to promote the, welfare of the people by securing, and protecting as effectively as it, may a social order in which jus, tice, social, economic and politi, cal, shall inform all the institutions, of the national life.” Article 39 (c), states: The State shall, in particu, lar, direct its policy towards secur, ing — (c) that the operation of the, economic system does not result, in the concentration of wealth and, means of production to the com, mon detriment;, , G.N. RAO, , The Government needs to stop India’s avalanching slide into a grossly divided society, made worse by the pandemic, , issue even more serious. The, Supreme Court of India, needs to fasttrack the, hearing of the case with, ruthless objectivity and an, urgency to get to the bottom, of the issue. The Budget, session of Parliament would, see the Union government, stonewalling questions, even, pertinent ones, from the, Opposition. Hence the need, for the Supreme Court’s, quick completion of the, investigation., S. Sanjeevi Rao,, Puducherry, , ■ The foreign report only, gives credence to the, snooping process by the, Centre. It is not surprising, that a Union Minister has, used an unsavoury term to, describe the paper. If this, was such a big intercountry, , deal struck at the highest, level of leadership, it will, certainly weaken India’s, stand in many an, international issue., G.B. Sivanandam,, Coimbatore, , Access to spaces, The article,”Women and, public spaces” (‘Open’ page,, January 30), reminded me of, my wife’s agonising, experience years ago. It was, near Deepavali and she, wanted to buy a sari from a, famous textile outlet. Being a, working day, I asked her to, go early and wait for me in, front of the store. When I, was about to start out from, office, I received a message, about a new pending, assignment. I managed to, reach the store late in the, evening, but my wife was not, , to be seen. Her angry, response to my telephone, call was that she was back in, the house and that she did, not want any sari at all. Back, home there were tears and a, statement: “You just asked, me to wait in a public place. I, was standing there for two, hours and so many people, were staring at me.” It was, obviously an uncomfortable, experience. When can, women claim their rightful, access to public spaces?, , To read more letters, online, scan the QR code, , biggest trophies. Meanwhile,, none would have been more, disappointed than Djokovic, who messed up a golden, opportunity to create tennis, history., R. Sivakumar,, Chennai, , Nadal has proved that he is, made of sterner stuff. That, said, Daniil Medvedev played, a fantastic game too., , ■, , D. Sethuraman,, , C.K. Prem Kumar,, , Chennai, , Palakkad, Kerala, , It’s Nadal, , ■, , It is astounding that,, collectively, the triumvirate —, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer — is still, holding strong. It would, seem as if their fingers, cannot be prised off the, , Nadal has proved that age, is no barrier to sporting, excellence. His work ethic, and perseverance will be a, beacon of inspiration for, young athletes for decades., , Kannan B.,, Bengaluru, , A ND-NDE
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Whoever wields, power in Naypyitaw develops stakes, in close partnership with China. But, Myanmar’s rulers also desire inde, pendence and balance in their exter, nal policy, provided the international, community gives them the means for, it. Japan understands this geopoliti, cal reality, but acting by itself, Tokyo, cannot make a difference. It should, act in coordination with ASEAN and, India., , Rajiv Bhatia, , The coup in Myanmar will be a year, old tomorrow. On February 1 last, year, the military seized power, vio, lating the Constitution. A decade, long experiment with hybrid democ, racy ended abruptly, paving the way, for violence, oppression and instabil, ity. The road ahead looks dark, but, diplomatic efforts are under way to, bring amelioration., , The ground has shifted: “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who no longer dominates the, political narrative as she did before the coup.” Picture shows Daw Suu Kyi, during a voter education campaign in Shan state, in 2015. FILE PHOTO: AFP, *, , Internal scene, The Opposition camp has called for a, nationwide silent strike that ends in, mass clapping, an act representing, the indignation and the frustration of, the people. They are angry with the, military that has oppressed them, and imprisoned their elected lead, ers. They are also frustrated with the, international community as it failed, to show up with a magic wand to res, tore democracy. Some of their lead, ers are promising freedom from mil, itary rule by the end of 2022. But few, believe them., The military leadership has per, sisted in marching on the dangerous, path it chose last January. It con, vinced itself that the November 2020, elections were fraudulent, resulting, in a landslide victory for the National, League for Democracy (NLD) led by, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. It feared that,, armed with a strong popular man, date, she would clip their wings and, establish full democracy. President, Win Myint and Daw Suu Kyi were ar, rested and there was a brutal clamp, down. The result: 1,498 people have, been killed and 11,787 imprisoned till, January 27, 2022, according to the As, sistance Association for Political Pri, soners. Besides, a sizeable number of, security officials have been killed. An, exodus of people seeking refuge in, neighbouring countries followed,, which included over 15,000 people, to Mizoram, India., After the coup, the Opposition was, active in articulating people’s anger., A parallel government named the Na, tional Unity Government (NUG) was, formed. Slowly it lost momentum as, Naypyitaw denounced NUG as “ter, , rorists”, and used its overwhelming, power to subdue the resistance. The, military now has an upper hand alth, ough normalcy still eludes the na, tion. Instability has ruined the eco, nomy, with the World Bank terming, it as “critically weak”. The crisis also, weakened the Government’s efforts, to manage the pandemic. In short,, Myanmar has just gone through its, annus horribilis., ASEAN’s role, Attention has now been focused on, mediation by the Association of, South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). It, began well by persuading Senior, General Min Aung Hlaing, the re, gime’s supremo, to accept the ‘Five, Point Consensus’ comprising, inter, alia, the cessation of violence, na, tional dialogue and mediatory efforts, by ASEAN. Insiders recall that Min, Aung Hlaing’s consent was implicit., This became explicit when Foreign, Minister Wunna Maung Lwin formal, ly conveyed Myanmar’s “commit, ment” to the plan last August. But the, military resiled from its implementa, tion. With uncharacteristic firmness,, ASEAN barred the Senior General’s, participation in its summits. It of, fered representation at the nonpolit, ical level which Myanmar turned, down., In this impasse, Cambodia’s Prime, Minister Hun Sen, the current, ASEAN Chair, has adopted a softer, approach which is backed by Thai, land and Laos. It aims at adjusting to, the military’s refusal to compromise, on its key requirements such as de, nial of access to Daw Suu Kyi for, , New districts, new challenges, The YSRCP government has proposed 13 new, districts at a time when A.P. is facing a cash crunch, The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) go, vernment’s proposal to create 13 new, districts in Andhra Pradesh on the, lines of what has been done in Telan, gana may ensure good governance, but it adds multiple challenges to the, existing ones in the State., As promised before the 2019 As, sembly election, the Y.S. Jagan Mo, han Reddy government has carved, out 13 new districts, taking the total, number of districts to 26. Each of the, 25 Assembly constituencies will now, become a district. However, the tri, bal communitiesdominated Araku, constituency, which is spread over, many districts, has been split, into two. Prakasam dis, trict will now be, the largest in size, after the reform, and Visakhapat, nam will be the, smallest., The, new districts are set to, come into force from, Ugadi,, the Telugu new year which falls on, April 2., Objections or suggestions in writ, ing from the people of these districts, have been invited within 30 days of, the notification. The government’s, stated aim is to ensure administrative, convenience and better development, of all the regions., The decision comes at a time when, Andhra Pradesh is staring at stressed, finances, dipping revenues and grow, ing expenditure, largely owing to, numerous welfare programmes, which were promised before the, election. A rough estimate indicates, that half the budget goes to em, ployees’ salaries and the other half to, welfare. The new districts will re, quire additional infrastructure such, as office buildings for the Collectors,, Superintendents of Police, and other, officials. Carving out borders, build, ing roads and bureaucratic exercises, are likely to further burden the State, exchequer. Added to this, the stale, mate between the government and, employees over pay revision doesn't, help. As the district delimitation ex, ercise is expected to be expeditious,, support from employees is crucial., CM, YK, , Other players, The West exerts influence in Myan, mar, but it has been unable to com, prehend the dynamics of power. The, United States and the European Un, ion have not accurately assessed the, military’s resolve and core convic, tion that without its driving role, na, tional unity and integrity would dis, appear. The western policy to, promote democracy and impose, sanctions against the military have, produced minimal results., The media paid huge attention to, Russia’s endeavours to woo Myan, mar by increasing its defence cooper, ation since the coup. But the princi, pal player is China, not Russia,, despite evident coordination bet, ween the two. Beijing enjoys enor, mous leverage in the ‘Golden Land’, through its control over several eth, nic armed organisations, projects co, vered by the Belt and Road Initiative, , Rajiv Bhatia is Distinguished Fellow,, Gateway House and former Ambassador to, Myanmar. He is also the author of, ‘India-Myanmar Relations: Changing, Contours’, , The Indian government has to prepare for the introduction, of the global minimum tax on MNCs, are taking a cue from wealthy families in the, West like the Waltons who run Walmart via, private trusts. The time has come for the re, introduction of estate duty in India., , T.C.A. Ramanujam & T.C.A.Sangeetha, , The World Inequality Report 2022 authored, by Lucas Chancel, Thomas Pikketty, Emma, nuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman says India is, now among the most unequal countries in, the world. The bottom 50% of the popula, tion earn ₹53,610, while the top 10% earn, more than 20 times that. The top 10% and, top 1% of the population hold 57% and 22% of, the national income, respectively, while the, bottom 50% hold just 13%. India stands out, as a poor and unequal country with an af, fluent elite. Inequality today is as great as it, was at the peak of western imperialism in, the early 20th century. The pandemic has ex, acerbated it. Nations have become richer but, governments have become poor, says the re, port. The totality of wealth is in private, hands. Global multimillionaires have cap, tured a disproportionate share of global, wealth growth over the past several decades., The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sithara, man, will take the findings of the report, while framing the Budget. The longstanding, complaint about corporate houses abusing, provisions for tax exemption and deductions, was addressed in a unique way by Ms. Sitha, raman when she brought in a twin system of, tax rates for companies claiming deductions, and not claiming deductions. Domestic com, panies are charged 25% when their turnover, is less than ₹250 crore and 30% when their, turnover is above ₹250 crore. Suitable sur, charges are also levied. A glaring inequality, arises in the case of partnership firms; they, are taxed at 30%. The idea seems to be to en, courage corporatisation of firms. But medi, um and smallscale industries find it a pain, to go through the legal processes of corpora, tisation. Promoters of companies devise no, vel ways to escape the rigour of taxation., The revolt of the haves, The decline in corporate tax rates reduced, government revenue at a time of growing pu, blic deficit and declining public wealth. It, erodes the progressive nature of the tax sys, tem. Highincome individuals choose to in, corporate their business so that they can, shift income from personal income tax to, corporate tax. There is also the recent phe, nomenon of wealthy families of promoters, of big corporate houses creating a succession, plan through private trusts. Assets are trans, ferred to the trusts. India’s corporate houses, , CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC, CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC, , STATE OF PLAY, , Appaji Reddem, , ASEAN mediators, and little dilution, of the 2008 Constitution. Other, ASEAN States led by Indonesia are, opposed to Cambodia’s diplomacy., But longtime ASEAN watchers be, lieve that through further consulta, tions, the grouping will craft internal, consensus and readapt its negotiat, ing mandate., Whether this happens on Cambo, dia’s watch, or later under the Indo, nesian leadership, remains to be, seen. A key person to watch is Noe, leen Heyzer, the United Nations Se, cretary General António Guterres’s, special envoy, who could help both, the UN and ASEAN to craft a modus, vivendi for Myanmar., , India’s policy, As the world’s largest democracy, In, dia is always happy to work with fel, low democracies, but it has never, been in the business of exporting de, mocracy. Nevertheless, it has done, much to shape and to strengthen di, plomatic efforts at the UN and, through its support to ASEAN for, putting Myanmar’s transition to de, mocracy back on the rails. This line, was reiterated by India’s Foreign Se, cretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla in, his interactions with the top military, leadership in December 2021. He was, given a patient hearing even though, his request to meet Daw Suu Kyi was, denied, as was expected. Besides,, New Delhi provided one million dos, es of “Made in India” vaccines, and, humanitarian assistance to the peo, ple of Myanmar., For India, the wellestablished, twotrack policy of supporting de, mocracy and maintaining cordial re, lations with the Government remains, in operation. South Block has to pro, tect the state’s interests, guided by, realism and pragmatism. It has to, discourage a mass influx of refugees;, cut the capability of insurgent groups, to endanger security in the North, east from Myanmar soil; safeguard, the ongoing projects and invest, ments; and, above all, counter Chi, na’s growing influence., Finally, what future awaits Daw, Suu Kyi who no longer dominates the, political narrative as she did before, the coup? Sadly, she faces three, choices, all difficult: long imprison, ment, foreign exile, or imposed re, tirement from politics. The last op, tion seems the most likely at present., , For the Finance Minister to note, , Though objections and sugges, tions have been invited for 30 days,, there seem to be new demands and, protests surfacing every other day, and so, the matter is likely to stretch, beyond 30 days. Some have protest, ed over the choice of names for the, proposed districts. There are de, mands emerging from some districts, for new names. There are also com, plaints that the move will affect's pe, ople's identity with their districts and, that changes in district headquarters, will affect the, people. For in, stance, the pro, posal to merge, agency region Ram, pachodavaram from East, Godavari district with Ara, ku district was resisted by ma, ny as the new district headquar, ters, Paderu, is about 300 km from, Rampachodavaram. Some suggest, that Rampachodavaram should be, made the headquarters. Chintoor,, another place in the same district, is, over 400 km from the district head, quarters Paderu. Similarly, the peo, ple of Ongole feel that the district has, lost its identity as most parts of it, have been merged with two other, districts. There was also a demand, that Hindupur be made the district, headquarters for a new district., The protests notwithstanding, the, State government seems to be on a, mission. It has planned nine fishing, harbours and three major ports, across the coastline besides 13 air, ports. There are already six airports, in the State and two more are in the, planning and development stages in, Bhogapuram and Nellore. While, these mega projects are at different, stages of development, the State is al, so under pressure to repair the high, ways and district roads which are in, bad shape., With massive projects waiting to, be completed and with the State fac, ing a cash crunch, how the Jagan Mo, han Reddy government plans to rise, up to the new challenge of creating 13, more districts and infrastructure, within a short span of time is unclear., , appaji.r@thehindu.co.in, , Global minimum tax, The Government of India has to prepare for, the introduction of the global minimum tax, on MNCs, as agreed to by 130 countries in Ju, ly 2021. The rate then fixed was 15%. This is, lower than what working class and middle, class people in highincome countries pay., MNCs are always ahead of the governments., Mark Zuckerberg chose to change his com, pany’s name from Facebook to Metaverse., Google, Apple and Intel are all working on, devices to circumvent the minimum global, tax. Metaverse will pervade daily life offering, new avenues for buying goods and services,, communicating with friends and collaborat, ing with colleagues. Metaverse refers to a col, lection of shared online worlds in which, physical augmented and virtual reality con, verge. The CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella,, points out that people can now hangout with, friends, work, visit places buy goods and ser, vices and attend events on Metaverse. Digital, access has not been equitable. This provides, a challenge to the implementation of the, proposed global minimum tax. Augmented, reality attempts to provide a new kind of, computing platform so as to find a new, source of revenue., The rate of global minimum tax at 15% on, MNCs will mean a gain of $0.5 billion for In, dia without deductions. The gain will be zero, if deductions are allowed. The World In, equality Report suggested a minimum global, tax on MNCs at 25%. This will yield $1.4 bil, lion for India without deductions and $1.2, billion with deductions of 5%. MNCs and, their shareholders have been the main win, ners from globalisation. Their profits have, boomed due to the evercloser integration of, world markets., Inflation indexing has long been suggest, ed as a way out to sort out the difficulties of, the fixed income group., India is a poor country. Pericles said, “Po, verty is no disgrace to acknowledge but it is, real degradation not to attempt to over, come.” The Finance Minister will do well to, remember Justice Chagla’s famous saying,, “Equity and income tax law may be stran, gers to each other but they are not sworn, enemies.” No doubt, our socially conscious, Finance Minister will do everything to pro, mote equity while presenting the Budget., T.C.A. Ramanujam is Chief Commissioner of Income, Tax (retd.) and an advocate of the Madras High Court., T.C.A. Sangeetha is an advocate of the Madras High, Court, , CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC, CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC, , DATA POINT, , FROM THE ARCHIVES, FIFTY YEARS AGO JANUARY 31, 1972, , Pakistan quits Commonwealth, New Delhi, Jan. 30: In a desperate gamble to, shore up its untenable diplomatic stance,, Pakistan today announced its decision to, quit the Commonwealth with immediate ef, fect in protest against the impending recog, nition of Bangla Desh by Britain and other, member countries which had made up their, minds to fall in line with the new realities in, the subcontinent. The Pakistan Govern, ment said in a statement issued in Islamabad, this afternoon that it was informed today, that Britain proposed to recognise Bangla, Desh soon. Two other Commonwealth, countries, Australia and New Zealand, had, notified that they would announce their re, cognition tomorrow. The Pakistan Radio,, which broadcast the statement, recalled Pre, sident Bhutto’s earlier warning that if Britain, and other principal countries of the Com, monwealth recognised Bangla Desh, Pakis, tan would leave the organisation. The state, ment voiced Pakistan’s strong indignation, against the decision of those countries to en, dorse the “dismemberment” of a member, State and put the “seal of respectability” on, what it described as an act of blatant aggres, sion contrary in international law and the, principles of the United Nations. What had, apparently provoked Pakistan to resort to, this extreme step was not so much the deci, sion of these white Commonwealth coun, tries to recognise Bangla Desh as the active, interest they were taking in persuading the, other European and Asian countries to ac, cord similar recognition., A HUNDRED YEARS AGO JANUARY 31, 1922, , Russian famine, London, Jan 26: The famine expert, Sir Ben, jamin Robertson, reports telegraphically, from Buzuluk that he has found conditions, in Saratov and Samara provinces even grea, ter than he had been led to believe. The per, sonal inspection of villages showed that, there was practically no food left and that re, lief was hopelessly inadequate. Whole hou, seholds especially adults were literally dying, of starvation. Sir B. Robertson testifies to the, devoted work of the “Save the Children”, fund in Saratov and the Society of Friends in, Buzuluk. The work has been carried out in a, practical systematic manner, food exclusive, ly reaching those for whom it was intended., Sir B. Robertson recommends systematic, feeding of as many as possible of adults who, number over a million in these two areas un, til the harvest comes. Relief at present is be, ing largely confined to children., A ND-NDE
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CHENNAI, , 4, , THINK, , BusinessLine, MONDAY • JANUARY 31 • 2022, , xyz, , 0, monday, january 31, 2022, , Bitcoins and cyptocurrencies are flaky, speculative assets, best regarded with a healthy dose of suspicion, , Back to school, , PRATIP KAR, , Opening schools, colleges should be backed by, plans to offset two years of delearning, , W, , ith the third wave proving to be, infectious but mild, some States, have rightly decided to fully open, schools and colleges, while oth, ers, oddly enough, remain undecided. Tamil Nadu, and Telangana have mandated opening of all, schools and colleges from next month, while, Karnataka’s announcement pertains to schools, alone. Rajasthan and Haryana will open higher, school classes, while Maharashtra is opening, schools in Mumbai and Pune. But West Bengal, Bi, har, Uttar Pradesh (where election crowds are, kosher) and Delhi remain closed for now. The ideal, way to go is for schools and colleges (the latter, opening for children who are fully vaccinated) to, open fully with some Covid protocols in place,, which can be relaxed as the pandemic retreats. Any, further delay in opening institutions cannot be, justified at a time when the pandemic has ceased, to be a major threat to health; children are neither, a huge threat to the rest of the population, and nor, are they a vulnerable group. They have been locked, out for too long. What has, strengthened the case for, Scan & Share, opening is that 75 per cent of, the eligible adult population is, fully vaccinated, with adoles, cents lining up for their jabs., State governments, such as, Delhi, have been far more keen, to open up shopping complexes and cinema halls, than schools and colleges. As a result, India has, earned the dubious distinction of keeping its edu, cational institutions closed for longer periods, than most countries., There has been no official acknowledgment of, the damaging impact of this closure on 40 crore, children and adolescents. Online education has, led to poor learning outcomes, with the under, privileged being out of it altogether for lack of di, gital access and the rest being forced to put up with, incomprehensible teaching sessions. Yet, no gov, ernment, Centre or State, has spoken about this, epidemic of delearning that now needs to be ad, dressed on a war footing, particularly among the, poor. A survey by NCERT has claimed that 70 per, cent of the students, teachers and parents find on, line learning “joyful and satisfactory”. This cannot, be a starting point, as institutions reopen after two, years. It may not be a bad idea to drop an academic, year. This ‘loss’ should be seen against the larger, prospect of students failing to cope later and drop, ping out. Children who have retreated into child, labour need to be weaned back into schools. A, SCHOOL survey conducted last August among, 1,400 children between grades 1 and 8 (largely, from rural, underprivileged backgrounds) across, the country reveals that only 8 per cent of rural, children and 24 per cent of urban children are, studying online regularly. Access to resources has, widened the learning gap between the poor and, the rich, limiting the former’s prospects., The Centre and States should work out outof, thebox ways to bridge the learning gap in abso, lute and relative terms. The Budget must take the, education crisis seriously. Sadly, this finds no men, tion in campaign speeches, where political parties, are sparring over jobs without sparing a thought, for a broken, postCovid education system., , POCKET, , Spring of hope, or winter of despair?, , RAVIKANTH, , I, , thetical views and we must neces, sarily look only at hard, unassail, able facts., , was debating whether to re, tain the title of the piece, or, change it to “Down the Rabbit A few hard facts, Hole” because the brave new Cryptos and the likes –, (i) are not tangible assets like, world of bitcoins and cryptocurren, cies (for this piece, I will call the two gold, silver, metals, and though, loosely as cryptos) we will enter, is called currencies, these are not fiat, strange, confusing, defies common currencies like the rupee, pound,, dollar. These are complicated com, sense and logic, but hard to escape., While Bitcoins may have got the puter codes, or hashing algorithms,, geeks and less than 40 age groutp which are beyond the comprehen, excited, what about the econom sion of lay persons. To accept these, ists? Nouriel Roubini, a well known as currencies requires a paradigm, US economist, appearing before a shift in our thinking;, (ii) are not legal tenders, guaran, US Senate Committee on Banking in, October 2018, called Bitcoin “the teed or value underwritten by a, mother or father of all scams and Central Bank, or the State. So unlike, bubbles” and blockchain, the most the fiat currencies, Cryptos have no, “overhyped — and least useful — backstops. One may say these are a, technology in human history.” No sort of community currency; its, bel Laureate Paul Krugman debat value depends on what the com, ing on Crypto on November 3, 2018 munity says. Recently El Salvador, (video available on YouTube) said recognised Bitcoin as a legal tender., the worth of Cryptos depends on The IMF is now putting pressure on, what people decide; if people de the country to revoke the, cided it is worthless, as there is no recognition;, (iii) are not issued by any Central, backstop, it can drop to zero., Bank. Cryptos, come into, US Federal Reserve’s, existence through a, Chairman Jeremy Powell, Scan & Share, highly energy intensive, views these as “really, process called mining,, speculative assets.” Des, which, requires, an, pite such strong views,, enormous network of, going by the media re, large number of high end, ports and the websites of, computers forming the, Cryptos and the broad, blockchain which forms, cast of the Crypto ex, changes globally, one would tend to is the corner stone of Cryptos;, (iv) are unregulated. No govern, believe that cryptos have created a, global mania, and the number of ment, Central Bank, or regulatory, people jazzed about these is body in any country, regulates, these. Regulators are only provid, increasing., A rational prognosis of whether ing broad hints of their intent to en, it is the spring of hope, or the force regulations; no country ex, winter of despair, for cryptos, is not cept China has banned it. India has, easy, for one has to tread between been trying to bring a law but has, two strong irreconcilable and anti postponed it for the second time., , Speculative fears Cryptocurrencies are unregulated by central banks REUTERS, , boom and sell dreams. The absence, of a regulator is giving rise to cun, ning businesses attempting to, piggyback the crypto boom;, (v) are exposed to scams. For ex, ample a digital currency based on, the Netflix series “Squid Game”, soared in value before collapsing, dramatically in a few weeks as its, promoters quickly pulled out their, funds, causing a loss of several mil, lion dollars to investors. It was shut, down by US SEC;, (vi) are traded on exchanges, which are at best trading platforms,, and unlike stock exchanges have no, trade guarantee mechanisms or, risk containment measures;, (vii) are inherently volatile with, no economically or financially, sound explanations for the frenzied, volatility. Bitcoin price veered, around $60k+ in September 2021; it, came down in a roller coaster fall to, $40K+ in December 2021 and is cur, rently trading around $36K+ im, pacted by the Fed monetary policy., , An agnostic prognosis, Let me try a “reasonably agnostic, prognosis” of the immediate future, of cryptos., 1. The level of usage of a currency, determines the confidence people, have in the currency. For example, the US dollar, can be spent almost, anywhere in the world. Despite the, hype, the cryptos are nowhere close, to wide acceptance., 2. Though Satoshi Nakamoto had, envisioned cryptos to be above the, trust and support of traditional in, stitutions like the banks, and the US, Fed, the behaviour of crypto prices, and the sell off in the past few days, before and after the Fed’s monetary, policy announcement, only shows, that it would be height of, ludicrousness to expect cryptos to, remain insulated from traditional, policies which influence financial, markets., 3. As cryptos are risky assets,, higher interest rates across the, yield curve make risk assets like, Cryptos relatively less attractive, , against higher riskfree returns in, new bond positions. That is amply, demonstrated by the Crypto prices, after the US Fed announced that, possibility of rate hike in March, 2022., 4. Sudden speculative frenzy may, be sparked off by some idiosyn, cratic super billionaires., 5. Statements by regulators in the, US and other developed countries, on fresh thrust towards regulation, will have an impact on crypto, prices., 6. Banning cryptos is unlikely to, be exercised in any major market., 7. Interest of mainstream com, panies across industries is expected, to remain tepid, though there will, be continuous misleading state, ments and hyped talks from Crypto, exchanges. Wait till large compan, ies actually invest., 8. The power generation infra, structure for mining Cryptos and, Blockchain consumes enormous, amount of energy. Conscientious, investors may be constrained from, supporting Cryptos., 9. A catastrophic security breach, of the blockchain protocol may, wipe out all the data in Crypto, wallets., 10. Bitcoin market is reportedly, highly centralised. According to, Scott Galloway “top 2 per cent of ac, counts own 95 per cent of the $800, billion supply of Bitcoin and 0.1 per, cent of Bitcoin miners are respons, ible for half of all the mining, output.”, The best strategy for investors, would be to protect their nest eggs, and not attempt to chase ephem, eral gains from a fictitious asset., The writer was Exective Director, SEBI,, for 14 years from 1992, , India’s ‘sticky’ core inflation puzzle, A new consumption basket based on current trends is needed for inflation measurement, R GOPALAN/MC SINGHI, , D, , uring April 2016 to Octo, ber 2021 (67 months), the, overall CPI inflation was, above 4 per cent in 27, months, above upper ceiling of 6, per cent for 14 months, hovered, between 24 per cent for 24 months,, and stayed below 2 per cent for 2, months. Both CPI and WPI have, shown upward trend since Q3 of, 201920 when GDP declining from, Q3 of 201920. One reason for elev, ated CPI and WPI was increased, global commodity prices including, fuel., Growth started decelerating, from Q4 of 2018. This deceleration, was due to moderation in global, output growth, deceleration in, growth in global trade, domestic, expectation, lower investment, and, factors such as demonetisation,, and stabilisation issues relating to, GST. From March 2020, growth has, been affected by the pandemic., Monetary policy considers infla, tion based on CPI. In inflation based, on CPI, food inflation has been, more volatile. Food inflation is seen, to have a standard deviation ex, ceeding the mean inflation during, 201719. Inflation of nonfood items,, core (nonfood, nonfuel) and ser, vices have been steady and sticky as, well., Variation in inflation is seen to be, clearly contributed by food infla, tion. However, food and fuel infla, , tion are generally believed to be, structural as their demand is less, elastic to prices. Hence price rise is, more supply related and, therefore,, somewhat insensitive to monetary, policy. If we seek guidance from in, flationary expectations numbers in, India, they are far removed from, the inflation that is realised later., Core inflation stickiness, The relative stickiness of nonfood, and core inflation is somewhat, puzzling. We witnessed two oppos, ite shocks: one, upsurge due to ac, commodative monetary policy and, the other, deceleration due to mod, erating growth. Besides being, sticky, core inflation has started, moving upwards since October, 2019. Fuel prices have been high in, the recent past thanks to taxes and, duties. An assessment of CPI in past, few years indicates that food was, the prime mover of inflation until, 2019 which started declining since, then., The normal behaviour in India is, that food inflation spills over to ser, vices, but we found that decelera, tion in food inflation did not af, fected inflation of services. They, remain sticky. We attempted an ex, ercise in correlating overall infla, tion with its various components., We found that correlation with, food inflation was very high, while, correlation with nonfood, core and, services are insignificant., We attempted to calculate stand, , Price concerns ISTOCK.COM/ANDRZEJ ROSTEK, , ard deviation of core inflation with, its various components. We found, that except during 201415, the, standard deviation of core inflation, with overall CPI inflation continued, to remain very low. They were mov, ing in narrow band around mean, CPI. The only exception was in 2019, 20 where inflation averaged 3.82., per cent. On further examination it, was seen that sticky core inflation, was not due to prices of consumer, durables which had remained mod, erate during 20152020. Inflation of, services remained sticky and this, contributed to the stickiness of, core inflation in line with their, share in weight for nonfood, commodities., CPI numbers are arrived at based, on consumption expenditure of, household as observed in NSSO sur, vey of 201112. This base has not yet, been updated. The government ad, dressed the hunger problem dur, ing pandemic through free supply, , of essential foodgrains to the most, vulnerable section of population., This programme has been exten, ded till March 2022. Though in, come of this group has been consid, erably eroded, essential foodgrains, were available to this section of, population. It is known that infla, tion has a differential impact on the, different classes of household as, the consumption basket differs for, these households., Aggregate CPI conceals the food, and nonfood expenditure compos, ition for these households. We did, an exercise to decompose CPI with, revised weights to food and non, food and observed the different in, flation patterns. For consumers, where food accounts for 80 per cent, of expenditure, inflation sharply, decelerated during the pandemic, and the gap between CPI with food, weight 80 per cent and CPI with, food weight 20% widened after Q3, and Q4 of 201920., The segment of population, where food accounts for 80 per cent, of expenditure is not only most, sensitive segment from the view, point of inflation but are also vul, nerable to slow down in output, growth and employment., Percentilebased consumption, expenditure and commodity com, position available in the NSSO sur, veys indicate that consumption, basket differs for each class of con, sumer. Labour Bureau compiles, consumer price index for agricul, , ture and rural labourers. This stat, istic attempts to capture vulnerab, ilities at rural level to some extent., However, their base goes back, much beyond 201112. If we look at, the consumption pattern based on, NSSO Survey and that which is de, rived from national income ac, counts, we found that there is a con, tinued downward bias to the, consumption expenditure based, on NSSO Surveys., This downtrend bias has only, continued to accentuate. Despite, this difference in NSSO and NAS (Na, tional Accounts Statistics) private, consumption expenditure, infla, tion as measured by private con, sumption expenditure deflator and, the overall CPI were nearly aligned, until Q4 of 2019., However, in the last six quarters,, they have moved in different direc, tions. This is a clear indication that, commodity composition in the, NSSO Survey has completely, changed. A new composition based, on current consumption should be, immediately established if we, should get a clear understanding of, the behaviour of the CPI., This has significant impact on, the monetary policy and certainly, on the direction for taking invest, ment decisions by various eco, nomic agents., Gopalan is former Finance Secretary,, and Singhi is a Senior Economic, Advisor, Ministry of Finance, , BELOW THE LINE, , Greening the Budget, Buzz in the corridors of power is, that the upcoming Budget will be, packed with reliefs for ‘Green’ in, dustries and measures that will, boost the shift towards a green, economy. Given the new obliga, tions that India has taken at the in, ternational level– don’t be sur, prised if the upcoming Budget, gives a big push to green techno, logy and takes the Hydrogen Mis, sion forward to decarbonise the, economy!, Let’s hope the rupee does not, turn green after the Budget,, quipped a corporate observer who, , also expects a ‘green’ Budget., While one may have to wait and, watch for the Budget proposals,, one gaint ‘green’ step the govern, ment has taken is to cut down on, the vast printing of Budget docu, ments. Most people have to settle, for reading Budget documents out, of a mobile App or the govern, ment website to go through the, fineprint!, A train of woes, Finding the right balance between, defending one’s position and, showing empathy towards those, in Opposition can be a difficult, task. Railway Minister Ashwini, Vaishnaw found himself in a sim, ilar awkward situation when, protests from agitating candid, ates against the Indian Railways, latest recruitment drive turned vi, olent and a need was felt to handle, the matter ``sensitively’’., The Minister assured that all, concerns of the candidates will be, , heard. However, simultaneously,, the Railways went at length to also, explain that the procedures fol, lowed while holding the recruit, ment tests were duly notified and, above board. A ready solution to, such tricky situations is of course, setting up a scrutiny committee,, but unfortunately it is a short, term one. The big question facing, the government now is whether, the committee’s proposal, expec, ted by March 4, satisfies the can, didates or will it lead to further, protests?, Fashion (mis)statement?, A leopard cannot change its spots, as much as a dyedinthecool, Marxist, his sartorial tastes. But, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vi, jayan, now in Dubai on way back, home after medical consultations, in the US, set the tongues wagging, after he appeared in spotless white, fullsleeved shirt and jetblack, pants as he emerged from the air, , craft. The patented white half, sleeved shirt and mundu, had been, replaced with a attire that repres, ented a capitalistic practice, and a, bourgeois way of life. His political, opponents are wondering if his, latest style statement would re, flect on governance after he re, turns to the State next week., Chennai Connect, The connection between chief eco, nomic advisors and academic in, stitutions in and around Chennai, is getting stronger. V Anantha, Nageswaran, who has been ap, pointed as CEA a few days back,, was the former Dean of IFMR, Graduate School of Business and, currently Distinguished Visiting, Professor of Economics at Krea, University. Former CEA and RBI, governor Raghuram Rajan is a, member of the Governing Council, of Krea University. RM Honavar,, who succeeded Manmohan Singh, as CEA, was IFMR’s second director., , Published by N. Ravi at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 on behalf of THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., and Printed by Babu Vijay at Plot B-6 & B-7, CMDA Industrial Complex, Maraimalai Nagar, Chengleput Taluk, Kancheepuram Dist., Pin: 603209. Editor: Raghuvir Srinivasan (Editor responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act)., , CM, YK, , HPCL’s HaPpyShop, Interesting days are ahead for, country’s fuel marketing compan, ies as they diversify from selling, auto fuel to wate., Hindustan Petroleum Corpora, tion Ltd has worked out an ambi, tious nonfuel retailing biz, strategy. Recently it announced, opening of two more convenience, stores under its brand name, ‘HaPpyShop’., These stores have been opened, at Bandra West in Mumbai and, Millennium Retail Outlet in Vi, sakhapatnam., Customers will be able to, browse and shop the merchandise, on HPCL’s ‘HP Pay App’ (available, on App Store & Play Store), and, have goods delivered at home., HPCL has also started marketing, branded packaged drinking water, under the name ‘Paani@Club HP’, at its retail outlets., Our Bureaus, , ISSN 0971 - 7528, , . ..... . . . ..
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12, , NEW DELHI, MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022, , Opinion, E STA B L I S H E D I N 1 9 24, , { OUR TAKE }, , Nadal proves, doubters wrong, The Australian Open win shows that tennis is the, single biggest thing that continues to drive him, , I, , n many ways, this Australian Open (which he, won), encapsulates everything that sets Rafael, Nadal apart — the fight after the frailties, the, undying hunger to play on at 35, instead of, spending his days fishing on the island of Mallorca,, the inspiring ability to find new ways to adapt to, different surfaces and younger opponents, and,, above all, finding joy in simply being able to play, tennis to date. In the second half of last year, a, chronic foot injury after failing to defend his French, Open throne inflicted a crushing blow to Nadal., Injuries aren’t a novelty for the Spaniard. He has, had them on his knee, back, wrist, hip, hamstring, and foot — each essential for an elite tennis player —, through various points of his career and he believes, this limited him from achieving further heights. And, last year, as he went through another lengthy, rehabilitation process, it emerges that Nadal, wondered if the time had come. But like he so often, does in a five-set slugfest that he so often wins —, including the one on Sunday — Nadal pushed a little, more in his quest to get back on court. This, at 35, an, age by which most had predicted that his playing, days would be long over from the wear and tear on, the body due to his brutally taxing physical game, style. But here was Nadal, back in Melbourne for his, 17th appearance in the season-opening Grand Slam,, proving all doubters wrong. More importantly,, waving goodbye to his own goodbye thoughts, from a few months ago., And all through the ups and downs, the months, spent recovering off court and the days battling on it,, the injuries and titles, the doubts and the records,, the one constant is the Spaniard’s ability to remain, grounded and controversy-free. It’s something not, many of his contemporaries, and indeed some of the, next generation challengers, are able to do over a, sustained period of time. After more than two, decades on the professional tour, Nadal still talks, about his gratitude for being able to play the sport,, especially in times of a pandemic. At times, he says,, some things are more important than tennis., Yet, tennis is the single biggest thing that continues, to drive the champion. He said that in his post-match, speech that he hopes to be back in Australia next, year so it is clear a record 21st Grand Slam title hasn’t, changed his hunger to play. And, of course, win., , Pegasus inquiry: Take, note of the NYT report, controversy over the alleged purchase and, potential use of Pegasus spyware reignited last, week after the New York Times (NYT) reported, that India bought the sophisticated malware as part, of a $2-billion weapons package. With a Supreme, Court (SC)-appointed panel probing the charges of, hacking, the government officially remained silent, on the report, though Union minister of state, VK Singh hurled a barb at the newspaper, and the, Opposition renewed its attacks on the administration. The issue is likely to roil the budget session of, Parliament that begins on Monday., Since a global investigative consortium reported in, July last year that politicians, journalists and activists — including staff of this newspaper — were, potentially targeted using Pegasus, the government, has refused to clear its stance on whether the, spyware was purchased. In Parliament and in the SC,, the Centre has evaded questions on whether it either, bought or authorised the use of Pegasus. This stand,, coupled with Pegasus manufacturer NSO Group’s, statement that it only sells to vetted governments,, has fuelled partisan political attacks., The charges in the NYT report are serious. The, three-member panel set up by the apex court, should take note of it and include it in the scope of its, ongoing inquiry. A fresh petition has already been, filed in the top court on the basis of the report. If the, Pegasus revelations are true, it represents a serious, breach of fundamental rights and a violation of the, compact between a State and its citizens., Technological tools often operate in a grey legal, zone, but the right to personal liberty is one of the, foundational principles of a modern democracy and, cannot be compromised. The snooping charges, deserve a thorough and impartial probe, and the, people, the truth., , A, , Budget 2022 should, lend a helping hand, Give workers a two-year, PF contribution holiday;, extend the ₹5 lakh health, insurance to the ‘missing, middle’; and make the, buying of government, securities under RBI’s, direct scheme tax free, , T, , he political view is that, Budget 2022 will be an, election budget as five, states, including Uttar Pradesh, go to polls in the, next two months. The economic view is that it is difficult to use, the Union Budget to benefit the citizens of just five states, and there isn’t, enough money to give the pre-2009, election farm loan waiver-equivalent, to everybody. The direction of the, government spends and reliefs are a, manifestation of the core idea that, drives that year’s budget. By all indications, Budget 2022 is going to be a, helping hand budget — a budget that, has proposals to stop the slide back, into poverty of the newly non-poor, population cohort and to help lowerincome households in the organised, sector find the money to spend., India needs a consumption spend, boost to continue the momentum to, business created by the increased, spend by the government in the pandemic years. The big push to capital, expenditure by the Union govern-, , ment in Budget 2021 will begin to National Rural Employment Guaranshow its multiplier impact in the next tee Scheme (MGNREGS) and free or, few months. The next round of invest- highly subsidised food, helped by the, ments must be done by the private one-nation-one-card, have got them, sector to take the baton of growth for- through the pandemic without starvaward. For that to happen, consump- tion. It is the quintile of population, tion must be buoyant. But deeply that is just above the poor that will, stressed household balance sheets, slip back into poverty without some, according to the ICE360 Survey 2021, intervention. Also called the missing, and rising inflation is raising con- middle, this comprises the first-genercerns about the slip back into poverty ation migrant who is just at the edge, of a fifth of Indian households and for of survival, the low-income earners in, another fifth to cut down on con- the organised sector and the vast, sumption drastically., army of unorganised workers who, But the policy question for a 1.3 bil- need the helping hand badly this year., lion heterogeneous population is this:, There are two things the Union, How do you solve for a, Budget 2022 can do to extend, country that has a per capita, targeted help to the vulneraincome of $2,000 (World, ble sections and to give an, Bank), but has more than, income boost to those whose, 20% people below the povpurchasing power has gone, erty line (Reserve Bank of, down due to lower incomes,, India), some of the world’s, higher medical costs and, Monika, richest people with over 100, inflation. And one way to get, Halan, dollar-billionaires and milthose with the money to, lions of mass affluent in the, secure their savings with the, middle?, government, which needs it, Those in the top 40% of households to fund its deficit., have increased their income and, One, for the organised sector workwealth. Revenge shopping by the rich ers who are a part of the Employees, has buoyed the luxury and high-end Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO),, consumer goods markets. The mass give a two-year contribution holiday, affluent, most of who are in the orga- to those who want to avail it. EPFO, nised sector, too, have largely kept contributions (12% of basic salary by, their heads above the water. The mid- the employee matched by the, dle 20% have suffered, but they have employer) are voluntary after a, had some assets (gold holdings, for threshold of ₹15,000 a month of, example) to fall back on. It is the next income. However, most offices make, 40% that has suffered the deepest loss it a mandatory cut. The government, in income. For those below the pov- can advise firms to offer this option to, erty line, a mix of Mahatma Gandhi eligible employees. However, the, , { STRAIGHTFORWARD }, , Mayawati will begin campaigning from, February 2. In 2007, she was able to turn, political equations on their head. Will she, be able to do so this time?, DEEPAK GUPTA/HT, , pay for it, allow the rich to also avail,, but pay double of what it costs the, government. There is market failure, in the private health insurance market, the rich will pay for a cover that, works, even if the benefit is just ₹5, lakh., Three, how to get the rich to make, available their savings to the government rather than punt on the crypto, casino? Make buying government, securities through RBI Retail direct, tax-free for investors. Encourage RBI, to use a better retail interface to, attract the retail investor into zerorisk government bonds. If held to, maturity, there is no risk on these, bonds of price fluctuations., And finally, as we decode Budget, 2022, we need to remember that India, is just emerging out of a once-in-ahundred-years catastrophic event. We, need to just stay afloat rather than, split hairs about pre-pandemic, growth rate trend lines., Monika Halan is an author and adjunct, professor at NISM, The views expressed are personal, , P, , UP polls: Which way, will Dalits go this time?, , U, , employer’s contribution continues. If, the annual employee contribution is, about ₹62,000 crore, and even half, the people take this option, it is almost, ₹30,000 crore of additional purchasing power in the wallets of the organised sector workers. This might get, deployed in a mix of debt repayment, and consumption. In May 2021, the, employee EPFO contribution reduction by two percentage points from, 12% to 10% did not move the needle, too much in terms of consumption. It, will have to be a big announcement, that will get the attention of the people who might then push their, employers to give them this option., Two, extend the ₹5 lakh health, insurance benefit through the Ayushman Bharat scheme that is available, to the poor to the “missing middle” —, the unorganised sector (drivers,, domestic workers, hawkers and delivery staff to name a just a few). The, challenge for any policy intervention, has been the transmission of State, benefits to this “missing middle”. To, the 24 crore e-shram card holders,, extend the benefit of this scheme. To, , { NARENDRA MODI } PRIME MINISTER, , Shashi Shekhar, , ttar Pradesh (UP)’s Karhal assembly seat is all over the news these, days as Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, Akhilesh Yadav is going to contest, the election from there., An incident in this constituency from, 1974 serves as an indicator of Dalit politics, in the state. That year, the Congress ticket, was given to a woman who had nothing to, do with politics till then. The Congress had, not won from there earlier, but the candidate thought that she was in with a chance, if she could get the marginalised and, women on her side., During the campaign, she met a Dalit, family and found that the head of the family, was a good poet in the local language., Impressed with the candidate, the Dalit, man offered to attend Congress rallies and, public meetings to recite his poetry. Soon, his melodious voice and verse began, attracting large crowds. Since the poems, were largely in praise of the party and candidate, casteist muscle men began to chafe, at the bit. So, the Congress lost but managed, to save its deposit in the constituency for, the first time., One evening, the candidate found the, poet at her doorstep covered in blood. He, had brought his frightened wife and small, children there in the hope of shelter. The, musclemen had beaten him and threatened, to kill him. During polling, Dalits could not, cast their votes in almost half the polling, booths. He was beaten up as a warning to, Dalits to not try and vote in the future as, well. No one knew then that such incidents, would prove a game changer., Far from this scene, a man named Kanshi, Ram was planning, in a systematic manner,, to prevent such incidents. After much contemplation, in 1981, he laid the foundation of, the Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti, (DS4). Encouraged by the support his organisation received, he founded the Bahujan, Samaj Party (BSP) in 1984., , India is just emerging out of a once-in-a-hundred-years catastrophic event., We need to just stay afloat rather than split hairs about pre-pandemic, growth rate trend lines, SANJEEV VERMA/HT PHOTO, , Within just six years, his movement gathered such strength that SP supremo, Mulayam Singh Yadav joined hands with, him to take on the Ram mandir issue in, Ayodhya. He reached the Lok Sabha after, winning from Etawah for the first time in, 1991. After that, things moved quickly. Four, years later, Kanshi Ram’s chosen heir, Mayawati, was elected chief minister of UP in, June 1995. No one could have predicted this, seismic social change in the span of just 10, years., Since then, the Dalit electorate has, emerged as a major political force in UP. A, total of 86 seats in UP is reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes, (STs). In the 2017 election, the Bharatiya, Janata Party (BJP) won 70 of these seats., The SP, which won an absolute majority in, 2012, came up trumps by winning 58 of, these seats. When the BSP got a majority in, 2007, its victory in 62 of these reserved seats, was a major factor in its success. However,, these reserved seats are just symbolic, SC, and ST voters also influence the election, results in general seats. Which way will, these voters go this time?, Dalit voters have changed their preferences many times in India’s most populous, state. Earlier they threw in their lot with the, Congress, later the BSP was their preferred, party. After that, the BJP made inroads into, this vote bank., Broadly speaking, the Dalits supported, the Congress and the BSP for about three, decades each. Now, Dalit mindsets have, changed. Young voters do not stick with one, particular leader for too long. Will the BJP, be able to make a deeper dent in the BSP, vote bank this time? The saffron party is, hard at work on this. The state government, has provided poor Dalits numerous facilities, including an increase in free food grain., It is often said that Dalit and backward, voters do not vote together. This is a halftruth. The SP and BSP formed a coalition, government in the 1990s. This did not last, long as the personal ambitions of the leaders got in the way. Mayawati went a step, further in 2007 when she forged a DalitBrahmin alliance. Had she been able to keep, this intact, she would not only have risen, much further in politics but would also have, become the architect of a unique social, reform. She was not able to do that and the, SP moved into that space., Mayawati, who has been pretty quiet till, now, will begin her formal election campaign from February 2. I recall that in 2007,, she was able to, despite considerable odds,, turn political equations on their head. Will, she be able to do so this time?, There are many such questions that are, up in the air as polling day draws near. But,, we will only know what impact caste equations, social development and economic, growth will have on these crucial polls once, the results are out. But these elections are, likely to throw up a few surprises., Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan, The views expressed are personal, , Corruption is like a termite which, makes the country hollow. Why, wait for 2047 to get rid of it?, This is work all countrymen and, today’s youth have to do together., we have to do it as soon, as possible., , A, , India and Israel are, not just friends, but, strategic partners, hat Israel and India have the stage of academic cooperation. Beginning, achieved together since the estab- by bringing students and academics together,, lishment of formal diplomatic we expand the horizons of our shared knowlties on January 29, 1992, is edge. Already, 10% of the foreign students in, unprecedented. The relations between our Israel are Indian and more cooperation is in, two ancient civilisations date back thousands the pipeline., of years and the Jewish community in India is, Israel is the start-up nation, and we have so, one of the cornerstones of these ties., much to share and learn from our friends in, Jews have been living in India peacefully India. Already, we have seen a substantial, for generations. They never suffered persecu- increase in business ventures between starttion or anti-semitism. The welcoming Indian ups and tech companies of both countries., society is what allowed them to flourish and Green energy is another sector where we are, become an integral part of this amazing proud to deepen our cooperation. Recently, mosaic. During the last 30 years,, Israel joined the India-led Internabilateral ties have matured in several, tional Solar Alliance. Together, our, fields: Health and innovation, agricountries can play a major role in, culture and water, trade and ecothe global fight against the climate, nomic activities, science and techcrisis., nology, research and development,, Agriculture and water security, defence and homeland security, art, are vital aspects of our partnership, Naor, and culture, tourism and space., with India. What began over 30, Gilon, Our relationship with India is no, years ago with the arrival of Israeli, longer only a close friendship, but a, drip irrigation in India has evolved, multi-faceted strategic partnership., into 29 Centres of Excellence under, This is evident from the many high-level vis- the Indo-Israeli Agricultural Project with, its, including reciprocal visits by presidents MASHAV. This is the biggest agriculture, and prime ministers. More high-level visits project in which the government of Israel is, are planned for the coming year., involved anywhere in the world, and it, India is one of our major partners in the touches the livelihoods of millions of Indian, Indo-Pacific region. The areas in which our farmers., cooperation focuses on are representative of, In the field of water, many Israeli-led proIsrael’s continuing interests in the Indo-Pa- jects have been implemented in India, the, cific: Overcoming the global pandemic, fight- most recent being the flagship water project, ing terrorism, expanding trade, and address- in Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh. To further, ing the threat posed by climate change., strengthen our cooperation, we have, Since the onset of Covid-19, Israel has coor- appointed for the first time a special envoy dinated with India on research, organised an expert in water resource management - to, medical delegations, exchanged medical work with government officials and industry., equipment, and arranged free women’s, The task before us is to continue to, health clinics. Both countries have agreed to strengthen and deepen our relationship and, a mutual recognition of vaccine certificates. to tap the almost unlimited scope of our bilatWe have witnessed a steady growth in eral cooperation. Our young, fast-growing, every field of cooperation, including defence. and knowledge-based societies and econoIsrael was among the first to “Make in India, mies provide us with the human and material, Make With India” even before the “Make in resources to achieve our bilateral goals. I can, India” campaign began. We have also seen confidently say that the foundations of our, many high-level visits by Indian military lead- relations are strong and will allow us to build, ers to Israel as well as India’s recent participa- upon them in taking our relations to new and, tion in the Blue Flag exercise hosted by the unprecedented heights., Israeli Air Force., Both countries have understood that in, Naor Gilon is ambassador of Israel to India, order to be sustainable, this partnership must, The views expressed are personal, be nurtured from the roots and encouraged at, , W, , R. N. I. No. 503/1957 ● Postal Reg. No. DL(ND)-11/6058/2018-19-20 ‘Licensed to post without prepayment’ LICENCE No. U(C)-113/2006-08, Air surcharge: Raipur and beyond by Rail or Road - Re 5/-, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Chennai, Cochin, Goa, Hyderabad, Khajuraho, Mumbai, Trivandrum, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and beyond by Rail or Road - Rs. 10/-;, Printed & Published by DINESH MITTAL for and on behalf of HT Media Ltd. 18-20, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi-110001 and printed at HT Media Ltd. Presses at Plot No.-8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida, Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar. (UP). Pin-201306,, Board: (011)23361234 ● Editorial: (011)66561234 Extn. 1254, 1268 ● Circulation: (011)66561111 ● Advertising: (011)66561389 ● Fax: (011)66561270., Editor: KUNAL PRADHAN
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OPINION 9, , >, , VOLUME XXVI NUMBER 116, , STAY INFORMED THROUGH THE DAY @ WWW.BUSINESS-STANDARD.COM, , ILLUSTRATION: AJAY MOHANTY, , MUMBAI | MONDAY, 31 JANUARY 2022, , Deeper correction, Geo-politics & monetary policy have increased market risks, , I, , nvestor sentiment has changed for the worse, leading to the end of a, long bull run. Ironically, stock valuations are falling, even though an, economic recovery is still in progress and the pandemic is easing its, grip. India, which was among the best-performing markets of 2021,, could experience one of the more extreme corrections as sentiment changes., Rupee equity valuations are the highest among emerging markets and the, rupee itself may be under pressure, given heavy foreign portfolio investment, (FPI) selling and a rising trade deficit. The downturn is partly due to geopolitical tensions in Ukraine. But investors have also turned cautious in the, face of higher inflation, and threats of tightening liquidity. The Russia-Ukraine, situation could affect crude oil and gas supply, even if it doesn’t result, in an armed conflict., Sanctions targeting Russia would impact one of the world’s largest energy, exporters, and key gas pipelines supplying the European Union run through, the potential conflict zone. Hence, fears of potential supply disruption have, led to spiking energy prices, even though global supply is in surplus over, demand. High energy costs are adding an impetus to global inflation. The, Fed started making hawkish noises in September. It has since accelerated, tapering off its bond-buying programme, reducing hard currency liquidity., In its latest policy, the Fed has signalled a series of rate hikes. Some investment, advisors are betting there could be up to seven hikes of the Fed funds rates in, calendar 2022. Any Fed hike will most likely induce tightening by the, European Central Bank and other large central banks. The drop in liquidity, has led to “risk-off” trading attitudes with global traders moving to safer, hard-currency assets, such as government treasuries. Foreign portfolio, investors have sold Indian stocks worth over ~66,000 crore since September, when the Fed started making hawkish noises and the Nifty is down by, 8 per cent from its record highs. Even the Dow Jones Industrial Average and, the Nasdaq 100 — America’s premier stock indices — are down significantly,, indicating high levels of caution on the part of investors., Given India’s own higher inflation rate, with the increase in the wholesale, price index in double-digits and consumer price index at a five-month high,, the Reserve Bank of India may also have to hasten the policy normalisation, process. This would impact already fragile domestic sentiment, given the, impending Assembly elections. The upcoming Budget will also have to walk, a tightrope. It needs to encourage economic activity but cannot ignore massive, increases in government debt and deficit. Corporate India is feeling the inflationary pressure. A look at the October-December 2021 quarterly results of a, sample of 507 listed companies indicates that, while revenues are up 24 per, cent year-on-year compared to October-December 2020, operating margins, have fallen from 35 per cent to 31 per cent. Expenses have mounted sharply,, with power and fuel costs up 67 per cent and raw material and component, costs up 43 per cent. Investors would have to hope for the Ukraine crisis, to end quickly without conflict or sanctions. In that case, inflation may moderate somewhat as energy prices normalise. However, lower liquidity, and higher policy rates will mean a downgrade for risky assets and could, lead to a deeper correction., , A historic moment, Air India privatisation is a milestone in India’s reforms, , A, , ir India has officially been handed over to Tata Group, ending its, decades of public ownership. The airline, before it was nationalised,, had of course been one of the jewels of the Tata empire, and former, Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata in particular never seemed to, have given up the quest to regain the company that had been set up as Tata, Airlines in 1932. The Tatas won the airline at an auction in October with a bid, of about ~18,000 crore as enterprise value, including taking on ~15,300 crore, of the airline’s debt. The airline, by some estimates, lost ~20 crore a day, and, reforming it will require extraordinary effort. The Tatas are not new to the, sector, given that they part-own the only other full-service airline left in, India, Vistara, as well as the Indian arm of low-cost carrier AirAsia. Many Air, India planes are relatively new, but they will need extensive refurbishment, and it remains to be seen if the service experience can be raised to privatesector standards in the short term, given that the Tatas have committed to, not fire any employees for a year., Yet it is necessary to consider what a historic moment this is — one that, many thought would never come. Air India has been a totemic example of, mismanagement in the public sector and of the government retaining a hold, on sectors in which it has no rational reason to participate. Air India provided, dubious utility to the government, soaked up vast amounts of taxpayer cash,, and distorted the entire civil aviation industry — but even so all suggestions, and even actual attempts to end this state of affairs failed for decades. This, privatisation may have come well into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second, term, but it is nevertheless a signifier of how far the Indian leadership has, come in terms of accepting privatisation in the past decade. It is to be hoped, that Air India, in the private sector, demonstrates success and is turned, around effectively by Tata Group, as the demonstration effect of a successful, privatisation will be considerable. This is, unquestionably, a milestone, for post-reform India., This remarkable effort by the government must not be a one-off. While, it deserves full credit for pulling off a successful sale, the government must, not rest on its laurels. Much else in the public sector — including elements, of the state-controlled banking sector — remains hopelessly inefficient and, underperforming, with privatisation the only way out. The sale of Air India, can give rise to hopes that other such long desired strategic moves might, also be carried out in the coming years. Stake sales of the sort planned for, the Life Insurance Corporation of India and others are naturally important,, but there is no substitute for the actual transfer of control in the manner, that has happened with Air India, since the effect is not just to raise, revenue for the government but also to ensure that the assets are, better managed and more productive. It might feel like a long shot to, imagine a partial reversal of bank nationalisation. But after the, nationalisation of Air India has finally been reversed, it does not seem out, of the realms of possibility., , Game theories, BOOK REVIEW, PETER SAGAL, , A, , s an adolescent, I fancied myself a, devotee of the ancient Chinese, board game Go. I had never actually played it, but in one of my favourite, novels Shibumi, by Trevanian — the, super-assassin hero praised Go as a fitting, pastime for the kind of warrior/poet/lover, he was and that I hoped to become. “Go is, to Western chess what philosophy is to, double-entry accounting,” he says, probably before killing someone with a toothpick. Sadly, when I actually tried to play, Go, it turned out be … a board game, and, a difficult one at that. I gave it up when I, , realised that in return for the labour of, truly learning Go, I would become not an, enlightened international assassin, but, just a guy who could play a game., Oliver Roeder, a student of games and, game theory, is deeply aware of the tension between what games are and what, people project onto them. His “group, biography” of seven classic games —, checkers, chess, Go, backgammon, poker,, Scrabble and bridge — is in many ways an, interrogation of these questions: Are, games more than their rules and playing, pieces? Are they metaphors for deeper, truths of the human experience? Is chess, “life in miniature,” as the former world, champion Garry Kasparov once said? Or, is it just a board game — risk with more, rules and a boring map?, Mr Roeder is himself a player, and he, structures much of his narrative around, his entry in major competitions. He, begins with the long history of games,, going back 5,000 years, and asks: Why, , Tax when you want, to spend, Raise the tax-GDP ratio to finance rising revenue expenditure, , T, , he principal fiscal challenge that India faces, is the stagnation in the tax-GDP ratio for several decades. The tax revenue of the Union, government, after netting out the share of the states, in collected taxes, was an average of 7 per cent in, the five years ending in 1978–79 and also, four, decades later, in the five years ending in 2019-20[1]., There were two periods when the ratio went up by, about 1 per cent — in the latter half of the eighties, and during the boom years in the, first decade of the new millennium., But basically, the Union government’s net tax revenue-to-GDP ratio, is stuck at around 7 per cent. Adding, the share of the states to this net revenue number raises the Union government’s tax-GDP ratio by 3-4 per, cent, but does not alter the assessment about stagnation., This stagnation in the net taxGDP ratio of the Union government, has to be compared with the rise in NITIN DESAI, the revenue expenditure-to-GDP, ratio, which went up from an average of 8.5 per cent to 11 per cent in the same two, five-year periods. This gap led to rising market borrowings and a doubling of the Union government’s, interest burden as a percentage of GDP from, 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent between these two fiveyear periods. The burden was even higher, at, 4 per cent, during the nineties and the first decade, of this century, and rose during the two recent Covid, years to 3.5 per cent of GDP., At the same time, the ratio of the Union government’s capital expenditure-to-GDP ratio declined, from 6 per cent to 1.7 per cent. This meant that market borrowings were used to finance current expen-, , ditures. This is why the ratio of assets-to-liabilities, of the Union government fell sharply from over 70, per cent till the early nineties to an average of 44, per cent in the five-year period ending in 2019-20., One must also note that since the early nineties, the, Union government has resorted to disinvestment, of assets as a source of Budgetary finance and the, amount so mobilised amounted to 12 per cent of the, assets shown in the Budget in 2020-21., The shift in the Union government’s spending towards current, expenditure is partly a product of, the fact that public enterprises now, finance their investment not, through Budgetary support, but, through their own savings and, direct access to the capital market., Besides this, the public-private, partnership strategy for infrastructure has raised the share of the private sector in this area of investment. That is why some reduction, in the share of capital expenditure, in public spending was inevitable., In addition, there is also a shift in development strategy to direct benefit schemes like the Mahatma, Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, that involve revenue expenditure., The real issue for fiscal policy is not the shift of, spending to the revenue account but how this spending, is financed. For some three decades now, the Union, government has financed a substantial part of revenue, expenditure by increasing its liabilities and selling its, assets. That is what fiscal policy needs to correct., A fair degree of progress has been made in widening the reach of the income tax system. In 2018-19,, 55 million salaried individuals filed returns, which, , seems a fair proportion of the 70-million non-agri, cultural workers who are regular wage and salary, earners. In the same year, around 25 million noncorporate assessees declared a business income, which should be compared to the figure of 63 million, micro, small and medium enterprises, the vast majority being micro enterprises. Though there could be, some room for identifying evaders, judging by the, increase in the number of non-corporate assessees, from 40 million in 2015-16 to 64 million in 2019-20,, it seems some progress has been made in extending, the reach of the income tax system. The focus now, should perhaps be on linking the income tax database, and the 13 million who are in the goods and services, tax database to identify evaders., The real issue is not the number of assessees,, but the coverage of the actual income received by, the people liable to tax. Applying the available, inequality data to non-agricultural income, one can, infer that in 2018-19 about 75 per cent of this income, was accrued to one-third of the earners in the nonagricultural sector, and this one-third must have, had per earner income exceeding ~5 lakh, which, would put them all in the taxable bracket. Even, allowing for various concessions and toning down, the very high estimate of high-income group shares,, it would appear that personal income tax collections,, as a percentage of non-agricultural income, should, be around 10 per cent. In practice, the income tax, collection in 2018-19 amounted to just 3.3 per cent, of non-agricultural income. This blatant underreporting of income is what needs to be addressed., We also need to reexamine the plethora of taxrelief concessions to companies and individuals that, are offered today. In 2018-19 the revenue foregone, by these concessions amounted to ~2.1 trillion on, corporate, and income tax collections of ~11.4 trillion., The finance minister (FM) moved on this route when, the alternative of foregoing concessions and benefiting from lower rates was offered both for corporate, and personal tax. But the choice was left to each, assessee who would clearly opt for the option that, led to lower tax liability. Hence offering a choice, does not help. It simply reduces tax collection. The, FM should now move towards the removal of taxrelief concessions and lower rates for all assessees,, if necessary phased over a few years., The tax rates should be rationalised across different categories of income. One glaring anomaly is, in the different rates applicable to dividend income, and capital gains on equity holdings, even though, both come from the same source which is corporate, profits. Realised capital gains, suitably corrected for, inflation and the costs of realisation, are as much a, form of current income as salaries, business profits,, interest, and dividend earnings and should be, treated as such., Rationalisation and simplification of the direct, tax system and a determined drive to double the, income tax-GDP ratio over a few years should be a, clearly articulated goal for fiscal policy. Let us hope, we see a move in this direction in this year’s Budget., [1] Data for the Covid year 2020-21 has not been used in, these calculations, nitin-desai@hotmail.com, , Markets: Fooling most people most of the time, , S, , tock markets all over the globe have come a, long way from the sudden crash in late March, and early April 2020, when the pandemic, brought the whole world to a standstill. But the markets kept rising like a Phoenix, braving severe lockdowns, high unemployment, business closures, the, migrant labour crisis, a complete shutdown in the, travel and entertainment businesses, worries about, the uncontrolled rise in bad debts, etc. This miracle, occurred partly due to stimulus packages unleashed, by governments and partly because, most businesses were allowed to, resume operations in June 2020 and, many saw their costs going down, due to lower overheads and travel., Then came the quarterly results,, which dispelled any notions of a, slowdown. Indeed, by September, 2020, India Inc. was displaying the, kind of vim and vigour that had been, missing for years. In other words,, everyone was fooled by the feared, impact of the pandemic., DEBASHIS BASU, As the months progressed and, one year since the hard, national lockdown rolled, past, only armchair commentators, with no skin in, the game, remained sceptics. Some predicted another crash in prices, but professional investors got busy, making money. More importantly, a combination, of factors unleashed a tsunami of retail participation, in the Indian stock markets — from 40.8 million, demat accounts opened in the two decades till 201920, the figure jumped to 74 million in 20 months at, the end of November 2021. A second pandemic wave, with horrific stories of oxygen shortage dampened, this speculative fervour only a little. As the second, wave receded, the markets rose again. However, just, when everyone seemed to be convinced that the, , markets were bound to keep rising every quarter, and every year, as though it’s our birthright to expect, this, they seem intent on fooling us again., On October 19, the indices hit their all-time high, and started to drop over the next two months. A strong, upmove in late December and early January ignited, hopes of another rally to an all-time high but this, time, it was met with massive selling from January, 18 onwards. The immediate cause is the sharp fall in, the US markets, in turn caused by policy changes, announced by the US Federal, Reserve, which is worried by the, steep rise in inflation. The US consumer price index climbed 7 per cent, in 2021, the largest 12-month gain, since June 1982, according to the, data released on January 12. The US, Fed has hinted it may raise rates this, March, while Bank of America thinks, there could be as many as seven, hikes this year. In addition, it is likely, to start shrinking the central bank’s, holding of over $8 trillion in US government bonds and mortgagebacked securities (MBS). These two moves would, reduce liquidity and increase interest rates. The immediate fallout, according to conventional wisdom, is, that money would move out of risky assets like stocks,, with the riskiest stocks — small-cap, tech, and emerging markets — getting hit the most., However, this is common knowledge among, investors now, and the markets rarely do what is, expected of them. Besides, the reality of the marketplace is far more complex than the simplified, one offered up for public consumption by media, headlines and opinion pieces. So, what could be the, true impact of the major policy shift announced by, the US Fed? We are already witnessing the initial, , IRRATIONAL CHOICE, , does almost every society engage in, games and why have certain games survived for centuries? His suggested, answers range from the simple —, because we’re bored — to the complex,, as presented by the aptly named, philosopher of games Bernard Suits,, who coined the phrase “lusory mind,”, that is, a mind freed from practical or, real concerns and, thus able to ponder, immaterial, problems., But this book is, not truly a philosophical inquiry., Nor is it a deep consideration of any of, the games or their, star players, though, such people provide much of the joy of, the book. There is Marion Tinsley, an, abstemious Midwesterner of steady, habits and deep religious faith, and the, greatest checkers player who’s ever, lived; and Nigel Richards, an aloof, ascetic who lives off the grid in Malaysia, but emerges to dominate every Scrabble, competition he enters. And while, , backgammon’s roots are buried in, Egyptian tombs, it was a Russian expatriate named Prince Alexis Obolensky, who popularised the game as a jetsetter’s pastime in the 1960s. But none of, these people are the book’s central characters. Instead, this is the story of people, like Jonathan Schaeffer (checkers),, Gerald Tesauro (backgammon) and, Jason Katz-Brown, (Scrabble). They, SEVEN GAMES: A, are very good playHuman History, ers. But they are, Author: Oliver, here for their skill, Roeder, at programming, Publisher: W.W., computers., Norton & Company, Each of the priPrice: $26.95, mary sections of, Pages: 320, this book reads like, a repeating myth of, hubris told with different characters but, the same ending. Every game has its history, its champions, its quirks and its, community, and then comes the programmer who believes he can teach a, computer to play it. Each time, devotees, of the game stake their claim that their, pastime is a pure expression of, ineluctable human creativity, and then,, , knee-jerk reaction in the form of indiscriminate selling of stocks over the past 10 days. Even institutional, investors tend to succumb to simplified correlations, like: Fed hike, sell stocks. This will certainly take, some froth out of the market since in the 18-month, bull market too many stocks have been pushed far, beyond reasonable valuations., Cyclical stocks have been valued as growth stocks,, while small-cap stocks with slightly improved earnings have relentlessly risen. Large-cap stocks, especially in consumer goods, with average growth, prospects, have been pushed up to stratospheric, heights. There are overvaluation and excesses in many, pockets of the market. This is most obvious in the, initial public offering (IPO) market, where loss-making, companies like Paytm, CarTrade, Zomato, and Nykaa, have inflicted large losses on investors. This is a cycle, that plays repeats: A bull market induced by an easy, money policy, indiscriminate valuations, excesses in, adjacent markets (this time in new markets such as, crypto-currencies, non-fungible tokens, private equity,, and so on), and eventual big declines in asset values., This is playing out all over again., Depending on how things unfold, stock prices, could head too far in the opposite direction. This is, not necessarily a given, as many market commentators are predicting, but is a possibility. Unfortunately,, the markets today have millions of new investors, with no investing experience and behavioral fortitude, to separate the wheat from the chaff, to ride out the, declines, and possibly buy quality stocks if they are, available at lower prices. It is their actions, like that, of newbie drivers on the road, that will determine, the immediately trajectory of the markets, even as, the markets try to fool the majority once again., The writer is the editor of www.moneylife.in, Twitter: @Moneylifers, , as the programs improve, the players are, stripped of their illusions. The human, champion ends up in a hotel ballroom, across a game board from some young, programmer who sits next to a box that, tells him what to do, and each time the, box eventually wins. The game they, thought was an art is just another mechanism, no more inaccessible to the brute, strength of microprocessors than, say,, assembling an automobile., By the time computers defeated, human champions at chess, then poker,, then backgammon and Go, the human, players had submitted to their betters., High-level poker, Roeder tells us, no, longer involves playing “the man, not the, cards,” but rather memorising ideal, strategies spat out by programs running, millions of variations on any given hand., Instead of gamblers noting one another’s, tells, the game is dominated by young, men wearing sunglasses and headphones so they won’t be distracted. After, wins or beats, players check their play, against the programs they’ve purchased,, to make sure they chose the software’s, recommended course of action. You, begin to realise that people aren’t playing, , one another with the help of computers;, the computers are playing against other, computers, using humans., Oddly, the only game yet to be conquered by computers is contract bridge,, and my sense of relief at this lone holdout, from the onslaught of AI was extinguished when Roeder let us know that the, game, a relatively recent addition to the, pantheon of pastimes, is now dying out,, its players trending older and smaller in, number. That might not be a coincidence: Perhaps by now we’re so used to, playing against, or for, our digital masters, that we’ve lost interest in something so, messy and human that its strategies can’t, be simulated by an online bot., To play a game is, Professor Suits said,, to try to solve a voluntary problem. But it, is also a voluntary engagement with, another human, temporary but total, to, create a shared narrative of attack,, defence, stalemate, victory and loss. The, one thing a computer can never do is, enjoy another computer’s company. Let, us hope that no new genius arises to, teach them how to do that., ©2022 The New York Times News Service
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12, , VIEWS, , MONDAY, 31 JANUARY 2022, NEW DELHI, , LIVEMINT.COM, , OUR VIEW, , GUEST VIEW, MINT, , The budget must aim to provide, an impetus to consumer demand, Much has been achieved but more can be done to spur local manufacturing and raise consumption, We expect the budget for 2022-23 to, initiate reforms that would help raise, consumption by increasing resources in, the hands of consumers. Consider the, impact: if consumers have higher spending power, sales go up, aiding local production, which in turn drives the Make, in India agenda too, and leaves a positive, impact on the overall economy. Plus,, rising healthcare expenses call for an, increased limit of deduction on health, insurance premia—this will encourage, the uptake of health policies. Optimizing, tax slabs to aid salaried professionals, will also help, be it a larger standard, deduction, tax-off on housing-loan, interest or the inclusion of a wider set of, mutual funds under 80C deductions., Against this backdrop, our efforts at, enhancing the growth of consumer, durables and the electronics industry, are playing a key role in our economic, revival. We hope the government will, examine items that would stimulate, domestic manufacturing and expect a, hike in import tariffs on fully-assembled, audio products. Audio technology is an, emerging segment and with new players, foraying into the market, demand and, ways to meet it are at an all-time high., We expect some audio tariff barriers to, encourage domestic manufacturing., Additionally, GST rationalization, could play a crucial role in raising market, consumption. Consumer durables like, ACs and TV sets need relief. Consumers, prefer products that offer value propositions, and these are no longer ‘luxuries’, as they have become common household items. Lowering their GST burden, to 18% from 28% would help offset price, pressure, boost affordability, and thus, spur the penetration level of ACs in, India. Moreover, the energy efficiency of, ACs has steadily increased and they now, offer added features like air purification,, which is important in urban markets., Similarly, while TV screens larger than, 105cm are slotted as premium, they have, become the most sought-after models, now, and so we hope the government, reduces GST on LED screens (above, , MANISH SHARMA, is CEO, Panasonic India and South Asia; and, chairperson of the FICCI Electronics and, White Goods Committee, , V. Anantha Nageswaran:, An apt choice as our CEA, As evident in his views as a Mint columnist for 15 years, he looks beyond the orthodoxies of, economics. Nageswaran’s appointment as chief economic advisor should serve India well, , A, , n effective economic advisor in, government has to battle it out on, two fronts at the same time. He, has to work within the bounds of, what is politically possible, while, expanding the policy-possibility, frontier with radical new ideas. The job thus, requires not just the technical skills of a traditional economist, but also a fine sense of the, political, social, institutional and historical context. This is both science and art. The Narendra, Modi government has done well to appoint, V. Anantha Nageswaran as our new chief economic advisor (CEA). His is a reasoned voice on, economic policy matters and he is known for, the attention he pays to facts on the ground, rather than grandstanding in the cause of any, particular school of thought in economics. He is, truly heterodox in that sense. He is also a sharp, observer of geopolitics, and blew the whistle on, the China threat at least a decade before it was, common knowledge in India. The bipartisan, applause that has greeted his appointment as, CEA also shows his ability to work with a, diverse set of people., Nageswaran joins the finance ministry just as, India recovers its pre-pandemic level of output,, but scars remain. These include persistent, inflation, growing inequality, labour-market, stress, a crisis in the informal economy, and the, long-term costs from two years of school shutdowns. The risk to our balance of payments, from a further increase in global crude oil prices, is still modest, but not irrelevant. In the decade, ahead, we must maintain a high rate of economic expansion to provide opportunities to, our people. Much will depend on the quality, of economic policy if India in the 2020s is to, resemble India of the 2000s rather than of the, , 1970s on that score. The new CEA has been a, prolific writer on the Indian economy, with, his weekly column in Mint widely followed., Though Nageswaran is driven by what the data, says, and has readjusted some of his views over, the years, there are some common themes in, his writing that are worth highlighting. First, he, has consistently argued that the requirements, of the real economy are more important than, those of the financial one. Second, monetary, policy should be used carefully to avoid blowing, sequential asset bubbles that lead to the misallocation of capital. Third, any country should, have ways to maintain policy independence,, either through the tactical use of capital controls during episodes of global financial mania,, or (unfortunately these days) via restrictions on, global trade. Fourth, inequality is a risk for both, sustainable economic growth as well as social, stability; not just inequality in terms of the gap, in household incomes, but also the split of, national income between profits and wages., Nageswaran has also written thoughtfully on, the Indian economy’s prospects over the long, term. In a fine 2016 report that he wrote in collaboration with Gulzar Natarajan, Nageswaran, argued that India should not take rapid economic growth for granted. The title of this, report is telling: Can India Grow? The problems, identified by the two authors included the end, of a global economic boom, structural problems, such as a large informal sector and premature, deindustrialization, limited state capacity, a, lack of robust federalism, and the costs of our, transition to a low-carbon economy. They put, forth a well-reasoned set of policy responses, to these problems. We wish our columnist of 15, years the very best for his stint in government., The Centre has made a worthy choice., , L, , ast year’s budget exhibited resilience and reflected a progressive, vision of a roadmap to a faster, economic recovery. Its structured, approach sought to initiate growth via its, focus on the six pillars of health and wellbeing, infrastructure, human capital,, inclusive development, innovation and, R&D, and ‘minimum government and, maximum governance’. This displayed, the government’s strategic commitment, to the overall development of India., From a successful vaccination drive, to ensure well-being and an emphasis, on production-linked incentive (PLI), schemes to create and nurture global, manufacturing champions for an, Atmanirbhar Bharat, to enhancing, opportunities for our youth through, multiple schemes and strengthening the, overall research ecosystem with a focus, on innovation and R&D, there was a, great deal of progress in the past year., Despite the unprecedented setback, caused by the pandemic in 2020 and, second wave of covid in the first quarter, of 2021-22, the year held out promise,, with the entire economy showing green, shoots in the second half. The upcoming, quarters project an encouraging picture, for industries across sectors, including, consumer durables, electronics, energy,, electricals and wiring devices. Together,, the Centre’s intent to reduce the compliance burden on businesses and the PLI, scheme look set to propel the economy., , New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh*, Pune*, , www.livemint.com, , Tuesday, January 31, 2012, , Vol.6, , No.25, , `3.00, , 105cm) to 18% from 28%.This will aid our, efforts towards making premium technology products accessible to potential, customers who are held back from, upgrading by the high cost of adoption., Placing premium screens in a lower GST, slab would be a progressive step towards, democratizing such technology., We also look forward to the Phased, Manufacturing Programme (PMP) for, TVs to drive up domestic production., While the government has already, approved investments under its PLI, scheme as a step towards its goal of, Atmanirbhar Bharat, we would urge, policymakers to review the export, incentive for ACs under its Remission of, Duties and Taxes on Export Products, (RoDTEP) scheme, and consider raising, it. This will encourage exports and ease, supply-chain challenges that have led to, a dramatic increase in logistical costs., Given the government’s agenda to, encourage the manufacture and sale of, electric vehicles (EVs), localization of EV, charger manufacturing will help faster, EV adoption. It is thus an expectation, that the budget will help lessen the cost, of component imports vis-a-vis imports, of pre-assembled EV chargers., To encourage exports and put locally, made products on a globally competitive, platform, we would expect more fiscal, incentives, especially for products with, 30-40% domestic value addition. This, would help industrial development in, the country., The pandemic has increased the, awareness and penetration of insurance, to some extent. From the perspective of, end consumers, a reduction of GST on, insurance premiums and addressing, double taxation would provide relief and, allow people to save more, which would, increase their purchasing power., In conclusion, we are hopeful of a, growth-supporting Union budget for, 2022-23 and expect allocations that are, balanced and thought-through, so that, it not only gives an impetus to India’s, economic progress, but also enables, direct benefits for end consumers., , 32 PAGES, + 24 PAGES INDULGE, , Mallika Srinivasan on, TAFE’s growth plans >8, , Q&A:, , CORPORATE: Fund infusion values, Flipkart at $850 million >4, AVIATION: Regulator deregisters, two Kingfisher Airlines aircraft >4, NATION: Andhra Pradesh home secretary, arrested in land deal case >3, , EXCLUSIVE PARTNER, , SENSEX 16,863.3 æ 370.68, , NIFTY 5,087.3 æ 117.4, , FINANCIAL BURDEN, , 2G, audit, overhang on, telcom firms, Telecom Commission, likely to recommend, that all telcos be, charged retrospectively, for excess spectrum, B Y S HAUVIK G HOSH, N IKHIL K ANEKAL, ·························, , &, , NEW DELHI, , T, , he issue of spectrum allocation has come back, to haunt both telcos and, the government., India’s Telecom Commission, the highest policymaking, body of the government, will, most likely recommend that all, telcos be charged retrospectively for all second-generation, or 2G, spectrum they hold, in excess of 6.2 megahertz, or, MHz, (5MHz in the case of telcos using the CDMA platform)., Meanwhile, on Monday, the, Supreme Court while hearing a, new public interest litigation, sought responses from the, government and several telecom service providers on the, allocation of additional 2G, spectrum above 6.2 MHz., Should the Telecom Commission decide to go ahead,, and should the government, clear the proposal, telcos may, have to shell out substantial, amounts of money, a move, that will hit their already significantly leveraged balance, sheets., A Mumbai-based telecom, analyst, who did not want to be, identified, said Bharti Airtel, Ltd could end up having to pay, `8,000 crore, Vodafone India,, `5,000 crore, and Idea Cellular, Ltd, `2,000 crore., Interestingly, the Telecom, Commission is also considering charging new 2G operators, for the 1.8MHz spectrum they, get as so-called contracted, , spectrum in addition to the, 4.4MHz they get as start-up, spectrum. Under the commission’s formula, spectrum in, the 900MHz band, considered, the most cost-effective, will, cost around 1.5 times the price, telcos paid for 3G spectrum., The absence of a clear policy, of charging for spectrum, meant that telcos were doled, out scarce air waves in an ad, hoc manner. That is the substance of the public interest, case filed by lawyer Yakesh, Anand that claims the government lost `36,993 crore on account of such allocation. The, petition cites the Comptroller, and Auditor General of India, report of 2010 on spectrum allocation and usage., A bench comprising justices, G.S. Singhvi and S.J. Mukhopadhyay hearing the petition, issued notices to the Union, government and specifically,, the department of telecommunications (DoT), the finance, ministry and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India., Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea,, Spice Telecom, Aircel and Reliance Communications Ltd, have also been asked to respond to the court., In December, the Delhi high, court had dismissed the public, interest litigation on the, grounds, that, the, Supreme Court and the joint, parliamentary committee are, already looking into irregularities regarding 2G spectrum allocation and usage. Much of, this investigation is focused on, the allocation of spectrum on, allegedly favourable terms to, telcos in 2008., Home, minister, P., Chidambaram, who was serving as finance minister in 2008,, had written to Prime Minister, TURN TO PAGE 2®, , MINT INDULGE, A status report on Indian polo,, the coolest trends for 2012 and, some of the best preview, watches at SIHH. All this and, much more in the latest ‘Indulge’, supplement being circulated free, with today’s Mint., , DOLLAR `49.79 Æ `0.49, , Hernan Crespo, , An auction for a 10-week experimental, football league, modelled on cricket’s, Indian Premier League and confined to, West Bengal, saw Hernan Crespo getting, the highest bid for an international player., Five of the six franchises for Premier, Soccer League found takers at the, auction on Monday., See Page 6, , Crespo plays for Parma in Italy's Serie A, league. He scored 11 goals for Parma in, the 2010-11 season to become, for the, fourth time, the highest scorer for, the club., Age: 36, , Fabio Cannavaro, Franchise, , Siliguri, Italy, , $830,000, , Bid, price, , Jay-Jay Okocha, , The French footballer was part of his, country's Fifa World Cup winning team in, 1998. Pires has played for European clubs, such as Arsenal, Villarreal and, most, recently, Aston Villa., Age: 38, , $800,000, , Bid, price, , Franchise, , $550,000, , Kolkata, England, , The English footballer, who currently plays, for a Thai side, is one of the highest goal, scorers in the history of English Premier, League. He has played for Liverpool, Leeds, United and Manchester City., Age: 36, , $530,000, , Bid, price, , All bid prices are for the current season, , OTHER PLAYERS, Name, , $840,000, Howrah, France, , Robbie Fowler, , Durgapur, Nigeria, , The Nigerian footballer, who last, appeared for his country in 2006, has, played extensively for European clubs, such as Paris St-Germain and Bolton, Wanderers., Age: 38, Bid, price, , Barasat, Argentina, , Bid, price, , Franchise, , One of the most capped Italian, footballers, Cannavaro led his country to, victory in the 2006 Fifa World Cup. He, retired from professional football last, year due to injury., Age: 38, , Franchise, , Franchise, , Robert Pires, , Country, , Robert Egbeta, Alonso Solis, Christian Lara, Joaquin Botero, Limberg Gutierrez, Jose Gabriel Rios, Santino Quaranta, , Bid price, , $350,000, $200,000, $200,000, $180,000, $180,000, $180,000, $180,000, , Nigeria, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Bolivia, Bolivia, Bolivia, US, , Franchise, , Kolkata, Durgapur, Barasat, Barasat, Siliguri, Howrah, Siliguri, SANDEEP BHATNAGAR/MINT, , Tata Starbucks, to open 30-50, cafes this year, B Y S APNA A GARWAL &, J OHN S ATISH K UMAR, ·························, MUMBAI, , S, , tarbucks Corp. and its Indian joint venture (JV) partner Tata Global Beverages Ltd, on Monday outlined plans for, the formal entry of the global, coffee chain into the world’s, second fastest growing major, economy, a full year after the, partners signed a pact to explore the retail entry., The equal stake JV—Tata, Starbucks Ltd—will launch, 30-50 outlets in India in 2012, with an initial investment of, `400 crore to be split equally., The JV will own and operate, the cafes, which will be branded “Starbucks Coffee—A Tata, Alliance”, the companies said, TURN TO PAGE 3®, , ALSO SEE, >Q&A: Coffee we serve will be completely, sourced locally, says John Culver, >P32, , NOTE TO READERS, , Mint is also available for R6 with, Hindustan Times under a combo offer, , EURO `65.16 Æ `0.33, , OLD STARS FOR, NEW EXPERIMENT, , The Media Marketing Initiative on, Pages 13 and 14 is the equivalent, of a paid-for advertisement, and no, Mint journalists were involved in, creating it. Readers would do well, to treat it as an advertisement., , GOLD `27,985 æ `40, , OIL $111.11 æ $0.35, , Coal India cuts QUICK EDIT, prices; revenue Awkward, may take a hit corner, B Y R UCHIRA S INGH, , I, , ruchira.s@livemint.com, , ·························, NEW DELHI, , C, , oal India Ltd (CIL) cut, prices on Monday, a move, that will pacify consumers facing shortages, but put pressure, on the state-owned company’s, earnings as production slows, and unions clamour for more, perks., “The exercise of reviewing, the prices has been done., There is definitely a reduction,” Alok Perti, coal secretary, said after a company, board meeting. “Probably, there could be a reduction in, the revenue.”, Perti said a new pricing system that was adopted at the, beginning of the year as part of, the company’s modernization—the linkage with prices of, international grades of coal—, will be maintained for only one, or two grades., Coal India, which produces, 80% of the nation’s coal, introduced a new pricing regime, based on gross calorific value, (GCV) on 1 January. The, mechanism has a band of 17, grades of coal, compared with, seven under the so-called useful heat value system. The GCV, system will not be scrapped,, Perti said., , t’s that time of the year, again. Business lobbies, have begun pre-budget, meetings with the finance, minister, newspapers, have begun to speculate, about what citizens can, hope to expect and, government officials have, begun making the usual, noises about how the, gaping hole in our public, finances will be reduced., India already has one, of the highest fiscal, deficits in the world,, and the government has, done precious little to, bring it down. The result, is that it now has very, little firepower left in, case there is an economic, shock like in 2008—an, implosion in Europe or, a hard landing in China,, for instance., Last week, the, International Monetary, Fund said in its Fiscal, Monitor: “... the space, for loosening fiscal policy, in response to a growth, slowdown is limited by, still-high deficits and, debt”. High inflation will, also limit the ability of, the Reserve Bank of India, to cut interest rates. India, is in an awkward corner., , TURN TO PAGE 2®, , AUTHENTICITY CHECK, , ICAR probing govt scientists’, claims on Bt cotton version, B Y J ACOB P . K OSHY, jacob.k@livemint.com, , ·························, NEW DELHI, , T, , he Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is, investigating allegations that, government scientists from, several institutions falsely, claimed to have developed an, indigenous variety of Bt cotton, called Bikaneri Narma (BNBt)., This cotton seed, allegations, go, is an unoriginal version of, Bt cotton developed by Monsanto Co. in the early 1990s, and the genetic backbone of, several types of cotton seeds, being used by Indian farmers., In 2010, ICAR stopped the, commercial sale of BN-Bt., “BN-Bt seed samples were, reported to contain Monsanto’s gene/event (MON 531)., Consequently, ICAR had seed, multiplication and commercialization suspended,” according to an ICAR note that, describes the investigative, committee’s plan of action. An, “event” is, in this case, biotechspeak for genetically modified (GM) plants that are insect-resistant., To be sure, Indian law does, not recognize patents on, events and MON 531 isn’t, , WIDENING SPREAD, Area under Bt cotton cultivation:, 2003, , 2004, , 2005, , 2006, , 2007, , 2008, , 2009, , 8, , 8.4, , The test of a first-rate, intelligence is the, ability to hold two, opposed ideas in mind, at the same time and, still retain the, ability to function., , 2010, , 9.4, Hectares (million), , 6.5, 3.8, , 0.1, , 0.5, , 1.3, , Area under cultivation as a percentage of total cotton area:, , 0%, , 3%, , 10%, , 30%, , 48%, , 70%, , Figures are approximations, , 85%, , 93%, , Source: ISAAA, , F. SCOT T F I TZG E R A L D, , YOGESH KUMAR/MINT, , patented in India, according to, a Monsanto spokesperson., The main agenda of the investigative committee that will, be led by S.K. Sopory, vicechancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru, University, is to ascertain in, three months whether scientists from the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS),, Dharwad, National Research, Centre on Plant Biotechnology, (NRCPB), and the Central Institute for Cotton Research, (CICR), Nagpur, did indeed, develop an indigenous Bt vari-, , ety or whether BN-Bt got, mixed, or “contaminated”,, with seeds that contained, MON 531., If it was the latter, the committee will also investigate, how these seeds escaped expert scrutiny and made it to, the farmers’ fields., Apart from ethical questions, on scientific propriety, the investigation raises questions as, to whether government agriculture scientists are capable, TURN TO PAGE 3®, , MY VIEW | MODERN TIMES, , How an AAP win in Goa or Punjab could change India, MANU JOSEPH, , A, is a journalist, novelist, and the, creator of the Netflix series,, ‘Decoupled’, , ccording to my spurious taxi-driver, journalism, elections in Goa on Valentine’s Day will cause a massive shock., The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will, be replaced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP),, say many taxi-drivers, who fleece everyone, and call politicians corrupt. I do not ail from, such inner beauty that I take taxi-driver journalism seriously. But then these drivers, who, are locals with a vote, unlike migrants in most, Indian metros, are among a wide swathe of, Goans who had backed BJP in the previous, polls but are disenchanted with it today., There has been no progress in the state. If, anything, it looks uglier, like other parts of, India cursed by something called ‘development’, which means delayed road projects, a, lot of holes dug with good intentions, and, piers that hold nothing. Covid has made Goa, poorer, too, with high-spending tourists staying away. In any case, I do not know another, state government more undeserving of tourism revenue that the Goan one., I would like AAP to win Goa, or Punjab., , I am more curious than political. If AAP, gets control of a region whose statehood is, not ambiguous, unlike Delhi, and if the party, can take full responsibility of the state, with, the police and entire bureaucracy firmly, under its authority, it would be the start of a, great experiment in our democracy., AAP’s victory in Delhi demolished an old, Indian hypothesis—that you cannot win an, election without being corrupt. If AAP wins, a proper state, we will get answers to several, questions. Can a government in India be truly, clean? What happens in the short term when, a government is clean; can clean politicians at, the top end corruption in every layer of governance below them; or is corruption the, inescapable compensation for inefficiencies, in the system? In effect, does the same force, govern the corrupt bureaucrat and local, Goan taxi-driver who fleeces because his, legitimate wage is too little?, In the first place, are all types of corruption, bad, or is there good corruption? In her book,, China’s Gilded Age: The Paradox of Economic, Boom and Vast Corruption, Yuen Yuen Ang, says there are four types of corruption. Petty, theft, grand theft, speed money and access, money. Petty theft is the bribe extracted by, minor politicians and bureaucrats. Speed, money is the bribe citizens pay bureaucrats to, , get access to services they have the right to, get free. Grand theft, in the Indian context, is, the large embezzlement of public funds by, powerful or refined politicians. Ang says that, these three forms of corruption stall economic growth and impoverish people. But, the fourth type, “access money’, is far more, interesting. It refers to the, massive bribes businesses, pay to make things happen,, or go away., Ang says that China is a, corrupt place but it has progressed as its predominant, form of corruption is, “access money”. Typically,, in economic evolution,, societies suffer the more, destructive forms of corruption; then they progress, to the “access money”, phase. One of the things it, does is create new projects, very fast. It could be an airport in a small, town, or a monopoly online retail store. The, lure of access money has locked China’s powerful bureaucrats in a competition to promote massive and complex projects; and to, kill competing forms corruption like petty, theft, grand theft and speed money., , If AAP is true to its word, it will try to end all, four broad types of corruption. It will find it, easier to end the form of corruption that Ang, says has helped China: access money. And the, forms of corruption that AAP will find hardest, to kill are the more lethal ones that lower the, quality of Indian life and ruin businesses. But, then the party has promised, it would end all forms of, corruption— the petty and, the more sophisticated., Also, AAP would be in a, position to change one, highly visible form of, chaos—roads. The only, thing rational on an Indian, road is what has caused, Indians to be so weird. Corruption and incompetence, create poor and even comical road design, which, encourages Indians to continue their callous ways of, driving. Bad driving, like corruption, is a form, of compensation. In a full-fledged state, the, most visible evidence of AAP’s effect would, be on its roads., AAP is idealistic about governance, but, practical in some matters. It is a modern, Hindu party that will not antagonize Hindus,, , Full state power, for a party that, promises to end, corruption, could tell us if, cleaning India, is possible, , within reasonable limits. Also, it may not, favour tourists over locals by, say, letting appbased taxis arrive. Also, I don’t get the feeling, that the party has respect for the news media., It won’t waste its time trying to promote free, speech and all that. It is not a naive organization anymore that tries to imitate some imagination of European liberalism and ends up in, a whirlpool of chaos. So there is a lot going for, the party to focus on taking on corruption., If AAP wins and brings about more aesthetic classrooms in government schools, and, cleaner and smarter public hospitals; makes, life cheaper for the poor and middle class, through generous subsidies, as it has done in, Delhi; brings about orderly traffic, humane, public transport; and it cleans up all layers of, the government, the party would transform, Indian politics forever, because then the, older, larger and more conventional parties, in other regions of India would have no, choice but to transform., If AAP takes full control of Goa or Punjab,, and it is unable to end corruption, or becomes, corrupt itself, or it is unable to transform the, quality of roads or public transportation, we, can then accept we are probably preordained, to be doomed. There is peace in that. Hope is, a form of unhappiness, but the certainty of, doom is peace.
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VIEWS, , LIVEMINT.COM, , MONDAY, 31 JANUARY 2022, NEW DELHI, , 13, , THEIR VIEW, , M I N T C U R AT O R, , We should expect the economic, cost of closed minds to increase, , A bonus always works better, if its size is a pleasant surprise, Payouts that are below expectations may actually cause discontent, , Precarious post-pandemic conditions would mean countries that succumb to hyper-nationalism might ruin their prospects, WIKIMEDIA, , SARAH GREEN CARMICHAEL, is an editor with Bloomberg Opinion, , KAUSHIK BASU, is a former chief economist of the World Bank, and professor of economics at Cornell, University, , I, , T, , his year began amid widespread, despondency about the resurgent, covid pandemic and the struggling, global economy, as well as premonitions of heightened political conflict in, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and, even the US. True, there is now some hope that, the Omicron variant may be the pandemic’s last, hurrah. But troubling questions remain about the, economic and political legacy of the crisis., The World Bank’s latest biannual Global Economic Prospects report, released last week, points, to some possible answers. Produced by a team of, talented economists, the report is one of the best, summaries of the current outlook for the world, economy. And while the report uses the diplomatic, language of multilateral organizations, it nonetheless packs a powerful cautionary punch., For starters, the World Bank forecasts that, global economic growth will slow to 4.1% in 2022,, from 5.5% last year. With debt burdens rising,, supply-chain bottlenecks impeding the flow of, goods and services, and inflation picking up,, governments globally are losing the capacity to, provide further fiscal support. The report warns, that the surge in debt caused by countries trying to, soften the “pandemic-induced global recession”, means that several economies are now “at high risk, of debt distress.” Some may need relief., The report also predicts that energy prices,, which surged in the second half of 2021, will, increase further—and by more than the World, Bank was projecting six months ago., Finally, the report’s tables of summary statistics, contain a lot of interesting information—in particular, data on major economies’ recent gross, domestic product (GDP) growth and forecasts for, the next two years. The fastest-growing economies, in 2021 were Argentina, Turkey and India, which, expanded by 10%, 9.5%, and 8.3%, respectively. But, growth after a crash needs to be interpreted carefully. Much of last year’s growth merely reflected, the depth of the pandemic-induced downturn of, 2020, as economies climbed back toward their, earlier GDP level. In 2020, Argentina’s economy, contracted by 9.9% and India’s by 7.3%—making, them, along with Mexico, the worst-performing, major economies that year., Usually, emerging market and developing economies, helped by their lower base, grow faster than, advanced economies. But, according to Global, Economic Prospects, the prognosis for Emerging, Markets and Developing Economies (EMDEs), through the end of 2023 is worse than for, advanced economies, because EMDEs have, limited policy space to provide additional support, and face greater risk of hard landings. Moreover,, the pace of recovery is likely to vary significantly, between countries. Once the dust settles after the, , current turmoil, therefore, there will probably be, new winners and losers., One of the main reasons for the uneven recovery, has more to do with politics than economics. From, advanced economies such as the US to EMDEs, like Brazil, support for aggressive nationalism has, grown sharply in recent years. This is bound, to play a major role in determining how these, economies perform. While there are exceptions,, hyper-nationalism is usually disastrous for an, economy in the long run. This stands to reason,, because strident nationalism leads to bloated egos, and blurry thinking. Countries in its grip try to, become self-sufficient by raising barriers to trade,, capital and ideas from elsewhere., A striking historical example is Argentina, which, was among the world’s fastest-growing economies, during the early decades of the 20th century and, was widely expected to overtake the US. That, changed in 1930, when a military coup resulted in, the installation of the hyper-nationalist Lieutenant, General José Félix Uriburu [left in the photograph], as president. Tariffs subsequently rose, together, with barriers to immigration. Argentina’s open, economy, now closed to the world, soon stagnated, and the US surged ahead. The lesson seems even, more relevant today. In a globalized world, with, new ideas and research emerging everywhere,, countries that succumb to nationalist solipsism, , and pull down their economies’ and societies’, shutters will be anything but great., One of the remarkable achievements of postindependence India was that its founding fathers, and early thinkers, like the first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru and the author Rabindranath, Tagore, were passionate advocates of openness to, the world of ideas. They stood out, not just within, India but also globally, for their commitment to, absorbing the best from wherever it or they came,, and to upholding a common human identity., I remember a friend of my father’s who visited, us regularly and held forth on the need for more, strident nationalism. He was critical of Indian, thinkers who, while opposing Western colonialism, argued that India must keep its doors open to, the best of the West in science, literature, and philosophy. One day, angry at his failure to persuade, us, he thundered, “My motto is: the West does not, follow us, so we must not follow the West.”, I was in elementary school, but even then, I, could see that his aggressive nationalism had, blurred his thinking into adopting a motto that, contradicted itself., At a time when policymakers are confronting an, ongoing public-health crisis, and in some cases the, threat of violent turmoil, countries that succumb, to hyper-nationalism lay the foundations of their, own failure., ©2022/PROJECT SYNDICATE, , t’s the most wonderful time of the year—, and an expensive, annual ritual. Bonus, season! The yearly paying out of lump, sums to reward talent is such a standard,, established practice that questioning it, may seem a little quaint. More than threequarters of US companies use performance, incentives of some kind. Yet, the fact, remains, we don’t really know how well, they work. Do they encourage people to, work harder and smarter?, Alas, behavioural economics and organizational psychology do not provide a clear, answer. “All the literature suggests that, money, including bonuses, satisfy a lot less, than we think,” says organizational psychologist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic. It feels, good to get that big cheque, but the feeling, is fleeting. However, satisfaction and motivation are subtly different things. Money, may not make us happy, but it can motivate, us to persevere on an unpleasant task., One fun study—to read of, not participate, in—asked people to count cash or slips of, paper, and then submerge their hands in, scalding water. When asked how much, their hands hurt, the participants who had, counted money rated their pain less than, the control group. Kathleen Vohs, who led, this research, has conducted many other, studies with similar findings, if gentler, methodologies., Research also suggests that a performance incentive can help people achieve specific goals, such as quitting smoking. And, financial incentives can cause people to, spend less time with friends and family, and, more time with colleagues. But there is, mixed evidence on whether bonuses drive, better performance., Other studies suggest that incentive pay, encourages people to produce more work,, though not necessarily better work. In, another study, behavioural economist Dan, Ariely recruited subjects from rural India,, where the highest bonus offered—$50—, was equivalent to about five months’ salary., He found that the prospect of such a distractingly large reward seemed to hurt the, participants’ performance., There are good reasons to be cautious, about extrapolating findings from studies to, the real world. The participants in such, experiments may react differently to monetary incentives than, say, people in sales or, investment banking, where bonuses are a, particularly important part of compensation packages. “I don’t think bankers are a, special breed of humans,” Chamorro-Premuzic says—sorry, bankers—“but I do think, that they are more commercially driven and, more interested in financial incentives.”, , Annual raises and routine bonuses have, become ‘hygiene’ factors, ISTOCKPHOTO, , There’s also the question as to whether an, annual ‘bonus’ ought to be considered a, bonus at all. It isn’t an unexpected windfall., It’s more often treated as just part of the, compensation package, along with dental, insurance and paid vacations (though, for, top earners, taxed at a lower rate than the, rest of their salary)., “Typically, bonuses are structured as a, combination of business performance and, individual contribution,” says ChamorroPremuzic. “In the environment that we’ve, had since the last [financial] crisis, everyone, expects the company performance part to, be there. And I think if you’re not hitting, your individual contribution, then that’s a, sign you should leave anyway. So it does, more to de-incentivize than to incentivize.”, There’s plenty of psychological evidence, that “bad is stronger than good.” We, remember insults longer than compliments, and having something taken away is, often more painful than getting something, is pleasurable. Giving employees something—whether a bonus, a work-fromhome policy, or a free turkey for the holidays—creates a new baseline. It soon, becomes the kind of thing that the late psychologist Frederick Herzberg called a, “hygiene” factor—not an extra, but a minimum. This may be why Goldman Sachs, emphasized that the enormous payouts, recently lavished on employees were a onetime bonanza., “The expectation is more important than, the actual amount,” says Chamorro-Premuzic. “If I think I will get 80, and I get 100,, that’s good. If I get less than I expected, even, if it’s more than I got last year, I’m going to, be less satisfied.” It also matters how one’s, bonus stacks up against others’. Especially, among highly paid people—whose basic, financial needs have already been met—the, size of the bonus becomes a status symbol., It tells you not only how much your boss, appreciates you, but also how you’re doing, vis-à-vis your colleagues., Annual bonuses may not have the motivational power they are often assumed to, have, in large part because they’re not truly, ‘bonus’—a bonus is just what we call it. But, it almost doesn’t matter whether they boost, performance, because they give the, employer some financial flexibility on compensation. And who’s going to complain, about a big cheque?, ©BLOOMBERG, , MY VIEW | THE INTERSECTION, , State administrative services are crucial to federalism, NITIN PAI, , C, is co-founder and director of, The Takshashila Institution, an, independent centre for, research and education in, public policy, , oncerns over the Union government’s recent move to gain the, upper hand in the allocation of elite, civil servants are serious, genuine and, largely miss the point. New Delhi has a case, in trying to address a shortfall in its human, resources that has persisted for over two, decades. The states are right to resist a unilateral attempt to alter a functioning balance. And there are constitutional, administrative and political implications of the, Union government’s decision to wrest its, share of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), officers from the states and assert its influence over the entire civil service. Clearly,, the matter is serious and genuine. But why, is it beside the point?, The big, old, open and ugly secret is that, the states have generally botched their public services: almost without exception, states, have failed to recruit adequate numbers of, civil servants, train them properly, raise, their standards and prospects, manage, them fairly and demand performance from, , them. Given that most of the public services, that a citizen expects and encounters on a, day-to-day basis are delivered by state governments, the sheer fact that the state, administrative machinery is broken and, dysfunctional is so shocking that we have, learnt to ignore it., In the unfortunate event your home or, workplace catches fire, you’d be lucky to, avoid serious damage. Manpower shortages, in fire departments across the country are, 90% of the sanctioned strength. Note that, quite often, the sanctioned strength itself, falls below international norms. If those, injured are taken to a government hospital,, you’d be lucky to get timely treatment. For, there is a shortage of nurses and doctors., Over 20 states have doctor-to-population, ratios below the World Health Organization, norm of 1:1,000. But in the government system in India, the ratio is a miserable, 0.08:1,000. Further, if you happen to suspect foul play behind the accident, you’d be, lucky if the culprits are caught. On an average, state police forces are 24% under their, sanctioned strength, which of course, is, below the required level. If your case goes to, court, there is a shortage of prosecutors and, judges. Lower courts have around 23% of, their positions vacant, and many states have, , been able to fill only 50% of vacancies over, the past 10 years., I could go on about teachers, tehsildars,, engineers and so on. The shortage is nearly, universal. We are talking about tens of thousands of vacancies that have remained, unfilled for years together in almost every, Indian state. These officials are responsible for, everything from ensuring, that garbage is picked up, to putting criminals in jail., Yet, no one cares that, these posts are unfilled., That is why, if we are really, concerned about public, services, the controversy, over the postings of few, dozen IAS officers is, beside the point., So why can’t states hire, enough people? Karnataka, is among the better governed states in the country. Yet, the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) has, conducted only three rounds of recruitment, into the Karnataka Administrative Service, (KAS) over the decade. One round was, stayed by the high court due to alleged, irregularities. In another, exams were noti-, , fied in 2015, conducted in 2017, but recruitment remained incomplete even in 2019., One person told me—without a hint of, irony—that the delays are due to the KPSC, being understaffed., The deeper reason for the states’ failure to, nurture a competent and professional civil, services is the political, economy., Government jobs have, become the spoils of, power, to be distributed, along the caste and, regional lines that help, politicians win elections., When this political ‘reality’, meets government recruitment rules, things first get, stuck and then come, undone. This is India’s, Great Crisis of Selection., Its solution is political. But, state leaders do not want to, expend their political capital on it. Instead,, they depend on the few hundred All-India, Service officers assigned to their states., It’s not that there are no solutions. It’s that, there is no public demand for finding them., One way, for example, would be for states to, accept United Public Service Commission, , The systemic, inability of, India’s states, to recruit, adequate public, officials is the, bigger scandal, , (UPSC) examination ranks for recruitment, into state services as the basic criterion, with, state-specific tests and conditions as addons. If nationwide medical college admissions can be done on the basis of a single, entrance test, why not state-level civil services? In fact, adopting the same examination, for Union and state public services will not, only raise the standards of the latter, but also, reduce the status disparities between the, two. Why shouldn’t a sub-inspector aspire, to rise to be the director-general of police of, her state? Why shouldn’t a KAS officer, become the chief secretary of Karnataka, or, indeed, the cabinet secretary to the Government of India?, Of course, the Union’s unilateral actions, over the sharing of All-India Service officers, shake the federal balance. Yet, more serious, damage to federalism has been occurring, because states, municipalities and panchayats across the country have been failing, our citizens in part due to administrative, incapacity., It is entirely within the states’ powers,, interests and resources to get their act, together. If they do, they would not have to, be overly concerned over how many IAS, officers the Union government wants to, take from their lot.
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We have placed too much hope in, political and social reforms, only to find, out that we were being deprived of our, most precious possession: our spiritual life, , 06, , HYDERABAD, , WRECKING BALL OF, CHIEF MINISTERIAL, FACE IN PUNJAB CONG, , DEAL WITH START-UP, MISGOVERNANCE, , T, , he recent events in fintech company, BharatPe are a stark reminder of the underbelly of the start-up ecosystem. Amid, the euphoria around big dollars coming, into start-ups in India and, consequently,, valuations going through the roof, it should not, be lost on regulators as well as investors that, corporate governance remains sacrosanct. The, BharatPe saga, which began with Co-Founder, and Managing Director Ashneer Grover entering into an ugly spat with a Kotak Wealth executive over the latter’s inability to make available `500 crore for applying in an initial public, offering (IPO) of a company has now become, an issue of corporate governance., All kinds of allegations—including that of, fraud and favouritism in recruitment—are flying thick and fast. While Grover has been sent, on voluntary leave after an audio clip of him, and his wife abusing a Kotak Wealth executive, went viral, there are reports that the co-founder may be in for bigger trouble and even face, termination along with a few others. While the, firm has maintained that no one has been, sacked till now, it looks like there could be, many heads rolling in the company. Whatever, the fate of the BharatPe MD, one thing is clear:, not everything is kosher as far as corporate, governance in start-ups is concerned., There have been stories of blackmailing,, betrayal, frauds and fund diversions in startups that are manned by young tech entrepreneurs. They could easily acquire a God complex given the kind of money and attention, they get at a very early age. Big egos and a lot, of money could prove to be a heady cocktail for, these entrepreneurs, who could end up on the, wrong side of corporate laws. What complicates the equation is large investors with high, expectations, putting these entrepreneurs under severe pressure to show results. India has, a very vibrant start-up culture and a dynamic, young population of entrepreneurs. However,, regulators need to be vigilant lest these promising start-ups end in messy corporate litigation and frauds., , �, , �, , THE DANGERS OF, POLITICS OF, ORGANISED RELIGION, , — Ramnath Goenka, , C, , 31 01 2022, , History has witnessed that whenever the state and, ecclesiastical authorities acted in unison, it led to, violent outcomes. That is what we are witnessing today, , INDIAN EXPRESS IS NOT AN, INDUSTRY. IT IS A MISSION., , ongress leader Rahul Gandhi may have, stepped on a landmine during his recent, visit to Punjab by agreeing to announce, the chief ministerial candidate of the, state. The party has only two faces with, any big traction left. The first is Jat Sikh Navjot Singh Sidhu, who came in like a wrecking, ball with the approval of the Gandhi family to, replace Amarinder Singh as chief minister, and demolished every party edifice, but fell, short of the final target. The beneficiary was, the accidental Dalit Chief Minister Charanjit, Singh Channi, who Sidhu thought would be an, easily replaceable rolling stone but has, surprisingly gathered moss and become an, alternative power centre. Both Sidhu and, Channi cater to different intra-party vote, banks. Choosing one over the other as the, chief ministerial face has the potential to, switch off Jat Sikhs or Dalits barely weeks, before polling. Yet, both pressed Rahul to commit harakiri by abandoning the middle ground, of joint leadership., It was the fledgling AAP that rolled the dice, by selecting comedian Bhagwant Mann as the, chief ministerial face through crowdsourcing. That his managers would have used every, trick, including buying off professional trolls, not just in Punjab but across cyberspace to, saturate the AAP app and helpline with likes, for him is a safe guess. While the AAP’s decision forced Rahul’s hand, the modus of his, cherry-picking is not clear. But the Dalit empowerment card would blow up in his face if, Rahul were to opt for Sidhu. Anyway, Sidhu is, a motormouth with an image more suitable, for comedy than serious politics. His brief, stint in power in Amarinder’s ministry found, him wary of taking hard decisions. As for, Channi, he may not find it easy to shake off, the stigma of alleged sand smuggling his, nephew is involved in. The Congress mess and, the entry of a section of farmers into the poll, fray is said to be helping the Shiromani Akali, Dal recover some lost ground. Also the powerful deras may have pitched their tents away, from the ruling party., Punjab seems to have an assembly line of, comedians, one of whom runs a highly successful TV show. Will comedy have the last, laugh this election season?, , MONDAY, , Alexandr, Solzhenitsyn, , KAPIL, SIBAL, , Senior lawyer, Congress leader, and member of Rajya Sabha, SOUMYADIP SINHA, , T, , rade is for profit. Organised religion has also become a ‘for profit’, enterprise. This is because organised religion and political agendas, feed on each other. The religion of, politics thrives when it has a symbiotic relationship with the politics, of religion., The politics of organised religion aims at increasing its footprint, not necessarily by propagating its moral tenets but by appealing, to a person’s baser instincts, especially fear of alleged threats to, one’s faith. This makes the votaries, of that religion fall prey to causes, divorced from reality. Such emotive, appeals make people insecure and, vulnerable to propaganda. The religion of politics, for electoral advantage, supports this narrative., This helps unite the community, of a particular creed across caste, and other fault lines. Those belonging to the minority community, cannot take advantage of any such, symbiotic relationship because, those in power cannot derive an, electoral advantage from such presumed threats., Organised religious majorities, have much to gain when those in, power fuel that faith’s agendas., They then get access to the corridors of power and start, first by, participating and then setting national agendas. Such a parasitical, relationship is corrosive of democratic structures., In India, organised majoritarian, , undercurrents were on display even, prior to 1947. They sought to assert, themselves during our struggle for, freedom. After Independence, these, forces suffered a setback when Gandhiji was assassinated in January, 1948. The RSS was banned thereafter, for, contrary to its principles, it, allegedly exhorted people to violence and indulged in violent activities. The ban imposed in February, 1948 was lifted in July 1949. The, Bharatiya Jan Sangh, which was, formed in October 1951, passionately espoused the cause of the Hindu right but without much electoral, success. It got assimilated into the, BJP that was formed in April 1980., With the assassination of Indira, Gandhi in October 1984 and fresh, elections to the Lok Sabha, the presence of the BJP in the Lok Sabha, was a meagre two members of Parliament. It is thereafter that fresh, seeds of the unholy alliance between organised majoritarian faith, and politics in India were sown, when a BJP supremo launched a, Rath Yatra in September 1990 to, educate the people about the Ayodhya movement. This resulted in, spectacular dividends for the BJP., Having tasted blood, the contours, between state and religion became, somewhat blurred under a BJP dispensation. With Narendra Modi, coming to power, the state unabashedly started propagating majoritarian religious agendas, with several, government initiatives aligning, , themselves to such plans. Courts, too gave priority to issues like ‘triple talaq’ over those that were far, more pressing. Lynch mobs had a, field day with little to fear from, those responsible for maintaining, law and order. Police were reluctant, to take action against the accused., Instead, they occasionally foisted, cases on the victims. Outfits like, the ABVP, Bajrang Dal and a host, of others ran amuck with the confidence that they will get the protection of the state for their provocative and often illegal actions. From, baiting members of the minority, community to acts of open violence, with the state reluctant to, prosecute, these disruptive elements believed that they could act, with impunity. The leadership of, the BJP too has been openly taunting the minority community. From, ‘abba jaan’ to references to ‘shamshaan and kabristan’ and ‘goli, maro…’, all these barbs became reference points of public discourse., , The Hindutva agenda is slowly but surely, being realised. School textbooks are being, changed reflecting the political priorities of, the establishment. Historical monuments are, being whitewashed with a coat of modernity, or effaced by stripping the past of its heritage, , Significant players in mainstream, media and social media platforms, said to be financed and armed, by savvy technocrats and ‘bhakts’, give impetus to such divisive statements that vitiate the atmosphere., The objective is to communalise, matters of faith., Having succeeded in its evangelical zeal, the Modi government has, been strategically appointing pliable bureaucrats to key positions to, do the government’s bidding, thus, helping it to carry forward its divisive agenda. Key constitutional positions are slotted for either the, “like-minded” or those committed, to its agenda. The RSS has found its, place in the sun as its core objectives continue to be translated into, action. The Hindutva agenda is, slowly but surely being realised., School textbooks are being changed, reflecting the political priorities of, the establishment. The heroes of, the past are being buried and historical facts reinterpreted to serve, the establishment’s political priorities. Historical monuments are being whitewashed with a coat of modernity or effaced by stripping the, past of its heritage., This has also catered to the rise, of a culture, the architecture of, which is to dominate, to fuel nationalism as the embodiment of virtue,, a nationalism that encapsulates elements of the majoritarian cultural, agenda that seeks obedience. From, this narrative emerges the concept, , of ‘us vs them’. This in turn feeds, into the nationalist fervour of conformity. Thus, the refrain is that the, only way to make the nation strong, is to make the majoritarian culture, prevail, become exclusive. Violence, through speech and occasionally, action becomes a legitimate instrument to ensure the nation’s unity, and forward march, for dissent,, they say, has the tendency of stalling progress. Asking questions and, holding peaceful protests to seek, answers are perceived as anti-national activities., Organised religion working in, tandem with the state results in, concentration of power in the, hands of a few, as they are seen to, represent the collective wisdom of, the majority. Distribution of largesse to the favoured few becomes, the norm with none to question it., When state power and national, wealth are enjoyed by the chosen, few, we then witness the emergence, of totalitarian structures., Organised religion pays scant respect to the values of religion. It, enjoys the trappings of power and, all else that comes with it., History has witnessed that whenever the state and ecclesiastical authorities acted in unison, it led to, violent outcomes. The state’s hunger for territories and wealth, worked in tandem with religion’s, fervour to expand its footprint. That, is what we are witnessing today., (Tweets @KapilSibal), , NEED TO REVISIT GLOBAL HEALTH AGENDA RIGHT NOW, SURJITH, KARTHIKEYAN, , G, , Deputy Secretary,, Ministry of Finance, , lobally, the Covid-19 pandemic has, had devastating effects on economies, placing millions of people at, risk. This is the time to think of, initiating reforms in the global, health agenda. The WHO has faced, serious criticism from across the, spectrum on the management of, Covid and could not do much in facilitating provision of vaccines to, the needy populations., The activities of international, health agencies like the WHO are, targeted across two different health, approaches, one focused on vertical campaign against management, of specific diseases (e.g. smallpox,, malaria, etc.), and the other one, having a social perspective or a, horizontal approach targeting poverty, inequality, … (e.g. Alma-Ata, declaration with the objective of, health for all people). These may be, termed as biomedical and social, medicine approaches respectively., The biomedical or the vertical approach, being a specialised one, is, executed by health workers and, may not be successful unless there, are permanent health services in, specific regions for monitoring., The horizontal approach, like a, mass campaign, involves a significant proportion of the population., The resource allocation by economies plays a key role in both these, , cases and thus these approaches, are not mutually exclusive, and require coordination and combination in various ways. Thus, the, WHO may need to draw a clear line, on where the mass campaigns are, successful, taking into consideration the disease being targeted and, the resource availability., Another serious constraint on, the achievement of health and development goals is the shortage of, health workers and their vital role, especially in fighting communicable diseases. The WHO in its 2006, health report highlighted the shortage of four million health workers, with critical paucity reported in 57, countries, mostly in Africa. It also, estimated a requirement of 18 million more health workers by 2030,, primarily in low- and middle-income countries. The imbalance is, more severe in rural areas compared to urban places. The high salary for these professionals in advanced countries makes them go, abroad. Unfavourable working conditions, climate change impacts, and ageing population adversely, contribute to this issue., Unclear priorities among a multitude of programmes is another, major challenge. The priority-setting process involves selecting the, best option for addressing the most, , All eyes on panel’s report, , even think of stooping to such a level, for political mileage. The government, ought to justify its acts., Aanya Singhal, Noida, , The Pegasus issue, which was lying, dormant after the Supreme Courtordered enquiry, has come into the, limelight again (Jan 30). The Central, government has rubbished the report. In, a way, the matter is subjudice. All eyes, are now on the report of the panel set, up by the top court., Capt Raju Mathai (Retd), Kochi, , Justify your acts, The government’s refusal to give an, ironclad assurance that it did not use, Pegasus has cast aspersions on its, integrity. It is sad that the Centre would, , Watergate moment?, The US newspaper report that, India purchased the spyware in, 2017 from Israel has come as a, big embarrassment to the Union, government on the eve of the Budget, Session of Parliament. It is time for, the Centre to reveal the truth and, apologise. Otherwise Pegasus could, become its Watergate., S V Venkatakrishnan, Bengaluru, , important health need. The WHO, has identified “universal health, coverage” as the single-most powerful concept that public health, has to offer. Studies conducted, across the world estimate that outof-pocket payments push 100 million people into poverty every year, and the most effective way to provide universal coverage is to share, the costs across the population., Globally, 12.67% of the people, spend more than 10% of income, (out of their pocket) as health expenditure. One of the areas where, this rate is higher than the average, is the South East Asian region (India included), where it is 16%. The, Western Pacific region comes second in this list. This means that, these regions don’t have universal, health coverage. A strong, efficient, and well-run system that meets, priority health needs through people-centred integrated care is the, need of the hour. Sustainable, health systems that promote universal access to care can be facilitated through appropriate application of digital technologies., , A diverse set of players including, philanthropies are involved in global health, funding and they have much more resources, than the WHO. There is lack of coordination, and duplication with top-down and donordriven approaches, leading to a negative, impact on nations with fragile health systems, , Nadal bounces back, Challenges make life interesting and, overcoming them is what makes it, meaningful. Rafael Nadal bounced back, in Melbourne in his indomitable style., After being down two sets, he scripted, history with his 21st Major win., , R Sampath, Chennai, , Why make a U-turn?, This is with reference to Young wine, in old bottles to revive Congress, , (Jan 30). Even young wine in old bottles, does not seem to have the required, fizz. Otherwise, why would Priyanka, make a U-turn within hours after, , The Covid crisis had exposed, the risks of corruption prevalent, in the health sector as also its fragile systems that threaten its sustainability. The Office of Internal, Audit and Oversight report submitted to the World Health Assembly in 2019 reveals that a total of, 81% of overall conclusions on audits were assessed as either “satisfactory” or “partially satisfactory”, suggesting improvements. Compared to 478 cases of fraud, corruption and misconduct reported, in the year 2014, 520 were reported, in 2019. The priority areas identified for improvement include, strengthening implementation,, robust vendor management, addressing human resource needs, and improving resources for key, underfunded programmes. Thus,, it is high time that good governance practices get incorporated, into this organisation., Recently, multilateralism has, been in a state of crisis. There is, declining commitment to multilateral action/UN after the end of the, Cold War and in the current geopolitical climate of rising nationalism. The UN and its agencies are, being criticised for lack of efficiency and a whole lot of other issues., The WHO has also shown its limits, and shortcomings in containing, the virus spread during the pandemic, and the world too witnessed, political pressure exerted by powerful member states and corporate, interests. There are also growing, calls for social justice amid accelerating economic globalisation., Global health governance en-, , compasses formal and informal institutions along with norms and, processes that govern or directly, influence international health policy and outcomes. A diverse plethora of players are involved in global, health funding and they have much, more resources than the WHO. In, addition to international organisations like the World Bank and WHO,, there are multilateral entities (e.g., G8, G20), multilateral global health, initiatives (e.g. GFATM, GAVI), international development agencies, (e.g. USAID, DFID), bilateral initiatives (e.g. PEPFAR, GHSA), philanthropies (e.g. Gates, Carso, Clinton),, global public-private partnerships,, private sector-industry initiatives,, and civil society (e.g. MSF, Oxfam), undertaking a whole lot of health, funding activities., Thus, there are diverse funding, players, fragmented due to lack of, coordination and duplication with, top-down and donor-driven approaches, leading to a negative impact on countries with fragile, health systems. There are plenty of, funds flowing into the health sector, but the same is imbalanced in allocation to “big” diseases (vertical), but not to the health system for, strengthening (horizontal). There, is also lack of evaluation, accountability and sustainability, which, necessitates the need for major, overhaul and shifts with regard to, traditional donors and models of, funding for optimisation of the existing health resources., (Views are personal), (surjithkarthikeyan, @gmail.com), , saying she is the CM face of her party, in UP? She perhaps doesn’t realise, that her dilemma would be infectious., She should know that there is nothing, to lose and it is always worth taking, a calculated risk. She can sit in the, opposition benches and be an effective, leader. As rightly said by the writer, old, is no more gold in the Congress, but the, young too have no spring in them., , a prestigious government institution., Profit alone should not be the criterion., , D Nagarjuna, Hyderabad, , Don’t privatise the hotel, , The Centre’s move to give Hotel Ashok, on a long lease is not good. Just like, AIIMS in the health sector, this hotel is, , Dharmarajan A K, Thalassery, , Manipur on Railway map, This is with reference to First train chugs, into Manipur (Jan 30). The placement, , of Manipur on the Indian Railways, map is a historic step in developing, connectivity to the Northeast. The new, Jiribam-Agartala Janshatabdi Express, will connect two important places in, that region. The train services will give a, boost to trade, tourism and the overall, economy of the Northeast., , N Rama Rao, Chennai, , THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, Chairman of the Board: Manoj Kumar Sonthalia Editor: G S Vasu Resident Editor (Telangana) : Ch V M Krishna Rao* Published by R K Jhunjhunwala on behalf of Express Publications (Madurai) Private Limited., at H.No.6-3-1113/1, B.S.Makta Lane, Somajiguda, Near Grand Kakatiya Hotel, Punjagutta, Hyderabad – 500 016, and printed by him at Sakshi Press, Plot No.D-75 & E-52, Industrial Estate (APIE), Balanagar, Medchal-Malkajgiri District, Telangana. Hyderabad: Vol. 46, No. 26 RNI Reg. No. 32179/77. Phone: 040-23413908. * Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act, Copyright: Express Publications (Madurai) Private Limited., All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited.
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06, , OPINION, , THE TRIBUNE, JALANDHAR | MONDAY | 31 JANUARY 2022, , Speaking out of turn, , THE TRIBUNE, , German naval chief steps down following comments on Putin, , established in 1881, , Pegasus row, Govt needs to come clean on damning revelations, , T, , HE Modi government needs to come clean on the latest media, revelations that it bought Israeli spyware Pegasus in 2017 as part, of a $2-billion package for sophisticated weapons and intelligence, gear. It also needs to set the record straight on insinuations linking the, deal with India voting in June 2019 in support of Israel at the UN’s Economic and Social Council to deny observer status to a Palestinian, human rights organisation. Sidestepping the issue, expected to feature, prominently in the Budget Session of Parliament that begins today,, would only add to the speculation and provide ammunition to the Opposition. The massive political row over invasion of privacy was triggered, by a report released by a global consortium of media groups in July last, year, claiming that the spyware had been used by several governments, to snoop on politicians, opponents and journalists, among others., The government has, in the past, dismissed allegations of any kind, of surveillance, saying there is ‘no concrete basis or truth associated, with it whatsoever’. While setting up a three-member independent, panel in October to probe the alleged targeted and unlawful surveillance, however, the Supreme Court’s observations were terse, as it, deemed unacceptable the Centre’s refusal to shed any light on the controversy. The court said the State could not get a ‘free pass’ every time, the spectre of national security was raised and that its mere invocation, could not render the judiciary a ‘mute spectator’., Under fire for providing the means for nations to spy on their own, people, Pegasus maker NSO Group claims that it only sells the technology to foreign governments and has no role in or responsibility, for targeting specific individuals. Various instances have been given of how the spyware has been quietly used the world over to thwart, terrorist plots and fight organised crime through technology that, can decrypt communications. However, it is the abuse of Pegasus, that is at the centre of the row. If India has established robust protocols when it comes to surveillance, as the government claims,, stonewalling the damning revelations only adds fuel to the fire., , Go-ahead for ‘bad bank’, Tackling stressed assets a formidable task, , T, , HE government’s decision to set up a ‘bad bank’ ahead of the, Union Budget for the resolution of stressed assets, besides help in, lending to productive sectors, is an innovative step subject to its, smooth and non-partisan implementation. Banks in the country have, seen their capital held up by way of NPAs and defaulting on loans has, occurred with regularity, putting pressure on the functioning of banks, and hindering their operations. As of now, the newly created bank will, commence operations with only 15 cases to be transferred by March 31, and their number is expected to go up gradually in the days ahead., Banks and NBFCs have had a number of reasons for the increase, in cases of loan default. The liberal lending to the individual borrowers and corporates to accelerate development without adequate assessment in any case is fraught with risks. Bank runs and big borrowers, defaulting on loan repayment have not brought credit to the banking, sector either. The loss of income and livelihoods amid the pandemic, only worsened the situation with moratoriums and write-offs being, resorted to in order to improve the situation. The banking sector has, seen major changes, including the merger of public sector banks which, was aimed at increasing capitalisation and competitiveness., The proposed ‘bad bank’ will have a structure for asset reconstruction, and debt resolution in which both public sector and private sector banks, will have a role to play. Banks cannot do away with lending for without, that economic activity and entrepreneurial spirit will suffer. But the onus, of managing their own capital and making the lender accountable also, lies on them. Loan recovery should not slacken due to the lure of higher, interests. While checks are performed, loan defaults point to the fact that, proper credit rating and risk assessment are required. Lending in the, aftermath of the pandemic will be required to boost economic activities, but safeguarding the capital and assets of banks, individuals and companies will also be a must for the economy to flourish without hitches., , ❝, , thought for the day, I have often regretted my speech, never, my silence. — Xenocrates, , ❞, , on this day...50 years ago, , chandigarh, monday, january 31, 1972, , Exit by two Chief Ministers, , TWO controversial Chief Ministers have staged an inglorious exit in 48, hours for identical reasons. Though both were imbued with a sincere desire, to serve their State and accomplish what their predecessors could not, they, forgot that for political survival solid party backing and a rapport with the, various groups of politicians was far more important than economic, development, both have been the victims of factional rivalries and party, infighting. Mr. S.C. Shukla in particular has paid the price for becoming, dictatorial in his methods and crossing swords with leaders, including Mr., D.P. Mishra, who has for years commanded the goodwill of the highest in, the land. Right since the day he backed the wrong candidate in the, Presidential election and thus incurred Mrs. Gandhi’s displeasure, he, should have known what was in store for him when the day of reckoning, came. Though he had the initial advantages of a truly nationalist family, background, a distinctive personality and unbounded energy, he created, many political enemies in crucial regions of Madhya Pradesh. Persistent, defiance of the Congress high command in respect of his ministerial team, and the strange spectacle of the State Election Committee denying him a, ticket from his own constituency virtually clinched the issue. His refusal to, dismiss five Ministers against whom serious charges of corruption had, repeatedly been levelled was indefensible. When finally he did agree to, drop some colleagues in view of the Central leadership’s censure, it was too, late. He lost all claim to public sympathy by his actions. And then he sought, to penalise a few innocent junior Ministers — a step that caused much, frustration and disillusionment among the rank and file of the party., , KP NAYAR, STRATEGIC ANALYST, , I, , T will never be known for certain if Germany’s naval chief, Kay-Achim Schönbach would, have had to resign 10 days ago, if he had spoken respectfully about, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Berlin, Brussels or Paris,, instead of in New Delhi., Vice-Admiral Schönbach said at the, Manohar Parrikar Institute for, Defence Studies and Analyses (MPIDSA) in New Delhi that Putin needed to be treated as an equal by the, West. ‘It is easy to give him the, respect he really demands — and also, probably deserves.’ His comments, created a storm in the western world, and he put in his papers to ‘avert further damage’ as he put it., It is reminiscent of the military governor of the American Occupation, Zone in Germany, General Dwight D, Eisenhower’s famous remarks at a, post-World War II mass rally in Paris,, where he spoke in glowing and, respectful terms about the ‘great people’ without naming them. Charles, de Gaulle, then chairman of the Provisional Government of the French, Republic, who was present, assumed, — as did the huge crowd — that the, US army’s Chief of Staff was speaking of the French people. The crowd, clapped in delirious delight and de, Gaulle beamed proudly., No, Eisenhower clarified later. He, was speaking of the German people,, what a great people they were, as, they are today too, without doubt. It, is tempting to think what fate would, have befallen Eisenhower if there, was Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, in 1945 when he had spoken in praise, of the defeated Germans. Would, Eisenhower have got the marching, orders from President Harry Truman, like the German naval chief?, , SLIP-UP: Vice-Admiral Schönbach’s assertion that the Russian President needed to, be treated as an equal by the West has created a storm. REUTERS, , When Schönbach talked about Russia’s ability to divide, Europe, he appeared to confirm worries in the US, that Germany was the stumbling block to a unified, EU stand against Moscow’s policies., Perhaps. But instead, Eisenhower, went on to become the first Supreme, Allied Commander in Europe and, then the 34th US President., It is an understatement to say that, Germany has been less than enthusiastic about helping Ukraine in, that country’s ongoing war of, nerves with Russia. While the US, and a host of NATO countries have, been supplying deadly weaponry to, Kyiv, Germany has baulked at doing, anything of that kind., Ukraine’s government was livid, last week when Germany responded, to pleas for help with little more than, 5,000 helmets to be used in the eventuality of a combat with Russia. To, add insult to injury, as it were, Germany’s defence minister, Christine, Lambrecht, told Ukrainians that, they should see this farcical German, contribution to war efforts as proof, that ‘we are on your side’., Are Ukrainian soldiers supposed, to head-butt the well-trained, wellequipped Russian forces with these, helmets if Putin sends in his troops, across the border, a German political figure of Ukrainian descent, , asked on Twitter. It was one of, many such sarcastic responses to, the German defence minister’s, military aid announcement., Schönbach said in New Delhi that, Putin was not ‘interested in having a, tiny strip of Ukrainian soil’ and that, he knew he could split the European, Union over Ukraine. It may be this, last part of his statement which cost, the Vice-Admiral his job because it hit, home. Germany is the stand out within the EU on getting Putin to back, down on his opposition to letting, Ukraine join the western alliance., So when Schönbach talked about, Russia’s ability to divide Europe, he, appeared to confirm worries in the US, that Germany was, in fact, the stumbling block to a unified EU stand, against Moscow’s policies. That is the, truth which Germany’s ruling politicians have been trying to paper over., Lambrecht, therefore, was left with no, option but to let her Chief of Navy go., Many of the things the Vice-Admiral said at the MP-IDSA would not, have to be said at all anywhere in, Europe. Here are some examples., Schönbach described himself as ‘a, , very radical Roman Catholic’. Such, an explanation of identity is not, called for in interactions at high levels within Germany or elsewhere in, Europe. A statement of that kind has, relevance only in a non-Christian, country and while addressing people, who are not of any Abrahamic faith., Yet, hearing such a statement from a, European military professional can, be jarring, especially when the, wounds left by the ethno-religious, conflicts in former Yugoslavia continue to impact the continent., In worse taste was his assertion, that Russia was also a ‘Christian, country, even if Putin is an atheist, it, doesn’t matter.’ The inference it left, behind was that in any quarrel, between Christian and non-Christian societies, Germany would cast its, lot with the Christians. It is possible, that was not what Schönbach had in, mind. As he explained, he was talking about China and its emergence., But China is not a Christian country,, nor is India. Given Germany’s preWorld War II history, such statements can be disconcerting., Its impact was amplified because he, said those things in New Delhi. Such, statements would not be made in, Europe because these truths are selfevident there. Not so in India and the, naval chief paid a price for not following the adage that there is a time and, place for everything., That Germany is coming to terms, with the post-Angela Merkel era in its, domestic politics also took its toll., Merkel’s successor as Chancellor for, less than two months, Olaf Scholz, is, still finding his feet on the job. It is, not for nothing that his government, is known as the ‘traffic light coalition’. Originally it got this name, because the coalition comprises, three political parties whose colours, are red, yellow and green. Traffic, lights are not static, they change, from one colour to another., If Merkel had been Chancellor, today, heading a similar traffic, light coalition, Schönbach may, have got away through the green, light of her stature and experience., Not so with Scholz, who has to frequently stop at red lights., , An exhaustive exercise in vanity, , Rama Kashyap, , G, , ONE are the days when, accomplishments were kept, under wraps, away from, public gaze. The common refrain, used to be ‘nazar lag jayegi’ ., Hence, sharing of good news was, discouraged. Not true any longer., In the age of social media, everyone, seems to be flaunting achievements, and crowing about one’s accomplishments on platforms like Facebook, and Instagram. Not only is there a, generous oversharing of good news,, but every activity, even a visit to a, mall, is to be announced on social, media. Every moment must be, clicked and uploaded instantly to get, likes and comments., , These and many more trends I have, observed ever since I joined Facebook, a couple of years ago. I am horrified to, see everything from a hook-up to a, break-up being flashed on social, media. Public display of affection, may not be a part of Indian culture, but privacy doesn’t seem to be a hallmark of romantic relationships for, the youngsters. It is another matter, that some of them may be having a, rough ride in a relationship but they, are head over heels in love with each, other on social media., Social media gives a sneak peek, into people’s lives and their public, persona but you won’t know how, much of it is real. The fact is social, media is deceptive, giving an impression that everything is hunky-dory in, , the lives of others — which may be a, pretence. Online spaces are often oriented towards exaggeration. Everything on social media platforms is, glamorous, from people to places to, food. It is here you find stunning, beauties, the most exotic locations, and the happiest people having an, awesome time., Seeing everyone having a perfect life,, you wonder if you are the only one, experiencing the drudgery of an ordinary life. Theodore Roosevelt said,, ‘Comparison is the thief of joy.’ Social, media sites prove to be a killjoy. By triggering comparisons, these are quite, capable of creating self-doubt and anxiety over illusions. Especially damaging is the comparison in the battle of, likes and comments, which are more, , often than not based on the principle of, reciprocity, responding to another’s, action with an equivalent action, like, for like, and comment for comment., The more you give, the more you get., Most of us do understand the reality,, yet continue to be trapped in the web., A WhatsApp joke sums up the predicament of many like me. ‘Not so young a, woman is contemplating exiting from, Facebook but she can’t. The reason: A, person of her age will not be able get, anywhere else the compliments like, “beautiful”, “gorgeous” and “elegant”, that she garners on Facebook!’, Jokes apart, social media has, proved to be a blessing by helping us, stay connected in these challenging, times. Of course, it’s up to us to steer, clear of the superfluities., , letters to the editor, About political power, , Refer to ‘Delicious ironies’ (Nous, Indica); the Right is trying to distort or manipulate historical facts,, icons, events or ideals. Religionism,, casteism and aggression suit ignorant minds. The tirade against, Gandhi and Nehru is aimed at, undermining truth, non-violence,, democracy and secularism and creating new narratives of violence, and falsehood to appease the majority of the voters and divert attention, from the epidemic of unemployment, illiteracy and poverty. It is all, a game for political power., ABHIMANYU MALIK, JIND, , Secular Bose, , Apropos of ‘Delicious ironies’ (Nous, Indica); Bose was a firm believer in, action. Once during an informal talk,, an officer of the Azad Hind Fauj suggested that they write the history of, the Fauj. The reply sums up Bose’s, views and personality, ‘Let us first, make it, someone else will write it.’, He never intended to use one community against the other for insular, designs, but ironically, post Independence, the Congress abandoned him., He did not approve of the Gandhian, method to free India. And now the, BJP has adopted him to exploit his, name for political gains. The Hindutva forces are trying to prove that he, , was one of their clan. In a republic,, the supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives., But it seems that the supreme power, lies with politicians who can make or, mar the destiny of the people in accordance with their whims. People are, remembered only during elections., Bose was a proponent of secularism, and should be treated so without giving him any political colour., TARSEM S BUMRAH, BATALA, , Give diplomacy a chance, , Refer to ‘Prefer diplomacy, says, Blinken as Russia-Ukraine row escalates’; the Ukraine standoff is keeping Europe and the world on tenterhooks when the continent is facing, major issues like the pandemic. It, could get serious if Russia is bent, upon invading Ukraine. Mindful of, the consequences of the war, Russian, President Putin is playing his cards, close to his chest and keeping his foes, guessing. The US President is more, concerned about China’s increasing, prowess and is more determined to, contain it than to enter the RussiaUkraine standoff. The Ukrainians see, a bright future with Europe and the, West. Diplomacy despite the sabrerattling is the only way out of this, impasse. They must start from, scratch and involve all parties., GREGORY FERNANDES, MUMBAI, , President’s appeal, , Refer to the appeal of the President, to all Indians, whether they are living in India or abroad, for doing, some work for their birthplace. We, all, especially those who have got, some success in their life and are, financially and otherwise capable to, contribute, should definitely try to, do some good work for our birthplace, particularly if it is in rural, areas, where we can sponsor drinking water and toilet facilities, etc.,, along with ensuring their proper, upkeep of schools, where we had, taken our primary education., NK SINGHAL, PANCHKULA, , Need new narrative, , With reference to ‘A letter for Lata, from Pakistan’; it’s wonderful to, observe the power of music, words,, verse, sports, songs, contemporary, writings and artists creating a positive effect on relations between two, countries. Such efforts lead to a better future in which we respect,, understand,, connect, and, empathise with one another. Popular acceptance of literary endeavours on both sides is a testimony, that the rift between the two neighbours is manmade. Despite wars,, borders, LoC and hostility, love, across borders provides the vision, of a future governed by heart. Let, , the collective energies of people be, harnessed to create new narratives, about modern India and Pakistan., ANITA KATARIA, PATIALA, , Love from Pakistan, , ‘A letter for Lata from Pakistan’, portrays the love of common Pakistanis for Indian artistes. Indians, and Pakistanis share the same climate, language, food habits, sports, and even music, then why this, hatred? When we explore our inner, self, we will find true and pious, love. The day the common man, realises that hatred has been, implanted in us by our politicians, for their political gains, it will be the, beginning of a new era of understanding, peace and friendship., VK ANAND, CHANDIGARH, , Open to turncoats, , Apropos of ‘Turncoats dominate, BJP’s second list too’, it is quite, evident that the BJP did not learn a, lesson from the results of the West, Bengal Assembly polls. In the two, lists for the Punjab Assembly polls,, it has preferred turncoats over tested loyalists of the saffron party., Jagdish Kumar Jagga has been preferred over Harjit Singh Grewal,, who mediated between the Centre, and farmers on the three laws., UPENDRA SHARMA, BY MAIL, , Letters to the Editor, typed in double space, should not exceed the 200-word limit. These should be cogently written and can be sent by e-mail to: Letters@tribunemail.com
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07, , OPED, , THE TRIBUNE, JALANDHAR | MONDAY | 31 JANUARY 2022, , Let’s be future-focused, not past-obsessed, SUDHEENDRA KULKARNI, FORMER CLOSE AIDE TO EX-PM AB VAJPAYEE &, FOUNDER, FORUM FOR A NEW SOUTH ASIA, , P, , RIME Minister Narendra, Modi launched an indirect, attack on the Congress when, he unveiled a hologram statue, of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose under, the canopy near India Gate in New, Delhi on January 23. He said, “It was, unfortunate that after Independence,, efforts were made to erase the contribution of several great personalities, along with the culture and heritage of, the country.” Modi is both right and, wrong. Right, because the Congress, party, during the long years of its rule, at the Centre and in many states, was, undeniably guilty of over-projecting, and over-honouring members of the, Nehru-Gandhi family. It named, scores of government schemes, buildings, universities, stadiums, airports,, bridges, parks, even awards after, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi,, Sanjay Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi., Such was the culture of sycophancy in, the party those days that one Congress president even went to the, extent of declaring, “Indira is India, and India is Indira.” In comparison,, the contributions of many great patriots stood either ignored or belittled., But Modi is also wrong because, there is little evidence to back his, claim that India’s culture and her-, , itage (Hindu heritage, according to, him) was sought to be erased after, Independence. Anyone who cares to, read Nehru’s books, his speeches or, his voluminous letters to chief ministers would know about his deep, knowledge of and immense pride in, India’s cultural heritage, which, includes but is not limited to Hindu, heritage. Indeed, no leader has written with greater feeling and reverence about Mother Ganga and the, Himalayas than Nehru did. For proof,, read his last will and testament. Go, back to the Nehruvian era and look at, the films, film songs, devotional, music played on All India Radio, Padma awards…do you see any anti-Hindu bias on the part of our first prime, minister? Glance at some of the, ‘Bharat Ratna’ awardees during his, premiership. C. Rajagopalachari, (author of widely acclaimed books on, Ramayana and Mahabharata); Dr S, Radhakrishnan (renowned for his, several celebrated books on Hinduism); Bhagwan Das (a Vedic scholar and co-founder of Banaras Hindu, University);, Maharshi, Dhondo, Keshav Karve (a Hindu social, reformer); Rajarshi Purushottamdas, Tandon (who was actually Nehru’s, political critic in the Congress); and, Mahamahopadhyaya, Pandurang, Vaman Kane (a legendary scholar on, Dharma Shastra)., It’s become fashionable for BJP, supporters to claim that Hinduism, and Hindu heritage were khatre, mein until the party assumed power, in 2014, and would again be endangered if the BJP were voted out of, power. Lesson to be learnt: Put every, claim to scrutiny, especially ones, made by those in power., , education, science and technology,, democratic self-governance and, elimination of poverty. Has that, appeal lost its relevance? No., The reasons are obvious. As we, approach the 75th anniversary of our, Independence, we are saddled with a, reality that is full of unfinished, tasks. India’s democracy is still full, of flaws. Exceptions apart, our politicians behave more like masters of, the people, rather than as their servants. We have a bureaucracy that is, largely insensitive and unaccountable. Our judicial system does not, deliver prompt and reliance justice, to common citizens. Our education, and healthcare systems are accessible more to the rich than to the poor., Our press is losing its independence to money power and political, power. India has the world’s largest, young population but without adequate opportunities for employment, which is indispensable for, their bright future. Our environment — rivers, forests, beaches —, are in dire straits. Our cities,, already unlivable for the present, generation, will become even more, so for the coming generations., Can any of these challenges be, overcome by being trapped in the, narratives of the past and ignoring, the future? By neglecting unity of, the people? By misusing history to, divide society? By advocating, majoritarian supremacy and marginalising the minorities? By constantly, berating political rivals? By pursuing politics of confrontation rather, than consensus and cooperation?, The soul of Netaji Bose would be, happier if we mended our ways than, by seeing his statue at India Gate., , Can the challenges facing, modern India be overcome by, being trapped in the narratives, of the past and ignoring the, future? By neglecting unity of, the people? By berating the, people? By pursuing politics of, confrontation rather than, consensus and cooperation?, The soul of Bose would be, happier if we mended our ways, than by seeing his statue at, India Gate., LEARNING FROM BYGONE TIMES: The true, purpose of delving into history is not to uncover, internal enemies and revive old rivalries. PTI, There was, and there is, no threat to, Hindu religion, culture and heritage., The real point to ponder is this: Why, are Indian people sought to be made, perennially obsessed with the past?, Why is our society becoming more and, more bhootonmukhi (looking at the, past), instead of being bhavishyamukhi (looking to the future)? So, much of our national energy is being, spent on debating (sometimes creating) controversies — Nehru vs Patel,, Gandhi vs Bose, Jinnah, Aurangzeb,, Tipu Sultan, Bhima Koregaon, and so, on. Achievements of rulers are being, measured in terms of who built taller, statues for whom; who rebuilt which, temples, and so on., , True, history is important for us to, know who we are as a nation, and also, who we are as a human race. India’s, past must be truthfully searched,, researched, studied and discussed., The history of every nation, without, exception, reveals conflicts and contradictions, discord and divisions., More importantly, it also shows unity, and integration of diverse communities, of their coming together to pursue noble and common goals, of valorous victories and inspiring, achievements that all can proudly, celebrate. Hence, the true purpose of, delving into history is not to uncover, internal enemies and revive old rivalries. It is certainly not to falsify facts, , and manufacture alarmist tales of, victimhood. Rather, it is to learn from, bygone times in order to rectify past, mistakes, end injustices, build a, more harmonious society and create, a better future for all., Nehru committed several mistakes, but when he described dams,, steel factories, research laboratories, and IITs as “Temples of Modern, India”, he was making an important, appeal to the people. Proud though, we might be of India’s ancient and, priceless cultural heritage, we needed to enter the modern age by making constant and self-reliant, progress in multiple areas of nationbuilding — agriculture, industry,, , Science-based growth part of Netaji’s vision, , T, , DINESH C SHARMA, SCIENCE COMMENTATOR, , It is ironic that while, technology is being used to, perpetuate Netaji’s, memory, his ideas of, economic planning based, on science and technology,, industrialisation and, cooperative federalism, have been buried under the, new edifice of the NITI, Aayog. Netaji had, advocated a strong Central, govt for rapid economic, growth powered through, industrialisation but by, affording provinces ‘a large, measure of autonomy’., , HE year-long celebration to, mark the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra, Bose has begun with the, unveiling of a ‘hologram statue’ of him, under the colonial-era canopy near the, India Gate in New Delhi. A 28-ft-tall, three-dimensional image of Netaji is, being projected on a near-transparent, holographic screen to create a visual, effect of a statue, till the one cast in stone, gets ready and is installed. However, not, far from this holographic tribute to the, national hero stands a living monument, signifying his biggest contribution to, free India — the now-defunct Planning, Commission. It is ironic that while technology is being used to perpetuate Netaji's memory, his ideas of economic planning based on science and technology,, industrialisation and cooperative federalism have been quietly buried under, the new edifice of the National Institute, of Transforming India (NITI) Aayog., During Netaji’s birth centenary year, (1997), the Planning Commission published a booklet titled ‘Subhas Chandra, Bose: Pioneer of Indian Planning’. Madhu Dandavate, who was the Deputy, Chairman of the Planning Commission,, wrote that Netaji’s thoughts on economic planning were still relevant and that, ‘much of what he had advocated was, still to be translated into reality’. For, instance, Netaji had advocated a strong, Central government for rapid economic, growth powered through industrialisation but by affording provinces ‘a large, measure of autonomy’. The Netaji centenary coincided with the formulation, process of the Ninth Five Year Plan, for, which the United Front government, , FUTURISTIC: Netaji’s thoughts on economy remain relevant even today. PTI, held consultations with state governments and also with Panchayati Raj, Institutions and civil society. Twentyfive years later, as we celebrate another, landmark anniversary of Netaji, we have, neither any such pretension left nor the, Planning Commission., Netaji was not only a pioneer of economic planning but also a strong believer in the application of science and technology for development. Physicist, Meghnad Saha was a senior of Bose at, the Presidency College and the two, remained in touch thereon. Their ideas, on several issues converged as Bose, entered active politics. Saha had advocated the need for national planning in, the columns of his journal, Science and, Culture. Bose, as the Congress president, piloted the idea of establishing the, National Planning Committee (NPC) at, the Haripura session of the Indian, , quick crossword, , SATURDAY’S sOLUTION, Across: 1 Operative, 8 Spell, 9 Vietnam, 10 Boring, 11 Writhe, 12 Subtract, 15 Lynx-eyed,, 18 Acumen, 20 Intact, 21 Recruit, 22 Evade, 23 What’s what., Down: 2 Prior, 3 Rotate, 4 Travesty, 5 Escort, 6 Revival, 7 Ill-gotten, 11 Well-timed,, 13 Budapest, 14 Instead, 16 Eschew, 17 Burrow, 19 Erica., , ACROSS, 1 Absolute discretion (4,4), 5 Bit of favourable publicity (4), 9 Dried coconut (5), 10 Foremost (7), 11 Fail (4,2,6), 13 Disconcert (3,3), 14 Nonsense (6), 17 Cheek (12), 20 Bad feeling (3,4), 21 Constellation,, The Hunter (5), 22 Exultant joy (4), 23 Particular case (8), DOWN, 1 Confront (4), 2 Bold feat (7), 3 May it never happen! (6, 6), 4 British naval hero (6), 6 Situated (5), 7 Forceful enterprising, person (2-6), 8 Epic poem by John, Milton (8,4), 12 Revolt (8), 15 A dissenting clique (7), 16 Stringed musical, instrument (6), 18 Rhythmical throbbing (5), 19 Prefix meaning before (4), , National Congress in 1938 and invited, Saha to join the process. NPC, according, to historian Robert S Anderson, was to, be originally chaired by Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya who had already, demonstrated the power of industrialisation through economic planning in, Mysore. Saha then convinced Visvesvaraya not to accept the offer as the panel would otherwise be seen as an academic exercise within the Congress, party, a section of which was opposed to, heavy industries. Thus, Bose wrote to, Nehru to head NPC for it to be a success., Saha got Bose to commit to a greater, role for science and scientists in national development in India of future. At a, meeting of the Indian Science News, Association which Saha had founded, he, pointedly asked Bose if the Congress, party was committed to promoting science-based industrialisation and to set, , su do ku, , calendar, , 9, , JANUARY 31, 2022, MONDAY, , 2, 6, 5 8, 7, 8, , 7, 8, , 9, 7 3, , 8, 3 4, 6, , 4, 2, , MEDIUM, , 7, 7, , 3, 5, , through 29 sub-committees on different, sectors like energy, education, public, finance, land policy, population, engineering industries, communications,, transport, scientific instrumentation and, so on. Another sub-panel was formed on, ‘census and statistics’ to collate and provide data necessary for the planning exercise. Each sub-committee was given a, deadline to complete the task, and periodic reviews were held at the NPC secretariat in Bombay, despite the exigencies, of the ongoing freedom movement., The NPC provided a broad outline as, well as sector-specific strategies, identifying problem areas and possible solutions. For instance, it laid down that all, ‘ key industries’ such as defence must, be state-owned, while public utilities, could be owned by some organ of the, state like a local board or public trust., The state ownership should be through, an ‘autonomous pubic trust’ to ensure, public ownership and control while, avoiding inefficiencies associated with, full state control. Key problem areas, were identified in different sectors, like, the need for developing indigenous, drug industry and nitrogen fertilisers, were emphasised by the sub-committee on chemical industries. The panel, recommended setting up a National, Chemical Laboratory. To tackle undernutrition and malnutrition, the subcommittee on population suggested the, formation of a Central Nutrition Board, and regional boards attached to it, and, propagation of modern birth control, methods. Such ideas, along with the, guiding principles laid in the NPC, report, formed the starting point of the, Planning Commission in free India., , forecast, SUNSET:, SUNRISE:, , Vikrami Samvat, 2078, ■ Shaka Samvat, 1943, ■ Magh Shaka, 11, ■ Magh Parvishte, 19, ■ Hijari, 1443, ■ Krishna Paksha Tithi 14, up to 2:19 pm, ■ Vajra Yoga up to 10:25 am, ■ Siddhi Yoga up to 6:41 am, ■ Uttrashadha Nakshatra up to 9:58pm, ■ Moon in Capricorn sign, ■ Amavas, ■, , 5 9, 3, , 2, , 1, , up a National Research Council. ‘National reconstruction will be possible only, with the aid of science and scientists,’, Bose assured. He also supported the idea, of a research council to conduct research, aimed at applying science and technology in the process of industrialisation., It was at this meeting in August 1938, that Bose made this famous statement, that India could not afford to wait for a, slow industrial revolution like Britain, but needed ‘a forced march as in Soviet, Russia’. By this time, the NPC had, already started guiding the Congress, ministries in the provinces, and Bose, declared that ‘when we have a national, government for the whole country, one, of the first things we will have to do is, appoint a National Planning Commission’. Bose complimented Science and, Culture for publishing articles on problems directly related to industrialisation., He wanted India’s industrial policy to, focus on ‘mother industries’ like power,, metal production, machine and tools, manufacture, transport, and basic chemicals. Scientific industrial research,, according to Bose, should be ‘free from, government control of every kind’., Bose’s thoughts on promoting infrastructure industries and autonomy for, scientific institutions remain relevant., The working of NPC stands out as an, example of a truly national venture in, which leading scientists, technical, experts, industrialists, officials of, provincial governments all participated., It also included a representative of the, All India Village Industries Association,, to counter the view that NPC was advocating heavy industries at the cost of cottage industries. The NPC worked, , 5, , SATURDAY’S SOLUTION, , 9, 2, 4, 8, 1, 6, 7, 5, 3, , 5, 6, 3, 4, 7, 9, 2, 1, 8, , 8, 7, 1, 3, 2, 5, 9, 6, 4, , 6, 3, 5, 7, 8, 1, 4, 9, 2, , 4, 9, 2, 6, 5, 3, 1, 8, 7, , 7, 1, 8, 9, 4, 2, 5, 3, 6, , 3, 4, 9, 1, 6, 7, 8, 2, 5, , 1, 5, 7, 2, 3, 8, 6, 4, 9, , 2, 8, 6, 5, 9, 4, 3, 7, 1, , MONDAY, TUESDAY, , 17:58 HRS, 07:14 HRS, , Sunny Partly Cloudy Cloudy, , Rainy, , CITY, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Amritsar, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bhiwani, Hisar, Sirsa, Dharamsala, Manali, Shimla, Srinagar, Jammu, , MAX, 20, 23, 20, 21, 20, 20, 22, 22, 22, 20, 10, 11, 10, 16, , MIN, 07, 08, 05, 05, 05, 09, 07, 07, 06, 05, 00, 04, --01, 08, , Kargil, Leh, , --01, --01, , --15, --12, , Dehradun, Mussoorie, , 22, 16, , 09, 04, , TEMPERATURE IN OC, , Foggy
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6, , comment & analysis, , the daily guardian, monday | 31 january 2022, new delhi, , dEmoCratiC disCoursEs, , One nation, one election: Time, for the idea has come, opinion, SANJU VERMA, , I, , t is election season, yet again, with Uttar, Pradesh, Uttarakhand,, Punjab, Goa, and Manipur,, going to the polls in the next, few days. The entire polling, process will be phased out, over the next few weeks, with, results slated for March 10,, 2022. India’s Leftist media, and some self-styled academicians raised a hue and cry, about how it is not advisable, to hold polls, given the rising, Omicron cases. Well, public, health should always be accorded top priority and that, is precisely what the Modi, government has always done,, with PM Modi himself reiterating about how “Jaan Bhi, Jahaan Bhi”, is the best way, to move forward. The Election Commission (EC) has, prohibited mass rallies for, the upcoming assembly polls, and has laid down COVID, protocol related strictures,, that need to be adhered to., So far, so good. But amidst, all this, the key question that, merits a response is this--Is it, time to now seriously think, about and implement, the, “one nation, one election”,, dictum? Prime Minister Narendra Modi has advocated, and spoken about this on, umpteen occasions and for, good reason., The idea of “one nation, ,one election” made its debut, in the first annual report of, the Election Commission in, 1983. It had supported holding simultaneous elections to, reduce expenditure, for effective use of manpower and, human resource, and also, because frequent elections, , affected the day-to-day functioning of the government,, both at the state level and the, Centre, creating hardship for, common people., The topic was revived by, the 170th Report of the Law, Commission, submitted in, 1999. The Report underlined, the desirability of holding, elections to the Lok Sabha, and state assemblies once, in five years but admitted, that it could not be achieved, overnight in the prevailing, circumstances. The proposal, however, gained momentum, with the manifesto of the BJP, for the 2014 Lok Sabha election, which stated that the, party would seek to evolve a, method of holding elections, to assemblies and the Lok, Sabha simultaneously. In, 2020, an array of webinars, were organised by the National Spokespersons of the, BJP, to discuss, dissect and, debate this issue,with one, such webinar organised on, December 27, 2020, by the, author of this piece herself,, which received an excellent, response and was widely attended., There was a flurry of activities, post-1999, post a long, hiatus. The 79th Report of, the Department Related, Parliamentary Standing, Committee on Personnel,, Public Grievances, Law and, Justice, submitted in 2015,, was devoted to studying the, feasibility of holding these, simultaneous elections. It, recommended an alternative and practicable method, of holding simultaneous elections, which involved holding them in two phases twice, in every five-year cycle. NITI, Aayog issued a Working Paper on the subject in 2017, titled, “Analysis of Simultaneous Elections: The What,, Why and How”. It broadly, recommended a gradual, move to synchronisation of, elections between Parliament, , and state legislative assemblies between 2019 and 2024., This was followed by a, Draft Report of the Law, Commission in 2018, which, also recommended holding, of simultaneous elections,, with some exceptions. The, Commission noted that for, holding simultaneous elections, amendments to the, Constitution, the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and the Rules of Procedure, of Lok Sabha and state assemblies would be required., Such an exercise would save, public money, reduce the, burden on the administrative, set-up and security forces, and lead to concentration, on developmental activities, rather than election duties,, the Commission said., Prime Minister Narendra, Modi, addressing the All, India Presiding Officers, Conference via video conference, on November 26,, 2020, raised the pitch for, “One Nation, One Election”, and a single voter list for all, polls, to prevent the impact, of the model code of conduct, on development works every, few months due to frequent, spread-out polls., ‘One Nation, One Election’, isn’t just an issue of deliberation but also a need of the, country. Elections are held, at different places every few, months and it hampers the, developmental work and all, of you know about it. Therefore, it’s a must to have a, deep study and deliberation, on one nation, one election,, said Modi. On one voter list,, the PM observed, “Only one, voter list should be used for, Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha,, and other elections. Why are, we wasting time and money?” Emphasising the need, for coordination between, all three wings of the state -Legislature, Executive, and, Judiciary, PM Modi stated, that everything, from their, role to their decorum, was, described in the Constitution itself., “In the 1970s, we saw how, there was an attempt to, breach the dignity of separation of power, but the country got the answer only from, the Constitution. After that, period of Emergency, the, system of checks and balances became stronger and, , stronger.The legislature, the, executive and the judiciary,, all three, learned a lot from, that period and moved forward,” said Prime Minister, Modi at the conference., While “one nation, one, poll” will result in huge savings in expenditure, it cannot, be achieved without dramatic changes to our Constitution. India has adopted a, quasi-federal set-up and is, neither unitary like Britain, nor fully federal like the US., Members are elected for the, Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assembly. Impartiality, of the election process requires strict vigil on the part, of the Election Commission, (EC). Modi has repeatedly, asked the presiding officers, of elected bodies to ponder, over the idea of having one, election and one voters’ list,, to do away with the “Aaya, Ram” and “Gaya Ram” style, of politics., The anti-defection law, is special to India. It has,, however, not been foolproof. Splits and mergers, in political parties over the, years gave room for conflict between the Speaker’s, jurisdiction and the Court’s, role. The prime cause for the, instability of elected governments in India in the last few, decades must be traced to, the decision of the Congress, party which misused power, that it enjoyed at the Centre,, to dismiss State governments, run by opposition parties and, declare the President’s rule, on flimsy grounds., At one stage, nine State governments were dissolved at, one stroke under Article 356, of the Constitution,by the, erstwhile Congress regime., The practice would have, continued unabated but for, the Supreme Court ruling, in the S R. Bommai case., Destabilisation of elected, State governments and ‘resort’ politics deployed by, the Congress in the last few, years,be it Karnataka,Gujarat, or Rajasthan, are a nasty reminder of how frequent elections can be harmful. Ours is, a quasi-federal structure. In, England, the king reigns but, does not govern. In the US,, the President, both reigns, and governs. The Indian, President neither governs, nor reigns, though he is con-, , stitutionally a very important, figure and not a mere figurehead, as most would like to, believe., In the US, the State Governor, like the President, is, elected directly. We chose to, emulate the British cabinet, system, restrained by the, spirit of collective responsibility. Morality is sacrificed, at the altar of expediency,, due to frequent elections., The Charan Singh government, decades back, was, overthrown within just four, months. Russian President, Vladimir Putin altered the, law to enable himself to be, the President of Russia till, 2036. China went through, the one candidate election, in an election that had no, candidate other than Xi Jinping, making a mockery out, of what was anyways a farce,, to start with. Xi won the elections with 99.86 per cent of, the votes. India in sharp contrast, stands out as a country, with full allegiance to democratic conventions and “one, nation,one election” will, further strengthen democratic institutions and our, socio-economic fabric. This, theme has been an abiding, one for Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. While critics, say it is against the principle, of cooperative federalism,, such criticism is unfounded., An option often suggested by, some constitutional experts, is that, if it is not possible to, conduct simultaneous elections, then at least all elections falling in one calendar, year should be conducted, together., Historically, elections during the first two decades after, Independence for the House, of the People and state legislative assemblies were held, simultaneously, i.e., during, 1951-52, 1957, 1962, and 1967., Dissolution of certain assemblies in 1968 and 1969,, followed by the dissolution, of the House of the People in, 1970 and subsequent general, elections in 1971, disturbed, the cycle of simultaneous, elections. Indiscriminate use, of Article 356 (President’s, Rule) of the Constitution,, by the Nehru-Gandhi establishment, also disrupted the, schedule of simultaneous, elections., Various studies of the in-, , ternational scenario found, that a system to ensure simultaneous election does, exist in certain countries. In, Germany, Bundestag (i.e. the, Lower House) cannot simply, remove the Chancellor with, a vote of no-confidence, as, the opponents must not only, disagree with the governance, but also agree on a replacement, by way of a “constructive vote of no-confidence”., In some countries including, India, in the event of a hung, House/ assembly, it is mandated that all efforts must, be made by the president /, governor, as the case may, be, to install a government, that will enjoy the support, of the House/assembly. This, would give an opportunity, to the largest party, along, with its pre-poll or post-poll, alliance(s). If, however, midterm poll becomes inevitable,, the duration of the House/assembly so constituted should, be only for the remainder of, the term., In the UK, the Parliament, of Westminster introduced, a fixed term by enacting the, Fixed-term Parliaments Act,, 2011, which provides a term, of five years for general elections. The Act of 2011 specifies that early elections can, be held only if a motion for, it is agreed either by at least, two-thirds of the whole, House or without division, or, if a motion of no-confidence, is passed and no alternative, government is confirmed, by the Commons, within 14, days thereof., The biggest argument in, favour of holding simultaneous elections is therefore, the fact that governments, do not have to be in election, mode all the time, thereby, making governance and, policy-making, more seamless. The Model Code of, Conduct (MCC) prevents, governments from announcing new schemes and making appointments. Deputing government employees, frequently on election duty, hinders public services, including school education,, as well as maintenance of, law and order and national, security. Simultaneous elections will, therefore, reduce, the time and cost involved in, the conduct of elections and, will curb corruption and il-, , licit financing of elections., Those who allege that “one, nation,one election” will be, the harbinger of a unitary, State, are clearly, misguided., Again, there are concerns, that simultaneous elections, will impact the behaviour of, voters, as national and local, issues may get mixed up and, distort priorities, giving an, unfair advantage to national, parties, at the expense of regional parties. Such concerns, are, however, overdone, with, no logical basis. Voters today,, are very aware of both local, and national issues and to assume that they will get confused if elections are held simultaneously, is an insult to, the intelligence of the electorate. True, it may be a tad difficult to find a suitable time, slot, given the geographical, and administrative diversity, relating to weather, agricultural cycle, exam schedule,, religious festivals and public, holidays, in a country as vast, as India. However, the positives of simultaneous elections far outweigh any perceived negatives. The sheer, logistics involved in holding, simultaneous elections, in, terms of requisitioning and, movement of men, women, and material, may make the, exercise a mammoth one, but, it is manageable., Also, accusations that simultaneous elections may, result in misuse of Article, 356 or early dissolution of, the Lok Sabha or any of the, State assemblies, are simply, a figment of imagination of, those who do not want “One, Nation, One Election”.True,a, large number of amendments to laws, rules and, regulations would need to, be carried out, making the, task very arduous, but it is, certainly worth the trouble., Amendments to the Constitution would encompass, Articles 83 (Duration of, Houses), 85 (Dissolution of, the Lok Sabha), 172 (Duration of state legislatures),, 174 (Dissolution of state, legislatures), 356 (Failure of, constitutional machinery), and the Tenth Schedule (to, ensure that all disqualification issues arising from defection are decided by the, presiding officer within six, months). Ratification of the, amendments by not less than, , one-half of the State legislatures may also be required to, be taken as a matter of abundant precaution., Amendments to laws, would inter alia require, changes in the Representation of the People Act, 1951,, such as Section 2 (adding a, definition of “simultaneous, elections”), and Sections 14, and 15 (Notification of general and assembly elections)., The Rules of Procedure and, Conduct of Business of the, Lok Sabha and assemblies, would need to be amended, to replace “Motion of NoConfidence” with “Motion, of Constructive Vote of NoConfidence”., In the final analysis, meeting of minds may be a good, beginning in the pursuit of, the goal of “One Nation, One, Election”. But to take the idea, to fruition, will require not, only the meeting of minds, and a political consensus,, but also a resolute determination to act, in the larger, national interest. And certainly, courage of conviction,, the ability to visualise and, the will to execute and successfully implement, even, the most seemingly difficult, initiatives, is something that, Prime Minister Narendra, Modi, has in abundance. Be, it ‘one nation, one tax’, ‘one, nation, one mobility card’,, or for that matter, ‘one nation, one ombudsman’ or, even ‘one nation, one ration, card’, the Modi government, has repeatedly showcased its, ability to think big and ensure that those big ideas are, effectively implemented on, the ground. Larry J. Sabato, famously said-- “An election, is always determined by the, people who show up”. Clearly, for the democratic process, to retain its sanctity and not, suffer from any fatigue, it is, important to see those eligible for voting, participate in, large numbers.That in turn, makes it essential to make, elections into an exercise,, that is not too frequent. ‘one, nation, one election’, is clearly, therefore, an idea whose, time has come., The writer is an Economist, National Spokesperson of the BJP,, and Bestselling Author of ‘The, Modi Gambit’. Views expressed, are the writer’s personal., , PERSPECTIVE, AHEAD OF POLLS, , Captain, BJp and akalis lay trap to amBush sidhu in amritsar, Punjab Pradesh Congress, Committee president, Navjot Singh Sidhu faces a stiff, challenge from the Shiromani Akali Dal and its, former ally, the Bharatiya, Janata Party, in the Assembly polls from Amritsar East. It is evident that, the well-planned strategy,, possibly with inputs from, Sidhu’s bête noire, Captain, Amarinder Singh, seeks to, lay a political Chakravyuh, to trap the former Cricketer, who for the past few, months has been batting, from outside his crease, on several occasions. The, Akalis and the BJP may no, longer be together but they, would both want that the, Congress leader is somehow defeated. The fourth, angle to this nail-biting, contest would be from the, Aam Aadmi Party whose, , objective also is Congress, Mukt Bharat. Sidhu has, never lost an election till, now but has to overcome, this huge impediment that, has pitted him against his, political foes in an arena, where to become the man, of the match, he shall have, to vanquish the combined, opposition to him. On the, face of it, his opponents, are contesting the polls, separately but they are all, geared up to give Congress, a beating in this region., The role of the Kisan Union, headed by Balbir Singh Rajewal would also have to be, viewed closely as it could, impact the outcome if the, fight becomes extremely, close. Sidhu’s rivals attempt to tie him down to, one area and also malign, him through propaganda, that is primarily being used, , to psychologically weaken, him., The situation in cricketing terms is similar to, when the swashbuckling, Opening batsman encountered ferocious bowling in, the Caribbean from some, of the most dangerous, players of his era. The Akalis have declared Bikram, Singh Majithia, brother-inlaw of Sukhbir Singh Badal, as their nominee from, the constituency, besides, from Majitha which is his, own Assembly segment., Majithia has been accused, by Sidhu and many other, Congress leaders of being, the kingpin of the drugs, and narcotics trade in the, border state. He now wants, to settle the issue electorally by preventing the Congress leader from winning., The BJP has fielded Jag-, , mohan Singh Raju, a 1985, batch IAS officer who, recently quit the bureaucracy to join the electoral, fray. He is a Dalit and has a, distinguished service and, academic record. Born in, Faridkot, his father was a, well known civil servant of, Punjab. The idea of fielding him is to offset the Dalit, votes, which as per projections would largely go to, the Congress after Charanjit Singh Channi was made, the Chief Minister of the, State. In addition, he would, be hoping to garner a section of Hindu votes, which, are aligned with the BJP., Majithia is expected to, cut in to the Jat Sikh votes, which in the past elections, that Sidhu, contested had, overwhelmingly gone in, his favour, given his iconic, status. The Aam Aadmi, , Party would also be certainly making inroads in, the vote share. Rajewal,, who is believed to be close, to the Captain, could make, a further difference., The idea in Amritsar East, is to somehow weaken Sidhu’s vote bank collectively, so that a surprise winner, could be thrown up. It may, be recalled that the Captain after demitting office, last year had declared that, he would make every effort to get Sidhu defeated, by fielding a strong candidate against him. Political circles had wondered, whether he was himself, planning to contest against, him in Amritsar but this, is not happening since the, former CM shall be filing, his nomination from Patiala on Monday. However,, being a master strategist,, , he may have laid this political minefield for the Congress leader. Sidhu had earlier claimed that during his, tenure, Amarinder Singh, had a secret understanding with both the BJP on, one hand and the Akalis on, the other. There would be, clarity on this charge once, the campaign progresses., In addition, Sidhu’s halfsister, Suman Toor, who, lives in the United States,, surfaced in Chandigarh to, make certain personal allegations against Sidhu. She, alleged that their mother,, Nirmal Bhagwant Singh, was in her last years, badly, treated by her brother who, was obsessed with amassing the family property., Sidhu has described these, charges as baseless and political veterans recall that, Nirmal Bhagwant Singh, , (earlier Nirmal Sodhi) had, contested unsuccessfully, on a Congress ticket from, Dakala in 1972, losing by, less than 2500 votes to Jasdev Singh of the Akali Dal., Old Patiala residents also, recall that Sidhu, fondly, nicknamed Sherry during his childhood was extremely close to his mother, and at their Yadvindra, Colony house, no one other, than her was allowed by, him to comb and tie his, hair. This is a personal matter best left to the family to, sort out., However, in view of fastchanging developments, in the political scenario,, some of Sidhu’s supporters, want him to also contest, from a second seat, preferably Patiala, to counter the, Captain’s offensive. If this, was not possible, they feel, , that he should spend quality time in Patiala to pin, down his opponent. Before, Amarinder Singh’s government was toppled by his, own party, there had been, this talk of Sidhu Vs the, Captain contest in Patiala., This would have been a, mother of all elections and, the focus would have shifted from Amritsar in Majha, to Patiala in the Malwa region., Many more twists and, turns would take place in, the near future when the, Congress High Command, announces its Chief Ministerial face shortly., It is evident that it would, be suicidal for the grand, old party to have someone, other Channi as its principal mascot at this juncture., — Pankaj Vohra
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10 medically speaking, , the daily guardian, monday | 31 january 2022, new delhi, , doc-talk, , Familial cancer: A relatively less, discussed burning issue, What is familial cancer syndrome? It’s a genetic problem where a person harbors a specific or multiple genetic, alteration which makes him/her predisposed to have one or multiple cancer and the problem runs in the family., DR DODUL MONDAL, NEW DELHI, , C, , ancer is considered, as a modern-day epidemic. its incidence, and prevalence are increasing slowly but steadily over, the years across the globe., As per recent GLOBOCAN, 2020 data, almost 20 million new cancer cases were, diagnosed worldwide, and, 10 million people died of this, disease. The cancer incidence, has been projected to be almost 30 million in next two, decades. There have been, spectacular developments, in many aspects of cancer., These include but essentially not limited to screening,, early diagnosis, treatment,, complication prevention etc., Still there are many things to, achieve and there are some, areas where progress has, been limited over decades., Familial cancer is one such, area., What is familial cancer syndrome? It’s a genetic problem, where a person harbors a, specific or multiple genetic, alteration which makes him/, her predisposed to have one, or multiple cancer and the, problem runs in the family., , Am I at increased risk of, having cancer? A very common question we often encounter. “Doc, my mom had, breast cancer, am I at risk?”, or, “Doc, will my kids be affected with similar cancer in, future?” are some of the questions. Familial cancers are associated with higher risk of, transmission in the family., What are different types of, genetic mutations? There are, two basic types, germline and, somatic mutations. Almost, 5-10% of all cancers are supposedly caused by inherited, genetic mutations. A gene can, be considered as a basic unit, of hereditary information of a, person. A mutation is alteration or change in that genetic, information. When a mutation comes from a defective, sperm or egg at the time of, conception, such mutations, can be incorporated into the, DNA of every cell of the offspring and is known as germline mutation. That means,, the child is born with such, genetic defect from mother’s womb. And only such, germline mutations can be, transferred to an offspring., So, in essence, this type of, mutations can be considered, hereditary or familial as they, , Cancer is considered as a modern-day epidemic., , have the risk of running in the, family. The other type of mutation can happen after conception and can involve any, cells of the body other than, the germ cells (sperm or egg), and known as somatic mutation. Such mutations can not, pass on from one person to, the children. It has to be remembered that all cancers are, genetic but not all cancers are, familial (ability to transfer in, the family). So, cancers which, are results of germline mutation, can affect same family members who are blood, related. Cancers which are, result of somatic mutation,, cannot affect other family, members., What are the cancers which, can run in family? Many, cancers can be associated, , with high risk of running in, family. A very common mutation is TP53 gene mutation., Normally this gene prevents, occurrence of cancer by suppressing the growth of tumor., There are some other genes, which normally repair a damaged DNA and thus prevents, cancer. Mutation of such repairing gene can also lead to, formation of cancer. Sometimes multiple cancers happen due to mutation of such, genes, and they are known as, Familial Cancer Syndrome., Few such syndromes are LiFraumeni Syndrome, hereditary breast and ovary cancer, syndrome, hereditary nonpolyposis cancer syndrome, etc. The list is longer. One, of such syndromes which is, mostly discussed is heredi-, , All cancers are genetic but not all cancers are familial., , tary breast-ovarian cancer, syndrome. This is associated, with mutation of BRCA1and/, or BRCA2 genes. Almost, 7-10% of breast cancers are, associated with gene mutations. Among such cases,, almost 80% are related to, BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation., This gene mutation is associated most commonly with, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer,, colorectal cancer, uterine cancer, male breast cancer and, prostate cancer. Similarly,, some blood cancers, colorectal cancers, soft tissue sarcomas, kidney cancers, brain, , threat associated with the already diagnosed cancer and, the relative risk of radiation, causing any additional harm., Sometimes, radiation treatment is a life saving measure, and the patient can die out of, the already diagnosed cancer, if not treated properly, well, before the projected timeline, when he/she could develop, radiation induced second, cancer causing any harm., So, avoiding radiation only, because someone has a mutation can be dangerous., What should I do? If you, think you can have a higher, risk of having cancer for some, reason, you should talk to, an expert. If you have strong, family history of cancer or, multiple cancers or cancers, at very young age, you should, seek help from an expert at, the earliest possible time., And, last but not the least,, Do not do random genetic, testing., The opinions shared are personal, and based on available medical, literature to the best interest of, non-professional. The author is, Associate Director, Radiation, Oncology, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, Delhi and can, be contacted at dodulmondal@, gmail.com, , maternal health, , new Study, , Vitamin d, fiSh oil SupplementS might, reduce riSk of autoimmune diSeaSe, CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON (US), , Taking daily vitamin D supplements - or a combination, of vitamin D and omega-3, fish oil - appears to carry, a lower risk of developing, autoimmune disease, with, a more pronounced effect, after two years, according to a recent study. The, study has been published, in ‘The BMJ Journal’. The, researchers said that the, clinical importance of these, findings is high, “given that, these are well-tolerated,, non-toxic supplements,, and that there are no other, known effective therapies, to reduce rates of autoimmune diseases.”, Autoimmune disease, happens when the body’s, natural defence system, mistakenly attacks normal, cells. Common conditions, include rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and thyroid, diseases, which increase, with age, particularly, among women., Both vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids derived, from seafood are known, to have a beneficial effect, on inflammation and immunity, but no large randomised trials have tested, whether these supplements, can lower the risk of autoimmune disease., So researchers set out to, test the effects of vitamin D, and omega-3 fish oil supplements on rates of autoimmune diseases in 25,871 US, adults (average age 67; 51, per cent women; 71 per cent, non-Hispanic white)., When they joined the, trial, participants provided, information on their age,, ethnicity, region of resi-, , tumors, nerve fiber tumors,, skin cancers etc. can also be, associated with hereditary, cancer syndromes., How can familial/hereditary cancers be suspected?, A suspicious mind is the, first requirement to suspect, and evaluate such situations., Detailed family history along, with family tree can be of, great use to suspect familial, cancers. Most of the people, give a positive cancer history, among the blood related family members. Once suspected,, genetic screening and testing, can be advised along with, counseling of the affected, person and family., What are typical features of, familial cancers? Other than, being associated with family, history, these cancers have a, , tendency to occur at a relatively young age. Sometimes, they are associated with multiple cancers. Also, they have, a tendency to be more aggressive compared to non-familial, counterpart., Should genetic testing be, advised for all? Certainly not., Indiscriminate genetic testing will increase confusion, and fear. It is indeed a job of, an expert who understands, the associated confusions, and uncertainties. Given the, context of our country, its, socioeconomic and cultural, practice, advising genetic, tests may be difficult for, many reasons and needs extreme caution to avoid unnecessary complications in life., Having a mutated gene synonymous of having a cancer?, Essentially No. It only means, a higher risk of having certain, cancers. People having certain genetic mutations need, to be cautious and consult an, expert. They should also follow a surveillance program to, detect any cancer at the earliest possible time., Is radiation more harmful, when used in such patients?, Not necessarily. It needs understanding of the current, cancer problem, risk and life, , New study could lead to better treatments for autoimmune diseases., , An autoimmune disease occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and kills the, body’s own cells., , dence, income, education,, lifestyle, weight, medical, history, diet and supplement use. Blood levels of vitamin D and omega-3 fatty, acids were also measured., Participants were then, randomly allocated to receive vitamin D (2,000 IU/, day) or matched placebo,, and omega-3 fatty acids, (1,000mg/day) or matched, placebo, and were asked to, report any diagnosed autoimmune disease over an, average 5.3 year period., , These included rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia, rheumatica (pain and stiffness in the muscles around, the shoulders, neck and, hips), thyroid disease, and, psoriasis, among others., Reported cases were, confirmed using medical, records. Those with insufficient documentation for, certainty were classed as, “probable” cases., Over the full duration of, the trial, a confirmed autoimmune disease was diag-, , nosed in 123 participants in, the vitamin D group compared with 155 in the placebo group - a 22 per cent, lower relative rate., In the omega-3 fatty acid, group, 130 confirmed cases, were diagnosed compared, with 148 in the placebo, group (a 15 per cent reduction), but this was not a statistically significant result., However, when probable cases were included,, omega-3 fatty acid supplements did significantly re-, , duce the rate by 18 per cent, compared with placebo, and there was a significant, interaction with time, indicating a stronger effect the, longer supplements were, taken., Similar results were, found when only the last, three years of the trial were, considered. The vitamin D, group had 39 per cent fewer, confirmed cases than placebo; while the omega-3 fatty, acid group had 10 per cent, fewer confirmed cases than, placebo., Both vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acid supplements, decreased autoimmune disease by about 30 per cent, versus placebo alone., This was a large trial involving a diverse general, population with high rates, of follow-up and adherence, to treatment. However, the, researchers acknowledged, that they tested only one, dose and formulation of, each supplement, and say, the results may not apply, to younger individuals., Nevertheless, they said, that this is the first direct, evidence that daily supplementation with either, agent - or a combination, of vitamin D and omega-3, fatty acids - for five years, among older US adults reduces autoimmune disease, incidence, with more pronounced effect after two, years of supplementation., “We are continuing to, follow participants for two, years in an extension study, to test the time course of this, autoimmune disease reduction effect,” they wrote., “Further trials could, test these interventions in, younger populations, and, those with high autoimmune disease risk.”, , Study findS pandemic added, challengeS for maternity care, CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON (US), , According to new research, the COVID-19, pandemic had a wide range of impacts on, maternity care. The study has been published, in the ‘The Journal of Perinatal and Neonatal Nursing’. “Maternity care providers in, Michigan experienced a range of complex, challenges due to the pandemic, with many, experiencing conflicts and questioning their, role as a provider amid concerns of the effects, of COVID-19 on themselves and their families,” according to the qualitative research, reported by Lisa Kane Low, PhD, CNM, and, colleagues of University of Michigan, Ann, Arbor., In early February 2020, Dr Kane Low and, colleagues were in the process of administering a survey to maternity care teams across, the state of Michigan that take part in The, Obstetrics Initiative (OBI), a data-driven, quality improvement collaborative., The intent of the survey was to assess the, influence maternity unit culture has on, cesarean birth rates, but as the pandemic, unfolded, the researchers wanted to additionally capture how a global health crisis, might affect the maternity care landscape in, Michigan. In mid-April 2020, they added a, single, open-ended question: “How has COVID-19 impacted your work?”A total of 647, responses were received from nurses, physicians, midwives and other maternity care, professionals at 21 hospitals, representing, a range of hospital types (academic medical, centres and community hospitals) and settings (urban/suburban, rural)., In a content analysis of survey responses,, the research team identified five key themes:, 1. Patient care impact. Cancelling elective, procedures and shifting from in-person to, telehealth visits led to patients waiting longer to go to the hospital when they thought, they were in labour. However, at some hospitals, respondents perceived positive effects,, including more women coming to the hospital in active labour and fewer undergoing, induced labour. “It seems as though this has, decreased the intervention rate and maybe, the cesarean section rate,” a nurse-midwife, wrote., 2. Burdens of personal protective equipment (PPE). All providers reported challenges related to the new reality of being, masked when providing patient care. Nurses, provided “more intense” responses - they described barriers to providing hands-on care, , Covid-19 pandemic had a wide range of impacts, on maternity care., , Maternity care providers in Michigan, experienced a range of complex challenges, due to the pandemic., , as well as fatigue and discomfort from wearing PPE all day., 3. Visitor restrictions. Restrictions on visitors to reduce COVID-19 spread had some, negative effects, especially in decreased, support for labouring women. However,, there were also reports of positive effects:, some providers felt that fewer visits led to, increased rest for patients and decreased, stress for staff., 4. Ethical challenges and moral distress., Respondents voiced concerns related to the, complex balance between their own health, and well-being and the ability to carry out, their professional roles. Concerns about, “moral distress” related to conflicting roles, were most apparent at hospitals with high, COVID-19 case rates., The study provided important new evidence and direct quotes from a wide range, of maternity care providers across Michigan, in “real-time” as the COVID-19 pandemic, unfolded. “This ongoing disruption to usual, care has taken a physical and emotional toll, on all maternity care professionals,” Dr Low, and coauthors concluded.
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6, , editorial, , Monday 31 january 2022, chandigarh, , Dangerous, designs, Chinese strategic aim to control Eastern Ladakh, was to provide depth to its National Highway G-219,, Karakoram Pass, redraw Line of Actual Control (LAC), as per its perception (1959-60) and negotiate border, on its terms thereafter. China can claim to have partially achieved it, with continued presence in extra, kilometrage in Depsang plains, Hot Spring, Demchok, areas, where disengagement hasn’t taken place. Having, developed its infrastructure in areas as per its perception of LAC, its aim to deny the same to India has not, been so successful, as India continues to develop its, infrastructure at unprecedented speed to catch up,, in recent past. Its efforts of bilateral border talks with, Bhutan and Nepal including trijunctions, are to create, further complications in the long term resolution of, borders. China will continue to try encroaching Bhutanese land to create more space in Chumbi Valley,, to threaten the Siliguri Corridor., The Indian aim has been to get Chinese back to, pre-standoff positions as of April 2020 in all friction, points, not to concede unilateral change of LAC, and, pursue talks towards its demarcation, hoping to lead, to border resolution. With current disengagement,, status quo stands achieved in areas north and south, of Pangong Tso, albeit at the cost of losing the crucial, leverage of giving up occupation of certain heights, on Kailash range and north of Pangong Tso, prior to, Chinese vacation of ‘Other Areas’. Pursuing disengagement and de-escalation in remaining areas will be an, uphill task due to shortage of leverages, given Chinese, past track record and recent activities., China, marched in areas, where it was not supposed, to be, junking all CBMs, as part of overall ‘Incremental, Encroachment Strategy’, exploiting first mover advantage. China soon found itself handicapped by strong, Indian response, resistance and resolve, with proactive actions resulting newly created vulnerabilities to, Maldo Garrison and its launch pad, South of Pangong, Tso. Despite disengagement in Pangong, Tso area, Chinese discomfort due to Indian dispositions in Sub Sector North including DBO, infrastructure, development including DSDBO road, as a threat to, crucial Tibet-Xinjiang-Pakistan connectivity remains., Except few proactive actions at tactical/operational, level like Pangong Tso heights, Nathu La, and Doklam,, by and large, the Indian national strategy against China, has been reactive in last seven decades., , Pegasus snoopgate to spook, upcoming Budget session, The stage has been set for a, stormy Budget Session with the, opposition gearing up against, the government on the Pegasus, snooping issue. The Congress is, reaching out to the opposition to, devise a joint strategy to corner, the government., Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, set the ball rolling after he said,, “Modi Govt bought Pegasus to spy, on our primary democratic institutions, politicians and public. Govt, functionaries, opposition leaders,, armed forces, judiciary all were, targeted by these phone tappings., This is treason. Modi Govt has committed treason.”, Not only the Congress but other, political parties are planning to, corner the government on the, snooping row in the country., Former Congress Chief Minister, in Maharashtra Prithvi Raj Chavan, said, “Government must answer, which spy agency procured it and, who authorised it.”, As per reports, the spyware, Pegasus not only breaches the, WhatsApp as also the phone but, , is able to turn over the cellphones, camera and microphone to capture all activities in the vicinity, of the phone, besides hacking all, the security features of the phone,, including listening to, and sending, passwords, contact lists, calendar events, text messages, and, live voice calls. It also can plant, fake material into the cellphone to, falsely incriminate people., Leader of the opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said, “We will seek, the view of other political parties, and then the further strategy will, be decided.”, The Congress has said that the, Prime Minister is directly involved, in it and alleged that the Modi government purchased Pegasus Spyware in 2017 and other military, technology as the “centrepieces”, of a package, including “weapons, and intelligence gear worth roughly, $2 billion” from Israel during PM, Modi’s visit. It is not a coincidence, that the Budget of National Security, Council Secretariat (NSCS) reporting to the NSA went up from Rs 33, crore to Rs 333 crore in 2017-18., , T, , V i nc e Lo mb a rdi, , The evolving triumvirate to, take on China, / RN Prasher /, , he western nations who, elevated China in trade, relations in preference, to Taiwan followed the, conventional wisdom, that economic interdependence between, nations gradually leads, to strategic reconciliation but they have, come to grief. The USSR, the founder of, Communism in China learnt the lesson, soon after the Chinese Communists, came to power with its help and had, to finally show China its place in the, Vietnam War. Efforts at improving, Sino-Japanese relations, particularly, during the tenure of the last Prime, Minister Abe, have yielded the same, lesson; if you feed the dragon, it grows, stronger and bites your hand. None of, the five major players in this region,, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan has had friendly relations, with others in the long history of this, region. The Russo-Japanese War and, Japan’s occupation of China, Taiwan, and Korea always cast a shadow on the, geopolitics of this region. Yet, China’s, recent display of hegemony, arrogance, and belligerence has brought the triumvirate of Japan, South Korea and, Taiwan closer than ever and Putin is, not taking sides in their confrontation, with China., Let us rewind to 2011. On 14th February of that year, the BBC reported, that China had overtaken Japan as, the world’s second biggest economy, and added a prediction that turned, out to be uncannily accurate. The, US economy at that time was three, times that of China in dollar terms., Yet, the report quoted Tom Miller, of DK Dragonomics, a Beijing based, economic consultancy as saying, “It’s, realistic to say that within 10 years, China will be roughly the same size, as the US economy”. Reacting to the, news of being overtaken by China,, the then Japanese Economics Minister, Kaoru Yosano sanguinely said, “As, an economy, we are not competing, for rankings but working to improve, citizens’ lives.” Importantly, he also, cautioned that Japan needs to closely, watch “risks from overseas economies, and currency moves”., Sadly, Japan has not been fully free, from arm-twisting by the US since the, occupation after the Second World, War. It was forced to keep the Yen, very strong against the dollar, making, Japanese exports among the costliest in, the world and Japan the most expensive, destination for foreign tourists. Chinese, , I, , ““It’s Not Whether You Get Knocked, Down, It’s Whether You Get Up.””, , manufactures were highly attractive, to the Japanese and foreign travel was, cheaper for them than domestic holidays. Manufacturing moved rapidly to, China and domestic employment in Japan nosedived. It did not help matters, that the US too was following the same, self-destructive path on which it had, led Japan on a leash. In an interview, published in the Harvard Business, School’s “Working Knowledge” around, the same time as the BBC report, on, March 28, 2011 Professor Willy Shih, was categorical about the deleterious, impact of moving industries to low-cost, countries, “exporting manufacturing, has a negative impact on the country’s, industrial commons, which represents, the collective capability to sustain, innovation.” Both the US and Japan, were draining their manufacturing, base and the means to sustain their, innovation edge., It is in this economic quagmire that, Shinzo Abe, who had briefly been the, Prime Minister during 2006-2007,, started his eight-year term in 2012., A conservative, right wing politician,, he tried to move away from excessive, dependence on the US, China and, South Korea and increased interaction with NATO and the EU. Yet, he, could not do much about the fundamental problem ailing Japan; the, high value of the Yen. Also, he ended, up infuriating neighbours by visiting, the Yasukuni Shrine of martyrs, some, of whom were war criminals in the, eyes of China and both the Koreas,, having committed atrocities in these, countries. Japan further angered China, by state purchase of privately owned, islands in the Senkaku group that are, claimed by China as its own Diaoyu, Islands. In 2012, there were riots in, , This situation has led to a focus on, bringing back industries to Japan and, the increased engagement of Japan with, South Korea and Taiwan. Nikkei Asia, reported on May 8, 2021 that Japanese, makers of raw materials for computer, chips are increasing their production, in South Korea and Taiwan to broadbase the supply chain. Shin-Etsu and, Sumco, two Japanese companies sell 60, percent of the world’s requirements of, silicon wafers. South Korean Samsung, and SK Hynix and Taiwan’s TSMC are, pumping more than $350 billion in, chip making. These three countries, together control two-thirds of the world, supply while China produces about, 12 percent. The civic society in these, three countries is pressing for closer, ties between them with polls showing a, vast majority holds a negative opinion, of China. On December 23, 2021, the, Japan-Taiwan Co-prosperity Leader, Alliance was launched in Tokyo by 127, civic society leaders with a call for a, Japanese-Taiwan Relations Act on the, lines of the US-Taiwan Relations Act., The Taipei Times reported on January, 25, 2022 that Japan has made a provision of 100 million Yen for “advancing the Japan-Taiwan relationship”., Japan is mulling heavy militarisation, of its islands closest to Taiwan and on, December 23, 2021 Reuters reported, that for a Taiwan emergency Japan, and the US have drawn up a joint plan, involving use of the Japanese islands, of the Nansei Chain with the Japanese, providing logistics support. There is, even a talk of a “Semi Quad” comprising the US, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan to coordinate the efforts, against Chinese hegemony., What China failed to realise is that, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea are, now firmly democratic. Even if the, US falters in giving leadership to this, region, Communist China will not be, acceptable as an alternative. These, democracies, with Australia and perhaps a reluctant New Zealand and the, partial democracies of the Philippines,, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia along, with Communist but trusted Vietnam,, are carving out strategic and economic, relationships in which China is the, common adversary. China will have, neither the stomach nor the capacity, to take on a triumvirate of Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. / DAILY WORLD /, , China resulting in extensive damage, to Japanese manufacturing and retail, facilities of Toyota, Honda, Nissan,, Panasonic and Canon, resulting in the, temporary shutdown of production, and a serious question over the possibility of expansion in China., Abe made four visits to China to, smoothen relations and Chinese Prime, Minister Li Keqiang and President Xi, visited Japan during Abe’s tenure., Yet by 2019 it had become clear that, China’s assertiveness in the South, China Sea and the increasing threats to, take over Taiwan, by force if necessary,, were a threat to the security of Japan, too. There is talk of bringing Japan into, the Five Eyes, the intelligence sharing, network between the US, Canada,, UK, Australia and New Zealand. In an, article published on January 1, 2022, the Economist described how Japan, had warned the US of the dangers of, China in 2012 but was ignored by the, US and EU leaders who had “focused, on the benefits of integrating China in, the global economy”. The article listed, three worrying trends about China as, perceived by Japan. The Chinese are, overconfident that the West is in decline and the Chinese political system, is better than America’s messy democracy, going to the extent of publishing, a white paper claiming China is more, democratic than the US. The second, worry is about China’s shift from collective leadership to individual rule, as in the days of Mao. Most worrying,, however, to the Japanese is the future, of Chinese growth. China is investing, reduced sums abroad including in the, BRI projects and is encouraging foreigners to invest more in China. With The author is a retired IAS officer of, 22 percent of their exports going to Haryana cadre. The views are strictly, China, the Japanese are clearly worried. his personal., , Battered by Covid, common folk crave for, a miracle budget, , Deepika Bhan, , f wishes were horses,, then ‘Nirmala would, lower all prices’. The, change in the original, proverb may seem contrived, but the thought is, not unwarranted, as it reflects, the sentiment of common folk, in the country today., The customary presentation of the Union Budget on, February 1 invariably raises, expectations that there may, be a cut here or there to help, people save money or earn, more., The Budget presentation is, all about big numbers, lots and, lots of money, multi-millionrupee projects and schemes,, and policy stipulations, but all, , that common folk care about, are announcements of relief, measures., These could be reductions in, prices of food, clothing, medicine, education, housing and, health, and above all, in taxes, and fuel rates. This is the basic, list of just about any family in, the country., Talk to any person and the, principal complaint is about, the ever-increasing prices of, the basic items required for, normal living. These include, basic food items -- vegetables,, fruits, grains, pulses, spices,, edible oil and milk; stationery and items of clothing;, and expenses on travel and, healthcare., Especially because of the, Covid surge, the per capita per-, , sonal expenditure on healthcare has increased multifold., Almost every family has seen a, rise in medical expenses, from, minor medical consultations to, major hospitalisations., Covid has altered the economic picture of households,, especially in middle-income, settings. Many spent their life, savings on the medical treatment of their near and dear, ones. When the Covid second, wave struck the country in, April-May 2021, a number of, families had to resort to external help and crowd-funding to, pay their hospital bills., The desperation for treatment, hospital beds, medicines, and even medical consultations has not been seen on, such a massive, heartbreaking, , scale in recent times., Covid exposed the huge, gaps in the country’s healthcare system and for some, time even created a sense of, hopelessness all around. The, suffering has affected common people gravely and they, desperately aspire for some, relief, either in the form of, tax cuts or a lowering of the, cost of the medical treatment, of Covid-19 and other chronic, major illnesses., Since 2014, the Centre has, increased the basic income-tax, exemption limit and 80C deduction, introduced standard, deduction and optional tax, slab rates. This has been helpful, but in the Covid-affected, environment, more needs to, be done. So, hopes for some, , relief are expected in the family units., Along with increased expenditure on health, the Covid, surge has also affected the, creation of new jobs. Hiring, is muted; in fact in the private, sector a significant number, of people have been laid off,, many have suffered salary, cuts, and many more have, either been not paid or are, poorly paid., The simmering frustration was lately manifested, when a train in Bihar was, set on fire by job aspirants., The Railways had received, about 1.25 crore applications, for 3,528 vacancies, and just, 7,05,446 candidates had been, shortlisted -- a mind-boggling, statistics. / IANS /, , Bird’seyeview, , Colossal resilience, perseverance shown in combating Covid-19, , E, Shri, Bandaru, Dattatraya, , xperts predicted, that the peak of, the third wave of, Covid-19 would, witness four lakh, daily cases. They, set January 23 as the time, when Covid-19 cases would, swell to the maximum but, the number didn’t cross the, mark of four lakh. Since then, the number of Covid-19 cases has been coming down., A little over 2.34 lakh cases, were reported in the last 24, hours, informed the Union, Ministry of Health and Family, Welfare on January 30. The, World Health Organization, (WHO) has not kept India in a, danger zone., When the second wave of, Covid-19 – April 30, 2021 –, , was at its peak, there were, 3.86 lakh new cases. Then, the proportion of fully vaccinated people was just two, per cent. Now, 75 per cent, of all adults are fully vaccinated. So far over 165.70, crore vaccine doses have been, administered under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive., Over four crore youngsters, in the age group of 15-18 have, been administered with the, first dose of the vaccine. On, an average, 60-70 lakh vaccine doses are administered, every 24 hours., As a result, the severity of, the third wave of Covid-19 is, much less. There is no need to, panic but to exercise precautions. One needs to stick to, Covid appropriate behaviour., , Wearing masks, use of sanitizer, social distancing, and, avoiding crowded places are, some of precautions we need, to take diligently to defeat Covid-19. Healthy diet and exercise are equally important., Since strong immunity helps, the body fight coronavirus, properly, one should avoid, junk food and opt for a healthy, diet. Equally important is the, need to make regular exercise, and yoga a part of our daily, routine., Thanks to the whole government approach of the Centre, and the States, and colossal, resilience and perseverance, of corona warriors from different walks of life – doctors,, paramedical staff, civil administration, NGOs, armed, , forces – helped India fight the, menace of Covid-19 valiantly., The fight continues but we will, decisively win the war against, Covid-19. It is the collective, confidence of the nation, and, a great example of solidarity, set before the world., In our sustained battle, against multiple socio-economic, mental and psychological repercussions of Covid-19,, the whole world also realized, our prowess as a nation to deal, with an unprecedented challenge like the coronavirus pandemic. From the use of technical platforms like CoWIN to, firming up the supply chain,, India has today become a hub, of hope for humanity in its, fight against Covid-19., We have effectively busted, , the myth that India is not too, strong and well-prepared to, withstand Covid-19 like shock., The leadership and vision of, Prime Minister Narendra, proved to the international, community that India is capable of rising to the occasion, with ease. India has been able, to handle the third wave of, Covid-19 so efficiently thanks, to our aggressive vaccination, drive., Every eligible person should, go for vaccination without fail, along with the booster dose,, which is being given to elderly, and others with comorbidities. It will also be a salute, to our corona warriors, who, braving odds and challenges,, are reaching every nook and, corner of the country to vac-, , cinate the people. Instead of, being discouraged by initial, resistance from the people, due to lack of awareness and, superstition, they overcame all, hurdles surmounted to keep, vaccination drive smoother, and flawless., Our seven vaccine makers, – Serum Institute of India,, Bharat Biotech, Dr Reddy’s, Laboratories, Zydus Cadila,, Biological E, Gennova Biopharma and Panacea Biotech, – also deserve the best of appreciation. They have proved, their leadership capabilities, at the world level. As on to, date, more than 12.84 crore, balance and unutilized vaccine doses are available with, States and UTs., The state of Haryana has, , emerged as a role model in, Covid-19 management and vaccination drive. So far almost, four crore doses of vaccines, have been administered to, protect the people from the, onslaught of Covid-19. With, each passing day, the pace, and scope of vaccination is, expanding marked by better, planning and streamlining, the vaccine supply chain. At, the same, nothing is being, left unturned to alleviate the, woes of all sections of society, caused by Covid-19. In a sentence, we are firmly dealing, with Covid-19 with an inclusive, approach!, The author is Governor,, Haryana
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Promoted by, Shree Cement Limited, , PERSPECTIVE, JAIPUR | MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022, , www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia, , FACTS & FACETS, A 360° VIEW, USHA SHARMA LEAVES DELHI, TO BECOME RAJASTHAN CS, , 04, , IN-DEPTH, , INCREDIBLE RAFA, STEALS A MARCH, OVER FEDERER &, NOVAK DJOKOVIC, , R, , RAKESH RANJAN, , The author is a senior journalist, & CEO, New Media Network, , I, Her appointment as the, new Chief Secretary, will signal that the, state administration is, back to the time-tested, principle of seniority in, the appointment of the, top civil servant, of the state, , t looks certain that Mrs Usha, Sharma, currently Union, Secretary of Youth Affairs at, the central government, may, become the next chief secretary of Rajasthan. She may, have a tenure as CS up to, June 2023 i.e. till retirement., Her repatriation from the, centre to the state was announced on Sunday., It is widely believed that in, addition to seniority and the, right political background,, Mrs Sharma shines on her, own as a clean and efficient, officer., It is after 10 years that she, is returning to her state cadre after serving at the Centre, from 21 May 2012., She will be the second woman Chief Secretary after Ms., Kushal Singh who was made, the first woman CS by the, then CM Ashok Gehlot during his second term as CM., First India had on December 26, 2021 reported that the, 1985-batch IAS officer and, Union Secretary (Youth Affairs) Ms. Usha Sharma could, be the obvious choice as the, next chief secretary of the, state for Rajasthan’s Gehlot, administration., , PEOPLE UP IN ARMS, OVER JAB MANDATE, , A native of Uttar Pradesh, Ms. Sharma is a Science, Graduate in Chemistry. She, joined IAS in 1985 and was allotted Tripura Cadre where, she served as Assistant Collector, Deputy Secretary, and, SDO till April 1989. Later she, was allotted Rajasthan cadre, and did her first stint in the, Municipal Administration in, Alwar (Rajasthan) beginning, July 01, 1989., She became District Collector and District Magistrate of Bundi District in, January 1994 and later became DM Ajmer in October, 1999 and served in Ajmer till, August 2001., In addition to her stint in, field/districts, (Bundi, &, Ajmer) she has a wide and varied experience in education,, power/energy, cooperative,, handloom & handicrafts, industries. In addition, she also, headed the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) as Commissioner during 2003-2004., Prior to moving to the Centre in May 2012, she had a long, stint in the state department, of Tourism and Culture., At the central government,, she started her career as, Joint Secretary. Initially, she, served as DG (Tourism) and, later as Additional Secretary, in the Ministry of Personnel,, Ministry of Culture (DG, Archaeological Survey of India), and finally Union Secretary for Youth Affairs., Her career witnessed, , C, , all it dread of vaccine or defiance,, resistance to the, jab at several places has been shocking. But nothing can be as, shocking as in Canada where, protests have grown to such, an extent that Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and his family were forced to move to “a, secret” location for their safety. The protesters are opposing mandatory Covid-19 vaccination for cross-border, truckers. Thousands of protesters, including truckers, and children, converged on, Parliament Hill to give the, protest dubbed Freedom Convoy a serious new turn., Thousands recently protested in France against the, proposed law that would allow those aged 16 and above, , She is said to have, remained out of the most, favoured list of NDA, administration, officials. Despite her, eligibility and being the, youngest officer in her, batch (1985), she was, made a full Secretary two, and half years after her, batchmates. She was, first empanelled for, holding Secretary, Equivalent posts at Centre, in May 2017, many ups and downs like, most of her colleagues., She is said to have remained out of the most favoured list of NDA administration officials. Despite her, eligibility and being the, youngest officer in her batch, (1985), she was made a full, Secretary two and half years, after her batchmates., She was first empanelled, for holding Secretary Equivalent posts at Centre in May, 2017 and only two and a half, years later in October 2019, empanelled for holding Secretary rank posts at Centre., It was only in February 2020, she got the full-fledged Secretary level posting as Union, Secretary for Youth Affairs., , Critics called it social, apartheid & “shameful” &, said it transgressed against, their freedom. Some, defiant protesters at a rally, shouted, “Vaccine passtotal resistance” at a time, when Omicron caseloads, were at a record high, access to restaurants, bars,, inter-regional transport or, leisure activities only after, they show proof of being, fully vaccinated. Critics, called it social apartheid and, “shameful” and said it transgressed against their freedom. Some defiant protesters, at a rally shouted, “Vaccine, pass-total resistance” at a, , Her appointment as the, new CS will signal that the, state administration is back, to the time-tested principle, of seniority in the appointment of the top civil servant, of the state after having, strayed from this path while, appointing Arya as the state’s, first ‘Dalit’ Chief Secretary, of the state in November 2020, in the hope of consolidating, his Dalit vote bank. That’s, the beauty of a democratic, framework of governance, and administration., Further, it is worth underlining that Ms Sharma as the, new head of the state bureaucracy may also signal a sort, of rapprochement between, the CM and state assembly, speaker CP Joshi whose kinship with Ms. Sharma is well, known., In June 2023 when Ms., Sharma may bid farewell to, her colleagues, opportunities, for the 1988-batch officer Subodh Agarwal may open up as, the age is on his side in addition to the skills all politicians love among their officers. His service tenure may, last till December 2025. In addition to Agarwal, there will, also be 1989 batch officers like, Ms. Shubhra Singh, Rohit Kumar Singh, and V Sriniwas, for consideration as CS candidates if the state administration for some reason desires to bypass Agarwal., , afael Nadal was expected to make tennis, history at Australian, Open and on Sunday, he lived up to those, expectations when he defeated, Russian Dimitri Medvedev in a, hard fought to win his 21st Grand, Slam title and become one of the, greatest tennis players in the, sport’s history. With this win, Rafa edged ahead of Roger, Federer and Novak Djokovic,, both with 20 titles each to demonstrate his tenacity and resilience., The injury prone Spaniard sailed, through the tournament without, any recurrence of his foot injury., After his semi-final win Rafa, had down played the statistical, advantage he now enjoys over his, closest rivals Djokovic and Federer. “In some ways it doesn’t matter if someone achieves one more, or less,” Rafa said. But it does put, Rafa on a high pedestal. What, was noticeable in Sunday’s final, was the absence of Djokovic who, will get a chance to catch up with, Rafa at next year’s Australian, Open to keep alive a great rivalry., , SPIRITUAL SPEAK, He who experiences the unity of, life sees his own Self in all, beings, and all beings in his own, Self, and looks on everything, with an impartial eye., —Bhagavad Gita, , TOP TWEETS, Piyush Goyal, @PiyushGoyal, , We do not have to forget the, cleanliness campaign, it is necessary to, accelerate the campaign against single, use plastic. The mantra of #Vocal4Local, is our responsibility, we have to work, wholeheartedly for the self-reliant India, campaign. With the efforts of all of us,, the country will reach new heights of, development: PM@NarendraModiji, Dharmendra Pradhan, @dpradhanbjp, , THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY, THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL, , time when Omicron caseloads were at a record high., This is the situation in almost all other major western, European countries. Austria, was also mulling to ban the unvaccinated from public venues, and in England Prime Minister, Boris Johnson “blasted the, mumbo-jumbo being spread on, social media” against vaccine., Countries are tightening, their no vaccine-no entry rules, and people are inconvenienced, because of their strict implementation. Rules did not allow, a pregnant New Zealand journalist to return to her home, country from Afghanistan due, to “a bottleneck of people” in, its Covid-19 quarantine system. A few weeks back Novak, Djokovic was sent back from, Melbourne for not having the, mandatory vaccination proof., , Full vaccination of over 75% of the, eligible adult population is a significant, feat in India’s fight against the, #Covid19.Congratulations IndiaFlag, of India on achieving this landmark., Together, we shall overcome., #IndiaFightsCorona, Vol 3 Issue No. 235, RNI NO. RAJENG/2019/77764., Printed and published by, Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of, First Express Publishers. Printed, at Bhaskar Printing Press, D.B., Corp Limited, Shivdaspura, Tonk, Road, Jaipur. Published at 304,, 3rd Floor, City Mall, Bhagwan Das, Road, C-Scheme, Jaipur-302001,, Rajasthan. Phone 0141-4920504., Editor-In-Chief: Jagdeesh Chandra., Editor: Anita Hada Sangwan, responsible for selection of news, under the PRB Act
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Editorial, , millenniumpost, NEW DELHI | MONDAY, 31 JANUARY, 2022, , It began in 1947, , EDITORIAL, Come clean, , A divide happened in India 75 years back, ending in untold blood- and heart-loss., Today, another divide is being created, with rifts and animosity growing each day, , T, , he revelation made by the New York Times that the, Indian government agreed to buy Pegasus spyware from Israel’s NSO group is startling and has, stoked a new political controversy in the country. Months back in July-August last year, a consortium of, 17 media organisations and a non-profit, Forbidden Stories, came out with names of thousands of individuals who, would have been possibly snooped in numerous countries, across the world. Names of many highly placed individuals in India including many Opposition leaders, journalists,, Constitutional authorities, civilians, a former Chief Justice, were also included in the list. But the issue goes far beyond, the political realm and involves complex strategic and Constitutional aspects that demand urgent discourse within, the country. The allegations leveled by the Opposition are, grave. In the first place, the Central government has been, alleged of misleading the Parliament — an institution held, so supreme within any democratic nation. As a place which, represents the views of the entire populace of the country,, the Parliament, needless to say, commands a high degree of, respect. A statement made in the Parliament is considered, a reference point of high credibility. Prominent ministers, in the government had clearly stated in the Parliament last, year that the government was not involved in purchase and, misuse of the spyware. The NYT report however completely, contradicts these statements. Either of the two will have to, be termed as correct and the other as wrong. Government’s, silence on the matter is indeed worrying — it is naïve as it, neither admits nor denies the charges. If the government, didn’t purchase the spyware, it should come out loud and, flag the NYT report as incoherent through citing authentic, records. National government can in no way be allowed to, be defamed if the charges made against it are untrue. The, question here goes much far beyond the images of political leaders; it is a blot on the national image of the country as a whole. The obvious course of action should be, to deny the allegations if those are incorrect, and punish, the culprits if the allegations are found true. And also, the, Pegasus issue is not just about presenting false facts or hiding information before the Parliament. The government, had even responded in negative to the Supreme Court’s, direct question regarding the use of Pegasus. The central issue, however, is the right to privacy of citizens. The, potential overreaches of the Pegasus spyware, to a certain, extent, exceed far beyond what is governed by the Indian, laws. The existing laws simply don’t appear to cover the, aspects of the technically sophisticated nature of the spyware. None of the crimes enlisted in the existing data laws,, and even the punishments, match the magnitude of espionage that Pegasus cand potentially carry out. As of now,, the legal framework of the country may not be updated, enough to deal with the issue. Furthermore, such intrusive, is the nature of surveillance made through Pegasus is that, the invader can see the phone’s location and even take control of its camera and microphone. The extensive nature of, the surveillance appears to have totally disrupted the balance between state’s prerogative of monitoring of demography and people’s right to privacy, and that too in a stealthy, manner. While the government has not made any response, until now, the NYT has also not come up with an attributed source or proper method of arriving at the conclusion., The newspaper, however, drew a link between the mutual, visits of the two leaders and India’s “support of Israel at the, UN’s Economic and Social Council to deny observer status, to a Palestinian human rights organisation.” Before considering what the government has to say in this regard, no, conclusion can be arrived at. But for that, the government, will have to respond in a timely and appropriate manner., Government’s silence could well be a question mark on its, accountability to the people. The government must act very, responsibly and cautiously in this matter., , T, RAJEEV NARAYAN, , As it oft, does, history, is repeating, itself; as are, our mistakes, of yesterday., Society is, again sporting, a veneer of, suspicion and the, surreptitious, with, today’s politicos, increasingly, pursuing very, personal, agendas. We, need to be very, careful, lest we, slide further into, the abyss, , DearEditor, , he Indian national, flag has four colors –, saffron, white, green, and the blue of the, Ashok Chakra, the colors of, togetherness we first unfurled, patriotically 75 years ago. Three, years after independence, we, had Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, embracing all that was new in a, free India, encompassing these, same four vociferous colors,, with members of every ‘Indian’, community partaking in the, opportunity to create a secular, Constitution. I shall delve on, this today, for we are changing, dramatically as a people and a, society. I grew up in India and, can myself see a sea-change in, my lifetime itself. And we are, changing more, for the worse., Today, 75 years later, the, hues and tone in India are getting scary. There is divisiveness, everywhere, with a motivated, and deviant section pushing, their own unscrupulous and, illegitimate agenda. It is just, not politicians, but even the, common brainwashed many, people who have changed –, a vagrant lot out to demolish, the very foundation of our, country, corrupting both the, susceptible and the impervious. We are turning into moral, cowards, victims perhaps of, the well-being and financial wellness that India found, three decades ago on the back, of bold economic reforms., Today, with that well-being, under threat, we are in an economic mess; a very visible one., For those that decide I am a, doomsayer, let me assure you, that I am being kind, for today, we are staring a dire tumult in, the face. Let me take you back, to where we started out from,, for that may give you a glimpse, into the scary times we are hurtling toward., Colors and society, For long now, we have been, equating society and religion, with colors. Ironically, these, colors that divide India today, are predominantly green, saffron, white and blue – the, same colors as our national, flag, which is a shining symbol of unity. We just celebrated, our Republic Day and publicly, rejoiced over the secularism, that is the bedrock of our society, but the on-ground reality is, that secularism is being ground, into the dust. It is a paradox, that secularism, multi-culturism and diversity are enshrined, , SHANTANU, MUKHARJ, , UNEMPLOYMENT FIASCO, , — ANTHONY HENRIQUES, MUMBAI via email, , millenniumpost.in, Log on to write letters to the editor or send them to, letter2editor.mp@gmail.com. You can also send your comments to The Editor,, Millennium Post, Pratap Bhawan, 5 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110 002, , in our Constitution; I say this, because what’s happening on, the ground is vastly different., Further, it is an irony and, absurdity that this latest societal whip is being wielded, today by those very people, who are supposed to rally us, against any disharmony and, divide – our political and religious leaders. Finally, it is a, startling contradiction that, the line between these two sections is thinning fast. As this, line thins, those with very suspect ideas and principles are, beginning to address the people from the pedestals of public office, with an official say on, matters that are deeply sensitive, thus distorting the very, fabric of society. In the process,, society is beginning to sport, a veneer of all that is suspect, and surreptitious, with politicos and other leaders increasingly pursuing very personal, agendas. We need to be careful, lest we slide some more, into this abyss., Remember, they are, attempting to do what many, others have tried to for centuries and failed – the Mughals, and the British being amongst, the most recent. India’s secularism has stood the test of, time despite all these attempts., What is really irksome is that, today, these attempted deathblows on our secular fabric are, coming from within, from our, very own., Unity in diversity, The first shining public display of India’s secularism was, witnessed at the 1948 Olympic, Games, held after a hiatus of 12, years due to the Second World, War. As was largely expected,, India went on to win the Gold, , Medal in hockey. Amongst, others, the Indian team was, powered by Kishan Lal, the, captain, Balbir Singh, who, scored the most number of, goals for India, Patrick Jensen,, also amongst the highest goalscorers, and Latif-ur-Rehman,, who was outstanding in his, gamesmanship. Also in the, team were Akhtar Hussain,, Leslie Claudius, Gerry Glackan, Reginald Rodrigues,, Amit Kumar, Trilochan Singh,, Jaswant Singh Rajput and Keshav Dutt. To rub salt into the, British wounds, the team from, newly-independent India, thrashed the English team at, their own home ground in, London 4-0., While talking sports,, let’s fast-forward to a game, invented by the British and, year 1983, when an inexperienced and underdog Indian, team lifted the Cricket World, Cup, beating England in the, semi-finals and defending, champions West Indies in, the finals. It was an Indian, miracle that was powered,, amongst others, by Kapil Dev,, Syed Kirmani, Roger Binny, and Balwinder Sandhu. Other, standout players in the team, were K Srikkanth, Madan Lal,, Mohinder Amarnath, Kirti, Azad and, of course, Sunil, Manohar Gavaskar. After lifting the cup, the team proudly, waved the Indian tricolor at the, Mecca of cricket, Lords. The, trophy was not won by Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs or Christians, nor was the flag waved, by them – it was unleashed by, very proud Indians., We glorious Indians, From glory in sports, let’s, move on to the gallantry of, , India’s armed forces, amongst, the largest in the world. The, highest Indian award for gallantry is the Param Vir Chakra,, which has so far been conferred upon 21 outstanding iron men in uniform. In, this list is Captain Vikram, Batra, who martyred himself as India threw the Pakistanis out of Kargil. Others in, the list include Flying Officer, Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, who, shot down two enemy aircraft, attacking India’s Srinagar Air, Base, and Lance Naik Albert, Ekka, who achieved martyrdom during the Indo-Pak war, of 1971. Then there is Company Quartermaster Hawaldar, Abdul Hamid, who received, the award for using his humble jeep-mounted weaponry, to destroy enemy tanks during the Indo-Pak war of 1965., Let’s move on from the, armed forces to the field of, entertainment, where the, highest honor is the Academy, Awards. For Indians, Oscars, have come few and far between,, but even here, the winners’ list, is telling. Bhanu Athaiya was, the first, followed by Resul, Pookutti, AR Rahman and, Gulzar. Who can forget Satyajit Ray, who was presented with, an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement?, If we move on to Indians, who have been featured on, the cover of ‘TIME’ magazine,, that list includes Shah Rukh, Khan, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and current Prime Minister Narendra, Modi., Our DNA fabric, Let’s go back in time to, when India was stitching, together its Constitution. This, , narayanrajeev2006@gmail.com, , Pakistan’s apparent efforts to garner foreign assistance for Afghanistan will remain, futile unless it takes resolute steps to alleviate the prevailing humanitarian crisis, , — KHOKAN DAS, KOLKATA via email, , Varun Gandhi seems to be the only BJP leader to show, some spine and acknowledge the problem of joblessness, in the nation. All others are predictably silent, afraid, to offend the PM. The election promises of crores of, jobs have largely been forgotten as the focus of the, government has been on other unimportant matters., Recent violence by the job aspirants who have been, shabbily treated is just a trailer of what could follow, if the problem of unemployment is not solved. The, expected demographic dividend could well turn into, an albatross round the nations neck. To make matters, worse, the wealth of the richest in the nation has been, increasing by leaps and bounds while those at the, bottom of the pyramid are left wondering from where, their next meal is coming!, , Inculcation of cultural diversity is possible through better understanding of reasons behind hatred, , was in itself a completely secular process, with 299 members, of the Constituent Assembly involved. Amongst them, were Dr BR Ambedkar, Dr, Rajendra Prasad, Jawaharlal, Nehru, Maulana Azad and, BN Rao. Collectively with the, other members, they decided, to cast aside divisive boundaries, including religion, and, blessed Indians with fundamental rights., I could go on, talking about, others like Govindan Gopalakrishnan, a Hindu who is, fondly called India’s ‘mosqueman’, having constructed 110, mosques for his Muslim brethren, apart from four churches, and a Hindu temple. On the, other side, we have an Indian, Muslim, HMG Basha from, Hoskote, who donated his personal land worth nearly Rs 1, crore for the construction of, a Hanuman temple. This was, because he found out that Hindus were having trouble offering prayers in a much smaller, previously-constructed temple., I am not even daring to, delve into the achievements, of people like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose,, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Maulana Azad, whose contributions have literally built and, nurtured our nation. Or others still like APJ Abdul Kalam,, Ratan Tata, Azim Premji, Nandan Nilekani and others, who, have sustained India through, their personal efforts., What triggered this line, of thought today? Well, I was, watching a program on social, media that captured this sentiment. This set me thinking; if a young Youtuber can, have enough compassion, and understanding to recognize our historical culture of, unity in diversity, what has gotten into the leaders of today,, some of whom openly spread, hatred and divide the country, on religious grounds? More, importantly, why are today’s, authorities not taking immediate and the strongest possible, action against them, both to, bring them to book and yank, the carpet from under the feet, of the many others who may, walk the same path? We all, know the answer, but few today, dare to walk that talk openly., The writer is a clinical analyst, and communications specialist., Views expressed are personal., , Crocodile tears?, , LOSS OF A LEGEND, With the death of former Indian hockey captain Charanjit, Singh this week, India has lost another member of the, golden period. The crafty midfielder belonged to an era, when hockey was one of the key sources of national pride, and the players were among the first heroes of postindependence India. In the last few years, many of those, stars such as Balbir Singh Dosanjh, Balbir Singh Junior, and Keshav Datt, have left us. Many of them are forgotten,, but Charanjit will always be remembered as one of the, key men responsible for India regaining its supremacy on, the hockey field. His absence in the final of the 1960 Rome, Olympics, due to an injury, was seen as one of the reasons, why India lost to its arch-rival Pakistan. But four years, later, Charanjit captained the Indian team that defeated, Pakistan to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics., While a lot more needs to be done to preserve the legacy of, these legends, it’s reassuring that India is coming back to, the top of world hockey. Coincidentally, India’s resurgence, has begun in the same city — Tokyo — where it reclaimed, its lost glory under Charanjit. The bronze at the Tokyo, Olympics last year has breathed fresh life into the dying, sport. We hope that this is just the beginning. And the, revival would be complete when India reaches the top of, the Olympic podium., , 7, , Chinese Foreign, Minister Wang, Wenbin hinted, that the country, will soon, recognise the, Taliban regime, , T, , here has never been a, diluting moment for, Afghanistan, especially in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover, some five months ago. Sadly,, the country is reeling under, a severe humanitarian crisis, with acute food shortages, threatening the sustainability of children and creating, an unprecedented economic, downslide without any signs of, improvement. But that’s hardly, surprising. Pakistan is a country that has been making maximum noise in an apparent bid, to draw global attention to, redress the problems in order, to prove to the Taliban regime, that it cares for it. However,, how genuine the shed tears, look is a bit dubious. Just to, remain at the centrestage, Pakistan has been crying hoarse, that Afghanistan needs a massive financial assistance but, at, the same time, little emphasis is given on the Taliban’s, leadership to rein in domestic, terror and improve the condition of women and children,, or for that matter, to end the, medieval excesses against the, women for non ‘compliance’, of Sharia. Pakistan had even, involved the OIC to bring, some help but was conspicuously silent on prioritising an, end to the ongoing oppression., Interestingly, Prime Minister Imran Khan (PMIK), came out with an impractical plan, far from being feasible, reiterating the call to the, international community (Jan, , There’s hardly been any focus on ending the woes of women and children in Afghanistan, 23) for helping Afghanistan, under the international doctrine of Responsibility to Protect (R2P). Through this plea,, the Pakistani PM wants the, global community to fulfil the, international commitments, towards the Afghan people., However, this has immediately, drawn a flak from within Pakistan itself. Former Pakistani, foreign ministry spokesperson and erstwhile High Commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, summarily dismissed PMIK’s, appeal saying that R2P has, nothing to do with the current, humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Insinuating the plans of, the PM, Basit strongly asserted, that people who are making, such interpretations are frivolous and dangerous. Meanwhile, knowledgeable quarters, say there is no international, norm on part of the Global, Centre for R2P that requires, the international community, , to provide help unless there is, an end to mass-level atrocities,, genocide, war crimes, ethnic, cleansing and crime against, humanity. But that’s not the, case with the current regime, in Afghanistan., In fact, the Taliban-led, Afghanistan government is, struggling to survive in the, absence of economic aid from, any quarter, and the future is, as grim as the present. Frustrated by this, the Afghan PM, Mohd Hassan Akhund called, upon (Jan 19) all the Muslim, countries to be among the, firsts to recognise Afghanistan in the wake of acute, humanitarian crisis the country is afflicted with. Even, worthwhile assistance from, the OIC doesn’t seem forthcoming. Interestingly again,, China has evinced renewed, interest through expressing its, willingness to maintain communication with the Taliban, , government in Kabul. Chinese, Foreign Minister Wang Wenbin also hinted that the country, will soon recognise the Taliban regime. Such overtures, and statements have come in, the past too, but in substantial, terms. There hasn’t been much, forward development, and the, status quo more or less remains, the same. In another related, development on Afghanistan,, for the first time since the Taliban took over on August 15,, a Taliban delegation has been, in Norway to press upon the, Western countries to rush aid, to Afghanistan for pulling it, out from the woods in the wake, of the worst economic situation, prevailing currently. Taliban, representative Shafiullah Azam, met delegates from the EU, the, UK, the US, France and Italy, for release of funds. However,, how much would it succeed is, a million-dollar question., In the beginning, it has, , been mentioned about Pakistan making hullabaloo over, humanitarian crisis, keeping, silence on acts of terror in, Afghanistan at the same time., The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in the meantime,, has stepped up terror activities in Pakistan. It’s linkages, with the Taliban radicals operating in Afghanistan are well, known. Emergence of ISIS(K), is another nightmare for Pakistan. There have been blasts, in Lahore’s crowded Anarkali, Bazaar; other parts of Afghanistan have also not been spared, with terror assaults. The nexus, between terrorists on both, sides of the borders needs, to be broken for the good of, all. Unless both the countries, provide an assurance of a terror-free region to the international community, all appeals, for humanitarian assistance,, including R2P, will fall on deaf, ears; such hollowed pleas are, unlikely to work. This would, be an exercise in futility. And,, shedding crocodile tears for, Afghanistan in the name of, bailout packages will be a mere, eye wash. The losers will be, ordinary Afghans, especially, the women and children, who, continue to suffer without any, fault. They are victims of the, Taliban’s terrorising acts. Is, PMIK listening?, The writer is a retired, IPS officer, a security, analyst and a former, National Security Advisor to, the PM of Mauritius. Views, expressed are personal
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power post, , MONDAY | JANUARY 31 | 2022 | BHUBANESWAR, , P6, , FOCUS IDEOLOGY, In order to see, you have to stop, being in the middle of the picture., SRI AUROBINDO, , Boris In the Dock, , I, , t goes to the credit of the British institution of democracy and the people’s awareness of their democratic right to criticise, without fear or favour,, the government of the day perceived to be indulging in wrongdoing., This is glaringly visible in the instance that two high level inquiries have, begun into alleged breaches of CoVID-19 lockdown rules on gatherings in, Downing Street - the Prime Minister’s residence-cum-office - for which, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in the dock. By contrast, it also shows Indian, democracy in a poor light as its democratic institutions, governments and, ruling parties repeatedly flouted and continue to flout CoVID-19 protocols, with impunity. The saddest part is that while Britain could put the searchlight on alleged wrongdoing when a miniscule number of people are believed, to have gathered violating rules of social distancing at Downing Street during CoVID pandemic, India has witnessed such gatherings by hundreds of, thousands in religious melas, elections and other political activities with the, stated and unstated approval of the government and independent constitutional, bodies. The powers that be did not even deign to take note of public criticism, of these actions, let alone order any probe., On the other hand, the probes instituted by the British Cabinet Office and, thereafter the Metropolitan Police Services may decide the future of Johnson’s, tenure as Prime Minister. The fears that a cover-up operation may be, mounted by Johnson and the findings of the probe watered down or doctored, are not ruled out. But, the fact that the Prime Minister can be subjected to, such public scrutiny under public and Opposition pressure for safeguarding the credibility of democratic institutions in Great Britain speaks volumes. Unfortunately, similar institutions are virtually in shambles in India, as recent experiences have shown. The fall of the Election Commission, seems to be the saddest., Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, who had earlier been, ambivalent about any probe, finally announced officers were looking into, “potential breaches of CoVID-19 regulations” in Downing Street since 2020., In fact, the investigation was launched after an internal inquiry led by civil, servant Sue Gray passed information to the force. The PM, who understandably enough, maintained he did not believe he had broken the law, all, the same welcomed the police probe which he asserted would clear the air., But, the police inquiry is being interpreted as both a ploy to delay the, publication of the report by Sue Gray and a confirmation of criminality, of the parties held by Johnson. For months, the British PM has been facing criticism for reports of staff parties in Downing Street, some attended, by him, when lockdown laws preventing the whole nation from holding birthday and other parties and gathering on social occasions were in force. The, PM has, however, apologised for attending a “bring your own booze” event, 20 May 2020, during the first lockdown, saying he thought it was a “work, event.” The Police Commissioner is still evasive about the number of parties being investigated by the force. Her statement that while breaches of, regulations can result in fixed penalty notices, the police inquiry did not, mean they would be issued “in every instance and to every person involved” does arouse suspicion about the real intent of the government. This, is nothing but prejudging the case before the investigation is complete. Moving, from conclusion to premise is a known tactic of whitewashing government, or ministerial guilt. This has prompted Labour deputy leader Angela, Rayner to renew calls for Johnson to resign and brand him as a “national, distraction.” Her argument that the police investigation itself points to “potential criminality” and “a truly damning reflection on our nation’s very, highest office” is not without substance. For, the terms of reference of the, Cabinet Office’s inquiry state if during the course of the work any evidence, emerges of behaviour that is potentially a criminal offence, the matter will, be referred to the police and the Cabinet Office’s work may be paused. The, moment the police announced its investigation the deputy Labour leader, had no hesitation in telling the nation the Prime Minister has no reason, to stay on., The report of the team led by senior civil servant Sue Gray, was expected, to be released last week, but that schedule got derailed when the Metropolitan, Police said they had opened an investigation into some of the events to assess whether criminal offences had been committed. Officials are working, on ways to publish Gray’s report without compromising the criminal investigation. But there are fears that the report may be watered down to save, Johnson. The publication of the report may also be delayed which will give, Johnson some elbow room to try and save his tenure. The police, however,, maintained it had received information it had requested from the Cabinet, Office to support its investigation. Assuring that the probe would be prompt, enough, the police claimed it had not delayed the Cabinet Office probe report since “the timing of its release is a matter for the Cabinet Office inquiry team.” The government’s stand is that since it is an independent investigation, the government is not privy to the details of the investigation, or any of its content., It could be a government subterfuge to appear to be innocent about the, two probes into what is now known as “partygate” scandal. This may help, Johnson claim not to have influenced the probes in any way should he be, cleared of the charges or let off with a minor penalty such as fine. But, what, stands out as an object lesson to democratically minded people across the, world is that Britain has at least the freedom to make anyone, no matter whether, he or she holds the highest public office, subject to investigation and face, the consequences for alleged wrongdoing. Here in India, it is an oft repeated, saying the “The law will take its own course” while, in reality, law on its own, can never decide on which path to adopt., , WISDOM CORNER, Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too, ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, late the one that is open., Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing, MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., for others?’, , THE COSTS OF CLOSED MINDS, T, Kaushik Basu, , ONE OF THE, MAIN REASONS, FOR THE, UNEVEN, RECOVERY HAS, MORE TO DO, WITH POLITICS, THAN, ECONOMICS, , needs to be interpreted carefully., Much of last year’s growth merely, reflected the depth of the pandemic-induced downturn of 2020,, as economies climbed back toward their earlier GDP level. In, 2020, Argentina’s economy contracted by 9.9% and India’s by, 7.3% – making them, along with, Mexico, the worst-performing, major economies that year., Usually, emerging market and, developing economies, helped by, their lower base, grow faster than, advanced economies. But, according to Global Economic, Prospects, the prognosis for EMDEs, through the end of 2023 is worse, than for advanced economies, because EMDEs have limited policy, space to provide additional support, and face greater risk of hard landings. Moreover, the pace of recovery is likely to vary significantly between countries. Once, the dust settles after the current, turmoil, therefore, there will most, probably be new winners and losers., One of the main reasons for, the uneven recovery has more to, do with politics than economics., , From advanced economies such as, the United States to EMDEs like, Brazil, support for aggressive nationalism has grown sharply in recent years. This is bound to play, a major role in determining how, these economies perform., While there are exceptions,, hyper-nationalism is usually disastrous for an economy in the long, run. This stands to reason, because strident nationalism leads, to bloated egos and blurry thinking. Countries in its grip try to, become self-sufficient by raising, barriers to trade, capital, and ideas, from elsewhere., A striking historical example is, Argentina, which was among the, world’s fastest-growing economies, during the early decades of the, twentieth century and was widely, expected to overtake the US. That, changed in 1930, when a military, coup resulted in the installation of, the hyper-nationalist Lieutenant, General José Félix Uriburu as, president. Tariffs subsequently, rose, together with barriers to immigration. Argentina’s open economy, now closed to the world, soon, stagnated, and the US surged, , The writer, a former, Chief Economist of the World, Bank and Chief Economic, Adviser to the Government of, India, is Professor of, Economics at Cornell, University and a non-resident, senior fellow at the Brookings, Institution., ©PROJECT SYNDICATE, , Time to focus on job-creation, I, , Shivaji Sarkar, THE, UNEMPLOYMENT, RATE ROSE TO A, FOUR-MONTH HIGH, TO 7.9 PER CENT IN, DECEMBER 2021, , t may be imperative on Finance, Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, to refocus the Union Budget, from possible populism, an election-time compulsion, to professionalism, creating jobs everywhere. The trigger should be two, different recent incidents, tragic and, problematic., One, a family of four from, Gujarat chasing ‘better’ jobs freezes, to death in the US. The other is, the growing protests over railway, jobs in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for, roughly 40,000 vacancies—a grim, reminder of the state of India’s, job market. Let not Bihar and UP, emerge as ticking social bombs for, the sheer size of the unemployed., The unemployment rate rose to, a four-month high to 7.9 per cent in, December 2021. It stood at 7 per, cent in November last year and 9.1, per cent in December 2020. But, jobs were shrinking even before, that in 2019 and earlier. The World, Bank says that India has the highest total unemployment rate at, 21.01 per cent for the 15-24 year-old, population., The NSSO’s 2017-18 data stress is, that actually the job situation is, grimmer. The overall rate of open, unemployment (as opposed to, under-employment or disguised, unemployment) had risen sharply, after 2011-12. That has been proven, in the NSSO numbers. The 2017-18, , WORDSWORTH, Rogue, et’s take first the basic meaning of rogue, an unprincipled or, dishonest man. This can be traced back to the sixteenth century, to, a thieves’ cant that invented a series of words for categories of villains., The rogue was said to belong to the Fourth Order of Canters and was a, beggar, idle vagrant or vagabond. By Shakespeare’s day it had become, well established in standard English with a meaning much as today’s,, and had already developed a playful sense as a term of mild reproach., It’s sometimes suggested that it was originally a Celtic word, and the, Breton rog, haughty, is put in evidence (though that word is probably, not the direct source, just its cousin); the related French word rogue is, also suggested as an possible origin. But such theories have been, superseded by a better understanding of the roots of cant. It seems it, comes from a slang term roger, a beggar who pretended to be a poor, university student in order to play on people’s feelings. This can be, traced to the Latin rogare, to ask (and so was said with a hard g, not, like the proper name). Now to the elephants. There is a specific sense, of rogue that refers to a solitary elephant that is savage or destructive., This can’t be the source of our word, since it’s only recorded in the, nineteenth century, long after rogue had become part of the language., The Oxford English Dictionary suggests this sense was actually based, on the existing meaning of rogue, perhaps influenced by the Sinhalese, hora or sora, a thief., , While there are exceptions, hyper-nationalism, is usually disastrous for an economy in the long, run. At a time when policymakers are, confronting an ongoing public-health crisis, and, in some cases the threat of violent turmoil, the, economies that succeed will be those whose, leaders keep a clear head, , ahead., The lesson seems even more, relevant today. In a globalised, world, with new ideas and research, emerging everywhere, countries, that succumb to nationalist solipsism and pull down their, economies’ and societies’ shutters will be anything but great., One of the remarkable achievements of post-independence India, was that its founding fathers and, early thinkers, like the first Prime, Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and, the author Rabindranath Tagore,, were passionate advocates of openness to the world of ideas. They, stood out, not just in India but, globally, for their commitment to, absorbing the best, from wherever it or they came, and to upholding a common human identity., I remember a friend of my father’s, who visited us regularly, and held forth on the need for, more strident nationalism. He, was critical of Indian thinkers, who, while opposing Western colonialism, argued that India must, keep its doors open to the best of, the West – in science, literature, and, philosophy. One day, angry at his, failure to persuade us, he thundered, “My motto is: the West does, not follow us, so we must not follow the West.”, I was in elementary school,, but even then, I could see that, his aggressive nationalism had, blurred his thinking into adopting a motto that contradicted itself. At a time when policymakers are confronting an ongoing, public-health crisis, and in some, cases the threat of violent turmoil,, countries that succumb to hypernationalism lay the foundations, of their own failure., , SPECTRUM UNION BUDGET, , The belief that one’s own view of reality is the only reality is the, PAUL WATZLAWICK, most dangerous of all delusions., , L, , his year began amid widespread despondency, about the resurgent, COVID-19 pandemic and, the struggling global economy, as, well as premonitions of heightened political conflict in Eastern, Europe, the Middle East, and even, the United States. True, there is, now some hope that the Omicron, variant may be the pandemic’s, last hurrah. But troubling questions remain about the economic, and political legacy of the crisis., The World Bank’s latest biannual, Global Economic Prospects report, released last week, points to, some possible answers. Produced, by a team of talented economists,, the report is one of the best summaries of the current outlook for, the world economy. And while the, report uses the diplomatic language of multilateral organisations, it nonetheless packs a powerful cautionary punch., For starters, the World Bank, forecasts that global economic, growth will slow to 4.1% in 2022,, from 5.5% last year. With debt burdens rising, supply-chain bottlenecks impeding the flow of goods, and services, and inflation picking, up, governments are losing the, capacity to provide further fiscal, support. The report warns that, the surge in debt caused by countries trying to soften the “pandemic-induced global recession”, means that several economies are, now “at high risk of debt distress.”, Some may need relief., The report also predicts that, energy prices, which surged in, the second half of 2021, will increase further – and by more than, the World Bank was projecting, six months ago., Finally, the report’s tables of, summary statistics contain a lot, of interesting information – in, par ticular, data on major, economies’ recent GDP growth, and forecasts for the next two, years. The fastest-g rowing, economies in 2021 were Argentina,, Turkey, and India, which expanded, by 10%, 9.5%, and 8.3%, respectively. But growth after a crash, , L, , etters, , TO THE EDITOR, Readers of Orissa POST, are most welcome to contribute letters, (200 words), articles and, columns (between 750-1250, words). Contributors are, requested to send their, contact numbers and full, postal address/email ID. They may also, send in their valuable comments, opinion, and suggestions, preferably by email,, to: edit@orissapost.com, , B-15, Rasulgarh Industrial Estate,, Bhubaneswar-751010, , unofficially leaked NSSO data revealed that the unemployment rate, was never over 2.6% between 197778 and 2011-12. But it had jumped, to 6.1 per cent in 2017-18. Now it, touches 9 plus per cent., The situation has been aggravating and the country is resorting, to welfarism. The Narendra Modi, government has shown enough, empathy with free food dole and, MGNREGA jobs to keep the people, afloat. Now it has to move beyond, welfarism doles so that the country takes a leap to better life. The, previous Budgets came up with, entrepreneurship, Skill India,, MUDRA and similar other schemes., These did not fulfill the objectives., Overall jobs remain scarce and, low paid. The Gujarati family was, apparently well off with a teacher’s, job and sundry other chores. It, could pay $ 2.5 lakh for their dream, travel through agents for illegal, entry to the US. What sparked them, like many Gujaratis and Punjabis, rushing to El Dorado may be the, flashy ‘lifestyle’., What triggered the crisis in Bihar, and UP is lack of jobs. Once private, sector jobs were considered wellpaid. The Seventh Pay Commission, changed that. Now for years the, corporates, including the IT sector, are not creating the required, number of jobs. And jobs fetch, lower wages and remain insecure., Interestingly, during Atal Behari, , Vajpayee’s NDA-I six crore jobs, were created. There is a change., Because of economic slowdown, during the past many years manufacturing has suffered. The index, for industrial production remains, at a low. Educational qualifications, have improved causing an aspirational problem. There were 70 million such persons in 2004-05 but, increased to 115.6 million by 201718. They are growing by about 5, million a year, according to Santosh, Mehrotra, Professor of Economics,, Centre for Labour. He says what is, most worrying is that manufacturing jobs actually fell in absolute, terms from 58.9 million in 2011-12, to 48.3 million in 2015-16, a whopping 10.6 million over a mere fouryear period., Indeed, the job strategy has to, change. An interesting aspect is, that because of the Modi government’s less interference in PSU operations, even in the difficult COVID, times 171 PSUs continued to have, good profits despite better salary, structure. This indicates that proper, salaries could be paid even during, crisis period and profits could be, sustained. It also calls for reviewing the PSU disinvestment policy., The world has seen the failure of the, global private sector for unethical, practices since 2007-08 Lehman, meltdowns., The Finance Minister may open, a new leaf. India has thrived with, , a mixed economy. The PSUs have, the capacity to start a competitive, economy that the private sector, abhors. No national economy can, thrive without competition within., Monopolised private or public sector would cause inbreeding, leading to poor performance. She has, to be innovative enough to help, create rural farm and non-farm, jobs that make the rural economy, viable and lifestyle attractive to, stem rural migration., Sitharaman has to observe global, practices, particularly sharp, Chinese economic policies,, European backlash against China, and possible escalation of Western, sanctions against Russia. These, would be important to create Indiacentric policies to increase jobs in, different sectors., Private sector also has a tendency to employ less and pay less., If jobs are to be a priority this policy has to be given up. The PSUs can, deliver here creating a situation, where private sector also would, have to pay just wages, may be to, their dislike. The FM has to have, sharp job-creation strategy to initiate the steps to boost urban, rural,, private and public employment., This helps India accelerate its, growth pace with larger participation of the population and become, the cynosure of the new world, economy., INFA, , Be wary of future variants, , End discrimination, , Sir, This refers to “Risk persists despite signs of plateau in India: WHO,”, Orissa POST, January 30. The WHO’s caution to India over plateauing of the, COVID cases is very appropriate, in fact, no country in the world is yet out of, woods. A weary world wonders whether there will be an end to the pandemic, this year. The misconceived optimism that the virus will be vanquished by vaccines in 2021 vanished amidst the assault of variants. The virus has surprised, us all with its adaptive ability to evade vaccines by springing new variants and, its agility in picking up speed of transmission as it moves to a new leg in that, relay race. Further, we recognise that the levels of immunity and susceptibility, vary across the world and the experience of the pandemic may differ among, countries over the course of the year, even if there is no new variant of concern. As far as India is concerned, we have some reasons to feel cautiously optimistic and some others to watch the future with concern. The optimism springs, from the fact that many who weathered the Delta storm and the large number, who have been fully vaccinated are likely to experience relatively mild, nonlife threatening illness, if infected. In contrast to this optimistic scenario,, there are potential threats that we must be wary of. A new variant may arise, within the country, in unvaccinated persons who experience severe and prolonged disease., N Sadhasiva Reddy, BANGALORE, , Sir, World Leprosy Day is observed January 30 every year, on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi to raise, awareness on the disease and call for an end to social, discrimination against people suffering from leprosy., This year the day was celebrated with the theme “United, for Dignity”. Each year around 200,000 new cases of, leprosy are reported globally. India is home to the, world’s highest number of leprosy patients. On an average, 57 people per 10 lakh population in India are diagnosed with the disease. Today an effective treatment, exists in the form of multidrug therapy, and with early, detection and treatment, the disease can be cured without complications. Many people across the globe continue to suffer from this curable disease due to a lack, of medical care. The day focuses mainly on creating awareness among the public about this ancient disease and, provides a platform for creating an inclusive society that, treats the afflicted with the respect they deserve., Krishna Kumar Vepakomma, HYDERABAD
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8, , TheOPINIONPAGE, , MONDAY, , 31.1.2022, JABALPUR, , ❝, , “It is health that is, real wealth and not pieces, of gold and silver., , ❞, , -MAHATMA GANDHI, , NO WRIT FOR RESERVATION, They are slaves who dare not be, In the right with two or three, , Lowell, , Nakshatra Uttarashadha 21H 57M, Moon Makar (Rajandekar Panchang), Paush Krishna Paksha Tithi Chaturdashi 14H 19M, Muslim Jamadilakhar 27th Hijree 1443, , I, , RANJI RELIEF, , NDIA’S domestic cricketers have heaved a huge sigh of relief, after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) spelt, out its plans to hold the Ranji Trophy in two phases from, February. The announcement has come as a lifeline to a, throngofcricketerswhoselivelihooddepends upondomestic matches. They were in a state of despair since March 2020, when the coronavirus halted sporting activities across the world., For the first time in 2021, the BCCI had to cancel its premier, tournament triggering a wave of despondency among hundreds, of cricketers who ply their trade on the circuit.The BCCI deserves, all compliments for finding a window, though staggered, for the, most-awaited domestic tournament., After losing one full year to the pandemic, domestic cricketers, had geared up for a restart in 2021 before the Delta and Omicron, variants of the virus barged in to stop play. It was a bodyblow, for the cricketers as Ranji Trophy meant a world for them and, the biggest opportunity to break into the national team or ‘A’, and ‘Emerging’ teams. The tournament assumes great importance in the Indian cricket ecosystem as it acts as the perfect, feeder line for the senior teams. Halting the tournament meant, putting many promising careers on hold for one full year., Already suffering a depressing phase due to cancellation of, Ranji Trophy in 2021, the domestic players would have been left, in the lurch had the tournament not been held in this season., The Ranji Trophy has a special place in a cricketer’s life. Not only, the players but a lot many other people are dependent on the, tournament. Scorers, umpires, statisticians, broadcasters and, also groundsmen make an integral part of the tournament as it, is the only source of income for many. All these things had made, it imperative for the BCCI to devise a plan to hold the tournament by adhering to the health protocols needed for a mass, event. The Board mandarins had worked overtime to find a window for the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) and it was, incumbent upon them to give deserving respect to red-ball cricket. Now that they have found dates for the Ranji Trophy, it is, their moral duty to see to it that the tournament is held at any, cost. The domestic players need it for survival., While congratulations are due for the BCCI for this decision,, the bosses need to remind themselves that they are patrons of, women’s cricket too.When all mechanism is working with alacrity, for IPL and Ranji Trophy, there is no word about holding a similar tournament for women. The eves are on the sidelines since, longwhen pandemicdisruptedtheircricketingschedule.Barring, a few limited overs games, there is no major tournament for the, women making them a pariah in the cricketing system.This reality should not be missed on M/s Sourav Ganguly and Co. even, as they rack their brains to fit in the IPL to a safe venue., For long, women have been meted secondary treatment in, the ecosystem despite being an affiliate of the BCCI. Hardly a, few get chance to play top leagues like the Big Bash in Australia., Even after much noise about starting women’s IPL, precious little has been done on that front. If a top sporting body like the, BCCI, too, indulges in gender bias, then it can have a debilitating effect on women’s cricket in the country., , They Said It..., , ■ There’s a bunch of reasons. I, do feel my recovery is taking, longer and considering my son, is three-yearsold, I do feel I, am putting, him at risk by, travelling so, much with, him., Unfortunately,, the pandemic, is making us take certain, decisions. Also, my body is, wearing down., SANIA MIRZA, 35-yr-old tennis star, announcing her retirement at end of, 2022 season., , ■ At a time when the entire, nation is marking the 125th, birth anniversary of Netaji, Subhas, Chandra Bose,, I am glad to, share that his, grand statue,, made of, granite, will, be installed at, India Gate., This would be a symbol of, India’s indebtedness to him…, NARENDRA MODI, Prime Minister, before unveiling the hologram statue, on January 23rd, Netaji’s birth, anniversary., , ■ A 69-year-old mistake started, through the wrong step of, nationalisation, of an airline, that actually, belonged to the, private sector, has been, corrected., Prime Minister, , Modi believes that Government, should not be there to do, business but rather create, environment to support, enterprises and businesses. This, transaction can only be, completed because of his vision, and guidance., JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA, Union Civil, Aviation Minister on Government, formally handing over Air India to the, Tata Group., , ■ Right now, all you think of is, how best to stay safe. Airports, have become hotspots for the, virus and with so many people, across the country getting, infected, I, couldn’t risk, sitting in a, flight in a, closed-doors, environment, and decided to, travel via road, for a cricket camp recently., MITHALI RAJ, Indian cricketer and, the Test and ODI captain of women’s, national cricket team on the, pandemic., , ■ Biden is treating the, American public like fools. Biden, is a damp socks puppet in, human form., ELON MUSK,, American, billionaire, slamming US, President Joe, Biden after the, latter left out the, name of Tesla in a, post that talked about the future of, electric vehicles in America. The US, President met with executives from, rival car companies General Motors, and Ford Motor, but not Tesla., , I, , CURRENT, , TRENDS IN LAW, By ADV. R. S. AGRAWAL, , ■, , The impugned, common judgement, and order passed by, the HC insofar as, directing the State, for 3% reservation, for sports persons, and/or provide for a, sports quota of 3% in, the Government, Medical/Dental, Colleges is, unsustainable and, the same deserves to, be quashed and set, aside. In case of, Medical/Dental, Colleges in the State, of Punjab, the same, has been quashed, and set aside by the, Supreme Court with, the observation that, no writ of, mandamus could, have been issued by, the High Court., , W, , N THE judgement of the case – The State, of Punjab v. Anshika Goyal and others,, delivered on January 25, 2022, Justices, M.R. Shah and B.V. Nagarathna, at the, Supreme Court, have quashed and set, aside the direction issued by the Punjab and, Haryana High Court, Chandigarh, to provide, for a sports quota of 3% in Government, Medical/Dental Colleges in the State of, Punjab with the observation that no such writ, of mandamus could have been issued by the, High Court., A bunch of writ petitions came to be filed, before the HC for the academic year 2019-20, challenging the notification for (i) not providing, reservation for sports persons, children/grand, children of terrorist affected persons and Sikh, riot affected persons insofar as the management quota seats in private institutes are concerned; and (ii) for providing 1% reservation, for sports persons insofar as the Government, Medical/Dental Colleges as well as the, private institutes, instead of 3% reservation, for sports persons., By the impugned judgement and order, the, HC has allowed the said writ petitions, directing the State Government to issue a fresh notification providing for one p.c. quota/reservation for children/grandchildren of terrorist, affected and Sikh riot-affected persons in all, private unaided non-minority Medical/Dental, Institutions in the State of Punjab. This reservation/quota shall apply to management quota seats as well., Dissatisfied and aggrieved State Government, has filed these appeals challenging the, impugned common judgement and order, passed by the HC in issuing the said direction,, particularly directing it to issue a fresh notification providing for reservation/quota for, sports persons, children and grand children, of terrorist affected and riot-affected Sikhs, persons in all private unaided non-minority, Medical Dental Institutions in the State and, directing to provide for a sports quota of 3%, (instead of 1% as fixed by the State Government), in Government Medical/Dental Colleges., As far as the HC’s direction to provide for 1%, reservation/quota for children and grand children of terrorist and riot affected Sikhs is concerned, according to the HC, the said issue has, , become academic, firstly on the ground that, the issue before the HC and even before the SC, was/is for the academic year 2019-20. Pursuant, to the to the interim order passed by the SC,, admissions for the year 2019-20 are already given as per the judgement of the HC except providing 3% per cent reservation/quota for sports, persons and applying 1% reservation., Secondly, the State has now already provided, the reservation/quota for sports persons and, children and grand children of the already, mentioned categories even with respect to, admissions in the private institutes for the academic year 2021-22. Therefore, the first issue,, whether the HC was right in issuing direction, to the State to issue a fresh notification providing for 1% reservation/quota has, become academic and therefore, the Court disposed of these appeals keeping the question, of law open., As the admissions were given for the academic year 2019-20, pursuant to the interim, order passed by the SC, it has directed that the, said admissions shall not be disturbed/ affected. However, the SC has observed that the, Court has not entered into and/or considered, any other dispute including whether the admissions were made on the basis of merit or not., If anybody has any individual grievance, in, that case, it will be open for the aggrieved person to take recourse to law., Applying the law laid down by the SC in its, decisions of the cases - Gulshan Prakash v. State, of Haryana-(2010) 1 SCC 477(para 27); C-MD, Central Bank of India v. Central Bank of India, SC/ST EmployeesWelfare Association –(2015), 12 SCC 308 (para 26); Suresh Chandra Gautam, v. State of UP – (2016) 11 SCC 113 (para 49);and, Mukesh Kumar v. State of Uttar Pradesh- (2020), 3 SCC 1 (paras 18 and 19) to the facts of this, case, the Supreme Court has been of the opinion that the HC has committed a grave error, in issuing a writ of mandamus and directing, the State Government to provide for 3% reservation/quota for sports persons instead of 1%, as provided by the State Government., A conscious policy decision was taken by, the State Government to provide for 1% reservation/quota for sports persons. A specific, order dated July 25, 2019 was also issued by, the State Government. Therefore, the HC has, , exceeded its jurisdiction while issuing a writ, of mandamus directing the State to provide a, particular percentage of reservation for sports, persons, namely, in the present case, 3% reservation instead of 1% provided by the State, Government, while exercising powers under, Article 226 of the Constitution of India., Therefore, the impugned common judgement, and order passed by the HC insofar as directing the State for 3% reservation for sports persons and/or provide for a sports quota of 3%, in the Government Medical /Dental Colleges, is unsustainable and the same deserves to be, quashed and set aside., For the academic year 2018-19, the State, Government issued notification of February, 6, 2018 for admission in Medical/Dental, Colleges. Clause 16 of the said notification, provided for admission to private institutes., However, it appears that 1% seats were reserved, for sports persons and the children and grand, children of terrorist affected persons so far as, the State quota seats in Government, Institutions are concerned, similar reservation, was not provided for admission to private, institutes even with respect to Government, Quota seats in the private institutes., By the impugned judgement and order, The, HC had directed to provide for reservation/quota to sports persons, children/grandchildren of terrorist affected and Sikh riot-affected persons for admissions in the private institutes and more particularly the management, quota in the private institutes. The HC had, also further directed to provide for 3% reservation/quota for sports persons in all, Government Medical/Dental Colleges., The SC has held that the first direction has, become academic, so it has disposed of these, appeals regarding the first direction, keeping, question of law open as to whether such a direction/writ of mandamus could have been issued., So far as the second direction issued by the, HC directing to provide for a sports quota of, 3% in the Government, Medical/Dental Colleges in the State of, Punjab is concerned, the same has been, quashed and set aside by the Supreme Court, with the observation that no writ of, mandamus could have been issued by the, High Court., , Not Russia, but US is invading Ukraine, , HILE major media in the, US,bothconservativeand, liberal, have everyone on, edge waiting for a Russian, “invasion” of Ukraine,, they ignore the reality that the US has, already “invaded” not just Ukraine but, numerous other countries in the region., The Biden White House revealed on, Monday that as many as 50,000 US troops,, along with warplanes, tanks, and missiles,, could be on their way to Eastern Europe, and announced on Tuesday morning that, 8,500 US troops are now on “high alert”, for deployment to the region., No mention was made with those, announcements, however, of the fact that, thousandsofUStroopsandplentyofoffensive US weapons are already stationed in, Eastern Europe, many positioned right, along the borders of the Russian, Federation., France, Denmark, and the Netherlands,, under pressure from the US and NATO,, have announced their own deployment of, troops and weapons to Eastern Europe., Poland,formerlyamemberoftheSovietledWarsaw Pact alliance, already has some, 5,000 US troops stationed within its borders, not to mention a host of US weapons, accompanying those deployments. A similar number of US troops and weapons are, stationed in the Baltic states of Lithuania,, Latvia, and Estonia. They have been staging and continue to stage manoeuvres, near the Russian border., US troops numbering at least in the, hundreds are stationed inside Ukraine,, around the city of Lvov, where they are, , said to be “advising” Ukrainian troops. that “there are no grounds to believe” that, Although it is known US troops are already Russia is preparing to invade imminentinside Ukraine, the number that could be ly. He said there are no signs that Russian, positioned in the eastern part of the coun- troops have formed what he called a “battry near the breakaway regions of Donetsk tle group” that could cross the border by, and Luhansk, populated mostly by ethnic force. “Don’t worry, sleep well,” he told, Russians, is unclear. Huge numbers of Ukrainians. “No need to have your bags, Ukrainian troops, many of them members packed.” MSNBC reporter Matt Bradley,, offascistorganisations,arealreadyengaged reporting form Kiev on Monday described, in periodic fighting along the borders of a city where everyone seemed to be going, the ethnically Russian regions., about their business as usual, shopping,, US military planes are flying inside going to school, and commuting to work., Ukraine, criss-crossing the skies over that He even noted that members of the pubcountry in a dangerous, lic thought that an invagame. Also flying in, sion from Russia would, BY JOHN WOJCIK, Ukrainian airspace and, not happen and that the, near Russian airspace, controversywasthefault, along the borders are US spy planes that of the US and NATO. That dispatch, at 9, listen to any and all military and other a.m. central on Monday, was the last one, ground communications. So far, those like that coming from Bradley. He has subplanes have picked up no indication that mitted no further reports regarding pubthe Russians are beginning a ground inva- lic reactions in Kiev., sion of Ukraine. The existence of the spy, While the US, through NATO, rails about, planes and the job they are doing were growing Russian “aggression,” it deflects, admitted to Monday even by the NewYork from the reality that it is the US that has and, Times, a consistent supporter of the war is increasing the number of troops almost, hysteria over Ukraine., everywhere in Eastern Europe, including in, In another warlike move, the United Ukraine. The US is trying to conceal that it, States, the UK, and Canada have ordered is building a huge potentially offensive milpersonnel out of their embassies in Kiev. itary force along Russia’s borders., The Ukrainian Government itself objectMeanwhile,so-called“democracy”advoed to this move, calling it“premature.”The cates are being called upon to support the, Ukrainians say there actually has been no warhysteria. GarryKasparov, theone-time, change in the security situation they are world chess champion and modern day, facing since Russian troops deployed on self-proclaimed democracy champion,, Russian territory along the border have criticised Biden in a television interview, been there since last April., on Tuesday morning, saying “It would be, In Parliament Monday, Ukrainian better if (US Secretary of State) Anthony, Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Blinken was President.”, , Blinken, of course, has been even more, hawkish than Biden during this crisis., Kasparov said the US should be sending, even more weapons than it has, and he, attacked Germany for being a “corrupt”, country due to its willingness to purchase, natural gas from Russia. Germany is dismantling its nuclear power plants and, using natural gas during its transition to, clean energy. It has been unwilling to close, off relations with Russia for this reason., As the war hawks continue beating the, drums, there must be a bigger than ever, push for diplomacy. Ukraine is a very corrupt entity run largely by anti-democratic and fascist forces. If the European Union, were to take its own pro-human rights, constitution seriously, Ukraine would not, qualifyformembershipinthegroup.NATO,, of course, has counted fascist regimes as, members before, such as António de, Oliveira Salazar’s dictatorship in Portugal., Itwasamongthemilitaryalliance’scharter members in 1949. Indications are that, Russia’s bottom line in this conflict is stopping Ukraine from joining NATO, and it, wants promises that the United States will, never place offensive military weapons on, its borders, particularly in Ukraine., Stationing such weapons there would cut, off any possibility of diplomacy and likely leave the Russians feeling they have no, choice but to intervene., If we were not dealing in the US with a, foreign policy establishment dominated, by the Pentagon and the dangerous military-industrial complex, there would be, more than enough grounds for pursuing, diplomacy rather than war., (IPA), , Every Man in his Humour Letters to the Editor, , Budget task, , Sir,, The Union Budget 2022-23 is all, set to be presented by the Union, Finance and Corporate Affairs, Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on, February 1, 2022 in paperless form., This is the 4th Budget of Prime, Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA, Government in its second tenure., A ‘Union Budget Mobile App’ was, also launched for hassle-free access, of Budget documents by Members, of Parliament (MPs) and the general public. On one hand,the ambition to become a $5 trillion economy by2025 and onthe anotherhand, the risk of another lockdown. The, Finance Ministry has a quite a task, to manage and deliver a pragmatic, budget. Shivakti Jaiswal, Ujjain, , NCC gives direction to youth, , Sir,, The NCC annual rally, which is the culmination of Republic Day celebrations, gained prominence this year with Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspecting the Guard of Honour and addressing the youth. Without much ado, the NCC has been carrying out changes to improve its appeal, to the youth, adding value to the nation in times of the pandemic crisis. Generally, NCC’s activities are visible during Republic Day parades. But not many are aware of the more important creative works this organisation can perform during various contingencies., It is a matter of great pride that with around 15 lakh cadets, NCC is the largest uniformed volunteer organisation in the world, which is committed to youth empowerment. The NCC also takes, pride in adding value to the disadvantaged sections of society and helps realise their aspirations,, contributing both towards equity and development, and inculcating the idea of India with unity, and diversity. For the burgeoning youth to get direction and create a disciplined young India, NCC, can well be the answer., The Prime Minister also recalled about his training in NCC and said the things he learned there, provided him with immense strength in delivering upon his responsibilities. This interaction with, the cadets boosted the morale of the youth in NCC., Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai, , Loss to kids, , Sir,, Schools are closed for last two, years, which is the longest time, in the history of India due the, COVID-19 pandemic. This has, resultedinmanystudentsunable, to recover from the psychological impact like frustration,, depression, anxiety and tension, whichhascreateddirectandserious impact on students’ learning ability and mental health., As per a report 8 per cent to 10, per cent children in villages have, access to online education,, while in many places up to 40, per cent students have dropped, out. This is worrying issue for, our nation., Bhagwan Thadani, Mumbai, , Readers please note the change in e-mail address. TheHitavada welcomes Middles (upto 550 words), letters for this page, and contributions to other sections, ATTENTION also by e-mail at: maindesk@thehitavada.com; editor@thehitavada.com. The editors may rephrase letters for clarity of thought and constraints of space.
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EDIT, , pg 6, , DECCAN CHRONICLE | HYDERABAD | MONDAY | 31 JANUARY 2022, , Subhani, 31 JANUARY 2022, , Meaningful debate critical,, beware of sabotage by govt, , P, , arliament meeting for progressively shorter durations than was previously the case, and even these short durations being disrupted on account of, volatile actions by Opposition parties and carefully calibrated actions by, ruling parties aimed to ensure Opposition members storm out and allow, governments to have their agenda cleared without any questions asked, have been, the bane of our parliamentary practice. We should keep this in mind when the, Budget Session commences today., In recent years, India has been called an “elected autocracy”, which means the, show of elections is maintained but in practice the ruling party steamrolls its way, through overwhelming numbers in Parliament. Even outside the forum of, Parliament, the government conducts itself in an overbearing manner. The best, that Opposition parties can do is to make the government accountable on the floor, of the House. The first thing which suggests itself is that no matter what the provocation from the Treasury benches, they will persist in asking the right questions., They owe this to those who elected them. Noisy protests and walkouts are fine and, may become unavoidable at times. People will understand. The proviso is that, they will understand if their elected representatives speak on their behalf and, bring their concerns to the attention of the nation., This is especially the case since the government would like nothing better than, to have the Opposition benches leave the House in, The government anger and protest. This should be uppermost in the, would like nothing minds of Opposition MPs and their parties. We are, better than to have living in a very different era from the Nehruvian, The Opposition was miniscule in size., the Opposition times., Governments were elected with a large majority., benches leave the But the government, especially in Nehru’s day,, House in protest. This encouraged the Opposition to play an important, should be uppermost part and this produced outstanding parliamentariwho were staunch opponents of the governin the minds of ans, ment. The Budget Session is the longest in the parOpposition MPs and liamentary calendar and arguably the most importheir parties. tant. The fundamentals of the government’s financial and economic policies are cleared in, Parliament. If the Opposition parties do not intervene effectively when this is, being done, when indeed will they do so?, At the present juncture, unemployment is at a record high and so is inflation., The rate of growth is at best a sobering datum. Two years of Covid have badly, retarded the economy. The World Bank’s assessment of the prospect in the next, two years is far from reassuring. The situation that confronts the finance minister, is thus daunting. This is a time for all parties, especially those in the Opposition, but also members on the Treasury benches, to contribute to meaningful debate., The template the present government has adopted to deal with the Opposition, produces points of friction all the time. Recent revelations on the Pegasus affair, made by New York Times are indeed damaging and contribute to the growing feeling in the country that the government has targeted political leaders, judges, the, media, business groups, and other key institutions of democracy. The Opposition, parties may be duty-bound to highlight this important issue. But whether this, should consume all the time of Parliament, as the last Winter Session had, is something to ponder., The Budget is to be presented on February 1 at a time when the country is in the, throes of important Assembly elections. Will it be populist? How will it tackle, unemployment, very high prices, shrinking private consumption, and declining, savings and investment rates? The Opposition parties must themselves be, accountable in order to oblige the government to be accountable., , Stop denigrating nation’s icons, , T, , he Congress has demanded that Madhya Pradesh higher education minister, Mohan Yadav apologise for the tweet in which he sought to ridicule, Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. According to the party, the, tweet that has since vanished, said “Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar, Vallabhbhai Patel were there in the parade of the Republic Day. Neither the country’s fake father nor the fake chacha were there”., The tweet is a reflection of the desperate attempts by the Sangh Parivar to create, a narrative that would give an impression that the Hindutva forces were part of, the freedom movement. Subhas Chandra Bose was president of the All-India, Congress Committee before he fell out with the then leadership, quit and formed, the Forward Bloc, which was nationalist, secular and socialist in nature. Sardar, Vallabhbhai Patel was a Congressman till the end. The Parivar is making every, attempt at appropriating these leaders, and its outcome is yet to be seen., The Mahatma and Pandit Nehru continue to remain a sore spot with the Indian, right wing for many reasons. The Parivar, even when underscoring the role of, Gandhiji in Indian history, would never agree to the title “Father of the Nation”, borne by him. There are even fans of Nathuram Godse, Bapu’s assassin, associated with the ruling dispensation. Yet despite the best efforts to dig up the story of, V.D. Savarkar, the finding of the Jivanlal Kapur commission that investigated the, conspiracy behind Gandhi’s assassination that “all these facts taken together were, destructive of any theory other than the conspiracy to murder by Savarkar and his, group” comes in the way of further venerating the Hindutva icon., The Sangh Parivar can exult in celebrating the unsung heroes of the Indian freedom movement and that would be welcome. But the tragedy is that it would have, none of its own to name when the future generations ask about its role. Attempts, to denigrate two greatest Indians are unlikely to be accepted as the answer., DECCAN CHRONICLE, KAUSHIK MITTER, Editor, , K. SUDHAKAR, Printer & Publisher, , DECCAN CHRONICLE offices are located at:, Hyderabad: 36, Sarojini Devi Road, Secunderabad - 500 003, Ph: 040-27803930-4; Fax : 040-27805256, Vijayawada: No.C-3 & 4 Patamata, Industrial Estate, Auto Nagar, Vijayawada (A.P.), Ph: 08662555284/2555287; Telefax: 0866-2555234, Visakhapatnam: Survey No.1/3A Beach Road, Near Kailasagiri Ropeway, Sector-9 MVP Colony,, Visakhapatnam - 530 017 (A.P), Ph: 0891-2552333/2552334; Fax: 0891-2755285, Rajahmundry: Vemagiri, Dhawaleswaram Rd, Rajahmundry, Ph: 0883-2417618/2417208; Telefax: 08832417208, Anantapur: Thapovan colony, Bangalore By-Pass Road, Anantapur - 515004, Ph: 08554-276903; Fax:, 08554-276904, Karimnagar: Survey No.1341, Vavilalapally Colony, Jagityala Road, Karimnagar - 505 001, Ph: 08782228908; Telefax: 0878-2220433, Nellore: Survey No.527/2, Burranpur Village, Venkatachalam (M), Chemmudugunta Panchayat, Nellore,, Ph: 0861-2348581/82; Telefax: 0861-2348580, Chennai: SP-3 Developed Plot, Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai - 600 032, Ph: 044-22254747/ 48/50/51;, Advt Fax: 22254765/22254766/42305325, Coimbatore: 77, Vivekananda Road, Ramnagar, Coimbatore - 641 009, Ph : 0422 2231255, Gram: CHRONICLE, Postal registration no: No. H/SD-348/2006-08, , Kishwar Desai, London Diary, , Partygate to be, watered down;, dating fraud the, newest menace, , A, , Opp. divide to make it easy, for govt in Budget Session, Parsa, Venkateshwar, Rao Jr, , I, , t seems unlikely at, the moment that the, Narendra Modi government has any, major legislative agenda, apart from the Finance, Bill 2022 in the Budget, Session of Parliament, that begins on Monday,, January 31, and whose, first phase will last till, February, 11., The, Economic Survey will be, laid before Parliament on, Monday itself, while, finance minister Nirmala, Sitharaman will present, the Union Budget 2022-23, on Tuesday. The second, phase of the session will, be from March 14 to, April 8., It is of course possible, that the government has, something up its sleeve,, and that it will put the, cards on the table as it, were only at the eleventh, hour. But it may not take, too many risks in the first, phase of the session, because of the Assembly, elections due in five states, —, Uttar, Pradesh,, Uttarakhand,, Punjab,, Goa, and Manipur — in, February-March. It may, well try to announce, some measures in the, Budget or bring in legislation to deal with sections, of the electorate in these, five states. Due to the, multi-phase polling, the, extent of the Election, Commission’s model code, of conduct will differ, and, the government will surely want to do something, electorally gainful in the, window that is available., The major policy instrument that the government has is the Budget,, and it could announce, measures for farmers and, address the unrest by, unemployed youth as it, exploded during the railway job examinations in, Bihar. There will just be, minor bills that come up,, but little of major controversy. It does appear that, in the last two Covid-hit, years, the government, had little room for anything else but to come up, with ameliorative mea-, , s sunshine finally creeps across the, London skies, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson is set to get lucky, again! While the Opposition has been, fuming over Partygate, it seems that he may, get away with a rap on the knuckles and a 100, pound fine for attending parties at number 10, Downing Street while the rest of country were, forbidden from doing so!, A lot of time in Parliament and on air has, been spent in discussing how many parties, there were actually at number 10 and who, attended. There was even an impromptu birthday party for the Prime Minister who turned, 50 during this period. But Johnson has always, managed to survive crisis upon crisis through, machinations no one can predict. It is difficult, to outwit him — and though he may have, become the first Prime Minister to face a vote, of no-confidence over parties he had either, allegedly known about or attended — the possibility looks increasingly remote. The, Metropolitan police has been hauled in to, investigate if there were any parties — or, indeed who organised them. Their “investigation”, however, comes after a report by a, senior civil servant — which is to be, announced shortly on the same matter., This means that much of the information in, , sures to deal with the, Covid-19 pandemic. As, the crisis has not yet, passed, the government, cannot hope to do anything really new and, innovative., The, President’s speech to the, joint, session, of, Parliament, which is the, government’s statement,, is likely to talk about the, successes achieved in, rolling out the vaccination programme, the free, rations that have been, announced for 80 crore, ration card households,, and various incentives, for different segments of, the economy., The all-party meeting, that the government customarily holds with the, Opposition parties and its, allies is unlikely to be, fruitful. The Opposition, will demand a discussion, on the Covid-19 situation,, on the controversial, Pegasus issue involving, Israeli spyware acquired, by the government, the, youth unrest over jobs., The, government, is, unlikely to yield any, ground on the Pegasus, issue as it is being probed, by a Supreme Courtappointed technical committee. The Congress is, likely to use an exhaustive New York Times, report about an IndiaIsraeli deal, which included, the, undisclosed, Pegasus spyware. But it, will not be sufficient to, cry foul and “treason”, as, Congress leader Rahul, Gandhi did at a press conference. There is a need, for some member to cull, the facts and build a, strong case against the, government’s secrecy in, the matter. It’s much, most likely the issue will, create a lot of predictable, heat and little of substance. There is likely to, be a furore in both Houses, on, the, issue., The, Opposition parties have, consistently failed to nail, the many omissions and, commissions of this government. All that they, display is fury and little, , the Sue Gray Report will be edited out if it, hampers the police investigation! And so the, Opposition can keep trying to get him out but, Boris isn’t budging. It is an old trick to get commissions and inquiries to look into controversial matters and it is the best way to kick, everything into the long grass., , O, , bsession can come in many forms — and, now Emma Raducanu, the champion, tennis player is facing it from an overfriendly fan who has become a stalker., Unemployed Amrit Magar expressed his affection not only from himself but also his wife, Bina and dog Logan towards Raducanu — and, while he decorated her porch with a Christmas, tree, none of it was welcomed by either the tennis player or her family. He even walked off, with a shoe he thought was hers as a souvenir., He now has a restraining order on him, and, the young player is keen to move into a new, house to avoid any further visits by him. Well,, not only does the stalker appear to be of Indian, origin, the judge, Sushil Kumar, who found, him guilty certainly was... yes, we know hundreds of Indian movies have been made where, the hero is a stalker, but no one thinks of it as, a sign of affection anymore. Magar has confessed he was ashamed of his own behaviour, , No question has, been raised by any, Opposition leader, on why the Indiamade Covaxin of, Hyderabad-based, Bharat Biotech has, failed to produce, the vaccine doses, needed in the, country..., , argument., As the first phase of the, Budget Session is quite, short, the Motion of, Thanks to the President’s, Address could take up, much of the time though, the presiding officers and, the government have, restricted it to a few days., This will most probably, end up in a slanging, match between the government, and, the, Opposition., Prime, Minister Narendra Modi, will use his reply to the, debate on the Motion of, Thanks in the two Houses, to talk about the government’s successes and dismiss the Opposition’s, charges, which could as, well be an indirect campaign speech for the elections to take place in the, five states in the following, weeks., In more ways than one,, the government is on safe, ground. The focus will be, on the Opposition. If the, Opposition parties can, chalk out a strategy of, cooperation, then it could, put pressure on the government, on, several, issues, especially during, the debate on the Motion, of, Thanks, to, the, President. Unfortunately,, the Opposition remains, divided, much to the, amusement, of, the, government., It is indeed the case that, the government is unwilling to yield time and, space to discuss issues, that the Opposition wants, to, raise,, but, the, Opposition most of the, time is flailing its hands, in the air. It should be, using the Comptroller, and Auditor-General’s, reports, though there are, not many of them, to, expose the government., For example, the CAG, report on the new Indian, Institutes of Technology,, which are failing on, every front, from infra-, , structure to enrolment to, research work, has not, been taken up by any of, the Opposition parties., The reputed British science journal, Nature, has, done a critical editorial, on the issue. No one in the, Opposition has paid, attention to the reality of, these so-called “unicorns” among the startups as much of it is market overvaluation. The, government is getting, away because there is not, an iota of diligence on the, part of the Opposition, parties, and they don’t do, their homework., In a press conference at, the Congress office in, New Delhi on January 19,, 2021,, Rahul, Gandhi, lamented: “Vipaksh ko, free and fair media ki, zaroorat, hai”, (The, Opposition needs a free, and fair media). But the, media needs substantial, stories and not rhetorical, hot air. When the BJP, was in Opposition, its, leaders used to dig out stories of corruption and, inefficiency, and hold, press, conferences., Though Mr Modi enjoys, huge support in sections, of the media, there are, others who are looking to, get real stuff about the, government’s exaggerated claims and even lies., The Opposition leaders, are not willing to dig out, the facts., An untapped story of, secrecy and wrongdoing, on the government’s part, is its much-hyped vaccination programme, its, procurement of vaccines, from various manufacturers. No question has, been raised by any, Opposition leader on why, the India-made Covaxin, of Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has failed to, produce the vaccine doses, needed in the country,, and why is it manufactured-in-India Covishield, of Pune’s Serum Institute, of India that has supplied, about 85 per cent of the, vaccine doses administered in the country., It is not surprising,, therefore,, that, the, Narendra Modi government can be assured of an, easy time in Parliament., The writer is a, Delhi-based, commentator and, analyst, , — but let’s hope he no longer behaves like, Hindi film heroes of days gone by..., , H, , aving shifted our home closer to the, city centre, I am always surprised at, the number of Indians who live and, work here. And Asians of all varieties. The, other day the friendly green grocer asked me, which country I was from — and then immediately said ‘Aap Hindi bol sakte hain?” Turns, out he is from Afghanistan and loves India —, a country he said had always supported, Afghanistan. He immediately offered to deliver the groceries whenever I wanted to our, home. I was impressed at how far reaching, Indian diplomacy can be! But good economic, sense must have prevailed on him, because as, I left he mumbled that home delivery was, only possible if the basic cost was more than, 20 pounds., , L, , ondon is now done with social distancing. And masks are increasingly becoming a rarity. This weekend the city is, back to its days of having fun in the sun, and, staycations with themes or short specially, curated experiential events are becoming, increasingly popular. These intense moments, include a few which I finding very tempting!, , LETTERS, , OFFLINE CLASSES, The state government’s, decision to reopen all educational institutions from, February 1 is creditable, but it does have its cons., Considering the health, status of people, it is not, completely safe to start, offline classes. Though the, online classes are resulting, in a bleak future for students, a healthy and safe, environment is important, for students., K. Lalitha, Hyderabad, , DO NOT REOPEN, Telangana should not reopen educational institutions as the, Omicron variant of Covid-19 is, spreading fast and the actual number of cases are several times more, than the officially reported ones, (Schools, colleges to reopen on Feb. 1, under Covid rules, DC, Jan. 30)., They can wait for a month when, things get clearer., Phani Marur, Hyderabad, , EMPLOYMENT, Congress leader Manish Tewari, has rightly expressed concerns, over the challenges on employment generation in Budget 2022., The pandemic has destroyed lives, and, unsettled, all, plans., Employment generation has been, seriously aggravated by the pandemic. The situation is very tricky,, it's a catch-22 situation on whether, it is a development tomorrow or, surviving today. The lopsided situation needs serious thinking, followed by sincere action., Balasubramaniam Pavani, Secunderabad, , Email your letters to, info@deccanmail.com,, editor@deccanmail.com., , 50, , YEARS AGO IN, , Pakistan quits, Commonwealth, , NEW DELHI, Jan 30., Pakistan, today, quit, the, Commonwealth after Britain,, Australia and New Zealand, informed it of their decision to, recognise the People’s Republic, of Bangla Desh., While Australia and New, Zealand notified that they would, announce their recognition of, Bangla Desh tomorrow, Britain, told the Islamabad Government it, proposed to recognise the new, republic ‘soon’., , Wouldn’t you love to attend a Regency ball, a la, Bridgerton? The serial by the way returns soon, with an Indian heroine at the centre of it... and, then of course we have yoga being taught, everywhere — especially out in the wilderness., , B, , ut while having fun in London a word of, caution — everyday the media is full of, women being duped by men they “met”, on a dating app — and even so-called smart, women are being ripped off — of their money, and their reputations. So swiping right might, not be the easiest thing in the world anymore., The pandemic probably made things worse, because many relationships remained online, for a long time — and allowed gullible women, to fall victim to swindlers, who rarely revealed, their identity. This seems to be among the, most common scams to hit the Internet. So, watch out!, Otherwise, head for London, which is back in, business!, Kishwar Desai is a prize-winning author, and her latest book is The Longest Kiss: The, Life And Times of Devika Rani. She is also the, chair of the trust that set up the world’s first, Partition Museum in Amritsar.
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THE AVENUE MAIL, Jamshedpur, , By S MahendraDev, , T, , How Musk's SpaceX rocket will deliver a crater on Moon on March 4, , O, , n March 4, Moon will get a fresh, crater thanks to a chunk of a SpaceX, rocket that blasted off seven years ago, and was abandoned in space after completing, its mission and is now on a collision course with, the lunar surface.A hefty chunk of a SpaceX, Falcon 9 rocket will crash into the far side of the, Moon (not visible from the Earth) in a fiery, explosion at about 8,000 kms per hour speed., It was US astronomer Bill Gray who, calculated the space junk's new collision course, with the Moon.According to ABC News, Gray, developed software that keeps tabs on objects, whizzing around inside our Solar System, along, with a troupe of observers around the world., They predict the spaceX junk will crash at, 11.25 a.m. AEDT (4.55 p.m. India time) on, March 4. The impact will be minor, according, to the scientists.The rocket was deployed in, 2015 to put into orbit a NASA satellite called, the Deep Space Climate Observatory, (DSCOVR).How did a 4-tonne piece of rocket, accidentally end up on track to smash on the, lunar surface?Once out of fuel, the first stage, typically falls back to Earth quickly.The Falcon, 9 engine that's currently en route to the Moon, has travelled much further than most other, satellite-delivering rockets.When the first stage, ran out of fuel, it dropped off and headed back, , to Earth."The second stage provided the extra, oomph needed to steer DSCOVR closer to its, operational spot. Its job done, the second stage, was jettisoned and left to tumble through space,, more than a million kilometres from Earth,", according to the report.In the seven years since,, the rocket stage has been affected by the Moon,, Sun and Earth's gravity, wrangling it in an, unpredictable orbit.Now, the SpaceX rocket, stage is set to crash into a 520km-wide crater, called Hertzsprung on the lunar surface.The, Moon has no atmosphere, so the stage won't, burn up on its way down., "Instead, it will smash straight into the rock, and scatter bits over the lunar surface," Jonathan, McDowell, an astrophysicist at Harvard, University, told Radio National."There's going, to be a huge spray of moon dust going many, miles into the sky above the Moon," McDowell, was quoted as saying.It's likely that other, objects abandoned in deep space have smashed, into the Moon too., , 4, , TN's smaller parties hope to make it, big in state urban local body polls, , How budget can generate, higher growth, jobs, he first advance estimates released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that, GDP in constant prices in FY 22 was 1.26 per cent higher than the pre-Covid year of FY20., In other words, India had a growth rate of 0.63 per cent per annum in the post-Covid period., Although the impact of Omicron is less on the economy, the loss of GDPin the last two years is high., Also note that the pre-Covid year FY20 had a low base with 4 per cent growth of GDP. Therefore,, the need to focus on higher growth in the forthcoming budget and in the medium term, that is, beyond, India@75, is obvious., There are several challenges in creating quantity and quality of jobs in the economy: (a), Unemployment rate is high in both rural and urban areas; (b) decline in work participation rates,, particularly for women; (c) recovery in employment is still below the levels of the pre-Covid period., According to CMIE, the employment in December 2021 was 2.9 million less compared to that of, 2019-20; (d) 85 per cent of the workforce is still in informal sector; (e) less than 5 per cent of India's, workforce has formal skill training; (f) manufacturing and services need structural change; (g) focus, on MSME sector is needed for higher employment., There is a need to have policies in the forthcoming budget and in the medium term for achieving, higher economic growth and jobs. Some of these policies are discussed below., First, the last budget has given a push to capital expenditure and infrastructure. This has to be, continued in the next budget and in the medium term. The government outlined an infrastructure, project pipeline worth more than Rs 102 lakh crore and asset monetisation pipeline of Rs 6 lakh crore, to be implemented in the medium term. Continuing focus on infrastructure and capex by the, government is important as it is a key driver for the "future of India". Of course, all these plans on, infrastructure depend on effective implementation and creating appropriate models of infrastructure, and also on generating the required finance., Second, it is well known that rise in exports is one of the main engines of growth and also important, for employment creation. Export growth in India has increased and is expected to reach $400 billion, by the end of FY22. One worrying aspect of India's export performance is the failure in expanding, the share of labour intensive products in the export basket. In the post-Covid situation, there are, several opportunities for India to occupy the space vacated by China to boost exports. However, one, problem in recent years is that India's trade policy has become more protectionist by increasing import, tariffs. India should also join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) for, integrating our industries with the value chains in Asia., Third, there is hardly any disagreement that India needs to aim at the larger growth of the, manufacturing sector for higher economic growth and creating more productive jobs. However, the, share of manufacturing in GDP and employment has hardly increased over time. Production Linked, Incentive (PLI) schemes can improve performance. However, more efforts are required to improve, the manufacturing sector. Similarly, there are a lot of opportunities for India in the service sector. The, top global service brands like Google, Airbnb, Amazon, LinkedIn, McKinsey, Master Card, Visa,, Fedex covering hospitality and consulting firms or food and beverages like Starbucks are from the, US. Brand and customer centricity are important here. India can also think of more business in the, service sector. Growing startups including unicorns in manufacturing and services is part of this effort., Fourth, banking reforms are important as bank credit growth is a key indicator of economic growth., In the immediate term, interest rates may rise in India and at the global level due to rise in inflation., This may increase the cost of capital. Credit to GDPratio in India is only around 55 per cent compared, to 100 per cent and 150 per cent in many other countries. Credit should flow to all categories of, economic agents like firms, households etc. It is true that bank credit growth increased to 9 per cent, in December 2021. But, NPAis still a problem for Scheduled Commercial banks (SCBs) and others., The macro stress tests for credit risk mentioned in the Financial Stability Report released by the RBI, "indicate that the gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio of SCBs may increase from 6.9 per cent, in September 2021 to 8.1 per cent by September 2022 under the baseline scenario and to 9.5 per cent, under a severe stress scenario. SCBs would, however, have sufficient capital, both at the aggregate, and individual levels, even under stress conditions". The bad bank, a key initiative of the last budget,, is yet to take shape. The role of fintech companies in the financial sector has increased significantly., They may not be able to replace banks although they are competing on payments. The banks also, have to focus now on ESG (environment, social and governance) while giving credit. Big technology, and digital push is also needed for banks.Lastly, the K-shaped recovery of the economy is still, continuing. A large part of the corporate sector has been able to manage the pandemic and the stock, market is doing well. On the other hand, the informal workers, including daily wage labourers,, migrants, MSMEs, the contact intensive sectors etc, have suffered a lot with the loss of incomes and, employment. The policies have to focus on giving a push to the MSME sector, increasing investment, in agriculture and rural infrastructure, a social sector push including bridging divides in health and, education, social protection measures like foodgrain distribution, cash transfers, MGNREGAin rural, areas, urban employment guarantee schemes etc. This will also create demand for the economy., On economic growth and jobs, we have to double our efforts to cover the losses and reach a normal, steady growth. The forthcoming budget and medium-term policies should focus on them. The goal, of achieving a $5 trillion dollar economy by 2024-25 may get delayed by one or two years. The, monetary policy is already very accommodative and this may not continue as there are headwinds, like rising inflation. In the near term, fiscal policy has to play an important role in achieving the, objectives of growth and jobs by expanding fiscal space while the fiscal deficit can be stabilised in, the medium term. Increase in private investment may take some more time., , Monday, January 31, 2022, , COMMENT, , By Arun Lakshman, , T, , he urban local body polls scheduled to, be held in February 2022 after a gap of, six years are an opportune time for the, fringe political parties of Tamil Nadu to prove, their mettle and acceptability among the general, public., The PattaliMakkalKatchi (PMK), the, powerful political party of the Vanniyar, community, has already announced that it would, be contesting these polls on its own or rather, without any proper political alliance. The party, which was part of the NDA alliance in the 2021, elections did not have that alliance during the, rural local body elections in nine districts of the, state and had then announced that it did not have, enough time to forge an alliance., The PMK won only 47 councillor seats in the, elections in which the DMK won 974 seats out, of the 1421 seats while the AIADMK got 212, seats. The Congress could get only 33 seats, while the BJP got 8 seats only proving the poor, representation that the national parties have in, Tamil Nadu., PMK leaders S. Ramadoss and his son and, former Union Minister, AnbumaniRamadoss, have already announced that they would, campaign extensively in the elections and would, prove that they are a major force to reckon with, in Tamil Nadu. The PMK which won 5 assembly, seats out of the 23 assembly seats it contested as, part of the alliance with the AIADMK however, walked out of the alliance in the October, elections for the rural local bodies., The PMK has also announced that it wants to, lead an alliance in Tamil Nadu sans both the, DMK and the AIADMK. Political analysts find, the dream of the PMK out of sync with reality., C. Rajeev, Director, Centre for Policy and, Development Studies, a thinktank based out of, Chennai, told IANS, "The PMK is aiming too, far too high. They have only a 3.8 percent vote, share in the 2021 assembly elections and that too, is in alliance with the AIADMK and riding the, wave of a 10.5% internal reservation for, Vanniyars within the OBC reservation. The, PMK fared poorly in rural local body polls and, in the urban local body elections also it will not, be different. The party seems to be far from, , reality and in politics, you have to have a decent, assessment of yourself before aiming for the, sky.", Matinee idol turned politician, Kamal Haasan, has announced the second list of candidates of, his party MakkalNeedhiMaiam (MNM) for, these elections. The MNM fared poorly in the, 2021 assembly elections and in the October, 2021 rural body elections. The party failed even, to get a single seat in the assembly or rural local, body elections and several senior leaders have, already quit the party. Kamal Haasan is however, optimistic that the party would do wonders in the, urban local body elections and it is contesting, the polls on its own., The Naam TamilarKatchi (NTK) of actor and, director turned politician, Seeman has also to, prove its worth as the party drew a blank in the, rural local body elections as well as in the, preceding assembly polls of 2021. Seeman with, his ultra-Tamil nationalism and his pro-Tamil, overtures is still not able to break the jinx of not, getting elected and he has also announced that, his party would contest alone., The two national parties, the Congress and the, BJP are playing second fiddle to the Dravidian, parties with the Congress in alliance with the, DMK and the BJP with the AIADMK. Both the, parties fared poorly in the assembly elections, and subsequent rural local body elections but are, aiming to make a dent in the urban local body, elections and win quite a number of seats., With the DMK firmly in the saddle and Stalin, becoming hugely popular with his pro-people, programmes, and with the absence of a popular, leader in the AIADMK leadership, it is almost a, cakewalk for the ruling front in the urban local, , body elections also. However political observers, said that the AIADMK as a political party has a, rich legacy and that it cannot be considered as an, easy pushover in the murky politics of Tamil, Nadu where Tamil nationalism and Tamil culture, rule the roost more than national or international, issues., The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra, Kazhagam (MDMK) of Vaiko is another, political party that is fading into oblivion if it, does not rework itself. The party is facing, difficulties due to the poor health of Vaiko and, his son DuraiVaiyapurai having entered the, mainstream of MDMK politics only recently, it, will take time before the party can rejuvenate, itself and push for a reckoning among the, public., Actor turned politician Vijayakanth had made, major strides in politics with his political party,, DesiyaMurpokkuDravidaKazhagam (DMDK), earlier in the 2011 assembly elections winning, 29 seats. Vijayakant became the leader of the, opposition in the assembly. However, after that,, the party did not fare well and was strong only in, certain pockets of the state. Vijayakanth is, tormented by health issues and his wife, Premalatha and brother-in-law L.K. Sudheesh, are in control of the party now. In, Kanniyakumari and Virudhunagar districts, the, party still has a say in some pockets but without, proper ideological backing and no proper, political alliance, the DMDK is fast entering into, political oblivion., Dr S. Uma Maheswari, a political analyst and, retired professor of a private college in Chennai,, told IANS, "The politics of Tamil Nadu revolve, around Dravidian politics. The fringe parties will, not have any role to play and the urban local, body polls will in no way differ from the rural, local body elections held in October 2021 and, the DMK led front will cruise along. The, AIADMK led front will give a fight but other, than that no other front can challenge the two, major Dravidian parties. There are no movie, stars also on the horizon to raise a challenge to, the two major Dravidian parties and the only, person who can now have a grand entry in Tamil, politics is superstar Vijay but the chances of him, jumping into the political arena of Tamil Nadu, are remote, at least for the time being.", , Ban on 100-yr old stage play raises questions in AP, By Narendra Puppala, , T, , he Andhra Pradesh government's ban on, 'Chintamani' a Telugu stage play that, has been around since 1920, has raised, the hackles of the art and culture fraternity in the, state. The play scripted by pre-independence era, social crusader Kallakuri Narayana Rao that, deals with the evils of prostitution, had, celebrated its hundredth anniversary only last, year., In normal times, the play is staged regularly, all year round at village and temple fairs, and, other social events, across Andhra Pradesh., While the play revolves around the central, character of Chintamani, a prostitute who attains, salvation through repentance, it is the character, of SubbiSetti, a Bania or merchant community, member who descends to abject poverty, is at the, centre of the current controversy., The state government's move to ban, 'Chintamani', had, come, following, representations from the Arya Vysya community, in Andhra Pradesh. The Telugu merchant, community, known as 'Banias' in north India, has, long been up in arms against the play in which, the character of SubbiSetty is portrayed in, extremely poor light., The ban order was issued on January 17,, following the latest attempt by the Arya Vysya, community, in the form of a memorandum, submitted to the state government about four, months ago. According to observers, the fact that, Endowments Department Minister Vellampalli, Srinivas, who also belongs to the community,, helped matters move at a fast pace., Predictably, the Arya Vysya community is, rejoicing over the ban on the play. Community, representatives have been expressing their, gratitude to the Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan, Reddy., "The depiction of 'SubbiSetti' in the play, is, very objectionable and humiliating. Showing, him as ugly, and using charcoal as makeup to, , darken his complexion, and making him the butt, of lewd jokes. It was intolerable to the Arya, Vysyas" said Ambica Krishna, a leading member, of the community, former legislator, and former, chairman of the AP Film Development, Corporation.The actual problem however does, not lie with the playwright or the original script, of 'Chintamani'., "The play was written by Kallakuri Narayana, Rao garu to highlight the evils of wrong, company, in this case, a prostitute. The language, used by the author in the original play has, nothing objectionable. But over the years, local, drama troupes began to modify the situations, and language of the play, in a bid to appeal to, mass sentiments. It is the fault of these actors, and local drama troupes who keep manipulating, the script and go overboard penning ribald, dialogues as per their whims and fancies to, attract more people." said Golla Narayana,, President of the Andhra Arts Academy, cultural, organisation that was set up to spread the fervour, of independence in British India., The last few days have seen several art and, culture organisations join hands to voice their, protest against the ban on 'Chintamani'. Their, argument is that the play is a reflection of the, social mores of the prevailing times when it was, originally written. The government's decision to, ban the play is being seen as too extreme a step., "If any part of the play is objectionable, or, someone is making changes to it, you can warn, , such people. But a blanket ban is untenable,, especially since the play gives us insights into, the social ills of its time" says S Anil Kumar,, Secretary, PrajaNatyaMandali, Andhra Pradesh, unit., He points out that in 2002, when the, community had sought a ban on the play, the, High Court had ruled in favour of the play after, going through the original script, However, the Arya Vysya community is firm, that a blanket ban on staging the play, is the only, solution. "It is impossible to monitor the plays, which are staged in villages, and even in bylanes, of towns and cities. We never know when and, where a play is being staged. It will need to be, videographed and then followed up, which is, impractical to implement. A ban is the ideal, solution," says Ambica Krishna., Meanwhile, concerns are being raised over the, possible precedents that the ban sets for, muzzling all kinds of creative expression in the, days to come., "Today the ban is because a community is, finding it objectionable. Tomorrow another, community might object to another play or it, could be that a political party finds fault with a, stage play. This decision to ban a play, leaves the, door open for future trouble." said G Narayana., Considering that the play survived several, attempts to get it banned over the years, the, urgency with which the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led, state government has banned the play by issuing, it through the general administration department, is raising eyebrows., Observers opine that the ban may be the ruling, party's ploy to garner favour of the community, which though relatively small in numbers, has, financial clout., While clarifying that the Arya Vysyas are well, within their rights to protest against the, caricaturing of their community, culture, champions are finding fault with the state, government for the arbitrarily disposing off a, very important issue., , Clash of 'bitter' enemies: Sidhu vs Majithia in Amritsar, By VIISHAL GULATI, , O, , nce close friends, they are now political, enemies. They are in fray from Amritsar, (East) that will witness a bitter but an, interesting 'do-or-die' battle in this Punjab, Assembly election.The poll fight has become a, clash of two titans -- sitting legislator and Congress, state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu versus Bikram, Singh Majithia, one of the most powerful, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders., Besides contesting from the Majitha, constituency, near Amritsar, where he is the sitting, legislator, Majithia, who is brother-in-law of SAD, President Sukhbir Badal, is also contesting from, Amritsar (East)., While announcing his candidature on, Wednesday, Badal said Majithia would contest, against Sidhu "to dismantle his arrogance"., The Sidhu-Majithia duo have had heated, exchanges on several occasions in the, Assembly.And Sidhu has been training guns, against Majithia over his alleged connections with, drug cartels., Booked under the Narcotic Drugs and, , Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act last month,, Majithia has been trying to secure protection from, arrest from the Supreme Court.Considered a, Congress stronghold, Amritsar (East), the seat that, came into being after 2012 delimitation, has, backed Sidhu and his namesake wife -- Navjot, Kaur.In 2017, the cricketer-turned-politician not, only defeated his BJP rival Rajesh Honey with a, big margin of over 42,000 votes but also played a, role of a game-changer for the party by winning 10, out of the 11 seats in Amritsar district, once the, citadel of the SAD-BJP combine.Coming in, support of her former cricketer husband, Navjot, Kaur said. "Get the bail first". She was responding, to the pitting of Majithia against Sidhu to make the, contest high voltage."I don't feel that there is any, arrogance in us. He can also contest from behind, the bars," Navjot Kaur, who represented Amritsar, (East) as the SAD-BJP combine candidate from, 2012-17, said, adding they consider 'no challenge', from the Akali Dal as Amritsar is their 'karmbhumi', (place of work) and they worked for their, constituents., Navjot Sidhu is a three-time Amritsar MP from, the BJP. In 2014 he "sacrificed" this seat for his, , 'guru' Arun Jaitley. Later he was adjusted in the, Rajya Sabha by the BJP but not finding a bigger, role in Punjab, he quit the party and resigned from, Parliament.Saying the political life of the former, cricketer is coming to an end, Badal told the media,, "Sidhu's arrogance will be his undoing. He has, been harping on his support among the masses., Now his support will be tested with 'Majha da sher', (warrior from Punjab's Majha region) taking him, on in his home constituency."He should get ready, to fight the brave SAD workers. We will break his, arrogance by ensuring he loses his security, deposit."Responding to Majithia's candidature, against the party chief, Congress legislator Raj, Kumar Verka, a vocal Dalit face, told IANS, "The, Akali Dal wanted Majithia to taste defeat at the, hands of Sidhu. The voters will teach him a lesson, on their own."Expressing gratitude to Badal for, , giving him the opportunity to contest from, Amritsar (East), an elated Majithia said: "Akalis, have a brave history of fighting to safeguard the, rights of Punjabis and protecting them from the, anti-Punjab elements like Sidhu."The younger, brother of former Union Food Processing Minister, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and brother-in-law of former, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal,, sitting legislator Majithia, who is the eye of storm, again, was summoned by Enforcement Directorate, in 2014 for investigating the money laundering link, in the Rs 6,000 crore international synthetic drugs, racket busted by the Punjab Police in 2013., In the latest drugs case, he got protection from, arrest from the Punjab and Haryana High Court till, January 28 in the case registered against him by the, Punjab Police in Mohali on December 20.He was, booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic, Substances (NDPS) Act, including Sections 25, (punishment for allowing premises), 27 (A), (whoever is financing any activities pertaining to, narcotic drugs) and 29 (party to a criminal, conspiracy to commit an offence)., Majithia, one of the most powerful Akali leaders,, is also facing allegations of having links with, , certain NRIs who have been accused of, international money laundering related to the, massive drugs racket.Responding to the recent, drug case against Majithia, SAD patriarch and fivetime Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said he, was apprehending such an action by the Congress, government.Daring the state Congress government, to arrest him, elderly Badal told the media that,, "The Congress governments have always tried to, weaken Punjab and the Akali Dal. Whenever I was, the chief minister, I never troubled any Congress, leader."Majithia, who is educated at the Lawrence, School in Sanawar in Himachal Pradesh, retained, the Majithia seat in 2017 with a margin of 22,884, votes, lower than a margin of 47,581 he had got in, 2012.He won this seat in 2007 too. His father, Sardar Satyajit Singh Majithia is a former Deputy, Defence Minister., In the 2017 Punjab Assembly elections, the, Congress had won an absolute majority by winning, 77 seats in the 117-member Punjab Assembly and, ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years., Punjab will go to the polls on February 20., (Vishal Gulati can be contacted at, vishal.g@ians.in)
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MYK, , ������� �����, , �������, , For TV, e-paper & news visit: www.live7tv.com, , ��, , Ranchi, Monday, 31 January, 2022, , ���������������, , ����������������������������������������������������������, , �������������������, ��������������������������, ���������������, �����������������������������, ������������������������������, K RAVEENDRAN, , T, , he Supreme Court was, expected to introduce some, clarity on the issue of reservation for promotion in jobs, for scheduled castes and tribes. In, fact, the Centre had specifically, requested the court to remove the, prevailing confusion in the issue. But, the court has not only failed to bring, about greater clarity, it has preferred to add to the confusion by, taking a non-committal approach., The court has taken the firm, stand that it cannot lay down any, yardstick to determine the adequacy, or inadequacy of representation to, SC-ST communities in matters of, promotion. The court pointed out, that it is neither legal nor proper for, the courts to issue directions or, advisory sermons to the executive in, respect of the 'sphere which is, exclusively within their domain, under the Constitution'., Determination of inadequate representation of SCs and STs in services, under a State is left to the discretion, of the State, as the determination, depends upon myriad factors which, this Court cannot envisage, the, judges further said., The court has taken cover from, the responsibility of laying down criteria for determining the inadequacy, of representation by saying it would, result in curtailing the discretion, given to the state governments. In, addition, the prevailing local conditions, which may require to be factored in, might not be uniform., The court's stand only highlights, the interplay of patently irreconcilable considerations that the issue of, reservation in promotions entails. It, raises certain fundamental issues, about the reservation policy, the sensitivities of which have prevented a, realistic look at the gamut of issues, involved. Reservation is a highly, emotive issue that defies straightforward approaches in which symbolism plays a greater role than its efficacy., The Constitution framers had, envisaged reservation as a means to, right age-old wrongs, but along the, way the means have become the end, itself, defeating the very purpose of, the policy. In certain cases, reservation has become not just a right, but, a privilege that tends to be abused,, particularly when it comes to promotion in jobs, where efficiency, must not be sacrificed in favour of, political expediency., There is no doubt that the dalits, have been victims of humiliating, social segregation and barbaric, social oppression, but it is also a fact, that a section, though small in size,, within the community has become, rich and turned exploiters themselves. This is where reservation as, a privilege comes into play and, defeats the very purpose of providing a safety net to the vulnerable., Despite their new found affluence,, even these people insist on reservation as a life-long privilege, which in, , all fairness constitutes an abuse of, the concept., But when one delves deep into, the matter, it becomes clearly evident that no fundamental change, can be brought about by reservation, or for that matter by any other provision of this kind in the actual, social-economic condition of dalits, and backward castes within the, framework of the existing system., The principal design of reservation, is solely to douse the raging flames, of wrath and resentment among, people, deprived and oppressed for, centuries, and thus to contain it, from flaring up further. That is, clearly a political solution, which has, not had any real impact on the overall life of the depressed classes., According to reports, approximately there are about one lakh, government jobs in the country, which are lying vacant under quota, for want of suitable candidates. The, truth is that the majority of common, population amongst the scheduled, castes-tribes and other backward, castes do not have such economicacademic status so as to apply for, these jobs. The reserved seats that, get filled are actually grabbed by the, relatively well-to-do among the community., It is a matter of deep concern, that even as the nation is celebrating, 75 years of independence, the educational status of the vulnerable, people continues to lag behind by, big gaps, with nearly 80 percent students from scheduled castes dropping out midway through their, school education. The 50 percent of, reserved seats for scheduled castes, and tribes in higher education, remain unfilled and 25 percent of, students who seek admission under, reservation leave their education in, the middle. This means quota by, itself is not the panacea to address, backwardness of these sections of, people and that is what muddles the, issue further., The court has taken the firm, stand that it cannot lay down any, yardstick to determine the adequacy, or inadequacy of representation to, SC-ST communities in matters of, promotion. The court pointed out, that it is neither legal nor proper for, the courts to issue directions or, advisory sermons to the executive in, respect of the 'sphere which is, exclusively within their domain, under the Constitution'., Determination of inadequate representation of SCs and STs in services, under a State is left to the discretion, of the State, as the determination, depends upon myriad factors which, this Court cannot envisage, the, judges further said., The court has taken cover from, the responsibility of laying down criteria for determining the inadequacy, of representation by saying it would, result in curtailing the discretion, given to the state governments. In, addition, the prevailing local conditions, which may require to be factored in, might not be uniform., , ��������������, , ����������������������������, �������������������������������, , �����������������������������, ���������������������������������, , DAVID CAVENDISH, , I, , n a speech in 1881, Wendell, Phillips, the famous abolitionist and Native American rights, activist, said that history is but, "a series of lies agreed upon.", The expression originated in, 18th century France, with both, Voltaire and Napoleon Bonaparte,, along with the American transcendentalist writer Ralph Waldo, Emerson, expressing versions of it., In truth, however, history is much, more than a series of "lies," but, these eminent figures highlight a, seamier side of our past., Demagogues and those in positions of power have often resorted to, such deceit in order to bend public, opinion in their favor and manipulate how people understand what, happened in the past. Three examples, among many, stand out: Adolf, Hitler in his rise to power, Donald, Trump after the 2020 presidential, election, and the U.S. government, leadership after World War II. The, results of such tactics have led to the, deaths of millions of people, war, and, a threat to democratic governance., After World War I, Germany was, a defeated nation whose people, faced severe problems, with runaway inflation, unemployment, and, massive debt, the result of the Treaty, of Versailles imposed by the victorious Allies., Demagogues like Hitler blamed, Germany's problems on "Jewish, bankers" and "Marxists," whom he, , said, "stabbed Germany in the back", during the conflict. The outcome of, his ranting resulted in the Holocaust, and World War II, with some of the, worst fighting taking place on the, Eastern Front-in the Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe., Currently, we are still living with, the aftermath and ongoing storm of, Donald Trump's "Big Lie." The former president claims that through, massive vote fraud his re-election, was "stolen" from him. So far, this, Big Lie has not brought the mass, death and destruction seen in the, 1930s and '40s, though one cannot, forget what happened during the, January 6th insurrection., The third of these "Big Lies", (though not labeled as such in the, United States) was the enunciation in, the years immediately after the conclusion of the Second World War of, the idea that Western democracy, was under existential threat from, the Soviet Union, a country it, claimed was run by communists out, to destroy "democracy" and the, American way of life. This policy had, profound effects on U.S. society and, the history of the world in the last, three-quarters of a century., The outcomes within our country, included the harassment of thousands of communists and other progressives, the destruction of the militant labor movement, the erosion of, human rights, the creation of the, national security state, and the, growth of extremist right-wing ideology as seen, for example, in the mil-, , itarization of society., The truth is that the Soviet Union, never called for armed struggle, against Western nations, but on the, contrary, followed a policy of peace, (at times called "peaceful cooperation" or "detente."), The words of its three most, prominent leaders after World War, II spell out this policy. Joseph Stalin,, immediately after the defeat of, Nazism, wrote in 1946: "[The] peoples [of the world]…no longer wish to, live in the old way. [They want to], carry on an active struggle against, the forces of reaction, against instigators of a new war. The peoples of, the world do not wish a repetition of, the calamities of war. They fight persistently for the strengthening of, peace and security. In the vanguard, of the struggle for peace and security marches the Soviet Union.", Thirteen years later, Nikita, Khrushchev reinforced this point,, writing, "It is quite often said in the, West that peaceful coexistence is, nothing but a tactical move of the, socialist, states., There is not a grain of truth in such, allegations. Our desire for peace and, peaceful coexistence is not prompted, by any time-serving or tactical considerations. It springs from the very, nature of socialist society….", Nearly two decades later, in a, time when detente was a real possibility, Leonid Brezhnev reiterated, the Soviet position: "We must fight, actively and persistently for peace, and detente…[with] a calm and clear, , ����������������������������, , ��������������������������������������������������, SUSHIL KUTTY, , O, ���������� ������������������������������������������������������������������, ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������, �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������, �������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������, �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ������������������������������������������������������������������������������, ���������������������������������������������������������, , confirmation of our course towards, detente and towards the development of good, mutually beneficial, relations with the United States.", As an added note, if the Soviet, Union was such an armed threat to, Western Europe, why did it wait six, years after the formation of NATO,, until 1955, to establish its own military alliance, the Warsaw Pact?, Three quotations do not make an, analysis of Soviet foreign policy of, course, but they do give us a sense of, its, essence., And though the USSR ceased to exist, 30 years ago, the United States continues its policies in the pursuit of, world hegemony. Now, instead of the, Soviet Union as the enemy in, Europe, it is Russia under Vladimir, Putin. President Biden and Secretary, of State Antony Blinken are following, the same old worn-out playbook, written in the 1940s. And as a cornerstone of its strategy, the U.S. government still relies on NATO., Yesterday it was Berlin, Bosnia,, and Afghanistan. Today it is Ukraine., Where will it be tomorrow?, NATO, an alliance founded in, 1949 on a lie-the "threat of a Soviet, military attack in Europe"-still persists in maintaining that lie. There is, no reason for the alliance (or any, military alliance) to exist in today's, world. The days of the Cold War are, long over., Let us face up to this "Big Lie.", It's time for the United States to, adjust its foreign policy to the reality, of the 21st century., , ne outlier media in the, republic is broadcasting its, intent-turn the cash and, gold haul from the innards, of perfume manufacturer, Piyush Jain's Kanpur-Kannauj homes, into a poll plank for the Uttar Pradesh, assembly elections; for, it is by far the, best current issue to battle it out for, the right to rule. It is 'Alibaba and the, 40 Thieves' and slave-girl Morgiana, to the rescue., The primetime anchor of the, channel is insistent and persistentsuggesting like a psychiatrist to the, subconscious that there cannot be a, more compelling issue. For the last, two nights, his is a solo vociferous, voice in the ear canal, demanding, that everything else be dropped and, everybody in Uttar Pradesh doggedly, pursuing the "cash in the tunnel", election issue., "I am going to open the phone, lines, I'm going to open the phone, lines," he tells the line-up of guests in, their little square boxes, the warning, that he is serious and not about to, relent., The story is, the ruling Bhartatiya, Janata Party-and the party's 'Doubleengine ki Sarkar' in Uttar Pradesh -is, in a fix. More than it wants an electoral plank, it does not want a couple, of other planks-one, the farmers, protests-Lakhimpur-Kheri-Teni issue;, two, the 'Hindu Vs. Hindutva' differentiation row., The farmers' protests were of, Prime Narendra Modi's making and, , Modi realizing rather late that he had, very less time to walk back from the, brink. The damage was done., Lakhimpur-Kheri happened and, 'Mishra-Teni' added to the BJP's, woes. Now, it's an issue simmering, and refusing to go away, come what, may., The second-the 'Hindu Versus, Hindutva' row-cleverly injected into, the political discourse and electoral, rhetoric by the politically-savvy 100plus-year-old Congress-has neutered, the BJP's aging Hindu-Muslim polarization plank., With an alternate definition for, 'Hindu'-inclusive and liberal-the BJP's, 'Hindutva' is with its back to the wall,, like a truant boy left to explain his, conduct., The farmers' protests and 'HinduHindutva' were potent issues against, the BJP, which found that it was losing the perception battle just when it, counted most. The two issues continue to pull the BJP out of contentionand threaten to drag it out of the, , competition altogether., The 'Dharam Sansad' in, Haridwar-and a second one at, Raipur-haven't helped. Now, there is, even reason to justify the 'Hindu terror' charge and the 'saffron terror', tag. Things were not going according, to plan and script. There is even talk, that the "Dharam Sansads" were a, plant to thwart the BJP, and that the, Congress was behind the carnivorous, plant., It is at such a time that the Piyush, Jain cash tunnel bore its way into the, narrative-succour for the Hindutva., "Forget Hindu, Hindutva; forget farmers' protests, forget Lakhimpur-Kheri,, all these pale in comparison-it's the, poor people's money, those behind, this should be banned from taking, part in elections, forever," the words, shouted at the top of the voice., If there was Alibaba, he would, have shouted "Open Seasame", but, there is no Alibaba. The "Challis, Chor", if they are indeed there, are, unknown-only the tunnels of cash and, , gold and "three names of politicians"!, But who? Nobody in Government is, talking and BJP spokespersons are, like mummies., The mystery helps-as does the, 'Alibaba and 40 Chor' narrative help, the BJP. It can now hunt with the, hounds. There are no hares. The, primetime anchor, gunning for the, Samajwadi Party, cannot wait for the, tunnels of cash and gold issue to dig, in, and take hold., Meanwhile, the tower-stacks of, cash stand like sentinels. If clueless, media are to be believed, the "40, thieves" are faceless politicians, three, of whose identities are being tightly, guarded because they would spill the, beans., Of course, there is no Alibaba., That is a fairytale. But there is the, Directorate General of GST, Intelligence (DGGI) and the biggest, seizure in over a lifetime-Rs 195, crore in cash, 23 kilograms of gold, and sandalwood oil worth Rs 6 crore., Whose man is Uttar Pradesh perfumer Piyush Jain? Is he an independent operator, a BJP lackey, or an, SP lashkar? There are in history, many collectors of perfume, but this, one's been elected to save somebody's, goose. Will the outlier media's, anchor-in-chief succeed in turning, tunnels of cash and gold into an election issue for BJP's sake? The answer, to that is, his 'Open Sesame' is out, there in the open. Finally, at the end, of the day, when everything fails, Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath, may only have 'Alibaba and his 40, thieves' to thank!
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4, mail us at >> desk@thegoan.net, log on to thegoan.net, , @thegoaneveryday, , Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday, , The Goan (Playstore), , Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday, , Monday January 31, 2022, , Acceptance of rejections, Either you run the day or the day runs you, Jim Rohn, , Pegasus probe, needs to hold, govt accountable, , T, , he latest report in the New York Times details India’s purchase of the secretive Pegasus cyber weapon during a trip, by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel in 2017 as, part of a Defence purchase deal., The cyber weapon that allegedly allows the user of the, technology to intrusively snoop on the targeted and closely track all, their personal activity on their mobile device, has been used by the, Indian government to spy on its own citizens including journalists,, activists, members of the opposition parties and has also reportedly, been used to plant fake evidence on dissidents to arrest them based, on �imsy charges., The NYT report, which in detail, has listed the nature of the deal, between India and Israel is yet another puncture into the plea by the, Modi government that has been avoiding any kind of scrutiny., If one will recall, the US President Richard Nixon was forced to resign a�er it was exposed that he was using CIA to snoop on his own, citizens including political rivals and othThe use of such warfare, er dissidents., has no place in a, What Modi has been doing, if the alledemocracy like India and gation and the evidence-based reporting, the need of the hour is, has suggested, constitutes acts that are, for accountability and, far worse in nature than what Nixon had, responsibility to be �xed, done., Based on the reporting and the research, done by Citizen Lab as well as their own research Facebook-owned, Whatsapp and Apple have both sued the Israel-based NSO group for, hacking into their users phones suggesting that the evidence that, Whatsapp and Apple have is compelling enough to suggest that the, allegations are true., Similarly, investigations have been launched by several western, governments into the use of Israeli-made cyber warfare to target the, devices of unsuspecting citizens., The need of the hour is for accountability and responsibility to be, �xed on those within the echelons of power that have bought and, used weapons of warfare on their own citizens., The use of such warfare has no place in a democracy like India and, while it has been known to be used by dictators and other autocratic, governments, the least we as a collective can do to reclaim our democracy is to hold those in power -- no matter how high the persons, responsible for this are placed., Just as US president Richard Nixon was made to resign -- something, that would be unheard of in any country that wasn’t a democracy -if India seeks to continue to claim itself as a democracy -- nothing, should be out of bounds for probing agencies., For now we have a SC-appointed probe committee that is looking, into the allegations of the probe even as a fresh petition has been, �led., The question that we are faced with is will India’s once robust democratic institutions live up to the job that they have been tasked with, or will they crumble to protect the reputations and image of those, currently occupying high o�ce that they are meant to hold to account. One hopes that it is the former., , OPEN SPACE >>, , Time for EC to change, the rules of the game, , E, , lection Commission of India is an autonomous body under Indian constitution. Since 1950 there have been changes in conducting election and, Goa was the �rst State to replace ballot papers by electronic voting machine., However there are no changes in rules and conduct for candidate to contest, elections. All government servants and PSU, central government sta� retire, by 58 to 60 years but there is no age bar to contest elections. There should, be some guidelines as to candidates’ quali�cation, age and other activities of, the contestant. EC should come out with some stringent rules for candidates., One should not be allowed to switch party for 5 years irrespective of losing or, winning elections, age should be upto 55 yrs to contest any election, and the, minimum quali�cation should be graduate., Modern technology can be used for voters instead of standing in a queue for, long hours to vote and save time and money on the election process., Not more than one person in the family should be given ticket to contest. With, such restrictions we can have free and fair elections so that voters and citizens, can elect their leaders. Today candidates have right to shi� from one party to, another several times but voters have to elect based on available candidates, or NOTA as option., Hence EC should have some rules to follow by candidates to give our country, a better future., RAJU RAMAMURTHY, Vasco, , Printed and Published by: Pramod Acharya on behalf of Fomento Media., Printed at: Elegant O�set Printers Pvt Ltd, Plot No 2/3/4, Thivim Industrial Estate,, Karaswada, Mapusa, Goa., Published at: Villa Flores da Silva, Erasmo Carvalho Street, PO Box 31, Margao 403 601, Goa., , For party-hoppers the best is yet to come as they are already at an, advantage with political parties only serving to be transitory stops, > The writer is a, resident of Margao, who strongly, desires to bring, about some, socially relevant, changes with his, musings, PACHU MENON, , A, , s the assembly elections draw closer, one is reminded of the idiosyncrasies, that seem to guide and drive the present style of campaigning favoured by many, of the contestants in the fray., This time though political parties have, been inconsequential to the aspirations of, the candidates contesting the elections, or, so it appears., Mi�ed at being overlooked by the, high-command for endorsement as party candidates, the frantic bid by those not, �nding favour with the ‘parent organization’ to secure ‘acceptance’ in other political, dispensations is what is making news these, days., With many appearing to have taken the, denial of party tickets as a personal affront, it is however the disdainful manner, in which they have accepted the ‘rejection’, that comes as a big surprise., For once it appears that leaders in the, state nurture a feeling that their stature has, outgrown their parties. A distinct feeling, that it is they and not their parties that matter in this round of elections is what is presumably keeping them in high spirits., Is it the availability of better and more, gainful ‘options’ which has brought about, such a turnabout in the electoral scenario in, the state this once?, Discovering that all his e�orts at securing, a nomination from his party have failed, the, rush to embrace another established political group in order to be declared as their, o�cial candidate to contest the elections, just about says everything for this deplorable practise that will now be a general trend, in future elections considering that a precedent has been set., The unethical practice exposes the political parties for their duplicity., Moreover, the ‘win at any cost’ agenda, subscribed to by almost all the parties contesting the elections has however ensured, the emergence of a new electoral pattern, where political parties have ceased to have, any relevance for the candidates contesting, the elections., However a feeling that political parties, will henceforth have no decisive role to play, in forming governments continues to play, on one’s mind. With those elected going, , THE INBOX >>, , Don’t let politicos take, you for a ride again, , The BJP-led Goa government, its �ve, years in power have been marked with, rampant corruption and non-ful�lment of, promises made to the common man., It had taken frequent U-turns on various, promises it had made to people, throwing the state into disarray. The people are, waiting to see at least some change now, as the election is fast approaching., Goans are fed up with scams, rising, unemployment, destroying natural, resources and widespread allegations of, corruption against BJP., It has failed to provide proper electricity, and water supply., The unprecedented incompetence, and lack of basic skills for governance, along with immaturity and apathy, have, wreaked havoc with the everyday lives of, hardworking Goans., When people keep voting for politicians, regardless of their tainted character, pathetic performance and with no credible, expectations to change, then political, leaders probably look upon voters as, fools., People should exercise their judgment, and elect candidates who will work, honestly, sincerely and remain enthusiastic enough to work in the welfare and, interest of public at large., K G VILOP, Chorao, , BJP must introspect, on its failures, , Goa election incharge Devendra Fadanvis is giving a wrong dose to Goans by, preaching like a Hindu bhatji. It’s ok for, him to do it in Maharashtra, but this cannot be accepted in Goa., Denial of the Panaji ticket to Utpal Parrikar is grave injustice to this clean, honest, and educated candidate., Can Fadnavis tell without twisting facts, what is the contribution of Joshua,, Divya, Janita, Kavlekar etc to get tickets?, , For once it, appears that, leaders in the, State nurture, a feeling that, their stature, has outgrown, their parties, , into a huddle to decide which party they, will join or align with a�er the elections,, ‘staking a claim’ to form governments, will henceforth be characterized by either, mass ‘migrations’ or ‘exoduses’., The 2017 government-formation �asco, and the ‘Congress-mukht-Goa’ tactics employed by the BJP under Pramod Sawant, to enhance its standing in the house is, bound to have its own rami�cations, and, it is more than evident now., It is rightfully the time of the ‘hopefuls’, rather than the parties they represent. At, least that is what the whole gamut of proceedings apparently implies!, Elections, as we know, are all about political competitions. Hence the relevance, of political parties to elections cannot be, summarily dismissed., Supposed to get together people with, the same political ideas, parties, by taking, part in elections, hope to get as many of, their members as possible into a representative body, like the parliament or the, assembly., But, with candidates not beyond equating political parties as the main gatekeepers enabling them to participate in, elections, the bene�ts of having political, parties as seen from any electorate’s point, of view for those contesting is however inconsequential these days., The present political scenario in the, state is moreover rife with tales of ‘sacri�ces’ and ‘betrayals’, as narrated by the, aspirants of course., Besides overlooking the ‘legacies’ of, trend-setters, endorsing e�orts at empowerment and autonomy of women and the, improvement of women’s political status, by acceding to the demand of party tickets, for the spouses of the sitting legislators;, parties have been mollycoddling their, �ocks to keep the herds together., The large number of aspirants taking, the ‘independent’ route is another testimony of the fact that parties no more matter in these elections., However, with so many ‘stalwarts’ and, , deserving candidates losing out to ‘imports’ from other parties, there does appear to be a de�nite plan in the making!, Considering that discontentment within the ranks has forced many strong contenders denied tickets by their respective, parties to slug it out ‘independently’, is, there a de�nite plan in these ‘denials’?, As things stand today, in every constituency the ruling dispensation has a ‘rebel’, who not only stands a good chance of winning but can also make a ghar-wapsi to, boost its tally a�er the results are declared., With its ‘appendages’ clinging loosely, onto other national parties, the Congress, too is not overly bothered about the desertion by its stalwarts. A�er all the return of, prodigals is not unheard of in politics!, If this is what is making the big two parties complacent about the mass quitting in, their camps, the electorate is in for a big, shock this time as well., Even otherwise, the new national out�ts from Delhi and Kolkata seem to be, ‘temporary abodes’ for the disgruntled elements in other parties with a prolonged, stay within their camps appearing to be, a distinct improbability considering the, mercenary attitude of many of the local, politicians today., Hence it can be stated very explicitly, that for the 2022 assembly elections contenders in the fray are already at an advantage with political parties only serving to, be transitory stops in between., “Your present situation is not your �nal, destination!”, As the allusion to the journey of life,, this quotation aptly sums up the present, galore of uncertainties that the state �nds, itself in, politically that is. Barring a few, die-hard loyalists in every party, most of, the others vying for an assembly seat has, made this citation a virtual maxim that, will eventually describe their post-election ‘manoeuvrings’., They move ahead with the �rm conviction that for them the best is yet to come, – a�er the elections though!, , I, , Vascoites need to vote for development, , Vasco-da-Gama happens to be one of the major cities of Goa., However while other cities have seen development in various, degrees, it must be said that Vasco has been lagging behind by, several years., There has hardly been any developmental work carried out in, the port town which deserves a mention. Barring two major projects carried out in the past several years including the clearing, of Baina of the red-light area and the completion of the highway, from Varnapuri to Sada, Vasco has barely seen any development., Several projects have either not commenced or are moving at, a snail’s pace. The Vasco �sh market project is gathering dust., The promised Kadamba bus stand has been at a standstill. The, new �re station in place of the one demolished �ve years back, has not been completed., Vasco happens to be one of the best planned cities. The, Swatantra Path happens to be one of the best promenades in, Goa. However Vasco faces a plethora of problems including lack, of parking space, encroachment, roads that need hot-mixing,, etc. During the coming elections Vascoites need to vote for development as the city has to regain its past glory., ADELMO FERNANDES, Vasco, , And why is he backing the Monserrate, family?, It is sad that BJP is no longer the same, party and now is ready to accommodate, corrupt, criminal and rejected candidates. All work done by Manohar Parrikar for the BJP is a waste., , Candidates who are contesting the, elections are visiting the voters these, days with colorful brochures, calendars, etc. The only thing they assure is development in the constituency. Not one of, them talks about corruption., Corruption is rampant in the State in education, employment, in posting of police, at check points, in procurement of equipment and materials, in awarding con-, , Editor: Joel Afonso (Responsible for selection of News under PRB Act)., All Rights Reserved., Editorial O�ce: Third Floor, Fourth Estate (Kamat Metropolis), St Inez, Panaji 403 001, Goa., Ph: (0832) 240 5950 or mail us at editor@thegoan.net, , RODNEY DE SOUZA, Assagao, , Hold BJP accountable, for false promises, , When the BJP was in Opposition, they, kept targeting Congress as being involved, in mining scam running into thousands of, crores and promised to jail those involved, within 6 months of BJP coming into, power...this was about 10 years ago! Did, anything happen?, BJP instead took in many corrupt Congressmen and for one they recently, announced a lifetime Cabinet Status. The, other 2 major planks they fought in the, 2012 election were on casinos and zero, tolerance to corruption. Today, we know, how BJP has failed miserably., Should we not hold them accountable for, all these false promises and give them, the appropriate message in the coming, elections?, ARWIN MESQUITA, Colva, , Vote for clean candidates, , VIKAS SAWKAR, via email, , Question candidates, on corruption, , tracts of works, in licensing and approval, of business units, housing projects etc., It is time that we asked the candidates, about their stand on corruption since, corruption starts from the top. We need, a government with zero tolerance to, corruption., , Send your, letters to us, at editor@, thegoan.net., Letters must, be 150-200, words and, mention the, writer’s name, and location, , Elections are round the corner and political parties are busy wooing the voter with, di�erent schemes and policies., This time Goans have a choice but should, ensure that votes are not divided which, will allow BJP to come to power again., We should vote wisely if we don’t want, scams. We need to elect clean candidates, who will work for the welfare of Goans., We have seen how jobs in GMC and, health department have gone to people, from Valpoi and Sanquelim. Jobs are also, given only to BJP karyakartas., This is not injustice to others? Are other, youth not quali�ed? Goans should think, and vote accordingly., DIOMEDES, PEREIRA, Corlim, , Disclaimer: Except for the editorials above, all columns and letters represent the views of the, concerned authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of The Goan Everyday’s Editor,, Publisher and Owners., For circulation issues, please call (0832) 2450000 or mail: circulation@thegoan.net, For advertising related queries, please call: 2405988 or mail: advertising@thegoan.net
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New Delhi, Monday, 31 J anuary, 2022, , EDITORIAL, , Letters to the : Covid shadow, on Beijing Winter Olympics, , Sir — Public safety must be paramount. Less than, two weeks before the Winter Olympics are, scheduled to begin in Beijing, China has seen an, uptick in confirmed Covid-19 infections, with at, least 23 Games-related personnel testing positive., Although the figures are much lower than most, other countries, this will likely change when, athletes from around the world arrive in China. In, spite of stringent safety measures, several athletes, and staff tested positive during the Summer, Olympics in Tokyo last year. The authorities must, ensure that all safety protocols are maintained so, that the number of infections does not spiral out of, control., Sir — It was shocking to learn that around 1.3, million people lost their lives to superbugs, because of antimicrobial resistance (“Danger, ahead”, Jan 26). Furthermore, the Interagency, Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance, estimates that drug-resistant fatalities could reach, 10 million globally per year by 2050. These are, alarming numbers. The primary source of AMR, has been identified as the overuse of antibiotics;, Indians are guilty of indiscriminate selfmedication. There is also an urgent need to fasttrack research on antibiotics which has remained, stagnant for the last few decades. Unless we take, immediate steps to rectify the problem, many lives, will be lost to preventable diseases. Sir — People, who have grown up in households with medical, professionals have always known that antibiotics, should not be used at the drop of a hat. But many, people self-medicate when they catch a cold and, use antibiotics. The repercussions of the misuse of, life-saving drugs are now right before us. The, rising threat of superbugs must be taken seriously., Sir — There is no doubt that the growth of the Indian, economy now resembles the K-curve and not V as, the Centre would like to believe (“Fall and rise”,, Jan 27). There is plenty of data to confirm that the, rich have only become richer in the last few years, while the poor have been pushed further into debt., Last year’s budget was lacking in several aspects., It remains to be seen what the finance minister,, Nirmala Sitharaman, unveils in this year’s budget., Sir — The squad selection for the Indian men’s, cricket team, which is set to play against West, Indies in a series of limited-over matches next, month, leaves room for improvement. As, expected, most of the top players have been, included in the team. However, it may have been, wise to rest K.L. Rahul and Rishabh Pant for the, time being and instead select young, upcoming, players. Both Rahul and Pant have performed, inconsistently at the recently-concluded South, Africa tour and should have been given time to, reflect on their shortcomings. Sir — The Indian, cricket team’s performance in South Africa, showed that there are numerous problems, plaguing the Men in Blue. In such a situation,, playing back-to-back series, without an adequate, break in between, is inadvisable. It is imperative, that the Board of Control for Cricket in India, thoroughly evaluates each player on the roster., They must earn their place on the team. Sir — The, picture of a library tweeted by the author, Don, Winslow, has drawn admiration from all quarters, (“Book Warmth”, Jan 25). It is ironic that we fawn, over the sight of libraries filled with books but opt, for a quick search on the internet when we need, any information. The internet, with its plethora of, resources, is certainly necessary and convenient, but the knowledge gained by spending hours, reading a book is irreplaceable. Ashok Kumar, Ghosh, Calcutta In remembrance Sir — Every, year, on., , THE SIKH TIMES, , 6, , Cerebral pleasure, Puzzling with words, All of us have experienced the delightful pleasure that, comes from solving puzzles, whether these be, crosswords, jigsaw-puzzles, riddles, Sudoku or a, myriad others. Solving puzzles, we are told, satisfies, the nimble brain and helps keep our mental faculties in, good working order. They also serve the function of, making us better at a whole host of other activities,, including finding solutions to the real-world problems, that we are confronted with on a daily basis. There is, evidence that puzzle-solving has taken on greater, importance during the ongoing pandemic, since, puzzles allow a certain kind of neat closure that has, become even more necessary for us to experience at a, time when uncertainty seems to be the ruling motif of, our lives. The pleasure of solving a puzzle, that ‘Aha!’, moment when you get the right answer, reinforces a, whole host of mental functions, which benefit us in, ways that scientists are still exploring. People, exhibiting the first signs of a diminution of their mental, faculties are often encouraged to take up puzzle-solving, or playing word games. Puzzles have been around for as, long as human beings have, and puzzles, riddles, and, similar problems can be found in all the mythologies., The Narasimha avatar of Vishnu, who kills the, apparently invincible Hiranyakashipu, Oedipus, ecosystem., (https://qntm.org/files/wordle/) where, instead of a fixed, solving the Sphinx’s ‘unsolvable’ riddle, and Macbeth I was introduced to Wordle by my brother, who sent me a, five-letter hidden word that you have to guess, the, meeting his doom at the hands of one “not of woman, algorithm keeps changing the word as you correctly, l i n k t o t h e g a m e ’ s w e b s i t e, born” can all be seen as instances of ingenious puzzles,, guess the letters that are in it. Fortunately, the number of, (https://www.powerlanguage.co.uk/wordle/) early in, which require the kind of lateral, tangential thinking for, guesses you can make in Absurdle is not limited, and even, January, and I’ve been doing the puzzle every day since, their solution that puzzle-lovers revel in., though the game sounds somewhat bizarre, you can, then. I’ve gone on to send out the link to a bunch of my, ‘Wordling’ is not yet an accepted verb, but given the, usually crack the five-letter word even if you take a fairly, friends and they, in turn, have passed it on to others,, popularity of the word game that’s taken the internet by, long time to do it., thereby adding a few more to its millions of players. The, storm these last few months one won’t be surprised if it, best part about Wordle for many fans (myself included) is Another aspect of puzzles, as is the case for most games, is, makes its way into dictionaries soon. A Google search, that there is a single puzzle released daily. But not, that they bring out the competitiveness that seems to be an, throws up 1.6 billion results for ‘Wordle’, and articles, everyone is satisfied with just one puzzle in a day so,, innate part of our nature. An interesting feature of Wordle, about the deceptively simple puzzle — where you get six, inevitably, Cyberia has spawned another online game, is that you can show others the number of tries you took to, attempts to guess a five-letter word, with coloured tiles, which allows you to play Wordle as many times as you, solve a Wordle without actually revealing the lettertelling you if you guessed the right letters in the right, want: if you want more than your single daily fix, search, combinations you used on your path to success. The, places — range from its origins, to the best strategies to, f o r ‘ w o r d m a s t e r ’ o r g o t o, internet is flooded with the little boxes that allow you to, win, to how data miners are undermining (pun intended), https://octokatherine.github.io/word-master/ and you, show others how quickly (in terms of the number of tries), the simple pleasure the game affords. Just in case you’ve, can play the game for as long as you like. A friend had a, you solved the day’s Wordle, often accompanied by, been living on another planet these last few months,, winning streak of 72 successful games before stumbling, comments like “This was a hard one!” (if you took more, Wordle was developed by a Brooklyn-based Welsh, over ‘TA_ES’, where he guessed ‘TALES’ on his sixth —, than four tries) or “I just got lucky” (if solved in three tries, programmer, Josh Wardle, for his word-game-loving, and final — try, only to be told that the correct answer was, or less). But even such a spoiler-free report of success can, partner, Palak Shah, and released to the wider public in, ‘TAXES’. He has stopped doing the puzzle since. Other, provide clues on how to solve the Wordle in question, as, October 2021. On November 1, 2021, a few days after the, word games inspired by Wordle include Lewdle, has been pointed out by several blog posts and articles, game became available online, 90 people played it — on, (https://www.lewdlegame.com/), launched on January, doing the rounds, including some which analyse how to, January 9, 2022, that figure reached two million. The, 19, where every word is unacceptable in polite company,, mathematically optimize Wordle decision trees, and, latest news about the game, bringing glad tidings to its, which has already garnered 700,000 players, and, others which seek to find the best strategy to make sure, legions of fans, is that Twitter has banned a bot using the, Sweardle (https://sweardle.com/) where you get just four, that the puzzle can, in fact, always be solved in six tries or, handle, @wordlinator, which would act the supreme, chances to guess a four-letter swear word, but I have no, less. The expanding Wordle-bubble may or may not last,, spoilsport by leaking the result of the following day’s, idea how many are playing this “parody/tribute” (as the, but logophiles and puzzle aficionados owe a debt of, puzzle on Twitter. Of course, by the time you read this,, game’s creator, Stuart Houghton, describes it) to Wordle,, gratitude to Josh Wardle and his labour of love for, other articles and news items will probably have, but the number can’t be small. Perhaps the most fiendish, bringing so much pleasure to so many during such times, supplanted this despatch from the burgeoning Wordle, t w i s t g i v e n t o Wo r d l e i s A b s u r d l e, of stress and uncertainty., , Pull back, Ukraine: the onus of peace rests with both Washington and Moscow, Old habits die hard. When those habits are hardened, over a century, that saying is even truer. The United, States of America and Russia today stand on the, cusp of a dangerous conflict over Ukraine that in, reality is a clash over their perceived spheres of, influence. Russian troops have gathered on three, sides of the former Soviet republic, while NATO is, sending ships, planes and weapons to counter, Moscow’s threat, all contributing to an ominous, drift toward war. The Pentagon has reportedly, placed 8,500 US soldiers on standby, for potential, deployment to eastern Europe. Post-Brexit Britain, is flexing its muscles too, sending weapons to, Ukraine. The US secretary of state, Antony, Blinken, has accused the Russian president,, Vladimir Putin, of stoking these tensions in Europe, without any provocation from Ukraine or the West., Meanwhile, Mr Putin has alleged the US is trying, to threaten Russia’s security. Both are being, economical with reality. There can never be a, justification for threatening any other nation’s, sovereignty. At the same time, Russia has legitimate, security concerns in the form of an eastward-expanding, , NATO with American warheads stationed close to its, borders. To be fair, all signs so far suggest that the US, president, Joe Biden, is willing to work with Mr Putin to, address some of his worries without agreeing to the, , Kremlin’s demand that NATO commit to, never including Ukraine. But as is so often the, case with US foreign policy, there is a gap, between word and action that undercuts, America’s moral argument. Washington has, said that it rejects the notion of global powers, carving the world into spheres of influence., But the US itself has, starting with the Monroe, Doctrine in Latin America, long demanded, fealty from nations in what it views as its, sphere of influence. Worse, the US is, contradicting itself over the current crisis. By, not ensuring the inclusion of Ukraine in its, negotiations with Russia, the US is effectively, assigning itself the role of suzerain over Kiev., That, in turn, only serves to undermine the, elected government of Ukraine. It is a tragedy, the country knows well, with Polish,, Lithuanian, Ottoman, Tsarist and Soviet rulers, controlling all or parts of modern Ukraine, through large periods of the past millennium. In the 21st, century, Europe’s second-largest nation by area must not, be denied a say over its future., , Historic moment, Asia's first newspaper a powerful beacon of motivation, “To Print — or not to Print — that is the, Question.” These opening words of The, Printer’s Soliloqui by James Augustus Hicky, hold a riveting tale. Tomorrow, January 29, is a, significant milestone in the history of print, journalism and the incessant struggle for the, freedom of expression. For it was on this day in, 1780 that Hicky, an eccentric Irishman,, published Asia’s first newspaper, Hicky’s, Bengal Gazette or The Original Calcutta, GeneralAdvertifer., Even 242 years later, Hicky’s intention to take on, the establishment, the East India Company and, Governor General Warren Hastings, holds, relevance, the need perhaps heightened by time, and circumstances. The English-language, weekly newspaper, published from the capital, of British India, was Hicky’s mode of hitting, back at obstacles in his path, especially the, vested interests of the government. Although, the newspaper barely had a lifespan of two, years (the East India Company seized the types, and printing press), it was priced at Re 1 (like, the papers in England at the time) and enjoyed, a circulation of over 400 copies. While it was, branded as “sensational”, it not only targeted, Hastings for corruption but also influential, clergyman, Johann Zacharias Kiernander, who, had acquired assets beyond his known sources, of income. Displaying traits of Irish courage, and humour, Hicky lampooned the powers that, be. He labelled Hastings as “the grand Turk” in, an article in the Gazette and coined equally colourful, names for several others. My fellow Fulbright alumnus,, Andrew Otis, of the University of Maryland, United, States of America, stumbled upon the memoirs of, Hicky’s lawyer, William Hickey, at his university library, , in New York and followed it up with a research stint in, Calcutta in 2013-14, spending hours in our high court, unearthing nuggets about the newspaper and Hicky. It, resulted in an engrossing book, Hicky’s Bengal Gazette:, The Untold Story of India’s First Newspaper. Speaking, to me from Maryland this week, Otis said “probably the, , most interesting part” of his research was the time he, spent in the chambers of Calcutta High Court. He, discovered to his delight that no researcher had set foot, there although a wealth of information is stored among, the papers on court proceedings bound in files from, Hicky’s time. The high court has six separate archives, , and Otis faced an ordeal navigating his way, through the hallowed portals even with valid, clearance. “The documents I was looking for, were in the Centennial building, an annex of, the court. The process was extremely, inefficient. Records were sometimes stored, in folders between wood slats organized year, by year. Every time I wanted to see some, documents, they required a peon to open, them for me, one at a time. There was no, catalogue or index either., I had heard that sometimes election ballots, were stored in the building but that didn’t, seem to be the case when I was there. Other, archives were generally easier to access. But, for the life of me I couldn’t understand why, bringing a laptop to take notes would cause, so many problems or create so much, paperwork,” he said. In spite of these odds,, Otis managed to delineate Hicky most, convincingly with painstaking research., “Like no one in India before, Hicky began to, believe his duty was to spotlight, malfeasance, fraud and abuse of power,” he, says of the feisty journalist of Calcutta’s, Radhabazar. Broken by court battles and, imprisonment, Hicky, who confronted both, the State and the Church, died impoverished, and ailing on a China-bound boat in October, 1802. But he left a legacy that, Otis says,, “was powerful enough to challenge an, empire.”, The upheavals that Hicky, staunchly countered in his campaigns against Hastings’, dictatorial attitude and alleged corruption of, missionaries like Kiernander could be a powerful beacon, of motivation for mediapersons today. But is the fourth, estate ready?
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8 EDIT, , THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Obstacles are those frightening, things that become visible when we take our eyes off our goals., — HENRY FORD, , INDORE / BHOPAL | MONDAY | JANUARY 31, 2022, , Focus on jobs alone will defuse social time bomb, , FREE PRESS, FOR FREE FLOW OF TRUTH, , Do we use Pegasus to, help detect Pegasus?, , T, , he brouhaha over the latest Pegasus revelations should, not make us lose sight of some basic facts; that there are, serious allegations about the military-grade spyware being used on civilians; that the government has been, stonewalling any query on it; that the Supreme Court had to finally tell the government that it could not hide behind ‘national security’ all the time. Now, even as the report of the expert, committee appointed by the SC to look into the allegations is, awaited, a New York Times report says that the ties between PM, Modi and PM Netanyahu had “warmed” because of their agreement for the sale of “a package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $2 billion — with Pegasus and a, missile system as the center-pieces”. It is difficult to dismiss offhand the NYT report, which lists several countries including India, the UAE, Hungary, Poland and Mexico among those who, had purchased the spying software, noting that they had not just, strengthened ties with the Netanyahu government, but had, shifted on support to Palestine and muted opposition to Israel at, the United Nations., Had it not been for a global media expose – Project Pegasus -the Indian government would have brushed aside the allegations, as it did in 2019. The project began when the Paris-based, non-profit organisation, Forbidden Stories, got a leaked list of, over 50,000 phone numbers allegedly targeted for surveillance, by clients of NSO – the Israeli firm which makes the spyware –, since 2016. It roped in Amnesty International as a technical, partner and teamed up with 16 news media organisations in ten, countries where 80 journalists began corroborating the details., Globally, the suspected victims include three sitting Presidents, – France’s Emmanuel Macron, Iraq’s Barham Salih and South, Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa – and three current PMs: Pakistan’s, Imran Khan, Egypt’s Mostafa Madbouly and Morocco’s SaadEddine El Othmani., In India, the favorite targets were journalists, some 40 of them, at last count. Independent digital forensic analysis conducted, on ten Indian phones showed signs of successful or attempted, Pegasus hack. Among them are leading anti-establishment journalist Siddharth Varadarajan of the news portal ‘The Wire’ and, independent journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. Pegasus software, whose sales to foreign governments are vetted by the Israeli government, helped Saudi Arabia spy on Jamal Khashoggi, dissident, journalist and columnist for The Washington Post,, who was later killed in Turkey., The Pegasus affair cannot be compared with Watergate, as, Subramaniam Swamy suggests. It is far worse and on a global, scale. The latter was a break-in ordered by the Nixon administration at the rival party’s office to get some ‘incriminating evidence’. Today, such evidence can not only be stealthily extracted from the mobile phone of the target, it can also be planted in, the target’s phone or laptop, as is the contention of the scholars, and activists branded as terrorists in the Bhima Koregaon case., Looking back, it was the effrontery of the government in scuttling a Parliamentary panel’s meeting on the Pegasus issue that, was the tipping point. On that day last July, representatives of, three ministries – the ministry of electronics and information, technology, the ministry of home affairs, and the department of, telecommunication – refused to attend a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on information technology, clearly a contempt of the House. BJP members also stayed away, ensuring that there was no quorum for the meeting on citizens’, data security and privacy., Until this point, the SC had not warmed up to the issue. Immediately after this, it took up the PIL filed by veteran journalists N Ram and Sasi Kumar seeking an independent probe into, the snooping which they said abridged several fundamental, rights and appeared to represent an attempt to infiltrate, attack, and destabilise independent institutions that act as critical pillars of our democratic set-up. At this stage, too, the government, used the ‘national security’ card, only to be told off by the SC., These are no ordinary times and this is no ordinary case. The, party in power has neutralised the countervailing power of the, constitutional authorities, the autonomous institutions and the, media. The extensive use of the deadly spyware here is an assault on not just individual privacy but the very foundations of, democracy. It appears that the government is prepared to use all, the dirty tricks in the book to undermine its critics and opponents even as we celebrate 75 years of Independence. The Editors Guild of India had rightly called it “a moment that demands deep introspection and inquiry into the kind of society, we are heading towards and how far we may have veered away, from the democratic values enshrined in our Constitution”., Several acclaimed writers, journalists, lawyers, academicians, and activists had collectively sought Chief Justice N V Ramana’s ‘immediate intervention’ in the matter. Among other, things, they want to know the justification for such targeting, and the Constitutional authority which vetted the cases. They, have also raised the critical need for judicial oversight of all interception orders, as in the UK. Non-government organisations, such as the Software Freedom Law Centre and The Internet, Freedom Foundation have been pushing for surveillance reform and a judicial oversight in our intelligence framework., Such dual-use technology, including facial recognition, is open, to misuse by totalitarian regimes or by autocratic leaders. And, the citizens literally pay the price, which is quite steep; Pegasus, costs an estimated Rs 1.5cr per phone., Let us not get distracted by the din over the latest revelations., The relevant question then and now is the same: Will we have to, use Pegasus to detect Pegasus?, , FPJ Archives, , Viewpoint, �Shivaji Sarkar, , I, , t may be imperative for Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman to refocus the Union, Budget from possible populism, an electiontime compulsion, to professionalism, creating, jobs everywhere., The spark would be two recent incidents –, one, a Gujarati family of four chasing ‘better’, opportunities freezing to death while illegally, trying to enter the US and the other being the, protests over railway jobs in Bihar and Uttar, Pradesh for roughly 40,000 vacancies. It is a, grim reminder of the state of India’s job market. Let not Bihar and UP emerge as ticking, time social bombs for the sheer size of the unemployed., The unemployment rate rose to a four-month, high, to 7.9 per cent in December 2021. It stood, at 7 per cent in November last year and 9.1 per, cent in December 2020. But jobs were shrinking, even before that, in 2019 and earlier. The World, Bank says that India has the highest total unemployment rate at 21.01per cent for the population aged 15-24 years., The thrust of the NSSO’s 2017-18 data is that, in actuality, the jobs situation is grimmer. The, overall rate of open unemployment (as opposed, to under-employment or disguised unemployment) had risen sharply after 2011-12. That has, been proven in the NSSO numbers. Former, Chief Economic Adviser K Subramanian had, stressed that it was not employment but “the, , key aspect is meaningful employment”. The unofficially leaked NSSO data in 2017-18 revealed, that the unemployment rate was never over 2.6, per cent between 1977-78 and 2011-12 but had, jumped to 6.1 per cent in 2017-18. Now, it is, touching nine-plus per cent., Jobs have to be the priority in a country, where the number multiplies every day. The, Covid-19 lockdown was the immediate cause., Blaming any government for this criticality is, not wise. As a nation, somewhere, political parties are found to be clueless. The NITI Aayog,, supposedly tasked to suggest like its predecessor, the Planning Commission, is not apt at hitting the nail on the head., The situation has been aggravating and the, country is resorting to welfarism – a person, slips into an abyss and they are provided free, food for sustenance, instead of development –, which would make the rescued person self-sufficient in income terms to add to their own and, the country’s economy. The Narendra Modi government has shown enough empathy with free, food doles and MGNREGA jobs to keep people, afloat. Now, it has to move beyond welfarism so, that the country takes a leap to a better life., The previous Budgets came up with entrepreneurship, Skill India, MUDRA and similar other schemes which did not fulfil the objectives., The concept of the unicorn has partly succeeded. Overall, jobs remain scarce and low-paid., The Gujarati family was apparently well off, with a teacher’s job and sundry other chores. It, could afford to pay $ 2.5 lakh for its dream travel through agents for illegal entry to the US., What inspired them, like many other Gujaratis, and Punjabis rushing to El Dorado may have, been the flashy ‘lifestyle’. In 2007, Babubhai, Katara, an MP, was caught trying to smuggle, out carrying a Punjabi woman and her son as, his own for Rs 30 lakh to the US. His party sus-, , pended him., What triggered the Bihar and UP problem is, the lack of jobs. Once, private sector jobs were, considered well-paid. The seventh pay commission changed that. Now for years the corporate, sector, including IT, is not creating the required, number of jobs. And existing jobs fetch lower, wages and remain insecure., Interestingly, during Atal Behari Vajpayee’s, NDA-I, six crore jobs were created. There is a, change. Because of the economic slowdown, during the past many years, manufacturing has, suffered. The index for industrial production, remains at a low. Educational qualifications, have improved, causing an aspirational problem. There were 70 million such people in 200405 and this number increased to 115.6 million by, 2017-18. They are growing by about five million, a year, according to Santosh Mehrotra, professor of economics, Centre for Labour. He says, what is most worrying is that manufacturing, jobs actually fell in absolute terms, from 58.9, million in 2011-12 to 48.3 million in 2015-16, a, whopping 10.6 million over a mere four-year period., Bihar has about 13 per cent unemployment., The state of UP had 5.41 per cent unemployment as in May-August 2021, against 3.75 per, cent in March 2017. Rightly, UP Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath says that he will create more, jobs. The job strategy has to change. An interesting aspect is that because of less interference, of the Narendra Modi government in PSU operations, even in these difficult pandemic times,, 171 PSUs continued to post good profits despite, their better salary structure. This indicates that, proper salaries can be paid even during a period of crisis and profits can be sustained. It also, calls for reviewing the PSU disinvestment policy. The world has seen the failure of the global, private sector for unethical practices since the, , 2007-08 Lehman Brothers meltdowns., The FM may turn a new leaf. India has thrived, with a mixed economy. PSUs have the capacity, to start a competitive economy that the private, sector abhors. No national economy can thrive, without competition within. A monopolised, private or public sector would cause inbreeding, leading to poor performance., She has to be innovative enough to help create, rural farm and non-farm jobs that make the rural economy viable and lifestyle attractive, to, stem rural migration., Post-lockdown, it would be a wait-and-watch, situation for the private sector, says Vikas Chadha, MD, Global Outsourcing. The FM has to observe global practices, particularly sharp Chinese economic policies, the European backlash, against China and the possible escalation of, western sanctions against Russia. These would, be important to create India-centric policies to, increase jobs in different sectors., The private sector also has a tendency to employ less and pay less. If jobs are to be a priority, this policy has to be given up. The PSUs can, deliver here, creating a situation where the private sector also would have to pay just wages,, may be to their dislike. The FM has to think in, terms of the nation’s growth and the promised, $5 trillion economy. In the new scenario, she has, to involve and inspire the Indian private sector, to create quality jobs and make them capable of, competing with their international rivals. The, FM has to have a sharp job-creation strategy to, initiate the steps to boost urban, rural, private, and public employment. This will help India accelerate its growth pace with larger participation of the population and become the cynosure, of the new world economy., The writer is a veteran journalist, an observer of the, socio-politico-economy and a media academician, , Pre-Budget economic scenario: The big picture, Taking, Stock, �Kiran Nanda, , T, , he economy is in recovery mode. The longawaited private capex has also begun. But, sustainable and inclusive recovery is still, distant. Budget 2022 is expected to take major, steps towards making recovery sustainably, durable and inclusive. Care has to be taken that, the ongoing recovery does not slip. Despite India, rebounding at the quickest pace among major, economies this fiscal, the finance minister will, have to provide much more than mere stimulus, to make the growth trajectory credible. Budgetary support to economic recovery should be such, that the RBI is enabled to switch its focus towards price stability., A number of factors are making, India’s economic situation complex, and uncertain:, (1) The economy is vast, heterogeneous, diverse, and fragmented;, (2) Challenges and risks are accelerating because, of the prevalence of the pandemic for over two, years;, (3) India has completed three decades of diverse, economic reforms, which are progressing at, varying paces;, (4) Climate change events have become more frequent and drastic and, (5) Geo-political upheavals are becoming more, frequent, with changing global power equations., Both the global and domestic environments, need to be conducive to usher in sustainable economic revival. Global growth is projected to slow, to 4.1 per cent in 2022 from 5.5 per cent in 2021., Governments abroad are resorting to measures, to get their economies back to normalcy. Interest, rate hikes have become imminent. The US Fed, has started tightening loose monetary policy by, tapering off bond purchases. At the recent Davos, forum, the IMF and ECB leaders called for urgent policy actions to ensure an equitable recovery. The IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva emphasized, “We have to be data-driven and flexible. If, , I were to offer policymakers a new year's resolution, it would be policy flexibility.”, Domestically, the policy environment has been, focusing on medium-term growth, by taking a, plethora of well-meaning measures to boost, manufacturing and infrastructure development., The Prime Minister has asked district managers, to work on time-bound targets for taking roads to, all villages. Other positives include the forex kitty at a comfortable $635bn, providing import cover for more than 15 months; the fast digitisation, of the economy; innovative technological developments and the emergence of a new ecosystem, encouraging startups and unicorns; the pro-active push being given to green transition and tax, buoyancy, amongst others., Liquidity in the banking system continues to, stay in the surplus mode. The RBI is proactively, intervening with necessary steps when tax outflows create temporary tightness. Headwinds are, aplenty. Investment rate has been declining. India had, on last count, as many as 53 million unemployed people, with a huge proportion of, them being women. There is a slowdown in agriculture and rural belts. Terms of trade have become unfavourable for the agricultural sector., While the majority feel that the fiscal deficit target of 6.8 per cent for FY22 may be attained, it, could slip on account of the shortfall in the disinvestment receipts., Priority submissions, Though the compliance burden in general is getting reduced, TDS & TCS provisions are leading, to increased compliance and litigation load on, taxpayers. The scope of TDS/TCS needs a, relook. A simplification of personal income tax, and capital gains tax is needed. The I-T exemption limit at Rs 2.5 lakh and section 80C deduction limit at Rs 1.5 lakh ought to increase. Some, remedial measures to check exacerbating inequalities because of the ongoing pandemic, have become essential. Lockdowns and frequent, restrictions on public mobility have affected incomes disproportionately for a large number of, households., It is extremely important that both Central and, state governments work in tandem to facilitate, sustainable growth in critical sectors like agribusiness and tourism. The role of policymaking, and effective execution has become paramount., For the tourism sector, there should be a ‘One In-, , dia One Tourism’ approach, inclusive of a onetax structure., The K-shaped medium-term economic recovery from the pandemic may not be sustainable, for a large section of the population. This necessitates government interventions at multiple levels. The Budget being the most important government policy, it would be the right medium to, chart a clear roadmap for action., The long-term solution to India’s socio-economic discontent is reliable, productive employment. The economy cannot afford to have jobless, growth. India’s employment rate at 43 per cent is, much lower than the global standard of 55-58 per, cent. Budgetary policy should have a pragmatic, plan to sustainably create employment opportunities and for upskilling of individual workers,, so that they are able to access appropriate jobs., A tax on the super-rich is likely. At present, the, highest tax, including surcharge on income, is 43, per cent. Ideally, no tax rates should be increased, or new taxes introduced, which would go a long, way to bridge the massive trust deficit that exists, , The K-shaped medium-term, economic recovery from the, pandemic may not be, sustainable for a large section, of the population, between stakeholders and the government,, which the government has already promised., The Budget should focus on implementation of, disinvestment targets. The massive tax buoyancy seen in current fiscal may not be repeated, next year. The government will have to smartly, balance the need for augmenting tax revenues, and having a robust and resilient capital market,, essential for forex inflows and disinvestment., The inadequacy of a proper social support system has been clearly exposed by Covid. This, presents a chance for the FM to set it right, through affirmative action, including massive, investment in public healthcare infrastructure., It is important to look at healthcare differently., The focus should be on formulating concrete, steps to tackle the serious problem of child malnutrition. About two decades ago, the govern-, , ment made IT services a national priority and offered various incentives like a tax holiday for 15, years and capital subsidies. As a result, the IT, sector grew sustainably. Healthcare today deserves such support. Around 70 per cent of, healthcare spending is out-of-pocket expenses., Inflation has become the biggest challenge today., The RBI should have a different role to play in, the revival of the economy. Thanks largely to, GST, robust tax collections have provided the FM, some space for an expansionary fiscal policy. Reducing inflation is also an important determinant of growth, which should be left squarely, upon the RBI. Well-planned public expenditure, has a multiplier effect on the economy. Higher, capital expenditure by the government would, support jumpstarting the growth process and, crowding in private investment as well as FDI., This needs to be accompanied by the lowering of, transaction costs and accelerating the ease-of-doing business. The government needs to re-examine its own and the states’ policy of giving shortterm incentives like cash payouts, free grain supply etc. These may be well-intentioned but the financial strain these place on the fisc deserves, careful examination. There is no alternative to, rapidly putting in place adequate infrastructure, required to meet growth targets., Summing up, it has become important that the, push to economic growth should not be sacrificed at the altar of fiscal consolidation. The government must continue with measures to put, more money in the hands of consumers via increase in incomes, especially in rural areas, where FMCG volume growth has become negative. There is a paramount need for the government to push capex in export-oriented labour-intensive sectors. Effective implementation of, well-thought-out policies should be the focus. Besides, the absence of proper infrastructure to collate data needs rectification. Inadequate reporting could mask the real numbers on issues like, infection, unemployment, the informal nature of, the economy, amongst many others. There is also, a need to make growth much more equitable as, inequality could lead to tensions in society. In, short, the Budget should lay the perfect foundation for a clean, green, sustainable and reliable, future growth path., The writer is a corporate economist, , GUIDING LIGHT, , F, , Feeling at home, , eeling at home, wherever and with whomsoever you are is what I would call the, true evolution of human beings. For that,, we need to take a look within ourselves., Thirty years ago, there was so much prejudice, towards spirituality and wisdom. People would, want to keep it at arm’s length and believed that, it was not for them. Today, there is acceptance., People are willing to try it and once they see, that it benefits them, they are less prejudiced., Life comes to us like a gift, a very charming, gift, but we seldom open it. It’s all about opening ourselves and being open. Life is a gift, wrapped in golden paper, which is waiting for, each one of us to unwrap. Many of us are too, formal, but such an atmosphere is not conducive to knowledge. We need to be in an informal atmosphere to know something about ourselves and gain deep wisdom. When you meet, somebody, you ask, “How are you?” Now I have, a question for you. Did you really greet the person or did you do it as a formality? Most of the, time we exchange pleasantries, we really don’t, , JANUARY 8, 1964, , —, , Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, , mean it., But, if the same words come to you from your, grandmother, they carry some energy, some vibrations, and some presence. Life becomes so, dry and the world becomes charmless when we, relate at a superficial level. In the coming, decades, the biggest challenge in the world will, be mental depression. Belongingness can create a better atmosphere and environment, around us. It is for us to create that environment. Can you feel at home with everyone?, Then you can truly say you have evolved. For, that, we need to go within. A baby smiles 400, times a day, a teenager only smiles 17 times, and, an adult hardly smiles. We don’t smile from our, hearts., Why is that? It is the stress and the tension, that we carry. Meditation can help you get back, to your nature, which is pure innocence. Then, a smile comes from deep within, that nobody, can snatch from you. We should all dream of a, stress-free and violence-free world, one where, there is total belongingness., , (Spiritual organisations keen to be featured in this space contact : features@fpj.co.in), , One flew over the nest, , Tired Nehru advised complete rest, The FPJ News Service, BHUBANESWAR, Jan. 7: - Prime Minister, Nehru has been advised complete rest for ‘‘the present’’. His doctors,, who flew in from Delhi today and examined him, found that his blood, pressure has shown a tendency to be high. They however, are hopeful, of his quick recovery within a short time., A communique issued from the Raj Bhavan at 7 p. m. said: ‘‘The Prime, Minister has been working under great strain for some weeks. As a, result, his blood pressure has shown a tendency to be high. He felt, very tired and weak. It was, therefore, decided to send for doctors who, have been attending on him in Delhi. They have examined him and are, hopeful of his quick recovery within a short time. They have, however,, advised complete rest and cancellation of all engagements for the, present. The Prime Minister is cheerful and in good spirits.’’, , #Amit ShahInGoa, , Development of small states is Narendra Modi government's priority: Amit, Shah in poll-bound Goa, Press Trust of India@PTI_News, The Goa governor who complained that the BJP govt in Goa was corrupt, got transferred to Meghalaya. Goa got destroyed by the sitting (defected), BJP govt. Enough is enough!, Kesar Safed Pista@kesarsafedpista, Sure, now that big states have been destroyed by BJP, why not !, @_NairFYI, After failing the biggest states? Where are the jobs? Have put back more, people below poverty line., Prasad Rishi @Prasad17431090, But Modi is not fighting in GOA /.He will not be GOA CM How he is, responsible for Goa development?, jaiparkash@mathurapuri, , MONDAY’S SWIPE
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EDIT, , 6, , HYDERABAD MONDAY 31 JANUARY 2022, , Will it be a common man’s budget?, u, , nIOn Finance Minister nirmala, Sitharaman will be presenting her, fourth budget on February 1. e exercise, is over. e budget speech is getting final, touches. e FM will present her pre-budget, economic Survey on Monday in parliament, ahead of the union Budget., e economic Survey is the document, that gives growth projection, policy prescriptions, where the government had failed during current fiscal etc. It also gives recommendations on what should be done during, the next financial year. e economic Survey 2021-22 projected a growth of 11 per, cent but it is estimated that it may not be, more than 9.2 per cent for the current fiscal., e government would hide under the, cover of Corona pandemic to explain why, it could not achieve the projected 11 per, cent growth despite rBI rolling out several, measures to support the economy. But a, look at the earlier gDP growth indicates, that the economic Survey 2018-19 had es-, , timated the gDP growth for fiscal 2019-20, at 7 per cent. But it increased only by 4 per, cent. Similarly, the economic Survey 201718 had projected a growth rate of 7-7.5 for, 2018-19, but the gDP expanded by only 6.5, per cent., Well, all these statistics make sense for, the economists, industry, trade and other, sectors but what about the common man, who has voted the BJP to power? Year aer, year, we have been seeing that the common, man is le in lurch. His aspirations, the government claims to have met, but in real, terms, he continues to be the worst sufferer., Let us take a simple example of health insurance. a majority of the hospitals refused, to honour the insurance on one pretext or, the other and neither the government nor, the insurance companies could come to their, rescue. In view of this, the citizens expect, that the upcoming budget would address, this issue. ey also expect that the government may announce tax deduction for those, , who had to pay from their pocket for the, Covid treatment. e government always, provides lip service, sympathises with the, common man whose votes it needs most to, come to power but finally gives peanuts to, this section in the budget. If they get re 1, benefit in some form or the other, they must, pay at least rs 10 extra from their pocket., every year like Casablanca on the burning, deck, the common man keeps expecting increase in annual tax deduction limit. It remains a distant dream. Similarly, the slogan, for home for all remains a slogan as the, government does not consider increasing, tax deduction limit for repayment of home, loan principal under Section 80c. Further,, adjusting tax slabs with the increase in other, deductions can help the salaried taxpayer,, specifically the below rs 50 lakh per annum, bracket with more money in hand., e question is: Will the government will, consider reducing the highest tax slab rate, from 30 per cent to 25 per cent, with a cor-, , responding increase in the limit from rs 10, lakh to rs 20 lakh? Deduction under Section, 80C of the Income tax act, 1961, provides, for various types of payments made by taxpayers who are eligible for relief such as PPF,, fixed deposits, housing loan repayment, (principal portion), insurance, and expenditure made towards tuition fees. However,, the limit under this section is quite low. experts also recommend enhancement of exemption limit to rs 3,00,000 from the current limit of rs 1,50,000., e common man also expects reduction, in gSt rates and steep fall in petrol and, diesel prices. It is unfortunate that the Centre and the State governments refuse to reduce the vat on these products when the, prices shoot up. ey only want to mop up, and make good the loss in revenue generation which is more because of policy paralysis. Let us hope that nirmala ji will be, more benevolent towards the common man, this time, , Why not promise direct cash transfer?, P, , It must be clearly said that this, is not the best way to achieve, human welfare, but given the, march of new technologies and, our infatuation with cheap, goods, there seems to be no, possibility of creating jobs., Therefore, in the present, times, we have to necessarily, adopt some kind of free, distribution to secure the, minimum welfare of people, , THE WAY AHEAD, , olitical parties, are competing, with one another in promising, freebies to the people. e people are, already getting free, education and farmers free electricity., e government has, Dr Bharat, already implemented, Jhunjhunwala programmes such as, free distribution of, gas cylinders under ujwala scheme. now, political parties are promising laptops, bicycles, and even in one case reportedly free distribution of liquor is offered in addition to the, freebies already being given., Whether these distributions will get votes, or not is something we may not know; but it, is clear that such distribution does not help, people in earning stable and long-term incomes. ere is a saying that it is better to, teach a person how to fish rather than to give, him fish. He can fill his stomach for a long, period of time once he learns how to fish., Similarly, the distribution of ujwala cylinders, does not help the people earn long-term incomes. Further, the purpose of human life is, not merely to eat food. ere is a saying one, eats to live; rather than lives to eat. “eating to, live” means that there is more than eating to, one’s life. is “more” consists of jobs, selfesteem, the development of entrepreneurship, and a purposefulness in life., e difficulty is that in the present times, of robots, automatic machines, artificial intelligence, we are increasingly adopting automated production and the number of jobs, available for the people is reducing by the, day. Demonetisation and gSt have further, put the nails in the coffin of small and, medium enterprises. ese are the sectors, that were creating most of the jobs. erefore,, there are no jobs for the people today. as a, result, the people are helpless. e only recourse in this situation is to provide them, with some free distribution to keep their body, and souls together. It must be clearly said that, this is not the best way to achieve human, welfare, but given the march of new technologies and our infatuation with cheap, goods, there seems to be no possibility of creating jobs. erefore, in the present times, we, , have to necessarily adopt some kind of free, distribution to secure the minimum welfare, of people., e first objection to such free distribution, is that this is not financially sustainable. e, government does not have enough revenue, to provide free cash distribution in a substantial manner. e issue here is slightly different., e government expenditures take place in, three ways: One, free distribution of cash or, kind; two, government consumption; and, three, government investment. If we have to, increase the expenditures on free distribution,, then we have to reduce either government, consumption or government investment. If, the reduction is made in government consumption, then free distribution becomes sustainable. On the other hand, if the reduction, is made in government investment, then indeed free distribution becomes unviable., erefore, free distribution is itself viable., e second objection is that free distribution is misuse of tax money. Indeed, the taxes, are paid mostly by the upper classes. e use, of tax revenue for providing free distribution, to the people involves transfer from the rich, to the common man. now, this is part of the, welfare state. e government has provided, that corporations will have to spend part of, their profits in “Corporate Social responsibility” programmes. Similarly, if the government uses the tax revenue for providing free, distribution to the people, then it also is like, the Corporate Social responsibility., e real issue in free distribution is, , whether we distribute in terms of cash or, kind. e distribution in kind is the same as, providing subsidies on fertilisers and food, grains. e idea is that by providing subsidies, on specific goods we encourage the people, to increase the use of those particular goods., For example, in 1960s when the country was, facing food shortage because of drought, the, provision of subsidies on fertilisers was made, so that the farmers would be encouraged to, use more fertilisers and increase production., But this was an emergency situation., Similarly, when the government provides, free education, the underlying idea is that, people would be encouraged to send their, children to the schools. e presumption in, both these cases is that the people are themselves fools and they do not understand that, necessity of either using fertilisers or of sending their children to school. is idea does, not seem to be correct. e fundamental basis, of democracy is that people are wise enough, to be able to choose the Prime Minister of, the country. If they are competent to choose, the Prime Minister, how can they not be competent to decide to use chemical fertilisers, and provide education to their children?, My sense is that the farmers would have, used fertilisers even if the government did, not provide subsidies on fertilisers in the, 1960s because it would have been profitable, for them to increase production of food, grains. e real reason, therefore, for distribution in kind is not that the people need to, be goaded in a particular direction. e real, , reason is that the bureaucracy gets huge benefits when distribution in kind takes place., For example, the bureaucrats get opportunities in buying, storing and selling the food, grains and in making of ration cards in the, public distribution system. So, the distribution in kind is actually a smokescreen to protect the interests of the bureaucracy., We should therefore, abandon this whole, idea of distribution in kind and move towards, distribution in cash so that people can get, enough income to keep their body and souls, together and they can then use their income, wisely as per their own wisdom to obtain education, fertilisers and whatever may be their, need., In conclusion, the ideal approach is to, change the economic model and move it towards creation of jobs. If that is not possible,, then the second level solution is to go for, cash distribution and empower the people to, use the money as per their own requirements., e third level solution is to go for distribution in kind, which provides more benefits, to the bureaucracy and less to the people. In, this election time it is imperative that the parties move from promising free distribution, of laptops and bicycles to free distribution of, cash., (e author is former Professor of, Economics at IIM, Bengaluru), (The opinions expressed in this column are, those of the writer. The facts and opinions, expressed here do not reflect the views of The, Hans India), , Hollow claims to a responsible state, DC PATHAK, PaKIStan Prime Minister Imran, Khan on January 14 unveiled the, public version of what is claimed, to be 'the first ever' codified national Security Policy (nSP) of Pakistan, defining the direction the, country should take in the next few, years. It was projected as the outcome of a full civil-military consensus, culmination of the untiring, work of the officials of the national, Security Division over the 'past, seven years' and 'a proud moment', for all Pakistanis., Khan spoke of the dire need of a, 'multi-prong strategy,' pointing out, that the country had since its inception focused on military security, because of 'an insecure environment' created for it by 'a neighbour, that is seven times bigger,' and tries, to make out that Pakistan would, now work for economic security,, strong presence of the 'rule of law', and regional peace., e open part of the document, is no doubt rhetorical in content –, replete with platitudes like 'pushing, national cohesion through an inclusive national discourse,' 'prioritising equitable economic development' and 'reintroducing regional, connectivity to realign the country's, foreign policy.' It clearly contends,, however, that India is the principal, adversary of Pakistan and ventures, into an explicit criticism of the Indian regime under Prime Minister, narendra Modi for allegedly pursuing 'divisive policies. Projecting, India as the main threat, it contends, that prospects of violent conflict, with it have grown because of a 'regressive and dangerous ideology, , Projecting India as the, main threat, the National Security Policy, (NSP) of Pakistan contends that prospects of, violent conflict with it, have grown because of, a 'regressive and dangerous ideology which, is gripping the collective consciousness in, the immediate neighbourhood.' Khan has, openly framed IndoPak relationship in, Hindu-Muslim terms, which is gripping the collective, consciousness in the immediate, neighbourhood.', ree clear readings can be made, from what the Pak Prime Minister, said in the presence of the top brass, of his country's military establishment, and these would add to the, security concerns of India., First is the uninhibited 'communalisation' of Indo-Pak relations by, Imran Khan who has for some time, been vocal about the issue of 'minority rights' in India under the BJP, regime. e second is the total absence of any criticism of extremists, and radicals operating out of the, territory of Pakistan with faithbased motivation. and lastly, the, policy document carries an imprint, of Sino-Pak strategic alliance that, has given a new geopolitical profile, to Pakistan., Keeping up its belligerent posture towards India, Pakistan alleged, , that the 'rise in Hindutva-driven, politics in India is deeply concerning and impacting Pakistan's immediate security. references to the, seven years of study that went into, the framing of nSP shows that Pakistan is targeting the rule of Prime, Minister Modi in this context. In, short, Pakistan maintained that, normalising ties with India will, have Kashmir at its core., anti-India lobbies have been active on these lines within India and, abroad, but it is unprecedented that, Khan has openly framed Indo-Pak, relationship in Hindu-Muslim, terms. is is an enlargement of the, Pak stand of regarding Kashmir as, a 'Muslim' issue. e security policy, refers to 'our diverse cultural heritage' in terms of accepting various, segments of Islamic spectrum –, from 'revivalism' of Islamic radicals, who subscribed to emirate to Islamism of the advocates of a re-, , public run on the concept of 'sovereignty of allah.' is is why Pakistan has never faulted the militant, outfits of Islamic extremists and, radicals and reserved its condemnation of 'terrorism' only to raise, an allegation that it is India that is, behind the domestic turbulence in, Pakistan., Within the Muslim world, Pakistan remained a source of strength, for the block led by Saudi arabia but, is now for some time getting identified with an emerging group including turkey and Malaysia that does, not hesitate to criticise the uS and, as a conscious policy showed willingness to adjust with Islamic radicals for whom the uS-led West was, the prime enemy., recent, developments, in, afghanistan add to India's concern, on threat from Islamic terrorists. e, call of Jehad given by taliban, al, Qaeda and ISIS for political reasons,, , to 'bring back the lost glory of Islam', consequently had many takers too., e democratic world needs to have, an effective strategy to handle this, rising threat to its security., Finally, there is a foreign policy, shi in Pakistan broadly corresponding to the emergence of Sino-Pak, strategic alliance cemented by the, CPeC that provided an upper hand, to China in this axis and a gradual, dri of uS-Pakistan relations in a, direction where Pakistan was able, to show recalcitrance toward american line on many vital issues like, terrorism, afghan emirate and, Kashmir., Pakistan is evidently banking, heavily on its alliance with China in, securing its own geopolitical importance for the world, having its sway, in afghanistan for maintaining its, 'strategic depth' there aer entering, into a 'give and take' with China in, regard to any apprehension that, China might have of an outside interference with China's doings in, Xinjiang and achieving an equilibrium with both China and russia, over the situation in afghanistan., e national Security Policy announced by Khan with such fanfare, is meant to create the impression, that Pakistan is devoting to internal, economic growth and better domestic governance – its real aim is to, project the line that a much graver, threat to Pakistan's security is posed, by India under Prime Minister, Modi. India has to suitably take this, into account in dealing with the, Sino-Pak axis that is now becoming, very active against this country., (e writer is a former Director, of Intelligence Bureau), , LETTERS, Lay focus on leprosy eradication, , W, , orld Leprosy Day is celebrated annually around the globe on the, last Sunday of January to raise awareness of the disease and call for, an end to the social discrimination against people suffering from leprosy., each year, around 2,00,000 new cases are reported globally. India is home, to the highest number of leprosy patients in the world. On average, 57, people per 10 lakh population in India are diagnosed with the disease., today an effective treatment exists in the form of multidrug therapy, and, with early detection and treatment, the disease can be cured without, complications. Many people across the globe continue to suffer from this, curable disease due to a lack of medical care. We must join hands to fight, against the disease for its elimination., Dr Krishna Kumar Vepakomma, Hyderabad, , Schools resumption a welcome move, , t, , he decision of telangana government to reopen schools has le a ray, of hope and relief for many students and teachers. Online classes are, quite ineffective and unproductive for the genuine development of the, students. Covid pandemic has ruined the academic education. all educational institutions will have to enforce all Covid safety norms and the, management and the staff of all schools should follow Covid protocols, strictly. e authorities concerned in every district should render full, support to the management of all educational institutions., Santhini P, Karimnagar, , II, , t, , he government of telangana keeping in view the opinion of experts, that it makes no sense in keeping the schools shut any more aer it is, established that virus has no dangerous signs to affect the lives is a step in, the right direction. Most of the urban poor and rural households have no, internet connectivity with the result they are unable to take online classes., However, it should keep a close vigil on students so that they follow, Covid-appropriate behaviour so that educational institutions function, smoothly without any interruptions., KR Srinivasan, Secunderabad, , Politicalisation of armed forces, , a, , propos "Dazzling drones light up sky" (30 Jan). From my childhood, I have always enjoyed watching Beating retreat. I don't want to be, cynical, but I am sorry to say this time around apart from the drone and, laser show, this year's beating retreat ceremony was a damp squib as even, the standard notes were jarring including "aye Mere Watan Ke Logo", which was always touching to hear in the solo voice of Lata Mangeshkar., Moreover, in the name of azai Ke amruth Mahotsav, the last half an, hour except the image of gandhiji and our Map, it was like the government, "beating its own drum" and thus it was not all looking like a military ceremony. It looks like it is the beginning of politicalisation of our armed, forces., N Nagarajan, Hyderabad, , Jagan fulfils another electoral promise, , t, , He Jagan Mohan reddy government in aP has fulfilled one more, election promise by creating 13 more districts. It will certainly serve, the purpose of decentralisation and geographical convenience. It is known, fact that there is a long demand for separate Konaseema district in east, godavari and 50 years fight for Palanadu district in gunturu district. e, exercise has honoured the towering personalities like alluri Seetharama, raju and nt rama rao by naming aer them Paderu and vijayawada, districts respectively besides giving due respect to spiritual centres like, tirupathi and Putaparthi., Pratapa Reddy Y, tiruvuru, , II, , W, , ItHOut exception and with no lengthy explanation, everyone, says in the entire country since Independence that rayaseema is, the most backward region in India. Hence, this region demands special, treatment. as a beginning, I request aP CM to create 3 more new districts, with Headquarters at, guntakal, Madanapalli and Kavali as part of the, greater rayalaseema., Matti Reddy, tirupati, , A life-saving mission, , I, , n what can be termed as a passenger-friendly and life-saving mission,, the road transport and Highways Ministry has issued a notification to, introduce fire alarm and suppression systems in inter-city passenger buses, and school buses. Fire protection systems would also be installed in the, passenger compartment of buses meant for long distance travel and in, school buses. During a fire mishap the heat and smoke in the passenger, compartment will be controlled by thermal management devices which, will provide additional evacuation time to occupants to exit the vehicle, without rush and panic. e ministry should now think of a similar, system in smaller vehicles too., M Pradyu, Kannur, , thehansreader@gmail.com, , THE, , Sack arrogant ministers, demands, K'taka BJP MLA, Davanagere: M.P. renukacharya, senior BJP MLa and staunch follower of former CM B.S. Yediyurappa, has said that more than 15 arrogant, cabinet ministers in Karnataka should be sacked., Speaking to reporters on Sunday, renukacharya said, these ministers, are not responsive. "I have given a list of arrogant ministers to party President nalin Kumar Kateel and CM Bommai. ey should be sacked in, the interest of the party and the government," he maintained., "One of the ministers whom I tried to contact didn't receive my calls., His personal secretary said that the minister has tested positive for Covid, and he is under quarantine. Later, he was found attending cabinet meetings. I spoke about the issue with CM Bommai," renukacharya explained., , Yediyurappa’s kin suicide case: Don't know, what pushed her to end life: Husband, BengaLuru: e Karnataka Police have recorded the statement of Dr, neeraj, in connection with the suicide case of former Chief Minister B.S., Yediyurappa's granddaughter Dr Soundarya. Dr neeraj, Soundarya's husband in his statement said that the couple shared a good bonding, there, was no crisis between them and he is not able to understand what pushed, Soundarya to the verge of committing suicide, police sources said on, Sunday. Soundarya committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan in, her flat leaving behind her 9-month-old male baby on Friday. Dr neeraj, has said that he led a cordial life with Soundarya. He claimed that they, did not quarrel or had any difference of opinion among themselves., Dr neeraj has further stated that the incident has shocked him and he, is not able to understand what led her to commit suicide., , Read more at, https://epaper.thehansindia.com (Bengaluru edition)
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06, , Incorporating and directly descended, from THE FRIEND OF INDIA - Founded 1818, , More of the same?, , U, , S President Joe Biden finds himself in a particularly galling situation regarding his administration’s China policy. Because it’s not just his, political foes who are panning his handling of a rampant Beijing; the searing criticism is coming from the, simpatico. Perhaps the perils of giving into the left, cabal in the Democratic Party have come to bite Mr, Biden in the fleshy parts. For, he is being accused by, pro-establishment policy makers, sections of the, media, and party lawmakers of effectively following, what has been derisively described as a ‘Trump Lite’, approach towards China that continues, according to, them, to be destructive and unimaginative. The tough, line on China being followed by Mr Biden, thankfully, sans the bombast of his predecessor, is justified by his, officials as one that has strong bi-partisan support., According to foreign policy expert Jeffrey A. Bader,, when asked to distinguish its China strategy from that, of its predecessor’s, the Biden Administration says it, favours a multilateral approach of rallying allies, in, contrast to the unilateralism of the America First practitioners. “Yet, it is intellectual laziness to justify policy, on the basis of bipartisanship rather than formulate a, (new) one. In no other instance, whether it’s US policy, toward Iran, Ukraine and Russia, or EU-NATO, has the, administration sought to duplicate Trump’s policy,” he, writes. Scholars such as Mr Bader quote opinion polls, to assert that Democrats do not have a visceral dislike, of China which Republicans do and argue that in taking an uncompromising stand, President Biden is, guilty of continuing to pursue a Trump-era policy, under the guise of bi-partisanship at the expense of, grassroots Democratic views. What these critics from, within fail to recognise is that politicians usually have, their ear to the ground and whatever opinion polls, may claim, Mr Biden is attempting to keep the Democrats from lurching to the left when it comes to China., On the substantive issues, he has done well to jettison the incendiary and provocative language of his, predecessor while continuing to insist that meaningful, cooperation, as opposed to transactional economic, and trade ties, with Beijing would be possible only if, there are fundamental changes in its hegemonic, approach and undemocratic state apparatus. Further,, by recognising and calling out the Chinese desire for, domination and gearing up international diplomacy, including strengthening the Quad, launching AUKUS,, doubling down on its East Asia security alliance, and, keeping its strategic focus on the Asia-Pacific to ensure, the Communist Party of China doesn’t have a free run,, Washington feels it is on the right track. The strategy of, “decoupling” from China by continuing a high tariff, regime, validating the FBI’s sharp focus on Chinese, and Chinese-Americans conducting research at American universities especially in sensitive dual-use technologies, and closing down various exchange programmes including with the Centre for Disease Control given the data-fudging by the Chinese which was, blatant during the coronavirus pandemic, are apt too., Crucially, President Biden has indicated that acceptance of the One-China Policy is not sacrosanct given, the aggressive moves by Beijing against Taiwan. Trump, Lite or not, this is a policy approach which needs to be, supported by all sensible sections of the American, establishment., , Soldier returns, , T, , Vol. CXXXXXVI 25, , NEW DELHI, MONDAY 31 JANUARY 2022, , ill a couple of days ago, the world knew Burkina, Faso as a geographical expression in Africa. But, this week’s coup signifies the return of military, strongmen to the volatile region. There is little doubt, that the new wave of uprisings occurred after democracy had seemingly become entrenched in the region., Less than five months after soldiers in fatigues, appeared on national television in Guinea to, announce that they had removed President Alpha, Condé from office, the spectacle was repeated on, Monday in Burkina Faso, as the military proclaimed, the overthrow of head of state Roch Kaboré. Which is, not to forget the double-putsch in Mali, where army, officers deposed President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in, August 2020. They promised the regional bloc Ecowas, that they would organise elections the following, month, but in May 2021 they staged a second takeover, to reassert control over the transition and later set out, plans to stay in power for almost five more years. West, Africa was a region where constitutional multi-party, civilian politics had become the norm. Almost all, countries were at least formally democratic, even if, some elected Presidents, once in office, twisted the, rules to perpetuate their stay in power. Now three, members of Ecowas (the Economic Community of, West African States) are under the command of men in, uniform. Is the long-forgotten era of the military, strongman making a comeback? In Burkina Faso, as in, Mali, it is the jihadist security crisis that has clearly, exerted a destabilising toll. The relentless reports of, Islamist attacks fuelling popular anger on streets and, resentment among soldiers who feel they are being, sent out, too lightly armed, underpaid or even underfed, to sustain the struggle against militant groups that, take no prisoners are a flashpoint. This week's Ouagadougou putsch is an outburst of exasperation from, the lower and middle-ranking soldiers who risk their, lives on the frontline in a brutally uncompromising, conflict. Feelings had become particularly intense, since a 14 November jihadist attack on the Inata gendarmerie garrison in northern Burkina Faso that left 53, of the 120 troops dead. Some in Burkina Faso want, Russian forces to replace the French ~ as they have in, Mali. Demands for a more effective security strategy, had built up through last year, and President Kaboré, overhauled first his government and then the military, command in a bid to regain the political momentum, and restore some stability to the battered northern, and eastern provinces. Over the past two years, more, than 1,000 schools have downed their shutters and 1.5, million people have fled their homes to escape the, violence, some consigned to begging for money or, food on the streets of the capital. More than 2,000 people have lost their lives. Burkina Faso is virtually a powder-keg, a recipe for the soldier to step in., , A Terrible Bargain, , A MEMBER, OF THE, , Professor Joy Sen researched and conceptualized the publication of a 2022 calendar, by IIT-Kharagpur (IIT-K) titled Recovery of the Foundations of Indian Knowledge Systems., In addition to months, dates and days, this calendar carries a narrative of our past. In, particular, the narrative attempts to convince the reader that the creators of the vast, Harappan civilization were also the authors of the Rigveda, and that motifs of Harappan, seals are alluded to in the Hindu sacred texts. In this attempt, many incorrect or obsolete, claims have been made, , T, , he IIT-K calendar essay declares that, “glaciers of Mount Kailash is the, source of two important river Valley, Civilizations”, Indus and Brahmaputra. This is not correct. Brahmaputra originates from the Manasarovar lake region, and, Indus from the Bokhar Chu glacier in the, northern slopes of Mt Kailash. The essay further claims that the “tributaries of Indus as, mentioned in the Rig Veda are sourced to the, Siwalik ranges in the Central-Eastern Himalayas”. This is also not correct. Rigveda is, familiar with the entire Indus river system., Western tributaries of Indus like Kubha, [Kabul], suvastu [swat], and Gomti [Gomal], are mentioned in addition to the Punjab, rivers. No river in the Indus system arises in, the Shivalik range., The essay claims that “the entire antiquity of Indian Vedic Civilization” was deliberately limited within 2000 BCE “to best accommodate an Aryan Invasion Myth leading to a, split of Vedic culture and the Indus Valley Civilization!” When Vedic texts were being interpreted, archaeology and genetics were still, into the future. Rigveda repeatedly refers to, Indra as purandra, the destroyer of forts. It, was assumed that the forts that Indra targeted were located in India. However, when, Harappan sites were excavated, it became, clear that no structures matched the, Rigvedic description of the forts. The scholarly consensus now is to attribute the Harappan decline to environmental issues., The essay states that “the objectives of, the Aryan Invasion is one of aggression,, genetic superiority by race and skin color.”, Aryan “invasion theory” is a dead horse, the, flogging of which perpetually yields rich ideological dividends. The key question is, whether the Aryans came from outside the, subcontinent or not. If they did, it is a minor, matter whether they are to be called invaders, or immigrants. Rejection of the invasion, hypothesis does not automatically make, Aryans the Harappans., The essay declares that there is “striking, similarity between millions of words evident, in Indian languages and others in the European Tree of Linguistics,” an inordinate exaggeration. On a more sober note, the introduction of Sanskrit into Europe, availability of, large number of old manuscripts, and development of philology as a science led to the, postulation of an Indo-European family of, languages. Within this family, two branches,, the Indic and the Iranian, produced literature, Rigveda and Avesta, respectively. These, two texts are so closely related linguistically, that one cannot be studied without the help, of the other. The differences in grammar are, very small. One can find verses in the oldest, portions of Avesta which by well-established, phonetic substitutions can be turned into, intelligible Sanskrit. Sanskrit terms like Arya,, asura, hotr, kshetra, Nabhanedishta, Prthu,, Vrtrahana, yajna, Yama have Avestan counterparts. Any theory on Aryans to be admissible, leave aside acceptable, must first and, foremost satisfactorily explain the Indo-European linguistic commonalities and Indo-Iranian literary similarities. Rigveda is familiar, , LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, , with metal (copper) and spoked wheel. The, latter as a technological invention can be, dated to 4000 BCE. Rigveda cannot be older, than this date. The IIT-K calendar essay, claims to bring “the Vedic Culture and the, Indus Valley Civilization (7000 BCE-1500, BCE) under one fold; 7000 BCE is still, Neolithic era. If Aryans, the carriers of Vedic, culture, were present in India at such an early, date, this has serious implications: all IndoEuropean speakers must also be placed in, India and introduced to copper and spoked, wheel before dispersal., Quite improbably, if Harappans were, Aryans, Zarathushtra must also be stationed, in India. The Zoroastrian texts, however, do, not mention India, there is no indication of, familiarity with Indus, and constantly refer, to Central Asia. In a recent interview (“IIT’s, Aryan thrust baffles scientists,” The Telegraph, 28 December 2021), Professor Sen, accused geneticists of propagating ideas of, Aryan invasion in migration and population, genetics studies. This is blatantly false. As we, , RAJESH, KOCHHAR, , PARTHA, MAJUMDER, , The writers are, respectively, author of The Vedic, People and Sanskrit and the British Empire and a, National Science Chair, Government of India, , know, genes are our inherited endowment., Individuals who have a set of common ancestors will have similar genetic endowment. A, group of individuals with a different set of, ancestors will have some shared and some, unshared genetic characteristics with those, descended from a separate ancestral group., Indeed, these shared and unshared genetic, characteristics provide pillars for inferring, ancestral components of contemporary population groups. Further, since genes move, with people, the patterns of frequencies of, genetic characteristics in extant population, groups can help estimate directions and, extents of migration admixture using specific, population genetic frameworks. Random, genetic changes caused by various environmental factors accumulate; their frequencies, usually vary across geographical regions., In the geographical region where one or, more genetic changes have arisen, the frequencies of these changes are high. These, changes are carried to other regions as people, migrate from this region. However, in the, recipient regions their frequencies are expected to be lower. If there is continued migration, the frequencies of these changes are, expected to consistently decrease as one, moves away from the region or origin of these, genetic changes. Using this framework of, expectations, there is unequivocal evidence, that some “genetic signatures” ~ constella-, , Demographic, imbalances, , T, , he census conducted by the, Central Bureau of Statistics concluded on November 25. The, head count revealed that the population of Nepal was increasing at a slow, pace, in fact, the slowest in the last, 80 years., It is growth nonetheless, but the, question is whether it is to be taken, positively or as an indication that, could spell disaster for the country in, the years to come., In most developed countries, projections of a fall in population signal, economic woes., Statisticians are quick to inform, the administration of the economic, challenges the government will need, to face concerning labour shortages, and a possible impact on the housing, market., After an arduous two weeks, the, enumerators gathered much-needed, information which showed a modest, increase in the population by 0.93, percent., Are the authorities worried about, possible labour shortages that may, affect economic output? It is highly, doubtful., The administration has failed, miserably to retain the youth and provide a stable, meaningful environment., Instead of being able to reap the, , youth demographic dividend, Nepal is, in the business of exporting skilled, and unskilled talent abroad in, exchange for precious foreign, exchange., While there is nothing wrong with, ensuring that citizens find jobs overseas, relying on it ultimately does not, bode well for a country., And the hallmark for development has always been in retaining the, populace to build one’s country., This lack of policy to retain the, youth has led to a mass exodus of, young people from the towns and, villages, leaving only the elderly,, women and children to ensure, that they remained a functional, place. Those unable to find employment abroad were drawn to the, cities., Thus, it may be fair to assume, that the administration’s short-sightedness concerning the development, of remote regions in Nepal has led to, this imbalanced distribution of population in the country., Lest we forget that the Maoist, insurgency acted as a catalyst for the, imbalance, but what has the administration done in the last 15 years after, securing a peace deal?, Possibly even decentralisation of, vital administrative functions would, help persuade people to fan out across, the country, but there have been no, such steps., The census shows a parallel, between a drop in the hill population, and an increase in the Tarai belt population., If this trend continues, it has consequences on two fronts in particular, ~ politics and the economy and a, change in socio-economic behaviour., On the economic front, most of, the arable land in the Tarai region, would have to make way for construction, constricting agricultural output, further and adding strain to the existing infrastructure., And on the political front, an, increase in the Tarai population could, pave the way for reduced electoral, constituencies in the hills and, in turn,, further affect development in the hills, and contribute to the existing imbalance., It is not the rate of population that, should be ringing the alarm bells for, the administration, but rather the lack, of policies to correct any of the existing, demographic imbalances., , editor@thestatesman.com, , When proxies join battle, SIR, This refers to the editorial, “Ballistic Houthis” (28, January). The Saudi-led coalition, of which the UAE, was a part, started bombing, Yemen in 2015, hoping to, swiftly dislodge the Houthi, rebels from Sana’a and reinstate the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. Almost seven years later, the, Iran-backed Houthis, who, were holed up in northern, Yemen and began counterattacks with missiles and, drones into Saudi Arabia,, have expanded the war all, the way to the Gulf coast of, the UAE. Monday’s drone attacks on Abu Dhabi by the, Houthis were a message to, the Emiratis. It may not be a, , tions of specific genetic changes ~ that arose, in Central Asia were carried by migration of, people to India. One genetic signature, “U2e”, is found widely, in low and variable frequencies, in Indian population groups. The epicentre of this signature is in Western Eurasia, (including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan), as evidenced by its high frequency in that region. The inference from, these data is that migrants from Eurasia, (Indo-European/Aryan speakers) entered, India about 4000 years ago and admixed with, the indigenous populations of India, descendants of those who arrived in India on a wave, of migration from out of Africa about 65,000, years ago. Similar evidence can be found in, respect of variation in the genomic signature, called R1a1a. Recent studies based on DNA, isolated from fossils have confirmed that, migrants from the Kazakhstan area (Eurasian, Steppe) had entered India, but the date of, entry was estimated to be more recent, about, 2000 BCE. Population genetic studies have, neither provided evidence of any Aryan, “invasion” nor are these studies helping, propagate the “invasion myth.” Objective, analyses of genetic data from living and longdead individuals have revealed that people, from Central Asia had entered India between, 2000 and 4000 BCE, not 7000 BCE as claimed, in the IIT-K calendar., The Calendar Essay also claims that the, “system of Yoga and Kshema as realized and, developed by the Arya Sages are synchronous.” It says that Rigveda (Mandala 10,, Hymn 167, Verse 1) mentions “Yogakshemavishayaih karma’’. It does not. Similarly, the, phrase “Yogebhi Kshemebhi’’ is said to figure in Rig Veda (Mandala 7, Hymn 36). Here, the verse number is not given. A search did, not reveal this phrase in the Rig Veda. So this, is also likely to be false. The IIT-K essay takes, note of the racist theories of the Nazis, but, plays havoc with European history. It talks of, “The Two World Wars, 1914-1945” as if these, were two innings of a single match. There is a, gap of 20 years between the two wars during, which Hitler with his hatefulness had risen., The racist ideology of Aryanism is not an, issue in the First World War. And yet the essay, declares: “More than 120 million civilians and, soldiers were killed and slaughtered between, 1914 and 1945 in the name of European definition of Aryan invasion!” The essay expends, considerable verbiage condemning colonial, invaders. And yet in its map of India it calls, the river Ganga “the Ganges.”, There is ample evidence that Indians, have contributed concepts and objects to, others, but there is no reason to be uptight, about accepting that others have also contributed to our culture. Assertions that Aryan, speakers were “superior” are subjective and, baseless; there is no reason for us to continue, to debate it. In a classic case of double-speak,, this kind of distortion of ancient history, and archaeology is being designated “Recovery of the Foundations of Indian Knowledge, Systems”. If the so-called recovery belittles, rigorous scholarship, ignores scientific data,, and anoints IIT’s face black, it is a terrible, bargain., , ASIAN VOICES, , coincidence that the attacks, were carried out at a time, when the UAE-backed forces have been making slow, gains in Yemen’s conflict, against the Houthis. But the, UAE’s involvement in Yemen, has had many turns. It quit, the Saudi-led coalition in, , 2020 as the war had hit a, stalemate. Since then, the, Emiratis have provided tactical support to the Southern Transitional Council, a, separatist body in southern, Yemen that drove the Saudibacked forces loyal to President Hadi out of Aden. The, dynamics changed again, when the Houthis began, pushing into territories outside their stronghold, especially Marib; if they took, Marib, they would be a step, ahead to push into the south. A Houthi strike to scare, away the Emiratis from Yemen could trigger the opposite reaction from Abu Dhabi, which now has powerful, proxies in the south. The, , cycle of violence spells tragic, news for Yemen’s 30 million, people. Unfortunately, the, parties and their regional, backers are keen on escalating the conflict rather than, finding a solution. If the, fighting over the last seven, years holds any lesson, it is, that there can be no military, solution to Yemen’s problems. To dial down tensions,, there have to be talks, not, only between the rebels,, separatists and the government but also between their, backers ~ Iran, the UAE and, Saudi Arabia. If these regional powers agree to rein in, their proxies and work towards rebuilding Yemen,, that would also help them, restore stability and security, in the Arabian Peninsula., Yours, etc., S S Paul,, Nadia, 28 January., , HIDDEN AGENDA, SIR, The proposed amendments to the rules of the Indian Administrative Service by the Centre are against the, spirit of federalism. With the amendment, the Centre, wants to break the state’s hold over all-India service officers working under them, particularly in matters related, to deputation to the Centre. Of late, the issue of deputation has got a political colour. The Centre and those, state governments that are ruled by rival parties are, crossing swords over the postings of a few IAS or IPS, officers, vitiating the atmosphere. Now the Centre wants, to take away the choice of the state and of individual, officers regarding deputations on the plea that it does, not adequate number of officers. It’s nothing but a lame, excuse.The Central government has introduced lateral, entry to fill some vacancies. It can increase the recruitment of officers directly. Instead, it wants to go against, the principles of cooperative federalism, may be with, some hidden agenda., Yours, etc., Dr D V G Sankararao,, Vizianagaram, 21 January.
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NEW DELHI, MONDAY 31 JANUARY 2022, , Why Russia is so eager to, control Ukraine, , 07, , 100 YEARS AGO, , OCCASIONAL NOTE, There seems to be a disposition in parts of, England, notably Manchester and London, to follow the lead which has been set, in America by what is known there as the, Life Extension Institute. The basic idea of, this institute is that members enroll, themselves to secure medical attendance, not when they are sick, but while they are, well. Prevention is better than cure. Each, member of the institute is periodically, overhauled by specially appointed examiners according to standardised methods,, and he is also entitled to the advice of a, consultative board of recognised authorities in the various departments of medicine and hygiene. In order that strict professional secrecy may be observed medical histories, if members so desire are, recorded at headquarters under a simple, number. The service is available on payment of a fixed annual subscription,, which does not, however, include domiciliary visits. In England, such a scheme, should appeal specially to the middle, classes, who at present get little benefit, from either the hospitals or the National, Insurance scheme, and who not only have, to pay dearly for medical attendance, when they are ill, but are often put off calling in medical aid till the illness has, reached an advanced stage. The reasonable principle that the doctor should have, a proprietary interest in health rather than, in disease has been observed in China, from time immemorial. It has been curiously slow in making its way into modern, Europe., , NEWS ITEMS, ABHIROOP CHOWDHURY, AND ARMIN ROSENCRANZ, , A, , geopolitical crisis is looming, large over the eastern border, of Russia. There has been a, massive military build-up by, Russia close to Ukraine. The histories, of the two nations are linked and, until 1991, they were part of the, USSR. Since independence in 1991,, Ukraine had a pro-Russian leader,, Viktor Yanukovyc, whose ambitions, were aligned with Russian interests., The situation changed with ‘The revolution of dignity’, popularly known, as the ‘Maidan revolution’, where a, series of protests erupted across the, nation during 2013-14, following, Yanukovyc’s refusal to join political, association and a free trade agreement with the European Union. The, elected government was ousted, and, power shifted towards the current, pro-West Volodymyr Zelensky., Following these incidents, the, Crimean Peninsula, a geostrategic, region in southern Ukraine, with the, port of Sevastapol, was annexed by, Russia on 18 March 2014. The annex-, , ation was claimed by Russia as a, mandate of citizens of Crimea, who, are mostly Russian in origin., Since that incident, bilateral relations between the two nations suffered., On 15 December 2018, the Kiev church, severed its ties to the Russian orthodox, church as per the decree of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. This clearly showed the determination of the nation to break out from, its former ‘Soviet’ roots, distancing itself, from Vladimir Putin’s Russia., The situation got worse with, Ukraine’s growing proximity to the, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, (NATO). Russia was the successor to, the erstwhile USSR, both in the Security Council of the United Nations, and in its global presence. Since, World War II, the Soviet Union had, tried to protect its vulnerable western front by bringing Eastern European nations within its iron curtain., By 1945, Joseph Stalin, the then communist dictator of USSR, had realised, that the open fields of western Russia, would be difficult to protect by military might alone., The initial success of Hitler’s, , Operation Barbarossa was due to the, plain land geography of the Russian, heartland. It is devoid of any mountains or any natural barriers. The reason for the dual-front war strategy of, Hitler may have revolved around, control of the oil-rich Caspian, Volga, and Caucasus regions overlooking, the Russian heartland. The situation, was contained by exemplary Soviet, resistance at the Battle of Stalingrad, in 1942-43. Some estimates say that, 27 million Soviet lives were lost in, World War II., The situation in Ukraine is echoing warnings similar to those voiced, before World War II. After the collapse, of the USSR, Russia lost most of its, Eastern ‘buffer lands’. Poland, the, Baltic republics (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia) and Germany are proUS and linked with the NATO, alliance, which was originally an antiUSSR pact. If Ukraine also slips out, of Russian influence, NATO will get a, foothold in the Volga region and can, threaten Russia’s control over its, hydrocarbon rich areas., This global crisis is taking its toll, over ordinary Ukrainians. A war, , between pro-Russian separatists and, Ukrainian forces has been waging in, Eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and, Luhansk oblasts, collectively called, the Donbas region, since 2014. It is, already proved to the world that the, separatists are supported by Russia., Between 13,100 and 13,300 lives have, already been lost in this futile civil, war since 2014. The current military, build-up of Russia alongside the, Ukraine border accounts to more, than 100,000 soldiers. The world’s, powers, including the USA, are fearing a Russian annexation of the, region in similar fashion as the, Crimean Peninsula., These geopolitical instabilities, point towards a common issue - the, dependency of the world on hydrocarbons. Russia’s paranoia revolves, around its hydrocarbon resources, which account for $ 250 billion worth, of exports in 2021. More than 40 per, cent of these exports go to EU countries. This adds another dimension to, the Ukraine crisis. With this dependency of Europe on Russia’s hydrocarbons, it cannot support Ukraine, in case of any imminent crisis., , Though EU and US uphold and, defend democratic governments, across the globe, the energy dependency on Russia makes them incapable of taking any meaningful steps, to resolve Russian illegal occupation, in Crimea in 2014 or in the recent, military crisis in eastern Ukraine., With climate change impacts, battering the world, global powers are, trying to distance themselves from, carbon-intensive hydrocarbon energy. By limiting dependency on hydrocarbons, major world powers will be, less bothered by politics in their, neighbouring nations. The world will, be a more peaceful place as superpowers will not use their economic, and military might to scare smaller, nations under their banner, just for, the sake of safeguarding their hydrocarbon wealth., Let’s move towards renewables, and nuclear energy to make the, world a peaceful and clean place for, all to live and flourish., The writers are, respectively, Associate, Professor and Dean at the Jindal School of, Environment and Sustainability, O.P. Jindal, Global University, Sonipat, India, , IT CAME TO MIND | MANISH NANDY, , Alien and intimate, , M, , ornings are glorious in, Santiniketan. I was visiting Santiniketan in the, sixties and staying in the, home of the Vice Chancellor of Viswa, Bharati University. There was a sizable lawn next door and, early one, morning, as I woke I saw a man going, around and around in a circle., As I walked up to him, I saw a, tall, bearded foreigner and was about, to say Good Morning in English. He, pre-empted me, by speaking in Bengali, and that too sardonically, “Finally, you are awake!” He justified the dig, with his next sentence, coupled with, an elaborate gesture of his arm,, “Bright morning!”, Paul Detienne had displayed his, three most characteristic ploys in the, very first moment of our encounter., He spoke Bengali better than a native., He loved sarcasm. His arms, like his, face, were not just expressive, they, were dramatically demonstrative., These were not features one, expected in a Jesuit missionary. But, Detienne seldom did anything very, expected. When he said he was Belgian, I quickly suggested, “Why don’t, we talk in French? I want to improve, my French conversation.” He countered, “But I want to improve my, Bengali. I’d rather we talk in Bengali.”, After some haggling, we reached a, deal. He will speak to me in Bengali; I, will speak in French., That created what Thurber, , Illustration: Debabrata Chakrabarty, , would have called “a hullabaloo of, misunderstanding.” Since I worked, in an office near Park Street and he, was often there for his work, our, paths crossed frequently, and we, stopped and talked at street corners., We attracted attention. Passersby, stopped and chided me, “What’s, wrong with you? That sahib is talking, Bengali and you are talking some gibberish. Can’t you be polite and talk to, him in English?” One time, when we, went to the Flury’s cafe for some tea,, two persons, after hearing our conversation from the next table, came, , to help me, “It is all right if you don’t, know English. Just tell us what you, want to say in Hindi, and we will, translate it for him in English.”, Detienne relished such confusion. He would pull their leg and say,, “English is a far cry for him. He can’t, even speak Bengali well. I am trying, to teach him a little bit.”, Sometimes he would drop by my, office. If I was busy, he would not, waste his time, but talk instead with, my secretary, my assistant, or even, the receptionist. In short order he, knew their names, where they lived,, , whether they were married, what, they liked to eat. One time my assistant made the mistake, while serving, him tea, of using the word ‘sugar’, instead of the Bengali equivalent, and, Detienne said, “If you are a Bengali,, and you don’t know the Bengali word, for sugar, you need to improve your, language. If you know the word, but, choose to use a word from another, language, then you need to improve, your idea of yourself.” He said it gently and with a smile, but he detested, the practice he had noticed of Indians mixing English words while, speaking an Indian language., I took him home to meet my, parents and my brothers. He told, Ashis, “I have a better beard than, yours,” and he deliberately poked Pritish by mispronouncing his name as, British. My mother wanted to know, about his family and Detienne disclosed that all his brothers, six of, them, were priests in different countries, mostly Africa, except one. His, mother had apparently said that she, needed one near her and would not, let him join the Jesuits. The youngest, brother was to get married, and Detienne wanted the bride to wear a sari,, a Benarasi, for the evening reception., My mother dictated the steps, involved in wearing a sari; I translated her words into French and my secretary typed them out. We helped, Detienne buy a beautiful sari and he, carried it to Brussels. But my mother’s, instructions or my translation was, poor, and the bride had to seek emergency help from the Indian Embassy, , before the reception. But, reported, Detienne, the bride looked gorgeous,, and he was the hero of the evening., A heavy price for my nomadic, life is the number of friends one lost, in pre-internet days. When I connected with Detienne again after twentyfive years, he had mellowed somewhat, but he still retained his proclivity for sarcasm and dramatic gestures., He was a literary celebrity, for he had, produced a stream of witty, enjoyable, books that had made him a best-selling Bengali author, a literary lion. I, took it as a great compliment when, one or two remarked that some of my, own writing reminded readers of the, flavor of Detienne., I have a whole collection of Detienne’s books. I woke up early this, morning, made a cup of coffee and, walked out on the deck with a Detienne book. I looked at Detienne’s picture on the cover and half expected, him to jump out, make an oversized, gesture and say, “Finally, you are, awake!”, I turned the pages and, toward, the end, this is what I came across:, “My time has come to leave. I, have finished all that I had to say. But, not quite., I will hope to see you again.”, The writer is a US-based international, development advisor and had worked with, the World Bank. He can be reached at, mnandy@gmail.com, , CROSSWORD, , NO 29165, , ACROSS, , 17 Following overdose music, producer, born in Sultanate,, 1 Stuck up small head by, finds fixer (3-3,3), mistake (8), 18 Searched and managed to, 5 Uproar behind you and me, fire journalist (9), (6), 19 Begin letter without, 9 State has plenty of time and, introduction (5), means (8), 20 Brief special vehicle branch, 10 Stick poster in this place (6), of the police (6,5), 12 Meet and greet ghetto, 24 Arouse interest in article, revolutionary (3,8), about vigil (6), 15 Poisonous beast consumed, 25 Original member of family, by jerk (5), left out after bit of, , controversy (8), 26 Attempt to embrace man, with love in ideal situation, (6), 27 Stretches back to get, steamy photograph (8), , DOWN, 1, 2, 3, , Kills merriment aboard ship, (10), Public dismissal is too much, (10), Do butchers extract all, , nutritious offal first of all?, (5), 4 Frame guides showing ways, to access multiple places, (8,4), 6 Suggestion from, subordinate, tense individual, (9), 7 Support lord vocally (4), 8 Cook ineffectual politicians, upset (4), 11 Republican and Democrat, droned on about keeping, , 13, 14, 16, 21, 22, 23, , house plant (12), Clumsy American couple, thrive without Flo (10), Factor in dirt engine, churned up (10), Loudly regret returning, after tea with posh driver, (9), Second party for, rascal (5), Women behind drift (4), Stun and partially confound, a zealot (4), , NOTE: Figures in parentheses denote the number of letters in the words required. (By arrangement with The Independent, London), , NEW FEATURES, IN TRIAL OF, ARMSTRONG, One of the principal new features in the, Armstrong trial was the evidence of Nurse, Kinsey, who attended Mrs. Armstrong., She said she suggested a whole-time, nurse as there was fear of suicide. Nurse, Kinsey stated that Armstrong and his wife, were on affectionate terms. Dr. Hincks, stated that with the facts known today his, opinion was that Mrs. Armstrong's death, was due to chronic arsenic poisoning. As, regards his treatment of Major Armstrong,, Dr. Hincks claimed professional secrecy,, but on being overruled stated that Armstrong had contracted venereal disease., He mentioned a conversation in which, Armstrong questioned him regarding the, amount necessary for a fatal dose of, arsenic. Dr. Hincks said he was flabbergasted by the questions., , SERIOUS RIOT AT, SOLONGA, A telegraphic report from the District Magistrate, Pabna, states that on January 27,, he was present at Solonga hat, thana, Raiganj, with an armed force under the, Superintendent of Police and a Deputy, Superintendent, for the purpose of preventing intimidation and picketing. Some, volunteers who were picketing were arrested, whereupon a crowd, estimated at 2,000, strong, surrounded the party and threatened them with violence. The Magistrate,, Superintendent endeavoured to quiet the, mob but without success. The Deputy, Superintendent was hit on the head and, knocked senseless and the Magistrate and, Superintendent were both assaulted. The, mob were warned that if they did not disperse the police would open fire, but the, only reply was a volley of stones. The police, then fired blank cartridges without effect., , ECONOMIC, ADVANTAGES OF, INDIAN TIMBER, In the unavoidable absence of Mr. Montagu, Sir William Meyer presided today at, the meeting of the Royal Society of Arts,, when a paper by Mr. Alexander Howard, of, a firm who are agents for the Government, of India timbers in Europe, was read in his, absence by his partner. The paper pointed, out that the British market was beginning, to recognise more fully the economic, advantages of the use of Indian as well as, foreign timbers. The Bank of England, at, the new buildings in Finsbury Circus, had, had the whole of the decorative woodwork, made of Indian timbers and various firms, were following that example. Experience, gathered from the innovation of sending, teak here in logs, instead of sawn, had, convinced Mr. Howard of the advantage, of marketing timbers in this form., , THE DISCONTENTED, ELEMENTS, Speaking at the East African dinner in London tonight, Mr. Churchill made an important reference to the political problems of, East Africa. He pointed out, as a curious, result of the war, that the discontented elements in African and Asiatic countries, seemed to think that they had only to, express the wish that Britain should lay, down the Government and Britain would, comply. It was high time it was made clear, that this was not the rule Britain intended to, follow. He added, however, that French, administrators of native populations took, the greatest care to mingle with the natives, and understand intimately their feelings in a, manner which the more aloof and stand-off, British official was not accustomed to adopt.
