Sunday Column: The Week That Was

In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the right of a citizen to seek sanction for prosecution of a public servant for corruption as it deemed it a constitutional right of a citizen. While upholding the right, the Supreme Court also set a four-month deadline for the government to decide on the plea. Furthermore, it said that sanction would be deemed granted in case the designated authority does not a take a decision within the stipulated time. 

Subramanian Swamy's plea to make Chidambaram a co-accused was dismissed by the Special Court on Saturday. While it appeared that Swamy had lost momentum, he clearly denied it, adding that on many previous occasions, the lower court hadn't given the right judgement, which he eventually obtained from the higher courts after he sought them. 

Swamy said to a gathering in Mumbai: "Prima facie, I established a case against Chidambaram and even the court agreed. I wanted the court to summon him to establish his criminality and cross-examine him as to why he agreed to the 2001 pricing and share dilution of companies." 

The controversial deal between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) commercial arm, Antrix Corporation, and Devas Multimedia was probed by a committee - a five-member team - which was chaired by former Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) Pratyush Sinha. They concluded that there had been "serious lapses of judgment on the part of various officials, and in some cases the actions verged on the point of breach of public trust," as noted by The Times of India. It concluded that the former chairman of the space agency, G. Madhavan Nair, and three other scientists were responsible for the contract. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) estimated the loss to the exchequer to the tune of Rs. 2 lakh crore because of the deal, which was later scrapped by the center. 

The five-year long search for a fighter culminated in the purchase of the French jet Rafale, which was chosen over the Eurofighter Typhoon for the nearly $20 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) programme to supply 126 fighters to the Indian Air Force. This was perhaps the largest 'open-tender' military aviation deal in the world. The first 18 jets will come in a "fly-away condition" from mid-2015 and the remaining 108 fighters will be manufactured in India over six years after a transfer of technology (ToT) to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). 

In yet another "worst place" in the world, India was officially shown, by data, to be granted the status in terms of girl-child mortality. An Indian girl child aged 1-5 years was 75% more likely to die than an Indian boy, which proves how dangerous it is for baby girls in our country. Whereas most of the world is experiencing a decline in female infant and child mortality than in male, the most populous nations - India and China - have gone against the trend. The data was released by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) which accounted for 150 countries over 40 years.   

Sunday Column - Select articles of the week

Here are the select articles for the past week.

• "India's stake in Arctic cold war" - This article discusses the new cold war fomenting among the Arctic littoral countries given Arctic's increasing prospects of economic and strategic gains while contrasting it with the role that a aspiring global power like India should adopt in the best interest of  everyone.
• "Let India unleash its soft power" - This article analyses the opportunities in the famine struck African countries presented to emerging powers, like India, due to the economic and moral decline of the West.
• "At the crossroads of mediaphobia" - This article throws light on the increasing desire of the Indian government to control the social media and the Internet, which until now acted as a countervailing force against vulnerable mass media.
• "From food security to food justice" - This article enlightens the reader about the silent economic revolution unfolding with 'Sangha Krishi' (group farming), an experiment of 'Kudumbashree', anti-poverty programme, that is changing the sociopolitical landscape of the state of Kerala.
• "Get it right in Kazakhstan" - This article explores the dilemma that other countries (including India) face over whether to profit from the enforced "political stability" in Kazakhstan to ensure supply of oil, uranium or to encourage the consolidation of democratic institutions and processes within the country.
• "On a wing and a prayer" - This article discusses the economic and political challenges arisen due to violence, tribalism and hatreds, old and new, faced by Libya during the transitional phase into democracy, post Gaddafi regime.
• "Strategic lift in Rafale tailwind" - This article conducts an analysis of Indo-french ties - both nuclear and defence cooperation - right from the time of Indian independence, in the light of the recent Indian defence deal with France to acquire Dassault Rafale.
   

• Women's reservation bill - This article focuses on the neglected issue of reservation, that when implemented would require sufficient numbers of suitable candidates from the respective groups.
• Gandhi and Nehru - A rather precarious article that seemed to be published on the background of Jan 30th, Martyrs day 
• Breaking the strangle hold of nuclear safety regulator and Transparency in nuclear safety bill - These two articles explain the various factors, mysteries by analyzing the features of the proposed nuclear safety bill.
• "Conserve water the way Mizos do" - This article exhorts the water conservation attitude of Mizos.
   

• "Needed urgently: An Education revolution"
• "Building a new urban India" 
• "Kolkata's shame"
• "Welcome ruling"
• "Union of India"  
• "Exit at any cost?"
• "Crouching dragon hidden tiger"