The cold wind from Russia

"Putin's election-eve attack against Washington and its western allies for exporting “rocket-bomb democracy” indirectly targets India too."

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : The cold wind from Russia: PM Vladimir Putin, almost certain to win the Russian presidential elections, has laid out a tough foreign policy vision for his third term in the Kremlin that may entail changes in Russia's relations with its main partners East and West.

Moscow feels its cooperation with the West on Libya was wilfully abused when Nato countries, in Mr. Putin's words, "did away with the Libyan regime by using air power under the pretext of humanitarian support."

Russia's intransigence on Syria steps from a clear understanding that the U.S. and the Saudi-led group of Arab countries are out to pull down the Assad regime in order to weaken Iran, change its political regime, and remodel the entire region. The standoff on Syria may also trigger shifts in Russia's relations with its two main strategic partners, India and China. 

A river sutra, without links

"There are less disruptive and cheaper alternatives than connecting rivers to reduce the misery of floods and droughts."

As plans for inter-basin transfers of water across vast distances, from surplus to deficit areas, appear to have got a lot of attraction for a country exposed all too often to droughts and floods, these need to be seriously evaluated and debated. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : A river sutra, without links


In practice, people in so-called surplus areas do not agree that they have spare water which can be transferred to other, faraway areas. At a time when there are problems relating to the sharing of waters, transfer of water across distant areas can easily aggravate these tensions. This should be avoided.

Also, any neat division between "deficit" and "surplus" areas becomes more of a problem in these times of climate change when erratic weather patterns are more frequently seen. The tensions are likely to be much greater when inter-basin transfers also involve neighbouring countries. Given the real world of shifting rivers, land slides, seismic belts, etc. it makes the task difficult, enormously expensive, energy-intensive and hazardous. We also have not explored how the bio-diversity flourishing in a particular river system will react when it is linked to another river.

A combination of traditional water-collection/conservation practices and other drought-proofing methods — which also use modern technology — still provides the best available answer (also the cheapest one) to water scarcity in drought-prone areas. A good drainage plan — so that flood water clears quickly — combined with a package of livelihood, health, education and other support suited to the needs of flood-prone areas and communities is what is really needed.

Small stories in U.P.'s big poll picture

"Unlike in 2007, it is a fierce contest in 2012, with the Congress, the BJP and other players determined to take a larger share each."

The consensus is that Ms Mayawati has squandered away a wonderful opportunity to do some good for U.P. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Small stories in U.P.'s big poll picture

These are among the many conflicting voices that have made elections, 2012, in Uttar Pradesh a befuddling, exasperating experience. The big picture seems clear enough: the plus votes (votes in addition to the core vote) that gave Mayawati a sensational victory in 2007 have fragmented.

The SP, which seemed to have lost its way, is robustly back in the reckoning, having rid itself of the Amar Singh-Bollywood baggage and spearheaded now by the old-young team of Mulayam Singh and ward Akhilesh Yadav.

The U.P. election story is complicated by the many micro pictures within it. The wind is undoubtedly in the SP's favour but its Muslim support has become vulnerable to poaching by the newly aggressive Congress and the Dr. Ayub-led Peace Party with its clear objective to wean away poorer Muslims.

The ways of science

"After announcing that neutrinos travelled 60 nanoseconds faster than light, the OPERA (Oscillation project with Emulsion-tRacking Apparatus) team has recently identified certain flaws, pertaining to the novel use of the global positioning system (GPS) in particle physics to synchronise the atomic clocks "

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : The ways of science: Regardless of whether a rerun of the experiment proves or disproves the initial result, the entire exercise has gone a long way in showcasing the way science operates.

This work has shown what is so basic to science — even the most fundamental laws of science will often be challenged by scientists using the most sophisticated instruments and experiments. After all, independent verification and replication of the results are central to science.

Speeding on safety

"The proposed amendments to Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 could achieve good results in reining in the growing band of lawless drivers on India's roads. But conditions today are not really conducive to the creation of a scientific zero tolerance regime."

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Speeding on safety: The stronger penalties that are sought to be introduced can at best have a patchy impact on the notorious national record on road safety. Since the law cannot be effective in the absence of a credible and professional enforcement machinery.

The Centre must recognise the multi-sectoral nature of the issue, involving not just the police, but engineering, urban planning and public health specialists.

Stop playing politics over crimes against women

Incidents in India are being increasingly mixed up to some top level agenda and they are just forgotten in blame game. The recent incident of Bengal chief minister blaming politics over a rape incident is only the most popular, and not an exception. The editorial calls for not playing politics on such issues by pointing to the terrible consequences that will happen on those who are being victimized.

http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/editorials/stop-playing-politics-over-crimes-against-women/368908.html

"When our approach to rape becomes circumcised by imperatives of politics and power, every woman, not just the rape survivor, has reasons to be afraid. Challenging the credentials of the rape victims, under such dispensations, becomes part of a callous routine to evade responsibility. Every time a rape is reported the public gaze is shifted more on the woman who has been brutalised and not on the acts of omission and commission of those who are supposed to prevent crimes against women and punish their perpetrators."

Thorn in the crown

British were miffed that India didn’t favour their planes in our multi-billion dollar Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal. The UK media rose in uproar that India could dare to turn down Britain’s proffered hand when it was the recipient of some $400 million of aid each year. 

Thorn in the crown | Deccan Chronicle: Our overall relationship with Britain is a complicated one. The kingdom was India’s colonial master for two centuries. While recent developments — India’s economic boom, its emergence as a global powerhouse, has reversed the historical pattern. It is now Britain that is seen as the supplicant, seeking to please an often-indifferent India.

After two centuries of presiding over the systematic impoverishment of the Indian people, Britain arguably has a historical and moral responsibility towards the well-being of its former subjects. So the fact that it provides India annually with some $400 million of developmental assistance, mainly targeting beneficiaries in three of India’s poorest states, is perfectly reasonable.

However, the British media made it an issue of Indian “ingratitude”, not to mention profligacy, thereby conflating the poor Indians, whom its tax money was aiding, with the Government of India. So don’t aid the Indian government, but do aid poor Indians; they need it, because however much the Government of India is doing for them, their poverty is so dire that it can never be enough. Channel it through charitable non-governmental organisations, British or Indian, working directly with the poor. It would avoid a revival of this invidious debate.