Seeking a true game changer

In a recent rally in UP, Rahul Gandhi fell back to typecasting his caste to woo voters...

Sunetra Chaudary, Anchor and reporter for NDTV, asks the country's politicians if there isn't anything other than caste and how much does caste matter to the Indian social system...

Seeking a true Game Changer

'Cricket seemed a neat way to talk about Sri Lanka'

Q&A

Shehan Karunatilaka has written Chinaman, a story of cricket, life and death in Sri Lanka - which won the $50, 000 DSC prize at the 2012 Jaipur Literature Festival. Karunatilaka spoke with Srijana Mitra Das about balancing a day job with writing at dawn, hanging out with alcoholics as research - and cricket as an allegory for Sri Lanka itself:

Interview - Q&A

-The Times of India, February 6, 2012

The Court Strikes Back

The ripple effects of the cancellation of 2G licences could spread throughout the economy

The Court Strikes Back

The Supreme Court's cancellation of 122 licenses have evoked mixed responses. While some share a "feeling of Schadenfreude," the others see it as an ominous sign for the already-teetering investment scenario in India. Much is at stake even for the young and old incumbents, if and when they are allowed to bid in the spectrum auctions spirited with new rules which are to be laid down by TRAI.

Consumers might not necessarily lose, suggests the writer, for the competition for prices will still be ongoing "with at least six players, including a state-owned one in each circle."

It is to be seen if lawsuits will now emerge questioning the spectrum allotments in the past, for instance, the allocations during the Pramod Mahajan period. "How far back shall we go to unearth the wrongs of the past?"

Also called into question are the allocation of natural resources, even if the law suit was about radio spectrum, because of the condemning the 'first-come-first-served' principle, which is prominently used in "the hugely controversial business of mining." Certainly, the principle will have to be scrapped across several sectors.

-The Times of India, February 6, 2012

Older wives' tale

What it really means to shop till you drop

Older wives' tale

-The Times of India, February 6, 2012

Clean House

BCCI must abandon its opaque style of functioning

Clean House

Sahara India group's latest decision to end their 11-year long relationship with the BCCI is an ominous sign for Indian cricket, suggests the editor. The group cited many reasons in justification, however, irrespective of their complaints, BCCI has been known to have an opacity in its functioning. Further, it appears as though they fight accountability, as is seen by their outright rejection of the Sports Bill - one which sought to bring the board under the purview of the RTI act.

-The Times of India, February 6, 2012

Welcome Reprieve

UPA must turn Chidambaram's exoneration into an opportunity

Welcome Reprieve

The Congress should seize the opportunity "to clean house, and go into the next Lok Sabha election on a plank of revamped governance and strong anti-corruption measures," says the editor. He adds that if Chidambaram was indicted, the opposition could have gone for the Prime Minister's throat, in effect, leading towards an early election.

-The Times of India, February 6, 2012

Believe me, Muslims are not a herd

"Opportunistic politicians are projecting Muslims as a monolithic ‘vote bank,' whereas the reality is of a diverse community divided along caste and theological lines."

The myth of the Muslim vote bank, though denied by sociologists and debunked by psephologists, refuses to die. It reasserts itself with new vigour at every election. The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : Believe me, Muslims are not a herd

The idea that there is something called a "Muslim vote bank," which behaves uniformly across the board, suits equally the Muslim leadership and its right wing Hindu counterpart. Muslim leaders and middlemen can bargain with political parties on behalf of this “collective” vote, as if individual Muslims have no opinion of their own and can be herded together in a pre-determined direction for a price decided mutually between the politicians and the community's self-appointed spokespersons. The Muslim vote bank helps communal Hindu organisations to manufacture their own "Hindu vote bank," and use the whipped up Muslim threat to achieve their ultimate objective: a Hindu-Muslim electoral polarisation.

The plain truth is that Muslim society is as divided as Hindu society and along the same caste and regional lines. As electoral politics came to the fore, caste and sub-caste divisions got etched in bolder relief. With the coming of democracy they became distinct political groups, and more so since the Mandalisation of North Indian politics. The voting behaviour of Muslims is as varied as that of any other religious group, based on their socio-economic, rural-urban and caste-religion divides.

The media and analysts should stop looking at Muslim voters through the prism of a “vote bank” and start treating them as individuals and groups.

Dazzling images do not make a shining nation

"In the competitive world of ‘emerging nations,' there are limits to how much Brand India can sell itself without actually building an equitable country."

Success of the nation is now increasingly measured on its ability to attract foreign investments rather than welfare of its people and territorial security alone. Thus, the intense focus on creating attractive images of nations as worthy recipients of the global investor's attention. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Dazzling images do not a shining nation make

The India visible in the branding images primarily exists in the consciousness of the elite. While this vision is a powerful tool to attract investors and tourists, it is also its biggest weakness. Absent from the frames is the "other" India — the poor, and all that is un-beautiful — the ruptured body of the nation that has not only failed to "catch up" with the progress, but in fact is seen as holding the nation back in its journey towards prosperity and global power.

As the novelty of dazzling image campaigns levels out, India might need to rework its agenda — to focus on the actual production of a prosperous and equitable nation, rather than producing merely images of it.

MFN status, lost in translation

"Given the political tumult and uncertainty on both sides of the border, it hardly seems the time to contemplate progress on India-Pakistan relations. "

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : MFN status, lost in translation: Hafiz Saeed, the infamous chief of the even more infamous Jamat-ud-dawa, the front of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, now banded together with 40 other like-minded groups and individuals as the Difa-e-Pakistan (Defence of Pakistan) Council, is stirring up passion against Pakistan's decision to accord India MFN status among other things.

The good news about cancer

"With the treatments available today, it is possible to hit the disease for a six."

Whereas two decades ago cancer specialists had only mutilating surgeries, highly toxic chemicals or radiotherapy treatments based on a cobalt source to offer their patients, today not only have these treatments been greatly refined but treatments that target specific genetic mutations in the cell, hormonal treatments and immunotherapy all have a role to play and have made cancer less of a death threat. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : The good news about cancer

Though it is true that there are still cancers that are more intractable and difficult to treat than others, let us remember that we are today in the golden age of cancer treatment. So Yuvraj Singh has a number of factors working in his favour.

Come rich, come single

"The UK government-sponsored Migration Advisory Committee report sets new income criteria for citizens and settled residents who wish to sponsor foreign spouses or children. It proposes a minimum threshold where a person's salary before tax would be above the amount that would entitle him or her to income-related benefits."

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Come rich, come single: It is ironic, given that commitment to the family is an oft repeated conservative platitude, that the Cameron government should seek to put in place policies that would allow the right to family life only to those British residents who are affluent.

Britain is entitled to cherry pick and fast-track wealthy individuals seeking to set up home there. What it ought not to do is discriminate against its own residents and citizens. The right to marry and have a family cannot be means-tested.

A tragic impasse

"Russia and China may have vetoed a sharply worded draft UN Security Council resolution on Syria but the US, France and Britain cannot escape their responsibility for this impasse."

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : A tragic impasse: Russia's unwillingness to go along with a U.S.-led process stems, in large measure, from its anger at western conduct over Libya. The U.N. resolution of March 2011 imposed only a no-fly zone but served, in reality, as a cover for NATO's aim of violent regime change there. Today, Russia and China both believe they were deceived into abstaining rather than using their veto.

The P-5 and Arab League, along with India, Brazil and South Africa, must go back to the drawing board and come up with a new plan of action that can end the violence and set the stage for a Syrian-led political solution.

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"

Don't trash this law, the fault lies in non-implementation

"The campaign against female foeticide will remain hypocritical and superficial as long as the nexus among profiteering doctors, politicians and bureaucrats continues to make a mockery of the legal provisions."

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Don't trash this law, the fault lies in non-implementation: The use of sex selection technologies to abort female foetuses is linked to the increasing devaluation and dis-empowerment of women is well known. It is a truism that the law alone can never rid society of crimes linked to systemic discrimination and oppression. India on a trajectory of exclusive growth is strengthening and adding to inequalities based on class, caste, gender, community. Elected governments must be held accountable at different levels.

Issues of women's economic rights, of employment, of rights in decision making are critical in policies to enhance women's status. Any comprehensive national response to negative sex ratios must surely include these aspects which would be of far more use than the incentives being offered through inconsequential cash transfer scheme!