Manmohan Singh's aggression

Manmohan Singh, PM of India, expressed concern over fundings from foreign NGO's for the Kundakkulam Nuclear plant protests.

There have been widespread protests by the localites in the region over establishing a plant there for nuclear power generation as it supposedly could harm their daily livelihood.

Is it right upon our Prime minister to accuse them when they are expressing a general concern? Or are the localites unnecessarily panicking over a non-issue?

Whatever it is, the author of this article, G Sampath takes a rather strong and a vindicative stand against Manmohan Singh over his accusation of the foreign NGO's...

An article with some pretty strong opinions...

How is Manmohan Singh different from nuclear waste?

Sandeep Singh : Worth been wary of...

It's been 8 years since Indians have played hockey in Olympics since their disqualification in 2008.

And the player who is instrumental for this success : Sandeep singh.

Sohail Abbas said other teams will be wary of him. Mihir Vasavda reflects upon that point.

Teams will be wary of Sandeep Singh : Sohail Abbas

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.

With all due respect, My Lords

"It is not for the Supreme Court to decide how the government should ensure the right to water; in any case, the connection between this right and the river linking project is tenuous."

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : With all due respect, My Lords: Supreme Court, in its order, explicitly directs the Executive Government to implement the Inter-Linking of Rivers (ILR) Project, and to set up a Special Committee to carry out that implementation; it lays down that the committee's decisions shall take precedence over all administrative bodies created under the orders of this court or otherwise; it (graciously) authorises the Cabinet to take all final and appropriate decisions, and lays down a time-limit of 30 days for such decision-making (though it has the saving grace to say “preferably”); and it grants “liberty to the learned Amicus Curiae to file contempt petition in this court, in the event of default or non-compliance of the directions contained in this order”.

The Supreme Court was clearly entitled to ask the government to state categorically where it stood on this project. What it was not entitled to do was to issue a direction to the government to implement the project. It has done so since the Supreme Court is convinced that the project is good and urgently needed; and that a very important national initiative is getting bogged down because of various reasons and needs to be galvanised.

The view that the country faces a looming water crisis; that the answer lies in augmenting supplies; that given the magnitude and distribution of India's future water requirements, the ILR project is the best possible answer; and that it is in the national interest to implement it quickly. It is that conviction that provides, in the Supreme Court's view, the justification for its intervention. If that view of India's water crisis and its solution is challenged, the whole basis for the Supreme Court's order collapses. There is a diversity of views on it, which the Supreme Court has failed to consider.

In China's parliament, a long list of millionaires

"Membership of the National People's Congress provides wealthy businessmen a powerful platform and secures their support for the Communist Party of China."

The net worth of the 70 richest delegates at the National People's Congress (NPC), the Chinese Parliament and top legislative body, the country's 3,000-member legislative house, rose by a stunning $11.5 billion last year. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : In China's parliament, a long list of millionaires.

The 70 richest delegates' net worth was $89.8 billion. Their appointment to government bodies handed them a powerful platform in a business climate which values official contacts. The practice of bringing in China's wealthiest individuals into political advisory bodies largely serves two purposes. For the party, giving the business elite a voice in policy decisions was seen as a way of securing their political support. For the businessmen, there was “strong incentive to become ‘within system' due to the relative weakness in the rule of law and of property rights”

The marriage of business and politics that takes place at the highest levels has increasingly become a source of public anger and debate. This has been reflected in the growing resentment towards official corruption and renewed calls for economic reforms, amid concerns about fast-rising inequality.

China must not shut its eyes to the powerful, vested interests that have been monopolising the benefits of China's reform and opening movement, thus impeding deeper reform. The core of reform is not about opening coastal cities to boost the economy but about paying more attention to people's social welfare.

Online privacy in danger of turning an open book

"The edifices of privacy that we once thought we understood are melting like ice in a heatwave. "

It's not just in the narrow space of web browsing or apps that we're identifiable and losing privacy, supermarkets track your purchases.

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Online privacy in danger of turning an open book

There's growing awareness among a number of people on social networks that there's value in keeping information about yourself, your whereabouts and life private. Not just to protect yourself from identity theft; also just because it's nice to have some part of you that isn't subjected to the panopticon of the web.

The announcement by the Obama administration that it would push for all browsers to have a “Do Not Track” button as part of a “consumer privacy bill of rights”, while the Californian attorney general said that apps would have to include privacy policies to tell users what data they would access.

But where does it all end? It's a systemic problem, and the situation will only change when it's not fashionable to give away your data, when it becomes sad to do so in front of your peers.

Putting the lid on a silent epidemic

"Preventing contamination of stored water can cut the incidence of killer diseases."

To truly understand the predicament of water-related disease in slums, you have to understand these storage practices. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Putting the lid on a silent epidemic

High population density combined with a lack of toilets and open defecation means that slum residents are exposed to the faeces of hundreds of other people, and all of these bacteria can get introduced into stored water. Studies of urban slums from around the world have found diarrhoea to be one of the top two causes of death for children under five years.

There is growing international public health consensus about the need to make household water storage safer. A safe water system has the potential to greatly decrease child deaths, hospital visits, and missed days of work, resulting in increased economic productivity.

While addressing the tap water contamination is important, the tragic reality is that there is an even larger silent epidemic of household water contamination that remains unaddressed. This epidemic undoubtedly extends to innumerable other city slums and villages across India with intermittent water supplies, which lead to prolonged water storage. It presents a unique opportunity for the government to intervene on a mass scale with simple, cost-effective interventions to reduce diseases that are major killers of children. 

When insanity rules the world

"India should resist the West's brazen efforts to use championship of democracy as a cover for regime change."

Tired of unending economic woes at home and fighting a losing battle against the Taliban, the U.S. and the EU have seized upon the Arab Spring in a desperate bid to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. To do so, they are posing as champions of democracy and human rights. The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : When insanity rules the world: In their eagerness to don the mantle of saviours they have trampled upon the  doctrine of national sovereignty upon which the international law and order, has been based for the last 350 years.

India has a duty, to not only its own people but the rest of the world, to become an independent voice of sanity and moderation. As the most open and democratic and the least threatening large country in the world, it has far better credentials to do so than Russia and China. It must not leave this task to them alone.

Allowing Israel to trigger a ruinous war with Iran will not make the world "safer for humanity", instead it will  only unleash the fury of Shia terrorism on the West.

Chasing a mirage

"The Supreme Court direction to the Centre to constitute a special committee to pursue the outdated plan of linking India's rivers is based on a misplaced premise. "

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Chasing a mirage: The national record on resettlement of people displaced by mega dam projects does not inspire confidence. As importantly, the plan's environmental aspects or cost-benefit calculus have not been considered. There is the additional challenge of taking along states let alone neighbouring countries.

The way forward to improve the prospects of water-deficit basins is to work on more efficient and less destructive options, like devoting resources for rainwater harvesting programmes of scale, raising irrigation efficiency, curbing pollution.