Never any 'agreement' with Raja not to revise entry fee

"Union Minister of Home Affairs P. Chidambaram responds to the report “Chidambaram may not be out of 2G thicket yet,” that was published in The Hindu on February 16, 2012"

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Never any 'agreement' with Raja not to revise entry fee 

False nuclear fears cloud judgment on Iran

"A rational approach to preventing proliferation could avoid thousands of unnecessary deaths."

A non-hysterical approach to the Iran nuclear issue is entirely possible.

Iran would most likely “use” any nuclear capacity in the same way all other nuclear states have: for prestige (or ego-stoking) and to deter real or perceived threats. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : False nuclear fears cloud judgment on Iran

The popular notion that nuclear weapons furnish a country with the capacity to “dominate” its area has little or no historical support.

 If Iran wants to develop a nuclear weapon, the only way it can be effectively stopped is invasion and occupation, an undertaking that would make America's costly war in Iraq look like child's play. Indeed, because it can credibly threaten invaders with another and worse Iraq, Iran scarcely needs nuclear weapons to deter invasion.

The author concludes by stating "I have nothing against making non-proliferation a high priority. I would simply like to top it with a somewhat higher priority: avoiding militarily aggressive actions under the obsessive sway of worst-case scenario fantasies ..."

An Iranian oil embargo and a Russian oil boon

"Russian government has opposed the idea of Western petroleum sanctions against Iran. But new threats to Iranian oil flow could have at least one beneficiary: Russia. Its pipelines stand ready to serve customers willing to pay a premium price — with a grade of oil closely resembling Iran's."

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : An Iranian oil embargo and a Russian oil boon: Russia is now the world's largest oil producer. Though rising prices are a boon for every oil producer, Russia has a particular advantage: a pipeline system that can supply Iran's traditional customers in both Europe and Asia. Depending on which way the geopolitical winds are blowing, Russia has the ability to direct more or less of its oil either eastward or westward.

American politicians are divided in their willingness to disrupt global petroleum trading and financing to the potential detriment of strategic allies. At least one exemption in the bank strictures under discussion is meant specifically to limit the strategic benefits for Russia

There are other limits to Russia's ability to fully capitalize on the Iranian oil upheaval. The big one is that the Russian industry is already producing petroleum from its working fields at full capacity. But its extensive pipeline network gives Russia enviable flexibility to direct its oil to wherever demand — and prices — are highest.

Singapore seeks to slow surge in foreign workers

"Singapore will seek to stabilise the number of foreign workers amid growing discontent about rising housing costs, crowded public transport and stagnant wages for low-income workers"

A continued rapid infusion of foreign workers will also inevitably affect the Singaporean character of society. Singapore doesn't have a minimum wage, and opposition parties argue foreign workers help keep salaries low, especially at the expense of poorer Singaporeans. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Singapore seeks to slow surge in foreign workers

The easy availability of foreign labour reduces the incentives for companies to upgrade, design better jobs and raise productivity.

Companies are now expected to boost productivity through investment in technology and worker training rather than relying on foreign workers.

This London dream has parts missing

"For Kolkata to improve, the greater part of the city must be involved."

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : This London dream has parts missing

The right to vend

"With national urban policies repeatedly failing to improve access to cities and protect the livelihood rights of those who live in them, the hope and effort of more than 10 million street vendors lies in pushing the government to enact a Central law to secure their rights. "

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : The right to vend: A Central law, which can be enacted under the concurrent list that includes economic planning and labour welfare, will help enforce their rights through courts.

Co-opting street vendors is a necessary and important step towards making our cities inclusive and equitable.

Don't ignore the adults

"The proportion of older children and adults succumbing to malaria is high — “almost always more than 40 per cent.” This goes against the grain of acquired resistance seen in adults living in endemic regions. "

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Don't ignore the adults: Higher mortality in adults reflects lower immunity, probably due to reduced infection during childhood.

The vital message is that while continuing to focus on those below five, older children and adults cannot be ignored in any malaria protection programmes.

Centre cannot ignore states on policy issues

The editorial discusses yet another slip in the UPA's equations, this time on the policy of National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC). With the West Bengal joining the leagues of Odisha, Tamilnadu and Bihar is protesting the centralization of power, the claims of the government to have consulted states stands exposed, once again.

http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/editorials/centre-cannot-ignore-states-on-policy-issues/364513.html

A new blood test can reveal individual lifespan

Times View - Don't put expiry dates on people
Counter View - Test is a boon to mankind


-The Times of India, February 18, 2012

New Grid Of Governance

We need wide-ranging institutional reform based on the principle of checks and balances

New Grid Of Governance

-The Times of India, February 18, 2012

A Conflict With Global Dimensions

A Conflict With Global Dimensions

-The Times of India, February 18, 2012

It Takes More To Tango

Beware milking caste too much, it might just curdle

It Takes More To Tango

-The Times of India, February 18, 2012

Investment in agriculture is best food security

The Editorial summarizes the financial loopholes and burdens with which the food security bill is coming to which the high command is turning a blind eye, largely for political reason:
http://expressbuzz.com/opinion/editorials/investment-in-agriculture-is-best-food-security/364154.html

The bill has already been cold shouldered by some of those who may possibly benefit from the scheme, due to its ambiguous clauses of requirements, and here, we see even the ruling class is apprehensive, due to the huge burden to the state exchequer.

The editorials ends with a call for an agricultural investment instead of wild explorations which at most may provide short term political benefits.

In Australia, a memorial to a common humanity

"An effort to give posthumous dignity to 353 refugees who were seeking a better life (in Australia) but were killed in circumstances still not fully explained."

This is a story about compassionate efforts to give posthumous dignity. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : In Australia, a memorial to a common humanity. A leaky and rickety boat where even 150 people would be overcrowded, set sail for Australia's Christmas Island from Indonesia with 421 passengers, mostly refugees from Saddam Hussein's Iraq. It soon sank in stormy seas in the internationally designated Indonesian search and rescue zone but also within an Australian border protection surveillance area.

An estimated 65 men, 142 women and 146 children died. The boat was described by Australian authorities as a Suspected Illegal Entry Vehicle (SIEV).

Some Australians continue to describe the incident as an unsolved crime perpetrated by Indonesian authorities with Australian encouragement or connivance. Some of the survivors testified that a couple of military vessels had approached them with searchlights but sailed off without any attempt to rescue the struggling mass of bodies swimming desperately in the seas.

The true message is how the community was touched by the tragedy and decided to create a memorial on its own initiative, entirely by its own efforts, and totally at its own cost with no government help or handout. The impact of visiting the memorial is surprisingly poignant and moving. There are times when governments do their best to destroy belief in basic human decency but ordinary people respond in a manner to restore faith.

Not this kind of closure, CBI

"Asked by the courts to investigate the infamous Hari Masjid incident of the 1993 Mumbai riots, the country's premier investigation agency, CBI, has closed the case saying it can find no 'neutral' witnesses."

Upbraiding the government for its half-hearted approach and demolishing the CBI's reluctance to take up what it described as a "simple" case, the Court remarked that this was a "case that affects the very soul of India." The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Not this kind of closure, CBI

But as Mumbai's riot victims have found out, what judges say matters little to the State and to policemen. The courts haven't failed the victims, the State has!

The parties that rule Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Centre, and their police, must answer one question: how long do they expect Muslim victims, who see their community constantly accused of being terrorists, to keep fighting through courts?