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6/12/13
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The Good and Bad of the Food Security Bill
Image: Jayanta Dey / Reuters The prolonged battle for the right to food had forced the Supreme Court to ensure universalisation of welfare schemes like mid-day meals for schoolkids
The Food Security Bill (FSB), which had been in the works since UPA took office for the second time in 2009, finally received the nod from the cabinet in March. But, contrary to expectations, it was panned by many sections of the press. An editorial in The Indian Express implied that the bill had a fundamental flaw, while the one in Mint explained why it will not work. The bill received adverse reactions from the aam admi too, as was evident by the comments readers of the Financial Press left on the website. But the FSB is not an idea that the government came up with overnight. Its been debated over several years and across several platforms. Then why is Indias biggest social welfare policy measure facing such flak?
www.okkal.com/show/okkal-content-weekly-analysis-190-nc
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THE ORIGIN OF THE CAMPAIGN The right to food campaign started when the Rajasthan unit of the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court in April 2001 demanding that the countrys food stocks be used to alleviate hunger and malnutrition. The prolonged battle between the PUCL and the Union of India led to many interventions, like instituting food commissioners, to ensure universalisation of welfare schemes like mid-day meals for schoolchildren. Meanwhile, the UPAs first stint had achieved two very important results that propelled the right to food campaigners to push forward their agenda: The government had passed the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (now the MGNREGA) and ensured that India grew at over 9 percent for successive years. With the country riding at such a high, the activists had asked the UPA a simple question when it took over the second time in 2009: How can India be among the worlds fastest growing economies and yet have hunger and malnutrition levels worse than that of Sub-Saharan Africa? It turned out to be a potent argument and, despite much dilly-dallying, the UPA approved the bill in March. WHY SO SERIOUS? But by now, the argument had lost its edge primarily due to the sharp deceleration in Indias growth rate. From growing at an average of 9 percent between FY06 and FY11, India is huffing and puffing to even touch the 5 percent mark now. Slower growth has meant a steep fall in tax revenues. The fiscal deficit is also a major concern and if India further slips on its promised 5.2 percent growth rate in FY14, the credit rating agencies could
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downgrade the countrys investment climate to junk status. If that happens, corporate India would find it harder, and costlier, to raise loans for investment. The government has passed it [the FSB] with great reluctance and obviously corporate India is not very happy, says Biraj Patnaik, a senior campaigner for the right to food. Reason: The bill is likely to cost the government Rs 1.25 lakh crore each year. But this entire amount is not new expenditure for the government. India is already spending close to Rs 1.16 lakh crore on schemes that are listed as entitlements under the FSB. For instance, food subsidy (Rs 85,000 crore), mid-day meal (Rs 13,215 crore), Integrated Child Development Scheme (Rs 17,700 crore) and maternity entitlements (Rs 450 crore). So, the additional expenditure is around Rs 8,635 crore, an increase of 0.09 percent of the GDP. But its impact on fiscal deficit is an old issue that had largely been overcome when the growth was good. Opposition against the FSB now came from different quarters. Hunger vs Malnutrition The new reason for disapproval stems from the different ways in which hunger and malnutrition are defined. Naysayers argue that eradication of malnutrition requires more than just removal of hunger. Simply providing for the basic minimum food is unlikely to do enough to improve Indias ignominious malnutrition levels. Food security is necessary but not sufficient for nutrition security. For nutrition, you need to focus on children and women. The FSB does take a step ahead in that direction, though it could have done more on those fronts, says Reetika Khera, professor at IIT-Delhi. The other area of concern is increased government involvement when it comes to procuring grains from the market. The fear is that the FSB will significantly raise the amount of foodgrain procured from the market and distort agriculture prices in the process. The government procures just under one-third of the total production. The bulk of foodgrain trade is in the private sector and it will remain there. This is because the current allocation for the food schemes covered by the bill is about 56 MT [million tonne] of grain; this will increase to approximately 62 MTan increase of just four MT, says Khera. Food Over Facts Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, and considered as one of those unhappy with the entitlement mode adopted by the UPA, settled the debate while addressing students at IIT-Delhi recently. This is no longer about facts. This is about a moral recognition that something is wrong. There is now a broad consensus (among policymakers) and that is new. Summary of the National Food Security Bill 2013 1. Preliminaries The Bill seeks to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto. It extends to the whole of India and shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different States and different provisions of this Act. 2. Entitlements Public Distribution System (TPDS) Priority households are entitled to 5 kgs of foodgrains per person per month, and Antyodaya households to 35 kgs per household per month. The combined coverage of Priority and Antyodaya households (called eligible households) shall extend up to 75% of the rural population and up to 50% of the urban population. The PDS issue prices are given in Schedule I: Rs 3/2/1 for rice/wheat/millets (actually called coarse grains in the Bill). These may be revised after three years. Childrens Entitlements For children in the age group of 6 months to 6 years, the Bill guarantees an age-appropriate meal, free of charge, through the local anganwadi. For children aged 6-14 years, one free mid-day meal shall be provided every day (except on school holidays) in all schools run by local bodies, government and government aided schools, up to Class VIII. For children below six months, exclusive breastfeeding shall be promoted. Children who suffer from malnutrition will be identified through the local anganwadi and meals will be provided to them free of charge through the local anganwadi. Entitlements of Pregnant and Lactating Women Every pregnant and lactating mother is entitled to a free meal at the local anganwadi (during pregnancy and six months after child birth) as well as maternity benefits of Rs 6,000, in instalments. [Notes: (1) Meal is defined in the Bill as hot cooked meal or ready to eat meal or take home ration, as may be prescribed by the Central Government. All meals have to meet nutritional norms specified in Schedule II. (2) The entitlements of women and children are to be delivered by state governments through schemes in accordance with the guidelines, including cost sharing to be prescribed by the Central Government. (3) Every school and anganwadi is to have facilities for cooking meals, drinking water and sanitation. (4) For purposes of issuing ration cards, the eldest woman in the household (not less than 18 years of age) shall be considered head of the household.] 3. Identification of Eligible Households The Bill does not specify criteria for the identification of households (Priority or Antyodaya) eligible for PDS entitlements. The Central Government is to determine the state-wise coverage of the PDS, in terms of proportion of the rural/urban population. Then numbers of eligible persons will be calculated from Census population figures. The identification of eligible households is left to state governments, subject to the schemes guidelines for Antyodaya, and subject to guidelines to be specified by the state government for Priority households. The lists of eligible households are to be placed in the public domain and displayed prominently by state governments. 4. Food Commissions The Bill provides for the creation of State Food Commissions. Each Commission shall consist of a chairperson, five other members and a membersecretary (including at least two women and one member each from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes). The main function of the State Commission is to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the act, give advice to the states governments and their agencies, and inquire into violations of entitlements (either suo motu or on receipt of a complaint, and with all the powers of a civil court while trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908). State Commissions also have to hear appeals against orders of the District Grievance Redressal Officer
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and prepare annual reports to be laid before the state legislature.
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The State Commission may forward any case to a Magistrate having jurisdiction, who shall proceed as if the case has been forwarded under Section 346 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973. 5. Transparency and Grievance Redressal The Bill provides for a two-tier grievance redressal structure, involving the District Grievance Redressal Officer (DGRO) and State Food Commission. State governments must also put in place an internal grievance redressal mechanism which may include call centres, help lines, designation of nodal officers, or such other mechanisms as may be prescribed. Transparency Provisions Mandatory transparency provisions include: (1) placing all PDS-related records in the public domain and keeping them open for inspection to the public; (2) conducting periodic social audits of the PDS and other welfare schemes; (3) using information and communication technology (including end-to-end computerisation of the PDS) to ensure transparent recording of transactions at all levels; (4) setting up vigilance committees at state, district, block and fair price shop levels to supervise all schemes under the act. District Grievance Redressal Officers DGROS shall be appointed by state governments for each district to hear complaints and take necessary action according to norms to be prescribed by state governments. If a complainant (or the officer or authority against whom an order has been passed by the DGRO) is not satisfied, he or she may file an appeal before the State Food Commission. Penalties and Compensation The Food Commissions have powers to impose penalties. If an order of the DGRO is not complied with, the concerned authority or officer can be fined up to Rs. 5,000. The Commission can authorise any of its members to act as an adjudicating officer for this purpose. In case of non-supply of the entitled quantities of foodgrains or meals to entitled persons, such persons will be entitled to a food security allowance from the state government, as prescribed by the central government. 6. Other Provisions PDS Reforms In Chapter VII, the Bill states that central and state governments shall endeavour to progressively undertake various PDS reforms, including: doorstep delivery of foodgrains; ICT applications and end-to-end computerisation; leveraging aadhaar (UID) for unique identification of entitled beneficiaries; full transparency of records; preference to public institutions or bodies in licensing of fair price shops; management of fair price shops by women or their collectives; diversification of commodities distributed under the PDS; full transparency of records; and introducing schemes such as cash transfer, food coupons or other schemes to the targeted beneficiaries in lieu of their foodgrain entitlements as prescribed by the central government. Obligations of Government and Local Authorities The main obligation of the Central Government is to provide foodgrains (or, failing that, funds) to state governments, at prices specified in Schedule I, to implement the main entitlements. It also has to provide assistance to state governments to meet local distribution costs, but on its own terms (as may be prescribed). The Central Government has wide-ranging powers to make Rules. The main obligation of state governments is to implement the relevant schemes, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Central Government. State governments also have wide-ranging powers to make Rules. They are free to extend benefits and entitlements beyond what is prescribed in the Bill, from their own resources. Local Authorities and Panchayati Raj Institutions are responsible for proper implementation of the act in their respective areas, and may be given additional responsibilities by notification. 7. Schedules The Bill has three schedules (these can be amended by notification). Schedule 1 prescribes issue prices for the PDS. Schedule 2 prescribes nutritional standards for midday meals, take-home rations and related entitlements. For instance, take-home rations for children aged 6 months to 3 years should provide at least 500 calories and 12-15 grams of protein. Schedule 3 lists various provisions for advancing food security, under three broad headings: (1) revitalization of agriculture (e.g. agrarian reforms, research and development, remunerative prices), (2) procurement, storage and movement of foodgrains (e.g. decentralised procurement), and (3) other provisions (e.g. drinking water, sanitation, health care, and adequate pensions for senior citizens, persons with disability and single women).
DEBATE Why need food security? In the decade or so that i was at the Planning Commission, i always had advisory responsibility for the food ministry/public distribution system, among other issues of development policy. It did not take very long to find out that the fundamental problem with the system was about so-called "leakages" abetted by corruption: One soon learnt that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was one of the most inefficient and corrupt organisations in government. At that time, available estimates of leakage plus administrative costs ranged between 40% and 55%. The other problem was of exclusion some poor people did not have access to ration cards or subsidised food, from which arose horrifying reports of starvation in remote and tribal areas of the country. This led me to propose the introduction of a food credit/debit card using smart card technology, which could be integrated with the food-forwork programme and also have the inbuilt flexibility to change over to an income transfer system if desired. Instead of dealing with the very difficult political and bureaucratic problems that have stymied genuine reform of the food system, the food security Bill proposes to deal with these problems with "a stroke of the pen". Unfortunately, very little will change, besides providing lucrative new opportunities for bureaucratic and political corruption. What are the real problems that are still awaiting serious government and NGO attention? In 2004-05, 2% of households suffered from hunger at some point during the year and about 25% of the people were below the poverty line, but as many as 45% of children below the age of three years were malnourished. If we leave philosophy and politics aside, these facts suggest that, first, as hunger affects only 8% of the poor, the food security Bill and anti-poverty programmes are not the best way to reach the hungry, who are dispersed across the country and in tribal and remote areas. The hungry have to be individually and geographically identified and/or located. Once that is done, it would not cost much to eliminate hunger through direct cash or food transfers, depending on whether there are or are not competitive food markets in the area where they live. Thus, in remote or hilly areas it is probably necessary to s upply food. Secondly, malnutrition is a much bigger problem than poverty and the causes are unlikely to be the
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same, even though there may be some overlap. Anti-poverty measures/programmes are unlikely to solve the malnutrition problem. Analysis of the state-wise 2004-05 National Sample Survey and the 2005-06 National Family Health Survey data led to the conclusion that the most important cause of malnutrition in India was the abysmal state of `public health` in terms of sanitation, pure drinking water and public knowledge about the importance of cleanliness (a la germs in dirty water, dirt and grime) and nutrition (basic food groups etc). If this appears surprising, think about the simple act of eating and digesting food and absorbing energy and nutrition from it. A child or an adult sick with diarrhoea or dysentery can eat as much as she wants but will not be able to absorb it effectively. Recent medical research goes further to show that even those children who are living in unsanitary conditions, but do not show any symptoms of gastro-intestinal disease, are infected with germs in their intestines that do not allow them to absorb nutrients from the food they eat. Cross-country analysis of malnutrition data confirms the conclusions of the India analysis. The quality of public health, as measured by variables such as access to better sanitation and improved water sources, explains much of the cross-country variations in the prevalence of malnutrition and high malnutrition in India relative to other countries with similar levels of per capita income and poverty. Improvements in environmental sanitation are the clearest and most effective policy-programme tool for the central government to reduce, if not eliminate, the excessively high levels of malnutrition in India. The cross-country data complements the interstate study by showing that female primary education is an important factor in reducing child malnutrition, by helping spread information and knowledge about personal hygiene, sanitation and nutrition. The food security Bill will have little or no effect on malnutrition, poverty and hunger. Hunger can be eliminated if and only if the government and/or NGOs identify the 40 lakh affected households and ensure that cash or food reaches the principal female (mother) of the household. An `Elimination of Hunger Act` with severe penalties for officials in whose area a hungry family is found, could do this at a small fraction of the cost. Child malnutrition can be dramatically reduced, if not eliminated, within a decade through a massive "public health" campaign: This would ensure a modern sewerage and sanitation system in every urban, semi-urban and semi-rural area and pure drinking water, septic tanks and lavatories in rural areas. Food security bill ensnares the poor The BJP also wants to steal a march over the Congress by citing the Chhattisgarh Food Security Act of December 2012 as the model legislation which the UPA should follow. In an election year, the high decibel rhetoric levels are understandable. In a country of 1.21 billion where more than a quarter are indisputably poor, it comes as no surprise that the two major national parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), want to claim that they speak for the poor. Congress president Sonia Gandhi did not hide her anxiety and impatience to push through the Food Security Bill in Lok Sabha earlier last month in the torpedoed second half of the Budget session of parliament, but which was stalled. BJP leaders have been crying hoarse that they are as keen to pass the bill. The BJP also wants to steal a march over the Congress by citing the Chhattisgarh Food Security Act of December 2012 as the model legislation which the UPA should follow. In an election year, the high decibel rhetoric levels are understandable. There is not much need to question the sincerity of either the Congress or BJP to pass the food security bill, which makes it a statutory obligation for the state to supply food grains of certain quantity at a certain price to people below the poverty line through the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). The bill introduced in the Lok Sabha charts the mechanism of how the state governments should implement this central scheme and an elaborate bureaucratic delivery and redress system. We need not call it a sham though it may turn out to be one at the implementation stage. Politicians and political parties have to be necessarily short-sighted. They have to fight and win elections every five years. The problem is not so much with the politicians as with the society and its vocal section. There are those good-hearted people who think that the state in modern times cannot allow people to die of hunger and, therefore, should take up the responsibility of ensuring food for those who need it the most. But if you look closer at this plea of the good Samaritans, it is evident that they are quite confused in their enthusiasm. The food security bill is not for those who are starving. It is for the poor who need food grains at cheaper prices. And even by the National Advisory Councils reckoning, the TPDS will provide only about 70 to 75 per cent of the food needs of this poor section.
Whatever the claims of economic development claimed by chief minister Raman Singh of Chhattisgarh, the state remains backward and poor. The welfare measures he has undertaken have not helped in the poor rising above the BPL (below poverty line) status. The same question plagues the Manmohan Singh government. The economic growth had helped UPA I to garner enough revenue to spend on welfare measures targeted at the poor, but it has not helped in bringing down the number of people living in poverty. The claims and counter-claims by governmental and non-governmental agencies on the number of poor people is an economic and statistical debating point, but that does not give much succor to the poor. A good test of economic growth would be if there are fewer people dependent on welfare schemes. Raman Singh and Manmohan Singh fail this test. It does not matter whether it is a market-oriented or state-oriented economic system. It should help in freeing the poor from the clutches of the state. The food security bill ensnares the poor more than ever in the iron clasp of a supposedly benevolent state.
NAXALISM IN INDIA
As many as 455 people (255 civilians and 200 security personnel) have been killed in Naxal violence in 2009 (till June-end, and the killings continue), reveal figures released by the Home Ministry. The Naxal-infested States of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand accounted for 60 per cent of the total deaths in the country in this period. The figures also reveal that Chhattisgarh is the State worst-hit by Naxal violence. In the last three years, the State had topped the list. In 2008, 242 of the total 721 Naxal-related deaths in the country were reported from the State. In 2007, 369 out of 1,565 Naxalrelated deaths in the country were reported from Chhattisgarh, and in 2006, 388 out of 678 deaths. The Naxals, in January-June 2009 period, attacked 56 economic targets. The increasing frequency, with which the Naxals have been hitting economic targets, is alarming. The corresponding figures for the years 2006, 2007, and 2008 were 71, 80, and 109, respectively. The brazenness with which the Naxals carried out one of their biggest attacks killing at least 36 policemen, including a Superintendent of Police, in Chhattisgarh in second week of July 2009, has left the security establishment shaken. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Naxalite problem as the single largest threat to India. The CPI (Maoist) swells the list of indigenous terror groups operating in India to 27, making India home to the largest number of domestic terrorist organisations in the world. In June 2009, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) named the CPI (Maoist) as 34th terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act; seven of these are transnational terror groups. CPI (Maoist) join ranks with ULFA and SIMI, and lesser known entities such as Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council of Meghalaya, Kanglei Yaol
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designated as terrorist organisations.
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Kanba Lup of Manipur and Akhil Bharat Nepali Ekta Samaj, which though virtually unheard of are considered deadly enough by the government to be
Of the seven transnational terror groups, only twoal-Qaida and LTTEare truly global names. The other five are: Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Harkatul Mujahedeen, Al Badr, Jamat-ul-Mujahid and Hizbul Mujahedeen (HM), which are all Pakistan based terror outfits fighting Indian security forces in Kashmir. Amongst developed countries, only UK has a significant number of terror groups breeding close to home in form of nine Irish militias such as the Ulster Freedom Fighters and the Irish Republican Army. The Red terror spots have begun to pop up in Indias capital and northern States forest and hilly areas too. It seems that the Maoists are interested in enlarging their area of influence outside the jungles of the Red Corridor that runs from the Nepal border down to Andhra Pradesh. Lately, they have begun targeting Indias seat of powerNew Delhiand many other cities by setting up urban bases with the aim to penetrate and influence policy makers, judiciary, media, civil liberty, human rights, cultural, Dalit, women and youth organisations. So far, the urban units are not indulging in violence. But who knows when they may start firing guns. Seized documents of the CPI (Maoist) Politburo and Central Committee talk about the need to run a secret service and unleash psychological wars through effective networking of various friendly groups in the urban areas. According to a confidential report of the military intelligence, Indias 231 districts in 13 States, including three in the NCR, are now being targeted by the Maoists to achieve their ultimate aimseize power in Delhi by 2050. So far, it is believed that about 170 districts falling under the dreaded Red Corridor, also known as the Dandekaran Belt, are reeling under the Maoist terror. In Chhattisgarh, Bastars dense jungles are considered to be the Maoists centre of gravity. In southern Bastar, the Maoists have declared the Chintainer area as their Dandekaran States capital. The Red Corridor runs through the dense forest and tribal belt, from Nepal through Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and all the way to Andhra Pradesh and to the upper reaches of Maharashtra, and some parts of Karnataka. Inside their corridor, the Naxalites run a parallel government and vow to continue their fight against the statea full-fledged war they call peoples struggle. All the Left-wing militant organisations, including the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and the Peoples War Group (PWG), after their merger are now operating under the flagship rebel partyCPI (Maoist). The Central intelligence reports have also issued a warning that the Maoists are now in the process of identifying new operational areas across the country. They are keenly looking at industrial belts, where big corporate houses are planning to set up the Special Economic Zones (SEZs), an easy target to launch violent agitation. The Central Committee of the CPI (Maoist) has published a secret red book Strategy and Tactics of the Indian Revolution, which is said to be the Naxals Bible. The book says: The central task of the revolution is seizure of political power through protracted Peoples war. Talking about supporting sub-national movements in India, the book says: Lakhs of enemys armed troops have been deployed since long in J&K and the northeastern States. More and more nationalities may come into armed confrontation with the reactionary Indian State, so it will be difficult for the Indian ruling classes to mobilise all their armed forces against our revolutionary war. It further says the urban areas are one of the main sources which provide cadre and leadership having various types of capabilities essential for Peoples war. Birth of Naxalism In the backdrop of organizational upheavals within the Indian Communist movement, an incident in a remote area transformed the history of left-wing extremism in India. In a remote village called Naxalbari in West Bengal, a tribal youth named Bimal Kissan, having obtained a judicial order, went to plough his land on March 2, 1967. The local landlords attacked him with the help of their goons. Tribal people of the area retaliated and started forcefully recapturing their lands. What followed was a rebellion, which left one police sub inspector and nine tribals dead. Within a short span of about two months, this incident acquired great visibility and tremendous support from cross sections of Communist revolutionaries belonging to the State units of the CPI(M) in West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Though the United Front Government of West Bengal, headed by the CPI(M) was able to contain the rebellion within 72 days using all repressive measures possible, these units had a formal meeting in November 1967, as a result of which the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR) was formed in May 1968. Allegiance to the armed struggle and non-participation in the elections were the two cardinal principles that the AICCR adopted for its operations. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Naxalite movement was immensely popular. There were reports of brilliant students, including from IITs, dropping out of college to join the struggle for the rights of the tribals and landless labourers. Over the years, as the principles diluted, Naxalite movement saw much of its membership waning away. Nevertheless, it has an endless supply of men and women, victims of State apathy to their condition joining its ranks, which shows that many still believe in the cause. How to tackle Maoists The continuing inability of the governmentwhether at the Centre or in the Statesto counter effectively the spread of the activities of the Maoist insurgents-cum-terrorists was once again demonstrated by the temporary control established by the CPI-Maoist and its front organisation called the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities in 17 villages spread across some 300 square kilometres in the Lalgarh area in West Bengal. The People's Committee, with the backing or at the instigation of the Maoists exploited local anger over alleged police excesses against the tribals following an alleged Maoist attempt to kill Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee through a landmine blast in November 2008. What started as a protest movement against police excesses was transformed by the Maoists into a violent political movement. The hesitation of the governments of West Bengal and India to act strongly against the Maoist-instigated committee at the very beginning was apparently due to electoral considerations arising from the recently-concluded elections to the Lok Sabha. This was exploited by the Maoists. Although the security forces have succeeded in ejecting the Maoists and their supporters from many of the villages earlier controlled by them, the fire is burning from inside. Since Dr Manmohan Singh came to power as the Prime Minister in 2004, he and his government have been projecting the Maoists as the greatest internal security threat faced by India and calling for and promising a special strategy to counter them through coordinated action involving the Centre and States in whose territory the Maoists are active. The Congress had appointed in 2004 a special task force of the party to go into the Maoist activities in Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh to come out with suitable recommendations for dealing with the Maoist activities.
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Before evolving a strategy, however, one has to understand the basic differences between Maoist insurgency/terrorism and jihadi terrorism. Firstly, the Maoist terrorism is an almost totally rural phenomenon, whereas jihadi terrorism is a largely urban phenomenon. Secondly, Maoist terrorism is a totally indigenous phenomenon motivated by domestic grievances and a domestic political agenda. Jihadi terrorism is externally sponsored or aided by the intelligence agencies of Pakistan and Bangladesh and is motivated by their strategic agenda. Jihadi terrorism is a cross border threat to national security. Maoist terrorism is not. While the Maoist leaders are motivated largely by their desire to seek political power through a Maoist style People's War similar to the war waged by their counterparts in Nepal, their cadres and foot soldiers fighting for them are largely motivated by genuine grievances arising from the political, economic and social hardships. It is Indias long neglect to develop the tribal areas which has created large pockets of alienation against the government and these pockets have become the spawning ground of Maoist terrorism. The governments concerned have to take note of the genuine grievances of the tribals and deal with them in a sympathetic manner. There has to be a system for a prompt enquiry into all allegations of excess. Also, Maoist terrorism cannot be effectively countered without modernising and strengthening our rural policing and the rural presence of the intelligence agencies. The tribal areas, which have not yet been affected by the Maoist virus, have to be developed on a crash basis in order to prevent the spread of the virus to them. The capabilities of the security agencies deployed for countering Maoist activities also have to be different from those of the urban counter-terrorism agencies. The emphasis has to be on greater mobility in the rural areas and greater protection from land-mines used extensively by the Maoists. The failure to develop the road infrastructure in the rural areas has facilitated the spread of Maoist terrorism. Maoists mainly attack police stations, police lines, camps and arms storage depots of para-military forces in order to demoralise the security forces and capture their arms and ammunition. The repeated success of the Maoists in mounting large-scale surprise attacks on such hard targets speaks of the poor state of rural policing and intelligence set-up and the equally poor state of physical security. Unfortunately, instead of working out an appropriate strategy which will address these operational deficiencies and at the same time pay equal attention to the political handling of the problem, there is an unwise tendency to militarise the counter-Maoist insurgency management. Bandopadhyay Committee: In May 2006, the Planning Commission appointed an expert committee headed by D. Bandopadhyay, a retired IAS officer instrumental in dealing with the Naxalites in West Bengal in the 1970s. The expert committee has underscored the social, political, economic and cultural discrimination faced by the SCs/STs across the country as a key factor in drawing large number of discontented people towards the Naxalites. The committee established the lack of empowerment of local communities as the main reason for the spread of the Naxal movement. Choosing its words carefully, the report states that "We have two worlds of education, two worlds of health, two worlds of transport and two worlds of housing...'' The expert committee delved deep into the new conflict zones of India, i.e. the mines and mineral rich areas, steel zones, as well as the SEZs. The report holds the faulty system of land acquisition and a non-existent R&R Policy largely responsible for the support enjoyed by the Naxalites. On the other hand, the committee makes a forceful plea for a policy and legal framework to enable small and marginal farmers to lease-in land with secure rights while landless poor occupying government land should not be treated as encroachers. For the first time in the history of the Naxal movement, a government appointed committee has put the blame on the State for the growth of the movement. Providing statistics of 125 districts from the Naxal-affected States, the committee finds out that the state bureaucracy has pitiably failed in delivering good governance in these areas. The report recommends rigorous training for the police force, not only on humane tactics of controlling rural violence but also on the constitutional obligation of the State for the protection of fundamental rights. Making a departure from the usual government position, the expert committee concludes that development paradigm pursued since independence has aggravated the prevailing discontent among the marginalized sections of society. Citing democratic principles, the report also argues for the right to protest and discovers that unrest is often the only thing that actually puts pressure on the government to make things work and for the government to live up to its own promises. Dealing with Naxalism needs a holistic approach with development initiatives as an integral part of the security approach. Security here must be understood in its broader perspective, which includes human development in its scope, because human security is an inseparable component of any human development formula, and vice versa. Plan for Naxal-hit States: The Union Home Ministry has unveiled a new Rs 500-crore fully Centre-sponsored scheme which will be implemented by State governmentsfor Naxalism-hit States. Centre will give Rs 135-crore a year to the States under the scheme. The scheme has five important objectives: To provide mobility to the police by upgrading existing roads in inaccessible areas; to build camping grounds and helipads at strategic locations in remote areas; to strengthen police stations that have been identified as being at risk; to upgrade and strengthen approach roads to police stations and outposts where there is risk of IEDs and landmines, and to provide for critical needs, specific to the areas where holistic anti-naxal measures are being taken in a focused manner. The States have been asked to prepare integrated action plans in the most affected districts to achieve the objectives. For this, the ministry has identified 15 action points that include preparation of a comprehensive connectivity plan for the 33 districts seriously affected by Left-wing extremism. Home Minister admits to government level failure: Alarmed by the apparent failure of the State machinery to tackle Naxalites, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram admitted on July 15, 2009 that the government had failed in curbing Naxal menace in the country. Speaking in Rajya Sabha, Mr Chidambaram said the government had failed in assessing the threat posed by the Maoists, adding it also failed to tackle them with the seriousness they deserve. "Today they (Naxalites) pose a grave challenge ... We are preparing to take on the challenge. Details cannot be disclosed now," he said. "Regrettably for many years we did not properly assess the threat posed by Left-wing extremism. We under-estimated the challenge and in the meanwhile they (Naxalites) extended their influence," he added. Chidambaram further informed that a military advisor has been appointed to prepare an action plan for dealing with Maoists. The Home Minister said he was in close touch with Chief Ministers of the Naxal-affected States and would hold a meeting with them to discuss ways to counter Left-wing extremism. One could take a cue from the successful land reforms in Kerala, and to some extent West Bengal, that have not only assuaged agrarian tension, but have also undermined the clutch of ultras, while exactly to the contrary, failure of the same in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Chhattisgarh has changed what was essentially peasant struggle into Naxalite movements. A lasting solution to Left extremist politics cannot be achieved without addressing the socio-economic factors that contribute to its rise and growth.
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Telangana Struggle:By July 1948, 2,500 villages in the south were organised into 'communes' as part of a peasant movement which came to be known as Telangana Struggle. Simultaneously the famous Andhra Thesis for the first time demanded that 'Indian revolution' follow the Chinese path of protracted people's war. In June 1948, a leftist ideological document 'Andhra Letter' laid down a revolutionary strategy based on Mao Tsetung's New Democracy. 1964 CPM splits from united CPI and decides to participate in elections, postponing armed struggle over revolutionary policies to a day when revolutionary situation prevailed in the country. 1965-66 Communist leader Charu Majumdar wrote various articles based on Marx-Lenin-Mao thought during the period, which later came to be known as 'Historic Eight Documents' and formed the basis of naxalite movement. First civil liberties organisation was formed with Telugu poet Sri Sri as president following mass arrests of communists during Indo-China war. 1967 CPM participates in polls and forms a coalition United Front government in West Bengal with Bangla Congress. This leads to schism in the party with younger cadres, including the "visionary" Charu Majumdar, accusing CPM of betraying the revolution. Naxalbari Uprising (25th May): The rebel cadres led by Charu Majumdar launch a peasants' uprising at Naxalbari in Darjeeling district of West Bengal after a tribal youth, who had a judicial order to plough his land, was attacked by "goons" of local landlords on March 2. Tribals retaliated and started forcefully capturing back their lands. The CPI (M)-led United Front government cracked down on the uprising and in 72 days of the "rebellion" a police sub-inspector and nine tribals were killed. The Congress govt at the Centre supported the crackdown. The incident echoed throughout India and naxalism was born. The ideology of naxalism soon assumed larger dimension and entire state units of CPI (M) in Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and some sections in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh joined the struggle. July-Nov: Revolutionary communist organs 'Liberation'and 'Deshbrati' (Bengali) besides 'Lokyudh' (Hindi) were started. Nov 12-13: Comrades from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Orissa and West Bengal met and set up All India Coordination Committee of Revolutionaries (AICCR) in the CPI (M). 1968 May 14: AICCR renamed All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR) with Comrade S Roy Chowdhury as its convenor. The renamed body decides to boycott elections. Within AICCCR certain fundamental differences lead to the exclusion of a section of Andhra comrades led by Comrade T Nagi Reddy. 1969 April 22:As per the AICCCR's February decision, a new party CPI (ML) was launched on the birth anniversary of Lenin. Charu Majumdar was elected as the Secretary of Central Organising Committee. AICCR dissolved itself. May 1: Declaration of the party formation by Comrade Kanu Sanyal at a massive meeting on Shahid Minar ground, Calcutta. CPI (M) tries to disrupt the meeting resulting in armed clash between CPI (M) and CPI (ML) cadres for the first time. By this time primary guerrilla zone appear at Debra-gopiballavpur (WB), Musal in Bihar, Lakhimpur Kheri in UP and most importantly Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. May 26-27: Andhra police kill Comrade Panchadri Krishnamurty and six other revolutionaries during a crackdown on Srikakulam struggle in Andhra Pradesh sparking wide protests. Oct 20: Maoist Communist Centre was formed under Kanhai Chatterjee's leadership. It had supported Naxalbari struggle but did not join CPI (ML) because of some tactical difference and on the question of the method of party formation. 1970 April 27:Premises of Deshabrati Prakashan, which published Liberation and its sister journals, were raided. CPI (ML) goes underground. May 11: The first CPI (ML) congress is held in Calcutta under strict underground conditions. Comrade Charu Majumdar is elected the party general secretary. July 10: Comrades Vempatapu Satyanarayana and Adibatla Kailasam, leaders of Srikakulam uprising are killed in police encounter during the crackdown. Comrade Appu, founder of the Party in Tamil Nadu was also killed around September-October. The Srikakulam movement in continued in Andhra Pradesh till 1975. Leading lights of literary world of Telugu like Sri Sri, R V Shastri, Khtuba Rao K V Ramana Reddy, Cherabanda Raju Varavara Rao, C Vijaylakshmi with others joined hands to form VIRASAM (Viplava Rachayithala Sangam) or Revolutionary Writers Association (RWA). Artistes from Hyderabad inspired by Srikakulam struggle and the songs of Subharao Panigrahi form a group -- Art Lovers - comprising the famous film producer Narasinga Rao and the now legendary Gaddar. 1971 In the background of Bangladesh war, the Army tries to crush the ultra-left movement in West Bengal. Uprising in Birbhum marks the high point of this year. Art Lovers change its name to Jana Natya Mandali (JNM) late this year. It joins Communists and start propagating revolutionary ideas through its songs, dances and plays. It functioned legally till 1984. 1972 July: Charu Majumdar is arrested in Calcutta on July 16. He dies in Lal Bazar police lock-up on July 28. Revolutionary struggle suffers serious debacle. CPI (ML)'s central authority collapses. August: 'Pilupu' (The Call), a political magazine was launched in Andhra Pradesh. Kondapalli Seetharamaiah reorganises the AP State Committee of Communist Revolutionaries following killing or arrest of the 12-member AP State
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Fresh guerrilla struggles backed by mass activism emerge in parts of central Bihar and Telangana, now a part of Andhra Pradesh. 1974 July 28: The Central Organising Committee of CPI (ML) was reconstituted at Durgapur meeting in West Bengal. Comrade Jauhar (Subrata Dutt) was elected general secretary. Jauhar reorganises CPI (ML) and renames it as CPI (ML) Liberation. March: Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLP) was formed again with Sri Sri as president. August: Andhra Pradesh state committee was reconstituted with Kondapalli Seetharamaiah representing Telangana region, Appalasuri (coastal AP) and Mahadevan (Rayalseema). October 12: Radical students union was formed in Andhra Pradesh. It faced brutal suppression but surged again after emergency was lifted. 1975 Following declaration of emergency on June 25 and the following repression on ultra-leftists and others, the Central Organising Committee in its September meeting decided to withdraw a "common self-critical review" and instead produce a tactical line 'Road to Revolution'. But it did not unity among the cadres. Armed struggles were reported from Bhojpur and Naxalbari. 1976 CPI (ML) holds its second Congress on February 26-27 in the countryside of Gaya, in Bihar. It resolves to continue with armed guerilla struggles and work for an anti-Congress United Front. 1977 Amidst an upsurge of ultra-leftists' armed actions and mass activism, CPI (ML) decides to launch a rectification campaign. The party organisation spreads to AP and Kerala. February: Revolutionaries organise Telangana Regional Conference in Andhra Pradesh and seeds of a peasant movement are sown in Karimnagar and Adilabad districts of the state. The conference decided to hold political classes to train new cadres and to send "squads" into forest for launching armed struggle. Eight districts of Telangana, excluding Hyderabad, were divided into two regions and two regional committees were elected. May: Bihar and West Bengal representatives of Central Organising Committee resign at a meeting. Andhra Pradesh representative fails to attend the meet due to the arrest of Kondapalli Seetharamaiah. The Central Organising Committee is dissolved. 1978 Rectification movements (CPI ML and fragments) limits pure military viewpoint and stresses mass peasant struggles to Indianise the Marxism-Leninism and Mao thought. CPI (ML) (Unity Organisation) is formed in Bihar under N Prasad's leadership (focusing on Jehanabad-Palamu of Bihar). A peasant organisation - the Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti (MKSS) is formed. 'Go To Village Campaigns' are launched by Andhra Pradesh Party of revolutionaries to propagate politics of agrarian revolution and building of Radical Youth League units in Andhra Pradesh villages. It later helped in triggering historic peasant struggles of Karimnagar and Adilabad. Sept 7: The famous Jagityal march is organised in Andhra Pradesh, in which thousands of people take part. Oct 20: Andhra Government declares Sarcilla and Jagityal 'disturbed areas' giving police "draconian" powers. 1979 From April to June, Village Campaign was for the first time organised jointly by RSU and RYL in Andhra Pradesh. The two organisations also expressed solidarity with National Movement of Assam. Between 1979 to 1988, MCC focused on Bihar. A Bihar-Bengal Special Area Committee was established. The Preparatory Committee for Revolutionary Peasant Struggles was formed and soon Revolutionary Peasant Councils emerged. Two founding members of MCC passed away-Amulya Sen in March 1981 and Kanhai Chatterjee in July 1982. 1980 April 22: Kondapalli Seetharamaiah forms the Peoples War Group in Andhra Pradesh. He discards total annihilation of "class enemies" as the only form of struggle and stresses on floating mass organisations. Mass peasant movement spreads in Central Bihar. CPI (ML) puts forward the idea of broad Democratic Front as the national alternative. It was part of a process to reorganise a centre for All-India revolution after it ceased to exist in 1972. The central committee was formed by merging AP and Tamil Nadu State Committees and Maharashtra group of the CPI (ML). Unity Organisation did not join. The tactical adopted by the committee upheld the legacy of Naxalbari while agreeing for rectifying the "left" errors. CPI (ML) Red Flag is formed led by K N Ramachandran. 1981 CPI (ML) organises a unity meet of 13 Marxist-Leninist factions in a bid to form a single formation to act as the leading core of the proposed Democratic Front. However, the unity moved failed. The M-L movement begins to polarise between the Marxist-Leninist line of CPI (ML) (Liberation) and the line of CPI (ML) (People's War). First state level rally is held in Patna under the banner of Bihar Pradesh Kisan Sabha beginning a new phase of mass political activism in the state.
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1982
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Indian People's Front (IPF) is launched in Delhi at a national conference of CPI (ML) (Liberation). At the end of the year the third Congress of CPI (ML) is organised at Giridih (Bihar), which decides to take part in elections. 1983 Peasant movement in Assam shows signs of revival after allegedly "forced" Assembly elections. IPF plays a crucial role in this regard. An all-India dalit conference is held in Amravati (Maharashtra) to facilitate interaction with Ambedkarite groups. 1984 CPI (ML) and other revolutionaries try to woo Sikhs towards joining peasant movement following Operation Bluestar in June and country-wide antiSikh riots after Indira Gandhi's assassination in Oct 31 the same year. 1985 People's Democratic Front is launched in Karbi Anglong district of Assam to provide a "revolutionary democratic orientation to the tribal people's aspirations for autonomy". PDF wins a seat in Assam Assembly elections bring about the first entry of CPI (ML) cadre in the legislative arena. Jan Sanskriti Manch is formed at a conference of cultural activists from Hindi belt at New Delhi. 1986 Bihar govt bans PWG and MCC April 5-7: CPI (ML) organises a national women's convention in Calcutta to promote cooperation and critical interaction between communist women's organisations and upcoming feminist and autonomous women's groups. April 19: More than a dozen "landless labourers" are killed in police firing at Arwal in Jehanabad district of Bihar. 1987 PDF gets transformed into the Autonomous State Demand Committee. 1988 CPI (ML) holds its fourth Congress at Hazaribagh in Bihar from January 1 to 5. The Congress "rectifies" old errors of judgement in the party's assessment of Soviet Union. It reiterates the basic principles of revolutionary communism - defence of Marxism, absolute political independence of the Communist Party and primacy of revolutionary peasant struggles in democratic revolution. CPI (ML) ND is formed in Bihar by Comrade Yatendra Kumar. 1989 May:The founding conference of All India Central Council of Trade Union (AICCTU) is held in Madras. Key resolutions are passed at this meet. November: More than a dozen "left supporters" are shot dead by landlords in Ara Lok Sabha constituency of Bhojpur district in Bihar on the eve of polls. CPI (ML) (Liberation) records its first electoral victory under Indian People's Front banner. Ara sends the first "Naxalite" member to Parliament. 1990 In February Assembly election, IPF wins seven seats and finishes second in another fourteen. In Assam too, a four-member ASDC legislators' group enters the Assembly. Special all-India Conference is held in Delhi on July 22-24 to restructure the party. August 9-11: All India Students Association (AISA) is launched at Allahabad. It opposes VP Singh's implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations. Oct 8: First all-India IPF rally is held in Delhi. CPI (ML) (Liberation) claims it to be the first-ever massive mobilisation of rural poor in the capital. CPI (ML) S R Bhaijee group and CPI (ML) Unity Initiative are formed in Bihar. The former is still active in east and west Champaran. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chenna Reddy lifts all curbs on naxal groups. Naxalites operate freely for about a year but observers say it corrupted them and adversely affected the movement. 1991 In the May Lok Sabha elections, Indian People's Front loses Ara seat but CPI (ML) retains its presence in Parliament through ASDC MP. 1992 Andhra Pradesh bans People's War Group CPI(ML) reorganises the erstwhile Janwadi Mazdoor Kisan Samiti in South Bihar as Jharkhand Mazdoor Kisan Samiti (Jhamkis). May 21: Chief Minister N Janardhan Reddy bans PWG and its seven front organisations again in Andhra Pradesh. Dec 20-26: CPI (ML) organises its fifth Congress at Calcutta from Dec 20 to 26. CPI (ML) comes out in the open and calls for a Left confederation. 1993 AISA registers impressive victories in Allahabad, Varanasi and Nainital university elections in Uttar Pradesh besides in the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. CPI (ML) launches a new forum for Muslims called 'Inquilabi Muslim Conference' in Bihar. 1994 February: All India Progressive Women's Association is launched at national women's conference at New Delhi. Indian People's Front is dissolved and fresh attempts are initiated to forge a united front of various sections of Leftists and Socialists with an antiimperialist agenda. Interactions among various Communists and Left parties intensify in India and abroad to revive the movement drawing lessons from Soviet collapse. 1995 A six-member CPI (ML) group is formed in Bihar Assembly. Two CPI (ML) nominees win from Siwan indicating the expansion of party's influence in north Bihar. May: N T Ramarao relaxes ban on Peoples War Group in Andhra Pradesh for three months. PWG goes in for massive recruitment drive in the state. July: CPI (ML) organises All India Organisation Plenum at Diphu to streamline party's organisational network. Revolutionary Youth Association (RYA) is launched as an all-India organisation of the radical youth. 1996
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Five members of ASDC make it to Assam assembly. An ASDC member is re-elected to Lok Sabha. Another ASDC member is elected to Rajya Sabha. ASDC retains its majority in Karbi Anglong District Council and also unseats the Congress in the neighbouring North Cachhar Hills district in Assam. CPI(ML) takes initiative to form a Tribal People's Front and then Assam People's Front CPI (ML) joins hands with CPI and Marxist Coordination Committee led by Comrade A Roy to strengthen Left movement. CPI (ML) initiates the Indian Institute of Marxist Studies. Armed clashes between ultra-leftists and upper caste private armies (like Ranvir Sena) escalate in Bihar. The Progressive Organisation of People, affiliated to revolutionary left movement, launches a temple entry movement for lower castes in Gudipadu near Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. It emerges successful. 1997 CPI (ML) organises a massive 'Halla Bol' rally in Patna. A left supported Bihar bandh is organised as part of "Oust Laloo Campaign" in view of the Rs. 950-crore fodder scam. 1999 CPI (ML) Party Unity merges with Peoples War. Naxalites launch major strikes. CPI (ML) PW kills six in Jehanabad on February 14. MCC kills 34 upper caste in Senai village of Jehanabad. Dec 2: Three top PWG leaders killed in Andhra Pradesh leading to a large scale brutal naxalite attacks on state forces. Dec 16: PWG hacks to death Madhya Pradesh Transport Minister Likhiram Kavre in his village in Blalaghat district to avenge the killing of three top PWG leaders in police encounter on Dec 2. 2000 PWG continues with its revenge attacks. Blasts house of ruling Telugu Desam Party MP G Sukhender Reddy in Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh in January. In February it blows up a Madhya Pradesh police vehicle killing 23 cops, including an ASP. It destroys property worth Rs. 5 crore besides killing 10 persons in AP in the same month.
Dec 2:PWG launches People's Guerrilla Army (PGA) to counter security forces offensive. 2001 April: CPI (ML) celebrates 32nd anniversary of its foundation in Patna on April 22 and gives a call to rekindle 'revolutionary spirit of naxalism'.
July:Naxalite groups all over South Asia form a Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organisations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA) which is said to be first such an international coalition. PWG and MCC are part of it. As per the Intelligence reports, MCC and PWG establish links with LTTE, Nepali Maoists and Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence to receive arms and training. Naxalites bid to carve out a corridor through some areas of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh up to Nepal.
Nov:MCC organises a violent Jharkhand Bandh on Nov 26.
Dec:Naxalites, mainly in AP, Orissa and Bihar celebrate People's Guerilla Week hailing the formation of PGA on Dec 2. The week unfolds major violence in the three states during which a plant of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and the house of an Orissa minister is blown up.
(Sources: The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, Indian Express, Wikipedia and other websites.)
For More Readings Naxalism The maoist challenge to Indian state - pdf file (42 pages, 1.81MB).
Indo-China faceoff in Ladakh
Weekly Analysis (29/4/13)
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On April 15, Indian patrols in Depsang valley in Ladakh noticed some Chinese troops had pitched tents inside Indian territory. Within a few hours, the Indians had set up their own tents 10 metres in front. Almost 14 days after this incursion, the Indian army describes it as a continuing peaceful faceoff, though no one should take comfort from their presence or the absence of hostile posture. The Chinese maintain they have not crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC),the Indians insist they have. Both countries have pacific foreign ministries that have gone on record about how this will be resolved amicably, and how neither side wants this to colour the bilateral relationship An India-China border mechanism is being activated to talk this through. The best case scenario is the Chinese may be persuaded to leave, but not immediately. No matter what Indias China experts expound, this has serious implications for the border question and Indias territorial integrity. India cannot have any meaningful bilateral relationship with its northern neighbour without clearing up the boundary mess. Watching Chinas aggressive territorial moves in the east, India should have learnt one lesson China will remain intractable in its territorial claims. Its willing to go to war with Japan or Vietnam and even India if need be. Second, having built a formidable network of infrastructure on the border, China is apparently unsettled at Indias own efforts in the past five years. Third, China has modernized its military in the past decade, even as India has failed to streamline its defence procurement systems, and wallowed in defence scams. This is not the first time China has intruded into Indian territory and it will not be the last. Transgressions by Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control, stretching from Ladakh in the north-west to Arunachal in the east, are a regular affair. In Ladakh especially, the topography makes such incursions easier. Amid craggy ridges, rolling slopes and endless stretches of cold desert, it is difficult to identify the border exactly since there are no walls, pillars or fencing to make the foot or mule patrols keep to their side. Role of Karakoram Pass: The Karakoram Pass played a significant role in the flourishing trade on the Silk Route between India-China and Central Asia. The pass was shut down and trade stopped in 1949 when Xinjiang became a part of Peoples Republic of China. At 18,250 feet, Karakoram was one of the highest trade routes. Now, a motorable road exists through Khardungla (18,680 feet) and Turumputila up to the base of Saser Kangri. Notably, the India-China boundary at the pass is not disputed; it is indicated by two heaps of stones at a distance of 50 feet, one Indian, and the other Chinese. India should negotiate with China to open the ancient trade route for mutual gain. India enjoys historic popularity with the people of Central Asia and Xinjiang. The economy of Ladakh, which has traditionally depended on trade, would thrive with the opening of the Karakoram Pass. There are immense possibilities for the revival of an ancient Buddhist connection and for two-way tourism to ancient Buddhist sites in Central Asia and India. Karakoram can also act as a gateway for hydrocarbon pipelines from Central Asia. The route from the Central Asian countries via Xinjiang and the Karakoram Pass would be more secure as compared to TAPI. There is another advantage, most of the hydrocarbon pipelines in Central Asia are on an east-west axis. It would be economical and technologically easier. India & China have much to gain with cooperative relations both economically & strategically. Such incidents as Ladakh incursion must not be allowed to jeopardise all progress that has been made so far. The two sides have been in communication through the working mechanism for consultation and coordination on boundary affairs, border meetings and diplomatic channels for a solution to the Ladakh incident in part of the western section of the China-India border. This must be taken forward and an amicable solution must be achieved. (Based on articles from The Hindu, The Times of India, The Economic Times & Wikipedia.org )
Counter-terrorism in Boston
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Two explosions went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The first explosion occurred as thousands of runners finished the 117th running of the marathon, with crowds watching and cheering at the finish. Another explosion could be heard a few seconds later. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took over the investigation, coordinating the efforts of multiple agencies and expediting the "full resources [of the federal government] to investigate the bombings". Following morning Mr. Obama admitted: What we dont yet know, however, is who carried out this attack, or why; whether it was planned and executed by a terrorist organisation, foreign or domestic, or was the act of a malevolent individual. He further cautioned that people shouldnt jump to conclusions before we have all the facts. The Federal Bureau of Investigation led the investigation, assisted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); treating the bombings as a terrorist attack and naming two alleged perpetrators officially as suspects. The manner in which American officials dealt with the aftermath of the bombings in Boston last week provided an excellent example of what happens in countries where there is good governance. As soon as the explosions occurred, the President of the United States went on nationwide television to reassure people that he felt their pain and that the perpetrators would be hunted down and punished wherever they were; although the American President came on television several times to reassure people, he did not instantly blame jihadists as our ministers like to do? When news broke that the suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings were ethnic Chechens, Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic wrote: "Any attempt to make a link between Chechnya and the Tsarnaevs, if they are guilty, is in vain. They grew up in the US, their views and beliefs were formed there. The roots of evil must be searched for in America. The whole world must battle with terrorism We wish recover to all the victims and share Americans' feeling of sorrow." One has to avoid preconceived notions and keep an open mind as to who might have been responsible and what could have been the motive. The political parties should leave it to the police and the counterterrorism experts to do the investigation with an open mind. Till they come to definitive conclusions based on reliable evidence, the temptation to exploit the blast for political purposes should be avoided. We know that jihadi terrorism is war by another name and its objective is to destroy India, but we have not yet acknowledged that if ordinary policemen across the country are not trained in counterterrorism, we will never win the war. We have mulled over synchronised intelligence gathering through a National Intelligence Grid, but not gone further. Less than a week is what it took U.S. law enforcers to track down the suspects of the bomb attacks on the Boston Marathon. For sure, not all questions have still been answered. The U.S. can take quiet pride in a first class investigation that used the right mix of old fashioned detective work, citizen participation, social media and technology to narrow down a vast and shambolic body of evidence from the scene of the bombing to just the two right suspects. A serious, painstaking and methodical sifting, particularly of the images, led investigators to one suspect; the lead for the other came from a man whose legs were blown away in the explosion, but who managed to provide an accurate description of the person who had put a bag with the bomb near his feet. The next stage of investigation must now draw in Russia. Putting aside the chill in ties, the presidents of the two countries have already spoken to each other. Among the many lessons from Boston is that international co-operation on fighting terror needs to be taken more seriously, and has to go on, irrespective of the nature of relations between two countries.
(Based on news reports from The Hindu, The Times of India & Wikipedia )
FSLRC (Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission) Report
Weekly Analysis
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FSLRC ( Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission ) Report
The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission chaired by Justice (Retd) B.N. Srikrishnawas constituted by the Government of India, Ministry of Finance, in March, 2011. The setting up of the Commission was the result of a felt need that the legal and institutional structures of the financial sector in India need to be reviewed and recast in tune with the contemporary requirements of the sector. The institutional framework governing the financial sector has been built up over a century. There are over 60 Acts and multiple rules and regulations that govern the financial sector. Over the years, as the economy and the financial system have grown in size and sophistication, an increasing gap has come about between the requirements of the country and the present legal and regulatory arrangements. Unintended consequences include regulatory gaps, overlaps, inconsistencies and regulatory arbitrage.
Regulation is not an end in itself; it exists in order to address market failures. From this point of view, nine components were envisioned: 1. Consumer protection The Commission found that a mere buyer beware approach is not adequate in finance; regulators must place the burden upon financial firms of doing more in the pursuit of consumer protection. 2. Micro-prudential regulation When financial firms make promises to consumers, 3. ResolutionA specialised resolution capability is required, which swiftly and efficiently winds down stressed financial firms, and protects the interests of small customers. 4. Capital controls These are restrictions on cross-border activity on the capital account. 5. Systemic risk Micro-prudential regulation thinks about the collapse of one financial firm at a time. A very different point of view is required when thinking of the collapse of the entire financial system. 6. Development and redistribution Financial economic governance in India is charged with the development of market infrastructure and processes, and with redistribution. These objectives have to be achieved through sound principles of public administration and law. 7. Monetary policy Objectives, powers and accountability mechanisms have to be setup for monetary policy. 8. Public debt management A specialised Framework on public debt management has to be setup that takes a comprehensive view of the liabilities of Government, and establishes the strategy for low-cost financing in the long run. 9. Contracts, trading and market abuse Certain adaptations to the foundations of commercial law, surrounding contracts and property, are required to enable the financial system. The first task of financial law is to establish a clear strategy for the nine areas listed above. The second task of financial law is to establish financial regulators. The actual functioning of the regulator lies in three areas: regulation-making, executive
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functions and administrative law functions. Consumer protection
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The work of the Commission in the field of consumer protection marks a watershed compared with traditional approaches in Indian financial law. The basic protections are: 1. Financial service providers must act with professional diligence; 2. Protection against unfair contract terms; 3. Protection against unfair conduct; 4. Protection of personal information; 5. Requirement of fair disclosure; 6. Redress of complaints by financial service providers. In addition, unsophisticated consumers have three additional protections: 1. The right to receive suitable advice; 2. Protection from conflicts of interest of advisors; 3. Access to the redress agency for redress of grievances. The regulator has been given an enumerated set of powers through which it must implement these protections. The Commission envisages a single unified Financial Redress Agency (FRA) which would serve any aggrieved consumer, across all sectors. Micro-prudential regulation Regulators have five powers through which they can pursue the micro-prudential goal: regulation of entry, regulation of risk-taking, regulation of loss absorption, regulation of governance and management, and monitoring/supervision. Resolution Failure of financial firms is an integral part of the regenerative processes of the market economies: weak firms shouldfail and thus free up labour and capital that would then be utilised by better firms. However, it is important to ensure smooth functioning of the economy, and avoid disruptive firm failure. This requires a specialised resolution mechanism. A Resolution Corporation would watch all financial firms which have made intense promises to households, and intervene when the net worth of the firm is near zero (but not yet negative). It would force the closure or sale of the financial firm, and protect small consumers either by transferring them to a solvent firm or by paying them. The first three pillars of the work of Commission consumer protection, micro-prudential regulation and resolution are tightly interconnected. All three are motivated by the goal of consumer protection. Capital controls India has a fully open current account, but many restrictions on the capital account are in place. A major debate in the field of economic policy concerns the sequencing and timing towards capital account convertibility. In terms of creation of rules, it is envisaged that the Ministry of Finance would make rules that control inbound capital flows (and their repatriation) and that RBI would make regulations about outbound capital flows (and their repatriation). Systemic risk The problem of systemic risk requires a birds eye perspective of the financial system: it requires seeing the woods and not the trees. What is of essence in the field of systemic risk is avoiding the worldview of any one sector, and understanding the overall financial system. In order to achieve this, Commission envisages a five-part process. 1. The first step is the construction and analysis of a system-wide database. This effort, which will be located at the Financial Stability and Development Council 2. 3. 4. 5. The second step is the identification of Systemically Important Financial Institutions(SIFIS) The third step is the construction and application of system-wide tools for systemic risk regulation. The fourth step is inter-regulatory co-ordination. Finally, it is crisis management. The Commission envisages the Ministry of Finance as playing the leadership role in a crisis.
Financial inclusion and market development The development agenda in Indian financial economic policy comprises two elements: (i) The development of market inFRAstructure and processes, and (ii) Redistribution and financial inclusion initiatives, where certain sectors, income or occupational categories are the beneficiaries. Monetary policy The FRAmework envisaged by the Commission features a strong combination of independence and accountability for RBI in its conduct of monetary policy. The draft Code places an array of powers with RBI in the pursuit of this objective. Decisions on the use of these powers would be taken at an executive Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
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Public debt management agency
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The management of public debt requires a specialised investment banking capability for two reasons: 1. Debt management requires an integrated picture of all onshore and offshore liabilities of the Government. 2. A central bank that sells government bonds faces conflicting objectives. When RBI is given the objective of obtaining low cost financing for the Government, this may give RBI a bias in favour of low interest rates which could interfere with the goal of price stability. These functions are integrated into a single agency through the draft Code. Contracts, trading and market abuse The last component of financial law is the set of adaptations of conventional commercial law on questions of contracting and property rights that is required in fields such as securities and insurance. Once the trading comme nces, a continuous flow of information must be available through which the investor can make informed decisions. Finally, a set of rules must be in place through which all holders of a given class of securities obtain the identical payoffs. These three objectives would be achieved through regulations. Financial regulatory architecture The Commission proposes a financial regulatory architecture featuring seven agencies. This proposal features seven agencies and is hence not a unified financial regulator proposal. It features a modest set of changes, which renders it implementable: 1. The existing RBI will continue to exist, though with modified functions. 2. The existing SEBI, FMC, IRDA and PFRDA will be merged into a new unified agency. 3. The existing Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) will be subsumed into the FSAT. 4. The existing Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (DICGC) will be subsumed into the Resolution Corporation. 5. A new Financial Redressal Agency (FRA) will be created. 6. A new Debt Management Office will be created. 7. The existing FSDC will continue to exist, though with modified functions and a statutory framework. The functions of each of these seven proposed agencies are as follows: Reserve Bank of India It is proposed that RBI will perform three functions: monetary policy, regulation and supervision of banking in enforcing the proposed consumer protection law and the proposed micro-prudential law, and regulation and supervision of payment systems in enforcing these two laws. Unified Financial Agency The unified financial regulatory agency would implement the consumer protection law and micro-prudential law for all financial firms other than banking and payments. This would yield benefits in terms of economies of scope and scale in the financial system; it would reduce the identification of the regulatory agency with one sector; it would help address the difficulties of finding the appropriate talent in Government agencies. Financial Sector Appellate Tribunal The present SAT will be subsumed in FSAT, which will hear appeals against RBI for its regulatory functions, the unified financial agency, decisions of the FRA and some elements of the work of the resolution corporation. Resolution Corporation The present DICGC will be subsumed into the Resolution Corporation which will work across the financial system. Financial Redressal Agency The FRA is a new agency which will have to be created in implementing this financial regulatory architecture. It will setup a nationwide machinery to become a one stop shop where consumers can carry complaints against all financial firms. Public Debt Management Agency An independent debt management office is envisioned. Financial Stability and Development Council Finally, the existing FSDC will become a statutory agency, and have modified functions in the fields of systemic risk and development. The Commission believes that this proposed financial regulatory architecture is a modest step away from present practice, embeds important improvements, and will serve India well in coming years. Conclusion Financial economic policy is implemented by front-line agencies who are assigned functions by Parliament. The main purpose of financial law is to put these agencies on a sound footing, with the trio of objectives, powers and accountability mechanisms. Commission has focused itself upon this task, of establishing a sound regulatory process. The Commission is mindful that over the coming 25 to 30 years, Indian GDP is likely to become eight times larger than the present level, and is likely to be bigger than the United States GDP as of today. Over these coming years, there will be substantial changes in thefinancial system. The technological change, and the financial products and processeswhich will come into play, cannot be envisaged today. The aspiration of the Commission is to draft a body of law that will stand the test of time. The Commission has hence focused on establishing sound financial regulatory agencies, which will continually reinterpret principles-based laws in the light of contemporary change, and draft subordinated legislation that serves the needs of the Indian economy. This subordinated legislation, coupled with the jurisprudence built up at the FSAT and the Supreme Court, will continually reflect the changing needs of the Indian economy.
(Based on Report of Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission@ www.finmin.nic.in)
Patent vs. Patient

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Okkal
Weekly Analysis
(07/4/13)
The Supreme Court has denied Novartis a patent for its anti-cancer drug Gleevec. This leaves the door open for Indian pharmaceutical companies to produce their own versions of the drug. Since these are sold at roughly one tenth of the patented brand price, for thousands of cancer patients it means the difference between medicine and no medicine at all. It is not just cancer patients that will benefit, but millions of people dependent on medicines for survival, including those with HIV, diabetes, hepatitis and more. The message from the court is clear: India will grant pharmaceutical companies extended market monopoly only if a medicine is genuinely innovative. Gleevec is a lifesaving medicine for those who suffer with chronic myeloid leukaemia. But the key ingredient, Imatinib, was patented in 1993 before India accepted product patents. All salt forms, including Imatinib Mesylate (IM), were covered. After TRIPS agreement of WTO, what Novartis was seeking was a patent on a slightly altered version (beta-crystalline form of the imatinib mesylate compound) that was developed in this window. S ection 3(d) of Indian patent law excludes new forms of known substances unless they exhibit enhanced efficacy. In 2009 The Intellectual Property Appellate Board rejected the Novartis appeal on its patent refusal not only because it did not meet the patentability requirements of section 3(d) but because it was priced too high compared with the income of the average citizen. Novartis then approached the Supreme Court. It argued that certain properties of the new form of the drug, including greater solubility, better stability under heat, counted as improved efficacy. But the Court did not agree: if improved efficacy meant therapeutic efficacy, patent applicants must prove so based on research conducted both in the lab and in trials on animals.Novartis could only prove therapeutic efficacy of its new formulation by referring to tests conducted on the original model drug. The court has termed section 3(d) a second tier of qualifying standards for patentability. This will be binding on every patent office, local IP tribunal or High Court for every patent consideration for a medicine. The decision affirms the idea that a patent regime loses its social relevance when a drug is priced beyond the reach of the vast majority of a countrys people. That pharmaceutical companies employ high pricing to limit the number of beneficiaries of blockbuster patented molecules and even older evergreened medicines is an irony, because making additional copies of a drug is not expensive. On the other hand, cost control and dispensing of essential medications in government-run health facilities is affected, because many States have no centralised procurement system. It is unsurprising, therefore, that less than 10 per cent of medicines sold in India are under patent, while the vast majority are branded generics. It is a matter of concern that at least a dozen pharmaceutical innovations used in the treatment of cancer, HIV/AIDS, and Hepatitis B and C are not affordable to even the upper middle classes, and impossible to access for the poor. It would be a gross distortion to paint the Glivec order, which follows the compulsory licensing of Bayers drug Nexavar, as an innovation killer.There is evidence to show that major pharma companies recover more than the cost of innovation of a drug in a single year from the United States market alone. Moreover, the costing done by industry has come in for criticism from scientists and policymakers on the grounds that the bloated, irrelevant investments of recent decades are used as the baseline to make calculations. The contested field of drug discovery now calls for greater scrutiny of costs and therapeutic value, and control of prices through various legal avenues available under the Indian Patents Act and the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights as confirmed by the Doha Declaration. It would naturally strengthen the case for grant of patents and consensus pricing, if the industry opens its books for verification. Until the golden mean is reached, governments with vast populations that are denied access to medicines due to economic reasons can justifiably use unilateral price control mechanisms.
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Instead of attacking the verdict, Western countries should raise their standards too. Their overliberal grant of patents has led to the tiniest design changes becoming patentable. Till 1995, India refused to patent drug molecules. But as a consequence of WTO membership, India in 2005 allowed product patents for drugs, but only for innovations after 1995. This meant no patent for Glivec, which was patented first in 1993. To get around this, in 2006 Novartis tried to patent a new variation of Glivec, for which it claimed improved efficacy. Some other countries granted patents for this variation. But the Indian Patents Office rejected the claim as insufficiently innovative. So too has the Supreme Court. Glivec has saved lakhs of leukaemia patients from death. This is a great boon, and we must encourage more such life-saving boons by granting patents for new drugs. However, this does not mean giving patents for mere tweaking and evergreening of existing drugs through minor variations. Normally, governments promote competition and prohibit monopolies. But temporary monopolies (patents) are justified to promote innovation in drugs and other fields. The patent regime should ensure that the public benefit from innovation far exceeds the cost imposed by monopoly profits. This implies a high bar for granting patents. Patents are supposed to spur innovation, but when granted over-liberally they create so much lawsuit risk and cost that they end up hampering innovation, not aiding it. Innovators are more likely to be open to voluntary licensing on account of the compulsory licencing (CL) provisions in the Patent Act. These provisions allow the patent office to grant a licence to a generic company on the grounds of high pricing, national emergencies and so on. India granted its first CL last March to Natco to make a generic version of Bayers patented kidney and liver cancer drug Nexavar. A year later, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board rejected Bayer AGs appeal against the licence. The Indian government,for its part,is contemplating three more CLs.Meantime, there are more pressing challenges facing Indias generics industry. In the western markets, from where the big generics companies get a chunk of their revenues, the number of products that will lose patent protection will shrink in the next two to three years. The next big opportunity copycats of biologics is still equivocal. And despite its generic and patient-friendly slant, the Indian Patent Act has definitely curbed the number of drugs that Indian companies can launch. Nor have Indian companies met with any success, putting their own innovator drugs on market. Unsurprisingly, an increasing number of Indian businessmen are choosing to exit the pharma business or reduce exposure. Thus, challenges to health sector remain, although it is going to be beneficial to patients for now.
(Based on excerpts from The Hindu, The Times of India & The Economic Times )
5th BRICS Summit- Durban, South Africa
The BRIC [Brazil, Russia, India and China] idea was first conceived by economists of Goldman Sachs as part of an economic modeling exercise to forecast global economic trends over the next half century; the acronym BRIC was first used in 2001 by Goldman Sachs in their Global Economics Paper No. 66, "The World Needs Better Economic BRICs". BRIC Foreign Ministers at their meeting in New York on 21st September 2010 agreed that South Africa may be invited to join BRIC. Accordingly, China, as the host of 3rd BRICS Summit [in fact the 1st BRICS Summit as South Africa joined BRIC at this Summit], invited South African President to attend the Summit in Sanya on 14 April 2011 with the concurrence of other BRIC leaders. Summits: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. First Summit, Yekaterinburg, Russia, June 2009 Second BRIC Summit, Brasilia, April 2010 Third BRIC (and first BRICS) Summit, Sanya, China, April 2011 Fourth BRICS Summit, Delhi, 29 March 2012 Fifth Summit: Durban, South Africa, 27 March 2013
The overarching theme of the Durban Summit is '" BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Development, Integration and Industrialisation'. BRICS Africa Dialogue Forum will be held in the afternoon of 27 March 2013 under the theme Unlocking Africas potential: BRICS and Africa Cooperation on Infrastructure.
BRICS led New Development Bank India mooted the idea of setting up of a BRICS-led SouthSouth Development Bank, mainly funded and managed by BRICS countries to recycle surpluses into investment in developing countries for infrastructure and sustainable development project.
5th BRICS Summit- eThekwini Declaration and Action Plan
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The Fifth BRICS Summit concluded the first cycle of BRICS Summits and we reaffirmed our commitment to the promotion of international law, multilateralism and the central role of the United Nations (UN). Our discussions reflected our growing intra-BRICS solidarity as well as our shared goal to contribute positively to global peace, stability, development and cooperation. We also considered our role in the international system as based on an inclusive approach of shared solidarity and cooperation towards all nations and peoples. As the global economy is being reshaped, we are committed to exploring new models and approaches towards more equitable development and inclusive global growth by emphasising complementarities and building on our respective economic strengths. Recognising the importance of regional integration for Africas sustainable growth, development and poverty eradication, we reaffirm our support for the Continents integration processes. Within the framework of the New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD), we support African countries in their industrialisation process through stimulating foreign direct investment, knowledge exchange, capacity-building and diversification of imports from Africa. Developing countries face challenges of infrastructure development due to insufficient long-term financing and foreign direct investment, especially investment in capital stock. We have agreed to establish the New Development Bank. The initial contribution to the Bank should be substantial and sufficient for the Bank to be effective in financing infrastructure. In June 2012, in our meeting in Los Cabos, we tasked our Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to explore the construction of a financial safety net through the creation of a Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) amongst BRICS countries. We are of the view that the establishment of the CRA with an initial size of US$ 100 billion is feasible and desirable subject to internal legal frameworks and appropriate safeguards. We are grateful to our Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors for the work undertaken on the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement and direct them to negotiate and conclude the agreements which will establish them. We call for the reform of International Financial Institutions to make them more representative and to reflect the growing weight of BRICS and other developing countries. We remain concerned with the slow pace of the reform of the IMF. We emphasise the importance of ensuring steady, adequate and predictable access to long term finance for developing countries from a variety of sources. We would like to see concerted global effort towards infrastructure financing and investment through the instrumentality of adequately resourced Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and Regional Development Banks (RDBs) . We urge all parties to work towards an ambitious International Development Association(IDA)17 replenishment. We reaffirm our support for an open, transparent and rules-based multilateral trading system. We note that the process is underway for the selection of a new WTO Director-General in 2013. We consider that the next Director-General of the WTO should be a representative of a developing country. We reaffirm the United Nations Conference on Trade and Developments (UNCTAD) mandate as the focal point in the UN system dedicated to consider the interrelated issues of trade, investment, finance and technology from a development perspective. We acknowledge the important role that State Owned Companies (SOCs) play in the economy and encourage our SOCs to explore ways of cooperation, exchange of information and best practices. We recognise the fundamental role played by Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the economies of our countries. SMEs are major creators of jobs and wealth. We reiterate our strong commitment to the United Nations (UN) as the foremost multilateral forum entrusted with bringing about hope, peace, order and sustainable development to the world. The UN enjoys universal membership and is at the centre of global governance and multilateralism. In this regard, we reaffirm the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, with a view to making it more representative, effective and efficient, so that it can be more responsive to global challenges. We express our deep concern with the deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in Syria and condemn the increasing violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law as a result of continued violence. We believe that the Joint Communiqu of the Geneva Action Group provides a basis for resolution of the Syrian crisis and reaffirm our opposition to any further militarization of the conflict. We welcome the admission of Palestine as an Observer State to the United Nations. We are concerned at the lack of progress in the Middle East Peace Process and call on the international community to assist both Israel and Palestine to work towards a two-state solution with a contiguous and economically viable Palestinian state, existing side by side in peace with Israel, within internationally recognized borders, based on those existing on 4 June 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. We believe there is no alternative to a negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear issue. We recognise Irans right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy consistent with its international obligations, and support resolution of the issues involved through political and diplomatic means and dialogue, including between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran and in accordance with the provisions of the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and consistent with Irans obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Afghanistan needs time, development assistance and cooperation, preferential access to world markets, foreign investment and a clear end-state strategy to attain lasting peace and stability. We support the global communitys commitment to Afghanistan, enunciated at the Bonn International Conference in December 2011, to remain engaged over the transformation decade from 2015-2024. We commend the efforts of the AU, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Mali aimed at restoring sovereignty and territorial integrity of Mali. We are gravely concerned with the deterioration in the current situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) and deplore the loss of life. We are gravely concerned by the ongoing instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We reiterate our strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and stress that there can be no justification, whatsoever, for any acts of terrorism.. In this context, we support the implementation of the UN General Assembly Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and are determined to strengthen cooperation in countering this global threat. We also reiterate our call for concluding negotiations as soon as possible in the UN General Assembly on the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism and its adoption by all Member States and agreed to work together towards this objective. We recognize the critical positive role the Internet plays globally in promoting economic, social and cultural development. We believe its important to contribute to and participate in a peaceful, secure, and open cyberspace and we emphasise that security in the use of Information and
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Communication Technologies (ICTs) through universally accepted norms, standards and practices is of paramount importance. We congratulate Brazil on hosting the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June 2012 and welcome the outcome as reflected in "The Future we Want, in particular, the reaffirmation of the Rio Principles and political commitment made towards sustainable development and poverty eradication while creating opportunities for BRICS partners to engage and cooperate in the development of the future Sustainable Development Goals. We believe that the internationally agreed development goals including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) address the needs of developing countries, many of which continue to face developmental challenges, including widespread poverty and inequality. We reiterate our commitment to work together for accelerated progress in attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the target date of 2015, and we call upon other members of the international community to work towards the same objective. We welcome the establishment of the Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in line with the Rio+20 Outcome Document which reaffirmed the Rio Principles of Sustainable Development as the basis for addressing new and emerging challenges. We welcome the establishment of the BRICS Think Tanks Council and the BRICS Business Council. Conclusion: The BRICS forum has finally come up with a decision that has the potential to be a global game changer: the establishment of a New Development Bank. Even though Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa differ with one another on many aspects of the project, they do agree that a new bank is needed to take care of the special aspirations of the group and perhaps of all developing countries as well. The BRICS five account for roughly a fourth of the global GDP and 40 per cent of the worlds population. A shift away from the trans-Atlantic focus that the two global institutions are rightly criticised for ought to be welcomed. And with the Doha round of trade talks still stuck, the BRICS forums call for the new head of the World Trade Organisation to be from the developing world, and for the revitalisation of UNCTAD, assume great significance. Apart from doing the best on the growth rate front, China is the only BRICS country with a huge current account surplus and has accumulated a massive amount of foreign exchange reserves. In the prelude to the creation of the new bank, this divergence matters and should not be glossed over. The key determinants for success will be the design and leadership of the new bank, as well as its lending policy. In terms of sheer clout, China is likely to dominate, especially if a system of quotas reflecting the economic size and contribution of each country is adopted. These and other cautionary words should not, however, detract from the merits of the BRICS bank, especially its development orientation and stress on infrastructure financing. Channelling regional savings for infrastructure through a dedicated bank is a great idea. There is also great merit in growing step by step, as another related decision to set up a contingency reserve fund of $100 billion shows.
Video Briefing :
Prime Minister's Onboard Media Interaction on return from BRICS Summit
For transcript of this media interaction, please click here
(Based on excerpts from www.mea.gov.in& www.thehindu.com)
India- Egypt relations
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India- Egypt relations The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Dr. Mohamed Morsy, paid a State visit to India from 18 to 20 March 2013 at the invitation of the President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee. President Morsy was accompanied by a high-level delegation of Ministers, senior officials and business persons. The two leaders noted the growing bilateral economic interaction in recent years and particularly welcomed the growth in Indian investment in Egypt which today stands at US $ 2.5 billion. They underlined the importance of taking all measures in order to provide better climate and opportunities for promotion of investments. They agreed that all investment related issues would be accorded utmost priority. The two sides expressed deep concern over the deteriorating security situation and continued violence and bloodshed in Syria. The two sides, while expressing their support to the mission of Lakhdar Brahimi, asserted their position regarding the safeguards of the unity and territorial integrity of Syria, and called for the implementation of the Joint Communiqu of Geneva Action Group with a view to bring about a political solution to the conflict in order to achieve the just aspirations of the Syrian people for freedom, dignity and democracy. India and Egypt strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Memoranda of Understanding on skill development and training, micro-finance and setting-up of an industrial park on plastics were signed by the Indian and Egyptian companies, during the India-Egypt Economic Forum. The two countries agreed to collaborate in the field of technology, in particular in information and communications technologies; agriculture; biotechnology; and non-conventional energy technologies. The Egyptian side expressed its appreciation for the Pan African E-network Project for tele-medicine and tele-education at Alexandria University, solar electrification of a village in Siwa and establishment of a textile vocational training centre in Egypt. Both sides agreed to continue to cooperate closely in these areas. Both sides expressed satisfaction at the significant growth in the bilateral trade in the recent past to cross US$ 5 billion and agreed to achieve a target of US$ 8 billion by March 2016.. India and Egypt discussed intensification of cooperation in the ICT sector by facilitating and providing assistance to help promote trade and technology sector. They welcomed the conclusion of MoUs on ICT cooperation and cyber security between the two countries to strengthen collaboration in the field of cyber security. India and Egypt will work towards expanding cooperation between their respective oil companies, both in the public and private sectors, for establishing long-term relationships in supply of crude oil and petroleum products, upstream and downstream joint ventures, refineries, petrochemical industries and marketing. India and Egypt welcomed ongoing efforts towards developing partnerships between institutions of the two countries in the areas of culture, Indian and Egyptian studies and languages. The following Memoranda of Understanding/Agreement were signed at the conclusion of the talks between the Prime Minister of India and the President of Egypt: i. Memorandum of Understanding between Ministry of Communications & Information Technology of Government of India and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Arab Republic of Egypt for Cooperation in Information and Communication Technology. ii. Memorandum of Understanding between Ministry of Communications & Information Technology of Government of India and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Arab Republic of Egypt on Cooperation in the area of Cyber Security. iii. Memorandum of Understanding between Government of the Republic of India and Arab Republic of Egypt for the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT) in Egypt. iv. Memorandum of Understanding between Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage and Ministry of State for Antiquities Affairs, Arab Republic of Egypt for cooperation in the fields of protection, preservation, promotion and management of cultural heritage. v. Memorandum of Understanding between National Small Industries Corporation, Republic of India and Social Fund for Development, Arab Republic of Egypt on cooperation in the field of micro and small enterprises. vi. Agreement between the Government of Egypt represented by Industrial Development Authority and Government of India Enterprise, the National Small Industries Corporation, New Delhi for upgradation of a Vocational Training Centre at Shoubra El Kheima, Cairo, Egypt. In addition to the above, the following two Letters of Intent were signed: i. Letter of Intent on India-Egypt Solar Energy Cooperation between Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of the Republic of India and Ministry of Electricity and Energy of the Republic of Egypt. ii. Letter of Intent concerning launch services of the Egyptian nano-satellite EGYCUBESAT-1 on-board the Indian polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) by Antrix Corporation Ltd. of India and the Egyptian National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences.
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Videos :
State Visit of President of Egypt to India - Media Statements Statement by Prime Minister to the Media during the State Visit of President of Egypt to India
Media Briefing on Visit of President of Egypt to India (March 14, 2013) Media Briefing on Visit of President of Egypt to India (March 14, 2013)
(Based on excerpts from www.mea.gov.in)
UPSC Notification- Civil Services, 2013
UPSC Notification- Civil Services, 2013 (Is it controversy or just politicisation?)
The new Pattern notified by the UPSC brings Paper-I, Section 2 for English Comprehension & English prcis for 100 marks out of 2075 total. This is seen as a pro- English move. The rule says: Candidates will have the option to answer all the question papers, except Section 2 of the Paper-I (English comprehension and English prcis) in English or Hindi. If the candidate has had his/her graduation in any of the following language mediums using the particular language medium for qualifying the graduate level examination, then he/she may opt for that particular language medium to answer all the question papers, except Section 2 of the Paper-I (English comprehension and English prcis). The language bias allegationthat has been made by almost all the detractors is centred on the perception that English has been given a more prominent place in the scheme of things compared to regional languages, including Hindi. Some of them point out that a paper that carries 100 marks in English comprehension and prcis will favour urban, English-medium educated candidates, at the cost of those from rural and disadvantaged backgrounds. In todays India, administrators have to be able to communicate effectively in English. To that extent, the UPSC exam must ensure that a successful
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candidate has a minimum level of proficiency in the language.
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While candidates who study in English-medium schools are likely to know the language better than others, there is no reason to assume their overall knowledge base or skill set is better than those who have studied in other languages. Allowing candidates to answer a common set of questions in the language they are most comfortable in is the best way to assess their suitability. Of course, the post-entrance training process can and must be used to improve standards of English. During the training of IAS officers at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, 40 per cent of the time spent in Phase-I of the programme is for the language of the State where the officer will serve. The excessive focus on English will only hamper the aspirations of rural India, and is a step that will widen the divide between India and Bharat. Page 11 of the notification says that: However, in the interest of maintaining the quality and standards of examination, a minimum number of 25 (twenty-five) candidates should opt for a specific language medium for answering the question papers in that language medium. In case there are less than 25 (twenty-five) candidates opting for any approved language medium (other than English or Hindi), then those candidates will be required to write their examination either in Hindi or in English only. This provision will seriously limit the aspirations of many in the country. If there is only one aspirant who wants to write, say in Santhali, why is his freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution being curtailed? This provision implies that literature cannot be chosen as an optional if the candidate hasnt graduated in it. This means a medical science graduate cannot opt for Telugu or political science graduate cannot opt for Gujarati. This restrictive provision on the rights of the candidates to choose his optional paper serves no purpose and suggests a lack of application of mind and logic. The examination cycle is a one year process. There are candidates who prepare over years for this examination. Introduction of a new pattern without giving them reasonable time to adjust to the changes is in violation of the principles of natural justice. The proposed changes will only increase the role of coaching centres. Candidates who have been already coached will now be further coached to face the new subjects, shelling out vast amounts for this. The UPSC had also removed some languages such as Pali, Arabic, French, German, Chinese and Russian from the list of languages for optional papers. Earlier this week, former University Grants Commission chairman Arun S Nigavekar, who headed a committee to recommend changes to the exam format in line with changing work profile of civil servants in a modern society, clarified that the panel had not emphasised any particular language. All that it had recommended was to ensure that the exam judge a candidate's communication ability. The committee, he said, had underlined the qualities a 21st-century civil servant should possess to deal with the multidimensional challenges of the present-day world. "A civil servant shall not only identify the problems of his area, he should also be able to effectively communicate the same to his higher authorities so that a solution can be found," Nigavekar had said. The changes are a response to the discomfiture with the previous scheme that was seen to encourage gaming of the system by candidates, helped by the coaching institutes that strategise on their behalf. By increasing the weight given to compulsory papers and reducing the number of optional subjects from two to one, the new scheme offers a level playing field by addressing legitimate concerns regarding the comparability of marks across the smorgasbord of optional subjects. The coverage of general studies has been expanded to include many more topics in Indian and world history and geography, and most crucially in areas considered relevant to a civil service career in a modern, globalised context: areas such as governance, polity, international relations, security, technology, economic development, ecology and biodiversity, which are also not easily amenable to cramming. Of particular interest is the addition of one full paper on ethics, integrity and aptitude that aims to "test the candidate's attitude and approach to issues relating to integrity, probity in public life and his problem-solving approach to various issues and conflicts faced by him in dealing with society". The language question has always been fraught, and the proposed changes tread the fine line between the letter and spirit of the Official Language Resolution, 1968, which states that compulsory knowledge of either Hindi or English is required for selection for recruitment to Union services and posts, and that all Eighth Schedule languages (and English) shall be permitted as alternative media for the examination. Another stipulation related to literature as an optional subject is also intended to reduce strategising by candidates, given the difficulties associated with eliminating linguistic biases in evaluation. Other issues including modifying age limits and number of attempts and interview reform remain unaddressed in this round. That said, the proposed changes would augur well for coherence and competence in the civil services, recognising as they do that the selection process needs to be attuned to India's development vision and that it would be counterproductive not to recalibrate the examination in line with the current technomanagerial imperatives of the Indian state. Whether that much is sufficient to foster administrative excellence is, of course, a whole different question. (Based on excerpts from www.upsc.gov.in,www.indianexpress.inand www.thehindu.com)
India-Kazakhstan relations
14/3/2013
Indias relations with Kazakhstan have been historic, warm and friendly. Diplomatic relations between the two countries have increased in importance in the 21 st century after initially remaining passive in the 1990s. India recognised the independence of Kazakhstan from the Soviet Union after the latter's dissolution in 1992. India, more so in recent years, has sought to increase its commerce and strategic ties with Kazakhstan. India has sought to expand ties after mounting concern over the growth of the economic and strategic influence of the People's Republic of China. In the field of commerce India has a lot of scope. Firstly in the energy sector, with Kazakhstan possessing large reserves of oil, natural gas, minerals and Uranium India can always look up to Kazakhstan in order to meet its ever growing energy demands.
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As of 2003, IndianKazakhstani trade stands at USD 78.91 million. To bolster commerce, both nations have established the Indo-Kazakh Joint Business Council. Although India failed to acquire equity in the Kurmangazy oil field, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India is set to acquire a stake in the Satpayev field. Recently, India has broached the idea of a hydrocarbon pipeline with Kazakhstan that would bring fuel through a five-nation route. India unveiled the concept of the pipeline, which in future could be extended to Russia. Both nations have also sought to establish extensive cooperation and commerce in information technology, space research, banking and increasing volume of bilateral trade. India has offered Kazakhstan USD 1 billion in loans while the latter has granted major tax concessions to Indian companies. Kazakhstan has also sought to negotiate a multilateral agreement with Iran and Turkmenistan to create a transport corridor to India to ensure a reliable trade route and provide Kazakhstan commercial and shipping access to the warm water ports of India. Currently it is said the trade between the 2 countries has ballooned to USD 1 billion dollars which is a positive sign. Even in the areas of strategic cooperation both the countries are keen on deepening ties. India and Kazakhstan have developed close cooperation in fighting terrorism, religious extremism and promoting regional security. A joint memorandum signed in December 2002 enabled joint projects such as training military officers, developing joint military-industrial projects and establishing a partnership between the defense industries of India and Kazakhstan. India has also provided support and emerged as a partner in Kazakhstan's bid to develop a naval fleet in the Caspian Sea, despite opposition from Kazakhstan's northern neighbour, Russia. The Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited India in January 2009 and a civil nuclear pact was made with India under which the uranium-rich Central Asian country will supply fuel to atomic plants in India. In a nutshell, we can say India has an ably ally in Kazakhstan.
(Completely based on the excerpts fromWikipedia& The Hindu...)
Union Budget 2013-2014
05/03/2013
With growth and inflation being the major concerns, this years budget by the Finance minister mainly focused on achieving fiscal consolidation. A sharp expenditure contraction aimed at achieving fiscal consolidation was an unrealistic expectation, that too in a pre-election year budget.
Highlights of the budget: I. Investment, infrastructure and Industry:
In the words of the Finance minister, growth rate of an economy is correlated with investment and key to restart the growth engine is to attract investment. To encourage investments in infrastructure Finance minister has announced the following measures: 1. Infrastructure debt Bond(IDF) to be encouraged.
2. India Infrastructure Finance Corporation Limited (IIFCL) in Partnership with Asian Development Bank (ADB) will offer credit enhancements that wish to access the bond market to tap long term funds 3. Proposed to raise the corpus of NABARD operated rural Infrastructure Development Funds(RIDF)
4. Proposes to seek the assistance of multilateral banks (which are interested in promoting regional connectivity) to build roads in the NorthEastern region and connect it Myanmar. 5. Private players allowed in coal mining through PPP route. According to the experts this measure will reduce dependence on imported coal, increase production of coal in the country, and also help in bringing best mining practices into the sector. 6. Industrial corridors get a boost
Apart from the above various other measures were proposed by the Finance minister to boost investment in growth
II.
Agriculture: The union budget sought to consolidate the remarkable progress achieved in governments efforts to extend green revolution to eastern India by
deciding to continue with Rs. 100 crore. Finance minister made fresh allocation of Rs. 500 crore for crop diversification in North-West India to offset productivity loss due to paddy-wheat cultivation pattern and to arrest the dip in groundwater levels. To address the issue of increased fragmentation of farmland , the minister announced to register the Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO), with Rs. 10 lakh matching equity grant with a total outlay of Rs. 50 crore. Nutri- Farm Schem e: The minister announced the Nutri-farm scheme- an initiative that is aimed at deepening the link between nutrition and cropping pattern-with Rs.200 crore funding for pilot projects in districts most affected by malnutrition. Nutri-farms will cultivate new crop varieties rich in micro-nutrients such as iron-rich bajra, protein-rich maize, zinc-rich wheat.
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III. Welfare of the weaker sections of the society: Welfare of SCs, STs get a boost
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With the growing demand for women empowerment, women safety, the Finance minister has a special package for them 1. Finance minister proposed to set up an All-Women bank by this coming October, with an initial capital of Rs. 1000 crore. This bank would lend mostly to women and woman-run businesses, Self Help Groups (SHGs) etc. 2. NIRBHAYA FUND: In a tribute to the 23-year-old Delhi gang-rape victim, government on Thursday announced setting up 'Nirbhaya Fund' of Rs 1,000 crore for safety and empowerment of women.
IV.
Savings:
Increased savings can lead to economic growth. In order to encourage savings Finance minister has proposed to liberalize Rajiv Gandhi Equity Savings Scheme (RGESS) and also has proposed, in consultation with the RBI, to introduce instruments like Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIB) or Inflation Indexed National Security certificates.
V.
Taxation:
In order to shore up revenues, the Finance minister has proposed to widen the tax base and also has proposed to tax the super rich SUVs get costlier. Etc However sectors like health, education, defence, rural development were given hikes in allocation of funds, but they were only marginal. In a nutshell, this years budget has attracted appreciation from various quarters including industry captains, women, agricultural scientists etc. (Based on the excerpts from The Indian Express..)
Sovereignity vs. fundamental rights:
DATE: 2/03/2013
The constitution of India guarantees the people living in the country certain rights, known as fundamental rights. They are named so because they are guaranteed and protected by the Constitution-the fundamental law of the land. Some of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution are available only to the citizens, while others are available to all persons foreigners or legal persons like corporations or companies. These fundamental rights are meant for promoting the idea of political democracy. Part III of the Constitution contains these rights. Some of them are as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. right to equality right to freedom right against exploitation right of freedom of religion cultural and educational rights Right to Constitutional remedies etc.
However, these above said rights guaranteed by the Constitution are not absolute (i.e., people cannot do anything they want in the name of exercising their rights that could threaten the integrity, sovereignity of the country) but they are qualified (i.e., they come with certain restrictions.) State can impose restrictions on the fundamental rights of the people of the country under certain circumstances when the exercise of such right by the people poses danger to the integrity, Sovereignty of the country. However state in the act of defending the integrity, sovereignity has often crossed the line thereby leading to excesses. Various incidents that took place in various parts of the country are evident to this. Incident like the arrest of two girls from Phalgar, Maharashtra for questioning the bandh- which was observed following the death of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on facebook (One of the two questioned the bandh, while the other, her friend merely liked the post). The girls were arrested under section 66A of the IT act. In another incident a Chemistry professor from Jadhavpur university in West Bengal, was arrested for posting a cartoon concerning a political figure (Bengal Chief minister Mamata Banerjee) on a social networking site. In a separate incident Air-India employees V Jaganath Rao and Mayank Sharma were arrested by the Mumbai police for posting content on facebook against a trade union leader and some politicians. Laws governing the online content like section 66A of the IT act(Abuse), section 67 of the IT act (Obscenity), section 124 A of the IPC (Sedition) and various
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other laws must be used with great care and restraint. Various experts were of the view that the arrests made in the respective above incidents were illegal. Even the Supreme Court in the aftermath of the arrest of girls from Phalgar observed that, they (girls) had been arrested and treated like criminals which outraged the conscience of major sections of the society. Even the government, following the Phalgar incident, issued guidelines that state approval from an officer of DCP level in the rural areas and IG level in the metros will have to be sought before registering under section 66-A of the IT act. Therefore, to conclude a fine balance must be struck between the fundamental rights and states act of imposing restrictions on fundamental rights so that neither fundamental rights nor Sovereignity & integrity of the country is compromised.
US fiscal cliff
DATE: 20/02/2013
In Geography, the term cliff is used to denote a significant vertical or near vertical rock exposure which is formed by process of erosion or weathering. But in recent times, the term cliff is being used to describe a fiscal phenomena happening in the United States. In the United States, the fiscal cliff was the sharp decline in the budget deficit that could have occurred beginning in 2013 due to increased taxes and reduced spending as required by previously enacted laws. The deficitthe amount by which government spending exceeds its revenuewas projected to be reduced by roughly half in 2013 The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had estimated that the fiscal cliff would have likely led to a mild recession with higher unemployment in 2013. Events that led to fiscal cliff: Occurrence of the fiscal cliff can be attributed to the financial crisis of 2008-09 that happened in the US. The financial crisis of 2008-09 was a severe one and required extraordinary efforts. The then President of USA George W. Bush and his administration took several measures to tackle the situation. Three legislations were passed to relieve the US tax payers namely: 1. 2. 3. Economic growth and tax relief reconciliation act of 2001 (EGTRRA) Jobs and growth tax relief reconciliation act of 2003 (JGTRRA) Tax relief, unemployment Insurance and Reauthorisation and Job creation act
These, passed during the Bush administration, were famously called Bush tax Cuts. These, due to the virtue of a clause, were set to expire in 2010, but the Obama administration extended them for a period of two years,(i.e., till 2012). To handle the fiscal crisis of the last decade the US had increased its public spending which added to their already existing public debt loads by borrowing more money from to fiscal stimulus, tax cuts, public spending. These borrowings put a huge burden on the government. For example in 2011 the US governments increased spending had led to an annual deficit of $1.4 trillion which corresponds to 9.5% of its GDP. Therefore this led to enormous fiscal deficit in the US and in order to tackle the situation US congress passed, in August 2011, Budget control act of 2011 that led to the creation of a Super Committee of Congress which would pass legislation that would reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion. In case the super committees failure to come up with such legislation, it was provided that there would across the board cuts called Sequestration to begin from January, 2013. These sudden sharp cuts in spending and increased taxation, according to experts, would have led to another kind of recession and this situation is known as fiscal cliff.
(Based on the excerpts from Wikipedia .)
2012 DA 14
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DATE:17/02/2013 (Source : NASA) 2012 DA14 is a near- Earth asteroid with an estim ated diam eter of 45 m eters(150 ft) and an estimated mass of 190,000 metric tons. During its 2013 close passage, the asteroid passed 27,700 km (17,200 mi) from the surface of Earth as it was predicted by NASA. This is a record close approach for a known object of this size. Asteroid 2012 DA14 was discovered by the La Sagra Sky Survey operated by the Astronomical Observatory of Mallorca in Spain on Feb. 23, 2012. On February 15, 2013 at 19:25 Universal Time, the asteroid passed 0.0002276 AU (34,050 km; 21,160 mi) from the center-point of Earth, with an uncertainty region of about 0.0000001 AU (15 km; 9.3 mi). It passed 27,743 kilometers (17,239 mi) above Earth's surface, closer than satellites in geosynchronous orbit. It was not visible to the naked eye, but it briefly peaked at an apparent magnitude of roughly 7.2. The best observation location for the closest approach was Indonesia, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Australia also were well situated from which to observe the asteroid during its closest approach. The asteroid was not expected to pass any closer than 1950 km to any satellites. Goldstone Observatory will observe 2012 DA14 with radar from February 16 to February 20. It is estimated that, if it were ever to impact Earth, it would enter the atmosphere at a speed of 12.7 km/s, would have a kinetic energy equivalent to 3.5 megatons of TNT, and would produce an air burst with the equivalent of 2.9 megatons of TNT at an altitude of roughly 8.5 kilometres (28,000 ft). Scientists at NASAs Near-Earth Object programme at Californias Jet Propulsion Laboratory estimate that an object of this size makes a close approach like this every 40 years. The likelihood of a strike is once every 1,200 years. The fly-by provides a rare learning opportunity for scientists eager to keep future asteroids at bay. As asteroids go, DA14 is a shrimp. The one that supposedly wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was 6 miles (9.6 km) across. But this rock could still do immense damage if it struck, releasing the energy equivalent of 2.4 million tonnes of TNT and wiping out 750 square miles (1,950 square km) The Tunguska impact, which occurred in 1908 has been estimated at 320 megatons. Asteroids larger than 35 meters across can pose a threat to a town or city.Most of the solar systems asteroids are situated in a belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and remain stable there for billions of years. Some occasionally pop out, though, into the Earths neighbourhood. Note: An unrelated meteor event in Russia which occurred about 15 hours earlier than 2012 DA14 had a significantly different orbit. According to NASA scientists, the trajectory of the Russia meteor was significantly different than the trajectory of the asteroid 2012 DA14, making it a completely unrelated object. Information is still being collected about the Russia meteor and analysis is preliminary at this point. In videos of the meteor, it is seen to pass from left to right in front of the rising sun, which means it was travelling from north to south. Asteroid DA14's trajectory is in the opposite direction, from south to north." The meteor which closely missed the Russian city of Chelyabinsk on Friday is likely to go down in history as the largest celestial body to have hit the Earth over the past hundred years.NASA scientists said the object was a tiny asteroid that released 300 to 500 kilotons of energy when it exploded, which is roughly equivalent to 20 atomic bombs of the type dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This would make the Chelyabinsk meteor the largest since 1908 when a meteor hit Tunguska in Siberia, levelling an estimated 80 million trees. Shock waves from its explosion over Chelyabinsk wounded 1,200 people and shattered doors and windows.Fortunately for Chelyabinsk, the fragments of the meteorite missed it and crashed in a thinly populated area about 200 km away. (Based on excerpts from www.nasa.gov, www.wikipedia.organd www.thehindu.com)
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Doha climate change talks:
Various anthropogenic factors and natural disasters have given rise to climate change. This phenomenon has increased significantly since the beginning of this century and continues to increase unabatedly posing a great threat to the very existence of life on this earth. Therefore Mitigation of climate change remains the main theme at conferences that take place around the world. Exclusive climate change conferences are being held from time to time to discuss and deliberate over the matter. The main purpose behind holding such conferences is to discuss, deliberate over the issues of climate change and also arrive at consensus in adopting strategies that are helpful in mitigating climate change. But, from the past experiences it is quite evident that conferences on climate changes often end up with disagreements among the participants. Various conferences have taken place and continue to be taking place, since climate change was recognized to be a serious threat, with the very recent being the conference held at Doha, Qatar. Even at Doha, talks were fraught with deep divisions as rich nations led by US refused to commit to finances to poor counties to deal with adaptation and mitigation measures. The idea of equity and common but differential responsibility (CBDR) preventing global warming, that has been pushed hard by countries like India again came to the fore for discussions and found mention in various texts of the agreement but the US made its reservations very clear on this. 5-year long negotiations on Bali roadmap was brought to a close by 200 representatives at Doha. (Agreed to in 2007, the pillars of Bali road map addressed: reduction emission by industrialized countries which were not part of the Kyoto Protocol.) Even though the conference at Doha was fraught with deep divisions among various nations but there were some positive outcomes. According to an expert, some of the positive outcomes being: 1. 2. The Kyoto protocols second commitment period has been agreed upon and the principle of equity has been endorsed for current and future actions. Agreement reached on not to dismantle the framework for future action.
However Doha conference did nothing about the level of ambition to cut emissions at the scale and pace needed to keep the world safe which is dismally low. And no final package to pay vulnerable or to provide for transition to low carbon economies in the emerging world. Climate change is a major challenge that the globe faces. Countries must contribute collectively for the mitigation of the climate change by putting aside their differences otherwise the life on earth would be jeopardized. Even though, from Doha talks some positive outcomes emerged yet still a lot remains to be done to make Earth a better place to live in. (Based on the excerpts from a magazine source..)
THE CRIMINAL LAW (AMENDMENT) ORDINANCE, 2013
THE CRIMINAL LAW (AMENDMENT) ORDINANCE, 2013
An Ordinance further to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. WHEREAS a Bill further to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 was introduced in the House of the People and referred to the Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs for examination and report which is pending; AND WHEREAS Parliament is not in session and the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action to give effect to the provisions of the said Bill with certain modifications.
Some important provisions:
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Section 326A.(Acid attack) :Whoever causes permanent or partial damage by throwing acid on a person shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend to imprisonment for life.
Section 354A.(Sexual harassment): The following acts or behaviour shall constitute the offence of sexual harassment (i) physical contact and advances involving unwelcome and explicit sexual overtures; or (ii) a demand or request for sexual favours; or (iii) making sexually coloured remarks; or (iv) forcibly showing pornography; or (v) any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature
Section 354B.(Disrobing): Whoever assaults or uses criminal force to any woman with the intention of disrobing or compelling her to be naked in any public place, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than three years
Section 354C. ( Voyeurism): Whoever watches, or captures the image of, a woman engaging in a private act having the expectation of not being observed shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than one year, but which may extend to three years.
Section 354D. (Stalking): Whoever follows a person and contacts, or attempts to contact such person to foster personal interaction repeatedly, despite a clear indication of disinterest by such person, or whoever monitors the use by a person of the internet, email or any other form of electronic communication, or watches or spies on a person in a manner that results in a fear of violence or serious alarm or distress in the mind of such person, or interferes with the mental peace of such person, commits the offence of stalking.
Section 376A:Whoever, commits an offence punishable section 376 (rape) and in the course of such commission inflicts an injury which causes the death of the person or causes the person to be in a persistent vegetative state, shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than twenty years, but which may extend to imprisonment for life, which shall mean the remainder of that persons natural life, or with death.
Conclusion : Besides the death sentence in rare cases, the ordinance enhances punishment for other crimes like stalking, voyeurism, acid attacks, indecent gestures or words and inappropriate touch. But, in cherry picking from the report of the Justice Verma panel, the government appears to have dumped the hard parts and held up a diluted version as its core. The committees recommendations relating to marital rape, police reform, and prosecution of security personnel charged with sexual assault under ordinary criminal law, have all been blanked out. On some issues, like the imposition of the death penalty, the ordinance does exactly the opposite of what the report recommended. The ordinance would have a life of six months unless Parliament approves a bill or bills incorporating the amendments effected to the IPC, the Cr.PC and the Evidence Act. (Based on excerpts from Original copy of Ordinance at mha.nic.in and The Hindu )
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme
Ensuring welfare of its people is an obligation on the part of every state. States carry out such obligation through their various welfare schemes. One such scheme is the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme. Recently, the government of India has rolled out the first phase of the Direct Benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, also called the Direct Cash Transfer (DCT) in 20 districts with 41 schemes under its ambit. DBT programme aims that entitlements to people can be transferred directly to them through bio-metric Aadhaar linked bank accounts, thus reducing several layers of intermediaries and delays in the system. DBT scheme is not the first of its kind, it has been functioning under various other nomenclatures in countries like Brazil, Mexico, Sri Lanka etc. The cash transfer of benefits has existed in India too as in case of scholarships, old age pensions etc. But the importance of the step lies in the fact that the government has for the first time decided to experiment with a paradigm shift in visualizing the future of social security programmes to make them sustainable, targeted and free from wastage and corruption. DBT scheme has given rise to a debate over its effective implementation.
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dogged the earlier schemes. According to the proponents of the scheme, the following are the advantages:
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The proponents of the scheme, back the programme on the grounds that Aadhaar linked cash transfer would be able to overcome the inconsistencies that
1. The use of bio-metric based Aadhaar would avoid duplication of beneficiaries and also reduce the ghost beneficiaries number, thereby in the event leading to reduction of the diversion of benefits. 2. 3. 4. Benefits reach the targeted group directly on time. Thick network of banking correspondents and use of micro-ATMs will allow cash delivery at the door steps of the beneficiary. Since benefits reach beneficiaries regularly, therefore it would induce basic security.
On the other hand its critics argue that: 1. Aadhaar coverage still not reaching a substantial figure would cause DBTs implementation face difficulties since Aadhaar numbers of the beneficiaries form the backbone for cash transfers. 2. 3. 4. Money may not reach low income group people. Cash transfer scheme might give rise to inflationary pressures. It might induce laziness in the beneficiaries.
But, however, despite its shortcomings studies both theoretical and empirical-have established that direct cash Transfer help in reduction of wastages thereby in a way contributing to the fiscal consolidation, also lead to emancipation of people etc. Therefore, on overcoming some glitches like ensuring Aadhaar numbers to the majority of the population, expansion of the banking sector etc., it can be said that DBT/DCT could go a long way in reducing the leakages/wastages in welfare schemes of the government.
RBI - Monetary policy review
RBI - Monetary policy review
The third quarter monetary policy review released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had very few surprises. The reduction in the repo rate by 0.25 percentage points was widely expected. Fundamental to this review is an understanding of the policy stance. While conceding to a rate cut, the RBI is by no means announcing a retreat from the tough monetary stance which had taken the repo rates to historically high levels. The last rate cut was in April last, at the time of the annual policy statement. Since then, although the CRR has been reduced, the repo rates have held steady even in the face of mounting pressures and expectations. Another reason why the RBI effected a small reduction in the policy rates might be rooted in the following logic.The government has finally begun to heed the RBIs persistent call for fiscal discipline to complement its anti-inflation measures. A number of feel-good policy measures have been announced to revive the economy, which it is hoped, will impact favourably on public finance. However, even the immediate direction of monetary policy is not set by these two actions entirely. Growth has been declining by various parameters. That calls for an easier interest rate policy. Inflation by some important measures has come down. Yet, the RBI does not think it will decline considerably more from its current levels and become a non-issue. Besides, the recently introduced consumer price index-based (CPI) inflation has shot up to double digits, (CPI index may not be the official reference point but it does influence inflation expectations). With headline inflation likely to have peaked and non-food manufactured products inflation declining steadily over the last few months, there is an increasing likelihood of inflation remaining range-bound around current levels going into 2013-14 . That provides space, albeit limited, for monetary policy to give greater emphasis to growth risks. Elsewhere, the RBI has made it amply clear that there are significant risks to macroeconomic management. High up in the pecking order is the risk from the twin deficits, the current account deficit (CAD) and the fiscal deficit. Large fiscal deficits will accentuate the CAD risk, further crowd out private investment and stunt growth impulses. Global risks also remain elevated. As far as inflation is concerned, demand pressures might have ebbed somewhat but supply side constraints remain (notably seen in food inflation) and need to be addressed expeditiously. The key to stimulating growth is a vigorous and sustained revival in investment. That, in turn, depends upon a number of factors, including infrastructure development and better governance. Finally, it ought to be clear that the repo rate cut does not automatically lower the interest rates on loans. That will depend upon the decisions of individual banks.
Justice Verma Committee Report
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Justice Verma Committee Report
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Important Conclusions: 1. The existing laws, if faithfully and efficiently implemented by credible law enforcement agencies, are sufficient to maintain law and order and to protect the safety and dignity of the people, particularly women, and to punish any offenders who commit any crime. This is not to say that the necessary improvements in the law, keeping in mind modern times, should not be enacted at the earliest. 2. Speedy justice is not merely an aspect of the right to life with dignity, but is essential for efficacy of the well as for prevention of its violation. law and its desired impact, as
3. Police reforms that are recommended and directed for the autonomy and better quality of the police force must be urgently implemented for the preservation of the rule of law, which is a basic feature of our Constitution230. 4. Law enforcement agencies must be insulated from any political or other extraneous influence, which impedes their performance. Law enforcement agencies must not become tools at the hands of political masters. 5. The brutalities of the armed forces faced by residents in the border areas have led to a deep disenchantment, and the lack of mainstreaming of such persons into civil society. Serious allegations of persistent sexual assault on the women in such areas and conflict areas are causing more alienation. 6. Unless the promises made at the birth of the nation are fulfilled, the India that our founding fathers dreamt of will never become reality. Recent events indicate that the patience of the disillusioned youth is running out. a
Important Recommendations : 1. All limbs of the State - the executive, the legislature as well as the judiciary - mustrespect womens rights and must treat them in a nondiscriminatory manner. 2. Every complaint of rape must be registered by the police and civil society should perform its duty to report any case of rape coming to its knowledge. 3. We have also taken into account offences of eve teasing, voyeurism, stalking as well as sexual assault and unsolicited sexual contact. 4. A special procedure for protecting persons with disabilities from rape, and requisite procedures for access to justice for such persons is also an urgent need.
5. The protocols for medical examination of victims of sexual assault have also been suggested. Such examination is imperative for uniform practice and implementation. 6. The insensitivity of the police to deal with rape victims that the police force has the requisite moral vision.
protocol- based, professional medical
is well known. As such, all existing appointments need to be reviewed to ensure
7. Police force - their accountability is only to the law and to none else in the discharge of their duty. Dereliction of this punished according to the service rules and applicable law. 8 . Juvenile homes in the country, i.e. child homes, and observation homes, are not being run
duty has
to be
in a manner consistent with the spirit of
the Juvenile Justice Act. 9. It is time for the judiciary to step in to discharge the constitutional mandate of enforcing fundamental rights and implementation of the rule of law. For the safety and physical security of children, women, persons with disabilities, inmates of mental homes and widows, monitoring by the judiciary is necessary. The immediate and ultimate guardianship of such persons has to be with the court, founded on the principle of parens patriae. 10. To augment the police force, there is a need to develop community policing by involving the local gentry, which would also motivate them to perform their duty as citizens. Respectable persons in each locality could also be appointed Special Executive Magistrates under Section 21, Cr.P.C. and invested with powers to deal with the traffic offences and other minor offences. In addition, to assisting the maintenance of law and order in the locality, their presence would inspire greater confidence of safety in the locality. 11 . Street lighting everywhere would provide more safety since dark areas are more prone to facilitate crimes. There is great wisdom in the words of the American Judge Louis Brandeis, that " Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectant; electric light the most efficient policeman".
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12. Street vending should be encouraged to make the bus stops and footpaths safe for communities and pedestrians, in addition to providing street food for the common man. 13. We recommend the creation of a new constitutional authority akin to the Comptroller and Auditor General for education, nondiscrimination, in respect of women and children. 14. Reforms in respect of the political establishment: (a) Reforms are needed in the Representation of People Act, 1951 to deal with criminalisation of politics and to ensure true representation of people by elimination of those with criminal antecedents. This is also essential to avoid any conflict in the discharge of their legislative functions. (b) We also suggest that, in the event cognizance has been taken by a magistrate of an offence mentioned in Section 8(1) of the Representation of People Act, 1951, the candidate ought to be disqualified from participating in the electoral process. (c) We further suggest that suggested. (d) If all those in Parliament and State Legislatures, who have any criminal case pending against them in respect of heinous offences, vacate their seats as a mark of respect to Parliament and to the Constitution (e) It is the least to expect that political parties do not nominate any candidates for election who have any criminal antecedents. Failure to do so is likely to set in motion social urges of inestimable dimensions. 15. The recommendations made in this report, unless urgently implemented, will end the exercise conducted by the Committee in futility. Section 8(1) of the Representation of People Act, 1951 be amended and should include all heinous offences as
Electoral reforms in India
India is the one of the most successful democracies in the world. But still, even after its 60 years of democratic success, problems like corruption, casteism, communalism etc. continue to haunt the Indian society. The root cause for all the problems lies in the inconsistencies of electoral system/political system. Criminalization of politics and politicization of crime form the crux of the problem. Criminalization of politics means direct entry of criminals into the political parties and legislatures including parliament. Politicization of crime involves the use of anti-social elements for the mobilization of party funds, for management of elections, for organizing meetings and conferences and even recruiting at lower levels from among anti-social elements. As a consequence of these two phenomena increasingly becoming deep rooted in the Indian political system, crime rates are going up, corruption has assumed enormous proportions in the society, crimes are getting a legitimate backing. Even, despite the very best efforts of the Election Commission of India, money power, muscle power still remain a deciding factor in the overall outcome of an election process. People contesting the elections use money to lure voters and spend huge money in the process which exceeds the prescribed limit. After getting elected, the person with a view of recovering the money spent during the election stage resorts to corruption at the cost of taxpayers money. Contestants take the help of anti-social elements to use the illegal practices like booth capturing, rigging etc so as to make the election results go in their favour. Such candidates after getting elected often tend to shield the anti-elements for their misdeeds in return for their help at the elections. This would result in crime, subversion of states interest, and also in the event leading to compromise of public safety, and interests. Electoral politics based on communism and casteism has often threatened the basic social fabric of the country and also threatened to divide the nation. Therefore the remedy to all the problems is to bring about the electoral reforms. The term Electoral Reform refers to the change in the systems of election process in order to improve on the desirability of the public in the election results. One of the prime factors in electoral reforms is the change in the process and procedure of voting System. Even though the Constitution of India through Article324, vests, in the Election Commission of India, the powers to superintendence, direction and control of the election to parliament, state legislatures, the offices of the President and the vice-President, but the power to make laws to regulate the elections for the above mentioned institutions is vested in the parliament. The Election Commission on its part has played a proactive, independent, non partisan role in creating a level playing field in order to ensure free and fair elections. The Election Commission of India has been pressing the government frequently to initiate the electoral reforms. In this regard it has placed several proposals before the government for consideration. Some of them being:
For preventing persons with criminal background from becoming legislators, the Commission has made a proposal for disqualifying (from contesting election) a person against whom charges have been framed by a Court for an offence punishable by imprisonment of 5 years or more.
Under the existing law (Section-8, ROP Act, 51) there is a disqualification once a person is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment of two years or more (in the case of certain offences mentioned in sub-sections (1) of Section-8, conviction itself leads to disqualification, even without any sentence of imprisonment). The
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Commissions proposal is for disqualification even prior to conviction, provided the court has framed charges.
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As a precaution against foisting false cases on the eve of election, it has been suggested that only those cases in which charges are framed six months prior to an election should be taken into account for that election.
The Commission has suggested that legal provisions be made to regulate the functioning of political parties and the Commission should be empowered to regulate registration as well as de-registration of political parties.
The political parties should be legally required to get their accounts audited annually. The audited accounts should be put in public domain. There should be transparency in the fund raising and expenditure of political parties .
The Commission has been proposed amendment in the Representation of People Act, 1951, to provide therein that publishing and abetting the publishing of `paid news for furthering the prospect of election of any candidate or for prejudicially affecting the prospect of election of any candidate be made an electoral offence under chapter-III of Part-VII of Representation of People Act, 1951 with punishment of a minimum of two years imprisonment Undue influence and bribery at elections are electoral offences under Sections 171B and 171C, respectively, of the IPC. These offences are non-cognizable offences, with punishment provision of one years imprisonment, or fine, or both.
Under Section 171-G, publishing false statement in connection with election with intent to affect the result of an election, is punishable with fine only.
Section 171 H provides that incurring or authorizing expenditure for promoting the election prospects of a candidate is an offence. However, punishment for an offence under this Section is a meager fine of Rs.500/-
These punishments were provided as far back as in 1920. Considering the gravity of the offences under the aforesaid sections in the context of free and fair elections, the punishments under all the four sections has been proposed to be enhanced and made cognizable. Etc.
And various other proposals have been made. The successive governments and the Parliament have not been serious in tackling the menace. If the governments are serious about bringing a desired change for a better India then the representatives must show urgency in initiating the process of bringing about electoral reforms.
(Based on the excerpts from the Election Com m issions website (proposals m ade by the ECI hav e been directly taken from the Election Com m issions website))
Police Reforms
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Police Reform s: Development of any region/country is possible only when tranquility/peace or orderily atmosphere is maintained. So law and order is the necessary prerequisite for development to take place. Police form a vital cog in the enforcement of law and order. The term police connotes the purposeful maintainence of public order and protection of persons and property from the hazards of public accidents and the commission of unlawful acts. The origin of the present day Indian police dates back to the vedic age, contrary to the popular belief that it was the creation of the British. Police system in India existed much prior to the British period. We can see the polices existence during Mauryan administration, Mughal rule. It was infact the police system that existed during the Mughal rule that was adopted by the British and modified to suit their needs. Britishers who came to India as traders, slowly started collecting taxes. They felt the need of a machinery that could enforce tax collection. In this backdrop the police system adopted by the Englishmen acquired coercive characteristic. The present structure of the Indian police was evovled in 1861 and has lasted 3 centuries now, and during the last 2 centuries it had somehow fulfilled its limited objective of maintaining public order and controlling crime fairly satisfactorily though it acted merely as a coercive force to maintain the authority of the state. Therefore, the present day Indian police is said to be the colonial hangover which is often alleged to be unfriendly and non responsive towards its citizens. Hence a need was felt to bring in reforms into the police system and various commissions were set up in this regard. The various commissions thus set up, have suggested a slew of reforms and some of them are: tenurial security,establishment of District complaints authority, improving the service conditions of police personnel in the lower hierarchy, etc. But these recommendations have remained only on paper and have hardly been implemented. Even the Supreme Court of India, in 2006,in view of the urgent need for preservation and strengthening the rule of the law had given certain directions. The Apex Court prescribed setting up of 3 institutions in the states viz. 1. 2. 3. Security commission with a view of insulating the police from extraneous pressures. Police establishment board to give autonomy to the police hierarchy in matters of transfers and postings of junior officers. Police complaints authority to look into complaints of serious misconduct agianst policemen. Further the court also prescribed a procedure to ensure transparency in the selection of DGPs and give him a minimum tenure of 2 years. One of the main reason for the lack of implementation is that the states remain reluctant to implement the Courts order because itwould mean the executive losing their grip over the police , which they consider vital for their political survival. In publics view police has remained as an unfriendly, non responsive organisation. Therefore inorder to reverse this situation from it being hostile to friendly,from non-responsive to responsive and help it gain the trust and confidence of the public,police reforms needs to implemented without any delay.
Indo Pak Peace

Weekly Analysis - 18/1/13
IndoPak Peace
The killing of two soldiers on the Line of Control, and the gruesome manner in which Lance Naik Hemraj met his end, have shocked and anguished all Indians. After this dastardly act, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said , there cant be business as usual with Pakistan. It is entirely true that the beheading of Indian soldiers on the Line of Control was a despicable act that must be condemned. But, the validity of our strategic objectives towards Pakistan should not be allowed to be distorted by any jingoistic reaction to the incident .The need now is to strengthen the restraint regime on the LoC. Following propositions must be clearly understood. First, ever since General Parvez Ashfaq Kayani took office as Pakistans army chief in November 2007, his covert services and armed
forces have engaged in a carefully calibrated escalation of hostilities. Second, India has few military options to address this situation. The potential costs of war, and the risk of nuclear confrontation, far outweigh those of the low-grade conflict India now faces. Third, denying visas to elderly Pakistanis or stopping hockey players from participating in Indian tournaments will not make our borders or our civilians safer.
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Fourth, real gains have been made since 2003, not the least a ceasefire and de-intensification of cross-border terrorism which has saved the lives of thousands of Indian soldiers. Nothing ought to be done to jeopardise this . The CDR group that visited the LoC in 2007 heard in village after village that people were finally sleeping well, not in a metaphorical sense, but quite literally. That the ceasefire also helped Kashmiris on either side connect after more than five decades of Partition, through travel and trade, was the icing on the cake. All this gave Kashmiris a semblance of normality after more than five decades of living in a war zone. In 2008 ceasefire at the LoC was under strain. That year, there were 77 violations. Last year, there were 117.
At a recent edition of the Chaophraya Track Two dialogue most participants, Indians and Pakistanis, were emphatic that the two countries must insulate the gains of the dialogue process such as trade and visas from such incidents, or else there was no point in expending. resources to make some progress, only to be dragged down, and then have to start all over again. Securing the ceasefire and the rest of the peace process is more important than at any other time.. Earlier this month, reports emerged that Pakistan had amended its doctrinal manual, called the Green Book , to include a chapter identifying internal insurgent forces as the countrys principal national security threat. The Green Book isnt, in fact, a doctrinal testament or even, in fact, one book. It has many hostile statements by various official persons. Had the Green Books not been official publications, none of the hostile statements in it ought to have been a cause of worry. Like all forms of madness, the texts in the Green Book arent without method: crisis with India is, after all, a precondition for ensuring the Pakistan Armys preeminent position in the countrys power structure e.g. 26/11, it is surprisingly little remarked upon, almost did pay off for Pakistans Army.
DIALOGUE PROCESS
Our strategic objectives are to work for good neighbourly relations marked by normal trade, people to people contacts, greater sporting and cultural interactions, hassle-free travel and a confidence-building mechanism. A sustained dialogue process is necessary to achieve these objectives. It will be in the interest of the people of both countries to resist the urge to discontinue the dialogue process. At the same time, one has to recognise that such incidents of tactical gravity will continue to mar bilateral relations so long as there is no genuine change of mindset in the Pakistan Army towards India. This mindset is marked by sustained hostility towards India and a determination to annexe J&K and keep India destabilised through the use of terrorism as a strategic weapon against India. Having achieved a reduction of the nuclear and conventional asymmetry through the acquisition of a nuclear and missile capability, Pakistan has built up for itself a set of tactical options to keep India bleeding and destabilised through terrorism and other means without triggering off a conventional and nuclear war. We are totally bereft of any tactical options for riposte against Pakistan when it indulges in actions such as the 26/11 terrorist strikes in Mumbai or the January 8 incident in J&K. A power without suitable means of covert riposte will find itself a paper tiger. Pakistans mistaken belief that its nuclear, missile and covert capabilities have reduced India to a paper tiger has to be removed through the acquisition of covert options. Covert action does not mean doing to Pakistan what it has been doing to us. It means creating strong disincentives for its hostile actions. It does not mean tit-for-tat action. It means creating concerns and uncertainty in its mind about the consequences of its actions. Covert action, to be effective, has to be sustained and unpredictable and must be based on the support of objective allies in its population. We have such objective allies in its population. It is for us to identify them and make common cause with them. Nuclear dilemma: It was pointed out that India and Pakistan are the only two nuclear weapon states locked in a permanent conflict that occasionally escalates to armed confrontation, making the nuclear standoff particularly dangerous. Pakistans refusal to make a no-first-use pledge, its development of tactical nuclear weapons, Indias missile defence programme were all seen as factors driving the nuclear arms race in the region and heightening the risk of nuclear conflict. Doctrinal and conceptual clarity on nuclear strategy is fundamental to the existence of stable deterrence in a nuclearised geopolitical context. This is recognised by the Lahore Declaration, which states the two sides shall engage in bilateral consultations on security concepts, and nuclear doctrines. The agreement has, unfortunately, remained a mere promise. Although the strategic elites in both countries have pondered over their nuclear doctrines ad nauseam, they seem to have overlooked the ways in which credible cooperation may occur in order to achieve feasible nuclear risk reduction measures and nuclear stability. Such deficient thinking has led to a unilateral offensive strategising and the formulation of military doctrines such as India's Cold Start', and the adoption of an asymmetric escalation posture by Pakistan. Problems of ambiguity: The introduction of nuclear weapons in the Indo-Pak balance of power has not been to India's advantage. It has given the country diminishing returns from its conventional superiority and created a troublingly unpredictable nuclear escalation ladder. Moreover, Pakistan's ambiguous nuclear doctrine has plunged India into a deep dilemma on how to respond to the proxy wars that it believes Pakistan has unleashed upon it. India was forced to redeploy its forces after massing them on the border during the 2001-2002 military standoff in the wake of the attack on Indian Parliament, precisely due to this uncertainty. Pakistanhas apparently kept its nuclear doctrine ambiguous to continue to perplex Indian strategists. It has dismissed the credibility of India's declared no-first-use (NFU) doctrine and but has not elucidated the conditions under which it would be prompted to use its nuclear weapons. Apart from outlining some painfully general conditions of potential nuclear use, Pakistan has deliberately kept its threshold levels' or the red lines' unclear, contending that this is its only possible option to prevent an Indian attack. It is an argument that stems straight from the classical deterrence theory. Despite all such hostility and confusion, it is faith in dialogue process on both sides and constant efforts to stabilise the friendship that would bring peace to the people of both countries. About us | News and current updates | Courses / offers | FAQ's | Archives | Opportunities | Contact us | Counselling | Feedback | Disclaimer | Site Map
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