An effort is afoot in India and Russia to initiate research on developing small, sealed thorium breeder reactors for a wide range of uses throughout the world. The most interested party in this development is India, the most obvious reason being that India is a power-starved nation that has developed the entire nuclear-fuel cycle, including the thorium-fuel cycle, and while India is low in uranium reserves, it probably has the largest thorium reserves in the world.
But the plan to develop these reactors is not simply developing nuclear-based power sources. Large nuclear power plants are available all over the world, and even the Indian nuclear industry, under pressure from the industrial and urban sectors, is in the process of developing nuclear reactors with capacity upwards of 500MW.
Small Reactors in Clusters
But, 80% of India's population lives in rural areas, and almost 60% of the workforce depends on agriculture. A vast majority of India's water consumption is in the agricultural sector, and the entire population depends very heavily on annual monsoon rains, which can be extremely irregular, causing devastating droughts, which threaten India's food security. At the same time, India's coastline stretches about 3,570 miles on the mainland, from the border of Bangladesh in the Northeast to Gujarat in the Northwest. More than 600 million people live, bounded by an ocean on one side or the other. And, yet the vast majority of them lack safe, clean water.
The lack of power, massive shortfall of water, and the potential to pull millions out of poverty within the span of a generation, are the primary motivations behind the research on thorium reactors. These small thorium-fueled reactors, which would breed uranium-233 to generate power, can be placed all across power-short and water-short nations, and bring about a surge in economic development not seen before. The power from these small reactors will provide the power requirement for agriculture, small and medium-size industries, desalination of seawater and brackish water to make clean potable water, and also to meet the requirement of all commercial and domestic uses. The beauty of these reactors is that when power demands would grow, another one of these reactors can be placed to form a cluster.
The list of benefits of developing these small reactors by no means ends here. There are other benefits of significant dimensions. For instance, to set up these small reactors would require a reasonably small infrastructure, and since the power output will be commensurate with the local population and their activities, power generated from these reactors would be consumed locally. This would eliminate the 12-15% line losses that occur regularly when power is put on large and long grids, and prevent the instability produced in a crucial national electrical power grid, that results when a huge amount of power is dumped, or withdrawn, from that grid. Equally important is the fact that since these reactors are small, their construction and operation would not disrupt people's lives the way large infrastructure-based power plants do. The population living in the rural areas would be able to maintain their way of life, traditions, and environment, and at the same time, have a quality of life they could not have because of endemic shortfall of power and water.
Sealed Safe
But these reactors, now in the concept stage, are even more interesting. Since these reactors would be sealed "for life," removal of fissile material from the reactor core, enclosed within a tamper-proof cask, will not be possible. The whole system would be protected by a network of security alarms. These reactors generate power without requiring either refueling or maintenance. In contrast, conventional nuclear reactors are under constant attack of the anti-nuclear groupies who point at the potential threat of proliferation because these reactors must be charged periodically with new fuel, which later has to be removed for replenishment: both steps allow an opportunity for fissile material to be diverted to weapons programs.
The basic objective of the research is to develop a sealed reactor which will have a lifespan of about 30 years. At the end of this life span, the reactor would be buried in the same sealed condition. For these reactors to generate power without any outside intervention, the sealed reactor would need to be of the fast-breeder type. Thorium-232, a non-fissile material breeds fissile uranium-233, which is the desired breeder-fuel.
It is not clear at this early stage what exactly the overall configuration of these reactors would be. It is expected that the reactors would be small, about 10-15 feet in girth and about 45-50 feet in height. The weight could be as little as 200 tons. These reactors, once they become operational, would produce power uninterrupted for a generation. There will be no down time, since there will be no refueling involved. At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Northern California, a similar project, using uranium-238 as fuel, is in progress. Known as the small, sealed, transportable, autonomous reactor (SSTAR), the machine will generate power without needing refueling or maintenance. To extend the reactor's life, the cylindrical core of the SSTAR will be engineered to sustain fission only when surrounded by a metal cylinder that reflects neutrons back into the fuel. This metal mirror will start at one end of the core, and over the course of the reactor's lifetime, move slowly along to the opposite end, consuming the fuel as it goes.
Clearly, the challenge in developing the thorium-fueled reactors would lie in getting the breeder to breed fissile uranium-233 continuously in such a way that it meets the power demand for three decades or so. The added challenge, of course, will be to compartmentalize the fuel so that uranium-233 becomes always available. To produce uranium-233, atoms of thorium-232 are exposed to neutrons. Thorium-233 forms when thorium-232 absorbs a neutron. Thorium-233 has a half-life of about 22 minutes and decays into protactinium-233 through beta decay. Protactinium-233 has a half-life of about 27 days and decays into uranium-233, also through beta decay. If completely burnt up through fission, one pound (0.45 kilograms) of uranium-233 will provide the same amount of energy as burning 1,500 tons (1,350,000 kilograms) of coal.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Towards an Energy Independent India
"Today,India is the only developing country that has demonstrated its capability to design, build, operate and maintain nuclear power plants,manufacture all associated equipment and components,and produce the required nuclear fuel and special materials,"says Dr.R.Chidambaram, Chairman,Atomic Energy Commission , India.
The Indian Energy Scenario
India is a country occupying 2% of the world's land mass and currently generating about 2% of the global electricity, mostly using low grade coal of which it has about 5% of the world reserves.
India has, however a share of 16% in the world's population. To achieve a modestly high level of economic growth, the domestic generation capacity needs to be increased at least tenfold, to about 900 GWe. Even with full utilisation of all existing commercially exploitable domestic hydrocarbon, hydroelectric and non-conventional resources, this level of increased generation capacity cannot be sustained for more than a few decades. For a large country like India, bulk imports of fuel or energy are neither affordable nor strategically prudent.
The Role of Nuclear Power
The Indian Uranium reserves -about 0.8% of the world - cannot contribute to any significant improvement in the situation if this Uranium is used on once-through basis and then disposed off as waste. However, with a carefully planned programme, the available Uranium can be used to harness the energy contained in non-fissile thorium, of which India possesses about 32% of the world's reserves. The first stage of this programme involves using the indigenous uranium in Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) which efficiently produce not only energy but also fissile plutonium. In the second stage, by reprocessing the spent nuclear fuel and using the recovered plutonium in Fast Breeder Reactors, the non-fissile depleted uranium and thorium can breed additional fissile nuclear fuel, plutonium and uranium-233 respectively. In the third stage thorium and uranium-233 based nuclear reactors can meet the long term Indian energy requirements.
The Indian concerns and priorities are thus quite unique. For its long term energy security India has no option but to deploy nuclear power according to a strategy precisely tuned to its needs and resources.
Early History of Evolution of the Indian Nuclear Programme
Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha formulated this strategy nearly 40 years ago, when India possessed hardly any infrastructure to support the nascent nuclear technology. The first Prime Minister of India, Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, helped Bhabha lay the foundations of the Indian atomic energy programme with self-reliance as the motto. Accordingly a large R & D establishment named Atomic Energy Establishment housed in Trombay, was progressively set up. This establishment, renamed Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) after India tragically lost Bhabha in an air crash in 1966, operates research reactors, basic facilities for nuclear research, supporting infrastructure and trained man-power in all disciplines dealing with nuclear energy.
The Indian nuclear power programme commenced in 1969 with the building of the twin units of Tarapur Atomic Power Station (TAPS), employing Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs), with American assistance. The reason for this choice lay in favourable performance guarantees for these reactors, and a need to quickly gain experience in running nuclear power plants.
The first two Indian PHWRs, RAPS-1, RAPS-2, were taken up for construction as a joint venture with Canada. In parallel, the Department of Atomic Energy set up facilities for fabrication of fuel, Zirconium alloy components, manufacture of precision reactor components, and production of heavy water. The import content of RAPS-1 was 45% and the half of its first core fuel charge was indigenously produced using high standards of quality demanded by the specifications. Commercial operation of RAPS-1 commenced in December 1973.
In the year 1974, after the peaceful nuclear experiment conducted by India at Pokharan, the Canadian support was abruptly withdrawn. RAPS-2 was under construction then. France too, followed suit by refusing to supply fuel for the Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) which was then under construction with French assistance. The USA expressed its inability to continue fulfilling its contractual obligations to supply fuel for TAPS. The era of technology control regimes had thus begun for the Indian nuclear programme.
Coping with the Pokharan Fallout
The sudden withdrawal of foreign technical assistance and supplies would have caused an irrecoverable set back to the Indian nuclear programme, if not its collapse. This did not happen on account of Indian determination to face the challenges head-on with the help of the R & D infrastructure already created to develop self-reliance, and the support of the Indian industry. The challenges included not only the continuation of the on going activities without external help but also the pursuit of the originally stipulated long term strategies.
To cut the long story short, while causing delays in some ongoing projects, the embargoes spurred the growth of an indigenous capability of developing substitutes for the denied products, technologies and knowhow. RAPS-2 started commercial operation in 1981; FBTR went critical in 1985, using indigenously made plutonium-uranium mixed carbide fuel. India also developed a plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel, and facilities for its industrial scale production, as an alternative to the enriched uranium based fuel for TAPS. India has not looked back since then, and has continued to proceed on its chosen path without depending on external help.
The Present and the Future
Today, India has ten nuclear power reactors in operation. The designs of its new reactors have progressively evolved to incorporate advanced features to further improve safety, reliability and economics.It has successfully developed the technologies for in-service inspection, maintenance and refurbishment of the older plants.Four PHWRs are currently under construction and another ten are planned for construction in the near future .These include the 500 MWe PHWRs fully designed and developed in India .Further, to accelerate the growth of nuclear power, it is contemplated to build a few light water reactor based plants with foreign collaboration.The immediate objective is to achieve 20,000 MWe of nuclear generation capacity by the year 2020.
Indian heavy water plants and zirconium alloy components manufacturing facilities have consistently met not only the domestic requirements but also export commitments.The Indian fuel fabrication facilities are capable of manufacturing a wide range of nuclear fuel based on natural uranium ,enriched uranium,plutonium , and uranium-233.Plants for treatment and disposal of various types of radioactive wastes have been set up and are operating as an integral part of every nuclear facility in the country .The fuel reprocessing facilities for extracting plutonium from spent fuel of the PHWRs are already operational.
Technologies associated with the fast reactor programme have been mastered .The indigenous efforts for the installation of first 500 MWe prototype FDR have begun and the design has been optimised .
India is an emerging leader in the development of reactor and associated fuel cycle technologies for Thorium utilization .A 30 KW(Th) research reactor KAMINI has become operational last year and is perhaps, one of its only kind in the world currently operating with uranium-233 based nuclear fuel .India's Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) which employs thorium based fuel , has several advanced passive safety features, and goes beyond the requirements generally stipulated for the next generation nuclear power plants, currently being developed.
Today, India is the only developing country that has demonstrated its capability to design , build , operate and maintain nuclear power plants, manufacture all associated equipments and components and produce the required nuclear fuel and special materials .With assured government support during the IXth Five Year Plan,which started this year the future of nuclear power in India is bright and ,in fact, the target of 20,000 MWe by the year 2020 is considered by some people in the Indian industry as conservative .
'Thorium to give India an edge'
Thorium Power is a privately-held, Washington DC-based company funded primarily through private equity investments. It develops proliferation-resistant nuclear fuel technologies. Seth Grae, president, Thorium Power, talks to ET about why thorium is the way forward for India.
Besides the fact that India has the second largest reserves of thorium, are there any other advantages for opting for thorium-based nuclear reactors rather than the uranium-based plants?
There are two major concerns when we talk of nuclear power — the first is that of safety and the second is the proliferation issue. On the aspect of safety, major nuclear companies like GE, Westinghouse, and Areva have addressed this issue. It is the proliferation angle that now needs to be addressed. For India, which has the largest thorium reserves in terms of quality, opting for thorium-based reactors is the logical step.
It is not merely an issue of fuel self-sufficiency but the fact is that it will also address the proliferation issue. Nuclear waste at a thorium-based reactor is minimal, and the plutonium from the process is used for further generation. It would make sense for India to opt for thorium rather than uranium.
Are there any other advantages for India to opt for the thorium fuel cycle?
Given India’s vast reserves of thorium, harnessing technologies that would use thorium-based nuclear fuels would give India an edge. The country could emerge as an exporter of thorium material or fuels made out of thorium. Also, given India’s massive power generating capacity expansion programme, opting for a thorium fuel cycle would make sense.
There are two types of thorium-based nuclear fuels — thorium and uranium and the other, thorium and plutonium. With the first, uranium, will come at a cost while plutonium comes free as it is a by-product of the process. The most dramatic savings happen if you use plutonium. However, fuel accounts for only 6% of costs of a nuclear plant. Indian scientists have already done work on thorium, that puts India in a favourable position.
Given thorium’s obvious advantages what accounts for its lack of popularity as a nuclear fuel?
The fact is that there has been little research and development in the nuclear fuel field. R&D in this area has been somewhere between flat and dead in the past 25 years. Thorium Power has an advantage as developing anything in the nuclear sector requires a long-time. Thorium Power’s work in the past will give it an edge over companies that are just about starting to explore this field.
What are your plans in India?
Thorium Power is the leading developer of proliferation-resistant nuclear fuel technologies. While working with Thorium Power designs will put India in a favourable position, we too stand to benefit from scientists in India to develop nuclear fuel for domestic consumption as well as for export.
What is the nature of association that you are looking at in India?
India has the potential to build at least 60 reactors of 1,000 megawatts each. India is already working on a plan to build dozens of new reactors in the coming years and the vast majority of them will be designed to use thorium fuels. We have found a lot of interest among all segments of the nuclear community here in the proliferation resistant, low-waste fuel technology that Thorium Power offers.
We are still exploring options, it could be in the nature of a technology transfer partnership or a joint venture. However, in international transactions things can develop fast. We may be in a position to announce a joint venture by the middle of next year. We are in dialogue with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India and NTPC as well as some major private sector companies.
How big do you estimate the Indian market to be?
Indian efforts in the nuclear power sector could lead to the award of contracts worth at least $100 billion. As I said, India has the potential to build at least 60 reactors of 1,000 megawatts each. At an estimated $2 billion per reactor, the potential for business crosses $100 billion.
Over and above this, there are business opportunities arising out of fuel supply and servicing contracts. Consider that 60% of business generated by new plants involves construction and equipment contracts and the balance to fuel processing technologies and safety services.
Besides the fact that India has the second largest reserves of thorium, are there any other advantages for opting for thorium-based nuclear reactors rather than the uranium-based plants?
There are two major concerns when we talk of nuclear power — the first is that of safety and the second is the proliferation issue. On the aspect of safety, major nuclear companies like GE, Westinghouse, and Areva have addressed this issue. It is the proliferation angle that now needs to be addressed. For India, which has the largest thorium reserves in terms of quality, opting for thorium-based reactors is the logical step.
It is not merely an issue of fuel self-sufficiency but the fact is that it will also address the proliferation issue. Nuclear waste at a thorium-based reactor is minimal, and the plutonium from the process is used for further generation. It would make sense for India to opt for thorium rather than uranium.
Are there any other advantages for India to opt for the thorium fuel cycle?
Given India’s vast reserves of thorium, harnessing technologies that would use thorium-based nuclear fuels would give India an edge. The country could emerge as an exporter of thorium material or fuels made out of thorium. Also, given India’s massive power generating capacity expansion programme, opting for a thorium fuel cycle would make sense.
There are two types of thorium-based nuclear fuels — thorium and uranium and the other, thorium and plutonium. With the first, uranium, will come at a cost while plutonium comes free as it is a by-product of the process. The most dramatic savings happen if you use plutonium. However, fuel accounts for only 6% of costs of a nuclear plant. Indian scientists have already done work on thorium, that puts India in a favourable position.
Given thorium’s obvious advantages what accounts for its lack of popularity as a nuclear fuel?
The fact is that there has been little research and development in the nuclear fuel field. R&D in this area has been somewhere between flat and dead in the past 25 years. Thorium Power has an advantage as developing anything in the nuclear sector requires a long-time. Thorium Power’s work in the past will give it an edge over companies that are just about starting to explore this field.
What are your plans in India?
Thorium Power is the leading developer of proliferation-resistant nuclear fuel technologies. While working with Thorium Power designs will put India in a favourable position, we too stand to benefit from scientists in India to develop nuclear fuel for domestic consumption as well as for export.
What is the nature of association that you are looking at in India?
India has the potential to build at least 60 reactors of 1,000 megawatts each. India is already working on a plan to build dozens of new reactors in the coming years and the vast majority of them will be designed to use thorium fuels. We have found a lot of interest among all segments of the nuclear community here in the proliferation resistant, low-waste fuel technology that Thorium Power offers.
We are still exploring options, it could be in the nature of a technology transfer partnership or a joint venture. However, in international transactions things can develop fast. We may be in a position to announce a joint venture by the middle of next year. We are in dialogue with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India and NTPC as well as some major private sector companies.
How big do you estimate the Indian market to be?
Indian efforts in the nuclear power sector could lead to the award of contracts worth at least $100 billion. As I said, India has the potential to build at least 60 reactors of 1,000 megawatts each. At an estimated $2 billion per reactor, the potential for business crosses $100 billion.
Over and above this, there are business opportunities arising out of fuel supply and servicing contracts. Consider that 60% of business generated by new plants involves construction and equipment contracts and the balance to fuel processing technologies and safety services.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
A Sting Without Venom
'Tehelka's multi-million enterprise has been greeted with circumspection bordering on derision'
Sting is suddenly a suspect, if not dirty, word. But till even just a few months ago this controversial method of procuring information was celebrated as the harbinger of a bold era, the defining characteristic of "new journalism". After the infamous Delhi schoolteacher episode, which turned out to be concocted, there is palpable discomfort with this genre. Sadly, for Tehelka's multi-million enterprise aimed at exposing Narendra Modi's alleged involvement in the 2002 post-Godhra riots, even their venture has been greeted with circumspection bordering on derision. Congress, the prime beneficiary of sting operations mounted by Tehelka, its offshoots and other copycats, has issued fervent disclaimers about its alleged sponsorship of the operation, privately suggesting this may have been funded by Modi! A failed sting is like a military coup gone awry: it is an orphan.
Why did Tehelka, the original promoter of this dubious genre of journalism, get it so horribly wrong this time? First, the timing of its public release was so transparently pegged to the Gujarat assembly polls that even breast-beating secular fundamentalists found it hard to defend. Having self-confessedly collected evidence over six months, the 'stingers' failed to convincingly explain why they waited for the poll dates to be announced and the Election Commission's model code of conduct to be operationalised. "Politically motivated" is a phrase routinely brandished by Indian politicians at the receiving end of adverse media publicity. But for once, this cliche hit the bull's eye.
Second, did the so-called sting establish anything that was not already in the domain of public knowledge? That certain bestial people on the Hindutva fringe indulged in gruesome forms of torture and murder was well-known and widely condemned. The bizarre, much-publicised twists in the Best Bakery case were sufficient to drive the point home. Significantly, however, the secular fundamentalists continue to pointedly ignore the fact that the poster boy of the Gujarat riot industry, the Muslim tailor photographed begging for his life with folded hands during the violence, has returned to his home state after a stint in 'secular' West Bengal, complaining of exploitation by CPI(M) for political gains. He now avoids publicity like the plague, saying he has no desire to play the role scripted for him by Gujarat-bashers.
Third, that TV channels, which reportedly paid a packet to Tehelka for telecast rights, ran disclaimers saying they were not responsible for the claims made by those interviewed, carries its own tale. Small-time, small-town politicians are known to exaggerate their importance given half a chance. That was my personal experience while conducting interviews in remote UP and Bihar districts with survivors of the Quit India Movement for my doctoral thesis for Oxford University. Their claims had to be routinely cross-checked to eliminate self-mythification. Talking to a reporter who posed as a Hindutva champion researching for a book on the saffron surge in Gujarat, these persons could well have given free rein to their grotesque fantasies.
But what is the worth of these "confessions"? Can they stand even cursory scrutiny in a court of law? So what did Tehelka aim at? As veterans of the burgeoning sting industry, having supplied call girls and Scotch to lubricate the wagging tongues of army officers in the defence expose, surely they knew that only a political motive could be served by their unsuccessful attempt to find a smoking gun in Narendra Modi's hand?
Fourth, did they find anything against Modi? After sending out lakhs of sms alerts for three days hyping the suspect end product, thus benefiting mobile service providers and the marketing departments of select TV channels, they couldn't find even a concealed revolver in Modi's pocket, leave alone a smoking gun.Modi never visited Naroda Patiya, site of a horrifying carnage, and thus the question of his garlanding the alleged mass murderers there simply did not arise. The post-mortem report said Congress ex-MP Ehsan Jafri died of three bullets lodged in his body. No limbs were cut one after another; neither was his torso "toasted", contrary to a chilling assertion by a prominent rioter. "Modi gave us three days," claimed yet another braggart. Self-righteous secularists argue: Modi is a demon, so whatever is said against him is true and if you want proof you are a communalist neo-Nazi!
Tehelka's disastrous misadventure doesn't need further elaboration. I can only feel sorry because they tried to be too clever by half and fell flat. Nothing justifies the burning alive of 52 kar sevaks at Godhra, and the retribution that followed. But just as Delhi recovered from the Congress-supervised anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984, so much so that Punjab twice elected that party to power in the state, so has Gujarat. This time, there is no trace of a communal cloud overhanging the forthcoming election. The only issue is Gujarat's spectacular economic development despite the devastating earthquake and the shocking riots. It is for the people of Gujarat to judge who are guilty of re-injecting the virus of communalism into the state's politics; who are friends of Muslims and who are their (hidden camera-carrying) enemies.
Source : Outlook India
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Dubrovnik, Croatia, The place we visited last weekend
Dubrovnik, often referred to as the 'Pearl of the Adriatic', lies on the picturesque Dalmatian coast and offers an eclectic mix of historical buildings, ancient traditions and modern café culture. Although severely damaged by an earthquake in 1667, Dubrovnik managed to preserve its beautiful Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque churches, monasteries, palaces and fountains.
Despite further damage in the 1990s by armed conflict, it is now the focus of a major restoration programme coordinated by UNESCO. Visit the Franciscan Monastery with its historic 15th century apothecary or the Dominican monastery, which houses paintings from the Dubrovnik school of art. Stroll along the cobbled paths and promenades and soak up the local atmosphere in one of the city's many pavement cafes.
George Bernard Shaw was enchanted by this beautiful city: for him, it was paradise. Millions of people also take home happy memories from this "jewel of the Adriatic".
Dubrovnik has a remarkable history. An independent, merchant republic for 700 years (abolished by Napoleon in 1806), it traded with Turkey and India in the East (with a consul in Goa, India) and had trade representatives in Africa (in the Cape Verde Islands). It even had diplomatic relations with the English court in the middle ages. (There is a letter from Elizabeth I on display in the City Museum in Dubrovnik). Its status was such that powerful and rich Venice was envious of this Croatian-Slav city.
The old town was completed in the 13th century and remains virtually unchanged to the present day. Tall ramparts surround it and there are only two entrances to the old town which lead to the Stradun, the city's promenade. One of the greatest pleasures for many visitors is to have a drink in one of the nearby cafes and watch the world go by, whilst they themselves are being watched by the city patron, St. Blaise, or Sveti Vlaho as the locals call him. In 1991/2, the Serbs shelled the city causing considerable damage, but thanks to local efforts and international aid, the old town has been restored to its former beauty.
Hotel Dubrovnik Palace
But whatever we say, our words do not give justice to this dazzling place. So come soon and see it with your own eyes!
Dubrovnik is a tranquil cultural and tourist center in Croatia,hosting many musical, art and theater events year round. The annual Dubrovnik Summer Festival is a cultural event when keys of the city are given to artists who entertain Dubrovnik's population and their guests for entire month with live plays, concerts, and games.
Ivan Gundulić, a 17th century Croatian writer, predicted the downfall of the great Turkish Empire in his great poem Osman. He wrote these immortal verses that are performed on every opening of the world famous Dubrovnik Summer Festival:
O, beautiful liberty, dear and sweet,
Thou heavenly gift where riches all meet,
Actual source of our glory of these hours,
The sole adornment of this grove of ours,
All silver, all gold, and our lives so dear,
Cannot recompense thy beauty so clear.
With these verses Dubrovnik major invites actors and poems to enter through main gates inside city stone walls.
Dubrovnik and his surroundings with beautiful islands have lot to offer in touristic activities for younger generations also. Climbing on steep hills, hiking through the Mediterranean nature, paddling and swimming in clean transparent sea is what is also part of fun in Dubrovnik.
New historical discovers say that the usual misconception of Dubrovnik coming to be as joining of Laus island and Slav settlement of Dubrovnik is disputed by the fact that there was no island of Laus, only a peninsula, and it seems that there was a port on its location dating back to ancient history (thought to be the lost port of Heraclea.)
In 1991 Croatia and Slovenia, which at that time were republics within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, declared their independence. In that event, the Socialist Republic of Croatia was renamed the Republic of Croatia.
Despite the demilitarization of the old town early in the 1970s in an attempt to prevent it from ever becoming a casualty of war, following Croatia's independence in 1991, the Serbian-Montenegrin remains of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) attacked the city.
On October 1, 1991 Dubrovnik was attacked by the JNA with a siege of Dubrovnik that lasted for seven months. The heaviest artillery attack happened on December 6 with 19 people killed and 60 wounded. Total casualties in the conflict according to the Croatian Red Cross were 114 killed civilians, among them the celebrated poet Milan Milisić. In May 1992 the Croatian Army liberated Dubrovnik and its surroundings, but the danger of JNA sudden attacks lasted for another three years.
Following the end of the war, the damage caused by shelling of the Old Town was repaired. Adhering to UNESCO guidelines, repairs were performed in the original style. As of 2005, most damage had been repaired. The inflicted damage can be seen on a chart near the city gate, showing all artillery hits during the siege. ICTY indictments were issued for the JNA generals and officers involved in the bombing.
General Pavle Strugar, who was coordinating the attack on the city, was sentenced to an eight year prison term by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for his role in the attack of the city.
See the Video of Attack on Dubrovnik, Croatia (a UNESCO World Heritage Site)
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Yahoo! Mail Now in Hindi
Yahoo! India has announced Yahoo! Mail in Hindi.
The new mail offers a complete Hindi interface with users getting an option to read and write email in Hindi. Yahoo! Mail in Hindi includes all information similar to the one in English, except that it offers a distinct local flavor.
John Kremer, vice president of Yahoo! Mail, said that the product and engineering teams in India have played a crucial role in this localization.
Yahoo! India has also announced a Web-based version of its instant messaging service, Yahoo! Messenger, named "Yahoo! Messenger for the Web" at http://in.webmessenger.yahoo.com.
"Yahoo! Messenger for the Web" does not require any downloads, and gives people the freedom to instant message from anywhere from an Internet-enabled computer.
And the big attraction is it allows users to chat in up to 9 Indian languages, including Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayali, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, and Gujarati. Users can also switch between languages seamlessly.
Globally, Yahoo! is today launching a new version of Yahoo! Messenger, i.e. Yahoo! Messenger 9.0.
Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 has a redesigned interface with new 'skin' background designs, and new emoticons for expressions like 'thumbs up', 'thumbs down', and 'rock on'.
Yahoo! Messenger 9.0 has more apparent communication features. With this version, users can forward offline IM's to mobile devices as also forward incoming phone calls to phone numbers. Videos can be sent from YouTube, Yahoo! Video, etc, and contacts can watch synchronized video through a sharing window. Similarly for photographs from Flickr or users' desktops.
A $100 Laptop; or is it?
$100 laptop no more!
Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop per Child Foundation (OLPC) has begun selling its famed $100 (XO) laptops for no less than $200 a piece.
The laptops are being made available in quantities of 10,000 and more via the OLPC Web site at: http://laptopfoundation.org/participate/givemany.shtml).
So far, the one constant in the journey of the $100 laptop has been the steady rise in prices: from the original $100 to the interim $150 to the recent $188.
What is surprising though is that the laptops being offered via the OLPC Web site are part of a donor program, wherein donors who purchase them will get to decide where they are to be sent, etc. So why are they priced so high?
Further, the XO laptops are slated to go into production in China next month, which is behind original schedule. Same with the quantities to be produced, which are way behind earlier projections.
And, the software required to run the laptops is not expected to be ready before December 7th. Which means customers have a long wait ahead before they can get their hands on the laptops.
The so-called $100 laptop comes with: a keyboard that switches languages, a video camera, wireless connectivity, an Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) microprocessor, and Linux software.
While the laptop uses Linux software, Microsoft is trying to make its Windows XP software work on the machine.
The laptop's display switches from color to Black and White for viewing in direct sunlight. The machine needs just 2 watts of power as compared to a typical laptop that needs up to 30 to 40 watts of power.
The laptop has no hard drive, and uses flash memory and four USB ports to add memory and other devices.
'Why The India Story Looks So Good'
The PM talked about the inevitability of reforms, benefits of liberalisation and globalisation and also about how 'India has never reneged on its international commitments'. No, he didn't bring in the nuke deal, but wonder if it would still make the Left see red
Prime Minister’s remarks at the Fortune Global Forum.
I am delighted to be here today in the presence of such an august gathering. You represent the best and brightest in global enterprise and creativity. I welcome you to a country which has itself embarked on a journey of enterprise and creativity. I hope you not only enjoy your stay here but also get a feel for the momentous changes that are taking place across the length and breadth of this vast nation. India is a nation on the move. The elephant, which has long been commented upon as being slow and sleepy, is not just wide awake but moving forward rapidly. So rapidly that it has become imperative for the global community to notice and acknowledge its emergence on the global stage as an economy that counts.
You are all distinguished and experienced CEOs of important global companies. I am sure you have done your homework on the quantitative dimensions of India’s resurgence. Your presence here in such numbers is an indication of the dynamism that exists in our country.
I would not like to go through the numbers. These are well known to you. However, it is undeniable that India is on a new growth trajectory. A trajectory where sustained economic growth of 9-10% per annum--growth rates which were considered impossible even five years ago--seems possible for many years to come. This acceleration of economic growth over the past two decades has been driven by rising investment and savings rates and by rising domestic consumption. I believe this can be sustained into the foreseeable future for two important reasons.
First, we have witnessed an unleashing of Indian enterprise in this past decade. Big corporates have gone global. Small and medium enterprises have become more competitive. A new generation of local enterprise has burst forth onto the business stage. These “children of reform”, who have benefited from our ongoing liberalisation and reform programme, are our vanguard to a new India--an India that is prosperous, equitable and just. At the same time, our growth process is based on a widening and deepening of our own domestic market. As the Indian market grows, it is creating new opportunities for businesses across the world.
Second, a demographic transition is underway in India. We are increasingly a country of young people. For many decades to come, India will be one of the important contributors to the available global workforce. However, to benefit from this greening of India, we need to invest in our people, in their education and skill building. This is an important part of our government’s development agenda. We have been able to ensure a massive increase in public funding of education, including vocational education. We hope to unleash a new revolution in modern education.
Simultaneously, we have increased public investment in agriculture, rural development and infrastructure. We are working to remove regional disparities in development; to improve the productivity of our agriculture; and, to increase employment opportunities outside agriculture. We have facilitated greater private sector participation in infrastructure through public-private partnerships. Our needs are immense. In the next five years, we need more than US$ 450 billion as investment in infrastructure alone. We see this coming from both domestic sources and from foreign investors.
Let me say with a sense of satisfaction that the numbers on economic growth are good. I compliment our economic management team consisting of the Finance Minister and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission for managing the economy so efficiently.
However, I must say that we can do even better. I believe that India must do better if it has to meet its developmental aspirations and equity goals. We have to ease up the bottlenecks constraining growth. We have ambitious plans to expand and modernise our infrastructure sectors such as roads, railways, civil aviation, sea ports, energy and telecommunications. We have to ensure that the growth process is socially inclusive and generates adequate employment. We cannot rest on what we have achieved so far. We need two more decades of sustained effort and work if we are to get rid of chronic poverty, ignorance and disease which have afflicted millions of our countrymen for centuries.
As India grows, it seeks a wider engagement with the outside world, as an open market and an open society. As a nation of young people, we view the world as a planet of opportunities. We are aware of the risks associated with globalization. However, we have the confidence to utilise the opportunities being created. I believe that is the mood in India today.
We do want to be more integrated with the global economy. This is the best way to expand our development possibilities. A prosperous, stable and democratic India is good for the world. At the same time, we seek a more equitable world order. India must regain its due and rightful place in the globalised world, taking on the obligations and responsibilities that come with it, and making use of the opportunities.
Let me say without hesitation that we are committed to the successful functioning of a rule based multilateral trading system. India remains committed to the successful conclusion of the Doha Round at an early date. We do hope that the round keeps in mind the development dimension and also addresses the concerns of millions of our subsistence farmers. Trade liberalisation has contributed immensely to our economic growth and to the growth of the world economy. Lowering trade barriers both at home and abroad has helped us. Our enterprises have become more globally competitive.
More importantly, new business activities have grown in response to global opportunities. The successes of our IT, automobile and pharmaceutical sectors is living testimony to the benefits that liberalisation and globalisation have brought us. Sometimes, we do worry that at a time when we are becoming more open, protectionist voices are being heard in developed economies. The lesson we must all draw from the experience of the past century is that no country can reverse the dynamics of social, economic and technological change. Rather we must learn to cope and adapt with change.
This is precisely why India chose to join the World Trade Organization. You will recognise the fact that we have adhered to all our Uruguay Round commitments. In fact, our firms have benefited from these commitments. While we remain committed to these obligations, we must also explore ways in which developing countries can catch up in the race to modernization.
We have affirmed our commitment to the protection of intellectual property rights. However, the global community cannot afford the complete privatisation of research, of knowledge generation, especially in fields like medicine. We need to evolve mechanisms that protect intellectual property and at the same time, address the needs of the poor. With the increasing privatisation of R&D in science and technology, modern societies require new approaches to the sharing of knowledge where such knowledge is of benefit to all humankind.
What the world needs today is a new concord between private enterprise and public welfare. How do we maintain the required incentive mechanisms that encourage private initiative and enterprise, while at the same time ensure that public welfare is enhanced? This dilemma poses itself most obviously in health care.
The policies we require to incentivise new R&D must be balanced against the need to ensure availability of affordable medicines.
There are similar trade-offs we need to reflect on when we consider the problem of climate change, global warming, ecological degradation and environment policies. The developing world will continue to see per capita consumption rising in the foreseeable future. This will exert pressure on global resources. How do we balance the aspirations of the world’s poor against our shared concern about the sustainability of the growth process?
Let me assure you that we in India are deeply and sincerely committed to the protection of our environment. The Indian approach to climate change and global warming derives from the ancient Hindu saying--vasudhaiva kutumbakam--“the universe is one family”
As I had said at the G8 Summit in Germany, India accepts its global responsibilities. We are willing to accept the obligation that our per capita emissions will never exceed the per capita emissions of developed countries. If developed countries succeed in reducing their per capita emissions, this would exert pressure on us as well.
Whether it is on trade policy or on climate change, or indeed on any international obligation, India has always worked with the global community. Moreover, India has never reneged on its international commitments. India has been a reliable partner, a responsible global citizen. India respects the rule of law. India is, therefore, a predictable partner. This is what makes India an attractive destination for investors like you.
I know very well that investment is an act of faith. It is shaped by perceptions, by expectations and by all the uncertainties of life. I invite you to have faith in India. I assure you that your faith will not be misplaced.
I do sincerely believe that the success of the Indian experiment--the experiment of a developing economy seeking its salvation within the framework of an open society and an open economy, committed to the protection of fundamental human rights and the rule of law, as a plural, secular democracy--has a global relevance. Its success has a global significance. India’s success and the success of this experiment can alter the course of history in the 21st century.
The record of the 21st century has been a mixed one as far as democracy is concerned. While people across the world have rejected fascism, authoritarianism and totalitarianism, the record of democratic societies in pulling people out of poverty has not been as convincing as we would have liked it. Let us show that this is indeed possible.
All those who invest in India, who invest in its future, who invest in India’s prosperity, who invest in the capabilities of the Indian people will be investing in the future of democracy.
The beauty of Indian democracy is its vitality; its ability to periodically rejuvenate itself; its ability to reform itself. We will continue to do so. Our systems may be slow, but they are steady. We will continue to reform our systems and our institutions, so that our economy becomes more efficient and our society more equitable.
I must draw your attention to the fact that the road to such reform over the past two decades has been a one-way street. Different political parties of different ideological hues have been in office over the past two decades. Yet, no policy reform has ever been reversed. The Indian economy, and its globalisation, has moved in only one direction--towards greater and greater freedom for individual creativity, initiative and enterprise. And towards increased integration with the world economy.
That is why the India Story looks so good.This was what we dreamt of in 1991. I doubt whether Fortune would have considered hosting such an event in India even a decade ago. The fact that you are all here today is proof of your faith in the abilities of our people. Be it FDI flows, investments in our stock markets, investments in our knowledge economy, the signals are all positive. We will work to keep these positive. I hope you will remain engaged and committed to India. I wish you well.
An Organ For A Dime
A Chennai doc's arrest shows the kidney trade continues to flourish in the city
Doctor Kingpin
* Conducted 471 kidney transplants in two Chennai hospitals in the last six years
* Charges Rs 15-Rs 20 lakh per operation. Is said to be worth Rs 100 crore. Owns three bungalows and three farmhouses in and around the city.
* Donors, most of them poor, gullible women, were lured by lakhs but paid only a few thousands
Chennai cops now admit that it is but a fraction of a well-organised racket involving a network of brokers, sub-brokers, and doctors, with gullible donors hoping to better their lot.
"They spoke so well," says a poor woman donor. "And they were doctors, after all. We trusted them."
Many believed the kidney racket flourished—and faded out—in Chennai in the '90s. Till the Mumbai Police arrested Dr Palani Ravichandran on October 16, and discovered that the trade was thriving. With his tally of 471 transplants in six years—most of them at Chennai's
Bharati Raja and St Thomas Mount hospitals—Ravichandran is believed to be the mastermind behind a racket which is worth several hundred crores.
Charging between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 25 lakh per surgery and paying donors only in the region of Rs 25,000-Rs 60,000, Dr Ravichandran's personal assets are worth Rs 100 crore. He reportedly owns three bungalows and three farmhouses in and around the city. Income tax raids at his residence in Mugalivakkam and clinic at St Thomas Mount yielded incriminating documents. The Mumbai crime branch has also seized documents that will throw light on the kidney transplants conducted by doctors at two Chennai hospitals.
Dr. Dread: Ravichandran, the brain behind the racket
The Mumbai police got wind of Ravichandran's antics after Jeetu Borkar, an unemployed youth from Chembur, suburban Mumbai, who donated a kidney, complained of being shortchanged. He was promised Rs 4 lakh but paid only Rs 25,000. The trail of investigation led the police to Dr Ravichandran, who was arrested along with four touts in the city. Investigations revealed that while the doctor was based in Chennai, he also facilitated and performed transplant surgeries in Mumbai.
Among the scores of women who parted with a kidney to buy a better life is Uma Devi, 26. Promised Rs 3 lakh by a broker and a "Dr" Ramesh of Arun Polyclinic in Vadapalani, she donated her kidney so her husband could have plastic surgery to fix the damage an acid attack caused to his face and chest nearly three years ago. But the doc reneged on the deal and she ended up with just Rs 63,000, a sari and a gold bracelet. She used the money to pay off her debts and later filed a police complaint saying she had been cheated.
Cheated is how every kidney donor (more women as there is always a risk of men having damaged their kidney due to drinking) is feeling, whether they parted with one of their organs a few years ago or in the recent past. It's also a reflection of how the law (the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1995, which makes donating your kidney for financial considerations or under pressure illegal) has been unable to stem the racket. In fact, the trade—and money to be earned thereof—has only grown in scale.
Uma Devi's case is quite instructive of the ingenious means the racketeers had devised to circumvent the law. Before she could offer herself as a donor, Uma was sent to Sri Lanka under an assumed identity—Govindamma—and a false Indian passport in April 2005. She returned a month later as Uma, on a Sri Lankan passport, and shown as a relative of Maheshwaran, a Lankan, who was undergoing dialysis at the Madras Medical Mission hospital. The idea was to show that Uma was her kidney recipient's relative in the medical report.
Unrelated kidney donors have to go through several screeings before they are cleared by the state government's organ authorisation committee.
Extreme circumstances compelled most donors to donate their kidneys, but all of them say they had no inkling that they would be conned. "They spoke to us so well," says Uma. "And they were doctors, after all. So, we trusted them." "I saw my neighbour go for blood and other tests," says Rajambal, another donor from Uma's neighbourhood. "She told me that a broker was going to give her money for her kidney. Since I had a daughter of marriageable age and no economic means to get her married, I decided to donate my kidney. I now feel I sold a part of my body rather cheaply."
The loot: Income tax men raid Ravichandran's Chennai house
How did things come to this pass? Scott Carney, a freelance journalist who has investigated the kidney racket in the state extensively, says a member of the TN Transplant Authorisation Committee had told him this: "We do everything in accordance with the letter of the law on paper, but we know that almost all of the documents we see are false. It is an open secret. It is either approve a transplant with forged documents, or a patient is going to die."
"The Directorate of Medical Services should investigate hospitals and the organ authorisation committee of the state health department," says superintendent of police K. Bhavaneswari of the Chennai crime branch. "We can book the accused only under sections of the ipc pertaining to forgery and cheating." The police have already sent a letter to the authorisation committee. "We have sent them a letter," says Abhay Shastri, senior inspector of the Mumbai crime branch who is investigating the case, "and are awaiting their reply. If they have given the permission, they will have some explaining to do."
Ravichandran apparently said he had "committed a mistake" during interrogation and that he was innocent. But Shastri refuses to believe this. "The entire nephrology department was under him," says he, "and he had hired an entire floor for the transplants." However, C. Natesan, managing director of the Bharathi Raja hospitals, has denied his hospital's involvement. "Dr Ravichandran," he says, "used to hire our operation theatre for surgeries and used to move his patients within a day or two. All consultations, tests and diagnoses were conducted at St Thomas Hospital with which he is associated."
But that, says eminent neurologist Dr G. Arjundas, "is like saying I rented out my house but I did not know bombs were being made in the kitchen. I am very, very angry. In our time, we let our work speak for us, but today some doctors think getting a BMW is what medicine is all about." The Hippocratic Oath? It went out with the 4th century BC.
Monday, October 29, 2007
In Modi’s best interests
On the face of it, the latest sting operation by Tehelka, also being telecast on TV, appears to expose those responsible for the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat in February 2002. But, in fact, to any perceptible mind, the telecast could be aimed at helping Narendra Modi, who is currently fighting a tough battle within the Sangh parivar. The sting has helped revive the communal agenda, which was so pronounced during the state assembly polls in December 2002. And if riots break out again in Gujarat, it will be difficult for both those who carried out the sting and those airing it to absolve themselves of the responsibility.
The continuous screening of past events, and that too on the eve of the Gujarat polls, neither serves any journalistic purpose, nor does it help preserve communal harmony. Even as the state is trying to recover, the sting has revived ugly memories of incidents that are, in any case, being probed by the Justice G.T. Nanavati Commission. The screening is bound to lead to a deepening of the communal divide, which may contribute to the improvement of Modi’s electoral prospects. The Gujarat CM must be amused by the fact that while he has consciously stuck to his development agenda, others are helping him out by bringing up an event that had helped the saffron brigade to retain power during the last polls.
While many may give Tehelka a clean chit for its latest exposé, the organisation has, inadvertently or deliberately, played into the hands of media spindoctors close to a section of the BJP, for whom Modi’s return to power is necessary to realise their own political ambitions. With the RSS having second thoughts on supporting Modi, many BJP leaders openly revolting against him and the VHP vowing not to help him, the Tehelka exposé has not only helped the CM, but also debunked organisations opposed to him at present by holding them responsible for the carnage.
One way of looking at the sting is that Modi is not being singularly blamed for the riots, since those opposed to him now are also shown accepting their guilt. Is this an attempt to unite the parivar? But the real question is why the Nanavati Commission is taking so long to reach its conclusions. The commission will find it difficult to ignore affidavits that were filed before the U.C. Banerjee Commission, appointed by the Railways Ministry to look into the Godhra train episode. The latter had concluded that there was no pre-planned attack on the kar sewaks travelling in the Sabarmati Express, and that the fire was, in all probability, an accident.
At present, a new direction is being given to the exposé. Some BJP leaders, part of the L.K. Advani coterie, are accusing the Congress of masterminding the exposé and have appealed to the Election Commission to ban its telecast. They seem keen to keep the issue alive. Gujarat has blacked out the particular channel screening the sting. The end result is that a desired controversy has been created and TRP ratings in the country are up. But on the ground level, polarisation may take place again.
It may be recalled that till the morning of the polling in Gujarat the last time, no one could say with certainty who would win. However, two prominent news channels had focused since that morning on Muslim areas where the turnout was large, juxtaposing the images with those of Modi commenting on Musharraf and his hate-based politics. There was a sudden change post-lunch and heavy voting followed in an already polarised society. The result was 127 seats to the BJP.
Even so, a careful analysis indicated that in as many as 28 seats, NCP candidates had polled more votes than the difference between the BJP and Congress candidates. In other words, if the NCP had been taken on board by the Congress, the result may have been different. But in politics, the winner takes all and Modi got the mandate of the people who, in three earlier polls before the Hindutva experiment was started in February 2002, had voted against the BJP. Thus, all secular forces must sink their differences to take on communal forces, as they did in the 2004 parliamentary polls.
This time, Modi has changed his tactics. While the CM is talking only of development, it’s his supporters who are raking up the Hindutva agenda aimed at polarising society. The timing also coincides with proposals being discussed by the RSS to bring about changes within the BJP. It is being speculated that the RSS may come out with a decision to curtail the powers of many BJP leaders. Indications of this came during RSS general secretary Mohan Bhagwat’s recent visit to Delhi, when he chose not to meet two top BJP leaders and later spoke to only one of them, Rajnath Singh. Things in Gujarat could also get murky for Modi when Uma Bharti visits the state early in November. The Congress, on its part, seems to be lost about its strategy, amidst unconfirmed reports of a prominent leader’s close understanding with Modi. In any case, admitting BJP rebels in the Congress will hurt the party. Its strategy should be to divide the BJP vote rather than include dissidents among its ranks. To counter Modi, who is popular in Gujarat, the Congress would do well to project a credible chief ministerial candidate.
The run-up to the Gujarat polls will witness many charges and counter-charges. But stings like the one being aired are only going to hurt the people, the state and the country. And no election is worth winning if it divides the people. Between us.
The continuous screening of past events, and that too on the eve of the Gujarat polls, neither serves any journalistic purpose, nor does it help preserve communal harmony. Even as the state is trying to recover, the sting has revived ugly memories of incidents that are, in any case, being probed by the Justice G.T. Nanavati Commission. The screening is bound to lead to a deepening of the communal divide, which may contribute to the improvement of Modi’s electoral prospects. The Gujarat CM must be amused by the fact that while he has consciously stuck to his development agenda, others are helping him out by bringing up an event that had helped the saffron brigade to retain power during the last polls.
While many may give Tehelka a clean chit for its latest exposé, the organisation has, inadvertently or deliberately, played into the hands of media spindoctors close to a section of the BJP, for whom Modi’s return to power is necessary to realise their own political ambitions. With the RSS having second thoughts on supporting Modi, many BJP leaders openly revolting against him and the VHP vowing not to help him, the Tehelka exposé has not only helped the CM, but also debunked organisations opposed to him at present by holding them responsible for the carnage.
One way of looking at the sting is that Modi is not being singularly blamed for the riots, since those opposed to him now are also shown accepting their guilt. Is this an attempt to unite the parivar? But the real question is why the Nanavati Commission is taking so long to reach its conclusions. The commission will find it difficult to ignore affidavits that were filed before the U.C. Banerjee Commission, appointed by the Railways Ministry to look into the Godhra train episode. The latter had concluded that there was no pre-planned attack on the kar sewaks travelling in the Sabarmati Express, and that the fire was, in all probability, an accident.
At present, a new direction is being given to the exposé. Some BJP leaders, part of the L.K. Advani coterie, are accusing the Congress of masterminding the exposé and have appealed to the Election Commission to ban its telecast. They seem keen to keep the issue alive. Gujarat has blacked out the particular channel screening the sting. The end result is that a desired controversy has been created and TRP ratings in the country are up. But on the ground level, polarisation may take place again.
It may be recalled that till the morning of the polling in Gujarat the last time, no one could say with certainty who would win. However, two prominent news channels had focused since that morning on Muslim areas where the turnout was large, juxtaposing the images with those of Modi commenting on Musharraf and his hate-based politics. There was a sudden change post-lunch and heavy voting followed in an already polarised society. The result was 127 seats to the BJP.
Even so, a careful analysis indicated that in as many as 28 seats, NCP candidates had polled more votes than the difference between the BJP and Congress candidates. In other words, if the NCP had been taken on board by the Congress, the result may have been different. But in politics, the winner takes all and Modi got the mandate of the people who, in three earlier polls before the Hindutva experiment was started in February 2002, had voted against the BJP. Thus, all secular forces must sink their differences to take on communal forces, as they did in the 2004 parliamentary polls.
This time, Modi has changed his tactics. While the CM is talking only of development, it’s his supporters who are raking up the Hindutva agenda aimed at polarising society. The timing also coincides with proposals being discussed by the RSS to bring about changes within the BJP. It is being speculated that the RSS may come out with a decision to curtail the powers of many BJP leaders. Indications of this came during RSS general secretary Mohan Bhagwat’s recent visit to Delhi, when he chose not to meet two top BJP leaders and later spoke to only one of them, Rajnath Singh. Things in Gujarat could also get murky for Modi when Uma Bharti visits the state early in November. The Congress, on its part, seems to be lost about its strategy, amidst unconfirmed reports of a prominent leader’s close understanding with Modi. In any case, admitting BJP rebels in the Congress will hurt the party. Its strategy should be to divide the BJP vote rather than include dissidents among its ranks. To counter Modi, who is popular in Gujarat, the Congress would do well to project a credible chief ministerial candidate.
The run-up to the Gujarat polls will witness many charges and counter-charges. But stings like the one being aired are only going to hurt the people, the state and the country. And no election is worth winning if it divides the people. Between us.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Eagle-Hotel California
Hotel california...lyrics
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night
There she stood in the doorway;
with the mission bell
And I was thinking to myself,
'This could be Heaven or this could be Hell'
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year, you can find it here
Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she
got the Mercedes Benz
She got a lot of pretty, pretty
boys, that she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
So I called up the Captain,
'Please bring me my wine'
He said, 'We haven't had that spirit
here since nineteen sixty nine'
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say...
Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
They're livin' it up at the Hotel California
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis
Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said 'We are all just
prisoners here, of our own device'
And in the master's chambers,
They gathered for the feast
They stab it with their steely knives,
But they just can't kill the beast
Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
'Relax,' said the night man,
We are programmed to receive.
You can checkout any time you like,
but you can never leave
Friday, October 19, 2007
‘Shining’ India Versus ‘Incredible’ India
WE MAY have to wait a few more weeks to be sure whether Mr Lalu Yadav and Mr Sharad Pawar will be able to check the US pressures and finally ward off an immediate mid-term poll. Until then the Congress will continue with its poll preparations. Fresh bouts of bonanza and concessions to different vote banks had begun six weeks back. A massive ‘Shining India’ style publicity package is the other ingredient of this campaign. Presentations have been impressive with charts and maps.
Initially, the strategic planners wanted to project the nuclear deal as a focal point and create a ‘development wave’. Even Mr Lalu Yadav had fell for the theme (‘those against the deal are against development’) and tried the ‘bijli for villages’ slogan in Bihar rallies. But the final blow came after Ms Sonia Gandhi’s Jhajjar rally. Even before this, the party’s tired campaign themes, mostly borrowed from Pramod Mahajan’s 2004 package, had failed to impress down-to-earth politicians like Mr Lalu Yadav and Mr Sharad Pawar. The NDA had realised at a heavy cost how ineffective has been the DAVP ad campaigns based on the listed achievements of the ministries.
True, the Congress can rightly boast of some of its social programmes like the NREP, Rural Health Mission, Bharat Nirman and the Right to Information Act. These were the ones looked down by the reformers as resource waste and populist profligacy. The reform lobby had resisted it when the common minimum programme was being discussed by the UPA parties. This has been the philosophy right from days of Dr Manmohan Singh as finance minister in 1991-96. The UPA had approved them on Left’s insistence and as part of Ms Sonia Gandhi’s aam aadmi concept. If some of these schemes suffered from mismanagement and outright corruption, the blame must go to the respective state governments, not the Centre.
This apart, there are striking similarities between the NDA’s old ‘Shining India’ package and UPA’s hastily crafted ‘Incredible India’ programme. The latter lays emphasis more on India’s enhanced status under the UPA government as an emerging power. Incidentally, both ‘Shining’ India and ‘Incredible’ India rely heavily on economic showpieces like GDP rise, holding price line, rising stock market index, stronger rupee, ever shooting foreign exchange reserve and services like software and BPO boom. They form the mainstay of DAVP’s proposed Rs 250 crore advertisement campaign.
Before going in for a closer look at the UPA package, it is necessary to highlight certain basic factors that had given an edge to the NDA. Mr Vajpayee decided to advance the elections by six months to take full advantage of what was then considered as a pro-NDA wave. The BJP had done impressively in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh. Hence Mahajan thought the party could make a sweep in all BJP strongholds. As against this, mid-term elections are now being forced on an unwilling and unprepared UPA. While the former moved ahead with great elation, the UPA lacks the minimum self-confidence.
Second, if the NDA had gone triumphantly as a ruling party with majority, the UPA approaches the voters as a defeated caretaker government. Third, the ‘Shining India’ package came at a time when the economy was really on ascent and it had impressed the upwardly mobile middle classes. Now the GDP has reached its own plateau. Software, BPO and call centres were then growing on their own steam, giving great hopes to the educated middle class. Attrition was not known to call centres’ enthusiastic entrants. Now most of these avenues are facing gradual descent, if not outright stagnation, for reasons beyond the government’s control.
It is unfair to blame the PM or finance minister for the UPA’s dismal report card on economic front. If the NDA had been a beneficiary of a favourable global trend in early years of the decade, the UPA government has fallen victim to globalisation’s own ruthless dictums. Once you accept it, willingly or unwillingly, you have to undergo the rigors. Hereafter, domestic economies can no longer escape from the global karma. Take the SEBI index. The government may claim credit for crossing 18K. But even Mr Chidambaram now cautions the retail investors against its predatory character. Every one knows the spurt was due to the free play by the FIIs and the invisible hedge funds. Since September, a whopping Rs 18,000 crore have been pumped in by the predatory capital. US Fed cut and effects of subprime muddle have made India a temporary grazing field. Thus the sovereign India has lost powers to regulate its own market.
Efforts to check the inflation provides another instance of the new challenges being forced on domestic economies by globalisation. RBI tried all conventional methods to reduce liquidity. The steep hike in interest rate had some effect on inflation but it evoked clamour from sectors like construction and auto. The latter is under a threat of demand recession due to costly car loans. Apparently, the unchecked liquidity was due to massive borrowings abroad at cheaper rates by Indian corporates to raise capital. Finally the RBI curbs on foreign borrowings had some effect. But it is now being dubbed as violating the globalization rules.
Even this had only a marginal effect on prices. But when the UPA leaders tell the voters the prices rise is only at 3-4 per cent, it will be a cruel joke on their aam aadmi. It is the consumer index – which is still in 8 per cent range – that reflects the common man’s burden. Ten days back the department of consumer affairs revealed that prices of essential household commodities had gone up by as much as 25 per cent this year. The rise was as high as 10.4 per cent, 31 per cent, 19 per cent, 11.8 per cent, 25 per cent and 155 per cent for rice, groundnut oil, mustard oil, milk, salt and onion respectively.
Weakening of the US dollar has introduced a far more deadly infection on domestic economy. Trade balance has widened. Exports sector reports massive retrenchment and closure. Since July, government provided sops worth Rs 3,000 crore to exporters. Last week it announced tax concessions worth Rs 1,500 crore. Despite this, Federation of Indian Export Organizations fears immediate lose of jobs to over 80 lakh workers. I-T firms, most of whom are poised to face further loss, have warned the government against withdrawing the tax cuts. They fear the foreign clients will move to Philippines and Mauritius. In 2004, NDA’s ‘feel-good’ package was more substantial in content and thus less assailable. Hence the charge against the ‘shining India’ was that it was elitist and it meant nothing for the aam aadmi. As against this, the UPA’s proposed fare is much more vulnerable to attack. Its only strong point is the CMP-sponsored rural programmes.
Initially, the strategic planners wanted to project the nuclear deal as a focal point and create a ‘development wave’. Even Mr Lalu Yadav had fell for the theme (‘those against the deal are against development’) and tried the ‘bijli for villages’ slogan in Bihar rallies. But the final blow came after Ms Sonia Gandhi’s Jhajjar rally. Even before this, the party’s tired campaign themes, mostly borrowed from Pramod Mahajan’s 2004 package, had failed to impress down-to-earth politicians like Mr Lalu Yadav and Mr Sharad Pawar. The NDA had realised at a heavy cost how ineffective has been the DAVP ad campaigns based on the listed achievements of the ministries.
True, the Congress can rightly boast of some of its social programmes like the NREP, Rural Health Mission, Bharat Nirman and the Right to Information Act. These were the ones looked down by the reformers as resource waste and populist profligacy. The reform lobby had resisted it when the common minimum programme was being discussed by the UPA parties. This has been the philosophy right from days of Dr Manmohan Singh as finance minister in 1991-96. The UPA had approved them on Left’s insistence and as part of Ms Sonia Gandhi’s aam aadmi concept. If some of these schemes suffered from mismanagement and outright corruption, the blame must go to the respective state governments, not the Centre.
This apart, there are striking similarities between the NDA’s old ‘Shining India’ package and UPA’s hastily crafted ‘Incredible India’ programme. The latter lays emphasis more on India’s enhanced status under the UPA government as an emerging power. Incidentally, both ‘Shining’ India and ‘Incredible’ India rely heavily on economic showpieces like GDP rise, holding price line, rising stock market index, stronger rupee, ever shooting foreign exchange reserve and services like software and BPO boom. They form the mainstay of DAVP’s proposed Rs 250 crore advertisement campaign.
Before going in for a closer look at the UPA package, it is necessary to highlight certain basic factors that had given an edge to the NDA. Mr Vajpayee decided to advance the elections by six months to take full advantage of what was then considered as a pro-NDA wave. The BJP had done impressively in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh. Hence Mahajan thought the party could make a sweep in all BJP strongholds. As against this, mid-term elections are now being forced on an unwilling and unprepared UPA. While the former moved ahead with great elation, the UPA lacks the minimum self-confidence.
Second, if the NDA had gone triumphantly as a ruling party with majority, the UPA approaches the voters as a defeated caretaker government. Third, the ‘Shining India’ package came at a time when the economy was really on ascent and it had impressed the upwardly mobile middle classes. Now the GDP has reached its own plateau. Software, BPO and call centres were then growing on their own steam, giving great hopes to the educated middle class. Attrition was not known to call centres’ enthusiastic entrants. Now most of these avenues are facing gradual descent, if not outright stagnation, for reasons beyond the government’s control.
It is unfair to blame the PM or finance minister for the UPA’s dismal report card on economic front. If the NDA had been a beneficiary of a favourable global trend in early years of the decade, the UPA government has fallen victim to globalisation’s own ruthless dictums. Once you accept it, willingly or unwillingly, you have to undergo the rigors. Hereafter, domestic economies can no longer escape from the global karma. Take the SEBI index. The government may claim credit for crossing 18K. But even Mr Chidambaram now cautions the retail investors against its predatory character. Every one knows the spurt was due to the free play by the FIIs and the invisible hedge funds. Since September, a whopping Rs 18,000 crore have been pumped in by the predatory capital. US Fed cut and effects of subprime muddle have made India a temporary grazing field. Thus the sovereign India has lost powers to regulate its own market.
Efforts to check the inflation provides another instance of the new challenges being forced on domestic economies by globalisation. RBI tried all conventional methods to reduce liquidity. The steep hike in interest rate had some effect on inflation but it evoked clamour from sectors like construction and auto. The latter is under a threat of demand recession due to costly car loans. Apparently, the unchecked liquidity was due to massive borrowings abroad at cheaper rates by Indian corporates to raise capital. Finally the RBI curbs on foreign borrowings had some effect. But it is now being dubbed as violating the globalization rules.
Even this had only a marginal effect on prices. But when the UPA leaders tell the voters the prices rise is only at 3-4 per cent, it will be a cruel joke on their aam aadmi. It is the consumer index – which is still in 8 per cent range – that reflects the common man’s burden. Ten days back the department of consumer affairs revealed that prices of essential household commodities had gone up by as much as 25 per cent this year. The rise was as high as 10.4 per cent, 31 per cent, 19 per cent, 11.8 per cent, 25 per cent and 155 per cent for rice, groundnut oil, mustard oil, milk, salt and onion respectively.
Weakening of the US dollar has introduced a far more deadly infection on domestic economy. Trade balance has widened. Exports sector reports massive retrenchment and closure. Since July, government provided sops worth Rs 3,000 crore to exporters. Last week it announced tax concessions worth Rs 1,500 crore. Despite this, Federation of Indian Export Organizations fears immediate lose of jobs to over 80 lakh workers. I-T firms, most of whom are poised to face further loss, have warned the government against withdrawing the tax cuts. They fear the foreign clients will move to Philippines and Mauritius. In 2004, NDA’s ‘feel-good’ package was more substantial in content and thus less assailable. Hence the charge against the ‘shining India’ was that it was elitist and it meant nothing for the aam aadmi. As against this, the UPA’s proposed fare is much more vulnerable to attack. Its only strong point is the CMP-sponsored rural programmes.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
India: The State of States
In its annual ‘State of the States’ survey, India Today magazine – the South Asian equivalent to Time, right down to its red window cover – put Bihar at the bottom among large states in eight categories ranging from economic output to electricity consumption. This hardly comes as a surprise as Bihar has earned an ‘F’ each year since rankings were first published five years ago.
Based on statistics from central government sources, about 37.5 percent of Bihar’s population lives below the poverty line, versus a national average of 27 percent. (This is defined as the availability of at least 2,400 calories per capita per day for rural areas, and 2,100 for urban areas.) Per capita income is just over $150, a pittance considering the national average is close to $500.
Like peeling an onion, it gets more painful with each layer: Barely 14 percent of households in the state have an electricity connection; the literacy rate stands at 46 percent and only 37 percent of children over 10 years old have completed primary education; and for every 1,000 children delivered as many as 60 die at birth, largely due to the absence of medical assistance.
In key developmental areas such as agriculture, health and governance, the state scored less than one on a scale of 10. That other states not long ago on par with Bihar have surged ahead on all fronts compounds its woes. With its fertile terrain, the Bihar nonetheless has an average yield per hectare of 1,535 kg compared to 3,943 for Punjab, with overall agriculture production dropping each year. Although water is never in short supply (as annual floods show), only 60 percent of arable land is irrigated.
The gloom is not absolute, however. Among other upshots, Bihar is the only state in India to have 50 percent of municipal bodies reserved for women. The innovative state property tax system is a model of efficiency that has been copied in Sri Lanka and as far as Africa and praised by the United Nations. State courts have also processed more criminals than courts in any other Indian state in the past two years, though this is not entirely laudable given the preponderance of criminality in Bihar.
The India Today survey furthermore reveals that Bihar posted the third best poverty drop at 12.94 percent, after Assam (21 percent) and Himachal Pradesh (18.8 percent). Additionally, overall access to and quality of health care posted a slight improvement.
At a conference prior to the release of the survey, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram claimed India would be able to remove “abject poverty” within 20 years -- if economic growth continued at its brisk clip, which clocked in at 9.4 percent last year. He also said it was a “myth” that states don’t have enough money to deal with pressing internal problems, presumably a veiled reference to Bihar and other flood-affected states that have vied with little success for millions in extra funds from the central government to speed recovery.
Click here for more information about India's Backdoor War.
Posted by Jason Motlagh on October 01, 2007 at 02:42 PM in Indi
Based on statistics from central government sources, about 37.5 percent of Bihar’s population lives below the poverty line, versus a national average of 27 percent. (This is defined as the availability of at least 2,400 calories per capita per day for rural areas, and 2,100 for urban areas.) Per capita income is just over $150, a pittance considering the national average is close to $500.
Like peeling an onion, it gets more painful with each layer: Barely 14 percent of households in the state have an electricity connection; the literacy rate stands at 46 percent and only 37 percent of children over 10 years old have completed primary education; and for every 1,000 children delivered as many as 60 die at birth, largely due to the absence of medical assistance.
In key developmental areas such as agriculture, health and governance, the state scored less than one on a scale of 10. That other states not long ago on par with Bihar have surged ahead on all fronts compounds its woes. With its fertile terrain, the Bihar nonetheless has an average yield per hectare of 1,535 kg compared to 3,943 for Punjab, with overall agriculture production dropping each year. Although water is never in short supply (as annual floods show), only 60 percent of arable land is irrigated.
The gloom is not absolute, however. Among other upshots, Bihar is the only state in India to have 50 percent of municipal bodies reserved for women. The innovative state property tax system is a model of efficiency that has been copied in Sri Lanka and as far as Africa and praised by the United Nations. State courts have also processed more criminals than courts in any other Indian state in the past two years, though this is not entirely laudable given the preponderance of criminality in Bihar.
The India Today survey furthermore reveals that Bihar posted the third best poverty drop at 12.94 percent, after Assam (21 percent) and Himachal Pradesh (18.8 percent). Additionally, overall access to and quality of health care posted a slight improvement.
At a conference prior to the release of the survey, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram claimed India would be able to remove “abject poverty” within 20 years -- if economic growth continued at its brisk clip, which clocked in at 9.4 percent last year. He also said it was a “myth” that states don’t have enough money to deal with pressing internal problems, presumably a veiled reference to Bihar and other flood-affected states that have vied with little success for millions in extra funds from the central government to speed recovery.
Click here for more information about India's Backdoor War.
Posted by Jason Motlagh on October 01, 2007 at 02:42 PM in Indi
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Bihar plans handloom park, offers subsidy on looms
The Government of Bihar has decided to provide 50 per cent subsidy on purchase of modern looms for quality production of textiles.
This is part of the state government’s plan for phased development of handloom and textile industry in Bihar.
The state government, according to The Times of India report, is also working on plans to set up an Rs 2 crore handloom park.
The state’s Industry Department release further stated that under the plan, the handloom clusters would be formed and they would have water-softening plants, dyeing chambers and ETP.
Besides, the state industry department plans to rejuvenate the processing plants and cooperative spinning mills, the release said adding that training institutions imparting skills in handloom and textile production would be upgraded in the first phase of the plan.
The state government has also proposed the creation of a raw material bank with a provision of 50 per cent grant for it. The proposal is aimed at ensuring continued operation of the handloom industry, and the government has decided to sanction a grant of Rs 5 lakh as initial working capital for the bank.
—iGovernment Bureau
This is part of the state government’s plan for phased development of handloom and textile industry in Bihar.
The state government, according to The Times of India report, is also working on plans to set up an Rs 2 crore handloom park.
The state’s Industry Department release further stated that under the plan, the handloom clusters would be formed and they would have water-softening plants, dyeing chambers and ETP.
Besides, the state industry department plans to rejuvenate the processing plants and cooperative spinning mills, the release said adding that training institutions imparting skills in handloom and textile production would be upgraded in the first phase of the plan.
The state government has also proposed the creation of a raw material bank with a provision of 50 per cent grant for it. The proposal is aimed at ensuring continued operation of the handloom industry, and the government has decided to sanction a grant of Rs 5 lakh as initial working capital for the bank.
—iGovernment Bureau
Bihar plans Rs 25 crore panchayat e-Gov project
The Government of Bihar has given its go ahead to implement an Rs 25.2 crore e-Governance project to cover all its 8,479 panchayats.
The proposal that was approved last week at a state cabinet meeting in Patna aims at setting up a panchayat information centres or panchayat portals called Vasudha Kendras that will enable villagers to connect with the outside world and provide affordable and easy access to information about the government and its policies.
These Vasudha Kendras would further be connected to all state departments through the Internet and the government will provide computers and Internet connections at the panchayat level centre. According to the plan, eight government departments, including the chief minister secretariat, will be linked to the State-wide Area Network (SWAN).
The project aims at establishing direct contact with villagers and making the functioning of the government more transparent.
According to reports, the project would be developed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) along with the Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation, a state-owned IT body, while Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) will monitor the implementation.
The state had provided top administrative officials and ministers with laptops as part of its e-Governance initiative only recently. Besides, it has also connected all its 38 district headquarters through video-conferencing link.
—iGovernment Bureau
The proposal that was approved last week at a state cabinet meeting in Patna aims at setting up a panchayat information centres or panchayat portals called Vasudha Kendras that will enable villagers to connect with the outside world and provide affordable and easy access to information about the government and its policies.
These Vasudha Kendras would further be connected to all state departments through the Internet and the government will provide computers and Internet connections at the panchayat level centre. According to the plan, eight government departments, including the chief minister secretariat, will be linked to the State-wide Area Network (SWAN).
The project aims at establishing direct contact with villagers and making the functioning of the government more transparent.
According to reports, the project would be developed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) along with the Bihar State Electronics Development Corporation, a state-owned IT body, while Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) will monitor the implementation.
The state had provided top administrative officials and ministers with laptops as part of its e-Governance initiative only recently. Besides, it has also connected all its 38 district headquarters through video-conferencing link.
—iGovernment Bureau
King of chess
After 14 days of hard work in Mexico City, chess maestro Viswanathan Anand is entitled to a certain satisfaction. He has been crowned world champion (and received the attached prize money, $390,000, or over Rs 1.5 crore). Across 121 years, only 17 men have won this title — of them, Anand is the only one born and bred outside Europe and the former USSR. In most of the 160-odd nations where this ancient game is played seriously, this achievement would confer automatic superstar status. Sadly, in his country of origin, where chess was invented, Anand’s achievement is overshadowed in the public consciousness by the performance of the national cricket team. In contrast to the cricketers, Anand won without fuss and bother. He entered Mexico as the top seed and duly dominated a field, which consisted of eight of the world’s best players, emerging the undefeated champion. Uniquely, the 37-year-old is the only one to have won the world title under two different formats, and he also holds the world rapid title.
To play tournament chess at any level requires natural talent, strong will, good nerves, physical fitness and the acquisition of a huge body of knowledge about the ways in which the pieces interact across the 64 squares. While the other qualities may be genetic, acquiring the theory requires hard work. The game is taught in schools across much of Western Europe and across all the former Soviet republics by top-class practitioners. It is an amazing act of self-pedagogy for somebody to consistently beat the best products off those assembly lines. It is roughly equivalent to learning a foreign language with enough fluency to write in it and win a Nobel.
Anand’s feats have inspired an entire generation of talented Indian players. The “Indian chess revolution”, if it may be so described, has produced a string of teenagers (Harikrishna, Humpy, Negi, Sachdeva) who compete and win at the highest levels. Sadly, most of this activity has taken place off the public radar and been driven by the efforts of a few dedicated souls.
Chess has many positive externalities. It helps practitioners learn the discipline and self-control required to calculate a mass of possibilities and make quick decisions against a ticking clock. It is a terrific training ground for visuo-spatial pattern recognition. Last but not least, some of the thorniest problems in mathematics and computer science revolve around the game and programming computers to play it well. Thus, it has obvious synergies with information technology and training — the fact that Anand is the NIIT brand ambassador is recognition of this.
It is a relatively inexpensive sport — the programmes and coaching expertise are not expensive to acquire. Hosting a tournament or a circuit of tournaments also costs less than in most major sports. And, online audiences for world titles and events like “Kasparov versus Deep Blue” run into the hundreds of millions. However, other sports where India possesses fewer achievers routinely attract many multiples more by way of sponsorship. The last time Anand won the world championships (2000), chess itself was in turmoil with split associations and rival claimants for the title. This time round, he is the undisputed champion of the world. His achievements have already inspired many young men and women to commit energies to this mind-sport. It would be wonderful if India Inc. took note and started putting a little money into the game.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Replicate Bihar Model of RTI mechanism- Suggested by Arvind Kejriwal to Delhi Govt.
Magassay award winner Arvind Kajriwal on Sunday urged the Delhi government to replicate the Bihar RTI model where applicants use helpline services, saying it would simplify the procedure of filing the applications.
"We will have to simplify the process of filing the RTI applications. The applicant does not know how to draft an RTI application," he said at a seminar on Right To Information Act organised by YMCA here.
In each department under Delhi government, there are several Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs) whose job is to forward the application to the Public Information Officer (PIO). Every APIO's would deal with specific problem separately.
"But the applicant does not know in whose name the application would be addressed," he said.
He hailed the Bihar model which allows the applicants to use helpline number for seeking information.
"Replicate the model of Bihar, in which instead of writing an application for seeking information, all one has to do is to dial a helpline number. A Rs 10 RTI application fee will be added to the telephone call charge," he said.
"We will have to simplify the process of filing the RTI applications. The applicant does not know how to draft an RTI application," he said at a seminar on Right To Information Act organised by YMCA here.
In each department under Delhi government, there are several Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs) whose job is to forward the application to the Public Information Officer (PIO). Every APIO's would deal with specific problem separately.
"But the applicant does not know in whose name the application would be addressed," he said.
He hailed the Bihar model which allows the applicants to use helpline number for seeking information.
"Replicate the model of Bihar, in which instead of writing an application for seeking information, all one has to do is to dial a helpline number. A Rs 10 RTI application fee will be added to the telephone call charge," he said.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Maulana Mazharul Haque- A Bihari Freedom Fighter
Maulana Mazharul Haque was born to a rich landlord, Sheikh Ahmedullah, in Bihar in December 1866. An only son, he had two sisters Ghafrunisha and Kaneez Fatma.
His primary education was delivered at home by a Maulvi, but he passed his matriculation from the Patna Collegiate in 1886. He then traveled to Lucknow for higher studies, where he was admitted to Cannig College. However, it is said that he found it difficult to adjust to circumstances and instead, chose to leave for England the same year to pursue a course in law. He returned to India qualified in law in 1891 and set up a legal practice in Patna. He even joined the judicial service as a Munsif, on the advice of a foreign friend. It is perhaps not surprising though, that he soon developed differences with the District & Sessions Judge and had to resign. Subsequently, he started a practice at Chapra.
He is said to have made a significant contribution to relief efforts launched during the famine in Saran district of Bihar in 1897. But Maulana Mazharul Haque's public life actually commenced with the creation of the Bihar Provincial Conference, a move he supported as he believed in the need for the constitution of Bihar as a separate province.
In 1906, he moved to Patna to continue to practice law. It was also in 1906 that Maulana Mazharul Haque was elected Vice Chairman of Bihar Congress Committee.
Mazharul Haque helped organize the Home Rule Movement in Bihar and was its President in 1916. He actively participated in the Champaran Satyagraha for which he was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment.
Subsequently, when the Non Cooperation and Khilafat Movements were launched, Mazharul Haque gave up his lucrative legal practice and his elected post as member of the Imperial Legislative Council and turned all his efforts to the freedom struggle. By now, he was a firm believer in complete Independence being "the birthright of every Nation"�.
Mazharul Haque was also a fervent believer in democratic decentralization and he organized the Panchayats in Saran district towards meeting this vision. He also made many requests for better educational facilities in Bihar, especially for free and compulsory primary education.
Maulana Mazharul Haque is known to have stayed with his maternal uncle Dr. Saiyyad Mahmood in Siwan during the anti-purdah movement launched in Bihar in response to the Non Cooperation Movement of 1920. Mahatma Gandhi sought to bring women also into mainstream politics, to strengthen the resistance against British rule as well as empower them to play a more active role in society. Literally, purdah means "veil" and the system involves women being confined indoors or wearing a protective veil whenever they venture outdoors. The purdah system espoused by Muslim and many Hindu families, especially in Bihar, meant that women remained behind men in all spheres of life. Around this time, he was approached by students of the Patna University desiring to support Gandhi's call to boycott Government run institutions. The Bihar Vidyapeeth, then headquartered at an ashram he constructed on the Patna-Danapur road thus came into being. The ashram became well known as the Sadaquat Ashram, it now serves as the headquarters of the Congress party in Patna, the capital of the state of Bihar.
An avid writer and poet, in 1921, he started "The Motherland" an English weekly journal (later bi-weekly) which was used to propagate thoughts and ideals of the Non Cooperation Movement.
While Maulana Mazharul Haque's birthplace was village Brahmpur, Thana Maner of Patna district, by 1900 his affinity to village Faridpur of district Siwan (then Saran district) where his family held a lot of land was well established. Here he constructed a home and named it "Ashiana". Ashiana was visited by a number of India's leaders of the times, such as Pandit Motilal Nehru in 1927, Sarojini Devi in 1928 and afterwards over the years Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, K.F. Nariman and Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad.
Mazharul Haque retired from politics during the last years of his life. He died in his home, "Ashiana" in January 1930.
In remembrance of this worthy freedom fighter and educationalist, in April 1988, the Maulana Mazharul Haque Arabic and Persian University was founded at Patna.
His primary education was delivered at home by a Maulvi, but he passed his matriculation from the Patna Collegiate in 1886. He then traveled to Lucknow for higher studies, where he was admitted to Cannig College. However, it is said that he found it difficult to adjust to circumstances and instead, chose to leave for England the same year to pursue a course in law. He returned to India qualified in law in 1891 and set up a legal practice in Patna. He even joined the judicial service as a Munsif, on the advice of a foreign friend. It is perhaps not surprising though, that he soon developed differences with the District & Sessions Judge and had to resign. Subsequently, he started a practice at Chapra.
He is said to have made a significant contribution to relief efforts launched during the famine in Saran district of Bihar in 1897. But Maulana Mazharul Haque's public life actually commenced with the creation of the Bihar Provincial Conference, a move he supported as he believed in the need for the constitution of Bihar as a separate province.
In 1906, he moved to Patna to continue to practice law. It was also in 1906 that Maulana Mazharul Haque was elected Vice Chairman of Bihar Congress Committee.
Mazharul Haque helped organize the Home Rule Movement in Bihar and was its President in 1916. He actively participated in the Champaran Satyagraha for which he was sentenced to 3 months imprisonment.
Subsequently, when the Non Cooperation and Khilafat Movements were launched, Mazharul Haque gave up his lucrative legal practice and his elected post as member of the Imperial Legislative Council and turned all his efforts to the freedom struggle. By now, he was a firm believer in complete Independence being "the birthright of every Nation"�.
Mazharul Haque was also a fervent believer in democratic decentralization and he organized the Panchayats in Saran district towards meeting this vision. He also made many requests for better educational facilities in Bihar, especially for free and compulsory primary education.
Maulana Mazharul Haque is known to have stayed with his maternal uncle Dr. Saiyyad Mahmood in Siwan during the anti-purdah movement launched in Bihar in response to the Non Cooperation Movement of 1920. Mahatma Gandhi sought to bring women also into mainstream politics, to strengthen the resistance against British rule as well as empower them to play a more active role in society. Literally, purdah means "veil" and the system involves women being confined indoors or wearing a protective veil whenever they venture outdoors. The purdah system espoused by Muslim and many Hindu families, especially in Bihar, meant that women remained behind men in all spheres of life. Around this time, he was approached by students of the Patna University desiring to support Gandhi's call to boycott Government run institutions. The Bihar Vidyapeeth, then headquartered at an ashram he constructed on the Patna-Danapur road thus came into being. The ashram became well known as the Sadaquat Ashram, it now serves as the headquarters of the Congress party in Patna, the capital of the state of Bihar.
An avid writer and poet, in 1921, he started "The Motherland" an English weekly journal (later bi-weekly) which was used to propagate thoughts and ideals of the Non Cooperation Movement.
While Maulana Mazharul Haque's birthplace was village Brahmpur, Thana Maner of Patna district, by 1900 his affinity to village Faridpur of district Siwan (then Saran district) where his family held a lot of land was well established. Here he constructed a home and named it "Ashiana". Ashiana was visited by a number of India's leaders of the times, such as Pandit Motilal Nehru in 1927, Sarojini Devi in 1928 and afterwards over the years Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, K.F. Nariman and Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad.
Mazharul Haque retired from politics during the last years of his life. He died in his home, "Ashiana" in January 1930.
In remembrance of this worthy freedom fighter and educationalist, in April 1988, the Maulana Mazharul Haque Arabic and Persian University was founded at Patna.
Prestige Omgega- An Innovative Advertising
Its a common consumer grouse that handle is the first thing to come apart in any cookware.To address this problem TTK came out with Omega series of Non Stick cooking pan with stronger handle.
To communicate this, an Innovative hoarding was put up in Bangaluru. What made this idea powerful was the fact that the hoarding carrying a giant Non-Stick fry pan rested on the handle.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Patna High Court does Bihar proud
This might come as a pleasant surprise. Bihar, which has one of the highest crime rates in India, can boast of a high court with relatively one of the fewest number of pending cases - 97,354. This is in sharp contrast to many other states where the backlog in the high courts runs into hundreds of thousands.
According to latest official statistics from various high courts at the end of March this year, the figure of 97,354 for the Patna High Court compares very favourably with those at the high courts of Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.
While the Allahabad High Court tops the list of courts with a high backlog - at 815,602 cases, the Orissa High Court has 224,382 cases.
Three other high courts - in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh - have 209,095, 188,796 and 148,512 cases respectively pending with them.
What's worse, other economically well off states too have a surfeit of cases at their high courts.
For example, the Madras High Court and the Bombay High Court respectively occupy the second and third positions in the list of high courts with a huge build-up of cases awaiting adjudication. The Madras High Court has 418,110 cases pending with it, while the backlog of cases at Bombay High Court stands at 366,495.
The high courts of West Bengal, Punjab and Haryana, and Gujarat had 272,643, 244,875, and 112,045 cases pending with them respectively at the end of March this year.
What's surprising is that the Patna High Court has been able to keep the backlog of cases low despite having a massive vacancy - 32.5 percent - of judges. Against a sanctioned strength of 43 judges, it has just 29 judges.
In contrast, the Allahabad High Court has merely 19 percent judicial vacancy, having 77 judges against a sanctioned strength of 95 judges. Only the Orissa as well as Punjab and Haryana high courts have judicial vacancies higher than that of the Patna High Court.
The Orissa High Court, which tops the list of courts with 36 percent of judicial vacancy, has only 14 judges against a sanctioned strength of 22. The vacancy at the Punjab and Haryana High Court is to the tune of 34 percent (35 judges working against a sanctioned strength of 53).
The vacancy of judges in other high courts is in the range of 20 percent with Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan having 20 percent vacancy each, Gujarat 26 percent, Bombay 17 percent and Madras 10 percent.
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