Sunday, September 18, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
RIOT
The chief ministers pointed to its anti-federal tilt (law and order is a state subject and this bill proposes a Central panel to monitor matters of group violence)
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and its “dangerous” assumptions about minority victimhood.
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Conditioned by the memory of the Gujarat riots, the bill tries to impose accountability on public officials, in the police and adminstrative machinery. The bill recognises the special vulnerability of minorities (defined as religious or linguistic minorities or SC/STs),
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and
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intends to make sure that the state cannot be coopted by majority interests — but it does this by exerting all its force on civil servants, and reposing its faith in a set of benevolent guardians — a National Authority for Communal Harmony, Justice and Reparation composed of people who represent a range of religious and linguistic minorities, and have displayed “clear moral character”.
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The bill also assumes that religious tensions will tend to express themselves through violent riots — rather than, as is more, likely, through subtle forms of discimination or through acts of planned terrorism, which it does not address
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Creating a special riots bureaucracy could end up reifying the problem, one that might actually be waning over time. Instead of recognising what makes incidents of premeditated group violence special (and what is unaddressed by the array of laws in the CrPC), this bill looks for solutions in the official apparatus.
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and its “dangerous” assumptions about minority victimhood.
.
Conditioned by the memory of the Gujarat riots, the bill tries to impose accountability on public officials, in the police and adminstrative machinery. The bill recognises the special vulnerability of minorities (defined as religious or linguistic minorities or SC/STs),
.
and
.
intends to make sure that the state cannot be coopted by majority interests — but it does this by exerting all its force on civil servants, and reposing its faith in a set of benevolent guardians — a National Authority for Communal Harmony, Justice and Reparation composed of people who represent a range of religious and linguistic minorities, and have displayed “clear moral character”.
.
The bill also assumes that religious tensions will tend to express themselves through violent riots — rather than, as is more, likely, through subtle forms of discimination or through acts of planned terrorism, which it does not address
.
Creating a special riots bureaucracy could end up reifying the problem, one that might actually be waning over time. Instead of recognising what makes incidents of premeditated group violence special (and what is unaddressed by the array of laws in the CrPC), this bill looks for solutions in the official apparatus.
Malaysia-INDIA
The clinching of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) with Malaysia would help and encourage India seal similar economic pacts with Indonesia and Thailand, two other powerhouses of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), they added.
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“The CEPA with Japan and the CECA with Malaysia is clearly a very positive push to enhance India's engagement with this vibrant region — the East Asian Community,” noted Secretary (East) in the Foreign Office Latha Reddy.
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Last August, India signalled its intention for political and economic alignment with the Asean by inking a Free Trade Agreement in Goods. Weeks earlier, it signed a CEPA with South Korea, which, however, is not an Asean country.
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The pact with Malaysia goes well beyond the India-Asean FTA in goods. India's successful negotiation of across-the-board access in services and movement of natural persons will ensure easy access for our professionals. India will also soon get access for its two-wheelers, textiles, cotton fabrics, trucks, fruits, eggs and Basmati rice.
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Other initiatives
Officials explain that India is proceeding with other Asean countries through other initiatives. It is integrating Myanmar, the least developed in the grouping, by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation by giving it a special status. Laos and Cambodia are being engaged through the Mekong Ganga Initiative. That leaves just the Philippines and the oil-rich Brunei.
“The pattern of India's engagements with the Asean and its extended neighbourhood will help in taking us closer to the Prime Minister's objective of an Asian economic community,” said Mr. Sharma.
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“The CEPA with Japan and the CECA with Malaysia is clearly a very positive push to enhance India's engagement with this vibrant region — the East Asian Community,” noted Secretary (East) in the Foreign Office Latha Reddy.
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Last August, India signalled its intention for political and economic alignment with the Asean by inking a Free Trade Agreement in Goods. Weeks earlier, it signed a CEPA with South Korea, which, however, is not an Asean country.
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The pact with Malaysia goes well beyond the India-Asean FTA in goods. India's successful negotiation of across-the-board access in services and movement of natural persons will ensure easy access for our professionals. India will also soon get access for its two-wheelers, textiles, cotton fabrics, trucks, fruits, eggs and Basmati rice.
.
Other initiatives
Officials explain that India is proceeding with other Asean countries through other initiatives. It is integrating Myanmar, the least developed in the grouping, by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation by giving it a special status. Laos and Cambodia are being engaged through the Mekong Ganga Initiative. That leaves just the Philippines and the oil-rich Brunei.
“The pattern of India's engagements with the Asean and its extended neighbourhood will help in taking us closer to the Prime Minister's objective of an Asian economic community,” said Mr. Sharma.
Japan-India
India and Japan on Monday decided to extend their cooperation to areas such as joint ventures in rare earth minerals, some hitherto unexplored areas in defence, and transport and industrial corridors in south India.
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These will build on a recently finalised economic pact, more intimate security ties, two mega infrastructure projects in north-western India and ongoing talks on a nuclear agreement.
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Naoto Kan, during restricted and delegation-level talks, resolved to continue the talks on a civil nuclear agreement. They instructed officials to ensure the smooth implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and accelerate discussions on the reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), to which both countries are aspirants as permanent members.
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Both India and Japan would move towards long-term cooperation — including the implementation of joint ventures in rare earth minerals — and denied that this was directed against a third country (China recently halted the export of rare earth minerals to Japan)
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These will build on a recently finalised economic pact, more intimate security ties, two mega infrastructure projects in north-western India and ongoing talks on a nuclear agreement.
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Naoto Kan, during restricted and delegation-level talks, resolved to continue the talks on a civil nuclear agreement. They instructed officials to ensure the smooth implementation of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and accelerate discussions on the reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), to which both countries are aspirants as permanent members.
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Both India and Japan would move towards long-term cooperation — including the implementation of joint ventures in rare earth minerals — and denied that this was directed against a third country (China recently halted the export of rare earth minerals to Japan)
BRICS
"Viewed from the realist prism, the BRICS forum is no more than a sack of potatoes, formless and without a specific strategic orientation. As a group, BRICS have little political coherence."
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"All the forum’s members want to build a special relationship with the United States, and wish to use the forum as a leverage to expand their political space with Washington. That is part of political jockeying in a multipolar world. "
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As the US offers to reset relations with Russia, flirts with the notion of a “G-2” with China, and seeks to develop new partnerships with rising powers like India, Brazil and South Africa, there is little incentive for any one of these to build a solid anti-US block. That India has chosen to announce a new trilateral strategic dialogue with the US and Japan days before the Hainan summit of the BRICS suggests the limits of anti-Westernism as a glue binding the BRICS.
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These contradictions do not mean that India should not take the opportunity to expand political and economic engagement with the major economies represented at the forum.
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What Delhi needs to avoid is a political romanticisation of BRICS, which is only one of the many plurilateral organisations that India participates in.
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"All the forum’s members want to build a special relationship with the United States, and wish to use the forum as a leverage to expand their political space with Washington. That is part of political jockeying in a multipolar world. "
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As the US offers to reset relations with Russia, flirts with the notion of a “G-2” with China, and seeks to develop new partnerships with rising powers like India, Brazil and South Africa, there is little incentive for any one of these to build a solid anti-US block. That India has chosen to announce a new trilateral strategic dialogue with the US and Japan days before the Hainan summit of the BRICS suggests the limits of anti-Westernism as a glue binding the BRICS.
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These contradictions do not mean that India should not take the opportunity to expand political and economic engagement with the major economies represented at the forum.
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What Delhi needs to avoid is a political romanticisation of BRICS, which is only one of the many plurilateral organisations that India participates in.
2 Markers
The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) inscribes three Indian performing-art forms,
the Mudiyettu, a ritual theatre of Kerala;
the Chhau dance, a tradition from eastern India;
and the Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan
in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Lukoskin, a herbal product for Leucoderma developed by DRDO.
Leucoderma or vitiligo is an idiopathic acquired disorder of skin. Patients with vitiligo develop white spots in the skin with varying size and location.
the Mudiyettu, a ritual theatre of Kerala;
the Chhau dance, a tradition from eastern India;
and the Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan
in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Lukoskin, a herbal product for Leucoderma developed by DRDO.
Leucoderma or vitiligo is an idiopathic acquired disorder of skin. Patients with vitiligo develop white spots in the skin with varying size and location.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Surrogacy
SOCIAL ISSUES
Wombs for rent
Wombs for rent
| The absence of a law regulating surrogacy makes India, especially Anand, a top destination for couples from abroad. |
Sharadaben Solanki in front of the house she built with the money she got for surrogate motherhood.
UNTIL about 2008, the future looked bleak for Sharadaben Solanki. A landless daily-wage worker in Anand, Gujarat, she earned a paltry Rs.600 a month. Her husband earned an equal amount working as a construction labourer. Together the couple supported three children and their parents.
That was when she heard from Maganbhai, the owner of the village shop, that a “ladies'” clinic in Anand paid women well if they would bear a child for a childless couple.
Sharadaben, 32, met all the criteria. It was radical, she realised, but extremely doable. So she signed up to become a surrogate mother. Nine months later, after delivering a healthy baby girl for a Canadian couple, a delighted Sharadaben had Rs.4 lakh in her bank account.
“I would never have made this kind of money even if I worked 24 hours every day for the rest of my life,” says Sharadaben. “I built a house, bought three acres of land, two cows and two buffaloes in my village, Waghpura, near Anand. I don't have to worry now.”
Her investments earn her up to Rs.500 a day. A substantial part of her income comes from selling the milk her cows produce. Sharadaben is among the first of the 300 surrogate mothers from Anand. This small town, famous for its milk cooperative Amul Dairy, is known to have produced more surrogate babies than any other place in the country. Couples from across the world flock to Anand in search of surrogates.
Arguably, there are rights and wrongs to surrogate pregnancies. Carrying someone else's child in the womb for economic reasons is certainly an unusual form of livelihood. Yet, the benefits for both parties seem boundless.
The absence of a specific law regulating surrogacy in India makes it a favourite destination for prospective parents from abroad, particularly couples from the United States and the United Kingdom, where it is prohibitively expensive, says Hari Ramasubramanium, a lawyer with Indiansurrogacy.com. “Certainly, stringent legislation is the need of the hour to avoid exploitation and abuse,” he says.
Official estimates on the number of surrogate pregnancies in India are not available. SAMA, a women's health organisation, says the assisted reproductive technology (ART) industry in India, which includes surrogacy, is estimated at Rs.25,000 crore. Surrogacy in the U.S. costs upwards of $100,000 in addition to the cost of the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedure, whereas in India it costs $23,000 to $25,000 as a package.
“Technically there is no law [to regulate surrogacy in India], and secondly it is just one-fourth the cost. That is what makes India an attraction for surrogate pregnancies,” says Preeti Nayak, a health worker with SAMA. “Not only do we need a proper regulatory framework for surrogacy, we also need to look closely at the health aspect as well.”
The government is in the process of making a law to regulate surrogacy. Doctors and health activists, however, have little faith in The Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill, which is expected to be tabled in Parliament this year. They believe that unless some key issues regarding surrogacy are addressed, this could spiral into a massive racket.
“Currently they are playing with fire,” says a gynaecologist in Mumbai. “I used to have maybe one case a month. Now it is at least one case a week. This has to be regulated and stricter norms must be in place.”
Nonetheless, to many women in Anand, surrogacy has come as a boon. Especially for women like Sharadaben who lived a life of misery and abject poverty, it has been life-changing.
A DORMITORY AT Surrogate House. It is compulsory for every surrogate mother to spend the entire duration of her pregnancy here.
ANAND BABIES
Frontline spoke to several surrogate mothers and parents in Anand. Childless couples are beside themselves with joy when they hold their biological children in their arms. The surrogate mothers are usually very content with the monetary remuneration they get for the service: most of the women Frontline interviewed said they did it to buy a house, educate their children, or both.
“If there is a way to make your situation better, why not do it?” says Sharadaben. “I needed the money desperately and look at my life now – it is only because of surrogacy.”
Dr Nayana Patel, a gynaecologist who runs the Kaival Clinic and Akanksha Infertility Clinic in Anand, says the positives far outweigh the negatives. “It needs to be done correctly with emphasis on the medical treatment and in a transparent manner,” she says. Anand's trailblazer status in surrogacy owes it to the efforts of Dr Nayana Patel and her husband, Dr Hitesh Patel. Dr Nayana has delivered 381 surrogate babies since 2005. She says on an average 10 couples consult her every week. They come from the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Canada, Israel and Singapore.
Dr Nayana says she is particular about who qualifies as a surrogate and which couple can opt for surrogacy. “If a couple comes to me and says they are too busy to go through with a pregnancy as their careers are more important, I reject them immediately,” she says.
Further, the couple needs to have a genuine medical condition that leaves only surrogacy or adoption as an option to have a child. For instance, in one case the woman had a kidney transplant. She was fertile but was not allowed to carry a child in her womb. Another woman had a hostile womb. These are severe medical instances which qualify for surrogacy, says Dr Nayana.
“Single parents are not entertained as I am not certain about the upbringing of the child in such cases. The child's life is extremely important to us. Therefore, we have several counselling sessions, tests and interviews before we accept a request for surrogacy,” says Dr Nayana. She categorically states that no one can just walk into her clinic and ask for a surrogate on payment. Middlemen or agents are simply cut out.
To become a surrogate is not that simple. Dr Nayana takes volunteers only from Anand district. The women need to be between 25 and 40. They should be married with at least one child, and their immediate families – husbands, parents, and in-laws – need to approve of it before she signs up for surrogacy.
More importantly, the woman has to be medically fit to carry a child. Since the IVF procedure is followed, a battery of tests has to be conducted. Additionally, every legal angle is explored and documents signed before the implantation.
Dr Nayana started her surrogacy programme in 2005 following a successful case where a woman bore her daughter's child. “I thought this could make so many people happy if it worked well. I am very particular about the surrogate mothers. I take personal interest in every matter. They are special and I want to deliver every baby myself,” says the doctor.
Most deliveries are through Caesarean section. The date is planned so that parents can be present at the time of the delivery. While this reporter was in Anand, a baby had to be delivered before the parents reached from London.
DR NAYANA PATEL, who runs Kaival Clinic and Akanksha Infertility Clinic in Anand. She has delivered 381 surrogate babies since 2005.
SURROGATE HOUSE
In a well-to-do neighbourhood off Anand's main road is Surrogate House. Dr Nayana says it is compulsory for every surrogate mother to spend the entire duration of her pregnancy here. “We cannot take any chances when life and money are involved,” she says. “This way we administer and ensure the right nutrition and environment.”
Several rooms with rows of beds have pregnant women resting in them. The women are used to being interviewed by the media as Dr Nayana's surrogacy programme has gained global fame. Some do not mind their names being revealed or photographs published, but some others are wary of a relative seeing it and the word spreading in the village or the community.
“It is a difficult thing for people to accept. In fact, until I convinced my mother she thought it was a form of adultery,” says 33-year-old Manisha Patel, who is carrying twin babies for an Indian couple based in the U.S.
“I need to build a house and make my children finish school. My husband is a welder whose job hardly fetches a few thousand rupees a month,” she says. “I used to work in a hospital, so my family has told the other villagers that I have gone for a training course.”
She says the hardest part is living away from her children and family. The rules allow the immediate family of the woman to come on Sundays and spend the day with her. But spouses, children and parents are not turned away if they want to drop in during the week.
Manisha is lucky, say her companions sitting beside her. Her “party” calls almost every day and asks about her well-being and that of the baby. “They are very kind people and I feel happy that I am doing something like this. I will benefit and so will they,” says Manisha. The couple are even willing to pay for a baby shower next month.
“I only met my party once when they came for the procedure. They are not interested in knowing the surrogate,” says Lalita Parmar. “But the counsellors keep speaking to us about these things and we are okay. Each person has a different experience,” she says. Lalita is a mother of two from Petlad near Anand. She was so keen to earn the money that she went through the procedure five times before the implantation worked.
There are 70 pregnant women at Surrogate House. Supervisor and nurse Jagruti Patel says the number has increased manyfold in the past two years.
Pointing to a woman who is sleeping, she says, “That woman was widowed two years ago. She works as a housemaid. She could hardly look after her one-year-old daughter. Now she will be able to build a house.”
Most of the women are from neighbouring villages and come after hearing about Dr Nayana through some relative who may already have undergone the procedure. Each one has a genuine reason for coming, says Jagruti. They also seem to have an unsaid respect for one another's privacy. This ensures that no one tells people in the community about being a surrogate.
Spending nine months confined to one house is definitely trying. The clinic has set up tailoring, computer and beautician classes on its premises. Dr Nayana says this keeps them occupied, and helps them learn a skill they can put to good use later.
The first thing Papiya Prakash plans to do when she gets her money is to buy her husband an autorickshaw. “He has been renting one for seven years. He hardly has any money left after he has paid the owner. We really struggle as we have no land either. I miss being with my daughter, but I tell myself that I am doing this for her,” says Papiya.
Tejal Gohel has been a surrogate twice. “When I was pregnant with the first child, I wondered whether it would be difficult to give up the child. The doctors kept telling me that I must not believe this is my child. That made it easier to give it up when the time came,” she says. “And it was not so emotional once I saw the joy on the parents' face. I thought I had two children. Everyone has a right to have a child.” The second time around, says Tejal, it was easy.
“I had heard that some surrogates got very attached to the babies they carried and was quite anxious, but Vimlaben understood my need and was so gracious,” says Jyothi Ranade, who recently had a baby via a surrogate in Anand.
BABIES BORN VIA surrogacy at an intensive care unit in Anand.
The money the women earn is deposited in a bank account in their individual names. Guidelines laid down by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have it that the surrogate should get 25 per cent of the payment when the implantation takes place and the remaining 75 per cent after the baby is born.
Dr Nayana says the clinic's team keeps track of the women's bank accounts. They ensure that relatives do not take any of it or that it is not frittered away on occasions like a wedding. Additionally, Dr Nayana has started a trust to look after the medical problems of each surrogate mother and her dependants for the rest of their lives.
But there are other concerns too. According to ICMR guidelines, no woman who undertakes to be a surrogate can go beyond five pregnancies, which include her own children. Health activists point out that the IVF procedure takes a toll on women's health. Therefore, doctors should be particular about the number of times the procedure is undertaken.
A maximum of three embryos are allowed to be implanted, according to the guidelines. Because of this, quite often in IVF, twins are conceived. Dr Nayana says 30-35 per cent of all her cases are twins.
Premature deliveries are another big risk with IVF. Yet, thanks to medical advancement these babies have an almost 100 per cent survival rate.
In the recent past, there were two controversial cases in India (not in Anand) where surrogate babies were not allowed into their parents' countries.
In 2008, a Japanese father was not allowed back into Japan with his baby as the laws there do not recognise surrogacy. After a long struggle, baby Manjhi got a one-year visa, which would be renewed until the legal issues are sorted out.
In another case, a Norwegian single mother could not take back her twin babies delivered by an Indian in 2009 as Norway does not recognise surrogate babies born from another nationality. She lived in Goa for almost a year before she was allowed back to Norway. The law there was amended to let the children into the country.
LEGISLATION
The ART (Regulation) Bill was first drafted in 2008. The draft was revised in 2010 but is yet to be tabled in Parliament. Women's rights activists allege that the present Bill was constructed by bureaucrats and a few doctors without consulting experts on IVF and women's issues. In its study on the draft Bill, SAMA says, “The present draft Bill has substantially reduced the maximum age limit for becoming a surrogate to 35 years from 45 years in the 2008 draft. At the same time, the Bill has increased the number of permissible successful live births to five from three in the 2008 draft. The proposed Bill, however, again does not take cognisance of the significant aspect of the number of cycles a surrogate woman undergoes.”
SAMA workers feel withholding the majority of the payment (75 per cent) until the birth of the child is a complete negation of the rights of the surrogate. Considering the potential health risks the surrogate faces, the Bill should make a provision for a more balanced mode of payment to the surrogate, they say. However, doctors say caution should be exercised here as the surrogate could make irrational demands as well.
At Anand, few are willing to speak about the downside of surrogacy, which critics say must be there. Dr Nayana says though she did not plan this to be some social service, it has been emerging this way and she is glad that women in her region are benefiting from surrogacy. The key, she emphasises, is to do it right
R. K. Raghvan
COLUMN
Dealing with riots
Dealing with riots
| The controversies that have surfaced after the London riots are likely to leave a lasting impact on policing in the United Kingdom. |
- British Prime Minister David
Cameron to Sunday Telegraph,
August 14, 2011.
Cameron to Sunday Telegraph,
August 14, 2011.
I want police officers to hear this message loud and clear: as long as you act within reason and the law, I will never damn you if you do.
- U.K. Home Secretary Theresa
May on August 16, 2011.
May on August 16, 2011.
IN its long history of more than 150 years, I do not think the Metropolitan Police Service (Met) of London has experienced the kind of turbulence it is now going through. The London riots have been more or less contained. The violence that had spread beyond the city has also been doused. So far so good. What one currently sees as the aftermath of the unfortunate happenings is dismaying. A number of controversies have surfaced as a sequel to the disorder, and these are likely to have a lasting impact on policing in the whole country.
First, there was until recently a distinct empathy between politicians and the police in the United Kingdom, far more ethical and professional than that in India. This was a relationship based on mutual respect. There are signs during the past few days that this is slowly yielding place to discord, mistrust and shades of acrimony at the senior levels.
Avoiding an open attack on the police, the government (David Cameron and Theresa May) has aired views in public suggesting that the police top brass had perhaps mishandled the riots. This has been followed by an equally controversial debate on the fundamentals of policing, especially, on what tactics the police should use in times of the kind of chaos that was seen in London and other major cities recently.
Perceptions of the average politician seem to be at variance with those of the professional policeman. There is a definite conflict between the two sides over the right police mechanics to be employed for various occasions. A third controversy is the widely reported preference of the Conservative leadership for a United States policeman to head the Met, which has now to do with an acting chief, Tim Godwin, who filled the breach after the premature exit of Sir Paul Stephenson in July, following the Rupert Murdoch controversy involving editorial complicity at his News of the World tabloid with hacking of telephones by reporters hunting for information. There were allegations of unsatisfactory investigation into this affair by the Met, and charges of corruption on the part of a few Met officers, who were possibly peddling information on a regular basis to various journalists.
The growing disconnect between the government and the police arising from all this may have a profound impact on the quality of policing in a country that had always stood out for clinically professional and honest policing, where the citizen always respected the beat constable. The latter is the rank from which all police leaders will have to rise to the top rank (Chief Constable, equivalent to our Director General of Police) in the U.K. Police, unlike in India, where an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who starts at the middle rung of the hierarchy, holds the monopoly for heading both State and Central forces.
Central to recent happenings is the near unanimity in the U.K. that the police did not exactly distinguish themselves while tackling the riots. Television images brought out vividly the strange response of the police in standing by and watching as anti-social elements were going on the rampage, first in London, and later in Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol. The hoodlums freely indulged in looting and arson, unchecked by the guardians of law.
What particularly incensed the public were the killing in London of a motorist who was found dead in his car and the mowing down of three youths of Asian origin in Birmingham by a vehicle driven by a hoodlum, who could not stand the defiance of these three men and many other members of the local community putting up a human barricade to protect their commercial establishments. There is nothing to indicate that the police connived with the looters, as it happens in many countries. It is also not unusual for the British police to be extremely circumspect and take every precaution not to provoke a mob demonstrating in public. The strategy adopted on such occasions is known as “kettling”, which confines a misbehaving crowd to a specific locality, so that such conduct is effectively localised and not allowed to fan into other neighbourhoods.
However controversial this tactic might be, it had worked well in the past. But the public were horrified that the police chose to adopt the same method during the recent mob attacks, without quickly disabling the hundreds of criminals who indulged in wanton acts of robbery and arson. Those who went on the rampage were not the typical political demonstrators trying to convey a point to the establishment, and against whom “kettling” was undoubtedly a reasonably effective weapon. These were downright criminals motivated by mercenary considerations, and who wanted to help themselves to freebies such as clothing, footwear, jewellery, high class liquor and electronic gadgets at the expense of shopkeepers who were modest in means.
The police seemed to have overlooked the inescapable distinction between those fighting for a political and social cause and those whose only objective was to make a quick buck by resorting to downright illegal acts. This is now the debate: Did the police misread the situation? Were they guilty of soft policing?
While the Prime Minister and Home Secretary (the equivalent of our Home Minister) have grave reservations about the police performance, top policemen deny that they had failed, and that the politicians were simply passing the buck to cover up their own failures. The debate will never be won. This is because it is a grey area between the policy formulation role of political executives and the tactical field function of policemen.
The latter can claim that they had no free hand to handle an explosive situation and that all their powers existed only on paper. The police believe that a politician had an escape route through taking the position that his authority stopped with laying down the policy, and it was for the police to execute it swiftly and imaginatively. While the legal position is the same in India, we have surrendered ourselves to a situation, wherein there is hardly a distinction between government and the police.
As I write this column, I see a member of the Union government claiming on national television that the decision to arrest social activist Anna Hazare, a few days ago, was purely that of the Delhi Police, and the government had no say in the matter. This I thought hardly carried conviction even among the fiercest supporters of the establishment. The U.K. Police are also possibly reaching this position, one that is compounded by the conservative determination to have elected commissioners to oversee the police in each of the 40-odd police forces, on the plea that such a move would make the police more accountable to the community. It is an entirely different matter that many senior policemen do not agree with such a proposition. They fear greater politicisation of policing. The experiment, to be introduced a year from now, will be watched by many of us in India with great interest.
A third controversy is the deification of Bill Bratton, the former New York and Los Angeles Police Commissioner, with whom the loosely used concept of “zero tolerance policing” is associated. Bratton brought down crime successfully in New York City in the late 1990s and later handled the notorious criminal gangs in Los Angeles. He is an iconic figure in the U.S, and David Cameron has never concealed his admiration for him. Possibly the relationship has become stronger lately, with Cameron believing that a radical solution was demanded by the obvious decline in policing standards in London.
There have been rumours that the Prime Minister would like to see Bratton taking over the stewardship of the Met. If this was carried through, it would have been an unusual step of installing a foreigner in a pivotal U.K. government position.
As I pen this column, there is no report that Bratton has in fact applied for the position – at the Met, you will have to formally file your application if you are to be considered for the position – and this clears the air for local contenders. Whatever is the position, it is abundantly clear that those in the reckoning are only a second choice of the Prime Minister. This is not exactly a morale-raising fact for those in the ranks of the police forces in the country. It could take a long time to restore confidence between the political executive and the police brass in the country.
There are lessons to be learnt here for the Indian Police. Both the public and the political executive would measure police effectiveness on the basis of quick responses. Any sloth and an unwillingness to use force to quell disorder will evoke critical comments and penal action against field officers. There is also the need to constantly review tactics so that new ideas are generated.
The response to Maoist terror is one example of the Indian Police still grappling with the problem and, in the process, losing valuable manpower. Fundamental to these is the popular expectation of honest and apolitical policing that will stick to professionalism rather than go by political expediency
Useful Websites for IAS Preparation
http://www.upscpotal.com/
http://www.onestopias.com/
http://www.upsc.gov.in/
http://www.threeauthors.com/
http://www.jeywin.com/
www.notemonk.com/
http://www.iashelp.com/
http://www.wiziq.com/
http://www.gscurrentaffairs.com/
http://preparegk.blogspot.com/
http://www.indiabix.com/
http://www.gktoday.in/
http://www.currentgk.tk/
http://www.egyankosh.ac.in/
http://www.onestopias.com/
http://www.upsc.gov.in/
http://www.threeauthors.com/
http://www.jeywin.com/
www.notemonk.com/
http://www.iashelp.com/
http://www.wiziq.com/
http://www.gscurrentaffairs.com/
http://preparegk.blogspot.com/
http://www.indiabix.com/
http://www.gktoday.in/
http://www.currentgk.tk/
http://www.egyankosh.ac.in/
http://afterplus2.com/civils/category/online-quiz/
http://networkedblogs.com/fTw4hhttp://www.business-standard.com/
http://www.indiabix.com/aptitude/questions-and-answers/
http://networkedblogs.com/fTw4hhttp://www.business-standard.com/
http://www.indiabix.com/aptitude/questions-and-answers/
Source:
Many Thanks Aditya.Good Job.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Writing
5.India yr book by Pub div..did you do this( or other short versions in the market)?..if yes..how many chapters...
6.Indian economic survey..how many chapters..
@ all
5. I read 5 chapters. environment, chapter on tribes, culture etc. Read the topics which you love. It is a huge book. You can't read everything. Make an intelligent guess as to which will be important. You have to trust your instincts. Read second ARC 10th report about civil service exam reforms. They've given important areas which UPSC should focus on. Like history, law, culture etc. So accordingly choose your 5 chapters in yr book.
6. I did it fully boss. Very useful. From the bottom of my heart I recommend it. But you need not memorize all data. Whenever you come across something interesting you pl read it and highlight it with fluorescent pen. Also develop on it using the internet. Eg. Last time there was a paragraph about 'food coupons' in economic survey. I noted it down. I used this detail in gs and pub ad i think.
apart from this i regularly followed press information bureau. Pl search elaborately about nobel winners and their work. This is UPSC's favorite area. Maglev was asked in 2010. I read about it before mains while researching about nobel prize winners and their contribution. Some times you strangely it upon some detail and later it appears in question paper. That's a gift man. Direction-less browsing will sometimes be beneficial if you know when to stop.
I NEVER READ ANY MAGAZINE. Pl make it categorical in your mind. all magazines are nothing but an aggregate of advertisements of coaching institutes and stolen material from internet. the cut, copy, paste logic. Better rely on your notes itself.
I was just stealing words from many authors in order to sound comprehensive in my answers. It is an effective strategy.
I never read any magazine. I completely relied on The Hindu. But reading Hindu alone is a disaster as UPSC has started playing tricks. I'll prove it to you. There was a question about systems reforms commission in pub ad. It appeared only in Indian Express and not in the Hindu. Kindly go back and check it for yourself. I took the extra effort and went and asked to Ravindran sir whether Systems reform commission is important. Those who attended GS crash course class with me will remember. He blatantly told "no it is not important and I've not heard of it". But I still felt itchy. So prepared notes for it and kept it with hope. I was proved right. Since many candidates are reading The Hindu alone UPSC has played the trick of focusing on some other newspapers also. SO please diversify your reading habits. Read Sci and Tech from TOI. IE delhi edition is awesome. Read it and take notes and also save clippings from it. You'll outperform others in GS. Continuously IE was publishing news about Planning Commission being converted into systems reform commission as Prime minister took up this reform process too personally.
6.Indian economic survey..how many chapters..
@ all
5. I read 5 chapters. environment, chapter on tribes, culture etc. Read the topics which you love. It is a huge book. You can't read everything. Make an intelligent guess as to which will be important. You have to trust your instincts. Read second ARC 10th report about civil service exam reforms. They've given important areas which UPSC should focus on. Like history, law, culture etc. So accordingly choose your 5 chapters in yr book.
6. I did it fully boss. Very useful. From the bottom of my heart I recommend it. But you need not memorize all data. Whenever you come across something interesting you pl read it and highlight it with fluorescent pen. Also develop on it using the internet. Eg. Last time there was a paragraph about 'food coupons' in economic survey. I noted it down. I used this detail in gs and pub ad i think.
apart from this i regularly followed press information bureau. Pl search elaborately about nobel winners and their work. This is UPSC's favorite area. Maglev was asked in 2010. I read about it before mains while researching about nobel prize winners and their contribution. Some times you strangely it upon some detail and later it appears in question paper. That's a gift man. Direction-less browsing will sometimes be beneficial if you know when to stop.
I NEVER READ ANY MAGAZINE. Pl make it categorical in your mind. all magazines are nothing but an aggregate of advertisements of coaching institutes and stolen material from internet. the cut, copy, paste logic. Better rely on your notes itself.
I was just stealing words from many authors in order to sound comprehensive in my answers. It is an effective strategy.
I never read any magazine. I completely relied on The Hindu. But reading Hindu alone is a disaster as UPSC has started playing tricks. I'll prove it to you. There was a question about systems reforms commission in pub ad. It appeared only in Indian Express and not in the Hindu. Kindly go back and check it for yourself. I took the extra effort and went and asked to Ravindran sir whether Systems reform commission is important. Those who attended GS crash course class with me will remember. He blatantly told "no it is not important and I've not heard of it". But I still felt itchy. So prepared notes for it and kept it with hope. I was proved right. Since many candidates are reading The Hindu alone UPSC has played the trick of focusing on some other newspapers also. SO please diversify your reading habits. Read Sci and Tech from TOI. IE delhi edition is awesome. Read it and take notes and also save clippings from it. You'll outperform others in GS. Continuously IE was publishing news about Planning Commission being converted into systems reform commission as Prime minister took up this reform process too personally.
Writing
Documentaries. Search for them. I'll tell you how. I saw "the Devil Came on Horseback" a few days before MAins GS. Please download it and see it. Then read GS question paper. Pl tell me if it is useful or not. There was a question on Sudan. I'm sure i could have written more content than many others.
Confidence cannot be measured keeping in mind GS, Optionals, essay etc. I was confident with my overall effort. There were shockers in the question paper for me too but that doesnt spoil the overall confidence. If question paper shocks me it has to shock many others too isnt it?
@ Liverpudian
1. when to stop reading newspapers( is this the right time to stop),
you said NO magazines... so how many newspapers one requires to cover in general..and how many hours dedicated only for news papers...
2.time management for the remaining 20 odd days..
3.taking test papers(did u do them?)
4.also please list out the documentaries that u saw...it'll help a lot.
5.India yr book by Pub div..did you do this( or other short versions in the market)?..if yes..how many chapters...
6.Indian economic survey..how many chapters..
@all
1. Don't ever stop buddy. Even the news you read on the morning of exam might be of help. And is our aim focussed only on prelims? UPSC clearly knows candidates won't read newspapers during this time. Will it not be attractive for UPSC to test you in this area? So lets continue reading newspapers.
2. Please maintain a small notepad PRECISELY noting down the time you're studying. Will help you slowly increase the duration. It is VERY ESSENTIAL to keep your motivation positive during this time. Rely on inspirational music or movies or whatever. It'll help you plunge and take risks. I attempted 114 questions out of 120 in gs. My score was 75 in GS. If you think back you will know that this is a very good score. Prelims itself will tell your rank. If you sore really well you'll be in top 20.
3. Did a lot of them. Very useful. Pl don't work out questio n paper from worthless institutes. Unable to clear this examination, those useless fellows are cheating you by giving worthless papers. You know what to trust and what not to.
4. A lot of them bro. I have at least 500 of them. UPSC candidates pl develop this hobbies. Go to mv group and download. It is a pastime wherein you get educated about issues important for upsc. So hitting two birds in one stone. Why do you guys ever read geography. Pl go to you tube and type the concepts like plate tectonics. There you'll get audio visual help buddy. MAKE READING A PLEASURABLE EXPERIENCE AND NOT A BURDEN.
Confidence cannot be measured keeping in mind GS, Optionals, essay etc. I was confident with my overall effort. There were shockers in the question paper for me too but that doesnt spoil the overall confidence. If question paper shocks me it has to shock many others too isnt it?
@ Liverpudian
1. when to stop reading newspapers( is this the right time to stop),
you said NO magazines... so how many newspapers one requires to cover in general..and how many hours dedicated only for news papers...
2.time management for the remaining 20 odd days..
3.taking test papers(did u do them?)
4.also please list out the documentaries that u saw...it'll help a lot.
5.India yr book by Pub div..did you do this( or other short versions in the market)?..if yes..how many chapters...
6.Indian economic survey..how many chapters..
@all
1. Don't ever stop buddy. Even the news you read on the morning of exam might be of help. And is our aim focussed only on prelims? UPSC clearly knows candidates won't read newspapers during this time. Will it not be attractive for UPSC to test you in this area? So lets continue reading newspapers.
2. Please maintain a small notepad PRECISELY noting down the time you're studying. Will help you slowly increase the duration. It is VERY ESSENTIAL to keep your motivation positive during this time. Rely on inspirational music or movies or whatever. It'll help you plunge and take risks. I attempted 114 questions out of 120 in gs. My score was 75 in GS. If you think back you will know that this is a very good score. Prelims itself will tell your rank. If you sore really well you'll be in top 20.
3. Did a lot of them. Very useful. Pl don't work out questio n paper from worthless institutes. Unable to clear this examination, those useless fellows are cheating you by giving worthless papers. You know what to trust and what not to.
4. A lot of them bro. I have at least 500 of them. UPSC candidates pl develop this hobbies. Go to mv group and download. It is a pastime wherein you get educated about issues important for upsc. So hitting two birds in one stone. Why do you guys ever read geography. Pl go to you tube and type the concepts like plate tectonics. There you'll get audio visual help buddy. MAKE READING A PLEASURABLE EXPERIENCE AND NOT A BURDEN.
Material
the economics special articles in the Hindu (monday edition) were very useful to me. i followed pratiyogita darpan (GS economics special) & economics watch of chronicle. for international economics (IMF/WTO/doha round/TRIPS/world bank & related issues) please use the internet.
Material
I depended on wikipedia, world focus, Hindu & min. of external affairs website. I prepared my own notes for these topics. Another thing I did was to note the + & - of our relations with every major country. For this I took a paper, divided it into two columns, one for the +ves & the other for –ves. Jot down points you pick up from the newspaper daily in the columns, & you’ll get a very good idea of our bilateral ties.
Try to read the Nov-Dec annual issue of world focus cover to cover as it covers bilateral ties with almost all important nations (Only this issue, & not any other months' issues).
Follow each international issue as if it were a serial novel. This will help you develop interest & at the same retain the flow of events in your mind without any difficulty.
Try to read the Nov-Dec annual issue of world focus cover to cover as it covers bilateral ties with almost all important nations (Only this issue, & not any other months' issues).
Follow each international issue as if it were a serial novel. This will help you develop interest & at the same retain the flow of events in your mind without any difficulty.
India's Problems
1) Hunger- don't feed them for a day, teach them d art to catch fish
2) Corruption-Make Everyone accountable for their action
3) Child labor-Let see every child in school and play grounds
4) Communal ism-Don't talk religion talk humanity bcoz every human being breaths d same air n drinks d same water....
5) Terrorism-Vigilant police equipped with modern arms n intelligence
6) Injustice-Justice delay is justice denied..punish guilty...
Happy Independence Day to all.....Jai Hind!!!!!!!!!!
God Bless India......
2) Corruption-Make Everyone accountable for their action
3) Child labor-Let see every child in school and play grounds
4) Communal ism-Don't talk religion talk humanity bcoz every human being breaths d same air n drinks d same water....
5) Terrorism-Vigilant police equipped with modern arms n intelligence
6) Injustice-Justice delay is justice denied..punish guilty...
Happy Independence Day to all.....Jai Hind!!!!!!!!!!
God Bless India......
Freedom of Press
In India, freedom of the press has been treated as part of the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, vide Brij Bhushan and Another vs. The State of Delhi, AIR 1950 SC 129 and Sakal Papers (P) Ltd vs. Union of India, AIR 1962 SC 305, among others.
However, as mentioned in Article 19(2), reasonable restrictions can be placed on this right, in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence. Hence, freedom of the media is not an absolute freedom.
In seeking out news, the media therefore act for the public at large. It is the means by which people receive free flow of information and ideas, which is essential to intelligent self-governance, that is, democracy.
For a proper functioning of democracy it is essential that citizens are kept informed about news from various parts of the country and even abroad, because only then can they form rational opinions.
the media play an important role in a democracy and serve as an agency of the people to gather news for them. It is for this reason that freedom of the press has been emphasised in all democratic countries, while it was not permitted in feudal or totalitarian regimes.
In India, the media have played a historical role in providing information to the people about social and economic evils. The media have informed the people about the tremendous poverty in the country, the suicide of farmers in various States, the so-called honour killings in many places by Khap panchayats, corruption, and so on. For this, the media in India deserve kudos.
the media have a great responsibility also to see that the news they present is accurate and serve the interest of the people.
The media should avoid giving any slant to news, and avoid sensationalism and yellow journalism. Only then will they gain the respect of the people and fulfil their true role in a democracy.
Recently, reports were published of paid news — which involves someone paying a newspaper and getting something favourable to him published.
Media comments on pending cases, especially on criminal cases where the life or liberty of a citizen is involved, are a delicate issue and should be carefully considered.
Historically, the media have been organs of the people against feudal oppression. In Europe, the media played a major role in transforming a feudal society into a modern one. The print media played a role in preparing for, and during, the British, American and French Revolutions. The print media were used by writers such as Rousseau, Voltaire, Thomas Paine, Junius and John Wilkes in the people's fight against feudalism and despotism. Everyone knows of the great stir created by Thomas Paine's pamphlet ‘Common Sense' during the American Revolution, or of the letters of Junius during the reign of the despotic George III.
The media became powerful tools in the hands of the people then because they could not express themselves through the established organs of power: those organs were in the hands of feudal and despotic rulers. Hence, the people had to create new organs that would serve them. It is for this reason that that the print media became known as the Fourth Estate. In Europe and America, they represented the voice of the future, in contrast to the feudal or despotic organs that wanted to preserve the status quo in society. In the 20th century, other types of media emerged: radio, television and the Internet.
To my mind, in underdeveloped countries like India the media have a great responsibility to fight backward ideas such as casteism and communalism, and help the people in their struggle against poverty and other social evils. Since a large section of the people is backward and ignorant, it is all the more necessary that modern ideas are brought to them and their backwardness removed so that they become part of enlightened India. The media have a great responsibility in this respect.
The barbaric ‘honour killings' in parts of the country of young men and women of different castes or religion who get married or wish to get married, among other incidents, show how backward we still are — full of casteism and communalism
Our aim must be to make India a modern, powerful, industrial state. Only then will India be able to provide for the welfare of its people and get respect in the world community.
media sometimes refer to farmer suicides in different States, the price rise, and so on, but these form only a small part of their coverage — maybe 5 to 10 per cent. Most of the coverage is given to cricket, film stars, astrology and disco-dancing.
Sadly, India now has a disconnect between the mass media and mass reality.
While there were 512 accredited journalists covering the Lakme India Fashion Week event, there were only six journalists to cover farmer suicides in Vidharbha.
To my mind, the role of the media in our country today must be to help the people in their struggle against poverty, unemployment and other social evils and to make India a modern, powerful, industrial state.
For this, scientific thinking should be promoted. Science alone is the means to solve this country's problems
However, as mentioned in Article 19(2), reasonable restrictions can be placed on this right, in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence. Hence, freedom of the media is not an absolute freedom.
In seeking out news, the media therefore act for the public at large. It is the means by which people receive free flow of information and ideas, which is essential to intelligent self-governance, that is, democracy.
For a proper functioning of democracy it is essential that citizens are kept informed about news from various parts of the country and even abroad, because only then can they form rational opinions.
the media play an important role in a democracy and serve as an agency of the people to gather news for them. It is for this reason that freedom of the press has been emphasised in all democratic countries, while it was not permitted in feudal or totalitarian regimes.
In India, the media have played a historical role in providing information to the people about social and economic evils. The media have informed the people about the tremendous poverty in the country, the suicide of farmers in various States, the so-called honour killings in many places by Khap panchayats, corruption, and so on. For this, the media in India deserve kudos.
the media have a great responsibility also to see that the news they present is accurate and serve the interest of the people.
The media should avoid giving any slant to news, and avoid sensationalism and yellow journalism. Only then will they gain the respect of the people and fulfil their true role in a democracy.
Recently, reports were published of paid news — which involves someone paying a newspaper and getting something favourable to him published.
Media comments on pending cases, especially on criminal cases where the life or liberty of a citizen is involved, are a delicate issue and should be carefully considered.
Historically, the media have been organs of the people against feudal oppression. In Europe, the media played a major role in transforming a feudal society into a modern one. The print media played a role in preparing for, and during, the British, American and French Revolutions. The print media were used by writers such as Rousseau, Voltaire, Thomas Paine, Junius and John Wilkes in the people's fight against feudalism and despotism. Everyone knows of the great stir created by Thomas Paine's pamphlet ‘Common Sense' during the American Revolution, or of the letters of Junius during the reign of the despotic George III.
The media became powerful tools in the hands of the people then because they could not express themselves through the established organs of power: those organs were in the hands of feudal and despotic rulers. Hence, the people had to create new organs that would serve them. It is for this reason that that the print media became known as the Fourth Estate. In Europe and America, they represented the voice of the future, in contrast to the feudal or despotic organs that wanted to preserve the status quo in society. In the 20th century, other types of media emerged: radio, television and the Internet.
To my mind, in underdeveloped countries like India the media have a great responsibility to fight backward ideas such as casteism and communalism, and help the people in their struggle against poverty and other social evils. Since a large section of the people is backward and ignorant, it is all the more necessary that modern ideas are brought to them and their backwardness removed so that they become part of enlightened India. The media have a great responsibility in this respect.
The barbaric ‘honour killings' in parts of the country of young men and women of different castes or religion who get married or wish to get married, among other incidents, show how backward we still are — full of casteism and communalism
Our aim must be to make India a modern, powerful, industrial state. Only then will India be able to provide for the welfare of its people and get respect in the world community.
media sometimes refer to farmer suicides in different States, the price rise, and so on, but these form only a small part of their coverage — maybe 5 to 10 per cent. Most of the coverage is given to cricket, film stars, astrology and disco-dancing.
Sadly, India now has a disconnect between the mass media and mass reality.
While there were 512 accredited journalists covering the Lakme India Fashion Week event, there were only six journalists to cover farmer suicides in Vidharbha.
To my mind, the role of the media in our country today must be to help the people in their struggle against poverty, unemployment and other social evils and to make India a modern, powerful, industrial state.
For this, scientific thinking should be promoted. Science alone is the means to solve this country's problems
Water Issues(Inter-State)
Putting water on the Concurrent List is not necessarily an act of centralisation, though it could lead to such a development. That danger is real and needs to be avoided.
The Union Ministry of Water Resources has for long been arguing for a shift of water to the Concurrent List without any serious expectation of its happening, but has now begun to pursue the idea more actively. The Ashok Chawla committee, which was primarily concerned with the question of rationalising the allocation of natural resources with a view to reducing the scope for corruption, was reported by the media to have recommended inter alia the shifting of water to the Concurrent List. There seems to be no such specific recommendation in the draft of the Committee's report that one has seen, but the possibility is referred to in the text and there is an Annexe on the subject. These developments have revived the old debate.
Let us first be clear about the present constitutional position in relation to water. The general impression is that in India water is a State subject, but the position is not quite so simple. The primary entry in the Constitution relating to water is indeed Entry 17 in the State List, but it is explicitly made subject to the provisions of Entry 56 in the Union List which enables the Union to deal with inter-State rivers if Parliament legislates for the purpose. This means that if Parliament considers it “expedient in the public interest” that the “regulation and development” of an inter-State river, say the Ganga or Yamuna or Narmada, should be “under the control of the Union”, it can enact a law to that effect, and that law will give the Union legislative (and therefore executive) powers over that river. That enabling provision has not been used by Parliament. No law has been passed bringing any river under the control of the Union. Under Entry 56, Parliament did enact the River Boards Act 1956 providing for the establishment of River Boards for inter-State rivers, but no such board has been established under the Act. That Act is virtually a dead letter. The reasons are political, i.e., strong resistance by State governments to any enhancement of the role of the Central government.
Is the present constitutional division of legislative power relating to water between the Union and the States satisfactory? The Centre does not think so. None of the Commissions that has gone into the subject so far has recommended a change, largely because it seemed unrealistic. (The Sarkaria Commission thought that a change was unnecessary.)
The present writer had earlier argued against a move to shift water to the Concurrent List on two grounds. First, a move to put water into the Concurrent List at this stage will be generally regarded as a retrograde step that runs counter to the general trend towards decentralisation and enhanced federalism, and it will face serious political difficulty because there will be stout opposition from the States. Secondly, an entry in the Concurrent List will mean that both the Centre and the States can legislate on water, but the Centre can already do so in respect of inter-State rivers under Entry 56 but has not used that power. It seemed sensible to use that enabling provision, and also re-activate the River Boards Act, rather than pursue the difficult idea of a constitutional amendment to bring water on to the Concurrent List.
It will be seen that the above arguments against pursuing the idea of moving water to the Concurrent List are practical ones: the political difficulty of doing so, and the fact that the Centre can do certain things even without such a shift. That does not amount to a statement that there is no case for the shift. Let us ignore political and practical considerations, and ask: if the Constitution were being drafted for the first time now, where would one put water? The obvious and incontrovertible answer is: in the Concurrent List. There are several reasons for saying so.
First, it appears that to the Constitution-makers ‘water' meant essentially river waters and irrigation. This is quite evident from the wording of the entries. In that context, it might have appeared appropriate to assign the primary role to the States, and provide a specific role for the Centre in relation to inter-State rivers. However, even from that limited perspective, a primary rather than a secondary or exceptional role for the Centre might well have been warranted: most of our important rivers are in fact inter-State, and inter-State (or inter-provincial) river water disputes were an old and vexed problem even at the time of drafting the Constitution.
Secondly, that limited perspective is in fact inadequate. Water as a subject is larger than rivers; ponds and lakes, springs, groundwater aquifers, glaciers, soil and atmospheric moisture, wetlands, and so on, are all forms of water and constitute a hydrological unity; and there is more to water than irrigation. If the environmental, ecological, social/human, and rights concerns relating to water had been as sharply present to the makers of the Constitution as they are to us, it seems very probable that the entries in the Constitution would have been different. (Incidentally, there are serious concerns now relating to groundwater — rapid depletion of aquifers in many parts of the country, the emergence of arsenic and fluoride in many States, etc. — and it is interesting that there is no explicit reference to groundwater or aquifers in the Constitution.)
Thirdly, the Constitution-makers could not have anticipated the sense of water scarcity and crisis that now looms large. It is clear that while action will be called for at the State and local levels, the perception of a crisis casts a great responsibility on the Centre: national initiatives will definitely be called for.
Fourthly, a new factor not foreseen even a few decades ago is climate change and its impact on water resources. This is a subject which is still under study and research, but it is clear that coordinated action will be called for not only at the national level but also at the regional and international levels. The Central government has necessarily to play a lead role in this regard.
The theoretical case for water being in the Concurrent List is thus unassailable. Of all the subjects that are or ought to be in the Concurrent List, water ranks higher than any other. The practical and political difficulties of shifting it there remain, but these would need to be overcome.
However, if those difficulties prove insuperable, then we have to settle for the second best course (a modest one) of greater use by the Centre of the legislative powers relating to inter-State rivers provided for in Entry 56 in the Union List, and re-activation of the dormant River Boards Act 1956. It would further have to be supplemented by recourse to the wide-ranging provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 (EPA). It is of course possible for Parliament to legislate on a State subject if a certain number of State assemblies pass resolutions to that effect: that was the route followed in the case of the Water (Control and Prevention of Pollution) Act 1974.
At present, the EPA is being extensively used by the Centre for water-related action. For instance, the Central Groundwater Authority was set up in 1998 by a notification under the EPA. More recently, when it was considered necessary to set up a National Ganga River Basin Authority this was done under the EPA, instead of following the right but difficult course of enacting legislation under Entry 56.
Finally, putting water into the Concurrent List is not necessarily an act of centralisation, though it could lead to such a development. That danger is real and needs to be avoided. Legislation and executive action must continue to be undertaken at the appropriate level (Central, State or local) in each case. The subsidiarity principle, i.e., the principle that decisions must be taken at the lowest appropriate level, will continue to be valid.
PRI
he beauty of the gram sabha — the lowest wrung of governance — according to social activist and reformer Anna Hazare, is that it never changes, unlike the Lok Sabha. The reason is that the gram sabha is the people themselves.
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As per the 11th Schedule of the Constitution, 29 subjects are to be devolved to panchayats. These include agriculture, land reforms, housing, rural electrification, education, health centres, and the public distribution system. Similarly, Article 243 G empowers states to give panchayats powers to levy taxes. But unlike the state list and Union list, the list for panchayats is one that is subject to the whims of the state governments.
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All 29 subjects have been transferred to panchayats only in Karnataka and Kerala while in Maharashtra, funds functions and functionaries have been transferred in 18 subjects. In Bengal, all three Fs have been transferred in 12 subjects. The figure is 10 in both Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. In all the other states the transfer is yet to take place.
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Trust — between the Centre and states and between the states and panchayats — is what panchayati raj needs most of all if it has to achieve its pot
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As per the 11th Schedule of the Constitution, 29 subjects are to be devolved to panchayats. These include agriculture, land reforms, housing, rural electrification, education, health centres, and the public distribution system. Similarly, Article 243 G empowers states to give panchayats powers to levy taxes. But unlike the state list and Union list, the list for panchayats is one that is subject to the whims of the state governments.
.
.
All 29 subjects have been transferred to panchayats only in Karnataka and Kerala while in Maharashtra, funds functions and functionaries have been transferred in 18 subjects. In Bengal, all three Fs have been transferred in 12 subjects. The figure is 10 in both Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh. In all the other states the transfer is yet to take place.
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Trust — between the Centre and states and between the states and panchayats — is what panchayati raj needs most of all if it has to achieve its pot
India-Pak
a joint paper by two former heads of intelligence — Amarjeet Singh Dulat of RAW, and Asad Durrani of the ISI
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Cooperation can also help to guard against panic reactions: for example, unintended mobilisation of forces or possible nuclear alerts. Some intra- or extra-regional forces could cause crises that might spin out of control, with possible nuclear consequences. While the nuclear bogey should not be exaggerated, for these and other reasons it is advisable to establish a preventive mechanism; intelligence cooperation indeed being its lynchpin. Even in the worst days of the Cold War, the CIA and the KGB never ceased contacts, even through open declared officers in each other's capitals.
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Our two countries, India and Pakistan, have all the above reasons for covert, even overt, intelligence cooperation. Indeed, the two countries have taken related measures of a non-intelligence nature — some of them before going overtly nuclear in May 1998. During the Pakistan Army's multi-corps exercise in 1989, Zarb-E-Momin, India did not move its troops to the borders since its ambassador and military attachés in Islamabad were informed and observers invited. Similarly, when the Indian security forces were wrapping up Sikh militancy in the Punjab in 1992, Pakistan was duly informed, and perhaps even offered facilities to do ground checks. Post-nuclearisation, to avoid misunderstandings about their nuclear alert statuses, both countries have developed a reasonably functional system of exchanging information, including, importantly, forewarning missile testing.
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A Joint Anti-terror Mechanism (JATM) agreed upon after the 2006 NAM Summit in Havana hardly moved forward, leave alone achieve any success, especially given the Indian concerns in the aftermath of the 26/11 carnage. Terrorism cannot be addressed by a panchayat (committee);
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Cooperation can also help to guard against panic reactions: for example, unintended mobilisation of forces or possible nuclear alerts. Some intra- or extra-regional forces could cause crises that might spin out of control, with possible nuclear consequences. While the nuclear bogey should not be exaggerated, for these and other reasons it is advisable to establish a preventive mechanism; intelligence cooperation indeed being its lynchpin. Even in the worst days of the Cold War, the CIA and the KGB never ceased contacts, even through open declared officers in each other's capitals.
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Our two countries, India and Pakistan, have all the above reasons for covert, even overt, intelligence cooperation. Indeed, the two countries have taken related measures of a non-intelligence nature — some of them before going overtly nuclear in May 1998. During the Pakistan Army's multi-corps exercise in 1989, Zarb-E-Momin, India did not move its troops to the borders since its ambassador and military attachés in Islamabad were informed and observers invited. Similarly, when the Indian security forces were wrapping up Sikh militancy in the Punjab in 1992, Pakistan was duly informed, and perhaps even offered facilities to do ground checks. Post-nuclearisation, to avoid misunderstandings about their nuclear alert statuses, both countries have developed a reasonably functional system of exchanging information, including, importantly, forewarning missile testing.
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A Joint Anti-terror Mechanism (JATM) agreed upon after the 2006 NAM Summit in Havana hardly moved forward, leave alone achieve any success, especially given the Indian concerns in the aftermath of the 26/11 carnage. Terrorism cannot be addressed by a panchayat (committee);
CAG
The CAG's report on Bofors in 1989 had major political consequences. Its explosive 2010 report on the allocation of 2G spectrum led to the filing of criminal charges against politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen. Other reports may have had a less dramatic political impact but they have been equally useful
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Aware of the limitations of its mandate, the CAG has asked the United Progressive Alliance government to make three broad amendments in the 1971 Audit Act.
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The first amendment is intended to ensure that government departments reply to audit enquiries in 30 days rather than in the open-ended manner as now
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.“As an important watchdog in our democracy, it falls upon this institution (the CAG) to sift the wheat from the chaff, to distinguish between wrongdoing and genuine errors, to appreciate the context and circumstances of decision making,” Dr Singh said at the inauguration of celebrations to mark 150 years of the CAG here
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Dr Singh reaffirmed the Government's commitment to strengthen the institution of CAG as part of the broader efforts to improve transparency and accountability in the work of the Government. Lolz :):)
Secondly, the CAG wants the statute to stipulate a clear timeframe for the tabling of completed audit reports on the floor of the relevant legislature. The Act, as it stands today, gives the Central and State governments wide latitude in this regard and it is hardly surprising that this freedom has been abused to delay making public the audit reports that contain embarrassing observations
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The third set of proposed amendments is aimed at bringing the CAG's legal mandate up to speed with the changes that have taken place in the way public money is spent. Since the 1971 Act was passed, the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution have been adopted, adding a layer of decentralised governance — and hence expenditure management — to the institutions of the state
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Aware of the limitations of its mandate, the CAG has asked the United Progressive Alliance government to make three broad amendments in the 1971 Audit Act.
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The first amendment is intended to ensure that government departments reply to audit enquiries in 30 days rather than in the open-ended manner as now
.
.“As an important watchdog in our democracy, it falls upon this institution (the CAG) to sift the wheat from the chaff, to distinguish between wrongdoing and genuine errors, to appreciate the context and circumstances of decision making,” Dr Singh said at the inauguration of celebrations to mark 150 years of the CAG here
.
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Dr Singh reaffirmed the Government's commitment to strengthen the institution of CAG as part of the broader efforts to improve transparency and accountability in the work of the Government. Lolz :):)
Secondly, the CAG wants the statute to stipulate a clear timeframe for the tabling of completed audit reports on the floor of the relevant legislature. The Act, as it stands today, gives the Central and State governments wide latitude in this regard and it is hardly surprising that this freedom has been abused to delay making public the audit reports that contain embarrassing observations
.
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The third set of proposed amendments is aimed at bringing the CAG's legal mandate up to speed with the changes that have taken place in the way public money is spent. Since the 1971 Act was passed, the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution have been adopted, adding a layer of decentralised governance — and hence expenditure management — to the institutions of the state
Indian Ocean Rim association
The Association disseminates information on trade and investment regimes, with a view to helping the region's business community better understand the impediments to trade and investment within the region.
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The objectives of IOR-ARC are as follows:
1. To promote sustainable growth and balanced development of the region and Member States
2. To focus on those areas of economic cooperation which provide maximum opportunities for development, shared interest and mutual benefits
3. To promote liberalisation, remove impediments and lower barriers towards a freer and enhanced flow of goods, services, investment, and technology within the Indian Ocean rim.
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The objectives of IOR-ARC are as follows:
1. To promote sustainable growth and balanced development of the region and Member States
2. To focus on those areas of economic cooperation which provide maximum opportunities for development, shared interest and mutual benefits
3. To promote liberalisation, remove impediments and lower barriers towards a freer and enhanced flow of goods, services, investment, and technology within the Indian Ocean rim.
Australia
The Indian Ocean region is undergoing a major transformation. We see extraordinary economic growth in South Asia, led by the rising great power that is India. India is on track to become the world's third largest economy after the United States and China, and the world's most populous nation.
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Africa's transformation is also significant. A continent of nearly a billion people, by 2040 Africa will have the world's largest working-age population. While considerable security and development challenges persist, Africa's modern reality is more complex than some of the stereotypes of the past would suggest. Foreign direct investment in Africa is now almost as large as the flow into China when measured relative to GDP and Africa now has more middle class households than India.
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More than a third of Australia's maritime zone lies within the Indian Ocean, including significant current and prospective energy and resource projects. Protecting these projects, as well as continuing to assert Australia's sovereignty over our wider maritime zone, is fundamental to the nation's long term economic interests. The Indian Ocean also represents a significant fisheries resource, and is home to what are arguably the world's most important sea lanes of communication.
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It is clear that Australia's interests in the region require an increasingly activist Australian foreign policy.
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Over the next two years, Australia will work closely with India, as IOR-ARC (Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation ) Chair, to increase regional cooperation on fisheries management, customs training, energy security, and disaster management. In 2013 and 2014,.
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To secure its future, Australia must look West as well as East. The profound changes in the region demand that we do so.
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Africa's transformation is also significant. A continent of nearly a billion people, by 2040 Africa will have the world's largest working-age population. While considerable security and development challenges persist, Africa's modern reality is more complex than some of the stereotypes of the past would suggest. Foreign direct investment in Africa is now almost as large as the flow into China when measured relative to GDP and Africa now has more middle class households than India.
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More than a third of Australia's maritime zone lies within the Indian Ocean, including significant current and prospective energy and resource projects. Protecting these projects, as well as continuing to assert Australia's sovereignty over our wider maritime zone, is fundamental to the nation's long term economic interests. The Indian Ocean also represents a significant fisheries resource, and is home to what are arguably the world's most important sea lanes of communication.
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It is clear that Australia's interests in the region require an increasingly activist Australian foreign policy.
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Over the next two years, Australia will work closely with India, as IOR-ARC (Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation ) Chair, to increase regional cooperation on fisheries management, customs training, energy security, and disaster management. In 2013 and 2014,.
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To secure its future, Australia must look West as well as East. The profound changes in the region demand that we do so.
Decline of the West
A important article by former British PM Gordon Brown, focusing on recent crisis in Europe
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For months we have been told that Europe’s salvation lies in austerity, Germany’s prescription of fiscal discipline to its deficits. But when Chancellor Merkel of Germany and President Sarkozy of France meet they will find evidence of what they did not expect — failing banks, waning growth and capital flight.
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I was present at the eurozone meeting in the immediate wake of the Lehman Brothers crash. I remember the sceptical looks when I explained that European banks were in fact more vulnerable than US banks, that they were far more highly leveraged and far more dependent on short-term wholesale funding.
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In fact, half of America’s toxic sub-prime assets had been bought by reckless institutions in Europe
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Europe’s difficulties are indicative of deep structural defects — its declining competitiveness, ageing population and persistently high unemployment.
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A stabilisation fund of some 2 trillion euros could have convinced the markets that Europe meant business wherever it was confronted with problems. But Europe has flinched at every turn from showing the decisiveness that its problems require
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For months we have been told that Europe’s salvation lies in austerity, Germany’s prescription of fiscal discipline to its deficits. But when Chancellor Merkel of Germany and President Sarkozy of France meet they will find evidence of what they did not expect — failing banks, waning growth and capital flight.
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I was present at the eurozone meeting in the immediate wake of the Lehman Brothers crash. I remember the sceptical looks when I explained that European banks were in fact more vulnerable than US banks, that they were far more highly leveraged and far more dependent on short-term wholesale funding.
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In fact, half of America’s toxic sub-prime assets had been bought by reckless institutions in Europe
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Europe’s difficulties are indicative of deep structural defects — its declining competitiveness, ageing population and persistently high unemployment.
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A stabilisation fund of some 2 trillion euros could have convinced the markets that Europe meant business wherever it was confronted with problems. But Europe has flinched at every turn from showing the decisiveness that its problems require
SCO
As officials explained, after Afghanistan becomes an Observer, South Asia would become contiguous to Central Asia in the SCO. This would help all neighbouring countries achieve the two aims they desire in the region for Afghanistan — the country becomes a geo-strategic bridge as well as a terror free zone. India has already been involved with the SCO's Regional Anti-terrorism Centre (RATS) and some intelligence-sharing is taking place. “We told them about the obvious fact of the terror machine being based in the neighbourhood,'' said sources in the government. “We see the RATS as an important regional answer to the terrorism challenge,'' said Mr. Krishna.
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On Pakistan, officials said India had so far been working through the United States to pressure Islamabad into folding up the militant organisations that were operating with the benign acquiescence of the administration in Islamabad or the General Headquarters of the Pakistan Army in Rawalpindi.
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The SCO has the potential to be an additional forum through which Pakistan could be urged to rein in those spouting hatred and violence against those not in agreement with their end goals.
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India, as do many other countries in the region, feel that the SCO, along with countries to the west, would be able to more comprehensively tackle the problem of Islamic militancy attempting to make inroads not in just Af-Pak but the entire arc that begins much further up in the north in an area called the Ferghana Valley, which was artificially divided in the 1920s into three Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union. This division did not take into account the scenario of divided clans and ethnic communities when the three provinces were converted into nation-states following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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On Pakistan, officials said India had so far been working through the United States to pressure Islamabad into folding up the militant organisations that were operating with the benign acquiescence of the administration in Islamabad or the General Headquarters of the Pakistan Army in Rawalpindi.
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The SCO has the potential to be an additional forum through which Pakistan could be urged to rein in those spouting hatred and violence against those not in agreement with their end goals.
.
India, as do many other countries in the region, feel that the SCO, along with countries to the west, would be able to more comprehensively tackle the problem of Islamic militancy attempting to make inroads not in just Af-Pak but the entire arc that begins much further up in the north in an area called the Ferghana Valley, which was artificially divided in the 1920s into three Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union. This division did not take into account the scenario of divided clans and ethnic communities when the three provinces were converted into nation-states following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
IRAN
In her meeting with Iran's Supreme National Security Council secretary Saeed Jalili,
Rao said
"historical commonalities between the two nations require expansion of strategic cooperation between the two countries''.
Besides India, the resolution was endorsed by six world powers -- the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- reflecting a rare measure of unity on Iran. It is the first time since February 2006 that the IAEA board has passed a resolution against that country.
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The resolution demanded that Iran immediately suspend construction of its newly-revealed uranium enrichment plant at Qom--a site kept secret until recently.
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The Prime Minister had also made it clear that India would abide any sanctions imposed by the Security Council on Iran, but indicated that he favoured the path of engagement with Iran.
The problem arose in December 2010 when the Reserve Bank of India, under U.S. pressure, decided to no longer use a clearing mechanism to pay Iran for its crude. Washington and its western allies had exhorted India not to use the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) currency swap system to pay Iran. They argued that this mechanism, established at the initiative of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) and in operation since 1974, was disconcertingly opaque.
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Consequently, it was difficult to ascertain whether the money flowing into Iran's coffers was not used to fortify the country's nuclear programme.
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Faced with these objections, India, according to the Financial Times, began using the German bank, EIH, for making payments. However, this channel broke down in May 2011, after the European Union imposed sanctions on Iran.
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Iran is India's core energy partner — its second largest oil supplier( Nearly 12 per cent)
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Because of the difficulties over payments, Indian companies have accumulated a debt of nearly $5 billion. With the payment row festering, Iran decided to halt supplies to Indian firms for August.
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On July 31, Iran's Oil Ministry website SHANA reported that the payment row had been settled. India would pay part of the debt “promptly” and the rest would be “gradually settled.”
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Quite recently, India's induction into the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member appeared to have led Tehran, to consider afresh, the need for reinforcing its ties with New Delhi.
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India needs Iran to physically access Afghanistan. It can do so from the Iranian port of Chabahar, from where a land corridor extends northwards before entering Afghanistan. For reasons of geography, Iran is central to India's Afghan policy.
Since July, Khamenei has talked about the struggle of Muslims in Kashmir, and this week, asked the "elite" of the Islamic Ummah to protest against "Zionist regimes" that rule the "nation" of Kashmir. However, the Iranian government, called to task by India, has said time and again that their position on Kashmir hasn't changed.
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Which means that either the Iranian government has been speaking in different voices or there are different centres of power in Iran.
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Rao said
"historical commonalities between the two nations require expansion of strategic cooperation between the two countries''.
Besides India, the resolution was endorsed by six world powers -- the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- reflecting a rare measure of unity on Iran. It is the first time since February 2006 that the IAEA board has passed a resolution against that country.
.
The resolution demanded that Iran immediately suspend construction of its newly-revealed uranium enrichment plant at Qom--a site kept secret until recently.
.
The Prime Minister had also made it clear that India would abide any sanctions imposed by the Security Council on Iran, but indicated that he favoured the path of engagement with Iran.
The problem arose in December 2010 when the Reserve Bank of India, under U.S. pressure, decided to no longer use a clearing mechanism to pay Iran for its crude. Washington and its western allies had exhorted India not to use the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) currency swap system to pay Iran. They argued that this mechanism, established at the initiative of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) and in operation since 1974, was disconcertingly opaque.
.
Consequently, it was difficult to ascertain whether the money flowing into Iran's coffers was not used to fortify the country's nuclear programme.
.
Faced with these objections, India, according to the Financial Times, began using the German bank, EIH, for making payments. However, this channel broke down in May 2011, after the European Union imposed sanctions on Iran.
.
Iran is India's core energy partner — its second largest oil supplier( Nearly 12 per cent)
.
Because of the difficulties over payments, Indian companies have accumulated a debt of nearly $5 billion. With the payment row festering, Iran decided to halt supplies to Indian firms for August.
.
On July 31, Iran's Oil Ministry website SHANA reported that the payment row had been settled. India would pay part of the debt “promptly” and the rest would be “gradually settled.”
.
Quite recently, India's induction into the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member appeared to have led Tehran, to consider afresh, the need for reinforcing its ties with New Delhi.
.
India needs Iran to physically access Afghanistan. It can do so from the Iranian port of Chabahar, from where a land corridor extends northwards before entering Afghanistan. For reasons of geography, Iran is central to India's Afghan policy.
Since July, Khamenei has talked about the struggle of Muslims in Kashmir, and this week, asked the "elite" of the Islamic Ummah to protest against "Zionist regimes" that rule the "nation" of Kashmir. However, the Iranian government, called to task by India, has said time and again that their position on Kashmir hasn't changed.
.
Which means that either the Iranian government has been speaking in different voices or there are different centres of power in Iran.
.
Bangla_india
Hasina offered valuable counter cooperation and promised to restore connectivity between India and the north-eastern states through Bangladesh’s territory.
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Delhi, in turn, agreed to move forward on the sharing of the Teesta and Feni river waters and open the Indian market for Bangladeshi textile exports.
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The two sides also agreed to resolve the many issues relating to their boundary, including the completion of the demarcation of their 4,090 km of border and resolving the question of small enclaves landlocked in each other’s territory.
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That Delhi and Dhaka will both benefit from restoring the trans-border connectivity that existed between India and East Pakistan until the 1965 war is not in doubt.
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India gains better access to the Northeast and Bangladesh wins by charging transit fees.
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There are many institutions like the Asian Development Bank that have long been eager to promote connectivity within the eastern subcontinent, and between it and Southeast Asia. Beijing has ambitious plans for mega trans-border projects to link south-western China with Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal and eastern India.
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Delhi, in turn, agreed to move forward on the sharing of the Teesta and Feni river waters and open the Indian market for Bangladeshi textile exports.
.
The two sides also agreed to resolve the many issues relating to their boundary, including the completion of the demarcation of their 4,090 km of border and resolving the question of small enclaves landlocked in each other’s territory.
.
.
That Delhi and Dhaka will both benefit from restoring the trans-border connectivity that existed between India and East Pakistan until the 1965 war is not in doubt.
.
India gains better access to the Northeast and Bangladesh wins by charging transit fees.
.
There are many institutions like the Asian Development Bank that have long been eager to promote connectivity within the eastern subcontinent, and between it and Southeast Asia. Beijing has ambitious plans for mega trans-border projects to link south-western China with Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal and eastern India.
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