Nothing can justify the brutal mass killing of innocent worshippers by a bigot in New Zealand
Another day, another mass shooting with tens of innocents murdered by a deranged killer. This time, the nation in question is not the United States but New Zealand. Yes, New Zealand, that peaceful nation on the edge of the map where one of the warmest communities on the planet stays. The shock being professed by many is not just at the shooting but the fact that it could even occur in that country. And this was not committed by any ordinary psychotic gunman, this was committed by a crazed religious Christian bigot who wanted to exterminate Muslims from his country. The implicit White nationalism that this shooter believed in is a similar ideology advocated by racists across the Western world. This man was not a lone gunman, he was a terrorist like Andres Brevik outside Oslo or Ajmal Kasab in Mumbai.
Terror has no religion and anyone who wants to kill innocents on the streets, in schools and in religious places has to be labelled a terrorist, no matter what his motivation. Innocents are those people going about their day to day lives not expecting anything out of the ordinary. There will be an attempt by some, particularly in the Western world, to whitewash these crimes because many of those who died were first-generation immigrants. But the concept of acting on behalf of “my people”, as the gunman said he was doing, must also be condemned. As India knows too well, terrorism exists because of the apologia of political leaders and the law turning a blind eye. Most terrorists are not members of some underclass but live and work freely.
Thankfully in India, unlike New Zealand, the United States and Norway, it is not easy for members of the general public to acquire high-powered weapons like the ones the terrorists have used. And this again highlights the need for authorities across the world to clamp down on the availability of high-powered weaponry to citizens. Even if the right of citizens exists to bear firearms, it is ridiculous for military-grade automatic versions to be available to the general public. In that respect, India’s overall gun licensing laws, while archaic, have kept weapons availability thankfully limited although there is still rampant gun-running and smuggling, particularly of the illegal variety, in parts of northern India. Our authorities would do well to clamp down on those to prevent any chance of a crazed man, and it almost always is a man, committing such a crime here. It takes a special type of a disturbed individual to kill children in a school or people while they are praying and we repeat, such people are terrorists.
Courtesy & Writer: The Pioneer
Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya, which premiered at Toronto Film Festival in 2013, is finally released in India. Director Shilpa Ranade tells SHALINI SAKSENA animation is her choice to tell stories
How has your journey been thus far?
I picked up an area — animation — to make films which is not really big in India. it has been tough since there are not many options to the kind of work that I want to do. There isn’t much funding, not many platforms where one can showcases one’s work and not many like-minded animators. There are very few animators who are experimenting with their work or their storytelling or are invested in doing things that are local. It is still a very niche area.
Why choose animation to tell your stories?
I was always interested in visual arts. I studied Applied Arts and went to Sir JJ College of Architecture. From my early days at JJ I was part of film clubs and societies and saw some interesting work from Europe. Animation, I thought was a powerful medium. It brought image making, moving images and storytelling together. For me, this was important because I wanted to make such moving stuff. So it started way back and then went on to study animation.
Where does India stand when it comes to animation?
Technically, we are decent since a lot of back-end work is outsourced to the country. People are trained on the job and the quality is good. Where we lack is storytelling and making original content.
Is that why some of animation that is made in India is not at par with what we see abroad?
I would not say that it is not lack of imagination as much but that not many people are investing in animation. Even if there are some, where do they get the funding, if they get that, who will show that work? It is a chain. You don’t create an audience, you don’t create a culture that views these films other than animation from Disney or any other production house.
Are you a designer, illustrator, a filmmaker or an academician?
I think that design encompasses all. For me, illustration and animation comes under design. Designer is not different from an illustrator. My focus is book illustration and animation. I teach because I enjoy it.
What is Goopi Gawaiya Bagha Bajaiya about?
I am an book illustrator and got this book from Scholastic which is a classic story by Upendra Kishore Roychowdhury back in 1915. It has been retold by many people. The version I got is from Gulzar. I drew for the book and while I was doing it,m I thought it was perfect material for animation — the original work. I had seen Satyajit Ray’s work on the book as well. He was Roy Chowdhury’s grandson, there was this amazing lineage. I wanted to make a film that would resonate with kids today. Animation is perfect.
Does the animation have a message to tell?
Yes. It is important that everything that I do is just for entertainment. It is important to have good content for children since we don’t do a lot of things for them. This film has a anti-war message, a peace loving film, which is relevant today.
So there lack of films for children?
Definitely. We have so many films coming out from the industry. Where do we have kids film? Except for CFSI, I don’t think anybody is making films for kids?
Where do you get your ideas for animation?
I see what is happening around me or what I read, or music I listen to. All this reflects in my subject.
Writer: Shalini Saksena
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Despite the recent events, India must do all it can to prevent Pakistan from using the Kartarpur corridor to revive pro-Khalistan sentiments
The freedom to practise one’s faith and seek succour at shrines dedicated to it has been a challenge for nation states that are in conflict with each other but share a religious and cultural heritage beyond borders. However, as this is a UN-mandated human rights issue, every nation has tried to work out a protocol, Israel and Palestine being prime examples of ensuring cross-flow of pilgrims to shrines on each side despite the attendant security imperatives, oppressive herding drills and the overarching shroud of politics. So it has taken really long for both India and Pakistan to agree to open a special border crossing linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Kartarpur – the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev – to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district. However, given the heightened tension between both neighbours over the Pulwama terror attacks and the Balakot airstrikes, and now Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar protected by a Chinese hold at the UN, the talks to work out the modalities were undoubtedly under a cloud. But as the government has set a new paradigm in counter-terrorism strategies with pre-emptive strikes on terror camps, it has also laid a new template for shared shrines by delinking it completely from diplomacy, categorically saying that this common interest, while allowing people-to-people contact, could in no way be interpreted as a thaw in relations or a resumption of bilateral dialogue. In that sense, it would be just business as usual in helping cross-border families get on with their daily lives like the Samjhauta Express. However, for all the show of bonhomie, there were some glitches too — India wants visa-free access to at least 5,000 pilgrims per day but Pakistan wants a permit issued and a limit on numbers. India also reminded that the spirit of the pilgrimage should be honoured, making Pakistan responsible for any disruptive or militant activity. But overall, the meeting remained cordial with both sides determined to address their domestic constituency and claim the moral high ground.
No matter how hard India may try, the fact is that Pakistan’s encouraging moves on the Kartarpur corridor are not entirely free of politics. Pakistan seized the first mover’s advantage in propaganda by declaring its intention to operationalise it soon after Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh blamed it and the ISI for the grenade attack on a Nirankari gathering near Amritsar. India had no choice but to get into the act immediately before it could assess if it was another attempt by Pakistan to woo the Sikh community, revive the hardline Khalistan sentiment and eventually create unrest in Punjab. Pilgrimages between India and Pakistan are governed by the 1974 Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines, but Kartarpur being not on that list needs a separate code of engagement, one where both sides will jostle for a say. Besides, India has to be alert that the base camp on the Pakistan side doesn’t become a hotbed for Khalistani propaganda and meetings in the name of allowing faith congregations. Pakistan’s haste in pushing the corridor now after years of dilly-dallying does raise questions about its intentions. The first demand for a visa-free access was made in 1999 by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In 2004, Dr Manmohan Singh suggested a corridor as Prime Minister. On both occasions, there was no positive response from Pakistan. However, the very day Imran Khan took oath as Prime Minister, the message for opening the corridor was conveyed by Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa to Punjab Minister and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, knowing full well the latter’s flamboyance and ability to shoot off his mouth, which he did, catching India completely off guard. The “deep state” had succeeded in championing a delicate cause for the Sikhs. And yet again, as General Bajwa stood in Kartarpur, shaking hands with a known Khalistani face, Gopal Singh Chawla, the visual added to our worries. Pakistan could still use this people-to-people contact to pressure India into resuming comprehensive dialogue and appear altruistic and big-hearted in the process. But India cannot afford to let down guard on isolating Pakistan diplomatically over its sponsorship of terror factories that impact us. Kartarpur should remain a matter of faith and not a political tool.
Writer & Courtesy: The Pioneer
In its bid at social reformation, the Nitish Kumar government, has reached the extremities of denial. The American era proves how it has resulted in nothing more than a social and economic disaster
The introduction of prohibition by the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar has caused tension from the beginning. It is not surprising since the experiment has been initiated in a state that incidentally borders Nepal, which is an independent country. From the viewpoint of law and order, prohibition is a difficult measure to enforce as the Bihar-Nepal border is porous. Nevertheless, for womenfolk in rural India, a teetotaller husband is a most welcome introduction as it enables family life to be more peaceful as well as comparatively prosperous. For the middle and poorer classes, money spent by the husband on liquor burns a big hole in the family budget. So the Nitish Kumar government, in its bid at social reformation, has gone to the absolute limit of denial by not even allowing liquor permits for the old and the medically weak. This is unlike prohibition in other states, which allow a monthly quota for spirits certified by a government doctor. This means that those people who cannot survive without some alcohol must quit Bihar. What effect such a strict prohibition would have is yet to be seen.
It is noteworthy that prohibition has failed to endure in India, be it in Tamil Nadu or Maharashtra, except parts of Gujarat. There are reports no doubt that illegal drinking does take place. So the state exchequer misses out on the revenue except on what is sold on the permits. On the extra-legal quantities, there are reports of backdoor incomes being earned by those in charge of implementation of the measure. In Gujarat, apart from the permit holders, the consumers have two other points of relief. The Union Territories of Diu and Daman are free from prohibition. These two towns, until 1961, were under Portuguese rule and were accustomed to entertaining customers for a merry evening life. Diu is situated on the southern coast of the Saurashtra peninsula while Daman is located in south Gujarat. Besides, it is easier for Gujaratis to accept a denial of drinks than Biharis. Since Gandhiji originated from Gujarat, it became embarrassing for Gujaratis to insist on alcohol and Bapuji’s thoughts shaped their social behaviour patterns. Bihar has a lesser reason to feel awkward in resisting prohibition.
There is a silent irony of prohibition in Gujarat, which has been overlooked by its own people as well as its observers from outside. The business of Mumbai was developed largely by Gujaratis, the trading by the Hindus, Khojas and Bohras, while industry and big finance were cultivated by the Parsis. Why is it that the same Gujarati-speaking people have not been able to take either Ahmedabad or Surat to comparable business benchmarks in Mumbai? Why didn’t Gujarati genius flourish in its home state? The clue to the answer lies in a casual remark of the writer’s co-train passenger many years ago. In the course of the ongoing conversation, he happened to say that while he liked to live in Mumbai, he was comfortable running his spinning mill in Gujarat. That way he could get dual benefits — the industrial peace of Gujarat and all the creature comforts of Mumbai. The metropolis has high society, club life, five-star hotels, schools and colleges for his children and the wondrous seaside in Juhu, Versova, Chowpatty or Marine Drive. Many bank headquarters and financial institutions are headquartered in Mumbai. Most international flights touch the city. Where in Gujarat could he find all these facilities?
Does the key then lie in prohibition? Let us see. For a flourishing club life, as well as for luxurious hotels to be sustained, an easy availability of drinks is a necessary ingredient. A club life comparable to Mumbai’s is nowhere to be found across Gujarat. To drink by oneself, perhaps with a friend or two, is not the same, or even comparable. If the owners of industry and the movers of commerce do not reside in the state, it cannot grow or develop in the way they do, say in Mumbai. In the bargain, nor do schools and colleges get established on the same scale. All in all, therefore, the state cannot be a destination for the aspirant.
The US has a fairly comprehensive experience of prohibition across the country for 13 years, between 1920 and 1933. Fortunately, a good deal was reported and written on the experience while it was under way. Moreover, detailed analyses of the experience were made by social scientists after it was over. Underneath is quoted a summary of what Prof Mark Thornton of Auburn University published.
National prohibition of alcohol — a seemingly noble experiment — was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce the tax burden created by prisons and poor houses and improve health and hygiene in America. The results of that experiment clearly indicate that it was a miserable failure on all counts. The evidence affirms sound economic theory, which predicts that prohibition of mutually beneficial exchanges is doomed to failure. The lessons of the Prohibition era remain important today. They apply not only to the debate over the war on drugs but also to the mounting efforts to drastically reduce access to alcohol and tobacco and to such issues as censorship and bans on insider trading, abortion and gambling.
Although consumption of alcohol fell at the beginning, it subsequently increased. Alcohol became more dangerous to consume; crime increased and became organised; the court and prison systems were stretched to the breaking point; and corruption of public officials was rampant. No measurable gains were made in productivity or reduced absenteeism. Prohibition removed a significant source of tax revenue and greatly increased government spending. It led many drinkers to switch to opium, marijuana, patent medicines, cocaine and other dangerous substances that they would have been unlikely to encounter in the absence of prohibition. Those results are documented from a variety of sources, most of which, ironically, are the work of supporters of the Prohibition era. These findings make the case against our prohibition that much stronger.
Where then lies the solution or the synthesis to minimise the consumption of liquor? Prohibition, in a blanket form, may be difficult and expensive to enforce. On the other hand, the social, family as well as health considerations are important. One suggestion is that every adult above 25 years be allowed to acquire an annual permission to drink, whether foreign or Indian. The fee could be say Rs 50,000 per permission. For someone who cannot afford so much money, he/she should be able to acquire a permission for say Rs 10,000 but allowed to buy and drink only the desi variety. Enforcement should be comparatively less difficult because every policeman would have his eye on anyone drinking and have the authority to check the permit. If such checkers prove greedy, they would in turn induce the drinker to get himself permission on payment of a fee. These fees should be a source of revenue and with the income, the taxes on liquor could be reduced. This in turn would make the sale of spurious and harmful liquor less tempting.
(The writer is a well-known columnist and an author)
Writer: Prafull Goradia
Courtesy: The Pioneer
The next Prime Minister of India could bring in the best global educators to run HRD operations and specialists to head youth organisations. That would help us reap dividends
Dear Modi ji, Rahul ji, Pawar ji, Mamata di, Akhilesh ji, Babu Garu, Rao Garu, Naveen ji, Stalin ji, Thackeray ji, Gowda ji and all the leaders of parties contesting the 2019 general elections: In a few days’ time, India will choose its new government. This means one among you has a chance to become the next Prime Minister of India. For each one of you, including the incumbent Prime Minister, it will be a new beginning to lead the country.
Having served as the director in the Prime Minister’s Office, I have seen how leaders evolve. The moment a leader becomes the Prime Minister, one sheds the political colour and makes “development of the nation” as the priority. When Narendra Modi held his first meeting with senior officers in the PMO, he said, “I want to achieve development like never before. Please suggest the policies I should focus on. You don’t need to bother about what I said during the election campaign, that’s for elections. Now that I am the Prime Minister, I would like to take forward the good policies of previous governments and remove the wrong ones. Your job is to suggest the best policies to take the country forward.” It was audacious of him to say this. Similar was the approach of all past Prime Ministers, from Pandit Nehru to Dr Manmohan Singh.
As one of the participants of this meeting in the PMO, I suggested the importance of focusing on the youth and PM Modi was very interested. However, there was little follow-up to this. Though I have had multiple careers since, my work with the youth has remained constant. It is with this experience that I am putting forward a few policy ideas that could help you become the best Prime Minister. A country’s potential for growth is determined by its policies for its youth. About 75 per cent of India is below 40 years of age, and in the next quarter century, India will have this envious demographic advantage with a majority young population. The business community may project oil, land or data as the greatest resources for growth but none of them can match the invaluable power of the youth. If nurtured properly, the youth can become the greatest game changer for the next government. But don’t forget that having 75 per cent of the population as youth is as much an advantage as it is a danger. If not nurtured and treated well, this segment could also become the greatest threat to India. In Kashmir, marginalised youth turn to terrorism and in other areas, where they are disadvantaged, they turn to anti-social activities. With the advent of mobile, digital and media technologies, the youth are now living in a globalised world. Access to any information or any place in the world is just a click away. It has made them ambitious and they are aware that they could make their dreams into reality. If utilised well, “information” could become the greatest empowering tool because it is key to development in a democracy. If planned and executed well, you could turn this threat into your greatest resource.
The first step to nurture the youth is to provide high-quality education to catapult them into employable and empowered citizens. Unfortunately, budget allocation for education does not match the talk. While the direct tax collection has been increasing consistently, the allocation for education has only decreased dangerously. If this trend continues, the next generation will not forgive you. In 2013-14, when the direct tax collection was over Rs 6 lakh crore, the budget for education was over Rs 63,000 crore, at 6.15 per cent of the budget. And this year, when the direct tax collection has crossed Rs 12 lakh crore, the budget allocation for education has been reduced to 50 per cent at over Rs 90,000 crore, which is just over 3.3 per cent of the budget.
If you are sincere in your intention of developing the people and the country, allocate at least 10 percent of the budget to the education segment in the first year and increase it by two per cent every year. A part of this may be earmarked for technological intervention. The world of education is changing and it could become inclusive with the use of digital, mobile and internet technologies. Nehru had started adult education but classes for seniors are still using the conventional methods or doing almost nothing. Transform these departments with tech-interventions. Classroom teaching, by the best IIT professors, could be made available to anyone in the world at a very low cost. Harvard, MIT and so on are using these ways to make education inclusive.
The AAP government in Delhi has shown how a good budget could transform education and empower the next generation. By consistently allocating 25 per cent of its budget to education, it has brought visible changes. This has empowered educators, enhanced infrastructure and transformed the students. As the 13th child born to a farmer and brought up in a village, that is not connected by roads even today, I endorse this as it is education and reading that have transformed me from a village boy to a social innovator.
Second, focus should be on skill development. Though Modi is the one who started a Ministry for Skill Development, eventually the PM had to remove even the Minister! The entire allocation meant for skilling the youth and providing them with a job became a bogus affair as the businesses could take money on the pretext of “re-skilling” the already employed. Simply put, the business houses, especially in the manufacturing industries like textiles, could take away the money meant for the unskilled and unemployed youth. And a well-intended dream was again wasted.
The third area that needs focus is equipping youth for innovations and entrepreneurship because it is through these that jobs can be created. For an emerging economy and a developing nation, there should be adequate policies and budget allocation for innovations and entrepreneurship. Rajiv Gandhi started the IT/telecom revolution, which powered India to create the highest number of professionals, industry, education institutions and FDI. The IIMs are the top management institutes in the country and their flagship programmes are on Agriculture Management. But 99 per cent of the students don’t work in agriculture anymore. However, if the next government could allocate substantial funding for agri-startups to tap into these bright MBAs, it could be another game changer for India. What is pulling back the rural economy is lack of innovations in agriculture. Similarly, there should be focus on the manufacturing and the service sector.
Another area to lay emphasis on could be policy initiatives for preventive healthcare. Most of the healthcare spending is on hospitals. By adding a subject in school curriculum on preventive healthcare for 12 years of school education, it could instill a culture of prevention. Like budget allocation for education, the allocation for healthcare has also been reduced to half this year. Among the start-up initiatives, the greatest possibilities for growth are for healthcare and hence the government should start a special scheme to support entrepreneurial initiatives by medical professionals. Engage youth for community service. Projects like ‘Swachh Bharat’ could have easily involved the youth groups like National Service Scheme (NSS), NYKS among others. If these institutions are headed by people with no connection with volunteerism or headed by secretariat service officers, they are bound to fail. The NYKS was started as a department for engagement of the rural non-student youth. It remains headless for almost two years, after the ex-Army officer, who after heading it for two years was asked to leave since he failed to connect with the youth and work with his colleagues cohesively. Youth development cannot be achieved with an ornamental event; they should be engaged consistently. The long-standing programme of the NSS has not been able to attract the youth organically. Since the colleges have a compulsory programme, the students join NSS as it fetches grace marks for participating in an annual event and one campus event. If the next government could do so, not only would the goal of nation-building be achieved, it could also inculcate the culture of service.
The future of governance will be based on a hybrid model, where youth are engaged in policy formulation along with the executive. This will have a greater impact, as they will come up with policy ideas that work for all and are more futuristic. In any case, it is the legislature, the representatives of the people, who will have the final say on this.
Continuing with policies like GST, Aadhaar and strengthening them with legislative reforms was a good step forward. Not only the policies, even the professionals hired for the Digital Multi-media Centre that I had started during my tenure in the PMO are completing another full-term. But the executive may not advise this. The babus ensured that an effective specialist heading NSDC was shown the door. Eventually, when the skills programme started showing negative effect, Modi had to replace the officers and even the Minister. Always remember, nobody in the executive will know the pulse of the people the way the political class would know. Specialist leaders and not generalists are the need of the hour. The way reputed economists are brought in by every PM to run the finance and economic departments, the next PM could bring in 25 best educators from across the world to run the Human Resource Development (HRD), and youth specialists to head youth-linked organisations. They will ensure that set goals are achieved, targets are met and the mission is accomplished. Remember, it is Kurien, Swaminathan and Homi Bhabha who led the white revolution, green revolution and the nuclear revolution respectively.
Kerala sets an example of how education and engagement of their youth could transform a society. It was in 1846, when a Christian priest from my village of Kainakary, Fr Kuriakose Elias Chavara, insisted on “pallikuppam pallikoodam”, meaning “a school with every church.” As he universalised education, there was opposition from the elite as they felt education was their fiefdom. His schools were open for everyone irrespective of caste, creed and economic status. Inspired by his work, every religious/caste group started schools: SD/NSS schools by upper caste Hindus, SNDP by the Ezhavas and the MES by the Muslims. Today, Kerala has an educated, developed and vibrant society. The Keralites are able to find jobs in India and abroad. Most importantly, they remain the symbol of peace and progress.
If you as the next Prime Minister could take a leaf out of his example and initiate a ‘Mandir ke saath Shiksha-Mandir’, you could transform India. No youth aspires to remain unemployed. They want to make progress; economically and socially. Education and engagement are the only route to attain this. With this youth focussed manifesto and policy interventions, I am confident that you will become the best Prime Minister that India has produced.
(The author is a young global leader of the World Economic Forum and founder of many initiatives for the youth. He was director in PMO)
Writer: Binoy Job
Courtesy: The Pioneer
By winning back the AGP into the NDA, BJP shows it is realistic about allies giving it winnable numbers
Even last month, the BJP wasn’t too keen to work with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which had walked out of the alliance government in Assam over the Citizenship Amendment Bill. But now it has not only promised a re-look of the Bill, factoring in regional concerns, fears and aspirations, it has also got back the AGP on the table for the Lok Sabha elections, hoping that commitment would cascade in assuaging its other allies in the Northeast and arrest a drift. It is a masterstroke of negotiation, which was led by BJP general secretary and Northeast in-charge Ram Madhav, that the party was able to break the AGP top leadership, even offer gubernatorial sops to founder-leader and the still adamant Prafulla Mahanta and get the Bodoland People’s Front on board. The BJP, which has been assiduously building a constituency in the Northeast by fast-tracking development as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Look-east policy, is seeking an electoral insurance from the region lest there be some slippage in the heartland, battling as it is popular discontent on livelihood issues. But the Bill, proposing to grant citizenship to Hindu refugees from across the border, has undone all that as any migrant influx is detrimental to Ahom identity and the socio-economic rights of indigenous people over their land. Meghalaya and Mizoram have been up in flames, too, over the Bill and the BJP has realised that it cannot alienate the region it has so carefully stitched up with its priorities. Besides, it has also understood that its “national security” narrative after the Balakot strikes, while working in North India, would not cut much ice in the Northeast, which would rather negotiate local gains for a mandate. So it took the central party several rounds of persuasion, with talks led by State minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, to revive a flagging friendship and go in for seat-sharing.
However, the larger question is whether this is one of easy convenience or uneasy co-existence? One part of the AGP, especially the three Ministers who resigned from the BJP government, could have used their letters of withdrawal as a pre-poll pressure tactic for they were never processed. The AGP itself is still a divided house about this new arrangement with the dissidents claiming that it could signal the end of regionalism before an imposed centrist discourse and, more importantly, erode the relevance of local parties. So the BJP, while keeping to its stand on the Citizenship Amendment Bill, would review aspects uncomfortable to its partner and devise workarounds. With this turnaround, the BJP has once again demonstrated that regardless of a tide or ebb of opinions in its favour, it is frantically trying to keep its allies happy in the interest of a larger NDA front scoring at the hustings. In the process, it doesn’t mind yielding dominant space to them in key states, so long as it can spearhead them to power as the single largest party. If winnability requires taking help, the BJP has certainly got down to it better and stronger than the Opposition mahagathbandhan or the Congress, which is finding it difficult to even communicate with regional leaders. With the latest additions, the NDA had a record 36 allies in its fold. This is progress from the Vajpayee-Advani years, when BJP became the rallying point of anti-Congressism with 24 partners. The BJP is moving in fast simply because it is at times bending backwards to accommodate new allies, even when they are not like-minded. For example, it offered the sitting Giridih seat in Jharkhand to All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), from where its president Sudesh Mahto is poised to contest as NDA candidate. In Tamil Nadu, after AIADMK, it won over DMDK to its side. Modi has been personally in touch with Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal while his party has yielded more seats to Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) in Bihar and equal share to its pesky partner Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. If emotions fail, it will have arithmetic on its side.
Writer: Pioneer
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Rajdhani, which recently turned 50, has established itself as a premium brand. But what made it more accessible was its redesigning 25 years ago
The Rajdhani Express, running between New Delhi and Howrah, recently completed 50 years in service. But it is no longer the same train that was introduced on March 1, 1969 as 101 Up and 102 Dn between New Delhi and Howrah. It has become a brand and proliferated on a number of routes connecting different state capitals with New Delhi. Its current avatar reflects the socio-economic and mental transformation of the Indian society as much as the technological evolution of the Indian Railways.
The time taken to travel between New Delhi and Howrah has remained more or less the same though. It was 17 hours and 20 minutes in 1969, when the train ran at a maximum speed of 115 km per hour. It is in the vicinity of 17 hours now (unless one gets trapped for an extra hour between Ghaziabad and Delhi as is often the case) running at a maximum of 120 km per hour. But way back then, the engine could haul only five coaches to meet that speed requirement. Out of the five, only one was the AC Sleeper Car having 18 berths while the remaining four were AC Chair Car compartments, each having 71 chairs. The fares of two categories were as different as Rs 280 and Rs 90. But it was still able to find 96 per cent occupancy within three years.
Chair cars are not conducive for long and overnight journeys. But few complained about it for auxiliary advantages that the Rajdhani Express entailed like end-to-end air conditioning, great speed, complimentary quality food, books and magazines and excellent upkeep. It was like a flight on the rails. Only one had to endure it for 17 hours too long. But chair cars were not intentional on the part of the Indian Railways. Just that in those days, it was not possible to manufacture coaches having enough safety features to accommodate sleepers and simultaneously travel at such a high speed.
On May 17, 1972, the first Rajdhani Express between New Delhi and Bombay Central was introduced. Since both New Delhi-Howrah and New Delhi-Bombay ran twice a week, both trains were oversubscribed. For a long time, there was a demand to increase the accommodating capacity by adding coaches, increasing the frequency of trains and introducing Rajdhani Expresses on new routes. These demands pointed towards the growing clout of the Rajdhani brand. By the 1980s, Indian Railways was reportedly developing high speed coaches. But high speed locomotives were still not there. Thus on April 1, 1981, when another AC Chair Car coach (in view of increased demand) was added on the New Delhi-Bombay Central route, authorities conceded that the speed would be reduced, which could be compensated by putting an additional locomotive.
Since the mid-1980s, powerful locomotives took over gradually. The Express hauled no less than 16 habitable coaches without suffering retardation in speed. Madhav Rao Scindia, Rajiv Gandhi’s Railway Minister, is considered one of the best ever. Under him, the railway locomotion, dominated by steam engines until the middle of the 1980s, gave way to diesel engines. But it was a barren period as far as Rajdhani Express was concerned. There were clamouring voices in Parliament to introduce Rajdhani Express to Madras (now Chennai), Secunderabad and Bangalore which he sternly rejected. He rather introduced the Shatabdi Express in 1988, which ran faster than the Rajdhani but for a lesser distance without the need for an overnight journey.
But a new phase opened up in the early 1990s, when C.K. Jaffer Sharief became the Railway Minister. Sharief, perhaps being from Karnataka, treated those voices from the South with sympathy. In his first railway budget on February 25, 1992, he announced weekly Rajdhani Expresses from New Delhi to Secunderabad and Bangalore respectively. Based on passengers’ response, he even announced that new Rajdhani services would be introduced on the Madras and Thiruvananthapuram routes. In 1993, a weekly Rajdhani Express was started from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Madras. Simultaneously, both the original Rajdhani Expresses to Howrah and Bombay Central respectively became a daily phenomenon.
Sharief was somehow determined to play Santa Claus with the Rajdhani Express. By the end of his term in 1996, the premium train was operating on 11 different routes from New Delhi. He also took an important decision to replace the AC chair cars with AC 3-tier on all Rajdhani Expresses. The bedrolls were to be supplied by the Indian Railways. This, however, had a cost to the customer, which was 25 per cent higher.
The AC 3-tier coaches (with 67 berths) manufactured at Railway Coach Factory at Kapurthala (estd.1986) around 1994 were innovative products that became extremely popular. By the end of 1996, they had been introduced on 46 trains, including 11 Rajdhani Express routes. It was a game-changer for the Indian Railways.
The advent of AC 3 tier, replacing the chair car, signified a reconceptualisation of the Rajdhani Express. It was the end of that elite train as one knew it for 25 years. It was now a “normal” super fast train where passengers could spend their nights sleeping rather than be seated. It was actually this feature that made the Rajdhani Express India’s favourite train whereas earlier it was just exotic. Today it is a brand among long distance AC superfast trains. The demand for introducing the service on new routes is constantly heard in both houses of Parliament. In October 2017, the present government introduced a weekly service on the New Delhi-Agartala route, the longest distance covered by any Rajdhani Express. But at the same time the frequency of the New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani via Bhadrak and Adra was reduced from thrice to twice a week as an alternate route was opened up through Sambalpur City.
With the introduction of dynamic pricing, a berth in Rajdhani Express could be dearer by 150 per cent than its notified price. But on the other hand the government is experimenting with cost-cutting measures that hit service quality. For instance, from last year, snacks and soups have been reduced or taken off from the menu. Is Rajdhani Express still evolving or scrambling?
(The writer is an independent researcher based in New Delhi. The views expressed herein are his personal)
Writer: Priyadarshi Dutta
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Developing economies, such India, are logging the highest consumption in spite of the fact that they are already suffering from poor monitoring and regulations. The country must revisit policies to avoid poisoning of our natural resources
The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), that got under way on March 11 in Nairobi, put the spotlight on the chemical production industry of the world and how it is set to severely undermine global environmental conditions. On the first day, the UNEA delivered a wake-up call to the world that the globally agreed target of minimising adverse impacts of chemicals and waste by 2020 is all set to be missed thanks to the rapid growth of the sector making it the world’s second largest manufacturing one. This does not bear good news for countries across the world and more so for fast-growing economies like India.
According to the Global Chemicals Outlook report, chemical production across the world will double by 2030. This clearly means that the countries must find ways in which this spiralling volume is controlled before the very same chemicals seep into our precious ecology and start impacting our food cycle and endanger our flora and fauna. Currently, the world has the capacity to produce 2.3 billion tonne chemicals and according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, already 1.6 million lives have been lost in 2016 due to diseases related to chemicals. With dangerous consequences such as these, it is high time that growing economies, particularly India, focus on replacing the chemicals with more eco-friendly alternatives.
The efforts in the direction of reining in the chemicals in our lives was initiated strongly in 2015 when the world collectively adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — seventeen of these goals relate to chemicals and waste management. In fact, SDG Target 12.4 specifically mandates that “by 2020, achieve environmentally-sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimise their adverse impacts on human health and the environment.” But given our intrinsic dependence on these chemicals and the almost lax regulations governing their production, usage and disposal, one cannot help but observe that the impact on our environment is going to be grave indeed.
To understand the very gravity of the issue, one must refer to the assessment by UNEP and the International Council of Chemical Associations in 2018, which showed that there were 40,000-60,000 chemicals being commercially used globally. And 6,000 of them account for 99 per cent of the total volume. Despite a global agreement reached at high-level UN conferences and significant action already taken, environmental scientists continue to express concern over the lack of progress towards the sound management of chemicals and waste. The laxity in the matter is evident by the abundant growth in the sector uninhibited by a meaningful control mechanism and framework.
To make matters worse as of 2018, more than 120 countries did not implement the globally harmonised system of classification and labelling of chemicals.
Against this background, the stark threats of chemical production and their use are too real and serious to be ignored. Moreover, statistics show that developing economies are logging the highest consumption of these chemicals in spite of the fact that these countries are already suffering from poor monitoring and regulations. How this can be allowed is too difficult to fathom.
The fact that chemical production and consumption are shifting to emerging economies, in particular China, is alarming to say the least. The Asia-Pacific region is projected to account for more than two-thirds of global sales by 2030. Cross-border e-commerce pertaining to the chemical industry is growing at 25 per cent annually. This is expected to fuel the growth which will be highest in Asia, with China estimated to account for almost 50 per cent of global chemical sales by 2030. These developments are taking place in total disregard for the international efforts to control the chemical industry.
India in particular has unique environmental conditions, which are already very much burdened by the expanding population and high air pollution levels. Given this, India cannot afford a chemical pollution fiasco and must set up stringent regulations that can control prevalence. The government must revisit the laws governing the production and disposal of chemicals in India. Focus must also be laid on how the by products of chemical production are handled without compromising the environment. India must also check the content of heavy metals in the various categories of chemicals as these eventually find their way into nature, especially ground water tables, and directly impact human health.
The chemical industry needs to turn over a new leaf and thanks to advancements in science and technology, developed countries across the world are now leaving harmful substances out of manufacturing. This is encouraging responsible production and accountable consumption. For this to take place in India the government must educate people about the ill effects of chemicals and highlight the role of naturefriendly alternatives. This alone can have a huge impact on saving the environment from a disastrous onslaught.
(The author is an environmental journalist)
Writer: Kota Sriraj
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Measuring the Indian economy is challenging. But multiple surveys are emphasising a crisis in the job market
Which is the biggest problem that the next government that will take power by the end of May face? This is a multiple-choice question unfortunately. Will it be the precarious situation on the border with Pakistan? Will it be the massive trade deficit with China? Will it be the state of the Indian environment? Or the crisis in Indian agriculture? And lastly, could it be that of mass youth unemployment? No matter what happens in the elections and whosoever gets the hot seat, the next government will have its hands full the day it is sworn into office. The last two crises are the most pressing ones though, because they directly impact the mood of voters and are interlinked. The agrarian crisis is at a level born out of modern farming and food chains, which have made land more productive and subsistence farming even more marginal. As a result, more and more young people, the children of farmers and farm labourers, want to enter the workforce but find far too few jobs compatible with their skill set. At the same time, increasing levels of manufacturing and software automation are causing job numbers to shrink further.
While Opposition politicians will use these numbers as a stick to beat up their rivals in power, they should realise one important fact. This is not a crisis unique to India, youth unemployment is off the charts in many countries across the world, in developed and developing economies. Fixing this will not just take a national effort but a coordinated global push. And innovative new solutions will have to be found. For example, should a “Universal Basic Income”, like that initiated by Finland, be followed? The rationale is that if people know that they are getting a decent level of income, they can focus their energies on doing something creative and economically worthwhile. But the question arises whether India can afford such a scheme? The other crucial fact that is becoming increasingly clear in some of the job surveys that have been released is the fact that India’s higher education system is also broken. Many young men and women have qualifications but cannot get jobs, in no small part due to their qualifications not being worth the paper they are printed on. Poor language and social skills are the biggest problem of all. In many other parts of the world, such as in France, the issues around youth unemployment have driven thousands of people on to the streets. India has so far been spared mass protests and while election season will pass off peacefully, the fact is that by May-end India will have another batch of freshly-minted graduates with fancy degrees but with few jobs. How long can any government keep them off the streets? And the problem is menacing. India’s unemployment rate rose to 7.2 per cent last month, up from 5.9 per cent in February 2018, according to data compiled by CMIE.
Writer: Pioneer
Courtesy: The Pioneer
Sonia Gandhi may be considering the idea of retiring from politics but the Congress needs her on many front. From bridging the new and old guard, to negotiating with the Opposition front and chaperoning Priyanka in the post-Pulwama scenario
All set to win her sixth Lok Sabha election since 1999, the 72-year-old Congress matriarch Sonia Gandhi is far from her long speculated retirement. Rumours have been doing the rounds for the past year that she was ready to hang up her boots from active politics due to her ill health and also to give space to her son. It was said that since she has handed over the baton to her son Rahul Gandhi and also inducted her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in active politics, the time was ripe for her to bow out.
Sonia herself indicated her retirement as early as December 2017 when she declared, “My role is to retire.” Though she has been keeping a low profile since then and taking a back seat, her role, as the final arbitrator in case of any dispute in the party, remains unquestioned. Many expected her not to contest the Lok Sabha elections this time. Contrary to this, her name was in the first list of candidates from Uttar Pradesh. Her candidature from Rae Bareli proves that the Congress cannot do without Sonia for some more time, as the party believes that she can still pull the votes.
Sonia has been toying with the idea of complete retirement from politics since she turned 70 in 2016. She is said to have shared her plans with those close to her. However, the party kept pressuring her and delaying her plans until Rahul Gandhi stabilised himself as the party chief. For the past year and more, she has stopped meeting party leaders and directed those who called on her to Rahul. Her public appearances have reduced drastically over the past year. She did not campaign in the five Assembly polls last year. Her last election rally was in Hyderabad before the Telangana Assembly polls in December. She has withdrawn herself completely from day-to-day party activities. However, the post Pulwama and Balakot airstrikes and the current political situation have forced her to change her plans of retirement and hence her re-nomination from Rae Bareli.
Sonia Gandhi has grown from the political novice that she was in 1998, when she took over the party, to become the party matriarch today. She has emerged as one of the tallest national leaders and has found a niche for herself in the party as well as in the national scene. She has been the longest party president for 19 years. The party won the Lok Sabha elections in 2004 and 2009 under her leadership. She is seen as the binding force to keep the party united. The Congress is banking on her experience and mature guidance to keep a balance between its young and old guard. The pressure from the old guard was also one of the reasons for Sonia’s contesting elections as the latter is still not comfortable with the new set-up. Though Rahul has accommodated the old guard, they feel that a new group, consisting of Sam Pitroda, the party’s data analysis department chairman Praveen Chakravarty and Jairam Ramesh, have taken over decision-making leaving them to watch helplessly. The old guard is aghast at their tall claims like training seven lakh booth level workers in about three weeks.
Sonia’s retirement plans were never final. Even at the time of handing over the party in December 2017, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that Sonia would only retire from her role as party president and not from politics. “Her blessings, wisdom and innate commitment to Congress ideology shall always be our guiding light,” Surjewala posted on Twitter.
Second, her role in dealing with other Opposition parties is important as leaders like Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, Sitaram Yechury and others still respect her. Many alliance partners and prospective allies would prefer to negotiate with her rather than Rahul Gandhi. Her ability to put together the UPA in 2004 and 2009 are proof of her negotiating skills. Therefore the party would like her to play the role of cementing alliances, before as well as after the ensuing elections, given her equation with senior leaders of several parties and her political stature.
Third, she has just launched her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in active politics. Her dramatic entry was interrupted after the Pulwama and Balakot airstrikes. Though there were rumours that Sonia would retire and Priyanka would contest from Rae Bareli, it now appears that Priyanka would only work for the campaign and build up the party. Priyanka also needs the support of her mother until she stabilises. It is Sonia’s objective to ensure that her two children work in tandem and take the party forward.
Therefore, Sonia continues to be the party mentor and the queen mother as also the Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party and the UPA chairperson. The Congress needs her now more than ever as every vote and every seat matters.
(The writer is a senior political commentator and syndicated columnist)
Writer: Kalyani Shankar
Courtesy: The Pioneer
For an amicable settlement to the lingering problem, the country must move out of the bind that it has been in for the last several decades
The Supreme Court’s recent decision to appoint three mediators to attempt a solution through mediation of the vexed Ram Janmabhoomi issue in Ayodhya could be the last opportunity available to all parties to attempt an amicable out-of-court resolution of the vexed dispute that has been the perennial source of social disharmony. This mediation process will be a court appointed and court monitored exercise which will be conducted outside media glare “with utmost confidentiality”.
The idea of a mediated settlement in the Ram Janmabhoomi Case is not new. Two years ago in March, 2017, the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, J S Kehar had suggested a negotiated settlement and had offered himself as a mediator. However, this proposal did not find favour with the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and the Babri Masjid Action Committee.
This time around, objections if any are muted, probably because of the court’s determination to get all parties to the negotiating table.
The Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute has taken a torturous course, but some of the milestones in recent times are notable. The first of these was the Supreme Court’s judgement in Dr M Ismail Faruqui and others vs Union of India and others in October, 1994. In that case, the constitutional validity of the Acquisition of Certain Areas of Ayodhya Act, 1993 was challenged. The court upheld the Act but declared Section 4(3) of the Act to be invalid. This judgment resulted in the revival of all pending suits before the Allahabad High Court.
The second milestone is the sovereign commitment given by the Government of India in September, 1994, before the Supreme Court that if it was established that a Hindu temple or religious structure existed before the Babri Masjid, it would hand over the site to the Hindus. The Union Government had made a Presidential Reference under Article 143(1) of the Constitution in which it asked the Supreme Court “Whether a Hindu temple or any Hindu religious structure existed prior to the construction of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid (including the premises of the inner and outer courtyards of such structure) in the area on which the structure stood”.
The Presidential Reference said the government proposed to settle the dispute after obtaining the opinion of the Supreme Court. In the course of the arguments when some litigants representing Muslims interests said the reference would serve no purpose, the court asked the Solicitor-General to respond. The Solicitor-General made a written submission on behalf of the Union Government in response to the court’s query and what was said therein on behalf of the government is significant. The government said it was committed to the construction of a Ram temple and a mosque, but their actual location will be determined only after the Supreme Court renders its opinion in the Presidential Reference.
The government made the following commitments before the apex court in that submission: That it would treat the finding of the Supreme Court on the question of fact referred to it in the Presidential Reference as a verdict which is final and binding; that consistent with the court’s opinion it would make efforts to resolve the controversy by a process of negotiation; that if a negotiated settlement is not possible, it would be committed to enforce a solution based on the court’s opinion. It further said that “If the question referred is answered in the affirmative, namely, that a Hindu temple/structure did exist prior to the construction of the demolished structure, government action will be in support of the wishes of the Hindu community. If, on the other hand, the question is answered in the negative, namely, that no such Hindu temple/structure existed at the relevant time, then the government action will be in support of the wishes of the Muslim community”.
Why did the Union Government put this question to the Supreme Court. A white paper published by the Centre after the demolition of the Babri Masjid provides a clue. It said that during negotiations aimed at finding an amicable settlement, one issue that came to the fore was whether a Hindu temple existed on the site and whether it was demolished to built the masjid. Muslim organisations claimed that there was no evidence to prove this. Muslim leaders also asserted that if this was proved, “the Muslims would voluntarily hand over the disputed shrine to the Hindus”.
The Supreme Court declined to answer this question. The five-judge Bench which gave its verdict in the Faruqui Case in October, 1994 simultaneously disposed off the Presidential Reference. It said the reference was ‘superfluous and unnecessary and does not require to be answered”. However, the Union Government’s desire to secure an answer to the million dollar question was met when the Allahabad High Court, the pending suits before which got revived as a result of the Supreme Court’s order in the Faruqui Case, ordered the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to excavate the site and see what lay beneath the disputed structure.
The ASI, after extensive excavations, informed the court that there was evidence of a massive structure below the disputed structure which had “distinctive features found associated with the temples of North India”. Based on this finding, all the three judges on the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court concluded that a Hindu temple existed below the disputed structure. The Supreme Court has stayed this judgement after it was challenged by several parties to the dispute.
It is not unusual for courts to suggest mediation. This is often suggested by courts in many civil matters because there are no winners and losers when issues are resolved through mediation. However, if mediation fails, the court will have to hear the matter and arrive at a conclusion, which may or may not please all parties in a dispute.
Meanwhile, what will the Union Government do? It has committed itself to initially try and settle the dispute through negotiations once it heard from the Supreme Court on the question of fact it had put before it in the Presidential Reference. The court however declined to answer that question, but the observations made in the white paper and the ASI’s substantive report to the Allahabad High Court cannot be wished away.
The three mediators appointed by the Supreme Court — Justice Fakkir Ibrahim Kalifulla, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Sriram Panchu — will have all this material before them when they begin negotiations in search of an amicable settlement. All parties to the dispute will need to join this effort without hesitation in order to resolve the matter through mutual give and take. They must give mediation a chance.
(The writer is Chairman, Prasar Bharati)
Writer: A. Surya Prakash
Courtesy: The Pioneer
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