India up Sir Creek without a paddle

By Sudha Ramachandran

Among the many victims of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November last year was a possible resolution to the India-Pakistan dispute over Sir Creek.

The two countries were apparently making progress towards resolving their differences on demarcating a boundary along the creek when the terrorist attacks happened. An angry India suspended the composite dialogue with Pakistan, scuttling the possibility of the two sides hammering out a mutually acceptable solution to their conflicting claims.

As a result, India and Pakistan will not be able to meet the May 13 deadline to submit to the United Nations a mutually acceptable claim on the limits of their continental shelves at Sir Creek. They are now expected to file separate claims to the UN.

Sir Creek is a 96-kilometer estuary that runs between the marshes of the Rann of Kutch in the Indian state of Gujarat and the Pakistani province of Sindh, opening into the Arabian Sea. The India-Pakistan boundary along this creek has not been demarcated.

The dispute over Sir Creek goes back a century; it predates the creation of India and Pakistan. Before the 1947 independence, it was a bone of contention between the rulers of Sindh and Kutch. An agreement reached in 1914, which was followed up with a map finalized in 1925, kept the dispute dormant for several decades. But the dispute came alive in the 1960s, with Pakistan claiming over half of the Rann of Kutch.

A verdict given by an international tribunal in 1968 upheld India’s claim to around 90% of the Rann of Kutch. The Sir Creek section of the boundary was not considered by the tribunal.

While the India-Pakistan dispute over Sir Creek does not trigger the kind of passionate debate that divided Kashmir does in the two countries, it has been an important flashpoint. It was in the Rann of Kutch that the 1965 India-Pakistan war began. And it was here that an Indian Air Force MIG-21 shot down a Pakistani surveillance aircraft in August 1999. What is more, the haziness of where the boundary lies has resulted in hundreds of fishermen from both countries straying into hostile waters unintentionally and being taken into custody.

The dispute over Sir Creek involves two issues – demarcation of the India-Pakistan boundary along Sir Creek and demarcation of the maritime boundary from the mouth of the creek seawards into the Arabian Sea.

As for the boundary along Sir Creek, Pakistan says that this should run along the creek’s eastern bank, defined by a “green line” that is represented on the 1914 map. That is, it lays claim to the entire creek.

India points out that the “green line” is only an indicative line and argues that the boundary should be defined by the “mid-channel” of the creek as shown on the map drawn up in 1925.

India cites the Thalweg doctrine in international law, which states that river boundaries between two states will run through mid-channel, to bolster its position. Pakistan has countered this argument by pointing out that the Thalweg doctrine applies to navigable water bodies. Sir Creek, it has maintained, is not navigable. But India insists that that the creek is navigable during high tide.

Sir Creek itself has little value. It is a marshy wasteland. But where the boundary line runs through it will determine how much Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) one country will lose or gain. If the boundary line runs along the Eastern Bank as claimed by Pakistan, India will lose several hundred square kilometers of continental shelf. It is the prospect of finding substantial reserves of oil in the continental shelf that made the two sides inflexible in their positions.

But that changed thanks to a move by the United Nations, which pushed the two sides to look for a compromise. The UN Convention on Law of the Sea set May 13, 2009, as the deadline for signatories to claim maritime rights over territorial waters, contiguous zones, EEZs and the continental shelf.

Parties to a dispute such as the one over Sir Creek have until May to make a mutually acceptable claim on the limits of the continental shelf, failing which the UN would declare disputed areas as “international waters”.

This put pressure on India and Pakistan to move to resolve the Sir Creek dispute. Talks on Sir Creek made progress since the start of the composite dialogue in early 2004. India and Pakistan agreed to a joint survey of the region last year. The maps the two sides drew up following the survey were in agreement with each other. According to a report in the Indian Express, India and Pakistan had come “excruciatingly close” to an agreement on a boundary through Sir Creek. With the fixing of a land boundary almost done, the two sides were “a significant step closer to defining the maritime boundary”.

India and Pakistan were due to discuss the next steps on Sir Creek on December 2 and 3 last year. That did not happen. Terrorists attacked Mumbai on November 26. An angry India called off the talks and the composite dialogue. The dialogue remains in a state of suspension.

With talks called off, the chances of India and Pakistan resolving differences on Sir Creek by the May deadline and filing mutually acceptable claims on their respective continental shelves are slim.

With the deadline a little over a month away, the two countries are now preparing to file their individual claims to around 250 square miles of area. Since these will be conflicting claims, neither will be able to use the resources here.

While both India and Pakistan stand to lose since neither will be able to use the resources, it is India that is the greater loser as Pakistan had come around to accepting India’s viewpoint. After the survey, Pakistan is said to have accepted that Sir Creek was navigable, which means it would have in all likelihood agreed to the creek being divided mid-channel as India wanted, had the talks continued.

While the dispute over Sir Creek has survived for decades, it is among the less politicized disputes between India and Pakistan and as a result was more amenable to settlement.

A settlement was close at hand and could have well gone in India’s favor. Did India shoot itself in the foot by suspending the composite dialogue?

Shooting in the Dark: How Much Is Satyam Worth?

By M H Ahssan

A business magazine recently wrote a cover story about A.M. Naik, chairman and managing director of the US$7 billion engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T). It was titled “The Great Gamble.” That’s a curious phrase to associate with a solid company and a man who has been with the same organization for the past 44 years and at its helm for nearly 10.

Naik’s new sobriquet is courtesy of Satyam Computer Services, a company that has seen a massive fraud orchestrated by founder and chairman B. Ramalinga Raju. When, in mid-December 2008, Satyam announced a US$1.6 billion deal with sister company Maytas, the scrip plunged from Rs200 plus (around US$4) to Rs150 (US$3), a 25% drop. In New York, the ADRs (American Depository Receipts) fell 54%. Naik seems to have seen in this a buying opportunity. Through its investment vehicles, L&T bought 4% of Satyam for around Rs140 (less than US$3) a share.

After that, L&T plunged even deeper. When the full dimensions of the Satyam scandal broke, and the share fell to as low as 12 cents, L&T bought another 8%. Today, it holds 12% of the company and is one of the major bidders vying for the beleaguered firm. But it is probably as clueless as any of the others on the real state of affairs at Satyam. “The problem is that there are so many imponderables,” says Ganesh Natarajan, chairman of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) and CEO of Zensar Technologies.

Another bidder — Tech Mahindra, part of the US$6.7 billion Mahindra Group — has also burned its fingers through dabbling in the Satyam affair. Rating agency Fitch has withdrawn its coverage of the company after it announced its bid. According to a Fitch statement, “Given the uncertainties regarding the final closure of the (Satyam) transaction, the financing, and consequent financial impact on Tech Mahindra, the agency is unable to take a rating action at the time of withdrawal.”

L&T, Tech Mahindra and B.K. Modi’s Spice Group have officially announced they are in the race. They have put in expressions of interest (EoIs) as required by the government-appointed Satyam board. They have also lined up the Rs1,500 crore (US$300 million) cash that the board has mandated that all bidders show before they can proceed to the next round.

It is not known how many companies have submitted EoIs; no one else had declared themselves in the fray at the time of writing. There are reported to be some multinational IT majors, private equity players and domestic IT companies. It is unlikely that all will come out in the open given the de-rating of Tech Mahindra and the hammering the L&T scrip has received on the stock markets. According to Calcutta-based daily The Telegraph, “More than 60 entities were reported to have evinced interest after Satyam kicked off the bidding process on March 9. However, the number dropped sharply when the bidders were asked to submit detailed EoIs. An indication to this effect was available when Nasdaq-listed iGate quit the race.”

The iGate experience shows some of the difficulties in bidding for Satyam. “Initially, we were interested in Satyam because we felt that it had a lot of good customers and good employees,” explains Phaneesh Murthy, CEO of iGate Corp. “Then, because the process was taking too long and, more importantly, we were given to understand that we would not have any new financial information when the auction happens we lost interest. Suddenly, a few days ago, we got a call saying that we would get more financial information but the only way to get that was to put in a formal EoI.”

Interest was reignited, but iGate backed out nevertheless. “While there is no one particular reason, it is the totality of concerns like sliding revenues, unknown margins and large liabilities that made us pull out of the race,” Murthy told India Knowledge@Wharton after making the decision. “Through market intelligence, we know that there are enough customer exits happening at Satyam. While the value erosion and extent of liabilities were a concern, it was the totality of concerns that influenced our decision. We did not go to the stage of getting formal financials from Satyam’s board. However, we had prepared our own model of financials and in that model it was difficult to get a reasonable return for any investor. Our private equity fund partner had no role or influence in our decision to pull out.”

Lots of Questions
- Murthy’s explanation contains all the questions that Satyam bidders, analysts and the media are asking. In a nutshell:
- How do you value a company whose financials are unknown and whose chairman admits he has been cooking the books for seven years?
- Are there really good customers and good employees? How many have jumped ship and how many more are planning to do so?
- Is the process taking too long?
- What about the huge liabilities that could arise out of the class action suits filed in the U.S.?
- Why are private equity players interested in this deal? Why are multinationals?
- Has the action of the regulators so far been adequate? Conversely, have they been bending over backwards to save Satyam?
- Finally, do we need changes in laws to make future resolution of such situations easier? Does India need an equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S.?

Opinions differ widely about possible answers to these questions. Consider valuation. The winner is supposed to end up with a 51% stake in the company through a combination of new shares (31%) and an open offer (21%) to ordinary shareholders. Satyam’s current market capitalization at around 90 cents a share is approximately US$600 million. This is the rationale for the US$300 million (the market value of 51%) the board has asked bidders to arrange as a pre-qualification for being allowed to bid. But is 90 cents a share a reasonable price? The stock had a 52-week high (pre-scam) of US$11. It dropped to as low as 12 cents. How do you value such a company? What are bidders paying for?

“Satyam’s strong client base and its large workforce,” answers Ajay Garg, assistant professor of finance and accounting at the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow (IIML). Adds Kishor Ostwal, managing director of CNI Research, a Mumbai-based stock market analysis and data provider: “The buyer is still getting business close to US$1 billion and, going by IT operating margins, he can earn US$100 million to US$120 million a year. Even as some clients are leaving or contemplating leaving, if Satyam goes into reputed hands with enough IT bandwidth, then retaining existing clients or scouting for new clients should not be a problem. The buyer is just trying to leverage the business and the market cap at which the business is available.”

“Valuation models for IT services firms are heavily skewed towards the quality and quantity of their human capital asset base,” says Ravi Bapna, associate professor of information systems at the Carlson School of Management and executive director of the Center for Information Technology and the Networked Economy (CITNE) at the Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business. “Thus, Satyam’s biggest asset is its high-quality workforce, followed by its order book and related tacit knowledge about its clients’ business processes. I would count its physical infrastructure as a distant third, given oversupply in the real estate sector. Unfortunately, post the debacle, the brand is more likely to be viewed as a liability. Unlike physical assets, human capital is not subject to ‘lock-in’ and can easily be lured by a potential suitor who does not want to take on the associated liabilities. While such a scenario should, under normal circumstances, attract bargain-hunting type valuations, one can never underestimate the hubris factor in the Indian context.”

“While it is true that the Satyam name has been hit badly, and employee morale and customer interest is very low, it is certainly not an organization that can be completely written off,” says K. Raman, practice head (telecom, media & technology) at the Tata Strategic Management Group (TSMG). “Bidders are looking for an enterprise within which they can create large future value at an extremely attractive valuation today. There is still a reasonably large client base intact within Satyam, new orders are being booked and there are reasonably large acknowledged receivables that the company is looking to collect. All this indicates that if the management falls in place, then one can probably have an entity which is viable on its own going forward.

“Also, the way Satyam’s business has been structured in the past may be of interest to certain types of acquirers. For instance, Satyam has typically been more focused than its peers on package implementation and ERP, which can be a good fit for an acquirer who is looking to scale. Similarly, Satyam has a reasonably strong presence in the Indian market especially through its government contracts. This can also be a good stream of revenues going forward.”

“Customers are happy with the work that Satyam managers have done for them in terms of sheer capability,” says Natarajan of Nasscom. “A lot of mission-critical applications are being done and it is always messy to migrate that to another provider. What the bidder will get is good employees and good customer names. The bidder — if he comes in quickly and has a credible management team which can talk to employees and customers and show that the company is viable — can convince them to stay on. But the worry is that in a period of uncertainty, people will obviously not wait forever.”

Rewards vs. Risks
The exodus has already begun. The Economic Times says that 3,500 of the 50,000 Satyam employees have left in the past one month. But it also quotes chairman Kiran Karnik (who was roped in by the government to rescue the company) as saying that this was normal attrition and no cause for alarm. The Economic Times also reports that Satyam has lost 46 customers out of its roster of around 600. Those in the process of migrating include Abu Dhabi Bank, Applied Materials, Emerson, Kansas State Bank, Nissan, Sony, State Farm Insurance and Telstra. The Business Standard newspaper estimates current revenues to be around US$1.4 billion to US$1.6 billion, against the US$2 billion plus pre-fraud estimates. Ostwal of CNI puts it at a US$1 billion, and there are skeptics who say the figure could be whittled down even further the longer it takes.

Could the sale process have been speeded up? “The bidding process is going just fine,” says Natarajan of Nasscom. “The board just has to get it done as soon as possible. They need to now set a final deadline. Otherwise, it will be a continuing ping-pong battle. Given all the moving parts, the bidding process is as good as it can get.” Concurs Garg of IIML: “The government acted quickly when it dissolved the old board and appointed fresh directors in a bid to stabilize the company and restore confidence.”

Garg is doubtful, however, that equal alacrity has been shown in the case against the previous Satyam management. “The legal case is taking a very long time,” he says. “But that has always has been the norm in India. A lot of frauds and crimes take place because the legal process takes too long to punish the culprits.” Adds Ostwal of CNI: “Although the media and others may think that the government and the regulators have acted fast by reorganizing the board of Satyam, initiating the bidding process and arresting the promoters, the fact remains that the case is mired in mystery. This leads one to believe that, as in other cases of financial misdemeanors in the country, this time also the culprits will walk free.”

The continuing mystery, says Ostwal, has added to volatility of the Satyam share and given some bidders too much leeway. “It has given enough room for speculation which has helped players in this stock,” he says. “It was on record that [L&T's] Naik had said that he knew more than minority shareholders in the case of Satyam, which is against the spirit of the law. Normally, anybody bidding should have been asked to maintain silence for at least a month before the bidding process — as happens during IPOs (initial public offerings). The varying nature of statements from regulators, the directors of Satyam and interested bidders like [B.K.] Modi who tried to quantify the liabilities arising from the suits in the U.S. have all led to increased volatility and price speculation by operators and people in the know.”

Modi of Spice had questioned the market valuation of Satyam; he felt it was much too high. He also told the media about a report from the group’s legal advisors, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher of the U.S., which stated that the liabilities arising out of the class action lawsuits could range between US$440 million and US$840 million. In addition, Satyam faces a forgery case filed by U.K.-based mobile solutions firm Upaid, which comes up for a hearing in the U.S. in June 2009. The estimated liabilities of this case could be as high as US$1.1 billion. These numbers far exceed Satyam’s current market valuation of US$600 million. “One can really never put a figure on class action suits and this also will get factored in the valuation of the company,” says Natarajan. “You should actually be paid to take Satyam,” says an equity analyst who does not wish to be quoted. Most research houses have now withdrawn their official coverage of Satyam.

MNCs and Private Equity
Why are multinationals and private equity (PE) players interested in bidding? There is likely to be a three-year lock-in for whoever wins the bid, so PE, in particular, seems an odd contender. “Typically, one does not associate PE players with lock-in periods but, then, three years is really not too long,” says Raman of TSMG. “They do stay invested in companies for this period of time.” Natarajan has a different explanation. “PE players are probably fronting for larger multinationals,” he says. “If PE players come in by themselves and try to get in a team, it may not necessarily be good for the company. What Satyam needs right now is not just money but also a strong management team and stability. There needs to be an umbrella of credibility and trust.”

This is something the multinationals could bring; the Indian IT firms, which are respected names internationally, have declared they are not interested. “MNCs would get scale in India, [including] capabilities and customers,” says Natarajan. Explains Murthy of iGate: “It will give them a larger footprint and employee base.” Adds Ostwal of CNI: “Over the years, as margins in IT hardware and peripherals decreased, big players like IBM and HP have been eyeing different revenue streams. In fact, for IBM, IT services constitute an ever-increasing pie of its total revenues. Satyam would be a perfect fit for IBM, which will give it capabilities and a skilled workforce. It can then leverage those along with its brand to create a huge revenue source. HP, on the other hand, also stands to gain as it can then transfer all its IT services’ needs in-house to Satyam and slash costs as well as acquire a new revenue stream.” Raman of TSMG agrees. “While both HP and IBM have a large presence in India, they have also stated their intentions of scaling this up further,” he says.

New Rules of the Game
The Satyam bidding process has raised some questions that go beyond the company and the fraud its promoter has perpetrated. In order to enable an easier salvage operation, the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has changed the rules of the game. For instance, the norm for pricing an open offer is that it should be the average of the past 26 weeks, or two immediately preceding weeks prior to the open offer, whichever is higher. The 26-week price, the higher of the two, is way above current levels. “The floor price for the open offer would have been very high had the rules not been changed, and at that price no bidder would have been attracted,” says Garg of IIML. The rule has now been relaxed and the buyer can make the open offer at the same price at which he is issued the new shares. There have been other relaxations to allow the bidding to progress smoothly.

This has been by and large welcomed, particularly as it will apply to similar cases in the future. “The changes made by Sebi are absolutely warranted,” says Murthy of iGate. “Otherwise, in such cases, no one can step forward to rescue the company.” Ostwal of CNI disagrees. “SOS changes by Sebi are not really warranted,” he says. “In fact, it has become a habit with the regulator to make changes on an SOS basis. First were the Promissory Note rules, then the disclosure of pledged shares, and then the Sebi Acquisitions and Takeover guidelines.” In his view, some foresight would have made such fire-fighting unnecessary.

What is necessary — and not just for Satyam-type cases — is a bankruptcy law like Chapter 11 in the U.S. “I am convinced that India needs a bankruptcy law,” says Murthy of iGate. “It does help so many companies to restructure themselves and return. The entire airline industry in the U.S., at some point, has been in bankruptcy. They would not have been able to survive if it had not been for the bankruptcy protection that they enjoy. The asbestos litigation in the U.S. would have killed many companies. But they were able to reorganize themselves under Chapter 11 and come back.” Says Natarajan: “We definitely need a bankruptcy law. In fact, the strength of Silicon Valley is that if a company fails, it is allowed to fail fast. Here, shutting down the company or restructuring it financially is quite a problem. India certainly needs to look at the American bankruptcy law and try and create something like that.”

Ostwal of CNI disagrees. “India does not require bankruptcy laws at the moment,” he says. “India is still an immature market going by the way in which markets and regulators are functioning. Ahead of bankruptcy laws, we require physical settlement in derivatives, we require scrapping of creeping (acquisition of shares by promoters) limits of 5%, we require the 15% acquisition and takeover limits to be raised to 25% and, overall, we require a fair climate for hostile takeovers.”

That’s a prescription for the future. For today, everyone is keeping their fingers crossed that things get sorted out soon at Satyam. As Murthy of iGate notes: “The longer it takes, the higher will be the erosion in asset value.”

Shooting in the Dark: How Much Is Satyam Worth?

By M H Ahssan

A business magazine recently wrote a cover story about A.M. Naik, chairman and managing director of the US$7 billion engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T). It was titled “The Great Gamble.” That’s a curious phrase to associate with a solid company and a man who has been with the same organization for the past 44 years and at its helm for nearly 10.

Naik’s new sobriquet is courtesy of Satyam Computer Services, a company that has seen a massive fraud orchestrated by founder and chairman B. Ramalinga Raju. When, in mid-December 2008, Satyam announced a US$1.6 billion deal with sister company Maytas, the scrip plunged from Rs200 plus (around US$4) to Rs150 (US$3), a 25% drop. In New York, the ADRs (American Depository Receipts) fell 54%. Naik seems to have seen in this a buying opportunity. Through its investment vehicles, L&T bought 4% of Satyam for around Rs140 (less than US$3) a share.

After that, L&T plunged even deeper. When the full dimensions of the Satyam scandal broke, and the share fell to as low as 12 cents, L&T bought another 8%. Today, it holds 12% of the company and is one of the major bidders vying for the beleaguered firm. But it is probably as clueless as any of the others on the real state of affairs at Satyam. “The problem is that there are so many imponderables,” says Ganesh Natarajan, chairman of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) and CEO of Zensar Technologies.

Another bidder — Tech Mahindra, part of the US$6.7 billion Mahindra Group — has also burned its fingers through dabbling in the Satyam affair. Rating agency Fitch has withdrawn its coverage of the company after it announced its bid. According to a Fitch statement, “Given the uncertainties regarding the final closure of the (Satyam) transaction, the financing, and consequent financial impact on Tech Mahindra, the agency is unable to take a rating action at the time of withdrawal.”

L&T, Tech Mahindra and B.K. Modi’s Spice Group have officially announced they are in the race. They have put in expressions of interest (EoIs) as required by the government-appointed Satyam board. They have also lined up the Rs1,500 crore (US$300 million) cash that the board has mandated that all bidders show before they can proceed to the next round.

It is not known how many companies have submitted EoIs; no one else had declared themselves in the fray at the time of writing. There are reported to be some multinational IT majors, private equity players and domestic IT companies. It is unlikely that all will come out in the open given the de-rating of Tech Mahindra and the hammering the L&T scrip has received on the stock markets. According to Calcutta-based daily The Telegraph, “More than 60 entities were reported to have evinced interest after Satyam kicked off the bidding process on March 9. However, the number dropped sharply when the bidders were asked to submit detailed EoIs. An indication to this effect was available when Nasdaq-listed iGate quit the race.”

The iGate experience shows some of the difficulties in bidding for Satyam. “Initially, we were interested in Satyam because we felt that it had a lot of good customers and good employees,” explains Phaneesh Murthy, CEO of iGate Corp. “Then, because the process was taking too long and, more importantly, we were given to understand that we would not have any new financial information when the auction happens we lost interest. Suddenly, a few days ago, we got a call saying that we would get more financial information but the only way to get that was to put in a formal EoI.”

Interest was reignited, but iGate backed out nevertheless. “While there is no one particular reason, it is the totality of concerns like sliding revenues, unknown margins and large liabilities that made us pull out of the race,” Murthy told India Knowledge@Wharton after making the decision. “Through market intelligence, we know that there are enough customer exits happening at Satyam. While the value erosion and extent of liabilities were a concern, it was the totality of concerns that influenced our decision. We did not go to the stage of getting formal financials from Satyam’s board. However, we had prepared our own model of financials and in that model it was difficult to get a reasonable return for any investor. Our private equity fund partner had no role or influence in our decision to pull out.”

Lots of Questions
- Murthy’s explanation contains all the questions that Satyam bidders, analysts and the media are asking. In a nutshell:
- How do you value a company whose financials are unknown and whose chairman admits he has been cooking the books for seven years?
- Are there really good customers and good employees? How many have jumped ship and how many more are planning to do so?
- Is the process taking too long?
- What about the huge liabilities that could arise out of the class action suits filed in the U.S.?
- Why are private equity players interested in this deal? Why are multinationals?
- Has the action of the regulators so far been adequate? Conversely, have they been bending over backwards to save Satyam?
- Finally, do we need changes in laws to make future resolution of such situations easier? Does India need an equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S.?

Opinions differ widely about possible answers to these questions. Consider valuation. The winner is supposed to end up with a 51% stake in the company through a combination of new shares (31%) and an open offer (21%) to ordinary shareholders. Satyam’s current market capitalization at around 90 cents a share is approximately US$600 million. This is the rationale for the US$300 million (the market value of 51%) the board has asked bidders to arrange as a pre-qualification for being allowed to bid. But is 90 cents a share a reasonable price? The stock had a 52-week high (pre-scam) of US$11. It dropped to as low as 12 cents. How do you value such a company? What are bidders paying for?

“Satyam’s strong client base and its large workforce,” answers Ajay Garg, assistant professor of finance and accounting at the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow (IIML). Adds Kishor Ostwal, managing director of CNI Research, a Mumbai-based stock market analysis and data provider: “The buyer is still getting business close to US$1 billion and, going by IT operating margins, he can earn US$100 million to US$120 million a year. Even as some clients are leaving or contemplating leaving, if Satyam goes into reputed hands with enough IT bandwidth, then retaining existing clients or scouting for new clients should not be a problem. The buyer is just trying to leverage the business and the market cap at which the business is available.”

“Valuation models for IT services firms are heavily skewed towards the quality and quantity of their human capital asset base,” says Ravi Bapna, associate professor of information systems at the Carlson School of Management and executive director of the Center for Information Technology and the Networked Economy (CITNE) at the Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business. “Thus, Satyam’s biggest asset is its high-quality workforce, followed by its order book and related tacit knowledge about its clients’ business processes. I would count its physical infrastructure as a distant third, given oversupply in the real estate sector. Unfortunately, post the debacle, the brand is more likely to be viewed as a liability. Unlike physical assets, human capital is not subject to ‘lock-in’ and can easily be lured by a potential suitor who does not want to take on the associated liabilities. While such a scenario should, under normal circumstances, attract bargain-hunting type valuations, one can never underestimate the hubris factor in the Indian context.”

“While it is true that the Satyam name has been hit badly, and employee morale and customer interest is very low, it is certainly not an organization that can be completely written off,” says K. Raman, practice head (telecom, media & technology) at the Tata Strategic Management Group (TSMG). “Bidders are looking for an enterprise within which they can create large future value at an extremely attractive valuation today. There is still a reasonably large client base intact within Satyam, new orders are being booked and there are reasonably large acknowledged receivables that the company is looking to collect. All this indicates that if the management falls in place, then one can probably have an entity which is viable on its own going forward.

“Also, the way Satyam’s business has been structured in the past may be of interest to certain types of acquirers. For instance, Satyam has typically been more focused than its peers on package implementation and ERP, which can be a good fit for an acquirer who is looking to scale. Similarly, Satyam has a reasonably strong presence in the Indian market especially through its government contracts. This can also be a good stream of revenues going forward.”

“Customers are happy with the work that Satyam managers have done for them in terms of sheer capability,” says Natarajan of Nasscom. “A lot of mission-critical applications are being done and it is always messy to migrate that to another provider. What the bidder will get is good employees and good customer names. The bidder — if he comes in quickly and has a credible management team which can talk to employees and customers and show that the company is viable — can convince them to stay on. But the worry is that in a period of uncertainty, people will obviously not wait forever.”

Rewards vs. Risks
The exodus has already begun. The Economic Times says that 3,500 of the 50,000 Satyam employees have left in the past one month. But it also quotes chairman Kiran Karnik (who was roped in by the government to rescue the company) as saying that this was normal attrition and no cause for alarm. The Economic Times also reports that Satyam has lost 46 customers out of its roster of around 600. Those in the process of migrating include Abu Dhabi Bank, Applied Materials, Emerson, Kansas State Bank, Nissan, Sony, State Farm Insurance and Telstra. The Business Standard newspaper estimates current revenues to be around US$1.4 billion to US$1.6 billion, against the US$2 billion plus pre-fraud estimates. Ostwal of CNI puts it at a US$1 billion, and there are skeptics who say the figure could be whittled down even further the longer it takes.

Could the sale process have been speeded up? “The bidding process is going just fine,” says Natarajan of Nasscom. “The board just has to get it done as soon as possible. They need to now set a final deadline. Otherwise, it will be a continuing ping-pong battle. Given all the moving parts, the bidding process is as good as it can get.” Concurs Garg of IIML: “The government acted quickly when it dissolved the old board and appointed fresh directors in a bid to stabilize the company and restore confidence.”

Garg is doubtful, however, that equal alacrity has been shown in the case against the previous Satyam management. “The legal case is taking a very long time,” he says. “But that has always has been the norm in India. A lot of frauds and crimes take place because the legal process takes too long to punish the culprits.” Adds Ostwal of CNI: “Although the media and others may think that the government and the regulators have acted fast by reorganizing the board of Satyam, initiating the bidding process and arresting the promoters, the fact remains that the case is mired in mystery. This leads one to believe that, as in other cases of financial misdemeanors in the country, this time also the culprits will walk free.”

The continuing mystery, says Ostwal, has added to volatility of the Satyam share and given some bidders too much leeway. “It has given enough room for speculation which has helped players in this stock,” he says. “It was on record that [L&T's] Naik had said that he knew more than minority shareholders in the case of Satyam, which is against the spirit of the law. Normally, anybody bidding should have been asked to maintain silence for at least a month before the bidding process — as happens during IPOs (initial public offerings). The varying nature of statements from regulators, the directors of Satyam and interested bidders like [B.K.] Modi who tried to quantify the liabilities arising from the suits in the U.S. have all led to increased volatility and price speculation by operators and people in the know.”

Modi of Spice had questioned the market valuation of Satyam; he felt it was much too high. He also told the media about a report from the group’s legal advisors, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher of the U.S., which stated that the liabilities arising out of the class action lawsuits could range between US$440 million and US$840 million. In addition, Satyam faces a forgery case filed by U.K.-based mobile solutions firm Upaid, which comes up for a hearing in the U.S. in June 2009. The estimated liabilities of this case could be as high as US$1.1 billion. These numbers far exceed Satyam’s current market valuation of US$600 million. “One can really never put a figure on class action suits and this also will get factored in the valuation of the company,” says Natarajan. “You should actually be paid to take Satyam,” says an equity analyst who does not wish to be quoted. Most research houses have now withdrawn their official coverage of Satyam.

MNCs and Private Equity
Why are multinationals and private equity (PE) players interested in bidding? There is likely to be a three-year lock-in for whoever wins the bid, so PE, in particular, seems an odd contender. “Typically, one does not associate PE players with lock-in periods but, then, three years is really not too long,” says Raman of TSMG. “They do stay invested in companies for this period of time.” Natarajan has a different explanation. “PE players are probably fronting for larger multinationals,” he says. “If PE players come in by themselves and try to get in a team, it may not necessarily be good for the company. What Satyam needs right now is not just money but also a strong management team and stability. There needs to be an umbrella of credibility and trust.”

This is something the multinationals could bring; the Indian IT firms, which are respected names internationally, have declared they are not interested. “MNCs would get scale in India, [including] capabilities and customers,” says Natarajan. Explains Murthy of iGate: “It will give them a larger footprint and employee base.” Adds Ostwal of CNI: “Over the years, as margins in IT hardware and peripherals decreased, big players like IBM and HP have been eyeing different revenue streams. In fact, for IBM, IT services constitute an ever-increasing pie of its total revenues. Satyam would be a perfect fit for IBM, which will give it capabilities and a skilled workforce. It can then leverage those along with its brand to create a huge revenue source. HP, on the other hand, also stands to gain as it can then transfer all its IT services’ needs in-house to Satyam and slash costs as well as acquire a new revenue stream.” Raman of TSMG agrees. “While both HP and IBM have a large presence in India, they have also stated their intentions of scaling this up further,” he says.

New Rules of the Game
The Satyam bidding process has raised some questions that go beyond the company and the fraud its promoter has perpetrated. In order to enable an easier salvage operation, the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has changed the rules of the game. For instance, the norm for pricing an open offer is that it should be the average of the past 26 weeks, or two immediately preceding weeks prior to the open offer, whichever is higher. The 26-week price, the higher of the two, is way above current levels. “The floor price for the open offer would have been very high had the rules not been changed, and at that price no bidder would have been attracted,” says Garg of IIML. The rule has now been relaxed and the buyer can make the open offer at the same price at which he is issued the new shares. There have been other relaxations to allow the bidding to progress smoothly.

This has been by and large welcomed, particularly as it will apply to similar cases in the future. “The changes made by Sebi are absolutely warranted,” says Murthy of iGate. “Otherwise, in such cases, no one can step forward to rescue the company.” Ostwal of CNI disagrees. “SOS changes by Sebi are not really warranted,” he says. “In fact, it has become a habit with the regulator to make changes on an SOS basis. First were the Promissory Note rules, then the disclosure of pledged shares, and then the Sebi Acquisitions and Takeover guidelines.” In his view, some foresight would have made such fire-fighting unnecessary.

What is necessary — and not just for Satyam-type cases — is a bankruptcy law like Chapter 11 in the U.S. “I am convinced that India needs a bankruptcy law,” says Murthy of iGate. “It does help so many companies to restructure themselves and return. The entire airline industry in the U.S., at some point, has been in bankruptcy. They would not have been able to survive if it had not been for the bankruptcy protection that they enjoy. The asbestos litigation in the U.S. would have killed many companies. But they were able to reorganize themselves under Chapter 11 and come back.” Says Natarajan: “We definitely need a bankruptcy law. In fact, the strength of Silicon Valley is that if a company fails, it is allowed to fail fast. Here, shutting down the company or restructuring it financially is quite a problem. India certainly needs to look at the American bankruptcy law and try and create something like that.”

Ostwal of CNI disagrees. “India does not require bankruptcy laws at the moment,” he says. “India is still an immature market going by the way in which markets and regulators are functioning. Ahead of bankruptcy laws, we require physical settlement in derivatives, we require scrapping of creeping (acquisition of shares by promoters) limits of 5%, we require the 15% acquisition and takeover limits to be raised to 25% and, overall, we require a fair climate for hostile takeovers.”

That’s a prescription for the future. For today, everyone is keeping their fingers crossed that things get sorted out soon at Satyam. As Murthy of iGate notes: “The longer it takes, the higher will be the erosion in asset value.”

Exclusive: The power of your vote

By Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

India’s problems are complex. And unfortunately these are compounded by vote-bank politics. Instead of uniting the different sections of society, many politicians divide it to keep their vote banks intact. If people are united, politicians won’t be able to get votes through divisive politics. In such a situation, the only way for them to win votes would be through good performance.

As citizens, we must protect our country from those who manipulate issues for their personal gains and who lead by playing vote-bank politics. Those with vested interests support insensible decisions and oppose sensible ones. We have to steer clear of such leaders. We must encourage broad-minded politicians and leaders to come forward and take charge, and to educate and uplift the society – spiritually, morally and socially.

We need leaders who are satya-darshi (truthful), sam-darshi (equanimous), priya-darshi (pleasant), paar-darshi (transparent) and door-darshi (visionary). So, before we elect our leaders, we should examine their qualifications.

We must elect leaders who will do away with policies based on caste, creed, religion and region; who will ensure that every child gets a multi-cultural, multi-dimensional education.

We need leadership with a mission and a vision, leadership with a spirit of sacrifice, compassion and commitment. We must choose leaders who have a long-term vision and short-term plans to achieve it. They should have great personal integrity, and place the country before themselves.

Unfortunately, most of our politicians lack a sense of sacrifice and inclusiveness. Irrespective of the party they belong to, people perceive politicians as insincere. Today, people are fed up of them. This is when apathy sets in among people. They dismiss politics as a whole and withdraw from their basic duty of voting.

Our votes are an important tool to bring about a change in the system; they give us an opportunity to raise our voice against injustice. But many of us have developed a chalta hai attitude, because we fail to see the power of our votes. This attitude is dangerous for the country. By not voting we are encouraging the status quo.

Each one of us must not only vote but also encourage others around us to vote. When good, intelligent and well-educated people don’t vote, they play into the hands of politicians, who use money and vote bank politics to seize power. People should not lose hope. Good politicians exist. And they must be given a chance to do the best they can for the country, for its people.

We have seen the shortcomings of capitalism, communism and socialism. Now is the time for humanism and spiritualism. Politics without humanism and spiritualism is bound to be dirty. Many people believe that spiritualism is not for this world, that it is not a practical tool to bring about societal transformation. But that’s a misconception. Mahatma Gandhi was spiritual. He conducted satsangs every day and played an important role in bringing freedom for our country.

That is why today we need leaders who have a spirit of sacrifice, and who are spiritual in their outlook, to enter politics.

Exclusive: The power of your vote

By Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

India’s problems are complex. And unfortunately these are compounded by vote-bank politics. Instead of uniting the different sections of society, many politicians divide it to keep their vote banks intact. If people are united, politicians won’t be able to get votes through divisive politics. In such a situation, the only way for them to win votes would be through good performance.

As citizens, we must protect our country from those who manipulate issues for their personal gains and who lead by playing vote-bank politics. Those with vested interests support insensible decisions and oppose sensible ones. We have to steer clear of such leaders. We must encourage broad-minded politicians and leaders to come forward and take charge, and to educate and uplift the society – spiritually, morally and socially.

We need leaders who are satya-darshi (truthful), sam-darshi (equanimous), priya-darshi (pleasant), paar-darshi (transparent) and door-darshi (visionary). So, before we elect our leaders, we should examine their qualifications.

We must elect leaders who will do away with policies based on caste, creed, religion and region; who will ensure that every child gets a multi-cultural, multi-dimensional education.

We need leadership with a mission and a vision, leadership with a spirit of sacrifice, compassion and commitment. We must choose leaders who have a long-term vision and short-term plans to achieve it. They should have great personal integrity, and place the country before themselves.

Unfortunately, most of our politicians lack a sense of sacrifice and inclusiveness. Irrespective of the party they belong to, people perceive politicians as insincere. Today, people are fed up of them. This is when apathy sets in among people. They dismiss politics as a whole and withdraw from their basic duty of voting.

Our votes are an important tool to bring about a change in the system; they give us an opportunity to raise our voice against injustice. But many of us have developed a chalta hai attitude, because we fail to see the power of our votes. This attitude is dangerous for the country. By not voting we are encouraging the status quo.

Each one of us must not only vote but also encourage others around us to vote. When good, intelligent and well-educated people don’t vote, they play into the hands of politicians, who use money and vote bank politics to seize power. People should not lose hope. Good politicians exist. And they must be given a chance to do the best they can for the country, for its people.

We have seen the shortcomings of capitalism, communism and socialism. Now is the time for humanism and spiritualism. Politics without humanism and spiritualism is bound to be dirty. Many people believe that spiritualism is not for this world, that it is not a practical tool to bring about societal transformation. But that’s a misconception. Mahatma Gandhi was spiritual. He conducted satsangs every day and played an important role in bringing freedom for our country.

That is why today we need leaders who have a spirit of sacrifice, and who are spiritual in their outlook, to enter politics.

Post-poll, the prodigals could return home

By Siddharth Bhatia

The United Progressive Alliance is dead. True, there are some partners still holding together and the Congress is still making a brave face of it, but the UPA formation, as it was for five years, is no more. This was an arrangement that came into being after the BJP-led NDA lost the 2004 elections and lasted, with a few hiccups along the way, till now. But just before the elections, that coalition has collapsed.

Though the sudden exit of two key partners, Lalu Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan precipitated the demise of the UPA, the signs were there much earlier. The Congress got into a fight with many of its partners. Sharad Pawar’s naked ambition and his maneuverings to get more seats in Maharashtra provided a clue.Now the PMK in Tamil Nadu has defected to the AIADMK, considerably weakening the coalition. Other, smaller groupings are chafing too. What is left behind cannot be really called the UPA.

A similar problem, on a smaller scale, is being seen with the National Democratic Alliance. Naveen Patnaik craftily parted ways with his decade-old partners the BJP. If the BJP persists with defending Varun Gandhi, they could find Nitish Kumar too decamping. Nitish suddenly sees himself as a prospective Prime Minister-he is not going to risk that chance because of some political upstart who couldn’t control his tongue. The BJP’s bigger worry is internal warfare which could exacerbate after the polls, especially if the party does poorly in the elections.

Thus, both formations built around national parties are in trouble and the regional parties, big and small are emerging as key players. Some have got together to form a loose confederation, which is in search of a name. Excited political pundits, ever on the lookout for that elusive beast, the non-Congress, non-BJP coalition, have already anointed it as the next government. This has happened before, they tell us – in 1989 and again in 1996 – and could definitely happen again. Is this so? Let us examine the evidence as it stands today.

It is a given that to form any future government, the “Third Front” will have to cobble together 272 seats, which implies that the two big parties between them should get less than that number. But is it as simple as that? Assume that the Congress and the BJP combined do not get more than 250 seats. The rest should theoretically not have a problem forming the majority. But the “rest” includes parties that will not, under any circumstances, come together. Yes, we know that politics makes strange bedfellows, but it is highly improbable that Lalu will sit with Nitish, AIADMK with DMK or Mulayamwith Mayawati. That would leave out between 70-90 members out, whichever way one counts it. The Front would collapse before it is built.

Which leaves open two other possibilities-a Front supported by the BJP or the Congress, from the outside. That too has many precedents, the last one being the Congress supported governments of H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujral. The Congress would be happy to keep the BJP out and the BJP would return the compliment. Such a formation will be a fragile one and may not last for more than two years, if past experience is anything to go by. This is what many, including the stock markets are factoring into their calculations and getting jittery about.

But in all these calculations, the probability – however remote – that the Congress or the BJP would do better than most people give them credit for is rarely considered. The collapse of the two national parties is seen as a foregone conclusion; anti-incumbency, weak organization, lack of any wave in favour of either, public anger all are cited as reasons for their imminent poor performance.

The Congress is dismissed for having not performed during it’sr five years in power and the “India Shining” story, which numbed the NDA into believing that it would win once more, is held out as an example of foolhardy thinking. Indeed, the very fact that the Congress’s allies are deserting it is seen as a vindication that the party will perform poorly. The same is the story with the NDA.

But we must consider yet another possibility-that of an entirely new alliance forming after the elections. It may not be the UPA or even the NDA, as we know them, but could have a big, national party at its centre and a different name. All the smaller parties, which have opted out to fight the polls on their own could happily come back if they see their future lies with a big party-led coalition rather than with other smaller parties each of which would be tugging in a different direction. New permutations and combinations could be formed-a PMK-AIADMK formation could easily be incorporated into a new “UPA” as much as the BJD walking back into a new “NDA.”

Thus, the pre-poll scenario of every one fighting on their own should not concern us as much as what the post-poll arrangements will be. In politics, tomorrow is always another day.

Post-poll, the prodigals could return home

By Siddharth Bhatia

The United Progressive Alliance is dead. True, there are some partners still holding together and the Congress is still making a brave face of it, but the UPA formation, as it was for five years, is no more. This was an arrangement that came into being after the BJP-led NDA lost the 2004 elections and lasted, with a few hiccups along the way, till now. But just before the elections, that coalition has collapsed.

Though the sudden exit of two key partners, Lalu Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan precipitated the demise of the UPA, the signs were there much earlier. The Congress got into a fight with many of its partners. Sharad Pawar’s naked ambition and his maneuverings to get more seats in Maharashtra provided a clue.Now the PMK in Tamil Nadu has defected to the AIADMK, considerably weakening the coalition. Other, smaller groupings are chafing too. What is left behind cannot be really called the UPA.

A similar problem, on a smaller scale, is being seen with the National Democratic Alliance. Naveen Patnaik craftily parted ways with his decade-old partners the BJP. If the BJP persists with defending Varun Gandhi, they could find Nitish Kumar too decamping. Nitish suddenly sees himself as a prospective Prime Minister-he is not going to risk that chance because of some political upstart who couldn’t control his tongue. The BJP’s bigger worry is internal warfare which could exacerbate after the polls, especially if the party does poorly in the elections.

Thus, both formations built around national parties are in trouble and the regional parties, big and small are emerging as key players. Some have got together to form a loose confederation, which is in search of a name. Excited political pundits, ever on the lookout for that elusive beast, the non-Congress, non-BJP coalition, have already anointed it as the next government. This has happened before, they tell us – in 1989 and again in 1996 – and could definitely happen again. Is this so? Let us examine the evidence as it stands today.

It is a given that to form any future government, the “Third Front” will have to cobble together 272 seats, which implies that the two big parties between them should get less than that number. But is it as simple as that? Assume that the Congress and the BJP combined do not get more than 250 seats. The rest should theoretically not have a problem forming the majority. But the “rest” includes parties that will not, under any circumstances, come together. Yes, we know that politics makes strange bedfellows, but it is highly improbable that Lalu will sit with Nitish, AIADMK with DMK or Mulayamwith Mayawati. That would leave out between 70-90 members out, whichever way one counts it. The Front would collapse before it is built.

Which leaves open two other possibilities-a Front supported by the BJP or the Congress, from the outside. That too has many precedents, the last one being the Congress supported governments of H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujral. The Congress would be happy to keep the BJP out and the BJP would return the compliment. Such a formation will be a fragile one and may not last for more than two years, if past experience is anything to go by. This is what many, including the stock markets are factoring into their calculations and getting jittery about.

But in all these calculations, the probability – however remote – that the Congress or the BJP would do better than most people give them credit for is rarely considered. The collapse of the two national parties is seen as a foregone conclusion; anti-incumbency, weak organization, lack of any wave in favour of either, public anger all are cited as reasons for their imminent poor performance.

The Congress is dismissed for having not performed during it’sr five years in power and the “India Shining” story, which numbed the NDA into believing that it would win once more, is held out as an example of foolhardy thinking. Indeed, the very fact that the Congress’s allies are deserting it is seen as a vindication that the party will perform poorly. The same is the story with the NDA.

But we must consider yet another possibility-that of an entirely new alliance forming after the elections. It may not be the UPA or even the NDA, as we know them, but could have a big, national party at its centre and a different name. All the smaller parties, which have opted out to fight the polls on their own could happily come back if they see their future lies with a big party-led coalition rather than with other smaller parties each of which would be tugging in a different direction. New permutations and combinations could be formed-a PMK-AIADMK formation could easily be incorporated into a new “UPA” as much as the BJD walking back into a new “NDA.”

Thus, the pre-poll scenario of every one fighting on their own should not concern us as much as what the post-poll arrangements will be. In politics, tomorrow is always another day.

Metaphor for new Indian middle class

By M H Ahssan

The Shatabdi is definitely the perfect metaphor for the middle class in India, which is morphing and sneakily changing, but in its own way, using its own logic.

Many of us have trouble picturing exactly who the members of the great Indian urban middle class are. Though we talk about them all the time, it still is like pornography: “I’ll know it when I see it but can’t exactly describe it’’. When visiting western businessmen talk, with a gleam in their eye, of investing in India because of the growing middle class, one is a bit worried about what images they carry in their heads about this group. The trouble is that our consumer base is so variegated, that even field research, away from meeting rooms, provides every kind of anecdotal evidence, to confirm any kind of mental picture that anyone might have, on any count.

A recent trip from Delhi to Rishikesh on the Shatabdi was a ‘eureka moment’. The Shatabdi is definitely the perfect metaphor for the middle class. Santosh Desai of Future Brands wrote once that the autorickshaw is a metaphor for India.

It can weave its way in and out of utter confusion, is ugly, noisy and inconvenient, but it serves the purpose quite well, at an incredible low price. Unlike an amusing bumper sticker on a Volkswagen that said: “when I grow up, I will become a Mercedes”. The autorickshaw will not grow up to become a car. It will — and is — becoming a much better autorickshaw. But after seeing the Shatabdi, the thought occurs that the autorickshaw may be a metaphor for the lower SEC (socio-economic class) C and D Urban India (roughly the second and third income quartiles of urban India); but the Shatabdi is definitely a metaphor for upper middle India: SEC B, the lower end of SEC A2 and the top end of SEC C (the 5th to 25th or 30th percentile by income of urban India). Roughly that is about a 75 to 100 million people, and is the middle class that we think about.

The Shatabdi is a higher being than the regular train, even if it uses the same old railway station. Even the non-executive, coach class, is quite steeply priced, demand is greater than supply. It comes with an e-ticket, and a certain “culture class” of customers that fits marketer’s definitions of “The Middle Class”. The chair car is definitely like an upper middle class drawing room, and though the air conditioning works well, there is a cocktail of many strong smells in the air. Some of them you soon get used to, even welcome, partly because the strong smell of the cleaner assures you that cleaning has actually been done.

Having not been on a Shatabdi for many years, one was struck by how “upwardly mobile” it had gradually become. And yet, how it has stayed the same on many counts too. Looking at the overhead baggage racks (open racks still), it is clear that a luggage revolution has happened. Smart suitcases (when compared to what we used to see earlier), lots of soft luggage, nylon backpacks — but the same old coolie system, even their uniforms unchanged!

The luggage rack definitely made a statement about what progress Consumer India has made and the attitude it now sported, based on what luggage they were ‘wearing’. No uniformity here, no herd mentality, lots of individualism. No boring single brand here, this was the full blown variety of the gray market, importing from around the world! (The same, by the way, can be said for the winter wear of the passengers. No more aunt knitted hand-made sweaters. Wind cheaters of all hues, and machinemade sweaters and caps. And also of the closed footwear. No cumbersome heavy leather shoes in sight anymore.)

Then came the newspaper boy, in uniform, with an entire range of newspapers. As one clumsily reached into the wallet, after having picked four newspapers, the paper boy says with a cheeky “don’t you know” grin that it is free — on the house, just like in airplanes! The seats actually recline smoothly and the age-old train feature of a ring to place the water bottle in still exists, but now has bottled water, on the house, not carried from your house.

Breakfast comes — same old sad looking contents — in fact much worse quality because it is pre-packed. But the packaging has improved in leaps and bounds. The chana was in a sealed foil container and the baturawas actually more a kind of bread-batura than a conventional batura, folded in the shape of a cone and in a wrapper that made me think it would definitely grow up to be a croissant beater. But the “separate tea’ is here, tea bag, low grade plastic hot water flask, dairy creamer, packed sugar on the side.

The toilets were filthy. Some things never change. But on the other hand they had a roll of toilet paper — a definite evolution in sophistication from the past. However, the toilet paper was dangling from an improvised holder comprising a plastic string. The metric this writer uses to see the state of evolution of a society is the cleanliness of its public toilet and the number of people who light a cigarette under a no smoking sign. By these metrics, both Russia and China are not so great. Our airport toilets are cleaner now but train toilet are not yet so. When will Hindustan Unilever, the messiah of mass consumption, collect some consumer insight on how we use dirty toilets, and give us individual use products that can help us on this count? But that is the subject of yet another article.

The highlight was the customer satisfaction survey that was handed out. It not only was a very well designed questionnaire by a leading market research agency, it had to be self filled, and small disposable plastic ball point sticks, no doubt made in China, were handed out with each. The dimensions of evaluation also reflected the more evolved, higher order needs the new middle India has — cleanliness of compartment floor, windows, and uniforms worn by the staff, as compared to a general cleanliness question that we would have asked earlier; aesthetic appeal of the compartment (definitely a higher order need!), temperature of the meal and body language of the serving staff.

Of course, everyone was on their mobile phone either working or socially networking throughout the journey and a few young salesmen were also on email. When I got off at Haridwar, and was looking for the car that was supposed to pick me up, my coolie said to me impatiently, why don’t you phone the driver, how can he not have a phone!

This is middle class India, morphing and sneakily changing, but in its own way, using its own logic. Just like the Shatabdi.

Metaphor for new Indian middle class

By M H Ahssan

The Shatabdi is definitely the perfect metaphor for the middle class in India, which is morphing and sneakily changing, but in its own way, using its own logic.

Many of us have trouble picturing exactly who the members of the great Indian urban middle class are. Though we talk about them all the time, it still is like pornography: “I’ll know it when I see it but can’t exactly describe it’’. When visiting western businessmen talk, with a gleam in their eye, of investing in India because of the growing middle class, one is a bit worried about what images they carry in their heads about this group. The trouble is that our consumer base is so variegated, that even field research, away from meeting rooms, provides every kind of anecdotal evidence, to confirm any kind of mental picture that anyone might have, on any count.

A recent trip from Delhi to Rishikesh on the Shatabdi was a ‘eureka moment’. The Shatabdi is definitely the perfect metaphor for the middle class. Santosh Desai of Future Brands wrote once that the autorickshaw is a metaphor for India.

It can weave its way in and out of utter confusion, is ugly, noisy and inconvenient, but it serves the purpose quite well, at an incredible low price. Unlike an amusing bumper sticker on a Volkswagen that said: “when I grow up, I will become a Mercedes”. The autorickshaw will not grow up to become a car. It will — and is — becoming a much better autorickshaw. But after seeing the Shatabdi, the thought occurs that the autorickshaw may be a metaphor for the lower SEC (socio-economic class) C and D Urban India (roughly the second and third income quartiles of urban India); but the Shatabdi is definitely a metaphor for upper middle India: SEC B, the lower end of SEC A2 and the top end of SEC C (the 5th to 25th or 30th percentile by income of urban India). Roughly that is about a 75 to 100 million people, and is the middle class that we think about.

The Shatabdi is a higher being than the regular train, even if it uses the same old railway station. Even the non-executive, coach class, is quite steeply priced, demand is greater than supply. It comes with an e-ticket, and a certain “culture class” of customers that fits marketer’s definitions of “The Middle Class”. The chair car is definitely like an upper middle class drawing room, and though the air conditioning works well, there is a cocktail of many strong smells in the air. Some of them you soon get used to, even welcome, partly because the strong smell of the cleaner assures you that cleaning has actually been done.

Having not been on a Shatabdi for many years, one was struck by how “upwardly mobile” it had gradually become. And yet, how it has stayed the same on many counts too. Looking at the overhead baggage racks (open racks still), it is clear that a luggage revolution has happened. Smart suitcases (when compared to what we used to see earlier), lots of soft luggage, nylon backpacks — but the same old coolie system, even their uniforms unchanged!

The luggage rack definitely made a statement about what progress Consumer India has made and the attitude it now sported, based on what luggage they were ‘wearing’. No uniformity here, no herd mentality, lots of individualism. No boring single brand here, this was the full blown variety of the gray market, importing from around the world! (The same, by the way, can be said for the winter wear of the passengers. No more aunt knitted hand-made sweaters. Wind cheaters of all hues, and machinemade sweaters and caps. And also of the closed footwear. No cumbersome heavy leather shoes in sight anymore.)

Then came the newspaper boy, in uniform, with an entire range of newspapers. As one clumsily reached into the wallet, after having picked four newspapers, the paper boy says with a cheeky “don’t you know” grin that it is free — on the house, just like in airplanes! The seats actually recline smoothly and the age-old train feature of a ring to place the water bottle in still exists, but now has bottled water, on the house, not carried from your house.

Breakfast comes — same old sad looking contents — in fact much worse quality because it is pre-packed. But the packaging has improved in leaps and bounds. The chana was in a sealed foil container and the baturawas actually more a kind of bread-batura than a conventional batura, folded in the shape of a cone and in a wrapper that made me think it would definitely grow up to be a croissant beater. But the “separate tea’ is here, tea bag, low grade plastic hot water flask, dairy creamer, packed sugar on the side.

The toilets were filthy. Some things never change. But on the other hand they had a roll of toilet paper — a definite evolution in sophistication from the past. However, the toilet paper was dangling from an improvised holder comprising a plastic string. The metric this writer uses to see the state of evolution of a society is the cleanliness of its public toilet and the number of people who light a cigarette under a no smoking sign. By these metrics, both Russia and China are not so great. Our airport toilets are cleaner now but train toilet are not yet so. When will Hindustan Unilever, the messiah of mass consumption, collect some consumer insight on how we use dirty toilets, and give us individual use products that can help us on this count? But that is the subject of yet another article.

The highlight was the customer satisfaction survey that was handed out. It not only was a very well designed questionnaire by a leading market research agency, it had to be self filled, and small disposable plastic ball point sticks, no doubt made in China, were handed out with each. The dimensions of evaluation also reflected the more evolved, higher order needs the new middle India has — cleanliness of compartment floor, windows, and uniforms worn by the staff, as compared to a general cleanliness question that we would have asked earlier; aesthetic appeal of the compartment (definitely a higher order need!), temperature of the meal and body language of the serving staff.

Of course, everyone was on their mobile phone either working or socially networking throughout the journey and a few young salesmen were also on email. When I got off at Haridwar, and was looking for the car that was supposed to pick me up, my coolie said to me impatiently, why don’t you phone the driver, how can he not have a phone!

This is middle class India, morphing and sneakily changing, but in its own way, using its own logic. Just like the Shatabdi.

Opinion: Keep a close eye on the middle

By M H Ahssan

Somewhere between the late eighties and the early nineties, a new word — “disintermediation” — was silently introduced into our collective consciousness and vocabulary, especially in the context of the financial sector. It was a bit like how the words “paradigm” and “synergy” have attached themselves, uninvited and somewhat unobtrusively, to our conversations.

Disintermediation is no longer restricted to the financial sector and it is changing many parts of our familiar world. Many other unfamiliar parts will also alter immutably. But, yet, there might still be some parts of this world that will continue to require a middle tier.

Disintermediation, when it was introduced into the Indian market jargon, simply meant savers taking their hard-earned savings directly to those who needed it most — that is, companies setting up projects — instead of lending it to intermediaries (such as banks), which then eventually lent it to the companies. The word was used repeatedly in the perspective of developing the Indian capital markets. It is another matter that in the meantime a larger number of intermediaries have reinforced their presence in the capital markets.

But, beyond the framework of the capital markets, the word “disintermediation” found new currency during the internet boom and, once the dust settled, in all kinds of consumer offerings. The term also inspired new theories on organisational structure and management strategy. What disintermediation simply meant was cutting out the middleman from — or delayering — a company’s supply chain or distribution networks. For example, Michael Porter’s value chain concept became the foundation for re-engineering corporate structures to e-commerce applications.

Two examples of disintermediation are threatening to change two industries beyond recognition.

Reams have already been written about Apple’s iTunes and how this business model has changed the music industry. Apple realised early on that the internet would modify the music distribution business forever. That model — which has the sale of hardware layered on the software promise — has now become the defining template for music distribution. It peeled off many layers — such as, the music stores and the distributors, all of whom meant additional costs for the ultimate customer. But, there are further changes coming, which drive the disintermediation process further and promise to even do away with the need to buy hardware to access the software. A new service called “Spotify” allows users to hear songs of their choice from a virtual jukebox, all free, provided they agree to listen to 20 seconds of ads between 30 minutes of uninterrupted music.

The songs can only be heard, not downloaded, reducing the piracy threat for music companies. The promise becomes attractive, given the easier access to the internet today, especially through mobile phones. It not only does away with the need to carry an iPod around or manage shelf-space overflowing with CDs, but it also has music labels signing on to offer their music. The service is still developing, but it has already created a buzz.

The second example is “Kindle”, an e-book reader launched by Amazon, which is now in its second version. It would be instructive to remember that Gutenberg’s invention freed ordinary people from the tyranny of priests and godmen, when he made available printed copies of the holy texts and scriptures at affordable prices. That was disintermediation 101. With Kindle-2 comes the second phase. With the help of the net, readers can download books, magazines and newspapers on their e-reader, which can then be read at leisure. Most importantly, if Amazon becomes a publisher also (which is not too distant a likelihood), the Kindle would have eliminated — in one stroke — the whole middle kingdom of agent, publisher, distributor and book shops. Sure, the Kindle-2 still has a long distance to travel — readers are unlikely to give up the printed, paper version completely in favour of a Kindle (at least, not yet), or eschew the option of browsing in a bookshop. But, the field has been set and a game is certainly afoot. Watch this space to see how traditional publishers respond to this challenge, especially with Google and Sony also adding their hats to this e-space.

But, despite the seeming invincibility of disintermediation as a business process, a few things in life will always come with middle-men. For instance, our desire to live a life of good health is no longer within our control. Doctors have taken over every aspect of our health and maintain a stranglehold over the whole medical well-being business. With all of us leading complex lives, there is no way we could even begin thinking of a disintermediated surgical procedure.

There is another category which we love to hate and yet cannot eliminate from our lives — politicians. Post 26/11, many embittered citizens asked resentfully whether we needed politicians at all. The emotional outburst at that moment was understandable, but we elect politicians to govern on our behalf. If they’re abolished, we have to police ourselves, clear the garbage, or finance and oversee road-building through mosquito-infested swamps. The least we could do is elect the right guy and then monitor his work, his questions in Parliament or the quality of his debate. Since we have to live with this devil, we might as well keep an eagle eye on him.

MIND YOUR LANGUAGE: ADVANI TO CANDIDATES

By Kajol Singh

To pre-empt the possibility of BJP leaders landing themselves in a soup because of their remarks, the party has sent out clear instructions that they should refrain from making inflammatory speeches

BJP was on guarded in its response to the course of action adopted so far by Varun Gandhi, who courted arrest amid high drama in Pilibhit on Saturday. Having made his point, the Gandhi-Nehru family scion, the party felt, should seek bail and get down to campaigning for his maiden election bid, and let the law take its own course. The party brass has simultaneously asked its candidates to exercise restraint in its speeches.

“The charges levelled against him in the video CDs have not been proved whether they are true or false. He says the voice in the footage is not his,” BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani told newspersons here on Sunday afternoon. This was the first time the BJP veteran has articulated his views on the subject.

Mr Advani chose to go public with his views on a day when the police filed a case against Varun Gandhi and slapped on him several charges, including an attempt to murder, following the violence when he was arrested here for reported hate speeches Saturday.

The cases were filed against Varun Gandhi, senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra and former legislator B K Gupta in the Kotwali police station of Pilibhit.

“While Varun Gandhi has been booked under Section 144 (unlawful assembly), Mishra and Gupta have been booked under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” superintendent of police Prakash D said.

“Besides Section 144, Varun Gandhi and his 13 supporters have been booked under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 331 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to extort confusion), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) of the Indian Penal Code, Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act and also for destroying public property and rioting,” Pilibhit district magistrate Ajay Chauhan said.

These sections are part of the same first information report (FIR) registered against Varun Gandhi, he said.

District authorities said the BJP leaders had provoked party workers to indulge in violence. However, BJP, Mr Advani said, has already disassociated itself from the remarks attributed to him in the CDs. “But it’s the first time that the Election Commission has told a political party not to make a person its candidate. The Constitution has not assigned such a role to the poll panel,” Mr Advani contended.

The saffron party, after due deliberations, has already rejected EC’s advice. “So far as the party is concerned, we feel that it has taken the correct stand in keeping with the law,” Mr Advani asserted.

However, to pre-empt the possibility of its candidates landing themselves in a soup because of their remarks, BJP has sent out clear instructions that they should refrain from making inflammatory speeches. “I’d urge our candidates to exercise restraint,” Mr Advani said.

The party feels Mr Varun has, by organising a show of strength before courting arrest, made his point. “The prudent thing for him would be to let the issue die down, secure bail and get on with campaigning,” BJP sources said.

As for the reports that the state government had, after taking cognisance of the events that unfolded in Pilibhit on Saturday before and after Mr Varun’s arrest, slapped grievous charges against him, BJP leadership was not unduly perturbed.

“By embarking on such a course, the authorities will only end up providing him with the opportunity to project himself as a martyr. If you persecute him, he’ll sooner than later come to occupy political centrestage,” was how party leaders saw the developments unfolding.

Mr Varun, according to BJP, had acted in haste initially when he approached the Delhi high court seeking anticipatory bail. He then realised his mistake, and took the sensible decision of surrendering before the law. “For a political person, this was the best course available,” said party sources.

MIND YOUR LANGUAGE: ADVANI TO CANDIDATES

By Kajol Singh

To pre-empt the possibility of BJP leaders landing themselves in a soup because of their remarks, the party has sent out clear instructions that they should refrain from making inflammatory speeches

BJP was on guarded in its response to the course of action adopted so far by Varun Gandhi, who courted arrest amid high drama in Pilibhit on Saturday. Having made his point, the Gandhi-Nehru family scion, the party felt, should seek bail and get down to campaigning for his maiden election bid, and let the law take its own course. The party brass has simultaneously asked its candidates to exercise restraint in its speeches.

“The charges levelled against him in the video CDs have not been proved whether they are true or false. He says the voice in the footage is not his,” BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani told newspersons here on Sunday afternoon. This was the first time the BJP veteran has articulated his views on the subject.

Mr Advani chose to go public with his views on a day when the police filed a case against Varun Gandhi and slapped on him several charges, including an attempt to murder, following the violence when he was arrested here for reported hate speeches Saturday.

The cases were filed against Varun Gandhi, senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra and former legislator B K Gupta in the Kotwali police station of Pilibhit.

“While Varun Gandhi has been booked under Section 144 (unlawful assembly), Mishra and Gupta have been booked under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” superintendent of police Prakash D said.

“Besides Section 144, Varun Gandhi and his 13 supporters have been booked under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 331 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to extort confusion), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) of the Indian Penal Code, Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act and also for destroying public property and rioting,” Pilibhit district magistrate Ajay Chauhan said.

These sections are part of the same first information report (FIR) registered against Varun Gandhi, he said.

District authorities said the BJP leaders had provoked party workers to indulge in violence. However, BJP, Mr Advani said, has already disassociated itself from the remarks attributed to him in the CDs. “But it’s the first time that the Election Commission has told a political party not to make a person its candidate. The Constitution has not assigned such a role to the poll panel,” Mr Advani contended.

The saffron party, after due deliberations, has already rejected EC’s advice. “So far as the party is concerned, we feel that it has taken the correct stand in keeping with the law,” Mr Advani asserted.

However, to pre-empt the possibility of its candidates landing themselves in a soup because of their remarks, BJP has sent out clear instructions that they should refrain from making inflammatory speeches. “I’d urge our candidates to exercise restraint,” Mr Advani said.

The party feels Mr Varun has, by organising a show of strength before courting arrest, made his point. “The prudent thing for him would be to let the issue die down, secure bail and get on with campaigning,” BJP sources said.

As for the reports that the state government had, after taking cognisance of the events that unfolded in Pilibhit on Saturday before and after Mr Varun’s arrest, slapped grievous charges against him, BJP leadership was not unduly perturbed.

“By embarking on such a course, the authorities will only end up providing him with the opportunity to project himself as a martyr. If you persecute him, he’ll sooner than later come to occupy political centrestage,” was how party leaders saw the developments unfolding.

Mr Varun, according to BJP, had acted in haste initially when he approached the Delhi high court seeking anticipatory bail. He then realised his mistake, and took the sensible decision of surrendering before the law. “For a political person, this was the best course available,” said party sources.

Through the lens of elections

By M H Ahssan

Elections reflect the nature of our democracy. They show that ours may be the largest democracy in the world but it is not one that rests upon the public presentation of reasons.

Elections in India are like the game of cricket. Initially attention is focused on the process of selection, or more appropriately, nomination of the team members who will contest seats, and next on winning the game. As the date of elections comes close, media and political astrologers swing into action predicting the possible outcomes of the game. And when the day of reckoning dawns, everyone is fixed to the monitors seeing how each ball adds up and contributes to victory for one and loss for the other.

As is inevitable in any great spectacle what catches the eye and becomes the main subject of conversation are the activities of specific individuals — the political leaders and their key associates. Who is standing with whom, when and where, who stays away and who comes in wearing heels but not pink, become matters of continuous interpretation, leading to speculations about future alliances and break-ups. It is no different this time. Indeed, every evening the excitement builds up as possibilities of new alliances surface and old ones seem to fade away.

But what does this tell us about the nature of our democracy? The common lament — one that is expressed by the media and the analysts during election period — is that political parties indulge in personality targeting and shy away from raising ‘issues’. The reality, however, is that political parties get away with commenting on statements made by an individual because that is what we rush to them for.

There is also the question of what is meant by discussion of issues. Even a quick look at the campaign trails shows that political leaders speak of issues, but they are in the form of what was or was not accomplished. Election meetings resound with charges and countercharges; who provided housing and employment for the poor, who gave cheaper rice or waived loans; who stood by the minorities and who is firm in their resolve to fight terror.

So issues do get raised and punches are thrown at each other in staged media confrontations. What does not find space is a sustained debate about what would be the policies favoured by a political party on a specific issue — say, the environment or education or agricultural growth. As is the case everywhere, our country too faces challenges and there are concerns that citizens have about their security, housing, employment, the future of their children, to say the least. How would political parties deal with these issues? What are the differences between them on these matters? What are their priorities? If they were to initiate one project or policy on matters relating to environment, what would that be?

As a democracy we emphasise the importance of casting the vote, even though the vote becomes an asset only when the citizens are in a position to make informed choices. Informed choices, however, are not possible as we do not debate specific policies and alternatives on a given issue. It is not, therefore, surprising that people have no option but to choose among leaders, and, at the local level, the patron with some clout, whether that is family ties, wealth or simply terror.

The striking feature is that the media and the intelligentsia which never fails to lament the absence of serious discussion and debate in Parliament too is obsessed with comments on the day’s occurrences rather than an intensive debate on key areas of policy and decision making. It is almost as if everyone believes that policies must be left to specialists or that there are no significant differences between most political parties and irrespective of who comes to power existing policies would continue with few significant changes.

Elections thus reflect the nature of our democracy. They show that ours may be the largest democracy in the world but it is not one that rests upon the public presentation of reasons. While the thinking and practice of democracy is moving towards a public justification of judgements, actions planned and taken, we focus on reiterating and recounting what was or was not done. It is not reason but rhetoric and emotion that clinches discussions and shapes, by extension, the choices of the voters.

If the recent elections to the American Presidency captured the collective popular imagination it is because justifications were publicly given and sought for future policies, domestic and foreign, economic and social. We could vicariously participate in them because reason transcends national boundaries. So, even though arguments were presented before the American electorate we could all listen, reflect upon them and make an assessment on hearing both sides. It is not quite the same in India and political parties alone are not to blame for this. If we look at the past few weeks, particularly since the elections were announced, we are all, media, the intelligentsia and the middle classes, complicit in this.

The peculiarity also is that this apparent limitation, and perhaps even a weakness, of our democracy has yielded mixed results. If in the early period of coalition politics it made governments unstable and dependent entirely on individual caprice, in recent times it has facilitated the free (unburdened by past record) coming together of political parties in pre- and post-poll alliances. Since explanations offered for making and breaking of alliances are simply announced on public forums rather than justified in an open debate with another, actions are not constrained by reason. At a time when no one political party is able to win a simple majority in the Lok Sabha, this flexibility has been transformed into an asset, one that can be used to keep the government in office for a full term.

Political opportunism, crossing over for individual gains and positions, sloganeering and walkouts are not simply symptoms of the gradual erosion of our democracy. They are a direct consequence of the nature of our democracy — one that is laid bare before us during the period of election. So long as we are busy tallying votes, predicting results and receiving press briefings from selectors, coaches or captains, we are unlikely to see the many ways in which we are ourselves implicated in giving this form to our democracy.

Through the lens of elections

By M H Ahssan

Elections reflect the nature of our democracy. They show that ours may be the largest democracy in the world but it is not one that rests upon the public presentation of reasons.

Elections in India are like the game of cricket. Initially attention is focused on the process of selection, or more appropriately, nomination of the team members who will contest seats, and next on winning the game. As the date of elections comes close, media and political astrologers swing into action predicting the possible outcomes of the game. And when the day of reckoning dawns, everyone is fixed to the monitors seeing how each ball adds up and contributes to victory for one and loss for the other.

As is inevitable in any great spectacle what catches the eye and becomes the main subject of conversation are the activities of specific individuals — the political leaders and their key associates. Who is standing with whom, when and where, who stays away and who comes in wearing heels but not pink, become matters of continuous interpretation, leading to speculations about future alliances and break-ups. It is no different this time. Indeed, every evening the excitement builds up as possibilities of new alliances surface and old ones seem to fade away.

But what does this tell us about the nature of our democracy? The common lament — one that is expressed by the media and the analysts during election period — is that political parties indulge in personality targeting and shy away from raising ‘issues’. The reality, however, is that political parties get away with commenting on statements made by an individual because that is what we rush to them for.

There is also the question of what is meant by discussion of issues. Even a quick look at the campaign trails shows that political leaders speak of issues, but they are in the form of what was or was not accomplished. Election meetings resound with charges and countercharges; who provided housing and employment for the poor, who gave cheaper rice or waived loans; who stood by the minorities and who is firm in their resolve to fight terror.

So issues do get raised and punches are thrown at each other in staged media confrontations. What does not find space is a sustained debate about what would be the policies favoured by a political party on a specific issue — say, the environment or education or agricultural growth. As is the case everywhere, our country too faces challenges and there are concerns that citizens have about their security, housing, employment, the future of their children, to say the least. How would political parties deal with these issues? What are the differences between them on these matters? What are their priorities? If they were to initiate one project or policy on matters relating to environment, what would that be?

As a democracy we emphasise the importance of casting the vote, even though the vote becomes an asset only when the citizens are in a position to make informed choices. Informed choices, however, are not possible as we do not debate specific policies and alternatives on a given issue. It is not, therefore, surprising that people have no option but to choose among leaders, and, at the local level, the patron with some clout, whether that is family ties, wealth or simply terror.

The striking feature is that the media and the intelligentsia which never fails to lament the absence of serious discussion and debate in Parliament too is obsessed with comments on the day’s occurrences rather than an intensive debate on key areas of policy and decision making. It is almost as if everyone believes that policies must be left to specialists or that there are no significant differences between most political parties and irrespective of who comes to power existing policies would continue with few significant changes.

Elections thus reflect the nature of our democracy. They show that ours may be the largest democracy in the world but it is not one that rests upon the public presentation of reasons. While the thinking and practice of democracy is moving towards a public justification of judgements, actions planned and taken, we focus on reiterating and recounting what was or was not done. It is not reason but rhetoric and emotion that clinches discussions and shapes, by extension, the choices of the voters.

If the recent elections to the American Presidency captured the collective popular imagination it is because justifications were publicly given and sought for future policies, domestic and foreign, economic and social. We could vicariously participate in them because reason transcends national boundaries. So, even though arguments were presented before the American electorate we could all listen, reflect upon them and make an assessment on hearing both sides. It is not quite the same in India and political parties alone are not to blame for this. If we look at the past few weeks, particularly since the elections were announced, we are all, media, the intelligentsia and the middle classes, complicit in this.

The peculiarity also is that this apparent limitation, and perhaps even a weakness, of our democracy has yielded mixed results. If in the early period of coalition politics it made governments unstable and dependent entirely on individual caprice, in recent times it has facilitated the free (unburdened by past record) coming together of political parties in pre- and post-poll alliances. Since explanations offered for making and breaking of alliances are simply announced on public forums rather than justified in an open debate with another, actions are not constrained by reason. At a time when no one political party is able to win a simple majority in the Lok Sabha, this flexibility has been transformed into an asset, one that can be used to keep the government in office for a full term.

Political opportunism, crossing over for individual gains and positions, sloganeering and walkouts are not simply symptoms of the gradual erosion of our democracy. They are a direct consequence of the nature of our democracy — one that is laid bare before us during the period of election. So long as we are busy tallying votes, predicting results and receiving press briefings from selectors, coaches or captains, we are unlikely to see the many ways in which we are ourselves implicated in giving this form to our democracy.

POWER PLAY – Indi’a Most powerful CEOs

By HNN Research Desk

Great leaders know that power is all about bringing about deep and lasting change — which can never be achieved through coercion

Power has many definitions, depending on the context. In maths, it’s the product obtained by multiplying a number by itself, like two to the power of three is eight. In physics, it’s the rate at which work is done, expressed in units of watts or horsepower. In people-terms, my favourite definition of power is from an old organisational behaviour text which simply says, “power is getting people to do what they otherwise would not do.”

This little definition has stayed with me while I’ve forgotten almost everything else I learnt in business school because it’s been re-enforced time and again in real life. It neatly links power to the ability to bring about change, for if there’s one thing people do not otherwise do, it’s change. This, in turn, links to leadership, which is about bringing change (as opposed to management, which is mostly about promoting order and efficiency).

Powerful leaders, by definition then, are those who bring about the greatest positive change in society, improving the way people live, they way they relate and the way they think. This might be achieved by coercion, through rules and regulations that people must follow whether they like it or not. But most often, if it is to have a lasting impact, it is done by persuasion. Powerful leaders represent a great idea, which others make their own. They persuade people to do what they otherwise would not do through the force of their personalities.

Every year, HNN Corporate Dossier magazine commissions IMRB to conduct a survey to determine India Inc’s Most Powerful CEOs. The project starts inhouse, with a long-list of CEOs prepared by The Economic Times Intelligence Group, based on the size of the companies that the CEOs control. After that, the survey goes into the public domain, with roughly 500 executives in senior, middle and junior management across five cities doing the selecting. They are not allowed to pick their own group CEOs, but others who don’t have direct power over their lives and careers.

In the five years it’s been running, the top rankings in the survey have been occupied by business leaders who have had a great positive impact on Indian society. They have introduced products and services that improved the lives of their customers. They have created wealth for their investors. They have grown the business of their suppliers and dealers. They have created a pool of highly talented employees. And most importantly, they have influenced they way we think about ourselves.

For the first three years of the India Inc’s Most Powerful CEOs survey, the man at the top was NR Narayana Murthy. The glory of Infosys was then at its height and its CEO held unquestionable sway over India Inc. But power, as everyone knows, is a sifting thing, and its hard for any single person, however iconic he might be, to retain his hold on people’s minds in perpetuity. Last year, NR Narayana Murthy seceded the top position to Mukesh Ambani and slipped to third place. This year, the survey has thrown up a brand new No 1. And there are several interesting changes at the top, reflecting changing perceptions in a period of slowdown.

Set to hit the news stands on 3 April 2009, the special edition of Corporate Dossier (CD) containing the results of the India Inc’s Most Powerful CEOs survey features several articles on the theme of power. The lead article analyses the historic relationship between economic and political power in India, right from the days of the Harappan civilisation. There have been periods in history when those with economic power have managed to wield political power (The East India Company being a case in point) and then a period of backlash when those in political power sought to gain economic power (the License Raj).

In another article, business historian Gita Piramal analyses the way corporate power has become more democratic, with the old business houses giving way to new-gen entrepreneurs. She also looks at the fate of the PSU chiefs, who wield considerable power in terms of the assets they control and the large number of stakeholders they affect, but who never seem to climb very high in the power rankings, possibly because they are seldom in the public eye.

Then there’s a pictorial page, featuring some of India Inc’s prominent boardrooms, from the effecient-looking Bajaj Auto board room to the opulant Aditya Birla group board room in the western region. On a lighter note and on the eve of the IPL touranament, CD puts together the Indian Promters League, a dream cricket team.

Lastly, the CD special issue features ‘Musings On Power’, a series of very candid interviews with Deepak Parekh of HDFC, NR Narayana Murthy of Infosys and Sunil Mittal of Bharati Airtel. The panels alongside would give you an idea on how they handle this crazy little thing called power.

POWER PLAY – Indi’a Most powerful CEOs

By HNN Research Desk

Great leaders know that power is all about bringing about deep and lasting change — which can never be achieved through coercion

Power has many definitions, depending on the context. In maths, it’s the product obtained by multiplying a number by itself, like two to the power of three is eight. In physics, it’s the rate at which work is done, expressed in units of watts or horsepower. In people-terms, my favourite definition of power is from an old organisational behaviour text which simply says, “power is getting people to do what they otherwise would not do.”

This little definition has stayed with me while I’ve forgotten almost everything else I learnt in business school because it’s been re-enforced time and again in real life. It neatly links power to the ability to bring about change, for if there’s one thing people do not otherwise do, it’s change. This, in turn, links to leadership, which is about bringing change (as opposed to management, which is mostly about promoting order and efficiency).

Powerful leaders, by definition then, are those who bring about the greatest positive change in society, improving the way people live, they way they relate and the way they think. This might be achieved by coercion, through rules and regulations that people must follow whether they like it or not. But most often, if it is to have a lasting impact, it is done by persuasion. Powerful leaders represent a great idea, which others make their own. They persuade people to do what they otherwise would not do through the force of their personalities.

Every year, HNN Corporate Dossier magazine commissions IMRB to conduct a survey to determine India Inc’s Most Powerful CEOs. The project starts inhouse, with a long-list of CEOs prepared by The Economic Times Intelligence Group, based on the size of the companies that the CEOs control. After that, the survey goes into the public domain, with roughly 500 executives in senior, middle and junior management across five cities doing the selecting. They are not allowed to pick their own group CEOs, but others who don’t have direct power over their lives and careers.

In the five years it’s been running, the top rankings in the survey have been occupied by business leaders who have had a great positive impact on Indian society. They have introduced products and services that improved the lives of their customers. They have created wealth for their investors. They have grown the business of their suppliers and dealers. They have created a pool of highly talented employees. And most importantly, they have influenced they way we think about ourselves.

For the first three years of the India Inc’s Most Powerful CEOs survey, the man at the top was NR Narayana Murthy. The glory of Infosys was then at its height and its CEO held unquestionable sway over India Inc. But power, as everyone knows, is a sifting thing, and its hard for any single person, however iconic he might be, to retain his hold on people’s minds in perpetuity. Last year, NR Narayana Murthy seceded the top position to Mukesh Ambani and slipped to third place. This year, the survey has thrown up a brand new No 1. And there are several interesting changes at the top, reflecting changing perceptions in a period of slowdown.

Set to hit the news stands on 3 April 2009, the special edition of Corporate Dossier (CD) containing the results of the India Inc’s Most Powerful CEOs survey features several articles on the theme of power. The lead article analyses the historic relationship between economic and political power in India, right from the days of the Harappan civilisation. There have been periods in history when those with economic power have managed to wield political power (The East India Company being a case in point) and then a period of backlash when those in political power sought to gain economic power (the License Raj).

In another article, business historian Gita Piramal analyses the way corporate power has become more democratic, with the old business houses giving way to new-gen entrepreneurs. She also looks at the fate of the PSU chiefs, who wield considerable power in terms of the assets they control and the large number of stakeholders they affect, but who never seem to climb very high in the power rankings, possibly because they are seldom in the public eye.

Then there’s a pictorial page, featuring some of India Inc’s prominent boardrooms, from the effecient-looking Bajaj Auto board room to the opulant Aditya Birla group board room in the western region. On a lighter note and on the eve of the IPL touranament, CD puts together the Indian Promters League, a dream cricket team.

Lastly, the CD special issue features ‘Musings On Power’, a series of very candid interviews with Deepak Parekh of HDFC, NR Narayana Murthy of Infosys and Sunil Mittal of Bharati Airtel. The panels alongside would give you an idea on how they handle this crazy little thing called power.

POWER PLAY – Indi’a Most powerful CEOs

By HNN Research Desk

Great leaders know that power is all about bringing about deep and lasting change — which can never be achieved through coercion

Power has many definitions, depending on the context. In maths, it’s the product obtained by multiplying a number by itself, like two to the power of three is eight. In physics, it’s the rate at which work is done, expressed in units of watts or horsepower. In people-terms, my favourite definition of power is from an old organisational behaviour text which simply says, “power is getting people to do what they otherwise would not do.”

This little definition has stayed with me while I’ve forgotten almost everything else I learnt in business school because it’s been re-enforced time and again in real life. It neatly links power to the ability to bring about change, for if there’s one thing people do not otherwise do, it’s change. This, in turn, links to leadership, which is about bringing change (as opposed to management, which is mostly about promoting order and efficiency).

Powerful leaders, by definition then, are those who bring about the greatest positive change in society, improving the way people live, they way they relate and the way they think. This might be achieved by coercion, through rules and regulations that people must follow whether they like it or not. But most often, if it is to have a lasting impact, it is done by persuasion. Powerful leaders represent a great idea, which others make their own. They persuade people to do what they otherwise would not do through the force of their personalities.

Every year, HNN Corporate Dossier magazine commissions IMRB to conduct a survey to determine India Inc’s Most Powerful CEOs. The project starts inhouse, with a long-list of CEOs prepared by The Economic Times Intelligence Group, based on the size of the companies that the CEOs control. After that, the survey goes into the public domain, with roughly 500 executives in senior, middle and junior management across five cities doing the selecting. They are not allowed to pick their own group CEOs, but others who don’t have direct power over their lives and careers.

In the five years it’s been running, the top rankings in the survey have been occupied by business leaders who have had a great positive impact on Indian society. They have introduced products and services that improved the lives of their customers. They have created wealth for their investors. They have grown the business of their suppliers and dealers. They have created a pool of highly talented employees. And most importantly, they have influenced they way we think about ourselves.

For the first three years of the India Inc’s Most Powerful CEOs survey, the man at the top was NR Narayana Murthy. The glory of Infosys was then at its height and its CEO held unquestionable sway over India Inc. But power, as everyone knows, is a sifting thing, and its hard for any single person, however iconic he might be, to retain his hold on people’s minds in perpetuity. Last year, NR Narayana Murthy seceded the top position to Mukesh Ambani and slipped to third place. This year, the survey has thrown up a brand new No 1. And there are several interesting changes at the top, reflecting changing perceptions in a period of slowdown.

Set to hit the news stands on 3 April 2009, the special edition of Corporate Dossier (CD) containing the results of the India Inc’s Most Powerful CEOs survey features several articles on the theme of power. The lead article analyses the historic relationship between economic and political power in India, right from the days of the Harappan civilisation. There have been periods in history when those with economic power have managed to wield political power (The East India Company being a case in point) and then a period of backlash when those in political power sought to gain economic power (the License Raj).

In another article, business historian Gita Piramal analyses the way corporate power has become more democratic, with the old business houses giving way to new-gen entrepreneurs. She also looks at the fate of the PSU chiefs, who wield considerable power in terms of the assets they control and the large number of stakeholders they affect, but who never seem to climb very high in the power rankings, possibly because they are seldom in the public eye.

Then there’s a pictorial page, featuring some of India Inc’s prominent boardrooms, from the effecient-looking Bajaj Auto board room to the opulant Aditya Birla group board room in the western region. On a lighter note and on the eve of the IPL touranament, CD puts together the Indian Promters League, a dream cricket team.

Lastly, the CD special issue features ‘Musings On Power’, a series of very candid interviews with Deepak Parekh of HDFC, NR Narayana Murthy of Infosys and Sunil Mittal of Bharati Airtel. The panels alongside would give you an idea on how they handle this crazy little thing called power.

Israel missile ad BOMBS in India

By Vir Khanna

Dancing around trees is out. Cavorting around missiles is in. Using the matkas-jhatkas of a Bollywood item number, Israeli armament company Rafael has let loose an unusual advertising missile this time.

Unveiled for the first time during the Aero-India show in Bangalore in February, Rafael’s advertising music video to woo the Indian defence establishment and the public at large is evoking incredulity and derision in equal measure, both in the web world as well as South Block. “We are buying a whole host of missiles, ranging from SpyDer air defence systems to Python air-to-air ones, and other equipment from Rafael. Their products are good. But this advertisement is quite tacky… like a C-grade Hindi movie song,” said a senior defence officer. The over three-minute music video shows a man, presumably Rafael, wooing a woman, representing India, by singing a song which goes something like this: “We have been together for long… trusting friends and partners… What more can I pledge to make our future strong?”

The woman, in turn, hums back: “I need to feel safe and sheltered… security and protection, commitment and perfection, defence and dedication.” Then, there is a chorus by the accompany i n g group of g yrating d a n c e r s, who look to be of Israeli-origin but are dressed in Indian costumes, which proclaims, “Together, forever… I will hold you in my heart… we will never be apart… Dingadinga, dinga-dinga, dinga-dee.”

That’s not all. The man “promises” to “defend and shield” the woman and “fulfil” all her expectations and meet all his “obligations”, even as the entire group dances around missiles to the music beat. For good measure, there are pictures of Goddess Durga and Hanuman strategically positioned in the background. Despite attempts, no one from Rafael could be contacted to shed light on what seems to be a marketing pitch gone completely awry.

Israeli officials are always reluctant to talk about the burgeoning military ties with India. New Delhi, too, tries to keep the relationship under wraps due to domestic political sensitivities.

Israel, on its part, has emerged as the second-largest defence supplier to India after the 1999 Kargil conflict, notching up sales worth around $1 billion a year.
The relationship is now further heading north. Just last month, for instance, the UPA government quietly inked a Rs 10,000 crore project with Israel to develop advanced medium-range surface-to-air missile systems, capable of detecting and destroying hostile aircraft and spy drones at a range of 120 km.

The joint DRDO-IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries) project, despite being in the pipeline for over two years, was on hold till now since CBI had named IAI and Rafael in the kickbacks case in the original Rs 1,160 crore Barak-I deal, sealed by the previous NDA regime in 2000.

Israel missile ad BOMBS in India

By Vir Khanna

Dancing around trees is out. Cavorting around missiles is in. Using the matkas-jhatkas of a Bollywood item number, Israeli armament company Rafael has let loose an unusual advertising missile this time.

Unveiled for the first time during the Aero-India show in Bangalore in February, Rafael’s advertising music video to woo the Indian defence establishment and the public at large is evoking incredulity and derision in equal measure, both in the web world as well as South Block. “We are buying a whole host of missiles, ranging from SpyDer air defence systems to Python air-to-air ones, and other equipment from Rafael. Their products are good. But this advertisement is quite tacky… like a C-grade Hindi movie song,” said a senior defence officer. The over three-minute music video shows a man, presumably Rafael, wooing a woman, representing India, by singing a song which goes something like this: “We have been together for long… trusting friends and partners… What more can I pledge to make our future strong?”

The woman, in turn, hums back: “I need to feel safe and sheltered… security and protection, commitment and perfection, defence and dedication.” Then, there is a chorus by the accompany i n g group of g yrating d a n c e r s, who look to be of Israeli-origin but are dressed in Indian costumes, which proclaims, “Together, forever… I will hold you in my heart… we will never be apart… Dingadinga, dinga-dinga, dinga-dee.”

That’s not all. The man “promises” to “defend and shield” the woman and “fulfil” all her expectations and meet all his “obligations”, even as the entire group dances around missiles to the music beat. For good measure, there are pictures of Goddess Durga and Hanuman strategically positioned in the background. Despite attempts, no one from Rafael could be contacted to shed light on what seems to be a marketing pitch gone completely awry.

Israeli officials are always reluctant to talk about the burgeoning military ties with India. New Delhi, too, tries to keep the relationship under wraps due to domestic political sensitivities.

Israel, on its part, has emerged as the second-largest defence supplier to India after the 1999 Kargil conflict, notching up sales worth around $1 billion a year.
The relationship is now further heading north. Just last month, for instance, the UPA government quietly inked a Rs 10,000 crore project with Israel to develop advanced medium-range surface-to-air missile systems, capable of detecting and destroying hostile aircraft and spy drones at a range of 120 km.

The joint DRDO-IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries) project, despite being in the pipeline for over two years, was on hold till now since CBI had named IAI and Rafael in the kickbacks case in the original Rs 1,160 crore Barak-I deal, sealed by the previous NDA regime in 2000.

On a wing and a vote prayer

By M H Ahssan

Is it a whirly-bird or a plane? It’s the cash-rich Indian political league flying high this poll season

Forget recession, it’s boom time for helicopter and aircraft charter companies. The ongoing poll season will see top leaders of all parties criss-cross the country over the next three months and the charter industry is looking at raking in upwards of Rs 200 crore.

Chopper and small plane rentals have shot up. The costliest private planes that cost about Rs 3 lakh an hour have been hired from ‘friendly’ industrial houses for top leaders.

Helicopters, that offer unparalleled connectivity with the ease of landing anywhere including playgrounds or roads, are predictably in maximum demand. The rates for choppers, say industry sources, is upwards of Rs 60,000 per hour. They can go up to Rs 2.5 lakh for twin-engine ones, if some leader desperately wants this flying machine on a tight day.

There are two other categories of flying machines in demand: Small turboprop planes that can do up to 600km in less than two hours; but the most expensive ones are the jet aircraft hired only for top leaders like Sonia Gandhi and L K Advani. “Helicopters represent 60% of the total demand and will do several thousand hours of flying in poll season. Small turboprop and jet planes will be 30% and 10% of the total demand,” said Manav Singh of Club One Air, one of the pioneers of this field.

As a result, big, small and sarkari players are all having a field day. John Kuruvilla of Deccan Charter — a JV of Captain Gopinath and Vijay Mallya — said the company has 10 choppers. “As of now, four are on election charter and from April 1, six will be flying politicians. Four of the 10 choppers are with long-term clients and can’t be pulled out,” Kuruvilla said.

The Bell 206 can seat four passengers, fly them to a range of 500km and is going for Rs 75-80,000 an hour. Deccan’s faster Bell 407 is going for Rs 90,000 to Rs 1 lakh an hour. The five-seater twin engine ‘Squirrel’ has gone for a cool Rs 1.1 lakh per hour, he added.

Chopper operators say the demand has risen in past one month. Parties who held talks with chopper firms last month but didn’t finalise terms are now coming back with at least 20% higher offers to get these machines. Jyoti Gupta of Monarch Aviation that currently has three Enstrom-480 B choppers said: “The demand is very good and no number of choppers would be enough with any one at this moment.”

Apart from political parties, government agencies are also hiring choppers. “In areas like Lakshadweep and Andamans, ballot boxes have to be flown to islands,” said R K Tyagi, chief of state-owned Pawan Hans.

While the mid-segment of small turboprop planes is being used for flying up to 600km, the most expensive remains the jets being hired by top leaders. “Sonia and Advani will be using the latest Falcon 2000 that is being hired from a big south Indian company,” said sources. These flying castles in air cost about Rs 3 lakh an hour. All in all, the aviation industry — reeling under slowdown and high oil prices — is heaving a sigh of relief.

Hic! Villagers up their ‘brand value’

By Sri Balaji

Gone are the days when netas would woo voters, especially those in remote villages, with a Rs 100 note along with a biryani packet and a cheap liquor bottle. Today’s voter will not settle for anything less than branded liquor along with a Rs 500 note to cast his/her vote in favour of the candidate.

With hardly a fortnight left for the elections, leaders of all the parties have begun to face the “hiccups” what with villagers refusing to accept cheap liquor. “On a quarter bottle of branded liquor we have to spend nothing less than Rs 100 whereas cheap liquor costs a mere Rs 20. But without batting an eyelid the villagers say they won’t attend rallies or meetings if we don’t provide branded liquor,” a candidate of a regional party told HNN.

Sources said some of the candidates are cagey about spending on liquor as they are not sure of victory. “The voters have realised our weakness and have upped their demand to exercise their franchise,” another aspirant of a national party observed.

Penchalaiah, a worker hailing from Erpedu mandal, hit the nail on the head when he said: “The netas cheat us with false promises. After all, they come to us once in five years only to beg for votes. So, why can’t we cash in on that.”

That the voters are not going to be floored by liquor/cash freebies doled out by candidates was visible in several constituencies of the district.Sixtyfive-year-old Venkatamma of Kattamanchi in Chittoor said: “I accept money from all the parties since this is the only time to make a few bucks. But I will vote to a party of my choice only.”

Meanwhile, with the voters demanding branded stuff, liquor shops have hiked the rates. Some shops have even started displaying ‘no stock’ boards.

“With the demand for branded liquor ever increasing, leaders are busy dumping the stock from outside the state as they don’t have much time to woo the voters,” an analyst said.

Hic! Villagers up their ‘brand value’

By Sri Balaji

Gone are the days when netas would woo voters, especially those in remote villages, with a Rs 100 note along with a biryani packet and a cheap liquor bottle. Today’s voter will not settle for anything less than branded liquor along with a Rs 500 note to cast his/her vote in favour of the candidate.

With hardly a fortnight left for the elections, leaders of all the parties have begun to face the “hiccups” what with villagers refusing to accept cheap liquor. “On a quarter bottle of branded liquor we have to spend nothing less than Rs 100 whereas cheap liquor costs a mere Rs 20. But without batting an eyelid the villagers say they won’t attend rallies or meetings if we don’t provide branded liquor,” a candidate of a regional party told HNN.

Sources said some of the candidates are cagey about spending on liquor as they are not sure of victory. “The voters have realised our weakness and have upped their demand to exercise their franchise,” another aspirant of a national party observed.

Penchalaiah, a worker hailing from Erpedu mandal, hit the nail on the head when he said: “The netas cheat us with false promises. After all, they come to us once in five years only to beg for votes. So, why can’t we cash in on that.”

That the voters are not going to be floored by liquor/cash freebies doled out by candidates was visible in several constituencies of the district.Sixtyfive-year-old Venkatamma of Kattamanchi in Chittoor said: “I accept money from all the parties since this is the only time to make a few bucks. But I will vote to a party of my choice only.”

Meanwhile, with the voters demanding branded stuff, liquor shops have hiked the rates. Some shops have even started displaying ‘no stock’ boards.

“With the demand for branded liquor ever increasing, leaders are busy dumping the stock from outside the state as they don’t have much time to woo the voters,” an analyst said.

Hic! Villagers up their ‘brand value’

By Sri Balaji

Gone are the days when netas would woo voters, especially those in remote villages, with a Rs 100 note along with a biryani packet and a cheap liquor bottle. Today’s voter will not settle for anything less than branded liquor along with a Rs 500 note to cast his/her vote in favour of the candidate.

With hardly a fortnight left for the elections, leaders of all the parties have begun to face the “hiccups” what with villagers refusing to accept cheap liquor. “On a quarter bottle of branded liquor we have to spend nothing less than Rs 100 whereas cheap liquor costs a mere Rs 20. But without batting an eyelid the villagers say they won’t attend rallies or meetings if we don’t provide branded liquor,” a candidate of a regional party told HNN.

Sources said some of the candidates are cagey about spending on liquor as they are not sure of victory. “The voters have realised our weakness and have upped their demand to exercise their franchise,” another aspirant of a national party observed.

Penchalaiah, a worker hailing from Erpedu mandal, hit the nail on the head when he said: “The netas cheat us with false promises. After all, they come to us once in five years only to beg for votes. So, why can’t we cash in on that.”

That the voters are not going to be floored by liquor/cash freebies doled out by candidates was visible in several constituencies of the district.Sixtyfive-year-old Venkatamma of Kattamanchi in Chittoor said: “I accept money from all the parties since this is the only time to make a few bucks. But I will vote to a party of my choice only.”

Meanwhile, with the voters demanding branded stuff, liquor shops have hiked the rates. Some shops have even started displaying ‘no stock’ boards.

“With the demand for branded liquor ever increasing, leaders are busy dumping the stock from outside the state as they don’t have much time to woo the voters,” an analyst said.

India’s virtual vigilantes

By M H Ahssan

A new form of vigilantism – cyber-activism – has gained currency in India as a powerful tool to mobilize public opinion, strengthen civic engagement, invite democratic participation or even encourage “electronic” civil disobedience.

This novel mode of communication – which has manifested itself through a slew of well-received public campaigns – offers a “virtual” platform to citizens and voluntary groups to advance their political, humanitarian and social causes. And such is the buzz this kind of crusading is creating that it is fast turning into a hotbed of real activism. From sending e-mail alerts to using the web to publicize opinions, issue press releases and highlight human rights violations, these multi-pronged campaigns have come to represent the new face of grassroots activism in India.

“For a democratic country like India, virtual vigilantism offers new mechanisms of expression, representation and mobilizing of interests and political opinion,” said sociologist Dr Anil Nanda. “The virtual world is more than just a cyber-meeting place. It has morphed into a powerful vehicle for social change.”

In addition to human rights organizations, Nanda claims that in a country like India – with 1.1 billion people – development projects also need to use information communication technologies to empower communities and support the flow of information to remote regions.

For instance, last month, when an Indian print journalist leveraged her Facebook network to form the “Consortium of Pub-Going, Loose and Forward Women” to counter the right-wing Sri Ram Sene (which had attacked pub-going women in Mangalore last month) it created a huge pan-India buzz within a few days of being launched. Encouraged by the overwhelming response, consequently an offline activity via a blog, the Gandhigiri-inspired Pink Chaddi campaign was also launched which attracted a similarly effusive response from over 40,000 people. In a concerted move, this group then dispatched carton loads of pink underwear to the Sri Ram Sene hooligans.

Cyber-warriors like the “Consortium Women” are being seen as India’s new political watchdogs, eschewing conventional political routes to build up a groundswell of support amongst like-minded people.

Another recent Indian campaign that has mobilized tremendous public support is Jaago Re (“Wake up!”), supported by the Janaagraha Center for Citizenship and Democracy and Tata Tea. The campaign is targeted at youth, aiming to inform them of their political rights. It involves a website that hosts a first-of-its kind online voter registration engine and ensures that people register on the voters’ list through a continuous stream of communications via e-mails and text messages. It also guides the voters on which forms to fill out, where to drop them off and where to cast their votes.

“We’ve got an unbelievable response to our movement,” said one Jaago Re campaign volunteer. “People are really happy that we’re guiding them with basic things about India’s electoral procedure, how they can exercise their franchise etc, which they never knew despite India being the world’s largest democracy! This is a vital campaign also because two-thirds of the Indian population is comprised of youth.”

The upshot of this novel form of vigilantism is that diverse social and political groups are finding their voices outside the realm of conventional politics. In other words, political parties are no longer monopolizing the public opinion domain. Civil society and voluntary groups are injecting fresh ideas into politics and mobilizing social interests and changing public perceptions. Having bypassed conventional politics, these groups are engaging directly with the public.

Even during the Mumbai terror strikes in November last year, many people who felt outraged by the massacre – which killed over 200 people and destroyed property worth millions – became cyber-warriors and played the catalytic role of generating effective public campaigns. As a part of the protest, a candlelight vigil was organized by these groups to garner mass support through the Internet.

Even Indian political parties seem to have taken to virtual crusades with aplomb. To buttress their street corner meetings and door-to-door campaigns, these parties are also wooing tech-savvy voters who aren’t too inclined towards street rallies.

However, there’s a downside to this virtual warfare. With parliamentary elections around the corner, some political parties and their candidates are engaging in an intense cyber-war with opponents to score political brownie points. The political “activism” of Shiv Sainiks – better known as India’s self-appointed moral police – in Orkut, for instance, tops the list of social networking sites in India with over 14 million visitors. Capitalizing on this mass base, the Sainiks invariably unleash their retrogressive agenda and continue with moral policing by vandalizing Internet cafes and blocking entire web communities for hosting what it deems “objectionable” content.

As experts point out, one has to learn to look beyond the ostensible and immediate issue of freedom of speech in cyber-activism. This is especially important in a country like India with its multifarious castes, cultures, political beliefs and religions as hundreds of intemperate ethnic and racial comments – masquerading as “Hindu nationalist sentiments” – fly back and forth in web discussion forums to influence young minds.

Nanda opines that the changing dynamics of modern communication – such as the one manifested by cyber-activism – are rapidly altering the contours of established politics. The Internet has put in place fresh templates for mobilizing social, political, religious and national sentiments in a manner that is radically different from conventional and partisan politics.

Cyber-based activism is breaking fresh ground in arenas traditionally reserved for party politicians. By giving a voice to marginalized groups, this new mode of communication is impacting the course of mainstream politics. New technology has helped forge new political forums for marginalized groups. Some of these groups are creating their own niches by thinking out of the box, advocating ideas dissimilar from those of the establishment and challenging the status quo.

Unfortunately, often a departure from the political stereotype doesn’t quite go down well with the powers that be. Such is the case with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, for instance, who even considered blocking Facebook in his country because of its growing popularity among Egyptian youth. Similarly, the Syrian government banned Facebook due to an anti-regime, e-mail spam campaign that coursed through the site in 2007.

But regardless of such impediments, the Syrians sallied forth, succeeding in conveying their political message to like-minded people.

While India’s virtual vigilantes may not yet have encountered such impediments from the state in their missions, there’s no denying that with the tribe of such crusaders growing by the day, the Indian government just might introduce a system of checks and balances. And that might not be such a bad thing.

World Environment Day 2009

By Reema Subia

World Environment Day (WED) was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.

Commemorated yearly on 5 June, WED is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The day’s agenda is to:

Give a human face to environmental issues;
Empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development;
Promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues;
Advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.
The theme for WED 2009 is ‘Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change’. It reflects the urgency for nations to agree on a new deal at the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen some 180 days later in the year, and the links with overcoming poverty and improved management of forests.

This year’s host is Mexico which reflects the growing role of the Latin American country in the fight against climate change, including its growing participation in the carbon markets.

Mexico is also a leading partner in UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign. The country, with the support of its President and people, has spearheaded the pledging and planting of some 25 per cent of the trees under the campaign. Accounting for around 1.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, the country is demonstrating its commitment to climate change on several fronts.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon states that the WED celebration will “further underline Mexico’s determination to manage natural resources and deal with the most demanding challenge of the 21st century – climate change.”

World Environment Day 2009

By Reema Subia

World Environment Day (WED) was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.

Commemorated yearly on 5 June, WED is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The day’s agenda is to:

Give a human face to environmental issues;
Empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development;
Promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues;
Advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.
The theme for WED 2009 is ‘Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change’. It reflects the urgency for nations to agree on a new deal at the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen some 180 days later in the year, and the links with overcoming poverty and improved management of forests.

This year’s host is Mexico which reflects the growing role of the Latin American country in the fight against climate change, including its growing participation in the carbon markets.

Mexico is also a leading partner in UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign. The country, with the support of its President and people, has spearheaded the pledging and planting of some 25 per cent of the trees under the campaign. Accounting for around 1.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, the country is demonstrating its commitment to climate change on several fronts.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon states that the WED celebration will “further underline Mexico’s determination to manage natural resources and deal with the most demanding challenge of the 21st century – climate change.”

World ‘No Tobacco’ Day 2009

By Suman Ranganathan

The World Health Organization selects “Tobacco Health Warnings” as the theme for the 20th World No Tobacco Day, which will take place on 31 May 2009. Tobacco health warnings appear on packs of cigarettes and are among the strongest defences against the global epidemic of tobacco. WHO particularly approves of warnings that contain both pictures and words because they are the most effective at convincing people to quit.

Tobacco health warnings appear on packs of cigarettes and are among the strongest defences against the global epidemic of tobacco.

WHO particularly approves of tobacco health warnings that contain both pictures and words because they are the most effective at convincing people to quit. Such pictorial warnings appear in more than a dozen countries.

On World No Tobacco Day 2009, and throughout the following year, WHO will encourage governments to adopt tobacco health warnings that meet all the criteria for maximal effectiveness, including that they cover more than half of the pack, appear on both the front and back of the pack and contain pictures.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control obligates its more than 160 countries parties to require “health warnings describing the harmful effects of tobacco use” on packs of tobacco and their outside packaging and recommends that the warnings contain pictures. WHO works through its Tobacco Free Initiative department to help the parties to meet their obligation, providing technical and other assistance.

As WHO Director General Margaret Chan says, “We hold in our hands the solution to the global tobacco epidemic that threatens the lives of one billion men, women and children during this century.”

Tobacco health warnings are a big part of the solution about which Dr Chan speaks.

Please return soon to this website for a richer explanation of why the World Health Organization chose “Tobacco Health Warnings” as the theme for World No Tobacco Day 2009 and about what the warnings — pictorial ones in particular — can do to fight tobacco.

World ‘No Tobacco’ Day 2009

By Suman Ranganathan

The World Health Organization selects “Tobacco Health Warnings” as the theme for the 20th World No Tobacco Day, which will take place on 31 May 2009. Tobacco health warnings appear on packs of cigarettes and are among the strongest defences against the global epidemic of tobacco. WHO particularly approves of warnings that contain both pictures and words because they are the most effective at convincing people to quit.

Tobacco health warnings appear on packs of cigarettes and are among the strongest defences against the global epidemic of tobacco.

WHO particularly approves of tobacco health warnings that contain both pictures and words because they are the most effective at convincing people to quit. Such pictorial warnings appear in more than a dozen countries.

On World No Tobacco Day 2009, and throughout the following year, WHO will encourage governments to adopt tobacco health warnings that meet all the criteria for maximal effectiveness, including that they cover more than half of the pack, appear on both the front and back of the pack and contain pictures.

The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control obligates its more than 160 countries parties to require “health warnings describing the harmful effects of tobacco use” on packs of tobacco and their outside packaging and recommends that the warnings contain pictures. WHO works through its Tobacco Free Initiative department to help the parties to meet their obligation, providing technical and other assistance.

As WHO Director General Margaret Chan says, “We hold in our hands the solution to the global tobacco epidemic that threatens the lives of one billion men, women and children during this century.”

Tobacco health warnings are a big part of the solution about which Dr Chan speaks.

Please return soon to this website for a richer explanation of why the World Health Organization chose “Tobacco Health Warnings” as the theme for World No Tobacco Day 2009 and about what the warnings — pictorial ones in particular — can do to fight tobacco.

Happy Mother’s Day 2009

By M H Ahssan

“Mother carries the child in her womb for nine months and in her heart for the rest of her life”.

These few words sum up the meaning and significance of the word Mother. Mother is undoubtedly the most beautiful and lovable word in any language. This goes to show the importance of mother in our lives. Mother stands for millions of things she gives to her children; it also stands for sacrifices pain, grief and sorrows which she has to undergo to keep her children happy and secure. No joy can match the joy of a mother looking at her child, those craving eyes-deeper than a whole ocean. The most important woman in an individual’s life is her/his mother. Her presence affects us our entire life and she can’t be replaced by anyone.

Celebrated every year, Mother’s Day is an occasion when individuals express their love and respect that they have for their mother. It’s time to pamper her for all she has done for us over the years. On Mother’s Day you can tell your Mom that she will always be important to you all and that you will continue to love her for ever. While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother’s Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium which also celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May.

Yes, mother’s day comes and goes. But the memories linger and remain…

“The woman who creates and sustains a home and under whose hands children grow up to be strong and pure men and women, is a creator second only to God.” — Helen Hunt Jackson

Mother’s Day has been difficult for me since my mother died of cancer in 1990. There are many things I miss about her, but what I miss the most is sharing my children with her.

Sometimes I get a twinge of sadness because I was never able financially to give her even a tiny fraction of what she gave me. My Mother’s Day gifts to her were usually inexpensive, a pair of new pajamas, a new purse. Then I realize that my love was the only gift she ever really wanted.

I was reminded of that yesterday when my seven year old thanked me for his birthday presents. “Mom,” he said, ”do you know which gift I liked best?”

I imagined it would be the super-soaker water gun, guaranteed to shoot up to fifty feet, the one he used to squirt his sister, the dog, and me. But that wasn’t what he said.

“It’s the love you gave me Mom,” he stated, then ran off to play.

I stood frozen with my mouth open and the tears sliding down my face, suddenly feeling very overwhelmed with how wonderful motherhood can be. How I longed to pick up the phone and call the person who was not only my mother, but also my best friend, to tell her that the love she gave me now lives on in her grandchildren. But I couldn’t.

Her love for me lives on in other ways too. It visits me in the spring when the flowers she planted a few months before she died bloom. It comes to me from her former students when they write me letters, or take the time to tell me what a wonderful teacher she was.

And so each Mother’s Day I have a host of bittersweet memories. I rejoice that in a world of abused and abandoned children, I had a mother who loved me, nurtured me, and taught me right from wrong. And I cry, because I miss her friendship, her strength, her humor, and her love for my children.

There is a creed in Robert Fulghum’s wonderful book, All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten. It is called the “Storytellers Creed” and I asked the minister to read at Mama’s funeral. It says in part…

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge.
That dreams are more powerful than facts.
That hope always triumphs over experience
That laughter is the only cure for grief.
And I believe that love is stronger than death.

Love really is stronger than death because it comes from God, and it is because of God and His sacrifice, that we have hope of life eternal. And then there will be no more goodbyes, because like the old hymn says there will be “no tears in heaven.”

Happy Mother’s Day 2009

By M H Ahssan

“Mother carries the child in her womb for nine months and in her heart for the rest of her life”.

These few words sum up the meaning and significance of the word Mother. Mother is undoubtedly the most beautiful and lovable word in any language. This goes to show the importance of mother in our lives. Mother stands for millions of things she gives to her children; it also stands for sacrifices pain, grief and sorrows which she has to undergo to keep her children happy and secure. No joy can match the joy of a mother looking at her child, those craving eyes-deeper than a whole ocean. The most important woman in an individual’s life is her/his mother. Her presence affects us our entire life and she can’t be replaced by anyone.

Celebrated every year, Mother’s Day is an occasion when individuals express their love and respect that they have for their mother. It’s time to pamper her for all she has done for us over the years. On Mother’s Day you can tell your Mom that she will always be important to you all and that you will continue to love her for ever. While many countries of the world celebrate their own Mother’s Day at different times throughout the year, there are some countries such as Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, and Belgium which also celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May.

Yes, mother’s day comes and goes. But the memories linger and remain…

“The woman who creates and sustains a home and under whose hands children grow up to be strong and pure men and women, is a creator second only to God.” — Helen Hunt Jackson

Mother’s Day has been difficult for me since my mother died of cancer in 1990. There are many things I miss about her, but what I miss the most is sharing my children with her.

Sometimes I get a twinge of sadness because I was never able financially to give her even a tiny fraction of what she gave me. My Mother’s Day gifts to her were usually inexpensive, a pair of new pajamas, a new purse. Then I realize that my love was the only gift she ever really wanted.

I was reminded of that yesterday when my seven year old thanked me for his birthday presents. “Mom,” he said, ”do you know which gift I liked best?”

I imagined it would be the super-soaker water gun, guaranteed to shoot up to fifty feet, the one he used to squirt his sister, the dog, and me. But that wasn’t what he said.

“It’s the love you gave me Mom,” he stated, then ran off to play.

I stood frozen with my mouth open and the tears sliding down my face, suddenly feeling very overwhelmed with how wonderful motherhood can be. How I longed to pick up the phone and call the person who was not only my mother, but also my best friend, to tell her that the love she gave me now lives on in her grandchildren. But I couldn’t.

Her love for me lives on in other ways too. It visits me in the spring when the flowers she planted a few months before she died bloom. It comes to me from her former students when they write me letters, or take the time to tell me what a wonderful teacher she was.

And so each Mother’s Day I have a host of bittersweet memories. I rejoice that in a world of abused and abandoned children, I had a mother who loved me, nurtured me, and taught me right from wrong. And I cry, because I miss her friendship, her strength, her humor, and her love for my children.

There is a creed in Robert Fulghum’s wonderful book, All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten. It is called the “Storytellers Creed” and I asked the minister to read at Mama’s funeral. It says in part…

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge.
That dreams are more powerful than facts.
That hope always triumphs over experience
That laughter is the only cure for grief.
And I believe that love is stronger than death.

Love really is stronger than death because it comes from God, and it is because of God and His sacrifice, that we have hope of life eternal. And then there will be no more goodbyes, because like the old hymn says there will be “no tears in heaven.”

World Asthma Day 2009

By Sheena Shafia

Children and young people with asthma are the focus of World Asthma Day 2009, which is on 7 May. We’ll be highlighting the need for better support for children with asthma and reinforcing our call for vital funds in a range of ways on and around World Asthma Day. Asthma has met with children and young people across the world and will be issuing a report on World Asthma Day which features what children say about their experiences of missing out because of their asthma.

Asthma
Asthma is a chronic disease characterized by recurrent attacks of breathlessness and wheezing, which vary in severity and frequency from person to person. Symptoms may occur several times in a day or week in affected individuals, and for some people become worse during physical activity or at night.

According to WHO estimates, 300 million people suffer from asthma and 255 000 people died of asthma in 2005.

Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children.

Asthma is not just a public health problem for high income countries: it occurs in all countries regardless of level of development. Over 80% of asthma deaths occurs in low and lower-middle income countries.

Asthma is under-diagnosed and under-treated, creating a substantial burden to individuals and families and possibly restricting individuals’ activities for a lifetime.

What is an asthma attack?
During an asthma attack, the lining of the bronchial tubes swell, causing the airways to narrow and reducing the flow of air into and out of the lungs. Recurrent asthma symptoms frequently cause sleeplessness, daytime fatigue, reduced activity levels and school and work absenteeism. Asthma has a relatively low fatality rate compared to other chronic diseases, nonetheless 255mn people died of asthma till date.

Asthma: Causes
The fundamental causes of asthma are not completely understood. The strongest risk factors for developing asthma are a combination of genetic predisposition with environmental exposure to inhaled substances and particles that may provoke allergic reactions or irritate the airways, such as:

- indoor allergens (for example house dust mites in bedding, carpets and stuffed furniture, pollution and pet dander)
- outdoor allergens (such as pollens and moulds)
- tobacco smoke
- chemical irritants in the workplace
- air pollution

Other triggers can include cold air, extreme emotional arousal such as anger or fear, and physical exercise. Even certain medications can trigger asthma: aspirin and other non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, and beta-blockers (which are used to treat high blood pressure, heart conditions and migraine).

Urbanization has been associated with an increase in asthma. But the exact nature of this relationship is unclear.

How to reduce Asthama burden?
Although asthma cannot be cured, appropriate management can control the disease and enable people to enjoy good quality of life.

Short-term medications are used to relieve symptoms. People with persistant symptoms must take long-term medication daily to control the underlying inflammation and prevent symptoms and exacerbations.

Medication is not the only way to control asthma. It is also important to avoid asthma triggers – stimuli that irritate and inflame the airways. With medical support, each asthma patient must learn what triggers he or she should avoid.

Although asthma does not kill on the scale of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or other chronic diseases, failure to use appropriate medications or to adhere to treatment can lead to death.

Global Alliance: The Global Alliance against Chronic Respiratory Diseases (GARD) contributes to WHO’s global work to prevent and control chronic respiratory diseases. GARD is a voluntary alliance of national and international organizations, institutions and agencies from a range of countries working towards the common goal of reducing the global burden of chronic respiratory diseases. Its vision is a world where all people breathe freely. GARD promotes an integrated approach that capitalizes upon synergies of chronic respiratory diseases with other chronic diseases. GARD focuses specifically on the needs of low- and middle-income countries and vulnerable populations, and fosters country-specific initiatives that are tailored to local needs and primary health care.

World Asthma Day 2009

By Sheena Shafia

Children and young people with asthma are the focus of World Asthma Day 2009, which is on 7 May. We’ll be highlighting the need for better support for children with asthma and reinforcing our call for vital funds in a range of ways on and around World Asthma Day. Asthma has met with children and young people across the world and will be issuing a report on World Asthma Day which features what children say about their experiences of missing out because of their asthma.

Asthma
Asthma is a chronic disease characterized by recurrent attacks of breathlessness and wheezing, which vary in severity and frequency from person to person. Symptoms may occur several times in a day or week in affected individuals, and for some people become worse during physical activity or at night.

According to WHO estimates, 300 million people suffer from asthma and 255 000 people died of asthma in 2005.

Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children.

Asthma is not just a public health problem for high income countries: it occurs in all countries regardless of level of development. Over 80% of asthma deaths occurs in low and lower-middle income countries.

Asthma is under-diagnosed and under-treated, creating a substantial burden to individuals and families and possibly restricting individuals’ activities for a lifetime.

What is an asthma attack?
During an asthma attack, the lining of the bronchial tubes swell, causing the airways to narrow and reducing the flow of air into and out of the lungs. Recurrent asthma symptoms frequently cause sleeplessness, daytime fatigue, reduced activity levels and school and work absenteeism. Asthma has a relatively low fatality rate compared to other chronic diseases, nonetheless 255mn people died of asthma till date.

Asthma: Causes
The fundamental causes of asthma are not completely understood. The strongest risk factors for developing asthma are a combination of genetic predisposition with environmental exposure to inhaled substances and particles that may provoke allergic reactions or irritate the airways, such as:

- indoor allergens (for example house dust mites in bedding, carpets and stuffed furniture, pollution and pet dander)
- outdoor allergens (such as pollens and moulds)
- tobacco smoke
- chemical irritants in the workplace
- air pollution

Other triggers can include cold air, extreme emotional arousal such as anger or fear, and physical exercise. Even certain medications can trigger asthma: aspirin and other non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, and beta-blockers (which are used to treat high blood pressure, heart conditions and migraine).

Urbanization has been associated with an increase in asthma. But the exact nature of this relationship is unclear.

How to reduce Asthama burden?
Although asthma cannot be cured, appropriate management can control the disease and enable people to enjoy good quality of life.

Short-term medications are used to relieve symptoms. People with persistant symptoms must take long-term medication daily to control the underlying inflammation and prevent symptoms and exacerbations.

Medication is not the only way to control asthma. It is also important to avoid asthma triggers – stimuli that irritate and inflame the airways. With medical support, each asthma patient must learn what triggers he or she should avoid.

Although asthma does not kill on the scale of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or other chronic diseases, failure to use appropriate medications or to adhere to treatment can lead to death.

Global Alliance: The Global Alliance against Chronic Respiratory Diseases (GARD) contributes to WHO’s global work to prevent and control chronic respiratory diseases. GARD is a voluntary alliance of national and international organizations, institutions and agencies from a range of countries working towards the common goal of reducing the global burden of chronic respiratory diseases. Its vision is a world where all people breathe freely. GARD promotes an integrated approach that capitalizes upon synergies of chronic respiratory diseases with other chronic diseases. GARD focuses specifically on the needs of low- and middle-income countries and vulnerable populations, and fosters country-specific initiatives that are tailored to local needs and primary health care.

Change Begins With Your Vote

By M H Ahssan

There’s Growing Public Disgust With Corrupt And Incompetent Politicians. Now’s The Time To Make Your Voice Heard. Our Future Rides On It.

After Independence, India could easily have gone the ruinous way of so many former colonies. You don’t need to look beyond our neighbourhood for evidence — at Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal. Large swathes of Asia and Africa have been under the control of generals, dictators and decrepit monarchies, and are less familiar with democracy than they are with despotism. We have so far managed to prove wrong Winston Churchill’s imperialist prediction that once the British left, India would succumb to its “old hatreds and Oriental tyrannies”.

To the West, India’s 60-year-long engagement with democracy remains one the modern political wonders of the world — particularly in the way it swarms the polls every five years. How is it that this sprawling, populous, chaotic country, which is defiantly diverse — in its religion and culture, its geography and history —has stayed true to its Constitution through good times and bad (barring a brief 21-month interregnum in the Seventies)? If democracy has been hardwired into our political ecology, the credit in large part should go to the founding fathers of the Indian nation, visionaries like Gandhi and Nehru, to whom democracy, like freedom, was non-negotiable.

Unfortunately, it’s now become fashionable among a section of people to say, The problem with India is its democracy. Look at China — once it decides to do something, nothing and nobody can come the way.” But while the naive and the cynical extol the virtues of a bulldozer approach that brooks no opposition, most us Indians, even at the end of a gruelling day, like our freedom. We cherish our right to free speech (as Amartya Sen said, we are terminally argumentative), our right to choose our own gods, and our right to decide who should represent us. All of these are important to us. As Indira Gandhi rudely discovered, much as we would like our trains to run on time, we love our freedoms even more.

It is true that no political or economic system in the world is perfect. If communism was the anti-god that failed, the recent collapse of Wall Street has caught capitalism — once again — with its hand in the till. It is also true that, just as you can get yourself the sturdiest car in the world and then hand over the keys to a dangerous driver, you can have the best political/economic system but with mediocre and/or morally bankrupt people to run it.

We are all painfully aware that far too many of our so-called “leaders” are corrupt, sectarian, regressive, and in the extreme, even murderous. In their list of priorities, personal aggrandizement figures way above the welfare of the people they are meant to represent. In the past few years, the pages of this paper have been depressingly full of their shameful conduct. Inside Parliament, when they weren’t selling their votes for money, they were accepting cash to ask motivated questions. Outside Parliament, they were caught taking bribes to give contracts. An MP was held for human trafficking using forged passports. In the outgoing Lok Sabha, there were 120 MPs with criminal records — many of them with multiple charges ranging from murder, kidnapping and rape to robbery, fraud and extortion. The number of serious cases alone added up to 333.

As for the parliamentary workload of our MPs, consider the fact that in all of 2008, the Lok Sabha met for just 32 days — the lowest in our parliamentary history. What a fall when you consider that in the 1950s, it met for almost 140 days in a year. The attendance of many MPs has been abysmal — when farmer suicides were being discussed there was barely a quorum in the House. In the absence of contemporary laws, the judiciary has had to step in once too often to fill the void, which is not what it’s really supposed to do. This paper has chronicled in gory detail the plummeting standards of the legislature across the country, and how our MPs and MLAs have failed miserably in their primary role, which is to legislate. And what did one of the state Assemblies do when this paper criticized it for dereliction of duty? It charged us with breach of privilege.

Question is, can we afford to throw the baby out with the bathwater? Clearly, we can’t. Sure, we can debate what form of democracy would suit us best — and every few years the idea of a US-style presidential form of government is faithfully exhumed as an alternative to the parliamentary system we’ve inherited from the British. But as the excesses of the Bush years have shown, every form of democracy has its flaws. To return to our analogy of car and driver, a good set of wheels is of little point if there’s a wheeler-dealer in the driving seat. It’s obvious that the answer lies in finding a safe pair of hands.

The first step towards that is to vote. And yet, so many of us end up not exercising this basic right — either out of apathy or cynicism. Many of us would perhaps take the time and trouble to get ourselves registered as voters and when E-day comes, make that journey to the booth — if we believed our vote would make a difference. But we have convinced ourselves that our little say would make a smaller ripple in the electoral pool than would a drop in the Indian Ocean. Forget about swaying the verdict nationally, we don’t think we could even swing it in our own constituency.

The question we then need to ask ourselves is, do we give up without fighting the fight? More importantly, is this a fight that’s not even worth fighting? Do we hand over the keys to our House to a bunch of unworthies by default? If the answer is yes, then we’re consciously choosing to walk away from the possibility that our vote might — just might — help build a stronger, safer and more equitable India for our children and our grandchildren. There is some wisdom in the old finger that curls to point chestwards and says, “We get the government we deserve.”

As a enewspaper, HNN has written about the good, the bad, and the ugly—because that’s life. But we have never stopped believing in the power of good—or, as A R Rahman said at the Oscars, in “the power of hope”.

When we launched our Vision India initiative, sometime back, the idea was to focus our collective attention on the need for better leadership. We truly believe this country is blessed with incredible potential — both human and natural — and that there is enough and more talent to overcome the considerable challenges that stand in our way. What we need are leaders who can help realise our full potential rather than impede progress.

Without meaning to sound immodest, we believe Lead India struck a chord among the urban middle class. It seemed like an idea whose time had indeed come. Did we believe our hunt for a new generation of leaders would throw up a future Prime Minister? Not really. Our objective was at once more modest and more ambitious — paradoxical as that might sound. We weren’t looking for a person who could be Manmohan Singh’s successor’s successor; we were instead hoping to create a larger consciousness about the desperate need for many more clean, efficient and enlightened political leaders.

We structured Lead India as a talent hunt, and in the final stages, took it to television, in order to enlarge the circle of interest around what to us was an idea both serious and powerful. In the months since the culmination — around Republic Day of 2008 — of our first Lead India campaign, we have repeatedly been asked by readers, “What are you doing next? Please don’t give up, please don’t lose heart.” The thought of “giving up” has not once crossed our mind. The overwhelming response that our subsequent Teach India initiative has received—in the form of over one lakh volunteers—has only reinforced our belief that there is an army of good men and women out there who want a better future not only for their own children but for all children. They have shown by their actions that they will walk that extra mile for the India of their dreams.

Today, we rededicate ourselves to the idea of honest, thoughtful, decisive governance with the launch of the second edition of Lead India. This time around, there will be no televised talent hunt. We don’t need one — there is no bigger reality show in this country than a general election.

We have therefore decided to build this year’s Lead India around the election. It will be HNN endeavour to help you, through our extensive research and analysis, to choose your MP well. Our aim is only to set the compass, not dictate the choice. The average Indian voter is savvy, and we wouldn’t presume to tell him/her whom to vote for.

For starters, we will seek to define the qualities of a good MP: Is it the number of hours he spends in Parliament, the quality of his speeches, the questions he asks? Or the knowledge and commitment he brings to the House committees on which he serves? Or the toilets and roads he helps build in his constituency? Is his primary responsibility to constituency or country?

On a broader plinth, we will compare, across parameters, the performance of the Congress-led UPA government with that of its predecessor, the BJP-fronted NDA. And in the weeks leading up to the elections, we will focus on the key issues the next government will need to tackle, in the short as well as long term.

Does The Times of India believe it can influence the outcome of the election? We would be deluding ourselves if we did. We may be the largest English language paper in the world, but we reach out to a small percentage of the country’s voting population — our readership is overwhelmingly urban, educated, middle-to-upper class (although our concerns are universal). For decades, this segment felt that its voice was of little consequence, that our politicians were more interested in the rural vote, the slum vote, the minority vote, the Dalit/OBC vote. Vote banks have been and will continue to be an unavoidable part of any democracy. What’s changed in recent times is that the expanding middle socio-economic class has become an influential demographic in Indian polity; it can no longer be taken for granted. (It’s a sad fact that it took an attack on south Mumbai’s two best-known hotels to finally shake the home minister out of his job.)

We’d like to emphasise that this paper is not aligned to any party or politician; all we want is for the citizens of this country to have the best possible 543 women and men in the Lok Sabha, irrespective of caste, creed and sexual preference. We fervently hope that at least the major parties will choose their candidates well. It’s time they said no to history-sheeters, and if they don’t, we hope voters will. It would be foolish of us to believe that politics can overnight be rid of money and muscle-power, but as voters, our message needs to be loud and clear: merit and integrity matter.

Every election is important, but some, perhaps, more so than others. Just as it was in the US, this year’s election could be crucial for India. The country faces a distressing economic situation — brought on in large part by global forces—and a serious security threat. The 26/11 attack showcased — in a deeply sad and horrifying manner — the collapse of governance. The anger on the street was trained as much at the politician as it was at Pakistan.

But seven days of anger will not redeem us. Candlelight vigils and human chains have an immediate emotional flicker, but do not last beyond next morning’s headline. The most powerful instrument of change, of sending a message to our politicians, is one that is huge, messy, but largely consensual: the electoral process. If you really want to make a fundamental, longterm difference, you need to vote.

As Martin Luther King famously said in his ‘I have a dream’ address, there is a “fierce urgency of now”. India is truly at a crossroads, we cannot afford the luxury of a wrong turn. About 40% of our population is aged under 18, and 70% under 35 — India needs to get its future right.

The election of Barack Obama has come as a beacon of hope to the world. Change is possible, if we truly believe it to be. To quote A R Rahman once more, “All my life, I had a choice between love and hate. I chose love, and here I am.”

We too have a choice — between hope and hopelessness. Which would you rather choose?

HNN survey: Congress, BJP Neck And Neck

By HNN Election Desk

A week is a long time in politics, they say. And what a long week it’s been. HNN predictions, while admitting that “there are definite shifts in voter preferences” had said yesterday that he needed further confirmation before he could put numbers down in his charts. HNN editors, on the other hand, estimate that: Congress has lost significant ground, largely due to the loss of key allies in Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Jharkhand. This creates scope for a close race between UPA and NDA, while the Third Front and others may together notch up more seats than both.

HNN solicits the readers views and comments on this survey. Please write to editor@hyderabadnews.net.

HNN survey: Congress, BJP Neck And Neck

By HNN Election Desk

A week is a long time in politics, they say. And what a long week it’s been. HNN predictions, while admitting that “there are definite shifts in voter preferences” had said yesterday that he needed further confirmation before he could put numbers down in his charts. HNN editors, on the other hand, estimate that: Congress has lost significant ground, largely due to the loss of key allies in Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Jharkhand. This creates scope for a close race between UPA and NDA, while the Third Front and others may together notch up more seats than both.

HNN solicits the readers views and comments on this survey. Please write to editor@hyderabadnews.net.

INDIA ELECTIONS 2009: ILLEGAL SPENDING

By M H Ahssan

Pre-poll illegal expenses touch an all-time high—but voters, candidates are eager votaries.

Some describe it as the third stimulus package, after two official ones, for an economy that’s hardly in the pink of health. Others dismiss it as a national phenomenon. Either way, as India prepares to vote in a new government this May, the polls are also a once-in-a-five-year chance for many voters to make a quick buck. This year, election-related expenses—official and unofficial—are expected to zoom: From Rs 4,500 crore in 2004, to anything between Rs 10,000-16,000 crore.

And yes, urban as well as rural voters are expected to line up for illegal cash benefits and other freebies. Of this, 80 per cent is likely to be spent out of the pocket of individual candidates (the Election Commission limits their pre-poll expenses to Rs 25 lakh). “It’s an under-estimation, but we believe that each successful candidate could spend Rs 5 crore in his or her constituency. It was half this figure in the previous national vote,” says N. Bhaskara Rao, chairman of the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), an independent think-tank.

Add spending by minor candidates, and the numbers grow exponentially for each constituency.

There are 543 constituencies for the Lok Sabha, and a major one, with three or more candidates, could be worth Rs 5-16 crore in expenses. The estimates, made by CMS, are based on two surveys it conducted in 2007 and 2008 across income groups. “The spending—Rs 10,000 crore, which is the minimum we expect—is unimaginable. It’s never happened at this scale before,” says Rao.

What’s worrying is that politicians don’t bribe in the actual hope of winning. “I don’t believe that Indian voters are electing the leader who pays them the most money, or selecting one who gives them more immediate gratification—a TV set, a sari or blankets,” says Bhibhu Mohapatra, a Fellow with the India Development Foundation (IDF), a research outfit based in New Delhi.

Mohapatra thinks that pre-election bribes have more cynical underpinnings: “It has become a ritual, a habit, to bribe voters. A candidate cannot ensure his victory by giving a freebie or a cash ‘reward’. But by not bribing at all, he ensures defeat in electoral sweepstakes,” says Mohapatra. In its own study conducted in New Delhi prior to elections to the Delhi assembly last year, IDF found that almost all slum clusters and colonies were supplied with liquor and cash, in some places free food and snacks. In most clusters, the community elder was approached with the bribe.

Interestingly, the report says, “This was practised by at least three national parties in Delhi,” implying that even candidates who don’t expect to win use liquor “pouches” and cash—of Rs 500 per voter or thereabouts—only to ensure they stay in the running.

IDF’s survey was conducted between October 18 and November 24, 2008; 3,000 households from the Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Above Poverty Line (APL) categories were interviewed for it.

“If Rs 25 lakh is the officially allowed limit, and Rs 5 crore is actually being spent, then the difference is what we call black or illegally generated income by politicians and parties,” says Prof Arun Kumar of Jawaharlal Nehru University, who has written extensively on the black economy and authored a book on the subject. “To the extent that TV sets are given away and saris are bought for prospective women voters, we could see (the bribes) as a redistribution of that illegal wealth,” he says.

With that much money floating in the system, it wouldn’t be misplaced to see larger benefits, or at least some cost-savings, for the voting public. Unfortunately, the benefits of these bribes are too thinly spread out—not targeted at all, say economists—and ultimately, the sums are negligible compared with the size of the economy. They will not create any “stimulus” at all, avers Kumar. At Rs 10,000 crore, the electoral spending is about 0.2 per cent of the country’s Rs 50 lakh crore GDP. “Hardly anything, it’s basically a waste,” he says.

Happily, at least some proportion of the Rs 10,000-16,000 crore will go into purchasing and running services—the printers, transporters, counters, election watchers, messengers, guards, billboard painters—that will actually be useful for running the election itself. Of course, the elections also funnel a “huge amount of cash” directly into rural and urban homes, says Sarabjit Singh, who heads the Anti-Money Laundering practice at business and tax advisory firm BMR. “There has been a directive to banks from the government to monitor very, very closely the cash withdrawals from ATM machines at this point of time,” he says.

Singh will not hazard a guess on the size of the black economy in India—Kumar pegged it at 40 per cent of the GDP in 2000, which, he now says, would have grown to 50 per cent of the economy. But by this measure as well, the election-related expenses are not significant enough to alter prices or stimulate demand. “Keep in mind that election-related expenses occur over a very short period, say a week. And the rest is spent, legally or illegally, over a month to 50 days at most. In this way, it can enliven an economy, but the impact is terribly short-lived,” says Singh.

The Election Commission itself has been struggling with political parties’ and candidates’ propensity to drown rupees into this whirlpool of month-long pre-poll activity. “We want to dispel the notion that the law against illegal spending is not clear enough. In fact, no person can incur any expense related to elections without the written permission of a candidate. Even supporters’ expenses will be added to the overall allowable limit for a candidate,” says S.K. Mendiratta, legal advisor with the EC.

With roving observers recording visible expenses and constant examination of parties’ records as well as notices galore, the EC seems to be doing its bit. What’s not clear is why candidates who are invisible to the electorate for the better part of five years suddenly feel the urge to “compensate” voters with bribes. More so as it quite simply doesn’t work.

TOPSY TURVY ELECTIONS ‘09

By M H Ahssan

Allies turn foes. Enemies become friends. All calculations go awry as the UPA unravels and the NDA agonises in an election dominated by smaller parties.

The absurd has become commonplace, the venal routine, the bizarre really quite banal. Nothing is working according to the script in Election 2009. In the absence of any grand issue or great leader, there is just great chaos. There have been some thrills and spills, and both the UPA and NDA have received sharp kicks on the shin from allies.

But instead of the national parties getting a reality check, both formations continue to act in ways that appear to defy political logic. All barriers are being crossed, yesterday’s friends are today’s enemies, there are no rules to this game and after the great crash-landing on May 16 (when the results are announced), everyone expects the real bargaining to begin.

One would have thought that given the stability of the last two alliance governments—the NDA and UPA—coalitions would be consolidated. But first the BJP received a royal snub from the elegant Naveen Patnaik in Orissa, indicating that ideological extremism can become too heavy a cross for regional parties to carry.

The BJP at least was quite rattled at parting ways with the BJD. It is the Congress that really seems to have become almost delusional about its capacity to recover in the Hindi belt. In an election where everyone knows that alliances are the key to power, the Congress

kept making irrational demands on existing and potential allies. The result: the grand old party has made an enemy out of its staunchest secular ally, Laloo Prasad Yadav in Bihar, and is still friendless in Uttar Pradesh.

The UPA has begun to unravel. The Congress decision to contest seats in Bihar against the RJD-LJP front appears to be a case of cutting its nose to spite its face. We are told that Congress strategists still have memories of past grandeur and the party is beginning the process of ‘regeneration’ in the Hindi belt by going it alone. To most political observers, this strategy appears quite ridiculous given ground realities.

There is also no sign of Rahul Gandhi emerging at the centre of Congress affairs. Loyal Congresswallahs had ecstatically speculated that this would be Rahul’s election. So far, however, we have only the BJP’s Gandhi hogging the mindspace even as Sonia Gandhi has declared that Manmohan Singh is her prime ministerial candidate. Feroze Varun, the son of Sanjay and Maneka Gandhi, has managed to add an inglorious chapter to the family history with the most rabid anti-Muslim speeches in recent history.

His shocking “chop off their hands/sterilise the Muslims” rhetoric has also threatened to hijack the BJP’s election campaign. Just when L.K. Advani and the party had decided not to raise any Hindutva issue, this Gandhi torpedoed their best-laid plans. Ever since, the BJP has been dissembling. Consider this response of former BJP president Venkaiah Naidu when Outlook asked him about Varun: “We understand his viewpoint. I also know your viewpoint. It is not our viewpoint. And there is no point in raising the same point!”

The BJP is once again caught in that all-too-familiar trap between the hankering for respectability (and more post-poll allies) and the temptation to stoke and take advantage of anti-minority emotions. The party’s natural urge is to take advantage (if any) of the atavistic emotions Varun is trying to arouse. But NDA allies like the JD(U) are clearly annoyed with the Varun venom and the BJD wound is still raw. Does this mean the BJP will again fall between two stools? Does it remember that allies blamed the Gujarat riots for the NDA’s defeat in 2004?

While the Big Two blunder along, it’s the small parties who’re getting set to play big boys in the post-poll show. cpi national secretary D. Raja has a point when he says that “what rattles a certain section the most is the possibility of Left and regional parties calling the shots. Even if the Left tally comes down, we all expect a post-poll realignment of forces where the Left gives a certain credibility.” G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, a psephologist now with the BJP, articulates similar views: “I believe the national parties will get more than half the seats in Parliament.

Yet another fight for power in these elections will begin after May 16. We cannot rule out the possibility of a crisis for some days as parties scramble to get the numbers.”

But the possibility of the Left or regional parties emerging top dog puts the fear of God in traditional elites and the business community. There is also an impulse in the entire political class to somehow isolate BSP supremo Mayawati who plays by her own rules. It may be impossible to do so, given that her expected tally of 30 to 40 seats upsets all calculations. Shahid Siddiqui, contesting on a BSP ticket from UP, says: “The fear of Mayawati is both real and imaginary. She’s a threat to the traditional caste system and established elites, does not pander to the media or depend on corporate houses. Those who gravitate around power don’t know how to approach her.” Certainly, this formidable woman frightens everyone. She has so far engaged with the Third Front initiative but on condition that she be its PM candidate.

If Mayawati looms large north of the Vindhyas, down south it is the remarkable J. Jayalalitha. No one knows which way the lady will go, but few have forgotten how she tormented A.B. Vajpayee in 1998 before giving her letter of support. In the neighbourhood lurks another kingmaker who wouldn’t mind being king—Chandrababu Naidu. But both he and Jayalalitha become relevant only if they pull in the numbers.

All this uncertainty has now led to real talk of a fourth or even a fifth front. One scenario is that if the UPA flounders, then many regional parties, including those in the NDA and UPA, will come together after the polls and seek outside support from the Congress. Corporate houses and some western embassies are circulating another theory that seeks to isolate the Left. It works like this. All regional parties get together and get outside support of the BJP. This would exclude only three parties who would stick to “secular principles”—the Congress, Left and the RJD while Mulayam Singh could go either way. This scenario sees NCP chief Sharad Pawar, with his links to the corporate world, as the lynchpin, if not the PM candidate. However, D. Raja has this to say: “We have heard this. But thankfully corporate houses don’t decide in our democracy. Common people do.”

There is only one certainty. That there will be a realignment post-May 16 when the results of this topsy-turvy election are declared.

TOPSY TURVY ELECTIONS ‘09

By M H Ahssan

Allies turn foes. Enemies become friends. All calculations go awry as the UPA unravels and the NDA agonises in an election dominated by smaller parties.

The absurd has become commonplace, the venal routine, the bizarre really quite banal. Nothing is working according to the script in Election 2009. In the absence of any grand issue or great leader, there is just great chaos. There have been some thrills and spills, and both the UPA and NDA have received sharp kicks on the shin from allies.

But instead of the national parties getting a reality check, both formations continue to act in ways that appear to defy political logic. All barriers are being crossed, yesterday’s friends are today’s enemies, there are no rules to this game and after the great crash-landing on May 16 (when the results are announced), everyone expects the real bargaining to begin.

One would have thought that given the stability of the last two alliance governments—the NDA and UPA—coalitions would be consolidated. But first the BJP received a royal snub from the elegant Naveen Patnaik in Orissa, indicating that ideological extremism can become too heavy a cross for regional parties to carry.

The BJP at least was quite rattled at parting ways with the BJD. It is the Congress that really seems to have become almost delusional about its capacity to recover in the Hindi belt. In an election where everyone knows that alliances are the key to power, the Congress

kept making irrational demands on existing and potential allies. The result: the grand old party has made an enemy out of its staunchest secular ally, Laloo Prasad Yadav in Bihar, and is still friendless in Uttar Pradesh.

The UPA has begun to unravel. The Congress decision to contest seats in Bihar against the RJD-LJP front appears to be a case of cutting its nose to spite its face. We are told that Congress strategists still have memories of past grandeur and the party is beginning the process of ‘regeneration’ in the Hindi belt by going it alone. To most political observers, this strategy appears quite ridiculous given ground realities.

There is also no sign of Rahul Gandhi emerging at the centre of Congress affairs. Loyal Congresswallahs had ecstatically speculated that this would be Rahul’s election. So far, however, we have only the BJP’s Gandhi hogging the mindspace even as Sonia Gandhi has declared that Manmohan Singh is her prime ministerial candidate. Feroze Varun, the son of Sanjay and Maneka Gandhi, has managed to add an inglorious chapter to the family history with the most rabid anti-Muslim speeches in recent history.

His shocking “chop off their hands/sterilise the Muslims” rhetoric has also threatened to hijack the BJP’s election campaign. Just when L.K. Advani and the party had decided not to raise any Hindutva issue, this Gandhi torpedoed their best-laid plans. Ever since, the BJP has been dissembling. Consider this response of former BJP president Venkaiah Naidu when Outlook asked him about Varun: “We understand his viewpoint. I also know your viewpoint. It is not our viewpoint. And there is no point in raising the same point!”

The BJP is once again caught in that all-too-familiar trap between the hankering for respectability (and more post-poll allies) and the temptation to stoke and take advantage of anti-minority emotions. The party’s natural urge is to take advantage (if any) of the atavistic emotions Varun is trying to arouse. But NDA allies like the JD(U) are clearly annoyed with the Varun venom and the BJD wound is still raw. Does this mean the BJP will again fall between two stools? Does it remember that allies blamed the Gujarat riots for the NDA’s defeat in 2004?

While the Big Two blunder along, it’s the small parties who’re getting set to play big boys in the post-poll show. cpi national secretary D. Raja has a point when he says that “what rattles a certain section the most is the possibility of Left and regional parties calling the shots. Even if the Left tally comes down, we all expect a post-poll realignment of forces where the Left gives a certain credibility.” G.V.L. Narasimha Rao, a psephologist now with the BJP, articulates similar views: “I believe the national parties will get more than half the seats in Parliament.

Yet another fight for power in these elections will begin after May 16. We cannot rule out the possibility of a crisis for some days as parties scramble to get the numbers.”

But the possibility of the Left or regional parties emerging top dog puts the fear of God in traditional elites and the business community. There is also an impulse in the entire political class to somehow isolate BSP supremo Mayawati who plays by her own rules. It may be impossible to do so, given that her expected tally of 30 to 40 seats upsets all calculations. Shahid Siddiqui, contesting on a BSP ticket from UP, says: “The fear of Mayawati is both real and imaginary. She’s a threat to the traditional caste system and established elites, does not pander to the media or depend on corporate houses. Those who gravitate around power don’t know how to approach her.” Certainly, this formidable woman frightens everyone. She has so far engaged with the Third Front initiative but on condition that she be its PM candidate.

If Mayawati looms large north of the Vindhyas, down south it is the remarkable J. Jayalalitha. No one knows which way the lady will go, but few have forgotten how she tormented A.B. Vajpayee in 1998 before giving her letter of support. In the neighbourhood lurks another kingmaker who wouldn’t mind being king—Chandrababu Naidu. But both he and Jayalalitha become relevant only if they pull in the numbers.

All this uncertainty has now led to real talk of a fourth or even a fifth front. One scenario is that if the UPA flounders, then many regional parties, including those in the NDA and UPA, will come together after the polls and seek outside support from the Congress. Corporate houses and some western embassies are circulating another theory that seeks to isolate the Left. It works like this. All regional parties get together and get outside support of the BJP. This would exclude only three parties who would stick to “secular principles”—the Congress, Left and the RJD while Mulayam Singh could go either way. This scenario sees NCP chief Sharad Pawar, with his links to the corporate world, as the lynchpin, if not the PM candidate. However, D. Raja has this to say: “We have heard this. But thankfully corporate houses don’t decide in our democracy. Common people do.”

There is only one certainty. That there will be a realignment post-May 16 when the results of this topsy-turvy election are declared.

TDP call centre calling up voters for feedback

By Ayaan Khan

It’s a common sight in call centres to witness many employees engaged in calling up potential customers to sell their products. But, here’s a call centre with a difference — the TDP call centre — set up at NTR Bhavan, the headquarters of the TDP, to gauge people’s pulse.

Around 400 employees, all youth (each hired for Rs 6,000 per month), are busy contacting people over the telephone, at the temporary call centre set up by the main Opposition party.

The youth ring up people in all the 294 Assembly segments and ask questions to seek feedback on the TDP. The TDP call centre, perhaps the first-one-of-its-kind run by any political party in the State, was started ten days ago. The callers ask some questions to people and seek their feedback.

Based on the information, the party has been finalising the candidates for various Assembly and Lok Sabha segments in the elections.

For example, after the Congress announced the list, the employees of the TDP call centre called up people and asked them their opinions regarding the Congress nominees. Later, they asked people several questions with regard to the TDP candidates — was the candidate the right person for their constituency, would he do justice to people — to seek their opinion.

The TDP call centre employees have reportedly been receiving positive responses to most of their queries to people about the TDP candidates.

“More than 60 per cent of the potential customers (read voters) are satisfied with the TDP candidates,’’ an employee working with the TDP call centre told `Express’.

However, while eliciting people’s opinions, the TDP call centre employees are not revealing their identities that they are working for a particular political party. “We are not revealing our identity. Just we are seeking feedback,’’ an employee said.

After the finalisation of candidates, the employees attached to the TDP call centre call up ‘customers’ and seek votes for the party.

“Each of us is making 50 to 60 calls per day.

We are working from 9 am to 5 pm,’’ an employee from East Godavari said. “The response from customers is good and they are cooperating with us. We politely disconnect the phone if any customer feels irritated,’’ he revealed.

A chairman of a group of corporate colleges is managing the show for the TDP.

So, don’t be surprised if you soon get a call from the TDP call centre, requesting you to vote for the TDP!

‘Proof’ needed to cross Hyderabad US consulate

By Ayaan Khan

Citizens staying near the Paigah Palace, which houses the temporary US Consulate in Hyderabad, will be asked to carry residence proof for their easy commutation. Also, they will have to apply for ‘special residence identity cards’ with police. Once they have the cards, the residents will not be frisked by police while passing through the Chiran Fort Lane. However, their relatives and friends visiting them will have to go through routine checks of their vehicles and also frisking.

With the opening of the US Consulate General in Hyderabad for business on Thursday with the issue of non-immigrant visas, security measures have become so stringent that locals cannot commute on the road with barricades every few yards.

“Police have not approached us for any kind of identity proof. But the security is so stringent on the main lane before the consulate that most of us are taking sublanes while travelling. It will be better if we get the identity cards soon,” B Sirish, a resident of Krish Apartments, Chiran Fort Lane, said. Police sources said they would collect address proof of all families staying in the locality within three days and make a list for verification.

Members of Chiran Fort Club would be allowed without checking if they have their club identity cards.

Meanwhile, the first person to get visa from the American consulate was a businessman from Sainikpuri, Rajendra Kumar Kothakonda. Head of a construction company, Tanvi Constructions, Rajendra Kumar applied for visa to meet his brother, K Shailendra Kumar, in Atlanta.

Ranjendra’s family, including his wife, Saritha and two children—four-year-old, Tanvi and nine-month-old Saanvi—also got visas along with him. They might head for the US in April.

Rajendra’s was the first appointment of the day at 10.30 am and was given the visa by 11.15 am. The consulate had started issuing non-immigrant visas (NIVs) on Thursday from 10.30 am to 4.30 pm.

Though the consulate will interview 100 people per day, not many came seeking visas. Most of those who had turned up included those who wanted visiting visas and student visas.

Fathima Mumtaz got her nonimmigration visa for pursuing studies in the US. She had got admission in the Berkley State University, California and will be leaving shortly.

“I was initially scared, but the interview was conducted in a very friendly atmosphere. I was relieved to get a visa,” Mumtaz said.

With the visa interviewees coming in, the security is strengthened outside the consulate. Both traffic police and law and order police officers were found outside the consulate in large numbers. Four patrolling vans were stationed outside the consulate and there was high alert in the area.

The Chiran Fort Lane, where the consulate is located, was cordoned off with barricades.

Nurturing entrepreneurship in India’s villages

By M H Ahssan

The world’s great cities and the professionals who live in them are linked more tightly to one another than they are with their own rural hinterlands. Yet true prosperity starts in the countryside.

It’s not surprising that well-travelled professionals living in global cities, such as New Delhi, New York, Paris, Rio, and Shanghai, have more in common with one another, in lifestyle and values, than they do with rural citizens in their respective nations. In general, villagers, particularly in the emerging world, have benefitted less from globalization than urbanites have. Seventy percent of India’s citizens, for instance, live in rural isolation, largely disconnected from the benefits of their nation’s fast-paced economic growth.

These are globalization’s forgotten frontiers, where more must be done to connect urban markets with rural ones in order to speed their development. How this happens will vary from nation to nation. In China, for instance, the government actively spurred the village economy, largely through agricultural-reform measures implemented during the 1980s. By contrast, India’s government has only a limited ability to bring about real change in the country’s villages. Private entrepreneurs might well be more effective.

Recently, I trudged through the mire of a government-run food auction yard, or mandi, in Bangalore, the global economy’s offshoring capital. Piles of supposedly fresh produce lay everywhere, rotting in the sun and competing with mangy dogs and scampering mice for my attention. Huddles of impecunious farmers, wearing the traditional dhoti, looked on with resignation. A government agent, pen tucked behind ear, offered a pittance for the produce on display.

The farmers’ day had started before dawn. Chugging along on narrow so-called highways, they came to the auction yard in ramshackle public buses, bullock carts, trucks, and even tractors. Their produce unloaded, they accepted whatever they got. After snatching a few hours’ sleep in a shady corner, they retraced their steps home.

In India, agricultural mandates have long required farmers to sell their produce through such wholesale yards. Although meant to free poor farmers from the clutches of local moneylenders, the mandi has become a monopoly. The farmer remains exploited, but now by local political interests.

But let’s change the scene from a city market in India to a rural village in China. Not long after I visited Bangalore, I crisscrossed parts of Henan—the name means “south of the Yellow River” (Huanghe). The province, one of China’s most populous, is home to more than a hundred million people. I started in Zhengzhou, the capital, a major industrial center and railway junction, and traveled to Chengguan, a county seat with 100,000 inhabitants. Chengguan was scrupulously clean; municipal services were apparent even in the predawn hours. The city bustled, but there was no squalor in the streets. I then headed to the very small village of Qiu, with a population of no more than a few thousand. The paved roads, in better condition than the Massachusetts Turnpike and other highways I know at home, led right up to the cornfields on the edge of the village. Qiu itself, if not quite prosperous, had none of the desperation so obvious in many Indian villages.

Rural development is crucial for the overall development of a nation’s economy. China’s economic revolution started with the reform of its village enterprises; foreign direct investment followed. Agricultural development in rural areas generated economic surpluses that in turn fed light manufacturing in rural and semiurban areas and, ultimately, industrialization in urban ones. A virtuous cycle ensued. The economic surplus promoted reinvestment in new technology and released human capital for broader development. This was China’s path, as it was Indonesia’s, and Vietnam has taken it since 1989.

India, however, has not. The nation’s government has failed to invest in its villages. The farmers who sold their produce in a mandi in Bangalore live a daily struggle for existence in their home villages. Today, 89 percent of all rural households do not own a telephone, and 52 percent have no domestic power connection. The average village is two kilometers away from an all-weather road, and 20 percent of rural habitations must walk for miles to obtain safe drinking water, have access to it for only a few hours a day for much of the year, or have no access at all.

Where India’s government has failed, social and business entrepreneurs are accumulating a better track record. The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), for example, centered in Gujarat, has economically empowered hundreds of thousands of women, helping them to become economically self-sufficient by providing small loans to start myriad businesses catering to health care, elementary education, and the like. Companies such as Hindustan Unilever and Indian Tobacco Company (ITC) have long had distribution networks that provide some investment, goods, and services to Indian villages beyond the government’s reach.

India should take a page from China’s playbook and fix its villages, but not in the way China has. China’s strong government was able to force the rapid dissemination of rural agricultural reforms. India’s weak one cannot accomplish anything remotely comparable. Instead, India should seek to empower its villagers and nurture entrepreneurial activity, while also taking advantage of its strengths in the private sector. Corporations need a seat at the table of village reform—even multinationals, because the task of reform is so enormous. Outright foreign direct investment, by Düsseldorf-based Metro AG, for example, should be welcome, as should joint ventures, like the one between Bharti Enterprises and Wal-Mart Stores. Such businesses, together with local ones, can lay the foundations for a modern agricultural supply chain linking the village farmer with the urban market.

Only then will India, and not just its global cities, rise.

Needed, innovative ideas to spur the economy

By M H Ahssan

India need not go by the global mantra of unlimited fiscal expansion. It should rather creatively target government spending.

Political parties have a great opportunity to come up with truly innovative and inclusive ideas to re-energise India’s economy as the western world slips into the worst recession since the great depression of 1930. Even as political parties prepare to release their election manifestos over the next week or so, it will be interesting to see how leading formations like the UPA and NDA respond with new ideas to the unprecedented situation developing in the global economy.

Even if the full impact of job losses and economic distress is yet to be felt uniformly across the country, especially in rural India, the climate of growing distress and insecurity will force political parties to come up with new ideas to mitigate the impending crisis.

In some sense, this is an inflexion point for India’s political economy which is waiting for the political class to introspect and look carefully within and come up with ideas specific to local culture and situations.

Globally, the new mantra is unlimited fiscal and monetary stimulus. But it may be foolish to blindly follow the herd. Strangely, as the IMF exhorts the world to expand the fisc to lift the global economy, rating agencies like S&P are busy downgrading the outlook for every economy that is expanding the fisc. Except, of course, that of the United States. The US enjoyed the highest rating at the end of Bill Clinton’s presidency when America had a huge fiscal surplus and it is still rated AAA when the US fiscal deficit is projected to expand to an unprecedented 15% of GDP! Simply because it runs the printing machine for a currency which the world habitually accepts.

So the short point is, emerging economies like India will have to think for themselves. It is here that the innovativeness of the Indian intelligentsia and its political class will be tested. One important component of this will be how the Indian government targets its increased spending at the Centre and state levels. If the gross borrowings of the Centre and states together has increased from some 7% to 12% of GDP since 2007-08, we surely need to figure out how the extra 5% of GDP or $50 billion is being spent. It must stimulate the economy in some way or the other.

The current global crisis provides the biggest opportunity to creatively target spending by the Centre and states. One successful example is the way the government set aside Rs 5,000 crore for replacement of old state transport buses that had been fully depreciated in the books decades ago. According the Cabinet Secretary, KMChandrasekhar, orders have been placed by various states for 14,000 buses which are to be delivered in the next few months. “I am informed by the Chief Secretaries of various states that the companies supplying the buses don’t have the capacity to supply so many buses before the June deadline. So the deadline may get extended after a new government is in place”, said Chandrasekhar. This is one fiscal stimulus scheme which appears to be delivering quick results. India needs a hundred such targeted schemes which will deliver results within six months.

Public sector banks could play a big role by setting up special loan appraisal division for small entrepreneurs and self-employed businesses. For instance, the thousands of decrepit taxis and smaller commercial transport vehicles—over 25 years old— plying in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai etc could be offered replacement loans by banks. The repayment period could be made longer and part of the interest component subsidised by the government. This would not only raise demand for vehicles in the immediate future but also raise productivity in a big way, besides improving energy efficiency.

The Centre and states could work together in many other ways. For instance, the home ministry can work with state home departments to refurbish thousands of police stations and other infrastructure across the country. This would increase the offtake of cement and metals and other items that the small scale industry provides. In short, there is a need for hundreds of such small ideas that can bear results in the immediate future. India has the advantage of volumes. Every small idea, in terms of value, can multiply in millions.India is fast urbanising and waste management and environmental pollution is a huge issue. This is also a unique opportunity for public policy.

The Congress party can revive Rajiv Gandhi’s aborted plan for cleansing the Ganga. The original effort did not fully succeed because it became a bureaucratic, top-down project. The same idea can be revived in a bottomup fashion by involving village panchayats and municipal bodies in small towns. The idea must be to create thousands of small infrastructure related to waste management, for the millions of inhabitants alongside the Ganga. Ganga has a powerful cultural connotation and if conceived well this could well turn out to be a grassroots movement. The existing funds under NREGA or JNURUM could be used in the Ganga project. Both the main political parties of the country, Congress and BJP, are struggling to become relevant in the Gangetic belt. Even politically, a massive effort related to improving the infrastructure around the Ganga could provide the right socialeconomic fillip. Any takers?

Vital ingredient for bird flu drug found in India

By Sakshi Aiyyer

Shikimic Acid Used For Making ‘Tamiflu’ Has Been Discovered In 7 Plants Species Of Western Ghats

Shikimic acid, the most vital ingredient used to make Oseltamivir, (Tamiflu) the only known drug to combat the deadly bird flu, has been found in trees in the Western Ghats.

Scientists from Bangalore have found at least seven plant species that yielded shikimic acid from the Western Ghat forests, known as one of the world’s 10 hottest biodiversity hotspots.

The team from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, said it scanned through 210 plant species to shortlist “a few promising species whose leaves yielded shikimic acid level higher than 1%”.

Presently, the majority of the acid’s global availability is met by China because it is extracted from the fruits of the Chinese star anise tree, that contains up to 5% of the acid. But the 10-metre tree attains its seed-bearing stage after six years of growth, making it unlikely that the growing market demand of the acid would be met by the single source alone.

The fruits of this tree are traditionally used in China for culinary and medicinal purposes as they contain 2%-7% of shikimic acid, the highest reported estimate from plants.

Interestingly, the trees discovered by Indian scientists have yielded 1%-5.02% of the acid, with a plant species called Araucaria Excelsa yielding almost 5.02% of shikimic acid. The most significant advantages of the newly identified Indian sources is that the estimates are from leaves and not fruits as is the case with star anise.

Reporting their finding in the latest issue of the medical journal ‘Current Science’, the scientists said a total of 193 angiosperms (flowering plants) belonging to 59 families and 17 gymnosperms (plants in which the seeds are not enclosed in an ovary) belonging to five families were collected for the study. “Only 7 of the 193 angiosperm species yielded shikimic acid in excess of 1% while the rest yielded no or low shikimic acid. The most promising species were Calophyllum Apetalum (4.10% shikimic acid). All the 17 gymnosperms had detectable levels of shikimic acid with six species accumulating greater than 1%. Among these, Araucaria Excelsa yielding almost 5.02% of shikimic acid,” the scientists said.

They said that since so much of the acid is being used for industrial and pharmaceutical uses, it is imperative that newer sources of this chemical are identified. It is estimated that nearly two-thirds of the requirement of shikimic acid is being sourced from plants while the remaining one-third is obtained from genetically engineered E Coli.

The team added, “The leads presented here appear more promising than most others. In few of these species, the estimates are comparable to those reported from star anise. Because the estimates are from leaves, the sheer volume of the biomass offered by the leaves would render it economically feasible.

This finding of the new source of shikimic acid can potentially be used to meet the emerging needs of both the domestic and international markets.”

Union health ministry sources said, “Getting the raw material to make Tamiflu in India has been our biggest hurdle. At present, it is found only in China and Germany.” Tamiflu, the drug which blocks the replication of the flu virus, is presently being stockpiled by most countries as a precautionary measure in case of an outbreak of the bird flu among humans.

The price of shikimic acid has, therefore, skyrocketed. Pharma companies in India say the acid, which used to cost $40 a kg earlier, now costs around $1,000 per kg.

Democratic Set-Up and Democracy

By Pramod Khilery

If it is democracy it has to be only sane; prone to headache, fault lines and fits but capable of raising the bar and achieving the highest standards possible, being in sound health and rearing greatest disquisition provided measures to this effect are in place. A democratic system never guarantees an absolute Right; for that to happen we will have to revert back to righteous monarchy but makes sure that every crepuscular Wrongs is set right to the maximum push-able degree. Hence a democratic setup aims to have an ideal happy society at its core even at the expanse of a very successful one in riches.

When looked at from this view democracy paves the way for the concepts of equity and equality. This equality further can have myriad aspects to be explored but the rudimentary seeds when watered with the civil justness give rise to the tree of highest possible esteem having branches touching every section of the society.

The trunk of this tree is rooted in the capital of the nation and hence the soil of the capital will have crucial bearings on the health of the tree. More healthy and green will it be better the all encompassing shadow. This esteem is nothing but a link between the democracy and those who are being democratized by an official decree that in all senses is also a granting of consent on the part of its subjects. But still even as pious and righteous a system as democracy may be, like any other system of governance democracy too does cleave society into two parts.

The sanctity of the democracy can be gauged by which one comes first and which second. If people think they come first not their representatives then it is assertive democracy which is good but not great. A large measure of this democracy is contingent upon the intellectual level of people which broadly and quite curiously is nothing but a reflection of their representatives. Thereby much more than this assertiveness which works as a healthy dose for any democracy to grow it is the nature of assertion that determines the direction the democracy will venture into. If representatives position themselves after people it is nothing short of a utopia though along with its own share of fault lines. At the most any society can hope for bouts of these utopian moments for it is not easy to fill the lacunas and chinks in an democracy owing to its being so open and at the same time hostage to the world economic and social order. In third case if people are too acquiescent and toady and representatives too royal and dominant than democracy appears making way for another system which wears the same clothes but gives account of a different disposition. This is psephocracy.

Every feature that marks up a democratic set-up will belong to this new system also but these are the elections and their results, not the service and the satisfaction and the plum posts and perks, not the sense of achievement that seek to gain the center stage in this system. This system hovers around highfalutin celebrations but seeks to devour the reasons for these celebrations. Even with celebrations fast on our heels a large swathe of population remains indifferent and skeptical of the outcome.

Every humanized democracy paces ahead with its head aloft with dignity and eyes warm and anchored in vision deriving its power from the sturdiness of spine of election and vim of legs of sense of service and power of motivation. The two hands of justice and equality wave only in tandem with the pace of legs. So while spine carries the whole body together, individually these are the different limbs that do the quotidian work and help the body live its full existence to leverage its very being and ambiance it happens to be in. The idea of equality, especially economic one is a chimera but civil equality i.e. the societal deference for every work and modus vivendi that fits in the ethical framework of liberal intellectual minds ranging from past to present is achievable.

Now imagine we have a body with only spine and no limbs. Democracy too looks same when elections and alliances come to become the be all and end all of a democratic set-up. To get finer perspective we can also equate this state of democracy with the mental setup of a student aiming to crack an entrance examination on account of whatever he could cram in a fortnight before the exam. His buoying through the exam is bound to be proved disastrous in the long run for both candidate himself and the environment he will inhabit. Invariably conflicts will arise thanks to lack of loyalty and dedication to the environment. These very innocuous looking conflicts take on dire consequences when the desire to have a sense of purpose slips in one’s life. This conflict when engendered in political arena which even empirically is all about social service exerts undue influence on entire nation and more importantly on the very definition of service. Every so Often we see the manifestations of these conflicts when we bear witness to a politician utterly naked in his avariciousness. It is not the welfare of the society which forms the crux of a polity outwardly steeped in democracy but the greed that drives his actions and deeds. Corruption which like a waterfall falls forms top to bottom not other way round is nothing but just one offshoot of this conflict. When the conflicting position of a candidate whose cramming planted him at the wrong place in the system leads to uncharitable ways then the challenges another candidate who sought to cheat his way into the superficial but personally favorable result poses to the idea of democracy can easily be imagined.

This report by Vijay Simha, published in “Caravan”, journal of politics and culture, March 1-15, 2009, drives home at least one side of this elections dominated democracy. During a meeting of senior BJP leaders held sometime in November 2008 to choose nominees for vacant seats in the Rajya Sabha when L.K. Advani proposed the name of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to one of these seats adducing his ill health (was he giving the suggestion that an unwell person could easily be accommodated in Rajya Sabha?), Rajnath Singh, the current BJP president pointed out that if Vajpayee could step out and file his nomination to the Rajya Sabha he could do the same for Lok Sabha even and easily win the election without even campaigning given the popularity and esteem among people.

This meeting is a perfect epitome of how some political leaders do their calculations and does Rajnath Singh’s idea of democracy revolve around only filing nominations and winning elections? Didn’t his political experience make him think that winning an election from a constituency is also about taking care of it? Will Vajpayee, one of the only few statesmen among our living politicians, be able to serve his constituency deeming the health problems he is running into. The act of reducing a leader like Vajpayee into one more number in the total tally speaks not only poorly of his own party but also of the democracy which seems to have been incarcerated inside the walls of elections. Unfortunately this is just one case of many that exemplifies the ills that psephocracy brings.

Marxist revolutionary, Che Guevara had once said, “Democracy cannot consist solely of elections that are nearly always fictitious and managed by rich landowners and professional politicians.”

If we contrast this verily quote with what Aristotle had to say we will find how far the intents and ideals of democracy have moved from their original interpretations. When Aristotle said, “in democracies the poor are more powerful than the rich, because there are more of them and whatever is decided by the majority is sovereign”

did he have in mind the virtuosity of rulers or the power of awareness of people? Don’t we miss both? In most of the democratic set-ups today technically at least owing to either gerrymandering or number of candidates or parties the triumph may come even with less than one third of the total ballots cast.

What Che Guevara had said stands true today. This truth takes on even more dangerous form when a large percentage of voters happen to be either illiterate or semi literate. Because democracy allows every single citizen to have his say it all boils down to the characteristics of the majority. If majority is quiescent and inert then democracy will be nothing but a passive one. The choice of the representatives will not be governed by work done by the candidates in the interest of the society, ideological leanings, and election manifestoes but by personal factors. This results in whetting up those very ills which a democratic society in all its fairness stands to fight. Largely in our country a large percentage of election outcomes is held hostage either to anti incumbency factor or even more prevalent caste factor and religion factor thanks to BJP.

Election manifestoes are something neither we read nor our parties do take seriously. Even if they do take trouble to write one mostly it is nothing but a rehash of whatever had been written there once upon a time. In 2007 BSP leader Mayawati secured a huge majority in UP assembly elections not only without any manifesto delineating her party’s programs, policies and vision but even after publicly ridiculing the very concept of writing manifestoes. If her rustic approach and electoral calculations struck a chord with voters shall we admire her political acumen or accuse her of exploiting the weaknesses of democracy?

This weakness also have lead to criminalization of politics or as often people say politicization of criminals thanks to their election winning abilities. If a person convicted in any case other than political wins an election then it points to huge chinks in our democratic structure that needs to be dealt with greatest immediacy. A politician who in any democracy could have been a bulwark against societal ills becomes the fountain and patron of these ills instead. Worse still not only does he nurture ills and diseases but like a virus also resists the attempts at every medication and often, unfortunately even defeats them. That leaves democracy with the plight of a tamed animal tied to the peg of election rather than the liberty of a human being bound to his roots but free to roam, learn and serve.

For a democracy to be true to its definition and purpose not only do we need only party manifestoes but also strong ideological divide in the society instead of class or caste or religious divide. While caste divide abets regionalization and deigns the administration it is lopsided class divide that results in huge gaps in earnings and as we have often seen in the history it leads to frustration and even revolutions. The sad truth about revolutions that sometimes they are nothing but just a divergence leading to a path seedier than the prevailing stands even today.

So far as religious divide’s ramifications are to be said not only distant but even very recent history has evinced the venom they can spill into the vessel of the society and ghettoisations they can lead to. An ideological divide, on the other hand, often ends up as a precursor to the constructive debate in the society. That brings us to the gospel truth that debates are the leashes which a democracy should use to prevent its cart from running astray and ride smooth.

Quite sadly though any discussion of democracy involves ramblings about civic sense but somewhere the talk of ethics and morals values remains untouched. We can’t have a stronger paradox than that. It is not that toleration of other’s views and deference toward other societies is not nestled in the spirit of democracy but a skewed picture of democracy does give ample room for such discrepancies to creep in.

Here I am not talking about the religious intolerance, terrorism or self styled gurus and mullahs of ethics and moral values which we all know not only stand on the other side of democracy but even leer at it. But in contrast, think, if a software engineer of the new emerging India can kill his four year old daughter allegedly for as absurd a reason as her coming in the way of his spending quality time with his wife or a CEO of a TV channel beheads his wife or a political leader chops his wife into pieces etc then what sort of societal values are we venturing into?

If people belonging to educated or even elite class can indulge in such medieval and barbarian acts with what hope we expect people living in the recesses of poverty, gloom and darkness of illiteracy to give account of moralistic values. Isn’t it incumbent upon all of us that we call into question our own comportments and those who helm our democratic set-up? Some might want to dismiss these incidents as stray and aberrations but when acutely observed over a period of time only the thinly reported incidents even from the metros are enough to sicken us let alone digging deeper into the dark lanes of hinterland where often law faces the scimitar on the altar of ignorance or insularity.

Not only our politicians but we all stand guilty of reducing a system passed onto us by our forefathers to a mere formality. If we and especially those whose job entails this don’t squirm at the sight of a bare feet emaciated boy walking in the excruciating heat or shivering cold or a women splashing contaminated water off her body in the public or a child in an English medium public school using cuss words and expletives at the age of eight then it is not the slow pace of lumbering democracy but the fast pace of the vehicles of governors of democracy and a lack of community-hood that stands reprehensible.

Democracy may be just a political system of governance but it is humanity that propelled it to come into being. Without humanity democracy is just a body shaking but not moving and alive but not growing. It is imperative on our part that if we pretend to care for democracy we should also care for what I hold as nothing short of temple: primary schools among other things. Unfortunately the primary schools which give the child the first embrace of his life outside his mother are too clumsy and repulsive. The beginning gets as worse as it could get. It goes without saying that often it is none but democracy that bears the burnt of an adulthood grown out of uncomfortable or absent embraces.

This all having been said still we have some reasons to take pride in whatever muddling we have done through last six decades. Not only have we succeeded in preventing the fabric of democracy from ripping apart completely but have a system which needs overhauling, rectification and makeover but is indispensable. As the elections for 15th Lok Sabha draw near once again we will get to see this festival of democracy being celebrated across the India. I hope soon we will realize that election is a question fundamentally tied to the spirit of democracy asking us the basic tenets of a democracy. That is how it reminds us of the answers we have to look for. Though answer of the ballot will determine only the fate of the symbol that represents the question it is the debate about what could or should have been the answer or who the answerer is or what does the symbol represent and more importantly what our answer is will determine the flowering or wilting of democratic values.

Exclusive: Will This Poll Change India?

By Rajinder Puri

Making poll forecasts is a hazardous exercise best left to psephologists. Speculating on post-poll politics is even dicier. And yet, the critical phase of transition through which India is passing makes forethought imperative. Can the coming poll prove to be a turning point in India’s transition? Circumstances suggest it can, but not in the manner that most politicians hope.

Four factors suggest that post-poll India could be poised for a paradigm shift. First, this election will likely have the heaviest turnout, with the largest youth percentage. This spells unprecedented voter involvement. The election itself is being fought on trivia bereft of real national issues. After elections high public expectations could plunge to acute frustration.

Secondly, some recent events suggest the distinct possibility of the Congress tally not exceeding a hundred. If that happens will the Dynasty survive as its centre of power? If it does not, will the Congress survive without the dynasty as its rallying point? For six decades and even earlier the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has held the Congress in its palm. This created a mindset and a debilitating culture that has over the years afflicted the entire political class. If the Dynasty ceases to call the shots the Congress to survive will have to reinvent itself. Mr. Rahul Gandhi reportedly is thinking on the lines of reviving the party as a single national force through work at the grassroots. That is a very long haul that would make the Congress of little relevance to the current challenges facing the nation. For the immediate the demise of the Congress would profoundly affect political attitudes in all parties.

Thirdly, by present indications post-poll India might well get its most fractured Parliament. That could spell weak governance, confused direction and instability. Even if the NDA succeeds in getting the highest tally, the several self-goals shot by the BJP make Mr. LK Advani’s choice as next PM exceedingly doubtful. The party’s endorsement of Mr. Varun Gandhi might have helped consolidate the hold on its traditional vote bank. It might also have fatally isolated it from all potential allies required to form a coalition government. The allies might demand a price, and the Prime Minister’s chair could be it.

Fourthly, the events across the border suggest the increasing possibility of an impending crisis of such magnitude that could overwhelm a weak Indian government unable to summon an effective response. The recent cross border incursion by terrorists in Kashmir that led to the death of 8 soldiers provides clear indication that while a part of the Pakistan establishment is unwilling to change, the rest is unable to change. The disclosure by The New York Times quoting official sources saying that there is continuing and deep complicity of the ISI with terrorists dashes the last hope of Pakistan abandoning adventurism. It is undeniable that the Obama administration appears to be quite out of its depth on how to handle its so-called ally in the war on terror. Therefore little hope should be placed on it. But Pakistan can implode. The different sections of society within it are incompatible. And there is no force in sight with the will and purpose to neutralize Pakistan’s self-destructive elements.

How would the possible disintegration of Pakistan affect India? It is common to hear stupid and thoughtless chatter that the destruction of Pakistan would be welcome. But if Pakistan were to break up, what then? Who would pick up its pieces? Do armchair strategists have the faintest idea about how India in that dreadful situation could safeguard its security? Or would they be complacent about some big power wielding final authority in Lahore and Karachi? Could a weak Indian government effectively face up to the challenge militarily and diplomatically?

All these trends suggest that after the election a paradigm change cannot be ruled out. The situation could make the need for a strong government imperative. Poll trends indicate the emergence of a weak government unavoidable. Something will have to give. Already business is feeling the heat of bad governance. The demands for black money funds by political parties during the current poll campaign add to its woes. Little wonder that Tata Communication Chairman Subodh Bhargava is already favoring a switch to the presidential form of government. After this general election the political situation and the public mood may impel very serious rethinking.

India’s Middle Class Attempts Political Empowerment

By Subhash Kapila

“The Great Indian Middle Class Needs To Politically Empower Itself” was the title of my Column of March 12, 2006. It was written with the aim of awakening India’s over 300 million strong middle class from their apathy to matters political and thereby letting the political dynamics of India to be controlled by political dynasties living in cocoons divorced from the real pulse of India.

The political apathy of the Indian middle class has so far allowed the Indian political space to be taken over by a motley crowd of corrupt, tainted and wheeler- dealer politicians with no national commitment or vision to the advancement of India. In the run-up to General Elections 2009 there is the first flickering of hope as a number of upper middle class professionals and social activists have entered the political fray hoping to transform the quality of India’s polity.

Some excerpts from my Column of three years ago need to be reproduced for the benefit of India’s middle class on the eve of the General Elections, and these are:

If the “Great Indian Middle Class” sincerely believes that India deserves a better Government and better governance then it is high time that they politically empower themselves.

India’s Great Indian Middle Class” should open their eyes and realize how much of a potent political force they can emerge with their 30% voting strength.

The “Great Indian Middle Class” by their active participation in the political process could counterbalance the strength of the existing other 30% ( 18% Dalits and 12% Indian Muslims)

In the process they could contribute to bring into political power a better class of politicians and a higher class of political leaders with vision and integrity.
A highly educated and economically prosperous middle class provides the backbone of an advanced nation and in the case of a developing economy like India it provides shoulder and the muscle on which the nation climbs the trajectory of power.

It is heartening to note that for a few months now some impactive high visibility advertisements have figured on India’s TV Channels sponsored by India’s big business houses highlighting the need to go out and vote on Election Day.

India’s TV Channel debates seem however to be skeptical of leading business professionals and corporate heads standing for elections as independents rather than on some major political party tickets going by the line of questioning they adopt to grill these middle class brave-hearts who have taken the plunge with a commitment to transform the Indian political scene irrespective of the outcome of result

Notwithstanding the same most of them came better off than the TV anchors who grilled them on political issues. They were transparent unlike normal shifty Indian politicians and exuded a sincerity of purpose and also had visionary perspectives on the political transformation of India.

Some like Meera Sanyal, CEO of ABN-AMRO Bank who is contesting from Mumbai was frank enough to state that her decision to contest the Elections was prompted by the terrorist attacks of Mumbai 9/11 and the sheer political apathy for effective crisis management by the political class. As the daughter of a former Indian Navy Admiral she not only displayed political grit to challenge the political decay in India but also a certain finesse both in manner and oratory. The same applies for others like her who have emerged in Mumbai and Andhra and elsewhere to challenge political heavyweights.

The Indian political class of all hues for their vested political compulsions is fighting shy of making Pakistani Islamic Jihadi terrorism as an election issue but it was an event which had the unintended consequences of igniting Indian nationalism much to the dislike of the Congress Party and its so-called secularist allies. On election day one would not be surprised that this issue weighs heavily on the choices that voters make.

Lastly, I for one would like to salute all those who have decided to take the plunge in the electoral battle next month imbued not with the prospects of personal political gains but motivated by a strong inner voice that “The Great Indian Middle Class” can no longer permit India’s political agenda be hijacked by unscrupulous contemporary politicians and a beginning has to be made to bring about a qualitative transformation of Indian politics.

India’s Middle Class Attempts Political Empowerment

By Subhash Kapila

“The Great Indian Middle Class Needs To Politically Empower Itself” was the title of my Column of March 12, 2006. It was written with the aim of awakening India’s over 300 million strong middle class from their apathy to matters political and thereby letting the political dynamics of India to be controlled by political dynasties living in cocoons divorced from the real pulse of India.

The political apathy of the Indian middle class has so far allowed the Indian political space to be taken over by a motley crowd of corrupt, tainted and wheeler- dealer politicians with no national commitment or vision to the advancement of India. In the run-up to General Elections 2009 there is the first flickering of hope as a number of upper middle class professionals and social activists have entered the political fray hoping to transform the quality of India’s polity.

Some excerpts from my Column of three years ago need to be reproduced for the benefit of India’s middle class on the eve of the General Elections, and these are:

If the “Great Indian Middle Class” sincerely believes that India deserves a better Government and better governance then it is high time that they politically empower themselves.

India’s Great Indian Middle Class” should open their eyes and realize how much of a potent political force they can emerge with their 30% voting strength.

The “Great Indian Middle Class” by their active participation in the political process could counterbalance the strength of the existing other 30% ( 18% Dalits and 12% Indian Muslims)

In the process they could contribute to bring into political power a better class of politicians and a higher class of political leaders with vision and integrity.
A highly educated and economically prosperous middle class provides the backbone of an advanced nation and in the case of a developing economy like India it provides shoulder and the muscle on which the nation climbs the trajectory of power.

It is heartening to note that for a few months now some impactive high visibility advertisements have figured on India’s TV Channels sponsored by India’s big business houses highlighting the need to go out and vote on Election Day.

India’s TV Channel debates seem however to be skeptical of leading business professionals and corporate heads standing for elections as independents rather than on some major political party tickets going by the line of questioning they adopt to grill these middle class brave-hearts who have taken the plunge with a commitment to transform the Indian political scene irrespective of the outcome of result

Notwithstanding the same most of them came better off than the TV anchors who grilled them on political issues. They were transparent unlike normal shifty Indian politicians and exuded a sincerity of purpose and also had visionary perspectives on the political transformation of India.

Some like Meera Sanyal, CEO of ABN-AMRO Bank who is contesting from Mumbai was frank enough to state that her decision to contest the Elections was prompted by the terrorist attacks of Mumbai 9/11 and the sheer political apathy for effective crisis management by the political class. As the daughter of a former Indian Navy Admiral she not only displayed political grit to challenge the political decay in India but also a certain finesse both in manner and oratory. The same applies for others like her who have emerged in Mumbai and Andhra and elsewhere to challenge political heavyweights.

The Indian political class of all hues for their vested political compulsions is fighting shy of making Pakistani Islamic Jihadi terrorism as an election issue but it was an event which had the unintended consequences of igniting Indian nationalism much to the dislike of the Congress Party and its so-called secularist allies. On election day one would not be surprised that this issue weighs heavily on the choices that voters make.

Lastly, I for one would like to salute all those who have decided to take the plunge in the electoral battle next month imbued not with the prospects of personal political gains but motivated by a strong inner voice that “The Great Indian Middle Class” can no longer permit India’s political agenda be hijacked by unscrupulous contemporary politicians and a beginning has to be made to bring about a qualitative transformation of Indian politics.

DELAYED START? RECESSION IMPACT ON EDUCATION

By M h Ahssan & Swati Reddy

WITH THE FINANCIAL CRUNCH HITTING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES HARD,AN INCREASING NUMBER OF YOUNG GRADUATES ARE FLOCKING TOWARDS BSCHOOLS TO BIDE THEIR TIME AND GET THE BEST OPPORTUNITIES ONCE THE GLOBAL ECONOMY RECOVERS. HOWEVER, EXPERTS STILL MAINTAIN THAT AN MBA IS BEST DONE AFTER GAINING A FEW YEARS OF WORK EXPERIENCE.

Anumber of internationally well-known Bschools are increasingly admitting students with fewer years of work experience and even fresh graduates to their MBA programmes. Young students these days too, want to pursue their MBAs earlier on, so as to accelerate their career advancement. However, the key question here is: which is the right time to enroll for an MBA abroad? Is it wise to invest huge sums of money in an international education when the employment scenario is uncertain or is it wiser to gain a few years of work experience and then pursue an MBA?

AN INDIVIDUAL CHOICE
Says Rosemaria Martinelli, Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions at the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business, “The right time to pursue an MBA may vary according to a person’s characteristics and development. Having said that, it’s extremely important for students to gain some years of full-time work experience, that may be as little as a year and a half or as long as 14 years, so as to test drive their skills. But the value proposition of a full-time MBA is to capitalise enough work experience not only so that you know where you’re headed but also so that you can make maximum contribution to the classroom and select the right courses and can effectively navigate through the flexible curriculum.” A few years of work experience not only makes you more focused but also helps you to make the best of the classroom atmosphere.

Dustin Cornwell, Director of Admissions and Recruiting, Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, De-Paul University, corroborates, “People pursue an MBA to gain professional advancement, make more money and achieve greater heights of success. A person who waits to pursue his/ her management studies after gaining say five years of work experience, can expect to benefit more not only in terms of being offered a higher salary packet but also in terms of being offered more opportunities, as compared to someone who is a fresh graduate.

A few years of work experience can prove to be advantageous in terms of sharpening one’s focus, exposing one to his/ her likes and dislikes and getting a clearer picture of one’s future goal, that can eventually help one maximise his/ her classroom experience. Yet, some fresh graduates do make it to some coveted Bschools because their reasons for pursuing an MBA at that particular point in time are clear. They have a clear picture of their career goals in mind and obviously gain a right to admission.”

TALENT TRIUMPHS
Freshers do not only have to convince the admissions authority of their decision but also need to have displayed exceptional adcademic as well as leadership skills during their college days in order to make it to a good Bschool. Confirms, Tim Westerbeck, Managing Director and Principal at Lipman Hearne and a foremost authority in the field of higher education, “Unlike earlier, a number of elite Bschools do accept a certain per cent of students with less work experience to their programmes now. But these students are academically brilliant.”

Martinelli agrees that a typical applicant who is admitted straight after his/ her undergraduate studies will be very different from most applicants. She elaborates, “He/ she will have been enormously successful in his/ her academic endeavours, be it in terms of GPA, GMAT and TOEFL scores, or in terms of displaying leadership qualities and being closely involved with clubs or student government sororities. They will have had undertaken significant internships and will demonstrate high intellectual curiosity much beyond their years. They will also be direct and clear about ‘why an MBA now’ versus the ‘future’.”

PARTING SHOT
Says Martinelli, “One of the most crucial prerequisites of pursuing an MBA is to have a strong awareness of yourself, of who you really are, and what your future plans are. You also need to know for sure as to why you wish to pursue an MBA at a particular time and not later? However, all this is hard to do at 22.” This does not mean that pursuing an MBA early on does not have any advantages. Says Sameer Tejani, who attended the MBA programme at Fisher Business School, Ohio State University, after working for a year and a half with a boutique consultancy in Mumbai, “As a fresh graduate you get used to the classroom setting more easily than those who have worked for a long period of time. Academicallyspeaking too, some of the content, especially analysis or math related, may be similar to the content you studied at your undergraduate degree.”

But when other students with longer years of work experience talk about real life instances, where the concepts being discussed are applicable, fresh graduates may not have that much to offer. So, try and gain some experience before taking the plunge!

AP power minister faces crisis on his own turf

By M H Ahssan

The wind seems to be blowing against Mohd Shabbir Ali in Kamareddy assembly constituency. The ‘power minister’ in the YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s cabinet looks like powerless what with his brother and ‘chinna minister’ as he is being called in the local political circles, Mohd Nayeem playing spoilsport.

Sources said Shabbir is facing greater hurdles this time round because of his brother’s autocratic functioning in the constituency. “In the name of the minister, Nayeem was striking large contracts and raking in huge moolah,” a local Congress leader not wanting to be named alleged.

With the minister not accessible to party workers, it was Nayeem who was calling the shots even in Kamareddy party matters. “The chinna minister has not only damaged the reputation of Shabbir Ali but also that of the party in the eyes of the public and workers,” a minority leader of the party told HNN.

Things have come to such a pass that workers and local leaders were finding it difficult to approach the minister because of Nayeem, he said. Though Shabbir Ali is branded as a close follower of chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, no key nominated post was given to his followers, much to their chagrin.

That the minister was facing the wrath of the party workers was out in full public view at Domakonda recently when the cadre grilled him during the mandal-level meeting on Nayeem’s “extra” role in the party. “The minister was clueless when they cornered him on Nayeem,” a party insider said.

Though the minister — on a number of occasions — has claimed that he has developed the constituency on all fronts, his promise to bring Godavari waters to Kamareddy has remained a pipedream, which could go against him this time. Of the 1,96,516 voters in Kamareddy segment, Muslims account for over 30,000.

Though Shabbir has emerged as a “tall leader” in the YSR government, the Telangana region’s minority leader is also facing a serious threat from his Telugu Desam Party opponent Gampa Goverdhan. “Goverdhan has gained a lot of goodwill among the public in the last five years and it won’t be a surprise if he floors the minister in this prestigious boxing bout,” an analysts said.

It may be recalled that Shabbir was defeated by Goverdhan once — in the 1994 election. Though he won the 2004 election with 52,000-vote majority against BJP’s Uppunuthala Muralidhar Goud, Shabbir’s chances look bleak this time, say party sources.

He was first elected as an MLA from Kamareddy in 1989 and had lost to TDP candidate Yousuf Ali in the 1999 polls.

AP power minister faces crisis on his own turf

By M H Ahssan

The wind seems to be blowing against Mohd Shabbir Ali in Kamareddy assembly constituency. The ‘power minister’ in the YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s cabinet looks like powerless what with his brother and ‘chinna minister’ as he is being called in the local political circles, Mohd Nayeem playing spoilsport.

Sources said Shabbir is facing greater hurdles this time round because of his brother’s autocratic functioning in the constituency. “In the name of the minister, Nayeem was striking large contracts and raking in huge moolah,” a local Congress leader not wanting to be named alleged.

With the minister not accessible to party workers, it was Nayeem who was calling the shots even in Kamareddy party matters. “The chinna minister has not only damaged the reputation of Shabbir Ali but also that of the party in the eyes of the public and workers,” a minority leader of the party told HNN.

Things have come to such a pass that workers and local leaders were finding it difficult to approach the minister because of Nayeem, he said. Though Shabbir Ali is branded as a close follower of chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, no key nominated post was given to his followers, much to their chagrin.

That the minister was facing the wrath of the party workers was out in full public view at Domakonda recently when the cadre grilled him during the mandal-level meeting on Nayeem’s “extra” role in the party. “The minister was clueless when they cornered him on Nayeem,” a party insider said.

Though the minister — on a number of occasions — has claimed that he has developed the constituency on all fronts, his promise to bring Godavari waters to Kamareddy has remained a pipedream, which could go against him this time. Of the 1,96,516 voters in Kamareddy segment, Muslims account for over 30,000.

Though Shabbir has emerged as a “tall leader” in the YSR government, the Telangana region’s minority leader is also facing a serious threat from his Telugu Desam Party opponent Gampa Goverdhan. “Goverdhan has gained a lot of goodwill among the public in the last five years and it won’t be a surprise if he floors the minister in this prestigious boxing bout,” an analysts said.

It may be recalled that Shabbir was defeated by Goverdhan once — in the 1994 election. Though he won the 2004 election with 52,000-vote majority against BJP’s Uppunuthala Muralidhar Goud, Shabbir’s chances look bleak this time, say party sources.

He was first elected as an MLA from Kamareddy in 1989 and had lost to TDP candidate Yousuf Ali in the 1999 polls.

Hyderabad campaigns add a dash of humour

By M H Ahssan

Political parties in election mode in the the state and desperate to grab power are displaying a great sense of humour to show their rivals in bad light albeit hitting them below the belt. The fight is in full public display on the various Telugu channels.

Here are some samples: In a poll campaign advertisement titled “Satya Peetam”, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu (shown only as a dark shadowy image to indicate that it’s him) is being subjected to a lie detector test. In the ad, he admits that his arch rival chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has achieved what he never could and that Reddy is sure to win the polls again.

The TDP think tank swung into action to counter this hugely popular and comic advertisement. In the TDP ad, a similar shadowy figure appears declaring himself to be Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s ‘aatma’. This counter-attack from the TDP is more gripping because Reddy sings a Telugu rap song with his characteristic mannerisms and admits to his sin: wholesale corruption. He also declares that if the ‘aatma’ could vote, he would certainly vote only for Chandrababu Naidu. In the end, he says: ‘Amma, Ayya, Babu Zindabad’.

In both the Congress and the TDP ads, the voices of Reddy and Naidu have been perfectly imitated, what with hordes of artistes available these days who have perfected the art.

The poll campaign has got interesting because of the other advertisements too. On the lines of the once hugely popular KBC, the Congress has come out with an ad titled ‘ R a n d i Gyanam Pondandi’ that depicts Chand r ab abu Naidu as a backstabber. The person posed a question asking him to select a backstabber from four choices zeroes on Chandrababu Naidu. Other choices includes names like Brutus and Aurangzeb.

In yet another Congress ad, titled ‘NTR Aatma Garjana’, a clipping of N T Rama Rao is shown heaping abuses on Chandrababu Naidu.

When the TDP came out with an ad titled ‘Lokam Kodai Koosthundhi’ showing a two chicks discussing how to attack the Congress, the Congress lost no time in coming up with a counter. In the Congress ad, a rishi who finds the two chicks sprinkles water on them to reveal their true identity – they turn into two foxes and the face of one of them resembles Chandrababu Naidu’s.

While humour appears to be the forte of the Congress, the TDP made use of the visuals of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, finance minister K Rosaiah and Mahila Congress chief Ganga Bhavani, and minister J C Diwakar Reddy’s brother J C Prabhakar Reddy using abusive language. And in sharp contrast, Chandrababu Naidu is shown as someone with a heart of love showering affection on people.

While the TDP and the Congress are trying to outwit each other, the Prajarajyam Party (PRP) too has now joined the fray. But devoid of any theatrics, filmstar Chiranjeevi’s party is straight harping on ‘change’.

And so the Congress list was announced

By Preeti Singh

And so the Congress list was finally announced. The recent hustle bustle at Gandhi Bhavan, the Congress center here in Hyderabad, immediately subsided. Some couldn’t believe their luck. The disgruntled ones, denied a ticket, packed their bags and left for their respective constituencies to participate in the “team” effort of bringing the Congress back to power in Andhra Pradesh.

A few days before the list was announced, the AICC General Secretary, Veerappa Moily, came to town to have a closed door meeting with the Andhra Pradesh Congess Committee President D Srinivas and the Chief Minister YSR Reddy( better known as the DS-YS duo). While I was trying to get a reaction from Mr Moily on his coalition with Mamata didi in the east, I made my way – rather stealthily – to his hotel room…only to be confronted by dozens of ticket aspirants, each with a bouquet of flowers (the bigger, the better), a folder of documents and boxes of sweets. While I made my way through the swarm, one of them looked at me and remarked in characteristic Andhra Telugu, roughly translated as ‘national media is here as well. Madam, will you please show Mr Moily my file. I even have details of my competitor’s wrong doings in my region’.

So each of them had done their home work well. After all, now was the time that their efforts of last five years were to culminate. Finally, after much smiling and flaunting my channel logo, I gained access to Moily saar and heard him say firmly, “No one should come to Delhi. I will blacklist anyone who comes to Delhi.”

So who are the lucky ones to be favoured by the DS-YS duo?

While YSR has chosen to remain with his previous constituency of Pullivendula, he has gifted his son Jagan Mohan Reddy, his ‘family’ seat of Kaddapah. What’s interesting to note is that the usually reclusive Mr Jagan had decided to hold a press conference, not so long ago, to clear himself of his alleged ties with a certain not-so-popular IT icon, a certain Raju. And had tactfully, much like his father, dodged questions on him joining politics saying, “Honestly, I’m not too sure, for I am a businessman first.”

Well though the list retains most of its sitting MPs, there were massive apprehensions about Madhu Yashki Goud, the Nizamabad MP, being able to retain his seat, considering APCC Prez, DS’s interest in it for himself. Party sources say that DS-YS had two different lists of their chosen candidates and it was Moily who had to step in as peacemaker.

And while the list was being announced in Delhi, at the same time, back in Hyderabad, Prajarajyam supremo Chiranjeevi was holding his first public meeting in the state capital. Large crowds descended, a characteristic trait of his public meetings, to meet their Chiranjeevi anna. Chiru made most of the moment by pointing out the lack of Backward Castes in Congress’s list and promised to give at least 100 Assembly seats to them. While the crowd whistled, hooted and threatened to break the barriers around the media centre, I couldn’t help wondering how many of these cheerleaders would become voters?

For now, Andhra Pradesh’s attention is focussed on its major opposition party. Or is it parties? Telugu Desam chief Chandrababu Naidu is yet to find the answer, given that his so-called ally, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti is threatening to pull out of “the Grand Alliance”, every other day. Even after days of discussions, and closed door meetings, when asked about their seat sharing agreement, the TDP and TRS still give the rather enigmatic answers that they gave almost five months ago, when they decided to fight the Congress together. “Every alliance has a few issues over seat sharing, we are discussing and we will positively announce our list of candidates soon.”

In fact, even on Wednesday, we were standing outside the Telangana Bhavan (TRS Office) expecting K Chandrashekhar Rao to announce the snapping of ties any moment, but a few minutes later, we were told that KCR has gone for a meeting with Chandrababu (yet again!). Naidu does realise that it would be catastrophic for him if the TRS left him at this point while the TRS is also aware that their credibility , which is being questioned already, might suffer if the alliance breaks down.

So now all would-be netajis have gone scurrying to their constituencies to ask for votes. As a senior party leader, admitted in a lighter vein, “do-chaar mahino ki toh bath hai, phir wapas yahin (Hyderabad) aake aaram karenge.” (Just a matter of two months. Afterwards, we will come back and relax in Hyderabad.)

Did somebody say our elected leaders believe in working for the people? Jai Democracy!

International Labor Day 2009

By Sarathi Dev

International Workers’ Day (a name used interchangeably with May Day) is a celebration of the social and economic achievements of the international labor movement. May Day commonly sees organized street demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of working people and their labor unions throughout Europe and most of the rest of the world — though, as noted below, in neither the United States nor Canada.

International Workers’ Day is the commemoration of the Haymarket Riot in Chicago in 1886; in 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution and the Exposition Universelle (1889), following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. These were so successful that May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International’s second congress in 1891. The May Day Riots of 1894 and May Day Riots of 1919 occurred subsequently. In 1904, the International Socialist Conference meeting in Amsterdam called on “all Social Democratic Party organizations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on May First for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace.” As the most effective way of demonstrating was by striking, the congress made it “mandatory upon the proletarian organizations of all countries to stop work on May 1, wherever it is possible without injury to the workers.”

In the United States, however, the official Federal holiday for the “working man” is Labor Day, the first Monday in September. This day was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor organized the first parade in New York City. The first Labor Day celebration was held on September 5, 1882, and was organized by the Knights of Labor. The Knights began holding it every year and called for it to be a national holiday, but this was opposed by other labor unions who wanted it held on May Day (like it is everywhere else in the world). After the Haymarket Square riot in May, 1886, President Cleveland feared that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 could become an opportunity to commemorate the riots. Thus he moved in 1887 to support the Labor Day that the Knights supported.

International Labor Day 2009

By Sarathi Dev

International Workers’ Day (a name used interchangeably with May Day) is a celebration of the social and economic achievements of the international labor movement. May Day commonly sees organized street demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of working people and their labor unions throughout Europe and most of the rest of the world — though, as noted below, in neither the United States nor Canada.

International Workers’ Day is the commemoration of the Haymarket Riot in Chicago in 1886; in 1889, the first congress of the Second International, meeting in Paris for the centennial of the French Revolution and the Exposition Universelle (1889), following a proposal by Raymond Lavigne, called for international demonstrations on the 1890 anniversary of the Chicago protests. These were so successful that May Day was formally recognized as an annual event at the International’s second congress in 1891. The May Day Riots of 1894 and May Day Riots of 1919 occurred subsequently. In 1904, the International Socialist Conference meeting in Amsterdam called on “all Social Democratic Party organizations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on May First for the legal establishment of the 8-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace.” As the most effective way of demonstrating was by striking, the congress made it “mandatory upon the proletarian organizations of all countries to stop work on May 1, wherever it is possible without injury to the workers.”

In the United States, however, the official Federal holiday for the “working man” is Labor Day, the first Monday in September. This day was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor organized the first parade in New York City. The first Labor Day celebration was held on September 5, 1882, and was organized by the Knights of Labor. The Knights began holding it every year and called for it to be a national holiday, but this was opposed by other labor unions who wanted it held on May Day (like it is everywhere else in the world). After the Haymarket Square riot in May, 1886, President Cleveland feared that commemorating Labor Day on May 1 could become an opportunity to commemorate the riots. Thus he moved in 1887 to support the Labor Day that the Knights supported.

World Earth Day 2009

By Kajol Singh

On April 22, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, and his youthful staff organized massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts.

Sen. Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest honor given to civilians in the United States — for his role as Earth Day founder.

As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting the status of environmental issues on to the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. Earth Day 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. For 2000, Earth Day had the Internet to help link activists around the world. By the time April 22 rolled around, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries. Events varied: A talking drum chain traveled from village to village in Gabon, Africa, for example, while hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., USA.

Earth Day 2000 sent the message loud and clear that citizens the world ’round wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy.

Now, the fight for a clean environment continues. We invite you to be a part of this history and a part of Earth Day. Discover energy you didn’t even know you had. Feel it rumble through the grass roots under your feet and the technology at your fingertips. Channel it into building a clean, healthy, diverse world for generations to come.

World Earth Day 2009

By Kajol Singh

On April 22, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, and his youthful staff organized massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts.

Sen. Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest honor given to civilians in the United States — for his role as Earth Day founder.

As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting the status of environmental issues on to the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. Earth Day 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. For 2000, Earth Day had the Internet to help link activists around the world. By the time April 22 rolled around, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries. Events varied: A talking drum chain traveled from village to village in Gabon, Africa, for example, while hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., USA.

Earth Day 2000 sent the message loud and clear that citizens the world ’round wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy.

Now, the fight for a clean environment continues. We invite you to be a part of this history and a part of Earth Day. Discover energy you didn’t even know you had. Feel it rumble through the grass roots under your feet and the technology at your fingertips. Channel it into building a clean, healthy, diverse world for generations to come.

WORLD HEALTH DAY 2009

By M H Ahssan

World Health Day 2009 focuses on the safety of health facilities and the readiness of health workers who treat those affected by emergencies. Health centres and staff are critical lifelines for vulnerable people in disasters – treating injuries, preventing illnesses and caring for people’s health needs.

They are cornerstones for primary health care in communities – meeting everyday needs, such as safe childbirth services, immunizations and chronic disease care that must continue in emergencies. Often, already fragile health systems are unable to keep functioning through a disaster, with immediate and future public health consequences.

This year, WHO and international partners are underscoring the importance of investing in health infrastructure that can withstand hazards and serve people in immediate need. They are also urging health facilities to implement systems to respond to internal emergencies, such as fires, and ensure the continuity of care.

Emergencies: global and local impact
Wars, cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, disease outbreaks, famine, radiological incidents and chemical spills – all are emergencies that, invariably, impact heavily on public health. Internal emergencies in health facilities – such as fires and loss of power or water – can damage buildings and equipment and affect staff and patients. In conflicts, reasons for hospital breakdowns include staff being forced to leave due to insecurity and the looting of equipment and drugs.

In 2008, 321 natural disasters killed 235 816 people – a death toll that was almost four times higher than the average annual total for the seven previous years. This increase was due to just two events. Cyclone Nargis left 138 366 people dead or missing in Myanmar, and a major earthquake in south-western China’s Sichuan province killed 87 476 people, according to the United Nations’ International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). Asia, the worst-affected continent, was home to nine of the world’s top 10 countries for disaster-related deaths. Along with other weather-related events, floods remained one of the most frequent disasters last year, according to UNISDR. Conflicts around the globe have also led to great human suffering and have stretched health care services to the extreme.

Disasters also exact a devastating economic toll. In 2008, disasters cost an estimated US$ 181 billion – more than twice the US$ 81 billion annual average for 2000–2007. The Sichuan earthquake was estimated to cost some US$ 85 billion in damages, and Hurricane Ike in the United States cost some US$ 30 billion.

“The dramatic increase in human and economic losses from disasters in 2008 is alarming. Sadly, these losses could have been substantially reduced if buildings in China, particularly schools and hospitals, had been built to be more earthquake-resilient. An effective early warning system with good community preparedness could have also saved many lives in Myanmar if it had been implemented before Cyclone Nargis,” said Salvano Briceno, the director of UNISDR.

Although only 11% of the people exposed to natural hazards live in developing countries, they account for more than 53% of global deaths due to natural disasters. The differences in impact suggest there is great potential to reduce the human death toll caused by natural disasters in developing countries – and that the key ingredient in these tragedies is human inaction.

This is only one part of the picture. There are many smaller-scale events that inflict an even greater toll in terms of human suffering, such as in the case of vehicle accidents and fires. Road traffic crashes kill 1.2 million people annually, or more than 3200 people a day, while a further 20–50 million people are injured or disabled every year. At least 90% of road and fire fatalities occur in low- and middle-income countries. There are also 300 000 deaths each year from fires alone.

Outbreaks of communicable diseases can spark emergencies that cause widespread death and suffering. In the 12 months up to 31 May 2008, WHO verified 162 outbreaks of infectious disease in 75 countries worldwide. More than a third of the outbreaks occurred in Africa. They included cholera, other diarrhoeal diseases, measles, haemorrhagic fevers and other severe emerging diseases.

“The risk for outbreaks is often presumed to be very high in the chaos that follows natural disasters, a fear likely derived from a perceived association between dead bodies and epidemics. However, the risk factors for outbreaks after disasters are associated primarily with population displacement (commonly linked to conflict).” Even a few cases of a given disease can give rise to the perception that the public faces a grave health risk, which can lead to major political, social and economic consequences.

Infectious diseases are major causes of death and illness in children in conflict settings, especially among refugees and the internally displaced.

How emergencies threaten health facilities and delivery of care?
Apart from their effects on people, emergencies can pose huge threats to hospitals, clinics and other health facilities. Structural and infrastructural damage may be devastating exactly at the time when health facilities are most needed. Health workers have been killed in collapsing hospitals. The number of other deaths and injuries is compounded when a hospital is destroyed or can function only partially. Health facilities should be the focus for assistance when disaster strikes but, if they are damaged or put out of action, the sick and injured have nowhere to get help.

The 2003 Algerian earthquake rendered 50% of health facilities in the affected region non-functional due to damage. In Pakistan’s most-affected areas during the 2005 earthquake, 49% of health facilities were completely destroyed, from sophisticated hospitals to rural clinics and drug dispensaries. The December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami affected national and local health systems that provided health services for millions of people. In Indonesia’s northern Aceh province 61% of health facilities were damaged.

Despite international laws, health facilities continue to be targeted or used for military operations in conflicts. Health facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Somalia, the Central African Republic and the Gaza Strip are among those that have been caught in the line of fire.

An emergency may be limited to the health facility infrastructure – for example, fire damage, power cut or loss of water supply. Chemical and radiological emergencies in or near a health facility can also disrupt the delivery of care. In addition, emergencies threaten health staff – the doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and other staff working to save lives. When a hospital collapses, or an artillery shell destroys a ward or an ambulance, health staff are killed or injured. When staff are incapacitated and cannot do their work, health care is further interrupted.

Even if health facilities themselves are not affected during disease outbreaks and epidemics, their services and provision of safe care may be. Increased demands for services and a decreased workforce can impact on health care by disrupting communications, supplies and transport. Continuity of care is then in turn disrupted, including for chronic diseases like HIV and tuberculosis.

If measures to prevent and control infection are not effective, health-care facilities may act as “amplifiers” of outbreaks, generating cases of the disease among other patients or health-care workers and further decreasing the capacity to provide services.

Power cuts linked to disasters may disrupt water treatment and supply plants, thereby increasing the risk of waterborne diseases and affecting proper hospital functioning, including preserving the vaccine cold chain. A massive power outage in New York in 2003 was followed by an increase in diarrhoeal illness.

Why keep health facilities safe?
Safe health facilities in emergencies are a collective responsibility
Hospitals are more than just buildings. They are a vital asset at the heart of a community, the place where often life starts and ends. Due to the central role played by hospitals in our communities, we all share the responsibility of making sure they are resilient in the face of emergencies. Below are three reasons as to why we must make hospitals safe in emergencies.

1. Save lives, protect health
As they are occupied 24 hours a day, hospitals cannot be evacuated easily. They must remain working if their occupants – especially the most vulnerable such as newborn babies and patients in intensive care – are to survive. When the work of hospitals and other health facilities is disrupted or their buildings are damaged, both urgent and routine health care is interrupted and may be halted altogether – leaving the sick and injured without the care that they need.

Health “systems” rely on a range of public, private and nongovernmental facilities to work together to serve the community. In times of emergency, this is even more important. Hospitals, primary health care centres, laboratories, pharmacies and blood banks work with other non-health sectors, including energy, roads and transport, and the police to ensure the continuity of health services.

Health facilities are safe havens for people during an emergency. Hospitals and their staff must be regarded by all parties – particularly combatants during conflicts – as neutral and must not be subjected to any form of violence. Sadly, the provisions of international humanitarian law in this regard are often not respected. During emergencies, health facilities play a vital role. They:

provide emergency care to the injured (e.g. surgery and blood transfusions) and to the critically ill – as in outbreaks of communicable disease;
- collect and analyse data on illness and deaths in order to detect and prevent potential communicable disease outbreaks;
- deliver longer-term health care before and after an emergency. People need long-term nursing and medical care, maternal and child health services, rehabilitation of injuries, management of chronic diseases, and psychosocial support long after the emergency is over;
- provide immunization services to prevent outbreaks of communicable diseases such as measles that lead to the needless deaths of more children; and
provide other critical services – including laboratories, blood banks, ambulances, rehabilitation facilities, aged care facilities, and pharmacies.

2. Protect investment
The most costly health facility is the one that fails. Hospitals and health facilities are enormous investments for any country and their destruction or damage imposes major economic burdens. In some countries, up to 80% of the health budget is spent on hospitals and other health facilities. Rebuilding a hospital that has been destroyed virtually doubles the initial cost of the facility.

3. Safeguard social stability
Public morale can falter and political discord be ignited if health and emergency services fail during emergencies. Conversely, an effective emergency response and functional health service can reinforce social stability and cohesion. Hospitals are a haven for the public during conflicts and other emergencies due to their neutrality, impartiality and ability to protect a community’s social and health capital.

Global efforts to make hospitals safe from disasters
Much has been done to ensure that health facilities can better cope with emergencies and to increase awareness of the vital role that health facilities play in emergencies. “Hospitals Safe from Disasters” is the theme of the 2008–2009 World Disaster Reduction Campaign, which focuses on natural disasters and the damage they can cause to hospitals in particular. The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), the World Bank and WHO are jointly involved in this campaign. WHO’s regional and country offices have been instrumental not only in helping to share best practices in health facility preparedness for emergencies but also in implementing such guidance and making hospitals and clinics more resilient and functional.

While much work has been done to raise the issue of emergency preparedness for health facilities and to build a “community” of people and parties dedicated to the cause, efforts remain sporadic and are neither sufficiently integrated into government development and emergency response plans nor properly harmonized with other sectors.

WHO’s partners, including WHO’s regional and country offices and ministries of health, are also leading the way in advocating how best to safeguard health facilities and their personnel and patients. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which advocates for the protection of health personnel and services in conflict settings, and its sister organization, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which works with communities on emergency preparedness at community level in natural disasters, play critical roles in making hospitals safe from disasters. Donors and financial institutions – including the World Bank, USAID and DIPECHO – have answered the call by offering funding to make health facilities safer.

WHO is devoting World Health Day 2009 to the theme of health facilities in emergencies – “Save lives. Make hospitals safe in emergencies” – to further strengthen the imperative that health facilities must be prepared to withstand emergencies so that they can treat patients both during crises and afterwards. The World Health Day campaign builds on the “Hospitals Safe from Disasters” campaign and calls for hospitals to be safer in all types of emergencies, including natural disasters, conflicts and outbreaks of communicable diseases.

World Health Day is more than just a one-day event. WHO, from its country and regional offices and headquarters, is continuously working with international and national partners to assist countries in preparing their health facilities and staff for emergencies. What 7 April 2009 marks is the launch of the next step of a campaign to build resilience into our health systems so that hospitals, clinics and staff can withstand the next crisis, whatever it may be, and provide the health care that their communities need in times of emergency.

WORLD HEALTH DAY 2009

By M H Ahssan

World Health Day 2009 focuses on the safety of health facilities and the readiness of health workers who treat those affected by emergencies. Health centres and staff are critical lifelines for vulnerable people in disasters – treating injuries, preventing illnesses and caring for people’s health needs.

They are cornerstones for primary health care in communities – meeting everyday needs, such as safe childbirth services, immunizations and chronic disease care that must continue in emergencies. Often, already fragile health systems are unable to keep functioning through a disaster, with immediate and future public health consequences.

This year, WHO and international partners are underscoring the importance of investing in health infrastructure that can withstand hazards and serve people in immediate need. They are also urging health facilities to implement systems to respond to internal emergencies, such as fires, and ensure the continuity of care.

Emergencies: global and local impact
Wars, cyclones, earthquakes, tsunamis, disease outbreaks, famine, radiological incidents and chemical spills – all are emergencies that, invariably, impact heavily on public health. Internal emergencies in health facilities – such as fires and loss of power or water – can damage buildings and equipment and affect staff and patients. In conflicts, reasons for hospital breakdowns include staff being forced to leave due to insecurity and the looting of equipment and drugs.

In 2008, 321 natural disasters killed 235 816 people – a death toll that was almost four times higher than the average annual total for the seven previous years. This increase was due to just two events. Cyclone Nargis left 138 366 people dead or missing in Myanmar, and a major earthquake in south-western China’s Sichuan province killed 87 476 people, according to the United Nations’ International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). Asia, the worst-affected continent, was home to nine of the world’s top 10 countries for disaster-related deaths. Along with other weather-related events, floods remained one of the most frequent disasters last year, according to UNISDR. Conflicts around the globe have also led to great human suffering and have stretched health care services to the extreme.

Disasters also exact a devastating economic toll. In 2008, disasters cost an estimated US$ 181 billion – more than twice the US$ 81 billion annual average for 2000–2007. The Sichuan earthquake was estimated to cost some US$ 85 billion in damages, and Hurricane Ike in the United States cost some US$ 30 billion.

“The dramatic increase in human and economic losses from disasters in 2008 is alarming. Sadly, these losses could have been substantially reduced if buildings in China, particularly schools and hospitals, had been built to be more earthquake-resilient. An effective early warning system with good community preparedness could have also saved many lives in Myanmar if it had been implemented before Cyclone Nargis,” said Salvano Briceno, the director of UNISDR.

Although only 11% of the people exposed to natural hazards live in developing countries, they account for more than 53% of global deaths due to natural disasters. The differences in impact suggest there is great potential to reduce the human death toll caused by natural disasters in developing countries – and that the key ingredient in these tragedies is human inaction.

This is only one part of the picture. There are many smaller-scale events that inflict an even greater toll in terms of human suffering, such as in the case of vehicle accidents and fires. Road traffic crashes kill 1.2 million people annually, or more than 3200 people a day, while a further 20–50 million people are injured or disabled every year. At least 90% of road and fire fatalities occur in low- and middle-income countries. There are also 300 000 deaths each year from fires alone.

Outbreaks of communicable diseases can spark emergencies that cause widespread death and suffering. In the 12 months up to 31 May 2008, WHO verified 162 outbreaks of infectious disease in 75 countries worldwide. More than a third of the outbreaks occurred in Africa. They included cholera, other diarrhoeal diseases, measles, haemorrhagic fevers and other severe emerging diseases.

“The risk for outbreaks is often presumed to be very high in the chaos that follows natural disasters, a fear likely derived from a perceived association between dead bodies and epidemics. However, the risk factors for outbreaks after disasters are associated primarily with population displacement (commonly linked to conflict).” Even a few cases of a given disease can give rise to the perception that the public faces a grave health risk, which can lead to major political, social and economic consequences.

Infectious diseases are major causes of death and illness in children in conflict settings, especially among refugees and the internally displaced.

How emergencies threaten health facilities and delivery of care?
Apart from their effects on people, emergencies can pose huge threats to hospitals, clinics and other health facilities. Structural and infrastructural damage may be devastating exactly at the time when health facilities are most needed. Health workers have been killed in collapsing hospitals. The number of other deaths and injuries is compounded when a hospital is destroyed or can function only partially. Health facilities should be the focus for assistance when disaster strikes but, if they are damaged or put out of action, the sick and injured have nowhere to get help.

The 2003 Algerian earthquake rendered 50% of health facilities in the affected region non-functional due to damage. In Pakistan’s most-affected areas during the 2005 earthquake, 49% of health facilities were completely destroyed, from sophisticated hospitals to rural clinics and drug dispensaries. The December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami affected national and local health systems that provided health services for millions of people. In Indonesia’s northern Aceh province 61% of health facilities were damaged.

Despite international laws, health facilities continue to be targeted or used for military operations in conflicts. Health facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Somalia, the Central African Republic and the Gaza Strip are among those that have been caught in the line of fire.

An emergency may be limited to the health facility infrastructure – for example, fire damage, power cut or loss of water supply. Chemical and radiological emergencies in or near a health facility can also disrupt the delivery of care. In addition, emergencies threaten health staff – the doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers and other staff working to save lives. When a hospital collapses, or an artillery shell destroys a ward or an ambulance, health staff are killed or injured. When staff are incapacitated and cannot do their work, health care is further interrupted.

Even if health facilities themselves are not affected during disease outbreaks and epidemics, their services and provision of safe care may be. Increased demands for services and a decreased workforce can impact on health care by disrupting communications, supplies and transport. Continuity of care is then in turn disrupted, including for chronic diseases like HIV and tuberculosis.

If measures to prevent and control infection are not effective, health-care facilities may act as “amplifiers” of outbreaks, generating cases of the disease among other patients or health-care workers and further decreasing the capacity to provide services.

Power cuts linked to disasters may disrupt water treatment and supply plants, thereby increasing the risk of waterborne diseases and affecting proper hospital functioning, including preserving the vaccine cold chain. A massive power outage in New York in 2003 was followed by an increase in diarrhoeal illness.

Why keep health facilities safe?
Safe health facilities in emergencies are a collective responsibility
Hospitals are more than just buildings. They are a vital asset at the heart of a community, the place where often life starts and ends. Due to the central role played by hospitals in our communities, we all share the responsibility of making sure they are resilient in the face of emergencies. Below are three reasons as to why we must make hospitals safe in emergencies.

1. Save lives, protect health
As they are occupied 24 hours a day, hospitals cannot be evacuated easily. They must remain working if their occupants – especially the most vulnerable such as newborn babies and patients in intensive care – are to survive. When the work of hospitals and other health facilities is disrupted or their buildings are damaged, both urgent and routine health care is interrupted and may be halted altogether – leaving the sick and injured without the care that they need.

Health “systems” rely on a range of public, private and nongovernmental facilities to work together to serve the community. In times of emergency, this is even more important. Hospitals, primary health care centres, laboratories, pharmacies and blood banks work with other non-health sectors, including energy, roads and transport, and the police to ensure the continuity of health services.

Health facilities are safe havens for people during an emergency. Hospitals and their staff must be regarded by all parties – particularly combatants during conflicts – as neutral and must not be subjected to any form of violence. Sadly, the provisions of international humanitarian law in this regard are often not respected. During emergencies, health facilities play a vital role. They:

provide emergency care to the injured (e.g. surgery and blood transfusions) and to the critically ill – as in outbreaks of communicable disease;
- collect and analyse data on illness and deaths in order to detect and prevent potential communicable disease outbreaks;
- deliver longer-term health care before and after an emergency. People need long-term nursing and medical care, maternal and child health services, rehabilitation of injuries, management of chronic diseases, and psychosocial support long after the emergency is over;
- provide immunization services to prevent outbreaks of communicable diseases such as measles that lead to the needless deaths of more children; and
provide other critical services – including laboratories, blood banks, ambulances, rehabilitation facilities, aged care facilities, and pharmacies.

2. Protect investment
The most costly health facility is the one that fails. Hospitals and health facilities are enormous investments for any country and their destruction or damage imposes major economic burdens. In some countries, up to 80% of the health budget is spent on hospitals and other health facilities. Rebuilding a hospital that has been destroyed virtually doubles the initial cost of the facility.

3. Safeguard social stability
Public morale can falter and political discord be ignited if health and emergency services fail during emergencies. Conversely, an effective emergency response and functional health service can reinforce social stability and cohesion. Hospitals are a haven for the public during conflicts and other emergencies due to their neutrality, impartiality and ability to protect a community’s social and health capital.

Global efforts to make hospitals safe from disasters
Much has been done to ensure that health facilities can better cope with emergencies and to increase awareness of the vital role that health facilities play in emergencies. “Hospitals Safe from Disasters” is the theme of the 2008–2009 World Disaster Reduction Campaign, which focuses on natural disasters and the damage they can cause to hospitals in particular. The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), the World Bank and WHO are jointly involved in this campaign. WHO’s regional and country offices have been instrumental not only in helping to share best practices in health facility preparedness for emergencies but also in implementing such guidance and making hospitals and clinics more resilient and functional.

While much work has been done to raise the issue of emergency preparedness for health facilities and to build a “community” of people and parties dedicated to the cause, efforts remain sporadic and are neither sufficiently integrated into government development and emergency response plans nor properly harmonized with other sectors.

WHO’s partners, including WHO’s regional and country offices and ministries of health, are also leading the way in advocating how best to safeguard health facilities and their personnel and patients. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which advocates for the protection of health personnel and services in conflict settings, and its sister organization, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which works with communities on emergency preparedness at community level in natural disasters, play critical roles in making hospitals safe from disasters. Donors and financial institutions – including the World Bank, USAID and DIPECHO – have answered the call by offering funding to make health facilities safer.

WHO is devoting World Health Day 2009 to the theme of health facilities in emergencies – “Save lives. Make hospitals safe in emergencies” – to further strengthen the imperative that health facilities must be prepared to withstand emergencies so that they can treat patients both during crises and afterwards. The World Health Day campaign builds on the “Hospitals Safe from Disasters” campaign and calls for hospitals to be safer in all types of emergencies, including natural disasters, conflicts and outbreaks of communicable diseases.

World Health Day is more than just a one-day event. WHO, from its country and regional offices and headquarters, is continuously working with international and national partners to assist countries in preparing their health facilities and staff for emergencies. What 7 April 2009 marks is the launch of the next step of a campaign to build resilience into our health systems so that hospitals, clinics and staff can withstand the next crisis, whatever it may be, and provide the health care that their communities need in times of emergency.

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Slowdown will affect polls

By Paranjoy Guha Thakurta

Will the current state of India’s economy matter to the electorate of the world’s largest democracy? The answer to this question is a resounding ‘yes’ although many could argue to the contrary. Loss of jobs and inflation are two issues that directly impact the voter. In addition, broader economic issues relating to implementation of development schemes and improving the quality of governance influence electoral behaviour even if the influence is not always direct or overt.

In other words, much as politicians and political parties strive to strike electoral alliance and stress subjects such as national security in their poll campaigns, the proverbial aam admi has become more intelligent than before and mature enough to distinguish between issues that directly affect their lives and their livelihood from appeals of an emotional sort.

What is noteworthy is that in the run-up to the fifteenth general elections, just about every single political party and coalition is emphasising economic and developmental issues more than other issues — although different parties also have their own pet campaign themes. Thus, the Congress and the UPA are talking about the government’s track record in implementing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the farm loan waiver scheme as examples of farmer-friendly, ‘inclusive’ development.

The Left, while taking credit for having resisted attempts to integrate India’s economy with the rest of the world thereby saving the country from the worst ravages of the ongoing international financial crisis, is criticising the Manmohan Singh government’s neo-liberal economic policies and its overall pro-American tilt. The BJP too is not talking very much about Hindutva — rather, L K Advani is saying that the NDA would be able to provide better governance and spur economic development.

The short point is that issues pertaining to the economy are important and just cannot be ignored. There is a view that people in rural India have not been affected by the worldwide recession and for them, it is irrelevant that there has been retrenchment of employees in export-oriented industries such as textiles and garments, gems and jewellery, leather, handicrafts and processed foods. Even if one accepts such a line of reasoning, what cannot be denied is that those who have lost their livelihood in export hubs — such as Tirupur, Coimbatore, Surat, Moradabad and Ludhiana — are unlikely to be particularly sympathetic towards those in power either in New Delhi or in their respective state capitals when it comes to exercising their franchise. Tell members of a family whose breadwinner is out on the street that the government is not responsible for what has happened but a mythical character called Uncle Sam, and watch their reaction.

Even if the incumbent regime repeatedly says that it is in no way responsible for the slowdown, this logic will hardly help those in power garner more votes.

Various economic stimulus packages announced by the government since December have sought to increase the flow of credit to industry and cut excise taxes for corporates. But there is little or nothing in these packages for the proverbial common man for whom everybody’s heart is supposed to be bleeding. The insurance scheme for workers in the unorganised sector, the new road-building schemes and other programmes under Bharat Nirman may look good on paper but their implementation has been tardy and inefficient. The government’s track record over the last three years in implementing the NREGA, for instance, has been uneven across the country and in states where the scheme has worked, local governments are likely to get the credit for its efficient implementation.

Consider inflation, the one economic issue that directly hits the pocket of everyone in general and the poor in particular.

The government would like to claim as its achievement the recent reduction in the inflation rate — as measured by the official wholesale price index — from nearly 13 per cent in August to below three per cent now.

But few voters are fooled by such a claim.

A reduction in the rate of inflation merely means the pace at which prices had been rising has decelerated. The spike in the prices of food products has hurt the underprivileged considerably since the weaker sections of society spend a substantial portion of their income — often more than half — on food. If there is one single economic issue that has adversely affected the lives of ordinary people in the country in recent times, it is indeed food inflation.

Good governance is closely interwoven with reduction in corruption. Even when the Bofors controversy was the big issue that united the Right and the Left against the Rajiv Gandhi regime under V P Singh in 1989, there were many who had argued that corruption was not an issue that voters cared about. But they were proved wrong. Will the charges of corruption against two ministers in the Union council of ministers, T R Baalu and A Raja, spur anti-incumbency sentiments against the DMK government in Tamil Nadu? Will the misdeeds of B Ramalinga Raju and his associates — and the expansion in the wealth of the enterprises controlled by the Andhra Pradesh CM’s son — rub off on the reputation of Y S R Reddy’s government? There are not a few who contend that ordinary people have become inured to corruption, that they realise that the incidence of corruption will not come down merely on account of a change in government and that they have become ‘smart’ enough to choose between lesser evils, between the more corrupt and the less corrupt, the corrupt-and-efficient and the corrupt-and-inefficient, between the known ‘thief ’ and the unknown one. This is an excessively cynical point of view. Yes, people distinguish between a politician who takes money for his party and keeps most of it and one who does not. But the voter is nobody’s fool. She may be poor and illiterate but she is becoming increasingly aware with each passing election about politicians who make tall promises during poll campaigns but fail to deliver.

It is not surprising that over the last four general elections from 1996 roughly 40 per cent of the members of parliament in the Lok Sabha were new faces. This proportion is higher when it comes to members of legislative assemblies. Such a trend is likely to be reinforced during the coming elections as well, although certain states have, of late, bucked the trend — including Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and West Bengal.

To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln’s famous words, even if it is possible to fool some people all the time and all the people some of the time, it is not possible to fool all the people all the time. Even if our netas talk about national security, mandir, masjid, caste and creed, even they realise that the issues that concern voters are firmly rooted in economic realities.

US Consulate eager to hire Hyderabadi ‘Brains’

By Shruti Rao

Forty per cent of the students going to the US for higher studies are from Andhra Pradesh.

Therefore, this part of the country is one of the most significant contrbutors of knowledge. This was the opinion expressed by Cornelis Keur, Consul General, Consulate of United States of America.

Keur was speaking at a meet on ‘Indo-US Relations Today,’ on Wednesday, at Sedmal Hall.

The programme began with the mandatory welcome note, which emphasised the school’s repute in proffering knowledge for the last 84 years. The school offers courses such as — MBA, MCA, M.Com and M.Sc and is catering to 4,000 students at present.

In his talk, he spoke about the strengthening of ties between the two countries as they unitedly work towards arriving at concrete solutions for global problems.

His speech brought to light the US Consulate’s desire to double the present 200 applications for Visas to a decent 400. He said, “There are about 1 lakh students in America and about 40 per cent of these students come from Andhra Pradesh itself. So this part of the country is one of the most significant contributors of knowledge.” He admitted that AP is one of the most dynamic States in India which boasts of expertise in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, IT, aviation and space research, metallurgical industry, to name a few. Talking about the education scenario in the State, he mentioned that Hyderabad has some of the finest world-class colleges and universities that open up myriad options for aspiring students.

He observed, “I’m very happy to see people so concerned about the education of their children.” Speaking of ‘brain-drain,’ the coinage for mass immigration to the US, he observed, “It was brainborrowing and hence, it was always a win-win situation.” He commented, “There’s been a dramatic shift in US politics after President Barack Obama came in. Earlier administration used to work on a more unilateral manner. Now the problems of all countries are being seen as global problems, which is a good thing.” Member of the Consulate, Juliet Wurr accompanied Keur for the talk. “I feel lucky indeed to be here in India.

And I think a woman has to be twice as good to get ahead of men,” Juliet began. She further said, “My job is very simple. It is to make sure that we strengthen the ties between the Indian people and the American people. It really doesn’t matter what a bunch of dumb politicians say. I’m here to make you love me back.” The lecture was organised by Agarwal Siksha Samiti and was presided over by the president of the Samiti, Muralidhar Gupta.

‘Son’rise in Andhra Politics

By M H Ahssan

The sons are rising in Andhra Pradesh’s politics. The scions of almost all prominent party leaders are contesting to the Lok Sabha or the assembly — or at least playing a key role.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhara Rao’s son K. Taraka Rama Rao will contest the assembly polls from Sircilla constituency in Karimnagar district. He follows the son of another prominent politician who will be making his debut in electoral politics.

The ruling Congress has fielded Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s industrialist son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy as the candidate for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat.

Jaganmohan Reddy runs several industries and also Telugu newspaper Sakshi and television channel Sakshi. The young leader is popular in his native Kadapa district. Rajasekhara Reddy himself is seeking re-election from the Pulivendula assembly segment of Kadapa Lok Sabha seat.

KCR, as the TRS chief is popularly known, is likely to contest for Lok Sabha from Mahabubnagar. He was elected from Karimnagar in the 2004 elections and retained the seat in two by-elections in 2006 and 2008.

KCR had been grooming his son to take up a major role in the party ever since the latter returned in 2007 from the US after higher studies. He appointed Rama Rao as the TRS general secretary in November last year.

The TRS president preferred his son over daughter Kavita, who had become popular with the campaign to protect Telangana culture.

TRS sources say KCR wanted to avoid criticism by fielding both his children as he already has two close relatives in the party. His nephew, T. Harish Rao, is a state legislator and he is seeking re-election.

Vinod Kumar, another close relative of KCR, is seeking re-election to the Lok Sabha.

TRS sources said KCR initially toyed with the idea of fielding his son from Karimnagar. But fearing criticism from the party’s ranks over the presence of the father-son duo in parliament, he decided to nominate him as an assembly candidate.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu’s son Lokesh Naidu has become active in party affairs. Though he is not making a debut in next month’s elections, the former chief minister is keen to entrust him with a bigger role in the party.

The TDP chief revealed that his son played a key role in the party, helping out with the election manifesto, the cash transfer scheme that envisages payment of Rs.1,000 to Rs.2,000 per month to every poor family.

Lokesh, who also studied in the US, analysed the scheme which is under implementation in some Latin American countries and suggested to his father to promise the same to attract voters.

Lokesh is also the son-in-law of his maternal uncle, N. Balakrishna, a popular Telugu actor and son of TDP founder and legendary actor N.T. Rama Rao.

Balakrishna is currently campaigning for the TDP along with other members of the NTR clan.

‘Son’rise in Andhra Politics

By M H Ahssan

The sons are rising in Andhra Pradesh’s politics. The scions of almost all prominent party leaders are contesting to the Lok Sabha or the assembly — or at least playing a key role.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhara Rao’s son K. Taraka Rama Rao will contest the assembly polls from Sircilla constituency in Karimnagar district. He follows the son of another prominent politician who will be making his debut in electoral politics.

The ruling Congress has fielded Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s industrialist son Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy as the candidate for the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat.

Jaganmohan Reddy runs several industries and also Telugu newspaper Sakshi and television channel Sakshi. The young leader is popular in his native Kadapa district. Rajasekhara Reddy himself is seeking re-election from the Pulivendula assembly segment of Kadapa Lok Sabha seat.

KCR, as the TRS chief is popularly known, is likely to contest for Lok Sabha from Mahabubnagar. He was elected from Karimnagar in the 2004 elections and retained the seat in two by-elections in 2006 and 2008.

KCR had been grooming his son to take up a major role in the party ever since the latter returned in 2007 from the US after higher studies. He appointed Rama Rao as the TRS general secretary in November last year.

The TRS president preferred his son over daughter Kavita, who had become popular with the campaign to protect Telangana culture.

TRS sources say KCR wanted to avoid criticism by fielding both his children as he already has two close relatives in the party. His nephew, T. Harish Rao, is a state legislator and he is seeking re-election.

Vinod Kumar, another close relative of KCR, is seeking re-election to the Lok Sabha.

TRS sources said KCR initially toyed with the idea of fielding his son from Karimnagar. But fearing criticism from the party’s ranks over the presence of the father-son duo in parliament, he decided to nominate him as an assembly candidate.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu’s son Lokesh Naidu has become active in party affairs. Though he is not making a debut in next month’s elections, the former chief minister is keen to entrust him with a bigger role in the party.

The TDP chief revealed that his son played a key role in the party, helping out with the election manifesto, the cash transfer scheme that envisages payment of Rs.1,000 to Rs.2,000 per month to every poor family.

Lokesh, who also studied in the US, analysed the scheme which is under implementation in some Latin American countries and suggested to his father to promise the same to attract voters.

Lokesh is also the son-in-law of his maternal uncle, N. Balakrishna, a popular Telugu actor and son of TDP founder and legendary actor N.T. Rama Rao.

Balakrishna is currently campaigning for the TDP along with other members of the NTR clan.

BUSINESS OF BOLLYWOOD

By M H Ahssan

If you are not one of those heading to South Africa to watch IPL matches, then you could go to the closest multiplex to cheer your team. For this, the stakeholders need to strike a deal beneficial to all.

Two years ago, a multiplex in Mumbai’s hip suburb Versova decided to screen the T20 World Cup final between India and Pakistan. The logistics were all worked out in just 48 hours. This involved hiring a projector and getting the support of the local cable network.

Devang Sampat, senior vice-president, Cinemax, decided to devote four of his six screens — two of these were the high-end Red Lounge ones. The total capacity was 1,000 seats. It was a complete sellout and, in the process, two corporate bookings from Citibank and Provogue were clinched. At a handy Rs 500 a seat, he added a cool Rs 5 lakh to his kitty after three hours. Of course the price came with the incentive of unlimited beer. “This was a one-off thing and was after all an India-Pakistan final. The response was bound to be good,” says Sampat candidly.

With the IPL2 now shifting to South Africa, the theatres offer the next best option to a live experience. There is also a tangible business opportunity for distributors and theatres — all this comes with great viewing experience for the cricket fans. The IPL had recognised this and put in a tender for the same.

The multiplex players realise the potential that can be tapped. Now, with circumstances putting the whole game into a spin, the last date for submitting the tender was extended from March 16 by two weeks. The initial reaction from industry, both the advertising and film industries, for these rights was positive with names like UTV, Eros, UFO, PVR, Group M and WSG all heard to be in the fray.

Very soon, most lost interest. One of the main reasons could be the sum that had to be paid as minimum guarantee to IPL worked out to be uneconomical with talks of rights being given only for a year making it even more unviable. Figures being quoted for the same ranged between Rs 25-50 crore.

PLEX MUSCLE
India’s multiplexes today have 850 screens across five to six big players. It is an industry, which is embroiled in a revenue sharing battle with the producers’ fraternity. In all likelihood, this battle looks like it is heading towards the strike call which the producers had threatened starting April 3 – simply put, no new film can be released.

There is a lot at stake. In the pipeline are Akshay Kumar starrer 8 x10 Tasveer to Mukesh Bhatt’s Jashn and Yash Raj’s New York, Indian Films Shorkut lined up for release over the next 4-6 weeks. In fact if the strike does take place, around Rs 500 crore is what will be at stake. This translated is the cost for the films that are being held up apart from an opportunity lost for the exhibitors.

In the eventuality of this scenario, the IPL comes as a life-saver. Amitabh Vardhan, CEO of PVR which has around 108 screens, thinks it’s too early to rule out a truce. But he maintains that the IPL is a great business opportunity. “We definitely want to show the matches but we are not sure at what cost or how many screens we can dedicate or how much demand IPL2 will generate. With the matches having a three-hour duration, the tickets should be priced as close to the movie ticket prices as possible. Every player is going to look at optimisation,” says Vardhan who adds that there every location will offer its own pricing as will every match. He adds that they are fully prepared with 2K digital in many screens while the rest can be fitted with projectors.

The demand, according to the exhibition industry, will be to a point where 400 of the 850 screens can be used. This is when the matches garner a 50% occupancy or 250 seats per screen, viability should be fine.

Sampat seems to have worked it all out. Of his 75 screens he says 25 is the maximum he would devote to the IPL and over the 45 days, he would expect an average of 30-35% occupancy. “We are very excited about it as the game has moved out of India and we offer a fabulous experience as close to the stadium as possible. However we do need at least 15 days for marketing and getting corporate bookings while the projectors can be fitted in two days.

For Sanjay Gaikwad, founder and managing director, UFO Moviez that has 1,400 screens across 600 cities and towns, there is a huge opportunity. “We are fully equipped with the best digital projectors and can give the best experience due to our technology. The event can expect to generate an average ticket price of anywhere between Rs 60-80 for sure,” said Gaikwad.

Clearly, there is money to be made here for everyone and with stadium revenue lost, every stream of revenue needs to be optimised. While Lalit Modi and the Sundar Raman sit in South Africa working out the logistics of the IPL scheduled to begin in less than three weeks, the cinema halls are waiting to hear the cries of the cricket fans. With inputs from Leena Mulchandani

The race over?
Media buying agency Group M has bagged the rights to show IPL-2 in cinemas, said three film and sports industry veterans, requesting anonymity.

While Group M faced tough competition initially from a field that included some large players from the advertising and film industries such as UTV, Eros, UFO, PVR and WSG, most of these firms opted out of the race due to unknown reasons. The agency is said to have offered a minimum guarantee in the range of Rs 15-18 crore.
The final revenue sharing deals with the exhibitors will be worked out by Group M.

IPL chief executive Sunder Raman was not available for comment. IPL website says the submission date for the tender, which was to have been announced on March 16, was postponed by two weeks. Vikram Sakhuja, GroupM’s South Asia CEO, also refused to confirm the news, saying, “The IPL theatrical rights present an interesting opportunity.”

BUSINESS OF BOLLYWOOD

By M H Ahssan

If you are not one of those heading to South Africa to watch IPL matches, then you could go to the closest multiplex to cheer your team. For this, the stakeholders need to strike a deal beneficial to all.

Two years ago, a multiplex in Mumbai’s hip suburb Versova decided to screen the T20 World Cup final between India and Pakistan. The logistics were all worked out in just 48 hours. This involved hiring a projector and getting the support of the local cable network.

Devang Sampat, senior vice-president, Cinemax, decided to devote four of his six screens — two of these were the high-end Red Lounge ones. The total capacity was 1,000 seats. It was a complete sellout and, in the process, two corporate bookings from Citibank and Provogue were clinched. At a handy Rs 500 a seat, he added a cool Rs 5 lakh to his kitty after three hours. Of course the price came with the incentive of unlimited beer. “This was a one-off thing and was after all an India-Pakistan final. The response was bound to be good,” says Sampat candidly.

With the IPL2 now shifting to South Africa, the theatres offer the next best option to a live experience. There is also a tangible business opportunity for distributors and theatres — all this comes with great viewing experience for the cricket fans. The IPL had recognised this and put in a tender for the same.

The multiplex players realise the potential that can be tapped. Now, with circumstances putting the whole game into a spin, the last date for submitting the tender was extended from March 16 by two weeks. The initial reaction from industry, both the advertising and film industries, for these rights was positive with names like UTV, Eros, UFO, PVR, Group M and WSG all heard to be in the fray.

Very soon, most lost interest. One of the main reasons could be the sum that had to be paid as minimum guarantee to IPL worked out to be uneconomical with talks of rights being given only for a year making it even more unviable. Figures being quoted for the same ranged between Rs 25-50 crore.

PLEX MUSCLE
India’s multiplexes today have 850 screens across five to six big players. It is an industry, which is embroiled in a revenue sharing battle with the producers’ fraternity. In all likelihood, this battle looks like it is heading towards the strike call which the producers had threatened starting April 3 – simply put, no new film can be released.

There is a lot at stake. In the pipeline are Akshay Kumar starrer 8 x10 Tasveer to Mukesh Bhatt’s Jashn and Yash Raj’s New York, Indian Films Shorkut lined up for release over the next 4-6 weeks. In fact if the strike does take place, around Rs 500 crore is what will be at stake. This translated is the cost for the films that are being held up apart from an opportunity lost for the exhibitors.

In the eventuality of this scenario, the IPL comes as a life-saver. Amitabh Vardhan, CEO of PVR which has around 108 screens, thinks it’s too early to rule out a truce. But he maintains that the IPL is a great business opportunity. “We definitely want to show the matches but we are not sure at what cost or how many screens we can dedicate or how much demand IPL2 will generate. With the matches having a three-hour duration, the tickets should be priced as close to the movie ticket prices as possible. Every player is going to look at optimisation,” says Vardhan who adds that there every location will offer its own pricing as will every match. He adds that they are fully prepared with 2K digital in many screens while the rest can be fitted with projectors.

The demand, according to the exhibition industry, will be to a point where 400 of the 850 screens can be used. This is when the matches garner a 50% occupancy or 250 seats per screen, viability should be fine.

Sampat seems to have worked it all out. Of his 75 screens he says 25 is the maximum he would devote to the IPL and over the 45 days, he would expect an average of 30-35% occupancy. “We are very excited about it as the game has moved out of India and we offer a fabulous experience as close to the stadium as possible. However we do need at least 15 days for marketing and getting corporate bookings while the projectors can be fitted in two days.

For Sanjay Gaikwad, founder and managing director, UFO Moviez that has 1,400 screens across 600 cities and towns, there is a huge opportunity. “We are fully equipped with the best digital projectors and can give the best experience due to our technology. The event can expect to generate an average ticket price of anywhere between Rs 60-80 for sure,” said Gaikwad.

Clearly, there is money to be made here for everyone and with stadium revenue lost, every stream of revenue needs to be optimised. While Lalit Modi and the Sundar Raman sit in South Africa working out the logistics of the IPL scheduled to begin in less than three weeks, the cinema halls are waiting to hear the cries of the cricket fans. With inputs from Leena Mulchandani

The race over?
Media buying agency Group M has bagged the rights to show IPL-2 in cinemas, said three film and sports industry veterans, requesting anonymity.

While Group M faced tough competition initially from a field that included some large players from the advertising and film industries such as UTV, Eros, UFO, PVR and WSG, most of these firms opted out of the race due to unknown reasons. The agency is said to have offered a minimum guarantee in the range of Rs 15-18 crore.
The final revenue sharing deals with the exhibitors will be worked out by Group M.

IPL chief executive Sunder Raman was not available for comment. IPL website says the submission date for the tender, which was to have been announced on March 16, was postponed by two weeks. Vikram Sakhuja, GroupM’s South Asia CEO, also refused to confirm the news, saying, “The IPL theatrical rights present an interesting opportunity.”

A stronger Asia-Pacific, post-crises?

By M H Ahssan

The region should play a more influential role in the multilateral processes that are reforming the global architecture of finance, trade rules as well as climate change.

The launching of ESCAP’s Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2009 is a direct response to the financial crises. What distinguishes it from other publications is its acknowledgement of food-fuel security and climate change as converging issues with potentially significant longer-term impacts. These are referred to collectively as the triple crises. Not only does the survey provide strategic analysis of financial vulnerabilities and sources of resilience, it also states that current stimulus packages represent an unprecedented opportunity to jump-start a more inclusive, sustainable development paradigm.

The repeated and brutal downward revisions of economic forecasts have confounded all but a few of the most seasoned analysts. The survey notes that banking sector reforms and prudent macro-economic policies implemented after 1997 have left developing countries in the region better prepared to deal with the fall-out of the present financial crises. This resilience, however, started to erode when trade exports from the region declined. The Asia-Pacific is more economically integrated with the rest of the world than with itself. Intra-regional trade among developing countries accounts for only 37% of exports in our region compared to Nafta at 51% and the EU at 68%. As a result, the survey calls for more intra-regional and investment linkages so that domestic markets are strengthened to provide a secondary buffer to global market fluctuations.

During the first part of 2008, crude oil prices soared to record levels and food commodity prices increased to the highest levels in over 20 years. The resulting speculation and hoarding drove the price of rice, the region’s main staple, up by a staggering 150% in only four months. This had a disproportionate impact on the poor. This suggests a real need for the region to diversify its energy portfolio to buffer against short-term price fluctuations. Therefore, it is critical to foster mechanisms for the transfer of technical expertise in efficient and renewable energy from developed to developing countries. Doing so creates a win-win situation by addressing the three common threats of volatile energy prices, food security and climate change.

Despite the impressive economic growth of the last decade, inequalities between rich and poor have actually worsened in the Asia-Pacific, leaving millions more vulnerable to the impact of various crises. With the growing financial crisis, 24 million people in Asia and the Pacific are in danger of losing their jobs, with women and youth disproportionately affected. A worsening of the state of poverty and hunger in the region is now impossible to avoid and yet basic social protection programme coverage is low in the Asia-Pacific. It is estimated that only 30% of the elderly receive pensions and 20% of the population has access to health-care assistance.

These statistics suggest that there is a real need to strengthen social policies in order to create more resilient societies better able to face economic volatility. The provision of minimum wages, unemployment insurance and expansion of other social protection schemes will help bolster domestic demand during times of uncertainty. These social support systems need to be implemented as part of a development framework that helps create longer-term macroeconomic stability for the region.

The global crisis of climate change threatens to have even more fundamental, long-term consequences. Natural disasters, often associated with climate change stresses, struck with particular intensity in 2008. The number of deaths in the region reached 232,500 persons, accounting for a staggering 97.5% of such fatalities worldwide. One of the deadliest storms ever, Cyclone Nargis, left a heartwrenching trail of death and destruction in Myanmar: 84,500 people dead and 53,000 missing. Australia’s “big dry,” the worst drought in more than 100 years, entered its seventh year with fires causing devastation in the country’s south-east. UN studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between poverty and vulnerability to disasters. As the numbers of poor increase in our region, so too will the number of people at risk.

Although all attention is now focused on fighting the economic crisis, addressing food and fuel security issues in combination with climate change is not necessarily a contradiction in policy objectives. The Global Green New Deal promoted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is based on the premise that investing in the green economy can generate millions of jobs while addressing the challenges associated with reducing carbon dependency, protecting ecosystems and preserving water resources. There is untapped potential for developing countries in the region to co-operate in developing affordable climate-friendly technologies the promote energy efficiency and diversify energy sources to include renewables.

Putting in place the appropriate financial incentives and regulatory frameworks regionally will help to secure energy supplies and speed up the transition to low-carbon energy systems. Further development and implementation of the ESCAP framework on renewable and sustainable energy should be given priority. The region should also play a more influential role in the multilateral processes that are reforming the global architecture of finance, trade rules as well as climate change.

The converging crises can be used to jump-start a regional reorientation towards a more inclusive and sustainable development path. Some countries in the Asia-Pacific are in a stronger position to help not only themselves but also others to smooth the impact of the crises and strengthen regional solidarity. ESCAP’s survey, launched globally on March 26, emphasises the importance of regional co-operation to develop long-term solutions.

A stronger Asia-Pacific, post-crises?

By M H Ahssan

The region should play a more influential role in the multilateral processes that are reforming the global architecture of finance, trade rules as well as climate change.

The launching of ESCAP’s Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2009 is a direct response to the financial crises. What distinguishes it from other publications is its acknowledgement of food-fuel security and climate change as converging issues with potentially significant longer-term impacts. These are referred to collectively as the triple crises. Not only does the survey provide strategic analysis of financial vulnerabilities and sources of resilience, it also states that current stimulus packages represent an unprecedented opportunity to jump-start a more inclusive, sustainable development paradigm.

The repeated and brutal downward revisions of economic forecasts have confounded all but a few of the most seasoned analysts. The survey notes that banking sector reforms and prudent macro-economic policies implemented after 1997 have left developing countries in the region better prepared to deal with the fall-out of the present financial crises. This resilience, however, started to erode when trade exports from the region declined. The Asia-Pacific is more economically integrated with the rest of the world than with itself. Intra-regional trade among developing countries accounts for only 37% of exports in our region compared to Nafta at 51% and the EU at 68%. As a result, the survey calls for more intra-regional and investment linkages so that domestic markets are strengthened to provide a secondary buffer to global market fluctuations.

During the first part of 2008, crude oil prices soared to record levels and food commodity prices increased to the highest levels in over 20 years. The resulting speculation and hoarding drove the price of rice, the region’s main staple, up by a staggering 150% in only four months. This had a disproportionate impact on the poor. This suggests a real need for the region to diversify its energy portfolio to buffer against short-term price fluctuations. Therefore, it is critical to foster mechanisms for the transfer of technical expertise in efficient and renewable energy from developed to developing countries. Doing so creates a win-win situation by addressing the three common threats of volatile energy prices, food security and climate change.

Despite the impressive economic growth of the last decade, inequalities between rich and poor have actually worsened in the Asia-Pacific, leaving millions more vulnerable to the impact of various crises. With the growing financial crisis, 24 million people in Asia and the Pacific are in danger of losing their jobs, with women and youth disproportionately affected. A worsening of the state of poverty and hunger in the region is now impossible to avoid and yet basic social protection programme coverage is low in the Asia-Pacific. It is estimated that only 30% of the elderly receive pensions and 20% of the population has access to health-care assistance.

These statistics suggest that there is a real need to strengthen social policies in order to create more resilient societies better able to face economic volatility. The provision of minimum wages, unemployment insurance and expansion of other social protection schemes will help bolster domestic demand during times of uncertainty. These social support systems need to be implemented as part of a development framework that helps create longer-term macroeconomic stability for the region.

The global crisis of climate change threatens to have even more fundamental, long-term consequences. Natural disasters, often associated with climate change stresses, struck with particular intensity in 2008. The number of deaths in the region reached 232,500 persons, accounting for a staggering 97.5% of such fatalities worldwide. One of the deadliest storms ever, Cyclone Nargis, left a heartwrenching trail of death and destruction in Myanmar: 84,500 people dead and 53,000 missing. Australia’s “big dry,” the worst drought in more than 100 years, entered its seventh year with fires causing devastation in the country’s south-east. UN studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between poverty and vulnerability to disasters. As the numbers of poor increase in our region, so too will the number of people at risk.

Although all attention is now focused on fighting the economic crisis, addressing food and fuel security issues in combination with climate change is not necessarily a contradiction in policy objectives. The Global Green New Deal promoted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is based on the premise that investing in the green economy can generate millions of jobs while addressing the challenges associated with reducing carbon dependency, protecting ecosystems and preserving water resources. There is untapped potential for developing countries in the region to co-operate in developing affordable climate-friendly technologies the promote energy efficiency and diversify energy sources to include renewables.

Putting in place the appropriate financial incentives and regulatory frameworks regionally will help to secure energy supplies and speed up the transition to low-carbon energy systems. Further development and implementation of the ESCAP framework on renewable and sustainable energy should be given priority. The region should also play a more influential role in the multilateral processes that are reforming the global architecture of finance, trade rules as well as climate change.

The converging crises can be used to jump-start a regional reorientation towards a more inclusive and sustainable development path. Some countries in the Asia-Pacific are in a stronger position to help not only themselves but also others to smooth the impact of the crises and strengthen regional solidarity. ESCAP’s survey, launched globally on March 26, emphasises the importance of regional co-operation to develop long-term solutions.

Banks ramp up ad spends to strengthen pitch in slowdown

By Kajol Singh

Ad Spends Soar 184% In ’08, SBI Tops List With Rs 293-Cr Allocation

Advertising spends in the banking services and products categories have increased by 184.15% in 2008 to Rs 2,492.59 crore against Rs 1,499.92 crore in 2007, data from Adex Nielsen showed. Public sector banks, such as SBI, Union Bank of India (UBI), Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank and IDBI Bank, have seen an upsurge in their ad spends up to 75%. SBI has been the highest spender among banks with Rs 292.92 crore ad spend in 2008.

“Both PSU banks and private sector banks with strong Indian lineage have, by and large, remained unscathed during the slowdown. As consumers choose conservative safety over bells and whistles, PSU banks will spend much higher in the last quarter of this fiscal,” said Satbir Singh, chief creative officer, Euro RSCG, which does the advertising for Max New York Life.

UBI’s new ‘Good People To Bank With’ campaign totalled Rs 127.45 crore in 2008 as compared with Rs 13.13 crore in 2007. IDBI spent Rs 52.68 crore as against Rs 15.14 crore in 2007. The October-December 2008 quarter has seen an increase of 52.03% in ad spends by over 300 banks and financial institutions in India with a spent of Rs 714.34 crore as against Rs 469.86 crore in the same period last year.

Among the private banks, ICICI Bank has been the largest spender with a total spend of Rs 129.02 crore in 2008, of which Rs 54.22 crore was spent during the October-December period, where brand ambassador Shahrukh Khan was brought into resurrect the bank’s image, as doubts were raised about its solvency. HDFC Bank spent Rs 18.83 crore in 2008 as against Rs 80 lakh in 2007.

Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) ad spends have raised from zero to Rs 17.47 crore in 2008. It has Sachin Tendulkar as its brand ambassador last year and launched its campaign at a time when people were losing confidence in it. Other foreign banks, such as American Express Bank, has seen a cut in its ad spends by 12.64% to Rs 18.44 crore in 2008 from Rs 21.11 crore in 2007. Similarly, USbased banking major Citibank, which plans to continue with its recruitment process in India despite the global slowdown, has also reduced its ad spends by 3.34% to 16.48 crore in 2008 from Rs 17.05 crore in 2007. Insurance companies have made a total ad spend of Rs 591.91 crore as compared with Rs 335.98 crore in 2007, an increase of 75.95%.

“More and more people are waking up to insurance as a guaranteed investment as mutual funds and other products have failed. Hence, insurance companies will continue to spend significantly this quarter too,” said Singh.

LIC has been the highest spender in the insurance sector with Rs 152.68 crore in 2008, up by 64.06% from last year. Max New York Life, which was official sponsor of IPL last year, was the second with Rs 66.13 crore in 2008 as against Rs 18.74 crore in 2007. Followed by ICICI Prudential with Rs 57. 25 crore and HDFC Standard Life Insurance with Rs 55.74 crore ad spend.

“We relaunched our brand with the new tagline “Karo Zyaada ka Iraada” in August last year, as we wanted to keep the momentum on. But this year, we will maintain our ad spends as business has to grow with the same budget. We will reposition our a brand during the IPL matches this year, in which we will make a reasonable presence to leverage our business,” said Anisha Motwani, senior VP, marketing, Max New York Life.

The total amount spent on print advertisements have been the highest with Rs 1,635.87 crore in 2008 as against Rs 1,499.92 crore in 2007, an increase by 9%. The spend on television has taken second place with Rs 773.91 crore in 2008, up by 24.49%, on radio it was Rs 82.81 crore.

INDIA POLL ALLIANCES ARE IN DOLDRUMS

By M H Ahssan

While the partners privately admit that the support they enjoy is not very deep at this point, in public, they throw arguments about being able to convince the electorate about their capacity to form the government

With the Lok Sabha elections expected to go down the wire, every party or combination thinks power is within grasp. Efforts are, therefore, on now to ensure power shift in their respective favour. While the main combines privately admit that the support they enjoy is not very deep at this point, in public, they throw emphatic arguments about being able to convince the electorate about their capacity to form the government.

Congress is pinning its hopes on its now-familiar “secular” logic to get an extended lease on Raisina Hill. The implosion in the UPA is being cited by BJP to claim that the game is slipping out of the UPA’s hands and in favour of the NDA. Third front advocates are confident that the national parties will not be able to recapture their vitality and see the political assertion of the regional parties working in favour of an alternative government. All three may have worked in the past, but in a badly fractured polity, there are clear signs of parties making cold calculations that will tear through the ideological smokescreen and synthetic political positions.

PMK that altered the odds on Thursday by switching camps is candid in admitting the real game will begin after the elections. Its leader S Ramadoss, who ruled out joining hands with the third front at this juncture, on Friday said it’s a decision that his party will be required to make after the verdict is out. He did not attempt to give any ideological gloss to his logic. It was a simple and plain message that PMK will remain a political freelancer—a fact that many parties are loathe to admit.

PMK, it may be recalled, is not known to burning bridges with national players. Even when it set in motion the process of a minor political destablisation at the Centre on the eve of the 2004 polls by quitting the NDA, the Vanniyar-dominated outfit had not described it as a negative vote for the then ruling alliance. “We formed the NDA with the highest commitment to the cause of the people of India. And PMK is still committed to the philosophy.

But the circumstances in Tamil Nadu have made us part company with the NDA. However, we will always cherish the friendship forged with the prime minister for all the years to come. We will always support your government at the time of political crisis, even if we sit in the Opposition,” Mr Ramadoss had said in a letter to the then
prime minister, Mr AB Vajpayee.

PMK did a repeat performance in Friday when Ramadoss reiterated that he has no quarrel with Congress. “We have not yet decided on whether to join third front or not, as the question arises only after election results are declared. As of now, our only decision regarding post-poll alliances is that we will take a step jointly with our alliance leader AIADMK and will support her decisions,” Mr Ramadoss said.

SP, RJD and LJP that formed a “front within the front” on Thursday, too, have been sending out clear hints that Congress cannot take their support for granted after the elections. Although they do not have the elbowroom to display a PMK-type flexibility, the three cow belt parties’ equations with Congress will certainly depend on the latter’s numerical strength in the Lok Sabha.

At the moment, the Congress has a crippling handicap—it is not just ally-less in many important states, even the existing partners are not willing to be the Congress’ supplicants. On its part, the Congress is hoping that Sonia Gandhi’s socialist theology—throwing money at problems—and the fantasy panacea offered by the party’s manifesto will help it overcome the crisis. Manifestos have rarely helped parties win elections.

In a fractured polity, it is the ability to network with friends and even contenders that take a party to the victory post. But Congress managers, mostly failed politicians and Rajya Sabha members, are not willing to accept the changed reality—only a conglomeration of political parties can rule Delhi. But if the current mood in the Congress is anything to go by, Congress leaders are not willing to come down their collective high horses and face the truth.

INDIA POLL ALLIANCES ARE IN DOLDRUMS

By M H Ahssan

While the partners privately admit that the support they enjoy is not very deep at this point, in public, they throw arguments about being able to convince the electorate about their capacity to form the government

With the Lok Sabha elections expected to go down the wire, every party or combination thinks power is within grasp. Efforts are, therefore, on now to ensure power shift in their respective favour. While the main combines privately admit that the support they enjoy is not very deep at this point, in public, they throw emphatic arguments about being able to convince the electorate about their capacity to form the government.

Congress is pinning its hopes on its now-familiar “secular” logic to get an extended lease on Raisina Hill. The implosion in the UPA is being cited by BJP to claim that the game is slipping out of the UPA’s hands and in favour of the NDA. Third front advocates are confident that the national parties will not be able to recapture their vitality and see the political assertion of the regional parties working in favour of an alternative government. All three may have worked in the past, but in a badly fractured polity, there are clear signs of parties making cold calculations that will tear through the ideological smokescreen and synthetic political positions.

PMK that altered the odds on Thursday by switching camps is candid in admitting the real game will begin after the elections. Its leader S Ramadoss, who ruled out joining hands with the third front at this juncture, on Friday said it’s a decision that his party will be required to make after the verdict is out. He did not attempt to give any ideological gloss to his logic. It was a simple and plain message that PMK will remain a political freelancer—a fact that many parties are loathe to admit.

PMK, it may be recalled, is not known to burning bridges with national players. Even when it set in motion the process of a minor political destablisation at the Centre on the eve of the 2004 polls by quitting the NDA, the Vanniyar-dominated outfit had not described it as a negative vote for the then ruling alliance. “We formed the NDA with the highest commitment to the cause of the people of India. And PMK is still committed to the philosophy.

But the circumstances in Tamil Nadu have made us part company with the NDA. However, we will always cherish the friendship forged with the prime minister for all the years to come. We will always support your government at the time of political crisis, even if we sit in the Opposition,” Mr Ramadoss had said in a letter to the then
prime minister, Mr AB Vajpayee.

PMK did a repeat performance in Friday when Ramadoss reiterated that he has no quarrel with Congress. “We have not yet decided on whether to join third front or not, as the question arises only after election results are declared. As of now, our only decision regarding post-poll alliances is that we will take a step jointly with our alliance leader AIADMK and will support her decisions,” Mr Ramadoss said.

SP, RJD and LJP that formed a “front within the front” on Thursday, too, have been sending out clear hints that Congress cannot take their support for granted after the elections. Although they do not have the elbowroom to display a PMK-type flexibility, the three cow belt parties’ equations with Congress will certainly depend on the latter’s numerical strength in the Lok Sabha.

At the moment, the Congress has a crippling handicap—it is not just ally-less in many important states, even the existing partners are not willing to be the Congress’ supplicants. On its part, the Congress is hoping that Sonia Gandhi’s socialist theology—throwing money at problems—and the fantasy panacea offered by the party’s manifesto will help it overcome the crisis. Manifestos have rarely helped parties win elections.

In a fractured polity, it is the ability to network with friends and even contenders that take a party to the victory post. But Congress managers, mostly failed politicians and Rajya Sabha members, are not willing to accept the changed reality—only a conglomeration of political parties can rule Delhi. But if the current mood in the Congress is anything to go by, Congress leaders are not willing to come down their collective high horses and face the truth.

Opinion: THE ABC OF INDIAN POLITICS

By M H Ahssan

I don’t understand the ABC of Indian politics. Or for that matter the AGP, or RJD, or NCP, or PKP, or JD(S). Scientists say life arose on earth from a primordial soup. Political life in India seems to have arisen from an alphabet soup. What am i — or you, or even the CEC, come to that — to make of a statement like: ‘Apart from JD(S), Third Front consists of CPM, CPI, RSP, FB, TDP, AIADMK, TRS, BSP, HJC, and BJD’? Or ‘An alliance finally made headway on Sunday when PMK president met AIADMK boss’? Or ‘Four Left parties and TDP, TRS, AIADMK, JD(S) and BJD decided to come up with a vision document’?

Well, bully for them. And i wish they’d share their vision — all properly documented, and giftwrapped, thank you — with me. Because what with all these abbreviations — UPA, NDA, BJP, CPI(ML), DMK, MDMK, JMM, and what have U — i can’t see the trees for the wood, or the parties for the alphabet.

So far as i can make out — which admittedly, isn’t very far, or IVF, to keep in the alphabetic abbreviation mode of things — the only Indian political party which hasn’t been reduced to initials-only size is the Congress. And even this isn’t entirely true, because quite often the Congress is referred to as the INC (Indian National Congress), as distinct from the NCP (which stands for Nationalist Congress Party, or Nationalist Congress Pawar, take your pick). The Congress is also often called the GOP (which stands for Grand Old Party, or Gandhis’ Own Party, you get to take your pick again, you lucky thing).

All this abbreviated alphabetisation of politics is of course environmentally very sound. If, for example, instead of CPI(ML) you had to go the full monty as it were as in Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, or instead of AIADMK you had to write All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, or instead of JSS you had to — tongue sticking out of the corner of your mouth in concentration — put down Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy, and watch how you spell Samrakswhosis, you’d have finished up all the space in this column just naming the parties involved, and in order to find out what they did to each, or with each other, readers would have to turn to the Classified Ads Section on Page 23 where further details might be found tucked away between solicitations like: ‘Russian Escort Hi-Profile Decent Educated Indian, Turkey, Punjabi Model Masseurs. M/F 24 Hrs. H/H Serv. All C.C. Accepted’.

Can you imagine how many Scandinavian pine forests would have to be mowed down to provide the extra newsprint for political reportage if our parties hadn’t done the decent thing and alphabetically abbreviated themselves? Our eco-warriors would have thrown a fit. Not to mention our Decent Educated M/F Masseurs, All C.C. Accepted.

No, political abbreviation is decidedly a good thing. The only problem is that it makes it a bit difficult for non-bearded, noncelebrity, non-televised, non-psephologists like me to figure out exactly who’s doing what to whom, and how: Will JKNPP split the PDP vote to JKNC’s advantage?

Somewhere between all those Ps, and Js, and Ks, and Ns, i’ve lost it. Never mind what it does or doesn’t do to the PDP vote. Somewhere along the line, the JCPKN (or is it the NKJPD?) has split whatever little political understanding i possess. I’d try colour-coding all those MZPCs, and RLDs, and KEC(M)s, and SAD(M)s, and UKKDs, and UGDPs. But there are some 730 registered parties, all alpht abrtd (alphabetically abbreviated) as of the CEC’s last count in 2005. And the last time i looked there weren’t 730 different, and distinct and distinguishing shades of colour in vibgyor (violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red: this alpht abrtn is catching).

So i’m resigned to not understanding the ABC of politics. Which is fine because politics probably doesn’t want to understand me either. Alpht abrtd as i am in the north Indian political lexicon as a right ignorant BCMC. Whatever that stands for.

Opinion: THE ABC OF INDIAN POLITICS

By M H Ahssan

I don’t understand the ABC of Indian politics. Or for that matter the AGP, or RJD, or NCP, or PKP, or JD(S). Scientists say life arose on earth from a primordial soup. Political life in India seems to have arisen from an alphabet soup. What am i — or you, or even the CEC, come to that — to make of a statement like: ‘Apart from JD(S), Third Front consists of CPM, CPI, RSP, FB, TDP, AIADMK, TRS, BSP, HJC, and BJD’? Or ‘An alliance finally made headway on Sunday when PMK president met AIADMK boss’? Or ‘Four Left parties and TDP, TRS, AIADMK, JD(S) and BJD decided to come up with a vision document’?

Well, bully for them. And i wish they’d share their vision — all properly documented, and giftwrapped, thank you — with me. Because what with all these abbreviations — UPA, NDA, BJP, CPI(ML), DMK, MDMK, JMM, and what have U — i can’t see the trees for the wood, or the parties for the alphabet.

So far as i can make out — which admittedly, isn’t very far, or IVF, to keep in the alphabetic abbreviation mode of things — the only Indian political party which hasn’t been reduced to initials-only size is the Congress. And even this isn’t entirely true, because quite often the Congress is referred to as the INC (Indian National Congress), as distinct from the NCP (which stands for Nationalist Congress Party, or Nationalist Congress Pawar, take your pick). The Congress is also often called the GOP (which stands for Grand Old Party, or Gandhis’ Own Party, you get to take your pick again, you lucky thing).

All this abbreviated alphabetisation of politics is of course environmentally very sound. If, for example, instead of CPI(ML) you had to go the full monty as it were as in Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, or instead of AIADMK you had to write All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, or instead of JSS you had to — tongue sticking out of the corner of your mouth in concentration — put down Janathipathiya Samrakshana Samithy, and watch how you spell Samrakswhosis, you’d have finished up all the space in this column just naming the parties involved, and in order to find out what they did to each, or with each other, readers would have to turn to the Classified Ads Section on Page 23 where further details might be found tucked away between solicitations like: ‘Russian Escort Hi-Profile Decent Educated Indian, Turkey, Punjabi Model Masseurs. M/F 24 Hrs. H/H Serv. All C.C. Accepted’.

Can you imagine how many Scandinavian pine forests would have to be mowed down to provide the extra newsprint for political reportage if our parties hadn’t done the decent thing and alphabetically abbreviated themselves? Our eco-warriors would have thrown a fit. Not to mention our Decent Educated M/F Masseurs, All C.C. Accepted.

No, political abbreviation is decidedly a good thing. The only problem is that it makes it a bit difficult for non-bearded, noncelebrity, non-televised, non-psephologists like me to figure out exactly who’s doing what to whom, and how: Will JKNPP split the PDP vote to JKNC’s advantage?

Somewhere between all those Ps, and Js, and Ks, and Ns, i’ve lost it. Never mind what it does or doesn’t do to the PDP vote. Somewhere along the line, the JCPKN (or is it the NKJPD?) has split whatever little political understanding i possess. I’d try colour-coding all those MZPCs, and RLDs, and KEC(M)s, and SAD(M)s, and UKKDs, and UGDPs. But there are some 730 registered parties, all alpht abrtd (alphabetically abbreviated) as of the CEC’s last count in 2005. And the last time i looked there weren’t 730 different, and distinct and distinguishing shades of colour in vibgyor (violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red: this alpht abrtn is catching).

So i’m resigned to not understanding the ABC of politics. Which is fine because politics probably doesn’t want to understand me either. Alpht abrtd as i am in the north Indian political lexicon as a right ignorant BCMC. Whatever that stands for.

Vote 2009 – Small parties, big damage

By M H Ahssan

Do you know what IJP, BJRP, BRP, ABJS, ABRRP(P), AJBP, ANC, BCUF, LJNSP, LS, PPOI, MCPI(S), MRS, MUL, NIP, NTRTDP (LP), PP, PRBP, RMEP, RPC(S), RPI(A), SHS RPI (KH) stand for? These ever increasing tribe of unintelligible abbreviations are but registered political parties in Andhra Pradesh. If you have noticed the NTRTDP (LP) among the list, yes it is the one headed by Lakshmi Parvathi, wife of late N T Rama Rao who founded the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

As one would guess, all of them drew a blank in the 2004 elections in the state. But these ‘once-bitten, never-shy’ parties are gearing up once again for the polls in a never say die spirit. For starters, a party called the Pyramid Party of India (PPOI) has already filed nominations from various constituencies, including the Qutbullapur assembly and Secunderabad Lok Sabha seats.

According to the party’s general secretary Mega Murali, the party will contest 200 assembly and 40 Lok Sabha seats this time around compared to 90 assembly seats last time. But to get a PPOI ticket, the aspirants need to have a basic qualification: Be a strict vegetarian. “A non-vegetarian has the characteristics of a tiger or a lion, being violent and attacking others,” Murali said.

Interestingly, Murali’s wife Anuradha contested the Medchal assembly seat last time and got as many as 7,113 votes against T Devender Goud who was the TDP candidate. It is another matter that the PPOI’s candidate Ch Padmaja in the Khairatabad constituency did not get a single vote.

Interestingly, this time there are more parties in the electoral arena vying for space. A new party called the Trilinga Praja Pragati Party (TPPP) is planning to contest at least 15 seats, according to its leader Maharadhi. “The underprivileged should get the power to rule,” he quipped.

Another party called ‘Indira Rajiv Congress (Sacrifice for the nation) has been registered only at the state level so its leader Emangari Anjilayya is scouting for ‘alliances’. “I am already in talks with a party and if I am given a ticket, will contest under that party’s banner,” he said.

‘Alliances’ seems to be the success mantra for the small parties. For instance, the Samaikhya Andhra Samithi Party, the Shanti Bharat National Party have joined hands with the Samajwadi Party and the Great India Party to form what they are calling the ‘Samaikhya Andhra Kootami’. “We are expecting some more parties to join our Kutami,” said C D Subba Reddy, president, Shanti Bharat National Party, who contested on a Praja Party ticket from Markapuram constituency in Prakasam district.

One is naturally tempted to dismiss the small political parties as being too insignificant to make any difference during the elections. But here is one example that proves otherwise.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) with its strength in the Telangana region hardly has any presence outside the region. But it did something strange in the last elections. It contested all the Lok Sabha seats in the state and damaged the fortunes of at least one TDP candidate.

Here’s the victim. The TDP candidate from Hindupur constituency B K Parthasarathi polled 4,17,904 votes while the Congress candidate who emerged winner got 4,19,744 votes. The margin was only 1,840 votes. And who played spoilsport for TDP? The TRS candidate B Surender Kumar who polled 16,907 votes. Moral of the story: Small parties can cause big damage. Is Mayawati trying to do that by fielding BSP candidates from each seat in AP?

Congress aims to cut allies to size

By M H Ahssan

Congress has for some time now suspected that the ‘social justice’ elements of the UPA may review their options after Lok Sabha elections, with an open mind on a ‘Third Front’, or may even erect a ginger group to dictate terms to Congress.

The party’s decision to chart an independent course from SP and RJD evolved from the view that the Yadav duo was trying to persuade it to contest on a small number of seats in UP and Bihar to maximise their own chances of winning a good tally. Congress strategy to contest against SP and RJD in full force seems aimed to reduce the regional satraps to the extent possible to weaken their post-poll bargaining muscle.

Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad are faced with a strong challenge from Mayawati and Nitish Kumar, and Congress feels its decision to contest as an independent player would divide ‘secular votes’ and hurt the Yadavs more.

If the objective to hurt ‘secular’ allies seems cold and calculating, sources said it is because the leadership got a whiff of plans that allies swearing by Sonia Gandhi may not be as loyal after the elections.

An inkling of the alternative plans among the ‘social justice’ champions came during the railway budget speech when Lalu said that national parties, BJP or Congress, were passe and it was the time of regional parties.

Lalu’s words were not passed off as mere bluster aimed at domestic constituency of Bihar as it tied with the aggressive stance taken by SP leadership as well as by NCP all this with Left parties already screaming for a non-Congress ‘secular’ government.

While the strategy runs the risk of spoiling pro-UPA sentiment at the stroke of elections, sources said it was predicated regional parties would be open to joining the Congress-led coalition if the lead player of the UPA. It is felt that regional parties, like AIADMK and JD(U), have made up their mind to join the Centre irrespective of the main player, and Congress would have an edge in wooing such allies from outside the UPA if it emerged as the single-largest party with a decent enough tally. In the scenario, even deserters like PMK, MDMK, RJD and SP would come in.

Mega defence deals to swell poll war chests?

By M H Ahssan

There is something about mega defence deals and the general elections. If the previous NDA regime inked a flurry of arms deals in the run-up to the 2004 general elections, the UPA government is doing pretty much the same this time.

First, in January, the UPA government covertly signed the biggestever defence deal with US in the shape of the around $2.1 billion contract for eight Boeing P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft for the Navy.

Despite having A K Antony as defence minister, who promises “transparency’’ at the drop of a hat, the government kept this deal under wraps till it was first reported by HNN a few days later.

Then, towards end-February, the defence ministry secretly inked the largest-ever deal with Israel in the form of the huge Rs 10,000-crore joint project to develop MR-SAM (medium-range surface-to-air missile) systems for IAF.

A month later, the defence ministry is still tight-lipped about the exact contours of the project, which include a staggering Rs 600 crore as “business charges’’. “We have nothing to say,’’ said a defence ministry (MoD) spokesperson, questioned about the project on Friday.

That the armed forces desperately need reconnaissance aircraft for maritime snooping as well as MR-SAM systems to bolster the country’s air defence cover is not disputed. Neither is the fact that both the projects were in the pipeline for a couple of years.

But eyebrows are being raised about the “propriety’’ of such deals being signed — and that too in a thoroughly opaque manner, as if the MoD had something to hide — in the run-up to the April 16-May 13 general elections.

“Technically, both the deals were signed before the model code of conduct came into force on March 2. But yes, the government should have been more open about them,’’ admitted a senior official.

Murky wheeling and dealing, commissions and kickbacks, of course, have always been an integral part of the armament procurement process, with political parties often being accused of using defence deals to swell their election war chests.
The NDA regime, too, had sealed a spate of defence deals just before the 2004 elections. They included the $1.5 billion package deal for Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, the $1.1 billion one for three Israeli ‘Phalcon’ AWACS (airborne warning and control systems), and the Rs 8,000 crore project for 66 British Hawk AJTs (advanced jet trainers).

All these three deals, incidentally, have been facing some problems. While the Gorshkov contract is now being renegotiated, with Russia demanding an additional $2 billion, the delivery of the first Phalcon has been delayed by well over a year to May now.

MoD also recently floated a global tender for acquiring additional AJTs, virtually cancelling plans for a follow-on order for 40 more Hawks for IAF and 17 for Navy at a cost of around Rs 2,210 crore.

Purandeswari faces uphill task

By Sai Kumar

Is Daggubati Purandeswari, aka ‘Chinnamma’, fighting a losing battle in Visakhapatnam? While Purandeswari is depending on history to bail her out in the prestigious Vizag LS constituency where non-locals have won comfortably in the past, she is up against a slew of factors which could lead to her downfall.

The fact that she was forced to enter the fray, much against her wish, from a constituency that boasts of nearly 80 per cent BC voters lends credence to the growing theory that state Congress satraps “fixed” her as they are unable to digest her growing clout in Delhi and AICC circles, more so with Madam Sonia Gandhi.

“Isn’t it very obvious that she is being made a scapegoat when she had a clear mandate in Narasaraopet, which was given to CM’s trusted lieutenant Balasoury? It’s a diabolic game played out by YSR to cut her to size,” a senior Congress leader said.

Yadavs, Thoorpu Kapus, Koppula Velamas, Gavaras and fishermen form a sizable BC electorate in Vizag whereas Kammas have a mere 8 per cent presence. “She will be swimming against the massive BC voter tide and it’s very unlikely she will come up trumps,” an analyst said. Also, Purandeswari, who is filing her nomination on March 30, has just 14 days at her disposal to win over the electorate. “Forget about campaigning, she has no clue about the LS boundaries and assembly segments. Her only saving grace could be Gajuwaka, which has over 40,000 Kamma voters,” a source said.

Purandeswari also has her task cut out since she’s up against TDP’s veteran leader MVVS Murthy, who is in the fray, and rebels in the form of two Congress sitting MLAs — Rangaraju and Karri Sitaram — who have openly declared that they would not campaign for a ‘non-local’.

Indications are rife that Vignan institute chairman L Rathaiah, a Kamma, who is likely to be PRP’s nominee, could eat into her votes. There are even reports that Chiranjeevi may field actor Krishnam Raju which could make it even tougher for her.

Sources said Purandeswari banked on Prakasam and Guntur districts which have sizable Kamma population. With Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and Magunta Srinivasula Reddy being firm on their Guntur and Ongole LS seats, she had only Narasaraopet, which was given to Balasoury on a platter. “Though Balasoury is a Kapu, his money power could swing voters in his favour in the Kamma-dominant Narasaraopet,” a source said.

“She can only take solace from the fact that many MPs who had won from Vizag were outsiders, yet the electorate had voted for them,” an analyst said. Among the MPs who had won from Vizag like Murthy (who won in 1999), Uma Gajapathiraju, T Subbarami Reddy and N Janardhan Reddy (all Congress) are non-locals. While Murthy is a native of Rajahmundry, both TSR and NJR hail from Nellore.

Purandeswari faces uphill task

By Sai Kumar

Is Daggubati Purandeswari, aka ‘Chinnamma’, fighting a losing battle in Visakhapatnam? While Purandeswari is depending on history to bail her out in the prestigious Vizag LS constituency where non-locals have won comfortably in the past, she is up against a slew of factors which could lead to her downfall.

The fact that she was forced to enter the fray, much against her wish, from a constituency that boasts of nearly 80 per cent BC voters lends credence to the growing theory that state Congress satraps “fixed” her as they are unable to digest her growing clout in Delhi and AICC circles, more so with Madam Sonia Gandhi.

“Isn’t it very obvious that she is being made a scapegoat when she had a clear mandate in Narasaraopet, which was given to CM’s trusted lieutenant Balasoury? It’s a diabolic game played out by YSR to cut her to size,” a senior Congress leader said.

Yadavs, Thoorpu Kapus, Koppula Velamas, Gavaras and fishermen form a sizable BC electorate in Vizag whereas Kammas have a mere 8 per cent presence. “She will be swimming against the massive BC voter tide and it’s very unlikely she will come up trumps,” an analyst said. Also, Purandeswari, who is filing her nomination on March 30, has just 14 days at her disposal to win over the electorate. “Forget about campaigning, she has no clue about the LS boundaries and assembly segments. Her only saving grace could be Gajuwaka, which has over 40,000 Kamma voters,” a source said.

Purandeswari also has her task cut out since she’s up against TDP’s veteran leader MVVS Murthy, who is in the fray, and rebels in the form of two Congress sitting MLAs — Rangaraju and Karri Sitaram — who have openly declared that they would not campaign for a ‘non-local’.

Indications are rife that Vignan institute chairman L Rathaiah, a Kamma, who is likely to be PRP’s nominee, could eat into her votes. There are even reports that Chiranjeevi may field actor Krishnam Raju which could make it even tougher for her.

Sources said Purandeswari banked on Prakasam and Guntur districts which have sizable Kamma population. With Rayapati Sambasiva Rao and Magunta Srinivasula Reddy being firm on their Guntur and Ongole LS seats, she had only Narasaraopet, which was given to Balasoury on a platter. “Though Balasoury is a Kapu, his money power could swing voters in his favour in the Kamma-dominant Narasaraopet,” a source said.

“She can only take solace from the fact that many MPs who had won from Vizag were outsiders, yet the electorate had voted for them,” an analyst said. Among the MPs who had won from Vizag like Murthy (who won in 1999), Uma Gajapathiraju, T Subbarami Reddy and N Janardhan Reddy (all Congress) are non-locals. While Murthy is a native of Rajahmundry, both TSR and NJR hail from Nellore.

FREEBIES POLL GALORE SKIPS ISSUES

By M H Ahssan

Free televisions from one party and free power from another to stir them to life. Cheap rice to fill stomachs and free Lord Balaji darshan to satiate the soul. Voters/votebanks labelled and wooed based on their caste identities. Election manifestos bursting with freebies and potential votebanks getting their ‘once-in-five-year’ attention. But for the average urban Hyderabadi, the ride home is getting bumpier and longer much like their nights, which they spend tossing and turning coping with unannounced power cuts. The candidate from their constituencies, however, is busy battling bigger battles— that of winning the hearts of people with sops, that would fade away sooner than the colour of party flags in the bright sun.

Urban voters, battling the stigma of being the non-voting class, say this is the most “populist election’’ ever. “While urban voters were never the focus, earlier the elections were less populist,’’ says Anuradha Gudur, programming head with a television channel. She says that from water shortage to a serious drainage problem in many urban parts of the city, there are many concerns which do not figure anywhere in the clutter of promises being made by candidates.

Sandeep Agarwal, owner of a supermarket chain, says he feels disappointed to see that there is no focus or even clarity on urban issues. “The twoday power cut for industries is affecting business of people like me as our suppliers are unable to deliver goods on time. As a Hyderabadi, I would like to get these issues sorted out,’’ he says.

Citizens like Prakash Sagar, an advertising professional, say that issues such as fighting it out with auto drivers for not using the meter could be a daily feature in the lives of many people but are clearly of no importance or significance to any candidate.

Voters note that in the last election it was only Congress that was wooing voters with sops and a complacent TDP hopeful of an easy comeback was refraining from it. Having learnt its lesson the hard way, TDP has promised colour televisions, 20 kg free rice to BPL families and even pensions. Congress, on its part increased per head quota of subsidised rice by 2 kg apart from promising “assured power supply’’ in its manifesto.

That schemes such as those of subsidised rice have led to hoarding and black marketing are issues predictably ignored.

But what has irked many thinking individuals is the war-like posture parties are taking and the complete lack of objectivity in debates.

That the parties’ criticism of each other is limited to a satire on the sops the rival party is giving and not about loopholes in a long-term visionary plan, is telling.

Citizen activist VBJ Chelikani Rao says that even televised debates with citizens like him revolve around either being “for’’ or “against’’ a certain party. “You cannot have an objective view,’’ he says, questioning how any of the prevailing rhetoric would improve the “quality of people’’. “Are we becoming any wiser with this experience? Are we solving the problems (that affect us),” he questions, adding that if this election is another occasion to beat up each other, the debate would never get alleviated.

The disappointment among activists such as Rao who are keeping a hawk’s eye on how the election is conducted is obvious even as citizens such as Gudur say “crucial issues are never discussed’’. Some citizens like Ramnagar resident Margaret Roberts, say they have no reason to cast their vote since they do not figure in the scheme of things of any party.

FREEBIES POLL GALORE SKIPS ISSUES

By M H Ahssan

Free televisions from one party and free power from another to stir them to life. Cheap rice to fill stomachs and free Lord Balaji darshan to satiate the soul. Voters/votebanks labelled and wooed based on their caste identities. Election manifestos bursting with freebies and potential votebanks getting their ‘once-in-five-year’ attention. But for the average urban Hyderabadi, the ride home is getting bumpier and longer much like their nights, which they spend tossing and turning coping with unannounced power cuts. The candidate from their constituencies, however, is busy battling bigger battles— that of winning the hearts of people with sops, that would fade away sooner than the colour of party flags in the bright sun.

Urban voters, battling the stigma of being the non-voting class, say this is the most “populist election’’ ever. “While urban voters were never the focus, earlier the elections were less populist,’’ says Anuradha Gudur, programming head with a television channel. She says that from water shortage to a serious drainage problem in many urban parts of the city, there are many concerns which do not figure anywhere in the clutter of promises being made by candidates.

Sandeep Agarwal, owner of a supermarket chain, says he feels disappointed to see that there is no focus or even clarity on urban issues. “The twoday power cut for industries is affecting business of people like me as our suppliers are unable to deliver goods on time. As a Hyderabadi, I would like to get these issues sorted out,’’ he says.

Citizens like Prakash Sagar, an advertising professional, say that issues such as fighting it out with auto drivers for not using the meter could be a daily feature in the lives of many people but are clearly of no importance or significance to any candidate.

Voters note that in the last election it was only Congress that was wooing voters with sops and a complacent TDP hopeful of an easy comeback was refraining from it. Having learnt its lesson the hard way, TDP has promised colour televisions, 20 kg free rice to BPL families and even pensions. Congress, on its part increased per head quota of subsidised rice by 2 kg apart from promising “assured power supply’’ in its manifesto.

That schemes such as those of subsidised rice have led to hoarding and black marketing are issues predictably ignored.

But what has irked many thinking individuals is the war-like posture parties are taking and the complete lack of objectivity in debates.

That the parties’ criticism of each other is limited to a satire on the sops the rival party is giving and not about loopholes in a long-term visionary plan, is telling.

Citizen activist VBJ Chelikani Rao says that even televised debates with citizens like him revolve around either being “for’’ or “against’’ a certain party. “You cannot have an objective view,’’ he says, questioning how any of the prevailing rhetoric would improve the “quality of people’’. “Are we becoming any wiser with this experience? Are we solving the problems (that affect us),” he questions, adding that if this election is another occasion to beat up each other, the debate would never get alleviated.

The disappointment among activists such as Rao who are keeping a hawk’s eye on how the election is conducted is obvious even as citizens such as Gudur say “crucial issues are never discussed’’. Some citizens like Ramnagar resident Margaret Roberts, say they have no reason to cast their vote since they do not figure in the scheme of things of any party.

TRS candidate claims he paid Rs 10 cr for Sec’bad LS seat

By Ayaan Khan

In a telling example of the depths to which Indian politics has plunged to, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) candidate from Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency S Venkat Reddy claimed that he secured the seat by paying Rs 10 crore to the party leaders.

This assertion— in full public view— came when he was confronted by rival candidates at the Telangana Bhavan who wanted to know how he managed the seat. The confrontation came soon after the fourth list of the TRS was announced on Friday. On hearing this, a failed aspirant S Rambabu and his men beat up Venkat and chased him out of the party office. Venkat is said to have suffered severe leg injuries.

Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat covers the better part of metro Hyderabad (including Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills) and has been allotted to the TRS by the grand alliance of TDP, CPM, CPI and the TRS. Analysts wondered how much Venkat would actually spend on electioneering, if he was willing to cough up Rs 10 crore to obtain the ticket. TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao was not available for comments. Analysts also asked if TDP, CPM and CPI would also like to carry the ‘moral burden’ of fielding such a man for a contest for the nation’s highest law making body.

Nothing much is known about Venkat Reddy’s antecedents, but sources said that he is a builder who had made a pile in the economic boom of 2005-07.

Venkat Reddy’s public confession is perhaps the first open indication of the money play in the elections. Sources at Telangana Bhavan said that one aspirant for the Serilingampally assembly seat (covering the IT district of Hi-Tech city and Gachibowli) which is yet to be announced by the TRS has allegedly paid the party leaders Rs 7 crore for securing the seat.

Pandemonium broke out at the TRS headquarters after the fourth list of candidates for the Lok Sabha and assembly seats were announced on Friday. Supporters of N Venkatesharlu who did not secure the Bhupalapalle assembly seat held TRS MP B Vinod Kumar responsible for his failed attempt and ransacked the MP’s house – 150 km away -in Warangal district and damaged the furniture.

The allotment of the Zaheerabad LS seat (that is in Greater Hyderabad’s adjoining district) to Syed Yusuf Ali, who had quit the TDP to join the TRS recently, triggered protests from followers of local leaders. Similarly, followers of S Laxma Reddy and P Raghupathi Rao, who were seeking tickets from Jadcherla and Gajwel assembly seats respectively, held protest demonstrations against denial of seats to their leaders.

Meanwhile, the TRS has named KCR’s son Taraka Rama Rao as its candidate for the Sircilla Assembly seat.

Face the Elections: Power bigger than ideology

By M H Ahssan

As the race for the 15th Lok Sabha gains momentum, political posturing, too, is picking pace. Allies of the two major national parties – Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – have been bargaining hard and some of then have even walked out of the alliances.

While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has shrunk from a 23-party coalition to just six now, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance is in no better shape. After the seat sharing fiasco in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Congress has decided to go alone in the two states even as the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Jan Shakti Party and Samajwadi Party on Thursday decided fight the elections as one block.

In more bad news for the Congress, Union Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss’s party, the Pattali Makal Katchi (PMK) with six Lok Sabha seats, has switched sides once again. PMK will contest the elections in partnership with J Jayalalithaa’s All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

With new alliance being formed every day, CNN-IBN’s Face the Elections debated: Alliance mela: Do the 2009 elections show an end of ideology?

The panelists included Congress leader and Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Kapil Sibal and BJP MP and Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad and the debate was moderated by Senior Editor Sagarika Ghose.

At the start of the programme 81 per cent agreed while 19 per cent disagreed that the 2009 elections show an end of ideology

The Congress, which was sitting pretty just a few days ago, is now left with allies who are either fickle (Mamata Banerjee) or eyeing the top job (Shard Pawar) or are losing support (M Karunanidhi).

Kapil Sibal did not agree and instead claimed that it is the BJP which should be worried about allies deserting it.

“I think the Opposition should be more worried than us because at least those we are fighting in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have publicly stated that they will continue with the UPA. Ultimately they will be with us. So I don’t think we have lost anything. It is the NDA which has lost because from 23 coalition partners they have been reduced to six. We are not worried and frankly we have had an additional alliance with Mamata in West Bengal. So we have not lost anybody other than the PMK. I am sure the PMK is like a stream out of river and it will join the river back after the elections,” claimed Sibal.

Congress seems confident of getting the support of many parties who have left it as they have already backed Manmohan Singh’s candidature as for the post of prime minister. However, in the NDA not many want LK Advani as the prime minister. After Biju Janata Dal (BJD) walked out of the NDA in Orissa, the only major alliance partner is the Janata Dal (United) in Bihar. So Bihar must deliver for the NDA even as there have been miniscule gains in Haryana with the Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Lok Dal (NLD) and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) in Assam.

Prasad began by giving a breakdown of the UPA partners claiming the Congress-led front was steadily losing ground.

“I can understand that Kapil has to undertake some self-consolation as it is a bad time for Congress. The UPA which was an opportunist amalgamation created in 2004 has disintegrated completely before the 2009 elections. Congress was give just nine seats in Uttar Pradesh (six) and Bihar (three) combined out of the 120 seats. In entire Eastern India they have just Mamata who is in alliance but not an ally. In North India they have no alliance; in West they have Sharad Pawar who is not an ally because of his prime ministerial ambition. In South except for Karunanidhi they have no alliance,” Prasad said

“As far as NDA is concerned, JD (U) is with us, Akali Dal is with us, Shiv Sena is with us, Chautala and AGP have joined us. UPA’s PM candidate is still uncertain but here it is Advani,” added Prasad.

The Congress has also been accused of not treating its alliance partners as equals. Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday in an election rally in Puducherry said that it would be “detrimental for Congress to fight elections with allies like RJD and Samajwadi Party in Bihar and UP”. So should words like detrimental be used for key allies like the RJD, and should not the Congress be more equal with its allies?

Sibal retorted by saying that the Congress is a national party and always cannot bow down to its alliance partners.

“It is misrepresentation of what Rahul said. In Bihar we fought four seats last time and won three. This time with any reference to us we were handed just three seats. If a regional party in Bihar wants to make sure that the national party has no presence in the state it means they want to pressurise the national party after the elections for many things. If we continue to accept what our allies are saying then we will become extinct in Bihar. Rahul Gandhi is absolutely right that to retain our presence as national party we need to fight more seats in Bihar,” argued Sibal.

Sibal continued saying the only way for Congress to rebuild itself was to contest more seats.

“If we fight just three seats if Bihar, there is no way we can build our party structure in Bihar. If we fight in only three seats and not in 37 or 40 seats, the Congress workers will be taken over by the RJD, Paswan’s party or to Nitish Kumar. Rahul Gandhi is absolutely right that we want to build in states where the regional parties want to throw us out,” said Sibal.

On the other hand the NDA , too, does not seem to be in better shape. The NDA was a 13-party alliance in 1998 and in 1999 it had 23 parties with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the leader. Now the BJP does not have a Vajpayee-like persona who can keep together ideologically disparate groups. BJP’s communal tag is driving away allies. The absence of a consensus–building figure like Vajpayee seems to the BJP’s biggest problem.

Prasad countered by arguing that Advani has the support of all NDA partners.

“Vajpayeeji’s blessings are always there and he has blessed Advaniji. Advaniji today is the declared and unquestionable prime ministerial candidate of the BJP and the NDA. NDA is intact and stands for new India. But Congress is being decimated. Congress is being marginalised and allies are deserting it. Congress is not a bankable cheque as far as allies are concerned. It is not in the DNA of the Congress to accommodate allies,” said Prasad.

Sibal shot back at Prasad saying it is the BJP that will struggle to keep its partners in days to come

“Prasad says Congress is not a bankable cheque. But look at the NDA. Out of 23 partners they are now left with just six. But he still calls the BJP bankable. The fact is even today Mulayam Singh, Amar Singh and Lok Jan Shakti Party say they have faith in the UPA and will continue to be with the Congress. Despite the fact that we are fighting against each other, they trust us. They are not leaving us. All secular parties will get together to fight communal forces. When the elections results come out, the six parties left with the BJP will also run away. Advaniji will continue to be the prime minister-in-waiting,” he said.

BJP built its alliance on the anti-Congress agenda. But it is proving to be a very weak force now. Perhaps only the Telugu Desam Party will never join the Congress but other parties may have no problems in supporting the UPA. Parties who have minority votes have problems with BJP. Only the Shiv Sena and the Akalis look like never leaving the BJP.

Prasad countered by saying, “AGP and Chautala’s party have joined us. The UPA came to power in 2004 and since then except for Assam, Rajasthan and Delhi the Congress has lost all state elections. Anti-Congress agenda is not dead. Naveen Patnaik, Chandrababu Naidu and AIADMK are anti-Congress. If Kapil Sibal is so sure that they will fight against each other and come together after the elections then they are fooling the people of the country. Only NDA can deliver.”

Sibal concluded by taking a dig at the NDA.

“The NDA today has 172 seats. How they will deliver and when they will deliver? Maybe they will have to wait till 2018 if at all they have a chance,” he said.

Face the Elections: Power bigger than ideology

By M H Ahssan

As the race for the 15th Lok Sabha gains momentum, political posturing, too, is picking pace. Allies of the two major national parties – Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – have been bargaining hard and some of then have even walked out of the alliances.

While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has shrunk from a 23-party coalition to just six now, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance is in no better shape. After the seat sharing fiasco in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Congress has decided to go alone in the two states even as the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Jan Shakti Party and Samajwadi Party on Thursday decided fight the elections as one block.

In more bad news for the Congress, Union Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss’s party, the Pattali Makal Katchi (PMK) with six Lok Sabha seats, has switched sides once again. PMK will contest the elections in partnership with J Jayalalithaa’s All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

With new alliance being formed every day, CNN-IBN’s Face the Elections debated: Alliance mela: Do the 2009 elections show an end of ideology?

The panelists included Congress leader and Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Kapil Sibal and BJP MP and Spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad and the debate was moderated by Senior Editor Sagarika Ghose.

At the start of the programme 81 per cent agreed while 19 per cent disagreed that the 2009 elections show an end of ideology

The Congress, which was sitting pretty just a few days ago, is now left with allies who are either fickle (Mamata Banerjee) or eyeing the top job (Shard Pawar) or are losing support (M Karunanidhi).

Kapil Sibal did not agree and instead claimed that it is the BJP which should be worried about allies deserting it.

“I think the Opposition should be more worried than us because at least those we are fighting in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have publicly stated that they will continue with the UPA. Ultimately they will be with us. So I don’t think we have lost anything. It is the NDA which has lost because from 23 coalition partners they have been reduced to six. We are not worried and frankly we have had an additional alliance with Mamata in West Bengal. So we have not lost anybody other than the PMK. I am sure the PMK is like a stream out of river and it will join the river back after the elections,” claimed Sibal.

Congress seems confident of getting the support of many parties who have left it as they have already backed Manmohan Singh’s candidature as for the post of prime minister. However, in the NDA not many want LK Advani as the prime minister. After Biju Janata Dal (BJD) walked out of the NDA in Orissa, the only major alliance partner is the Janata Dal (United) in Bihar. So Bihar must deliver for the NDA even as there have been miniscule gains in Haryana with the Om Prakash Chautala’s Indian National Lok Lok Dal (NLD) and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) in Assam.

Prasad began by giving a breakdown of the UPA partners claiming the Congress-led front was steadily losing ground.

“I can understand that Kapil has to undertake some self-consolation as it is a bad time for Congress. The UPA which was an opportunist amalgamation created in 2004 has disintegrated completely before the 2009 elections. Congress was give just nine seats in Uttar Pradesh (six) and Bihar (three) combined out of the 120 seats. In entire Eastern India they have just Mamata who is in alliance but not an ally. In North India they have no alliance; in West they have Sharad Pawar who is not an ally because of his prime ministerial ambition. In South except for Karunanidhi they have no alliance,” Prasad said

“As far as NDA is concerned, JD (U) is with us, Akali Dal is with us, Shiv Sena is with us, Chautala and AGP have joined us. UPA’s PM candidate is still uncertain but here it is Advani,” added Prasad.

The Congress has also been accused of not treating its alliance partners as equals. Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday in an election rally in Puducherry said that it would be “detrimental for Congress to fight elections with allies like RJD and Samajwadi Party in Bihar and UP”. So should words like detrimental be used for key allies like the RJD, and should not the Congress be more equal with its allies?

Sibal retorted by saying that the Congress is a national party and always cannot bow down to its alliance partners.

“It is misrepresentation of what Rahul said. In Bihar we fought four seats last time and won three. This time with any reference to us we were handed just three seats. If a regional party in Bihar wants to make sure that the national party has no presence in the state it means they want to pressurise the national party after the elections for many things. If we continue to accept what our allies are saying then we will become extinct in Bihar. Rahul Gandhi is absolutely right that to retain our presence as national party we need to fight more seats in Bihar,” argued Sibal.

Sibal continued saying the only way for Congress to rebuild itself was to contest more seats.

“If we fight just three seats if Bihar, there is no way we can build our party structure in Bihar. If we fight in only three seats and not in 37 or 40 seats, the Congress workers will be taken over by the RJD, Paswan’s party or to Nitish Kumar. Rahul Gandhi is absolutely right that we want to build in states where the regional parties want to throw us out,” said Sibal.

On the other hand the NDA , too, does not seem to be in better shape. The NDA was a 13-party alliance in 1998 and in 1999 it had 23 parties with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the leader. Now the BJP does not have a Vajpayee-like persona who can keep together ideologically disparate groups. BJP’s communal tag is driving away allies. The absence of a consensus–building figure like Vajpayee seems to the BJP’s biggest problem.

Prasad countered by arguing that Advani has the support of all NDA partners.

“Vajpayeeji’s blessings are always there and he has blessed Advaniji. Advaniji today is the declared and unquestionable prime ministerial candidate of the BJP and the NDA. NDA is intact and stands for new India. But Congress is being decimated. Congress is being marginalised and allies are deserting it. Congress is not a bankable cheque as far as allies are concerned. It is not in the DNA of the Congress to accommodate allies,” said Prasad.

Sibal shot back at Prasad saying it is the BJP that will struggle to keep its partners in days to come

“Prasad says Congress is not a bankable cheque. But look at the NDA. Out of 23 partners they are now left with just six. But he still calls the BJP bankable. The fact is even today Mulayam Singh, Amar Singh and Lok Jan Shakti Party say they have faith in the UPA and will continue to be with the Congress. Despite the fact that we are fighting against each other, they trust us. They are not leaving us. All secular parties will get together to fight communal forces. When the elections results come out, the six parties left with the BJP will also run away. Advaniji will continue to be the prime minister-in-waiting,” he said.

BJP built its alliance on the anti-Congress agenda. But it is proving to be a very weak force now. Perhaps only the Telugu Desam Party will never join the Congress but other parties may have no problems in supporting the UPA. Parties who have minority votes have problems with BJP. Only the Shiv Sena and the Akalis look like never leaving the BJP.

Prasad countered by saying, “AGP and Chautala’s party have joined us. The UPA came to power in 2004 and since then except for Assam, Rajasthan and Delhi the Congress has lost all state elections. Anti-Congress agenda is not dead. Naveen Patnaik, Chandrababu Naidu and AIADMK are anti-Congress. If Kapil Sibal is so sure that they will fight against each other and come together after the elections then they are fooling the people of the country. Only NDA can deliver.”

Sibal concluded by taking a dig at the NDA.

“The NDA today has 172 seats. How they will deliver and when they will deliver? Maybe they will have to wait till 2018 if at all they have a chance,” he said.

UGADI – Telugu New Year

By M H Ahssan

The New year festival or Ugadi comes close on the heels of Holi. While the strong colors of Holi start fading away, the freshness of spring lingers on with sprightliness all around. The flame of the forest (trees with bright red flowers that blossom during holi) are in full bloom signifying an affluent season.It is believed that the creator of the Hindu pantheon Lord Brahma started creation on this day – Chaitra suddha padhyami or the Ugadi day. Also the great Indian Mathematician Bhaskaracharya’s calculations proclaimed the Ugadi day from the sunrise on as the beginning of the new year, new month and new day.

The onset of spring also marks a beginning of new life with plants (barren until now) acquiring new life, shoots and leaves. Spring is considered the first season of the year hence also heralding a new year and a new beginning. The vibrancy of life and verdent fields, meadows full of colorful blossoms signifies growth, prosperity and well-being.

With the coming of Ugadi, the naturally perfumed jasmines (mallepulu) spread a sweet fragrance which is perhaps unmatched by any other in nature’s own creation! While large garlands of jasmine are offered to Gods in homes and temples, jasmine flowers woven in clusters adorn the braids of women.

Predictions of the Year: Ugadi marks the beginning of a new Hindu lunar calendar with a change in the moon’s orbit. It is a day when mantras are chanted and predictions made for the new year. Traditionally, the panchangasravanam or listening to the yearly calendar was done at the temples or at the Town square but with the onset of modern technology, one can get to hear the priest-scholar on television sets right in one’s living room.

It is a season for raw mangoes spreading its aroma in the air and the fully blossomed neem tree that makes the air healthy. Also, jaggery made with fresh crop of sugarcane adds a renewed flavor to the typical dishes associated with Ugadi. “Ugadi pachchadi” is one such dish that has become synonymous with Ugadi. It is made of new jaggery, raw mango pieces and neem flowers and new tanarind which truly reflect life – a combination of sweet, sour and bitter tastes!

Preparing for the Occasion: Preparations for the festival begin a week ahead. Houses are given a thorough wash. Shopping for new clothes and buying other items that go with the requirements of the festival are done with a lot of excitement.

Ugadi is celebrated with festive fervor in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. While it is called Ugadi in A.P. and Karnataka, in Maharashtra it is known as “Gudipadava”. On Ugadi day, people wake up before the break of dawn and take a head bath after which they decorate the entrance of their houses with fresh mango leaves. The significance of tying mango leaves relates to a legend. It is said that Kartik (or Subramanya or Kumara Swamy) and Ganesha, the two sons of Lord Siva and Parvathi were very fond of mangoes. As the legend goes Kartik exhorted people to tie green mango leaves to the doorway signifying a good crop and general well-being.

It is noteworthy that we use mango leaves and coconuts (as in a Kalasam, to initiate any pooja) only on auspicious occasions to propitiate gods. People also splash fresh cow dung water on the ground in front of their house and draw colorful floral designs. This is a common sight in every household. People perform the ritualistic worship to God invoking his blessings before they start off with the new year. They pray for their health, wealth and prosperity and success in business too. Ugadi is also the most auspicious time to start new ventures.

The celebration of Ugadi is marked by religious zeal and social merriment. Special dishes are prepared for the occasion. In Andhra Pradesh, eatables such as “pulihora”, “bobbatlu” and preparations made with raw mango go well with the occasion. In Karnataka too, similar preparations are made but called “puliogure” and “holige”. The Maharashtrians make “puran poli” or sweet rotis.

Season For Pickles: With the raw mango available in abundance only during the two months (of April/May), people in Andhra Pradesh make good use of mangoes to last them until the next season. They pickle the mangoes with salt, powdered mustard and powdered dry red chilli and a lot of oil to float over the mangoes. This preparation is called “avakai” and lasts for a whole year.

Mangoes and summer season go hand in hand. Ugadi thus marks the beginning of the hot season which coincides with the school vacations. For the young ones, therefore, Ugadi is characterised by new clothes, sumptuous food and revelling. The air is filled with joy, enthusiasm and gaiety. Some people participate in social community gatherings and enjoy a tranquil evening with devotional songs (bhajans).

Varun Gandhi: A pox on both his houses

By M H Ahssan

There’s something in the Gandhi name. On the occasions it is invoked these days, it invariably raises deep, and sometimes extreme, emotions – both in the bearers of the hallowed surname and the world they come in contact with.

And there has been some commotion of late, all of a sudden, in the cool, placid waters of Gandhiana. First, the senseless commodification of the original Mahatma Gandhi in a petty, publicity seeking New York auction; then the appearance of his benign visage on African National Congress poll posters to woo Indian voters in South Africa. But if that was travesty, what followed must count as high treason, enough to send shivers down the spine of those who remember the man who gave the world the doctrine of non-violence.

A podgy, 28-year-old called Varun Gandhi – a fourth generation recipient of the Mahatma’s name, but not by blood ties – has run an election campaign so vitriolic that it momentarily stunned even his hyperbolic, right-wing party. A sting video of his speeches at a rally in a remote north Indian constituency caught him threatening Muslims of the area in a language so derogatory and violent that it’s difficult to be uttered in a civilized environment.

Suffice it to say that the audiovisual clip showed up references to circumcision, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a call for saza-e-maut – capital punishment – to be delivered wholesale. All this from a young great grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister from 1947 to 1964, and an icon of genteel liberalism.

First, a little background. Varun Gandhi comes from a branch estranged from the main line of the Nehru-Gandhi family – how the two names came to be a compound surname is itself testimony to the family’s sure touch with big-ticket symbolism. Nehru’s daughter, the redoubtable Indira who was premier from 1967 to 1977 and 1980 to 1984, had married a Parsi lawyer-politician named Feroze Shah Ghandy, no relation to the Mahatma. In an unlit passage of events illumined now only by arcane biographies, the name became identical with that of the genuine article. The story is that Gandhi was Indira’s godfather, and he adopted and lent his name to the young lawyer to facilitate the inter-religious marriage.

This re-christening was at the core of the strange pull Indira Gandhi exerted over the rural Indian populace in her time. In the decades after independence, Mahatma Gandhi had been stripped of any real political value, to become a harmless canonized figure, the smiling Father of the Nation. And by tacit, magical implication – without it ever being stated – Indira became the Daughter of India, appropriating the value for her lineage for all time to come. The lineup includes her son Rajiv Gandhi, prime minister from 1984 to 1989, his Italian-born widow and current regent of the Congress party Sonia Gandhi, and their son Rahul Gandhi, now 38 and in apprenticeship for the top job.

Varun is Rahul’s first cousin, born to Indira’s other son Sanjay, who had a brief, meteoric political career in the 1970s. Before dying in a glider accident (some say it was no accident), Sanjay Gandhi had earned no mean notoriety with a brattish, swashbuckling and violent approach, especially during the infamous Emergency, and is generally credited with the “thuggification” of Indian politics.

It is this hugely flawed legacy of muscle-driven street politics, updated with Hindutva rhetoric, that the son – by playing, in part rabble-rouser, juvenile delinquent and ingenue – is seeking to reclaim. It’s almost like a vile cartoon version of Korak, son of Tarzan, except that it could be very dangerous before a general election next month being fought on razor-thin margins.

A perturbed Election Commission (EC) of India agreed with that view. After Varun Gandhi’s atrocious campaign video surfaced on television channels, with the chopping of hands as the refrain of his speech, the EC put aside its pressing poll duties to first get criminal cases registered against him and then severely censured him.

Worried that the hatespeak could inspire similar unbridled campaigning and kick up a spiral of communal violence between the Hindu and Muslim communities in the volatile state of Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere, it took the unprecedented step of advising the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) not to nominate him for the elections. “He does not deserve to be a candidate,” the three-member poll panel noted.

This has now sparked another row on the legality of the EC’s intervention. The BJP is challenging the commission’s right to mentor it on who could and who could not be its candidate. To be sure, the EC cannot directly debar a candidate from elections unless he or she has been convicted of a certain grade of crime. Varun’s case tests the limits of the EC’s jurisdiction.

For one, the video is still technically in the realm of allegation – Varun has from the beginning stoutly defended himself, saying it has been tampered with. Anyway, prima facie, it can be said to violate only the model code of conduct, a quasi-legal directive. Serious action under this, like the countermanding of an election, is a rarity and a last resort – and the EC certainly is in a legal grey area if it takes recourse to moral blandishments to tell a party to drop a candidate.

Now, the Muslim vote matters even to the BJP – keen as it is to position itself in the “center” – and certainly to its many allies. A marauding speechmaker is hardly the recipe for a party mainstreaming itself. Appropriately, the BJP took some time to recover from its initial, nervous flip-flop, but has now decided not to flinch from backing Varun, deploying its legal expertise to fight back.

Emboldened, Varun countered the EC decision, “They have acted in haste, displaying a political bias,” he said, implying the hand of the ruling Congress in the EC’s censure. Also, he was not allowed to defend himself, Varun added, calling himself the victim of a pre-judged verdict. He claims the video has been “doctored, distorted and morphed”. Sources close to him say he and his lawyers have detected 16 editing cuts. However, the EC is having none of this. Even with the alleged interpolations, the video has enough to prove Varun was on a Hindutva high, rousing his audience with communally surcharged slogans and crude innuendo.

To politically complicate matters, Varun’s charismatic cousin Priyanka Gandhi virtually called Varun a blot on the Gandhi name – sneaking in a bit of Hindu symbolism herself. In the midst of electioneering for her mother Sonia and brother Rahul’s constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, she strategically placed herself before a temple with a garland of red hibiscus (used in prayers for Kali, the goddess of fearsome aspect), she advised her “misguided” younger cousin to read the Bhagavad Gita instead of using the Hindu philosophical text to invoke hatred among communities.

Varun, getting it from all sides, staunchly upholds his Hindu identity (the irony is, he is half-Sikh and a quarter Parsi), leaving little doubt about his indoctrination by the right-wing party he joined out of sheer compulsion. Varun’s side of the family has long been disowned by the Congress – to cut a long story short, his mother Maneka “walked out” on Indira with tiny Varun in tow after her husband’s glider-crash death. It was political ambition that drove a wedge in the family. Although controversial, Sanjay Gandhi was known to be Indira’s favorite, but after his untimely death she chose to project the apolitical Rajiv – not Sanjay’s widow – as her successor.

Having lost his father, Varun was fully delinked from the family holdings – especially the Congress party – after Maneka literally forced him to hobnob with the ideological opposite pole, the BJP. It was the party Maneka aligned with in her attempt to chart out a separate political identity, distinct from the Nehru-Gandhis. The consequences could not have been more ironical – Varun is now steeped in a political view that sustains itself by negating the idea of India as conceived by Mahatma Gandhi and shaped by, among others, his own great grandfather Nehru.

If Gandhi had adopted Varun’s Parsi grandfather Feroze Shah to help him marry Nehru’s young and beautiful daughter Indira, Nehru had adopted secularism with a near-religious fervor so as to refute arch-rival Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s two-nation theory. Nearly 75 years later, Varun seems to have made a mockery of both.

From calling his nearest rival in the Pilibhit constituency (where a defiant BJP has retained him as the candidate) “Osama Bin Laden”, threatening to chop off the hands of Muslims and making jokes out of their names, Varun has ran amok. In his debutante’s eagerness to win from a constituency he has inherited from his mother Maneka, he has blurred the distinctions between what is constitutionally acceptable and what is not. Political observers say he could have won the seat on the strength of the work his mother has done in Pilibhit without denigrating himself and Indian elections in the process.

For many who know Varun from his days in the London School of Economics and later as a budding poet, this appears to be a Kafkaesque metamorphosis. A close friend of his insists the soft-spoken, thin-voiced boy is incapable of uttering such crude language befitting a seasoned right-wing rabble-rouser. But, something fits: Varun seems to have consciously lifted portions from a controversial speech of his father Sanjay Gandhi, which had made the front pages during the Emergency in the mid-1970s, around the time he became known for undertaking forceful sterilization of Muslim men as a method of family planning. Varun, in one of the tapes submitted to the Election Commission, repeats the sterilization threat.

Much like the pathetic Oswald Alving in Henrik Ibsen’s 1881 play Ghosts, the 28-year-old Varun seems to be weighed down by the burden of inheritance – coping with the worst possible self-inflicted wound, and half loving the attention. As Ibsen’s play had shown, the ghosts of history have strange ways of catching up with you.

Now that he has decisively “outed’ in his enthusiasm to make it to parliament, Google registers over 1,00,000 hits on Varun and Sanjay Gandhi, with everyone – from new-age blogger to age-old political analyst – making the father-son comparison. The less-than-palatable legacy of the Emergency, to which ironically BJP leaders then stood steadfastly opposed, stands revived.

Clearly, Varun’s trips to the Nagpur HQ of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh – the BJP’s mother organization – have had its impact on the young mind. The BJP’s careful, qualified endorsement of his concocted communal rage suggests he may not be entirely without godfathers in the saffron fold. For one who gave the impression of being a hopelessly lost young man, spending much of the past four years praising his powerful, estranged aunt Sonia and banging his head at the BJP headquarters for a ticket to parliament, the script is crackling into life. His “arrival” also comes with a certificate from another extreme right-wing leader, Bal Thackeray of the Shiv Sena.

“Varun has spoken the truth. We like this Gandhi,” Thackeray wrote in his party’s mouthpiece, Saamna. This leaves no scope for escape for the young Varun – politically, he has been “framed” in a certain cast. If the BJP tapped the young mind, Thackeray has trapped him in his past. “In Varun,” he gushingly wrote, “one gets an impression that Sanjay Gandhi has had a rebirth. When Varun speaks, we get an impression that Sanjay Gandhi is speaking.” Thackeray has been barred from contesting elections for inciting communal passions in a similar manner in the 1990s.

It was said the induction of new-age candidates in the political fray would bring an end to all the ills afflicting the Indian political system. From the day the elections were announced, reams have been written on the 170 million young voters and the young politicos who together will determine the fate of the polity and restore pristine values.

Alas, all this muck has hit the fan thanks to the alleged indiscretion of one of the young candidates. And a Gandhi to boot.

Varun Gandhi: A pox on both his houses

By M H Ahssan

There’s something in the Gandhi name. On the occasions it is invoked these days, it invariably raises deep, and sometimes extreme, emotions – both in the bearers of the hallowed surname and the world they come in contact with.

And there has been some commotion of late, all of a sudden, in the cool, placid waters of Gandhiana. First, the senseless commodification of the original Mahatma Gandhi in a petty, publicity seeking New York auction; then the appearance of his benign visage on African National Congress poll posters to woo Indian voters in South Africa. But if that was travesty, what followed must count as high treason, enough to send shivers down the spine of those who remember the man who gave the world the doctrine of non-violence.

A podgy, 28-year-old called Varun Gandhi – a fourth generation recipient of the Mahatma’s name, but not by blood ties – has run an election campaign so vitriolic that it momentarily stunned even his hyperbolic, right-wing party. A sting video of his speeches at a rally in a remote north Indian constituency caught him threatening Muslims of the area in a language so derogatory and violent that it’s difficult to be uttered in a civilized environment.

Suffice it to say that the audiovisual clip showed up references to circumcision, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a call for saza-e-maut – capital punishment – to be delivered wholesale. All this from a young great grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister from 1947 to 1964, and an icon of genteel liberalism.

First, a little background. Varun Gandhi comes from a branch estranged from the main line of the Nehru-Gandhi family – how the two names came to be a compound surname is itself testimony to the family’s sure touch with big-ticket symbolism. Nehru’s daughter, the redoubtable Indira who was premier from 1967 to 1977 and 1980 to 1984, had married a Parsi lawyer-politician named Feroze Shah Ghandy, no relation to the Mahatma. In an unlit passage of events illumined now only by arcane biographies, the name became identical with that of the genuine article. The story is that Gandhi was Indira’s godfather, and he adopted and lent his name to the young lawyer to facilitate the inter-religious marriage.

This re-christening was at the core of the strange pull Indira Gandhi exerted over the rural Indian populace in her time. In the decades after independence, Mahatma Gandhi had been stripped of any real political value, to become a harmless canonized figure, the smiling Father of the Nation. And by tacit, magical implication – without it ever being stated – Indira became the Daughter of India, appropriating the value for her lineage for all time to come. The lineup includes her son Rajiv Gandhi, prime minister from 1984 to 1989, his Italian-born widow and current regent of the Congress party Sonia Gandhi, and their son Rahul Gandhi, now 38 and in apprenticeship for the top job.

Varun is Rahul’s first cousin, born to Indira’s other son Sanjay, who had a brief, meteoric political career in the 1970s. Before dying in a glider accident (some say it was no accident), Sanjay Gandhi had earned no mean notoriety with a brattish, swashbuckling and violent approach, especially during the infamous Emergency, and is generally credited with the “thuggification” of Indian politics.

It is this hugely flawed legacy of muscle-driven street politics, updated with Hindutva rhetoric, that the son – by playing, in part rabble-rouser, juvenile delinquent and ingenue – is seeking to reclaim. It’s almost like a vile cartoon version of Korak, son of Tarzan, except that it could be very dangerous before a general election next month being fought on razor-thin margins.

A perturbed Election Commission (EC) of India agreed with that view. After Varun Gandhi’s atrocious campaign video surfaced on television channels, with the chopping of hands as the refrain of his speech, the EC put aside its pressing poll duties to first get criminal cases registered against him and then severely censured him.

Worried that the hatespeak could inspire similar unbridled campaigning and kick up a spiral of communal violence between the Hindu and Muslim communities in the volatile state of Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere, it took the unprecedented step of advising the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) not to nominate him for the elections. “He does not deserve to be a candidate,” the three-member poll panel noted.

This has now sparked another row on the legality of the EC’s intervention. The BJP is challenging the commission’s right to mentor it on who could and who could not be its candidate. To be sure, the EC cannot directly debar a candidate from elections unless he or she has been convicted of a certain grade of crime. Varun’s case tests the limits of the EC’s jurisdiction.

For one, the video is still technically in the realm of allegation – Varun has from the beginning stoutly defended himself, saying it has been tampered with. Anyway, prima facie, it can be said to violate only the model code of conduct, a quasi-legal directive. Serious action under this, like the countermanding of an election, is a rarity and a last resort – and the EC certainly is in a legal grey area if it takes recourse to moral blandishments to tell a party to drop a candidate.

Now, the Muslim vote matters even to the BJP – keen as it is to position itself in the “center” – and certainly to its many allies. A marauding speechmaker is hardly the recipe for a party mainstreaming itself. Appropriately, the BJP took some time to recover from its initial, nervous flip-flop, but has now decided not to flinch from backing Varun, deploying its legal expertise to fight back.

Emboldened, Varun countered the EC decision, “They have acted in haste, displaying a political bias,” he said, implying the hand of the ruling Congress in the EC’s censure. Also, he was not allowed to defend himself, Varun added, calling himself the victim of a pre-judged verdict. He claims the video has been “doctored, distorted and morphed”. Sources close to him say he and his lawyers have detected 16 editing cuts. However, the EC is having none of this. Even with the alleged interpolations, the video has enough to prove Varun was on a Hindutva high, rousing his audience with communally surcharged slogans and crude innuendo.

To politically complicate matters, Varun’s charismatic cousin Priyanka Gandhi virtually called Varun a blot on the Gandhi name – sneaking in a bit of Hindu symbolism herself. In the midst of electioneering for her mother Sonia and brother Rahul’s constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, she strategically placed herself before a temple with a garland of red hibiscus (used in prayers for Kali, the goddess of fearsome aspect), she advised her “misguided” younger cousin to read the Bhagavad Gita instead of using the Hindu philosophical text to invoke hatred among communities.

Varun, getting it from all sides, staunchly upholds his Hindu identity (the irony is, he is half-Sikh and a quarter Parsi), leaving little doubt about his indoctrination by the right-wing party he joined out of sheer compulsion. Varun’s side of the family has long been disowned by the Congress – to cut a long story short, his mother Maneka “walked out” on Indira with tiny Varun in tow after her husband’s glider-crash death. It was political ambition that drove a wedge in the family. Although controversial, Sanjay Gandhi was known to be Indira’s favorite, but after his untimely death she chose to project the apolitical Rajiv – not Sanjay’s widow – as her successor.

Having lost his father, Varun was fully delinked from the family holdings – especially the Congress party – after Maneka literally forced him to hobnob with the ideological opposite pole, the BJP. It was the party Maneka aligned with in her attempt to chart out a separate political identity, distinct from the Nehru-Gandhis. The consequences could not have been more ironical – Varun is now steeped in a political view that sustains itself by negating the idea of India as conceived by Mahatma Gandhi and shaped by, among others, his own great grandfather Nehru.

If Gandhi had adopted Varun’s Parsi grandfather Feroze Shah to help him marry Nehru’s young and beautiful daughter Indira, Nehru had adopted secularism with a near-religious fervor so as to refute arch-rival Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s two-nation theory. Nearly 75 years later, Varun seems to have made a mockery of both.

From calling his nearest rival in the Pilibhit constituency (where a defiant BJP has retained him as the candidate) “Osama Bin Laden”, threatening to chop off the hands of Muslims and making jokes out of their names, Varun has ran amok. In his debutante’s eagerness to win from a constituency he has inherited from his mother Maneka, he has blurred the distinctions between what is constitutionally acceptable and what is not. Political observers say he could have won the seat on the strength of the work his mother has done in Pilibhit without denigrating himself and Indian elections in the process.

For many who know Varun from his days in the London School of Economics and later as a budding poet, this appears to be a Kafkaesque metamorphosis. A close friend of his insists the soft-spoken, thin-voiced boy is incapable of uttering such crude language befitting a seasoned right-wing rabble-rouser. But, something fits: Varun seems to have consciously lifted portions from a controversial speech of his father Sanjay Gandhi, which had made the front pages during the Emergency in the mid-1970s, around the time he became known for undertaking forceful sterilization of Muslim men as a method of family planning. Varun, in one of the tapes submitted to the Election Commission, repeats the sterilization threat.

Much like the pathetic Oswald Alving in Henrik Ibsen’s 1881 play Ghosts, the 28-year-old Varun seems to be weighed down by the burden of inheritance – coping with the worst possible self-inflicted wound, and half loving the attention. As Ibsen’s play had shown, the ghosts of history have strange ways of catching up with you.

Now that he has decisively “outed’ in his enthusiasm to make it to parliament, Google registers over 1,00,000 hits on Varun and Sanjay Gandhi, with everyone – from new-age blogger to age-old political analyst – making the father-son comparison. The less-than-palatable legacy of the Emergency, to which ironically BJP leaders then stood steadfastly opposed, stands revived.

Clearly, Varun’s trips to the Nagpur HQ of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh – the BJP’s mother organization – have had its impact on the young mind. The BJP’s careful, qualified endorsement of his concocted communal rage suggests he may not be entirely without godfathers in the saffron fold. For one who gave the impression of being a hopelessly lost young man, spending much of the past four years praising his powerful, estranged aunt Sonia and banging his head at the BJP headquarters for a ticket to parliament, the script is crackling into life. His “arrival” also comes with a certificate from another extreme right-wing leader, Bal Thackeray of the Shiv Sena.

“Varun has spoken the truth. We like this Gandhi,” Thackeray wrote in his party’s mouthpiece, Saamna. This leaves no scope for escape for the young Varun – politically, he has been “framed” in a certain cast. If the BJP tapped the young mind, Thackeray has trapped him in his past. “In Varun,” he gushingly wrote, “one gets an impression that Sanjay Gandhi has had a rebirth. When Varun speaks, we get an impression that Sanjay Gandhi is speaking.” Thackeray has been barred from contesting elections for inciting communal passions in a similar manner in the 1990s.

It was said the induction of new-age candidates in the political fray would bring an end to all the ills afflicting the Indian political system. From the day the elections were announced, reams have been written on the 170 million young voters and the young politicos who together will determine the fate of the polity and restore pristine values.

Alas, all this muck has hit the fan thanks to the alleged indiscretion of one of the young candidates. And a Gandhi to boot.

Exclusive: IN SEARCH OF SILICON VALLEY

By M H Ahssan

The state IT sector seems to hold promise of a better future provided the Govt pulls its acts together and private players survive the downturn

The year 2008 has not been a particularly good year for West Bengal. In addition to losing the Nano car project there have been postponements of several publicised ventures, shelving of hospital and education projects, and uncertainty in the fate of the huge Jindal Steel project. Power cuts have again surfaced, roads have started deteriorating, pollution levels continue unabated and bandhs/traffic dislocations have become common.

Amidst this rather gloomy backdrop the IT/ITeS sector in West Bengal seems to hold promise of a better future, provided the Government pulls its acts together and private players survive the downturn to move forward. The state had planned to climb up the national IT pecking order to the third rank from the current eighth position. The IT minister had announced a broad range of incentives and visualized progress through huge growth in exports, expansion of existing ventures, setting up of new projects, starting IT-hubs in satellite towns along with incubation centres and finishing schools, as well as vigorous participation in e-governance projects. Unfortunately, the sub-prime crisis hit the global economy and the moot question today is how much of that IT vision will become reality and how many of the IT/ITEs players will survive and grow in the state.

The players in this sector number around 500 and closely follow Pareto’s law – less than 20 per cent are large units that account for more than 80 per cent of total business and employment. Bengal has a collection of very prominent large players that includes IBM, TCS, Cognizant, Wipro, Cap Gemini, PwC etc. Discussions with them reveal that the economic downturn has indeed affected them seriously, although most have prepared elaborate plans for countering the problem and overcoming it. Currently 70 per cent of business comes from the US, and the dearth of new projects as well as cancellation of existing projects from the US has hit this segment badly.

Cost-cutting is taking various shapes such as cutting down on executive benefits, restructuring of salary by reducing fixed component and increasing the variable part (linked to performance),and as a last resort reduction of overall headcount in the organization. Since the most important market verticals – banking, finance and insurance – have been affected, there is a concerted effort to explore and develop other verticals. Geographic diversity is also being pursued by looking at markets other than the US, while senior managers have put on their thinking caps to innovate and add new value to their offers to customers.

It is the smaller units that are facing big-time crisis. Many of these units were set up during the good old days of high IT growth and were essentially opportunistic in nature, with little to offer other than low costs. As their customers try to survive, many of these vendors who are not seen as critical, are getting dropped. Consequently, it is a period of trial by fire for these units, and those who can innovate and develop something uniquely valuable to customers will manage to survive. It is also a period of reckoning for the real stars of the future. Around 10 per cent of the SME units are companies that have been built on strong technological foundation, who typically own a few patents, possess specialized offerings and operate in highly exclusive market domains. It is a period of growth for these organizations and they are taking the initiative to scale up operations by building complementary capabilities — either through executive recruitments or partnerships with large multi-locational organizations.

The overall picture that emerges from the IT/ITeS sector is that existing large players will consolidate operations and cut down internal inefficiencies, with business volumes stagnating in the short term. The long term view for these global players fortunately remains positive, and as their renewal strategies hold fruit, they are expected to continue in their growth path. Many of the smaller units are, however, headed for trouble and will either face an uncertain future or partner with organizations that can give them survival strength. From this chaotic background we will also see a few bright stars that will become national players rather than local, and emerge as great companies of the future.

As far as new IT ventures are concerned, the biggest impediment appears to be the negative perception that has gained ground after the original euphoria, and there is a case for drastic improvement of the IT ecosystem in the state. An analysis of the success of Silicon Valley, Boston Belt, Cambridge Valley or our own Bangalore shows that growth happened there because young people found those areas to be physically inviting and intellectually liberal, which was complemented and supported by the advanced infrastructure of education and financial sector. Ask young executives based outside the state where they would consider relocation – and while Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore would be regularly mentioned, Kolkata would be extremely rare. In spite of various official claims to the contrary, Kolkata has very high level of pollution, transport is cheap but chaotic, unscheduled power cuts are common and the city is anything but pleasant to the eyes.

On the ‘ease of doing business index’ West Bengal is ranked quite low, way below the southern and western states. Availability of engineering graduates in West Bengal is 1/3 to 1/6 of that in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka or Maharashtra, while the state continues to be the front runner in industrial disputes. A big selling point of the state ‘ low cost of living’ is certainly great for retired people, but hardly an incentive for ambitious and growth-oriented people.

Lowering costs
The path to Silicon Valley from Sector 5 therefore lies in building a strong and creative partnership between private players and the Government. It is safe to predict that the overall IT/ITES sector in India will remain in a leadership position and grow, and there will be increasing competition from front running states to take a greater share of the pie. At the unit level most unfit players will be eliminated, while the fitter ones will prosper by achieving higher operational efficiencies, focussing on new verticals and new geographical areas, penetrating the domestic market, and participating in e-governance schemes. But marketing the state in the face of strong competitors will remain the biggest challenge for attracting new ventures and more investments into the state.

The IT/ITES industry is predominantly populated and led by youth, the engine of growth being the passion, creativity and innovativeness of trained young minds. Convincing aged industry leaders in chambers of commerce by statistics and presentations will have marginal effect in the long run—instead the attempt should be to create and sell the state to the youth as a ‘cool’ place, physically beautiful and intellectually stimulating. In the IT/ITES industry it is the young who lead the way; the old have no option but to follow.

Exclusive: IN SEARCH OF SILICON VALLEY

By M H Ahssan

The state IT sector seems to hold promise of a better future provided the Govt pulls its acts together and private players survive the downturn

The year 2008 has not been a particularly good year for West Bengal. In addition to losing the Nano car project there have been postponements of several publicised ventures, shelving of hospital and education projects, and uncertainty in the fate of the huge Jindal Steel project. Power cuts have again surfaced, roads have started deteriorating, pollution levels continue unabated and bandhs/traffic dislocations have become common.

Amidst this rather gloomy backdrop the IT/ITeS sector in West Bengal seems to hold promise of a better future, provided the Government pulls its acts together and private players survive the downturn to move forward. The state had planned to climb up the national IT pecking order to the third rank from the current eighth position. The IT minister had announced a broad range of incentives and visualized progress through huge growth in exports, expansion of existing ventures, setting up of new projects, starting IT-hubs in satellite towns along with incubation centres and finishing schools, as well as vigorous participation in e-governance projects. Unfortunately, the sub-prime crisis hit the global economy and the moot question today is how much of that IT vision will become reality and how many of the IT/ITEs players will survive and grow in the state.

The players in this sector number around 500 and closely follow Pareto’s law – less than 20 per cent are large units that account for more than 80 per cent of total business and employment. Bengal has a collection of very prominent large players that includes IBM, TCS, Cognizant, Wipro, Cap Gemini, PwC etc. Discussions with them reveal that the economic downturn has indeed affected them seriously, although most have prepared elaborate plans for countering the problem and overcoming it. Currently 70 per cent of business comes from the US, and the dearth of new projects as well as cancellation of existing projects from the US has hit this segment badly.

Cost-cutting is taking various shapes such as cutting down on executive benefits, restructuring of salary by reducing fixed component and increasing the variable part (linked to performance),and as a last resort reduction of overall headcount in the organization. Since the most important market verticals – banking, finance and insurance – have been affected, there is a concerted effort to explore and develop other verticals. Geographic diversity is also being pursued by looking at markets other than the US, while senior managers have put on their thinking caps to innovate and add new value to their offers to customers.

It is the smaller units that are facing big-time crisis. Many of these units were set up during the good old days of high IT growth and were essentially opportunistic in nature, with little to offer other than low costs. As their customers try to survive, many of these vendors who are not seen as critical, are getting dropped. Consequently, it is a period of trial by fire for these units, and those who can innovate and develop something uniquely valuable to customers will manage to survive. It is also a period of reckoning for the real stars of the future. Around 10 per cent of the SME units are companies that have been built on strong technological foundation, who typically own a few patents, possess specialized offerings and operate in highly exclusive market domains. It is a period of growth for these organizations and they are taking the initiative to scale up operations by building complementary capabilities — either through executive recruitments or partnerships with large multi-locational organizations.

The overall picture that emerges from the IT/ITeS sector is that existing large players will consolidate operations and cut down internal inefficiencies, with business volumes stagnating in the short term. The long term view for these global players fortunately remains positive, and as their renewal strategies hold fruit, they are expected to continue in their growth path. Many of the smaller units are, however, headed for trouble and will either face an uncertain future or partner with organizations that can give them survival strength. From this chaotic background we will also see a few bright stars that will become national players rather than local, and emerge as great companies of the future.

As far as new IT ventures are concerned, the biggest impediment appears to be the negative perception that has gained ground after the original euphoria, and there is a case for drastic improvement of the IT ecosystem in the state. An analysis of the success of Silicon Valley, Boston Belt, Cambridge Valley or our own Bangalore shows that growth happened there because young people found those areas to be physically inviting and intellectually liberal, which was complemented and supported by the advanced infrastructure of education and financial sector. Ask young executives based outside the state where they would consider relocation – and while Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore would be regularly mentioned, Kolkata would be extremely rare. In spite of various official claims to the contrary, Kolkata has very high level of pollution, transport is cheap but chaotic, unscheduled power cuts are common and the city is anything but pleasant to the eyes.

On the ‘ease of doing business index’ West Bengal is ranked quite low, way below the southern and western states. Availability of engineering graduates in West Bengal is 1/3 to 1/6 of that in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka or Maharashtra, while the state continues to be the front runner in industrial disputes. A big selling point of the state ‘ low cost of living’ is certainly great for retired people, but hardly an incentive for ambitious and growth-oriented people.

Lowering costs
The path to Silicon Valley from Sector 5 therefore lies in building a strong and creative partnership between private players and the Government. It is safe to predict that the overall IT/ITES sector in India will remain in a leadership position and grow, and there will be increasing competition from front running states to take a greater share of the pie. At the unit level most unfit players will be eliminated, while the fitter ones will prosper by achieving higher operational efficiencies, focussing on new verticals and new geographical areas, penetrating the domestic market, and participating in e-governance schemes. But marketing the state in the face of strong competitors will remain the biggest challenge for attracting new ventures and more investments into the state.

The IT/ITES industry is predominantly populated and led by youth, the engine of growth being the passion, creativity and innovativeness of trained young minds. Convincing aged industry leaders in chambers of commerce by statistics and presentations will have marginal effect in the long run—instead the attempt should be to create and sell the state to the youth as a ‘cool’ place, physically beautiful and intellectually stimulating. In the IT/ITES industry it is the young who lead the way; the old have no option but to follow.

Practice of law and its regulation

By M H Ahssan

Does the Best Friends agreement allow back-door entry to foreign lawyers? It perhaps does, but it is all the more important to recognise legal services as business rather than a noble profession.

Earlier this year, one of the largest global law firm Clifford Chance (CC) announced a “best friend” relationship with AZB & Partners. And sure enough, sections of the legal fraternity saw red when the announcement was made.

But CC is not the first magic circle law firm from the UK to enter such arrangements in India with domestic firms. Last year, another magic circle firm Allen & Overy (A&O) forged a similar relationship with Trilegal, a firm set up by a group of young lawyers. Linklaters, which belongs to the same league, precedes both CC and A&O in India. The firm has been working with Mumbai-based Talwar Thakore & Associates for about two years now and last August it tied up with Dhall Law Chambers, an outfit floated by former Competition Commission member Vinod Dhall.

There are several similar arrangements in existence between foreign and domestic law firms, a few in niche areas such as insurance laws. Legal circles are abuzz with stories of a few other large foreign law firms that have relocated partners of Indian origin from offices in London to India, helped them set up firms in their individual names and even bankrolled their operations. Such firms are said to be a front for the foreign firm, in a country where only its citizens, holding law degree from recognised colleges and universities, and enrolled with a bar council of a state, can practice.

There is ambiguity whether “best friends” agreement or exclusive referral relationships are allowed between domestic firms and foreign law firms. Sections of the legal circle, particularly those favouring liberalisation of legal services, contend that there is nothing in the Advocates Act, 1961 read with the Bar Council of India (BCI) rules to prevent such cooperations between firms. That is because such agreements are clean in legal terms—there is no joint venture or sharing of profits or fees for cross referrals and the Indian firms have standalone balance sheet. Besides, most of the best friends/referral relationship are non-exclusive in nature, ie, notwithstanding an arrangement between a domestic and a foreign firm, neither are necessarily bound to refer their clients to each other for cross border transactions.

On the other hand, those opposed to such arrangements, which includes many top commercial law firms, argue that these arrangements facilitate foreign legal firms backdoor entry into India. The Society for India Law Firms (SILF) in a statement issued after a late February meeting—incidentally just a month after CC-AZB relationship was announced—said: “SILF is strongly opposed to the entry of foreign law firms into India, by any means, direct or indirect, implicit or explicit, surrogate or otherwise by whatever name called including but not limited to referral arrangements, co-operation agreements, best friend arrangements or the like.”

The BCI too is opposed to permitting foreign lawyers to practice in India (The council regulates only individual lawyers and not firms). And, it has made its stand clear in an affidavit before Mumbai High Court in an ongoing case filed by Lawyers’ Collective (originally in 1995) opposing entry of foreign firms. Sure enough, SILF and the BCI are opposing entry of foreign lawyers and law firms for different reasons. The BCI’s opposition arises primarily from regulatory and disciplinary concerns while that of SILF comes from fears of losing clients and talent to the large foreign firms.

“It will be a battle of unequals,” states Kochhar & Co chairman and managing partner Rohit Kochhar, adding, “The Indian firms do not have deep pockets and cannot compete with its foreign counterparts on recruitment, marketing strategy and sophistication of business development.”

Pro-liberalisation lawyers such as Fox-Mandal Little managing partner Som Mandal, however, interpret extant regulations to say that any foreign law firm can open 100% consultancy and confine themselves to practice of foreign law. “But it is wrong when these firms hire Indian lawyers to advice on Indian laws.” Anyway, the Mumbai High Court is due to set to give its verdict on entry of foreign law firms soon.

Further, even if the verdict favours foreign law firms, India is unlikely to liberalise legal services immediately, although some easing is likely in due course. Informal relationships such as cross referral/best friends agreements benefits both parties as well as clients. In particular, young firms stand to gain the most from such associations. “Rather than learning the ropes by a hit-and-trial method, which would mean we take about 30-40 years to get to any degree of sophistication, such relationships help us avoid reinventing the wheel,” says Trilegal partner Anand Prasad. His firm has gained in the form of inputs on technology deployment, training and administration since the relationship was forged. Young lawyers from Trilegal are sent on secondment to A&O offices for 3-6 months to upgrade their legal skills, much of which otherwise is picked up on the job. But these relationships do have their flip side. Some competitors of A&O, who have referred work to Trilegal, have become chary doing so now. But that was bound to happen, even when agreements are non-exclusive.

Some of the opposition to liberalisation will get watered down if the BCI were to amend its rules. One of the grouse of Indian law firms is that they are not allowed to advertise, have marketing material, brochures or business development group. The restriction on hosting a website was lifted only last year, but there too, the council is behind the curve. As the council recognises and regulates only individuals and not firms, individuals are allowed to have website where only basic information can be published.

Limitation on size of partnership is another matter—The Indian Partnership Act, 1932, allows a firm to have only 20 partners. The Limited Liability Act, 2008, should provide some respite on that although BCI has some reservation. The BCI chairman Suraj Narain Prasad Sihna felt that LLP will allow back door entry to foreign lawyers. Nevertheless, the BCI has planned to meet after the general elections to consider demands for liberalisation of the service, take a view on referral agreements and spell out what is allowed within the definition of practice of law, Sihna said.

But, a real change in regulation and liberalisation of legal service can happen only when the profession is also recognised as a business instead of just a noble profession.

Do direct taxes counteract fiscal stimulus?

By M H Ahssan

The rate of growth of advance (direct) tax collection this fiscal has been almost at par with that in 2007-08, despite a drop in GDP growth of 2.5 percentage points or so. As per figures up to mid-March, the year-on-year growth in advance tax payments stood at 17.5% this fiscal, as compared to 18.5% in the corresponding period of the previous year. Till the second quarter of this fiscal, the payments had indeed been robust but a slippage was visible in the third quarter. However, revenue officials claim that the trend thus far in the current quarter denotes a ‘slight improvement’.

Corporate taxpayers must have over-estimated their likely income flows in the year as is evident from the growth in advance tax payments during the initial two quarters of this fiscal, but those who pay personal income tax (PIT) had been more prognostic. While advance tax payments of corporation tax showed an year-on-year growth of 17% at Rs 1.23 lakh crore as on March 17 this year, such payments from individual taxpayers were just Rs 21,415 crore during the period, 20% lower than the amount paid by this category of taxpayers in the year-ago period. Advance FBT (fringe benefit tax) payments partly compensated for the decline in personal income tax with an year-on-year growth of over 30%. Interestingly, through TDS (tax deducted at source) in which the share of PIT is larger than that of corporation tax, the revenue department collected Rs 64,800 crore till March 17, up 17% over the year ago period.

Another feature of the direct tax collection trend is that the Revenue has apparently turned wary of allowing refunds. Despite a 15% growth in gross direct tax collection up to March 17, at Rs 3.43 lakh crore, the total refund to all categories of taxpayers stood at Rs 32,484 crore in the period, down about 10% from Rs 35,990 crore in the corresponding period a year ago. This has helped the Revenue to keep the net collection rather impressive at about Rs 3.2 lakh crore (inclusive of the ‘central TDS’), as against Rs 2.6 lakh crore in the year ago period, which represents a 23% growth. Less refunds would mean less disposable income in the hands of the taxpayer—a factor that limits fiscal expansion, the government’s stated policy at this juncture, albeit marginally. One can say that while the government has tinkered with the rates of indirect taxes for giving fiscal stimuli to the economy, the direct taxes were a tool in its hands to calibrate the stimulation, if not counteract it.

Revenue officials say they are confident of ‘meeting’ this year’s RE (revised estimate) of Rs 3.48 lakh crore as far as net collection is concerned. This will be 13% higher than last year’s net collection of Rs 3.09 crore.

They are relying on the ‘slight improvement’ in tax payments since the third quarter and an augmented collection drive. But a CBDT official told ET that faster accounting enabled by e-payments must also have contributed to what is being perceived as a slowing of the declining trend in collection. It is likely that companies that had over-paid their taxes in the initial months of this fiscal through the advance tax window must actually scale down payments in the last quarter. So the traditional flurry in the last two weeks of the fiscal might be of much less intensity this time around. Yet, the RE could be met.

However, the budget estimate of Rs 3.8 lakh crore for next fiscal (2009-01) as stated in the UPA government’s interim Budget appears over-ambitious, given the state of the economy. When economy grew at 9% over a similar growth base, the direct tax collection had risen by about 35%, as was seen in 2007-08. As the economic growth slipped from there to 6.5% or so (which is a 27% decline), the growth in direct tax collection seems to decline steeper—from a growth of 35% to just 13%, which is a 62% fall.

So, if the economic growth declines further to 5-6% in the next fiscal as many economists now predict, the growth in direct tax collection could be almost flat if not negative. It would be near impossible to achieve a net collection of Rs 3.8 lakh crore next fiscal as it demands a 10% growth. It is very likely that the Revenue, in its enthusiasm to prevent collection growth from falling too much, will turn more and more stingy with regard to refund pleas.

Why disinflation doesn’t militate against an investment binge?

By M H Ahssan

It’s a myth that inflation is good for stepping up investment. In fact, given the disinflationary price situation, it makes sense to fastforward capital investments now.

It’s generally the case that money can’t buy everything—for instance, what it did ten years ago! Price inflation can and does queer the pitch. It is notable that the inflation rate as measured by the wholesale price index (WPI), has dropped to 0.44% in early March (over the like period last year). It implies that producer prices are now just about flat, year on year.

The drop in the inflation rate has implications for policy formulation, and for investment and consumption behaviour quite across the board. Besides, the price index needs updating too.

The falling inflation rate means that we are in a disinflationary scenario, what with the rate of inflation coming down quite dramatically year-on-year. The sharp drop in global crude oil prices in the past one year seems to have much affected domestic WPI figures. It is true that during the period, retail prices of the main oil products like diesel and petrol have remained rather sticky.

But the lack of sustained price revision—despite record imported costs of crude—appear to have built up inflationary expectations, and which have now thoroughly abated it would seem. In any case, oil price changes do affect—in various degrees—most sectors of the economy. For instance, crude prices heavily impact other commodities in myriad ways, including of metals and chemicals. It is only a fact that the latter two sectors have the most weightage in the basket of commodities that make up the WPI (base year 1993-94). Hence the steep fall in the y-o-y WPI inflation rate. It implies that weighted average producer prices, on the whole, are little changed from last year.

However, there are sectoral differences in price behaviour within the WPI, with food prices, for example, buoyant. So we’re not in a price environment that can be labelled deflationary—characterised by falling prices and output. Yet the drop in the inflation rate, or a regime of disinflation, would change relative prices. For instance, producers may want to decelerate output given the weak trend in prices. The way ahead for policy is to estimate the “sacrifice ratio,” the quantity of output effectively “lost” for each percentage point reduction in the inflation rate.

The ratio actually measures the sum of the differences between the logs of trend and actual output divided by the change in trend inflation, in a given episode of disinflation. It can be deemed as the output loss (read cost) of reducing inflation. Note, though, that it’s not a true cost.

The sacrifice ratio seems to be much in evidence in the high-income mature economies. Hence the call for low, steady inflation rates to incentivise output, efficiency improvement and keep the economic engine well oiled, as it were.

But it is worth finding out whether the sacrifice ratio is indeed a fact in India, and if so, to what extent. The fact remains that since the nineteen nineties, the average inflation rate has considerably declined even as output has surged.

But then, it’s a myth that inflation is good for stepping up investment and therefore for revving up the economic growth momentum. Actually, the opposite seems to be the case as price stability does appear to boost the very process of capital formation. The negative effects of inflation on wage-good prices, savings and investment is a fact. Just as important, disinflation can well accelerate capital formation, by significantly improving the tax treatment of productive equipment by way of increasing the present value of depreciation benefits.

Note that the effective tax rate on new investments in a corporate setting is a function of the present value of depreciation schedules, which, in turn depends on the nominal discount rate. And the prevailing discount rates would willy-nilly fall point for point with the inflation rate.

It would result in the increase in the present value of depreciation deductions on plant and machinery. In recent years there’s been much discussions in policy circles here to step up investment and the coagulation of funds by way of proactive tax incentives and the like. But the point is that disinflation would achieve much the same result!

So, given the disinflationary price situation, it actually makes sense to fastforward capital investments. The Centre has ownership and controlling stake in several large companies and it would make policy sense to boost capital investments in the public sector. It would result in a multiplier effect economy-wide and generally increase productive capacity as well. Besides, the Indian economy is now more globalised than ever, and a domestic disinflation scenario would add to our competitive advantage.

It is true that inflation does transfer real assets from creditors to debtors read borrowers, as the latter need to pay back less in inflation-adjusted terms. And to the extent that disinflation reverses the process, it has its costs.

Whatever its merits in the short run, inflation can hardly be viewed as a desirable long-term instrument of redistribution or of investment and growth. Meanwhile, the base year for the WPI needs to be revised and made up-to-date, and the included range of goods enlarged.

Editorial: The fall of the holy trinity

By M H Ahssan

The UPA government arguably had the best economic team, raising the hope that it will go ahead with economic reforms. However, the ‘holy trinity of reformers’ failed to live up to expectations.

Future historians will, no doubt, applaud Dr Manmohan Singh for his contributions to building a modern economy as finance minister and to freeing India of nuclear apartheid as prime minister. But they will also record the setback to reforms during his tenure as prime minister.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had contested the general election in May 2004 on a pro-reform platform. Therefore, many in the Congress interpreted its defeat as the rejection of reforms by voters. Prospects for reforms under the incoming Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) looked bleak.

Yet, when Mrs Sonia Gandhi decided to step aside in favour of Dr Manmohan Singh as prime minister, reform advocates saw a ray hope. As finance minister under Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, Dr Singh had earned the title of the chief architect of India’s economic reforms. The appointments of Messrs P Chidambaram and Montek Ahluwalia as finance Minister and deputy chairman, Planning Commission, respectively, completed what many came to call the “holy trinity” of reformers.

Sadly, however, reforms did not takeoff. The Common Minimum Programme (CMP) the UPA negotiated with its allies ruled out key labour-market reforms at the outset. As for many other reforms, Mrs Sonia Gandhi held back Dr Singh’s hand. She had him appoint the National Advisory Council (NAC) under her chairmanship with statutory powers to oversee the implementation of the CMP. Mrs Gandhi also ran the NAC from a location outside of the Prime Minister’s Office, making it easier for the anti-reform lobby within the Congress, which had lost out to Dr Singh’s reforms in the early 1990s, to regroup. The Left Front parties also found it convenient to work with Mrs Gandhi rather than Dr Singh. The National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) Scheme, UPA’s flagship policy initiative, was crafted entirely in the NAC. The legislation on special economic zones, another important UPA accomplishment, was stripped of its key labour-market reforms embedded in the original NDA Bill.

For his part, early in the term, former finance minister Chidambaram made the completion of the ongoing pension reform a high priority. Five years later, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill still awaits passage in Parliament. Further opening of the insurance sector, another item on the finance minister’s list of reforms from the outset, has suffered the same fate. The minister’s main reform successes have been trimming the small-scale industries reservation list and moving trade liberalisation forward but these reforms too have come to a standstill in the last two budgets.

The greatest disappointment from the UPA has come in the area of infrastructure (except civil aviation and railways, which are both led by dynamic ministers). The need for building the country’s roads, ports and airports at an accelerated pace had been well recognised when the UPA came to power; undertaking this task did not require any controversial legislation; and the UPA had the unusual opportunity to build on the success the NDA had already achieved.

Thus, in December 2000, the NDA had launched the process of building up the country’s highway system through Phase I of the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP). In less than 15 months, it managed to award all but one contract to convert 5,846 km of Golden Quadrilateral highway into four lanes. By November 30, 2004, less than six months after the NDA left office, work on 4,203 km had been completed. The NHDP I also included the conversion of 981 km of a total of 7,498 km of road on North-South and East-West (NSEW) highways to four lanes. By March 31, 2004, work had been completed on 588 km and was under implementation on another several hundred kilometres.

Therefore, when the UPA came to power in May 2004, it had a solid base on which to build. By all indications, the UPA was keen to seize this opportunity. It moved swiftly to appoint the Committee on Infrastructure on August 31, 2004 under the chairmanship of the PM with its secretariat at the Planning Commission.

But sadly, through Committee on Infrastructure, the Planning Commission became a major obstacle to progress. Notwithstanding the fact that the NDA had given out hundreds of successful contracts for work on thousands of kilometres of road and that even UPA had issued 33 contracts for work on 2,000 kilometres of roads in its first few months using the documents it inherited from the NDA, beginning in early 2005, the Planning Commission forbid the National Highway Authority of India from issuing new contracts until the Committee on Infrastructure came up with its new “Model Concession Agreement” (MCA).

As Mamuni Das noted in an excellent recent article, it was not until late 2006 that the Committee on Infrastructure came out with its new MCA. Even then the contracting process could not move smoothly forward. In mid-2007, a new model Request for Qualifications document — another key document necessary to complete contracting process — was introduced. Road developers found the new model document objectionable and took the matter to the court.

The delays by the Planning Commission were compounded by a whimsical road transport and highways minister who frequently meddled in the affairs of the National Highway Authority of India, appointing as many as five chairmen to it in half as many years. Sadly, Prime Minister Singh seems not to have intervened to resolve the conflicts. This was unlike Prime Minister Vajpayee who often used his authority to settle conflicts among feuding arms of his government.

In June 2004, economist Shankar Acharya wrote about “good men” in the UPA Cabinet — Dr Singh, Mr Chidambaram and Mr Ahluwalia — arguing ‘it would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to conceive a stronger economic top team.’ Four years later, in September 2008, when he returned to the theme of “a few good men” assisting god look after India, his list had shrunken: this time around, it only included Dr Singh from the original list for securing the nuclear deal against all odds plus the newcomer Dr Y V Reddy who had served with great distinction as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

Editorial: The fall of the holy trinity

By M H Ahssan

The UPA government arguably had the best economic team, raising the hope that it will go ahead with economic reforms. However, the ‘holy trinity of reformers’ failed to live up to expectations.

Future historians will, no doubt, applaud Dr Manmohan Singh for his contributions to building a modern economy as finance minister and to freeing India of nuclear apartheid as prime minister. But they will also record the setback to reforms during his tenure as prime minister.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had contested the general election in May 2004 on a pro-reform platform. Therefore, many in the Congress interpreted its defeat as the rejection of reforms by voters. Prospects for reforms under the incoming Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) looked bleak.

Yet, when Mrs Sonia Gandhi decided to step aside in favour of Dr Manmohan Singh as prime minister, reform advocates saw a ray hope. As finance minister under Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, Dr Singh had earned the title of the chief architect of India’s economic reforms. The appointments of Messrs P Chidambaram and Montek Ahluwalia as finance Minister and deputy chairman, Planning Commission, respectively, completed what many came to call the “holy trinity” of reformers.

Sadly, however, reforms did not takeoff. The Common Minimum Programme (CMP) the UPA negotiated with its allies ruled out key labour-market reforms at the outset. As for many other reforms, Mrs Sonia Gandhi held back Dr Singh’s hand. She had him appoint the National Advisory Council (NAC) under her chairmanship with statutory powers to oversee the implementation of the CMP. Mrs Gandhi also ran the NAC from a location outside of the Prime Minister’s Office, making it easier for the anti-reform lobby within the Congress, which had lost out to Dr Singh’s reforms in the early 1990s, to regroup. The Left Front parties also found it convenient to work with Mrs Gandhi rather than Dr Singh. The National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) Scheme, UPA’s flagship policy initiative, was crafted entirely in the NAC. The legislation on special economic zones, another important UPA accomplishment, was stripped of its key labour-market reforms embedded in the original NDA Bill.

For his part, early in the term, former finance minister Chidambaram made the completion of the ongoing pension reform a high priority. Five years later, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill still awaits passage in Parliament. Further opening of the insurance sector, another item on the finance minister’s list of reforms from the outset, has suffered the same fate. The minister’s main reform successes have been trimming the small-scale industries reservation list and moving trade liberalisation forward but these reforms too have come to a standstill in the last two budgets.

The greatest disappointment from the UPA has come in the area of infrastructure (except civil aviation and railways, which are both led by dynamic ministers). The need for building the country’s roads, ports and airports at an accelerated pace had been well recognised when the UPA came to power; undertaking this task did not require any controversial legislation; and the UPA had the unusual opportunity to build on the success the NDA had already achieved.

Thus, in December 2000, the NDA had launched the process of building up the country’s highway system through Phase I of the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP). In less than 15 months, it managed to award all but one contract to convert 5,846 km of Golden Quadrilateral highway into four lanes. By November 30, 2004, less than six months after the NDA left office, work on 4,203 km had been completed. The NHDP I also included the conversion of 981 km of a total of 7,498 km of road on North-South and East-West (NSEW) highways to four lanes. By March 31, 2004, work had been completed on 588 km and was under implementation on another several hundred kilometres.

Therefore, when the UPA came to power in May 2004, it had a solid base on which to build. By all indications, the UPA was keen to seize this opportunity. It moved swiftly to appoint the Committee on Infrastructure on August 31, 2004 under the chairmanship of the PM with its secretariat at the Planning Commission.

But sadly, through Committee on Infrastructure, the Planning Commission became a major obstacle to progress. Notwithstanding the fact that the NDA had given out hundreds of successful contracts for work on thousands of kilometres of road and that even UPA had issued 33 contracts for work on 2,000 kilometres of roads in its first few months using the documents it inherited from the NDA, beginning in early 2005, the Planning Commission forbid the National Highway Authority of India from issuing new contracts until the Committee on Infrastructure came up with its new “Model Concession Agreement” (MCA).

As Mamuni Das noted in an excellent recent article, it was not until late 2006 that the Committee on Infrastructure came out with its new MCA. Even then the contracting process could not move smoothly forward. In mid-2007, a new model Request for Qualifications document — another key document necessary to complete contracting process — was introduced. Road developers found the new model document objectionable and took the matter to the court.

The delays by the Planning Commission were compounded by a whimsical road transport and highways minister who frequently meddled in the affairs of the National Highway Authority of India, appointing as many as five chairmen to it in half as many years. Sadly, Prime Minister Singh seems not to have intervened to resolve the conflicts. This was unlike Prime Minister Vajpayee who often used his authority to settle conflicts among feuding arms of his government.

In June 2004, economist Shankar Acharya wrote about “good men” in the UPA Cabinet — Dr Singh, Mr Chidambaram and Mr Ahluwalia — arguing ‘it would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to conceive a stronger economic top team.’ Four years later, in September 2008, when he returned to the theme of “a few good men” assisting god look after India, his list had shrunken: this time around, it only included Dr Singh from the original list for securing the nuclear deal against all odds plus the newcomer Dr Y V Reddy who had served with great distinction as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

CONGRESS LACKS ALLIANCE SENSE

By M H Ahssan

Party general secretary Rahul Gandhi ignites a fresh confrontation by saying that tie-ups in UP and Bihar were detrimental

LALU LABELS GRAND OLD PARTY AS SPENT FORCE IN COW BELT
With the congress alliance built around a shared view of secularism now in disarray, the grand old party and its ‘allies’ are engaged in a political trapeze to pull down each other. While Lalu Prasad Yadav, the ‘secular icon’ in the UPA, has been labelling the Congress as a spent force in the cow belt, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday ignited a fresh confrontation by saying that the alliances in UP and Bihar were detrimental to his party’s interests. In the process, the Congress, which is in need of regional crutches to retain power at the Centre, demonstrated that alliance politics is still not in its DNA.

To be fair to Mr Gandhi, he was stating a political truth — that regional players will not allow any intervention into the space occupied by them. It was the disintegration of the Congress’ rainbow coalition that led to the surge of the subaltern in the cow belt. The response for the Congress’s demand for a bigger electoral pie from the allies show their anxiety to zealously guard their respective votebanks. In any case, there has been no meaningul enagagement between the Congress and the voters of the cow belt in the past few years — something that is required to force the electorate to opt for the Congress as a political option.

But terming the alliance ‘detrimental’ to the interests of the Congress on the election eve does not make much political sense as the road to South Block passes through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other important states that are under the sway of regional parties.

The Congress, which was successful in networking with these forces, now does not have important allies in many states. While the Tamil Nadu alliance that helped the Congress’ Delhi power project in 2004 is in tatters, its existing allies — the NCP and the Trinamool Congress — are determined to undercut the Congress’ influence. If a coalition is a coperative relationship based on mutual respect and confidence, the UPA in its present form does not fit the bill.

What can complicate things further for the Congress is the fact that “pique” has replaced a cogent political strategy to deal with the allies. The Congress spokesman, who lashed out at Mr Yadav on Wednesday, said the blame for a split in the “secular votes” will fall at the RJD’s footsteps. Mr yadav retaliated by saying
that the Congress will experience its real worth in the Hindi heartland after the elections. “I do not blame Sonia Gandhi. But her party is run by Munshis and managers,” he said hinting that political content was missing in its decision-making.

But the splintering of the UPA could lead to the revival of anti-Congressism that looked politically irrelevant after the UPA experminent and the enthuisiastic engagement between the Congress and the regional parties. Although the chief regional players are claiming that they will aid the formation of a government under Manmohan Singh, these public expressions of solidarity have more to do with preventing the possibility of any split in the Muslim votes. The goings on in the Capital clearly suggest that leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Amar Singh and Sharad Pawar are working on a political realignment after the elections that would essentially lead to a diminished role for the Congress.

Mr Singh on Wednesday said that the two Yadavs — Lalu and Mulayam — would come together to take on those who want to challenge their political authrity in the cow belt. Parties like the Trinamool Congress are also willing allies in this exercise. Congress leaders themselves admit that there is lack of cohension in the Congress-Trinamool alliance in West Bengal.

CONGRESS LACKS ALLIANCE SENSE

By M H Ahssan

Party general secretary Rahul Gandhi ignites a fresh confrontation by saying that tie-ups in UP and Bihar were detrimental

LALU LABELS GRAND OLD PARTY AS SPENT FORCE IN COW BELT
With the congress alliance built around a shared view of secularism now in disarray, the grand old party and its ‘allies’ are engaged in a political trapeze to pull down each other. While Lalu Prasad Yadav, the ‘secular icon’ in the UPA, has been labelling the Congress as a spent force in the cow belt, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday ignited a fresh confrontation by saying that the alliances in UP and Bihar were detrimental to his party’s interests. In the process, the Congress, which is in need of regional crutches to retain power at the Centre, demonstrated that alliance politics is still not in its DNA.

To be fair to Mr Gandhi, he was stating a political truth — that regional players will not allow any intervention into the space occupied by them. It was the disintegration of the Congress’ rainbow coalition that led to the surge of the subaltern in the cow belt. The response for the Congress’s demand for a bigger electoral pie from the allies show their anxiety to zealously guard their respective votebanks. In any case, there has been no meaningul enagagement between the Congress and the voters of the cow belt in the past few years — something that is required to force the electorate to opt for the Congress as a political option.

But terming the alliance ‘detrimental’ to the interests of the Congress on the election eve does not make much political sense as the road to South Block passes through Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other important states that are under the sway of regional parties.

The Congress, which was successful in networking with these forces, now does not have important allies in many states. While the Tamil Nadu alliance that helped the Congress’ Delhi power project in 2004 is in tatters, its existing allies — the NCP and the Trinamool Congress — are determined to undercut the Congress’ influence. If a coalition is a coperative relationship based on mutual respect and confidence, the UPA in its present form does not fit the bill.

What can complicate things further for the Congress is the fact that “pique” has replaced a cogent political strategy to deal with the allies. The Congress spokesman, who lashed out at Mr Yadav on Wednesday, said the blame for a split in the “secular votes” will fall at the RJD’s footsteps. Mr yadav retaliated by saying
that the Congress will experience its real worth in the Hindi heartland after the elections. “I do not blame Sonia Gandhi. But her party is run by Munshis and managers,” he said hinting that political content was missing in its decision-making.

But the splintering of the UPA could lead to the revival of anti-Congressism that looked politically irrelevant after the UPA experminent and the enthuisiastic engagement between the Congress and the regional parties. Although the chief regional players are claiming that they will aid the formation of a government under Manmohan Singh, these public expressions of solidarity have more to do with preventing the possibility of any split in the Muslim votes. The goings on in the Capital clearly suggest that leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Amar Singh and Sharad Pawar are working on a political realignment after the elections that would essentially lead to a diminished role for the Congress.

Mr Singh on Wednesday said that the two Yadavs — Lalu and Mulayam — would come together to take on those who want to challenge their political authrity in the cow belt. Parties like the Trinamool Congress are also willing allies in this exercise. Congress leaders themselves admit that there is lack of cohension in the Congress-Trinamool alliance in West Bengal.

RICE STAPLE FOR BJP TOO

By M H Ahssan

Main opposition party, that till recently maintained that economic populism is anti-welfare, is going all out on populist announcements in its manifesto

Jettisoning its reticence to populism, BJP’s manifesto for the ensuing electoral battle will better Congress poll pledge and offer rice at Rs 2 per kg to BPL families across the country. BJP, which till not so long ago maintained that economic populism is anti-welfarism, has decided to go whole hog to make a dent in Congress’ aam admi plank.

The rice offer had paid handsome dividends to BJP in the just-held assembly polls in Chhattisgarh. With women comprising half of the electorate, the party is also likely to have a special package for the girl child. This will include extending the Madhya Pradesh government’s “Ladli Laxmi Yojana’’ to the rest of the country for encouraging girl students to pursue education at least up to the high school level.

The Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh had on April 1, 2007, with much fanfare launched the scheme to sell rice at Rs 3 per kg to all 34 lakh BPL families in the state. By ensuring a corruption-free delivery system, the state government won the hearts of the people. Overwhelmed by the goodwill generated by the programme, BJP, in its manifesto for the assembly election held in 2008, promised to bring down the price of rice to Rs 2 per kg for BPL families, and at Re one per kg for all antyodaya cardholders.

The success of the scheme was seen as one of the factors behind the saffron party’s victory for the second consecutive time in the state. The party, if voted to power in the general election, wants to extend it to rest of the country, even if it meant causing a huge burden on the state exchequer.

The party would also like to replicate the Ladli Laxmi Yojana, being successfully executed by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh, in the other states. If BJP was voted back to power in the state in late 2008, the pro-women welfare schemes unveiled by the chief minister after taking over the reins of the state three years ago, played a big role. The Ladli Laxmi Yojana was one of the prominent success stories, and it so moved the party’s prime ministerial candidate, L K Advani, that he was constrained to eulogise it in his personal blog.

“The principal aim of the scheme is to eliminate dropout rate among girl students and to encourage them to study at least upto the pre-college level. Under the scheme, the state government buys savings certificates of Rs 6,000 each year for five consecutive years for every girl born into a family. The girl gets Rs 2,000 after she completes the 5th standard, another Rs 4,000 after she completes the 8th standard, Rs 7,500 after she completes the 10th standard; Rs 200 per month in her 11th standard; and a lumpsum amount of Rs 1,18,000 after she enters the 12th standard or, alternatively, attains the age of 18,’’ Mr Advani noted in his blog.

“It is my promise that, if elected to form the next government, the NDA will implement the Ladli Laxmi Yojana in every state. It will be our endeavour to make every girl in India a “Lakhpati” by the time she attains maturity and is ready to enter a new phase of her life. As far as the girl child is concerned, her care cannot be the responsibility of her parents alone. It is equally the responsibility of the government,’’ the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate vowed.

The party’s election manifesto, likely to be unveiled in the next few days, is also expected to weave in issues aimed at keeping its core Hindutva constituency in good humour. In keeping with this, BJP is expected to reiterate its principled opposition to religion-based quota being advocated by the Congress-led UPA.

Congress’ stand on terrorism is also expected to come in for a severe rap in the manifesto. The principle ruling party at the Centre, BJP maintains, has skirted the nub of the issue, i.e., cross-border terrorism, and has also remained silent on infiltration from across the Pakistani and Bangladeshi borders.

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi led the party’s attack against the Congress on the issue. “In their manifesto, no importance has been attached to national security issues. Congress is completely silent on how to fight terrorism, how to protect the country from naxalism and how to rid the country of insurgency,’’ he told newspersons in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. “Congress attaches no importance to the country’s security, the security of ordinary citizens. For them, the only thing important is votebank politics,’’ Mr Modi added.

With senior citizens emerging as an important category, the BJP manifesto is likely to outline a series of measures for their welfare, especially as their investments had been hit hard in the current round of economic downturn.

BJP, while backing the NREGS, is expected to suggest measures to plug the loopholes in the scheme’s delivery system, which have exposed the CAG in its audit report.

The party is also expected to censure the Congress-led UPA government’s failure to prevent job cuts. As many as 1.5 crore jobs had been lost in the last five years because of the “faulty’’ policies pursued by the Centre, and the party is likely to propose a hefty increase in spending on large infrastructure projects so as to be able to create more jobs.

The party has already launched its IT vision, promising to extend the revolution to every nook and corner of the country.

MORE POPULISM
- The following are the likely highlights of BJP’s manifesto:
- Rice/wheat at Rs 2 per kg to BPL families
- To protect domestic industry from cheap imports
- Welfare scheme for girl child on the lines of MP’s Ladli Laxmi Yojana
- Reiteration of Hindutva issues
- Opposition to religion-based quota
- Highlighting of cross-border terrorism and infiltration from Bangladesh
- Welfare measures for senior citizens following economic downturn
- Criticism of UPA for ‘inability’ to prevent job cuts
- IT vision, Promise to extend IT revolution to every part of the country

RICE STAPLE FOR BJP TOO

By M H Ahssan

Main opposition party, that till recently maintained that economic populism is anti-welfare, is going all out on populist announcements in its manifesto

Jettisoning its reticence to populism, BJP’s manifesto for the ensuing electoral battle will better Congress poll pledge and offer rice at Rs 2 per kg to BPL families across the country. BJP, which till not so long ago maintained that economic populism is anti-welfarism, has decided to go whole hog to make a dent in Congress’ aam admi plank.

The rice offer had paid handsome dividends to BJP in the just-held assembly polls in Chhattisgarh. With women comprising half of the electorate, the party is also likely to have a special package for the girl child. This will include extending the Madhya Pradesh government’s “Ladli Laxmi Yojana’’ to the rest of the country for encouraging girl students to pursue education at least up to the high school level.

The Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh had on April 1, 2007, with much fanfare launched the scheme to sell rice at Rs 3 per kg to all 34 lakh BPL families in the state. By ensuring a corruption-free delivery system, the state government won the hearts of the people. Overwhelmed by the goodwill generated by the programme, BJP, in its manifesto for the assembly election held in 2008, promised to bring down the price of rice to Rs 2 per kg for BPL families, and at Re one per kg for all antyodaya cardholders.

The success of the scheme was seen as one of the factors behind the saffron party’s victory for the second consecutive time in the state. The party, if voted to power in the general election, wants to extend it to rest of the country, even if it meant causing a huge burden on the state exchequer.

The party would also like to replicate the Ladli Laxmi Yojana, being successfully executed by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh, in the other states. If BJP was voted back to power in the state in late 2008, the pro-women welfare schemes unveiled by the chief minister after taking over the reins of the state three years ago, played a big role. The Ladli Laxmi Yojana was one of the prominent success stories, and it so moved the party’s prime ministerial candidate, L K Advani, that he was constrained to eulogise it in his personal blog.

“The principal aim of the scheme is to eliminate dropout rate among girl students and to encourage them to study at least upto the pre-college level. Under the scheme, the state government buys savings certificates of Rs 6,000 each year for five consecutive years for every girl born into a family. The girl gets Rs 2,000 after she completes the 5th standard, another Rs 4,000 after she completes the 8th standard, Rs 7,500 after she completes the 10th standard; Rs 200 per month in her 11th standard; and a lumpsum amount of Rs 1,18,000 after she enters the 12th standard or, alternatively, attains the age of 18,’’ Mr Advani noted in his blog.

“It is my promise that, if elected to form the next government, the NDA will implement the Ladli Laxmi Yojana in every state. It will be our endeavour to make every girl in India a “Lakhpati” by the time she attains maturity and is ready to enter a new phase of her life. As far as the girl child is concerned, her care cannot be the responsibility of her parents alone. It is equally the responsibility of the government,’’ the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate vowed.

The party’s election manifesto, likely to be unveiled in the next few days, is also expected to weave in issues aimed at keeping its core Hindutva constituency in good humour. In keeping with this, BJP is expected to reiterate its principled opposition to religion-based quota being advocated by the Congress-led UPA.

Congress’ stand on terrorism is also expected to come in for a severe rap in the manifesto. The principle ruling party at the Centre, BJP maintains, has skirted the nub of the issue, i.e., cross-border terrorism, and has also remained silent on infiltration from across the Pakistani and Bangladeshi borders.

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi led the party’s attack against the Congress on the issue. “In their manifesto, no importance has been attached to national security issues. Congress is completely silent on how to fight terrorism, how to protect the country from naxalism and how to rid the country of insurgency,’’ he told newspersons in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. “Congress attaches no importance to the country’s security, the security of ordinary citizens. For them, the only thing important is votebank politics,’’ Mr Modi added.

With senior citizens emerging as an important category, the BJP manifesto is likely to outline a series of measures for their welfare, especially as their investments had been hit hard in the current round of economic downturn.

BJP, while backing the NREGS, is expected to suggest measures to plug the loopholes in the scheme’s delivery system, which have exposed the CAG in its audit report.

The party is also expected to censure the Congress-led UPA government’s failure to prevent job cuts. As many as 1.5 crore jobs had been lost in the last five years because of the “faulty’’ policies pursued by the Centre, and the party is likely to propose a hefty increase in spending on large infrastructure projects so as to be able to create more jobs.

The party has already launched its IT vision, promising to extend the revolution to every nook and corner of the country.

MORE POPULISM
- The following are the likely highlights of BJP’s manifesto:
- Rice/wheat at Rs 2 per kg to BPL families
- To protect domestic industry from cheap imports
- Welfare scheme for girl child on the lines of MP’s Ladli Laxmi Yojana
- Reiteration of Hindutva issues
- Opposition to religion-based quota
- Highlighting of cross-border terrorism and infiltration from Bangladesh
- Welfare measures for senior citizens following economic downturn
- Criticism of UPA for ‘inability’ to prevent job cuts
- IT vision, Promise to extend IT revolution to every part of the country

Travel cos eye IPL safari

By Ruchi Khanna

The IPL bandwagon is on its way to South Africa but the Indian spectator is unlikely to undertake the African Safari. Travel companies TOI spoke to said the economic uncertainty has dampened the spirits of die-hard Indian fans. Travel agencies are in the process of formulating special packages. They, however, hope to cash in on the World Twenty20 Championship to be held in England right after the IPL. The reason: Club commitment is no match for national fervour.

India’s loss is certainly South Africa’s gain. According to estimates, inbound tourism and hotel revenues were expected to surge by nearly 15% had the IPL stayed on in India. Many travel companies are reluctant to formulate strategies but some are going ahead because “cricket sells’’.

Kashmira Commissariat, head, outbound division, Kuoni India, talks from experience. “SOTC Sport Abroad was the official travel agent for World Cup in 2007 and the inaugural ICC T20, which India won in 2007. Our packages received a marvellous response. South Africa has been lucky for the Indian team. With packages starting from Rs 60,000 onwards for 3-4 days, we will offer various schemes during the IPL.’’

Abhijeet Patil, CEO, Raja Rani Travels, begs to differ. “Running after cricket in these times is as good as chasing wild geese. We are not giving it a serious thought.’’ A top executive with another travel company, who didn’t want to be named, echoed Patil’s views. “Where is the ‘national spirit’ factor? In these tough times, why would an Indian fan go to watch an IPL match with teams made up of players from different countries. It’s just not worth it,’’ he says.

England may have lost out on hosting the IPL, but fans are looking forward to the ICC World T20 which begins a few days after the IPL ends. Deepak Melwani of Prime Flyers is not offering any deals for the IPL. “Well, I’m going to England and I’m sure more people will come to me for flight tickets as they identify more with India than an IPL team. And it’ll make more sense as we are the defending champs.’’

Melwani is a member of the Cricket Club of India (CCI) and thanks to a partnership between the CCI and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), he’ll get tickets to games at Lord’s. Not everyone’s as lucky but the odds certainly favour an India-Pakistan match to a Mumbai Indians-Kolkata Knight Riders encounter — given that both are being played abroad.

Shaikh Abdulla, manager, revenue generation, Akbar Travels, says he has decided to play the waiting card for the time being. “People are more concerned about the elections, and their children’s exams. If the IPL gains steam, fans will be ready to spend. So, we are looking to formulate a package for the business end of the tournament.’’ That makes sense as the semifinals and final will be better crowd-pullers. “We received a superb response for the T20 World Cup in 2007. The package was around Rs 70,000 for five days. This time the price of the package may be slightly low. Nothing has been finalised as the fixtures aren’t out as yet,’’ he says.

Opinion: Secularists aren’t saints

By M H Ahssan

Congress leaders are understandably the most vociferous in displaying righteous outrage at the unfortunate speech delivered by Varun Gandhi, just as they spare no occasion to castigate Narendra Modi for the Gujarat riots of 2002. However, their words would have more credibility if they expressed comparable shame at the fact that their party led the way in showing that riots and massacres can be used as means to manipulate vote banks. Apart from the infamous massacre of Sikhs in 1984, the 1970s and 1980s witnessed a series of communal riots presided over by the Congress party in places like Meerut, Malliana, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, Bhiwandi, Bhagalpur, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

The arrest of Congress leader Meghsingh Chaudhary at the instance of the Supreme Courtappointed Special Investigative Team for his active participation in the Gulbarga Society massacre in Ahmedabad in 2002 confirms what knowledgeable people in Gujarat have for long alleged — that many Congressmen enthusiastically joined hands with members of the sangh parivar in the anti-Muslim riots of 2002.

Without doubt, serious problems do arise when politicians decide to use select religious symbols and manipulate religious sentiments of people in order to acquire power. However, history is witness to the fact that religion and politics do not make as lethal a mix as do politics and violence.

We would do well to remember that many of the highly venerated political figures of the 20th century have been those who brought the best values of their faith traditions to uplift politics to new moral heights.By contrast,many of those who claimed to be secular and, therefore, treated matters of faith with disdain, caused massive genocides and human suffering.

The US is secular but that has not prevented it from polarising global politics on religious lines. Stalin did not use a religious justification while carrying out his genocide of the Soviet Union’s peasantry. He did so in the garb of a secular cause, namely, “collectivisation of land” and the uprooting of those he called “kulaks”. Nor did he confine his waves of assassinations and purges to those with religious beliefs. He claimed that he killed people in the name of building a secular and socialist republic.

Jinnah was not religious minded. He too merely used certain religious symbols and Islamic slogans to mobilise Muslims against the Hindus as a political force. Jinnah’s aim was secular in so far as he acquired political power for himself. Though claiming to defend the political and economic interests of Muslims of the subcontinent, he left behind many more millions of Muslims in India as a mistrusted minority than could be accommodated within the absurd geographical borders of the new ‘Islamic’ state he created for them.

By contrast, Mahatma Gandhi’s politics and world view were rooted in Hindu Sanatan Dharma. Gandhi chose truth and nonviolence as his guiding principles, not any ideology or “ism”. He drew some of his inspiration from the bhakti-Sufi traditions rather than the ideology of modern-day secularism, as defined by the West. That did not prevent him from being a historic global role model of ethical politics. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan derived strength from his unshakeable faith in Islam. That did not prevent him from becoming Gandhi’s most valued colleague in promoting the cause of communal harmony and freedom from colonial rule. Aung San Suu Kyi and the Dalai Lama make no secret of the fact that they draw inspiration from their Buddhist world view. Martin Luther King drew his strength from Christianity.

It is worth noting that even Marxists and socialists in India have had to deploy the wisdom of men like Kabir, Nanak, Bulleh Shah and Namdev whenever they decide to spread the message of communal harmony as a counter to the divisive agenda of some Hindutvavadis. All these bhakts and Sufis derived their world view from their deep connection with the Divine who they saw manifested in every living being, rather than through secular education. In short, despite the inspiration the leaders discussed above took from their religious ideals, they remain outstanding examples of politics based on compassion and humane values.

Vital ingredient for bird flu drug found in India

By Sakshi Aiyyer

Shikimic Acid Used For Making ‘Tamiflu’ Has Been Discovered In 7 Plants Species Of Western Ghats

Shikimic acid, the most vital ingredient used to make Oseltamivir, (Tamiflu) the only known drug to combat the deadly bird flu, has been found in trees in the Western Ghats.

Scientists from Bangalore have found at least seven plant species that yielded shikimic acid from the Western Ghat forests, known as one of the world’s 10 hottest biodiversity hotspots.

The team from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, said it scanned through 210 plant species to shortlist “a few promising species whose leaves yielded shikimic acid level higher than 1%”.

Presently, the majority of the acid’s global availability is met by China because it is extracted from the fruits of the Chinese star anise tree, that contains up to 5% of the acid. But the 10-metre tree attains its seed-bearing stage after six years of growth, making it unlikely that the growing market demand of the acid would be met by the single source alone.

The fruits of this tree are traditionally used in China for culinary and medicinal purposes as they contain 2%-7% of shikimic acid, the highest reported estimate from plants.

Interestingly, the trees discovered by Indian scientists have yielded 1%-5.02% of the acid, with a plant species called Araucaria Excelsa yielding almost 5.02% of shikimic acid. The most significant advantages of the newly identified Indian sources is that the estimates are from leaves and not fruits as is the case with star anise.

Reporting their finding in the latest issue of the medical journal ‘Current Science’, the scientists said a total of 193 angiosperms (flowering plants) belonging to 59 families and 17 gymnosperms (plants in which the seeds are not enclosed in an ovary) belonging to five families were collected for the study. “Only 7 of the 193 angiosperm species yielded shikimic acid in excess of 1% while the rest yielded no or low shikimic acid. The most promising species were Calophyllum Apetalum (4.10% shikimic acid). All the 17 gymnosperms had detectable levels of shikimic acid with six species accumulating greater than 1%. Among these, Araucaria Excelsa yielding almost 5.02% of shikimic acid,” the scientists said.

They said that since so much of the acid is being used for industrial and pharmaceutical uses, it is imperative that newer sources of this chemical are identified. It is estimated that nearly two-thirds of the requirement of shikimic acid is being sourced from plants while the remaining one-third is obtained from genetically engineered E Coli.

The team added, “The leads presented here appear more promising than most others. In few of these species, the estimates are comparable to those reported from star anise. Because the estimates are from leaves, the sheer volume of the biomass offered by the leaves would render it economically feasible.

This finding of the new source of shikimic acid can potentially be used to meet the emerging needs of both the domestic and international markets.”

Union health ministry sources said, “Getting the raw material to make Tamiflu in India has been our biggest hurdle. At present, it is found only in China and Germany.” Tamiflu, the drug which blocks the replication of the flu virus, is presently being stockpiled by most countries as a precautionary measure in case of an outbreak of the bird flu among humans.

The price of shikimic acid has, therefore, skyrocketed. Pharma companies in India say the acid, which used to cost $40 a kg earlier, now costs around $1,000 per kg.

Vital ingredient for bird flu drug found in India

By Sakshi Aiyyer

Shikimic Acid Used For Making ‘Tamiflu’ Has Been Discovered In 7 Plants Species Of Western Ghats

Shikimic acid, the most vital ingredient used to make Oseltamivir, (Tamiflu) the only known drug to combat the deadly bird flu, has been found in trees in the Western Ghats.

Scientists from Bangalore have found at least seven plant species that yielded shikimic acid from the Western Ghat forests, known as one of the world’s 10 hottest biodiversity hotspots.

The team from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, said it scanned through 210 plant species to shortlist “a few promising species whose leaves yielded shikimic acid level higher than 1%”.

Presently, the majority of the acid’s global availability is met by China because it is extracted from the fruits of the Chinese star anise tree, that contains up to 5% of the acid. But the 10-metre tree attains its seed-bearing stage after six years of growth, making it unlikely that the growing market demand of the acid would be met by the single source alone.

The fruits of this tree are traditionally used in China for culinary and medicinal purposes as they contain 2%-7% of shikimic acid, the highest reported estimate from plants.

Interestingly, the trees discovered by Indian scientists have yielded 1%-5.02% of the acid, with a plant species called Araucaria Excelsa yielding almost 5.02% of shikimic acid. The most significant advantages of the newly identified Indian sources is that the estimates are from leaves and not fruits as is the case with star anise.

Reporting their finding in the latest issue of the medical journal ‘Current Science’, the scientists said a total of 193 angiosperms (flowering plants) belonging to 59 families and 17 gymnosperms (plants in which the seeds are not enclosed in an ovary) belonging to five families were collected for the study. “Only 7 of the 193 angiosperm species yielded shikimic acid in excess of 1% while the rest yielded no or low shikimic acid. The most promising species were Calophyllum Apetalum (4.10% shikimic acid). All the 17 gymnosperms had detectable levels of shikimic acid with six species accumulating greater than 1%. Among these, Araucaria Excelsa yielding almost 5.02% of shikimic acid,” the scientists said.

They said that since so much of the acid is being used for industrial and pharmaceutical uses, it is imperative that newer sources of this chemical are identified. It is estimated that nearly two-thirds of the requirement of shikimic acid is being sourced from plants while the remaining one-third is obtained from genetically engineered E Coli.

The team added, “The leads presented here appear more promising than most others. In few of these species, the estimates are comparable to those reported from star anise. Because the estimates are from leaves, the sheer volume of the biomass offered by the leaves would render it economically feasible.

This finding of the new source of shikimic acid can potentially be used to meet the emerging needs of both the domestic and international markets.”

Union health ministry sources said, “Getting the raw material to make Tamiflu in India has been our biggest hurdle. At present, it is found only in China and Germany.” Tamiflu, the drug which blocks the replication of the flu virus, is presently being stockpiled by most countries as a precautionary measure in case of an outbreak of the bird flu among humans.

The price of shikimic acid has, therefore, skyrocketed. Pharma companies in India say the acid, which used to cost $40 a kg earlier, now costs around $1,000 per kg.

Vital ingredient for bird flu drug found in India

By Sakshi Aiyyer

Shikimic Acid Used For Making ‘Tamiflu’ Has Been Discovered In 7 Plants Species Of Western Ghats

Shikimic acid, the most vital ingredient used to make Oseltamivir, (Tamiflu) the only known drug to combat the deadly bird flu, has been found in trees in the Western Ghats.

Scientists from Bangalore have found at least seven plant species that yielded shikimic acid from the Western Ghat forests, known as one of the world’s 10 hottest biodiversity hotspots.

The team from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, said it scanned through 210 plant species to shortlist “a few promising species whose leaves yielded shikimic acid level higher than 1%”.

Presently, the majority of the acid’s global availability is met by China because it is extracted from the fruits of the Chinese star anise tree, that contains up to 5% of the acid. But the 10-metre tree attains its seed-bearing stage after six years of growth, making it unlikely that the growing market demand of the acid would be met by the single source alone.

The fruits of this tree are traditionally used in China for culinary and medicinal purposes as they contain 2%-7% of shikimic acid, the highest reported estimate from plants.

Interestingly, the trees discovered by Indian scientists have yielded 1%-5.02% of the acid, with a plant species called Araucaria Excelsa yielding almost 5.02% of shikimic acid. The most significant advantages of the newly identified Indian sources is that the estimates are from leaves and not fruits as is the case with star anise.

Reporting their finding in the latest issue of the medical journal ‘Current Science’, the scientists said a total of 193 angiosperms (flowering plants) belonging to 59 families and 17 gymnosperms (plants in which the seeds are not enclosed in an ovary) belonging to five families were collected for the study. “Only 7 of the 193 angiosperm species yielded shikimic acid in excess of 1% while the rest yielded no or low shikimic acid. The most promising species were Calophyllum Apetalum (4.10% shikimic acid). All the 17 gymnosperms had detectable levels of shikimic acid with six species accumulating greater than 1%. Among these, Araucaria Excelsa yielding almost 5.02% of shikimic acid,” the scientists said.

They said that since so much of the acid is being used for industrial and pharmaceutical uses, it is imperative that newer sources of this chemical are identified. It is estimated that nearly two-thirds of the requirement of shikimic acid is being sourced from plants while the remaining one-third is obtained from genetically engineered E Coli.

The team added, “The leads presented here appear more promising than most others. In few of these species, the estimates are comparable to those reported from star anise. Because the estimates are from leaves, the sheer volume of the biomass offered by the leaves would render it economically feasible.

This finding of the new source of shikimic acid can potentially be used to meet the emerging needs of both the domestic and international markets.”

Union health ministry sources said, “Getting the raw material to make Tamiflu in India has been our biggest hurdle. At present, it is found only in China and Germany.” Tamiflu, the drug which blocks the replication of the flu virus, is presently being stockpiled by most countries as a precautionary measure in case of an outbreak of the bird flu among humans.

The price of shikimic acid has, therefore, skyrocketed. Pharma companies in India say the acid, which used to cost $40 a kg earlier, now costs around $1,000 per kg.

India Votes: Behind every leader…

By Vrushali Menon

…..Is A Woman Who Is Quietly Steering The Course of Poll Strategy

They play a powerful and key role in charting the future course of political parties in the state — but entirely from behind the scenes. In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, four women have emerged crucial power brokers, quietly guiding alliance talks and giving that vital nudge that could help make political history in Tamil Nadu.

Chief minister M Karunanidhi’s wife, Rajathi Ammal, was part of the hectic negotiations to try and rope in a difficult PMK. The much-in-demand actor Vijayakanth played his cards close to his chest, but was guided by wife Premalatha, whose influence was evident in one of the key demands of the party — the high profile Coimbatore seat for the DMDK’s silent steerer. Settled in Delhi after her husband succeeded in getting the hefty health portfolio, Sowmya Anbumani is now used to rubbing shoulders with the powersthat-be in the capital. So, the PMK’s wish-list to the Congress included two Rajya Sabha seats — one for Anbumani Ramadoss and the other for Sowmya.

Last, but not the least in terms of the clout she wields, is Sasikala Natarajan. While the ‘chinna amma’ (junior amma) left it to AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa to cobble together what could prove to be a winning combination in the state, she will be an active participant in dishing out constituencies. Besides wielding strong influence in the Poes Garden household, Sasikala is the back-seat driver when it comes to handling party affairs. This time too the AIADMK’s list of candidates will be a line-up of her own loyalists and foot soldiers.

In the thick of alliance negotiations, when DMK and AIADMK were making a pitch to lure reluctant allies, Rajathi Ammal had, with her husband’s approval, opened her own communication channel from her plush CIT colony residence to pull the PMK back into the DMKCongress combine.

“Amma was negotiating with doctor aiyya (PMK leader S Ramadoss) through a industrialist friend. Things were going smoothly until a section in the party bungled it,” said a close family friend. It’s a different matter that PMK might have flown the coop and taken shelter in a rival camp, but Rajathi Ammal has proved that her capabilities extend beyond that of a trouble-shooter for senior party leaders.

In PMK, Sowmya Anbumani is the driving force behind ‘Pasumai Thayagam’ (Green Motherland), an environment organisation backed by the party. But her ambitions now stretch beyond merely ushering in the green revolution. “If a Rajya Sabha seat is difficult then Sowmya is likely to get a LS ticket so that she could be a part of the power dispensation at the centre,” said a well-wisher.

There are few decisions that actor Vijayakanth takes without consulting his wife, Premalatha. Self-effacing but confident, Premalatha has ensured that every crucial decision regarding DMDK is taken only after consultations with her and her brother, LK Sudheesh, the party’s youth wing secretary. Even in the pre-Independence era, the Dravidian movement has seen far-sighted, progressive leaders like Periyar espousing the women’s cause and demanding equal rights for them. But today, it is a different kind of power that women behind high-profile political leaders in Tamil Nadu are wielding.

India Votes: Behind every leader…

By Vrushali Menon

…..Is A Woman Who Is Quietly Steering The Course of Poll Strategy

They play a powerful and key role in charting the future course of political parties in the state — but entirely from behind the scenes. In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, four women have emerged crucial power brokers, quietly guiding alliance talks and giving that vital nudge that could help make political history in Tamil Nadu.

Chief minister M Karunanidhi’s wife, Rajathi Ammal, was part of the hectic negotiations to try and rope in a difficult PMK. The much-in-demand actor Vijayakanth played his cards close to his chest, but was guided by wife Premalatha, whose influence was evident in one of the key demands of the party — the high profile Coimbatore seat for the DMDK’s silent steerer. Settled in Delhi after her husband succeeded in getting the hefty health portfolio, Sowmya Anbumani is now used to rubbing shoulders with the powersthat-be in the capital. So, the PMK’s wish-list to the Congress included two Rajya Sabha seats — one for Anbumani Ramadoss and the other for Sowmya.

Last, but not the least in terms of the clout she wields, is Sasikala Natarajan. While the ‘chinna amma’ (junior amma) left it to AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa to cobble together what could prove to be a winning combination in the state, she will be an active participant in dishing out constituencies. Besides wielding strong influence in the Poes Garden household, Sasikala is the back-seat driver when it comes to handling party affairs. This time too the AIADMK’s list of candidates will be a line-up of her own loyalists and foot soldiers.

In the thick of alliance negotiations, when DMK and AIADMK were making a pitch to lure reluctant allies, Rajathi Ammal had, with her husband’s approval, opened her own communication channel from her plush CIT colony residence to pull the PMK back into the DMKCongress combine.

“Amma was negotiating with doctor aiyya (PMK leader S Ramadoss) through a industrialist friend. Things were going smoothly until a section in the party bungled it,” said a close family friend. It’s a different matter that PMK might have flown the coop and taken shelter in a rival camp, but Rajathi Ammal has proved that her capabilities extend beyond that of a trouble-shooter for senior party leaders.

In PMK, Sowmya Anbumani is the driving force behind ‘Pasumai Thayagam’ (Green Motherland), an environment organisation backed by the party. But her ambitions now stretch beyond merely ushering in the green revolution. “If a Rajya Sabha seat is difficult then Sowmya is likely to get a LS ticket so that she could be a part of the power dispensation at the centre,” said a well-wisher.

There are few decisions that actor Vijayakanth takes without consulting his wife, Premalatha. Self-effacing but confident, Premalatha has ensured that every crucial decision regarding DMDK is taken only after consultations with her and her brother, LK Sudheesh, the party’s youth wing secretary. Even in the pre-Independence era, the Dravidian movement has seen far-sighted, progressive leaders like Periyar espousing the women’s cause and demanding equal rights for them. But today, it is a different kind of power that women behind high-profile political leaders in Tamil Nadu are wielding.

Cheap rice stirs poll pot in India

By M H Ahssan

Do promises of hugely subsidised rice for the poor prove a gamechanger in elections? This a question that stares us in the face as parties queue up to shower rice on the voter. This is certainly not the first time promises of cheap grain have been made, but the idea seems to have gained currency much more than in the past.

So why is the idea suddenly so hot, even though it was first offered 42 years ago? In 1967, DMK pledged it would give in Tamil Nadu three measures of rice for one rupee. That was the first time it swept to power in the state. Ironically, the promise was not quite fulfilled.

NTR Rama Rao took a leaf out of Tamil Nadu in 1983 when he borrowed Anna’s winning formula and offered rice at Rs 2 per kg. His newly formed TDP ended up winning more than two-thirds of the seats in the assembly, a stunning achievement considering that the party was so new that its MLAs were officially characterized as “independents’’ — possibly the only occasion when independents have won a majority in an election.

That too was 26 years ago. But suddenly last year, it was the Big Idea for politicians. In 2008, as many as six states saw parties promising, or governments giving, subsidised grain to the poor. The year began with the Chhattisgarh government introducing a scheme of 35 kg of rice at Rs 3 per kg for families below the poverty line (BPL). In April, the Madhya Pradesh government followed suit, announcing 20 kg of wheat at Rs 3 per kg or 20 kg of rice at Rs 4.5 per kg for poor.

In the same month, the Andhra Pradesh government launched the Rs 2 a kilo rice scheme for BPL families and in neighbouring Karnataka the BJP made a similar promise a key plank in its elec tion manifesto. In August, Naveen Pat naik in Orissa also declared that the state would provide 25 kg of rice at Rs 2 per kg to BPL families and also to those above the poverty line in the districts of Kala handi, Bolangir and Koraput.

In September last, M Karunanidhi chose the occasion of C Annadurai ‘ birth anniversary to announce that all ration card holders would be given rice at Re 1 per kg, TN having already intro duced a 2-rupee scheme in 2006 in fulfill ing an election promise made by DMK.

Look at the electoral dividends and you’ll realise why the idea is so hot Karunanidhi in TN, Shivraj Chauhan in MP, Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh and Yediyurappa in Karnataka all won elec tions following the promise or delivery of cheap grain. Patnaik had the satis faction of a stupendous show in the local body elections that followed, while YS Ra jasekhara Reddy is yet to find out whether cheap rice will do the trick for him.

History also suggests that every time one party promises something like this the opponents follow suit, but the first one to make the promise seems to have a first-mover advantage. The UPA will be hoping that is indeed the case and that its implementation of the rural employ ment guarantee scheme will give its lat est promise added credibility. The NDA on the other hand, will hope that match ing or bettering the promise will level the playing field.

SC panel slams rice politics

The poll-eve race among political parties to promise food grains at cheap rates to the poor, when implemented, is counter-productive, warns the Justice D P Wadhwa Committee in its report submitted to the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Set up by the Supreme Court in 2006 for a reality check on the health of the working of the public distribution system (PDS), the report said: “PDS system is inefficient and corrupt. There is an unholy nexus between the transporters, fair price (FP) shop owners and officials of the department of food and civil supply.”

Cheap rice stirs poll pot in India

By M H Ahssan

Do promises of hugely subsidised rice for the poor prove a gamechanger in elections? This a question that stares us in the face as parties queue up to shower rice on the voter. This is certainly not the first time promises of cheap grain have been made, but the idea seems to have gained currency much more than in the past.

So why is the idea suddenly so hot, even though it was first offered 42 years ago? In 1967, DMK pledged it would give in Tamil Nadu three measures of rice for one rupee. That was the first time it swept to power in the state. Ironically, the promise was not quite fulfilled.

NTR Rama Rao took a leaf out of Tamil Nadu in 1983 when he borrowed Anna’s winning formula and offered rice at Rs 2 per kg. His newly formed TDP ended up winning more than two-thirds of the seats in the assembly, a stunning achievement considering that the party was so new that its MLAs were officially characterized as “independents’’ — possibly the only occasion when independents have won a majority in an election.

That too was 26 years ago. But suddenly last year, it was the Big Idea for politicians. In 2008, as many as six states saw parties promising, or governments giving, subsidised grain to the poor. The year began with the Chhattisgarh government introducing a scheme of 35 kg of rice at Rs 3 per kg for families below the poverty line (BPL). In April, the Madhya Pradesh government followed suit, announcing 20 kg of wheat at Rs 3 per kg or 20 kg of rice at Rs 4.5 per kg for poor.

In the same month, the Andhra Pradesh government launched the Rs 2 a kilo rice scheme for BPL families and in neighbouring Karnataka the BJP made a similar promise a key plank in its elec tion manifesto. In August, Naveen Pat naik in Orissa also declared that the state would provide 25 kg of rice at Rs 2 per kg to BPL families and also to those above the poverty line in the districts of Kala handi, Bolangir and Koraput.

In September last, M Karunanidhi chose the occasion of C Annadurai ‘ birth anniversary to announce that all ration card holders would be given rice at Re 1 per kg, TN having already intro duced a 2-rupee scheme in 2006 in fulfill ing an election promise made by DMK.

Look at the electoral dividends and you’ll realise why the idea is so hot Karunanidhi in TN, Shivraj Chauhan in MP, Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh and Yediyurappa in Karnataka all won elec tions following the promise or delivery of cheap grain. Patnaik had the satis faction of a stupendous show in the local body elections that followed, while YS Ra jasekhara Reddy is yet to find out whether cheap rice will do the trick for him.

History also suggests that every time one party promises something like this the opponents follow suit, but the first one to make the promise seems to have a first-mover advantage. The UPA will be hoping that is indeed the case and that its implementation of the rural employ ment guarantee scheme will give its lat est promise added credibility. The NDA on the other hand, will hope that match ing or bettering the promise will level the playing field.

SC panel slams rice politics
The poll-eve race among political parties to promise food grains at cheap rates to the poor, when implemented, is counter-productive, warns the Justice D P Wadhwa Committee in its report submitted to the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Set up by the Supreme Court in 2006 for a reality check on the health of the working of the public distribution system (PDS), the report said: “PDS system is inefficient and corrupt. There is an unholy nexus between the transporters, fair price (FP) shop owners and officials of the department of food and civil supply.”

Poll Scenario: Is JP learning tricks of the trade?

By Ayaan Khan & Swati Reddy

Lok Satta’s claim of offering ‘new politics for a new generation’ is possibly just another election rhetoric, if recent incidents are any indicators.

The social group-turned-political party making its debut this election, banking heavily on its ‘clean’ image has already shown signs of double-speak and even rot in its ranks, say observers.

Take for instance, Lok Satta founder Jayaprakash Narayan’s visit to Nellore last week. It was touted as Narayan’s ‘Gandhi-like’ endeavour, as he boarded a secondclass compartment in the train with a media contingent to capture him walking his talk.

But as it turned out, Narayan’s simplistic journey lasted as long as the cameras were trained on him as he promptly took a flight back to Hyderabad from Tirupati, where he went from Nellore.

The scribes, many of them women accompanying ‘the new leader of the masses’ were shockingly left to fend for themselves in the middle of the night and later packed off to Hyderabad for a 12 hour journey in a bus. This was within hours of their completing a gruelling 12 hours journey that began at 5-40 in the morning.

But what irked many was the rot in JP’s ranks with some like C Purnachandra Rao, who handles Narayan’s public relations, misbehaving with women. Women journalists who accompanied Narayan to Nellore, say they were both witness and victims of Rao’s obscene advances and had even raised objections to the same.

Curiously, it was only a few days ago when Narayan had lashed out at the media saying that he wasn’t being given enough coverage.

Critics question whether Narayan’s train yatra wasn’t, after all, a media gimmick to get some easy publicity. And there are more concerns. Political analysts are questioning how will people have faith in the party if it is seeking a donation even to pay the deposit of candidates.

“If you understand voters’ psyche, a party unable to cough up Rs 5,000 as the deposit money for its candidates may not be able to hold voters’ confidence,’’ according to an analyst.

Poll Scenario: Is JP learning tricks of the trade?

By Ayaan Khan & Swati Reddy

Lok Satta’s claim of offering ‘new politics for a new generation’ is possibly just another election rhetoric, if recent incidents are any indicators.

The social group-turned-political party making its debut this election, banking heavily on its ‘clean’ image has already shown signs of double-speak and even rot in its ranks, say observers.

Take for instance, Lok Satta founder Jayaprakash Narayan’s visit to Nellore last week. It was touted as Narayan’s ‘Gandhi-like’ endeavour, as he boarded a secondclass compartment in the train with a media contingent to capture him walking his talk.

But as it turned out, Narayan’s simplistic journey lasted as long as the cameras were trained on him as he promptly took a flight back to Hyderabad from Tirupati, where he went from Nellore.

The scribes, many of them women accompanying ‘the new leader of the masses’ were shockingly left to fend for themselves in the middle of the night and later packed off to Hyderabad for a 12 hour journey in a bus. This was within hours of their completing a gruelling 12 hours journey that began at 5-40 in the morning.

But what irked many was the rot in JP’s ranks with some like C Purnachandra Rao, who handles Narayan’s public relations, misbehaving with women. Women journalists who accompanied Narayan to Nellore, say they were both witness and victims of Rao’s obscene advances and had even raised objections to the same.

Curiously, it was only a few days ago when Narayan had lashed out at the media saying that he wasn’t being given enough coverage.

Critics question whether Narayan’s train yatra wasn’t, after all, a media gimmick to get some easy publicity. And there are more concerns. Political analysts are questioning how will people have faith in the party if it is seeking a donation even to pay the deposit of candidates.

“If you understand voters’ psyche, a party unable to cough up Rs 5,000 as the deposit money for its candidates may not be able to hold voters’ confidence,’’ according to an analyst.

Becoming Rebellions: For crying out loud!

By Sunita Mallesh

Politics, goes the adage, is the last refuge of scoundrels. But tears seems to be the last resort of the those denied tickets by various political parties in the ensuing elections in the state. What’s more, they are weeping and wailing in public. And all that burst of damp emotion is not melting the hearts of their leaders who are turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to them.

On Wednesday, Sunitha Mahendar Reddy, a Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) ticket aspirant wept inconsolably at the TRS office in the city on being denied a ticket. “My hopes have been dashed,” Sunitha said in a choked voice feeling bitter and wiping the tears from her swollen eyes.

Even chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s brother-in-law (wife’s brother) P Ravindranath Reddy stunned everyone two weeks ago by weeping at a press conference in Kadapa. When it became clear that his dream of making it to the assembly would not be fulfilled, Ravindranath Reddy tried to use the power of tears to have his way.

Presently, the mayor of Kadapa, he was seeking a Congress ticket to contest the polls from Kadapa. Even as he wept, Ravindranath Reddy threatened to contest the polls as an independent candidate.

Mohd Ahamedullah has been announced as the official Congress candidate from there. Last heard, Ravindranath Reddy met Rajasekhara Reddy and what assurance he got from him is not known.

As parties have begun announcing their lists, the weeping in public spectacle by those denied tickets, is becoming common. On March 22, Prameela from Guntur who was desperately seeking a Congress ticket took her saree ‘pallu’ to hide her tears outside the chief minister’s camp office at Begumpet. There was hardly anyone there who could lend a shoulder for the grieving Prameela as all were sailing in the same rocky boat.

Prajarajyam Party’s (PRP) Allu Aravind also faced a piquant situation when an elderly man came right in front of his car at the party office recently and refused to allow it to move.

With outstretched arms and wailing inconsolably, the aspirant stopped Aravind’s car literally weeping and pleading that he be given the party ticket.

Another Congress ticket aspirant in Adilabad wept loudly at a party gathering recently saying that she deserved a party ticket. The tears that are being shed, however, are not moving the mandarins of the various political parties.

When deputy speaker G Kuthuhalamma was shocked to see her name missing from the list, she was completely overtaken by grief. She was vying for the Gangadhara Nellore assembly seat in Chittoor. The grief-stricken Kuthuhalamma suspected some party leaders as having played foul with her prospects and dashed off to Delhi to plead her case. And she did what comes usually after crying: Curse. “I am cursing those who have made me cry and filled me with grief,” Kuthuhalamma said.

Grand alliance in maha trouble in Andhra Pradesh

By M H Ahssan

In a day of high drama including revolts and protests on Wednesday, the grand alliance (Mahakutami) appeared to all but fall apart what with serious differences between the TDP, TRS and the Left parties on seat sharing arrangements. This led to TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu serving an ultimatum on the TRS to withdraw certain candidates failing which he said the TDP will go its own way.

After announcing a second list of 64 names for constituencies on which there is no dispute late on Wednesday night, Naidu said at a press conference that talks were still on between the alliance partners with regard to Wanaparthi, Achampet, Husnabad, Warangal east and Mahabubnagar but that the TRS went ahead and announced candidates from there.

“The TRS was supposed to resume talks today on these seats but they did not and unilaterally announced the names. If it does not come for talks on Thursday, then the TDP will prepare its own list. And with regard to Hyderabad and the outskirts, the TDP will surely contest at least five Lok Sabha seats,” Naidu said amid indications that the TRS was also eyeing some of these LS seats. Thus till late night, the grand alliance appeared to be tottering with the CPM and CPI too rejecting the offer of 16 seats each by Naidu.

By Wednesday night, the much talked about grand alliance was on the verge of collapsing. “The TRS has gone back on its word by fielding candidates from some constituencies after promising to leave it to TDP,” charged a TDP leader.

The day began with hectic activity at NTR Bhavan and Naidu’s residence for the TDP and Telangana Bhavan for the TRS. At 9.15 am, the TRS released a list of 15 names to which the TDP replied at 3 pm by naming candidates for 27 constituencies of which 14 were from Telangana and the rest from north coastal Andhra. The TRS then responded by naming 11 candidates at 3.30 pm. While there was no clash of constituencies in the lists released by the two parties, the announcement of the names sparked statewide protests for the TDP with its aspirants staging protests against Naidu leaving the seat for the TRS while many disappointed TRS aspirants also flocked to Telangana Bhavan to stage protests.

In Adilabad district, TDP district president and ticket aspirant Gone Hanumantha Rao and his followers ransacked the party office in Mancherial after the seat was allotted to the TRS and said he would contest as a rebel.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
WHAT’S THE ALLIANCE ABOUT: The intention was that TDP and TRS would form an alliance and contest the 119 assembly seats and 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana region Similarly, the CPM and CPI to share some seats with the TDP and TRS in the Telangana and with TDP in coastal and Rayalaseema areas.

WHY IT IS COLLAPSING: After insisting on 50 assembly and 10 LS seats, TRS settled for 49 assembly and 9 LS seats.

In the 36 assembly seats announced by TRS so far, many including Maheshwaram, Uppal, Gosha Mahal and Amberpet are being claimed by TDP.

CPM and CPI have rejected Naidu’s offer of 16 seats each and insisting on 20 apiece.

TRS has named candidates to Warangal East seat sought by CPM and Husnabad seat by CPI.

Naidu says TRS has unilaterally announced candidates for five seats which it should cancel and come for talks. No response yet from the TRS.

‘Listless’ leaders jump ship
Telugu Desam Party ticket-seekers former legislator Rajyalakshmi and former minister Boda Janardhan have reportedly decided to quit the party and join the Prajarajyam after their names did not figure in the list announced by Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday.

In Karimnagar district, six followers of a TDP aspirant attempted suicide after their leader was denied the ticket. In Wanaparthi in Mahbubnagar, angry TDP workers ransacked the party office after the seat was given to the TRS. By the evening, many protesters assembled outside the TDP chief ’s residence at Jubilee Hills to stage protests.

The two Left parties too claimed that their demands are not being met by Naidu. Their leaders claimed that they had demanded 20 seats each but that Naidu was offering them only 16 per party. Matters worsened after the TRS in its second list announced candidates for the Warangal East seat that was claimed by the CPM and the Husnabad seat claimed by the CPI.

Battling the revolt within the party and finalising names for more constituencies, Naidu announced that a second list of TDP names would be made at a press conference at 8 pm which was later postponed to 9.30 pm. In the meantime, just before 8 pm, the TRS announced a third list of 10 names that made the TDP livid. “The TRS announced the names without consulting the TDP because the Maheshwaram, Uppal, Gosha Mahal and Amberpet assembly seats that it announced were to have been left for the TDP.

An angry Naidu then issued the ultimatum to TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao to cancel the third list and come for talks failing which the TDP threatened to field candidates in all the Telangana seats.

Around 9.30 pm, Naidu announced a second list of 64 names taking the total to 91 nominees. Till late in the night, the crisis between the TDP and TRS on the one hand and between the TRS and the Left parties on the other remained unsolved.

Grand alliance in maha trouble in Andhra Pradesh

By M H Ahssan

In a day of high drama including revolts and protests on Wednesday, the grand alliance (Mahakutami) appeared to all but fall apart what with serious differences between the TDP, TRS and the Left parties on seat sharing arrangements. This led to TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu serving an ultimatum on the TRS to withdraw certain candidates failing which he said the TDP will go its own way.

After announcing a second list of 64 names for constituencies on which there is no dispute late on Wednesday night, Naidu said at a press conference that talks were still on between the alliance partners with regard to Wanaparthi, Achampet, Husnabad, Warangal east and Mahabubnagar but that the TRS went ahead and announced candidates from there.

“The TRS was supposed to resume talks today on these seats but they did not and unilaterally announced the names. If it does not come for talks on Thursday, then the TDP will prepare its own list. And with regard to Hyderabad and the outskirts, the TDP will surely contest at least five Lok Sabha seats,” Naidu said amid indications that the TRS was also eyeing some of these LS seats. Thus till late night, the grand alliance appeared to be tottering with the CPM and CPI too rejecting the offer of 16 seats each by Naidu.

By Wednesday night, the much talked about grand alliance was on the verge of collapsing. “The TRS has gone back on its word by fielding candidates from some constituencies after promising to leave it to TDP,” charged a TDP leader.

The day began with hectic activity at NTR Bhavan and Naidu’s residence for the TDP and Telangana Bhavan for the TRS. At 9.15 am, the TRS released a list of 15 names to which the TDP replied at 3 pm by naming candidates for 27 constituencies of which 14 were from Telangana and the rest from north coastal Andhra. The TRS then responded by naming 11 candidates at 3.30 pm. While there was no clash of constituencies in the lists released by the two parties, the announcement of the names sparked statewide protests for the TDP with its aspirants staging protests against Naidu leaving the seat for the TRS while many disappointed TRS aspirants also flocked to Telangana Bhavan to stage protests.

In Adilabad district, TDP district president and ticket aspirant Gone Hanumantha Rao and his followers ransacked the party office in Mancherial after the seat was allotted to the TRS and said he would contest as a rebel.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
WHAT’S THE ALLIANCE ABOUT: The intention was that TDP and TRS would form an alliance and contest the 119 assembly seats and 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana region Similarly, the CPM and CPI to share some seats with the TDP and TRS in the Telangana and with TDP in coastal and Rayalaseema areas.

WHY IT IS COLLAPSING: After insisting on 50 assembly and 10 LS seats, TRS settled for 49 assembly and 9 LS seats.

In the 36 assembly seats announced by TRS so far, many including Maheshwaram, Uppal, Gosha Mahal and Amberpet are being claimed by TDP.

CPM and CPI have rejected Naidu’s offer of 16 seats each and insisting on 20 apiece.

TRS has named candidates to Warangal East seat sought by CPM and Husnabad seat by CPI.

Naidu says TRS has unilaterally announced candidates for five seats which it should cancel and come for talks. No response yet from the TRS.

‘Listless’ leaders jump ship
Telugu Desam Party ticket-seekers former legislator Rajyalakshmi and former minister Boda Janardhan have reportedly decided to quit the party and join the Prajarajyam after their names did not figure in the list announced by Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday.

In Karimnagar district, six followers of a TDP aspirant attempted suicide after their leader was denied the ticket. In Wanaparthi in Mahbubnagar, angry TDP workers ransacked the party office after the seat was given to the TRS. By the evening, many protesters assembled outside the TDP chief ’s residence at Jubilee Hills to stage protests.

The two Left parties too claimed that their demands are not being met by Naidu. Their leaders claimed that they had demanded 20 seats each but that Naidu was offering them only 16 per party. Matters worsened after the TRS in its second list announced candidates for the Warangal East seat that was claimed by the CPM and the Husnabad seat claimed by the CPI.

Battling the revolt within the party and finalising names for more constituencies, Naidu announced that a second list of TDP names would be made at a press conference at 8 pm which was later postponed to 9.30 pm. In the meantime, just before 8 pm, the TRS announced a third list of 10 names that made the TDP livid. “The TRS announced the names without consulting the TDP because the Maheshwaram, Uppal, Gosha Mahal and Amberpet assembly seats that it announced were to have been left for the TDP.

An angry Naidu then issued the ultimatum to TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao to cancel the third list and come for talks failing which the TDP threatened to field candidates in all the Telangana seats.

Around 9.30 pm, Naidu announced a second list of 64 names taking the total to 91 nominees. Till late in the night, the crisis between the TDP and TRS on the one hand and between the TRS and the Left parties on the other remained unsolved.

Kashmir’s Lake Dal gently weeps

By M H Ahssan

For more than a century, stunning Dal Lake has been the resplendent jewel of Kashmir’s tourism trade. Enshrined beneath glacially serrated Himalayan peaks and encircled by blossoming orchards and tulip gardens, its idyllic beauty is legendary.

The late George Harrison, guitarist for the Beatles, and Bengali sitar maestro Ravi Shankar once strummed their strings on its shores. British comedian Michael Palin, of Monty Python fame, Academy Award winning actress Joan Fontaine and former United States vice president Nelson A Rockefeller all vacationed by the peaceful waters.

Dal Lake, located in Srinagar, the summer capital of the northernmost India-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir, has also been a favorite of India’s own rich and famous, including musician Zubin Mehta and three generations of India’s powerful Gandhi family, to name just a few. (Last year, Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi presided over the harvest of Dal Lake’s tulip plantation – the largest of its kind in Asia.)

A scenic, tree-shrouded boulevard winds its way along the shore, lined with parks, monuments and Moghul gardens planted in the 16th and 17th centuries. Overlooking the lake are the historic Shankaracharya and Hari Parbat temples.

Dal Lake is also famous for its Victorian-era houseboats originally built as vacation homes for British administrators during the Raj. Aboard these buoyed getaways or the gondola-like shakiras, which serve as the lake’s water taxis, visitors can glide through innumerable floating gardens – yet another reason why Dal Lake is the most-photographed lake in India.

But there is another picture that isn’t so pretty. Environmentalists say Dal Lake is dying a slow death, with rampant pollution, urbanization on its banks, and the blockage of fresh water channels and natural springs spoiling its once-pristine waters.

Dal Lake – once described as “the most beautiful lake in India” – now figures among the 100 most polluted lakes in the world. In the past 20 years, the lake has shrunk from 25 square kilometers to 11 sq km, and its depth has decreased by four meters.

More recently, Dal Lake has become a battleground between environmental groups concerned with the lakes’ conservation and locals who depend solely on the tourist trade. Floating precariously at the very center of this roiling dispute are Dal Lake’s famous houseboats.

Environmental broadsides
Hand-carved cedar houseboats were first introduced in Dal Lake by the British as early as 1888. At the time, British troops stationed in present-day Pakistan escaped the scorching lowland summers in cooler Kashmir. The beloved houseboats – many with incongruous monikers such as The Buckingham Palace, Mona Lisa and Helen of Troy – soon become symbolic of “the Kashmir holiday”, and staying in one was considered a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

In recent times, however, the houseboats have been singled out for the worsening condition of Dal Lake. About 1,200 houseboats are moored year-round at Dal Lake and their raw sewage goes directly into the water. Local officials claim that roughly 100,000 liters of untreated human waste enter the lake from the houseboats each day.

Although the construction of new houseboats stopped in 1991, the existent boats continue to operate without any change of design. Now, in what they claim is a bid to save famous Dal Lake from extinction, authorities in India-administered Kashmir have ordered a ban on the houseboats moored in its waters.

The state high court, which has been hearing the case, has given the option of installing a US$4,000 sewage treatment device, but houseboat owners say they don’t have the financial means as two decades of violent insurgency in Kashmir have dried up the tourist dollars.

Meanwhile, houseboat owners deny the officials’ claim that they are the primary cause of pollution.

“Houseboats contribute to just 3% of Dal pollution and there are other reasons for the present condition, which the authorities are overlooking,” Azim Tuman, president Houseboat Owners Association, told Asia Times Online. “A large amount of city sewage still goes into the lake untreated and the water circulation system though different canals in the city has been blocked resulting in stale condition of Dal waters.”

Some experts agree that the main problem is the unhindered flow of sewage into Dal Lake’s waters from nearby Srinagar – a city of some 1.3 million residents. The government has established three Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) to stop unchecked flow of sewage in the Dal waters. Environmentalists, however, say a system of about a dozen big and small STPs is needed to completely check the seepage.

Rocking the boats
Sewage discharged into the lake results in a process called “eutrophication” which causes aquatic weed growth, damages local flora and fauna and results in the clogging of fresh water arteries.

Four fresh water channels feeding Dal Lake have been blocked due to unplanned urbanization of Srinagar city. Despite a ban on littering in the lake, most of its 700 natural springs have been choked by polythene and other industrial wastes.

Government corruption and inefficiency have also been blamed for the lake’s present condition. According to reports, millions of dollars are being spent on Dal Lake’s conservation, but locals allege that only a fraction of the amount is actually put to its intended use.

Despite receiving monetary compensation, some 60,000 people residing inside Dal Lake on reclaimed land are yet to be relocated.

The lake is a major source of drinking water for Srinagar, supplying about 40% of city’s population. Lately, there has been an alarming increase in the detection of deadly elements such as arsenic, cadmium, manganese, copper, lead, nickel in the lake basin – posing a grave threat to any living thing that consumes the water. There are often reports of people in Srinagar becoming ill after consuming water supplied from water filtration plants from the lake.

The lake’s aquatic life has already been hit. Fishing, the area’s second-biggest industry after tourism, has seen a rash of unemployment due to the decreased in fish population in the lake.

Even today, as the government attempts to stop the discharge of 100,000 liters of sewage per day from houseboats into the lake per day, millions of liters of sewage from other sources go unhindered. Environmentalists say that if real action is not taken, Kashmir’s glistening Dal Lake lake will be gone in 50 years.

Kashmir’s Lake Dal gently weeps

By M H Ahssan

For more than a century, stunning Dal Lake has been the resplendent jewel of Kashmir’s tourism trade. Enshrined beneath glacially serrated Himalayan peaks and encircled by blossoming orchards and tulip gardens, its idyllic beauty is legendary.

The late George Harrison, guitarist for the Beatles, and Bengali sitar maestro Ravi Shankar once strummed their strings on its shores. British comedian Michael Palin, of Monty Python fame, Academy Award winning actress Joan Fontaine and former United States vice president Nelson A Rockefeller all vacationed by the peaceful waters.

Dal Lake, located in Srinagar, the summer capital of the northernmost India-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir, has also been a favorite of India’s own rich and famous, including musician Zubin Mehta and three generations of India’s powerful Gandhi family, to name just a few. (Last year, Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi presided over the harvest of Dal Lake’s tulip plantation – the largest of its kind in Asia.)

A scenic, tree-shrouded boulevard winds its way along the shore, lined with parks, monuments and Moghul gardens planted in the 16th and 17th centuries. Overlooking the lake are the historic Shankaracharya and Hari Parbat temples.

Dal Lake is also famous for its Victorian-era houseboats originally built as vacation homes for British administrators during the Raj. Aboard these buoyed getaways or the gondola-like shakiras, which serve as the lake’s water taxis, visitors can glide through innumerable floating gardens – yet another reason why Dal Lake is the most-photographed lake in India.

But there is another picture that isn’t so pretty. Environmentalists say Dal Lake is dying a slow death, with rampant pollution, urbanization on its banks, and the blockage of fresh water channels and natural springs spoiling its once-pristine waters.

Dal Lake – once described as “the most beautiful lake in India” – now figures among the 100 most polluted lakes in the world. In the past 20 years, the lake has shrunk from 25 square kilometers to 11 sq km, and its depth has decreased by four meters.

More recently, Dal Lake has become a battleground between environmental groups concerned with the lakes’ conservation and locals who depend solely on the tourist trade. Floating precariously at the very center of this roiling dispute are Dal Lake’s famous houseboats.

Environmental broadsides
Hand-carved cedar houseboats were first introduced in Dal Lake by the British as early as 1888. At the time, British troops stationed in present-day Pakistan escaped the scorching lowland summers in cooler Kashmir. The beloved houseboats – many with incongruous monikers such as The Buckingham Palace, Mona Lisa and Helen of Troy – soon become symbolic of “the Kashmir holiday”, and staying in one was considered a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

In recent times, however, the houseboats have been singled out for the worsening condition of Dal Lake. About 1,200 houseboats are moored year-round at Dal Lake and their raw sewage goes directly into the water. Local officials claim that roughly 100,000 liters of untreated human waste enter the lake from the houseboats each day.

Although the construction of new houseboats stopped in 1991, the existent boats continue to operate without any change of design. Now, in what they claim is a bid to save famous Dal Lake from extinction, authorities in India-administered Kashmir have ordered a ban on the houseboats moored in its waters.

The state high court, which has been hearing the case, has given the option of installing a US$4,000 sewage treatment device, but houseboat owners say they don’t have the financial means as two decades of violent insurgency in Kashmir have dried up the tourist dollars.

Meanwhile, houseboat owners deny the officials’ claim that they are the primary cause of pollution.

“Houseboats contribute to just 3% of Dal pollution and there are other reasons for the present condition, which the authorities are overlooking,” Azim Tuman, president Houseboat Owners Association, told Asia Times Online. “A large amount of city sewage still goes into the lake untreated and the water circulation system though different canals in the city has been blocked resulting in stale condition of Dal waters.”

Some experts agree that the main problem is the unhindered flow of sewage into Dal Lake’s waters from nearby Srinagar – a city of some 1.3 million residents. The government has established three Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) to stop unchecked flow of sewage in the Dal waters. Environmentalists, however, say a system of about a dozen big and small STPs is needed to completely check the seepage.

Rocking the boats
Sewage discharged into the lake results in a process called “eutrophication” which causes aquatic weed growth, damages local flora and fauna and results in the clogging of fresh water arteries.

Four fresh water channels feeding Dal Lake have been blocked due to unplanned urbanization of Srinagar city. Despite a ban on littering in the lake, most of its 700 natural springs have been choked by polythene and other industrial wastes.

Government corruption and inefficiency have also been blamed for the lake’s present condition. According to reports, millions of dollars are being spent on Dal Lake’s conservation, but locals allege that only a fraction of the amount is actually put to its intended use.

Despite receiving monetary compensation, some 60,000 people residing inside Dal Lake on reclaimed land are yet to be relocated.

The lake is a major source of drinking water for Srinagar, supplying about 40% of city’s population. Lately, there has been an alarming increase in the detection of deadly elements such as arsenic, cadmium, manganese, copper, lead, nickel in the lake basin – posing a grave threat to any living thing that consumes the water. There are often reports of people in Srinagar becoming ill after consuming water supplied from water filtration plants from the lake.

The lake’s aquatic life has already been hit. Fishing, the area’s second-biggest industry after tourism, has seen a rash of unemployment due to the decreased in fish population in the lake.

Even today, as the government attempts to stop the discharge of 100,000 liters of sewage per day from houseboats into the lake per day, millions of liters of sewage from other sources go unhindered. Environmentalists say that if real action is not taken, Kashmir’s glistening Dal Lake lake will be gone in 50 years.

Angered cricket fans add poll twist

By Raja Murthy

Elections in the world’s largest democracy and “television’s ultimate reality show” have collided in a clash of big stakes and high drama peculiar to the sub-continent. India’s US$1.75 billion Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 has suddenly been shifted to take place in South Africa, over security concerns about overlapping schedules of next month’s polls and the cricket league.

Hurried efforts at rescheduling the IPL tournament to be played on alternative dates in India failed, as Delhi considered the general elections, from April 16 to May 13, and the IPL, from April 10 to May 24, as too big a double task for the security forces to handle. The government already has had to commit forces to protect 800,000 polling booths across India. South Africa, incidentally, is heading for general elections during the IPL tournament.

Security has become a major issue following the terror attacks in Mumbai last November, in which nearly 200 people were killed, and the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the Pakistani city of Lahore this month. None of the players were killed in this incident, although several were injured.

The second round of the one-year-old IPL, Asia’s richest and the world’s fastest-growing city franchisee-owned sports league, is now being outsourced from the country that put outsourcing on the map.

The IPL embraces a shortened version of cricket. The traditional version is the Test, which is played over five days and during which each team can bowl as many overs of six balls each to the opposition team. In another version, played over one day, each team bowls 50 overs. In IPL, the teams bowl only 20 overs each, making for a fast and furious spectacle that lasts only a few hours and which has captured the imagination of fans around the would, although purists still have their doubts.

The inaugural 2008 IPL tournament started on April 18, 2008 and lasted for 44 days, with 56 matches played by eight teams which were created by franchises being auctioned. A novel feature of the teams was that Indian players and others from around the world were bid for – the best being secured for millions of dollars for the duration of the “season”.

The second season of the tournament is now expected to start on April 18, with the venues in South Africa still to be announced. England was also considered as an alternative venue, but was apparently ruled out because of its inclement spring weather.

“I apologize to the people of India. But we’re going ahead so they can at least watch the event on TV,” said Sashank Manohar, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The switch is a massive bonus for South Africa, which will also host the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament and which is also due in September to stage the Champions Trophy, that had been scheduled for Sri Lanka. Pakistan was originally due to host the one-day cricket international competition last year, but it was postponed over security concerns. It was then rescheduled for Sri Lanka, but moved again over wet weather concerns.

Much as Indians will be dismayed at losing the IPL, which had instantly become a hit tournament, South Africa has an estimated 1.2 million Asians – about 2% of the total population – as well as long-standing cultural ties with India. Mahatma Gandhi, the “Father” of modern India, for instance spent 21 years in South Africa, from where his life changed from being a lawyer to that of a national leader.

Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, is reported as saying that the South African economy will benefit enormously from staging the tournament. Speaking at a press conference in Johannesburg, Modi said the influx of players, coaches, support staff, media and spectators would inject many millions of dollars into the country’s economy over the five weeks of the league.

“At any given point of time, we have 10,000 people working on this tournament. South Africa will benefit a lot. We will be using 30,000 rooms in hotels and 10,000 airline tickets will be needed for the purpose of this tournament,” Modi said.

Possible South African cities being the unexpected hosts to matches between IPL teams such as the Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders could be Durban, which has the country’s biggest ethnic Indian population, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Benoni, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Potchesfstroom.

While Cape Town, host to the IPL’s opening ceremony, could be resounding to vuvuzele, a one-tone musical horn, and a colorful sea of makarapas, construction safety helmets turned into tribal party hats, the Congress, the lead party in India’s ruling coalition, is starting to pay politically for the loss of the tournament. Media surveys showed 40% to 70% of respondents blamed the government for the IPL leaving.

The government is now in damage-control mode right in the middle of the general election campaign and opposition political parties, smelling blood as election salvos heat up the Indian summer, have called the development a “national shame”.

A defensive Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram called the decision “hasty” and claimed the BCCI made the move without consulting the government.

“It will be difficult to provide adequate paramilitary forces for election purposes and for the IPL,” said Chidambaram, a Harvard-educated lawyer and former finance minister who took over the Home Ministry after the November 26 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promptly blasted the government for “surrendering to terrorists”. The BJP, the main opposition party, is under siege after one of its young leaders, Varun Gandhi, grandson of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and nephew of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, was censured by the Election Commission for making a crude hate speech against Muslims. This took place in an election rally in his constituency Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, a key electoral state.

The IPL controversy has given the BJP, which is trailing in opinion polls, some timely ammunition to gain ground. “It has sent a message that India is not a safe country,” said Arun Jaitley, BJP general secretary and president of the Delhi Cricket Association. He has called the IPL relocation a “governmental failure to provide security”.

The political explosion has left the Congress, which heads the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition, as the worst-affected. It was in a no-win situation: now it is blamed for the hugely popular IPL leaving India, but it would have been equally ripped apart if any violent incident had happened during the tournament.

The IPL has become India’s most popular international brand in just a year. “TV’s ultimate reality show,” is how Sneha Rajani, executive vice president of TV rights holders SET Max, described the tournament.

The IPL will be beamed out of South Africa at 4.00 pm and 8.00 pm Indian standard time. Just under 100 million people out of India’s total trackable 131 million TV audience saw the inaugural IPL edition last April, according to an estimate in a leading news weekly India Today, including a record audience among women and children.

Besides TV audiences in the Asia-Pacific, North America and Europe, such was the pan-global popularity of the IPL in its first edition that Arab Digital Distribution, a Middle Eastern pay-TV management company, has bought the 10-year TV rights for Middle East and African countries. This included the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt and Sudan. It was unthinkable two years ago that an Indian cricket tournament would have a following in Libya.

“The IPL is unquestionably the world’s richest cricket league, and unquestionably the biggest sports concept launched anywhere in the world in recent years,” Modi told Asia Times Online last year – three months before it started. “We expect IPL to have a greater following outside Asia than any other sports league that takes place in the continent.”

Modi and his close associate Inderjit Singh Bindra, an IPL council member and the principal advisor to the Dubai-based International Cricket Council, the game’s governing body, were accurate in their gung-ho optimism. In April 2005, Bindra told Asia Times Online that the BCCI would be worth $2 billion in four years ( See Cricket’s home moves closer to the money Asia Times Online, April 23, 2005.) Both Modi and Bindra have their chance now to further expand the IPL’s popularity outside Asia.

Besides the IPL TV audience of nearly 100 million, hundreds of thousands of fans ecstatically packed stadiums in 2008.

This correspondent experienced the IPL wonder in Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium, for three matches, as house-full crowds were treated to high-quality cricket, rousing music, drum-beating bands in traditional costumes, ushers showing fans to seats, imported cheerleading teams and fireworks lighting up the night sky – all in an enthralling three-hour package involving top international stars playing together as team mates for the first time.

“IPL breaks heart of fans across the country,” mourned the headline in the Times of India, the largest-circulated English daily in the sub-continent. The shift out of India was the front-page lead story in dailies and dominated TV news channels, in the middle of the general election campaign.

The move to South Africa leaves millions of disappointed Indian fans – translate them now as voters – and nervous franchisee team owners trying to recover multi-million dollar investments.

The eight IPL teams each cost between the $65 million that Emerging Media – a consortium that includes media baron Rupert Murdoch’s son Lachlan and Hollywood star Russell Crowe – paid for the Rajasthan Royals team, to $111.9 million that billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani paid for the Mumbai Indians as the most expensive IPL team.

Other IPL team owners are a mix of top industrialists and India’s leading movie stars, such as Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla who co-own the Kolkata Night Riders, and Preity Zinta, co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab team.

But such was the astounding success of the first IPL edition that the Rajasthan Royals, winner of the inaugural tournament, had its valuation more than double in a year to $140 million in 2009.

“The IPL is recession-free,” the private-jet owning Modi said in February, after the second edition of player auctions saw two England players – Andrew Flintoff and South African-born Kevin Pietersen – earn contracts worth $1.6 million and $1.2 million respectively for a possible six weeks of work and play.

While the IPL move could be a blessing in disguise to boost its global growth, the ruling Congress party-led coalition could pay dearly at the polls for this perceived “national shame” and its “surrender to terrorists”.

Angered cricket fans add poll twist

By Raja Murthy

Elections in the world’s largest democracy and “television’s ultimate reality show” have collided in a clash of big stakes and high drama peculiar to the sub-continent. India’s US$1.75 billion Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 has suddenly been shifted to take place in South Africa, over security concerns about overlapping schedules of next month’s polls and the cricket league.

Hurried efforts at rescheduling the IPL tournament to be played on alternative dates in India failed, as Delhi considered the general elections, from April 16 to May 13, and the IPL, from April 10 to May 24, as too big a double task for the security forces to handle. The government already has had to commit forces to protect 800,000 polling booths across India. South Africa, incidentally, is heading for general elections during the IPL tournament.

Security has become a major issue following the terror attacks in Mumbai last November, in which nearly 200 people were killed, and the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in the Pakistani city of Lahore this month. None of the players were killed in this incident, although several were injured.

The second round of the one-year-old IPL, Asia’s richest and the world’s fastest-growing city franchisee-owned sports league, is now being outsourced from the country that put outsourcing on the map.

The IPL embraces a shortened version of cricket. The traditional version is the Test, which is played over five days and during which each team can bowl as many overs of six balls each to the opposition team. In another version, played over one day, each team bowls 50 overs. In IPL, the teams bowl only 20 overs each, making for a fast and furious spectacle that lasts only a few hours and which has captured the imagination of fans around the would, although purists still have their doubts.

The inaugural 2008 IPL tournament started on April 18, 2008 and lasted for 44 days, with 56 matches played by eight teams which were created by franchises being auctioned. A novel feature of the teams was that Indian players and others from around the world were bid for – the best being secured for millions of dollars for the duration of the “season”.

The second season of the tournament is now expected to start on April 18, with the venues in South Africa still to be announced. England was also considered as an alternative venue, but was apparently ruled out because of its inclement spring weather.

“I apologize to the people of India. But we’re going ahead so they can at least watch the event on TV,” said Sashank Manohar, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The switch is a massive bonus for South Africa, which will also host the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament and which is also due in September to stage the Champions Trophy, that had been scheduled for Sri Lanka. Pakistan was originally due to host the one-day cricket international competition last year, but it was postponed over security concerns. It was then rescheduled for Sri Lanka, but moved again over wet weather concerns.

Much as Indians will be dismayed at losing the IPL, which had instantly become a hit tournament, South Africa has an estimated 1.2 million Asians – about 2% of the total population – as well as long-standing cultural ties with India. Mahatma Gandhi, the “Father” of modern India, for instance spent 21 years in South Africa, from where his life changed from being a lawyer to that of a national leader.

Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, is reported as saying that the South African economy will benefit enormously from staging the tournament. Speaking at a press conference in Johannesburg, Modi said the influx of players, coaches, support staff, media and spectators would inject many millions of dollars into the country’s economy over the five weeks of the league.

“At any given point of time, we have 10,000 people working on this tournament. South Africa will benefit a lot. We will be using 30,000 rooms in hotels and 10,000 airline tickets will be needed for the purpose of this tournament,” Modi said.

Possible South African cities being the unexpected hosts to matches between IPL teams such as the Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders could be Durban, which has the country’s biggest ethnic Indian population, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Benoni, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Potchesfstroom.

While Cape Town, host to the IPL’s opening ceremony, could be resounding to vuvuzele, a one-tone musical horn, and a colorful sea of makarapas, construction safety helmets turned into tribal party hats, the Congress, the lead party in India’s ruling coalition, is starting to pay politically for the loss of the tournament. Media surveys showed 40% to 70% of respondents blamed the government for the IPL leaving.

The government is now in damage-control mode right in the middle of the general election campaign and opposition political parties, smelling blood as election salvos heat up the Indian summer, have called the development a “national shame”.

A defensive Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram called the decision “hasty” and claimed the BCCI made the move without consulting the government.

“It will be difficult to provide adequate paramilitary forces for election purposes and for the IPL,” said Chidambaram, a Harvard-educated lawyer and former finance minister who took over the Home Ministry after the November 26 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promptly blasted the government for “surrendering to terrorists”. The BJP, the main opposition party, is under siege after one of its young leaders, Varun Gandhi, grandson of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and nephew of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, was censured by the Election Commission for making a crude hate speech against Muslims. This took place in an election rally in his constituency Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, a key electoral state.

The IPL controversy has given the BJP, which is trailing in opinion polls, some timely ammunition to gain ground. “It has sent a message that India is not a safe country,” said Arun Jaitley, BJP general secretary and president of the Delhi Cricket Association. He has called the IPL relocation a “governmental failure to provide security”.

The political explosion has left the Congress, which heads the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition, as the worst-affected. It was in a no-win situation: now it is blamed for the hugely popular IPL leaving India, but it would have been equally ripped apart if any violent incident had happened during the tournament.

The IPL has become India’s most popular international brand in just a year. “TV’s ultimate reality show,” is how Sneha Rajani, executive vice president of TV rights holders SET Max, described the tournament.

The IPL will be beamed out of South Africa at 4.00 pm and 8.00 pm Indian standard time. Just under 100 million people out of India’s total trackable 131 million TV audience saw the inaugural IPL edition last April, according to an estimate in a leading news weekly India Today, including a record audience among women and children.

Besides TV audiences in the Asia-Pacific, North America and Europe, such was the pan-global popularity of the IPL in its first edition that Arab Digital Distribution, a Middle Eastern pay-TV management company, has bought the 10-year TV rights for Middle East and African countries. This included the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt and Sudan. It was unthinkable two years ago that an Indian cricket tournament would have a following in Libya.

“The IPL is unquestionably the world’s richest cricket league, and unquestionably the biggest sports concept launched anywhere in the world in recent years,” Modi told Asia Times Online last year – three months before it started. “We expect IPL to have a greater following outside Asia than any other sports league that takes place in the continent.”

Modi and his close associate Inderjit Singh Bindra, an IPL council member and the principal advisor to the Dubai-based International Cricket Council, the game’s governing body, were accurate in their gung-ho optimism. In April 2005, Bindra told Asia Times Online that the BCCI would be worth $2 billion in four years ( See Cricket’s home moves closer to the money Asia Times Online, April 23, 2005.) Both Modi and Bindra have their chance now to further expand the IPL’s popularity outside Asia.

Besides the IPL TV audience of nearly 100 million, hundreds of thousands of fans ecstatically packed stadiums in 2008.

This correspondent experienced the IPL wonder in Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium, for three matches, as house-full crowds were treated to high-quality cricket, rousing music, drum-beating bands in traditional costumes, ushers showing fans to seats, imported cheerleading teams and fireworks lighting up the night sky – all in an enthralling three-hour package involving top international stars playing together as team mates for the first time.

“IPL breaks heart of fans across the country,” mourned the headline in the Times of India, the largest-circulated English daily in the sub-continent. The shift out of India was the front-page lead story in dailies and dominated TV news channels, in the middle of the general election campaign.

The move to South Africa leaves millions of disappointed Indian fans – translate them now as voters – and nervous franchisee team owners trying to recover multi-million dollar investments.

The eight IPL teams each cost between the $65 million that Emerging Media – a consortium that includes media baron Rupert Murdoch’s son Lachlan and Hollywood star Russell Crowe – paid for the Rajasthan Royals team, to $111.9 million that billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani paid for the Mumbai Indians as the most expensive IPL team.

Other IPL team owners are a mix of top industrialists and India’s leading movie stars, such as Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla who co-own the Kolkata Night Riders, and Preity Zinta, co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab team.

But such was the astounding success of the first IPL edition that the Rajasthan Royals, winner of the inaugural tournament, had its valuation more than double in a year to $140 million in 2009.

“The IPL is recession-free,” the private-jet owning Modi said in February, after the second edition of player auctions saw two England players – Andrew Flintoff and South African-born Kevin Pietersen – earn contracts worth $1.6 million and $1.2 million respectively for a possible six weeks of work and play.

While the IPL move could be a blessing in disguise to boost its global growth, the ruling Congress party-led coalition could pay dearly at the polls for this perceived “national shame” and its “surrender to terrorists”.

Caste politics come full circle in India

By Sudha Ramachandran

Upper-caste Brahmins, whose relevance in the electoral arena dwindled over the past few decades thanks to their relatively small numbers, are wielding significant influence in the general elections scheduled for next month. In fact, the master strategists and spin doctors of the main political parties in the poll fray are Brahmin.

“Most of the country’s political strategists and backroom boys – those running the country’s political war rooms, advising party leaders, drawing up electoral battle plans, negotiating tricky alliances, crunching numbers or just working on slogans and spin – are from among the ‘twice-born’ [Brahmins],” said Smita Gupta in an article in the newsmagazine Outlook.

Jairam Ramesh, the election coordinator of Congress – the lead party in the ruling coalition – and author of several of its policy documents, is Brahmin. As is the chief election strategist of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Arun Jaitley. Orissa chief minister and president of the Bharatiya Janata Dal Navin Patnaik’s chief advisor is Pyarimohan Mohapatra, a Brahmin. So is the spokesperson of the Janata Dal-Secular, Y S V Dutta. Even the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), a party of low-caste Dalits (the former “untouchables”), has a Brahmin, Satish Chandra Mishra, as its chief strategist.

What is more, the Brahmin vote is being assiduously courted by the BSP in the electorally crucial state of Uttar Pradesh. The party has given a fifth of the seats it is contesting in Uttar Pradesh to Brahmin candidates. Of the 80 seats up for grabs in Uttar Pradesh, 20 have been given to Brahmins as against 17 for Dalits. In the 2004 general election, the BSP fielded just eight Brahmin candidates.

Traditionally employed as priests, scholars and teachers, Brahmins are at the top of India’s caste hierarchy. But constituting roughly 5% of the population – in several states especially in southern India they account for a mere 1-3% of the population – their electoral clout has been limited. This has been further circumscribed by the assertion of the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in the country’s politics.

Many will argue that Brahmin influence in the power structure never diminished. Indeed, despite reservations for Dalits and OBCs, India’s bureaucracy is significantly Brahmin. Many Brahmins figure among advisors to ministers and top officials in various departments. According to the Backward Classes Commission, Brahmins account for 37% of the bureaucracy.

While their presence in the bureaucracy is significant, Brahmins had become near non-entities in the electoral arena. Although several prime ministers were of Brahmin origin, the number of Brahmins in parliament declined steadily over the decades. The present Lok Sabha (Lower House of parliament), for instance, has only 50 Brahmin MPs – 9.17% of the total strength of the house, down from 19.91% in 1984.

While a head count of Brahmin voters, candidates or MPs would not amount to much, their numbers among the party strategists and spin doctors is significant. And several parties are eyeing the Brahmin vote in what is likely to be a close election and are fashioning their strategies with that in mind.

Take the BSP for instance. Its leader, Mayawati, who is the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, was once notorious for spewing venom on Brahmins and other upper castes. Her rallying cry was “Tilak, Tarazu aur Talwar, inko maaro joote chaar” (Thrash the Brahmin, the Bania and the Rajput with shoes). But in recent years she has been aggressively wooing Brahmins. And Mishra, her Brahmin advisor-cum-strategist is at the forefront of this courting of the community.

In the 2007 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BSP joined hands with the Brahmins. The Dalit-Brahmin alliance propelled the BSP to power.

While this was not the first time that the BSP formed a government or the first time a Dalit woman had become chief minister, the BSP’s 2007 victory was historic as it was able to form a government on its own. And that had become possible because of the crucial support it received from Brahmins in the elections.

What prompted Mayawati to reach out to Brahmins? Caste arithmetic. The BSP has the support of the Dalits in Uttar Pradesh – it is sure of 21% of the vote in the state. But this meant only 100 seats or a fourth of the 403-seat assembly. It needed to draw in support from other castes and communities to come to power. With the OBCs unlikely to vote for Dalits – it is the OBCs that are the main oppressors of Dalits today and are in daily contact and conflict with them – Mayawati looked to the Brahmins.

As for the Brahmins, lacking a party to support – the BJP, which has traditionally attracted their votes, is in disarray in Uttar Pradesh – they accepted the BSP’s hand.

With the Dalit-Brahmin alliance proving to be rewarding in the 2007 Uttar Pradesh assembly election, Mayawati is now replicating that strategy for the general elections. And it is not just in Uttar Pradesh that she is reaching out to Brahmins. Brahmins figure among her party’s candidates in other states such as Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra as well.

The party that is the most agitated by the BSP’s wooing of Brahmins is the BJP, which has traditionally drawn the Brahmin vote. But BJP sources say that outside Uttar Pradesh, Brahmins will continue to vote for its candidates. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Hindu organization that provides the BJP with its ideological moorings, is overwhelmingly Brahmin and its cadres are fanning out across the country to win support for the BJP.

While the Brahmin vote is being assiduously courted in Uttar Pradesh, this is not the case in south India where the Brahmins are numerically insignificant and politically marginal. But even here, a Brahmin woman, Jayalalithaa, has dominated one of the leading parties in Tamil Nadu and even became its chief minister.

For centuries, kings derived their legitimacy from the ritual investiture of their Brahmin priests. Brahmins played the role of advisors to kings. While the kings were hardly puppets in the hands of the Brahmins, the latter did wield immense influence and power.

Things changed in Independent India after 1947. The numerically insignificant Brahmin became politically irrelevant. But their influence in the electoral arena is growing again. Their vote in the larger states matters. Today political parties are looking to Brahmins to plot and strategize their victory in the polls.

The Brahmins, it seems, are back in the political game.

Caste politics come full circle in India

By Sudha Ramachandran

Upper-caste Brahmins, whose relevance in the electoral arena dwindled over the past few decades thanks to their relatively small numbers, are wielding significant influence in the general elections scheduled for next month. In fact, the master strategists and spin doctors of the main political parties in the poll fray are Brahmin.

“Most of the country’s political strategists and backroom boys – those running the country’s political war rooms, advising party leaders, drawing up electoral battle plans, negotiating tricky alliances, crunching numbers or just working on slogans and spin – are from among the ‘twice-born’ [Brahmins],” said Smita Gupta in an article in the newsmagazine Outlook.

Jairam Ramesh, the election coordinator of Congress – the lead party in the ruling coalition – and author of several of its policy documents, is Brahmin. As is the chief election strategist of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Arun Jaitley. Orissa chief minister and president of the Bharatiya Janata Dal Navin Patnaik’s chief advisor is Pyarimohan Mohapatra, a Brahmin. So is the spokesperson of the Janata Dal-Secular, Y S V Dutta. Even the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), a party of low-caste Dalits (the former “untouchables”), has a Brahmin, Satish Chandra Mishra, as its chief strategist.

What is more, the Brahmin vote is being assiduously courted by the BSP in the electorally crucial state of Uttar Pradesh. The party has given a fifth of the seats it is contesting in Uttar Pradesh to Brahmin candidates. Of the 80 seats up for grabs in Uttar Pradesh, 20 have been given to Brahmins as against 17 for Dalits. In the 2004 general election, the BSP fielded just eight Brahmin candidates.

Traditionally employed as priests, scholars and teachers, Brahmins are at the top of India’s caste hierarchy. But constituting roughly 5% of the population – in several states especially in southern India they account for a mere 1-3% of the population – their electoral clout has been limited. This has been further circumscribed by the assertion of the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in the country’s politics.

Many will argue that Brahmin influence in the power structure never diminished. Indeed, despite reservations for Dalits and OBCs, India’s bureaucracy is significantly Brahmin. Many Brahmins figure among advisors to ministers and top officials in various departments. According to the Backward Classes Commission, Brahmins account for 37% of the bureaucracy.

While their presence in the bureaucracy is significant, Brahmins had become near non-entities in the electoral arena. Although several prime ministers were of Brahmin origin, the number of Brahmins in parliament declined steadily over the decades. The present Lok Sabha (Lower House of parliament), for instance, has only 50 Brahmin MPs – 9.17% of the total strength of the house, down from 19.91% in 1984.

While a head count of Brahmin voters, candidates or MPs would not amount to much, their numbers among the party strategists and spin doctors is significant. And several parties are eyeing the Brahmin vote in what is likely to be a close election and are fashioning their strategies with that in mind.

Take the BSP for instance. Its leader, Mayawati, who is the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, was once notorious for spewing venom on Brahmins and other upper castes. Her rallying cry was “Tilak, Tarazu aur Talwar, inko maaro joote chaar” (Thrash the Brahmin, the Bania and the Rajput with shoes). But in recent years she has been aggressively wooing Brahmins. And Mishra, her Brahmin advisor-cum-strategist is at the forefront of this courting of the community.

In the 2007 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BSP joined hands with the Brahmins. The Dalit-Brahmin alliance propelled the BSP to power.

While this was not the first time that the BSP formed a government or the first time a Dalit woman had become chief minister, the BSP’s 2007 victory was historic as it was able to form a government on its own. And that had become possible because of the crucial support it received from Brahmins in the elections.

What prompted Mayawati to reach out to Brahmins? Caste arithmetic. The BSP has the support of the Dalits in Uttar Pradesh – it is sure of 21% of the vote in the state. But this meant only 100 seats or a fourth of the 403-seat assembly. It needed to draw in support from other castes and communities to come to power. With the OBCs unlikely to vote for Dalits – it is the OBCs that are the main oppressors of Dalits today and are in daily contact and conflict with them – Mayawati looked to the Brahmins.

As for the Brahmins, lacking a party to support – the BJP, which has traditionally attracted their votes, is in disarray in Uttar Pradesh – they accepted the BSP’s hand.

With the Dalit-Brahmin alliance proving to be rewarding in the 2007 Uttar Pradesh assembly election, Mayawati is now replicating that strategy for the general elections. And it is not just in Uttar Pradesh that she is reaching out to Brahmins. Brahmins figure among her party’s candidates in other states such as Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra as well.

The party that is the most agitated by the BSP’s wooing of Brahmins is the BJP, which has traditionally drawn the Brahmin vote. But BJP sources say that outside Uttar Pradesh, Brahmins will continue to vote for its candidates. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Hindu organization that provides the BJP with its ideological moorings, is overwhelmingly Brahmin and its cadres are fanning out across the country to win support for the BJP.

While the Brahmin vote is being assiduously courted in Uttar Pradesh, this is not the case in south India where the Brahmins are numerically insignificant and politically marginal. But even here, a Brahmin woman, Jayalalithaa, has dominated one of the leading parties in Tamil Nadu and even became its chief minister.

For centuries, kings derived their legitimacy from the ritual investiture of their Brahmin priests. Brahmins played the role of advisors to kings. While the kings were hardly puppets in the hands of the Brahmins, the latter did wield immense influence and power.

Things changed in Independent India after 1947. The numerically insignificant Brahmin became politically irrelevant. But their influence in the electoral arena is growing again. Their vote in the larger states matters. Today political parties are looking to Brahmins to plot and strategize their victory in the polls.

The Brahmins, it seems, are back in the political game.

సామాజిక న్యాయం అంటే ఇదేనా!

జిల్లా కాంగ్రెస్‌ అభ్యర్థుల జాబితాను స్థానికనేతల అభీష్ఠాన్ని ఏమాత్రం లెక్కచేయకుండా అభ్యర్థులను ఖరారుచేసింది. జిల్లాలోని 14 అసెంబ్లీస్థానాలలో ఐదు స్థానాలను బీసీలకు కేటాయించింది. సామాజిక న్యాయం పాటిస్తామని చెప్పిన కాంగ్రెస్‌ మాటనెరవేర్చుకోలేదు. జిల్లాలో రెండు పార్లమెంట్‌ స్థానాలైన చేవెళ్ల, మల్కాజిగిరిలను స్థానికేతరులైన ఎస్‌.జైపాల్‌రెడ్డి, సర్వే సత్యనారాయణలకు కట్టబెట్టింది. మహిళల్లో ఒక్క సబితారెడ్డికే టిక్కెట్టు ఇవ్వగా, మైనార్టీలకు మొండిచెయ్యి చూపింది. బీసీల్లో ముదిరాజ్‌ కులస్థులకే మూడుస్థానాలను కేటాయించింది. బీసీలకు ఐదుస్థానాలను కేటాయించి సముచితస్థానం కల్పించినా మూడుస్థానాల్లో ముదిరాజ్‌ కులానికి చెందిన వారికి ఇవ్వడంతో మిగతా సామాజిక వర్గాల వారు అసంతృప్తితో ఉన్నారు. మంత్రి సబితారెడ్డిని మహేశ్వరం అభ్యర్థిగా ఖరారుచేయగా, జిల్లా కాంగ్రెస్‌ అధ్యక్షుడు కేఎం ప్రతాప్‌ను కుత్బుల్లాపూర్‌ అభ్యర్థిగా, వికారాబాద్‌ సిట్టింగ్‌ ఎమ్మెల్యే గడ్డం ప్రసాద్‌కుమార్‌ను మళ్లీ ఖరారుచేసింది. చేవెళ్ల టిక్కెట్‌ను ఊహించని విధంగా టీటీడీ బోర్డు సభ్యుడు కే.యాదయ్యను ఖరారుచేసింది. స్థానికనేతల అభిప్రాయాలను పరిగణలోకి తీసుకోకపోవడమే కాకుండా, అన్ని వర్గాలకు ప్రాధాన్యతనివ్వడంలోను అధిష్ఠానం తీవ్ర అన్యాయం చేసిందని, పనిచేసే వారికి కాకుండా బడానేతల ఒత్తిడి మేరకే అభ్యర్థులను ఎంపిక చేశారని కాంగ్రెస్‌నేతలు దుమ్మెత్తి పోస్తున్నారు.జిల్లాలో ఆయా నియోజక వర్గాలకు కేటాయించిన సామాజిక వర్గ వ్యక్తులను ఒకసారి చూద్దాం..

పార్లమెంట్ స్థానాలు
చేవెళ్ల- ఎస్‌ జైపాల్‌రెడ్డి(రెడ్డి)
మల్కాజిగిరి-సర్వే సత్యనారాయణ(ఎస్సీ,మాదిగ)

అసెంబ్లీ నియోజకవర్గాల అభ్యర్థులు
మహేశ్వరం- పి.సబితారెడ్డి(రెడ్డి)
చేవెళ్ల(ఎస్సీ)-కే.యాదయ్య(ఎస్సీ మాదిగ)
తాండూరు-ఎం.రమేష్‌ ముదిరాజ్‌ (బీసీ)
పరిగి-కమతం రామిరెడ్డి(రెడ్డి)
వికారాబాద్‌(ఎస్సీ)-జి.ప్రసాద్‌కుమార్‌(ఎస్సీ, మాల)
మేడ్చెల్‌-కిచ్చెన్నగారి లక్ష్మారెడ్డి(రెడ్డి)
ఇబ్రహీంపట్నం-మల్‌రెడ్డిరంగారెడ్డి(రెడ్డి)
కుత్బుల్లాపూర్‌-కేఎం ప్రతాప్‌గౌడ్‌ (బీసీ)
రాజేంద్రనగర్‌-బి.జ్ఞానేశ్వర్‌ముదిరాజ్‌ (బీసీ)
ఎల్‌బీనగర్‌-దేవిరెడ్డి సుధీర్‌రెడ్డి(రెడ్డి)
శేరిలింగంపల్లి-బిక్షపతియాదవ్‌(బీసీ)
ఉప్పల్‌- బి.రాజిరెడ్డి(రెడ్డి)
కూకట్‌పల్లి-వడ్డెపల్లి నర్సింగ్‌రావు(వెలమ)
మల్కాజిగిరి-ఆకుల రాజేందర్‌ ముదిరాజ్‌(బీసీ)

జాబితాలు రెడీ.. ప్రకటనకు గజ..గజ!!

ఎన్నికల తేదీలు దగ్గరపడుతుండడంతో రాష్ట్రంలోని అన్ని పార్టీలు బరిలో నిలిపే అభ్యర్థుల జాబితాలను దాదాపు పూర్తి చేశాయి. కానీ ఎవ్వరూ మా జాబితా ఇది అని ధైర్యంగా ప్రకటించలేకపోతున్నారు. అధికార కాంగ్రెస్‌తో సహా టీడీపీ, పీఆర్పీ, వామపక్షాలు తమ అభ్యర్థుల పేర్లను ప్రకటించలేకపోతున్నాయి. భారతీయ జనతా పార్టీ, లోక్‌సత్తా పార్టీలు మాత్రమే మున్ముందుగా అధికారిక జాబితాలో కొన్ని పేర్లయినా విడుదల చేశాయి. ప్రజారాజ్యం పార్టీకి మాత్రం ముందుగా ఎవరైనా విడుదల చేస్తే, టికెట్లు రానివారు తమవైపు చూడక పోతారా అన్నట్లు ఉంది. మిగిలిన పార్టీలన్నీ తాము కాకుండా ఎవరు ముందు విడుదల చేస్తారా అని ఎదురు చూస్తున్నాయి. దీనికి ఒకే కారణం…తాము ముందే చిట్టా విప్పితే…నిరాశా జీవులు గోడ దూకుతారేమో అనే వణుకుతోనే అన్ని పార్టీలూ ప్రకటించిన తర్వాత విడుదల చేస్తే దాన్ని నివారించవచ్చునేమో అన్న ఆశ. ఇటు టికెట్లు ఆశిస్తున్న వారు మాత్రం అభ్యర్థిని ప్రకటిస్తే ప్రచారంపై దృష్టిపెట్టవచ్చని చూస్తున్నారు.

కాంగ్రెస్ ధీమా…
ఐదేళ్ళు అధికారంలో ఉన్న కాంగ్రెస్ ప్రభుత్వ వ్యతిరేకత లేదని మళ్లీ అధికారం తమదే అని నమ్ముతోంది. అయితే కొన్నికారణాల వల్ల 70 మంది సిట్టింగ్‌లకు టికెట్లు లభించే సూచనలు లేవు. ఎన్నికల వేళ ఎప్పుడు ఏమవుతుందో అనే ఆలోచనతో కూడిన వణుకు కాంగ్రెస్‌ నాయకత్వానికి లోలోపల ఉంది సిట్టింగు ఎమ్మెల్యేలను మార్చక తప్పకపోవడంతో టికెట్లు రాని వారు ఇండిపెండెంట్లుగా, మరో పార్టీ తరఫున పోటీచేసి గెలిచే అవకాశం ఉండడంతో కాంగ్రెస్ జాబితా విడుదల వాయిదా వేసింది. అలాగే టీఆర్‌ఎస్‌ అసమ్మతి ఎమ్మెల్యేలుగా ఉండి, కాంగ్రెస్‌కు సన్నిహితంగా మెలిగిన దుగ్యాల శ్రీనివాసరావు, జగ్గారెడ్డి లేదా ఆయన సతీమణి లాంటి వారికి సైతం టికెట్లు ఖాయమయ్యాయన్న వార్తలు ఇప్పటికే వచ్చాయి. అలాంటి వారందరికీ టికెట్లు ఇచ్చినట్టు వెంటనే అధికారికంగా ప్రకటిస్తే లేనిపోని తలనొప్పులు చుట్టుకుంటాయన్న ఆందోళన కాంగ్రెస్‌ నాయకత్వాన్ని వెంటాడుతున్నది. తుది కసరత్తు పూర్తి చేసిన తర్వాత అధినేత్రి సోనియాగాంధీ అంగీకారంతో ఈనెల 23న జాబితా విడుదల చేస్తామని డిఎస్‌, వైఎస్‌ చెబుతున్నారు.

సర్ధుబాటులో కూటమి…
ఇక ఎలాగైనా కాంగ్రెస్‌ను గద్దె దించాలన్న లక్ష్యంతో తెలుగుదేశం పార్టీ నేతృత్వంలో ఏకమైన టిఆర్‌ఎస్‌, సిపిఎం, సిపిఐ నాయకత్వాలు ఎడతెగని సర్దుబాటు చర్చలు సాగిస్తూ, వాటి ఫలితాలు తేలక సతమతమవుతున్నాయి. అంతర్గతంగా పార్టీ జాబితాలు రూపొందించు కోవటం, సర్దుబాట్ల కారణంగా టికెట్లు ఇవ్వలేని వారిని అనునయ వాక్యాలతో ఈ ఒక్కసారి సర్దుకొమ్మని చెప్పి పని చేయించుకోవటం వంటి పనులు టిడిపి, టిఆర్‌ఎస్‌కు అదనంగా ఉంటాయి. జెండా మోసిన వారికే ప్రాధాన్యం ఇవ్వాలన్న డిమాండ్‌ను ముందుకు తీసుకువచ్చినా నాయకత్వాలు వినకుండా కొత్తగా పార్టీలోకి దూకిన వారికి అవకాశాలు ఇస్తున్నారన్న ఆక్రోశం నాయకులలో కలుగుతున్నది. ఈ పరిణామాలన్నిటినీ గమనిస్తున్న కూటమి నాయకత్వాలు కాంగ్రెస్‌, పిఆర్పీ జాబితాలను చూసిన తర్వాతే విడుదల చేయాలని కూటమి నాయకత్వాలు భావిస్తున్నట్టు సమాచారం. ఈనెల 22న లేదా ఆ తర్వాత జాబితాలను విడుదల చేయాలని, ఆ లోగా అంతర్గతంగా సర్దుబాట్లు పూర్తి చేసుకోవాలని కూటమి నాయకత్వం భావిస్తున్నట్టు సమాచారం.

జంపింగ్‌ల కోసం పీఆర్పీ…
కాంగ్రెస్‌, కూటమి జాబితాల పంచాయతీ తెగితే టికెట్లు రాని వారంతా తమ పార్టీ వైపు దూకటం ఖాయమని పిఆర్పీ ఎదురు చూస్తున్నది. అనేక జిల్లాల్లో మహాకూటమి, కాంగ్రెస్‌ అభ్యర్థులను ఢీకొనగలిగిన నేతలు ఇంకా అందుబాటులోకి రాకపోవటంతో రెండు వైపులనుంచి టికెట్లు రానివారికి గాలం వేయ వచ్చునని పిఆర్పీ నాయకత్వం ఆశిస్తున్నది. ఇప్పటి వరకు చిరంజీవి ప్రజాఅంకిత యాత్రలో ముగ్గురి పేర్లు అధికారికంగా ప్రకటించారు. అనుకున్నట్టు జరిగితే ఈ నెల 23న లేదా తర్వాత జాబితా విడుదల చేయాలని భావిస్తున్నట్టు సమాచారం.

బీజెపీ, లోక్‌సత్తాలే నయం..
జాబితాల విడుదల విషయంలో బిజెపి, లోక్‌సత్తా కొంతలో కొంత నయం. బిజెపి ఇప్పటిదాక 100 అసెంబ్లీ, 15 లోక్‌సభ అభ్యర్థుల జాబితాను విడుదల చేసింది. ఈ నెల 23 నాటికి పూర్తి స్థాయి జాబితా విడుదల చేస్తామని బిజెపి అంటున్నది. ఇక లోక్‌సత్తా ఇప్పటిదాకా పార్టీ అధ్యక్షుడు జయప్రకాశ్‌ నారాయణ్‌ పేరు సహా 38 మంది అభ్యర్థుల జాబితాను విడుదల చేసింది. ఇలా ఎవరికి వారు పక్క పార్టీని చూస్తూ కూర్చుంటే లాభం లేదని ఆశావహులు కాస్త గట్టిగానే మాట్లాడుతున్నారు. ఎన్నికలు జరగటానికి నెల రోజుల గడువు కూడా లేకపోవటంతో ఏర్పాట్లు చేసుకోవటానికి తమకు వీలు చిక్కదని, తమ ఇబ్బందిని దృష్టిలో ఉంచుకుని వెంటనే జాబితాలను ప్రకటించాలని అన్ని పార్టీలలో టికెట్లు ఆశిస్తున్న వారు మొర పెట్టుకుంటున్నారు.

సీఎం సెంటిమెంట్ కలిసొచ్చేనా!!

ముఖ్యమంత్రి డాక్టర్‌ వైఎస్‌ రాజశేఖరరెడ్డి ఎన్నికల ప్రచార జైత్రయాత్రను ప్రారంభించారు. సెంటిమెంట్‌ ప్రకారం రంగారెడ్డి జిల్లా చేవెళ్ల నుంచి సీఎం ప్రచారం ఆరంభించారు. మంగళవారం ఉదయం ఇందిరాగాంధీ, రాజీవ్‌గాంధీ, అంబేద్కర్‌, విగ్రహాలకు పైలమాలు వేసి నివాళులు అర్పించిన అనంతరం చేవెళ్లకు బయలుదేరారు. అయితే మార్గం మధ్యలో అరె మైసమ్మ దేవాలయంలో, చిలుకూరి బాలాజీ క్షేత్రంలో ఆయన పూజలు చేయించారు. చేవెళ్లలో విజయఢంకా మోగించి ఎన్నికల శంఖారావం పూరించారు. ఆ తర్వాత వికారాబాద్‌, తాండూరు, పరిగి నియోజకవర్గాల్లో సీఎం పర్యటనకు బయలుదేరారు. ప్రతిసారి ఏ పథకం ప్రవేశపెట్టిన చేవెళ్ల నుండి ప్రారంభించడం తెలిసిందే. అయితే ఈ సారి ఆ సెంటిమెంట్ ఎంతమేరకు ఫలిస్తుందో చూడాల్సిందే.

ఉగాదిన పీఆర్పీలోకి పెన్మత్స?

విజయనగరం జిల్లా కాంగ్రెస్‌ పార్టీలో రేగిన అసమ్మతి జ్వాలలు చల్లారకపోగా విపక్షాలకు లాభించేలా సమీకరణలు మారుతున్నాయి. బొత్స కుటుంబానికి మూడు టిక్కెట్లు కేటాయించిన కాంగ్రెస్‌ పార్టీ సందిగ్ధంలో పడింది. జిల్లాలోని కాంగ్రెస్ సీనియర్ నేత పెనుమత్స సాంబశివరాజు తానడిగిన ఎంపీ సీటు ఇవ్వకపోవడతో కాంగ్రెస్‌ పార్టీని వీడిన సంగతి తెలిసిందే. పెన్మత్సను బుజ్జగించడానికి మంత్రి బొత్స సత్యనారాయణ ప్రయత్నం చేసిన ప్రయోజనం లేకపోయింది. పెన్మత్స ప్రజారాజ్యం పార్టీలో చేరితే తానడిన సీటును ఇవ్వడానికి ఆ పార్టీ సిద్దంగా ఉంది. ఇటు సాంబశివరాజును తమవైపుకు లాగేందుకు తెలుగుదేశం పార్టీ పావులు కదుపుతోంది. తాను ఏ పార్టీలో చేరేది ఉగాది రోజు సాంబశివరాజు పీఆర్పీ వైపు మొగ్గుచూపే అవకాశాలు ఉన్నాయని తెలుస్తోంది.

Netas, abhinetas scurry for security cover

By M H Ahssan

Being in the thick of electioneering, politicians are seeking security cover but the police does not have enough gunmen to spare. In Hyderabad, several politicians and film personalities who have been actively campaigning for various parties have requested for armed security personnel.

These include, actor Balakrishna who is campaigning for the TDP, Pavan Kalyan of the PRP and BSP state president Paramjyothi.

Based on the threat perception report (TPR) from the intelligence department, Balakrishna has been provided with two gunmen who will work in shifts.

For each gunman he has to pay Rs 24,000 per month. However, these charges apply only to private individuals who want security. Public representatives like MPs and MLAs are provided security based on the TPR but they will not have to pay for it.

Actor Rajasekhar’s family has also been provided with 1+1 security. Another actor Pavan Kalyan had sought security and the Special Branch (SB) is assessing the threat level to the PRP youth wing leader. Besides, Chiranjeevi has already been provided with 2+2 security by Intelligence Security Wing (ISW) and City Security Wing (CSW) and the state itself is bearing the expenses because of the threat perception to him.

According to senior officials, several political leaders and film actors have been asking for armed security personnel throughout the state. “Every day district SPs, commissioners of police and the intelligence department are receiving several petitions requesting armed security,” an official from the department said. But, the problem is, there are not enough gunmen readily available with the state police department, the official added.

The ISW is providing security to about 800 individuals across the state. To meet the demand during elections, ISW is provided with personnel from APSP battalions and the same has been done even this year. “The APSP personnel are undergoing training under senior security officials and they will be attached to the ISW force,” an official said.

The CSW which has been providing security to about 150 persons in the city, draws personnel from the City Armed Reserve (CAR) and trains them before assigning to an individual. Apart from gunmen, personnel will also be provided for anti-sabotage checks.

The 450-odd staff of CSW is very busy with its routine work and to meet the demand they are planning to get some personnel from (CAR) to train.

“Due to unavailability of gunmen, sometimes it takes almost a week to provide security even after it is sanctioned.

The problem is, once they are given security, no public re p re s e n t at ive wants to relinquish it,” a CSW official added.

Party hopping, neta style in Hyderabad

By M H Ahssan

They can put a chameleon to shame. Turncoat politicians are changing colours giving little time for even one’s retina to adjust to their new party affiliations.

Former union minister and film star U VKrishnam Raju who joined the PRP on Tuesday began his political career with the Congress. He then jumped into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which gave him an opportunity to serve as a union minister. However, Raju has now quit that party to join fellow artist Chiranjeevi.

Another late entrant to the PRP, P Upendra has also jumped parties many times. At one time, Upendra was close to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder N T Rama Rao and played an important role in national politics by being part of the National Front ministry. Subsequently, Upendra decided to dump the TDP and join the Congress. After a gap in active politics, Upendra has now teamed up with Chiranjeevi looking for a new lease of life in politics. His journey has been much like the first “senior leader” to join the PRP, Ch Harirama Jogaiah. The veteran politician was with the TDP, then went to the Congress and is now in the PRP.

“In this world everybody is looking for opportunities, much in the manner of executives who are constantly looking out for better jobs. With ideologies ceasing to matter, leaders jump parties without any qualms,” a political analyst said.

Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu is one more example of a party hopper. Muddu who hails from TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu’s native district felt suffocated with Naidu at the helm of affairs in the TDP and shifted loyalties to the Congress. He won the Puttur assembly seat on the Congress ticket and spit venom against Naidu sitting comfortably in the Congress. Soon enough he started feeling that Rajasekhara Reddy was treating him with contempt. Certain that he would not get a party nomination from the Congress again, Muddu quit as MLA in December 2008 and went back to Naidu who welcomed him with open arms.

One of the best examples of a politicians changing colours is Danam Nagendar. A Congress strongman in Asifnagar assembly constituency, he felt disturbed when he was not renominated by the Congress in the 2004 elections from the same constituency. The Congress wanted to field him from the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency but Nagendar swiftly changed colours, joined the TDP and won from Asifnagar.

However, Nagendar was dejected when he saw that the Congress had come to power and he was left out of the packet of goodies. He quit the TDP and the Asifnagar seat and recontested from the same constituency on the Congress ticket. But the electorate gave him a thumbs down this time.

The state Congress spokesperson N Tulasi Reddy who lambasts the TDP was himself in that party earlier and had served as a Rajya Sabha member too. He later joined the BJP and subsequently the Congress for which he is batting now.

Even Gangula Pratap Reddy, the Congress legislator from Alagadda in Kurnool was in the BJP. Prior to that he was in the Congress representing the same assembly seat.

Nannapaneni Rajakumari of the TDP may be a staunch supporter of Nara Chandrababu Naidu now but not long ago she was in the Congress as the party’s mahila wing chief. Before that, she was in the TDP itself. This is much like the PRP’s Parakala Prabhakar who began with the Congress, jumped on to the BJP bandwagon and is now sailing with Chiranjeevi.

It is now the turn of Ale Narendra to change gears. As a BJP leader in the state, Narendra earned the nickname ‘tiger’. He quit the BJP to form his own political outfit which he merged with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and got elected from the Medak Lok Sabha seat in the 2004 elections on that ticket. But now he is moving around with the Congress and is expected to join the party soon.

Krishnam Raju joins PRP
Film actor and former MP U V Krishnam Raju on Tuesday quit the Bharatiya Janata Party and joined Chiranjeevi’s Prajarajyam Party. Announcing his entry into PRP, the former Union minister of state for external affairs said that he had decided to strengthen Chiranjeevi’s hands to do something for the downtrodden sections of society. “I think that what I could not deliver from within the BJP could be achieved by working with PRP’s plank of social justice. I wanted to retire from politics, but Chiranjeevi’s enthusiasm and zeal changed my decision,” he said and added that he would spell the real reasons for quitting the BJP during a separate press conference at a later date.

Welcoming him, the PRP chief said that the ‘Rebel Star’s entry added more glamour to the party and that he would be entrusted with a lot of responsibilities. Incidentally, Krishnam Raju hails from Mogalturu village in West Godavari district, where the PRP chief was born. His supporters, present at the PRP office, said that he was likely to be fielded against Union minister of state for HRD Daggubati Purandeshwari. Raju was elected from the Narsapuram Lok Sabha constituency in 1998 and 1999 and served as a minister in the Vajpayee government. He started his political innings with the Congress party by contesting the Lok Sabha elections in 1991 from Narsapuram and later joined the BJP.

Announcing that the PRP would come out with its first list of candidates on Wednesday, Chiranjeevi confirmed that the party was in talks with Mana party chief K Gyaneshwar on seat adjustments but denied reports that Mana party had merged with PRP. “More details on seat adjustments will be provided by the Mana party chief at a press conference tomorrow,” he said. There was speculation all through the day on film actor Srihari and former IPS officer D T Naik also joining PRP. However, nothing concrete had materialised till late in the night.

Party hopping, neta style in Hyderabad

By M H Ahssan

They can put a chameleon to shame. Turncoat politicians are changing colours giving little time for even one’s retina to adjust to their new party affiliations.

Former union minister and film star U VKrishnam Raju who joined the PRP on Tuesday began his political career with the Congress. He then jumped into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which gave him an opportunity to serve as a union minister. However, Raju has now quit that party to join fellow artist Chiranjeevi.

Another late entrant to the PRP, P Upendra has also jumped parties many times. At one time, Upendra was close to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder N T Rama Rao and played an important role in national politics by being part of the National Front ministry. Subsequently, Upendra decided to dump the TDP and join the Congress. After a gap in active politics, Upendra has now teamed up with Chiranjeevi looking for a new lease of life in politics. His journey has been much like the first “senior leader” to join the PRP, Ch Harirama Jogaiah. The veteran politician was with the TDP, then went to the Congress and is now in the PRP.

“In this world everybody is looking for opportunities, much in the manner of executives who are constantly looking out for better jobs. With ideologies ceasing to matter, leaders jump parties without any qualms,” a political analyst said.

Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu is one more example of a party hopper. Muddu who hails from TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu’s native district felt suffocated with Naidu at the helm of affairs in the TDP and shifted loyalties to the Congress. He won the Puttur assembly seat on the Congress ticket and spit venom against Naidu sitting comfortably in the Congress. Soon enough he started feeling that Rajasekhara Reddy was treating him with contempt. Certain that he would not get a party nomination from the Congress again, Muddu quit as MLA in December 2008 and went back to Naidu who welcomed him with open arms.

One of the best examples of a politicians changing colours is Danam Nagendar. A Congress strongman in Asifnagar assembly constituency, he felt disturbed when he was not renominated by the Congress in the 2004 elections from the same constituency. The Congress wanted to field him from the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency but Nagendar swiftly changed colours, joined the TDP and won from Asifnagar.

However, Nagendar was dejected when he saw that the Congress had come to power and he was left out of the packet of goodies. He quit the TDP and the Asifnagar seat and recontested from the same constituency on the Congress ticket. But the electorate gave him a thumbs down this time.

The state Congress spokesperson N Tulasi Reddy who lambasts the TDP was himself in that party earlier and had served as a Rajya Sabha member too. He later joined the BJP and subsequently the Congress for which he is batting now.

Even Gangula Pratap Reddy, the Congress legislator from Alagadda in Kurnool was in the BJP. Prior to that he was in the Congress representing the same assembly seat.

Nannapaneni Rajakumari of the TDP may be a staunch supporter of Nara Chandrababu Naidu now but not long ago she was in the Congress as the party’s mahila wing chief. Before that, she was in the TDP itself. This is much like the PRP’s Parakala Prabhakar who began with the Congress, jumped on to the BJP bandwagon and is now sailing with Chiranjeevi.

It is now the turn of Ale Narendra to change gears. As a BJP leader in the state, Narendra earned the nickname ‘tiger’. He quit the BJP to form his own political outfit which he merged with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and got elected from the Medak Lok Sabha seat in the 2004 elections on that ticket. But now he is moving around with the Congress and is expected to join the party soon.

Krishnam Raju joins PRP
Film actor and former MP U V Krishnam Raju on Tuesday quit the Bharatiya Janata Party and joined Chiranjeevi’s Prajarajyam Party. Announcing his entry into PRP, the former Union minister of state for external affairs said that he had decided to strengthen Chiranjeevi’s hands to do something for the downtrodden sections of society. “I think that what I could not deliver from within the BJP could be achieved by working with PRP’s plank of social justice. I wanted to retire from politics, but Chiranjeevi’s enthusiasm and zeal changed my decision,” he said and added that he would spell the real reasons for quitting the BJP during a separate press conference at a later date.

Welcoming him, the PRP chief said that the ‘Rebel Star’s entry added more glamour to the party and that he would be entrusted with a lot of responsibilities. Incidentally, Krishnam Raju hails from Mogalturu village in West Godavari district, where the PRP chief was born. His supporters, present at the PRP office, said that he was likely to be fielded against Union minister of state for HRD Daggubati Purandeshwari. Raju was elected from the Narsapuram Lok Sabha constituency in 1998 and 1999 and served as a minister in the Vajpayee government. He started his political innings with the Congress party by contesting the Lok Sabha elections in 1991 from Narsapuram and later joined the BJP.

Announcing that the PRP would come out with its first list of candidates on Wednesday, Chiranjeevi confirmed that the party was in talks with Mana party chief K Gyaneshwar on seat adjustments but denied reports that Mana party had merged with PRP. “More details on seat adjustments will be provided by the Mana party chief at a press conference tomorrow,” he said. There was speculation all through the day on film actor Srihari and former IPS officer D T Naik also joining PRP. However, nothing concrete had materialised till late in the night.

Will Chiranjeevi be the man with the key?

By M H Ahssan

Survey Shows Gap Between Cong-TDP Not That Wide

In a paradox of sorts, several Congress leaders want the Prajarajyam Party (PRP) to perform well in the polls on the apprehension that in case an anti-incumbency factor crops up, the Congress would benefit if the anti-Congress votes go to the PRP rather than the Telugu Desam Party.

“Therefore it is imperative that the political standing of the new party not plummet in the run-up to the elections, due to sharp internal contradictions. If it does, then all the anti-Congress votes would be transferred to the TDP which will be disastrous for the ruling party,” one Congress leader said.

According to the Congress leaders, if there is a hung assembly in which the PRP does well, the Congress can try and cajole Chiranjeevi to team up with them and form the government. “However, at this juncture, the PRP does not appear to be gaining in strength even after the announcement of the poll schedule. The Congress wants Chiranjeevi to become stronger as the campaign hots up,” the leaders said expressing happiness about the mega stars successful show in Hyderabad on the weekend.

So far, the surveys conducted by reputed agencies and others conducted on behalf of individual Congress leaders have placed the PRP in the third position after the Congress and TDP. As per the latest of these surveys, the support base for the PRP is between 19 per cent to 21 per cent of the votes. The vote share for the Congress was 41 per cent and for the TDP 36 per cent. If there is a five to six per cent swing from the PRP to the TDP, then the Congress is doomed, was the finding of a survey conducted by a resourceful Congress MP from a coastal district.

A statistical model prepared on the basis of the survey suggested that the anti-Congress votes formed a huge component of the PRP’s 19 to 21 per cent vote share. An expert who analysed the data said the “Kapus form the core support group of Chiranjeevi which is around 8 to 9 per cent while the remaining is the anti-Congress vote contributed by various social segments. These sections are prone to shift their loyalties the moment they realise that the PRP is no match to take on the Congress party,” the analyst told HNN.

The Congress and the TDP are locked in close contests in many constituencies and a weak PRP would mar the chances of a Congress victory. It is for this reason that the ruling party wants the PRP to gain in strength in the coming days. According to sources, the Congress had discretely told various social groups to turn out in large numbers for the PRP meeting at the Parade Grounds on March 21 and turn it into a success. Thus from the surveys point of view, Chiranjeevi appears to hold the key as to who will form the next government in the State.

Will Chiranjeevi be the man with the key?

By M H Ahssan

Survey Shows Gap Between Cong-TDP Not That Wide

In a paradox of sorts, several Congress leaders want the Prajarajyam Party (PRP) to perform well in the polls on the apprehension that in case an anti-incumbency factor crops up, the Congress would benefit if the anti-Congress votes go to the PRP rather than the Telugu Desam Party.

“Therefore it is imperative that the political standing of the new party not plummet in the run-up to the elections, due to sharp internal contradictions. If it does, then all the anti-Congress votes would be transferred to the TDP which will be disastrous for the ruling party,” one Congress leader said.

According to the Congress leaders, if there is a hung assembly in which the PRP does well, the Congress can try and cajole Chiranjeevi to team up with them and form the government. “However, at this juncture, the PRP does not appear to be gaining in strength even after the announcement of the poll schedule. The Congress wants Chiranjeevi to become stronger as the campaign hots up,” the leaders said expressing happiness about the mega stars successful show in Hyderabad on the weekend.

So far, the surveys conducted by reputed agencies and others conducted on behalf of individual Congress leaders have placed the PRP in the third position after the Congress and TDP. As per the latest of these surveys, the support base for the PRP is between 19 per cent to 21 per cent of the votes. The vote share for the Congress was 41 per cent and for the TDP 36 per cent. If there is a five to six per cent swing from the PRP to the TDP, then the Congress is doomed, was the finding of a survey conducted by a resourceful Congress MP from a coastal district.

A statistical model prepared on the basis of the survey suggested that the anti-Congress votes formed a huge component of the PRP’s 19 to 21 per cent vote share. An expert who analysed the data said the “Kapus form the core support group of Chiranjeevi which is around 8 to 9 per cent while the remaining is the anti-Congress vote contributed by various social segments. These sections are prone to shift their loyalties the moment they realise that the PRP is no match to take on the Congress party,” the analyst told HNN.

The Congress and the TDP are locked in close contests in many constituencies and a weak PRP would mar the chances of a Congress victory. It is for this reason that the ruling party wants the PRP to gain in strength in the coming days. According to sources, the Congress had discretely told various social groups to turn out in large numbers for the PRP meeting at the Parade Grounds on March 21 and turn it into a success. Thus from the surveys point of view, Chiranjeevi appears to hold the key as to who will form the next government in the State.

False dawn in Asia?

By M H Ahssan

Asian equity markets had their best week in months, yet at least one technical analyst has called it a “dead cat bounce”. Bloomberg News reported the skepticism of Martin Marnick of Helmsman Global Trading, who used technical indicators to reach this judgment. The MSCI Asia APEX 50 Index, which had risen 8% in the five days before Friday’s trading session (and 12.9% in the previous eight days), has a medium term resistance in a band from 500 to 520.

But Marnick wisely hedges his bets by saying that even if the index exceeds that level, it will still fall again later. The last rally that it sustained above that level was last October, when it hit 588 before declining to its medium-term low of 389. In late mid-morning local time, it is at 467. The question, then, is whether the rebound from 403 on from last November is a short-term corrective rally in a bear market set to resume its fundamental character, or the beginning of a longer multiphase rally still within a broader and longer bear market.

Therefore we really need to look at the individual indices to assess broader trends. When that is done, the picture appears more complicated.

The biggest advance this week was the one by the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite (SSEC), up 6.7% to 2,272 by early mid-afternoon local time Friday, down from an intraday and weekly high of 2,294. The SSEC’s progress is remarkable since late October, when it bottomed closed to 1,700. From that bottom, it has followed a classic five-wave advance pattern that could easily bring it up to its medium-term resistance of 2,400, to which level I have pointed a number of times over the past weeks. A good argument can be made that that level, or up to 2,500, represents the top stretch of the current advance; if the current run surmounts it, then the next resistance is around 2,900, but there are no indications why it should advance so high as that.

The Australia All Ordinaries Index’s advance this week of 3.6% still suggests its relative weakness. The All Ordinaries hit a low earlier this month just above 3,100 that exceeded on the downside its November 19 low of 3,483 and also the next day’s intraday low just above 3,200. This index’s chart from 2000-2001 suggests a strong resistance against upside breakout in the high 3,300s.

However, it is not entirely out of the question that the low this month represents the starting point for a multi-month bear market rally, should the international situation be fortuitous. In that case, higher resistances are at 3,728, and 4,287. Still, its current doldrums juxtaposed to the recent run in the SSEC would suggest that the latter is driven only by the government’s domestic stimulus, or rather perhaps by expectations of its effects since it has not really had a chance yet to show its effects in the real domestic economy.

When we turn to the two relatively autonomous bellwethers, Tokyo and Seoul, we find that pattern of the former’s Nikkei 225 more closely resembles the Australian index while that of the latter’s KOSPI more closely resembles the SSEC, which has, however, significantly outperformed it since the end of January. It behooves the observer therefore to look more closely at the Greater China exchanges other than Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index has tracked the Australian index much more closely over the last three months than it has the Shanghai index, while the latter’s Taiwan Stock Exchange Composite (TSEC) followed the Australian index up until the end of January, when it diverged upwards with a much better performance, more closely approaching the behavior of the Shanghai index although not doing as well as Shanghai in relative terms.

Among the other three markets usually covered here (India, Singapore, and New Zealand), only Singapore really can shed a little more light on the situation, although the Indian equity markets are never without interest. This is because Singapore sometimes follows the Australasian indices and sometimes the Chinese indices, while Mumbai has a logic of its own. The former’s Straits Times Index has been very laggard, even underperforming the Australian All Ordinaries Index over the short-to-medium term, ie, not even showing the latter’s relatively recent relative strength. The BSE Sensex 30, for its part, clearly traces the Australian rather than the Shanghai index, even underperforming the latter and indeed tracking the Straits Times index phenomenally closely over the last six weeks.

The main overall problem is that unknowns in the financial system do not promote confidence. While levels of technical indicators on Wall Street suggest that a multi-month bear market rally is under way in New York, those indications could easily be reversed by near-term moves. It would be an exaggeration to say that that trend is well established. Canadian markets have had strong gains on oil and gold, and other commodities including base metals have rallied, perhaps suggesting an intermediate-term low is in place.

As I have pointed out over the last few weeks, however, the possibility remains of one more leg down before a “real” bear market rally takes hold. If that takes place, technical indicators do not yet suggest how much further down the indices may fall: and in a bear market, such predictions are hazardous enterprises in any case.

US allays India’s defense fears

By Siddharth Srivastava

Though it’s uncertain how US President Barack Obama will impact the Indian outsourcing business, there is one legacy of the erstwhile George W Bush administration that looks set to continue – defense.

Last week, the Obama administration approved a US$2.1 billion sale to India of eight Boeing Co P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, the biggest US sale to the country to date.

The long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft for the Indian navy will replace eight aging and fuel-guzzling Russian-origin Tupolev-142Ms. (The P-8I was derived from the commercial Boeing 737 airframe.)

The US State Department said in a statement that it cleared the direct commercial sale having factored in “political, military, economic, human-rights and arms control considerations”.

It said direct arms-trade “offsets” were expected to include engineering services, manufacturing and integrated logistics-support projects of over $641 million.

Doubts in certain quarters that the Obama administration may review the strategic depth of India-US relations, an important component of which is defense, have been put to rest.

In 2005 India and the US signed the Defense Framework Agreement under the aegis of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Bush that blueprinted progress to be made in the next 10 years.

Ever since it is increasingly becoming clear that the American impact on Indian defense will only grow, posing a tough challenge to traditional partners such as France, Britain, Sweden and – in particular – Israel and Russia.

India’s defense modernization plans are estimated to cost over $50 billion in the next few years and will include a mega-fighter jet deal valued at over $11 billion, for which US firms Boeing and Lockheed are bidding alongside several others.

For the P-8I, Boeing beat several rivals, including EADS Airbus, in the race to win the contract.

In January 2008, Washington and New Delhi inked what was at the time India’s largest US arms purchase: six Lockheed Martin Corp C-130J Super Hercules military transport planes at a price of $1 billion.

The US’s only substantial (and comparatively less in value) arms deal with India in recent years has been the $190 million contract of 2002 to supply 12 AN/TPQ-37 fire finder weapon-locating radars.

Last year, India purchased an amphibious transport vessel, the USS Trenton (re-christened Jalashwa), for nearly $50 million with six-UH-3H helicopters to operate alongside it, costing another $49 million.

The Jalashwa is the first-ever warship acquired by the Indian navy from the US and the second-biggest that India now possesses after the aircraft carrier INS Viraat.

India has also been looking at joint efforts with the US to build a ballistic missile defense (BMD) system, especially in the wake of the November terror attacks in Mumbai and the threat of non-state players and other loose cannons increasingly gaining ground in Pakistan.

Officials say that Indian intelligence agencies perceive a potent terror threat from the skies. A missile shield would also provide cover against inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

The BMD system features radar and anti-missile missiles, or interceptors, which are able to destroy incoming and possibly nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, both of which Pakistan and China possess.

This month, India successfully conducted a third missile intercept test in Orissa, as part of plans to build the BMD system by 2010. The first exo-atmospheric BMD test was conducted in November 2006, followed by an endo-atmospheric test in December 2007.

Three countries with operational BMD systems, the US (Patriot Advanced Capability-3), Russia (S-300V) and Israel (Arrow-2) have been looking to hawk their know-how to India, which is now looking at a more advanced version of its Star Wars ambitions that seeks to shoot down ICBMs in the 5,000 kilometer range.

Apart from defense, another Bush legacy that should endure is the recognition of India as a nuclear exception despite not being a signatory of international agreements such as the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

It has been a slow and arduous path to the removal of the three-and-a-half decade international nuclear trade embargo on India, since the process began in July 2005 when India and the US signed a landmark agreement.

India is now looking to import at least eight new nuclear reactors by 2012. At least five to seven possible sites for big nuclear power plants are being blueprinted to execute nuclear capacity additions by 2020. Meanwhile, American businesses will put an estimated foreign direct investment of over US$100 billion into India’s nuclear power sector over the next decade.

All of this underlines the fact that Washington will continue to make decisions that obviously benefit American firms, which means that the outsourcing of US work to low-cost countries such as India is likely to suffer.

Obama’s stimulus plans for the US economy make it increasingly difficult for American companies to hire foreigners on temporary skilled worker permits and visas. Washington’s protectionist intentions are also making it harder for US companies that send jobs overseas to avail tax benefits, though observers say that cost savings due to outsourcing will keep its appeal alive.

Women lag in India’s polls

By Neeta Lal

It is a sad reflection on the world’s largest democracy – the one that gave the world its second female prime minister, Indira Gandhi – that despite 14 general elections and six decades of independence, Indian women still have an abysmal representation in parliament.

In other words, a demographic that constitutes over 50% of India’s 1.1 billion population – or 340 million voters out of a total electorate of 710 million in 2009 – constitutes a lowly 9% of the total strength of the Lok Sabha (Lower House). Voters will head to the polls for this year’s national election in phases from April 16 to May 13.

The lack of women’s representation in India is all the more ironic considering it currently has a woman president, Pratibha Patil and the capital, New Delhi, has a female chief minister well into her third term, Sheila Dixit, and a female mayor, Arti Mehra.

Even at the national level, the head of the ruling Congress coalition – the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) – is Sonia Gandhi.

Regional politics has several women in leadership. Tamil Nadu has the chief minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram – leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party – while in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, there is Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati – a likely prime minister candidate. In West Bengal there is the leader of the Trinamool Congress Party, Mamata Banerjee.

However, this is more or less where female supremacy ends in India. Because when it comes to actual power – say the berths in council of central ministers – barely 9% of the people at ministerial rank are women. Surveys have repeatedly highlighted that in the councils of ministers – both at national and state levels – Indian women are under-represented, with the country never having had more than one female cabinet minister at one time.

Furthermore, none of the major portfolios (External Affairs, Home or Finance) have ever been in the hands of women. If they have been, this has been due to makeshift arrangements. Similarly, in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House), where members are appointed and therefore can be more easily chosen to represent a wide spectrum of India, only 28 of the 242 seats currently are held by women.

The recent list of candidates for the upcoming general elections announced by major Indian political parties contain disproportionately low numbers of the fairer sex. In the Communist Party of India list, for instance, only three out of the 60 contesting candidates are women. The Congress Party’s list of 24 candidates for Uttar Pradesh features only five women, while the main opposition party – the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party – has only 26 women among its 166 candidates. The Samajwadi Party has just six women candidates out of a total of 71 standing for election.

This unequal representation of Indian women in national and regional politics is all the more disquieting given that the Indian constitution guarantees gender equality in the Articles 325 and 326.

The Women’s Reservation Bill, which seeks to reserve 33% of seats for women in parliament, has stalled in the absence of political consensus. Although in the recent past heated debate has been raised over the bill by women activists and different sections of Indian society, support for it has not gathered enough momentum to ensure its passage.

Women’s organizations sent a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in May 2008 demanding that the bill is voted on urgently, arguing that election year is a good opportunity for the government to ensure its passage. But there’s been no action on this front. The incumbent UPA government has often been accused of betraying the commitments made in its programs to bring more women into the legislative process.

Repeated attempts to ensure places for women in parliament have invariably invoked stiff resistance amongst parliamentarians, mostly male, who feel threatened by the move. No sooner is the issue raised than pejorative terms like “caste” and “gender-based reservation” are deliberately raised to inflame tempers and prevent its passage.

This is concerning as most countries across the globe – including India’s neighbors – provide a fair quota for women. Nepal has 33% reservation for women, Pakistan 22% and Bangladesh 14%. In March 2007, statistics released by the Inter-Parliamentary Union revealed that India ranked very low – 108 – among 189 countries so far as the percentage of women lawmakers in its Lower House was concerned.

This is not to say that India has not witnessed some growth in the participation of women in politics. In 1952, there was only 22 (4.4%) in the Lower House, but this reached 34 (6.7%) after the next general election. However, the trend reversed in the next three elections with women representing a meager 19 (3.4%) in the sixth Lower House in 1977, the lowest ever. Subsequent elections witnessed some growth, except in 1989 when the number of women in parliament plummeted to 27 from 44 . From 1991, the number has been on an upward trajectory, reaching 44 in 1998 and 49 in 1999.

Interestingly, poorer states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan seem to have elected a higher number of women members of parliament than more developed and urbanized states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

Brinda Karat, a Rajya Sabha member of parliament and a politburo member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), recently told Indian media that the low presence of women in the Indian legislature stems from the perception that they will be unable to mobilize adequate funds and, hence, are not considered “winnable”.

“The Indian system has repeatedly sent out a message that unless there is a legal mandate on political parties, we will continue with this dismal picture,” said Karat. “It is a shame on our democracy that even after 60 years of independence less than 10% of women get elected in state elections across five states and that we haven’t been able to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill. This will continue unless there is a change in the mindset of political parties,” she added.

It would be a good idea for Karat to begin by changing the “mindset” of her own party, which didn’t field even a single woman candidate out of the 34 seats it contested in Rajasthan. However, she raises a valid point, that the Indian “system” will have to politically empower its women if it is to one day achieve holistic national development.

India begins uphill journey with the SCO

By M K Bhadrakumar

A shift in India’s approach to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has become unavoidable as Indian regional policy in Central Asia painstakingly works its way out of a cul-de-sac. Tentative signs first appeared during the visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Delhi last December and formed part of a rethink against the backdrop of the transition of power in Washington.

In a manner of speaking, Delhi began a slow, painful process of edging away from the George W Bush era. A top Indian official said over the weekend that it has become an “uphill task” for Indian diplomacy to cope with US President Barack Obama’s Central Asia policy with regard to Afghanistan.

The shift in Indian thinking comes not too soon as the government’s lackadaisical approach to the SCO through the past five-year period is increasingly becoming unsustainable. The heart of the matter is that the SCO is much more than a mere clearing house for the Caspian hydrocarbon reserves but is a security organization first and foremost. (The SCO comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.)

Not that the Indian government did not realize this. But it pretended otherwise since Delhi was striving to harmonize India’s regional policies with the George W Bush administration, and the SCO was anathema to Washington, being a challenge to the US strategy to propel the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as the prime security framework in the Central Asian region.

The Bush administration’s “Great Central Asia” strategy attributed a pivotal role to India insofar as it envisaged India as a balancer to the traditional Russian (and increasingly Chinese) influence in that strategically vital region. Senior officials of the Bush administration and noted American regional experts and think-tankers dropped by in Delhi on a regular basis and nudged the Indian establishment toward the “Great Central Asia” strategy.

The main thrust of the US diplomacy was to use Afghanistan as a strategic bridge between Central Asia and South Asia and to encourage the Central Asian states to forge economic and political bonds with India. On a parallel track, the Bush administration’s strategy strove to involve India gradually in the NATO processes so that the alliance’s agenda of isolating Russia and containing China received a fillip.

In the kind of worldview – or “global vision” – that the present Indian government (which is completing its five-year term in May) claimed to possess, the US’s regional strategy aimed at building up India as a major regional player and as a counterweight to China.

The Bush administration carefully nurtured these Indian aspirations – though Washington also quietly kept encouraging Beijing to make inroads into the Russian preserves in Central Asia and began developing common ground between the US and China on the contentious agenda of energy security.

At any rate, the Indian government followed a policy of masterful inactivity towards the SCO. The most glaring sign of this was that India was the only country among the SCO’s member and observer countries that was not represented at head of state/government level at the organization’s gala fifth anniversary summit meeting in June 2006 in Shanghai. In an appalling insensitivity toward the SCO’s political agenda, Delhi kept insisting that petroleum minister Murali Deora, in the Indian cabinet, was the most appropriate official to advance the country’s interests within the SCO.

For these reasons, the SCO’s conference in Moscow on March 27 holds special significance for Delhi. The conference underscores that regional security and stability have been and always will remain as the raison d’etre of the organization. The agenda of the Moscow conference focuses on the situation in Afghanistan and how a regional initiative can be structured for stabilizing that country. The Indian decision to participate in the conference at the level of the prime minister’s special envoy duly takes note that the SCO is placing itself in a key role in any Afghan settlement.

The main challenge for Indian diplomacy is that among the regional capitals, Delhi faces potential isolation apropos the Afghan problem. This is partly because of the centrality of Pakistan in any Afghan settlement, and most big powers are chary of Islamabad’s aversion to including Delhi at the high table of conflict resolution in the Hindu Kush. Furthermore, India’s adversarial relationship with Pakistan somehow has come to figure as a major template of the Afghan problem.

Such a linkage, historically, has no basis and must be counted as a failure of India’s Afghan policy in the past seven years. Delhi now has to grapple with growing international opinion – especially among Western experts – that a regional solution to the Afghan problem must include a settlement (“grand bargain”) of India-Pakistan differences, including Kashmir.

In retrospect, the propensity of Indian policymakers to view Afghanistan as a “second front” against Pakistan and build up an axis with the Kabul government has come to haunt them. India should have known that the government of President Hamid Karzai was too fragile as an ally. The irony is that the Obama administration itself has lately put a distance between itself and Karzai.

The SCO conference in Moscow, therefore, provides a window of opportunity for India to harmonize its Afghan policy with Russia, China, Iran and the Central Asian states. But this also poses challenges to Delhi insofar as India’s US-centric foreign policy during the recent years has not gone down well in the region. Indian diplomacy must strain every nerve to recapture the verve of strategic understanding that India used to enjoy with Russia and Iran.

Nonetheless, the Moscow conference provides India with an opportunity to become part of a major regional initiative on Afghanistan’s stabilization. It is highly unlikely that the SCO will be inclined to take a stance that is confrontational vis-a-vis the US’s strategy. This provides comfortable space for India to negotiate. (Incidentally, India is also participating in the US-sponsored conference on Afghanistan scheduled to be held at The Hague on March 31.)

The bottom line of current Indian diplomacy is that Delhi should find a berth in the mainstream international and regional efforts in search of an Afghan settlement. Clearly, India shares the SCO’s concerns over the ascendancy of the forces of religious extremism and militancy in Afghanistan. Having said that, the Indian stance towards the Taliban remains rooted in the past, whereas international opinion has evolved and nuances have appeared in Russian, Iranian and Chinese thinking. Whereas India remains stuck in the argumentative contention that there is nothing like “good” or “bad” Taliban, the Russian and Chinese stances seem to take note of the fact that the Taliban do not constitute a monolithic movement.

Moscow and Beijing seem to appreciate that there could be “moderate” elements within the Taliban, and the issue is really how practical will be any attempt to distinguish the moderate elements in the present climate of violence where the hardliners call the shots. In comparison, as a top Indian official maintained, Delhi insists that the task ahead is to “isolate the Taliban and deal with Afghanistan”. He added wryly, “We do not accept this ‘good-Taliban-bad-Taliban’ theory because how do you decide who is a ‘good Taliban’?”

All the same, India would share with Russia and China a deep sense of disquiet over any US attempts to bring about a regime change in Kabul. All three countries have made sustained efforts to cultivate Karzai and will be loathe to forfeit their political capital if the Obama administration chooses to replace him. All three, equally, would like to see that any change of leadership in Kabul should be a matter left to the Afghans themselves to decide rather than for the international community to prescribe.

The SCO, in fact, has taken a consistent position on the subject of regime change. On the Andijan uprising in Uzbekistan in July 2005, and the failed “Tulip” revolution in Kyrgyzstan earlier in the same year, in March, the SCO took a clearcut position opposing the US’s intrusive regional policies. This was one of the main issues for the SCO’s extraordinary call at its summit meeting in Astana in July 2005 for the termination of the American military base in Manas, Kyrgyzstan.

But Delhi assesses that a sense of realism is finally prevailing in the Obama administration about the importance of Karzai and there is no longer any compelling urge felt within the Obama administration to rush through a regime change in Kabul.

Another area of similarity in the Indian, Russian and Chinese approaches will be the three countries’ emphasis on the “Afghanization” of the war. That is to say, all three countries are of the opinion that enduring peace cannot come to Afghanistan unless the capacity of the Kabul government is strengthened and the importance of economic reconstruction duly recognized. Similarly, all three countries share an aversion towards deploying troops in Afghanistan, but are prepared to make substantial contributions as “stakeholders” within that threshold.

Finally, India is developing proximity with the SCO at a time when NATO and Pakistan are getting close to establishing a formal relationship. NATO is keen on stepping up its cooperation with Pakistan, and Islamabad also wants to engage more with the alliance. NATO is working on improving its lines of communication through Pakistan, despite the availability of a northern corridor through Russian territory.

This is understandable, as NATO would like to keep in check the dependence on Russia, which has implications for European security and US-Russia relations on the whole. But 80% of NATO supplies for Afghanistan pass through Pakistani territory. Thus, NATO is under compulsion to seek a qualitatively new level of relationship with Pakistan, making it a partner in the alliance’s operations in the region. NATO’s decision to establish a “liaison office” in Islamabad will be seen from this perspective.

Without doubt, the developing NATO-Pakistan tango will be closely watched in Delhi. Also of concern to Delhi is NATO’s plan to develop a new matrix of intelligence-sharing with Pakistan, even as the alliance is in the process of setting up six border cooperation centers along the Afghan-Pakistan border. The idea is to conduct joint NATO-Pakistan military operations along the border and make it a regular process with set agendas. Incidentally, Pakistan is already operating an intelligence cell in Kabul which coordinates with NATO.

Obviously, there is a divergence of opinion between NATO and Delhi regarding Pakistan’s role in the stabilization of Afghanistan, where India views Pakistan as part of the problem. But NATO sees things differently. A senior Indian official said over the weekend, “Our view is that Pakistan should not use extremism as a strategic instrument and that it should make that choice clear.”

But the NATO perspective on Pakistan lacks any such cutting edge. On the contrary, it is manifestly sanguine. The aide to NATO’s secretary general and the director of policy planning, Jamie Shea, said recently, “We’ve [NATO] got to bring Pakistan as closely as we can into a regional approach in order to be successful in Afghanistan … We want the closest possible relationship with [Pakistan] on the basis that the threat we face is also the threat they face – and that they can’t face it without us and we can’t face it without them. So there is the logic of working more closely together.”

Fair enough. But what is bound to raise eyebrows in Delhi are the nascent moves by NATO – under active US and British encouragement – to have a long-term bilateral security cooperation program with Pakistan within an institutionalized framework. Shea broadly admitted, “There have been some ideas that have been around about assistance the [NATO] allies could provide to the Pakistani armed forces … So I don’t rule it [formal structures such as the Partnership for Peace program] out. But we’re going step by step.”

In short, NATO disagrees with Delhi’s bleak view regarding Pakistani intentions. Shea said, “I think it would be very unfair to claim that they [Pakistani military] are not putting their shoulder to the wheel, as we say, in terms of making an effort. They could perhaps benefit from assistance and training, or whatever, that could be given by allies. That’s something we may discuss with them in the future. But, of course, we cannot impose that upon Pakistan.”

The Pakistani military being raised to NATO standards? Arguably, it is a logical move if viewed in the context of the struggle against terrorism. But then, India holds an altogether different sort of prism for viewing the Pakistani military.

At the Moscow conference, the Indian special envoy is almost certain to realize that there are virtually no takers in the region to any campaign to isolate or “pressure” Pakistan. The SCO – like NATO – will in all probability also visualize Pakistan as part of the solution rather than berate it as the problem. None of the SCO member countries will be interested in isolating Pakistan. Curiously, Pakistan may find itself being courted by NATO and the SCO alike. The region’s geopolitics are dramatically changing.

Even a 12-year-old has a voter ID in Hyderabad

By M H Ahssan

A 12-year-old has an electoral photo identity card (EPIC), a Marredpally resident has two voter IDs and a couple who have been voting for decades are at a loss to find only the husband’s name in the voters’ list. These anomalies have come to light during verification of the voters’ list by some non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

During the verification of electoral rolls in the old city, Election Watch, an NGO, found a minor having an EPIC card. “At Haribowli near Shahalibanda, 12-year-old Kaustubh Nanajkar was given a voter identity c a rd (DMR4379061). The EPIC shows him to be 19 years of age and a resident of 973, Shahalibanda. We have also brought it to the notice of the chief electoral officer (CEO),” said Election Watch state convenor M Veda Kumar. S Srinivasa Reddy, project director of Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), said in the Secunderabad cantonment constituency it was found that a person, O Lingaiah, 65, with an EPIC (GBZ7991326), was issued another voter card with his photo.

However, the EPIC (GBZ7995152) had a different name, Kanakaiah, 29, with his neighbour’s address. Similarly, A Krishna, a resident of C-3-35-231, East Marredpally, was issued multiple cards with different names. Likewise, during verification of voter’s list, United Federation of Resident Welfare Associations (UFerwas) found members of same families were in two different polling stations. Also, the volunteers found that people who had died several years ago were still eligible to vote.

At Valmiki Nagar in East Marredpally, the volunteers found one M Ravinder ( ID: GBZ1534056) died two years ago, but his name was still there in the voter’s list. “Names of four persons who died two years ago are still in the voter’s list, but the name of my mother, who has been a voter for over 30 years, is missing. We have registered her name again a year ago, but she is yet to get EPIC,” P Srihari of Valmiki Nagar said. When contacted, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) additional commissioner (Elections) Neetu Prasad told TOI that till now they had not received any complaints of multiple cards in the name of one person.

“If any such irregularities are brought to our notice, we will look into it,” she added. “Till now, we did not get any complaint about multiple cards issued to the same person. If such cases are reported it should be surrendered,” said assistant returning officer, Secunderabad Contonment Board O Gajjaram.

Even a 12-year-old has a voter ID in Hyderabad

By M H Ahssan

A 12-year-old has an electoral photo identity card (EPIC), a Marredpally resident has two voter IDs and a couple who have been voting for decades are at a loss to find only the husband’s name in the voters’ list. These anomalies have come to light during verification of the voters’ list by some non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

During the verification of electoral rolls in the old city, Election Watch, an NGO, found a minor having an EPIC card. “At Haribowli near Shahalibanda, 12-year-old Kaustubh Nanajkar was given a voter identity c a rd (DMR4379061). The EPIC shows him to be 19 years of age and a resident of 973, Shahalibanda. We have also brought it to the notice of the chief electoral officer (CEO),” said Election Watch state convenor M Veda Kumar. S Srinivasa Reddy, project director of Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), said in the Secunderabad cantonment constituency it was found that a person, O Lingaiah, 65, with an EPIC (GBZ7991326), was issued another voter card with his photo.

However, the EPIC (GBZ7995152) had a different name, Kanakaiah, 29, with his neighbour’s address. Similarly, A Krishna, a resident of C-3-35-231, East Marredpally, was issued multiple cards with different names. Likewise, during verification of voter’s list, United Federation of Resident Welfare Associations (UFerwas) found members of same families were in two different polling stations. Also, the volunteers found that people who had died several years ago were still eligible to vote.

At Valmiki Nagar in East Marredpally, the volunteers found one M Ravinder ( ID: GBZ1534056) died two years ago, but his name was still there in the voter’s list. “Names of four persons who died two years ago are still in the voter’s list, but the name of my mother, who has been a voter for over 30 years, is missing. We have registered her name again a year ago, but she is yet to get EPIC,” P Srihari of Valmiki Nagar said. When contacted, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) additional commissioner (Elections) Neetu Prasad told TOI that till now they had not received any complaints of multiple cards in the name of one person.

“If any such irregularities are brought to our notice, we will look into it,” she added. “Till now, we did not get any complaint about multiple cards issued to the same person. If such cases are reported it should be surrendered,” said assistant returning officer, Secunderabad Contonment Board O Gajjaram.

A battle for the Muslim in Hyderabad

By M H Ahssan

A middle-aged woman in an autorickshaw stops Asaduddin Owaisi as he is on a vote seeking padayatra in the Habeebnagar area of Chandrayangutta. “Why haven’t you been seen here for years?” she asks. Asad, trained to be a lawyer, is quick to reply: “But everything is working fine here, isn’t it? Why do you need to see me when everything is ok?”

“We take care of all problems. So MP saheb does not have to come here,” Mohammed Khaja Moinuddin, area president of Majlis-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (MIM) tells this correspondent in an aside as Asad continues on his padayatra through an area where brightly painted houses with electricity meters and closed drains does not convey the impression of it being a lower middle class neighbourhood. “Much of this development is due to us. We made the state government part with funds,” Asad claims as boys hired by the party beat drums to announce that the big man is around. Asad’s assertions may be right or wrong but the 38-year-old MP contesting the first election post the demise of his father and founder of MIM is locked in a tough battle.

Twenty kilometres away from where Asad is walking, another man is out on a padayatra too. He is Zahed Ali Khan, editor of Urdu daily Siasat who, fed up by the state of affairs, has decided to jump into the electoral fray challenging Owaisi from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat. Accompanied by CPM Rajya Sabha MP, P Madhu and his gang of red activists in the Hakimpet area of Tolichowki, Khan asserts powerfully from a hand mike: “Yahan koi mahfooz nahin, bache bhi nahin. Darusalam ki toli khud kha peekar so rahi hai, aur aap ke baare koi sochta nahin…Yeh goondagardi ka raaj hai.” (Here nobody is safe. The MIM bosses are enjoying themselves not bothered about you. This is a regime of violence).

In an aside Madhu tells TOI: “The evil empire of MIM has to be broken, the empire that is based on zabardasti, on land grabbing, violence and intimidating people. Their game is based on keeping the Muslims poor and dependent on them. And they use might as their right and ask for votes claiming that Islam khatre mein hai”. Madhu has been working in the Old City area for two years and has had numerous clashes with MIM.

Sixty-two-year-old Khan, scion of an aristocratic family whose daily Siasat along with its rival Munsif has had a long duel with the MIM is supported by the Grand Alliance, but a little bird tells us that the TDP cadres have not really been active in campaigning for him. Prajarajyam and the Majlis Bachao Tehreek is also supporting Khan even as the Congress (supporting the MIM) has put up a weak candidate. The BJP is, for the first time, is mulling about fielding a Muslim candidate from the Hyderabad seat that— after delimitation— has 13.31 lakh voters. Of this, 9 lakhs are Muslims and 4 lakhs are Hindus. There are seven assembly segments of which one -Bahadurpura has 92 per cent Muslim voters. The other assembly segments are

Karwan, Ghoshamahal, Charminar, Yakutpura, Chandrayangutta and Malakpet. “In the past, there were not so many Muslim voters in this Lok Sabha constituency that has elected an MIM MP without break since 1984. But delimitation has made it in impregnable Muslim fortress, so much so that the BJP has to field a Muslim from here,” says an analyst.

“We are happy that an intense contest is being fought and this is so for the first time in many years. This is what democracy is all about,” writer Ali Zaheer says. Other analysts point out that although MIM has cadres who have been working at the grassroots level, Siasat and Munsif with its writings have kept a check on them to ensure that things don’t go awry. “In that sense Zahid Ali Khan’s contesting is a logical progression of his work but whether he has the grassroots organisation is the issue,” an old city resident says.

Talking to HNN, Zahid Ali Khan himself says: “I want to restore the glory of Hyderabad, the days of composite culture, of celebrating festivals together. Also I am campaigning for development of the Old City in areas of education and business.”

Asaduddin Owaisi is more candid. “Muslims have very little representation in politics. This is the only Muslim seat in the state, only a real Muslim should be elected from here. We are asking for votes on this ground,” he says.

Clearly then it is a battle for the Muslim mind in the Lok Sabha constituency of Hyderabad.

A battle for the Muslim in Hyderabad

By M H Ahssan

A middle-aged woman in an autorickshaw stops Asaduddin Owaisi as he is on a vote seeking padayatra in the Habeebnagar area of Chandrayangutta. “Why haven’t you been seen here for years?” she asks. Asad, trained to be a lawyer, is quick to reply: “But everything is working fine here, isn’t it? Why do you need to see me when everything is ok?”

“We take care of all problems. So MP saheb does not have to come here,” Mohammed Khaja Moinuddin, area president of Majlis-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (MIM) tells this correspondent in an aside as Asad continues on his padayatra through an area where brightly painted houses with electricity meters and closed drains does not convey the impression of it being a lower middle class neighbourhood. “Much of this development is due to us. We made the state government part with funds,” Asad claims as boys hired by the party beat drums to announce that the big man is around. Asad’s assertions may be right or wrong but the 38-year-old MP contesting the first election post the demise of his father and founder of MIM is locked in a tough battle.

Twenty kilometres away from where Asad is walking, another man is out on a padayatra too. He is Zahed Ali Khan, editor of Urdu daily Siasat who, fed up by the state of affairs, has decided to jump into the electoral fray challenging Owaisi from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat. Accompanied by CPM Rajya Sabha MP, P Madhu and his gang of red activists in the Hakimpet area of Tolichowki, Khan asserts powerfully from a hand mike: “Yahan koi mahfooz nahin, bache bhi nahin. Darusalam ki toli khud kha peekar so rahi hai, aur aap ke baare koi sochta nahin…Yeh goondagardi ka raaj hai.” (Here nobody is safe. The MIM bosses are enjoying themselves not bothered about you. This is a regime of violence).

In an aside Madhu tells TOI: “The evil empire of MIM has to be broken, the empire that is based on zabardasti, on land grabbing, violence and intimidating people. Their game is based on keeping the Muslims poor and dependent on them. And they use might as their right and ask for votes claiming that Islam khatre mein hai”. Madhu has been working in the Old City area for two years and has had numerous clashes with MIM.

Sixty-two-year-old Khan, scion of an aristocratic family whose daily Siasat along with its rival Munsif has had a long duel with the MIM is supported by the Grand Alliance, but a little bird tells us that the TDP cadres have not really been active in campaigning for him. Prajarajyam and the Majlis Bachao Tehreek is also supporting Khan even as the Congress (supporting the MIM) has put up a weak candidate. The BJP is, for the first time, is mulling about fielding a Muslim candidate from the Hyderabad seat that— after delimitation— has 13.31 lakh voters. Of this, 9 lakhs are Muslims and 4 lakhs are Hindus. There are seven assembly segments of which one -Bahadurpura has 92 per cent Muslim voters. The other assembly segments are

Karwan, Ghoshamahal, Charminar, Yakutpura, Chandrayangutta and Malakpet. “In the past, there were not so many Muslim voters in this Lok Sabha constituency that has elected an MIM MP without break since 1984. But delimitation has made it in impregnable Muslim fortress, so much so that the BJP has to field a Muslim from here,” says an analyst.

“We are happy that an intense contest is being fought and this is so for the first time in many years. This is what democracy is all about,” writer Ali Zaheer says. Other analysts point out that although MIM has cadres who have been working at the grassroots level, Siasat and Munsif with its writings have kept a check on them to ensure that things don’t go awry. “In that sense Zahid Ali Khan’s contesting is a logical progression of his work but whether he has the grassroots organisation is the issue,” an old city resident says.

Talking to HNN, Zahid Ali Khan himself says: “I want to restore the glory of Hyderabad, the days of composite culture, of celebrating festivals together. Also I am campaigning for development of the Old City in areas of education and business.”

Asaduddin Owaisi is more candid. “Muslims have very little representation in politics. This is the only Muslim seat in the state, only a real Muslim should be elected from here. We are asking for votes on this ground,” he says.

Clearly then it is a battle for the Muslim mind in the Lok Sabha constituency of Hyderabad.

Face the Elections: BJP must deny Varun ticket

By M H Ahssan

Varun Gandhi does not know his Hinduism, says cousin Priyanka Gandhi, in a first time Gandhi family attack on Varun’s alleged communal speech. But while his cousin was unsparing in her attack, Varun found support too.

The BJP on Monday came out strongly against the Election Commission (EC) for advising the party not to give Varun a ticket. The BJP questioned the EC’s jurisdiction in advising parties on their candidates. The BJP said it stands firmly united behind Varun and that he is their candidate from Pilibhit.

The question that was being asked on CNN-IBN’s show Face the Elections was: Should BJP deny Varun Gandhi a ticket to contest elections?

On the panel of experts were MP and Congress Spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi; Rajya Sabha MP and BJP Spokesperson Balbir Punj and senior lawyer Ashok H Desai.

SMS polls at the beginning of the show stood at 62 per cent saying ‘Yes’ and 38 per cent saying ‘No’.

THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE CD
The BJP’s aggressive stand appears like an attack on the EC. The EC has advised BJP not to let the candidate contest and this advice carries an enormous amount of weight. There is an argument, therefore, that the BJP should respect the EC’s advice.

Balbir Punj started the debate by replying to the above statement. He said that the EC has taken an unprecedented step by advising the BJP not to allow a particular candidate from contesting the Pilibhit seat. “The EC did not give a chance to the accused to come and clarify, it decided by itself in three days. This is not the right way to do things,” he said.

The EC perhaps took an unprecedented step because Varun’s speech was shocking, and no one before has ever made statements like Varun did.

An article recently stated: “Varun Gandhi has used the language that is so appalling, so violent, so vicious that even a most hardened communalist would blush”. Therefore, observers feel the EC was justified in taking such quick steps and in such a scenario, the BJP should be fighting against the alleged hate speech and not against EC.

Balbir Punj said that EC’s methodology for accusing Varun is unknown. “Varun Gandhi has repeatedly said that the CD which has been shown on TV channels definitely has his face but it doesn’t have his voice,” he stated. He emphasised that the investigation was done in three days without any technical assistance to analyse the CD.

If Balbir Punj’s point is considered, it appears that that EC has over-stepped its brief and is guilty of interfering in the democratic process.

At this point, Ashok Desai joined the debate and said that the EC very clearly stated that it knows its limitations. “They are conscious of the code of conduct, but this speech diminishes a large number of our fellow citizens. In such a case if the EC is alerting people that such speeches are dangerous, it is nothing unusual,” he firmly said. “Varun Gandhi may not only sink himself but also his party,” he added.

This, however, is ironical that someone violating the Constitution – if elected – will have to swear on the same Constitution and uphold its values. And if the BJP does not take any stern measure, it could lead to a disaster in the future, giving any politician the right to say anything in the future.

Balbir Punj chipped in saying that Varun Gandhi is only an accused and not guilty and therefore one should not pass judgment against him at this stage.

However, looking at the contents of the CD, nobody would say that it is morphed. BJP is only trying to ignore the matter and not admit that it needs to control the hate speech that emanates from its party. But Balbir Punj was adamant, stating that the BJP was not shying away from the subject. The party, he said, was simply unclear on the authenticity of the source itself.

For those who wanted to know whether the Congress thought in the same way as the BJP – that the EC should have spent more time on analysing the credibility of the CD rather than jumping on to conclusions – Abhishek Manu Singhvi had an answer. He said, “BJP’s animosity and non-secular attitude does not even deserve to be projected in national programs. It is too petty and deserves to be ignored.”

He added that the more the BJP is advising, the more it is getting into exposing itself. “The EC has itself said that it is just sounding an advisory. The BJP is shamelessly supporting Varun Gandhi. Even a blind man can identify the truth in the CD,” he said.

THE MORAL DEBATE
This statement of Singhvi’s raised questions on the BJP’s morality, its conscience and the politics that the BJP is playing. Assuming that Varun Gandhi has actually said what he has been accused of, then the BJP is endorsing his views by giving him a ticket to contest elections.

Balbir Punj replied to the morality debate saying that BJP would distance itself from Varun Gandhi if he is proven guilty. However, he very clearly stated that at this point in time, looking at the way the investigations have been conducted, it is not right to ask questions for the future.

But one must admit that other political parties have given ticket to candidates who have been accused of murder and other crimes, which means the morality ground holds well to all the parties.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that BJP is just playing to the rhetoric and nothing more. He also justified the presence of accused leaders within the Congress stating that they were the sitting MPs and were legally viable to do as per law.

“They are given statutory protection under certain sections of the Constitution, they are sitting MPs,” he said defensively.

The BJP and Congress are firm on their stands and going by what BJP said, this seems like a loss of face for the EC that the BJP just did not take its advice. However, Ashok Desai clarified the BJP’s stand saying that this was just a recommendation by EC and not an order and the BJP was not bound to follow it.

He also said that both the political parties are at fault. He explained that when their party candidates are convicted or are accused, the parties file for a stay order instead of putting their candidature on hold and waiting for a clean chit.

He also explained that instances of hate speeches occur after filing nominations and that there should be measures to curb such actions before the nominations itself.

This is perhaps the problem that in the political tug-of-war during elections there are no laws to control hate speech. In the end, Desai concluded the debate by saying that perhaps India now needed some political amendments.

Face the Elections: BJP must deny Varun ticket

By M H Ahssan

Varun Gandhi does not know his Hinduism, says cousin Priyanka Gandhi, in a first time Gandhi family attack on Varun’s alleged communal speech. But while his cousin was unsparing in her attack, Varun found support too.

The BJP on Monday came out strongly against the Election Commission (EC) for advising the party not to give Varun a ticket. The BJP questioned the EC’s jurisdiction in advising parties on their candidates. The BJP said it stands firmly united behind Varun and that he is their candidate from Pilibhit.

The question that was being asked on CNN-IBN’s show Face the Elections was: Should BJP deny Varun Gandhi a ticket to contest elections?

On the panel of experts were MP and Congress Spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi; Rajya Sabha MP and BJP Spokesperson Balbir Punj and senior lawyer Ashok H Desai.

SMS polls at the beginning of the show stood at 62 per cent saying ‘Yes’ and 38 per cent saying ‘No’.

THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE CD
The BJP’s aggressive stand appears like an attack on the EC. The EC has advised BJP not to let the candidate contest and this advice carries an enormous amount of weight. There is an argument, therefore, that the BJP should respect the EC’s advice.

Balbir Punj started the debate by replying to the above statement. He said that the EC has taken an unprecedented step by advising the BJP not to allow a particular candidate from contesting the Pilibhit seat. “The EC did not give a chance to the accused to come and clarify, it decided by itself in three days. This is not the right way to do things,” he said.

The EC perhaps took an unprecedented step because Varun’s speech was shocking, and no one before has ever made statements like Varun did.

An article recently stated: “Varun Gandhi has used the language that is so appalling, so violent, so vicious that even a most hardened communalist would blush”. Therefore, observers feel the EC was justified in taking such quick steps and in such a scenario, the BJP should be fighting against the alleged hate speech and not against EC.

Balbir Punj said that EC’s methodology for accusing Varun is unknown. “Varun Gandhi has repeatedly said that the CD which has been shown on TV channels definitely has his face but it doesn’t have his voice,” he stated. He emphasised that the investigation was done in three days without any technical assistance to analyse the CD.

If Balbir Punj’s point is considered, it appears that that EC has over-stepped its brief and is guilty of interfering in the democratic process.

At this point, Ashok Desai joined the debate and said that the EC very clearly stated that it knows its limitations. “They are conscious of the code of conduct, but this speech diminishes a large number of our fellow citizens. In such a case if the EC is alerting people that such speeches are dangerous, it is nothing unusual,” he firmly said. “Varun Gandhi may not only sink himself but also his party,” he added.

This, however, is ironical that someone violating the Constitution – if elected – will have to swear on the same Constitution and uphold its values. And if the BJP does not take any stern measure, it could lead to a disaster in the future, giving any politician the right to say anything in the future.

Balbir Punj chipped in saying that Varun Gandhi is only an accused and not guilty and therefore one should not pass judgment against him at this stage.

However, looking at the contents of the CD, nobody would say that it is morphed. BJP is only trying to ignore the matter and not admit that it needs to control the hate speech that emanates from its party. But Balbir Punj was adamant, stating that the BJP was not shying away from the subject. The party, he said, was simply unclear on the authenticity of the source itself.

For those who wanted to know whether the Congress thought in the same way as the BJP – that the EC should have spent more time on analysing the credibility of the CD rather than jumping on to conclusions – Abhishek Manu Singhvi had an answer. He said, “BJP’s animosity and non-secular attitude does not even deserve to be projected in national programs. It is too petty and deserves to be ignored.”

He added that the more the BJP is advising, the more it is getting into exposing itself. “The EC has itself said that it is just sounding an advisory. The BJP is shamelessly supporting Varun Gandhi. Even a blind man can identify the truth in the CD,” he said.

THE MORAL DEBATE
This statement of Singhvi’s raised questions on the BJP’s morality, its conscience and the politics that the BJP is playing. Assuming that Varun Gandhi has actually said what he has been accused of, then the BJP is endorsing his views by giving him a ticket to contest elections.

Balbir Punj replied to the morality debate saying that BJP would distance itself from Varun Gandhi if he is proven guilty. However, he very clearly stated that at this point in time, looking at the way the investigations have been conducted, it is not right to ask questions for the future.

But one must admit that other political parties have given ticket to candidates who have been accused of murder and other crimes, which means the morality ground holds well to all the parties.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that BJP is just playing to the rhetoric and nothing more. He also justified the presence of accused leaders within the Congress stating that they were the sitting MPs and were legally viable to do as per law.

“They are given statutory protection under certain sections of the Constitution, they are sitting MPs,” he said defensively.

The BJP and Congress are firm on their stands and going by what BJP said, this seems like a loss of face for the EC that the BJP just did not take its advice. However, Ashok Desai clarified the BJP’s stand saying that this was just a recommendation by EC and not an order and the BJP was not bound to follow it.

He also said that both the political parties are at fault. He explained that when their party candidates are convicted or are accused, the parties file for a stay order instead of putting their candidature on hold and waiting for a clean chit.

He also explained that instances of hate speeches occur after filing nominations and that there should be measures to curb such actions before the nominations itself.

This is perhaps the problem that in the political tug-of-war during elections there are no laws to control hate speech. In the end, Desai concluded the debate by saying that perhaps India now needed some political amendments.

India: Perils of a Fragmented Poll Verdict

By M H Ahssan

Electoral predictions are an imperfect science, yet most poll pundits are predicting a fragmented verdict on 16 May 2009, when results of general elections to the Worlds largest democracy are declared by Mr. Navin Chawla the Chief Election Commissioner then. The perils of a fragmented verdict however have not been examined in depth so far, for the scenarios could well be scary to say the least.

On the larger plane this would set back the coalition experiment in India which has been successful in providing stability to the central polity in the country for the past decade after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 1999 followed by the United Progressive Alliance led by the Congress in 2004.

Despite their many imperfections of these alliances succeeded in completing a full term. On the other hand witness what happened before when the National Front a coalition of political parties, led by the Janata Dal between 1989 and 1991 with the late Mr V P Singh as the Prime Minister, survived purely on the good will of its supporting parties and collapsed under its own weight.

The next time a fragmented verdict led to a front coming to power was the United Front which formed India’s government between 1996 and 1998. Here again it lasted as long as the previous experiment.

The principal lesson from history therefore is that while in 1999 and 2004 the alliance was based on a single party, the BJP and the Congress respectively acting as a unifying force, the other coalitions failed to last because either their core party was weak or even worse they did not have a core at all.

In 2009, a similar situation seems to be emerging. So let us see the latest poll survey, by Nielsen and Star News quoted in the Indian media on 23 March 2009. The Congress and the BJP between then are predicted to be getting 281 seats with a difference of 7 seats for the Congress in the lead. The Third Front comprising of a mixed group would get 96, which leaves a large number of seats, 164 to the smaller parties of varying hues led by the Samajwadi Party in UP at 30 and the DMK at Tamil Nadu at 24 followed by many others with a history of volatile relations in a coalition such as Ms Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress expected to get 13 seats.

The other dangerous part of the survey indicates a close call between the Congress and the BJP in the general elections with a difference in the seats of less than 10 would imply that this would increase the possibilities of post poll alliance which are not predictable at present.

Thus many parties from the block of 164 seats as well as the Third Front block of 100 seats would have a potential to switch to either the NDA or the UPA and the Third Front. Parties as the RJD of Mr Laloo Prasad have possibly been preparing for just such a switch. The large number of floaters also creates possibilities for the Third Front. If the Front crosses the magic figure of 100, it would certainly be hoping to cobble together a government, with outside support of parties as the Congress. Thus the post poll formulations continue to be dynamic.

Mr Karat, General Secretary of the CPM has also expressed possibility of the Third Front coming to power with the support of the Congress. On the other hand there is also a statement by him that the Left Front could support a Congress led government as it was done in 2004, thereby it is obvious that the Left Front is keeping its options open.

The delay in nominating a candidate for the post of Prime Minster is one of the issues which highlights that parties want to keep their options open for making alliances once the arithmetic is clear after the results are declared. This is particularly true of the Third Front, for as it will from an alliance of a number of parties with major regional leaders, each having only 20 to 30 seats, by projecting a single candidate at this stage, they would desist other big leaders to join them, thus a post poll PM candidate most suits the Third Front.

But coming back to our original hypothesis of instability devoid of a single large core party in a coalition, the other unifying factor in 1999 and in 2004 have been the Prime ministers. Mr A B Vajpayee and Mr Manmohan Singh were both highly respected figures and could inspire other parties and leaders to stay on with the coalition. The same sadly cannot be said about the Prime Ministerial aspirants today ranging from Ms Mayawati to Ms Jayalalitha, Sharad Pawar and Laloo Yadav.

An extreme scenario of a government comprising of a number of parties with the largest party having around 30 plus seats and a prime minister with a giant size ego as Ms Mayawati would lead the country towards instability. Hopefully the Indian electorate is sensible enough to recognize the perils of such a verdict and facilitates a coalition that will work.

Who Will Become PM?

By M H Ahssan

This is for all you dummies who will perform your duty as conscientious citizens and vote. For whom will you vote? You may as most people treat this general election as a municipal poll and vote for the candidate most likely to help your son get admission, or get the authorities to remove jhuggis behind your house. If as a serious voter you are concerned with national policy, forget it. Politicians themselves have given up all pretence about concern with policy. Even poor Prakash Karat after vain attempts to forge a Common Minimum Programme has been reduced instead to preparing a Vision Document.

If policy is not the issue, what is? Well, there will be an election and there will be a future Prime Minister. So why not vote for the best PM? In the absence of policy how might you make a choice? Well, think about the qualities of leadership. Obviously one who shows such qualities best deserves a chance. The most basic quality of leadership is his or her ability to protect the interests of followers. On this criterion who is best?

Certainly not Dr Manmohan Singh! He doesn’t want followers. He is content to remain a follower himself of Sonia Gandhi.

Certainly not LK Advani! The Rajnath-Jaitley spat thoroughly exposed him. It is inconceivable that Sidanshu Mittal could have been appointed to oversee the Northeast states without Advani’s consent. When Jaitley objected, Advani did not defend Mittal. When Rajnath Singh refused to oblige Jaitley, Advani did not defend Jaitley. He could neither promote nor defend any follower. What kind of leadership is that?

Certainly not Mayawati! She dumped her loyalists to give election tickets to newcomers who joined her weeks ago. She used her followers to collect money on her behalf and failed to protect them when they were caught. There was no question of course of her sharing any money with her followers.

Certainly not Sharad Pawar! Look how he betrayed his senior party colleague, P Sangma! He agreed that the Congress dismissed the Meghalaya government unconstitutionally. Yet he refused to back Sangma against the Congress in order to further his interests in his own home state.

Certainly not Laloo Yadav! He promoted his wife as Chief Minister. He refused to promote her protesting brother who joined Congress. Or is it that Sadhu Yadav joined Congress with Laloo’s secret blessing? Remember, all the Laloo dissidents who have joined the Congress will cut the votes of his newfound ally, Ram Vilas Paswan. So either Laloo is betraying his followers or conspiring against his ally. Is he fit to lead?

Certainly not Navin Patnaik! With hopes of becoming PM supported by the CPI-M he scrapped his decades old alliance with the NDA. Without batting an eye he endorsed all the policies of the CPI-M which he had opposed throughout his political career.

Certainly not Nitish Kumar! He refused to accommodate his former leader George Fernandes who as a sitting MP wanted to contest. What kind of loyalty is that?

Certainly not Jayalalithaa! For five years she abused Congress. She then attempted to team up with Congress to isolate Karunanidhi. After that failed she went to the Third Front. Meanwhile Karat promoted Mayawati. Jayalalithaa refused to attend Mayawati’s dinner. Now she is edging away from the Third Front. Can a leader who does not know where to stand help the nation take a stand…?

Enough! There’s no point criticizing all the hopefuls for the top job. Some new dark horse could spring a surprise. The prevalent political culture and confusion are stoking ambition in unexpected places. Anything can happen. The Malegaon blast accused Dayanand Pandey from prison has sought the court’s permission to contest the Lok Sabha poll. He favours a seat in Jammu. He could join another Malegaon blast accused, Major Ramesh Upadhyay, who earlier had sought similar permission to contest. With their rich experience in transnational affairs and explosive politics could they bring peace between India and the ISI…?

For the present, isn’t it best to keep an open mind about the next PM?

What’s eating at Kolkata’s Chinatown?

By M H Ahssan

Chinese red lanterns are dimming in Kolkata’s Tangra Chinatown, even as a new India-China rescue effort jointly plans a makeover to add Tangra to the list of famous Chinese communities in San Francisco, New York, Bangkok, Sydney, Toronto and London.

In fact, the February 2009 plans of the West Bengal state tourism board in Kolkata, eastern India, and its counterpart in Kunming, in Yunnan province, southeast China, have not reached many ears in Tangra yet.

“Everyone is going,” said elderly caretaker Birasdutt near a faded sign announcing “Chinese Tannery Owners Association” in Tangra.

For the past 25 years, many residents of Birasdutt’s vanishing world have referred to their Chinese bosses relocating their lives, leaving behind questions of the future of South Asia’s largest Chinatown.

Dhoti-clad Birasdutt sits in front of a stretch of tumbledown buildings with red-tiled roofs. He faces a patch of greenery dominated by an ancient, dusty Banyan tree looking bare and unhealthy, like a balding patient done in from decades of inhaling the toxic fumes of Tangra’s leather tanneries.

According to the new Indo-Chinese plans, Tangra will have tourist attractions including two major gateways to its west near Christopher Road and in the south from Park Circus. The gateways will comprise two heavily ornamental Chinese pagodas built by artisans and designers from China.

If the two tourism boards use obvious potential, India’s new version of the old Tangra Chinatown could rank among the closest cultural ties between the two neighbors – both ancient civilizations and 21st century economic giants.

For the past 50 of Kolkata’s 300-year history, Tangra has hosted South Asia’s largest concentration of Chinese restaurants, Chinese-owned leather factories, as well as the Hakka people, a conservative ethnic community tracing its origins to the Han ethnic group, said to be China’s earliest settlers.

The restless Hakka Chinese have been migrating for over 2,000 years, from the Yellow River regions of northern China to the southern regions of Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong provinces. The Hakka, which means “guests”, have migrated out of China, including to Kolkata and India, since the 18th century.

Young Atchew arrived in 1780 as the first known Chinese migrant to Kolkata. Atchew died three years later – heartbroken, according to legend, after a business failure – but not before opening India’s gateway to thousands of migrating Chinese.

More Chinese refugees fled to India after Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution of the mid-1960s, joining the Tibetan refugees fleeing from the Chinese invasion of their homeland.

Despite the exodus, India’s Chinese population found themselves marginalized following the 1962 India-China war. The Chinese Embassy in Kolkata was closed and reopened only last year.

“The Chinese in India kept a low profile since they faced problems over Indian citizenship,” said Ajoy John, a senior media professional and Kolkata resident for over 35 years. “Only recently have they been coming out more into the open, such as the Chinese food festival in Kolkata earlier this year [in January] that the Chinese government organized to celebrate the Chinese New Year.”

Today, it is difficult to detect any celebratory airs in Tangra. The long, winding road from Kolkata’s mid-town Park Circus quickly dissolves into a narrow river of greyish red, unpainted walls of houses and leather factories that wear a gloomy, derelict air even in the bright sunshine of midday in March.

Still, bright splashes of deep red oddly punctuate this grey world – red gates, red billboards, red Chinese letters on Tangra’s grey cement walls, red lanterns, red ribbons and red restaurant signs. Red pictures of Tsai Shen Ye, the Chinese god of wealth, hang from entrances and cash boxes. The rich Chinatown red contrasts with drab unpainted walls, looking as remarkable as giant grey donkeys with red noses.

“It’s not like the old days when 15 people used to be sitting here at a time, with a lot of life, chatter, activity and people coming and going all day,” said Birasdutt, remembering the glory days in his deserted compound of the Chinese Tannery Owners’ Association. “Now, when the shops are shut, even the road in front is deserted.”

The emptying of Tangra was largely due to a Supreme Court order to control pollution from Kolkata’s tanneries. As a result, 250 of the 538 tanneries in the Tangra, Topsia and Tiljala regions shifted to Bantala near Kolkata’s Science City in 2002, and incorporated into the 486-hectare Calcutta Leather Complex – called the world’s largest integrated leather facility.

Many Tangra tanneries were born again as restaurants, adding to the estimated 50 Chinese eateries in the area. Birasdutt’s Chinese Tannery Owners’ Association is also home to India’s only Chinese-language daily newspaper.

Between 8.30am and 11.30am each day, 65-year-old editor and publisher K T Cheng, accompanied with two Chinese colleagues, dutifully marches in to produce the Overseas Chinese and Commerce of India.

Their four-page broadsheet carries news from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in large Chinese script sometimes interrupted with English job vacancy ads and social announcements. The March 15 edition, for instance, declares the matrimonial engagement of Mr Teng Shin Mein with Miss Wu Pu Liu in Hyderabad.

“We print only about 180 copies daily,” Cheng told Asia Times Online. “But this newspaper is a primary form of connection between the entire Chinese community in India, many of whom are migrating to Canada, Europe, Hong Kong and Korea.”

Cheng, who had a long career in a Tangra tannery, now works out of a large, murky room with ancient tables, a tall grandfather clock and framed photographs of Mahatma Gandhi and Sun Zhongshan, more well-known as Sun Yat-Sen, the respective founders of modern India and China.

The 40-year-old Chinese newspaper also finds its way to the Big Boss, perhaps the largest Chinese restaurant in Kolkata, India and South Asia. “We can seat 800 at a time,” said Nobby Edwards, an Anglo-Indian waiter in Big Boss. “We have waiting queues over the weekends.”

The sprawling Big Boss was once a tannery. It now represents the entrepreneurial spirit of local Chinese, many of whom have made the best of changing circumstances. “I have never seen any community as hardworking as the Chinese here,” he said. “I don’t know when my boss sleeps.”

Yet a sleepy, languid air cloaks the long, winding road through Tangra.

Not many signs of life appear even near the famous Sing Cheung Sauce factory with its closed, formidable iron gates giving more the appearance of a prison than a 54-year-old manufacturer of pungent condiments.

Chinese food, usually sold bathed in such sauces, keeps Tangra alive. Chinese names abound here with an intensity unlike anywhere else in India. The Kim Pau and Kim Ling restaurants stand near the Chungwah cemetery, just beyond China Pearl, China Gate, Hot Wok Village and Shun-Li eateries.

“Nothing much has changed in Tangra in my lifetime,” said Mathew Cheng, owner of the Shun-Li. “My family is fourth-generation Chinese born and brought up in India.”

Cheng has an Indian passport, a document that was tough for Chinese residents in India to own even two decades ago. He visits China frequently, he says, during the course of which he first met Xiao Cheng, who became his wife Cheng Xiao Cheng.

According to Cheng, about 15,000 Chinese once lived in Tangra and Kolkata. But that number has dwindled so much in recent times that even 5,000 now seems an optimistic estimate. The survivors largely stick to the leather and food industries.

There is little doubt, however, that Chinese food has become Kolkata’s favorite street food, more so than in any other Indian city. Almost every Kolkata cafe, including pushcart vendors, serve various and remarkable versions of noodles, called chow mein, and fried rice. An ample plateful costs US$0.25.

Further away from Cheng’s Shun-Li, is Zhong Hua restaurant. The manager explains that the “owner is in Beijing”, and adds helpfully, “If you go now, you can meet her there, sir.” Beijing, of course, turns out to be another restaurant in Tangra Chinatown.

Nearly as big as a basketball court, Beijing has tables set more spaciously apart than its competitor Big Boss. “More Chinese in China want to come and settle down in India,” said owner Monica Liu, defying the dire predictions for her dwindling community in Kolkata. “But they don’t know how to apply.”

Liu, a sharp-eyed, self-made businesswoman who says her working day starts at 5.30am and ends at midnight, was born in Kolkata after her parents migrated from Guangdong. “I speak Hakka, Cantonese, Mandarin, but when I go to China, the Chinese there know I am Chinese but not from China,” she said. “We speak differently, dress differently and think differently than the Chinese in China.”

Liu says the Tangra community is more conservative in outlook than the orthodox Hakka Chinese in China. “We will be opposed to our young people marrying Indians, for instance,” she said, yet emphasizing she has always considered the country of her birth, India, as her home country, not China. “We are a minority community in India, and we have to preserve our identity.”

Overseas Chinese and Tibetans in India share this generational struggle to protect cultural character, with the Tibetan version playing out in New Delhi, 1,400 kilometers away. While many Indian-born Tibetans say they wish to return to Tibet should China grant freedom to the province, few Chinese born in India intend to return to mainland China.

The intertwined India-China roots of Tangra Chinatown get more culturally entangled with each passing generation. Liu’s two-year-old granddaughter shyly whispers to me that her name is “Preity Zinta”, the name of a popular Indian actress, much to the mirth of all around. “Her name Jia Ye means ‘pretty’ in Chinese,” laughed Liu. “But she tells everyone she is ‘Preity Zinta’.”

But the Bollywood-loving toddler won’t be going to the local Chinese school in Tangra, the only one of its kind in India. Instead, Jia Ye will join her brother in La Martiniere, one of Kolkata’s well-known English medium schools.

Liu’s nephew, 25-year-old Thomas Hsu, said he was born and brought up in Kolkata and is happy to live here. His aunt, however, sternly insists he might disappear any day to join his brothers in Canada.

The remaining Tangra Chinese have set the China-India melting pot boiling. There is even a temple in Tangra called the “Chinese Kali Temple”, perhaps the only Chinese temple named after the Hindu goddess in the world.

Inside the little temple’s bright red gates are two idols of Kali next to the blue-colored idol of Shiva, the god who destroys evil.

Under the Chinese Kali Temple entrance sits Dilip Chakraborty selling guavas out of a cane basket for three and four rupees a fruit. “Tangra is in decline and I have been here for over 20 years,” he said. “Many of the Chinese business are shutting down one by one, and people are going away.”

Other Tangra Chinatown residents share Chakraborty’s gloom, never mind development dreams being hatched in Indo-China tourism ministries. “Neither the state government, nor the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, have ever done anything for us and we live in the same neglect today as we did five decades ago when I arrived here,” 65-year old P L Chen complained on “Dhapa”, the Kolkata Chinese community blog.

Chen, one of Tangra’s leather merchants, said he came to Kolkata’s Dum Dum airport as a 13-year-old, arriving from Hong Kong squeezed into a small, crowded propeller plane.

“Almost all of us came from the Meihsien district in the [former] state of Canton. It was an arduous bus ride from Meihsien to Guangzhou, from where we took the boat to Hong Kong,” remembered Chen, who calls India home for the past 52 years.

India’s Kolkata and China’s Kunming tourism boards’ grand plans to develop Tangra Chinatown can’t come too soon for Chen and his fellow Chinese in India, a rare hybrid community embracing two of humanity’s oldest and richest cultures.

Restaurant owner Liu, however, has greater ambitions. “I want to enter politics, and stand for elections,” she said. “I’m in discussions with a political party.”

The idea of India’s parliament resounding with an elected Chinese member’s rousing speeches in Mandarin might have bemused Mahatma Gandhi and Sun Yat-Sen, and it could yet be Tangra Chinatown’s future gift to India.

Logic of post-poll tieups

By M H Ahssan

We often rail against political parties for unprincipled alliances. No doubt many of our politicians are unprincipled, but sometimes we need to question widely-held assumptions. If every politician behaves in the same way, maybe there is something we are missing.

Let us examine three propositions and check whether politicians are always the rogues we believe them to be. The three propositions we need to examine are: 1) The growing irrelevance of national parties even in national-level elections; 2) The increasing preference for post-poll alliances rather than pre-poll commitments; and 3) The irrelevance of ideology in the coalition era.

The first proposition is obvious, given the way smaller, regional, and caste-based parties are driving hard bargains with the Congress and the BJP, the principal nodes of the UPA and NDA. The CPI(M) — key advocate of the third node — is not finding it any easier to do deals with non-Congress, non-BJP parties (examples: UP, Kerala, Orissa).

Why don’t the regional parties want to align with the larger national parties even for the Lok Sabha polls? I have two complementary explanations to offer. It is only when there is an overwhelming national threat (Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984, or Kargil in 1999) that national parties suddenly find relevance at the state-level. At other times, state-level issues predominate. The related point is this: when there is no national issue at hand, state-level parties have no use for a national party’s crutch.

General election 2009: It follows that the only way for national parties to reinvent themselves is by being an aggregation of state-level parties. The BJP, for example, is successful wherever its state-level leaders have developed identities of their own (Modi in Gujarat, Shivraj Chauhan in MP, Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh, etc). In other states, they are doing best where they are not in alliance with any regional party (Karnataka, for example). Since regional parties will only want to align with strong national parties, it makes sense for them to assert themselves with national parties that have lost their regional roots. If they don’t, the alliance will lose.

Which brings us to the next proposition: why is everybody also less keen on pre-poll alliances? The answer: after several years of pre-poll togetherness, alliance partners no longer know their strengths. And unless they know that, how can they be sure what the partner brings to the table? Take the Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra, which has some ideological synergies. Forged at the height of the Hindutva wave in the early 1990s, neither party knows the real strength of the other. One presumes the Sena is the stronger regional power, thanks to its Marathi Manoos roots. No one will know for sure unless both Sena and BJP fight separately.

The short point is that even regional pre-poll alliances need to be tested occasionally in the harsh environs of an electoral battle. This is how Kanshi Ram and Mayawati established the BSP as a potent force in several states, especially UP. The BSP put up candidates everywhere to test electoral strength. Once the numbers were established, even her rivals knew how many votes Mayawati could muster and sought alignments.

Lastly, is ideology becoming irrelevant? The answer is yes and no. Ideology is not irrelevant if one notices how many parties are shunning the BJP. The Left is also trying to evolve a Third Front as an ideological alternative to the UPA and NDA. But the answer is also no. Ideology comes second to power. The Left joined the BJP in propping up VP Singh in the late 1980s. The regional parties had no qualms joining the BJP when its stars were in the ascendant.

Three conclusions emerge. One, national parties have to periodically fight alone to re-establish their credentials in states. Only then will regional parties respect them. Two, national parties must have strong regional satraps leading them. Here, the BJP has a better chance than the Congress of becoming a long-term party of governance since it provides space for ambitious regional leaders to emerge. In dynastic Congress, this is impossible.

Over the longer term, we are actually headed towards a system of proportional representation by default. This is the logic that brought the BSP to power, based on a core Dalit vote. This logic will force caste- and religion-based parties (the various Muslim parties, the BJP, and Shiv Sena) to fight everywhere to establish their voting percentages before they can band together with rivals or allies.

The future of India is really Kerala — where caste and religious parties claim seats on the basis of their proportional strengths in the population. Maybe, India needs to have a more honest system of proportional representation where parties get seats based on popular votes polled.

Forming post-poll alliances — where the logic is “display your strength first, and we can talk alliance later” — is proportional representation through the backdoor.

Logic of post-poll tieups

By M H Ahssan

We often rail against political parties for unprincipled alliances. No doubt many of our politicians are unprincipled, but sometimes we need to question widely-held assumptions. If every politician behaves in the same way, maybe there is something we are missing.

Let us examine three propositions and check whether politicians are always the rogues we believe them to be. The three propositions we need to examine are: 1) The growing irrelevance of national parties even in national-level elections; 2) The increasing preference for post-poll alliances rather than pre-poll commitments; and 3) The irrelevance of ideology in the coalition era.

The first proposition is obvious, given the way smaller, regional, and caste-based parties are driving hard bargains with the Congress and the BJP, the principal nodes of the UPA and NDA. The CPI(M) — key advocate of the third node — is not finding it any easier to do deals with non-Congress, non-BJP parties (examples: UP, Kerala, Orissa).

Why don’t the regional parties want to align with the larger national parties even for the Lok Sabha polls? I have two complementary explanations to offer. It is only when there is an overwhelming national threat (Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984, or Kargil in 1999) that national parties suddenly find relevance at the state-level. At other times, state-level issues predominate. The related point is this: when there is no national issue at hand, state-level parties have no use for a national party’s crutch.

General election 2009: It follows that the only way for national parties to reinvent themselves is by being an aggregation of state-level parties. The BJP, for example, is successful wherever its state-level leaders have developed identities of their own (Modi in Gujarat, Shivraj Chauhan in MP, Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh, etc). In other states, they are doing best where they are not in alliance with any regional party (Karnataka, for example). Since regional parties will only want to align with strong national parties, it makes sense for them to assert themselves with national parties that have lost their regional roots. If they don’t, the alliance will lose.

Which brings us to the next proposition: why is everybody also less keen on pre-poll alliances? The answer: after several years of pre-poll togetherness, alliance partners no longer know their strengths. And unless they know that, how can they be sure what the partner brings to the table? Take the Sena-BJP alliance in Maharashtra, which has some ideological synergies. Forged at the height of the Hindutva wave in the early 1990s, neither party knows the real strength of the other. One presumes the Sena is the stronger regional power, thanks to its Marathi Manoos roots. No one will know for sure unless both Sena and BJP fight separately.

The short point is that even regional pre-poll alliances need to be tested occasionally in the harsh environs of an electoral battle. This is how Kanshi Ram and Mayawati established the BSP as a potent force in several states, especially UP. The BSP put up candidates everywhere to test electoral strength. Once the numbers were established, even her rivals knew how many votes Mayawati could muster and sought alignments.

Lastly, is ideology becoming irrelevant? The answer is yes and no. Ideology is not irrelevant if one notices how many parties are shunning the BJP. The Left is also trying to evolve a Third Front as an ideological alternative to the UPA and NDA. But the answer is also no. Ideology comes second to power. The Left joined the BJP in propping up VP Singh in the late 1980s. The regional parties had no qualms joining the BJP when its stars were in the ascendant.

Three conclusions emerge. One, national parties have to periodically fight alone to re-establish their credentials in states. Only then will regional parties respect them. Two, national parties must have strong regional satraps leading them. Here, the BJP has a better chance than the Congress of becoming a long-term party of governance since it provides space for ambitious regional leaders to emerge. In dynastic Congress, this is impossible.

Over the longer term, we are actually headed towards a system of proportional representation by default. This is the logic that brought the BSP to power, based on a core Dalit vote. This logic will force caste- and religion-based parties (the various Muslim parties, the BJP, and Shiv Sena) to fight everywhere to establish their voting percentages before they can band together with rivals or allies.

The future of India is really Kerala — where caste and religious parties claim seats on the basis of their proportional strengths in the population. Maybe, India needs to have a more honest system of proportional representation where parties get seats based on popular votes polled.

Forming post-poll alliances — where the logic is “display your strength first, and we can talk alliance later” — is proportional representation through the backdoor.

I am confident we are going to win: Chiranjeevi

By M H Ahssan

It has been just eight months since he floated his political party but Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi is very confident of winning the Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls, being held along with the Lok Sabha elections, and promises he will bring “a change” in the state.

“We will definitely get a number with which we can form government. I am confident,” the 53-year-old Chiranjeevi said, even rubbishing prospects of a hung assembly.

“As of today I don’t entertain that kind of thought (of a hung assembly). I am confident that we are going to win. There is no chance of a hung assembly,” the cine star, who launched his Praja Rajyam Party in August last year, said.

The actor, who belongs to the Kapu community, also hinted at the formation of a “fourth front” with his party at the national level. “I think a fourth front will take shape. Some parties have already started discussing this,” he said.

The megastar is hoping to better the record of his predecessor and matinee idol N T Rama Rao, who became chief minister within nine months of launching the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1982. He has acted in 149 films and ruled the Telugu film industry for over two decades.

So what makes Konidela Siva Shankara Varaprasad or Chiranjeevi different from his rivals. He also spoke about his ambitions and his vision. Here are excerpts.

Q: You said you entered politics to serve the people. All parties including Congress and TDP claim they are fighting for the poor. How different are you and your party from others?

A. They may say the same dialogue but I have the sincerity. I am a white paper. I have a clean image. I want to serve the people with humility and sincerity. Politicians have made use of peoples’ votes but do not care for them. There are no roads, public transportation, health and educational facilities. They claim the state has developed but the fact is that a very pathetic situation is prevailing in the state and people are dying of hunger.

Q: How do you see your party’s prospects? How many seats is it going to win in the assembly elections?

A: We will definitely get a number with which we can form government. I am confident. (The party needs 147 seats for simple majority in the 294-member assembly). Some people have come out with fake surveys. They want to demoralise our cadres. But people have realised this and they are consolidating the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP).

Q: In the event of the elections throwing up a hung assembly, which party would you like to join hands with?

A: As of today I don’t entertain that kind of thought. I am confident that we are going to win. There is no chance of a hung assembly.

Q: You have been attracting huge crowds at every public meeting but do you think your party can convert this support into votes, and how are you going to achieve this?

A: I take the major responsibility of converting this support into votes. There are also local leaders. Our schemes and our promises will make people vote for us. For instance, we are promising a scheme under which a poor family will get a month’s ration only at Rs.100. This scheme is necessary in a state like ours where the poor are dying of starvation.

Q: By promising such schemes, do you want to become another NTR?

A: I don’t compare myself with the late NTR, but I want to give livelihood to people. He was pro-poor and people want me to substitute him and bring a change, and I will do that.

Q: The Congress government claims that it implemented several pro-people schemes during the last five years and is seeking another term on the basis of its performance. Your comment?

A: Some of these schemes were very good but behind these schemes there is corruption and commission. It is a sugar-coated poison. They are looting public money.

Q: What role do you foresee for your party at the national level. Will it join the Third Front?

A: We are concentrating on state politics. We have to work on what role we will have at the national level. I think a fourth front will take shape. Some parties have already started discussing this. As of today I don’t know which parties will come together to form such a front.

Q: Will the Third Front minus TDP become the fourth front?

A: Anything may happen.

Q: What about Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party?

A: Mr Pawar offered his party’s symbol to us but we have other options also. There is still time and we have filed an appeal in the court seeking a common symbol for the party following the Election Commission’s refusal to grant us the same.

Chiranjeevi had wanted the symbol of the railway engine for his party, but the poll panel refused, saying it is a new party and has not fought the elections.

Though the PRP has yet to come out with an official poll manifesto, the proposals in its draft manifesto include promising free education to girls from kindergarten to post graduation level, and free education to boys and girls from poor families.

The state will hold simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls on April 16 and 23.

I am confident we are going to win: Chiranjeevi

By M H Ahssan

It has been just eight months since he floated his political party but Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi is very confident of winning the Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls, being held along with the Lok Sabha elections, and promises he will bring “a change” in the state.

“We will definitely get a number with which we can form government. I am confident,” the 53-year-old Chiranjeevi said, even rubbishing prospects of a hung assembly.

“As of today I don’t entertain that kind of thought (of a hung assembly). I am confident that we are going to win. There is no chance of a hung assembly,” the cine star, who launched his Praja Rajyam Party in August last year, said.

The actor, who belongs to the Kapu community, also hinted at the formation of a “fourth front” with his party at the national level. “I think a fourth front will take shape. Some parties have already started discussing this,” he said.

The megastar is hoping to better the record of his predecessor and matinee idol N T Rama Rao, who became chief minister within nine months of launching the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1982. He has acted in 149 films and ruled the Telugu film industry for over two decades.

So what makes Konidela Siva Shankara Varaprasad or Chiranjeevi different from his rivals. He also spoke about his ambitions and his vision. Here are excerpts.

Q: You said you entered politics to serve the people. All parties including Congress and TDP claim they are fighting for the poor. How different are you and your party from others?

A. They may say the same dialogue but I have the sincerity. I am a white paper. I have a clean image. I want to serve the people with humility and sincerity. Politicians have made use of peoples’ votes but do not care for them. There are no roads, public transportation, health and educational facilities. They claim the state has developed but the fact is that a very pathetic situation is prevailing in the state and people are dying of hunger.

Q: How do you see your party’s prospects? How many seats is it going to win in the assembly elections?

A: We will definitely get a number with which we can form government. I am confident. (The party needs 147 seats for simple majority in the 294-member assembly). Some people have come out with fake surveys. They want to demoralise our cadres. But people have realised this and they are consolidating the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP).

Q: In the event of the elections throwing up a hung assembly, which party would you like to join hands with?

A: As of today I don’t entertain that kind of thought. I am confident that we are going to win. There is no chance of a hung assembly.

Q: You have been attracting huge crowds at every public meeting but do you think your party can convert this support into votes, and how are you going to achieve this?

A: I take the major responsibility of converting this support into votes. There are also local leaders. Our schemes and our promises will make people vote for us. For instance, we are promising a scheme under which a poor family will get a month’s ration only at Rs.100. This scheme is necessary in a state like ours where the poor are dying of starvation.

Q: By promising such schemes, do you want to become another NTR?

A: I don’t compare myself with the late NTR, but I want to give livelihood to people. He was pro-poor and people want me to substitute him and bring a change, and I will do that.

Q: The Congress government claims that it implemented several pro-people schemes during the last five years and is seeking another term on the basis of its performance. Your comment?

A: Some of these schemes were very good but behind these schemes there is corruption and commission. It is a sugar-coated poison. They are looting public money.

Q: What role do you foresee for your party at the national level. Will it join the Third Front?

A: We are concentrating on state politics. We have to work on what role we will have at the national level. I think a fourth front will take shape. Some parties have already started discussing this. As of today I don’t know which parties will come together to form such a front.

Q: Will the Third Front minus TDP become the fourth front?

A: Anything may happen.

Q: What about Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party?

A: Mr Pawar offered his party’s symbol to us but we have other options also. There is still time and we have filed an appeal in the court seeking a common symbol for the party following the Election Commission’s refusal to grant us the same.

Chiranjeevi had wanted the symbol of the railway engine for his party, but the poll panel refused, saying it is a new party and has not fought the elections.

Though the PRP has yet to come out with an official poll manifesto, the proposals in its draft manifesto include promising free education to girls from kindergarten to post graduation level, and free education to boys and girls from poor families.

The state will hold simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls on April 16 and 23.

Let not ‘BJP ka Gandhi’ get away easily

By Rajdeep Sardesai

In the backlanes of Uttar Pradesh, Varun Feroze Gandhi is referred to as the “BJP ka Gandhi”. It’s a reference indicative of what’s been perhaps the 29-year-old poet-politician’s central dilemma in life so far: the struggle to carve an independent identity for himself outside of the Nehru-Gandhi legacy.

His cousin, Rahul, has been bequeathed the keys to the family business. His aunt Sonia is the Supreme Leader of the Indian National Congress. Varun, and his mother, Maneka, have always been the ‘outsiders’, blessed with the surname of India’s most powerful political family without any of the privileges. Which is why the so-called ‘other Gandhis’ have been forced to look for career options. Maneka has found her niche in the world of animal rights activism. Varun too, judging from the content of his speeches in Pilibhit, also now appears to have found his feet as the BJP’s new Hindutva posterboy.

When Varun joined the BJP five years ago, it was an important moment for the party. For decades, the BJP has had to live in the political shadow of the Nehru-Gandhi family. While the dynasty was seen as the sophisticated Brahminical elite of Indian politics, the BJP, and its earlier avatar of the Jan Sangh, was dismissed as a ‘bania’ party of petty traders and ’sanghis’. The entry of professionals – journalists, bureaucrats, armymen – in the 1990s went a long way in ending the isolation and enhancing the acceptability quotient of the saffron outfit.

Varun’s entry ended the ‘untouchability’ of the BJP once and for all: if an LSE educated member of the Nehru-Gandhi clan could join the BJP, then how could the party be treated as a pariah any longer? The fact that he was the son of Sanjay Gandhi, the face of the abhorrent Emergency, hardly mattered. He was, above all, the great grandson of Jawaharlal.

In fact, within weeks of Varun joining the party, there was a section of the party that was already projecting him as the generation next leader of the BJP. He was even almost pushed into contesting elections in 2004 itself, till someone in the party remembered that the young man wasn’t even 25 and therefore was ineligible to contest the elections.

The desire to have Varun as a BJP face wasn’t just about ending the monopoly of the Congress over the Gandhi-Nehru family name; it was also designed to defeat the Nehruvian political project. Central to the Nehruvian ideal has always been the belief in a secular state that would protect all religions without any distinction. For the BJP, this model of secularism was based on ‘appeasement’ of minorities and needed to be rejected.

The secular-pseudo secular debate has been at the core of the Hindutva ideology and has played a major role in the rise of the BJP in the last two decades. For the sangh parivar , Nehru was, to use the words of a sangh ideologue, “the leader of a perfidious operation that led the country to surrender to Islamic separatism.” What better way to hit back at the much-reviled Jawaharlal than to have his great grandson question the very essence of his legacy?

Which is why Varun’s rhetoric in Pilibhit – the kind which might make even a Bal Thackeray blush – should come as no surprise. Varun was not given special treatment in the BJP so that he would be just another politically ambitious young man waiting his turn. He was catapulted into the arclights to fulfill a particular role: a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family who had wholeheartedly embraced the Hindutva ideology.

That he chose his mother’s constituency of Pilibhit to make his inflammatory remarks is also not unexpected. With a substantial Muslim population, Pilibhit has a history of communal trouble. In the 1930s, resolutions moved in the central legislative assembly to ban cow slaughter had sparked off violence in the region. If today, Varun seeks to revive the cow slaughter issue it should be seen in a specific historic context: as a well-read young man Varun probably knows that this is just the kind of issue that will have an emotional appeal in the region, and could polarize the electorate in his favour.

And yet, there will still be those who will ask just why Varun chose this moment to take up a potentially divisive campaign when his party leadership itself has shown the capacity to look beyond its traditional revivalist agenda, and focus on issues of governance. The simple answer: he probably thought he could get away with it. Had it not been for an alert and enterprising media, he probably would have got away. After all, hate speeches have been made routinely in this country in recent times, yet no one has been really punished.

The only senior political figure who has been held guilty by the judiciary of hate speech has been Bal Thackeray in 1999, that too 12 years after the original offence was committed. The Shiv Sena big boss was initially deprived of his basic right to vote and contest in elections for a period of six years, but even here the punishment was later commuted to just two years. This, despite the fact that Thackeray has been unapologetic and explicit in his venomous speeches and writings against the minorities for over forty years now.

Narendra Modi’s Gujarat Gaurav yatra in 2002 was laced with invective against the minorities, the election commission issued warnings and notices, yet could do little else as Modi stormed to victory in the ensuing elections. In 1984, the Congress publicity campaign spread fear and hatred towards the Sikhs, yet it wasn’t banned. Nor did it stop Rajiv Gandhi from becoming the prime minister. Whether it be political imams who appeal for votes in the name of Islam, or Hindu leaders who target the minorities, little has been done to actively enforce existing legislation against hate speech.

Perhaps, Varun too will eventually get away, and in all probability, even win his election from Pilibhit. Once the media frenzy settles, it is even possible that Varun will be lionized as a gutsy individual by those who believe that such rhetoric is necessary to put minorities ‘in their place’. Maybe, this is the inevitable price we must pay as a nation for having allowed our politics to degenerate into a snake-pit of divide and rule.

And yet, if we have any faith in the idea of India as a multi-religious society with a republican constitution, we must not allow Varun to get away so easily. That’s the least Jawaharlal and our founding fathers would expect of us.

Let not ‘BJP ka Gandhi’ get away easily

By Rajdeep Sardesai

In the backlanes of Uttar Pradesh, Varun Feroze Gandhi is referred to as the “BJP ka Gandhi”. It’s a reference indicative of what’s been perhaps the 29-year-old poet-politician’s central dilemma in life so far: the struggle to carve an independent identity for himself outside of the Nehru-Gandhi legacy.

His cousin, Rahul, has been bequeathed the keys to the family business. His aunt Sonia is the Supreme Leader of the Indian National Congress. Varun, and his mother, Maneka, have always been the ‘outsiders’, blessed with the surname of India’s most powerful political family without any of the privileges. Which is why the so-called ‘other Gandhis’ have been forced to look for career options. Maneka has found her niche in the world of animal rights activism. Varun too, judging from the content of his speeches in Pilibhit, also now appears to have found his feet as the BJP’s new Hindutva posterboy.

When Varun joined the BJP five years ago, it was an important moment for the party. For decades, the BJP has had to live in the political shadow of the Nehru-Gandhi family. While the dynasty was seen as the sophisticated Brahminical elite of Indian politics, the BJP, and its earlier avatar of the Jan Sangh, was dismissed as a ‘bania’ party of petty traders and ’sanghis’. The entry of professionals – journalists, bureaucrats, armymen – in the 1990s went a long way in ending the isolation and enhancing the acceptability quotient of the saffron outfit.

Varun’s entry ended the ‘untouchability’ of the BJP once and for all: if an LSE educated member of the Nehru-Gandhi clan could join the BJP, then how could the party be treated as a pariah any longer? The fact that he was the son of Sanjay Gandhi, the face of the abhorrent Emergency, hardly mattered. He was, above all, the great grandson of Jawaharlal.

In fact, within weeks of Varun joining the party, there was a section of the party that was already projecting him as the generation next leader of the BJP. He was even almost pushed into contesting elections in 2004 itself, till someone in the party remembered that the young man wasn’t even 25 and therefore was ineligible to contest the elections.

The desire to have Varun as a BJP face wasn’t just about ending the monopoly of the Congress over the Gandhi-Nehru family name; it was also designed to defeat the Nehruvian political project. Central to the Nehruvian ideal has always been the belief in a secular state that would protect all religions without any distinction. For the BJP, this model of secularism was based on ‘appeasement’ of minorities and needed to be rejected.

The secular-pseudo secular debate has been at the core of the Hindutva ideology and has played a major role in the rise of the BJP in the last two decades. For the sangh parivar , Nehru was, to use the words of a sangh ideologue, “the leader of a perfidious operation that led the country to surrender to Islamic separatism.” What better way to hit back at the much-reviled Jawaharlal than to have his great grandson question the very essence of his legacy?

Which is why Varun’s rhetoric in Pilibhit – the kind which might make even a Bal Thackeray blush – should come as no surprise. Varun was not given special treatment in the BJP so that he would be just another politically ambitious young man waiting his turn. He was catapulted into the arclights to fulfill a particular role: a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family who had wholeheartedly embraced the Hindutva ideology.

That he chose his mother’s constituency of Pilibhit to make his inflammatory remarks is also not unexpected. With a substantial Muslim population, Pilibhit has a history of communal trouble. In the 1930s, resolutions moved in the central legislative assembly to ban cow slaughter had sparked off violence in the region. If today, Varun seeks to revive the cow slaughter issue it should be seen in a specific historic context: as a well-read young man Varun probably knows that this is just the kind of issue that will have an emotional appeal in the region, and could polarize the electorate in his favour.

And yet, there will still be those who will ask just why Varun chose this moment to take up a potentially divisive campaign when his party leadership itself has shown the capacity to look beyond its traditional revivalist agenda, and focus on issues of governance. The simple answer: he probably thought he could get away with it. Had it not been for an alert and enterprising media, he probably would have got away. After all, hate speeches have been made routinely in this country in recent times, yet no one has been really punished.

The only senior political figure who has been held guilty by the judiciary of hate speech has been Bal Thackeray in 1999, that too 12 years after the original offence was committed. The Shiv Sena big boss was initially deprived of his basic right to vote and contest in elections for a period of six years, but even here the punishment was later commuted to just two years. This, despite the fact that Thackeray has been unapologetic and explicit in his venomous speeches and writings against the minorities for over forty years now.

Narendra Modi’s Gujarat Gaurav yatra in 2002 was laced with invective against the minorities, the election commission issued warnings and notices, yet could do little else as Modi stormed to victory in the ensuing elections. In 1984, the Congress publicity campaign spread fear and hatred towards the Sikhs, yet it wasn’t banned. Nor did it stop Rajiv Gandhi from becoming the prime minister. Whether it be political imams who appeal for votes in the name of Islam, or Hindu leaders who target the minorities, little has been done to actively enforce existing legislation against hate speech.

Perhaps, Varun too will eventually get away, and in all probability, even win his election from Pilibhit. Once the media frenzy settles, it is even possible that Varun will be lionized as a gutsy individual by those who believe that such rhetoric is necessary to put minorities ‘in their place’. Maybe, this is the inevitable price we must pay as a nation for having allowed our politics to degenerate into a snake-pit of divide and rule.

And yet, if we have any faith in the idea of India as a multi-religious society with a republican constitution, we must not allow Varun to get away so easily. That’s the least Jawaharlal and our founding fathers would expect of us.

India battles its urban wild

By Priyanka Bhardwaj

Often it becomes apparent that India’s slow-to-move government agencies are caught in a time warp, struggling to catch up with the efficient private sector rooted in high-tech paperless functioning.

Take the case of the state of Haryana that adjoins Delhi and boasts of modern cities such as Chandigarh and Gurgaon, the hub of multinational, global outsourcing and software firms, operating out of state-of-the-art office spaces.

Saddled with reams of hard copy files, the Haryana police, which does not boast the best anti-crime record, has been grappling with rats devouring official records stored in usually dilapidated conditions.

To deal with file eating rodents, Haryana officials have arrived at a solution that may seem rather offbeat. Rather than spruce and clean up the place, the police are experimenting with white mice to take on the numerous black rats.

A senior police official in the Haryana city of Karnal was quoted as saying: “We have brought two white rats in on a trial basis. We have been told that white mice do not eat paper and cloth and are a deterrent for the black ones.”

The Haryana case follows the instances of the income tax office in New Delhi and the Delhi Development Authority (that deals with land allotment and real estate development), which are officially allowed to keep cats.

They have been doing so for years to keep mice from nibbling the mountains of stored paperwork in the face of the slow computerization of government offices.

This, of course is also a reflection of overall lax government functioning, whether in education, law and order, health or infrastructure such as roads and power, Though India has been plague-free from 1966, in 1994 there was an outbreak that affected Maharashtra and Gujarat. The city of Surat was badly impacted.

Indeed, even as India transitions as an emerging economy and global business hub, the intermeshing of high growth pockets with arenas that still need reform creates its own set of peculiarities.

Though the government has been one of the slowest to change and move with the times, there are other outfits battling rodents too. The state-owned Indian Railways, the biggest network in the world, has been fighting a losing battle with rats for a while now.

Over a million rats are estimated to infest the extremely dirty and busy four acre area of the New Delhi railway station, a contrast from the glitzy malls that sprinkle the city and the spotless metro train service.

The rodents have been causing a nuisance gnawing at cables, stores and even affecting signaling systems.

Earlier this month, following several failed attempts, desperate rail officials handed a contract of Rs1.7 million (US$33,000) to a private firm to exterminate the menace.

“All our earlier attempts failed miserably to control the rats. We have handed over the area to the firm and hope for a radical change in the next one month itself,” said a senior railway official.

Indeed, although India is changing there is a long way to go. For example, first time foreign visitors to New Delhi are shocked to witness animals that freely roam the streets, alongside traffic jams, modern expressways, flyovers and the world class metro. It is estimated that more than 50,000 cows and buffaloes crowd the roads along with armies’ of monkeys, pigs, stray dogs, camels and an occasional elephant, often causing chaos and accidents.

Traffic routinely comes to a halt on highways to allow animals to walk, sleep, defecate and procreate. Animals are sometimes injured, with stinking carcasses lying in the streets for days given lax municipal authorities.

All of this is due to a rapidly spreading urban sprawl that devours erstwhile open, rural areas and villages where the animals once roamed freely.

The courts have been waging a losing battle to rid Delhi roads of its animals. Apart from the usual lethargy in implementation, cows are revered by Hindus, the majority Indian population, so any strong arm action is a politically sensitive move.

Dogs, meanwhile, proliferate as they are readily adopted by people, who do not have the space to keep them inside the house, but generally feed, pamper them and resist attempts by authorities to act.

Such is the nuisance of monkeys in the national capital that a couple of langurs (bigger-sized white monkeys) continue to be leashed every day at the forecourts of the Rashtrapati Bhavan (President’s House) and the adjoining north and south blocks that house the prime minister, top administration and military offices.

The langurs scare off the smaller Indian brown rhesus monkeys that are a menace in the area, biting officials, running away with secret files and entering the inner precincts of offices and president’s quarters.

There are also reports that for some time stray dogs moved in and out of the highly protected residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. There were fears that the strays could easily be fitted with remote bombs that could be set off inside the premises. Given brazen terror attacks, such as at Mumbai in November, anything is possible.

Fighting rats, of course, is another issue all together.

ANDHRA PRADESH POLL SCENARIO

ANDHRA PRADESH POLL SCENARIO

Special Report: DROPOUT CHAMPS

By M H Ahssan

Academic qualification may not be necessary to be a successful entrepreneur, finds HNN after he meets these

What is the common thread that unites Henry Ford, Bill Gates and Richard Branson with our very own entrepreneurs Dhirubhai Ambani and Gautam Adani? Apart from founding and heading hugely successful, multimillion dollar corporations, each of these individuals is also a dropout. For varying reasons, none of the names in this distinguished marquee possessed advanced degrees in formal education. However, throughout their lives, each of them demonstrated that great purpose and the will to innovate and learn can be equally important. Blind and deaf American educator Helen Keller is credited with saying that “college isn’t the place to go for ideas”. Many in India would agree. For India, with its rich entrepreneurial communities and business culture has always been a land of opportunity for those who seek to make a mark. And they haven’t let circumstances or lost chances deter them.

The state of Gujarat is home to one of India’s most business-savvy communities. And Mansukhbhai Patel demonstrates why. The son of a farmer in a village called Trent in Ahmedabad district, Patel experienced several financial problems growing up. Supporting the family was top priority. In 1969, Patel was forced to quit his studies after Std 9, following which he trained to be an electrician. For many years, he did small-time residential wiring work before joining the textile industry in 1977. “Even as a child, I was interested in electrical appliances,” Patel says, adding, “So I paid close attention to the machinery used in the textile mills I worked in.” His objective was to build a machine that would strip cotton from its shellsomething that had never been attempted anywhere in the world before.

“After the cotton picking season, entire villages across Gujarat would engage in manual stripping of cotton from the bolls to make a little extra money,” he recalls, “I wanted to make the process faster and more profitable for those families”. Finally, in 1992, Patel launched his first machine under the Chetak Industries brand, made of wood and financed by advances from a local cotton ginning co-operative. He got orders for almost 60 machines, but after selling 13 of them, a technical flaw in the machines forced him to go back to the drawing board. “I lost Rs 20 lakh after recalling those machines. Luckily, I still had my job at Asarva Mills, where I’d been promoted to deputy electrical engineer by then,”

Patel says. “I redesigned an improved stripping machine in 1998 and that was a success.” Interestingly, he also pulled out his two sons from college to assist him in researching and refining his pet invention. Funding and support came from Srishti, an NGO and GIAN-Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network. IIMAhmedabad also pitched in and helped him get his unique invention patented both in India and the US. Chetak Industries is now a company with a turnover of over Rs 4 crore and sells upto a dozen such machines-priced at Rs 4 lakh each-a year to ginning mills.

The lack of an educational pedigree never bothered Patel or his sons. Experts say that a formal education is often little more than a ‘filter’ for an entrepreneur, since big ideas can come from everywhere. “Today many startups are being launched by those backed by the tag of a fancy institute,” says Kallol Borah, co-founder of the HeadStart Network foundation, coincidentally himself a London School of Economics (LSE) graduate.

Borah adds, “Quite often, it is the alumni networks and global exposure at these institutes that matters, not the degree itself.” He cites the examples of a Bangalore-based firm started by some top B-school graduates that set out to make the world’s cheapest PCs and failed miserably. “Technical expertise must also go hand in hand with business acumen, which no amount of studying will get you. That is why many startups fail to scale up- they end up focusing on technical challenges,” he adds.

Rahul Khanna, director, Clearstone Venture Advisors says, “When funding companies, what we observe is the business orientation of the promoters,” He elaborates. “Though a good, solid education gives you a certain sophistication and access to industry networks, many domestic entrepreneurs have succeeded on the basis of their understanding and handling of local regulations, the local market and their competition.”

It’s not just old-school entrepreneurs who leave academia behind in pursuit of a dream venture. Abhimanyu Chirimar, 26, founded MarketHero, an online social community based on the stock market, in March 2008. Prior to that, he started and ran an online B2B and B2C sales company, SimplySold. Chirimar was an above-average student who did his higher secondary schooling from Chennai in 2001.

He was attempting a double majors in Economics/Computer Science at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, when he dropped out in 2004 (a year shy of getting his degree) to start SimplySold. “It was in university that I started noticing the other things people were doing with their lives.” The turning point, however, came in class during a course he took. “We spent two semesters building a hypothetical company with only $100,000,” recalls Chirimar. “As soon as my third year ended, I spent the summer in India and Thailand. I thought about that course a lot, wrote my first business plan and went about raising money. We got lucky and raised much more than $100,000 in a very short period of time through angel investors. That’s when I decided to not go back to school for a little bit.” SimplySold was a modest success, but as it was more of an experimental venture, Chirimar and his partners closed it down in 2006.

Chirimar then joined his family export business for a couple of years. It was during this time, that he came up with the idea of starting MarketHero. The company is angel funded, but Chirimar feels that it has never suffered for want of an academic whizkid at the helm. “Like it or not, an educational pedigree helps,” says Chirimar, “Professional investors do care about getting an ideal mix of education and experience. However, if you are bootstrapping, it doesn’t matter so much,” he adds.

Rajeev Karwal, founder of Milagrow, a company that provides business solutions to startups and smaller firms, says, “I believe that regardless of your academic record, the most important thing is to acquire the right kind of resources, be it skills, a good team, or physical assets. That kind of growth orientation is more important.”

If it hadn’t been for cricket, Parakramsinh Jadeja may have ended up working in a routine job in his native Rajkot. In 1986, Jadeja, who was studying in Std 12, asked his father for Rs 25,000 to participate in an under-19 cricket tournament. His father, a municipal employee, was able to barely raise half that amount. The incident changed Jadeja forever. He decided to start his own business and earn some money. “At the time, there were about 160 lathe machine manufacturers in Rajkot, so I decided to do something in that area,” says Jadeja.

In 1988, began working for his uncle on a conventional lathe machine (used to reshape metal, wood, etc.). While working on the machine, he studied its design and components closely. In 1988, with his newly acquired knowledge, Jadeja launched Jyoti Enterprises and started making lathe components like gearboxes and headstocks for lathe manufacturers. “Luckily, my parents always supported me throughout. I also had an active interest in lathe machine design even prior to starting Jyoti, so I learnt quickly,” he explains. He also convinced a local bank to give him a loan of Rs 33,000 for operational expenses. Soon, Jyoti was supplying to approximately half the manufacturers in the city. “We were manufacturing about 500 gearboxes a month at that point,” Jadeja recalls. From 1993 onwards, Jyoti got into complete lathe manufacturing.”

Despite lacking a formal education, Jadeja realised back in 1992 that computer-assisted lathe machines were the future. He not only bought a Rs 1.46 lakh computer, but also taught himself the ‘Autocad’ design software. The company then launched advanced lathe CNC machines in the market and renamed itself as Jyoti CNC. In 2008, the company acquired Huron Graffenstaden, a French CNC machine manufacturer. With clients like M&M, Kirloskar, Delphi-TVS and key vendors of the Tata Nano apart from vendors to other OEMs, Jyoti CNC is testimony to the man who learnt more on the job than he possibly could have in a classroom.

Indeed, the big difference is the ability to learn. Chirimar confesses, “I have to keep up with people who are ridiculously smart and extremely talented. Whether I have a double degree and a master’s or not, I need to keep educating and re-educating myself daily. If I don’t invest those 2 hours a day reading, I feel like I am being left behind.”

Special Report: DROPOUT CHAMPS

By M H Ahssan

Academic qualification may not be necessary to be a successful entrepreneur, finds HNN after he meets these

What is the common thread that unites Henry Ford, Bill Gates and Richard Branson with our very own entrepreneurs Dhirubhai Ambani and Gautam Adani? Apart from founding and heading hugely successful, multimillion dollar corporations, each of these individuals is also a dropout. For varying reasons, none of the names in this distinguished marquee possessed advanced degrees in formal education. However, throughout their lives, each of them demonstrated that great purpose and the will to innovate and learn can be equally important. Blind and deaf American educator Helen Keller is credited with saying that “college isn’t the place to go for ideas”. Many in India would agree. For India, with its rich entrepreneurial communities and business culture has always been a land of opportunity for those who seek to make a mark. And they haven’t let circumstances or lost chances deter them.

The state of Gujarat is home to one of India’s most business-savvy communities. And Mansukhbhai Patel demonstrates why. The son of a farmer in a village called Trent in Ahmedabad district, Patel experienced several financial problems growing up. Supporting the family was top priority. In 1969, Patel was forced to quit his studies after Std 9, following which he trained to be an electrician. For many years, he did small-time residential wiring work before joining the textile industry in 1977. “Even as a child, I was interested in electrical appliances,” Patel says, adding, “So I paid close attention to the machinery used in the textile mills I worked in.” His objective was to build a machine that would strip cotton from its shellsomething that had never been attempted anywhere in the world before.

“After the cotton picking season, entire villages across Gujarat would engage in manual stripping of cotton from the bolls to make a little extra money,” he recalls, “I wanted to make the process faster and more profitable for those families”. Finally, in 1992, Patel launched his first machine under the Chetak Industries brand, made of wood and financed by advances from a local cotton ginning co-operative. He got orders for almost 60 machines, but after selling 13 of them, a technical flaw in the machines forced him to go back to the drawing board. “I lost Rs 20 lakh after recalling those machines. Luckily, I still had my job at Asarva Mills, where I’d been promoted to deputy electrical engineer by then,”

Patel says. “I redesigned an improved stripping machine in 1998 and that was a success.” Interestingly, he also pulled out his two sons from college to assist him in researching and refining his pet invention. Funding and support came from Srishti, an NGO and GIAN-Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network. IIMAhmedabad also pitched in and helped him get his unique invention patented both in India and the US. Chetak Industries is now a company with a turnover of over Rs 4 crore and sells upto a dozen such machines-priced at Rs 4 lakh each-a year to ginning mills.

The lack of an educational pedigree never bothered Patel or his sons. Experts say that a formal education is often little more than a ‘filter’ for an entrepreneur, since big ideas can come from everywhere. “Today many startups are being launched by those backed by the tag of a fancy institute,” says Kallol Borah, co-founder of the HeadStart Network foundation, coincidentally himself a London School of Economics (LSE) graduate.

Borah adds, “Quite often, it is the alumni networks and global exposure at these institutes that matters, not the degree itself.” He cites the examples of a Bangalore-based firm started by some top B-school graduates that set out to make the world’s cheapest PCs and failed miserably. “Technical expertise must also go hand in hand with business acumen, which no amount of studying will get you. That is why many startups fail to scale up- they end up focusing on technical challenges,” he adds.

Rahul Khanna, director, Clearstone Venture Advisors says, “When funding companies, what we observe is the business orientation of the promoters,” He elaborates. “Though a good, solid education gives you a certain sophistication and access to industry networks, many domestic entrepreneurs have succeeded on the basis of their understanding and handling of local regulations, the local market and their competition.”

It’s not just old-school entrepreneurs who leave academia behind in pursuit of a dream venture. Abhimanyu Chirimar, 26, founded MarketHero, an online social community based on the stock market, in March 2008. Prior to that, he started and ran an online B2B and B2C sales company, SimplySold. Chirimar was an above-average student who did his higher secondary schooling from Chennai in 2001.

He was attempting a double majors in Economics/Computer Science at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, when he dropped out in 2004 (a year shy of getting his degree) to start SimplySold. “It was in university that I started noticing the other things people were doing with their lives.” The turning point, however, came in class during a course he took. “We spent two semesters building a hypothetical company with only $100,000,” recalls Chirimar. “As soon as my third year ended, I spent the summer in India and Thailand. I thought about that course a lot, wrote my first business plan and went about raising money. We got lucky and raised much more than $100,000 in a very short period of time through angel investors. That’s when I decided to not go back to school for a little bit.” SimplySold was a modest success, but as it was more of an experimental venture, Chirimar and his partners closed it down in 2006.

Chirimar then joined his family export business for a couple of years. It was during this time, that he came up with the idea of starting MarketHero. The company is angel funded, but Chirimar feels that it has never suffered for want of an academic whizkid at the helm. “Like it or not, an educational pedigree helps,” says Chirimar, “Professional investors do care about getting an ideal mix of education and experience. However, if you are bootstrapping, it doesn’t matter so much,” he adds.

Rajeev Karwal, founder of Milagrow, a company that provides business solutions to startups and smaller firms, says, “I believe that regardless of your academic record, the most important thing is to acquire the right kind of resources, be it skills, a good team, or physical assets. That kind of growth orientation is more important.”

If it hadn’t been for cricket, Parakramsinh Jadeja may have ended up working in a routine job in his native Rajkot. In 1986, Jadeja, who was studying in Std 12, asked his father for Rs 25,000 to participate in an under-19 cricket tournament. His father, a municipal employee, was able to barely raise half that amount. The incident changed Jadeja forever. He decided to start his own business and earn some money. “At the time, there were about 160 lathe machine manufacturers in Rajkot, so I decided to do something in that area,” says Jadeja.

In 1988, began working for his uncle on a conventional lathe machine (used to reshape metal, wood, etc.). While working on the machine, he studied its design and components closely. In 1988, with his newly acquired knowledge, Jadeja launched Jyoti Enterprises and started making lathe components like gearboxes and headstocks for lathe manufacturers. “Luckily, my parents always supported me throughout. I also had an active interest in lathe machine design even prior to starting Jyoti, so I learnt quickly,” he explains. He also convinced a local bank to give him a loan of Rs 33,000 for operational expenses. Soon, Jyoti was supplying to approximately half the manufacturers in the city. “We were manufacturing about 500 gearboxes a month at that point,” Jadeja recalls. From 1993 onwards, Jyoti got into complete lathe manufacturing.”

Despite lacking a formal education, Jadeja realised back in 1992 that computer-assisted lathe machines were the future. He not only bought a Rs 1.46 lakh computer, but also taught himself the ‘Autocad’ design software. The company then launched advanced lathe CNC machines in the market and renamed itself as Jyoti CNC. In 2008, the company acquired Huron Graffenstaden, a French CNC machine manufacturer. With clients like M&M, Kirloskar, Delphi-TVS and key vendors of the Tata Nano apart from vendors to other OEMs, Jyoti CNC is testimony to the man who learnt more on the job than he possibly could have in a classroom.

Indeed, the big difference is the ability to learn. Chirimar confesses, “I have to keep up with people who are ridiculously smart and extremely talented. Whether I have a double degree and a master’s or not, I need to keep educating and re-educating myself daily. If I don’t invest those 2 hours a day reading, I feel like I am being left behind.”

Special Report: DROPOUT CHAMPS

By M H Ahssan

Academic qualification may not be necessary to be a successful entrepreneur, finds HNN after he meets these

What is the common thread that unites Henry Ford, Bill Gates and Richard Branson with our very own entrepreneurs Dhirubhai Ambani and Gautam Adani? Apart from founding and heading hugely successful, multimillion dollar corporations, each of these individuals is also a dropout. For varying reasons, none of the names in this distinguished marquee possessed advanced degrees in formal education. However, throughout their lives, each of them demonstrated that great purpose and the will to innovate and learn can be equally important. Blind and deaf American educator Helen Keller is credited with saying that “college isn’t the place to go for ideas”. Many in India would agree. For India, with its rich entrepreneurial communities and business culture has always been a land of opportunity for those who seek to make a mark. And they haven’t let circumstances or lost chances deter them.

The state of Gujarat is home to one of India’s most business-savvy communities. And Mansukhbhai Patel demonstrates why. The son of a farmer in a village called Trent in Ahmedabad district, Patel experienced several financial problems growing up. Supporting the family was top priority. In 1969, Patel was forced to quit his studies after Std 9, following which he trained to be an electrician. For many years, he did small-time residential wiring work before joining the textile industry in 1977. “Even as a child, I was interested in electrical appliances,” Patel says, adding, “So I paid close attention to the machinery used in the textile mills I worked in.” His objective was to build a machine that would strip cotton from its shellsomething that had never been attempted anywhere in the world before.

“After the cotton picking season, entire villages across Gujarat would engage in manual stripping of cotton from the bolls to make a little extra money,” he recalls, “I wanted to make the process faster and more profitable for those families”. Finally, in 1992, Patel launched his first machine under the Chetak Industries brand, made of wood and financed by advances from a local cotton ginning co-operative. He got orders for almost 60 machines, but after selling 13 of them, a technical flaw in the machines forced him to go back to the drawing board. “I lost Rs 20 lakh after recalling those machines. Luckily, I still had my job at Asarva Mills, where I’d been promoted to deputy electrical engineer by then,”

Patel says. “I redesigned an improved stripping machine in 1998 and that was a success.” Interestingly, he also pulled out his two sons from college to assist him in researching and refining his pet invention. Funding and support came from Srishti, an NGO and GIAN-Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network. IIMAhmedabad also pitched in and helped him get his unique invention patented both in India and the US. Chetak Industries is now a company with a turnover of over Rs 4 crore and sells upto a dozen such machines-priced at Rs 4 lakh each-a year to ginning mills.

The lack of an educational pedigree never bothered Patel or his sons. Experts say that a formal education is often little more than a ‘filter’ for an entrepreneur, since big ideas can come from everywhere. “Today many startups are being launched by those backed by the tag of a fancy institute,” says Kallol Borah, co-founder of the HeadStart Network foundation, coincidentally himself a London School of Economics (LSE) graduate.

Borah adds, “Quite often, it is the alumni networks and global exposure at these institutes that matters, not the degree itself.” He cites the examples of a Bangalore-based firm started by some top B-school graduates that set out to make the world’s cheapest PCs and failed miserably. “Technical expertise must also go hand in hand with business acumen, which no amount of studying will get you. That is why many startups fail to scale up- they end up focusing on technical challenges,” he adds.

Rahul Khanna, director, Clearstone Venture Advisors says, “When funding companies, what we observe is the business orientation of the promoters,” He elaborates. “Though a good, solid education gives you a certain sophistication and access to industry networks, many domestic entrepreneurs have succeeded on the basis of their understanding and handling of local regulations, the local market and their competition.”

It’s not just old-school entrepreneurs who leave academia behind in pursuit of a dream venture. Abhimanyu Chirimar, 26, founded MarketHero, an online social community based on the stock market, in March 2008. Prior to that, he started and ran an online B2B and B2C sales company, SimplySold. Chirimar was an above-average student who did his higher secondary schooling from Chennai in 2001.

He was attempting a double majors in Economics/Computer Science at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, when he dropped out in 2004 (a year shy of getting his degree) to start SimplySold. “It was in university that I started noticing the other things people were doing with their lives.” The turning point, however, came in class during a course he took. “We spent two semesters building a hypothetical company with only $100,000,” recalls Chirimar. “As soon as my third year ended, I spent the summer in India and Thailand. I thought about that course a lot, wrote my first business plan and went about raising money. We got lucky and raised much more than $100,000 in a very short period of time through angel investors. That’s when I decided to not go back to school for a little bit.” SimplySold was a modest success, but as it was more of an experimental venture, Chirimar and his partners closed it down in 2006.

Chirimar then joined his family export business for a couple of years. It was during this time, that he came up with the idea of starting MarketHero. The company is angel funded, but Chirimar feels that it has never suffered for want of an academic whizkid at the helm. “Like it or not, an educational pedigree helps,” says Chirimar, “Professional investors do care about getting an ideal mix of education and experience. However, if you are bootstrapping, it doesn’t matter so much,” he adds.

Rajeev Karwal, founder of Milagrow, a company that provides business solutions to startups and smaller firms, says, “I believe that regardless of your academic record, the most important thing is to acquire the right kind of resources, be it skills, a good team, or physical assets. That kind of growth orientation is more important.”

If it hadn’t been for cricket, Parakramsinh Jadeja may have ended up working in a routine job in his native Rajkot. In 1986, Jadeja, who was studying in Std 12, asked his father for Rs 25,000 to participate in an under-19 cricket tournament. His father, a municipal employee, was able to barely raise half that amount. The incident changed Jadeja forever. He decided to start his own business and earn some money. “At the time, there were about 160 lathe machine manufacturers in Rajkot, so I decided to do something in that area,” says Jadeja.

In 1988, began working for his uncle on a conventional lathe machine (used to reshape metal, wood, etc.). While working on the machine, he studied its design and components closely. In 1988, with his newly acquired knowledge, Jadeja launched Jyoti Enterprises and started making lathe components like gearboxes and headstocks for lathe manufacturers. “Luckily, my parents always supported me throughout. I also had an active interest in lathe machine design even prior to starting Jyoti, so I learnt quickly,” he explains. He also convinced a local bank to give him a loan of Rs 33,000 for operational expenses. Soon, Jyoti was supplying to approximately half the manufacturers in the city. “We were manufacturing about 500 gearboxes a month at that point,” Jadeja recalls. From 1993 onwards, Jyoti got into complete lathe manufacturing.”

Despite lacking a formal education, Jadeja realised back in 1992 that computer-assisted lathe machines were the future. He not only bought a Rs 1.46 lakh computer, but also taught himself the ‘Autocad’ design software. The company then launched advanced lathe CNC machines in the market and renamed itself as Jyoti CNC. In 2008, the company acquired Huron Graffenstaden, a French CNC machine manufacturer. With clients like M&M, Kirloskar, Delphi-TVS and key vendors of the Tata Nano apart from vendors to other OEMs, Jyoti CNC is testimony to the man who learnt more on the job than he possibly could have in a classroom.

Indeed, the big difference is the ability to learn. Chirimar confesses, “I have to keep up with people who are ridiculously smart and extremely talented. Whether I have a double degree and a master’s or not, I need to keep educating and re-educating myself daily. If I don’t invest those 2 hours a day reading, I feel like I am being left behind.”

A nightmare in the making?

The Third Front is shaped by sharply contradictory impulses. It is an inchoate cluster that pretends to act nationally but thinks locally, says Swapan Dasgupta.

All through the uncertain 1990s when India was coming to terms with the grim realities of fractured mandates and coalition governments at the Centre, a “national government” was frequently suggested as a way out of the mess. Promoted assiduously by former prime minister Chandra Shekhar, one of the few politicians with a cross-party appeal, it implicitly drew on the British experience during World War II when the Conservatives and Labour came together to forge a common front against Hitler.

Since India was not at war and felt no compelling need to shelve its rumbustious democracy the idea never really caught on. On the contrary, after the emergence of the BJP as an alternative pole to the Congress, regional parties and the Lohiaite rump decided that the way forward was link up with either of the two national parties. Initially the BJP was more accommodating towards the regional parties but after three consecutive electoral defeats the Congress too decided that it had to abandon its dream of reemerging as the dominant party. That both Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh succeeded in completing full terms propelled politics in the direction of coalitional bipolarity.

The recent buzz around a possible Third Front that will exclude both the national parties is based on some key assumptions. First, it is felt by many that the combined tally of the Congress and BJP, which narrowly crossed the half-way mark in the Lok Sabha in 2004, may well fall below the magic 272 mark on May 16. In short, the 2009 verdict may open the theoretical possibility of all the smaller groups (including those nominally attached to the UPA and NDA) forging a non-Congress, non-BJP government.

Secondly, it is believed that both the Congress and BJP have experienced ideological dissipation in the past 10 years and declined in popularity. The BJP has shed its famed “distinctiveness” and the Congress flits uncomfortably between socialism and market economics. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the relative irrelevance of national parties — first experienced in Tamil Nadu after 1971 — has also become a feature of Uttar Pradesh which accounts for 80 MPs in the Lok Sabha.

Despite these opportunities, the Third Front hasn’t quite taken off. The many photo-ops have not been able to conceal the absence of a pre-eminent party and a coherent idea of the third way. With constant entries and departures, the Third Front has been ridiculed as a railway waiting room, a hallucination and worse.

The charge of incoherence is warranted. There appears to be two parallel versions of the third alternative jostling for prominence. The first is based on the assumption that the grouping of diverse groups from different backgrounds is a confederal partnership of equals.

For the Left, a confederal arrangement has involved an unhappy blend of two different ways of doing business with “bourgeois” parties — the United Front and the Popular Front, both dating back to the 1930s. The United Front approach involves Communists leading the fight with non-Communists in tow. The Popular Front involves Communists accepting the leadership of other classes.

In the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, the CPI(M) and CPI, despite having pretensions of being national parties, are confined to West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. Having peaked in 2004, the Left parties are also aware that their parliamentary representation will see a sharp decline in 2009. Under the circumstances, the Communists are in no position to insist on a United Front approach. At the same time, the Popular Front approach involves ideological convulsions and a loss of ideological rigour. As a way out, the Left has attempted to forge a Third Front that is confederal in character but also bound together by a Left-dictated Common Minimum Programme that prioritises “secularism” and an “independent foreign policy”. It’s an attempt to preserve purity in a sea of contamination.

An alternative view of the Third Front is posited by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati. Unlike the others who attended her house-warming dinner last Sunday, Mayawati is not content to limit her influence to Uttar Pradesh. She perceives the BSP as third pole in a multipolar polity and believes that her projection as a prime ministerial candidate will electrify the Dalits and some backward castes.

On the shape of a Third Front, Mayawati’s most visible differences are with the Left. While professing equidistant opposition to the Congress and the BJP, the Left believes that the BJP is its Enemy Number One. Its hostility to the Congress is confined to the Indo-US nuclear agreement and some facets of economic policy. Like the CPI during the tenures of Jawaharlal Nehru and the early Indira Gandhi, a large section of the CPI(M) believes that the Congress has a “progressive” face. Even CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, widely perceived to be the unreconstructed face of his party, singled out Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram for the so-called aberrations of the UPA government, notably its pro-US and pro-free market tilt. At the same time, when push comes to shove, the CPI(M) is clear that the Congress, despite all its imperfections, is a better bet than the “fascist” BJP. After the rise of the BJP as the second national party, its view of the Congress is not fundamentally dissimilar to that of the CPI which traditionally had one foot in the “progressive” Congress camp.

Mayawati draws no such distinctions. She is willing to do business with either the Congress or the BJP as long as it promotes her larger objective of making the BSP a force throughout India. She is undeterred by the fact that the national ambitions may lead to the BSP first eating into the Congress’ Dalit votebank outside UP and thereby benefiting the BJP.

The Third Front is shaped by these sharply contradictory impulses. It is an inchoate cluster that pretends to act nationally but thinks locally. In opposition the Third Front enriches the mosaic of pluralism; in government at the Centre it provokes a nightmare.

A nightmare in the making?

The Third Front is shaped by sharply contradictory impulses. It is an inchoate cluster that pretends to act nationally but thinks locally, says Swapan Dasgupta.

All through the uncertain 1990s when India was coming to terms with the grim realities of fractured mandates and coalition governments at the Centre, a “national government” was frequently suggested as a way out of the mess. Promoted assiduously by former prime minister Chandra Shekhar, one of the few politicians with a cross-party appeal, it implicitly drew on the British experience during World War II when the Conservatives and Labour came together to forge a common front against Hitler.

Since India was not at war and felt no compelling need to shelve its rumbustious democracy the idea never really caught on. On the contrary, after the emergence of the BJP as an alternative pole to the Congress, regional parties and the Lohiaite rump decided that the way forward was link up with either of the two national parties. Initially the BJP was more accommodating towards the regional parties but after three consecutive electoral defeats the Congress too decided that it had to abandon its dream of reemerging as the dominant party. That both Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh succeeded in completing full terms propelled politics in the direction of coalitional bipolarity.

The recent buzz around a possible Third Front that will exclude both the national parties is based on some key assumptions. First, it is felt by many that the combined tally of the Congress and BJP, which narrowly crossed the half-way mark in the Lok Sabha in 2004, may well fall below the magic 272 mark on May 16. In short, the 2009 verdict may open the theoretical possibility of all the smaller groups (including those nominally attached to the UPA and NDA) forging a non-Congress, non-BJP government.

Secondly, it is believed that both the Congress and BJP have experienced ideological dissipation in the past 10 years and declined in popularity. The BJP has shed its famed “distinctiveness” and the Congress flits uncomfortably between socialism and market economics. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the relative irrelevance of national parties — first experienced in Tamil Nadu after 1971 — has also become a feature of Uttar Pradesh which accounts for 80 MPs in the Lok Sabha.

Despite these opportunities, the Third Front hasn’t quite taken off. The many photo-ops have not been able to conceal the absence of a pre-eminent party and a coherent idea of the third way. With constant entries and departures, the Third Front has been ridiculed as a railway waiting room, a hallucination and worse.

The charge of incoherence is warranted. There appears to be two parallel versions of the third alternative jostling for prominence. The first is based on the assumption that the grouping of diverse groups from different backgrounds is a confederal partnership of equals.

For the Left, a confederal arrangement has involved an unhappy blend of two different ways of doing business with “bourgeois” parties — the United Front and the Popular Front, both dating back to the 1930s. The United Front approach involves Communists leading the fight with non-Communists in tow. The Popular Front involves Communists accepting the leadership of other classes.

In the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, the CPI(M) and CPI, despite having pretensions of being national parties, are confined to West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. Having peaked in 2004, the Left parties are also aware that their parliamentary representation will see a sharp decline in 2009. Under the circumstances, the Communists are in no position to insist on a United Front approach. At the same time, the Popular Front approach involves ideological convulsions and a loss of ideological rigour. As a way out, the Left has attempted to forge a Third Front that is confederal in character but also bound together by a Left-dictated Common Minimum Programme that prioritises “secularism” and an “independent foreign policy”. It’s an attempt to preserve purity in a sea of contamination.

An alternative view of the Third Front is posited by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati. Unlike the others who attended her house-warming dinner last Sunday, Mayawati is not content to limit her influence to Uttar Pradesh. She perceives the BSP as third pole in a multipolar polity and believes that her projection as a prime ministerial candidate will electrify the Dalits and some backward castes.

On the shape of a Third Front, Mayawati’s most visible differences are with the Left. While professing equidistant opposition to the Congress and the BJP, the Left believes that the BJP is its Enemy Number One. Its hostility to the Congress is confined to the Indo-US nuclear agreement and some facets of economic policy. Like the CPI during the tenures of Jawaharlal Nehru and the early Indira Gandhi, a large section of the CPI(M) believes that the Congress has a “progressive” face. Even CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, widely perceived to be the unreconstructed face of his party, singled out Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram for the so-called aberrations of the UPA government, notably its pro-US and pro-free market tilt. At the same time, when push comes to shove, the CPI(M) is clear that the Congress, despite all its imperfections, is a better bet than the “fascist” BJP. After the rise of the BJP as the second national party, its view of the Congress is not fundamentally dissimilar to that of the CPI which traditionally had one foot in the “progressive” Congress camp.

Mayawati draws no such distinctions. She is willing to do business with either the Congress or the BJP as long as it promotes her larger objective of making the BSP a force throughout India. She is undeterred by the fact that the national ambitions may lead to the BSP first eating into the Congress’ Dalit votebank outside UP and thereby benefiting the BJP.

The Third Front is shaped by these sharply contradictory impulses. It is an inchoate cluster that pretends to act nationally but thinks locally. In opposition the Third Front enriches the mosaic of pluralism; in government at the Centre it provokes a nightmare.

A nightmare in the making?

The Third Front is shaped by sharply contradictory impulses. It is an inchoate cluster that pretends to act nationally but thinks locally, says Swapan Dasgupta.

All through the uncertain 1990s when India was coming to terms with the grim realities of fractured mandates and coalition governments at the Centre, a “national government” was frequently suggested as a way out of the mess. Promoted assiduously by former prime minister Chandra Shekhar, one of the few politicians with a cross-party appeal, it implicitly drew on the British experience during World War II when the Conservatives and Labour came together to forge a common front against Hitler.

Since India was not at war and felt no compelling need to shelve its rumbustious democracy the idea never really caught on. On the contrary, after the emergence of the BJP as an alternative pole to the Congress, regional parties and the Lohiaite rump decided that the way forward was link up with either of the two national parties. Initially the BJP was more accommodating towards the regional parties but after three consecutive electoral defeats the Congress too decided that it had to abandon its dream of reemerging as the dominant party. That both Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh succeeded in completing full terms propelled politics in the direction of coalitional bipolarity.

The recent buzz around a possible Third Front that will exclude both the national parties is based on some key assumptions. First, it is felt by many that the combined tally of the Congress and BJP, which narrowly crossed the half-way mark in the Lok Sabha in 2004, may well fall below the magic 272 mark on May 16. In short, the 2009 verdict may open the theoretical possibility of all the smaller groups (including those nominally attached to the UPA and NDA) forging a non-Congress, non-BJP government.

Secondly, it is believed that both the Congress and BJP have experienced ideological dissipation in the past 10 years and declined in popularity. The BJP has shed its famed “distinctiveness” and the Congress flits uncomfortably between socialism and market economics. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the relative irrelevance of national parties — first experienced in Tamil Nadu after 1971 — has also become a feature of Uttar Pradesh which accounts for 80 MPs in the Lok Sabha.

Despite these opportunities, the Third Front hasn’t quite taken off. The many photo-ops have not been able to conceal the absence of a pre-eminent party and a coherent idea of the third way. With constant entries and departures, the Third Front has been ridiculed as a railway waiting room, a hallucination and worse.

The charge of incoherence is warranted. There appears to be two parallel versions of the third alternative jostling for prominence. The first is based on the assumption that the grouping of diverse groups from different backgrounds is a confederal partnership of equals.

For the Left, a confederal arrangement has involved an unhappy blend of two different ways of doing business with “bourgeois” parties — the United Front and the Popular Front, both dating back to the 1930s. The United Front approach involves Communists leading the fight with non-Communists in tow. The Popular Front involves Communists accepting the leadership of other classes.

In the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, the CPI(M) and CPI, despite having pretensions of being national parties, are confined to West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. Having peaked in 2004, the Left parties are also aware that their parliamentary representation will see a sharp decline in 2009. Under the circumstances, the Communists are in no position to insist on a United Front approach. At the same time, the Popular Front approach involves ideological convulsions and a loss of ideological rigour. As a way out, the Left has attempted to forge a Third Front that is confederal in character but also bound together by a Left-dictated Common Minimum Programme that prioritises “secularism” and an “independent foreign policy”. It’s an attempt to preserve purity in a sea of contamination.

An alternative view of the Third Front is posited by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati. Unlike the others who attended her house-warming dinner last Sunday, Mayawati is not content to limit her influence to Uttar Pradesh. She perceives the BSP as third pole in a multipolar polity and believes that her projection as a prime ministerial candidate will electrify the Dalits and some backward castes.

On the shape of a Third Front, Mayawati’s most visible differences are with the Left. While professing equidistant opposition to the Congress and the BJP, the Left believes that the BJP is its Enemy Number One. Its hostility to the Congress is confined to the Indo-US nuclear agreement and some facets of economic policy. Like the CPI during the tenures of Jawaharlal Nehru and the early Indira Gandhi, a large section of the CPI(M) believes that the Congress has a “progressive” face. Even CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, widely perceived to be the unreconstructed face of his party, singled out Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram for the so-called aberrations of the UPA government, notably its pro-US and pro-free market tilt. At the same time, when push comes to shove, the CPI(M) is clear that the Congress, despite all its imperfections, is a better bet than the “fascist” BJP. After the rise of the BJP as the second national party, its view of the Congress is not fundamentally dissimilar to that of the CPI which traditionally had one foot in the “progressive” Congress camp.

Mayawati draws no such distinctions. She is willing to do business with either the Congress or the BJP as long as it promotes her larger objective of making the BSP a force throughout India. She is undeterred by the fact that the national ambitions may lead to the BSP first eating into the Congress’ Dalit votebank outside UP and thereby benefiting the BJP.

The Third Front is shaped by these sharply contradictory impulses. It is an inchoate cluster that pretends to act nationally but thinks locally. In opposition the Third Front enriches the mosaic of pluralism; in government at the Centre it provokes a nightmare.

Exclusive: Polls solace for media

By M H Ahssan

Newspapers & News Channels To Attract 70% of The Ad Spend, Internet Canvassing Too Picks Up

Rising Decibel levels accompanying elections may be an unwelcome din for many, but for the country’s media sector, reeling under a crippling advertising downturn, that din could be music to its ears. The April-May general elections may extend a muchneeded lifeline to the battered media sector, particularly news channels, which is struggling to cope with dwindling revenues as companies cut back on advertising in a slowing economy.

Media planners say political parties alone could spend up to Rs 800 crore over the next two months on communications — what a top advertiser like Hindustan Unilever spends in an entire year — providing a crucial breather to the media sector. The total spend this election is estimated to be more than double of the amount spent last time.

“There is definitely an increase in spending by political parties on news channels because of high viewership. News channels continue to be a cost-effective medium to advertise,” says Chintamani Rao, CEO of Times Global Broadcasting, which runs leading English news channel Times Now.

Media stocks, which have lost a lot of ground over the past one year, have started climbing in anticipation of the expected sharp rise in their advertising revenues. Most media stocks gained more than 10% in the past one week.

One media planner, who requested not to be named, estimated that the BJP alone plans to spend Rs 200-250 crore on its advertising campaign distributed across a raft of platforms ranging from television to print to radio, while the bill may be slightly lower for the Congress at Rs 150-180 crore. Together, these two parties will account for more than half the overall advertising spending by all parties.

Political parties in India are increasingly packaging themselves and their leaders as brands, emulating similar trends in the west, notably in the United States where a combination of slick marketing and innovative fund raising catapulted Barack Obama from relative obscurity to the White House.

Some parties, especially the Congress and the BJP, have engaged established media buying firms to work for them through the election season, a change from the past wherein big media buying agencies worked for political parties only on ad-hoc basis. While advertising spend by Indian political parties will not be a patch on the billion-dollar-plus spending typically seen in US presidential elections, media experts say it is still a welcome additional source in difficult times and the election season usually has other significant spin-off benefits.

“Every election year in the West, media industry’s advertising revenues show high doubledigit growth. This may now become a trend with the Indian media industry as the advertising pie is expected to grow,” says consulting firm AT Kearney’s head for media and retail practice, Debasish Mukherjee.

Exclusive: Polls solace for media

By M H Ahssan

Newspapers & News Channels To Attract 70% of The Ad Spend, Internet Canvassing Too Picks Up

Rising Decibel levels accompanying elections may be an unwelcome din for many, but for the country’s media sector, reeling under a crippling advertising downturn, that din could be music to its ears. The April-May general elections may extend a muchneeded lifeline to the battered media sector, particularly news channels, which is struggling to cope with dwindling revenues as companies cut back on advertising in a slowing economy.

Media planners say political parties alone could spend up to Rs 800 crore over the next two months on communications — what a top advertiser like Hindustan Unilever spends in an entire year — providing a crucial breather to the media sector. The total spend this election is estimated to be more than double of the amount spent last time.

“There is definitely an increase in spending by political parties on news channels because of high viewership. News channels continue to be a cost-effective medium to advertise,” says Chintamani Rao, CEO of Times Global Broadcasting, which runs leading English news channel Times Now.

Media stocks, which have lost a lot of ground over the past one year, have started climbing in anticipation of the expected sharp rise in their advertising revenues. Most media stocks gained more than 10% in the past one week.

One media planner, who requested not to be named, estimated that the BJP alone plans to spend Rs 200-250 crore on its advertising campaign distributed across a raft of platforms ranging from television to print to radio, while the bill may be slightly lower for the Congress at Rs 150-180 crore. Together, these two parties will account for more than half the overall advertising spending by all parties.

Political parties in India are increasingly packaging themselves and their leaders as brands, emulating similar trends in the west, notably in the United States where a combination of slick marketing and innovative fund raising catapulted Barack Obama from relative obscurity to the White House.

Some parties, especially the Congress and the BJP, have engaged established media buying firms to work for them through the election season, a change from the past wherein big media buying agencies worked for political parties only on ad-hoc basis. While advertising spend by Indian political parties will not be a patch on the billion-dollar-plus spending typically seen in US presidential elections, media experts say it is still a welcome additional source in difficult times and the election season usually has other significant spin-off benefits.

“Every election year in the West, media industry’s advertising revenues show high doubledigit growth. This may now become a trend with the Indian media industry as the advertising pie is expected to grow,” says consulting firm AT Kearney’s head for media and retail practice, Debasish Mukherjee.

Exclusive: Polls solace for media

By M H Ahssan

Newspapers & News Channels To Attract 70% of The Ad Spend, Internet Canvassing Too Picks Up

Rising Decibel levels accompanying elections may be an unwelcome din for many, but for the country’s media sector, reeling under a crippling advertising downturn, that din could be music to its ears. The April-May general elections may extend a muchneeded lifeline to the battered media sector, particularly news channels, which is struggling to cope with dwindling revenues as companies cut back on advertising in a slowing economy.

Media planners say political parties alone could spend up to Rs 800 crore over the next two months on communications — what a top advertiser like Hindustan Unilever spends in an entire year — providing a crucial breather to the media sector. The total spend this election is estimated to be more than double of the amount spent last time.

“There is definitely an increase in spending by political parties on news channels because of high viewership. News channels continue to be a cost-effective medium to advertise,” says Chintamani Rao, CEO of Times Global Broadcasting, which runs leading English news channel Times Now.

Media stocks, which have lost a lot of ground over the past one year, have started climbing in anticipation of the expected sharp rise in their advertising revenues. Most media stocks gained more than 10% in the past one week.

One media planner, who requested not to be named, estimated that the BJP alone plans to spend Rs 200-250 crore on its advertising campaign distributed across a raft of platforms ranging from television to print to radio, while the bill may be slightly lower for the Congress at Rs 150-180 crore. Together, these two parties will account for more than half the overall advertising spending by all parties.

Political parties in India are increasingly packaging themselves and their leaders as brands, emulating similar trends in the west, notably in the United States where a combination of slick marketing and innovative fund raising catapulted Barack Obama from relative obscurity to the White House.

Some parties, especially the Congress and the BJP, have engaged established media buying firms to work for them through the election season, a change from the past wherein big media buying agencies worked for political parties only on ad-hoc basis. While advertising spend by Indian political parties will not be a patch on the billion-dollar-plus spending typically seen in US presidential elections, media experts say it is still a welcome additional source in difficult times and the election season usually has other significant spin-off benefits.

“Every election year in the West, media industry’s advertising revenues show high doubledigit growth. This may now become a trend with the Indian media industry as the advertising pie is expected to grow,” says consulting firm AT Kearney’s head for media and retail practice, Debasish Mukherjee.

‘People’s car, an idea whose time has come’

INTERVIEW WITH TATA’S CHAIRMAN RATAN TATA

If you think Tata Motors just has the Nano up its long sleeve, be prepared to be dazzled. India’s largest automotive player hasn’t let the recent financial slowdown blunt its vision or its hunger to excel in a rapidly evolving global automotive scenario. Proof of this came straight from the man who has been steering India’s most respected business house into an automotive powerhouse. Shalini Kapoor, HNN Business Editor, engaged Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors, in a free-wheeling discussion on cars and projects beyond the Nano on the sidelines of the Geneva Motor Show. And if you are a petrol-head, don’t just drool on Jags and Alfa Romeos but be prepared for Maseratis and Ferraris and even more powerful variants on the Nano theme. Seems Tata’s grand auto-nomic strategy is finally beginning to pan out. Excerpts:

The Tata Nano is finally set to drive down Indian roads. What would be the next challenge, once it is launched on March 23?
Ratan Tata: I think the next challenge would be to live up to people’s aspirations. To make the experience of buying, owning, servicing and supporting the Nano different from what you might have experienced. At the same time, the challenge will also be to have people understand that the Nano is not a Honda, not a Toyota. It is a low-cost car and while there might not be any deficiencies, it might have some lack of refinement which will go with a low-cost product, but surely won’t be a deficiency as such. I don’t think there’s been a car in India that’s planned to be produced in this kind of volume. It is, therefore, important for us to maintain a sustained quality from our suppliers and our own ability to meet product standards. All these issues should be very challenging.

Knowing that Telco had tried to do a people’s car in the 1960s but had to wait till two decades plus for the Indica and now the Nano to give Indians a genuine home-built product, do you sense that you would have loved to do the Nano earlier or is this the right time?
I don’t know because I believe everything you do has its place in time. So in the ’60s, an idea of a people’s car would probably have been different from what it is today. Technologies were different, it is a difficult thing for me to answer. At that time in the ’60s, talking about a people’s car would have been something that is alien to the marketplace. Today, you can have a people’s car that can be done with confidence. So this car is… each new product has its place and time.

Rajiv Dube, president, passenger cars, Tata Motors, mentioned at the launch of the Xenon that Tata Motors is suffering from a problem of plenty—I am of course referring to the sustained new model excitement, and it’s a good problem to have in these days.
Yes, but it also has its challenges and we need to handle them well. So that is a big challenge and I hope we can live up to the expectation.

Is the Tata-Fiat partnership doing well?
Yes it is. It’s doing what it’s set up to do, and perhaps a little more. We are very happy with the relationship. It’s a relationship that’s not treading in rhythmic reversals. It’s a very open relationship based on what we’re trying to do.

Is it a possibility that you could pick and choose technologies available with your partner which you still might not have in the Tata Motors’ portfolio? Or is it something where you still have to go about trying to license that technology?
Naturally, the agreement doesn’t visualize gratis transfer of technology or products, but it does envisage the sharing of those openly. So we would expect that if there was some powertrain we thought would work well with our products we would certainly ask our partner and see whether it makes sense to do that given the transfer rights and licensing fees. Likewise, Sergio (Marchionne) has always made it very clear that he would like Tata Motors to be his preferred development partner and in that way we could share platforms and technology and also manufacturing practices. So the way we think, everything that Tata Motors makes and sells could be developed with Fiat.

Let me bring up the subject of Pininfarina in which Tata Motors has a small stake.

Having seen Tata Motors work with so many big names in product design and development, is this tieup with Pininfarina a harbinger of change as many think it would be the sole font of design for you on a regular basis from now on? Or would you still farm out design to others like I.DE.A. and Bertone who did the Indica and the new world truck cab respectively?
Very difficult to say because we have multiple sources of development. We have our own internal design group which I think has done a very admirable job, but lacks experience which we will gain over time. We also support a group of designers who were in I.DE.A. but they left and we have funded them and supported them and they do work for us on various projects. Supporting this is our own technical centre in the UK which is not exactly a design centre but is used more for packaging and engineering. And we will have a relationship with Pininfarina or with Italdesign or whoever else it might be. So I think that design is an open issue and there is no exclusivity.

The Prima is a fine example of what you always dreamed of having— a large saloon for India. Will it see the light of day as a series produced automobile?
Yes, we are striving to do just that. There is no way we could do a large luxury car today given our brand, our expertise and also low volumes. However, we could indeed develop a high-end saloon for India which is sleek yet robustly engineered.

Extending this line of thought, we could also contemplate a high spec version for Europe which could be built in Europe and equipped with a degree of luxury and refinement which the market expects.

Tata Motors has been showing concepts at Geneva regularly, especially the Aria coupe. However, this is the first time that I have heard of an edict from your end that says the company should only show cars which have a production possibility.

I think that edict was there three years ago. We were showing a lot of concept cars. I stopped that and said I will not allow any concept cars to be there unless they have production capabilities.

So the X-over which you had shown a couple of years ago would see the light of day as a series-production automobile?
Yes that’s right. In fact, it is in the final phase of product development right now.

And also, of course, the Nano Europa ?
Yes this is something we are developing. A slightly more powerful, better-equipped version to meet European regulations. It will, however, come at a higher price than the Indian version, yet will be competitively priced for Europe.

What does one expect the Nano Europa to pack in?
It will have a larger engine, better interiors with leather trim, a superior exterior finish, come with CVT transmission probably and have ABS and ESP as standard. It is still some time away. Our plan is to have it ready by 2011.

Let me touch a bit on Jaguar and Land-Rover. Many in India are passionate about them primarily because they have such a fantastic motorsport heritage. However, in recent years the lack of a sports car, say in the mould of a modern day E-Type, in the Jaguar portfolio confounds many. Given your own passion for high performance cars, let me ask you as to how far ahead is Jaguar on a sports car?

We’ve started work on a car which will be a roadster of the type Jaguar was known for—a two-seat roadster. This car is in the early stages of design sign-off, but I’m highly excited about what I see. So I take it that the market will be too and that we can deliver a car that will be faithful to Jaguar’s heritage.

What about Jaguar—Land Rover coming to India? And how are you geared towards that, as far as the distribution channel is concerned? That could be your biggest challenge…
I think previously, like any other brand, Jaguar and Land Rover haven’t had maybe a single importer in the country and therefore not very much money was spent on promoting the brands or doing much distribution. We hope to take over the distribution of both the brands. We’re going to have showrooms, service facilities and we will set up a proper channel to handle these brands.

Would this take the shape of a separate channel away from the Tata Motors effort?
It may or may not. If we look at our product range, we will say that we have SUVs, we have city cars. If you look at our ties with Fiat, in the course of time we will also represent Alfa followed by Maserati and eventually also Ferrari. So we may have multiple brands in the same showroom or we may have multiple brands in different showrooms, but they’ll still all be part of Tata Motors.

You among all Indian companies are really pushing the envelope on alternate fuels and the ecological side of things. Where do you see yourself hitting pay dirt with cars like the first Indica electric car, that you say will go on sale in a year’s time. For them, infrastructure and other technologies… would they really manifest themselves in India in the short term.
You know, I think just like you may say you need a small car or a big-sized car, different segments of the Indian public in different geographies will have different needs or preferences. There’s no doubt that biofuels at some point or flex-fuels are going to be the way the cars are going to be driven. So we should be able to develop cars that will be flex-fuelled. Thus, ethanol will be one of the bio-fuels that some of our cars would cater to using an E85 gasoline flex fuel base to begin with.

There will be a segment that will look at electric cars. We are not into hybrids, so we will not look at them, as yet. However, we are indeed looking at electric cars and the Indica we have here should be ready to sell in Europe from the next year. We are also looking whether it will make sense to get into battery manufacture, say lithium ion batteries and in course of time we’ll take a business decision on that.

‘People’s car, an idea whose time has come’

INTERVIEW WITH TATA’S CHAIRMAN RATAN TATA

If you think Tata Motors just has the Nano up its long sleeve, be prepared to be dazzled. India’s largest automotive player hasn’t let the recent financial slowdown blunt its vision or its hunger to excel in a rapidly evolving global automotive scenario. Proof of this came straight from the man who has been steering India’s most respected business house into an automotive powerhouse. Shalini Kapoor, HNN Business Editor, engaged Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors, in a free-wheeling discussion on cars and projects beyond the Nano on the sidelines of the Geneva Motor Show. And if you are a petrol-head, don’t just drool on Jags and Alfa Romeos but be prepared for Maseratis and Ferraris and even more powerful variants on the Nano theme. Seems Tata’s grand auto-nomic strategy is finally beginning to pan out. Excerpts:

The Tata Nano is finally set to drive down Indian roads. What would be the next challenge, once it is launched on March 23?
Ratan Tata: I think the next challenge would be to live up to people’s aspirations. To make the experience of buying, owning, servicing and supporting the Nano different from what you might have experienced. At the same time, the challenge will also be to have people understand that the Nano is not a Honda, not a Toyota. It is a low-cost car and while there might not be any deficiencies, it might have some lack of refinement which will go with a low-cost product, but surely won’t be a deficiency as such. I don’t think there’s been a car in India that’s planned to be produced in this kind of volume. It is, therefore, important for us to maintain a sustained quality from our suppliers and our own ability to meet product standards. All these issues should be very challenging.

Knowing that Telco had tried to do a people’s car in the 1960s but had to wait till two decades plus for the Indica and now the Nano to give Indians a genuine home-built product, do you sense that you would have loved to do the Nano earlier or is this the right time?
I don’t know because I believe everything you do has its place in time. So in the ’60s, an idea of a people’s car would probably have been different from what it is today. Technologies were different, it is a difficult thing for me to answer. At that time in the ’60s, talking about a people’s car would have been something that is alien to the marketplace. Today, you can have a people’s car that can be done with confidence. So this car is… each new product has its place and time.

Rajiv Dube, president, passenger cars, Tata Motors, mentioned at the launch of the Xenon that Tata Motors is suffering from a problem of plenty—I am of course referring to the sustained new model excitement, and it’s a good problem to have in these days.
Yes, but it also has its challenges and we need to handle them well. So that is a big challenge and I hope we can live up to the expectation.

Is the Tata-Fiat partnership doing well?
Yes it is. It’s doing what it’s set up to do, and perhaps a little more. We are very happy with the relationship. It’s a relationship that’s not treading in rhythmic reversals. It’s a very open relationship based on what we’re trying to do.

Is it a possibility that you could pick and choose technologies available with your partner which you still might not have in the Tata Motors’ portfolio? Or is it something where you still have to go about trying to license that technology?
Naturally, the agreement doesn’t visualize gratis transfer of technology or products, but it does envisage the sharing of those openly. So we would expect that if there was some powertrain we thought would work well with our products we would certainly ask our partner and see whether it makes sense to do that given the transfer rights and licensing fees. Likewise, Sergio (Marchionne) has always made it very clear that he would like Tata Motors to be his preferred development partner and in that way we could share platforms and technology and also manufacturing practices. So the way we think, everything that Tata Motors makes and sells could be developed with Fiat.

Let me bring up the subject of Pininfarina in which Tata Motors has a small stake.

Having seen Tata Motors work with so many big names in product design and development, is this tieup with Pininfarina a harbinger of change as many think it would be the sole font of design for you on a regular basis from now on? Or would you still farm out design to others like I.DE.A. and Bertone who did the Indica and the new world truck cab respectively?
Very difficult to say because we have multiple sources of development. We have our own internal design group which I think has done a very admirable job, but lacks experience which we will gain over time. We also support a group of designers who were in I.DE.A. but they left and we have funded them and supported them and they do work for us on various projects. Supporting this is our own technical centre in the UK which is not exactly a design centre but is used more for packaging and engineering. And we will have a relationship with Pininfarina or with Italdesign or whoever else it might be. So I think that design is an open issue and there is no exclusivity.

The Prima is a fine example of what you always dreamed of having— a large saloon for India. Will it see the light of day as a series produced automobile?
Yes, we are striving to do just that. There is no way we could do a large luxury car today given our brand, our expertise and also low volumes. However, we could indeed develop a high-end saloon for India which is sleek yet robustly engineered.

Extending this line of thought, we could also contemplate a high spec version for Europe which could be built in Europe and equipped with a degree of luxury and refinement which the market expects.

Tata Motors has been showing concepts at Geneva regularly, especially the Aria coupe. However, this is the first time that I have heard of an edict from your end that says the company should only show cars which have a production possibility.

I think that edict was there three years ago. We were showing a lot of concept cars. I stopped that and said I will not allow any concept cars to be there unless they have production capabilities.

So the X-over which you had shown a couple of years ago would see the light of day as a series-production automobile?
Yes that’s right. In fact, it is in the final phase of product development right now.

And also, of course, the Nano Europa ?
Yes this is something we are developing. A slightly more powerful, better-equipped version to meet European regulations. It will, however, come at a higher price than the Indian version, yet will be competitively priced for Europe.

What does one expect the Nano Europa to pack in?
It will have a larger engine, better interiors with leather trim, a superior exterior finish, come with CVT transmission probably and have ABS and ESP as standard. It is still some time away. Our plan is to have it ready by 2011.

Let me touch a bit on Jaguar and Land-Rover. Many in India are passionate about them primarily because they have such a fantastic motorsport heritage. However, in recent years the lack of a sports car, say in the mould of a modern day E-Type, in the Jaguar portfolio confounds many. Given your own passion for high performance cars, let me ask you as to how far ahead is Jaguar on a sports car?

We’ve started work on a car which will be a roadster of the type Jaguar was known for—a two-seat roadster. This car is in the early stages of design sign-off, but I’m highly excited about what I see. So I take it that the market will be too and that we can deliver a car that will be faithful to Jaguar’s heritage.

What about Jaguar—Land Rover coming to India? And how are you geared towards that, as far as the distribution channel is concerned? That could be your biggest challenge…
I think previously, like any other brand, Jaguar and Land Rover haven’t had maybe a single importer in the country and therefore not very much money was spent on promoting the brands or doing much distribution. We hope to take over the distribution of both the brands. We’re going to have showrooms, service facilities and we will set up a proper channel to handle these brands.

Would this take the shape of a separate channel away from the Tata Motors effort?
It may or may not. If we look at our product range, we will say that we have SUVs, we have city cars. If you look at our ties with Fiat, in the course of time we will also represent Alfa followed by Maserati and eventually also Ferrari. So we may have multiple brands in the same showroom or we may have multiple brands in different showrooms, but they’ll still all be part of Tata Motors.

You among all Indian companies are really pushing the envelope on alternate fuels and the ecological side of things. Where do you see yourself hitting pay dirt with cars like the first Indica electric car, that you say will go on sale in a year’s time. For them, infrastructure and other technologies… would they really manifest themselves in India in the short term.
You know, I think just like you may say you need a small car or a big-sized car, different segments of the Indian public in different geographies will have different needs or preferences. There’s no doubt that biofuels at some point or flex-fuels are going to be the way the cars are going to be driven. So we should be able to develop cars that will be flex-fuelled. Thus, ethanol will be one of the bio-fuels that some of our cars would cater to using an E85 gasoline flex fuel base to begin with.

There will be a segment that will look at electric cars. We are not into hybrids, so we will not look at them, as yet. However, we are indeed looking at electric cars and the Indica we have here should be ready to sell in Europe from the next year. We are also looking whether it will make sense to get into battery manufacture, say lithium ion batteries and in course of time we’ll take a business decision on that.

‘People’s car, an idea whose time has come’

INTERVIEW WITH TATA’S CHAIRMAN RATAN TATA

If you think Tata Motors just has the Nano up its long sleeve, be prepared to be dazzled. India’s largest automotive player hasn’t let the recent financial slowdown blunt its vision or its hunger to excel in a rapidly evolving global automotive scenario. Proof of this came straight from the man who has been steering India’s most respected business house into an automotive powerhouse. Shalini Kapoor, HNN Business Editor, engaged Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors, in a free-wheeling discussion on cars and projects beyond the Nano on the sidelines of the Geneva Motor Show. And if you are a petrol-head, don’t just drool on Jags and Alfa Romeos but be prepared for Maseratis and Ferraris and even more powerful variants on the Nano theme. Seems Tata’s grand auto-nomic strategy is finally beginning to pan out. Excerpts:

The Tata Nano is finally set to drive down Indian roads. What would be the next challenge, once it is launched on March 23?
Ratan Tata: I think the next challenge would be to live up to people’s aspirations. To make the experience of buying, owning, servicing and supporting the Nano different from what you might have experienced. At the same time, the challenge will also be to have people understand that the Nano is not a Honda, not a Toyota. It is a low-cost car and while there might not be any deficiencies, it might have some lack of refinement which will go with a low-cost product, but surely won’t be a deficiency as such. I don’t think there’s been a car in India that’s planned to be produced in this kind of volume. It is, therefore, important for us to maintain a sustained quality from our suppliers and our own ability to meet product standards. All these issues should be very challenging.

Knowing that Telco had tried to do a people’s car in the 1960s but had to wait till two decades plus for the Indica and now the Nano to give Indians a genuine home-built product, do you sense that you would have loved to do the Nano earlier or is this the right time?
I don’t know because I believe everything you do has its place in time. So in the ’60s, an idea of a people’s car would probably have been different from what it is today. Technologies were different, it is a difficult thing for me to answer. At that time in the ’60s, talking about a people’s car would have been something that is alien to the marketplace. Today, you can have a people’s car that can be done with confidence. So this car is… each new product has its place and time.

Rajiv Dube, president, passenger cars, Tata Motors, mentioned at the launch of the Xenon that Tata Motors is suffering from a problem of plenty—I am of course referring to the sustained new model excitement, and it’s a good problem to have in these days.
Yes, but it also has its challenges and we need to handle them well. So that is a big challenge and I hope we can live up to the expectation.

Is the Tata-Fiat partnership doing well?
Yes it is. It’s doing what it’s set up to do, and perhaps a little more. We are very happy with the relationship. It’s a relationship that’s not treading in rhythmic reversals. It’s a very open relationship based on what we’re trying to do.

Is it a possibility that you could pick and choose technologies available with your partner which you still might not have in the Tata Motors’ portfolio? Or is it something where you still have to go about trying to license that technology?
Naturally, the agreement doesn’t visualize gratis transfer of technology or products, but it does envisage the sharing of those openly. So we would expect that if there was some powertrain we thought would work well with our products we would certainly ask our partner and see whether it makes sense to do that given the transfer rights and licensing fees. Likewise, Sergio (Marchionne) has always made it very clear that he would like Tata Motors to be his preferred development partner and in that way we could share platforms and technology and also manufacturing practices. So the way we think, everything that Tata Motors makes and sells could be developed with Fiat.

Let me bring up the subject of Pininfarina in which Tata Motors has a small stake.

Having seen Tata Motors work with so many big names in product design and development, is this tieup with Pininfarina a harbinger of change as many think it would be the sole font of design for you on a regular basis from now on? Or would you still farm out design to others like I.DE.A. and Bertone who did the Indica and the new world truck cab respectively?
Very difficult to say because we have multiple sources of development. We have our own internal design group which I think has done a very admirable job, but lacks experience which we will gain over time. We also support a group of designers who were in I.DE.A. but they left and we have funded them and supported them and they do work for us on various projects. Supporting this is our own technical centre in the UK which is not exactly a design centre but is used more for packaging and engineering. And we will have a relationship with Pininfarina or with Italdesign or whoever else it might be. So I think that design is an open issue and there is no exclusivity.

The Prima is a fine example of what you always dreamed of having— a large saloon for India. Will it see the light of day as a series produced automobile?
Yes, we are striving to do just that. There is no way we could do a large luxury car today given our brand, our expertise and also low volumes. However, we could indeed develop a high-end saloon for India which is sleek yet robustly engineered.

Extending this line of thought, we could also contemplate a high spec version for Europe which could be built in Europe and equipped with a degree of luxury and refinement which the market expects.

Tata Motors has been showing concepts at Geneva regularly, especially the Aria coupe. However, this is the first time that I have heard of an edict from your end that says the company should only show cars which have a production possibility.

I think that edict was there three years ago. We were showing a lot of concept cars. I stopped that and said I will not allow any concept cars to be there unless they have production capabilities.

So the X-over which you had shown a couple of years ago would see the light of day as a series-production automobile?
Yes that’s right. In fact, it is in the final phase of product development right now.

And also, of course, the Nano Europa ?
Yes this is something we are developing. A slightly more powerful, better-equipped version to meet European regulations. It will, however, come at a higher price than the Indian version, yet will be competitively priced for Europe.

What does one expect the Nano Europa to pack in?
It will have a larger engine, better interiors with leather trim, a superior exterior finish, come with CVT transmission probably and have ABS and ESP as standard. It is still some time away. Our plan is to have it ready by 2011.

Let me touch a bit on Jaguar and Land-Rover. Many in India are passionate about them primarily because they have such a fantastic motorsport heritage. However, in recent years the lack of a sports car, say in the mould of a modern day E-Type, in the Jaguar portfolio confounds many. Given your own passion for high performance cars, let me ask you as to how far ahead is Jaguar on a sports car?

We’ve started work on a car which will be a roadster of the type Jaguar was known for—a two-seat roadster. This car is in the early stages of design sign-off, but I’m highly excited about what I see. So I take it that the market will be too and that we can deliver a car that will be faithful to Jaguar’s heritage.

What about Jaguar—Land Rover coming to India? And how are you geared towards that, as far as the distribution channel is concerned? That could be your biggest challenge…
I think previously, like any other brand, Jaguar and Land Rover haven’t had maybe a single importer in the country and therefore not very much money was spent on promoting the brands or doing much distribution. We hope to take over the distribution of both the brands. We’re going to have showrooms, service facilities and we will set up a proper channel to handle these brands.

Would this take the shape of a separate channel away from the Tata Motors effort?
It may or may not. If we look at our product range, we will say that we have SUVs, we have city cars. If you look at our ties with Fiat, in the course of time we will also represent Alfa followed by Maserati and eventually also Ferrari. So we may have multiple brands in the same showroom or we may have multiple brands in different showrooms, but they’ll still all be part of Tata Motors.

You among all Indian companies are really pushing the envelope on alternate fuels and the ecological side of things. Where do you see yourself hitting pay dirt with cars like the first Indica electric car, that you say will go on sale in a year’s time. For them, infrastructure and other technologies… would they really manifest themselves in India in the short term.
You know, I think just like you may say you need a small car or a big-sized car, different segments of the Indian public in different geographies will have different needs or preferences. There’s no doubt that biofuels at some point or flex-fuels are going to be the way the cars are going to be driven. So we should be able to develop cars that will be flex-fuelled. Thus, ethanol will be one of the bio-fuels that some of our cars would cater to using an E85 gasoline flex fuel base to begin with.

There will be a segment that will look at electric cars. We are not into hybrids, so we will not look at them, as yet. However, we are indeed looking at electric cars and the Indica we have here should be ready to sell in Europe from the next year. We are also looking whether it will make sense to get into battery manufacture, say lithium ion batteries and in course of time we’ll take a business decision on that.

POLL 2009 – Caste, clan, vendetta in play

By Kajol Singh

With Poll Battle Confined Largely To Two Families, Maya Hopes Delimitation Will Tilt Scales

At 32%, Punjab probably has the largest concentration of Dalit votes in any state in the country, but the caste factor has, strangely, never played a prominent role in poll calculations here.

This is because, traditionally, Dalits in the land of Nanak have always aligned with one of the two major national parties — Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) — since the 60s.

All that may change this time. The twin forces of Mayawati and delimitation will bring Dalit politics — and vote bank — into the spotlight like never before. With four of the 13 seats getting reserved — three during the previous elections — BSP has decided to field candidates in all the constituencies. BSP, which had earlier won three Lok Sabha seats while in an alliance with SAD, is hoping for a windfall.

The delimitation exercise has upset many a plan, including those of SAD’s leading family, the Badals. Other leaders like deputy speaker of Lok Sabha, Charanjit Singh Atwal, and BJP MP Avinash Rai Khanna have also lost their traditional seats. The Badals were quick to identify a new bastion, Bathinda, and nurture it over the last one year. Atwal is working overtime in Fatehgarh Sahib.

Khanna, however, has been left high and dry. For SAD-BJP, there seems to be some frown forming on the anti-incumbency front. No wonder then that they are trying to woo voters desperately using the development plank. Sops like regularizing illegal colonies, relaxing anti-pollution norms for industrialists and doles for BPL families have been showered by the cashstrapped government. It remains to be seen how many will show their gratitude through votes.

As it is, the margin of victory for the ruling combine over Congress during the 2007 assembly polls was anything but impressive. Congress, on the other hand, is still battling infighting, especially between the camps of stalwarts Amarinder Singh and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, and will need a huge heave to come together as a compact unit. But it’s the negative sentiment against the Akali-BJP axis that Congress is counting on.

“Within two years of their misgovernance, people are already drawing comparisons between their rule and ou