In the first general elections held since the phased shutdown of nuclear reactors across Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) scored a landslide victory. Incidentally, the LDP was also the party most vehemently opposed to its predecessor, the Democratic Party of Japan (DJP), when it declared the shutdown of nuclear power plants (NPPs) across Japan, increasing the economic powerhouse's reliance on fossil fuels.
Now that Abe, who termed Noda's actions "irresponsible", is in power, the markets were also quick to respond. TEPCO's shares jumped 33 per cent, Kansai Electric Power's rose 18 per cent, the Nikkei index 1 per cent, and the shares of two Australian uranium mining companies rose at least 5 per cent each.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
The politico-religious wave
An electromagnetic (em) wave travels through space at an astounding 299,792,458 m/s. This number, colloquially known as the speed of light (a form of em radiation), is the speed limit for anything that moves in the universe. While such a wave moves through space, it barely loses its energy. Light from an exploding star billions of lightyears away reaches Earth, and retains the signature that dignifies it as light from a dying star—even after travelling through space for billions of years. How does it do that? The answer illustrates the ideal symbiotic relationship: an electric field that generates a magnetic field, and a magnetic field that generates an electric field, each perpendicular to the other, each feeding into the other, carrying themselves through space and time.
This description of the propagation of an electromagnetic wave parallels, with striking similarity, the relationship between politics and religion. Each entity thrives on polarization, on creating and consuming potentials, on penetrating all regions of space unless shielded by some leaden obstacle. Even though each is a necessary manifestation of humanism, one is dissociated from all mortality—exhibiting a dangerous tendency to be omnipresent—and the other is associated closely with the very act of being—wielding an omnipotent weapon. Of course, in the course of their independent existence, they are strong, weak, focused, diffuse, directional, pregnant, and many other things. Together, however, they are a lethal combination—for governance as well as discovery.
This description of the propagation of an electromagnetic wave parallels, with striking similarity, the relationship between politics and religion. Each entity thrives on polarization, on creating and consuming potentials, on penetrating all regions of space unless shielded by some leaden obstacle. Even though each is a necessary manifestation of humanism, one is dissociated from all mortality—exhibiting a dangerous tendency to be omnipresent—and the other is associated closely with the very act of being—wielding an omnipotent weapon. Of course, in the course of their independent existence, they are strong, weak, focused, diffuse, directional, pregnant, and many other things. Together, however, they are a lethal combination—for governance as well as discovery.
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Findings on the administrative state of the Pallikaranai marshlands
Chennai’s garbage woes have taken a turn for the worse in light of multiple violations by the new contractors, Ramky Enviro Engineers, responsible for cleaning up the city. Ranging from lack of adherence to the basic terms of the contract it signed with the Corporation of Chennai (CoC) to worsening the city’s rich biodiversity, Ramky has exacerbated the problems it was chosen to remove.
The government of Tamil Nadu and the CoC are also to blame for not taking Ramky to task even though it has been three months since the contractors were brought on board to clean the areas of Kodambakkam (Zone XIII), Mylapore (Zone X) and Adyar (Zone V). Moreover, the state government’s lack of foresight in judging the value of the Pallikaranai marshlands that lies outside the city and commissioning it as a dump-yard has given rise to large concentrations of lead and manganese in the soil, causing severe poisoning of groundwater supply to the neighbourhood.
In fact, in its annual budget for the year 2012-2013, the Corporation of Chennai announced that Rs 70 crore would be spent on solid waste management in the city, with an additional Rs 5 crore going to be spent on the restoration of the marshlands. These are big numbers, considering the allocation for upgrading of electrical infrastructure in the city is Rs 45 crore, and of education, Rs 15 crore.
Mismanaging the marsh
Dr Indumathi Nambi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering at IIT-Madras, profiled the soil sediments around the marshlands in a year-long study in 2010. She said, “The dump-yard is not even a landfill. Landfills have a proper basement three or four layers thick that prevent the sedimentation of heavy metals or surface runoffs into the drains.” She added that because of these shortcomings, the surrounding areas such as Mylai Balaji Nagar receive groundwater of very poor quality.
The fate of the marsh is linked closely with Ramky’s activities inside the city. Its contractors took charge after the Neel Metal Fanalca (NMF) fiasco that saw that contract being terminated four years before its expiry, leading to Ramky’s contract being more full-fledged, inclusive of many little considerations such as the presence of garbage bins on street corners, and valued more.
In the three years that NMF was in service, it was paid Rs 600-700 per tonne of waste post-segregation. However, Ramky is being paid Rs 1,469 per tonne of waste post-segregation. This is where the problems begin.
Negligence of duty
The contract stipulates that the commissionaires – in this case, Ramky Enviro Engineers – will be compensated only after the waste has been segregated at the source and then weighed at a designated weighment station. To supervise these activities, a Project Officer has been appointed by the CoC. However, that the waste has been segregated into recyclables, non-recyclables and non-recyclable non-biodegradables was brought under doubt after rag-pickers were spotted in and around the dump-yard at Pallikaranai.
Thirumurthy, a rag-picker off the Pallikaranai 100-feet road, said, “There are a lot of plastic items and metal items in the waste. There is no saying which part of the dump has what.” However, he said pickings become easier after corporation officials throw the plastic and metallic objects aside to burn the rest illegally.
Because waste is being dumped unsegregated, Ramky is being paid for a weight greater than what it should be. In comparison with NMF’s contractual rate, the compensation is likely to be almost twice as much.
This points to the Project Officer’s negligence of his duty. There are also other violations, minor in comparison, but important nonetheless because they concern the day-to-day operations of Ramky’s commissioners in the city.
For example, sweeping of the roads has to be carried out at least twice everyday according to the contract. However, residents of South Mada Street, Thiruvallur Nagar, Eldams Road and Sastri Nagar have been complaining that streets are being swept only once a day and that, too, with low efficiency. Other common complaints include lack of cleanliness around bins, irregular clearance of bins, and lack of service on the toll-free complaint line that Ramky is contractually obliged to set up.
Administration over the years
The Pallikaranai marshlands were brought under government agenda in 2002, when a study was conducted by the state to assess the land quality of the area. The then Collector, Abdul Salam, dismissed all land allotments on the marsh on the basis of them encroaching on environmentally sensitive areas. However, subsequently, the land was reallotted to the buyers after it was found that survey numbers attached to plots had been meddled with.
Mrs Jayshree Vencatesan of Care Earth, an organisation that has been advocating the conservation of the marshlands, said, “Invisible groups have been trying to derail the government’s attempts to protect the marshland repeatedly. On the basis of wrong survey numbers, land was returned to those it was taken from and under these circumstances, the Centre for Wind Energy Technology came up.”
In 2003, the Save Pallikaranai Marsh Forum (SPMF) was constituted to protest against the dumping and burning of waste in the area. In the same year, the Perungudi sewage treatment plant (STP) became defunct in 1996, which was also targeted by the SPMF. In response, the Dr Vijayan Committee was set up by T R Baalu, then the minister for environment and forests. The committee, in turn, recommended the setting up of a 54 MLD (millions of litres per day) STP in place of the old one. For this purpose, the Corporation set aside Rs 300 crore.
Broken promises
Today, the plant, finally commissioned in 2006, is in a similar condition to its predecessor when it was decommissioned. The absence of a collection tank, provided to absorb loads exceeding the expected amount, has ensured that any excess waste flows directly into the marsh without being treated. This fate is not much different from that of a lot of the solid waste that enters the plant, which floats around untreated in the marsh.
During the renovation in 2006, Metrowater had reassured the residents that after upgrading, there would be no foul smell and that the treated sewage would be of a higher quality. There was also a promise made of Rs 83 lakh to upgrade the Taramani link road pumping station to improve the movement of wastes within the marshlands and prevent stagnation. To assist this, the CoC had also announced for the new plant to discharge effluents into the Buckingham canal.
None of these promises have been met. S Kumararaja of the Federation of Velachery Residents’ Welfare Associations, said, “Repeated representations have been made to upgrade the sewage pumping stations, but authorities are yet to take action. As the station often ceases functioning during monsoon, the sewer network gets affected.”
In 2005, S Malathi, then Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, brought 378 hectares of the marshland under the protection of the Forest Act of 1882. This effectively removed it from the jurisdiction of the CoC and placed it in the hands of the Forest Department, a central body, no longer letting the area be subject to indiscriminate pollution. Though this may seem like a cause to celebrate, Mrs Vencatesan says that “a careful perusal of the Department’s plans reveals that they plan to drain the marshlands and build a gated community for their officials.” (See inset)
Caught between centre and state politics
Between 2001 and 2006, conflicts between the Congress-dominated government at the Centre and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-ruled (AIADMK) state prevented any quick action to be taken concerning the marshlands. In 2006, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) came to power at the state as well as the centre, and began to push for the setting up of an integrated waste management plant at the Pallikaranai marshlands and in Perungudi.
In 2009, the High Court Expert Committee Report, ordered by Judge A P Shah and headed by Ms Sheela Rani, that had looked into the DMK’s proposal was released. It pointed at the various illegal activities already being carried out on the marshlands and ways to tackle them. The most important conclusion of this report was that the “proposed municipal solid waste handling violates … the rules especially on source segregation, recycle, reuse and siting criteria.” This violation is with respect to the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000 framed under the Environment Protection Act.
However, these were only recommendations and were not enforced by authorities. Soon, clearance was received by the CoC from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to set up an STP at the desired location after a controversial public hearing. It was at this time that a member of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), V Srinivasan, filed a petition with the National Environmental Appellate Authority (NEAA) in 2010, arguing that the plant was going to be situated within 10 km of a national park (at Guindy).
However, in 2011, the NEAA was dissolved and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) set up. The NGT opened up in Tamil Nadu on February 24, 2012, and turned down the DMK-led proposal to set up the integrated plant on the basis of its being within 6 km of the Guindy national park. Now, the proposal awaits clearance from the Centre, which they might not get because of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (1971).
There is one other violation of a Central legislation in terms of the National Wetland Law. Under the Draft Regulatory Framework for Wetlands Conservation, compiled by the Indira Gandhi Centre for Development Research and issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on May 24, 2010, solid waste dumping and discharge of untreated effluents on wetlands is prohibited. In extension to this, the Centre asked state governments to constitute a State Wetland Appraisal Committee to monitor the situation and shut down any illegal dumping on wetlands. Tamil Nadu is yet to set up such a committee.
The government of Tamil Nadu and the CoC are also to blame for not taking Ramky to task even though it has been three months since the contractors were brought on board to clean the areas of Kodambakkam (Zone XIII), Mylapore (Zone X) and Adyar (Zone V). Moreover, the state government’s lack of foresight in judging the value of the Pallikaranai marshlands that lies outside the city and commissioning it as a dump-yard has given rise to large concentrations of lead and manganese in the soil, causing severe poisoning of groundwater supply to the neighbourhood.
In fact, in its annual budget for the year 2012-2013, the Corporation of Chennai announced that Rs 70 crore would be spent on solid waste management in the city, with an additional Rs 5 crore going to be spent on the restoration of the marshlands. These are big numbers, considering the allocation for upgrading of electrical infrastructure in the city is Rs 45 crore, and of education, Rs 15 crore.
Mismanaging the marsh
Dr Indumathi Nambi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering at IIT-Madras, profiled the soil sediments around the marshlands in a year-long study in 2010. She said, “The dump-yard is not even a landfill. Landfills have a proper basement three or four layers thick that prevent the sedimentation of heavy metals or surface runoffs into the drains.” She added that because of these shortcomings, the surrounding areas such as Mylai Balaji Nagar receive groundwater of very poor quality.
The fate of the marsh is linked closely with Ramky’s activities inside the city. Its contractors took charge after the Neel Metal Fanalca (NMF) fiasco that saw that contract being terminated four years before its expiry, leading to Ramky’s contract being more full-fledged, inclusive of many little considerations such as the presence of garbage bins on street corners, and valued more.
In the three years that NMF was in service, it was paid Rs 600-700 per tonne of waste post-segregation. However, Ramky is being paid Rs 1,469 per tonne of waste post-segregation. This is where the problems begin.
Negligence of duty
The contract stipulates that the commissionaires – in this case, Ramky Enviro Engineers – will be compensated only after the waste has been segregated at the source and then weighed at a designated weighment station. To supervise these activities, a Project Officer has been appointed by the CoC. However, that the waste has been segregated into recyclables, non-recyclables and non-recyclable non-biodegradables was brought under doubt after rag-pickers were spotted in and around the dump-yard at Pallikaranai.
Thirumurthy, a rag-picker off the Pallikaranai 100-feet road, said, “There are a lot of plastic items and metal items in the waste. There is no saying which part of the dump has what.” However, he said pickings become easier after corporation officials throw the plastic and metallic objects aside to burn the rest illegally.
Because waste is being dumped unsegregated, Ramky is being paid for a weight greater than what it should be. In comparison with NMF’s contractual rate, the compensation is likely to be almost twice as much.
This points to the Project Officer’s negligence of his duty. There are also other violations, minor in comparison, but important nonetheless because they concern the day-to-day operations of Ramky’s commissioners in the city.
For example, sweeping of the roads has to be carried out at least twice everyday according to the contract. However, residents of South Mada Street, Thiruvallur Nagar, Eldams Road and Sastri Nagar have been complaining that streets are being swept only once a day and that, too, with low efficiency. Other common complaints include lack of cleanliness around bins, irregular clearance of bins, and lack of service on the toll-free complaint line that Ramky is contractually obliged to set up.
Administration over the years
The Pallikaranai marshlands were brought under government agenda in 2002, when a study was conducted by the state to assess the land quality of the area. The then Collector, Abdul Salam, dismissed all land allotments on the marsh on the basis of them encroaching on environmentally sensitive areas. However, subsequently, the land was reallotted to the buyers after it was found that survey numbers attached to plots had been meddled with.
Mrs Jayshree Vencatesan of Care Earth, an organisation that has been advocating the conservation of the marshlands, said, “Invisible groups have been trying to derail the government’s attempts to protect the marshland repeatedly. On the basis of wrong survey numbers, land was returned to those it was taken from and under these circumstances, the Centre for Wind Energy Technology came up.”
In 2003, the Save Pallikaranai Marsh Forum (SPMF) was constituted to protest against the dumping and burning of waste in the area. In the same year, the Perungudi sewage treatment plant (STP) became defunct in 1996, which was also targeted by the SPMF. In response, the Dr Vijayan Committee was set up by T R Baalu, then the minister for environment and forests. The committee, in turn, recommended the setting up of a 54 MLD (millions of litres per day) STP in place of the old one. For this purpose, the Corporation set aside Rs 300 crore.
Broken promises
Today, the plant, finally commissioned in 2006, is in a similar condition to its predecessor when it was decommissioned. The absence of a collection tank, provided to absorb loads exceeding the expected amount, has ensured that any excess waste flows directly into the marsh without being treated. This fate is not much different from that of a lot of the solid waste that enters the plant, which floats around untreated in the marsh.
During the renovation in 2006, Metrowater had reassured the residents that after upgrading, there would be no foul smell and that the treated sewage would be of a higher quality. There was also a promise made of Rs 83 lakh to upgrade the Taramani link road pumping station to improve the movement of wastes within the marshlands and prevent stagnation. To assist this, the CoC had also announced for the new plant to discharge effluents into the Buckingham canal.
None of these promises have been met. S Kumararaja of the Federation of Velachery Residents’ Welfare Associations, said, “Repeated representations have been made to upgrade the sewage pumping stations, but authorities are yet to take action. As the station often ceases functioning during monsoon, the sewer network gets affected.”
In 2005, S Malathi, then Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, brought 378 hectares of the marshland under the protection of the Forest Act of 1882. This effectively removed it from the jurisdiction of the CoC and placed it in the hands of the Forest Department, a central body, no longer letting the area be subject to indiscriminate pollution. Though this may seem like a cause to celebrate, Mrs Vencatesan says that “a careful perusal of the Department’s plans reveals that they plan to drain the marshlands and build a gated community for their officials.” (See inset)
Caught between centre and state politics
Between 2001 and 2006, conflicts between the Congress-dominated government at the Centre and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-ruled (AIADMK) state prevented any quick action to be taken concerning the marshlands. In 2006, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) came to power at the state as well as the centre, and began to push for the setting up of an integrated waste management plant at the Pallikaranai marshlands and in Perungudi.
In 2009, the High Court Expert Committee Report, ordered by Judge A P Shah and headed by Ms Sheela Rani, that had looked into the DMK’s proposal was released. It pointed at the various illegal activities already being carried out on the marshlands and ways to tackle them. The most important conclusion of this report was that the “proposed municipal solid waste handling violates … the rules especially on source segregation, recycle, reuse and siting criteria.” This violation is with respect to the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2000 framed under the Environment Protection Act.
However, these were only recommendations and were not enforced by authorities. Soon, clearance was received by the CoC from the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) to set up an STP at the desired location after a controversial public hearing. It was at this time that a member of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), V Srinivasan, filed a petition with the National Environmental Appellate Authority (NEAA) in 2010, arguing that the plant was going to be situated within 10 km of a national park (at Guindy).
However, in 2011, the NEAA was dissolved and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) set up. The NGT opened up in Tamil Nadu on February 24, 2012, and turned down the DMK-led proposal to set up the integrated plant on the basis of its being within 6 km of the Guindy national park. Now, the proposal awaits clearance from the Centre, which they might not get because of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (1971).
There is one other violation of a Central legislation in terms of the National Wetland Law. Under the Draft Regulatory Framework for Wetlands Conservation, compiled by the Indira Gandhi Centre for Development Research and issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests on May 24, 2010, solid waste dumping and discharge of untreated effluents on wetlands is prohibited. In extension to this, the Centre asked state governments to constitute a State Wetland Appraisal Committee to monitor the situation and shut down any illegal dumping on wetlands. Tamil Nadu is yet to set up such a committee.
Friday, 1 July 2011
A velvet fist in an iron glove
The United Progressive Alliance ruling the country has to get tougher, more resilient, if it expects the period of its rule to be smooth and unmarred whatsoever. One of the principle differences between the BJP and the Congress (which forms the majority in the coalition) is the commanding of loyalty. Everybody knows that the lesser the party does for the ministry, the lesser it is considered to have done for the people, and the more it demands loyalty than commands it.
There have already been three instances during which unreasonable demands have been the order of the day. The first one was the Telengana issue, which has found new vigour today with AP's Congress MLAs demanding a separate state against the sanction of an en masse resignation from the legislative assembly. Sri Krishna report or no, the Congress must do what the BJP does best: large-scale mobilization of emotions.
The second was the Baba Ramdev fiasco. What the Congress failed to do, he thought he did. Demanding the death penalty for black money hoarders and not safeguarding against communal influences did quite damage the credibility of Anna Hazare's campaign, but how much is Ramdev to blame when the ruling government constantly allows such people to come up? Apart from arguing it out for the media, the leaders haven't galvanized support for even when the government is right about something.
The third is the ongoing Anna Hazare tussle. If the UPA's rebuttal is that Hazare is a stubborn man hardly budged from his position, I'd say valid argument, invalid sufficiency. The government's very much in a position to take the battle to Hazare, and all it must do is what he's doing very well against it: isolating people support.
Those sections of the Lokpal Bill that are meaningful and constructive could be tabled separately in the Parliament, even in the absence of Hazare. For the contentious points: work around Hazare and force him to suffer the people's ire if he doesn't seem to be complying with the intentions of a government that is doing something.
The sooner these people are put down, the better. While that's the truth, it's only a partial truth: it's even better when such people are not given opportunities to turn up. Kapil Sibal talking jurisprudence with Karan Thapar is going to keep the educated urban population from thinking the UPA is trying to blindside the anti-corruption fight. In the eyes of everyone else, on the other hand, the govt. is easily accused of dereliction of duty.
In the Telengana issue, discordance in the ranks of the MLAs has reached a maximum. Yes, too many things cropped up, but that's no excuse to let the matter slide out of focus. A reworking of the state's legislature as recommended by the SKC report would have sufficed to quell the unrest in its early stages. Then, there was the case of certain sections of the report indicating an assumption of liberty more than was entitled to the SKC. If the UPA had gone through it beforehand, they could've easily removed it and prevented it from acting against their interests. That wasn't done.
Next, against an earlier threat of losing the majority in the AP state assembly, the Congress let a debate even begin as to whether the separation of the state was necessary. This was so even when the only difference between the proposed statutorily-empowered Telengana Regional Council and a separate state was the existence of a line on the map - a fact known by both factions. Now, it's assumed heinously political proportions.
As for Baba Ramdev: the forced eviction was the right thing to do but only at that point of time.
There have already been three instances during which unreasonable demands have been the order of the day. The first one was the Telengana issue, which has found new vigour today with AP's Congress MLAs demanding a separate state against the sanction of an en masse resignation from the legislative assembly. Sri Krishna report or no, the Congress must do what the BJP does best: large-scale mobilization of emotions.
The second was the Baba Ramdev fiasco. What the Congress failed to do, he thought he did. Demanding the death penalty for black money hoarders and not safeguarding against communal influences did quite damage the credibility of Anna Hazare's campaign, but how much is Ramdev to blame when the ruling government constantly allows such people to come up? Apart from arguing it out for the media, the leaders haven't galvanized support for even when the government is right about something.
The third is the ongoing Anna Hazare tussle. If the UPA's rebuttal is that Hazare is a stubborn man hardly budged from his position, I'd say valid argument, invalid sufficiency. The government's very much in a position to take the battle to Hazare, and all it must do is what he's doing very well against it: isolating people support.
Those sections of the Lokpal Bill that are meaningful and constructive could be tabled separately in the Parliament, even in the absence of Hazare. For the contentious points: work around Hazare and force him to suffer the people's ire if he doesn't seem to be complying with the intentions of a government that is doing something.
The sooner these people are put down, the better. While that's the truth, it's only a partial truth: it's even better when such people are not given opportunities to turn up. Kapil Sibal talking jurisprudence with Karan Thapar is going to keep the educated urban population from thinking the UPA is trying to blindside the anti-corruption fight. In the eyes of everyone else, on the other hand, the govt. is easily accused of dereliction of duty.
In the Telengana issue, discordance in the ranks of the MLAs has reached a maximum. Yes, too many things cropped up, but that's no excuse to let the matter slide out of focus. A reworking of the state's legislature as recommended by the SKC report would have sufficed to quell the unrest in its early stages. Then, there was the case of certain sections of the report indicating an assumption of liberty more than was entitled to the SKC. If the UPA had gone through it beforehand, they could've easily removed it and prevented it from acting against their interests. That wasn't done.
Next, against an earlier threat of losing the majority in the AP state assembly, the Congress let a debate even begin as to whether the separation of the state was necessary. This was so even when the only difference between the proposed statutorily-empowered Telengana Regional Council and a separate state was the existence of a line on the map - a fact known by both factions. Now, it's assumed heinously political proportions.
As for Baba Ramdev: the forced eviction was the right thing to do but only at that point of time.
A velvet fist in an iron glove
The United Progressive Alliance ruling the country has to get tougher, more resilient, if it expects the period of its rule to be smooth and unmarred whatsoever. One of the principle differences between the BJP and the Congress (which forms the majority in the coalition) is the commanding of loyalty. Everybody knows that the lesser the party does for the ministry, the lesser it is considered to have done for the people, and the more it demands loyalty than commands it.
There have already been three instances during which unreasonable demands have been the order of the day. The first one was the Telengana issue, which has found new vigour today with AP's Congress MLAs demanding a separate state against the sanction of an en masse resignation from the legislative assembly. Sri Krishna report or no, the Congress must do what the BJP does best: large-scale mobilization of emotions.
The second was the Baba Ramdev fiasco. What the Congress failed to do, he thought he did. Demanding the death penalty for black money hoarders and not safeguarding against communal influences did quite damage the credibility of Anna Hazare's campaign, but how much is Ramdev to blame when the ruling government constantly allows such people to come up? Apart from arguing it out for the media, the leaders haven't galvanized support for even when the government is right about something.
The third is the ongoing Anna Hazare tussle. If the UPA's rebuttal is that Hazare is a stubborn man hardly budged from his position, I'd say valid argument, invalid sufficiency. The government's very much in a position to take the battle to Hazare, and all it must do is what he's doing very well against it: isolating people support.
Those sections of the Lokpal Bill that are meaningful and constructive could be tabled separately in the Parliament, even in the absence of Hazare. For the contentious points: work around Hazare and force him to suffer the people's ire if he doesn't seem to be complying with the intentions of a government that is doing something.
The sooner these people are put down, the better. While that's the truth, it's only a partial truth: it's even better when such people are not given opportunities to turn up. Kapil Sibal talking jurisprudence with Karan Thapar is going to keep the educated urban population from thinking the UPA is trying to blindside the anti-corruption fight. In the eyes of everyone else, on the other hand, the govt. is easily accused of dereliction of duty.
In the Telengana issue, discordance in the ranks of the MLAs has reached a maximum. Yes, too many things cropped up, but that's no excuse to let the matter slide out of focus. A reworking of the state's legislature as recommended by the SKC report would have sufficed to quell the unrest in its early stages. Then, there was the case of certain sections of the report indicating an assumption of liberty more than was entitled to the SKC. If the UPA had gone through it beforehand, they could've easily removed it and prevented it from acting against their interests. That wasn't done.
Next, against an earlier threat of losing the majority in the AP state assembly, the Congress let a debate even begin as to whether the separation of the state was necessary. This was so even when the only difference between the proposed statutorily-empowered Telengana Regional Council and a separate state was the existence of a line on the map - a fact known by both factions. Now, it's assumed heinously political proportions.
As for Baba Ramdev: the forced eviction was the right thing to do but only at that point of time.
There have already been three instances during which unreasonable demands have been the order of the day. The first one was the Telengana issue, which has found new vigour today with AP's Congress MLAs demanding a separate state against the sanction of an en masse resignation from the legislative assembly. Sri Krishna report or no, the Congress must do what the BJP does best: large-scale mobilization of emotions.
The second was the Baba Ramdev fiasco. What the Congress failed to do, he thought he did. Demanding the death penalty for black money hoarders and not safeguarding against communal influences did quite damage the credibility of Anna Hazare's campaign, but how much is Ramdev to blame when the ruling government constantly allows such people to come up? Apart from arguing it out for the media, the leaders haven't galvanized support for even when the government is right about something.
The third is the ongoing Anna Hazare tussle. If the UPA's rebuttal is that Hazare is a stubborn man hardly budged from his position, I'd say valid argument, invalid sufficiency. The government's very much in a position to take the battle to Hazare, and all it must do is what he's doing very well against it: isolating people support.
Those sections of the Lokpal Bill that are meaningful and constructive could be tabled separately in the Parliament, even in the absence of Hazare. For the contentious points: work around Hazare and force him to suffer the people's ire if he doesn't seem to be complying with the intentions of a government that is doing something.
The sooner these people are put down, the better. While that's the truth, it's only a partial truth: it's even better when such people are not given opportunities to turn up. Kapil Sibal talking jurisprudence with Karan Thapar is going to keep the educated urban population from thinking the UPA is trying to blindside the anti-corruption fight. In the eyes of everyone else, on the other hand, the govt. is easily accused of dereliction of duty.
In the Telengana issue, discordance in the ranks of the MLAs has reached a maximum. Yes, too many things cropped up, but that's no excuse to let the matter slide out of focus. A reworking of the state's legislature as recommended by the SKC report would have sufficed to quell the unrest in its early stages. Then, there was the case of certain sections of the report indicating an assumption of liberty more than was entitled to the SKC. If the UPA had gone through it beforehand, they could've easily removed it and prevented it from acting against their interests. That wasn't done.
Next, against an earlier threat of losing the majority in the AP state assembly, the Congress let a debate even begin as to whether the separation of the state was necessary. This was so even when the only difference between the proposed statutorily-empowered Telengana Regional Council and a separate state was the existence of a line on the map - a fact known by both factions. Now, it's assumed heinously political proportions.
As for Baba Ramdev: the forced eviction was the right thing to do but only at that point of time.
Monday, 31 January 2011
The Regrettable Stupefaction Of Dr. Manmohan Singh
Only after the 2G scam did I learn how many zeroes there are to numbers aptly called "lakh-crores". The impact of the fiasco didn't really drive home until I listened to my grandfather's woes last night. Its one thing to worry about the country's future in the telecommunications sector when frequencies are allotted and licenses sold for such massive, albeit insufficient, amounts are all canceled, but it's another to know that a parliamentarian (of A. Raja's calibre) who is paid Rs. 56,000 per month finds it insufficient. That's the bottom line at the end of the day.
I don't know what Kapil Sibal or Manmohan Singh are doing either. For being a more progressive lot, they seem to be forgetting their basics, only making it easier for the BJP to hem them in. Of course, the Auditor General (AG) and Dr. Subramaniam Swamy are achieving that by themselves, the latter with added political gains. First, the scam: fine, it's happened, now hand over A. Raja to the CBI's custody so the matter can be sorted out. But no, Sibal is instituted as the interim telecom minister - a move that immediately inculpates Raja in the public eye. Next, Sibal announces a press meet and claims that Raja did nothing wrong, that there was no loss to the govt. India. That's mistake #2: defying the comptroller and auditor general of India (CAG) so blatantly without providing any proof in his defense. As if this wasn't enough, Manmohan Singh, who I used to think was smart, appoints P. J. Thomas as the CVC. Was that defiance of the BJP's disapproval in light of his culpability in the Palmolein oil scam? If so, bad move. Or was that a matter of taking the law into his own hands - again a defiance of the Supreme Court's pending judgment on the same case? Again, if so, bad move.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Dr. Manmohan Singh"]
[/caption]
And now, Dr. Singh releases a statement claiming he and P. Chidambaram (who, together with Sushma Swaraj, constituted the committee that decided to appoint Thomas as the CVC in September, 2010) agreed on the appointment while Ms. Swaraj, from the BJP, disagreed. Agreement or disagreement is not the prerogative of the commonwealth; if there was a case pending judgment against the name of the CVC - of all the people - then its ineffectiveness in influencing the decision of his promotion reflects poorly on the Prime Minister, the ruling party and, ultimately, the state of the nation.
I don't know what Kapil Sibal or Manmohan Singh are doing either. For being a more progressive lot, they seem to be forgetting their basics, only making it easier for the BJP to hem them in. Of course, the Auditor General (AG) and Dr. Subramaniam Swamy are achieving that by themselves, the latter with added political gains. First, the scam: fine, it's happened, now hand over A. Raja to the CBI's custody so the matter can be sorted out. But no, Sibal is instituted as the interim telecom minister - a move that immediately inculpates Raja in the public eye. Next, Sibal announces a press meet and claims that Raja did nothing wrong, that there was no loss to the govt. India. That's mistake #2: defying the comptroller and auditor general of India (CAG) so blatantly without providing any proof in his defense. As if this wasn't enough, Manmohan Singh, who I used to think was smart, appoints P. J. Thomas as the CVC. Was that defiance of the BJP's disapproval in light of his culpability in the Palmolein oil scam? If so, bad move. Or was that a matter of taking the law into his own hands - again a defiance of the Supreme Court's pending judgment on the same case? Again, if so, bad move.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Dr. Manmohan Singh"]
[/caption]And now, Dr. Singh releases a statement claiming he and P. Chidambaram (who, together with Sushma Swaraj, constituted the committee that decided to appoint Thomas as the CVC in September, 2010) agreed on the appointment while Ms. Swaraj, from the BJP, disagreed. Agreement or disagreement is not the prerogative of the commonwealth; if there was a case pending judgment against the name of the CVC - of all the people - then its ineffectiveness in influencing the decision of his promotion reflects poorly on the Prime Minister, the ruling party and, ultimately, the state of the nation.
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