bye bye, planning commission...than 50 seats after 10 years in power. the multinational search...

Vol: 22 | No. 9 | September 2014 | R20

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In his maiden I-day speech, PM Modi says it’s time to say goodbye to Planning commission

Bye Bye, Planning Commission

Cover Story

O p i n i O n E x p r E s s 3September 2014

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first speech from Red Fort on the Inde-pendence Day, announced that the government would replace the Planning Commission with a new body, bringing the curtains down on the 64-year

old institution founded on the former Soviet Union’s command-style development model.

India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, inspired by the Gosplan-aided industrialisation of the Soviet Union, set up the Planning Commission in 1950. The dominant view at the time, drawn from Fabian socialism, backed the need for state-led planned industrialisation and development. For the first eight Plans, the emphasis was on a growing public sec-tor with massive public investments in basic and heavy in-dustries.

The commission, housed at Yojana Bhawan a few hundred yards away from Parliament House, emerged as the government’s primary go-to think-tank for policy prescriptions. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as President Pranab Mukherjee both served as the Planning Commission’s deputy chairperson, the body’s topmost executive. The prime minister is the chair-person of the commission.

Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, an Isis spokesman, defined the Islamic state’s ter-ritory as running from northern Syria to the Iraqi province of Diyala north-east of Baghdad, a vast stretch of land straddling the border that is already largely under Isis control. He also said that with the establishment of the caliphate, the group was changing its name to the Islamic State, dropping the mention of Iraq and the Levant. Through his campaign, Mr Modi had vowed to reboot the economy and deliver efficient governance -he said today “development for all” would be his mis-sion. With its allies, the BJP now has over 300 of the 543 parliamentary seats. The stunning numbers provide incontrovertible evidence of the “Modi wave” that the BJP name-dropped for months. The twin headline to Mr Modi’s phenomenal win is the colossal defeat that he has enforced upon the incumbent Congress. Headed by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the party has crashed to its worst performance with less than 50 seats after 10 years in power.

The multinational search effort for the aircraft is the largest and most expen-sive in aviation history.The search began in the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea, where the aircraft’s signal was last detected on secondary surveillance radar, and was soon extended to the Strait of Malacca and Andaman Sea. Analysis of satellite communications between the aircraft and Inmarsat’s satellite commu-nications network concluded that the flight continued until at least 08:19 and flew south into the southern Indian Ocean, although the precise location cannot be de-termined. Australia took charge of the search on 17 March when the search moved to the southern Indian Ocean. On 24 March, the Malaysian government noted that the final location determined by the satellite communication is far from any possi-ble landing sites, and concluded that “Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.” However the elections in five states have proved that BJP is not unbeat-able. Wherever the opposition has a slightly good leadership to answer back BJP with the capacity to consolidate anti BJP vote, BJP can be defeated. Though various states have formidable regional leaders, the nation has absolutely none. As long as Rahul Gandhi is the perceived choice for PM against Modi, irrespective of how much he has improved, he comes absolutely nowhere near Modi. Sonia is getting old and keeping a bit unwell to really run around amassing support. The draft resolution, presented by the Minister for Transport of Malaysia on behalf of the Joint Investi-gation Team (Australia, Belgium, Malaysia, Netherlands and Ukraine), received 11 affirmative votes, three abstentions (Angola, China and Venezuela) and one nega-tive vote (Russian Federation). —Prashant Tewari , Editor-in-Chief

Modi ends 64-year runof Planning commission

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P5 In News: Little India in Manhattan onIndependence Day

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SEPTEMBER 2014

COVER STORY:

SAFFRON’S BLUESP6-18

BIZ WORLDAMBANI VS

AMBANI

P22CONCERNSBUDGET 2009 HASLITTLE FOR KIDS

P19

P28

PERSONALITY

POLITICIANS’ROLE MODEL

O P I N I O N E X P R E S S SEPTEMBER 2014 I 5

IN NEWS

Suman Guha Mozumder

Thousands of people from New York, New Jersey, andConnecticut jammed the sidewalks of Madison Avenue inManhattan on Sunday to celebrate India's 62nd year of inde-pendence with verve and vigour.

Braving close to 90 degree Fahrenheit temperature, IndianAmericans came from all over the tri-state area, including sep-tuagenarians, a few of whom were seated on wheel chairs.

The Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), an umbrella groupof cultural, educational and community organisations in the NewYork tri-state region. The parade, an annual event, was organ-ised by the Federation of Indian American Associations.

Since 1980, the parade has been showcasing India's cultur-al and religious mosaic and the bond Indian Americans feel withtheir motherland despite living for decades away from the coun-try. The parade began on 41st Street, winded down MadisonAvenue and culminated in a variety show on 23rd Street, draw-ing an estimated 50,000 people.

Children perched on the shoulders of their parents so thatthey could get a better view of the colorful parade

Following traditions, the FIA had Bollywood actress ShilpaShetty to act as grand marshal. Shilpa flew in from India twodays before the event. Past grand marshals include AmitabhBachhan, Sridevi and Asha Bhosle, among others.

"I am very happy to be here to join with thousands of peoplein this parade," Shettty said, adding, "It is such a great event."

This year's guest list included New York mayor MichaelBloomberg, New Jersey governor John Corzine, New YorkGovernor David Paterson, and President Bharrat Jagdeo of theRepublic of Guyana.There were 37 floats, some of them color-ful that attracted the attention of the audience, and more num-ber of marches by different groups, all under the FIA umbrella.

Jay Sean alias Kamaljit Singh Jhooti, a British Pop-singer-songwriter of Indian origin, was a big hit with the teenagers atthe parade. The parade ended with a cultural program at theMadison Square Park in which Aishwarya Majmudar of 'ChoteUstad' (a reality show on Star Plus network) fame took part,among others.

Little Indiain Manhattan

SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE: SHILPA SHETTY AT THE INDIADAY PARADE TO CELEBRATE INDIA'S 63RD INDEPENDENCE DAYIN MANHATTEN, NEW YORK. CONSULATE GENERAL OF INDIAPRABHU DAYAL IS ALSO SEEN IN THE PICTURE (TOP RIGHT)

SAFFRONSETBACK

By suspending Jaswant Singh,one of its founders, BJP seems

to have shot in its foot...

GENESIS OF A ROW: JASWANT SINGH ON THE OCCASION OF RELEASE OF HISBOOK ON JINNAH


COVER STORY

BEGINNING OF THE END?PRASHANT TEWARI

If it was not happening for real and if it had not concerned India's principalopposition party and one of its most senior leaders, the rather unsavourydismissal of Jaswant Singh would have been seen as a kind of a politicalfarce.Mr Singh's book (Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence), released ear-lier, was in the news because of praise it lavished on the founder of Pakistan,

Mohammad Ali Jinnah.In his book, Mr Singh described Jinnah as a great man whohas been "demonised" in India.This praise for Jinnah was unacceptable to somesenior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders who disagreed with his assessment.

JASWANT SINGHSPEAKS TO MEDIAAFTER HIS SUSPENSION

COVER STORY

O P I N I O N E X P R E S S8 I SEPTEMBER 2014

But regardless of the controversy, hard-ly anyone predicted that praise for Jinnahwould lead to such an unceremonious out-come for the former defence, finance andforeign affairs minister. Fury at JaswantSingh has sparked protests by some onthe right Mr Singh was not given even anopportunity to explain himself.

It is not the first time the founder ofPakistan has come to torment the right-wing Hindu nationalist BJP. In 2005, thethen party president Lal Krishna Advanisaw his political career almost coming toan end after he described Jinnah as a sec-ular leader who stood for Hindu-Muslimunity. For the BJP rank and file, such com-ments from their leader were unaccept-able and almost blasphemous.

Partition is an emotive issue for manyIndians and a majority of them - not justthe Hindu right - have grown up believingthat Jinnah was the architect of two-nationtheory based on religion.

For right-wing nationalist organisationslike the RSS - which provides ideologicalmoorings to the BJP and wields consider-able clout in it - issues like partition andJinnah's role in it are an article of faith.

They blame Jinnah and his Muslim

League for the partition.By the end of2005, Mr Advani was forced to quit hisBJP post and though he did manage to

claw his way back to the top rungs of theparty leadership (he was the BJP's primeministerial candidate in parliamentaryelections earlier this year) he never fullyregained his stature and clout.

Jaswant Singh has not been so fortu-

nate. While he will retain his parliamen-tary seat, his expulsion from the BJPcould mean the end of the road in termsof power politics.The party is plagued byinfighting, Mr Singh ruled out the possibil-ity of apologising to the BJP leadershipand regretted that they did not even both-er to seek an explanation from him.

He was also critical of the manner inwhich BJP leaders resorted to what he de-scribed as "thought policing". But for theBJP top brass - which began a "chintan"or introspection meeting in the salubriousclimes of the hill town of Shimla onWednesday - the Jaswant-Jinnah issue isperhaps the least of their worries.

Maybe that is why they have been ableto take such quick and arguably not verywell though-out action.The other issuesconfronting India's principal oppositionparty are far more challenging, seriousand fraught with far-reaching implications.

Having lost two successive nationalelections in 2004 and 2009 the BJP isdesperately trying to refocus, rejuvenateand reinvent itself.It needs to focus on is-sues which help it play the role of an ef-fective opposition and win back the sup-port of the people.

He was also critical of themanner in which BJPleaders resorted to whathe described as "thoughtpolicing". But for the BJPtop brass — which had a"chintan" or introspectionmeeting in the salubriousclimes of the hill town ofShimla — the Jaswant-Jinnah issue is perhapsthe least of their worries.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT?: CHINTAN BAITHAK AT SHIMLA


COVER STORY

BJP in disarray, littlehope for revival

One could argue the current disarray within the BJP,with the party seemingly on the verge of a bitter fac-tional war, was long in the making. The signs, in-deed, were there from the time the party had to facea post-Vajpayee phase. The dissension within its

ranks, with senior leaders openly questioning the very ethos ofthe BJP, is also a pointer to the inability of the party to clearlydefine its ideological position. Five years ago, the BJP was leftstunned after it was voted out of office, despite being the over-whelming pre-election favourite.

During the course of his campaign this time, the BJP's vet-eran leader and candidate for prime minister, LK Advani, told me

that the party lost in 2004 because of "overconfidence". This latest defeat has bruised the BJP, leaving it searching for

answers about its identity and leadership.And that basic incompatibility between democracy and

Hindutva is what afflicts the party. The issues of accountabilityleaders like Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha have raised are,to that extent, manifestations of the deeper malaise. Thoughthe real trouble started in 2000 with the exit of idealogeGovindacharya. Emergence of Pramod Mahajan brought newstyle of working within BJP during NDA rule headed by Vajpayee.Post 2004 defeat, it was free for all, Kalyan Singh, Uma Bharti,Madan Lal Khurana revolted against the leadership creating

PARTY CHIEF RAJNATH SINGHIN A THOUGHTFUL MOOD

There downslide triggered by LS poll debacle seems to be unstoppable

COVER STORY


perception that the party with a differ-ance has turned in a party with differance.Tactical elevation of L K Advani and partypresident Rajnath Singh proved a final nailin the coffin for the party that led to 2009election debacle. Senior leaders likeYashwant Sinha, Arun Shorie and nowJaswant Singh displayed concerned publi-cally hence eroding the little credibilty leftfor the party. L K Advani at the this agecould not resist the post of leader of op-position and Rajnath shamlessly contin-ued as party president to make the mat-ter worse for the party. On the contraryCongress leadership lead by Sonia Gandhistrategically played her cards so well bysacrifying post of Prime Minister of thecountry hence creating a nichie image ofnon greedy politician which is a novelty forIndian population at large. It lead to a dra-matic victory for the Congress party in thegeneral elections and great debacle forthe BJP.

For a party that seeks to present anaura of discipline and internal democracyit is quite a low point to have had strate-gists of the various factions jockeying fortop slots and the larger 'prime ministeri-al candidate' position.

Basically, post-Vajpayee, the BJP hasbeen unable to resolve the issue ofwhether to maintain the moderate face,which Vajpayee embodied, or to dependsolely on the revanchist agenda that hasbeen its raison d'etre. This confusion isthe basis for the party's turmoil.

Following its setback in the 2004 elec-tions, the party has been in a state of con-stant tumult. In a state of disorientation,the BJP acted as if it had been cheatedout of government and the UPA was somesort of an upstart. Thus, it consistently re-fused to play any constructive and mean-ingful role as the principal opposition par-ty - repeatedly paralysing Parliament,

Basically, post-Vajpayee,the BJP has been unableto resolve the issue ofwhether to maintain themoderate face, whichVajpayee embodied, or todepend solely on therevanchist agenda thathas been its raison d'etre.This confusion is the basisfor the party's turmoil...

TAKING THINGS IN STRIDE?:ARUN JAITLEY TOO HAS BEEN INVOLVEDIN CONTROVERSIES OF LATE


COVER STORY

raking up sundry controversies and generally refusing to engagethe government in any semblance of democratic dialogue.

Now, with the defeat in 2009, the party is at the crossroads.The way it defines its leadership now, or behaves as theOpposition will largely be dictated by how far the BJP can facethe challenge of emerging as a party of the centre-right. Clearly,polarising politics can't yield a sustainable space in India'selectoral politics. But whether the BJP can now engage in thekind of self-introspection necessary, and actually occupy thecentre-right space, is doubtful. The forthcoming conclave of theparty's national executive may well point the way the party willgo.

What is hurting the BJP the most is its loss to the Congressin a number of states where the two were pitted in a straightfight, and where the BJP had hoped to benefit from its strong lo-cal leadership.

Except for the southern state of Karnataka, where the BJPtrounced the Congress, the party fared poorly in its strongholdsof Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.

Little wonder that a senior party official, Arun Jaitley, de-scribed the BJP's performance as "below expectations".

At 81, LK Advani is keen to stand down as the oppositionleader or shown his intention to step down but it turned out tobe a farce. Indian people are extremely sensitive about double

speak and BJP leadership is refusing to learn it from the past.Ultimately Advani is continuing with tremendous resistance fromvarious quaters including the RSS.

More significantly, it has slipped badly in the political heart-land state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends more MPs to parlia-ment than any other. This was the state where the BJP had builtits political success on the back of its Hindu nationalist cam-paign to build a temple at the site of the disputed 16th CenturyAyodhya mosque.It was a movement that polarised the statealong religious lines, and generated huge electoral dividends forthe BJP. Now the party is in fourth place in the state, while theCongress is on an upswing.

Under the leadership of the previous prime minister, AtalBehari Vajpayee, the BJP had tried to position itself as an old-style conservative party, right-of-centre on issues such as theeconomy or national security.

It's a position that Mr Advani also tried to push in these elec-tions.Despite attempts to play it down, the BJP is haunted by itsHindu nationalist past - and present.

Atal Behari Vajpayee was right of centre on the economy andsecurity, Nowhere is this more evident than in the eastern stateof Orissa. After a wave of attacks on the Christian minority in thestate last year, blamed on radical Hindu groups with ties to theBJP, the party's regional ally, the BJD, severed ties.

IN THE EYE OF STORM: FORMER RAJASTHAN CM VASUNDHARA RAJE

COVER STORY


The BJD not only performed strongly inthe parliamentary elections, it also sweptback to power in Orissa, which held si-multaneous local elections. The BJP, incontrast, failed to win a single seat.

So what does this mean for the BJP'sfuture?

For a start, it is facing a crisis of lead-ership. LK Advani is keen to step down asleader of the opposition, as part of hiseventual retirement from politics. At 81,this was seen as his last chance at se-curing the top job, and it is surely the endof his political career. He is being per-suaded to stay on, however, mainly to pre-vent a succession battle.

At least four senior BJP politicians arein the running for his job, and there arefears that a public squabble for the posi-tion could damage the party further.

Some in the BJP want it to swing furtherto the right, shedding its attempt at mod-eration. They want it to return to its "core"Hindu nationalist agenda - including build-ing the temple at Ayodhya, pushing for acommon civil code between Hindus andMuslims, and taking a hard line on similarissues. It's a position that could well beendorsed by the party's ideological foun-

tainhead, the RSS, which is concernedthat the BJP is losing its focus.

If that happens, the party leadershipcould well pass to Narendra Modi, thechief minister of the western state ofGujarat.

Narendra Modi is is not popular with theBJP's allies, Mr Modi has a reputation ofbeing a brilliant administrator and is cred-

ited with turning Gujarat into one of thecountry's most prosperous states.Because of that, he's greatly admired byIndia's business leaders.

But Mr Modi is also a controversial fig-ure - it was on his watch that in 2002,Gujarat witnessed some of India's worstanti-Muslim riots. At least 1,000 people,mainly Muslims, were killed.

His administration was accused of do-ing little to prevent the violence, and theSupreme Court recently ordered an inves-tigation into his alleged role during the ri-ots. He is also completely unacceptableto the BJP's allies, without whom theywould find it difficult to form a federal gov-ernment. So the party is likely to witnessan internal struggle for control in the im-mediate future.

It can take heart from the fact that, al-though it has lost this election, the BJP isstill India's second largest party.It has116 seats to Congress's 206. The next,by a long distance, is the regionalSamajwadi Party, with 23 seats. Now theBJP's leaders have to determine whichway they want to take the party.

(With inputs from The BBC's SanjoyMajumder)

Some in the BJP wantit to swing further to theright, shedding its attemptat moderation. They wantit to return to its "core"Hindu nationalist agenda -including building thetemple at Ayodhya,pushing for a commoncivil code between Hindusand Muslims, andtaking a hard line onsimilar issues.

BREWING DISSENT: RAJASTHAN BJP MLAs IN FRONT OF ADVANI’S HOUSE IN SUPPORT OF RAJE


COVER STORY

Instead it is a house divided, the party is being pulled in dif-ferent directions by the ambitions of its leaders. The joke isthat the BJP which once prided itself on being a "party witha difference" is now seen as a "party with differences."

Many say the party leadership needs young blood, It alsofaces an identity crisis both in terms of leadership and issues.While the governing Congress party undergoes a generationshift with 38-year-old Rahul Gandhi increasingly asserting him-self, the BJP is still being run by the 82-year old Mr Advani.

The results of this year's general elections also showed thatIndia's youth - who make up the bulk of voters - are no longerenamoured by the part-nostalgia, part-revivalist and part-Hindunationalist slogans of the BJP.

The young want to look ahead.So far the BJP is offering themthe past, The dismissal of Jaswant Singh over his book on aman who died more than 60 years ago is yet another indicationof the party's refusal to leave yesteryear behind.

RSS chief asks BJP to replace old with young, end discords,R a s h t r i y aSwayamsevak Sangh(RSS) chief MohanBhagwat said theyoung generationshould take chargeand that the partyleaders should re-solve their differ-ences at the earli-est.

Breaking his si-lence over the lead-ership crisis in theBJP, Bhagwat said:'It is a universal rulethat the young gen-eration must replacethe old generation.'

'When, where andhow (it happens), they will have to decide the modus operandi,'he said, and added that 'transition is necessary'. The RSS isthe ideological fountainhead of the BJP.

Asked about the factionalism in the party, Bhagwat said it hadsuffered a 'nasty jolt' in the elections and must address realissues and put an end to factionalism.

'It was a nasty jolt, quite unexpected, and it destabilised theparty. Whatever happened was not very good, even BJP leadershave said this,' he said.

In a stern message to the party the RSS chief said: 'Theyhave to get their balance back and make amends to every-thing.' Bhagwat said the sooner the party does this, the better.

'The BJP leaders express their angst about this (factional-ism), they are keen to restore it,' he added.

He asserted that the party would have to be clear on the ide-ology and there should be a dialogue with the Sangh as a whilealso.

'They should be reasonably sound and articulate about theideology. You should have a collective work pattern and shouldhave dialogue with all the thought brothers. They should have asystem of dialogue within them,' Bhagwat said.

And added: 'Theirs should be a party with a difference andlastly they should bring the young generation forth.'

RSS to BJP: Discard the old

REMOTE CONTROL?: RSS CHIEF MOHAN BHGWAT

In a stern message to theparty, the RSS chief said:“They have to get their bal-ance back and makeamends to everything.'Bhagwat said the soonerthe party does this, the bet-ter...”“The BJP leaders expresstheir angst about this (fac-tionalism), they are keen torestore it.”

COVER STORY


BJP is discarded as a communalparty and divisive force. Manypeople will disagree with this be-cause all the parties have been

on the same side and have done similaror worse things that BJP is accused of.Thousands of Sikhs were killed in NorthIndia, particularly Delhi, in 1984. Today,Congress says that it is history andshould be forgotten as a bad dream. Bysame logic, shouldn't the people forgetGujrat riot by next election in 2014? Thisissue does not seems the real issue forpoor performance by BJP.

It seems that the BJP is losing the realissues and has difficulty in connectingwith the grass-root sworkers. Mumbai at-tack and national security were importantissue and should not be forgotten by aparty that wants to play important role innational politics but these are the issuesfor the people who go to exercise theirfranchise. Only elite and middle class talk

about the national security issue andmost of these do not exercise their fran-chise because they do not like to queue

or do not consider their single vote canmake any difference. For a man in a smalltown and village, the biggest challenge ofsecurity comes from the thieves and thepolice. They are more worried about theirbelongings that constitute generally cook-ing utensils, some clothes, few hundredsof rupees and silver or copper jewellery(and sometime gold as well). Many ofthem have never heard about Mumbai at-tack, anyway.

BJP invested resources and time on on-line campaigning that does not make anysense in Indian politics. Less than 1%population of India has any interest in on-line campaigning and reading manifestoof the party or listening the speeches ofthe leaders from website. There is noneed to make Facebook groups, Twitterdiscussion or any other activity because afew thousand people read or participatein these activities and as I said earlierthey never come out of their apartments

IN GOOD OLD DAYS: JASWANT SINGH WITH ADVANI AND RAJNATH

Away from reality? While accusing Jaswant Singh of committing ideological heresy, BJP is

losing sight of the real issue and touch with grass-roots reality BJP invested resources andtime on online campaigningthat does not make anysense in Indian politics.Less than 1% population ofIndia has any interest inonline campaigning andreading manifesto of theparty or listening thespeeches of the leadersfrom website. There is noneed to make Facebookgroups, Twitter discussion...


COVER STORYIndian population is still poor in large.

We are not middle class society asAmerica so we can emulate election strat-egy from them. We need some elite andeducated people for discussion on the tel-evision channels but these discussion donot win elections. Local leaders needs tospend more time with the people. Theyneed to visit the village and try to solvetheir problems in whatever capacity theycan. Winning the trust of the people ismost important to win rather than expect-ing the incumbency factor to work inone's favor.

BJP also need to choose their next can-didate for the prime ministerial post.Sooner they choose the better it will be. Itwill be difficult to choose one and theirwill be a lot of in fighting but they need toface this reality one day. They are avoid-ing to chose a leader from second gener-ation but it seems that the time has cometo let the second generation to come for-ward. There is no point of pushing MurliManohar Joshi or Jaswant Singh forward.Though Jaswant Singh has advantage ofbeing liberal in the party and he can notbe accused as communal but he might belittle old in 5 years time.

BJP might follow the Congress strategyto choose a prime ministerial candidatewho is not too active politician. It is uptothe party to make right decision. Only timewill tell whether the decision they makeare right or wrong.

Just as the Bharatiya Janata Party's(BJP) idea of India is that of a Hindu na-tion and not a multicultural one, JaswantSingh's interpretation of Mohammed AliJinnah's pre-1947 role is at odds with thewidely held perceptions in India.

By arguing that the founder of Pakistanhas been unfairly demonised for parti-tioning the country, Singh not only wentagainst the BJP's views, which has nowexpelled him, but also against an over-whelming majority of public opinion inIndia.

In addition, he courted further contro-versy by arguing that it was actuallyJawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patelwho were more responsible for dividingthe country than Jinnah.

Before considering Singh's historicalfallacies, it may be instructive to examinehis possible motives. In doing so, it isnecessary to recall that before him, an-other BJP leader, L.K. Advani, had praisedJinnah to the surprise and embarrass-ment of many in the BJP and earned thedispleasure of the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

However, Advani's adulation of theQuaid-e-Azam was more historically validthan Singh’s, for he quoted Jinnah's cel- HOUSE ON FIRE: BJP WORKERS BURNING BOOK ON JINNAH

COVER STORY


ebrated speech of Aug 11, 1947, to em-phasise his secularism.

In that speech, which Pakistani histori-an Ayesha Jalal compared with the MagnaCarta and another historian, Akbar S.Ahmed, with Abraham Lincoln'sGettysburg address, Jinnah had outlinedhis vision of the new country where'Hindus would cease to be Hindus andMuslims would cease to be Muslims, notin the religious sense because that is thepersonal faith of each individual, but inthe political sense as citizens of theState'.

There is little doubt that there hasrarely been such a remarkable expositionof secularism before or after that speech,which is ignored in today's Pakistan andwhich was described as 'a serious lapseon his (Jinnah's) part' by Sharif-ul-Mujahid, director of the Quaid-e-AzamAcademy in the 1980s.

However, Advani's discovery of it near-ly six decades after it was delivered sug-gests a personal motive rather than a be-lated attempt to set the record straight.The explanation perhaps lies in the BJPleader's attempt to pose as a moderateafter the realisation that his hawkish im-age as the 'rath yatri' (his famous chari-ot-led march) of 1990 was no longer pay-ing political dividends.

Arguably, a similar motivation guidedJaswant Singh. He, too, seemed to have

realised after the party's second succes-sive defeat in a general election that ithad reached a dead end so far as the es-pousal of its Hinduttva philosophy is con-cerned. Not surprisingly, Singh had want-ed the BJP to take a fresh look at its pro-Hindu world view.

By praising Jinnah, the MP fromDarjeeling apparently wanted to distancehimself from his party's anti-minority out-look and chart a new political course forhimself as a moderate. But, predictably,his first step in this direction evoked the

ire of both his party and the RSS. While Advani was relieved of his posi-

tion as the party chief under pressurefrom the RSS following his pro-Jinnah ob-servations, Singh, who is a much lesserfigure, has had to pay a heavier price fordefying the party line.

But, irrespective of the political fallout,what has to be considered are the dis-torted analyses of the events prior to in-dependence in his book: 'Jinnah - India,Partition, Independence'. His failure tounderstand why Jinnah is excoriated inIndia is a strange affectation consideringthat it was the Muslim League leader'stwo-nation theory which paved the way forpartition to the accompaniment of com-munal violence sparked by his danger-ously provocative Direct Action to securePakistan.

Once the religious passions had beenwhipped up by Jinnah, based on his'Islam is in danger' assertion because ofthe dominance of Hindus under Congressrule, there was little that Nehru and evenMahatma Gandhi could do to stem thetide.

True, the Congress also made mis-takes. For instance, a more accommoda-tive attitude towards the Muslim Leaguein the United Provinces (now UttarPradesh) after the Congress's 1937 elec-tion victory could have diffused the situa-tion. As M.R.A. Baig, one of Jinnah's

IN GOOD OLD DAYS: JASWANT SINGH WITH ADVANI AND RAJNATH

There is little doubt thatthere has rarely been sucha remarkable exposition ofsecularism before or afterthat speech, which is ig-nored in today's Pakistanand which was described as'a serious lapse on his(Jinnah's) part' by Sharif-ul-Mujahid, director of theQuaid-e-Azam Academy inthe 1980s.


COVER STORYdvisors, said: 'Pakistan never came toJinnah's mind till about 1939... Whenthe Congress formed the provincial gov-ernment (in UP), he expected them toform a Congress-League coalition,which was his concept of Hindu-Muslimunity...'

'It was only when the Congress, wed-ded to political theories perfectly appli-cable to Britain, such as majority partygovernment, and not recognising that inIndian conditions, a numerical majoritycould be synonymous with a communalmajority ... that he turned to Pakistan.'

There were other miss-steps, too, asnoted by Abul Kalam Azad in his 'IndiaWins Freedom' as when Nehru saidthat the Congress would enter the con-stituent assembly 'completely unfet-tered by agreements'. Since Jinnah in-terpreted this as a rejection of theCabinet Mission plan, which the MuslimLeague had accepted, he also repudiat-ed it and said that Pakistan remainedthe only course left for his party.

Even if the Congress' authoritarianinstincts (which again manifested them-selves during the 1975-77 Emergency)made it dismissive of other parties,they are not sufficient to explainJinnah's transformation from a consti-tutionalist to a votary of street violenceand from an 'ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity' to a patron of communalcarnage.

As is clear, there were two Jinnahs -one a hero and the other a villain. Thehero was driven by his thwarted ambi-tions because of the ascendancy ofGandhi and Nehru to turn into its oppo-site with a vengeance. Jaswant Singh'smistake is that he ignores this finalphase of Jinnah's career.

If Jaswant Singh, a loyal worker ofBJP is expelled from the party for prais-ing Jinah, Why Mr. Lal Krishna Advanishould not be suspended / expelled forthe same reason. We are living in dem-ocratic country and right of expressionis a fundamental right given to individ-ual. By expelling a loyal worker likeJaswant Sinha, BJP has crippled itsrank.

The bunch of senior leaders have for-gotten their past and living in five starcomfort. We really miss Atal BihariBajpai at this juncture. We really hopethat BJP should come out of fool para-dise and understand the ground reality.Nobody want to lose but if are are los-ing you have to accept the ground real-ity and reinforce yourself. In democracywe also need strong opposition.

— OEMCL News Services

Lord Meghnad Desai, noted economist and professor emeritus of theLondon School of Economics, Wednesday hit out at the BJP for expellingJaswant Singh, saying "it was a bad move" and the party had made a "fool

of itself"."It is a very bad move by the BJP for it shows how intolerant the party has

become," Lord Desai, who was presented the launch of Jaswant Singh's book,told IANS in the capital.

Singh was expelled from the primary membership of his party for his inter-pretation of Mohammed Ali Jinnah's role in the partition the country in 1947in his book, "Jinnah- India, Partition and Independence" barely two days after

STRAIGHT TALK: LORD DESAI AT RELEASE OF JASWANT’S BOOK

‘BJP HAS MADE AFOOL OF ITSELF’

COVER STORY


it was released.Singh held Jawaharlal Nehru and

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel responsible forthe partition in his book saying Jinnah hadbeen unnecessarily demonised.

"Jaswant has written a fine book whichneeds analysing , discussing and debat-ing. He has raised very interesting ques-tions. It's a pity that that the BJP has notread the book and has made a fool of it-self," Lord Desai, who was present at thelaunch of the book, told IANS.

He said the party had acted in a "pre-determined manner without any evi-dence". “Our minds are closed and wehave nothing more to learn. I feel very sor-ry for the BJP and I wish that India had adecent opposition party," Lord Desai said.

Lord Desai said BJP was "not a party ofthe future".

"It is shocking for young India as BJPhad been trying to reinvent itself to iden-tify with the country's youth," the well-known economist said.

"One should welcome and encouragepoliticians to write books. Jaswant Singh

is the only senior politician to have ad-dressed the issue of partition on the last50 years after Maulana Azad addressed itin his book, 'India Wins Freedom',"Desai said.

Lord Desai said "Jaswant Singh had

read everything on partition and the bookwas detailed and well-documented".

"The book is not dogmatic at all. Butwhy should we be full of prejudices. Maybe, the Congress was as responsible forthe partition as the Muslim League. Butwhy should the BJP bother about it. Infact, Sardar Patel was closely associatedwith Nehru in the decision to break Indiain April 1947. By June, it was all over," hesaid.

Desai, whose yet-to-be-released newbook "Rediscovery of India" also revisitsthe partition of India but "from a differentperspective", said "he has more or lessgone through the same material asJaswant Singh to research his book."

"He has looked at every document andrecords. We can always have differentideas, but as a writer one must have theidea to express them without being dis-criminated. It happens in America all thetime. People raise controversial issues.Why should people in India be reluctant toraise questions that can be debated?"Desai said.

BOOKED FOR CONTROVERSY: JASWANT SINGH WITH NAMWAR SINGH AND RAM JETHMALANI AT THE RELEASE OF HIS BOOK

"The book is not dogmaticat all. But why should webe full of prejudices. Maybe, the Congress was asresponsible for the partitionas the Muslim League. Butwhy should the BJP botherabout it. In fact, SardarPatel was closely associatedwith Nehru in the decisionto break India in April1947. By June, it was allover.”

Less spending,more debt forIndia’s children

Budget for `Aam Aadmi'leaves children outUnionBudget 2009-10, the firstbudget of the secondUnited Progressive

Alliance government that's stillbasking in the glory of a resoundingelection victory, gets a thumbs-downfrom India's children for two rea-sons.

First, it hardly has any newscheme for children, except somereorganization in education, nor isthere more money. Second, it hasmanaged to place a fresh debt bur-den of Rs 3500-and rising-on thehead of every Indian, including 450million persons less than 18 years'old. According to calculations madeby HAQ: Centre for Child Rights,which has been analysing centraland state budgets from a child rightsperspective for ten years, theBudget for Children for the currentfiscal is only Rs 43104.16 crore. Inother words, the amount of moneyallocated to various children's pro-grammes is only 4.21 per cent ofthe record Rs 10.20 lakh crore of to-tal expenditure budgeted for 2009-10. This is the lowest share accord-ed to children in the last four years-as table 1 shows, the BfC share was3.85 per cent in 2005-06. This ismuch less than the 5.31 per centshare for children budgeted for2008-09 as well as the reducedshare of 4.31 per cent in therevisedestimates of that year.

In fact, the BfC share comes toeven less -- 3.88 per cent-if we takeinto ccount Statement 22 of theExpenditure Budget 2009-10 docu-ment, defined as Budget Provisionsfor Schemes for the Welfare ofChildren, prepared by the financeministry. This `children's budgetstatement' was initiated by formerfinance minister P Chidambaramlast fiscal, and this year's state-ment shows a few glaring omissionsof schemes probably due to depart-mental tardiness and is thereforesmaller than HAQ estimate.

BUDGETARY CUTCONCERN

CONCERN


Reduced allocation across sectors Despite unveilingIndia's biggest budget in history that ostensiblyaims at making life easier for the `aam aad-mi', the government has forgotten aboutits children who constitute 44 per centof its people. As one can see fromtable 2, across sectors, the share ofchildren's schemes has declined,except for a small rise in health.Must children continue to be treat-ed as secondary citizens?

EDUCATION

The share of education has de-clined from 3.84 per cent last

fiscal to 3.03 per cent, although Rs3084.98 crore has been allocatedjust for the new schemes.

This is because a few schemes havebeen wound up or merged with otherschemes. For instance, the New ModelSchool which had an allocation of Rs 650crore in 2008-09, has no allocation whilethere is an allocation of Rs 350 crore un-der the new head of Setting up of 6000Model Schools at Block Level asBenchmark of Excellence. Even theScheme for Universal Access and QualityEducation at Secondary Stage (SUCCESS)has no allocation this year against Rs2185 crore in 2008-09.

Similarly, the centrally sponsoredscheme of Integrated Education forDisabled Children (IEDC) was launched in1974 to provide educational opportunitiesto disabled children in common schools isrevised to Inclusive Education for disabledat Secondary Schools (IEDSS) at the sec-ondary stage.

The IEDC allocation of Rs. 70 crore lastfiscal has been shifted to IEDSS in 2009-10. Does it mean that there are no dis-abled children left to be integrated atthe elementary stage?

There's finally an allocation forthe Rashtriya Mad hyamik ShikshaAbhiyan scheme that was concep-tualized in 2007 and approvedonly in January 2009.

But there has been no changein the outlay for the showcaseschemes of Sarva ShikshaAbhiyan (for 6 -14 age group) andMidday Meal Programme from lastyear. The government seems to betreating the 15-16 age group as aseparate entity from the 6-14 agegroup, not pausing to think that there'sno secondary education without consistentand quality elementary education that doesn'tforce children to drop out of school!

In fact, the budget's single-minded focus on higher and vo-cational education schemes, in a year that is expected to enactthe Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act,makes it abundantly clear that our politicians want to build em-

ployable citizens for the 12 million jobs it is promis-ing, not ensure that they get real education in

schools. With so little interest amongstpoliticians in actually getting India's chil-

dren educated, one can safely assumethat the RMSA will end up being runlike the SSA.

HealthThe only sector where the BfC

share has gone up from 2008-09is health. This is mainly becauseof the 16.16 per cent rise in theallocation for the National RuralHealth Mission, including a 25.7per cent increase in the allocation

fo r the Reproductive and ChildHealth Programme (HAQ does not

take into account the entire NRHM forchild budget analysis). Yet, as the gov-

ernment's own Economic Survey 2008 -09 admits, though there has been im-provement in the quality of health careover the years much more needs to bedone.

DEVELOPMENT

The flagship scheme in this sector, thecontroversial but essential Integrated

Child Development Scheme (ICDS) has re-ceived a meagre 8.28 per cent raise in al-location to Rs. 6026.30 crore. Nutritionaldevelopment of little children is clearly nota priority anymore for the government be-cause the goalpost of universalization ofICDS has also been moved to 2012, asagainst the deadline of December 2008prescribed by the Supreme Court and theoriginal deadline of 2009 in the NationalCommon Minimum Programme 2004. Nowonder then that the share of the devel-opment sector allocation in the UnionBudget has actually fallen from 0.87 per

cent in 2008 -09 to 0.69 per cent.

PROTECTION

In March, when the long-awaitedIntegrated Child Protection

Scheme was approved, thanks topressure from children's rightsgroups such as HAQ, but the dis-appointing outlay for the schemein its very first year of operationraises questions about the gov-

ernment's intention of implement-ing it. ICPS, a holistic scheme to

build a protective environment for chil-dren nationwide, was to work as a

unique umbrella scheme for protection re-placing all running schemes. It got Rs 200

crore last fiscal, including Rs 20 crore for theNorth -east, but now it's down to Rs 60 crore including

Rs 6 crore for NE. The government also seems to have given upon rehabilitating child labour with the allocation for Improvementin Working Conditions of Child/Women Labour scheme down byover 42 per cent to Rs 90 crore in 2009-10. As a result,

"The book is not dogmaticat all. But why should webe full of prejudices. Maybe, the Congress was asresponsible for the partitionas the Muslim League. Butwhy should the BJP botherabout it. In fact, SardarPatel was closely associatedwith Nehru in the decisionto break India in April1947. By June, it was allover.”


CONCERN

protection has the least and minimal share of budget resources;out of every Rs 1000 spent in the Union budget, protection getsjust 2 paise. Food security still a promise

The massive rise in expenditure this fiscal, up 36 per cent injust one year from the budget estimates in 2008 -09 is direct-ed mainly at an economic stimulus package for agriculture andinfrastructure and a 25 per cent hike in defence outlay. Amongthese, the only two measures that somewhat benefit childrenare: the promised National Food Security Act to give 25 kg ofrice or wheat per month at Rs 3 per kg, and the Rs 350 croreallocation for the health insurance scheme launched last year,both aimed at the poorest families. More than 46 lakh belowpoverty line families in 18 states and Union territories havebeen issued biometric smart cards for the scheme, the financeminister said in his speech. But, since the cheap grain is apromise, the huge expenditure for it is not part of the budgetand, we can safely assume, will add to the debt burden later inthe year when this promise is actualized. Also, there's no guar-antee that cheap grain-type schemes actually benefit families,including children. Evidence, in the form of research studies,sample surveys and monitoring exercises, suggest to the con-trary. As the Economic Survey 2008 -09 admits, "the reach ofpublic goods and quasi public goods and services supplied bythe state to people still leave a lot of scope for improvement.There are still leakages in the schemes and the benefits do not

reach the intended target group of people." HAQ's manybudget analyses have found that allocations for such schemessuffer from large-scale underspending at the ground level be-cause of poor project planning, lack of interest of the state andmisuse of funds.

A GENERATIONAL BURDENEven as the government has decided to spend more to work

its way out of the slowdown, its plan can have undesirable sideeffects. A lot of this money will come from borrowing as tax in-come growth will be slow. Thus interest payments are slated toshoot up by 31.85 per cent in two years, to Rs 225511 crore inbudget 2009 -10 compared to the actual estimate of 2007 -08.It could be higher, because the fiscal deficit, the new borrowingexpected to be made in the current fiscal by the government tomeet the massive expenditure programme, has been estimatedat a record 6.8 per cent of the gross domestic product, the high-est since liberalization began in 1991! As a percentage of theGDP, thus, the fiscal deficit has gone up by one and a half timesover the actual estimate of 2.7 per cent in 2007-08. In numeri-cal terms though, the deficit has more than doubled in the sametime to Rs 400996 crore. The slower rise in the deficit in termsof the GDP is because growth has shrunk in the last year due tothe global financial crisis, dipping to 6.7 per cent in 2008-09compared to the previous five-year average of 9 per cent.Economists describe a high debt and fiscal deficit as "a gener-ational burden" as India's children will have to pay off the cu-mulative interest burden in the future and bear the resultantpressure on prices and loan rates. WHO WILL VOICE THEIR CONCERN?

Massive rise in expenditure this fiscal, up 36 per cent in just one year from thebudget estimates in 2008 -09 is directed mainly at an economic stimulus pack-age for agriculture and infrastructure and a 25 per cent hike in defence outlay.Among these, the only two measures that somewhat benefit children are: thepromised National Food Security Act to give 25 kg of rice or wheat per month

at Rs 3 per kg, and the Rs 350 crore allocation for the health insurance schemelaunched last year, both aimed at the poorest families.

NEIGHBORHOOD


TRIUMPHANT, AT LAST !: LANKAN TROOPS AFTER CAPTURE ANOTHER LTTE BASTION

Nitin Anant Gokhale, NDTV's Defence and Strategic Affairs Editor,inhis latest book Sri Lanka: From War to Peace is based on his reportageof the 33-month civil war in Sri Lanka. Gokhale chronicles the detailsof an unprecedented military campaign by the Sri Lankan armed forcesand analysis the reason for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam'sdecline. In this exclusive excerpt, he details how the Indian govern-ment, bound by domestic political compulsions, covertly helped the SriLankan army and navy to scour out and destroy the LTTE...

How India helped Lankadestroy LTTE silently


NEIGHBORHOOD

By the end of November 2008, the script was no longerin LTTE chief Vellupillai Prabhakaran's hands. It wasbeing written by the Sri Lankan forces tacitly sup-ported by India and openly assisted by China andPakistan.

Since December 2005, when Mahinda Rajapaksa made hisfirst visit to New Delhi less than a month after he took over asSri Lanka's president, India was aware of his intention to takethe LTTE head on.

Although in the initial days he was advised to seek a negoti-ated settlement with the Tigers, New Delhi saw merit inRajapaksa's argument that the LTTE was only biding its time toregroup and rearm itself and that war was inevitable sooner thanlater.

And if the LTTE was preparing for a showdown, Rajapaksa didnot want to be caught off guard either. His armed forces need-ed to be ready for any eventuality.

The president therefore sent his brothers Basil and Gotabayato New Delhi with a shopping list for essential weapons andequipment that the Sri Lankan armed forces needed. The shop-ping list included air defence weapons, artillery guns, Nishantunmanned aerial vehicles and laser designators for precision-guided munitions.

Initially, New Delhi was non-committal.Top officials involved in the talks on either side told me that

in its typical bureaucratic style, New Delhi neither said yes norsaid no to the visiting Sri Lankans. So the two brothers wentback slightly disappointed but were still hopeful of getting Indianhelp. Outwardly, India did adopt a hands-off policy vis-a-vis theSri Lanka conflict. But that was because of domestic politicalcompulsions born out of the fact that the ruling UnitedProgressive Alliance government in New Delhi was dependentupon the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party from Tamil Nadu forits survival in Parliament. Aware of DMK chief M Karunanidhi'ssoft corner for Prabhakaran, the UPA did not think it politicallyprudent to annoy the DMK patriarch by openly supporting the SriLankan government against the LTTE.

So, publicly India maintained that it would not give Sri Lankaany offensive weapons.

Yet, in early 2006, India quietly gifted five Mi-17 helicoptersto the Sri Lankan air force. The only Indian condition was: Thesehelicopters would fly under Sri Lankan air force colours. NewDelhi clearly did not want to annoy UPA'sTamil Nadu allies like the DMK unnecessar-ily.

The Mi-17s were in addition to a SukanyaClass offshore patrol vessel gifted by theIndian Coast Guard to the Sri Lankan navy in2002.

Sri Lankan defence sources later told methat these helicopters played a major role inseveral daring missions launched by the SriLankan air force to rescue the army's DeepPenetration Units and the eight-man teams,whenever they were surrounded by LTTE'scounter-infiltration units, or when injured sol-diers had to be airlifted from deep insideLTTE held territory.

As a senior Sri Lankan army officer con-fided in me, "Our soldiers operating behindenemy lines functioned with greater degreeof confidence and efficiency in Eelam War IV since they knewthese helicopters were always on hand to come to their rescuewhenever necessary. This was surely one of the key factors inour Special Forces delivering spectacular results."

But hampered by domestic compulsion, New Delhi could notgo beyond such meagre and clandestine transfer of militaryhardware. And publicly all that India was willing to acknowledgewas the supply of low-flying detection 'Indra' radars to the SriLankan air force since this equipment was considered a defen-

sive apparatus.Colombo, on the other hand, was be-

coming increasingly restless since an all-out war with the LTTE looked inevitable.Domestic political pressure had alsostalled the signing of a DefenceCooperation Agreement between Indiaand Sri Lanka. Although both sides hadpublicly committed themselves to suchan accord in 2004 itself, the DCA nevermaterialised.

Insiders in Sri Lanka's defence es-tablishment reveal that India's insis-tence on securing exclusive rights to theuse of Palaly air base in the Jaffnapeninsula was the most contentiouspoint between the two delegations.

Colombo saw this demand from Indiaas downright insulting and symptomatic

of India's hegemonistic mindset. So the DCA never got off theground. Ironically, three months after the Eelam War IV ended,India decided to fund the repair and restoration of the Palaly airbase in north Sri Lanka.

Hampered by domesticcompulsion, New Delhicould not go beyondsuch meagre and clandes-tine transfer of militaryhardware. And publiclyall that India was willingto acknowledge was thesupply of low-flying de-tection 'Indra' radars tothe Lankan air force...

WELL-GROUNDED SUPPORT!: A LITTLE LTTE SUPPORTER

NEIGHBORHOOD


The Rajapaksa regime was nothing ifnot shrewd. It knew the past history. Itwas aware of the dynamics that deter-mined India's domestic politics in thecontext of Tamil Nadu. It was also con-scious of India's anxiety in losing strate-gic space in Sri Lanka.

But above all, the Rajapaksa brotherswere pragmatic enough to realise that SriLanka needed India's support in the pros-ecution of the war against the LTTE, totalsupport from China and Pakistan notwith-standing, simply because India was SriLanka's next door big neighbour.Colombo could ignore India but only up toa point.

So Mahinda Rajapaksa hit upon an ideaof setting up an informal exchange mech-anism between New Delhi and Colombo.The president nominated both his broth-ers Basil (a member of parliament andpresidential adviser) and Gotabaya, thedefence secretary, along with his own sec-retary, Lalith Weeratunga, as members ofan informal yet powerful delegation thatwould update the Indian government onthe latest developments as frequently aspossible.

India too reciprocated immediately.India's National Security Adviser M K

Narayanan, Foreign Secretary ShivShankar Menon and Defence SecretaryVijay Singh formed the Indian trio. The twoteams interacted frequently both on thephone and by visiting each other. The SriLankan trio in fact visited New Delhi atleast five times between 2007 and 2009.The Indian delegation made three returnvisits in the same period.

Most of the interactions were low-profileand discreet except the Indian team'sJune 2008 trip to Colombo that attractedhuge attention mainly because of its tim-

ing. That time Sri Lanka's military opera-tion was pushing the LTTE out of its north-western coastal areas in the Mannar dis-trict.

And two months later, Sri Lanka wassupposed to host the 15th summit of theSouth Asian Association for RegionalCooperation.

When Narayanan, Menon and Singh ar-rived in the Sri Lankan capital in a specialIndian Air Force plane, almost unan-nounced, military analysts, both in Indiaand Sri Lanka, were speculating a mas-sive retaliatory strike by the LTTE.

Indian intelligence agencies apparentlyhad credible information that such acounter attack could be aimed at the 15thSAARC summit that Colombo was hostingon August 2 and 3.

The Indian officials wanted to ensurefoolproof security for the summit. NewDelhi in fact persuaded the Sri Lankans toaccept India's help during the summit.After much persuasion and even a veiledthreat that India may stay away from thesummit if New Delhi's suggestions on asecurity upgrade in Colombo was not met,Sri Lanka reluctantly allowed Indian naval

Rajapaksa nominated bothhis brothers Basil (a mem-ber of parliament andpresidential adviser) andGotabaya, the defence sec-retary, along with his ownsecretary, LalithWeeratunga, as membersof an informal yet power-ful delegation that wouldupdate the Indian govern-ment on the latest devel-opments as frequently aspossible.

SALUTE MOTHERLAND: RAJAPAKSHA AFTER TIGERS’ FALL


NEIGHBORHOOD

ships, anti-aircraft guns and helicopters to be deployed in andaround Colombo for the duration of the meet.

I happened to be in Colombo as part of the media delegationthat traveled with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. I had neverseen such tight security in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan capital wasindeed locked down in a tight security gridfor the duration of the summit.

The Indian prime minister and all topIndian officials were transported in IndianAir Force helicopters from the BandarnaikeInternational Airport to the heart ofColombo. All roads used by the VIPs wereshut hours before they traveled on them. Infact, I remember friends in Colombo havingleft town to avoid being inconvenienced bythe stifling security arrangements.

The SAARC summit did pass off peace-fully although, as usual, its focus was hi-jacked by the hyped meeting between theIndian and Pakistani prime ministers.

But security at the SAARC summit wasnot the only point of discussion that Indiawas interested in. The top Indian officials,according to sources in Colombo, also want-ed detailed briefing on the on-going opera-tions in the north. This was readily done at the ministry of de-fence by both the commander of the army, General Fonseka andcommander of the navy, Vice Admiral Karannagoda.

The Indian delegation, I was told by an insider, once againraised the issue of increasing Chinese and Pakistani involve-ment in Sri Lanka's military campaign, but was quietly remind-ed that it was India's refusal to supply lethal weapons that hadcompelled Colombo to look elsewhere, primarily to China.

But the most important political mes-sage was delivered by the Indian delega-tion to President Rajapaksa. He was toldto try and conclude Eelam War IV beforethe summer of 2009 when India was ex-pected to hold the general election.

The ruling Congress party obviouslydid not want the shadow of Sri Lanka'sethnic conflict to fall on the politics ofTamil Nadu and needlessly complicatematters during the election campaign.President Rajapaksa did not commit him-self on the deadline, but promised to ex-pedite the operations. The trio returnedto New Delhi perhaps with a mixed feel-ing of achieving only part of its objective.

Colombo may have been ambivalentabout meeting Indian requests to end theoperations before the general election,but the Sri Lankan leadership once again

gratefully acknowledged the Indian Navy's contribution in locat-ing and destroying at least 10 'floating warehouses' owned bythe LTTE.

I happened to be inColombo as part of themedia delegation thattraveled with PrimeMinister ManmohanSingh. I had never seensuch tight security in SriLanka. The Sri Lankancapital was indeed lockeddown in a tight securitygrid for the duration of thesummit.

MARCH ON: LANKAN TROOPS DURING A MARCHPAST

NEIGHBORHOOD


These warehouses or ships of varyingsizes were used by the LTTE to storearms, ammunition and even armouredpersonnel carriers. These ships, whichhad no names or identification numbers,used to remain on high seas for monthson end. They were brought near SriLankan shores whenever the LTTE neededthe arms. Smaller ships and craft wereused to transport these arms to the SeaTiger bases on the east and the westcoast.

Indian and Sri Lankan navy sources re-vealed that well-coordinated operations bythe two navies between 2006 and 2009actually broke the backbone of the SeaTigers. The Indian Navy, the Sri Lankanssaid, helped in various ways.

For instance, the Indian Navy'sDorniers based at Ramnad in Tamil Naduflew regular reconnaissance missionsover the seas around Sri Lanka. TheseDornier aircraft, fitted with high-poweredradar, scoured the area for ships with sus-picious movement and cargo.

Whenever such a ship was detected,the Indian Navy passed on the informationto the Sri Lankans. The real time intelli-gence helped the Sri Lankan navy trackand then destroy LTTE arms consign-ments.

Once the rogue ships were located, SriLankan navy's Offshore Patrol Vessels(OPV) would go after these floating ware-houses and destroy them. The Sri Lankannavy destroyed the first warehouse shipon September 17, 2006, about 120 nau-tical miles east of the island. Three moresuch ships were sunk in early 2007.

Moreover, under an agreement betweenthe two countries, the Indian Navy and theCoast Guard frequently sent out ships topatrol the Palk Strait and the Gulf ofMannar. The presence of warships andIndian Coast Guards's OPVs acted as afirm deterrence against the Sea Tigers.

Indian naval ships traveling betweenthe east and the west coast and those go-ing on overseas deployment were alsotold to look out for rogue vessels.Frequent exchange of information be-tween the two navies resulted in a fine-tuned system that enabled quick remedi-al action.

Sri Lanka's navy chief AdmiralWasantha Karannagoda praised theIndian Navy's role. 'Cooperation withIndia has been extremely successful incountering the LTTE. Every year, the IndianNavy with the Indian Coast Guard and theSri Lankan navy, holds four bilateral dis-cussions. We are conducting coordinatedpatrols with the Indian Navy as well,' hesaid in early 2008.

'The navy has destroyed almost all

LTTE vessels that could have assisted theTigers in attacking the armed forces,' hesaid. 'Within one year, we have destroyedeight floating warehouses, which had car-ried more than 10,000 tonnes of war-likematerial including artillery, mortar, dis-mantled parts of three aircrafts, bulletproof vehicles, underwater delivery vehi-cles, scuba diving sets, and radar, amongother things

In one instance, accurate intelligenceenabled the Sri Lankan navy to sail nearly1,600 nautical miles southeast of thecountry, close to coasts of Australia andIndonesia, to destroy three ships inSeptember 2007 and a fourth ship, which

had escaped the initial action, threeweeks later on October 7, AdmiralKarrannnagoda said.

One of the LTTE weapons smugglingvessels was intercepted and destroyed bynaval task units after a long pursuit in thehigh seas 1,700 km off Dondra Head, thesouthern extremity of Sri Lanka. At least12 Tamil Tigers on board were killed in theattack.

' We went near Australian waters andwhacked the last four vessels,' Vice-Admiral Karannagoda told Jane's NavyInternational in March 2009. 'Yet we arenot a big navy; we had to improvise anduse innovation and ingenuity to get our jobdone. The Sri Lankan navy does not pos-sess any frigate-sized ships, so we usedoffshore patrol vessels and old tankers,merchant vessels and fishing trawlers assupport vessels.'

What he left unsaid, according tosources in both Indian and Sri Lankannavies, was India's hidden hand in pro-viding vital intelligence and operationalsupport to identify and locate these ships.

In March 2009, the Sri Lankan navalchief deliberately avoided mentioningIndia's crucial contribution since elec-tioneering in Tamil Nadu was picking upspeed and Eelam War IV was in its finalstage that month. Any public admission ofIndia's hand in destruction of LTTE assetswould have created a furor in Tamil Naduand further strained the already delicaterelationship between Sri Lanka and India.

Moreover, under an agree-ment between the twocountries, the Indian Navyand the Coast Guard fre-quently sent out ships topatrol the Palk Strait andthe Gulf of Mannar. Thepresence of warships andIndian Coast Guards'sOPVs acted as a firm de-terrence against the SeaTigers.

FALLEN ICON: LTTE CHIEF PRABHAKARAN


NEIGHBORHOODBut the fact remains that in

late 2007, the Indian Navy'sSouthern Command deployedthree fast attack boats and amissile corvette that patrolledthe Palk Straits, searched andcaught hold of LTTE fugitives.

The 'sea denial' and 'navalblockade' by the Indian Navystarted after a daring attack bythe Sea Tigers on the DelftIsland near Jaffna.

Delft Island, the largest in-habited island of the Jaffnapeninsula, is located almostequidistant from Rameswaramin Tamil Nadu and Jaffna. TheSri Lankan navy used the is-land to monitor sea and air movements notonly towards Jaffna but also betweenMannar and Tamil Nadu coast.

In May 2007, the Sea Tigers mounted adaring attack on the naval attachment post-ed at Delft Island and after killing sevennaval personnel, took away two anti aircraftmachine guns, two machine guns, one RPGlauncher and eight rifles.

Some reports said the Sea Tigers alsotook away functioning radar from the is-land. Jolted by this setback, the Sri Lankannavy requested India for operational help.The assistance was immediately given, butboth sides had decided to keep quiet aboutthe details.

Despite such a close working relationsbetween the two navies, India was not hap-py with Colombo's increasing dalliancewith China and Pakistan. New Delhi was acutely aware of thedeep inroads made by Pakistan and China in India's backyard.

A worried Narayanan had bluntly declared in May 2007: 'It ishigh time that Sri Lanka understood that India is the big powerin the region and ought to refrain from going to Pakistan or Chinafor weapons, as we are prepared to accommodate them withinthe framework of our foreign policy.' Which in effect meant Indiacould only supply 'defensive' equipment to Colombo.

Narayanan's statement in fact reflected the dilemma thatNew Delhi faced. The crisis was, of course, purely India's ownmaking.

Crippled by the iron grip wielded by the DMK and other small-er Tamil parties on the UPA coalition at the Centre, New Delhicould not even openly approve of Colombo's determination toexterminate the LTTE.

Colombo understood India's predicament but had no otheroption but to shop for weapons and ammunition from elsewhereonce India refused to comply with its requests.

Army Commander Sarath Fonseka admitted as much in an in-terview to me, "It is only after India told us that it cannot sup-ply offensive weapons that we looked at other options. We firsttried western countries but their weapons are expensive. Also,the Western countries cannot be depended upon to continue thesupplies when it came to the crunch as it happened with us inthe middle of the war, when certain countries blocked supply ofspare parts for our airplanes and helicopters. So we turned toChina which offered us arms immediately and on favourableterms. They gave us five-year long credit line. We bought ar-moured personnel carriers, artillery pieces, basic infantry

weapons and some ammuni-tion from them. As forPakistan, we only boughtsome emergency ammuni-tion from them."

Even Defence SecretaryGotabaya Rajapaksa had asimilar story to relate.

Little wonder then thatBeijing and Islamabad tookfull advantage of India'squandary.

By February 2007,Gotabaya Rajapaksa hadconcluded several defencepurchase agreements withChina.

One of the earliest agree-ments in Eelam War IV was a $37.6 mil-lion deal with China's Poly Technologiesin April 2006 to supply its defence forceswith ammunition and ordnance for thearmy and navy.

Another company, China NationalElectronics Import Export Corp supplied aJY 11 3D radar for $5 million.

According to the UK-based Jane'sDefence Weekly the Sri Lankan navy's re-quirement, valued at $2.7 million, in-cludes a range of ammunition including100,000 14.5 mm cartridges, 2,000RPG-7 rockets and 500 81 mm airburstmortar shells was met by the Chinese.

According to the authoritative DefenceWeekly, other arms included 50 Type 8214.5 mm twin-barrel naval guns, 200Type 85 12.7 mm heavy machine guns,

200 Type 80 7.62 mm multipurpose machine guns, 1,000 Type56-2 7.62 mm submachine guns and 1,000 Type 56 7.62 mmsubmachine guns.

China was not alone in supplying arms to Sri Lanka.A high-level defence delegation from Islamabad visited Sri

Lanka in January 2008 to sell weapons to Colombo.Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) chief Lieutenant General

Syed Sabahat Hussein held detailed discussions with SriLanka's security officials, including the defence secretary. Thedelegation included senior POF officials, Export Director UsmanAli Bhatti and General Manager Abbas Ali.

POF is Pakistan's largest conventional arms and ordnance fa-cility and its 14 factories and four subsidiaries produce severalvarieties of armaments for export. These include infantryweapons, tank and aircraft ammunition, anti-aircraft and artilleryammunition, rockets, aerial bombs, hand grenades and mor-tars.

Getting China's and Pakistan's backing was important forthe Rajapaksa government but it also needed to get its own acttogether at home and secure Indian tacit blessings. So the gov-ernment and especially Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksagot down to the task of reorienting the Sri Lankan air force andthe Sri Lankan navy, always considered the weakest link in pre-vious military.

The mission was concluded with clinical photo finish.

(Excerpted from Sri Lanka: from War to Peace, by Nitin Gokhale: Courtesy HarAnand Publishers)

I happened to be inColombo as part of themedia delegation thattraveled with PrimeMinister ManmohanSingh. I had never seensuch tight security in SriLanka. The Sri Lankancapital was indeed lockeddown in a tight securitygrid for the duration of thesummit.

PERSONALITY


Shivandra Singh (From Poland)

Arole model for the entire policalclass of the world, Lech Walesawas born in Popowo, Poland, on29 September 1943, to a car-penter and his wife. He attended

primary and vocational school, before en-tering Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk (StoczniaGdanska im. Lenina, now StoczniaGdanska) as an electrical technician in1970. In 1969 he married Danuta Golos,and the couple now have eight children.His son Jaroslaw Walesa is a member ofPoland's Sejm (lower house of the Polishparliament). Lech Walesa is a devout

Roman Catholic, and has said that hisfaith always helped him duringSolidarity's difficult moments.

He was a member of the illegal strikecommittee in Gdansk Shipyard in 1970. In1976, Walesa lost his job in GdanskShipyard.

In June 1978 he joined the illegal un-derground Free Trade Unions of the Coast(Wolne Zwiazki Zawodowe Wybrzeza), or-ganized by Bogdan Borusewicz, AndrzejGwiazda, Krzysztof Wyszkowski, LechKaczynski, Anna Walentynowicz, AntoniSokolowski, and others.

On 14 August 1980, after the beginningof an occupational strike in the LeninShipyard of Gdansk, Walesa became the

leader of this strike. The strike was spon-taneously followed by similar strikes, firstin Gdansk, and then across Poland.

In September of that year, theCommunist government signed an agree-ment with the Strike CoordinationCommittee to allow legal organization, butnot actual free trade unions. The StrikeCoordination Committee legalized itselfinto National Coordination Committee ofSolidarnosc (Solidarity) Free Trade Union,and Walesa was chosen as a chairman ofthis Committee.

Walesa kept this position until 13December 1981, when he was arrested.General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared astate of martial law on 13 December.

A COMMON HERO: LECH WALESA IN THIS ICONIC SHOT FROM 1980S...

Leader extraordinairePoland’s Lech Walesa is a role model for the present political class


PERSONALITY

Walesa was incarcerated for 11months in eastern Poland in several vil-lages (Chylice, Otwock and Arlamów nearthe Soviet border) until 14 November1982.

In 1983, he applied to come back toGdansk Shipyard as a simple electrician.The year 1983 also saw Walesa beingawarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He wasunable to receive the prize himself, fear-ing that the government would not let himback in. His wife, Danuta Walesa, re-ceived the prize in his place.

From 1987 to 1990 Walesa organizedand led, the "half-illegal" TemporaryExecutive Committee of Solidarity TradeUnion. In 1988 Walesa organized an oc-cupational strike in Gdansk Shipyard, de-manding only the re-legalisation of theSolidarity Trade Union. After eighty daysthe government agreed to enter into talksin September. Walesa was an informalleader of the "non-governmental" sideduring the talks. During the talks the gov-ernment signed an agreement to re-es-tablish the Solidarity Trade Union and to

organize "half-free" elections to the Polishparliament.

In 1989, Walesa organized and led theCitizenship Committee of the Chairman ofSolidarity Trade Union. Formally, it wasjust an advisory body, but, practically, itwas a kind of a political party, which wonparliament elections in 1989 (the

Opposition took all seats in the Sejm thatwere subject of free elections and all butone seats in the newly re-established sen-ate; according to the Round Table agree-ments only members of the CommunistParty and its allies could stand for the re-maining 64% of seats in the Sejm).

While technically just a Chairman ofSolidarity Trade Union at the time, Walesaplayed a key role in Polish politics. At theend of 1989, he persuaded leaders fromformerly Communist ally parties to form anon-communist coalition government,which was the first non-Communist gov-ernment in the Soviet Bloc's sphere of in-fluence. After that agreement the parlia-ment chose Tadeusz Mazowiecki for primeminister of Poland. Poland, while still aCommunist country in theory, started tochange its economy to a market-basedsystem.

He is the only private foreign citizen toaddress a joint session of the UnitedStates Congress, which he did on 15November 1989 . He was also the first re-cipient of the Liberty Medal on

While technically just aChairman of Solidarity TradeUnion at the time, Walesaplayed a key role in Polishpolitics. At the end of 1989,he persuaded leaders fromformerly Communist ally par-ties to form a non-communistcoalition government, whichwas the first non-Communistgovernment in the SovietBloc's sphere of influence.

...AND NOW AS A NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING CELEBRITY SPEAKER

PERSONALITY


4 July 1989 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.In his acceptance speech, he said,"Liberty is not only a right, but also ourcommon responsibility and duty."

Documents coming to light as of June2008 allege that Walesa had been a col-laborator of the Communist secret policeunder the pseudonym "Bolek", well priorto the formation of Solidarity. Walesa him-self denies any collaboration and there isno substantiation of these rumors. On 11August 2000, the Appellate Court ofWarsaw, V Wydzial Lustracyjny, declaredthat Walesa's Lustration Statement istrue, meaning he did not collaborate withthe Communist regime.

On 9 December 1990, Walesa won thepresidential election to become presidentof Poland for the next five years. Duringhis presidency, he started a so-called"war at the top" which practically meantchanging the government annually. Hisstyle of presidency was strongly criticizedby most of the political parties, and helost most of the initial public support bythe end of 1995. After downfall of the JanOlszewski cabinet on June 1992, and fol-lowing the unveiling of a list of secret col-laborators by Minister of Internal AffairsAntoni Macierewicz, Lech Walesa was al-legedly linked with illegal prosecution anddisintegration of Polish conservative andindependent rightist parties

Walesa lost the 1995 presidential elec-tion, collecting 48.72% of the votes in therun-off election against AleksanderKwasniewski. This was by less than 3.5%,a margin which many people[citationneeded] considered would have beencomfortably overturned if the revelationhad come earlier that his opponent hadfalsely claimed to have a university degree- and used Walesa's lack of higher edu-

cation as a political weapon. Calls for anew election were dismissed.

In the early 1990s, Walesa had pro-posed a "NATO-bis" as a subregional se-curity framework. The concept, thoughsupported by Polish right-wing as well aspopulist movements, and by politicianssuch as Leszek Moczulski, gained littlesupport abroad, as Poland's neighbors,some of whom had only recently regainedindependence, tended to perceive theconcept as imperialistic.

After that, he claimed to go to "politicalretirement", but he was still active, tryingto establish his own political party. In1997 Walesa supported and helped to or-ganize a new party called SolidarityElectoral Action (Akcja WyborczaSolidarnosc) which won the 1997 parlia-mentary elections. However, his supportwas of minor significance and Walesa

A FAMILY MAN: WITH HIS DAUGHTER

MULTI-FACETED: WALESA THE PADDLER


PERSONALITY

held a very low position in this party. Thereal leader of the party and its main or-ganizer was a new Solidarity Trade Unionleader, Marian Krzaklewski.

Walesa again stood for the presidentialelection in 2000, but he received only 1%of votes. Many Polish people were dissat-isfied with the fact that once again hewanted to regain his political power. Afterthat, Walesa again claimed his political re-tirement. From that time on, he has beenlecturing on the history and politics ofCentral Europe at various foreign univer-sities. Although not politically engagedanymore, Walesa is still publicly ad-dressed as "President".

On 10 May 2004, the Gdansk interna-tional airport was officially renamedGdansk Lech Walesa Airport to commem-orate the famous Gdansk citizen. His sig-nature was incorporated into the airport 'slogo. A month later, Walesa went to theU.S. representing Poland at the state fu-neral of Ronald Reagan. On 25 April 2007

Walesa represented the Polish govern-ment at the funeral of Boris Yeltsin, for-mer President of the Russian Federation.

In 2001 Walesa was awarded thePacem in Terris Award. It was named aftera 1963 encyclical letter by Pope John XXI-

II that calls upon all people of good will tosecure peace among all nations. "Pacemin Terris" is Latin for 'Peace on Earth.'

In 2002, Walesa represented Europe incarrying the Olympic flag at the openingceremonies of the XIX Olympic WinterGames in Salt Lake City, joiningArchbishop Desmond Tutu (Africa), JohnGlenn (The Americas), Kazuyoshi Funaki(Asia), Cathy Freeman (Oceania), Jean-Michel Cousteau (Environment), Jean-Claude Killy (Sport), and Steven Spielberg(Culture).

During Poland's 2005 presidentialelections, Walesa supported DonaldTusk, saying that he was the best of allthe candidates. Simultaneously, he ex-pressed support for Poland's newly-formed Democratic Party in the parlia-mentary elections of the same year.

In 2006, Walesa quit Solidarity. In anAssociated Press report, he cited differ-ences with the party's support of the Lawand Justice party, and the rise to power ofLech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

On 11 October 2006 Walesa was thekeynote speaker at the launch of the"International Human Solidarity Day" pro-claimed by the United Nations GeneralAssembly in 2005 at the United NationsTrusteeship Council. The Day, to be ob-served on 20 December, aims to raiseawareness of the importance of solidarityfor advancing the international develop-ment agenda, especially for poverty erad-ication. In the Millennium Declaration,Heads of State and Government identifiedsolidarity as one of the "fundamental val-ues… essential to international rela-tions". Mr. Walesa received a long ap-plause from the audience after deliveringan emotional speech on the impact of theday in human relationships and how hisown movement "Solidarnosc" succeededin getting support from people from vari-ous countries.

In January 2007, Walesa spoke at theevent "Towards a Global Forum on NewDemocracies" in Taiwan in support ofdemocracy and peace along with otherprominent world leaders and PresidentChen Shui-bian of Taiwan.

On 30 May 2007, Walesa received thetitle Defender of the Faith, Defensor Fidei,from the Italian Cultural Association.

On 27 February 2008 in MethodistDeBakey Heart and Vascular Center,Houston, Walesa had a stent placed in hisheart to open a partially blocked arteryand had a pacemaker implanted.

Walesa appeared at a rally in Rome tomake a speech and endorse the pan-European eurosceptic party Libertas inthe run up to the 2009 European elec-tions, describing the party and its founderDeclan Ganley as "a force for good in the

During Poland's 2005presidential elections,Walesa supported DonaldTusk, saying that he wasthe best of all the candi-dates. Simultaneously, heexpressed support forPoland's newly-formedDemocratic Party in theparliamentary elections ofthe same year.

LEADING FROM FRONT...DURING A PROTEST RALLY

PERSONALITY


world". Walesa admitted to being paid togive the speech but claimed to supportthe Civic Platform, whilst expressing ahope that Libertas members were electedto the European Parliament.

Walesa is a staunch critic of abortion,

and stated that he would rather have re-signed twenty times as president thansign a law allowing abortion in his country.

Walesa continues to appear in the me-dia, being often asked to comment on cur-rent events. Of late, he also declared he

is interested in information technology,and likes to use new developments in thatfield. He claimed to have put together afew computers on his own to find out howthey work, and declared he takes a smart-phone, a palmtop and a laptop with him

Apart from his Nobel Prize (1983) , Walesa received several oth-er international prizes. He has been awarded 33 honorary de-grees from several United States and European Universities.Named "Man of the Year" by: Time Magazine, 1981; TheFinancial Times, 1980; The Observer, 1980 , 2009; Legion ofLiberty (IPEA).

● Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1989● Liberty Medal, 1989● Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of the Bath, 1991● Grand Cross of Legion ofHonour, 1991● Grand Order of Merit, Italy, 1991● Cavaliere di Gran Corce deco-rato di Gran Cordone, Italy 1991●Honorary Citizen of London,1991● Grand Sash of Order ofLeopold, 1991●Order of H.H. Pius XII● Order of Merit of FederalRepublic of Germany● Order al Merito of Republic ofChile● National Order of the SouthernCross, Brazil● Grand Cross of the Order of theCross of Terra Mariana of Estonia● Medal of Independence of theRepublic of Turkey● Military Order of St. James withSwords, Portugal● Order of Henry of Portugal● Order of Korea● Order of the Netherlands Lion ofHolland● Medal of Republic of Uruguay● Medal UNESCO● Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose,Finland, 1993●Knight of the Swedish Order of the Seraphim, 1993● Knight of the Danish Order of the Elephant, 1993● Grand Cross of Order of Merit, Republic Hungary, 1994● Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav,1995● Grand Cross Knight of the Order of Polonia Restituta, 1992(ex officio)● Knight of Order of White Eagle, Poland, 1992 (ex officio)● Freedom Medal of National Endowment for Democracy,Washington, 1999● International Freedom Award, Memphis, 1999● Grand Cross of the Order of the White Lion, Czech Republic,1999

● Pacem in Terris Award (2001)● One of A Different View's 15 Champions of WorldDemocracy, 2008● Legion Of Liberty (2009)

Honorary doctoratesLech Walesa holds 35 honorary doctorates from universities

across the world including these:● Alliance College, Pennsylvania -

1981● Columbia University - 1981

● Catholic University, Louvain -1981

● MacMurray College, Illinois -1982● University of Notre Dame - 1982● Providence College - 1981● St. Senis University, Paris - 1982● Seton Hall University - 1982● L'Université de Paris - 1983● Harvard University - 1983●Fordham University - 1984● University of Dundee, Scotland -1984● McMaster University, Hamilton,

Ontario, Canada - 1989● Simon Fraser University, Burnaby,Canada - 1989● Gdansk University - 1990

● Copernicus University, Torun,Poland - 1990● Connecticut State University -1996● Universidad Anahuac del Sur,

Mexico City - 1996● Universidad del San Salvador,

Buenos Aires - 1997● Universidad de Mendoza, Mendoza - 1997● Korea University (hon. prof.) Seol - 1997● Meiji University, Tokyo - 1997● Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri - 1998● Lynn University, Miami - 1998● Gannon University, Erie, Pennsylvania - 1999● University of Hawaii, Manoa/Honolulu - 1999● Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon● Middlebury College, Vermont - 2000● University of Oregon, Eugene - 2001● Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra, Santiago delos Caballeros, Dominican Republic - 2001● Saint Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa - 2001● Ramapo College of New Jersey, Mahwah, NJ - 2001● University of North Carolina at Charlotte, NC - 2002.

Honours and awards

WALESA AS TIME MAN OF THE YEAR


PERSONALITY

when travelling . At the beginning of 2006,he revealed that he is a registered user ofthe Polish instant messaging serviceGadu-Gadu, and was granted a specialuser number by the service provider -1980. His previous number was5606334, and was made public on thewebsite of the Lech Walesa Institute.Later that year, he also declared he usesSkype, where his handle is lwprezy-dent2006. Beside online media, Walesaplays himself in Andrzej Wajda's 1981 fic-tional film about Solidarity, Man of Ironand footage of him appears in MichaelJackson's music video "Man In TheMirror". In the late 1990s he was offered$1,000,000 to shave off his trademarkmoustache in a Gillette commercial, buthe refused. A couple of years laterthough, to a big public surprise, Walesadid shave off his moustache for a brief pe-riod 'just for fun'.

Since the fall of communism in 1989

several former colleagues and political op-ponents of Walesa (including AnnaWalentynowicz, Andrzej Gwiazda and cur-rent president of Poland Lech Kaczynski)accused him of being a secret informer ofthe Polish communist secret police -Sluzba Bezpieczenstwa in the early 1970sunder the codename "Bolek". This claim,along with testimonies and correspondingdocuments were featured in documentaryfilms Nocna zmiana and Plusy dodatnie,plusy ujemne. Three books covering theissue were published: Sprawa LechaWalesy (2008), Lech Walesa. Idea i histo-ria (2009) and SB a Lech Walesa.Przyczynek do biografii (2008).

The last of the three, written by histori-ans from the Institute of NationalRemembrance (IPN), SlawomirCenckiewicz and Piotr Gontarczyk, re-ceived substantial coverage in the mediaand provoked a hot nationwide debate. Itincludes documents as well as witness

testimonies and focuses on the history ofthe documents which disappeared fromWalesa's archived UB files in the early90's, when Walesa twice had access tothem during his presidency. According tothe authors, after Walesa returned thefile, some documents were missing.Walesa confirmed seeing the documentsbut denied having taken them.

The book is seen as highly controver-sial. Some historians criticized it on thebasis that the evidence provided is un-clear. Others accused it of defaming ahero's reputation.

Infuriated by the resurgence of the ac-cusations in March 2009, Walesa an-nounced that he would not take part inceremonies commemorating the 20th an-niversary of the fall of Communism, and ifaccusations continue, he would first re-turn all his decorations, then leave Polandaltogether.

MUCH FETED..WALESA WITH SUPPORTERS

Vir Sanghvi

Whenever people tell me that India has changedafter the liberalisation of the 1990s, that busi-ness is now independent of government andthat India's industrialists now get on with thejob quietly, I always say, "Well, up to a point."Older readers may remember a business-poli-

tics battle that dominated the second half of the 1980s.Dhirubhai Ambani was emerging as one of India's top indus-

trialists. While many people reckoned that he'd bent the rulesand paid off politicians to get there, only one industrialist reallytook him on.

That was Nusli Wadia of Bombay Dyeing. Because Wadia hadclose links with politicians in all parties (he knew BJP leaderswell, he had friends in the Congress, etc.

And in the media (he was something of a godson to RamnathGoenka), he was able to put Dhirubhai on the defensive. TheAmbanis retaliated with a counter-attack that rocked the foun-dations of India's government.

By forging letters, which Amitabh Bachchan delivered to hisfriend Rajiv Gandhi, they were able to convince the governmentthat Wadia and finance minister V.P. Singh were really targetingRajiv. The government went after Nusli Wadia in response.

Wadia joined up with V.P. Singh to defeat the government.Eventually, Rajiv Gandhi did lose the election, largely because ofa coalition created by anti-Reliance forces and Nusli Wadia madeit his mission to destroy Reliance.

You might think that 20 years later, everything has changed.And certainly, Nusli Wadia seems to have buried the hatchet withthe Ambanis and gone on to find success in other fields (bis-cuits, property, etc.

But looking at the way the Ambani battle has raged over thelast couple of months, I am beginning to wonder if India has re-ally changed that much.

In this version of the story, Mukesh Ambani, with his Congresslinks, is playing the Dhirubhai Ambani role. Anil Ambani is play-ing the Nusli Wadia part.

Like Wadia, he has friends in the BJP (he thinks NarendraModi should be Prime Minister), in UP politics (just as V.P. Singhbacked Wadia so Mulayam Singh is backing Anil) and theCongress. Just as Wadia was consumed by his mission to de-stroy Dhirubhai, Anil seems consumed by a desire to destroyMukesh.

Wadia was constantly launching salvos against Reliance justas Anil does these days. Wadia would attack Congress ministersfor their closeness to Reliance; Anil is doing the same.

Wadia would hire such lawyers as Ram Jethmalani to fightReliance in the courts; Anil has done the same thing. And theimpact on India in the 21st century is not that dissimilar fromthe impact on India in the 1980s.

Already, the papers are obsessed with this battle - it gets farmore coverage than it deserves. Already, we are looking at min-isters in the government and deciding who is on which side.("Shinde is in Anil's pocket, Mukesh knows Pranab well," etc.)Anil has done what no industrialist since Wadia has dared to do:he has openly taken on the government and made no secret ofhis links with the Opposition, allowing Mulayam Singh to disruptParliament on his behalf.

All this is ostensibly a battle over rates charged for gas. Idon't know who is in the right in this case: Mukesh or Anil.

My friend Tony Jesudasan who represents Anil took me out tolunch and made out a case for Anil. I was totally convinced tillmy friend Niira Radia, who represents Mukesh, gave me the oth-er side, which frankly, seemed just as convincing to my inexpert

BIZ WORLD


BIG BRO SYNDROME: MUKESH AMBANI

Bhaisaabs,fight yourbattles

elsewhere


BIZ WORLDears. The truth is that the vast majority ofIndians are not qualified to judge therights and wrongs of this very complicat-ed issue. It's a matter that judges andtop lawyers should settle away from theglare of publicity.

So here's my point: why should thepeople of India be expected to judge whois right or wrong? We are rarely asked forour opinions on corporate battles. Andwhen other companies have a problemwith a ministry, this rarely merits much at-tention.

Why then is Anil Ambani headline newsday after day, week after week? Why isParliament disrupted because of the bat-tle? Why is the government of India beingforced to defend itself at public fora? Whoare these people, anyway? And why do theAmbanis think that all of us should takesides in their battle? Or that we shouldcare what happens to them? Our problem,I fear, is that we have forgotten the les-sons of the 1980s. In that decade, we al-lowed Nusli Wadia and Dhirubhai to turntheir corporate war into a national issue.

We allowed corporate greed and finan-cial manipulation to threaten the veryfoundations of the Indian government.Nothing good came out of that experi-ence.

When the dust cleared, the corporatesituation was exactly what it had been be-fore the fight began. Dhirubhai continuedto rise.

And Wadia continued to be edged out ofthe textile business. But the rest of us alllost out.

Rajiv Gandhi's mandate was fritteredaway because his ministers took sides ina corporate battle. The Indian middleclass was conned into backing V.P. Singh,who gave us a few disastrous months ofgovernance, leaving us with a Mandallegacy.

The bureaucracy was corrupted andspoilt. The media were forced to take par-

tisan stands. My worry is that history isrepeating itself. When a corporate war be-gins to emerge as the biggest news storyin a country that faces so many problems,then you know that something has gonebadly wrong.

Worse still, the rest of the world has be-gun to question the India story. Lastweek, the Financial Times (London) fea-tured the Ambani dispute and wrote thatif oligarchs could create so much havoc inIndia, then there was something wrongwith our system.

It made the familiar point about how

India's natural resources were being hi-jacked by oligarchs.And here's my adviceto the politicians: Don't make the samemistakes all over again.

Are you Samajwadis or Ambaniwadis?For India's sake, let the Ambanis solvetheir problems on their own. Just do thejobs we elected you to do. Because yourloyalty should be to the people of India notto Mukesh, Anil, or any other industrialist.It is us you represent.

(Writer is Editorial Director,Hindustan Times)

CRYING FOUL...ANIL AMBANI

Why then is Anil Ambaniheadline news day afterday, week after week? Whyis Parliament disruptedbecause of the battle? Whyis the government of Indiabeing forced to defend it-self at public fora? Whoare these people, anyway?And why do the Ambanisthink that all of us shouldtake sides in their battle?

SPOTLIGHT

WOMAN POWERSonia Gandhi and Chanda Kochar on Forbes’

list of world’s 20 most powerful women

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and ICI-CI Bank CEO and Managing DirectorChanda Kochhar ranked in the top 20 ofthe World's 100 Most Powerful Women

list compiled by Forbes.Kochhar debuted at number 20 behind Gandhi

who was ranked 13 in the list led by GermanChancellor Angela Merkel. Indian-origin chief ex-ecutive of Pepsico Indra Nooyi figured at numberthree after Sheila Bair, Chairperson of FederalDeposit Insurance Corp.

Yahoo's Carol Bartz was ahead of Gandhi atnumber 12 in the list.

Besides Gandhi and Kochhar, Biocon's chair-man Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw also featured in thelist at number 91.

Gandhi improved her ranking from 21 last yearto 13 this year, while Mazumdar-Shaw moved to91 from last year's 99th place. Nooyi retainedher third position in the list.

Bahujan Samajwadi Party leader and UttarPradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, who wasranked 59th in last year's list, did not figure inthe latest list put up on Forbes.Com.

Regarding Gandhi, Forbes said, she is "stillthe country's dominant force since she reluc-tantly entered politics in the 1990s." The land-slide victory in the recent general election fur-ther strengthened her position as the leader of"India's most powerful political party" -- IndianNational Congress.

Kochhar was named as the first woman boss

of India's second largest lender ICICI Bankand took charge in May this year. "Shenow oversees a bank with assets of$100 billion," Forbes said. She was in-strumental in transforming the retailbusiness of ICICI Bank and turning itinto a retail banking powerhouse.

Besides, Anglo American ChiefCynthia Carroll, Temasek CEO HoChing, Kraft Foods Chief IreneRosenfeld, DuPont head EllenKullman, WellPoint CEO AngelaBraly, Areva Chief Anne Lauvergeonand Sunoco head Lynn Elsenhansare among the top 10 powerfulwomen.

Interestingly, speaker of the USHouse of Representatives NancyPelosi (35) was ranked ahead ofHillary Clinton (36), the USSecretary of State, MichelleObama (40), the first lady of theUS, and Queen Elizabeth II (42

Other dignitaries in list areMelinda Gates (34), the Co-chair-man Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation, Oprah Winfrey (41),Bangladesh Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina Wajed (78) andChile President MichelleBachelet (22) among others.

Forbes' Powerful Womenlist is based largely in termsof influence rather thancelebrity status or popular-ity.

In assembling the list,Forbes looked forwomen who run coun-tries, big companiesor influential non-profits.

"Their rankingsare a combina-tion of twoscores: visibili-ty by pressm e n t i o n sand the sizeof the or-ganisationor countrythese womenlead," the US-based magazinesaid. Agencies

KOCHAR (ABOVE) AND SAW


SECURITY

Ashoka Kumar Thakur

Congress President Sonia Gandhiis understood to have discussedthe Indo-Pak joint statement andthe defence pact with the US on

end-use monitoring arrangement (EUMA)with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjeeand Defence Minister A K Antony in herParliament office here on Wednesday.

Sources said the two leaders werecalled in by Sonia in view of the media re-ports of Mukherjee's reservation on theIndo-Pak statement and the defence min-istry complaining that it was bypassed inthe EUMA deal.

They said she conveyed her concern tothe two leaders that such reports give un-necessary handle to the Opposition tocriticise the government. They also em-phatically denied reports that the partyhas distanced from the government onthese initiatives on the foreign front. Theysaid Sonia asked the two leaders to standby the Prime Minister on such issues andspeak out so at the earliest to prevent anymisgivings.

The wrong signals, however, continuedto fly because of the gag on the partyspokespersons from hailing the deals asthey used to do in the past. On the Indo-Pak statement, Congress spokespersonJayanthi Natarajan once again on reiter-ated at the daily press briefing that theparty has nothing more to add to what thePrime Minister has said in Parliament.

She also wriggled out from commentingon the EUMA, pointing out that ForeignMinister S M Krishna has already clarifiedin both the Houses in response to the ap-prehensions expressed by the Opposition.

A leading Bengali daily of Kolkata onWednesday claimed Mukherjee has reser-vations on not only the Indo-Pak state-ment but also on the deals with theUnited States on Monday in a meetingwith the visiting Secretary of State HillaryClinton. "Better ask the newspaper" wasMukherjee's snap reply when approachedin the Parliament House.

Antony is reported to have confided inSonia Gandhi that neither he nor theDefence Ministry were kept in loop by theExternal Affairs Ministry while finalisingthe EUMA despite the fact that over themonths top officials of his ministry were

involved in negotiations with theAmericans on their legal requirement tomonitor the military hardware and tech-nology they sell to India.

He reportedly, however, made it clearthat the defence officials told him thatthey are unable to comment on implica-tions since they were yet to be providedthe text of the arrangement, except toldverbally that their concern over "intrusiveinspections" by the US defence inspec-tors at the forward bases has been takencare of.

Antony was also quoted informing

Sonia Gandhi that he was himself press-ing for a standard text of EUMA instead ofIndia negotiating separate stand-aloneend-use arrangements during every pur-chase from the United States in the pastas it will speed up procurements.

Sources privy to the earlier negotiationsby the Defence officials with theAmericans say all that they can under-stand from this assurance is that the in-spections will be carried out at a placeand on a date and time of India 's choiceand certainly not in he forward bases.

For instance, they say the US personnelneed not go to the borders to carry out in-spection of the Firefinder weapon-locatingradars bought from the United States in2002 during the NDA regime. Theseradars can be shifted to a safer place ofIndia 's choice within hours to let the UScarry out the inspections. Though the end-use monitoring clause was agreed in pur-chase of these radars, sources said therewas no clarity on where the inspection willtake place.

As regards the moveable assets likefighter planes and naval warships,sources said they can be easily moved tocivil areas for the physical inspection thatis mandatory under the US law to ensuretheir sensitive high technology is notleaked to any other country.

(Writer is Sr Advocate, Supreme Court of India)

Split wide openCongress Party is confused over security issues

GRIM REMINDER:BUT POWERS-THAT-BE ARE HARDLY PERTURBED

The wrong signals, however,continued to fly because ofthe gag on the partyspokespersons from hailingthe deals as they used to doin the past. On the Indo-Pakstatement, Congressspokesperson JayanthiNatarajan once again on re-iterated at the daily pressbriefing that the party hasnothing more to add to whatthe PM has said

TRENDZ


The Swiss School of Management, previously SMAI SwissManagement Academy International is a private Swiss in-stitution of higher education. It was founded in the lastcentury under the laws of Canton Zurich, Switzerland.

SMAI has always aimed at providing a Swiss quality educationto students from all over the world. Unfortunately, the conser-vatism of Switzerland restricted its global pursuit. Despite its ex-cellent location and security, Switzerland remains small. With its6 million inhabitants, the country does not offer many job op-portunities for international students. In addition, the high livingcosts are prohibitive and the conservative nature of the currentgovernment limits visas granted to international students.

Therefore, SMAI moved its headquarters to Rome, Italy wherethe living costs are favourable and student visa issuance mostprobable. Similarly, the move was to offer our international stu-dents the possibility to work and undertake internship within theenlarged European Union of which Switzerland is not a member.

Vision and MissionOur vision is "To be recognized as the Swiss International

Business School, nurturing talent and teaching the typical Swiss- way of behaviour and attitude in a multi-national, multi-culturallearning environment. It will be a place for those who seekknowledge, strive towards excellence and seek a better life forthemselves and their fellow citizens."

The mission of SSM is to provide the highest quality Swiss ed-ucation in an environment characterized by close interactionamong students, faculty, staff and the global business commu-nity. We will provide our students with practical knowledge, skillsand attributes- the global business competencies required forleadership and success in demanding careers in the globaleconomy.

Why Us?Switzerland's reputation of excellence is due to a highly qual-

ified labour force performing highly skilled work.The main areas include micro technology, hi-tech, biotechnol-

ogy and pharmaceuticals, as well as banking, hospitality and in-surance know-how.

This ongoing striving for excellence and perfection, has cata-pulted this small country to become a global player.

Switzerland is regarded as one of the safest and cleanestcountries in the world. It is ideally located in the heart of Europewith access to all major European cosmopolitan cities.

The mission of the Swiss School of Management is to repre-sent these values of Switzerland and carry them out into theworld.

Unique teaching MethodologyIn teaching it is the method and not the content that is the

message. At the Swiss School of Management, you'll benefitfrom a range of teaching methods all geared towards awaken-ing interest and kindle enthusiasm.

We believe that this is the sure way to impact knowledge eas-ily and successfully. All of us do not have equal talentbut all ofus should have an equal opportunity to develop our talent.

At the Swiss School of Management, we employ diverseteaching methodology within different fields of study aimed not

only at providing academic knowledge, but also holistic person-al development. Through our teaching techniques, we strive tohelp our students develop their personalities as managers andentrepreneurs. To this end, further qualifications are required,such as: charisma, leadership capabilities, character, decisionmaking courage, knowledge of human mind and nature, motiva-tion, intuition, business ethics, and the fluent mastery of addi-tional languages besides English.

The Swiss School of Management helps students developthese human qualities with the intent to bring out their best per-sonality resources by implementing the best and most creativelearning and teaching methodology. Practical application andnetwork-building is also emphasized. Our range of teachingmethods includes lectures, class discussions, case study analy-sis, simulation, real-time problem solving sessions, role playand group assignments.

MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE SWISS SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENTIN ROME, ANNA L. MORASIEWICZ SASSO BEING AWARDED THE"CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION FOR EXCELLENCE IN MANAGE-RIAL BUSINESS EDUCATION" BY DR. MASSIMILIANO BRACALÉ,PRESIDENT, SSM

SSM looking for major plans forIndia: Dr Massimiliano Bracalé


TRENDZ

ResultsAt the Swiss School of Management,

however, fundamentals are only the be-ginning. Excellent management skills arelearnt more by experience and observa-tion than in the classroom, which is whyyou will have many opportunities to inter-act with and to learn from experiencedand successful business leaders in thecountry. You will learn to approach prob-lems with creativity and disciplinedthought. You will also benefit from the di-verse perspectives of colleagues who hailfrom around the globe.

(Inputs by Dr Rahul Misra)

CORPORATE CONNECTION● Swisscom AG● Swiss Airlines SQS● Banca Intesa● Fineco● Quad EBS SpA● Banca Nazionale delLavoro SpA● UniOne AssicurazioniPixell

SSM has relations withthe following companies:UniOne Assicurazioni● Pixell● RE/MAX● Blunet Srl● SQS● Banca Intesa● Credit Suisse

President Address...

Iwant to welcome each of you to the Swiss School ofManagement, a private institution of higher learning thatnot only meets the standards of today's professional

world, but exceeds them. A Swiss School of Managementaward stands for much more than excellence in business ed-ucation; it constitutes broad theoretical knowledge and com-prehension of its implementation in the marketplace.

At Swiss School of Management we apreciate people whounderstand what we teach, but we prefer those who put inplace what we say. We will make sure, that you won't leavethe school without a real plan of what you are going to do next!Especially, for those of you who choose our MBA program. Itwill change your life - promise!

We offer innovative, quality certified and fully accredited ac-ademic programs that provide not only a truly practical busi-ness education but also combine the latest in technology withthe most forward-thinking business, educational and leader-ship ideas. As a student at the Swiss School of Managementyou will attend classes that have direct applications in theworkplace.

At the Swiss School of Management you will find an excel-

lent faculty and staff who are ready to help you with your stud-ies and provide a friendly and supportive environment. Ourpartnerships with international business schools and em-ployers will provide you with student exchange and internshipopportunities, and a curriculum that is built with the advice ofbusiness people in the field.

Our goal is to nurture leaders who can inspire others,demonstrate outstanding skills, and work in multi-cultural en-vironments. At the Swiss School of Management you will learnamong a truly international student body as our studentscome from all over the world. We are proud of this diversitybecause it adds to your learning experience. Employers es-pecially value a student who is adapted for a diverse work-place. Our second goal is to prepare you for the future. In to-day's competitive world nobody however skilled or talentedbecomes a success by themselves. Cooperation, teamworkand a great attitude is what wins today. Therefore, at theSwiss School of Management, you will see students activelylearning and participating in small group projects.

Studying at the Swiss School of Management is challeng-ing, however, the rewards are tremendous. In addition to ac-quiring new knowledge and new ideas, our student network isglobal. Many of your classmates will become part of the grow-ing SSM alumni.

I am certain that you will find your experience here inspiringand enjoyable and I wish you all the best and success in yourstudies and future careers.

— Dr. Massimiliano Bracaléwww.ssm-edu.net

COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE: DR BRACALÉ

DR BRACALÉ WITH MERITORIOUS STUDENTS OF SSM

DR MONIKA SCHMUTZ KIRGOEZ, COUNSELLOR OF ECONOM-IC AFFAIRS AT THE SWISS EMBASSY IN ROME, CONGRATU-LATES SSM PRESIDENT DR. BRACALÈ

LOOKING AHEAD


Independence Day provides an excusefor all sorts of well-meaning specula-tions. We are meant to look forward, af-

ter all. So here's a story that looks for-ward one whole generation, 30 years tobe precise. The story is culled from an in-teresting economic report,India 2039: AnAffluent Society in One Generation, com-missioned by the Asian DevelopmentBank. The report is not a prediction ofwhat is likely to unravel-few would hazarda guess at that distance-but rather astatement of what is possible if things aredone right.

The 'possibility frontier'-and hence abenchmark of sorts for the reality thatcomes forth-is audacious by any stan-dards. The report believes India can reachthe 'affluent' status in a single genera-tion, i.e. by 2039, from having graduatedjust last year to the ranks of IMF's lowermiddle income nations. Put simply, an un-interrupted annual growth rate of just9.5% for the next three decades will dothe job. Compounding can highlight theimpact. It means raising India's economyto roughly 19 times its current size andovertaking the US economy-currently 14times larger than India. It means liftingper capita income more than 22 timesfrom below $1,000 to close to the worldaverage-that is currently about nine timesas high as India's. All this is within reachand, with a few assumptions about therest of the world, 'economic superpower'status is alluringly close.

To put things in perspective, in the last30 years, we have raised our per capitaGDP by 230%. No mean achievement, butdwarfed by China's explosive ten-foldgrowth.

The dream future, or the nearly doubledigit growth rate sustained for over a quar-ter century, is certainly possible. A fewAsian countries have done it in the pastand have truly catapulted themselvesfrom poverty to affluence, and Chinaseems to be going through this.Unfortunately, it is not a preordained des-tiny for India. Perhaps equally likely is theother possibility-that of a 'middle incometrap' where many countries have stagnat-ed after brief periods of impressivegrowth.

So, what is it that India needs to do toavoid losing sight of the golden path? Thereport points out three very importantchallenges: maintaining, nay, strengthen-ing social cohesion by managing if noteliminating disparities and rural poverty;becoming a truly globally competitive

economy that promotes innovation; andbeing a responsible global citizen as itsimportance rises almost nine-fold in theglobal economy. At the same time, theworld needs to be benevolent to India-itshould remain more or less peaceful andopen for the entire period.

The report goes further and prescribesa sevenfold path to this nirvana of tripletransformation. This is indeed quite sim-ple and straightforward: "Tackle dispari-ties and achieve inclusive growth; improvethe quality of the environment; eliminateinfrastructure bottlenecks; create a com-petitive edge; improve delivery of publicservices; create functioning cities ; renewthe focus on education, technological de-velopment and innovation-keys to sus-taining improvements in competitiveness;launch a revolution in energy; ensure se-curity and competitiveness; and foster aprosperous South Asia and become a re-sponsible global citizen."

To its credit, the report takes a broadsociopolitical view of development-India issurrounded by five of the world's sevendeclared 'failed states', with all the as-sociated challenges. The individual chap-ters have some insights explaining the re-cent past. But it is not clear that the bigpicture is entirely consistent or the con-clusions inevitable from the analysis. Theintroduction makes a philosophical bent

obvious: "The economic successes aredue primarily to India's dynamic and com-petitive private sector ...despite signifi-cant failures of government on manyfronts." Most of the single-generationtransformations held as examples, curi-ously, happened in dictatorial regimes. NoIndian would claim our governance orpoliticians lack room for improvement, butas Churchill said, we don't know anythingthat works better. Over-lecturing by tech-nocrats, who don't have to face elections,may not help too much.

At the end of the day, it is hard to dis-agree with the report or the path shown.The trouble, as always, is in execution.Also there is no way of telling that theseseven steps constitute an exhaustive listor, since these are all continuous and of-ten subjective measures, what counts asfulfillment. Only last year the hallowed'growth commission', headed by NobelLaureate Michael Spence, came up basi-cally saying, as I had mentioned in a pastcolumn, that they really don't have a clueto growth.

A generation is a long time for change-just imagine the worldview in 1979! Quesera sera-but regardless of how it pansout, this report can always say, "I told youso."

(The author teaches finance at the IndianSchool of Business, Hyderabad)

Vision 2039: India a rich country


GREEN COVER

Minister of State Environmentand Forests Jairam Rameshexplains how the forest coverof India will help.

In India, we consider our forests aunique national treasure. Forests are re-sponsible for India's rich biodiversity --India is one of the 12 "megadiverse"countries in the world.

Our forests hold within them uniquewildlife, flora and fauna, and are also asource of sustainable livelihoods to over200 million people in our country. It istherefore not surprising that we take ourcommitment to protecting, regeneratingand growing our forests very seriously.India has a great tradition of institution-alised scientific forest conservation dat-ing back 142 years, when the ImperialForest Service was established in 1867.

We also have one of the most progres-sive forest conservation legislations inthe world, which puts severe restrictionson diversion of forest land for non-forestry

purposes. It is the result of these effortsthat despite our rising population and thepressures of economic development,India is one of the few developing coun-tries where the forest cover has increasedover the last 20 years and continues to in-

crease -- today, more than a fifth ofIndia's land area is under forest cover.

This is something that we are proud of,and intend to maintain and grow. We havetaken a number of recent initiatives in thisdirection, including the launch of a land-mark fund for the regeneration and sus-tainable management of our forests withan initial corpus of $ 2.5billion, as well asan annual budget of about $ 1billion.Forestry is at the centre-stage ofglobal climate change negotiations. Thisis because forests have the potential tobe a carbon sink as well as a source ofcarbon emissions.

We are actively participating in the dis-cussions on forestry that are taking placeunder the Bali Action Plan and the UnitedNations Framework Convention onClimate Change.It is India's view that weneed an agreement on a comprehensiveframework for compensation and positiveincentives for forestry as part of the on-going climate change negotiations.

Forest cover vital for nation’sgrowth: Jairam Ramesh

Our forests hold within themunique wildlife, flora and fau-na, and are also a source of sus-tainable livelihoods to over 200million people in our country. Itis therefore not surprising thatwe take our commitment toprotecting, regenerating andgrowing our forests very seri-ously. India has a great tradi-tion of institutionalised scien-tific forest conservation datingback 142 years, when theImperial Forest Service was es-tablished in 1867.

GREEN COVER

O P I N I O N E X P R E S S42 | SEPTEMBER 2014

I hope that this publication will providea useful snapshot of the carbon value ofIndia's forests, and give a glimpse of thepotential of India's forests to offsetIndia's and the world's carbon emis-sions.India's Forest Cover accounts for20.6% of the total geographical area ofthe country as of 2005. In addition, TreeCover accounts for 2.8% of India's geo-graphical area.

Over the last two decades, progressivenational forestry legislations and policiesin India aimed at conservation and sus-tainable management of forests have re-versed deforestation and have trans-formed India's forests into a significantnet sink of CO2.

From 1995 to 2005, the carbon stocksstored in our forests and trees have in-creased from 6,245 million tonnes (mt) to6,662 mt, registering an annual incre-ment of 38 mt of carbon or 138 mt of CO2equivalent.

Mitigation Service by India's Forestand Tree Cover India's forests serve as amajor sink of CO2. Our estimates showthat the annual CO2 removals by India'sforest and tree cover is enough to neu-tralize 11.25 % of India's total GHG emis-sions (CO2 equivalent) at 1994 levels,the most recent year for which compara-ble data is available for developing coun-tries based on their respective NationalCommunications to the United NationsFramework Convention on ClimateChange.

This is equivalent to offsetting 100%emissions from all energy in residentialand transport sectors; or 40% of totalemissions from the agriculture sector.Clearly, India's forest and tree cover isserving as a major mode of carbon miti-gation for India and the world.

As stated, India is one of the few de-veloping countries in the world that ismaking a net addition to its forest andtree cover over the last twodecades.Based on actual and projectedtrends of investments in the forestry sec-tor, we present three scenarios of the fu-ture carbon stocks in the forest and treecover of India.

In the first scenario, the carbon stocksin India's forest and tree cover decreaseat the rate of the world average4 . Underthis scenario, the total carbon stored inIndia's forests in 2015 will decrease to6,504 mt.

In the second scenario, the carbonstocks in India's forest and tree covercontinue to increase at the historical rateof the last decade (0.6% p.a.).Under thisscenario, the total carbon stored inIndia's forests in 2015 will increase to6,998 mt.

1 Forest cover in India is defined as alllands, more than one hectare in area witha tree canopy density of more than 10%.

2 Tree Cover is defined as tree patchesoutside recorded forest areas exclusive offorest cover and less than the minimummappable area of one hectare.

3 The Second National Communication,a comprehensive inventory of India'sGreenhouse Gases, is under preparationand will be available by November 2010.This will provide data up to 2000 as re-quired by UNFCCC.

4 Assuming the same rate of decline inforest and tree cover as the world averagebetween 2000-2005 (0.18% p.a.);Source: FAO, State of the World'sForests, Rome, 2005 India's Forest andTree Cover: Contribution as a CarbonSink.

In the third scenario, the carbon stocksin India's forest and tree cover increaseat a rate higher than the historical rate of

increase.Under this scenario, the total carbon

stored in India's forests in 2015 will in-crease to 7,283 mt. This is the path thatwe intend to tread in India. India haslaunched a series of progressive policy ini-tiatives on Sustainable Management ofForests as well as Afforestation andReforestation, which involve significantadditional resources for sustaining andgrowing India's forest cover.

This includes the world's largest ForestRestitution Fund5 with $ 2.5billion as ofJune 2009, which is being deployed forSMF and A&R programmes, as well as apolicy to include forestry related activitiesin the flagship employment scheme of thecountry.

It also includes introducing new forestryrelated schemes on components such ascapacity building in the forestry sector.These measures will provide annual pub-lic expenditure of $ 1billion on forestry re-lated activities. This will lead to an in-crease in the quality and density ofIndia's forests, as well as in the rate ofincrease of India's forest and tree cover.This explains the basis of the computa-tion of carbon stocks in scenario three.

Value of MitigationPutting a conservative value of $ 5 per

tonne of CO2 locked in our forests, thishuge sink of about 24,000 mt of CO2 isworth $ 120billion, or Rs 6,00,000crores. Incremental carbon under sce-nario three will add a value of around $1.2billion, or Rs 6,000 crores every yearto India's treasury of forest sink, assum-ing a value of $ 7 per tonne.

India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh speaks during a national conference with ministers of envi-ronment and forests in New Delhi August 18, 2009


NRI VOICE

Ravi Bhaskar

Ibelong to life's batch of 1979 and as I grew up through the1980s and early 1990s I was deeply embarrassed aboutIndia. About everything, our movies, our cricket team, our ath-

letes, our products, our infrastructure, our poverty, our politi-cians and the whole damn system. No matter what we did, wefell painfully short of potential. Time and again! It hurt becauseI wanted to belong to a big, strong nation that could kick somea** and not to some laggard.

But the story has changed, and how! Here I am in a brand new2007, miles away from sweet home India, yet still closely fol-lowing her story. Now they all say that it is not so much 'whetheror not' as much as 'when' will India become a superpower, aworld beater.

India is shining, India is poised and India is everywhere, so Ihear. Now the embarrassment and the heartaches have beenburied with the 1990s.

Instead now there is a swelling pride and a sweet anxiety aswe roar back into being a nation in fashion. And I am very hap-py for India and for all of us Indians. I am 27 now and I pray thatI can see India fly highest before I kick the bucket.

But here comes the twist in my tale. I no longer want India tobe a superpower in the manner I wanted it to be when I wasnaive and without a broader perspective. I no longer want it tobe another big and brawny US. I don't want it to be a super-power that is just made up of brain and brawn, that is GDP per-formance and military might.

Rather and more pressingly, I want India to have a heart. Theheart of a superpower, a civilised country. Now what is the heartof a country? Let me try, humbly:

Having a heart, unlike GDP growth and a military beef-up,does not just relate to the macro-economic and political issues.Having a heart of a real superpower essentially has micro im-plications, for each of us. Each of us can soon belong to amighty nation and all that but then what is the point of belong-ing to one if we indulge in or turn a blind eye to child labour?

Are we ready yet to ask for the age of our servants or avoidand report restaurants where the cleaners are boys who shouldbe in school? I ask again, what is the big thing about belongingto a superpower if we continue to pelt stones at speechlessstray dogs and cows? What is the big deal?

We can spit on the roads and throw the banana peel from atravelling car and still India can turn into what the world calls asuperpower. The two are not corelated but then do we just wantto be a mighty country and not care about our manners? We canbuy a multitude of cars, bikes and look down on public trans-portation and still become a superpower. All our trees can makeway for ultra modern townships. But then do we just want to be-long to a superpower and pollute without caring about our envi-ronmental legacy for our children?

Are we ready yet to smile freely at random countrymen on thestreets? Or if someone's car rams into ours are we ready to getout and ask, 'Are you ok?' instead of fisting the aggressor?

Are we poised to replace brutal ragging at our educational in-stitutions with warmer welcoming gestures? Are we there yet,when we care to build local infrastructure that can also be usedby handicapped people? Will we ever care enough for our coun-try that we pick up our dog's poop when we walk it on thestreets?

And will we dance on the streets again if India successfully

tests another nuclear weapon? Are we ready yet to have aheart?

The time has come for us to become an economic power-house of the world. There is no stopping us now. But the timeis certainly not here as yet for us to claim that we have a col-lective heart, the heart that makes a real superpower beatsoundly. That's going to take a while.

Till then let us not kid ourselves at the prospect of becominga superpower.

The task at hand is a lot bigger than the mere achievement ofbecoming an economic powerhouse and having destructiveweapons. Let us be aware, lest we stop and rejoice as soon aswe become the world's largest economy and stagnate.

Let's keep moving onto bigger things. Let's become a realsuperpower. A superpower that beats to a super heart.

(Writer is a software consultant based in Calgary, Canada)

‘I WANT INDIA TO HAVE A HEART’

I no longer want India to be asuperpower in the manner I wanted

it to be when I was naive andwithout a broader perspective. I nolonger want it to be another big and

brawny US. I don't want it to be a su-perpower that is just made up of

brain and brawn, that is GDP per-formance and military

might...Rather and more pressingly,I want India to have a heart. Theheart of a superpower, a civilised

country.

SMALL CAR


If the Cash for Clunkers program has you toy-ing with the notion of buying something newthis summer, forget downsizing to just asedan--that's so half-hearted.

Instead, you could opt for a total downsize,something along the lines of the Lotus Elise orMazda MX-5 Miata. The cars are about 13-feetlong, and you and a few friends could probably liftone of these cars into a tight parking spot.

Novelty aside, there are genuine advantagesto owning a small car: high fuel efficiency, feweremissions, nimble handling and, often, impres-sive speed on straightaways and around corners.

In other words, just because a car is small,doesn't mean it's gutless.

Behind the Numbers To determine our list, weadded the length, width, height and weight of2009 models on sale in the U.S., then took theaverage of those measurements and ranked the

cars according to their score. We did not includemodels that may hit U.S. showrooms in the fu-ture, like the Tata Nano or the Fiat 500, or out-of-production vehicles such as the Dodge Neon.We also excluded neighborhood electric vehiclesand three-wheeled cars like the ZENN and Aptera2e.

Not all the cars that made our list are coupes.The Pontiac G3, for example, has four doors anda hatchback--not to mention 30-mpg combinedfuel economy, a reasonable price tag at$14,335, and seating for five.

Some small cars have heft under the hood aswell. The $47,250 Elise, for instance, goes 0 to60 miles per hour in under five seconds. It usesa 4-cylinder engine to get 189 horsepower andhit a top speed of 150. The $22,500 Miata usesa 4-cylinder engine, too, eking out 167 hp and140 lb-ft of torque.

Small is the beautiful

Car of future!

Some small cars have heftunder the hood as well.The $47,250 Elise, for in-stance, goes 0 to 60 milesper hour in under five sec-onds. It uses a 4-cylinderengine to get 189 horse-power and hit a top speedof 150. The $22,500 Miatauses a 4-cylinder engine,too, eking out 167 hp and140 lb-ft of torque.


SMALL CAROther small cars are following suit, says Jon

Linkov, managing editor of autos at ConsumerReports. Turboboosted 4- and 6-cylinder en-gines work well to ramp up performance with-out adding the weight and appetite for fuel ofa larger engine. Ford engineers estimate thattheir "ecoboost" turbochargers--available nowon the Lincoln MKS, MKT and Taurus SHO--im-prove fuel efficiency by 20%.

Manufacturers also are focusing on lighten-ing the load as a way to improve efficiency--something the tinker toys on our list are allabout. The lightest is the $11,990 SmartFortwo, which weighs in at well under one ton.

"Weight reduction is big," Linkov says."Once you start stripping out weight, you takeout the nine-way power seats and the 15-speaker stereos, plus the navigation systemwiring and all that other stuff, that goes a longway."

Indeed, weight kept otherwise compactnumbers like the Audi TT (3,252 pounds) andVolvo C30 (3,201 pounds) off our list. Theirlength, width and height are solidly middle-of-the-pack, but they are two of the heaviest ve-hicles in their segment.

Size Vs. Safety It goes without saying thatsafety is a key consideration for anyone con-sidering a small car. Let's face it: In a head-on crash, a one-ton coupe is no match for a5,000-pound SUV.

"The general things that make vehicles un-safe would include small size and vehicles thathave not yet adopted state-of-the-art crash-pro-tection technologies," says David Zuby, seniorvice president of vehicle research at theInsurance Institute for Highway Safety.

But he adds that size shouldn't be the onlyconsideration--the strength of the safety cagemakes a big difference: "Unfortunately, a con-sumer can't tell by looking at a vehicle if it'sgot a strong structure. They would have to con-sult crash-test ratings."

Some ratings, like roll-over and side-impactscores, can be compared across size andweight categories. The Smart Fortwo, for ex-ample, received higher side-impact ratingsfrom IIHS than much-larger models like theFord Explorer and Chevrolet Trailblazer.

Small-car proponents argue that tiny carsare actually safer than large ones becauseof several intangibles: they fitshorter and smaller driv-ers better, whichmakes them

safer; and they are more nimble than SUVsand crossovers, which helps them effectivelyavoid crashes. There's also the fact that allthe size in the world can't prevent whiplash orroad rash.

Zuby says he hasn't seen statistical evi-dence to support those claims, although theymay have anecdotal merit.

"A really, really poorly designed or insuffi-ciently designed large- or medium-sized carmay be more or less protective than the bestdesigned small car, but that's something thatyou're not going to be able to tell just by look-ing at crash-test ratings," he says.

All things being equal, going from a clunkerto a tiny car might be the smartest trade-in ofall.

Lincoln MKT

Lincoln MKS

Other small cars are following suit, says Jon Linkov, man-aging editor of autos at Consumer Reports. Turboboosted4- and 6-cylinder engines work well to ramp up perform-ance without adding the weight and appetite for fuel of alarger engine. Ford engineers estimate that their "eco-boost" turbochargers--available now on the Lincoln MKS,MKT and Taurus SHO--improve fuel efficiency by 20%.Manufacturers also are focusing on lightening the load asa way to improve efficiency--something the tinker toys onour list are all about. The lightest is the $11,990 SmartFortwo, which weighs in at well under one ton.

SMALL CAR


World's cheapest car - costing just£1,200 - unveiled by Indian buyersof Jaguar. This snub-nosed run-about is the cheapest new car in

the world. The price of the tiny Nano, made bythe Indian conglomerate Tata, starts at just£1,250.

The base model has no air conditioning (oth-er than the wind-down window variety) no pow-er steering, no passenger-side mirror and onlyone windscreen wiper.

But the makers claim it can fit four passen-gers as well as the driver, with a bit of asqueeze.The Nano aims to bring the joys ofmotoring to millions of Indians, doing for thesubcontinent what the Volkswagen Beetle didfor Germany and the Mini for Britain.

Measuring just over ten foot long, and fivefoot high and wide, the car is powered by a623cc two- cylinder petrol engine in the reardeveloping just 33 horse-power. It has a topspeed of about 65mph and will do about 50

miles to the gallon.The Tata factory in West Bengal will initially

be able to turn out 250,000 cars a year butsales are predicted to top one million.

It is called the 'one Lakh' car after theIndian term for 100,000 - because it will sellfor 100,000 rupees, equivalent to about£1,250. This is three times the average na-tional income And the basic version is spare:there's no radio, no passenger-side mirror andonly one windscreen wiper.

When company chairman Ratan Tata droveit onstage yesterday, his head nearly touchedthe roof. TATA insists it is "environmentallyfriendly" and exceeds regulatory standards onsafety and pollution.

It aims to bring the joys of motoring toIndia's masses - and do for the subcontinentwhat the Volkswagen Beetle did for Germanyand the Mini for Britain.

Indian standards for road safety and pollu-tion emissions generally lag behind British and

European levels, so the car might not be legalon British roads.

The Retail Motor Industry Federation saidcars must comply with European standards,which can mean replacing glass, lights, tyresand seatbelts.

Speedometers must be in miles. The car would have to undergo Government

approved crash tests and be subjected to anoverall inspection report before being given ap-proval for sale, all of which would push up theprice.

However, it is possible dealers might stillfind it worthwhile to make modifications thatwould make the car legal and still be able tosell it at a price that would make a profit whilebeing attractively low to a buyer.

Vic Amato from Huntingdon company JRHImports said the car, at such a low price,would be a tempting proposition for private im-porters. "That's an astonishing price for acar," he said.

Indian company TATA takeslead: International Press

SMALL WONDER: The Nano manufactured by Indian company Tata is the cheapest car in the world

Port-of-Spain: The Indian diaspora has anunquestionable commitment and concerntowards the development of theCaribbean countries in which they stayand to the region as a whole, said a min-ister, adding 'this is their society wherethey have their own roots and which theyhave helped to shape'.

Senator Lenny Saith, minister in theOffice of the Trinidad and Tobago's primeminister, lauded the Indian diaspora thatforms 44 percent of the country's popu-lation, while speaking Sunday at a semi-nar organised by the Indian HighCommission, Ministry of Overseas IndianAffairs, University of the West Indies,National Council of Indian Culture (NCIC)and Global Organization of People ofIndian Origin (GOPIO).

The theme of the seminar was'Language and Cultural Heritage: Issues& Challenges for the Indian Diaspora'.

Saith said: 'They recognise India astheir place of origin, acknowledge its pos-itive ancestral influences, empathise withthe challenges it faces from time to time,and take significant pride in its continuingprogress and achievements.

'But their home is the Caribbean. Thisis seen in the unquestionable commit-ment and concern on the part of the di-aspora to the development of their indi-vidual Caribbean countries and to the re-gion as a whole.'

He went on to say that 'this is their so-ciety, where they have their own roots,which they have helped to shape, andwhich has nurtured their development andview of the world.'

'They are authentically people of theCaribbean who are also proud to trace

their ancestry to one of humanity's earli-est and enduring civilizations, one richwith achievement in all areas of human ef-fort . '

D.N. Srivastava, joint secretary,Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, toldthe seminar that India and the world atlarge believe that persons of Indian originsettled abroad have very strong bonds

with the land of their forefathers.'Just like you, in the heart of your

heart, feel proud of India's achievementsand distinctions, we in India feel proudthat you all, by virtue of your hard workand dedication have achieved a high placein the country of your residence and na-tionality. It is indeed a matter of greatpride and honour and satisfaction to knowthat many of you occupy high places in the

society, institutions and government ofvarious countries,' Srivastava said.

Indian High Commissioner MalayMishra spoke about the umbilical cordthat connects India with its diaspora.

'There are serious historical and ethnicties that bind India and the diaspora,' hesaid.

The seminar is one of several initiativesto mark India's 62nd and Trinidad andTobago's 47th anniversary of independ-ence. India achieved its independencefrom Britain Aug 15, 1947 and Trinidadand Tobago Aug 31 1962.

President of the National Council ofIndian Council (NCIC) DeokienananSharma said that the cultural personalityof the Indo-Trinidadian plucked from UttarPradesh and Bihar and embellished in itsnew habitat is unique.

Sharma said that visitors, particularlyfrom India, have marvelled at the beautyand uniqueness of Trinidadian festivalslike Divali, Phagwa, Ram Leela and clas-sical singing.

Deosaran Bisnath, President of GOPIOTrinidad and Tobago, called on the semi-nar 'not to waste resources on what issettled history. We know where we camefrom, how we came, and how we pro-gressed and advanced to 2009.

'Let us now focus in making our coun-tries as successful as India 2009 -- a na-tion on the verge of superpower status, ashining nation of stability and success inthe midst of war, violence, poverty, back-wardness, and underachievement.'

The Indian diaspora in Trinidad andTobago equals 44 percent of the popula-tion of 1.3 million people. Some 147,000Indians came here between 1845 and1917 to work on the sugar plantations,principally from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.


DIASPORA

‘IndianDiasporahelping

CaribbeanIsland to

shape up itsdestiny’

Paras Ramoutar

GOPIO NEWS


GOPIO members met several law-makers at The Capital Hill andparticipated at the Senate IndiaCaucus reception hosted by the

Caucus Co-chairs Senators ChristopherDodd (D-CT) and John Cornyn (R-TX) towelcome India's new ambassador toWashington Meera Shankar. Earlier, GO-PIO met freshman Congressman fromConnecticut Jim Hines and SenatorJoseph Lieberman of Connecticut.

In yet another sign of deepening rela-tionship between India and the US, overtwo dozen American Senators, includingsome of the most powerful and influen-tial ones, turned up for the reception.

With nearly two-dozen Senator fromboth the Republican and Democratic par-ties appearing for the reception, oldtimers at the Capitol said this is reflectiveof the growing ties between the two coun-tries and the value been given to Indo-USrelationship by lawmakers.

Senator Dodd, who has replacedHillary Clinton as Co-Chair of Senate IndiaCaucus from the Democratic, said Indiais a "good luck charm" for the UnitedStates Senate.

Before the reception, Senator Doddmet GOPIO Chairman Dr. ThomasAbraham and the GOPIO-CT delegation inhis chamber at The Capital Hill where hewelcomed Ambassador Shankar andDeputy Chief of the Mission Arun K. Singhto The Capital Hill for a closed in meetingwith the GOPIO delegation.

At the Caucus reception, Senator Doddexpressed satisfaction at the high atten-dance by the Indian American leaders andspoke on the improving US-India bilateralrelations. "As an emerging global power,India has faced a crossroads. Longproud of its geopolitical independence,India's growing economic and strategicimportance has forced it to think long andhard about what kind of global actor itwants to be," said Senator Dodd.

"Under the leadership of PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh, it has chosento become a partner with other globalpowers, not an antagonist. That choicereflects courageous leadership. PrimeMinister Singh put himself and his politi-cal party on the line to forge an agree-

ment with America on what was the sin-gle most divisive issue between our twocountries: nuclear cooperation.

According to Senator Dodd, that agree-ment, which Senator Dodd shepherdedon behalf of the then Senator, Joe Biden,and which was approved with over-whelming bi-partisan support in the leg-islature, wasn't just about energy coop-eration or trade and investment. It was arecognition that India was prepared totake its place on the world stage, workingclosely with the United States and otherleaders to tackle together the global chal-lenges we face in the 21st century.

"I hope that today's event, and thework we'll do together going forward, willserve as another step towards strength-ening and expanding this important rela-tionship," said Senator Dodd.

"One should not underestimate thecontributions that all of you, Americans ofIndian descent, make towards the grow-ing bond that we are forming with India.In my state and around the country,India's economic and cultural impact isstrongly felt and widely valued, SenatorDodd added. Observing that Senate Indiacaucus is the only country caucus,Senator John Cornyn, its Co-Chair fromRepublican side, said this signifies the re-lationship and the shared values of thepeople of India and the United States.

"India is the anchor of stability in Asia.In fact our countries are natural allies andpartners, even though we may not alwaysrealize it," Cornyn told a packed room of

audience comprising of influentialSenators and eminent Indian-Americans,who had come from various parts of thecountry to be part of the momentous oc-casion. Cornyn, who was instrumental inestablishing the Senate India Caucus,said today 37th Senator joined the group.Several other Senators have expressedtheir interest to join the caucus.

"Truly honored" to be at the meetinghosted by the Senate India Caucus,Shankar in her impressive speech saidthe reception by Senators "in this sanc-tum sanctorum of democracy" is a tributeto India, to the Indian community in theUS and to the warm and stronger ties be-tween the two countries and above all thevalues that bind the two nations togeth-er.

"Our relationship is characterized asties between the world's two largestdemocracies. I believe that in that de-scription not merely because our twocountries are democracies, but becauseour relationship draws so much of itsstrength and character from the supportit has among the elected representativesof the people in both countries," theAmbassador said. The Senate IndiaCaucus, Shankar said, is not merely a fo-rum to advance the partnership; it is toher a very important symbol of the US-India relationship. Old time observers atthe Capitol Hill said that it is rarely thatnearly two dozen Senators turn up for aparticular event or reception at theCongress.

GOPIO delegation of Indian Americans from Connecticut invited by Senator Christopher Dodd, Co-Chairmanof Senate India Caucus to welcome the new Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar at a pre-reception meet-ing at The Capitol Hill. Senator Dodd and the GOPIO delegation in discussion with Ambassador Shankar.

GOPIO at the US Capitol Hill Campaigning on

community & Indiarelated issues


GOPIO NEWS

GOPIO Waikato Chapter in NewZealand organized a seminar inHamilton in June 28th to discuss

issues relating to community safety andestablish new milestones for social inte-gration. Addressing the seminar, Judge DrAjit Singh of Manukau District Court out-lined the provisions of the existing laws toenable people to seek justice against per-petrators of racial outrage.

"Racism has no place in NewZealand's civilized society and there arelaws to protect people against physicaland verbal abuse, hate messages andother forms of victimization," said JudgeSingh. "New Zealand was perceived world-wide as a model of racial harmony andNew Zealand laws provided against anydiscrimination based on color, race, eth-

nic or national origin." In the aftermath of a spate of murders

in Auckland in the recent past in which vic-tims included people of Indian and Asianorigin, calls were made for establishing anAsian Anti-Crime Group. "But our commu-nity leaders urged people to confront vio-lence through peace and understandingand not through vigilante groups," hesaid.

Among the others who attended theseminar were members of parliament SueMoroney (Labour), Tim Macindoe andDavid Bennett (National), Harish Bajaj andSuman Kapoor, respectively GOPIO na-tional president and Waikato chapterpresident, Shanti Niwas Charitable Trustproject manager Indu Bajaj, communityleaders and senior citizens and residents.

Lord Swraj Paul & BaronessUsha Prashar appointed to

Privy Council in UK

Queen Elizabeth has appointed LordSwraj Paul and Baroness Usha

Prashar as members of her PrivyCouncil, the British monarch's adviso-ry group whose members include thePrime Minister, Cabinet ministers andother eminent personalities. Lord Pauland baroness Prashar are the onlyIndian origin members of the this pres-tigious council, which also includes thePrime Ministers of Australia andCanada. The British Prime MinisterGordon Brown's Office announced onJune 23 the appointment which is forlife.

White House Fellow: AnishMahajan, a Robert Wood Johnson clin-ical scholar who has developed pro-grams for expanding HIV testing inlow-income communities, was nameda 2009-2010 White House FellowJune 25. The year-long program, whichbegins Sept. 1, will place Mahajanand 14 other fellows with a specificsector of the new administration. ThePoughkeepsie, New York native is like-ly to be placed in the Office of HealthReform or the Department of Healthand Human Services, but told India-West he would be equally thrilled towork in Chief of Staff RahmEmmanuel's office or with VicePresident Joe Biden.

Director appointed: US AgricultureSecretary Tom Vilsack announced theappointment of Dr. Rajen Anand asExecutive Director of the USDA Centerfor Nutrition Policy and Promotion. Themission of the Center for NutritionPolicy and Promotion at USDA is to im-prove the nutritional status of allAmericans by linking research to thedietary needs of the consumer. TheCenter is best known for the develop-ment of the Dietary Guidelines forAmericans and the MyPyramid foodguidance system.

French award: French Governmenthas announced the decoration ofPrithwindra Mukherjee with the in-signia of the "Chevalier dans l'Ordredes Arts et des Lettres." The ceremo-ny was attended by eminent membersof French and Indian communities in-cluding Ambassador Ranjan Mathai,Mr. Gerard Pedraglio "Officier de laLegion d'Honneur", Dr. Bikas Sanyal"Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur",Professor Pierre-Sylvain Fillioza"Membre Institute de France" and DrVimal Khosla "President of GOPIO-France". Prithwindra Mukherjee, wasborn in Calcutta in 1936.

Gopio-Waikato New Zealand chapterorganizes seminar against racism

Speakers and organizers at the seminar. From left to right Mr. Chandu Daji, Gopio Auckland Central (VP),Mr. Ashok Bhatia, Gopio Central (Pres), Hon Dr Rajen Prasad, Member of Parliament Hon Mrs. CarolBeaumont, Member of Parliament, both from Labour Party, Mr. Virinder Aggarwal, GOPIO West (Pres 7 alsorepresented as Chairperson of The Asian Network Inc), Harish Bajaj QSO, JP, MNZITT-National Pres GOPIONew Zealand and the organizer behind the Expo), Mr. Ashok Gaur GOPIO Botany Downs (treasurer and asponsor) and Hon Dr Jackie Blue Member of Parliament National Government, representing Hon Mrs. PansyWong, Minister for Ethnic Affairs.

Regular medical tests helped peo-ple to detect health problems andpursue appropriate treatment and

cure, enabling them topromote better livingstandards, two mem-bers of New ZealandParliament said.

National MP DrJackie Blue, a quali-fied medical profes-sional and generalpractitioner, said that members of theIndian community were prone to heartdiseases and diabetes and hence musthave themselves checked at least oncea year.

"They are at high risk and these prob-lems are not properly highlighted," shesaid, speaking at a health expo organ-

ized by the GOPIONew Zealand in asso-ciation with theShanti NiwasCharitable Trust atthe OnehungaCommunity Centre inAuckland on July 11.

Labour MP Dr RajenPrasad said the free health check facili-ty was a splendid idea. "Such servicespromoted awareness on health issuesand connected the Indian communitywith other community groups," he said.

Health expo increases awareness

General medical check at the expo

POSTSCRIPT


New York. IT bellwether Infosys Technologies,along with Internet major Google and softwaregiant Apple, has been named among theworld's 100 fastest growing companies byAmerican publication Fortune. The league of100 is topped by Canada-based Research In

Motion, the maker of Blackberry phones.The list also features Cognizant Technology

Solutions, headed by India-origin ChiefExecutive Francisco D''Souza. Infosys isplaced at the 100th place while Cognizant isranked 90.

Apple and Google are at 39th and 68thspots, respectively. Writing about Infosys, themagazine said, "India''s No 2 IT firm countsGoldman Sachs and UBS among its 570clients".

Fortune noted that Cognizant attributes apart of its growth to expansion in India andChina. Other companies in the list includeNasdaq OMX Group (42), Amazon.com (52)and Dreamworks Animation SKG (63).

The Chennai-based Apollo HospitalsGroup which has a major plan of launch-ing 250 hospitals across the country isbeing forced to go slow on them due to

a scarcity of qualified healthcare professionalsin the country.

Speaking to reporters, Dr Prathap C Reddy,

Chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group said,"There is a shortage of 100,000 beds per yearin the country. We have realised the necessityof building 250 super specialty hospitals butfrom where can I get skilled specialists andstaff to run these hospitals?"

This factor led a four-month delay in thelaunch of Apollo's hospital at Bhubaneshwar,which is now due to open in October. "We want

to open 22 hospitals in the next 2 years. Thereare many investors who wish to invest inhealthcare, and raising over Rs 10,000 crorefor setting up 250 hospitals is not an issue but

there is a shortage of qualified, skilled pro-fessionals in the country. India is supplyingskilled professionals globally but there is ashortage in the country."

Infosys amongtop 100 fastest

growing cos

Maharajah and Maharani of Jaipur at London Airport, May 17, 1956, to continue their annual Europeanholiday.

Bidding adieu tothe Maharani

Apollo Hospitals in slow expansion

Dr Prathap C Reddy