CURRENT AFFAIRS

Newspaper Analysis and Summary–16th April 2014

CULTURE

Oxford archaeologists unravel the past of Pattanam – The Hindu

Oxford archaeologists working at Pattanam, located 25 km north of Kochi, have confirmed that it was an Indian port frequented by Romans and have put to rest doubts about the antiquity of the site. If the excavations and surveys go as planned, the UK team might also have answers to questions such as why Pattanam was chosen to create a major trading facility and how the once flourishing city disappeared. Pattanam has a long history of habitation dating back to 10th century BCE and its trade links with Rome peaked between 1st century BCE and 4th century CE. Some experts have identified Pattanam as part of the lost port town of Muziris described in ancient Tamil and Roman texts. The Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR), which has been conducting excavations at Pattanam since 2007, signed a memorandum of understanding with the School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, in 2010. Now, a team headed by Chris Gosden and Wendy Morrison have commenced excavations along with experts from the KCHR. The UK experts plan to use airborne surveying techniques such as LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) to map and understand the surface characteristics of this settlement.

Prof Chris Gosden, who is the Chair of European Archaeology and an expert in landscape studies and Eurasian connections, told The Hindu that the focus of their work was to study the formation of the landscape and geomorphological features of the settlement, and, then, contextualise the excavations. They would use data gathered from fieldwork and aerial surveys. Prof. Gosden’s initial impression is that Pattanam probably witnessed fierce monsoon rains in the past and the landscape was considerably volatile. He is of the view that Pattanam was a part of river delta and the presence of sand bars and islands may have contributed to its growth as a trading post. To a question on whether Pattanam was the lost port town of Muziris, he said that it is not a question of utmost importance to him. There is rich evidence to show considerable exchange between two important powers in the world (India and Rome) then. To study the relationship and the process is critical, he said. Dr Wendy Morrison, who has done extensive work in Dorchester, a Roman archaeological site in UK, said that the Oxford team was happy to collaborate with the KCHR and the MoU between them would also enable an expedition from Pattanam to come to UK to excavate at Dorchester. Such exchange of expertise would enrich mutual understanding of archaeological traditions, added Dr P.J. Cherian, Director, KCHR. POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

Legal recognition for transgenders – The Hindu

In a significant step, the Supreme Court on Tuesday recognised the transgender community as a third gender along with male and female. A Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and A.K. Sikri, in separate but concurrent judgments, said “eunuchs, apart from the binary

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CURRENT AFFAIRS gender, be treated as a “third gender” for the purpose of safeguarding their rights under our Constitution and the laws made by Parliament and the State Legislature.” The ruling came on a petition filed by the National Legal Services Authority. The Bench directed the Centre and States to take steps to treat them as socially and educationally backward classes and extend reservation for admission in educational institutions and for public appointments. The Bench said “recognition of transgenders as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue. Transgenders are also citizens of India. The spirit of the Constitution is to provide equal opportunity to every citizen to grow and attain their potential, irrespective of caste, religion or gender.” By virtue of this verdict, all identity documents, including a birth certificate, passport, ration card and driving licence would recognise the third gender. The Bench said gender identification is essential. It is only with this recognition that many rights such as the right to vote, own property and marry will be meaningful.

Transgenders deserve a dignified life: SC – The Hindu

Gender identity is one of the most fundamental aspects of life which refers to a person’s intrinsic sense of being male, female or transsexual, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday. “The transgender people, as a whole, face multiple forms of oppression in this country. Discrimination is so large and pronounced, especially in healthcare, employment and education, leave aside social exclusion. Now, it is time for us to recognise the rights of transgenders as a separate category and to extend and interpret the Constitution in such a manner as to ensure a dignified life for them,” observed a Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and A.K. Sikri. “All this can be achieved if a beginning is made with the recognition of transgenders as the third gender. By doing so, this court is not only upholding the rule of law but also advancing justice to the class, so far deprived of their legitimate natural and constitutional rights. It is, therefore, the only just solution which ensures justice not only to transgenders but also to society as well.”

Expressing its anguish at the plight of transgenders, the Bench said: “Seldom, our society realises or cares to realise the trauma, agony and pain which members of the transgender community undergo.” Nor did it appreciate their innate feelings, especially of those whose mind and body disowned their biological sex. “Our society often ridicules and abuses the transgender community and in public places like railway stations, bus stands, schools, workplaces, malls, theatres, hospitals, they are sidelined and treated as untouchables, forgetting the fact that the moral failure lies in the society’s unwillingness to contain or embrace different gender identities.” The Bench said: “Social justice does not mean equality before law on paper but translating the spirit of the Constitution, enshrined in the Preamble, the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy, into action, whose arms are long enough to bring within its reach and embrace this right of recognition to the transgenders which legitimately belongs to them.”

The Bench gave a series of directions for enforcement. “Transgender persons’ right to decide their self-identified gender is also upheld and the Centre and State governments are directed to grant legal recognition of their gender identity such as male, female or third gender.” It directed the Centre and State governments to operate separate HIV Sero-surveillance Centres

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CURRENT AFFAIRS as transgenders faced several sexual health issues. “The Centre and State governments should seriously address the problems being faced by them such as fear, shame, gender dysphoria, social pressure, depression, suicidal tendencies, social stigma, etc. and any insistence on Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) for declaring one’s gender is immoral and illegal. The Centre and State governments should provide medical care to transgenders in hospitals and also provide separate public toilets. The Bench said: “We are informed an expert committee has already been constituted to make an in-depth study of the problems faced by the transgender community and suggest measures that can be taken by the government to ameliorate their problems and to submit its report with recommendations within three months of its constitution. The recommendations [should] be implemented within six months.” INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

India-born poet wins Pulitzer – The Hindu

When it released, published by Greywolf, a small independent publishing house in Midwest America, Vijay Seshadri’s slim volume of poetry slipped under the radar, as poetry, ever beautiful, groundbreaking poetry, is often wont to do. Of course, Mr. Seshadri’s previous works had brought him both recognition and respect as a poet, and The Long Meadow , his second collection, had won him the James Laughlin Award. A Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, though, awarded for his third volume, 3 Sections , brings Mr. Seshadri under the spotlight, highlighting his work for the world and underlining the power of his words. Mr. Seshadri's book was described by the Pulitzer committee as “a compelling collection of poems that examine human consciousness, from birth to dementia, in a voice that is by turns witty and grave, compassionate and remorseless”. And 3 Sections , a volume that brings together varying forms and displays the ease with which Mr. Seshadri can play with words and rhyme and meter, is universal in its attempt at both the exploration of the human condition, and a philosophical, intellectual interrogation that turns the sight inwards.

Mr. Seshadri’s carefully chosen words explore the increasingly blurring lines between different mediums: when does prose flow into poetry, and when does a poem transform into prose? In ‘Pacific Fishes of Canada’, the middle section of the book, Seshadri attempts to ask these very questions, not by invoking them, but by displaying a complete confidence in the form this poem takes. Though laced with a deeper, resonant quality, there is also humour in Sesashdri’s words, spun with a dry, almost quizzical wit. In Surveillance Report , he invokes an everyday radio programme, and writes, “Caller Y wants to share that my fearless candor has given her permission/to become utterly transparent herself./Thank you, Caller Y. Your inner light can be seen from here”. He experiments with style and form, as well as the tone, like one would with spices, trying different combinations, with results that are both surprising and unusual. When he writes, “The soul/ Like the square root of minus 1/ is an impossibility that has its uses,” Seshadri displays the scope and universality of his work, and then, in other poems, like This Morning , he swings the pendulum towards the every day, mundane life.

Mr. Seshadri’s is the poetry we can understand and appreciate, and, more importantly, one that we need. The voices are our own, the introspection and questioning familiar. When, in

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CURRENT AFFAIRS his poem, Visiting Paris , the speaker says “I was wanted in Paris. Paris, astounded by my splendour/ and charmed by my excitable manner,/waited to open its arms to me,” it's not difficult to recognise this excitable manner he speaks of. The words hide beneath their visceral and beautiful appeal, world of irreverence, humour, thoughtfulness and familiarity. The beauty of Mr. Seshadri’s words lies in their truth, and the Pulitzer, given to a “distinguished volume of original verse”, has found its rightful owner. 3 Sectionsincludes short and long poems, as well as a prose lyric essay.

India to suggest renaming of Internet as ‘Equinet’ – The Hindu

In a major diplomatic initiative, India is all set to challenge the U.S.’ hegemony of the World Wide Web at a global meet on Internet governance in Sao Paulo (Brazil) next week. India has decided to propose renaming of Internet as ‘Equinet’ so that all nations can have equal say in its operations, besides calling for “internationalisation” of core Internet resources. Starting April 23, the two-day, ‘Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Governance’, also referred to as ‘NETmundial’, will see representatives from nearly 180 nations debating the future of Internet governance and cyber security. India has decided to take this opportunity to highlight U.S. dominance of the Internet and press for equal rights and say for all nations on matters related to Internet governance and cyber security.

India is likely to side with Brazil, Russia, China, South Africa and Iran to make its point. In fact, it was Brazil which took the lead in organising this conference parallel to the U.S.- dominated Internet Governance Forum (IGF) following reports of U.S. agencies spying on top Brazil government officials, including President Dilma Rousseff’s office, based on documents leaked by Edward Snowden, U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower. In a carefully drafted initial note submitted to ‘NETmundial’ and circulated to all participating members representing their governments, private sector and civil society, the Ministry of External Affairs has said, “Internet governance should be multilateral, transparent, democratic, and representative ... ” Similarly, it has said the structures that manage and regulate the core Internet resources need to be internationalised, and made representative and democratic. “The Internet must be owned by the global community for mutual benefit and be rendered impervious to possible manipulation or misuse by any particular stakeholder, whether State or non-State.”

Similarly, India has been persistently seeking the U.S.’ cooperation in cases related to cyber security, particularly when it comes to taking action against Internet giants whose servers are installed in that country. In this context, India will be seeking “a mechanism for accountability to be put in place in respect of crimes committed in cyberspace, such that the Internet is a free and secure space for universal benefaction.” “New cyber jurisprudence needs to be evolved to deal with cybercrime, without being limited by political boundaries and cyber justice can be delivered in near real time ... All stakeholders need to facilitate the transfer of information technology and capacity building to developing countries, in order to help them take measures to improve cybersecurity, develop technical skills and enact legislation, strategies and regulatory frameworks to fulfil their responsibilities,” the note adds. Significantly, an internal note prepared by the National Security Council Secretariat on

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CURRENT AFFAIRS cyber security preparedness last year had stated that “the control of Internet was in the hands of the U.S. government … ”

Harvesting peace on the border – The Hindu

The Indian harvest festival was jointly celebrated by personnel of the Indian and Chinese armies at a ‘Border Personnel Meeting’ held at the Nathu La border post in east Sikkim on Monday. The respective delegations, comprising eight officers each, were led by officers of the rank of brigadier or equivalent. A friendly volleyball match between two teams comprising a mix of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and Indian troops was also played, a Defence Ministry release said.

China’s President Xi urges greater military use of space – The Indian Express

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the air force to adopt an integrated air and space defence capability, in what state media on Tuesday called a response to the increasing military use of space by the United States and others. While Beijing insists its space programme is for peaceful purposes, a Pentagon report last year highlighted China’s increasing space capabilities and said Beijing was pursuing a variety of activities aimed at preventing its adversaries from using space-based assets during a crisis. Fears of a space arms race with the United States and other powers mounted after China blew up one of its own weather satellites with a ground-based missile in January 2007.

A detailed analysis of satellite imagery published in March provided additional evidence that a Chinese rocket launch in May 2013, billed as a research mission, was actually a test of a new anti-satellite weapon. Visiting air force headquarters in Beijing, Xi, who is also head of the military, told officers “to speed up air and space integration and sharpen their offensive and defensive capabilities”, Xinhua news agency said late on Monday. It gave no details of how China expects to do this. China has to pay more attention to its defensive capabilities in space, the official China Daily said on Tuesday. “The idea of combining air and space capability is not new to the Chinese air force, as a host of experts have underscored the importance of space,” it said.

Wang Ya’nan, deputy editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine in Beijing, said Xi’s call for integrated air and space capability is to answer the need of the times. “The United States has paid considerable attention and resources to the integration of capabilities in both air and space, and other powers have also moved progressively toward space militarisation,” Wang Ya’nan was quoted as saying. “Though China has stated that it sticks to the peaceful use of space, we must make sure that we have the ability to cope with others’ operations in space.” The United States was the first country to develop anti-satellite weapons in the 1950s, but currently has no known weapons dedicated to that mission. China has been increasingly ambitious in developing its space programmes for military, commercial and scientific purposes. Xi has said he wants China to establish itself as a space superpower. But it is still playing catch-up to established space superpowers the United States and Russia.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS China’s Jade Rabbit moon rover has been beset by technical difficulties since landing to great domestic fanfare in mid-December. ECONOMY Deterioration in credit conditions felt in India, says Moody’s – The Hindu

Moody’s Analytics on Tuesday said that deterioration in credit conditions was already being felt in India, where slower economic growth and rising interest rates had made it tougher for borrowers to repay debt. India’s non-performing loan ratio increased from a low of 2.3 per cent in 2011 to around 4 per cent in 2013. Central bank data show publicly-owned Indian banks, which account for about 75 per cent of total lending, are behind the increase in non- performing loans. The government has encouraged lending to support development of inadequate infrastructure, but although these intentions are positive, delays to projects and other regulatory issues have weighed on revenues, and thus, developers’ ability to repay debt, said Moody’s Analytics.

On Asia, it said that non-performing loan ratios have been trending lower in Asia for more than a decade, though the trend may reverse in the coming years as economic and financial conditions shift. Some Asian economies are likely to experience an environment of slower gross domestic product (GDP) growth and higher interest rates in the coming years, which will make debt harder to repay. “An increase in bad loans is also likely after Asia’s credit binge in recent years, which poses risk to the region’s banking systems and real economies,” Moody’s Analytics added.

Lending standards

Bad loans account for less than 5 per cent of all loans across most of Asia, below the rate that caused significant financial problems in the U.S. and many European countries in 2009. “This can be attributed to more prudent lending standards among Asian banks since the 1997 Asian financial crisis and 2008 global recession and efforts by the authorities to increase credit ratings”. Economic and financial conditions, including lower interest rates, steadily expanding economies, and rising asset prices have also helped ensure stability in credit markets.

Inflation pressures continue to remain elevated – The Hindu

Right at the peak of the elections season, bad news on the inflation front is here to haunt the incumbent UPA Government. Growing at the fastest pace since December, wholesale price inflation hit 5.7 per cent in March. All major categories - food, fuel, and manufactured goods - showed accelerated price growth, according to the official data released here, indicating that inflation pressures in the economy continue to remain elevated. Mirroring the trend in wholesale price inflation, retail prices inflation for March, also released by the government on Tuesday, came marginally higher at 8.31 per cent against 8.1 per cent in February. The rise in March comes after three months of declining retail inflation trend. The corresponding figure was, however, much higher at 10.4 per cent in March 2013.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS Inflation was a major issue during the assembly polls in Delhi in December, and the Opposition parties have consistently raked it up in their campaign. Wholesale diesel prices grew at the rate of 14.6 per cent, while LPG prices were up 9.3 per cent. Wholesale food prices rose 9.9 per cent with rice up 12.6 per cent and vegetable prices inflation growth of 8.6 per cent. Consumer prices inflation in food, beverages and tobacco came at 9.1 per cent mainly on the back of vegetables retail prices inflation growing at 16.8 per cent and fruits prices rising at the rate of 19.2 per cent in March. The rate of growth of wholesale inflation in primary articles (accounts for 20 per cent of the Wholesale Price Index or WPI) came in at 7.7 per cent in March against 6.3 per cent in the previous month.

Fuel and power prices, which account for 15 per cent of the index, rose 11.2 per cent against 8.8 per cent in February. However, retail fuel prices moderated in March. Consumer price inflation in March was 6.3 per cent for the category fuel and light. The wholesale price of manufactured goods (accounts for the remaining 65 per cent of the index) grew at the rate of 3.2 per cent in March, its fastest pace since May, 2013. Wholesale manufactured goods inflation had come in at 2.8 per cent in February. “This set of WPI numbers has implications for the near term monetary policy outlook,” said global rating agency Moody’s Analytics in a statement on the inflation numbers. “The Reserve Bank has lately paid closer attention to the consumer prices, but the WPI is still important and can in some instances be a leading indicator of consumer prices.”

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Director-General Chandrajit Banerjee said in a statement here that this rise in WPI inflation had to be attributed to supply side constraints in the agricultural side since demand in the economy was weak — as is evident from all indicators of growth. The statement released listed the steps that the government must take to control food inflation: The revival of inflation, especially of food prices, calls for supply side initiatives to raise agriculture productivity, including augmenting investment in agri- infrastructure and improving supply side management, delisting perishables from Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee, encouraging foreign direct investment in retail which would boost agriculture production, and the like. “While the CII has been raising these points for some time, we are yet to see significant actions on this front. Knowing how deep the impact of inflation goes in slowing down the economy, the CII would urge that policy actions are swift and decisive on this front,” Mr. Banerjee added.

EDITORIALS No country for whistle-blowers – The Hindu

In 2013, generic pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy pleaded guilty to seven criminal felonies for drug manufacturing fraud and agreed to cough up an unprecedented $500 million in fines. The case against Ranbaxy was significant not only for being a successful prosecution of a powerful India corporation. It also marked the triumph of Dinesh Thakur, who took on the pharmaceutical giant by tapping into United States’ whistle-blower protection laws that incentivise and protect people who expose unethical business practices. Mr. Thakur was a Director at Ranbaxy after joining the business in 2003. He brought to the company’s notice

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CURRENT AFFAIRS certain fraudulent practices with regard to drug development, manufacturing, and testing data. In 2005 he was compelled to resign after exposing the fraud internally.

Thereafter working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Justice, he exposed widespread “false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements” made to regulators resulting in substandard and unapproved drugs. The footprints left by Mr. Thakur are large. The FDA increased the number of inspectors allocated to India and China from four in 2009 to nearly 15 at present. Increased resources have aided in the identification of other problems at other Indian companies. Even today, the FDA continues to exert pressure on Ranbaxy to adhere to current Good Manufacturing Practices. It has imposed import alerts against three additional facilities in India tracing back to Mr. Thakur’s whistle-blowing.

Improving drug quality

The FDA’s continued focus on India is appropriate. Of the 21 warning letters issued by FDA in 2013 for serious drug quality problems, one-half were issued to Indian companies. Approximately 40 per cent of the generic drugs sold in the U.S. are made in whole or in part in India. These facts expose not only serious drug quality problems, but highlight how tightly woven together the economies of the two countries are. Most enthusing for Indian consumers of drugs, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg recently opened a direct line of communication with the Indian regulator, the Drug Controller General Of India and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization in New Delhi. This initiative aims to strengthen and overhaul Indian regulatory standards to improve drug quality, including guidelines for inspections and independence of government agencies from company influence.

These changes benefit Indian consumers, who are entitled to the same safe and high-quality drugs as those sold in any other nation. With India’s election juggernaut kicking off this month and a new power constellation assuming responsibility for governance soon, the paramount question for Indian lawmakers is this: is it acceptable that India lacks a strong whistle-blower protection law? Such a law would save and improve lives and expose financial corruption in a way that reinforces ethical business practices. Tolerating “business without ethics” only tarnishes India’s hard earned identity as a leader in international commerce.

This pressing question is not new. In 2010 the Lok Sabha passed the Whistleblowers’ Protection Bill currently languishing in the Upper House of Parliament. The interminable delay in its passage into law aside, the Bill has also been widely criticised as providing insufficient protection to whistle-blowers. It does not regulate private sector and State governments. What protections it affords are limited to those who would expose wrongdoing in the Government of India’s bureaucracy. Further, multiple analyses of the bill suggest that it has critical flaws, such as not admitting anonymous complaints and insufficiently penalising officials who retaliate against whistle-blowers. There is an urgent need for a meaningful whistle-blower protection law in India. We need look no further than the murder of several whistle-blowers in recent years as support for new laws.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS In 2003, Satyendra Dubey was killed for exposing “financial irregularities in the Golden Quadrilateral highway construction project in Bihar,” and in 2010 Satish Shetty was fatally attacked for making a police complaint alleging “massive irregularities” when “an infrastructure company had connived with government officials to purchase land in villages along the Pune-Mumbai Expressway.” These whistle-blowers were killed because they were committed to doing the right thing. That cannot stand. Whistle-blower protection laws incentivise integrity to help detect and deter unethical business practices and fraud. This type of law has been very successful elsewhere. In the U.S., the False Claims Act (FCA) has returned to the government more than $40 billion in penalties, including the $500 million secured from Ranbaxy. The FCA is intended to encourage, protect and reward citizens who come forward with information to assist the government in identifying companies that cheat federal spending programmes.

Under the FCA, a private person such as Mr. Thakur can sue a company on behalf of the federal government in what is called a qui tam suit. If the federal government collects a settlement or court judgment because of the information provided by the qui tam plaintiff, the government is required to pay a portion of the recovery to the plaintiff. An integral component of the FCA gives legal protection to whistle-blowers from retaliation by companies that cheat the government. The significance of a whistle-blower protection law such as the FCA is not limited to billions in penalty payments and additional revenue for the government. These laws place pressure on companies that are engaged in unethical practices to respect the law, commit to compliance, and not retaliate against whistle-blowers. After all, it is better to prevent violations than to penalise after the act. Returning to the paramount question for Indian lawmakers on whether it is acceptable that the country lacks a strong whistle-blower protection law, the simple answer is that it is not acceptable, and it is not consistent with good business and governance. Whether the U.S. model works well for India may be subject to debate, but it is not debatable that new protections are long overdue, and it is in our power to make it happen.

(Andrew M. Beato, Esq., an attorney based in Washington, DC, represents whistleblowers)

Reining in cancer – The Hindu

Grim statistics present the deadly reality of the spread of cancer in India: one million new cases of different cancers are diagnosed every year in the country; an estimated 600,000 to 700,000 people were killed in 2012. The fact that tobacco was singularly responsible for nearly 40 per cent of all cancers is also painfully underlined again. A few papers published recently in the journal Lancet Oncology point out that men were the most affected by tobacco, with the commonest cancers being those of the lung and of the lip and oral cavity. Tobacco companies continue to have a stranglehold over nearly 275 million tobacco-users in India — 35 per cent of the adult population and about 14 per cent of children in the age range 13 to 15. All this reflects the miserable failure of the government in implementing tough and effective measures to counter the tobacco companies’ devious ways of attracting and trapping young minds. Though it would take 10 to 20 years for the benefits to show, half the battle against cancer would be won if only tobacco consumption can be reined in. In the case of

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CURRENT AFFAIRS women, breast cancer is the most common, followed by cervical cancer. Changed lifestyle is one of the reasons for the increase in breast cancer incidence — the incidence of this cancer type in rural areas is one-third of the total in urban areas, and the big metros have higher numbers than non-metro cities. India’s cancer burden is projected to increase to 1.7 million by 2035. Mortality will double to 1.2 million a year by 2035.

There is a need to take remedial steps, and quickly too. More cancer registries are needed to cover a greater percentage of the population. Those in place today cover less than 10 per cent of India’s population. However, each registry has good incidence data as it has its own methods of capturing them. But cancer mortality data are at best sketchy and not quite reliable. The three pillars of reducing the mortality are prevention, early detection and more effective treatment. Concerted efforts with respect to the first two have been found wanting, and there are several challenges even in providing effective treatment. With only one cancer specialist for every 5,000 new cases, the total number of oncologists in India is frighteningly low in proportion to the increasing population of cancer victims. The availability of doctors and facilities is skewed — the urban areas are better served than rural areas. There is also an imbalance in the distribution of cancer facilities and doctors: the south and the west of the country have about 60 per cent of the facilities.

Story from Bhajpur – The Indian Express

Himmatnagar is on the border of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Large numbers of Chelliah Muslims settled in its urban areas after the 2002 riots. There are some uplifting stories about the indomitable human spirit in their rehabilitation. But my story is about a place to the northeast of Himmatnagar, as you cross Radhanpur into Rajasthan. This is jungle territory and the Meena adivasis are said to have sheltered Rana Pratap here. Off the main road is the village of Bhajpur, largely inhabited by the Meenas. Dinesh Rajghoda (name changed), a Meena, has worked with us since he was a boy. His family has much land (around eight acres) but no water. When it doesn’t rain, they starve because the yield from one crop does not go very far. You can’t keep chickens here because the snakes eat them. You rear a lot of cattle but it’s risky because in years when the rains fail, fodder is unavailable and survival rates are low.

But things are changing in Bhajpur, as in many other such places. There are government employment works under MGNREGA — people get almost Rs 100 per day in spite of leakages, which are few since the sarpanch is from the same tribe and caste as the rest. So you really don’t have to go to either Udaipur or Ahmedabad, and can be engaged in supplementary activity in the village itself. In spite of what the sceptics and know-it-alls on TV may say, in such villages, people keep two pieces of paper — essential to access support systems — under lock and key. The first is their ID for employment, the second, their ration card. The Aadhaar card hasn’t been seen by the people here as yet. You can only get work once your chance comes — it’s like a queue. So your parchee is important. You need a ration card to get wheat at Rs 3 per kg. You don’t get it all the time, and it’s not enough when you do, but it’s something. For the first time in millennia, people can fill their stomachs and realise their human potential. These two pieces of paper are very precious to the poor rural Indian.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS But what about other avenues and possibilities for people? Non-farm employment is a buzzword and it is true that our economy is much too primitive. But migrating to a city also has a cost, and a recession only makes things worse. People here like Ashok Gehlot, whom they remember for giving them the parchee and wheat at Rs 3 per kg. They pray that Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who defeated him, keeps it up. But they are also apprehensive, because it is well known that, by and large, they all voted for Gehlot. According to Ashok Gulati, former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, the solution to people’s problems is broad-based agricultural growth, and of course he is right. But in this region, broad-based agricultural growth will take a long time. Maybe some day, aquifers will have been mapped and deep tubewells bored. Maybe in future, the local agricultural university in Udaipur will have developed drought-resistant corn.

But what should be done in the meanwhile? Minimal government, only focusing on the market, is not the answer — there is nothing to sell and people have no purchasing power. You have to give people work in any way possible. If necessary, as Keynes said, let them dig ditches and then fill them up. Similarly, you have to give people subsidised grain. I don’t see a school coming up anywhere nearby. And people don’t have the calorie reserves to go to faraway schools. We don’t know how many Bhajpurs there are in India. The poverty debate has been centred on poverty lines — Lakdawala, Tendulkar and Alagh. To add to the mix, C. Rangarajan says he will draw a new line for the next government — but it may have other ideas and its own experts. Some protagonists have, in fact, already removed poverty through some creative accounting. In a way, I will be happy if the tiresome, irrelevant Alagh poverty line becomes history rather than be caricatured by Tendulkar. The Bhajpurs of India are not going to vote for those who trash the ration card and employment programmes. May 16 will be fun to watch, as similar D-days have been in the past.

The writer is chancellor, Central University of Gujarat

The great Game Folio: Iran Transit – The Indian Express

Iran Transit

India’s dream of connecting to Afghanistan via Iran could soon move a step closer to reality if New Delhi, Tehran and Kabul sign off on a draft memorandum of understanding on transit trade that has been finalised recently. Since Pakistan denies India overland access to Afghanistan, Delhi has long sought an alternative through Iran. The idea first came up when Iranian President Mohammad Khatami came to Delhi in January 2003 to participate in the Republic Day celebrations. India then agreed to participate in the development of Chabahar on Iran’s Makran coast as the future entrepôt for trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia.

To develop Chabahar’s hinterland, Iran laid out a road link to its frontier with western Afghanistan. India, in turn, built Route 606 from the Iran-Afghan border to the circular highway that connects all the major cities in the country. The Chabahar project is a winner for the three countries. It would reduce landlocked Afghanistan’s total dependence on Pakistan to access the Arabian Sea. The port will help India skirt Pakistan into Afghanistan and establish Iran’s position as a gateway to Central Asia.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS A variety of political and economic factors delayed the implementation of this vital project through the last decade. In a renewed political commitment to the project, senior officials of India, Iran and Afghanistan met in Tehran on the margins of the non-aligned summit in August 2012 and agreed to accelerate the development of Chabahar. The three sides have just wrapped up talks on the terms of transit trade through Iran. India must now fast-track its investments in Chabahar and develop dedicated shipping links between Iran and India. This should be one of the top foreign policy priorities for the next government in Delhi that takes charge at the end of May.

Sagar Mala

The BJP, which hopes to run the next government, has already talked about building modern ports all along the Indian coastline under what it calls “Project Sagar Mala”. If the BJP is serious about expanding India’s sea connectivity, it must promote India’s active participation in the development of maritime infrastructure beyond borders. In other words, Delhi must imagine an “Indian Ocean Sagar Mala”. Over the last decade and more, the Indian government and corporate sector have struggled to grasp opportunities for building sea ports in other countries. The difficulties in developing the Chabahar port is symptomatic of the broader challenges that India faces in implementing large-scale infrastructure projects in the neighbourhood and beyond.

After much effort that began more than a decade ago, India is yet to complete the Kaladan transport corridor to Mizoram via Myanmar. This involved building a port at the ancient town of Sittwe on Myanmar’s Rakhine coast, developing the part-riverine corridor to the Mizoram border and expanding the road network from Mizoram to the rest of the Northeast. In Sri Lanka, India was surprised a few years ago when Colombo asked China to build a new port at Hambantota that Beijing completed in quick time. India is yet to get its act together in getting its companies participate in the second phase of development at Hambantota. The managers of a potential Indian Ocean Sagar Mala project in the coming years could learn much from the problems encountered in the last few years and develop an effective policy framework for the participation of Indian companies in emerging port projects in east Africa, Oman and Myanmar.

Tibet Trade

While port projects and transborder transport links are generally debated in terms of competition with China, Delhi has begun to discuss the development of an overland corridor from eastern India to China through Bangladesh and Myanmar. While the so-called Southern Silk Road might take a while, the new government will have an opportunity to consider the development of a direct trans-frontier trade corridor. In an interesting newspaper article this week, the Chinese ambassador to India, Wei Wei, suggests that the two sides could explore the possibility of “improving cross-border transportation infrastructure in the border areas” that are not under dispute. Sikkim is one area where the Indo-Tibetan border is not in contestation. The two sides have opened the Nathu La pass a decade ago for border trade in a few commodities produced locally. The next government in Delhi, if it is politically bold and

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CURRENT AFFAIRS trade-oriented, could agree to open the pass for full-fledged MFN commerce and build a modern highway across it.

The writer is a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation and a contributing editor for ‘The Indian Express’

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