CURRENT AFFAIRS

Newspaper Analysis and Summary– 18th March 2014

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Echoes of Big Bang detected – The Hindu In a major discovery for understanding the origins of the universe, U.S. scientists said on Monday that they have detected echoes of the Big Bang 14 billion years ago. The “first direct evidence of cosmic inflation” was found with the help of a telescope at the South Pole, and was announced by experts at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The detection of these gravitational waves represents the last untested element of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, filling in a major gap in our understanding of how the universe was born. The gravitational waves are ripples that move through space and time, and have been described as the “first tremors of the Big Bang.” Their detection confirms an integral connection between quantum mechanics and general relativity. “Detecting this signal is one of the most important goals in cosmology today. A lot of work by a lot of people has led up to this point,” said John Kovac leader of the BICEP2 collaboration at the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics). The telescope targeted a specific area of sky known as the “Southern Hole” outside the galaxy where there is little dust and extra galactic material to interfere with what humans can see with the potent sky-peering tool. By observing the cosmic microwave background, or a faint glow left over from the Big Bang, small fluctuations gave scientists new clues about the conditions in the early universe. ENVIRONMENT

Forum to create awareness on Gadgil panel report – The Hindu A series of programmes to create awareness and gather support for the implementation of the Madhav Gadgil-led Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) report will begin in the district with a public discussion at Kudremukh National Park near Aladangady in Belthangady taluk on April 1. Suma Nagesh from Chikmagalur-based Save Democracy Forum told presspersons here on Monday that the programme would dispel myths about the report among forest-dwellers, while highlighting the “negative” aspects of the K. Kasturirangan Commission report that was commissioned to replace the Gadgil panel report. “The Gadgil panel report sought to comprehensively conserve the Western Ghats, which is a bio-diversity hotspot. The government conveniently used the Kasturirangan report to reject the Gadgil report. We have petitioned the President to reconsider the Gadgil committee report, while also creating awareness among the tribal people and forest-dwellers about the report,” said Mr. Nagesh, referring to a letter written to Pranab Mukherjee on March 15. He blamed vested interests, industrial lobbies, and political representatives for creating fear among farmers about displacement if the reports were implemented. “The only fear is that mining and industries will shut down. The Gadgil panel report clearly states that forest- dwellers were needed in conservation projects and it does not advocate for their displacement,” he said. The meet will also discuss the government’s “surreptitious attempts”

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CURRENT AFFAIRS at displacing tribal people from KNP, said Harish Malekudiya, a resident of Aladangady. “The government refuses to give us basic amenities, while attempting to lure us with money to leave our homes. We don’t want to shift elsewhere, but the government is making it difficult to stay on,” he said. Mr. Gadgil himself will address the Kudremukh forest-dwellers — some of whom are fighting against displacement — on April 1. Apart from him, activist S.R. Hiremath and writer Na. D’Souza, who had criticised the government on their “inactivity” over conserving the ghats, are expected to participate. The group will travel around the six States through which the Western Ghats traverses, and distribute materials and books in local languages elaborating on the need to implement the WGEEP report. An integral part of the organisation’s demand is the scrapping of the Yettinahole project, which they called a hasty decision that endangers the ghats. POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

Delhi’s working women ready to relocate for safety: study – The Hindu Due to lack of safety, around 43 per cent of working in Delhi are willing to relocate outside the city even at the cost of a pay cut, according to a recent study. The survey conducted by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry included working women, students and job aspirants. The survey “Women Safety in Delhi: Issues and Challenges to Employment” is based on the feedback of 3,400 women in Delhi. It found that working women were inclined to work in day shifts with nearly 80 per cent of the respondents opting for day shifts. About 9 per cent said they worked in flexible shift timings and nearly seven per cent opted for rotational shifts. A very small proportion of women respondents (4 per cent) worked in night shifts. Around 64 per cent of working women said crimes against women had impacted their productivity as they now hesitated to stay in their workplace during late hours. A majority of women respondents said they depended on public transport to commute to their destinations. Many respondents felt fast track courts to deal with crimes against women and safer public transport were important for women’s safety in the national capital. For Tibetan refugees, it is so near and yet so far – The Hindu A section of Tibetan refugees in Karnataka can exercise their franchise in the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for April 17. The Election Commission on February 7 directed the electoral officers in States to include children of Tibetan refugees aged above 18 in the electoral list “because they are citizens of the country.” However, because of a technical glitch, not all of them will get the right to vote though there are about 25,000 eligible voters in Karnataka of Tibetan origin. While those settled in Bangalore and Mysore and already registered in the rolls will vote, many eligible voters in the five settlements elsewhere in the State will have to wait till the next election. Gelek J., coordinator for the Tibetan Settlement Office, Bylakuppe, said though a few refugees in Bangalore could get the voter cards following the EC’s direction, those settled in Bylakuppe could not. For, C. Shikha, Deputy Commissioner, Mysore, did not receive any clarification on the citizenship criteria till Sunday, last date for inclusion of names in the voter list.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS However, Ms. Gelek pointed out that the EC had directed that the voting right be not denied to Tibetan applicants. “We are yet to get details of those who applied for voting rights during the special drive,” she said. Children of Tibetan refugees born in India between 1950 and 1987 as mentioned in the Citizenship Act 1955 can no longer be denied enrolment in the voter list. The EC’s move came in the wake of an August 2013 Karnataka High Court order, which paved the way for granting Indian citizenship to Tibetan refugees, the EC order said. According to Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha, the EC has directed the Deputy Commissioners to enrol the names of those refugees who have complied with the stipulated conditions. “The Election Commission’s move is a great relief to Tibetan refugees who are currently deemed ‘stateless’,” said Mr. Sonam, a teacher in the Namdroling Monastery of Bylakuppe. Tibetan Youth Congress ( Karnataka) president Lhekyeb said that he was happy with the move of the Election Commission. Process of compiling folk encyclopaedia begins – The Hindu The process of compiling the Kannada Folk Encyclopaedia, which is being taken up by the Karnataka Folklore University at Gotagodi here, was formally launched on Monday. Folk expert and honorary editor of the encyclopaedia Hi.Shi. Ramachandregowda, who launched the work, stressed the need to make the project a model one by compiling an encyclopaedia that not only provided comprehensive knowledge about folklore of Karnataka, but also introduce indigenous knowledge. Prof. Ramachandregowda said there was a need to make the encyclopaedia completely different from the Kannada Vishwakoshas that were available. The encyclopaedia should do more than just give information on subjects and articles, he said. He stressed the need to involve experts from other fields also if the encyclopaedia was to emerge as a comprehensive work. Chief editor of the encyclopaedia Ha.Ti. Krishnegowda said the compilation of an encyclopaedia was a tedious and challenging job that required patience and perseverance. He said the encyclopaedia would be published in 10 volumes, and that united and concerted efforts were required for the success of the project. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Indian students in Crimea facing dilemma – The Hindu The uncertainty may have ended – Crimea has voted overwhelmingly to break away from Ukraine and join Russia, but Indian students there are in a dilemma. While worried parents are on Skype with their children at the Crimea State Medical University and co-ordinating with education consultants, speculation is rife over the possible fallout for them. There are over 600 Indian students at the university, an estimated 80 from Tamil Nadu. Speaking to The Hindu from Crimea, B. Peer Fathima, a second-year student said: “There are so many rumours circulating here. While university and Indian Embassy officials have assured us of our safety and our continued education, many students are definitely worried.” One rumour, Fathima said, is that after the first three years, the medium of instruction at the university will be Russian only. Also, students are wondering if the academic structure will change to those of Russian universities. Another concern is visas; they may have to get a Russian visa in six months.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS After a break of a few days, classes have resumed. Outside campus though, “there are both pro-Russia and Ukrainian forces. But the situation is calm,” she said. Fathima’s family members, who live in Gopalapuram, said they were waiting to see what would happen over the next few weeks. While a few first-year students are planning to transfer to other universities in Ukraine – the Kharkiv National Medical University being the popular choice – for those who have completed two or more years, the situation is complex. Suresh P., father of a first-year student, is hoping to transfer his daughter to Kharkiv. “There is a chance that everything will change completely. I am worried. I have heard trains from Crimea to other parts have been cut off and there’s no saying when the situation will normalise.” “As of now nothing is official and the students are not facing any problem,” said Suresh Kumar R., owner of Truematics Overseas Education Consultancy, which has sent several students to Ukraine. However, at a meeting held late on Monday evening, university officials assured all foreign students that their education would continue unimpeded and that all formalities, including visas if necessary, would be taken care of, a student said. Arrest of Tamil rights activists ‘disturbing’ – The Hindu The arrests of prominent human rights activist Ruki Fernando and Catholic priest Father Praveen in Kilinochchi under the Prevention of Terrorism Act have been widely condemned. Terming the arrests high-handed, the Tamil National Alliance — which formed the Northern Provincial Council about six months ago — said the conduct of the Sri Lankan government, even while its human rights record was under scrutiny, was illustrative of its disdainful conduct towards the Human Rights Council. The arrest of Mr. Fernando, who is said to have been working consistently on the issue of involuntary disappearances, has left activists concerned about the developments and the possibility of a fresh round of crackdown. Calling the arrests “extremely disturbing and an urgent call to action,” Sanjana Hattotuwa, a senior researcher at the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Colombo think-tank, has said that what the government does in Sri Lanka is in stark contrast to what it says in Geneva. “Human rights activists are being arrested under draconian laws which permit the authorities to interrogate them in isolation for extended periods of time. It is clear the government wants to go after those who flag human rights abuses,” he said on Monday. The U.S. said it was concerned at the arrests and detention of several well-known rights activists over the past week. “We urge Sri Lankan government authorities to ensure that all those detained are given transparent and due legal process, including full access to legal counsel,” it said in a statement. “As we have noted many times in the recent past, both previous and on-going human rights concerns have led many in the international community to push for a U.N. Human Rights Council resolution on the situation in Sri Lanka. With these latest actions, we remain convinced that continued scrutiny by the Human Rights Council is necessary,” it said. Police spokesperson Ajit Rohana was not available for comment. In less than a fortnight, the U.S. will table its resolution on Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council. The revised draft of the resolution is said to call for an international probe and urges Sri Lanka to look into allegations of rights abuse. Rohingya influx — a brewing crisis – The Hindu

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CURRENT AFFAIRS A steady influx of Rohingya Muslims into West Bengal via Bangladesh is causing concern to the security establishment. The Rohingyas live in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, which lies northwest of Bangladesh’s Chittagong Division. A senior intelligence official told The Hindu that “more than one thousand” Rohingya refugees had been detained and sent to prisons in the State in the last six months. But the West Bengal government has no clear idea of the actual number of the undocumented immigrants who entered the State in the pat few years. On the one hand, the influx is becoming a “security risk” and, on the other, it is snowballing into a major humanitarian crisis, officials agree. According to a 1983 state- sponsored census (in the then Burma), which was questioned by observers, Rakhine has nearly four million people. Among at least a dozen ethnic groups, Buddhist Rakhines and Muslim Rohingyas are a clear majority and almost equal in number. Now, after 30 years, with another census coming in another month in Myanmar, which is on the road to democracy, Rohingyas are facing a stark future. “They are not considered Burmese citizens under the Citizenship Law and hence they are desperately trying to move out of Myanmar as they know they will be victimised,” said a Home Ministry official. In a massive riot in Rakhine in 2012, tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims were displaced, several people were killed and property was looted. Buddhist Rakhines suffered heavy losses as well. Myanmar has about 800, 000 stateless Rohingyas, without access to basic healthcare or education. Since 2013, as the influx of Ronhingyas increased, Bangladesh has closed its door to one of the most “persecuted minorities” in the world, saying they are not Bangladeshis. While earlier it allowed a restricted number to enter the country (about 30,000 registered Rohingyas, supported by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees), Dhaka is not ready to accept any more refugees. So, sandwiched between the Buddhist-dominated Myanmar and Muslim-dominated Bangladesh, the Rohingyas are entering India via northeast, say officials. But “this is not good news for us,” a senior Home Ministry official said. The refugees detained under the Foreigners Act, 1946 are now supposed be sent to the Tihar jail in New Delhi as the UNHCR has jurisdiction only in Tihar. Once they get refugee status, they will be sent to India’s only refugee camp, which is in Jammu. “But we do not know when that will happen, as it is not easy to send so many people,” said an official at Alipore jail here. BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

India, China to hold strategic economic dialogue today – The Hindu India and China will discuss in Beijing on Tuesday counter strategies to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) being negotiated by the U.S. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia is leading the Indian delegation to Beijing for the India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED). On the Chinese side, National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Xu Shaoshi will lead the dialogue. “Developed economies are re-thinking long established rules of engagement…the ongoing regional and global norm-setting in the economic sphere makes it imperative for India and China to work closely as we share intersecting regional and global interests,” a source close to the negotiations told The Hindu .

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CURRENT AFFAIRS “We need to preserve the primacy of the development agenda in the global mainstream and in leading economic frameworks like the G20 and the WTO.” The development assumes significance as, “The two agreements are globally seen as thinly veiled attempts to carve out China, Brazil, India, and other emerging economies from World Trade Organization talks,” says a World Bank blog post. The fourth round of European Union-United States TTIP negotiations concluded on Friday in Brussels. The pact will harmonise standards and licensing procedures and waive tariffs across EU-U.S. trade zone. The TPP is similar and includes the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Chile, Canada, Mexico and Peru. Also on the SED agenda is ways for addressing the “unsustainability of the imbalance” in Indo-China trade. Indo-China trade was $74 billion in 2011. And it went down to $65 billion in 2013. Both governments have set a $100-billion target by 2015. However, India’s trade deficit with China worsened to $31.5 billion in 2013, according to Chinese data. Indian data was expected show an even wider deficit, said the sources. Indian products face significant access barriers such as regulatory impediments in China. “Chinese product approval timelines extend up to 5-6 years, especially in the pharma and the IT services sectors,” the sources said. EDITORIALS

Pulling a village out of poverty – The Hindu In 2012, the young IAS officer, Alex Paul Menon was the Collector of Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district. On the evening of April 21, 2012, Mr. Menon had just finished his lunch and was about to preside over a function to announce the introduction of some agricultural schemes. But there was a squad of Maoists hiding among the villagers, and they suddenly launched an attack, killing two of Mr. Menon’s bodyguards. He was then taken hostage. Mr. Menon was released after spending 13 days in Maoist captivity. He is now the deputy CEO at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Chhattisgarh. In the following piece, Mr. Menon explains how small steps of governance can go a long way in changing the lives of people. Chindhbarri is an auxiliary village in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district, about 140 kilometres from the State capital Raipur. It is a part of the Bastar Development Council, eight kilometres away from Bagrumnala, where Dr. Binayak Sen set up a clinic in 1994. Chindhbarri is a tiny tribal hamlet of 75 families. In 2010, I was posted in this area as the chief executive officer of the zila panchayat. Though close to the periphery of the Gangrael dam, the village faced an acute shortage of water; 95 per cent of the households were Scheduled Tribes, and 85 per cent households below the poverty line. The average land holding was five acres and 65 per cent of farmers were marginal. Food was hard to come by. Only 38 per cent of families had food to last from six months to a year, while 50 per cent of families had food that would last them for six months or less. As a result, distress migration was quite common. We decided to reverse the fate of Chindhbarri. First steps to a renewal Many years ago, the social activist, Baba Amte had shown us the way forward with his unique water conservation models. We decided to replicate them in Chindhbarri. Backed by a

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CURRENT AFFAIRS non-governmental organisation and its committed volunteers, participatory micro-planning exercises were taken up by self-help groups and the local community. To begin with, we listed on a sheet of paper, the landholding size of each household, and its nature and needs. Then, we put down a list of various schemes under subheadings. All benefits possible from these schemes were listed to match the needs of each household. The idea was to move away from the usual bureaucratic jargon of “targeting numbers” to “targeting names.” We chose one particular patch of land, measuring 40 hectares, and initiated water conservation plans all along it. We soon realised that based on the flow of water, the ponds needed to be dug in two private holdings. This is the situation in many tribal areas, as the predominant method is flood irrigation that warrants having your field in the area where water flows and stops, but water conservation necessitates ponds and farm ponds. By this time the village was so enthused that two villagers, Shankar and Maakan, volunteered to donate five acres each. According to the plan, each household was to get farm ponds and fish seed, cattle protection trenches, dugwells, bund plantations, cash crops like mango and cashew, poultry sheds, vegetable seed kits, equipment for rice intensification, vermicompost pits, bio-gas and borewells. We also arranged to put up low-cost poly houses, or sabji kuty, according to the needs of each household. Historically, the most marginalised residents of a village occupy the ridge or the periphery. We started from there. To conserve water, the ridge had to be cured first. This was undertaken for a set of 32 farmers for one patch for the first year, and later replicated in two other patches in two batches. Rs.143 lakh was spent by converging the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme with other schemes in a systematic way for three years. The funds are largely from the employment guarantee scheme. The work season for the employment guarantee scheme (September to June) falls in two financial years (September to March and April to June). For a villager, a financial year has no resonance in his way of life. While he looks at the work season, we expect him to work according to the financial year. We decided to tweak the rules to provide double the sanctions in a single financial year, citing the work season spread across two financial years. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as more spending appeared to instill confidence in the villagers. Reaping the results Four years later, this is what happened — 114 acres of land were levelled and bunded and made suitable for cultivation; 225 acres of land came under irrigation, thereby increasing paddy productivity twofold, and the village saw a big increase in vegetable, maize, fish and poultry production. Today, vegetable cultivation enables 60 per cent of families to earn up to Rs.20,000 an annum. Nobody has had to take a loan from the village’s grain bank in the past two years. Distress migration has stopped. In the last two years, many villagers have been able to buy assets like mobile phones, motorcycles and television sets. Now, Chhindhbarri’s gram sabha has decided to pay tax to the gram panchayat in order to strengthen it. Chindhbarri is self-sufficient today and its people do not need freebies or doles. The spark that triggered off an experiment in Chindhbarri has now spread to 47 other panchayats and is still growing.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS All this began with a small step: putting all the components of food on the plates of 32 families. We chose not to splatter our schemes and benefits but place them all on a single platter according to the hunger needs of the families. And, it has worked as a miracle cure. Some of us who are in the Indian Administrative Service often debate the necessity of straitjacketed schemes of the government and the needs of rural India that are different in terms of scale, priority, need and participation. I’d often have my doubts and would say: “How long are we going to chop the foot to fit the sandal?” This provoked a senior retired colleague to reply with a smirk: “panchayat plans, planning commission schemes.” But the Chindhbarri experiment has shown that it is possible to pull a village out of poverty instead of letting it be the beneficiary of erratic schemes for decades. It stands as a tall example of what participative, decentralised planning can do to a community and what is possible once a motivated community decides to plan, execute, monitor and measure outcome all by itself. As I write this, my mind is awash in questions. How long is it going to take us to eliminate poverty from every Indian household? Convergence is a buzzword in the administrative services. But what I fail to understand is this: if panchayats plan for every household as per its needs, and allotments are made with minimal use of schemes and non-restrictive guidelines, what is the need then for this forced marriage of schemes that we call “convergence”? With many of our allocations in schemes based on unreliable secondary data, and thereby an unhindered diversion of funds, what stops us from having a computer in every panchayat, collecting household data pertinent to all sectors, updating it periodically and planning and allocating based on primary household data? This country has multiple schemes, multiple computerised databases for these schemes, and then multiple cards and multiple servers storing countless data, wasting valuable financial, human and energy resources. Are we, an IT superpower, going to wait for another 60 years to collect and collate household level data, plan and allocate as per household level needs, and till then, keep on inventing scheme after scheme? Isn’t it time for us to pause, take a breath, collect, collate, computerise every household level data, plan for every household and cull poverty in a clean stroke? Isn’t it time to have integrated databases, weeding out duplicates, and running targeted, name-wise allotments? I have been reading volume after volume of committee reports and scheme guidelines to find answers, but the compass in my simple mind points to Chindhbarri alone. This brings me to the story of a Zen guru who would tell his disciples: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” One day he was visited by one of his disciples with a nagging problem. “Master,” the disciple said, “I have five people who are hungry and thirsty, and I have rice, curry, soup, pickle and water. How do I divide it among all the five? On the pretext of equality if I divide all the five items equally among the five, nobody’s thirst or hunger is quenched. If I divide five items into one for each, again, I end up satisfying nobody.” The learned guru smiled and replied, “Give all five items to the neediest and the one most willing to find food for others, and after his hunger and thirst are quenched, you both jointly find food for the rest.” It is the Zen master’s formula that should guide our approach today. (Alex Paul Menon is an IAS officer. E-mail: [email protected] )

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CURRENT AFFAIRS

For an all-party manifesto on health – The Hindu As the countdown to the next general election begins, political parties are making multiple promises to pull in votes. All the party leaders are committing to transforming the lives of people. But health, ironically, does not feature high on their priority list, even though it is the central pillar of a nation’s development and productivity and the key to happiness for individuals, families and societies. Perhaps it is time to remind all parties that are seeking to govern the country that India’s health challenges are perhaps the greatest for any single nation in the world. We continue to face the unrelenting burden of the old and new threats of communicable diseases. The discussion on maternal and child health care, and nutrition, is far from being complete. We have also emerged as the world’s epicentre of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart ailments and mental disorders. Nothing short of a massive transformation of the health system can address these challenges and meet the needs of citizens. People expect much more than a handful of select services under the limited ambit of the existing national programmes. The good and bad news The fundamentals have been laid down in the last few years as part of the National Rural Health Mission. More than 8,00,000 Accredited Social Health Activists workers, 33,000 nurses, 14,000 paramedics, 8,000 doctors and 3,000 specialists have been inducted; over 20,000 facilities have been constructed; and over 20,000 ambulances have been deployed. Medical graduate seats have increased by 55 per cent and postgraduate seats by 75 per cent. The Janani Suraksha Yojana has ensured that an additional 12 to 13 crore women are now delivering in government facilities and more than 6 lakh newborn babies are receiving care in neonatal care nurseries in district hospitals each year. Polio has been eliminated from the face of the country. The Infant mortality rate (IMR) too has declined from 68 to 42 per 1000 live births between 2000 and 2012. This is exciting, but not enough. In Brazil, the IMR is 13 and in China it is 12. Each year, more than 40 million people, mostly in rural areas, are impoverished and run into massive debts to access healthcare. The devastating contribution of out-of-pocket medical expenses to poverty is often not fully appreciated by the media and policy-makers. Long-term goals in healthcare transformation require a timeline that surely goes beyond the life of one Lok Sabha. The Centre and States also have to work in unison, regardless of which parties are in power. An all-party commitment to broad tenets is therefore absolutely essential to ensure focus, consistency, speed and accountability. We, therefore, call for a national manifesto on health affirmed by all parties. On Universal Health Coverage The Twelfth Plan strategy envisages Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as the long-term goal “that will unfold over two or three Plan periods.” The doctrine of UHC guarantees cashless access to a defined package of quality health services to all citizens. Such a system that has been in existence for long in developed countries such as Germany, the U.K., Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and in Scandinavian countries, has now been embraced by middle- income countries such as Thailand, Mexico and Brazil. Given that India has a mixed health system, both public and private sectors have to work in tandem to provide appropriate, equitable and affordable care at all levels. The High-Level Expert Group (HLEG) on UHC,

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CURRENT AFFAIRS constituted by the Planning Commission, envisioned a National Health System wherein a strong public sector leads the design and delivery of UHC, drawing on support from the private sector in a well-regulated framework. In this system, all citizens are entitled to a comprehensive package of primary, secondary and tertiary care services, and have access to government and accredited private facilities for obtaining services such as diagnostics, vaccines, drugs or surgeries as an entitlement, without having to pay at the point of care. It is estimated that UHC would require public spending on healthcare to the tune of 3.0 per cent of the GDP or more. A debate on the details of how the Centre and the States will deliver UHC can be settled through democratic processes in due course. It is however time that the entire spectrum of political leadership expresses unequivocal allegiance to the high principles that embody commitment to health equity and pledge to transform the health system in a decade. And let these common principles be enshrined in the manifestoes of all the national parties. The main priority To begin with, parties must make healthcare a core priority for the next decade, to enable transformation of the healthcare system, while promoting pro-health policies in other sectors. We believe that the following five principles form the core national agenda on health and should be embraced by all the parties. First, we call upon all the political parties to commit to the goal of achieving UHC in the country by the year 2025, and develop a clear roadmap thereof by mid-2015. Second, public spending on health should be raised from a meagre 1.04 per cent of the GDP in the Eleventh Plan Plan to 3 per cent by 2020, and 4 per cent by 2025. Third, all essential drugs, including anti-cancer agents, should be made available free to all citizens in 3-4 years. Fourth, standards of care including clinical guidelines, applicable to both the public and the private sectors, should be developed and enforced in the next five years. Fifth, equity must be ensured in the provision of health services across districts, communities and gender. The next government, irrespective of its party composition, should within the first 100 days of coming to power create an enabling mechanism to plan, mentor and implement the above promises. A National Health Regulatory and Development Authority would help to effectively advance this agenda. This election should set a benchmark and transform the landscape of healthcare in India, no matter who comes to power. (Vinod Paul is Head, Department of Pediatrics and WHO Collaborating Centre for Training and Research in Newborn Care, AIIMS, and K. Srinath Reddy is President, Public Health Foundation of India.) Aadhaar, no more than a framed photograph – The Hindu In September 2010, Ranjana Sonawane became the first person in the country to get an Aadhaar card when the Unique Identity (UID) project was flagged off with much fanfare in Tembhli village in Maharashtra. But today, what is unmistakeable is the disappointment the tribal woman expresses as she stands in front of the framed photographs of her receiving the card from United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “I spent Rs.600 in getting these photographs framed. It was a big moment

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CURRENT AFFAIRS for me … for the villagers of Tembhli. But today, we are exactly where we were four years ago. Even the roads in our village were built only for Sonia Gandhi, not for us,” Ms. Sonawane told The Hindu recently. Both she and her husband are farm labourers, earning Rs.200 each on lucky days. Tembhli — its 1,200-strong population is entirely tribal — is a part of Nandurbar district, which has a 68 per cent tribal population. More than 70 per cent of the village migrates to western Maharashtra and Gujarat six months of the year, to work on sugarcane farms, according to Deputy Sarpanch Banshi Shendul. The day this correspondent visited the village, it wore a deserted look, with most houses locked, and only the older generation staying behind. One of the features of the UID, a major political plank of the Congress-led UPA government, was that benefits of government schemes would be linked to its 12-digit number, making it easier for people to open and access bank accounts, secure loans and get payments of the work through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). “UID will help the hundreds of people in India, whose pride was hurt for so many years because of the lack of an identity. This will be their source of recognition from now on,” Dr. Singh had announced in Tembhli. Identity, but no loan There is recognition as Dr. Singh promised but no loan, said Sonawane’s neighbour, Kamalbai Nigode. “My son tried to take a loan. But he was told that Adivasi people do not return the money they borrow. We are poor, so we are not eligible for loans.” “Only those with land are given loans. MNREGA payments through the Aadhar card are barely important for villagers, as we work as labourers in farms all year around,” Mr. Shendul said. “What the village needs is opportunities, and the compulsory Aadhaar registration has not helped us with it.” Villagers recall every house getting new electricity meters when Ms Gandhi’s visit to the village to launch Aadhaar was announced. “We all got electricity. It was like Diwali in our village. But after a few months, we could not pay the bills anymore, so our meters were taken away,” 70-year-old Ms Nigode said. “Even the electricity was for Sonia Gandhi, just to show that our village has progressed. She hasn’t come back to check, has she?” she added, displaying her framed photograph from the Aadhaar ceremony. The new Cold War – The Hindu The March 16 referendum on whether the southeastern Ukrainian province of Crimea should unite with Russia or have greater autonomy within Ukraine has presented the United States and the European Union with their most severe political test in decades. On available figures, almost 97 per cent of those who voted favoured unification with Russia; the option of the status quo was not offered, and the Crimean government, headed by Sergey Aksyonov, promptly voted to approve the plan. In the Ukrainian capital Kiev, interim Prime Minister Oleksandr Turchynov rejected the referendum as unconstitutional, but he was powerless to prevent it. The proximate cause of the referendum was the then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s unannounced departure from office on February 22, following weeks of public protests – and a violent government crackdown — over revelations of his corruption and his abrogation of an association agreement with the EU, which may well have led to Ukraine’s joining the EU in due course. In response, Russia, which had offered Kiev a €15-billion aid

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CURRENT AFFAIRS package and retains a naval base at Sevastopol in Crimea, sent troops into the 58 per cent ethnic-Russian province, where Mr. Aksyonov had already been voted into the regional prime ministership while armed guards kept all but his own party out of the Assembly building in Simferopol. Russian President Vladimir Putin considers Mr. Yanukovych the victim of a West- inspired coup d’état , but the issues are much wider. The EU deal would have involved Ukraine in IMF restructuring and much closer cooperation with NATO-dominated EU defence institutions. Moscow saw this as a threat, especially following the emergence of evidence that U.S. troops had helped prime Georgian weapons in the latter’s 2008 attempt to seize South Ossetia; Russian governments also recall the unilateral U.S. recognition of Kosovo in 2008, and Mr. Putin was incensed when plans emerged for Ukraine to join NATO. Moreover, ethnic Russians in Crimea were not consulted over then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s decision to hand over the province to Ukraine when the USSR collapsed in 1991. Tensions within Ukraine were further exacerbated by Mr. Turchynov’s appointment of several far-right politicians to senior ministerial posts in Kiev, and by a new law ending the official status of the Russian language in Crimea. The U.S. and the EU are considering sanctions, such as visa bans and asset freezes, against Russian officials; the G7 countries have declared the Crimea referendum illegal, but no Western bloc may be able to stop the dismemberment of Ukraine and prevent the start of a new Cold War. Why the Aam Aadmi votes – The Indian Express Aam aadmis in India are quite unlike their counterparts in democracies in Europe and the US. The aam aadmi cares about politics, discusses it avidly and in a variety of language, using vivid metaphors and pungent jokes, and on polling day, shows up enthusiastically in great numbers to vote. Why is this so? Is it because the aam aadmi has faith in politicians and politics and thinks they will make life better? Evidence suggests not. Few voters in India think of politicians as public servants who enter politics to serve the country, not themselves. Politics is seen to be corrupting, the acidic drop of kanja ka tapka that curdles a whole pan of milk. Any individual who enters politics is seen to be blighted by it — or, as some paddy cultivators in Bengal put it, those who go to hell become the devil. Others described their “allergy” to politics, or called it a swamp that sucks down into its muck anyone who dips in even a toe. Why this damning characterisation? Through 60-odd years, the aam aadmi has seen repeatedly how radically altered ordinary people became once they gained the slightest political power. Once voted in, most politicians seem to forget about the ordinary voters who put them in power. The aam aadmi sees politicians cultivating the rich and powerful instead, entering into deals of personal benefit and using public funds meant for dispensaries, roads and schools to fund their own business idea or son’s wedding. Some politicians themselves confirm this portrayal. When asked, one politician explained patiently that he hadn’t joined politics to be noble and honest, and that it was impossible to have principles in politics, because the nature of the game was all about furthering your own agenda at the expense of your opponent. His opponent in another party was even more unabashed, stating that he was in politics to gain something. Earlier it was his father, and now it was his turn. True, there

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CURRENT AFFAIRS was also give-and -take, and they offered all those who supported them a share of the spoils. But ultimately they would not and could not tolerate criticism: Agar aap hamare saath hain toh hum aapko doodh nahi kheer khilanyange, aur agar aap haamre khilaf hain toh hum aapko cheer denge (if you are with us we will give you not just milk but cream, but if you oppose us we will cream you). No wonder then that honest aspirants to politics find that the money and complicity required by political shenanigans often simply put them off. They return to private life to retain their integrity. One man embittered by his experience redefined the nature of India’s democracy as a “government that uses people, abuses people and ruins people”. But despite their low opinion of politicians and politics, election campaigns are exciting and meaningful events for the aam aadmi. For it is then that politicians, the khaas aadmi, are briefly humbled — their clothes crumpled in the heat and dust, their voices hoarse among the raucous crowds, their hands folded as they ask for votes, their heads bowed as they enter the humblest dwellings and listen to the angry complaints of their constituents. While no aam aadmi is fooled by this sudden humility — Netaon ke khaney aur dikhaney ke daant alag hotey hain (politicians have two sets of teeth one for eating and for showing the world) — elections at least force them to keep up appearances. During this weeks-long carnival, the fact that even the powerful can be overthrown and put out of power is a potent idea that motivates people to go out and vote. And if that involves having to vote for other rascals, well, “a thorn in the flesh can only be removed by another thorn,” as one man wryly observed. But there are also other reasons why Indian voters, especially those in the bottom millions, show up at polling booths in such spirit and numbers. It is not just about which party will win, but the voter’s experience of voting itself. Evidence from all around the country shows that the free and fair nature of elections, magnificently maintained by the Election Commission, ensures that people who show up to vote are judged only on their identification as voters and no other criteria. So election day is the only moment, and the polling booth the only space, where it really does not matter if you are poor, a woman, a Dalit or tribal — you are treated by officials the same as any other voter. This extraordinary, brief glimpse of what equality must feel like is a powerful motivator. And as people have remarked, the same ink mark on every voter’s left index finger also has a curious levelling effect, turning it into a coveted sign of belonging. If the significance of such a small detail may surprise us, even more surprising is the eloquence with which ordinary people are able to explain so articulately why voting is the foundational evidence of their citizenship. They stress that all Indians have a constitutional right to vote and it is therefore their duty to exercise that right. They point out that seeing their names on electoral rolls is, if nothing else, a bureaucratic reassurance that they do actually exist, so forgotten are they the rest of the time. And they need to assert their presence to the powerful, who always seems to forget about them once they have harvested their votes. By using their vote wisely, it becomes a weapon in their hands. Those who are too poor to make any other sort of offering (daan) to society or the gods also noted that mat-daan was at least free and bestowing it brought them civic virtue. It is no wonder then that election day is anticipated with a mixture of dread and excitement by all. And on the day, people all over the

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CURRENT AFFAIRS country do dress up and make the extra effort as they would for any other festival. Thus, while the aam aadmi is acerbic in his opinion of politicians, he refuses to concede all of politics to their corrupt ways, to let rajneeti alone define politics. Instead, he sees clearly the wider political realm of Indian democracy, in which his own role as a citizen is in holding politicians to account, choosing his candidate wisely and, above all, turning out to do his voting duty, and thereby manifest his membership of the republic — for she too is part of politics. This is the lokniti of the aam aadmi. Banerjee is author of ‘Why India Votes’ and is based at the London School of Economics and Political Science Deviance and the force -The Indian Express Police accountability is perhaps the focal point of discussion in every human rights forum. The recurring theme of this narrative is how brutalised and even criminalised the police force in India is and how the Indian police, wallowing in the British legacy and armed with the “power to take away life and liberty”, continues to be a threat to human rights and civil liberties by its “use of coercive force”. The setting up of the police complaints authority (PCA) in this context and the reported “unhappiness” expressed by the director general of police in Maharashtra over this move, as detailed by Maja Daruwala in her article ‘Perpetuating impunity’ (IE, February 24), has prompted me to put across my views on the subject. Complaints against police could be for any of the following reasons: police misconduct arising out of procedural violations; criminal misconduct in making false arrests; extortion, intimidation, etc; or violation of human rights by selective enforcement of the law. Thus, occupational deviance in the police could take the form of simple misconduct to outright corruption and criminality. Police misconduct and corruption are universal. The degree of misconduct varies according to the gravity of the situation faced by the complainant and the scope for manoeuvring by the official. True, there are instances of abominably brutal behaviour by the police, like assaulting handicapped persons or even women at police stations, as seen in some parts of the country. In such instances, besides severely dealing with those directly concerned with these criminal acts, the role of supervisory officers must be subject to scrutiny to bridge any trust deficit. One has to bear in mind that just as every action of a policeman while enforcing rule of law gives him scope for corruption, a strict non-partisan approach in such enforcement could also invite allegations from the person who violated the law. This is the reality that both citizens and the police are confronted with daily. Daruwala has painted a picture of total lawlessness and anarchy in Maharashtra, all because of the abuse of power by the police, and she believes that a PCA , composed only of people from outside the government, can improve police accountability. When we advocate the introduction of yet another watchdog in the form of the PCA, are we admitting that the existing grievance redress systems, including the courts, have failed? The question that begs an answer is: How many oversight bodies should be calling the police to account to ensure a squeaky clean and public-friendly police force? On one hand, we make a strong case for respecting police hierarchy and chain of command as an integral part of police reform and on the other, condemn the entire hierarchy as incompetent and complicit in abuse

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CURRENT AFFAIRS when they deal with the misdeeds of the subordinate police force. Contrary to perception, the police department has been unsparing while dealing with misdemeanour and misconduct in the police force. There are instances where the superintendents of police at the district level, acting on complaints against subordinate officials, suspended them and ordered departmental inquiry or even registered criminal cases where warranted. And in corruption cases, sanctions for prosecution are accorded in almost 100 per cent cases, unlike other departments in government that keep them pending for years. This shows the intense commitment of the department as a whole to cleanse the system. It is also important to note that at times, vested interests make complaints against the police with the express intent of thwarting legal action against the guilty. Any indiscriminate action against the police based on such false complaints could demoralise the force. Ironically, we have so far not formalised a mechanism whereby such malicious complainants could be legally dealt with. For this reason, the introduction of penal provisions for making false complaints in the Maharashtra Police (Amendment) Ordinance is welcome. This is not an absolute immunity but a protection against possible reprisals. Therefore, the constitution of the PCA in its present form cannot be said to be anomalous. To say that no “brave soul” can venture to approach a PCA composed of government and police officials is as hyperbolic as attributing the police with “powers to take away life and liberty” of people. It is nobody’s case that the entire police force, through the length and breadth of the state, is impeccable and a picture of perfection. Competent police officers committed to the cause of upholding human rights and improving the image of the police can always make a difference. That is why the clamour for leaving matters related to police administration, including postings of officers, to the head of the police force is incessantly made. The PCA, composed of either government-sponsored officials or independent groups, may not be viewed with cynicism but is certainly not the panacea for the problem it seeks to address. While the PCA, being an offshoot of the assumption that the police is bad and ugly, dabbles with deviant police behaviour, it is important to focus on building the internal corrective mechanisms in the police forces, such as the development of the right attitude, intense training in behavioural aspects, sensitisation of police personnel to take a humane approach to problems and the active enlistment of communities as stakeholders to infuse confidence, which can go a long way in protecting human rights and making the police more people-friendly. The writer, a retired IPS officer, is former director general of police, Maharashtra A missing agenda -The Indian Express Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, political parties are busy making promises and spelling out their visions, plans and blueprints for the development and governance of the country. Issues like employment, corruption, economic growth and inflation have generated considerable political debate. However, the environment has been given a miss. Delhi, the epicentre of the political debate, has also seen tremors hitting the city repeatedly in recent times. But the tremors or safeguards for them could not find a place in political discussions. There are several environmental issues that merit serious consideration ahead of the planning and governance processes. The country is facing a scarcity of various natural resources, including water, fuel, coal and gas, and is on the verge of becoming a victim of acute

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CURRENT AFFAIRS environmental problems. Alternative sources of energy, such as nuclear energy, lack proper safeguards and have not been able to win the confidence of the people. The weather alert system in India lacks reliability and also the capacity to predict deadly incidents caused by nature, such as tsunamis, cyclones and tremors. The management of civic life is miserable. According to a study done by the Global Burden of Diseases 2013, one in three people in India lives in critically polluted areas and only two out of 180 cities monitored by the Central Pollution Control Board meet the criteria of low air pollution. Pre-electoral debates, promises and competing visions of political parties shape a substantial part of the post-elections policy agenda of the party or a coalition in the government. The lack of environmental themes in pre-electoral debates causes continued neglect by the government of these concerns. Since environmental issues are not part of mainstream political debates, there is no public opinion formed around the same, except a few scattered voices from select civil society organisations. The lack of public opinion provides space for the government to walk away free, as it has no fear of losing a potential electoral support base. It is necessary to form public opinion around issues of environmental importance. Indeed, those organisations and people who have continuously been engaging with policy and governance on environmental issues should raise questions about the intentions of political parties that aspire to form the next government at the Centre. It is unfortunate to observe the silence from those organisations and people who were actively involved in raising environmental concerns at public platforms in the past. Environmental governance has always been a low priority issue for governments, and therefore, the neglect of environmental challenges in mainstream political debates has been consistent. Several international agencies’ reports and research indicate that in the wake of a rapidly changing climate, the South Asian region would emerge as one of the biggest victims of natural catastrophes. The future policy vision of the country, which is being presented through pre-election debates, needs to incorporate a plan for developing a resilient system to combat extreme climatic events and dispose more responsive and environment-sensitive governance. Political debates should talk about the new technologies, capacities and new plans to combat environmental challenges. It is strange that major environmental hurdles are removed and solutions provided by the judiciary, not the executive. Public pressure is needed to get the executive to work and can well be done by exposing the election debates to serious environmental threats and pressuring political parties to take a public view on the same. The writer is assistant professor at the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Gujarat A new Eastern axis -The Indian Express Myanmar’s democratisation is leading to its opening up and growing importance for existing and newer regional powers. Recent Japanese assertiveness in the country also sends a clear signal against China’s growing influence there. Setting aside the tension spilling over from World War II, both countries share the common ground of wanting to maintain a safe distance from China, which is why Japan-Myanmar relations are at an all-time high. Japan’s assistance in helping build up Myanmar has deepened the partnership. Significantly, Japan has appointed a special envoy for national reconciliation in Myanmar to facilitate dialogue

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CURRENT AFFAIRS between the government there and ethnic minorities. Japan’s support to ethnic groups by supplying them with essential food commodities and medical stocks is commendable. Japan’s geopolitical ambitions and expanding economic footprint pose a serious challenge to the traditional regional powers in Myanmar. It has offered economic aid to support the development of the country’s infrastructure in the hopes of improving the investment climate there. Its total investment up to 2013 stands at $ 292 million, which is nowhere close to China’s $ 14 billion. Nevertheless, its engagement strategy attempts to counter China’s influence in Southeast Asia. Myanmar will use Japanese official development assistance loans to the tune of $ 610 million for the implementation of four projects — upgrading the Yangon-Mandalay railroad and Yangon’s water supply, and developing the Thilawa port and irrigation facilities in the western Bago region. Moreover, Japan has been providing assistance for the development of Myanmar’s communication and postal services as well as offering to train Myanmar police by conducting technical courses. The Japanese government is also involved in grassroots human security projects in Bago and Taninthayi regions as well as in Kachin state. The visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Myanmar in May 2013 — a first since 1977 — was noteworthy. This was followed by the cancellation of $ 3.7 billion of debt. Japan has further pledged to develop a special economic zone in Thilawa, which is expected to promote industrial development and create employment opportunities. Japan has also shown willingness to help in developing the Dawei port along with Thailand. There has also been a request for help to promote vocational training and agronomy education in Myanmar. Further, Japanese companies also participated in the Japan festival held recently in Yangon. But they must make responsible investments and be careful not to follow China’s example of partnering with former junta cronies. So far as India is concerned, it’s stepping up its development cooperation with Myanmar, in light of the latter’s continuing reform process and their historical and cultural ties. India is trying to leverage its “soft” power and foster deeper economic and business links with Myanmar. Compared to China’s mostly commercial involvement in the country, India and Japan have focused on infrastructure development, capacity building and humanitarian assistance. This is in line with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s vision. According to her, “when you help either in the form of development programmes or humanitarian programmes, I want the people involved to gain skills so that they earn and they learn”. India has been particularly instrumental in setting up centres for industrial training and enhancement of IT skills, and other such capacity-building programmes. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Myanmar earlier this month, the second in the last two years, is evidence of the countries’ closer ties. India’s mega project to develop the Sittwe port along the same lines as Japan’s Thilawa and Thailand’s Dawei projects must also be acknowledged. The project envisages enhancing connectivity between India and Myanmar, which will lead to the development of trade between the two countries. It will also contribute to the economic development of Mizoram and other Northeastern states. The ambitious trilateral highway linking India, Myanmar and Thailand, likely to be completed by 2016, adds another dimension to the emerging security architecture in the region. It is significant to observe that

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CURRENT AFFAIRS this growing alliance has deeper consequences for the region as well. The coming together of Japan and Thailand in Myanmar, and now India’s invitation to Japan to invest in and build overland infrastructure in the Northeast, is going to outplay Chinese dominance in the region. Furthermore, Japanese development of the Chennai port and plans to link it with Dawei are indications of Japan, India and Thailand coming together and forming an axis in a bid to confront China in Myanmar. India’s growing closeness to Japan and recent maritime security exchanges have been viewed as a strategic attempt to challenge Chinese dominance and gain an advantage, which is going to redefine the security architecture of the region. The writer teaches political science at Zakir Husain College, University of Delhi [email protected]

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