Vol: 22 | No. 11 | November 2014 | R20 www.opinionexpress.in A MONTHLY NEWS MAGAZINE COVER STORY AKailash NOBEL Satyarthi becomes only M the secondAN Indian to win Nobel Peace prize for his campaign to save childhood editorial Nobel honours selfless RNI UP–ENG 70032/92, Volume 22, No 11 EDITOR PRASHANT TEWARI protector of childhood ASSOSIATE EDITOR obel Peace Prize to Kailash Satyarthi is a recognition to three decades of DR RAHUL MISRA his selfless service to protect childhood. He gave up his job as an electri- POLITICAL EDITOR cal engineer to dedicate himself to protecting and advancing child rights PRAKHAR MISRA N for over three decades now, freeing 80,000 child labourers and giving them new BUREAU CHIEF hope in life. It is largely due to his doggedness and zeal that GOPAL CHOPRA (DELHI), VEELAAS KENJALE NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan has emerged as by far the (MUMBAI), SOUMEN ACHARYA (KOLKATA), LAKSHMI most prominent child rights group in the country even as 60- DEVI ( BANGALORE ) DIVYASH BAJPAI (USA), KAPIL DUDAKIA (U.K.) RAJIV AGNIHOTRI (MAURITIUS), year-old Satyarthi rose to become a global voice for the chil- ROMIL RAJ (DUBAI), HERMAN SILOCHAN (CANADA), dren’s cause. He has passionately argued that child trafficking YASHWANT AMIN (AUS/NZ) and labour perpetuate poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and population growth. CONTENT PARTNER PRATHAM PRAVAKTA From the factories exploiting children in the country’s big- gest cities like Delhi and Mumbai to the hinterland of Odisha LEGAL ADVISOR and Jharkhand where children are still illegally employed as ASHOKA KUMAR THAKUR bonded labourers, his organisation has rescued them in almost all parts of country. MARKETING DIRECTOR He has advocated for stricter laws against child trafficking and labour and met with DIWAKAR SHETTY mixed success so far. While growing up, Satyarthi has said he was concerned about the plight of child labourers around him and it finally prompted him to start an ADMINITRATION DIRECTOR BAL MUKUND GAUR organised movement. His early attempts to raid factories employing child labourers met with hostile CORPORATE COMMUNICATION reaction from the factory owners and at times the police but the significance of his SANJAY MENDIRATTA work was slowly recognised. He also played an important role in the movement for GRAPHICS & DESIGN Right to Education law for free compulsory education to children. Several pres- GREY CELLS tigious awards have been conferred on him, including Defenders of Democracy Award (2009-US), Medal of the Italian Senate (2007-Italy), Robert F Kennedy In- ONLINE PRESENTATION AMIT SONI ternational Human Rights Award (USA) and Fredric Ebert International Human Rights Award (Germany) etc. PHOTOGRAPHER In August, while declaring the block allocation illegal, the court had remarked RATAN SHUKLA that they were done by an “ad-hoc and casual” approach “without application of OVERSEAS MARKETING mind” and without looking into aspects of “common good and public interest”. OEMCL (MAURITIUS), OEHCL (DUBAI) The allocations lacked “transparent procedure” resulting in “unfair distribution” of a “national wealth” – coal – “which is king and paramount Lord of industry”, the ADVERTISEMENT / PR / CIRCULATION DELHI / NCR: CAPT. VINAY GOYAL DHRUV JANAK & CO. R -51 court had observed. The disputed coal block allocations to private companies were BASEMENT, RAMESH PARK,LAXMI NAGAR,DELHI-92 made on recommendations by a screening committee set up in 1992 to evaluate the TELE: +919871232631FAX: 011-22056817 merit of applications from such power-generating companies to run captive coal MUMBAI: VIJAY KALANTRI - ADVISOR NEW EXCELSIOR BUILDING, 6TH FLOOR, A.K. NAYAK mines. The government companies were allocated coal blocks by the coal ministry MARG, FORT, MUMBAI - 400 001 (INDIA). through the government dispensation quota. PHONE: 91 - 22 - 2201 9265 / 2201 9160 FAX : Shares of metal companies like Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, Usha Martin and Hin- 91-22- 2201 9764 / 2201 9760 dalco fell in the stock market soon after the court order. Prime Minister Narendra The magazine is published and printed by Rajiv Modi in his first speech from Red Fort on the Independence Day, announced that Agnihotri for Opinion Express Communications the government would replace the Planning Commission with a new body, bring- & Entertainments Pvt Ltd, from 2 Ashok Nagar, ing the curtains down on the 64-year old institution founded on the former Soviet Lucknow And printed at Kumpu Graphic Press Union’s command-style development model. EDITORIAL & CORPORATE OFFICE: India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, inspired by the Gosplan-aided OPINION EXPRESS HOUSE 24 - A CLYDE ROAD, industrialisation of the Soviet Union, set up the Planning Commission in 1950. LUCKNOW-226001 (INDIA) The dominant view at the time, drawn from Fabian socialism, backed the need for PH: 91-522-4045728/4060880 FAX: 91-522- 4060880 24X7 MOBILITY +91 9984437000 state-led planned industrialisation and development. For the first eight Plans, the Email: [email protected] emphasis was on a growing public sector with massive public investments in basic and heavy industries.The commission, housed at Yojana Bhawan a few hundred All content published may be subject to copyright, seek written permission to re-produce. Opinion yards away from Parliament House, emerged as the government’s primary go-to Express is trade mark brand of Opinion Express think-tank for policy prescriptions. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as Communications & Entertainment Private Limited well as President Pranab Mukherjee both served as the Planning Commission’s deputy chairperson, the body’s topmost executive. The prime minister is the chair- All disputes are subject to be under jurisdiction of courts in Delhi. person of the commission. —Prashant Tewari, Editor-in-Chief OPINION EXPRESS NOVEMBER 2014 3 NOVEMBER 2014 COVER STORY FROM LAND OF RISING SUN P23-27 POLITICS THE DIDI SHOW P32 DIPLOMACY THE DRAGON AND ELEPHANT STORY P36 P23 FASHION STARRY DREAMS Development: Japan to make India Nan wonder: Tata’s Nano, the car that P28green; 24 cities planned P42few want to buy Tieup: Sarkozy bats for India’s civil Trophy talk: Asian American cultures & P33nuclear programme, UNSC seat P46hall of fame awards for 2010 Rev it up: 2011 BMW 5 Series is a Postscript: Katrina Kaid adjudged P38smooth operator P50 sexiest IN NEWS Modi puts PM race on fast track Prakhar Prakash Mishra ministrator. Gujarat does today, India will follow tomor- Gujarat's gross domestic product has row. The keywords of achievement - ndia's next general election is almost been growing at 11%, higher than the na- Development, Governance, Growth - are all three years away, but the race for prime tional average of 8-9%, and it has attract- there. Gujarat becomes the ideal state and Iminister ship may have already begun. ed thousands of crores of rupees in in- BJP, the ideal party. The Congress is a ge- Modi's springboard from which he is vestment, mostly through the showpiece nealogy of hypocrisy and waste. Any audit launching himself as the BJP's, and possi- Vibrant Gujarat summit, a biennial congre- will prove he delivers money's worth, bly the NDA's, prime ministerial candidate gation of industrialists from around the whether it is in choice of the site for his cel- at a time when the ruling Congress party- world launched by Modi. ebration, or the quality of investments for led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is The state has signed memorandums of Gujarat. He is clear he is History and that battling a spate of corruption scandals and understanding worth more than Rs. 40 tril- the future is on his side. a leadership crisis. lion since 2003. More companies have Does this spectacle set the stage for a Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi is firmed up investments in Gujarat than in national leader? The answer is ambivalent. eying a bigger national leadership role and most other states of the country. The state Modi might be good for the BJP. He is im- is positioning himself for a power struggle is on its way to become an auto hub, with maculate on attacking Congress and its in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), say US Tata Motors, Ford, Peugeot and Maruti hypocrisy, but does not realise that it adds diplomatic cables made public by online Suzuki eyeing investments. little to his claims that he will be equally whistleblower WikiLeaks. "Modi is using Many important projects started before good for the nation. The shows of solidari- his strong base in Gujarat to position him- Modi was sworn in as chief minister have ty - stage managed - do not work at the na- self for the BJP power struggle and to crow also materialized in his tenure. The project tional level. He speaks a standardized lan- about Gujarat's investment-friendly (but to build a dam on the Narmada river is an guage when a nation has to see as a certainly not minority-friendly) record," example. The state government's rural plethora of dialects, allowing for differ- says one of the cables which were up- electrification mission lit up even remote ence. loaded earlier this week by Wikileaks. The parts of Gujarat. With an aim to promote The wonderful thing about tyrants is cables sent by US diplomats in New Delhi clean energy, Gujarat hopes to produce they are self defeating. Modi has created a focus on Modi's rising stature in the BJP 200-300 megawatts of solar power by the language, an idiom, a style, an early warn- and claim that "Modi has his eyes on big- year-end, making it the solar capital of the ing system for the future. The nation ger things". country. knows what it will have to avoid. A collec- While faltering on the social harmony Narendra Modi is a political enigma tion of growth indicators do not add up to front, Modi has keenly cultivated the im- wrapped in a popularity chart.