Carlsen is King
Norwegian prodigy dethrones Viswanathan Anand
WINNING SMILE:World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen unseated five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand in Chennai on Friday. The 22-year-old Norwegian, who needed half-a-point to claim the title, drew the 10th game to win the 12-game match 6.5-3.5.— Photo: K.V. Srinivasan
: Eight days before his 23rd birthday, Magnus Carlsen on Friday gave himself the biggest present of his stunningly successful career.
The Norwegian prodigy dethroned home favourite and defending champion Viswanathan Anand 6.5-3.5 to win their best-of-12 world chess title clash.
In the 10th game, Carlsen, playing white, drew with Anand after 65 moves. Much against
expectations, the game was a hard-fought contest with both players looking for winning possibilities. Neither player appeared in a hurry to sign the peace-treaty.
With Carlsen reaching the finish-line with two games to spare, it was also the end of Anand’s six-year reign as the World champion. It was Anand’s first loss in a world title match since 2007. The triumph was worth Rs. 8.4 crore for Carlsen.
Anand settled for Rs. 5.6 crore.
The charismatic Norwegian is also the 16th undisputed world champion and 20th overall (if one includes Alexander Khalifman, Ruslan Ponomariov, Rustam Kasimzhanov and Veselin Topalov who did not win in match-play formats).
Only Ponomariov (18) and Garry Kasparov (22) held the world title at a younger age than Carlsen. However, a vast majority of experts in the chess world do not consider Ponomariov the youngest champion since his success in 2002 did not come in the time-tested match-play format.
Carlsen, who became the youngest world No. 1 at 19, also holds the record of being the strongest rated player in chess history with a published rating of 2872, on February 1 this year.
For Anand, who lost the fifth, sixth and ninth games while drawing the rest, the clock has come a full circle. It was here in 1991 that Anand defeated Russia’s Alexey Dreev in his first world championship match for a place in the quarterfinals against Anatoly Karpov.
In the 10th game, Carlsen, playing white, drew with Anand after 65 moves
ART within common man’s reach
When the stork came calling at the SAT Hospital here, the oldest tertiary-level maternal and child care hospital in the State, on Friday, there was a sense of jubilation in the air.
The hospital achieved a rare milestone when the first babies to be conceived through advanced Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) in a public sector hospital in the State were born here in the early hours.
The twins — a boy and a girl — born to Nikhila and Sureshkumar of Uchakkada, Parassala, here with the help of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), were hale and hearty and weighed 2 kg each, Sheila Balakrishnan, who heads the Fertility Centre at the hospital, said.
Advanced fertility treatment utilising ART had so far been available only in private sector hospitals in the State where the cost of various procedures could be anything upward Rs.2.5 lakh. SAT Hospital became the first public sector hospital in the State to offer similar facilities, when in August last, a fertility centre with all modern equipment, clean room, and laboratory facilities were opened here as one of the projects under the Rs.120-crore Prime Minister’s Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
The centre was being run on a no profit, no loss basis. While expensive procedures such as IVF cannot be offered free of cost, care had been taken to offer it at the minimum possible cost so that these were not out of reach for the common man. The cost of IVF procedure differed from patient to patient and, in the current instance, was less than Rs.1 lakh, SAT Hospital Superintendent K.E. Elizabeth said.
The first batch of nine women underwent IVF procedures in April. Though three women conceived, only two pregnancies were carried to term, the first of which was delivered on Friday.
So far, 34 women had undergone IVF procedures here, and there had been six viable pregnancies. Even in the best centres in the world, the success rate for IVF was only about 25-30 per cent.
The second set of IVF twins were expected to be delivered next week. The Fertility Centre now offered all sophisticated procedures using ART, including IVF, intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and surgical sperm retrieval techniques apart from fertility-enhancing laparoscopic, endoscopic, and hysteroscopic surgeries. Embryologists were not available in the government sector and the Centre hired them on contract basis.
Modern fertility centre set up in August 2012
Centre is run on a no-profit-no-loss basis
School zones to ensure safety of children
115 schools in 15 road divisions shortlisted
School zones with road signage, pedestrian guard railings, road markings and other features to ensure safety of children will come up in front of 115 schools spread over 15 road divisions in the State.
The Kerala Road Safety Authority (KRSA) has approved a project mooted by the Road Safety Cell of the Public Works Department (PWD), a KSRA official told The Hindu. The PWD had asked executive engineers of the 15 road divisions to prepare estimates for the work.
Effective measure
A 100-metre school zone in front of schools has been found to be effective in ensuring road discipline and channelising students to footpaths to reach the institution. With the students avoiding the carriageway, vehicles can move along the stretch at the designated speed limit.
A Motor Vehicles Department official said the concept had been well received by the students and teachers, especially in educational institutions near national highways and State highways. Road users had also welcomed the initiative. It had also been found that police and traffic wardens could effectively regulate traffic during morning and evening.
The 115 schools shortlisted did not have adequate signage and road markings . Each road division had shortlisted six schools to set up the school zone.
A sum of Rs.24 lakh would be needed in each road division for the work. The PWD had estimated that Rs.3.60 crore would be needed to execute the works.
In addition, improvement of 25 school zones spread over 15 road divisions would also be taken up. A sum of Rs.4 lakh to Rs.20 lakh would be needed for the improvement works. The total cost of the project had been put at Rs.1 crore.
Crash barriers
Along with this, crash barriers would be set up in the Kottayam, Muvattupuzha, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Idukki and Wayanad road divisions. The PWD had estimated that the works would cost Rs. 4 crore.
The spots were mainly in the hill and ghat sections, the official said.
‘Changes to job scheme will help check migration’
As part of their efforts to check migration from rural areas, the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) has brought in changes to the jobscheme to link it with agricultural activities.
Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj H.K. Patil told The Hindu that this would help the poor living in rural areas.
Under the scheme, small and marginal farmers can take up development activities on their own farms and draw wages under MNREGA. All agrarian activities in their farms would be considered as work taken up under the job scheme. The purpose was to ensure additional financial gains along with food production. The move would prevent small and marginal farmers from abandoning their lands and migrating to other areas, he said.
Though the scheme had been designed for small and marginal farmers, other sections such as women managing households, ex-servicemen and persons with disabilities could avail themselves of the benefits of this scheme.
Earlier, a similar arrangement existed under MNREGA but was limited to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, said the Minister. Now, farmers from all communities can avail themselves of the benefits. The main beneficiaries would be farmers who have obtained lands under the Land Reforms Act. “I am also contemplating removing the restriction on land limits and extending the facility to all farmers — including medium and big — as the agrarian crisis has hit all sections,” he said.
He added that the State government had received Rs. 434 crore under MNREGA this year.
University
Mr. Patil said he would go ahead with plans to set up a rural development university. “The Karnataka State Folklore University deals with folk art, literature and related matters. The new university will be exclusively for research, development and promotion of rural technology,” Mr. Patil added.
Ancient rock paintings at Tirumayam Fort
Tirumayam Fort, popular for its architectural beauty of rock-cut temples, has yet another treasure: rock paintings. Little was known about the paintings till recently, but a study, taken up by N. Arul Murugan, Chief Educational Officer, has thrown light on the hidden treasure.
The paintings, discovered at three places atop the fort, are believed to be among the most ancient ones in the State. While the paintings at Sithannavasal pertain to the Pandiya era, the paintings at this fort are considered more ancient.
The first set of paintings can be seen on the hat-like rock located on the right side of the entrance to the fort. The hat rock is filled with paintings at the bottom too, but most of them have lost the details due to discoloration.
The second set of paintings is on a human-head-like rock at the left entrance. One of them shows a man and a woman in a lying posture with their hands united.One painting depicts musicians and dancers.
In the bottom row, musicians play on percussion instruments, while the top row shows men and women dancing.
On the eastern side, a painting refers to a scene of hunting or war. Another painting shows a man sitting on a big-sized animal, indicating the use of animals during the pre-wheel era for shifting from one place to another during the nomadic style of life.
On the northern side of the head-like rock, a group of men following a woman is seen.
Mr. Murugan said many more paintings could be discovered at several places in the area separating two temples.
He has appealed to the visitors and tourists not to cause any damage to them. “Some of the paintings are damaged,” he said.
Paintings found at three places atop fort
Some of them are damaged
Panel rejects proposal to include GST in Union List
The Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on Goods and Services Tax (GST) has recommended substantial changes in the Constitutional Amendment Bill proposed by the UPA government.
In a report to the Finance Ministry, the committee, headed by Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister A.R. Rather, has unanimously rejected the Centre’s proposal to enter GST in the Union List in the Constitution. “The Constitutional Amendment Bill already proposes a clause, 246A, empowering both the States and the Centre to levy the GST,” Mr. Rather told The Hindu .
“The States feel that when 246A is there, then the Centre should not have to incorporate GST into the Union List.’’
Clause 246A proposes additional powers to the Centre to tax sale of goods and for the States (to tax services). At present, the Centre can tax services but not sale and distribution of goods. The States can now tax sale and distribution of goods but not services.
“Including GST in the Union List will imply that in case of any disagreement between the Centre and the States, Parliament’s decisions will be overriding and binding on the States,” said Mr. Rather, explaining the rationale behind the rejection of the proposal.
The committee has recommended a 50 per cent quorum for decisions to be considered by the proposed implementation body, the GST Council. Decisions will need support of at least three-fourths of the members present and voting.
States recommend independent mechanism for compensations
Ministries consulted on Assisted Reproduction Technology Bill
Home Ministry lays down conditions for grant of visa to foreign couples commissioning surrogacy in India
The government is making modifications to the draft Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2013, to accommodate suggestions made by different Ministries and departments.
The concerned departments and Ministries have reverted with their comments to the draft Cabinet note and the draft ART (Regulation) Bill. “Currently, the Department of Health Research is examining and evaluating the comments and [accordingly], clarifications, modifications, deletions and additions to the draft Bill would be made,” an officer of the Department of Health Research said. The note and the Bill, carrying the necessary modifications, would then be sent to be vetted by the Law Ministry.
The Planning Commission, too, had expressed reservations over the manner in which consultations were made before the Cabinet note on the draft Bill was circulated.
Meanwhile, the Home Ministry has already announced that it will not give tourist visas to foreigner nationals coming to India for commissioning surrogacy, of which several cases have been reported.
“[Tourist visa] is not the appropriate visa category [for commissioning surrogacy] and such foreigners will be liable for action for violation of visa conditions. The appropriate visa category [is] a medical visa,” the Home Ministry notification said.
In order to ensure that the surrogate mother’s interests are protected, the Ministry said, such a visa may only be granted if certain conditions are fulfilled — the foreign man and woman must be duly married for at least two years.
The Ministry will also insist that the Indian embassy or Foreign Ministry of the country concerned enclose an acknowledgement, along with the visa application, that the country recognises surrogacy and that the child/children to be born to the commissioning couple through the Indian surrogate mother will be permitted entry into their country as a biological child/children of the couple.
Besides, the couple should produce a duly notarised agreement between the applicant couple and the prospective Indian surrogate mother. “If any of the above conditions are not fulfilled, the visa application shall be rejected,” the Home Ministry said.The Ministry has informed the Indian missions abroad that the commissioning couple needs to be told that they must obtain an “exit” permission from the Foreign Regional Registration Offices before leaving India for their return journey.
Note and Bill will be sent to Law Ministry to vet the modifications introduced
Foreign couple must be married at least 2 years, must get ‘exit’ permission
Reviving an ancient trade route
UNESCO support for Spice Route project
UNESCO has asked Kerala Tourism to get an inscription done by a team of experts to elicit the cooperation of the 31 countries involved to bring the ancient Spice Route back to life.
The backing for the project initiated by the State came after two days of meetings and presentations at the UN agency’s headquarters in Paris last week. The meetings were led by India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to UNESCO Vinay Sheel Oberoi and Kerala Tourism Secretary Suman Billa.
“The project will go a long way in promoting heritage and peace. UNESCO wanted Kerala to start working on it at the earliest,” Mr. Billa said.
Mr. Billa, who made a presentation on the Spice Route project at the UNESCO headquarters on November 14, also met its Assistant Secretary-General (Culture) Francesco Bandarin and ambassadors of several countries that are part of the Spice Route.
During the meeting, Mr. Bandarin supported the idea of the project and lauded Kerala Tourism’s initiative in reviving a lost heritage, sources said. Archaeological evidence from excavations at Muziris, near Kochi, had given a boost to the project. The excavations pointed to spice trade between Muziris — a port that flourished two millennia ago – and the West, before it mysteriously disappeared.
The project aimed at sharing the heritage among the 31 countries along the ancient route. The initiative was expected to bring in a substantial number of foreign tourists to the State. Earlier, the project had received the support of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). The initiative was expected to re-establish the State’s maritime relations with the countries on the Spice Route. “Mr. Bandarin told us that the approach in taking up the project through UNESCO and UNWTO was the right one,” Mr. Billa said.
31 countries along the route
to be involved
Initiative expected to boost
tourist inflow
Shah is Law Commission chief
The former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, has taken over as Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India.
The post fell vacant in the first week of last month following the resignation of Justice D. K. Jain, who has taken over as President National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
Justice Shah (65) was a Judge of the Bombay High Court, then Chief Justice of the Madras High Court and later the Delhi High Court till his retirement in February 2010. He is known for his bold judgments, especially concerning social issues.
National Lok Adalat to take up 19 lakh cases today
A total of about 19 lakh cases will be taken up at the National Lok Adalat to be held in the Supreme Court, all High Courts, and district and taluk courts across the country on Saturday.
Organised by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), the Lok Adalat aims at reducing pendency, while at the same time drawing attention of the public to the efficacious alternative dispute resolution method. A large number of criminal compoundable cases, cheque bounce and bank recovery cases, civil suits, motor accident claims, and family and matrimonial disputes are expected to be taken up. In many States, revenue matters, land acquisition references, and consumer, service and labour matters would also be taken up.
In the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam will inaugurate the programme and 107 cases will be taken up, including 24 matrimonial/family disputes and 60 motor accident compensation claims. It will be viewed all over the country through videoconferencing and webcasting facilitated by the e-committee of the Supreme Court and the National Informatics Centre. Along with the Lok Adalat, at a special sitting of magistrates and judges, a large number of infructuous cases are expected to be taken up. Once cases are disposed of at the Lok Adalat, there will no further appeal.
India rejects WTO Peace Clause proposal
At a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Commerce & Industry Minister Anand Sharma it was agreed on Friday that India cannot agree to the Peace Clause for agriculture subsidies that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo has proposed for Bali.
In no situation can India’s food security be dictated, said Dr. Singh at the meeting, according to highly-placed Commerce Ministry sources. The Prime Minister’s instructions are that “India will not agree to any deal at Bali until it is certain that the proposed interim solution will be available till a permanent solution to the issue of India’s minimum support prices (MSP) breaching the WTO norms has been found and agreed to,” the officials told The Hindu .
The Commerce Ministry plans to seek the Cabinet’s approval for this position at Bali. “The food subsidies under the Food Security Act we are not even discussing...that’s our sovereign space,” Mr. Sharma told The Hindu . India is negotiating in Geneva safeguards for its administered MSPs. “The MSPs will only rise with the roll out of the Food Security Law,” Mr. Sharma said.
The deal breaker for India is the lack of clarity on when the proposed Peace Clause, an interim safeguard for MSPs in breach of the WTO caps, will expire. India, said the officials, also cannot afford to not have any deal at all at Bali for then there will be no safeguards against the breaches of the WTO caps.
The text for Bali, a copy of which The Hindu has accessed, states that the Peace Clause “will remain in force until the 11th Ministerial Conference, at which time we will decide on next steps in view of the General Council’s further report on the operation of this Decision and of the Work Programme decided in paragraph 7.”
“The clause can imply that should no solution or agreement be reached at the eleventh Ministerial conference, the protection from the Peace Clause will end and its extension will be have to be renegotiated — an eventuality India doesn’t want,” said a senior Commerce Ministry official.
Work programme
The Work Programme, according to the text, is to “be undertaken in the Committee on Agriculture to pursue this issue with the aim of making recommendations for a permanent solution.”
The Peace Clause is conditional on full disclosures on the MSPs that are at risk or have breached the WTO limits and the annual procurements undertaken for food security purposes for each public stockholding programme.
On November 11, Mr. Sharma wrote to the United States Trade Representative Michael Froman “...excessive conditionalities imposed on a Peace Clause would lead to serious concerns that we will be required to change our domestic policy.”
In no situation can India’s food security be dictated, says Prime Minister
Subsidies under the Food Security Act ... that’s our sovereign space: Anand Sharma
Protect crop diversity to feed all, says expert
While the U.S. is delighted that it has 1,000 varieties of apples, Marie Haga, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, has a different take on it.
“A hundred years ago, the U.S. had 7,100 varieties. Now they have only 1,000 varieties. I tell them they have lost 6,100 varieties. You never know, these varieties might have had genetic traits that could have made them resistant to heat or pests or diseases,” she said.
Ms. Haga, a former politician from Norway, was in Chennai on Friday to deliver the millennium lecture on ‘Feeding a growing world — despite climate change,’ at the invitation of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation.
She said agriculture was facing its “most profound challenge ever in 10,000 years” with the global population reaching 7 billion and agricultural production steadily declining. When in another decade the world adds another one billion people, there would be a 15 per cent drop in production of food. “If the temperature rises by one degree, the yield of rice will fall by 10 per cent. So if by the World Bank statistics, the temperature rises by three or four degrees, then the challenge is even greater,” Ms. Haga said.
The challenge can be met if governments worked to preserve their crop diversity. The way forward was to not only preserve the diversity but also to store copies of these diverse varieties in a gene pool for the common good.
In an interview to The Hindu , she explained how the concept worked. “When Canada developed its heat-resistant wheat variety, the input came from 30 different countries.”
It is for this purpose that the Trust is seeking India’s support. “We don’t own any seeds but we fund the collection of seeds. We have done so for maize and wheat. India is important because it has a tremendous biodiversity,” she said.
“Crops like pigeon pea, cucumber, egg plant have their origins in India. The point is where the plant originates, there lies the greatest variety. When you search for a specific trait you may find it in the place the crop originated,” she explained.
The only way to protect and increase production was to protect the diversity of crops. “When we lose diversity we lose options for the future. One key measure to increase productivity is to look at better varieties of seeds,” Ms. Haga said.
“If temperature rises by one degree, rice yield will fall by 10%”
“We should store copies of diverse varieties in a gene pool”
600 Assam tea growers get financial assistance
Protest by growers’ association for not including all small tea growers in the State
Assam Industry and Commerce Minister Pradyut Bordoloi on Friday distributed financial assistance to 600 small tea growers of 30 Self Help Groups belonging to five upper Assam districts.
The assistance was given under Cess Utilisation Policy for Development and Welfare of Small Tea Growers of Assam 2010 from welfare fund built by collection of cess from small tea growers.
The office bearers of the All-Assam Small Tea Growers Association stayed away from the function as the State government had not responded to their demand for inclusion of every small tea grower under the programme of distribution of monetary assistance, the Association general secretary Karuna Mahanta told The Hindu. Assam has about one lakh small tea growers who contribute about 30 per cent of the total tea production in the State.
SMS alert for immunisation
Parents will now receive alert SMS on their mobile phones to remind them about the dates on which they have to visit the hospital to vaccinate their children against various diseases.
Five SMS alerts will be sent in the case of newborns to inform parents about the immunisation schedule they need to follow.
The system will be run by local bodies with the help of the National Rural Health Mission and the technical support of the Information Kerala Mission (IKM), Minister for Social Welfare M.K. Muneer said here on Friday.
Instructions had been given to IKM to cooperate with the State IT Mission and to send SMS alerts to those applicants for birth/ death/ marriage registration certificates as soon as the certificates were ready, Dr. Muneer said.
Using the Sevana software, this information could be passed on to the NRHM as well.
IKM would be given sanction to give out information via SMS on the progress of various files in local bodies, building permit applications, and e-payment of property tax.
The common man would benefit once the service and efficiency of local bodies were improved in this manner, Dr. Muneer said.
Discontent along the Yamuna
On the morning of November 15, while India was engrossed in the 124th birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, hundreds of farmers in south Allahabad had assembled near the banks of the Tons river, a tributary of the Yamuna better known for its connection with Tulsidas’ ashram.
Their agenda for discussion was thorny: whether to continue their agitation (which had been going on uninterrupted for the last four years) and keep their land, or give it up for the sake of development.
After hours of peaceful discussion, the farmers unanimously decided that they would intensify their agitation in the coming days. But they also reached a consensus that they could change their mind if the State compensated them under the provisions of the newly enacted Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013.
Significant
This was for the first time in four years that farmers in Allahabad were contemplating giving up their land for the proposed 1,980 MW Karchanna power plant, albeit with the Land Act clause. But unlike the recent mahapanchayats that were meticulously followed, this one passed off without a murmur in the local media.
The project was conceived in 2007 under the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) regime and around 2,500bighas of land was acquired for it. However, it could never really kick off due to farmer protests over compensation. The Allahabad High Court stalled the project last year. And, now, with the farmers not in a position to return the compensation received by them or willing to give up their land, the project lies in a limbo.
The same afternoon, barely 20 km from Karchanna, another group of farmers was jostling with officials in an attempt to throttle progress in the acquisition of the remaining land for the 1,320 MW Meja power plant. Like in Karchanna, farmers in Meja also stipulated that the Land Act be applied before any further acquisition was done. Similar scenes were witnessed in Bara tehsil , where a 1,980 MW power plant is in an advanced stage. Farmers have regularly obstructed the setting up of key pipelines for the project, venting their frustration on officials and thekedaars .
Given the geographical proximity of these sites, the protests have, over the recent weeks, acquired a cohesion, building into a mass movement against the power plants. They assume significance given the dismal power situation in Uttar Pradesh. The three power plants — Bara, Meja and Karchanna (proposed) — will together produce a major chunk of the State’s power requirement according to the 11th Plan.
The latest report of the Central Electricity Authority says Uttar Pradesh accounts for 40 per cent of India’s and 60 per cent of North India’s total electricity deficit. Last year, fingers were pointed at Uttar Pradesh for the northern grid failure. Most recently, the power problem provided fodder to the Opposition to mock the Samajwadi Party. The government, though, besides criticising the BSP regime for leaving behind a power debt of Rs.25,000 crore, has done nothing substantial to bring an end to these snags.
Acquisition and compensation
For the farmers who will be immediately affected by the projects, the Land Act of 2013 has brought a glimmer of hope. It has given them the impetus to negotiate and insist on implementation of the Act, which offers them improved compensation, rehabilitation and security.
While the official word on the application of the Act to these projects is still unclear and a matter of “legal discussion,” the farmers may not be unjustified in demanding that its provisions be applied to them. They have received poor compensation at present.
First, there is enough evidence to suggest that the right procedure of land acquisition was not followed in these cases. In some instances, compensation meant for barren land was given to acquire fertile land. The farmers were excluded from the process of land acquisition. Moreover, the urgency clause was invoked in acquiring land, but even after five years, the acquisition is not complete. Invoking the urgency clause automatically leads to the suspension of Section 5(A) of the Land Act 1894, which gives landholders the right to raise questions. The farmers, at present, do not really have a voice in these cases.
Second, there has been no financial consolation for the affected persons. Under the “rehabilitation” programme of those affected by the Meja project, in the last five years, the company has spent a paltry sum of “Rs.15,000” for the “social welfare” of the 831 affected persons in seven villages.
This sum covers essentials such as health, developmental and play facilities. The setting up of 42 hand pumps and a well, construction of roads in a “few” villages, besides providing bags and stationery for primary schoolchildren, hardly offer any consolation to the farmers. On the ground, scores of families have been made to resettle in such nondescript locations that during the monsoons they have to cross a stream by boat just to attend nature’s call.
Jobs
Another issue is of jobs. Prior to the acquisition of land for the Meja project, officials held lok adalatsand committed through newspaper ads ( Dainik Jagran , July 21, 2009) that one member from each displaced family would get government jobs. However, on the ground, not a single person has been accommodated in the last five years. In its explanation, NTPC Limited, which is running the Meja project as a joint venture with Uttar Pradesh, has in fact gone back and stated that “it is clear that no guarantee is given about the employment of one candidate of project-affected person.”
Moreover, the project managers claim that of the 831 affected persons in Meja, 820 have received compensation or other assets under the provisions of the U.P. Land Acquisition (Determination of Compensation and Declaration of Award by Agreement) Rules 1997. However, they are yet to respond to RTI queries seeking details on rehabilitation provided under these rules.
The projects are also likely to adversely affect the riverine ecosystem in the region, which is drought-prone. In Bara, where the land is rocky and barren, much of the land acquisition has been settled after initial setbacks. However, the Nishads, the traditional fishing and boating community, have launched a fight to save the Yamuna’s waters, and have intensified their struggle over the past few weeks.
Their apprehensions are justified. The three power plants have not received a ‘No Objection Certificate’ (NOC) from the Central Water Commission.
Water depletion
Despite this, the Bara project will draw 150 cusecs of water from the Yamuna. This will hamper the livelihood options of lakhs of Nishads, who have already been compelled to alter their cultivation techniques due to the drying riverbed and illegal sand mining. The power plant will only aggravate the depletion of water in the area. There are also apprehensions of environmental damage due to the toxic waste produced by the plant: the project will burn 22,840 metric tonnes of coal and 90 tonnes of heavy oil per day, and produce 80,000 tonnes of ash per day. The project, however, has received environmental clearance.
Another issue critical to both Meja and Bara, and the inhabitants of Uttar Pradesh’s most populous district, Allahabad, is the drawal of groundwater for the projects. Ministry of Environment and Forests guidelines clearly stipulate that “no groundwater will be extracted for the project at any given time, not even in [the] lean season.” But this is being openly flouted in these cases.
This is important in the context of depleting groundwater resources of the State. Of the 820 developmental blocks, 72 have been placed under the “over-exploited” category by the Union Ministry of Water Resources, 32 are in a critical state and 107 in a semi-critical stage, with six located in this region. Taking note of the situation, the World Bank, last year even accepted a proposal to revive drinking water projects for 104 villages in Meja.
Despite all this, the State has lacked any enterprise to initiate talks with the protesting farmers on issues fundamental to their existence. It is not surprising since power does not feature high on the poll agenda in the State. But with the new impetus received by the agitation, the State can only be pressed to deal with the issues at the earliest and avoid a Bhatta Parsaul-type of situation.
In turn, the power plants will do much good to improve Uttar Pradesh’s dismal power infrastructure and save the State further embarrassment.
omar.rashid@thehindu.co.in
New power plants will improve the power situation in Uttar Pradesh but the State lacks the enterprise to negotiate with farmers on issues fundamental to their existence
Rescue package for the mullahs
A President desperate to change the subject and a Secretary of State desperate to make a name for himself are reportedly on the verge of an “interim” nuclear agreement with Iran. France called it a “sucker’s deal.” France was being charitable.
The only reason Iran has come to the table after a decade of contemptuous stonewalling is that economic sanctions have cut so deeply — Iran’s currency has collapsed, inflation is rampant — that the regime fears a threat to its very survival.
Nothing else could move it to negotiate. Regime survival is the only thing the mullahs value above nuclear weapons. And yet precisely at the point of maximum leverage, President Obama is offering relief in a deal that is absurdly asymmetric: The West would weaken sanctions in exchange for cosmetic changes that do absolutely nothing to weaken Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
Don’t worry, we are assured. This is only an interim six-month agreement to “build confidence” until we reach a final one. But this makes no sense. If at this point of maximum economic pressure we can’t get Iran to accept a final deal that shuts down its nuclear programme, how in God’s name do we expect to get such a deal when we have radically reduced that pressure?
A bizarre negotiating tactic. And the content of the deal is even worse. It’s a rescue package for the mullahs.
It widens permissible trade in oil, gold and auto parts. It releases frozen Iranian assets, increasing Iran’s foreign-exchange reserves by 25 per cent while doubling its fully accessible foreign-exchange reserves. Such a massive infusion of cash would be a godsend for its staggering economy, lowering inflation, reducing shortages and halting the country’s growing demoralisation. The prospective deal is already changing economic expectations. Foreign oil and other interests are reportedly preparing to reopen negotiations for a resumption of trade in anticipation of the full lifting of sanctions.
And for what? You’d offer such relief in return for Iran giving up its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Isn’t that what the entire exercise is about?
And yet this deal does nothing of the sort. Nothing. It leaves Iran’s nuclear infrastructure intact. Iran keeps every one of its 19,000 centrifuges — yes, 19,000 — including 3,000 second-generation machines that produce enriched uranium at five times the rate.
Not a single centrifuge is dismantled. Not a single facility that manufactures centrifuges is touched. In Syria, the first thing the weapons inspectors did was to destroy the machines that make the chemical weapons. Then they went after the stockpiles. It has to be that way. Otherwise, the whole operation is an exercise in futility. Take away just the chemical agents, and the weapons-making facilities can replace them at will.
Yet that’s exactly what we’re doing with Iran. It would deactivate its 20 per cent enriched uranium, which besides being chemically reversible, is quickly replaceable because Iran retains its 3.5 per cent uranium, which can be enriched to 20 per cent in less than a month.
Result: Sanctions relief that leaves Iran’s nuclear infrastructure untouched, including — and this is where the French gagged — the plutonium facility at Arak, a defiant alternate path to a nuclear weapon.
The point is blindingly simple. Unless you dismantle the centrifuges and prevent the manufacture of new ones, Iran will be perpetually just a few months away from going nuclear. This agreement, which is now reportedly being drafted to allow Iran to interpret it as granting the “right” to enrich uranium, constitutes the West legitimising Iran’s status as a threshold nuclear state.
Don’t worry, we are assured. The sanctions relief is reversible. Nonsense. It was extraordinarily difficult to cobble together the current sanctions. It took endless years of overcoming Russian, Chinese and Indian recalcitrance, together with foot-dragging from Europeans making a pretty penny from Iran.
Once the relaxation begins, how do you reverse it? How do you reapply sanctions? There is absolutely no appetite for this among our allies. And adding back old sanctions will be denounced as a provocation that would drive Iran to a nuclear breakout — exactly as Obama is today denouncing congressional moves to increase sanctions as a deal-breaking provocation that might lead Iran to break off talks.
The mullahs are eager for this interim agreement with its immediate yield of political and economic relief. Once they get it, we will have removed their one incentive to conclude the only agreement that is worth anything to us — a verifiable giving up of their nuclear programme.
Brilliant. — © 2013, Washington Post
President Obama is offering relief in a deal that is absurdly asymmetric: the West would weaken sanctions in exchange for cosmetic changes that do absolutely nothing to weaken Iran’s nuclear infrastructure
Troubling questions
It may well be that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s opponents, particularly the Congress, ought to combat the party ideologically rather than on issues such as surveillance and the tapping of telephone conversations of a young woman. And questions may be raised over how the recordings of conversations between the then Gujarat Minister of State for Home, Amit Shah, and a police officer, that were handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, found their way into the public domain, either through a calculated leak or through journalistic resourcefulness. Yet, while the personal nature of the allegations and suspicions over the motives behind the leak warrant extra care and scrutiny, they cannot serve to push the troubling questions raised by the surveillance episode under the carpet. The surveillance and telephone- tapping appear to have been ordered by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and implemented by Mr. Amit Shah, but conversations now made public do not seem to be consistent with the claim that they were undertaken at the instance of the young woman’s father to protect her from some unspecified threat. Rather, they seem to have been mere information-gathering exercises.
The law of privacy is inadequately developed in India, but it is doubtful if the physical surveillance and massive intrusion into the privacy of the young woman were warranted for any legally justifiable reason. Telephone tapping is an altogether new dimension. The Information Technology Act, 2000, through a 2008 amendment, provides for interception in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of the country, defence, security, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, and to prevent incitement to a cognisable offence or for investigation of an offence. The authorisation has to come generally from the Home Secretary, for reasons to be recorded in writing, and detailed records have to be kept of the intercepted numbers, and on to whom the intercepted information was provided. Given the informal nature of the Gujarat surveillance and interception, it is a moot question if these essential procedural safeguards laid down by the Supreme Court to protect the constitutional and common law right to privacy in telephone conversations were observed. No doubt, in the case of many police departments and government agencies these safeguards are honoured more in the breach. Yet, this general laxity cannot be an excuse to gloss over the Gujarat episode which has shone the spotlight on the functioning of the police and the political establishment in the State. Clearly, the main players need to come clean and bring all the facts out into the public domain. It is important too that accountability be fixed, in case there was any transgression of the law.
‘Smoking, drugs, unhealthy eating, on the rise in poorer nations’
Risky behaviour — smoking, illegal drug use, excessive drinking, unhealthy eating and unsafe sex — is on the rise worldwide and poses a growing threat to health, particularly in poorer countries, according to a World Bank report.
Smoking exacts a particularly high toll. Nearly 80 per cent of the 6.3 million deaths from smoking in 2010 occurred in middle-and low-income countries, says the Risking Your Health report.
Smoking is decreasing in richer countries but increasing in parts of the developing world.
The Bank says low-and middle-income countries are in the grip of a tobacco epidemic, characterised by a sharp rise in smoking, particularly among men, after it peaked in rich countries in the 1960s and 70s.
In China, where smoking accounts for 1.2 million deaths a year, it is the number one killer. In 2009, the country consumed more than 38 per cent of the world’s cigarettes, followed by Russia, the U.S., Indonesia and Japan.
The report finds that tobacco-related illnesses place a considerable financial burden on countries.
The bank cites a study in Bangladesh that found families with at least one member afflicted by a tobacco-related illness, such as heart disease, lung cancer and oral cancer, spent 5.1 per cent of their household monthly expenditure on tobacco and 10.2 per cent on treating their illnesses.
In Vietnam, even after accounting for government subsidies, the out-of-pocket expenses for each hospital admission of lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart disease amounted to $285, or about 34 per cent, of per capita gross domestic product.
In an area of Tanzania, health spending triggered by HIV and Aids was more than 70 per cent greater than for other diseases over a two-year period. Together with funeral costs, this amounted to more than the annual household income.
“Individuals’ risky behaviours that cluster among the poor ripple throughout entire populations, crippling families’ potential and undermining the great health and economic progress we’ve seen in low-and middle-income countries in recent years,” said Tim Evans, director of health, nutrition and population at the World Bank.
‘Ambience needed’
“Reversing the tide of these pernicious behaviours by promoting societal conditions for better health choices will pay dividends for families and countries across the globe, ultimately helping us end extreme poverty and promote inclusive and healthy growth.”
Legislation and taxation, for example, tend to be effective, the report concludes, especially when combined with strong enforcement. Cash transfers have also proved to be promising in some settings. Behaviour change campaigns, such as school-based sex education and calorie-labelling laws, are often less effective on their own. Instead they benefit from being part of broader programmes to change risky behaviour.
Repeated messaging is effective, as with the case of graphic labelling on cigarette packets that reinforce the message to smokers each time they reach for a cigarette. Comprehensive advertising bans on cigarettes are more effective than partial bans.
While taxes on tobacco and alcohol can be shown to reduce consumption, particularly in richer countries, the evidence on behaviour change from tax on unhealthy foods is more mixed.
A recent attempt by Denmark to tax high-fat food products increased prices by 9 per cent, but the attempt failed, in part because consumers shopped across the border.
The report also notes fundamental differences in being able to change behaviour relating to alcohol, tobacco and food.
“People need to eat to survive, while they can abstain from tobacco and alcohol without health consequences,” the report says.
“Many unhealthy foods are inexpensive, while healthier foods are more expensive and require more time for shopping and cooking [cheap doughnut compared to expensive broccoli, for example] . . . Differentiated taxes could modify relative prices, but the broad range of healthy and unhealthy foods makes it difficult to avoid substitution among unhealthy foods.” Programmes tend to be more successful if they take into account local culture.
Brazil successfully carried out a tobacco substitution programme as it involved the community in the choice of the substitute crop and method of farming. In contrast, Bolivia’s coca substitution initiative met with less success as it was imposed on the community. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2013
