Reserve Bank to infuse Rs.10,000 cr additional liquidity
The Reserve Bank of India, on Wednesday, said it would infuse an additional Rs.10,000 crore into the system on Friday to ease the tight liquidity situation, ahead of commencement of advance tax payments.
“As the liquidity conditions are expected to tighten on account of advance tax payments commencing from mid-December, the RBI has decided to provide additional liquidity of Rs.10,000 crore through the 14-day term repo scheduled to be conducted on December 13,” the apex bank said in a release. — PTI
Exports slip to $24.61 billion
Trade deficit narrows down to $9.22 billion
India’s exports slipped to $24.61 billion in November from $27.27 billion in October. The performance was 5.86 per cent better than November 2012, though.
The government’s stringent gold import curbs restricted overall imports during said month to a two-and-a-half year low of $33.83 billion or 16.37 per cent lower compared to the same month last year. As a result, the trade deficit narrowed to $9.22 billion, according to the official data released here on Wednesday.
“Three-product categories in the export basket (petroleum goods, gems and jewellery and pharmaceuticals) have pulled down our exports,” Commerce Secretary S. R. Rao told reporters after the trade data was released.
“The export momentum fell sharply but too early to say whether it’s an aberration or the beginning of something more ominous,” JP Morgan Chief India Economist Sajjid Chinoy told The Hindu . “A single-digit trade deficit in November reinforces the degree of improvement in India’s external imbalances but the details are less than flattering, and the quality of the compression troubling as exports slumped and were offset by very weak non-oil, non-gold imports which do not suggest that growth is poised for any meaningful lift,” he added.
Gold and silver imports were down 80.49 per cent to $1.05 billion in November compared to a year earlier, according to the release.
“It is a difficult world out there in the exports market where the signals about recovery are not consistent either in Europe or in the U.S.,” EEPC India Chairman Anupam Shah said in a statement.
French bid to disarm African militias a challenge
In just the last three years in Africa, French forces pummelled Muhammad Qadhafi’s troops, helped topple Ivory Coast’s holdout ex-president and ousted al-Qaeda-linked militants from the rocky Malian desert. Now, in Central African Republic, French troops are facing a more complex and dangerous mission — disarming militias awash in automatic weapons in cities and towns, where would-be fighters are tough to distinguish from civilians and sectarian tensions are running high.
A former colonial power, France has 1,600 troops in Central African Republic after beefing up its military presence last week in response to a U.N. resolution authorising outside force. Muslim leaders question whether the French are also forcing Christian militiamen who fled into the bush after attacking the capital to hand over their weapons. To give up knives would leave Muslims defenceless during a future attack, they say, placing little faith in the French to protect them.
The capital, Bangui, remained on edge Wednesday, but with French troops patrolling, some families ventured out to bury their dead.
The perils of the French mission were starkly exposed this week when two French soldiers were killed in a nighttime foot patrol in the capital.
French President Francois Hollande, who initially said the mission would take six months, said on Wednesday that a beefed-up French deployment would last “until the African force takes over.” — AP
Obama’s relentless pragmatic diplomacy
This has been a year when America re-embraced diplomacy after a frustrating decade of war, displaying a relentlessly pragmatic approach that recalls the days of such deal-making former secretaries of state as Henry Kissinger and James A. Baker III.
The secret diplomatic machinations have been dizzying and, sometimes, disorienting. President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have opened doors and created opportunities for settling intractable conflicts. But the administration’s turnabouts, especially in the Middle East, have been so sudden and unsentimental that Machiavelli himself might blush.
The Iran nuclear agreement was the most striking example of the willingness to engage former adversaries. In his speech last weekend to the Saban Forum in Washington, Obama made the case that it’s worth experimenting to see if Iran’s drive toward nuclear weapons can be reversed through diplomacy. He gave his gambit a 50 per cent chance of success; given that war is a possible alternative, that’s a reasonable wager.
Israelis I talked to afterward were impressed (if not always convinced) by the dry, precise clarity of Obama’s argument for testing the Iranians. We’ll find out next year if Obama meant it when he said that a bad deal (i.e., one that didn’t make sure the Iranian program remains peaceful for years to come) would be worse than none at all.
What’s fascinating about the Iran effort is how long it had been germinating in the dark. The feelers went out back in 2012 when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state and the fire-breathing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was president of Iran. A back channel was provided by the sultan of Oman, an eccentric character worthy of a spy novel, who learned the arts of clandestine activity from the masters, the British. These covert contacts accelerated when Hassan Rouhani was elected president last June, but they were blessed first by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Kerry has even taken on the Rubik’s Cube of diplomacy, the Israeli-Palestinian problem. His argument to both sides, at bottom, has been ruthlessly practical: Begin the transition to Palestinian statehood now, or you’ll regret it later.
Watching the administration’s gyrations on Syria has been less encouraging. Obama shied away for more than a year from a serious program to train and arm Syria’s moderate opposition. Had he done the right thing back in mid-2012, the rebels today might have up to 10,000 CIA-trained fighters, who could have prevented al-Qaeda from recapturing the Euphrates valley. Now, with the bootless moderate opposition shattered and al-Qaeda surging, Obama has decided to work with Saudi Arabia and its Islamic Front, a not-quite-jihadist group eerily reminiscent of the warlords America backed in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Given the dismal number of options available, this latest revision of Syria policy makes sense. But it sits uneasily with the other pieces of the administration’s Syria portfolio — its decision to work with Russia to dismantle Syria’s chemical weapons and its support for a Geneva conference in January to plan a political transition (or perhaps, just organise safe zones for humanitarian relief this winter).
“A hasty solution in Syria is just as harmful as doing nothing,” cautions Samir al-Taqi, a Syrian exile who runs a think tank in Abu Dhabi. He argues that a shattered Syria can be put back together only slowly, region by region. And he warns that President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite-led army will never suppress al-Qaeda. As America learned in Iraq, he notes, the best weapon against the Sunni insurgency fomented by al-Qaeda is a Sunni counterinsurgency.
Egypt is another area where I get dizzy trying to follow administration policy. The U.S. remained supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood government long after most Egyptians had rejected it last summer; after months of waffling, the U.S. recently seems to have made the “realist” decision to work with Egypt’s friends in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to stabilise its economy and, if possible, push it back toward civilian government.
The 2013 realpolitik tour continues here in the oil kingdoms of the Gulf. The Saudis and Emiratis were so upset by Obama’s opening to Iran and dithering on Syria that they threatened a revolt from decades of alliance with America. Though Obama seems more than fed up with hectoring from Saudi Arabia, he again opted for the conciliatory, diplomatic approach. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was in Bahrain last weekend reassuring the Gulf Arabs and reminding them just how much the U.S. spends on their security.
These diplomatic manoeuvres haven’t always been pretty to watch. But critics should recognise that this is interests-based foreign policy in its raw form. — The Washington Post
The administration’s turnabouts, especially in the Middle East, have been so sudden and unsentimental that Machiavelli himself might blush
The sugar imbroglio
The sugar industry is in a mess, yet again, and it is apparent that lessons from the past are never learnt. A little over a year after the Rangarajan Committee, which went into the regulatory and business aspects of the industry submitted its report, only a part of its sensible recommendations have been implemented. The crucial recommendation on revenue-sharing between sugarcane farmers and sugar mills has been ignored. The latest crisis could have been avoided if only the sugarcane producing States — especially Uttar Pradesh which accounts for the bulk of the sugarcane output — had implemented the recommendation and not gone ahead and announced their own prices for procurement by mills. The mills are in poor financial shape following a glut in the sugar market and the consequent slump in prices. The mills resisted the high State Advised Price, and the ensuing standoff with farmers forced the Prime Minister to constitute a Group of Ministers headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar which came out with a bailout package for them. The package includes interest-free loans adding up to Rs.7,500 crore with favourable repayment terms, restructuring of existing loans, incentives for the production of 4 million tonnes of raw sugar for exports, and doubling of ethanol blending in petrol to 10 per cent.
Banks are unlikely to take kindly to the idea of a restructuring of sugar mills’ loans. The proposed increase in ethanol blending is meaningless given that even the existing 5 per cent blending is not happening due to disagreements over pricing. The support to mills is only to ensure that the politically important constituency of sugarcane farmers is kept happy with higher procurement prices irrespective of the market price of sugar. At the core of the problem is the practice of State governments setting cane prices. The SAP has been a political tool to find favour with the strong community of sugarcane farmers. What the latest crisis proves is that the political element has to be taken out of cane pricing as the lobbies are strong on both sides — farmers and the mills. The Rangarajan Committee recommended a 70:30 revenue-sharing mechanism between farmers and mills, taking into account revenues from the sale of sugar and also by-products such as molasses and bagasse. The States should adopt the Committee’s formula, which is not only transparent but has been arrived at after a study of the cost structures of sugarcane farming and sugar mills.
A retrograde decision
The Supreme Court’s retrograde decision to overturn the 2009 Delhi High Court verdict that decriminalised gay sex has enthroned medieval prejudice and dealt a body blow to liberal values and human rights. Through its path-breaking judgment in Naz Foundation , the Delhi High Court had laid the foundation for “reading down” and eventually amending Section 377 to decriminalise consensual sex among adults irrespective of gender. While the Union government too came around to the High Court’s view, a politically wary establishment left it to the Supreme Court to decide on the penal provision. In the result, Section 377 — which punishes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” — is now back in force and hangs over the heads of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT). It was Parliament’s prerogative to amend Section 377 in tune with the social circumstances, declared the court — in a show of restraint that is uncharacteristic of its attitude in recent times. The court has stepped in wherever the executive had failed and has not hesitated to read into the constitutionally enumerated fundamental rights to life and to equality an expansive set of human rights including the right to education, the right to work with dignity and the right of prisoners to humane treatment. That is all the more reason why it should not shy away from correcting a centuries-old law and an outdated mind-set that offend against basic rights and human dignity.
Changes in law have come about both by legislation and through the judiciary’s constitutional interpretation. The Supreme Court bench has shut the door to the judicial route to bringing the law in line with fundamental human rights. It is strange that a decision involving a major constitutional issue and the hard-won rights of large sections of the socially oppressed should have been decided by a two-member bench rather than by a larger Constitutional Bench. Whether a judicial correction is still possible in the near future is a moot question. The legislative route to decriminalising gay sex would seem to be problematic in this election season both because the issue may not be accorded priority and also because it may be difficult to forge a political agreement. Barring a sudden dawning of a humane sense of fairness all around, Section 377 is here to stay in the medium term with all its horrific consequences. If harassment by law enforcement agencies drives sections of the LGBT community underground and makes them terrified of disclosing their orientation, it would have serious public health consequences as well, particularly in the fight against AIDS. Above all, it is a test of humane values, fairness and dignity in a society. It is important that institutions of the state acknowledge the importance of these values.
The ‘Asia Rebalance’ in disarray
The U.S. President is whipping up the holiday sentiment with some beltway bonhomie, pardoning Popcorn the national Thanksgiving turkey, then joining his fellow Americans in some patriotic discount-shopping during the Christmas and New Year festivities.
Yet, Barack Obama must have no doubt that recent weeks have left his administration with little cheer on one of Washington’s top foreign policy priorities — the “Asia Rebalance.”
November turned out to be more punishing than thanks-worthy in this regard, with a bitter blend of cynicism and uncertainty tainting the vector of surprise developments in the Asia region, including the nuclear deal with Iran, the security agreement endorsed in Afghanistan and the precipitous game of “chicken” in the East China Sea.
The momentous news of the P5+1 group of nations reaching an agreement with Tehran on limiting its uranium enrichment and permitting site inspections at nuclear facilities should have come as no surprise after the election of the moderate Hassan Rouhani to the presidential seat in June this year.
It was concomitantly revealed that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns held secret talks with his Iranian interlocutors throughout the détente period.
Triumphalism over good faith
Yet, the western allies appeared to revert to a triumphalist rhetoric that suggested that the crippling sanctions that they imposed were solely responsible for the turnaround, no thanks at all to Tehran’s new regime for taking a courageous step towards the negotiating table.
A gesture of good faith towards Tehran’s forward-looking re-engagement with the West on the nuclear crisis, despite Israel’s sustained, warmongering bluster, might have been for Mr. Obama to ease up on the oil sanctions, perhaps permit friends of Iran such as India, who depended significantly on crude imports, to resume limited trading.
Contrarily, days after the resumption of talks with Mr. Rouhani’s administration was announced, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry cautioned that the Joint Action Plan agreed upon by the P5+1 nations and Iran did not offer relief from sanctions with respect to most purchases of Iranian crude by existing or new customers, and “we will continue to aggressively enforce our sanctions over the next six months.”
Similarly, Mr. Obama reaffirmed that under the U.S. National Defence Authorisation Act of 2012 the White House had determined that “there is a sufficient supply of petroleum… from countries other than Iran to permit a significant reduction in the volume… purchased from Iran by or through foreign financial institutions.”
What signal does this send to nations such as North Korea, whose resolve the U.S. and its friends are similarly seeking to neutralise?
Rushed withdrawal?
If the skewed dynamics of diplomacy have been exposed in its dealings with Iran, Washington will be hard-pressed to avoid the charge that it is rushing for the exit in Afghanistan at a time when the country’s security forces need support and there is a lack of clarity surrounding Kabul’s ability and willingness to fend off hostile forces in a dangerous neighbourhood.
After the Loya Jirga ratified the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) last month, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, known for his penchant for political brinkmanship, refused to sign the deal, sending waves of panic through the Obama administration that is now unable to take the “zero option” for U.S. troops off the table.
Yet, consider the view from Mr. Karzai’s perspective. Leaving aside all the ‘unknowns’ that may be influencing his decision to prevaricate on the BSA, including Taliban opposition to the deal and murky pressures from eastern neighbours, the U.S. presence in Afghanistan has been coterminous with some of the most egregious wrongs of our times.
U.S. Marines were filmed urinating on the bodies of dead Afghan fighters in January 2012 and a month later troops at Bagram air base burnt copies of the Koran, leading to national outrage and protests, including violence that resulted in the deaths of 30 people and injuries to over 200.
In March 2012, 16 innocent Afghans, women and children included, were slaughtered in the bloodthirsty rampage of a U.S. Staff Sergeant in Kandahar.
The scourge night raids continued for most of the time that Western troops were present in the country, although most recently after months of protest from Mr. Karzai, Mr. Kerry promised that U.S. forces would conduct raids only in “exceptional circumstances.”
Larger fumbles
These tactical bungles have been exacerbated by larger strategic fumbles, including Mr. Obama’s early announcement of a troop withdrawal timeline, back in June 2011, which might have given pause to militant outfits happy to bide their time and see off the U.S.
Regional powers such as India, who are discomfited by the emerging power vacuum in Kabul and fear that it may again become a breeding ground for extremism, are resigned to the reality that America has prioritised rolling back its wars and reviving its economy.
Troubling though the conundrums of Afghanistan and Iran may be, it is the failure of the Asia Rebalance to prevent the U.S.’ second-largest trading partner from embarking on campaigns of expansionist adventurism that truly casts doubt upon the strategy.
Beijing’s unilateral declaration of the new Air Defence Identification Zone, which encompasses the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands over which China and Japan dispute sovereignty, is tantamount to blowing a raspberry to Washington and Tokyo and double-daring them to respond.
And respond is what Mr. Obama did, by sending two B-52 bombers into the ADIZ without the prerequisite notifications — but to what avail? Beijing did not stand down and the State Department made clear the next day that commercial aircraft would be well advised to comply with the identification rules.
Regional engagement
More disconcerting is the possibility that the ADIZ may in fact only be ADIZ-I, one salvo in a calibrated strategy of disruptive territorial expansion that President Xi Jinping may be supervising, even as he holds to an even keel on the bilateral economic front with his “old friend,” U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. If that is the case then the ultimate deficit in the Asia Rebalance — the inability of Washington to decisively marshal like-minded regional powers into a string of partners, if not pearls — has already conceded victory in this early round to Asia’s hegemon.
In his second term Mr. Obama has a legitimate intention to build up a discernible domestic policy legacy, with a focus on achieving critical concessions from Congress on immigration reform and economic stimulus measures.
If this is true then it may be politically more expedient and practically less confusing to everyone if the White House eschewed grand overarching foreign policy paradigms such as the Asia Rebalance and instead framed each bilateral or regional engagement in a narrower idiom.
(Email: narayan@thehindu.co.in)
A gesture of good faith towards Tehran’s re-engagement with the West might have been for Mr. Obama to ease up on the oil sanctions, perhaps permit friends of Iran such as India, who depended significantly on crude imports, to resume limited trading
Neither too hard nor too soft
The curtains have finally come down on the keenly fought Assembly elections in five States, hyped as a semi-final before the 2014 general elections. Whether these are, politically speaking, a precursor to the general election to the Lok Sabha is debatable, but they certainly seem to be an indicator of a vociferous and, at times, vicious and vituperative campaigning to come.
It can prove to be a testing time for the Election Commission of India, especially in implementing the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The MCC is a unique document that owes itself to the initiative of the political parties themselves. It all started way back in 1960, with the Kerala State administration taking the lead to evolve a Code of Conduct covering important aspects of electioneering.
The EC circulated the document to all States for implementation during the 1962 general election with the consent of the political parties. Prior to the 1967 general election, initiatives were taken by the Chief Ministers in Kerala and West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Uniquely, Tamil Nadu even had a standing committee of seven persons drawn from different political parties for overseeing the implementation of the code.
Curbing misuse of funds, facilities
Based on this experience, the EC prepared a document in the interests of free and fair elections, titled ‘An Appeal to Political parties for observance of a Minimum Code of Conduct during the Election Propaganda’, that came to be called the Model Code of Conduct. Prior to the 1979 general election, a comprehensive MCC was put together by the EC, having, at the behest of political parties, an emphasis on curbs to be placed on ruling parties at the Centre and the States as serious concerns were voiced about ruling parties appropriating common facilities or misusing government machinery or funds.
The EC revised and amplified the code in 1991 and thus was born the MCC in its present form. It should be said to the credit of the political parties that during the last five decades, they have largely abided by it. Blatant violations — deliberate and calculated — are now rare.
Respect for the Code
That parties respect the code is clear from the fact that a notice from the EC on any alleged violation elicits a prompt and well-deliberated reply. This is not to say that there have been no violations, subtle or otherwise. The parts of the MCC dealing with processions, meetings and poll-day conduct are now observed well by all contestants, though the admonition not to serve liquor seems to be more honoured in the breach than in the observance, especially on the night before the poll. In some places, the supply is spiced with cash offerings too.
Restrictions on the use of public places for meetings, issue of advertisements extolling themselves at the cost of the public exchequer, announcing new schemes, making grants from discretionary funds, making appointments in government departments or in public sector companies, and misusing public servants for party propaganda have been imposed on ruling party politicians, and these are generally adhered to.
I was recently in two neighbouring countries for election observation and the contrast with our country could not have been more stark. In one country, army personnel were found campaigning for candidates of the party of a Minister in office.
In another, the government headed by a contestant himself allegedly gave promotions to hundreds of army personnel on the eve of the poll. Such blatant acts that put a question mark on the fairness of an election are thankfully absent in India.
In the few instances of violations by those at the highest level, the EC has not hesitated to come down with a heavy hand. A few years ago, when a Chief Minister of a northern State came in the State’s aircraft to Delhi along with Cabinet colleagues, seeking a change of election schedule after dates were announced, the EC directed him to deposit the cost of the travel in the State exchequer since the MCC was already in force and prohibited the use of government transport including official aircraft to further the interests of the party in power.
Another Chief Minister who used to travel in government aircraft to one district — ostensibly on official business — and from there go by private vehicles to the adjoining district to campaign, met with the same fate. In another State, the EC ordered replacing of a school textbook that had a picture that was the exact replica of the ruling party’s symbol. Such instances of tangible violations can be dealt with easily.
There are clear guidelines on campaign speeches where making references to the private life of a rival or mounting personal attacks are a strict no-no. However, the difficulty arises when campaigners indulge in some clever wordplay.
When a turn of phrase, a metaphor, an idiom, a repartee or some rhetoric is called into question, the adjudication requires an understanding of the remark in its totality with an eye on the subtlety and nuance of the language and the expression. The very essence of a public speech, where the speakers wield the language with finesse, drawing upon our rich repository of the epics, the purana s, mythology, folklore and fables, to thrust and parry, will be lost if objections raised — based on a literal meaning or, worse still, a transliteration into English or any other language — are heeded. It will not only do grave injustice to the speaker but such an approach will be open to ridicule and, for some, the festival of democracy would then lose its ‘colour’.
‘Light touch’
The reference to the humble origins of an opponent can seem to be hitting below the belt but a consummate wordsmith can turn that into a compliment. By the same token, a reference to a person’s rich heritage can, by the clever use of a word that is not disrespectful, clearly convey the slight to the audience. A ‘pappu’ remark met with a ‘feku’ counter brings mirth to the fore. Speakers with a gift of the gab may pepper their speeches with such turns of phrase but if the MCC is invoked in such matters, it would be a case of wielding a sledgehammer to swat a fly. With sanitised speeches, the audiences would be poorer and the political discourse would not have gained either. The EC has to discriminate, or, in the words of The Hindu , has to resort to a ‘light touch’.
It cannot be denied that the ordinary citizen feels a sense of déjà vu when after finding fault with the violators, in case after case, the EC lets them off with an advice or admonition leading to the perception that EC is ‘ineffective’ or ‘soft’. Many wonder at the very purpose of such an exercise. Suffice to say that if the violation is such as to attract any penal provisions of the Indian Penal Code or the Election Law, the EC does not resort to action under the MCC as a substitute to the action the violator is liable for under the relevant laws. It is exclusive of it.
The MCC is mostly about the ‘perceived’ advantage and disadvantage disturbing a level playing field. It will serve no purpose to give it a statutory backing as swift action won’t be possible and conclusive proof would be difficult to present. It cannot however be gainsaid that instead of merely taking “serious note” or conveying “displeasure”, if the EC sets an example by serving a harsh counter-move in deserving cases, it will send the right signals. Otherwise, the perception of its being an eroded authority would, in the long run, make it difficult for the EC to enforce discipline among the contesting parties.
At the IAS academy, in my time, the probationers who feared horse-riding would be taunted by a redoubtable ex-army riding instructor, “If you cannot control a horse, how will you control a district?” Politicians, like thoroughbred horses, can easily get the measure of the rider and a weak rider cannot remain on the saddle for long. The EC has to be both hard as ‘steel’ and soft as a ‘petal’, heeding the pithy Sanskrit exhortation, “ Vajradapi Katorani, Mriduni Kusumadapi ”. The EC has its task cut out in keeping the campaign discourse sane and lively given its role in enforcing the MCC.
(The writer is a former Chief Election Commissioner of India)
While the Election Commission should not allow the perception of its being an eroded authority that would make enforcing discipline among contesting parties difficult, it should also not lay itself open to ridicule by raising objections to clever wordplay by campaigners
G8 aims to find dementia cure by 2025
G8 members will work together to find a cure or modifying therapy for dementia by 2025, British Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Wednesday, after a summit of Health Ministers and experts in London.
A dementia envoy is also to be appointed, he said, to be responsible for bringing together international expertise and attracting research funding, including from private companies.
“The amount going into research is too little,” Mr. Hunt told reporters.
“We would like a cure to be available by 2025. It’s a big, big ambition to have. If we don’t aim for the stars we won’t land on the moon.”
In a final statement, the G8 countries agreed to “significantly” increase funding, develop a co-ordinated international research plan and encourage open access to research and information.
They also called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to recognize dementia as “an increasing threat to global health” and urged society “to continue and to enhance global efforts to reduce stigma, exclusion and fear.”
Cognitive ability
Dementia, which impairs cognitive ability, affects 36 million people around the world and the WHO expects this number to almost double every two decades as the population ages. — DPA
Food-tech startups aim to replace eggs and chicken
The startup is housed in a garage-like space in San Francisco’s tech-heavy South of Market neighbourhood, but it isn’t like most of its neighbours that develop software, websites and mobile-phone apps. Its mission is to find plant replacements for eggs.
Inside, research chefs bake cookies and cakes, whip up batches of flavoured mayonnaise and pan-fry omelettes and French toast all without eggs.
Funded by prominent Silicon Valley investors and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Hampton Creek Foods seeks to disrupt a global egg industry that backers say wastes energy, pollutes the environment, causes disease outbreaks and confines chickens to tiny spaces.
The company, which just started selling its first product Just Mayo mayonnaise at Whole Foods Markets, is part of a new generation of so—called food—tech ventures that aim to change the way we eat.
“There’s nothing to indicate that this will be a trend that will end anytime soon,” said Anand Sanwal, CEO of CB Insights, a New York firm that tracks venture capital investment. “Sustainability and challenges to the food supply are pretty fundamental issues.”
Venture capital firms, which invest heavily in early—stage technology companies, poured nearly $350 million into food—related startups last year, compared with less than $50 million in 2008, according to the firm.
Plant-based alternatives to eggs, poultry and other meat could be good for the environment because it could reduce consumption of meat, which requires large amounts of land, water and crops to produce, backers say.
It could also benefit people’s health, especially in heavy meat-eating countries like the U.S., and reduce outbreaks of diseases such as avian flu, they say.
“The biggest challenge is that people who consume a lot of meat really like meat, and to convince them to try something different may be extremely difficult,” said Claire Kremen, faculty co-director of the Berkeley Food Institute at the University of California, Berkeley.
The American Egg Board, which represents U.S. producers, said eggs can’t be replaced.
“Our customers have said they’re not interested in egg substitutes. They want real, natural eggs with their familiar ingredients,” Mitch Kanter, executive director of the board-funded Egg Nutrition Center, said in a statement.
The industry has reduced its water use and greenhouse gas emissions, and hens are living longer due to better health and nutrition, he said.
In its food lab, biochemists grind up beans and peer through microscopes to study their molecular structure, looking for plants that can fulfill the culinary functions of eggs. So far, the company has analyzed some 1,500 types of plants from more than 60 countries.
The research has resulted in 11 “hits,” said Josh Tetrick, the company’s CEO.
“Our approach is to use plants that are much more sustainable less greenhouse gas emissions, less water, no animal involved and a whole lot more affordable to create a better food system,” said the former linebacker on West Virginia University’s football team.
The company’s first product the mayonnaise is sold for roughly the same price as the traditional variety. It soon hopes to start selling cookie dough and a batter that scrambles like eggs when fried in a pan.
“The egg is a miracle, so one of the hardest parts of replacing it is all the functions that it can do,” said Chris Jones, the company’s culinary director of innovations and a former contestant on Bravo TV’s “Top Chef.”
While Hampton Creek takes aim at the egg, another Gates-backed company is targeting the chicken itself.
Beyond Meat, located in Southern California, sells “chicken-free strips,” which have the taste and stringy texture of poultry but are made from plant protein. It is sold at Whole Foods and natural food stores. It’s also working on a product that mimics beef.
Inside its test kitchen in El Segundo, Caitlin Grady, the company’s culinary ambassador, stir-fried the strips with broccoli, onion, peppers and sesame oil. “I cooked it just like a regular stir-fry, but I don’t have to worry about the meat being raw,” Grady said.
The company is also funded by Obvious Corp., a startup incubator founded by Twitter’s founders, and Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, one of Silicon Valley’s premier venture capital firms.
“It can fit in a vegan’s diet. It can fit in a carnivore’s diet,” said Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown. “We’re trying to appeal to the full range of consumers that are making some shift toward healthier protein.” — AP
SC limits use of red beacon in VIP cars
The Supreme Court has directed all the States to drastically restrict the number of VIPs using the red beacon in their cars, and give the facility only to heads of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary and those holding constitutional posts.
A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and C. Nagappan gave the ruling on a writ petition from Abhay Singh. It directed the States to amend the Motor Vehicle Rules to restrict the use of the red beacon and impose an exemplary fine on those misusing it.
Tracing the origin of the red beacon during the British era, the Bench said: “What we have done in the last four decades would shock the most established political systems. The best example is the use of symbols of authority, including the red lights on the vehicles of public representatives, from the lowest to the highest, and civil servants of various cadres. The red lights symbolise power and the stark differentiation between those who are allowed to use them and the ones who are not. A large number of those using vehicles with red lights have no respect for the law, and they treat the ordinary citizens with contempt. The use of red lights on the vehicles of public representatives and civil servants has perhaps no parallel in the world democracies.”
The Bench said: “The motor vehicles carrying ‘high dignitaries’ specified by the Central government and their counterparts specified by the States may be fitted with red lights, but the red lights with or without flasher can be used only when the specified high dignitary is on duty…”
Writing the judgment, Justice Singhvi said the States and the Union Territories “… cannot enlarge the scope of the term ‘high dignitaries’ beyond what is prescribed in clauses c and d of the January 11, 2002 and, July 28, 2005 notifications issued by the Central government.”
Mars orbiter gets its first course correction
The Indian Space Research Organisation conducted the first of the four trajectory correction manoeuvres of the Mars spacecraft on Wednesday.
TCM1, described as a fine-tuning of the spacecraft, was the first operation to be done since it was pushed out of Earth’s orbit on December 1.
The operation, lasting over half-a-minute, was done to adjust the motion of the spacecraft very slightly to ensure that it travels up to Mars in September next year as scheduled, an official said. It gave a small additional velocity to the spacecraft, according to the update on the Mars Orbiter Mission site.
From their command centre here at ISTRAC, controllers of the Mars orbiter enabled a 40.5-second, preprogrammed firing of the smaller, 22-Newton thrusters on the spacecraft. TCM-1 happened at 6.30am said an official statement.
Before that, they had to suitably orient it and roll it back later to the cruising position, keeping the contact intact.
At that time, the spacecraft was travelling about 29 lakh km away from Earth. It is expected to approach Mars by mid-September next year. It now takes about 20 seconds to send and get a signal ‘response’ from the spacecraft, said the update.
If the TCM is not done at the appointed time, any deviation in the spacecraft can build up and take it beyond the decided path, the official said.
Meanwhile ISRO expects to do three more course corrections in April, August and September next year so as to keep it on the planned time and path for Mars.
Bench: why has not Parliament revisited Section 377 so far?
While declaring illegal homosexuality or unnatural sex between two consenting adults, the Supreme Court has noted that after the adoption of the Indian Penal Code in 1950, 30 amendments were made to the statute. The most recent, made in 2013, specifically deals with sexual offences, a category to which Section 377 belongs, but it has not deleted this provision from the statute.
In its 98-page judgment, a Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and S.J. Mukhopadaya said the 172nd Law Commission in its report “specifically recommended deletion of Section 377 of the IPC, and the issue has repeatedly come up for debate. However, the Legislature has chosen not to amend the law or revisit it. This shows that Parliament, undisputedly the representative body of the people of India, has not thought it proper to delete the provision.”
The Bench said, “Such a conclusion is further strengthened by the fact that despite the decision of the Union of India not to challenge the order of the Delhi High Court [which decriminalise homosexuality], Parliament has not made any amendment to the law. While this does not make the law immune from constitutional challenge, it must nonetheless guide our understanding of character, scope, ambit and import. It is, therefore, apposite to say that unless a clear constitutional violation is proved, this court is not empowered to strike down a law merely by virtue of its falling into disuse or the perception of society having changed as regards the legitimacy of its purpose and its need.”
The Bench said: “The IPC, along with Section 377 as it exists today, was passed by the Legislative Council, and the Governor-General assented to it on 6. 10.1860. The understating of acts which fall within the ambit of Section 377 has changed from non-procreative to imitative of sexual intercourse to sexual perversity. The writ petition filed by the Naz Foundation was singularly laconic inasmuch as except giving a brief detail of the work being done by it for HIV prevention, targeting the MSM (men having sex with men) community, it miserably failed to furnish particulars of incidents of discriminatory attitude exhibited by the state agencies towards sexual minorities... It has also not furnished the particulars of the cases involving harassment of and assault on sexual minorities by the public and public authorities. Only in the affidavit filed on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of AIDS Control, it has been averred that the estimated HIV prevalence among FSW (female sex workers) is 4.60% to 4.94%, among MSM 6.54% to 7.23% and IDU (injecting drug users) 9.42% to 10.30%. The total population of MSM, as in 2006, was estimated to be 25,00,000 and 10% of them are at risk of HIV.”
The Bench said: “In its anxiety to protect the so-called rights of LGBT persons and to declare that Section 377 violates the right to privacy, autonomy and dignity, the High Court has extensively relied upon the judgments of other jurisdictions. Though these judgments shed considerable light on various aspects of this right and are informative in relation to the plight of sexual minorities, we feel that they cannot be applied blindfolded for deciding the constitutionality of the law enacted by the Indian legislature.”
The Bench said: “The courts would be reluctant to declare a law invalid or ultra vires on account of unconstitutionality. The courts would accept an interpretation, which would be in favour of constitutionality rather than the one which would render the law unconstitutional. Declaring the law unconstitutional is one of the last resorts taken by the courts. The courts would preferably put into service the principle of ‘reading down’ or ‘reading into’ the provision to make it effective, workable and ensure the attainment of the object of the Act. These are the principles which clearly emerge from the consistent view taken by this court in its various pronouncements, while the High Court and this court are empowered to review the constitutionality of Section 377 and strike it down to the extent of its inconsistency with the Constitution, self-restraint must be exercised and the analysis must be guided by the presumption of constitutionality.”
Cabinet nod for sugar industry bailout package likely before Christmas
The Food Ministry is making efforts to seek before Christmas the Union Cabinet’s nod for the bailout package for the sugar industry that includes a Rs. 7200-crore interest-free loan.
An informal Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, proposed the package last week to enable the millers to clear the cane arrears and tide over the present financial crisis.
“The proposal is likely to be sent to the Cabinet before Christmas. Our department is preparing a note, which will be discussed in the GoM before being taken to the Cabinet,’’ Minister of State (Independent) K.V. Thomas told journalists on the sidelines of the Indian Sugar Mills Association’s 79th Annual General Meeting.
The Minister urged the millers to “produce what the markets want’’ so that it did not slip into a financial crisis on account of excess production and decline in sugar prices. The need of the hour was “diversification.’’ Production of ethanol was an area of diversification and manufacture of raw sugar, which had a demand in the global market, was another way to stay afloat.
Pointing to the high cane arrears, Mr. Thomas said “cost-cutting through reduced remuneration to farmers is not going to be a sustainable, long-term solution. The bigger solution lies in enhancing the productivity of Indian sugarcane cultivation, for which millers have to take a lead in their respective catchment areas.’’
The Minister noted that 2013 was a “watershed year’’ for the industry when the government removed major regulatory controls on the sector. In the process, the government had “willingly’’ taken on an annual burden of around Rs. 3000 crore to provide subsidised sugar to the poor under the public distribution system. Earlier, the industry had to provide 10 per cent of its production as “levy sugar.’’
Following the decision, Mr. Thomas said, he was equally worried about the slump witnessed in the domestic prices. “The current situation has not only created cash flow and profitability issues for the sugar mills but has also led to cane arrears for 2012-13 season. The glut in the international market has made sugar exports a difficult proposition.’’
Referring to the financial package, Mr. Thomas said banks would lend equivalent to the excise duty paid by the mills in the last three years, while the entire interest of 12 per cent would be shared by the Centre and the Sugar Development Fund under the Food Ministry.
This season, the industry was adamant about not paying the State Advised Price (SAP) fixed by the States. As against this, farmers were demanding a raise in the SAP on grounds of rise in input costs.
ISMA president M. Srinivaasan said the industry body had not achieved much success in impressing upon the States the need to link sugarcane price with revenue realisation of the price of sugar and by-products.
After five decades, a warrior bows out
First batch of MIG 21s was inducted in March-April, 1963
As four MiG-21 FL (Type-77) combat jets streaked across the sky in a box formation for the last time at the Kalaikunda airbase (home to the Operational Conversion Unit of the Indian Air Force) in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district on Wednesday, an era in the history of Indian military aviation came to an end.
After the final pass, a MiG-21 FL, with tail number C-1125, was towed towards the hangar. As the old warrior returned to the base for the last time to the tune of a farewell song, the pilots who had flown the war machine watched with heavy hearts. Their companion for years in many battles had bowed out of service. Three MiG-27s performed the Trishul Break Manoeuvre to pay a final tribute to the MiG-21.
To bid adieu to the venerated jet of the IAF, a solemn ceremony comprising well-coordinated parades was performed by the IAF personnel.
It was with the induction of the first batch of six MiG-21s in March-April of 1963 that the supersonic era in the IAF started. In an operational career that spanned roughly five decades, MiG-21 has done great service to the nation in gaining air supremacy during war times.
The first supersonic air combat in the subcontinent took place during the 1971 war with Pakistan when MiG-21 proved its mettle. By the end of the war, MiG-21 had shot down four F-104s, two F-6s, one F-86 Sabre and a Lockheed C-130 Hercules of the Pakistan Air Force, according to a release issued by the Press Information Bureau (Defence Wing).
Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal N.A.K Browne said: “Today’s [Wednesday] event marks a watershed moment in the IAF’s history as we reach the end of nearly five decades of remarkable operational service rendered by this iconic fighter. It is no wonder, therefore, that five generations of our combat pilots, including myself, who have ‘cut teeth’ on this veritable fighter swear by its unmatched combat prowess.”
The fact that around 80 per cent of the serving fighter pilots had flown the old workhorse proved its reliability in battle, where it dominated over enemy aircraft by means of its agility, fast acceleration and ability to turn around swiftly.
Even as the workhorse of the Indian Air Force, MiG-21, bowed out on Wednesday, indigenously developed Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas, is just a formality away from passing into the hands of the force.
Dubbed the world’s lightest fighter, the tail-less little wonder is due to ceremonially earn its initial operational clearance (IOC) and move closer to joining the IAF at its birthplace, Bangalore, on December 20.
The event will see its creator and developer, the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) under the DRDO, hand over an aircraft, along with the user manuals, in as good as battle-ready state to the IAF.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne, and DRDO Director-General Avinash Chander are slated to be present at the ceremony along with the “who’s who” of the military set-up.
After obtaining the IOC, the ADA’s production partner, state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., will start producing 20 of them in the IOC version, said an official involved in the 25-year-old LCA programme.
Yet, the LCA will be considered fully battle-ready only around end-2014, after it clears firing more lethal armaments and missiles.
HAL says it plans to initially produce eight LCA for the IAF a year from 2014-15, and raise the delivery rate to 12-16 a year subsequently. Its production centre in Bangalore has built up nearly 28,000 sq m of space to house the LCA’s hangar and engineering sections. A repair and overhaul unit is to follow later.
Two squadrons (each having 18-20 aircraft) are expected to be delivered in five years, that is, around 2019. The IAF is expected to eventually station the LCA fleet at the Sulur Air Force Station near Coimbatore.
In the next decade, the IAF is estimated to need 200-220 LCAs as per past statements. HAL has supplied a limited series of eight aircraft leading to the IOC and has orders for 40 LCA from the IAF: of them, 20 are to be in the IOC mode for an order worth Rs. 4,000 crore and another 20 in the FOC mode. The Navy, too, it is said, needs 40 of them to replace the Sea Harriers. On December 7, the LCA made another mark after it released an air-to-air missile that also ‘killed’ a moving practice target.
Tejas is a fourth-generation fighter with contemporary technologies.
With sounds of reggae beats coming from the streets where thousands of people waved rainbow flags, the Uruguayan Senate passed a law on Tuesday night allowing the citizens of this South American country to grow, sell and smoke marijuana. The bill, passed after 11 hours of heated debate, is aimed at wresting the business from criminals. This experiment is being watched by several countries, which are getting tired of the U.S.-led “war on drugs” and working on drug liberalisation policies.
Though consumption of marijuana is allowed in some countries, Uruguay has become the first country in the world to allow its citizens to grow and sell it. “We begin a new experience in April. It involves a big cultural change that focuses on public health and the fight against drug trafficking,” Senator Lucía Topolansky, Uruguay’s first lady, told reporters outside the Senate.
The government-sponsored bill, approved by 16-13 votes in the Senate, would allow cannabis consumers to buy 40 grams each month from state-regulated pharmacies as long as they are 18 years and registered on a government database. The law would also allow Uruguayan citizens to grow up to six plants of marijuana in their homes a year and set up smoking clubs of 15 to 45 members that could grow up to 99 plants every year.
The bill, passed by the lower chamber of Congress in July, remains unpopular among the majority in this country of 3.3 million people. But Uruguay’s leftist President, Jose Mujica, has defended it as a move to regulate and tax a market “controlled by criminals”. “We’ve given this market as a gift to the drug traffickers and that is more destructive socially than the drug itself, because it rots the whole of society,” the 78-year-old former guerilla fighter said before the debate.
As opposition Senators attacked the government for introducing an “unconstitutional” bill, a large number of supporters of the law gathered near the Congress building, holding balloons, playing music, smoking joints and waving flags with photos of Bob Marley and a slogan which read: “Cultivating freedom, Uruguay grows.”
Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Wednesday that the government will not turn back from the path of fiscal discipline.
“Top of the list is fiscal consolidation,” he said. “I speak for the government when I say there will be no compromise — on the decision to walk on the path of fiscal prudence and contain the fiscal deficit, year by year, until we reach the goal of three per cent of GDP in 2016-17.”
He was speaking at the Delhi Economic Conclave 2013 on ‘The Agenda for the Next Five Years.’
Addressing the meeting, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said: “We have to realise that we are faced with elections. We are hopeful and there is a high likelihood that the next will be a stable government but we cannot take it for granted..
.The markets are not willing to cut new governments much slack and there is no space for complacency.”
He further said: “Post-elections any additional fiscal slippage or delays in passage of Bills will amplify the large challenges faced by the economy. It will benefit the economy if Parliament passes Bills and steps are taken for increasing diesel prices and eliminating poorly targeted subsidies.”
Mr. Chidambaram said there were “incipient signs of recovery” in the economy that are “too tentative, too few and too scattered.”
Dr. Rajan said: “We have come a fair distance from the turmoil of the summer; there is evidence that the economy is stabilising... However, it is too early to call a bottom at this point.” Earlier, on November 1, Mr. Chidambaram had told a press conference that green shoots were visible in multiple areas in the economy.
The Governor said the Current Account Deficit correction had come from reduced gold imports through curbs, a necessary short-term measure not desirable in the long term. Similarly, the measures to reduce the fiscal deficit are not of the highest quality. Mr. Chidambaram, too, said the government borrowings should be largely to finance investment and not consumption.
After fiscal consolidation, next on the to-do list was tackling inflation, the Minister said.
“It is common knowledge that the government of the day will pay a price for high inflation, especially if inflation persists over a long period of time.”
He said: “I think it is necessary to highlight the inaction of the State governments... even while accepting that the Central government must do all it can within its powers to moderate inflation.”
He also said the argument that inflation must be contained by suppressing farm gate prices or rural wages ignored the needs of the poor and deserved to be rejected.
In a major setback to gay rights activists, the Supreme Court on Wednesday held that homosexuality or unnatural sex between two consenting adults under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code is illegal and will continue to be an offence. This provision did not suffer from any constitutional infirmity, it said.
A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and S.J. Mukhopadaya set aside the Delhi High Court’s verdict decriminalising homosexuality . Section 377 holds that whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal commits an unnatural offence. The Bench said: “We hold that Section 377 does not suffer from… unconstitutionality and the declaration made by the Division Bench of the High Court is legally unsustainable.” It, however, said: “Notwithstanding this verdict, the competent legislature shall be free to consider the desirability and propriety of deleting Section 377 from the statute book or amend it as per the suggestion made by Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati.”
Writing the judgment, Justice Singhvi (who retired on Wednesday) said: “Those who indulge in carnal intercourse in the ordinary course and those who indulge in carnal intercourse against the order of nature constitute different classes; and the people falling in the latter category cannot claim that Section 377 suffers from the vice of arbitrariness and irrational classification. What Section 377 does is merely to define the particular offence and prescribe punishment for the same which can be awarded if, in the trial conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure and other statutes of the same family, the person is found guilty. Therefore, the High Court was not right in declaring Section 377 ultra vires Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution.”
On March 27, 2012, the court reserved verdict after arguments that started on February 15, 2012. Parents of gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals and transgenders supported the High Court ruling, which was delivered on petitions filed by the NAZ Foundation and others. It was argued that Section 377 was against their right to life and liberty guaranteed under the Constitution. The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board and the Apostolic Churches Alliance had opposed the judgment.
The Bench said: “While reading down Section 377, the High Court overlooked that a miniscule fraction of the country’s population constitutes lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgenders, and in the more than 150 years past, less than 200 persons have been prosecuted for committing offence under Section 377, and this cannot be made a sound basis for declaring that Section ultra vires Articles 14, 15 and 21.”
