Prisons monitoring to be centralised
Strict ban on mobile phones
Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan has said monitoring systems in the prisons will be enhanced to prevent violation of rules.
Speaking to the media here on Saturday, Mr. Radhakrishnan said various changes were being introduced to improve the functioning of the prisons. A control room, functioning round-the-clock, would be established at the headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram. The facility would ensure centralised monitoring of all prisons with modern technologies under the supervision of ADGP T.P. Sen Kumar.
He said jail inmates creating trouble would be placed under surveillance and a strict ban would be enforced on the use of mobile phones and other prohibited items.
The inmates would be permitted to use the coin box to make phone calls. While convicts would be allowed to make calls worth Rs.150 a month, undertrials would be permitted to make use of the facility up to Rs.100 a month.
Among jail staff, only employees from jailors to their superiors would be permitted to use mobile phones on the jail premises. For improving the communication network within the jails, wireless sets would be provided. Various measures would be adopted to strengthen internal security of the prisons.
The jail staff would be given training to examine closed circuit television (CCTV) visuals. Inmates would be permitted to keep only two sets of clothes. He said to prevent hurling of supplies into prison premises, nets would be fixed around the prison periphery and surveillance cameras installed at the usual supply points.
Services of bomb detection squads and mobile detection teams would be employed on a regular basis. Jail officials had been issued orders to maintain decorum towards families visiting the inmates. Visitors would be required to produce either the original of their photo identity cards or copy during visits.
LDF siege
Referring to arguments raised by Sandhya Suresh, a homemaker, against LDF workers laying siege to the Cliff House in Thiruvananthapuram, Mr. Radhakrishnan said the police were left with no other option to ensure security to prevent untoward incidents.
He also opined that the incident must be seen as an eye-opener by all political parties.
Education, innovation need reform: Pranab
Twenty-five legends honoured for outstanding contributions
Amartya Sen, M. S. Swaminathan, C.N.R Rao, Pt. Chaurasia, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev, Indra Nooyi and Dr. S.S Badrinath are among the 25 eminent personalities honoured by NDTV at an awards function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday.— Photo courtesy: Rashtrapati Bhavan
To become achievers we need courage and determination, said President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday while presenting India’s 25 greatest global Indian living legends awards at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
The awards, instituted by television news channel NDTV as part of its 25-years celebrations, recognise and honour 25 individuals for outstanding contribution in their respective fields.
Presenting the awards, Mr. Mukherjee said India must take its rightful place among nations and invest in education and innovation to build a world-class education system. Commenting on the achievements of the awardees, the President said a lesson that can be drawn from the lives of these 25 awardees is that there are no shortcuts to success.
Pushing for reforms in education and innovation, the President expressed concern that Indian universities had not been able to produce any Nobel Laureate after Sir C.V. Raman.
“There is no lack of talented teachers, students but what we are failing in is to coordinate them, to give them the priority to create the atmosphere which can produce Amartya Sen, Venkat Rama Krishan, Har Gobind Khorana and many others,” he said.
Both the Nobel Laureates who were awarded at the function had done their post-graduation from Indian universities, Mr. Mukherjee pointed out adding: “We can invest in innovation in education and build up a world class education in this country, which is not a dream.”
Among the awardees were Bharat Ratna Dr. Amartya Sen; actors Amitabh Bachchan, Rajnikanth, Waheeda Rahman, Shah Rukh Khan; eminent scientists M.S. Swaminathan, Bharat Ratna C.N.R. Rao; cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev; Nobel laureate V. Ramakrishnan; noted orchestra conductor Zubin Mehta; Dr. S.S. Badrianth of the Sankara Nethralaya for his contribution to medicine, Tennis player Leander Paes; eminent lawyer Fali Nariman; social activist Ela Bhat; noted artist Anish Kapoor; Ratan Tata of Tata group, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, N.R. Narayana Murthy of Infosys, CEO of Pepsi Indra Nooyi and Cipla Chairman Y.K. Hamied; and novelist Vikram Seth.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sen said he was “extremely honoured, deeply grateful, quite overwhelmed.” Dr. Swaminathan spoke of India’s transition from a nation that was perceived to have no future and a food crisis to the present day where food security is a reality. “The future belongs to nations with grains not guns,” he said in his acceptance speech.
Mr. Tendulakar’s advice to the youth was to play outdoor games. “I would encourage the youth of India to dream because dreams come true if you chase them hard,” he said while superstar Rajnikanth said miracles do happen in life. Mr. Rahman said he was deeply humbled and that being an Indian was a great blessing. He also thanked the state of Tamil Nadu for encouraging him. Mr. Bachchan recalled the advice he received from his father poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan.
Accepting the award, Dr. Badrinath called for the young to contribute towards making affordable and quality health care in India a reality. He said since India was a poor country, there was a deficit of affordable and good health care.
India helping in having our own army: Karzai
India and Afghanistan have agreed to deepen defence and security cooperation to increase the operational capabilities and mobility of the Afghanistan National Security and Defence Forces (ANSDF).
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, especially in military training and equipment, were “very productive, resulting in satisfaction for the Afghan side.”
In an interaction with journalists and strategic affairs experts here on Saturday, he said, “We hope to have an army to defend Afghanistan through its own resources and its own citizens. To that objective we are being helped by India.”
Afghanistan had given a wish list of military equipment and also sought greater cooperation in building up a battle-capable ANSDF. India was wise to carefully weigh the implications of greater defence cooperation, he said.
Besides defence and security, Dr. Singh and Mr. Karzai on Friday agreed to work with Iran for developing new routes to facilitate trade and transit to Afghanistan and beyond. One of these is a land route beginning from the Iranian port of Chah-bahar. It enters Zaranj on the Afghan border from where India has built a road feeding into the garland highway connecting major Afghan cities. A spur connects Afghanistan to Central Asia, thus opening up further prospects for India’s trade and economic drive in non-traditional markets.
Mr. Karzai said both Kabul and New Delhi had applied for land at Chah-bahar to set up administrative and trade facilitation offices. He wanted Central Asian countries also to also participate in this endeavour.
The President was confident of India going ahead with $11-billion Hajigak iron ore project, but pointed out that the Afghans were being very cautious about opening up the country’s mineral resources for exploitation to prevent them from becoming a source of trouble as it happened in some African countries.
On the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that has seen Mr. Karzai and United States officials exchange harsh words, he said both India and Afghanistan wanted U.S.\NATO troops to continue being stationed in the country. “We also discussed why we should have the peace process launched before the BSA and why we need complete protection of citizens. So the Prime Minister and I agreed on the need for Afghan conditionalities to be fulfilled. They need not frame it that way. Both are necessary — their presence in Afghanistan as well as protecting Afghan homes against attacks.”
Talks with Taliban
Mr. Karzai described talks with the Taliban as the “need of Afghan people,” but drew a distinction between those who are with terrorist networks in their actions and outlook and those drawn into insurgency by circumstances beyond their control and that of the Afghan government.
He disapproved of the killing of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan’s Hakimullah Mehsud a day before he was to hold peace talks with Islamabad. “The U.S. should have given an opportunity to engage in talks. It should have waited to see if those talks would be successful.”
The President praised Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for expressing his desire “in very clear words” for an improved relationship with Afghanistan and India.
Mr. Karzai met President Pranab Mukherjee, Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon.
Greenhouse gas emissions will dry up water resources, warns U.N. panel
Final draft sent to all governments for review
A leaked final draft of the U.N. scientific panel on climate change has warned of the risks that the world will face if greenhouse gas emissions are not curtailed and countries do not adapt quickly enough.
The report of the Working Group II of the U.N. Inter-governmental panel on climate change (IPCC) was leaked online. The Hindu confirmed its veracity independently.
The final draft has been sent to all governments for review and comment before the report is finalised. While the possibility of change in the report during finalisation remains, sources toldThe Hindu that substantial alteration was unlikely.
The summary for the policymakers — an easy synopsis of the 30-chapter report — states “recent changes in climate have caused impacts on natural and human systems on all continents and across the oceans. Evidence of climate change impacts is strongest and most comprehensive for natural systems, although some impacts on human systems have also been attributed to climate change.”
The summary notes: “In response to on-going climate change, terrestrial and marine species have shifted their ranges, seasonal activities, migration patterns, and abundance.”
The lack of adaptation efforts in developing countries has led to significant vulnerability and exposure from extreme climatic events, such as heat waves, droughts, floods and wildfires, the report says.
The report looks at the impacts already imposed and projects the future impacts based on unchecked emissions of greenhouse gases in different scenarios.
The report warns that there is robust evidence of freshwater availability being hit significantly with increasing emissions. “Climate change will reduce renewable surface water and groundwater resources significantly in most dry subtropical regions, exacerbating competition for water among sectors,” the summary says.
“Each degree of warming is projected to decrease renewable water resources by at least 20% for an additional 7% of the global population.”
For agriculture-dependent countries such as India, the report warns of ominous changes in crop yields. “With or without adaptation, climate change will reduce median yields by 0-0.2% per decade for the rest of the century, as compared to baseline without climate change.” This would happen against a surging 14% increase in demand for food crops every decade till 2050.
Some of India and Asia-specific impacts and risks are highlighted separately in the graphic along with the story. These are extracted from the Chapter on Asia in the main report. The summary says the key risk to Asia arises from ‘increased flooding,’ leading to widespread damage to infrastructure and settlements, heat-related mortality and increased risk of drought-related water and food shortages causing malnutrition. The report indicates that there are limits to how much change people can adapt to. “In some parts of the world, current failures to address emerging impacts are already eroding the basis for sustainable development,” the report says.
Recent changes in climate have caused impacts on natural and human systems
The report warms of threatening changes in crop yields
House committee calls for constitutional status to JAC appointments
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice has recommended that the structure and functions of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) — which will replace the present collegium system — be mentioned in the Constitution itself so as to protect the basic structure of the Constitution.
A report, submitted to Parliament early this week by committee Chairman Shantaram Naik, said the panel shared the concern voiced by many stakeholders, who appeared before it seeking the protection of Article 368 (which regulates the procedure for amending the Constitution) to the JAC structure and functions so as to protect the basic structure of the Constitution. “The committee, while endorsing their views, observes that constitutional status to the appointment and transfer of judges [made] by the Commission may be given to allay apprehension expressed by legal luminaries.”
The Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2013 seeks to set up a six-member body, under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice of India, for recommending to the President the names of persons with outstanding legal acumen and impeccable integrity and credibility for the post of judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts. It will follow a similar procedure for transfer of High Court judges.
The report pointed out that some jurists who appeared before the committee said representation on the JAC from the Executive through the Law and Justice Minister “will amount to interference of the Executive in the appointment of judges, and will thereby affect the independence of judiciary.” They were of the view that the present system would have worked well had transparency and accountability been taken care of. “They, however, had the apprehension that the proposed Bill may not be able to sustain the test of judicial scrutiny.”
The report said the collegium process was “beset with its own problem of opacity and non-accountability,” besides excluding the Executive entirely in the collaborative and consultative exercise for appointments. Because of such inherent deficiencies, about 275 judge posts in various High Courts were lying vacant and this “has a direct bearing upon the justice delivery system.”
Rampant lobbying
The former CJIs M.N. Venkatachaliah and the late J.S. Verma; the retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Ravindaran, and Professor Madan Gopal expressed concern over the appointments made to the High Courts under the present collegium system in which, they said, lobbying was rampant and the most eligible were often ignored. They strongly advocated the setting up of a JAC to select eligible and meritorious candidates as High Court judges, the report said.
The committee suggested that there should be three eminent persons in the commission, instead of only two as provided for in the Bill. At least one of the three members should be from SC/ST/OBC/women/minority, preferably by rotation. Considering the JAC’s responsibility to select 800-odd judges of 24 High Courts, the “committee feels that in order to assist the Judicial Appointment Commission, the government may consider the feasibility and practicability of creation of a State-level commission at the earliest.” It may consist of the Chief Minister, the Chief Justice of the High Court and the Leader of the Opposition. This, the committee hopes, “will not only lessen the burden of the commission at the apex level but will provide for a more broad-based appointment process.”
The committee wants the government to incorporate amendments in the Bill as suggested by it.
Some jurists fear Executive interference in judges appointment
“Many posts vacant because of inherent
defects in collegium system”
‘India is peace-loving but that should not be perceived as its weakness’
Like many other parents, their father, mother, and other relatives joined in to congratulate the two boys who on Saturday walked their ‘ antim pag [Final Steps]’ out of the hallowed portals of the historic Chetwode building to become officers in the Indian Army.
Nephews of a martyr in the Kargil war, Vivek Giri (23) and Vishal Giri (24) are brothers who passed out together from the Indian Military Academy (IMA) on Saturday. Their father is a Subedar in the Army. “My uncle died in the Kargil war and that has inspired me to join the Army. It isn’t about death. The Indian Army is all about honour and integrity,” said Lieutenant Vishal Giri after his epaulette was adorned with two stars post the passing out parade.
Rachit Pande (23), who graduated in Chemistry, reiterated that living up to the tradition of the Indian Army even at the cost of his life was his goal. “My father is a Colonel in the Army but that did not inspire me to join the Army,” Lieutenant Pande said.
With 617 Gentleman Cadets (GCs) crossing the portals of the Chetwode building on Saturday, the count of the number of officers who have passed out of the IMA since its inauguration in 1932 reached 54,188. Of the GCs who passed out, the highest — 105 — were from Uttar Pradesh. This was followed by 80 from Haryana, and 46 from Uttarakhand. So far, a total of 1,614 Foreign Gentleman Cadets (FGCs) have passed out from the IMA, of whom 71 FGCs participated in Saturday’s passing out parade.
Of this year’s FGCs, 52 were from Afghanistan and the remaining 19 FGCs were from the friendly foreign countries of Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, Nepal, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. The number of FGCs from Afghanistan has increased in the last two years with the increase in the number of seats for Afghans in the IMA and the National Defence Academy (NDA).
Sixteen senior officers from the Afghan Army, some of whom were accompanied by their families, witnessed the parade. These officers were trained at the IMA between 1974 and 1982. The officers said it gave them a great sense of pride to return to the land whose training had helped Afghanistan and continued to do so.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony, who was the Reviewing Officer at the parade, commended the GCs for maintaining ‘high discipline standards.’ “We are a peace loving nation,” Mr. Antony said. He said no one should perceive this as a sign of weakness.
Mr. Antony congratulated the Army for showing unprecedented valour while handling the catastrophe that struck Uttarakhand in June this year. “I would like to congratulate all the officers and men of the Indian Army and the Armed Forces for the exemplary courage shown during the unprecedented calamity in the State of Uttarakhand.”
The Sword of Honour was awarded to Akshat Joshi for best all-round performance. He was also awarded the Silver Medal for standing second in the Regular Course.
A resident of Chandigarh, Lieutenant Joshi is the first in his family to be in the Indian Army. “Had I to choose between the Army and my family, I would always choose the Army and my parents would want me to do the same,” he said. Lieutenant Joshi said what most of the Army officers would do was to live by Chetwode’s motto according to which safety, honour, and welfare of one’s country came first.
Kamlesh Mani was awarded the Gold Medal and Vicky Duhoon was awarded the Bronze medal for standing first and third, respectively, in the Regular Course.
The Silver Medal for standing first in the Technical Entry Scheme Course was awarded to Ashwin Nagpal and the Silver Medal for standing first in the Technical Graduate Course was awarded to Ratan Singh. Bhutan’s Kuenga bagged the Silver Medal for the best all-round performance.
India needs ‘contact and dialogue’ policy: Nirupama
The country needs to craft astute and strategic responses to challenges arising from its neighbouring countries, former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao has said.
She was delivering the 22nd Sree Chithira Tirunal memorial lecture on ‘India in a tough neighbourhood’ here on Saturday.
“India has a central position is South Asia. The going has become tough in the surrounding region due to sectarian divides, radicalism, and the proliferation of arms. The right mix of strength and strategic restraint is needed in this situation. We need to follow a policy which focusses on contact and dialogue with the neighbours,” she said.
About the situation in Afghanistan, she said India should ensure that the elected government was not left on its own to fight battles with extremist elements.
The North-Eastern States would benefit by smoother entry to other parts of India through Bangladesh. It was vital to work together with Bangladesh to fight terrorism.
In Sri Lanka, the end of civil war had provided a historic opportunity for reconciliation.
India should ensure that the self-respect of Tamil minority should not be eroded.
As for dealing with China, she said the challenge was in managing the relationship between the two countries despite its inherent complexities. The dispute over territory with China was not new.
“There is a risk of these issues obfuscating our vision for the future. India has much work left on strengthening communication and transport in the border regions,” she said.
India donates second naval Advanced Light Helicopter to Maldives
India on Saturday donated a second naval Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), Dhruv, to Maldives in a gesture that was described by Maldivian Minister of Defence Mohamed Nazim as “paving the way for further strengthening of ties between both countries.”
A brand new, Mark-III (the latest) variant of the India-made multi-role helicopter in Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) colours was unveiled at a simple ceremony attended by Mr. Nazim, Vice-Admiral Satish Soni, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of India’s Southern Naval Command, and MNDF Brigadier General Ali Zuhair besides senior formations from both sides, officials from the Ministry of External Affairs and representatives of the helicopter manufacturer, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, at naval air station Garuda in Kochi.
Cordial relation
On the last leg of his India visit, Mr. Nazim said the Maldives maintained a friendly and cordial relation with its neighbours, especially India, which stood by the nation whenever it needed support. Defence cooperation between both countries grew drastically over the past few years with Indian armed forces, particularly the Navy, contributing greatly to MNDF’s capacity-building. He said the ‘gift’ would help the island nation’s Coast Guard carry out search and rescue and medical evacuation from its far-flung territories.
Vice-Admiral Soni said India shared long-standing ties with Maldives. While Indian Navy trained MNDF personnel and despatched its ships and aircraft to patrol the Maldivian exclusive economic zone, the Maldives contributed to security in the Indian Ocean region by enhanced surveillance and anti-piracy patrol. The nation also actively participated in forums such as the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) and the biennial exercise Milan.
Vice-Admiral Soni told the media later that provisioning the ALH, the face of India’s aviation industry, was indicative of the importance India attached to its relationship with the island nation. While the ALH already in operation with the Maldivian Coast Guard was based at the southern Maldivian island of Addu, the more advanced, second helicopter — which also sports a weather radar— would operate from the northern Hannimadhoo Island, primarily on medical evacuation duty. The helicopter would be initially manned and maintained by an all-Indian crew.
Maldives top priority
The Maldives topped India’s priority alongside Bangladesh, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. Defence cooperation between both countries was set for further growth, he said. As many as 16 MNDF personnel were presently undergoing training at India’s Southern Naval Command, the Indian Navy’s Training Command.
(Indian Navy has trained MNDF personnel since 1988. Maldivian defence personnel subscribe to at least 35 courses every year)
Virtual reality training for cardiologists
The Care Hospitals Group, in an initiative leveraging technology, started offering training to cardiologists using a Virtual Reality Simulator that gives young doctors a feel of exactly what they will be doing in an operation theatre before they actually operate on patients.
C. Narasimhan, Senior Consultant Cardiologist & Electroniphysiologist at the Care Hospitals, said the simulator had sensors and chips that could be exactly programmed to give exact dimensions of the area to be operated in the patient and give them a real-life feel.
He explained how it took him three to four months of training to start understanding technology and get familiarised with the processes and steps needed while working on a patient.
“Now with such training methodology and the simulator, it just takes three weeks for a doctor to work his/her way around the complex muscle and tissue, valves and veins around a human heart with more confidence and faster,” he said.
Kaustav Banerjee, Country Manager, St. Jude Medical said physical access to technology was an extremely limited proposition “Doctors could bring to life, previous training and experience hands-on how they could manage complications during procedures,” he said.
Simulator has sensors and chips that could give exact dimensions of the area to be operated
Doctors get a feel of what they will be doing in an operation theatre before they actually operate on patients
“It takes just three weeks for a doctor to work on it with more confidence and faster”
The beginning of an end to war on drugs?
Deep from the dense forests of Colombia, the leftist rebels have sent a message to the government: stop killing and start talking. In its decades-old war with the Colombian state, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has declared ceasefire many times, but the latest offer may bring lasting peace to the country as it comes after a one-year long talks between the government and rebels in Cuba and Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos’s recent meeting with President Barack Obama in which they discussed the U.S.-led “war on drugs”.
In a communiqué issued on Tuesday, the Secretariat of the Central High Command of the FARC announced the ceasefire that will become effective from December 15. “We unilaterally proceed to order all our guerrilla and militia units a ceasefire and end hostilities for 30 days,” said the statement, asking the government to reciprocate as “public opinion was confused by this strange cocktail of death and dialogue”.
Considered Latin America’s longest-running insurgency, the conflict has left 220,000 dead and displaced 4.5 million people.
Though Christmas time ceasefires are not new in Colombia, the current truce — even though unilateral — is important as the peace talks between the Santos government and the rebels have made good progress on a five-point agenda: rural development and land distribution; political reform and participation of FARC; narco-trafficking, reparation and recognition of the victims of the conflict; and finally, conflict termination. The first two points already have been agreed upon and talks on drugs cultivation and trafficking are in a crucial stage.
The FARC, Colombia’s largest rebel group with 8,000 heavily-armed fighters, had unilaterally declared a ceasefire for two months at the start of the Cuba negotiations in November 2012, but lifted it after the government refused to reciprocate. Arguing that a ceasefire would give the FARC a strategic advantage, Mr. Santos had ordered his forces to step up their offensive.
This time too, the government has not yet responded to the ceasefire but there are indications that there is a change in the thinking in Bogota. Last week, Colombian Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas said the current defence budget of 26 trillion pesos (US$10 billion) will come down if the government and the rebels sign a peace accord.
Various citizen groups in Colombia too have called on the FARC to maintain the truce till the presidential polls in May. Such a long ceasefire may be unlikely, but the government is trying to extract more peace gestures from the rebels in order to win public support for a deal.
The current ceasefire may also help the rebels and government to agree on the most important part of their negotiations: drug trafficking. In his December 3 meeting with Mr. Obama, Mr. Santos managed to get his support for a peace deal with FARC. The role of U.S., which has spent more than $8 billion, through a legislation known as Plan Colombia, to help Colombia combat drugs and fight the FARC insurgency, is crucial to the peace process.
With the US-led “war on drugs” being seen as a failed strategy by most countries in the region, the FARC has proposed 10-point plan to de-criminalise the drug usage and focus on the socioeconomic and cultural aspects of the drug trade.
Only last week, Uruguay became the first country to legalise marijuana use, a move likely to be replicated in several other South American nations.
“A new mood is evolving in Latin America where more leaders are calling for de-criminalisation and legalisation of drug usage as the most effective alternative to a failed and very costly strategy. President Santos is listening carefully to what his regional counterparts are voicing,” said Nazih Richani, the director of Latin American studies at Kean University, in a column.
