Words of the Wise...

“To have joy, one must share it. Happiness was born a twin.” - Lord Byron

“We cannot control the evil tongues of others; but a good life enables us to disregard them.” - Cato the Elder

“It is no profit to have learned well, if you neglect to do well.” - Publilius Syrus

“A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works.” - John Gaule

“To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.” - G.K. Chesterton

“After the last of 16 mounting screws has been removed from an access cover, it will be discovered that the wrong access cover has been removed.” - De La Lastra’s Law

“Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle. They read it to get to the end. If it’s a letdown, they won’t buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book.” - Mickey Spillane

“The doors of heaven and hell are adjacent and identical.” - Nikos Kazantzakis

Rocking the boat....

The bureaucracy strikes again! I mean, do these people revel in making such inane decisions or is it just their innate incompetence peeking through the just-working superstructure of the system? Time and again, they have never failed to amaze onlookers with their ‘wisdom’ and their sheer ‘sanguinity’ about how things could be better if we just leave things to them.

The Election Commission of India, one of the most respected institutions in today’s turbulent times and more so because it has remained as a sole guardian of reason in the cesspool that is India’s bureaucracy. Its impartial and exemplary work in the area of conducting free and fair elections sans mishaps and misdemeanours has been appreciated all around, not only in India but also abroad. Its reluctance to tolerate the whims and fancies of blundering politicians has earned it the respect of the electorate.

And that is why the decision by the Commission to order the removal of all advertisements in the state of Uttar Pradesh pertaining to the polio immunization drives featuring Amitabh Bachchan is puzzling. The drive is part of a government initiative to reduce the occurrence of polio, and has been amongst the few successful initiatives coming out of the establishment’s stable. And the sole reason why these advertisements are on the radar are because Mr. Bachchan has often expressed support for the ruling Samajwadi Party in the state.

I find it an implausible notion that an advertisement for polio immunization should ever be construed as an appeal for votes. I mean, the drive isn’t a state government initiative; it’s governed by the central and the state government together. And Mr. Bachchan isn’t just any model; he’s an officially accredited UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. By the EC’s logic, then I don’t think that any advertisements issued by any State or Central Government ministry should pass the EC’s barrier. Let’s make it a level playing field, while we are at it, shall we?

Meanwhile, the move is being seen as one that could become a major blow to the campaign per se. While the EC is happy to allow the campaign itself to continue and just wants the endorsing celebrity to be changed, it is hard to imagine what impact any other celebrity would have in comparison to Mr. Bachchan. A study by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry in collaboration with UNICEF had identified Uttar Pradesh as the epicentre of polio occurrences. The study found that 73.6 per cent guardians with children under the age of five in lower socio-economic categories could recall the television advertisement featuring Bachchan. The study also determined that the campaign had a positive impact. The percentage of “caregivers” who reported taking their children to polio booths was higher among those who were exposed to the TV campaign (73 per cent) than those had not seen it (55 per cent). At this juncture, to replace Mr. Bachchan with any other celebrity would not have the same impact as desirable. And we cannot afford slackening on this assault against polio.

While I don’t support canvassing for parties at the public exchequer’s cost, this hardly qualifies as the same. It should be noted that this campaign associates Mr. Bachchan with the polio campaign. Targeting Mr. Bachchan per se smacks of stupidity. Rather, the EC would do well to target those specific advertisements wherein some political figure is also mentioned. The campaign needs Mr. Bachchan; let’s not disturb the waters now!

Are we playing dice with the economy....?

Politics and wise economics are never quite the same. Please note, I am not saying that politicians don’t look at practical solutions; just that they rarely if ever look at the right solution. And as and when they do happen to get hold of such a solution, they manage to make a mess of things by their opportunism and their sheer incompetence. I mean, why is it so difficult to convince people about the practical benefits of a scheme when it is so ‘easy’ to persuade them of the efficacy of one’s political outfit and how it is better than the opposition?

The S.E.Z. (Special Economic Zone) issue is raging now, and politics is overshadowing economics again, although I am sceptical about whether one can truly call it a wise economic decision in the first place. I happened to read Nitin Desai’s article on whether the zones per se were a good idea, and I feel everyone should at least go through the piece, if not to understand the whole gamut of the SEZ issue, but just to understand why there is so much opposition to the scheme.

What may be touted by politicians to be beneficial to the people is rarely ever so; they aren’t where they are to serve the people; they have many more benefactors whose benedictions they have to repay, and in the short period that their tenure lasts, it is all the more the urgent that they do something substantial. Nitin makes a fine point when he makes a distinction between a business-friendly government and a market-friendly government as that between a hegemonic gatekeeper and a benign, albeit powerful, guardian. The Indian State, and its bureaucratic institutions love the role of a despotic tyrant when it comes to imposing rules and regulations on industry, and cannot be expected to be amenable to a role wherein their role would require them to be sympathetic towards everyone sine prejudice.

I never quite understood the idea as to why the zones are focussing mainly on export-related production alone. I mean, if you want to promote exports alone, why not improve the general infrastructure? It would also promote domestic growth, and in turn your capability to export also would be augmented.

I believe PC, our dear ‘beloved’ Finance Minister, is not that enthusiastic about the whole affair, considering that his Ministry will bear the biggest brunt of the concessions that are expected to be rolled out to those investing in creating such zones. Tax concessions and the expected reductions in domestic tariffs once industries shift to these zones are expected to set back revenue collections by a mind-boggling 1,75,000 crores or Rs. 1.75 trillion, and this is simply not an affordable scenario, not while our fiscal deficit is still at a worrying level.

The debate over the zones has mainly emerged over land-acquisition issues and the matter of inadequate compensation being given to land-holders. The Indian State is notorious for its high-handed and absolutely deplorable approach in similar situations, and needless to say, they have done no better in this case as well. That the so-called proletariat government of West Bengal indulged in the act perhaps illustrates that nothing is sacrosanct in politics.

Nitin has made a very valid point when he states that the absolute carte blanche that the State is wont to give to the SEZ developers is absolutely deplorable. Where the State, the protector of the weak, has failed in its duties, it is futile to expect the SEZ developers to be concerned about the rights of landholders, and yet there are cases, very heartening ones at that, wherein developers have made the landholders as stakeholders in the project, and have ensured jobs and means of livelihood for the displaced people.

Nitin says, and I quote, “If the policy regimes that are to apply to the SEZs are a good idea, they should be made applicable throughout.” That they are not suggests that we aren’t sure of whether the scheme will work, i.e. we are experimenting with the notion. The point remains as to whether this is an experiment we can afford doing.

Double standards...

Today marks the 39th anniversary of an incident that perhaps changed the course of the Vietnam War, and firmly established the duplicity that has come to characterize the American stand toward many issues, terrorism included.

The My Lai massacre, committed on March 16, 1968 by U.S. soldiers on hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians, remains to date a shameful blot on the U.S.'s claim to being a nation founded on liberty and freedom. U.S. soldiers had killed more than 300 Vietnamese, which comprised mainly of aged people, women and children, purportedly in a search operation aiming at rooting out Vietcong guerrillas and their supporters.

The search operation found no insurgents in the village. On questioning the villagers present there, the U.S. soldiers found them either pleading ignorance, or showing reluctance to provide any information, a logical stance, considering that the U.S. weren't exactly very popular at this stage in the war. Fearing, or so they claim, that these villagers were in truth Vietcong supporters, the U.S. soldiers herded them into ditches and mercilessly executed them with automatic firearms. The commanding officer, at the height of this killing frenzy, even expressed the desire to throw hand grenades into trenches harbouring villagers.

From an account gathered by the Peers Inquiry from one of the participants who described using a baby for target practice during the massacre:

He fired at it with a .45. He missed. We all laughed. He got up three or four feet closer and missed again. We laughed. Then he got up right on top and plugged him.

Convinced beyond doubt that any and all villagers of My Lai were a threat, the soldiers decimated the entire village, killing innocents in the age group of one to eight-five. If a one-year old can be a threat to the U.S., God save them!

The military then shamelessly attempted to camouflage the carnage as a military victory with the death of over 100 'enemies'. Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and then investigating officer, simply white-washed all allegations of brutality on the part of the U.S. and the South Vietnamese forces towards innocent civilians. It was only when returning soldiers echoed stories of such horror in the U.S. to the media that the incident was brought to light, and the offenders prosecuted.

The Americans did not find it a tad difficult to execute leading military personnel of Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany for having issued the orders to commit crimes against innocent people. But when it came to punishing Americans guilty of the same crimes, the U.S. showed a strange reluctance. Of the 26 men charged with the crime, only one, the commanding officer, would be convicted, and he too would serve barely 4 years in prison before being pardoned, purportedly because an officer cannot be prosecuted for following orders.

Whatever may have been the justification for the Vietnam War, the conduct of the U.S. soldiers sorely fell foul of the principles of jus in bello. The acts of war should have been directed against those who have wronged the U.S., and not towards innocents caught in situations not of their making.

That the My Lai massacre was barbaric goes without saying. Comparing this with the Holocaust would be presumptuous, and yet the sheer abandon of reason is the same, whether it was by the Nazis or by the Americans. My Lai would strengthen the anti-war movement in the United States, and eventually, after 7 years, the U.S. would withdraw, in what would be the only military defeat they had suffered till then.

The Americans choose to depict the Nazis and the Japanese as the ultimate symbols of evil. But I wish to state that for their reluctance to prosecute, for their desire to subvert justice under the garb of command responsibility, they have done the world greater wrong than the twain could ever have done. Those who claim a moral high ground are obliged to maintain those heights. Even Caesar's wife must be above suspicion, for Caesar to be venerated.

The Ides of March...

The day would seem as ordinary as any other. And perhaps not without reason. For no great event has taken place so far today. And yet, history has been witness to two of the most important events in the annals of mankind, events which occurred on this very day, the Ides of March.

44 BC. The Roman Republic is hobbling back to normalcy. Julius Caesar, the greatest general to have lived so far, had emerged victorious in a civil war that had threatened to bleed the Republic. The land was finally enjoying peace after troublesome years of strife and bloodshed. Caesar was being seen as just the leader that the Republic had needed, although he would associate with himself the title of Dictator for life, certainly not a republican nomenclature.
And then would be struck the blow of betrayal. When men whom Caesar had trusted stabbed him, purportedly to save the Republic from his machinations, from his designs to re-establish a monarchy with him at the helm. They feared him, because he was popular, because he was a powerful general, beloved by the military, a member of the aristocracy, but most of all, because he was ambitious.
And ironically, the blow to save the Republic would wound not just Caesar, but also the Republic the most. Caesar's death and the consequent civil wars, first between the forces of the assassins and those of Octavian and Mark Anthony, and then between Octavian and Anthony, would render the Republic redundant. Never again would the Senate emerge as powerful as it was during Caesar's lifetime. Octavian would become the first Roman Emperor, Augustus Caesar. The Republic was dead, long live the Empire!

Nearer to our times, in 1917, another man abdicated from his throne, a king forced to renounce his kingship, because his majesty was no longer acknowledged by his people. He bore the name of Caesar; only in his tongue it was called Tsar. His abdication would cause civil war in Russia, war that would parallel the First World War, and eventually result in his and his family's assassination at the hands of Bolsheviks.

This abdication effectively sealed the fate of the Russian Empire, as the world had known it then, but heralded the dawn of a new force: Communism and the Soviet Republic. A force that would define the way we see our world for the remnant of the 20th century and beyond.

One man was killed to prevent a republic from becoming a monarchy, but in vain, for the process had already begun. Another abdicated to prevent a monarchy from becoming a republic, which again was something predestined. Two men, Gaius Julius Caesar and Tsar Nicholas II, separated by ages and yet the twain joined by a date in time. A date that would change their worlds. A date that would cause great violence and bloodshed. Not for nothing did the seer say, "Beware the Ides of March".

A (power)house of dreams......

The Union Minister for Power (boy, he sure must be a powerful dude...) had stated in the Rajya Sabha yesterday that India would go from its current power-deficit status to a electricity-surplus status within five years. Mind you, he has said five YEARS, and not five DECADES. This surely calls for some celebration, and I am sure that Aditya and Maya would be ecstatic, to say the least.

Now, let's get back to reality, and investigate how the Hon'ble Minister proposes to achieve this great task, that too within such a short time frame. Statistics quoted by the Minister reveal that as of date, India suffers a mind-boggling 70,000 MW deficit. I am surprised. I mean, considering that we have had such hair-brain proposals, politicization of the state electricity boards, rampant corruption, large-scale distribution losses, this would seem to be an achievement in itself that we haven't crossed the 1 lakh mark yet. Felicitations!

So now, what does this 'Five Year Plan' have in store for the nation? Well, ultra mega power projects with single generation unit of 4000 MW would be launched. I wonder: if this is what an ultra mega power project can muster, how would we describe an initiative generating 10,000 MW? Super Ultra Mega, perhaps? Suggestions are most welcome...

Next, the Hydroelectric Policy is to be amended to tap the 150,000 MW potential in the North-East. That's simply amazing! I mean, we have had this entire potential all this while, and we were what, sitting on our backsides suffering a deficit? Either we are the world's biggest idiots, or this potential has arisen suddenly from the depths of the earth or come down from the lofty heights of the Himalayas.

The private sector also is being 'encouraged' to set up captive generating capacities. Let me understand this: the government actually wants competition? And that too competition which will definitely show them in a worse light? (Not that they are any better off now, but heck they still have some standing, non?)

The Tatas have been in this business for over a century now, and they still cannot sell their electricity to non-industrial consumers. This was a restriction laid down by the then incumbent British establishment to prevent an indigenous private sector power utility to become too strong. Of course, the Tatas didn't leave with the backs to the Taj at Colaba, did they? And our thick-headed politicos and babus never quite realized that this was a restriction that should have gone out along with the Union Jack over the Red Fort. So the Tatas, a genuine private sector entity, suffer from the 'encouragement' that the State has provided so far.

Reliance is comparatively better off, but then it enjoys a monopoly in a sense, and I figure it was obvious that they would, considering that they have so much political muscle to flex for them. And its record on consumer relations doesn't exactly endear one to the idea of private sector entities in power generation and distribution.

One more pointer, maybe to the Left parties: We are getting foreign companies as well, but only from Russia and China. The rest may not bother applying. So, you needn’t cry yourself hoarse about selling out the nation. I say, Mao and Stalin would have been pleased with this state of affairs.

All said and done, this is a ‘powerful’ speech, meant to ‘electrify’ the nation, and ‘brighten’ up the darkest enclaves of the country. I just hope no one turns the switch off.

P.S. Although I may seem all sarcastic, in my heart, I pray that the Minister's initiatives bear fruit, and the troubles afflicting us go away. It will not be easy, but then Rome was not built in a day, was it?