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EDITORIAL JUGAAD

05 OCTOBER
28 SEPTEMBER

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8 EDITORIAL NOIDA/DELHI

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017


THE HINDU
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Gathering clouds over West Asia


If the U.S. refuses to certify Iran’s compliance on the nuclear deal, it will provoke a new spell of uncertainty
asm. In September, China provided While President Barack Obama al-
a $10 billion line of credit to Iran’s ways kept the military option on
banks, denominated in euros and the table, his threshold for the use
Steadying hand yuan, with another $15 in infra-
structure projects. In short, it
of force is likely to have been con-
siderably higher than that of his er-
By holding policy rates, the RBI shifts focus would be virtually impossible to re- ratic, impulsive successor. It is not
build today the broad, multina- clear how Iran’s segmented leader-
to the government to give a llip to growth shashank joshi tional sanctions regime that helped ship – divided between elected

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
push Iran to the negotiating table president and autocratic Supreme

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he Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Com-
est Asia is in a period of during 2013-15. If Iran were there- Leader – will weigh these factors,
mittee has since inception retained its unwaver-
ing focus on its primary remit: the preservation of
price stability. It follows then that the central bank’s
W heightened uncertainty. In
the Levant, regional
powers are scrambling to ll the va-
fore persuaded that its re-integra-
tion into the world economy could
continue regardless, this would be
but the probability of an armed
conict would rise sharply if Mr.
Trump walked away.
rate-setting panel opted to leave benchmark interest cuum created by the steady dis- a powerful incentive for Tehran to
rates unchanged and retain a neutral stance to achieve mantling of the Islamic State’s abide by the JCPOA. Futility of war
the medium-term target of keeping Consumer Price In- sham caliphate across Syria and Not only would a war fail to eradic-
Iraq. Kurds, buoyed by their pivotal its on nuclear activity. Through an asked him, such as British Prime The other scenario ate Iran’s nuclear know-how, it
dex ination close to 4% on a durable basis, while sup-
position in this race to Raqqa, have adroit mixture of pressure, incent- Minister Theresa May. However, a less happy scenario is would have far-reaching regional
porting growth. Spelling out the rationale for the de- held an independence referen- ives and dogged diplomacy, it de- If Mr. Trump tears up the agree- equally possible. If the deal col- consequences. Iran’s Revolution-
cision, the MPC felt that with global crude oil prices dum, drawing the ire of their Iraqi, fused a crisis that had burned since ment, all is not necessarily lost. In a lapses, Tehran is unlikely to expel ary Guards could unleash Shia mili-
having “rmed up further” amid a pick-up in demand Turkish and Iranian neighbours, the 1990s, threatening to spiral into recent interview, Iranian Foreign inspectors entirely, as Iraq did in tia against U.S. troops in Iraq, and
and tighter supplies in the wake of OPEC’s production with every chance of a conagra- a war in the 2010s. Nevertheless, Minister Javad Zarif noted that 1997, or withdraw from the Nuclear expand support to Afghan insur-
cuts, the threat of upward pressure on accelerating in- tion in disputed, oil-rich areas such conservative forces in Israel, the Europe’s reaction “will have ex- Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), gents just as Mr. Trump’s surge gets
ation has increased appreciably. Add to this the uncer- as Kirkuk. Turkey continues its au- Arab world, and the U.S. de- tremely important ramications like North Korea in 2003. Such underway. Saudi-Iran tensions
thoritarian descent, as its relations nounced the agreement. They for the future of the deal”. The U.K., steps would undercut Iran’s profes- would spike, and the risks of a U.S.-
tainty posed by the prospects of weaker-than-anticip-
with Europe grow sourer by the complained that it did not address France, Germany and the sions of peaceful intent and cede Russia confrontation in West Asia
ated kharif crop output and the impact this may have on day. In the Persian Gulf, a crisis Iran’s non-nuclear behaviour, such European Union have all expressed the moral high ground. Iran would, would jump dramatically. More
food prices, and the concerns agitating policymakers within the Gulf Cooperation Coun- as support for Hezbollah and other their categorical support. If the U.S. however, consider re-starting the broadly, abrogation of the JCPOA
will be evident. There are also the not-so-small matters cil (GCC), pitting Saudi Arabia and militant organisations, and that the re-imposes so-called secondary nuclear build-up that it had halted would be devastating for Washing-
of farm loan waivers by States that could roil the quality the United Arab Emirates against “sunset” clauses, which progress- sanctions, which cover foreign after an interim deal in November ton’s credibility in future dip-
of public spending and exert price pressures — as well as maverick Qatar, has entered its ively relax the constraints on Iran companies, Europe would most 2013. Prior to this point, Tehran lomacy. All this would be unwel-
the question of when States may decide to implement sixth month, with no sign of resolu- over the next three decades, were likely take legal and diplomatic was rapidly accumulating centri- come news for India. While Indian
tion. Within Saudi Arabia, the too generous. steps to protect its substantial com- fuges and stockpiles of enriched imports of Iranian oil have been
their own salary and allowance increases in the wake of
young and ambitious heir to the Last November, one of these crit- merce with Iran, even at the cost of uranium, such that it could “break falling regardless, the Chabahar
the Centre’s Seventh Pay Commission implementation. throne, Mohammed bin Salman, is ics won the U.S. presidency. In his a transatlantic crisis. out” – accumulate enough ssile project, scheduled for completion
As the statement accompanying the rate decision experimenting with an unpredict- inaugural speech to the UN General In the rst half of this year alone, material for a nuclear device – next year, could face fresh
points out, CPI ination has risen by around two per- able mix of reform and repression, Assembly, Donald Trump called EU-Iran trade stood at around $12 within a few months, had it chosen obstacles. Iran-Pakistan relations
centage points since the MPC’s last meeting in August: with women permitted to drive at the deal “one of the worst and most billion, a 95% increase over the to do so. Absent diplomacy, Iran may also shift unpredictably, and in
from 1.46% in June 2017, to a provisional 3.36% in Au- the same time as dissident poets, one-sided transactions the United same period last year. This is might have shrunk that time to ways that work against Indian
gust. The RBI’s September survey of household ina- clerics and intellectuals are carted States has ever entered into”. Mr. roughly thirty times larger than weeks or days, which would have interests.
to jail. Trump and members of his admin- U.S.-Iran trade. European banks, made it hard – perhaps prohibit- Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj
tion expectations too has shown in qualitative re-
istration have repeatedly, but manufacturers and energy com- ively so — to detect any Iranian dash is likely to have conveyed these
sponses a marked uptick in the proportion of October milestones falsely, claimed that Iran is violat- panies have also signed dozens of to a bomb. If sanctions were the concerns to her U.S. counterpart,
respondents expecting the general price level to in- However, the biggest shock of all ing the agreement. On October 15, major agreements with Iran over West’s way of pressuring Iran, nuc- Rex Tillerson, at their meeting in
crease by more than the current rate. The welter of do- may lie ahead of us. The Joint Com- he must “certify” Iran’s compli- the past year. The EU has jurisdic- lear build-up was — and could once New York in late September — but
mestic pressure points on prices has also coincided prehensive Plan of Action ( JCPOA), ance. If he refuses to do so, it would tion over the SWIFT network for more be — Iran’s own bargaining Mr. Tillerson, publicly humiliated
with, in the MPC’s words, “an escalation of global geo- a nuclear deal agreed between Iran open the way for the U.S. Congress cross-border banking transactions. chip. by his President on Twitter days
political uncertainty and heightened volatility in nan- and six major powers, will celeb- to re-impose sanctions on Iran, Iran was cut o from this network Certainly, Tehran would have to ago, appears peripheral to Amer-
rate its second anniversary on Oc- which would automatically violate for four years, but Brussels would have to balance the advantages of ican foreign policy. And so we await
cial markets due to the U.S. Fed’s plans of balance sheet
tober 18. It was, and remains, a the agreement. resist any U.S. demands to do so this course against the risks that it the judgment of the mad king.
unwinding and the risk of normalisation by the landmark piece of diplomacy, True to his reality show past, Mr. again. China, Iran’s main trading would provoke Europeans into sid-
European Central Bank.” In the face of such a “juxta- which recognised Iran’s right to en- Trump has declared that he has partner, and Russia, Iran’s military ing, reluctantly, with Washington, Shashank Joshi is a Senior Research
position of risks” to the outlook for price stability, the rich uranium in exchange for a bat- made his decision, but will not re- ally in Syria, would defy U.S. sanc- and that it may push the U.S., Israel, Fellow of the Royal United Services
overwhelming majority of the MPC’s six members saw tery of tough, but time-bound, lim- veal it even to close allies who have tions with even greater enthusi- or both, into a preventive war. Institute in London
little choice but to hold rates; there was a solitary dis-
sent vote for a 25 basis points cut. The RBI’s policy-
makers simultaneously raised their ination projection
for the second half of the current scal to a 4.2-4.6%
range and cut the estimate for real Gross Value Added
The terms of consent
growth this year to 6.7%, from the August forecast of
In the Farooqui verdict, the focus has been shifted from what the woman said to what the man understood
7.3%. Reiterating the urgent imperative to “reinvigorate The 2013 amendments dened stood: “even if the act was not with dominant perceptions of the wo-
investment activity” to spur growth, the MPC has laid consent as “an unequivocal volun- her consent, she actually commu- man’s behaviour and reactions.
the onus squarely on the government’s shoulders: from tary agreement when a woman by nicated something which was And the misogynist myths of popu-
suggesting the recapitalisation of stressed state-owned words, gestures or any form of taken as a consent by the appel- lar culture — cheekhegi, chillageyi
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verbal or non-verbal communica- lant.” The decision thus marked an par haseena maan jayegi — con-
lenders, to calling for further simplication of the GST
tion, communicates willingness to erasure of the woman’s voice in stitutive of the “assumed consent”
regime and urging that stalled public sector investment participate in the specic sexual matters concerning her sexuality. remain uncontested. Aren’t such
projects be restarted. The baton has been passed and latika vashist act.” Absence of physical resist- Even the questions raised by the assumptions about consent noth-
now it is for the Centre to do the running. ance, it is claried, would not by it- court were framed from the point ing but a reckless disregard of the

T
he recent judgment of the self amount to consent. The object- of view of the man: “whether the other?
Delhi High Court in the case ive behind the incorporation of appellant mistakenly accepted the In its shocking endorsement of
of Mahmood Farooqui v. State this denition in rape law is to moves of the prosecutrix as con- the misogynistic and sexist idea
Awestruck (Govt of NCT of Delhi) is a stark illus-
tration of the law’s resistance to
make woman the subject of law.
Without the woman’s communica-
quire that in sexual interactions,
the woman is assured the space
sent; whether the feelings of the
prosecutrix could be eectively
that “no” may mean a “yes”, the
court completely failed to appreci-
The Nobel Prize for Physics is a recognition of change. The stickiness of law em- tion of “willingness to participate”, and time of forming and commu- communicated to the appellant ate the import of the “armative
bedded within the dominant so- the “unequivocal voluntary agree- nicating consent for specic sexual and whether mistaking all this for model” of consent. Describing
a project involving a rare kind of coordination cial, cultural and sexual norms of- ment” which constitutes consent acts. consent by the appellant is sexual interactions as “act of pas-
ten dees the logic and objective of between sexual partners cannot be genuine.” sion, actuated by libido”, the court

T
he 2017 Nobel Prize for physics has been awarded
legal reforms, leaving us with def- eected. Feminist shift Further, according to the court, in a regressive and reductive move
to the LIGO-VIRGO collaboration for their detec- initely more law, but hardly more This denition is placed along- Within this understanding, the “the unwillingness of the prosec- almost characterises sexuality as a
tion of gravitational waves arising from the mer- freedom or justice. In 2013, signi- side the expanded meaning of burden of reaching the “unequi- utrix was only in her own mind and racy aair of confused desires
ger of two black holes. Gravitational waves are ripples cant amendments were made to rape. The 2013 amendments also vocal voluntary agreement” is heart but she communicated which becomes all the more di-
in the fabric of spacetime caused by cataclysmic events the rape law provisions in the In- introduced clause seventhly in Sec- equally shared by the sexual part- something dierent to the appel- cult to grasp on account of dier-
in the universe such as colliding black holes or neutron dian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), in- tion 375 which states that a man ners. In as much as the woman is lant… At what point of time, during ences in gender relations. In this
stars. Though extremely violent, when these disturb- cluding the introduction of the would be said to have committed supposed to express willingness to the act, did she not give the con- framework, a disproportionate
denition of consent in rape cases rape, if the woman “is unable to participate in the act, the man is sent for the same, thus, remains burden is placed on women (par-
ances reach far-o regions in space and time the signals
at the behest of feminists. But the communicate consent.” also required to be responsible and unknown and it can safely be said ticularly, “intellectually/ academ-
are weak and require extremely sensitive detectors to high court, with its anti-feminist in- In its narrow conception, this sincere in understanding and ap- that the appellant had no idea at all ically procient” women) to be
sense them. The very rst detection of gravitational terpretation, has completely neg- may refer to situations when one is preciating what is being commu- that the prosecutrix was unwilling. loud (not feeble), assertive (not
waves was made in September 2015, a signal of a black ated the objective and intent of the not able to communicate due to nicated. Far from appreciating this It is not unknown that during hesitant) and display “real resist-
hole merger 1.3 billion years ago. In other words, the denition of sexual consent. some physical or mental inrmity. radical rupture in understanding sexual acts, one of the partners ance” (not feeble disinclination).
signals took that long to travel to Earth. Hence the ob- But broadly construed, this can consensual sexuality, the Farooqui may be a little less willing or, it can But it is never asked why and how
servatory oers a way of looking back in time to unravel Conservative interpretation also include situations where the verdict comes nowhere close to be said unwilling but when there is the man is left to make assump-
In overruling the trial court de- woman is not given the space to imagining freedom for the woman an assumed consent, it matters not tions? Why is he never required to
mysteries pertaining to the early days of the universe’s
cision delivered last year (which communicate and be heard and in sexual interactions. Instead, the if one of the partners to the act is a be certain, clear and sure about his
existence. Since then, the LIGO-VIRGO collaboration radically recognised rape as loss of therefore she is unable to commu- feminist shift in the jurisprudence bit hesitant. Such feeble hesitation belief and understanding of the
has detected such signals four times. Just as astronomy control over one’s sexuality), the nicate. The latter reading of the of consent stands undone in mul- can never be understood as a posit- woman’s verbal and non-verbal
oers a way of mapping the visible objects in the uni- high court has yet again estab- clause strengthens the denition of tiple ways. ive negation of any advances by the communications? Why is the man
verse, gravitational wave astronomy is now a science of lished the rigidity and xity of the consent. When read with the re- Resisting feminist reforms, the other partner.” In creating the cat- not expected to ask, understand,
the near future whereby black holes, neutron stars and conservative legal framework. quirement of “unequivocal volun- verdict displaces the woman and egory of “assumed consent”, the hear (not assume) and respect
more such objects may be mapped. Rainer Weiss, who What we are left with are the same tary agreement”, it mandates that reinstitutes the man as the subject verdict re-inscribes male subjectiv- consent?
old stereotypes of an ideal rape vic- sexual acts are not performed in of law. At the heart of the court’s ity in the domain of sexual con-
identied sources of noise that could drown the signal,
tim, real rape, real resistance and callous disregard of the woman’s reasoning was not what the woman sent. It reinforces the male priv- Latika Vashist teaches criminal law at
gets one-half of the prize. Barry C. Barish’s main contri- true consent. desire. In other words, it would re- said, but what the man under- ilege to assume consent based on the Indian Law Institute
bution in scaling up the project and Kip Thorne’s vision
in guiding the large group of researchers are no less im-
portant, and in fact are aspects that capture the marvel LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to letters@thehindu.co.in must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.
of coordination in the LIGO-VIRGO collaboration.
An example was the eort made to bring some coher- Murder in Vegas many more such gruesome number of steps to ght the “Tackling the economic informal economy to come team of IT professionals and
ence into the source modelling. Even though the de- The heinous incident in Las shooting sprees (Editorial – problems of non- slowdown” (October 3), that into full play. Its negative the money of corporate
Vegas is undoubtedly the “Carnage in Vegas”, performing assets, greater public investment is tidings must be addressed houses on its rolls, but the
tector had been built and was functional, the theory
deadliest of mass shootouts October 4). restructuring loans, needed is interesting. But I separately and individually. common Malayali will be
had to be developed. In order to coordinate this, Dr. in U.S. history. As the world Nalini Vijayaraghavan, carrying out reviews of asset wonder how much is The second part is about hard to convince (“BJP
Thorne invited researchers from around the globe to grieves over the ghastly Thiruvananthapuram quality, acting against needed. Public investment what happened in the three president ags o
Caltech in the United States, and over a year and a half incident, what is wont to promoters and taking over keeps on happening quarters prior to the note Janaraksha Yatra in Kerala”,
thought about the models of the source that had to be raise an eyebrow or two is ■ It is heartening that defaulting rms. However, whether the times are good ban. They require separate October 4).
calculated. An ensuing paper published in Physical Re- that the local police have Australia wants to play none of these has met with or bad. The drastic drop in analysis and measures. Varghese George,
described the incident as Good Samaritan by oering the desirable objective to GDP in the last quarter, M. Balakrishnan, Secunderabad
view Letters, titled “The Last Three Minutes”, described Bengaluru
“domestic terrorism” — as if to help the U.S. reform its curb NPAs, which are a following the trend of
issues of source modelling. Several Indians, including it somehow dilutes the gun laws after a successful signicant percentage of previous quarters, should ■ The Janaraksha Yatra
Bala Iyer and Sanjeev Dhurandhar, were involved in this gravity of the attack. two-decade clampdown on most bank loans. The idea mean that public The Kerala march appears to be getting
work. It was then that Dr. Thorne realised that numer- What shocks us is that the rearms in the wake of its of a Public Sector Asset investment too has The BJP appears to be support in north Kerala,
ical models of relativity that could be fed into the com- killer had in his possession a own worst mass shooting. Rehabilitation Agency practically dropped. I determined now to ‘make a considered as the home turf
puter and solved were needed. He roped in groups from cache of arms and The U.S. stands to gain a lot (PARA) or so-called “bad wonder if that has mark’ in Kerala by trying to of Kerala’s communist
the U.S. and Germany to develop numerical gravity. In ammunition which points to from Australia’s rich bank” is not only promising happened. I feel the alter the State’s social movement. The BJP may be
a pathetic laxity in the U.S.’s experience of its 1996 but optimistic as well (“In problem and the solutions fabric. The right wing successful in creating a new
addition to two detectors of LIGO, the Advanced VIRGO
gun control regime. No one buyback scheme and need of a psycho-economic have two parts — post- and should know that those narrative which showcases
came online on August 1 this year. The advantage of hav- can refute President Donald subsequent ban on boost”, October 4). But pre-demonetisation. A from Kerala are closely knit the party as a victim of
ing three detectors is that the location of the source can Trump’s stand that the automatic and semi- capital requirement poses a major revival can take place irrespective of religion, political violence. With
be determined more accurately. With the Japanese attack is ‘an act of pure evil’ automatic weapons. It is challenge. Demonetisation, and quickly enough if the caste, creed or belief. Of more Union Ministers and
KAGRA detector set to go online in 2019 and LIGO India but the grim truth is that high time the White House which was expected to government abandons its course there have been Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled
set to join in 2024, the possibility of using gravitational considering his unabashed heeded international calls grant the government extra strange x on the informal ‘political killings’, but the States expected to lead the
wave astronomy to look back in time, at the very origin support for gun rights, he to reopen the debate on scal stimulus for the economy and its eorts to common man has never yatra in the days to come,
should be partly tighter gun controls. constitution of a bad bank dry it. It must realise that blinked an eye at these one needs to see whether
of the universe, becomes a real possibility. When real-
shouldering some of the S. Vaithianathan, to absorb all stressed assets, the informal economy is the incidents in the knowledge this movement translates
ised, this operation would owe, in no small measure, to blame for the attack. It does Madurai has failed. way India lives and thrives. that these are political. itself into votes by 2019.
the time spent in organising and focussing, even direct- not need a soothsayer to Shivankee Sahu, Accordingly, it must The ruling dispensation Ganesh Puthur,
ing, the eorts of the large group of researchers, num- predict that unless the U.S. On the economy Haridwar, Uttarakhand remonetise the economy may try hard to use the Vaikom, Kerala

bering over a thousand. has stringent gun control The Reserve Bank of India fully to pre-November 2016 power of the social media more letters online:
laws in place, there could be has over time proposed a ■ The point in the article, levels and allow the handled by its dedicated www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/

CM A ND-NDE
YK
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THE HINDU
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017
NOIDA/DELHI

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OPED 9

Taking aim at the messenger Coal-red projections


How the attack on Kancha Ilaiah conrms his critique of the caste system The draft energy policy fails to consider several critical
fore our time. This is an argument we issues involved in the ongoing energy transition
cannot fault. Nor can personal out-
rage and ‘caste solidarity’ be the basis Armin Rosencranz, Mitakshara Goyal their power. Power plants, both public and
of ‘hurt sentiments’ for those who & Rajnish Wadehra private, have been running at merely 60%
have not been forced to suffer the in- plant load capacity utilisation. Coal produ-
dignities of the caste system. The NITI Aayog’s Draft National Energy cers await respite and look to the ministries
It must be noted that Prof. Ilaiah is Policy (DNEP) predicts that between now of coal and power for support. Such support
kalpana kannabiran not making a brief for/on behalf of a and 2040, there will be a quantum leap in may not be forthcoming. The conventional
particular caste. He begins his argu- the uptake of renewable energy together power industry already suffers a high level of
Professor Kancha Ilaiah is again in ment on the note that suffering and with a drastic reduction in fossil fuel energy bank loan defaults, insolvency and other
the eye of a storm, this time so over- dispossession must be the fulcrum of intensity. Because of economic and popula- legal proceedings. It is not surprising that
powering that he has imposed house our understanding and critique of the tion growth, India’s annual per-capita elec- new energy investors are crowding the nas-
arrest on himself. There have been order we live in – based on the lived tricity consumption is expected to triple, cent solar space.
menacing threats of violence, police experience of those at the bottom. from 1075 kWh in 2015-16 to over 2900 kWh
complaints and petitions to the High There is undoubtedly rage over the in 2040. The DNEP assumes 100% electrific- An electric future
Court at Hyderabad. There are state- gross injustices of the caste order that ation throughout India in the near term — The DNEP fails to highlight the gradual sub-
GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

ments out in his support. He has ad- come through unequivocally in his Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently an- stitution of internal combustion engines with
dressed the media, calling for a pub- argument. But this rage is channelled nounced that the government will invest $2.5 electric vehicles. This transformation in the
lic debate on the questions he has into forging a political and ideological billion to provide electricity connections to automobile sector could be accompanied by
raised in his writing. And the course position. It is open to us to debate every home in India by the end of 2018 — and grid- and consumer-level electricity storage
is open for any of us to challenge his that position, to disagree even. But steadily improving energy efficiency. But the at homes, offices and factories. While stor-
views/ideas, to agree or to disagree. we cannot defeat the argument by DNEP fails to consider several critical issues age and electric vehicles are cursorily men-
taking recourse to the same parochi- involved in the ongoing energy transition. tioned, the DNEP does not focus on these
Challenging the caste system alism and bigotry that drive the op- crucial subjects.
In his writing over the past three dec- powerful critiques against the en- This book is meant to play a positive pression in the first place. And for a Based on coal The DNEP acknowledges that India’s oil
ades, Prof. Ilaiah has consistently slavement of women especially by role in empowering the Dalit-Bahujan free and equal participation in the de- Despite the fact that existing coal plants are consumption has grown 63% from 2005 to
challenged the oppression in Hindu anti-caste philosophers. forces of India in all spheres of life. It bate, it is important to generate the running at low efficiencies, the DNEP relies 2016 whereas refining capacity has grown
society that is predicated on graded So yes, it is Prof. Ilaiah’s argument is also meant to show how spiritual text in many languages, for otherwise on coal power to sustain the nation’s base only 15%. Gas consumption has increased
inequalities and oppressions rooted that Vysyas (a caste, not individual democracy and spiritual fascism are it will again be confined to the elite load requirement to meet rising energy 38% while production has actually fallen
in the caste system. He is not the first persons) have had a particular place opposite systems, and define what English literati, which has no repres- demand. It proposes that coal will fuel since 2012. India’s energy security does re-
intellectual to do this, and he cer- in the caste order that guarantees im- roles they play in our lives.” entation whatsoever of voices from 67% of India’s power generation quire a large strategic stor-
tainly will not be the last. The Indian punity for the performance of partic- The different chapters in this book among those who have suffered these in 2022. age of oil to take care of any
Constitution is built on the words, ular caste oppressions that he terms focus on unpaid teachers, subaltern indignities, and this violence. The first anomaly is that while vagaries in its international
ideas and struggles of those who led ‘social smuggling’. He has previously scientists, productive soldiers, subal- Justice S.A. Bobde observed mem- India claims it will make a big supply chain. India has been

GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO
entire movements for the annihila- written about the privileges and im- tern feminists, social doctors, meat orably in the Right to Privacy judg- push for renewables, it will con- building up its stored re-
tion of caste, with the figure of Dr. punities granted to Brahmins by the and milk economists, unknown en- ment of the Supreme Court that ‘Pri- tinue to rely on coal for its base- serves while international
B.R. Ambedkar calling into memory Hindu caste order. It is useful to look gineers, food producers, social smug- vacy must also mean the effective load generation. While renew- oil prices have dropped in
the countless others who marched at what he says. glers, spiritual fascists, intellectual guarantee of a zone of internal free- ables grow, coal power grows the past couple of years. But
with him and before him. Prof. Ilaiah goondas, symptoms of civil war and dom in which to think… The vigour too. This duality is possible be- the strategic storage of oil
is a figure in the current moment, fol- Post-Hindu India end of Hinduism, and the concluding and vitality of the various expressive cause India did not commit to does not tackle the systemic
lowing a long and illustrious line of His recent Telugu tract on ‘Vysyas: arguments for a post-Hindu India. freedoms guaranteed by the Constitu- any actual reductions in its causes of this high depend-
dissenters and critics of the caste or- Social Smugglers’ is an extract from The intellectual trajectory of this tion depends on the existence of a greenhouse gas emissions at the ence on oil.
der. an older book Post Hindu India: A book is clear and cogently stated. The corresponding guarantee of cognitive Paris climate meeting in 2015. The peaking of India’s oil demand could
Especially at the political moment Discourse on Dalit–Bahujan, Socio- productive and creative contribution freedom.” The second anomaly is that even with this have been envisaged but has not been identi-
we are located in — a moment of viol- Spiritual and Scientific Revolution of Hindu India’s most oppressed Prof. Ilaiah is writing within a con- target, India will need only 741 million fied in the DNEP. On the one hand, the draft
ent Hindutva assertion — this is an ur- (2009). His preface to the mother castes have been systematically ap- stitutional framework. It must be de- tonnes of coal in 2022 and 876 million policy recognises that by 2040, India’s oil
gent project. Within the Hindu social publication is important: “My appeal propriated and expropriated through bated within that framework. Elected tonnes in 2027. But the Ministry of Coal con- import dependence may reach 55% from the
order that ordains work, occupation, to Brahmanic readers is that if they a dangerous mix of violence (Chun- representatives who demand his tinues to push its ambitious targets to raise current level of 33%. On the other hand, it of-
livelihood and status according to want to read this book they must read duru, Karamchedu, Melavalavu, hanging because they happen to be- coal production to 1.5 billion tonnes by fers nothing to curtail such dependence. All
birth and restrains individuals from it without self-righteousness or self- Khairlanji and countless others), dis- long to the caste he critiques are 2020, of which 500 million tonnes is expec- that the DNEP offers is to promote use of
moving away from their pre-ordained pity. As they begin to read it, it may crimination (in access to schools des- guilty of gross misdemeanour while ted to be produced by private coal mines and public transportation and railways to reduce
status, it is important to question the generate a warlike situation in their pite the RTE Act, for instance), and holding public office — and must be about 1 billion tonne by the public sector. oil consumption. Unless electric transport is
fundamental basis of this status if we minds which are trained in obscurantist arguments that pass removed from office for making that The DNEP does not say what would be the carefully planned, India’s dependence on
are to shed the oppression of caste. Brahmanic thought. It may indeed today both as spirituality and as sci- appeal alone. The appeal on behalf of fate of new allottees of coal mines which imported oil is likely to continue.
Not long ago, Bezwada Wilson re- result in a ‘war of nerves’ between ence. a caste association to a constitutional have bid aggressively and won rights to mine The drafting committees need to examine
ceived the Magsaysay Award for a life- Brahmanic and Dalit-Bahujan civil so- court that Prof. Ilaiah must be arres- coal for captive power generation. What the paradigm shifts occurring in storage and
time of work in pursuance of this cieties, the latter having just begun to Examining the past ted or an FIR registered for engaging would they do with their coal if they can’t electric vehicles to promote new technolo-
same argument that Dalits have his- produce its own organic intellectuals. If the classes most subjected to in- in social critique cannot stand consti- generate power with it? Generation of power gies in renewable energy. Why has India
torically been untouchables and con- At the moment there is no large-scale justice are to rise and claim their tutional scrutiny. It is caste discrimin- is licence free under the Electricity Act of missed the revolutions in these technolo-
demned to the most degrading occu- Dalit-Bahujan civil society that could rights under the Constitution of India ation that causes disturbance of 2003, so private miners do not need any li- gies? New institutions, organisations and
pations such as manual scavenging. take inspiration from a written text — fraternity, equality, dignity and peace and social unrest. Speaking out cence to set up generating plants. All they funding mechanisms for promoting renew-
Women have a pre-ordained status in and lead a liberation struggle. The liberty — there must be a clear debate against discrimination and injustice is need is a connection to the grid. Since the able technologies need to be created not
the caste order which saw the prac- main aim of this book is to create the on what ails our social systems and an affirmation of constitutional mor- grid is State-owned, the Central government later than this year’s end.
tice of gruesome violence with im- self-respecting Scheduled Caste (SC), how we might reckon with our past; ality. has adequate leverage to defer or delay con-
punity, something we have still not Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Back- how might we rise above parochial nections. Armin Rosencranz is a professor of law at Jindal Global
been able to annihilate effectively ward Classes (OBC) into an intellec- assertions that make us complicit in Kalpana Kannabiran is Professor and In the past three years, with slow indus- University, where Mitakshara Goyal is a fourth-year
even in the constitutional era despite tual social force that can lead a socio- histories of oppression perpetrated Director, Council for Social Development, trial growth, independent coal producers law student and Rajnish Wadehra is a master’s
a century and a half of the most spiritual and scientific revolution… by dominant castes and classes be- Hyderabad have been faced with reduced demand for candidate in public policy

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SINGLE FILE FROM ARCHIVES


FIFTY YEARS AGO OCTOBER 5, 1967
Caught in the middle West Bengal C.M. agrees to stay
The Catalan referendum has also put The United Front Ministry has survived the crisis created by
the Chief Minister’s threat of resignation, but another crisis,
FC Barcelona and its players in probably worse, is now developing. Simultaneously with Mr.
a predicament Ajoy Mukherjee’s decision “not to resign” after a prolonged
SRINIVASAN RAMANI meeting with his Cabinet colleagues and the United Front
leaders, it was known that a serious move is afoot by the
Gerard Pique is a Catalan and an Bhartiya Kranti Dal group inside the Bangla Congress to topple
experienced central defender of the the Ministry with the co-operation of Congress and other ‘pro-
Spanish national team and FC Bar- gressive’ elements. Mr. Humayun Kabir and Mr. Hare Krushna
celona. He was recently jeered by Mahatab, who are now in Calcutta, set the ball rolling for an al-
Spanish supporters for his defence of ternative Ministry under the leadership of Dr. P.C. Ghosh, at
the recent Catalonian referendum present the Food Minister in the State.
and his critique of the Spanish gov-
A HUNDRED YEARS AGO OCTOBER 5, 1917
ernment’s violent response to it,
even though he has not publicly ex- Mrs. Sarojini Naidu’s speech at Delhi.
plained where he stands on the ques-
tion of independence. Pique’s pre- Mrs. Sarojini Naidu, who has been paying a visit to Delhi yes-
dicament is not unlike many of FC terday [October 3] evening addressed an open air meeting
Barcelona’s fans, for whom the club held under the auspices of the Home Rule League in Queen’s
AFP

is “mes que un club” or “more than a Garden. There was a large attendance. Amongst others there
club”. For the large legions of FC Barcelona supporters and so- were a few ladies present. Speaking about Home Rule Mrs.
cis (members) outside Spain and Catalonia, this is just a slogan CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC Naidu said that it was a term that caused much misunder-
that exemplies the way the team plays on the eld and the standing; yet in whatever sense it was taken it was a very
fact that this is entirely a supporter-owned club. The unique- CONCEPTUAL FAQ simple creed. People said that educated Indians were agitating
for something they did not understand. They were creating
ness of FC Barcelona’s style of play symbolised the club and
gave the slogan its meaning to the new adherents and support-
Choppiness The telecom battle lines new phrases. The speaker said it was not a thing altogether
ers outside Spain. Today, FC Barcelona is among the richest index foreign to their civilisation. It was as old as itself, the whole
sporting teams in the world, a consequence of the globalisa- Finance Why the interconnection usage charge matters basis of their national history had been this, that they had al-
tion of its support base. The player mix in its team today is ways kept in their hands the secret of Home Rule. In agitating
quite diverse and it owes its style to Dutchman Johann Cruy’s This refers to an index Yuthika Bhargava from January 1, 2020. What has TRAI reasoned? for Home Rule they were only asking for what was their hered-
Total Football philosophy which was improved upon and used by traders in financial Among other things, it says itary right. In the days of the Mogul Kings the conquered
What is interconnection What is the controversy? that the reduction in MTC Hindus were given power. Those who were to be chained be-
honed by former coach Pep Guardiola. It would be unfathom- markets to determine
usage charge (IUC) in The decision follows a pro- is likely to yield consumer came advisers and councillors. In the reign of Akbar, the
able for FC Barcelona’s global supporters to see the club out of whether prices are trend-
telecom? These charges longed battle between the benefits. The regulator has Hindus were in all departments of administration. The result
the La Liga and playing only against other Catalan clubs in a ing in a particular direc-
are paid by a telecom ser- Mukesh Ambani-led Reli- said that the average outgo was not anarchy or misrule. There was not one instance of
newly independent country. After all, FC Barcelona is a club tion, either upward or
vices provider whose sub- ance Jio and the top three per outgoing voice minute mistrust of power.
that is symbolised by its dierence from the other major Span- downward, or are moving
scriber makes a call to the telcos, Airtel, Vodafone declined from 50 paise/
ish team, Real Madrid. One cannot exist without the other. The sideways in a choppy man-
service provider whose and Idea. While the top op- minute in January-March CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
rivalry with Real Madrid denes FC Barcelona as it much as its ner. The choppiness index
subscriber receives the erators had pitched for 2015 to 31 paise/minute in
style does. was created by Australian DATA POINT
call. IUCs (termination, ori- doubling the mobile ter- January-March 2017, after
For Catalans who speak the language, the motto means commodity trader E.W.
gination and transit mination charges to over the MTC was cut to 14
something deeper — the club has long been seen as a symbol of Dreiss to determine the
charges), directly impact 30 paise “to recover their paise/minute from 20
Spanish federalism, Catalan nationalism and opposition to strength of a trend in any
the call tariff. cost,” the newer rival had paise/minute from March
unitary Spain, especially Franco’s Spain. In the years when market. Traders generally
The Telecom Regulatory suggested zero charges 1, 2015.
Franco’s regime persecuted Catalans for speaking in their lan- prefer to trade in the direc-
Authority of India (TRAI) and shifting to the bill-and- It adds that these
guages, the home stadium Camp Nou was where they could tion of the trend, buying
terms interconnection as keep regime, under which charges work as a disin-
converse without fear. FC Barcelona’s triumphs in Spain were when prices trend up or
the “lifeline of telecommu- operators bill their own centive for deployment of
seen as Catalan victories, especially in the strongly contested selling short when prices
nications” as it allows sub- subscribers for outgoing new technologies such as
El Clasicos against Real Madrid, the team that symbolised cent- trend down, and use the
scribers of one network to calls and keep the revenue VoLTE, or Voice over Long-
ral rule. This was also because Franco patronised the club as index to find the right
seamlessly communicate received. They do not pay Term Evolution, and mi-
his own. FC Barcelona’s golden era in the last decade coin- entry and exit points for a
with those of another net- any termination charges to gration to Internet Pro-
cided with the rise of Catalan nationalism — a portion of which profitable trade. The chop-
work or access the services each other. tocol networks by operat-
turned pro-independence lately. With the exception of former piness index is used in
right back Oleguer Presas, no club player has openly suppor- combination with other offered by other networks. The two sides have been ors, wherein there are no
ted independence, even as they endorsed the right of Catalans technical indicators to Why is it in the news? Re- involved in a war of words interconnection charges.
to decide their future. The club itself stayed ambivalent on se- identify a change in the cently, TRAI came out with over the issue. The in- TRAI points out that the
cession but supportive of Catalan nationalism. The hastily prevailing market ‘Telecommunication Inter- dustry anticipates that cost of voice turns out to
held binding referendum which does not consider other fed- direction. connection Usage Charges TRAI’s decision to cut IUC be fraction of a paisa/
eral solutions leading to a boycott by many parties has put not (Thirteenth Amendment) and gradually do away minute on over-the-top ap-
just such forces but the club and its Catalan players in a predic- CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC Regulations’ wherein it dir- with it will lead to a loss of plications such as Skype or
ament. Perhaps the secessionists should learn a lesson from ected slashing mobile ter- over ₹5,000 crore annually WhatsApp and it will be
MORE ON
3
the club’s fortunes itself — the more globalised and more open mination charges by 57% to the three big incum- virtually impossible for a
FC Barcelona has been to ideas and support, the greater its THE WEB from 14 paise to 6 paise per bents, while resulting in an telecom service provider
rivalry with Real Madrid, the better it has been on the eld and The Hindu Explains: 2017 minute from October 1, annual saving of around to compete against these if
richer overall. Is not that an argument for a truly autonomous Nobel Prize for Physics and completely doing the same amount to Reli- additional cost in the form
and open Catalonia within Spain? http://bit.ly/physicsNobel away with these charges ance Jio. of MTC is imposed.
CM A ND-NDE
YK
https://telegram.me/yk_info downloded by yogeshgurjar_+918003442711
CHENNAI

8 THINK BusinessLine
THURSDAY • OCTOBER 5 • 2017

0
xyz

thursday, october 5, 2017


The Rohingyas pose a regional challenge
It’s not just ensuring they are secure at home, it’s also a question of preventing radical Islamist groups from infiltrating Rakhine
Cold comfort
minority. Ever since independence New Delhi developed a more com-
The RBI has, yet again, opted for a conservative and more so after the Ne Win dictat- prehensive approach to the crisis to
orship, Rohingyas have not been enable the safe return of Rohingya
stance when industry and the corporate sector considered Myanmarese citizens. refugees from both Bangladesh and
are desperately looking for a stimulus They have been subject to discrim- India. External Aairs Minister
ination on issues of health, educa- Sushma Swaraj assured Sheikh Has-

A
n economy reeling from an extended, tion and employment. The animos- ina on September 15 of India’s sup-
G PARTHASARATHY ity of the army, which dominates port, even as Myanmar military ac-
four-quarter slowdown worsened by
national life in Myanmar, towards tions have led to a continuing

‘R
the implementation of GST and de- ohingya’ has become a the Rohingyas, has increased ever influx of refugees. At the same time,
monetisation, was looking up to the Re- household word in In- since sections of Rohingyas formed it is essential that India, Myanmar
serve Bank of India for salve but the latter failed to dia, after Minister of armed groups to wage an ill-ad- and Bangladesh join hands to see
provide any in its fourth bi-monthly monetary State for Home Aairs vised struggle, after indoctrination that radical Islamic groups are pre-
Kiren Rijiju proclaimed on Septem- in Pakistan. vented from infiltrating Rakhine
policy review. The RBI acknowledged the slow- ber 5 that the Rohingyas are “illegal Myanmar’s army has continu- state through Bangladesh.
down by marking down its growth rate for 2017-18 immigrants... who stand to be de- ously battled 22 ethnic insurgen- It would also be useful if India
to 6.7 per cent (from 7.3 per cent in the last policy ported”. The outrage that accom- cies in the country on its borders
At arm’s length The people and the politics GETTY IMAGES
joined hands with donors like Ja-
review) but that’s about as far as it would go given panied the plight of the Rohingyas with China and Thailand. But sel- pan, Germany and the US to ensure
was not only seen in sections of dom, if ever, has the army under- process of repatriation of the As global television networks and coordinated flow of economic as-
that inflation has perked up in the last couple of people in India, but also across the taken the sort of scorched earth refugees, with their safety guaran- UN relief organisations focussed on sistance to ensure that Rohingyas
months. The Centre sent out a signal on policy eve western and Islamic world. policy it has adopted against the Ro- teed upon returning home. the miseries of Rohingya refugees receive better education, health
by cutting excise duty on petrol and diesel in an India has stood its ground, main- hingya Muslims. And never has the in Bangladesh, the Rohingya issue and other facilities when they re-
obvious eort to prevent pass-through of higher taining that recent events were Buddhist clergy reacted so strongly, Making India relevant took centre-stage globally. The UN turn home. We have to bear in mind
triggered by attacks across the as in what transpired in Rakhine, India-Myanmar relations have been secretary-general bluntly labelled that it would only be natural if dip-
fuel prices to inflation. But it was obviously too
Bangladesh-Myanmar border by after recent coordinated cross-bor- looking up in recent years, even the Myanmar government’s actions lomatic eorts to stabilise our
little too late as the central bank was consumed by radical Islamic groups. But a num- der attacks on police posts and the though much improvement is “ethnic cleansing”. India has made Northeastern borders with Myan-
the uptrend in core, non-food, non-fuel inflation ber of questions remain on how we army by the Rohingya Solidarity needed to implement Indian-aided it clear that Islamist terror groups mar and Bangladesh were under-
— the CPI has jumped up two percentage points in are going to deal with an estimated Army. Myanmar has legitimate con- projects there if we are to make any triggered the present violence in taken with the cooperation of
the last two months and when the September 45,000 Rohingya refugees from My- cerns about the radicalisation of its impression of our relevance in the Myanmar. China, while expressing powers that share our interests.
anmar who have entered India Muslim population in Rakhine. face of some aggressive Chinese in- support for Myanmar’s moves, was Most importantly, India, Myanmar
print comes out in a week’s time, it is likely to since 2012. Moreover, the massacre The army’s actions resulted in volvement. Myanmar has a crucial more nuanced in the Security Coun- and Bangladesh share a common
show a continuation of the rising trend. The RBI’s of Hindu Rohingyas by Islamic Ro- over 4,00,000 Rohingya men, wo- role in supplementing our eorts cil. While backing Myanmar’s interest in combating radical Is-
revised inflation projection of 4.2-4.6 per cent for hingya terrorists has further polar- men and children fleeing to to deal with insurgencies backed by moves to protect its security, China lamic groups, whose primary aim is
the second half of this fiscal shoots past the me- ised Indian public opinion. Bangladesh. India now houses an Pakistan and China, in our land- also backed a Security Council res- to destabilise all three.
estimated 45,000 refugees. While locked Northeastern States, notably olution expressing concern at re-
dian rate of 4 per cent that it is committed to up- Who are they? India initially focussed largely on Manipur and Nagaland. ports of Myanmar resorting to ex- Imaginative solution
hold in terms of the monetary policy framework The Rohingyas maintain they are an Rohingya terrorist attacks in Myan- India is currently building the cessive violence and calling on it to One of the success stories of Indian
agreement that it has signed with the Centre. indigenous community mar, it has now realised Kaladan Corridor linking the take corrective action. Russia, while diplomacy has been that we have
The central bank has flagged o the impact of of western Myanmar, the extent of burden, North-East across Rakhine state, welcoming some steps taken by My- been able to isolate an obdurate
bordering Bangladesh. damage and diculties with the Bay of Bengal, through the anmar, also took note of reports of and obstructive Pakistan through
farm loan waivers by some States, a lower kharif
They largely migrated imposed on the friendly deep-water Sittwe port in Myanmar. violence. Not surprisingly, it was imaginative regional initiatives
harvest going by the first advance estimate and from what is now government of Sheikh New Delhi has just completed con- Myanmar’s former colonial rulers, across our eastern land and mari-
price revisions from the implementation of GST as Bangladesh during Brit- Hasina Wajed by the struction of the port. India has also the British, who took the lead in time frontiers through organisa-
posing upside risks to inflation. The impact of ish colonial rule. They huge inflow. While New pledged resources for the develop- condemning Aung San Suu Kyi. tions such as Bimstec. Addressing
Sates implementing their own pay commissions’ are predominantly Delhi has commenced ment of Rakhine province in an ef- Whitehall was quite obviously the Rohingya crisis imaginatively
Muslim, with an estim- airlifting relief supplies fort that will be helpful in address- taken aback by Suu Kyi placing her and successfully will give a boost to
awards for employees is reckoned as a factor that ated Muslim population to Bangladesh, India ing Rohingya grievances. These are country’s interests first, and not be- our ‘Act East’ policies. Even as Saarc
might add as much as a percentage point to infla- of 1.2-1.3 million resident in the should join Bangladesh and Myan- crucial projects strategically, as having, as it expected, like a pet languishes, Bimstec should remain
tion projections over the next 18-24 months. While north of Myanmar’s Rakhine mar bilaterally and even through they are located alongside a poodle. American policy as enunci- the focus of India’s eorts for re-
these are indeed valid factors, one wishes the RBI province, bordering Bangladesh. tripartite meetings, for a coordin- massive Chinese transportation/en- ated by Secretary of State Rex Tiller- gional economic integration,
The southern part of Rakhine ated eort to obtain international ergy corridor, linking China’s Yun- son was mercifully more balanced
had also given greater weight to the sagging province bordering Mizoram is pre- financial and diplomatic support to nan province with Myanmar’s Bay and rational. The writer is a former High
growth impulses in the economy. Given the over- dominantly Buddhist, with a Hindu facilitate an early and time-bound of Bengal port of Kyaukpyu. In these circumstances, it is time Commissioner to Pakistan
all fiscal scenario and the commitment to deficit
targets, the Centre’s hands are tied on any pos-

Too many dream of a charmed life in academia


sible stimulus, though there has been speculation
of such a package being round the corner. A rate
cut, even if only by 25 basis points, would have
been a shot in the arm for industry and the cor-
porate sector which are desperately looking for a In reality, there’s a growing underclass of poor, over-educated college teachers known as adjuncts
growth booster.
NOAH SMITH time when US college tuition was academic dream. That would put other reasons to be a poor adjunct,
Real interest rates, even after this cycle of rate soaring. Now college enrolment is academia in roughly the same class of course. Some people un-

T
cuts that began in January 2015, are still over 2 per he academic dream is a stagnating or even falling, meaning of occupations as acting and profes- doubtedly love teaching college
cent and closer to 3 per cent, depending on the powerful thing. To be sur- that more tuition increases are un- sional sports, where large numbers kids, and are willing to endure
benchmark one chooses for comparison. This is rounded by brilliant col- likely. If universities were shifting of unsuccessful lower-level aspir- poverty in order to do it. Others are
leagues, working on dis- toward adjuncts and away from the ants struggle for years in the hopes retired and need something to do.
considerably higher than the 1.5-2 per cent level covering new insights for the tenure track when times were of landing a coveted chance at a But it’s possible that many adjuncts
that is seen as reasonable by most economists for betterment of society, is a heady booming, imagine what they’ll do glamorous, high-status position. are desperately chasing an aca-
India. It is not clear how much consideration is prospect. To enjoy ironclad job se- now, when they’re forced to con- demic illusion that, realistically,
given to this aspect by the central bank while it curity, to rest easy deep into middle serve their resources. The odds they will never catch. Over-optim-
age as your peers in the private sec- But how many adjuncts really ism is one of the most consistent
frames its monetary policy. It can only be hoped tor grow anxious about being laid Not a great life achieve that moonshot? Anecdot- findings in the psychology literat-
that the present neutral stance of the RBI is not a o, would be an almost unimagin- What is life like for an adjunct? Not ally it’s said to be unusual. And ure on behavioural biases.
signal that we’re at the end of the rate-easing able relief. And to enjoy both the great, according to New Faculty Ma- Teaching troubles Always in the there are certainly several huge bar- There’s also the cultural factor.
cycle, for there is some way to go yet before real company and the respect of ener- jority, a website founded by pro-ad- shadows LIGHTPOET/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM riers in place. The first is simply Many people who go through the
getic youngsters, not to mention junct activists. In 2010, the median long odds — with the number of academic system idolise it. Their
rates reach more acceptable levels.
free gyms, lots of time o and good part-time college teacher pay had a Guardian ran an article about the tenure-track positions barely grow- mentors and life advisers tend to be
healthcare — it’s no surprise that for full-time equivalent of $24,000 — harsh life of adjuncts, telling one ing and adjunct numbers explod- tenured professors, to whom doing
many, academia is an ideal job. less than half the salary of the me- anecdote about a middle-aged ing, the chance of going from the anything other than academia
But for most, that dream never dian kindergarten teacher. And not teacher turning to prostitution to latter to the former keeps getting probably sounds like failure.
OTHER VOICES becomes a reality. US universities all part-time faculty can even get pay the bills. Other stories include worse. Second, tenure-track jobs are What will end the misery of the
are seeing the rise of a growing un- full-time work hours. Adjuncts also homelessness and dependence on often the result of publishing re- adjuncts? Unionisation helps im-
derclass of poor, overeducated col- received essentially no wage food banks. search — unlike grad students, ad- prove pay and conditions a bit, but
lege teachers known as adjuncts, premium based on their creden- Why would a highly educated, juncts often hold other jobs and doesn’t change the basic equation.
clinging to low-paid insecure jobs tials — in other words, so much for skilled worker in a rich country don’t have a lot of extra time to Nor are universities likely to be
When will the US curb gun culture? with little hope of advancing to the that advanced degree. Benefits such as the US condemn herself to a work on papers. morally shamed into treating ad-
It is hard to understand Americans’ enduring fascination with coveted ranks of the tenure track. were also minimal, with only 23.4 life in the poorhouse? Surely, Third, in order to interview for juncts more like tenure-track fac-
weapons, and how a single person could amass an arsenal Tenured and tenure-track positions per cent of part-time teachers at someone with the intellectual fire- tenure-track jobs, adjuncts typic- ulty. The only solution is for fewer
sucient to run a small army. Such tragedies have resulted in have increased by about a quarter public universities receiving health power to teach college students ally have to pay their own travel people to go into the non-tenure-
few advances against the gun lobby and the industry it since 1975, and the university sys- coverage. Reports from the Amer- could get a job in digital-media costs and conference-registration track college lecturing profession.
supports. All too often, the countless victims are forgotten — tem has expanded. But part-time ican Association of University Pro- marketing, or as a paralegal, or in fees (unlike other candidates). And Lower the supply of over-optimistic
the sole crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. positions have more than quad- fessors paint a similar picture. For a any of the other middle-class occu- fourth, there’s the chance that a quasi-academics willing to endure
And all too often, both Houses of the Congress — and rupled. Meanwhile, the number of graduate student, this kind of low- pations available to educated, hard- long career as an adjunct simply relentless poverty to cling to the
governments across states — have managed to water down doctorates granted in the US grew paid work can be just another cost working Americans. One answer is makes a candidate look less prom- fading light of the university
sensible and reasonable reforms.There is no expectation that by about two-thirds. of getting an education. But for an that adjuncts are making such sac- ising, even before age discrimina- fantasy, and the wages of adjuncts
the events will alter that blemished history. DUBAI 4 OCTOBER 2017 This shift happened during a adjunct, it’s a life of poverty. The rifices for the chance to pursue the tion is taken into account. There are should rise. BLOOMBERG

Eclipsing the Taj Mahal LET TERS TO THE EDITOR Send your letters by email to bleditor@thehindu.co.in or by post to ‘Letters to the Editor’, The Hindu Business Line, Kasturi Buildings, 859-860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002.

Only a state blinded by ancient hatreds and seeking to foist


Splendid thinking riotic but also has a broad outlook. way has been made in identifying rupee appreciated significantly. Right to rights
its narrow world view on the people could contemptuously
cast aside what Rabindranath Tagore described as “a teardrop Ludhiana is an important centre of The Indian education system the killers of journalist-activist Without any adverse movement The decision of the apex court to
on the cheek of time”. The UP government’s attempt to industrial development. There- should strive for that. Gauri Lankesh. Nabbing her killers over and above demonetisation revisit its earlier directive to the
rewrite history in saron colours and unravel India’s multi- fore, it’s no surprise that an indus- S Ramakrishnan could also help throw light on the and GST, the external environment National Investigation Agency to
hued heritage may be a Sisyphean task, but it is one that will trialist from there has come up Ranipet, Tamil Nadu murder of MM Kalburgi. is changing its colour. This is cor- investigate the case of Hadiya, a
fray inter-communal bonds further as well as exact a heavy with an enterprising way of using NJ Ravi Chander roborated by the slowdown in in- girl from Kerala who converted
toll on the country’s international image. For the Taj Mahal abandoned aircraft (‘We are board- Smartways Bengaluru flow and some reversal of gains in from Hinduism to Islam and and
belongs not only to India: as Unesco’s recognition indicates, it ing... and lodging’ by Ashwini This refers to ‘Smart highways are the the rupee. India’s problems are married a Muslim deserves praise.
belongs to all of humanity — as did the Bamiyan Buddhas in Phadnis, Flightplan, October 4). the road to the future’ by Suresh Where’s humanity headed? of a structural nature so there is The apex court had earlier up-
Afghanistan and Palmyra in Syria. KARACHI 4 OCTOBER 2017 This is innovative, useful and prof- Subudhi and Vineet Vijayavargiya The Las Vegas shooting is unpre- hardly any advantage to gain by held the verdict of the Kerala High
itable. All credit to Jasdeep Singh (October 4). Indeed there is so cedented. The way the perpetrator cutting interest rates. Court which annulled the mar-
BindraSimilar to Like the ship- much we can do to use technology conducted the heinous crime RK Arya riage of Hadiya by exercising its
breaking industry, aircraft conver- to not only make road travel safer leaves many questions un- Faridabad, Haryana writ jurisdiction under Article 226
sion is also a big business idea. but convenient as well. Using RFID answered. Our world is turning to of the Constitution. As a mature
RS Raghavan cards on our vehicles and paying be a den of criminals and sick- Crazy mania girl of legal age she has the right to
Hold out a hand Bengaluru the toll digitally are a minuscule minded murderers. God save us! The selfie mania seems to have follow the religion of her choice
The question of how to stabilise the Balkans, anchor part of the huge potential of tech- Yvonne Fernando caught the imagination of youth and marry a man of her choice by
democracy there, and bring the region closer to EU Superficial patriotism nology. Transport Minister Nitin Chennai who are unmindful of what’s exercising free will; Hadiya should
institutions remains an immense challenge Balkan civil This refers to the new rollcall pro- Gadkari must take serious note of around: three students were run be allowed to lead life on her own
society activists are increasingly concerned about tocol in schools in Madhya Pra- the suggestions and implement On hold over by a train near Bidadi while terms. It is hoped the court will re-
unemployment, corruption, and brain drain as young people desh which requires students to them so they can become mandat- Inflation was sailing at a low level attempting to take a selfie. Adven- store her rights and reassert its im-
leave for jobs elsewhere in Europe. They say it is crucial to say ‘Jai Hindi’ when their names ory in future. for quite some time and interest ture is natural but they must not age as a trusted democratic insti-
reboot the prospect of EU membership for Serbia, Bosnia, are called out. This is going too far. Bal Govind rates were cut by 25 bps, but still fall prey to misadventure. Lately, tution that upholds the
Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro, to encourage much Let students be taught authentic Noida, Uttar Pradesh the growth rate has come down there have been too many reports guaranteed fundamental rights of
needed reforms. They are right. The Balkans matter to Europe Indian and world history well. This against the expectations of the of selfie-related accidents its citizens.
for energy routes, security, and the fight against organised should help them draw correct les- Some light RBI. During this time inflow was HP Murali M Jeyaram
crime. LONDON 3 OCTOBER 2017 sons. A good citizen is not only pat- It is heartening that some head- very exciting; it is the reason the Bengaluru Sholavandan, Tamil Nadu

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OPINION 11
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Volume XXII Number 38


MUMBAI | THURSDAY, 5 OCTOBER 2017

Welcome pause NPAs and structural issues


To fix one you need to fix the others
RBI is justified in holding back on repo rate

T
he Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has painted the picture of an econo- n aspect of financial services often over- Ways out?
my where inflation is rising – retail inflation has gone up by around
2 percentage points since the Monetary Policy Committee’s last
meeting – while growth is decelerating and is expected to slow down
A looked is that they serve as second-order 1. NPAs in the mid-90s were outrageously high. Yet,
infrastructure, essential for commerce, what followed especially after 2003 was high growth
industry, and daily living. A disruption in the finan- until the global financial crisis of 2008. The NPAs
cial sector slows everything by cutting productiv- were reduced and ceased to be a problem (see Chart
further. The combination of these two factors justify the RBI’s decision to hold
ity. Other reasons for decline, such as structural 1). One explanation is that banks did significant NPA
back reduction in the repurchase rate – the rate at which the central bank infus- issues in power supply, telecom/broadband, and in provisioning from profits in bond trading, as inter-
es liquidity in the banking system – in the fourth bi-monthly monetary poli- farming, are accepted as part of the landscape. est rates on 10-year government bonds fell 8.1 per
cy review on Wednesday. The RBI has slashed its estimate of the full year That is why devising corrective measures is not so cent from 1997 to 2003. A booming economy from
(2017-18) growth rate of the gross value added to 6.7 per cent, as against 7.3 per simple. Setting aside political considerations, mis- 2003 did the rest, although there were no changes in
cent earlier, and has revised the consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation attribution does not help in problem-solving. the underlying causes that led to the NPAs. Hence,
Resolution needs root causes to be identified and bond trading could be a way out provided interest
estimate from 4-4.5 per cent to 4.2-4.6 per cent for the second half of the addressed. rates fall, and so could economic growth. Chart 1:
financial year. Consider the example of the guillotine 2. Regarding interest rates, the dilemma is of high NPAs AS A PERCENTAGE OF
The latest monetary policy review came against the backdrop of hopes approach to non-performing assets (NPAs). rates for domestic savings because people save with GROSS ADVANCES
expressed by many in the government and industry that the RBI would do its Imagine if an inspection of water and sanitation in banks in India, and for foreign investors in bonds, 16
bit to boost economic growth, which has now decelerated for the last five your locality were to result in the against low rates for consumer
quarters. Of particular worry is the 5.7 per cent growth of the gross domestic shutting off of the water supply demand and for capital investment.
because conditions are deemed Given our acute need for growth and
12
product in the first quarter of the current financial year. This means that when unsanitary. There would be a scram- misaligned real interest rates, this
substantial parts of the global economy, both in the developed world as well as ble for sourcing water, while eco- needs rectification (see Chart 2). 8
the emerging economies, are registering economic expansion, India’s econo- nomic activity and productivity 3. There’s a need to insulate bank-
my seems to be slowing down. The US and the Euro Zone have expanded, so would tank. What if it were a ing from political influence, while 4
has the Japanese economy. China has received a boost from robust domestic metropolis, or the whole country? ensuring rigorous procedures for eval-
This is what happened with the uation and monitoring. Any system 0
demand while Brazil and Russia, too, have grown. The outlook for world trade
abrupt change in booking NPAs. can be gamed, however, and to work 1996-97 2014-15
in 2017 is also looking up, but India seems set to miss out on the global party From around 2.5 per cent between well, players need competence, Source: RBI — dbie.rbi.org.in
in a stark turnaround from being the “only bright spot” in the global economy 2006 until 2011, they began to rise in integrity, and the freedom to exercise
not so long ago. 2012 (see Chart 1). SHYAM PONAPPA both. Banks are not well suited for
To be sure, the RBI is in a quandary. It is not clear whether the ongoing slow- Public sector banks in particular funding long-gestation infrastructure
Chart 2:
down is a result of transient factors – be it demonetisation or the disruption due responded to the government’s because their deposits are more short- REAL INTEREST RATES: INDIA, CHINA,
to the introduction of goods and services tax – or a manifestation of more long- accommodative efforts after the 2008 crisis. As term. This is an institutional and market deficiency INDONESIA, THAILAND, SOUTH KOREA —
growth fell, NPAs rose, especially for long-gestation, that needs to be bridged through developing bond AUGUST 2017
term structural hurdles such as a banking system severely hampered by non- regulation-dependent infrastructure loans. In 2015, markets, and channeling long-duration funding
performing assets and an over-leveraged corporate sector. The RBI has reiter- the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) adopted a hard line from pensions and insurance. Fighting Inflation
ated the need to revive sluggish private sector investment in order to provide as the economy was gaining momentum after 4. There are compounding effects from imposing Asian policy rates versus CPI (%)
a fillip to the economy as well as improve demand for overall credit. Also, in slumping in 2014 to 6 per cent. Earlier, the RBI was the Aadhaar/UID without the requisite connectivi-  Policy Rate  CPI
8
order to achieve the 6.7 per cent GVA growth for the while year, the RBI expects faulted for allowing the ever-greening of loans. An ty, processes and safeguards, likewise the hasty
abrupt change without a gradual coming to terms to imposition of the goods and service tax (GST). There
the GVA to grow by 6.4 per cent in the second quarter, 7.1 per cent in the third 6
manage cash flows resulted in a crisis. is little doubt of benefits when properly applied, but
quarter and 7.7 per cent in the fourth. While it is true that some sectors of the Leaving aside malpractice/fraud, NPAs resulted that needs time and support for thorough imple-
economy have indeed seen an uptick in demand in recent months, these pro- from factors such as aggressive, unsustainable lend- mentation; meanwhile, the immediate need is for 4
jections might look too ambitious as of now. An optimistic scenario is that the ing, regulatory delays, the domestic and global slow- relief. Rescue measures are needed to lighten the
festive spirit will lead to a spike in consumption, helped by the Pay down, and commodity price shocks, as when export burden of the GST and its reporting requirements on
Commission’s award, even as the teething troubles of GST implementation are duties were imposed in Australia and Indonesia on MSMEs (up to a higher ceiling?) over a long period. 2
coal. Cash flows drive demand, and a weak economy Interim solutions could be flat rates for a larger set,
taken care of.
can make or break a business. augmented by support for implementation.
However, with CPI inflation, excluding food and fuel, jumping sharply in Apart from crippling banking and financial serv- 5. Meanwhile, structural issues resulting in NPAs
0
July and August, there is always a chance that such growth may accompany a ices, the consequences of the NPA shock were enor- need to be fixed. Three obvious areas: India China Indonesia Thailand South Korea
higher cost of living, which is always a tricky issue, especially when govern- mous, especially for sectors such as iron and steel, a) Farming, with its large population, small hold- Central Bank
Bloomberg, central bank
ments enter the last lap of their political terms. The RBI has reiterated that the construction, power, telecom, transport, and agri- ings, outmoded practices, low productivity, and the https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-02/india-s-
government should focus on further reforms while improving the quality of its culture, with knock-on effects on MSMEs across sec- issues around pricing. Pricing is an essential aspect, real-interest-rates-compared-with-other-asia-economies
tors. Could a phased, more gradual, differentiated as are direct benefits, for example, subsidies through
own spending and avoiding fiscal slippages. Over to the government.
approach have yielded better results? Probably, just cash transfers depending on income. But simply
as when water supply fails, interim arrangements increasing farm prices addresses only one aspect of including spectrum, protection from anti-competi-
involving pipes, equipment and tankers have to be a multifaceted problem. What’s needed is to change tive action, and revenue sharing instead of auctions.

A fare deal made to tide over the crisis. For stressed loans, the the way production and marketing are organised.
requirements were for a differentiated approach to Practicable strategies are needed for produce, per-
the category of wrongdoing, including overreach, haps like the approach in dairy farming for milk
c) Electricity supply: Power generation and distri-
bution are both stressed by low economic activity,
while many states continue with lax practices of under-
DMRC should go in for regular tariff revisions and support for stressed sectors undergoing a down- production and marketing. Systems need be recoveries for electioneering.This cannot be resolved
turn. The need was and is to prevent disrup- designed (worked out) and implemented properly, as long as profligacy and indiscipline continue.

D
elhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s opposition to the fare increase tion in cash flows from a systemic perspective, con- with design elements to promote and safeguard hon- Fixing NPAs alone won’t do. Changes are required
by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has a whiff of pop- serving employment and assets in untainted est, competent, disciplined behaviour. in key sectors for genuine resolution.1
ulism about it. As head of the Delhi government, which owns half enterprises with the potential for recovery. This also b) Telecom and broadband services need policies
of DMRC, he is well within his rights to voice his reservations retains momentum and market sentiment to the based on a complete change of mindset and market shyamponappa@gmail.com
extent possible. structure, such as shared networks and equipment 1. “Indian Banks – Perception and Reality”: www.epw.in
against the two-step fare increase. But his argument that the higher rates vio-
late the law is weak. Consider the legal issue first. Metro fares are decided by
a fare fixation committee, which has a statutory status under the 2002 law,

The public discourse is a-changin’


Delhi Metro Operations and Maintenance Act. The latest one, a three-mem-
ber committee comprising a retired Delhi High Court judge, a former chief sec-
retary and an additional secretary in the urban development ministry, is
only the fourth since DMRC started operations in 2002. The first phase of the
fare increase took place in May and the second is due on October 10 – and here is nothing like a sustained economic ing economy, as the hopefuls unfailingly reminded another. The goods and services tax, with all its
it takes place after a gap of eight years. This fact in itself is absurd; how can
any commercial enterprise survive without raising tariffs, even if only to cov-
er inflation?
T slowdown to embolden the critics of this
regime and its parivar adjuncts. For this, due
acknowledgement must go to respected party elder
the doubters. The business press anxiously waited
for signs of a turnaround. Prominent business sup-
porters stridently ascribed the expected bonanza to
complexities and glitches, was introduced at warp
speed without the benefit of extended testing that
such a system would warrant. The compelling elec-
Mr Kejriwal contends that the second fare rise should take place after a and former finance minister Yashwant Sinha. His dynamic prime ministerial action. Now, that same tion-style slogan, “One Nation, One Tax,” and a dra-
article on the state of the economy in The Indian community is talking gloomily – and, more to the matic midnight launch proved to be India’s tryst
year, pending an audit of DMRC’s books. But even a cursory glance at DMRC’s
Express in late September explained, in the bluntest point, openly – of opaque horizons and the absence with slowdown.
financials – quite transparently available on its website – shows that losses possible terms, the truth about the of demand. Till late last year, the Unlike earlier criticisms, the aggressive defend-
before tax have been piling up steadily — from ~7.94 crore in 2012-13 to ~46.7 emperor’s clothes or lack thereof. Modi government was invincible and ers of the saffron faith will find it hard to defend
crore in 2015-16 and ~37.8 crore in 2016-17. The reason for this is clearly visible Mr Sinha’s plain-speak echoed sagacious, if you believed the popular this manufactured slowdown — that too, just as
in the stagnant fare structure: In the same five years, revenues from fares have what apolitical economic commen- narrative. Now the worried questions comparable economies are growing. And few gov-
dropped from 45 per cent of total revenues to 25 per cent. From this year, the tators had been suggesting for are all about what the government ernments have attracted such widespread serial
months. Indeed, the fortnight before, can do to stoke growth and create jobs protest movements almost from the get-go. Each
pressure on DMRC’s finances has increased because of a ~26,760 crore soft loan
even the maverick saffron knight (short answer: Very little). time, though, the armies of bhakts in saffron armour
DMRC raised in March from its long-term financing partner Japan Subramanian Swamy had been no All the doubts that lurked below had an intimidating riposte. Those who returned
International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to finance the fourth phase of its less candid about the government’s the surface are on the table-top now. state awards in protest against a perceived climate of
expansion. Thus, according to a DMRC report, for every rupee earned from economic management. “The econo- Till January, no one doubted that the intolerance could be excoriated for being anti-
operations in 2017, the surplus available is ~0.26, and DMRC spends ~0.27 on my is in a tailspin. Yes, it can crash,” Bharatiya Janata Party’s chances of a national. Those who rejected the burning of church-
he said in a CNN-News18 interview. massive comeback in the 2019 elec- es, the lynching of Muslims and outright communal
servicing the JICA loan.
Mr Sinha’s unexpected radicalism SWOT tions. Now, that forgone conclusion is overtones of banning cow slaughter could be dis-
It takes no sophisticated accountancy to figure out that this does not ben- concentrated minds because he KANIKA DATTA an open question — though the par- missed as “pseudo secularists” and invited (for some
efit consumers simply because it leaves very little money for asset replace- claimed to speak for the party rank lous state of the Opposition suggests mysterious reason) to go to Pakistan. Assassination
ment. This is a dangerous situation as the accelerating accident rate of the and file who dared not voice their mis- that it shouldn’t be. Can Pappu (alias was an option, too.
Indian Railways has repeatedly demonstrated. If DMRC is not to drop to the givings, and its placement in a mainstream daily Rahul Gandhi) and the Congress party rise to the As the quality of the public discourse sinks low-
standards of Delhi Transport Corporation – to which the urban development with a reputation for non-conformism clearly irked opportunity (Berkeley eloquence notwithstanding, er and lower, the convergence between the ruling dis-
minister alluded – or match the poor safety record of the Indian Railways, it Raisina Hill enough to provoke a defensive and cur- probably not)? pensation’s religio-social agenda and economic per-
mudgeonly response. The demons of demonetisation, hailed as an act formance is also becoming clear. Banning cow
is vital for it to continue with a high standard of maintenance, more so when Ever so slightly, the dam of restraint is being of supreme courage by a prime minister determined slaughter, restricting cattle trading and indiscrimi-
daily ridership has reportedly grown enormously to over 3 million, far in breached under the flood of inconvenient facts: Five to fight the scourge of black money – or so the offi- natingly closing slaughter houses may fulfil a saffron
excess of even its own projections. It is possible for the fare fixation commit- consecutive quarters of slowing growth, lay-offs, cial narrative went before the story changed to pro- agenda but they have impacted India’s most suc-
tee to have explored a more gradual fare increase over a longer time-frame. shrinking demand. The mainstream media, cowed moting digital inclusion – have come to roost. An cessful businesses – dairy-farming, leather process-
However, a more sensible and far more sustainable solution (in terms of by the fell hand of an irate PMO, began to offer cau- impressive electoral victory in Uttar Pradesh seemed ing and beef exports – with all the concomitant con-
tiously critical assessments. The chatterati in urban to vindicate the prime minister. That the impact of sequences of income and job losses, compounding
managing the political fallout) would be to have an annual increase of a cer-
drawing rooms and the febrile universe of social the world’s largest demonetisation exercise did not the hardships imposed by demonetisation and the
tain percentage, thus ensuring both cost recovery while softening the blow for media do not speak for all India, it is true, but the show up in the immediately following quarter, sug- hurried GST deadline.
consumers as well as underlining to politicians that efficiency and free lunch- noticeably changing tenor of the conversation in gesting that the gamble had paid off. With so much bad news, everybody is hunkering
es are incompatible concepts. these spheres can be considered leading indicators Now we know otherwise but the economy did down in readiness for Mr Modi’s next radical Big Idea.
of deflated optimism. not get a chance to recover from that shock therapy No one of any political hue wishes India this fate.
Till last year, India was the world’s fastest grow- before the government decided to administer Time for a little secular pragmatism perhaps?

India’s stories their head. In “The Battle for a


Temple”, a confrontation ensues
between the upper-caste Gosains and
the Dalits of a Purvanchal village over a
finally able to get their way not on the
dint of the justness of their cause but
because they are able to rouse the local
MLA to their political importance. The
There is little talk of real development;
what is offered rather is stop-gap
arrangements that will last the season
and garner, Suresh hopes, enough
gets admitted to Delhi University
where he falls in love, hesitatingly,
with a classmate. Mr Tully captures
the dynamics of the relationship
us that they are set in the India of the temple that the lower castes want to thanedar in “Murder in Milanpur” is sympathy for him to enable him to between a village lad and a city girl
1980s, the last decade before the coun- build in the vicinity of a Shiva temple told by his superior to back off from the best his opponent who has the ear of with tenderness, bringing out the anx-
try was forced to open up in the face of belonging to the upper castes. The “sensitive” case lest his middling end the “high command”. ieties and joys of a social interaction –
a crisis. “The Ploughman’s Lament”, for power of the story comes not from its up displeasing the Thakur’s family. It is all so relatable, and yet so egre- romance – that too is undergoing a
example, is about a farmer Tirathpal central tension, but from how relevant The most scathing story of the lot is gious, it makes one wonder how we lost churn in modern India.
BOOK REVIEW who goes to great lengths to avoid sell-
ing off his sturdy bullocks in exchange
it continues to be in today’s India.
This sense of the old versus the new
“The Family Business”, which name-
checks nearly every ill of Indian poli-
70 years of Independence twiddling
our thumbs while our villages waited
Mr Tully writes fast-paced stories
that encapsulate both the vigour of
VIKRAM JOHRI for a tractor. and the blurred boundaries between the tics: dynastic succession, electoral for the most basic necessities to reach rural life and the systemic inertia that
Such a situation would be less likely two extends to other stories. In “Murder malfeasance, public loot. Suresh them. This is the reason that even as we mars its progress. India is often
We are often told, in newspapers and today, but if there is another cliché in Milanpur”, the death of a Thakur Srivastava is the son of the Shivpur MP discuss a falling growth rate and the ridiculed for being perpetually on the
on primetime news, that India is about India that rings true, it is that landlord unleashes a string of events whose passing opens up the possibility buffeting effects of demonetisation and cusp of “arriving”, and these stories
changing, a self-evident reality that, in several time periods coexist in this that are less about finding out the cul- of the emergence of a new leader. The the goods and services tax, the remind us that unless development
the national imagination, was largely country simultaneously. One reason prit than about showing assorted per- politically ineffectual Suresh, having Narendra Modi government is unlikely reaches the grassroots, that criticism is
set in motion by the reforms of 1991. Tirathpal is averse to buying a tractor is sons, from the maid who works at the completed a degree in development to lose favour with the vast majority of not entirely unjustified.
While the fundamentals of the macro- the small size of his landholding, which Thakur household to the righteous studies from Britain, returns to Shivpur our countrymen because of the work it
economy have indeed improved over he fears would make recovering the thanedar who is keen to solve the mur- to reclaim his legacy. is putting in to fix the broken systems
the decades, the situation on the cost of the tractor unfeasible. The der, their place. The story is a tragicomic series of that have kept our villages deprived. UPCOUNTRY TALES
ground, especially at the village level, reliance on subsistence farming carried The importance of proximity to the ploys, each more outlandish than Not everything about this collec- Once Upon a Time in the Heart of India
has not changed dramatically. out on small parcels of land continues power to get things done is the other the last, that the young scion envisages tion is grim, though. “The Reluctant Mark Tully
In the introduction to this new col- to be a bane of our agriculture. running theme of these stories. The to get the locals to believe that he can Lover” is the story of a diffident vil- Speaking Tiger
lection of short stories, Mark Tully tells Other long-standing divisions rear Dalits in “The Battle for a Temple” are deliver what his father only promised. lage boy whose hard work ensures he 287 pages; ~599
16 hindustantimes HINDUSTAN T IMES, NEW DEL H I
TH URSDAY, OCTO BER 05, 2017

§
e sta b l i s h e d i n 1 9 24
comment
§
democracywall

NawazSharifis HARSH MANDER

downbutnotout Cash transfer for food is a bad idea


His re-election as PML-N chief The State will fail in its duty if it denies balanced from their own children. Supplying hot
cooked meals can also have other spin-offs,

could further upset the army and hot­cooked meals to poor, underfed children such as employment to local women, and
spurring the local food economy.
Thisstill leavestheargument thatfoodfor

A O
ne of the greatest paradoxes of made by men in a family. There is little guar- poor children needs to be scientifically pack-
new round of shadow boxing between Pakistan’s India’s growth story is that it anteethatmenwillspendthecashtransferred agedwith a balanceofmicro-nutrients.Most
de facto leader, Nawaz Sharif, and the country’s co-existswithhighlevelsofchild tothefamily onnutritionfortheyoungchild. persons who make this argument would be
malnutrition.ThelatestNational Cash is also vulnerable to inflation, whereas unwilling to substitute milk, eggs and other
military establishment has begun. Sharif showed Family Health Survey found a food transfers are inflation-proof. culturally appropriate food with packaged
his continued standing as the country’s most popu- highpercentage(38%)ofchildren The Right to Food Campaign also argues mixesfortheirownchildren.Manynutrition-
stunted and underweight (36%). that “food distribution plays a critical role in istsarguethatthebestguaranteeforachild’s
lar and powerful political leader by getting his Formorethan40years,governmentshave attracting women andchildren to the angan- nutrition is balanced and hot-cooked cultur-
party, the Pakistan Muslim League – intervened with food transfers in pre-school wadi and ensuring that they receive other allyappropriate food. If research establishes

Nawaz (PML-N), to amend its constitu- ourtake Integrated Child Development Services
(ICDS) centres. These infant food transfers
weremandatedasrightsfirstbytheSupreme
essentialservices relatedtogrowthmonitor-
ing,nutritioncounselling,ante-natalcareetc.
Research also shows that the feeding pro-
that particular diets in certain regions lack
specific micro-nutrients, then these alone
couldbesuppliedtoaugment(andnotsubsti-
tion and ensure that he heads the party
Courtand thenbythe foodsecurityAct,2013. grammes of the ICDS benefit girls and chil- tute) the hot cooked meals.
for another four years. This means he will be at the helm of the But a recent decision of the Centre threat- dren from marginalised families more and Some states have successfully experi-
ens to inflict a body blow to this nutritional thattheyhaveapositiveeffectonheightsof0-2 mentedbyaddingeggs andmilk tothese,and
PML-N when the country goes for elections next year. Sharif was lifeline to India’s poorest children. This is by year olds”. Moreover children of different thisindeedisthepathdownwhichthegovern-
removed from the prime minister’s position after a Supreme substituting these with either cash or pack- castes and religions, as well as disabled and ment should move. Instead, by converting
agedfood. Itis arguedthat thesewouldelimi- other children eating together, also extends locally produced food into cash or packaged
Court ruling disqualified him from holding political office nate inefficiencies, leakagesand corruption. social education of equality and fraternity to n Every third malnourished child in the world food, the government will not benefit impov-
because of corruption charges. The general view is that this was Thereisnoevidencethatcashtransfersare these children. is Indian. Every third child in India is erished children. It will instead advantage
moreefficient or less prone to diversion than Thecaseforsubstitutinghotcookedmeals malnourished SATISH BATE/HT PHOTO MNCcompanies,andreducefurthergovern-
engineered by the all-powerful military because of Rawalpindi’s transfersoffood.Asspecialcommissionerfor in the ICDS centre with packaged food is ments’ welfare spending.
concerns that Sharif emerging as a civilian leader with an the SC in the Right to Food case, I found that flawed. Once again, the argument of the gov- entlybarredtheentryofprivatesuppliersinto Every third malnourished child in the
social protection programmes based exclu- ernmentisthatthiswilllessencorruptionand thesupplyofsupplementarynutritiontochil- world is Indian. Every third child in India is
unprecedented degree of political power. He faces almost no seri- sivelyoncashtransferslikepensionswereat higher micro-nutrient provisioning to the dren, and instead mandated provisioning by malnourished. They deserve much better
leastasvulnerabletodishonestyandpilfering children. Behind the demand for packaged self-help groups of women or mothers’ com- fromtheirgovernmentsthanescapepathsto
ous Opposition, especially given that PML-N’s traditional rival
asfoodtransferprogrammessuchasthepub- foodislikelytobenefitprivatecompanies.Far mittees. It cannot be our case that these are the central duty of a caring State to ensure
the Pakistan People’s Party remains in a leadership transition. licdistributionsystemandICDS.Butconvert- from eliminating corruption, their entry also not prone to corruption. But these are at adequate nutritious food in their bellies.
ing children’s food supplies into cash carries would only lead to centralisation of this cor- least much more subject to local community Harsh Mander is author, Looking Away: Inequality,
Even the corruption charges, a fall out of the “Panamagate” rev- many other dangers. International research ruption to high levels of decision-making. scrutiny and accountability, and it is much Prejudice and Indifference in New India
elations about offshore financial holdings, do not seem to have shows that decisions about cash tend to be Recognising this danger, the SC consist- harder for a committee of mothers to steal The views expressed are personal
dented his public support.
Sharif’s next battle will be in the courts. He will probably be
indicted for corruption in a few days and then will face a pro-
tracted court battle. It seems likely the real struggle will be out-
T U R F B AT T L E
Stardom alone won’t help
side the courts. Sharif will seek to show the degree of public sup-
port he commands – his re-appointment as head of the party is in
Rajini and Kamal Haasan
that direction. The message to the military and the judiciary: It is crucial to articulate their vision for Tamil Nadu and
Attempting to marginalise Sharif could release public protests
that they will find hard to handle. It would also ensure any future
clarify their stand on the challenges facing the state
Even in the days of MGR there were excep-
regime would lack legitimacy. The court of public opinion is sUMANth tionstotherule,mostnotablyGanesanwho
being arrayed against the court of establishment manipulation. RAMAN could not make much headway in politics.
Butintheearlierdaysthechancesofaccept-
This will be the third time that Sharif is toppled in his long- abilityinpoliticswasmuchhigherwiththe
chequered history. However, he gives the impression he is pre- recognition that stardom provided. Today
muchofthathaschanged.Theadventoftel-
pared to stand up to the generals in a way he was not ready to do evision in almost every household, the
explosionofsocial mediaand thehigherlit-
so in the past. The consequences for Pakistan’s political future

W
ill the people of Tamil Nadu eracy rates have meant that while being a
could be considerable if that is the case – and especially if Sharif againberuledbystarsfromtin- recognised face certainlygives youan edge
sel town? Will the now certain it hardly guarantees success. The scrutiny
wins what is likely to be a protracted and turbulent struggle. arrival of Kamal Haasan and ofpublicfiguresbymediaandordinaryciti-
n West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurates a Durga puja pandal on the theexpectedarrivalofRajinikanthalterthe zensisseveraltimeshigherthanwhatithas
occasion of 'mahalaya' in Kolkata, September 19 PTI politicallandscapeofthestate?Whatimpact even been.
will their political entry have on the estab- That is why it is vitally important for
§

For Mamata, Durga puja lished parties in the state, particularly the
rulingAIADMKandOppositionDMK?Will
Haasan and Rajinikanth (if he does enter
politics) to articulate their vision for the

Getting girls into school was not just a festival


the two big national parties, the BJP and
Congress, be able to piggy back on star
power to grab a share of power in the state?
These are some of the questions that are at
state, their stand on a number of key issues
that Tamil Nadu currently faces (read the
Cauverywaterdispute,NEETexam,hydro-
carbonextraction,Hindiimposition/Navo-

is not enough By throwing her weight behind the celebrations, the CM


present being debated in Tamil Nadu.
While Haasan has said that he would be
launching a political outfit possibly in the
daya schools, etc), their view on the estab-
lishedregionalpoliticalplayersinthestate,
theirpositionvis-a-visthetwonationalpar-

Theapathyoffamiliestotheireducationis has managed to gain political advantage over the BJP


next 100 days, Rajinikanth has still kept
everyone guessing. At the inaugural func-
tiesandtheirideologicalstanceonDravidi-
anism.
tionofthememorialtothespianSivajiGan- SofarwedoknowthatHaasanhastaken
wideningthegendergapinmanyspheres lambastedtheBJPforimportinganaliencul- esan on October 1, Rajinikanth made a an anti-corruption line and has come out
Avijit ture in Bengal. ratherenigmaticreferencetopoliticssaying openly against the AIADMK government.

A
recent HT report found that government schools in GhosAl She wrote the lyrics and set the tune of a that he did not know the key to success in Rajinikanth has called the system rotten
theme song (sung by Shreya Ghoshal) for a politics and perhaps Haasan did. He added and needing change. Beyond this we know
Delhi have an enrolment ratio that is 52% female and prominentcommunitypuja.Largerthanlife that neither star power nor money was very little of what they stand for.
48% male. The same for citywide private schools is imagesofBanerjeewereplacedoutsidemany enoughto guarantee political success. Ona Theneedtoputtogetheragoodteamwill
pandals. The approach was subtle but the lighter note he added he should have asked not be lost on the two stars. If they create a
40% female and 60% male. The report discusses case studies of intention was clear — the symbol of women Haasan for the secret of how to succeed in partymadeupmainlyofmembersfromfans
families in which in spite of financial constraints, sons are power inside the pandal and that outside politics a couple of months ago. associationsandotherassortedfilmstarsor

S
ymbolism is a potent force in politics. wouldsomewheremergeinthesubconscious. Haasan has no doubt stolen much of the people from the movie industry they can
sent to private schools, while daughters are sent to govern- After India’s triumph in the 1971 war, After the pujas she unleashed a jamboree, thunder from Rajinikanth by going ahead wave goodbye to their dreams of political
AtalBihariVajpayeereferredtoIndira a veritable carnival parading the idols and with announcing his plan to enter politics success. The public would be watching
ment schools. It is a disturbing commentary not just on soci-
Gandhi as Ma Durga. More than four tableaux of 68 puja committees on Red Road. and to form a new political party even keenly to assess the team they assemble so
ety that considers the education of girls as secondary to the decades later, Mamata Banerjee is trying to She live streamed the event on her Facebook though he was much later off the blocks. astojudgetheircredibilityandtrackrecord.
move closer to that political imagery. Ever account.Asthesocialnetworkingsitebecame Rajinikanth still refusesto commit himself Neither star is under any illusion that their
education of boys; but also on the condition of government sinceshestormedtopowerin2011,theTrina- aconfluenceoftheindividualandtheadmin- andifthereisnoannouncementfromhimin fansalonewillbeabletomakethemacredi-
schools in which the quality of education is so bad that even mool Congress chief has thrown her weight istrator, the mortal and the goddess, the pro- the next few months the opportunity may ble political force in Tamil Nadu.
behind Bengali traditions and Durga puja tector and the caregiver, her festive season have gone. Also, considering he has been Both stars also know that it may be fool-
those who cannot afford private schools, try their utmost to attracted her attention. strategy reached a crescendo. playing the ‘Will He-Won’t He’ game since hardy to try to take on all comers on their
not have to send their children to government ones. ThepujasofferedtheCMtheopportunityto Banerjee’s identification with Durga puja 1996thepeopleofTamilNaduarestartingto own and will therefore be looking to build
projectherselfasawomanwhomeansalmost also provided her a first mover political tire of the speculation in this regard. alliances with existing players. Their suc-
The indifference to the education of girls in India is a reflec- everythingtoeveryone–protectorofBengali advantage.SheensuredthattheBJPcouldnot The going though, is hardly likely to be cess may also depend upon the kind of alli-
tion of the broader attitude that girls will grow up to be home- tradition, the liberal religious culture of the occupythatplatform,somethingthatwasnat- smoothforeither.TamilNaduhasmovedon ances they build and the public perception
state, the arts – all adding to the image of the ural for the saffron camp to target. fromthedayswhenmoviestardommeanta of such tie ups.
makers and boys will have to earn a living. Better education achieversinglewoman.This is underpinned The package was delivered a few months near automatic ticket to political success. Withthecrisisofleadershipintheruling
byhercarefullycultivatedimageofaself-sac- awayfromthe2018ruralpollswhichwillbea AIADMK and with the DMK still not being
(which necessarily translates to education in private schools)
rificing struggling loner. rehearsal for the 2019 general elections. anappealingalternativeforalargepercent-
will help boys get better (that is, better paying) jobs later on in Spectacle is an important element in Banerjeebravedahailofcriticismtoprohibit IF THE TWO ACTORS FORM ageoftheelectorate,thespaceisopenforthe
life. Girls, it is assumed, need only be literate as opposed to
Banerjee’sworldandherDurgapujastrategy Durga immersion on Muharram. When the PARTIES MADE UP MAINLY OF FAN two giants of Tamil cinema to make a mark
is carefully built around images that have courts overruled her, she used the party’s onTamilNadu’spoliticallandscape.People
educated, since they won’t have careers or earning a living to high recall value. Imagine a CM climbing on influencetoensurenocommunitypujaorga-
GROUPS AND OTHER ASSORTED of Tamil Nadu are open to give them a
worry about. This attitude deprives not just women from hav-
a platform and drawing the eyes of a Durga niserwentfortheimmersion;therebyprojec- FILM STARS, OR PEOPLE FROM patient hearing — it is now up to them to
idol, thesymbolicactofbringingittolife. She
went on an inauguration spree of some of the
ting an image that she would go to any extent
toprotecttheinterestoftheminoritycommu-
THE MOVIE INDUSTRY, THEY CAN make it count.
ing successful careers but also the country from having tal-
marquee community pujas. In almost each nity, her solid vote-bank so far. It is easy to BID GOODBYE TO THEIR DREAMS Sumanth Raman is a Chennai­based
ented professionals in every field. The government push on inauguration, she delivered brief speeches
holding forth on communal harmony and
understand who, she indicated, is the asura.
avijit.ghosal@hindustantimes.com
OF POLITICAL SUCCESS television anchor and political analyst
The views expressed are personal
‘Beti bachao, beti padhao’ can only be fulfilled if it translates n

to more than tokenism in society.


It is past time to effect change by educating parents, boys,
Shakir Alam Mazumder Once you move on, you can focus on choose every day if you wish to dwell on the
and including gender sensitisation in the curriculum of yourself, and what you need to grow as a negatives or positives.
Every coin has two sides, so there are posi- person. That is something you may not Hopefully, you will take the positive
schools. So that boys who have the advantage of such discrim-
ination don’t perpetuate it in their turn. If government schools
innervoice tive sides to break-ups too. It takes a lot to
move on from a relationship when it ends.
have been able to do while in a relation-
ship, because you focussed more on your
way.
A break from relationships can give you
But we must remember that it’s important partner. the time to think about what you really
were also as good as private ones, and had the same facilities,
our girls who fail to live up to their potential would have better
NEVER FORGET THAT to be glad that it happened, and not just sad
that it’s over.
You can now take decisions more easily
as your responsibility to your partner is
need from a relationship; and make you
wiser the next time around. So, it’s impor-

opportunities and be able to fill the terrible gender gap in THERE’S LIGHT AT THE It is always very hard but it is important
to also remember that there is light at the
gone. A breakup can act as a booster in
your work and study. You can discover
tant to look for good in goodbyes.

almost every profession. END OF THE TUNNEL end of tunnel, no matter how long that tun-
nel is. It will take time, but the hurt will def-
your hobbies and passion.
You are the only person who can ruin
Inner Voice comprises contributions from our
readers. The views expressed are personal
initely pass. Count on it. your life or make it successful. You must n Innervoice@hindustantimes.com

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THE TRIBUNE
08 OPINION CHANDIGARH | THURSDAY | 5 OCTOBER 2017

THE TRIBUNE Put three heads together


established in 1881 India, Bangladesh and Myanmar must find a way out of the Rohingya crisis
G Parthasarathy protect its security in Rakhine, China

Too little, too late also backed a Security Council resolu-

A
S Myanmar, Bangladesh and tion expressing concern at reports of
India face the Rohingya chal- Myanmar resorting to excessive vio-
Excessive duties on petrol and diesel are anti-poor lenge, ‘Rohingya’ has lence and calling on Myanmar to take
become a household word in corrective action. Russia, while wel-

T
HE Modi government has finally slashed excise duty on petrol India, more so after Minister of State for coming some steps taken by Myanmar,
and diesel by Rs 2 per litre each after continuously raising it in Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju proclaimed also took note of reports of violence.
small doses nearly a dozen times in less than three years. on September 5 that the Rohingya were Not surprisingly, it was Myanmar’s for-
Maybe the Finance Ministry yielded to public pressure and slashed “illegal” immigrants in India “who mer colonial rulers, the British, who
excise duty; many others see it as a political compulsion ahead of the stand to be deported”. The outrage that took the lead in condemning Suu Kyi.
crucial Gujarat election, the home turf of PM Modi. With public accompanied the plight of the Whitehall was quite obviously taken
anger building up, the government could not remain indifferent to Rohingya was not only in sections of aback by Suu Kyi placing her coun-
the demand of providing relief from rising fuel prices. The Finance people in India, but also across the try’s interests first, and not behaving,
Western and Islamic world. as it expected, like a pet poodle. Amer-
Ministry has, however, justified it as a move to quell rising inflation,
India has stood its ground, maintain- ican policy as enunciated by Secretary
ignoring minister KJ Alphons’ cocky comment that those who own
ing that recent events were triggered by of State Tillerson was mercifully more
vehicles could also pay higher fuel prices. cross-border attacks across the balanced and rational.
The Finance Ministry had been a silent spectator to the gradual Bangladesh-Myanmar border by radical In these circumstances, New Delhi
increase in fuel rates because there was no immediate political com- Islamic groups. But a number of ques- should develop a more comprehensive
pulsion. Undoubtedly, petrol and diesel are the biggest revenue earn- tions remain on how we are going to deal approach, which would enable the safe
ers for both the Centre and states. But, indirect taxes on fuels ulti- with an estimated 45,000 Rohingya return of Rohingya, from both
mately hit the common man. The poor are being asked to pay for refugees from Myanmar who have ONE GOAL: The effort should be to facilitate their return home to a better life. Bangladesh and India. External Affairs
roads, airports, educational institutions and hospitals, which are entered India since 2012. Moreover, the Minister Sushma Swaraj assured
mainly patronised by the affluent sections of society. All good govern- massacre of Hindu Rohingya by Islamic ity Army. Myanmar has legitimate con- ment. Myanmar has a crucial role in Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina of
ments instead choose the direct tax option to increase their revenues, Rohingya terrorists has further outraged cerns about the radicalisation of its supplementing our efforts to deal with India’s support, even as Myanmar mil-
where people are taxed as per their income and ability to contribute. and polarised Indian public opinion. Muslim population in Rakhine. insurgencies backed by Pakistan and itary actions have led to a continuing
Not only has the government taken its own time in reducing duty The Rohingya maintain they are an The army action has resulted in over China in our landlocked Northeastern influx of refugees. At the same time, it
indigenous community of western 4 lakh Rohingya — men, women and states, notably Manipur and Nagaland. is essential that India, Myanmar and
but also the quantum of the cut is inadequate. This half-hearted move
Myanmar, bordering Bangladesh. They children — fleeing to Bangladesh. India is currently building the Kaladan Bangladesh join hands to see that rad-
will neither provide the desired relief to the consumer nor save the
largely immigrated from what is now India now houses an estimated 45,000 corridor, linking Northeastern states ical Islamic groups are prevented from
Finance Ministry from missing the revenue deficit target as it will still Bangladesh, during British rule. They Rohingya refugees. While India initial- across the Rakhine state with the Bay infiltrating through Bangladesh to
lose a revenue of Rs 13,000 crore. If the government is serious about are predominantly Muslim, with an ly focused largely on Rohingya terror- of Bengal, through the deep-water Sit- Rakhine. It would also be useful if
protecting the consumer’s interest and shielding the poor from the cas- estimated population of 1.2-1.3 million ist attacks in Myanmar, it has now twe Port in Myanmar. New Delhi has India joined hands with donors like
cading impact of transportation fuel on essential commodities, it needs in the north of Myanmar’s Rakhine realised the extent of burdens, damage just completed the construction of the Japan, Germany and the US to ensure
to slash excise duties by another Rs 3-4 per litre to align retail prices province, bordering Bangladesh. The and difficulties imposed on the friend- port. India has also pledged resources coordinated flow of economic assis-
that existed three years ago. Simultaneously, the Centre and states southern part of Rakhine, bordering ly government of Sheikh Hasina by the for the development of Rakhine, in an tance to ensure that the Rohingya
should work together to bring auto fuels under the GST regime to bring Mizoram, is predominantly Buddhist, huge inflow of refugees. While New effort that will be helpful in addressing receive better education, health and
predictability in pricing and have a one-nation one-tax policy. with a Hindu minority. Ever since inde- Delhi has commenced airlifting relief Rohingya grievances. These are crucial other facilities on their return. In a larg-
pendence, and more so after U Ne Win er perspective, it would only be natural
dictatorship, the Rohingya are not con- if diplomatic efforts to stabilise our
sidered as Myanmar citizens. They
The crisis is not Myanmar’s alone. Addressing it imaginatively will Northeastern borders with Myanmar
have been subject to discrimination on benefit the region, and also take New Delhi’s ‘Act East’ policy forward. and Bangladesh were undertaken with
Poll-bound Himachal issues of health, education and employ-
ment. The animosity of the army, which
. cooperation with powers which share
our interests. Most importantly, India,
PM sets template for a bitter fight dominates national life in Myanmar, supplies to Bangladesh, India should projects strategically as they are located Myanmar and Bangladesh share a
toward the Rohingya has increased join Bangladesh and Myanmar bilater- alongside a massive Chinese trans- common interest in combating radical

T
HREE years as Prime Minister has not dulled Narendra ever since sections of Rohingya formed ally, and even through tripartite meet- portation/energy corridor, linking Chi- Islamic groups, whose primary aim is
Modi’s appetite to position himself as an outsider out to storm armed groups to wage an ill-advised ings, to seek a coordinated effort to na’s Yunnan province with Myanmar’s to destabilise all three neighbours.
the barricades. His Himachal sojourn was part of that piece. armed struggle after indoctrination in obtain international financial and Bay of Bengal Port of Kyaukpyu. One of the success stories of Indian
The PM set the tone for a rancorous and spiteful election by terming Pakistan. The Myanmar army has con- diplomatic support, which would facil- As global television networks and UN diplomacy has been that regionally we
the entire Himachal Government as “out on bail”. The charge would tinuously battled 22 ethnic insurgen- itate an early and time-bound process relief organisations focused on the mis- have been able to isolate an obdurate
cies in the country on its borders with of repatriation of the refugees, with eries of the Rohingya in Bangladesh, and obstructive Pakistan by imagina-
have stuck had he made the same observation shortly after taking
China and Thailand. But seldom, if their safety and security guaranteed, the issue became centre-stage. The UN tive regional initiatives across our east-
over as Prime Minister. That was when the UPA had been laid low by
ever, has the army undertaken the sort on their return to their homes. Secretary-General bluntly labelled ern land and maritime frontiers
the Anna Hazare movement, the CAG’s observations and a couple of of scorched earth policy it has adopted India-Myanmar relations have been Myanmar government actions as “eth- through organisations like BIMSTEC.
high-profile corruption cases. against the Rohingya. And never has looking upwards in recent years, even nic cleansing”. India has made it clear Addressing the Rohingya crisis imagi-
Frivolous name calling is now a well-worn strategy. Apart from fire- the Buddhist clergy reacted so strong- though much improvement is needed that Islamic terror groups triggered the natively and successfully will give a
walling discussion on relevant issues, some of the high moral horsing ly, as in what has transpired in in the implementation of Indian-aided violence. China, while expressing sup- boost to our “Act East” policy. Even as
suggests selective political vendetta rather than a genuine effort to Rakhine, after recent coordinated projects there, if we are to make any port for Myanmar’s moves, was more SAARC languishes, BIMSTEC should
curb corruption. Initially, the PM was seen as setting the template for cross-border attacks on police posts impression of our relevance, in the face nuanced in the UN Security Council. remain the focus of India’s efforts for
a serious debate on what ails the state. His announcement of an IIIT and the army by the Rohingya Solidar- of some aggressive Chinese involve- While backing Myanmar’s moves to regional economic integration.
in Una and an AIIMS at Bilaspur had given the impression that the
BJP’s conversations would revolve around the plank of development.
The PM also laid down several markers for improving the social
indices such as promising electricity to all in three years, although
this meant the goalpost had been quietly shifted.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had joined this
reasoned conversation by putting up his government’s record for
One of a kind Chief
Wg Cdr JS Bhalla (Retd) speed, Stn Cdr Group Captain Dilbagh craft made a smooth landing and was sometime, turning into a friendly discus-
scrutiny: medical colleges at Chamba, Nahan, Hamirpur and Ner Singh (later Chief of the Air Staff) was directed to VIP dispersal. The Stn Cdr sion. His persona impressed everyone.
Chowk, IIT at Mandi and a Central university. But the state govern-

I
T was a foggy winter morning at informed about the unscheduled and Command Air Defence Officer were Many of us who expected a fault-
ment, battling adverse political headwinds and dissension in the Halwara. As visibility improved, arrival of the then Chief of the Air Staff, the only two officers present to receive finding mission were relieved with his
ranks, is already on a weak wicket. By succumbing to the appeal of squadrons launched their aircraft Air Marshal Arjan Singh (later MIAF). the Chief. Other PSOs were incommu- narration. His talk boosted our morale,
polemics by focusing on the money-laundering charges and a dispro- for local flying. It was around 1000 His sudden arrival had shaken up nicado carrying out their respective we were happy to hear that our unit
portionate assets case against Virbhadra Singh, the PM may have hours when I heard “Halwara 10” call- everyone in the unit. To clear all doubts, tasks, unaware of the Chief’s visit. had done well and the appreciation
missed the opportunity to initiate a debate on finding concrete solu- ing. “Come in 10” was my spontaneous I was asked to reconfirm if the Chief Those were mobile-less days, landline came from none other than the Chief.
tions to some very grave problems facing the state. The PM would reply without realising that call sign was on board. I held my nerves and was the only mode of communication. There was no ceremonial parade, no
have served the state’s interests better by declaring a CM candidate. “10” is designated for the Chief of the asked, “Confirm if Chief onboard.” We received a message to assemble in guard of honour, no lineup of officers,
After all, the Himachalis do not deserve a wet-behind-the-ears or inept Air Staff. It took a few seconds for the “Affirmative, Sir,” came the prompt the officers’ mess by 1300 hours. It may yet the visit had gone well. That was
administrator foisted on them as has been the case in some states information to sink in. The aircraft reply. Adding “Sir” to the conversation be for a pep talk, I thought. The Chief his way of visiting a unit. Not to dis-
where moral high horsing dominated the pre-poll conversation. asked for descend, giving ETA 15 min- elevated our spirits and we all swung arrived in the mess to address us. “Well, turb the normal routine of the unit
utes. There was no intimation about into action. All aircraft on local flying gentlemen, Halwara has played a very may be one of the reasons for keeping
this movement and it appeared to be a were asked to fly for endurance, keep- crucial role in the 1965 war and the sta- his visit a surprise.
surprise visit of the Chief after the 1965 ing the airspace clear for the Chief’s tion has earned many gallantry awards The memories of the past came
Thought for the Day operation. Gnats and Hunters were car- arrival. All air activity came to a stand- which has made me feel proud. I alive when the country gave a fit-
rying out local flying with gusto to com- still to keep the noise level to the bare thought of conveying my gratitude to ting farewell with full military hon-
There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave plete their task. I handed over the con- minimum for the VVIP to land and you all in person for your hard work and ours to the MIAF, a hero of World
behind. — CS Lewis trols to my number two and at a dizzy unboard the aircraft. The Canberra air- good show.” The talk carried on for War II and the 1965 war.

letters to the editor


Strange choice vans and Niwas’ as a parking place nearly half, even if the top 28 per cent Act before, not after The traffic police should ensure that Visit banks next
Apropos the editorial ‘Choices for Raj for redundant political figures is slab was applied. The public would Reference to the report ‘ Cracker these people are removed from the Loved the style of expression of exas-
Bhavans’ (October 2), while it is the biased and derogatory. It is unfortu- have benefited. But our very clever godown blast: No relief, action com- lights. They should not be allowed peration by the NRI on her visit to New
absolute discretion of an elected gov- nate that a finger is raised at every FM, being a smart lawyer too, will mittee to launch stir’ (October 4); if to roam about freely on the roads, to India (‘Training to be in New India’,
ernment to appoint Governors, ade- decision taken by the BJP govern- come out with some explanation for the administration had taken appro- ensure the free flow of vehicles and October 4). I suggest she visits a public
quate safeguards are a must. The ment. This is a move to malign Modi. this to further fool the people. priate steps and precautions, this avoid any mishap. sector bank next for further ‘training’.
appointment of a retired Brigadier to Undoubtedly, it is a political practice MS KHOKHAR, BY MAIL type of incident would not have tak- NIRMAL CHAGGAR, MOHALI She might have to shuttle between
the post of Governor in a sensitive now that every government appoints en place. I recently saw an illegal unoccupied desks, waiting for the elu-
Northeastern state is fraught with persons of its choice as Governors, LPG refilling plant in a small room sive employees, rude remarks, long
severe ramifications and complications but it is wrong to term them redun- Who will benefit? in Kapurthala. This plant has been Animal rights queues, exchange of amused looks by
for various stakeholders, and needs dant. Every person has his own laud- There is a trend of eminent people running for the past 10 years, report- People should spare a thought to the employees who hate to be disturbed in
critical introspection. How can an offi- able stature. The editorial is like a from both India and Pakistan to visit edly under the patronage of the rights of animals too. The cow has the middle of a gossip session or tea
cial of the rank of “Director” to the Gov- sermon from the pulpit. places where their ancestors lived police and a local politician. The been nourishing the human race break. They have no regard for the sys-
ernment of India, superintend a Chief OP COUSHIK, ZIRAKPUR before the Partition. On similar lines, street is narrow and closed. If any since forever. In the good old days, it tem or fear of being held accountable.
Secretary, a DGP and, more important- a petition is being filed in the Lahore such incident were to occur here, one was cared for, but these days, eco- ASWANT KAUR, AMRITSAR
ly, a Lieutenant-General of the same High Court to prove Shaheed Bhagat can well imagine the casualties nomic considerations overshadow
force he was recently a part of? Men in GST euphoria ends Singh’s innocence. It speaks vol- because the area is thickly populat- ethics and compassion. When it
uniform give “rank” the utmost impor- Apropos the report ‘Scope for lowering umes about the sentiments of people ed. The district administration stops providing milk, it is discarded. Raise medical allowance
tance while in service and also after GST slabs, hints FM’ (October 2), Jait- towards the martyr. This will, no should take concrete steps well in It is seen wandering near garbage The Haryana Government should raise
active service. Moreover, there has been ley’s euphoria has not lasted long. The doubt, generate goodwill. But what- time before a tragedy strikes. dumps in search of food. At times, it the medical allowance to Rs 1,000 a
a precedence of appointing persons of one-nation one-tax has not given the ever be the outcome of this petition, YASH PAUL, BY MAIL swallows polythene which causes month as per the Seventh Pay Com-
great eminence and exceptional ability desired results. In countries like Cana- one important question needs to be suffocation and imminent death. mission recommendations. It should
to this august office. The appointment da, Malaysia and Singapore, there is a answered — who will benefit from Animal rights groups should ensure also give 20 per cent ex-gratia to super-
of a former Army Chief, Gen JJ Singh single GST slab of 5 per cent, 6 per cent the verdict? Instead, a petition Terrific traffic that garbage dumps are properly senior pensioners (aged above 80) on
(retd), to the same office, in the same or 7 per cent. But the sincerity of our should be filed in the appropriate Children and destitutes at traffic fenced. Garbage should be removed all other components like basic pen-
state, is a pointer to the fact. FM comes under a cloud when the court to defend Kulbhushan Jadhav lights are a traffic hazard. They are at quick intervals and people should sion and DA. The Central government
GURJYOT SINGH, SHIMLA prices of fuel and LPG is kept out of the and the many Indian POWs lan- putting their life and that of vehicle be educated about the proper dis- has been benevolent in raising their IT
GST regime. At present, there is Cen- guishing in Pakistani jails. This will occupants at risk with their quick posal of food wrapped in polythene. exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh. This lib-
tral excise duty of 23 per cent and state be a real service to mankind as this movements among running vehi- This will help animals and also con- eral step by the state government will
For govt to decide VAT of 34 per cent on petrol and diesel. will help their kin who have been cles, diverting the attention of the tribute to the Prime Minister’s help the elderly tide over the inflation
The October 2 editorial ‘Choices for The total tax on these essential com- waiting for them in vain. driver. There are also petty vendors Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. to meet their medical expenses.
Raj Bhavans’, depicting Raj Bha- modities would have been down to DARSHAN SINGH BHATHAL, NANGAL selling small items at these points. INDER PAL SETHI, LUDHIANA PL BHOLA, GURGAON

Letters to the Editor, typed in double space, should not exceed the 200-word limit. These should be cogently written and can be sent by e-mail to: Letters@tribuneindia.com
12 AN ECSTASY OF IDEAS THE TIMES OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017

A thought for today


Lack of a consistent policy from major
economies is the main source of volatility
URJIT PATEL
Not By Right Alone
Right to Education Act and bias against private schools have been disastrous for learning outcomes

Storm Front NK Singh 20 states declined by 13 million while


private schools showed an accretion
The Right of Children to of 17.8 million. Clearly, parents prefer
Free and Compulsory private schools if they can afford it.
RBI lowers growth estimate, government Education Act, 2009, The debate between public and private
guaranteed every child schools has raged for long. This is a false
must not respond with fiscal indiscipline aged 6-14, the right to free hiatus. Societies with rising aspirations
and compulsory educa- need both equity and excellence. Seeking

F
or Indian policy makers who often boast that the country has
tion till elementary level. This remains a inclusiveness while ensuring acceptable
the fastest economic growth rate among the world’s major
deeply flawed legislation. I had parti- outcomes is invariably challenging.
economies, yesterday’s monetary policy statement should be a cipated in the Rajya Sabha debate in July Public policies must be designed to
rude awakening. RBI kept its policy interest rate unchanged at 6% 2009 when this Bill had come up for consi- harmonise a possible asymmetry. Recent
in the backdrop of a marginal increase in its inflation forecast for deration, expressing serious concerns. initiatives by the Rajasthan government
the year. The wakeup call really came in the form of a markdown in First and foremost, it does not factor in for government schools to operate on a
its forecast of economic growth, as measured by gross value added, important recommendations of the par- public private partnership model have
liamentary standing committee of which important lessons.
for 2017-18 from 7.3% to 6.7%. India’s growth rate has been marked
the current HRD minister, Prakash Another worrying feature is the
down even as global economic momentum has gained traction. Javadekar, was also a member. Second, in growing disconnect between education
This slowdown could not have come at a more inopportune emphasising infrastructure and teacher- and employment. A recent broad-based
moment. As the southwest monsoon did not meet early expectations, student ratio while omitting any conside- survey to assess the efficacy of India’s
agricultural production is expected to be lower this year. A large ration of learning outcomes its priorities education system brings out the harsh
part of the rural economy of course supplements its income from are misplaced. Third, its implications for reality that only 26% respondents in the
private schools, which are obligated with survey believe that their schooling has
non-agricultural sources. For example,
25% reservations with reimbursements contributed to overall development but
export-oriented manufacturing provi- below the average cost, are serious. more importantly, to their employment.

Chad Crowe
des rural youth with additional oppor- Fourth, there is lack of clarity on its Getting away from the rote learning
tunities. Here too, India’s performance financial implications, and sharing of method, fostering a culture of creativity
has been disappointing. Even if cost between the Centre and states. and an ability to learn multiple jobs in
merchandise export growth in August The government was in a desperate one’s career lifespan, is critical for the jobs
hurry to enact the new law. It was an era of retained with competitive salary struc- of tomorrow. Restructuring pedagogy
was 10.3%, overall the country’s perfor-
entitlement driven legislations. Recent tures. Market economics and competition and course materials designed to serve this
mance has been lacklustre when juxta- developments are increasingly vindica- will prompt an appropriate balance Institutions should be given inescapable necessity brooks no delay.
posed with other emerging markets ting apprehensions about the law. between costs and outcomes. liberty to fix their own fees. Fortunately, technology has the power
such as Indonesia and Vietnam. These The threatened takeover of 438 private Eight years after the enactment of the to change teaching methods dramatically.
new challenges have emerged even as schools by Delhi government has raised Bill, there is encouraging data on Market economics and The prime minister’s programme on
older problems such as impaired ba- broader, endemic policy concerns. enrolment. For age groups 6-14 it is above competition will prompt an digital connectivity, internet penetration
The reasonableness of fees for private 96% for elementary school, while it is appropriate balance between combined with skill inculcation pro-
lance sheets of some private firms and many public banks remain.
schools remains a contentious issue. At 78.5% for secondary and 54.2% for higher grammes is expected to make a decisive
The last couple of years have of course seen positive developments a conceptual level, the Supreme Court secondary. What is worrying, however, costs and outcomes difference. Our present complexities and
too. For example, the return of stability in key macroeconomic judgment, in TMA Pai Foundation is a growing mismatch between rising growing pressures for job creation will
indicators such as consumer inflation and the level of fiscal deficit. vs State of Karnataka (2002) 8 SCC 481, enrolment and declining outcomes. very much over the last decade. There permit neither ‘business as usual’ nor
These hard won gains provide India with the platform to effectively had settled the basic principles of a Credible action programmes to has however been a slight increase in ‘teaching as before’.
deal with other challenges like an industrial slowdown and weak reasonable fee structure. improve teacher training both quantita- these attainments between 2014 and 2016. These challenges must be govern-
They must be commensurate with tively and qualitatively remain elusive. Another interesting feature is the wide ment’s priority rather than discouraging
private investment. It is important that any solution to the new set of
infrastructure, facilities provided, It is sad that this challenging obligation interstate variations brought out in the entrepreneurs to set up private schools.
challenges does not fritter away the gains of the last two years. salaries paid and future expansion had no place in the RTE Act. Besides, survey. If we use, let us say, fluent story One is reminded of the famous saying of
At this moment, the best way forward is for policy makers to focus plans. While commercialisation of edu- total teacher vacancies are 9 lakh at the reading as the criterion the grade-level Chamfort, “Education is construed on
on smoothening the structural shift underway in the economy. To cation and profiteering was prohibited, elementary level and exceed 1 lakh at achievement for Standard 3 in Himachal two prongs, the prong of morality and the
illustrate, RBI’s assessment is that GST implementation has had a surplus between 6-15% could be secondary level. This is a huge backlog Pradesh was close to 50% while for UP it prong of prudence.” Improving quality
an adverse effect on the manufacturing sector. This problem can be utilised for expansion and development. and will keep rising every year. was less than 10% in an average classroom. of public schools and also encouraging
Successive judgments and the findings The 11th Annual Status of Education Clearly, we need to adopt flexibility in private initiatives can conserve and
quickly resolved by the federal GST Council, which can strongly
of the Sikri commission also recognise Report released by Pratham this year our teaching methods to teach at the promote both morality and prudence.
push the ease of doing business agenda. Separately, attempts to that institutions should be given liberty to suggests that “today about one in four right level and what the Pratham report Just as schooling and learning are not
solve the bad loan problem by using the bankruptcy law must be fix their own fees. This was necessary to children in standard 3 in an average calls CAMaL (Combined activities for coterminous, education is not a matter
supplemented through adequate recapitalisation of banks. Policy promote innovation and excellence in rural school is at Grade 1 in reading and maximised learning). of rights alone.
response now should be to resolutely see through the economy’s private educational institutions. Qualified mathematics.” Further, nationally, this During the period of 2010-11 and 2015- The writer is a senior member of BJP and
structural transformation. teachers could only be induced and picture does not seem to have changed 16, government school enrolment across former member of the Planning Commission

Restrain The Cadre American tragedy: Its notorious military-industrial


Amit Shah can help end political violence in
Kerala, but not by blaming CPM alone
complex frustrates even the most modest gun reforms
Sreeram Chaulia where owning guns is a matter of pride. ricans consider owning weapons as

B
JP has escalated its high-decibel national campaign against Apart from ideology, there are com- necessary to avert being mugged or bur-
the killing of RSS-BJP workers in Kerala by taking out Even after the worst mass mercial motives for the Republican Party gled by racial minorities. Some conser-
padyatras through Kannur, the hotbed of CPM-RSS political shooting in the history of to be the ardent champion of the prolifera- vatives also back ‘law and order’ calls for
violence. Party president Amit Shah, who led day 1 of the 14-day the United States at the tion of guns. Its candidates and office- granting more weapons and powers to
Jan Raksha Yatra that will culminate in Thiruvananthapuram, famed Las Vegas gam- bearers are in hock to weapons lobbying police personnel to crack down on trans-
challenged Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, a Kannur bling hub killed 59 and groups like the National Rifle Association gressions by minorities. Military-grade
injured over 520 persons, (NRA) and the Gun Owners of America semi-automatic and automatic weapons
native, on the murders of RSS-BJP workers. The yatra portrays BJP the country shows no readiness to confront (GOA). According to the Washington- in the hands of law enforcement agents
at the vanguard of countering “red-jihadi terror”. the gun epidemic which has caused based Center for Responsive Politics, during racial riots in the US outrage
State crime records bureau statistics bear bloodbath after bloodbath for decades. 232 out of 435 members of the US House liberals and much of the outside world as
out a different picture. Both CPM and RSS-BJP At the heart of the malaise is political of Representatives received campaign incitement for turning the country into a de
have lost cadre to political violence in Kannur paralysis driven by ideological and emo- contributions and funds from gun lobbies facto warzone, but these tactics enjoy wide
but the number of dead are almost evenly tional attachment to the constitutionally in the year 2016 alone, with only nine out of approval on the Right of the spectrum.
enshrined right to possess weapons. From these beneficiaries being Democrats. The US has a unique problem due to
matched, indicating that these two outfits are the highest offices of the presidency of The notion of deadly weapons manu- the organised might and mobilisation of
engaged in a chilling tit-for-tat murder spree. Donald Trump and the Republican-ruled facturers and their cultural institutions its Right-wing forces. Less ideologically
CPM as the party in power bears greater legislature to state-level administrations, making elected politicians dance to rigid countries like Australia and the UK
responsibility in maintaining law and order an entrenched militaristic conservative their tunes and blocking minimal curbs used to have lax gun regimes like the US,
and ensuring the security of political stance encourages heavily armed citizens on their autonomy comes across as crass 232 members of the US House until inflection points came in the form
opponents. Concurrently, all political parties have a duty to keep as the best guarantors of personal safety influence-buying and corruption. But in of Representatives received of gory mass shooting massacres and
and security. The American Right-wing the American system, such payments compelled their conservative parties
their cadre under check and steer them away from violence. is stone-cold and unmoved no matter are legalised, justified and open. In the campaign contributions and to accept confiscation or retrenching of
Comparing the situations in Kerala and Karnataka, Shah how bloody society becomes under the name of preserving defence sector jobs, funds from gun lobbies in 2016 firearms from the hands of citizens.
suggested that those who protest the murders of MM Kalburgi and duress of a world record 30% of US adults corporate profits and capitalist freedom, But in America, the Right has deep
Gauri Lankesh maintain a silence on leftist violence. Even if that is owning guns. the US’s notorious military-industrial opinions and acts like a distinct tribe roots and stymies modest ‘common sense’
the case in some instances, two wrongs do not make a right. Shah American conservatives are histori- complex prevails and the killing in with which the other tribe has no gun reforms, leave alone a fundamental
and national BJP leaders making a beeline for Kerala must use cally suspicious of regulation and society goes on unrelentingly. connection. Any push by Democrats or transformation towards demilitarising
advocate individualistic and community- If this permissive structure is not civil society activists for stricter laws the society. When serialised horrendous
the opportunity to call for a moratorium on political violence on level choices without interference by the lethal enough, the extreme political po- and policing of guns is met with vitriolic tragedies cannot move the needle on
all sides. It’s this that will help the party build bridges with Kerala state, especially the federal government. larisation in recent years has rendered opposition by the Right – as an existential policies and laws that enable gun ram-
society, not feeding the internecine Left-Right conflict. No one ‘Small state’ dogma, which lionises all prospects of bipartisan consensus for threat to the American way of life. pages, America is doomed to suffer
should be killed for his or her political beliefs. But the killing will ordinary white Americans as good and limiting gun access futile. America today Racially-charged biases about crime repeatedly. Las Vegas was not the first and
not end if, instead of the murderer(s) being booked in each instance kind folks and villainises the government is so divided and fraught in terms of being an exclusive domain of people of will not be the last manifestation of an
anywhere of political killing or mob lynching, charges are deflected as an evil usurper of God-given rights, ‘liberal’ versus ‘conservative’ that colour also subconsciously underpin America hardwired for violence.
resonates in conservative parts of the US one half of the society thinks, forms the debate. Many Right-wing white Ame- The writer is a foreign affairs specialist
by pointing to similar instances where people on one’s own side
of the political divide have fallen victim.
dilbert Sacredspace
Love & Truth
Walk in India When I despair, I remember
that all through history, the
Forget stampedes. Try getting
way of truth and love has
safely anywhere, any time always won. There have been
Bachi Karkaria murderers and tyrants, and
In cities, stampedes are still the rarest of rare death sentences, un- for a time they can seem
like pilgrim centres where there’s too much heaven on the mind to invincible. But in the end they
bother about down-to-earth cautions. But, STOI columnist Aakar
Patel was right in exonerating official callousness, and declaring
always fall. Think of it, always.
that most Indians simply don’t care about their own safety. He MK Gandhi
cited our total disregard for rules on planes, but the situation on
the street is scarier: we trample over ourselves, and others, on a daily basis.

What Your Intentions Are All About


Forget TB. A particularly virulent and clearly visible strain of multi-warning
resistant TJ is now endemic to urban India. Every moment, any part of every
road, reveals the killer combination of people talking into their phones while
cavalierly jaywalking. We plunge headlong into traffic turned more chaotic
thanks to our sudden presence but we are too busy chattering/ listening to hear Homayun Taba designed to harm life, property or one’s character. Most early enthusiasms believing, feeling and meaning.
the warning honk. Why we should bother? The responsibility for our life and limb reputation. Good intentions are to promote wane in the absence of discipline to carry In Judaism, intention, Kavanah, refers
lies entirely with the motorist, no? Just because you are sitting in big-big car

A
n intention is an idea, vow, promise, materialistic goals and Mahasankalp, things through. That’s why Buddhists to sincerity of devotion and the mental
means you can ignore the safety of poor pedestrians, or wot? Maar saaley ko! yearning, or intense aspiration that higher intentions, are for enlightenment emphasise the discipline of Right Effort. state while absorbed in prayers.
These are altu-faltu arguments, madam. You are lecturing us to stay off the you intend to carry out. We an- of self and others. In Zoroastrian tradition, Ahura Mazda Intention accompanied by offering is
carriageway, but can you see any footpaths where we can safely nounce our intention to marry, to take legal Sankalp could be to realise material- is represented on earth by fire. The incense meant for fulfilment of a wish or gaining
walk? True, they are almost non-existent in modest mofussil action, or say that it wasn’t our intention to istic wishes, and mahasankalp is meant holder is placed on a pedestal with three merit before performance of prayer or
erratica town and swaggering megapolis alike. If the Kolkata Municipal hurt someone’s feelings. But just having an for achieving Self-knowledge and steps, signifying the ‘intent’ of ritual, whether ‘lower,’ for material gain,
Corporation reasons that ‘providing smooth roads will only lead intention or stating it, is no guarantee of enlightenment. Most sadhanas devotees to follow the three or for higher spiritual achievement.
to more speeding and so more accidents’, its Mumbai counterpart asks ‘What’s actioning it; so many forces are at work, are done with this intention. sankalps of good thoughts, good In the spiritual domain, intention can
the point in providing pavements? They’ll only be occupied by hawkers.’ But, that may delay or derail the final result. And by implication, the mundane words, and intent to do beneficial have two dimensions – emotional, year-
even where there’s a level, unhindered sidewalk, we’ll walk only to the side of it. The word ‘sankalp’ has several conno- sankalpas should, in a way, deeds according to the Law of ning to connect to Divine Grace and men-
It’s conditioning, stupid. tations but mainly – an orientation of the help in the fulfilment of the Asha, Truth. tal, as when saying: “Mera ye sankalp pura
If we are blithely unconcerned about our own safety, we care even less about mind or heart; intention, determination, Big Intention. Intention in Islamic tradition kare Ishwar.” Here, there is intentional
other people. The Big C conspicuous by its absence is ‘consideration’. Our rogue decision, wish, resolve, and will power. From intention to final action, is niyyat, often stated before surrender of one’s efforts to Divine will.
behavioural genes trample as virulently over everybody else’s right to space and Why will power? Because even your there are certain phases. Many daily prayer, or while donning This is like saying, Inshallah, God willing.
sanity – on the road, in public or private transport, or even inside your own will weakens over time; whereas sankalp intentions remain unfulfilled, the the two-piece cloth and saying, “I Sankalp finally refers to sincerity of
housing complex. Shove is in the air, blare music or horns without a care, park
anywhere, pump up the traffic jam. That’s our urban rot around the clock.
acts as a strengthening element. The yogic
view sees sankalp as resolve or promise to
because there is no resolve – the
drive, zeal, or will power to ac- speaking do this for Hajj.” It’s like saying: “I
am putting my will behind this
promise. To most, it sounds like a truism
today, says Rabindranath Tagore, “When
*** oneself, embedded in the subconscious tivate them. Even after activation, tree act.” In case of unmindful we are told that the moral goodness of a
Alec Smart said: “A Swachh Bharat must also be cleansed of casteism mind, repeated frequently so that it one needs to sustain the flow, to have stami- intentions, the Quran (2:225) states that deed comes from goodness of intention.”
and communalism. Ask Gandhiji.” becomes a reality. na, to not be discouraged, to see it through. God will not call you to account for your Integrity has largely to do with purifying
bachi.karkaria@timesgroup.com Intention, though, can be wholesome or Additionally, there is need for conviction thoughtlessness or unintentional oaths, our intentions.
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/erratica otherwise; malevolent intentions are and discipline, and all this depends on but for the intention in your heart – Post your comments at speakingtree.in
16 THE ECONOMIC TIMES The Edit Page THE ECONOMIC TIMES | MUMBAI | THURSDAY | 5 OCTOBER 2017

The Will to Rise There is a treasure chest the government can unlock and use for investment: foreign reserves

to the Challenge
PM’s bold response to slowdown is bracing
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come out guns blaz-
Crack Open That Piggy Bank tant and apparently uneconomical
single bullet train joining Ahmeda-
ing, in defence of his government’s economic track re- bad and Mumbai. Similarly, all other
cord. The biggest takeaway from his speech at a function
of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India is that if
feasible and exciting promises made
are now mere caricatures of what Smiling at
were promised.
there is a problem, his government would not only not
wish it away, but would, on the contrary, whip it. This is
The Modi government has simply
been unable to free the economy from
Your Anger
welcome contrast to the interregnum of listless, leader- Mohan Guruswamy its high subsidy burden and public
sector utilities black hole, where the
THICH NHAT HANH
less drift that the second term of the UPA government

C
oil and power companies alone earn Breathing in, I know that
witnessed, before it got its house in order and things start- learly, the Indian economy a profit due to administered pricing. anger makes me ugly.
ed looking up from the third quarter of 2013-14. By add- is not at a place where it wa- Consequently, the picture continu- Breathing out, I do not want to
nts to be. Despite the PM’s es to be bleak. Output of capital goo- be contorted by anger.
ressing the challenge of economic slowdown head on, brave show of defence of his ds contracted 1% in July against gr- Breathing in, I know I must

FILE PHOTO
the prime minister played to his strength, which is leader- economic policies at the Ins- owth of 8.8% a year ago. Production take care of myself.
ship. We hope subsequent action would live up to his bold titute of Company Secretaries of Ind- of consumer durable goods shrank Breathing out, I know loving
ia on Wednesday, the Narendra Modi 1.3% against a nominal increase of kindness is the only answer.
commitment to take decisive corrective action. government finds itself in a chakra- 0.2% a year earlier. Look what I found in the forex When we feel angry, we should
While the prime minister’s defence of demonetisation vyuh that it is unable to fight its way Then came the twin black swan ev- go back to our conscious breath-
is characteristic and justified in political terms, its im- out of. The government is just not be- ents: demonetisation and the hasty announcement of rates was hasty short-term hot money of NRI invest- ing and refrain from looking
ing able to attract or make the invest- implementation of the goods and ser- and the many mismatches between ors, each taking a pound of flesh for and listening to the person we
pact on economic growth cannot be wished away; nor did ments needed to make the economy vices tax (GST). input and output rates compounded mostly foreign bank-financed invest- think to be the source of our
his government’s Economic Survey try to do that. But buoyant again. Demonetisation came as a body the confusion. ment in their ‘mother country’, India unhappiness. We do not need
the way the prime minister sees it, de- India enjoyed a decade of unprece- blow to the cash-dependent unorga- In a belated effort to reverse these will still have $300 billion in hand. to do or say anything. As we go
dented growth during 2004-14 that se- nised sector that makes up 40% of In- trends, the government is planning How much money can be freed from back to our breathing, we shou-
monetisation is part of the pain the emed to have lost steam over the last dia’s GDP. The unorganised sector to loosen its fiscal deficit target of the other $300 billion for investment is ld be aware that it is our anger
economy has to undergo, to exorcise year. The slide was largely caused by also accounts for 90% of employme- 3.2% of GDP to enable it to spend up the big question now. Economist Kau- that is making us suffer, not the
the demon of black money and corrup- ahuge decline in the proportion of ca- nt of around 450 million. to .̀ 50,000 crore. This is a piddly sum shik Basu has said that India’s foreign other person.
pital investment expenditure. Despi- for an economy whose GDP is over reserves need not be more than the Taking the first breath and re-
tion. He sees it as part of the systemic, te the growth of the private and fore- Job Loss .̀ 150 lakh crore now. current account deficit of about $80 citing the first line of the gatha
paradigm-shifting reform his govern- ign investment, the Indian economy The loss of jobs due to demonetisa- Right now, India has a net outflow billion. Others are more cautious. is like looking at ourselves in a
ment has initiated. The same goes for is still largely dependent on govern- tion and the hasty implementation of of foreign investment. What it needs mirror. As we see ourselves
ment investment. GST is still not empirically confirm- is a huge dollop of cash infusion to Infrastructure Fund clearly, we know what to do and
the pain induced by the goods and ser- The prime minister had made a ed. Estimates vary. The construction boost investment. Loosening fiscal Clearly, freeing up $100-120 billion what not to do. The exhalation
vices tax. While some initial teething pains had been ful- promise that he was going to set this and vegetable and fruit retail sectors deficit norms will help. But meani- (.̀ 6.5-8 lakh crore) can be contempla- that follows will have the same
ly anticipated, the actual denouement has been worse trend right and once again begin a took a massive hit and the ballpark ngfully slashing subsidies when Mo- ted. The government could establish effect. In anger, we tend to think
new cycle with government-led inv- estimation of the loss of jobs is at ab- di’s term is on the slope to elections is an India Infrastructure Investment of the other person as the sour-
than could be expected. But it is welcome that the govern- estment. He promised the country a out 25-30 million. These sectors most- not politically feasible. Fund and start shifting meaningful ce of our suffering. We see evil
ment’s, and the GST Council’s, response has been flexib- hundred new cities, a nationwide grid ly employ rural landless labour with There is that old saying that when fractions from the foreign reserves in him or her. “He is cruel.”
of high-speed rail networks, a natio- few skills and, hence, they were forc- the going gets tough, the tough get go- into this fund. A board of well-regar- “She oppresses me.” “He wants
le readiness to fix the problems and move ahead. This, in-
nal river-linking programme and so ed into taking up daily wage and ear- ing. Modi should now show tough- ded experts, who can allocate invest- to destroy me!” In fact, it is our
deed, is the right response. GST is a reform that India many other major nationally trans- nings sustenance. ness and imagination that is temper- ments on merits to prevent the usual anger that destroys us.
badly needs. Ideally, its structure should have been tho- formational projects. The implementation of GST for- ed with realism. He needs to revive leakages and political misuse, could So, we must take good care of
A hundred new cities have now be- ced companies to reduce production the national mood and generate opti- administer the fund. The fund must our anger. When a house is burn-
ught through and economic agents given adequate time
come a hundred ‘smart cities’, which in the run-up to its July 1 implemen- mism over the economy. He now ne- also mandate the minimum level of ing, we must first go into the
to comply. But India would be better off with GST than means little more than more free Wi- tation, as dealers reduced inventory. eds a plan to drive investment. He do- local procurement and investment to house and try to put out the fire.
without it, even with a flawed initial rollout. Fi networks. The nationwide fast tra- The inadequate training and prepa- esn’t have to go far to find the money boost ‘Make in India’. It is too soon to go searching for
ins grid has now become an exorbi- ration was abundantly evident. The to fund this plan. Slow growth and no new jobs are the person who may have start-
One area where the PM needs to deploy his leadership The government is sitting with re- Narendra Modi’s twin Achilles heels. ed the fire. That is what we see
skills is to end political patronage of power theft. Without serves of nearly $400 billion, with He is vulnerable on both counts. He in the inhalation that goes with
this, the sector cannot be salvaged. Another is in resist- about $135 billion alone sitting in US must seize the moment with both ha- the third line of the gatha.
ing populist pressure to use up fiscal space on things like
The PM should now show toughness and imagination banks earning next to nothing. The- nds and start running with both legs. When we exhale, we recite the

farm waivers, instead of stepping up capital formation. that is tempered with realism. He needs to revive the se reserves are equal to about 80% of
our foreign debt. Even after providi-
last line. Only loving kindness
can take care of our anger, and
The writer is chairman, Centre for
mood and generate optimism over the economy ng a quarter of the reserves to cover Policy Alternatives, New Delhi only loving kindness can take
care of the other person.

Whose Baby is the Competitiveness Race


MEME’S THE WORD
Chat Room

Exchange Rate, RBI? While six of the world’s 10 most competitive economies are in Europe,
eight of the 10 worst are in Africa, according to the latest World Economic
Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index. Here’s a partial list…
Take Pride in
Our Heritage
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) continues to wait for inflati- Global competitiveness index 2017-18 rankings
on to weaken before cutting policy rates further. Not that a 25-
“Work is Top 10 Score (1-7) Worst 10 Score (1-7) Apropos ‘The Pursuit of Indian-
basis-point reduction in the rate at which the central bank accomplished Rank Rank ness’ by T K Arun (Oct 4), India

lends short-term money to banks would galvanise the somno- by those 1 Switzerland 5.86 128 Haiti 3.22
had a glorious past and now a
magnificent present. Our anci-
lent credit market or revive comatose investment. What it wo- employees 2 US 5.85 129 Burundi 3.21 ent scriptures contain detail-
uld do is to signal to economic agents that the central bank is who have not 3 Singapore 5.71 130 Sierra Leone 3.20
ed description of discoveries
capable of intervening to make appropriate trade-offs among yet reached done in the last few centuries.
4 Netherlands 5.66 131 Lesotho 3.20 India has an extolling culture
interest rates, inflation and the exchange rate, even if it cannot their level of and heritage, but some people
simultaneously control all three. The overvalued rupee hurts incompetence.” 5 Germany 5.65 132 Malawi 3.11
do not respect or take pride in
exporters and contributes to both widening of the current ac- Laurence J Peter 6 Hong Kong 5.53 133 Mauritania 3.09 this and are tempted towards
Source: World Economic Forum

Educator hollow manifestations of mod-


count deficit and resort by the government of regressive trade 7 Sweden 5.52 134 Liberia 3.08
ernity, mostly as professed by
policy to contain imports, lowering India’s leverage in global 8 UK 5.51 India 135 Chad 2.99 the west. They are unable to
trade negotiations.
The Monetary Policy Committee’s legal
9

10
Japan

Finland
5.49

5.49
4.59
Rank: 40
136

137
Mozambique

Yemen
2.89

2.87
understand that if we do not
retain our culture and indivi-
duality, we would become an
mandate is to keep inflation in a 2-6% object of mockery. Our indivi-
National competitiveness is defined as the set of institutions, policies and factors
band, not always keep it close to 4%. It is determining productivity levels duality is our identity.
possible for the RBI to allow for a mild rise
RAAJASH KULMI
in inflation, while reducing the incentive
Ujjain
for foreign investors to borrow cheap ab-
road and dump that money in India’s debt RBI POLICY Citings Let’s Not Sully
market to earn easy profits, raising liquidity in the system so

Let the Banks Breathe


as to depress money market rates out of the desired policy rate Swachh Bharat
corridor and force the central bank to absorb liquidity, all the Economic This refers to the Edit, ‘PM’s
while spreading despair among exporters. The RBI is right to Welcome Warning on Swachh
worry about the states using up their fiscal space to waive Rationality Bharat’ (Oct 4). The success of
Swachh Bharat lies in cooper-
farm loans, take on the losses of bankrupt power utilities and verge GST rates and weed out exemp- economy over the medium term. ation and commitment from
give their employees handsome salary hikes. It is also right to RICHARD BOOKSTABER
tions that mess up the tax system. And Can GoI afford to wait till the ‘medium the government as well as the
worry over hardening non-food prices, in the background of a the onus is on the GST Council. Instead term’? Certainly not. The performance Economic theory asserts a lev- people. The habit of cleanli-
fall in kharif prospects and the likelihood of imported infla- of four GST rates, ranging from 5% to of PSBs must improve quickly. Banks el of consistency and rational- ness cannot be imposed on any-
28%, without tallying the cesses, it need to be recapitalised. And that’s a ity that not only leaves the cas- one as some-
tion via hardening oil prices. makes sense to aim for a single rate. commitment the government has al- cades and propagation over the thing that is
It is right to call upon the government to step up investment. A moderate GST rate of 14% will soft- ready made. Will mergers of small, course of a crisis unexplained imposed is in-
Reducing the statutory liquidity ratio to 19.5% and mandating Hema Ramakrishnan en the blow, improve compliance and weaker banks with sound banks help but also asserts that they are variably oppo-
a Legal Entity Identifier for borrowers are welcome steps, too. boost collections. The GST Council at this stage? A bigger size could enab- unexplainable. Everything’s sed by people.
must also quickly fix the transition le the bank to lend more for infrastruc- rational, until it isn’t; econom- The govern-
The Monetary Policy Committee glitches, especially for the small and ture projects, but may not necessarily ics works, until it doesn’t. ment should
(MPC) has refused to pay heed to the medium industries. fix the problem of bad loans. So, economics blithely labou- focus on incul-
clamour to cut interest rate to lift gro- GST will be a revenue spinner in the Instead, the government should seri- rs on, applying the same theo- cating the hab-
wth. It has purely factored in the infla- long run, helping the government ously consider lowering its stake in ry and methods to a world of it of cleanliness rather than
The debunking of some eating tips is tionary threat into policymaking. meet its spending commitments and, PSBs to below 50%, and allow them to its own construction that is de- spending money on imposing
a warning to verify before digesting That can, of course, be open to questi- in turn, bring the fisc to better shape. raise capital from the market. It makes void of such unpleasantries. it. Focus on actual mass aware-
on. The underlying message from RBI That the RBI too believes teething pro- sense for the NDA government to revi- The dominant model postula- ness is more important than
is that the cost of borrowing is not what blems linked to GST and bandwidth ve the proposal, mooted in an earlier tes a world in which we are showcasing achievements. Let

Statistical Heartburn is really holding up investment and gro-


wth, but a combination of other factors:
overleveraged companies, bad loans
portfolios of banks and woes of the
constraints may get resolved soon,
allowing growth to accelerate in the
second half, is welcome.
But for investment to pick up, bad
regime, to reduce GoI’s stake in state-
owned banks to 33%. The reform will
ease constraints that PSBs work und-
er, and give bankers the room to be
each rolled up into one repre-
sentative individual who starts
its productive life having map-
ped out a future path of invest-
us all strive to make Swachh
Bharat a grand success.

ADITYA TRIVEDI

Impacts Food Facts manufacturing sector after the rollout


of GST. So, what can be surmised is
that investment decisions may not dep-
loans must be resolved. Banks have
started putting the Bankruptcy Code
to use to resolve corporate distress. It
nimble and take swift decisions.
For decades now, government owner-
ship has been a hurdle to assessing any
ments and consumption with
full knowledge of future conti-
ngencies and their likelihood.
Ujjain

Fuel Prices Must


Conventional food wisdom is seldom examined for veracity, end on a quarter-percentage-point cut will take a while to gauge how well the loan application in a professional way, In this fantasy world, each of
especially when backed by a person associated with a reput-
in the lending rate, but on expectations
of sustained profitability.
code works. Hopefully, according to
RBI, the resolution of stressed corpo-
given the influence wielded directly or
indirectly in lending decisions. Such
us works to produce one good
and conveniently… lives in a
Auto-Correct
ed university. So, the news that Brian Wansink of Cornell Painting a somewhat sombre picture rate exposures in bank balance sheets interference, over time, has hurt the world with no financial system Apropos the news report, ‘Ex-
University, the “author” of many highly consumed nuggets, of the economy, RBI has lowered the should start yielding dividends for the quality of bank assets. Giving full oper- and no banks! Lucas is right in cise on Petrol, Diesel Cut by .̀ 2;
may have used “flawed science” to arrive at very plausible economic growth forecast for the fiscal ational autonomy to banks is a much his assessment that economics Govt to Take .̀ 26Kcr Hit Annu-
year 2017-18 to 6.7% from 7.3% earlier. overdue reform. cannot help during financial ally’ (Oct 4), a reduction of .̀ 2
conclusions hits where it hurts. Not only will several food- A possible decline in kharif producti- Bankers simply cannot work with a crises, but not because econo- in fuel prices through excise
related programmes in the US be impacted by revelations on, coupled with near-term uncertain- Damocles’ sword hanging over their mic theory, in its grasp of the duty cut doesn’t help consum-
that his studies may be dodgy, individual “believers” will also ty in manufacturing with the adopti- heads if banks have to function like world, has demonstrated that ers much, given the irrational
be jolted into asking uncomfortable questions. So, smaller on of GST could further “delay the re- commercial entities. Diluting GoI’s st- crises cannot be helped. It is be- tax structure of the sector. This
vival of investment activity which is ake will resolve many of the problems cause traditional economic th- may also pave the way for pet-
plates and different coloured foods may not really lead peo- already hampered by stressed balance that afflict PSBs. It will also spare tax- eory, bound by its methods and roleum companies to increase
ple to eat less? Do men really not eat more and women less sheets of banks and corporates”. Re- payers from footing bailout bills. structure, is not up to the task. prices when the crude oil price
when other people are watching? People really don’t pour capitalising PSBs is its major presc- A stake dilution alone is not enough. Our path cannot be determi- rises again. The solution is an
more wine into glasses held in hand rather than put on a tab- ription to revive growth. To say that It has to be accompanied by an over- ned with mathematical short- auto-correction in taxes when
RBI has left the ball in GoI’s court is haul of the remuneration structure, cuts; we have to follow the path the crude prices hit a reason-
le? Giving vegetables zippy names will not really make child- not an understatement. especially for senior bankers, who are to see where it leads. Which mi- able upper limit. Since fuel dri-
ren eat them more willingly? Unfortunately, with his meth- Glitches were anticipated in the tran- involved in decision-making. They sh- ght not be where we intended. ves the economy as all busi-
ods under fire, there’s no certain answer. sition to GST. But it is a sound indirect ould be offered a generous incentive As the boxer Mike Tyson noted, nesses depend on transporta-
While the statistics and research involved in arriving at tax reform that creates audit trails ac- package, with a huge variable pay com- everyone has a plan until they tion, bringing fuel under the
ross the income and production chain ponent linked to profitability in the get punched in the mouth. This GST would spare the consum-
such deductions may have elicited the odd niggle in some and makes production efficient. The long term. What is needed is professi- book explores following the ers overlapping taxes.
minds, the simplicity of the assertions certainly made them new tax system is meant to bring goo- onal conduct in banking. path to see where it leads.
sound believable. Some may have even proved true via per- ds and services that escape taxation Improved banking and, crucially, pol- S N KABRA
into the tax net. This could cause a icy will help build a growth moment- From “The End of Theory: Mumbai
sonal experience; but it is not science. The ongoing debunk-
one-time knock in inflation, when in- um. That calls for political courage too. Financial Crises, the Failure of
ing of Wansink’s research proves that everyone should be direct tax collections go up. Economics, and the Sweep of
Letters to the editor may be addressed to

doubly careful about what they are willing to swallow. The need is for more reform to con- Uncuff those banks! hema.ramakrishnan@timesgroup.com Human Interaction” editet@timesgroup.com
EDITORIAL JUGAAD
28 SEPTEMBER

THIS PDF CONTAINS EDITORIALS OF


THE HINDU, BUSINESS STANDARD,
ECONOMIC TIMES,TIMES OF
INDIA,FINANCIAL EXPRESS, THE
TRIBUNE & THE HINDUSTAN TIMES

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