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Dreams have come crashing down -- Kumar Chellappan

August 26, 2013, 4:33 am
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DREAMS HAVE COME CRASHING DOWN


Monday, 26 August 2013 | Kumar Chellappan | in Oped
ISRO’s latest failure to put into space the GSLV is a major setback to the country’s space programme. Introspection and course correction are needed
The Indian Space Research Organisation disappointed the country by scoring a ‘hat-trick’ of failures last week when it had to call off the much-awaited launch of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle powered by an indigenously-developed cryogenic engine, and that too just an hour before its scheduled lift-off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. Though the launch vehicle and the 1,982 kg communication satellite it was carrying onboard remains safe, it will take months for rescheduling the launch. ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan said the mission was called off due to a leak in the second stage of the three-stage heavy launch vehicle capable of launching communication and earth observation satellites weighing 2,000kg into the predetermined orbits.
India's GSLV programme, more precisely, the cryogenic engine programme, is yet to fructify, though three decades of research and development works have gone into the project, in addition to thousands of crores of rupees of public money pumped into it. One can understand  the difficulties involved in perfecting the highly complex cryogenic technology, a passport for entering the big league of commercial space launch business, a monopoly of countries like the US, Russia, France, Japan and China.
Though India launched two GSLV missions in 2010, both of them failed due to different reasons. While one of the flights was powered with indigenously-developed cryogenic engine, the other one was launched with a Russian-built engine. In the run up to last Monday’s launch, ISRO had claimed that the cryogenic engine had been subjected to a series of strenuous tests under different conditions taking into account the past failures. But it turned out to be another disappointing and disheartening day for the country.
It is time ISRO does an introspection and find out the reasons for the inordinate delay in perfecting the technology. There have been remarks from inside the space agency itself that there are no right persons for the right job. The ISRO Chairman himself is neither a launch vehicle specialist nor a satellite expert. His predecessor, Mr G Madhavan Nair, was an internationally-reputed launch vehicle specialist. Mr UR Rao and Mr K Kasturirangan, the predecessors of Mr Nair, were satellite specialists. Mr Radhakrishnan is a budgeting specialist with no experience in managing big-time research, according to some of his own colleagues.
Mr Radhakrishnan, who was to superannuate on August 31, has been given an extension of two years by the Union Government. His tenure is marked with delayed projects and postponed missions. The fact that Monday's cancellation of the mission was necessitated by a factor which has no link with the cryogenic engine, itself speaks volumes about the callousness and indifference of people in high places. Two days before the scheduled launch of the GSLV, the ISRO Chairman had told a news agency that the manned mission to space was not in India's agenda. It came as a shock. ISRO had made announcements many times that India's manned mission to space would happen by 2015. Of late, the ISRO Chairman is obsessed with ‘Mission to Mars’, scheduled for November. What India is going to gain by this project, is not known to anybody.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has succeeded in sending a spacecraft to Mars. It has landed in the red planet and sending a lot of data which the NASA has put on the public domain. The Indian mission will go only up to an orbit 350 km away from Mars. The pictures given by the country's Resourcesat and Remote sensing satellites themselves are of poor quality.
The quality of pictures which ISRO is going to get from its Mars mission is anybody's guess. Instead of diverting the energy of the organisation in multiple directions which do not have any bearing on the immediate future, isn't it advisable for ISRO to focus on the cryogenic engine development, a critical technology needed for making India a force to reckon with in the international space business?
If the ISRO does not have qualified cryogenic specialists, it must hire the services of retired scientists like Nambi Narayanan whose career was cut short by the 1995 spy case involving two Maldivian beauties.
http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/oped/dreams-have-come-crashing-down.html
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Satellite image showing the course of Sarasvati palaeochannel in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat

August 26, 2013, 4:57 am
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Satellite image showing the course of Sarasvati palaeochannel in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat
Drainage systems of India and perennial glacial sources
Department of Space
20-March, 2013 17:56 IST

Mythical Saraswati River
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has studied the palaeochannels in North West India and related them to the channels of River Saraswati. ISRO has not constituted any committee for this purpose.

An integrated palaeochannel map of River Saraswati has been prepared from the origin in Himalayas to Rann of Kutchch. The origin of the mapped course ofthe River Saraswati palaeochannel in North West India was linked to Himalayan perennial source through Sutlej and Yamuna Rivers.

The Government has made efforts to trace the origin of Saraswati river and has also constituted a committee for this purpose.

The work on delineation of entire course of river ‘Saraswati’ in North West India was carried out using Indian Remote Sensing Satellite data along with digital elevation model. Satellite images are multi-spectral, multi-temporal and have advantages of synoptic view, which are useful to detect palaeochannels. The palaeochannels are validated using historical maps, archaeological sites, hydro-geological and drilling data. It was observed that major Harappan sites ofKalibangan (Rajasthan), Banawali and Rakhigarhi (Haryana), Dholavira and Lothal (Gujarat) lie along the River Saraswati.

The Minister of State in the ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions and in the Prime Minister’s Office Shri V. Narayanasamy Gave this information in reply to a written question in the lok Sabha today.

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=94098

Snow and Glacier studies (ISRO, Ahmedabad, 2010)  http://www.moef.nic.in/sites/default/files/Snow-Glacier.pdf

Snow and Glacier studies (ISRO, Ahmedabad, 2010)

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Chinese and Cholas

August 26, 2013, 6:14 am
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The Chola Empire at its greatest extent, during the reign of Rajendra Chola I in 1030 CE

The relationship between the Chinese and Cholas dates back to second century BC. Ancient Chinese scholar Ban Gu had told that China had sent its ambassador to the court of the Cholas.[1]Ban Gu in his work the Book of Han (Ch'ien Han Shu) had written that he had seen many unprecedented objects which are unseen at China, at the city of kuvangtche. Berend, an acoustics expert, annotates that the city named by Ban Gu is analogous with the ancient Chola city kanchi (the present day's city of Kancheepuram at Tamil Nadu, India). This proves the relationship of Kanchi with China.[2]


Arrays of ancient Chinese coins have been found in recent years at the place which is considered to be the homeland of the Cholas (i.e. the present Thanjavur, Tiruvarur   and  Pudukkottai districts of Tamil nadu, India), which confirms the trade and the commercial relationship which existed between the Cholas and the Chinese. [3]
PlaceNumber of coinsOther details
Olayakkunnam323These coins belong to 142-126 BC. This village is situated in Pattukkottai taluk in Pudukkottai district of Tamil nadu, India
Thaalikkottai1822This village is situated in Mannargudi taluk in Tiruvarur district of Tamil nadu, India

The later Cholas too continued to maintain a healthy relationship with the Chinese. During the reign of Rajendra Chola I (i.e. 1016–1033 BC) and Kulothunga Chola I (i.e. in 1077 BC), commercial and political diplomats were sent to China.[4][5]

  1. ^ "sino-indian cultural ties from time immemorial", baroda, jan 7. sardar K.M.panikkar was delivering the 1st of 3 lectures on 'india & china' @ maharaja sayaji rao university of baroda, News item in "the mail" dated 19-1-1956
  2. ^ Numismatics of Tamils by Nadana kaasinaathan - Tamil version (தமிழர் காசியல், நடன காசிநாதன்)
  3. ^ Chinese Coins From Tanjore, Sino-Indian Studies, vol. I, Part I, Oct. 1944
  4. ^ "the chola monarchs sent embassies, partly diplomatic & commercial, to China which reached that country in 1016, 1033, 1077" - K.A.Nilakanta shastri, "A history of south india"
  5. ^ Indian History till 1200 BC - Annamalai University - Chapter-8 - section-24 - page-425 - Trade and Coinage - Tamil version (இந்திய வரலாறு கி.பி.1200 வரை - அண்ணாமலைப் பல்கலைக்கழகம் - அதிகாரம்-8 - பகுதி-24 - பக்கம்-425 - வாணிகமும் நாணயமுறையும்)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_of_the_Cholas_with_the_Chinese

ASI willing to unravel Tamil link to China

PTI  Chennai, August 26, 2013

Unravelling the links Tamils had with China in ancient times could soon be a reality, as the Archaeological Survey of India has said it is willing to lend its expertise to that country if a request is made through appropriate government channels.
"We would love to research the link of Tamils with China. However, we can do this only if a request comes through appropriate authorities like the external affairs ministry," ASI additional director general BR Mani told PTI.
There have been reports of Hindu temples in China and its links with South India and Tamil traders dating to the 13th century.
Historians believe the Chedian shrine may have been a network of more than 12 Hindu temples or shrines, including two grand big temples built in Quanzhou and surrounding villages by Tamil traders who lived here during the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1279-1368) dynasties.
Quanzhou Maritime Museum vice curator Wang Liming had said China would welcome any help from Indian scholars "as this is something we need to study together."    
While stating that ASI would like to research links of Tamils with China, Mani said expeditions of Indians to far away places had always been a subject of interest and pointed out that Sindhi traders had built the Baku Fire Temple in Azerbaijan centuries ago.
"Not only in Azerbaijan, but in several other countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Jawa, many structures have been built by various Indians in different times," he noted.
Asked to shed more light on the Tamil link to ancient China, noted archaeologist and historian S Ramachandran said the Tamils shared a very long history with the dragon nation.

"The Thirukaneeswaram inscriptions belonging to the 14th century speaks of a Shiva temple near the Canton port area in China," he said, adding the inscription was documented by TN Subramaniam in the South Indian Temple Inscriptions series published by Government Oriental Manuscripts Library in 1957.
Interestingly, the temple in China was named after a Mongolian king of the period as 'Kaneeswaram.' An inscription found in the Shiva temple in Avinashi in Coimbatore District (Circa 13th Century) has reference to 'Cheena Kudai' or Chinese umbrellas.

Another inscription found in the Courtallam temple speaks of 'Cheenan' denoting the Chinese. The word Cheenan was used while referring to 'Manuurusattai,' a type of dress in a particular shape hinting at a probable link between "the cloth, the Chinese and Tamil Nadu."

"There is even a view that Sangam age [2000 years ago] king Athiyaman's ancestors introduced sugarcane from China.The Tamil word Cheeni meaning sugar may also have a Chinese connection," Ramachandran said.

Citing the 'Kattabomman Kathai Padal' folk verses on legendary ruler Kattabomman who fought the British, the archaeologist said it has several references to Chinese explosives and lenses. "The evidence on ancient Tamil-Chinese link continues till early 19th Century."

Terming the Quanzhou link as 'very interesting,' Ramachandran said it would be exciting to research the inscriptions and statues in China.

"We may be able to break new ground and could get new archaeological evidences on the link between Tamils and the Chinese," he said.

Ramachandran is also associated with Reach Foundation, a Chennai based NGO, renowned for its conservation efforts.

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MP accuses top legal official of holding Swiss bank account -- Nora Chopra

August 26, 2013, 6:19 am
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MP accuses top legal official of holding Swiss bank account
The letter says that the officer opened an account in the Singapore branch of Union Bank of Switzerland.

NORA CHOPRA  New Delhi | 24th Aug 2013
senior Left MP has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh alleging that he has received information that a top law official of the government had a Swiss bank account, in which the officer had parked illegal money "in hundreds of crores". He wants the government to probe this information. Details of this letter have been made available to this correspondent.
The letter dated 9 August says that the MP has got information that the law officer "opened an account with Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) in a particular branch in Singapore" in 1997. "This was never disclosed," says the letter. "I am told that till 2007, a huge (amount) of foreign currency was deposited frequently in (the said) account," the letter adds.
"Suddenly in 2007, huge amount of money was transferred to the account of his daughter ... in the same branch of the same bank," says the letter.
The letter then goes on to provide information under different heads such as "Beneficiary", "Code Name", "Account handled by", "Daughter", "(Daughter's) Husband". The account code given is 569797 HL. The bank's name is given as "Union Bank of Switzerland — Branch in Singapore".
The letter also adds, "The Code Name used ... is incidentally his grandfather's name, which is a Secret Code to be used for each and every transaction."
The letter says that "this explosive and concrete information of huge black money deposit ... was available with our agencies like CBI, Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax and FIU for the past two years". The MP goes on to allege that "Our agencies were alerted by Financial Service Authority (FSA) of United Kingdom and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), way back in 2011 in connection with these agencies' probe against the suspected money laundering activities" of the law officer's son-in-law. "But unfortunately the Indian agencies were asked not to act on this specific information by the high and mighty in our political system," the MP writes.
“This explosive and concrete information of huge black money deposit … was available with our agencies for the past two years. But unfortunately the Indian agencies were asked not to act on this specific information.” 
The letter goes on to allege that the son-in-law "came into the radar of agencies" abroad "after they suspected illegal trading activities and money laundering by him" "in late 2009". "The ... agencies found money trail to his accounts from his wife's ... account in UBS's particular branch in Singapore," the letter alleges.
The letter then says that the law officer's son-in-law "is holding an asset in the form of a house" in an Indian property owned by a 2G scam accused. The Left MP urges the Prime Minister that "this real estate deal should be taken for consideration for probe by (the) CBI team investigating 2G Scam".
The letter then goes on to say that the son-in-law's name figured "in the recent expose of 10000 persons having bank accounts in tax havens by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). According to ICIJ, where the information is available in public domain for the past three years ... (the son-in-law) is having accounts in Banks operating from British Virgin Islands and operating a financial service company called.... This is a common knowledge in India also. But the link could not be established that he was son-in-law of..."
The MP then raises several questions: "Here the big question is how come huge money of hundreds crores landed in the UBS's branch in Singapore in the name of ... (the law officer). Why people were paying money to (the law officer), which (was) ultimately found in foreign account? Why people are obliging him? What was the consideration? We have to find — from which sources and for what purpose millions of dollars were deposited in this particular account from 1997. This can be a tip of the iceberg. And why Indian agencies were not acting on this shocking, concrete, point blank information received...? Who blocks from them acting?"
The MP says he writes the letter in his "commitment" to fight corruption "as I did always in the past".
"I hereby request you to immediately order to our investigation agencies like CBI, Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax and Financial Intelligence Unit to get in touch with authorities of Union Bank of Switzerland and government and legal authorities in Singapore to get the details of the bank account," the MP adds.
"Again I am reiterating that I am passing this information to you while performing my duty as a Member of Parliament to protect the national interest and to fight black money and money laundering. Kindly find out if my information is alright," the letter concludes.
The Sunday Guardian has come to know that the Prime Minister has forwarded the letter to the Ministry of Law and that the MP is planning to raise the matter in Parliament.
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Manmohan Singh 'main election agent' of Narendra Modi -- Arun Shourie

August 26, 2013, 8:46 am
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UPA's 'non-performance' helping Modi: Arun Shourie

New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) Former Union minister and BJP leader Arun 
Shourie has called Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the "main election 
agent" of Narendra Modi as "non performance" of the UPA government 
has been helping the Gujarat Chief Minister.

Speaking to Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate programme on CNN-IBN, 
he also said move to get the Food Security Bill would ruin the country's 
economy as it has terrible consequences.

     "Manmohan Singh is the main election agent of Narendra Modi 
today. Since he (the Prime Minister) is not doing anything, people 
are saying that Modi lao... Modi lao (bring Modi, bring Modi)," he said.

Asked to comment about some people's perception that Modi is a divisive 
figure and he would rupture India's communal harmony, Shourie said 
there was communal harmony and "the question is at the moment what 
the country wants is not divisive but decisive leadership and he 
has certainly demonstrated that".

On whether Modi would unite the BJP behind him or fracture the top 
leadership like Sushma Swaraj or L K Advani, Shourie said he would 
not speak about "stateless" leaders in Delhi as there are state leaders. 
Asked to clarify whom he was referring as stateless
leaders in Delhi, Shourie said it (stateless leaders) was Gyaniji's 
description and he had said that there were two types of leaders 
in India -- on one side leaders like K Kamraj, S K Patil, NTR and 
on the other side stateless leaders like VP Singh.

Questioned whether he was comparing Swaraj and Advani to VP Singh, 
he said he was not comparing them to anybody here in Delhi.
"I am saying that Modi has united the party at the grass-roots level 
as far as I can see. I am not in touch with the party but if that 
is the party of workers and volunteers are all for him, I am sure 
that people in Delhi are also now reconciled to him," he said.

Shourie said the UPA government has been outliving its utility as 
it was not doing anything except for some "perverse" things like 
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Food Security Bill, which have terrible consequences for the economy.

"Subsidies were increasing at 12 per cent a year; that is bad enough. 
After 2008 it has increased at 32 per cent a year ... Can an economy 
afford that. You see everything that is done is desirable but sometimes 
you can afford it sometimes you can't," he said.

Asked whether NREGA and Food Security Bill represent welfareism 
taken to the extent of bad economics endangering the country's future, 
he said "not only for the future but at present it has really ruined things".

PRESS RELEASE

 

CNN-IBN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH

FORMER UNION MINISTER ARUN SHOURIE

 
 
26/08/13
Former Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Shourie says Gujarat Chief Minister and the party's campaign committee chief Narendra Modi ‘is already the party's Prime Ministerial candidate’. Speaking to CNN-IBN's Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate, Shourie said country needs a decisive leader today and Modi is a decisive leader. Shourie has rejected any resistance from within the party to the rise of Narendra Modi by calling the top leadership like Sushma Swaraj and L K Advani as ‘Stateless leaders from Delhi ’.
 
Arun Shourie holds Manmohan Singh partly responsible for the rise of Modi calling the Prime Minister as ‘Modi’s main election agent’. Shourie calls Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ‘completely irresponsible in regard to the nature of things the country required’ and ‘a person who has squandered his own reputation’.
 
·        MODI IS BJP’S PRIME MINISTERIAL CANDIDATE
 
·        L K ADVANI AND SUSHMA SWARAJ ARE STATELESS LEADERS FROM DELHI
 
·        MANMOHAN SINGH IS MODI’S MAIN ELECTION AGENT
 
·        PRIME MINISTER IS COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE ABOUT THINGS THE COUNTRY REQUIRED
 
·        MANMOHAN SINGH HAS SQUANDERED HIS OWN REPUTATION
 
·        RAHUL GANDHI HAS NOT YET SPOKEN ON ANY PUBLIC ISSUE
 
·        WHAT HAPPENS IN PARLIAMENT IS MOST OFTEN A DRAMA
 
·        PARLIAMENT’S MOVE TO AMEND SEC (4) OF RTI ACT IS SELF SERVING
 
·        MANMOHAN SINGH IS A GOOD MAN WHO TURNS OUT TO BE A GOOD FOR NOTHING MAN
 
TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW
 
KARAN THAPAR - Mr Shourie, lets start with the state of our politics...Many people when they look at the paralysis of the parliament or the performance of the govt are disillusioned, several are distressed, some are even disgusted...can you undersatnd that sentiment?
ARUN SHOURIE - What happens in parliament is most often a drama. It is a well rehearsed, stage planned drama...you will shout, I will shout, the speaker in 5 mins will say ok adjourned till 12:30.  So it is irrespective of the contrived nature of that drama that the paralysis has occurred and the parliament of India has been reduced to one of the worst assemblies of the state. What we used to hear about the Bihar assembly, we now see in Parliament.
 
KARAN THAPAR - So when you say it’s a drama is this almost like theatre of the absurd
ARUN SHOURIE - No, theatre of the evil as far as the consequences are concerned, because of its consequences. I don’t mean persons are evil but the consequences are certainly disastrous for the country.
 
KARAN THAPAR - It’s damning India to be a permanently backward undeveloped country because the decisions it should take it’s simply not taking
ARUN SHOURIE - Two points on that - First, we are looking to parliament for too many decisions...we are an over legislated country. 115 bills which are pending in parliament and really you can do away with all of them except 10 or 15 which are required because of previous laws which were passed not because of anything new. And other than that some small amendment is there so you don't require legislation actually a prudent govt will make a list of things which can be done without passing new laws.
 
KARAN THAPAR - Talking about prudent govt how do you view the UPA  govt...has it outlived this utility & is an election now the  best solution?
ARUN SHOURIE - Well the govt itself has not been there so its question of outliving its utility...it went away long ago. It (utility) was not there...not doing anything except for some  perverse things...NREGA one day, food security bill the other,  which have terrible consequences for the economy to which we can turn later...The govt was not there. But whether the elections now will really solve any problem really depends on the outcome of the elections.
 
KARAN THAPAR - What do you fear that we could end up with a fractured  mandate showing up a even more weaken unstable govt driving us  further into the hole.
ARUN SHOURIE - Then we will on the road from which it will be very difficult to recover for 5 - 10 years.
 
KARAN THAPAR - So you say to people who arguie that an election is the best solution...you are saying it could be like jumping off a cliff?
ARUN SHOURIE - Yes, it could be
 
KARAN THAPAR - Comeback to what you mentioned about the sort of legislation to be passed...... NREGA, Food security...these are held up by this govt as great achievement...you see them very differently.
ARUN SHOURIE - Yes because we do not see up to 2007 - 2008...I'll just  give you one figure - subsidies were increasing at 12% a year;  that is bad enough, after 2008 it has increased at 32% a  year...can an economy afford that. You see everything that is done is desirable but sometimes you can afford it sometimes you can't.
 
KARAN THAPAR - So NREGA & food security bill represent welfareism taken to the extent of bad economics endangering the country’s future?
ARUN SHOURIE - Not only for the future but at present it has really ruined things as of now.
 
KARAN THAPAR - In that context how then would you assess the 9 years of  Dr manmohan singh as PM of India?
ARUN SHOURIE - He has been a person who has squandered his own reputation and completely irresponsible in regard to the nature of things the country required.
 
KARAN THAPAR - Should he have been better in regard to two bills you mentioned earlier NREGA and food security
ARUN SHOURIE - Of course…..I mean which ass could have not have known the consequences of this.
 
KARAN THAPAR - Do you see him as a man who is PM knew better but was hobbled by Sonia Gandhi & Rahul Gandhi?
ARUN SHOURIE - No no, I think Sonia Gandhi & Rahul Gandhi business is just an excuse. He just goes along with everything...his core competence has turned out to be to blame other people. 2G - Raja doing it I don't know...Raja wrote letters to you; Coalgate - I was the minister but I don't know. I can tell you something from my personal knowledge and from what my good friend Yashwant Sinha told me...whatever you say about the Indian intelligence system, the PM of India knows every single thing that is happening anywhere in his govt.
 
KARAN THAPAR - So you are suggesting that Manmohan Singh knowingly has  been turning a Nelson's eye to what was happening around him?  Including corruption happening under his nose?
ARUN SHOURIE - Absolutely. In case of 2G I took the papers to him...I had to disclose it unfortunately because Asir Wasam Achary had brought the papers to me at the first instance. He (Manmohan Singh) did nothing.
 
KARAN THAPAR - Today Dr Manmohan Singh stands very low in your estimation
ARUN SHOURIE - Unfortunately yes
 
KARAN THAPAR - You have lost respect for him
ARUN SHOURIE - a good man who turns out to be a good for nothing man.
 
KARAN THAPAR - What assessment have you made of Rahul Gandhi as an MP over these 9 years?
ARUN SHOURIE - Has he said anything on any public issue? I remember only one statement of his on this Lokpal thing. He made a speech in parliament and said that actually the Lokpal should become constitutional status and that this is going to be the game changer. 
 
KARAN THAPAR - Does he have PM qualities
ARUN SHOURIE - But he is just an innocent person...I don’t know him personally and I would not like to comment on it. What has he done?
 
KARAN THAPAR - Let us come to Narendra Modi..the BJP sees him as a  salvation of this country ..Do you agree?
ARUN SHOURIE - His main election agent is working……very strong person working for him.
 
KARAN THAPAR - are you talking about Amit Shah?
ARUN SHOURIE - No no , I am talking of Manmohan Singh..Manmohan  Singh is the main election agent of Narendra Modi today kyunki  jab ye kuch kaam hi nahi karte to log kehte hai Modi ko lao..Modi ko lao.
 
KARAN THAPAR - In other words you are saying desperation, frustration,  rage & anger with Manmohan Singh & the UPA govt is what will  bring Narendra Modi to power?
ARUN SHOURIE - No, it contrasts with...I hope that a person like him comes to power. I can't guarantee that.
 
KARAN THAPAR - Would you endorse him?
ARUN SHOURIE - I would certainly.
 
KARAN THAPAR - What you say to people who say he is divisive, he frightens the minority, he will rupture India 's communal harmony?
ARUN SHOURIE - There is communal harmony...In any case the question really is if I keep shouting divisive, divisive then everybody says see everybody is talking of him as divisive. The question is at the moment what the country wants is not divisive but decisive leadership and he has certainly demonstrated that.
 
KARAN THAPAR - If he becomes BJP's PM candidate which looks quite likely
ARUN SHOURIE - He is BJP's PM candidate
 
KARAN THAPAR - Will he unite the party behind him or could he fracture the top leadership like Sushma Swarajas, LK Advanis?
ARUN SHOURIE - I will not speak about stateless leaders in Delhi . There are state leaders.
 
KARAN THAPAR - Stateless leaders in Delhi ....?
ARUN SHOURIE - Yes, that's Gyani Ji's description. He said India mein do tarah ke leaders hain, Kamraj , SK Patil, NTR aur dooje  mein stateless leaders like VP singh.
 
KARAN THAPAR - So you are comparing Sushma and Advani to VP Singh
ARUN SHOURIE - I am not comparing them to everybody here in Delhi .  I'm saying that Modi has united the party at the grassroot level as far as I can see. I am not in touch with the party  but if that is the party of workers and volunteers are all for him, I am sure that people in Delhi are also now reconciled  to him.
 
KARAN THAPAR - If under him there BJP gets 150 - 160 what then. In 1996 Atal Bihari Vajpayee from the same point could not form a lasting government. Can Modi do better?
ARUN SHOURIE - I don't know that will depend on the situation in the country. I would presume that Narendra Modi will work for a minimum 230 seats with the BJP alone. And the way this  government is going that is entirely possible.
 
KARAN THAPAR - It is entirely possible, with Dr Manmohan Singh to thank
ARUN SHOURIE - Yes absolutely right.
 
KARAN THAPAR - Is Parliament right in striving to reverse SC judgment barring convicted MPs and MLAs from continuing in office?
ARUN SHOURIE - That is absolutely self serving and wrong. It's wrongly advocated. Section 8(4) of RP Act must be amended.
 
KARAN THAPAR - What about the Parliament's attempt to amend the RTI Act to keep political parties out of its purview?
ARUN SHOURIE - Yes I completely against that because as you know.....I’m against the amendment. They must be open to public scrutiny.  The first step in this they have to disclose there account is because of a writ of my own father.  
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SoniaG UPA, scrap setu project. Declare Ramasetu national monument.

August 26, 2013, 6:29 pm
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Published: August 27, 2013 02:27 IST | Updated: August 27, 2013 02:27 IST
Schwartzberg South Asia Atlas, Univ. of Chicago shows a map of Puranic India. Schwartzberg’s Atlas-p.27- The Historical Atlas of South Asia, The university of Chicago Press, 1978
India of the Vedas and the Epics http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=050 Schwartzberg Atlas, v. , p. 13.

Sethu project ecologically destructive, says Coastal Action Network

Special Correspondent
The Coastal Action Network (CAN) has demanded the scrapping of the Sethusamudram project, “which was ecologically destructive and economically unviable,” and for declaring the Adam’s Bridge or ‘Ram Sethu’ as an international geographical heritage site.
Addressing a press conference, Ossie Fernandes, co-convener of the Network said he hoped that the Supreme Court, which had completed hearings for the case, would soon pass orders on the project. The apex court had in 2007 directed suspension of work on the project and instructed the Centre to undertake a study of the impacts of the proposed new alignment.
According to Mr. Fernandes, the Dr. Pachouri Committee Report filed in the Supreme Court had also shown that the route 4A and Route 6 were not feasible.
K. Gopalakrishnan, former director of the Geological Survey of India said the project area was ridden with four sets of deep crustal faults and prone to a recurrence of volcanic vents that have been reported in the past in the Gulf of Mannar.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/sethu-project-ecologically-destructive-says-coastal-action-network/article5062123.ece?homepage=true
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SoniaG UPA, protect and preserve ancient Tiruvottiyur temple, a world heritage monument.

August 26, 2013, 6:36 pm
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Published: August 27, 2013 02:18 IST | Updated: August 27, 2013 02:18 IST

Rare Chola paintings found in Tiruvottiyur temple

D. Madhavan
  • The paintings are possibly the work of Chola King Parantaka – I. One of them depicts Lord Shiva adorned with gold ornaments on his chest and waist. There are two people on either side of Lord Shiva, showering flowers on him. Photo: State archaeology department
    The HinduThe paintings are possibly the work of Chola King Parantaka – I. One of them depicts Lord Shiva adorned with gold ornaments on his chest and waist. There are two people on either side of Lord Shiva, showering flowers on him. Photo: State archaeology department
  • The paintings are possibly the work of Chola King Parantaka – I. One of them depicts Lord Shiva adorned with gold ornaments on his chest and waist. There are two people on either side of Lord Shiva, showering flowers on him. Photo: State archaeology department
    The HinduThe paintings are possibly the work of Chola King Parantaka – I. One of them depicts Lord Shiva adorned with gold ornaments on his chest and waist. There are two people on either side of Lord Shiva, showering flowers on him. Photo: State archaeology department
  • The paintings are possibly the work of Chola King Parantaka – I. This one depicts Lord Shiva adorned with gold ornaments on his chest and waist. There are two people on either side of Lord Shiva, showering flowers on him. Photos: State archaeology department
    The HinduThe paintings are possibly the work of Chola King Parantaka – I. This one depicts Lord Shiva adorned with gold ornaments on his chest and waist. There are two people on either side of Lord Shiva, showering flowers on him. Photos: State archaeology department

Discovery made by research scholar of State archaeology dept.; faded image of Lord Shiva found on wall; excavation to begin soon

A photograph taken by a research scholar of the State archaeology department on her mobile phone has helped unearth rare Chola-era paintings at an Adipuriswarar (Lord Shiva) temple in Tiruvottiyur on Monday.
The findings, archaeologists said, were rare as this is the first time paintings of the Chola era have been discovered in Chennai, which experts believe was only a peripheral part of the ancient dynasty.
The research scholar, 28-year-old Deepika Shankaralingam, is working on a study of pillars in temples that belong to various eras, including those of the Pallavas, Cholas, Vijayanagara and the Nayaks. As part of her research, she, along with her co-researcher Vijay Sundaraman, had gone to a ninth-century A.D. temple in Tiruvottiyur. There, they found an algae-like substance on the wall near the main deity, Lord Shiva.
“When we first saw it, we thought it was some kind of dirt on the wall, but when we looked closely we were stunned to see a faded painting of Lord Shiva in the standing position,” said Ms. Shankaralingam, who has completed a master’s degree in archaeology from Pune-based Deccan College.
Immediately, a team of archaeologists and epigraphists led by S. Vasanthi, commissioner-in-charge of the archaeology department arrived at the temple, and having inspected the wall, found that the painting, and others around it, were genuine. They were confirmed as belonging to the Chola era, due to their colour and unique style. The colours yellow and red, a senior archaeologist said, were predominant in Chola paintings, while in those of the Vijayanagara era, blue — especially peacock blue — was the primary colour.
While the panel or framework of the paintings is about 8.5 feet high and 1.5 feet wide, the visible portion of the paintings only stretch to 3.5 feet on the wall. An archaeologist said the painting was possibly the work of Chola King Parantaka – I (907– 951 A.D) and depicts Lord Shiva adorned with gold ornaments on his chest and waist.
A unique feature of the painting, he said, was the style of the head-gear in it – a knot with flowers atop it.
There are two other persons (gender not determined) on either side of Lord Shiva in the painting, but above him. They appear to be placing flowers on Lord Shiva. “The painting may depict a wedding scene as Lord Shiva is wearing gold and being showered with flowers,” said senior epigraphist, P.G. Loganathan.
The archaeology department will now excavate the entire wall from the temple in order to determine if there are more faded paintings on it, an official said.
The significance of the paintings, according to archaeologists, lies in the fact that during the Chola era, Tiruvottiyur and its adjoining area Thondai Mandalam, were considered a buffer area on the northern portion of the kingdom, between the warring dynasties – the Chalukyas and the Cholas, in ninth century A.D.
As a result, these areas were very well maintained by the Cholas to ensure that they did not fall into the hands of their rivals, the Chalukyas. And so, the localities were well kept and beautified and temples here were elaborately painted.


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Devotees protest renovation of ancient temple in Tiruvottiyur

Inscriptions slabs dismantled and broken 

Broken Shiva lingams and other sacred icons lie neglected in a corner. Photo: Special Arrangement

Historians, archaeologists and devotees are up in arms against the renovation of Tyagarajaswamy temple, popularly known as Sri Vadivudai Amman temple, in Tiruvottiyur.
Temple authorities have removed granite slabs with inscriptions from the temple floor and are replacing them with rough granite. This ancient temple, classified as a ‘paadal petra sthalam’, contains the most number of inscriptions in this part of the country.
“Tamil saint and poet Vallalar had sung at the very spot where the idols of Arunagirinathar and Murugan were — both have been removed now. The temple is being renovated but its identity is being destroyed. The officials are rude whenever we question them,” said a devotee.
R. Nagaswamy, former director of the Tamil Nadu archaeology department, said, the temple could have originally been a brick structure that existed around the 7th century AD.
“Around 1020 AD, Rajendra Chola rebuilt it. The stones have been there for over 1,000 years. The expert appointed by the government for restoring the temples has not been consulted for the renovation,” he said.
The Tirupati temple had planned to cover Vijayanagara inscriptions with gold sheets but the courts dismissed the idea. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department had replaced the flooring in the Parthasarathy temple with granite but devotees objected to it, Dr. Nagaswamy said.
According to S. Swaminathan, author of several books on temples, the inscriptions serve as proof of our history.
“There are methods for the preservation of 1,000-year-old inscriptions. The stones have remained there for centuries. What is the need to move them now? Can an executive engineer replace a stone in the Taj Mahal?” he said.
T.R. Ramesh, president, Temple Worshipers Society, said a few slabs of inscriptions were broken when they were moved without adequate care.
“Damage has been done to not just the inscriptions but also to some Shiva lingams. The temple had 11 ‘ekadasa rudra’ Shiva lingams that are now in a shambles,” he said.
An official in the HR&CE department, which manages the affairs of the temple, said the stone inscriptions on the floor near the Durgai Amman Sannidhi in the Aadhipureeswarar shrine were removed so they could be reinstalled in a suitable spot. Similarly, lingams behind the Aadhipureeswarar Sannidhi were removed to be placed on a dais.
“The flooring in the temple is being redone,” the official said, adding “the inscriptions were placed wrongly on the floor, in the past. Usually, they are found on the walls of old temples. In order to safeguard the inscriptions, they are being re-installed suitably so the public can view them.”

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University of South Carolina launches Encyclopedia of Hinduism (Video)

August 26, 2013, 7:12 pm
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThDf1e35YuU
Published on Aug 26, 2013
A 25-year quest to document and present one of the world's oldest living traditions will come to fruition Monday, Aug. 26, when the Encyclopedia of Hinduism is unveiled at the University of South Carolina.
Hundreds of scholars, dignitaries, Hindu families, students and the public will converge on the university's campus to witness the release of the much anticipated and definitive 11-volume guide conceived, compiled and produced by the India Heritage Research Foundation and published by Mandala Publishing.

More information at: www.sc.edu or www.walkerinstitute.sc.edu

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Adivasi agitate for removal of ‘tribal’ Virgin Mary statue -- Anumeha Yadav

August 26, 2013, 8:15 pm
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Published: August 27, 2013 02:07 IST | Updated: August 27, 2013 02:34 IST

Adivasi group to agitate for removal of ‘tribal’ Virgin Mary statue

Anumeha Yadav
  • Sarna tribals protesting against Mary statue, dressed as a tribal woman, at Singhpur in Ranchi on Monday. Photo: Manob Chowdhury
    The HinduSarna tribals protesting against Mary statue, dressed as a tribal woman, at Singhpur in Ranchi on Monday. Photo: Manob Chowdhury
  • The Mary statue dressed in a traditional tribal attire. Photo: Manob Chowdhury
    The Mary statue dressed in a traditional tribal attire. Photo: Manob Chowdhury
The Mary statue dressed in a traditional tribal attire. Photo: Manob Chowdhury
Religious leaders of the Sarna tribe have announced an agitation this December demanding that a statue of Virgin Mary be removed from a Catholic parish church in Singpur.
The religious leaders described the statue — Virgin Mary, hair tied in a bun, dressed as a tribal woman in a traditional red and white sari, wearing bangles and depicted holding an infant in a sling — as a proselytising ploy. Sarna religious leaders announced the agitation after the police imposed IPC Section 144 and stopped them from marching to the church in question on Sunday.
“We met the church representatives in May and had offered them three months to remove the statue. But the talks broke down because they ignored our request. They have dressed the statue in our traditional clothes so that over time the nature-worshipping tribals here start associating Mother with a tribal woman. This is a strategy for conversion and to attack our distinct culture,” said Sarna dharamguru Bandhan Tigga.
“We have announced our agitation to oppose not just this but other attacks on our faith in Bible Society publications which give false accounts of our religious practices describing them as uncivilised,” he alleged.
More than 27 Sarna religious groups have publicly demanded the removal of the statue, unveiled by the Archbishop of Ranchi Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, since May.Earlier in July, in villages near Ormanjhi, 20 km from Ranchi, members of the Protestant Assembly of God church had reported that some Sarna Adivasi leaders had threatened them with violence if their families did not convert back to the Sarna faith — a threat they said had occurred a few days after the statue controversy erupted.
“Three days after the statue was unveiled by Catholic priests, the Sarna society leaders called some families who had converted to Christianity several years ago in Ormanjhi and gave them a week to convert back to the Sarna faith. A week later, some men from the same group arrived in the village and broke the gate of one of our community member’s house,” said the pastor of a church in Ormanjhi who did not wish to be identified. A First Information Report was registered in the Ormanjhi police station.
The Catholic church has so far refrained from commenting on the controversy. “We wish to remain silent and have had no discussions amongst ourselves on this subject,” said Father Theodore Toppo.
“This is not a constructive approach by leaders of the Sarna faith and takes the focus away from more serious issues that affect tribals of all faiths, such as tribals’ rights to resources and land and their other constitutional rights. At the same time, the church representatives should come out of their shell, be gracious and offer to remove the statue and make a clear statement that we do not wish to offend anyone’s sentiments,” said Father Stan Swamy, a social activist.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/adivasi-group-to-agitate-for-removal-of-tribal-virgin-mary-statue/article5062363.ece?homepage=true&css=print
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Rape cases: failure of states -- Shining Path

August 27, 2013, 1:35 am
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Mumbai gangrape: The numbers reveal how states failed to tackle rape

The anger and the outrage over the Mumbai gang-rape incident is palpable, hanging thick in the monsoon air. If the feudal overlords who pass themselves off for democratically elected and selected guardians of freedom, liberty and justice had a knife, they could cut through it.
State No. of Rape cases reported [2011] No. of Rape cases reported [2012] % change 
Andhra Pradesh14421341-7%
Assam170017160.9%
Bihar932922-1.1%
Chattisgarh10141004-1%
Kerala1094972-11.2%
Madhya Pradesh33963389-0.2%
Maharashtra165817626.3%
Odisha1112145630.9%
Rajasthan1757200514.1%
Uttar Pradesh20401951-4.4%
West Bengal23562040-13.4%
All India23939245312.5%
State No. of Rape cases reported [2011] No. of Rape cases reported [2012] % change 
Right now though, they are just biding their time in the hope that this too shall pass.
It always does.
The S.O.P, after all, has been clearly laid down, refined and perfected after decades of practice –
Step 1: Do nothing
Step 2: After some time, continue doing nothing.
Step 3: Wait for the next incident to happen and let the initial outrage blow over.
Repeat Steps 1 through 3.
Once this cycle has been repeated 10 times, the S.O.P then goes as follows:
Invert all arguments and start blaming society – with a little the help from intellectuals, professors and TV anchors, who quite often, pour from empty into void. The unstated intent is to peddle collectivized guilt and make everyone “introspect” so as to turn the attention away from those who were tasked with specific responsibilities i.e., the Government. Inordinate intellectual discourse embellished with some high-minded customary platitudes – the thinking goes – can, after all, atone for the mind-mangling absence of actionable ideas. Furthermore, this creates a desirable scenario [for those waxing ineloquent] wherein we are all driven into deep depression on account of the paralyzing torment and remorse for crimes that we have not committed.
Is our police really equipped to deal with crimes against women? AFP
Is our police really equipped to deal with crimes against women? AFP
Once these folks who are intoxicated with the exuberance of their own verbosity finally shut up, one notices with a certain predictable dismay, that it was a part of the “doing nothing” trick defined in the S.O.P above. The psychobabble surrounding this “doing nothing” does dance at the edges of important issues like gender sensitivity, upbringing, education, employment, social mores, culture-linked factors etc, but rarely does it extend into the realm of concrete, actionable and time-bound recommendations. All noise, no signal – which is a pity.
So life goes on – and gets worse.
The other route to reducing crime [including rape] in the country is to examine the robustness of administrative and legal deterrents, to identify specific gaps in the enabling infrastructure and draw the attention to concrete and actionable recommendations – which is what I intend doing in the sections below.
The power to act, however, still rests with those whom we elected to govern this nation.
First. What is the strength of the police force in India?
State Sanctioned Police Strength Actual Police Strength Vacancies Police-Population ratio [Police/Lakh of Population] 
Bihar873146796422.2%68.7
Orissa550734597616.5%111.3
UP36861817334153%85.2
Rajasthan84059764549.1%111.8
MP83665765068.6%103.9
Maharashtra18180313469625.9%120.6
Gujarat1035455788944.1%97.9
TN1123639574514.8%140.3
Karnataka907227922612.7%133.1
Compare this Police-Population ratio with global norms – 220 as laid down by the United Nations, 220-280 as followed by Sweden, Norway, Canada, Australia and USA. How do we expect to prevent and combat crime without adequate manpower on the ground?
Can the various State governments draw up a plan [in 60 days?] on how to improve the scenario on the metrics defined above? Can such a plan be then implemented within a defined and agreed upon timeframe? Is 12 months enough to get the process underway? Will it have a positive impact on reducing crime in the near term?
Let me also draw your attention to 4 other metrics-
- Rate of crime [per 1 lakh population] – IPC  : 192.2
- Rate of crime [per 1 lakh population] – SLL : 324.5
- Training expenditure %age [of total budget] : 1.64%
- No. of Mobile Forensic Science Vans: 378 [for a Country that covers about 3.2 million sq.km, with a population of approximately 1.3Bn]
Does it take too much intelligence to figure out what are the actionable points here?
Second. There is also a strong case for the police to be given more independence from the state’s political machinery. The SC is on record, saying that “many of the deficiencies in the functioning of police had arisen largely due to an overdose of unhealthy and petty political interference” before concluding that it was important and in interest of the nation to “insulate the police from political interference”.
Furthermore, the SC had issued 7 very specific directives on Police Reforms in 2006 – could we have an audit for each State as to what has been the compliance level on each of those 7 directives?
A few more important and critical issues [training, sensitisation, infrastructure, evidence gathering and investigative skills etc] were spelt out in greater detail elsewhere  a few months ago. Please do go through those as well.
Third. One of the reasons for the anger/outrage is that justice is rarely delivered within a reasonable period of time. This section will attempt to focus on a few, if not all, metrics that explain why the wait for justice in this blessed nation is akin to waiting for Godot.
State Vacancies – Judges [HC] Vacancies [District & Subordinate Courts] 
Bihar14%34.7%
Orissa36.4%12.6%
UP46.2%12.7%
Rajasthan42.5%19.5%
MP21%11.4%
Maharashtra20%9.2%
Gujarat30.9%49.3%
TN11.7%14.2%
Karnataka22%18.4%
What further exacerbates matters is that we fare abysmally on another metric, and one that directly leads to the alarming rates of pendency that beset the Criminal Justice System – the Judge:Citizen Ratio. The ratio currently stands at approximately 14 Judges per million citizens, the global norm being approximately 100. Admittedly, this is not the only contributory factor, but it is a critical one nevertheless.
The powers that be are aware of these statistics, yet chose to do nothing to address the issue. “The adverse effect of delay on the society at large is immeasurable. The fear of law and the faith in the criminal justice system is eroded irretrievably”, notes a Law Commission Report.
In fact, in 2002, the Supreme Court directed the government to increase this Judge:Citizen ratio in a phased manner to 50 – follow-up action is conspicuous by its absence, as evidenced by the fact that the actual ratio has barely improved over this 11 year period [up from 11 to 14].
Furthermore, a review report titled Judicial Impact Assessment, submitted in 2008 to H.R.Bhardwaj, notes:
“In the last two Five-Year Plans, the allocation was 0.071%, 0.078% and in the present Plan it is 0.07 %. With such small allocations for the judiciary, it is not clear how the situation can be improved”.
Such tightfistedness directly impacts the judicial infrastructure that the country needs. While this is obvious to most of us, the high and mighty decision-makers appear to be in a state of near-perpetual somnolence on such matters.
Afterthought: Rule of law, fear of law and other such desirable administrative deterrents/tools for preventing and fighting crime have been rendered toothless over the past few decades.  After all, as I noted elsewhere a few months ago, India is clustered with countries like Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nepal, Senegal, Congo & Malawi on the Freedom Index; when it comes to Personal Freedom, we again find ourselves bunched together with nations like  Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Togo & Nigeria.
Will the government(s) start doing what they were elected to do – govern?
Twittering tittle-tattle: @ShiningPath1
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SoniaG food bill: biggest mistake of Independent India -- Vivek Kaul

August 27, 2013, 1:38 am
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Food Bill is the biggest mistake India might have made till date

by  Aug 27, 2013
Historians often ask counterfactual questions to figure out how history could have evolved differently. Ramachandra Guha asks and answers one such question in an essay titled A Short History of Congress Chamchagiri, which is a part of the book Patriots and Partisans.
In this essay Guha briefly discusses what would have happened if Lal Bahadur Shastri, the second prime minister of India, had lived a little longer. Shastri died on January 11, 1966, after serving as the prime minister for a little over 19 months.
The political future of India would have evolved very differently had Shashtri lived longer, feels Guha. As he writes “Had Shastri lived, Indira Gandhi may or may not have migrated to London. But even had she stayed in India, it is highly unlikely that she would have become prime minister. And it is certain that her son would have never have occupied or aspired to that office…Sanjay Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi would almost certainly still be alive, and in private life. The former would be a (failed) entrepreneur, the latter a recently retired airline pilot with a passion for photography. Finally, had Shastri lived longer, Sonia Gandhi would still be a devoted and loving housewife, and Rahul Gandhi perhaps a middle-level manager in a private sector company.”
But that as we know was not to be. Last night, the Lok Sabha, worked overtime to pass Sonia Gandhi‘s passion project, the Food Security Bill. India as a nation has made big mistakes on the economic and the financial front in the nearly 66 years that it has been independent, but the passage of the Food Security Bill, might turn out to be our biggest mistake till date.
The Food Security Bill guarantees 5 kg of rice, wheat and coarse cereals per month per individual at a fixed price of Rs 3, 2, 1, respectively, to nearly 67% of the population.
The government estimates suggest that food security will cost Rs 1,24,723 crore per year. But that is just one estimate. Andy Mukherjee, a columnist with Reuters, puts the cost at around $25 billion. The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices(CACP) of the Ministry of Agriculture in a research paper titled National Food Security Bill – Challenges and Options puts the cost of the food security scheme over a three year period at Rs 6,82,163 crore. During the first year the cost to the government has been estimated at Rs 2,41,263 crore.
Economist Surjit Bhalla in a column in The Indian Express put the cost of the bill at Rs 3,14,000 crore or around 3% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Ashok Kotwal, Milind Murugkar and Bharat Ramaswami challenge Bhalla’s calculation in a column in The Financial Express and write “the food subsidy bill should…come to around 1.35% of GDP, which is still way less than the numbers he(i.e. Bhalla) put out.”
The trouble here is that by expressing the cost of food security in terms of percentage of GDP, we do not understand the seriousness of the situation that we are getting into. In order to properly understand the situation we need to express the cost of food security as a percentage of the total receipts(less borrowings) of the government. The receipts of the government for the year 2013-2014 are projected at Rs 11,22,799 crore.
AFP
Food security will also mean a higher expenditure for the government in the days to come. AFP
The government’s estimated cost of food security comes at 11.10%(Rs 1,24,723 expressed as a % of Rs 11,22,799 crore) of the total receipts. The CACP’s estimated cost of food security comes at 21.5%(Rs 2,41,623 crore expressed as a % of Rs 11,22,799 crore) of the total receipts. Bhalla’s cost of food security comes at around 28% of the total receipts (Rs 3,14,000 crore expressed as a % of Rs 11,22,799 crore).
Once we express the cost of food security as a percentage of the total estimated receipts of the government, during the current financial year, we see how huge the cost of food security really is. This is something that doesn’t come out when the cost of food security is expressed as a percentage of GDP. In this case the estimated cost is in the range of 1-3% of GDP. But the government does not have the entire GDP to spend. It can only spend what it earns.
The interesting thing is that the cost of food security expressed as a percentage of total receipts of the government is likely to be even higher. This is primarily because the government’s collection of taxes has been slower than expected this year. The Controller General of Accounts has put out numbers to show precisely this. For the first three months of the financial year (i.e. the period between April 1, 2013 and June 30, 2013) only 11.1% of the total expected revenue receipts (the total tax and non tax revenue) for the year have been collected. When it comes to capital receipts(which does not include government borrowings) only 3.3% of the total expected amount for the year have been collected.
What this means is that the government during the first three months of the financial year has not been able to collect as much money as it had expected to. This means that the cost of food security will form a higher proportion of the total government receipts than the numbers currently tell us. And that is just one problem.
It is also worth remembering that the government estimate of the cost of food security at Rs 1,24,723 crore is very optimistic. The CACP points out that this estimate does not take into account “additional expenditure (that) is needed for the envisaged administrative set up, scaling up of operations, enhancement of production, investments for storage, movement, processing and market infrastructure etc.”
Food security will also mean a higher expenditure for the government in the days to come. A higher expenditure will mean a higher fiscal deficit. Fiscal deficit is defined as the difference between what a government earns and what it spends.
The question is how will this higher expenditure be financed? Given that the economy is in a breakdown mode, higher taxes are not the answer. The government will have to finance food security through higher borrowing.
Higher government borrowing by the government as this writer has often explained in the past crowds out private borrowing. The private sector (be it banks or companies) in order to compete with the government for savings will have to offer higher interest rates. This means that the era of high interest rates will continue, which will not be good for economic growth.
Also, it is important to remember that the food security scheme is an open ended scheme. As Nitin Pai, Director of The Takshashila Institution, writes in a column “The scheme is open-ended: there’s no expiry date, no sunset clause. It covers around two-thirds of the population—even those who are not really needy. This means that the outlays will have to increase as the population grows.”
This might also lead to the government printing money to finance the scheme. It was and remains easy for the government to obtain money by printing it rather than taxing its citizens. F P Powers aptly put it when he said that money printing would always be “the first device thought of by a finance minister when a large quantity of money has to be raised at once”. History is full of such examples.
Sonia Gandhi. Reuters
Other than imitating the mannerisms of Indira Gandhi, Sonia has also ended up imitating her politics and her economics. Reuters
Money printing will lead to higher inflation. Prices will rise due to other reasons as well. Every year, the government declares a minimum support price (MSP) on rice and wheat. At this price, it buys grains from farmers. This grain is then distributed to those entitled to it under the various programmes of the government.
The grain to be distributed under the food security programme will also be procured in a similar way. But this may have other unintended consequences which the government is not taking into account. As the CACP points out “Assured procurement gives an incentive for farmers to produce cereals rather than diversify the production-basket…Vegetable production too may be affected – pushing food inflation further.”
And this will hit the very people food security is expected to benefit. A discussion paper titled Taming Food Inflation in India released by CACP in April 2013 points out the same. “Food inflation in India has been a major challenge to policy makers, more so during recent years when it has averaged 10% during 2008-09 to December 2012. Given that an average household in India still spends almost half of its expenditure on food, and poor around 60 percent (NSSO, 2011), and that poor cannot easily hedge against inflation, high food inflation inflicts a strong ‘hidden tax’ on the poor…In the last five years, post 2008, food inflation contributed to over 41% to the overall inflation in the country.”
Higher food prices will mean higher inflation and this in turn will mean lower savings, as people will end up spending a higher proportion of their income to meet their expenses. This will lead to people spending a lower amount of money on consuming good and services and thus economic growth will slowdown further. It might not be surprising to see economic growth go below the 5% level.
Lower savings will also have an impact on the current account deficit.As Atish Ghosh and Uma Ramakrishnan point out in an article on the IMF website “The current account can also be expressed as the difference between national (both public and private) savings and investment. A current account deficit may therefore reflect a low level of national savings relative to investment.” If India does not save enough, it means it will have to borrow capital from abroad. And when these foreign borrowings need to be repaid, dollars will need to be bought. This will put pressure on the rupee and lead to its depreciation against the dollar.
There is another factor that can put pressure on the rupee. In a particular year when the government is not able to procure enough rice or wheat to fulfil its obligations under right to food security, it will have to import these grains. But that is easier said than done, specially in case of rice. “Rice is a very thinly traded commodity, with only about 7 per cent of world production being traded and five countries cornering three-fourths of the rice exports. The thinness and concentration of world rice markets imply that changes in production or consumption in major rice-trading countries have an amplified effect on world prices,” a CACP research paper points out. And buying rice or wheat internationally will mean paying in dollars. This will lead to increased demand for dollars and pressure on the rupee.
The weakest point of the right to food security is that it will use the extremely “leaky” public distribution system to distribute food grains. As Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya write in India’s Tryst With Destiny – Debunking Myths That Undermine Progress and Addressing New Challenges “A recent study by Jha and Ramaswami estimates that in 2004-05, 70 per cent of the poor received no grain through the pubic distribution system while 70 per cent of those who did receive it were non-poor. They also estimate that as much as 55 per cent of the grain supplied through the public distribution system leaked out along the distribution chain, with only 45 per cent actually sold to beneficiaries through fair-price shops. The share of food subsidy received by the poor turned out to be astonishingly low 10.5 per cent.”
Estimates made by CACP suggest that the public distribution system has a leakage of 40.4%. “In 2009-10, 25.3 million tonnes was received by the people under PDS while the offtake by states was 42.4 million tonnes- indicating a leakage of 40.4 percent,” a CACP research paper points out.
Bhagwati and Panagariya also point out that with the subsidy on rice being the highest, the demand for rice will be the highest and the government distribution system will fail to procure enough rice. As they write “recognising that the absolute subsidy per kilogram is the largest in rice, the eligible households would stand to maximize the implicit transfer to them by buying rice and no other grain from the public distribution system. By reselling rice in the private market, they would be able to convert this maximized in-kind subsidy into cash…Of course, with all eligible households buying rice for their entire permitted quotas, the government distribution system will simply fail to procure enough rice.”
The jhollawallas’ big plan for financing the food security scheme comes from the revenue foregone number put out by the Finance Ministry. This is essentially tax that could have been collected but was foregone due to various exemptions and incentives. The Finance Ministry put this number at Rs 480,000 crore for 2010-2011 and Rs 530,000 crore for 2011-2012. Now only if these taxes could be collected food security could be easily financed the jhollawallas feel.
But this number is a huge overestimation given that a lot of revenue foregone is difficult to capture. As Amartya Sen, the big inspiration for the jhollawallas put it in a column in The Hindu in January 2012 “This is, of course, a big overestimation of revenue that can be actually obtained (or saved), since many of the revenues allegedly forgone would be difficult to capture — and so I am not accepting that rosy evaluation.”
Also, it is worth remembering something that finance minister PChidambaram pointed out in his budget speech. “There are 42,800 persons – let me repeat, only 42,800 persons – who admitted to a taxable income exceeding Rs 1 crore per year,” Chidambaram said.
So Indians do not like to pay tax. And just because a tax is implemented does not mean that they will pay up. This is an after effect of marginal income tax rates touching a high of 97% during the rule of Indira Gandhi. A huge amount of the economy has since moved to black, where transactions happen but are never recorded.
To conclude, the basic point is that food security will turn out to be a fairly expensive proposition for India. But then Sonia Gandhi believes in it and so do other parties which have voted for it. With this Congress has firmly gone back to the garibi hatao politics of Indira Gandhi. And that is not surprising given the huge influence Indira Gandhi has had on Sonia.
As Tavleen Singh puts it in Durbaar “When she (i.e. Sonia) refused to become Congress president on the night Rajiv died, it was probably because she knew that if she took the job, she would be quickly exposed. In her year of semi-retirement she learned to speak Hindi well enough to read out a speech written in Roman script, and studied carefully the politics of her mother-in-law. There were rumours that she watched videos of the late prime minister Indira Gandhi so she could learn to imitate her mannerisms.”
Other than imitating the mannerisms of Indira Gandhi, Sonia has also ended up imitating her politics and her economics. Now only if Lal Bahadur Shastri had lived a few years more…
Vivek Kaul is a writer. He tweets @kaul_vivek
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12km. tall, 50 km. wide cloud shrouds Kolkata in darkness

August 27, 2013, 1:50 am
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Blame it on Everest’s big brother
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130827/jsp/frontpage/story_17277774.html

Tall, dark and terrifying

- Lightning kills three schoolgirls as cloud with ice topping and bottom heavy with rain strikes
OUR BUREAU
Esplanade in the heart of the city clothed in darkness against the silhouette of the Tipu Sultan Mosque at 3.04pm on Monday. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta
Darkness descended on Calcutta hours before dusk on Monday, a monstrous mass of cloud topped with ice and its bottom heavy with rain unleashing tragedy along with a torrent.
At 2.30pm, a young company executive turned on his car’s headlights just like the train of vehicles on Central Avenue and mumbled: “Apocalypse now.”
He wouldn’t have known that his words would ring true some 40km away, where schoolgirls Chandana Mondal, Rupa Sardar and Sipra Parui had just huddled under the shade of a tea stall. A flash of lightning killed the three Class VI students of Hadipur Adarsha High School in Deganga, North 24-Parganas, where they stood.
Two of the girls were 14 and one 13. Six others were injured, two of them critically.
“The girls were chatting outside the school when the rain started. Several of them took shelter at the tea stall when lightning struck,” headmaster Sirajul Islam said.
A 50-year-old fisherman, Netai Mandal, was also struck by lightning near a bheri at Mahishbathan, on the fringe of Salt Lake. Ranjan Sona, 35, died while working in a field off the Bypass, near Science City.
At New Town, three construction workers suffered burns after coming in contact with a switchboard in their tin shelter.
A broken branch partially blocks a road near JU’s campus in Salt Lake, where as many as 70 trees were either uprooted or damaged. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya
Not less than 70 trees were either uprooted or damaged in Salt Lake, about half of them in the vicinity of Jadavpur University’s campus in the township.
A taxi driver was injured when a branch fell on him. Parts of Sector V and blocks BA, CA, AG and AF were flooded in just an hour and a half of rain.
The rainfall was uneven, as is characteristic of cumulonimbus clouds. Alipore received 19.5mm of rain, Dum Dum 29.4 and Salt Lake more than double the quantity at 67mm.
Some other parts of the city to be lashed by heavy rain were Dhapa with 68mm, Ultadanga with 65mm, and Belgachhia and Beleghata with 56mm each. North Calcutta received more rain than the south, though areas along the EM Bypass were lashed, too.
In the tech hub of Sector V, employees of various companies were seen wading through water to return home. “Rickshaws were asking for Rs 40 to cross a 100-metre stretch near RDB Cinemas,” a techie said.
The weather office has warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall on Tuesday.
The cyclonic circulation that had led to the formation of the cumulonimbus cloud on Monday has moved away but there’s a low-pressure area headed this way.
“The cyclonic circulation has weakened as it is moving towards Jharkhand. But a fresh low-pressure area has formed on the Bay of Bengal and is moving towards the Bengal coast,” said a senior official of the regional Met office in Alipore. “The low-pressure area is expected to hit the coast within the next 24 hours and stay active for another day at least,” he said.
The day temperature that had surged to 35.8 degrees Celsius around noon dipped once rain drenched the city. The Met official said it would drop further on Tuesday to around 30 degrees Celsius.
“The high temperature and humidity in the morning and moisture drawn from the sea by the cyclonic circulation led to the formation of the monstrous cloud,” the official said.
Flight operations at the airport were disrupted during the storm. Four flights could not land for more than half an hour because of lightning, airport officials said.
Air India’s Yangon and Lengpui flights, a Jet Airways flight from Mumbai and SpiceJet’s Bagdogra-Calcutta flight hovered over the city from 2.45pm till 3.15 pm before they could land.
“There was lightning and visibility was poor,” an airport official said.
Just as the car headlights came on early, so did the lights in shops, offices and homes across the city.
“Traffic was slow and the signals weren’t working. It was scary if you were out, mainly because of the lightning,” said a 40-year-old resident of Belgachhia who was headed for his office in Esplanade when the sky darkened and the rain came pouring.
The police said they turned off the traffic signals, fearing short circuit.
At busy crossings, cops with umbrellas and green police volunteers in reflector jackets tried hard to maintain the flow of traffic in the absence of signals.
Commuters crowded the entrance of every Metro station, waiting for the rain and lightning to stop. “I had stopped carrying an umbrella after the wet spell last week ended,” rued Tania Bhowmik, a resident of Jadavpur stranded at Central Metro station.
Several parts of north Calcutta, including Amherst Street, Colootola Street, Sukeas Street, Ganesh Chandra Avenue and portions of CR Avenue, were waterlogged for a while.
A depression that developed over the Bay of Bengal on August 18 before moving into Gangetic West Bengal had brought as much as 250mm of rain in three days before moving further inland. A dry spell followed, only to be blown away by the fury of Monday’s thunderstorm.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130827/jsp/calcutta/story_17276136.jsp

12km tall, 50km wide: Monster cloud shrouds Kolkata in darkness

TNN | Aug 27, 2013, 05.26 AM IST
12km tall, 50km wide: Monster cloud shrouds Kolkata in darkness
This was Esplanade at 2.30 on Monday afternoon, when a towering cloud plunged the city into darkness.

KOLKATA: A 12km tall cloud, stretching from north to south, is waiting to burst on a city that is still soggy from last week's four-day drencher.

Darkness descended on Kolkata suddenly on Monday afternoon — almost as quickly as someone had drawn a curtain. Streetlights and headlights came on at 2pm. As people wondered what was happening, lightning streaked across the city and killed at least four people, including three schoolchildren. For 45 minutes, the menacing shroud hung over Kolkata but just when the residents were bracing for a deluge, the rain petered off. But the cloud isn't gone and Tuesday is going to be wet, says the weatherman.

The last time such a huge cloud formed over the city was 10 years ago, said regional meteorological director G C Debnath. Monsoon clouds often stand 8-9km tall but Monday's cloud was unusual, he said, adding, "Rarely do we witness such tall columns."

A sudden incursion of moisture from the Bay of Bengal added to the residual moisture left by last week's low pressure, and "up and down wind movements" led to the formation of the cloud. "It swelled further under the influence of a cyclonic circulation and contained large drops of rain and thunderclouds. The friction led to lightning," said Devendra Pradhan, deputy director, meteorology.

It proved deadly for students of a school in Deganga, North 24-Parganas. Five friends from Class VI had finished their school test early and sheltered under a construction site when they were hit by lightning. Chandana Mondal, Rupa Sardar and Shipra Parui died on the spot while Shampa Khatun and Mandia Kahar are in critical condition in a hospital. In Durgapur, Ranjan Sona, a farmer, was struck by lightning while working at the fields and died.

"We stopped the test midway because of a power cut and huddled all students in the school hall. We had no idea that these five students and some guardians had take shelter in a nearby building. We are shattered by the deaths," said headmaster Sirazul Islam.

The weatherman has forecast heavy showers for Tuesday as the cyclonic circulation is expected to intensify. "It could develop into a low-pressure area by Tuesday evening," said Debnath. The sudden influx of moisture was not associated with the impending low-pressure, he pointed out.

"This was a localized phenomenon. So, it was followed by a short spell of shower. But with the cyclonic circulation forming, a wet spell is likely to follow. The showers could turn heavier from Tuesday," said Pradhan.

Kolkata received 19.7mm of rain till 8pm, but it was enough to cause waterlogging in central and north Kolkata. Scores of trees were uprooted along EM Bypass and on the Maidan and Southern Avenue. Muktarambabu Street, CR Avenue, Rabindra Sarani, Ultadanga, Bentinck Street, College Street and the Park Circus connector were in ankle-deep water.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/12km-tall-50km-wide-Monster-cloud-shrouds-Kolkata-in-darkness/articleshow/22084626.cms
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Sonia’s Food Bill the tipping point to bankruptcy... -- R. Jagannathan. The rotten state will not call SoniaG to account.

August 27, 2013, 3:01 am
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In any other State, heads would have rolled for the nation's present state of economic disaster. In India, a State functions with SoniaG the least accountable of all persons though the principal wrecker of the sytem destroying every single Constitutional institution and making a mockery of the rule of law.

Here is a rotten state, this SoniaG will not be called to account for her follies. Instead, even the opposition hails and approves her Food bill in the name of playing politics.

What price politics in India? If policy makers show scant regard for national interest, when the fence eats away the field, who is to save the crop for the present and future generations?

The next Goverment will have a lot of repair work to do. The economy is in shambles. Putting together the humpty-dumpty ain't going be an easy task. The repair has to start with booking the culprits who have rendered a nation to the brink of bankruptcy.

Kalyanaraman

Sonia’s food bill will bring great pain, bankruptcy…and reform

by  50 mins ago
Sometimes, it is worth looking at the bright side of things. Even as theSonia Gandhi-led UPA sinks the economy further in the short term with the passage of the Political Insecurity Bill – a.k.a. the Food Security Bill – it is worth making a few predictions about the next five to six years of the economy, which includes not only the next nine months of this decrepit government, but possibly one or two more short-lived governments going all the way to 2018-19.
It is difficult to see Sonia Gandhi as a key player in pushing reforms, but the chain of dangerously high expenditures set off by her Food Bill will leave her with no other option. We will see costs rising, growth slowing further, serious job losses, and belt-tightening on all fronts.
Politicians opt for reform when they exhaust all other options. The key prediction I would like to make is that 2014-19 will be a period of great reform and great pain, no matter who forms the next government. It may start in small doses, but the trend towards bankruptcy of the central and state governments will prompt greater reform. Without reform the state machinery will collapse over the next few years. One presumes even a UPA-3 will not let that happen.
AFP
It is difficult to see Sonia Gandhi as a key player in pushing reforms. AFP
We can already see change coming from the frenzied way in which Finance Minister P Chidambaram is making announcements about FDI in every possible area and offering clearances for several lakh crores worth of stalled projects. The only FDI areas left untouched are possibly foreign investment in political parties.
That these projects may not take off before the Congress government bows out of power is another matter, but they will start taking off once the next government is installed. We are seeing even the UPA embrace reform because, as Manmohan Singh famously reminded us, “money does not grow on trees.” In fact, it grows only in the RBI’s printing presses, but the cost of growing money there is unending inflation and falling growth – as everyone has rediscovered. This combo is what is prompting reform.
The current account and fiscal deficits are two numbers that are prodding the government towards change. The CAD is forcing the government to open up the economy more to bring in dollars, and the fiscal deficit is pushing the government to start reducing subsidies.
Over the next few years the Food Security Bill will unleash so much subsidy bleed that reform will be the only way out.
But deficits aren’t the only indicators suggesting future reforms. The truth is many, many government-owned corporations and undertakings are headed towards economic ruin without reform.
Take banks. Or insurance companies. Or oil companies. Or power companies. Or Air India, BSNL and MTNL. Wherever you look, the UPA regime’s policies have reduced them to stretcher cases.
According to outgoing RBI Governor D Subbarao, public sector banks will need at least Rs 90,000 crore (over and above their internally retained profits) to meet capital adequacy norms under Basel-3 by 2018. This is without accounting for the additional capital needed due to bad loans – caused largely by the UPA-induced slowdown and resultant corporate bankruptcies. Business Standard reports that public sector bank shares have fallen so hard on the market that their valuation is only half their net worth (book value).
The newspaper says that the market value of 25 listed public sector banks is now Rs 2.3 lakh crore when their net worth is Rs 5.12 lakh crore. At this kind of valuation, they won’t be able to raise capital on decent terms, and the government will have to bail them out.
The government simply does not have the money for it, so it can either print notes to recapitalise them – and increase the fiscal deficit and risk a rating downgrade – or dilute its stakes in these banks. Over the next five years, all soft options like dilution to 51 percent will be exhausted, and banks will have to be willy-nilly privatised.
Another soft option, asking the Life Insurance Corporation to subscribe to banks’ capital, was used to the hilt last year, and it could happen again this year as banks are desperate for capital. But even with its huge investible resources, the LIC cannot bail out all banks for years on end. As things stand, the LIC itself will need capital as its solvency ratio is among the lowest among life insurers.
LIC’s solvency ratio, or solvency margin, is 1.54 – which means its assets are 1.54 times its liabilities to policyholders. Compare this to Bajaj Allianz’s 5.4 percent, Birla SunLife’s 2.99 and ICICI Pru’s 3.71, and it’s obvious that if the LIC is asked to pump in more money into disinvestment and public sector banks, it will be slipping towards imprudence.
It is a safe bet that LIC will be seeking more capital in 2014-19, and the government will again have two choices: print more money or start divesting shares in LIC itself.
The story of the oil companies is too fresh to repeat: let’s be clear that all the oil marketing companies are humongous loss-makes, if not bankrupt, but for the subsidies doled by the UPA government. In two terms, the UPA government would have dished out nearly Rs 7,50,000 crore of taxpayer and investor funds to subsidise petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG – and the losses even today amount to Rs 389 crore per day. The subsidy bill is shooting up by this amount daily despite the steady increases in diesel prices all through this year.
Over the next five years, we should therefore see either full petroleum price deregulation (barring kerosene and LPG), or privatisation. Probably both.
If petroleum prices are deregulated, it is difficult to see coal pricing remaining unaffected. The demand for coal will shoot through the roof and oil becomes costlier, raising prices both domestically and globally. This will call for slow deregulation of every possible energy source – from coal to gas.
As this begins to happen, the companies left to suffer will be power and fertiliser – both heavily subsidised right now.
The procurement needs of the Food Security Bill will force more intensive cultivation using more fertilisers and power, which will push up central subsidies on fertiliser and state subsidies for power.  Since food prices under the Food Security Bill will be frozen for three years, it means not only the food subsidy bill, but the fertiliser and power subsidy bills will bloat beyond tolerance levels in the next three years.  The accumulated losses of state power distribution companies currently exceed Rs 2,00,000 crore despite tariff increases in the last one year. The clean-up of the power sector done by the NDA has been completely nullified by the UPA.
Food, power and fertiliser subsidies will drive both centre and states towards fiscal bankruptcy – forcing deregulation of urea prices and power tariffs. Higher power tariffs will make even solar power look competitive. We are now moving towards a high-cost economy, and deregulation and reform are the only ways out.
Let’s also not forget bumbling public sector red-ink champions like Air India, BSNL and MTNL. None of them can survive without government cash and bailouts. But when government runs out of cash, what will they do? Privatisation is the only way out.
Over the next five years, India will be on sale. And it will bring serious reforms, good reforms. The chain of events and bad economic management will finally lead to a more efficient economy – but we have to go through years of pain before that. A pity UPA blew the opportunities it had over two terms.
Sonia’s Food Bill may provide the tipping point to bankruptcy and then reform.
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PC, resign. Else, PM, sack PC for the fiasco of Rupee devaluation -- Dr. Subramanian Swamy

August 27, 2013, 3:10 am
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     August 27, 2013.

                                    Statement of Dr. Subramanian Swamy,
                                    former Union Minister for Commerce,
 Law & Justice.

            With the rupee sliding every day, the latest being to Rs.66/- per dollar, it has now become clear that the present Finance Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram must take the responsibility for the fiasco and submit his resignation.  If he fails to do so, the President should be informed by the Prime Minister that Mr. Chidambaram no more enjoys his confidence and therefore he must be sacked from the Union Cabinet.

  Mr. Chidambaram’s tenure as Finance Minister  in 1996-98, 2004-8 and in the present  from 2012 have all been marked by major failures and  for his culpability in the corruption in the system.

The Amnesty Scheme, the Participatory Notes  his  counter-productive  taxation  policy, and reckless squandering of resources, are primarily responsible for the economic crisis.  Hence his blaming  Mr. Pranab Mukherjee as Finance Minister since 2008  for the present runaway currency devaluation  is absurd and grossly disloyal to the  concept of collective responsibility.

There are,  however, concrete measures that can stabilize the economy, but Mr. Chidambaram’s propensity, along with his son, to corrupt the system makes it impossible for him to implement any of these concrete measures.  Besides being ignorant of economics,  his legal knowledge has only enabled him to be a con-artist with the media. 

I therefore demand that the Prime Minister  calls for Mr. Chidambaram’s resignation, or alternatively recommend his sacking to the President.  If the Prime Minister fails to do so,  it  will mean s that he is a party in the present plunder of the Indian economy and hence equally culpable.
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Illegal sand mining in shoreline -- NDTV reports on silence from govt. to death threats to whistle-blower

August 27, 2013, 4:18 am
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Will China Checkmate India on Chabahar? -- Radhakrishna Rao

August 27, 2013, 6:29 am
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Will China Checkmate India on Chabahar?



Radhakrishna Rao, Visiting Fellow, VIF

In a development that could very well upset India’s geo-strategic apple cart, China is making deft and vigorous moves to woo Iran to accept its offer of US$80-million to upgrade the Chabahar port located on the coast of Gulf of Oman, off the Strait of Hormuz. Perhaps it could be a well thought out move on the part of China, which through its “string of pearls” strategy is busy expanding its area of influence across the Indian Ocean region, to keep India away from the project and slowly intrude into the Indian geo-political space in Tehran. A toehold in Iran could drive China to cast its “net of influence” far and wide, across the West Asian landscape, with serious consequences for the American presence in this oil rich part of the world.

From building the deep sea ports and launching satellites to constructing all weather highways and putting in place telecom networks, China has become a “partner in progress” for many countries in the Indian Ocean region. Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal and Bangladesh are among the Indian neighbours where an impressive “Chinese presence” has become a fait accompli. In the context of the administrative control of the Gwadar port located on Makran coast, overlooking the Arabian sea, in Pakistan’s sparsely populated and restive Balochistan province, passing on into the Chinese hands, Chabahar has come to assume immense strategic and economic significance for India. Clearly and apparently, India’s participation in Chabahar port development could, to some extent, work as a counter-poise to the advantages that China could derive from managing Gwadar port.

Gwadar port, which stands out as a vibrant symbol of strategic partnership between China and Pakistan, could very well give China an easy access to the key energy markets in the Middle East. Further, it could also provide China a convenient access to the warm waters of Indian Ocean and a listening post near the Strait of Hormuz. Incidentally, about 20% of the world’s petroleum and 35% of the petroleum traded by sea pass through the Strait of Hormuz, described as one of the world’s busiest and most strategically located sea lanes.

As part of the ambitious US$18-billion economic corridor project connecting Kashgar in China with Gwadar, it is planned to build a pipeline as well as road and rail links that will involve engineering of around 200-kms of tunnels across the treacherous mountainous landscape. The road link will involve upgrading and realigning the strategically located Karakoram highway. Kashgar is located in China’s disturbed western Xinjiang province where Muslim Uighur separatists are quite active.

Of course, the Gwadar-Kashgar pipeline may help China reduce its dependence on Malacca Strait in so far as transporting oil from West Asia is concerned. Further, it could help meet a part of the energy needs of the Western parts of China. More importantly, this pipeline makes a strategic sense for China in terms of strengthening its long term energy security. On another front, in order to bring down its reliance on the Strait of Malacca for transporting crude, China has invested heavily in building an oil and gas pipeline in Myanmar. As things stand now, China is expected to overtake US as the world’s largest crude importer in 2014.Currently,three fourth of China’s crude import from Middle East are channelled through the Strait of Malacca which is vulnerable to piracy and geo political uncertainties. But then the economic corridor project is still at a conceptual stage and it would be sometime before it gets going. However, both the countries, while highlighting the economic importance of the project, have downplayed its strategic aspects. Meanwhile, reports emanating from Beijing quote Chinese Government officials as saying that security concern could hinder the 2000-km long economic corridor project.

On their part, US security analysts believe that China could very well make use of its control over Gwadar for furthering its military interests. In the ultimate analysis, there are many strategic gains that China can derive from the port with particular reference to protecting its long term interests in the Indian Ocean region in addition to ensuring its energy security. Significantly, Gwadar is located just 72 nautical miles east of Chabahar. However, the daring pre dawn attack on a check post of coast guards near Gwadar in late July has exposed the vulnerability of the port to the prevailing volatile conditions in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province. This attack is believed to be the handiwork of the banned militant group, Balochistan Liberation Front.

Though the development of the Chabahar port has been on the agenda of India-Iran bilateral discussions since 2003, the political leadership in New Delhi was far from serious about Indian participation in this vital maritime project from which India can stand to make substantial gains. After sitting on this project proposal for nearly ten years, the ruling elite of the country has suddenly realized the vital importance it holds for country’s long term geo political interests. This appears to be a sequel to Chinese move to edge out India.

Of course, India’s External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid during his visit to Teheran earlier this year had driven home the point that India could provide upto US$100-milliion assistance to upgrade the port. About the project, Kurshid had this to say, ”The two sides have pushed for transit pact between India, Iran and Afghanistan which would help India get access to the land locked and resources rich countries in Central Asia. We are going ahead with the Chabahar project. Cabinet has already cleared it”. As things stand now, Iran is yet to give its final clearance for the Indian investment in project. However, political observers are clear in their perception that India should seek fast track negotiations with Tehran to pave the way for the Indian participation in the up-gradation of this port. This could prevent China from upstaging India.

But then USA has all along been hostile to the Indian proposal of joining hands with Iran for this maritime project. Unfortunately, India’s track record in standing up to the US “political pressure and psychological intimidation” is far from impressive. As such, in the backdrop of the Chinese move to corner India, New Delhi should be driven by its own domestic compulsions and interests and get the decks cleared for Indian participation in Chabahar port development without any loss of time. There is no need for India to buy the American argument that Iran should be isolated for its nuclear weapons development programme.

Meanwhile, in Tehran, in early August, the new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani while addressing the Majlis (National Parliament) stated that if the West wants an “adequate response” from Iran, it should not speak the language of sanctions but that of respect. There is no denying the fact that Iranian economy has suffered heavily due to US and European sanctions and threat against the countries that continue to do business with Iran.

But the grim ground reality is that the routine trade between India and Iran have been affected by payment issue following sanctions. The recent visit of an Iranian business delegation to the tea gardens in north east India has raised the hopes of exporting an “appreciable volume” of high end tea varieties to Iran. As it is, early last year, the powerful American Jewish Committee had told the Indian Ambassador to USA, Nirupama Rao, that it was “deeply troubled” by the recent reports of India’s efforts to intensify trade relations with Iran” at the very moment when the US and fellow democracies are applying new economic pressure to persuade Tehran to halt its nuclear programme.”

In May this year, Hassan Nourian, Consul General of Iran in Hyderabad, had observed that the bilateral trade between the two countries is poised to cross US$25-billion within four years. ”We have already entered the second year. Currently, most of the exports from Iran to India are primarily based on oil and petroleum products. To effect this, both have encouraged focussing on non oil exports from India in order to strike a balance between the two countries,” he said. Following sanctions, the annual Iranian crude import by India valued at US$15-billion is being paid for in the Indian Rupee. However, the annual Indian export to Iran is pegged at around US$2.5-billion per annum. It is planned to boost this to S$4-billion.Even with this figure, it means a surplus credit balance of US$11-billion in favour of Iran. How to offset this huge trade imbalance happens to be the crux of bilateral trade discussions between the two countries.

There is no denying the fact that Indian investment in Chabahar is important for India to protect its “business and commercial interests” in the landlocked Afghanistan as Pakistan has denied India transit access to Afghanistan through its land route. It is planned to construct a railway network connecting Chabahar with Zahedan in Afghanistan. Moreover, the port is already linked to the city of Zarang located in south western Nimroz province of Afghanistan. This road link can serve as India’s entry point to Afghanistan, Central Asia and beyond. Indeed, Chabahar could invest India with ability to move quickly goods and supplies and if necessary even defence personnel straight to Afghanistan through Iran which assumes significance in the backdrop of US and allied troops planning a phased pull out from the war torn Afghanistan. Of course, India should nudge Iran to agree to the idea of moving military forces to Afghanistan through Chabahar. But this would again be subject to Iran getting some long term strategic benefits in such an arrangement. However, India is yet to take up this issue with Iran.

Chabahar has been designated as a Free trade and Industrial zone by Tehran. It has also been described as Iran’s best access point to Indian Ocean. Iran has already spent US$350-million on the development of this port. Without doubt, Indian participation could help the port, which because of the sanctions, has not been in a position to corner the business in proportion with its potential, to earn more revenue from catering to the Indian needs on a variety of fronts. India, Iran and Afghanistan have signed an agreement to give Indian goods heading for Central Asia and Afghanistan preferential treatment and tariff reductions at Chabahar. With many of the Indian enterprises keen on entering the lucrative mining sector of Afghanistan, Indian participation in Chabahar project could prove a win win deal for India Inc.

As it is, India’s growing role in Afghanistan focuses on the plan to extract iron ore from the mountain ranges at Hajigak, located about 100-kms to the northwest of the capital city of Kabul. According to Ali Jalali, a Professor at the US National Defence University in Washington and a former Afghan Interior Minister, Indian and Chinese investment will be a major contributor to Afghanistan’s stability as the US is preparing to withdraw its main combat forces between now and 2014.”

On another front, India and Iran are also discussing building a gas pipeline between the two countries along the bed of the Arabian Sea to bypass Pakistan using Chabahar port. Rattled as it is by India’s drastic reduction in purchase of its oil, Iran deemed it prudent to offer India oilfields on lucrative terms along with a proposal to route the gas through the undersea pipeline. Of course, in the wake of sanctions, New Delhi has difficult times paying for the imported Iranian oil in foreign currency. Further, there is also difficulty in getting ships to ferry oil along with the insurance cover.

As it is, India was forced to pull out of Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project on account of a variety of factors including security issues, differences over pricing as well as US pressure. The security concern stemmed from the fact that the pipeline will pass through Balochistan where Baloch separatists and Islamic radical outfits could pose a threat to the safety of the pipeline. But then a section of strategic analysts hold the view that India’s withdrawal from this vital energy pipeline project was a sort of geo-political blunder as India lost an opportunity to create a new equation in the region.

As envisaged now, a consortium with state owned JN Port and Kandla port on-board, is likely to take up the development of Chabahar port. The Indian side is proposing a phase wise development of Chabahar on long term operations, maintenance and transfer basis spread over 60-90 years. Iran has successfully positioned Chabahar as the focal point for development of the east of the country through expansion and enhancement of transit routes among the countries situated in the northern part of the Indian Ocean and Central Asia. But then as is the case with Gwadar, Chabhar too could face a threat from Sunni Baloch insurgents who have no love lost for the regime in Teheran.

For quite sometime now, India has been more than keen on getting a convenient access route to the landlocked Afghanistan through Iran. And in this quest lays the importance of Chabahar for India. By all means, Chabahar is the best option left for the country to reach Afghanistan in a hassle free manner .Indeed, India, Iran and Afghanistan are now edging closer to concluding a transit treaty that would facilitate easier linkage between India and Afghanistan through Iran. As it is, both New Delhi and Kabul are keen on ending their dependence on Pakistan for transit. Both India and Iran have agreed that “the project would provide connectivity with Afghanistan and provide an impetus to Afghanistan’s economic development.”

Going beyond Indian investment on the development of Chabahar, Iran has also made a proposal to India for joint investment and production sharing contract for oil exploration. Indeed, this offer has tremendous strategic significance from the point of view of ensuring Indian energy security. But then New Delhi will have to devise ingenious ways and means to circumvent sanctions if it wants to participate in the Iranian oil exploration venture. For the energy deficit India, collaboration with Iran in the area of oil and petroleum cannot but be a positive development.

By all means, India’s interest in developing strategically important south eastern Iranian sea port of Chabahar as well as New Delhi’s craving for better bilateral relations is seen as a positive step towards regional cooperation and economic gains for the participating countries. India’s construction plans for Chabahar port could also be viewed as reviving of old links and building new bridges of friendship through collaboration. While Iran is all set to derive benefits from positioning Chabhar as a logistical hub and a potential alternative to Bandar Abbas, for Afghanistan, Chabahar could be an alluring alternative to the dependence on Pakistan’s Karachi port for carrying out its international trade. In the ultimate analysis, it is advantages all the way from the Chabahar project for Afghanistan, India and Iran.
Published Date: 22nd August 2013, Image Source: http://www.ndtv.com
http://www.vifindia.org/article/2013/august/22/will-china-checkmate-india-on-chabahar
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Year-long celebration of India: Intl. edition of Encyclopaedia of Hinduism launched in Univ. of South Carolina

August 27, 2013, 7:20 am
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25 years in making, Encyclopedia of Hinduism unveiled in US


Press Trust of India | Posted on Aug 27, 2013 at 12:31pm IST 

A 25-year quest by nearly 1,000 scholars to document and present one of the world's oldest living traditions came to fruition when the 'Encyclopedia of Hinduism' was unveiled in Columbia on Tuesday.
Hundreds of scholars, dignitaries, students, Hindu leaders and the public converged on the University of Southern California campus to witness the release of much anticipated and definitive 11-volume guide conceived, compiled and produced by the India Heritage Research Foundation.

25 years in making, Encyclopedia of Hinduism unveiled in USThose present on the occasion included South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Indian Consul General in Atlanta Ajit Kumar and Gandhian Anna Hazare. The two-day event coinciding with the release featured some of the top Indian scholars who discussed the significance of the encyclopedia and the richness and diversity of Indian culture that binds more than one billion people worldwide.
25 years in making, Encyclopedia of Hinduism unveiled in US

The event is the launch of the international edition of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama had launched the Indian edition in 2010 in Rishikesh. Dr Harris Pastides, President of University of South Carolina, said that he was humbled to see the encyclopedia being launched in his campus.

"It is a deep honor to be participating in the American release of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism. This is a remarkable work of scholarship and research. I hope that many in academia and in everyday life will turn to it as a resource to better understand the characters, the tenets, and the impact that Hinduism has had, and is having in the world," he said.

Consul General Kumar said India and Hindus all over the world are grateful to the University of South Carolina for the launch of the monumental work. The comprehensive encyclopedia has 11-volume work and it covers Hindu spiritual beliefs, practices and philosophy, and is the culmination of a 25-year academic effort.

The encyclopedia is written in English and includes about 7,000 articles on Hinduism and its practices. 

The work also deals with Indian history, languages, art, music, dance, architecture, medicine, and women's issues. It contains more than 1,000 illustrations and photographs. The encyclopedia's volumes run from 600 to more than 700 pages.

Some 3,000 copies are being printed in first edition. Hinduism is the world's third-largest religion, with 1 billion followers, according to a Pew Research Center study. Christians number 2.2 billion and Muslims 1.6 billion.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/25-years-in-making-encyclopedia-of-hinduism-unveiled-in-us/417560-3.html

US varsity launches celebration of India

IANS India Private LimitedBy Arun Kumar | IANS India Private Limited – 27 minutes ago

Washington, Aug 27 (IANS) The University of South Carolina launched CarolIndia, a year-long celebration of India, as it unveiled the international edition of the Encyclopaedia of Hinduism at a conference on one of the world's oldest major religions.

Hundreds of Hindu families travelled to Columbia in South Carolina, to watch Indian social activist Anna Hazare, Hindu spiritual leader Swami Chidanand Saraswati and university President Harris Pastides unveil the 11-volume encyclopaedia Monday.

Culmination of a 25-year academic effort, the definitive guide is conceived, compiled and produced by the India Heritage Research Foundation and published by Mandala Publishing, according to the university.

"This is a remarkable work of scholarship and research. I hope that many in academia and in everyday life will turn to it as a resource to better understand the characters, the tenets and the impact that Hinduism has had, and is having in the world," said Pastides.

Hal French, professor emeritus of religious studies, who served as associate editor of the encyclopaedia since its inception in 1987, called the 25-year quest to document Hinduism a privilege.
The conference also marked the beginning of CarolIndia, a year-long celebration of India as part of the university' expanding internationalisation programme that would focus on a single country every year.
Robert Cox, director of the university's Walker Institute for International and Area Studies, said the university chose India for its first year because of the university's and state's increasing ties with the country and for its importance as the world's largest democracy and rising economic power.
Cox said his greatest hope is that university students come to think of India as familiar place, not an exotic one.

CarolIndia will feature film festival, lectures, concerts and exhibits. Among the many visitors to campus will be filmmaker Mira Nair. Students also will have the opportunity to engage with faculty with Indian research and teaching interests.

More than 1,000 scholars have contributed to the seminal work documenting one of the world's oldest living traditions.

Encompassing more than 7,000 articles with over 1,000 colour illustrations and photographs, the encyclopaedia also covers Indian history, civilisation, language and philosophy; architecture, art, music and dance; medicine, sciences and social institutions; and religion, spirituality and the role of Hindu women.

The Dalai Lama introduced the Indian edition in April 2010 in Rishikesh, India.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)

http://in.news.yahoo.com/us-varsity-launches-celebration-india-133221898.html

Anna HazareSocial activist Anna Hazare,known as India's Mahatma Gandhi of the 21st century, greets President Harris Pastides.

Kaleidoscope of India comes alive

By Peggy Binette, peggy@mailbox.sc.edu, 803-777-7704

More than 150 Hindu families and scholars were at the University of South Carolina Monday (Aug. 26) for the official release of the much anticipated international edition of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism and launch of CarolIndia, a yearlong celebration of India.

Ritvik Nalamothu, 10, traveled with his father Vijendra Nalamothu from Cary, N.C., to watch Hindi spiritual leaders Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswati and Anna Hazare and USC President Harris Pastides unveil the encyclopedia’s 11 volumes, a seminal work documenting one of the world’s oldest living traditions.

“I want to learn about Hinduism and all the aspects of it,” Ritvik Nalamothu said.

His father said he was happy to be able to share the experience with his son.

“I want him to know his roots and learn the right way. He has an interest in religions and has been learning about Greek mythology in school. Now, he can explore Hinduism and know where he and his parents came from. It is giving him a sense of identity,” Vijendra Nalamothu said.

Dilip Vakharia, a special projects manager at USC’s School of Medicine, said he’s proud of the university’s leadership in guiding the encyclopedia.

“This is something great. I want to find out more about Hinduism. I moved from New York to Columbia and have found a feeling of inclusivity and a welcoming of Indian culture here,” Vakharia said.

Austin McCullough, a senior majoring in political science, history and religious studies, went to India last May as part of course taught by Hal French, a professor emeritus of religious studies and associate editor of the encyclopedia. He said watching his university unveil the encyclopedia made his study experience more meaningful.

“The trip was an enlightening experience. Having experienced worship with Swami and his multitude of followers in Rishikesh makes hosting this incredibly influential and compassionate man here an incredible opportunity. The release of the encyclopedia and the years of connection between our university and this important project shows the global focus we have as a university and the continuing effort we put forward to furthering all fields of study,” said McCullough who serves as secretary of government relations for Student Government.

The unveiling was part of a daylong conference on Hinduism and the encyclopedia project that took place in Capstone House and drew many USC faculty, staff and students.

In addition to numerous talks, the event captured the vibrancy of Indian culture with a traditional Indian lamp lighting ceremony, music and food and art, which included bronze statuary from the Robert P. Smith Collection and a colorful 1863 map of British India from the USC’s newly acquired W. Graham Arader III Collection.

President Pastides said it was a deep honor for the university to host the American release of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism.


“This is a remarkable work of scholarship and research. I hope that many in academia and in everyday life will turn to it as a resource to better understand the characters, the tenets and the impact that Hinduism has had, and is having in the world,” Pastides said.

Hal French, professor emeritus of religious studies, served as associate editor of the encyclopedia since its inception in 1987. He called the 25-year quest to document Hinduism a privilege.

“Having studied the Hindu tradition as my major research area, it has been a real privilege to work in some small way with many others in producing a work, which may be the standard comprehensive rendering of Indian tradition for years to come,” French said. “The time and effort required adds to the gratification in seeing this really monumental project come to completion.”

French, along with Carl Evans, also a professor emeritus of religious studies, worked with three to five graduate students each year in the encyclopedia’s copy editing and article management process. The encyclopedia project was located at USC until 2003 when the project was transitioned to India for the final stages of work.

While the conference marked the conclusion of the encyclopedia, it also marked the beginning of CarolIndia. As part of its expanding internationalization, the university will focus a year’s worth of programming around a single country.

Robert Cox, director of USC’s Walker Institute for International and Area Studies, said the university chose India for its year because of the university’s and state’s increasing ties with the country and for its importance as the world’s largest democracy and rising economic power.

Cox said his greatest hope is that USC students come to think of India as familiar place, not an exotic one.

“Exotic places are mysterious, even frightening, and we sometimes avoid visiting them because of that. I would rather students come away knowing India, and know how people of Indian heritage share the same desires to live, love and build better lives for their children,” Cox said.

CarolIndia will feature film festival, lectures, concerts and exhibits. Among the many visitors to campus will be filmmaker Mira Nair.

“Her first film, ‘Salaam Bombay,’ is one of my favorites. I think of it as the original ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’ And, ‘Mississippi Masala’ showed how well she understands the experience of India immigrants in the Southern USA,” Cox said.

Students also will have the opportunity to engage with faculty with Indian research and teaching interests. This year that includes new College of Arts and Sciences professors Mari Jyvasjarvi Stuart, an expert in Hinduism and South Asian Studies, and Daniel Stuart, an expert in South Asian literature and cultures and Buddhist studies.

Dr. Meera Narasimhan, a professor and chairman of neuropsychiatry and vice dean at USC School of Medicine, organized the conference and launch of CarolIndia. She calls the encyclopedia a great gift and CarolIndia an exciting journey into India’s rich tapestry of culture.
News and Internal Communications

http://www.sc.edu/news/newsarticle.php?nid=6378#.Uhy0zqz9Xh4

Encyclopedia of Hinduism unveiled in US


Columbia (South Carolina): A 25-year quest by nearly 1,000 scholars to document and present one of the world's oldest living traditions came to fruition when the 'Encyclopedia of Hinduism' was unveiled on Tuesday.
- See more at: http://post.jagran.com/encyclopedia-of-hinduism-unveiled-in-us-1377597184#sthash.iF2cndku.dpuf
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Lok Sabha: Gurudas Dasgupta moves privilege notice against Attorney General -- PTI

August 27, 2013, 8:55 am
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CPI leader gives privilege notice against Vahanvati

Dalip Singh, Aug 27, 2013, DHNS:
A prominent member of the Lok Sabha has submitted a privilege notice in the House against country’s top legal officer for sending him a notice after he wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking a probe into information he had got from “reliable sources” about alleged “Swiss Bank Account of Goolam E Vahanvati in Singapore”.  

Acknowledging the notice received from CPI floor leader Gurudas Dasgupta in the House on Tuesday, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar observed: “I have received your notice of question of privilege dated August 26, 2013 against Attorney-General of India (Goolam E Vahanvati) for causing impediments in performance of your duties as a Member of Parliament by getting issued on his behalf a legal notice to you”.  She informed the MP concerned, CPI leader in the House Gurudas Dasgupta that “the matter is under my consideration”.

Letter to PM

Recalling his letter to the prime minister on August 9, the West Bengal MP charged in his breach of privilege notice that the attorney general held a Swiss bank account in Singapore which witnessed “frequent deposit of huge amount of foreign currency” and “transfer of money from that account to relatives”.  

“I also brought to the notice of the prime minister that the information about huge volume of transaction of money into and from account of Vahanvati was brought to the notice of Indian authorities by Singapore and UK agencies but no action was taken by them,” Dasgupta elaborated in his privilege notice.

Vahanvati was not available for his comments. One of his aides at his residence told this newspaper that “the AG was busy in a meeting”.  

Dasgupta’s letter pointed out that he invited Manmohan Singh’s attention on the serious issue “in his commitment to fight corruption” and “in the national interest”.

“I am passing this information to you while performing my duty as a Member of Parliament to protect the national interest and to fight black money and money laundering”, Dasgupta stated.  In the privilege notice sent under rule 223 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the House, the CPI leader said he requested the prime minister to find out if his “information is right”.

Dasgupta stated that he was surprised to receive a legal notice on August 24 from ‘Karanjawala and Company Advocates’ on behalf of Vahanvati, accusing him of making “false and baseless allegations” against the top law officer of the government in his letter to the prime minister, without verifying the contents of charges. The law firm representing the attorney general wanted the member to produce “for our inspection, material if any, in your possession, in support of these allegations”. The legal notice was “not only illegal, it also encroaches upon my sacrosanct privileges”, Dasgupta contended in his breach of privilege notice.

Dasgupta told Deccan Herald that he was yet to reply to Vahanvati’s legal notice.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/353760/cpi-leader-gives-privilege-notice.html


GURUDAS FILES PRIVILEGE NOTICE AGAINST AG

Wednesday, 28 August 2013 | PNS | New Delhi
CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta on Tuesday filed a notice for privilege against Attorney General GE Vahanvati, alleging that the country's senior most law officer was causing impediments in his parliamentary responsibilities.
This, after the AG sent legal notice to the MP for writing to the Prime Minister seeking a probe into alleged illegal foreign bank accounts of the top legal officer.
The CPI leader told mediapersons Vahanvati was trying to impede his duties as an MP. "I have received your notice on the question of privilege against the Attorney General for causing impediments in performance of your duties as an MP by getting issued on his behalf a legal notice to you. The matter is under my consideration," the Speaker told Dasgupta in the Lok Sabha.
Later, the CPI leader said he had "received some sensitive information regarding certain foreign bank accounts. “I had asked the Prime Minister to enquire and verify this information." Maintaining that this was "a privileged letter", he said following the letter, Vahanvati sent legal notice to him in the matter.
In his three-page letter, Dasgupta alleged that Vahanvati was illegally maintaining a foreign bank account at Union Bank of Switzerland's (UBS) Singapore branch since 1997. He provided the details of the account number, code number and beneficiary details of the foreign bank allegedly in the name of Vahanvati. 

http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/gurudas-files-privilege-notice-against-ag.html
CPI MP moves privilege notice against Attorney General

    New Delhi, Aug 27 (PTI) A privilege notice has been moved in 
the Lok Sabha by CPI member Gurudas Dasgupta against Attorney General 
G E Vahanvati, alleging "impediments" in performance of his duties as an MP.

    Acknowledging the receipt of the notice, Speaker Meira Kumar 
said it is under her consideration.

    "I have received your notice on the question of privilege against 
the Attorney General of India for causing impediments in performance 
of your duties as a Member of Parliament by getting issued on his 
behalf a legal notice to you.

    "The matter is under my consideration," the Speaker told Dasgupta 
in the Lok Sabha.

    It was not clear as to what "impediments" were made in performance 
of his duties as an MP.

    Later, the CPI leader told PTI that he had "received some sensitive 
information regarding certain foreign bank accounts. I had wanted 
the Prime Minister (through a letter) to enquire and verify this information."

    Maintaining that this was "a privileged letter" to the Prime 
Minister, he said following the letter, Vahanvati sent legal notices 
to him in the matter.

    Dasgupta refused to elaborate on the contents of his letter to 
the Prime Minister but said he had pointed out "certain irregularities" 
and wanted them verified.

    Repeated attempts to contact Vahanvati for his reaction did not 
fructify.
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Battered Rupee. PC trying to pass the buck to Pranabda who is now in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

August 27, 2013, 6:59 pm
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The rupee has fallen by around 20% since the beginning of the year. The only currency that has done worse is the South African rand which has fallen nearly 23%.
TNN | Aug 28, 2013, 01.04AM IST
MUMBAI: The rupee on Tuesday hit a record low of 66.30 before closing at 66.19, down 188 paise from Monday's close of 64.31, over concerns that the food security bill would throw government finances into disarray and fears of a US strike against Syria.

The rupee is emerging as a front-runner in a race to the bottom among emerging market currencies. In both absolute and percentage terms, Tuesday's drop is the highest ever. The rupee has fallen by around 20% since the beginning of the year. The only currency that has done worse is the South African rand which has fallen nearly 23%. Turkey's lira has dropped 14% while Brazil's real has fallen over 17%. The Chinese yuan has been the outlier, having gained nearly 2% in 2013.
Given the uncertainty over the rupee, gold, seen as a safe haven investment, soared to a new high of Rs 32,585/ten grams. Silver also rose to a six-month high to retrace the Rs 56,000-per kg level, owing to heavy speculative offtake.The same concerns that caused the rupee to fall also dragged the sensex down 590 points to 17,968. Bankers said that with the government living beyond its means, India faced the risk of a downgrade by the rating agencies. This would accelerate the outflow of foreign capital.

The general slowdown in the economy is also impacting the real estate market. Data released by National Housing Bank showed that property prices in 22 of the 26 cities covered, including Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai, have recorded a decline in prices during the quarter ended June as compared to the preceding quarter.



However, finance minister P Chidambaram said that the government would not exceed the fiscal deficit target projected for the year. He also said that the cabinet had approved infrastructure projects amounting to Rs 1,83,000 crore—including power projects.

"While the rising dollar is hurting all emerging markets, a lot of our pain is self-inflicted," said Ashish Vaidya, head of fixed income commodities and currency trading at UBS India. "The current crisis clearly threatens corporate balance sheets which usually have a reasonable line of overseas funding, which is going to take a hit," said Vaidya. He added that while depreciation leads to imported inflation, the food security bill will add to demand-led inflation as it will increase disposable income of the beneficiaries.

"The Food Security Bill was passed yesterday which is expected to add to the fiscal burden. We believe crude oil has emerged as a key risk in the near-term, which is not a good sign for the INR. Thus, on an overall basis, the macroeconomic outlook has weakened and risks have clearly strengthened," said Sanjeev Zarbade, vice president, Kotak Securities.

"On a back-of-envelope calculations, we estimate that the total cost of NFSB in its first full year could be Rs 1,17,000 crore, which amounts to an additional Rs 27,000 crore (0.25% of GDP) over the budgeted amount for FY14," said A Prasanna of ICICI Securities PD. Adding pressure on the rupee was dollar sales by foreign institutional investors who sold over $800 million worth shares since last week.

Despite the steep fall of 23% from April 23—when the rupee was at its strongest this year—the bottom is not yet in sight. The exchange rate in the one-month forward market overseas is 67.5, which gives an idea of market expectations. Dealers say that volumes have almost disappeared with import demand declining sharply. Exporters too are uncertain over the exchange rate at which they can bill customers given the volatility in the forex markets.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Rupee-has-lost-over-20-this-year/articleshow/22105852.cms

Perils of patience
PC passes battered buck 

OUR BUREAU Wednesday , August 28 , 2013 |
Aug. 27: The rupee sank today to an all-time low of 66.30 against the dollar — recording its biggest percentage fall in 18 years — and the sensex shed almost 600 points, prompting the Union finance minister to speak of the “difficult pitch” he inherited from his predecessor.
Investors pounded the Indian currency and domestic stocks, apparently spooked by fears that the Food Security Bill passed in the Lok Sabha yesterday would weaken the government’s resolve to curb spending in an election year.
The food bill, widely seen as a critical element of the UPA government’s strategy for re-election, will raise the food subsidy bill to Rs 1.3 trillion, threatening to undermine efforts to cap the fiscal deficit at 4.8 per cent of the GDP this year.
Markets were worried that if that happened, global rating agencies would not hesitate to downgrade India’s rating to below investment grade.
The country could be facing more trouble on the import front as oil prices rose to a six-month high today as western powers readied a military strike against Syria.
The rupee had started sliding on these fears in the morning and ended a skittish day of trading at 66.24 to a dollar, a fall of 194 paise, or just over 3 per cent.
The bellwether index of the Bombay Stock Exchange plunged 590.05 points to close at 17968.08, which wiped out investor wealth of Rs 1.69 trillion.
Finance minister P. Chidambaram cut a brave front in Parliament even as the Opposition slammed the government for failing to stem the slide of the rupee. The Indian currency has fallen 16 per cent since January and now ranks as the worst performing Asian emerging markets currency.
“We have to be patient. We have to be firm. We have to be clear-headed…we have to strengthen the fundamentals of the economy,” Chidambaram told irate lawmakers who were quick to blame the government’s economic policies for the turbulence in the markets.
“When I took over (as finance minister) in August 2012, I knew that I was returning to a difficult pitch,” Chidambaram said in his defence. “Fiscal deficit limits had been breached. The CAD had swelled. These were the two main challenges….”
He said the seeds of the current crisis were sown between 2009 and 2011 — a reference to a period when then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had cobbled an economic stimulus package to stave off the impact of the global financial crisis. However, the first stimulus package of Rs 20,000 crore was announced in December 2008 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who handled finance till Mukherjee was given charge of the portfolio in January 2009.
“We allowed the fiscal deficit target to be breached and we allowed the current account deficit (CAD) to swell,” said Chidambaram, a comment that many interpreted as a thinly veiled criticism of his predecessor’s handling of the economy.
In 2011-12, the fiscal deficit had leapt to an unprecedented 5.7 per cent of the GDP, wrecking the government’s finances.
Chidambaram said he had been able to cap the fiscal deficit at 4.9 per cent in 2012-13, lower than the 5.2 per cent mentioned in the revised estimates in the budget. He assured Parliament that the fiscal deficit target of 4.8 per cent of the GDP set for this financial year would not be breached.
“I have already said that 4.8 per cent of the GDP and the absolute number that was indicated in the budget (Rs 5.42 trillion) is a red line. The red line will not be breached,” he said.
But the bigger worry has been over the CAD, which surged to $88.2 billion in 2012-13 and has been projected at $70 billion this year. The CAD is a deficit that arises because of the gulf between monetary receipts and payouts arising from two-way trade and financial transfers.
The CAD is usually financed out of foreign fund flows. Last year, the gaping hole was easily papered over because of strong foreign fund flows.
This year, it is proving to be a struggle because foreign investors have been pulling out their money, disenchanted by the returns in India and scared over the financial turmoil anticipated next month when the US Federal Reserve starts winding down its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying programme. Chidambaram described the US decision as a “completely unexpected event”.
Foreign institutional investors have dumped stocks worth $813 million in the past six trading sessions.
If the foreign fund flows are not enough to finance the CAD, India will have to dip into its foreign exchange reserves estimated at $278 billion — which is just enough to pay for seven months of imports. The import cover ratio is the lowest in a decade.
Global rating agencies have warned that they could downgrade India’s rating if it isn’t able to bring its twin deficits — fiscal and the CAD — under control. A downgrade will reduce India’s rating to junk bond status, complicating plans to float a sovereign bond issue that the government has said is one of the options on the table to fight its way out of the mess.
The fiscal deficit is projected to go down to 4.2 per cent in 2014-15 and 3.6 per cent in 2015-16, the government said in its medium-term expenditure framework statement submitted to the Lok Sabha today.
Global rating agency Fitch had warned yesterday of a rating downgrade if the country misses its fiscal deficit target.
Standard & Poor’s is the only one of the three major credit agencies to have a negative outlook on India’s BBB-minus sovereign credit rating.
On Monday, the cabinet committee on investments fast-tracked approvals for 36 infrastructure projects involving an investment of Rs 1.83 trillion.
“We are trying to kick-start the investment cycle,” Chidambaram said. “Once the investment cycle picks up… I am sure it will have a positive impact on the economy and in particular on the current account deficit.”
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130828/jsp/frontpage/story_17281990.jsp#.Uh1ZJtKw2So

Decisions taken by government in 2008 led to Rupee fall: Chidambaram

PTI  | New Delhi, August 27, 2013 | 19:17
With Rupee breaching 66 mark, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the currency is undervalued and the government will endeavour to improve investor sentiment to help it find its appropriate level.

"At the moment we believe that the value of the Rupee has overshot its true value...I am confident that the Rupee will find its true (and) appropriate level", he told the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of Parliament, during Question Hour.

The Rupee has been consistently hitting record lows and breached 66 to a dollar in the intra-day on Tuesday.

"We have to be patient. We have to be firm. We have to be clear headed...only do the things we have to do in order to strengthen the fundamentals of the economy. I cannot say that the rupee will appreciate or depreciate in a given period", Chidambaram said.

The Rupee, the Minister said earlier in the day, "is undervalued...every emerging market is challenged today. India is also challenged and the impact is also felt on the equity market as well as on the currency market."

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex, the equity market barometer, declined by 3.3 per cent or 620 points during the intra-day trade.

"There are not just external factors, there are also domestic factors. We recognise that there are domestic factors. One of the domestic factors is that we allowed the fiscal deficit to be breached and we allowed current account deficit to swell because of certain decisions that we took during the period 2009 to 2011," he added.

Chidambaram attributed the present economic woes to the stimulus that the government provided to the industry to tide over the global financial meltdown of 2008.

"It (fiscal stimulus) brought us growth, it stabilised the economy, we swayed off the very serious consequences of the 2008 collapse of the US economy. But it cost us in terms of fiscal deficit and current account deficit," he said.

The government, the Minister said, had taken steps to check fiscal deficit and the country was now on path of fiscal consolidation.

The exchange rate, he pointed out, was remarkably stable between August 2012 and May 2013 but rupee has come under pressure since May 22.

"All the currencies of all the emerging economies have come under pressure. For the moment we believe that the value of the Rupee has overshot its true value," he said, refusing to speculate on the way Rupee will move in near future.

Referring to Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) according approval to 27 projects envisaging an investment of Rs 1.83 lakh crore, he said, "once the investment cycle picks up, manufacturing picks up, I am sure it will have positive impact on the economy and in particular the current account deficit".

On challenges facing the economy, he said, inflation, sluggish export growth in first three months and gold imports posed a challenge.

Admitting the export growth was very sluggish in the first three months, Chidambaram said, promoting shipments was a challenge and hoped it would show some improvement in the later part of the year.

Referring to surge in gold import, Chidambaram said, "it was a challenge in April and May (and) to some extent it has been contained. These challenges will be there. But we must have courage, patience and the clear-headedness to meet every challenge as we face it".

As regards the role of the RBI, Chidambaram said, the larger goal of the central bank should be to promote growth and maximise employment opportunities.

"While I entirely endorse central bank's primary goal must be price stability...how do we define price stability... must be done in context of growth and employment", he added.


URL for this article :
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/chidambaram-rupee-fall-against-dollar-upa-government-sensex/1/304113.html


FM talks of 10-point plan to boost growth


FM Chidambaram blames Pranab Mukherjee for the dire state of the economy
Chidambaram criticized the way the UPA handled the twin deficits - fiscal and current account - between 2009 and 2011.
TNN | Aug 28, 2013, 04.45AM IST
NEW DELHI: Finance minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said the government will initiate steps to get around judicial restraints on mining and green clearances as part of a 10-point plan to get the faltering economy back on rail. The minister told Parliament that steps to boost investment, recapitalize state-run banks and spur manufacturing and exports were key elements of his strategy.

Although the government has repeatedly talked of pushing reforms, the latest statement was seen to be directed at the markets after the rupee breached the 66-mark against the dollar and settled at a fresh low of 66.19. "What we need now is not less reforms but more reforms, not more restrictions but less restrictions, not a closed economy but a more open economy," he said.

At the same time, Chidambaram criticized the way the UPA handled the twin deficits - fiscal and current account - between 2009 and 2011, when he was the home minister and Pranab Mukherjee was at the helm in the finance ministry. "We recognize that there are domestic factors. One of the domestic factors is that we allowed the fiscal deficit to be breached and we allowed current account deficit to swell because of certain decisions that we took during the period 2009 to 2011. It brought us growth, it stabilized the economy, we swayed off the very serious consequences of the 2008 collapse of the US economy. But, it cost us in terms of fiscal deficit and current account deficit."

Talking about the steps planned by the government, Chidambaram said the capital expenditure of public sector companies, which are sitting on a large cash pile, is under examination, while indicating that the government could put in more funds in banks beyond the Rs 14,000 crore that he had announced in the Budget.

While announcing the Cabinet Committee on Investment's decision to speed up infrastructure projects involving investment of Rs 1.8 lakh crore, the minister said it was important to remove some of the hurdles that had come up.

"We have to find a way to resolve the impasse in the coal sector, iron ore sector, environmental clearances, land acquisition which has come under judicial intervention. We have to resolve the impasse.

The impasse, Chidambaram said, "will affect any government in future.

We will have to find a way in which we are respectful to SC, we must recognize the authority of SC, but also assert the authority of Parliament and executive government". Reiterating that the deficit targets will not be breached, the finance minister said, "We will go through some pain, by the end of the day, I am sure we will be able to emerge stronger."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/FM-talks-of-10-point-plan-to-boost-growth/articleshow/22109497.cms
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We are only concerned with US interests. Others have to adjust -- Bernanke, US Fed Reserve

August 27, 2013, 7:54 pm
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Federal Reserve officials rebuffed international calls to take the threat of fallout in emerging markets into account when tapering US monetary stimulus.
Federal Reserve officials rebuffed international calls to take the threat of fallout in emerging markets into account when tapering US monetary stimulus.

US Federal Reserve rebuffs calls to account for QE tapering fallout

By Bloomberg | 27 Aug, 2013, 06.20AM IST
WASHINGTON: Federal Reserve officials rebuffed international calls to take the threat of fallout in emerging markets into account when tapering US monetary stimulus. 

The risk that the Fed's trimming of bond buying will hurt economies from India to Turkey by sparking an exodus of cash and higher borrowing costs was a dominant theme at the annual meeting of central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that ended August 24. An index of emerging-market stocks last week fell 2.7 %, the steepest in two months, compared with a 0.5% gain in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. 

Such sell-offs aren't an issue for Fed officials who said their sole focus is the US economy as they consider when to start reining in $85 billion of monthly asset purchases that have swelled the central bank's balance sheet to $3.65 trillion. 

Even as the Fed officials advised emerging markets to protect themselves, they were pressed by the International Monetary Fund and Mexican central banker Agustin Carstens to spell out their intentions better in the interest of safeguarding global growth. 

"You have to remember that we are a legal creature of Congress and that we only have a mandate to concern ourselves with the interest of the US," Dennis Lockhart, president of the Atlanta Fed said. "Other countries simply have to take that as a reality and adjust to us if that's something important for their economies." 

James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed, said the domestic economy is the primary objective of policy. 

"We're not going to make policy based on emerging-market volatility alone," he said. Any major adjustment in US economic policy will affect China's external environment and domestic economic development, Sheng Laiyun, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, said on Monday. 

"Given that the US monetary policy has a huge influence on emerging markets and the global economy, we hope that the US monetary policy authorities, whether exiting or scaling down stimulus, will not only consider the US's own economic needs but also think about economic situation in emerging markets," said Sheng. Lacking the attendance of Fed Chairman Ben S Bernanke, the Kansas City Fed's annual symposium focused on international matters with delegates debating "Global Dimensions of Unconventional Monetary Policy." 

The subject was apt because emerging markets have suffered an investor backlash from the Fed's tapering signals at a time when they are already slowing after powering the world out of recession. 

"There's a lot of angst out there" about the Fed, said Stanford University professor John Taylor, a former US Treasury Department official. 

"There's 35 central banks represented at this conference. Many of them are concerned about the impact of the exit on them." 

Fed officials are debating when to begin slowing their bond purchases. At their previous meeting in July, officials said they were "broadly comfortable" with Bernanke's plan to unwind purchases later this year, according to minutes released August 21. Sixtyfive per cent of economists in a Bloomberg August 9-13 survey said the first cut would come at the September 17-18 meeting. "If the data continue to progress as we've seen, then I do agree that we should edge down or taper our purchases later this year," San Francisco Fed President John Williams said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. 

Emerging-market stocks have lost more than $1 trillion since May, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That's the month when Bernanke said the Fed "could take a step down" in its bond purchases. 

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has fallen about 12 % this year, compared with a 13 % gain in the MSCI gauge of shares in advanced countries. 

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index was up 0.4 % to 936.64 at 11:40am in Frankfurt today after a 1.1 % gain on August 23. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.1 % to 131.54. With the 20 most-traded currencies among emerging nations sliding about 4 % in the past three months, policymakers from these countries are acting to insulate their economies. Brazil last week announced a $60 billion intervention after the real swooned, while Indonesia said it will increase foreign currency supply. 

Peru's central bank sold $600 million in the local foreign-exchange market on August 21 to support the sol. The market palpitations drew warnings in Jackson Hole that the worst may still be ahead. "It could get very ugly" in emerging economies as the probability of currency and banking crises grows, said Carmen Reinhart, the co-author of This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly and a professor at Harvard University. "Whenever emerging markets have faced rising international interest rates and softening commodity prices, let us not forget that it has not boded well." Amid such concerns, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde warned that financial market reverberations "may well feed back to where they began." She proposed "further lines of defence" such as currency swap lines. "We advocate clarity and well-channelled communications," Lagarde told Bloomberg Televisionin an August 23 interview.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/us-federal-reserve-rebuffs-calls-to-account-for-qe-tapering-fallout/articleshow/22079952.cms?prtpage=1

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