Friday, 20 May 2016

Editorial 2 | 21st May 2016 | The Hindu

Topic - Against all odds

Nothing is more difficult than to turn the tide of history. That All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Jayalalithaa won the support of the voters of Tamil Nadu for a second consecutive term as Chief Minister, defying the historical weight of six previous Assembly elections, which had voted out the incumbent[पदधारी], is truly remarkable.

Topic - The message from West Bengal

The Red disaster has drawn the spotlight away from the Green splash in West Bengal, and recriminations[परस्पर दोषारोपण] in the Communist Party of India (Marxist) are ringing louder than celebrations in the Trinamool Congress. The verdict has expectedly opened old, unresolved debates in the CPI(M). The decision of the State unit of the party to forge a seat-sharing agreement with the Congress was taken against the central leadership’s firm reservations, and the air is already thick with both misgivings and excuse-making. It is not clear if the party will take away from its West Bengal disaster lessons of theory, praxis or realpolitik — or none at all. But on a larger canvas, the election result suggests significant messages from the electorate. Indeed, these messages could be projected nationwide. For one, the electorate has again rejected the politics of cynicism[कुटिलता]. Voters have showed that they couldn’t care for an alliance that is scared to even utter its own name. The Congress-CPI(M) seat-sharing was referred to as jot in Bengali, but quibbles[बहाना] about its definition gave away the lack of conviction in the two parties for it to be anything but an expedient measure, with no positive outreach.

Opinion Column | 20th May 2016 | The Hindu

Topic - It is too early to call 2019

By Vidya Subrahmaniam( Vidya Subrahmaniam is a Senior Fellow at The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy )

Assembly elections do not necessarily foretell[पहले से कह देना] the larger fortunes of political parties. Just how well Narendra Modi fares nationally could depend on voter satisfaction and the emergence of a credible opposition that can tap the counter-narrative.

As the exit poll results filtered in for the current round of State Assembly elections, and excitement peaked over the possible national implications of Verdict 2016, the usual questions popped up in the television studios. Will Narendra Modi do an encore[दोहराना] in 2019, leading the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a second consecutive Lok Sabha victory? Second, is it curtains for the Congress, as in, is the party facing political extinction[विलुप्त होने का]?

Topic - The meaning of victory and defeat

Five Assembly elections, and five different winners. But the voters did not distribute their favours equitably. The Congress, the only party with a realistic chance of being part of a winning coalition [गठबंधन] in all the five elections, won only one, the least important politically, the Union Territory of Puducherry. InAssam, it ceded[सौंप दिया] ground to its principal rival at the national level, the Bharatiya Janata Party, for the first time. In Kerala, where it headed a coalition government as the leading member of the United Democratic Front, it lost heavily to the Left Democratic Front led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist). In West Bengal, the party’s incongruous alliance[बेतुका गठबंधन] with the Left Front failed to enthuse[अति उत्साहित करना] voters, who saw it as devious[चालाक] and opportunistic. And in Tamil Nadu, the revival of the alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam yielded little dividend for the Congress. The BJP, however, can take heart from its victory in Assam, where it managed to stitch together an alliance with regional parties, the Asom Gana Parishad and the Bodoland People’s Front. In West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the two big States in which it is a minor player, the BJP will not be displeased with the success of the Trinamool Congress over the Left-Congress alliance and of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam over the DMK-Congress alliance.

Opinion Column | 19th May 2016| The Hindu

Topic - North by Northeast

By Kanak Mani Dixit (Kanak Mani Dixit, a writer and journalist based in Kathmandu, is founding editor of the magazine Himal Southasian.)

Nepal’s opening up to China should compel India to rethink its geostrategic doctrine [भूरणनीतिक सिद्धांत] about the Himalayan range. Leaving Nepal free to develop its international outreach would be an enlightened starting point.

The Himalaya is no longer the barrier New Delhi strategists have long regarded it as, and there is today a churning[मंथन] all along the mountain range that demands a reassessment of what the stretch means for India’s security, commerce and connectivity. New Delhi has been skittish about the northern ‘rimland’ of South Asia ever since the 1962 debacle[पराजय] at the hands of China. It is time to shed the Himalayan paranoia.

Topic - Tamil Nadu’s direct cash transfers

The Election Commission may believe it has done enough by postponing voting in two Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu where there were allegations of rampant[बड़े पैमाने पर] voter bribery and distribution of cash and gifts over the last month, and ordering an inquiry. But given the situation on the ground, coupled with the EC’s own grim[भयंकर] portrayal[चित्रण] of the widespread electoral malpractice, deferring the election in Aravakurichi and Thanjavur by a week is a grossly inadequate response. For one, there is enough reason to believe that the cash-for-votes phenomenon has taken deep roots in all constituencies. Also, deferment[स्थगितकरण] means little in the long run if recovery of cash is not followed up with the implementation of strategies to stamp out this perversion[आचारभ्रष्टता] . In Aravakurichi, the EC seized Rs.4.77 crore from a person linked to the AIADMK and its Ministers. It seized Rs.1.98 crore from the DMK candidate and his son.

Topic - Rebooting ties with Iran

Even before India announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Iran, it was certain that the Centre was keen[इच्छुक] on taking ties with this “extended neighbour” to a higher level. The removal of sanctions on Iran following the nuclear deal has ended its isolation[पृथकत्व], and enabled its return to the economic and diplomatic mainstream. Over the last few months, Iran hosted several high-profile visitors, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Three senior Ministers of the Modi government, including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, have travelled to Tehran in the past few months to step up engagement, revive[पुनरजीवित करना] some stalled[अटकी पड़ी] joint projects as well as set the stage for the prime ministerial visit. Mr. Modi’s trip on May 22-23 is expected to bridge the trust deficit in bilateral cooperation and boost energy and trade ties while expediting India’s connectivity plans. Strong ties with Iran are vital for India.

Opinion Column | 18th May 2016 | The Hindu

Losing the neighbourhood

By Happymon Jacob (Happymon Jacob is Associate Professor of Disarmament Studies at the Centre for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament, School of International Studies, JNU.)

Despite making an impressive start with its neighbourhood-first policy, the Modi government is increasingly battling resentment in the region. The message is clear: muscular tactics cannot replace mature diplomacy.

A fortnight ago, the government of Nepal took the unprecedented[अभूतपूर्व] step of cancelling the visit of the country’s President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to India and recalling its ambassador in New Delhi. Around the same time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelled his visit to Lumbini. These political developments are symbolic of the frosty relationship that India and Nepal currently share thanks to New Delhi’s high-handed and unimaginative policy towards Nepal. More worryingly, the Nepal-related developments are actually just the beginning of a larger story, of how New Delhi’s spectacularly unimaginative diplomacy is alienating[अलगाव की भावना पैदा] the region.

Topic - Speaking up in numbers

Along election season is finally coming to a close. Polling for elections to the legislative assemblies inWest Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry began on April 4, and concluded on May 16. A cluster of elections in States as far apart geographically as Kerala and Assam — and as varied in the ideological choices before the voters as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu — is bound to change the political landscape of the country. In the hiatus[अंतराल के] between polling and the counting on May 19, one message of the people of India already rings loud and clear: they have kept their date with the ballot at the voting booth. The voter turnout in some of the States that went to the polls this year is as high as 84.7 per cent, as in Assam, where it is nearly 9 percentage points more than it was in 2011. Similarly, based on provisional estimates from the Election Commission, Kerala’s turnout increased by 2.1 points to 77.4 per cent. Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and West Bengal may have suffered drops of 4.03, 2.1 and 1.9 percentage points respectively, but the registered turnouts of 74.3 per cent, 84.1 per cent and 82.8 per cent are quite high.

Topic - The ghosts of Sykes-Picot

West Asia lies in tatters. Parts of the border between Iraq and Syria have been virtually erased by the Islamic State. Syria itself is divided among multiple groups. Iraq’s government has no control over at least a fourth of its territory. Iraqi Kurdistan, an autonomous region, has demanded freedom from Baghdad. The Syrian Kurdistan region is being run by the Kurds themselves for the first time in several decades. The regional map is fractured in many more ways. What triggered this crisis? Part of the blame lies with a century-old agreement between Britain and France that is viewed as the source of the modern map of West Asia. When the British and French signed the Sykes-Picot pact a century ago — on May 16, 1916 — to divide the huge land mass of the Ottoman Empire between themselves, their primary concern was to retain their colonial[औपनिवेशिक] interests. In the process, the map prepared by diplomats Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot ignored local identities, leaving several ethnic and social contradictions unaddressed.

Editorial 2 | 17th May 2016 |The Hindu

Topic - The fee for NSG membership

China’s announcement that it intends to oppose India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group unless it agrees to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) comes just a month ahead of the NSG’s annual plenary session. For the past year, India had made admission to the 48-member NSG a focus of its international outreach, though membership has been a goal since the India-U.S. civil nuclear agreement was signed in 2008. Several major countries including the U.S., Russia, Germany, the U.K. and Australia have openly backed the bid, despite the fact that India is not a signatory to the NPT, widely considered to be a key criterion for NSG membership. In 2015, India reached out to many other NSG members, including those such as Ireland and Sweden that are members of the pro-disarmament group, the New Agenda Coalition, and have traditionally been opposed to its admission. The visit to New Delhi of NSG Chairperson Rafael Grossi in October 2015, when he spoke of taking the request forward, was seen to be a positive sign in this effort. Thus the disappointment after the signal from Beijing last week. Clearly, China’s stand is a combination of its fraught relations with India as well as its desire that its “all-weather friend” Pakistan not be disadvantaged in the process.

Editorial 1 | 17th May 2016 | The Hindu

Topic - Waiting to exhale

After topping the list of cities with the most polluted air, Delhi’s ranking has improved in the latest air quality assessment published by the World Health Organization. India’s car-dominated national capital is no longer in the top ten cities choked by particulate matter. The top spot is now taken by Zabol, a city in Iran crippled[बिगाड़ना] by a vast disappeared wetland, dust storms, deforestation and desertification. The WHO’s upgrading of Delhi may appear a positive, but it is cold comfort to India because the problem of small particulate matter (PM) measuring 10 and 2.5 micrometres is still deep-rooted, and its health impact has been under official scrutiny[समीक्षा] only in recent years. Also, while Delhi has come to the 11th place for fine particulate matter pollution, many other cities in north India with a history of poor air quality are still high on the WHO list. This is unsurprising, as scientific studies point to distinct causative[कारण-वाचक] factors and atmospheric conditions in this part of the country that lead to very poor air quality. It is becoming clearer, for instance, that there is a higher risk of premature death from respiratory and cardiac conditions in several districts of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bihar, where living conditions are already difficult, and there is a large population suffering long-term exposure to PM and PM from a variety of sources, including household cooking.

Editorial 2 | 16th May 2016 | The Hindu

Topic - Left, Right, Left?

An emerging third player in a polarised political field can effect unpredictable changes to the electoral outcome. The Bharatiya Janata Party will not end the dominance of the two alliance formations in Kerala, the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front, but may be set to alter the political scene in the State in new ways. Traditionally, BJP sympathisers, drawn from the considerable cadre base of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, have voted against the Left, seeing the Congress as the lesser, god-fearing evil. However, with the BJP now scaling up to a significant presence in Kerala, a section of Hindu votes may shift towards it and away from the Congress. At the same time, such calculations may be upset if the BJP, now in a seat-sharing arrangement with a party that purports[दावा करना] to represent the State’s large Ezhava population, traditional supporters of the Left, makes electoral inroads into this upwardly mobile backward class community. Kerala’s polarised politics hides a deeply fragmented polity held together by coalitions and power-sharing.

Topic - A new strongman in the Philippines

During his election campaign, Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines was often compared to Donald Trump. Like the Republican Party’s presumptive[आनुमानिक] candidate, Mr. Duterte ran a divisive[बांटनेवाला], anti-establishment campaign built around a strongman image. His contempt for law, threats to “shut down Congress” and pledge[प्रतिज्ञा] to send the army and the police to kill criminals had all revived memories of Ferdinand Marcos’s brutal[क्रूर] dictatorship[तानाशाही], brought to an end by a “revolution” in 1986. Mr. Duterte’s victory in the presidential elections by a clear margin, has thrown the future of the Philippines into uncertainty. The country’s political elite[संभ्रांत व्यक्ति] are partly responsible for the triumph[जीत] of his brand of politics. Though outgoing President Benigno Aquino is hailed as a champion of economic reforms, the high growth barely trickled down to the poor. Despite the economy clocking an average annual growth rate of 6.3 per cent between 2010 and 2015, the percentage of Filipinos living below the national poverty line in 2015 stood at 26.3, almost the same as in 2009.

Editorial 4 | 14th May 2016 | Indian Express

Topic - On the mat

Sushil versus Narsingh controversy is a reminder: Rules, not whims, must decide who goes to Rio.

Indian wrestling has sealed eight quota places for the Rio Olympics — the country’s highest ever. Sadly, double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar has had no part to play in collecting this historic haul. But if the names of all contemporary wrestlers were to be reeled off, Sushil’s would be the first to be counted as a medal hope. India finds itself in a strange situation, therefore, where instead of feting a sporting federation for its eight Olympic berths, the country is compelled[मजबूर] to obsess[दिल में घर कर लेना] over the one mistake it committed: Of not spelling out the rules of who goes to Rio.

Topic - 2014 to 2016

BJP is yet to fully make the journey from a party aggressively staking claim to power to one that is astutely wielding it.

As the Narendra Modi government completes two years in a few days’ time, it could well be asked: Has it been two years since the BJP stopped campaigning and started governing — really? It’s not a rhetorical [शब्दाडंबरपूर्ण] question. Take a look at the images of the last few days, in the run-up to the two-year anniversary. The prime minister, deep in the heat and grime[जमी हुई कीट] of assembly poll battle, comparing Kerala to Somalia, provoking a reaction much like the one he did last year in Bihar, where his barb about Nitish Kumar’s DNA lent ballast to an entire campaign from the other side, Bihari vs Bahari.

Topic - A disappointing verdict

The Supreme Court verdict upholding the provisions of the Indian Penal Code that make defamation a criminal offence is retrograde[पीछे हटना] and out of tune with the times. Many countries, including neighbouring Sri Lanka, have decriminalised defamation, which should be a civil offence alone. The court has unfortunately accepted the self-serving argument by the Centre that criminal defamation does not have a chilling, inhibiting[बाधा] effect on the freedom of expression. In fact, there is enough anecdotal[वास्तविक] evidence that its existence on the statute book[क़ानून की पुस्तक] leads to self-censorship, and that it is often used to stifle[दबाना] legitimate criticism.

Topic - BCCI after Shashank Manohar

Shashank Manohar’s resignation as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India has come at an inopportune[असामयिक] moment for the sport in this country. Conversely, his re-election as the chairman of the International Cricket Council is a fillip to the game’s apex body. In his recent stint[कार्यकाल] at the ICC, Mr. Manohar helped curb the disproportionate powers and profit of the so-called “big three”, India, Australia and England, an initiative that has been insufficiently lauded[प्रशंसा करना].

Editorial 3 | 13 th May 2016 | Indian Express

Topic - Pause and listen :

Adi Godrej articulates a wider unease with the proliferation of bans — on beef or alcohol.

Adi Godrej has done well to speak out against the ban on cattle slaughter and imposition of prohibition by certain state governments in the past one year. Such policies, the chairman of the $4 billion-plus Godrej Group has rightly pointed out, have contributed to an overall environment of negativity, deflecting and diverting attention away from the economy and the larger development agenda that governments are elected to implement.

Topic - Regime change in Brazil

It is a coup[उथल-पुथल करना] by another name. With the suspension of President Dilma Rousseff from office on Thursday through a Senate impeachment[महाभियोग] vote, the Brazilian opposition has secured a rare political victory. The impeachment, approved with a 55-22 majority, brings to an end 13 years of rule by the Workers Party (PT). It also puts Ms. Rousseff’s political future in limbo as she now has to weather the impeachment trial, which could last up to six months and will determine if she may or may not regain the presidency.

Topic - Drought relief on order

That scarcity of water and its poor quality plague[विपत्ति] many parts of India this year is widely acknowledged [स्वीकार करना]today. Yet it has taken the Supreme Court to call out the reluctance [अनिच्छा] of some States to declare a drought while simultaneously decrying[निंदा करना] the Centre’s recourse[सहारा] to “federalism” as an excuse to avoid taking up the matter with these States. In the judgment, delivered on a writ petition filed by the non-governmental organisation Swaraj Abhiyan, the Supreme Court concluded that Bihar and Haryana had been remiss in not officially declaring a drought despite clear indications of water scarcity;

Editorial 3 |12th May 2016 | Indian Express

Topic - Ringing out the old

Indian cricket is in a state of churn[मंथन]. The Supreme Court is bullish[तेजी] on reforms that promise to restructure the cricket board. With his resignation as president, Shashank Manohar has leapt off[छलांग लगाई] the burning deck, hoping to land safely in the International Cricket Council. Familiar power-hunters are eyeing the now untenanted president’s post in the BCCI. Players are riding the cash-rich rollercoaster that is the IPL. Television ratings suggest that fatigue[थकान] has set in among cricket-watchers.

Topic - Closing the tax bolthole

More than three decades and several billions of dollars of lost revenue after India entered into a bilateral Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement with Mauritius, the two countries have finally renegotiated the terms of their agreement. The signing, this week, of the protocol for amending the treaty means that with effect from April 1, 2017, companies and investors resident in Mauritius will have to pay capital gains tax on the sale of shares purchased, on or after that date, in a company based in India. The amendment to the convention has been some time coming.

Topic - Lessons from Uttarakhand

Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s victory in the floor test was a foregone conclusion [पूर्वचिंतित परिणाम] after the Supreme Court barred nine dissident [मतभेद करनेवाला]Congress legislators from participating in the confidence vote. The votes of 27 remaining loyalists [वफादार] and a six-member bloc have seen him through. The result, which has been confirmed by the Supreme Court, brings an end to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s political misadventure in exploiting the dissidence[मतभेद] within the Congress and attempting to install a government either run or backed by defectors.

Editorial 2 | 11th May 2016 | The Hindu

Topic - His name is Sadiq Khan

“My name is Sadiq Khan and I’m the Mayor of London,” he said after a bitterly fought election. Whether or not he meant it as just a statement of fact, for voters of South Asian origin in the British capital the words would have carried a particularly affirming resonance [ गूंज ]. In the end, Mr. Khan triumphed [ विजय ] easily in the May 5 vote, giving his Labour Party much-needed cheer. The London mayoral election has been a prestigious one since the directly elected office was created in 2000. It helped that Mr. Khan’s two, and only, predecessors were larger-than-life figures who freely took on their party leaderships, giving the office a higher profile than its limited powers may merit.

Topic - Freedom to map India

The concern about the proposed law to introduce a stringent [कठोर ] process for the use of geospatial [ भू-स्थानिक ]data is not unwarranted. According to a draft of the Geospatial Information Regulation Bill circulated for feedback, all information that can be represented on geographical maps will have to be necessarily vetted [पुनरीक्षित]by a special authority before being publicised. Of course, India has always been wary of sharing map-making powers. The anxiety, post-1947, draws as much from the nature of the country’s territorial disputes as from the security implications of a more laissez-faire map policy. Most of these anxieties are, of course, overblown. This is why two aspects of the new legislation need to be separated and carefully considered before rushing the final draft for Parliament’s approval:

The Hindu Editorial 2, 10th May 2016

Topic - All up in smoke?

Expectedly, tobacco companies are resisting a new regulation that the mandatory pictorial warnings on cigarette packages be made larger. The legal challenge to the new rule is likely to be finally settled in the weeks ahead, but till then, as per the Supreme Court’s directives, the larger warnings must be printed. For now, cartons will have up to 85 per cent of the packet devoted to graphic messaging. Having lost the argument on the health effects of cigarette consumption, as well as passive smoking, cigarette-makers are pleading that tobacco-growers will be adversely affected. Experience in other countries suggests that they are fighting a losing battle. Australia has become something of a shining example for the rest of the world to follow in clamping down on suggestive branding.

Topic - The crisis in Nepal

Once again, Nepal appears to be on the brink [ तट ] of leadership change. The past few days have seen frenetic [ उन्मादपूर्ण ]activity, driven by Maoist leader Prachanda’s desire to oust [ बाहर निकालना ] Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli just months after he took charge. While the attempt has been stalled for the moment, it may be only a matter of time before the number-crunchers get to work to forge [ कूटरचना ]an alternative coalition in the 601-member Parliament. There is a difference of only 24 seats between Mr. Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal (UML) and the Nepali Congress. With their 83 seats, the Maoists can always tip the balance. Keeping the confidence of a fragmented [ खंडित ] Parliament was always going to be a challenge for Mr. Oli. But he finds himself embattled so early in his tenure is also the result of failing to deliver on three important promises.

The Hindu Editorial 2, 30 april 2016

Topic - A misguided surrender

In a clear and misguided surrender to Patidar agitators [ आंदोलनकारी ]demanding reservations in jobs and education, the Gujarat government has announced a 10 per cent quota for the economically backward among upper castes. Those with an annual family income of less than Rs.6 lakh will be eligible. This proposed quota is in addition to the existing 49 per cent reservations for the Other Backward Classes and SC/STs, and an ordinance is to be promulgated [ एलान करना ] to this effect. The Patidars constitute a crucial vote base for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, and the quota signals the political failure of the various carrot-and-stick measures attempted by the State government to get on top of their long agitation.

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