Mag the Gist July 2013

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COURTESY:

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Contents

THE HINDU ........................ ........................... .......................... ........................... .................. 2Hindu-Muslim Rela tions during Na tional Movement & Gandhi .................................................................................................... 2Serbian Government Approves Kosovo Deal ....................................................................................................................................3

Green Energy and Beyond .................................... ........................................ ........................................ ......................................... ........ 4Russia launches bio-satelli te ..................................................................................................................................................................6Why Novartis case will help Innovation ...........................................................................................................................................7

Internet Speed .................................... ........................................ ........................................ ......................................... ............................ 7BRIC by Brick ................................... ......................................... ........................................ ........................................ ............................. 8ASER Repor t ...................................... ........................................ ........................................ ......................................... ............................ 9

The Tibe tan P lateau and the I ndian Monsoon .............................................................................................................................. 1 0Vivekanandas Legacy of Universa lism ........................................................................................................................................... 1 2Keep the Green tax ............................................................................................................................................................................. 1 3

2014 Uber and Thomas Cup Finals in India ................................................................................................................................... 1 5Time to Revisit the Vienna Convention ......................................................................................................................................... 1 6U.N. Passes Historic Arms Trade Trea ty ........................................................................................................................................ 1 7

Gene Muta tion Linked to Leprosy in Indians ................................................................................................................................ 1 9Doublespeak on Elect oral Reforms .................................................................................................................................................. 2 5

H7N9 Silently Spreads in Humans and Birds .................................................................................................................................. 2 7Pass to Better Relations with China ................................................................................................................................................ 2 9Disabil ity as a Human Rights Issue: IndiasInvisible Minority in the Policy Realm ............................................................. 3 2

YOJANA .............................................................................................................................. 33Disability in the 12th Five Year Plan .............................................................................................................................................. 3 3

Education of Children with Disabilities: Need for Greater Reflection ....................................................................................... 3 5Socia l Definition of Psycho-Social Disability ................................................................................................................................ 3 8Women with Disabilit ies: Gendered Impairment ........................................................................................................................... 4 0

Alloca tion for Inclusive Growth ....................................................................................................................................................... 4 4

KURUKSHETRA................................................................................................................ 45Food Security ...................................... ........................................ ........................................ ......................................... ......................... 4 5Drinking Water .................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 6

National Livestok Missi on ................................................................................................................................................................. 4 6National Food Secur ity Mission ........................................................................................................................................................ 4 7Swabhimaa n-A Significant Beginning ............................................................................................................................................... 4 8

First Ever Hackathon by the Planning Commission on the 12th Plan ................................................................................... 5 0UNWTO Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development to be Held at Hyderabad from 12th to 14th April ........... 5 0

PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU .......................... ........................... ........................... .. 51Steps Taken for Protection of Endan gered Species ..................................................................................................................... 5 2

Environmenta l Taxes ......................................................................................................................................................................... 5 4Amendment in Money Lau nder ing Act .......................................................................................................................................... 5 5E-Biz Portal to Ease G2B Services ................................................................................................................................................... 5 6

Success in the Skies! ....................................... ........................................ ......................................... ........................................ ............ 5 8

SCIENCE REPORTER ...................................................................................................... 59Open Source and Open Innovat ion .................................................................................................................................................. 5 9General Public License ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6 2

hilka Haven for Birds .......................................................................................................................................................................... 6 3Micr oph on es ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 4


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Gist of

THEHINDU

HINDU-MUSLIMRELATIONSDURINGNATIONALMOVEMENT& GANDHI

The Hindu-Muslim relations during thefreedom struggle were not ordered byindividuals only. They were sadly built

into the making and unmaking of our nationalistidioms as, for example, the Hindi-Urdu controversyhad shown. Although language and religion do notnecessarily converge, the image conjured up was thatthey do. The Mahatmas misfortune was that whenthe communal passions could be whipped up, hisRam-Rahim recipe turned distasteful to all but thesanest. As the author points out, The Christiansdisapproved his stand on conversion; the Sikhs didnot think of him as their friend; the RSS brigadeaddressed him as Mahmud Gandhi; some others saidthat his reading of the Quran defiled a temple.

If the story of our freedom struggle show-cases phases and examples in which Gandhian moral

power seemed to gain exceptional ascendancy, therewere no fewer instances or indications of it losingappeal or having impact on the course of things.After the Non-cooperation-Khilafat phase of themovement the Gandhian mystique was less evidentamong the Muslim masses, and arguments, parleys or

bargains with the Muslim League were not the bestways to achieve integrative nationalism. When theLeague and the Congress were driven by politicalinterests, Gandhis moral recipe was politely brushedaside. They placed him on a high pedestal, listened

to him respectfully, but bypassed him on seriouspolicy matters. On Partition, he was told to retire tothe Himalayas.

Faith and Freedomoffers a fine intellectualmenu on Indian freedom movement as well as

Gandhis place in it. Mushirul Hasan dra wsextensively from the archival sources, from the bestof the primary and secondary accounts on thesubject, and he sensitively prises out historical

wisdom from the poetry and literature of the period.Akbar Ilahabadi, Saadat Hasan Manto, IsmatChughtai and others illumine the themes and times.He is aware that while historical reality cannot beobjectively presented, nor its value determined bya victory in a plebiscite, its complexities can behonestly confronted and explained. Freedomstruggle was not all about driving the British out ofthe country. It was about constituting the nation inthe context of the colonial rule in which the variousstake-holders struggled to be heard and adoptedideologies and strategies that did not necessarilyconform to those of the Congress or of theMahatma. Colonial modernity provided the site fornationalist definition and use of both faith andfreedom, with its concomitant clashes, truces andviolence.

Faith and Freedomis a scholarly book whichbrings out the richness and complexities of Indiasstruggle for freedom and of Gandhian leadership,without quite equating the two. Instead, it raises theissues that they grappled over and the people whowere drawn into them, which both enlarges andenriches the canvas of our understanding.

CROWDSOURCINGSCIENCEAgroup of Russian space enthusiasts has

shown the world how citizen science can contributeto scientific advancement. They have spotted in animage four objects that supposedly belong to thedefunct Russian Mars 3 spacecraft that landed onthe Red Planet on December 2, 1971. The four
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forced labour in the region at 6,00,000. Thesenumbers have a huge resonance for India, whichaccounts for a significant chunk of the labour forcethere. What emerges is the close relationship

between human trafficking and labour migration, andhow failures in labour migration governance systemsare allowing trafficking to persist. In the regionscapital-rich economies, the rapid development ofinfrastructure has relied on the use of short-termlabour immigration. An estimated 14 million migrantworkers, originating mostly in Asia and Africa, werein the GCC states between 1975 and 2010.

In order to manage the influx, many countriesin the region rely on kafala, or the sponsorshipsystem, that creates an unequal power dynamic

between employer and worker as it determines thelatters terms of residence and employment. Today,this system governs the lives of most of the migrantworkers, who cannot leave their employers. Thus,loopholes and deficits in labour law coveragereinforce underlying vulnerabilities. Even where legalredress is provided for under national law, andhuman trafficking is criminalised and punishable,there have been few prosecutions. In such a context,there is first of all a clear case to regulate and controlthe role of recruiting agencies that very oftenoverlook the interests of migrants while pursuingtheir own agendas. The Gulf states need to get more

serious about implementing labour protectionmeasures, and giving all expatriate workers a betterdeal in wages, housing, and health. The 2008 AbuDhabi Declaration was an acknowledgment of theissues that had piled up. It outlined a collaborativeaction plan to give a fair deal to workers. However,the recommendations that emerged, including thateffective actions be initiated to root out illegalrecruitment, and that more transparent policies and

pr actices of recrui tme nt and employmen t bepromoted, remain largely a mirage. India shouldweave in these concerns while firming up the

provisions of its new emigration bill and signing anynew bilateral agreements with countries of the region.

GREENENERGYANDBEYONDIndia has aggressive renewable energy targets

and industry energy efficiency policies, but faces

significant infrastructure challenges which may derailthe otherwise good policy, according to a new report

by Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), a U.S.-based globalpo li cy effect iven ess anal ysi s an d advi soryorganisation.

The report titled The Policy Climate, whichwas released recently, says that despite growingrapidly, India represented eight per cent of theincrease in global energy-related CO2 emissions

between 2000 and 2010, while Chinas percentage inthe same period stands at 68 per cent.

The report finds that in China, closure ofinefficient coal-fired power plants saved theequivalent of more than 100 million tonnes of coal,while renewable electricity grew 661 per cent between

2000 and 2010. Still, renewable electricity sources inChina only produced the equivalent of 0.68 per centof the electricity from conventional sources by theend of 2010.

In India, as with China, most new energygeneration since 2000 came from conventionalsources (particularly coal), though the past decadesaw exponential growth in r enewable energygeneration (especially wind, which grew 1,250 percent from 2000-2010). The report says thatimplementation of policy relevant to climate changeand its impact accelerated markedly over the lastdecade, despite the slow pace of international climate

negotiations. The study presented three decades ofevidence from five key economies India, China,Brazil, the European Union (EU) and the U.S. whichtogether contain slightly more than half of theworlds population and account for nearly two-thirdsof global greenhouse gas emissions.

In the U.S. and India, renewable energy targetshave been given to the States, even as the nationalgovernments develop policies to incentivise it whileChina experiments with special economic zones,incentives, and regulation for its low carbon citiesand low carbon provinces, according to the report. InIndia, both emissions and power generation haveincreased dramatically, more than doubling in 15years, the report points out.

From 2005-2010, Indian States phased inRenewable Portfolio Obligations for their electricitymarkets. As of 2010, these State-wide targets


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translated to an approximate 5.5 per cent nationwidetarget for renewable energy.

Since the early 1990s, industrial productivityhas tripled, but emissions have gone up by about 70

per cen t and while the Indian industr y largelyimproved its efficiency, performance at a sectoral levelwas mixed. The steel industry emissions intensityincreased due to an increase in primary steel

production v/s scrap, the report notes.The good news is that in 2012, India was the

worlds fourth-largest market for new wind powerprojects, it has ambitious solar energy targets, and ithas significant government programmes focused onenergy efficiency (Global Wind Energy Council 2012).On the flip side, the report says that because it is also

about improving energy security, reducing energyimports, improving the nations balance of payments,creating new and profitable industries, India also

pursues the largest build-out of coal-fired powerplants, coa l mining, and related infrast ructureanywhere outside of China.

RUSSIALAUNCHESBIO-SATELLITERussia launched an orbital Noahs Ark to

space a bio-satellite packed with an array of miceand other small creatures to study the effects of longflights on living organisms. Russias latest BION-M1

biological research capsule carrying 45 mice, eightMongolian gerbils, 15 geckos, snails, fish eggs,micro-organisms and plants blasted off aboard themodernised Soyuz 2 rocket from the Baikonur launch

pad in Kazakhstan.

ANINVITATIONFROMMYANMARA message coming out from our neighbour

Myanmar that is transforming itself after 50 years ofmilitary rule is we are open for business. Are ourcommercial establishments listening and are theyready?

Our bilateral relations with Myanmar havegathered momentum in recent times. We have agreedon a wide-ranging development cooperation agenda.

India has made substantial commitments to assistMyanmar in the areas of capacity building,connectivity, infrastructure and border regiondevelopment. Our trade and economic ties havehowever not kept pace. India figures at only the

seventh place in Myanmars total imports and ranks,even lower at the13th place in terms of foreigninvestments into Myanmar. Being a large andcontiguous neighbour, a closer overall engagementwould call for a more robust trade and investmentshare that seems definitely possible at a time whenrapid changes are unfolding.

Inclusive Politics

To what extent has Myanmar transformeditself? President Thein Sein has, in the last two years,taken the country towards a democratic path that hasmade political life more inclusive; it has also enabledDaw Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League forDemocracy to enter Parliament, albeit in a small way.

The government has released a great majority ofpo li tical pr is oner s and la un ch ed an ethnicreconciliation process to build peace with the variousminority groups that have been out of the nationalmainstream from before independence.

Some problems have no doubt arisen in takingforward this process. Hostilities broke out with theKachin rebels but the atmosphere has improved sincelate January. Tensions have also been building

between the Buddhist and Muslim communit ies.Deadly riots erupted last year in Rakhine state in twospells between the Rohingayas and the RakhineBuddhist community, leading to casualties anddisplacement of people. Last month there wereattacks against the Muslim community in certainareas in Central Myanmar.

President Thein Sein has acknowledged thatrioters have harmed the image of the country but hehas also talked about adoption of a differentapproach to build trust. In a recent meeting withMuslim leaders, Ms Suu Kyi told them that the lawhas to be just for all and she would want everyone tofeel proud of being a citizen of the country. Buildingtrust and peace to pave the way for an inclusivesociety is a delicate and painstaking process. It ishoped that the troublemakers are firmly andeffectively dealt with and the supremacy of the rule

of law is maintained.One can expect that responsible leaders of

Myanmar would not want adverse domesticdevelopments to affect its hosting of internationalevents in the coming months for the first time, the


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World Economic Forum East Asia Summit in June andthe South East Asian Games in December 2013. It will

also chair the ASEAN from January 2014.

WHYNOVARTISCASEWILLHELPINNOVATIONOn April 1, 2013, the Supreme Court upheld the

Intellectual Property Appellate Boards decision todeny patent protection to Novartiss applicationcovering a beta crystalline form of imatinib themedicine Novartis brands as Glivec, and which is veryeffective against the form of cancer known as chronicmyeloid leukaemia (CML). The judgment marked acrucial conclusion to a saga that has been severaldecades in the making. The story could start in 1972,if you like, when the Indian Patents Act of 1970

grounded in the findings of the Bakshi Tek Chandand Ayyangar Committee Reports came into force,enabling the explosive growth of the Indian genericsindustry into the worlds largest exporter of bulkmedicines. Or, it could start in 2005, when Indiaamended its patent law to comply with the Agreementon Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual PropertyRights (TRIPs), a trade rule at the World TradeOrganisation (WTO) that established a new globalregime of intellectual property.

LPG DIRECTCASHTRANSFERSCHEMELIKELYFROMJULY1

The government is gearing up for the next big

leap under the Direct Cash Transfer (DCT) scheme tobr in g a huge nu mber of nearly 14 crore LPGconsumers under its ambit.The scheme, which islikely to be launched from July 1, is aimed at directly

put ting the subsidy component of the domesticcylinder into the bank account of the consumers toeliminate the leakages in the system and address the

problem of diversion of domestic cylinders forcommercial market.

The scheme will be introduced around themiddle of next month in 20 districts and later will beextended to a bigger chunk of consumers and

practically cover over 14 crore consumers by the year

end.The banks and the oil marketing companies[OMCs] have already been sounded out by theFinance Ministry and the Petroleum and Natural GasMinistry to gear up for rollout of the scheme in a bigway, a senior Petroleum Ministry official said.

The consumers are likely to get aroundRs.4,000 per annum from the government, and theywill have to then buy LPG at the market price of Rs.901.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

Currently, each consumer is entitled to 9cylinders of 14.2-kg each at the subsidised price ofRs.410.50. The government bears a subsidy Rs.435

per cylinder. The Planning Commission is alreadygearing up for meetings with 78 District Collectors togive momentum to the scheme.Under the scheme,subsidies and other benefits will be tran sferreddirectly into the Aadhaar-linked bank account of

beneficiary. The Finance Ministry is of the view thatkeeping in mind the huge number of consumers underthe LPG scheme, the beneficiaries (consumers) would

have to directly approach the banks for seeding ofAadhaar numbers to their bank accounts. Seeding ofAadhaar number to the bank account is essential forthe government to identify beneficiaries.

On the other hand, the OMCs have been askedto provide data and details of the consumers toensure that the benefits of the scheme percolate tothe beneficiaries. A series of meetings between theFinance and Petroleum Ministries is planned for thenext fortnight to give a final touch to the details forthe initial launch of the scheme next month.

INTERNETSPEEDOver the next few days, if not weeks, you can

expect to spend more time staring at your downloaddialog box, waiting for videos to buffer, or clickingaway impatiently as you wait for your web pages toreload.

And no, its not the service provider to blame;at least not entirely. For, communication servicesacross the country, and many parts of the world, havetaken a hit owing to outages in three submarinecables that are part of the undersea cable networkthat connects India to the global communicationssystem. A majority of voice and data signals aretransmitted through these cables; in fact, mostcommunications services companies are entirely

dependent on them.The current outages that affect three of the

eight communications cables that connect India tothe rest of the world SMW-4, IMEWE and EIG are likely to impact services provided by Bharti Airtel,


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Tata Telecommunications, Reliance Communicationsand public sector service providers BSNL/MTNL.These cables, which connect land-basedtransmission terminal stations across continents, arelaid for tens of thousands of kilometres along theseabed. These thick optic fibre cables are sometimesdisrupted due to natural phenomena, such asearthquakes and extreme turbidity current, or bycoming in contact with fishing trawlers or shark bites.Fixing this is a complex procedure that uses advancedreflectometry techniques and may take weeks.

BRIC BY BRICKLong reviled as a n artificial grouping of

countries with little in common other than a sense of

exclusion from the command structures of theinternational system, the BRICS forum has finallycome up with a decision that has the potential to bea global game changer: the establishment of a NewDevelopment Bank. The absence of specific detailsin the eThekwini Declaration issued at the end of thefifth summit meeting of the forum in Durban has ledwestern sceptics to conclude that the bank idea is anon-starter. They are mistaken. Even though Brazil,Russia, India, China and South Africa differ with oneanother on many aspects of the project, they do agreethat a new bank is needed to take care of the specialaspirations of the group and perhaps of alldeveloping countries as well. The BRICS five account

for roughly a fourth of the global GDP and 40 percent of the worlds population. The proposed bank isoptimistically projected to be an alternative to theseven-decade-old financial system dominated by theBretton Woods twins, the International MonetaryFund and the World Bank. A shift away from thetrans-Atlantic focus that the two global institutionsare rightly criticised for ought to be welcomed. Theglobal economy and the financial system are notexactly in the pink of health. Much of the drag onrecent economic growth is due to the unsatisfactory

performance of the advanced economies, which isitself a result of western financial mismanagement.

And with the Doha round of trade talks still stuck, theBRICS forums call for the new head of the WorldTrade Organisation to be from the developing world,and for the revitalisation of UNCTAD, assume greatsignificance.

Apart from doing the best on the growth ratefront, China is the only BRICS country with a hugecurrent account surplus and has accumulated amassive amount of foreign exchange reserves. In the

pr elude to th e cr ea ti on of th e new bank , th isdivergence matters and should not be glossed over.The key determinants for success will be the designand leadership of the new bank, as well as its lending

policy. In terms of sheer clout, China is likely todominate, especially if a system of quotas reflectingthe economic size and contribution of each countryis adopted. These and other cautionary words shouldnot, however, detract from the merits of the BRICS

bank, especially its development orientat ion andstress on infrastructure financing. Channelling

regional savings for infrastructure through adedicated bank is a great idea. There is also greatmerit in growing step by step, as another relateddecision to set up a contingency reserve fund of $100

billion shows.

MUKUNDARAHILLSISRAJASTHANSTHIRDTIGERRESERVE

After Ranthambhore and Sariska, Rajasthanwill now be home another big cat habitat. The theMukundara Hills Tiger Reserve (MHTR), located inHadoti region, was notified by the State government.

The MHTR will be spread across four districts

Kota, Bundi, Chittorgarh and Jhalawar coveringan area of 759 sq km. It will boast of a core area of 417sq km and a buffer zone covering 342.82 sq km.

The reserve, expected to ease the big catpopulation pressure in Ranthambhore, will cover theexisting Darrah, Jawahar Sagar and Chambal wildlifesanctuaries.

Ranthambhore is home to 50 tigers whileSariska has nine big cats. The State governments areauthorised, on the recommendations of the NationalTiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), to notify anarea as a tiger reserve under Section 38 V of theWildlife Protection Act, 1972.

ASER REPORTFirst we had the Annual Status of Education

Report (ASER) which showed yet again thatlearning outcomes in government schools are not justunacceptably low, but declining, that too in the time


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since the RTE Act was passed. Then came thebudget and allocations to the education sector which

did not budge from 3.5 per cent of GDP despite the 6per cent recommended by the Kothari Commissionmore than five decades ago and reiterated in theCommon Minimum Programme nine years ago. Infact, the actual State-wise requirements to fullyimplement the RTE are still to be estimated! Andfinally the RTE deadline itself was accompanied byreports of how scores of schools across the countryhad failed to meet the mandatory norms. And not just

private schools, or unrecognised schools, but regulargovernment schools under the purview of the verygovernment that amended the Constitution makingelementary education a Fundamental Right and

passed an Act that stipulated a basic set of normsthat all schools must abide by.And yet, these failures appear to have made

little difference as far as policy, planning or evenpolitical posturing are concerned.

The ASER findings were unveiled by theMinister of Human Resource Development himself; ascheme of 2500 model schools to be implementedunder a Public Private Partnership format in defianceof RTE was announced and the Central AdvisoryBoard of Education committee decided to not extendthe RTE deadline two days after the deadline

passed.While, on the one hand, this brazen defiance of

the law seems completely inexplicable, on the other,it is completely compatible with the way basiceducation has been treated by successivegovernments since the very beginning.

Despite the lip service paid to education inrecent years, the ground reality has rarely gone

beyond the rhetoric. Even the legal stipulations donot seem to have propelled the government to actwith greater responsibility. The passage of the RTEAct was meant to reinforce the governments primaryobligation towards provision of elementaryeducation. But neither the political class nor the

burea ucracy appea rs to be mindful of it s

responsibilities or legal obligations.In a recent PIL, the Supreme Court, taking

cognisance of the deplorable state of basic facilitiesin schools, directed all State governments to ensurethat the situation was rectified in accordance with

RTE norms by end-March 2013. Eighteen Stategovernments filed affidavits claiming they had alreadymet the norms six months ago! Even a casual visit togovernment schools in any of these States will revealthe falsehood of these claims. Now these States,along with all others who have not even filed theaffidavits, stand in contempt of court in additionto a violation of the RTE Act. It puts a huge questionmark on the much-acclaimed, rights-based approach

being adopted.

QUANTUMBIOLOGYMIMICKEDINLABFor the first time scientists have engineered a

series of molecules that show quantum effects similarto that observed in the light-harvesting complexes.

Greg Engels group in University of Chicago havebeen able to both understand as well as mimic theefficient mechanism of light transfer happening in

plants.Aside from other benefits, this would lead to

the production of artificial energy-transfer deviceswhich could use the mechanism efficiently.Photosynthetic antennae are arrays of proteins andchlorophyll which transfer absorbed light energy tothe reaction centres where light energy is convertedto chemical energy. This enhances the efficiency oflight transfer compared to the process when light isabsorbed directly by the reaction centres themselves.The secret of the efficiency of the transfer process lies

in quantum electronic coherence that stretches oversome femtoseconds (a femtosecond is a millionth ofa billionth of a second). When there is coherence,energy from the incoming photon can simultaneouslyexplore every possible cholorophyll route from the

proteins surface to the reaction centre at its core andthen settle for the shortest route. Compare this withthe time and energy wasted if the photon had tosequentially try out every path before reaching thereaction centre. Thus the efficiency of the process isincreased manifold.

The researchers have engineered a series ofmolecules that show quantum effects similar to that

observed in the light-harvesting complexes.Biological light-harvesting systems are so complexthat they obscure the design principles involved.However, the model systems engineered by the groupare simpler yet manage to capture the physics


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involved, according to the report published on April18 in Science Express.

The main actor in this is a dye-like materialcalled fluorescein. Th e r esearchers modifiedfluorescein and linked parts of these together rigidlyto form a series of compounds. The resultingmolecules were able to mimic the behaviour of light-harvesting centres in plants that use photosynthesis,especially the coherences which persists for overtens of femtoseconds. They infer the presence of thiscoherence using two-dimensional spectroscopy.

To observe the quantum coherence in thesystem, the team shone laser light into the systemand recorded the emitted light by means of a cameraand recorded it in movies.

Every frame of the movie was a two-dimensional spectrum. The movie showed quantum

beats, or oscillations, in a particular region, which isevidence of quantum coherence. It is an excitingthought for the future that discovery of this moleculeseries and the mechanism of energy transfer mayinitiate the development of synthetic light harvesterswhich could lead to highly efficient and green energymanufacturing units.

THETIBETANPLATEAUANDTHEINDIANMONSOON

To what extent does the Tibetan plat eau

influence the south-west monsoon?Some 130 years ago, Sir H.F. Blanford, Chief

Reporter of the newly-established IndiaMeteorological Department (IMD), noticed that moreHimalayan snow cover during the preceding winter

presaged a poor monsoon. On that basis, IMD beganissuing the first monsoon forecasts from 1882. Butmonsoon prediction was not so easily done andremains a difficult problem to this day.Years later, theestablished view came to be that the Himalayas actedon the monsoon in two ways. The Tibetan plateau,heated up during summer and thereby established anatmospheric circulation that was conducive for the

monsoon.The vast mountain range also acted as a tallbarrier, prevent ing cold, dry air in the north ernlatitudes from entering the subcontinent andsubduing the warm, moisture-laden winds from the

oceans that drive the monsoon. In a paper publishedin the journal Naturein 2010, William Boos andZhiming Kuang of Harvard University in the U.Sargued that the Himalayas role as a barrier was thecrucial factor for the monsoon.

Using a general circulation model thatsimulated what happened in the atmosphere, theyfound that even if the Tibetan plateau did not exist,the monsoon would be unaffected provided theHimalayas and adjacent mountain ranges were thereto prevent intrusion of northern air.

As the vast Tibetan plateau, high up in themountains, warmed during the summer months, itheated the air above, which then rose and created anarea of low pressure, explained Dr. Rajagopalan. That

belt of low pressure sucked in moisture from theoceans, thus initiating the monsoon.

The heating of the Tibetan plateau correlatedwell with rainfall over India from May 20 to June 15when the monsoon was setting in. But then thecorrelation disappeared only to reappear again forrainfall between September 1 and October 15 whenthe monsoon was tailing off. We dont have a verygood answer yet about how the Tibetan plateaucould be influencing the late stage of the monsoon,he said. In an earlier paper, he and Dr. Molnar hadnoted that swings in the temperature of the tropicalPacific Oceans surface waters near the internationaldateline, known as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation(ENSO), also strongly influenced rainfall over centralIndia and its west coast during the early and late

phases of the monsoon. With the Tibetan heat ingand ENSO acting independently of each other, thetwo factors taken together could have predictivevalue for rainfall in the monsoons early and late

phases.Preliminary results looked promising, Dr.

Rajagopalan told this correspondent. Those twophases of the monsoon accounted for over one-thirdof the total rainfall during the entire season and wasnothing to be sneezed at.

LASTDOMINOINTHEBALKANSThe April 19 agreement between Serbia and

Kosovo, reached under the auspices of the EuropeanUnion, could be a historic political development for

both the Balkans and the EU. Baroness Catherine


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Ashton, High Representative of the Union for ForeignAffairs and Security Policy, brokered the talks

through 10 rounds starting in March 2011, and sawthe deal through to its signing by Serbian PrimeMinister Ivica Dai and Hashim Thai, the KosovanPrime Minister. The process was fraught, and asrecently as April 8 Serbia rejected the draft, saying itdid not give ethnic Serbs in Kosovo enoughautonomy. The signed deal means Belgrade cedeslegal authority over Kosovo, but it still does notrecognise Kosovan independence. Pristinas side ofthe agreement involves giving the 50,000 or so ethnicSerbs who live in northern Kosovo their own policeand justice representatives within the Kosovansystem; about another 90,000 Serbs live elsewhere

among Kosovos 1.8 million people. There is nodoubt that the agreement opens the way for Serbia tostart talks on EU membership. Belgrade has alreadymet several conditions for accession, such asarresting and handing over the former general RatkoMladic and former Bosnian Serb President RadovanKaradzic, both of whom are now being held by theInternational Criminal Tribunal for the FormerYugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague on charges of warcrimes and crimes against humanity.

The deal will stand or fall on whether or notKosovo upholds the Kosovan Serbs new rights. Thegenocidal wars of the 1990s have left terrible woundsamong all the regions peoples, and few of the

governments and movements involved includingthe erstwhile Kosovo Liberation Army have cleanhands. Secondly, both Serbia and Kosovo will findEU requirements for probity in public institutionsdifficult to achieve. Though the aim of someEuropean powers is clear, the agreement does notaddress Kosovan sovereignty. Five EU countries areamong dozens, including India, which have notrecognised Kosovo, for a range of valid reasons; 99countries, however, have recognised the autonomousregion, which unilaterally declared its independenceon February 17, 2008, to the fury of the then Serbiangovernment. The underlying and too often unstated

problem is that the carrot of EU membership mayitself be part of a wider western strategy to force theeventual de jure secession of Kosovo. Thedismemberment of the former Yugoslavia once oneof the worlds most vibrant multi-ethnic states is

proof that the pursuit of ethnic chauvinism invariablyrebounds on the chauvinists.

EXPERTGROUPCALLSFORMONITORINGCHINASRUN-OF-THE-RIVERPROJECTS

The Inter-Ministerial Expert Group (IMEG) onthe Brahmaputra has said China is carrying out aseries of cascading Run-of-the-River (ROR) projectsin the middle reaches of the river and the same may

be replicated in the Great Bend Area as a viablealternative to a single mega project, and called forfurther monitoring.

The IMEG is of the opinion that Jiacha couldbe the next power project on the mainstream of theBrahmaputra. It may be followed by projects at

Lengda, Zhongda, Langzhen, where dam-relatedperipheral infrastructural activity, including four newbridges, has gathered speed.

The ninth report of the IMEG, submitted to theCommittee of Secretaries (COS) in February,expressed apprehension that Dagu and Jiexu, whichare also in the main course of the Brahmaputra, maysee considerable development activity in future. Itsaid such activity was discerned at Nangxian, as wellas upgrade of the Bome-Medog Road that passesthrough the Great Bend Area.

The report noted that the Five-Year Planmentions the establishment of hydro-power bases in

the middle stream of the river to strengthenexploration and development of domestic resources.However, it said there was no information about anychange in Chinas position vis--vis the Brahmaputraover the proposed South-North Water DiversionProject. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had raisedthe dams construction issue, during his first meetingwith the new President Xi Jinping in Durban lastmonth on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.

The three dams Jiexu, Zangmu and Jiacha are within 25 km of each other and are 550 km fromthe Indian border. The one at Jiexu has beenindependently confirmed to be an ROR project,

which will not impound water in a large reservoir.The IMEG said the activities at Jiexu, Dagu,Lengda, Zhongda, Langzhen and Nangxian may betaken up with China at the appropriate level. Asdecided in the earlier IMEG report, the area on the


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other side of the basin, including Tongia, Changxu,Qilong, Xierga and Renda, would be monitored once

the Chinese side finished the work on the middleroute of the South-North Diversion Project, it said.

The report took note of the view of the WaterResources Ministry, which said that it was necessaryto explore and study options to resort to the

provisions of the existing environmental treaties andconventions.

It said Indian agencies have identified andreported a total of 39 projects/sites on theBrahmaputra and its tributaries for construction ofreservoirs/power projects, showing an increase ofthree sites over 36 sites reported in the previousIMEG report. However, these projects are mainly ROR

projects, catering to electr icity or ir ri gationa lrequirement.

VIVEKANANDASLEGACYOFUNIVERSALISMA variety of activities is in the offing to

commemorate Swami Vivekanandas immensecontribution to the making of India as a nation. Theoccasion: the 150th birth anniversary of Swamiji.Seminars, workshops, publications and such othermeans to perpetuate his memory and assess thesignificance of his contribution form part of thecelebrations. Strangely, at the forefront of thiscelebration are the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghand its front organisations. Strange because

Vivekananda hardly had anything in common with thesangh parivar, except being Hindu by birth.

Devoted Hindu, not Communal

The ideology of the sangh parivar is rooted inreligious hatred and Swamiji stood for socialharmony and inter-faith dialogue. There can be nomeeting point between these two. Yet, the Hindufundamentalists trace their lineage to the neo-Hindumovement of which Vivekananda was the centralfigure. None of his observations on Hinduism, unlesstaken out of context, seems to give credence to the

proposition that he had a communal outlook. He wasa devoted Hindu, passionately involved in bringing

about cultural and spiritual welfare of the people. Heindeed realised that changes were necessary but hewas unhappy about the course the reformmovements had followed. He decried the primacyascribed to caste in concepts and practices of social

reform movement. Any attempt to find a solution, hebelieved, was a difficult task, because religion had

become rigid and inflexible, on the one hand, andobscurantist and superstitious, on the other.

It is only in the light of early reform movements their success, failures and limitations thatVivekanandas quest for a resurgent India could beassessed. By the end of the century, almost all earlymovements had lost much of their vigour andfollowing. The decline in the reform atmosphere

paved the way for the emer gence of a power fulspiritual leader. This void was filled by Swamiji, byinitiating a movement, based on individual worship in

place of collective congregational worship whichRam Mohan Roy and his contemporaries had

favoured. The organised religious reform movementwas an anathema to him, although he himself startedone, though of a different order, which was based oncompassion, social service and humanitarianism.

Vivekanandas plan of action was not limited tothe religious realm. He was equally sensitive to socialand economic issues. In other words, Hindus shouldstrive towards a total transformation and inclusivegrowth. Caste is omnipotent in Indian society but hediscarded it without any hesitation. He had observedthe working of the Brahmo Samaj and that experienceseems to have coloured his general attitude to allreform movements. By the time Vivekananda came onthe scene, except in a few pockets like Kerala andPunjab, reformation had lost its vitality. He believedthat reform had already run its course. By the lastquarter of the 19th century, the religious movementshad almost vanished, even if popular religion was onthe ascendant. To the Indian middle class whichformed the social base of these movements, he hadchoicest epithets: cursed by the wheels ofdivisions, superstitious, without an iota of charity,hypocritical, atheistic cowards, etc.

This is not to argue that Vivekananda did notrecognise the importance of the contributions of themiddle class in creating an atmosphere of reform.Instead, he took great pride in what the Brahmo

Samaj had already accomplished in the social andreligious life of people. Spirituality alone was not theonly concern of Vivekananda. He spent a major partof his life travelling, which undoubtedly influencedhis world view. He was particularly sensitive about


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povert y and th e in human ca ste pr acti ces. Heprophesied that, one day, the Shudra would rule. Thestark reality of caste oppression in Kerala made alasting impression on his mind.

The process of Indian reformation had threefacets. The first was a liberal modernising phase inwhich reformers like Ram Mohan Roy attempted tochange some of the traditional practices. The secondwas a rejection of all that was alien to society, and anattempt at indigenous mode of modernisation. Thethird was to build an alternative model of modernitywhich would embrace the traditional and the modern.The path chosen by Vivekananda was the third. Thefirst group was that of the reformers for whom he hadundisguised contempt, dismissing them as babu

reformers. The conservatives and traditionalistsformed the second group. The members of this groupwere mired in superstitions and ritualism. Swamijismethod of reform was not merely advocacy of reform,

but also through constructive social work.The central idea in the life and teaching of

Vivekananda was religious universalism. In the eyesof those who believed in universalism, there was nodifference between the followers of different religions.All religions are universal equal and true.Vivekananda, however, argued that in Hinduism,universalism found ideal articulation. And was hencea leader in spiritual matters. Equally important was hisnotion of social service for which he set up theRamakrishna Mission. The mission gave an entirelynew ambience to reform.

The popular and academic perceptions ofVivekanandas role are highly influenced by hisfamous speech at the World Congress of Religionsand the religious discourses he delivered during theextensive tours he undertook in India. In his highlyapplauded speech at the Congress, he tried tohighlight the universalism inherent in all religions andthen to demonstrate that it was best exemplified inHinduism. Such a position was derived from his

belief in Vedanta which, he argued, transcended thelimits of any particular religion or cultural tradition.

Truth, alone is my god; the entire world is mycountry, maintained Vivekananda. Thus he tried toreconcile his understanding of universalism with theHindu philosophical system. His perhaps was themost creative understanding of universalism. Because

he argued that all religions were universal and thatthere was no superiority of one over the other. Hesaid every religion is an expression, a language toexpress the same truth, and we must speak to eachother in his own language.

KEEPTHEGREENTAXThe Centre would be sending out a message

totally incongruous with national developmentobjectives, if it buckles under lobbying pressure andwithdraws the three per cent excise duty hike onSports Utility Vehicles introduced in the Union

budget. SUVs are not the common mans utilitariancars and the increase in duty covers only the moreluxurious vehicles that are, at least in the Indian

context, mere Veblen goods. The world over, SUVs donot win plaudits for fuel efficiency, and a muscularbigger is better cult has grown around thesevehicles.

These large and heavy space-hogs have a badaccident profile when it comes to pedestrians.Pleading the case of wealthy SUV buyers who wantto avoid paying a small extra premium that will fundsocial sector investments is plainly indefensible. In a

populous country with scarce resources, even thechoice of an SUV for mobility is unsocial, as MinisterJairam Ramesh observed a couple of years ago, whenhe was in charge of the Environment Ministry.

Moreover, allowing SUVs to access unlimitedsubsidised diesel when public buses are asked to paybulk pr ices adds to th e in iqui ty prevail in g intransport. Given all this, it is surprising that Ministerfor Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises PrafulPatel has sought withdrawal of the hike in subsidy onthese vehicles using the fig leaf of falling automotivesales.

The emergence of motor car and motorisedtwo-wheeler sales as prime drivers of growth in theautomotive sector is incompatible with the need forsustainable mobility. If people must be able to travelquickly in urban centres and in rural areas, the

backbone must be mass transport. Acknowledging

the falling share of public transport and non-motorised modes in cities, the Planning CommissionsExpert Group on Low Carbon Strategies for InclusiveGrowth headed by Kirit Parikh said in its interimreport that fuel efficiency must be promoted through


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labelling of vehicles, defining minimum efficiencystandards and incentivising bus operations in cities

through capital subsidy and fuel dutyreimbursements.

This is the obvious way to go, but none of thisseems to be on the priority list of policymakers.Extraordinarily, they are targeting the SUV duty hikeon the ground that there is no separate classificationfor such vehicles under the Motor Vehicles Act,ignoring the rules on vehicle length and enginecapacity already available. If Mr. Patel and others likehim indeed want to help villagers who need bettermobility, he should be asking for concessions for the

bus industr y. That can lead to robust, low costvehicles to serve thousands. After all, the commercial

vehicle industry is in an even more difficult situationthan the passenger car sector.

FENCING INTHERBIThe final report of the Financial Sector

Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC), which wasgiven a wide mandate to draw a blueprint for newfinancial regulatory architecture, has evoked strongresponses. While some have called it a potentialgame changer, others find its recommendations out oftouch with Indian reality. The FSLRC had to grapplewith several dissenting views even among itsmembers.

Besides, any radical overhaul of existing

regulatory infrastructure will naturally take time. Themost discussed proposal is the one to set up a newregulatory entity, the Unified Financial RegulatoryAgency (UFRA), to be solely responsible for theoversight of the securities market, insurance,

pensions and commodities, in effect taking over thefunctions of existing regulators including theSecurities and Exchange Board of India, theInsurance Regulatory and Development Authorityand the Pension Fund Regulatory and DevelopmentAuthority.

That would result in the financial sector havingjust two main regulators, the Reserve Bank of India

and the proposed UFRA. Both are expected tocoordinate their activities, preferably through anMOU. If that is not new after all, regulators haveto work in unison for better results therecommendation that the principal regulators should

be board driven and not follow the top downapproach that they are used to has caused someconsternation.

A key recommendation to set up a monetarypoli cy committee which, ra th er th an the RBIGovernor, will decide on policy rates is arguably themost controversial proposal. This is seen as a not sosubtle attempt to clip the wings of the RBI, also

because of the related move to confer powers on thegovernment to appoint members of the committee.However, the RBI Governor will have veto powers oninterest rates under certain circumstances and aftermaking out a case in writing. The bias towardsgovernment is even more obvious in therecommendation to appoint the Finance Minister as

head of the Financial Stability and DevelopmentCouncil. The RBI has for long resisted encroachmenton what it rightly considers to be its jurisdiction.There is no denying that the FSLRC would like tovest greater accountability with the government thanwith regulators. In its opinion, a major overhaul ofIndias regulatory system for the financial sector isdue and best done on the lines suggested by it. Butthere is bound to be serious disagreement over thevalidity of a key assumption the report makes onIndias financial sector. Surely systemic failures aredue more to excessive financialisation of marketsthan to failures of regulation, as assumed by the

Commission. 2014 UBER ANDTHOMASCUPFINALSININDIA

In a historic first, the World team badmintonchampionship, for the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup,will be held here from May 18 to 25, 2014.

The Badminton World Federation (BWF)formally entrusted the hosting of the prestigiouschampionship to the Badminton Association of India(BAI), following the signing of an agreement betweenthe two bodies on Friday. Siri Fort Indoor Complex will

be the venue for the event, to contested every two

years, to decide the worlds strongest mens andwomens teams.India hosted the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup

preliminary stage matches in 1988, 2000 and 2006. Itwill be a big opportunity for BAI to showcase its


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organising skills following the successful hosting ofthe 2009 World championship in Hyderabad and theannual India Open, a Super Series event on the BWFcalendar, since 2011.

Following the signing of the agreement, BWFdeputy president Paisan Rangsikitpoh was confidentof Indias capability to host the event.

HEAVIESTROCKETLAUNCH IN2014: ISROIndias heaviest rocket ever is expected to take

to the sky next January on an experimental flightwhose later versions could be used to send humanson space missions. The mainstay of theGeosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III(GSLV-Mk III) would be to put in orbit communication

satellites weighing between four and five tonnes,thus packing more transponders per launch.

We are targeting an experimental flight ofGSLV-Mk III in January 2014, Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan toldreporters after a public lecture at the Indian NationalScience Academy (INSA) here.

This will also be a first time that ISRO scientistswould undertake an experimental flight of a launchvehicle which would fall into the sea after reaching aheight of 120 km. We have been simulating the flightusing computers. But there are certain tests thatcannot be carried out on the ground. We will test the

rocket in a cost effective manner, GSLV-Mk IIIsproject director S. Somnath said.He said ISRO engineers have planned to take

some 2,000 measurements during the experimentalflight of the GSLV-Mk III, which would weigh 640tonnes at lift-off, making it the heaviest rocket builtin the country.

All the 2000 measurements during the flightwould be telemetred down to the ground station. Wewill analyse them. This will enable us to have fullknowledge of the flight, Somnath said. The newrocket, which can put a four tonne satellite in orbit,will help Antrix Corporation, ISROs commercial arm,to offer cheapest space launches in the niche market.

The R&D mythThe night before the apex court verdict,

Novartis threatened to stop investing in research anddevelopment in India, if the verdict went against it.

How serious is the threat and how realistic thescenario? In Indias drug production of over Rs.100,000 crore, Novartis turnover is a little over Rs.1,000 crore, constituting around one per cent. Out ofthe total expenditure of over Rs. 800 crores incurred

by Novartis India in 2012, a paltry Rs. 29 lakhs wasfor R&D, constituting roughly 0.03 per cent of itsentire expenditure in India. Can such low spendingcan be considered R&D investment? In fact, NovartisR&D expenditure in India for the past five years has

been in a similar range. On the other hand, Novartisconsistently posted a profitability ratio (Profit AfterTax as percentage of Total Income) of over 15 percent in the last five years, something to envy forother sectors.

Big Pharma argues that if global R&D ofinnovator companies were to be considered,transnational drug corporations spend over US $ one

billion to come up with a new drug. This includescost of R&D incurred on failed drugs as well, as

pharmaceutical companies take, on an aver age,roughly 12-13 years to get patents on new drugs. Themagic one billion dollar figure is a gross overestimate.Even by conservative calculations, this figure would

be one-fifth or one-four th of the bil lion dol larestimate. But Big Pharma is quick to recoup its R&Dspending from blockbuster drugs. Take the case ofGleevec (Imatinib Mesylate), sold in the US. Novartisraked in a total turnover of US $ 1.69 billion from theUS alone in 2012 from the drug. The global turnoveron Gleevec is anybodys guess. It is also widelyknown that the cost of manufacturing drugs is onlya fraction of the turnover.

Novartis currently sells Glivec (Gleevec) for Rs.4,115 per tablet, while Resonance, an Indian genericdrug company dispenses it at Rs. 30 per tablet. Theannual cost of treatment per patient on Glivec would

be in the range of Rs. 15 lakhs while Indian genericcompanies are offering it at Rs. 10,000. If Novartiswere to get its patent on Glivec, Indian genericcompanies would have to stop their production, andtherefore an unaffordable scenario would have

prevailed for the common man in not only India butin other developing countries. Thankfully, the courtruled in favour of Section 3 (d) of the Patent Act.

Novar tis claims that 95 per cent of cancerpatients in India were provided the medicine free. This


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is patent untruth. Retail market sales in India forGlivec, sold by Indian generics producers arecurrently worth Rs. 20 crores. Novartis sells Glivecdirectly to patients and not through the usual retailchain, a system that is designed to make people

believe that they offer the drug free.

TIMETOREVISITTHEVIENNACONVENTIONThe Italian Ambassadors matter before the

Supreme Court is over but problems with the ViennaConvention will not go away. This is because the pastthree decades have witnessed an increasing effort onthe part of western countries to unilaterally introducechanges in the application of the Vienna Conventionof Diplomatic Relations to the detriment of diplomats

of developing countries. They say that thisaggressive approach is in keeping with newstandards of humanitarian and labour laws. However,its selective, self-serving and at times unscrupulousapplication belies these tall claims. These countriesare also taking care to ensure that the functioning or

personal situations of diplomats working in theirembassies are not impaired while considerabledifficulties are experienced by those of developingcountries.

Some years ago the domestic help who hadaccompanied a senior Indian diplomat to his post ina Western country sued him for maltreatment in a

local court. Along with the diplomat, the Indiangovernment was also sued. The country concernedtook the position that its courts had jurisdiction as itwas a civil law matter.

As the case was going on, authenticdocumentary evidence emerged that established theinvolvement of the officials of the host country in avirtual conspiracy to instigate the domestic help toleave his employer. They had also createdcircumstances that had enabled him to take legalaction. Under sustained pressure from South Block,the country cleared up the matter within its ownsystem, including its courts, but requested the Indianauthorities that the issue be kept confidential. Thatrequest was accepted for diplomats prefer to deal withall matters relating to privileges, immunities and

protocol discreetly, outside the public gaze. Theyespecially try to avoid entanglements with the courts.

That is one reason why the Italian Ambassadorsaffidavit to the Supreme Court was, per se, soextraordinary.

CENTREDECONTROLSSUGARINDUSTRYIn a major decision, the Centre on Thursday

unshackled the Rs. 80,000 crore sugar industry byabolishing the monthly release mechanism andabolishing the obligation on mills to supply levysugar for subsidised distribution under the PublicDistribution System, allowing market forces to comeinto play.

The decision, in line with the suggestions of apanel headed by C. Rangarajan, the chairman of PrimeMinisters Economic Advisory Council, was cleared

by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairschaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, theMinister of State for Food K.V. Thomas told

journalists.Claiming that the decision to decontrol the

industry will not impact sugar prices, Mr. Thomas saidthere was enough sugar in the country. The

production last year was 26.5 million tonnes. Thisyear, about more than 24.5 million tonnes is expectedas against a requirement of 22.2 million tonnes. Therewas a huge burden on the government to see thatfarmers and consumers interests are protected andwe have managed to balance that, Mr. Thomas said.The Centre will continue to provide sugar to the poor

under the Public Distribution System (PDS) at thecurrent issue price of Rs. 13.50 per kg. For this, theStates will be free to purchase through a transparentsystem at the current ex-factory price of Rs. 32 per kgwhich has been capped for two years. The difference

between the purchase price and the issue price will beborne by the government.

The subsidy on this score which will doublefrom the current level of Rs. 2,600 crore to Rs. 5,300crore will be borne by the Centre, Mr. Thomas said.Indias internal requirement per year is estimated at220 lakh tonnes. Of this, the PDS requirement at therate of 400 to 800 grams per person, is estimated

between 17 to 20 lakh tonnes per annum.The regulated release mechanism, wherein the

government fixed the sale quota for each mill everymonth, will be dispensed with immediately.


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U.N. PASSESHISTORICARMSTRADETREATY

The U.N. made history on Tuesday when itpassed an unprecedented arms trade treaty (ATT) tobetter regulate the international sale in weapons.

It was passed in the General Assembly with 154members voting Yes; three Iran, Syria and NorthKorea voting no; and 23, including India,abstaining. The treatys passage came afternegotiations failed last July when the U.S. pulled outabruptly.Its adoption implies a major step forward incontrolling the $70-billion flow of arms across

borders, particularly restricting its movement to andfrom areas where groups are suspected of violationof human rights.

In addition to India, the nations that abstainedincluded China, Egypt, Myanmar, Russia, SaudiArabia and Sri Lanka. Pakistan voted in favour of thetreaty though its representative expressed concernsover the imbalance in obligations between armsexporters and importers.

EXPATRIATEWORRIESSaudi Arabias decision to enforce the

provisions of its Nitaqat labour law has raisedconcerns not only in India, but also in the rest of thesubcontinent. The law specifies that one out of 10employees in every business establishment should

be a Saud i nati on al . Th e fa ll out in terms of

displacement could affect many among an estimatedthree lakh low- and semi-skilled workers from India.More specifically, almost a fourth of all Keralites whowork in the Gulf countries are in Saudi Arabia. Thekingdoms drive to expand job avenues for its ownnationals by means of the localisation initiative that had actually come into effect in November 2012

is unexceptionable in itself. It is also clear thatthose expatriate workers who are in Saudi Arabiathrough legally compliant processes have nothingmuch to fear from the latest crackdown. The issuethen boils down to the need to curb the activities ofunscrupulous recruiting agents who prey on the

anxieties of unskilled or semi-skilled emigrants whosomehow want to get to the Gulf region in search ofwork. In spite of awareness drives initiated by theMinistry of Overseas Indian Affairs, illegal andirregular migration continues. This has to end. Kerala

has now sought diplomatic intervention to obtainassurances from Saudi Arabia of a six-month amnestyfor the affected expatriates. It has also requested thatthose who are returned are not sent through thedeportation route, that would result in an entry ban

being imposed on them by other Gulf countries.These appear to be reasonable suggestions. TheState government claims to have extracted a promisefrom the Central government to bear the cost of travelof migrants returning from Saudi Arabia.

Any impression that the Saudi Arabian moveis meant to target Indian workers specifically may beoff the mark and unfair. Among the countries of theregion, Saudi Arabia is the biggest employer offoreign workers in terms of absolute numbers. These

numbers are accounted for by the big three labourexporters of South Asia: India, Pakistan an dBangladesh. For the latter two, Saudi Arabia is the

biggest market. Sri Lanka is also a player. Reportsthat the enforcement ofNitaqatis part of a largerSaudi strategy of tightening the screws on the SheikhHasina government in Bangladesh for its secular

policies are certainly far-fetched. If Saudi Arabia hasset its mind to cleaning up the emigration scene andachieving a better balance in the profile of its labourforce, that is not a bad thing for the expatriate labourmarket in the Gulf region as a whole. But Riyadhshould soften the blow now.

ISH. PYLORIAFRIENDORFOE?The bacterium He licobacter pyl or ithat

colonises the human stomach is now usually seen asa disease-causing organism. Pioneering r esearchcarried out by Barry J. Marshall and J. Robin Warrenestablished infections by this bacterium as the mostcommon cause of peptic ulcers. Till their path-

breaking work, for which they received the NobelPrize in 2005, it had been believed that stress andlifestyle were responsible for producing such ulcers.Once the role played byH. pyloriwas recognised,eradicating it became the standard of care for ulcerswhere it was implicated. The bacterium was also

found to be a major cause of stomach cancer.However, H. py lori may not simply be a

pathogen that is out to harm its human host.Helicobacterspecies may have been part of

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pr ehuman an ces tors from our earl iest times, remarked Martin Blaser of the New York University

Langone Medical Center in the U.S. Such a long-standing relationship suggests that benefits ofH.

pyloricolonisation exist, he noted in a journal paperpublished in 1998.

The Benefits

Large-scale studies had found that peoplewithout the bacterium were more likely to developasthma, hay fever or skin allergies in childhood, he

pointed out in a commentary, titled Stop the killingof beneficial bacteria, published in the

journalNaturein 2011.And as H. py lori has disappeared from

peoples stomachs, there has been an increase ingastroesophageal reflux, and its attendant problemssuch as Barretts oesophagus and oesophagealcancer. Could the trends be linked?

Moreover, the bacterium does not alwaysproduce disease. Seven out of 10 Indians will haveH.pyloriinfections, observed B.S. Ramakrishna, agastroenterologist at the the SRM Institute ofMedical Sciences in Chennai. But the vast majoritydo not have any symptoms of disease and only asmall proportion develop ulcers. A study carried outon mice suggests that other microbes present in thestomach could play a significant part in theinflammation set off byH. pylori.

MICE STUDYThe research, published in the

journalInfection and Immunity, was motivated bythe observation that identical mouse strains procuredfrom different vendors responded differently wheninfected with the bacterium. Exploring further whatcaused this difference, Annah S. Rolig of theUniversity of California at Santa Cruz and hercolleagues found that mice with high levelsof Clostridiabacteria in their stomach displayed lowinflammation when infected withH. pylori.

Clostridiawere known to prevent inflammation

in the intestine and thus maybe key to dampeningH.pyloripathology, although that remained to bedetermined, said Karen Ottemann, the principalinvestigator of the study, in a press release.

Variations in the microbes of the stomach could

have a dramatic effect onH. pylori -associateddisease, and suggest new avenues for curbingH.

pyloriinflammation-related diseases such as ulcersand gastric cancer, the scientists observed in their

paper. However, studies stil l need to be done inhumans right now, we do not know whether thefindings apply to humans, said Dr. Ottemann in anemail.

NEWLIGHTON DARKMATTERAn international experiment aboard the

International Space Station (ISS) today reported theobservation of an excess of positrons in the cosmicray flux, the source of which could be the elusivedark matter.

This forms the most important part of the firstresults from the experiment, called the AlphaMagnetic Spectrometer (AMS), which were reported

by the experiments spokesperson, Nobel LaureateSamuel Ting of the Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology (MIT) at the meeting of the AmericanAssociation for Advancement of Science (AAAS) atBoston, Massachusetts. The mysterious dark matter,which is believed to account for a quarter of theuniverses mass-energy balance and is distributedisotropically invariant with respect to direction in the space, can be observed indirectly through itsgravitational interaction with visible matter but is yet

to be directly detected.The search for dark matter is one of theobjectives of this space-borne AMS even as it is

bein g acti vely searched for in gr ound -basedexperiments such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)and other experiments in deep undergroundexperiments.

The instrument is basically a giant magnet andan antimatter detector attached to the outside of theISS. It is the most powerful and sensitive particlespectrometer ever deployed in space. It is designedto study the cosmic ray particles, which are chargedhigh-energy particles that permeate space, beforethey have a chance to interact with the Earths

atmosphere.The first AMS results are based on the

analysis of about 25 billion recorded primary cosmicray events. The events were recorded between May19, 2011 and December 10, 2012. Of these, an


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unprecedented 6.8 million were unambiguouslyidentified as electrons and their antimattercounterparts, positrons, observed in the energyrange 0.5 Giga electron-Volt (GeV) to 350 GeV. Ofthese 6.8 million particles, more than 400,000 were

positrons.This is the largest number of energetic

GENEMUTATIONLINKEDTOLEPROSYININDIANS

In a new finding, a mutation in TAP1 gene hasbeen associated with susceptibili ty to leprosy inIndians.

TAP1 gene is one of the several genes thatregulate the immune response and its variations were

earlier implicated in tuberculosis and auto-immunediseases.

While many people get exposedtoMycobacterium leprae, not all develop symptomsfor leprosy. Since variations in some genes werereported to increase the risk, researchers from Indiaand Germany looked at the role of TAP1 (Transporterassociated with antigen processing) gene forsusceptibility to leprosy.

As many as 222 leprosy patients, who werecarriers of few and multiple bacteria of the same strainwere enrolled for the study. The DNA data bank fromCCMB was utilised for another group of 223

ethnically matched control individuals from the samesocio-economic and geographical region.In the paper published recently in Human

Immunology, the authors of the study noted: Ourresults provide genetic evidence that polymorphismin the TAP1 gene influences susceptibility to leprosyin Indian population. According to a scientistinvolved in the study, TAP1 gene mutations werefound to be associated in certain other populationsearlier and this was the first time that its variationswere linked to Indian leprosy patients.

He said that screening would help in caseswith family history of leprosy. Precautionarymeasures could be taken if anybody was found withthis mutation. Explaining how the mutation affectsimmunity, the lead author of the study, Dr. VijayaLakshmi Valluri, Group Leader, Immunology &Molecular Biology Division, Blue Peter Public Health

and Research Centre, Hyderabad, pointed out thatthe bodys immune system responds whenever aforeign protein, bacteria or virus enters the system.

THESILENTWAROVEREDUCATIONREFORMSTwo major reports with overlapping concerns

were submitted to the central government during thelast decade. They were drafted by committeesappointed by two different offices of the samegovernment. One was chaired by Yash Pal, and theother by Sam Pitroda. The titles of the twocommittees indicated both the contours of theirdeliberation as well as areas of potential overlap. Thefirst committee, chaired by Yash Pal, was appointed

by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in

2008, and was called the committee to advise onrejuvenation and renovation of higher education.The second, chaired by Sam Pitroda, was appointed

by the Prime Ministers Office in 2005 and carried themore compact title, the National KnowledgeCommission (NKC).

Both reports talk about expanding theprovision of higher education without sacrificingquality, and as such, a cursory reading wouldsuggest that there is not much difference between theviews articulated by the two groups. In the specificsphere of knowledge, both panels favour imaginativeinterface between areas and disciplines as a means of

promoting creativity.They evince equal amounts of anxiety over the

problems of accreditation and licensing faced byinstitutions that impart professional education. And,on the matter of institutional fragmentation at theapex level, both recommend establishment of anumbrella body capable of subsuming the overlappingfunctions of existing structures. With so manyapparent similarities, it is not surprising that the YashPal report and Sam Pitrodas NKC are routinelyinvoked in the same breath whenever a new policy ordecision comes up for discussion. A carefuldecoding, however, reveals that the two reports are

based on contr ast in g perspecti ves on th e

relationship between knowledge and education, andbetween these and social needs. From the point ofview of the political economy embedded in the tworeports, the visions of reform they endorse areincompatible.


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Skill Deficit

Both reports recognise a crisis in high ereducation, but their diagnosis of the nature of thatcrisis is quite different. While NKC views the narrowgrowth of higher education in the context of skills, itis not quite clear how it relates the current parlanceof skill deficit to higher education. The idea comesacross as an obvious issue or as an assumption:While higher education enrolment has to increasemarkedly, the skill requirement of the growingeconomy means that a large proportion of our labourforce needs to be provided vocational education and

be trained in skills.This skill element has to be integrated with the

higher education system to ensure maximummobility. Confusing as these words are, they conveythe shape of things to come if NKCs vision becomesreality.

The report discusses the paucity of skills in thevast unorganised sector, but shows little interest inthe context in which this paucity has grown. After all,the economy must be in a position or evolve towardsone which provides employment prospects attractiveto skilled personnel.

Knowledge and Skills

The fact that Indian manufacturing hasprovided slow employment growth called jobless

growth during the 1990s or that the IT-enabledsector provides less than 0.5 per cent of totalemployment, indicates that at least two sectorscommonly linked with skills and the so-calledknowledge economy, respectively, are not in a

position to provide massive additional employment,or at least not immediately. No doubt the economymight evolve, and these or other sectors change inways that provide additional employment, but the

push for vocational skills, whether or not at the costof higher education, cannot ignore a detailed plan ofhow industry-training linkages will also besimultaneously developed. This is precisely what

NKC ignores, harnessing the rhetoric of knowledge

with a variety of suffixes while refraining from relatingit to the actual needs of the economy or highereducation.

A relevant analysis of this kind, i.e. focusing onworking conditions, livelihoods, and economic

opportunities, was presented by a commissionchaired by the late Dr. Arjun Sengupta, which dealtwith the crisis of skill deficit in the larger context of

poverty and working conditions. Ignoring Senguptasrecommendations for comprehensive measures, the

NKC opts for merely rebranding vocational educationand training to increase its value and ability tocommand higher incomes. This unusual

phraseology denotes rather transparently what musthappen to the higher education system. NKC isworried about its size and en rolment capacity

because it wants to use it for skill ing. Vocationaleducation will get rebranded by the transformation ofthe bulk of higher education into a skill-impartingapparatus, all unfortunately in the name of the

knowledge economy.

HOUSTON, WEHAVEALITTERPROBLEMThe change in the orientation and orbit of the

17-cm glass-sphere Russian nano-satellite BLITS thatwas noticed in early February was caused by aJanuary 22 collision with a piece of Chinas Feng Yun1C weather satellite; Feng Yun 1C was intentionally

blown up in the 2007 anti-satellite weapon test byChina. That irresponsible act led to an overnightincrease in the amount of space debris: pieces largerthan one centimetre went up by 40,000, and thenumber of fragments larger than one millimetre byabout two million. The number of trackable objectsshot up by 25 per cent. Worse, the break-uphappened at an altitude of about 860 km, which isheavily populated by satellites. Due to the lowdensity of the atmosphere at this altitude, the junkgenerated will pose a threat to satellites for a longtime.

The 2008 American experiment when the USA-193 satellite was destroyed by a missile did not createmuch long-lasting debris. Due to the low altitude (250km) of break-up, most of the fragments weresubjected to air drag and eventually burnt up whenthey re-entered the Earths atmosphere. Aside fromthese two adventures, the majority of man-made litter

larger than 10 cm is from in-orbit explosions. Objectsof this size can generate catastrophic events evena centimetre-long fragment can disable a spacecraft.There are about 600,000 objects in space larger thanone centimetre and about 300 million larger than one


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millimetre. Nearly 5,000 launches have taken place tilldate, and nearly half of the catalogued fragments inspace are from man-made objects. According to theEuropean Space Agency, doubling the number ofobjects in space will result in a four-fold increase incollision risk. As the number of launches keepsrising, the possibility of collisions between twosatellites, and between satellites and fragments

producing more debris is increasing. In 2009, thecollision of Cosmos 2251, a defunct Russian militarysatellite, and the American satellite Iridium resulted in1,700 pieces. As the Kessler syndrome postulates,crashes would first be seen between fragments andlarger objects like satellites and would eventually be

between two fragments. Crashes will continue till the

debris becomes very small. This does not augur wellfor space science. Expensive manoeuvring ofsatellites is currently the only way to avoid crashes.But this is possible only in the case of catalogued

pieces. Hence it is imperative for space-faring nationsto undertake debris-mitigation measures. One of themis to reduce the orbital altitude of dying spacecraftand allow the Earths atmospheric drag to pull theminto the atmosphere. Objects that re-enter theatmosphere break up at 84-72 km altitude and most ofthem get burnt up.

THESILENTWAROVEREDUCATIONREFORMS

Two major reports with overlapping concernswere submitted to the central government during thelast decade. They were drafted by committeesappointed by two different offices of the samegovernment. One was chaired by Yash Pal, and theother by Sam Pitroda. The titles of the twocommittees indicated both the contours of theirdeliberation as well as areas of potential overlap. Thefirst committee, chaired by Yash Pal, was appointed

by the Ministry of Human Resource Development in2008, and was called the committee to advise onrejuvenation and renovation of higher education.The second, chaired by Sam Pitroda, was appointed

by the Prime Ministers Office in 2005 and carried the

more compact title, the National KnowledgeCommission (NKC).

Both reports talk about expanding theprovision of higher education without sacrificingquality, and as such, a cursory reading would

suggest that there is not mu

Mag the Gist July 2013

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