India - the new US lapdog

Does personal integrity extend only to not taking bribes? or does it require the Prime Minister to stand upto power centers that are inimical to the interest of the nation?

Dr Singh has weakened India's position in international fora on more than one occasion. Sharm el-Sheikh is a case in point. Copenhagen was another. The recent shocking resignation of Shyam Saran on Feb 19 seems to point to a similar direction. Mr. Saran, the PM’s special envoy on climate change has been "permitted to demit office" from Mar 14. 

What caused this? An attempt has been made to explain this in terms of protocol. Shivshankar Menon, his junior in the foreign service was elevated to Minister of State level, while he was not. This does not seem to be the whole story. Commenting on this, the Hindu writes:

“Whatever the trigger, Mr. Saran is the second high-profile climate negotiator to exit the stage after crossing swords with the United States. Last December, the Philippines government sacked its chief negotiator, Bernaditas Castro-Muller, in the run-up to the Copenhagen summit, a move civil society groups said was taken to please Washington.”

Within two days of Mr Saran quitting, Mr Dasgupta, one of India's top negotiator on climate change too put in his papers. Mr Dasgupta reportedly said: 

“I find it shocking that (Jairam) Ramesh (Minister of state for environment) has asked US-based Arvind Subramanian to consider various options available to us so that we will have the new formula ready by the time the Bonn round of talks start in May this year. These options are not being discussed by Indian climate change experts, but are being referred to an international group. Is this how foreign policy on such a crucial issue is being addressed?” When asked, however, he refused to say if in his opinion this was being done due to pressure from the United States.   

Clearly, India is giving up its well-grounded negotiating position to take up one that is suitable to the USA and one that will likely impose unjustified conditions on India.

An alternate viewpoint, expressed by MJ Akbar, postulates that the reason lay in the substantive disagreement between the PM and him. Shivshankar Menon was appointed NSA and not Shyam Saran, because the Prime Minister decided that Shivshankar Menon was, intellectually and temperamentally, closer to his line of thinking on Pakistan. MJ writes:

"Dr Singh knows he is taking huge risks. He has deliberately underplayed hard evidence from Indian intelligence that Pak-based, anti-Indian terrorist organisations continue to get active support from the Pak military, and that they are not non-state actors. Pakistan’s Army chief, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has reiterated, in his latest doctrine, that India remains the pre-eminent threat to Pakistan, implicitly justifying the military’s support for the second arm of his country’s response to India, the terrorist network." 

So why is the risk worth taking? It is not for any Indian PM, except if viewed from the eyes of US policy makers. Senator John Kerry has described the resumption of the Indo-Pak dialogue as “critical to the United States”, and suggested that the Indian initiative is an extension of the new India-US relationship. 

So we dutifully troop off to "talk" to Pakistan, though no one knows about what! 

Whatever the view you favour, it appears that India's position vis a vis the US is now similar to that of the British under Blair - that of the lapdog!

Weak leader, weak response

This morning started with another report of an attack on an Indian in Australia. This time, four youngsters attacked a taxi driver from India while travelling in his cab. The Australian response would have been hilarious if it were not so tragic.

The Australians have claimed once again that this was not a "racial" attack - simply "opportunistic". I wonder what that means. I guess the Indian taxi driver gave the white Australian an "opportunity" to attack him since he took them in as passengers, and they were only using that opportunity to beat him and spit at him. Presumably, that is what all civilised passengers in Australian cabs are expected to do if given the "opportunity"! Poor chaps, we should not blame them. Does this remind you of the response to a recent rape case in Goa, where a venerable member of the assembly had accused the victim of "allowing" herself to be victimised?

The next question to ask is - how do the police know that these attacks are NOT racially motivated? Since they claim to have not yet solved any case - or made any arrests, where is this certainty coming from?

I came across a website with an interview with, seemingly, some Indian official. Both, the tone of the questions (suggesting Indian media were blowing up the cases without adequate information), and the Indian officials obsequiousness (suggesting that Australia was a better place than India) almost made me throw up. The only blog comment on the site is telling - the writer commends the Indian government advisory to students - since that would restrict Indian from taking away jobs!
 
The US, meanwhile, has issued a demarche to China - asking for an explanation wrt the hacking attempt on Google! Just goes to tell you how important it is for US to protect commercial interests. For the current Manmohan Singh government, on the other hand, a few Indian lives is not worth protesting over - Will someone please tell  Shashi Tharoor that tweeting on visa issues is not the only job of a junior minister of foreign affairs. Writing out a demarche to Australia may be more workmanlike. But then who ever said that we had a government that wants to work.

Pulling fewer punches

The start of a new year - though only a change of calendar, invariable leads to some amount of introspection and, sometimes, a resolve to make some course corrections for the future. One such resolve I have made of myself in 2010 is to pull fewer punches. Even in the past, I have tried to express my thoughts without trying to be "politcally correct". However, I have evaded a few topics that I thought would be too controversial. Not any longer. My apologies to people who may feel offended. These are my own thoughts and readers can chose not to read them.

The year started with the two stock exchanges engaged in a juvenile competition of "my (timing) is longer than yours". Clearly, the BSE now suffers from the same sense of irresponsibility towards its constituents that used to be the hallmark of  NSE thus far. No one in the administration of either exchange bothered to explain WHY it was necessary to extend market timings. Despite the majority of members of the exchanges being against such a move, the change was introduced.

The exchanges called a meeting of "leading brokers" for "consultation" having already announced their intent. These brokers, predictably, and in contrast to the majority, came out with rhetorical statements in favour of the exchange move - adding one hour will make our markets "International" they said! Privately, people close to these "industry spokesmen" have told me that these spokesmen were themselves not in favour this extension. So why is it necessary to lie in public?

In India, where sycophancy starts from the highest political level, can there be any other expectation. Opposing the views of "the powers" serves no purpose - much better to create regulatory "goodwill". No doubt, this will lead to some quid pro quo at an appropriate time. This in itself is only a small example of "crony capitalism" - once the bane of Japan, then of South Asian economies, and now of the USA. Private gain again dominates general good. However, it is for these "leaders" to ponder on what example they are setting to the youngsters of the country by such blatant falsehood.. But then - they did not get where they are by worrying about such spiffy things! All the best - and look out for yourselves - your "leaders" are doing just that - looking out for themselves!

Aman Ki Asha

The Times of India the Jung Group in Pakistan used the start of 2010 to "come together to develop a stronger Track 2 in the diplomatic and cultural relations between India and Pakistan". My daughter asked me a few days back on why I was not optimistic about this initiative.

First - let me state that a new year wish list for most Indians has to include peace with our neighbour, and I am no exception. That said, one of the problems with growing older (more cynical? or sadly, more realistic)is the development of the "sense of the possible". If peace between India and Pakistan were to be possible by cultural exchanges between the peoples of the two countries, we would perhaps have had peace a few decades ago.

The reality is that the Pak army is the largest economic power in that country, and, finally, all politics is an outcome of economics. For the Pak army to maintain its pre-eminent position in Pakistan, it must have an enemy that rallies its "subjects" - the people of Pakistan. India in currently the only country that can fill this need. Attacks against India are a given - only the timing is in question.

If I seem like a war monger, see this.

A very happy, and peaceful  new year to all.

What is common between Koda and the maoists

Two recent developments - seemingly unrelated - have been hogging the headlines.

The former Chief Minister of Jharkhand is being investigated for amassing wealth beyond known means. Apparently, this money was earned through handing out mining rights. The interesting question to ask is - since mining has not started in most places, how was the money made - clearly, through the "sale" of the mining rights. Who paid? Surely those that benefited most - those who received these rights! Is it not strange that none of these companies are being investigated? Now you know why Indian Steel companies claim to be among the lowest-cost producers of steel in the world.

Almost simultaneously, the Central Government has started an aggressive campaign against the maoists. Maoist activity is undoubtedly a big problem in India - and has been for several decades. So why the thrust NOW? Has it anything to do with the fact that corporate India's new mines are in maoist infested areas? There was need to make these areas safe for mining. Hence the appointment of the redoubtable Mr. Chidambaram (formerly a director on the Board of Sterlite - one of the largest resources companies in India) as Home Minister, and the drive against Maoists under his leadership.

India's problem now wears corporate hues.

Aspartame

We have been working on a report about a company that markets a variant of Aspartame. In the process, I came across a series of articles on how Aspartame was approved by the US FDA. Here is one such. Don Rumsfield seems to have more than the blood of Afghans and Iraqis on his hand. Also, a gentle reminder that when it comes to corruption, Indians are not an exception, we follow the rest !

Read more here.  Corporates have their own agenda - look at the support the horrible Nuclear policy has generated in India - and often the agenda is inimical to the interest of the country.

A similar case is what is happening with Madhu Koda... read the next post.

Cell size and scale - awesome

Genetics and Size - click HERE