Hide Act

A section by section analysis of the Act passed by the US Congress reveals stipulations that tie India down. Yet the fiction has been purveyed by the government through the media that these provisions have been dropped. The prime minister’s assurances to Parliament may not mean anything. Arun Shourie, Indian Express, 22 December 2006

No Water? Drink Coke!

"We have arrived at the decision to ask both Coke and Pepsi to stop production and distribution of all their products, based on scientific studies which have proved that they are harmful," said Mr. Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan. Chief Minister Achuthanandan also pointed to the four year campaign by the community of Plachimada in Kerala where the community has protested falling water levels and pollution of the groundwater and soil - directly as a result of the Coca-Cola company's bottling operations in the area. - http://www.anitaroddick.com/readmore.php?sid=587, 10 August 2006

Taking Reservations Little Too Far

In a significant development after the tabling of the Sachar report, Muslim MPs, cutting across party lines, today handed over a wishlist of sorts to Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh: IITs and IIMs exclusively for Muslims, 5,000 schools, 2 lakh scholarships and more campuses of the Aligarh Muslim University across the country. - Indian Express, 20 December 2006

Nuclear Co-operation or Compromise

Indian scientists have raised objections on certain points of the Indo-US nuclear deal. They have objected to the clause, which says India can't reprocess nuclear fuel. Questions have also been raised on the clause dealing with the inspection process. Scientists feel this will destroy the secrecy of India's nuclear program. More objections – this time to the clause, which forbids India from testing nuclear weapons, making the safety of existing nuke weapons difficult. - CNN-IBN, 17 December 2006

Sporting Blues

Men's hockey was a disaster waiting to happen as India lost to China and for the first time ever in the games history failed to qualify for the semi-finals and in the process also failed to directly qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The over 350-strong (exact numbers not known) contingent which took part in more than 28 disciplines was reduced to the 'also ran' category at the continent's biggest sporting arena. Display by most of them did not even merit mention in any local paper or TV shows beamed all over the world. - Zee News, 16 December 2006

Indian Cricket Hits Rock Bottom

It did not take long for coach Greg Chappell to slump forward in his chair, hands locked together, supporting the weight of a thousand thoughts. His team was on the verge of its sixth straight defeat, its second series loss in six months, the tricolour lying trampled and limp somewhere on the highway to the World Cup. One block away, South African batting great Barry Richards was reaching for the coffee, shaking his head as former home skipper Kepler Wessels walked in. “No, No,” said Richards to Wessels, who replied with a wry smile. Even they had wanted India to put up a fight at the Centurion. Hoo Haa India? By the end of it all, the Blue Billion had given it their own spin: “Hai Hai India.” Indian Express, 03 December 2006

Think Small

There can be no denying that an industrialisation impetus would involve land acquisition in rural areas, with property becoming prohibitively expensive in cities. But why target prosperous rural regions, where people are not interested in leaving their land for other occupations, when 21 per cent of India, or 68 million hectares, is wasteland? A conflict situation can derail the momentum of an industrial venture and dent the image of industry and government. - Times of India, 05 December 2006

Ministers & Murderers

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not show much reluctance in re-inducting Soren into the union cabinet in late November 2005. Exactly a year later, just as the UPA regime entered the post mid-term comfort zone, Soren has struck again. This time the case is a lot more serious. He is the first minister to have been convicted by a court on charges as grave as kidnapping and the conspiracy to murder. - Indian Express, 1 December 2006

Be Dud Buy Dud

The precision strike capability of the Indian military has taken a hit with the Russian Krasnopol 155-mm terminally guided ammunition turning out to be “defective” during Army test-firing in the Mahajan ranges in Rajasthan. The Krasnopol deal had been cleared by the NDA government during the Kargil war and is under the CBI’s scanner. – Indian Express, 26 November 2006

Human Rights or Human Wrongs

The people of Manipur are on an ongoing struggle against the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) imposed in Manipur since 1958, which equips security forces with unrestricted powers. Manipuri activist poet, Irom Sharmila Chanu who is on an indefinite hunger strike againstpolice firings in Malom district on November 2nd, 2000, which killed 10 innocent and unarmed civilians, has now entered its sixth year. She has been held under arrest repeatedly on charges of “attempted suicide” by the government, and is being forcibly nose-fed. Even as most political parties have favoured repeal of AFSPA from the State, the ruling coalition partners Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India remain ambiguous on the vexed issue. For more go to http://manipurfreedom.org/

You Can Run But You Cannot Hide

"If they have to salvage anything from this tour the Indians will have to start showing some character or this is going to end in a disgrace. It was a gutless showing. I've never seen anything like this before," Shastri said. - PTI, 24 November 2006

Small Favour

Until now, Rs 18 crore has been released for seeds and Rs 50 crore for tools. However, just like the 75% subsidy for cows — as reported in The Indian Express yesterday — both these offers have had little impact on the ground. Instead of 2.5 lakh quintals that was needed, only 1 lakh quintals was supplied through Mahabeej, the state government’s seed marketing unit. Result: it reached only 40% farmers in a quantity just about enough to plant a tiny patch of land in the backyard. - Indian Express, 22 November 2006

All Play & No Work Makes Baburao a MP

Winter session: Day I adjourned after tributes, oath-taking. - Indian Express, 23 November 2006

Mosquitoes & Ministers

Even as the number of people afflicted with dengue in the country touched nearly 3,000, with reports coming in from more states, the health minister, Ramadoss maintained there is no need to panic. - IndianExpress, 06 October 2006

Hypocritical War on Terror

On the one hand Pakistan has been selling terrorists to the US, while on the other, they have categorically refused to hand over any terrorists responsible for Mumbai Blasts in July. But they have agreed to co-operate on everything else. Don't ask me what!!!

Exporting Terrorists

The Amnesty allegations follow the revelation by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in his memoir "In The Line of Fire" that Pakistan had captured 689 al-Qaida terror suspects, and turned over 369 to Washington. "We have earned bounties totaling millions of dollars," Musharraf said, without specifying how much was paid. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam however, rejected the report's allegations that Pakistan illegally detained hundreds of people in exchange for money. - Associated Press, 28 September 2006

Bend it like Musharraf

Pakistani commentator Amir Mir, writing about Musharraf's book in the Frontier Post, has a different take. For him, Musharraf's memoir may seek to paint Pakistan's military ruler in glowing colours, but he shall continue to be seen by Pakistanis as a "self-obsessed and power-hungry man, who would go to any extent to remain in power." - Musharraf's Mein Kampf, The Pioneer, 30 September 2006

IMF: Size Doesn't Matter

Union Finance Minister, P Chidambaram emphasised that the formula for allocating voting and other powers to countries in IMF must reflect the current economic status of various nations and not what it was in 1944 when the IMF was established. The 23 countries together amounted to only 9.4 per cent of the votes despite countries like India, Brazil, Argentina and Egypt being large economies with large population and area. What, he was stressing was that other under-represented countries should also get more voting rights by reducing those of several over-represented industrialised nations, including the United States and several European countries. - PTI, 19 September 2006

Sleeping With The Enemy

In a reminder of the costs the Indo-US nuclear deal is continuing to exact, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has lapped up a long-pressed US proposal, bringing about a tectonic shift in Indian policy on Pakistan — embracing the sponsor of terrorism as a partner in the fight against terror. While Islamabad has stood its ground, making no new pledge nor budging from any stance, India has overnight gone from portraying Pakistan as the source of the problem to accepting it as part of the solution. - U turn on Pakistan, Brahma Chellany, 19 September 2006

Gas Pipeline

After the meeting Singh said that India would rework on the gas pipeline once the report of the experts on the feasibility of the USD 7.4 billion project is available. The issue of security for the pipeline came up during talks between Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs Rajiv Sikri and Safari in view of the unrest in Balochistan through which the pipeline has to pass. - PTI, 19 September 2006