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EDITORIAL Surrender of 12 dreaded militants in Surankot augurs well for ongoing counter-insurgency operations as also the wretched State and its people. In strict military terminology when 12 heavily armed and ruggadised ultras say good-bye to arms it is tantamount to killing many birds with one stone. First, at least a dozen hardened militants are 'out of action'. To that extent presence of the Pak supported ultras in the area gets attentuated. Second, it helps the hapless people of the area who have been the major victims of indignities and humilia ...more Pak military ruler Gen Musharraf has tried to reassure America and others that nuclear weapons are safe and secure in Pakistan. According to him there is no likelihood or even remote possibility of their falling in the hands of religious fanatics or Islamic militants. According to reliable estimates gathered by Central Intelligence Agency of ...more |
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The deadly indoor air The US tilt towards India Indo-Russian front By V D Chopra Water on mars? |
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EDITORIAL Surrender of 12 dreaded militants in Surankot augurs well for ongoing counter-insurgency operations as also the wretched State and its people. In strict military terminology when 12 heavily armed and ruggadised ultras say good-bye to arms it is tantamount to killing many birds with one stone. First, at least a dozen hardened militants are 'out of action'. To that extent presence of the Pak supported ultras in the area gets attentuated. Second, it helps the hapless people of the area who have been the major victims of indignities and humiliations galore at the hands of mercenaries and local militants. They have been subjected to tortuous treat in terms rapes, abductions, extortions and all the abuses that can possibly be inflicted. Third, it has the most demoralising effect on the enemy camp in as much as they have not only lost their local supporters, informers and guides but also face their own extinction before long. It is so because surrendered militants know all about them, their hideouts, conduits and numbers. Each of the surrendered local militant thus has the capability to neutralise at least ten more if properly guided and tamed. Consequently, the left-overs could be changing their hideouts or even going back to Pakistan. Lastly, it is indeed an achievement for the State police and the army who have worked jointly to motivate and facilitate the surrender. It shows how effective joint-action can be. There is the expectation that many more are likely to surrender soon. Necessary spadework for the same is in progress. The modus operandi adopted by the security forces is multi-fold involving families of the identified militants, putting pressure with counter-insurgency operations, sealing routes of their possible escape from the cordon. Above all, it is the message conveyed by the security forces very convincingly that death awaits them as security forces are maintaining relentless pressure to snatch all vital initiatives in Rajouri/Poonch sector in particular. So a clear choice is given to them to surrender honourably and get rehabilitated gainfully in the national mainstream or face the unceremonious end. This message is being repeated by the day by inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. The daily score rate proves determination of the security forces to eliminate militants of all hues at the earliest so that people can heave a sigh of relief and live peacefully before long. All this is fine and full of expectations. But the million dollar question relates to the very bad experience of the past when surrendered militants were given shabby treatment. In retrospect it is apt to recall that these surrendered militants played pivotal role in the formation of counter-insurgency force. Their achievements cannot be ignored in any military history. They had succeeded in clearing entire north and south Kashmir of the pro-Pak militants either themselves or through authentic inputs to the security forces provided by them. To be precise, it is this role played by them that facilitated exposure of State to Lok Sabha and assembly elections. To that extent their contribution to usher in popular Government should have been recognised adequately. Instead, all out efforts were made to kill them, harass their families and do all possible wrong to them. All this defies logic. It also explains why militants gained upper hand all over again to challenge authority of the State Government. There was definite rehabilitative policy to channelise their experience fruitfully by providing them gainful employment. At one stage State Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah also gave the clarion call to surrender or face sure death. Each surrendered weapon also commanded a prize ranging from one rupee to Rs 8000 depending upon type of surrendered weapon. This drive clicked well in the initial stages but got lost in the din and noise of petty politics, playing to gallery and expediency. In fact, this surrender-drive should have been accelerated by full-throttle rehabilitation exercise. As on date CRPF/BSF have absorbed about 600 surrendered militants. Army has also retained services of many of them on fixed monthly honorarium. But State Governments has been inhibitive in its approach in as much as hardly anyone has been absorbed in the State police or any other Government service. It is this aspect that needs to be addressed constructively and with open mind. Short term political gains must be replaced with utilisation of their services fully. In the current surrender exercise State police has played substantial role. It is just as well that State Government also does its apart of the job as regards rehabilitation exercise, providing security to the surrendered militants as also their families. Since they are sons of the soil a liberal view has to be taken of their activities as militants. Now that they have realised the futility of so-called jehad sponsored by Pakistan and are not prepared to play second fiddle to the mercenaries let loose in the State, it is time that State Government fully exploits the potential of these wronged youths who somehow got swayed to the enemy camp. Lastly, it must be borne in mind that surrender exercise is part and parcel of counter-insurgency operations. Call it psychological warfare with vast propaganda value as well. To that extent surrender calls and necessary motivations thereof should as well begin to emanate from political hierarchy of the State Government like it happened in the initial stages of popular Government. Pak military ruler Gen Musharraf has tried to reassure America and others that nuclear weapons are safe and secure in Pakistan. According to him there is no likelihood or even remote possibility of their falling in the hands of religious fanatics or Islamic militants. According to reliable estimates gathered by Central Intelligence Agency of America (CIA) Pakistan has between 25 to 30 nuclear weapons ready for delivery whenever required. Pak General has many a time told that their prized nuclear possessions can target any Indian city. Musharraf now says that Pakistan could use these weapons whenever its security is in jeopardy. At no stage he makes the commitment of 'No-first-use' as declared by India. This means all options are open for first use. It is nice of him to be a gentleman on this score at least. It puts Indian strategists on guard and provide them enough of motivation and incentive to go for massive preparations and retaliatory action whenever there is a nuclear strike. That is no problem because India has the depth to absorb first strike leaving enough of room to annihilate Pakistan to wipe off its name from the world map. This has been the response of Prime Minister as also Defence Minister in the face of repeated nuclear blackmail attempts made by Musharraf and his predecessor. The real aspect relates to falling these weapons in the hands of religious fanatics and Islamic militants who have been provided enough of green pastures in Pakistan for fast breeding. Musharraf himself is a slave in their hands as manifested by his abject surrender to the whims and fancies of the fundamentalists. Even within his own army many Generals and senior officers are more close to Islamic fundamentalist outfits than to General Musharraf. Pakistan could as well supply sell these weapons to S. Arabia, Iran, Libya or even Osama Bin Laden for a hefty price. This aspect poses more danger to American and western interests than to India. It is here that Uncle has to put its act together fast enough. Musharraf's word is no solace in as much as Pak's own nuclear weaponisation programme has been through stealth and clandestine acquisitions or through direct transfer from China/North Korea. To that extent Pakistan is free to do the same, more so because it is not signatory to NPT or MTCR treaties. Further, Pakistan's economic bankruptcy could motivate sale/transfer of nuclear weapons/technologies. |
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The deadly
indoor air One billion people, mostly women and children, are regularly exposed to levels of indoor air pollution exceeding WHO guidelines by up to 100 times. As per a rough estimate a pollutant released indoors is 1000 times more likely to reach people's lungs than a pollutant released outdoors. An estimated three million people die annually - 2.8 million from exposure to indoor air pollutants and 0.2 million from outdoor air pollutants. In India, half a million children die annually from indoor air pollution. Indoor air exposure to suspended particulate matter increases the risk of acute respiratory infections, one of the leading causes of infant and child mortality in developing countries. Air pollution, both indoor and outdoor, causes respiratory diseases, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease and cancer of the lung. If one thinks one is free from pollution when indoors, one is sadly mistaken. Our homes, both in urban and rural areas, are storehouses of indoor air pollutants. Also, if one thinks that the country air is clean and free from pollution, one harbours a great misunderstanding. For, homes of the poor in developing countries are dangerous and unhealthy places. As per a rough estimate, a pollutant released indoors is 1000 times more likely to reach people's lungs than a pollutant released outdoors. And, some 2000 million people the world over do their cooking and heating with solid fuels like wood, dung, coal, crop residues etc which produce a number of pollutants, many of which may cause cancer. Secondly, coal burning for heating and cooking in developing countries results in indoor particulate concentrations of a level that is much higher even than ambient concentrations in polluted cities in Asia. Those spend most of their time indoors run greater risk of contracting respiratory infections. In urban areas, damp housing, poor ventilation, domestic mites in bedding, carpets and stuffed furniture, furry pets like dogs or cats, cockroaches, dust gases, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and exposure to chemical irritants in the workplace produce indoor air pollution which causes respiratory infection leading to asthma. The quality of air, both indoors and outdoors, in developed and developing countries has gone down to such an extent that the World Health Organisation (WHO) conducted a strategy meeting on Air Quality an Health in Geneva in the second weak of September 2000 to address the alarming situation. Some startling statistics were quoted at the WHO meeting. It was revealed that nearly one billion people, mostly women and children, are regularly exposed to levels of indoor air pollution exceeding WHO guidelines by up to 100 times. In India, where 80 per cent of households use solid fuel, there are estimates that half a million children die annually from indoor air pollution, especially from acute respiratory infections. In sub-Saharan Africa, roughly the equal number of children die. In Latin American countries, where one quarter of households use solid fuels, an estimated 30,000 people die annually from acute respiratory infections attributable to indoor air quality Particulate matter is one of the air pollutants that remains present everywhere without knowing the boundaries of indoors or outdoors, urban or rural areas and the developed or developing countries. It has exploded the myth that country air is clean. In fact, nearly three-fifths of the total global exposure to particulate matter occurs in the rural areas of developing countries. It is responsible for three million deaths a year worldwide. Many studies consistently show the direct link between mortality rates and daily ambient concentrations of suspended particulate matter that have diameters below 10 gm. Life expectancy can be reduced significantly in communities with high levels of particulate matter. Indoor air exposure to suspended particulate matter increases the risk of acute respiratory infections, one of the leading causes of infant and child mortality in developing countries. In Asia, such exposure accounts for between half and one million excess deaths every year. In sub-Saharan Africa the estimate is 300,000 - 500,000 excess deaths. A WHO study confirms that indoor air pollution affects the workforce. It is the prime cause in as many as 50 million cases of occupational respiratory disease each year - a third of all occupational illnesses. These are widespared, debilitating and affect people in their social and economic prime of life. They are preventable with a minimum of resources. A WHO fact sheet clearly states that the strongest risk factor for developing asthma are exposure, especially in infancy, to indoor allergens such as domestic mites in bedding, carpets and stuffed furniture, cats and cockroaches. Urbanisation appears to be correlated with an increase in asthma. The nature of risk is unclear because studies have not taken into account indoor allergens although these have been identified as significant risk factors. Experts are trying hard to know why rates worldwide are on an average, rising by 50 per cent every decade. At present, between 100 and 150 million people the world over suffer from asthma and this number is rising. Over 180,000 people in the world die annually. Country-wise break-up is : Developed countries - about 8 per cent of the Swiss population is asthmatic, 4 million in Germany, in Western Europe as a whole the number has doubled in ten years. In the United States the number has gone up by 60 per cent since the early 1980s and deaths have doubled to 5,000 a year, about 3 million in Japan, in Australia one child in six under the age of 16. Developing countries - India has about 15-20 million including 5-11 year old children between 10 and 15 per cent, in Western Pacific Region of WHO - over 50 per cent among children in the Caroline Islands and virtually zero in Papua New Guinea, and in Brazil, Costa Rice, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Kenya from 20 to 30 per cent. The disease is incurable. But 95 per cent of asthma is controllable. Economic burden of asthma is very substantial indeed. In 1998, the cost of asthma care was estimated to be US $11.3 billion in the United States. At present Britain spends about US $1.8 billion and Australia spends about US $640 million. There is good evidence that economic burden is decreased by proper management. In Finland, between 1981 and 1996, the number of asthmatics increased three-fold. But the number of deaths and hospital days decreased by 75 per cent. Costs are going down while the prevalence is going up. Indoor air pollution is certainly enemy number one of the mankind as it causes asthma. But Dr Nikolai Khaltaev, WHO Asthma Project manager, says: "Regular management of asthma is cost-effective including certain preventable measures. People save money by not smoking, by not having carpets or pets like dogs or cats at home. The seeds of allergy leading to asthma are sown in very early in life. Remember, asthma is continuing, not episodic, problem". Now, it is for the 191 Member States of WHO to realise the reality and act accordingly. INAV |
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Indo-Russian front on global terrorism-I By V D Chopra Russian President Vladimir V. Putin's visit to India, the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership, he signed with Prime Minister A B Vajpayee on October 3 and a series of agreements clinched during the visit clearly bring out that a new edifice of relationship between the countries has been built. This in itself is a historic development after the end of the cold war and disintegration of the Soviet Union. This event will have a far-reaching impact on the international situation, because it presents a new model of bilateral relations between the biggest democracy of the world and one of the most powerful nations, i.e., Russia, which till the 90s was a superpower. Nevertheless, one of the most important consequences of this visit is the common approach evolved by the two countries on global terrorism, on Afghanistan in particular, which along with Pakistan has become a breeding ground for international terrorism, aided and abetted by the drug mafia, illicit arms trade and anti-social elements. This commonality of policy between the two countries, which are not only multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious but are committed to political pluralism and secularism indeed will set in motion an international movement against terorism. To understand its significance, we must consider certain hard facts. Terrorism, secessionism and ethnic conflicts, particularly in multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic societies have assumed a new dimension, both in their sweep and intensity in the post-cold war period. Turbulence and violence at the time when nation States are being formed is not unusual. Nation State as a concept emerged only in the 16th century, and we have four centuries of history of evolution of Nation States, mostly in European hemisphere. That period of history was marked by extraordinary violence, such as the 30 years war. Napoleonic wars, the Balkan wars, the First and Second World Wars, the American Civil War, the decimation of the Red Indian population, the French revolution, the Bolshevik revolution etc. Religious intolerance, genocide, ethnic conflicts and oppression marked this period. The development of science and technology, industrialisation, spread of education and a spirit of secularism over a period of a century, and finally two horrible wars within a span of two successive generations, have stabilised the industrialised world. There is yet another aspect which is relevant in any study of rise of terrorism and secessionism. During the colonial period, the foreign rulers in the colonies and semi-colonies under their domination followed a calculated policy of 'divide and rule' with a view to disorientate the Nation-State consciousness of the people through economic and political instruments. Anyone with some knowledge about India's recent history would agree with this conclusion. But what is of immediate relevance is that the 'religious factor' - Hindu-Muslim conflict in India and the 'Islamic factor' in the Muslim-dominated countries - have been increasingly used by the Western powers since the second half of 1870s, though such a generalisation may appear to be too sweeping. This was the period when the cold war was at its peak. In the 70s the process of de-colonisation entered a new phase and the people of Africa and Asia began to assert their independence and sovereignty, and a new trend developed among the liberal democrats and radicals in a number of these countries. They advocated that doctrinal rhetoric about the role of religion in shaping human consciousness should be avoided at all costs. In fact, in some of the African, Latin American and West Asian countries, a new concept of 'liberation theology' and 'liberation church' were also evolved. The Nasserites, the Arab Ba'ath Socialist Party of Syria and Iraq, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation in varying degree began to interpret Islam as a sum total of the fundamental Islamic and social revolutionary principles and doctrines aimed at ameliorating social conditions of the masses as a brotherhood of believers, their equality and collectivisation of means of production and distribution. This was the period when the Arab countries embarked on the path of nationalisation of their oil wealth. Thus, the religious philosophies began to be given two diverse interpretations, modern and conservative. In this context the Western and American scholars and their philosophers did not have merely academic interests in the religious and revivalist movements. Only from the second half of the 1970s did Washington begin to show special interest in Islam, and this, in no small measure, was caused by the unprecedented energy crisis of 1973-1974. From then onwards all events in these regions have had the focus of Washington's attention. Another important factor was that these Muslim countries had built up huge financial reserves which enabled their ruling elite to exert far greater influence on the economy of the entire world. The USA also took into account the growing political and economic weightage of the Muslim oil-producing countries in the Non-Aligned Movement, among the developing countries and in international organisation. (To be contd.) |
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Water on mars? The finding of water on Mars by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronomers has thrown the scientific community into a tizzy. And with good reason, too. In a way it is almost a throwback to a century and a quarter ago when Italian astronomer, Giovanni Schiaparelli, sent the world's pulse racing with the news that he had seen what he called 'canali' (Italian for Channels) on the Red Planet. At that time excitement over the Suez Canal prompted a mistranslation of 'canali' to 'canals' and people tried to use it as proof that intelligent life forms had actually built a system of canals on Mars; Indeed, it even inspired H. G. Wells to write the very first 'Star Wars' book, 'The War of the Worlds', in 1898, and visions of 'little green men' began stalking the earth. Across the globe, telescopes turned in unison to peer at the first planet beyond the earth, away from the sun, as astronomers waited with bated breath. The canals, of course, turned out to be only an optical illusion and one of the great wrong, guesses of astronomical history. But man's fascination for his next-door planetary neighbour as being the best bet for finding clues to life in outer space continued. Even Mars' reputation as a graveyard for exploratory spacecraft -- where all those jinxed Soviet Mars probes of the seventies, the subsequent American Vikings, and last year's Surveyor missions were all mysteriously lost -- was to do nothing to dampen this Martian curiosity. So it hardly surprised anyone when photographs from the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor recently ignited scientific interest again and caused media sensation of a kind not seen since the days of the Apollo moonshots. Many of the pictures showed dark spots on the Martian surface which are probably signs of seasonal warming on the dunes as the snow melts in the spring sunlight. (Ice, however, does not melt into water on Mars; instead it sublimes, changing directly from a solid to a gas, the way 'dry ice' does here on the earth.) But, more importantly, the Surveyor postcards showed geomorphic features like shifting dunes, gullies and landslides on Mars which could only have been formed by the seepage of large quantities of water. In other words, this seemed to suggest a definite aqueous presence not very far beneath the Martian surface. And since life cannot exist without liquid water, many scientists now surmise, his dripping discovery could very well be a clue to the presence of some form of life on Mars. Curiously, the Surveyor snapshots bring to mind what happened several years ago when scientists were excited over signs of extinct Martian life they found on a meteorite that fell on the icy Allan Hills wasteland of Antarctica. Astronomers used lasers and extremely sensitive mass spectrometers to study the meteorite and spot molescules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). A simple principle guided the hunt: PAHs are produced by combustion and so they are mostly found in diesel exhaust and soot, as well as inother meteorites. But, they also come from the decomposition and fossilisation of living organisms. And that's how it looked in the Allan Hills rock where the residue of PAH very much resembled what is generally produced when simple organic matter decayed. Astronomers describe Martian surface features using terrestrial terms, as being volcanic in origin. Some of them could be the result of cracking (faulting) of the surface and the sliding of one region over, or past, another. Features near the Martian South pole may have been produced by glaciers that existed aeons ago. Flowing water -- non-existent on Mars now -- probably carved the vast canyons which characterise a good percentage of the planet's rugged surface. But, having said that, many of the Martian craters seem to have been produced by impacting bodies that may have come from the nearby asteroid belt. And if this is true, it is quite possible that the telltale hydrocarbons found in the Allan Hills meteorite (on which scientists based their new findings) could have been brought to Mars from elsewhere. In other words, the microfossils within Allan Hills could be signatures of vital manifestations far beyond Mars--somewhere out in the far reaches of intersteller space. The Surveyor images also appear to bear out what planetary scientists have always believed: that sometime in the early history of the planet, Martian tectonic plates must have slammed into each other, much the same way as had evidently happened here on the earth. Plate tectonics is the way big sections of a planet's surface slide around over billions of years to form and reform the landmass, engendering, in the process, large bodies of water. This data apparently bears out the findings of recent studies which suggest the presence of magnetic strips across the face of Mars at some point in its history. Evidence of this magnetic field is now frozen in rocks that were molten when the magnetic field actually existed. When the rocks hardened, they retained the original magnetism and that has now been detected and mapped by spacecraft. This is not unlike a planetary dynamo which wound down by itself but not before its magnetic traces were tape-recorded in the planet's crustal rocks. In that case, it would be quite reasonable to assume that life in some form or another could have spring up on Mars. So it is becoming increasingly clear that Mars could, after all, prove to be a likely habitat for microbes, if not exactly a home for any of those fabled little green men trooping around on its ruddy surface. PTI Feature |
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