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Eight years after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi near Chennai through a female human bomb, the case is finally disposed of by the Apex Court. 26 alleged accused were ordered to be hanged by the trial Court. They had gone in appeal to the Apex Court which in its landmark judgement has upheld death sentence for four, reduced the capital punishment for another three to life imprisonment and acquitted the remaining ....more Quite undeterred by the criticism of Vajpayee Government having only caretaker role and no scope for taking many vital decisions, the Government continues to move swiftly in taking one decision after another. In the latest cabinet meeting it has decided to privatise the flag carrier Indian Airlines. In fact, entire exercise is based on Kelkar Committee report ...more |
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Problems of transmission and
distribution One of the major hurdles in the power sector has been...more Vanishing ground water What's in your
ground-water?" described a municipal....more The battle to establish a majority in the Lok Sabha has had....more India under threat from
tainted politicians Who is incapacitating our hard won freedom ? Who is ...more |
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EDITORIAL Eight years after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi near Chennai through a female human bomb, the case is finally disposed of by the Apex Court. 26 alleged accused were ordered to be hanged by the trial Court. They had gone in appeal to the Apex Court which in its landmark judgement has upheld death sentence for four, reduced the capital punishment for another three to life imprisonment and acquitted the remaining 19. Even though Special Investigation team constituted for the purpose did a commendable job in record time but the voluminous evidence and the number of accused involved necessitated elaborate examination due to sensitivity of the case, it was natural that time did not come in the way of justice. The very fact that 19 accused sentenced to death have since been set free by the Apex Court shows that it is in India alone where full justice is done by giving total benefit of doubt to the accused. Now only four are to be sent to gallows and the last remedy is Presidential clemency appeal if the guilty so desire. In retrospect, it is apt to recall that Rajiv Gandhi had been target of various political and terrorist outfits for their respective reasons. That is why a parallel enquiry was ordered to enquire into conspiracy angle of his assassination for which Jain Commission was appointed.This Commission faced many problems from the outset and sought one extension after another that took more than six years to submit its report to the Central Government. It was precisely this report that put an accusing finger on the then Tamil Nadu Government headed by Karunanidhi that was used as an excuse to withdraw support by the Congress from the United Front Government. Jain Commission had also examined many VVIP witnesses which included Nemi Chand Jain (Chandraswamy). Of particular relevance is the fact that Jain Commission never got full support from successive Government and many files sought by it were refused on the pretext of secrecy. The ATR presented by Vajpayee Government on Jain Commission report initially mentioned follow up enquiry against Karunanidhi. It is worth noting that Home Minister L K Advani subsequently sent amendment to the Speaker deleting Karunanidhis name. This was attributed to frequent threats of Jayalalitha such an extent that Vajpayee Government did want to keep its options open as regards DMK support to it in the event of AIADMK withdrawal. Although it was principally LTTE which planned and carried out the assassination in which besides Rajiv Gandhi many more innocent persons were killed, there have been many suspicions of some sort of international conspiracy to eliminate him half way through general elections. These reasons are : First, Rajiv became the PM after assassination of her mother Indira Gandhi. It had been threatened by the terrorist organisations operating in India but having foreign origin that entire family of Indira would be eliminated one by one.Second, Rajiv with his progressive ideas wanted to take India into 21st century with many innovative ideas which was not to the liking of western big-wigs. It is worth recalling that news of his assassination first reached the family from America and not from India. Third, within the party hierarchy, Rajiv had created many enemies. He had dumped Narasimha Rao so much so that not even ticket for Lok Sabha election was given to him although he was the leading light during Indira Gandhi's spell. There were many others who were dumped likewise. It is of interest to mention that Chandraswamy who enjoyed very close rapport with Indira as also with Narasimha Rao was totally sidetracked by Rajiv. Fourth, it was under Rajiv's premiership that Indian Peace Keeping Force was sent to Sri Lanka, albeit at the request of Island Government. Subsequently, this force continued to be enhanced month after month in direct proportion to the LTTE strength so much so that IPKF involvement became very deep.It was resented by the majority Sinhalese population even as Tamils whose cause was being propounded by the LTTE were full of revengeful spirit. The hatred for IPKF gained further momentum when IPKF refused to work under the overall command of Sri Lankan armed forces. Sri Lankan Government thus started nursing apprehensions on the role and presence of IPKF so much so that they gave all help to LTTE to compel Indian forces to quit the Lankan territory. This was an hour of great humiliation for our force which suffered huge lossess and ultimately had to come back to India without achieving anything. LTTE which also suffered huge losses at the hands of IPKF thus targetted Rajiv for elimination. While conspiracy angle still remains a mystery and Jain Commission could not come out with any definite opinion or recommendations even after six years of enquiry, it is precisely the immaculate investigation carried out by SIT in record time that has resulted in conviction of four principle accused to death and another three to life imprisonment. Those who masterminded the assassination like Prabhakaran continue to be beyond the reach of Indian jurisdiction. Quite undeterred by the criticism of Vajpayee Government having only caretaker role and no scope for taking many vital decisions, the Government continues to move swiftly in taking one decision after another. In the latest cabinet meeting it has decided to privatise the flag carrier Indian Airlines. In fact, entire exercise is based on Kelkar Committee report established during Congress Government led by Narasimha Rao. The Committee was of the view that Indian Airline having capital of only 105 crore which is considered quite slender for such a gigantic airliner company.The Government has thus decided to inject Rs 325 crore more towards equity of the domestic airliner. It simultaneously seeks to dilute Government share to around 40% and throw open employees contribution to the extent of about 10% of the total equity.Indian Airlines can also have access to market sources for raising money. This step would rejuvenate the Indian Airlines and the challenge posed by private airliners like Sahara and Jet airways can be suitably met with fleet revovation and augmentation. This will also result in employees total commitment through equity participation. The second decision relates to holding the price-line at any cost. All State Governments have been asked to keep close watch on prices of all commodities and take timely steps to check any abnormal rise. The Cabinet Committee on prices shall have weekly meeting to review the prices. This is purely election related decision in four States prices of many commodities and their supply position was badly managed which resulted in massive debacle at the husting. This time round, the next five months ought to be comfortable as regards availability and the stability in priceline of all commodities of mass consumption. There are other decisions like increasing production capacity of National Fertilizers unit at Nangal at a cost of Rs 143 crore. Besides, State Trading Corporation has been asked to continue procuring natural rubber at competitive prices so that there is no distress sales rubber plantations. For a change, Vajpayee Government has certainly become more decisive. |
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Problems of
transmission and distribution One of the major hurdles in the power sector has been the problem of transmission and distribution (T&D). The T&D losses in India have been colossal and this produces a tremendous demand-supply shortfall. Moreover, it increases the cost of production and, since the burden cannot be totally passed on to the consumer, the power has to be partially subsidized. This makes the tariff fixed by the various State Electricity Boards (SEBs) unremunerative. The Planning Commission estimates put average tariff at Rs. 0.50 and the most of production at Rs. 2.08 per unit. As a result the Indian SEBs make a commercial loss of Rs. 7,218 crore without subsidy and Rs. 10,165 crores with subsidy. The T&D losses are of two types, the technical losses and non-technical losses. Technical losses are essentially due to the flow of current in the lines, cables, transformers and other electrical elements of the power system. The non-technical losses are due to thefts. The World Bank report sets the norms for technical losses at 8.25%. As against this the Indian T&D losses (both technical and non-technical) have been increasing at an alarming rate from about 13% in 1963 to an estimated 37% in 1996. The technical and non-technical losses have an almost equal share in the total T&D losses. In the technical losses it is the low transmission (LT) sector which accounts for 86.4% of the total losses. This is to a large extent because of our faulty metering system, whereby the existing tariff takes into consideration only one component of the total energy, namely the "active energy" whose measurement unit is kilo-watt hour (KWH). The other component, namely "reactive energy" goes unmetered. The total energy consumed is a vector sum of the active and reactive energy components, which is called "apparent energy", whose measurement unit is kilo-volt-ampere-hour (KVAH). The reactive energy contributes to the losses in T&D lines. It is also responsible for voltage fluctuations which damage electrical and electronic appliances. The reactive energy loss is dependent on the power factor (PF). The instruments and lighting systems which operate at unity PF, eliminate the reactive component. For example, a small capacitor tube light can be made to operate on unity PF and the reactive component gets eliminated and it results in 75% saving in losses. Since the lighting load accounts for 18% of total power, a simple addition of a capacitor with every tube can result in considerable saving of losses in the power system. Various types of tubes are available nowadays with a unity PF. There are maximum losses in the LT sector because this sector operates at an average of 0.6 PF. The PF goes up from 0.6 to 0.9, as is the case is high transmission (HT) sector, it is possible to obtain a 55.6% loss reduction, which amounts to more than Rs. 4,000 crores per annum. Under the current active energy based LT tariff, there is no means to differentiate between two consumers operating at different PFs. Efficient consumer operating at unity PF and Inefficient consumer who is operating at 0.5 PF would be paying the same amount. While the former saves the energy, the latter causes a power loss of 50 to 80%, for which he does not pay. In the process he overloads the system and causes inconvenience to all others by bringing about a drop in voltage. If the metering system is on apparent energy consumption (KVAH), as is the case is almost all developed countries, this unfair tariff will not operate and the consumer will be forced to change over to high PF gadgets and lighting systems. Right now he has no incentive to do that. Even Brazil, which had a problem of heavy technical power loss like that of India, has considerably cut down losses by introducing ampere-hour tariff. We are much late in this transition, since it is only recently that Gujarat and Maharashtra have taken initiatives in this direction. Other states do not have any such plans in the immediate future. The non-technical losses in the Indian scenario are the most alarming. A combination of factors involving, non-chalant attitude of our general administration, breakdown of law and order and respect for authority, extreme politicization at all levels and corruption, contribute to the theft of power through various means and agencies. The factors responsible for the loss of power through theft and non-payment of tariff are too well known to be discussed here in depth. The system of open and overhead transmission lines allows anybody to hook in to them with impunity. Almost the entire slum dwellers living in jhuggi-jompri clusters widespread through urban areas, hook in to these power lines and constitute one of the major areas of power theft. Since the connections are disorganized, they also contribute substantially to the technical power loss. The seething corruption in the vigilance staff of SEBs has created a nexus which comprises an organized system of power theft, involving most of the common consumers, through pilferation in the metering system. This nexus does not allow an honest consumer to "survive", since there is a vast difference in what he and his neighbour pays, inspite of his thrift in power consumption. Sooner or later he also succumbs to the temptation. In most of the states in India, the power theft has reached a colossal figure crossing even a 25 percent level. Jammu and Kashmir has the dubious distinction of topping the list amount all the states with a total T&D loss (both technical and non-technical), of over 55 percent. Though the figures of non technical loss are not available, but they could be well over 35 percent, even by conservative estimates. The introduction of minimum consumption contract system with the consumers does allow some amount of recovery by the SEBs. But this system is highly unfair to the honest consumer, since the tariff that he pays is not based on his real consumption. This dos not allow him to economize, should be choose to do so. As a result even he overloads the system since he has to pay a fixed amount anyway. Apart from the theft in power, the collection efficiency of the SEBs has also significantly declined during the last few years. This factor has made the IPPs nervous, since they are not sure of the returns. Most of them insist on substantial counter-guarantees. The collection system in most of the states is one of the weakest links, while it is beyond redemption in a state like J&K, where there has been hardly any collection during last ten years in the miliancy prone areas. In many other states like Bihar and UP, the collection of tariff has declined substantially and enormous arrears have accumulated. The non-recovery of tariff has put a number of SEBs in the red. They are not able to pay their dues to the power generating utilities. For example, the SEBs owe a sum of Rs. 15,000 crores to NTPC. The policy initiatives taken last year by the Government, including the enactment of Electricity Regulatory Commission Act, appear to give the impression that at long last the Government has woken up to alarming situation in the power sector. However, no amount of legislation can prove successful unless the total system is shaken. None of the electrical utilities are complying with the guaranteed and overall standards set by the regulator as of now. We need a thorough overhaul at the execution stage. And that depends to a large extent on the political will. And that is a big if. |
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Polarisation of the right
kind The battle to establish a majority in the Lok Sabha has had more than its share of sordid moments. It has certainly brought grist to the mill of commentators and reporters who have lost all faith in the democratic political process and who seek to spread this kind of damaging cynicism. It would seem on the surface that nothing has been gained by the nation from this battle. This, however, is a false impression. The nation has gained and gained substantially. These games are irrespective of the immediate outcome of the battle. In the first place, the BJP-dominated coalition has gone. Even its return in some other form, should it take place, does not mean a return of the rule of that coalition. Its instability would now turn into incoherence. This by itself is a gain that should not be minimised. The BJP-dominated coalition was not just another government that had replaced the Congress. It was not like the Janata Party government of 1977-79 or the United Front governments of 1996-98. These governments were, of course, non-Congress and to some extent anti-Congress. The defining characteristic of the government of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee was that it was both anti-Congress and anti-nation state. It was the highest point yet reached of the challenge to the very existence of this state. What was sought to be achieved was its replacement of by a theocratic, dictatorial state - a so - called Hindu state representing an even more misnamed Hindu nationalism. It was moving towards this objective in a stealthy manner. The non-governmental outfits of the Sangh Parivar were given a free hand and encouragement to go about their destructive communal business. At the official level the penetration of strategic sectors went together with division and demoralisation of vital elements of the state apparatus, including the armed forces. If this government had been allowed to continue unchallenged the nation state would have been subverted. This world have meant the negation of the greatest achievement of our national revolution and the beginning of the end of India. The strength of mass attachment to secularism and democracy is the main reason why the forces of counterrevolution have been halted. It has rarely happened in history that fascist forces have received such a significant and even crucial setback by parliamentary democratic means. This is yet another unique contribution that India has made to the progress of democratic nation-building in the history of the world. There is no ground for complacency, however. Neither out external adversaries nor the communal-fascist forces with the country are going to just sit back and let whatever happens happen. They will strike back. We should not only be vigilant but more than ever be conscious of our vulnerabilities. What has, however, to be realised is that when broadly united, the secular and democratic parties and persons can roll back reaction and counterrevolution. Though it looks like stressing the obvious, the Congress has the leading and indispensable role to play in both defending the nation and its achievements as well as in pushing it ahead. It has by no means exhausted its historical function. In the present combat between Indian nationalism, secularism and democracy and communal-fascism a very important gain has been the coming together of the Congress and the main formations of the Left. Whatever may be one's opinion and reservation about the strategy and tactics of the latter in the recent decades, the CPI(M) and CPI have made a great contribution to removing the BJP-deminated coalition government as well as in the attempt to replace it by an exclusively Congress government or one in which the Congress is preponderant and the leader. Whatever the difficulties, they have risen to the occasion. It should be noted and applauded that when it came to the crunch they opted for support to the Congress even in preference to the Third Front. It is true that what some leaders of this Front placed as an alternative was unreal. But what is praiseworthy is that it was perceived as such by the CPI(M) and CPI leaders and also seen by them as disruptive of the anti-fascist unity that had been built and was needed. Still it has to be said that the CPI(M) and CPI leadership would benefit themselves and benefit others if they made some critical review of the recent past and offered a theoretical-practical explanation of what they have just done and why they did it. Of course, it is more important that they should continue along their present course. The Congress and the Left coming together and that too on so important an issue as to which party should exercise central governmental power, can be the start of a radical turning point in the contemporary history of our country. They more the Congress and the Left come together and act together the more secularism in general will be strengthened. What is of equal importance is that the working and deprived sections of society would increase their power because of such coming together. Their socio-political weight in society would be enhanced. Anti-Congressism has not enabled the communists and other leftists to achieve this. Being cooperative with the Congress may be the better, though for them the less travelled. road. The Congress, too, should better understand the need and the gains of cooperation with the Left. It should learn not only the value of such cooperation but also its price which once paid would be repaid many times to all concerned and to the nation. - CNF |
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India under
threat from tainted politicians Who is incapacitating our hard won freedom ? Who is to be blamed for rampant corruption, for sabotaging the country's economic progress, for crime against women and children, for criminalisation of politics, for political instability and so on ad nauseam ? In the Parliament and the state Assemblies unending debates go on and on, not to examine and pass laws for the good of the people but to level charges and counter charges against each other. So many sessions of the Parliament and state Assemblies have been lost in sterile hullabaloo benefiting no one; not even the political parties themselves. And now we have the specter once again of another Lok Sabha election. Why ? Because the actress turned politician, the general secretary of AIADMK Jayalalitha wanted the dismissed admiral Vishno Bhagwat to be reinstated and the Defence Minister George Fernandes to be divested of his Defence portfolio; better still to be dismissed as he is a "security risk" ! Even a child could say that this senseless demand was just a ploy to pressuries Prime Minister Vajpayee to save her from being tried in the pending corruption cases against her. Did the woman, whose daily hotel expense, while she is in New Delhi amounts to Rs. 2.5 lakhs, ever think what it would cost to this poor nation if her plans to topple the Vajpayee government succeeded and fresh elections ordered by the President ? In an interview to a television channel she is reported to have said that after spending three fourth of her life on the bidding of others now she had to think of herself alone. Now a few words about the pending corruption cases against Jayalalitha. The woman is being tried for amassing wealth amounting to Rs. 65 crore, which has been found disproportionate to the known sources of her income. She is also being tried for violating all the concerned laws while granting license to build a hotel at Kodaikanal by Pleasant Stay Hotel. Charges have been framed against her in the case of Colour TV scam which resulted in loss of over Rs. 10 crore to the state. In three other cases chargesheets are to be filed. These cases involve crores of rupees of kickbacks and include import of inferior quality of coal from Indonesia, issue of license at very low rates for mining of granite and irregular payment of Rs. 2 crore to Meena Advertising which failed to honour its commitments. While these cases were dragging on in the courts the lady was busy first in threatening the coalition government at the Centre, of which her party was one of the constituents, and then hobnobbing with Sonia Gandhi to usher in yet another era of uncertainty in the country. She was dreaming of becoming the Prime Minister of India when she landed in New Delhi on 14th April, hoping that Mrs. Sonia Gandhi would offer the post to her in a platter. Instead after meeting the lady at 10 Janapath, finding it too late to retract, she not only withdrew her party's support to Vajpayee government she also had to eat the humble pie when she announced that she would be willing to support the Congress led government from outside. The Vajpayee government fell by a narrow margin of one vote and Jayalalitha was left high and dry in the political wilderness. "Na to sanam hi milla, na hi wissalay sanam". This was followed by hectic efforts by Dr. Subramanium Swamy, her "evil spirit", who had masterminded the "operation destablisation", to rope in CPI(M) and other parties to save the Parliament from being dissolved. Jayalalitha and her counsellor Swamy got their well deserved punishment when, after leaving no stone unturned to set up an alternative government, all their efforts failed and midterm polls were ordered. Sadly the Nation has lost not only the six months waiting for the election results but also many years of progress and development due to the uncertainity thus created by them. In this sordid drama the Congress president Sonia Gandhi cannot escape her share of the blame for the part she played to make the nation suffer yet another Lok Sabha poll and thereby incur a loss of over Rs 1200 crore. She has demonstrated total lack of political wisdom when, without first securing firm support of at least 270 MPs, she encouraged the tainted AIADMK leader Jayalalitha to withdraw her party's support to Vajpayee government. Another example of her political immaturity is the fact that after the fall of Vajpayee government, she appointed Arjun Singh as the chief negotiator and party spokesman. Even her own party men were not happy with the choice of Arjun Singh. Her support to reinstrate the Rabri government and latter her efforts to form an alternative government at the Centre with the support of 1000 crore fodder scam tainted former Chief Minister of Bihar Lalloo Yadav, goes to show that she has still to go through the nursery classes of politics. Now as the Lok Sabha polls are going to be held soon, the BJP has already started raking up the Bofors Gun scandal. The question that is being asked by the BJP is, "What connections Mrs. Gandhi's family has with the Bofor scam's controversial Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochchi ?" Taking into account the overall political scenario the time was not at all ripe for the Congress party to precipitate a midterm poll. Not to speak of getting a majority, on account of political duplicity towards Rabri Devi's government in Bihar and shaking hands with BSP leader Mayawati, there is little possibility that it will be able to improve its tally in the Lok Sabha in the forthcoming elections. On the other hand there is every possibility that due to the party's failure to muster enough support in the Lok Sabha to form an alternative government and plunging the country into a midterm poll which may usher in yet another era of uncertainty, it may not cross the 100 mark even. Interestingly it was Dr. Subramanium Swamy who had brought to light most of the scandals for which Jayalalitha is being charged or tried in the Channai court. Despite very strong plea of AIADMK supermo Jayalalitha, Prime Minister Atal Behari refused to induct Dr. Swamy in the Central cabinet, when thirteen months back the BJP led government was formed. Since then the Swamy did not loose any opportunity to instigate Jayalalitha to harass and threaten the Vajpayee government on one pretext or the other. At least he did succeed but only by bringing down the whole house and getting his own reputation further soiled. The real threat to the country's integrity is not so much from the outside forces as it is from the tainted and criminal - turned - politicians who have made to state Assemblies and the Parliament during the past two decades or so. In these august houses, where people send their representatives to deliberate in a cool and calm atmosphere for the general good of one billion human beings inhabiting this ancient land, how sad it is that the members shout slogans, come to blows, attack each other with microphones and whatever other missiles come handly there. Keen observers of the events that led to the fall of Vajpayee government and latter the frantic efforts of the opposition to assemble and rivet together the erstwhile political enemies to form an alternative government, must have noted as to how the tainted politicians got together not on any issue but simply to get power. Obviously if they would have succeeded to form the government the Fodder scam, the Bofor scandal, the six pending cases against Jayalalitha and many other such cases would have been withdraw and all the evidence connected therewith would have been destroyed. The only motive behind getting together of such diverse elements is to save themselves from being tried and punished for the alleged crimes against the nation. For them it does not matter if the Nation suffers. |
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