Law, Society and Sports

2011-10-05T11:17:00.006+05:30

Delinking Poverty Line and Entitlements to State Programmes: A Disingenuous Explanation

A joint statement by the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and the Minister for Rural Development has clarified that the official poverty estimates of the Planning Commission (based on the criteria stated in the recent affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court in the matter of PUCL v Union of India) will not be used to identify the households considered eligible for entitlements under various central government programmes.

The statement further stated that the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), 2011 (steered by the Union Ministry of Rural Development and the Office of the Registrar General of India), that seeks to survey all rural households in the country and collect information on multiple socio-economic indicators, would be the basis for identifying beneficiaries for government programmes.

While this statement may have lowered the heat on the government for a while, it does not really address the key questions raised by the critics of the new estimates. First of all, given that the SECC 2011 is restricted only to rural households, the Central Government may again be compelled to use the Planning Commission estimates for identifying the urban poor. Unless of course, the Government's case is that there is no poor in urban India.

Secondly, the Supreme Court had called for revision of the poverty line estimates not as a mere academic exercise but in the context of ensuring effective food grain security for vulnerable sections of the society through a robust public delivery system. In this context, the explanation that these revised estimates would not be used as a means of identification seems rather disingenuous. If the revised poverty line of the Planning Commission is not meant to cap the number of beneficiaries, then why have them in the first place.

2011-09-22T00:12:00.000+05:30

Delhi Court Strikes a Blow for Refugee Protection

In an affirmation of the doctrine of non-refoulement, Arul Verma, Metropolitan Magistrate, Court-II, Dwaraka Courts, dismissed Centre's plea to deport a Tamil Refugee on the ground of probable prosecution. says The Hindu.

The said judgment stands out for its call for differentiation between persons who leave their home country in search for better economic opportunities and those move to another country out of sheer compulsion or duress. This is in stark contrast to the legislative conflation of refugees with other foreigners under the Foreigners Act, 1946.

Further in what is a courageous call for legislative change by a subordinate court, Judge Verma also alluded to the need for "a comprehensive legislation to deal exclusively with the problems of refugees."

2011-09-21T14:37:00.002+05:30

A Step Towards Judicial Review of Official Poverty Benchmarks?

Upendra Baxi in his Introduction to Law and Poverty: Critical Essays had written:

"Poverty lines are scientifically determined arbitrary systems of signs through which state and society is to be persuaded to distinguish the 'poor' from the 'not-poor'...it should interest law persons including justices, were we to pose the problem in terms of the mandates of rationality under Article 14 of the Constitution of India...is the evolving constitutional jurisprudence of the right to equality, now construed as immunity from arbitrary and discriminative public decisions, totally irrelevant to these agonizings? Can it be said that the identification and measurement of poverty violates this command of the Constitution?"

More than two decades after Baxi raised this question, Supreme Court has taken a tentative step towards subjecting poverty lines to judicial scrutiny. In its Order (dated May 14) in the Right to Food matter (PUCL v Union of India), the Supreme Court, apart from issuing detailed directions on distribution of food grains, referred to Suresh Tendulkar Committee's observation that the Planning Commission's poverty line of per capita per day income of Rs 15 for rural areas and Rs 20 for urban is not sufficient and it is impossible to consume 2100 (2400 for rural area) calories (the prescribed minimum calorific needs for subsistence) with such paltry sum. Having referred to this, the Court observed that "the Planning Commission may revise norms of per capita amount looking to the price index of May 2011 or any other subsequent dates".

While this directive does not contain any exposition on the scope and legitimacy of judicial review of official poverty-line, it certainly signals a willingness on the part of the judiciary to heed to Baxi's call for subjecting the official benchmarks of poverty to the rationality of Article 14.

It is a cruel joke though that the new poverty line (as suggested by the Planning Commission in response to Court's exhortation) has been pegged at a ridiculously low Rs 26 for rural areas and Rs 32 for urban areas.

2011-09-15T13:16:00.002+05:30

Dope Hearings Caught in Red-Tapes

National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) prescribed hearings of doping charges against Indian athletes are being prolonged by repeated adjournments and procedural delays, thereby prolonging the suspension of the accused athletes, says K.P. Mohan in The Hindu.

Such delays contravene the stipulations of the NADA Anti-Doping Rules and may undermine the entire credibility of this young anti-doping watchdog.

2008-07-10T22:32:00.001+05:30

IAEA Safeguards: Promises Belied and Suspicions Vindicated

The text of the Draft Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA has incensed experts as it falls short of the grand assertions of the Prime Minister and fails to answer any of the apprehensions raised.

Professor Brahma Chellaney deconstructs the Agreement here.

2008-07-10T22:13:00.000+05:30

The Great Indian Nuclear Hoax: UPA Government Goes to the IAEA

Exposing the UPA Government's doublespeak over the proposed Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement and the appurtenant Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the atomic enwergy watchdog revealed yesterday, in a terse release, that its Secretariat had, on specific request of the Indian Government, circulated to Members of the IAEA Board of Governors for their consideration the draft of an Agreement with the Government of India for the Application of Safeguards to Civilian Nuclear Facilities.

After several public pronouncements about its apparent confidentiality, the Governmental of India was embarrassed into revealing the text of the Draft Agreement after it was put up online by several American non-proliferation think tanks.

You can find a copy here.

2008-05-04T23:55:00.000+05:30

Paisa Phek, Tamasha Dekh! - A Fortnight into IPL

Glenn Mcgrath bowling to Adam Gilchrist; Sangakkara trying to read Murali's doosras yet again, but this time with a bat in has hands and Ishant Sarma tying to bounce out his national team captain, Dhoni.

IPL has been nothing short of a cricket buff's fantasy. The fours and sixes, despite their frequency, have been exhilarating. The fielding has been exceptional and contrary to what the soothsayers have been saying, the bowlers too are slowly joining the party. And the gutsy performances of hitherto unknown youngsters like A Nayar, Manpreet Gony Jadeja and Yusuf Pathan have been the icing on the cake. The cricket has been top grade and has transformed many a skeptic like me into a keen spectator, if not a believer as yet. And for the more testosterone driven people, we have also had the jives of the lissome cheerleaders and the jabs of an unrepentant Bhajji.

But all this glitz and hype cannot drown out the more fundamental problems lurking beneath the surface and waiting to strike once the Championship loses its shield of novelty.

A Tribute to Monopoly Capital

While IPL is being celebrated as the long overdue arrival of free market economy in cricket (in the manner of club football in soccer), interestingly the entire edifice of this league is built around restrictive monopolies. Unlike in club football where a city may house as many club as possible as long as they meet the registration norms, each of the franchise has been granted monopoly in their restrictive cities. Apart from the philosophical compromise of free market principles, such monopolies also snuff out from this nascent league, the possibility of local derbies – where historical and class identities often intertwine to create fierce rivalries.

More importantly, such monopolies highlight how the BCCI has undersold the rights to cricket that it holds in trust while privatizing Indian cricketing structure through IPL. "In addition to guaranteed revenue streams and monopoly control of markets, the private owners enjoy the right to exploit a variety of public assets at little cost", writes Mike Marqusee. Whereas each club has its own stadium and training facilities in football, the State associations are facilitating the IPL by providing stadia and players. Strangely, it's been made clear that the usual rights of members and affiliated associations will not apply to IPL games. This is in complete contrast to examples of AC Milan and Internazionale Milan which pay rent to the local government of Milan for using the San Siro Stadium for their home games.

Gazing through the Crystal Ball

So what does the future hold for IPL? Will it retain its pomp and splendour season after season or will it fall prey to second season blues and go down in the history as yet another one hit wonder?

Most spectator sports acquire a pre-eminence through creation of a firm, but almost mystical connection between the teams and their fans and it is not facile to say that such enduring bonds cannot be formed through franchise-driven bollywoodisation of cricket. Cheerleaders, Sharukh Khan's steroid morphed moon face and Preity Zinta' dimples may currently be attracting fair weather fans in hordes. But the mandarins of IPL should remember that the devotion of these fans will last only till the next coolest thing hits the market. What will survive the deadwood of time is the loyalty of fans who cannot ever have enough of cricket.

In this context, the prominence accorded to Bollywood stars in the IPL set up is indeed troubling. Bollywood and marketing glitz cannot ever be short cuts to sustained success. World over, professional leagues have co-existed with or have relied upon an extensive network of inter-school, inter-college and junior competitions that have served as feeder of talents. Most European football clubs have a large part of their budgets dedicated exclusively to their academies. Reserve/Junior Teams are mandatory for each and very club in few national leagues.

Therefore, it is a cause for concern that the IPL seems to have no vision on creating a network for feeding talent into the main league. The much publicized norm of every team having a specified number of U-22 and U-19 players from the catchment areas is already being observed more in breach. Except for Rajasthan Royals, no other franchise has even made any perfunctory statement on setting up training centres for youngsters in the long run.

Thus, it is a sweet coincidence indeed that just as I write this, Rajasthan Royals have reached the very top of the points table with a resounding win over the big spending Chennai Superkings

2008-05-02T15:34:00.000+05:30

Prepayment Water Meter System Unconstitutional, Says a High Court in South Africa

In an important judgment that will surely invigorate the Campaign for Right to Free Water and shackle the global transition to privatisation of water resources, the High Court of Johannesburg has ruled that the practice of forcibly installing prepaid water meters in one of the townships of Soweto, being implemented by the city of Johannesburg is unconstitutional.

A Press Statement released by the Centre for Appiled Legal Studies (CALS) and the Campaign against Privatization of Water states:

"In a ground-breaking judgment – the first in which the constitutional right to water has explicitly been raised – Judge MP Toska criticised the municipality for its discriminatory approach to the provision of water. The Judge found that: “the underlying basis for the introduction of prepayment meters seems to me to be credit control. If this is true, I am unable to understand why this credit control measure is only suitable in the historically poor black areas and not the historically rich white areas. Bad payers cannot be described in terms of colour or geographical area.”

The Judge also found that the consultation leading up to the adoption of prepayment meters was inadequate, stating that the process was “more of a publicity stunt than consultation”. He also criticised the City’s “big brother approach” to the residents of Phiri.

[...]

The judge continued that “to expect the applicants to restrict their water usage, to compromise their health, by limiting the number of toilet flushes in order to save water is to deny them the rights to health and to lead a dignified lifestyle.”

2007-01-04T13:12:00.000+05:30

Government of India Official Calls on ULFA to End National Games Boycott

The Union Home Secretary, VK Duggal has urged the ULFA to withdraw its boycott of the National Games in view of the sprit of games and sports. The Sentinel reports that he made it clear that the Games would be organized as per the schedule even if the rebel group did not withdraw its boycott call.

2007-01-03T13:27:00.000+05:30

Manipur Chief Minister Calls for AFSPA Repeal

The Chief Minister of Indian State of Manipur, Mr. Okram Ibobi has called for the repeal of the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. He is currently in New Delhi, the Indian capital seeking to convince the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to annull the Act before the State Assembly polls in February next.

For more, see this report from the Assam Tribune.

2006-12-29T21:55:00.000+05:30

Indian Judiciary to Outsource Jobs

The Times of India reports that the Registrars of the Supreme Court and the High Courts have decided to outsource services hitherto performed by Court staff, like transportation, cleaning, maintenance, security, watch and ward duties, etc. to contractors.

2006-12-29T12:04:00.000+05:30

Delhi High Court Overturns Labour Court Verdict, Sacks DU Employee

Delhi High Court reversed a Labour Court ruling that had directed reinstatement of a dismissed employee of the Delhi University on the ground that principles of natural justice were not adhered to by the University.

While reversing the Labour Court Order, Justice SN Dhingra of the Delhi HIgh Court observed that “over-protectionism provided to employees has resulted in total fall in efficiency and work culture at government offices...”.

2006-12-28T22:47:00.000+05:30

ICC Endorses WADA Appeal Against Lifting of Ban on Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif

The Chief Executive Officer of International Cricket Council, Malcolm Speed has supported the decision of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports against the decision of Pakistan Cricket Board's Anti-Doping Appeals Committee to revoke the ban imposed on cricketers, Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif on charges of doping.

2006-12-28T22:38:00.000+05:30

UNHCR and NHRC Advocate National Law for Refugees

Justice (Retd.) Shivraj V. Patil, Chairman, National Human Rights Commission emphasised, during his interction with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Antonio Guterres, on the need for a national legislation to ensure a just, humane and dignified treatment of refugees in India; so reports The Hindu.

Following are few useful links on the subject of the treatment of refugees under the Indian legal framework:

1. Refugees Are Not Illegal Migrants

2. Law, Policy and Practice of Refugee Protection in India

3. Refugee Protection in India

4. Need for National Refugee Law

5. India: A National Refugee Law Would Equalize Protection

2006-12-27T23:41:00.000+05:30

Virendra Sehwag: A Numb(er) Truth

Virendra Sehwag's bleak run in international cricket has given many a headache to Indian cricket fans. Prem Panicker has written here that the slump in Sehwag's batting fortunes has not been as pronounced it seems and he has averaged a healthy 43.50 in this year. However, statistics can often be misleading and so it is in this case too. The average is built around his two massive knocks of 254 and 180. If those two are excluded, his average dips to a meagre 21.31.

A troublesome fact is that he has recorded 11 single digit scores out of ninenteen opportunities. More worrisome is his mental approach. He must remember that he got runs against Australia with a relatively more circumspect approach. Of late, he has been displaying a certain degree of haste (that has been his downfall in ODI) in test cricket as well and his dismissal in first innings of the Durban Test is reflective of that.

While I do believe that the calls for his head are rather premature, it is time for Greg Chappell or someone senior(Dr. Rudi Webster or even John Wright) to have a chat with him and ask him to revisit those processes that had got him success in the past.

2006-12-27T23:12:00.000+05:30

Naga Peace Process Round-up

Mr. Th. Muivah, General Secretary, National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) arrived at New Delhi from Amsterdam on December 20, raising hopes of progress in the deadlocked talks between Government of India and NSCN-IM.

Naga civil society leaders meanwhile have expressed both surprise and delight at this unexpected turn of events. See this.

The other major armed group of the north east region, the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) has responded for the first time on the Naga Peace Process and denounced the concept of Greater Nagalim, a key claim of NSCN-IM which also incudes parts of the present state of Assam.

2006-12-17T10:43:00.000+05:30

Jagmohan Dalmiya Expelled from BCCI

In a decision without any parallel in Indian Cricket, former president of the BCCI and ICC has been expelled by the Board on serious charges of misappropriation of funds.

With the likelihood of Dalmiya approaching the Judiciary very imminent, the last word has not been heard on the issue.

2006-12-07T00:29:00.000+05:30

Ban on Shoaib and Asif Lifted by Appeal Committee

An Anti-Doping Appeals Committee Constituted by the Pakistan Cricket Board has revoked by a majority decision of 2:1 the earlier ban imposed on the two players.

The Committee ruled that the Anti-Doping Committee which had imposed the ban had erred in transcending the Anti-Doping Regulations of PCB and relying on standards set by ICC and WADA even though both the conduct of doping tests and constitution of the Committee itself had been done under the aegis of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

The Committee noted:

"...The confusion between the applicability of standards of 'exceptional circumstances' under the ICC Anti Doping Code and PCB Anti Doping Regulations, fatally plagued the final decision of the ADC."

The Appeals Committee also ruled that:

"...[i]t is plainly evident that neither Shoaib Akhtar nor Muhammad Asif were ever warned or cautioned against taking supplements...Hence, this Appeals Committee by a majority of 2 to 1 is of the considered view that Shoaib Akhtar and Muhammad Asif have successfully established that they held an honest and reasonable belief that the supplements ingested by them did not contain any prohibited substances."

You can find the full text of the Majority Opinion of the Appeals Committee here.

2006-11-18T11:04:00.000+05:30

Last Hurrah of the 'Galloping Major'

The Invincible Magyars (Hungarian Football Team) of the first half of nineteen fifties, which lost just one match in six years before disintegrating with the Anti-Communist uprising in the country, holds a romantic appeal to the football lovers all over the world. The breathtaking 4-2-4 system, players of incredible ability like Koscis, Hidegkuti and others and the tragic and entirely unexpected defeat in the World Cup Final at Berne has made the team a part of the folklore. And the hero of this tale was the team's astute leader, Ferenc Puskas whose left foot and vision was the inspriration behind the Olympic Gold and World Cup Silver for the Magyars. He continued with trailblazing success at Real Madrid after defecting to Spain. His leadership, vision and selflessness earned him the sobriquet 'Galloping Major'. At the tragic demise of this Hungarian hero, Jonathan Wilson has this tribute to him in the Guardian. R.I.P. Major

"...How great was Ferenc Puskas? Such things, necessarily, are subjective - and, particularly when you're going on video footage, almost impossible to judge - but for me he stands alongside Johan Cruyff as one of the two greatest European players of all time.

It is not just his technical ability. Other players have had that. It is not even the fact that he had key parts in two of the most celebrated games ever played on British soil - Hungary's 6-3 victory over England at Wembley in 1953 and Real Madrid's 7-3 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960. It is the fact that that ability was allied to a brain that understood how best to use his ability for the team.

That is why his nickname, the 'Galloping Major', was so appropriate - even if he hardly galloped and, at the time it was bestowed, was only a lieutenant - because he was so good at marshalling his side towards a common goal. "If a good player has the ball, he should have the vision to spot three options," the full-back Jeno Buzanszky said. "Puskas always saw at least five."

Team-mates complained about Puskas's influence over coaches and about his constant hectoring on the pitch, but nobody ever accused him of being selfish. Along with everything else, he was a hugely astute leader. In his first season at Real Madrid, for instance, he and the notoriously difficult Alfredo di Stefano were joint leading scorers going into the final match of the season. Late on, Puskas had a chance to score but opted instead to wait and square it for Di Stefano, recognising the problems it could cause for morale if the Argentinian did not finish as top scorer. He showed similar selflessness after that 1960 European Cup final, handing the match ball to Erwin Stein, who had scored two of Eintracht's three goals. Puskas had scored four.

There are those who carp that Puskas was very left-footed. He was, but it hardly diminished him. "You can only kick with one foot at a time," he once said. "Otherwise you fall on your arse." As an example of how his turned a weakness into a strength, you only have to look at that game against England in 1953...."

2006-11-16T17:53:00.000+05:30

No Ball by Supreme Court on the Sealing Issue

The Supreme Court of India has overstepped the time honoured and jurisprudential limits on its powers on the issue of sealing of commercial establishments operating from residential premises; asserts Prem Shankar Jha in Law and the Mob.

"...Indians have been signalling the need for change in laws and institutions on the streets and, on occasion, with the gun, since the dawn of Independence. Beginning with the linguistic reorganisation of the Indian states in 1957, there is hardly a single important piece of legislation that has not been a response to public demand expressed through demonstrations or violence. Deciding when to concede these demands or stand firm falls entirely in the domain of Parliament and the executive. The judiciary has no business to intervene on any grounds whatsoever."

2006-10-27T19:47:00.000+05:30

Indian Cricket: A Team with Blinkers

It is difficult to be harsh on the Indian Cricket team, given its steadfastness and refusal to throw the towel after the West Indian Innings got off to a rollicking start in the Champions Trophy encounter yesterday. However, the utterly inexplicable refusal to adapt and learn from past failures does warrant some piercing questions about the team and its management.

First of all, I cannot help my exasperation with Virendra Sehwag. One appreciates the value of sticking with a mercurial match breaker like him and enduring the inconsistency inevitable with an ultra-attacking batsman. However, one also needs to draw a line beyond which consistency shall prevail over match winning potential. Just one century in more than two years is plain underperformance even by the match-winning yardstick

More baffling is his inability to cope with the incoming delivery targeted at his off stump. Every team that has been able to bowl that line with even marginal consistency has found him out. It is reflected by he fact that he has been dismissed bowled or LBW a staggering eleven times in his last thirty ODI innings.

Unfortunately, it seems that Sehwag is not the only one suffering from inability to learn. When the Indian ODI juggernaut crashed to ground in slow pitches of West Indies, it was hoped that it would act as lesson from which the team could only benefit for the day to come.

However, the team management has somehow not been able to learn from the team’s recent defeats against the Caribbeans. The stranglehold of Windies spinners on a slow track has been the decisive factor in the earlier games. The effectiveness of the likes of Gayle and Samuels has been heightened by the fact that Yuvraj, Dhoni, Raina and Pathan – all like the ball to come on to the bat at a good pace; that they are not as accomplished in use of wrists (critical in working spinners on slow tracks) as they are in hitting through the line. Therefore, it was indeed perplexing to see the wristy Mohammed Kaif (scored 3 fifties in his last ten innings) being omitted in favour of Suresh Raina who has a paltry average of 17 his last ten matches with a highest of 34. While one cannot deny the enormous talent of the teenaged southpaw, the team management can hardly ignore present form of the players and the relative strength of the teams. Lack of confidence in Raina is reflected by his dismal performance in the Challenger Series as well.

The team must quickly shed its thick skin and learn from its errors as Australia waits for the do-or-die clash on Sunday and a humiliating early exit looms in the horizon.

2006-10-21T16:59:00.000+05:30

The Politics of Sports: FIFA World Cup 1978

Tim Pears in this excellent piece on the Football World Cup1978 in Argentina, also famously described as `'the most highly politicised sporting circus since Berlin 1936' by the writer Jimmy Burns, illustrates how most sports events are inescapably affected by politics.

'Football had become the centre of everything in Argentina. One couldn't, because one wasn't allowed to, talk or write about anything else. There we were, in a dictatorship, with footballers surrounded by soldiers.'
[...]

`Political involvement in football in Argentina had a long tradition. The earliest non-English clubs, based in the barrios, provided schools and welfare support as well as sport. Long before universal male suffrage, in 1916, they were democratic structures: directors had to stand for election before all the members of the club. Prospective politicians continue to enter the public sphere in football clubs. 'The president of River Plate is more important than the governor of a small province,' as Ardiles put it.

[...]

Fifa had awarded the 1978 World Cup to Argentina years before the coup, back in 1966, but the Generals now saw the tournament as an opportunity to distract attention from the country's dismal economic predicament, social divisions and human-rights violations. Mass support for the football team, under the official slogan, '25 million Argentinians will play in the World Cup', would create a supra-political national unity.

An American PR company, Burson & Marsteller, was hired, for $500,000, to assist the military-controlled media in showing the world a smiling face. In the months before the tournament began, Operation El Barrido was carried out: bulldozers cleared Buenos Aires' worst ghettoes and their inhabitants were removed to the Catamarca desert. Along the main road into Rosario a wall was erected to hide the city's slums, painted with a mural of pretty houses. At night the slum-dwellers took hammers to the wall and dragged away concrete blocks for their own use.

In the last weeks, the abductions of dissidents real or imagined were increased, 200 people a day who might prove embarrassing during the World Cup should foreign journalists meet them being 'disappeared'. These measures met with a good deal of success.

Pears also explicates how the idioms of a sport in each country is shaped by a complex blend of historical, sociologicl and political factors. It also provides an insightful account of the anthropological origins of the Argentine style of football with its emphasis on free flowing short passes and mazy dribbles.

The first years of the league were dominated by the 'gentlemen' of the English clubs, but the turning point was 1913, when Racing Club of Buenos Aires won the title without a single player of British origin. The English upper-class clubs began to abandon football, to concentrate on rugby, tennis and cricket. The 'players' now took over - as they had back in England, although here they were not the indigenous working class but the sons of immigrant Latin labourers and artisans. 'The prologue of the history of creole football,' as Osvaldo Bayer put it, in his classic Futbol Argentino, 'was written by the English.' Evidence of this prehistory has remained, on the teamsheet of many Argentina teams down the years: Colman, Houseman, Babington, Brown.

By 1928 a writer in El Grafi co could state: 'The Anglo-Saxon influence has been disappearing, giving way to the less phlegmatic and more restless spirit of the Latin...they soon began modifying the science of the game and fashioning one of their own...it is different from the British in that it is less monochrome, less disciplined and methodical, because it does not sacrifice individualism for the honour of collective values...River Plate football makes more use of dribbling and generous personal effort, and is more agile and attractive.'

The Argentinian game was acquiring its own style. Faced with force and power, the typical local response was the dribble. Dribbling expressed the criollo viveza (native cunning) of the wily and crafty Argentinians as opposed to the artless English. Viveza was neither vice nor virtue, but rather a state of mind in which the creative imagination could thrive. Clever, quick footwork - consciously echoing the tango - became the embodiment of la nuestra, the ideal of Argentinian football. But there is no single, pure way to play football. Rather there is a constant, oscillating search by each participant and spectator to express and to celebrate the fundamental spirit of the game."

2006-10-16T15:25:00.000+05:30

AFSPA: It's Time to Unite

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, a special legislation that vests extraordinary powers to the security forces, including the right to shoot to kill based on mere suspicion that it is necessary to do so in order to "maintain the public order". Surprisingly, the Indian Parliament passed a law with such serious implications on civil liberties after discussing the matter for merely seven hours.

The Act has faced severe criticism for not meeting Indian and International Legal standards, most notably from the Human Rights Committee, United Nations. However, the beleaguered Act got a major lifeline in 1997 when the Supreme Court of India in the infamous decision in Naga People's Movement for Human Rights v. Union of India, upheld the constitutional validity of the Act.

The protests against this draconian legislation gained momentum in the aftermath of killing after alleged rape and torture of Thangjam Ningol Manorama (32) in Manipur by the Indian Security Forces in 2004. More than 30 civil society organisations joined in mass demonstrations against the AFSPA. The Union Government bowed down to public anger and appointed a Committee headed by Justice (Retd.) B.P. Jeevan Reddy to review the Act.

The Committee submitted its recommendations in 2005 but the Ministry of Home Affairs refused to disclose the Report. The contents of the Report were recently leaked to the media at the sidelines of Irom Sharmila's visit to New Delhi and her continued fast against the Act. It has emerged that the Jeevan Reddy Committee has suggested that the Act "should be repealed".

At this juncture, it is high time that the democratic and civil liberty movement in India step beyond the localised protests against the AFSPA and launch a concerted countrywide protests against this shameful law.

Monalisa Changkija, Editor of The Nagaland Page, Dimapur advocates the same in this piece in The Statesman.

2006-10-12T17:35:00.000+05:30

Sports and Politics: Two Shall Never Meet???

The relationship between sports and politics has always been a contested terrain. Diamterically oppposite but equally passionate views are evinced every time sports flirts with politics and vice versa.

But if one needs evidence to show that sports and politics are inextricably linked, one need not go further than the Spanish National Football team, says Phil Ball in his insightful piece, Flying the Flag.

2006-10-09T18:11:00.000+05:30

CAG Confirms Corruption in the Narmada Project

The audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General has confirmed significant corruption in rehabilitation works in Madhya Pradesh. Himanshu Upadhyay writes:

"In 2004, during audit of the vouchers of Executive Engineer S N Saxena at Badwani, it was found that in order to escape audit scrutiny, Saxena's division (no.22) had split the payments for the works into thousands of vouchers by keeping the amount below Rs.5000 in each case. On further probe, financial irregularities indicating fictitious and doubtful payments of Rs.5.63 crores were noticed. The division is responsible to carry out land acquisition, survey of affected properties, and develop resettlement sites for the oustees.

[...]

Most importantly, the audit also revealed how affected farmers' petitions before Grievance Redressal Authority (GRA) challenging the faulty level survey were being converted to provide a reason to book more expenditure and spend money unauthorisedly. It was found that as against technical sanctions of Rs.12.60 lakh for survey and Rs.7.52 lakh for grievance redressal works accorded (April – May 2003), Rs .2.92 crore and Rs.67.33 lakh respectively were spent, even when the revised technical sanctions had not been obtained.

[...]

Not just this, without the sanction of a competent authority, expenditure of Rs.67.33 lakhs was incurred for providing vehicles and labourers to look into complaint cases for survey and levelling and rechecking of house property survey. Interestingly, logbooks in respect of hired vehicles were not maintained, even the registration numbers of such vehicles were not on record. This compelled audit report to conclude, "payment of such a huge amount for hiring vehicles without any record and sanction of competent authority was not only irregular but doubtful." Also, the audit scrutiny of the expenditure incurred by Badwani NVDA office revealed abnormally high expenditure of Rs.76 lakhs during April 2002 to December 2004 for petty payments such as photocopying, typing, etc.

2006-08-30T16:38:00.000+05:30

Ministry of Environment and Forests Surreptitiously Pushes for Changes in EIA Norms

EIA Notification Amendment being pushed through without promised consultations
Shri. A. Raja, Union Minister for Environment and Forests in response to an appeal from the Campaign for Environmental Justice – India (CEJ-I) had directed his Secretary, Dr. Pradipto Ghosh on 9th August 2006 to open up the process of consultations in the process of comprehensively amending the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notifications. Shri. Raja had specifically issued this direction in light of the fact that people’s organisations, regional and local Governments and public interest organisations had been deliberately kept out of the consultation process. Shri. Raja had assured that these consultations would be held after the closure of the current session of Parliament during end August.

According to reliable sources, it is now learnt that MOEF is pushing ahead with the notification in clear violation of the assurance of the Union Environment and Forests Minister. If this turns out to be true, MoEF would have acted in direct contravention of the federal character of our country, for besides not consulting the public at large, in particular movements and networks that have repeatedly demonstrated the lackadaisical concern of MoEF to environmental and social justice issues, the Ministry would also have not given State Governments the status they have accorded the Corporate sector.

Information provided by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in response to an RTI request has confirmed that the Ministry had only consulted industries and industry lobby groups, while comments sent by many people’s organisations were not even registered. The Ministry also brazenly admits that it has specifically consulted “Apex Industry Associations namely CII, ASSOCHAM, FICCI and CREDAI” and that “a draft of final notification had been circulated to Apex Industry Associations and Central Ministries/Departments for obtaining their comments/views.” The MoEF further admits that the “comments of Apex Industry Associations and Central Ministries/Departments on Draft Final Notification are under examination”.

Recently, CEJI representatives met with Shri. P. G. Narayanan, MP and Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests, to apprise him of the MoEF’s intentions. Shri. Nararayan admitted he was not consulted in the process of reformulation of these critical notifications, and paying heed to CEJI concerns, immediately wrote to the Ministry calling for an explanation. In response, MoEF has stated unequivocally that following a presentation by Dr. Ghosh, Secretary MoEF the Principal Secretary, PMO and Member Secretary, Planning Commission “it was decided that MoEF should be (siq) another round of discussions with the Apex Industry Associations namely; CII, ASSOCHAM, FICCI, CREDAI after circulating to them the amended version of the notification prepared by the Ministry. It was also directed that simultaneously the notification be circulated to all concerned Central Ministries and their comments invited within 15 days.”

It is a matter of record that many State Governments and a host of NGOs, movements, networks, etc. had also made representations to the Ministry. In some cases they were as exhaustive reports following the holding of Public Hearings, as was the case with CEJI’s Public Hearing held in Delhi on 13 November 2005. But MoEF and the PMO found it fit to ignore State Governments and everyone else and proceed to make the changes merely in consultation with “Apex Industry Associations” and Central Ministries. Not only is this is blatant violation of the letter and spirit of the Environment Protection Act, but clearly attacks the Federal character of our country that relies on the cooperation between Centre and States in securing the lives and livelihoods of the people of India and its ecological security for posterity.

From these submissions made by the Ministry to the Parliamentary Committee, it is also clear that bending to the pressures of Business and Multinational interests, MoEF is ready to complete diluting significant regulatory powers latent in the Environment Protection Act by issuing an Environment Impact Assessment Notification that is a completely watered down version of the existing one.

Background:

We also wish to highlight that the executive leadership of MoEF has not responded to the calls from peoples’ movements, environmental groups and NGOs that any amendment to such critical regulatory notifications must only be carried out after widespread and transparent consultations, as directed by the Union Environment Minister till date. This especially considering that these notifications form a substantive part of ensuring conformance with environmental and social impact standards for the most polluting and environmentally damaging sectors.

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Congress-I heading the United Progressive Alliance coalition Government at the Centre was clearly upset about this situation when CEJ-I representatives met with her on August 6, 2006. She expressed that “it is unfortunate” and assured the delegation that she will look into the matter”.

Similarly, Shri. Prithviraj Chauhan, Minister of State attached to the Prime Minister’s Office found it wholly unacceptable that MoEF had proceeded to draft comprehensive amendments to such key notifications merely based on consultation with industry and Central Ministries. He saw no reason why the Ministry should be so sectoral and secretive in its approach, when the matter of “balancing developmental priorities and environmental sustainability” demanded widespread and open participation. He assured CEJI representatives who met him on August 9, 2006 that he would raise the matter with the Prime Minister.

Shri. P.G. Narayanan, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment and Forests admitted that MoEF had not consulted this apex body in re-drafting the EIA and CRZ notifications. He felt this went against the spirit of democratic participation in formulation of regulatory mechanisms and promised to take up this matter immediately in an appropriate forum.

Keeping in view the interest of millions of farmers, workers, and communities directly dependant on natural resources, as well as the critical need to protect ecologically sensitive habitats, CEJI will continue to campaign across the country against any dilution of environmental and forest clearance standards.

The current approach of the Ministry to comprehensively amend the notifications without any meaningful consultation and precisely based on sectoral consultations with the Business Sector, had exposed itself as a Ministry that is not working to the mandate it is appointed: to protect India’s environment and forests.

In this context, CEJI demands that the proposed EIA and CRZ Amendments should be put on hold till such time the broadbased consultations are held across the country.

Note issued by CAMPAIGN FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE - INDIA

2006-08-17T15:26:00.000+05:30

Why is Manmohan Scared of the Parliament?

As political parties of myriad hues and members of scientific and intelligence community are raising the tempo on the controversial nuclear deal between India and the United States and as the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Manmohan Singh braces up to address the Parliament on this subject, one cannot but be surprised and puzzled by the inexplicably stiff resistance from the ruling combine and its media cohorts against any discussion on such a sensitive issue in the Parliament.

While sections of the media have made disingenous attempts to place the protests in its favourite metanarrative of the 'loony left being a stumbling block in India' s quest towards global primacy', the government's constant refrain has been that it would be bound by the July 18 Agreement which had set the ball rolling in the first place.

The repeated allusion to the sanctity of the July 18 agreement is rather misleading. While that agreement must remain a reference point, one should be clear that the joint statement only provides a skeletal framework for cooperation. The Statement lays down the fundamental principles that would inform "full civil nuclear energy cooperation and trade" between the two countries. However, one needs to appreciate that the statement contains several open-ended clauses and statements whose operational parameters have to be worked out.

For example, the scope and modailities of "identifying and separating civilian and military nuclear facilities and programs in a phased manner" is a critical issue that must be thrashed out. Whether the separation would entail separation of personnel, the periodicity of such separation are fundamental questions that have not been addressed in the Joint Statement.

Thus, the point is that the Joint Statement of July 18, like all such formal instruments, has several gaps and ambiguities that have to be formulated through hard bar and transparent bargaining and in consonance with our national interests. The oft-repeated allusion to the 'goal-posts' of July 18 statement is therefore misleading and mischievous for the goal posts have not been set at all. The only thing we have is an agreement to play the game. The rules are yet to be finalised.

Similarly, there are a host of issues and concerns to be addressed, particularly due to the amendments introduced by the US Senate. Such concerns have been famously voiced by eminent Indian nuclear scientists and former intelligence heads.

What has been most distressing has been the unquestioning and pliant attitude of the media which has done its utmost possible to preclude any discussion on the soecifics of the deal.

Indian Express has gone ahead to invite the noted jurist, Fali S. Nariman to debunk the opposition to the deal in its present avatar, in a first page column (not edit-column mind you), entitled Why our scientists have (unwittingly) succumbed to the lure of popular politics .

Mr. Nariman writes:
"Politically, the Indo-US deal represents the explicit acknowledgement of India as a nuclear weapon state, even while opening the doors to full civil nuclear cooperation with international partners".

When you examine the finer print of the US Senate Bill, it is quite clear that the obligations on India in the form of annual Congressional Review, in-perpetuity safeguards and complete separation of military and civilian facilites and infrastructure are much more onerous than those undertaken by the other nuclear weapons states. So much for "acknowledgement of India as a nuclear weapon state"

Mr. Nariman, in all his eminence, further writes:
"A very wide spectrum of dual-use technologies are currently denied to Indian companies because they may even indirectly, assist our nuclear programme. Can our scientists deny this? With the Indo-US nuclear deal, our access to such technologies will become feasible and possible. "

The great man that he is, we should pardon his failure to mention that the US has stated in no uncertain terms about the prohibition on transfer of enrichment, reprocessing and heavy water technologies, termed as `sensitive nuclear technologies'. This in spite of the fact that the Joint Statement spoke about complete cooperation "not restricted to transfer of nuclear fuel".

As far as 'goalposts' are concerned, Joint Statement does not contain anything on India joining Proliferation Security Initiative or on aligning India's foreign policy with US foreign policy objectives or on inspection of Indan nuclear facilities by US. Yet, all these have found their way into the Senate Bill.

While unquestionably, this Bill is not binding on India, it has to be understood that US conformity with its share of obligations under the Deal will entirely be shaped by this Bill.

Yet, we celebrate the deal and pretend that all is well. There is no need for a Parliamentary discussion on the issue for after all we are a Prime Ministerial Government. And of course, we need more advanced technologies just like Microsoft and GE have set up new technologies in the country.

2006-08-07T12:15:00.000+05:30

Imperialism Through a Broken Mirror

Rewriting history has been the favourite activity of several political dispensations, forces and regimes cutting across the entire spectrum.

Mike Marqusee draws attention to the pitfalls of the recent attempts to portray British Imperialism in a light by sections of the British Academia and the far-right through this column in The Hindu.

2006-08-04T12:36:00.000+05:30

War, Lies and Propaganda

One of the myths surrounding the brutal and barbaric Israeli attack on Lebanon that is being repeated argumentum ad nauseam is that the Hizbullah startd the crisis by abducting the two Israeli soldiers which prompted the 'Israeli self-defence'.

In this context, it is pertinent to refer to this insightful piece by Aijaz Ahmad from the Frontline where he notes that:

"The initial report filed by Agence France-Presse (AFP) actually said that "According to the Lebanese police force, the two Israeli soldiers were captured in Lebanese territory, in the area of Aitaa al-Chaab, near to the border with Israel, where an Israeli unit had penetrated in middle of morning."

The Associated Press (AP) gave the same version on July 12: "The militant group Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers during clashes Wednesday across the border in southern Lebanon, prompting a swift reaction from Israel, which sent ground forces into its neighbour to look for them. The forces were trying to keep the soldiers' captors from moving them deeper into Lebanon, Israeli government officials said on condition of anonymity."

[...]

This line of reporting was completely suppressed after Israel put forward its claim that it was Hizbollah that had attacked its territory, killed its soldiers and kidnapped two others, so that it could claim to be attacking Lebanon in retaliation. We do know that an Israeli tank got blown up in Lebanese territory in the course of that incident. Israelis claim that they had sent that tank to chase the Hizbollah guerillas who had kidnapped Israeli soldiers. Hizbollah, by contrast, claims that the tank was part of the Israeli incursion into Lebanon, got blown up by a landmine, and Israeli soldiers were taken prisoner after a gun battle.''

Res ipsa loquitur and I wrest my case.

2006-08-04T12:21:00.000+05:30

Irregularities alleged in the functioning of the Technical Committee on Blue Lady: Beaching of Blue Lady violates Court’s order

High-level sources say that the inspection committee on Blue Lady was under intense pressure to give clearance to the vessel for beaching, as per the admissions by credible sources within Technical Committee on Ship-breaking. The source that spoke on condition of anonymity referred to intense pressure from within the committee and by the ship-breaker to gloss over facts relevant to environment and safety practices at Alang. The source admitted that Alang does not have the capacity to handle any of the toxic substances known to be present in Blue Lady.

Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) is making a mockery of the environmental laws for illicit considerations. This was predicted even when the Technical Committee was formed because of its composition, which includes MoEF, Central Pollution Control Board and Gujarat Maritime Board who are respondents in the case.

Beaching permission, which has been granted to the toxic laden Blue Lady by the Technical Committee on Ship Breaking, is illegal on three counts. One, the Supreme Court allowed the entry of the ship in the Indian waters for anchoring on humanitarian grounds not for beaching with no equity on the owners. This permission was in pursuance of a submission made by Haryana Ship Demolitions Pvt Ltd. But the permission has been given to a new outfit called Priya Blue Shipping Pvt Ltd. This is in violation of the court order. The alleged new purchaser Priya admits in its website [priyablue.com/demo_intro.htm] “western countries have very high standards of safety which calls for costly measures for ensuring safety. Hence, ship-breaking industry has been diverted from western countries to India…”

Secondly, even this permission has been by a Technical Committee whose term has expired on 31st July 2006. Thirdly, the committee was supposed to submit its report to the court. The court is yet to hear the legal arguments wherein the compliance of apex court’s 14th October 2003 order was sought by an applicant.

Blue Lady is full of highly toxic substances such as asbestos, PCBs and heavy metals besides radioactive substances. Given the fact that Alang shipyard does not have the facility to deal with these hazardous wastes and substances it endangers the occupational and environmental health and safety of the casual and contract workers. The court is aware of the deficiencies in the facilities at Alang, which led to it forming this Committee on ship breaking. As long as the committee does not submit its final report and the recommendations therein are complied with any claims with regard to the possibility of safe handling of PCBs and asbestos is misplaced. With regard to PCBs, which is a neurotoxin although its presence on board the ship has been confirmed on physical observation sans any lab analysis the fact remains Alang does not even have a facility to test it let alone manage it safely. As per an International treaty called Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), to which India is a party, PCBs are listed as substances, which are to be phased out.

The questions which has remained unanswered both from the Supreme Court and the Technical Committee is whether this ship has complied with the October, 2003 order. It is now quite manifest that court’s directions have been violated and the relevant rule of law with regard to hazardous waste has been flouted in the same way as was done in the case of Riky. The court is yet to pronounce its verdict on the illegality of that ship. If foreign ships such as Riky and Blue Lady are allowed to violate law with impunity what is the relevance of the court’s spontaneous intervention and Hazardous Waste Rules, which prohibits import of asbestos waste. The asbestos epidemic across the globe has led to over 40 countries having banned this killer fiber and most recently on 14th June, International Labor Organisation has called for its global ban. Turning a blind eye to such global developments exposes the callousness of the Ministry of Environment.

Even Basel Convention VII (26) explicitly states that ships for scrap are waste. Several courts around the world including Netherlands, Turkey, Belgium and Norway have opined that ships for scrap containing hazardous material and the ones, which are not decontaminated, are hazardous waste.

The dismantling of Blue Lady if it happens would mean dismantling of the much acclaimed landmark judgment of October, 2003 that provided the mechanism for demolition, which was passed after 10 years of hearing by the current Chief Justice of India.

Click here to read the Technical Committee Report and its methodological and analytical flaws.

2006-08-04T10:26:00.000+05:30

An Open Letter on Israeli War Crimes in Lebanon

Noted intellectuals and activists, Tariq Ali, Noam Chomsky, Eduardo Galeano,Howard Zinn, Ken Loach, John Berger and Arundhati have written an open letter against the Israeli aggression on Lebanon in compelete contravention of accepted norms of war. The letter states:

"The US-backed Israeli assault on Lebanon has left the country numb, smouldering and angry. The massacre in Qana and the loss of life is not simply "disproportionate". It is, according to existing international laws, a war crime.

The deliberate and systematic destruction of Lebanon's social infrastructure by the Israeli air force was also a war crime, designed to reduce that country to the status of an Israeli-US protectorate.

[...]

But these actions will not be tried by any court set up by the "international community" since the US and its allies that commit or are complicit in these appalling crimes will not permit it.
It has now become clear that the assault on Lebanon to wipe out Hizbullah had been prepared long before. Israel's crimes had been given a green light by the US and its loyal British ally, despite the opposition to Blair in his own country.

In short, the peace that Lebanon enjoyed has come to an end, and a paralysed country is forced to remember a past it had hoped to forget. The state terror inflicted on Lebanon is being repeated in the Gaza ghetto, while the "international community" stands by and watches in silence. Meanwhile, the rest of Palestine is annexed and dismantled with the direct participation of the US and the tacit approval of its allies..."

Check the full text here.

2006-08-02T13:12:00.000+05:30

Cuba and 40 Years of Revolution

Cuban President and Revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro has handed over power to the First Vice-President and his brother, Raul Castro due to failing health. It is suspected that this hand-over may not be temporary and the cuban exiles are already jubilating.

I take this opportunity to draw your attention to the remarkable achievements of Cuba that makes it a shining exemplar for other Third World countries. Check this old piece entitled Why the US fears Cuba from The Guardian.

2006-08-02T10:32:00.000+05:30

Naga Peace Process Round-Up

The Naga Peace Process and the talks between the Government of Union of India and the armed Naga Group NSCN (I-M) appears to be back on track after a some tough posturing in the previous rounds and in spite of som conflagrations on the ground. The Cease-Fire has been extended for a duration of one year and according to reports, the interlocutors have agreed on a framework to analyse the Indian Constitution.

The Hindu argues that:

"The Indian Constitution has sound built-in mechanisms to take care of regional aspirations and diversities. But what it does not do is provide for "asymmetrical federalism," that is, an institutional medium for different States and regions (other than Jammu & Kashmir) to relate to the Centre in different constitutional modes. To equate the situation in northeastern India today with what prevailed in J&K six decades ago and resulted in a special constitutional status for that State, is unrealistic."

The editorial, in a surprising note puts the ball squarely in the court of NSCN (I-M) when it avers:

"On the other hand, if `sovereignty' can be creatively interpreted to mean a greater degree of autonomy or self-administering opportunities, the gap can be bridged.
[...]
If the NSCN(I-M) can be persuaded to show realism on the sovereignty and territorial questions, there will be progress."

Bharat Bhushan notes in The Telegraph that the ceasefire has almost been made coterminus with the peace process:

"The idea of making the ceasefire coterminous with the talks originally came from Michael van Walt, legal adviser to the Dalai Lama and a facilitator in the peace talks. He had suggested that this was the only way to make the ceasefire irrevocable. "This way neither the NSCN (I-M) nor the government of India would have the choice of breaking the ceasefire. If the talks break down, so will the ceasefire. We were agreeable to this from the beginning," an Indian negotiator said. "

While it prima facie appears to be a heartening development, its strategic implications on the peace process needs to be studied and complexities have to be addressed.

2006-07-24T18:52:00.000+05:30

A Fatal Blow to the Right to Information Act

The decision of the Cabinet to amend the Right to Information Act and exclude file notings from the purview of this groundbreaking legislation will smother the Act in its very infancy. Ramon Magsasay Award winner Aruna Roy and Right to Information Activist, Nikhil Dey argues the same in 'Taking the Life Out of the Right to Information' in The Hindu.

2006-07-24T17:57:00.000+05:30

Dissecting Terrorism

Predictably, there has been a fresh upsurge in the rhetoric against terrorism after the utterly reprehensible attack on the local trains in Mumbai on July 11 (which, in a quirk reflection of colonisation of mind, is being refered to as 711). Sadly, most of the comments have been nothing more than rabble-rousing which have reiterated oft-invoked stereotypes and have provided little new insights.

An exception to the bellicose proclamations is this piece by the eminent historian, Professor Harbans Mukhia entitled 'Understanding Terrorism'. He stresses on the possible linkages between the rise of violent ideologically motivated attacks and the institutional and ideological limitations of liberalism.

He notes:

"Clearly then there have been diverse manifestations of the urge for equality, and liberal democracy has the briefest history behind it with the exception of Marxism. However, in its quest for universal triumph it seeks to establish uniformity over the diverse landscape of history. It enters into an almost irresoluble conflict with all anterior forms of the search for egalitarianism.

[...]

The finality of this one vision of equality and liberty, with the assumption of its inevitable universal triumph over the others, needs to be critically scrutinised and space for plurality of visions and their mutual tolerance be enlarged exponentially where historical and cultural experiences of all segments of humanity become part of the process of a shared but diversified human future."

Another illuminating reading is the interview of Ashish Nandy by Smitu Kothari on 'Revisiting the Violence of Development' where the inextricable relationship between development, fundamentalism and violence is discussed:

"...development requires modernization of a certain kind, not only of the technological base of society but also of the institutional structure of society. It also needs a different kind of nation-state system where centralized authority presides over the process of development. It is predictable and contractual and, ideally, it should also be impersonal and impartial. This kind of state can only be run by a relatively homogenized idea of nationality. A certain kind of majority prejudice is built into it.

[...]

It is a prerequisite for developmental regimes and this invariably leads to a certain degree of sanction for certain forms of majorities to emerge in society. At the same time, because the categories, worldview and meaning system associated with development are not accessible to the majority in many countries, what they see is the gradual collapse of the institutional structure that was there earlier. What they see is a collapse or dissolution of the community they have stayed in and a dilution of the kind of religion they have been practising. So, for example, if you are a western Indian Hindu moving into an impersonal city like Delhi, certain kinds of practices associated with your version of Hinduism - the family gods and goddesses, the family priest, caste- and sect-specific rituals - are no longer available to you. So you begin to look for a generic sense of community at first.

[...]

Secondly, you are buffeted by social change and by an impersonal, contractual and atomizing milieu that begins to negate the basic assumptions of your lifestyle. As a result, you are not only disoriented but you feel that the meaning of your life is being taken away, and with a vengeance you turn to religion in the hope that you can recover what you seem to be losing and because you cannot go back to your village. You opt for a generic version of Islam, Buddhism or Hinduism. Even religion itself becomes homogenized in some sense. But in that process of self-affirmation you become more and more adversarial."

2006-07-22T10:17:00.000+05:30

Of Alien Coaches, Long balls and Stature

Indian Football is hoping for a new dawn out of the dark night that it has landed itself in, with appointment of a new coach, Mr. Bob Haughton. While his credentials are impressive enough to send our hopes soaring (his extensive experience with Asian teams should help him), some of his first statements do lead to some concern.

He has spoken about the need for emphasis on height, set pieces and physical strength. Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, the seemingly timeless President of AIFF showed a rare preference for urgency and immediately spoke about the need to identify taller footballers from Northern India.

One cannot presumably contest Mr. Houghton's reliance on set pieces and physical conditioning. The level of physical fitness of our players is ridiculously pathetic with our clubs shamefully ignorant of fundamentals of physical training. Most clubs do not even have a system of pre-season conditioning. In fact, the only miniscule success that we have had in the last few years (LG Cup in Vietnam was due to the physical training by the coach, Stephen Constantine) owes a major part due to better fitness.

However, I cannot but have a sense of deja vu with the stress on stature of players. We have had a series of East European coaches over the last two decades who have come in and spoken of height and need to play direct football.

I remember how Rustam Akramov included tall but lumbering defenders like Amrik Singh in the mid-nineties. He ommitted several technically proficient but dimmunitive players like Aqueel Ansari, Gunabir Singh and Carlton Chapman. What happenned was that we got thrashed 0-6 by ordinary teams like Qatar and Yemen.

This is reflective of the failure of our experiments with European coaches who have sought to inculcate an alien culture to us. Height has never been our forte.Even in our glorious days of 1950s and 1960s, we were good ball-players but not physically strong. The reliance on strong and tall players resulted in the sacrifice of speed and flair. This has led to a steady downhill ride for the team since the mid-eighties.

Apart from Cyric Milovan and Stephen Constantine, none of the coaches - from Jiri Pasek to Akramov, none of the foreign coaches produced the desired result. Instead, while we could compete with teams like Uruguay, Argentina and Italy in early eighties (we lost 0-1 to Argentina only through a late goal, lost to Italy by an own goal), now we have started losing to small countries like Bangladesh, Maldives, Thailand.

I think we need to learn from the Latin American teams who are not the physically tallest teams but have retained their faith on technical skills and have flourished. We must remember that the game is called football and supposed to be played on ground. It is not basketball.

2006-07-22T09:51:00.000+05:30

Back with a Bang

I cannot conceal my delight and relief at the rollback of the ill-conceived and ham-handed misadventure of the ISPs in blocking access to blogspot.com

2006-07-18T12:00:00.000+05:30

'No Work No Pay' - Different Yardsticks for Different Classes?

The Supreme Court departed from the principle of 'no pay no work' that is has so zealously applied in the context of striking worker and directed the Centre to pay salary to the doctors for the period when they struck work against quotas in educational institutions.

2006-07-14T16:24:00.000+05:30

New Evidence Confirm Star Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Lines Deceived German Authorities to Dispose of the Toxic Laden SS Norway to India

The NGO Platform on Shipbreaking, a global coalition of human rights and environmental groups working to uphold environmental justice, released a report today revealing new evidence that the third largest cruise operator in the world, Star Cruises Ltd and its subsidiary, Norwegian Cruise Lines, withheld vital information from German authorities, when they sought permission to allow their toxic waste laden vessel, the SS Norway, to depart from the Port of Bremerhaven on 25 May 2005 to Asia. The Report reveals that as early as December 2004, SCL and NCL formed the intent to dispose of the vessel, which they did not disclose to German authorities, and instead claimed that the SS Norway was going to Asia for repairs.

The Report entitled, "Star Cruises Ltd and Norwegian Cruise Lines: Deceiving Germany and Violating International Law in the Export of the SS Norway to India", uncovered information disclosed in NCL's 2005 Annual Report submitted to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on 28 March 2006, explaining how NCL reduced the value of the SS Norway by as much as US$14.5 million in a span of months in 2004, diminishing the SS Norway to a scrap value of US$12.3 million. The public disclosure further reveals that by December 2004, NCL's management concluded that the sale of the SS Norway to a third party for re-use was not likely.

Citing confidential information from Pierre & Vacances, a French company, who in 2004 was able to requisition a study of the asbestos content of the vessel using the SS Norway's ship plans and documents furnished by NCL, the Report confirms the presence of at least 1,200 tonnes of asbestos in the SS Norway. The confidential information also affirmed that at least EUR 17 million would be needed to partially decontaminate the asbestos in the vessel, more than the SS Norway's scrap value. These facts, the Report asserts, puts into context the deception perpetrated by NCL and SCL in 2005.

"Lying to the German authorities in order to pass on tonnes of toxic wastes to unsuspecting workers in India or Bangladesh, and laying waste to the environment of South Asia is an indication of how morally bankrupt the people running Star Cruises are ", says Ingvild Jenssen, coordinator of the NGO Platform. "The management and the Board of Directors of these companies should be held criminally and civilly accountable by the German government for their actions ."

This is not the first time that NCL lied to government authorities to cover up an environmental crime. On July 31, 2002 the US Department of Justice issued a press release, entitled "Norwegian Cruise Line Admits to Environmental Crime". In the release, the US DOJ stated that NCL "admitted that it engaged in a practice of systematically lying to the United States Coast Guard over a period of years regarding the discharge of oil-contaminated bilge waste from the SS Norway and at least one other ship." NCL signed a plea agreement acknowledging the felony violation, paid US$1 million in criminal fines and cooperated with federal official to resolve the case.

The release of the findings of the NGO Platform was timed with their submission of a formal request to the Senator of Building, Environment and Transportation of Bremen, Mr. Neumeyer, demanding that Germany comply with its international obligations under the Basel Convention and its Basel Ban Amendment, which prohibits the export of hazardous wastes from developed nations to poorer countries, and immediately recall the SS Norway back to Germany to be decontaminated.

The European Commission also recently sent a letter to Germany asking for clarifications on whether the Basel Convention and Council Regulation no. 259/93 have been applied in the SS Norway case.

The SS Norway, the third largest cruise ship in the world after the Queen Elizabeth II and the ill-fated Titanic, was the jewel in the fleet of NCL until August of 2003, when an explosion in her boiler room killed 8 of her crew, injured 20 others, and left the vessel heavily damaged and without any propulsion. In March of 2004, NCL President, Mr. Colin Veitch publicly announced that the SS Norway would no longer ply the North American cruise market, precipitating the cat and mouse game that NCL and SCL played with various government authorities.

The NGO Platform raised concerns that the asbestos load of the SS Norway is only a portion of the problem it presents. Older vessels are known to contain the persistent organic pollutant, polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs, which are known to bioaccumulate in the food chain and poison top predators such as humans. PCBs are also known probable human carcinogens and are slated for globally phase out under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

"The dangers posed by the SS Norway and similar vessels are real. The level of asbestos in the SS Norway is more than double of the French aircraft carrier Clemenceau, and we still have no idea how much PCBs, lead, cadmium, mercury and the other toxins are in the SS Norway ," says Gopal Krishna of Ban Asbestos Network India. "There is a great injustice before us, and the global community must act quickly and in unison to stop it ."

For a copy of the Report go to: http://www.ban.org/Library/Star_Cruises_Deception_Report_Final.pdf

2006-07-14T15:35:00.000+05:30

Aamir Khan in the Dock

Aamir Khan finds himself in the headlines yet again. The Gujarat State Forest Department has re-opened a case against Aamir Khan for alleged violation of the Wildlife Act during the filming of Lagaan.

While one cannot question the fact that the law must take its own course, the possibility of vendetta is looms large. One cannot but wonder whether the sudden rediscovery of sense of duty and diligence by the Gujarat Forest Department is linked to Aamir Khan's views on the Sardar Sarovar Project and post-Godhra riots.

2006-07-14T15:12:00.000+05:30

Calcutta to Kolkata: A Sign of Insecurity?

"...Changing placenames is what banana republics do. Cities are creations of centuries of strife and settlement. Only insecure societies dare not recall their past, however chequered...", avers Simon Jenkins in Guardian.

He also provides us with a fascinating insight into names of few famous places in England:

"...placenames were the local words most commonly adopted by invaders. The reason was that early travellers needed to know where they were and dared not rename geography, especially rivers (hence the science of hydronomy). Thus survived the oldest trace elements of past tongues. I am told that Scotland's lost language of Pictish must be studied largely through names.

The Romans imposed names only on their camps, often embracing a Celtic predecessor. Lincoln combines the Latin colonia and the Celtic llyn or lake. Lancaster is a camp, castra, by the River Lune. Adrian Room's admirable Penguin dictionary of placenames gives Pontefract as a rare all-Latin example, meaning broken bridge. Celtic lives on in Devon, Kent, York, Avon and Severn. The Anglo-Saxon invasion brought -tons, -burys and -hams, while the Vikings brought -by and -kirk. Across much of eastern England the tapestry of mixed settlement can be charted through placenames."

2006-07-13T16:59:00.000+05:30

Doha Round: The End of Globalisation?

So argues Martin Jacques in the Guardian

2006-07-13T00:34:00.000+05:30

SC Issues Notice to NBA: Indulging Ad Hominem Attack

In an intriguing development, the Supreme Court has issued notice to the Narmada Bachao Andolan while admitting a petition filed by the National Council for Civil Liberties seeking a CBI investigation into the funding sources of the anti-dam organisation.

While the credentials of the petitioner itself are not entirely convincing with it facing allegations of being a front organisation of the BJP, it is indeed disturbing and surprising that the Apex Court has admitted the plea. If the petitioner has credible information on any wrongdoing, then he would be better advised to pursue the statutory mechanism. If the authorities indeed failed to follow-up, as alleged, on the complaint, then there are adequate statutory vistas that have been specified.

It would be a dark day when the Supreme Court start entertaining every such vexatious complaints. After failing to counter the rising popularity and strength of the NBA, the vested interests have decided to launch vitriolic ad hominem attack on it.

It begs the question that whether the Court will admit a similar petition alleging that BJP is an anti-national party receiving unaccounted foreign funds, is filed before the Supreme Court.

Secondly, one fails to understand the hysteria that has been generated over the dangers of foreign fundings of 'NGOs' who have 'surrogate agenda'. It must be noted that the NGOs receiving foreign funds are regulated by the highly stringent Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. Under this legislation, the Ministry of Home Affairs exercises safeguards that are much stricter than those used for political parties or foreign companies.

Further, one wonders that if there is nothing dangerous about Government's taking loans with secret covenants from the World Bank or western donors and if influx of foreign capital is a coveted objective, why the brouhaha over foreign funding of NGOs. Evidently, the zeal of the neo-liberals does not transcend the limits of capital.

2006-07-03T10:56:00.000+05:30

Losing Your Religion: Pekerman's About Turn

I feel a bit wary about adding to the diatribe against Jose Pekerman who has surely earned enough opprobrium by now for his ill-fated substitutions yesterday. At the same time, I feel absolutely gutted given the amount of faith I had placed in him.

He had revived the best traditions of one-touch free flowing Argentinian football after the less than happy flirtations of the previous two coaches with European style of play. He had been a father figure for most of the present batch of players and his understated style of management and his insistence on team work had made all supporters of this great team believe in it and Argentina Football owes a lot to this man.

But sportsmen live under the occupational hazard of being as good as their last performance. And so it shall be with Mr. Pekerman who would be remembered by posterity more for his omissions in Berlin than the virtuoso he orchestrated in Gelsenkirchen.

It was so tragically ironic to see the man betray his own philosophy and give up on everything he stood for when the going got tough. Instead of playing on the ground, he asked for long ball. When speed and guile was the need of the hour, he went for the apparent strenght of Cruz; and to cap it all he gave up on Riquelme, the very player whom he brought from the anonymity of 4th choice to the centre of the squad.

We had faith in him after the Confederation Cup debacle, we kept faith even when he chose Scaloni over that champion of full-back Zanneti (though Coloccini must be given due credit for his lion-hearted display against Germany). But this was the worst nightmare. It was surreal to see our magicians sit on the bench while earnest, but nothing more, soldiers brave it out in the ET.

I am still waiting to be woken up and be told that this never happenned.

2006-06-06T19:24:00.000+05:30

SC Allows SS Blue Lady: The Hazards of the Order

The Supreme Court of India refused to bar the entry of the controversial ship, SS Blue Lady, containing (according to the estimates submitted by assessor, M/s GEPIL Ltd.) around 1240 MT of asbestos and unspecified amount of PCBs and other toxic wastes, into Indian waters. The Court relied on the recommendations of its Technical Committee of Experts, which had suggested that the ship be granted the permission to lay anchor in Indian territorial waters, on humanitarian grounds due to the imminent onset of monsoon.

It is humbly submitted that the Court erred in its singular reliance on the recommendations of the Technical Committee and has dealt a lethal blow to the environmental protection and occupational health movement in India. The decision of the Technical Committee of Experts was taken without due opportunity and representation from environmental activists on the likely hazards and danger in entry of the concerned ship and the legal regulations that bar such entry. The Committee examined submissions only from the owner of the ship and M/s GEPIL, who undertook the exercise of assessment of asbestos in the ship, before arriving at its conclusion.

The recommendations in the interim report of the Technical Committee of Experts completely ignore the legal principles regulating movement of hazardous wastes as postulated by the Basel Convention on Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and the provisions of Hazardous Waste (Storage and Handling) Rules and the previous directions of the Supreme Court itself.

It may be mentioned that India is a signatory to the Basel Convention on Transboundary movement of Hazardous Waste. As argued earlier, ships destined for ship breaking operations clearly fall within the definition of "wastes" as defined by the Basel Convention. Basel Convention imposes stringent restrictions on movement of hazardous wastes. These restrictions have been supplemented by the directions of the Supreme Court.

In the instant case, the ship has consistently and maliciouly ignored all the safeguards. It set sail from Germany in May 2005 after misrepresenting that it is leaving for Singapore for conversion into a hotel. Even in Malaysia, the ship set fail after having misrepresented before the Malaysian Marine Department that the vessel is headed for Dubai for repair and refurbishment.

It is tragic that the Technical Committee has inexplicably ignored the past wrongdoings of the ship and the consequent lack of bona fide of the ship owners and recommended its entry on specious humanitarian grounds, that are nothing but products of hyperactive imagination.

What is more disheartening is the blind reliance on the Interim Report by the Hon'ble Supreme Court which has failed to consider not only the provisions of the Basel Convention but its own orders of the past.

2006-06-05T11:36:00.000+05:30

From "Fault" to "Irretrievable Breakdown"

The Supreme Court of India accepts "irretrievable breakdown of marriage" as a ground for divorce.

2006-06-02T19:36:00.000+05:30

The Nutty Manager

Learn about eccentricity and soccer coaching in this hilarious piece by Harry Pearson in the Guardian.

2006-06-02T19:04:00.000+05:30

(Absence of) Affirmative Action in India

Zoya Hasan presents her views, in her usual lucid and insightful way in The Hindu:

…Quotas and affirmative action converge strikingly in many ways, both are mechanisms of preferential treatment to facilitate inclusion of disadvantaged groups.

[…]

Given the persistence of social discrimination, the question that must be posed should not be confined to the limited point as to whether preferential treatment must be in the form of quotas or affirmative action of a broader scope. Rather, the question should be: would alternative measures produce the same outcomes that mandatory quotas produce? …

[…]

So far, with the exception of a few institutions, such as the Jawaharlal Nehru University, which has designed an admission policy that gives additional points for social and regional backwardness helping to increase the OBC student intake to roughly 20 per cent of the student population, there is very little evidence of voluntary schemes of affirmative action in other institutions of higher learning. The fact that very few institutions have introduced voluntary measures of affirmative action for the disadvantaged sections and the continuation of the anti-quota protests despite the announcement of an increase in the number of seats in Central educational institutions leads one to the conclusion that the real issue is not affirmative action per se but hostility to any policy intervention that sets out to empower the underprivileged and dilute the monopoly of the privileged in education. That is why we need reservation for different groups in higher education because the nature of Indian society ensures that without such measures, social discrimination and exclusion will persist and be strengthened.

[…]

Although reservation for the OBCs is necessary, the Government should ensure that it does not reproduce inequalities within groups that reservation seeks to remedy between groups. The creamy layer rules presume that there are individuals within the group who have the economic and political clout to overcome discrimination and hence it is important to exclude them.

[…]

Creamy layer rules should be more complex than a simple economic cut-off; it should include a wide variety of considerations relating to employment, property, jobs, schooling, and access to higher education.

2006-06-01T10:57:00.000+05:30

The Strange Ritual of a Goalkeeper

Each time a player steps up to the spot to take a penalty kick this world cup, he should thank his stars that Argentine 1990 World Cup hero, Sergio Goycochea retired from international football long time ago. The following lines say why:

"...among the more bizarre rituals was that of Sergio Goycochea, the Argentinian goalkeeper in the 1990 World Cup. Before any penalty kick taken he would hitch up his shorts and urinate on the grass. In full view of thousands of specators and the TV media.

And it worked as Argentina beat Italy in the 1990 WC semi-fianls. Goycochea made spectacular saves of Robert Donadoni's and Aldo Serena's penalty kicks that took Argentina to the final against W. Germany. And in the finals he almost kept out Andreas Brehme's penalty in the 85th minute that gave the Germans their title.

Maybe it was the sight of Goycochea peeing on the grass that threw of Donadoni and Serena. But it worked."

The world awaits the brave heart who would continue the healthy tradition of 'The Wall of Gibraltar'.

2006-05-30T18:45:00.000+05:30

Momentum and Sports

The spectacular and incredible implosion of the Indian cricket team in its Caribbean sojourn reiterates the importance of that coveted possession called ‘momentum’ in sports. The history of sports is replete with instances of mediocre teams that have ridden on the sheer strength of momentum to glorious heights. Momentum and rhythm had no mean role in French triumph in Soccer World Cup, 1998 against technically superior teams or the Greek Odyssey in Euro 2004.

Going back to the sport under microscope, cricket with its overwhelmingly large share of bilateral series, momentum acquires a larger than life character. One does not need to tax memory to recollect examples of how teams, beaten and bruised have lifted themselves to turn the tables and then gone on a winning streak of their own.

India’s comeback in the one-day series in 2006 owed a lot to the loosening of the screws by Pakistan who later found to their peril that they had let a genie out of the bottle, Pakistan’s stunning comeback in India in the previous year was also a product of sudden change in the equations.

Therefore, the signs from India’s lackluster effort in the second one-dayer therefore were not very encouraging and sure enough, India collapsed. However, I am sure that this young team would have learnt the harsh lesson that you are as good as your last appearance and would move on from here.

2006-05-26T16:40:00.000+05:30

The Vacuity of Protests

While not going into the relative strengths (one should avoid the pitfalls of the merit-fetish ) and weaknesses of the arguments of the major actors in the highly emotive reservation debate, one feels compelled to take notice of the intellectual vacuity of the protests, both for and against reservation.

The symbols and idioms used by the anti-reservation protesters betray their inherently anti- dalit and anti-lower caste attitude. Students sweeping roads and the floors of their campuses suggest that absence of dignity of labour, a bane of our society still lingers menacingly.

2006-05-19T17:41:00.000+05:30

Barca Win: A Boost for the Beautiful Game

Barcelona's Champions League victory is one of the most promising news for football lovers all over the world. Increasingly over the last half a decade or so, the most beautiful game had been held hostage to the soporific and tedious philosophy of putting ten men behind the ball in one's own half and sending hopeful long balls to one target man in front. The last three Champions League winners, Milan, Porto and Liverpool - all were masterful purveyors of this defensive style. Elsewhere, successes of Greece and Chelsea had convinced more and more fans that the road to footballing glory was paved with hard tackles, conservatism, and organisation in midfield. The self-annointed Special One, Jose Mourinho has been the quintessence of this new pragmatism in Football. He has turned some of the most artistic footballers into mere cogs of a well-oiled and successful machine.

While one cannot belittle the talent and ability of the likes of Damien Duff, Joe Cole or the spirit and passion of John Terry, Claude Makalele, and Gattuso, for a neutral, it must be said that watching a Chelsea or Greece play is as appealing a proposition as drinking milk in a pub.

The all-conquering feats of Barcelona thankfully is a telling reminder that while defensive steel and organisation is as much necessary as attacking flair, the two can unquestionably happy and more importantly, successful couple. One hopes that other coaches imbibe this lesson as willingly as Frank Rjikaard.

2006-05-18T11:35:00.000+05:30

"This boy born in the West Indies maan,...You stole him away from us."

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has wasted no time in endearing himself to the windies cricket lovers with his buccaneering instincts.

Savour this from Cricinfo.

2006-05-16T14:13:00.000+05:30

Okay in Military Pakistan, Okay in Despotic Nepal, But Not Okay in Democratic India!!

Few South Asia based civil society groups, along with their European partners, were working on organising a workshop on "Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination against Ethnic Minorities and Indigenous People" in New Delhi with the objective of examining the European initiative in the protection of religious, cultural and linguistic minorities and the relevance of lessons learnt in South Asia. The workshop would have been the final chapter of the project and would have followed earlier workshops, organized successfully in Lahore and Kathmandu.

However, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has stepped in and has communicated to the organisers in a characteristically terse letter, its sincere regret over its inability to grant permission for the aforesaid workshop.

Curiously, the letter does not contain any reason or basis for the decision of the Home Ministry. Such unwarranted intrusion into academic freedom and the fundamental right to speech and expression betrays the Orwellian character of the Indian state and needs to be condemned in no uncertain manner.

The cruel irony is that while the supposedly totalitarian Governments of Nepal and Pakistan had no qualms having the workshop in Kathmandu and Lahore respectively, the largest 'democracy' in the world feels the need to clamp down on such constructive engagments within the civil society.

2006-05-16T12:40:00.000+05:30

Zannetti's Exclusion from Argentina Final Squad for FIFA World Cup Announced Creates Flutter

Argentina Coach, Jose Pekerman named the final squad for the World Cup Campaign and the rumours of exclusion of former skipper, Zavier Zannetti have proved to be true. Other notable exclusions are Inter defender Walter Samuel and Bayern Munich medio, Martin Demechelis. It seems that Pekerman, a two time Youth World Cup winner as a coach, has opted to rely on most of his wards from the Youth team.

While the albiceleste squad has a lethal frontline, the exclusion of Inter skipper, arguably among the finest right backs of the modern game, leaves a big hole in the defence. The ire of Zannetti fans is accentuated by the non-too impressive recent form of his replacements, Fabricio Coloccini and Lionel Scaloni. A perfect team player and a well-respected person, Zannetti's assured presence, his surging runs through the wing and his dignified demeanour will be sorely missed by football fans in Germany.

The only footballing reason for his omission could be that an attacking wing back does not fit into Pekerman's preferred style of 3-3-1-3 wherein the emphasis is on slicing the opposition through the centre instead of wing play. One hopes that Pekerman has made his decision on pure football logic for it would be a shame if such a quality player has been left out for his alleged proximity to the out-of-favour Veron.

Another facet is that Walter Samuel's absence means that the defence will be vulnerable against aerial balls and physically strong attackers. Further, the team will be excessively dependent on Ayala for exploiting the setpieces it earns.

For all the defensive frailties and lack of height in both attack and defence, the team is still a good one and when the team find its rythm, even the mercurial Brazilians cannot parallel their fluid passing. Most defences will dread facing Messi-Tevez-Crespo-Aimar-Riquelme on song. I wish Pekerman all the best and hope that the team reaches at least the last four, for otherwise he will be crucified in Buenos Aires.

2006-05-15T17:50:00.000+05:30

Human Rights Council: A Momentous Step

The global struggle towards protection of human rights and respect for basic human freedom received an impetus with the formation of the United Nations Human Rights Council to replace the Commission on Human Rights.

The Human Rights Council was established by the General Assembly in its resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006. The resolution stated that the Council would consist of forty-seven Member States, to be elected directly by secret ballot. The Council is lent an inclusive character by the fact that seats shall be distributed on the basis of equitable geographical distribution among regional groups. The members of the Council shall serve for a period of three years and shall not be eligible for immediate re-election after two consecutive terms.

The mandate of the body, as postulated by the Resolution, is to “Undertake a universal periodic review, based on objective and reliable information, of the fulfilment by each State of its human rights obligations and commitments in a manner which ensures universality of coverage and equal treatment with respect to all States; the review shall be a cooperative mechanism, based on an interactive dialogue, with the full involvement of the country concerned and with consideration given to its capacity-building needs.”

The elections for the Council were conducted on May 9, 2006 and the first Council was constituted. Many experts are of the opinion that the new Human Rights Council by the United Nations General Assembly represent a substantial improvement over the recent membership of the former Commission on Human Rights.

Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch opined that the new membership standards and election procedures discourage states with some of the worst records of human rights abuses like Sudan, Zimbabwe, Libya, Syria, Vietnam and Nepal from even running for election.

Mr. Jorge M. Taiana, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Argentina believes that since the this new body will be permanent and directly subsidiary to the General Assembly, it will be able to deeply analyse human rights violations in any and all countries.

The legal and structural intricacies aside, it is clear that the Council is a historic opportunity for International Human Rights Law to move forward and transcend the limits set by absence of coercive powers.

2006-05-05T15:04:00.000+05:30

India: A Dry State???

It may be a definite, though rather unpleasant and staid, possibility if their Lordships , oops, Honour have their way. Read this report.

This judgment deserves to be ranked as one of the most creative use of Section 58 of the Indian Evidence Act.

2006-05-04T20:05:00.000+05:30

Disappearance and State Privilege

The Gauhati High Court has appointed an amicus curiae to assist the court in adjudicating on the Central Government's privilege claim against producing the list of names of all the ULFA insurgents who were handed over to the Indian Army by the Bhutanese authorities in the aftermath of Operation All Clear.

Family members of ULFA insurgents who disappeared after the operations have filed a petition before the Gauhati High Court. The fact that the Court has appointed an amicus is a significant move as such matters are traditionally brushed under the carpet on the ubiquitous ground of 'national security'.

That the instant petition has extra-territorial implications makes it critical and may become a landmark in the field of laws regulating extra-territorial operations of Indian army and other agencies and their (non)-observance of human rights.

Further, the expansive notion of privilege frequently asserted by the state authorities under Section 124 of Indian Evidence Act is an anathema in this age of transparency and right to information.

2006-05-02T17:34:00.000+05:30

Pind Baluch: A True Punjabi Experience: My Eating Out Guide -1

Imitation and Inspiration, they say, is the best form of flattery. I have been a great fan of Rahul Verma who writes for the 'Eating Out' column in the Delhi City Supplement of that titan among newspapers, The Hindu. His delightful accounts of street eating in Delhi and his very perceptive analysis of the eating culture of Delhi have regaled many a thousand readers.

But reading his nuggets has been a troubling exercise too. For everytime after reading him, I have been haunted by the guilt that while I talk and have written a lot about sports, I have never indulged my other favourite indulgence - eating, an endeavour no less enriching than sports - the same way. The feeling of void has been further accentuated ever since I have begun to more vividly appreciate the wonder and joy in cooking.

So, hereby I start a new venture of putting down in fine print, my opinion of every eating joint that has had or will have the honour of serving my esteemed self. While at one level, this is going to be a vehicle of self-expression, it is primarily a tribute to the man who has made reading Hindu so much more enjoyable. You can also rely on my considered opinion for satisfying your hunger in the most sumptous way.

I start of this series with a review of a joint called Pind Baluch (Lajpat Nagar, Ring Road). Conveniently located (right on the Ring Road), it is an absolute treat for the connoisseurs of Punjabi food. Mutton Keema Paranthas are simply unbelievable. Those who are gastronomically concerned have the choice of having them with yoghurt or tomato gravy, which is adequately appetizing. The whole experience is enhanced by the fine service that bears the mark of traditional Punjabi hospitality. Wastrels like myself can take comfort from the fact that the effect on the wallet is relatively minimal. The ambience resplendent with traditional punjabi (not the cacophony called bhangra pop) music and sherwani clad staff can make a believer out of even the fiercest of critic of punjabi food.

2006-05-01T16:53:00.000+05:30

Football as a Cultural Expression

Tim Vickery, BBC South American Football Reporter provides this fascinating socio-cultural insight into the 'kick and run' style of English football:

"In England it seems to me that the values of the game reflect those of the industrial society that gave birth to it; a low technology, labour intensive economy produced an interpretation of football that instinctively trusted physical strength and reliability. These qualities were needed on the factory floor or down the mine-shafts, and were highly prized on the football field.

The crisis years of English football, the 1980s, coincided with the end of the old industrial model but now, as the country looks more and more like some post-industrial theme park, football is more popular than ever – because in such bewildering times it allows people to maintain some kind of reassuring contact with the collective values of the past."

2006-05-01T13:35:00.000+05:30

Closest to the Heart

To begin with, I offer my not so sincere apologies to all those romantically inclined who got attracted to this piece by its rather misleading title. However, moving on to the crux of the matter, as we are left with only 38 days before the commencement of the greatest sporting spectacle of the world, (for all the competitive and yet sporting spirit and global harmony that Olympics evoke, the primal passion of soccer world cups is simply matchless), I join the glorious league of many a million football fans who are presently using their time and grey cells in putting down dream/fantasy/world elevens.

Any essay in selecting the world eleven or an all time great team is fraught with peril as one is forced to compare between different eras and footballing cultures. While football is a universal game, like a language it is and has been spoken with different accents in different places and eras. Equally importantly, the task of choosing just eleven out of the array of stars requires the insensitive heart of a dentist which most fans of this beautiful game do not possess. Further, the author of any such dream team risks the opprobrium of greats, not included in the eleven.

Not equipped with the heart of a dentist or a warrior who can face up to the criticisms of enraged fans, I intend to steer clear of such danger and am hereby modestly putting down an eleven of my favourite players from the last decade. As I have already mentioned earlier, it has been quite painful to omit players I hero worship due to the constraint of numbers and had to spend a whole sleepless Delhi summer night, to make my final team. Several of the players who have made it to the final list failed to realise their initial promise and gifted skills and would definitely be contenders for any all time ‘Underachievers XI’. May be it takes one underachiever to understand the pathos of pondering over what might have been.

Goalkeeper:

Iker Casillas: Have been an ardent admirer since that remarkable game at Old Trafford in 2000 when he proved to be a veritable Gibraltar before the goal to record a memorable away win for Real Madrid on route to Champion’s League glory. Even as the Real has recorded new depths in its star-struck fall to nadir from those heady days, Casillas has not tired of performing the fighting boy on the sinking deck act with aplomb day in and out.

Central Defence – John Terry and Fernando Hierro – Both of them epitomize the ‘never say die’ spirit and sheer passion. Loyal (both of them have been critical in the success of their clubs) and wearing their heart on their sleeves and ever reliable, you cannot ask for better men to guard the heart of your territory. I will not hesitate for once in putting my meager but important savings with these two. In addition to their vaunted defensive qualities, they can give many a headache to opposing defences with their ability to strike in set pieces.

Left Back: Paolo Maldini – He made defending an aesthetic and fashionable art. Precise in his movements and positioning, he showed that one could be elegant and not overtly physical and yet safe in defence. The greatest player not to have won any major international trophy (USA 1994 and Euro 2000 were heartbreaking), I will miss him sorely every time the Azzuris come out on the pitch in Germany next month.

Right Back: Zavier Zannetti – A powerful player, capable of brushing aside opposition with his strength as well as rapid incisive surges on the wing, he will be a deserving winner this time. He could have been a superstar had he chased six-figure offers made by big clubs, this gentle footballer choose to be loyal to Inter and has been a constant inspiration to the otherwise inconsistent and at times mediocre club. He also runs a school for the homeless in his native Buenos Aires.

Midfielders:

Claude Makelele – The underrated genius of this man can be deduced from the fact that the position of the ball-winning midfielder has become eponymous with him. A critical figure in Real Madrid and Chelsea’s impressive wins, his value to a eam was evident when Real disintegrated after the club president, Perez infamously sold him to Chelsea in 2003 for David Beckham.

Redondo Fernando - He would have been among my favourites just for the fact that he belongs to that noble and honourable class of people called lawyers. But his soccer was sheer magic. He displayed a rare mix of sublime ball skill, vision, precise passing, impressive work rate and clean tackling that made him a key figure of the Real Madrid of late nineties that won two Champion’s League without any of the galacticos. Not for nothing did the Bernabeu give him a standing ovation when he returned to the arena with AC Milan. But for a bedeviling series of injuries and a rigid coach who was more concerned about his hairdo than soccer, he would have been a true great of all time.

Juan Roman Riquelme – The Roman Emperor is the unlikeliest of the stars. A frail physique, slow gait, a reluctance to track back to assist in defense, nothing can shroud his effervescent skills. His ability to create space out of nothing, to bisect defences with unimaginable passes, to drop deep to evade a marker and his dead ball skills make him peerless and destined for greatness.

Joe Cole: An impish footballer capable of dazzling trickery and speedy runs can trouble any defence in the world. His improvement under the tutelage of Jose Mourinho and his fighting displays against Barcelona last year are stuff of legends. He is going to be a star in this Cup if the prosaic Eriksson provides him the freedom to express himself.

Karel Poborsky: A fighter to the core, he has all the gifts and qualities of a supreme winger. Blessed with pace, willingness to run down the blank as well as cut inside and the courage to do the most improbable, soccer world cup would be poorer if he fails to sign his engraving on it. The world (or at least I am) eagerly waiting for him to do an encore of Euro 1996 and 2004.

Striker

Gabriel Batistuta: His instincts of a hunter and the sixth sense of a natural goal scorer made Batigoal the ultimate predator. A constant menace prowling around the opposition penalty box, his exploits with the lowly Fiorentina where they erected a statue in his honour, and his two hat tricks in two successive world cups ensure that he will be remembered as one of the greatest strikers ever.

2006-04-27T15:51:00.000+05:30

Human Costs of Conflict and Victimizing the Victims

Kavita Suri writes in the Statesman about the poignant tale of the ostracisation and hardship faced by women of Kunan Poshpora Village, the scene of barbaric mass rapes by Indian Army in the early nineties.

2006-04-27T15:29:00.000+05:30

South Asians for Democracy (Nepal Campaign)

[In meetings held over different South Asians cities between the 23 rd and the 25th April, where many concerned human rights campaigners, media personnel, legal professionals, intellectuals and others participated, it was decided to launch a South Asia wide campaign for solidarity to peoples' struggle in Nepal. The Campaign sub-group in India, in a meeting organised in Delhi on the 25 th decided to issue a statement to the media and people in South Asia, specifying the position on the current situation in Nepal. This statement is released from Delhi. Similar statements will be issued by the campaign throughout South Asian cities]

South Asians Urge Nepal Political Parties to abide by 12 Point Agenda; Demands South Asian Governments to stop dictating terms

We, the people of South Asia, salute the courageous, freedom and peace loving people of Nepal, in their struggle and the historic victory over the autocratic regime. We express unequivocal support and solidarity to the achievement of the people's movement for democracy in Nepal, which found its interim success through the decision of the King to handover sovereignty to the people by restoring the dissolved Parliament. We believe the people of Nepal have set a precedent of non-violent struggle for democracy. The unprecedented resistance to tyranny also demand that the political forces in Nepal must now honour the aspirations of the people and adhere to the 12-point agenda.

The recent developments in Nepal are momentous. They also exhibit the tensions of an embryonic legal regime yet to be born and the difficulties of resolving them with attention to the issues of legitimacy and the ideals of the rule of law. The midnight proclamation of the king, made on 24 April 2006, clearly shows that the democratic uprising in the country has eclipsed the monarchical order. However, the process of political transition it proposes does not appear to square with the democratic imperatives in so far as it seems to be tainted by elements of arbitrariness that draw from the authoritarian politics of the past.

We urge the Seven Party Alliance to recognise the fact that this is not the Parliament of the past. It is an opportunity provided by the heroic struggle of the people of Nepal, to regain their lost political and democratic space. It should be understood as an interim arrangement to hold fresh elections to establish a new constituent assembly – the main demand of the people's struggle.

We urge the SPA to work together as a coalition. The interim authority has its mandate from the people and it is to the people that they must remain accountable. We demand the SPA to abide by the historic 12-point agreement that they made with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists). We also aspire that this agreement and the collective future course of action of these forces, will set a new era of democracy and peace in Nepal.

We demand the South Asian governments and the international community, to acknowledge and endorse the historic struggle of the people of Nepal. We strongly condemn the attempts, by some of the governments, to sabotage the political consensus built through a democratic process by the people of Nepal.

Shahid Fiaz (Pakistan) & Vijayan MJ (India)
on behalf of South Asians for Democracy - Nepal Campaign
Phone: 41682841/842 OR 41652451/452 Mobile: 9871549907/9811065471

2006-04-24T10:57:00.000+05:30

Water Wars, Expert Evidence and Judging Tribunals

The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal has failed to arrive at a definite conclusion at the end of protracted proceedings that lasted for sixteen years. The Tribunal has decided to seek expert opinion on crop and water requirements.

The Tribunal was constituted on June 2, 1990, with Justice Chittatosh Mookerjee as Chairman and Justice S.D. Agarwala and Mr. Rao as Members. Justice Mookerjee resigned in 1996 and in his place the present Chairman Justice Singh was appointed. Justice Agarwala expired on November 26, 2002, and Mr. Sudhir Narain was appointed in his place.

It is rather inexplicable that the Tribunal feels the need of expert submission on such basic questions like crop requirement even after submission of technical information, evidence, case law over a period of 16 years.

It is indeed a sad reflection on the efficacy or the lack of it in the way tribunals are adjudicating on technical disputes. Tribunals are supposed to render their opinion on disputes involving complex technical questions that require minute examination not possible through normal courts for reasons ranging from lack of technical expertise to absence of time.

As such, filling up specialized tribunals with retired judges infuses into such bodies those very systemic limitations that they are supposed to tackle. Consequently, we are faced with such a deplorable situation where sixteen years of efforts and tax payers money has come to a naught.

2006-04-17T19:36:00.000+05:30

Of Cricket, Fans and Perspective

Continuing with Cricket and Wicket to Wicket, Anand Vasu's post draws our attention to the increasing lack of perspective among cricket fans.

"The way we respond to the Indian team, its individuals, its successes and failures, is as much a reflection of ourselves as it is of the team. If at any stage you link your own self-worth with the performance of the team Â and enough fans do that and feel worse when India loses or a player is dropped Â then you don't stand a chance of being happy, for that's the point of sport in the first place Â you can never say what is about to happen. When we see failure, we look for people to blame, for conspiracy theories, something to lash out at. And in success we look to pick holes, because throwing pebbles at heroes is a national pastime. What's more, it's much easier, and more fun for some, to rant rather than sit down and try and get to the truth, to look at the things people do and the reasons behind them. That's hard. As a public we have grown more demanding, more obsessed with instant success, more impatient, and when the team doesn't deliver, we can't take it. After all, we're the paying public."

Being one of those millions of cricket followers in this country, whose assessment of each day has, over the years, depended on the fortunes of the Indian cricket team and occasionally one West Indian artist with the bat, called Brian Lara, I can scarcely criticise anybody else.

However, I can completely vouch for the truth in it. Every time, I have sat back to enjoy a game of cricket knowing that I am not any better or worse off as a person because a Sachin Tendulkar scored a hundred or a Dravid scored a double, I have really enjoyed every bit of the game. No screaming my gut out at a dropped catch or a two missed due to lazy running; No changing shirt or trouser and other components of my attire during drinks break - and I have found the game much more fulfilling.

I have found that serenity, joy and balance in my years of following soccer and tennis. However, I have not been able to achieve the same level of detachment with cricket at all. And, Indian cricket team seems to thishje worst sufferer. For more often than not when I have kept my cool while watching cricket or not bunked work, it does well. And there goes my superstition yet again.

2006-04-17T19:32:00.000+05:30

Two Indias and the Best of Cricket Writing

Cricinfo Wicket to Wicket is presently hosting a debate on the 'disjunct' between the performances of the Indian test and one-dayer teams. While some of the initial posts are nothing more than rants directed against few individuals, the other posts are absolute masterpieces which have dissected the apparent decline of Team India in tests in a lucid and an impressively dispassionate way, virtues that are becoming rare in this age of newsbytes and media hyperbole.

Reading the views of Prem Panicker and Dileep Premachandran after the posts that preceded them was like watching a salvage operation of Dravid and Tendulkar (or may be Lara and Hooper) after ugly few swipes from the openers in the good old days of late nineties .

It is fairly evident that the youngsters, who have been so fantastic in the shorter version of the game, are yet to develop the virtues of patience and endurance that are essential for the older version. A Dhoni whirlwind can be decisive in a LOI. However, this wasn't the case with his valiant half century in the first innings of Wankhede test.

Similarly, while Irfan Pathan's deligthful habit of picking up wickets early in his spell has been unfailingly match-winning, even his sensational hat trick in the Karachi test proved to be only the first punch of a long bout, and not the knock out it would have been in a LOI.

This transitional gap has been accentuated by the fact that some of the senior batsmen have aged quicker than anticipated. (Remember reading an article by a evidently brave writer, whose name currently escapes my recollection, in the heydays of Indian Top-order batting around Rawalpindi Test, 2004 which part-prophetically spoke of a looming hole around circa 2007 unless Yuvraj and Kaif are given more chances). Suddenly, that distant possibility has become a stark reality confronting us.

Having said that, these remarkably talented young players can reach that new level which currently eludes them, only by playing more tests. Bringing back some of the older players and harping on the alleged machiavellian machinations of Greg Chappell is not going to bring any reward.

Srishant, Munaf Patel and even Irfan Pathan showed a great deal of heart in their tireless effort in the Mumbai test. Dhoni too, for all his richly deserved criticism for his no-brainer in second innings, showed a pleasing willingness and ability to knuckle down in his first essay.

Youth is definitely the way forward. We have nothing to lose. In any case, our test record in Pre-Chappell era after those euphoric heights of April 2004 was not as great as it is sometimes suggested (a timid home loss against Australia, home draw against a young Pakistan side and series win in Bangladesh while not bad, is not reflective of a world-beating side).

2006-04-16T16:42:00.000+05:30

Narmada and Myths

Himanshu Upadhyay in his column in Hindu does a fantastic work of debunking the shrill propaganda and lies being used by those who are supporting the increase in the height of the dam. He has used reports and obsrevations of statutory bodies like the CAG admirably to expose the hypocrisy of leaders like Narendra Modi who are cynically exploiting promise of water to arid regions for their own benefit and aggrandizement of their financial patrons.

"...Audit scrutiny of the implementation and performance of these projects pointed to the failure of Gujarat to utilize the water available from the impoundments created. As per the CAGE report on Gujarat (civil) for the year ending March 31, 2003, "The gross average daily intake during the two years of its operation (December 2000 to November 2002) was MLD against the envisaged capacity of 287 MLD (i.e. 42 per cent of capacity utilization) only..."

2006-04-14T14:03:00.000+05:30

Soccer Fever's JOSE MOURINHO QUOTE OF THE YEAR AWARD for 2005

1) "Don't ask me what a typical Brazilian is, because I don't know what a typical Brazilian is, but Romario was a typical Brazilian."– Sir Bobby Robson. (Via Daily Mirror).

2) "We are on top at the moment, but not because of the club"s financial power. We are in contention for a lot of trophies because of my hard work." A tribute to Mourinho by Mourinho.

3) "Germany v Costa Rica will be a good chance to test the sofa and its optimal distance from the fridge."–Crystal Palace's Aki Riihilahti, getting ready for an ass-crushing month of World Cup TV-watching.

4) "Robinho is the new savior. In 24 minutes, he produced a hat, a slalom that left three men in his wake, and two bicycles. He is La Liga's new angel … or devil, if you're an opponent."–Marca's description of Robinho's home debut against Cadiz in La Liga.

5) "How can you tell your wife you are just popping out to play a match and then not come back for five days?"– Rafael Benitez is left a little perplexed by cricket.

6) "The balls don't help the goalkeepers - they go left, they go right, it can be difficult."– Liverpool's Jerzy Dudek after making a bit of a howler in a match against Leverkusen. David Seaman would agree with him.

2006-04-14T13:06:00.000+05:30

Here's to You: Makelele, Gattuso, Mascherano... -The Water Carriers of Football?

The fifaworldcup.com has come up with a glowing and well-deserved tribute to the great defensive midfielders of the game, those underestimated and tireless soldiers who worked selflessly to enable their more spectacular teammates to unfold their bag of tricks.

2006-04-13T19:08:00.000+05:30

The Collateral Costs of the Nuclear Deal

Mr George Bush announced from Purana Qila that India and the United States will enter into an Indo-US Knowledge Initiative on Agricultural Research and Education. US president asserted that the initiative is to promote a 'Second Green Revolution' in India.

Agriculture biotechnology has been cleverly packaged as the 'Second Green Revolution' by its promoters, the life science corporations, in order to subliminally invoke the strong positive impressions that the political leadership in this country associates with the Green Revolution. In actual fact the two revolutions are about as different as chalk and cheese, says Suman Sahai.

"The Green Revolution was a publicly owned technology, but the current version is its opposite; processes, products, and research methodologies are caged in patents and the farmer has little say or control. But chasing nuclear stardom, India has once again sacrificed agriculture"

2006-04-13T18:21:00.000+05:30

Of Bird Flu, Consensus and Debates

Ultimately and with a looming inevitability, the human costs of the bird flu scare are finally showing up. Nine poultry farmers from at least five states across India have committed suicide as poultry farmers find themselves up against a wall in the face of this scare, which many believe, is artificial and has been propped up by vested interests.

It is rather ironic that the major daily newspapers, which fuelled the hysteria with front page stories and graphics full of half-truths are conspicuously silent on these suicides. May be they are implementing our great, honest and upright Prime Minister's call to the media to increase the areas of agreements in the society. So,silence all opposition and curb all dissent, for debates divide people and consensus is the magic word.

2006-04-12T19:13:00.000+05:30

More Accolades for the Yellow Submarines

Phil Ball, whose words mirror his erudition and razor-sharp mind, says in his "Home for Lost Souls" that Villareal's exploits have brought a freshness to the otherwise dull season of La Liga.

Derek Rae sounds a note of caution for the Gunners in his "An Unlikely Success Story".

2006-04-12T18:44:00.000+05:30

Where Buddha Weeps

The Ministry of Environment Forest has accorded the Central Environmental Clearance to the proposed uranium mining project at Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh. The Chief Executive of Uranium Corporation of India Ltd. (UCIL), Mr. A. Madhusudan Rao ruled out fears that the project would endanger people's health and degrade the environment. He also asserted that uranium project at Jaduguda in Jharkhand has functioned since 28 years but no such problems have arisen.

Mr. Rao needs to check his facts thoroughly before making such patently false statements. One must remind him that the Gujarat-based Sampoorna Kranti Vidyalaya Vedchhi (SKVV) had conducted a survey in two villages in the vicinity of Jaduguda and two other villages at a distant place from the plant. It was found that the number of infants born with genetic disorders was six times higher than normal. Of the 70 such cases reported, 60 were born with congenital deformities in villages close to the Uranium plant whereas 10 were born in non-affected areas.

The proposed project has been plagued by problems right from its conception. The proposed mining area is less than 6 Km away from the Rajiv Gandhi Tiger Sanctuary and right above the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir. Activists argue that there is a high probability of radioactive contamination in the reservoir and the Krishna river basin downstream.

The processing plant is to be located at Mallapuram village near the Akkampally reservoir, which supplies water to the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and 600 villages. According to activists, leaching will contaminate surface and ground waters in the area. The wind would blow the tailings-waste after uranium ore is processed-around and the rain would wash it into water systems.

Environmentalists have also exposed several technical inadequacies and misrepresentations in the environment Impact Assessment Report that has been submitted by UCIL.

It seems that there are several new twists yet to come in the tale of this project. But the media fraternity should be alert against such blatant misrepresentations by public officials and should exhibit the same amount of circumspection that it shows to reports and statement of various people's movements.

2006-04-10T18:49:00.000+05:30

Safe Landing in Kathmandu

Kanak Mani Dixit provides us with an incisive analysis of the imperatives that have guided the Maobaadi (Maoist) shift in abandoning its 'people war' and accepting the legitimacy of multi-party democracy, in Himal. Prachanda and Babu Ram Bhattarai have claimed that their volte face is an ideological shift that has resulted from an analysis of the history of 20th century revolutions and counter-revolutions.

Kanak Mani Dixit also explains the geo-political and tactical factors that may have also guided this ideological shift. Interestingly and very convincingly, no doubt, he argues that these geo-political factors actually add to the sincerity behind the seven party alliance, instead of casting shadows on it.

2006-04-10T18:47:00.000+05:30

Damning NBA

B G Verghese in The Indian Express does an exceptional job of reducing the (in)human stories of displacement and deprivation that have characterised the Narmada Project to robotic, impersonal and abstract technicalities bereft of any meaning except for government discourse.

2006-04-10T14:52:00.000+05:30

Bravo: Mr. India

Leander Paes transcended himself by the sheer dint of his spirit and heart to take Team India to a victory in the Davis Cup for the umpteenth time yesterday against Pakistan.

Nirmal Sekhar writes in The Hindu:

"Indian sportsmen, and perhaps no Indian tennis player before him, had displayed the raw fighting skills that Leander showcased when the chips were down.

[...]

This is precisely why Leander transcends sport — _ he is much more than a tennis champion, or even an athletic achiever. As an Indian, Leander is a yardstick. You measure every other champion of the era against Leander when it comes to commitment to the country's cause. Even our admirable, upstanding cricket captain Rahul Dravid — who comes closest — for instance. And this is no insult to the man from Bangalore. It is, in fact, a tribute.

Rohit Brijnath had similarly essayed to catch the essence of the lion hearted champion in The Sportstar last year:

"But maybe greatness of the Paes kind is something altogether different, an idea beyond titles, more a fulfilling of the self. Perhaps it is a player who embraces his ideal tightly; who stays unflinchingly true to a cause (Davis Cup) every year, every tie, on any surface, small city or big, large crowd or small; who somehow, when the moment calls, is stirred to transcend his average-ness (serve slower than Venus on some days, faulty backhand, erratic forehand, poor baseline balance) and become a special player.

Leander Paes did not just rattle reputations in Davis Cup, or lose just once to a player ranked lower than him in cup play, his accomplishments went far beyond a win-loss column: he exceeded his limited potential, repeatedly, and he did it because he did not understand surrender, and seemed to salivate like some Pavlovian dog at the mention of competition, and because he made Playing for India his own personal anthem. "

2006-04-08T11:34:00.000+05:30

Banning Pesticides

The Indian Government is all set to ban seven pesticides and lay down mimimum residue standards for twenty three others. The Government is also mulling over plans to make registration of pesticides contingent on specification of the Minimum Residue Limit (MRL) for the safe consumption of food.

However, there is lot more work to do in this direction including resolving the duplicity of regulation present now due to the involvement of both Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture. Read "Indian government to ban seven pesticides, regulate use of others"

2006-04-08T10:40:00.000+05:30

The Roman Emperor Arrives

After his inspirational performance with Villareal in Champion's League Quarter Finals, Juan Roman Riquelme is finally receive the kind of applause from the media which he richly deserves.

Rob Hughes notes in International Herald Tribune that Riquelme was by some distance the class player on the pitch.

Clyve Tyldesley is effusive in his praise in Telegraph:

" strong enough to protect the ball, elusive enough to disappear with it. Delicate touches and crashing shots. A master of disguised passes and blatant hand-offs. Short on Olympic pace, but full of surging power to go with his balance and poise. Riquelme is both good enough and big enough to look after himself. He is what my dad still calls a 'schemer'."

The Electric Newspaper, Singapore avers that Argentina's prospects in the forthcoming World Cup look bright with Riquelme in such a rich vein of form:

"Overall, Riquelme's vision and through-passes were brilliant and Inter never really found a way to break up his sublime performance...If he carries on at this rate in the Champions League, Argentina will be in raptures because he seems to be peaking at the right time."

One cannot help highlighting the uncanny similarities in the careers of Maradona and Riquelme. Both inspired their national youth sides to World Cup victories, achieved phenomenal success with Boca Juniors, were transferred to Barcelona, where neither had an enjoyable outing (though, it must be said that Maradona was a great success on the pitch with Barca) and both left for modest clubs to which they brought unprecedented success(Maradona with Napoli and Riquelme with Villareal).

One hopes that FIFA World Cup become the latest addition to this list with Riquelme matching Maradona's exploits in Mexico 1986 and winning the most treasured sporting trophy in the world for Argentina in Germany.

2006-04-07T20:32:00.000+05:30

Agarkar: A Case of Trust Misplaced???

Prithviraj Hegde has in his post on Sightscreen launched a scathing attack on Ajit Agarkar with extensive use of statistics to wrest his case. It must be said that Mr. Hegde is not alone in his criticism as the Bombay medium pacer has been somewhat of favourite whipping boy of the media for long. However, successive team managements have kept their faith in the wiry mumbaikar in spite of virulent criticism, often to utter exasperation of cricket writers.

The question that begs an answer is whether this trust has borne adequate result. A look at the records of the last two seasons, which includes the annus horribilis of Indian ODI side (2004-05 season) indicates that while Agarkar has not set the record books on the fire, his performances has not been as poor as it is often suggested.

His average (26.63), number of scalps (47) and the strike rate (31.0) for the last 30 matches is next only to that of Irfan Pathan (23.52/ 51/ 29.1) and is considerably better than that of Nehra (27.83/ 37/ 33.89) and Zaheer Khan (36.91/ 37/ 41.8).

The problem with most critics is that they use statistics for support rather than for illumination. For instance, Mr. Hegde has cited that Agarkar has taken only 15 wickets at 36.73 in his last 13 matches. What he critically failed to mention was that in the 9 matches prior to his benchmark, he bagged 19 wickets at 13.37 which included one 5 wkt and one 4 wkt haul.

In addition, his contribution with the bat and while fielding has been handy if not decisive. He also adds to the side with his reverse swing at the death. While R.P. Singh has done fabulously in the limited opportunities that he has received, his inclusion makes the attack slightly one-dimensional and one feels that he will have ample time in the days to come.

Therefore, one is compelled to submit that the appeals for Agarkar's head are rather exaggerated and misplaced.

2006-04-07T19:21:00.000+05:30

Labour Activism and Soccer??

Footballers lockout Coach in Albania.

2006-04-07T16:17:00.000+05:30

Shipbreaking, 'Warships' and International Maritime Law

Continuing with Riky, Clemenceau and the international regime regulating ship-breaking, the Indian Express had done a ground breaking story, "Alang Awaits Its Hazardous Diet" on the issue.

While the piece is a remarkable effort in the endeavour for drawing public attention to the murky world of ship-breaking (where human life is routinely sacrificed at the altar of greed) and the official patronage thereto, it contains certain statements that stand on a shaky factual foundation and need to be contextualized.

The writer’s assertion that "at present, these decommissioned ships are out of the purview of legally-binding international treaties" is not entirely well founded, in light or the recent developments made in the field of International Treaty-Regulation on Trans-Boundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes.

Admittedly, decommissioned ships or ships intended for disposal as scrap lie beyond the ambit of International Maritime Organization regime. International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978, (MARPOL 73/78) is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes.

A ship is defined under MARPOL 73/78 as "a vessel of any type whatsoever operating in the marine environment and includes hydrofoil boats, air-cushion vehicles, submersibles, floating craft and fixed or floating platforms."

The critical word in the aforesaid definition is "operating." In the case of Clemenceau, it will be entirely inaccurate to describe a ship that is merely a shell of steel, asbestos and PCBs as "operating". Therefore, Clemenceau does not fall under the purview of MARPOL Convention and the IMO regime.

On the other hand, Ships destined for ship breaking operations are within the definition of "wastes" as defined by the Basel Convention. The Convention defines "wastes" as: "substances or objects which are disposed of or are intended to be disposed of or are required to be disposed of by the provisions of national law".

The Decision VII/26 taken at the Seventh Conference of the Parties in October 2004 that India attended notes "that a ship may become waste as defined in Article 2 of the Basel Convention and that at the same time it may be defined as a ship under other international rules." The Decision further recognises "that many ships and other floating structures are known to contain hazardous materials and that such hazardous materials may become hazardous wastes as listed in the annexes to the Basel Convention."

Decisions of the Parties are at the highest legal level, next to the text of the treaty itself. India, being a signatory to the Basel Convention and the Seventh Conference of the Parties, is bound by such decisions. According to the aforesaid provisions of the Basel Convention, it is evident that ships destined for ship breaking operations are included within the definition of "wastes"

Further, as far as the averment of the French Government (a stand upheld by French Courts) that the Basel Convention does not apply to "war material" is concerned, I would like to assert that there is no specific exemption for "war material" under the Basel Convention. While the Convention does exempt radioactive substances, which are governed by other international law regimes, there is nothing in the text of the convention that can even be remotely construed as providing an exemption to "war material". Decision VII/26 classifies all ship for scarp as waste and does not create a distinction between "war material" and other ships. Hence, the contention of the French government is extremely specious and is based on an incorrect understanding of international law and France's highest administrative court, the Conseil D'Etat has done well to dismiss it.

2006-04-07T10:26:00.000+05:30

"We all live in our yellow submarine"

Villareal's surprise entry into the semi finals of the UEFA Champion's League is a pleasant throwback to an era goneby when smaller clubs could compete against their richer and more famous rivals and when domestic leagues had not been reduced to ugly and drab two horse races.

For a club which was promoted to the Primera Division of La Liga for the first time only in 1999/00 season, Submarino Amarillo have taken giant strides. They won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2003 and 2004 and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2003 as well. Inspired by Juan Roman Riquelme' playmaking abilities and the clinical finishing of Diego Forlan, the club finished 3rd in La Liga in 2004/05 season and qualified for the UEFA Champion's League. In spite of its meteoric rise, very few pundits would have put their odds on club's entry into the last four of the competition.

But insiders believe that its giant killing run is the product of meticulous planning, hard work and smart investments. The club roped in world class players, who for various reasons had been discarded by big clubs and rejuvenated their career. The coach, Manuel Pellegrini has evolved a successful philosophy, based on solid defence and creativity in attack, that has spelt the doom for over hyped clubs like Manchester United and Inter Milan whose stadia can house more people that the entire population of the Villareal town.

Another heartening aspect of the club's ascendance has been its willingness to invest in a vibrant youth system and currently there are more players from Villareal than Nou Camp or Bernabeau in Spanish Under 17 team. with such solid foundation, the club is less likely to go the way of Alaves who flattered by reaching the final of UEFA Cup in 2001 to deceive later.

2006-04-05T18:15:00.000+05:30

Score: 400 crores; for the Loss of Free Speech

On February 7, Justice M. Chockalingam of the Madras High Court, passing orders on a civil suit preferred by the Chennai-based Marksman Marketing Services Private Ltd., restrained telecom operators from exploiting commercially and disseminating any information relating to scores, alerts and updates or other events or happenings of the India-Pakistan series, which was being organized then, via SMSs to mobile phones. In its suit, the plaintiff company had submitted that Vectracom, a Pakistani company, had entered into an agreement with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Dec 29 for exclusive global SMS rights to the cricket matches. Vectracom had, in turn, granted exclusive rights for the entire territory of India to the plaintiff to commercially exploit and disseminate information relating to scores, alerts, updates or other events or happenings in respect of the India-Pakistan cricket matches.

Subsequently, acting on a batch of 18 petitions filed by mobile service providers, Justice R. Bhanumathi of the same High Court issued an interim order permitting mobile service providers to SMS scores of the scheduled matches on strict maintenance of accounts of revenue earned therefrom. The Court ruled that Marksman Marketing Services Private Ltd. could be compensated later if the issue is finally settled in its favour.

While the aforesaid matter is still being adjudicated upon by the Court, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the governing body for the game in the country, has unveiled an ambitious plan of generating a whopping annual revenue of Rs. 400 crores by charging telecom companies for providing updates of scores of cricket matches played in India.

The final outcome of the aforementioned suit filed before the Madras High Court has thus assumed immense financial stake as the verdict will determine whether the BCCI can realize its financial ambitions. But more importantly, this case will also set a vital benchmark in the growing interface between sports and myriad forms of intellectual property rights law in India.

As important as the questions of amalgamation of the worlds of sports and intellectual property rights are, the issues raised in this dispute are of critical interest to lawyers, journalists and citizens as well as they have fundamental linkages with issues of free speech, right to information and right to access to information in the digital world.

This case raises important concerns about who will ultimately control the dissemination of news and information, an issue that goes beyond the reporting of facts from sporting and other entertainment events. We are confronted with a situation where a newsmaking entity itself may actually fill the role of a news provider due to the probable financial rewards. The significant drawback is the threat of censorship and controlled regulation of the public's reception of news, if interested private entities like the BCCI are allowed to dominate and regulate the flow of information to the public.

If the BCCI is allowed to regulate the flow of information on cricket to public today, there will be nothing to prevent a political party from censoring news about any shenanigans of its functionaries tomorrow.

2006-04-05T11:23:00.000+05:30

Yet Another Blow to Democracy in Nepal

The Nepal Government has amended the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Ordinance (TADO) and expanded its scope. The new provisions will enable the government to persecute political opposition groups and other civil society actors who have recently entered into an alliance with the Maobaadi (Maoists) leaders and have called for a nation wide general strike.

One of the new provisions stipulates that the actions of those classed as Maoist "accomplices" can be considered "crimes related to terrorism and disruption" and such “accomplices” could face between one to three years imprisonment or 10,000-50,000 Nepalese Rupee fine or both.

What is extremely alarming for the freedom of press and right to information is the definition of “accomplice” which includes “those who remain in contact with, give assistance to, supply information to or disseminate information from the Maoists” in its ambit.

This draconian amendment is another blot on the record of King Gyanendra who has displayed a criminal disdain for all democratic norms since the royal coup of February 2005. This Ordinance is in clear breach of Nepal's obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and must be unequivocally condemned.

2006-04-04T18:23:00.000+05:30

Wrecking RIKY

While the contentious issue of the import of the French ship, Clemenceau justifiably received a tremendous amount of attention, not least due to the 'gag order' of the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the entry and dismantling of a Danish Ship, Riky (containing hazardous waste in its structure) in Alang has largely been glossed over by the mainstream media. This, in spite of the fact that the legal case against Riky's entry was almost open and shut under the Basel Convention and that the Denmark Government itself had voiced its objections to the Indian counterparts. Read "The scrapping of Riky" by Gopal Krishna.

2006-04-04T15:26:00.000+05:30

"...Footballers have their brains in their feet.."

It may be the case indeed. Savour this from Soccer Addicts

'I took a whack on my left ankle, but something told me it was my right.' - Lee Hendrie
***
Interviewer: 'Would it be fair to describe you as a volatile player?'
David Beckham: 'Well, I can play in the centre, on the right and occasionally on the left side.'
***
'If you're 0-0 down, there's no-one better to get you back on terms than Ian Wright.' - Robbie Earle
***
'I always used to put my right boot on first, and then obviously my right sock.' - Barry Venison
***
'Alex Ferguson is the best manager I've ever had at this level. Well, he's the only manager I've actually had at this level. But he's the best manager I've ever had.' - David Beckham
***
'I'd rather play in front of a full house than an empty crowd.' - Johnny Giles
***
'We lost because we didn't win.' – Ronaldo
***

'There's no in between - you're either good or bad. We were in between.' - Gary Lineker
***
'I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel.' - Stuart Pearce

2006-04-04T14:35:00.000+05:30

Legalizing Homosexuality: SC Issues Notice

The Supreme Court of India, on 1st April 2006, issued notice to the Centre on a Special Leave Petition filed by Naz Foundation, a Delhi-based NGO working on HIV/AIDS which seeks to legalize homosexuality and to strike down Section 377 of IPC which makes criminalizes unnatural sex.

The Foundation had earlier in 2001 filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court praying that Section 377 be quashed. The High Court dismissed the petition as merely academic since no personal injury had been caused to the petitioner.

2006-04-04T14:10:00.000+05:30

Democracy or Fascism?
Obora Toshiyuki, a 47 year old Japanese Elementary School Teacher was convicted by a Japanese High Court on charges of "trespassing" for distributing anti-war pamphlets and fliers in a housing complex. The High Court also imposed a fined of 100, 000 yen on the defendant.

The judgment raises several questions about the vitality and relevance of Article 21 of Japanese Constitution which guarantees the right to freedom of expression as well as about the future of the culture of protest in liberal democracies.

For more details, see "Enemies of the State: Free Speech and Japan’s Courts" by David Mcneill