National Current Events 2008

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GK Content for PDP-2008

Career Launcher

Analysis of Current National & Business/Economic Events, 2008

Personality Development Program, 2008

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Career Launcher

Analysis of Current National & Business/Economic Events, 2008 Index Chapter

Page No.

One

India Everywhere

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Two

Chandrayaan : India’s Lunar Mission

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Three

US Presidential Elections

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Four

Indo US Civil Nuclear Deal

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Five

General Elections 2009

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Six

The Question of ‘Hindu Terror’

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Seven One Billion One Gold

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Chapter One

India Everywhere!

India@61 For more than 60 years or so, we have been continuously questioned on our very existence. What is this poor and sickly mass of a country with more than 30 babies born per minute doing amidst the super rich and fast developing world? We would silently accept this accusation, as we were really dirty, poor and stagnating with our ‘Hindu Rate of Growth1. Not any more. We have accepted our scarred past and have taken time to recover. Our 300 years of forced slavery, put us down briefly; now, we look at our weak points with concern and not with disdain or despondency. In this section we are going to essay events, which have inspired our successes, demonstrated incredible national energies that have brought forth India as world’s second fastest growing economy. We discuss our triumphs, our efforts and our concerns in detail while convincingly congratulating India on a trail-blazing path to success everywhere. 1. Population: Lets look from a positive angle. While our base population is very high – over a billion- we have combated the unsustainable annual rate of growth to a comfortable 1.3 %. We have considerably reduced the risk of population explosion and as future trends suggest, we may have a rate of growth well below 1%. This indeed is a commendable step. Let us move away from blaming ourselves for the huge population base. Instead, we must focus on delivering proper services to make our billion plus population, an engine of growth. This handbook, in fact tracks our growth trajectory indicating we have actually transformed our billion-plus liability into best-performing group of individuals second to none. 2. Poverty: Let us look at the enormity of this problem before us. Since almost all economists differ on poverty statistics, let us have a broad picture: More than one third of Indians are very poor and one fourth in crippling poverty. 30% of the worlds’ poor are in India, while half of all infants in India are undernourished. More than 80% of our population earn less than $ 2 day. This is lower than even some Sub Saharan countries whose 70% of the population fall in this class. But the story does not end here. It may sound incredible, but four out of the worlds’ top ten richest are Indians! There is something very wrong here. Exercise: Can you account for this abnormality? Let us take this statistic with seriousness but not get stunted by it. Much has to do with India’s 40 years of laggardly progress since Independence. The moot point is: Is our circle of growth expanding on a daily basis/ OR are more poor given permanent job opportunities? See, do not be baffled by absolute numbers; question whether more of us have progressed than last year? The answer is YES. As we add more than 1 trillion dollars to our kitty annually, much of it goes to poverty reduction strategies. The government has initiated three mega projects like:

a) Bharat Nirman2 b) Sarv Siksha Abhiyaan or education- for- all c) National Rural Employment Generation Programme 1

See Handbook Chapter 5 on economic terms Bharat Nirman: Government’s 4 year business programme for rural infrastructure dev involving Rs 1,75,000 crores

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3. Political progress We will look into this aspect from domestic and international angles. Domestic politics We have moved away from single based dominant party to multi party representation. Adult universal voting and women’s voting rights define our political freedom. Indians are politically ‘very aware’ community. All political powershifts are absolutely peaceful and strictly legal. Our Election Commission, which conducts the elections, is globally renowned for its autonomy and efficiency. We have devoted a complete chapter on local elections elsewhere. 3 International politics Globally, India’s’ position is central and India finds more space than ever before in international dialogues:      



G-8 G-20 United Nations: India’s case for a permanent seat in the Security Council is just a matter of time International Monetary Fund Climate change agency: IPCC Climate Change Dialogues o The Earth Summit o The Kyoto Protocol o The Bali Summit WTO: World Trade Organization

Group of 8 or G-84 It is an organization of the world’s super rich. This elitist possible group of industrialized countries includes:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Canada France Germany Italy Japan Russia the United Kingdom the United States

Since G 8 represents the most powerful lobby, the decisions arrived here are watched with keen interest. The group has in the past discussed a wide ranging areas and fields, some of the key areas being:  3

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health

See Chapter five on general Elections, 2009 In the latest meeting the EU was represented by its chairman making this group virtually G 9.

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       

law enforcement labour economic and social development, energy, environment, foreign affairs, justice and interior, terrorism and trade.

India and the G 8 : Of latetop , the five emerging countries have joined this club on a ‘merit’ basis. These peripheral countries or probables are like extras to the playing eleven and can well make it to the list eventually. These five nations categorized as the ‘Outreach Five’, include 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

South Africa Mexico China India Brazil

G –20 Group of 20 G –20: Group of 19 countries and the EU: A group of 20 top performing economies constitute the G 20. Generally it is the finance ministers and their central bank governors (like Mr P Chidambaram and RBI chief D Subba Rao of India) who form the group of twenty. These two officers represent their country/group. G-20 includes 19 states and the 15-nation Eurozone:

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Argentina Australia Brazil Canada People's Republic of China France Germany India Indonesia Italy Japan Mexico Russia Saudi Arabia South Africa South Korea Turkey United Kingdom United States

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As we see, the profile includes both the industrially developed (the US, Japan and Germany) and the emerging economies like India, Brazil, South Africa,



Together they conduct 80% of the world trade!5  Generate 90% of the world national product  More than 75% of the world population. Can you infer why was the meet at Washington on the 15th of November called the “Bretton Wood Conference II”6? At the recently concluded G 20 meet in Washington in November 2008, India was again heard when Dr Manmohan Singh pitched in for more regulations and accountability from major world financial institutions. This position is in direct contrast to George Bushs’ stance as the latter supported the free market yet again. India’s relevance in the world organizations: An important point we want to drive home is that India occupies a place of prominence in these two highly significant groupings and unlike in the past, Indian voice is clearly heard with attention. Let us stay in this topic for a while more. Though Indian nominee, career diplomat Shashi Tharoor could not win the post of the Secretary General of the United Nations, this brought the importance of India to the center of world attention. India is being looked up rather seriously and in Asian affairs, sought after as one of the major players of regional importance. It is merely matter of time an Indian assumes the top job at the UN. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that India’s exclusion form the UNSC is an ‘anachronism’. He means that it is illogical to keep India away from the UN’s real decisionmaking club. Till recently, India was mostly a regular applicant for loans at the International Monetary Fund or the IMF. The situation was so negative that the IMF had virtually issued a warning to stop all loans, if India doesn’t open up its market. But that was the 1990s. Today, the change is dramatic. Till recently, an Indian, Raghuraman Rajan was the chief economist at the IMF. As of now, India with a strong $ 300 bn foreign exchange reserves is actually thinking of floating her own SDF or Sovereign Development Fund, our very own investment arm based on our reserves. With this we might have come a full circle: from debt seeking to ‘lending on interest’! India and Climate Change7: India’s say in the global environmental dialogues for future action is dominant. While India’s Noble laureate R K Pachauri of TERI heads the specialized Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC, a body of top 300 world scientists and climatologists who advise national governments on measures to combat climate change, India was again at the center of attention at the Bali Summit on climate change. The US wanted India and China to give a firm commitment on reduction of carbon emissions while India headed a lobby to make the US join the climate change group and adhere to the obligations, just as other countries do.

India and the WTO : India’s role at the global negotiations within the World Trade Organisation (WTO) came to the fore on farmers’ subsidy issue. In this concern, almost all of the influential members, including the Eurozone and other prominent emerging countries like Brazil have lent India their full support. India have made a convincing case in legitimising subsidy given by a poor country’s government, Like India, to enable a farmer survive in his business and not to give him a false start, but giving enormous subsidy by an afflunet government, to a relatively affluent 5

Exercise: Find out India’s share in World trade. World’s first major financial summit happed in Bretton Woods in the 1940s. The IMF and World Bank owe their origin to this conference attended to by all major countries of the day. 7 Also read a note of Carbon Credits in the chapter: Important Economic Issues of the Day 6

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farmer as in the Unites States, is akin to giving him ‘protection’. This subsidy enables him to sell his products cheap and add value to his quality. These differences make the world agriculture market unequal anf therefore international agriculture trade is faulty. India has succesfully highlighted to the world the US dualism in following protectionsm policy while arguing, at the same time, for the poorer countries to stop the life-saving subsidies. India is being heard, and Indians are talking big. India is indeed “Everywhere.”

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Ihbvbh Chapter Two

Chandrayaan: India’s Lunar Mission

In October 2008 India became the fifth country after the US, Former USSR, Japan and the Chinese to successfully conduct a moon probe. India sent a Moon Impact Probe, which successfully landed on the lunar surface on Childrens’ day, as planned. Chandrayaan has been stationed 100 KMs from moon after traveling some 3,86,000 kms in 24 days flat and doing a Tarzan-like act: tearing away from gravity and voluntarily entering the moons’ gravity, in a precise split-second operation. However there are few pertinent questions on the rationality of sending an expensive space probe to the moon: 1. In view of the still existent mass poverty in India, is the large-scale expenditure justified? 2. If yes, what are the possible benefits we shall avail and how shall our poor benefit from it? 3. What, if at all, are the long-term justifications for India to launch this mission keeping in view the fact that all leading countries have suspended their moon probe since a decade now? The fundamental problem with these criticisms is that they do not look into the larger picture. No country ever shares its data with others, so does it matter if other countries have visited the moon or not? The poor cannot be helped with ‘ood-for-work programme’ alone. While on the surface, there appears to be no immediate ‘visible’ corelation between the poor and the lunar mission; we shall demonstrate how such programmes actually benefit in alleviating poverty in India. First of all: Our space programmes have a specific mandate: • To develop space technology for social development. Thus all endeavors are directed towards ultimate good of India’s poor. • Use of technology spin-offs for the poor and the needy. Developmental benefits of our space programmes: 

    

Our satellites have made it possible to establish an intricate network of communication across the length and breadth of India. The present penetration of telephone handset to every fourth Indian is because of strong communication network. Extensive educational programmes on agriculture and health are being beamed to remotest of the rural and tribal regions of India. Weather forecasts have resulted in farmer’s effective and timely decision making abilities for crop growing. Disaster warning systems alert the fishermen and the coastal population saving precious lives and lifegiving materials. Resource mapping and discovery leads to mining and related activities generate employment in the nearby areas while earning revenues for the state. Space technologies are being extensively used in medicines and medial research, in the result, improving our quality of life

Specific advantage from Chandrayaan in the short term could be: 1. This may be seen as first step to our man in the moon. Colonization of moon cannot be ruled out. India will have her colony, if that happens. 2. Chandrayaan will aid in getting the radio signals transmitted from other future satellites that are to be launched by ISRO in future.

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3. Uranium and thorium, said to be available on the moon, will be mapped. It could be commercially harnessed for our energy programmes. It must be noted that the budget for the Chandrayaan project is merely rupees 380 crore; less than even ten percent of ISRO’s annual budget. It is in the long term that the real advantages may assume significance: 1. India will have significant pool of extremely latest, relevant and rare scientific data on moon that could be of use to the global community in future. Of course these will be offered on commercial basis. 2. India would have to be involved in any world initiative on moon. Recall that world’s greatest living scientist and physicist Stephen Hawkins8 has said that we need to probe the moon as we might run out of resources on earth. 3. India’s stake in Moon, if the situation so arises, would be very high given India would be one in only five countries with some experience to be on the moon, and the only country to have gone there recently. 4. Provided we establish our moon station, the latter could be commercially used for other countries’ scientific expeditions and explorations. 5. Most importantly, for any mission beyond the moon, like Mars exploration, very much on in IRSO’s agenda, we have to make the moon, our base for further spatial exploration; here again India’s help could be crucial. In view of the long period of depression setting in the world, no expensive scientific explorations in the space seems possible in the near future by any government, therefore our Chandrayaan and later the Aditya missions could as well make India the leading light on space research. India’s space programme: 1. Aryabhatta and Rohini Satellite series 2. INSAT or Indian Satellite Systems 3. The Satellite Launch Vehicle a. The Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle b. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle c. The Geo synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle d. The Reusable Satellite Launch Vehicle9 Through the Rohini satellite series we have demonstrated ample technological prowess in communication and meteorology. INSAT is the mainstay of our space communication development efforts ISRO’s commercial wing Antrix, is already getting demands for space launch of many countries/organizations’ space craft from our PSLVs. Once we reach the RSLV stage, our space launch input cost will further reduce to make this venture immensely profitable. Already India has made its place in the incredibly lucrative business of launching payload satellites of other countries and international organizations. This year, India created record of sorts by launching ten satellites through a single launch of PSLV! India’s space programme is keenly watched with deep ‘ rivalry concern’ by the west for these reasons: 8 9

Stephen Hawkins is the author of the best seller, ‘Brief History of Time.’ He is an acclaimed authority on black holes. RSLV is at the research stage.

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1. After initial trials all our programmes are technologically perfect. 2. The space launch vehicles (SLVs)* are hugely in demand for their cheap range. 3. This way, owing to competitive advantage, India is making its place in the highly lucrative $ 3 bn annual space commerce and trade.

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Chapter Three

Democrat Barack Obama as the New US President

Will he be good for India? This question has replaced the earlier, ‘Who will be better for India? Democrat Obama or the Republican McCain? Let us concentrate on the first part, now that the latter question is history. But first some very basic aspects of US presidential elections; US Presidents conduct their national and international policies keeping in mind :     

Their party of origin. Party’s ideology. Vote base. The prevailing American interest. Their own personality.

While there are several important parties in the US like Libertarian; The Green; The Constitution, the two leading and key parties include the Republicans and the Democrats. Therefore in practice the US has two party system. Political power has mainly remained with these parties only. The Republican Party 1. Also called the Grand Old Party or GOP. 2. Its ideology has been influenced and shaped by the legendary Abraham Lincoln 3. The GOP is largely seen as modernizing party having come to the national scenes on anti slavery platform. 4. It has been a great force in creating modern American institutions. Political bases of GOP 1. It is pro rich and the affluent. Obviously, it is seen as pro business and finance. 2. It is therefore against governmental regulation. Advocates free market to the hilt. Even at these times, and at the ‘Bretton Wood II’ or the G 20 Conference in Washington, Republican President Bush called for free trade and deregulated international trade and finance as the only path for world progress. 3. Vote- bank includes mostly whites and some influential immigrant population support the GOP Democratic Party 1. Largely shaped by Thomas Jefferson and more recently Franklin Roosevelt. The much-acclaimed “New Deal” programme of the United States to support the countries ravaged by the World War 2 and the Great Depression of the 1930s was a brainchild of Roosevelt. 2. It is seen mainly as pro poor and the less privileged. 3. Its support base runs across the poor, farmers, professionals and the academia. Obviously union formed by such interest groups favour the Democrats 4. The party favors regulated trade. It is for more governmental regulation in trade and finance.

Previous US Presidents and their official inclination towards India 1. George Bush Sr 2. Bill Clinton

1988 - 1992 1992 – 2000

Republican Democrat

Luke warm to Moderate Indifferent to cold

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3. George W Bush 4. Barack Obama

2000 – 2008 2008

Republican Democrat

very warm; personal

The personality of the Presidents in the recent past. It is often said that Bill Clinton was the most popular of the US Presidents in India. Indeed one is tempted to believe in this going by the reception he was accorded and his visit to India in 2000 becoming national event of great importance. But, all he did was to roll off all nuclear trade with India and advocated India’s isolation from the comity of world trade in nuclear technology. Another point. The outgoing President, George Bush is seen as the biggest villain on earth by the majority of the world. Ironically, his tenure was the most fruitful for India. First he made visits to the US by Indians easier. Indians corner more than 70 % of professional work visa 10 for outsiders. He went out of the way to give India the nuclear recognition and legitimacy, India deserved. India’s growing BPO industry--if we go by Nandan Nilekani’s estimate may create above 3 million jobs by 2015, is mainly because of Bush effort. No wonder when the President met our own prime minister, the usually reserved PM, in a rare display of emotions, said ‘India loves you!’ I am saying a lot was possible because of Bush’ personal agenda of being India’s friend. He identified India as growth spot and did well to nourish Indo-US trade and commerce. President Obama after all comes from a humble background. There is no snobbishness or high headedness with him. He has assumed presidency on a“ we need change” plank. It is widely held that he will reverse the US policy on Iraq, declaring his intentions to stop the Iraq war; suggest troop withdrawal in Afghanistan and generally be more considerate with non-American citizens of the world. Implications of Barack Obama as the President of the US of A The implications may be analyzed from four different angles: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Impact on India’s BPO industry. Impact on Indo US Nuclear Deal. Impact on world politics. India, the US and the world.

BPO and job cuts: Hailing from a Democratic stable, Obama will not encourage outsourcing. Since his party strongly patronizes the working class, he may discourage any from of outsourcing. He may tax the companies going for outsourcing and give incentive to those who create jobs. In fact he has promised the latter. In view of largest ever-lay offs by all major companies and at any rate no new jobs being created, both the BPO sector and the H1 B visa, may be affected. There is another angle to this issue. US companies earn greater profits by outsourcing their activities to cheaper markets like India. US corporates earn more by outsourcing than by employing US nationals for these jobs. So the very logic of money scarcity will compel the companies to seek approval for outsourcing, rather than limiting it. Watch this space for more! Kashmir and Pakistan:

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H1 B: A type of non immigrant visa allowing US employers to invite specialized guest to work in certain occupations requiring higher professional skills in select areas like architecture, engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences, medicine and health, education, law, accounting, business specialities etc.

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While the special pride of place for India in Bush administrations’ foreign affairs will be removed, Obama will not bully into the worlds’ messiest issue : The Kashmir deadlock. He is expected to favor dialogue between the two. Though his aborted efforts at sending Bill Clinton failed, he is expected to take the negotiated route. Through this initiative he has announced his intentions of becoming a global peacemaker. Coming from a poor and the lessprivileged community, Obama may tend to sympathize with the troubled Kashmiris and this could be a cause of friction. Basic situation in Indo-Pak aspects is expected to remain as status quo: intangibly messy. Afghanistan He is expected to tell India to stay away from the Afghan knot, in order to start clearing the mess. The US brief on Pakistan-Afghanistan tangle is always complicated: They need to enlist Pakistani support to fight the Al Queada but Pakistan is itself a hotbed of the terrorists operating in the region. The US cannot afford any let up in fighting terrorist outfits targeting the US. But at the same time, they just cannot ignore the embedded Pakistani ‘jihadi’ activities. Indo US Nuclear Deal: Obama has always been more forthright in non-proliferation issues. He will push for the US to sign the CTBT. In this eventuality India will have to sign the CTBT too. Also, the leeway and the open support Bush gave India in this deal would be missing. As we have always maintained, there would be no ‘I Love My India’ song sung now. The deal will stay, even concretize further, but no more concessions to India. Obama, India and the World. We have already mentioned that President Obama will not be an international bully, as the past US Presidents generally were. He will be more responsive to the needs of the poor and the subaltern in all parts of the world. However, his actions may be more practical than personal. The appointment of his rival in the run up to the Presidency, Hillary Clinton, indicates the practical approach of the new President. Hillary Clinton as the Secretary of State should be good for India, as she understands India rather well and is personally known to our leaders. Indian leadership has indicated that the Indo US relations have now grown above any personality-based fluctuations. In effect this means the US will continue to engage India in all important world issues, and will further encourage trade with India. In other words, India has come to occupy worlds centrestage on her own might and the US will accept this and work towards strengthening its own place with respect to India.

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Chapter Four

Indo US Civil Nuclear Deal

Before perhaps, the global financial meltdown ‘dominated’ all other national and international issues, the Indo US Nucler deal was the regular talk of the town. Since we have read and heard about the deal, we shall keep the script less on words and more on aspects. India and the US have agreed to conduct nuclear cooperation and trade in the ‘civil aspects of nuclear technology’. India will retain its sovereign right to conduct military research and development but as a seperate programme. India will separate its civilian from the military nuclear programme. Is the deal good for India? Yes it is. We had no choice but to agree to international demands one day, as we need the deal more than any other party. Why do you say that? We could have done without the deal. We always have. Yes, we have always done without any external involvement. So far. But now our situational analyses tell us the following :     

Technologically, we are far behind the world standards. None of our nuclear installations are fully utilized. Because of the above, we have never met our own deadlines. In the absence of nuclear assured supply fuels, our machines are of no use. Our energy security is under real threat.

What has India’s energy security got to do with a political signing of a deal with the US? Energy Security is a concept wherein the present needs against future demands on energy supply are taken into consideration. Environmetal component11 is now necessarily incorporated in our energy policy. Thus we consider local production, consumption, imports and technology as inputs for framing a secured policy on reliable, assured and clean energy supply (immediate and future) to our industries, manufacturing units, vehicles, railways, electricity generation and domestic power requirements. Our imports come from mostly troubled regions of the world; the middle east and the central Asia. None of these supplies are assured. Global oil price fluctuate a lot. Piped flow of pertoleum is again at the mercy of the terrorists. Niether the Indo-Iran gas line project; nor those invloving new sources in Sudan, Syria, Nigeria or Myanmar are assured and safe. The problems of transpotation through tankers are becoming larger. Simultaneously, our power demands are increasing manifold due to general rise in population; its purchasing power; trade (production and manufacturing) and development ( construction) actitvities. In view of the rather depressive oil scenario, an increase in production of electricity is urgently needed. Nuclear power generation is both clean and ultimately cheaper. At present, only 3% of all electricity is generated generated in India is from our nuclear plants. (4000 MW). This has to be raised to upto 10,000 MW. There are not many options with India at this moment, hence the necessity of the deal. Then why do we hear all these noises? 11

Energy generation must be environmentally safe and non polluting.

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The noises need to be seperated for analyses. Testing : As per the deal, the US may take up a full review of the deal, and may very well withdraw from the arrangement, in case India actually conducts nuclear tests12. All materials, components etc. given to India shall be taken back, and the actual fold-up process may take one full year or so. It is expected that other members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)13 will follow similar action. India will come back to the isolation phase of the pre- nuclear deal days. The US has said it understands the seriousness of this probable reaction on their part. So their withdrawal, even after India’s testing, would be after ‘assessing the prevailing situation’ that led to India’s testing.’ This has given India the leeway they were looking for. Fuel Supply : Though India is no longer exclusively dependent on the US for nuclear fuels, yet at the insistence of the US, fuel supply could be cut by the suppliers. Now again cutting fuel supply to India’s nuclear installations is akin to withdrawing from the deal. Though as per the 123 Agreement with the US, India can maintain a fuel stockpilke to offset fuel embargo/shortage in future, no such provision is listed in the Hyde Act. This was a point raised by the opponents of the deal. Again, this will happen only if the US deems fit, “after” asessing the prevailing circumstances that led to India’s testing/dishonouring the deal. Both India and the US have indicated that automatic ban on the deal may not folow. There is a possiblity of the deal going on despite the testing, if India proves the dire necessity of such action. Inspection by the IAEA India has seperated the peaceful nuclear programme from the military or strategic use of nuclear energy to make weapons for self defence14. Those installations where our military research would be carried out shall not be open to inspection. This has been agreed to in the deal. The US is not at all happy in this aspect. It shall keep a good track of the fuel given to India. The US wants to ensure that the fuel is not reprocessed and used for military use. For this it is not very keen to impart reprocessing technology to India. How will India benefit from this deal? There will be an overall benefit for India, as under :     

Our power generation shall increase steadily. Our immediate target is to increase the production capacity from 4000 MW to 10,000 MW. India will conduct nuclear trade in components and secondary industry with the 45-nation NSG. The private sector will invest in larger amounts once our nuclear sector becomes an industry. Ultimately the nuclear sector will become competitive, commercial, efficient and a major contributor to our energy requiremrnts. Nuclear power is said to be environmentally least polluting and cheaper than conventional sources.

Then why was the ‘Left’15 against it from the beginning.

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See chart for complete details of all tests conducted by India, as of date. NSG: Dealt extensively in the next few pages 14 Read the ‘Nuclear Panchseel’ (in succeeding pages) on India’s policy on use of nuclear weapons 15 The left parties include the CPI and CPI(M) 13

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Well, it’s a very deep issue. The Left were right in some points raised and somewhat political in others. Ideologicaly, the left oppose any close and long term arrangement which brings us closer to the US. They view the US with suspicion and offer Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan as examples of what happens to countries romancing the west. • • •

The Left feel no equation with the US can be equal and that the US just cannot be trusted. They raised the cap on testing and the nuclear fuel as issues of opposition. We have talked of fuel and testing assurances – they will ‘not’ be used as tools of international bullying. On the inspection issue, India has emerged as winner. There will no inspection of our military installations.

The left is worried on India having to submit a ‘report card’ of good conduct to the US thus virtually making India a satellite state. In practice, this may not be done, as even the US shall encourge a warm and engaging relationship with India. It may be concluded that while the Left may have gone overboard in their opposition to the deal, which was a pragmatic requirement for our power-starved country, it could be said that due to their rigid stance that both India and the US ultimately made the deal tilt in favour of India. What is this Hyde Act and what is the controversy around it. The US cannot directly negotiate with any country that is not a NPT or CTBT signatory. It is through the Hyde Act that we get an exemption from this general rule. India apart, no other country could technically even talk to the US on nuclear isues, leave aside have a deal with! Also, India is not merely a country beyond the NPT. It is a full fledged nuclear weapons’ state! In a way, it is a clear victory for us. The US has accpted India to the exclusive hither-to five member Nuclear Brahmins16 Group. Hyde Act incorporates most of the terms and conditions as detailed in the deal with India within the 123 Agrement. The specific controversy is that the words and the tone in the Hyde Bill meant for the US lawmakers (and the public) to enact is different from those used in the 123 Agreement. In Hyde Act, there is no such assurance with respect to stockpiling of fuel reserve to offset any cuts in supply and the Act speaks a clear cut and immediate cutting off the fuel supply, and entire Indo-US deal and the trade with all US equipments forfieted, should India conduct a test. We must understand the US limitation here. While the US public must be assured of US’ strong reaction to India’s nuclear ambitions, and therefore this strong-worded Act to garner the US public support; India must rest assured as the International Law will recognise only the 123 Agreement with India, should threre be a conflict between 123 Agreement and the Hyde Act. What sould one make out of this whole issue? Look at the world’s confidence in India. You have already read about India’s crucial role in environmental discussions; in G –8 and the recently concluded G– 20 meet in Washington. Look at how India has engaged the US in the WTO. India has taken lead in all aspects of international dialogues. Our economy is racing ahead, whilst the Americans, the Japanese and the EU have declared recession. In such an emerging scenario, India is assuming important role in world affairs. No country would want to cause friction deliberately, not least the US--which anyway gains the most from our progress. India exports 15% of our merchandize to the US. Our bilateral trade is equal to $ 33 bn. 80% of the H 1B Visas issued to specialized professionals are cornered by Indians making both nation richer in intellectual and monetary resources. US shall also gain from the nuclear trade with India. With such high stakes, we should conduct our relations with other countries with confidence in our competence. The Indo – US Nuclear deal shall only strengthen our mutual relations for the benefit of all.

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The five Brahmins are the US, Russia, China, the UK and France. They are legitimate nuclear powers. Rest are not!

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The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) The Nuclear Suppliers Group was formed in the 1970s, when India was accused of threatening world peace by testing the bomb. The NSG has two distinct characteristics worth mentioning. While they are the most important trading partners in the global nuclear commerce, they are staunchly against proliferation. Though the actual think tank of the NSG are the five-nation ‘Nuclear Brahmins’ or those nations who can possess nuclear weapons for world peace, recent developments show the NSG has a very strong anti-proliferation stance of its own. Since India was not a member of the exclusive ‘Nuclear Brahmins’ Group, her nuclear programme was declared illegitimate. Still the NSG gave a waiver to nuclear weapons state - India by opening its door for trade and technology transfer to a country, which has stubbornly refused to, signed the NPT (Non Proliferation treaty). It is India’s most visible victories of all times. With Bush no longer at the helm, we need to be very careful, as the NSG lobby might want more assurance from us over non-proliferation commitments.

As of 2008 the NSG has 45 members:

Argentina

Australia

Belgium China

Austria

Brazil Croatia

Belarus Bulgaria

Cyprus

Canada

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Ireland

Italy

Japan

Kazakhstan

Latvia Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Romania Russia

Slovakia

Slovenia

South Africa

South Korea

Spain Ukraine

Sweden

Switzerland

United Kingdom

Turkey United States

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Nuclear Panchsheel India’s military nuclear programme is guided by what India says it its ‘Nuclear Panchsheel’ Basic tenets of our peaceful nuclear philosophy are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

"Credible minimum deterrence." No first use policy India will pursue a policy of "retaliation only” Will respond with punitive retaliation should deterrence fail Decisions to authorize the use of nuclear weapons would be made by the Prime Minister or his 'designated successor(s).'"

Our programme is not aggressive. It is not meant to threaten any country ever. In a way, we have developed this power to protect our land and seas! We have developed this strength in ‘self defence’ only. This means, we shall never ever be the first to use the nuclear weapons. In fact our entire nuclear philosophy can be summed up in one phrase: No-first-use-policy. It follows from our self-defense principles that to deter others from attacking India, we need to be very strong, at least as strong as our assumed enemies. Therefore our arsenal will be always full, and as lethal as any of our assumed enemies. In other words, it shall be credible, not feeble or weak. That is, once we strike for defense, after being attacked, or after creation of circumstance where striking is only way to retaliate, in order to survive, we shall devastate our enemy completely. Since we understand the destructive power of the nuclear weapons, India has authorized only the democratically elected civilian head of India, the prime minister to press the ‘nuclear button’

TEST

DEVICE

DATE

YIELD claimed

YIELD reported

Fission device

18 May 1974

12-15 kiloton

4-6 kiloton

Shakti 1

Thermonuclear device

11 May 1998

43-60 kiloton

12-25 kiloton

Shakti 2

Fission device

11 May 1998

12 kiloton

??

Shakti 3

Low-yield device

11 May 1998

0.2 kiloton

low

Shakti 4

Low-yield device

13 May 1998

0.5 kiloton

low

Shakti 5

Low-yield device

13 May 1998

0.3 kiloton

low

20

Chapter Five

General Elections 2009

General elections to Lok Sabha held ordinarily after every five years, in India are world’s most elaborate democratic exercise – involving around 700 million electorates and $ 500 million in expenses. Despite these imposing and benumbing statistics, the authority, which conducts this exercise, the Election Commission is seen as the most efficient, corruption free and the elections conducted by EC as the most free and fair compared to elections in other countries! On May 22, 2009 India will have her 18th Prime Minster in 61 years. Already, one of the toughest jobs in the world, it has been made more difficult in the times of global recession. We will try to have a fundamental look at India’s political arrangement and the principles, which form the base of all political actions in India. Basic nature of our polity: Members of all political parties owe their loyalty to India’s constitution. Therefore execution of all political processes including protests and demonstrations and opposition has to be executed under the constitutional framework. India’s constitution allows a political party with majority of Members of Parliament to form the government for, ordinarily, five years. Despite some blots, by and large, Indian political parties are constitutional practitioners. The Election Commission— one of the most respected government institutions in the world—ensures this sanctity. The EC declares a political party as ‘state’, or ‘national’ upon fulfilling set of criteria, as needed under the EC guidelines. State party: When a political party engages in political activities for five years and returns at least one MP per every 25 MPs OR one MLA per every 30 MLAs in that state, that party is recognized by the EC as a ‘State party’. National Party: A state party recognized in four states is a national party. However a bad day in office may mean more than that! A state or national party will stand to lose their status as soon as they fail to return the minimum candidates at any elections. Regional Party: A party, which has a regional presence or may dominate in a particular area/region. More importantly, a regional party will espouse or raise regional issues only. They tend to raise issues of local importance pertaining to their regions only. Political Parties in action: The Congress, BJP, Left Parties CPI & CPI (M), Nationalist Congress Party, Bahujan Smaj party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, and Samajvadi Party are national parties. They raise issues of national issues on the basis of which they claim political party. The BJP plans to raise thee issues in the 2009 general elections 1. Terrorism 2. Price rise 3. Mismanagement of the economy. Regional parties are generally state parties, with distinct regional presence. The issues they raise typify their origin and ambitions. Let us give a list of prominence regional parties:

21

1. The Shiv Sena: A typical or a classical regional political party, which aggressively espouses the state/region’s issue and gives more importance to local issues at times, overriding the national interest. Has based its ideology to promote the interest of the ‘Marathi Manoos’ or the native Marathi person who is under threat of economic and cultural loss due to sustained influx of Non Marathis, mainly from North India. In the 70s, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray first against the “ill effects” of invasion of people from other states into Maharashtra. Shiv Sena’s rebel off-shoot the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) led by flamboyant Raj Thakeray has taken up the cause more enthusiastically and more violently. We have taken this issue elsewhere in detail.

2. The Telegu Desam: Takes up general issues of Andhra; But lately more nationalistic especially since its leader Chandrababu Naidu was central to NDA’ allies coordination. Typical Andhra issues like Telangana state – a demand for state within Andhra or Telangana state is espoused by TRS or Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). Andhra witnessed protests in the 50s resulting in the creation of first state based on any language post-British.

3. AIADMK & The DMK: Tamil Nadu based parties. Have earlier raised anti-North, Anti-Hindi protests, particularly the DMK. Guardian of the Tamil interests. Keenly tracks Sri Lankan Tamil issue and has at times forced the center to intervene in Sri Lankan affairs to ‘protect’ the Hindu Tamils there. Both the parties’ form see-saw like allies alternating between with the National Congress and the BJP. Presently the DMK with 13 MPs in the Lok Sabha is a part of the ruling UPA.

4. Asom Gana Parishad: Though initially a firebrand party of the Assamese youth, it is one of the major players in Assam politics. The troubled state has a long-standing problem with immigration from all neighboring regions. While AGP politically raises this issue, the state has the misfortune of generating a deadly outfit like ULFA, which raises the same issue through bullets.

5. Akali Dal: The Akali Dal has lost its earlier days of glory as in the 80s. Presently they represent 6.

Punjabi/Sikh interest in the Lok Sabha. They are a part of NDA coalition led by one of the national parties, the BJP. National Conference: One of India’s most watched political parties of Jammu and Kashmir. While the party is linked to the mainstream Congress, it vacillates to political extremism at times to survive office and to calm down frayed Muslim population of the valley. Closely identifies with the Muslim section of J & K. The Hindu vote bank is cornered by the BJP. Took a partisan stance at the recent Amarnath Cave Shrine Controversy.

22

General Elections 2004, 14th Lok Sabha: In the last held general elections in 2004, the position of the two major parties was: Total Parliamentary Seats: 543 Party The BJP INC Left Parties

MPs 138 145 53

%age of seats 22 27 7%

The Left parties joined the Congress to form a post-electoral alliance the United Progressive Alliance, which rules the country today. The BJP continues to lead the major national opposition political group the National Democratic Alliance with regional parties like the AGP and the JD (U). General Elections 1999, 13th Lok Sabha: Lok Sabha 13th

Year 1999

Leading Party: The BJP

Seats 182 seats Congress 115; total 552

Presently, the ruling Congress Party directly rules in 7 states and exercise powers through coalition in 4 other states taking their area of influence to 11. The BJP rules in 7 states directly and has indirect influence in 5 other states with a total of 12 states under its influence. Regional/state parties dominate in the rest. Coalition Parties: Also called ‘mili juli sarkar’: Coalitions are alliances of political parties who come together to form a political union either to fight the elections or after the results are out and no party gets a majority to form government. Major coalitions in India are: The ruling United Progressive Alliance is led by the Congress and includes regional parties like Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD; TN CM Karunanidhis’ DMK, Amar Singh’s Samajvadi Party and Dalit based Mayavati’s Bahujan Samaj Party4. Though the Left Parties were a part of the UPA till recently, they withdrew support on opposition to nuclear deal a few months ago. Samajvadi party came in place of the Left. These divergent parties work through a minimum agreed political objective to be attained through able governance called “ Common Minimum Programme” (CMP). The other coalition is the BJP led National Democratic Alliance. NDA includes AGP; The Akali Dal; Naveen Patnaiks’ BJD; and Bihar CM Nitish Kumars’ JD (U). Important parties like J & K’s Omar Abdullah led National Conference; Chandra Babu’s Telegu Desam of Andhra and the Bad M or Mamta Bannerjee’s Trinamool Congress have left the NDA alliance on separate issues The coalition era: Though the coalition era is said to begin in the 80s with the rise of Andhra’s charismatic NT Ramachandran or NTR, was since the early 90s and during the 1996 elections that the trend of coalitions came to 4

Andhra’s state party TRS and BSP have since quit the alliance. Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party is based on caste considerations. Her main vote base is the dalit population of north India.

23

stay in India. We must note that till about 1977, the Indian National Congress had the single largest support of the voters, and till Pt Nehru was the Prime Minister, it was politically very difficult to be his opponent. Colaition politica are a hallmark of a matured political system with deep political awareness among the voting section of the population and a mush wider sense of issues at stake in the elections. In recent years, both the ruling rivals the Congress and the BJP have required regional pop-ups to form the government. While the regional parties have generally succeeded in raising local issues, which could be neglected by national parties, they have been of late too parochial and too violent. While the DMK proved too much for the NDA to handle, and the DMKs withdrawal caused the 1998 elections; the DMK now a part of the ruling UPA wanted unreasonable interference in Lankan affairs to push its electoral prospects among the Tamils. Similarly Kashmir’s NC, Andhras’ TRS are seen as politically extreme parties. Raj Thakeray’s nuisance may mean deaths and tragedies for the nonMarathas, but for the MNS aspiring to chalk out its ‘place of pride’ or a safe vote bank in Mumbai and Maharashtra it merely means ‘electoral consolidation.’ Raj Thackeray intends to capture the electoral space occupied by the aging and the increasingly fading Bal Thackeray. To an extent his rise will check the growth of the Shiv Sena-BJP combine, therefore the Congress treats all his mere politicking as expedient. The point of concern is not the politicking or even the political tussle for votes. The real issues of concerns are

1. Article 1917, relating to the six freedoms enshrined and other fundamental rights in the constitution are being openly violated. 2. The state government is just not ready to stop the violence, since the violence may help team up the Marathi vote bank and prevent BJPs’ march. 3. There are some severe limitations with regional/state party having national stakes. While a state party may have national responsibilities, their ultimate loyalty – or survival tool – rests with the state people. This makes them irresponsible and even violent in the pursuit of their goals. 4. The coalition compulsions make national parties behave ‘irresponsibly’. While BJP is studiously silent on the Raj Thackeray issue even as it will make the economic mishandling its main issue at the elections. The Congres has also not reined in Raj due to its own compulsions.

17

Indian constitution guarantees six freedoms ie freedom relating to speech, expression, association, livelihood, trade and residence.

24

25

PARTY POSITION IN THE FOURTEENTH LOK SABHA IN 2008 TOTAL SEATS 545. CURRENT POSITION 544 CONGRESS AND ITS ALLIES

Total 232

Indian National Congress (INC) 153 Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) 24 Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) 16 Nationalist Congres Party (NCP) 11 Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) 6 Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) 5 Lok Jan Sakthi Party (LJNSP) 4 Muslim League (MUL) 1 People's Democratic Party (PDP) 1 Republican Party of India- A (RPIA) 1 Others 10 NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE 169

Total

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 130 Shiv Sena (SHS) 12 Biju Janta Dal (BJD) 11 Janata Dal-United (JDU) 8 Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) 8

LEFT PARTIES AND ALLIES

Total 60

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) 43 Communist Party of India (CPI) 10 Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) 3 All India Forward Block (FBL) 3 Kerala Congress-Joseph (KEC) 1

26

OTHERS

Total 75 Samajvadi Party (SP) 38 Telugu Desom Party (TDP) 5 Asom Gana Parishat (AGP) 2 --------------UNPA Total 45 --------------Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 17 Others 13

PARTY POSITION IN THE THIRTEENTH LOK SABHA 1999 -2004

Party

Acronym Alliance

Seat s

Bharatiya Janata Party

BJP

182

Indian National Congress INC

NDA

Congress 114

PARTY POSITION IN THE TWELFTH LOK SABHA 1998 -1999

Party

Acronym Alliance

Seat s

Bharatiya Janata Party

BJP

182

NDA

27

Indian National Congress INC

Congress 141

28

Chapter Six

‘Hindu terrorists’ in Hindustan?

Disclaimer: The views expressed are purely for analyses purposes. These views reflect some prevailing opinions held be some segments of the society. No views are authoritative, final and binding; they are neither correct nor wrong; The handbook intends to encourage students to form their own opinions; contest/reject wherever deem fit and develop new ideas and opinions.

This paper talks of extremely sensitive theme relating to basic relations between the Hindus, the Muslims and the Christians. Of late India is witnessing daily reports confirming the presence of ‘Hindu terror’. This is some way conveys the presence of ‘Muslim terror’ or ‘Sikh terror’ or the likes. There is some serious reporting on Army officers with terror links. Most importantly, India’s media have played out this episode most sensationally, making ordinary citizen look up at defence forces with suspect and mistrust. Let us attempt to classify the general polulation on the basisi of their attitudte towards other religions.18 1. There are few class of people who view the relationship of these communities from different angles: a. 1. Bhai Bhai types Those who live together and so to say, swim and sink together: Communities living in close quarters in numerous towns and cities, villages and hamlets. They have a ‘working relationship’ with each other. They work together but do not marry; will dance together in state festivals but not in religious ones. Mostly at peace with another. b. 2. The indifferent types: Those who are young or liberals and work professionals who are the middle and upper class of India. They are the drivers of the present economic upsurge in India. Though not yet a majority, but they do not recognize their differences and will never bother to talk religion, leave aside fight for it. People living in the four cosmos and the major metros in India live in perfect harmony, as they do not ever entertain the differences. They keep the religious and communal differences from influencing their peace. Their major preoccupation is with their work. c. 3. Moderates: They are religious at heart. They follow their religion with full devotion. Though ordinarily they are indifferent to any communal issue, such people participate only when sufficiently incited by the core fanatics as in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots; the 1993 carnage or the 2002 Gujarat riots. d. 4. Religious workers: The clergy, the Hindu Priest; the Swamys, the Maulvis. Though generally and at heart peace lovers, at times, and for a limited few, loyalty to their temples far outweigh their capacity to honor citizenship obligations. It is their “true” but misplaced love for the religion which force them to abandon reason and take to violence. e. 5. Those in the “business” of religion: They are special class of people, spread across all segments of societies, who create frictions among the various classes of citizens, listed above. The divisions sought to be created are for personal gains of this class, either political or social in nature. Circumstances: There are some special circumstances in India which make the interplay of the above 5 categories of segments explosive at times, tense at other times and sensitive at all times. 18

These categories are purely analytical and imaginative. They have no direct reference to any specific population.

29

1. Conversions 2. Presence of all major types of religions in India5: a. Hindus = 80% b. Muslims 13% c. Christians = 2% and the d. Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists the rest. 3. Vocal and numerous Celebrations of all these religions. 4. Competing interests for State patronage. Since the State is secular, all religions vie for state concessions The issue of conversions: This is at the core of friction between the Hindus and Christians. They are two distinct tendencies at work, which have made conversions a deadly issue actually tarnishing India’s image in the Christian dominated World. 1. It is a sort of religious obligation on the part of the Christian Church to involve as many Jesus followers as possible in order to carry the Divine Will, which talks of Jesus as the only Son of God. Christianity is the only vehicle for Salvation. Those not yet Christians are due to their own ignorance or ‘enthralled’ by other ‘religions’. The Catholics see this ‘rescue process’ as Divine mission. Social upliftment is another feature of these Churches. Some of the regions have benefited form these missionaries across rural India. 2. Prevalence of extreme poverty coupled with rigid hierarch of Hinduism, designating lower undignified position to lower cast Hindus, and the peripheral tribals, making their existence a virtual survival of the fittest. Lets combine the two: Poor exhausted, humiliated who are violently challenged if they want to better their existence. In vast countryside, the poor and the lower castes have actually been exploited for centuries and their attempts to read write or seek good jobs have been met with violence and killings in an ordinary matter-of-fact manner. Suddenly they see a ‘God Given’ opportunity in Christianity- life with dignity, and in which there are some supporting institutions/people eager to lead these hapless people out of the morass. It is in the coming together of these two trends: poverty of one and missionary opportunity of the other that conversions happen, as in the case of the Panu Scheduled Castes of Kandhamal in Orissa. The other non-converts are the kandhs or the kondhs who are the impoverished tribals. It is at this stage that people with vested interests come into play. They use violence straightaway to score political brownie points. Killings start as they target the Missionaries and the newly converts. While they issue threats to the recent converts, asking them to forcible reconvert; and pounce on the Missionaries citing this as an anti Hindu act. Some of the observations may be noted at this stage: 1. The conversions are less spiritual and more material. After all a very rich Hindu convert from Brahamincal or Kshatriya folds is rare. It follows that the real cause is lop sided development and some serious and longstanding neglect of the region by the administration. 2. Conversions in a communally charged countryside have been the bone of contention and sort of readymade agenda for the zealots. Therefore, the policy makers must frame a policy of conversions in rural India. While the state must not interfere in the core area of religious domain, yet its practice has led to communal disturbance in the past. Based on this record the government must frame a ‘to do’ and ‘not to do’ list on conversions. 5

See chart

30

3. The religious attackers are not from the mainstream India. No spiritual gurus or Shakaracharyas have ever condoned such violence. The ‘Hindu’ lobby is actually politically active right wing activists. Therefore we must separate this issue from any Hindu-Christian conflict. It is merely a reactionary group attacking some objectionable practice of other religions in poorest districts of India. India’s constitution is one of the most secular constitutions in the world. Durga Das Basu, one of the distinguished judges, writer of authority, legal commentator and constitutional expert has praised Indian constitution for giving a wide range of religious and social freedoms to minority groups not provided for in any other constitution across the world. This fact must be made internationally known, to project the right image of this progressive and fastest growing nation-state in the world. The recent cases of Army officers held for links with terror must been seen as few ‘errant men’ in the 1.3 million strong Indian defence personnel and one of the most disciplined forces in the world. Such acts of ‘errant behaviour’ are well understandable in a communally sensitive society of whom they are ultimately the products. There have been numerous cases like:   

Corruption (Tehalka expose) Espionage (war room leaks) Spying (Larkin’s case)

Exercise: Try to find out more on the above incidents. Such instances are separately dealt with and closed. Never has the army collectively accused of by the nation as corrupt, communal, saboteur or all of the above.

31

Religious Composition of Indian Population as per 2001 Census is as follows: Religion Hindus Muslims Christians Sikhs Buddhists Jains Other Religions & Persuasions Religion not Stated Total

Population 827,578,868 138,188,240 24,080,016 19,215,730 7,955,207 4,225,053 6,639,626 727,588 1,028,610,328

(%) 80.5 13.4 2.3 1.9 0.8 0.4 0.6 0.1 100.0

32

Chapter Seven

One India One Gold

India achieved her first-ever individual gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, since independence. It took us more than 60 years to break this barrier. Our rankings shot up to 50 among the 200 countries participating from the 65th rank we achieved in 2004 in Athens. We had won Zero Gold; one silver; Zero Bronze in 2004. We secured a whopping (!) haul of One Gold Zero Silver; Two Bronzes this year. Nearly a hundred member contingent goes to the host city flying our national flag, after 4 years of money spent in the worlds’ largest sporting carnival watched by more than a billion people across the globe each day. Each Olympic has been a disappointment for India, save for an occasional freak case of brilliance. Lets get to the point straight way: Why don’t we ever win quite a few Golds and silvers like other countries? Let us be more understanding rather than acerbic towards well…ourselves. First things first. Since the past year or so, we have these shining knights: 1. Vishwanathan Anand More than a legend now. He is the current world chess champion. He first won the world title in 2000, followed by a win 2007 and now has won for the third time. Also he has won the world championship in three different ways it is played with: ‘Knockout’; ‘tournament’ and ‘match’ formats. One cannot get better than him. 2. Sania Mirza Placed at a high of top 50 till very recently. Easily one of the best tennis icons at a young age. We can see her pioneering feats in women’s tennis. She has firmly raised the national benchmark to global standards. It is however alleged that she appears ‘tentative’ while playing against the very best. Assessing her from purely physical standards, there is little hope she will be among the top three. Her regular injuries and their diagnoses indicate weaker Indian physical make up that might never the enable us to surpass the worlds’ toughest. These are perhaps harsh analyses of India’s very best, but critics are debating on a crucial point, more fundamental that Mirza or other sporting icons. We shall talk on this later… 3. Saina Nehwal Has recently won the world junior championship and the Common Wealth Youth Games gold medal. Overall she is world rank number 11. Her break in to top 5 suddenly seems possible. A rarest-of-rare feat considering Padukone was considered one off in Indian badminton. Her coach P Gopichand was another star performer in his own right in the men’s section. However, with her basics right, she is advancing surely towards the top. But the basic question, can she ever surpass the energy and the agility of the Chinese? 4. Abhinav Bindra : Much more than the Gold he won in the 10m-pistol category, it was his concentration, motivation to win the medal and his devotion towards the sport that is worthy of mention and indeed adulation. His coach said that he had to be pulled out of training sessions in order he takes some rest. This is the champion material we are looking for. 5. Gagan Narang

33

Won the Gold medal and created a world record (perfect 600 in a world championship) in the 10-m Air Rifle category in the recently held world championship in Bangkok. Ranked in the top 20, this shooter gets motivated by his failures by own admission. His recent win after the Beijing no-show in the Air rifle Category shows grit with talent. This deadly mix will surely make him at par with the top three. 6. Jeev Milkha Singh One of the most successful of Indian golfers -- the first Indian to play in the world toughest US PGA tour – won the Singapore Open 2008 of the Asian circuit. He has already won the Austrian open this year. Apart from this select list we have several more in the making or probable list who will one day break into the worlds best club list. Instances like Kuneru Humpy, J Chinappa are numerous. We see a certain pattern in the above winners: 1. We cannot just attribute their efforts to the success of the Indian sporting culture. They are more individual efforts, supplemented by the government at various levels. But the system has not produced them. They are definitely freak cases of individual brilliance. 2. According to some sports observers, Their Indian physiques have come in their way of becoming Global Number One. There is some genetic bottleneck we can all see. Sufficient to recall Indo-German hockey match and the loud difference in the body make up. It is by no means a fact that India’s physical make up comes in way to being the world’s best, as quite a few Indians are and have been the best in their respective fields. Here we are raising an issue in the domain of life sciences. Scientific findings are generally objective and acceptable. There is no final word out yet hence thses allegations remains as such till now. Generally in India, the family is not supportive initially, as the material position of average Indian family cannot afford the potential breadwinner to take up this ‘risky’ venture. Though the talented are spotted and the world comes to see his/her prowess later on, but the point we are making must be pondered. To create batches of talented people, youngsters must be encouraged to practice and the talented among those need be picked up for nurturing, and all resources should be provided including financial comfort. Our current practice is: Show your talent and also show your determination. Pass the test of poverty and family opposition yourself. Then win several national and at least one international events against the best. The chances are, we might train you. We might not. Poverty and performance: A look at the worlds’ top ten countries indicates a clear connection between the rich and the winner. Exercise: Try to correlate the countries with their GDP. What conclusions do you draw? Lastly, it is said that the communist countries win more medals than can be explained. Well, they have a very serious Olympic and sports policy at work. The policy executing rests with officers who take up work very professionally. It is this observation, which made Abhinav Bindra comment on our singular lack of policy initiative in sports management. What we need a certain degree of professionalism in our sports promotion measures. Elsewhere in the world, sports are seen as an investment and the approach is business like. Sports are akin to any other profession and a clinical precision is seen in the implementation of sporting development initiatives. India must invest more in the sports field, more so in the twin areas of infrastructure and financial incentives to winners at the village level. Villages are India’s souls. All our richness and weakness can be traced to the man resting around India’s village chaupals. What’s he thinking? A career in sports for his son…never.

34

35

India’s Show of Strenght at the last two Olympics We have chosen view few representatative tables to highlight the following : 1. India’s medal capablity agianst our strenght of participants at these two games 2. Top ten performers give an idea how far we have to go, assuming they have reached plateau levels. India at the 2008 beijing Olympics : Contingent India in sport Sport

men

women

events Medals

Archery

1

3

4

Athletics

3

13

9

Badminton

1

1

2

Boxing

5

0

5

Judo

0

2

2

Rowing

3

0

2

Shooting

7

2

14

Swimming

3

1

4

Table Tennis

1

1

2

Tennis

2

2

3

Wrestling

3

0

3

Yatching/Sailing 1

0

1

1 Bronze

1 Gold

1 Bronze

36

12 sports

28 men 25 women

1 Gold 2 Bronze

And our best ever returns :

Medal Name

Gold

Sport

Event

Abhinav Bindra Shooting Men's 10 m air rifle

Bronze Sushil Kumar

Wrestling Men's freestyle 66 kg

Bronze Vijender Kumar Boxing

Middleweight 75 kg

India at the 2004 Athens Olympics : India’s participation in the events at the summer games. Sport

men

women

events

Archery

3

3

4

Athletics

4

13

9

Badminton

2

1

2

Boxing

4

0

4

Hockey

16

0

1

Judo

1

0

1

Rowing

1

0

1

37

• •

Sailing

2

0

1

Shooting

5

3

5

Swimming

0

1

2

Table Tennis 1

1

2

Tennis

2

0

1

Weightlifting 0

3

3

Wrestling

7

0

7

14 sports

48 men 25 women 43 events

And our returns ONE SILVER Lt. Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore — Shooting, Men's Double Trap.

38

2008 Summer Games at Beijing. The top ten ranked Countires. Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Nation China (CHN) United States (USA) Russia (RUS) Great Britain (GBR) Germany (GER) Australia (AUS) South Korea (KOR) Japan (JPN) Italy (ITA) France (FRA)

Gold 51 36 23 19 16 14 13 9 8 7

Silver 21 38 21 13 10 15 10 6 10 16

Bronze 28 36 28 15 15 17 8 10 10 17

Total 100 110 72 47 41 46 31 25 28 40

2004 Summer Games at Athens. The top ten ranked Countires.

Rank

Nation

Gold

Silver

Bronze

Total

1

United States

36

39

27

102

2

China

32

17

14

63

3

Russia

27

27

38

92

4

Australia

17

16

16

49

5

Japan

16

9

12

37

6

Germany

13

16

20

49

7

France

11

9

13

33

8

Italy

10

11

11

32

9

South Korea 9

12

9

30

10

Great Britain 9

9

12

30

39

Group Discussion

You have reached this section after having gone through a wrap up of select/important events in the business and political fields. While questions asked in the Personal Interview round are directed at you, and your own opinions are generally solicited; in the Group discussion rounds you need to convince and win an argument. All other group members shall attempt to put forth their own set of arguments. You need to be confident in behavior, original and clear in thoughts, and vocal in delivery. In this respect we have tried to present the business awareness/current affairs in order that you form your own opinions on the same. Group Discussions are generally based on topics, which could be abstract, technical or current – political and/or economic Can you attempt some of the GD topics enlisted below based on current events?

Topics based on current events

1. India's biggest brand: Shah Rukh; Sensex or Sachin? 2. Who are leading India: Professionals; Policies or Politicians? 3. Raj is Right. The 'sons of the soil' theory in incontestable. 4. How would have 'Maryada Purushottam' Ram judged the Sethusamudram imbroglio. 5. Are Ms Bad M and Mr Good M really bad or good because Tata says so? 6. Iconic industrialist Tata harassed in his homeland. Will the FDI rain halt now? 7. The success of Brand Modi is a complete failure of secularism in India. 8. The so-called ' decoupling of Indian economy' stands exposed. 9. Okay, few gamblers like Lehman Brothers went bust. Why is the world following suit? 10. Is trade need or greed based? 11. Should our priority be Chandra or Charkha? 12. 1 billion 1 gold. Period. 13. Abhinav Bindra is not a product of the Indian sporting system. He is a winner despite India’s sporting system. 14. Introducing the new Prime Minister in the 15th Lok Sabha. 15. Who is a better bet for the resurgent India; scholarly and weak or muscular and strong Prime Minister. 16. [email protected] 17. Is it ethical to bail out professional gamblers with a $ 700 billion package? 18. US have had no attacks post 9/11. India has learnt to live with them. 19. From playing for the nation to playing for notes. The new age Indian cricket players. 20. Accepting homosexuality is rejecting the great Indian family system. 21. Homosexuality will end the dreaded and exploitative patriarchy. 22. Section 309 is a blot on our collective wisdom. 23. Gandhi and Hanuman stand tall at President Obama's senate office.

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24. Gandhi, have found place at Obamas’ heart…Will India too? 25. Inflation or nuclear deal: What should be poor and impoverished India's priority? 26. India Everywhere! 27. Emerging India's real ticket heroes. 28. A learned Judge should not be judged. 29. Gujarat and Orissa. The new battleground of the Hindu jihadis. 30. Too many soups are spoiling the Indo- Pak soup. 31. Caste system should be banned. Its time is up. Its already wracked Gujarat and Orissa. 32. Smoking is injurious, but smokers are not criminals. Ramadoss are you listening? 33. Growing and very violent Maoism is an indicator of peoples’ mistrust in the Indian state. 34. India is home to most poor people in the world. She is also home to nearly half of top 10 rich of the world. Our Shame or Our Pride? 35. With 9 mn vehicles, Delhi is going the Yamuna way. Other cities too in wait-list. 36. India's report card on administering Kashmir: 0/10 37. Indian companies are truly world class. 38. Art 355 spared as Orissa burnt. The price we pay with lives for weak governance.