the hindu imp. news feb. 6th 2012
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8/3/2019 The Hindu Imp. News Feb. 6th 2012
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THE HINDU
Imp. News
Feb.6th
2012
Page-1
Report hints at collusive behavior' in Antrix-Devas deal:
In their stinging indictments, two government-appointed committees, set up to scrutinize the
Antrix-Devas agreement, have highlighted serious procedural lapses on the part of, and policy
violations by, senior scientists of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), all of which
benefited a private company. Under the January 2005 agreement between the Antrix
Corporation, marketing wing of ISRO, and the Bangalore-based Devas Multimedia Private
Limited, Devas was allowed unrestricted use of 70 MHz of the scarce S-band spectrum from two
exclusive satellites. The Pratyush Sinha report lists another four bureaucrats found responsiblefor the acts of omission: the former Member (Finance), Space Commission, S.S.
Meenakshisundaram; and three former Additional Secretaries of the Department of Space,
Veena S. Rao, G. Balachandhran and R.G. Nadadur.
Yuvraj Singh in U.S. for cancer treatment:
World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh is trying to relive his role. The crucial difference is, now he is
fighting for his life and not for sporting glory. Diagnosed with lung cancer, he is undergoing
treatment in the U.S., with the tumour reportedly showing signs of malignancy. There were
moments during the World Cup when he woke up at night, gasping for breath, coughing andfeeling drained out. He continued playing, ignoring the ailment at great peril to his life. His all-
round efforts played the most significant role in India lifting the Cup. Much after the euphoria
died down, it dawned on Yuvraj and his family that not all was well.
Will not wait beyond March 27: GJM-
In an indictment of the Trinamool-Congress-led government in West Bengal, which could mean
a fresh spell of political unrest in the Darjeeling hills in the months ahead, the Gorkha Janamukti
Morcha (GJM) leadership on Sunday accused it of dragging its feet over the formation of the
Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), the autonomous body that has been proposed for
the region. Reiterating that the deadline set by the government for the formation of the GTAwas March 27, GJM president Bimal Gurung told a congregation of party-workers in Darjeeling
that if the body was not set up by then, the GJM would not wait any longer. Mr. Gurung said
the party would announce its next course of action on April 17.
Amid unrest, Wen pledges to protect farmers' rights:
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A month after the southern Chinese village of Wukan rose up in open rebellion against the local
Communist Party leadership over land grabs, Premier Wen Jiabao has assured farmers their
rights would be protected as Beijing looks to address rising rural unrest ahead of a crucial
leadership transition. Last week, Wukan's villagers, for the first time in years, had an open
election to choose their election committees. Electoral contests had been stage-managed by
party-backed officials for decades, before the local-leadership was finally thrown out byprotesting farmers, who were subsequently given backing by the provincial government.
EDITORIAL
Believe me, Muslims are not a herd:
The vote bank theory has been convenient for labelling Muslims and shoving them into handy
brackets. It was done in India to explain the political behavior of Muslims across regional,
linguistic, caste, class and social barriers. Today it is done globally to gloss over inconvenient
and inconsistent behavior: it is a one-size fits all formula that cuts across regions and rides over
locational differences and circumstances. Whether they are Thai, Chechen, Palestinian or
European, Muslims are judged unfailingly by their faith and so-called beliefs. In this foretold
story, everything is pre-decided: the crime, the culprit, the cause, the evidence and the
punishment. The Muslim Ulema refuse to accept the ground reality of Islam in India which is as
much mired in caste politics as any other Indian religion. The plain truth is that Muslim society
is as divided as Hindu society and along the same caste and regional lines. Caste is such a
formidable Indian/Hindu institution that no ideology can escape it: Islam, Christianity, Marxism,
rationalism, modernism have all floundered on the bedrock of this hard reality. Islam became
acceptable in medieval Indian society as a caste group and not as a religious group. Mughals,
Pathans, Turks, Sheikhs and Syeds were regarded as sub-castes, so much so that other Indian
converts to Islam came to be conveniently regarded as outcasts.
A tragic impasse:
Russia and China may have acted rashly in vetoing a sharply worded draft United Nations
Security Council Resolution on Syria but the United States, France and Britain who have
reacted with predictable fury cannot escape their responsibility for an impasse which leaves
the world unable to act on the unfolding humanitarian disaster in that country. India voted for
the draft, noting that it expressly rules out intervention in Syria under Article 42 of the U.N.
Charter, and supporting the resolution's call for political dialogue between President Bashar al-
Assad's government and opposition groups under the auspices of the Arab League.
The U.N. resolution of March 2011 imposed only a no-fly zone but served, in reality, as a cover
for NATO's aim of violent regime change there. Today, Russia and China both believe they were
deceived into abstaining rather than using their veto. The P-5 and Arab League, along with
India, Brazil and South Africa, must go back to the drawing board and come up with a new plan
of action that can end the violence and set the stage for a Syrian-led political solution.
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Come rich, come single:
Given the biting austerity and high unemployment they are presiding over, it is hardly surprising
that the Tories in the current Liberal-Conservative coalition in the United Kingdom should seek
refuge in tougher immigration rules. Immigration Minister Damian Green's recent observations
on restricting British visas only to the wealthy, the highly skilled and the very best in otherrespects seem unexceptionable but are, if anything, aimed at preparing the ground for the
adoption of a controversial policy to curb family migration. The government-sponsored
Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) report of last October sets new income criteria for
citizens and settled residents who wish to sponsor foreign spouses or children. It proposes a
minimum threshold where a person's salary before tax would be above the amount that would
entitle him or her to income-related benefits. A January 2012 report of the MAC also claims a
strong correlation between non-European immigration and the displacement of British
workers.
It is ironic, given that commitment to the family is an oft repeated conservative platitude, that
the Cameron government should seek to put in place policies that would allow the right to
family life only to those British residents who are affluent and deny it to working people whose
income is less than the cut-off. Therein lies the harshness of the new criteria. Indeed, their
application could attract legal challenge for violating Article 8 of the European Convention on
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, i.e. the right to respect for private and family life.
OP ED
Dazzling images do not a shining nation make:
In the past few years, residents and visitors to Davos during the World Economic Forum (WEF)have become familiar with a spectacular annual phenomenon. Streets, buses, cafés and even
billboards in half empty parking lots are covered with colourful images of emerging nations
competing with one another to position themselves as the most attractive investment
destination in the world. The most prominent players are some of the BRICS mainly Brazil,
Russia, India and South Africa. New players such as Mexico, Thailand and even Azerbaijan which
mounted dazzling image campaigns to attract investor eyeballs. The main streets of Davos
turned in effect, into a site for exhibiting these emerging nations in a never ending mobile
exposition of seductive images.
It is not uncommon to hear stories of shock and disappointment upon arrival from the very
members of the privileged global class that the Indian state so wants to attract. Not surprising,
as the questions of poverty, inequality and social inequity in India remain as much part of the
Indian growth story as the middle class prosperity despite their effacement from the image
world. Despite high growth rates over the past decades, India remains at the bottom of BRICS in
terms of income disparity and human development of its citizens.
MFN status, lost in translation:
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Not for nothing is the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) known as the Harvard
of Pakistan. It attracts the best students in the country. It is also stiff on the pocket, so it is an
island of privilege, though the University financially supports deserving, but not well-off,
students. LUMS has also mopped up some of the best brains in Pakistan for its faculty. Despite
some Jamat-e-Islami inclined students, it remains a liberal bastion in the heart of Punjab.
The good news about cancer:
Yuvraj is stricken with cancer today, but why the long faces? All kinds of people have had
cancer, battled with it and emerged winners. The C' word no longer evokes the dread it once
did and there are several good reasons for this. Gone are the days, for example, when a
woman's entire breast was removed, including the lymph nodes under her arm which severely
impacted her ability to use her arm again, after a diagnosis of breast cancer. Removal of the
malignant lump in the breast, followed by radiotherapy, is the preferred course of treatment
now at any reputable cancer institution.
New machines are so accurate that the negative side-effects associated with exposure to
radiation have been almost eliminated. This has resulted in both enhanced survival and a better
quality of life after treatment. So while we may feel sorry for Yuvraj, let us remember that when
it comes to treating cancer successfully we are today in the golden age and Yuvi has a number
of factors working in his favour. He is young, suffers from no other chronic condition and is
healthy given his sporting background. More than that, he has shown time and again that he is
a man who can rise to the occasion when asked to do so. What he now needs from those
around him and from all of us, his well-wishers, is an equal belief in his ability to fight back and
hit cancer for a six.
INTERNATIONAL
U.S. plan shift Afghan role to Special Op forces:
The United States' plan to wind down its combat role in Afghanistan a year earlier than
expected relies on shifting responsibility to Special Operations forces that hunt militant leaders
and train local troops, according to senior Pentagon officials and military officers. These forces
could remain in the country well after the NATO mission ends in late 2014. Unlike in Iraq, where
domestic political pressure gave Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki reason to resist a continued U.S.
military presence into 2012, in Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai and his senior aides have
expressed an initial willingness to continue a partnership with the United States that includes
counterterrorism missions and training. Senior U.S. officials have also expressed a desire to
keep some training and counterterrorism troops in Afghanistan past 2014. The transition plan
for the next three years in Afghanistan could be a model for such a continued military
relationship.
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West's move to form group of friends of Syrian people:
The double veto by Russia and China, which caused the collapse of the draft resolution, that
was supported by 13 of the 15 Council members, including India, visibly upset the Western
nations, especially the U.S. and France.
Castro comes out with memoirs:
Cuban leader Fidel Castro presented two volumes of his memoir entitled Time Guerrilla in a
ceremony that marked his first public appearance since last April, Cuban media reported. The
memoirs trace his life from infancy until 1958, when he succeeded in leading a revolution that
turned Cuba into a Communist country aligned with the Soviet Union.
Romney wins in Nevada but Gingrich fights on:
Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney romped to victory in the Nevada caucuses late
on Saturday, cementing his position as frontrunner. But his main rival, former House speaker
Newt Gingrich, who came second, vowed to fight till August for nomination, which he insists he
can still win.
Hedge your bet, plants talk''-
Prince Charles has long been mocked for claiming that plants could talk but now he can afford
to have the last laugh as researchers say it is indeed true. In fact, they claim to have caught
them the first time whispering on camera.
According to scientists at Britain's Exeter University, a cabbage was heard'' warning itsneighbours of trouble ahead after it had a leaf snipped with scissors. They said they were able
to detect the process by modifying a cabbage gene which triggers the production of a gas that
is emitted when a plant's surface is cut or pierced.
By adding the protein luciferase which makes fireflies glow in the dark to the DNA, the
plants' emissions could be monitored on camera. One cabbage plant had a leaf cut off with
scissors and started emitting a gas methyl jasmonate thereby telling' its neighbours there
may be trouble ahead.
Two nearby cabbage plants, which had not been touched, received the message they should
protect themselves. They did this by producing toxic chemicals on the leaves to fend off predators such as caterpillars,'' the Mail newspaper reported.
The footage will be the highlight of a forthcoming BBC series on plants by Iain Stewart,
professor of Geoscience Communication who saw the experiment at Exeter University.
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It's fascinating to realise that there could be a constant chatter going on between different
plants, that they can in some way sense chemically what is happening to others, like a hidden
language which could be going on all around us. Most people assume that plants lead a rather
passive life, but in reality they move and sense and communicate. It's almost like they show a
kind of intelligence,'' he said.
Professor Nick Smirnoff, a biochemist who led the experiment, said: We have managed to
show in a visual way that the gas emitted by plants when they have been wounded affects their
neighbours.''
P rince Charles can now have the last laugh
BUSINESS
The data divergence:
It may be trite to say that not just policymakers but even the typical man on the street is
evidencing great interest in the economic growth prospects in a way never seen before. The
focus on growth and broad appeal, which previously arcane matters such as GDP statistics, per
capita consumption and a host of periodic economic indicators, is a natural outcome of
economic reform, liberalization and globalization. In 2010-11, according to CSO statistics, the
economy grew 8.4 per cent. Right at the beginning of this financial year, there were warning
signals from within the country and abroad. Even so, official estimates of a year ago in the
Economic Survey and the Budget were overly optimistic, projecting a growth rate of 8.75-
9.25 per cent.
Needed, caring capitalism:
Corporate chieftains, political leaders, social activists, academicians and global young leaders
had all assembled around the end of January in Davos (Switzerland) for the week-long annual
meeting of the World Economic Forum. They were in a mood to question everything, starting
from the steps being taken to finding a just resolution to the eurozone crisis to the problems
posed by capitalism. The theme, The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models', clearly
indicated that as a global society, we were at an inflexion point. Trouble was not only with the
western nations, which were yet to overcome their economic issues. China, the emerging
power, was entering a year of transition to a new leadership.
Forex reserves up $673 million at $294 billion:
India's foreign exchange reserves rose for the second consecutive week, increasing by $673.4
million to $293.93 billion during the week ended January 27 from $293.256 billion in the
previous week the Reserve Bank of India said in its weekly statistical supplement.
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Page 3
New breeding ground for Black-necked Stork:
A new breeding site for the rare Black-necked Storks has been observed by a group of wildlife
enthusiasts near Udaipur in Rajasthan. The place, a wetland near the Dhabok airport, is said tobe the second known breeding ground for the Black-necked Stork ( Ephi ppior hynchus asiati cus )
in Rajasthan after the celebrated wetland, Keoladeo National Park near Bharatpur.
Page -8
Norms and procedures flouted in Antrix-Devas deal:
Last year, the government first asked a high-power committee to review the technical,
commercial, procedural and financial aspects of the January, 2005 agreement between Antrix
Corporation, the marketing wing of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), and the
Bangalore-based private company, Devas Multimedia.
Further, both committees pointed out that the Insat Coordination Committee (ICC), which was
established in 1977 for the overall management of the Insat communication satellites, had not
met since 2004, and was bypassed when 90 per cent of the capacity on the two custom-built
satellites had been allocated to Devas. There was also a national security impact as a result of
the transponder allocation to Devas not being cleared by the ICC. The allocation of a large part
of the S-band spectrum to the company was an unjustified risk, and this issue seemed to have
been completely overlooked, their report noted.
Like the Sinha committee, the Chaturvedi-Narasimha committee pointed out that Antrix hadsigned an agreement with a company whose paid-up capital was Rs. 1 lakh with two
shareholders. Antrix and the ISRO had committed an investment of about Rs. 800 crore on two
satellites with a lot of other unusual concessions. Consequently, the ISRO was committing
large funds for unproven technology and with players who had very little financial stake.
Clearly, this was financially weak.
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