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India –China have to build a model relationship

Mon, 20 May 2013 05:49:55 -0500

The visit of the Chinese premier Li Keqiang to New Delhi comes in the wake of the heightened border tension and growing mistrust and suspicion between the two neighbouring Asian giants.

Although the Chinese premier is being quoted saying that the purpose of his visit to India was three-fold — to increase mutual trust, to intensify cooperation and to face the future, the ground reality is, there exists a huge trust deficit between the two countries.

Notwithstanding the facts, if the two countries have to raise the bar of their relationship to face the future then they have to further deepen mutual understanding and construct a new paradigm in relationship.

The question remains what could be the new model relationship to promote healthy and sound development of each other. It goes without saying that this has to be based on cooperation rather than competition and in order to do so, both the countries have to eschew the cold war mindset and develop sufficient level of trust for cooperation with each other.

This nugget of wisdom for this comes from Mount Kailash pilgrimage tour that points to a new type of relationship developing between India and China.

The Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL) includes an area of the remote south-western portion of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of China, and adjacent parts of north-western Nepal, and northern India, and encompasses the cultural geography of the greater Mt. Kailash area.

Each year, India’s Ministry of External Affairs sends some 400 people to Kailash Manasarovar Yatra that includes visit to Mount Kailash and the Manasarovar Lake.

The Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation Initiative (KSLCI), under the umbrella of the intergovernmental institution called International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) based in Kathmandu facilitates all the formalities of this tour. These organizations have set up an example of how trilateral relationship can actually work.

If Mount Kailash belongs to China, it also belongs to India and Nepal in a cultural sense. This internationalization is now highly formalized, as a trans-boundary process involving three governments, their official research institutes and many NGOs working together for a common purpose.

In this pilgrimage tour, India, China and Nepal, are enthusiastic partners. All see it an opportunity to promote healthy and sound relationship based on mutual trust and deeper understanding of each other. This rapprochement serves as a model relationship that seems to be working well in spite of differences on many other areas.

Now, when we compare this bohemian with the recent boundary standoff between India and China, one wonders why the same trust level of Kailash Manasarovar Yatra not being replicated to resolve the border row.

India and China has an informal border separating the two countries known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC), while the borders have never been formally demarcated, the countries have signed two accords to maintain peace in the frontier areas. The two armies hold regular flag meetings and the two sides are also holding talks at regular interval to draw an actual Line of Control (LOC).

This exercise is going on since past 50 years or so, but no breakthrough has so far been made. Just like the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan the border dispute between India and China has become a sore point whose solution seems to be nowhere in sight.

India- China in between, had three border disputes; the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the Chola incident in 1967, and the 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish that all have sullied their relationship.

The Chinese military incursions into Indian Territory is often reported in the media, the latest being the face off, in the eastern Ladakh sector in April-May 2013.

The recent faceoff between India and China actually took place at Raki Nala in the Depsang Bulge area, a table-top plateau, where China squatted some 19km inside Indian Territory, claiming to be their own geographical limits.

Chinese arduous intrusion threatened to cut off India's access to some 750 sq km area in northern Ladakh. In retaliation, India also sent its troops to the actual flash point and both the troops of both sides faced each other at a distance of 300 metres for almost three weeks.

The main bone of contention was Indian observation post at Chumar that can overlook troop movements on the Chinese side. China insisted on the demolition of the observation post as a pre-condition for the de-escalation of tension.

It was after a series of flag meetings between the commanders of both the sides that was supported by Joint Mechanism between Foreign Office of both countries, that India and China withdrew their troops.

This standoff had all the trappings of a war breaking out as the fast paced developments sent chill waves across the borders. This was more so because war mongers were shouting form the roof tops to go for a kill!

In the end it was a victory of Indian diplomacy to defuse the tension, but then it remains momentary, as there is all likelihood of the repetition of such episode in future.

The border row has put the progress of the entire gamut of India – China relationship on tenterhooks. Both countries have steadily built-up military infrastructure along border areas and this simmering ember has the potential to burst into nuclear flames.

There is total trust deficit between the two countries. India harbours suspicions about China's strong strategic relations with its arch-rival Pakistan. It also sees Chinese relationship with its other neighbouring countries as a design to encircle it. On the contrary, China sees India as a rising power and has expressed concerns about its military and economic activities in disputed South China Sea.

So the new relationship that the Chinese premier Li Keqiang talked about does not seem to be anywhere on the horizon. It appears that the both the countries like to compete with each other without realizing the futility of the exposition of such power game.

It’s to be remembered that the gap between India and China is deep and wide. If India can keep Kashmir issue alive till eternity, China can keep the border row melting beyond that time frame.

The quest for parity simply does not stand on the test the logic. As India, stands head and shoulders above Pakistan, in the eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth power game and cannot give up Kashmir, its same yardstick that applies to China on the border row and cannot accept Indian demarcation of its line of control.

It’s this disparity of power play that has to be recognized to forge a new relationship. India and China have to evolve a totally different approach to resolve the border row.

In order to do so a separate task force needs to be constituted. It should comprise of an array of specialists besides diplomats and field commanders. This should be an intergovernmental institution with the partnership with nongovernmental institutions working for the common purpose to resolve this festering problem in a time bound and planned manner.

In order to kick star such a process, the leadership of both the countries have to build mutual trust first and this could be in areas of cultural ties such as Kailash Manasarovar Yatra.

It is this new type of relationship that is based on cooperation alone can prepare the two countries to jointly face the future that the Chinese premier Li Keqiang was talking about in New Delhi.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com

Asghar Ali Engineer - His life was Gentle; and the Elements…

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:22:30 -0500

Well I will never forgive myself, if I don’t pen an obit on revered Islamic scholar Asghar Ali Engineer who passed away on 14 May 2013 in Mumbai.

He was a reformist-writer and activist and internationally known for his work on liberation theology in Islam. He led the Progressive Dawoodi Bohra movement. The focus of his work was on communal and ethnic violence in India. He was an advocate of a culture of peace, non-violence and communal harmony.

I first met him at AMU Aligarh in early eighties where I was an undergraduate student of History there.He was lecturing at the Kennedy Hall and some friends told me about this event. My knowledge about Islamic history was zero and I just curiously went to hear him. He was quoting from the Islamic literature and his speech was so learned that it bounced over my head. Nonetheless I am indebted to him as he opened the horizons of my knowledge.

I remember vividly how he described about his Bohra community’s politics. The diktat of the spiritual head of the Bohra community Mr. Syedna, how he was attacked inside the mosque when he resisted his fatwas. I owe all this knowledge to late Asghar Ali Engineer. That conversation continued much after the lecture. This event happened more than 30 years ago, but the memories are still fresh.

After that I started reading him mainly his write-ups in Mainstream then edited by Nikhil Chakravartty, also in Seminar edited by Romesh Thapar. Those were the days I was preparing for Civil Services exam in JNU. I was as well researching on the theme The Demand for Partition of India. My thesis is now a book. - http://www.amazon.com/demand-partition-India-British-policy/dp/8170998689

It was also those turbulent years of the late eighties and early 90’s. Ayodhya - Babri Masjid controversy was boiling, all around riots were happening in the country. A sequel of communal politics was happening in India, with first the demolition of Babari Masjid, the Mumbai riots, and then Mumbai bomb blasts. All this had put the secularist in a corner while the communalist held sway.

It was at this moment of time Asghar Ali Engineer was not only chronicling those events but also through his writing resisting the politics of hate and revenge that ruled the roost. He upheld the secular values at time when communalism was making an onslaught. This is his greatest contribution to Indian society.

I remained deeply engrossed reading his ideas on communalism and secularism as they were so profound. He is the first person in this country to highlight the menace of communal riots. He use to visit those places where the communal riots took place and his fact finding reports published in the media exposed the saffron biases against the Muslims.

It’s only when his fact finding mission reports gained publicity the so called national media which early use to parrot the police version of the riots or cooked up its own stories, to blame the Muslims, were forced to take a balanced view of such events.

Asghar Ali Engineer was not simply an armed chaired theoretician but also a grassroots worker who actually saw the developments on the ground and made his observations and comments. This makes his position much above the ranks and files of the scholars who have made their own distinct contributions.

He served as head of the Institute of Islamic Studies and the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, both of which he founded in 1980 and 1993 respectively. He also made contributions to The God Contention, a website comparing and contrasting various worldviews.

Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer’s autobiography “A Living Faith: My Quest for Peace, Harmony and Social Change” was released by Vice President Hamid Ansari on 20 July 2011, in New Delhi.

My next encounter with him was in Chennai in 98-99, when I went to interview him as a reporter of a local daily. He was talking at the Anna University, after which I had an opportunity to interview him on the subject of communalism in this country.

My interview centered on the perils of communalism and his prognosis how to uphold the secular values in multi religious country like India. I found him to be convinced about the idea that secularism alone can be guiding principal of nation building.

He said communalists are like frogs that may come during rainy season and vanish. Secularists are those who can brave all weathers and stand like a rock to combat the divisive forces in the society. I must pay him my deep respect and sincere gratitude for imparting me a few piece of wisdom.

Even though he is no more among us, but his writings would continue to inspire millions of people in the country. He was bacon of light serving the humanity with utmost conviction. All those who have read and heard Asghar Ali Engineer will never forget him and he will live in their hearts as long they are alive.

There can be no one like Asghar Ali Engineer but I am sure his words and action will be a source of aspiration to many in the country who may like to tread the path laid by him. I have no doubt in saying that he was of the finest human beings with whom I had the privilege to meet, interact and shake am hands. I really feel proud for having such an opportunity.

I like to quote William Shakespeare and his famous lines in Julius Caesar as my concluding remarks in praise of late Asghar Ali Engineer – His life was gentle; and the elements so mixed in him, that Nature might stand up and say to the entire world, THIS WAS A MAN!

Syed Ali Mujtaba is journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com

Mamta Kulkarni’s Life, Another Dirty Picture in Making

Wed, 15 May 2013 06:34:57 -0500

Bollywood’s siren of the 1990’s Mamta Kulkarni who was lost in this lonely planet for some time has finally been discovered to be living in Nairobi, Kenya. The heartthrob of millions of youth of her generation has converted to Islam and is living with her husband Yousuf alias Vicky Goswami, a drug lord, who after serving prison sentence in Dubai has moved to Nairobi.

It is said that Mamta had a big role in Vicky’s release as she married him while he was serving jail sentence in Dubai. The marriage took place according to the Islamic rituals and both groom and the bride, recited passages of Holy Scripture before being declared husband and wife.

Mamta’s journey in life seems to be a fairy tale that has all the juice and spice for a Bollywood pot-boiler. It just needs a screen play writer to produce another Dirty Picture.

Mamta charmed her way to stardom in Bollywood in the 90’s and then cashing on her physical assets moved into the inner circles of the underworld, finally to settle with Vikram alias Vicky Goswami, a drug lord.

Vicky Goswami (now 51), was a drug baron in South Africa. He first landed there in 1994 after being deported from Zambia for suspected drug trafficking. He left South Africa in 1995 in a huff, after suspected murder of drug dealer Robert "Rocks" Dlamini.

Vicky moved to Mumbai from where he continued his business. He supplied drugs to filmy personalities and it is then JAB WE MET story of Mamta Kulkarni started.

Mamta showed great interest in Vicky’s business and it seems both were made for each other. It was around 2002, when Mumbai police was looking for Bollywood connection with the underworld that Vicky Goswami moved to Dubai along with Mamta.

In Dubai, Vicky linked up with senior government officials and set up two methaqualone (mandrax) manufacturing plants. His business flourished but a joint sting operation in Mozambique and South Africa led to the unearthing of his drug manufacturing factories in Dubai. Vicky was arrested and got life imprisonment.

It is reported that when Vicky was in Jail, Mamta stepped into his shoes to control his business. Sources imprisoned with Vicky say that he was treated well in jail. He had access to cell phone and he controlled his business with that.

Mamta use to visit Vicky in jail regularly. She is believed to be instrumental in setting her lover free. Mamta was able to convince the authorities that Vicky has converted to Islam and like to marry her, who has also converted to Islamic faith.

A life sentence in Dubai is in effect 25 years, but prisoners can apply for early release on various grounds. Apart from good conduct, these include converting to Islam and learning to recite passages from the Holy Qu'ran.

Vicky in order to strengthen his clemency appeal, converted to Islam took the name Yusuf and prayed five times a day, recited passage from the Holy Scriptures daily, in order to prove that he has became a devout Muslim. While being incarcerated, he got married to Aysha alias Mamta Kulkarni according to Islamic rites. These things speeded his early release and his life sentence was cut short by ten years.

Vicky was released from the Dubai central jail in November, 2012. He was deported to India but since he had no cases pending against him, he left for Kenya. Mamta Kulkarni moved along with him and both are believed to be living happily in Nairobi.

Mamta Kulkarni was at a point in time, one of the biggest actors in Bollywood. In the ‘90s, she had worked with some of the top stars, including the three Khans, as well as the likes of Govinda and Akshay Kumar who were at the peak of their careers.

Born in 1972 in an ordinary Maharashtrian family, Mamta joined Bollywood at the age of 20. She worked in Tiranga in 1992 with Raj Kumar and Nana Patekar, and carved a niche for herself in the industry.

She got the lead role the very next year in Aashiq Awara with Saif Ali Khan. Both Mamta and Saif won the Best debut film awards that year. In 1993 Mamta paired with film star Govinda in the film Ashant.

Mamta worked in nearly a dozen films in a brief span on two years, and signed up films at random for the next three years.

Her film with Akshay Kumar in Sabse Bada Khiladi was a super hit. In 1994, she had another hit Krantiveer with Nana Patekar.

Rakesh Roshan's Karan Arjun was a super hit in 1995, in which Mamta appeared with Shah Rukh Khan.

At one point of time, Mamta was working with all three great Khans in Bollywood, Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir. She did Baazi with Aamir Khan in 1995, which was a big hit.

It was the year 1997; Mamta become the love interest of director Raj Kumar Santoshi, who gave her an item number in the film Ghatak. Their relationship prospered and Santoshi signed her up for his next film China Gate. A quarrel between Santoshi and Mamta, led to her ouster from the film.

It is reported that Mamta complained this matter to underworld don Chhota Rajan, who intervened and Santoshi was forced to take her back. He however pruned her role badly, and gave the dazzling item number ‘Chamma Chamma’ to Urmila Matondkar. This led Mamta to level serious charges against Santoshi including those of sexual exploitation.

By the year 2000, Mamta was nearing a steep decline in her film career. Her film Qila with Umesh Mehra flopped, and Chhupa Rustam with director Madan Mohla too fared badly at the box office.

In 2002, Mamta did the role of a Devdasi in the film Khajuraho, a small B-grade flick, exposing her physical attributes, but that too got bombed.

In a desperate attempt to revive her career, she appeared shirtless on the cover page of the magazine Stardust, but that failed to create any ripples. The steep decline in her film career was evident.

Some say, Mamta’s mother was the reason behind her downfall, as she was greedy, and forced her daughter to sign films recklessly. Whatever may be the case, it was after that, Mamata changed tracks. She started doing shows for selected clients. This included parties thrown by the people from the underworld.

As Mamta allegedly started keeping wrong company her personal life got in the way of her professional life. Her co-stars and producers began to avoid her, as she was found hobnobbing with the dreaded figures of underworld.

In those turbulent years, when Mumbai police was anxious to unravel the Bollywood-underworld connection, Vicky Goswami got struck by Mamta's charm. Mumbai police record shows that Mamta was in relationship with drug smuggler Vicky alias Vikram Goswami, a supplier of drugs to people associated with the Hindi film industry.

Their relationship flourished and the lovers moved to Dubai to avoid controversies and crime. It was from 2002 onwards that Mamata Kulkarni totally disappeared from the Bollywood scene.

It is reported that Mamta owns three flats in her name at Sky Anchorage apartment in Andheri West, Mumbai. All three flats remains locked but Mamta regularly sends maintenance charges for them.

The latest buzz is that the 90’s beauty has got a plastic surgery done on her face in 2010 and has acquired a totally different look. She has obtained a passport from Dubai with a different looking photograph. Speculations are rife that Mamta is trying to erase her identity from her acquaintances in India and wants to live a life of complete anonymity in Nairobi.

The saga of Mamta Kulkarni is not yet over. The South African investigation agencies are still looking for Vicky Goswami for his illicit crimes committed in that country. It’s likely that there will be more news coming about Mamta Kulkarni in times to come.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com

Reliance Gearing up to Enter India’s Defence Sector

Tue, 14 May 2013 07:17:52 -0500

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is gearing up to enter the defence space of India by investing and signing new deals with global market players to procure offset management of defenceequipments. With reports floating that there are apparent changes happening in the country’s defence procurement by giving more prominence to private sector companies, MukeshAmbani led RIL is already setting the sails according to the winds.

Reliance already has set up Reliance Aerospace Technologies and Reliance Security Solutions back in 2011.In order to come up with new strategies in the defence play, MukeshAmbani is planning to invest about $1 billion in the aerospace field over the next three years. The company is also planning to recruit2,000 engineers.

Gauging more opportunities ahead, RIL has also inked a deal with Boeing. Apart from this deal, RIL had also partnered with Dassault Aviation in 2012, to enter defence and home land security sectors in India. The country’s largest private conglomerate had applied for license to design, develop and manufacture equipments and components for military and civilian aircraft.

The objective behind both these deals by RIL was to get offset projects from global names that are looking forward to have a stake in India soon. Dassault Aviation and Boeing are already in contract with Indian Air Force and Indian Navy respectively. Dassault has to supply 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft whereas Boeing has to supply 20-24 P81 aircrafts.

Both these companies are in offset arrangement pact with RIL. According to the government’s defence procurement policy, the multi-national companies are bound to plough back to India a fixed percentage of the value of the contract they win from Indian defence.

The future of RIL in the defence sector doesn’t remain confined to winning offset projects only. It further plans to incubate tier-2 and tier-3 companies that provide components to tier-1 companies manufacturing the original equipment. According to report published by KPMG, Indian defence market is expected to be worth $94 billion by 2020. So, it is the correct time for RIL to enter this market.

The other players in this market are Tata Advanced Systems Limited, Larsen and Toubro, Kirloskar Brothers, Mahindra Defence Systems and Ashok Layland. But with RIL entering this space, as experts say, it has the capacity to replicate the same phenomenon it created in oil and gas market of the country.

Time will only tell this new defence story for Reliance Industries.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Zeroes Down on Key Pacts For its 4G Services

Mon, 13 May 2013 06:54:17 -0500

Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom arm of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has cleared its mode of operation by finalizing on the key pacts that will drive the company once 4G services are rolled out all over the country. It has decided on the key agreements with its technology partners and device manufacturers prior to the launch of its 4G services. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and managing director of RIL has said that the project has acquired the basic infrastructural requirement for its launch across India. He also stated in the Annual Report for 2012-2013 that Reliance Jio Infcomm Ltd (RJIL) will provide reliable and fast internet connectivity to citizens across the country.

“RJIL has completed the detailed planning for Pan India implementation of the infrastructure needed for the project, “he said. He also added that RJIL has also finalized key agreements with its technology partners, service providers, infrastructure providers, application partners, device manufacturers and other strategic partners for the project.

Speaking about the enormous potential waiting to be captured by 4G services, Ambani emphasized on the fact that India has the capability and talent to surpass the world and become a leader in the delivery of digital content. In 2001, there were less than 5 million mobile phone users, while today India has more than 860 million mobile users. However, the same rate of growth has not been achieved in the growth of broadband connections. “Today, broadband in India has only around 1 percent market penetration as compared to other countries”, Ambani said.

RJIL is the sole player telecommunication player in the market today that owns Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum that will be helpful in providing fast Internet connectivity across the country.

RJIL has decided to provide reliable , fast internet connectivity across the country and offer end to end solutions that addresses the entire value chain across various digital services in key domains of national interest such as education, healthcare, security, financial services , government –citizen interfaces and entertainment.

Further plans of RJIL are to use Time Division Duplex-Long Term Evaluation (TDD LTE) technology for its nation-wide next generation network deployment to provide connectivity and related digital services to its customers.

Overall, the launch of 4G services is not the only package coming fromRJIL, but it will focus on providing all the components of the entire digital value chain.

KG-D6 Basins To Get A Boost Of $5 bn From RIL

Fri, 10 May 2013 06:55:47 -0500

Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries Limited (RIL ) is going to invest $5 billion for the development of the oil and gas fields in KG-D6 blocks located near Bay of Bengal.

This investment will be used by a series of projects that will cumulatively result in higher output of natural gas and oil from these basins. In the annual report of 2012-2013, MukeshAmbani said, “We are planning to invest in a series of projects to develop around 4 trillion cubic feet of discovered natural gas resources from the block.”

Along with their European partner BP Plc, RIL has agreed to governmental plans to bring to production satellite fields in the eastern offshore KG basin block to raise the output of the natural gas and oil production. “The field development plan for the R-Series project (in the KG-block) has been submitted to the Government of India for approval. This along with other projects is expected to add incremental production in the next four to five years.” he added.

Various activities like work-overs, side tracks and compressor addition have been taken up to accentuate the current rate of production. In the existing infrastructure, the search for new blocks has begun. The production from this new-found well will add to the overall result in the next four-five years.

RIL had originally discovered 18 gas fields in the area. From this, Dhirubhai-1 (D-1) and Dhirubhai-3 (D-3) are the highest productive blocks. Various base management actions like work overs, side tracks, compressor, enhancement of water handling capacity will be taken up to maintain and upscale the productivity of D-1, D-3 and MA fields. RIL said, “ The next wave of projects in KG-D6 block are envisaged to e undertaken over the next three to five years and entail potential total investment in excess of USD5 billion to develop around 4 trillion cubic feet of discovered natural gas resources.”

There are a series of projects in the pipeline for the next phase of oil and gas development one of which is satellite discoveries in KG-block. The company also plans to invest a huge amount in the block enhancement plans.

The vision of Mukesh Ambani behind this expansion plan is to make India completely import-independent. “We believe gas from these projects will deliver energy to millions of Indians and would significantly help India in reducing import dependence.”Ambani said. The company also said that by the end of 2012, fields in KG-block had produced 2 TCF of gas and 22 million barrels that saved nearly USD 35 billion in energy imports.

Apart from this, the company also looks for new opportunities globally that strategically fit with its integrated value chain. RIL aspires to become one of global top ten independent hydrocarbon producers.

Election Commission must step in to clean-up Indian Politics

Fri, 10 May 2013 05:16:32 -0500

There is a widespread concern about the prevalence of corruption in the country. Corruption is happening because many corrupt persons and criminals are contesting the Assembly and Parliament elections and thus becoming people’s representative which they are not rightly so.

It’s because many of them get elected due to their money power and muscle power. It is thus a national need to de criminalise politics, which can happen only by preventing corrupt persons and criminals from entering Parliament and Assemblies.

Many look at the Election Commission to exercise its power under Article 324 of the constitution to prevent criminals from entering politics. The phraseology “superintendence, direction and control”…” conduct of all elections” (under Article 324 of the Constitution) and its essentials are not comprehensively laid down. The terms are of wide amplitude and empower the Election Commission to take recourse to address the issue of de criminalization of politics.

Importantly, in the absence of Casus Omission (case of Omission in Law), though the Judiciary cannot amend by formal means, it can interpret and provide the necessary details to fill the lacuna or non-liquet (law is not clear), wherein the jurisprudence can be evolved and empower the Election Commission.

Obviously, the constitution makers have left Article 324 in this way, to pave way for the Election Commission to use its powers to conduct elections in fair and free manner, based on the exigency of the situation and the ground realities.

The Election Commission and its operation form a part of lex specialis (special law) and it is significant to understand that by way of its functioning in times of exigency, it is not in contravention of the constitutional laws but it is well equipped and constitutes an appropriate organ.

So the Election Commission has the inherent power to bar those persons from contesting election, against whom corruption and criminal charges have been admitted in the court.

The notion of inherent powers (ex debitio justitiae) is basically a principle of natural law (jus naturalae) that it remains unchangeable. It is also a virtue of human value. Therefore, it need not be seen as a residual power but a thesis of Values on Justice, (in the present context Electoral Justice).

The Election Commission with its mandate can ensure that de criminalization of politics as it falls under the category of exigent situation; secondly by way of a directive clearly frame the relevant proposals into the subject (developed by the Election Commission).

Election Commission should clearly declare that with those accused of crime and corruption contesting, the elections cannot be free and fair and therefore those persons should be barred from contesting election, against whom corruption and criminal charges have been admitted in the court.

The question is when the Election Commission would assert itself and take a firm stand is something everyone is taking about. The Election Commission these days appears to give an impression that it would be satisfied if the elections would be conducted in a peaceful manner, irrespective of the fact, whether it is conducted in free and fair manner.

There are number of cases of money power and muscle power being used in the elections and in most of such cases Election Commission has remained silent. This weak approach of the Election Commission has really contributed to emboldening the criminals and corrupt persons.

There is every reason for the Election Commission to act firmly, considering the fact that fair elections are a part of Human Rights. The concept of “free and fair, genuine election/right to vote through the means established in the constitution (free will of the electors)” is also basically a Human Right as per the International Human Rights Law.

Further, the concept of criminalization of politics itself constitutes a crime. The existence of criminals in politics per se will affect the achievement of the objectives of the constitution, where in the victims are the people. Therefore, the subject of criminalization of politics as a matter of crime has to be examined, apart from the offences relating to election and its extended form mentioned in the relevant statutes.

Now comes the fundamental question, how will the judiciary react, in case of Election Commission using its powers and barring the persons from contesting against whom criminal and corruption charges have been admitted in the court?

The constitution is an Organic/Living document; therefore, it should be liberally interpreted, wherein it is to address the needs of the future societies. In India, just as democracy is evolving so is judiciary.

It has been recognised several times that constitution enacted several decades back need to be amended in tune with the changing times and aspiration of the people. In such circumstances, no judgement can be conclusive. So, whatever judgement Supreme Court has given earlier with regard to powers of Election Commission need not be considered as sacrosanct, since judiciary itself has revised several of its verdicts in the past.

In such circumstances, any move of the Election Commission to bar persons from contesting, need not be considered as disobedience of the Supreme Court directives, particularly when such directives have been given by Supreme Court in some other context at some other time in the past, when conditions were different.

Election Commission as a constitutional body is entitled to take its decision based on its conscience and wisdom, particularly since it is the conscience keeper of the nation akin to the judiciary.

In the past, Election Commission has sent number of recommendations for electoral reforms to the government and almost all of them have been ignored. Election Commission should not be satisfied simply by sending recommendations and thinking that it has done its duty. This is particularly so in the present conditions, where public concern and anger about corruption in national life is widespread. It should move beyond this to fulfil its duty and responsibility.

While the people’s strong sentiments to bar those persons from contesting against whom corruption and criminal charges have been admitted in the court should enthuse Election Commission to act, all the more its realisation of its duties and responsibilities to the Constitution and people of India should spur it to act.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a Journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com

Reliance Jio Infocomm, Vodafone and five others bunch up to build undersea cable system

Thu, 02 May 2013 07:01:48 -0500

Vodafone Group Plc and Reliance Jio Infocomm have formed a consortium along with a group of telecom carriers to set up an undersea cable system to connect Southeast Asia with the Middle East, across the Indian Ocean.

This 8,000-km-long Bay of Bengal Gateway (BBG) undersea cable system will also have connections that would reach out to India and Sri Lanka. Other telecom carriers who joined forces include Dialog Axiata from Sri Lanka, Omantel, Etisalat from the UAE and Telekom Malaysia Bhd. The parties signed the agreement and the supply contract on April 30th in Kuala Lumpur.

This cable system when built would offer upgradeable and transmission facilities with 100 Gbps capability. The cost of the cable system, however, has not been disclosed yet. It is likely to carry commercial traffic by the end of 2014.

Some analysts predict that the upcoming BBG undersea cable system will play a crucial role in breaking the monopoly of the existing operators in the region. In addition to that, it will also minimize the cost of infrastructure for the consortium partners.

This new tie-up is critical for Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and it gears up for the launch for 4G services in India. Reliance is presently the only company to have permits for 4G services in India. It is expected to launch the 4G high-speed wireless data services later this year and is also seeking international bandwidth.

This shows how telecom companies in India are putting forth their money to set up wireless data networks in a market where only a tenth of the population uses the internet. Although use of data services is growing at a faster rate in India, 80 percent of the revenue earned by telecom carriers is still earned from voice calls.In fact, major Indian telecom operatorscollectively spent $20 billion to acquire 3G and 4G airwaves in an auction that took place in the year 2010.

BBG is a major step towards business growth since it will provide with a backing for present and potential high-end requirements of next generation Internet applications and requirements of surrounding regions.

Apart from providing connectivity between Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Middle East, the BBG undersea cable system will also provide connectivity to Europe, Africa and Far East Asia.This will be carried out through inter-connections with other existing cable systems in India, the Middle East and Far East Asia.

LADAHK INCURSIONS – CHINA – SRI LANKA AXIS MESSAGE TO DELHI TO SLOW DOWN FOLLOW UP PRESSURE ON U

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 07:14:46 -0500

LADAHK INCURSIONS – CHINA – SRI LANKA AXIS MESSAGE TO DELHI TO SLOW DOWN FOLLOW UP PRESSURE ON UNHRC RESOLUTIONS

Proloy Bagchi characterized Delhi’s UNHRC vote against Sri Lanka’ as most muddled to cause China’s instant response in Ladakh.. The Colombo rumour mill in has it that though Delhi did not expect China to act this speedily on India’s Northern borders to support Colombo and restraint Delhi’s pressure on SL over implementing the UNHRC resolutions this indeed was part of Delhi’s muddled South Block diplomacy.

A commenter in ‘South Block (Liam Fox like) scribes ...(strive) to save Sonia/Rajapakses from UNHRC genocide crimes’ also in Ground Report 6, April 2013, incisively examines the mindset of scribes who grieve over the Rajapakse/Sonia South Block partners facing UNHRC proceedings for the genocide crimes on the Tamils. Bagchi’s grief is more over the TN interfering with the money making IPL machine overlooking as he does the grief amongst Tamils for the massacres of forty thousand plus Tamil civilians by the Rajapakses.

An aggrieved international community moved resolutions in the UNHRC to hold the Rajapakses (and indirectly the anti-Tamil South Block M K Narayanan, S S Menon and others) accountable for their active role in heinous massacres of Tamils (the anti-Tamil Sonia led South Block in the Centre were illicitly complicit in the Rajapakse crimes) and how this crowd strives to frustrate the efforts of the international community including the UNHRC on delivering justice to the Tamils.

Unlike the South Block Delhi, the patriotic TN state banned IPL players from SL from playing in Chennai. Bagchi criticizes the Centre for failing to assert itself and override TN pressure and voting on UNHRC resolutions and displease the Rajapakses.

India’s vote on this occasion despite Colombo flaunting the China card according to Bagchi was the result of Delhi’s muddled policy. Delhi opted to go along with Nateri Adigal’s caution discussed in ‘Tamil Nadu being forced to go the Eelam way – a revisit’ – ground report 27 October 2010. Nateri Adigal bemoaned as early as 2008 the ominous drift in Delhi’s foreign policy hurting India’s standing, regional and worldwide, the unity of India itself, bringing the China threat closest ever to India’s security. This was the handiwork of the South Block in the UPA2 period. India had to vote for the US resolution not on humanitarian grounds but not to totally isolate itself from the world community.

However South Block Delhi’s platitudes of SL being its friendliest neighbour and its support to crush the Tamil resistance did not prevent Colombo seeking China’s Ladakh incursions to counter balance the Delhi secretive moves against SL. Delhi’s platitudes of SL were resented TN Tamils it was more Delhi’s cynical betrayal of TN Tamils. SL was un-impressed as customary with Delhi’s platitudes and the China’s sudden incursions into Ladakh are evidence of Delhi’s dismal diplomacy. Accordingly Nateri Adigal China’s presence in SL constituted the gravest proximal threat to India’s southern front and remained fixated to its record of being unmindful of threats China or any other to TN. Accordingly TN needs to assert its stance getting Delhi to underwrite its survival and security above the numerous vague geo-political interests that has been bandied for pleasing the Rajapakses excessively.

Reliance Jio Infocomm to Achieve Complete Connectivity by Signing Another Deal

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 06:08:36 -0500

The launch preparations of 4G services (high speed and voice services over fourth generation telecom networks) by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) are in full throttle. Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio Infocom will sign an intra circle fibre pact with Reliance Communications. This pact will inundate RIL with complete connectivity in larger cities.

Under this pact, RIL will have access to over 50,000 towers across the country. According to current plans, the high speed and voice data services over fourth generation (4G) telecom networks will be operational by the end of this year. Mukesh Ambani wishes to launch the telecom services on the birth anniversary of his father, Late Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani.

This is a part of various collaborations made by RIL in order to set up the basic infrastructure for 4G services. The first collaboration was where Jio Infocomm will get access to RComm’s fibre optic cable network spread across the country. One pact with Bharti Airtel has also been signed according to which, Jio Infocomm will have an access to the submarine cable network of the former spreading from Chennai to Singapore. This submarine network will also help RIL to extend its network to USA, as USA hosts 90 percent of the total web content. These cables have a capacity of transmitting over 30 tera bits per second (tbps), from which only 1 percent is used right now.

Apart from this deal, another deal was devised where Reliance Jio Infocomm had hired 32,000 towers from a total of 45,000 towers from RComm. RIL is speculating even meager details for the successful launch of its fourth generation services. These services will change the telecommunication scenario in the country. The strategy devised for the success of these services is to absorb mobile subscribers from different telecom operators by pricing it at lower cost than current prices initially and then giving them more value for money.

It also struck a deal with Samsung to devise medium budget phones which will be specially designed to work according to the standards of fourth generation devices. The services will be launched in three phases-the initial experimental phase will begin in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The company plans to cover the entire country by the end of 2015. The idea is to skim the market first and then capturing the market at a later stage. RIL doesn’t want to rush into the market first. It is also hiring the telecommunication industry veterans to ensure experienced yet innovative decisions to be taken for the success of this long perceived dream of Mukesh Ambani.