Saturday, November 26, 2011

In 1922, Khwaja Nizami set upon a futuristic world tour to gauge the impact of Mahatma Gandhi

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The relevance of Gandhi is still a relevant topic. Even in Gandhi’s own lifetime, people made fantastic conjectures as to how he would be judged by posterity.

One such contemporary of the Mahatma was Khwaja Hasan Nizami (1878-1955) of Delhi who occupies a place of distinction as a Urdu writer, thinker and religious head. Gandhinama, a collection of his articles on Gandhi was published in 1922 in which he had written an article about recognition of the Mahatma in 2050. He writes: Except God, no one knows as to what opinion would the future generations hold with respect to Mahatma Gandhi… The year 2050 is one such time which will come after one hundred and twenty eight years from now. And in this period, probably every person of the present world would be dead. Therefore, let us imagine this year and hear about the opinions that are held in the world about Mahatma Gandhi.

Unlike H.G. Wells, Nizami did not have a time machine to travel to 2050. Instead, angel Khijra blessed him with a long life of 250 years. Nizami writes: On January 1, 2050, I started on foot from Delhi, because rail, electric cable, cars etc. are now absent in this country, owing to the commands of Mahatma Gandhi.

But let me tell you that everything is very expensive. Wheat sells at the rate of four mounds to a rupee. No one eats meat. Every vegetable is prohibited because life has been discovered in it. Public eats nothing except ghee, milk, bread, jaggery, molasses and salt. Everyone has to consume five sers of milk daily, as per the law. And if a person does not consume five ser milk and is unable to produce evidence of his illness or any other legal excuse, he has to spend five days in jail. Everywhere, ghee and milk is distributed free to travellers because according to Gandhian law to sell ghee, milk, curd and butter milk is a grave crime, while to distribute these free is considered to be a very noble deed.

When I started from Delhi, a dress made of cotton yarn spurned by my own hands was on my body because it is also a law that every person has to wear cloths spurned by his own hands. In Muradnagar, I had to labour for an hour because this too is a law that no one can remain idle. While milk and ghee is given free, flour and salt is earned through labour.

Travelling from Muradnagar and passing through Meerut, Thana Bhawan, Saharanpur and Qadiyan, Nizami reaches Afghanistan. This country is now-a-days under the influence of India. Though its rulers are Muslims, the laws of Gandhiji prevail here. Eating of meat is a crime here as well, though people eat fruits, and considering the condition of that country, they have been legally permitted to do so. From Afghanistan via Bukhara, Nizami travels to Iran and then Russia. He writes: Everywhere on the way, I met believers of Gandhi. In entire west Asia, the laws, traditions and practices of India are current, keeping of arms is illegal; murders take place very rarely. Starting from Iran, I went to Russia. There too at several places, the memory of Gandhi was manifest. Though people of Bolshevik principles lived there but they too have given up the use of arms in memory of Gandhi and they do not have any need for fighting.

From Russia, Nizami travels to Turkey, Germany and comes to France. From Russia, I went to Turkey. There too every Turk was an extoller of Gandhi. They said, ‘In a very difficult time, Gandhi had helped us. For this reason we have promulgated his doctrines in our country. Eating of meat is a crime in our country too, same as it is a crime in India, Afghanistan, Iran and Russia... From Turkey I came to Germany. The Germans have established cheeps in the name of Gandhi, at different places, where I used to be invited and was asked to give discourses on Gandhi… From Germany I came to France. There too I saw the prevalence of Gandhi’s laws, and people welcomed me with a great fervour.

In Paris, Nizami hears the news of disappearance of London. In Paris, I heard that the city of London has disappeared somewhere, and great experts are reaching for it but it is nowhere to be found. I was very surprised at this news. Immediately from Paris I went there and in fact saw that on the banks of the river Thames, where London was situated, the city is not visible. I too reached for it a lot but I could not locate it. Nevertheless, I travelled a lot in other cities of England and everywhere I heard the praise of Mahatma Gandhi. The strange thing is this that though now England does not have any connection with India, every child remembers the events of India, and they breathe a cold sigh when the topic of this country comes up.

After completing this imaginary tour of the world, Nizami returns to Delhi. The conclusion of the general opinion of this world tour was this, that now the fighting and the craze for arms-worship has almost disappeared from the world. Everywhere the women are free and without veil. Idle people are totally extinct. Inhibitions have been shed. Even in Europe the consumption of wine and meat has gone down. There is not so much emphasis on luxurious life. People abhor the electric light. The manual work, as compared to the machines, is considered respectable… If this travelogue were real and true, even then one had to believe that the impact of Gandhi has now become so much popular that his fame would last for centuries. The veracity of Nizami’s prophecy lies in history, albeit in parts.

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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Recently released documents offer a blow by blow account of Islamabad's quest for a nuclear device

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Recently released documents offer a blow by blow account of Islamabad's quest for a nuclear device

One of the biggest headaches of the 20th century that troubled the diplomats all over the world has been 'How to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime'? US, predictably, tried to take the leadership role, but managed to have a mixed record. Nevertheless, the deliberations in the 1970s and 80s give a clear view into how things were operating in those times and how some decisions, had they been taken at the right juncture, could have had long lasting effects.

The recently released documents by the National Security Archive at Washington DC give a blow-by-blow analysis of deliberations that took place between Islamabad and Washington DC in the 70s with respect to the former's quest for a nuclear device. The alarm bell started ringing in Washington DC way back in the late 1970s when it was revealed that a young bright Pakistani metallurgist named Abdul Qadir Khan got hold of the blueprints for a gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility.

South Asia, that had seen a war in 1971 was on the verge of becoming a powder keg as India was already in the advance stage of mastering the uncontrolled fission reaction. The US realised that a nuclear Pakistan would make the situation worse. It catalysed the most interesting deliberations in the proliferation's history.

It all started soon after Jimmy Carter assumed office as the US president. Carter was briefed that Pakistan, US's key ally and a Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty non-signatory, had managed to lay its hand on primal elements of a nuclear weapons capability. The Pakistani nuclear subject was on Carter's docket because he brought a fundamental earnestness in reducing nuclear weaponry and in halting nuclear proliferation. His primary, though unfulfilled goal, of massive reduction of strategic nuclear forces, and his reinforcement of CTBT were indicators that he was a serious player hard to browbeat.

In 1973, long before Carter entered the White House, Islamabad had started negotiations to purchase a nuclear reprocessing facility for Plutonium from a French firm. The CIA was famously hoodwinked. However, it was only as late as 1978 that a series of fishy acquisitions detected by British customs led to the revelation that Pakistan was secretly getting hold of technology to make highly-enriched Uranium as a secondary path to the bomb. The “extensive foreign assistance” propositioned by the CIA in its estimate was actually the theft of plans for a gas centrifuge enrichment technology from the Uranium Enrichment Corporation in the Netherlands.

Before this, the Ford regime too had unsuccessfully tried to deter Pakistan from achieving its goal. However, the intelligence on the progress over the bomb quest came a little too late. It was only in 1978 that CIA managed to find that Islamabad was moving fast to construct a gas centrifuge apparatus. It was made possible because of the “dual use ” technology that was provided by A Q Khan through his network in the several western regimes. It triggered a complex effort by the Americans to convince or cajole Pakistan to turn off the gas centrifuge project. The process was multi-pronged and included all sorts of direct and indirect pressures. Not only did the US regime try to pressurise the then Pakistani prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and his successor General Zia-ul-Haq, it also tried to collaborate with its other allies and China to convince Islamabad to see the light. It virtually managed to put an embargo over the sale of sensitive technology to Pakistan that the latter so much wanted to give its quest a one last boost.

But Islamabad was not ready to sit quietly and take it. Efforts were met with intense resistance from top players in Islamabad. Pakistan, on its part, maintained that it sees the nuclear capability as an issue of national survival. When it appeared that Pakistan was not easily to be cowed down, Washington tried to extract promise that it will not try to use reprocessing technology to produce Plutonium. It was an important departure from the Carter Administration's earlier stand. However, Islamabad was in no mood to relent. The then foreign minister Agha Shahi curtly told Americans that it was a “demand that no country would accept ” and that Pakistan “has the unfettered right to do what it wishes”. It was mid-1978.

By January 1979, CIA's intelligence estimate indicated that Islamabad was fast approaching a juncture where it “may soon acquire all the essential components” for a gas centrifuge plant. But the biggest bang in the cable was the estimate that Islamabad will manage to fix a “single device” (Plutonium) by 1982 and consequently test a weapon using highly-enriched uranium (HEU) by 1983. However, a note at the end said that 1984 appeared to be the more realistic deadline.

The US appeared desperate to stop Islamabad from achieving it. By this time the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and the game changed. It was probably the biggest bet in the cold war and the US wanted to win it at any cost. Pakistan become a key front line state and the sway Washington had on Islamabad, diminished. The relations improved dramatically and, according to CIA analysts, Pakistani officials became convinced that although grudgingly, Washington had “reconciled to a Pakistani nuclear weapons capability ”.

The incident is a classic case that exemplifies the complexity and trouble of the nuclear proliferation diplomacy. Some other policy-making and strategical precedences can and do outflank nonproliferation goals. It also, in many ways, shows how difficult it is to stop an ally from going nuclear.

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Sunday, November 20, 2011

The Undercurrents in AP Politics are Turning Bloodier

Andhra Pradesh Violence: Rayalaseema's Gory Trail

The broad daylight murder of 43-year-old Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy alias Maddelacheruvu Suri, one of the feared gang leaders of the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, in Hyderabad last week seems to be a scene out of a violent Bollywood flick.

The finger of suspicion is being pointed at Suri’s close associate Malisetti Bhanu Kiran, who allegedly holds benami properties worth crores of rupees of his master. “Had Ravi’s men killed our anna (Suri), we wouldn’t have felt bad, but our own man killed him,” says Vasudeva Reddy, a close accomplice of Suri. Although speculations are rife that Telugu Desam MLA Paritala Ravi’s men could be behind the killing, the police investigations have not revealed anything to that effect. Ravi, a former cabinet minister, was murdered in January 2005.

Suri had reportedly used his friend Moddu Sreenu to bump off Ravi who was allegedly responsible for planting a bomb in a television set that killed seven of his family members in 1995. To avenge these killings, Suri planted a car bomb to kill Ravi in vain in 1997 in Jubilee Hills during the shooting of the latter’s film Sri Ramulayya. As many as 26 persons, including six journalists of a private TV channel, lost their lives in the explosion. “Innocents were killed... I regret it as my target was only Ravi. But I know I will end up on a post-mortem table one day,” Suri openly told media persons soon after his release on conditional bail in December 2009.

The Ravi-Suri rivalry dated back to their warlord fathers' time almost four decades ago. Both Paritala Ravi's father Ramulayya and Suri's father Gangula Narayana Reddy were killed in faction violence.

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Thursday, November 17, 2011

In the sporting world, popularity is hard for the players themselves, let alone for the stadium they play in.

Yet, in the forgetful world of one-timer stadiums, one stadium is proving it has what it takes to host one major event after another.

When the Coliseum in Rome was built many moons ago, it was an arena for Emperors. It was a place where the grandest spectacles took place, where chariot races culminated and where hapless gladiators were thrown to the lions. The Coliseum in Rome stood the test of time. Today, even in a state of ruin, it remains an attraction. In India we have a simple term for it. Paisa Vasool.

Modern Day sporting stadiums are not always built keeping in mind the larger picture. Many are constructed with a specific short-term goal in mind like a one-off sporting event. And then find themselves in a situation of disuse and disrepair. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi went from bad to worse after the 1982 Asian Games and it was only the 2010 Commonwealth Games nearly three decades later that was its saving grace. A few such glaring examples are also found among the hastily constructed stadia for the grand 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa.

There is, however, one stadium that saw action at the FIFA World Cup 2010 and is a glaring exception. A stadium where they saw the future well before the present. A stadium that on January 9, 2010, saw India and South Africa go head to head in a T20 International Cricket match – at the impressive Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.

Well before the first Jabulani was kicked at FIFA 2010, the organisers had already begun to plan for life after the World Cup. And this involved not merely speculating about possible future events and initiating the staging of some of them (such as the India-South Africa cricket match) but also finding daily activities that would make the stadium a tourist attraction all-year round. Already a visual landmark of the city thanks to its unique shape, the stadium offers expected facilities such as World Cup hangover tours and fabulous photo opportunities, but also some unexpected draws such as a cable car ride (you can even walk up if you are fit – and stupid – enough) to the very top of the dinosaur like arch roof of the stadium. However, the piece de resistance would have to be something that must be a first when it comes to stadium attractions. A bungee jump from the very top of the stadium that allows you to swing across much of the length of the stadium.

These unique attractions were planned even before any match kicked off at the World Cup as organisers knew that despite being in a big city (and not isolated like Polokwane), there would not be enough sporting events to keep the interest in the arena alive.

Recently at the Champions League cricket tournament, no visitor to the cricket at nearby Kingsmead Stadium felt that his or her visit to Durban was complete without a pilgrimage to the city’s football home. In fact, several members of the visiting Mumbai Indians squad (those not bound by BCCI ‘can’t do adventure sport’ clauses) actually took the plunge from the top of the stadium.

But the high point really, if you think about it (other than the precarious jump off point for the bungee), is just to imagine how many spots in the world can boast that within a space of six months, the likes of Christiano Ronaldo and Kaka on the one hand and MS Dhoni and Jacques Kallis on the other all graced the very same turf playing different sports at the very highest level for their countries! Talk about Paisa Vasool…

(Gautam Bhimani covered the Brazil vs. Portugal match at the FIFA World Cup 2010 at one of the world’s most unique sporting arenas. Three months later he visited the city for the Champions League and found that the stadium was still buzzing. It also hosted the India vs South Africa T20 match on January 9, 2011.)

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"Thorns to Competition" amongst the top 10 best sellers of the week.
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Sunday, November 13, 2011

CPM leader's remarks on agriculture evoke controversy

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Kerala politics: Left versus left over GM crops

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) polit bureau member S Ramachandran Pillai sent several of his senior partymen running for cover recently when he eulogised the genetically modified crops and castigated all those who opposed it as superstitious at a seminar in Thiruvananthapuram. Speaking on the topic “Agriculture in the era of globalisation”, Pillai was of the opinion that it would not be possible to enhance agricultural production without exploiting the advances in science and technology. Coming as it was from a party that has traditionally opposed technological advances, contending that it would be detrimental to the interests of the working class, the onlookers and political observers were shocked. The communists' opposition to tractors and computers in the early 1970s and 80s was legendary. Pillai said that the position of the CPM was that biotechnology was to be developed to boost production in the farm sector. He said this was essential especially for a state like Kerala which had a huge deficit in rice and other essential food produce. What was needed, according to him, was drought resistant seeds, and rice that would help fight anaemia that was very common among the poor of the third world countries. He wanted the central government to make public sector investments in GM technology.

The statement took the Left Democratic Front by storm and the Communist Party of India lambasted Pillai and his stance. CPI's Mullakkara Ratnakaran– the state agriculture minister– countered that there was no evidence that GM crops had a positive impact on the farm sector. He said that if the country persisted with such policies poor farmers would be left with no land. CPI state secretary C K Chandrappan fully endorsed Ratnakaran's stance. CPI national secretary A B Bardhan flayed CPM's new stance and demanded proofs that GM crops were safe and not harmful. Forest minister Benoy Viswom, also from the CPI, reiterated the party stand that it will not in any way support introduction of genetically modified crops in the state.

Sensing that things were getting out of control Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan stepped in to say that the state government had decided not to introduce GM crops after studying all the pros and cons. However, he added, that there was scope for more research and study on the technology. CPM Kerala state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, too, said that the state government would not introduce BT brinjal.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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IIPM Excom Prof Rajita Chaudhuri
Kapil Sibal’s voters want Jan Lokpal, not Government-proposed Lokpal Bill

IIPM: What is E-PAT?
"Thorns to Competition" amongst the top 10 best sellers of the week.
IIPM RANKED NO.1 in MAIL TODAY B-SCHOOL RANKINGS
'Thorns to Competition' - You can order your copy online from here