Current Affairs for Prelims and Mains India s first subsonic missile all set to be tested for its

full range of 1000 km ******* India s Defense Preparedness

Country s first subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay (Fearless) is all set to be tested for its full range of 1,000 km on Tuesday from Chandipur, Odisha. BrahMos is the country s supersonic cruise missile. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) technologists said on Sunday preparations were in full swing for the launch of the two-stage surface-to-surface missile that uses a turbo-jet engine. The Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), a DRDO facility in Bangalore, has designed Nirbhay it. Nirbhay, which looks like an aircraft, can drop bombs. It can be remotely controlled and brought back. In this mission, there are no plans to recover it or use it to drop bombs. Nirbhay takes off from a road mobile launcher after a booster engine kicks the first stage. After the booster separates, the second stage, which has a turbo-jet engine, cruises at an altitude of 500 metres to one km. It will travel for a long time at a speed of 0.67 Mach. Aviation kerosene is the fuel. It will cruise in the atmosphere like an aircraft and it is capable of travelling up to 1,000 km, said a DRDO missile engineer. The biggest advantage with Nirbhay is that it can be launched from land, air and sea. It is a potent system, he noted. Nirbhay can fly over or around hills. It can fly at a very low altitude and avoid detection. Hence it is called a tree-top missile. It is a loitering missile. It can go around and around a target till it gets an opportune moment to bomb it. The U.S. equivalent of Nirbhay is Tomahawk. Pakistan has a cruise missile called Babur that has a range of 700 km. A DRDO official said Nirbhay was on a par with the best systems of its class. It was a third variant of India s missiles, the others being the Agni series and the underwater-launched K-15/B05 missile. Nirbhay has latest navigation and guidance technologies, which were better than Pakistan s cruise missile, he added. a derivative of pilotless target aircraft Lakshya. The Research Centre, Imarat, Hyderabad, has developed Nirbhay s crucial avionics while other DRDO laboratories have played their part in developing

Issues of Emissions from from CoalCoal-fired power plants *********Background material For Environmental Issues Emissions from coal-fired power plants are taking a heavy toll on human life across large parts of India. In 2011-2012, a first-of-its-kind study in the country estimates it resulted in a whopping 80,000 to 1,15,000 premature deaths and more than 20 million asthma cases from exposure to a total PM10 (particulate matter) pollution. Titled Coal Kills An Assessment of Death and Disease caused by India s dirtiest energy source, by

Urban Emissions.info and Greenpeace India, with support from Conservation Action Trust (CAT) by Sarath K. Guttikunda and Puja Jawahar, the study says emissions from coal-fired power are responsible for a large mortality and morbidity burden on human health. While comprehensive studies of health impacts caused by particulate air pollution attributable to coal power plants have been carried out in the U.S. and parts of Europe, such data is hard to come by in India, the authors note. With approximately 210 gigawatts (GW), India is the fifth largest generator of electricity in the world. At present, 66 per cent of this power generation capacity is from coal. The 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017) includes an addition of 76 GW and the 13th Five Year Plan (2017-2022) includes 93 GW, most of which is coal based. In 2011-12, 111 coal-fired power plants with a total generation capacity of 121 GW, consumed 503 million tonnes of coal, and generated an estimated 580 ktonnes (one ktonnes = 1000 tonnes) of particulates with diameter less than 2.5 micrograms, 2100 ktonnes of sulphur dioxides, 2,000 ktonnes of nitrogen oxides, 1100 ktonnes of carbon monoxide, 100 ktonnes of volatile organic compounds and 665 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. Using a conservative value of Rs. 2,000,000 ($40,000) per life lost, the premature mortality estimates from this study would result in a health cost of Rs. 16,000 to 23,000 crore ($3.2 to 4.6 billion) annually. The largest impact of emissions is over Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Indo-Gangetic plain, and most of central-east India. Besides the emissions from the stack, fugitive dust from coal-handling units and ash ponds (later the disposal from the plants) is of concern, particularly given the expected increase in coal-fired power plants.

The study pegs child mortality under five at 10,000 with a health cost of Rs. 2,100 crore. In addition, 625 million people have respiratory symptoms with a health cost of Rs. 6,200 crore and about 170,000 suffer from chronic bronchitis, 8.4 million have chest discomforts and 20.9 million have asthma attacks. About 9,00,000 people make emergency room visits while 160 million have restricted activity days. Demographically, adverse impacts are especially severe for the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease, the study says. Most notable of the health impacts resulting in premature deaths include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lower respiratory infections, cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, and cancers of trachea, bronchitis, and lung. Of all the pollutants, the public health concerns in India are focused on particulate matter (PM) that contributes to a host of respiratory and cardiopulmonary ailments and increasing the risk of premature death, the study points out. Authors suggest the way forward is to revise the emission standards for coal power plants for particulates and introduce new emission standards for other pollutants, introduce continuous monitoring at the plant stacks, such that the data is in the public domain in real time and enforce the standards with improved impact assessment methods with human health as the primary indicator. A business as usual scenario will not do and the analysis shows that aggressive pollution control regulations were necessary.

Ban of guar futures has caused farmers distress *****Issues on Agriculture One year after the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) banned futures trading in guar seed and gum, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has blamed the Congress-led Central and Rajasthan governments for the distress conditions prevailing among guar farmers in the State s northern region. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat, in-charge of the northern leg of the party s nationwide Sangharsh Sandesh Yatra, on Sunday said guar farmers of Hanumangarh district were facing uncertainty-linked distress following the ban. Last year, farmers were paid a mere Rs. 2000 per quintal when guar was selling at Rs. 32000 in the futures market. This season, farmers had made huge investments in view of the demand, but the ban has left them facing a distress situation, Ms. Karat told The Hindu from Hanumangarh. On its part, neither has the Rajasthan government announced any support price for the guar nor has it made public any plans of procurement, she said. Guar seed and gum prices had seen an astronomical

increase over the last two years owing to unprecedented demand from countries like the U.S., Russia and China among others which use it for shale gas exploration. Guar gum, due its unique binding properties, is mixed with water and sand to frack shale gas out of sedimentary shale rock formations. Allegations of manipulation of guar futures in the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) by some companies had led to the FMC ban in March last year. A week later, the NCDEX also terminated all existing guar futures.

Kolar tropue bags five prizes at META

Matte Ekalavya , a drama by Kolar s Adima troupe bagged five prizes at the Mahindra Excellence in
Theatre Awards, held in New Delhi from March 3 to 8. Out of around 350 entries, Matte Ekalavya was one of the 10 dramas that made the final of the 8th edition of the prestigious contest. The drama attempted to depict Ekalavya as a symbol of the oppressed classes rather than one of sacrifice as traditionally portrayed. While Dingri Naresh, who played Ekalavya, won the best actor award, Satyabrata Rout won the best director award. Chidambara Poojari who played Ganesha bagged the award for supporting actor and Yeshwanth got a special mention award for portraying Vyasa. Neela got the award for costume design. The troupe members received their awards at the ceremony held on March 9. The jury comprised eminent theatre personalities from across the country Nisar Alana, Pawan Maskara, Renu Roy and Shobha Deepak Singh. Anmol Velani, Bhanu Bharti,

In restructured Chinese Government, market given a major role ***** ***** International Affairs Comparative Study of India and ChinaChina- Foregin Policy

China s new leadership on Sunday unveiled the most significant government restructuring plan in more than a decade, announcing the dismantling and merging of several crucial Cabinet-level ministries with the aim, said officials, of reducing the government s role and promoting non-governmental and market forces.

The plan includes breaking up the vast and influential Ministry of Railways enforcing family planning rules, with the Health Ministry

which has recently been

embroiled in corruption scandals; and merging the powerful Family Planning authority, in charge of a move seen as a possible first step in reforming the unpopular restrictions known commonly as the one-child policy . The new measures were outlined here on Sunday by the State Council, or Cabinet, amid the ongoing annual session of the National People s Congress (NPC), or Parliament, which will formalise the appointment of officials to head the new government under Xi Jinping. Mr. Xi, who replaced Hu Jintao as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and as head of the military in November last year, will be appointed President in the coming week. Secondranked Politburo Standing Committee member Li Keqiang is expected to succeed Wen Jiabao as Premier and head of the State Council. First reform measure The restructuring is the first major reform measure announced by the new leadership under Mr. Xi, who has emphasised tackling corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency since taking over last year. The State Council said the restructuring plan reflected the government s desire to not meddle in what is not in our business . It called on the government to ensure the market s fundamental role in allocating resources and to let social organisations play a better role in managing social issues , suggesting a loosening of some controls on NGOs, besides those involved in political and religious affairs which face tight scrutiny. The most significant restructuring measure proposed the dismantling of the influential Ministry of Railways, which has, in the past, operated as possibly the most powerful and wealthy State agency. The ministry has been roiled by recent corruption scandals that led to the sacking of former Minister Liu Zhijun and exposed an alarming lack of oversight. Now, the Ministry will function under the Ministry of Transport, which will handle its administration with an aim to increase the integration efficiency of various transport means . The commercial functions will be handled by a separate China Railway Corporation company. The plan has also sanctioned the setting up of a unified National Oceanic Administration (NOA) to strengthen and centralise China s maritime law enforcement forces amid a rising number of disputes, with Japan over East China Sea islands and with half a dozen countries in the South China Sea.

In recent months, officials and analysts warned that an uncoordinated response from coast guards and maritime forces run by different ministries had prevented efficient and nimble reactions to the increasingly frequent clashes between fishing boats and naval vessels from China and other countries. Conflicting mandates A report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) last year pointed to the conflicting mandates and lack of coordination among Chinese government agencies .have stoked tensions in the South China Sea . Now, a unified National Oceanic Administration (NOA) will supervise all of China s maritime law enforcement forces, including the coast guards, fisheries forces and anti-smuggling agencies, and will be charged with better safeguarding the country s maritime rights and interests , the State Council said.

Suu Kyi rere-elected party Chief *******International Affairs

Aung San Suu Kyi was re-elected Myanmar opposition chief on Sunday at a landmark congress that disappointed some members hoping for new blood in the wider leadership ahead of a key 2015 election. Hundreds of National League for Democracy (NLD) members gathered in Yangon for their first national conference a display of political strength that would have been unthinkable under the former junta .

The meeting highlighted the myriad challenges facing the hugely popular opposition as it eyes victory in key elections due to be held in 2015. The party had faced calls to rejuvenate its leadership, dominated by elderly activists, some in their 80s and 90s, known as the NLD uncles . But it held back from a substantial revamp, instead selecting older veteran party members for a core executive of 15 and reappointing Ms. Suu Kyi as chairwoman. NLD spokesman Han Tha Myint said the party recognised the need to gradually promote younger activists. Experts question whether the party is ready to run an impoverished nation whose economy, education and health systems were left in tatters by the corrupt former junta . The NLD faces the financial and political might of President Thein Sein s Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). AFP

Death by a thousand Cuts

***** This is to be studied for International Relations and Foregin Policy of India
The recent mob attack on Christians in Lahore, resulting in the burning down of over one hundred Christian homes while the police stood by, is a reminder of how unsafe Pakistan has become for religious minorities. The attacks on Christians follow a rising tide of attacks on Pakistan s Shia Muslims, sometimes mischaracterised in the media as the product of sectarian conflict. In reality, these increasingly ferocious attacks reflect the ambitious project of Islamists to purify Pakistan, making it a bastion of a narrow version of Islam Sunni. Pakistan literally translates as the land of the pure . But, what started in an imperceptible way as early as the 1940s, picking up momentum in the 1990s, is a drive to transform Pakistan into a land of religious purification. Muslim groups such as the Shias that account for possibly 20-25% of Pakistan s Muslim population and Non-Muslim minorities such as Christians, Hindus and Sikhs have been target-killed, forcibly converted, kidnapped and had their religious places bombed and vandalised with alarming regularity. At the time of partition in 1947, Pakistan had a healthy 23% of its population comprise non-Muslim citizens. Today, the proportion of non-Muslims has declined to approximately three per cent. The distinctions among Muslim denominations have also become far more accentuated over the years. Changing times Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and his two closest political and personal lieutenants, the Raja of Mahmoodabad and my grandfather Mirza Abol Hassan Ispahani, were all Shia Muslims. All three devoted their political lives and personal finances to the creation of Pakistan. Mr. Jinnah named Sir Zafrulla Khan, member of the embattled Ahmadiyya sect, as Pakistan s first foreign minister. As originally conceived, Pakistan did not discriminate among various Muslim denominations, and non-Muslim minorities too were assured of equal rights as citizens. But things have changed over the last several decades. Last week, the massacre of the Shia community of Abbas Town in Karachi took place on and around a road named after my Shia grandfather. Driven out or degraded Over the years, Pakistan s constitution has been amended to designate the Ahmadiyya as non-Muslims. A similar drive, influenced by Salafi ideology from Saudi Arabia, has been undertaken by Deobandi groups against the Shias. A terrorist offshoot of the Deobandi movement ( T akfiris those who declare some Muslims as kafirs or unbelievers) has been escalating atrocities against Shias in an effort to drive them out of the country or to force them to accept a lowered status in an Islamised Pakistan. Their targets have included men, women and children.

Pakistan s Shias belong to different ethnic and linguistic groups and different tribes. They are spread all over the country. The one thing that unifies them in the eyes of their murderers is their religious beliefs. The anti-Shia terrorists roam the land with impunity, appear on primetime talk shows on television and hold political rallies where they declare Shias as unbelievers and Wajib-ul-Qatal (deserving of death). They are very rarely arrested, even after they proudly and publicly announce their deeds like in the two recent massacres of the Hazara Shias of Quetta. When they are arrested, they have access to mobile phones in prison, receive visitors openly and are often released swiftly on their own recognisance. The few who have been tried have always been acquitted by Pakistan s judiciary for lack of evidence . State turning a blind eye What is often painted deliberately as a Shia-Sunni conflict is, in fact, quite another creature. The

anti-Shia groups are used by Pakistan s permanent establishment in Afghanistan and other neighboring countries in pursuit of strategic depth . When, inspired by their bigotry, the Jihadis attack Shias within Pakistan, their state sponsors tend to avert their eyes. A year ago, a bus was stopped on its way to Gilgit-Baltistan. Shias on board were identified by their names and other means, taken off the bus and beheaded and shot dead. Several months later, the same type of massacre was repeated in the same region. The Taliban took credit for both acts of terrorism. Shias in Parachinar and Hangu located in the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) have been fighting the Taliban unaided for years. And, their dead bodies now number thousands. The recent extensive reporting of the plight of the Hazara Shias by the media is the result of mass protests held across the country in solidarity with the victims. The targeting of Shia doctors and other professionals in Karachi has also been an attempt to make the middle-class Shia flee abroad to leave only the poor and voiceless of their community behind. After each act of violence the Taliban/Lashkar-eJhangvi (LEJ) or Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) proudly own up the operations. One example is from a news agency reporting from Qudrat News in Quetta: Banned religious terrorist organization, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, has claimed responsibility for the suicide blast on Kirani Road, Hazara Town. The spokesman, Abu Bakr Sidiq, called the news channels on Saturday evening from an identified location and said that the attack was carried out by our colleague, Umar Farooq. In 2013, this was our second suicide attack in the Shia areas. Like this, we have 20 vehicles full of explosives ready for our suicide bombers. Soon as we get the order [from LEJ leader Malik Ishaq], their target will be Alamdar Road, Mehr Abad, and Hazara Town. God Willing, now we will kill Shias in their home.

We want to tell the Sunnis, for God sake, strap your bodies with bombs and stand up with LEJ in the fight against the Shias If Sunnis won t rise up, then they should refrain from having any relation with the Shias because now either we will live in Balochistan or the Shias We seek help from Allah in this fight and this fight will end as Balochistan becoming the graveyard of the Shias. The international community must not ignore the systematic elimination of Pakistan s Shias, Christians, Hindus and Ahmadis. The United Nations must nominate a Special Rapporteur on the systematic elimination of Pakistan s minorities. Pakistan s military-intelligence establishment as well as the federal and provincial governments must be asked to fulfil their responsibilities in protecting the Shias and other Muslim and non-Muslim minorities in Pakistan.

The great American betrayal ****** This is to be studies for International Relations
It is well known that of all military operations, retreat is the most difficult and complicated. A victorious march that takes a wrong turn can end in a stalemate, but a retreat gone wrong will most likely turn into a disaster. These are the grim forebodings that come to mind when we think of the forthcoming withdrawal of the American-led military forces from Afghanistan. Whistling in the dark The Obama Administration is putting it out as though the withdrawal is a great achievement, since it will pull it out of the quagmire that it has been stuck in ever since George Bush declared a global war on terror. But the reality is shoddier we are witnessing yet another western retreat from Afghanistan, one that can have baleful consequences for others. No matter what the Americans say or do officially, they are, essentially, whistling in the dark. The departure of the Americans and their allies remain even though reports suggest that a small force will

is a fraught moment for the Afghans, the United States and neighbouring countries. Last

month, representatives of India, Russia and China met in Moscow. According to an official in the know, the discussion was businesslike and devoid of the double-speak that often marks the occasion. The subject was Afghanistan. Faced with the withdrawal of the American-led alliance from the country, the three regional powers are scrambling to see how they can stabilise the situation. Each of them has interests there, and none of these really clash. But all three have an interest in ensuring that Afghanistan is stable and secure, witnesses economic growth and reconstruction, and is integrated into the regional economy. India and China are interested in

ensuring that a war-ravaged Afghanistan does not once again become a place where militants are able to establish training camps freely. Both have important investments India s $ 2 billion are spread in development projects to promote Afghan stability, while China s $ 3 billion could aid in its prosperity. As for Russia, it is the primary security provider to the Central Asian states and has an interest in preventing the return of a situation of civil war. It is important that the post-U.S. situation does not degenerate into an India-Pakistan battlefield. The responsibility here lies heavier with New Delhi, since Pakistan can be trusted to follow its baser instincts. Indeed, New Delhi s strategy must be to prevent Islamabad from trying to turn the Afghan clock back to the pre-American days. In this, it can fruitfully use the dialogue processes it has established with Russia and China and, separately, the U.S. Interestingly, in the recent India-China-Russia talks, the Chinese pointedly avoided projecting Islamabad s case and spoke for their own interests, just as the other interlocutors did. But for things to work, there is need for both Washington and Islamabad to confront the hard realities. As for the U.S., writing in Foreign Policy , Vali Nasr wrote America has not won this war on the battlefield, nor has the country ended it at the negotiating table. America is just washing its hands of this war. According to Mr. Nasr, who worked in Richard Holbrooke s AfPak team in the U.S. State Department, President Obama s attitude to the American commitment in Afghanistan has been dictated by domestic politics when it was popular back home he backed it, and when it became unpopular, he pushed for terminating the U.S. commitment. The American withdrawal, Mr. Nasr argues, is without any concern for the fate of Afghanistan itself, or for the possible chaos that may follow in the region. As for Pakistan, the belief among some key players, notably in the Army, that there can once again be Fateh (Victory) in Kabul is delusional. Nothing in the ground situation suggests that the writ of the Taliban will run across Afghanistan again, at least not the Taliban that Pakistan so effectively aided and controlled in the 1990s. Indeed, the most unstable part of the country will be the eastern region bordering Pakistan, whose own border with Afghanistan is the site of an insurgency led by the Tehreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan (TTP). If anything, the TTP could be the principal beneficiary of the withdrawal, since it will find it easier to get sanctuary and arms from the Taliban. As of now, in the international process, we have the western countries trying to work out a negotiated settlement that will bring elements of the Taliban into the governance of the country, based on the constitution of the Loya Jirga of 2003. This Doha process has been a slow-moving affair with the Taliban delegation in the Qatari capital twiddling its thumbs most of the time. One problem is no one is really clear as to whether they are dealing with the genuine representatives of Mullah Omar. The bigger problem is that both Islamabad and the Taliban are merely hedging in their responses to the West and they are

waiting to see how precipitous the American retreat is, and what happens in the run-up to the Afghan elections of 2014. Even today, the Taliban s supreme leader, Mullah Omar, and several of its top leaders live in Pakistan. Though Islamabad says it is supporting the Doha process, there are doubts as to whether or not Pakistan can actually deliver the Taliban to the U.S. and its allies. But there can be few doubts about Islamabad s ability to play the spoiler. This is what countries like the U.S., India, Russia and China need to prevent through coordinated diplomacy. And talking of elections, we have to see just how the election in Pakistan expected in a few months will play out. Since 2002, a set of new facts has been created on the ground. Foremost among these have been the presence of an elected Afghan government and, now, a substantial Afghan National Security Force. This will continue to get the support of the international community and the ANSF will also have the ability to control the key parts of the country, as long as it gets external support. On the other hand, the Taliban has suffered considerable attrition and the relations between Pakistan and the Taliban have been conditioned by the emergence of the Tehreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan (TTP) as well as the unhappy experience of the Taliban at the hands of the ISI. There is one important, and indeed overriding, consideration in the manner in which we deal with Afghanistan. Both the U.S. and India need to recognise that they have far greater security interests in Pakistan than in benighted Afghanistan. The victor of Kabul will inherit a war-torn and ravaged country without the basics of schools, hospitals and transportation systems. But should the Afghan situation catalyse the rise of Islamists in Pakistan, India will be in for trouble. It does not need to be repeated that Pakistan is a country with some industrial capacity, nuclear weapons and a powerful military. Its capacity for mischief would go up by orders of magnitude, were the Islamists gathered by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed in the Difa-e-Pakistan Council to become even more central to the country s politics. AfPak to PakAf For this reason, it is important to reverse the appellation AfPak to PakAf, at least mentally. We need to ensure that a solution in Afghanistan has a collateral beneficial effect in Pakistan. Or, at least, it should not affect Pakistan negatively. This is not, of course, a call for pandering to Islamabad s Afghan fantasies. The presence of U.S.-led forces has played a stabilizing role in Afghanistan. But now they are going and leaving fear in their wake. The Afghans are petrified at the prospect of a renewed civil war and the return of the Taliban, the Pakistanis, or at least the sensible ones, are scared of the threat from the TTP. India, Russia and China are worried about the possible spill-over effects of a civil war in the country. As for the U.S., its fear is that its retreat could, through some missteps, become a rout.

Take Tami Nadu out of Lanka Policy ****This is for issues on Foreign Policy of India
Domestic politics will tell on external affairs as much as fine principles and strategic interests. In the context of the draft resolution on human rights violations in Sri Lanka now before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, India will have to factor in domestic political exigencies alongside longheld principles and long-term interests while firming up its stand. Last year, India voted for a resolution asking Sri Lanka to investigate abuses by its military during the final phase of the war with the separatist LTTE. But it did so after making efforts to water down the resolution. Though appearing to have been taken under pressure from the DMK, India s decision to vote against Sri Lanka last year was intended to tell President Mahinda Rajapaksa that his failure to move towards a settlement of the Tamil question could no longer be glossed over. If New Delhi went beyond its own norm of not voting for country-specific resolutions, it also hoped this would be no more than a one-time exception. However, with Sri Lanka having done precious little since last year s vote to address the rights abuses and push for reconciliation, India cannot be expected to dilute its stand now. Ever since the war ended and allegations of large-scale atrocities began to surface, it has been obvious to friends of Sri Lanka that the only way Colombo can ride the tide of rights charges is by delivering the political package it had itself once promised. Speaking on the matter in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh steered clear of recent allegations that the Sri Lankan army killed LTTE supremo Prabakaran s 12-year-old son in cold blood and instead emphasised the need for Sri Lankan national reconciliation. This was his way of showing the Rajapaksa government how it must deal with the upcoming resolution. Dr. Singh s dilemma is unenviable. His diplomats have told him India s 2012 vote did not push Colombo to do the right thing as some had hoped. On the other hand, Congress ally DMK wants a further toughening of stand. The party unwisely raised the stakes last year by reviving the Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation. TESO meetings have so far stopped short of advocating a separate state for Sri Lankan Tamils but the outfit s revival has itself allowed hardliners in Sri Lanka to argue that the grant of rights to the Tamils is a slippery slope to their secession. Difficult though this may sound, New Delhi must craft a Lanka policy that includes a case for the island s Tamils free of the opportunistic imprint of Tamil Nadu s competitive politics. The more its policies towards Colombo are seen as the product of political pressure from the State, the less effective those policies will be.

Is electoral verdict everything? (for forming forming opinion on Polity)

There is a spike in the mails since the re-election of Narendra Modi and his supporters pitching him for the primeministership. At some level, all these letters share the opinion that one who has got the electoral

approval is beyond criticism, and that this newspaper is not accepting the electoral verdict as the ultimate truth. They do not want to raise anything about the 2002 carnage, they do not like to hear anything that challenges the Gujarat growth story , and they feel that there is a design in the criticism against Narendra Modi. These letter writers are of the opinion that The Hindu had been unfair to Mr. Modi. I am disturbed by the tone, tenor and the general thrust of these letters as they try to reconstruct India as a homogenous entity obliterating its multiplicities, its natural treasure called its diversities and heterogeneities. At one level, these voices say that they are not bothered about what the world thinks of them and cloak a form of xenophobia. On the other hand, they yearn for global acceptance. Let s not forget that it was Mr. Modi who accepted the invitation from Wharton, an indication of the desire for global acceptance. Let s look at one of these letters closely. One of the writers Mr. K.H. Krishnan from Shenkottai contended, every Indian did regret for Gujarat riots. But The Hindu still gives better preference to the Gujarat riots by publishing news or articles on this every now and then. And I am disappointed in your paper s way of criticism against Mr. Modi even after his victory in the recent Assembly elections in Gujarat. I thought Hindu reporting will be impartial but now I am changing my stance. He further takes exception to a report titled Adani Group cancels Wharton sponsorship, saying that the reporter had given details of criticism against Mr. Modi by a section of students and professors but did not elaborate on writer Chetan Bhagat s twitter slamming of Wharton. He asks: Is this not partiality? Where is partiality? First, the decision to withdraw the invitation to Mr. Modi was taken by Wharton and not The Hindu . The decision deserves to be known to the people of India, and hence, the newspaper had to report on it. Second, the cancellation of sponsorship by Adani group raises an interesting question about the relationship between the political leadership of the state and the business even in a liberalised economy. Third, the paper s reporter has faithfully reproduced Chetan Bhagat s twitter criticism of Wharton. Where is the question of partiality? Further, Bhagat s tweet was: Dear Wharton, the country you belong to routinely makes friends with dictators and military governments who used guns to be in power. Remember that. On the other hand, the academic team of Wharton had issued a formal statement that was reported. As long as people are going to raise questions about justice for the 2002 carnage, the paper has no other alternative but to report on it. Electoral victory alone can never be construed as a closure for any wrong doings in our constitutional framework. Nor is it acceptable in our own ethical framework. Let s take the case of UPA. This paper has been critical of its various failures since it came to power in 2004. The UPA won the people s mandate once again in 2009. Does it mean that the paper should not raise the shortcomings and the failures and

dereliction of duties in its first term? Then how does one cover the issues relating to the 2G controversy, CWG scam, Adarsh Housing scandal and other issues? Balanced criticism Let s look at two specific cases where the people s verdict has not stopped either the legal procedures or the public criticism. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa is facing legal proceedings in the disproportionate wealth case in a court in Karnataka. The period covered by this case pertains to her tenure between 1991 and 1996. Since then, she has won two more general elections. She is not invoking the people s verdict but facing the case legally. Former Union Minister for Communications A. Raja has been winning elections without a break since 1996. This is his fifth successive term in the Lok Sabha. This paper did not confound or conflate issues but consciously disaggregated them. In my opinion, as long as this newspaper manages to offer a balanced criticism of every political party across the political spectrum an exception for Mr. Modi. be it Left, Right or Centre then it is doing a good job. It cannot make