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TheIndian EXPRESS
www.indianexpress.com

l SATURDAY l SEPTEMBER 15 l 2012

The Indian EXPRESS

BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL

Bang for the buck

PEAKING to reporters after the cabinet meeting on Friday, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said it all depends on implementation. He was absolutely right. UPA 2 has run up a record of sorts making promises it could not keep, which is why the critical period for the government starts now. On both sets of decisions allowing FDI in multibrand retail as well as raising the prices of diesel and capping the subsidy on cooking gas the opposition the government faces is likely to be more from within the ruling alliance, than from outside it. The merits of both sets of steps have been well known, but so far the government has pulled back citing political compulsions. A year ago, the government was in a relatively stronger position and yet both measures failed to go through. Now if the same government, buffeted by a wider panoply of alleged sins it has added coal to 2G and CWG is able to stay the course, that will only confirm that the economy was unnecessarily made to lose more than a year of growth and the possible resultant benefits of pulling a larger section of the people out of poverty. The benefit of these moves in terms of shoring up Indias record with the rating agencies is just a blip on the scale of the opportunities lost. Of course, it is now a fair expectation that these two days work has done

After the fireworks are done, the UPA must stay the course

far more to make the Reserve Bank of India more amenable to cutting rates on Monday morning, something corporate India had almost given up hopes of. It also leaves the government with fewer excuses to delay further measures like followthrough reforms in diesel prices. The decision of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on Thursday to present a new oil bill to the economy, the implementation of FDI in multi-brand retail a day later, as well as the relaxation in single-brand retail, have to be read as the first in a series of painful adjustments. The markets and industry were pleased on Friday but only because they too see them as the first of more such measures. The rise in the price of diesel by Rs 5 per litre and a cap on the number of subsidised cylinders of cooking gas to six in a year will only shave off Rs 20,300 crore from the under-recovery of public sector oil marketing companies, still leaving an uncovered gap of Rs 1,67,000 crore for them in 2012-13. The election calendar will begin to look crowded again soon, but if that excuse is used to make this a one-off affair, the losses for the economy will be considerable. There is an enormous legislative agenda pending in Parliament that must be seen through before the general elections are announced as several bills will lapse once this Lok Sabha is dissolved.

SUPREME Court ruling has thrown an unexpected spanner into the Right to Information apparatus, bringing the Central and state information commissions to a confused stop. It has ordered that from now on, these commissions must have two heads, a judicial member and an expert member, and the chief information commissioner must be no one but a high court chief justice or Supreme Court judge, vetted by the Chief Justice of India because their work, it deemed, was akin to that of a judicial tribunal. The order was in response to a PIL that questioned the current eligibility criteria, which require the chief information commissioner and the information commissioners to have eminence and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media or administration and governance. Of course, these offices have often been instrumentally wielded as another opportunity for patronage, or thoughtlessly packed with civil servants. However, should these

Why must appointments to the information commission be decided by the court?

procedural quibbles be settled by the judiciary at all? The courts order merely threatens to replace a bureaucratic monopoly with a judicial one. Nowhere in this sweeping order is there a sense of why the eligibility requirements for commissioners were kept so open in the law passed by Parliament. Meanwhile, the entire functioning of the information commissions has been thrown into question. While the Supreme Court may believe that the commissioners work requires them to be steeped in the law, it should pause to consider the advantages of breadth of experience. Whats more, setting up the information commissions as a next step for judges would interfere with the adversarial dynamic that is ideal between the information commissions and various organs of government. As guardians of the RTI Act, they are meant to reflect the citizens perspective, to wrest accountability from the powerful. This order throws up troubling questions for the future of the legislation.

Judges only

N A NORMAL country, top leaders rarely disappear without an explanation. The answer is simple. With the scrutiny from political opponents and a vigilant press, mysteriously vanishing from public view is not just technically difficult but also self-destructive. Voters simply would not want to be governed by leaders who evaporate at will. There is another explanation for political transparency in a normal country. The ruling elites enjoy a much higher sense of security. Since all normal countries pick their leaders through competitive elections at regular intervals, elected leaders, barring serious misdeeds, cannot be removed from office. Such political security makes secrecy unnecessary and counterproductive. But the luxury of political security is not something available to rulers in less normal countries those run by autocrats. Despite their apparent monopoly of power, self-appointed rulers in all societies live in perpetual fear of losing office. Their fall from grace, just like their rise to the top, depends not on established and respected rules, but on backroom bargains among oligarchs that can change on a dime. Even the most senior officials in such regimes can be cashiered. This insight helps us understand the current curiosity surrounding the mysterious disappearance of Xi Jinping, Chinas heir apparent, from public view in recent days. After making an important speech in Beijing on September 1, Xi abruptly cancelled meetings with visiting foreign dignitaries, such as US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, without providing any explanation. After more than a week of unexplained absence from public view, Xis whereabouts have become a hot news item around the world, as well as the centre of speculation and rumour-mongering. Although he was quoted in the state media a few days ago and the

Fencing with rumours

The Xi Jinping episode has exposed the fragility of political power in China
MINXIN PEI
latest reports say he will make a public appearance on Sunday, guesses about what has happened to Xi run from sensationalism to informed speculation. In all likelihood, Xi is indeed suffering from some unnamed physical ailment that requires medical attention. The possibility that he has been the victim of another power struggle at the top is almost nil. There is ample ground to think that it is genuine illness, not political demise, that has kept Xi from public view since September 1. Recent signs of personnel shuffling at the very top of the Communist sire to inflict another wound on itself. Purging an heir apparent on the eve of the scheduled transfer of power may have been routine when the supreme dictator, Mao Zedong, ran the show. But today, such an act is too horrible for the partys own sake even to contemplate. What is illuminating about this episode is the fragility of political power in contemporary China. First, Beijings handling of this incident shows a regime not only out of touch with reality but also deeply fearful of the potential consequences of revealing the truth. tively minor incident to mushroom into a crisis of confidence and a frenzy of rumour-mongering. Another point one may make about this episode is about the lack of political security for the occupants of the highest office in China. Granted, a top leaders health is a legitimate topic of public discussion in any country. In a more normal country, leaders have no choice but to let the public know how fit they are and then let the political process decide whether they are fit to govern. In an autocracy, by contrast, the health of the rulers is a top secret of the state. One explanation is that, because these systems follow the rule of men, not of law, the failing health of the top ruler undermines confidence in the regimes stability. Another plausible explanation is that any revelation of the health of the top ruler or heir apparent can cast doubt on the legitimacy of the rulers. In the case of Xi, opening up his medical record to the public will most likely set off a spirited political debate, both inside and outside the party. The debate might centre, initially, on his physical fitness for occupying the top slot in the Chinese government. This discussion, however innocent of political malice, will soon touch on the most fundamental issue: the legitimacy of the succession process itself. Such a discussion will put the party on the spot it will have to answer very difficult questions about Chinas secret succession process. If there is one thing we know about autocratic regimes, it is their dislike of impertinent questions. But we now live in a world in which rulers must answer difficult questions. Based on Beijings response to ours regarding Xis whereabouts, one has to wonder whether the ruling elites of the largest country in the world are aware of this reality. The writer is a professor of government and non-resident senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the US
express@expressindia.com

Letters to the

EDITOR

Letter of the

WEEK

Home front
VERY often, women

working at home are considered unemployed, even though they might work as hard as their husbands. Of course, the marital relationship should not be brought into the commercial realm, but allocating a portion of the husbands salary for the homemaker is a way of recognising the worth of the work she does. It also assures her an income and with it, financial independence. Suren Abreu Mumbai
THE increase in agricultural wages (Back to the farm, IE, September 12) is seen as bad for the economy because in India, industry has acquired a narrow definition. It evokes images of IT parks and automobile factories. If a professional and scientific approach is applied to agriculture, and effective government policies are adopted, then booming agro-based industries could come up. This could also alter the pattern of rural labour migration. N. Pattebahadur Pune

In an autocracy the health of the rulers is a top secret of the state. One explanation is that, because these systems follow the rule of men, not of law, the failing health of the top ruler undermines confidence in the regimes stability. The debate might centre, initially, on Xis physical fitness for occupying the top slot in the Chinese government. This discussion, however innocent of political malice, will soon touch on the most fundamental issue: the legitimacy of the succession process itself.
Party indicate that Xi is gaining the upper hand. For instance, one of his trusted political allies has replaced a close follower of Hu Jintao, the incumbent party chief, as the equivalent of the chief of staff of the partys central committee. The size of the standing committee of the politburo, Chinas top decision-making body, is likely to be cut from nine to seven, allowing Xi greater control over policymaking than Hu has had over the last decade. After the party suffered humiliating embarrassment from the purge of Bo Xilai, the former party chief of Chongqing municipality, it probably has no deFacing an onslaught of media attention and public curiosity, a government that is confident and capable should be forthcoming about the unexplained absence of one of its most powerful officials. After all, Xi is a human being and thus vulnerable to physical hazards as everyone else. But Chinese authorities reacted with behaviour and language reminiscent of a sclerotic late-Soviet type communist system, admitting nothing and denying almost everything. The result is predictable. Instead of effectively calming the anxieties of the Chinese people and the international community, Beijing allowed a rela-

Farm fresh

The long race

BHARAT SUNDARESAN EST Indian cricket fans have been haunted by the back-in-the-day s syndrome since the mid-1990s, when their fortunes started plummeting. This sense of nostalgia, however, could take a backseat in Sri Lanka, where Darren Sammy and his team enter the fourth World T20 as the unexpected favourites. But such is the nature of the shortest format that the tag can often be unfounded the three previous tournaments witnessed unexpected champions. Despite Sammys good run as captain recently, any talk of redemption for the West Indies cricket team is fraught with danger. There have been too many false starts over the last decade. Nevertheless, that old aura of insuperability might be back. How can it not be when your line-up boasts Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith and Sunil Narine, not to forget Marlon Samuels and Andre Russell? Opposition captains are said to have spent many a sleepless night preparing for the worst against the might of the West Indies back in their heyday. There is enough reason now for opponents to be quaking in their boots. In Gayle and Smith, the West Indies have two seasoned and battle-hardened bludgeoners of the cricket ball, both with strike-

Calypso is back in vogue, this time in the games newest format

rates ranging over 150. The potential for carnage doesnt stop with them, what with the likes of Bravo, Pollard, Samuels and Russell waiting in the wings. And its not just the bowlers who have a lot to fear. Spare a thought for the batsmen who have to contend with the wiles of the canny Narine. Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan once asked Abdul Qadir to sport a goatee in order to add to the mysticism around his leg-spin. The Trinidadian trickster, though, has bamboozled batsmen worldwide with a simple, ungainly Mohawk and an across the globe have made T20 their own. The worldwide demand for West Indian cricketers in T20 leagues is understandable, considering the impact they have had. Gayle and Narine, for example, ended up with man of the tournament awards in the previous two editions of the IPL. Smith, Bravo and now Russell have developed reputations for being T20 specialists, be it in England or Bangladesh. Former Trinidad and Tobago skipper Daren Ganga recently spoke about how T20 has not only revitalised cricket in the CaribbeGayle and Co for making the most of their innate talents in the present scenario, especially when central contracts with the WICB pale in comparison to what their contemporaries earn in other parts of the world. Whos to say that Clive Lloyd and Co. wouldnt have gone the Gayle way, like they did with Kerry Packer? Not many would argue that Viv Richards would have taken to T20 like fish to water. Even the great man recently revealed that he would have opted for the IPL over the maroon cap if the administrators had treated him the way they used to. The WICB seems to have realised the benefits of letting their men pave individual paths. They allowed Pollard to miss an ODI series last year so that he could enhance his T20 credentials, and have also let Samuels pick and choose his series. Now, just like Lloyd and Co, they are united under one West Indian banner and easily look the most formidable outfit among the 12 in Sri Lanka. The Emerald Isle might not quite be Babylon for Sammy and Co. But not in close to 20 years has a West Indian team looked betterequipped to once again bring the world to its knees and its united nation of islands to its feet.
bharat.sundaresan@expressindia.com

West Indies 2.0

ONDONS iconic skyline, dominated by the Big Ben and the London Eye, has long symbolised a dream destination for the young student, whatever her place of birth. Increasingly, however, as the British governments controversial decision to revoke London Metropolitan Universitys (LMUs) licence to instruct non-EU students suggests, new government policies designed to clamp down on student visas are denting Britains appeal as a worldclass university destination. It is perhaps unsurprising that an unpopular government is trying to use the hot-button issue of immigration to its advantage, especially since that is one of the few issues on which it appears to poll well with voters. What is surprising is that the drive to limit net migration to the UK to below 1,00,000 is playing out in the universities. The David Cameron government, like

Clampdown on student visas could dent Britains allure abroad, hurt universities at home
the Gordon Brown government before it, has made student visa rules stricter. It has also curtailed the right to work after graduation and implemented rules requiring universities to monitor foreign students and ensure that they do not work. LMU fell foul of the latter rule, although it insists that the rule lacks clarity. All this confusion is bound to hurt Britains allure for prospective students, who could just as easily head to the US, Australia or Canada. Indeed, reports suggest that British universities have seen a 20-30 per cent drop in Indian student enrolment for the upcoming academic year. Given that UK universities earn around 7 billion pounds a year from foreign students, and that domestic students are subsidised by the higher fees foreign students pay, this drive seems particularly wrong-headed.

London shrinking

Daren Ganga spoke about how T20 has not only revitalised cricket in the Caribbean, it has also provided a major source of revenue.
extraordinary set of fingers. The emergence of T20 cricket and the many IPL-style leagues around the world has attracted many detractors in the Caribbean, especially with the likes of Gayle, Pollard and Bravo choosing club over country on more than one occasion. The Jamaican opener, in particular, was derided as a renegade in search of a quick buck. But with Gayle and the rest returning to the fold, West Indian cricket is set to gain the most. This bunch of globetrotting entertainers Gayle, Bravo and Pollard have played for 15 teams an, it has also provided a major source of revenue in an atmosphere where the board and players body constantly bicker and haggle over payments. Nowhere is this truer than in Trinidad. It was Gangas team that was responsible for setting alight the first-ever Champions League in 2009. It also gave Pollard to the world. And the present 15-member West Indies squad in Sri Lanka, not surprisingly, comprises eight Trinidadians. Many experts have blamed the present lot for lacking pride in the legacy of cricket in the Caribbean. But who can blame

action (IE, September14), it is true that Mulayam Singh Yadav is chalking out a long-term political strategy to ensure an advantageous position for himself in the 2014 elections. Meanwhile, the Congress seems to be endlessly waiting for Rahul Gandhi to take the reins and lead it out of the wilderness. It is also true that Mulayam has been bailing out the Congress at critical junctures from time to time, but this may not necessarily be in keeping with his long-term interests. The Congress can no longer ignore the fact that he is trying to upstage it and put it in a spot. The leaders of the UPA may believe that regional parties like the SP are counting their chickens before they hatch. But the Congress also insists on burying its head in the sand and refuses to face political realities. Satwant Kaur Mahilpur

APROPOS Off-stage

Weak alibi

THIS refers to CBI may

Ireland needs the European Stability Mechanism if it is to return to the bond markets
would have to seek parliamentary approval for any increase. The Constitutional Courts judgment also appears to rule out granting the ESM a banking licence, something that would be necessary for it to engage in unlimited purchases of the bonds of peripheral eurozone countries. It also stated that any bond purchases by the ECB itself aimed at financing the members budgets would be illegal. Draghis task, never easy, has just got a little bit more difficult. However, while the Constitutional Court could be accused of nitpicking, an outright rejection of the ESM could have had catastrophic consequences for the entire eurozone, not least for us here in Ireland. From a leader in the Irish Independent, Dublin

Coming in from the cold

WORDLY WISE
Oscar Wilde

It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information.

HE German Constitutional Court ruling against a case challenging the legality of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) removes a potentially huge obstacle to Irelands emergence from the EU/IMF bailout and our full return to the bond markets as scheduled next year. The reaction of the markets said it all... Quite clearly investors believe that the judgment will not seriously hinder ECB president Mario Draghis efforts to resolve the long-running eurozone crisis. Thats the good news. While the news from the Constitutional Court could have been much, much worse, the judges did deliver one or two stings in the tail. Firstly they ruled that if Germanys contribution to the ESM were to exceed 190 billion euros, something that will almost certainly be the case if Spain were to apply for an Irish or Greek-style bailout, then the German government

PRINTLINE

roast then A.B. Vajpayeeled NDA govt over coal fire (IE, September 13). V. Narayanasamy, minister of state in the PMO, recently said that the NDA government had allotted 39 coal blocks illegally. It has become a habit with Congress leaders to respond to every corruption charge against the UPA with a counter-allegation against the NDA. They forget that it is precisely for such errors of omission and commission that the BJP and its allies were ousted in the 2004 elections and the Congressled UPA was ushere-d in. If the NDA had allotted coal blocks illegally, why did the Congress not protest? It was, after all, the main opposition party at the time. The PM must advise his colleagues to not use such weak alibis for the UPAs failures and address the issues raised. V.V.S. Mani Bangalore