CURRENT AFFAIRS (28.01.

2014)
1. Bitter medicine The US Food and Drug Administrations (USFDA) ban on import of active pharmaceutical ingredients from Ranbaxys plant at Toansa in Punjab in addition to three other of its earlier blacklisted manufacturing sites has implications for more than just the beleaguered company. To start with, Ranbaxy Laboratories is not alone. The USFDA has also identified significant violations of current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) regulations at two facilities belonging to Wockhardt, apart from issuing warning letters to a host of other firms such as Dr Reddys, Lupin, Sun Pharma and Aurobindo Pharma. While Ranbaxy may be the only company to have been prohibited from manufacturing drugs from all its Indian plants for the US market, the matter is serious enough for the Centre to sit up and take notice. The Drug Controller General of India and other authorities must work closely with the pharma industry to evolve systems for enforcement of compliance with global cGMP standards. At stake is Indias $15 billion -a-year pharma exports, over a quarter of which goes to the US. The industry may well say that irrespective of the USFDA inspections revealing significant deviations from the cGMP standards, there is no evidence to suggest that the exported drugs are of substandard quality. In fact, what the USFDA calls adulterated drugs includes any medicine not manufactured under conditions confirming to its cGMP regulations it does not necessarily mean the product is inadequate. Ranbaxy continues to export to other regulated markets and the fact that many of its finished pharmaceutical products are listed under the World Health Organisations Prequalification of Medicines Programme supports such a claim.But there is little to be had in pushing such a line of argument. The truth is that if a company hopes to export to the US, it has no option but to meet the latters regulatory requirements, howsoever stringent they may be. In this case, Ranbaxys alleged transgressions arent minor: the analytical instruments in the laboratory of its Toansa plant were found not calibrated, qualified or maintained appropriately, while the sample preparation room had Too Numerous To Count (TNTC) flies. The deviations at its Mohali unit included use of dirty glassware and black fibre embedded in a tablet originating from hair from an employees arm. These only point to the absence of robust and sustainable systems to monitor production processes at the shopfloor. The companys top management is no less responsible here, especially when the USFDAs first import alert against its facilities goes back to 2008. Also, some drugmakers have taken corrective measures following the
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detection of manufacturing lapses by the US health regulator, which suggests the problem is far from intractable. But it is time that the industry and perhaps the government as well started by at least recognising the existence of the problem 2. The titled are not always entitled Though dynasty remains vitally influential in electoral politics and a focus of growing resentment among those who believe Indian society is generally becoming more meritocratic it may not be as significant a force as it looks at first sight. The most important politicians found another route to the top: in the upper echelons of many parties, the paramount leaders are not beneficiaries of nepotism, and this does not seem likely to change any time soon. In last Decembers Delhi elections, the Aam Aadmi Party managed to defeat the Congress and the BJP , the two major parties that had dominated the capital for years. If the AAP is to continue its stunning success, it may be another of its constitutional pledges that has a more notable significance in the longer term: No two members of the same family will be eligible to contest elections in our party. This promise was a direct response to the perception that Indian politics, across the country, has been taken hostage by nepotism.The bald statistics are certainly alarming. Two-thirds of current Lok Sabha MPs under the age of 40 already have a near relative in politics. As in so many spheres of Indian life, an opaque family of relatives and associates often controls constituency party politics. The BJP and parties of the left remain comparatively meritocratic, but a stunning nine out of ten sitting Congress Party MPs under the age of 44 are now hereditary, effectively having inherited a parliamentary seat. Entitlement syndrome Money and heredity correlate closely. Taking officially declared assets reported to the Election Commission as a starting point, 15 out of the 20 richest MPs in the present Lok Sabha are hereditary, and 10 of these belong to the Congress Party. MPs who come from an established political dynasty are, on average, nearly five times richer than those who have no nepotistic background in politics. Those who come from a hyperconnected political family for example, those with a mother-in-law, an uncle, a sibling in politics are on average even richer than MPs who have entered Parliament after a long and successful career in business. In other democracies, the children of a president or a prime minister often seek to join the political rat race, but the parties themselves are not controlled by such
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families. In India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, this is what happens.Benigno Aquino III, who became president in 2010, is the fourth successive generation of his family to hold paramount political power. In succession to his grandfather and his mother, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari became co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party after his mothers assassination in 2007. In India, Rahul Gandhi is the most prominent scion of dynastic politics, but his position is replicated through the Congress, as well as in regional parties like the Biju Janata Dal, Rashtriya Lok Dal, Samajwadi Party and Nationalist Congress Party.Although the BJP has been smart at promoting itself as less hereditary and more accessible and merit-based than its principal rival, it seems likely at this years general election that the party will receive a new influx of junior dynasts.The most prominent is Pankaj Singh, son of BJP president Rajnath Singh, whose speedy ascent has infuriated several more qualified senior colleagues in the large and electorally critical state of Uttar Pradesh.It can sometimes seem in the twenty-first century as if the powerful and high-ranking are replicating themselves genetically in many spheres. The infants of Beyonc and Jay Z, or Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, are mini-celebrities in their own right. The homicidal Kim Jongun in North Korea, the princelings in China, Bashar al-Assad in Syria or Yingluck Shinawatra in Thailand are all keeping it in the family. Where real power lies When it comes to nepotism in Indian politics, the statistics certainly look bad, but the larger picture may be more complex. Is the reality that at this moment, real power still rests with those who have risen by their own destiny or merit, rather than via dynasty? Are the prominent Mummy-Daddy MPs the paramount leaders of the future or are they merely the janissaries, helping the real rulers to flourish?Compiling a list of the 12 most important politicians in India is a tall order. Whichever ones you choose, someone else will be inclined to disagree and suggest alternative names, arguing that the batting order should reflect their own judgment of the stresses of national politics.By the end of 2014 this ranking will almost certainly be obsolete, but for what its worth, here is my dozen: Ahmed Patel, Arvind Kejriwal, Jayalalithaa, Mamata Banerjee, Manmohan Singh, Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar, Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Sonia Gandhi. There are various ways of interpreting or breaking down this list. Half are regional power brokers, one-third are women, and only two are under the age of 50.

But its most exceptional feature is the family background of the participants. Just one, Rahul Gandhi, was born with the expectation of wealth and political rank, and unlike the well-fed bulk of Indias hereditary MPs, his advantage was tempered by calamity, the murder of two of the people closest to him, his grandmother and father.Although his mother, Sonia Gandhi, entered politics as a result of a family connection, her own upbringing was not especially privileged and her route to power was too unusual to be replicated.Out of the 10 other players on this list, five or six were raised in conditions of significant under-privilege, and the rest were from the middling middle class. All have risen through some special drive, circumstance or talent of their own, and none exhibit the self-satisfied smugness that marks numerous dynasts, and turns off voters.Although hereditary clout has become normalised in Indian democracy, it may turn out to be the least successful trait in flourishing at the higher reaches of national leadership. Given the volatility of the electorate it seems probable that future political contests will throw up new, modern versions of these self-made leaders in ways that we cannot foresee. In a generations time, there is no reason to think Indian voters will be happy with a dispensation that is composed at the highest levels of people who have no ability to share or empathise with their preoccupations.This does not mean family politics is over in India, or that the privileged will no longer get tickets. What it does suggest is that hereditary MPs may turn into the parliamentary footsoldiers of the political parties important and influential for sure, but not in positions of paramount historical power. 3. Scrap or Modify the MPLAD Scheme The latest data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation reveals that a whopping portion of the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) funds will lapse as the 15th Lok Sabha comes to an end in May this year. No MP has been able to utilise the funds allocated for infrastructural development in his/her respective constituency. What is worse, however, is that with corruption all around, examples of misuse of MPLAD funds abound and the scheme which was conceived in 1993 has become notorious for public money being used to serve the private agendas of public representatives. While the scheme began with an allocation of `1 crore per annum per MP, it has now been raised to `5 crore. Under the enhanced allocation, the scheme now costs the public exchequer a whopping `4,000 crore per annum.

There are myriad cases of gross violation of the guidelines of the scheme by many members. These include MPs investing these funds in private trusts and societies created by them; recommending projects that are prohibited; insisting on choosing the implementing agencies and handing over the cheques to them; wanting to control payments to contractors, and constantly resisting transparency and accountability. The Comptroller and Auditor General has been unfavourably disposed towards the scheme and with good reasons. CAG has pointed out time and again that these funds are misused, are not monitored and in most cases, even unspent.Indeed, there is a strong basis for abolishing MPLADS as it breeds leakage of public funds and inferior work. Many CAG reports have spoken of misuse/diversion but the scheme goes on since the lobby for its retention is very strong within the MPs community. Yet, it would be in public interest to review the scheme and inject a greater measure of transparency and accountability if the scheme is to be retained at all. However, if MPs lack the discipline to conform to the guidelines, there are no two ways MPLADS must be scrapped. 4. New Turn in Indo-Japan Ties The weekend visit to New Delhi by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was the chief guest at Indias Republic Day parade, marked a significant new stage in the two countries deepening strategic relationship as geopolitical tensions mount across Asia. The visit has heralded an age of Indo-Japanese cooperation that goes beyond symbolism of the rare foreign visit by its emperor and empress last year.The various agreements that were signed eight in total and the two prime ministers joint statement revealed a bilateral relationship that is inexorably growing stronger. The joint declaration emphasised security co-operation for stability in the region, given changes in the strategic environment is a clear reference to China. Recent aggressiveness from China on the disputed border with India and in the disputed sea off its coast underlined the need for a closer partnership.The new national security architecture that Abe is putting in place will ensure that Indias national security advisor would regularly meet his newly established counterpart in Japan and the two countries naval forces will exercise together again next year. While Japanese investment in Indias infrastructure development sector has been one of the driving forces of the India-Japan bilateral ties in recent years, it is defence cooperation that is expected to significantly contribute to the emerging relationship. There is already cooperation between the navies of both countries and now there is a focus on bringing the two air forces closer. Talks of an India-Japan5

US trilateral relations are also gaining ground. Importantly, defence trade is emerging as a focus point.Japan is expected to close with India its biggest military deal in four decades with the sale of 140 ShinMaywa US-2i aircraft which will boost Indias naval aviation capabilities. It will also be a landmark in Tokyos efforts to shed its post-war ban on weapons trade, and inject a fresh lease of life into the ailing Japanese economy.The tone and tenor of the new Indo-Japanese engagement certainly has a message in terms of an altered structure of power equations not only in Asia but even in the global arena. Japan and India are likely to, and must work together, for adequate and effective representation in the global institutions including the UN and foray into third countries. India and Japan used the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to dramatically expand the scope of bilateral cooperation to include the politically sensitive northeastern states of India, areas where Chinese investment or projects are actively discouraged.For India to invite Japan to build infrastructure here is a huge political statement. In 2007, China opposed an ADB loan for development works in Arunachal Pradesh describing it as disputed territory. The last time the Japanese were in Indias northeast was during the second world war, when they worked with Netaji Subhash Boses INA to confront the British in Nagaland.To Japan, India represents not only an enormous market but also another source of raw materials. Japan is desperate to find a reliable source for rare earth metals that are vital to its electronics industry. Currently, it depends on China for 90 per cent of its supply. Keeping this in mind, optimists point to increasing trade between India and Japan (approximately $18 billion in 2013) as signs of a blossoming relationship. But the paltry amount is a better indicator of how badly trade has floundered between the two states. For a country of Indias size and the complementarities of its economy to that of Japans, trade ought to have been at least the order of a higher magnitude. Nuclear commerce straddles the strategic and industrial divide, and India stands to benefit greatly with closer ties to Japans nuclear industry. Japan has historically refused to engage in nuclear commerce with states which have not signed the NonProliferation Treaty (NPT), but the Ind0-US nuclear deal in 2008 has carved out a special place for India in the nuclear hierarchy. The deal has become Indias template for similar nuclear agreements with other countries such as France, South Korea, Canada, Australia, Russia and Kazakhstan. Talking about the forward movement in negotiations between the two countries over an agreement for cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, Kuni Sato, press secretary in Japans foreign affairs ministry, told the media that differences on the civil nuclear deal have been narrowed down.
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There is hope of forward movement on these issues in near future as recent developments in North Korea and China have caused Tokyo to rethink its minimalist stance on security, and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is considering major reforms in the countrys defence posture as well as its strict arms exports policy.Japanese cooperation with India would not only simplify nuclear trade with France and the US (which depend on Japan in their supply chain), it would also improve Indias ability to design and build safer and better reactors. Collaboration on Generation III and IV reactor designs is another arena for cooperation.While the makings of a beautiful friendship exist, Abe and Singh or whoever is the prime minister in three months have more work to do at home in creating the ambiance for partnership than with each other. For the majority of Japanese and Indians there also exists a sense of civilisational affinity. In a survey last year, over 80 per cent Indians saw their countrys relationship with Japan as very friendly and desired greater Japanese presence in India. Similarly, over 96 per cent of Japanese respondents had positive view of India. All this goes to show that the makings of a beautiful friendship exist. Now Abe and Singh or whoever is prime minister of India after 2014 general elections have more work to do at home in creating the ambiance for a durable and deeper partnership.Back in the 1950s, Indias prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Japanese premier Nobusuke Kishi had talked about the special relationship between the two people. The realities of todays strategic flux in Asia should encourage us to pick up the threads with Kishis grandson. 5. Sri Lankas Northern Council seeks international war crimes probe Sri Lankas Northern Provincial Council (NPC) passed a resolution on Monday calling for an international probe into the war crimes allegedly committed during the countrys ethnic conflict.The resolution was proposed by NPC member M.K. Shivajilingam of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which formed the NPC administration after winning the 2013 provincial elections.The resolution comes less than two months before United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay is due to submit a written report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the progress made by Sri Lanka in fixing accountability for alleged war crimes. The Northern Council has sought an international inquiry into the Sri Lankan governments acts of ethnic cleansing, Mr. Shivajilingam told The Hindu. He proposed a second resolution calling for rejecting Sri Lankas own inquiry mechanisms.The 38-member Council, of which 30 belong to the TNA, passed all three resolutions but not before several rounds of debate on whether the term genocide should be used.Sources said Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran, widely
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regarded as a moderate voice within the TNA, insisted that the term be avoided.Another resolution called for building a monument at Mullivaikkal, in Mullaitivu, in memory of civilians killed in the final military assault on the LTTE in May 2009.Until late Monday, the Sri Lankan government did not respond to the resolutions. 6. Redeeming the Supreme Court The Supreme Court has taken the position that it cannot be expected to abandon its role of being the guardian of the fundamental rights of all persons within the territory of India In a span of about 45 days, the Supreme Court of India has delivered two judgments that have received diametrically opposite reactions one will count among the Courts most poorly reasoned judgments while the other is likely to be heralded as one of its finest for its clarity and fidelity to earlier decisions. The contrast between Justice Singhvis judgment upholding the criminalisation of homosexuality and that of Chief Justice Sathasivam affirming the rights of mercyrejected death row prisoners could not be starker. After Justices Singhvi and Mukhopadhaya upheld the constitutionality of Section 377 of the IPC in Suresh Kumar Koushal, the credibility of the Court as a counter-majoritarian institution had suffered a serious setback. However, the Chief Justice, along with Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Shiva Kirti Singh, has done a remarkable job in partly restoring the credibility of the Court through a thoroughly reasoned judgment in Shatrughan Chauhan v Union of India. In Chauhan, the Court has concluded that inordinate delay in the rejection of mercy petitions of death row convicts amounted to torture and that it is a sufficient basis, in and of itself, to commute a sentence of death to life imprisonment. It is not just about the contrast in outcomes in these two cases but the processes adopted by these two judgments will go a long way in determining the position they will occupy in the judicial history of this country. The similarities Any comparison between the two judgments must begin by acknowledging complexities involved in both cases. The legal response to homosexuality in India through Section 377 has been on the statute books for over 150 years. Though attitudes towards homosexuality have undergone significant changes, it would only be fair to acknowledge that it is nonetheless a deeply divisive issue in India. It would also be a fair assessment that the death penalty and treatment that must be accorded to those sentenced to death are extremely polarising issues. The case
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before the Supreme Court in Chauhan was particularly delicate because the President had rejected mercy to all 15 prisoners before the Court. However, all 15 prisoners had returned to the Supreme Court seeking enforcement of their right to life on the ground that their suffering on death row due to the inordinate delay by the executive (ranging between 11 to 1.5 years) entitled them to commutation of their death sentence. It must also be noted that the Supreme Court in both cases was being asked to intervene in situations where other organs of the state had already made certain determinations. In Koushal, the legislature had made the political determination that homosexuality would be criminalised by not repealing Section 377. Similarly, inChauhan, the executive, through the President of India, had rejected all the mercy petitions. Differences Though the challenges were similar in many ways, there is an unbelievable contrast in the manner in which the Supreme Court responded. In Koushal, the judgment authored by Justice Singhvi does not address the legal issues that were at the heart of the constitutional challenges to Section 377. There are the poorly argued sections on equality under Article 14 and the right to life under Article 21 while completely ignoring the arguments on the protection against discrimination under Article 15. The shortcomings of Koushal are evident when it is compared to the judgment of the Delhi High Court on Section 377 in Naz Foundation. There are established constitutional doctrines to test whether a provision of law is discriminatory and violates the right to equality under Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, none of which finds any serious engagement in Koushal. None of this is about whether one supports Section 377 or not. It is about adopting a sound judicial technique it is about identifying precise and relevant questions; it is about applying constitutional doctrines to those questions in a rigorous manner; it is about reasoned conclusions. Rights adjudication is not about judges merely taking a decision and that is what distinguishes them from politicians. Unfortunately, the judgment in Koushal fails on all these grounds. More than the unacceptable outcome, what must worry us more is that the judgment in Koushal reads like a thinly veiled political decision. However, the judgment in Chauhan articulates a very difficult legal issue precisely and clarifies the decision of a five-judge bench in Triveniben (1989) on it. While clarifying and relying on Triveniben, there is thorough constitutional reasoning in Chauhan that led the Court to come to the conclusion that inordinate delay in disposing of mercy petitions amounts to torture and that the nature of the crime must have no relevance in that determination. The issue about the nature of the
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crime was particularly important in the context of the Supreme Courts decision in Bhullar. In Bhullar, the Supreme Court had concluded that those sentenced to death for terrorist offences could not invoke the argument about inordinate delay in disposing of mercy petitions due to the nature of crimes. While relying onTriveniben to come to the conclusion that the classification of terrorist and nonterrorist offences in the context of inordinate delay in disposing of mercy petitions is constitutionally invalid, the judges, inChauhan,have not created new jurisprudence and have only clarified the content and application of earlier judgments. There is tremendous judicial skill in the manner in which they have analysed earlier judgments and applied constitutional doctrines. Challenges and responses The most obvious difference in the two judgments is the approach to the target groups concerned. InKoushal, the perception that only very few homosexuals have been prosecuted under Section 377 was of tremendous significance to the judges. A numerical approach to rights enforcement is rather baffling and quite alien to the jurisprudence developed by the Indian Supreme Court. In Chauhan, despite dealing with a very small group of individuals (those death row prisoners whose mercy petitions have been rejected) and in particular a group which is often hated and reviled, the judges emphatically held that the protections in the Constitution are available to every individual, without exception. Perhaps the greatest merit of the decision in Chauhan is the rejection of the argument that retribution or strong moral disapproval of actions by death row prisoners can be used to deny them constitutionally protected rights. As far as institutional relations between different organs of the State are concerned, the Supreme Court, in Koushal, ruled that Parliament was free to amend Section 377 and decriminalise homosexuality. However, if the law were to stand, the judges felt there was no constitutional infirmity. There is a palpable reluctance to meaningfully scrutinise a law on a divisive issue where the political class has made a choice. However, in Chauhan, the Supreme Court squarely addresses the warning that the Court might be overstepping its jurisdiction because the President had already rejected the mercy petitions of all 15 prisoners. The Court is clear that it is not questioning the power of the President to reject mercy petitions but is rather interested and competent to go into the issue of whether the executive violated the rights of the death row convicts due to the inordinate delay. The Supreme Court has taken the position that it cannot be expected to abandon its role of being the guardian of the fundamental rights of all persons within the territory of India, whoever they might be.
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The Supreme Court, in Chauhan, had the courage to undertake significant course correction by clarifying the ruling in Triveniben. As efforts to decriminalise homosexuality gather pace again with the scheduled review of Koushal this week, the Supreme Court must see the fact that critical questions about the constitutionality of Section 377 have not been addressed in Koushal. If the review petition does not result in correction of the errors in Koushal, the Chief Justice of India (due to retire in April 2014) will find himself in an interesting position. After having delivered a judgment that has gone a long way to restore the credibility of the Court after Koushal, the Chief Justice will have to decide if he wants to refer the constitutionality of Section 377 to a larger bench. Given the intensity of his commitment to the rule of law as displayed in Chauhan, it would be surprising if Chief Justice Sathasivam lets the poorly reasoned judgment in Koushal be a blot on his tenure as Chief Justice of India. He only needs to look as far as the Delhi High Courts judgment on Section 377 in Naz Foundation to realise what an alternative legacy could look like. 7. A visit to Auschwitz The anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp is an occasion to remind ourselves that we cannot build the future without remembering the past This years observance of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day yesterday (January 27) the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp comes at a time when there are reminders all around us of the dangers of forgetting. This year marks two decades since the genocide in Rwanda. Conflicts in Syria, South Sudan and the Central African Republic have taken on dangerous communal dimensions. Bigotry still courses through our societies and our politics. The world can and must do more to eliminate the poison that led to the camps.I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau last November. A chill wind was blowing that day; the ground was rocky underfoot. But I had an overcoat and sturdy shoes; my thoughts went out to those who had had neither: the Jews and other prisoners who once populated the camp. I thought of those captives standing naked for hours in icy weather, torn from their families and shorn of their hair as they were readied for the gas chambers. I thought of those who were kept alive only to be worked to death. Above all, I reflected on how unfathomable the Holocaust remains even today. The cruelty was so profound; the scale so large; the Nazi world-view so warped and extreme; the killing so organised and calculated by nature.

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The barracks at Birkenau seemed to stretch to the horizon in every direction a vast factory of death. Marian Turski, a Polish Jew who survived Auschwitz and is today the vice-president of the International Auschwitz Committee, walked me through the infamous Arbeit Macht Frei gate this time in freedom. Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, a survivor of Buchenwald and now the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, stood with me on the ramp where the transport trains unloaded their human cargo, and recounted the traumatic moment when the swift flick of an SS commanders index finger meant the difference between life and death. I grieve for those who died in the camps, and I am awed by those who lived who bear sorrowful memories and have shown the strength of the human spirit.I was also accompanied by students from the International Youth Meeting Centre in Oswiecim, who work to build bridges among people and nations. Ldor vdor, Marian Turski said to me Hebrew for from generation to generation, the passing on of wisdom. We cannot build the future without remembering the past; what happened once can recur. Combating hatred is among the cardinal missions of the U.N. Our human rights mechanisms work to protect people. Our special courts and tribunals strive to combat impunity, deliver justice and deter violations. Our new Rights Up Front effort seeks to strengthen early action to prevent grave abuses of human rights. For almost a decade, the the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme has been working with teachers and students on all continents to promote tolerance and universal values. The programmes newest educational package, produced in partnership with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, will help to introduce Holocaust studies into classrooms in countries ranging from Brazil and Nigeria to Russia and Japan.A few steps from the crematorium at Auschwitz, I took a moment to myself for reflection. I touched a barbed wire fence no longer electrified but still sharp and intimidating. I felt overwhelmed by the enormity of what had happened within, and humbled by the courage and sacrifice of the soldiers and leaders of many nations who defeated the Nazi menace. My hope is that our generation, and those to come, will summon that same sense of collective purpose to prevent such horror from happening again anywhere, to anyone or any group, and build a world of equality for all. 8. Indias Syria venture After three years of a brutal civil war in Syria, the world is watching the Geneva-II talks, where for the first time, the regime and the opposition are to negotiate. Also,
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for the first time, India has been invited to this important forum to deliberate on Syrias future.In popular debate, India is cursorily grouped with either the American or Russian camps, but Indias own assessment of the conflict is little discussed. While India has an official position for the negotiations, it has largely viewed the conflict from a global perspective. However, the negotiations and the conflict will continue for a while as both are stalemated. It might now be time for India, as one of the players on the table, to look closely at the conflict, to determine where the tide is turning and what it would mean for the country.The narratives of the conflict are many and muddled. However, this is no simple fight for democracy; the problem is religious, ethnic and economic as much as it is political. The democracy narrative traces the roots of the conflict to the March 2011 military crackdown of pro-democracy protesters in Daraa which triggered widespread rebellion in Syria. However, the demands for political reform were limited; instead, what drove many was economic frustration. Syria had faced a four-year drought which reduced two-million people to extreme poverty, unemployment and starvation. Overlaid was the long-simmering tension of religious and national identity; many in Syrias Sunni majority could not accept the rule of Bashar al-Assad with his Alawite, Shiite and Christian associations. Over two years, all these motivations have spawned a large opposition to the Assad regime, which is in reality a tremendously fragmented entity comprising multiple, mutually hostile groups. The opposition also carries out brutal, armed attacks on civilians and rival groups, meaning they are not quite the good guys.For the United States, bringing down Mr. Assad would champion its pro democracy record, dispose of an anti-U.S. regime and constrict Iranian and Russian influence in the Middle East. It would also appease its ally, Israel. For Russia and Iran, Syria is the last foothold in the Middle East; almost every other regime supports America.In joining the diplomacy on this issue, India faced an impossible balancing act, given its friendly relations with every rival the U.S., Russia, Iran, Israel, Syria a fact that amazes observers. Adroitly manoeuvring out of the tight spot of having to pick a side, India took a position in alliance with BRICS which eventually sided with Russia, an apt choice given Indian priorities. Syria is home to few Indian expatriates, nor does India source any oil from Syria; the impact of the war on those issues is indirect. An important Indian priority that is commonly discussed is the opportunity for India to conduct itself as a responsible global power, fit for a seat at the U.N. Security Council.Ironically, what should be a chief concern, but remains undiscussed, is the fact that Syria is coming close to shifting from an India-friendly regime to a possibly hostile,
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Islamist regime. For all his flaws, Bashar al-Assad runs one of the few secular regimes in the Middle East. India supports Syrias right to the Golan Heights, and in exchange, Syria endorses Indias position that Kashmir is a bilatera l issue.Such support is rare in the Arab world; while officially the Arab League does not take a stance on Kashmir, it tends to empathise with Pakistan. Mr. Assad also supports Indias bid for a Security Council seat. Islamic fundamentalism has grown rapid ly among the rebels over the last two years. Fuelled by international support, alQaeda offshoots Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIL grew in rank and were joined by several others the Islamist Front, the Syrian Revolutionaries Front and Al-Mujahideen. While moderate forces like the Free Syrian Army exist, the conflict has quite definitively become about religion for the rebels. Some experts estimate that if the status quo continues, rebels will control about two-thirds of territory and oil resources. Syrias slide into a religiously driven conflict and a possibly radical regime is not good news for India. 9. Miners made a killing, thanks to helpless law: M.B. Shah It is one of the most scathing reports from the stable of Justice M.B. Shah Commission on illegal iron and manganese ore mining. It holds businessmen, the Odisha government and the Union government, responsible for systematic exploitation of natural resources and linked rampant corruption.The report says: All modes of illegal mining are being committed in Odisha. There is a complete disregard and contempt for law and lawful authorities on the part of many among the emerging breed of entrepreneurs, taking undue advantage of the countrys natural, non-renewable assets and resources for export earnings. The pursuit of super profits has absolutely drained them [the miners] of any feeling for fellow human beings/for the nation and the moral values. The law has been made helpless because of its systematic non-implementation.The commission lists each company that mined ore worth thousands of crores ore in blatant disregard for mining and environmental laws. In some cases, mines ran illegally for more than two decades.The Hindu earlier reported the gross violation of environmental laws as made out in the report. The parts of the report accessed by the newspaper now also detail the rampant and wide-ranging violation of mining regulations. The report says: Amendment to mining lease is permitted only for conservation of minerals, protection of environment or safety. In 85 mining leases, the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) has modified the mining plan. In 30 cases, it was modified two or more times. In 53 mining leases, the IBM approved amendments
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retrospectively. In 49 cases, from 2000 till date, production was permitted to increase from 41.634 million tonnes to 118.978 million tonnes. In 8 cases, the production limit was increased from 18.940 million tonnes to 49.080 million tonnes. At this rate, all the iron ore reserves in the State will have been exhausted in 30 years. The commission noted that the State government had sent notice for recovery of money for the excess and illegal mining; this itself showed the State admitted rampant corruption.The miners have made a killing, illegally exploiting natural resources, the commission says. For example, the government-owned NMDC showed its cost as only 16 per cent of the annual turnover, but another private company during the same time showed 62.38 per cent in cost for mining only to substantially reduce its profits on records.The commission has listed companies by name for the extent of illegal mining done over a decade and recommended that the market costs of the ore extracted be recovered from each of them. The list includes State mining corporations as well as the biggest private miners operating in the State. Warning that the super profits miners are making come at the cost of tribals and the State exchequer, the commission says those who get the mining lease do not operate it themselves, but give it to contractors or those with the power of attorney. For the miners, expenditure is not more than 45 per cent of the net value of production. The commission has recommended that in future, half the net profits be disgorged or an equity share taken from the lessee for development of tribals.Even as the miners have turned billionaires, the commission notes labourers and the displaced tribals are ill-treated. Mine owners do not pay more than minimum wages to the labourers even though their income is more than billions of rupees. They have no intention of paying fair wages. Labourers are exploited, and the object of ensuring that locals benefit is frustrated.The commission records how the existing system of allotting mining rights is based on the political discretion of both the State and the Centre and is open to corruption.

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