Small States, big problems
Original Article
Author wants to show how the mere formation of a smaller State is no guarantee for better lives for those groups for whom these States have been created using Uttrakhand, Chattisgarh and Jharkand as example.
Author wants to show how the mere formation of a smaller State is no guarantee for better lives for those groups for whom these States have been created using Uttrakhand, Chattisgarh and Jharkand as example.
Uttarakhand continues to be at the lower end in the Human Development Index. There was abject callousness in dealing with the recent floods, focusing solely on how to make it more tourist-friendly rather than planning for the rehabilitation of displaced residents. There was little concern demonstrated for the “local” people in whose name the State was created.
Chhattisgarh has witnessed the largest displacement of tribals in recent times. There have been sustained attempts to dispossess them of their land which they have inhabited for centuries in order to extract mineral wealth. Even as tribals were ostensibly empowered by the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), there were attempts to invoke the clause of Eminent Domain, in the name of national interest. The displacement of tribals was in fact “outsourced” by the State to vigilante groups formed through what was depicted as a spontaneous uprising called “Salwa Judum” — in effect an organised effort by non-tribals and traders from outside the State.
Chhattisgarh has witnessed the largest displacement of tribals in recent times. There have been sustained attempts to dispossess them of their land which they have inhabited for centuries in order to extract mineral wealth. Even as tribals were ostensibly empowered by the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), there were attempts to invoke the clause of Eminent Domain, in the name of national interest. The displacement of tribals was in fact “outsourced” by the State to vigilante groups formed through what was depicted as a spontaneous uprising called “Salwa Judum” — in effect an organised effort by non-tribals and traders from outside the State.
Jharkhand turned out to be perhaps the worst of the three. With hardly any agenda of development worth mentioning, the State turned into a mining hell of “predatory growth,” eventually resulting in a series of scams and criminal proceedings being initiated against the first tribal Chief Minister of the State.
Author questions this model of growth as follows:
When States remain backward for long, they are ushered in to create new growth in order to catch up with the rest. While this kind of growth-centric discourse has been the rhetoric of the neo-liberal economy for the last three decades, it neatly overlaps with the aspirations that lie behind the creation of smaller States. However, the nature of the economy in these States remains distinct, since they are latecomers.
- The lack of industry,
- an agrarian crisis and
- a low level of infrastructural facilities
In case of Telangana:
1. All the above possibilities exist
2. Telangana has also been a haven for liquor contractors since a large chunk of State revenue is from liquor contracts. Civil, liquor and mining contractors have come to constitute the dominant, economic elite and the political class.
3. Excessive concentration of resources in the capital city of Hyderabad. Since Hyderabad is already well-developed in terms of infrastructure, there remains little possibility of developing other smaller towns for the purpose of economic investments.
Challenges on the political front:
With a clear possibility of an alliance, after Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader K. Chandrasekhar Rao rejected the idea of a merger between the TRS and the Congress, there will be no regional alternative left in the State except for the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) that has not done well electorally in the last decade or so. This will undoubtedly open up new space for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has also championed the cause of Telangana.
Telangana was ruled by the Nizam, and most of the districts have a Muslim population not less than 13-14 per cent. Added to this is the imagination among the Muslim population that they once upon a time in history belonged to the ruling elite. It is this imagination that is always invoked by the likes of All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother, Akbaruddin Owaisi. While as rhetoric it might provide a sense of security for the Muslims, it also creates fertile ground for the agenda of Hindutva and a politics of polarising Hindus and Muslims along religious lines. In fact, the BJP sees Telangana as its second stop in South India, after Karnataka.
Some GK stuff:
Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act 1996
Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 or PESA is a law enacted by the Government of India to cover the "Scheduled areas", which are not covered in the 73rd amendment or Panchayati Raj Act of the Indian Constitution. It was enacted on 24 December 1996 to enable Gram Sabhas to self govern their natural resources.[1] It is an Act to provide for the extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the Panchayats to the Scheduled Areas.
- A state legislation on panchayats in the scheduled area should take care of the customs, religious practices and traditional management practices of community resources
- Every village shall contain a grama sabha whose members are included in the electoral list for the panchayats at village level
- The recommendation of the gram sabha is mandatory for granting mining licenses in the scheduled areas
- Planning and management of minor water bodies are entrusted to the panchayats
Salwa Judum
Salwa Judum (meaning "Peace March" or "Purification Hunt" in Gondi language) was a right-wing to far-right civilian militia mobilised and deployed as part of anti-insurgency operations in Chhattisgarh, India, aimed at countering Naxalite violence in the region. The militia consisting of local tribal youth received support and training from the Chhattisgarh state government.
On 5 July 2011, the Supreme Court of India declared the militia to be illegal and unconstitutional, and ordered its disbanding. The Court directed the Chhattisgarh government to recover all the firearms, ammunition and accessories. The use of Salwa Judum by the government for anti naxal operations was criticised for its violations of human rights, use of child soldiers and poorly trained uneducated youth for counter-insurgency roles. It also ordered the government to investigate all instances of alleged criminal activities of Salwa Judum.
Razakars
The Razakars were a private militia organized by Qasim Razvi to support the rule of Nizam Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII and resist the integration of Hyderabad State into the Dominion of India. They also attempted to make the Nizam accede his princely state to Pakistan instead of India. The Razakars were affiliated to the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen political party.
To counter the Razakars, people of Telangana under the leadership of Swami Ramanand Tirtha formed the Andhra Hindu Mahasabha which sought integration of the state with rest of India. Razakars were responsible for the killing, rape,and brutal murder of many people in the Telangana and Marathwada region who were driven out. Eventually, the Indian Army routed the Razakars during Operation Polo. Qasim Razvi was initially jailed and then allowed to move to Pakistan where he was granted asylum.
The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is an ultra-leftist communist party in India which aims to overthrow the government of India through people's war. It was founded on 21 September 2004, through the merger of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War (People's War Group), and the Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCCI).
Salwa Judum (meaning "Peace March" or "Purification Hunt" in Gondi language) was a right-wing to far-right civilian militia mobilised and deployed as part of anti-insurgency operations in Chhattisgarh, India, aimed at countering Naxalite violence in the region. The militia consisting of local tribal youth received support and training from the Chhattisgarh state government.
On 5 July 2011, the Supreme Court of India declared the militia to be illegal and unconstitutional, and ordered its disbanding. The Court directed the Chhattisgarh government to recover all the firearms, ammunition and accessories. The use of Salwa Judum by the government for anti naxal operations was criticised for its violations of human rights, use of child soldiers and poorly trained uneducated youth for counter-insurgency roles. It also ordered the government to investigate all instances of alleged criminal activities of Salwa Judum.
Razakars
The Razakars were a private militia organized by Qasim Razvi to support the rule of Nizam Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII and resist the integration of Hyderabad State into the Dominion of India. They also attempted to make the Nizam accede his princely state to Pakistan instead of India. The Razakars were affiliated to the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen political party.
To counter the Razakars, people of Telangana under the leadership of Swami Ramanand Tirtha formed the Andhra Hindu Mahasabha which sought integration of the state with rest of India. Razakars were responsible for the killing, rape,and brutal murder of many people in the Telangana and Marathwada region who were driven out. Eventually, the Indian Army routed the Razakars during Operation Polo. Qasim Razvi was initially jailed and then allowed to move to Pakistan where he was granted asylum.
Regulating stem cell therapy
A revised set of guidelines on stem cell research was recently released by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Department of Biotechnology.
Guidelines make it abundantly clear that any use of stem cells in patients except to treat various
- haematological,
- immunological and
- metabolic disorders
The exemption is on the grounds that the use of haematopoietic stem cells to treat the said disorders has been “established as a standard of medical care.”
But what has been overlooked in the new guidelines is that treating damaged corneas by limbal transplantation for limbal stem cell deficiency should also be considered as an established method of care; limbal stem cells are transplanted from the healthy eye to the damaged eye of the same patient to treat an affected cornea. No other alternative method is currently available to treat such cases. For the last few years, a handful of tertiary eye hospitals in India have been treating such cases using limbus stem cells; since 2001, one institute alone has treated nearly 1,000 patients. Though the use of limbus stem cells is not as old as haematopoietic stem cells, about 1,500 patients with corneal damage have been treated so far; there is also sufficient evidence to prove its safety.
Advantages to call all the untested “therapies” offered to gullible people as clinical trials:
1. would end the rampant exploitation of patients by some doctors
2. several untested techniques to separate, grow and expand specific stem cells are available in the country. Besides failing to produce the promised benefits, there is a real possibility of causing greater harm to patients when stem cells are manipulated in the laboratory.
GK stuff:
Hematopoietic stem cell
Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are the blood cells that give rise to all the other blood cells and are derived from mesoderm.
They give rise to the myeloid (monocytes and macrophages, neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, erythrocytes, megakaryocytes/platelets, dendritic cells), and lymphoid lineages (T-cells, B-cells, NK-cells).
- The hematopoietic tissue contains cells with long-term and short-term regeneration capacities and committed multipotent, oligopotent, and unipotent progenitors.
- HSCs constitute 1:10.000 of cells in myeloid tissue.
- HSCs are a heterogeneous population.
1. Myeloid-biased (My-bi) HSC have low L/M ratio (>0, <3)
2. lymphoid-biased (Ly-bi) HSC show a large ratio (>10)
3. balanced (Bala) HSC for which 3 ≤ L/M ≤ 10.
Only the myeloid-biased and -balanced HSCs have durable self-renewal properties.
Hematologic diseases are disorders which primarily affect the blood.
Metabolic Disorders
Inborn errors of metabolism comprise a large class of genetic diseases involving disorders of metabolism. The majority are due to defects of single genes that code for enzymes that facilitate conversion of various substances (substrates) into others (products).
Immune Disorders
An immune disorder is a dysfunction of the immune system. These disorders can be characterized in several different ways:
By the component(s) of the immune system affected
By whether the immune system is overactive or underactive
By whether the condition is congenital or acquired
Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency, Dysfunction, and Distress
The cornea is the clear tissue at the front of the eye that transmits light to the retina at the back of the eye. The cornea is covered by an epithelium and surrounded by a narrow band of tissue known as the limbus. The limbus has two important roles in maintaining a healthy corneal epithelium. First, stem cells for the corneal epithelium reside at the limbus and not in the cornea. Second, the limbus acts as a barrier separating the clear avascular corneal epithelium from the surrounding vascular conjunctival tissue. A failure of these limbal functions can result in the painful and blinding disease of limbal stem cell deficiency. In this disease, the corneal epithelium cannot be maintained by the stem cells, and the corneal surface becomes replaced by hazy conjunctival tissue.
Stem cell therapy
Stem cell therapy is an intervention strategy that introduces new adult stem cells into damaged tissue in order to treat disease or injury. Many medical researchers believe that stem cell treatments have the potential to change the face of human disease and alleviate suffering. The ability of stem cells to self-renew and give rise to subsequent generations with variable degrees of differentiation capacities, offers significant potential for generation of tissues that can potentially replace diseased and damaged areas in the body, with minimal risk of rejection and side effects.
Armed forces as a vote bank
Issue
For almost four decades, soldiers have been not been able to exercise their right to vote effectively because, unlike the civilian population, they are not allowed to register as regular voters at their place of posting. A government of India rule says that they can be registered as regular voters only if they have been residing in a station with their families for at least three years. Civilians on the other hand are required to be residents of a constituency for only six months to become eligible to enroll as voters. A Supreme Court ruling in 1971 upheld the right of armed forces personnel to vote at their place of posting, but there is no mechanism in place for the Election Commission to register defense personnel in cantonments where they are ordinarily resident. Enrollment drives always bypass military areas. The wife of a service voter also faces hurdles in exercising her franchise as she can be registered only where her husband is posted.
The two methods available to them — of a postal ballot and proxy vote — do not work on the ground.
Attempts to overcome this issue:
Things changed when the armed forces felt short-changed by the Sixth Central Pay Commission recommendations. Organisations like the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) formed in 2008 gathered strength as they lobbied for a better deal for soldiers. Many in the armed forces began to realise that “unless they become a powerful vote bank for all types of elections in the country, the politicians will not care” for them.
So, efforts were made even in 2009 at several cantonments and some naval bases too to register servicemen at their place of posting. Last October, then chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee, Air Chief Marshal (retd.) N.A.K. Browne petitioned the Election Commission to enrol soldiers as general voters. Now, service headquarters actively encourage personnel to register themselves. In the recent Delhi Assembly elections, navy men posted in Delhi got voting cards.
Why in news?
Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar has filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court to do away with the stipulation that soldiers should be residing in a station with their spouse for three years or more. His nationwide campaign to get voting rights for the armed forces has struck a chord in a wide section of society.
Last week, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission and the Ministry of Defence on Mr. Chandrasekhar’s petition. The outcome of this petition — which originated with the Chandigarh-based Brig. Ghuman — is being watched with interest. If it succeeds, it will have far-reaching implications not only in facilitating over 23 lakh serving defence and paramilitary personnel to exercise their franchise but also in the way political parties approach them.
GK Stuff
Proxy voting is a form of voting whereby some members of a decision-making body may delegate their voting power to other members of the same body to vote in their absence, and/or to select additional representatives. A person so designated is called a "proxy" and the person designating him or her is called a "principal".
In 2003, India's People's Representative Act was amended to allow armed forces personnel to appoint a proxy to vote on their behalf.
Postal voting describes the method of voting in an election whereby ballot papers are distributed or returned by post to electors, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling station or electronically via an electronic voting system.
An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station.
Currently, India does not have an absentee ballot system. Section 19 of The Representation of the People Act (RPA)-1950 allows a person to register to vote if he or she is above 18 years of age and is an ‘ordinary resident’ of the residing constituency i.e. living at the current address for 6 months or longer. Section 20 of the above Act disqualifies a non-resident Indian (NRI) from getting his/her name registered in the electoral rolls. Consequently, it also prevents a NRI from casting his/her vote in elections to the Parliament and to the State Legislatures.
In August 2010, Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill-2010 which allows voting rights to NRI's was passed in both Lok Sabha with subsequent gazette notifications on November 24, 2010. With this NRI's will now be able to vote in Indian elections but have to be physically present at the time of voting. Several civic society organizations have urged the government to amend the RPA act to allow NRI's and people on the move to cast their vote through absentee ballot system. People for Lok Satta has been actively pushing combination of internet and postal ballot as a viable means for NRI voting.
The greying guerillas behind the Chhattisgarh massacre
The issue is that Fifteen security personnel were killed in a Maoist ambush on Tuesday in Sukma district of south Chhattisgarh. One civilian also died.
Ravula Srinivas head of the insurgent unit that carried out Tuesday’s massacre of State and Central police officers in Chhattisgarh, leads the insurgency in the State at a crucial time: corruption, disillusion and war-fatigue are corroding a movement that once seemed perched on the edge of a nationwide success.
Last year, the Communist Party of India (Maoist)’s central committee admitted that the “the intensity and expanse of the resistance of the PLGA [People’s Liberation Guerilla Army] and people decreased; non-proletarian trends increased in party and the PLGA, recruitment decreased; [the] number of people leaving the party and PLGA increased.”
GK Stuff
The People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), a banned organisation in India which aims to overthrow the government of India through people's war.
Crimea Parliament proclaims independence
The Parliament in pro-Russian Crimea declared independence from Ukraine as a first step towards joining Russia.
Lawmakers on Tuesday overwhelmingly adopted a “declaration of independence of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea” that will take effect if voters say “yes” to Crimea becoming part of Russia in a referendum set for coming Sunday.
The referendum will ask the people of Crimea to choose between joining Russia and staying with Ukraine as a self-governed autonomy.
The United States appears to have abandoned hope to persuade Russia to back off on Crimea. Secretary of State John Kerry declined a Russian invitation to visit Moscow this week for talks with President Vladimir Putin.
For understanding Ukraine crisis Click Here and here.
Exports contract for the first time in eight months to $25.7 b
Exports growth, contracted in February for the first time in eight months. Exports growth declined by 3.7 per cent to $25.7 billion from $26.7 billion in February 2012.
Major export sectors, including petroleum, engineering and pharmaceuticals, declined in February.
Imports, too, fell in February; 17.1 per cent to $33.8 billion. However, the greater decline in imports improved the trade deficit to a five-month low. Led by a 70 per cent drop in gold imports to $1.6 billion, the trade deficit narrowed to $8.13 billion. A 12.7-per cent contraction in non-oil non-gold imports helped, too. Oil imports declined by 3.1 per cent to $13.6 billion.
“Credit is the biggest problem which the exporters are facing. Arrears of duty refund claims have crossed Rs.20,000 crore. Global demand is there, but we are unable to take advantage of this due to credit problem,” FIEO President Rafeeque Ahmed said.
China opens up banking sector
China said on Tuesday it would allow, for the first time, the setting up of five private banks on a trial basis, and also move to liberalise deposit rates in the next two years, as regulators grapple with the rising pressure on the banking sector from a newly booming online finance industry.
The moves come amid a churn in China’s banking sector, driven in part by an unprecedented expansion of Internet financing products in recent months.
Only this week, the Alibaba-created Yu'ebao fund, which offers a 6 per cent annualised yield — almost double that offered by state-run banks — was reported to have garnered a remarkable $500 billion in capital in the nine months since its founding last June.
Sahitya Akademi awards presented
Famous poets Javed Akhtar (Urdu), Subodh Sarkar (Bengali) and Ambika Dutt (Rajasthani) were among the literary giants who were felicitated by the Sahitya Akademi at the ongoing annual “Festival of Letters” in the Capital on Tuesday.
Novelists Mridula Garg (Hindi), Manmohan (Punjabi) and R.N. Joe D’ Cruz (Tamil) were among those who accepted the awards from the Sahitya Akademi president Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.
The award winners included Rabindra Sarkar (Assamese), Anil Boro (Bodo), Sita Ram Sapolia (Dogri), Temsula Ao (English), Chinu Modi (Gujarati), C.N. Ramachandran (Kannada), Mohi-ud-Din Reshi (Kashmiri), Tukaram Ram Shet (Konkani), Sureshwar Jha (Maithili), M. N. Paloor (Malayalam), Makhonmani Mongsaba (Manipuri) and Satish Kalsekar (Marathi).
very nice analysis dear..
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