EPW January

KIIW EPW January

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Notes by vineetpunnoose on www.kiwipaper.com

Content

Maoist Defeat in Nepal The Price of a Missed Opportunity 1

Rightward Drift in Nepal 2

Bangladesh's Predicament 4

Avoidable Mess 5

From Movement to Government 6

Disabled by Lack of Political Will 6

Poverty-Hunger Divergence in India 7

FDI in India - Ideas, Interests and Institutional Changes 8

Climate Change, Uttarakhand, and the World Bank's Message 8

Rescue Package for Power Discoms 10

Crass Decision 12

Parliament, State Legislature and Bifurcation 12

The IPCC's 'Summary for Policymakers' 14

Evolving a New Internet Governance Paradigm 18

Misplaced Optimism on a New Regulator 22

We Have Overcome 23

A Hare-brained Proposal 24

A Monetary Policy Rule for Emerging Market Economies 25

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Notes by vineetpunnoose on www.kiwipaper.com

Content

A Matter of Life and Death 26

Critical Look at the Narayana Murthy Recommendations on Higher Education 27

The Arab Uprisings and the Question of Democracy 28

Architecture of Surveillance 29

What Happened at the Bali WTO Meet and Why 32

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Notes by vineetpunnoose on www.kiwipaper.com Page 1

Maoist Defeat in Nepal The Price of a Missed Opportunity Sat, Jan 25, 2014EPW, international, nepal,

Organisational issues, adjustment with the status quo and tactical errors resulted in theNepali Maoists gaining an unfavourable image among the electorate in the second ConstituentAssembly elections. This resulted in a humiliating defeat. Previously, the United CommunistParty of Nepal (Maoist) or UCPN(M) had more legislators than the combined strengthof the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist[CPN(UML)] who had managed 223 seats in total. Now the Maoists' strength has shrunkto be more than half of the NC-UML tally of 175 seats The 2000-year-old feudal monarchywas abolished and Nepal had become a democratic republic, almost by universal consensusin the first session of the CA in 2008. This process had been completed very peacefullydespite the presence of a rebel army and the unresolved status of a long-standing Maoistinsurgency. Many features of the Constitution in the making had a decisive socialist characterand inclusive nature about them. The right to proportional, social inclusion of women,dalits, ethnic minorities, Madhesi communities, oppressed groups, workers, the poor farmersin state structures and institutions had been ensured as a form of social justice in the InterimConstitution (IC) promulgated in November 2006. The rights to employment, free secondaryschool education, free basic health services, food, social security for children, elderly people,widows and the destitute had been ensured as the fundamental right of every citizen inthe IC and the new draft Constitution as well. The declaration of the reinstated NepaliParliament on reserving 33% of seats for women in all the state mechanisms in 2006 wasalso a landmark event in the history of women's inclusion in Nepal. Three additional importantrights for Nepali women had been guaranteed in the Interim Constitution: namely, theequal right of daughters and sons to ancestral property; the right of every child to get citizenshipin the name of the mother as well (children who have no father and who were born outof wedlock); and, the right to reproduction and reproductive health. It had also been unanimouslyagreed that if a major post in the legislature is held by someone of a particular gender,the second major post must be allotted to someone of the opposite gender The dalits ofNepal had also been provided the right to participate in all the organs, agencies and sectorof state mechanisms, on a proportionate and inclusive basis for the first time, in the draftConstitution. They were now entitled to obtain seats as a form of positive discrimination- 3% at the federal level and 5% at the provincial level. The exemplary practice of inclusiveand participatory democracy could be seen in the first CA itself. Thirty-three per cent ofthe members of the CA were women, 8% were dalits, 34% were Madhesis, 35% wereJanajatis and 3% belonged to the Muslim community; all by itself a big breakthrough interms of representation. Four failures of the UCPN(M) primarily played a role in theirhumiliating defeat. The first failure related to the fact that while the Maoists managedto lead the transformation of the political system of Nepal, they failed to bring about sucha transformation in the economic, social and cultural spheres. The inability to follow upthe "political transformation" with concomitant socio-economic reforms in the countryside- lack of progressive land reforms, for example, even though there was a commonly agreed

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provision in the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) that spoke of elimination of all feudalremnants through scientific land reforms. The second failure was that the Maoists in theirlimited time in government could not manage to initiate reforms in the state apparatusleading to changes in the bureaucracy, the army, the judiciary and the police. There wereclear provisions on "democratisation" of the army and the bureaucratic administrationin the CPA. When the Maoists first tasted power in 2008, they did not commence anyreform of the state apparatus even when the situation was ripe in their favour due to theimmense popularity as the victors of the first CA and that of the Maoist leadership ledby Pushpa Kumar Dahal "Prachanda" himself The third failure related to the inability ofthe Maoist leaders and their cadre to prove themselves to be qualitatively different in theirmorals and functioning while in power from the rest of the polity. The Maoist party memberswere seen to lead a suddenly acquired lavish and corrupt lifestyle, resulting in a drop intheir popularity. The fourth and biggest failure was the inability to write a Constitutionon time. While this was a collective failure as all the four major forces - the NC, the UML,the Madhesis and the Maoists - could not manage to complete the process in time, it mustbe said that the UML and the NC were primarily responsible. The main issues of contentionin the first CA which led to its dissolution related to the name, number and boundary offederal provinces (state restructuring) plus the issue of form of government at the federallevel. However, the Maoist leadership withdrew immediately from the agreement dueto pressure from the Madhesi parties and Janajati leaders. The withdrawal from the agreementat the eleventh hour proved to be a political blunder because there was no time left foranother agreement.

Rightward Drift in Nepal Sat, Jan 25, 2014EPW, international, nepal,

The November 2013 elections to a new Constituent Assembly in Nepal gave a fracturedmandate but one that made the traditional upper caste and upper class groups dominantagain. The principles and goals set by the fi rst iteration of the Constituent Assembly canperhaps be diluted in the changed circumstances with the marginalisation of the Maoistsand other forces favouring federalisation. Due to the mix-electoral system enshrined inthe Interim Constitution of Nepal 2007, direct elections were held only for 240 out of 601seats in the assembly. The government is to nominate 26 personalities to ensure that nationalfigures, civil society activists and extremely marginalised groups get adequate representation.The rest - 335 in all - have been nominated by political parties in ratio of votes receivedby them on the basis of a list submitted to the Election Commission. In elections for proportionalrepresentation (PR), the entire country was considered to be a single constituency wherethe electorate voted for the party of their choice rather than competing candidates. Partiesfaced a problem in deciding their nominees because the priority submitted to the ElectionCommission was not binding and they had to drop more names than they could accommodatein their share of the electoral support. The monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal(RPPN), Madheshi Janadhikar Forum Loktantrik (MJFL) and United Communist Party

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of Nepal (Maoist) - hereafter UCPN(M) - almost broke up due to disagreements over nominees.Leaders have been charged with misusing the PR list to pack the CA with spouses, in-laws,relatives and sundry hangers-on. the Big Two - the Nepali Congress and the CommunistParty of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) or CPN(UML) - will have less than 200 seatseach in the new assembly. Being political competitors, it is hard for them to collaboratebut the rest of the house is too divided - 30 parties and a few independents - to enablethem forge a coalition without each other. The formulation of a new Constitution is goingto be as challenging as ever. Mainly due to fragmentation and personality clashes, the Madheshbadi(Terai-based) parties representing the people of the plains in southern Nepal have lostFPTP seats even though their share of votes remains more or less the same. Newly formedparties of indigenous Janjati groups have largely failed to electorally register their presencein any significant manner. Issues and agenda raised by them, however, continue to be relevantand enjoy popular support. The conduct of elections too was not sufficiently inclusive.Citizenship certificates were made mandatory for those wishing to vote, but at least a quarterof all eligible voters, according to the recent census, are yet to receive the official documentthat establishes their status as Nepalese citizens. In order to make polls possible on time,electoral rolls were not updated but voter's identity cards were issued to those who hadregistered with the Election Commission a year earlier. Charges of pre-poll scheming andpost-poll frauds are impossible to establish. However, parties that believe the conduct ofthe elections was less than fair can always raise the issue and undermine the legitimacyof CA-II. According to a last minute agreement between major parties, a parliamentarycommittee is to investigate all allegations of fraud. Its mere formation acknowledges thelack of consensus over the legitimacy of the process. The Ranarchy - a term used to denotethe oligarchy of the Rana clan - felt challenged once the British, patrons of the familysince Jang's crucial help in crushing the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, left south Asia in 1947as Pakistan and India gained independence. The hereditary Premier Padma Shamsher soughtand got the help of Jawaharlal Nehru in framing what can be called the first modern Constitutionof Nepal in 1948. Feuds in the family led to the fall of Padma and the Government of NepalConstitution, 1948 failed to get implemented. The Constitution of 1958 had sought to establishparliamentary practices modelled after the British convention of constitutional monarchywithout realising that Nepal lacked the tradition to check the ambitions of a "god-king".The parliamentary elections in 1959 gave a two-thirds majority to the Nepali Congress.Its leader and Prime Minister B P Koirala enjoyed immense popularity inside and outsidethe country. In 1962, Mahendra proclaimed a Constitution that sought to institutionaliseautocratic rule of the king in the name of the panchayat system modelled after the "basicdemocracy" of Ayub Khan in Pakistan and Sukarno's guided democracy experimentsin Indonesia. The People's Movement (Jan Andolan-I) in 1990 led to the restoration ofmultiparty democracy but the king continued to exercise influence much beyond whatis usually expected of a constitutional monarch in a parliamentary democracy. Historyrepeated itself when Gyanendra - declared the new ruler after king Birendra and his entirenuclear family were tragically decimated in the mysterious Narayanhiti Palace massacreon 1 June 2001 - staged yet another royal-military coup and assumed all state powers on

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1 February 2004. The formation of CA-II is in final stages. The electorate has done itsjob. Despite making a mess of the process and giving the PR system a bad name, politicalparties too have completed their task and submitted the final list of nominees to the ElectionCommission. The Election Commission has also forwarded the roll of winners to the officeof the president of the republic. The row now is who gets to call the first meeting of thesecond Constituent Assembly. The formation of the government is fraught with inherentdangers of intra- and inter-party conflicts of a hung assembly. The risk of instability ismultiplied considering the fact that Nepal is a fragmented society with inter-communityrelations full of mutual suspicions sometimes bordering on enmity. The dominant group- primarily from Bahun and Chhetri castes of the Hindu-fold speaking Nepali languageand sticking to a male-dominated social order - control all levers of power. They havean overwhelming presence in national life, and the Bahun-Chhetris that together constituteslightly over one-fourth of population occupy three-fourths of all key posts in the bureaucracy,security forces, financial institutions, courts, media, academia and the non-governmentalorganisation-sector. With CA-II too firmly under their grip, there is a justifiable fear amongthe marginalised that the progressive agenda may lose steam in the process of framingthe Constitution. Initial symptoms are not very encouraging. The PR process was adoptedto ensure the participation of the marginalised and the externalised communities so thatthose social groups that were incapable of competing in the FPTP process due to variousreasons would get an opportunity through the ladder of political parties. The very sameparties that misused the system most to pack the assembly with their favourites from family,caste, clan, and friendly business communities are now calling the electoral system flawed.Akin to giving a dog bad name before shooting it, the risk is now high that the PR processwill be downgraded even if not done away with in the new Constitution. That, however,depends upon what kind of Constitution is made within the stipulated period.

Bangladesh's Predicament Sat, Jan 18, 2014EPW, international, Bangladesh,

With nearly the entire opposition - including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)and a faction of the Jatiya Party headed by former dictator H M Ershad - boycotting theelections, a low voter turnout has hurt the legitimacy of the "win" by the Awami League(AL) led by Sheikh Hasina. The official estimates have indicated that less than 40% ofthe electorate turned out to vote, a significantly lower number than 85% who voted whenthe AL won a landslide in 2008. In the recent elections, nearly half of the winners fromthe AL have been elected unopposed which itself questions the credibility of their "election".between the largely left-leaning Bengali nationalists represented by the AL and the allianceof right-wingers and Islamists, represented by the BNP, Jatiya Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami(JI) - continued in the run-up to the elections. The opposition demanded that the electionsbe held under a caretaker administration as has been the precedent in the country. TheAL, for its part, refused to budge from its stance that elections could only be conductedby the Election Commission with the ruling party still in power. The BNP even rejected

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the AL's invitation to join a consensus government till the elections. The JI, which is presentlybanned in Bangladesh, found the violent conflict over elections an opportunity to strengthenits position. This party is facing a sharp political and judicial attack for war crimes committedduring Bangladesh's liberation war of 1971. The JI has been an ally of the BNP and itsviolent protests against the conviction and subsequent execution of the party's leader,Abdul Quader Molla, created an environment of lawlessness and fear ahead of the elections.The JI targeted the Hindu minority and prominent secularists, physically attacking someHindu temples and even burning them. More than 20 people were killed due to this violence.The AL's position seems tenable, for the constitution was amended to prevent a returnto "caretaker" rule but this was done through its brute majority in parliament. The AL'sstaunch refusal to concede any ground to the opposition has also not helped it; the electionshave lost credibility and made the new government vulnerable. It may have been betterto postpone the elections and find a way to ensure the participation of the opposition byassuring them that the AL's brute parliamentary majority and control of administrationwould not be abused to rig the polls. As things stand, the ruling party has indicated thatit is willing to call early mid-term elections provided the opposition calls off its violentagitation. But the long-standing, personalised and acerbic rivalry between the two leadersof the AL and the BNP suggests that common ground will be difficult to find. It was expectedthat the tumultuous political events that accompanied the birth of Bangladesh, with theunresolved contradictions between the forces representing secular Bengali nationalismand those representing versions of Islamism, would finally attain a sense of closure withthe 1971 war crime trials. Yet, that process itself has fed the violent agitations and seemsto have given, at least for now, a fillip to the BNP-JI political alliance. Perhaps this is dueto the timing of the convictions and the execution of Molla just a few months before theelections and appear to have been rushed through with an eye to consolidate the secularBengali nationalist vote. Such narrow political considerations have prevented the AL fromreaping long-term political dividends from these trials and have made it that much moredifficult for it to reach out to the opposition parties.

Avoidable Mess Sat, Jan 11, 2014Khobragade affair, EPW, international,

If the manner in which she was arrested and subjected to various indignities - handcuffing,strip searches, body cavity searches - could have been avoided considering her positionand the nature of her alleged "crime", the reactions to this incident have also been strident,betraying a sense of misplaced nationalism on the part of the Indian political establishment.The argument that this practice - visa fraud and false declaration related to wages - is rampantin diplomatic circles and that Khobragade had diplomatic immunity does not hold water.Khobragade's non-payment of the minimum wage was an issue to be investigated in theevent of a complaint filed by her employee in the US and consular officials could indeedbe arrested for acts committed outside official functions, according to the Vienna Convention.Her subsequent transfer to India's Permanent Mission to the United Nations seems a belated

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acknowledgement of the above fact. In the past decade, the Indian foreign policy establishment-egged on by governments - has gone out of the way to address US concerns and has takenmany steps to seek closer ties with the US. It risked sabotaging its nuanced relationshipwith countries like Iran by voting against it in a resolution on Iran's nuclear programmein the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2006, which paved the way eventually forsanctions against Iran. It went out of its way to honour the unilateral sanctions imposedon Iran by the US over and above what the United Nations had come up with

From Movement to Government Sat, Jan 4, 2014politics, EPW, polity,

The AAP's rise and the manner in which it has achieved power (even if in a small, symbolicallyimportant, state) has had few precedents in India's democracy. It managed to bring togethera cross-section of Delhi's population and successfully converted a single-point mass movementinto a political party with diverse support. Its support base has included members of theupper-middle and middle classes who have bought into the anti-corruption message andhave interpreted it as governance delinked from inefficiency and malfeasance. The urbanpoor - especially those living in slum clusters - extended support on the promises to ensurethe supply of 700 litres of free water for households, to reduce power tariffs by 50% aftera thorough audit of the electricity supplying companies, and to regularise the "illegal"and unauthorised residential areas, including slum clusters. Whether AAP manages togrow out of Delhi into a national political force depends, to a large extent, on how it performsin Delhi. Its rise has been helped by some fortuitous factors like the relatively less importancefor caste in urban Delhi, its large migrant population and the saturation coverage of itsactivities by the media. Delhi's compact geographical space also helped. This has workedwell in its short rise, as it has allowed its largely left-of-centre leaders and mass base totake along a large section of the right-of-centre middle class. It appears that the AAP leadershipexpects to sustain their cross-class support base by staying away from clearly enunciatedeconomic policies and foregrounding the fight against corruption and inflation. In termsof the political positions the AAP has taken, the party's rhetoric has itself showed a slowbut clear shift to the left-of-centre position. This will, if it continues on this path, makeit a replacement for the Congress, much of whose mass base and populist imagery theAAP is adopting. If the AAP is to succeed in this, it will be forced to stand increasinglyin stark opposition to the right-wing BJP. For both replacing the Congress as well as providingan alternative to the BJP, the AAP will need to articulate clearer political positions andtake ideological stands

Disabled by Lack of Political Will Sat, Jan 11, 2014Disability rights, social, EPW,

For the estimated 70 million disabled people in India, the government's failure to tablethe Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill in Parliament in the winter session was another

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act of cruel neglect and one that their representative organisations are gearing up to tackle.The disabled in India are "invisible", not to politicians alone; society at large disregardsthe disabled. Since they do not easily fit into the sociocultural expectations of what "normal"men and women should be like, the disabled are either to be pitied and dealt with charitablyor shunned and ignored. To a certain extent, this attitude was challenged by the Personswith Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act,1995 which was considered landmark legislation at the time. However, while this Actdid go a small distance in ensuring greater acceptance of the rights of the disabled to employment,not only its implementation but also its scope left much to be desired. It also leans heavilytowards the medical approach, emphasising the physical disabilities and tending to viewwelfare measures as the solution. I A number of crucial areas are also out of the 1995 Act'sambit, like the problems faced by disabled women, disabled persons' accessibility to culturalactivities and sports, their preschool and higher education, the rights of the mentally ill(here too the women have special vulnerabilities) and many other nuanced rights that aretaken for granted by the non-disabled. Disability rights' groups wanted a comprehensivelegislation that would be in keeping with the United Nations Convention on the Rightsof Persons with Disabilities which India has ratified and which stresses fundamental rights.Also, this new legislation would have to be hinged on the non-negotiable rights approachrather than doling out concessions. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment'sproposal to amend the 1995 Act came under fire and thus work began on drafting the newbill. The 1995 Act however helped to bring the rights and problems of the disabled intopublic and media discourse and also helped different rights groups to band together ona common platform to a large extent. It must also be noted here that this law suffers fromthe usual problem of implementation which depends again to a great extent on a sensitivebureaucracy and committed politicians. Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) ordered a minimumof 3% reservation for them in all central and state government jobs. The significance ofthe SC's order lies in the fact that it quashed the central government's 2005 office memorandumand claim that reservation for the disabled must be restricted to "identified" posts. TheSC pointed out that employment is an important feature of empowerment and inclusionof the disabled and it was lack of employment that forced this section to live in povertyand fail to contribute to family and community.

Poverty-Hunger Divergence in India Sat, Jan 11, 2014hunger, poverty, social, EPW,

The usual explanations for the divergence between calorie intake and consumption expenditurein India ignore the enormous squeeze on food budgets arising from dispossession (leadingto loss of access to common property resources), rising migration (involving a loss of accessto non-market food items) and the forced turn to the private sector for social sector servicesthat are more expensive than public sector provision. It is the resulting squeeze on foodbudgets that has led to calorie intake declining even as per capita consumption expenditurehas risen. The usual explanations for the divergence between calorie intake and consumption

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expenditure in India ignore the enormous squeeze on food budgets arising from dispossession(leading to loss of access to common property resources), rising migration (involving aloss of access to non-market food items) and the forced turn to the private sector for socialsector services that are more expensive than public sector provision. It is the resultingsqueeze on food budgets that has led to calorie intake declining even as per capita consumptionexpenditure has risen.

FDI in India - Ideas, Interests and Institutional Changes Sat, Jan 18, 2014FDI, EPW, economics,

Climate Change, Uttarakhand, and the World Bank's Message Sat, Jan 4, 2014environment, EPW, climate change,

The Uttarakhand disaster left a trail of death and devastation in its wake. The state governmentclaims that 557 people died, but the death toll could be as high as 15,000. Tourism is oneof the important sources of income and employment in the affected areas. Some observershave commented that it was an expression of the wrath of nature at the disruption causedto a natural ecosystem by accelerated infrastructure development. First, the floods anddevastation in Uttarakhand are probably linked to the effects of global warming and climatechange, which until now was not seen as something imminent, but as part of a distant futurescenario. We need, therefore, to treat this as a wake-up call and reformulate our thinkingon climate change. No longer is it something that future generations are going to haveto deal with, the initial stage is already upon us. It has attained the status of the immanent,or something that is already here, and we have to factor in climate change and its effectsjust as we were so far doing with climate itself. The World Bank report focuses on howthe effects of climate change on agriculture, water resources, coastal fisheries, and coastalsafety are likely to increase, often significantly, as global warming climbs from the presentlevel of 0.8 0 Celsius over pre-industrial times by mid-century and continues to become4degC warmer by 2100. It illustrates the range of effects that much of the developing worldis already experiencing, and will be further exposed to, while indicating how these risksand disruptions will be felt differently in other parts of the world. South Asia refers tothe region comprising seven countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistanand Sri Lanka) with a population of about 1.6 billion people in 2010 and still growing,which is projected to rise to more than 2.2 billion by 2050. At 4 0 C global warming, thesea level is projected to rise more than 100 cm by the 2090s, and the monsoon to becomemore variable with a greater frequency of devastating floods and droughts. Glacier meltingand snow cover loss could be severe, and unusual heat extremes in the summer months(June, July and August) are projected to affect 70% of the land area. The climate of theregion is governed by the monsoon, with the largest fraction of precipitation over southAsia occurring during the summer season. In the past few decades, a warming trend has

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begun to emerge in south Asia, particularly India, which appears to be consistent withthe outcome expected from human-induced climate change. Projections for the Indianmonsoon are uncertain because of the inability of most climate models to simulate it accurately.According to the report, global mean warming approaching 4 0 C, a 10% increase in annualmean monsoon intensity, and a 15% increase in the year-to-year variability of monsoonprecipitation is projected, compared to the levels during the first half of the 20th century.As warming goes from 2 0 C to 4 0 C, multiple threats of more extreme heat waves, risingsea levels, more severe storms, droughts, and floods will have serious implications forthe poorest and most vulnerable people. In India, for example, the mean flow of the Indusmay increase by about 65%. The Ganges may have a 20% increase in run-off by 2040,and a 50% increase in run-off by the 2080s. The late spring and summer flows of the Brahmaputramay substantially decline. All this is while the gross per capita water availability is projectedto decline due to population growth. the projected increase in heavy precipitation associatedwith climate change poses a serious risk to the cities - and that does not even take intoaccount the effects of sea-level rise. Climate projections indicate a doubling of the likelihoodof an extreme event similar to the 2005 floods, and direct economic damages (that is, thecosts of replacing and repairing damaged infrastructure and buildings) are estimated totriple in the future compared to the present day and to increase up to $1.9 billion due toclimate change only. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has for long beenurging caution in opening up the Himalayan region rapidly. The usual argument for buildingthe hundreds of roads in the plans of development agencies is that these are required forthe defence of the country. We cannot join issue with the defence ministry, but, realisticallyspeaking, it is going to take decades to get all the planned roads done, and they will havean adverse effect on the ecology and probably the living conditions of the local peoplebecause competition for natural resources and ecological services may increase beyondthe carrying capacity of these fragile localities. Although we have all along been complacentabout the Himalaya mountains being our great defence in the north, we are at the lowercontours and the terrain on our side is very difficult. This means that we are more at adisadvantage as we do not command the heights. Even though it may not be our placeto make suggestions on so grave an issue, we would say that we need to make use of diplomacy,trade, and cultural contacts to secure our northern border, rather than relying solely onphysical measures. If roads have to be built for defence purposes, they should be closedto commercial and tourist traffic from the plains and be used solely for by local communities,local administration, and the defence forces. Loss of Electricity Generation The MoEFhas tried to infuse a sense of moderation in developing hydro resources in the Himalayas,including commissioning special studies on the cumulative effect of dozens of projectson the same river system One of the problems with development of the hills is that mostof the infrastructure that state governments want is for the benefit of people from the plains,and not so much for the hill people themselves. With its already huge population and limitedgeographical area and natural resources, India is already under resource stresses of everytype, whether it be for water, energy, food, living space, or clean air. Our people are alsoamong the world's most peripatetic, as even the poorest do not hesitate to make long journeys

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to visit relatives and see new places.

Rescue Package for Power Discoms Sat, Jan 25, 2014EPW, power, discoms, economics,

About 75% of Indians either lack access to any form of commercial energy for householduse or have limited access to the same, well below levels in several low-income comparators.We continue to subsidise food, health education, and shelter and fund programmes aimedat empowering the deprived, especially women and the girl child. The need for these subsidiesand empowerment schemes would have greatly reduced if we had succeeded in providingmodern commercial energy to all Indian households. Adequate access to affordable moderncooking energy and electricity would have improved health and education, especially amongwomen and girls (by relieving them from the daily drudgery of collecting biomass andexposure to unhealthy chullahs) improved and developed skills; raised productivity; andprovided alternate livelihoods. Most importantly it would have improved the efficacy ofsome of the subsidy programmes, thereby empowering the deprived and reducing theirdependence on subsidies The proposed financial restructuring of state discoms suffersfrom all of the shortcomings of its predecessor as it (a) simply converts half of the bankloans to interest bearing tax-free bonds guaranteed by the same fiscally strained governmentsthat own the bankrupt state utilities while paying lip service to fiscal prudence; (b) reschedulesthe balance debt of the discoms and attempts to incentivise compliance through an inadequatetrickle of new funds attached to a zillion impractical and unenforceable conditions; and,most importantly, (c) demonstrates little understanding of the underlying malaise therebyleaving the real problems unaddressed. The first thing that should strike any serious powersector professional is that all central public sector units (CPSUs) that are primarily engagedin generation and high voltage transmission are highly profitable, as are the CPSUs andprivate sector companies that provide fuel, equipment and services to the power sector.Similarly, transporting fuel for the power sector is also a highly profitable enterprise. ThePower Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation, the dedicated lendersto the power sector, are AAA rated financial institutions. The private sector bulk powerproducers and private distributors (that serve a few cities) are, by and large, also doingwell. The sector is thus rich for all stakeholders except for the loss-making state discomsthat are mandated to service the end users and actually generate bulk of the cash flow thatdelivers the returns to all the other participants in the sector detailed in the previous paragraph.Another anomaly, explained in greater detail in the following section, that should strikethose at the helm is that the generation and transmission companies owned by the stategovernments do not enjoy the guaranteed regulated returns enjoyed by CPSUs and privateplayers active in these fields and are just permitted to keep their heads above water bythe state regulatory agencies. This he Electricity Act 2003 sought to create a competitivepower market with transparent competition in every element of its value chain, operatingunder an independent and informed regulatory regime. This has not happened Indian consumerswith average per capita income of less than 8% of their US counterparts, in purchasing

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parity terms, must pay up to 30% more for their electricity to ensure viability of the powersector in India! Truth is that the Indian distribution sector cannot be as efficient as theUS system given our low level of consumption and the profile of our loads. So, if we wanta sustainable power sector with the currently prevailing bulk power prices, India's averageretail tariffs would need to be even higher. This is clearly unsustainable. The above stateof affairs has come to pass despite the fact that coal, which accounts for over 70% of ourpower generation, is sold at a discount to its true economic value at the pithead. This lowrealisation not only results in lower royalties for the coal-bearing states but also encouragesmining practices that are actually destroying our most abundant though limited domesticenergy resource These returns primarily support highly inefficient CPSUs and a non-competitiveprivate sector under a cost plus regime that allows mandated recovery of all approved costs.The regulatory regime enforced by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC)for these select entities also applies legally to the state generation and transmission utilities.However, given the pressures that state regulatory agencies face in keeping consumer tariffswithin reasonable limits they, at best, allow full recovery costs to the state-owned generationand transmission companies and permit the state distribution utilities to book huge losses.Raising tariffs to levels that allow identical high returns promised under the prevailingregulatory regime even to the state-owned utilities is all the more difficult under the prevailingtariff regime that is riddled with cross-subsidies. The customers that fund the cross-subsidiesare already paying among the highest tariffs in the world. Raising their currently unsustainabletariffs further will only raise the reward for theft of electricity, thus boosting this free enterprisewhile driving electricity even further beyond the reach of the bottom half of my fellowIndians. Any power sector expert should know that in India, the power distribution segmentrequires more than the normative level of investment typical of a more industrialised society.This is so because: (a) the combined load of all households in a typical Indian village isless than the load of a single middle-class home in the suburban US; (b) even the payingindustrial and commercial loads are relatively much smaller than similar loads in moreadvanced countries; (c) the tariff regime is riddled with cross-subsidies requiring separationof feeders and metering for effective management and control; and (d) there is an overallshortage of power and peculiar pressures of load management given the realities of ourpolitical economy. However, even normative levels of distribution investment have gonemissing since independence. Poor vision, poor planning and procurement practices, highdegree of political interference in all commercial decisions and human resource management,and, above all, the lucrative arbitrage offered by a tariff regime that ranges from free powerto power priced at rates not charged anywhere else in the world has led to a grossly inefficientand distorted sector wherein available data is completely unreliable and doctored to obfuscatemassive corruption, poor productivity and a culture of mediocrity.

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Crass Decision Sat, Jan 11, 2014environment, environmental laws, EPW,

Jairam Ramesh was considered a proactive environment minister when Jayanthi Natarajanwas brought in to replace him in order to make the environment ministry more growthand industry friendly. Her short tenure was not marked by any major push on environmentalissues; rather she was seen as someone who merely followed the set laws, rules and proceduresfor granting environmental clearances for industrial projects. It is an indication of howenvironmentally devastating is the "business-as-usual" model of economic developmentwe follow that even the most basic adherence to environmental laws leads to howls of"obstructionist" and "anti-development" from the "growth-at-any-cost" cabal of ministersand businessmen. And, true to the script, among the first reported promises of the newenvironment minister was that project-clearance files would leave his desk by 5 pm thevery day they were presented to him; there was no such promise of upholding environmentalstandards and safety. Reports also emerged, within a few days, that the government willallow the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) food crops. Further, reports are surfacingthat the government plans to give a major push to the river interlinking project by givingthe go-ahead to the Ken-Betwa link and finalising the detailed project reports of a hostof others. The reason GM food crops had not been given clearance by the environmentministry till now was because the evidence on this matter, relating to human health aswell as larger ecological consequences, was, to say the least, inconclusive. In fact, therewere major questions raised about the dangers of introducing GM food crops, given theshape of agriculture and industry, and subordinate position of consumer rights in the country.The argument that GM techniques are essential to meet the country's growing food needsis dubious; demonstrated solutions for raising Indian agriculture's infamous low yieldsremain unimplemented. Equally dubious and potentially dangerous is the proposal forriver interlinking. There is so much that has been written to highlight its clear dangersto the environment, the impracticability of the engineering and hydraulic solutions proposed,the costs in terms of loss of livelihoods and the heavy burden on the government exchequer,as also the international ramifications. Despite such consequences, the Supreme Courthad passed a flawed order, encroaching on the executive's domain, to implement the riverinterlinking plan. Rather than seeking judicial review of its non-enforceable order, thegovernment under its fossil fuel driven environment minister is reportedly pushing thisfatal scheme.

Parliament, State Legislature and Bifurcation Sat, Jan 18, 2014Andhra Pradesh, telengana, EPW, polity,

The Constitution and various judgments of the Supreme Court are quite clear that Parliamenthas the unequivocal power in deciding matters relating to reorganisation of the states. Anydebate regarding the constitutional provisions is more in the realm of politics than about

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any interpretation of the Constitution. The first question is on Article 3 of the Constitution.There is a demand now to review Article 3, claiming that it goes against federalism. Thedilution of federalism is a political question. The political process operates on what theConstitution says today, not on what the Constitution should have been. During the sixdecades of post-Independence Indian history there has been an intense battle in the politicaland legal spheres on many constitutional provisions that strengthen the unitary characterof the polity. These debates have led to a proper interpretation. The classic example isthat of Article 356. But, barring a few court cases, no serious debate has ever been initiatedon amending Article 3 of the Constitution, which clearly keeps the power to bifurcate inthe exclusive domain of Parliament. The Constitution accords Parliament unequivocaland unambiguous powers in this regard. The Supreme Court of India has repeatedly upheldthis in its judgments between 1959 and 2009. The state legislature was accorded only aconsultative role. This is a constitutional reality, evident from a plain reading of the relevantprovisions of the Constitution. Article 3 of the Constitution says: Article 3 makes threethings clear: (1) A state is bifurcated by an Act of Parliament and Parliament only. (2)Before enactment by Parliament, the president has to refer the draft bill to the legislature.(3) The legislature has to express its views. Parliament can make a law bifurcating a statein whatever manner it deems fit, independent of whatever may be the views expressedby the concerned legislature. The legislature was given only a consultative role. Any argumentthat such a provision goes contrary to federalism is a political question which needs tobe settled through the political process. The constitutional interpretation of Article 3 cannotbe determined by political arguments. But, this argument given in regard to "consultationand consent" is valid even today. Consent is required only when the states retain sovereignty.In modern India, sovereignty lies with the people of the Union of India. In fact, this distinctionwas further clarified by the Supreme Court of India in its judgment on the case - BabulalParate vs The State of Bombay and Another, 28 August 1959. The judgment said: TheConstitution stipulates that the proposal for bifurcation should be first referred to the affectedlegislature for expression of its views. However, Parliament need not necessarily proceedas per the views of the state legislature. Parliament can even amend the original proposaland adopt it. Even these amendments need not be referred again to the state legislature.This constitutional position, upheld by Supreme Court in case related to Mumbai statereorganisation in 1959 and Uttar Pradesh state reorganisation in 2009, has only articulatedthe paramount power of Parliament in this regard. The Supreme Court in the Babulal Paratecase said: At the time of drafting the Constitution the nation faced a serious challengeto its unity and integrity. The states were in a very fluid form necessitating a remappingof India. But, the question today is whether it is advisable to accord such paramount powerto Parliament in relation to the bifurcation of states. But, surprisingly no serious effortwas ever made to redefine Article 3. Can we invoke the principles of federalism whenit comes to the bifurcation of states? Bifurcation affects the relationship between two regionsof a united state, whereas federalism refers to the relationship between the centre and thestates. The other school of thought is that if a minority territory within a united state wantsto be separated, the mandatory consent of the affected legislature would make reorganisation

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of state impossible. In fact, this opinion was expressed even in the Constituent Assemblydebates. The questions raised over bifurcation invoking the principles of federalism areessentially political in nature. The Supreme Court, in a number of judgments, upheld theparamount position of Parliament as far as the reorganisation of states is concerned. Moresignificantly, defining the nature and scope of Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution, theSupreme Court stated that the power of Parliament as exclusive and plenary in the MullaperiyarEnvironmental Protection Forum vs Union of India . The Supreme Court Judgment onMullaperiyar Dam on 27 February 2006 (Case No: Writ Petition (Civil) 386 of 2001 Petitioner:Mullaperiyar Environmental Protection Forum Respondent: Union of India and Ors, Dateof Judgment: 27 February 2006 Bench: Y K Sabharwal, C K Thakker and P K BalasubramanyanJudgment: Judgment [With Tc (C) Nos 56-59 and 96-99 of 2002] Y K Sabharwal, CJI)said: The power that Article 3 confers on Parliament was emphasised even in other cases.The Supreme Court in its judgment on the case - Petitioner: V B Raju vs Respondent: Stateof Gujarat and Anr, Date of Judgment 4 September 1980, said as follows: Article 4 ofthe Constitution clarifies this position. It says: The Supreme Court gives a further elaborateexplanation in regard to the scope of Articles 2, 3 and 4 in a judgment related to the case- Mangal Singh and Another vs Union of India (17 November 1966). The judgment statedThe above judgment further stated: The incisive analysis of the relevant constitutionalprovisions and the interpretation given by the constitutional courts clearly indicates thata bifurcation of the state is done by an Act of Parliament. Parliament has an unambiguouspower in this regard. The state legislature was accorded only a consultative role. Whenthe state legislature expresses a mixed opinion Parliament has to take a call. How far Parliamenttakes cognisance of mutually conflicting sentiments expressed in the state legislature isessentially a political question.

The IPCC's 'Summary for Policymakers' Sat, Jan 11, 2014mains, environment, EPW, ipcc,

Recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's "Summary for Policymakers"make for alarming reading about the global warming phenomenon. How bad climate impactswill be beyond the mid-century depends crucially on the world urgently shifting to a developmenttrajectory that is clean, sustainable, and equitable, a notion of equity that includes spacefor the poor, for future generations and other species. Snow cover in the Northern Hemispherein June, says the SPM, has reduced by 11.7% per decade since 1967. Which means thatsnow cover in that month over the Northern Hemisphere has fallen to half of what it wasless than 50 years ago. The second time was when reading that permafrost - frozen soilthat extends several million square kilometres along the high Northern latitudes, frozento several feet deep below the surface since the last glacial period, until now - has warmedby a staggering 3 degree Celsius (degC) in northern Alaska since the early 1980s and 2 degCin the Russian European north since 1971. The earth's surface over each of the last threedecades, says the latest Summary, has been warmer than any preceding decade since 1850,and has warmed by 0.85 degC since 1880 (the earth's average temperature in 2011 was 14.47 degC).

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An average rise of 0.85 degC may not seem like much until we realise that barely 5-6 degCseparate current temperatures from the peak of the last glacial period 20,000 years ago;that some regions, like the Arctic and the Himalayas, are warming much faster than thisaverage; and that a number of species have already been rendered extinct by warmingthus far. This temperature rise is also significant because it reversed a long-term downwardtrend in the earth's average temperature, a natural decline that began roughly 5,500 yearsago until about 1850 (Marcott et al 2013). Between 1901 and 2010, says the Summary,sea levels rose by 19 cms on average worldwide. In recent years, this rise has increasedto 3.2 mm a year. Much of this rise in the 20th century has happened because of oceanwaters expanding as they get warmer, and due to glaciers melting. The third highest contributorto sea level rise, interestingly, is "land water storage" (p 7), groundwater and water fromreservoirs that is being frenetically pumped and eventually finds its way to the sea. Watervapour levels have risen by 3.5% over the past 40 years, in keeping with the 0.5 degC warmingin that time. 1 It is also "very likely" (90%-100% probability) that human influence hascontributed to global-scale changes in the frequency and intensity of daily temperatureextremes, and doubled the probability of heat waves occurring in some locations (p 13).What, according to the SPM, is causing all this and more? Of the total greenhouse gases(GHGs) emissions since industrialisation began in the mid-18th century, 44% or little lessthan half has accumulated in the atmosphere, the rest being almost equally taken up bythe oceans (making them more acidic), and by land-based ecosystems. As a consequence,the atmospheric concentrations of the three main GHGs, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane(CH4) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O), have risen to levels "unprecedented in at least the last8,00,000 years". They have risen to 391 parts per million (ppm), 1,803 parts per billion(ppb), and 324 ppb in 2011, respectively, a rise 40, 150 and 20% above pre-industrial levels.Carbon dioxide emissions alone from fossil fuels and cement production was nearly 35billion tonnes in 2011, 54% above 1990 levels, the benchmark year against which GHGemission cuts are measured under the Kyoto Protocol, a benchmark some countries, likethe United States, are trying to unilaterally shift to 2005. The section on the energy imbalancecaused by the main drivers of climate change, known as their radiative forcing, 2 throwsup a number of interesting points about the present. One, there has been a huge jump inhuman-caused radiative forcing since the last Assessment Report in 2007, because of risingemissions and new measurements of the warming effects of black carbon (Figure 5: 31).Two, there has been a particularly sharp rise in methane's forcing, a potentially sensitiveissue given its connections with rice submergence farming carried out so widely in Indiaand China. Whereas it is true that methane emissions have been rising since 2005 - noone has established why - in contrast to their plateauing since 1993, and that methane is57 times as potent a gas as CO 2 , 3 the sharp rise in the latest report is partly becausethe calculation includes its indirect effects on stratospheric water vapour and ozone. Three,changes in the Sun's solar irradiance clearly has no effect on global warming, measuringjust 0.05 watts/m^2 since 1750, insignificant in comparison to human-caused forcing suchas, say, carbon dioxide emissions (1.82 watts/m^2) and methane (0.97 watts/m^2). Butthe most significant thing about this section is about the future: it is particularly alarming

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that the radiative forcing from the three main GHGs mentioned above and from halocarbonsare in the range of 3 watts/m^2, because there is a commensurate relationship betweenradiative forcing and eventual temperature rise, of roughly 0.75 degC of warming for everywatt of forcing. The Summary does not say so, but this would imply that we are alreadycommitted to a warming above pre-industrial levels of about 2.25 degC, above the widely-acceptedbenchmark of 2 degC. Basically, the unavoidable "warming in the pipeline" will be a lotmore than the 0.6 degC that is commonly accepted. Besides giving a gist of present and past,the Summary also makes projections about future changes in the climate system, in thenear-term (2016-35) and mainly for the end of the 21st century (2081-2100) relative tothe period 1986-2005. It uses four possible pathways - representative concentration pathways(RCPs) 2.6, 4.5, 6.0 and 8.5 - each corresponding roughly to a level of CO 2 and othergases in the atmosphere by 2100 and a volume of CO 2 emissions until then. 4 Basically,each pathway reflects possible energy choices and development trajectories. For the near-term,temperatures will rise in 2016-35 by a further 0.3-0.7 degC relative to 1986-2005, a periodthat was already 0.6 degC warmer than pre-industrial temperatures. We in India should beconcerned that increases in seasonal and annual mean temperatures are expected to belarger in the tropics and subtropics than in the mid-latitudes, relative to internal variability(p 15). The tropics are home to a huge number of the world's known species, and whichhave historically evolved and been used to a relatively narrow temperature band. A smallrise may mean that many tropical species have to migrate or become extinct. For instance,mackerel ( bangda, aila ) and oil sardines have already been moving northwards alongboth coasts of India as the ocean waters get warmer. In the longer term, it is seriously alarmingthat much of north, west and central India would be 4-5 degC warmer by 2081-2100 if westick to business as usual strategies (Figure 8: 34). Regarding the water cycle, it says thatmonsoon retreat dates will likely be delayed in many regions. Regardless of whether ornot it was due to climate change, we have already seen the damage to crops that a delayedmonsoon retreat this year caused in many parts of India. Finally, a nearly ice-free Arcticin September (the month of the lowest ice extent annually) before mid-century is likelyfor the trajectory RCP 8.5. New Aspects in the Summary Methodological innovationsaside, this Summary has a number of new aspects. It says that sustained warming "wouldlead to the near-complete loss of the Greenland ice sheet". That threshold is put at greaterthan 1 degC above pre-industrial temperatures (we are currently at 0.9 degC above) but lessthan 4 degC (pp 20-21). This is hugely different from the earlier Assessment Report 2007which merely said that the Greenland ice sheet would lose mass with a warming of 1.9-4.6 degC.On the renowned website Real Climate (27 September), the scientist Stefan Rahmstorfpointed out that this 1.9 degC figure was one of the reasons why international climate policyset 2 degC as the benchmark for dangerous warming. What do these lower temperature figuresfor Greenland then imply for what is considered safe? Two, with respect to droughts, thenew report says that the earlier conclusions regarding increasing trends in droughts globallysince the 1970s are no longer supported by more recent research. Having said that, regionaldroughts have increased in frequency and intensity, such as in the Mediterranean and westAfrica. Three, the increased loss of ice mass from the ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland

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are staggering. The average rate of ice loss from Greenland has increased from 34 billiontonnes a year over 1992-2001 to 215 billion tonnes a year over 2002-11, over six timesas much! Antarctica ice loss over these same periods has increased from 30 billion tonnesto 147 billion tonnes a year, nearly five times as much. These huge rises make them qualitativelydifferent from any earlier IPCC assessment report. First, the supposed slowdown, or hiatusin global warming in recent years, much discussed in leaks and newspaper editorials beforethe Summary was released. The Summary itself says that the slowdown in surface warmingsince 1998 is due to natural variability and reducing forcing due to volcanic eruptions (whichthrow up particulate matter that tends to cool). Satellite data tells us that the earth's energyimbalance due to GHGs has continued unabated in recent years. So if warming is not showingup in surface temperature data, we need to look elsewhere. Over 90% of the excess energytrapped by GHGs has been going into the oceans; the heat being trapped in the upper oceansalone (the top 700 metres) each year is over 40 times as much as the total annual energyconsumption in the United States! But what has been exceptional in recent years is thewarming of ocean waters below 700 metres. This has been happening, a recent paper (Balmasedaet al 2013) suggests, after 1998, precisely the period for which the slowdown in surfacewarming is reported. Much of this will show up as warming sooner or later. Two, is CO2 less potent than we earlier thought? The SPM has reduced the lower limit of the potentialchange in global mean surface temperature due to a doubling of CO 2 to 1.5 degC from2 degC in the earlier assessment report. The scientist Michael Mann wrote ( The Guardian, 28 September) that this lowered estimate is "based on one narrow line of evidence", therecent slowing in surface warming, which, as discussed above, is more complex than itseems. What is more, this IPCC estimation of carbon dioxide's potency is methodologicallyincomplete and hence an underestimate - it does not include slow feedbacks such as northwardlatitude shifts in vegetation, the melting of the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica,and GHGs releases from warmer oceans (in contrast to their absorbing them currently).Basically, carbon dioxide may be a lot more potent than we realise. Three, the Summary'shighest estimation for sea level rise is roughly half to little less than one metre by the endof the century (p 18). This is certainly a step up from the upper limit of 59 cm presentedin the Fourth Assessment Report, but many feel that even this is too low. It needs to beunderstood that 20th century sea level rise was largely linear because its main sourceswere expansion due to warmer waters and glacial melting. The main sources of 21st centurysea level rise will be melting and ice flows from the great ice sheets on Greenland andAntarctica, a non-linear process. The world's most famous climate scientist James Hansenhas been saying repeatedly that "non-linear ice-sheet disintegration should be expectedand multi-metre sea level rise [is] not only possible but likely". It is too early to say whetherit is the start of a non-linear trend, but the sharp rise in ice sheet melt five-six times inthis decade mentioned above should set warning bells ringing somewhere. The extent ofsea level rise has obvious implications for the extent of coastal erosion and flooding, theseepage of salt water into underground aquifers, and the extent of damage during stormsurges, all of which are already being felt in India. Finally, the urgency. It stems from thefact that we want to avoid crossing dangerous levels of warming, beyond which ecosystem

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feedbacks that usually cause further warming kick in simultaneously on a scale that wouldmake it increasingly difficult for humans to control the process. Having a 50% probabilityof limiting warming to 2 degC, the Summary says, needs us to limit further emissions fromnow until the end of the century to little over 1,100 billion tonnes of CO 2 , and we aregalloping at over 30 billion tonnes a year. Emitting 1,300 billion tonnes would reducethe likelihood to 33% (p 20). As it is, an increasing number of scientists and ecologistshave been saying that the 2 degC benchmark is way too high, some by looking at historicalpalaeoclimatic evidence, others at the severity of current impacts. The mood heading intoclimate negotiations in the 19th Conference of the Parties at Warsaw was one of low energyand expectations, whereas the latest Summary makes clear that the urgency is as pressingas ever. How bad climate impacts will be beyond the mid-century depends crucially onthe world urgently shifting to a development trajectory that is clean, sustainable, and equitable,a notion of equity that includes space for the poor, for future generations and other species.Another reason to cut emissions urgently is the long-term implications of what we aredoing; temperatures do not decline significantly for a thousand years after emissions stop(Solomon et al 2009). The sooner we cut back emissions now, the less pain we will bequeathto generations of the foreseeable future.

Evolving a New Internet Governance Paradigm Sat, Jan 11, 2014Echelon programme, internet governance, EPW, polity, internet,

This article examines the present state of the internet - its governance structures, economicsand architecture - in light of the US security contractor Edward Snowden's revelationsthat lay bare the extent to which the US controls the internet and its ecosystem. Giventhat the internet now forms an essential part of the world's communications and commercialinfrastructure, there is an urgent need to formulate a binding international framework todelineate rights and obligations inter se states as well as between states and individualsin order to ensure that the internet is used as a tool to promote peaceful exchange of informationfor the progress of humankind. The Snowden revelations 1 make clear that the US governmentand its allies have been systematically spying on the whole world. This surveillance (carriedout through intelligence organisations such as the American National Security Agency- NSA and the British Government Communication Headquarters - GCHQ) is all pervasive- voice calls, emails, secure networks and servers have all been monitored or broken into- and covers all countries including even close allies of the US (France, Mexico, Germanyamong others). Not only are all voice calls and emails monitored on a real time basis, butthis data is also stored for future use. 2 In the post-second world war period, the US formedthe Five-Eyes alliance with the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (formally calledthe UKUSA Agreement) as its partners, the key partner being GCHQ of the UK. Its majoractivity was that of listening to all global communications through its Echelon programme.The first is the global telecommunications network. This has been greatly facilitated bythe US being the major hub of the global fibre-optic network, followed by the UK, wherea major part of the trans-Atlantic cables land. 4 The US has used its position as a global

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hub to force various fibre-optic network operators to give them physical access to theirnetworks in lieu of landing rights. As more than 80% of global voice and internet trafficpass through the US, automatically, the US has access to all this traffic. 8 In addition,as the Snowden slides show, the US has also tapped into global submarine cables. 9 Itwas known that through the Echelon programme, NSA and GCHQ had tapped into theglobal satellite and microwave communications networks. It is here that the Five-Eyesalliance is useful - it provides global listening posts for such tapping. The levels of monopolisationin the internet space allow gathering of global citizens data on an unprecedented level.11 This cloud data is subject to the US laws that enable surveillance over global citizens.12 As we now know, the US-based internet majors such as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo,Facebook and others have partnered with the NSA in various ways. 13 Whether they havebeen active partners or have been coerced under the US domestic laws is a moot pointfor rest of the world. The third layer of access that the NSA has is through the US companies'dominant position as proprietary hardware and software vendors. Though the positionof the US as the leading hardware supplier has been weakened in recent years, much ofthe network equipment - switches, routers, etc - are manufactured or designed in the US.It is possible to provide back doors in such equipment which only the company that hascreated the design or manufactured the hardware would know. Cyber security is not limitedto surveillance alone. As the attack on Iran centrifuges in Bushehr showed, it can resultin physical damages to plant and equipment. Such attacks can take down a country's grid,water and sewage systems, cause flooding by opening dam gates and even set in motiona Bhopal or Fukushima like disaster. The internet economy is monopolised by global corporationsbased mostly in the US. This is for a variety of reasons including historical developmentof the internet, first mover advantage, etc, and also the ecosystem of the internet largelyrun by US companies. The levels of monopolisation of the internet ecosystem are unprecedentedand monopolisation seems to have occurred across different platforms. (a) Cloud services:Out of the top 10 cloud services in the world today, nine are US-based with the odd oneout based in Germany; four are non-US-based out of the top 30, with only one in a globalSouth country - Dimension Data, South Africa. (b) Search engines: Google enjoyed aglobal market share of over 80% in May 2013 21 and has had a share of over 60% of allglobal searches done since 2007. 22 The highest market share for a company based inthe global South was Baidu at less than 1% of the market. (c) Social media: Facebookhad a global market share of 72.4% in March 2013. 23 (d) Voice over Internet Protocol(VoIP): in internet telephony, Skype enjoyed a market share of 82% in 2011. 24 (e) Amongstthe major internet portals, Google accounted for about 44% of the global internet advertisementrevenue in 2010 (Microsoft at 4%, Yahoo at 8%, Facebook at 3%). 25 The Internet Corporationfor Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) controls the global domain name system andhas recognised 17 domain name registrars for top-level domain names. 26 All the mostcommon top-level domains (TLDs) are controlled by first world institutions with .com& .net operated by VeriSign, biz operated by NeuStar (both US-based companies), .infooperated by Affilias (headquartered in Ireland), .org operated by Public Interest Registry(a US based not for profit organisation). 27 The terms of the services provided both by

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these organisations as well those of the regional (sub) registrars are mandated throughcontracts signed with the ICANN. This real estate in cyberspace has significant economicvalue and most of it is controlled by domain registrars located in the US. Most of the high-leveldomains are also under US legal jurisdiction, as a consequence of the domain registrarsbeing in the US. This level of monopolisation of governance systems, eyeballs, as wellas advertisement revenue gives these few internet giants massive power at the global level- both to shape the global narrative/discourse (as they become the dominant sources forglobal information exchange) as well as to further entrench their already dominant positionsand global power. Another issue of importance is that of taxation on internet-based activitiesand therefore tax revenues. In e-commerce transactions, while the income is generatedin the country where the buyer resides, the taxes are largely paid where the seller resides.For instance, Amazon pays taxes in the US on e-books sold across the world, and as e-bookscan avoid traditional customs duties for import of books - both lead to revenue losses tothe country where taxes would traditionally have been payable. The growth of global e-commerceis therefore a big threat to the tax revenues of the global South. For the internet to workseamlessly, domain names, and numerical web addresses and network identifiers needto be unique; the ability to assign them allows institutional power to be projected overthe internet. Management of these critical internet resources is exercised by a US agency,the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), under contract to the US Departmentof Commerce. The IANA contract is currently held by a California-based non-profit ICANN.28 T Voluntary organisations such as World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) tend (by virtueof their composition and nature) to be dominated by global North-based corporate interestsand institutions that have the resources to participate in the standard-setting processes.34 For example, recently, under pressure from the US media companies, W3C has acceptedto discuss introducing DRM in HTML5 standards. 35 In more specific terms, there arefour areas in internet governance that are of concern: cyber security, intellectual property,content regulation and the control of critical internet resources (domain names and IP addresses).While the US has been arguing for content on internet to be free from censorship by states,it wants all content that violates the intellectual property of US companies to be stoppedand has even seized hundreds of such domains. There are two problems with contract-basedinternet governance. One is that it has led to privatisation and corporatisation of the internet.The other is that contracts do not and cannot incorporate "human rights" or "sovereignrights" - the rights of either individuals or of nations. A bottoms-up internet governance,as distinct from developing technical standards and protocols, has no legal mechanismto enforce rights of people, corporations or sovereign rights of countries. Rights stem fromeither a country's laws or international treaties. By keeping the internet governance eitherunder US laws or under "contracts", the US has ensured that there is no effective globalbody that can address NSA's invasive surveillance over other governments and people,and penetration of vital infrastructure of other countries. Neither is there any place forregulatory principles to be exercised - for example, progressive taxation policies for e-commercetransactions that would help developing countries. The International Telecom Union thathas jurisdiction over the telecom infrastructure and has tried to raise issues such as cyber

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security, has been stopped by the US and other developed countries. 36 How can infrastructurerequired by every country - for communications and commerce - operate under a contractfrom one particular government? Granted, as a pioneer, the US deserves credit; but thatcannot be an argument for control over a vital piece of global infrastructure in perpetuity.India thereafter (at the 66th meeting of the UN General Assembly on 26 October 2011)proposed the setting up of a new UN-based body - to be known as the UN Committeefor Internet Related Policies (UN-CIRP) - to act as a nodal governance agency of the internet,under the broader umbrella of the UN. The committee was to comprise 50 member stateschosen on the basis of equitable geographic representation and to work on the basis ofadvisory groups comprising all relevant stakeholders. 39 Post the Snowden revelations,a number of the organisations connected to internet governance - such as ICANN, IETF,IAB, the W3C, ISOC and the five regional internet address registries - met in Uruguayon 7 October 2013 and issued a statement distancing themselves from the US governmentand its actions. 40 Under the WSIS resolution, ITU has been given specific responsibilitiesregarding the internet. However, the US and its allies have fought to keep internet completelyout of the purview of ITU. In the World Conference on International Telecommunications(WCIT) held in 2012, Dubai, the US and a number of countries refused to recognise thatITU could discuss any aspect of internet governance and walked out without signing thenew International Telecommunication Regulations. 41 While it is important that thereshould be a global treaty under which internet governance takes place, such a body mustincorporate certain basic principles to be followed by all countries. These principles shouldinclude as a minimum (and in no particular order) the following: (1) Demilitarisation ofthe internet: This is crucial towards ensuring that the internet is used for productive purposesrather than an instrument of warfare. It is essential that the internet be used only for peacefulpurposes and it is necessary that this be recognised by states in a binding and enforceableinstrument. (2) No unilateral disconnection or denial of service to a country/region: Everycountry, every society must have the right to connect to the internet and use the same inaccordance with applicable law. There must be no unilateral ability to disconnect a countryor a region from the internet without appropriate global sanction. The internet must berecognised as a global public utility in a similar way to how telecommunication networksare traditionally treated. (3) Respect for sovereign rights and determination of scope ofapplicability of domestic laws/jurisdiction issues: This forms an essential and possiblythe most contentious aspect of any proposed international treaty given the possible consequencessuch recognition of sovereign rights may have on the "monolithic" nature of the internet(it is argued there may be a Balkanisation or fragmentation of the internet) as well as humanrights related issues such as free speech and censorship. However, it is essential for anyenforceable rights framework that such issues be dealt with at the international level. (4)Respect for human rights, in particular privacy and freedom of speech: While the specificcontours of the extent to which a right to privacy should be exercised (permissible exceptions,etc) are matters that could be the subject of consensus, it is worth noting that the principleitself is established as a part of customary international law. Privacy rights are recognisedby the constitutions of over 80 countries and numerous international instruments including

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the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (A 12) and the International Covenant on Civiland Political Rights - ICCPR (A 17). Further, global treaties such as the ICCPR alreadydeal with the human right to free speech and its applicability and enforcement in a globalcontext for example, through the recognition of permissible derogations. These could formthe basis of any such protection for human rights in the context of the internet. It is essentialto institute some form of international cooperation to ensure uniformity of minimum standardsas well as to put in place an appropriate enforcement mechanism. (5) Other issues suchas access for all and recognition of access as a matter of right, non-interference with signals/packetsduring transit, net neutrality, transparency of governance mechanisms. (6) Need to ensurepeaceful dispute resolution.

Misplaced Optimism on a New Regulator Sat, Jan 18, 2014gram sabha, environment, EPW, regulator, environment regulator,

On 9 January, the Supreme Court directed the government to establish an environmentregulator at the national and state levels by 31 March. The regulator will evaluate projectson environmental aspects, regulate their clearance, monitor compliance of the conditionsit sets for projects and penalise violators. Initial reports suggest that environmentalistshave, by and large, welcomed the apex court's orders. It is anybody's guess if the agencyproposed in 2010 would have improved matters. But as things stand, the environment ministryhas neither the skill nor the political will to evaluate projects properly. Projects either getcaught in the bureaucratic maze or are cleared in haste. State pollution control boards arebeset by a similar malaise. They have rarely shown the will to punish polluting outfits.The so-called autonomous and independent state environmental impact assessment (EIA)authorities have become sinecures for retired bureaucrats who do nothing more than holdmonthly meetings where projects are cleared almost as a ritual. Most EIA reports are doctoredin the project proponent's favour. Environmentalists believe that this state of affairs willimprove once a regulator is in place. The sorry plight of the environment in the countryis not due to a lack of government agencies or laws. In fact as we have seen, there are onetoo many. What hobbles environmental governance in the country is dearth of politicalwill and a slipshod attitude to accountability. It is somewhat surprising that in rollingout the red carpet to the regulator, environmentalists are missing out on an institution thatmany of them champion elsewhere: the gram sabha. A lot of the rot in environmental governancestems from the insincerity with which we have gone about in meeting an essential requirementof EIA: gram sabha consent for projects. Gram sabhas were meant to make people participatein the decision-making process and approve projects at the village level. But the requirementof gram sabha consent has become somewhat of a formality for project proponents, insome cases just a minor irritant. Gram sabha meetings are held only in name; often minimumattendance is somehow cobbled up or people bullied into giving consent to a project. Butthere have been times when gram sabhas have given us lessons in democracy. In Niyamgirirecently, gram sabha rejection has meant the Odisha government cannot push the boundariesof the law to favour the mining giant, Vedanta. People in Niyamgiri showed that robust

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democratic institutions negotiate environmental issues far better than administrative -or regulatory - ones. One option to improve environmental governance then may be tostrengthen the capacities of the gram sabha and make the administrative institutions responsiveand accountable to these local bodies, rather than add one more institution, law or regulatorto an already crowded and inefficient system.

We Have Overcome Sat, Jan 25, 2014polio, EPW, science & tech, health,

After successfully eradicating smallpox in 1980, India has now gone three straight yearswithout reporting any new case of poliomyelitis infection ("polio"). This qualifies it toreceive the World Health Organisation's (WHO) certification for being polio-free. Undoubtedly,this is a victory that has been fought every inch of the way by myriad agencies on a numberof fronts and against what seemed like insurmountable odds. The lessons learnt are preciousbeyond words and the expectation is that these will be harnessed to fight other infectiousdiseases that plague the country. In fact, the "how" of the war on polio - for a war it was- is as fascinating as educative. There is though some controversy about whether polioreally has been eradicated in India and there are warnings about a possible return. Thereis also the remaining challenge of treating and rehabilitating those who have already beencrippled by the disease. In the mid-1990s the vaccination programme that was undertakeninvolved the government, United Nations bodies, charitable organisations and private donors.While coordinating the activities of all these agencies was a humungous task, the vaccinationprogramme itself called for dealing with fears and prejudices - social, religious and cultural- and the physical logistics of reaching every nook and corner of a vast country. The taskwas even more difficult in the high-risk states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh which also witnesslarge-scale outmigration. Nearly two million vaccinators not only went to slums and villagesbut also provided their services at railway stations, bus terminals and construction sitesas well as at fairs and other public gatherings, apart from making house to house visits.Religious and community leaders were persuaded to preach and cajole where parents wereafraid of vaccination even as the media, college students, volunteers, film stars and celebritieswere roped in to popularise the campaign. The expectation now is that this strategy andthe mechanisms that have been put in place can be used to tackle other diseases like measleswhich claim thousands of under-five lives and even to push for 100% immunisation ofchildren against the major infectious diseases. Of course, vaccination is not a cure-all solutionfor all infectious diseases. There are other aspects of public health like provision of sanitationand supply of potable water that need to be addressed and are as important as, if not moreso than, vaccination. There are alarming signs, however, in reports that a suspected increaseddosage of polio drops in India has given rise to cases of non-polio acute flaccid paralysis(NPAFP). While the cause of the NPAFP cases is disputed, a number of doctors and healthactivists have pointed out that the government's surveillance data shows that in the past13 months, 53,563 cases have been reported. The government attributes this to more sensitiveand vigilant surveillance and not to the increased vaccination dosage. The fact remains

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that along with those who are already the victims of polio, this huge number of NPAFP-affectedneed treatment and rehabilitation. As the battle against a number of other health issues,notably the fight to bring down the maternal mortality rate shows, the link between increasedpublic awareness and discourse and the political will to deal with them is a strong one.For the well-being of its children, India simply cannot afford to forget the lessons it haslearnt in its battle against polio.

A Hare-brained Proposal Sat, Jan 25, 2014bank transaction tax, EPW, economics,

But India now has one of the lowest incidences of income tax among countries of comparablesize and at a similar stage of development. The tax kicks in at an income of Rs 2 lakh ayear, or as high as 34 times per capita monthly income and if one assumes a family sizeof five then at almost seven times the average monthly family income. Of course, allthis has not prevented large-scale tax evasion. As is well known, only 2% of Indians nowpay personal income tax, while it is 20% in China and 8% in South Africa. The proposalon the party's drawing board is to abolish all direct taxes (personal income tax, corporatetax and wealth tax) and all indirect levies other than customs duty (excise duty, value-addedtax, sales tax and cesses) and have a single tax of 2% on all bank transactions. Simultaneously,high denomination notes will be demonetised and it will be illegal to have any cash transactionlarger than Rs 2,000. In the BJP's internal estimate, a 2% bank transaction tax will yieldas much as the central government's current gross tax receipts of Rs 14 lakh crore thoughGadkari has claimed that the receipts could even go up to Rs 40 lakh crore a year. . Firstof all, like the sales taxes and excise duties before the era of value-added tax (VAT), asingle bank transaction tax would be a cascading tax that would have distortionary effectson the economy. An additional fallout could be the generation of a parallel currency ora series of IOU notes between businesses that can be used to avoid the bank tax. The non-businessentities in the economy like households and other non-business institutions will also moveaway from the banking sector. If so much of the economy now revolves around the cash(illegal) economy and evasion, how will a ban on cash transactions of more than Rs 2,000possibly persuade the entire economy to route most transactions through the organisedfinancial sector? Indeed the opposite may happen. What the central government will thenfind to its horror is that an even larger part of the economy will have shifted to cash toavoid the new tax and with that tax revenues will plunge. Second, the proposed levy willalso be regressive. Since it will be a cascading tax, its actual incidence on any good orservice would depend on the number of stages of production the good passes through.If the poor make their purchases from small outlets that cannot afford to vertically integrate,the tax would be even more regressive. Such a regressive tax may appeal to the likes ofthe business-politician groups pushing the BJP and that may indeed be why they are thinkingof it, but it goes against the basic tenets of taxation and is not in the interests of the majority.A third major problem with the BJP proposal is that it will play havoc with centre-statefinancial relations. The party should surely be aware that there is a constitutional division

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of responsibilities between the centre and the states and so also a division of powers oftaxation. The proposal to abolish all taxes, including sales tax, means that the one majorindependent source of revenue for the states will be taken away. One must also note that,side by side, the transition to the goods and services tax, on the introduction of which somuch hope has been placed, will have to be abandoned. There is indeed much that is wrongwith the existing tax system of both direct and indirect taxes. In spite of many years oftax reform, the system remains extremely complicated, opaque and discretionary. Thetax bureaucracy uses its powers of discretion and the only groups to benefit are the lawyersand accountants.

A Monetary Policy Rule for Emerging Market Economies Sat, Jan 25, 2014emerging market economies, monetary policy, EPW, economics,

The currency crisis sweeping emerging market economies (EMEs), which has compelledBrazil, Turkey and Indonesia to tighten policy rates amidst collapsing growth, merits revisitingthe application of two widely held economic policy formulations, namely the Mundell-Fleming"Impossible Trinity" and the "Taylor Rule" of monetary policy. According to the impossibletrinity, a country can have only two of the following three: a fixed exchange rate, monetaryindependence and free capital flows. A free monetary policy means that it is free to respondto the domestic business cycle. The Taylor Rule is a rule-bound - as opposed to discretionary- monetary policy by which the central bank adjusts its short-term policy interest rate basedon a mathematical formula using differentials between a country's potential GDP andactual GDP, and between the inflation target and actual inflation. The Taylor Rule andits variants are now used by almost all advanced country central banks Monetary policyin developing countries, on the other hand, is in addition constrained to respond to theexternal financial cycle, which distorts the application of the Taylor Rule. Thus, if domesticgrowth concerns warrant low interest rates, a sudden stop in capital inflows may inducethem to keep interest rates unduly high to attract foreign capital, thereby magnifying thedownturn in the business cycle. In EMEs, where currencies are not freely convertible,and where financial systems are much more tightly regulated, the counterpart of this debatehas for long centred on the impossible trinity. Only domestic deficits can be backstoppedby their central banks. Their external deficits are denominated in international reservecurrencies, for which they are dependent on market support. Many EMEs, including Indiabut with the notable exception of China, have, like advanced economies, also chosen tohave independent monetary policy and free capital flows. Their exchange rates float mostlyfreely on the current account, and to a great extent also on the capital account, with mostof the capital restrictions imposed on residents rather than non-residents. This is becauseof the need to attract and conserve foreign capital: putting restrictions on external investorsmakes the latter less willing to bring in capital if it is not be allowed to be repatriated atwill. Amongst the major EMEs, China has famously chosen a combination of a fixed exchangerate, monetary independence and closed capital account. While there are few formal restrictionson capital inflows, since China runs a current account surplus this effectively means that

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the central bank mops up as much dollars from the market as required to maintain moreor less a fixed nominal exchange rate against the dollar Its real effective exchange rate(REER) against the dollar has been depreciating continuously on account of relative productivityshifts. Under persistent criticism and pressure from the US, China has, of course, depreciatedits nominal exchange rate against the dollar slightly from time to time, even as its REERcontinues to remain significantly undervalued.

A Matter of Life and Death Sat, Jan 18, 2014social, EPW, maternal mortality rate, women,

The announcement by the Registrar General of India that the maternal mortality rate (MMR)declined by 16% in 2010-12 as compared to 2007-09 is good news. The MMR, whichis the number of maternal deaths for every 1,00,000 live births, dropped from 212 in 2007-09to 178 in 2010-12. But the decline is not yet cause for celebration since maternal deathscontinue to be very high and India remains among the poorest performers, lagging behindBangladesh and Nepal. There are, however, a few factors that indicate a silver lining. Thegap between the worst- and best-performing states is narrowing albeit at a slow pace. Thesymbiotic bond between the issue gaining prominence in public discourse and the politicalwill to tackle it is also growing. The latter though certainly could do with much more heft.On the negative side, all the factors that contribute to preventable maternal deaths remainstrongly present: anaemia in women, early marriages of girls, the generally poor nutritionalstatus of women and the overall discrimination against girls and women. All these needto be tackled along with addressing the medical factors that cause maternal mortality. Creditfor the reduction in the MMR is usually given to the increasing number of institutionaldeliveries under the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), an intervention under the NationalRural Health Mission (NRHM) that has been implemented since 2005. This centrally-sponsoredprogramme, which has a focus on states with a high MMR, gives cash assistance in institutionaldeliveries, provides post-delivery care to the mother with the accredited social health activist(ASHA) acting as the link between the mothers and the institutional system of care. Howaggressively the state governments pursue the implementation of the JSY and buttressit with their own schemes are the factors that seem to ultimately matter the most. The gapbetween Assam, the worst-performing state, and Kerala, the best, has narrowed accordingto recent figures though it continues to be huge. Kerala shows the lowest MMR at 66,followed by Maharashtra at 80 and Tamil Nadu at 87. Assam leads with 328 deaths (390in 2007-09) followed by Rajasthan at 255 (down from 318), Bihar, Jharkhand and UttarPradesh. Generally, in terms of the status of the girl child and the woman, the latter statesare worse off than the three best-performing ones. Maharashtra, for example, has trainedstaff intensely in how to handle delivery cases. It has earmarked free ambulance servicesfor pregnant women while increasing the number of ambulances available for emergencyservices. It is also aiming to have doctors in the ambulances to cater to emergency cases.Kerala's enviable record was aided not only by the quality of care in its relatively well-equippedpublic hospitals but also by the state-sponsored Ammayum Kunjum scheme which runs

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alongside the JSY the main reasons for its high MMR are that 80% of Assamese womensuffer from anaemia and an appreciable number of maternal deaths are due to septic abortionand eclampsia (convulsions in a pregnant woman suffering from high blood pressure perhapsfollowed by coma). Early marriages, little spacing between pregnancies, unsafe abortionsdue to unwanted pregnancies and lack of access to health services along with the medicalcauses of maternal deaths require interventions at the right juncture and over a sustainedperiod of time.

Critical Look at the Narayana Murthy Recommendations on Higher Education Sat, Jan 18, 2014social, EPW, Narayana Murthy Committee Recommendations, education,

Narayana Murthy Committee (NMC) through the lens of corporate social responsibility(CSR). Engaging the corporate sector, both public and private, in higher education beingthe focal theme, the article seems to be using public-private partnerships (PPPs) a groupof business models, philanthropy an act of benevolence and CSR a compulsory socialservice as synonyms, at least in operational terms. The participation of private partiesin higher education in India dates back to the days of the British raj. 2 However, afterIndependence, the ability of the private sector to provide the infrastructure necessary fordevelopment was doubtful and so the government took higher education into its own hands(Kumar 2013: 613) although a good number of educational institutions, known for philanthropyand quality education were established by private parties. 3 The economic crisis towardsthe end of the 1980s and subsequent adoption of the New Economic Policy (NEP), characterisedby liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation in 1991 added to the impetus for the privatesector to view higher education as a potential venture. The participation of private partiesin higher education revolves around the issues of availability of resources and the poorquality of publicly-funded higher education, barring certain pockets of excellence. In sucha favourable policy environment, the private sector has grown to cater to 59% of total enrolmentsin higher education and is expected to contribute significantly in achieving the target of30% gross enrolment ratio by 2020-21 (GoI 2012b). The NMC, on one hand, recommendsfree land and tax exemptions for the universities set up by the corporate sector but on theother hand, demands exceptions from reservation policies in admission. It states (GoI 2012a:4) (1) hike in fees by publicly-funded institutions to meet targets of own resource generationas put forward by the Punnayya Committee (1992-93), and (2) relatively higher fees chargedby private providers to cover cost of providing education, even without profit. The growthof self-financing courses, mostly professional and technical in nature and having betterjob prospects, in publicly-funded institutions coupled with the emergence of private providershave made the market for higher education dwelling on fees paid by the students. Therising cost of education, if not regulated, encourages profiteering which, in turn, inducescost of education to rise for students and minimisation of cost of operation by the providers.The former restricts the access to education undermining the concerns for equity and thelatter leads to compromise with quality. Above this, the NMC recommends fiscal incentivesfor the private corporate sector. 7 While independent regulation sets the floor for standard

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of education and independent accreditation acknowledges the level of competence to becomparable with other institutions, independence from them may distort the equivalenceof qualifications and undermine the signalling effect of higher education, characteristicswhich make higher education eligible for privatisation If an institution chooses an accreditationagency, it suggests self-interest elements creeping into the process which can jeopardisethe whole purpose. The NMC seeks to propose new kinds of institutions into the alreadyhierarchical higher education system. 10 The monopolistic competition among them alsoemanates from their geographical location and institutional characteristics and objectives.The NMC proposes institutions, private universities with central university status and PPPuniversities, that would add to the diversity of the market with varying institutional structures,objectives and operations with almost no regulation and full autonomy. Private institutionsof higher education often advertise their association with foreign institutions and visitingforeign faculty to signal quality. Whether this adds to the quality of education is not certainbut these attributes are used to justify charging higher fees from students. The NMC recommendsrecruitment of foreign faculty along with Indian faculty for the new private institutions.Consequently, the quality of higher education may or may not improve but greater commercialisationand negation of social equity would be achievable, if so desired. 11

The Arab Uprisings and the Question of Democracy Sat, Jan 11, 2014arab uprisings, EPW, international, Middle East,

Although much has been written about the "Arab Uprisings" of the recent years, thereis hardly any consensus on anything about it. Yet, ever since Mohamed Bouazizi set himselfon fire on 17 December 2010 in a small Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid, it caused reverberationsin west Asia that did the unthinkable - successfully toppling autocrats like Ben Ali (Tunisia),Hosni Mubarak (Egypt), Ali Abdullah Saleh (Yemen) and Muammar al-Gaddafi (Libya),from what seemed to be the unquestioned seat of power, it also sparked significant regionalprotests in Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Algeria, with an alacrity that tookeveryone by surprise. While the concrete implications of this on the Arab world will becomeapparent only in the fullness of time, it has already put the west Asian studies in an acutecrisis. the events of the late 1980s and early 1990s in west Asia: states like Jordan (1989),Yemen (1993), Algeria (1990) conducted their first parliamentary elections in years, whileSyria enlarged its parliament to include 60 seats for "independents" in 1990 and SaudiArabia in 1992 introduced a written basic code and set up a 60-member consultative body( Majlis-e-shura Coming on the heels of the end of Cold War and accompanied by whatHuntington called "third wave of democracy", these events brightened the prospects ofdemocracy in the region and the euphoria it evoked led to the evolution of the "democratisationparadigm", which underlined not the possibility but, in its exaggerated optimism, inevitabilityof democratisation in west Asia. democracy is a balance between state and the independentclasses, in which state should neither be autonomous of these classes nor captured by them.The former should be strong enough to tax, but the latter should not be weak enough toacquiesce without demanding representation. It was only after a long struggle in which

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the middle classes handed out a decisive defeat to royal absolutism that there emergedthe rudimentary system of representative democracy in these European countries, governedby three of its most essential criteria: free and fair competition (whether political or economic);inclusive participation of all classes; and lastly, a modicum of civil and political libertiessufficient to ensure the integrity of political competition and participation. That there isa definite democratic deficit in west Asia is beyond reasonable doubt in democratisationstudies. Even within this inter-paradigm debate, the fundamental point of difference isnot that there is no democracy in the region, which is an indisputable fact, but only that,given the conditions, it is reasonable to consider that states are in transition towards democracyor whether they are, as suggested by the opponents, moving towards autocracy. If onlythe success of these regimes, despite the fact that many of them suffered serious lack oflegitimacy, remains the fundamental premise of the paradigm of authoritarian resilience,then the fall of these autocrats cast a serious doubt on the validity of this paradigm. Ifthe paradigm of authoritarian resilience is being questioned, it does not mean vindicationof democratisation paradigm simply because none of the actors or prerequisites that itdeems indispensable are relevant in these uprisings. The fact that crucial actors like thetraditional opposition parties and civil society groups were as much surprised by the uprisingsas the ruling elites were is a clear indication that the former suffers from lack of legitimacyas badly as the latter.

Architecture of Surveillance Sat, Jan 4, 2014EPW, centralized monitoring system, polity, online censorship, Surveillance,

The media reports about the relentless snooping on a young woman by the Gujarat policeand intelligence agencies at the behest of a very high dignitary, the Radia tapes and thepetition on privacy before the Supreme Court (SC) filed by Ratan Tata all indicate intrusivesurveillance by the Indian state's agencies domestically. The new jewel in the crown isthe centralised monitoring system (CMS). Every call made either from a landline or mobilephone can be listened to and its location fixed. All text messages, emails and searcheson the internet can be collated and analysed. In April 2013, the United Nations' SpecialRapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expressioncited the Indian state's CMS as threatening to "take communications surveillance out ofthe realm of judicial authorisation and allow unregulated, secret surveillance, eliminatingany transparency or accountability on the part of the State". "Citizen Intelligence Network(CIN) allowing residents to participate actively in the intelligence gathering mechanismto help prevent terrorist strikes in the country" The Intelligence Bureau's (IB) officialstaff strength is not big but the number of stringers and informers it employs is huge. Snoopingis so endemic that a few years ago the finance minister feared that the home ministry wasmonitoring him! Such a policy seems eerily reminiscent of practices by the infamous EastGerman Stasi, an entity to which India had some of its closest intelligence ties during theperiod when it was close friends of the Soviet Union and its Council for Mutual EconomicAssistance (COMECON) satellites. The East German Ministry for State Security, better

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known as the Stasi, kept a close watch over East German citizens through the use of hundredsof thousands of formal employees and unofficial informants, to the point where virtuallyevery block of flats, office, factory, or anywhere people met together for leisure was hometo at least one Stasi informant (Cook 2011). The SC established privacy as a penumbralright, enshrined in the Constitution. Privacy is not explicitly listed as a fundamental rightbut is an essential component of Articles 19 and 21. Article 19 protects the right to freedom,although it states that it does not "affect the operation of any existing law, or prevent thestate from making any law, insofar as such law imposes reasonable restrictions on theexercise of the right". Article 21 establishes the right to "Protection of life and personalliberty", guaranteeing "No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty exceptaccording to procedure established by law". Despite debates on an inadequate and pendingPrivacy Bill (2011), India does not have legislation examining the right to privacy, particularlyin electronic communications, but over time the SC has recognised a qualified right toprivacy. On the other side, the government's surveillance powers were created by the IndianTelegraph Act (1885). The colonial legislation allows central and state governments tointercept messages if their content compromises public safety. Similarly, Section 69 ofthe Information Technology Act (2000) allows for exemptions to privacy protections ifthe content of the information otherwise protected compromises the sovereignty or integrityof India, defence of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states orpublic order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognisable offencerelating to the above or investigation of any offence. The Information Technology (Procedureand Safeguard for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules (2009),Rule 3 states no person can intercept, monitor or decrypt information, except by an orderissued by the competent authority. With regard to censorship, the Information Technology(Procedures and Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules (2009)blocks public access to computer information. The Rules emphasise that the Indian statecan restrict or prohibit access to information for reasons connected to state security andintegrity and positive interstate relations. In addition, Section 66A of the Information TechnologyAct as amended in 2008 establishes a punishment of imprisonment for a term that mayextend to three years for "sending offensive messages through communication service,etc". The information pertains to content that is "grossly offensive" or "has menacing character"or causes annoyance or inconvenience. Similarly, in 2011, the Department of InformationTechnology announced implementing rules which mandate online service providers toremove and restrict information which is "grossly harmful", "disparaging", "harmful tominors in any way", or "threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security, or sovereigntyof India". The overall legal framework has been criticised for affording to the state broadpowers of censorship and allowing the use of modern technology for surveillance purposes.This documentation corresponds to a recently released report by Index on Censorship inNovember 2013 documenting the increasing restrictions on online expression in Indiathrough online censorship, criminalisation of online speech, surveillance, and barriersto internet access (Patry 2013). he SC initially explored the right to privacy in the KharakSingh vs the State of UP (1962), AIR 1295, December 1962. The case involved police

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surveillance that included The judges were divided over the outcome of the case, withsome expressing a more expansive view of the right of freedom of movement from surveillancewhile the majority being more restrictive that only domiciliary visits were unconstitutionalbecause of the infringement of the right to freedom and that there was no general rightto privacy. The right to privacy, specifically the legal validity of wire or phone tappingand whether potential evidence is legally admissible was examined in Malkani vs Stateof Maharashtra (1972), AIR 157, 1973. The SC held that there was no violation of thepetitioner's rights in that case. The SC located the right to privacy as a constitutional rightin Govind vs State of Madhya Pradesh (1975), AIR 1378, 18 March 1975. It held privacyto be intrinsic to an individual's protection of life and personal liberty as enshrined inArticle 21. It is not absolute and can be "subject to restriction on the basis of compellingpublic interest. But the law infringing it must satisfy the compelling state interest test" This right was elaborated by the SC in the Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India (1978) .It held that while rights can be legally restricted by a procedure prescribed by the law,the proscribed procedure cannot be "unreasonable and arbitrary". Ultimately whether aright is improperly infringed upon turns on "whether the fundamental right is really involvedin a particular case and whether a restriction upon its exercise is reasonably permissibleon the facts and circumstances of that case". Laws infringing the right to privacy are subjectto judicial scrutiny and must be balanced against public interest. The International Covenanton Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (1966), Article 17 stipulates that "no one shall besubjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, norto attacks upon his honour and reputation". Centrally, "everyone has the right to protectionof the law against such interference or attacks". Somewhat more expansive, Article 8 ofthe European Convention on Human Rights stipulates, The European Court of HumanRights (ECHR) in X and Y vs the Netherlands (1985) held that the right to privacy containspositive and negative obligations: Any restriction on this right must fulfil a number ofrequirements: it must be in accordance with the law, have legitimate objectives and benecessary in a democratic society. In Kruslin vs France (1990) the ECHR examined surveillanceand held that "it is essential to have clear, detailed rules on the subject, especially as thetechnology available for use is continually becoming more sophisticated". In Kopp vsSwitzerland (1998) , the European Court held that to be in accordance with the law TowardsSurveillance India's creeping move towards surveillance and censorship should give usall pause and reflection, if for no other reason than to ensure that the country does not followthe path of the East German Stasi or the totalitarian state in George Orwell's NineteenEighty-Four . The edifice of a police state in India continues to be constructed brick bybrick and may be accelerating. There appears to be a slow, insidious security creep onall aspects of citizens' lives, even beyond the long history of abuses by unaccountableintelligence agencies that are not under the active control of Parliament, the Comptrollerand Auditor General of India or any other democratically accountable body.

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What Happened at the Bali WTO Meet and Why Sat, Jan 11, 2014bali, WTO, EPW, economics, trade facilitation,

The industrialised countries along with a group of advanced developing countries, includingChina, left no stone unturned in harvesting, at Bali, a WTO agreement on trade facilitation(TF), an agreement that is meant to simplify customs procedures and ease the flow of goodsacross borders. Although TF forms part of the Doha body, the manner in which it wasplucked out from the DDA single undertaking constitutes an important victory for theUnited States (US) and the European Union (EU). Without having to deliver on agriculture,which was to be the engine of the Doha trade negotiations, or the "developmental" benefitspromised to the least developed countries (LDCs), the trade elephants succeeded in pushingthrough a grand but grossly unequal Bali package. Without making any "payment" in theother two pillars - agriculture and development - of the Bali package, the industrialisedcountries have walked away with a prize that can allow them to close their eyes to theneed to rescue the larger 12-year-old DDA. The proclaimed goal of the first "multilateralTF agreement" since the creation of the WTO in 1995 is "to simplify customs proceduresby reducing costs and improving their speed and efficiency". In reality, the new agreementstreamlines market access in developing countries and LDCs, and further expands theWTO's remit into domestic policy governance. Azevedo, when he was the trade envoyrepresenting Brazil at the WTO, had argued that TF was nothing but market access forindustrialised countries. It is another matter that as the WTO chief he campaigned on awar footing for a binding agreement. The Bali declaration candidly admitted that thereare no legally binding outcomes in the agriculture and development pillars of the package.There are four issues - general services, public stockholding for food security purposes,understanding of tariff rate quota administration and export competition - in the agriculturepillar. And then, there is the issue of trade-distorting subsidies for cotton (provided mainlyby the US) that has been hurting some of the poorest countries in Africa and has not beenaddressed since the Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting of 2005 which called for an "ambitious,expeditious, and specific" outcome to help the cotton farmers in Benin, Chad, Mali andBurkina Faso. In the development and LDC areas, four issues have been pending since2005. They include preferential rules of origin for the poorest countries, operationalisationof waiver concerning preferential treatment to services and services suppliers in LDCs,duty-free and quota-free market access for these countries, and a monitoring mechanismon special and differential treatment flexibilities. None of these issues were comprehensivelyaddressed in Bali and nothing was treated on par with TF. Dividing Countries The Baliconference provided an early glimpse of what is likely to happen at the WTO. The run-upto the ministerial meeting as well as the proceedings at the conference brought to the foreseveral inconsistent practices that were adopted to divide the developing and LDCs, andprevent them from adopting common positions on TF and public stockholding programmesfor food security and other issues of interest to them. Focus on Trade Facilitation The 31-pageTF text basically prescribed how developing countries and LDCs While the industrialised

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countries are not required to make any legislative changes for these disciplines as theyalready have them in place, the developing countries and LDCs are required to make manylegislative changes as well as create new physical infrastructure. The TF agreement isstructured into two sections. Section 1 sets out all the new comprehensive binding disciplinesthat developing countries and the LDCs are required to implement. Section 2 containsthe road map for implementing commitments by these groups of developing countriesin Section 1, based on technical and financial assistance and a phased time frame. Thoughthe developing and the poor countries sought internal "balance" between the comprehensivebinding commitments in Section 1 and the provision of financial and technical assistanceto developing countries and LDCs, the language in Section 2 is ambiguous and non-bindingas regards the financial commitments by the industrialised countries.

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EPW January