Innholdsfortegnelse for July 11, 2016 i India Today

In 1967, when the Merger Treaty created the European Communities—still an amorphous idea that would later evolve into the European Union—I witnessed the developments as a college student in London. The idea of a unified Europe seemed an impossible dream at the time, considering how most of the nations involved had fought bitter wars in which millions had died. I was pleasantly surprised when it became a reality, and while internal divisions may have remained, it functioned successfully as an economic unit that allowed the free movement of goods, capital and people. There have been dramatic shifts in global politics over the last few decades. The world went from the height of Cold War to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, to the crumbling of the Soviet Union…

PIRATE WATCH Telangana information technology minister K.T. Rama Rao got US ambassador Richard Verma to launch the Telangana Intellectual Property Crime Unit that deals with copyright violations. Tollywood, which makes two films a week, claims losses of Rs 1,066 crore in 18 months because of illegal movie downloads. KTR has roped in the police and the state’s film industry to work with the US government. SHIFTING DEADLINE Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu’s desire to shift the state administration from Hyderabad to the interim government complex at Velagapudi in the vicinity of proposed capital Amaravati by June 27 has come a cropper. With none of the six blocks of the complex ready, Naidu was forced to relax the deadline for the 100-odd department heads to August. STRIKING A BALANCE That…

“EMOTIONS ARE RUNNING HIGH, BUT TIME AND THE LACK OF AN OIL PRICE REBOUND WILL PROBABLY KEEP BRITAIN TOGETHER” THE TRANSATLANTIC ALLIANCE, the US-European partnership of uniquely capable and like-minded allies, was in trouble even before the British voted themselves out of the European Union. With no Soviet-scale threat to hide important differences in their values and interests, the two sides have grown apart, and historic internal challenges have distracted US and European political leaders in recent years from opportunities to redefine the alliance’s value. US-European trade and investment ties will continue to fuel growth, though a proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership appears stuck in the mud. Russia’s Vladimir Putin has given NATO new life, at least for now, and it costs nothing for US and European leaders to…

“GLOBALISED ECONOMIES HAVE A PATTERN OF SHIFTING EMPLOYMENT— TYPICALLY FOR LESSSKILLED LABOUR— TO FOREIGN LANDS” WHEN THE BERLIN WALL fell in November 1989, Americans celebrated along with their allies in Britain and on the European continent. The Cold War would soon end—peacefully, as almost no one imagined it would. Four years later the Maastricht Treaty entered into force, creating the European Union and later the Euro. In Asia, China had begun its opening to the wider world, creating special economic zones along its coasts. India, in 1991, began economic reforms that gradually would bring its talented people and their products into the international economy. The global marketplace for goods and services was taking shape. In the first decade of globalisation, its champions asserted that the rising tide of economic growth…

“JAPANESE BANK NOMURA ESTIMATES THAT BREXIT COULD KNOCK INDIAN GROWTH FROM 7.6 PER CENT TO 7.3 PERCENT” BRITAIN’S UNEXPECTED vote to leave the EU is perhaps the most dramatic political event for the country since World War II. It is certainly the biggest shock to Europe since German reunification a quarter century ago. It presages simultaneous economic, political and constitutional crises in Britain that could persist for years. The vote laid bare stark class divisions, with poorer and less educated voters backing Leave, and even starker national ones, with Scotland overwhelmingly backing Remain. The open border between Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland (an EU member) is in doubt, putting at risk the hard-won Irish peace process. There is, in effect, no government or opposition.…

On June 27, at a quiet ceremony in New Delhi, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar signed India’s accession to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), making it the 35th member of this exclusive club. It was a triumph of sorts because the Regime was set up in 1987 to prevent India and other aspiring countries from acquiring the critical technology and material required to build nuclear-tipped missiles. What made India’s entry special was that China, despite several attempts, has still not been admitted as a member. Yet even as the diplomatic and scientific community in India rejoiced at the achievement, their celebrations and those of the Indian government were muted due to India’s recently rebuffed bid to become a member of another technology restraint regime, the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). The…

In the last two years, university campuses have emerged as the political nerve centres of the country. Down south, Rohith Vemula’s suicide on the University of Hyderabad campus brought the ugly undercurrents of caste and religious fault lines to the fore. In Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University became a battle zone between the followers of two conflicting ideologies. The debate veered from the sanctity of autonomy of educational institutes to fixing the maximum age for a PhD student in a university. But the first big battle, where the central government and the authorities of a university came in direct conflict was faced by Delhi University, the topper in 2016 India Today Group’s best universities study, conducted by the Nielsen Company. A visionary vice chancellor’s endeavour to introduce radical reforms in the…

For 18 years—the time it takes a newborn to reach adulthood, be eligible to drive, marry, vote—Anil Kumble was a constant in Indian public life, operating at a level of excellence that is rare across fields and disciplines. The most successful custodian of the country’s spin tradition, he is Indian cricket’s greatest match-winner, highest wicket-taker, and only the second man in history to capture all 10 wickets in a Test innings. Through this journey, he has been written off a few times, criticised more than once for “not turning the ball enough”, and not quite accorded the legendary status that Indian fans seem to reserve only for batsmen. But in spite of the highs and lows, ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments, the only time Kumble was ever truly nervous…

In one way, perhaps obliquely, The Gene is a story about families. Siddhartha Mukherjee beautifully illuminates the long, twisting path between this early incisive intuition in each of us—our awareness of heredity—and the remarkable grasp science now has of the manner in which biological traits are passed from parent to offspring. I remembered my father’s family. Each of us, old and young, without quite realising it, confronted from an early age a special, vital characteristic of the gene: dominance and recessiveness. Why do certain traits show up in some members of subsequent generations and not others? My grandfather had an eleventh finger. Hanging from the base of the little finger of his left hand was a small flap of coffee-brown skin, resembling a squished grape, that he refused to have…

In the year 2001, when theatre person Aamir Raza Husain staged Kargil in Drass, 12 kilometers from LOC, 1,100 shells from the Pakistani side greeted his production. “Guess they loved it too much,” he winks. Completely refuting the observation that he does only grand productions like Legend of Ram and Kargil, the 59-yearold Delhi-based director is quick to point out, “Have you forgotten about History of Taj and Teardrop in Time? See, for me the scale of the production is not important. I relate to anything that relates to theatre. I have reached a point where content is of paramount importance, the scale of the production just does not matter.” “THE STATE HAS NO BUSINESS SETTING UP ART SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES BUT SHOULD JUST FUND EMINENT INDIVIDUALS AND PRIVATE TRUSTS…

Interaction ASEEM CHHABRA “There are enough voices around here, filmmakers must start training their ears and listen to stories and not just repeatedly work on themes that have traditionally done well in the Punjabi market,” suggests New York-based Film Festival director and critic Aseem Chhabra who was in Chandigarh last month. Insisting that a film laboratory can go a long way in bringing out rich stories from the state, Chhabra elaborates, “There is no dearth of talent. Directors like Anup Singh and Gurvinder Singh are making internationally acclaimed Punjabi films. A script lab comprising some fine minds who can guide potential film writers will surely help.” A regular at film festivals across the country, Chhabra, was here on the invitation of Dikshant Group of Schools which had organised a screening…

JUNE 27, 2016 Mobile dating apps are changing the relationship landscape “Apps feed the addiction to mobile phones with their promise of forever-evolving and entertaining features. They are redefining the very trajectory of modern relationships and established norms of urban dating.” RAMESH SINHA, Gurgaon Own the Heritage of Yoga Shripad Yasso Naik is doing justice to the ministry of Ayush without fuss or controversy (Just Say Om). Modi’s endorsement has elevated yoga to a new level. We now need to institutionalise the teaching and training of yoga. A scientific system to certify trainers should be developed, including the awarding of degrees, just as in karate and other martial arts. The ministry must ensure that untrained ‘quacks’ don’t become ‘yoga trainers’. HARSH KALRA, via e-mail The Modi government has effectively created…

THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT BREXIT is a seminal event. That rare occasion when everything comes together to signal a major shift in international affairs and the way we organise and do things. It represents a turning point in the continuous trend of globalisation that we had seen for the last three decades. Everyone thought that globalisation had become a one-way street. Brexit has changed all that. Going back into recent history, there are both political and technological reasons for the world going down the path of globalisation. Among the major political events that set the course were the Grenada invasion of 1983, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Signalling the rise of democracy, theorists predicted the end of…

“IT’S NOT GLOBALISATION PER SE THAT IS TO BLAME FOR THINGS COMING TO THIS PASS. PUBLIC POLICY OR THE LACK OF IT IS THE REAL CULPRIT IN OCTOBER 2004, we were in the midst of negotiating an India-European Union Strategic Partnership. What were the elements of strategic convergence identified by the two sides? One, India welcomed a more integrated and united Europe which could play the role of a relatively independent international actor even though it would remain anchored in the western world. This would conform to India’s preference for a more multipolar global space for a bigger role befitting its emergence as a major power. Two, India saw a close affinity with a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-lingual plural democracy like the European Union as mirroring India’s own plural…

“TRADE AGREEMENTS STRUCK BETWEEN OTHER COUNTRIES AND EU WILL CEASE TO APPLY IN THEIR RELATIONS WITH UK” LET’S GET SOME THINGS out of the way immediately. I voted remain, and am hugely disappoin ted by the result. But, though close, it wasn’t that close. This was a referendum without a turnout threshold, without a percentage for victory other than a simple majority. It is advisory and nonbinding, but it is hard to believe any politician or party could get very far ignoring it. So, appealing though calls for a second referendum are; tempting though it might be to dismiss the choice; frustrating as it is to hear of people who regret how they voted, or that they failed to vote…this is the situation, and someone must deal with it. The…

“DECLINING SOCIAL SECURITY AND RISING UNEMPLOYMENT HAVE TRIGGERED A DEMAND TO ‘REGAIN CONTROL’” BREXIT, THE MOMENTOUS outcome, from a rarely used instrument—the referendum— will have significant implications not only for the United Kingdom but also for the rest of the Europe and, of course, for the Commonwealth Countries—India among them. As expected, this exercise was followed by a huge bombardment of analyses, explications and commentaries. However, in all this discussion, what we are probably missing out on is a trend that the so-called ‘developed world’ is now going through with the weakening of the welfare state. The prolonged recession, accentuated in 2008, is haunting the working classes in several European economies. The declining ability of the State to respond to growing unemployment, and declining social security support, including a squeeze…

The India Today Group’s best universities survey was conducted by the Nielsen Company to determine the ranks of universities across four categories—general (arts, science, and commerce), medical, technical and law. In the general category, only those universities which oer at least two post-graduate courses in each stream—arts, science and commerce— were considered. A formula based on a perception score (from a structured interview conducted among academic experts) was evolved. In the first step, a desk research was conducted to generate the list of universities for the survey. Secondary data sources such as the internet, published reports and the Association of Indian Universities Handbook were used. Suggestions from experts were also included. A comprehensive list of more than 200 universities was drawn up. In the second stage, semi-structured interviews were conducted…

How many educational institutes in this country can boast of former chief justices in its faculty? And not just chief justices from India, but those from other countries as well, who want to be part of the distinctive brand of legal studies that the university has created? Not many students in the country are fortunate to be part of classes conducted by such legal luminaries. Doesn’t that make us the best?” asks Prof (Dr) R. Venkata Rao, vice-chancellor, National Law School of India University (NLSIU), the premier institute for legal education in the country. The proud VC doesn’t stop there, rattling off figures to back his claims. “All the top 55 students of CLAT (Common Law Admission Test) every year choose NLSIU by default. We don’t ask them to join…

1 bn NO. OF ALBUMS SOLD WORLDWIDE 2,086 NO. OF WEEKS MJ’S SONGS SPENT ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS 4,458 NO. OF WEEKS MJ’S ALBUMS SPENT ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS $65 mn AMOUNT PAID BY SONY IN 1991 TO RENEW HIS CONTRACT $20 mn AMOUNT JACKSON EARNED FROM SELLING BROADCAST RIGHTS OF HIS DANGEROUS TOUR TO HBO 110 mn ALBUM SALES OF THRILLER MAKING IT THE TOP-SELLING ALBUM OF ALL TIMEAWARDS WON 211 NO. OF WEEKS THRILLER WAS NO.1 BILLBOARD SONG 13 NO. OF GRAMMIES 4.4 mn NO. OF TICKETS SOLD FOR THE BAD WORLD TOUR 3.5 mn NO. OF TICKETS SOLD FOR THE DANGEROUS WORLD TOUR 4.5 mn NO. OF TICKETS SOLD FOR THE HISTORY WORLD TOUR 35 mn ALBUMS SOLD WORLDWIDE IN THE 12 MONTHS FOLLOWING JACKSON’S DEATH 5,000/min…

RAMMYA ON HERSELF CHILL MANTRA Binging on South Indian food RELAXING Solo travels to the mountains NEXT ON THE AGENDA Learning mixed martial arts IF NOT A MODEL/ACTOR Fiction writer Post dinner and during the long drive in her new car, she says she is going to buy a convertible some day. She is told that she must, for then she would be able to borrow a piece of the sky. As timing would have it, before she can reply, her father calls to ask how an interview can last two and a half hours? She stops the car, shouts, and “Am I taking the interview? Why don’t you ask the guy who is, he’s with me only, should I give the phone to him?” He keeps the phone down.…

Europe against Austerity Fiscal conservatives look askance at Hollande and his Keynesian friends, believing it is no more sensible to try to defy the market than to defy gravity. It is the money markets that will make their judgement on whether a government is fiscally continent, by fixing the level of interest levied on new government borrowing. To defy the markets, Hollande must convince Merkel it is in her interest to allow the European Central Bank to bolster Europe’s fragile banks and buy government debt at a reasonable price. But Merkel has her own electoral problems. Next year, she must convince German voters she has protected both the European Union and the Euro, which hold the key to Germany’s continuing prosperity, while safeguarding them from what they consider reckless and…

“WHAT WE NEED IS A SEAT AT THE GLOBAL ‘HIGH TABLE’: ONE IS, AFTER ALL, EITHER AT THE TABLE OR ON THE MENU” AS BREXIT SHAKES THE foundations of the European Union, with right-wing parties in several European countries calling for similar referenda, it is no longer debatable that we have entered a period of sustained geopolitical volatility. Add to this, China’s negative stance at the NSG and in the UN counter-terrorism committee, Russia’s assertive role in Ukraine and Syria, and the rise of a xenophobic Donald Trump in the US, and we have all the ingredients for a troubled ‘new world disorder’. How should India navigate its way through this turbulence? The first and most essential ingredient of the answer is that India must know what it is seeking…

“INDIA’S NEGOTIATING STANCE STILL REFLECTS PROTECTIONISM. KAMAL NATH AND NIRMALA SITHARAMAN ARE NO DIFFERENT IN THEIR WTO STANCE” INDIA’S FOREIGN MINISTER Sushma Swaraj said India’s entry to the EU is through the UK. Clearly the entry door has been shut. This means she and her bureaucracy have not only to negotiate the economic relations with the EU sans the UK but also with UK for India’s various trade and investment treaties, thereby testing their knowledge, competence and diplomatic ski lls. However, the security issues relating to military bases and current location of nuclear arms in the UK that the US has to renegotiate have no direct bearing on India, although they may indirectly impact India’s trade and investment. In my view, the impact on India will be primarily economic and…

“BEIJING IS WORKING HARD TO ENHANCE MAJOR COUNTRY RELATIONS, ADOPT BENEFICIAL FOREIGN POLICIES TOWARDS NEIGHBOURS” THE YEAR 2016 MARKS the start of China’s 13th Five-Year Plan and its hosting the G20 summit, which will be a vital opportunity for the country to offer solutions to build a new, more cooperative and ‘win-win’ form of international relations. With the continual build-up of China’s comprehensive national strength, the international community has more expectations of China and increasingly expects to hear its voice and see its solutions. In the meantime, China’s relations with the outside world are undergoing profound change. What kind of foreign strategy Beijing will enforce and how it will respond to the anticipations of the international community are questions now very much in the spotlight. At the 70th Session of…

“NEW DELHI IS NOW LIKELY TO BE MUCH MORE HARDNOSED IN DEMANDING SUPPORT FROM OTHER POWERS” LAST WEEK, three significant though unrelated eve nts unfolded that are likely to influence the evolving global order and India’s role in it. The first was the dramatic and disastrous referendum, which will lead to Britain’s exit (Brexit) from the European Union (EU). The second was India’s quiet entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)—one of four clubs of the nonproliferation regime New Delhi is determined to join. Finally, there was the valiant, though ultimately unsuccessful, Indian effort to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG); although, with the appointment of a facilitator to the chair, the door remains ajar. All three provide opportunities and challenges for New Delhi to shape…

SONIA AND RAHUL GANDHI Swamy has a curious history with the Gandhis. He embarrassed Indira during the Emergency, making him a hero for the RSS faithful. But he thought of himself as a close friend of Rajiv. Sonia and Rahul, though, are the main targets of his ire. He filed the National Herald case in court, accusing them of criminal misappropriation JAYALALITHAA Swamy filed a case against her in 1996 for using her o.ce to amass disproportionate wealth. It resulted in a conviction and prison sentence for Amma, a verdict the Karnataka HC overturned last year. In 1998, Swamy claims to have brought her and Vajpayee together for a coalition agreement. A year later, he claims he brought Sonia and Amma together to destroy that same coalition P. CHIDAMBARAM In…

GUEST COLUMN With eight Indian universities in the top 100 and a total of 16 in the top 200 South Asian universities list, India has seen its best ever performance in the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2016. However, the reality is that we, as a country, still have a long way to go when it comes to quality higher education. India has the highest number of higher education institutes in the world. There are 26.7 million students enrolled in higher education institutes across the country. The government has a Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) target of 30 per cent by 2020. Our student enrolment number is likely to go to 40 million by 2020. This requires our higher education capacity to expand 1.5 times in five years. Clearly, we…

“Better if I talk less.” So says superstar Salman Khan. A little late in the day. His public remarks of June 21, that he feels like a “raped woman” in the wake of a gruelling shoot, have already done their damage. Before the dust settled down, Infosys techie Swathi has bled to death on a Chennai platform, with a crowd watching the spectacle. Add to this the rising trajectory of everyday cyber-crime harassments. And we are staring at an India where women’s participation in society has gone up exponentially, yet the social scenario needed to match up to her changing needs and expectations has not. Ours is a nation with deep-rooted gender biases and socio-cultural stereotypes, but faced with the challenges of globalisation. Dramatic shifts are taking place in the…

INDIAN TALKING MACHINE by Robert Millis Price Rs 5,353 A visually delightful peek into the seedy and charming world of Indian 78 rpm record collecting. The fruit of a year-long Fulbright fellowship— and an obsession—Robert Millis’s book is replete with close-ups of dusty shelves, grimy but entrancing interiors and countless vintage record labels. In a word, shellac-porn. There are also two CDs enclosed, loaded with a selection of favourite tracks from the author’s collection. Sadly, but appropriately, the book is already hard to find—a collectible. A HISTORICAL ATLAS OF TIBET by Karl E. Ryavec University of Chicago Press Price Rs 1,042 Pages 216 Tibet has had a rough time for the last half century. It deserves better. This handsome—no, gorgeous—volume does its bit to right some historic wrongs by cartographic…

HOW WAS THE WEEK? Good Dutee Chand The sprinter broke the women’s 100m national record twice in a day to qualify for Rio 2016 Bad Mary Kom India’s top pugilist failed to score a wild card for Olympics Gimme Hope Joanna Zeenat Aman is the latest to take to turn to the popular web series format as she appears in Love, Life & Screw Ups!!! As the happy-go-lucky and glamorous café owner Joanna, Aman will get to show her comic side. Joining her in the romcom will be Mita Vashisht, Dolly Thakore, Sonali Raut and Diandra Soares. STAR OF FIRE Mouni Roy’s shape-shifting act in Naagin and as host of So You Think You Can Dance have been enough to get her lucky in Bollywood. Wazir director Bejoy Nambiar is…

“YOUR HISTORY GETS IN THE WAY OF MY MEMORY” AGHA SHAHID ALI Writer Kishwar Desai has put on hold her new work, a book on early Indian cinema. She says that what she is doing right now is more important. As the Chairperson of the Partition Museum, which has been granted space at the historic Town Hall building in Amritsar, she is excited. “Everything is finally taking shape,” she says. It is important for her personally too. After all, while growing up, Partition was another family member. Always lurking somewhere in the shadows, its silence amplifying its presence. “Coming from a Partition family, I have heard stories where some people who disappeared were never talked about,” says the 59-year-old writer who conceived the museum project in early 2015 with four…

Like any other 13-yearold, Chandigarh-based Tushar Sarin loves Enid Blytons. And like any teenager, he can spend hours playing basketball. But unlike most people his age, Tushar will be competing with engineering graduates in making robots during India’s first and largest ever robotics show to be held next month in New Delhi. For someone who was bitten by the science bug ever since he was five years old, Tushar started his journey in robotics six months back with Chandigarh-based RoboChamps, a sister-concern of Robotics Education World, engaged in providing Robotics and Technology based education to young minds through schooling education in India. “Technology and its applications intrigue me no end. Initially, I concentrated on learning the elements of robotics. Then came circuit designing on breadboard. I researched a number of…