February 18. 2010

February 18, 2010

ü      Ruling out a composite dialogue in the near future, India on Wednesday told Pakistan that the coming meeting of the Foreign Secretaries could discuss all subjects but New Delhi will focus only on terror.

·         Resuming dialogue is always weighed down by anxiety over the outcome. But India and Pakistan need not worry. Nobody realistically expects too much out of tentative renewals.

·         But, are these talks important? Are talks and dialogue process the way to move forward

o    These talks are bright arches that hang over the treacherous skies of the nuclear neighbours.

o    It is a move that breaks the ice, presages hope, promises substance and sets the stage for road map and changes.

o    A military offensive has more cons than pros.

o    It is a welcome move by the Indian government to move ahead with the talks.

o    Sustainable peace is a not a prelude to concessions by either state. But it should signal the willingness for flexibility on key issues.

o    Apart from terrorism and Kashmir, there are a lot of issues that are of great importance some of them being water, the ethnic people, the resources, the trade between the two countries etc.

o    Terrorism is a disease that is affecting Pakistan also. War with India is not an option when people die in Pakistan.

o    The terrorists do not want the talks to take place and if we refuse to have a composite dialogue, we are playing into their hands.

o    Dialogue should lead to the construction of joint mechanisms for intelligence-sharing, best practices and optimal outcomes.

o    Terrorism cannot be tackled alone and possible plans should be shared across the table.

o    Mutual cooperation can be evolved only through dialogues.

o    Representation from Kashmir on both sides of the border is essential if the process is not to be seen as an exercise at appropriating real estate.

o    Pakistan and India together hold important roles in the rebuilding of Afghanistan and a dialogue process is the only way a favourable solution can be reached in the Afghan problem.

o    Four, the widespread anxiety in Pakistan over Indian dams on rivers that deplete the Indus downstream can actually be discussed in a permanent dialogue mechanism that can be established between the two countries, without prejudice to the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). Urgent planning is needed by both countries for conservation that is both sustainable and mutually acceptable.

o    Giving dialogue a chance is critical for taking Pakistan and India out of a bilateral cold war time-warp.

ü      The Supreme Court and the High Courts have the power to order a CBI probe without a State’s consent into a cognisable offence allegedly committed within the State’s territory, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held on Wednesday.

ü      Preview to the budget(Health and Education)

·         Taking a serious note of the non-allocation and under-utilisation of resources for various government schemes, civil society organisations have sought more funds for flagship schemes in the health and education sectors in the Union budget and steps to ensure utilisation of the funds allocated.

·         The Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability and Oxfam India said on Tuesday that there was a need for greater allocation for the flagship schemes in health and education, besides effective utilisation of the allocated funds, and better accountability in schemes meant for the uplift of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.

·         The overall spending towards education stagnated at 3.37 per cent. With only two years left for the Eleventh Five-Year Plan to end, the Centre has so far been unable to allocate even 50 per cent of the total outlays for such schemes as mid-day meal, strengthening of teachers’ training institutions and the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan.

·         Likewise, the total spending on health has been hovering over 1 per cent of the GDP.

·         Furthermore, the rate of utilisation of funds for the National Rural Health Mission, the Centre’s flagship programme, has been lamentable: while the Planning Commission had recommended a total outlay of Rs.89,478 crore for the programme during the Eleventh Plan period, the allocation made by the Centre in the first three years of the Plan period stood at Rs. 36,529 crore (a mere 40.8 per cent).

·         During 2007-08, fund utilisation under this programme was low in several States.

·         The major players involved in these sectors are looking forward for better allocation, utilization and accountability.

ü      Barack Obama suffered a setback to his green energy agenda on Tuesday when three major corporations — including BP America — dropped out of a coalition of business groups and environmental organisations that had been pressing Congress to pass climate change legislation.

·         The defections by ConocoPhillips, America’s third largest oil company; Caterpillar, which makes heavy equipment; and BP rob the U.S. Climate Action Partnership of three powerful voices for lobbying Congress to pass climate change law.

·         They also undercut Mr. Obama’s efforts to cast his climate and energy agenda as a pro-business, job-creation plan.

·         Officials from BP and ConocoPhillips said the proposals before Congress for curbing greenhouse gas emissions did not do enough to recognise the importance of natural gas, and were too favourable to the coal industry.

·         Opponents of climate change legislation said the departure of the big three companies had all but killed off Mr. Obama’s last chances of pushing his agenda through Congress.

ü      Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday maintained that it was the ‘carefully-designed' stimulus packages put together by the government in the wake of the global meltdown that led to a remarkable turnaround and the Indian economy may now witness a growth of 7.5 per cent this fiscal and over 8 per cent in 2010-11.

·         India’s growth rate over the past several years has been 9% in 2005-06, 9.2% in 2006-07, 9.6% in 2007-08 and 6.7% in 2008-09. For the past 10 years, click here.

·         Do you who are the top 10 nations in GDP growth in this decade. Click here.

ü  Ahead of budget presentation, labour unions are demanding that the Centre work out new industrial and labour policies so that more workers will get “job security” rather than continuing as contract labourers.

·         The unions also favour better social security schemes to rescue workers from the debt trap, and generation of more employment and opportunities for new investment.

·         The unions demanded that all stimulus packages should focus on employment retention and creation, and adequate remuneration should be ensured. The packages, if extended for 2010-11, must ensure that corporates do not lay off workers and resort to voluntary retirement, outsourcing and closure of factories.

ü      The Gujarat government has decided to partially relax its prohibition policy for visitors from outside the State by opening a special counter at the Ahmedabad domestic airport from where the air travellers will be issued a permit for buying and consuming liquor during their sojourn within the State.

ü      Top scientists and policymakers from leading national and international institutes on Wednesday issued a declaration calling on all nations to prioritise conservation of the earth’s multitude of plant, agricultural, forest and marine species or risk widespread hunger and accelerating climate change.

ü      A new National Bureau of Forest Genetics is to be established in Dehra Dun under the Indian Council for Forest Research and Education to help protect India’s diminishing forest resources, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has confirmed.

ü      The Environment Ministry has issued a show cause notice to the company building the Maheshwar Dam in the Narmada Valley after hundreds of affected people marched to the Ministry demanding rehabilitation.

·         According to the notice, if the company cannot explain why 80 per cent of construction is over even while rehabilitation efforts lag behind, the project could be closed.

·         Narmada Bachao Andolan co-ordinated the protest.

·         According to the NBA, the Maheshwar Dam will submerge the lands and homes of 50,000 to 70,000 peasants, fishermen and landless workers in 61 villages.

·         The dam is being constructed by Maheswar Hydel Power Corporation.

We would be soon updating the blog with the article on land encroachment.