IIPM News - Joota Maro Andolan

Machendranath Suryavanshi
Joota Maro Andolan

Machendranath has become an idol for people who either throw or approve of throwing shoes at corrupt babus and despotic leaders. When the Iraqi journalist hurled shoes at President George W. Bush months ago, a detachment from FBI flew down to India to question Machendranath as to whether he was any way connected to the incident or had inspired the Iraqi journalist. A resident of Latur district in Maharashtra, Machendranath started it when a corrupt official asked for money to transfer in his name the land that has been allotted to him. In no time, Machendranath started getting nationwide acknowledgement.

To give it a rather all-India feel, he shifted to Jantar Mantar in April, 2006. He has continued his crusade against corrupt bureaucrats since then. His demand is dismissal of corrupt officials. “When I came to Delhi three years ago, I was alone. Today, many organisations and individuals have lent me support and are in some ways or other associated with me. People who come to protest in Delhi offer me moral support,” says the man.

He has a future course of action prepared. “I am currently preparing a list of corrupt officials. And it will be followed by a shoe-lobbing spree,” he says rather candidly. Well, babus better watch out.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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More Fireworks!!!

India is still not ready to fight fire at large scale

The pink city of India was engulfed by fire on October 29. Thanks to the fire that broke out at the Indian Oil fuel depot. This massive fire at IOC’s Sitapura unit killed more than eleven people (the death toll is expected to rise, as search for the bodies are still on!) and led to a direct loss of Rs 500 crore. Not only the factory but the nearby areas also felt the heat. The fire was so intense that even the fire-fighters were unable to reach the ground zero and limit the loss. So much so, that the temperature of the site and its vicinity rose by staggering 7 degree celcius. Horrifyingly, neither the IOC’s fire fighting system nor the state’s fire-fighters were able to minimise the blaze.

This incident is not one of its kinds but actually is in line with numerous similar incidents that occurred in the recent past. Fire outbreak is not any jaw-dropping phenomenon but is actually an annual affair. To put things into perspective: how can one forget fire that enveloped the Haldia Petro’s naphtha plant in July this year resulting to a loss of over Rs 300 crore! Last year, more than 2000 shops were reduced to ashes at a wholesale market (Nandram market) in Burrabazar, Kolkata. The fire lasted for nearly a week despite the efforts by 300 firefighters. Almost every year, Burrabazar witnesses similar fire events. In another incident, in July 2005, number of people died due to fire outbreak in Mumbai High. A devastating fire at the ONGC platform at Mumbai High destroyed the Bombay High North platform, which used to produce 80,000 barrels of oil every day - boils down to 1,27,17,600 litres of oils every day!! As per industry estimates the financial loss was upto the tune of Rs 35,000 crore. Beside these major incidents, numerous other fire hazards happen round the year. Be it a fire explosion at cracker factory or the infamous fire at a Kumbhakonam school (killing 75 children) or oil pipeline blast in Assam or similar other events. Most of the accidents that happen are a result of human error and ignorance. Thus, in spite of state-of-art fire fighting techniques, these bizarre incidents takes place every now and then across the length and breadth of the nation. To minimise losses due to fire hazards, we must ensure that population are kept well outside the vicinity of these units - especially outside the vicinity of oil related units. But then, above all we must ensure and put in place a highly and comprehensive (encircling all possible units/departments of a company) fire fighting system to reduce the probability of such human-error-based-fire-hazard! Furthering this initiative, government must make these laws mandatory and legally abiding as well. Other wise many more similar incidents will lead to many more unwanted fireworks!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Chicken scam busted

Chicken traders involved in multi-crore tax rip-off

Chicken may become dearer in Kerala after the officials busted the multi-crore Nadupunni tax evasion fraud. The authorities cancelled registration of some 12 chicken traders after coming to know that they were issuing fake cheques towards advance tax in the guise of pay orders.

This will have an adverse impact on the local chicken market, resulting in spiralling prices. Kerala is the only state where tax is levied on chicken and they are mostly transported from Tamil Nadu.

The number of vehicles carrying poultry has been reduced after the Kozhinjampara incident. The police seized some trucks that were transporting chickens from Tamil Nadu through by-routes without paying taxes. The seizure was part of an operation to root out corruption at Naduppuni checkpoint on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border in Palakkad district and the Muthanga checkpoint in Wayanad. Some chicken traders, officials and fake document makers were involved in the tax rip-off.

The modus operandi was simple: Cheques were issued in the guise of pay orders and were handed over as advance tax for vehicles transporting chickens from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to Kerala. After that they were forwarded to the Treasury from where they were presented at State Bank of Travancore (SBT), Chittur, and then sent by post to Palakkad.

From there they were parcelled to the clearing house and then to the issuing banks. The process was cumbersome and would take 30- 45 days. This was exploited by the fake cheque mafia. Official sources say the SBT is to pay around Rs 16 crore to the government. The loss incurred by Muthanga checkpoint is reported to be Rs 8.5 lakh. The branch manager of the Chittur branch of State Bank of Travancore has already been suspended for not releasing cheques on time. Some 30 officials have been suspended.

Learning a lesson from the fraud, the government is now busy putting in a foolproof mechanism so that tax evaders can by fixed. Hoping to rectify their mistakes, the government has again introduced demand draft system for transportation of chickens through checkpoints.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Delhi set to charge the maoist Red rag

Operation Tri-Junction to involve 7,000 commandoes, pramod kumar reports

P Chidambaram is known for maintaining a regular report card of the ministry he is concerned with. More often than not, they reflect the real situation in the ministry. Therefore, it is not surprising that last week during a Cabinet meeting on security, he admitted that in the last three years, Naxalism has made its presence felt in as many as 20 states and 223 districts. Their spread runs through the jurisdiction of nearly 2,000 police stations. Calling it “a matter of grave concern”, the Union home minister also added that it will take anything between 11 and 30 months to considerably lessen their influence. In good measure, while complaining about non-cooperation from certain state governments, he also confirmed the finalisation of a new strategy to deal with this problem. It has been curiously named “Tri-junction”. The strategy includes planned deployment of Central forces in the affected region.

In the meeting, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was of the belief that strong-arm tactics alone will not work in this particular case. There is more to this matter than mere law and order or security, he added. Singh stressed that the Adivasis did not find themselves benefiting from the developmental projects and the trickle down effect has gone missing. This has led to a massive imbalance in the developmental index. He also inquired about the status report on the implementation of the provisions of Forest Rights Law. He was promptly told that the respective state governments did not take the matter as seriously as it was ought to be taken.

For example, as many as 2.5 million tribals from all over the country had asked for ownership right over land. Three years have passed from the day the demand was raised. Only half a million tribals have got ownership rights. The data coming in from West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh is startling and appalling at the same time. The Prime Minister was of the belief that if the state governments implemented the provisions of the law positively, it would help in considerably blunting the angst that tribal have against their respective state governments. It will, at least, make them view their governments as non-hostile entities. A meeting of all chief ministers has been called to discuss the nuances of the matter as also the roadblocks in the implementation process.

According to the minister of state at the PMO, Prithviraj Chauhan, the PM has directly intervened in matters concerning escalating incidents of violence by the Maoists. Talking to TSI, Chauhan stressed that on the matter of Maoism, the PM advocated a clear-cut strategy that is two-pronged. “He has made it amply clear that only policing won’t do and we need to make sure that tribals benefit from development. If tribals are happy, it will become extremely difficult for Maoists to lure them,” he said.

As far as the Centre is concerned, it has kickstarted the “Tri-Junction” programme which will include intense combing of the Naxalite-affected areas of Andhra-Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh, Orissa-Jharkhand-Chhattisgarh and West Bengal-Jharkhand-Orissa. Apart from the 40,000-odd personnel of Central forces, as many as 7,000 commandoes, specially trained by the Army in jungle warfare, will be deployed.

Heeding the special demand by the state governments, the Union home ministry has agreed on a sum of Rs 153 crore that will be used for modernisation of police forces. Chidam-baram has suggested to the chief ministers of West Bengal and Orissa to ask the Maoists to first renounce arms and then come forward for talks.

Former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh has also sent some suggestions to the PMO, citing his prior experience as a chief minister. The suggestions include amendment in the Forest Act of 1927 that will allow tribals to put their trees as mortgage items against loans. Another suggestion is amendment in the Mining Act of 1957 that will allow a share to the real owner, apart from the royalty rights of the current owners. Third and the most important is the change in the Land Acquisition Act that will assure regular monthly payment for few years to the tribals whose land are acquired. This is besides the lump sum payment they will receive as compensation. Talking to TSI, Singh confirmed that the Prime Minister has taken his suggestions positively and has forwarded it to the ministry concerned. Singh also stressed on strengthening of local bodies in the tribal belt.

On the other hand, CPM’s Mohammad Salim says that it will be callous to single out the West Bengal government for a dressing down. According to him, these incidents stem out of disenchantment and all the state governments have to work closely to deal with the situation.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Use of force a cardinal mistake

The govt has walked into the Maoist trap, writes dr. Sharit K. Bhowmik

The incidents in Lalgarh bring to light the chaotic situation created by the government in trying to control a handful of Maoists. The modern State is the most powerful institution because it controls all aspects of its citizens' lives. Moreover, it has the monopoly over the use of coercion. The State is therefore expected to provide a peaceful atmosphere where its citizens can live and work with freedom. Unfortunately, the reality is quite different.

The bloody outcome in Lalgarh confirms what I had feared in an article in the Bengali edition of this magazine just when Operation Lalgarh began. The State’s violence, I had written, would push common people into the Maoist fold. The State beats up, arrests and punishes people who may not be Maoists or even support them. Following their experience, they invariably start hating the State. The State walks into the Maoist trap.

Unfortunately, Left-ruled West Bengal looks after affluent people alone while its benevolent role towards the working poor becomes increasingly invisible. The State is oppressor to the toilers. In urban areas, slum dwellers and vendors know of the State and its officials as entities that extort money from them or frequently deprive them of their dwellings or their livelihood.

Over the years, especially post-liberalisation, the state has withdrawn from areas where it should have intervened. West Bengal is no exception. The public health system is in shambles as district hospitals do not have basic facilities. Poorer patients from the districts flock to state-run hospitals in Kolkata. The parallel private hospitals remain inaccessible to the working poor.

The education system has witnessed similar degradation. Government-run schools are in a mess. Most schools in rural areas do not have infrastructure, including school buildings, classrooms, furniture or even books and blackboards. Teachers are mostly appointed on the basis of their political affiliation. Imperatives like provision of drinking water, agricultural inputs to small farmers, irrigation facilities and land redistribution to the rural poor are shelved.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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State-less in west bengal

The Marxists have dissolved their own governance, says T. Bhattacharya

How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died? The answer, for once, is not blowing in the wind. This bout of pessimism stems from a figure close to 300 – the number of political killings in West Bengal since parliamentary elections were held this year. The last cases reported were from Khanakul in Hoogly district and Sashan in North 24 Parganas.

In fresh clashes in Nanoor in Birbhum district on November 3, where armed cadres of CPI(M) clashed with villagers in their bid to seize lost political control, scores of houses have been torched and at least 22 persons grievously injured. On November 4, while this magazine was going to the press, there were reports of fresh violence from Arambagh area of Hoogly. This culture of violence that has engulfed the state is unfortunately the contribution of the largest constituent of the Left Front state government, the CPI(M). Used to overarching hegemony for close to 32 years, during which the CPI(M) penetrated nearly every professional class and every sphere of people’s lives, the party simply can’t come to terms with the electoral reverses in this year’s polls. And like in the case of Singur and Nandigram, armed cadres are busy doling out retributive ‘justice’ to people who did not vote for the party. If the bullets of Nandigram had their effect on the Lok Sabha ballot boxes, the forecast for the 2011 Assembly elections is abundantly clear. The party, for the first time, is afraid of political disappearance from the state. The irony is that by sticking to desperate use of brute force, it is making a reappearance bid all the more difficult. The party satraps at AK Gopalan Bhavan may dabble in dialectics to substantiate the Marxist-Leninist character of the party but the cadres have taken to Mao. In the villages of West Bengal, CPI(M)’s ‘power comes from the barrel of the gun’.

For 32 years, the party had reaped benefits from politicising the state administrative apparatus down to the village level. But now, things have turned turtle. The administration is slipping wherever the party is losing ground. This has made the Maoists’ task easier. The CPI(M) party workers in Junglemahal (Bengal-Jharkhand-Orissa border) are today scared to carry out political activity. Resultantly, the administration has ceased to exist except in certain pockets.

Effectively, the region north of Siliguri town, i.e the Darjeeling Hills is not governed by the state government. The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha controls nearly all aspects of political governance there.

The most dangerous moment of an arbitrary system arrives when it tries to reform itself. And when it even fails to acknowledge the need for reforms and, instead, forces itself upon people, it withers away. West Bengal is a classic example in point - the State-less state of the State of India. Karl Marx had laid down the philosophical principles for withering away of the state. Marxists in Bengal have realised it in practice.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Omar’s losing battle

The multiple challenges facing Omar Abdullah – external as well as internal – threaten to cut short the tenure of J&K’s youngest chief minister, reports Zubair A Dar

The Jammu and Kashmir cabinet expansion this week – six months after Omar Abdullah took over as the state's chief minister – exposed all the cracks in the Congress-National Conference coalition. The first embarrassment for Omar came when pradesh Congress committee chief Saif-u-Din Soz addressed a news conference to announce the portfolios allotted to his party men. The move may have prevented further erosion, but it also strengthened the general impression of Omar being a weak chief minister. Soz’s insistence that Omar had been “taken into confidence” did nothing to repair the damage that had been done.

It is already known that Soz has reported Omar’s interference in the J & K government affairs to the Congress high command. Insiders say that Soz, who left the National Conference after voting against his party whip in Parliament – thereby leading to the fall of the Vajpayee government – preferred the People’s Democratic Party to the National Conference. Former J&K chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, on the other hand, prefers the NC. All this has been hurting the Omar Abdullah-led coalition .

“The Congress is not being reasonable,” believes Professor Gul Mohammad Wani of the Political Science Department at Kashmir University. “The rift between the Soz and Azad factions is spoiling Omar’s chances.” It greatly adds to the challenges that Omar has faced in the past six months as chief minister of this “difficult” state, which lately has seen further deterioration of the human rights situation. “There is a very strong impression that things are not going according to plan. In the beginning the perception was that the clean Omar carried no baggage and had a vision for his state,” says Wani. “But at this point Omar is mired in all kinds of confusion.”

The violence that has rocked Kashmir valley over the last two months, following the rape and murder of two women in the south Kashmir town of Shopian, and the death of four youngsters in police firing in Baramulla, have been giving the Omar Abdullah administration sleepless nights. By the time Omar responded by withdrawing the CRPF from the town, the situation had gone completely out of control – a fact of which the opposition PDP took full advantage.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Corrupt politicians on the run

Vigilance heat mounts on former Jharkhand ministers

Jharkhand’s corrupt politicians who have been merrily lining their pockets over the past nine years are about to receive their comeuppance.

Vigilance cases have been filed or are about to be filed against one former chief minister, half a dozen ex-ministers, a sitting MLA and a Union Cabinet minister. Although the action against these corrupt politicians may mean little to the people of Jharkhand, it might serve to restore their faith in the process of justice.

Even as Jharkhand languishes at the bottom of the development ladder, its corrupt politicians have been on the take ever since the state was formed. But the past has begun to catch up with them. Two former Jharkhand ministers, Enos Ekka and Harinarayan Rai, are already in the dock. Vigilance cases have been initiated against former chief minister Madhu Koda and four members of his Cabinet, Kamlesh Singh, Bandhu Tirkey, Bhanu Pratap Shahi and Nalin Soren.

MP from Ranchi and Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay is also in the vigilance net. With the exception of Nalin Soren, all the others have been accused of amassing wealth disproportionate to their known sources of income. Enos Ekka and Hari Narayan Rai, both of whom are absconding after issuance of arrest warrants against them, misused their office to buy properties from Assam to Jaipur, and from Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram.

A member of the vigilance team that went to inspect an under-construction building owned in Ranchi by Ekka reported that he would not be able to assess the exact value of the property because he hadn’t ever seen some of the gadgets installed there.

Similarly, Madhu Koda and his erstwhile Cabinet colleagues face charges of criminal malfeasance. Vigilance proceedings are expected to be initiated against them soon. Nalin Soren, who was agriculture minister in Koda’s Cabinet, is involved in a departmental scam. A criminal complaint has been filed against him.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Destabilisation 2.0

Media monitoring groups reveal how global – particularly western-media outlets have deliberately twisted facts, misled and lied about recent events in Iran. Saurabh Kumar Shahi investigates.

Witness this. An election is held in a nation that refuses to toe Washington’s line of approach. Western media projects a “wave” blowing in favour of a certain candidate who is seen as pro-Washington. On the day of counting, social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube releases “results” hours before the actual announcement and declare their candidate victorious. The more time it takes to declare the actual result the more is it projected as “efforts to sabotage” results. The western news agencies report it and the same report is re-published in millions of newspapers around the world. Welcome to Destabilisation 2.0.

It is no secret that the western powers have been operating destabilisation programs for decades in order to oust far-off, democratically chosen regimes that don't capitulate to their whims. Iran too had its share of such onslaughts. However, with the advent of new media, things have changed for worse. “Although there is a perception that western media is independent, it is not so. The difference is, in the East there is government censorship and in the West there is corporate censorship,” says Mark Mazzetti, a senior analyst with The Times, while talking to TSI. For example, in the entire stretch of 20th century, BBC and CNN have not opposed actions by their respective governments that are considered illegitimate by International community – Nuking Japan, Vietnam War, Falklands war, Coup in Iran and South America to name a few. In the same light, it is ironical how state run media in other countries are called “non-independent” and BBC as independent when BBC is funded by the British government.

It was no different in Iran. Startling revelations about conduct of media and its dependence on social networking sites have appeared as dust has settled. Let’s discuss it one by one. The first one is about BBC. During the entire unrest BBC failed to show pro-Ahmadinejad and pro-Khamenai rallies prominently. The pro-Mousavi rallies got all the coverage. But on 17th June, it did the unspeakable. It published a Getty Image of pro-Ahmadinejad rally with the caption saying “Pro-Mousavi rally”. It conveniently cropped the part that showed Ahmadinejad addressing the supporters. The actual image was published in LA Times. When caught, BBC tendered apology and changed the caption to “Both sides held rally”. Ahmadinejad’s name was conspicuously still missing.


Similarly, relying on the Twitter feed, in a separate story, it also claimed that “Nearly three million Mousavi supporters participated in the rally.” Independent sources put the number at few hundred thousand.

It is interesting how Twitter mislead mainstream media that otherwise feel proud of their professionalism. CNN, for example, broadcast an interview with a so-called anonymous “bystander” of June 24th protests in Tehran’s Baharestan Square, with the aim of portraying Iranian security forces as rogues. CNN claimed that its “regular Twitter informer” said there has been a “massacre” at Baharestan Square. CNN tried to confirm it by the subsequent interview. It was broadcasted promptly. As it happened, other media organisations released video of that day’s protest including Press TV. The video showed no baton attack leave alone firing and “massacre”. It was later revealed that the woman “bystander” actually called from Paris with the call routed via Tehran! CNN tendered apology shortly. On the other hand, a Saudi owned satellite TV actually showed how to make a Molotov Cocktail.

In fact, a cursory view on the Twitter accounts that were spreading “news” about Iran protests signals possible involvement of Israeli and CIA operatives. Thousands of Tweets and retweets claiming that the vote was a fraud, calling for dissent in Iran, and even urging supporters to hack different Iranian news websites, filled the cyberspace. Most of them were retweets that carried the Tweets by three major participants – StopAhmadi@twitter.com, IranRiggedElect@twitter.com, Change_for_Iran@twitter.com. The search for the address gave a link to, surprise surprise, The Jerusalem Post, an Israeli pro-Zionist newspaper. In fact, Jerusalem Post actually ran the story about 3 people "who joined the social network mere hours ago have already amassed thousands of followers." Why would a mainstream newspaper post a story about 3 people who “Just Joined Twitter” hours earlier? Is that newsworthy? In fact, Post was the first and the only news source that talked about these 3 spammers. And mind you, it was three days before Iran stopped foreigners to report from streets. Why would you need Twitter before that?

Now take a cursory look on these spammers. All of them have very few “friends” but lots of “followers”. They all created their Twitter accounts on Saturday, June 13th, on the eve of results. With extremely few exceptions, each was posting in English and approximately half of them had the same profile photographs. “It is not hard to see that these were fakes and originated from Israel rather than Iran. It is hilarious how all these posts are in English when extremely few people know the language in Iran,” says Alexander McNabb, an analyst with Media Monitoring Group while talking to TSI.

When exposed, The Jerusalem Post quickly edited the story and removed the names. However, screenshot of the previous story was saved.

There is ample proof that most of these so called Iran feeds on Twitter were generated outside Iran. During the outrage, as many as 3000 Twitter members changed their location and time-zone to Tehran and GMT +3:30 respectively. Twitter admitted the sabotage. Twitter CEO Evan Williams says, “People did change their locations.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Some bumps ahead but not a dead end

plagued by labour unrest, auto majors in INDIA May have cause for worry, yet doubts about the country's capability to be a global hub are unfounded, reports Pawan Chabra

For the global automotive industry majors, India has for a long time been a favoured driveway. With companies like Hyundai, Toyota and even Ford choosing this country as their manufacturing hub, the sector is enjoying one of its best growth phases ever. However, one cannot deny that this is a labour intensive industry and it has hence been buffeted by recurring incidents of labour unrest in the country. Industry watchers claim that India (which is currently the second largest two-wheeler market in the world after China) is well on course to becoming the seventh largest passenger car market worldwide (currently the eleventh largest) by 2016. However, the current labour problems that are looming large over companies like Rico, Honda Motorcycle and Scooters India Limited (HMSI) and Sunbeam in the Gurgaon-Manesar belt have once again ignited the debate on whether India can indeed grow into a major hub for automotives in such a scenario. The billion-dollar quation to be asked is: will such incidents slow down the growth of the Indian automotive industry in the long run?

The problems started with the strike at HMSI’s plant when the majority of the 5,500 workforce decided to launch a 'go- slow' in August. As a result of the action, production at the HMSI plant dropped by over 50%. HMSI filed a petition in the court threatening to take its operations out of India. In fact, the company has stopped taking orders for some of its models with the back-order touching 1.4 lakh units leading to a production loss of over Rs 300 crore for about 75,000 units of two-wheelers. Similarly, Rico, which supplies to giants like Maruti Suzuki and Hero Honda (market leaders in their respective segments) has been facing severe labour problems for the past one month. At present almost 95% of its 3,500 workers are on strike.

The protest became dangerous after a worker, Ajit Kumar Yadav, 26, died when police fired on agitating employees of the auto component manufacturer. In fact, the auto belt in the region of Gurgaon-Manesar was rocked by the industrial unrest that had been simmering for the past few months. About 8,000 workers walked off their jobs as the Communist Party of India-affiliated trade union, All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) mobilised a protest against the death of the worker. The picture gets clearer when one looks at the issues from the workers’ point of view. “We are fighting here for our rights and the management has no right to exploit workers,” asserts Chander Jeet Singh, a member of the Rico’s employees union. “After all, it is also in our interest to keep our jobs. We didn’t do this to threaten the management,” said another worker protesting against the company.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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On a downward spiral

It is extremely difficult for a sensitive Tamil to be “objective” and “dispassionate” about recent happenings in Sri Lanka. At the end of the Fourth Eelam War, when the war against the Tigers degenerated into a war against Tamil civilians, many of us were demanding that the government of Tamil Nadu should impress upon the government of India to immediately mobilise international opinion and work out a mechanism, acceptable to both Colombo and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), to rescue Tamil civilians from the war zones and escort them to “safe havens” manned by UN organisations. During this worst period in Tamil history, India did not come to the rescue of the Tamils trapped and subjected to savage bombing by the Sri Lankan Air Force. On the question of the rehabilitation of the Internally Displaced People, herded like cattle in the Manik Farm, without proper food, medicine and water and denied the basic right of freedom of movement in their own country, our plea for speedy rehabilitation has fallen on deaf ears. Tamils in Tamil Nadu are helpless and we feel let down that the self-proclaimed champions of overseas Tamils have developed feet of clay.

The degeneration of Sri Lanka from one of the torchbearers of social and human development into one of the most notorious killing fields of the world is a direct offshoot of the failure of nation building. The Mahatma once said the greatness of a nation depends upon how well it treats its minorities. The attempt to build the nation on the basis of the language and religion of the majority Sinhalese community, excluding all just claims of the minority groups, led to gradual parting of ways. The violence of the militants was met by the savage counter-violence of the state. Fanned by intolerance and self-righteousness, political assassinations became common.

When the ethnic conflict started in 1983, many of us justified the violence of the Tigers as a natural response of a victim against an oppressor. But gradually the civilian population became victims of savage acts of terrorism; the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in May 1991 created a big divide between Velupillai Prabhakaran and what should have been his support base in India. Other dastardly assassinations followed – Amirtalingam, Neelan Truchelvam, Lakshman Kadiragamar, Ketheeswaran – which created a sense of revulsion among one-time supporters of the Tigers.

If one takes an overview of Sri Lankan history, the victims of assassination were not merely Tamils, but also Sinhalese leaders. And among the heads of government who were assassinated in Sri Lanka, two are extremely important – Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike and President Premadasa – because both represent two distinct turning points in modern Sri Lankan history.

Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike was the first Sinhala leader to transform elite politics into mass politics. This Oxford-educated scholar gave up his western dress and Christian religion and championed the cause of the vernacular elite, traditional Buddhism, Sinhala language and literature.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Remembering Indira

A quarter century after her assassination, the legacy of Mrs Gandhi lives on in the nation's political arena

“She put Nixon in his place”

The man who served in the Prime Minister’s secretariat during Indira Gandhi’s early years at India's helm assesses her achievements and enduring legacy

I am committing the ultimate act of immodesty by quoting from one of my books: “So often Indira Gandhi is depicted as solemn and serious. Seldom is it mentioned that this graceful, sparkling, engaging human being was a caring humanist, a voracious reader, with wide-ranging non-political interest, that she was endowed with charm, elegance, good taste, that she enjoyed the company of artists, authors, poets, painters and the talented, that she had a sense of humour…” When she was assassinated on October 31, 1984, the spring went out of my life.

I had the great opportunity to work in her secretariat (not PMO at the time) from 1966 to 1971. I was the first member of the IFS to be personally chosen by her to be a member of her staff. At the time Prime Minister’s secretariat was a small, well-knit unit. Esprit de corps was much in evidence. One interacted with the Prime Minister almost on a daily basis. She was in many ways a liberating force. She approved of candour, humour, loyalty, discretion. She had no time for the pompous, the cautious, the calculating and the pretentious. The pompous were deflated by one severe look that reduced the man/woman to (metaphorically) asking for blood transfusion. The collapse was instant.

How do we assess her achievement after a quarter century? Her great father laid the foundations of a democratic, secular, pluralistic India. His daughter strengthened the foundations and carried his idea of India further. During the seventeen years of Nehru’s term in office only once the green lights turned red – 1962. For her, the angels stopped fluttering in 1975 – Emergency – and 1984 – Operation Bluestar.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Going, going. Gone?

The only party in Assam, that not only gave the Congress a run for its money but also defeated it in two Assembly elections, the Asom Gana Parishad, seems to be on its deathbed, Monalisa Gogoi writes

For the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the issue is no longer about winning elections. The party, that defeated the mighty Congress in two Assembly elections, is suffering from bitter internecine conflict. The results of the vicious infighting are beginning to manifest. The AGP seems on its deathbed, having lost 10 straight elections at various levels, a party with which no one wants to stay anymore. The crutch of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), that, it had hoped will help it to stay on its feet lies broken, with the national party having reaped more benefits from the desperate marriage.

The latest to quit the party include former AGO general secretary and former general secretary of the powerful All Assam Students’ Union (Aasu) Prabin Boro and Phani Pathak, an AGP candidate in the last Assembly polls. The reasons for departure can be traced to the fact that the AGP has failed to deliver on just about every front, economic, political and regional. While it was in power, it did nothing to address the foreign nationals’ problem in the state, an issue that had got them elected in the first place.

“I was made the spokesperson of the party and yet not allowed to speak to anyone. Senior leaders questioned my abilities,” says Boro, who, unlike many of his Bodo community, chose to join the AGP, even when Bodo factions set up their own militant and political fronts thereby wiping out the AGP’s presence from such areas. The Bodo People’s Front (BPF) eventually became a part of the current ruling Congress coalition. “The AGP,” says Boro, who has now joined the BPF, “is now a club. They have no place for young leaders and that is the main cause of the decay. The AGP’s losing spree is the result of the decisions of its leaders.” The problem is endemic. “I now keep myself confined to Tezpur,“ says Brindaban Goswami, a former president of the party, and MLA from Tezpur, who at one stage had unseated Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, the former Aasu president who later headed two AGP governments. “No one looks for me anymore,” Goswami now says, having handed over the reins of the party to current president Chandramohan Patowary, who, too, has had a disastrous run, leading the party from one defeat to another. Scores of grassroot cadres in districts such as Sonitpur and North Lakhimpur have abandoned the AGP in search of greener pastures. Having lost the last Lok Sabha elections, Arun Sarma, a two-time parliamentarian, is now back as professor at the Veterinary College in Guwahati.

Attempts to improve the situation now verge on the desperate, if not ridiculous. The only change that has been visible in the AGP during its downslide is the direction of the main gate at its headquarters. When Mahanta was around, it faced the east. During Brindaban Goswami’s time, it was changed to the north. Now, with Patowary, it is back to the north after having been changed to the east once in between. In the absence of political acumen, it is now Vaastu that now rules the precincts of the AGP headquarters. Phani Bhushan Choudhury, a senior leader who, in October, 2008, fought tooth and nail to unite the various factions of the AGP — Mahanta’s AGP (Progressive) and senior rebel leader Atul Bora’s Trinamool Gana Parishad (TGP) — before the Lok Sabha elections responds by disconnecting the phone when asked about the AGP’s current Vaastu manifesto.


“Every leader has his choice,” explains Apurba Bhattacharjee, a party general secretary. An unnaturally thin gathering of party cadres at the head office on the AGP’s foundation day this month is just an indication of where the party stands with the people in the state. Having ruled the state through two terms, the party now has 24 seats in a Legislative Assembly of 126. Its regional base among indigenous communities such as the Karbis, Bodos, Misings, and the tea garden workers’ community is all but gone, with most communities having successfully formed their own political fronts. Repeated attempts to contact Patowary for an estimate of affairs in the party failed, the staple answer being, “I’m in a meeting.”

It’s tragic for a party that 856 students had died to set up. They laid down their lives in the six-year-long Assam Agitation under Aasu leadership in the 1970s and ‘80s. Just about nothing seems to be able to stem the decay that now eats into the very core of the AGP. First came the vertical split in the party and forming of the Natun Asom Gana Parishad (NAGP) in 1990-91 by Bhrigu Kumar Phukan, a close associate of Prafulla Kumar Mahanta. After the two factions came together in 1994, came the expulsion of Prafulla Mahanta who, then, formed the AGP (P) about five years ago while Atul Bora formed the TGP. It was only a year ago that the factions came together to fight under the AGP banner. The Purbanchaliya Lok Parishad (PLP), a respected political group too joined the AGP, thanks to the efforts of a few who wanted a united Opposition in the state. Yet the Lok Sabha elections proved disastrous, one that is widely blamed on the AGP’s lack of courage to go it alone. The right-wing BJP walked away with four seats while the AGP was left with one.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Blindsight: Yoga and Islam

Rajaque Rahman, a devout Muslim, is a former journalist now engaged in teaching yoga-based spiritual programmes, as part of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation. To him, both – Yoga and Islam – have common goals…

Recent fatwas forbidding Muslims from doing yoga have left many confused about what Islam really says about it. Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council and Indonesian Ulema Council’s edicts on the ground that yoga will erode their faith in the religion reflect a complete ignorance about the discipline of yoga.

As the Quran and Hadith have nothing specific that deign the practice of yoga haram, the ulemas based the ruling on their own concocted fear of supposedly ‘Hindu’ elements of yoga destroying the faith of a Muslim. The best way to allay their fear is to look at the Hindu philosophy on yoga and see how and where it contradicts the tenets of Islam.

Yoga simply means uniting with the self. Maharishi Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras starts by calling itself an enunciation in union. The asanas, the practice of which is the focal point of these fatwas, are just one way of attaining that union. Is striving for such a union with the self against Islam? It cannot be. For, Prophet Muhammad has said, “He who knows his own self knows his Lord.” So anything done in pursuit of knowing the Lord will count as a meritorious act of following the Prophet. So yoga as a spiritual pursuit is very much permissible in Islam.

The best explanation of why yoga is not just permissible, but also desirable for Muslims is to be found in the second sutra of the Yoga Sutras. Yogas Chitta Vritti Nirodhah. It means yoga is stopping all the modulations of the mind. Ceasing all the outward activities of the mind and reposing in Allah is the ultimate goal of Islam. Prophet Muhammad said, “I have a time with God to which even Gabriel, who is pure spirit, is not admitted.” Hence, the soul of prayer is a complete absorption, a state without room for any outward thoughts which is also the ultimate purpose of yoga. So doing yoga asanas as a means of attaining a thoughtless state will qualify as the highest form of ibadat (prayer).

This leaves only one ground for orthodox mullahs to frown at yoga: that yoga stems from polytheist beliefs of Hinduism. But when yoga means union, how can it be linked to polytheist beliefs? In fact, yoga takes one away from polytheism and leads to Advaita, which is in perfect agreement with the Islamic doctrine of tauhid (oneness of God).

It’s universally proven that yoga brings peace of mind, and on that count yoga is almost obligatory for Muslims. For the Quran says, “The only religion with Allah is Islam.” As Islam means peace, peace of mind is a prerequisite for one to be truly following Allah’s only religion.

Outweighing all these synergies of yoga is the discomfort among Muslims in chanting certain sounds, particularly Om which generally forms a part of yoga. This uneasiness is caused again by lack of knowledge about what Om signifies and why it’s chanted. Contrary to the general misconception, Om isn’t a name of a God or a prayer to a particular God. Om is a universal sound that is chanted for its effect in harmonising one’s being and creating peace within and without. The vibration the sound creates has the power to take one to that state of complete absorption which Prophet Muhammad mentioned as his time with God. That’s why Om and other similar sacred sounds such as Aameen and Amen are normally chanted at the time of supplicating before God. Hindus chant Om before praying for peace, Muslims and Christians chant Aameen and Amen respectively after seeking blessings from God. This proves that the accent is on the resulting state of harmony which helps one connect with God easily.

So doing yoga with the sole intention of attaining a thoughtless state so that one can connect with Allah wouldn’t make one a bad Muslim.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Frontline waziristan

After smoking out terrorists from Malakand, the army launches operations in Tehreek-i-Taliban stronghold

The audacious attack on the well-protected General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi in broad daylight on October 10 was symbolic in the sense that it sent a clear message that terrorists can strike anywhere in Pakistan with impunity. But it also prompted the Pakistan army to initiate the long-awaited operation against well-entrenched al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in South Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan.

Backed by jet fighters, as many as 28,000 Pakistani troops made a three-pronged attack on the stronghold of slain Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Baitullah Mahsud in South Waziristan on October 17 and reportedly killed 78 militants within three days. The army claims to have captured important strategic heights in the mountains. But the Taliban, who claim not to have lost a single fighter, say they have killed more Pakistani soldiers than the nine reported by the army. Verification is not possible because neither foreign nor local media have been allowed to enter the war zone so far.

Strangely enough, the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) forces vacated more than half a dozen key security check posts on the Afghan side of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border just ahead of the Pakistan army’s operation code named Rahe Nijat against the militants, reported The News, Pakistan’s national English daily.

The move has led to speculation that it will facilitate Afghan Taliban in crossing over to Pakistan, strengthening the local Taliban and al-Qaeda. The army has set up five bases in the region near the Afghan border to try to seal off the Taliban’s main stronghold.

While on one hand, the US leadership is all praise for the operation launched by the Pakistan army; it is trying its best to save the skin of Nato forces even at the cost of creating trouble for Pakistan.

It also implies that since the US has provided more than $5.6 billion in military assistance to Pakistan since 9/11, it perceives that essentially it’s Pakistan that has to bear the brunt of “war on terror” in this part of the world.

“The success of Waziristan operation directly depends on the nature of security arrangements in Afghanistan. If the reports about removal of Nato forces from Afghan borders are true, the entire Waziristan operation will be affected and it will put a very big question mark against American interests towards its professed campaign against terrorism in the region,” Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmed, chairman, Pakistan Study Centre, University of Karachi, told TSI.

But Tauseef Ahmed Khan, professor of Mass Communications at the Federal Urdu University of Karachi and a leading political analyst, argued that the report regarding removal of Nato check posts from Pakistan-Afghanistan border might be planted by the establishment.

“The way hawks such as former ISI chief Gen. (retired) Hameed Gul are talking of removal of Nato check posts from Pakistan-Afghanistan borders points out that there is something fishy,” he said.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on October 19 made it clear to Commander, US Central Command, Gen.David Petraeus that as Pakistan was engaged in South Waziristan, infiltration from Afghanistan into Pakistan should be checked by the US and Nato forces.

The Pak PM said his country was fighting on two fronts — Malakand and now in South Waziristan. “While it has won in Malakand, Pakistan is poised to strike a decisive blow to terrorists in South Waziristan. But it has to do more for the socio-economic development in the affected areas to address the root causes of terrorism and economic deprivation of the people,” he has been reported to have told the US general, who called on him at the Prime Minister's House.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Is overkill killing cricket?

It is a game we swear by. but with a frenetic tournament or series unfolding every month, spectator interest is beginning to flag. the writing’s on the wall: excess doesn’t always spell success

The golden goose is bleeding

The often back-breaking and soul-destroying pyrotechnics of Twenty20, could turn out to be a game-changer that world cricket can do without, writes satish chapparike

As Team India takes on the world’s number one-ranked ODI outfit led by Ricky Ponting in a seven-match series at home, will all eyes be on Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s boys? Well, we can’t be sure. The appeal of an Australia-India clash in the one-day cricket arena is immense no doubt, but too much of a good thing can prove counter-productive. Cricket overkill is beginning to take a toll on spectator interest.

Both sides are somewhat depleted owing to injuries picked up by key players in the course of proliferating tournaments. The Indian team in particular has the looks of a recovery ward of a general hospital. Aggressive openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag and dashing all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, a crucial trio, are coming off injuries.

And what’s happening in Sachin Tendulkar’s body and mind? Only he himself has the answer. He is not getting any younger. Although he still pulls more than his weight in the side, he is far more injury-prone now than he has been ever before in his long, illustrious career.

Consider Dhoni's case. He is the busiest player in world cricket today. Since November last year, he has played five Test matches, 25 ODIs and eight T20 internationals, all of them as captain. In between, Dhoni played in the domestic Challengers and Corporate Trophy tournaments. That apart, his calendar is overflowing with non-cricketing commitments. He is at present the most sought after brand ambassador in India and the market loves him. Money is flowing into his bank account all right, but it is pushing him to the verge of snapping point..


Then we have younger players like Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma in the middle order. Though both are talented, neither has lived up to his billing yet.

Among the bowlers, pace spearhead Zaheer Khan is out of action. Munaf Patel is returning from a long lay-off. Irfan Pathan has gone into a limbo. And the temperamental Sreesanth has all but vanished from the scene. This has left the selectors with rather limited options: Ishant Sharma, R.P. Singh, Ashis Nehra and Praveen Kumar. The quartet looked all at sea during the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa.

“Too much of cricket is having a negative impact on players as there is no respite for international cricketers. Indian players are especially busy. Everybody is in a hurry to grab as much as possible as quickly as possible. They are paying a price for it,” says former India wicket-keeper Syed Kirmani.

It is not as if Australia is free from injury worries. Michael Clarke and Callum Ferguson, the backbone of the Aussie middle order during their ICC Champions Trophy triumph, are injured. Australian speedster Brett Lee has only recently recovered from injury.

An overdose of cricket is pushing the players over the edge and wrecking their technique. Young cricketers are picking up bad habits in the T20 arena – these are becoming increasingly difficult to shrug off. Players have little time to go back to the nets to iron out the chinks. Former selection committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar, speaking exclusively with TSI, said: “Injuries are a part and parcel of a game. But players must know how to manage themselves.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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