06.04.2007

• SEZ (Special Economic Zone) land acquisition policy put in place
• The issue of land acquisition which has pushed the granting of approvals for SEZs to the backburner, has finally been given a shape, after much dilly dallying.
• A new cap on the land requirement has been announced. No SEZ will be allowed to have more than 5000 hectares.
• States will not be allowed to acquire land for the SEZs. The companies promoting the SEZs will have to acquire the land directly.
• States are given the power to reduce the size of the SEZs below the 5000 hectare limit.
• At least one member of the displaced family would have to be employed in the project, in addition to the compensation paid to the farmers.
• The freeze on 83 new SEZs has been lifted.
• The quota politics are bound stay in the news headlines for quite some time and also arouse passions among the population
• The High Court of UP at Allahabad held that Muslims cannot be treated as a religious minority anymore in Uttar Pradesh. This is bound to raise the hackles of the Muslims and in no time all political parties will start championing the cause of the Muslims.
• The Tamil Nadu Assembly has offered reservation sops for Muslims and Christians in government jobs and colleges. Though it said that the law will be implemented only after the final verdict of the Supreme Court is given on the 69% reservation offered to SCs/STs, BCs and OBCs, it is a foregone conclusion that all political parties will vie with each other in championing this reservation cause in no time.
• Looks like there is no respite for India from the reservation raj!!! At times I wonder, why not say that all jobs and seats in educational institutions are reserved in proportion to the population? They can simply say that all government posts, seats in educational institutions and business opportunities will be allowed only in proportion to the numerical strength of each caste, class, or religion. The first division can be on religious lines. Then it can be on caste lines. The third division could be on class lines. Have any more ideas on further dividing and sub-dividing the society? Welcome aboard; you will be assured of a great political future in India. You need not even be a born citizen of India. You need not hold any political post. Yet you can be all powerful and lord it over in the country. L
• Sharing of active infrastructure among telecom operators
• TRAI may allow only sharing of active infrastructure like antenna, feeder cables, backhaul and transmission equipment. It may not allow the sharing of spectrum that is allocated to each operator.
• Uniform academic calendar!!
• Accepting the recommendation made by the committee headed by Prof. M. Anandakrishnan, the UGC (University Grants Commission) has approved the heralding of a uniform academic calendar starting with the first week of August for first year students and not later than third week of July for second year students.
• However, they said it will not apply to professional courses.
• Why is today’s ET editorial on calling for restoration of democratic process in Bangladesh bad?
• While welcoming the announcement made by the Bangladesh government’s chief advisor Fakruddin Ahmed, that bold efforts to combat terrorism must be made, today’s ET editorial said “The new dispensation must not keep the democratic process in a state of indefinite suspension. It went on to say that failing to do so would help radicalization of Bangladesh, and strengthen the anti-India consensus, all in the name of battling authoritarianism. Really? The editorial would have done well to see what happened in democratic Bangladesh in the past!! It was entrapped in jingoistic stances vis-à-vis India, a la Pakistan. No democratically elected government either in Pakistan or in Bangladesh had the inclination or willingness to face or live with reality – that of a happy and religiously united India. In no time these so called democratic governments would start harping on the bad treatment being meted out to the religious minorities in India. And back here in India, political parties – mainstream or otherwise will be quick to extend support to such sentiments – for their own ‘democratic’ ends. This is not to say that democracy should never be restored in Bangladesh. Let it first restore some semblance of law and order; then democracy and the ‘tamasha’ will anyway follow.
• You should not miss reading the centre page article “God does not play dice, you bet?” by Rajiv Luthra in today’s ET. Find it here.
• He argues strongly in favour of legalizing gambling.
• He defines ‘gambling’ as comprising three elements: consideration, chance and reward.
• Laws in India have sought to prohibit gambling. These laws include The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (it prohibits lotteries not authorized by the government) and the Indian contract Act, 1872 (it declares wagering agreements to be void).
• Lotteries are regulated by the Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998.
• Making laws relating to ‘lotteries’ is in the domain of Parliament whereas legislating on laws relating to ‘betting and gambling’ is in the domain of state legislatures.
• Gambling is not legalized so far for the following reasons:
• Increased social and economic costs
• Fear of spurt in organized crime
• Harm to the moral fabric of the society
• There may perhaps be nothing wrong in legalizing gambling and betting now. Goa may after all be right in trying to grab the ‘betting capital of India’ tag. It recently permitted five more casinos to operate in the state. The ban on gambling and betting has left us with the current moral fabric! Can lifting the ban make it worse? I doubt it.
• Obituary
• Leela Majumder
• The centenarian Bengali litterateur and widely read children’s author passed away following a brief illness.
• Her first story was published in Sandesh in 1922.
• She won several literary awards including Ananda Puraskar and Shishu Sahitya Puraskar.
• Her important works include: ‘Holde Pakhir Palok’, ‘Podi Pishir Bormi-baksho’, ‘Kheror Khata’ and autobiography ‘Pakdondi’.
• Jagjit Singh Chohan
• Khalistan ideologue. He left the country in the early 1980’s and declared an independent ‘Republic of Khalistan’.
• He returned to India in 2001, after the movement petered out.
• Philosopher in a barrel
• The Dutch philosopher Eric Hoekstra (47 years old) who believes in the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes’ belief that civilization is a sham and that we would be better off living like animals, trusting our instincts in a morally superior state of nature, is living in a barrel during the Netherlands Philosophy Week.