12.11.2007

• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh heads for Russia
• Perhaps this is one Prime Ministerial visit that is attracting lot of negative press about there being a chill in the relations between India and Russia.
• Russian insistence on our PM meeting his ‘counterpart’ (PM) Viktor Zubkov is not helping to set matters at rest either. They dropped hints that if our PM doesn’t meet his counterpart there, the visit would then be classified as ‘working’ and not an ‘official’ visit.
• Pakistan’s suspension from Commonwealth
• Following the imposition of emergency in the country, Pakistan faces the prospect of being suspended from Commonwealth again.
• Earlier it was suspended in 1999 soon after General Musharraf overthrew prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup. At the insistence of Britain, Pakistan was allowed back into Commonwealth in 2004 on the promise that Gen. Musharraf would shed his uniform.
• Let’s wait and watch what will happen this time round.
• Notable reforms in education
• The Government is coming out with a scheme called the “Credit Transfer Scheme.” Under this students pursuing graduation and post-graduation from one university can now continue their education in another university without a break. Marks obtained by the student while studying in one university will be transferred to another university if the shift is made. The programme is aimed at bringing about convergence between conventional and distance modes of education and help attract more students to higher education.
• China confirms toxic substance in toys
• Chinese made toys were found to be coated with the industrial chemical 1.4-butanediol. This chemical when ingested metabolises into the ‘date-rape’ drug, gamma hydroxyl butyrate (aka GHB), which can cause breathing problems, loss of consciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.
• Plan panel for ‘open skies’ with more nations
• So far, India’s open skies policy is confined to cargo operations.
• An open skies policy means foreign airlines from various countries would get to launch unlimited services to Indian cities, provided the countries concerned agree to reciprocal rights for designated Indian carriers.
• As of now, India has open skies policy for passenger traffic with the US and UK.
• Oil companies want to promote rickshaws?
• Fuel retailers are planning to adopt cycle rickshaws under Mission Indivelop – an initiative based on Prof. CK Prahlad’s development model of “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid.”
• Public sector oil companies are losing about Rs. 240 crore everyday because of under recoveries.
• While APM for fuel retailing has been dismantled, the government still regulates pricing of petroleum products sold by the PSUs. Private retailers like Reliance and Essar are free to charge market price from customers.
• Hindu’s editorial comment on Governor’s gaffe on Nandigram
• The violence in Nandigram has not been seeing any decline in spite of the February 2007 government decision not to establish the chemical hub. The campaign spearheaded by BUMC (Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee) has brought administration and development work to a halt, and has sought to cut off the area from government and state power.
• The Governor’s public airing of views has invited opprobrium from the press. Look at this extract from today’s Hindu editorial on the subject:
• The classic 1867 exposition of the role of the British monarch by Walter Bagehot applies equally to the office of the President and the Governor: “To state the matter shortly, the Sovereign has, under a constitutional monarchy such as ours, three rights — the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn. And a king of great sense and sagacity would want no others. He would find that his having no others would enable him to use these with singular effect.” The right to advise and the right to warn are to be exercised in private and in confidence, and not through public statements. This restraint required of the head of state is not a mere constitutional formality but is based on sound democratic principles. In the first place, the head of state must not, through statements critical of its functioning, place himself or herself in conflict with the representative government, which has a greater democratic legitimacy. Secondly, the head of state should appear non-partisan and remain above the fray when controversial and divisive questions are being debated in the political sphere, and avoid any public statements that could give comfort to one side or the other. The Governor’s public statements on Nandigram both challenged the wisdom of the government’s approach and came down on the side of the critics of its action. Further, Mr. Gandhi laid himself open to the charge of remaining silent when the supporters of the Left Front were at the receiving end. His conduct through this crisis has been constitutionally indefensible.