Cast a wider Net

The summoning of the US charge d’affaires to South Block on July 2 on the issue of snooping by the US’s National Security Agency (NSA) was a welcome step. The revelation that the BJP was targeted for snooping as long ago as 2010 is not at all surprising. It can now be mentioned that immediately after India was elected to the United Nations Security Council in 2010, a request was made by the permanent mission of India in New York to South Block, asking for safeguards against precisely such an eventuality.

By no stretch of definition can the then main opposition party in India or, for that matter, the Indian delegation to the UN, be regarded as requiring surveillance by the NSA if the concern is anchored in the desire to counter terrorism.  Equally, to try to defend the sweeping collection of phone and internet records on the grounds that it was only gathering “metadata” is profoundly misleading.

The radio silence from the UPA government on revelations by Edward Snowden almost two years ago that the NSA engaged in massive snooping operations at a global level, including telephone conversations of leaders of other countries, was in marked contrast to reactions from other countries. Brazil’s cancellation of a state visit to Washington DC at the invitation of President Barack Obama and the public expression of outrage, including the recent expulsion of the senior-most intelligence operative by Germany, a close ally of the US and Nato partner, stand out in contrast. The Indian protest under the UPA was low-level, belated, feeble and pro forma.

It would have been embarrassing for the government of India to condemn such a practice by the US if, for example, Vodafone and/ or AT&T were to come out with a public assertion in response that they were extending similar services to India at the request of the then government. Recent revelations by Vodafone that India was among the governments which asked it to snoop/ wire-tap calls, e-mails and text messages going into and out of the country have surprisingly not received the attention they should have.

The revelation explains yet another phenomenon that earlier appeared inscrutable, that of employees of multinational internet and telecom majors masquerading as spokespersons of the Indian telecom and internet industry. When questions relating to global internet governance acquired salience, this particular group cornered the space for discussion and, through motivated writings, sought to propagate the thesis that the “multi-stakeholder” model advocated globally by the multinational internet and telecom majors resonated in India as well, with little or scant regard for the long-term interests of India and Indian internet and telecom majors.

The NETmundial conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in April this year produced an outcome that fell far short of the expectations of most observers and sought topreserve the status quo. The US administration’s generous offer to make adjustments to its authority over ICANN has come with conditionalities and time-frames which have made them meaningless, if not impossible to achieve.

India’s principal concerns and long-term interests with regard to global internet governance require the renewal of our commitment to protect and promote the internet as an unprecedented tool of innovation and empowerment. India should reaffirm our adherence to all obligations under the various treaties on human rights to which we are a party, in particular to those relating to freedom of expression. We should also commit ourselves to all measures to bridge the “digital divide”, both nationally and internationally. India and Indian IT enterprises will no doubt need to preserve and enhance the interests of Indian users of the internet, whose numbers have been growing greatly in recent years.

Indian IT companies need to preserve the global competitive edge secured over the years. They also need to assess the possible evolution of the IT industry over the next 20 years or so and orient themselves to the changing demands of the global industry. They can thus seek to build on the comparative advantages that they have enjoyed till now. This will require encouraging creativity and innovation as well as setting up enterprises tailored to the next generation. India has to move up the value chain in the global IT industry in the long term. This would imply a much-needed transition from providing IT skills and back-room services to making its own branded services and products and leading global innovation in IT.

Several international public policy issues pertaining to the internet, including, among others, the infrastructure and management of critical internet resources, already stand identified by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). These include issues of considerable interest and relevance to developing countries, such as the bridging of the digital divide, interconnection costs and participation in global policy development. Several new public policy issues have emerged since the WSIS, such as cloud computing, mass surveillance and the collection of metadata, the use of cyber weapons and jurisdiction.

Plurilateral agreements among developed countries on substantive policy issues and treaties negotiated among them have remained the dominant global governance model in the internet arena. The inclusion of developing countries in global norm-setting and design of digital architecture will continue to pose an important challenge in the coming years. Without such inclusion, the inherently global nature of the internet will be threatened —  there is the danger of fragmentation of the internet through disparate national policies.

The principal challenge before Indian policymakers is to move away from the short term and the cacophony organised by the status quoists, forcefully articulate the long-term interests of the Indian internet and telecom majors, and design and put in place the necessary eco-system and policy framework for the purpose. We should aim at building the next-generation editions of TCS, Infosys and Wipro, and move up the value chain. The Vodafone revelation has come not a day too soonand will hopefully serve as yet another wake-up call.

This will require not only rejigging domestic policy, but also making necessary changes in articulating India’s position in international forums on issues relating to global internet governance. Over the last four years, the UPA government had allowed itself to be led by the spokespersons of global industry; it is high time that this was challenged. The government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has an excellent opportunity to reverse this trend, make the necessary and imperative course corrections, and move in the right direction.

Time to crush it

They say, history never repeats itself. Maybe the jehadi group ‘Islamic State of Iraq and Levant ‘(ISIS) has either not read it or they are so excited after their recent spectacular success in North West Iraq and North East Syria, where they have captured large swathes of territory that they feel they can achieve this impossible feat. On June 30 they have renamed themselves as ‘The Islamic State’ and named their head Abu Bakar al Baghdadi as ‘Caliph of The Muslim World.’

This move is bound to bring lot of churning and infighting in the Muslim world globally. ISIS which came into being in 2003 in Iraq as an opposition to the American and British offensive against Saddam Hussain, is basically an off shoot of Iraqi Al Qaeda. Now of course Al Qaeda has disassociated itself from ISIS as it sees ISIS a threat to its leadership of Muslim world. ISIS is composed of Sunni jehadis of Iraq and the former soldiers of the Sunni army of Saddam Hussain. They are more than 30,000 strong. They are well trained and well armed. Despite their ruthlessness they are well disciplined and are media savvy. Their leader Al Bagdadi is an operational man who leads from the front and avoids media glare.

Starting January 2013, ISIS captured Aleppo and Roqca, the two major towns of NE Syria on the river Euphrates. It then continued its march eastwards and as of now has captured Mosul the second largest town of Iraq as also the towns of Tirkit, Fallujah and Ramdi. ISIS is now closing on to Bagdad. American trained and equipped Iraqi army has totally failed against this onslaught and has run away leaving behind large cache of arms and ammunition. With more than two billion dollars looted from the lockers of Mosul Central Bank and other places today ISIS is the richest jehadi organisation in the world.

ISIS has been joined by the former army soldiers of Pakistani army, jehadis of Pakistan sponsored terror organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba and other Sunni jehadis of all kinds from various parts of the world. The first Caliphate came into being after Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632. Caliph is regarded by their followers as successor to the Prophet Muhammad and leader of all Muslims. This is what Osama Bin Laden was wanting for himself. He was influenced by the writings of Egyptian Islamic writer Sayyid Qutub who propagated that to bring about a caliphate at least one state must revive Islamic Rule. That is why he chose to align with the Taliban then ruling Afghanistan. The concept of Caliphate in Muslim world was abolished in 1924 by the Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk after the collapse of Ottoman Empire.

IT impact

Having declared its leader Abu Bakar al Bagdadi as Caliph the ISIS has demanded that all Muslims worldwide must pledge allegiance to their chief. This is where the catch lies. In the 21st century, everyone, including the Muslim world has marched on. Thanks to the information technology the world has now become a global village. Muslims world over are now getting highly educated and are aspiring for better ways of life than what their religion permits when it came into being 1000 years ago. This is very reason why jehadis want to re introduce Caliphate because they feel there is decline in religious observance and the coherence among the Muslims and Caliphate system will be able to stem this tide.

Sooner than later the two oil rich states of Saudi Arabia and Qatar who have till now been supporting the ISIS are bound to realise that they have created a Frankenstein in ISIS and that the supremacy of Sunni Muslim world till now held by Saudi Arabia is under threat. Progressive and comparatively liberal Gulf Muslim states and even Pakistan will be forced to rejig their views on this new type of jehad. As it is, Syria and Palestine are the next declared targets of this new caliphate. Israel will be a highly worried country and America will now be forced to take sides and maybe use its air force to dislodge this new caliphate with ground troops coming from progressive minded Muslim countries.

The biggest confrontation will come from the Shia dominant countries of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon under the leadership of Iran. Already two battalions of Iran’s revolutionary guards have reached Iraq. Iran’s secret service is now effective in Iraq and senior Iranian military officers are directing counter terror campaign of Iraq army. What is really surprising is the silence of the UN and the western powers on this developing confrontation between Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia. Al Qaeda will also challenge this new regime of ISIS.

It is time now that Sunni countries under the leadership of Saudi Arabia stop this new caliphate to take roots. The UN must immediately pass a strong resolution against this and if necessary put troops on the ground against it.

India closes in on $20 billion Rafale deal

Unruffled by the last-ditch bids being made by countries like the US, UK, Germany and Sweden to wade into the "mother of all defence deals", India is quietly continuing its final negotiations for acquiring 126 French Rafale fighters in the almost $20 billion MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft) project.

Defence ministry sources on Monday said another meeting of a sub-committee of the ongoing CNC (contract negotiation committee), which includes representatives from MoD, IAF, DRDO and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), is slated to take place on July 17-19 in Bangalore with the French companies led by Dassault Aviation.

As reported by TOI last month, the complex negotiations have now finally reached a stage from where they can be wrapped up in the next three months, with over 50% of the final contract as well as the inter-governmental agreement already finalized. "After that, it will be a political call. The approval process will go right up to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) before the contract can be inked," said a source.

Once the project is finalized, the first 18 jets are to be delivered to IAF within 36-48 months, while the rest 108 will be manufactured by HAL with transfer of technology over the next seven years.

With the final lap is sight, a lot of heat and dust is now being generated by the rivals earlier eliminated from the race after exhaustive technical and commercial evaluations since the MMRCA selection process began way back in August 2007.

Last week, for instance, visiting British foreign secretary William Hague lobbied hard for the Eurofighter Typhoon, which is backed by UK, Germany, Spain and Italy, during his meetings with the Modi government. Germany, too, is learnt to have renewed the push for the Typhoons.

Similarly, the US lobby still harbors the hope that either the F/A-18 `Super Hornet' or the F-16 `Super Viper' can fly back into the MMRCA competition, and it will set the "right tone" for PM Narendra Modi's meeting with President Barack Obama in Washington in September.

But the Indian defence establishment is quite clear there can be "no comebacks" in the ongoing MMRCA project. "There are only two possibilities. One, the deal is inked for the Rafale jets. Conversely, the entire MMRCA process is scrapped, after being in the works for a decade, with a fresh global tender or RFP (request for proposal) being issued," said the source.

The Rafale deal is being attacked on the ground that it will prove to be exorbitant. But the Typhoon, the only other fighter to pass muster during the extensive field trials, had proved to be "much more expensive" than the Rafale on both "direct cost of acquisitions" and "life-cycle costs" in January 2012.

With IAF down to 34 fighter squadrons, when at least 44 are required, IAF has identified the MMRCA project as its "topmost priority" for the Modi government. The indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft, which is yet to receive its final operational clearance despite being in the making for 30 years, cannot fulfill the MMRCA's role. A MMRCA, for instance, will have three times the range and weapon-load carrying capacity as compared to the Tejas, which will be critical to take on China if required.

India, Russia begin naval drills in Sea of Japan

India and Russia have commenced naval manoeuvres in the Sea of Japan which coincide with their growing energy ties that could, in the future, include transit of oil through the Arctic route.

A Defence Ministry statement has said the two countries, which are fielding an impressive array of warships and aircraft during the Indra-14 exercise, will work together to check piracy, render assistance to ships in distress and counter the threat from submarines. They will also coordinate missile strikes on land targets.

Russia’s guided missile cruiser Varyag and destroyer Bystry are participating in the exercise, in which the Navy is showcasing INS Shivalik, a modern stealth frigate, and INS Ranvijay, a Rajput class destroyer.

Ahead of the exercise, Russian publication Nezavismaya Gazeta, reported that India’s participation in the Sakhalin-1 project for the development of an oil and gas field, as well as the planned shipment of natural resources from the Arctic, imparted relevance to the manoeuvres.

It added that India and Russia were involved in a joint development of phosphate deposits on the Kola Peninsula and potassium-magnesium salts in the Perm region — a hefty total investment of $2.5 billion.

1/3rd of world's extreme poor in India: Report

One third of the extreme poor global population reside in India which has also recorded the highest number of under-five deaths in the world, the latest UN Millennium Development Goals report has said.

Minority affairs minister Najma Heptulla, who released the report here, said its findings present a challenge to the government under Narendra Modi and that they would be able to surmount it. "Good days will come," she said.

"We don't have to be proud of what we have done. Poverty is the biggest challenge... I am sure when the next report comes, we will have done much better," she said, stressing on Prime Minister's commitment to poverty elimination and "sabka saath sabka vikas (With all, development for all)".

Though the report's figures for various human development parameters are mostly specific to different regions of the world, it has made references to India none of which, she said, are "flattering.

Heptulla has had a long association with the UN programme and was closely involved with it during the previous NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

According to the report, almost 60% of the people who defecate in open reside in India, which has also accounted for 17% of global maternal deaths.



China, which has made rapid strides in reducing poverty, follows India in housing the extreme poor global population and was home to 13% of them in 2010, followed by Nigeria at 9% and Bangladesh at 5%, it said.

South Asia, of which India is the largest and most populous country, has fared worse than other Asian regions in most of the parameters.

The region has, however, done well in school enrollment.

Next BRICS Summit to be held in Russia

Fortaleza (Brazil): The next year’s BRICS Summit will be held in the Russian city of Ufa after the grouping’s successful meeting in Brazil that saw an agreement being reached on establishing a development bank and a contingency reserve arrangement.

“Brazil, India, China and South Africa convey their appreciation to Russia for its offer to host the Seventh BRICS Summit in 2015 in the city of Ufa and extend their full support to that end,” the BRICS leaders said in the Fortaleza Declaration.

Ufa is the capital city of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, and the industrial, economic, scientific and cultural centre of the republic.

The sixth summit held here was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Xi Jinping of China, Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, as they deliberated on global economic, political and strategic issues.

BRICS Summit last night decided to establish the New Development Bank with an initial authorised capital of USD 100 billion for which the initial subscribed capital will be equally shared by the founding members, a point New Delhi emphasised to prevent domination by anyone of the members.

During the summit, agreement was also reached on establishing a contingency reserve arrangement with an initial size of USD 100 billion.

Russia, India, China and South Africa also extend their warm appreciation to the Government and people of Brazil for hosting the Sixth BRICS Summit in Fortaleza.

Southern States and Union Territories Lead Urbanization in the Country

14 States and 6 UTs Report Higher Urbanization than the National Average between 2001-11 Urban Delhi Grows by 4.3%; gets Rs.6,649 cr under JnNURM for Infrastructure Development Shri Venkaiah Naidu says per capita Water Supply in Urban Areas is 69 litres Against the Bench Mark of 135 litres

Urban population in the country has increased from 27.80% of the total population in 2001 to 31.10% in 2011 marking an increase of 3.30%. People living in urban areas of the country have increased by over nine crores during this period. Four southern states, six Union Territories besides the states of Gujarat, Goa, Haryana, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura have led this growth in urbanization. Details of urbanization in the country during the said period were today furnished by the Minister of Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs Shri M Venkaiah Naidu in reply to an Unstarred Question raised by Shri B.Sriramulu, Shri Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav and Shri D.K. Suresh. Shri Naidu informed that as against the national trend, urban population in the southern states increased by 21.70% in Kerala, 6.10% in undivided Andhra Pradesh, 4.70% in Karnataka and 4.40% in Tamil Nadu. The increase in respect of UTs has been-Daman & Diu (39.00%), Lakshadweep (33.60%), Dadra and Nagar-Haveli (23.80%), Chandigarh (7.50), Delhi (4.30%), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (5.10%). Puducherry reported an increase of only 1.70%. Other states to have exceeded national average in urbanization included: Goa (22.40%), Sikkim (14.10%), Nagaland (10.70%), Haryana (6.0%), Gujarat (5.20%), Uttarakhand (4.50%), West Bengal (3.90%) and Punjab (3.60%). Major states to have fallen below the national average in urban growth included: HP(only 0.20% increase in urban population),UP(0.50%), Bihar (0.80%), Assam (1.20%), Rajasthan (1.50%), Odisha (1.70%), Jharkhand (1.80%) and Maharashtra (2.80%). In reply to another question raised by Shri Sultan Ahmed, Shri Venkaiah Naidu informed the Lok Sabha that Delhi was sanctioned 23 infrastructure projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission at a total cost of Rs. 6,649.55 cr out of which central assistance has been Rs.2,327.34 cr. Replying to Dr.Thambi Durai, Shri Venkaiah Naidu stated that the per capita water supply in urban areas is 69.20 litres per day as against the bench mark of 135 litres. He also said that the average coverage of water supply connections is 50.20% as against the bench mark of 100%.