Neel Mukherjee’s book makes the cut for Man Booker Prize

Kolkata-born British author Neel Mukherjee’s latest novel The Lives of Others, set in troubled Bengal of the 1960s and centred around a dysfunctional family, has been shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize 2014, in its debut as a global literary award.

Mr. Mukherjee, who studied at Oxford and Cambridge, was also the only Indian-origin author to be longlisted earlier this year, the first time the prestigious literary award opened up for anyone writing in English regardless of nationality.

“We are delighted to announce our international shortlist. As the Man Booker Prize expands its borders, these six exceptional books take the reader on journeys around the world, between the U.K., New York, Thailand, Italy, Calcutta and times past, present and future,” said A.C. Grayling, chair of the 2014 judging panel.

“We had a lengthy and intensive debate to whittle the list down to these six. It is a strong, thought-provoking shortlist which we believe demonstrates the wonderful depth and range of contemporary fiction in English,” he added.

Mr. Mukherjee, now a British citizen, reviews fiction for the Times and the Sunday Telegraph and his first novel, A Life Apart was a joint winner of the Vodafone-Crossword Award in India.

A break from the past

Previously, the prize was open only to authors from the U.K. and Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe. For the first time in its 46-year history, the £50,000-prize has been opened up to writers of any nationality, writing originally in English and published in the U.K.

It’s time to clean up

Many felt that the Supreme Court judgment of August 27, which advised that persons chargesheeted in criminal cases should not be appointed as ministers, lobbed the ball back into the prime minister’s court. Now that it has brought the “criminalisation” of politics back to centrestage, the response of the prime minister and chief ministers will be watched with great interest.

Was the SC’s advice judicial overreach? According to some, the court has no business giving advice to the political executive. For others, the SC actually exercised judicial restraint by not prohibiting such appointments outright and stayed clear of possible overreach, while drawing attention to the constitutional concern for probity in public institutions. It referred to several SC judgments that had emphasised democracy as a cornerstone of the Constitution and drew the attention of the prime minister and chief ministers to constitutional expectations. There is also a view that the SC should not have “shirked” its responsibility and adjudicated on this critical issue, instead of merely advising.
Protecting the parliamentary system from criminalisation has been the intention of the law from the beginning. The election law (Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951) disqualifies a person convicted with a sentence of two years or more from contesting elections. But those under trial continue to be eligible to contest elections. The situation would have been acceptable if the trial were completed and the verdict given within a reasonable period of time.

What is the way out? There are three possible options. One, political parties should refuse tickets to the tainted. Two, the act should be amended to debar such persons from contesting elections. Three, fast-track courts should decide the cases of tainted legislators quickly.

The SC has repeatedly expressed concern about the purity of the legislatures. In 2002, it made it obligatory for all candidates to file an affidavit before the returning officer disclosing criminal cases pending against them. Civil society organisations like the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) analyse and publish such information. The concern of the apex court has been increasingly clear from a series of judgments. The famous order to introduce NOTA was intended to make political parties think before giving tickets to the tainted. The Lily Thomas case (2013) ended the unfair advantage that legislators enjoyed even after conviction.

According to the ADR, 187 MPs in the current Lok Sabha face criminal charges (that is, 34.4 per cent). Of them, 113 face serious criminal charges. The number has gone up from 162 (76 serious) charges in 2009 and 128 (58 serious) in 2004. This obviously shows the political class and legislature in a poor light.

In a rare instance of unanimity, all political parties have come together to oppose the proposal to debar perpetrators of even heinous offences during pendency of thetrial, on the grounds that false criminal cases may be filed by opponents. This concern is valid. However, the proposal itself has three safeguards. First, all criminal cases would not invite the ban, only heinous offences like murder, dacoity, rape, kidnapping or moral turpitude. Second, the case should have been registered at least a year before the elections. Third, the court should have framed the charges. The opponents of the proposal also argue that the jurisprudence followed in the country holds that a person is innocent until proven guilty. But the presumption of innocence until conviction is legally ignored in the case of those under trial. About two-thirds of the nearly 4 lakh persons lodged in jails are undertrials and are therefore “innocent”. Yet they are locked up, denied their fundamental rights of liberty, freedom of movement, freedom of occupation and dignity. Does this not violate the fundamental right of equality? If the rights of an undertrial can be suspended within the ambit of the law, what is the fuss about temporarily suspending the right to contest an election, which, incidentally, is only a statutory right? The debate over the issue raises several questions. Does the framing of charges involve the application of judicial mind? Though legal opinion is divided, many jurists, including senior high court judges, say several cases are thrown out at the stage when charges are framed. This shows application of mind even at that stage. The Law Commission, in its report in March 2014, accepted this contention after consulting constitutional experts. Does debarring the chargesheeted before conviction go against the Constitution? The conditions for disqualifying a person from contesting an election to the Lok Sabha or a vidhan sabha are laid down in the Constitution (Articles 102 and 191). But it also provides for disqualification “under any law made by Parliament”. The Election Commission, the Law Commission and citizens have been demanding a law debarring tainted candidates from contesting polls. What if the minister is found innocent after a long trial? He would have been denied a position that he was legitimately entitled to. But then, how many young persons found innocent of terror charges have got their lives/ jobs back? And what if a legislator is found guilty of rape after a decade? Another argument is that there can be no discrimination against anyone on the grounds of pendency of a case. If so, why was the CVC, P.J. Thomas, removed by the SC just because there was a case pending against him? The principle enunciated by the court was maintaining “institutional integrity”. But then, isn’t the institutional integrity of the legislature, a more important, constitutional body than the CVC, which is just a statutory body, even more vital? Do fast-track courts discriminate against the lakhs of other cases awaiting a decision for years, and are they therefore illegal? No. Fast tracking has been the accepted norm. The RP Act requires the high court to decide on election petitions within six months. The fact that courts have been taking years to decide -on election petitions makes it an issue of dereliction, not legal infirmity. Special CBI courts, consumer courts, special courts for economic offences and, more recently, fast-track courts for rape cases do create special categories for adjudication, and nobody has dubbed them discriminatory. In any case, the issue of fast tracking has now been clinched by the landmark judgment of March 2014, by which the SC accepted the urgent need for cleansing politics of criminalisation and directed all subordinate courts to decide on cases involving legislators within a year, or give reasons for not doing so to the chief justice of the high court. That should put an end to the endless impasse. With a positive judicial disposition and a strong political mandate for an avowedly corruption-free India, the situation is ripe for resolution. Let’s not miss the bus. - 

Arka Rakshak' to go global

It is not just Bangalore’s IT sector that has gone global. The city’s very own high-yielding tomato variety too is set to follow suit. Farmers and agriculture entrepreneurs in seven countries want to import the seeds of ‘Arka Rakshak’, the famed tomato variety developed by the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR).
Arka Rakshak, developed after a five-year research by a team of the IIHR scientists, is already creating waves in the country’s horticultural sector as farmers have got yields of up to 19 kg per plant from this variety.
“At present, we have received requests for seeds from farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs from Vietnam, the Netherlands, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, South Africa, the U.S. and Pakistan,” says IIHR’s Principal Scientist A.T. Sadashiva, who played a key role in developing this variety.
Following such requests, the IIHR has written to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) seeking its permission to act further. “The ICAR is likely to give its clearance any time. Once we get its permission, we will have to sign a memorandum of understanding with the foreign companies which want to buy our seeds before despatching,” Mr. Sadashiva said, while explaining the procedures involved.
According to Mr. Sadashiva, Arka Rakshak’s popularity is not just due to its high-yielding quality, but also owing to its resistance to three diseases of tomato: leaf curl virus, bacterial wilt and early blight. The resistance to triple diseases would reduce the cost of cultivation by 10 to 15 per cent in terms of savings towards the cost of fungicides and pesticides, he said.
These fruits are also ideal for long-distance transportation as they are firm and have a shelf life of 15 to 20 days as against 10 to 12 days of other hybrids, and six to eight days by ordinary varieties, he said.
Arka Rakshak represents the quintessential Bangalore character even in its name as Arka stands for the Arkavati on whose bed the IIHR is located.

UN reports on annual CO2 increase

The amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record high in 2013, propelled by a surge in levels of carbon dioxide, the World Meteorological Organisation warned today.
The organisation also said that gas-absorbing oceans were hit by “unprecedented” acidification.
The WMO’s annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin injected even greater urgency into the need for concerted international action against accelerating and potentially devastating climate change.
The bulletin showed that between 1990 and 2013 there was a 34 per cent increase in radiative forcing - the warming effect on our climate - because of long-lived greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide.
In 2013, concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere was 142 per cent of the pre-industrial era (1750), and of methane and nitrous oxide 253 per cent and 121 per cent respectively, researchers said.
The observations from WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) network showed that CO2 levels increased more between 2012 and 2013 than during any other year since 1984.
Preliminary data indicated that this was possibly related to reduced CO2 uptake by the Earth’s biosphere in addition to the steadily increasing CO2 emissions.
The bulletin reports on atmospheric concentrations - and not emissions - of greenhouse gases. Emissions represent what goes into the atmosphere.
Concentrations represent what remains in the atmosphere after the complex system of interactions between the atmosphere, biosphere and the oceans.
About a quarter of the total emissions are taken up by the oceans and another quarter by the biosphere, reducing in this way the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
The ocean cushions the increase in CO2 that would otherwise occur in the atmosphere, but with far-reaching impacts.
The current rate of ocean acidification appears unprecedented at least over the last 300 million years, according to an analysis in the report.
“We know without any doubt that our climate is changing and our weather is becoming more extreme due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels,” said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud.
“The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin shows that, far from falling, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere actually increased last year at the fastest rate for nearly 30 years.
“We must reverse this trend by cutting emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases across the board. We are running out of time,” said Jarraud.
The increase — the biggest since 1984 — was the main reason why concentrations of greenhouse gases that cause global warming reached a new record level overall, the UN agency said.
The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere was 42 per cent higher than in the mid-18th century, before the industrial revolution.
Since then, methane levels have risen by 153 per cent, and nitrous oxide by 21 per cent.
“We must reverse this trend by cutting emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases across the board,” WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said. “We are running out of time.” Burning of coal and oil, as well as the energy-intensive production of cement, have been pushing up CO2 levels.
However, the WMO said that last year’s increase cannot be explained by burning of fossil fuels alone.
The UN agency pointed to changes in the amount of burned biomass, and in the way that the gas is exchanged between the atmosphere and the biosphere on the ground, as likely additional factors.
Although most of the CO2 ends up in the atmosphere, a quarter is stored in the oceans, where it is making the water more acidic, the WMO said, warning of negative effects on corals, algae and other marine organisms.

From victim to victor

The day each one of us gets a toilet to use, I shall know that our country has reached the pinnacle of progress ~ Jawaharlal Nehru

The Central Bureau of Investigation has reportedly decided to exhume the bodies of the Badaun rape victims in UP for a fresh autopsy as the agency feared that the right procedure had not been followed (The Statesman, 9 July 2014). The incident of rape and hanging of two Dalit girls, who were on their way to the field for outdoor defecation, had made Indians hang their heads in shame before the world. This heinous crime raises two important issues which merit serious reflection.

A few months back, a former Union minister, Jairam Ramesh, had triggered a debate when he expressed his preference for toilets over temples. Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, expressed the same view on the essential need for toilets. According to the 2011 Census, half of India's population defecates in the open. India lags behind other countries in the task of providing sanitation. China has affected a ‘latrine revolution’. Only 4 per cent defecate in the open.  Bangladesh, which is far poorer, has succeeded in providing access to indoor toilets to 93 per cent of its population. Sri Lanka stands first in this respect. Even 70 per cent of the population in Pakistan has indoor toilet facilities. Uganda claims adequate sanitation in about 85 per cent of households.

India's cities, towns and villages are among the dirtiest in the world. However, some states have achieved marked improvement in providing access to toilet facilities, notably Pondicherry (86 per cent), Punjab (98 per cent), Chandigarh (96 per cent), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (92 per cent), Nagaland (89.9 per cent). Haryana (85 per cent) and Kerala (83.8 per cent). These states are small in size and relatively richer. Many others have lagged behind, going by the 2011 census ~ Jharkhand has 92.4 per cent rural households without toilets, Odisha 85.9 per cent, Chhattisgarh 85.5 per cent, Bihar 82.4 per cent, Uttar Pradesh 78.2 per cent, Gujarat 67 per cent and West Bengal 64 per cent.

Availability of and access to sanitation facilities is an indicator of the quality of life. The Millennium Development Goals set increasing access to sanitation and water supply as an important target to be achieved by 2015. But we are behind in the creation of ‘Nirmal Bharat’. How many of the existing household toilets, both in urban and rural areas, are ‘useable’ or ‘functional’ or ‘sustainable’? Most, if not all, household toilets in rural areas and a majority of urban toilets are what they call ‘dry-latrines’ without water supply. According to official statistics, only 14 per cent households have water-based toilets in rural areas and barely 20 per cent of the urban population has access to the flush system. A recent all-India survey shows that only 20 per cent of the households surveyed had access to water supply facility in toilets. Naturally, most of the toilets are actually poorly maintained latrines, unclean, unhygienic, ‘unsustainable’ and ‘unusable’. Ultimately, the toilets become the breeding ground for flies and diseases.

Nearly, half a million children die each year on account of dysentery, hook-warm, or cholera. Diarrhoea claims the highest number of lives in the country. Another problem is the severe soil and water contamination. Prevention of environmental pollution and promotion of safe and hygienic sanitation are two critical components of a healthy and productive society.

Apart from health hazards, outdoor defecation endangers the life and security of women. The UPA-II government had acknowledged in October 2013 that lack of toilets at home is one of the many factors responsible for the increasing number of rape cases. A study also stated that 30 per cent of the women who step out of their homes for outdoor defecation became victims of rape and other sexual assaults. The Badaun gangrape case in Uttar Pradesh has not only exposed the lack of security for women but also the pathetic sanitation system in India.

In spite of stringent anti-rape legislation, the incidence of rape is on the rise. There were 18,359 rape cases in 2005; 19,348 in 2006, 21,467 in 2008 and 21,397 in 2009. An estimated 22,172 rape cases were reported in 2010 and such incidents had increased to 24,206 in 2011. According to the National Crime Records Bureau,   there was a sharp rise in crimes against women in 2013, in comparison to the previous year. The list is headed by Andhra Pradesh, followed by Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

One method to achieve the universal provision of toilet facilities and to check the rising trend of crimes is to empower women through the process of Self-Help Groups (SHGs). Empowerment is the process of challenging existing power relations and gaining control over the source of power and income. The SHG is a secular micro body with members belonging to various religions, castes and sub-castes. Empowerment of women through SHGs has become a reality. Many SHGs all over the country have recorded substantive success in such segments as poverty reduction through the generation of employment opportunities, regular savings, cash-flow, provision of indoor sanitation facilities, redemption of debts, decline in borrowings, decline in the incidence of alcoholism, and a crackdown on rape and atrocities against women, decline in the school dropout rate and increase in enrolment. The editorial in The Statesman  (3 January 2013) had rightly stated, ‘Rather than depend on the Government, young girls and women would be better advised to rely on self-help initiatives and take security in their own hands to ward off lurking rapists’. Increased patrolling by police is no substitute for self-help.

There are many success stories of women in the matter of providing and maintaining household toilet facilities. Women in China’s Henan province, one of the most densely populated parts of the country, have recorded substantive success.

Mr Bindheshwar Pathak, founder of ‘Sulabh Sanitation’, fought for a better sanitation system. In his book, Princes of Alwar, he recounted several instances of how women can improve the situation. He quotes Lalta Nanda, a former scavenger in Alwar district of Rajasthan ~ “All I missed was my dignity...wasted down the years.” From an untouchable she became the face of women's empowerment. The traditional power structure is steadily declining in the face of the robust presence of SHGs. These entities have emerged as a potent force in the reckoning of both traditional and modern leaders. They have effected a transformation from victim to victor, from a dependent to an independent person. In the net, this has led to greater gender equality and gender balance.

Dr. Jitendra Singh Takes many Initiatives to Implement the Agenda of Good Governance Simplified

Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions held an interactive session with the media to highlight the work undertaken by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions in the first three months of his assumption of charge. He mentioned that the Government has made a citizen friendly break through in the field of accepting self certification in place of affidavits and attestation. Dr. Jitendra Singh said that necessary amendments of different legislation may be required in this regard but the needful will be done without comprising of any security concern in the legislation. Another break through is in the field of pensioners’ welfare relating to pre-retirement counselling and their post retirement engagement. Dr. Singh stated that his prime task from the first day of assumption of charge was to SIMPLIFY GOVERNANCE to enable public service delivery to be citizen centred through a motivated, responsive, efficient and effective workforce. He informed that his Ministry had taken many initiatives to implement the agenda of good governance simplified. The promotion of self certification in place of affidavits was a significant step towards making life easier for the common man and placing trust in its citizens. He also informed that his Ministry had accelerated the grievance redress mechanism with special focus on pensioners so that they don’t feel forgotten after their retirement. Cognisant of the need of the differently abled children, the Ministry had accorded exemptions to parents of such children from mandatory transfers. Dr.Singh also stated that his Ministry had shown incredible speed in facilitating the setting up of the State administrative machinery in the newly created state of Telengana. Within five days of assumption of office, Orders were issued to around ten thousand State Government employees for serving in Telengana. The Minister informed that his Ministry was moving towards reducing the processing time and fast tracking decisions. This year the Ministry had ensured reduction in the processing time in Service and Cadre allocation to 48 days in from 62 days and 12 days in cadre allocation from 148 days in the previous year. Dr. Jitendra Singh also stated that the Civil Services Examination, which was indeed a very challenging task this year, was conducted peacefully and successfully. He informed that more than four and a half lakhs candidates appeared in the Civil Services Examination at more than two thousand centres all over the country. The Minister also enumerated that a number of E-Initiatives taken by his Ministry to leverage technology in decision making. These initiatives included the development of customised software to cater to the specific requirements of personnel management like Empanelment and Appraisal System (EASY), Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Window (SPARROW), Property Related Information System (PRISM), E-SERVICE BOOK and maintenance of record in the E – RECORD ROOM.

Shri Kiren Rijiju to Attend Second World Reconstruction Conference

The Second World Reconstruction Conference (WRC2) is being organized by the World Bank from 10-12 September, 2014 at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington DC. Shri Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs will lead the Indian Delegation and will be a panelist in the opening plenary on ‘Political Economy of Recovery: Why Resilient Recovery is an Imperative for the Development Agenda’ and will share the various measures being taken by the Government of India as well as the State Governments in Disaster Recovery. The WRC2 aims to build consensus on resilient recovery as an imperative for sustainable development, poverty reduction and shared prosperity, and to share innovative approaches for post-disaster recovery and reconstruction. The technical sessions will explore a range of themes related to post- disaster recovery, including political economy, building back smarter, empowering communities, technological and green innovations, and the role of recovery in conflict and fragility. The meeting would afford an opportunity to learn the best practices in the area of Disaster Recovery. Further, the Minister will also address the Think Tank of America, Academicians and Indian Diaspora on the sidelines of the Conference. It is felt that the extensive experience and expertise of India in promoting resilient recovery and reconstruction should be showcased and shared with the global community. First World Reconstruction Conference was held in Geneva in May, 2011 during the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction.