Those of you who follow the political news keenly must have read about the tabling of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill (will call it the Nuclear Liability Bill or NLB from now on).

For the uninitiated, here are some key points from the NLB which are the crux of the issue:

1. Indian government indirectly takes the onus of compensation in case of a mishap and this compensation will be capped at Rs. 500 Crores in the event of a nuclear accident. (This will be the compensation to victims of a nuclear accident)
2. The compensation will be made through the Nuclear Power Corporation of India i.e. the bill puts the responsibility of paying compensation on the operator and not the supplier or foreign companies building and installing nuclear facilities in India. (think Moral Hazards? )

NLB is said to be a crucial part of the Indo-US Nuclear deal and it is said that without the NLB being cleared, the US firms will not get insurance cover for their projects in India.

What freaks me out the most are some media reports in which the Indian government claims that this bill is necessary to protect the interest of the Indian people.

A print media article dated December 11, 2009 even says that:

Sharing Mr. Sorabjee’s view, senior Supreme Court lawyer and constitutional expert P.P. Rao said: “This [Bill] can be challenged in a court of law as it may not stand judicial scrutiny. It is vulnerable, arbitrary and unfair.” He wondered how the government could legally deprive a victim of fair and just compensation. Any such move would be violative of the right to life.

Pointing out that the main lesson from the Bhopal gas tragedy was that foreign companies engaged in hazardous industries must be made strictly and absolutely liable for any damage caused by their units, Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan said “the proposed Bill, instead, seeks to limit the liability, which is absurd.”

A nuclear disaster (such as Chernobyl (request you to go through all relevant portions of the page)) can have extremely dire ramification and cause massive damage to life and property. The severe radioactivity that engulfs a place after such an accident or even a minor leakage makes large tracts of surrounding area uninhabitable for many years. It destroys all forms of plant and animal life. The radioactivity may cause genetic mutations and lead to many types of cancers, even after many years.

The policies of the current and past governments (irrespective of the party in power), especially on matters of international affairs, has always annoyed me. With reference to the current government I feel that it is the weakest government (ironically elected with strongest majority) to come to power in last two decades.

Hi all. Its been a while sice I posted some thing on my blog. Hvae been very busy and will update you all about it. Just wanted to share this link of an article I managed to read while going to office today. Its one of the better articles I have read in recent times about the current geo-political situation and the position of India with reference to its international relations with China and U.S. The article seeks to explain some events of the recent past and tries to highlight the critical position India has got it self into due to mishandling of it’s international affairs.

Please take time out to carefully review the article here

I have been thinking a lot about this issue whenever I happen to and really want to write on it. However, my current schedule may not permit me to do so for quite a while. Anyways wish all of all the best. Adios.

The sad state of Indian politics is not something I like to rant about. But the recent incident of Varun Gandhi delivering a provocative, disgusting and  religiously polarizing speech has forced me to write this post.

For the uninitiated, you might want to watch this video to see how politicians in India deliver speeches full of religious hatred to the masses in order to win votes and therefore the elections to the general and state assemblies:

With youth entering the Indian politics, I hoped that the speeches of these young politicians will focus more on development-related issues and topics that a common man can relate to. I thought that they will talk about how they plan to improve the living standard of people in the backward areas. But I guess I was wrong. This speech is very disappointing and saddening.

Maybe this whole thing about “younger people will bring fresh life to Indian polity” is incorrect. I do not see any young politician talking the real stuff, focusing on real issues. I understand that to win the vote of the masses some of the old gimmicks have to be adopted but not these ones.

Dude you want to cut their heads and do what? Push this country into civil war, fragment a society which is almost always at dew point on such matters!

Hi,

I write this article after learning about the social costs and the dire ramifications of the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project which was awarded to the Maytas Metro Limited by the Government of Andhra Pradesh last year.

After reading this article (by Mint’s managing editor Niranjan Rajadhyaksha) and the link (an article by transport activist C. Ramachandriah) provided there, I have gained significant visibility about this whole project and why it will be bad for the people of Hyderabad.

Before proceeding any further, I would like to tell my readers that I am a Hyderabadi (Spent 20 years of my life until 2007 there) by origin and know most of Hyderabad very well. However the article also contains a map of the metro rail project for all readers.

I do not want to give a discourse on why this project is bad because it has already been done in this article in a very efficient and effective manner.

Excerpts (Download PDF):

“On the face of it, this financial model seems very attractive because the bidder has not asked for VGF and instead is paying a “huge” royalty. It was even said that Hyderabad is going to get the metro rail “for free”, at “zero cost to governments and city administrations”. The huge economic and social costs that thousands of the affected people pay, and the huge costs of land acquisition and rehabilitation, do not appear as a cost at all.”

Request fellow Hyderabadis and other enthusiasts to read this article carefully.

Those who do not have a start on this issue and would like to learn can also pick up through this article.

I write this article with a very heavy heart. The thought flow in this article might appear haphazard and the sentences might seem lengthy and verbose. My apologies to the readers, as penning emotions is not an easy task, even for seasoned bloggers (and I am just a beginner).

From the last four day I have been following the incidents related to the Mumbai terrorist attacks on all kinds of media and news sources (such as TV, Twitter, Blogs, Live video streams, Foreign News channels, Foreign and India print media, security sites and even terrorist websites!). I sat in front of the television with my laptop and followed the incident on twitter (#mumbai), websites and TV channels simultaneously. I have reviewed every statement and incident in great detail (while ignoring my personal and professional responsibilities).

I have come to the conclusion that everything that could go wrong with our (India’s) handling of this disaster has gone wrong. We were caught napping.

Terrorists came to OUR land, shed OUR (and our guests’) blood

They made a mockery of our system as they hijacked a government vehicle and roamed about in the city spraying bullets from it.

They smiled at us before shooting us from a point blank range.

They have come to our land and ravaged us repeatedly and we have been unable to act!

On the contrary, they were completely successful in all that they wished to accomplish. This is our failure, not victory. We are ashamed and now unable to hold our head high in the international community. This failure is devastating. It has hurt our pride. Israel has called our handling of this event as slow and confused response. We gave them the opportunity to say this and we had nothing concrete to defend ourselves. (In a world where globalization and free trade has been rapidly expanding, it is the supreme responsibility of every country to protect its people, businesses, and guests. A failure is absolutely unacceptable)

History is a testament to the fact that we have always failed to protect ourselves from foreign attacks. Babur, Mahamud of Ghazni, Ahmed Shah Abdali, Nadir Shah and the East India Company: They all came and bled us white (with exception of Babur who chose to settle down and make our country his own, however it is believed that Mughal era was a period of intellectual darkness for India).

I believe that our police system is incapable of protecting us. While our army is capable, their potency is severely marred by our political system.

Considering all this I have concluded that we as a country have become incapable of protecting ourselves. Whatever has transpired so far makes me feel insecure.

I feel alone and insecure on my soil and in my house.

I am considering buying a gun, a bullet proof jacket/helmet and join a military training course. I will wear the jacket every time I go to a public place so that I have some chance of surviving such an attack. I’d rather fight the terrorists than die helplessly at their gun point. I have spent considerable time and effort in becoming whatever little I am. My parents have spent loads of time, money and sacrificed in supporting me to become someone. My life is important to me. I believe that I can make a difference somewhere and I therefore refuse to die cheaply at the hands of some gun totting, brainless and fucked-up zealot.

I am sure this thought may be going through the minds of many Indians. We have collectively lost faith in our political system and they are repeatedly reaffirming our beliefs with their immature actions during this crisis situation. Here is what I am talking about:

• Maharashtra’s Chief Minister goes on a disaster site tour (read picnic) with a movie director and his son (a movie actor).

For Christ’s sake show some seriousness man. Why do need to have a movie director and an actor by your side during such a tour?? Is this a joke?? Don’t you even care about what the media and the people will think about you?

• BJP Senior Leader and PM candidate for next central elections decides to skip an all party meet convened to discuss this critical security issue at hand. Reason?

He thinks that campaigning for a state assembly election in Rajasthan is more important that trying to work together to device a new fool-proof security set-up for our country.

• State Home Minister of Maharashtra called the Terror Attacks on Mumbai as a minor and casual/common incident in a big city like Mumbai. (He actually said exactly that!!)

Jeez!! Was this guy drunk or something? Some one please remove him immediately!!!

• A ruling party spokesperson on Karan Thapar’s show (War of Words) is asked a direct question about this failure and he shamelessly tries to evade it.

He knows that Mr. Thapar can grill him on the issue and he therefore just evades the questions altogether. Isn’t he answerable to the nation?

• On Headlines Today (an Indian News Channel), the anchor asks a ruling party spokesperson a direct question which is as follows:

Why did the NSG commandos take 9 hours to reach Mumbai from Delhi, when they are capable of reaching any location in India within 2 hours?

To this the minister says that the info is incorrect. At best the NSG commandos could have reached the site within 7 hours i.e. “just” two hours earlier…

This guy calls two valuable hours, “just two hours”. Can you imagine the number of lives that could be saved had the NSG reached even an hour earlier? He is bargaining on a matter of national security right in front of the nation and on a live show!!! This is akin to saying, “hey we are not naked; we still have the undees on…”

Shocked at such a remark by the minister, the anchor rightfully blasts the minister and his audio channel is muted, virtually removing him from the discussion(perhaps to allow others to speak).

• The outgoing home minister says that he decided to quit (read sacrifice his post) so that other officials need not have to face the heat/axe on this debacle.

OMG!! This guy is a saint and he needs to be decorated for this “sacrifice”. Sarcasms apart, I think he is one of the most incapable home ministers our country has ever seen. His remarks on the television regarding every terrorist incident the country has faced (in the recent past) have been very casual and many say that he was not even perceived to be taking any steps to improve the security situation in the country.

We the citizens of the largest democracy in the world are totally frustrated by our politicians. It is not that we do not have the intelligentsia to run our country; it is about this cancerous system called the Indian politics that has frustrated us beyond any measure.

As stated earlier, I would like to repeat that I am not any good in international affairs, foreign policy and diplomacy etc nor am I or my country perfect but I want to write about a topic that is very sensitive. I am not writing this article after any research. This article contains my views about what I have been reading/watching in media regarding religious fundamentalism, terrorism and the war on it.

I have been closely following the U.S. war on terrorism and how it has remained an under achiever till now. I try to think very neutrally about the war but I still see this Christianity versus Islam concept in it.

After reading some excerpts from world history I learnt that this is not new. Confrontation of Christianity and Islam had plunged the Europe into a dark age. Crusades have been the bloodiest of battles ever fought for religion and lasted across centuries.

Then after many centuries, there was the abolition of Caliphate of Islam (in turkey after WW1) by the Allied forces. This had also led to a popular uprising in India in the form of Khilafat Movement (started by the brothers Shaukat Ali and Mohammed Ali, this movement marks an era of unprecedented cooperation between Muslims and Hindus in India)

Then there was the partition of India in which the same Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims massacred each other to pieces and raped each other to shame. Millions died in the name of religion.

Then we had the “USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan episode” which saw U.S. side with the Mujaheddin and forced Russia to turn back. I have learnt, that after this war U.S. should have gone back home as well but I guess they didn’t. The Muslim world (or Arabs) understood that on the pretext of helping them fight USSR, the American have gained a back door entry/solution to what the Russian as well as the Americans wanted:

A military presence in the Gulf Region

Irked by this, the soldiers who fought the Red Army used what U.S. has taught them, against the teacher: planning and executing highly sophisticated and coordinated strikes with reconnaissance and surveillance.

And today I stand here a couple of years into the war observing a series of events i.e. cartoons by a Danish artist that shook the world, statements by pope, Bush expecting a religious revolution in America and strong/retaliatory Muslim reactions to each of these event. Alright that’s my piece of mind regarding what I have been observing/reading. Now here is what I would suggest (again based on what I am reading/watching):

America and Allies

1. Pull out of Iraq and Middle East

2. Go home and strengthen your economy. The world cannot afford to have you guys fall apart.

3. Revamp your education. Do not depend completely on immigrants for your supply of engineers and let the wheel of innovation continue turning smoothly. You have been driving it well and you need to continue with the same or better still, enhanced vigor.

4. Set and example for the world. Switch to green and renewable sources of energy. You will automatically stab terrorism in the heart if you do this. (based on Thomas Friedman’s column in NY times)

Arab world

1. Kings must give way to the people and establish republican democracies.

2. Oil has been a boon for you and it has raised your standards of living overnight but it has also been a bane. Know why?

- With the incredible revenue surpluses coming from oil sales, your kings banned taxation. This made life too easy for you and you stopped working hard. Issues that follow are particularly important for you:

Why did you have to call Americans to extinguish oil well fires during the Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the 1991 Gulf war?
Why didn’t you have the technology?
Why are you dependent on others?
Why is the number of technological innovations and patent filings from Arab world abysmally low?
Where are the likes of Algebar-Wal-Mukabalai (father of Algerba)?

3. Build more engineering colleges and schools and encourage your children to learn more. You must have your own supply of engineers, scientists, doctors, techies etc

4. Promote you women and never discourage them. Now don’t misunderstand this. I am only asking you to reduce male domination and eliminate atrocities against women. Get them to study engineering/medicine and encourage entrepreneurship amongst them. Women can be really smart if you let them be.

5. Stop mixing religion with studies (does not mean stop religious studies). Keep religious studies different from school studies. Don’t mix them up and confuse your child.

6. Preach toleration (for those who don’t) and preach what you are.

That’s my piece of mind on whatever is happening around us.

I came across this article Mushroom Rice by M.J. Akbar in Sunday (October 15^th, 2006) issue of the newspaper Deccan Chronicle, under his famous editorial series Byline.

With the recent nuclear tests by North Korea and America’s ire over Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme, the international scenario has reached a potential dew point. Fuelling this is the widespread outcry (in U.S and U.K.) against the Iraq war, the recent Israel – Lebanon crisis, the statements about religious revolution in America (by Mr. Bush) and Pope’s accusations against Islam (for which he apologized later, after the damage had already been done). So we have the superpowers riled up in the war act which has weakened them and various events which point to a further deterioration of world order.

But who stands to gain amidst all this? M.J. Akbar points to China. It is a new view to the world foreign-relations scenario for me. Interested? Read on

M.J. Akbar says:

“It is foolish to think that North Korea was acting, or could have acted, alone. North Korea is a helpless non-entity without China’s support. China has been brilliant in the pursuit of its geopolitical interests while Bush rushed into Mission Self-Destruct (obviously pointing to the Iraq War). Look at the map of Asia. The two nations that can challenge China’s hegemony in Asia are Japan and India. China’s formal relations with both are worth of a place in the United Nations statute book (perhaps referring to Japan’s invasion of China during WW2, India-China war in the mid-1960s and their continuing strained relations). It talks trade and peace with India, raising border problems only when it seems that a problem-free relationship is too artificial a construct. Similarly, it talks trade and peace with Japan, dusting out memories of World War II only when it seems that a problem-free relationship is ahistorical.

China has simply outsourced the military confrontation with India and Japan to Pakistan and North Korea. Both are low-cost operations for China, with huge collateral benefits in terms of tying down India and Japan. Pakistan’s nuclear programme in any case had to mirror India, for reasons that China did not instigate. Neither Pakistan’s nuclear capability nor North Korea’s is a threat to anyone but China’s competitors, or past and potential adversaries. With North Korea aiming nuclear weapons at Japan’s head, the pieces on China’s chess set are in superb place.”

His views on America’ssituation:

“The shadow of Iraq has traveled a long way while America is helplessly immobile.”

“The price of departure (i.e. if U.S. & U.K. plan to withdraw) will be much, much higher than the cost of arrival. What the Iraqis have suffered because of Bush and Blair’s malign war is already in the realms of the unbelievable.”

This was a thought-provoking article which had me thinking for long. Where are we headed? What should our foreign policy be to ensure survival if not prosperity in the long term? I am too tame in thought to suggest answers for these questions. However, foreign policy and diplomacy has always been an area of interest for me. I need to learn much in this subject. For now, I will leave you with these words that my professor had once spoken in a Culture & History session:

“In international relations there are no permanent friends, no permanent enemies.

Note: The bracketed text in the quotes has been added by me for clarity purpose. If you like this article, please find the full text of this article in the October 15^th, 2006 issue of Deccan Chronicle.