BIHAR LAND TRIBUNAL

Bihar government is determined to ensure speedy disposal of land related disputes. To secure this objective, Bihar Land Tribunal would be set up. Bill to this effect was passed by Bihar Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, the 29th 2009. At present all cases related to land disputes ultimately reach to civil and High court. The land reforms legislations itself are immune to constitutional review because such legislations have been put under Schedule IX of Indian Constitution. This immunity however does not prevent High Court to try cases under the Land Reforms Laws. Over a period of time, such cases have piled up in High Court. At present 458 cases of Land Ceiling Act 1961 are pending in Patna High Court and 16 in Supreme Court. Similarly cases related to Bihar Land Reforms Act, 1950, Bihar Tenancy Act, 1885, Bihar Prevention of Fragmentation of Land Act, 1956, Bihar Bhoodan Act, 1954, Bihar Privileged Persons Homestead Tenancy Act, 1947 etc are pending in Supreme court also. Needless to say that like all other cases, these matters are also lying pending in High Court and Supreme Court for many years defeating the purpose of the Land reforms it self. The demand for setting up this Tribunal has been made on and often but due to one reason or the other this demand was not met. COSNTITUTION OF TRIBUNAL- there shall be one chairman and four members in this Tribunal. Chairman will either be the serving or retired High court Judge whereas; the members would be of the rank of district judge. One administrative member will be a retired IAS of Principal or secretary rank. All cases related to land disputes shall be transferred to it within specified period of time. It is being hoped in legal and administrative echelons that setting up of this tribunal would accelerate the pace of disposal of such cases, the pendency of which is bane to the land reforms measures.

YAHOO AND MICROSOFT TO FIGHT GOOGLE UNITEDLY

UNITED WE SUCCEED DIVIDED WE FAIL

Google is likely to face stiffer competition ahead as Microsoft and Yahoo have struck a deal on Wednesday, the 29^th July, 2009. Last year, Microsoft made an abortive attempt to purchase Yahoo out rightly at a cost of 47.5 billion USD. After this failure, the two companies tirelessly worked a fresh to come together to break unchallenged monopoly of Google and this pact is the result of this effort. On Wednesday they announced partnership in internet searching and advertising. Hitherto Google virtually enjoys lion’s share in this field and none of the companies could pose a serious challenge single handedly to this IT giant. This deal is an attempt to pose challenge to Google in this area. At present Microsoft and Yahoo constitute only 28 % share in search engine area and rest 72% goes in Google’s account.

According to this deal, this pact (Microsoft-Yahoo pact) stipulates division of duties instead of merger of these two Companies, which was the main reason of last year’s fiasco. This fiasco led to change in management of Yahoo. The co-founder of Yahoo Company Jerry Yang was replaced by Carol Bartz. Mr. Bartz is now the CEO of Yahoo.

According to information available, Microsoft would provide search technology to Yahoo Websites whereas; Yahoo would now concentrate on producing web media sites ranging from sports and entertainment to finance.

The terms of agreement will be for 10 years and it calls for Microsoft to license some search technologies of Yahoo, in turn Yahoo would be getting a lion share of 88% of revenue generated from search by Yahoo.

The advertising field would be divided and Yahoo will now be the exclusive advertisement force. Microsoft CEO, Steven A. Ballmer said on this occasion that this is a land mark in the history of A&M in IT field and will create new sky soaring heights in field of innovations in search and advertising which is now, he said, is dominated almost monopolistically by one company, he meant by it Google.

This agreement marked the end of one of the longest and most tumultuous technology deal in the field of IT industries of world. This deal is culmination of the process which Ballmer had started as wooing Yahoo in 2006 it self, the time Terry Semel was CEO of Microsoft. It was thus a happy moment for Ballmer because now he is the CEO of Microsoft, what a destiny indeed!

Hopefully this pact would open new vistas in the field of computers which is witnessing new inventions and new experiments in this century. One can hope that coming years will be quite different from what we see and watch today. It is said that change is a painful process, but this change is perhaps not going to be painful but exciting.

IS TALIBAN IN NIGERIA?

GOING PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN WAY?

Another African country, Nigeria, came under Islamic terrorism with spurt in violence killing at least 150 people in northern part of the country. Boko Haram, an Islamic group which is opposed to western education and culture, has perpetrated this violence in which police stations and churches were burnt. This organization which claim that it is linked to Al-Qaeda and Taliban was formed in 2004 it self to counter spread of western education and culture in Nigeria. It is opposed to spread of Christianity also in this poverty stricken African country.

This attack is supposed to have come as retaliation after clashes in the Muslim dominate state of Bauchi and Yobe in Nigeria in which some Muslims were reported killed.

Although Boko Haram’s link to Taliban in Afghanistan or Al-Qaeda of Osama-bi-laden has not clearly been established but neither of the two world’s most dreaded terrorist organizations have denied this connection also. Muhammad Ysusuf, the supreme leader of Bako Haram, in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, unequivocally stated that his organization is linked to Taliban and is working for imposition of Shaiat law in Nigeria because, what he reportedly says, western education has corrupted the Nigerian society and government to core.

President of Nigeria, Umaru Yar’Adua has ordered national security agencies to take strict actions against perpetrators of violence and ensure safety and security of civilians. Massive hunt is launched to nab the culprits.

The spurt in violence on religious lines is very dangerous, especially in view of Nigeria’s geographical and strategic location. The total population of Nigeria according to 2007 census is 148,000,000 which are divided into 250 ethnic groups. It is home of variety of religions and main among them are Islam and Christianity. There are indigenous religions like Igbo Odinani and Ifa. Among Muslim, 95% are Sunnis and rest is Shia minority. The problems is that if this violence engulf other parts of Nigeria and spreads to other African country, it will provide grazing grounds to the Islamic terrorist organizations. The communal violence between Muslim Uighur and Hans in Urumqi of Xingjiang province of China is bound to have its repercussions in other central Asian countries as well as African countries. If this fire spreads to other parts of Africa and Central Asia, it will aggravate the situation, which has already attained Global dimensions.

The international community therefore, must act and do needful in this regard because it seems that the terrorists are trying to form a crescent in south Asia, Central Asia, Africa and Middle East.

INS ARIHANT ENTERS; ENEMY DETERS

INS ARIHANT; WIL IT TRIGGER ARMS RACE?

INS Ahirant enters into water yesterday, the 26^th July, 2009 after formal naming of this vessel done by PM’s wife Gurusharan Kaur by breaking coconut at the dry port in vishakhapattanam. According to naval tradition such rituals are performed only by a woman. Thus India formally joined the club of existing 5 countries which have indigenously developed Nuclear Sub-marines; this date was selected because country is celebrating 10 anniversary of Kargil War as Vijay diwas.

INS Ahirant code named as ‘Advanced Technology vessel’ is 5,000 tons vessel and fitted with a mini Nuclear reactor developed by BARC which can generate 80 MWe to run the vessel and fire missile.

Till date only USA, UK, Russia, China and France have such N- Submarines in their naval fleets. Indigenously developed by BARC and DRDO with the help of Russia, INS Ahirant will substantially enhance our defense capability because this vessel can operate remaining in water for longer periods due to inbuilt N-reactors. Non N-Submarines (general submarines) have to come out to the water surface either for re-fuelling or oxygen necessary for combustion of fuel, thus the vessel is exposed to enemy’s threat. The N-Submarines are not required to come out to the water surface in the sea because the N-Reactor continues to supply the vessel required energy for movement and operation.

Ahirant, which means destroyer of enemy, will undoubtedly bestow upon our Navy upper hand vis-à-vis our enemies at sea. This submarine would be fitted with K-15 ‘Sagarika’ missiles which is a nuclear capable submarine launched ballistic missile of 750 km range. This missile is likely to be ready for use by 2010 and is being developed by DRDO missile complex of Hyderabad. It is 18.5 meter long, 17 tons heavy with 500 kg payload missile and is capable of very effective strike at enemy’s establishment.

Thus the long waited ambitious program of having N-Submarine with intermediate range ballistic missile is going to be achieved. It is a red letter day for all Indians especially our defense. The fast changing politico-strategic balance of power in South-Asia and Central, South-east and Middle East Asia, this development is of immense significance. Such enhancement of striking power of naval forces will deter terrorist also who are now frequently using sea routes to strike and inflict on Indian territories.

OBAMA'S COMMENT SPARKS OFF RACIAL DEBATE

BEWARE OF ENEMIES WITHIN USA

A small incident in USA snowballed into a major controversy pulling President in the centre of eyeball has once again exposed that racial issue in USA is still a reality. It so happened that a black Professor of Harvard University, Prof Henry Louis Gates Jr, when returned to his home in Cambridge found his doors stuck. Prior to this, his neighbor called the police saying that some youths were trying to break Professor’s house open. Police responded and came to Professor’s residence. By this time Professor Gates was already home. Sgt James Crowley, the Police officer mistook Professor Gates as house breaker and wanted him to come out and speak to him. Sgt James Crowley, a white police man was rebuffed by Professor Gates saying ‘I will talk your mama’. Sgt Crowley warned Professor Gates of being ‘disorderly’, but Professor Gates went on behaving the same way. Sgt Crowley stated that he had to arrest Professor not because he did not come out because he (Sgt) knew by that time that Professor Gates was inside his own home. Professor Gates was handcuffed by Crowley and taken to police state on charge of professor being disorderly, a charge later dropped.

The controversy arose when President Obama termed Sgt Crowley’s action as ‘stupidly’ a term which was vehemently opposed by many whites. The Cambridge Superior Police officers Association condemned President’s remarks and demanded an apology from him. Several other organizations too came in Sgt Crowley’s support, a situation Obama himself would have never expected. Sensing the popular mood Obamas said becasue this has been ratcheting up, and I helped to contribute to the racheting up in my choice of words, I unfortunately gave the impression that I was maligning sereant Crowley specifically' Obama quickly mended his mistake by inviting both to White House for sharing beer.

ISSUES RAISED- this episode will settle down within few days but it has raised the issue and question again that has racial elements in American society not yet withered out? Is the election of Obama, the first African-American to White House resurrecting this dormant issue? Is American society so intolerant that one statement snowballs into controversy to national and international magnitude?

One may agree and disagree on the above mentioned issues, but one thing is clear that racial elements do exist in American society. We have to think that whether this controversy was blown out of proportion to defame Barrack Obama because he is a non-white President? George.W.Bush has been very harsh in his tone with respect to such issues. His arrogance and bad etiquettes had gained notoriety during his two terms of office but even then controversy of this proportion and magnitude did not arise. One should not forget that the kind of magnanimity shown by Obama is unheard in recent years by any American President.

INDIAN MENTALITY AND US PERSPECTIVE- One may disagree to the observation made above by comparing it with Indian psyche and reject the propounded theory, but one should not forget that human psychology and human prejudices and biases are by and large the same across the world and society. The American society needs introspection following this controversy and tries to rise above trivial issues. Expression of racialism in any form is rabid and should be abhorred. Especially when it is practiced by developed society and educated class.

Bill Gates to visit Bihar soon

COME AND DO SOMETHING WITHOUT FUSS

Bill Gates is likely to visit Bihar soon, this was disclosed when yesterday, Bihar CM and Bill Gates, former head of Microsoft and founder of Bill Gates-Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), held a discussion through videoconferencing and discussed many other issues including health related programs. Bill Gates, who is now in New Delhi, accepted the invitation of CM Nitish Kumar and wished to come to Bihar during his next visit in India.

Bill Gates, IT giant and founder of Microsoft turned philanthropist, has set up BMGF and help eradicate disease like Polio, Kala-zar( visceral leishmaniasis) and AIDS. The foundation is organized into three main program areas namely Global Development, Global Health and United Sates Program.

Nitish Kumar said that he spoke to a Philanthropist and not an IT giant. Gates reportedly appreciated Nitish’s initiatives vis-à-vis healthcare programs. He particularly appreciated government’s effort of increasing the percentage of immunization in children. Gates has assured help to Bihar in its efforts to eradicate disease like Polio- Kala-zar, AIDS etc.

Bihar is lagging behind in many health indicators. Cases of number of polio are on rise despite repeated pulse polio drives. The situation in Kala-zar is particularly very bad. The districts like Muzaffarpur, Madhepura, Hazipur, Sitamarhi etc are prone to this disease. Maximum number of cases of Kala-zar is reported in Musahars, scheduled caste communities who are very poor and live in damp and unhygienic conditions which are suitable for growth of carrier of this disease. Dr C.P. Thakur an eminent doctor of Patna, expert in this field and M.P. was made head of State’s Kala-Zar Task force team, but he too resigned.

At present there are about 1, 00,000 patients of Kala-zar in Bihar, mostly poor people. Thousands of them have already died and many are on the verge of death. Many such deaths are not counted as deaths due to kala-zar go unnoticed. It is perhaps due to this nature, death due to Kala-zar is also said as Slow and Silent death.

The Amphotericine-B is the only effective drug for treatment of this disease but it is in short supply and it is very costly also. It is perhaps due to this fact the poor patients are unable to buy it from market. If Gates could help mitigate this problem, by supplying this medicine in adequate numbers, it would be a great help to this state which is desperately trying to come out of this stigma.

UNIQUE ID cards; will it be the last one?

REAL TEST OF SKILL

The government of India came out with a very innovative and bold decision of establishing an authority namely National Authority for Unique identity (ID) headed by Nandan Nilkeni, one of the best ITbrains in the country, to issue unique ID cards to Indian citizens.

Nikeni, the Infosys boss did a right and commendable job of quitting the corporate world and under take this huge challenge of utmost national interest.

120 crore has been allocated in the budget for this job also and stage is all set for this work to formally begin. Nilkeni himself has said that first batch of such cards will be made available for distribution sometimes in the last month of this year. Secretarial infrastructure for this enormous task is being set up and personnel necessary for secretarial back up is being provided. One R.S.Sharma IAS of jharkahnd cadre has been made second man in this authority. In nutshell we can hope that things are likely to move with great pace.

Nilkeni has hinted that each citizen will be allotted a unique number on the card and shall be tampered proof. Preparation of such cards for Indian Nationals has been on cards for many years and in fact on many forums, by many organizations and by many experts demand and suggestions has been being made for preparation of such ID cards. Thus it is a belated step in right direction because existence of such citizen cards has become very necessary in view of growing problem of illegal immigration especially from courtiers like Bangladesh and Nepal and terrorism.

Task of such huge magnitude and sensitive nature cannot go without ruckus especially when vote banks politics is the harsh reality in this nation. Nilkeni will have to encounter this problem hitherto not experienced in corporate world.

WILL IT BE MASTER CARD OF ALL CARDS- Coming to the technicalities of this card, he said that issuance of this Unique ID will not replace existing ID cards or numbers which Indians have been issued in documents like Passport, Ration cards, PAN cards etc. This means that these cards shall remain in existence and in vogue in addition to the proposed Unique ID. Nilkeni clarified that the Unique ID numbers may be used in other numbers or cards issued by various authorities for specific purposes. Nilkeni’s clarification has cleared doubts from minds of billions of common people who thought that this proposed Unique ID shall relieve them of carrying and preserving dozens of other cards in their shelves or lockers.

CARDS, CARDS AND CARDS- In our countries it is difficult to even count that how many documents one citizen is required to keep for getting their day to day problems solved or keeping problems away. For people living below poverty line (BPL) poor are issued ‘job cards’ for getting employment under NREGS. Government is committed to provide them with essential commodities like rice, wheat, K.Oil etc either at subsidized rate or free of cost, therefore BPL families are issue cards like WHITE CARDS, RED CARDS, YELLOW CARDS, etc. the color of these cards go on changing with changing in government or sometimes change of collectors also. People living above poverty line (APL) are also entitled to food grains from Public distribution system (PDS) shops, therefore they have also been provided with some colorful cards.

Apart from these social security cards, almost every department issue cards or number to the citizens for specific purpose. For instance IT department issue PAN cards, Sales tax department of provincial governments issue various numbers to the businessman to carry out their business. Apart from this a common citizen has to furnish host of other ID proofs when one has to open a Bank account or prepare driving license. In nutshell a law abiding citizen has been asked to keep innumerable documents with him.

WILL IT BE THE LAST CARD- When T.N. Seshan became Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of election commission of India (ECI), he came out with an idea of providing Voting ID cards to check bogus voting and cleanse electoral system. That point of time, it was conceived that this ID cards will be of multiple purpose and will replace all other cards which are being used for identification and establishing citizenship claims. Initially this idea was widely appreciated and people thought that perhaps preparation of these cards would put to an end all the hardships that they face in this regard. The campaign began with huge fanfare and enthusiasm. Some states did magnificently well with regards to percentage of ID cards preparation. Unfortunately, even after elapse of two decades, the process in not complete and it is going in and unending direction. Needless to say that large scale irregularities regarding enrollment of illegal and bogus voters, mistakes in entries like names, date of birth, father’s or husbands name etc have been a common place in these cards.

We however need not be pessimist about this programme and hope that all would go well but Nilkeni also will have to depend on those data which are not perfect. Now only time will tell what modus operandi Nilkeni would resort and adopt in order to make this Unique ID free of all errors, so that it puts end to all future problems in this regard. Everyone’s mind is boggling with the question that will it be the last such exercise? Hopefully yes.

GIRL STRIPPED; SOCIETY LAUGHED; SHAME ON US

WHO CARES FOR THIS HELPLESS GIRL?

In a bizarre incident on exhibition road, Patna’s one of the busiest road, one girl was stripped in full public view on Thursday evening. This shameful incidence was witnessed by large number of people including some traffic policemen on the duty. One drunken youth allegedly boy friend of that girl in name of searching the girl for his mobile phone, which he reportedly said the girl had stolen, striped the girl and the crowd watched laughing at this dastardly act. Some went up to taking snaps with mobile phones. Everyone except the humanity was laughing.

When one local electronic media aired this news along with some footage, the government swung into action, but by this time some people in the crowd mustered courage when the drunken boy wanted to outrage her modesty in full public view after almost striping her, beat the boy and took him to the local police station, which was hardly 200 yards away from the place of occurrence.

Taking strong view of the incident, CM has ordered DGP of probing into the entire incident and doing the needful. The police after initial inquiry however said that the girl is a call girl and a scuffle took place between her and the boy who is her pimp, who later did all above mentioned shameful acts.

The state women commission’s chairperson has also condemned the incident and asked a report from the police. This incident has tarnished the image of the government which claims that law and order has improved and police has now more free hands to work. Surprisingly only one ASI has been put under suspension, whereas; the residences of SSP, RSP and host of senior police officers are hardly few yards away from the place of occurrence. The crime graph in state capital has risen sharply and police has been reportedly helpless in many of such crimes. Quite recently one employee of formerly CM Rabri devi was severely beaten up by some criminals but nothing could be done and no arrest was made.

IS IT THE DUTY OF POLICE ONLY? - We have developed a habit of passing bugs on others and do not like to share the responsibility of what is going on in the society. When it come to demanding something from the society, we raise voices of concerns and make protests, sometime violent also in order to claim rights and privileges in the name of being a member of civil society, but when it comes to rescue the society from such lumpen elements, we prefer to be a silent spectator. This has what exactly happened in Patna. We cannot be absolved of the responsibility of being a culprit of this condemnable incident. How can hundreds of people watch one helpless girl being stripped? Some may take plea that the girl in question was a call girl and therefore deserved that treatment. But even when the girl was a call girl, does it mean that she is not entitled to basic Human Rights? Such pricking questions will continue to hit minds and hearts of a sensible citizen so long such incidents go un-protested.

Tarengana; from Aryabhata to left Extremism and NASA

witness to passage of history

A dusty sub-divisional village called Tarengana, some 30 Km south east of state capital Patna today witnessed its tryst with 21^st Century’s most spectacular and this century’s last celestial event from 5:29 hrs to 7:30 hrs today. Astrophysicists say that similar event would occur in 2132 AD, the time when none of us of today’s generation would be alive to watch.

This century’s longest total solar eclipse (TSE) was witnessed by tens of thousands of people including the CM of Bihar Nitish Kumar and hundreds of astronomers, some of them from NASA itself. I was fortunately one among the crowd who could capture this spectacular event in their minds and hearts. The overcast sky also could not deter and dampen enthusiasm and curiosity of overenthusiastic ‘eclipsomaniacs’ who had swamped in this hamlet to see this event across the globe. This place lacks adequate infrastructure and the scientists and government officials virtually kept sleep away whole night to watch the memorable event inside a govt referral hospital here in Tarengana. Such was the enthusiasm and such was the zeal.

TARENGANA AND ARYABHATA- Tarengana which means ‘counting of stars’ is believed to the birth place of Aryabhata, the most renowned Indian astronomer who some 1400 years ago discovered that earth is not static and it revolves and moves. Aryabhata, it is said, used to count stars and study celestial bodies from his laboratory, the remains of which still exists here in ruins. This is why this place is named as Taregana, counting of stars.

The history of Tarengana can be summarised in one sentence. It is like this ‘from Aryabhata to left extremism (Maoism) and from Maoism to conglomeration of Astro-Tourists and Astro-Scientists. What a contrast indeed!

TARENGNA AND LEFT EXTREMISM- Tarengana is locally known as Masaurhi and is said to the birth place of left extremism in Bihar. The place gained notoriety when one People’s war group (PWG) was formed and caused many massacres in Masaurhi and adjoining districts of Gaya, Aurangabad and Jehanabad like Belchi, Kaila, Kargha, Pipra, parashbigha, Maini Bigha etc in which thousands of people were killed in dastardly act of violence. Later with the merger of PWG and Maoist Communist Centre (MCC), the left extremism in Bihar entered into one of the most notorious and deadly phase in the history of left extremism. Hundreds of massacres have occurred over two decades and the state is trying hard to shed its stereotype image under the new government under Nitish Kumar. Maoists had given a call of ‘Tarengana Bandh’ today also in order to draw attention of national and international media which had conglomerated here to capture this event. Fortunately they could not create any problems largely due to huge enthusiasm of common people and partly due to unprecedented ‘Police Bandobast’.

Thus the history in Bihar entered into a new phase, a phase of hope, resilience and resurgence. Hopefully this celestial event many harbinger prosperity and development in this poor state. It may be a coincidence that just before this TSE, monsoon rained heavily in many parts of the state, which people were desperately waiting for. The cloud may have despaired some to watch this spectacular event, but it has certainly filled joys in the eyes of millions of farmers who were looking at sky for rains.

BIHAR TO HAVE MORE CBI COURTS;CJI

CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME

CJI K.G.Balakrishan today hinted that Bihar may have 3 to 4 more CBI special courts. He was speaking on centenary celebration of Patna Law College in Patna yesterday,the 11th July. The occasion was conspicuous by presence of Governor of Bihar Devender Konawar, CM Nitish kumar and ACJ of Patna High court B.K.Singh. While laying down foundation stone of Auditorium cum seminar hall, Nitish kumar reiterated his commitment to fight corruption in Bihar. He enlisted his government's initiatives vis-à-vis corruption. He also highlighted his government’s much talked ‘speedy trial experiment’ which has earned nation wide appreciation in legal luminaries.

Highlighting the problem of huge pendency of Cases, the CJI said that the PM has positively responded to his letter in which he has requested to set up more courts. Sharing his experience, he said in Delhi alone, about 350 murder cases are filed per annum out of which only 250 could be disposed off, leaving a pending of 100 cases, thus over a period of time this results in huge pending.

The governor said that economic disparities among poor and rich have to be abridged otherwise the violence and Naxalism would go unabated and would not be checked merely by courts and police.

Hopefully setting of new CBI courts, which is only two at present in the state, the pace of disposal of cases related to especially corruption, would increase.

Interestingly reforms in Judiciary have taken a front seat in the UPA-II and many Bills are on anvil to weed out corruption in Judiciary and overhaul this premiere institution. The Judiciary has also sensed the mood of govt and public and has responded reluctantly positively about this move. The recent cases of corruption in higher judiciary have taken a heavy toll in terms of image of judiciary. Recent judgments in Courts sound critical to judicial system itself and rebuff judges against whom serious charges of corruption have been leveled.The CJI also hinted to go tougher on cases of corruption in judiciary also.

G-8 PLEDGES TO INVEST 20 BILLION DOLLARS TO INCREASE FOOD PRODUCTION AND FIGHT HUNGER

WORRIED FOR AFRICA OR FOR THEMSELVES?

Leaders of world’s most developed nations, grouped as G-8 have pledged 20 billion dollars to boost agricultural production in Africa so that fear of hunger which is looming large, could be fought. This declaration was made in G-8 summit which has just concluded in Italian city of L‘Aquila.

It is estimated that owing to seemingly unending global financial crisis (GFC), World is likely to face unprecedented hunger situation and Africa naturally will be the hardest suffer. At present, it is estimated, that about 1 Billion people, mostly in African countries, are hungry and this figure would be further enhanced at least by another 100 Million by the end of this year. The world is going to face unprecedented humanitarian crisis amidst examples of lofty success.

In this back drop, the world’s most developed nations deliberated upon and focused on hunger with ‘utmost sincerity’. Climatic change and GFC were of course the major areas of concern, but world leaders vowed that we cannot have a sustained growth and prosperity amidst abject and rampant poverty.

INVESTMENT AND NOT SUBSIDY- the leaders committed that this 20 Billions USD (12.4 Billion £) money would be invested in African countries in Agriculture to boost food grain production over three years. Meaning thereby, this money, African countries are not going to get as farm subsidy or outright humanitarian help.

Many African leaders however casted a doubt on this pledge and said that such pledges have been made by world leaders in past also but their commitments and promises have not been kept.

There are another group of people who actually doubt on the entire gesture of G-8 leaders itself. They opine that this pledge in not blended with ‘philanthropy’ but actually ‘orchestrated’ with economic game plan. With the GFC still ensconced into the American and Western economy, they are looking for another area of investment and consequent returns of their investments. These activists fear that Trans-National Companies (TNCs) and MNCs from these develop countries would invest in agriculture sector of African and Asian countries and convert the very nature of farming. The use of GENETICALLY ENGINEERED SEEDS, INORGANIC FERTILISERS, big machines and high yielding variety seeds into these countries would change the very nature of farming and will make agriculture somewhat unsustainable throwing farmers in an economic quagmire.

They have a valid point when they quote instances of farmer’s suicide in India especially cotton growing farmers in Vidharba and A.P etc. Actually, they say, that use of B-2 cotton seeds and other high yielding variety seeds, most of them are genetically engineered, have made agriculture unsustainable because the cost of production has gone alarmingly high. Moreover the most defective and disastrous part of use of these seeds is that such seeds cannot be re-used. In traditional methods, farmers can use part of the harvested grains as seeds also. Thus once the farmers switch over to these genetically engineered seeds, will have to depend on MNCs and TMCs for uninterrupted supply of these seeds forever.

If this is the game plan of the G-countries, it is afraid that in the coming years, African farmers will meet the same fate as of ours.

BIHAR TO STOP LAND GRABBING

LAND IS STILL FOR THOSE WHO CAN HOLD IT

The govt of Bihar is planning to come out with a legislation in the current session of Legislative assembly to stop illegal and forceful dispossession of lawful owner from his land.

At present there is no specific law with respect to prevention of forceful and illegal dispossession of lawful owner of land. Such cases are tried in civil courts and take many years to get the matter adjudicated. In fact the aggrieved persons have to go to Civil Courts to prove his ‘Title’ over the land in question and naturally burden of proof lie on the petitioners. Thus the aggrieved person has to prove first that the land in question belong to him, only them the court will order for restoration for which the aggrieved person has to bring a fresh suit after winning title. The process obviously is complicated and biased against the law abiding and weak citizen and slated favourably towards land grabbers and land mafia.

Nitish Kumar’s much published and praised experiment of holding Janata ke Darbar me Mukhya Mantri or ‘Chief Minister in the court of public’ programme has been flooded with complaints related to land disputes. Most of the cases which came before the CM are related to forceful dispossession of land by land mafia or criminals. Since no such powers of restoration of such illegal and forceful dispossessions are vested with executive branch of government, the CM found himself helpless on this issue. He use to send the petitioners either to police or to district collectors for redressal, but of no use, because neither collectors or police has the power to restore back the dispossessed land to the lawful owner. In fact CM’s secretariat got stuffed with such problems and become an issue of much discomfort to the CM.

Taking cue from this problem, CM constituted a committee which suggested enactment of a legislation to this effect. The draft of the proposed legislation is ready and likely to get cabinet’s nod within a couple of days. The legislation titled ‘Bihar Land Dispute Redressal Act’ is likely to be put up before the Legislative assembly after approval by the Cabinet. Once this law is passed, Bihar will perhaps become second to Andhra Pradesh only to legislate such law.

It is going to be a land mark because land grabbing and illegal dispossession have become a chronic problem across the country. Lands especially in urban and metros, are becoming costlier day by day and absence of any specific law gives Police and other muscle men to earn fortune due to this problem.

It would require Union government’s consent also because powers under this proposed law would be conferred on executive branch of government hitherto enjoyed by Civil courts, meaning thereby that some provisions of Civil Procedure Code (CPC), which is a central code, would be amended.

Hopefully this law would pave way for other states also to ponder on this vital issue and frame law on similar lines.

OBAMA PRESSES RESET BUTTONS WITH RUSSIA

HAVE TO GO A LONG WAY

OBAMA PRESSES RESET BUTTONS WITH RUSSIA

Obama and Medvedev agrees to cut down Nuclear war heads by one third and pave way for new nuclear disarmament treaty

In a significant development regarding reductions of ‘Nuclear Armament’, USA and Russia agreed to cut down their nuclear warheads by 1/3^rd of the existing stockpiles. Pact to this effect was signed by Dmitry Medvedev and Barrack Obama in Kremlin on Monday. Obama’s maiden visit to Russia, the once staunch enemy of USA, is viewed as corollary of US administration’s vow to end hostilities and undo grotesque legacy of George W. Bush. Both leaders signed an agreement which would pave way for reduction of nuclear warheads by one third of existing stockpiles. This agreement would culminate in signing of a Treaty, said Obama and Medvedev, which will be formally prepared by the end of this year. This Treaty will replace START, 1991 (strategic arms reduction treaty) which is scheduled to expire in December 2009.

This Summit marked the pressing of ‘Reset Buttons’, a significant change in American foreign policy of which Joe Biden had elaborated upon in Berlin conference early this year. Obama emphatically said ‘we resolve to reset US-Russian relations so that we can cooperate more effectively in areas of common interest’. It is a ‘reversal of drift’, the drift which had started during Bush regime. This détente will help create congenial atmosphere in the region, they claimed.

Sources say that USA currently has 2,200 operational nuclear war heads whereas Russia has 2,790 such warheads. It is pertinent to mention here that US-Russia combine constitute 90% of global nuclear arsenals. Therefore one third reductions is a substantial one and ‘Operationalisation’ of this treaty would mean huge reduction in this stockpile. This would probably pave way for similar gestures by other nuclear powers across world.

This Summit is also important for this region because relation between these two powers had sunk all time low in post cold war era on Georgian issue. The Georgian invasion on Ossetia and Abkhazia was supported by USA and other NATO countries were viewed by Russia as an invasion on itself. Russian military built-up in Black sea followed by NATO’s open support to Mikhail Saakashvilli, the Georgian president, has made US Russia confrontation somewhat imminent, thanks to good sense prevailing that the situation was saved from going to all out war. This Summit of Obama and Medvedev would certainly instill confidence in the region and help return normalcy restored.

However only signing of this agreement does not guarantee success of this resolution. In 2002 also Bush and Putin had singed such agreement which was sacrificed at the altar of mistrust and clash of interests. This Summit was different from that of George Bush and Putin in the sense that it meant business only and lacked jokes and personality clash. Obama and Medvedev were straight forward and meeting ran for 5 hours only. Obama oratory skill is widely acknowledged especially after his Cairo speech. He is not hector in his speech, a departure for Bush’s style.

Obama choose to meet Putin also, because like many others, Obama too share the view that it is Putin who runs the country, a gesture though seems apparently related to courtesy and etiquettes, blended with hardcore diplomacy and reality. Obama ecstatically said that this pact would lead them to hold a ‘Global Summit on Nuclear Arms reduction’ next year.

Apart from international media hype on this Pact, both leaders failed to reach to an agreement on ‘Missile Defense System’ of Eastern Europe. They remained at loggerheads on this, an issue on which USA has been rigorously pursuing and Russia persistently opposing.

Obama’s hidden Agenda- This summit was not given the kind of coverage in State (Russia) controlled media, which generally such meetings get. TV channel one, the state controlled electronic media, did not show Obama’s visit in headlines. It is naïve to believe that the channel might have skipped it. This may be a calculated and calibrated telecast. Russia deliberately wanted to keep this visit at low pitch. Obama’s visit, according to Russia, might be aimed at killing two birds with one single stone. Obama knows it well that American success in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Israel and Palestine largely depends on Russia’s stand on these issues. Bygone are days when US had the ability to dictate terms. Now there is ‘no room on the chess board’ and US can no longer ‘play with the pawns’ as Paul Bracken has put it in his book ‘Fire in the East’. Obama has to undo Bush’s legacy which was characterized by ‘with us or against us’. America can no longer afford hostilities all around the world. US Billion dollar national debts largely due to its whimsical war against terror have thrown this country in quagmire, of which USA is desperately trying to get out.

Iran’s obstinacy, belligerence and ‘ready to fight attitude’, North Korea’s defiance, Israel’s reluctance to come to terms of much talked ‘two nation solution’ and seemingly unending war in Afpak region have shattered Obama in particular and Americans in general.

Obama wants at least one success in this journey so that he can use it as sojourn in his long march to boondocks. Putin, a staunch nationalist and hardcore realist, is unwilling to give this leverage to Obama. Russia itself is recuperating from its economic shambles and desperately trying to regain a place in the world order, it has lost after eclipse of USSR. The post cold war era has so far not been a happy experience for Russians; they have lost the coveted status of ‘SUPER POWER’ and economic hegemony is a bygone chapter.

Russia wants to show that it matters again and USA cannot take it for guaranteed. Gazprom crisis was deliberately created by Russia to make its presence felt in the international arena. Acceptance of MISSILE DEFENCE SYSTEM as proposed and conceived by Bush cannot be acceptable to Russia in the above backdrop. For many experts ‘Missile defense system’ is an obsession of Bush same as STAR WARS or SDI (strategic defense initiative) was for Ronal Reagan. Hopefully obsessions and personality clashes did not figure in this summit. Well begin is half done, Obama and Dmitry Medvedev have miles to walk on bumpy roads in boondocks before they reach a resort of happiness and détente.

JUDGEMENT ON GAY; WHICH WAY SOCIETY WILL GO

which will you go?

The judgement of Delhi High Court which seeks to legalise gay relationship is all set to trigger a national debate between forces representing modernity and forces representing old order. The Court said that Law outlawing homosexual acts was discriminatory and ‘violation of fundamental rights.’

The judgement is based on the concept that Indian Penal Code (IPC, 1860) is one and half century old colonial law and does not represent the changing social and ethical order. It is of common knowledge that section 377 reads ‘whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with 152[imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Explanation- Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offence described in this section.

The Delhi court while hearing a PIL filed by one NAJ, an NGO, has held section 377 as an infringement on the fundamental rights enshrined in constitution (article 21). This judgement is going to have far reaching ramifications in socio-religious life of many Indians and would have profound impact on the legal architecture of this country.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS- the decision of Delhi High court will have its impact in the state of Delhi only, and other parts of territory would be governed by the same section of IPC, but this land mark judgement would necessitate the Union govt to bring about amendment to the colonial Penal code. This case shall certainly be quoted by the lawyers in related cases in other parts of the country and is going to affect judgement thereto.

Secondly, other sections like 309 of IPC and host other such provisions will be subjected to such societal and legal scrutiny because many people are of the opinion that this 150 years old law should either be scrapped and replaced with a new one or at least amended to such an extent that vestigial instincts of erstwhile order are removed. The legal framework and laws should also change at the same pace at which society is changing, they say, otherwise the laws and customs etc would be rendered meaningless. Thus we can expect in near future, more such land mark judgments or huge dose of constitutional and legal amendments. Our legal system is all set to pass through rigorous tests.

SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS- every change is a painful process, therefore the society is not going to take this change without resentment. The force of status quo is bound to fight back. In fact strong reactions have started pouring in the social panorama. It seems that the society is trying to take recourse to newer ethos and slowly discard older values. It is clash between ‘newer order and older order’ also. On the one hand, we have one India where younger generation is competing with west. This generation wants to move in resonance with the changing world. It aspires to follow new global social, financial, ethical and political order. Globalisation, Liberalisation and Privatisation for them are not just a government policy, but a way of life. They want western type of liberalism and freedom, which unfetters them of all the ethical, moral and social shackles, but on the other hand, there is one group or you can say one generation which is not cosmopolitan and is living with mundane realities. There are people who have to fetch water from distant wells to satiate thirst. They have to collect fodder for their cattle so that they can earn their livelihood. They collect leaves to feed their babies. They don’t even spend 12 Rs/day because they do not have the money to spend. For them, life means continuous struggle for subsistence and not existence. Fundamental rights and gay relationship and many such issues for them are nothing but a joke.

There is also one more group of people in India. These people believe that they are the custodian of social order and society cannot and should not change without their consent and concurrence. They believe that ethical and social values cannot be dictated by anyone other than themselves. This judgement is a jolt on such forces because this imminent change has not come from them but from other sources. They argue that just to satiate the desires of some people who indulge in ‘Unnatural sex’, legal and social order cannot be changed. They have a valid point when they say that ‘will the courts legalise sex with animals then because some people do enjoy animal sex? Some children may enjoy sex with grownup lady, will the court legalise it also?

Thus the coming days these issues are likely to constitute topics of discussion for media and middle class, but legalising gay or punishing them makes no difference for them who do not enjoy even natural sex amidst abject poverty.

JUDGES TO BE SELECTED THROUGH EXAM

IT REQUIRES MASSIVE DOSE OF REFORMS

Veerappa Moilly has taken over the guard of Ministry of Law and Justice; Bhardwaj has been changed. The message perhaps is to push some long pending reforms forward.

The reform in Judiciary is a long pending issue and no Ministry actually wanted to pursue drastic reforms because it is most of the time very contentious and invites wrath of judiciary. If fact one small amendment in the Criminal Procedure Code (section-41) invited intense wrath of one section of lawyers and protests are still going on.

Indian Judiciary is a British legacy and many remnants of this legacy still exist with meagre or naught changes. The present form of Judicial System was laid in year 1833 when Supreme Court was established in Calcutta.

The debate on Judicial Reforms has been a topic of discussion either in legal luminary or in urban middle class; therefore, it unfortunately, could not become a prime concern of common man. Discussions in public domain on this issue have also been confined to identification of problems, rather than anatomy of the system itself. It is only after plethora of instances of corruption charges in the higher judiciary, that media and Civil society took up the thread and initiated the debate and took it out of drawing room of legendary figures.

The new govt has set 100 days agenda for itself and Reforms in Judiciary is obliviously and happily one of important agenda.

ISSUES OF IMMEDIATE CONCERNS-

1. Huge pendency of cases-. The system seems crumbling when one sees the huge stockpiles of case pending at different levels of judiciary. On March 2009, as many as 50,163 cases were lying pending in Supreme Court, 38.07 lakh cases in different High Courts in January 2009. Astounding 2.64 crore cases were pending in lower courts across country on 1^st January, 2009. Huge 24,130 cases under PC Act alone are pending against govt officers on January 2009.

Obviously the system is on the verge of collapse if immediate remedial measures are not undertaken.

Pendency is perhaps first and the foremost concern because it affects general public, unfortunately the poor masses. The Cases are lying pending for decades and expenses are mounting. Justice delayed is justice denied, is an old saying but is still relevant. For many of us, these figures may be a topic of academic pursuit but for those who suffer, it is a nightmare. Hearts of any sensible human would mourn to learn that a man is languishing in Jail for decades on the charges of an offence for which maximum punishment is only few months. Such Cases erode faith in our system which many find expressions in rabid forms. It needs to be addressed immediately therefore.

2. Insufficient number of courts and judges-. In India there are 15,000 courts of which 13,600 are functional. The ratio of judges and courts to population is hopelessly less as compared to many developed countries. There are many states where full High court has not yet been started. Some experts in this field however do not share the common perception about this problem. They opine that merely by increasing the number of Judges and courts, this problem would be mitigated and pendency would be decreased. The existing system of working hours and pace of disposal have to be taken into account, they add.

3. Scope of appeals and revisions- This problem has assumed monstrous proportions. Our Judicial system in fact provides nearly inexhaustible scope of appeals, revision and many other scopes in different nomenclatures. It is mainly due to this provision, the rate of conviction is low and pendency is high. It, on the one hand, puts enormous pressure on the system and on the other hand makes moneyed people less scared about the law. Here again the poor are the most sufferers. Indian Evidence Act 1871 which is a colonial law is obsolete and time consuming. The provisions of Main examination, Cross examination and Re-examination of witnesses and accused, kill maximum time of the proceedings and delay the final verdict. The rules made by courts for conduction of proceedings are such that it favour lawyers and strain citizens. Provisions of filing petitions amidst the proceedings by lawyer are proving very disturbing as well as time consuming. The proportion has reached to such a magnitude that even Apex court has reprimanded the lawyers for these behaviours. Laws therefore, are urgently required to stop these nuisances for the sake of justice.

4. Inordinate delays in disposal of cases- the delay on the part of judges in pronouncing final judgement should be dealt with without delay. We have some provisions in Criminal Procedure Code in matters of preventive section proceedings like section 107, 144 and even 145. Similar provisions should be made in civil courts and higher judiciary that particular nature of cases should be disposed off in such and such time frame. It would help in making the courts and judges more accountable and definitely the number of disposal would accelerate.

5. Issues related to appointment of judges and Cases related to corruption to them- the provision of appointment of judges has been made under Article 124 of Indian Constitution. The provision has been made to make judiciary independent as the president has to consult the CJI before making appointment of judges in HCs or SC. In advocates on record vs Union of India case, the Supreme Court ruled that such consultation shall be concurrence. The court laid down the procedure of appointment and Collegium of judges was made to recommend to the govt appointment of judges. Thus the govt or parliament is left with virtually no role in matters of appointment in higher judiciary.

STEPS ON ANVIL TO REDRESS THESE ISSUES-

Our Judicial system is on sound footing and it second to none; nonetheless there is scope of its betterment. There is list of pending issues pertaining to reforms in Judiciary. Bills related to judges accountability, appointment procedure, reservation in appointments in higher judiciary, speedy etc are likely to come up in the next few years. Naturally the Ministry of Law and Justice would be faced with challenging tasks.

Judges accountability Bill-The corruption in Judiciary is very perturbing for all of us because for many of us Judiciary remained last hope of Redressal of grievances and protection of civil rights. This however does not mean that it is immune to all sorts of societal infections. The Judges Accountability Bill seeks to make judiciary more accountable and discourage case of corruption. This bill aims at amending some provisions of Judges Inquiry Act 1968 in order to make the process of removal of judges less cumbersome and complicated. In fact Article 214(4) of Constitution provides for removal of judges whereas; Judges Inquiry Act 1968 describes the process of removal. The process is so lengthy and slated towards the Judges that not even a single judge so far has been removed after the Constitution came in vogue. In fact one Justice Shiv Prasad SInha of Allahabad High Court was removed on the recommendation of Federal court by the then Governor-General C.Rajagopalchari in 1949.

Secondly- the appointment procedure of Judges in Higher Judiciary is also likely to come before the parliament. This has been one issue where a lot of hue and cry has been made. Many a time confrontation between Judiciary and Parliament seemed imminent, fortunately perhaps it the strength of our democratic institution that standoff has been defused and crisis has been averted.

Information available before the public domain indicate that govt is determined to introduce a bill seeking amendment to Article 124 and make appointment in higher judiciary more institutionalise and transparent. Allegations have been time and again labelled that some elite families of India have monopolised higher judiciary and it is not unfounded also. To restore pristine glory and re-shape and revamp this august institution of ours, such steps are urgently required.

Thirdly- the govt has already taken steps to ensure that assets judges are declared. The bill in this regard has already come up. Provisions should be made in such a way that they are not jargonised and very purpose made thereto is defeated. After all ours is a democracy and the principle of equality before the law has been universally accepted, therefore any attempt to make it ambiguous should not be allowed.

There are other issues also on which legislations are required. The colonial system of vacations in summer and winter should be discontinued. The working hours of courts can be increased. Some states like Gujarat has introduced evening courts, this practise may be introduced in all states. After all it is the citizen for benefit of whom, govt and other institutions have been erected. Time has come to perform or perish. Hopefully we are performing and therefore we shall continue to stand tall.