Saturday, January 23, 2010

The Forest Rights Act has been in place for three years

Kabir Suman, urban balladeer and Trinamool Congress MP, has answered the question in his own manner, through music and verse. In his latest album, he sings: Jangal tumi kaar/Swarashtra mantranalaya naki beniya aar thikedaar/Jangal tumi kaar/Sarkari rifle naki daler paonadaar…” (Oh forest, who do you belong to?/The Union Home Ministry or to businessmen and contractors?/To government’s rifles or the party mafia?). This number is titled Chhatradharer Gaan (The Song of Chhatradhar).

Tribals and others had organised a protest at Jantar Mantar late last year to force the ministry of tribal affairs to extend the deadline for filing ownership claims on forest land. But their entreaties had fallen on deaf ears. The Forest Rights Act has not achieved any of the goals it was meant to – notably, the implementation of rules notified on January 1, 2008.

In West Bengal, 38 organisations of tribals and forest dwellers and the Nagarik Mancha, a social rights group, has approached the high court of Kolkata to intervene. Naba Dutta, Nagarik Mancha general secretary, told TSI, “According to the Act, the village-level committee, formed in Gram Sabhas, will take the decision on forest dwellers’ applications for rights. No committees were formed and the forest dwellers, basically tribals, are being deprived.”

He added: “Under the Indian Forest Act, forests belong to the Union Government, not the states. State goverments have to get Supreme Court clearance in all cases where encroachment of forest land has taken place. Even the Jindals had to get a SC nod as 500 acres of forest land was within the proposed area of their factory.” The divide shows no signs of ending.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Friday, January 22, 2010

A dilemma for US

Obama needs to be cautious and should let Sana'a deal with al-Qaeda on Yemeni soil

A famous maxim in Yemen goes like “Min Ratl Hakya Tafham Wiqya”. Loosely, it can be translated as, “From a pound of talk, an ounce of understanding.” And that is what seems to be happening in Sana’a these days. Amid alleged botched up attempt to blow a US airliner and the subsequent shifting of focus on Yemen, it is hard to say whether the West and the Arab Republic have a coherent view to deal with the quagmire.

In reality, the incident has the potential to become an archetypal case of colossal overreaction that will lead to playing right into the hands of terrorist groups. The Obama regime, which has closely followed the Yemen question, and has been working closely in the past with the Yemen government, is finding it difficult to react to the present situation. There are more than obvious indications that in absence of better idea, it will fall back to classic Bush-era handbook and troubleshooting guide that is full of theoretical and operational mistakes.

Although Obama has made it clear that he has no intent to send troops to Yemen, adding that he still thinks that the al-Qaeda is still active along the boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan, it will be interesting to see how things shape up in coming months.

“I have every intention of working with our international partners in lawless areas around the globe to make sure that we're keeping the American people safe,” Obama was quoted as saying

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Wednesday, January 20, 2010

An education on the charms of cinema and the catharsis it can bring

And best of all, the film never takes itself too seriously, even indulging in a spot of subliminal self deprecation once in a while. Check out the scene where Kareena flees from her wedding to go look for Rancho and halfway down she’s told by Raju that they have no idea if Rancho’s married or not. Some people have been counting the clichés in the movie; I wonder how many of them noticed how they have been smartly refreshed to retain their entertainment value without being tacky.

The three lead actors do a stupendous job, Aamir confounding us again with his brilliance making it look too easy for a forty something to portray a twenty something while Madhavan is effortless as the ‘photographer’s soul trapped in an engineering student’s body’ and Sharman Joshi brings in equal measure of carefree abandon and world weariness to Raju Rastogi. But special credit is deserved by Omi Vaidya who plays the geeky Chatur with aplomb (his comic scenes are surely the most hilarious) and establishes himself as the de facto 4th idiot. Boman Irani, of course, adds another memorable character to the annals of Hindi cinema with his pitch perfect portrayal of ‘Virus’ – the close to anal retentive director at the college.

It is a film that will endear itself to you with playfulness in its heart and a message of introspection in its soul. Hirani and the rest of the team put in a lot of ‘heart work’ in the project and it shines through in the result which is sublime.

When a film’s lines take only half a week to become part of conversations nationwide, there is no denying its impact. And, since it is that rare and exceptional outlier with a near perfect meter, TSI can't help but award the movie an unprecedented 11 stars out of 10!

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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Saturday, January 16, 2010

Hyderabad's Owaisi family continues to command the support of the Old City

I don’t know what is CPI or CPM. Yes, there were some protestors with red flags demanding amenities said to be on behalf of us. I don’t think they had anything to do with politics and elections,’ Azeem, a vegetable vendor, who dwells in a slum in Old City, told TSI. He is absolutely right as the ‘red’ protestors failed to even open their score.

During the general elections in May 2009, there were speculations about the possible defeat of Asad, also the successor of the party leadership after the demise of his father in October 2008. Owing to the exercise of delimitation of constituencies, the Hyderabad parliamentary constituency, comprising Malakpet, Karwan, Goshamahal, Charminar, Chandrayanagutta, Yakutpura and Bahadurpura Assembly segments, has a whopping 70 per cent Muslim electorate. The TDP, allied with TRS and the Left, strategically fielded Zahid Ali Khan, editor of Urdu daily Siasat, to split Muslim votes. Since Prajarajyam was also in the fray, the Chiranjeevi factor gave further impetus to such speculations. As the Owaisis are Sunnis, even sectarian disparities between the ‘elitist’ Sunnis and poor Shias were taken into consideration. The large-scale migration of Shias from the rural areas and towns in Telangana districts to Hyderabad after police action, made them submissive before the Sunnis.

But to the dismay of poll pundits, Asad won and that too by 1.10 lakh votes. "Vexed by the dominance of the minority Sunnis, the majority Shias were about to revolt and the mutiny was anticipated in the 2009 general elections,” a psephologist, who does not want to be named, tells TSI.

However, the good show by MiM in the recent polls for the GHMC has thrown all analyses out of the window. It has proved that it is not religious possessiveness that keeps the Owaisi family flag flying but it is the irrevocable ‘faith’ of the old city inhabitants that keeps this dynasty in the saddle.

“Muslim ethnicity is steadily maintained and intensified in the region. Recurrent political changes have heightened Muslim insecurity here. This perhaps has resulted in the creation blind faith in the indispensibility of the Owaisis,” the psephologist explains.

Asaduddin Owaisi rebuffs the analyses. “Voters have faith in MiM. Our party has always addressed people’s grievances. That is why this faith is triumphant at all times,” he says.

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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Friday, January 15, 2010

The Sangmas fit in everywhere

In the office of the NCP at Tura, party working president Bibhash Das explains the finer points of the Sangmas’ exploits at the polling booth: “Purno dada and his family are the only people here who can win both the tribal and non-tribal vote. There are 12,000 non-tribal votes here. And then there are also the issues of clan and religion. The Sangmas fit in everywhere.” In the midst of all the praise, though, there is a normally unseen streak of apprehension among some. “Don’t ask me about politics,” says a non-Garo businessman who runs one of the oldest business houses in Tura. “One word against either side and someone will burn my shop. The tribal non-tribal divide here can be serious.”

At the 73-year-old Sacred Heart Church where the Sangmas attend mass “whenever they’re there”, Fr Jimbert Marak describes Purno Agitok as a man who “never misses church and one who, given his sincerity towards his religion, would be sincere in his politics”. “You are a man of God, reverend, you speak from the pulpit…,” we coax him, “Tell us the negatives that no one else will. It can’t all be good…” And we have it: “Purno Sangma really knows how to connect with people but can be very dominating and always wants to be master. He needs to check that.” James, he says, is “friendly and simple but has a lot to learn” while Conrad “has knowledge and ideas but must think more”. And Agatha? “Nothing negative about her comes to my mind,” the reverend insists.

At her office at Delhi’s Nirman Bhavan, Agatha, the latest in the Sangma lineage to be minister, is “still learning the ropes”. As for the “no negatives” comment from the reverend, “that must have been a priest I bribed”, jests the youngest minister in Manmohan Singh’s cabinet. Crusades, though, political or otherwise, aren’t fought with kindness. Agatha, the youngest of the Sangma siblings, has her own take on what Fr Marak has to say about her father: “As a leader, one must be assertive and know where he is going. That’s what it’s about.”

In his long political life, Sangma senior has taken his battle much beyond West Garo Hills. The battle at Delhi’s Raisina Hill may not have been so successful with him laying siege at Sonia Gandhi’s fortress with the foreign national issue, but there are other places where he takes on his adversaries, the latest being Jharkhand where he strategises with his lieutenants on how to secure winning votes. But walking the corridors of power is just one part of political victory. There is another, one that is more personal. “This time, the porter at Howrah refused to take money saying ‘aap ne desh ke liye itna kiya hain’,” he says. Back in the hills of Tura, meanwhile, the wind still sings Sangma.

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative
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