By Rahul Mehta
For all entrepreneurs who feel that getting venture capital funding in times of downturn might be tough, here's a sunny story. Suresh Narasimha, chief executive officer of TELiBrahma, received venture capital funding of $2 million two months ago.
Narasimha who started the company around 2004 is seeing the positive side of the slowdown. ‘‘As an entrepreneur, this is the time to focus on the actual value of your business and differentiate it with more propositions,'' he says. TELiBrahma is a Bangalore-based mobile solutions company, which currently has 50 employees. The company powers solutions like bluetooth-based mobile advertising, promotions, enterprise solutions and locationbased social networking and appears unaffected by the slowdown.
Experts believe that there are other sectors too that are likely to do well, no matter what the current situation of the economy is. ‘‘Sectors like healthcare, education, consumer goods and retail as well as media and entertainment are bound to do well. The slowdown is not that severe in India as yet,'' says Pradeep Kanakia, national head of markets at consultancy firm KPMG. As for the IT sector, the focus has shifted from pure services to products, and technology in education and healthcare. At IDG Ventures, for instance, six of the nine companies that received funding from them are product companies.
‘‘We believe there are certain sectors that are truly recessionproof, like security, medical sciences and technology in defence and remote monitoring, says Sudhir Sethi, managing general partner, IDG Ventures India.
In the slowdown, companies will invest less in new capital and would like to extend the life of existing capital assets.
Hence demand for remote management and predictive maintenance technologies is expected to grow. ‘‘A major construction company has used such a technology from ConnectM and has already seen a 15% cost saving,'' says Sethi.
Energy management too is seen to be an area that will gain in such times, since it is a major cost for most companies.
‘‘Gifting is an area that might see downtrading, but will not stop. Hence our investment in the online initiative Myntra,'' says Sethi.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Several Businesses in India Bucking Slowdown
By Rahul Mehta
For all entrepreneurs who feel that getting venture capital funding in times of downturn might be tough, here's a sunny story. Suresh Narasimha, chief executive officer of TELiBrahma, received venture capital funding of $2 million two months ago.
Narasimha who started the company around 2004 is seeing the positive side of the slowdown. ‘‘As an entrepreneur, this is the time to focus on the actual value of your business and differentiate it with more propositions,'' he says. TELiBrahma is a Bangalore-based mobile solutions company, which currently has 50 employees. The company powers solutions like bluetooth-based mobile advertising, promotions, enterprise solutions and locationbased social networking and appears unaffected by the slowdown.
Experts believe that there are other sectors too that are likely to do well, no matter what the current situation of the economy is. ‘‘Sectors like healthcare, education, consumer goods and retail as well as media and entertainment are bound to do well. The slowdown is not that severe in India as yet,'' says Pradeep Kanakia, national head of markets at consultancy firm KPMG. As for the IT sector, the focus has shifted from pure services to products, and technology in education and healthcare. At IDG Ventures, for instance, six of the nine companies that received funding from them are product companies.
‘‘We believe there are certain sectors that are truly recessionproof, like security, medical sciences and technology in defence and remote monitoring, says Sudhir Sethi, managing general partner, IDG Ventures India.
In the slowdown, companies will invest less in new capital and would like to extend the life of existing capital assets.
Hence demand for remote management and predictive maintenance technologies is expected to grow. ‘‘A major construction company has used such a technology from ConnectM and has already seen a 15% cost saving,'' says Sethi.
Energy management too is seen to be an area that will gain in such times, since it is a major cost for most companies.
‘‘Gifting is an area that might see downtrading, but will not stop. Hence our investment in the online initiative Myntra,'' says Sethi.
For all entrepreneurs who feel that getting venture capital funding in times of downturn might be tough, here's a sunny story. Suresh Narasimha, chief executive officer of TELiBrahma, received venture capital funding of $2 million two months ago.
Narasimha who started the company around 2004 is seeing the positive side of the slowdown. ‘‘As an entrepreneur, this is the time to focus on the actual value of your business and differentiate it with more propositions,'' he says. TELiBrahma is a Bangalore-based mobile solutions company, which currently has 50 employees. The company powers solutions like bluetooth-based mobile advertising, promotions, enterprise solutions and locationbased social networking and appears unaffected by the slowdown.
Experts believe that there are other sectors too that are likely to do well, no matter what the current situation of the economy is. ‘‘Sectors like healthcare, education, consumer goods and retail as well as media and entertainment are bound to do well. The slowdown is not that severe in India as yet,'' says Pradeep Kanakia, national head of markets at consultancy firm KPMG. As for the IT sector, the focus has shifted from pure services to products, and technology in education and healthcare. At IDG Ventures, for instance, six of the nine companies that received funding from them are product companies.
‘‘We believe there are certain sectors that are truly recessionproof, like security, medical sciences and technology in defence and remote monitoring, says Sudhir Sethi, managing general partner, IDG Ventures India.
In the slowdown, companies will invest less in new capital and would like to extend the life of existing capital assets.
Hence demand for remote management and predictive maintenance technologies is expected to grow. ‘‘A major construction company has used such a technology from ConnectM and has already seen a 15% cost saving,'' says Sethi.
Energy management too is seen to be an area that will gain in such times, since it is a major cost for most companies.
‘‘Gifting is an area that might see downtrading, but will not stop. Hence our investment in the online initiative Myntra,'' says Sethi.
Several Businesses in India Bucking Slowdown
By Rahul Mehta
For all entrepreneurs who feel that getting venture capital funding in times of downturn might be tough, here's a sunny story. Suresh Narasimha, chief executive officer of TELiBrahma, received venture capital funding of $2 million two months ago.
Narasimha who started the company around 2004 is seeing the positive side of the slowdown. ‘‘As an entrepreneur, this is the time to focus on the actual value of your business and differentiate it with more propositions,'' he says. TELiBrahma is a Bangalore-based mobile solutions company, which currently has 50 employees. The company powers solutions like bluetooth-based mobile advertising, promotions, enterprise solutions and locationbased social networking and appears unaffected by the slowdown.
Experts believe that there are other sectors too that are likely to do well, no matter what the current situation of the economy is. ‘‘Sectors like healthcare, education, consumer goods and retail as well as media and entertainment are bound to do well. The slowdown is not that severe in India as yet,'' says Pradeep Kanakia, national head of markets at consultancy firm KPMG. As for the IT sector, the focus has shifted from pure services to products, and technology in education and healthcare. At IDG Ventures, for instance, six of the nine companies that received funding from them are product companies.
‘‘We believe there are certain sectors that are truly recessionproof, like security, medical sciences and technology in defence and remote monitoring, says Sudhir Sethi, managing general partner, IDG Ventures India.
In the slowdown, companies will invest less in new capital and would like to extend the life of existing capital assets.
Hence demand for remote management and predictive maintenance technologies is expected to grow. ‘‘A major construction company has used such a technology from ConnectM and has already seen a 15% cost saving,'' says Sethi.
Energy management too is seen to be an area that will gain in such times, since it is a major cost for most companies.
‘‘Gifting is an area that might see downtrading, but will not stop. Hence our investment in the online initiative Myntra,'' says Sethi.
For all entrepreneurs who feel that getting venture capital funding in times of downturn might be tough, here's a sunny story. Suresh Narasimha, chief executive officer of TELiBrahma, received venture capital funding of $2 million two months ago.
Narasimha who started the company around 2004 is seeing the positive side of the slowdown. ‘‘As an entrepreneur, this is the time to focus on the actual value of your business and differentiate it with more propositions,'' he says. TELiBrahma is a Bangalore-based mobile solutions company, which currently has 50 employees. The company powers solutions like bluetooth-based mobile advertising, promotions, enterprise solutions and locationbased social networking and appears unaffected by the slowdown.
Experts believe that there are other sectors too that are likely to do well, no matter what the current situation of the economy is. ‘‘Sectors like healthcare, education, consumer goods and retail as well as media and entertainment are bound to do well. The slowdown is not that severe in India as yet,'' says Pradeep Kanakia, national head of markets at consultancy firm KPMG. As for the IT sector, the focus has shifted from pure services to products, and technology in education and healthcare. At IDG Ventures, for instance, six of the nine companies that received funding from them are product companies.
‘‘We believe there are certain sectors that are truly recessionproof, like security, medical sciences and technology in defence and remote monitoring, says Sudhir Sethi, managing general partner, IDG Ventures India.
In the slowdown, companies will invest less in new capital and would like to extend the life of existing capital assets.
Hence demand for remote management and predictive maintenance technologies is expected to grow. ‘‘A major construction company has used such a technology from ConnectM and has already seen a 15% cost saving,'' says Sethi.
Energy management too is seen to be an area that will gain in such times, since it is a major cost for most companies.
‘‘Gifting is an area that might see downtrading, but will not stop. Hence our investment in the online initiative Myntra,'' says Sethi.
Great New Year Bash in Hyderabad
By M H Ahssan
Hyderabad City Is Emerging As Top Destination Ahead Of Hotspots Like Goa, Mumbai and Bangalore
Move over Goa, Mumbai and Bangalore, Hyderabad is the place to be for this New Year's eve. With terror strikes and security fears casting a shadow of dread over the regular party hotspots, Hyderabad has become the destination this December 31 for popular international and national artists like DJ Ravin from Buddha Bar, Paris, DJ Gino from Paris, Dale Anderson who is based in London, the Danish-Indian Bombay Rockers and DJ Suketu from Mumbai.
"Mumbai is on a high alert and with rumours floating around that Goa is likely to be the next target, people are scared to venture to these regular party destinations. Places like Hyderabad, which were never in the limelight until now, suddenly seem like a good option as they are perceived to be relatively safer," says DJ Lloyd, resident DJ at Poison Mumbai, who chose to play in Hyderabad on New Year's eve, over Mumbai and Goa.
In fact, Hyderabad is much better than even Bangalore and Chennai, agrees DJ Murthy. "I had 10 gigs in Goa and three in Mumbai lined up for December, all of which are cancelled. Chennai has also cancelled a number of its dos," he states adding that despite security apprehensions, this city still seems a safer place to be.
Organisers of these events say that unlike the previous years when people from here would head towards Goa and Mumbai to celebrate the new year, this time they are quite content to stay in the city. The organisers of Race 2009, an event which will see Bollywood's DJ Suketu usher in the new year, expect a number people from other places to visit the city. "Suketu is playing in India on December 31 for the first time in five years. It is going to be a big event and we are expecting some people from Mumbai too, who would like to attend this event," says DJ Ankit Sharma, event manager, Race 2009.
Hyderabadis, who are staying back this year, feel that the city will offer them a good time without the tension of terror threats marring their evening, believes Lloyd. Hyderabad on its part is going all out to make the night memorable for revellers with famous DJs, fancy audio-visual systems transported from Mumbai and even an artificial beach with a cruise liner and the others.
"There are different kinds of parties to suit different kinds of crowds. One can choose the music and atmosphere one wants. There is something for everyone this year," says Murthy.
"Two DJs from Paris are visiting India for the first time, and that too in Hyderabad, so it is going to be a huge party," says Rebecca Lee from Extreme Sports Bar, one of the sponsors of Nirvana 2009 to be held at HICC.
Apart from the entertainment, event organisers are doing their best to ensure their guests topmost security. "As per police instructions we are providing Z-grade security with 150 guards, police personnel, sniffer dogs and metal detectors at the venue. For one week prior to the event, our security team will be keeping an eye over the place to see that nothing untoward happens," says Sharma.
"We will provide a secure environment. There will be extra security at the gates, handbag checks and car passes will be allotted with tickets so there will be nothing to worry about," assures Lee.
Hyderabad City Is Emerging As Top Destination Ahead Of Hotspots Like Goa, Mumbai and Bangalore
Move over Goa, Mumbai and Bangalore, Hyderabad is the place to be for this New Year's eve. With terror strikes and security fears casting a shadow of dread over the regular party hotspots, Hyderabad has become the destination this December 31 for popular international and national artists like DJ Ravin from Buddha Bar, Paris, DJ Gino from Paris, Dale Anderson who is based in London, the Danish-Indian Bombay Rockers and DJ Suketu from Mumbai.
"Mumbai is on a high alert and with rumours floating around that Goa is likely to be the next target, people are scared to venture to these regular party destinations. Places like Hyderabad, which were never in the limelight until now, suddenly seem like a good option as they are perceived to be relatively safer," says DJ Lloyd, resident DJ at Poison Mumbai, who chose to play in Hyderabad on New Year's eve, over Mumbai and Goa.
In fact, Hyderabad is much better than even Bangalore and Chennai, agrees DJ Murthy. "I had 10 gigs in Goa and three in Mumbai lined up for December, all of which are cancelled. Chennai has also cancelled a number of its dos," he states adding that despite security apprehensions, this city still seems a safer place to be.
Organisers of these events say that unlike the previous years when people from here would head towards Goa and Mumbai to celebrate the new year, this time they are quite content to stay in the city. The organisers of Race 2009, an event which will see Bollywood's DJ Suketu usher in the new year, expect a number people from other places to visit the city. "Suketu is playing in India on December 31 for the first time in five years. It is going to be a big event and we are expecting some people from Mumbai too, who would like to attend this event," says DJ Ankit Sharma, event manager, Race 2009.
Hyderabadis, who are staying back this year, feel that the city will offer them a good time without the tension of terror threats marring their evening, believes Lloyd. Hyderabad on its part is going all out to make the night memorable for revellers with famous DJs, fancy audio-visual systems transported from Mumbai and even an artificial beach with a cruise liner and the others.
"There are different kinds of parties to suit different kinds of crowds. One can choose the music and atmosphere one wants. There is something for everyone this year," says Murthy.
"Two DJs from Paris are visiting India for the first time, and that too in Hyderabad, so it is going to be a huge party," says Rebecca Lee from Extreme Sports Bar, one of the sponsors of Nirvana 2009 to be held at HICC.
Apart from the entertainment, event organisers are doing their best to ensure their guests topmost security. "As per police instructions we are providing Z-grade security with 150 guards, police personnel, sniffer dogs and metal detectors at the venue. For one week prior to the event, our security team will be keeping an eye over the place to see that nothing untoward happens," says Sharma.
"We will provide a secure environment. There will be extra security at the gates, handbag checks and car passes will be allotted with tickets so there will be nothing to worry about," assures Lee.
Polio Death Rumours Trigger Panic
By Swati Reddy
It was a polio reaction of a different kind. Thousands of anxious parents and relatives from several parts of Chittoor district made a mad rush to the government hospital here on Monday after rumours spread that some babies had died due to reaction to polio drops administered across the state on Sunday as part of the pulse polio immunisation programme. The rumours spread like wildfire, thanks to a couple of Telugu TV channels which ran scrolls on the reported deaths.
The Tirupati roads were literally chock-a-block as scores of RTC buses, vans and autos, filled with parents with babies in their arms, made their way from various parts of the district to the temple town. Over 10,000 people reportedly rushed to the government Ruia Hospital in Tirupati from Erpedu, Srikalahasti, Madanapalle, Chandragiri and towns as far as Shantipuram and Kuppam, almost 200 km away from here. There was utter pandemonium as doctors had a tough time convincing the panic-stricken parents and relatives that there was no danger to their babies. The reports of deaths, they tried to tell them, were completely baseless.
It all started when a regional channel ran a scroll that two children had died of polio vaccine reaction in Kuppam and Shantipuram. Within minutes another channel displayed a scroll that nearly a dozen children--seven from Bhavani Nagar and five from Jeevakona in Tirupati--had died.
Distraught parents gheraoed doctors at the Ruia Hospital demanding their children be admitted immediately to the paediatric ward.
When the situation turned out of control, superintendent Dr Venkateswarlu had to come out and assure parents that there was no danger to their kids' lives.
"When children do not show any symptoms of vomiting and loose motion soon after the administration of the polio drops, the question of reaction doesn't arise," he said and urged them to drive away such fears.
Later, tense parents vent their anger on media personnel for the false news. A cameraman of a TV channel was reportedly manhandled by the relatives of a baby boy. Talking to TOI, T Chinnamma (30) of Chandragiri lambasted TV channels for running such baseless news. In fact, similar rumours had sent shock waves in Tamil Nadu on Sunday when a regional channel ran the incorrect news.
It was a polio reaction of a different kind. Thousands of anxious parents and relatives from several parts of Chittoor district made a mad rush to the government hospital here on Monday after rumours spread that some babies had died due to reaction to polio drops administered across the state on Sunday as part of the pulse polio immunisation programme. The rumours spread like wildfire, thanks to a couple of Telugu TV channels which ran scrolls on the reported deaths.
The Tirupati roads were literally chock-a-block as scores of RTC buses, vans and autos, filled with parents with babies in their arms, made their way from various parts of the district to the temple town. Over 10,000 people reportedly rushed to the government Ruia Hospital in Tirupati from Erpedu, Srikalahasti, Madanapalle, Chandragiri and towns as far as Shantipuram and Kuppam, almost 200 km away from here. There was utter pandemonium as doctors had a tough time convincing the panic-stricken parents and relatives that there was no danger to their babies. The reports of deaths, they tried to tell them, were completely baseless.
It all started when a regional channel ran a scroll that two children had died of polio vaccine reaction in Kuppam and Shantipuram. Within minutes another channel displayed a scroll that nearly a dozen children--seven from Bhavani Nagar and five from Jeevakona in Tirupati--had died.
Distraught parents gheraoed doctors at the Ruia Hospital demanding their children be admitted immediately to the paediatric ward.
When the situation turned out of control, superintendent Dr Venkateswarlu had to come out and assure parents that there was no danger to their kids' lives.
"When children do not show any symptoms of vomiting and loose motion soon after the administration of the polio drops, the question of reaction doesn't arise," he said and urged them to drive away such fears.
Later, tense parents vent their anger on media personnel for the false news. A cameraman of a TV channel was reportedly manhandled by the relatives of a baby boy. Talking to TOI, T Chinnamma (30) of Chandragiri lambasted TV channels for running such baseless news. In fact, similar rumours had sent shock waves in Tamil Nadu on Sunday when a regional channel ran the incorrect news.
Living With Terror
By Dipesh Chakrabarty
Only security won’t do; we need better governance too
The most recent Mumbai tragedy points to a general way some of the negative effects of globalisation are bringing us to the threshold of a post-democratic age in the 21st century. Given the diverse global tensions in the world — with terrorism, economic-environmental crises, and civil wars dislocating populations — democratic states will increasingly tend to develop a strong security aspect in the coming decades.
The violence in Mumbai was perceptibly different from terrorist violence that India has seen before. This time the terrorists themselves wanted to create a “global” event. Their targets included many “ordinary” Indians but also the transnational elite that patronises the most well-known hotels of Mumbai, itself the most global city in India. Their technology and targets were global — witness their use of Voice over Internet Protocol system to keep in touch with their masters in Pakistan or their deliberate targeting of a small Jewish community from overseas. Indian democracy has now, sadly, been ushered into a debate of the 21st century: Should democratic states become security-states as well? Security measures are, of course, no substitute for the political processes needed to heal rifts between countries and communities. But they cannot be ignored either.
This immediately raises two challenges. One is related to questions of democracy in general. The prospect of a security-state understandably and rightly concerns rights activists. Yet it is clear that the “security of populations” is itself emerging as a powerful right. In the developed countries today, it is hard to distinguish measures adopted to fend off terrorist attacks from the politics of refugees and “illegal” immigration. Of course, the balance between security and other rights cannot be decided in any a priori fashion, which is why it always should be open to debates with reference to specific contexts. There is, besides, the very important question of ensuring that the pursuit of security does not become a tool for oppression of and discrimination against minorities or immigrants. But the globalisation of this debate is what marks our times.
The second challenge arises from deep within the history of Indian politics. To have an effective cordon sanitaire against terror would require India to inject a degree of efficiency, alertness, and performance into an administrative apparatus that simply has not delivered on these scores for decades. Since the 1970s, government or public institutions in India have gradually ceased to be effective deliverers of goods and services. There is much that democracy in India has achieved by way of giving many low-caste and marginalised communities a sense of participation in the country’s governmental institutions.
The growth of this politics of identity, however, has made elections into the mainstay of Indian democracy. It has distanced politics from issues of governance, and has gone hand in hand with a deepening of corruption, financial and otherwise, on the part of politicians and officials. A large number of the elected members of Parliament have criminal cases pending against them. Media reports and everyday experience suggest an elephantine, unaccountable, inefficient bureaucracy mired in selfindulgent use of resources with corruption and inefficiency often going together.
There was, for example, no effective coast guard force to intercept the Mumbai terrorists. It took the first lot of firefighters hours to respond to the fire at the Taj. It took nine hours to mobilise the commando force many of whom are usually kept busy providing “security” to politicians who often see such security as a matter of prestige. It has also been reported that a very large grant recently given to the Mumbai police for their modernisation was mostly spent on buying luxury cars and other expensive items for the use of senior officers and their ministers!
Creating a security system that will provide effective protection to the population from terrorist attacks will not be easy. Corruption follows public money in India as it does, unfortunately, in many countries, and undermines performance. Secondly, the effective functioning of any institution in India in a non-partisan manner would require that institution to be insulated from political interference. The second condition is not easily met. The required reforms thus call for a certain kind of political will that the political class in India has not quite shown in recent times.
Yet India cannot any longer avoid debates over security and other rights. The government has already announced certain measures making anti-terror laws more stringent. Some other reforms will also certainly follow on paper and perhaps in action as well. Many members of the Indian educated middle classes are angry at the inability of their government to protect them.
We do not know how effective that anger will be. If the nature of the political class remains the same, Indians will probably have to get used to living with a degree of terror the exact quantum of which is difficult to predict. One hopes though that the nation will address both the long-term and short-term problems together so that, important as security considerations are, this tragedy will initiate not just a rethink but also a revitalisation of democratic institutions in India as they cope with the challenges of this global century.
Only security won’t do; we need better governance too
The most recent Mumbai tragedy points to a general way some of the negative effects of globalisation are bringing us to the threshold of a post-democratic age in the 21st century. Given the diverse global tensions in the world — with terrorism, economic-environmental crises, and civil wars dislocating populations — democratic states will increasingly tend to develop a strong security aspect in the coming decades.
The violence in Mumbai was perceptibly different from terrorist violence that India has seen before. This time the terrorists themselves wanted to create a “global” event. Their targets included many “ordinary” Indians but also the transnational elite that patronises the most well-known hotels of Mumbai, itself the most global city in India. Their technology and targets were global — witness their use of Voice over Internet Protocol system to keep in touch with their masters in Pakistan or their deliberate targeting of a small Jewish community from overseas. Indian democracy has now, sadly, been ushered into a debate of the 21st century: Should democratic states become security-states as well? Security measures are, of course, no substitute for the political processes needed to heal rifts between countries and communities. But they cannot be ignored either.
This immediately raises two challenges. One is related to questions of democracy in general. The prospect of a security-state understandably and rightly concerns rights activists. Yet it is clear that the “security of populations” is itself emerging as a powerful right. In the developed countries today, it is hard to distinguish measures adopted to fend off terrorist attacks from the politics of refugees and “illegal” immigration. Of course, the balance between security and other rights cannot be decided in any a priori fashion, which is why it always should be open to debates with reference to specific contexts. There is, besides, the very important question of ensuring that the pursuit of security does not become a tool for oppression of and discrimination against minorities or immigrants. But the globalisation of this debate is what marks our times.
The second challenge arises from deep within the history of Indian politics. To have an effective cordon sanitaire against terror would require India to inject a degree of efficiency, alertness, and performance into an administrative apparatus that simply has not delivered on these scores for decades. Since the 1970s, government or public institutions in India have gradually ceased to be effective deliverers of goods and services. There is much that democracy in India has achieved by way of giving many low-caste and marginalised communities a sense of participation in the country’s governmental institutions.
The growth of this politics of identity, however, has made elections into the mainstay of Indian democracy. It has distanced politics from issues of governance, and has gone hand in hand with a deepening of corruption, financial and otherwise, on the part of politicians and officials. A large number of the elected members of Parliament have criminal cases pending against them. Media reports and everyday experience suggest an elephantine, unaccountable, inefficient bureaucracy mired in selfindulgent use of resources with corruption and inefficiency often going together.
There was, for example, no effective coast guard force to intercept the Mumbai terrorists. It took the first lot of firefighters hours to respond to the fire at the Taj. It took nine hours to mobilise the commando force many of whom are usually kept busy providing “security” to politicians who often see such security as a matter of prestige. It has also been reported that a very large grant recently given to the Mumbai police for their modernisation was mostly spent on buying luxury cars and other expensive items for the use of senior officers and their ministers!
Creating a security system that will provide effective protection to the population from terrorist attacks will not be easy. Corruption follows public money in India as it does, unfortunately, in many countries, and undermines performance. Secondly, the effective functioning of any institution in India in a non-partisan manner would require that institution to be insulated from political interference. The second condition is not easily met. The required reforms thus call for a certain kind of political will that the political class in India has not quite shown in recent times.
Yet India cannot any longer avoid debates over security and other rights. The government has already announced certain measures making anti-terror laws more stringent. Some other reforms will also certainly follow on paper and perhaps in action as well. Many members of the Indian educated middle classes are angry at the inability of their government to protect them.
We do not know how effective that anger will be. If the nature of the political class remains the same, Indians will probably have to get used to living with a degree of terror the exact quantum of which is difficult to predict. One hopes though that the nation will address both the long-term and short-term problems together so that, important as security considerations are, this tragedy will initiate not just a rethink but also a revitalisation of democratic institutions in India as they cope with the challenges of this global century.
Living With Terror
By Dipesh Chakrabarty
Only security won’t do; we need better governance too
The most recent Mumbai tragedy points to a general way some of the negative effects of globalisation are bringing us to the threshold of a post-democratic age in the 21st century. Given the diverse global tensions in the world — with terrorism, economic-environmental crises, and civil wars dislocating populations — democratic states will increasingly tend to develop a strong security aspect in the coming decades.
The violence in Mumbai was perceptibly different from terrorist violence that India has seen before. This time the terrorists themselves wanted to create a “global” event. Their targets included many “ordinary” Indians but also the transnational elite that patronises the most well-known hotels of Mumbai, itself the most global city in India. Their technology and targets were global — witness their use of Voice over Internet Protocol system to keep in touch with their masters in Pakistan or their deliberate targeting of a small Jewish community from overseas. Indian democracy has now, sadly, been ushered into a debate of the 21st century: Should democratic states become security-states as well? Security measures are, of course, no substitute for the political processes needed to heal rifts between countries and communities. But they cannot be ignored either.
This immediately raises two challenges. One is related to questions of democracy in general. The prospect of a security-state understandably and rightly concerns rights activists. Yet it is clear that the “security of populations” is itself emerging as a powerful right. In the developed countries today, it is hard to distinguish measures adopted to fend off terrorist attacks from the politics of refugees and “illegal” immigration. Of course, the balance between security and other rights cannot be decided in any a priori fashion, which is why it always should be open to debates with reference to specific contexts. There is, besides, the very important question of ensuring that the pursuit of security does not become a tool for oppression of and discrimination against minorities or immigrants. But the globalisation of this debate is what marks our times.
The second challenge arises from deep within the history of Indian politics. To have an effective cordon sanitaire against terror would require India to inject a degree of efficiency, alertness, and performance into an administrative apparatus that simply has not delivered on these scores for decades. Since the 1970s, government or public institutions in India have gradually ceased to be effective deliverers of goods and services. There is much that democracy in India has achieved by way of giving many low-caste and marginalised communities a sense of participation in the country’s governmental institutions.
The growth of this politics of identity, however, has made elections into the mainstay of Indian democracy. It has distanced politics from issues of governance, and has gone hand in hand with a deepening of corruption, financial and otherwise, on the part of politicians and officials. A large number of the elected members of Parliament have criminal cases pending against them. Media reports and everyday experience suggest an elephantine, unaccountable, inefficient bureaucracy mired in selfindulgent use of resources with corruption and inefficiency often going together.
There was, for example, no effective coast guard force to intercept the Mumbai terrorists. It took the first lot of firefighters hours to respond to the fire at the Taj. It took nine hours to mobilise the commando force many of whom are usually kept busy providing “security” to politicians who often see such security as a matter of prestige. It has also been reported that a very large grant recently given to the Mumbai police for their modernisation was mostly spent on buying luxury cars and other expensive items for the use of senior officers and their ministers!
Creating a security system that will provide effective protection to the population from terrorist attacks will not be easy. Corruption follows public money in India as it does, unfortunately, in many countries, and undermines performance. Secondly, the effective functioning of any institution in India in a non-partisan manner would require that institution to be insulated from political interference. The second condition is not easily met. The required reforms thus call for a certain kind of political will that the political class in India has not quite shown in recent times.
Yet India cannot any longer avoid debates over security and other rights. The government has already announced certain measures making anti-terror laws more stringent. Some other reforms will also certainly follow on paper and perhaps in action as well. Many members of the Indian educated middle classes are angry at the inability of their government to protect them.
We do not know how effective that anger will be. If the nature of the political class remains the same, Indians will probably have to get used to living with a degree of terror the exact quantum of which is difficult to predict. One hopes though that the nation will address both the long-term and short-term problems together so that, important as security considerations are, this tragedy will initiate not just a rethink but also a revitalisation of democratic institutions in India as they cope with the challenges of this global century.
Only security won’t do; we need better governance too
The most recent Mumbai tragedy points to a general way some of the negative effects of globalisation are bringing us to the threshold of a post-democratic age in the 21st century. Given the diverse global tensions in the world — with terrorism, economic-environmental crises, and civil wars dislocating populations — democratic states will increasingly tend to develop a strong security aspect in the coming decades.
The violence in Mumbai was perceptibly different from terrorist violence that India has seen before. This time the terrorists themselves wanted to create a “global” event. Their targets included many “ordinary” Indians but also the transnational elite that patronises the most well-known hotels of Mumbai, itself the most global city in India. Their technology and targets were global — witness their use of Voice over Internet Protocol system to keep in touch with their masters in Pakistan or their deliberate targeting of a small Jewish community from overseas. Indian democracy has now, sadly, been ushered into a debate of the 21st century: Should democratic states become security-states as well? Security measures are, of course, no substitute for the political processes needed to heal rifts between countries and communities. But they cannot be ignored either.
This immediately raises two challenges. One is related to questions of democracy in general. The prospect of a security-state understandably and rightly concerns rights activists. Yet it is clear that the “security of populations” is itself emerging as a powerful right. In the developed countries today, it is hard to distinguish measures adopted to fend off terrorist attacks from the politics of refugees and “illegal” immigration. Of course, the balance between security and other rights cannot be decided in any a priori fashion, which is why it always should be open to debates with reference to specific contexts. There is, besides, the very important question of ensuring that the pursuit of security does not become a tool for oppression of and discrimination against minorities or immigrants. But the globalisation of this debate is what marks our times.
The second challenge arises from deep within the history of Indian politics. To have an effective cordon sanitaire against terror would require India to inject a degree of efficiency, alertness, and performance into an administrative apparatus that simply has not delivered on these scores for decades. Since the 1970s, government or public institutions in India have gradually ceased to be effective deliverers of goods and services. There is much that democracy in India has achieved by way of giving many low-caste and marginalised communities a sense of participation in the country’s governmental institutions.
The growth of this politics of identity, however, has made elections into the mainstay of Indian democracy. It has distanced politics from issues of governance, and has gone hand in hand with a deepening of corruption, financial and otherwise, on the part of politicians and officials. A large number of the elected members of Parliament have criminal cases pending against them. Media reports and everyday experience suggest an elephantine, unaccountable, inefficient bureaucracy mired in selfindulgent use of resources with corruption and inefficiency often going together.
There was, for example, no effective coast guard force to intercept the Mumbai terrorists. It took the first lot of firefighters hours to respond to the fire at the Taj. It took nine hours to mobilise the commando force many of whom are usually kept busy providing “security” to politicians who often see such security as a matter of prestige. It has also been reported that a very large grant recently given to the Mumbai police for their modernisation was mostly spent on buying luxury cars and other expensive items for the use of senior officers and their ministers!
Creating a security system that will provide effective protection to the population from terrorist attacks will not be easy. Corruption follows public money in India as it does, unfortunately, in many countries, and undermines performance. Secondly, the effective functioning of any institution in India in a non-partisan manner would require that institution to be insulated from political interference. The second condition is not easily met. The required reforms thus call for a certain kind of political will that the political class in India has not quite shown in recent times.
Yet India cannot any longer avoid debates over security and other rights. The government has already announced certain measures making anti-terror laws more stringent. Some other reforms will also certainly follow on paper and perhaps in action as well. Many members of the Indian educated middle classes are angry at the inability of their government to protect them.
We do not know how effective that anger will be. If the nature of the political class remains the same, Indians will probably have to get used to living with a degree of terror the exact quantum of which is difficult to predict. One hopes though that the nation will address both the long-term and short-term problems together so that, important as security considerations are, this tragedy will initiate not just a rethink but also a revitalisation of democratic institutions in India as they cope with the challenges of this global century.
Living With Terror
By Dipesh Chakrabarty
Only security won’t do; we need better governance too
The most recent Mumbai tragedy points to a general way some of the negative effects of globalisation are bringing us to the threshold of a post-democratic age in the 21st century. Given the diverse global tensions in the world — with terrorism, economic-environmental crises, and civil wars dislocating populations — democratic states will increasingly tend to develop a strong security aspect in the coming decades.
The violence in Mumbai was perceptibly different from terrorist violence that India has seen before. This time the terrorists themselves wanted to create a “global” event. Their targets included many “ordinary” Indians but also the transnational elite that patronises the most well-known hotels of Mumbai, itself the most global city in India. Their technology and targets were global — witness their use of Voice over Internet Protocol system to keep in touch with their masters in Pakistan or their deliberate targeting of a small Jewish community from overseas. Indian democracy has now, sadly, been ushered into a debate of the 21st century: Should democratic states become security-states as well? Security measures are, of course, no substitute for the political processes needed to heal rifts between countries and communities. But they cannot be ignored either.
This immediately raises two challenges. One is related to questions of democracy in general. The prospect of a security-state understandably and rightly concerns rights activists. Yet it is clear that the “security of populations” is itself emerging as a powerful right. In the developed countries today, it is hard to distinguish measures adopted to fend off terrorist attacks from the politics of refugees and “illegal” immigration. Of course, the balance between security and other rights cannot be decided in any a priori fashion, which is why it always should be open to debates with reference to specific contexts. There is, besides, the very important question of ensuring that the pursuit of security does not become a tool for oppression of and discrimination against minorities or immigrants. But the globalisation of this debate is what marks our times.
The second challenge arises from deep within the history of Indian politics. To have an effective cordon sanitaire against terror would require India to inject a degree of efficiency, alertness, and performance into an administrative apparatus that simply has not delivered on these scores for decades. Since the 1970s, government or public institutions in India have gradually ceased to be effective deliverers of goods and services. There is much that democracy in India has achieved by way of giving many low-caste and marginalised communities a sense of participation in the country’s governmental institutions.
The growth of this politics of identity, however, has made elections into the mainstay of Indian democracy. It has distanced politics from issues of governance, and has gone hand in hand with a deepening of corruption, financial and otherwise, on the part of politicians and officials. A large number of the elected members of Parliament have criminal cases pending against them. Media reports and everyday experience suggest an elephantine, unaccountable, inefficient bureaucracy mired in selfindulgent use of resources with corruption and inefficiency often going together.
There was, for example, no effective coast guard force to intercept the Mumbai terrorists. It took the first lot of firefighters hours to respond to the fire at the Taj. It took nine hours to mobilise the commando force many of whom are usually kept busy providing “security” to politicians who often see such security as a matter of prestige. It has also been reported that a very large grant recently given to the Mumbai police for their modernisation was mostly spent on buying luxury cars and other expensive items for the use of senior officers and their ministers!
Creating a security system that will provide effective protection to the population from terrorist attacks will not be easy. Corruption follows public money in India as it does, unfortunately, in many countries, and undermines performance. Secondly, the effective functioning of any institution in India in a non-partisan manner would require that institution to be insulated from political interference. The second condition is not easily met. The required reforms thus call for a certain kind of political will that the political class in India has not quite shown in recent times.
Yet India cannot any longer avoid debates over security and other rights. The government has already announced certain measures making anti-terror laws more stringent. Some other reforms will also certainly follow on paper and perhaps in action as well. Many members of the Indian educated middle classes are angry at the inability of their government to protect them.
We do not know how effective that anger will be. If the nature of the political class remains the same, Indians will probably have to get used to living with a degree of terror the exact quantum of which is difficult to predict. One hopes though that the nation will address both the long-term and short-term problems together so that, important as security considerations are, this tragedy will initiate not just a rethink but also a revitalisation of democratic institutions in India as they cope with the challenges of this global century.
Only security won’t do; we need better governance too
The most recent Mumbai tragedy points to a general way some of the negative effects of globalisation are bringing us to the threshold of a post-democratic age in the 21st century. Given the diverse global tensions in the world — with terrorism, economic-environmental crises, and civil wars dislocating populations — democratic states will increasingly tend to develop a strong security aspect in the coming decades.
The violence in Mumbai was perceptibly different from terrorist violence that India has seen before. This time the terrorists themselves wanted to create a “global” event. Their targets included many “ordinary” Indians but also the transnational elite that patronises the most well-known hotels of Mumbai, itself the most global city in India. Their technology and targets were global — witness their use of Voice over Internet Protocol system to keep in touch with their masters in Pakistan or their deliberate targeting of a small Jewish community from overseas. Indian democracy has now, sadly, been ushered into a debate of the 21st century: Should democratic states become security-states as well? Security measures are, of course, no substitute for the political processes needed to heal rifts between countries and communities. But they cannot be ignored either.
This immediately raises two challenges. One is related to questions of democracy in general. The prospect of a security-state understandably and rightly concerns rights activists. Yet it is clear that the “security of populations” is itself emerging as a powerful right. In the developed countries today, it is hard to distinguish measures adopted to fend off terrorist attacks from the politics of refugees and “illegal” immigration. Of course, the balance between security and other rights cannot be decided in any a priori fashion, which is why it always should be open to debates with reference to specific contexts. There is, besides, the very important question of ensuring that the pursuit of security does not become a tool for oppression of and discrimination against minorities or immigrants. But the globalisation of this debate is what marks our times.
The second challenge arises from deep within the history of Indian politics. To have an effective cordon sanitaire against terror would require India to inject a degree of efficiency, alertness, and performance into an administrative apparatus that simply has not delivered on these scores for decades. Since the 1970s, government or public institutions in India have gradually ceased to be effective deliverers of goods and services. There is much that democracy in India has achieved by way of giving many low-caste and marginalised communities a sense of participation in the country’s governmental institutions.
The growth of this politics of identity, however, has made elections into the mainstay of Indian democracy. It has distanced politics from issues of governance, and has gone hand in hand with a deepening of corruption, financial and otherwise, on the part of politicians and officials. A large number of the elected members of Parliament have criminal cases pending against them. Media reports and everyday experience suggest an elephantine, unaccountable, inefficient bureaucracy mired in selfindulgent use of resources with corruption and inefficiency often going together.
There was, for example, no effective coast guard force to intercept the Mumbai terrorists. It took the first lot of firefighters hours to respond to the fire at the Taj. It took nine hours to mobilise the commando force many of whom are usually kept busy providing “security” to politicians who often see such security as a matter of prestige. It has also been reported that a very large grant recently given to the Mumbai police for their modernisation was mostly spent on buying luxury cars and other expensive items for the use of senior officers and their ministers!
Creating a security system that will provide effective protection to the population from terrorist attacks will not be easy. Corruption follows public money in India as it does, unfortunately, in many countries, and undermines performance. Secondly, the effective functioning of any institution in India in a non-partisan manner would require that institution to be insulated from political interference. The second condition is not easily met. The required reforms thus call for a certain kind of political will that the political class in India has not quite shown in recent times.
Yet India cannot any longer avoid debates over security and other rights. The government has already announced certain measures making anti-terror laws more stringent. Some other reforms will also certainly follow on paper and perhaps in action as well. Many members of the Indian educated middle classes are angry at the inability of their government to protect them.
We do not know how effective that anger will be. If the nature of the political class remains the same, Indians will probably have to get used to living with a degree of terror the exact quantum of which is difficult to predict. One hopes though that the nation will address both the long-term and short-term problems together so that, important as security considerations are, this tragedy will initiate not just a rethink but also a revitalisation of democratic institutions in India as they cope with the challenges of this global century.
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