Tiger census: four healthy landscapes possible

By Malini Shanker

The Wildlife Institute of India's census report estimated 1,411 tigers in India’s Protected Areas. The report is significant for thorough and precise documentation of habitat loss for the tiger.

The wildlife census report “Status of Tigers, Co-predators, and Prey in India 2008” submitted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) estimated 1,411 tigers in India’s Protected Areas (PAs), with a maximum 1,657 or a minimum of 1,165 tigers. The report is a scientific estimate of tigers, their prey base and habitat.

WII was commissioned by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Government of India to estimate tiger numbers after the debate surrounding the total number of tigers killed in Sariska Tiger Reserve. "The exaggeration of tiger numbers over the years - the fudging of figures - has meant that the government has been able to avoid reacting to all the other warnings - such as organised wildlife crime and the poaching threat, the loss of all the tigers in Sariska and the Tibet expose," says Belinda Wright of the Wildlife Protection Society of India.

While the report has been critically acclaimed, it is significant more for its thorough and precise documentation of habitat loss for the tiger, than in the enumeration of tigers itself. Equally critically, the report finally buries the older pugmark method of census, which was an alibi for foresters to inflate tiger numbers, given the challenge of prosecuting poachers. “The pugmark method suffers from reliance on experts to identify individual tigers from the characteristics of the pugmarks,” says Dr Y V Jhala, senior faculty and Carnivore Biologist of the Wildlife Institute of India. “The plaster casts of the right rear foot look different on sandy loamy soil like on river beds, from that cast on clayey soil in other landscapes… that is the dilemma of park managers” says Dr Rajesh Gopal, Member Secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. (NTCA)

Jhala led the team of 50 field biologists for the conduct of the largest wildlife census ever undertaken. 88,000 forest staff assisted, according to Jhala. Two levels of data – one at the ground level in tiger beats and other through remote sensing – were combined. The analysis showed that tigers occupy areas where human impacts are minimum; also high tiger densities are achieved only in areas with low human disturbances. “When there is good food there is a higher population of tigers. Night lights signify places that have electricity - centres of urbanisation - it is a very reliable index of the ‘human footprint’ on the planet… Where humans are plentiful wildlife does not survive!” says Jhala.

Substantiating the claim that the tiger is at the head of the faunal spectrum, the report counts atleast 57,419 leopards, 1,34,833 wild dogs, 49,090 Sloth Bears, among carnivores and 69,026 Spotted Deer/Chital 78,861 Sambar (stags/Indian antelopes) and 25,808 Nilgais or (Blue Bulls) among herbivores. These numbers appear to be in line with the prey base theory propounded by renowned wildlife biologist Bangalore-based Ullas Karanth, who is affiliated to the Wildlife Conservation Society of New York.

But Karanth, who had for long criticised the hitherto official pugmark census, remains skeptical. "WII scientists have not produced any scientific publication in which their method is fully described. Only some glossy reports are available at this stage. So at this point I cannot comment further," he says.

In another peer review, Dr John Seidensticker, Conservation Biologist of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park and Dr Ramona Maraj, Conservation Biologist Canadian Department of Environment, Yukon, have criticised the report. “A substantive deficiency we noted in the Framework for Monitoring Tiger Population trends in India is the absence of tiger mortality monitoring,” they say. High feline mortality especially of cubs has been discounted and not computed in this census.

4 healthy tiger landscapes in India
The WII report says that there are only 4 healthy tiger landscapes in India, which, with ‘inter connectivity and inviolate’ corridors’ can offer long term sustenance of the tiger”. These are:

NE Hills: “The landscapes in the NE Hills and the Brahmaputra plains currently report tiger occupancy in 4230 km2 of forests, supporting 200 tigers; forests though fragmented, are connected through the forests of Bhutan. Gopal says “20 - 25 corridor linkages for the 4 identified tiger landscapes have been drawn up based on the conservation recommendations.”

However, this leaves atleast one NGO in Assam a bit skeptical: “Nothing on the ground has happened. It could be just another report for the state government,” says a bit disappointed Dr Bibhab Thalukdar, the Secretary General of Aranyak, wildlife NGO in Kaziranga Tiger Reserve. Most wildlife activists’ refrain is that camera traps were laid only in places where tiger presence was a certainty. Hence it is not entirely accurate they aver.

Nagarhole-Madumalai-Bandipur-Waynad corridor : This is the region that boasts of the best tiger landscape for long term conservation of the tiger gene pool. “The single largest population of tigers in India is within this landscape comprising the landscape of Nagarhole-Madumalai-Bandipur-Waynad” says the census report, thus consolidation of habitat in this corridor is absolutely critical. It hosts 280 tigers across 10,800 square kms.

It serves as a fine example of managing inter-state tiger reserves for establishing populations that have a good chance of long term persistence and provides a source to repopulate neighbouring forests,” says the report. “The voluntary resettlement of people from Nagarhole with positive collaboration between government and non government agencies in the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve must continue to permanently resolve the human wildlife conflict through a win-win solution” says Praveen Bharghav of Wildlife First in Nagarhole.

“We are now focusing attention about where to deploy the Tiger Protection Force, and we have identified the vulnerable source populations of tigers, after the tiger census report,” says Gopal.

The relocation of tribals from the Mudumulai Tiger Reserve commenced a few months ago, amidst noisy protests. The forest department has the responsibility to facilitate resettlement; with the new tiger conservation guidelines being issued, each adult is entitled to a package Rs.10,00,000 or material resources worth the same amount - including land for relocation and title deeds for housing outside the tiger reserves. Whether all these provisions have been made was the focus of the protests against relocation here.

The Central Indian landscape : The Central Indian landscape has vast stretches of tiger habitat and if connected with the Eastern Ghat landscape it will sustain the tiger gene pool remarkably, rendering wildlife management in the hands of mother nature itself. There is the prospect of seamless contiguity of habitat in: Kanha, Bandhavgarh Pench (47 tigers) and Panna (24 tigers) in Madhya Pradesh, Ranthambore Kuno Palpur on the Rajasthan-MP border (24 tigers), Sariska Tiger Reserve, Palamau Tiger Reserve (contiguous from Bandhavgarh in NE MP to Palamau in Jharkhand), Indravati Tiger Reserve in Chattisgarh (contiguous to Kanha in the NW in MP) to Simlipal in Orissa (20 tigers).

By connecting large PAs in Eastern Ghats with the Central Indian PAs, a very big tiger landscape could emerge; the WII report has overlooked habitat connectivity in the Eastern Ghats landscape," says Asif Siddique of Hyticos, wildlife NGO in Srisailam.

Northern Andhra Pradesh has some very thick forests which could possibly be notified as linkages (or corridors) for the Srisailam Nagarjunsagar Tiger Reserve in AP with the Tadoba Andheri Tiger Reserve in Maharastra, which in turn can be connected through corridor notification to Pench Indravati and Simlipal Tiger Reserves.

But Maoist insurgency in most parts of the Central Indian landscape plagues conservation … impeding completion of the census in the Indravati Tiger Reserve. "Advisories have been issued by the NTCA to the state forest departments to link up corridors and a roadmap has emerged; and a time-line has been issued by the NTCA to the state forest departments to deliver the tiger conservation plan," says Gopal.

The Eastern Ghat landscape: The report says that the Eastern Ghat complex is constituted by the Srisailam-Nagarjunsagar Tiger Reserve Andhra Pradesh and supports an estimated population size of 53 in a single contiguous forest block that spread across 15,000 square kms. "Insurgency, biotic pressures, and subsistence level poaching of tiger prey," plague conservation, it points out. The dense forests of this tiger reserve on the Eastern Ghats offers pristine habitat for the entire faunal spectrum of the Royal Bengal tiger. In addition, the tiger in effect protects the unquantified resources hidden in the treasure trove of the biodiversity reserves.

Despite very, very thick forests including crocodile sanctuary, mangrove ecosystems, 4 tiger reserves and impenetrable moist deciduous forests, lack of interconnectivity plagues sustenance of genetic diversity of tigers. The bamboo lobby here is all too powerful defying declaration of reserved forests as buffer zones for the tiger reserves. Inter connectivity offers vast undisturbed habitat. Political will for conservation offers the only hope for the harried Royal Bengal Tiger in its last refuge in India.

An opportunity for redemption, since the Sariska debacle : Since submission of the census report to the Government of India, all tiger reserves have been declared in the financial year 2008-09 as critical tiger habitat, to facilitate speedy relocation of people. 8 new tiger reserves are being notified. In some cases notification have been issued, in some others, demarcation is going on, in some, field directors are yet to be appointed, in some the funding has just been granted -- the new reserves are in various stages of birth pangs. Biodiversity committees have been entrusted with identifying flora and fauna to document peoples' interdependence on forest ecosystems in conformance to the Forest Rights Act.

For the four landscapes mentioned above, “It is upto the state governments now to draw action plans based on the conservation recommendations” says P R Sinha, the director of the Wildlife Institute of India. Consolidation of these 4 landscapes can offer genetic diversity for the highly endangered tiger as it protects tigers and faunal spectrum in inviolate corridors. The tiger and its faunal spectrum need political will in the states, urgently. “We have for the first time a high resolution spatial data set on where India’s tigers are, individual populations, tiger numbers and connectivity with other populations,” says Jhala.

Shaky coalitions make good economics

By M H Ahssan

Another high-decibel election season is upon us, and going by the first samplings of hate speeches by upstart politicians, it promises to be as rambunctious a campaign as any that we've seen over the years.

Early opinion polls point to the likelihood that another ragtag coalition of parties will take office and muddle their way through for a full term or for a few years until a bruised political ego or a momentary surge of opportunism causes the arrangement to collapse, warranting yet another high-decibel election season.

There's been much agonising over such unstable and opportunistic political arrangements, which have sort of become par for the Indian electoral course for two decades now. Conventional wisdom has it that weak coalitions at the Centre are bad for the economy because an excessive preoccupation with political survival and with keeping coalition partners in good humour impedes any attempt at initiating bold economic reforms or offering good governance. That's just an extension of the argument that "good" politics makes bad economics and that liberal democracies cannot promote economic growth as fast as authoritarian regimes can.

But, in fact, India's experience of coalition governments at the Centre and with economic growth demolishes that argument -- or, at the very least, underscores an important exception to that rule. For starters, it's no coincidence that the time-cycle of India's move into a higher orbit of economic growth matches pretty closely the period when coalition arrangements have come to occupy centre-stage at the Central level.

Virtually all the economic opening up and reform programs that enabled this speedier growth were carried out when motley, multi-party coalitions were in power: this is just as true of Congress-led arrangements as of those led by the BJP or the extremely nebulous and politically malleable "United Front".

In contrast, the years when one party dominated power politics at the Centre were characterised by the "Hindu rate of economic growth" and a system of political patronage. In particular, the 14 years that Indira Gandhi served as prime minister (over different tenures) -- during which she invoked Article 356 to dismiss elected state governments no less than 39 times -- were politically and economically ruinous.

Even if one concedes that she had to deal with separatist movements in Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir and the North-East and occasionally irresponsible state governments, her excessive predilection to dismiss elected governments on partisan considerations undermined the federal spirit and impeded state governments from realising their full potential as local-level economic change agents.

In the era of coalition governments, however, the space for such reckless dismissal of state governments has been limited by the realpolitik considerations of managing political arrangements in which typically a constituent at a Central-level coalition may be in power in a state. And although there have been occasional errors of omission -- when there was a fair case for invoking Article 356 but it wasn't (as in Gujarat in 2002) -- coalition politics have generally strengthened the federal structure and the process of decentralisation of power and encouraged state governments to look beyond political survival to advancing economic reforms.

Sure, there have been populist excesses, at the Central and state levels, as coalition partners binge on public money. And, of course, you don't often see shining examples of good governance. But there's nothing to indicate that the record of single-party governments was any better on those counts.

The option, then, is between single-party misrule based on patronage, which delivered low economic growth, and coalition arrangements that, with all their faults, occasionally demonstrated that political liberalism makes good economics. I know which one gets my vote.

Editor's Byte - India Elections 2009

By M H Ahssan

When in doubt trust the bookies. While pundits and psephologists are groping in the dark, the bookies (I don't know why most of them are based in Gujarat) have a clear favourite...

When in doubt trust the bookies. While pundits and psephologists are groping in the dark, the bookies (I don’t know why most of them are based in Gujarat) have a clear favourite in Election 2009. According to them, the Congress has its nose just in front and could touch the 140 mark. Congressmen and Congresswomen, in moments of candour, admit that the last two weeks have been terrible. Their erstwhile allies are hitting back with vengeance. Where will it stop?

Lalu has fantasies about the top job in Delhi, so does Sharad Pawar. If the Congress returns as the single largest party, how are Messrs Lalu and Pawar going to achieve their ambitions? Conventional wisdom holds that any party with around 30 seats can blackmail the Congress, not just about support but about the PM’s chair. Is that possible?

The BJP seems to be recovering its poise after the Varun Gandhi nonsense. This is such a calculated, brazen and cynical ploy by the mother and son duo for the latter to emerge as the "real" Hindutva icon, that I am surprised the lad’s antics are being taken so seriously.

Mr Advani has carefully and diligently plotted the BJP’s new governance profile. I hope Varun does not hijack Advani’s sensible agenda.

Is television responsible for creating Varun Gandhi as the BJP’s latest poster boy? I don’t think so. The reporting and the endless debates may have added marginally to his charisma, but he is his own creation. A senior BJP leader confessed to me that the party was taken completely by surprise by Varun’s dangerous gambit.

Tailpiece: A reporter once asked the late British prime minister, Harold Macmillan what he feared most in politics. "Events dear boy, events," replied the crafty old statesman. The Varun event is testimony to that insight.

OPINION - BJP Maths

By Rajinder Puri

The Varun Gandhi drama gives indication of carefully scripted and calibrated preparation involving several official and non-official actors... Even in the Byzantine intrigue characterizing Indian politics, is a tacit understanding between BJP and BSP possible?

The Varun Gandhi drama gives indication of carefully scripted and calibrated preparation involving several official and non-official actors. The manufactured events and the media hype made Mr Gandhi the focus of national attention in record short time. Mr Advani’s initial diffidence was replaced by an embarrassing degree of enthusiasm in his support for young Mr Gandhi. Is the drama unfolding spontaneously or according to a prepared script? If the latter, Mr Advani clearly was not in the loop to begin with. Is it hard to identify the producer and director of the drama? Suffice it to say that the swelling support among workers and voters for the BJP’s new mascot must have impelled rethinking among the BJP poll strategists.

If the drama is indeed through design and not by default, what is the plot, and what is the intended ending? That should not be difficult to fathom. Observe Miss Mayawati’s role. Her decision to use the NSA against Mr Gandhi achieved two results. It further sharpened the BJP’s Hindu profile; it enabled the BSP to extend its appeal to the Muslims. This heightened polarization of the vote along communal lines, pitching the BJP against the BSP, could marginalize both Congress and the Samajhwadi Party in UP.

Even in the Byzantine intrigue characterizing Indian politics, is a tacit understanding between BJP and BSP possible? And if it is, how will it benefit the BJP after the polls? Ms Sushma Swaraj let the cat out of the bag by stating quite realistically that after the polls the NDA may be short of numbers and would require new partners. She was lambasted for this by politicians and media stuck on the false notion that stating the truth hurts propaganda. If the NDA does indeed obtain the 230 seats for which it is struggling, how will it make up the numbers? Miss Mayawati and Miss Jayalalithaa are the obvious first choices to approach. But after the bitterness created between the BJP and BSP on the Varun drama is rapprochement at all possible?

Of course it is! In fact it is the oldest political confidence trick to hoodwink the voters. Recall early Punjab before NDA was created. The Akalis and Jan Sangh tore into each other during polls to consolidate their respective Sikh and Hindu vote banks. They made a coalition government after the polls. That was how Congress lost Punjab .

It might also be observed that Miss Mayawati’s style of functioning changed noticeably after she got forward caste advisers led by Mr Satish Mishra. She started reading out from a prepared script in her speeches and press conferences. She succeeded in forging an alliance with Brahmins thanks to Mr Mishra. The latter as a distinguished lawyer could also have been of great advantage as adviser to Miss Mayawati in the various court cases that have dogged her. Before joining the BSP Mr Mishra was the Advocate General of Uttar Pradesh. He had been appointed to that post with the blessing of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee who was in office then.

It would be reckless of course to attempt any post poll surmise. But it would be best to keep a very open mind. Anything is possible.

BUSINESS OF BOLLYWOOD - Kamal Hassan

By M H Ahssan

Versatility is an easy synonym to use for dancer, singer, director, producer and, of course, actor Kamal Haasan. Millions across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and even Bengali cinema have cheered the man in these avatars over the past three decades. Although modesty, the industry says, is not a Haasan attribute, HNN caught this quick-witted actor in a mood of humility

As he draws gently into his cup of tea, Kamal Haasan displays a composed look. His last movie to hit the screens, Dasavatharam, that was released nearly a year ago, set the cash registers ringing and Haasan’s satisfaction with its success is evident. “It was made with budgets that were unheard of in the Tamil film industry and it made four times the kind of money that was possible,” he says matter-of-factly of the movie that cost producer, Oscar Ravichandran Rs 60 crore and is said to have raked in over Rs 200 crore with a Hindi version ready for release.

Yet, this was one of the rare successes in a bad year for Tamil cinema, though Haasan dismisses the recession by attributing the failures solely to bad content.

A RECESSION FOR FILMS?
Haasan is not in any mood to agree with the notion that the film industry has been hit. “I have a legitimate suspicion that we are reacting in a knee-jerk manner to what is happening globally. We do not export our films like China does its furniture. Our films are largely for local consumption,” maintains Haasan, confident in the Indian cine fan who has not yet abandoned the theatres. Even if Dasavatharam was released before the socalled slowdown set in, what would people attribute the success of the Aamir Khan-starrer Ghajini to, he asks. “The question is about reacting practically to a situation. Have all sectors been affected or have food portions become smaller?” asks the actor who abhors complacency and advocates constant practice and introspection to move ahead in life. “I hope no one rationalises our prices. I live well!”

From the Tamil film industry’s point of view, times have been rough. Success rates have dropped and producers are doing a rethink on budgets. According to estimates, of 115 films that hit the theatres in 2008, as many as 100 flopped. Consequently, a lot rides on 2009 content. Even the first quarter of 2009 has not been anything to write home about with films like Villu and 1977 bombing. Tamil cinema follows the Telugu film factory in size in the South. “While the recession does not directly affect the industry, it does have an impact on collections. To a lot of people, spending on a movie ticket is not an essential expenditure,” says AVM Studios CEO SC Babu.

In fact, two of Haasan’s proposed magnum opuses, the Rs 120-crore budget Marmayogi and Marudhanayagam, another historical big ticket, have been affected. While Pyramid Saimira pulled out of the first film, the second has been in the planning for over four years. Haasan acknowledges that Marmayogi had to be shelved but clarifies it is only till he can rustle up resources. “Marmayogi is a period film and it can go on floor anytime while Marudhanayagam has the potential of a Crouching Tiger and will stand the test of time,” the star says. This confidence in his content at whatever cost of money and time is why Haasan has insisted on autonomy for his banner, Rajkamal Films. And his confidence hasn’t so far been misplaced. Of the 23 films he has produced, 21 have been hits (10 superhits). “We are ready for any scale but we are keen on maintaining our autonomy,” says Haasan emphatically.

FILMS, MENTORING ET AL
For someone who made his film debut at six, Haasan’s enthusiasm for the medium is almost infectious. “All I know about the world came to me through cinema or moving images,” says the man who religiously devotes a minimum of half a film a day, including a large chunk of world cinema, and confesses to have been deeply influenced by the works of Kurusawa, Chaplin and Truffaut.

Haasan was still in his teens when he starred as the gawky, aspiring medical student in K. Balachander’s Arangetram— a movie which sowed the seeds of a relationship which was a turning point in Haasan’s career. “Teaching is a great sacrifice. You stay in one place while the student keeps moving on. I am like a student all the time — greedy, avaricious and always eager to learn. I feel through my acting, people get a glimpse into my soul babbling away the secrets of my life. I was 18 when I joined Balachander. We have done about 35 films together though we still disagree on the numbers,” says Haasan, his laugh filling the hotel room.

Among those that stand out are Aval Oru Thodarkathai, Moondru Mudichu, Manmatha Leelai and Avargal. They also came together for the 1981 Hindi smash hit, Ek Duuje Ke Liye which was first made in Telugu. “He would produce at least 2-3 films each year. He was incredible since he was writing and directing at the same time,” says Haasan.

Haasan also acknowledges the role of TK Shanmugham, the doyen of theatre and cinema, who was the inspiration for his Avvai Shanmukhi which was later remade in Hindi as Chachi 420.

Haasan has essayed a plethora of roles in his long career. He has played a ventriloquist, an underworld don, a Bharatanatyam dancer, a dwarf, a woman, a patriot, a drunkard, a teacher healing a mentally challenged girl – the list is endless. If that was not enough, he has produced and directed films apart from being a singer on more than one instance.

NEXT?
Haasan is a man full of ideas who admits his hands are full. On the anvil is a remake of A Wednesday in Tamil — Thalaivan Irukindran, scheduled for release in June. “Walt Disney has approached me for 19 Steps and we start shooting in July,” he says. How do you choose favourites from such a multitude of roles? But Haasan makes an honest attempt. “Saagar, Hey Ram, Sagara Sangamam, Nayagan and some scenes in Virumandi,” he says. There is no best as that means complacency. “I hope I am constantly improving as an actor. What is best is passé,” he says in all humility. The bar just got higher for this quintessential performer.

Analysis: Is free trade dying?

By M H Ahssan

The US should be more concerned about a quantum leap in the production and specialisation of idea-based goods. It will be unbecoming of the US to drown itself in an unwarranted din of protectionism.

Self-interest had been the driving force behind the opening up of trade between and among nations — not altruism to do good to others. It was pure and simple, perceived and revealed, self-interest. The English classical economists put it in a philosophical manner called utilitarianism, which attached significance to something that reduced pain and increased pleasure. Nations did trade and still do it because it increases the mass of commodities and the sum of enjoyment. However, instances surfaced when some nations deviated from free trade and did something opposite of it. For instance, despite their vigorous advocacy of the merits of free trade, one of the classicists, namely, David Ricardo, continued his support of the Corn Laws, brought in the wake of the Continental System simply because it raised the share of landed interests in Britain against other income groups till they were repealed in 1846.

The first opposition was voiced by the German economist Friedrich List in his celebrated work The National System. In this he argued that trade should be between and among equals. A nation not matching another should not take to free trade because it might lose. Accordingly, the former should strive to develop its productive potential under tariff protection, match the level of the other nation, and engage in trade. This stipulation has some grain of truth in that it speaks of an unequal situation and seeks to rectify it in a time-bound manner. The United States argued for moving away from free trade because it thought it might harm the ‘community of interest’ between industry and agriculture vis-à-vis the economy. Japan sought development under an inward-looking policy, avoiding trade initially. The US, again during the Great Depression of the ’30s, imposed the Smoot-Hawley Act hiking some 900 tariffs. It clamped the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act incorporating Super and Special 301 provisions declaring nations unilaterally as practitioners of ‘unfair’ trade according to it.

To cap it all, now it has promulgated the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act withdrawing some 1 lakh H-1B visas. Obama has even suggested that any firm practising outsourcing will be treated with harsher measures of taxation. The US policy responses — including that of protectionism — arise from short- to medium-term concerns such as protecting employment. But what about an appropriate and rational long-term response? America must re-orient its thinking from short-run exigencies to long-term development imperatives. In that lies the key to the resolution of its present predicament and future prosperity.

In the ‘50s of the last century, the world economy confronted the issue of the long run dollar problem. The problem was, every country needed dollar and ran a surplus trade with the US so that it could get it. This was because dollar provided infinite possibilities to its owner in terms of material benefits. The more significant and overpowering reason was the high productivity level of the US economy. It is the high productivity of the US that made dollar so strong and also coveted. Riding on the waves of this high productivity, the US reigned supreme in a most positive manner for two decades since the end of the Second World War.

We quote Jagdish Bhagwati to bring home this point: ”Free trade comes naturally to countries that possess actual or perceived competitiveness”. This competitiveness stems from productivity growth within countries and also from productivity growth differences in comparable products between and among countries who wish to do trade relatively free from restrictions. And it is this productivity growth difference that explained the relative superiority enjoyed by the US in production and trade after World War II and also the long run dollar shortage. This was pointed out by Thomas Balogh and reiterated by J H Williams in his Stamp Memorial Lecture in 1952.

It is this productivity growth difference that has swung back with venom to hit the US economy in a different situation that witnesses both the decline of US productivity and the rise of the same in other countries. This productivity slide coupled with visible inability of policymakers to arrest wage rise has adversely affected the US and rendered it into a diminished giant and afflicted it with what Bhagwati calls the ‘diminished giant syndrome’. It is this that bursts into restrictions on trade of all forms and magnitudes. If the US is capable of overcoming this smallness in productivity growth someday it will not only be able to roll back its protectionist policies but also be able to create a Brave New World based on free society and free markets. How that conjuncture can be created will measure up the potential of the US and its ability and genius to translate it into a possibility.

Paul Romer explains the matter in a persuasive manner. According to him there are two types of goods — physical goods and idea-based goods. While the former can be produced by any country depending on its facilities and opportunities, the latter are the preserve of those having good stock of knowledge and knowledge workers. All idea-based goods depend for their production on an elastic supply of updated knowledge and education standards with appropriate upgradation of the syllabi and their contents. This process of updating is a continuous one and needs large investment in human beings and their development.

Professor Schultz has written extensively on this and also about its importance in economic development. The importance of investment and innovation in knowledge and education becomes all the more important because growing nations previously looked down upon, are catching up with their developed counterparts as never before. This makes an additional demand on the development of knowledge on the part of the developed countries like the US. Today the US should, therefore, be more concerned about a quantum leap in the production and specialisation of ideabased goods. It will be a disservice done to the US economy and also unbecoming of it to drown itself in an unwarranted din of protectionism for smaller causes.

Political parties eye IT springboard for poll success

By Ruchi Kumar

There is a new weapon in the arsenal of political parties for Election 2009. Even as the scramble for a wider vote-bank gains momentum, they are embracing information technology (IT), not just to get their word across to the man on the street, but to also showcase their prowess in the field.

As part of its online campaign, the Congress party is setting up around 600 internet kiosks countrywide to showcase its achievements. A dedicated IT team set up by the Congress is putting up these kiosks, which will feature customised interactive software, sources told HNN. The kiosks will be used to register youth members on the party’s website and will also beam excerpts from the speeches of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi, among others.

Not to be outdone, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also going the whole-hog and has formed an IT cell.

An official pointed out that not only is the party keen to automate its offices throughout the country, it has appointed over 15 state IT conveners to oversee regional operations.

The Congress manifesto specifically mentions that should it come to power, it would connect all villages to a broadband network in the next three years. As part of its preelection plan, around 50 internet kiosks are to be set up in Gujarat alone, where the party is making concerted efforts to topple the BJP’s Narendra Modi government.

According to the party’s manifesto, ‘‘The Indian National Congress pledges to bring the fruits of the IT revolution to more cities and towns. It also pledges to connect every village to a broadband network within three years. This will help locate new, non-agricultural jobs in villages and open new opportunities for our rural youth. Already, information technoligy is being used in areas like computerisation of land records but we now promise a bolder, time-bound initiative.’’

On its part, the Bharatiya Janata Party is intent on connecting all state headquarters and districts through WAN (wide area networks) and has plans to opt for ‘‘cent per cent open source technologies’’. While the party is keen to explore the benefits of infotechdriven solutions in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, it is eager to dissimilate technology through a localised approach.

The BJP has spelt out its vision in its information technology and telecom vision document, which pinpoints how the party plans to use infotech as an important tool for change, if voted to power. This is a first of its kind sectoral poll manifesto.

AP Border villages may lose double voting privilege

By M H Ahssan

They are neither here nor there. Or rather, at both places. These 12 villages between Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh enjoy the power of voting in both the states due to a border dispute between the two states.

But now, the villagers are all set to lose this privilege. District returning officer Pradeep Kalbhor has promptly brought the issue to the notice of election commission, and orders allowing the villagers to vote in only one of the two states are expected to issued before the polling.

The 12 villages are Paramdoli, Paramdoli Tanda, Padmavati, Antapur, Indiranagar, Lendijada, Yesapur, Shankarlodhi, Maharajguda, Kotha (Bujruk), Kotha (Khurd), Mukuddamguad and Lendigunda. All are located exactly along the Maharashtra-AP border in Jiwti tehsil of the district and are matter of unresolved dispute over possession between the two states since two decades.

While Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are in a tug-of-war, the two governments over period of time went on to endow the villages with necessary amenities under various government schemes. Thanks to two-way flow of favours, these villages have two schools, two fair price shops, and people here avail advantages of government schemes from both the sides. These villages also have two gram panchayats of both the governments and have elected sarpanches and gram panchayat members for either side. Moreover, the voters here have two voting cards - one of Maharashtra and other of Andhra Pradesh, and power to vote on either sides. Since the general elections of 1991, they have been voting for parliamentary and assembly elections of both the states.

Earlier, these villages were part of Maharashtra, but the government gave up these villages in the year 1989 and handed them to AP government, which included these villages in its Adilabad district. But as it was brought to the notice of Maharashtra government that the decision regarding such handing over of its territory to other state could not be made at state level, the earlier decision of transfer of villages to AP was stayed in 1995. During the BJP-Sena government in Maharashtra in 1996, the cabinet revoked the decision of transfer of these villages to AP. Against the decision of the Maharashtra government, the AP government moved its High Court, and later this move of AP was challenged by the Maharashtra government in the Supreme Court. The apex court had ordered the Union government to take final decision in this regard, and the matter of ownership of these villages still lingers in balance.

Now that polling date for first phase of general election is a mere two weeks away, the total of 2,120 voters (Male-1083/ Female-1037) in these 12 villages are geared up to cast three votes, as the Legislative Assembly elections of AP is being carried out with general elections. The candidates of Chandrapur parliamentary constituency of Maharashtra, along with the candidates of Adilabad parliamentary constituency and Khanpur assembly constituency in AP, are wooing the voters here through election campaign. With no final instruction in this regard issued yet, Maharashtra has proposed five polling booths, while AP has proposed three polling booths in the disputed villages. Voters exercising franchise for candidates of Maharashtra will be inked on the index finger of their right hand, while the same voter will be inked on the index finger of the left hand after casting the vote for AP candidates, as had been done in the past.

“We have repeatedly brought the issue to the notice of the election commission and it too is trying to resolve this problem. The issue once again cropped up in the meeting of election commissioner with the returning officers on Wednesday, and higher-ups have assured to issue concrete instruction in this regard in coming days,” said Pradeep Kalbhor, district returning officer.

SP Chhering Dorje, who also was present in the meeting said, “It is expected that the Election Commission might issue instruction to resolve the problem in all such cases.”