Challenges facing CIOs in Saudi Arabia

Devoteam managing partner OSAMA GHOUL takes a look at the many issues facing Saudi Arabian CIOs working in the Kingdom today.

With the rapid growth of the IT market, CIOs in Saudi Arabia encounter many challenges that vary from making day-to-day simple decisions to taking strategic directions that will affect the future success of the organisation.

As the role of a CIO is becoming less technology focused and more strategy oriented, CIOs in Saudi Arabia are becoming more engaged in setting strategy, enabling enterprise change, and solving business problems, as well as IT problems. Additionally, leading finance professionals have begun to recognise that well-managed IT organisations are not just cost centres, but valuable business partners that can drive both operating efficiencies and top-line growth.

This recent shift in the CIO role emphasises the importance of adopting modern IT approaches that guarantee more efficient business processes, through innovative and visionary use of new technologies, such as cloud and virtualisation, enterprise content management, social media, and proper SOA.

This paradigm shift adds a major challenge before the CIO to balance between the various business objectives, like introducing new technologies, maintaining business agility, being responsiveness, achieving quality of service, cutting cost, and promoting innovative thinking. Each CIO is facing different realities and factors that impact the decisions about how to balance between these business differentiators.

Although cost reduction is not on the top of the list when it comes to the Saudi public sector IT spending features, the calculations of the IT investment ROI remain one of the challenges that CIOs face in justifying their investment. The emerging technologies are deemed to be the major challenge that requires enormous efforts from the CIOs in assessing these technologies and valuate its benefits against the expected cost.

Among the emerging trends that most CIOs have to confront and introduce within their organisations are that most of IT infrastructure is being commoditised, and most of the horizontal applications are being shared or consolidated, the distinction between internal and external collaboration is being reduced by time, information management is now dealing more with internal and external information as a continuum.

In addition, the confluence of information, operational and consumer technologies will create a new wave of transformational opportunities similar to what is currently named ‘Government 2.0’, the transformation towards enterprise service management, as a full spectrum IT governance, and the introduction of enterprise architecture management are having an impact.

Alongside with the transformation towards adopting and activating new trends, CIOs within the Saudi ICT market find themselves dealing will challenging key issues including balancing the need to influence business strategy with the need to provide top-notch IT support, balancing between cost reductions and enhancing service provisioning, keeping up with the continuous change of the technologies followed to achieve the transformation towards the new trends, and the maturity, availability, and ability of the service providers to fulfil the requirements of the Saudi market.

In addition, they are having to worry about introducing new trends within the organisation to get stakeholders buy-in, developing a surrounding ecosystem that will incubate the transformation process from all aspects, even up to the level of the ethical codes and social policies needed to ensure interoperability, catering for the overlapping roles of service recipients.

Varun Outshines Rahul in Parliament

By Dr.Subhash Kapila

One of the unintended consequences of the Anna Hazare movement which peaked in August end with a Parliament discussion on his main demands for breaking off his fast was to throw up vividly the marked comparison in terms of political abilities and political impact potential between Varun Gandhi and his first cousin Rahul Gandhi. Both grandsons of late Indira Gandhi in different political dispensations spoke in the Parliament debate on Anna Hazare.

In public perceptions Varun Gandhi created a more positive political impact with his political composure, political gravitas and his speech marked by extempore delivery masterfully done. Rahul Gandhi in the run-in for succeeding Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh had raised great hopes that he would seize the occasion to establish his political credentials in a moment of crisis. Rahul Gandhi angrily read out a four page written text on the subject and highly critical of the mass political upheaval. That Rahul Gandhi could not seize the moment politically, the blame should rest on his political mentors within the Congress Party and his political spin masters.

The Indian media was quick to seize this unintended consequence and has gone to own with analyses that it seemed that Rahul Gandhi was not yet ready to assume the political leadership of India and some within his Party suggesting that maybe he wants to spend more time to strengthen the Party organization before he bids for the top slot. So much doubting on his political prowess has taken place that some analysts went on to suggest that the Congress Party Plan B should cater for his sister Priyanka Gandhi replacing him as heir to the dynasty.

Politically, all eyes would now be riveted on the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections next year to assess Rahul Gandhi’s political fortunes. Even if the Congress Party does not win power in Uttar Pradesh next year but substantially increases its share of winning Assembly seats, that achievement would be politically credited as Rahul Gandhi’s political gain. However that itself seems to be debatable.

Varun Gandhi is certainly not in the race for Prime Minister as his Party the BJP has more than a handful of strong contenders for the Prime Minister’s office in 2014. But for political analysts drawing political comparisons between the two Gandhi family cousins would continue to be inevitable. It makes good copy especially for those who abhor dynastic politics and dynastic leadership within the Congress Party.

Regrettably for Rahul Gandhi India’s political environment is presently not in favor of the Congress Party and hence for Rahul Gandhi also to launch his bid for Prime Ministership. The Congress Party stock has fallen markedly in public perceptions as a result of the cascade of unending political corruption scams of unprecedented proportions. Then is what is being described by the political opposition parties as a civil war in the upper echelons of Congress Party political leaders and especially between the Home Minister and the Finance Minister.

More significantly is the growing alienation of India’s middle classes from the Congress Party especially after the Congress Part’s mismanagement of the Anna Hazare mass political upheaval and the earlier suppression of Baba Ram Dev’s movement at Ram Lila Maidan in New Delhi by use of brute police power.

All of these above are tremendous political pressures on Rahul Gandhi and could distract him from the orderly succession scripted for him by the Congress President and the Congress Party political machine.

Comparatively his first cousin Varun Gandhi has no such political distractions weighing in heavily on his political fortunes or his political path. Varun Gandhi does not enjoy or has at his command a subservient political machine to bolster his political fortunes. Politically whatever he has achieved working his way up through BJP ranks is on his own strengths and convictions however much many may differ with him.

In times to come one will always be presented by political comparisons between the two Gandhi first cousins.

Who’s Not Guilty in 2G Scam?

By Rajinder Puri

Congress spokesperson Mr. Abhishekh Singhvi commenting on the 2G controversy said that there was not a “shred of evidence” implicating any Congress minister. As a distinguished lawyer Mr. Singhvi doubtless knows what he is talking about. However even for a layman not well conversant with law, there arise a few nagging questions that continue to trouble. The charge sheet on the 2G scam was filed by the CBI against former Telecom Minister Mr. A. Raja on April 2, 2011.

The offences listed against Mr. Raja for the issuance of 2G Spectrum licenses was for the period 2008-2009. Just one week before Mr. Raja was charge sheeted the recently leaked Finance Ministry note had been prepared on March 25, 2011. The note made clear that Home Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram, then the Finance Minister, was initially opposed to Mr. Raja’s decision not to auction the Spectrum 2G licenses but eventually did not prevent him. That disclosure created an uproar and tension between Mr. Chidambaram and Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee.

Now Mr. Mukherjee has written a new letter to the Prime Minister in which he has clarified that the note was a background paper intended to achieve a consensual approach by different ministries on the contentious issue of 2G Spectrum licenses. Mr. Mukherjee has defended Mr. Chidambaram. However in the letter Mr. Mukherjee has also revealed that the note was prepared with inputs from several ministries including Law, Finance and Telecom, as well as the cabinet secretariat and the PMO.

It may be recalled that the note was released by the cabinet secretariat in response to an RTI application. Mr. Mukherjee’s letter makes clear therefore that all the ministers concerned were in the loop about what Mr. Raja was up to. Mr. Mukherjee wrote that Mr. Raja could possibly “prima facie be held guilty”. However “Mr. Chidambaram cannot be accused of any such thing.”

Mr. Raja was booked for criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery under sections 120B, 420, 468 and 471 IPC, and under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act. In the charge sheet the CBI gave details of how the conspirators caused a loss of Rs 30,984 crore to the state exchequer. In the light of the note dated March 25, 2011, Mr. Mukherjee’s latest letter to the PM revealing the involvement of several ministries in its preparation, and the fact that it was released by the Cabinet Secretariat creates powerful circumstantial evidence that the PM, the FM and the HM were all aware before April 2, 2011, when Mr. Raja was charge sheeted, of what he had done during 2008-2009 when he was issuing the licenses. But it was the Supreme Court and not the government that ordered the CBI to probe Mr. Raja. This is what raises the nagging questions.

The Prevention of Corruption Act makes clear that even without direct complicity or motive of profit if any official is aware of the state being defrauded and does not act to prevent it, he or she becomes an abettor open to criminal prosecution. Section 10 of the Act reads: “Whoever, being a public servant, in respect of whom either of the offences defined in Section 8 or Section 9 (defrauding the state) is committed, abets the offence, whether or not that offence is committed in consequence of that abetment, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall be not less than six months but which may extend to five years and shall also be liable to fine.”

The question raging in public debate is which ministers of the UPA government are guilty. In the light of the above facts should not the question be which ministers are not guilty?

Diabetic Retinopathy - Handle with Care

By M H Ahssan


All Diabetics, beware to handle this disease with care as 'Diabetic Retinopathy' is caused by damage to the retina of the eye. Once, this condition is common in people with chronic diabetes, you have to be more cautious in caring your eyes. We have provided some helpful information on diabetic retinopathy to avoid any hassles in health further. Have a look and follow us.

Diabetic retinopathy is a group of eye problems, which mainly affects diabetics. It is one of the most serious complications of diabetes. Diabetes is caused by increased levels of blood sugar, called as hyperglycemia. Diabetes results from insufficient production of insulin hormone by the pancreas or reduced capacity of the body to use insulin. Diabetes can give rise to serious complications such as nerve damage, renal failure, heart and blood vessel diseases, foot problems and eye problems.


Diabetic people are at higher risk of developing certain eye problems such as cataract, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy is one of the common complications of diabetes, which usually occurs in people with chronic diabetes. It occurs due to damage to the blood vessels of the light-sensitive tissues in the retina. It may happen in people with type-1 diabetes or type-2 diabetes. In some cases of diabetic retinopathy, there may be swelling of blood vessels and excretion of the fluid. In other cases, there may be a growth of new blood vessels on the surface of the retina. Diabetic retinopathy initially causes abnormality in vision, and if left untreated, it can lead to vision loss. The National Eye Institute has reported that about 45% of diabetic adults in the United States suffer from some degree of diabetic retinopathy. It is one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States.


Types of Diabetic Retinopathy
There are two major types of diabetes retinopathy: non-proliferative and proliferative. Non-proliferative retinopathy is the early and mild form of the disease, which can cause blurred vision. Proliferative retinopathy is considered as the advanced and more severe stage of the disease. It may result in vision loss and scarring of the retina.


Stages of Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is classified into four stages depending upon severity of the condition. Mild non-proliferative retinopathy is the earliest stage of the disease. It causes small areas of balloon-like swelling (microaneurysms) in the blood vessels of the retina. In case of moderate non-proliferative retinopathy, some of the blood vessels in the retina are blocked. In severe non-proliferative retinopathy, blood supply to the retina is decreased due to blockage of most blood vessels. In the last stage, proliferative retinopathy, the growth of new blood vessels is triggered along the retina for the nourishment of the retina. Since these new blood vessels are fragile and abnormal, they may break and cause bleeding in the retina, resulting in haemorrhages. Proteins may leak from the blood vessels, leading to swelling of the retina (edema), which can cause vision loss and blindness.


Risk Factors for Diabetic Retinopathy
People with severe diabetes for a longer period of time are at greater risk of developing diabetic retinopathy. Poor control on diabetes, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and smoking are the risk factors for diabetic neuropathy. Pregnant women with diabetes are more likely to develop diabetic retinopathy.


Symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy
Many a times, no symptoms are experienced in the early stage of diabetic retinopathy. In the advanced stage of the disease, you may notice the symptoms such as spots floating, dark streaks or a red film that block the vision, shadows or missing areas of vision, blurred vision, poor night vision and vision loss. The abnormal growth of new blood vessels can give rise to some serious complications such as vitreous hemorrhage, retinal detachment, glaucoma and blindness. Generally, both eyes are affected by diabetic retinopathy.


Diagnosis of Diabetic Retinopathy
When you notice the symptoms of diabetic retinopathy, you should immediately consult an eye-specialist doctor. The eye-specialist carries out a dilated eye exam for the diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy. This test is performed by dilating the pupils using eye drops and then examining the retina. The doctor examines for the abnormal blood vessels, growth of new blood vessels and scar tissues, damage to the nerve tissues, swelling, bleeding or fatty deposits in the retina, bleeding in vitreous (clear, jelly-like substance that fills the center of the eye) and retinal detachment. Some other tests such as retinal photography, also called fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography (OCT) are also suggested for the diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy.


Treatment for Diabetic Retinopathy
Treatment for diabetic retinopathy is decided depending upon the type and severity of the condition. Damage to the retina that has already occurred can’t be reversed with any kind of treatment. The treatment is aimed at preventing the disease from getting worse and stopping further damage. Generally, no treatment is required for non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy. However, laser treatment can be administered if necessary.


In case of advanced proliferative diabetic retinopathy, a prompt surgical treatment may be required. There are various treatment options such as focal laser treatment, scatter laser treatment and vitrectomy. Surgical option helps to slow or stop the progression of the disease. But, keep in mind that it is not a cure. Since diabetes is a long-lasting condition and there is no cure for diabetes, there is a possibility of further retinal damage and vision loss in diabetic people. Therefore, you should opt for regular eye check-up even after the treatment.


The only way to prevent diabetic retinopathy is to keep your diabetes under control. You should opt for appropriate diabetic diet, regular exercises and diabetes medications to control diabetes. Monitor and maintain your blood sugar levels with the help of blood glucose tests on a regular basis. Also keep your blood pressure and cholesterol levels under control by having nutritious diet and regular exercising. If you notice slight changes in your vision, immediately consult the eye-specialist.


Have a watchful approach towards diabetes treatment and management in order to promote healthy vision. Take good care of your eyes; they are precious!

A Peek Under Saudi Arabia's Veil

By Sami Mobayed

Will the Arab Spring eventually reach Saudi Arabia? This question seems to be on everybody's mind, from think-tanks in the United States to traditional cafes in Damascus and Baghdad.

Critics of Saudi Arabia are divided when it comes to the answer. Some respond with an affirmative "Absolutely," claiming that the oil-rich kingdom cannot remain immune to the popular movements sweeping through Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and Syria.

Its women are oppressed, they claim, and so is its small Shi'ite population. A rising generation of Saudi princes are fed up with tolerating aged monarchs from the House of Saud, waiting for a chance to prop themselves on the throne of Riyadh.

Young people are restless for change in Saudi Arabia, just like everywhere else in the Arab world, and radicalism is on the rise in a country that gave birth to Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda.

Other Saudi-watchers shake their heads when answering the question, claiming that the US - a traditional ally of the House of Saud - would never allow it to fall.

The truth, however, is by far more complicated than a "yes" or "no" answer. True, unrest has already hit Saudi Arabia, and true, the US cannot tolerate radical change in Riyadh, but the US doesn't hold Arab masses by remote control and cannot get Saudis to riot - if they don't want to.

King Abdullah, aged 87, knows what it takes to please young Saudis. With swift moves, he has managed, for now, to keep a job bequeathed to him and his brothers by their father, the kingdom's founder, King Abdul Aziz. In March, shortly after the collapse of Saudi Arabia's ally, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, in what was seen as a pre-emptive measure, King Abdullah ordered a massive increase in spending, up to $130 billion over the next decade, on measures like affordable housing for young Saudis.

Many young newly married couples have complained that it was becoming increasingly difficult to buy a house in Saudi Arabia. Abdullah additionally raised wages in the public sector and pledged more public sector jobs. Critics immediately accused him of "bribing" his citizens, but the king did what was required from him to keep his people happy.

Abdullah realized that times had changed since he was a young man in the 1940s, and that social media networks like Facebook and Twitter had completely revolutionized not only Saudi Arabia but the Arab and Muslim World at large. The handwriting had been on the wall, after all, since demonstrations began in Tunisia last December.

In Saudi Arabia, it immediately triggered an online campaign demanding major political and economic reform. In early February, 40 women demonstrated for the release of prisoners held without trial in Saudi jail. This was repeated in March in al-Qatif, al-Awamiyah, and Riyadh.

Demonstrators called for a "day of rage" on March 11, but it was severely suppressed by authorities. It is always painful for any leader to grant concessions under pressure, and Abdullah managed to make those concessions at the right time, before they became too painful and before riots snowballed, taking Saudi Arabia down the path of Egypt and Bahrain.

Abdullah wanted the Saudis to see him as part of the solution in Saudi Arabia, rather than as part of the problem, as was the case with Mubarak, for example.

At the weekend, King Abdullah took his reforms a step forward by granting Saudi women the right to vote and become members in the shura council, for the first time ever in Saudi history.

The Riyadh-based council is a powerful 150-member assembly, appointed by the king to advise on legislation. Opening it to women must have taken a lot of thinking, and courage, from the king, knowing that this would unleash hell on him from traditional and conservatives both within his family and in the clerical community of Saudi Arabia.

"We refuse to marginalize the role of women in Saudi society in every field of work," King Abdullah said on state television, adding that empowering women would help empower the nation as a whole. This in itself is groundbreaking in the world's strongest theocracy, where women are strictly segregated in public, forced to cover themselves when out, are separated from men at schools, restaurants, banks and work.

Famously, they cannot drive in Saudi Arabia, and cannot assume political jobs that are now open to both sexes throughout the world, like foreign minister or prime minister.

In 2009, he turned a deaf ear to all critics, establishing the first co-ed university in the kingdom, carrying his name. He then appointed Nora Bin Abdullah al-Fayez as the first deputy minister in Saudi Arabia. A Utah State University graduate, she had served as director general of the women's sector of the Institute of Public Administration since 1993. Additionally she had also worked as professor at King Saud University between 1989 and 1995.

The new reforms will go into effect in the elections scheduled for 2015. They might not yield immediate results, given the resistance that such a decree would face from traditionalists and conservative Saudis who would now allow their daughter, sister or wife to campaign for public office.

When Abdullah's brother King Saud introduced public education for women in 1960, Saudi society frowned on the decree and it took years for men to send their daughters to school.

That is why although the decree has been warmly received by a majority of Saudis, others are arguing that the timetable for their implementation is too long, asking Abdullah to put his words into action. They are demanding early elections where women are allowed to vote and run for office.

Others are saying that the step is too little too late, claiming that Saudi Arabia by now should have long allowed women the right to sit on the shura council.

The real reforms needed for 2011, they claim, are to make the entire shura council an elected body, rather than one appointed by the king.

Others are posing a simpler question, asking how women can campaign for office if they cannot even be allowed to drive.

King Abdullah actually went one step further from both loyalists and critics in Saudi Arabia, claiming that Saudi women can now change whatever legislation they want - including the world's last standing driving ban on women - once they enter the shura council and other government bodies.

Veena Malik Against Islamic Clerics

By M H Ahssan

In her socially conservative country, moralizing against figures like Malik - an actress, model and reality TV star - can seem as routine as the call to prayer. All the more reason, then, for shock when she responded to religious critics by taking on Muslim clerics themselves, some of whom she said "rape the children they teach in their mosques, and do so much more", adding, "Since you have set up a court here, I demand that the court dispense justice."

But this was no courtroom. The venue was a TV studio in Lahore, where a shouting match erupted between the brazen 27-year-old and a respected white-haired cleric named Mufti Abdul Qavi.

Moments earlier, Qavi had admonished Malik to examine her conscience for her behavior on a popular Indian reality TV show, telling her she had "disgraced Pakistan, as well as Islam". Qavi later admitted he had never watched Malik's show.

The debate over Malik's moral obligations had millions of Pakistanis glued to their television sets. The sheer audacity of an actress openly challenging a religious figure left many thunderstruck.

Divisive figure
Veena (real name Zahida) Malik is a tremendously polarizing figure in Pakistan. Her supporters praise her as a trailblazer, a young Muslim who stands for an emerging strain of progressive Islam committed to women's rights.

Her detractors - a coalition of conservative religious figures, nationalists, Taliban loyalists and a 13,000-strong "I hate Veena Malik" Facebook page - question her moral credentials.

Malik's recent participation in the hit reality show Big Boss 4, the Indian equivalent of Big Brother, has been plagued by rumors of illicit behavior. These rumors were used by Qavi to upbraid Malik, leading to a showdown that made television history in Pakistan.

Mariyam Ali, a producer for the Express News television channel that broadcast the March debate, says her opinion of the controversial actress changed after seeing Malik confront the cleric. "She's not a hypocrite, at least," she wrote in an e-mail interview, adding that Malik's decision took some serious "guts and courage". Speaking for herself and her circle of friends, however, the 25-year-old said that while they "may not dislike her", they "don't look up to her either!"

'Thinking for themselves'
Malik ranks among a small but diverse group of defiant women in Pakistan. They range from assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to the young and still relatively unknown Shehrbano Taseer, daughter of slain former governor Salmeer Taseer, a vocal supporter of the rights of religious minorities. Taseer recently came out in support of her father's work, vowing to continue in his footsteps even if it put her in danger.

For her part, Malik says, "You won't believe the kind of huge response I have received from the women of Pakistan, even the women who wear the burqa and all." She quotes messages from girls who say things like, "You have given us hope, to stand up."

She thinks things have "already started" to change in Pakistan. But with Islamabad mired in political infighting and the country confronted with growing insurgent violence, she says the time has come for women to "think for themselves ... Because no one else is going to give a damn [about them] in Pakistan."

Weeks after the debate's airing, Malik was injured in a suspicious road accident. She was hospitalized and has since sought refuge in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where she continues working for Voice of Women, a non-profit organization she founded to help female victims of domestic violence and other abuse throughout Asia.

Violence against women is a widespread problem in Pakistan. Some 1,000 women die in honor killings every year. Reports suggest that as many as four in five women are subject to abuse in their own households.

Standing up
Malik is no stranger to any of this. Born into a poor family of seven children in the northern city of Rawalpindi, her mission comes out of personal experience, ever since she was "a kid".

"I've been watching my dad hitting my mom for no reason, for the food. 'You did not cook the food on time,' and things like that. Little things," she says.

"When I grew older, my elder sister, she was 14, my father married her off. The other sister was 11, my father married her off. I was in the sixth standard [sixth grade in secondary school], when my father said that, 'Now it is your turn.' I stood up. And I was hardly 12, 13 at that time. I said, 'No, why should I get married? I mean, why, why should I? I mean, I don't want to!' And then my father said, 'No, you have to.' And this was the first time I stood up for myself."

In Malik's telling, her father, a retired army officer, told her he had no more money for her studies so she worked to put herself through school. At 17, she decided to go into show business, a decision derided by her relatives as an unconscionable disgrace.

She fell in love for the first time, she says, when she was 20 years old. Rumors abound, but she says she is not in a relationship at present, adding that things fell apart with a former boyfriend after she became a victim of physical abuse.

But she emerged from that experience with a message for Pakistani women. "I want to tell them that 'You are beautiful, and strong, and you don’t need to hide under the shadow of a man just because you're a woman'," she says. "They have to be told that they don’t have to wait for a man to feed them, they have to be told that they are strong. These women don’t know how strong and beautiful they actually are."

Rising tide of youth
Her decision to debate Qavi in public was an impromptu move - she was not given advance notice, she says, that he would be participating in the interview. "I had no idea," she says, "whether they would kill me when I stepped out of the [television] studio or they would welcome me."

As a 27-year-old celebrity, Malik is part of a growing majority in Pakistan, where over two-thirds of the population is under 30. Pakistan is home to deeply rooted conservative values with unprecedented exposure to the modern world due to the ready availability of cheap modern technology and the country's widespread use of the English language.

Nineteen-year-old Siraj Ali, a Pakistani studying in Karachi, says Malik "was right about that cleric [Qavi]", adding that he and his friends "all support her". He doesn't think this is the dominant opinion among his peers, however, warning that many young people have been influenced by the fundamentalist Taliban.

Others believe more positive changes are afoot. Umar Saif, a 33-year-old Pakistani professor recently listed among the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's prestigious Top Young Innovators, thinks Malik's generation will change Pakistan.

"Pakistan's really come of age, as most nations need to, and the next generation will usher in a time of modernization and usher in an era of political awareness, usher in an era of political tolerance, and just enlightenment," Saif says. "And we hope to embrace, you know, the civilized way the rest of the world has gone about their business."

Malik's encounter with the mullah may not be a glowing example of civilized discourse, but the bigger question - for Pakistan - is whether or not it's a step in the right direction.

Bitter pill for Big Pharma

By Bhupesh Bhandari

A committee headed by Planning Commission member Arun Maira, the former head of The Boston Consulting Group in India, wants all acquisitions of Indian pharmaceutical companies by foreigners to be scanned by the Competition Commission of India or CCI. The report will now be sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Prime Minister Singh is expected to take a final view on the matter after he meets all stakeholders on October 10.

The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance or IPA, the lobby group for home-grown pharmaceutical companies, has been vocal for a while about the need to review the policy that allows overseas drug makers unrestricted entry into India. The health ministry supports the view because such acquisitions can raise the prices of medicine in the country. IPA has also found support from the ministry of commerce and industry. But the department of economic affairs in the finance ministry has opposed it because it would amount to rollback of the liberal policy on foreign direct investment.

The multinational lobby, of course, will have none of it because it is a journey back to the Middle Ages — the days of protection. Mr Maira too doesn’t want to change the rulebook but wants to ensure that such acquisitions do not lead to any price rise or other restrictive trade practices, hence the suggestion to refer all acquisitions to CCI.

So, is IPA happy with what it has got? Not really, because price rise was never at the core of its campaign. Its argument, and the Planning Commission is well aware of it, is that Big Pharma (the collective of large transnational drug makers) wants to acquire Indian companies and thus kill competition in the generics (off-patent medicine) space across the globe. There is evidence, IPA Secretary General D G Shah says, that Indian companies that got acquired by Big Pharma have scaled down their patent challenges in the West.

Also, they have slowed their “compulsory licence” business. (Developing countries often give out licences for patented medicine to cheap producers; Indian companies have been the main beneficiaries, but it hurts the patent holders real bad.) This is the reason why, says IPA, foreigners have paid huge amounts of money to acquire Indian companies in the last few years.

There is fear that most acquisitions will pass the CCI scanner because the Indian market is very fragmented – about 50 companies share 80 per cent of the market, though the share of the top 10 has gone up from 10.5 per cent in 2004-05 to 19.1 per cent in 2009-10 – and hence the charge of market dominance may not stick. On the flip side, argues ChrysCapital Managing Director Sanjiv Kaul, since there are hundreds of brands for every molecule, it’s not easy for one or two companies to collude and raise prices.

All told, there are almost 20,000 pharmaceutical companies registered with the government, almost 300 of these are of a respectable size. Also, Indian-owned companies take decisions quickly and have lower overheads, unlike the foreign-owned ones, so it’s not easy to out-price them.

IPA wants foreign investment in Indian companies to be vetted by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board which can take a holistic view of the proposal; all investments into new production capacity should, it says, stay on the automatic route. Foreign investment in the sector, IPA says, has focused on acquisitions. In the 15 years from 1995 to 2010, it has told the Planning Commission, overseas pharmaceutical companies have contributed only Rs 3,022 crore in gross fixed assets, as against Rs 54,010 crore by local companies. So what IPA has got from the Maira committee falls way short of what it has been demanding.

IPA may have a point in its arguments. One, the acquisition of Indian companies does not seem to be driven by their ability to produce inexpensive generic medicine — it can always be sourced from them. At the moment, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is producing at only 40 per cent capacity; so, most companies are desperate to recover their capital costs and hence ready to sell at rock-bottom prices. It’s a buyers’ market.

Two, it is not driven by India’s ability to produce new drugs at low costs because the new drug pipeline of most companies looks pitiable. Three, generic medicine from low-cost producers in India, Israel and China is a serious headache for Big Pharma. It has challenged their validity in various international forums. Most large global companies now have a generics arm, and many like to go with authorised generics sourced from friendly companies.

But killing competition through acquisitions may not be the only reason why they are acquiring companies in India. The world pharmaceutical market at the moment is around $800 billion and is growing at four per cent per annum. Out of this, emerging countries like India contribute $225 billion, or a little over 28 per cent, but this market is growing at 12 per cent per annum. So, in the next one year, of the $32 billion additional sales, emerging markets will contribute $27 billion, or over 80 per cent. This is a good enough reason for Big Pharma to pay crazy valuations for Indian companies.

Nilekani's UID Under Siege

By M H Ahssan

What a difference two years can make. In 2009, the Unique Identification Project spearheaded by the government’s then golden boy, Nandan Nilekani, was a much publicised and pampered one. Today, it has become everybody’s favourite whipping boy.

The project chief aim was simple: to disseminate unique identification numbers to every resident of the country, chiefly benefiting those with no identity such as the poor and migrants who find it difficult to get access basic entitlements like a ration card, a phone connection or a bank account.

The Cabinet Committee on UIDAI, after allowing the authority to collect data for 10 crore people in 2010, never took up the matter again, while the Finance Ministry decided later to increase this number to 20 crore. Things came to a head when the UIDAI came up with a proposal before the Finance Ministry last month seeking around Rs 14,841 crore for collecting data and issuing numbers to the entire population.

The Home Ministry was the first to cast a stone at the UIDAI proposal saying that it did not find the data collected by it reliable and that it would have to collect its own data for the National Population Register (NPR), which was to provide identity cards to people in coastal areas for security purposes. This meant duplication of work, and cost.

What is embarrassing for the UIDAI, is that the data it has so far collected for 8.5 crore people stands the possibility of being rejected by the NPR whose officials say that they may collect data for these people all over again. “We can collect the data for the whole country by 2014 and at half the cost,” says a top official of the NPR. And we collect the data from a person in his residence, and hence ours is reliable while the collection points for UIDAI are ad hoc, and through introducers. We cannot use this at all,'' says the official.

UIDAI director general R S Sharma says that if data on 20 crore people collected till March 2012 is rejected it would be a loss of Rs 1,000 crore. Sharma is at a loss to explain why the NPR can’t trust UID’s data since it is after all one of the registrars partnering with UIDAI in data collection. The other registrars collecting data are state governments, the same ones who help the Census,'' says Sharma.

Meanwhile the Home Ministry has called a conference of Chief Secretaries this week to emphasise the importance of collecting data through the NPR, which now seems to be competing with the other registrars appointed by UIDAI. UIDAI pays Rs 50 per person for collection of data to the state, while the Census pays nothing and consequently the states have been giving more attention to the UIDAI work than to the NPR much to the annoyance of the latter.

The Home Ministry also has knives out for UIDAI due to what it feels are unnecessary expenses especially with respect to iris scanning. The Ministry points out that the Cabinet had given only an ‘in principle’ approval to iris scanning and that it has a ‘huge cost implication’. The total cost on NPR and National Identity cards (a new project of the Home Ministry ) would be Rs 13,438 crore. The cost of UIDAI -Aadhar is projected at Rs 17,864 crore. Thus an investment of Rs 31,302 crore would have to be made if NPR and UIDAI are implemented in parallel.” it says. It further says that the convergence of UIDAI and NPR and exclusion of iris ...would reduce the cost by over Rs 15,000 crore.”

Sharma disagrees: “The iris scanner costs just Rs 23,000 while it used to cost a lakh rupees earlier. A single scan costs Rs 4.40 and for the whole country it would cost just Rs 500 crore. This is nothing compared to the Rs 6000 crore the Planning Commission is talking of”, he says. Sharma also argues that having multiple modes of identification is always better than a single one and prevents faking of identities.

The third accusation is levied by the Planning Commission, its parent body, which states that the expenses of the UIDAI are not routed through it and hence needs a separate financial advisor;preferably its own;to monitor UIDA,. says Sharma. The Commission by imposing its financial advisor on the UIDAI would be reversing its own notification which had earlier allowed the UIDAI financial advisor to send proposals directly to the Finance Secretary like all ministries do.” The last nail in the coffin seems to be the seemingly absurd declaration by the Reserve Bank of India this week that having a UID would not be enough to open a bank account and that an address proof would still be needed.

Of course, all of this could have been easily avoided if the government passed legislation making UIDAI a statutory authority, which would have laid out its mandate in clear terms, vis a vis the role of all other institutions and ministries. Its absence has bred rampant confusion and speculation.

Nilekani addressed the media on Thursday and said that the plan had the backing of the government. “The Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia will clear the air once he returns from abroad but the UIDAI is on schedule to meeting its goals,” he added.

Lets hope that for the sake of millions of Indians who have trouble proving their existence that he is right.