EDITORIAL : THE INDEPENDENT, IRELAND

 

IMF delivers the starkest message yet on all of our futures

AFTER one month in office, our new Government finds itself confronted with an economic crisis more daunting than any it had anticipated. It is encapsulated in yesterday's report from the IMF, a long report which nevertheless can be summed up briefly in two points.

The IMF has halved its forecast for Irish economic growth. The new figure is a paltry 0.5pc, far below the healthy and sustained growth which is the only key to recovery.

Secondly, the IMF says that it will take "a long, long time" to know whether the austerity measures being implemented at present will work at all. In other words, we cannot know if and when our crisis will peak. The only certainty is that in the short term it will get worse, very much worse.

Faced with the direst warning yet of the direst situation yet, ministers in the new Government rallied and declared their determination to bring us through. But their manner was as gloomy as the underlying facts. And the only conceivable measures to hold the line will certainly inflict more pain than they ever expected.

They will also contradict assurances given during the recent general election campaign -- which now seems so remote. There can be no question of sparing taxpayers or maintaining public service pay and numbers.

Indeed, the Government now has no choice but to slaughter every sacred cow and wield the axe in every area that might once have been considered immune. That most likely includes social welfare.

If there is any encouragement in the IMF report, it consists of the information that Irish wages have fallen at a faster rate than those in the two other stricken European countries, Greece and Portugal. But that comes at a price, paid in several ways. Living standards and consumer power have been reduced. So has the ability to pay taxes. The Government's finances are in poor shape, but any increase in taxes risks bringing into operation the "law of diminishing returns".

That means, inevitably, that efforts must now be concentrated on reducing public spending. The obvious place to start is the Croke Park agreement. But that in turn raises another stark question, the evident inability within the unions and within the bureaucracy to face reality.

Amazingly, the "implementation body" charged with making the Croke Park deal work intends to compensate public sector workers whose pay has been cut by restructuring. This follows a Labour Court ruling which applies to one category of workers. Those affected will get 1.5 times the amount lost.

The Department of Finance describes this as standard practice. It is emphatically not standard practice in the private sector, where the alternative is job losses -- as so many private sector workers know to their cost. In our present circumstances, it borders on insanity. The reality, like it or not, is that both pay and numbers will have to be cut and that the remaining workers, especially those in administrative grades, will have to make heroic efforts to maintain standards of services. And the Croke Park deal must be revised, or scrapped.

On the taxation side, the choices are limited. The Government could bring in both property tax and water charges, but they could not be introduced immediately without considerable unfairness in the absence in the first case of proper valuations and in the second case of metering.

The IMF believes that we must increase taxes in the short term, in the hope of bringing them down in the medium term. That is optimistic and rather too cheerful by comparison with the general tone of the report. A similar criticism could apply to the organisation's view that a reduction in the interest rate on the EU-IMF bailout could be of some help. So it could, but if we get it, it will have a very limited effect.

There is now no scope -- not that there ever was -- for ignoring the drastic facts. At stake is nothing less than national survival. In that most vital of interests, nothing can be ruled out.

The challenge to the infant Government is immense. Ministers, experienced and inexperienced, must find in themselves a degree of courage and effort that they may not have known they possessed. They must take the people into their confidence. And the people at large must understand that the time for false optimism and deliberate ignorance expired long ago.

 

EDITORIAL : THE NEW STRAITS TIMES, MALAYSIA

Weeding out the weak

TEACHING is not a job for the unqualified or unprepared. It takes strong character not only to impart knowledge to young minds, but to do so in a way that understands and acknowledges the abilities and needs of each student, and inspires the majority of students to live up to, and go beyond, their potential. The challenges are great: long hours, unwelcome and non-negotiable transfers to far-off places, a demanding clientele and overcrowded classrooms are but just the basic trials a teacher has to go through. Punctured tyres, scratched automobile paintwork, broken noses and even death threats are sometimes how less-appreciative students express themselves to their teachers.

Yet, being strong should never be mistaken for being a bully. Good teachers are not those who wield fear and pain as enticement for their students to do well or be good. To be an educator, a surrogate-parent, and a psychologist to boot, seems like a job for which no sane person would enlist; and yet, more than 320,000 people in this country are teachers.

Whatever the intentions of the 26-year-old teacher who allegedly caused the death of 7-year-old Saiful Syazani Saiful Sopfidee and whether he was conscious of the consequences of his actions is for the police and courts to decide. But if the accusations against him are proven, it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was an abysmal failure as a teacher and should not have been admitted to the vocation in the first place. There are procedures for how to discipline students, and these are in place precisely to prevent the arbitrary meting out of inappropriate punishment. In government schools, for instance, caning can be done only by the disciplinary teacher, using a cane of prescribed length and thickness, and, in whipping the student, the teacher has to place an exercise book under his armpit; if the book falls, the teacher has raised the cane too high.

At the moment, the selection and appointment of teachers in private schools such as that which Saiful attended is not regulated by the Education Ministry. So there is nothing to ensure that teachers in these schools have undergone psychological evaluation, or have child and adolescent psychology training to handle their charges properly, or procedures for how to discipline children of varying ages. Teachers who inflict great harm on students are hopefully an aberration of society. But more should be done to ensure that it stays that way.

 

EDITORIAL : THE TEHRAN TIMES, IRAN

‘Iran will not stop producing 20% enriched uranium’

TEHRAN - Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Director Fereydoun Abbasi has said the country will not stop producing uranium enriched to a purity level of 20 percent.

The AEOI plans to build four to five new reactors in different provinces of Iran in the next few years, and thus it needs to continue producing the fuel needed for the reactors, Abbasi told ISNA in an interview published on its website on Monday.

The new reactors, which will have a capacity of 10 to 20 megawatts, will also be used to produce radioisotopes and carry out research, he added.

In addition, the Islamic Republic is currently producing enough 20 percent enriched uranium to meet the Tehran research reactor’s need for fuel, he noted.

The amount of 20 percent enriched uranium produced will be increased in the future, and the Islamic Republic will not seek anybody’s permission to do so, he stated.

However, Iran cooperates with the International Atomic Energy Agency within the framework of its commitment to the agency, he said, adding that all procedures for the production of uranium are conducted under the supervision of the IAEA.

Abbasi also expressed hope that the agency would cooperate with Iran in this regard.

He went on to say that Iran has no problems in building new research reactors, adding that the construction of a 20 megawatt reactor would take three to four years.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he stated that the AEOI is seeking to utilize the newer generations of centrifuges, which are economical in terms of energy, and added that these new generations of centrifuges will help the country increase productivity while using less space.

On reports that a factory, situated near the Iranian capital Tehran, is manufacturing centrifuge spare parts, he said this is not a new thing and the AEOI outsources the production of centrifuge spare parts to various companies across the country.

Commenting on the plan to install new centrifuges at the Fordo uranium enrichment facility, he said Iran will inform the IAEA before it begins implementing the plan.

EDITORIAL : THE NEW YORK TIMES, USA

 

Unfettered Money

When the Supreme Court ruled that money equals speech 35 years ago, it was responding to forces of technology and economics reshaping American politics that made it much more expensive to run a campaign. While ruling that public financing and limits on contributions are valid ways to limit donors’ undue influence, it struck down candidate, campaign and independent spending limits.

Now the court’s conservative majority is again reshaping politics, ruling that what matters most for money and speech is their “fair market” impact. The result will be closer scrutiny of public financing, while enabling even more rampant spending by wealthy candidates.

In the landmark 1976 case of Buckley v. Valeo, the court said that “virtually every means of communicating ideas in today’s mass society requires the expenditure of money,” so restricting campaign spending meant restricting political speech. The First Amendment required that political speech be unfettered, so the same was required for political spending.

But when the court ruled that money equals speech, it didn’t mean, literally, that money is speech. It meant that money enabled speech. A political contribution enabled the symbolic, or indirect, speech of the donor and the actual speech of the candidate — and may the best speech win. The focus was on enabling the speech, not the money.

That changed in 2008 when the conservative majority struck down a federal rule that had tripled the limit on campaign contributions for a candidate outspent by a rich, self-financed opponent. Justice Samuel Alito Jr. wrote that the rule diminished “the effectiveness” of the rich candidate’s spending and of his speech.

In oral argument recently, the court’s conservatives appeared ready to take their next step in restricting campaign finance reform and to strike down Arizona’s public financing mechanism called triggered matching funds. This is one of the most compelling innovations in the country. The state will match for a state-financed candidate what an opponent raises in private contributions up to triple the initial amount of state financing.

To William Maurer, the lawyer opposing the Arizona mechanism, whenever “a privately financed candidate speaks above a certain amount, the government creates real penalties for them to have engaged in unfettered political expression.” That “speaks” was not a slip, but a reinforcement of the money-equals-speech notion.

The fundamental problem, he said, is “the government turning my speech into the vehicle by which my entire political message is undercut,” because the public funds triggered are a penalty that reduces the impact of the privately financed candidate’s spending and speech. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. made clear in the argument that he, too, sees triggered matching public funds as a limit on the privately financed candidate’s speech.

That makes no sense. Arizona’s mechanism means more candidates — not just the wealthy — will be able to run in elections. And that means more political speech, not less. But that view depends on seeing money as enabling speech, not vice versa. Money already has far too much sway everywhere in politics. If the court continues this way, the damage and corruption will be enormous.

Investing in the Dark

So what did Jamie Dimon know and when did he know it?

New documents unsealed recently in a class-action lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase — some of which name Mr. Dimon, the chief executive — paint yet another picture of a bank profiting while its clients suffer. At issue is a precrash investment vehicle, named Sigma, in which the bank had invested $500 million in assets from pension funds and other clients, nearly all of which the clients say was lost when the investment tanked in 2008.

The clients were blindsided because they believed that Sigma was a safe way to invest. JPMorgan was not taken by surprise. As Louise Story reported in The Times on Monday, court documents show that warnings by top bank officials about Sigma and similar investments went all the way up to Mr. Dimon’s office.

The gist of the warnings was not how to protect clients, but how the ailing Sigma presented the bank with what one e-mail described as “very big moneymaking opportunities as the market deteriorates.”

When Sigma did indeed collapse, JPMorgan collected nearly $1.9 billion, according to the suit, a figure the bank disputes, without providing any alternative figure.

It is possible that JPMorgan did nothing wrong legally — and that is precisely the problem. It clearly stinks to withhold information that may well have caused clients to change their minds — in effect, for the bank to treat clients’ money with less care than it treats its own. As long as banks operate that way, there is no restoring trust in the financial system, or, by extension, in the political system that props it up.

But is it illegal? JPMorgan has said that the unit of the bank that handled the clients’ investments in Sigma was not, by law, allowed to confer with the unit of the bank that benefited from Sigma’s demise. That may be true, but as Ms. Story pointed out, in this case, the information rose to executives who oversee the entire company and were in a position to intervene. That they did not is a failure to do the right thing, even if the court decides that the bank did not break the law.

In the meantime, efforts to write new rules to try to curb such conflicts is hamstrung by a Republican backlash against the Dodd-Frank financial reform law that was passed last year. There is proposed legislation to repeal provisions of the law, and the agencies that have to implement the law are in danger of not getting enough money to do the job. As the pension funds in the class-action suit against JPMorgan can certainly attest, only the banks will benefit from business as usual.

Government-Enforced Bigotry in France

The formal imposition on Monday of the French ban on the full-face veil, which led to the prompt arrest of two women protesting the law, has been accompanied by the usual government invocations of French values, as well as issues of security and gender equality.

But there’s no question about the real purpose of this giant step backward — or of an earlier law banning Muslim veils in schools, or the “debates” organized by President Nicolas Sarkozy’s party, Union for a Popular Movement, on “French identity” and secularism. They are all cynical attacks on Islam, the religion of about a tenth of France’s population, to curry favor with France’s increasingly anti-immigrant right wing.

Barring the niqab from government buildings, public services, streets and entertainment venues has been the most passionately debated of these measures, with some arguing that it is a symbol of the subjugation of women. But only a tiny handful of France’s five million to six million Muslims ever don the full veil, and their decision to do so is patently not the business of the government or the police.

The ban serves only to encourage the spread of Muslim-bashing in France and elsewhere in Europe, helped along by statements like this one from the interior minister, Claude Guéant, blatantly portraying Islam as a religion alien to France: “There is no reason why the nation should accord to one particular religion more rights than religions that were formerly anchored in our country.”

Fortunately, even some of Mr. Sarkozy’s own officials have seen through these ploys. The prime minister, François Fillon, quietly put an end to the embarrassing “national debate” on French identity a year ago, and, more recently, he refused to take part in a similarly tainted debate on secularism. All major religious leaders, including the Catholic archbishop of Paris, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, also shunned the discussion.

Mr. Sarkozy and the rest of his party should follow these examples and stop their shameless exploitation of intolerance for political gain.

Tumbling Along With the Political Tumbleweed

Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, drew the contempt of Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and several conservative members of Congress last month when he cited the annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nev., as an example of the good things that come from federal support for the arts.

Ms. Palin wrote on Twitter that “rodeo clowns still want to fund Cowboy Poetry Party,” and she and others have called it an example of wasteful federal spending that must end.

Senator Reid’s description of the event was overstated. He said the gathering draws tens of thousands of people and wouldn’t exist without support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. In fact, it draws about 8,000 people annually and was begun with two small seed grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. It has become so popular that it would surely continue even if its sponsor, the Western Folklife Center in Elko, lost the $45,000 it receives annually from the N.E.A. — about 3 percent of its budget, most of which is used for exhibitions.

But on the fundamental point Mr. Reid was right: A very little bit of federal assistance can go a very long way in promoting culture and art that is fundamental to our identity as Americans.

The gathering began in 1985 as a serious effort to help the Western Folklife Center record a dying breed of cowboy poets and rescue a historic art form. The center has since grown into a cultural hub for all the living arts associated with working cowboys and ranch life. Each January, it draws people from across the country, regardless of whether they can ride or write. This is something all Americans can celebrate. Anybody who ridicules it never bothered to listen in.

EDITORIAL : THE NATIONAL POST, CANADA

 

Targets of opportunity

Al-Qaeda'sNorthAfrican affiliate is exploiting the conflict in Libya to acquire weapons, an Algerian official told Reuters last week. Al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is reportedly amassing surface-to-air missiles, anti-tank weapons, rocket-propelled grenades, explosives, heavy machineguns and other small arms and smuggling them to lawless areas in Mali. Separately, the U.S. State Department has expressed similar concerns that al-Qaeda is exploiting the power vacuum as Libya's civil war drags on.

While the wisdom of NATO intervention is still very much in doubt, the challenge of AQIM in North Africa presents an opportunity. NATO is mobilized and operating in an important theater in the war on terror. So, as it patrols the skies for Libyan aircraft and prevents the Libyan military from bombing civilians, NATO should also exploit occasions to take out AQIM targets identified by allied intelligence.

AQIM is a high priority for NATO nations. France, in particular, has had it out for the terror group after it kidnapped several of its citizens and held them for ransom. In July 2010, French commandos, with Mauritanian assistance, killed and wounded several AQIM members who were holding hostages at a base in the Mauritanian desert. In January of this year, French Special Forces again raided an AQIM hideout in Niger to rescue two nationals who were kidnapped by the group.

France is the only country to have actively hit back at the group. But other NATO members have their own grievances. In recent years, AQIM has kidnapped Spaniards, Italians and Brits. The group sometimes releases these hostages in exchange for hefty ransoms, but in many cases, when its demands are not met, it carries out gruesome executions.

NATO members also are concerned about AQIM's significant network of financial nodes throughout Europe. The group has dozens of cells in Germany, Spain, Italy, France, the U.K., Switzerland and elsewhere. These cells derive profits from car theft, credit card fraud, document forgery and donations, then send them back to North Africa and the Sahel, where the group carries out kidnappings, ambushes against local government installations, and suicide bombings.

The U.S. military also has tangled with AQIM. The group reportedly sent more than 1,000 fighters to attack U.S. soldiers during the jihadi campaign in Iraq. The Treasury Department has targeted AQIM figures through sanction designations (such as AQIM's emir Abdelmalek Droukdel in 2007 and three other leaders in 2008), and the State Department maintains the group on its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. AFRICOM, the U.S. military's African command, has assisted African nations struggling to combat this deadly terror squad.

Canada also has trained African forces to battle AQIM. The urgency of this mission became clear after the group kidnapped two Canadian diplomats, Robert Fowler and Louis Guay, in December 2008. (They were lucky; AQIM released them after 130 days.)

In many ways, an allied air assault against AQIM's mobile bases of operation across North Africa is long overdue.

Some NATO members will undoubtedly oppose an expansion of their mandate in Libya. But military operations against AQIM should not necessarily be viewed as a separate mission. As NATO nations struggle to guide Libya toward post-war stability, these operations can ensure that al-Qaeda does not reap the benefits of Muammar Gaddafi's departure.

AQIM has already stated that Libya is a top priority. In February, the group issued a statement calling all Muslims to join the uprising against Gaddafi and to help install an Islamist regime in its place. Since then, several credible reports have indicated that jihadis have joined the Libyan opposition. In an interview with an Italian newspaper, rebel leader Abel Hakim alHasidi admitted that in his ranks "on the front lines in Adjabiyah" were fighters from Afghanistan and Iraq.

While the presence of jihadis among Libya's antiGaddaffi forces raises important questions about the wisdom of NATO intervention in Libya and its implied strategy of regime change, these countries now have the responsibility to help prevent further AQIM infiltration in Libya and across the region. This can be done with pinpoint intelligence and air strikes.

According to NATO, coalition aircraft have carried out more than 330 strike sorties since taking command of the mission on March 23. With an expanded mandate, and perhaps a few more sorties in Niger, Mali, Mauritania or other territories where the itinerant AQIM sets up camp, NATO nations can help roll back the terror group while simultaneously isolating Gaddafi.

The strikes should not take place in Libya. Rather, they should only target AQIM locales in neighbouring states where the leaders would embrace the targeting of unwelcomed terrorist fighters and their weapons caches, and only when impeccable intelligence from NATO member nations provides the opportunity. Such opportunities will only present themselves from time to time. This would not amount to a full-blown campaign.

Would NATO members embrace such a plan? The likelihood is low. But the question deserves attention. A mobilized NATO has the opportunity to weaken a deadly al-Qaeda affiliate that is now arming itself with Libyan weapons.

? Jonathan Schanzer is a former terrorism analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and vice-president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

A political voice for indigenous Canadians

The First Peoples National Party (FPNP) wishes to bring the value of inclusion to Parliament, by promoting a vision for Canada in which all peoples have a say in our future. The FPNP was formed to provide a voice, particularly for those who currently have no representation in our elitist party system: Indigenous Canadians.

The FPNP is inspired by First Nations history, culture and values, which form the guiding principles of our party. Our primary value is that of sharing. From the beginning -before, during and after contact with Europeans -First Nations have wished to share this country and all that it has to offer. This belief is centuries-old; the "Two Row Wampum" treaty of 1613 represented but one of the many original mutual agreements between First Nations and European peoples. Unfortunately, over time, Canada's two colonizing cultures have failed to respect the spirit and letter of these pacts; they were not prepared to share this land, and still don't. Whether or not non-aboriginal Canadians support this indigenous view of our history, or First Nations' rights, it remains that these rights are mandated by the rule of law. They are enshrined in the Canadian constitution. If we are to respect the rule of law, it follows that those rights must also be upheld.

A country that excludes its indigenous peoples from all levels of government and education exhibits not only a colonial mentality, but commits a slow and steady cultural genocide. This genocide proceeds daily with the complacency or apathy of educators, politicians and average Canadians who witness constant affronts to native culture and way of life, yet do nothing to stop them.

The result has been a systematic forced assimilation of indigenous peoples, and a destruction of their way of life. Today, 50 of the 53 native languages that existed before contact with European cultures are extinct or becoming extinct. Religious ceremonies have been outlawed, and traditions lost, as educators and officials attempted to impose European norms. The residential school system perpetrated the abuse of tens of thousands of indigenous children and tore innumerable communities apart. This spawned a cycle of abuse: Recent statistics reveal that there are more First Nations children in Child Welfare/CAS care today than there were in residential schools. Meanwhile, obesity and diabetes -both linked to poverty and poor nutrition -run rampant in First Nations communities, jeopardizing the health, and life, of indigenous peoples.

Canada should take heed of the warnings of history. What has happened to First Nations peoples may eventually happen to all Canadians, whose industries are being increasingly controlled by foreign-owned companies -as First Nations People were controlled by the Crowns of Europe. Canadians may come to understand what it is like to be a First Nation -and chances are, they won't like it.

From one generation to another, First Nations people feel betrayed and hurt. They continue to wait for Canada's colonizing peoples to admit their wrongs, go beyond mere apologies, and honour the treaties as they were written. In Ojibway, there is no word for "sorry," as it is not something you say, but something you show by your actions -actions we have yet to see.

It may be uncomfortable to speak words like "genocide" or "forced assimilation" or "systemic racism," but until Canadians acknowledge and address these issues, we cannot work together to resolve them. The FPNP asks for your vote to help us realize a true spirit of sharing in this country, and move forward as a nation to right these historical wrongs.

So much for the surrender monkeys

If one were to identify the low point of France's image among Western foreign-policy hawks in the modern era, it would have to be March 11, 2003 -a week before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. That was the day two American GOP congressmen demanded that, henceforth, all restaurants run by the House of Representatives should list "freedom fries" instead of "french fries" and "freedom toast" instead of "french toast" on their menus.
Fast-forward eight years, and France is a nation transformed -a sort of foreign-policy version of the 97-pound weakling who becomes king of the beach after going in for a few months of Charles Atlas.
France now has almost 4,000 troops in Afghanistan (which is more than Canada -although French troops have seen less combat). It spearheaded the nofly effort over Libya. It has led one of the most aggressive and successful domestic counter-terrorism campaigns in Europe. It has banned the burka.
And on Monday, France's military, operating alongside UN forces, successfully spearheaded the final push to arrest Ivory Coast leader-turned-outlaw Laurent Gbagbo. The move suggests the country's civil war now will be brought to an end. It is essentially a French version of the 2000 U.K. humanitarian intervention that brought Sierra Leone's civilwar agonies to an end.
During the 2003 Iraq War, many conservatives fretted that a "multipolar" world would mean that America's foreignpolicy punch would be sapped by the pacifistic influence of the UN and smaller NATO countries such as France, Canada and the U.K. Yet in both Ivory Coast and Libya, one-time pacifists have been at the forefront of muscular efforts to confront dictators. And amazingly, it has been France's erstwhile "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" (to quote a line from The Simpsons) leading the charge.
Plus ça change, the French like to say. But it seems the French themselves have changed quite a bit. And the world is a better place for their transformation.

Not quite 'family-friendly'

The newly released NDP platform promises to "give your family a break." But it would be hard for families to prosper if Canadian employers were suffering under the harsh anti-corporate policies that Jack Layton's party is promoting.
The NDP promises to impose a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions, discourage exports of unrefined petrochemical products, oblige Canadian companies to abide by foreign environmental standards when operating overseas and tighten federal control over foreign investment in Canada -going so far as to require public hearings for case-by-case approvals. The party's proposal to cap interest rates on loans and credit cards is an especially bad idea no matter which side of the affected transactions you happen to be on -since it would cause the lowincome/high-risk retail credit market to dry up overnight. The result of these changes would be to hurt the very constituency the NDP purports to serve: The poor.
In its platform, the NDP makes an overture to ma-and-pa companies, by pledging to reduce the small business tax from 11% to 9% -but would cancel the Conservatives' planned corporate tax reductions for bigger companies. Mr. Layton says he wants to ensure "that our combined federal/ provincial Corporate Income Tax rate is always below the United States' federal corporate tax rate." That sounds nice, but using the United States as a standard provides no bargain to Canadian companies: The typical Canadian corporation pays about 28% in taxes, as compared to almost 40% in the United States. (Within the OECD, only Japan has a higher rate.)
In the end, the NDP platform's purported family-friendliness is undone by its assault on the very sector which sustains those families: Canadian business. Under an NDP plan, the private sector would have much less incentive to create the jobs that mothers and fathers need to pay the rent, get a mortgage, feed the children and save for the future.

EDITORIAL: THE GUARDIAN, UK

 

Banking: Big brains, small ideas

The question raised by the commission's report is whether stiffening simple rules can tame more complex financial beasts

The prototype banker was a smith, who kept gold bars safe and wrote promissory notes on the strength of them. In his long lost world, it would have been easy enough to set prudential rules about how many notes he could pen for each bit of bullion. The question raised by Monday's report by the Independent Commission on Banking is whether stiffening simple rules can tame today's more complex financial beasts.

The distinguished panel headed by Oxford economist Sir John Vickers said it wanted to reduce the temptation for banks to take risks, to improve their ability to absorb them, and to make it easier to clear up the mess when things nonetheless go wrong. The stress was on crisis prevention, and three years after the financial world stopped turning the exercise could be likened to installing fire sprinklers in a building that has already burned down. But the sad truth is that it is imperative to act now to avert another crunch. The scandal of institutions that were too big to fail would be as nothing compared with the catastrophe we'd be in next time, with huge pre-existing public debts that would render some banks too big to rescue.

It is a mark of the calibre of the commission that it felt no need to proclaim its recommendations radical, as most reports nowadays do. Instead, they straightforwardly proposed a mixed menu of "moderate measures" which they hope will combine to check the City's reckless ways without destroying its competitiveness. Attention was grabbed by the suggestion of forcing financiers to split casino and day-to-day operations into different divisions, a pale imitation of the outright split into different companies which the US imposed in the depth of the Great Depression and which Vince Cable had demanded at the peak of the crunch.

Having shrunk from going the whole hog, the commission seemed doubtful about the difference it could truly make here. It is "mindful of regulatory arbitrage possibilities at the boundary", which translates into English as an acknowledgment that financial professionals who make a handsome living from wriggling around rules and taxes will soon enough find the means to connect notionally separate divisions. This pessimistic note is in keeping with the previous scribblings of one commissioner, the Financial Times journalist Martin Wolf, who has warned of the huge difficulties of policing any boundary between retail and investment activities, and also questioned the point. The crisis, after all, has revealed that the taxpayer is effectively obliged to rescue all manner of things that fall on the wild side of the border, including corporations such as Lehman Brothers, which never took retail deposits. Aside from some significant but tangential suggestions for curbing the power of HBOS on the high street, the meaty recommendations were for higher capital requirements. These could have made a difference last time around, by forcing banks to underwrite more gambling with resources of their own. But there was a touch of naivety in the recommendation that for non-retail banking, the requirements need never exceed international standards. With the threat of unilateralism removed, the banks would be emboldened to work with their counterparts overseas to frustrate multilateralism.

The more general sense is that the "moderate measures" are not commensurate with the scale of what went before – an inevitable effect, perhaps, of the terms the chancellor set. An irresponsible sector beset by conflicted interest is now more certain than ever that the taxpayer stands behind it. There is still no onus on anyone devising new gambles to explain what good these are supposed to do, even though the top regulator, Adair Turner, has said many are "socially useless". And there is still no thought about how the state might use banks that it unexpectedly acquired for the common good. Big as the commission's brains are, all these questions must await another day.

Ivory Coast: Fall of a despot

The capture of Laurent Gbagbo has lifted a threat to millions of Ivorians and the wider region - and now he should stand trial

There will be some relief today that a foreign intervention has gone right, for once. The French military spokesman in Abidjan denied reports that Laurent Gbagbo had been captured by French special forces. Not one French soldier had gone into the residence in which Gbagbo had been arrested, Commander Frederic Daguillon insisted. But the matter was decided by a column of 30 French armoured vehicles. And the fact is that had the French and the UN not been stung into action by attacks on their headquarters, the Golf Hotel – where Alassane Ouattara and his government in waiting were holed up – and also the residence of the French ambassador, a civil war would still be raging.

Until the assault, Gbagbo's men had been gaining ground. They recaptured the television station and attacked civilians in the Adjamé and Attécoubé neighbourhoods of the city, which contain many opposition supporters. There was a real risk of a repeat of the ethnic slaughter that took place recently in Duékoué. French forces may want to disguise the role they played, but the result of the assault is welcome. A strongman who defied the outcome of a fair election, who rejected numerous offers of safe passage out of the country, and who had plunged it back into a civil war, has been captured alive. This is important for several reasons.

Gbagbo's refusal to go was a threat not only to millions of his own countrymen but to the region as a whole. The election in November was already five years late and the result of a series of compromises with the rebels in the north. There was no doubt that he lost the runoff nor that his militias resorted to gang warfare, abductions and rape to enforce his unwelcome stay. The terror was premeditated. Hundreds died before northerners decided to settle matters militarily. Eleven other elections are due to be held this year in Africa, not least in Nigeria. After three successive flawed elections, ethnic violence may yet undermine Nigeria's fourth attempt. It is essential that elections mean what they say and that the collective will of regional groups like the Economic Community of West African States is enforced. This may be the only way to break the link between elections and civil disorder.

But it is also important that Gbagbo should now stand trial. The worse his militias behaved, the more it is incumbent on the rightful government to re-establish the rule of law. This did not happen in Duékoué, and, as Human Rights Watch has urged, Mr Outtara will have to investigate and prosecute abuses by both sides, and especially his own, if peace is ever to be established in this country.

In praise of … Yuri Gagarin

The first human to travel in space remains an inspiration 50 years after Vostok's perilous launch into orbit

It is difficult for heroes to remain untarnished, still less Soviet ones, but on the 50th anniversary of the first human travel in space, such a fate is reserved for Yuri Gagarin. The 108-minute flight itself very nearly ended in disaster. The hatch had to be taken apart to mend a faulty sensor shortly before takeoff; the combined weight of Gagarin, his spacesuit and chair was 30lbs over the limit and part of Vostok's internal apparatus had to be dumped; he was blasted into a higher than intended orbit when one of the engines failed to cut out; his capsule went into a dangerous spin on re-entry and he was subjected to a G-force that increased his body weight tenfold; after which he had to bail out, landing in a ploughed field 200 miles off course. But walk away from it he did, and into history. If, in Moscow, he got the acclaim reserved for war heroes (his childhood city of Gzhatsk was renamed after him), the reception he got in London in 1961, in an open silver Rolls-Royce with a special issue licence plate "YG-1", was no less rapturous. He symbolised the future. He embodied the illusion that the Soviet Union was outperforming the west, and launched the 1960s as a decade of space travel, which ended when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. One year earlier Gagarin died in a plane crash. He could not have thought that when he said "off we go" on the launch pad that he personally would have touched so many people's lives. He still inspires today and deserves his place among the world's great explorers.

EDITORIAL : ASHARQ ALAWSAT, SAUDI ARABIA, published in LONDON

Syria: Far from solutions

What is clear is that, until now, the situation in Syria is still far from any real solutions. Violence is still dominating the situation, which is complicating matters, and contributing to the continuation of unrest and demonstrations. Violence is not, nor will it ever be, the solution to holding the state together or dealing with the demands of its citizens.
Syrian television aired clips of what it called armed groups roaming certain areas and opening fire on demonstrators and security forces. This is completely unbelievable, particularly as the camera filmed the gunmen as if this was [the famous Syrian television drama] Bab al-Hara [The Neighbourhood's Gate]. Furthermore, one of the cars [in the video] looked new, and its license plate was clearly displayed. Does it make any sense for gunmen in Syria to roam around this openly, without being arrested by the Syrian security forces? Syria is a country that is based on security and not achievement. Furthermore, the security forces would not allow a media camera crew to film [in this manner], so what can be said about masked gunmen moving around at ease in front of a camera and being filmed in such a dramatic manner?!
The problem with what is happening in Syria, until now, is that the regime has a lot of room to move; there are many issues that require reform. It has a lot of room to maneuver and can neutralize the main sections [of society], if the regime decides to carry out real reforms. However it seems that so far the reforms in Syria are still only promises to carry out studies [into reform], rather than prompt resolutions that will see the dismantling of the [opposition] machinery that is beginning to be put together to oppose the Syrian regime.
This matter is very dangerous; it will either lead to the situation blowing up completely or to the weakening of the state as a whole, for violence will not result in any solutions but will only complicate matters further. It might also, in turn, lead to more violence and not in the manner that the regime is now trying to portray, which is that there are thugs and gunmen [conspiring to create unrest], as it seems that this was an attempt by the regime to neutralize international pressure. When, God forbid, the violence truly comes, this will be clear for all to see, and will not require camera lenses or dramatically shot footage, and the consequences of this [violence] will be dire. The other matter is that in the event of the regime suppressing its citizens in this manner, then it will be [revealing itself to be] weak externally, and there are many who would jump at the change to seize control of the country in this state, for the regime would be too weak to negotiate or say no, and this is also very dangerous.
Therefore the Syrian regime has no choice but to implement genuine reforms in order to survive. People are not controlled by violence and in Syria’s case in particular these are unprecedented times and circumstances. Whoever says that Syria is isolated from what has happened in other Arab countries is wrong as what is happening in some far-off regions of Syria greatly resembles the beginnings of what happened in the border regions of Tunisia, where every time someone was buried more people were killed [in retaliation], until what happened happened [the revolution]. So is the Syrian regime waiting for the social contract in the country to be nullified?
This is the question because killing and oppression do not present any solutions at all, just as the closing of a casino or nightclub and allowing the niqab [veil] or hijab [head-scarf] to be worn are not real solutions; religion is for God and no one can prevent the worshippers from worshipping. The state must uphold the dignity of its people and must not encroach upon their freedoms. It must guarantee employment opportunities and a decent life for the people, rather than convicting them based upon suspicion and intimidation, and concerning itself with allowing or not allowing them to wear hijab! Unfortunately it seems that Syria is still far from any solutions.

EDITORIAL: THE GLOBAL TIMES, CHINA

 

Change is more than a few clicks away

For a long time, the Chinese people have been regarded as generally distancing themselves from public issues. But microblogs have seemingly changed this. Having only started last year, microblogs are now where the most heated expressions can be found.

Statistics support this change in attitude. A recent survey conducted by the Global Poll Center found that 71 percent of respondents thought microblogs had enhanced their attention to politics, and 59.3 percent thought their comments about political issues had increased because of them.
Technology certainly facilitates the involvement of the masses in public affairs, but public participation has apparently been simplified into a few clicks, posting a few comments, than expecting a policy to advance as one wishes.

Citizen participation in political affairs has been expanding in China, from holding open hearings before raising the prices of public services to rating mayors in order to improve governance, but never before has public opinion wielded such influential power as through microblogs.

The evolution of microblogs has raised some alarm over the direction of this platform. Instead of rational debate to seek consensus, different opinions can hardly coexist here. Diversified viewpoints are not presented, and issues of public concern almost inevitably lead to polarized verbal spats. Apocryphal information abounds, blurring the boundary between truth and rumor.

Even more worrying is the hasty approval of certain public policies under the seemingly overwhelming weight of online opinion. It is also suspected that opinion on microblogs is easily subject to manipulation.

This is far from the ideal forum of public debate that people had imagined. Zhang Yiwu, a renowned commentator, complained that the chaotic situation of microblogs today has made people really doubt that it is heading toward becoming the promised platform it could be.

Participation in political issues involves both individual rights and responsibilities, which need to be weighed in real life. Change will not happen through just a few clicks. Objectively, there needs to be an institutional build-up to help the public become better involved in everyday politics.

Shenzhen - a forbidding city not a good host

The 26th Universiade Games will be held in Shenzhen soon. Currently, about 80,000 people deemed to be a "high risk" have left Shenzhen. We understand that Shenzhen is facing high security pressure, but we differ on their interpretation of it.

According to the Shenzhen police, "high-risk groups" mainly refers to those non-residents who are not holding a proper job and who may have tendency to commit a crime. But which city has no such people? The Universiade Games need a safe environment, but is it necessary to be so radical?

For a long time, we have been used to "cleaning up" cities before large-scale activities. Many street vendors are banned and certain non-residents are "removed." Unsightly sites are even covered up. However, our efforts are often accused of being in "violation of human rights" by Western media. Why cannot we be more natural when we welcome foreign guests?

As one of China's most beautiful cities, Shenzhen is a microcosm of China's economic rise. Although it still has problems, it is the real Shenzhen, in which Shenzhen people live every day. Thus, it should be positive to present the original Shenzhen to the world.

Why does Shenzhen wish to clean itself up so much? Foreigners will not care while those who are affected will complain stridently. The key point is that it would not be the real Shenzhen and a sports event does not warrant such a "tidy" city. 

We do not need to be so careful: although no trouble is sought, it is usually of little impact. A bomb went off during the Atlanta Olympic Games and an American tourist was stabbed to death during the Beijing Olympics. These tragedies were lamentable but ultimately did not impact the overall atmosphere of the two Olympiads.

As a complex country, it is more in line with China's national interests to show the world its complexity than its achievements. Over the years, at different stages and for different demands, we have intentionally introduced the achievements of reform and opening-up as well as the practical difficulties in China, trying to persuade others that China is a developing country. This is a tiring job since neither of these encapsulates the full complexity of the reality of China.

If Shenzhen forgoes this "cleaning up," it can welcome visitors easily while letting the world see the real China.

Shenzhen is tidier than most Chinese cities. Shenzhen without modification is already not the "real China." After it has been "cleaned up," it will move ever farther away from the image we want the world to remember.

Shenzhen is at the frontier of China's reform and opening-up. It is hoped that Shenzhen can hold the Universiade Games with a broader mindset and host a successful sports event while breaking with China's previous traditions for welcoming its guests.

 

 

EDITORIAL: THE DAILY YOMIURI, JAPAN

 

Sports bolster spirits in a time of crisis

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Japanese professional baseball's regular season starts Tuesday as the 12 teams of the Central and Pacific leagues play their openers. The pennant race begins, though belatedly, while wounds from the March 11 catastrophe remain fresh.

As the nation faces a difficult time, players are urged all the more to do their best to give hope and vigor to disaster victims and the nation as a whole.

Both leagues were originally scheduled to start the season on March 25. This was the first time for the opening days to be changed since Japanese pro baseball was divided into two leagues in 1950.

The PL decided early on to postpone the start of the season because the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles' home ballpark in Sendai was damaged in the Great East Japan Earthquake.

The CL, which tried to launch its penant race before the end of March, drew criticism for reasons including a shortage of electric power.

Players, clubs and fans share the desire to invigorate society through baseball as soon as possible.

As Rakuten catcher Motohiro Shima put it, "Let's demonstrate the potential power of baseball, players and fans!" Shima, head of the Rakuten players' association, gave this exhortation during a ceremony before an April 2 charity game with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters in Sapporo. Similar charity games were also held elsewhere that day and the next.

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A shot in the arm

The players of all 12 clubs will have the message "Hang on, Japan!" written on their helmets throughout the season.

Players must put on exciting games so pro baseball, supported widely by the people, can serve as a shot in the arm for recovery from the disaster.

Many people are looking forward to seeing spectacular performances by "golden generation" rookies, including pitchers Yuki Saito of the Fighters and Hirokazu Sawamura of the Yomiuri Giants.

Needless to say, care must be taken to pay maximum consideration to the serious electricity supply situation in holding games.

As part of measures to economize on electricity consumption, such as for lighting, no night games will be held this month in ballparks located in areas served by Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. Even day games will not be held at Tokyo Dome and Seibu Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture.

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Flexibility a must

If the power supply becomes tighter in summer, rescheduling or other flexible measures will be called for.

When the simultaneous terrorist attacks on the United States occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, the major leagues resumed games six days later. New York Mets catcher and slugger Mike Piazza delivered a message to the spectators urging them to forget the terrible incident for the two or three hours of the game.

Everyone in the Japanese baseball world shares this feeling.

Tohoku High School in disaster-stricken Sendai took part in the recent national high school baseball invitational tournament. The team's level of play impressed the people.

In soccer, the Japan national team and a team of players selected from J.League clubs recently played a charity match. Ratings for the TV broadcast of the game reached 30.1 percent at one point in the Sendai district.

At a time of national crisis, the role that sports can play is far from small.

Voters approve Ishihara, give DPJ a shellacking

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Voters went to the polls in unified local elections Sunday, concluding the first round of this year's quadrennial nationwide battles. Campaigning for the first half of the simultaneous polls was exceptional, with candidates holding back from roadside speeches amid widespread restraint in festive and other activities after the cataclysmic March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara was reelected for a fourth term. During his reelection campaign, the incumbent had the backing of the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, dominant forces in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. Ishihara also was able to expand his support base to include voters who previously backed the Democratic Party of Japan, as well as floating voters. His victory appears to reflect voters' desire to elect a figure who can demonstrate strong leadership in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

There are a mountain of tasks to be tackled by the Tokyo governor, including minimizing the effects of disasters that could strike the nation's capital and overcoming the continued financial difficulties facing the Shinginko Tokyo bank. Other challenges include reducing the number of children on waiting lists for day-care centers and addressing various issues confronting elderly people. We hope Ishihara will grapple with these problems with all sincerity.

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DPJ loses locally

Sunday's elections included three gubernatorial races in which the DPJ and the LDP squared off. The DPJ-backed candidates were defeated in all three cases. The DPJ's loss of the gubernatorial races in Tokyo, Hokkaido and Mie has dealt a blow to the ruling party. Secretary General Katsuya Okada's electoral turf lies in Mie Prefecture.

The DPJ also fared poorly in 41 prefectural assembly elections, a setback that can be attributed to the DPJ-led government's failure to properly run the nation. The current administration's record of failure runs from gridlock in efforts to honor the DPJ's manifesto for the 2009 House of Representatives election to its inadequate response to the aftermath of the March 11 quake-tsunami disaster, as well as various blunders in dealing with other nations.

Indications are that an increasing number of DPJ members will hold accountable the party's top cadre, led by Prime Minister Naoto Kan. The DPJ may find it difficult to ensure cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties in addressing a host of issues facing the nation at home and abroad, given the anticipated offensive to be launched by the leading opposition LDP. The prime minister should take this stark prospect to heart.

Despite its success in clinching victory in most of the latest prefectural assembly elections, the LDP was no less vibrant in reversing a continued decline in its popularity when it came to races in that category.

Setbacks for the existing political parties were mirrored by large electoral gains by new parties headed by the top leaders of local governments. Osaka Ishin no Kai (Osaka restoration group), led by Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto, won a majority of seats in the Osaka prefectural assembly race. This was combined with gains for the group in the Osaka and Sakai city assembly elections. Meanwhile, the Aichi prefectural assembly race handed a certain number of seats to Genzei Nippon (tax cut Japan), a group led by Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura, and Nippon Ichi Aichi no Kai (Japan's No. 1 Aichi group), led by Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura.

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Unresolved issues in Osaka

These results may well be perceived as an indication of voters' distrust in established parties--rather than popular support for Hashimoto's plan to abolish and reorganize Osaka Prefecture and the cities of Osaka and Sakai, thus launching a metropolitan entity comparable to Tokyo, as well as the Aichi politicians' proposed cut in the residence tax.

These politicians should think and act responsibly in running their governments--not just relying on their popularity as "leaders with distinctive personalities."

The controversy over Hashimoto's ambitious plan should not be reduced to a mere tug-of-war between the Osaka prefectural and city governments. It is important to calmly debate what kind of system should be adopted to govern large cities.

The electoral gains by the regional parties can also be regarded as a message from voters that their local assemblies have too many members and assembly members are paid excessive salaries, despite their inability to have an impact on local administration. The local assemblies must know it would be difficult to regain voters' trust unless their activities come to vivid life.

The impact of the massive earthquake could cause quake-hit local governments to depend on the national government for post-disaster rehabilitation. This could delay the ongoing transfer of some administrative powers to local governments.

However, it would be possible to put safety-net measures in place--through which the national government could aid local governments during a crisis--while at the same time making progress in decentralization of power in ordinary times. The newly elected local government chiefs and assembly members must demonstrate such wisdom and determination.

EDITORIAL: THE DAILY MIRROR, SRILANKA

People power to end corruption

It is an open secret that rampant bribery and corruption, the plundering of state resources and the extravagant lifestyles of our political leaders are diluting if not polluting Sri Lanka’s 2,500 year-old culture. Often we read or hear of instances where little or nothing is done in most public institutions when complaints are made of money having to be paid under-the -table to get a job done. The millions needed to upkeep the country’s jumbo cabinet, and the inflated delegations, which accompany VIPs on foreign trips, are a waste of people’s money and of little or no benefit to the country.

Recently the shocking disclosure by a deputy minister in parliament provided an insight or another dimension of corruption, which is assuming monstrous proportions in Sri Lanka. He said a staggering Rs.411.87 million had been spent to construct a four-kilometre stretch of road along the Maha Oya-Chenkalady highway. Among others too numerous to mention, the latest is the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) scam. The SLC which at one time was one of the richest private institutions is now faced with empty coffers. According to media reports the SLC owes a massive Rs.4.5 billion to suppliers during the cricket World Cup and if this is not enough at least Rs.47 million in ticket sales are not accounted for. That was probably why former Sports Minister C.B. Ratnayake described the unelected SLC as one of the most corrupt institutions. How can we stem this rot or the cancer that is eating into nearly every segment of our society? Media keep reporting it, several have complained about it but the caravan of corruption moves on though the watch dogs keep on barking.

Against this backdrop we have the news of a death fast, by a 78-year-old Indian social activist and a Mahatma Gandhi devotee Anna Hazare, against corruption in that country. The movement, gathered momentum with hundreds of thousands including men, women and children from all walks of life joining Mr. Hazare in conveying a strong message to the government that enough is enough and corruption, which has plagued the Manmohan Singh-led Congress administration, must stop and stop now. Mr. Hazare ended the fast after four days when the Indian government agreed to accede to his demands. His main demand was that members of civil society sit on a committee that would draft an ombudsman or Lokpal Bill, which would give teeth to anti-corruption laws enabling the prosecution of politicians including ministers and public officials. A sewing shop worker making his way to the protest on crutches said he was a poor man but came to show that this is not a fight of one man but there are thousands standing right behind him for an end to corruption and for a more equitable distribution of the country’s wealth and resources. In recent years India has been riddled with allegations of corruption in high places, the latest being that of the 2G telecom scam, which forced government minister A. Raja – a member of the Congress ally, DMK to resign.

It is high time that Sri Lankans too stood up against corruption and compelled the government to work for the welfare of the people without just mouthing empty words. It’s time we thought of and spoke of a people-centered democracy where people have a say in governance instead of a government-centered democracy where a group of politicians enjoy all possible perks paid for by the people and are unanswerable or unaccountable to none but themselves. If corruption, plunder and extravagance are ended and the billions thus saved diverted through proper channels to development projects then Sri Lanka can be transformed not only into a hub or wonder of Asia but also into a genuine participatory democracy instead of merely a representative democracy.

EDITORIAL: THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

 

Transferring powers

AS the battle over the devolution of some of the responsibilities of the Higher Education Commission rages on — the Supreme Court is set to hear the matter — a wider issue has been lost sight of: preparing the provinces for the responsibility of administering subjects devolved under the 18th Amendment. With 10 ministries now devolved and several more to follow, the centre and the provinces have yet to work out an agreement on either the financial aspects or the technical/capacity side of things.

On the financial side, the provinces are arguing that when the seventh NFC award was being negotiated they were given assurances by the centre that any ministries to be devolved under the 18th Amendment would be accounted for separately. However, the centre is claiming that because the NFC enhanced the share of the provinces from the total resources pool, the provinces should be able to pay for the new provincial ministries from their shares under the award. At stake, then, are both recurring expenditures, such as salaries and overheads, and the financing of existing projects approved and initiated by the federal ministries which have been devolved. There are two related problems: one, because overall revenue projections have not been realised, the centre is finding it difficult to meet the NFC commitments; two, the provinces have done little to enhance revenues raised at the provincial level, as also pledged under the NFC. With money so short, the new ministries at the provincial level risk being stillborn.

Next, the issue of capacity. The 18th Amendment envisaged a transition of powers to be completed in a certain time frame, but the timing, pace and modalities of the transfers have been left up to an implementation committee. But all subjects are not equal; some devolved powers raise questions that the implementation committee may not easily find answers to. For example, with the medicinal drugs policy becoming a provincial subject following the 18th Amendment, the country risks having multiple standards for drugs licensing. With the commercial stakes so high and powerful pharmaceutical interests at work, the possibility of substandard drugs making it to the market legally will go up. A possible solution would be to have an inter-provincial coordination body dealing with drugs licensing, but for that to happen the provinces and the centre would need to work together in a way that arguably goes beyond the mandate of the existing implementation committee. The furore over the HEC — indeed, before the implementation committee`s clarification, we too had expressed our concerns about higher education being devolved — has tended to obscure these potentially more important, matters.

Energy shortfall

THE energy shortages in the country are worsening by the day as the demand for electricity, gas and other fuel outstrips supplies. These shortages have been responsible for the long-duration power blackouts and gas cuts for both domestic and industrial consumers across the country for several years now. The problem has aggravated during the last couple of years. Even the addition of expensive rental 1,700 megawatts to the national grid by the government has failed to improve the situation. The government has done little to overcome the shortages in its three years despite the fact that in his inaugural speech in March 2008, the prime minister had promised to work on a `war footing` to end power cuts in the country. There has been a substantial increase in energy prices, yet the government does not have the financial resources to bridge the supply gap.

The energy shortages, according to the prime minister, are thus feared to double over the next 15 years “unless addressed urgently by all stakeholders in the public and private sectors”. Many would say it could hit Pakistan much sooner than Mr Gilani estimates but few experts would disagree with his admission that his cash-strapped government cannot tackle energy issues on its own. The prime minister has urged the private sector to step forward to help it. He has announced the formation of a government-industry council to make recommendations for a speedy solution to the problem that is affecting growth and resulting in job and production cuts. The private sector is reluctant to invest money in this sector for various reasons, not least of which are allegations of corruption in the award of power projects in the past, judicial activism, bureaucratic hitches and security concerns. There are many who would readily invest in the energy sector. But their lack of trust in the government`s ability to implement its policies and protect their investment is stalling their plans. If the government is serious about forming partnership with private investors in the energy sector it will have to work harder to improve its credibility.

Unclaimed vehicles

SOME 102 motorcycles that are parked on the premises of Karachi`s Anti-Car-Lifting Cell are on the verge of being deposited in the police`s central vehicle pool, the Nazarat. These vehicles are unclaimed amongst some 800 motorcycles recovered or confiscated by the police between Jan 1 and April 6. Last year, the Karachi police sent well over 300 unclaimed motorcycles to the Nazarat. The police quote many reasons why vehicles remain unclaimed: in some cases, owners are not in a position to afford the lawyers` fees, while in others the courts direct the submission of sureties of up to Rs20,000 to regain possession of motorbikes, and the owners choose not to pursue the case. Sometimes, the police also find that the given residential addresses and contact numbers are incorrect.

This issue of unclaimed vehicles — both cars and motorcycles — is present in all Pakistan`s towns and cities. There is little effort by the police to correct this, and there have been cases where unclaimed vehicles have been found to be in the use of the law-enforcement personnel. However, part of the problem is the lack of a computerised database which can help the police easily link vehicles with the complainant/owner. A vehicle snatched or stolen from one part of the country, if recovered in another town or city, is unlikely to be matched up with its owner. Given the number of vehicles snatched or stolen in Pakistan every year, there is a need to develop an integrated database to trace the ownership of recovered vehicles. Then, through the police or other means, provincial governments must set up a system whereby the particulars of unclaimed vehicles, including registration and chassis numbers etc, are regularly and prominently advertised so that people who have had their vehicle stolen or snatched can find out whether and from where their vehicle has been recovered.

 

 

 

EDITORIAL: THE HINDU, INDIA

 

Fifty years since Gagarin's flight

On a sunny morning 50 years ago, the 27-year-old carpenter's son turned Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, stunned the world. Blasting off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Gagarin became the first human to travel into space. His journey aboard the Vostok spacecraft was unquestionably one of the great achievements of the 20th century and a landmark in human history. Coming as it did during the height of Cold War, Gagarin's success appeared to establish his country's supremacy in space technology. Just four months later, another Soviet cosmonaut, Gherman Titov, spent more than 25 hours in space and completed 17 orbits of the earth. America's muted response saw Alan Shepard carrying out a sub-orbital flight lasting just 15 minutes in May 1961. The United States could redeem some pride only in February 1962 when John Glenn completed three orbits in space. Just a month after Gagarin's historic space voyage, President John F. Kennedy declared that the U.S. would put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. The space race was on — and it was a race that America won hands down. In July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin became the first men to set foot on another world. Ten more of their compatriots too left their footprints on the Moon.

But the U.S. Congress and the American public were not willing to continue funding further manned space exploration on the same scale. The U.S. space agency then turned to building the world's first reusable spacecraft that could take humans and cargo into orbit. The first space shuttle, Columbia, flew in 1981, followed by four of its siblings, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour. America's dominance in space has continued unabated after the Soviet Union's break-up. But with space programmes becoming more demanding, many major space initiatives are now joint endeavours involving many countries. The launch of the Hubble space telescope in 1990, a joint venture between the U.S.'s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency was the first such initiative. The International Space Station (ISS) involving 16 countries, including the U.S. and Russia, is another excellent example. Even India's Chandrayaan-1 carried payloads from other countries. After NASA mothballs its shuttle programme this year, Russia's Soyuz spacecraft will be the only way that astronauts can travel to the ISS. The interest in manned spaceflight appears to be flagging in both the U.S. and Russia. It is, however, on the rise in China and India. Fifty years after man first ventured beyond the confines of Planet Earth, it is perhaps time for the spacefaring nations of the world to come together on a bold programme of manned space exploration. 

Creative economy and development

If information technology has enabled emerging economies such as India to change the commercial equations with the developed world, another speciality is being recognised for its potential: the ‘creative economy'. This segment, according to a classification by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), comprises goods and services produced by the ‘creative industries' such as art-crafts, audio visuals, design, new media, performing arts, publishing and visual arts, the ‘creative services' (including advertising and architectural services), and their ‘related industries'. For nearly a decade, UNCTAD has been attempting to turn the spotlight on the promise the creative economy holds for domestic development and international trade. Going by the evidence available, this segment emerges as one of the better performers even during a recession. In 2008, despite a contraction of 12 per cent in international trade, the creative economy did well: global exports in this sector, at $592 billion, were more than double of what they were in 2002.

The UNCTAD report, Creative Economy: A feasible development option, released in December 2010, has done well to urge developing countries to enhance their creative capacities. For, this sector's exports grew faster in developing economies between 2003 and 2008 (at 13.55 per cent a year) than in developed countries (10.02 per cent), and were above the world average (11.53 per cent). There is a difference, however, in the composition of exports. While music and audiovisuals, publishing/printed media, and new media and design topped the list of exports from the developed world, art-crafts and design products dominated the list from developing countries. Although India — unranked in 2002 — registered the fastest growth in such exports between 2003 and 2008 (15.7 per cent) to reach the 10th position in 2008, its market share of 2.3 per cent is way behind that of world-leader China at 20.8 per cent. China's rise in this dynamic sector can be traced to two policy actions: identifying this as one of the pillars of its future economic development and integrating it to its planning process. India, on the other hand, is yet to have a clear focus. Given the vast potential the country has to gain from its creative industries — be they films or crafts — a well-conceived policy that coordinates issues at the national level will go a long way in elevating its global position in this dynamic sector.

 

 

EDITORIAL: THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

 

Playing with share scam

Come out unedited report

It is a strange position that the finance minister has taken -- to get an investigation done into the stock manipulation but not to publish it. Stranger is that the same report that the finance minister is trying to keep away from public eye so steadfastly is being published everyday in every newspaper. The question then arises why this secrecy with a report that millions have been waiting for with the hope that the real culprits behind the scam would be exposed.

The finance minister's rather simplistic explanation that the reputation of the people named in the report is valuable and therefore should not be tarnished without proper check is appreciable but not enough to justify the secrecy. The people who were in the committee are of high professional integrity and wisdom, and when they had named anybody in the report they must have not forgotten the accused persons' reputation that might come under clouds. So whatever they have done have been done with full knowledge of the implications and with judiciousness. Let the probe body and not the government take the onus of their investigation.

What would remain of the report if it is edited? In our view, the report will lose its fundamental thrust as it is full of names of both individuals and companies who had done dubious deals.

The report, we believe, should stand on its own. Any attempt of the government to tinker with it will amount to withholding information from people.

It is understandable that many of the actions of these persons mentioned in the report are not illegal per se. They had done many of the things under the existing law as one of the named persons has already told the media. But mention of such deeds is important as this only shows the gaping holes in the law that need to be plugged immediately. Moreover, one's actions can be covered by the law but it still would not exonerate him from the charge of manipulation if his willful actions lead to artificial price inflation. So we need this probe report to be published officially and in full.

Publication of the report in its entirety has now become a test of credibility for the government. Any kind of deviation would only make people wonder whether entrenched interests are being shielded.

Disgracing Lalon devotees

The fanaticism should stop

This time the mystic singers, whom we call 'baul' in Bengali, have become the target of wrath of some self-appointed saviours of religion. It is alarming that a section of the so-called religious figures, who are nothing but fanatics, would arrogate to themselves the right to determine who is a good or a bad Muslim.

It was an appalling report that appeared in this daily yesterday that some fanatics in Habashpur of Pangsha Upazilla in Rajbari forced some Lalon devotees to shave off their hairs and moustache to, what these extremists termed, “make them conform to Islamic ways.” They were also forced to express penance in a local mosque and made to promise to shun the path of Lalon.

The bauls, who are mystical musicians and devotees of Lalon, a renowned mystic poet of Bengal, have been living in their own traditional ways, seeking the Truth in their own ways and living a life of mendicancy since the time of the great mystic poet and singer. And so far, nobody has treated them in the manner that they have been treated in this instance.

We have been observing with a good deal of concern the rise of intolerant and extremist behaviour on the part of some people in the name of Islam that border on bigotry and chauvinism. We also noted with alarm the harassment meted out to two female journalists by another religious organisation very recently. And the latest act is not only a blow to religious tolerance and the teachings of Islam, it is also a blow against our tradition and culture. These are outrageous acts that should not only be condemned, these must be also harshly put down.

EDITORIAL : THE AUSTRALIAN, AUSTRALIA

 

Coming to the defence of women in forces

An illustration by Peter Nicholson. Source: The Australian

WHAT began as one reprehensible incident at the Australian Defence Force Academy is now a passionate debate about defence force culture.

The abhorrent betrayal of a young woman's trust by fellow cadets always warranted a thorough investigation, but this incident has uncovered deep-seated and widespread concerns about sexism in the defence forces, triggering a range of reviews, actions and inquiries.

Given what is already on the public record, The Australian considers the debate timely and the reviews warranted, so long as they lead to practical improvements. Defence Minister Stephen Smith deserves praise for his strong leadership but even he concedes such reviews are hardly new. Mr Smith's challenge is to turn the talk of cultural change into the reality of a defence forces workplace that is welcoming, safe, rewarding and respectful for women.

As we pointed out last week, ADFA failed to live up to its own value of respecting others in its handling of the so-called Skype-sex scandal. Mr Smith rightly maintains Commander Bruce Kafer seriously erred in judgment by pursuing separate disciplinary action against the young female victim of the sex broadcast, while she was attempting to deal with its repercussions. Against some resistance, Mr Smith has imposed his will on the uniformed hierarchy and the commander, described as a "good officer and good bloke", has been advised to take leave while the issue is properly investigated.

The power struggle between defence ministers and the uniformed leaders often creates tension, yet Mr Smith has judged public expectations well and convinced the military to respond to those standards. Inquiries will now examine ADFA's handling of the Skype-sex case, its treatment of women, conditions for women across the forces, cross-overs between military and civilian law, assessment of more allegations flushed out by the controversy and behavioural issues around alcohol and social media.

If a culture of sexist intimidation exists, it needs to be confronted and eradicated once and for all. Defence faces a challenge recruiting the large numbers of young people it needs and if it cannot provide an attractive career path for women, it will seriously handicap itself. So it is timely that the minister and the defence force chiefs have taken this opportunity to fast-track the movement of women into combat roles, declaring that only physical and intellectual capacity, and not gender, will be assessed in allocating roles in the future. This will help remove any sense of women being the lesser of equals in the forces, but much work needs to be done on the practicalities of implementation.

At what seems like a momentous time for Australia's defence forces, it is appropriate to issue a word of caution. There is a great risk that the numerous reviews, policies and inquiries unveiled yesterday will become bogged down in process. In the end, it is not reviews and processes that will improve defence culture but rather a willingness and expectation that any sexually offensive or intimidatory behaviour will not be tolerated, and will always attract prompt investigation and appropriate penalties, including dismissal. As a priority, any alleged victims must be treated with care and sensitivity.

A director of classic films

FROM his impressive debut directing Henry Fonda in 12 Angry Men in 1957, Sidney Lumet was responsible for some of the best films of the following 50 years.

Lumet, who died at home in Manhattan on Saturday aged 86, consistently drew the best from many of the world's finest screen actors, including Sean Connery in The Hill, William Holden, Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway in Network and Paul Newman in The Verdict. From the harsh British military camp of the Libyan desert in World War II, setting for The Hill, to the glamorous, sinister ambience of Murder on the Orient Express, Lumet's forte was thought-provoking films with strong storylines.

After working as a child actor, Lumet's first directing jobs were in off-Broadway theatre productions and he continued to prefer the gritty streets of New York to Hollywood. He favoured films that went "one step further" than entertainment by setting "the mental juices flowing" and compelling audiences "to examine one facet or another" of their consciences. Lumet was nominated four times for Academy awards for directing, including for his first film, but missed out each time. A social realist, his comment after receiving an Academy Award for lifetime achievement in 2005 was: "I wanted one, damn it, and I felt I deserved one." Damn right.

Protecting scientific expertise

AUSTRALIANS have reason to feel proud of the nation's leading scientific and medical researchers, whose discoveries have saved lives and improved quality of life for generations around the world.

If the standards set by immunologist Frank Macfarlane Burnet, cervical cancer vaccine developer Ian Frazer and 2005 Nobel laureates Barry Marshall and Robin Warren, who discovered the bacteria that causes peptic ulcers, are to be maintained, research must not be short-changed. The prospect of cuts to the National Health and Medical Research Council budget of up to $400 million over three years has alarmed scientists, as has Health Minister Nicola Roxon's prim retort that she has a "difficult message" for them in the budget.

No area of government expenditure should be immune from scrutiny and taxpayers are entitled to expect value for money. The federal deficit must be cut, but the task is all the more difficult because of the billions wasted on poor value stimulus projects. The political problem is that given a choice between pink batts and cancer research, voters would not have to think twice. The government should look for savings in areas other than the NHMRC, which already subjects funding applications to rigorous scrutiny and peer review.

In their quest for the next breakthrough in the fight against cancer, heart disease, schizophrenia, Alzheimers or asthma, institutions run on tight budgets, pay relatively low wages and compete for a limited pool of public and philanthropic funding. Globally, duplication is avoided by scientists working in tandem with their international colleagues on such long-term projects as pinpointing the genes that cause and protect individuals from diseases, including breast cancer. Team leaders at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, the QIMR, the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and other centres and universities know that a substantial cut to the NHMRC's $800m annual funding will drive some of the best researchers and some of our most promising projects overseas, leaving other nations to reap the economic returns of new therapies, vaccines, diagnostic tools and drugs.

Most Australians, whether touched by serious illness or not, would be reluctant to see the research budget cut. For instance, a $400m cutback over three years to the National Broadband Network, which construction companies fear will blow out to $44 billion to build, would have a minimal impact compared with a similar cut to the NHMRC. Contrary to the claims of its proponents, including independent MP Tony Windsor, the NBN, in its Rolls-Royce form, is not essential for isolated Australians to stay in closer contact with their doctors through e-medicine, which was developing years before the NBN was mooted.

For all the high-profile breakthroughs that change lives including Fiona Wood's spray-on skin, Susan Beal's discovery that cot death would be vastly reduced if babies were not wrapped too warmly or allowed to sleep on their tummies and Victor Chang's heart transplant program, many scientific achievements take decades of painstaking work.

Once such expertise is lost, it would take years for Australia to regain its standing in a field where the nation performs well above its weight. Curtailing life-saving projects when other spending cuts are available would be unconscionable.