The 'mobile connections'

A year ago, I would never have thought that my family would end up like this. Right now, the four members are in four different districts of Kerala and the place we call 'home' is a place where none of us actually stay. The connection between the family members is through the ubiquitous cell phone and deprivation of its use due to low charge in the battery or even low balance causes much heartburn. This is the case with many of us today and I feel that I am seriously addicted to the phone. I become very irritable when deprived of it. The two hours I spend without it when I have to charge it seems an endless torture to me. Hell, the joke is that the government must provide us all with free mobile connections and it must not charge us for it because 'free speech' is there in the Fundamental Rights. With the extremely low tariffs prevailing in the state today, it seems that indeed the joke is becoming a reality.

The places with 'low range' are become curiosities. People are increasingly 'networked'. I still feel that I have the same kind of warm relations I had with my family as I feel that they're near and I can communicate with them any instant I feel.

There is a problem, however. When you actually meet the persons you talk with for hours over phone, there is a paucity of subjects to talk on. Everything has already been dealt with. There is nothing new to catch the other's attention. I will narrate an incident. Some of my classmates and I decided to have a get-together last thursday. We met and we ate but we didn't talk as much as I expected. Later, after reaching the hostel, I talked with each one of them over the phone in much more friendly terms than when they were actually present in front of me.

The reason may be simple: When you are actually meeting a real person, you subconsciously decide that the other person would like to hear fantastic things from you. Since you have talked about the 'fantastic things' in your life to practically everyone you care about on the phone, there is nothing left. So after the meeting you sometimes wish had not met. A lot of time, money and planning are requires to arrange direct, face-to-face meetings. You don't feel it worthwhile to waste such precious moments talking about mundane things. The result is the almost silent atmosphere. It would take some time to change this conception and realise that your friends are not really expecting great things from you, but by the time the truth actually dawns on you, it is time to move on. On the other hand, talking on the phone requires little investment and it actually helps us relieve our stress. The net result is that though we virtually converge, we diverge in reality. Mobile connections have really redefined our society and our relations with others. Inspired by Asimov, I am almost tempted to say that this kind of technological innovations may finally result in the creation of a society where members are averse to physical contact and communicate through virtual, 3-D technology.

Madness!

Recently I happened to meet a girl whose ultimate ambition is to go and settle in the United States.

Reasons: 'Leaves of the trees there change colour, there's a lot of snow and you can wear whatever you want.' She doesn't like India because 'people are too inquisitive, there are potholes in the road and people are not really enthusiastic about gender equality.'

She has plans about her marriage too. She will marry only a guy from a big city which has a hall big enough to suit her dreams. In Kerala, that rules out all cities except Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam. The guy must either be already settled or be ready to settle in the U.S. He should have the smile of the film actor Madhavan and must not have too many principles. She wants the ceremony to be conducted at night. Most importantly, she will marry only in the month of January.

I was quite bewildered when I heard the last condition and asked her the reason. She said: 'Suppose you get married on 30 Dec 2010. When a friend asks you, in say, January 2025: 'How long have you been married?', you'lll have to say that you've been married for 2025-2010=15 years. Whereas if you are getting married on 2 January 2011, you can say in 2025 that you've been married only for 14 years. So your friend'll think that you're young!'

How is the logic? My jaw dropped then, and it has not fully recovered yet.

N-Bill for aam admi

The Central Government has got the Nuclear Liability Bill passed in the Lok Sabha. As citizens, we need to know what the Bill is about and its implications for us. The newspaper articles are loaded with technical terms and so, here is a simple write-up on the Bill.

We will start with some definitions:
Operator: The company that will operate the plant, i.e., the reactor and all the related stuff. Now the government allows only public sector companies like NPCIL to operate the plants. However, in the future, government may allow private operators too and this is a major bone of contention.
Supplier: The company that will provide the equipments and the technology to make the power plants. Unlike India, many of the Western countries allow private research and development in nuclear sector. So the suppliers are usually private companies like Areva(France), GE(U.S.), WMG, etc.
Operator liability: Money that the operator is to pay to the victims in case a nuclear accident occurs. The accident may occur due to negligence of the operator, faulty design of the equipment by the supplier or among other things, even a natural disaster like an earthquake or a wildfire.
Right of recourse: Actually means right to recover a bad loan but in the present context it means the right of the operator to sue the supplier if the latter had given the former faulty equipment.

Why we need this Bill?
As Dr. Singh said, this is all for energy security of the country. We don't have much petroleum left, hydel power projects have a long gestation period and there are environmental considerations, wind is a bit boring and unpredictable, solar power is a bit too expensive and biogas is well, you know, unfeasible because of the distribution pattern of cattle. So we're left with only the nuclear alternative now. Though many consider them unsafe, it is a fact that about 16 countries depend on nuclear plants for meeting more than 25% of their energy needs. Topping the chart is France, with approximately 75% of its energy production coming from this single sector. India's current capability is about 4.56 GW, which comes to around 4.2% of the total energy production in the country. We plan to increase it to at least 20 GW by 2020. We also plan to have a 9% share of n power in the total energy production within 25 years. For meeting all these sky high figures, we need fuel, technology and experts.

That's where the Bill comes in. None of the countries where the headquarters of prominent nuclear plant equipment suppliers are situated allows them to have a contract or an agreement for supply of their goods unless there is a civil liabilty act in place that specifies how much they will have to pay in case of a nuclear accident. U.S. is particularly insistent upon it. Our deal with France also includes a clause for the establishment of a nuclear liability regime. So the matter is, no one will do any real business with us until the Bill is passed. Of coursee, we are free to use our own indigeneous reactors and technology but an expansion as our energy policy envisages requires the participation of foreign companies.

A liability bill is also required so that the victims can know whom to approach for compensation and also its quantum. Once a mechanism is properly in place, the disbursal of funds in case of an accident will be faster and more transparent.

We also require this bill to compatible with the Convention on Supplementary Compensation. This convention is the successor to the Paris and Vienna conventions. Before you stop reading this fearing the assault of technical jargon, I'll tell you that CSC essentially has three conditions:
1. Full legal liabilty of the accident will lie exclusively with the operator.
2. Doing away with the requirement to prove the fault, negligence or intent of the operator.
3. Exclusive jurisdiction to the courts of the country.
The operator will have to pay at least 300 SDR in case a nuclear accident occurs. If the operator doesn't have that kind of money, the country where the accident took place has to make available public funds for covering the rest. Now comes the most important part: If the damage is more than 300 million SDR, the rest of the amount will come from an international fund set up for the purpose. So, it is a kind of insurance.

Reasons for opposition and some points:
You have been bombarded with details about the Bill by the media. So there's no point in talking about them. Still, here are the principle points of opposition:

1. Liability cap of the operator is too low: INR 1500 crores. Maximum liability is fixed at 300 million SDR, or approx. 2050 crore rupees. The operator liability cap is lower than that in U.S., but highee than that of France. The initial amount was just 500 crores which has now been raised.

2. The provision that the operator could sue the supplier only if there was a written agreement or if the supplier had an intent to cause damage etc. has been modified. Now suppliers can be sued if the accident was caused by any act of the supplier or his employee. There is no need for an agreement now.

3. Fear of private operators: Right now, only public operators are allowed, i.e., government has to have a 51% stake in the company for it to benefit from the liability cap. So the taxpayer has to subsidise the remaining 49% shareholders. Only NPCIL will be operating the plants, it seems, for at least a decade.

4. The time limit for filing the damage claims was just 10 years whereas the damage may become apparent, in many cases, only after 15 years. This has now been extended to 20 years. International conventions allow even 30 years.

5. The Claims Commission was reported to be filled up by bureaucrats, with no representation for activists, scientists or members of civil society. Right now, however, I read that SC and HC can be approached for review of compensation amounts. Also, the claims must be disposed within three months of application.

6. There is an ambiguity on whether the victims can file cases against the supplier.

7. It is not known whether the AERB entrusted with the task, is independent enough or competent enough to review the designs of the equipments of the foreign companies.

There are many other legal problems as well i.e., regarding distinction between 'liability','strict liability' and 'absolute liability'. Moreover, CSC, the last time I heard, was not ratified by enough number of member countries for it to come into force.

So there are problems as well as some good points about the bill. What is required is awareness of citizens and faultless implementation from the side of the administrators. Hope this bill will end our nuclear apartheid, as Dr. Singh had said.

P.S: If anyone feels that there's something wrong with or in the post, please do comment. We're all in this together!

Islam and Extremism: A Layman's Analysis

Today I happened to meet one of the supporters of Maudany. To all your surprise (and mine too), the supporter is a Hindu woman staying near Anvarssery in Kollam. Unlike others, she insists that Maudany is an innocent man being falsely accused of crimes he did not even know about. She admits that his speeches might have contributed to the growth of extremism in Kerala but argues that they were 'reactions' to the Babri Masjid demolition.

So, the question is: Who is to be blamed for the unexpected rise of Islamic extremism in Kerala? The question needs to be answered because Kerala is a state known for communal harmony and has a prosperous Muslim community. Government provides reservation to them. To all outward appearances, they have no reasons to complain. Yet, extremism is on the rise in the state.

The reasons are manifold. In spite of their material prosperity, many Muslims remain educationally backward. Female literacy, in terms of both numbers and quality, is low when compared to other communities. There is a visible divide between the progressive and conservative sections. Conservative sections tend to live together in close, closed communities with little or no interaction with others. They migrate mainly to the Gullf region where the chances of getting into contact with extremists is probably higher. Persons migrating to other states may have to face discrimination - Kerala society is (or was) less discriminating because the minority community constitutes a good percentage of the total population. There was greater people-to-people contact, resulting in a better understanding of each other's religion and customs. That fostered an understanding which is difficult to find today. This need not necessarily be the condition of other states. This may have led a minority of the educated, young and modern Muslim youth to take solace in the teachings of extremist preachers. With no one else to guide them, they might have got involved in anti-national activities. The activities of this minority has created such a terror in the minds of the general public that currently Muslims in general and young Muslim men in particular have become objects of suspicion.

One cannot blame the public for this. During my entire school life, from class I to X, I did not have any Muslim student in my class. In classes XI and XII, when I was studying in a different school, the number of Muslim girl students was zero and the number of boys was below five. How can you then expect me to have any real understanding of Muslims? My sister, unlike me, did have a Muslim girl in her class. She was, however, from an extremely liberal family of engineers, and was as clueless about Islam as my sister was though my sister belonged to a different community.

That precisely is the root of the problem. The progressive sections tend to neglect the religion completely and hence move out of the larger Muslim community. They tend to have no voice in the community. The conservative sections, however, tend to become more assertive as more liberals move out. They impose their interpretation on others and prevent external interferences. This scares out the remaining liberals. Thus, paradoxically, the communities become more closed as its members move out. The remaining nucleus becomes too polarised to be amenable to reason and rationality and an easy breeding ground for extremists.

The problem is further compounded by the fact that a majority of the Muslims literally know nothing about their religion other than the customs they have to follow - believe in Allah, pray five times a day, observe fast during Ramzan and go to Mecca if possible. Quran is written in Arabic which a majority do not understand. Translations in local languages are not popular. People thus have to depend on preachers who are either not well-versed or who have a totally wrong idea of Islam. Their teachings and interpretations destroy the efforts of the real scholars to bring Islam in line with the modern times. The result? Alienation, confusion and chaos. The extremists' teachings also give a wrong impression to followers of other religions who lose the trust in Muslims that was built upon the efforts of many centuries.

The media too, acts as a facilitator in this process. They tend to portray these extremists as the representatives of the community and the real voice of its majority whereas the actual majority has nothing to do with them. A liberal Muslim thus is made a misnomer rather than a norm. This results in alienation which tends to support the rapid growth of extremism. Thus media actively constructs a nightmarish reality from nothing, thanks to its monstrous use of misrepresentations and misplaced priorities.

Other communities too are responsible for this menace of extremism. Any increase in the level of community-feeling in a group is bound to create fear in the minds of other communities. Unless the concerns are properly addressed, this fear will naturally lead to an increase in the community-feeling of other groups too. People will then to identify more with that aspect of their personality which they think is threatened and hence needs to be protected. This is just a manifestation of the basic human instinct of self-preservation. The point is that, the rise in extremism and the increasing assertiveness of Muslims when it comes to their religious identity are symptoms of their belief that Islam is being threatened by external forces. This is precisely the reason why bans on veil will lead only to further isolation and an explosive growth of extremism.

The reasons themselves suggest the remedies. The politicians and the leaders know what they have to do to prevent the clash of civilizations. What is lacking is the political will, which, surprisingly, may be attributed to the growing democratisation of the world which tends to follow the will of the majority that in many cases may be irrational and sometimes, even terribly destructive.

Caste and Census

Not surprisingly, the Group of Ministers has decided to go in favour of the first caste Census of independent India. The last caste Census was in 1931. Though the first Commission on Backward Classes under Kaka Kelkar had recommended a caste census in 1953, the government had rejected it then, upholding Sardar Patel's words that 'A caste census would never be held in independent India.' How the times have changed indeed!

Caste in India is a phenomenon that has defied all attempts to destroy it. It survives through Khap panchayats, honour killings and forced marriages. It is a fundamental factor in deciding one's status in the society. The same government that claims to be fighting against casteism, refuses to grant reservation based on economic criteria and chooses caste as the basis instead. This is an example of how the policy of government is different from the actual ground position.

So, finally, let us face the truth. Caste will not go away from the Indian society. Even the religions transplanted to India which originally had nothing to do with caste now promote and practise their own versions of casteism. Indeed it appears that the line 'Kuch baath hai ki hasthi mit-thi nahi hamari' was written about the survival of the caste system through the centuries. Buddhism failed, Jainism failed, even Islam failed in spite of its idea of 'Universal Brotherhood'. What can a mere government do to eliminate a system that even Gods and their prophets failed to change?

The government seems to have recognised that instead of hanging on to the utopian dream of Sardar Patel of 'an India of equal citizens', it is better to do some real work on the ground to uplift the citizens belonging to the so-called 'Backward Castes' of India. The Caste Census will provide the Government with accurate data of the beneficiaries it intends to target in its programmes for 'inclusive growth'. It is quite bewildering to think that the government had been relying on the extrapolations of the 1931 Census data and sample surveys to calculate the number of people belonging to the Backward Classes. So it is well and good that the government has finally decided to go in for caste census.

The opinion that the Census would divide the country on caste line is illogical. Caste considerations influence politics heavily even otherwise. One has to just look at the candidate list and the dominant castes in the constituencies they are contesting to be convinced of it. This tendency has already reached its peak in India. The census is in no way going to accentuate it.

However, it is one of the paradoxes of history that the caste census would take place along with the biometric stage. Mixing the highly sophisticated technical stage with the archaic caste consideration. Symbolic of India - on the path of growth with the help of technology but still heavily influenced by irrational cultural elementts. One is tempted to say 'It happens only in India!'