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PEOPLE AND UNPEOPLE AND UNApril 2013 n Rs 40/- Published by The Indian Federation of United Nations Associations

“Even a limited provocation would be very risky for the North.”— Ambassador Park Soo-gil, W F U N A P re s id e n t

Crisis in theKorean Peninsula

Wfuna

The 40th Plenary Assembly of World Federation ofUnited Nations Associations (WFUNA) held atIBMEC University, Barra da Tijuca campus, from 6 -10 November 2012 at RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, was

hosted by UNA Brazil. This is the second Plenary Assemblyhosted by South American countries in the recent years.Earlier 38th Plenary Assembly in the year 2006 was hostedby Argentina.

The elections of the new Executive Committee in the40th Plenary Assembly hosted by UNA Brazil were held andthe results were shocking. The UNA Brazil which hosted the40th Plenary Assembly was defeated in the elections for thepost of Vice President of WFUNA. UNA Argentina whichhosted the 38th Plenary Assembly was conspicuouslyabsent in Rio De Jenerio and it is no more active in theWFUNA body. UNA India, which hosted two plenaryAssemblies, three Executive Committee Meetings, threeWFUNA Asia Pacific Conferences and Right to ProtectProgramme of WFUNA recently was also defeated in theExecutive Committee elections at Rio De Jenerio. thusdampening the enthusiasm of these active UNAs.

WFUNA Constitution does take into considerationregional balancing in the affairs of the Organization, butthere is no mandatory provision for regional distribution ofseats and at times there is no regional representation inWFUNA. Article 18 (c) of the WFUNA Constitution suggests

that the Plenary Assembly shall give due regard to thequalification of the nominees, their availability and toequitable geographical distribution. Sometimes the AfricanRegion remains unrepresentative in WFUNA ExecutiveCommittee and sometimes even whole of Latin Americaremains unrepresentative in the WFUNA ExecutiveCommittee as there is no clear provision for regionalrepresentation in the WFUNA Executive Committee. Whatis needed is that WFUNA Ex.Co should have permanentseats on its Boards from the Countries such as UNA USA,UNA UK, UNA Germany, UNA Brazil, UNA South Africa, UNAChina, UNA Japan, UNA Russia, one from Scandinaviancountries UNA and UNA India, which have a long activecontribution towards the cause of WFUNA since itsinception the rest of the members may be elected fromother regions on rotation basis. This amendment in theConstitution of WFUNA will increase the activities ofWFUNA. An important UNA like UNA Japan is not evenaffiliated with the WFUNA. Similarly, an important countrylike UNA France is not active at all. If the UNAs of theconcerned countries know that they are the permanentmembers of the Executive Committee and also know thatthey will be elected by rotation then all those UNAs wouldbecome more active in WFUNA activities and the affiliationfee of the permanent members may be increased to takecare of the funding problem of WFUNA to some extent. �

WFUNA NEEDSRESTRUCTURING

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3PEOPLE AND UN n APRIL 2013

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PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BYSuresh Kumar Srivastava

Secretary General, IFUNAon behalf of TheIndian Federation of

United Nations Associations, New Delhi and Printed at: Modest Graphics Pvt. Ltd.,

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EDITORP r a n M o h a n P a r v a t i y a r

ADVISORSCharti Lal Goel Ms. Mohni MathurSitaram Sharma A. S. TalwarP S Paul S. P. KalraSeshadri Chari Sagar AhluwaliaVinod Srivastava P. C. SinhaC. P. Mahajan Bharat Babbar

Ms. Meena Srivastava

* All disputes to be settled in Delhi Courts only. All rights reserved. No respnsibility is taken for returing

unsolicited manscripts . Views expressed in articles in thePEOPLE AND UN do not necessarily reflect those of

the editorial.

Vol. 2, No. 2,

A Publication of The Indian Federation of United Nations Associations, New Delhi

Quarterly - April 2013

PEOPLE AND UNPEOPLE AND UNCRISIS IN THEKOREAN PENINSULA

PAGE 11

FOCUS

PAGE 13

Health and HygieneTips for 100 years

SRI LANKA:PEACE AND RECONSTRUCTION

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON VOILENCE AND TERRORISTS

GUEST COLUMN

Page 16

AN INTERVIEW WITHMAGSAYSAY AWARD WINNER 'WATERMAN OF INDIA'

Page 20

INDO -GERMAN AGREEMENT

Page 26

BI LATERAL RELATIONS

Pitch for UN Library at Raipur

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CHATTISGARH UNA

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Maharashtra UNA

RNI NO. DELENG/2012/44082

A VIEW OF IFUNA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING (13-4-2013)

C Co on nt te en nt ts s

COVER STORY

LEAD STORY

FACE TO FACE

Observes World Health Day

5TH BRICS SUMMIT FORTHEIR OWN DEVELOPMENT BANK

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PEOPLE AND UN n APRIL 20134

3rd May is not only a day to celebrate hard-won press freedom, but also torecognize how fragile those victories remain.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a message has said freedom of expression is afundamental human right, enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of HumanRights. It is a cornerstone of good governance, sustainable development, and lastingpeace and security. Yet every day round the world, journalists and media workers areunder attack. They face intimidation, threats and violence from governments, corpora-tions, criminals or other forces that wish to silence or censor them. The theme, “Safe toSpeak: Securing Freedom of Expression in All Media”, no doubt highlights the need foraction to upholding the right of journalists to carry out their vital work. From traditionalmedia platforms such as radio, print and television, to newer and more and more popu-lar social media, blogs and citizen-led reporting, journalists are increasingly at risk. Overthe past decade, more than 600 journalists have been killed — at least 120 in the past yearalone. Hundreds more have been detained. The dangers are not only physical: fromcyber-attacks to bullying, the powerful are deploying numerous tools to try to stop themedia from shedding light on misrule and misdeeds. Last year alone 70 journalists werekilled in the world. From 1992 till date 982 journalists have been killed. In a media sur-vey of 196 countries only 35percent countries have press freedom. Around 33percentcountries have partial freedom whereas 32percent countries have no freedom at all. Thecondition of our country i.e. India has also gone down. In a survey we are at 140 where-as two years earlier we were on 122. As per the report of Ernest and Young India “mediain our country is in increasing demand, our domestic media including entertainmentindustry will be worth $25 bn. in 2015. In 2010 it was$16.3 bn. Though the industry isgrowing but it has yet to become professional and business like and secure.

To become the first beneficiary of a policy change that allowed foreign airlines to investin domestic ones Naresh Goyal’s Jet Airways (India) Ltd joined hands with Etihad Air-

ways. Etihad has agreed to acquire a 24percent stake in Jet Airways (India) Ltd for $379million (around Rs.2,060 crore). The deal was struck before Air Asia could win approvalin March. It has made Jet Airways the first Indian airline to take advantage of rules intro-duced by the government in September allowing aforeign airline to pick up a stake of as much as 49per-cent. The Abu Dhabi-based national airline of the UAEwill acquire shares by way of new stock and the dilu-tion of Goyal’s 80percent holding, which will drop to60.8percent. Jet Airways (India) Ltd . “This is a smartmove for Jet,” observed Nawal Taneja, professor emeritus in the department of aviationat Ohio State University, about the deal. Indian carriers are seeking equity injections afterPrime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government agreed to allow overseas carriers to buyholdings of as much as 49 percent. Air Asia, the region’s biggest budget operator, lastmonth formed a venture with Mumbai-based Tata Group to set up a local low-fare air-line.AirAsia has won approval in March from India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Boardto hold a 49 percent stake in a new airline venture with Tata Sons and Telestra TradeplaceInc. The Malaysian company aims to start Indian operations in September, with the ven-ture operating out of Chennai in the south of the country.

Indians (especially middle class) are now looking forward to an affordable low fareair travel in the country.

— Pran Mohan Parvatiyar([email protected])

Editor’s Page

Advantage liberalisation



Cover Story

n BY AMBASSADOR PARK SOO-GILPresident,WFUNA

Igreatly appreciate the invitation ofSecretary General Suresh Srivastavato share with the members of theIndian Federation of United Nations

Associations (IFUNA) and the readers ofPROPLE AND UN my thoughts on the lat-est uptick in tensions on the KoreanPeninsula.

I am particularly interested in thisopportunity because of the long historyof important contributions India hasmade to the United Nations and the causeof world peace. Those contributions havebeen not only by the Indian government'sparticipation in official United Nations'work, but also by IFUNA's effective workin civil society to support the causes thatthe UN champions.

IFUNA support is especially effectivebecause of the federation's extensive net-work of associations throughout thenation; the programs it conducts to teachIndians, especially the youth that will inturn be national and international lead-ers, about the UN and its work; and thevigor and creativity with which the feder-ation and its leaders, most certainlyincluding your secretary general, have

contributed to the work of WFUNAaround the globe.

With great appreciation for thosecontributions, I am pleased to share myreflections on recent developments inKorea and the region.

It now appears that the latest in along series of crises on the Korean Penin-sula may be easing, although the signsare still mixed. The all-too-familiar pat-tern has played out again: North Koreanprovocations, a reaction from the worldcommunity through the UN SecurityCouncil, and a further outraged reactionfrom Pyongyang with dire threats andoverblown rhetoric.

Of course, the world press and foreignministries around the world pay atten-tion to North Korean warnings that diplo-mats should consider leaving Pyongyangor that tourists and businessmen shouldflee South Korea, but embassies in theNorth are still operating; life in Seoul andthe flow of tourists here continue as usu-al. Some international press reports havecommented with some puzzlement onthat normality here; have South Koreansbecome immune to fear? Do they believethat North Korea is all bark and no bite?

Not quite. Here in South Korea, theNorth's leaders have gotten our attention,

"EVEN A LIMITED PROVOCATION-ANOTHER SHELLING OF SOUTH KOREA'S OFFSHORE ISLANDS OR ATTACK ON A NAVAL VESSEL, FOR EXAMPLE-WOULD

BE VERY RISKY FOR THE NORTH."

CRISIS IN THE KOREAN

PENINSULA

Ambassador Park Soo-gil, prior to his election asPresident of World Federation of United NationsAssociation (WFUNA) at the 39th Plenary Assembly inAugust 2009, served as the Republic of Korea'sAmbassador in the Kingdom of Morocco, Canada, tothe European Office of the United Nations in Genevaand the UN in New York, from 1984 to 1998. At theMinistry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in which heserved from 1963 to 1998, Mr. Park has held suchpositions as Director-General of Treaty Affairs, DeputyMinister for Political Affairs, and Chancellor, theInstitute of Foreign Affairs and National Security.Mr. Park also served as a member of the Sub-commission on the Promotion and Protection ofHuman Rights, an affiliate body of the formerCommission on Human Rights from 1999 to 2003. Heis currently teaching at the Graduate School ofInternational Studies, Korea University as adistinguished professor on the subject of internationalorganization and the United Nations. Mr. Parkgraduated in 1959 from the Korea University Collegeof Law, and obtained a MIA degree in 1971 from theschool of International Affairs and PublicAdministration, Columbia University. Ambassador Parkis also an author of several Articles.


Cover Story

but not in the way they would havewished. Recent opinion polls suggest thatmore than 60 percent of us believe weshould arm ourselves with nuclearweapons to counter the threat, although Isee that as an opinion that has not beenwell thought out and which would createvastly more problems than it solved.

Although South Koreans have contin-ued to go about their daily routines dur-ing this latest crisis, it is clear that theNorth's leaders have squandered quite abit of the brotherly goodwill that has survived sixty years of division and confrontation. And in the battle to swaypublic opinion in the South, North Koreadismays its remaining sympathizers onthe left by undercutting their argumentsfor accommodation.

We have to consider, I believe, boththe very real threat to regional and world

After meetings with South Korea's president and foreignminister, Secretary of State John Kerry made it clear thatboth North Korea's bellicose rhetoric and its hopes of

becoming a nuclear power are unacceptable. Kerry warnedNorth Korea it will face further consequences should it test-fire anew missile

Kerry, on his first visit to Seoul, warned North Korea's youngleader, Kim Jong Un, not to proceed with an anticipated launch ofa medium-range ballistic missile.

"It is a huge mistake for him to choose to do that because itwill further isolate his country and further isolate his peoplewho frankly are desperate for food, not missile launches," Kerrywarned.

Standing alongside Kerry, the South Korean Foreign Minister,Yun Byung-se, characterized Pyongyang's threats as a "graveprovocation" to the entire international community.

Both officials agreed the door remains open for dialog ifNorth Korea makes good on the various international agree-ments it has broken concerning development of weapons ofmass destruction.

South Korea's semi-official Yonhap news agency quotes Pres-ident Park Geun-hye as telling ruling party officials Friday thereshould be such a South-North meeting to "listen to what NorthKorea thinks."

North Korea, after conducting a missile launch and nuclear

test in the past few months, has in short order unleashed a stringof threats against Seoul and Washington. These have includedrenouncing the 1953 cease-fire which halted the Korean War,threatening to launch a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the Unit-ed States and declaring a state of war in effect between the Northand South.

Pyongyang this week also pulled its 53,000 workers from the

North Korean Missile Launch Would be ‘Huge Mistake’

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, South Korean ForeignMinister Yun Byung-se during a joint press conference at

Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, April 12, 2013.

North Korea reiterated on April 20that it would not give up itsnuclear weapons, rejecting a U.S.

condition for talks although it said it waswilling to discuss disarmament

North Korea, in a sign of a possibleend to weeks of heightened hostility onthe Korean peninsula, offered the UnitedStates and South Korea a list of condi-tions on for talks, including the lifting ofU.N. sanctions.

But the United States said it wasawaiting "clear signals" that North Korea-

would halt its nuclear weapons activities."The U.S. should not think about the

denuclearization on the peninsula beforethe world is denuclearized," the North'sstate-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper saidin a commentary.

"There may be talks between theDPRK and the U.S. for disarmament butno talks on denuclearization," it said.North Korea's official name is the Demo-cratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

North Korea signed a denucleariza-tion-for-aid deal in 2005 but later backed

North Korea reiterates it willnot give up nuclear arms


Cover Story

only remaining joint venture with the South, the Kaesong facto-ry complex.

As Kerry was meeting top leaders in Seoul, the latest invec-tive from Pyongyang warned Tokyo it would be "consumed innuclear flames" should the Japanese shoot down any North Kore-an missile.

The trip to Seoul by the top American diplomat also coincid-ed with an unprecedented visit to South Korea by a NATO secre-tary general. Anders Fogh Rasmussen. He has told reporters, hecame to South Korea to demonstrate the international communi-ty's united stance and firm message to the North that a peacefulsolution can come through dialog.

"We don't know much about what is the real intention ofNorth Korean leadership, but we do know from the past and wedo know from what has actually happened, that North Korea hasthe capacity to launch missiles. They have done nuclear tests andthat's enough to express grave concern."

The visits by Kerry and Rasmussen came amid a disclosure inWashington of an excerpt from a classified U.S. intelligencereport contending North Korea is now capable of arming a ballis-tic missile with a nuclear warhead. But officials at the Pentagonand the intelligence community quickly downplayed the analysisof the Defense Intelligence Agency. They say it would be inaccu-rate to suggest Pyongyang has fully tested or demonstrated thefull range of capabilities needed to deploy a nuclear armed mis-sile.

[In Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulovcalled on the North to observe U.N. Security Council resolutionsand resume talks on its nuclear program. Morgulov made hisremarks in a meeting with North Korea's ambassador to Russia.

Also Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said he

backed the idea of Switzerland hosting a fresh round of six-nation talks on North Korea's atomic program.

IN JAPANU.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on 21st April in Japan for thefinal stop on an Asian tour aimed at solidifying support for curb-ing North Korea's nuclear program, and reassuring U.S. allies.stressed the United States is willing to engage with North Koreaas long as it takes steps to give up nuclear weapons.

He also vowed Washington would protect its Asian alliesagainst any provocative acts by the North, but said it wants apeaceful solution to rising tensions in the region.

"We are prepared to reach out but we need (the) appropriatemoment, appropriate circumstance," Kerry told a small group ofreporters, adding that North Korea had to take steps toward giv-ing up its nuclear programs.

"They have to take some actions. Now how many and howmuch I want to have a discussion with folks back in Washington(about)... but they have to take action," he added.

The North has threatened for weeks to attack the UnitedStates, South Korea and Japan since new U.N. sanctions wereimposed in response to its latest nuclear arms test in February.Speculation has mounted of a new missile launch or nuclear test.

"I think it is really unfortunate that there has been so muchfocus and attention in the media and elsewhere on the subject ofwar, when what we really ought to be talking about is the possi-bility of peace. And I think there are those possibilities," Kerryearlier told a news conference in Tokyo after a meeting with hisJapanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida.

Kerry was in Japan for the final stop on an Asian tour aimedat solidifying support for curbing North Korea's nuclear program,

out of that pact. It now says itsnuclear arms are a "treasuredsword" that it will never giveup. It conducted its thirdnuclear test in February.

The test triggered new U.N.sanctions, which in turn led toa dramatic intensification ofNorth Korea's threats ofnuclear strikes against SouthKorea and the United States.

U.S. Secretary of State JohnKerry visited China, SouthKorea and Japan this month(April) for talks on North Koreaand stressed his interest in adiplomatic solution to the tension on thepeninsula.

He later told a U.S. Senate hearingthat North Korea's list of conditions was

"at least a beginninggambit", but added thatit was "not acceptable,obviously, and we have togo further".

The Rodong Sinmunsaid U.S. talk of dialoguewas "nothing but rheto-ric".

North Korea has along record of makingthreats to secure conces-sions from the UnitedStates and South Korea,only to repeat the

process later. Both theUnited States and the South have said inrecent days that the cycle must cease.

Supreme leader of North Korea Kim Jong Un with his wife Ri Sol Ju


Cover Story

peace of North Korea's quest for and pos-session of nuclear weapons (and the mis-siles to deliver them) and the North'sobjectives in keeping those threats alive.Analysts distinguish between a potentialadversary's capabilities and intentions;peering through the veil that the Northhas erected around its society, we can getsome clues about both.

In recent weeks, we have seen move-ments of North Korean missiles to its eastcoast and threats to restart a nuclearreactor at Yongbyon to obtain morebomb-making material. Despite doubtsthat the North has at present the capabil-ity of attacking with nuclear-tipped mis-siles, it is clear that Pyongyang's capabili-ty to do so in the near future must be tak-en seriously. The United States and SouthKorea have, therefore, demonstrated pub-licly their ability to respond to any suchattack. And as China also watches theAmericans build up their missile defensesand other military capabilities near itsdoorstep, it is increasingly unhappy. Pres-

and reassuring U.S. allies.Kerry said the United States would "do what was necessary"

to defend its allies Japan and South Korea, but added: "Ourchoice is to negotiate, our choice is to move to the table and finda way for the region to have peace."

Kerry also sought to clarify his comments made in Beijing onSaturday, which some took to suggest he might be offering toremove recently boosted missile defense capabilities in AsiaifChina persuaded North Korea to abandon its atomic program.

The Pentagon in recent weeks has announced plans to posi-tion two Aegis guided-missile destroyers in the western Pacificand a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missiledefense system in Guam.

"The president of the United States deployed some addition-al missile defense capacity precisely because of the threat ofNorth Korea. And it is logical that if the threat of North Korea dis-appears because the peninsula denuclearizes, then obviouslythat threat no longer mandates that kind of posture. But therehave been no agreements, no discussions, there is nothing actu-ally on the table with respect to that," Kerry said.

"TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN"Kerry said he might consider using someone other than an

official U.S. government envoy to reach out to the North and heleft the door open to a negotiation with the North that might notrequire them to take denuclearization steps in advance.

"If the Chinese came to us and said, 'look, here's what we'vegot cooking and so forth,' I'm not going to tell you that I'm shut-

ting the door today to something that's logical and that mighthave a chance of success," he said. "On the other hand, what thestandard is today is they have to take action."

Sen. John McCain, a Republican, voiced skepticism about theresuming negotiations with the North.

"If we give them food, if we give them oil, if we give them

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday stressed theUnited States is willing to engage with North Korea as long as it

takes steps to give up nuclear weapons.

South Korean army reservists salute during their Foundation Day ceremony at agymnasium in Seoul, South Korea, where they denounced North Korea for its escalatingthreat for war. North Korea overnight loaded two missile launchers and warned foreign

embassies to think about evacuating staffers.


Cover Story

ident Xi Jinping said on April 7 thatno single country should try to cre-ate "chaos for selfish gain." He leftno doubt he was referring to NorthKorea, which has become a magnetfor what China interprets as abroader challenge to its influence inthe region.

Clearly, there is a strong ele-ment of publicity-seeking inPyongyang's drumbeat of bellicosepronouncements. There is a strongdomestic component as well; it isan attempt to rally the nation andthe leadership class to young KimJong Un, who has probably not yetconsolidated his power completely.But Pyongyang sees the worldthrough a strange ideological prism,and seems to dismiss the increas-ingly unhappy warnings from Chi-na, its neighbor and main lifeline,about avoiding provocations.

In such circumstances, even alimited provocation-another

money, they will come around and they take our money andrun," he said.

Japan's Kishida told the same news conference that the twoallies want Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

"We agreed that North Korea should cease provocativespeech and behavior and show it is taking concrete actiontoward denuclearization," he said. "We cannot allow NorthKorea in any way to possess nuclear weapons."

NORTH KOREA UNBENDINGPyongyang, which was preparing to celebrate the birth date

of state founder Kim Il-Sung on Monday, reiterated it had nointention of abandoning its atomic arms programs.

"We will expand in quantity our nuclear weapons capability,which is the treasure of a unified Korea — that we would neverbarter at any price," Kim Young-nam, North Korea's titular headof state, told a gathering of officials and service personnelapplauding Kim Il-Sung.

The KCNA news agency also rejected as a "cunning trick"South Korean President Park Geun-hye's suggestion last weekof holding talks with the North.

The South Korean capital, Seoul, displayed the calm it hasshown throughout the crisis. Residents strolled in bright sun-shine a day after the city's World Cup stadium was jammedwith 50,000 mostly young fans of local rapper Psy.

On Saturday, Kerry met leaders in China, the North's solediplomatic and financial benefactor, and said China and theUnited States were committed to "the denuclearization of the

Korean peninsula in a peaceful manner".During his first stop in South Korea, where the United

States has 28,000 troops stationed, Kerry said North Korea,furious at joint U.S.-South Korean military drills, would bemaking a "huge mistake" if it were to launch a missile.

He also said China was in a position to influence theNorth's policy and had to put "some teeth" into efforts to per-suade Pyongyang to alter its policies.

Japan, separated from North Korea by less than 1,000 km(625 miles) of water and a frequent target of its anger, is wellwithin range of North Korea's medium-range missiles.

Japanese news reports said Tokyo had sent Aegis-classdestroyers capable of missile interception to the Sea of Japan.Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missiles have beendeployed at key locations in the capital and surrounding areas.

Kerry's agenda in Tokyo also included Japan's territorialdisputes with China, and the future of U.S. bases in Japan.

He repeated that while Washington took no position aboutthe ultimate sovereignty of tiny isles in the East China Seaclaimed by both China and Japan, the United States "opposedany unilateral action that would somehow change the statusquo".

A flare-up of the territorial row has raised fears of an unin-tended military incident near the islands, known as theSenkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. The United Statessays the islets fall under a U.S.-Japan security pact, but is keento avoid a clash in the economically vital region.

North Korean Army ready for any eventuality


Cover Story

shelling of South Korea's offshore islandsor attack on a naval vessel, for example-would be very risky for the North. It istreading dangerously close to the linewhere Seoul and Washington's increasedwillingness to respond in kind to a mili-tary provocation would combine with aChinese refusal to support the North'sregime any further.

North Korea still seems convincedthat its nuclear weapons are the key toobtaining the respect and security itwants. I have become more pessimisticabout the prospects for a negotiated set-tlement of the nuclear issue, although Ibelieve the six-party talks chaired by Chi-na or similar negotiations are very impor-tant. Equally important is the continuedengagement of the Security Council in

Korean issues; we must keep the Northaware that its actions have effects notonly domestically and across the DMZ,but on the world stage as well.Pyongyang's adventurism is not only athreat to the stability of Northeast Asiabut also to the preservation of the globalnon-proliferation regime.

When considering Pyongyang's inten-tions, we must remember that even if theNorth Korean leadership is aggressive andwilling to take huge risks, it is not irra-tional. Kim Jong Un heads a cruel anddespotic leadership created by his grand-father, and preserving his demi-god sta-tus for the benefit of his dynasty and itsloyalists is his main goal. Therefore, out-side analysts generally agree thatPyongyang's leaders have no illusions

about being able to survive if they make aserious attempt to use any nuclearweapons they may possess against SouthKorea.

Seoul has responded very prudentlyto the new round of North Korean saber-rattling. While strengthening its deter-rence, it has joined the rest of the worldcommunity in brushing asidePyongyang's threats and followingthrough on collective measures throughthe United Nations. President Park saysthe door to negotiations with NorthKorea-a policy she calls trust politik—isstill open. That is a good balance of deter-rence and peacemaking, and deserves agood part of the credit for the recent hopeful signs that tensions may beeasing. q

Stand off between India andChina on Ladakh border


Lead Story

n SURESH SRIVASTAVA

TIhe G-20 and BRICS may not be anoutcome to counter the West andthe global governance architecturebuilt against the backdrop of very

different challenges and opportunitiescame loud and clear in Durban when Indiahanded over batten of the chairmanship ofBRICS to South Africa and in the words of Dr Manmohan Singh "it does so with asense of satisfaction at the distance that wehave covered in the course of the past year.Dr Manmohan Singh conveyed his profoundgratitude to BRIC Partners and colleaguesfor their unstinted support to India in dis-charging its duties as Chair.

BRICS coordination and consultation

has become an integral part in the interna-tional forums such as G-20. As BRICS look tothe future, the progress over the past fiveyears encourages it to set higher ambitions,seek new avenues and such new goals fortheir mutual cooperation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin char-acterized the BRICS approach as "notagainst, but bypassing the West". The idea isclearly to rearrange the world, thus strip-ping the West of the fruits of its economicsuccess. The present configuration of theworld, by which everything depends on theUS and the Euro zone, must change".

The Fifth BRICS Summit began on 26March 2013 in Durban with the intention tohave high declaration and initiative to beagreed upon by the all five member statesas part of economic modeling resources toforecast global economic trends over thenext half century.

The eThekwini declaration is rich inpolitical statements with talk of the settingup of a permanent secretariat, which is nowin the form of a virtual secretariat, BRICS ison the road to becoming an organization,not merely a group of G-20.

Ironically, the BRICS countries havedeep involvement with the United Statesand Europe and the international financialinstitutions, which would largely influencetheir wellbeing in the immediate future.This was the reason for the caution withwhich BRICS began its meetings. At the fifthsummit, with the addition of South Africa,BRICS seems to be abandoning that caution.Inevitably, a confrontational tone has creptinto the pronouncements.

IBSA, formed by India, Brazil and SouthAfrica had a logic and philosophy of its own.As the three biggest developing countries,with a high rate of growth, they have simi-lar aspirations and challenges. It has nowbeen overshadowed by BRICS, which origi-nally was a generic name for a group ofcountries with similar characteristics, iden-tified by a Goldman Sachs economist, towhich South Africa was added by Chinaostensibly without consultation with theothers. The inclusion of South Africa washard to resist, even though South Korea andIndonesia had greater claim.

China and Russia reiterate the impor-tance they attach to the status of Brazil,

BRICS SUMMIT-5AS BRICS LOOK TO THE FUTURE, THE PROGRESS OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS

ENCOURAGES IT TO SET HIGHER AMBITIONS, SEEK NEW AVENUES AND SUCH NEWGOALS FOR THEIR MUTUAL COOPERATION.


Lead Story

India and South Africa in internationalaffairs and support their aspiration to play agreater role in the UN. Recently internation-al bank loans recorded one of the strongestgrowths in three of the four BRICeconomies, according to the latest reportreleased by the World Bank. While it dou-bled in India from $3.5 bn in 2003 to $7 bnin 2004, in Russia it went up from $4.9 bn to$8.2 bn during the period. In Brazil it alsomore than doubled from $3.8 bn to $8.9 bn.According to investment banker GoldmanSachs, over the next 50 years, the BRICeconomies could become a much largerforce in the world economy.

The unspoken agenda of BRICS tocounter the West and the global governancearchitecture, built against the backdrop ofvery different challenges and opportunitiescame loud and clear in Durban.

The main objective of the establishmentof a development bank was fashioned,essentially by China to counter the WorldBank and IMF. Replacing the Western domi-nated financial system with a Chinese dom-inated one cannot be an unmixed blessingfor the developing countries, even though itopens up possibilities for softer credits. The

summit established the feasibility and via-bility of a development bank, indeed phe-nomenal progress, but wisdom prevailed inthe end and a decision on issues like contri-bution and venue was postponed for fur-ther negotiations.

The initial proposal for China to providethe largest share seems to have given way toa capital of USD 50 billion divided equallyamong the five members. The BRICS strate-gy of long-term economic cooperation,common infrastructure projects and BRICSBusiness Council will devolve on the richestof them all, China, which appears to be look-ing for an alternative to the way the worlddoes business today.

For Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,the first meeting with President Xi was ofgreater importance than what BRICS as awhole accomplished. But though PresidentXi had put forward old wine in new bottle asa befriend India initiative, the meeting end-ed up on a dissonant note on Brahmaputrarather than on a note of bonhomie overBRICS. Bilateral discords cannot be coveredup with multilateral accords.

This is their first time meeting. Andalthough some foreign policy watchers with

a head for conspiracy theories might seethis as an anti-American cartel, that is farfrom the case. They are nothing more thanpolitical and economic opportunists whoknow what the U.S., Europe and Japan alsoknow: the growth of the world is comingfrom emerging markets. These are some ofthe biggest, if not most politically motivat-ed. The theme of this year's summit is:BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Develop-ment, Integration and Industrialization.

China's neighbors, India and Russia too,don't speak the same language. India andChina have border disputes. Trade withRussia is geared towards the usual item: oiland gas. On the deal side, China has been most active signing agreements pre-Durban.

Lastly, the much talked about BRIC Bankremains a flop heading into the Summit.The fivesome cannot agree on their individ-ual share of funding for a developmentbank geared towards building theireconomies. But that does not mean that theFifth BRICS Summit was a failure. Rather itgives a ray of hope to the developing coun-tries and emerging markets to have their-share in world prosperity. q

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with BRICS Leaders. Also seen India n Finance Minister P.Chidambram and Commerce Minster Anand Sharma in 2nd row from right


Current Focus

n BY SESHADRI CHARI

Sri Lanka is probably the only countryin the world since World War two,which has successfully destroyed aterrorist outfit and saved the country

from a Partition and its consequences. It wasno doubt a tough military task involvinghardnosed strategies. But a more rigoroustask ahead for Colombo is winning thehearts of the population in the North and theEastern coastline. For more than thirty yearsthese areas had become a severe conflictzone heaping untold miseries on the haplesspeople. Areas in Northern Sri Lanka cameunder the control of the LTTE, the self-styledsentinels of the Tamil population and weredeprived of any socio-economic develop-ment resulting in abject poverty and malnu-trition. Agriculture, industry and educationtook a back seat and even women and children were drawn into the vortex of theconflict.

The Tamil and Sinhalese relationship andHindu-Buddhist traditions have a long histo-ry dating back to the Sangam period in TamilNadu and The Mahavamsa. While a sectionof the Sinhalese majority often useMahavamsa as a proof of their claim that SriLanka is a Buddhist nation from historicaltime, a strong "Mahavamsa bashing" move-ment began in the 1930s, especially fromwithin the Tamil groups claiming that mostof the Sinhala kings, including Vijaya, Kasya-pa, and Parakramabahu, were Tamils. Whatbegan as an intellectual debate soon trans-formed into demand for Tamil Eelam versusSinhala nationalist movement. The forma-

tion of various Tamil groups led to the con-solidation of the LTTE as a terror groupresulting in a civil war in Sri Lanka, whichended in 2009.

After the end of the conflict the Northand East of Sri Lanka, now back under thetotal control of Colombo, is waiting for theroadmap to progress rolled out by PresidentMahinda Rajapaksa. The "Uthuru Wasan-thaya" (Vadakkin Vasantham-the spring inthe North) is not just a jingle or a strategy forColombo anymore. It is a promise to keep, asimportant as it was to win the war on LTTEterror. Slowly, but surely, people are pickingup their lives out of the debris in Jaffna,Vavuniya, Vanni, Killinochi and many othertowns and hamlets which were once syn-onymous with a ghastly conflict that killedmore than a lakh of people and maimed anddis-housed twice that number. Even awhirlwind tour of these places exhibits anassurance of a will to restart life and forgetthe past like a bad dream. Weekend marketsare mushrooming, schools are reopening,temple bells are chiming again and the econ-omy is stirring. Tourism is likely to pick up in

the North. Colombo is seriously seized of the mam-

moth task of restoring peace, rebuilding anddevelopment of the areas devastated by theconflict. LLRC appointed in May 2010 barelya year after the armed conflict ended sub-mitted its 800 page report with 285 recom-mendations in November 2011 which waspresented to the Parliament a month later. Atask force headed by the President's Perma-nent Secretary, Lalith Weeratunga monitorsthe report's implementation.

When the three-decade long war endedin May 2009, around 11,800 ex-LTTE cadressurrendered to the Sri Lankan securityforces. Now only 636 ex-combatants remainin rehabilitation camps while 10,970 (91.5%)have been reintegrated in to the society.

Yet, the fact is that Colombo needs topull up its socks and allow freer access toinvestments in infrastructure and servicesectors. There are tremendous opportunitiesin the tourism sector, infrastructure develop-ment, consumer products, health sector andeducation as the end of conflict offers enor-mous growth potential. The most important

Conflict, Peace and Reconstruction in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan President Mahindra Rajapaksa at venkateswera-temple


Current Focus

aspect of a flourishing tourism industry is asense of security which Colombo has beenable to provide. One thing the Tamil popula-tion of the North and the East are experienc-ing commonly is a life without fear of theLTTE.

The local body elections gave ampleopportunity to the President Rajapaksa tofurther his dream of rapprochementbetween the North and the South. The Presi-dent's party lost the elections but he haswon the trust and faith of the people for hav-ing restored normalcy and democracy, twothings that the LTTE took away from theTamil people. On the Tamil question itself, heis on record to have said that a ParliamentarySelect Committee will work on the politicalsolution and put up before the Parliamentfor discussion. Colombo is seriously consid-ering holding the next phase of elections bythis year end.

According to officials in Colombo, all the300,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)have been resettled and given titles to theirhomes and land. Over 78,000 houses arebeing built in the North to rehabilitate

Tamil's caught in the conflict. Particularattention was given to the 594 child soldierswho surrendered. A special programme of'catch up education' is now provided to for-mer combatants. Under this, 361 studentssat for the GCE Advanced Level Examinationin 2010, and 222 of these students passedthe examination. The police have adoptedstringent guidelines with regard to the treat-ment of persons taken into custody. This willhave a salutary effect on the allegations oftorture and mistreatment.

A Court of Inquiry was established in January 2010 regarding civilian casualtiesand a probe into the Channel-4 videofootage. Part One of the inquiry is completethe rest will be completed shortly. Mean-while, punitive action against Sri Lankanunits and soldiers found guilty of war crimescontinues to be taken.

The military has been withdrawn frommany aspects of civilian life, and are nowconfined to security-related matters. InDecember 2009, the troop strength in Jaffnawas 27,000. It is now well under 15,000. Andmuch of the armed forces are involved in

development work and de-mining activitiesto help IDP's return home. The Sri LankanArmy was given the responsibility of de-mining the largest area of land, an area of1,500 sq kms, including the most denselymined regions.

At the end of June 2012, over 450,000antipersonnel mines, 1400 anti-tank mines,and over 385,000 unexploded ordnancedevices laid by the LTTE had been recovered.

The rebuilding of the northern railway, alength of over 250 kilometers, totallydestroyed by the LTTE as they plundered therails and sleepers to build bunkers, has onlybeen possible because the Sri Lankan armedforces volunteered to de-mine the entirelength enabling the Indian Government torebuild the railway line via its bilateral assis-tance.

On devolution of political power, a Par-liament Select Committee is taking the ini-tiative to have a serious and structured dia-logue with all political parties, and thoserepresenting minorities in particular, todevelop consensus on devolution. The Presi-dent is understood to be committed to tak-

Men participating in a procession at the Nallur Kandaswamy temple festival to pay homage to Lord Murugan, patron god of theTamils, carry a replica of a deity past the southern entrance of the temple. The festival had been curtailed during the long conflict.

The temple, first built in the 10th century, with several subsequent reconstructions, is currently being refurbished. Its damage is dueto normal wear and tear, as the building was mostly spared during the war.


Current Focus

ing the dialogue to the highest political level. Other concrete steps involve zero toler-

ance of disappearances and abductions,harassment of journalists, display of"impunity" behaviour/actions by the police,activities of illegal armed groups; assuringfreedom of association and peaceful protest.

Promotion of a trilingual policy with aspecial place for Tamil, and employment ofTamil-speaking officers in all governmentoffices is considered a significant steptowards rapprochement. According to areport, since the end of the conflict, a 22%economic growth has been recorded in theNorthern Province, while Sri Lanka's overallGDP recorded around 8% growth in 2011.

Notwithstanding these achievements,the task of winning the trust of Tamils ismade more daunting as Colombo is facingserious charges of excesses committed albeitby a section of the army. In reply Colombohas refuted the allegations and accused theterror outfit of using women and children ashuman shield to stall the Sri Lankan army.The argument of collateral damage appearsto have refused to wash with the interna-tional community also.

The woes of the Tamil community arealso far from over. They are practically lead-erless but the political aspirations of theTamil speaking population are alive andunfulfilled. Colombo is fully aware and seri-ously seized of this aspect. The most strikingfeature is that neither the Tamil populationnor the government has been able to putacross their views effectively and in an unbi-ased manner to the world community.

Meanwhile, after condemning UNHRC,the Human Rights Watch and AmnestyInternational etc., for years, for toeing awrong line on Kashmir and targeting us inthe past for alleged anti-human rights acts,India's vote against Sri Lanka has exposed usto greater criticism. Besides deviating fromour time tested policy of not voting in favourof any country specific resolutions, India hasseriously antagonised a section of the SriLankan polity with no tangible gain fromcountries with whom we joined hands.Compulsions of coalition politics have influ-enced New Delhi's Sri Lanka policy effective-ly holding foreign policy issues to ransom.

While our stakes in Sri Lanka are muchgreater, it is nobody's argument that oneshould overlook the human rights violations

as the US strongly puts forward. Our strate-gic partnership with the US should give usfreedom to forge our own independentneighbourhood policy and yet maintain thebalance in Indo-US relationship. After all,diplomacy is all about doing (or not doing)things which do not shrink our elbow spacefor diplomatic manoeuvres.

Now as a result of India's vote against SriLanka, there has been a shift in Sri Lanka'sattitude towards the Indian Governmentwhich the President describes to closefriends as "pain and sorrow" at being letdown by "an elder relative." Apart from pri-vately expressed views, the change in atti-tude is noticeably evident in public state-ments suggesting that India is abdicating itsleadership role in the region and not appre-ciating the seminal role Sri Lanka has playedin safeguarding India's strategic interests inthe Indian Ocean. A large section of India'ssecurity establishment fail to understandthat despite Sri Lanka's dependence on Pak-istan and China for weapons during the lastfive years — there was no alternative for Lan-ka, in the face of India's refusal to supplyspares or offensive weapons — PresidentMahinda Rajapakse was a bulwark againstanti-India elements and lobbies in his owncountry.

In the prevailing situation, India needs toemphasise on strengthening bilateral rela-tions in the areas of security and culturalexchanges as well as in the economicdomain involving the promotion of entre-preneurial and manufacturing skills of theSri Lankans through India's own expertise in

the matter.Sri Lanka believes India should do its

best to bring about a trade balance which isnot adverse to Sri Lanka and make theprocess sustainable. Sri Lanka's economy issignificantly dependent on exports. Militaryjoint training and counter-terrorism andanti-piracy exercises can be conducted inIndia's western seaboard and north-east.Needless to say, all this cooperation does notmean that India should overlook Sri Lanka'sfailure on reconciliation and accountabilityissues, implementation of the recommenda-tions of the Lessons Learnt and Reconcilia-tion Commission and conducting an inde-pendent and credible investigation into alle-gations of violations of international humanrights law. Instead of piggy riding on the USsponsored resolution and outsourcing ourresponsibility, we should deal with Colombobilaterally on these issues.

During the most sensitive period ofIndo-Sri Lankan relations especiallywhen the LTTE was facing defeat in 2009and radical pro-Tamil elements wereexerting pressure on the Indian govern-ment, there was remarkable and continu-ous interaction between New Delhi andColombo that kept temperatures low andled to a deepening of trust. That trustseems to have evaporated now. India'ssecond-time vote against Sri Lanka in theUNHRC has resulted in a serious weaken-ing of ties to the detriment of India'sinterests in the region. q

(The views expressed are personal)

A cyclist watching the damages of conflict in Jaffna


Guest Column

n ARIANNA HUFFINGTON

I, and all of the law enforcement profes-sionals, are hoping for a host of reasonsthat the suspect survives," said Massa-chusetts Governor Deval Patrick on Sat-

urday, "because we have a million ques-tions, and those questions need to beanswered."

Foremost among those questions is,why? Or, as NBC's Pete Williams put it onMeet the Press, "the biggest question forinvestigators now is a) you know, why didhe turn this way?" This sentiment wasechoed by Doris Kearns Goodwin, whorecounted the celebration that ensued inthe bar she was in when Tsarnaev was cap-tured: "Everybody was just screaming,'thank God we got him alive,' because theywant the answer to the question, why?"

A lot of the who, what, where and howof the bombing and what led up to it havealready been answered and, no doubt, moredetails will eventually be filled in. The why,however, is the more elusive question. Butit's also a crucial one. And the why we needanswered has to do with more than justquestions about Chechnya and Russia, andthe conflict between the two. We also needto know why we have so many disaffectedyoung men in our culture, and what com-pels them to act out that disaffection in vio-lent ways.

I'm in no way suggesting that "society"

is to blame for these unspeakable murders,nor that the surviving Tsarnaev brothershould, in any way, not be held fullyaccountable. But to understand is not tocondone, and conflating the two onlymakes it more likely that other similarlyviolent incidents will happen, more liveswill be lost, more families shattered.

Moving forward, steps will certainly betaken to make public events more secure.Questions will be asked about where andhow the two suspects got all their firearmsand explosives. More cameras will be addedto further ensure that, when the next inci-dent happens, the perpetrator can be quick-ly identified. That's all as it should be, buttaking those steps doesn't preclude us fromasking, and trying to answer, why suchtragedies happen in the first place. Weshould be trying to stop these horrors atevery point in the process, not just at theend stage.

As Simi Singh Juneja, who also gave

birth to a son 19 years ago, blogged on Huff-Post:

As a mother, I seek to know why youngmen are capable of such violence. Whatescapes us that motivates young men to actout in dark ways? If we don't ask and seekto answer these questions and simply rushto vengeful judgment, how are we going toslow this cycle and possibly prevent futuretragedy? Virginia Tech, Tucson, Aurora, OakCreek, Newtown, and now Boston all consti-tute sacred reasons to figure out why theseyoung men like to blow things up and goout in a blaze of glory.

So what is it that initially puts youngmen on the path to seeking out violence?With Tucson, with Newtown, with count-less other places, and now with Boston, thejustifications may differ, but the end resultshave a lot in common. And so, likely, do thebeginnings.

"Evil may not have a single face, but itcan be reliably found within one kind of

After Boston: Why It'sImportant That We Keep

Asking 'Why?'

Runners continue to run towards the finish line of the Boston marathon as anexplosion erupts near the finish line of the race


Guest Column

body: that of an angry man in his late teensor twenties," writes Lisa Miller in New Yorkmagazine. "Angry. Young. Men. The descrip-tion doesn't explain the motivations behindevery notorious bloodbath, but it's a placeto start -- perhaps the only place to start."

Obviously, not every angry young manturns to murderous violence, but that angerand disaffection manifests in plenty of oth-er dangerous ways. According to theNational Gang Center, from 2001 to 2010,there was a significant increase in gangactivity -- even as overall crime declined. In2010, there were an estimated 756,000gang members throughout the country, andfrom 2009 to 2010, gang-related homicidesincreased 10 percent in large cities. In 2010,suicide was the third leading cause of deathamong Americans aged 15 to 24. In that agerange, suicide accounts for 20 percent of alldeaths each year.

In 2008, writer and technologist PhilGroman looked at the common elementsfound in gangs and radical Islamist groups."One salient parallel between both move-

ments is the presentation and mobilizationof violence as an attractive solution to dis-empowered youth," he writes. "In rejectingformal society, both movements offer a par-allel social order that awards status throughviolence and violent rhetoric." He con-cludes that one of our challenges "as par-ents, teachers and community leaders" is to"understand and address the grievancesthat drive young people toward seekingempowerment."

A special report in 2010 by Colonel JohnVenhaus for the U.S. Institute of Peacespecifically addresses the appeal of al Qae-da to young men, but his findings clearlyhave wider relevance. "Al-Qaeda's ubiqui-tous message of anti-Muslim oppressionand global jihad appeals to the develop-mental needs of adolescents," he writes."Potential recruits have an unfulfilled needto define themselves. Al-Qaeda's ability toturn them to violence is rooted in whateach seeks: Revenge seekers need an outletfor their frustration, status seekers needrecognition, identity seekers need a group

to join."He notes that Umar Farouk Abdulmu-

tallab, the so-called "underwear bomber,"once wrote: "I do not have a friend, I haveno one to speak to, no one to consult, noone to support me, and I feel depressed andlonely. I do not know what to do." Thosefeelings, says Venhaus, are exactly what alQaeda looks for. "The potential al-Qaedarecruits who live in this highly chargedmedia environment are vector-less energylooking for guidance and direction," hewrites. "They want to understand who theyare, why they matter, and what their role inthe world should be. They have an unful-filled need to define themselves, which al-Qaeda offers to fill."

Vector-less energy looking for guidanceand direction. That certainly describes notonly young males susceptible to turning toradical Islam, but young males turning togangs. And it also seems to describe theTsarnaev brothers, whose friends andacquaintances seem uniformly shocked

Continued on page 19


Guest Column

The members of Indian Federation of United Nations

Associations (IFUNA) deeply mourn on the demise of Mr

Malcolm Harper. His association with IFUNA was more

than four decades old and he was highly respected in IFU-

NA. Mr Malcolm Harper name was not only known with

the UNA UK and as Chair of the World Federation of United

Nations Associations (WFUNA) but a source of inspiration for all of us. IFUNA leadership in particular was emotion-

ally attached to Mr Malcolm Harper. The WFUNA 36th Plenary Assembly organized in Kolkata was a great success

due to his continuous guidance to the leadership of IFUNA. He was always available to IFUNA for any guidance and

cooperation. His visit to Kolkata and New Delhi (India) is still afresh in our memory. IFUNA Executive Committee,

in an emergent meeting passed a condolence and prayed to the Almighty for peace of the departed soul and give

enough of strength to his family to bear this irreparable loss.

Condolence

Left to Right Malcolm Harper, Ms Ann Harper, Ms Meena Srivastava, SureshSrivastava and Ms Rena Shashua (UNA Israel) during their visit to New Delhi


that the two were behind the bombing.Dzhokhar, the younger brother now in

custody, attended the Cambridge Rindge andLatin School, where he was a star wrestler.Until last week he was a sophomore at theUniversity of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.His brother Tamerlan attended communitycollege for a few years and was a GoldenGloves boxing champion who aspired to bean Olympian representing the same countryhe would later attack. Yet he also reportedlycreated a YouTube channel featuring videosthat extolled Islamic fundamentalism.

So how did they get from there to here?Did social media play in this trajectory?Obviously, social media allows groups, bothgood and bad, to coalesce regardless of phys-ical proximity. But even as social media canincrease connection of a certain kind, theycan also disconnect us from those around us,or even ourselves. When feelings of disaffec-tion or alienation (or vector-less energy) arealready there, do social media amplify them?

As David Remnick writes in the NewYorker, Dzhokhar's Twitter feed was a

"bewildering combination of banality anddisaffection." Examples from the last yearinclude:

"A decade in America already, I want out""The value of human life ain't shit nowa-

days that's #tragic"Gregory Shvedov is the editor of the

Moscow-based website Caucasian Knot."These days there are social networks, andpeople make their decisions from them," hetold Remnick. "I would not be surprised ifthey had another life over social media."Concludes Remnick: "The digital era allowsno asylum from extremism, let alone fromthe toxic combination of high-mindedzealotry and the curdled disappointments ofyoung men."

Or, as Andrew Sullivan put it, "This is areminder that we live in a new world: wherethe Internet can give people ideas, can turnmellow stoners into paranoid mass-murder-ers. And a reminder that we live in the sameworld."

Of course, it's not that the Internet is giv-ing these young men ideas -- after all, killing

people is a very unoriginal idea that longpredates the Internet or social media -- but,in some cases, it is fostering a sense of iden-tity, albeit a poisonous one, that they're notgetting elsewhere. Are they, as Shvedovimplies, so desperately creating an onlinesocial world -- one with belonging, statusand purpose, however odious -- that they'remissing in the real world? What is it aboutour definition of male success that makesthese young men feel alienated from it?"These crimes," said forensic psychiatristMichael Welner to Lisa Miller, "are verymuch about the evolution of masculineidentity."

So where is that evolution heading, andwhat can be done to help it evolve in pro-ductive -- rather than destructive -- ways?

Clearly there are no magic answers tothese questions, but it's in all our interests tokeep asking them. q

(The writer is president and editor-in-Chief at The Huffington Post Media Group ,The views expressed are personal)

Still image taken from video shows one of the explosions at the Boston Marathon

Guest Column



Health & Hygiene

Healthy Steps to a Longer Life ONE of the biggest factors that deter-mines how well you age is not your genesbut how well you live.Not convinced? Astudy published in 2009 in the BritishMedical Journal of 20,000 British folksshows that you can cut your risk of hav-ing a stroke in half by doing the followingthings: being active for 30 minutes a day,eating five daily servings of fruit and veg-etables, and avoiding cigarettes andexcess alcohol.

While those are some of the obvioussteps you can take to age well,researchers have discovered that cente-narians tend to share certain traits in howthey eat, move about, and deal withstress-the sorts of things we can emulateto improve our own aging process. Ofcourse, getting to age 100 is enormouslymore likely if your parents did. Still,Thomas Perls, who studies the century-plus set at Boston University School ofMedicine, believes that assuming you'vesidestepped genes for truly fatal diseaseslike Huntington's, "there's nothing stop-ping you from living independently wellinto your 90s." Heck, if your parents andgrandparents were heavy smokers, theymight have died prematurely withoutever reaching their true potential lifes-pan, so go ahead and shoot for thosetriple digits. Follow these 12 habits and

check out Perls' lifetime risk calculator tosee how long you can expect to live.

1. DON'T RETIRE» "Evidence shows that in societies

where people stop working abruptly, theincidence of obesity and chronic diseaseskyrockets after retirement,"says LuigiFerrucci, director of the Baltimore Longi-tudinal Study of Aging. The Chianti regionof Italy, which has a high percentage ofcentenarians, has a different take onleisure time. "After people retire fromtheir jobs, they spend most of the dayworking on their little farm, cultivatinggrapes or vegetables," he says. "They'renever really inactive." Farming isn't for

you? Volunteer as a docent at your localart museum or join the Experience Corps,a program offered in 19 cities that placessenior volunteers in urban public ele-mentary schools for about 15 hours aweek.

2. FLOSS EVERY DAY » That may help keep your arteries

healthy. A 2008 New York Universitystudy showed that daily flossing reducedthe amount of gum-disease-causing bac-teria in the mouth.This bacteria isthought to enter the bloodstream andtrigger inflammation in the arteries, amajor risk factor for heart disease. Otherresearch has shown that those who have

high amounts of bacteria in their mouthare more likely to have thickening in theirarteries, another sign of heart disease."Ireally do think people should floss twicea day to get the biggest life expectancybenefits," says Perls.

3. MOVE AROUND» "Exercise is the only real fountain of

youth that exists," says Jay Olshansky, aprofessor of medicine and agingresearcher at the University of Illinois atChicago. "It's like the oil and lube job foryour car. You don't have to do it, but yourcar will definitely run better." Study afterstudy has documented the benefits ofexercise to improve your mood, mentalacuity, balance, muscle mass, and bones."And the benefits kick in immediatelyafter your first workout," Olshansky adds.Don't worry if you're not a gym rat. Thosewho see the biggest payoffs are the ones

11 HabitsThat May Help You Live to 100.

who go from doing nothing to simplywalking around the neighborhood orlocal mall for about 30 minutes a day.Building muscle with resistance trainingis also ideal, but yoga classes can give yousimilar strength-training effects if you'renot into weight lifting.

4. EAT A FIBER-RICH CERE-AL FOR BREAKFAST

» Getting a serving of whole-grains,especially in the morning, appears to helpolder folks maintain stable blood sugarlevels throughout the day, according to arecent study conducted by Ferrucci andhis colleagues. "Those who do this have alower incidence of diabetes, a knownaccelerator of aging," he says.

5. GET AT LEAST SIXHOURS OF SLEEP EACHNIGHT

» Instead of skimping on sleep to addmore hours to your day, get more to addyears to your life. "Sleep is one of themost important functions that our body

uses to regulate and heal cells," says Fer-rucci. "We've calculated that the mini-mum amount of sleep that older peopleneed to get those healing REM phases isabout six hours." Those who reach thecentury mark make sleep a top priority.

6. CONSUME WHOLEFOODS, NOT SUPPLEMENTS

» Strong evidence suggests that peo-

ple who have high blood levels of certainnutrients-selenium, beta-carotene, vita-mins C and E-age much better and have aslower rate of cognitive decline. Unfortu-nately, there's no evidence that takingpills with these nutrients provides thoseanti-aging benefits. "There are more than200 different carotenoids and 200 differ-ent flavonoids in a single tomato," pointsout Ferrucci, "and these chemicals can allhave complex interactions that fosterhealth beyond the single nutrients weknow about like lycopene or vitamin C."Avoid nutrient-lacking white foods(breads, flour, sugar) and go for all thosecolorful fruits and vegetables and darkwhole-grain breads and cerealswith their

host of hidden nutrients.

7. BE LESS NEUROTIC» It may work for Woody Allen, who

infuses his worries with a healthy dose ofhumor, but the rest of us neurotics maywant to find a new way to deal withstress. "We have a new study coming outthat shows that centenarians tend not tointernalize things or dwell on their trou-bles," says Perls. "They are great at rollingwith the punches." If this inborn trait ishard to overcome, find better ways tomanage when you're stressed:Yoga, exer-cise, meditation, tai chi, or just deepbreathing for a few moments are all good.

Ruminating, eating chips in front of theTV, binge drinking? Bad, very bad.

8. LIVE LIKE A SEVENTHDAY ADVENTIST

» Americans who define themselvesas Seventh Day Adventists have an aver-age life expectancy of 89, about a decadelonger than the average American. One ofthe basic tenets of the religion is that it'simportant to cherish the body that's onloan from God, which means no smoking,alcohol abuse, or overindulging in sweets.Followers typically stick to a vegetariandiet based on fruits, vegetables, beans,and nuts, and get plenty ofexercise.They're also very focused onfamily and community.


Health & Hygiene


Health & Hygiene

9. BE A CREATURE OFHABIT

» Centenarians tend to live by strictroutines, says Olshansky, eating the samekind of diet and doing the same kinds ofactivities their whole lives. Going to bedand waking up at the same time each dayis another good habit to keep your bodyin the steady equilibrium that can be eas-ily disrupted as you get on in years. "Yourphysiology becomes frailer when you getolder," explains Ferrucci, "and it's harderfor your body to bounce back if you, say,miss a few hours of sleep one night or

drink too much alcohol." This can weakenimmune defenses, leaving you more sus-ceptible to circulating flu viruses or bac-terial infections.

10. STAY CONNECTED » Having regular social contacts with

friends and loved ones is key to avoidingdepression, which can lead to prematuredeath, something that's particularlyprevalent in elderly widows and widow-ers.Some psychologists even think thatone of the biggest benefits elderly folksget from exercise the strong social inter-actions that come from walking with a

buddy or taking a group exercise class.Having a daily connection with a closefriend or family member gives older folksthe added benefit of having someonewatch their back. "They'll tell you if theythink your memory is going or if youseem more withdrawn," says Perls, "andthey might push you to see a doctorbefore you recognize that you need to seeone yourself."

11. BE CONSCIENTIOUS» The strongest personality predictor

of a long life is conscientiousness that is,being prudent, persistent, and wellorganized, according to The LongevityProject, coauthored by Howard Friedmanand Leslie Martin. The book describes astudy that followed 1,500 children foreight decades, collecting exhaustivedetails about their personal histories,health, activities, beliefs, attitudes, andfamilies. The children who were prudentand dependable lived the longest, Fried-man says, likely because conscientioustypes are more inclined to follow doctors'orders, take the right medicines at theright doses, and undergo routine check-ups. They're also likelier to report happi-er marriages and more satisfying worklives than their less conscientious peers.

23PEOPLE AND UN n JANUARY 2013

CHATTISGARH UNA

Raipur, President of Chhattisgarh UN Association and former Minister, MP & CG ShriSatya Narayan Sharma presented latest reports and publications (sent by UNIC, NewDelhi) to H.E. Shri Shekhar Dutt, Governor of Chhattisgarh at Rajbhawan.

At this occasion Shri Sanat Jain-Secretary-General, Shri Rajesh Agrawal-Vice President,Shri Pankaj Sharma and Shri Ripudaman Singh, were also present. His Excellency alsoassured his full cooperation in setting UN Library at Raipur by Chhattisgarh UN Association.

A UN Library at Raipur

Members of Chattisgarh UNA presenting UNIC report to Chattisgarh Governor H.E. Shekhar Dutt. (Lto r) Rajesh Agrawal, Satya Narayan Sharma, Sanat Jain,H.E. Shekhar

Dutt, Pankaj Sharma and Ripudaman Singh.

FORM IVStatement about ownership and other particularsabout newspaper (PEOPLE AND UN) to bepublished in the first issue every year after the lastday of February1. Place of publication : DELHI2. Periodicity of its publication : QUARTERLY3. Printer’s Name : SURESH KUMAR

SRIVASTAVANationality : INDIANAddress : C- 194, 1ST FLOOR,

VIVEK VIHAR, DELHI - 110095

4. Publisher’s Name : SURESH KUMARSRIVASTAVANationality : INDIANAddress : C- 194, 1ST FLOOR,

VIVEK VIHAR, DELHI - 1100955. Editor’s Name : PRAN MOHAN PARVATIYAR

Nationality : INDIANAddress : C- 6, RAJ RESIDENCY,

KAUSHAMBIGHAZIABAD -201010, UTTAR PRADESH

6. Names and of individuals who own the newspaper and partners or shareholders :INDIAN FEDERATION OF UNITED NATIONSholding More than one per cent of the ASSOCIATIONStotal capital.

Addresses : C – 6, QUTUB INSTITUTIONAL AREA, NEW DELHI -16

I, SURESH KUMAR SRIVASTAVA, hereby declarethat the particulars given above are true to the bestof my knowledge and belief.

Date-07/04/2013 Signature of Publisher


Maharashtra UNA

MAHARASHTRA United NationsAssociation (MUNA) incollaboration with IndianFederation of United Nations

Associations (IFUNA), New Delhi, UnitedNations Information Centre (UNIC) for Indiaand Bhutan, New Delhi and KohinoorHospital, Observed World Health Day7,2013: 2013 at Mumbai.

"A little constraint and precaution canchange your life." This was the message thatMaharashtra United Nations Association(MUNA) in collaboration with IndianFederation of United Nations Associations(IFUNA) United Nations Information Centre(UNIC) for India and Bhutan and KohinoorHospital gave on this World Health Day withregard to the fastest growing lifestyle disease- Hypertension.

The theme of the year 2013 given byWorld Health Organization is "High BloodPressure"

An informative and interestingconference held in the town hall of thehospital, was graced by the presence ofSuresh Srivastava, Hon. Secretary General -IFUNA), Ms. Mohini Mathur, ExecutiveChairperson (MUNA), A.A. Syed, Hon.Secretary General (MUNA), Ashraf AhmedShaikh, Hon. Secretary (MUNA) & PresidentMaharashtra United Nations YouthAssociation, Major (Dr.) Sachin Mane, Head -Medical & Hospital Administration.At the outset major (Dr.) Sachin mane, Head- Medical & Hospital Administrationexplained the peculiar feature of theKohinoor Hospital. "This hospital is part of

the well-known and fast growing Mumbai-based Kohinoor Group. Kohinoor Hospital isAsia's first and the world's second LEEDPlatinum-rated hospital building under theLeadership in Energy and EnvironmentalDesign (LEED) Green Building RatingSystem. It is a 175-bed capacity multi-specialty hospital, located at Kohinoor City,Kurla-Vidyavihar. The hospital is equippedwith world-class medical equipment andtechnology."

Suresh Srivastava while addressing theaudience also read out the excerpts from theUN Secretary General's following message:

"Raised blood pressure, a main triggerfor cardiovascular disease, all too often goesundiagnosed because symptoms are rare.

The good news is that when it is detectedearly enough, relatively simple steps cansignificantly reduce the risk of heart attacks,heart failure and strokes. That is why theUnited Nations encourages all adults to havetheir blood pressure regularly checked athealthcare facilities.

Following a healthy lifestyle can addyears to our lives. The evidence isunequivocal. Cutting down on theconsumption of processed salt, eating abalanced diet, avoiding harmful use ofalcohol, getting regular exercise, reducingstress and avoiding tobacco use minimizethe risk of developing high blood pressureand further consequences such as strokes orheart attacks."

(L to R ) Ashraf Sheikh, Dr. Altmash Sheikh, Ms. Mohini Mathur, Suresh Srivastava, Dr. Ramesh Rao & A.A. Syed - Observing World Health Day - 2013,

Kohinoor Hospital, Mumbai

'de-stresses' on 'Prevention of Hypertension'

MAHARASHTRA UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION (MUNA) IN COLLABORATION WITH INDIAN FEDERATION OF UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATIONS (IFUNA), NEW DELHI, UNITED NATIONS

INFORMATION CENTRE (UNIC) FOR INDIA AND BHUTAN, NEW DELHI AND KOHINOOR HOSPITAL,OBSERVED WORLD HEALTH DAY7, 2013: 2013 AT MUMBAI.

WORLD HEALTH DAY


Maharashtra UNA

Ashraf Ahmed Shaikh introduced thetheme, he explained the importance ofWorld Health Day observance all around theglobe. He further elaborated the role ofUnited Nations, WHO and UNAs infulfillment of their objectives and need forcreating awareness for the welfare of publicat large.

Mrs. Mohini Mathur explained thevarious activities of MUNA and appreciatedthe role of youth of the organization inmaking outreach. She also spoke about theill effects of High Blood Pressure and itseffects. Ms. Mathur explained said thetheme "High Blood Pressure" is extremelyimportant as it is a silent killer and most ofthe people are not aware about their raisedblood pressure.

Dr. Altamash Shaikh, ConsultantEndocrinologist & Metabolic Physician, Dr.Rakesh Singh, Consultant Neurophysician,and Dr. Ramesh Rao, ConsultantNephrologist, enlightened the audience onhow to tackle hypertension with smalllifestyle changes.

One out of every three individuals is avictim of hypertension. People fail toconsider the prevention aspect ofhypertension. When a person gets to knowthat he has high blood pressure, he considersit to be a normal phenomenon that cannotbe prevented. Lifestyle changes like reducein consumption of alcohol and tobacco;

increase in physical activity and healthy foodintake can help in prevention of high bloodpressure.

Doctors of the country have beensuccessful in eradicating epidemics likesmall pox, polio and malaria which weremuch prevalent in the past. Kerala, known

for its damp climate, reported very few casesof malaria in the previous year. Also, therewas no case reported of polio from India inthe previous year. Hence if people takenecessary precaution, hypertension too canbe similarly eradicated.

A.A.Syed, Secretary General, MUNA,Proposed a vote of thanks and in his addresshe thanked all the partner organization forcoming together for such an important andrelevant cause on health.

The programme was concluded by a freeblood pressure, blood sugar and weightcheck for all the delegates present in theobservance. Maharashtra United NationsAssociation (MUNA) has also launched itswebsite on this occasion www.muna.org.inby the auspicious hands of Adv. SureshSrivastava, Secretary General - IndianFederation of United Nations Associations(IFUNA).WHO Country office for India sent'WHO information Kits' on this occasion.

The scientific contents for thisprogramme was designed and developed byDr. Altamash Shaikh, Leading ConsultantEndocrinologist & Metabolic Physician atMumbai. p

(Report By Ashraf A. ShaikhSecretary MUNA)

Major (Dr. ) Sachin Mane, Head Medical & Hospital Administration Lighting the ceremonial lamp, looks on A.A. Syed, Ms. Mohini Mathur,

Ashraf Sheikh & Suresh Srivastava

Ms. Mohini Mathur, Chairperson - MUNA getting her blood sugar test on WorldHealth Day-2013. At Kohinoor Hospital.


BILATERAL RELATION

“New Delhi and Berlin have already reached aconsensus in the agriculture sector. Two-waytrade between India and the EU stood at $91.3billion in 2010-11.”

The Indo-German cooperationopens up excellent prospects fordeveloping both countries to thebenefit of their peoples.

In the back drop of German ChancellorAngela Merkel warning to the Germans inher annual New Year address that theeconomy, Europe's biggest, wouldexperience a harder time next year than in2012, she co-chaired a meeting with IndianPrime Minister Man Mohan Singh in Berlinon 11April, 2013 and agreed to broaden thecooperation and “shape the future” of boththe countries with focus on trade, bilateralinvestment, energy, hi-tech and defense.They shared the view that new initiatives inthe area of trade, bilateral investment,energy, energy security, the environment,culture, education, training, research,technology and defense can catalyze andactivate the great potential of their bilateralties,

Angela Merkel and Prime Minister ManMmohan Singh have hailed Germany andIndia "taking a step closer together" in theBerlin meeting. A desired free trade dealwith the EU remains a pipedream for nowthough.

Besides agreeing to greater cooperation

at all international bodies, both sides agreedto continue working together to prepare theground for India to accede to the exportcontrol regimes as a full member andthereby strengthen the international non-proliferation regime.

“The Indo-German cooperation opensup excellent prospects for developing bothcountries to the benefit of their peoples.

“Germany and India share the view that

new initiatives in the area of trade, bilateralinvestment, energy, energy security, theenvironment, culture, education, training,research, technology and defence cancatalyze and activate the great potential oftheir bilateral ties,” said a joint statementreleased at the end of the Indo-Germanintergovernmental consultations held inBerlin.

Germany and India are determined to

INDOGerman

AgreementANGELA MERKEL AND PRIME MINISTER MANMMOHAN SINGH HAVE HAILED GERMANY AND INDIA

"TAKING A STEP CLOSER TOGETHER" IN THEIR BERLIN MEETING

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his accompanying cabinet colleagues withGerman Chancellor Ms. Angela Markel in Berlin. Seen l to r are Indian Ministers, SalmanKhurshid, jaipal Reddy (on wheel chair) German Chancellor Ms. Markel, Dr. Manmohan

Singh, Farooq Abdullah and Anand Sharma.


BILATERAL RELATION

further expand their cooperation in highereducation, research and technology --dynamic core areas of the Indo-GermanPartnership -- and to open up new andinnovative areas of cooperation, thestatement said.

The statement titled ‘Shaping the futuretogether’ noted that close trade andinvestment relations are a core dimension ofbilateral partnership and of greatimportance for the development of both theIndian and the German economis.

“Both governments will strongly back afurther intensification of Indo-Germanbusiness cooperation. Both sides wouldencourage cooperation in the field of rareearths on mutually beneficial terms. BothGovernments recognize that expanding hightechnology trade and cooperation is key todeepening the strategic content of theirrelations.

“They agree to consult regularly onadvancing this objective and to this end forma High Technology Partnership Groupincluding both government and business,”

Both sides emphasized that freedom ofmovement for business visitors andprofessionals is important for the sustainedgrowth of trade and investment flows, andagreed to work together to facilitate suchmovement between the two countries.

Germany and India reaffirmed that they

will continue their successful developmentcooperation in a spirit of partnership.Assisting projects with innovativeapproaches in the mutually identifiedpriority areas of energy, environment andsustainable economic development supportIndia’s inclusive development and povertyreduction programmes..

Germany and India expressedsatisfaction at the deepening comprehensivebilateral relations between India and EU and“recognize that both India and EU, as long-standing strategic partners, are committedto working together to reinforce therelationship in all areas”.

“The leaders underline their strong

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and German Chancellor Angela Merkel talk with Indian schoolchildren from Kendriya Vidyalaya at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin

SIGNIFICANCE OF GERMANY TO INDIA:

w Germany is India’s largest economic partner in Europe and one of our keyglobal partners for trade, investment and technology.

w Indo-German bilateral trade had registered an increase of 18.4 per cent andreached Euros 18.37 billion in 2011.

w Germany is also a key partner for us in areas like infrastructure,manufacturing, science and technology, higher education, vocational training andclean and renewable energy.

w Germany plays a key role in the global economy and, in particular, instability and growth in the Euro Zone, which has an important bearing on theIndian economy

OUTCOME OF THE MEET:w India and Germany agreed on the importance of an early conclusion of a

balanced India-EU Broad Based Trade and Investment Agreement.w Both have agreed to set up a High Technology Partnership Group.w Both countries agreed to continue with their efforts through the G-4 for the

reform of the United Nations Security Council to reflect the current realities.w They also emphasized the importance of sustained international support to

Afghanistan through its transition to a stable, peaceful and democratic future.

BILATERAL RELATION


commitment to a successful outcome to theEU India negotiations for a broad based,ambitious and balanced Free TradeAgreement that will generate jobs andgrowth in both countries and their hope forfinal agreement in 2013,” the statementsaid.

It added that Germany and India willseek to intensify consultations within theG20 and strengthen the G20’s role as thepremier forum for international economicand financial cooperation.

“Both sides will therefore, makestrenuous efforts to achieve a consensus ontrade facilitation by a balanced package ofissues this year at the 9th WTO MinisterialConference so as to ensure there is still aprospect of bringing the Doha Round to aconclusion,”

On the security front, both sides agreedto intensify further their exchange of views

and experience on combating terrorism aswell as their practical cooperation in thisconnection, also in the Indo-GermanWorking Group on Counter-Terrorism aswell as multilateral forums.

“In the light of new security challengesboth sides are keen to intensify theirsecurity policy dialogue and exchange ofviews. “Both sides expressed their keennessto enhance cooperation in the defencesector through dialogue and exchanges onmatters of mutual interest, including in thearea of defence technology collaboration,”the joint statement said.

Germany and India reaffirmed that theywill work together for a world withoutnuclear weapons, for universal and non-discriminatory global nuclear disarmamentand a reduced salience of nuclear weaponsin international affairs and securitydoctrines. p

BERLIN: India and Germany onThursday inked six key MoUsincluding that for putting together 7million for next four years towardsjoint research in the field of highereducation and a pact for a soft loan of1 billion for strengthening the greenenergy corridor.A pact to promoteGerman as a foreign language was alsosigned by the two sides following the2nd round of inter-governmentalconsultations in Berlin.Under pactssigned, both Germany and India havecommitted to 3.5 million each towardsworking on joint research andinnovation programmes.According toofficials, under the strengthening ofGerman language collaboration,currently 30,000 children in KendriyaVidyalaya are learning German andunder the pact they will try to increasethe capacity.A pact regarding theestablishment of green energycorridor was also signed besides onein agriculture and establishment of aworking group in infrastructure,cooperation in standardization,conformity assessment and productsafety.Under the pact for the greenenergy corridor, the grid system inseveral states will be used to transmitenergy produced by renewable andnon-conventional means.Another pactfor India-German civil securityresearch was also signed.Minister forhuman resources development PallamRaju, who accompanied PrimeMinister, said the two countries kneweach other's strengths and haveidentified some areas for the jointresearch.The human resourcesdevelopment minister also saidGermany has been on a "very soundtechnical footing" because of whichthere were many programmes assistedand handled by Germans in both IITChennai and IIT, Mandi.According toofficial data, around 4500 Indianstudents are pursuing various coursesin Germany, while around 800German students are studying ordoing their internships in India.

WHILE seeking a good package for the IT industry,including allowing flexible movement of ITprofessionals, India has made it clear to the EuropeanUnion (EU) that it cannot go beyond the parameters ofthe TRIPS (Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights)Agreement and its laws for Intellectual PropertyRegime (IPR) in the ongoing negotiations for a tradeand investment agreement.

The Indian position was conveyed by Commerceand Industry Minister,Anand Sharma, who led ahigh-level Indian delegationduring negotiations inBrussels on April 15 for aministerial dialogue withEU Trade CommissionerKarel De Gucht on theongoing India-EuropeanUnion Broad-based Tradeand Investment Agreement(BTIA) talks.

Stating that thenegotiations had gainedmomentum in the light oftalks between the GermanChancellor, Angela Merkel,and the Prime Minister,Manmohan Singh. Anand Sharma underscored theimportance of getting a good package on services,including declared interests in IT and movement ofIndian professionals. “The April 15 meeting was lessaimed at trade talks but more directed at conveying apolitical message about the importance of concludingthis agreement at the earliest,” a senior official, whowas part of the talks, said.

Officials, who were privy to the negotiations fromthe Indian side, said India impressed upon the EUnegotiators on the need to declare India a data-securecountry. At the same time, both sides sought a

complete understanding on a balanced package in theservices sector. Mr. Sharma also highlighted the issueof market access for agricultural products,pharmaceuticals and textiles.

The EU side strongly pitched for concessions inthe financial services, including opening up of theinsurance sector for foreign direct investment (FDI)from the present 26 per cent to 49 per cent. The EUside was also forthright in conveying to the Indian side

its strong interest in theautomobile sector, where itwas demandingdismantling of duties,working on putting in placea stable taxation regime forwines and spirits andaccess for dairy products.The EU negotiators alsosought an assurance onthe facilitation ofregistration of theirGeographical Indicators.

Both sides termed thetalks as positive andmoving in the right directionand decided to hold thenext ministerial in June. It

was felt by both sides that after the meeting of Dr.Singh and German Chancellor and the recent high-level dialogue with President François Hollande ofFrance and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, theneed for demonstrating pragmatism was underlined toconclude an ambitious and balanced agreement. Thecandid discussion between the leaders covered all theelements of the package. A clear understanding wasreached that a fine balance needs to be arrived at formeaningful expectations of market access on both thesides. “We look forward to renewed progress in thecoming months,”

Anand Sharma, Commerce andIndustry Minisiter of India with EU

Trade Commissioner Karel DeGutch in Brussels

India-EU FTA talks gain momentum


Face to face

As the United Nations launched theInternational Year of Water Cooperation on11th February 2013, Rajendra Singh – theMagsaysay award winning ‘waterman’ ofIndia 50 people “who could save the planet”,embarked on a crusade yet again. He is on aJal Jan Jodo Abhiyan and travelling across thecountry from 20th April 2013 to mobilize themasses against the “flawed water policies”that has not just resulted in turning rivers intodrains, but are also not in compliance with theUnited Nations conventions. In an exclusiveinterview to Deepak Parvatiyar,Singh speaks about his movement. Excerpts:

What is the purpose of your Jal Jan JodoAbhiyan? » We are facing a crisis, on one hand fromscarcity of water and on the other hand fromsurplus water. The scarcity of water causesdrought and surplus water causes flood.

Sometime the people say it is a naturalcalamity but now I realise that in Indiadrought and flood is not a natural calamitybut a man made calamity. Earlier, there wasa disciplined use of water in agriculture,industry and domestic lives. But in the lasttwo hundred years, the people in mycountry have forgotten that water is life, andwater is nature. Today use water as acommodity. Therefore, those who use morewater for engineering, technology, andexploit and pollute it, they are the bigpeople. Those who are using less water andadhering to discipline in life, they are notrespectable people. So this is the sentimentthat shifts the paradigm of developmenttoday.

The Jal Jan Jodo Abhiyan is for creatingan awareness on water conservation insociety. We want to start a debate withinthe Indian community, civil society,bureaucrats, technocrats and politicians. Wedon’t respect the privatisation of water butwe respect the communitisation of water. Ihave got time tested success in last 30 yearsin communitisation. How confident are you about the success of this

movement?» I am getting good response to my call. Ireached Kannur on 20th April 2013. On21st April 2013, two ministers of Keralagovernment – Mr. K. C. Joseph, ruraldevelopment minister and Mr. K. P. Marena,Agriculture minister met me and decided atthe end that they will not institute anydesalination plant in Kannur, as wasproposed earlier but will, carry on waterliteracy awareness programs. This was agood beginning. The water desalinisationplants that would have adversely affectedthe marine life as in these desalinizationplants more than 35 per cent areconcentrated due to which pollution rises.This is not my movement but of the people.It is open for everyone. Scarcity, flood,privatisation of water are big issues that weare facing today. More than 100 bureaucrats,technocrats and politicians have joined thismovement. My movement is a continuousprocess for changing the managementsystem to uphold the right of Nature. It is along war and does not have a temporarysolution. We need good policy as well asgood action.You are already a member of the National RiverGanga Basin Authority, and an expert member ofthe Inter Ministerial Group on River Ganga. Whydid you decide to take to the streets and launchthe movement?» The purpose of the Inter- MinisterialGroup on Ganga river management was tofind out ways to save Ganga and restore itsflow. It was set up by the prime minister on17 April 2012. But after working for a year,the committee prepared a report, whichinstead of talking of saving the river, talkedabout how to give green signal to dams onGanga in Uttarakhand. “There are 69 damsbeing built on the Ganga, out of which 14have been commissioned, 18 are underconstruction, 16 are proposed and rest areunder various stages of approval. Oncecompleted, they will cover 83 per cent ofthe river and will destroy the Ganga as weknow it today. The report is just the

opposite of the mandate given to thecommittee. It was supposed to look at thehealth of Ganga by finding ways torestructure old dams and stop constructionof new dams to ensure the environmentaland ecological flow of Ganga. Duringdiscussions within the group, it was notedthat a minimum environmental flow of 75per cent in winters and 50 per cent insummers should be ensured. However, thefinal report reduces these to 30 per cent and20 per cent, respectively. It appears thatreport is prepared to facilitate the big damlobby so I have submitted my dissent notewhere I have clearly stated that I don’taccept this report because it does not havethe intention to ensure the clean flow ofGanga but to safeguard the interest of thebig dam lobby. They are very active andwere also present during the meetings. Onlythey have been heard in this report.

Moreover, my proposal is thatcommunity driven decentralized watermanagement system should beimplemented which is much cheaper. I hadalready submitted a recommendationbefore the ministry of water resources andministry of environment and forest in thisregard. So far there is no response from thegovernment. The matter is quite serious andthat’s why I have decided to start a

INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF WATER COOPERATIONJAL JAN JODO ABHIYAN

The ‘Waterman’ is on a mission, yet again

Rajendra Singh


Face to face

countrywide journey from Kannur to spreadawareness about the flawed water policies ofthe government.Your allegations are quite serious. How do youassess the water situation in the country?» We have rejuvenated seven dead rivers inRajasthan. On one hand the communitydriven decentralised water managementcreated a great thing and on the other handwherever they spend the money and createbig dams, there is no greenery and we facethe climate change. A lot of people now putthe onus of development on our leaders,state, and municipal corporations. In earliertimes, this was not the case. The thinkingwas that if the rains come, we can catch thedrops and collect these drops and use themin life. So every home had a tank for storingdrinking water. Nowadays nobody, hastanks. People depend on the municipalcorporations to supply water from thepipeline to their kitchen, bathroom andhome. The dependency syndrome is veryhigh and because of this nobody bothersabout the conservation of water. Thethinking among the politicians, bureaucratsand technocrats is that they have the right toencroach upon the water sources, polluterivers and exploit the underground water.

The declaration of development startswith displacement – displacement ofknowledge, displacement of the wisdom,displacement of the greenery, displacementof the moisture from the soil, anddisplacement of the people from thecountry. And after displacement starts thedestruction and finally this process ofdestruction reaching to disaster. Now youcan see in Maharashtra. Maharashtra is astate where they have spent a lot of moneyin the name of water resource development.40 per cent of the dam is constructed only inthe one state i.e. Maharashtra. Big dams…lotof big dams. Now there is no water there. Lotof people are committing suicide. Lot ofpeople are migrating from rural to urbanareas. So you complain about thedisplacement from the urban to the rural.Now you complain of the pressure on theurban area and tension between the ruraland urban people. Compare this withRajasthan, where people conserve water andmake some disciplined rule and regulationsfor usage of water in a disciplined way.Today, they are the flood free people. They

are the drought free people. Now they haveenough water there. So I can say where thecommunity driven decentralised watermanagement system is alive in our country,there is no drought and no flood. No naturalcalamity. But where there has beendevelopment of big dams, canals, andpipelines, there is no water there. Lot ofmoney is spent there in the name of thedevelopment of the dams. So would you say that India’s record in upholdingthe UN Conventions on Water is not satisfactory?» India’s position is not satisfactorybecause we are not serious. The new globalmarket is coming. There are new threats tothe rivers in terms of pollution, overexploitation and encroachment of riversource. There is encroachment on the rivers,lakes, water sources and water bodies. Everyriver is being polluted by the governmentinstitutions such as the panchayat bodies,municipal corporations, and industrialcorporations. The exploitation of the waterbodies and rivers is continuous. So if wecannot give equal right to people, puredrinking water will not be available. There isno awareness about the UN conventions inour society and the bureaucracy as well.So what is you action plan?» There should be safe drinking water foreveryone. Water is a human right but morethan 60 per cent people don’t get safedrinking water. We plan to create awarenessabout catching the cloud and rain harvestinglike in Rajasthan. We want awareness aboutmaking community driven decentralisedinfrastructure. A lot of different type ofpeople are showing interest today. They aregiving their commitment. I have some seedsof hope. Today some good stategovernments too coming to us but this isalso because elections are on the hand andthey feel they can show some good work.We are not bothered about the governments.

We are bothered about the people. Peopleare taking interest and they are helping.Forthe last three years I am working for a goodriver policy…not water policy, but a goodriver policy because there is no state in ourcountry, which is bothered about rivers.Every river is going dry and dead like drain.Today the water policies by states aredictated by market forces that treat water asa commodity. The water market is behindsuch water policies. These policies are notgood. Nobody today realises that the riverhas a right like the human rights. Every riverhas a freedom and nobody has the right tochange the status of the river bed and itscatchment areas.It seems you have a Utopian dream…» We need the infrastructure for this typeaction but we are not making it a centrallycontrolled infrastructure expenditureintensive program but making it acommunity driven decentralised investmentfor infrastructure development bymobilising of the source at the local level tomake a good model like what we did inRajasthan. I am not spending a single paisafrom the government but taking moneyfrom the community, from those who aretaking interest in this action. So thiscommunity driven view is a transparent wayand we are making a system where thepeople can show good models all over thecountry. I am happy that different people arecoming to me to take up different roles andresponsibilities.The present UPA government shelved the NDA’sgrand plan of linking the rivers. Do you think theproject could have helped resolving the issue offloods and droughts?» The Indian Consititution has no provisionfor the linking of the rivers. If they canchange the Constitution they can link rivers.But it is going to cost heavily not only interms of money but also in terms of ourecology. I was made an expert member ofthe linking of the river task force. I am alwaysagainst the linking, right from the beginning.I created an awareness campaign against thelinking move at that time. Linking of riverswill cause social, environmental, political,economical conflict and we have no judicialsystem that could resolve these conflicts. p

(Deepak Parvatiyar is a New Delhi basedsenior journalist and an award

winning film maker)

Sangam at Allahabad

The members of Indian Federation of United Nations Associations(IFUNA) deeply mourn on the demise of Mr Malcolm Harper.His association with IFUNA was more than four decades old andhe was highly respected in IFUNA. Mr Malcolm Harper name

was not only known with the UNA UK and as Chair of the World Federationof United Nations Associations (WFUNA) but a source of inspiration for all ofus. IFUNA leadership in particular was emotionally attached to Mr MalcolmHarper. The WFUNA 36th Plenary Assembly organized in Kolkata was agreat success due to his continuous guidance to the leadership of IFUNA. Hewas always available to IFUNA for any guidance and cooperation. Kolkataand subsequently New Delhi (India) is still afresh in our memory. IFUNAExecutive Committee, in an emergent meeting passed a condolence andprayed to the Almighty for peace of the departed soul and give enough ofstrength to his family to bear this irreparable loss.

CondolenceLeft to Right Malcolm Harper, Ms Ann Harper, Ms Meena Srivastava, Suresh Srivastava and

Ms Rena Shashua (UNA Israel) during their visit to New Delhi

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RNI NO. DELENG/2012/44082

With compliments

from

Indian Beverage Association

5th floor, PHD House, August Kranti Marg, New Delhi-110016

Tel. 46508722, Fax: 46508733, www.in-beverage.org

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