Congress’ Political road map – Nonplussed or Nonchalant (A sequel to the New-Clear-Peace Deal article Posted on my blog)

Back to writing something, it’s been days I wrote anything worthwhile; the last one on FII’s required some research and understanding! Lot has changed meanwhile; the government may topple or just manage to escape through, the elections possibility for the month of November is not being ruled out. I have always been repugnant to writing on Politics; the very reason being it’s fuzzy for me. But surely it has it impact on Economics as well.

Now let us consider the situation where the govt. is toppled. What impact is it going to make on people of India and abroad?

                  First and foremost the nuclear deal will be put back into the box for a while? How long? No one knows. A lot will depend on who gains power in both the US and India. Mr. Obama (MS word spelling check recognizes Osama but not Obama, don’t worry sir you’ll soon make it if you do make it to the hot seat!) has been opposing all kinds of help to India courtesy Indians stealing all the jobs from the Americans and then he thinks India is getting too much in the nuclear deal and the US hardly anything. What about the Monetary support from the Indians for your election campaign sir? And if India TV (A Hindi news channel in India) is to be believed Mr. Obama is a great devotee of Lord Hanuman. So doesn’t it really make us think that all this is a publicity stunt by Mr. Obama? We have seen in the past and will surely see it in future. Political leaders everywhere will talk anything to appease the public for votes, but they ultimately end up doing things which will be in accordance of their own interest, or what the intelligence agencies want, or what the party demands for the good or bad! So Mr. Obama knows that outsourcing is not only good for the developing countries but a necessity for the developed nations. He also knows that nuclear deal will not only provide support in terms of technology and fuel but along with it comes economic and military co-operation. So no matter what; The deal is very dear to the US as well, irrespective of whether it’s Mr. Obama or Mr. McCain.

                      Second I can see why CPI is opposing (that’s what they can do), but why is that the BJP is opposing? Good question, is it because it’s compromising with our sovereignty. The answer is no, it is because they were trying to ink a similar deal but were turned down by the Bush administration. So they don’t want congress to sign this historic deal. The BJP wants to come to power and seal the deal.

                      Elections now what? While Congress has been crying foul that all the forces are trying to topple the govt.! Infact the strongest statement congress has made till date is that nuclear deal is more important for county’s security and they are willing to sacrifice the govt. for it. So now if the govt. topples then Congress will ride on the sympathy wave, showcasing its concern for the country. So if the govt. falls or if it stays then the congress is the one which is going to gain!

                         Won’t the high prices and oil crisis act as an anti-incumbent factor and work against congress coming to power again?  Yes, it will surely among the people in the metros? What about the rural India, the guys who make or break the government. Lot will depend on the Monsoon this year; if it’s good then it’s good news for congress. If it’s bad then congress can probably reserve its seat in the opposition for the next five years. But wait my rustic intelligence says won’t the people in the village ask the simple question of why the government toppled?  Yes, they will and probably they will think that it was unfair to congress and vote for congress in the elections. And did I just think that Mr.Chidambaran’s much criticized agriculture loan waiver was a plan for this time, they could see the govt. pushing for this deal, toppling and coming back to power after elections courtesy these sops! Probably yes. The inflation if not completely tamed will be atleast under control by that time. So no plans for guessing, it’s a well thought out move by the Congress. So the situation definitely seems more nonchalant for the congress!

In Search of NEW-CLEAR-PEACE DHEEL- The real side of the nuclear Deal

Well it was a pretty dull week this one for me! Not exactly for the govt. while our beloved peaceful phlegmatic P.M was giving sleepless nights to the communists and as I search for some peace, Media has finally got its own piece of news for the week and left Aarushi to rest in peace. While Americans hiding behind the Bush! Are going to push India forward for peaceful nuclear power and give it a piece of the nuclear fuel, I have been searching for my own piece of luck (not peace).

Well the new-clear-peace that I’ve been searching for I’ve not found! I’m confused. Drop it! Let us focus on national issues, being true Indians we should always discuss, call meetings (and get people confused) arouse people’s sentiments (Amarnath Shrine Board Incident and Indore riots) after all we need to discuss (and not do anything, Communists in India, talk, brag, bully and more importantly do not join the government but just support from outside. Is that what the public voted for (na i did not vote i wasn’t 18 then), come on go make our policies, not just oppose them, owe responsibility for what’s going on!) India is on the development path and is soon going to overtake the US in terms of GDP. But will that be simple! No I guess if we just keep discussing and not act!

MAIN AREA OF CONCERN:  as we develop so will our energy demands grow sky high (well really? Yes). The major chunk of electricity that we produce is through our thermal plants, which consumes millions of tonnes of coal to convert steam energy into electricity and at the same time release that much amount of CO₂ in the environment (not a great idea right). In future our energy demands are going to rise so much that we will not only exhaust our own coal but will have to import it (provided it’s left anywhere in the world) and imagine what threat to the world we will be guzzling out carbon to the atmosphere. Now why is nuclear energy so important? First coal is not a clean fuel; it is exhaustible in near future. Moreover there are ways to utilize non conventional sources like wind, ocean etc. but scope is limited and it’s difficult for it to directly sustain all the demands. So we turn to nuclear fuel particularly due to it being clean, limited but highly efficient, large scale power generation!

What seems “Left” is not Right? Well meet our communist friends; they have been pulling the poor Sardar’ leg ever since he went behind the Bush and gave an impression of being the new Mr. Tony Blair. According to the revered Economist (because of whom millions are working in the IT industry, People are going gaga over shopping branded stuff at the malls and enjoying the same status as the Americans in America) India is enjoying best ever relationship with Uncle Sam. And now it has become such a good friend that it is giving all this stuff for free (has to be a great friend indeed) Nuclear energy technology which Indians can use and take away all those jobs from Americans (Reason why OBAMA is against this deal!) How?  Look it will light up all the villages in India, then they will also get connected to broadband, then these IT companies will train the farmers in C, C++ and make them code for the Firangis in the west (look open source volunteers, farming in the morning, code in the night all voluntarily, that is how free software and open source community came along selling pizzas @ day and coding @ night giving Mr. Gates sleepless nights a.k.a NO PEACE @ all). Or some BPO fellows will setup a call centre, train our farmers in English and make them sell airline tickets for United Airlines! Everything is possible, Impossible is Nothing (courtesy: ADIDAS).

Coming back to our communist friends, they say that the govt. did not divulge all the details of the deal and there is a hidden agenda! Ah-ha! They feel that this deal is going to affect the sovereignty of the country and India may be headed the Pakistan way obliging the US. Moreover putting the atomic reactors under safeguards will put an end to future developments and advancements in nuclear technology. They also say that the sudden rise in the oil prices is due to US playing dirty games for getting countries like India to worry and fall into the nuclear trap! (courtesy Russia, Saudi and Iran, top three oil producers saying there is no fuel shortage and there will be no decrease in supply) point I guess!

Why they are not right?

1. India’s reactors running at half the capacity due to unavailability of fuel, uranium in this case.

2. India’s growing energy demand and future requirements indicate towards cleaner efficient fuel.

3. Only nuclear reactors which are used for civilian power generation under safeguards and not all, moreover the fuel will be tracked and monitored by IAEA only in these reactors and not all of them, so we can still manage to make bombs and scare off Pakistan! (Though not a bright idea again, India is a country that always preaches Peace, (PEACE again!) Pakis are our bro’s right).

Infact the 123 agreement and under the IAEA and NSG approval will allow India to use nuclear technology under dual use (Dual-use technologies earn their name because they can be used for both military and civilian purposes. Since India is under Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG) sanctions, such technologies are denied to the country even for civilian use for fear they may be covertly used for military purposes.) Like:

Hidden gains

Sports gear: Lightweight and unbreakable tennis rackets, golf clubs and fishing poles.X-ray machines: Medical and dental imaging machines using radioactive cobalt-60.Space prog: Latest in telemetry, propulsion, guidance, speciality materials, nanotech.Defence sector: Components for developing a defence system against Pakistan’s rocket arsenal.

Image source: HINDUSTAN TIMES

 

 

 

 

The reason: the hi-tech fibres and filaments often used to make lightweight and unbreakable tennis rackets, golf clubs and fishing poles can also be used in the uranium-enrichment process. Also affected by the various sanctions are medical and dental imaging machines that use radioactive cobalt-60 and similar substances. Advanced technologies used to make ammonia and fertiliser can also be used to make heavy water.

Ultra low-speed photography equipment, pressure-measuring instruments and some types of communications switching equipment are also banned.

The famous supercomputer ban imposed by the US in the early 1990s was also a consequence of such sanctions. Sales of Sony’s Play Station 2 to India were under a cloud because the gaming device fell under Japanese dual-use export controls. NSG sanctions lie behind the recent arrest of Indian scientists trying to buy heat-resistant silicon chips in the US. All these and a host of other tech barriers will disappear if the nuclear deal is completed: a benefit of de facto nuclear club membership.

US commerce department and Indian industry representatives say the biggest problem with technology sanctions is the “uncertainty principle”. Technology evolves faster than the sanctions written to control their export. It isn’t uncommon for an Indian request for technology to be turned down because a US official, befuddled by an archaic rules book, decides not to take chances. The 123 Agreement would mean the official would give India the benefit of the doubt.

4. There’s nothing like compromising with security, it’s only about managing and understanding your needs, moreover there’s nothing wrong by sticking to a strong partner, I don’t understand how it is going to affect our sovereignty! As long as US is not asking for an airbase to attack China, or send Indian troops to Iran, India should be fine with it. Ok we blow another bomb for a Test and the deal is scrapped, come on we are looking at realistic situations here.  I was reading that we won’t be able to test nuclear bombs that can be sent on a missile to beijing, drop it. why? the next point answers

5. In this globalized world we are looking towards interdependence. China has it’s huge population to feed, it’s main strength is export and majority to the US. All of US’s IT work is done in INDIA. do you think it will see it’s two biggest suppliers of human resource, IT, manufactured goods, Hardware, food grains, soaps, Tooth Paste etc. bomb each other. what about the people in the US, they will struggle, their lives will be greatly affected! coming down to the worst scenario of a war, if ever a war is there between India and China then i don’t think there will be any force left to rule, cos the world wouldn’t be existing! so let us just forget that such a thing would happen and be realistic.

6. We are developing breeder reactors which will run on thorium but it will take time in R&D, so by that time we can fulfill our requirements through this new deal.( we have thorium in abundance, ever been to kerala!)

7. Moreover going ahead with this deal does not entitle India to buy fuel or technology only from  the US, there are 45 countries in the Nuclear supplier groups and India can approach any of them for any technology for civilian nuclear power, so why the fuss? France has already come out in support and so has Russia to supply the necessary technology.

With reference to the above points I really don’t see any reason why the communists are opposing it? Are they so averse to any foreign technology? Or to the capitalistic US? Or are they just non-committed towards the people of India? The larger picture has to be seen not in case of the political scenario but also the long term needs. And while I finish this it seems Aarushi has finally found peace (CBI seems to have figured out the culprit), but I’m still to find mine!

RUN TO THE HILLS FOR PEACE!

 P.S: The opinion is purely of the author’s and should be seen as just another way of expressing oneself in this democracy and means no offences to any party or ideology!