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TheIndian EXPRESS
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NEW DELHI l TUESDAY l JULY 10 l 2012

The Indian EXPRESS

BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL

Kabul via Rawalpindi

US plans for Afghanistan, laid out at Tokyo, lack a strategy to deal with Pak recalcitrance

UNDAYS international conference in Tokyo on future economic assistance to Kabul has rounded off the new American framework to put Afghanistan on its own feet when the bulk of US and allied troops leave by 2014. With US President Barack Obama focused on his re-election this November, no new initiatives on Afghanistan can be expected. The US framework for the transition looks robust but questions remain on whether the current international commitments to Kabul are sustainable amidst the financial and political uncertainty in the western world, the fluidity of Afghanistans internal dynamic and Pakistan armys determination to extend its influence across the Durand Line. Obama has sought to reassure Kabul that Washington is not going to abandon Afghanistan. He signalled long-term American commitment to its security and stability by signing a strategic partnership agreement with Kabul that will last for a decade after 2014. Last week, the Obama administration declared Afghanistan as a major non-NATO ally, a designation that will provide a solid basis for long-term military cooperation between Washington and Kabul. The US plans to leave a small residual military force to train the Afghan

armed forces and conduct counter-terror operations against extremist sanctuaries in Pakistans western borderlands. At the NATO summit in Chicago in May, the US won pledges from its allies for financial contributions nearly $4 billion a year to help maintain the Afghan armed forces at about 250,000 troops. The Tokyo conference has complemented the military effort by raising commitments worth $16 billion for the economic development of Afghanistan for the next four years. Sceptics will wonder if the US and its allies will be able to keep their word amid the fiscal crisis at home and declining popular support for the war in Afghanistan. The biggest threat to Kabuls future comes from the Pakistan armys continuing support for the Taliban and the Haqqani network. Until now, the US has been unable to get Pakistan to either dismantle the sanctuaries it has offered to Kabuls adversaries or encourage the Taliban to negotiate a political settlement with Hamid Karzai. Pakistans recalcitrance is rooted in Rawalpindis search for what it calls strategic depth in Afghanistan. Without a credible American strategy to change Rawalpindis negative approach to Kabul, the current US plans for Afghanistan suggest the triumph of hope over experience.

IGURES released by the World Health Organisation, which show that 10 Indian subjects of clinical field trials die every week, have rekindled concerns that this country has become a testing hub for Big Pharma. Ironically, the same figures deflate this persistent fear, revealing that only 1.5 per cent of global trials have been held in India. The ministry of health and family welfare has further clarified that the cause of death must be investigated to determine if pharmaceutical testing contributed to mortality. But public debate must take note of the growing evidence on a related problem. In February, the Supreme Court issued notices against the ministry and the Medical Council of India in response to a PIL alleging collusion between pharma companies and doctors in Indore. They were allegedly paid commissions to enrol patients in tests that claimed 32 lives. The Economic Offences Wing of the Madhya Pradesh government also tabled a report naming six doctors.

India may not be a testing hub for Big Pharma. But informed consent must be non-negotiable
Statistics are secondary here. Even a single case of unethical testing, where the rules of the doctor-patient relationship have been broken to the material benefit of practitioners or corporates, should be read as a significant finding. And such cases may occur because getting patients to consent to drug testing is relatively easy in India. Thanks to illiteracy, poverty, poor health awareness and lax oversight, it is possible to acquire test patients quite fast. Speed makes a huge financial difference to pharma companies, which can bring new drugs to market more quickly. And if problems arise, the risk of successful litigation is low. Regulation should be equally easy. Regulators only need to check if the consent given by patients is genuinely informed. The ministry and the MCI cannot claim that they are unable to do this. Serious punitive measures must be instituted against erring doctors and corporations, not paltry fines. This is all it will take to make the problem vanish forever.

Right to know

FORMER Reserve Bank of India governor, while still in office, confided that he would never keep the government in the loop on most decisions of the central bank. But the then mandarins in the finance ministry never made it easy for him. They put pressure on him on a variety of issues since he invariably needed the ministrys concurrence on policy matters. This particular governor got his way on most issues and, much to the chagrin of the officials, earned the reputation of preparing India for the financial crisis of 2008. In fact, he felt it was not necessary to meet even the finance secretary, the most senior official in the ministry, during his North Block visits. On some occasions, he would visit the capital just to meet the prime minister and would not even call on the finance minister. There were many critics who had a healthy disrespect for his domineering style, but nobody took him head on regarding his regulatory decisions. He overruled ministry interventions, backed by the quality of his decisions. Another capital market regulator or chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) would frustrate the finance secretary of the time by not answering calls or responding to text messages. Here again was a regulator who had turned around financial institutions, knew his domain well and refused to budge from decisions despite the governments reservations. These are just two examples to show that regulators never had an easy relationship with the government thankfully. At times, the mandate of the government is different from that of a sector regulator. The government has political compulsions, for instance, of generating employment, increasing peoples income and striving for inclusive growth. The regulators primary role is to be a

North shouldnt block

Govt, regulator mustnt get cosy, but current mistrust needs to be addressed
P. VAIDYANATHAN IYER
watchdog and, in some cases, promote and develop the sector. So, a cosy relationship between them may not always result in an outcome that is best for the country. However, mutual mistrust can do more harm, mar the regulatory environment and eat into the edifice of an independent, autonomous institution. The last three years have left key financial sector regulators with an uneasy feeling that the government was looking over their shoulders and, at times, being vindictive. In fact, the North Block, with Pranab Mukherjee at the helm, did not think it was inappropriate to meddle with the regulators. tors by the government, have damaged the fabric of governance and affected the morale of officers. It is also true that there isnt enough protest in the system against such devious government interference. Sending a tax notice to a regulator as in the case of former Sebi chairman C.B. Bhave after his term ends may not affect him if he has paid his dues, but it definitely serves to demoralise the entire HR in the institution. It is true that the temperament of the political leadership matters a lot in creating the right atmosphere for constructive dialogue. In India, however, the malaise sets in right at the begin-

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The North Block, with Pranab Mukherjee at the helm, did not think it was inappropriate to meddle with the regulators. They viewed the RBI, Sebi or the Irda as an extension of the finance ministry and expected the regulators to seek their advice on all issues, if not listen to them.
They viewed the RBI, Sebi or the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) as an extension of the finance ministry and expected the regulators to seek their advice on all issues, if not listen to them. To give the regulators their due, they did try and handle the situation in their own unique ways. If one opened up more and touched heights in transparency by giving a detailed rationale for every regulatory decision, the other just clamped up, snapping all channels of communication between the government and the regulatory institution. Another gave in and worked in tandem with the government. Such responses, forced on the regulaning. The eligibility norms for top regulatory functionaries are not well defined and, unfortunately, domain expertise is never an important criterion. For instance, why shouldnt the Sebi chairman be required to have 20 years of experience in capital markets? Even if the government picks candidates from a defined universe of retiring or retired bureaucrats, it seldom undertakes a proper background check. It is time the government adopted a public inquiry or a scrutiny process, similar to that in the United States, before finalising a candidate for chairing regulatory bodies. For instance, the fracas around P.J. Thomas appointment as the central vigilance

commissioner could have been avoided. It is possible that a public inquiry is misused with muck being raised by vested interests. But then, it is a price worth paying. After selecting a candidate, the government plays dirty by keeping the levers on tenure in its hands. For instance, the present insurance regulator got a five-year tenure when he was appointed four years ago, but the RBI governor or Sebi chairman was given only a three-year term. This is pernicious. Regulators need security of tenure to do a good job. They should not be required to look up to the North Block or the Prime Ministers Office for information on their tenure extension. It is no secret that the PMO prevailed upon the finance ministry to give D. Subbarao, the present RBI governor, a two-year extension last September. Last but not the least, it is also about financial autonomy. Regulators must be allowed to retain the fees they charge from market players and not go begging every year ahead of the Union budget. Ask the government, and it will swear that regulators are independent and autonomous. But that does not stop the minister or his office, for instance, from calling up the RBI governor to tell him that the rupee should be 55 to the US dollar, or the Sebi chief, asking him to go slow on investigating a particular market irregularity. What is at the centre of this debate is not just the failure to set right the appointment process the relationship between the government and a regulator can also go awry midway. It is also not so much about the systems ability to protest. It is about political reform or redistribution of power. Are our politicians willing to cede power and tie their own hands? The forgotten chapters of administrative reform need to be dusted and new ones written.
pv.iyer@expressindia.com

EDITOR
The Karnataka files
Gowda out, Shettar in (IE, July 8), a game of musical chairs seems to be in progress at the Karnataka assembly, much to the dismay of the people of the state. Only a year ago, former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa had been forced to step down after charges of corruption were levelled at him. At Yeddyurappas instance, Sadananda Gowda was appointed the next CM. However, relations between Gowda and Yeddyurappa soon soured. Yeddyurappa then backed Jagadish Shettar, making him the third CM Karnataka has had since the BJP came to power in 2008. The BJP central leadership has allowed itself to be swayed by Yeddyurappa at every juncture. It has proved unequal to the task of making strong regional leaders such as Narendra Modi and Vasundhara Raje toe the party line. What may seem politically expedient now could cost the party dear in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Shahabuddin Nadeem Bangalore
THIS refers to Rao aides dismiss criticism on Babri Masjid demolition (IE, July 9). It is unfortunate that former prime minister P Narasimha .V. Rao should face so much flak now. During his tenure, Rao made significant decisions that changed Indias destiny. He must be given credit for bringing in Manmohan Singh as finance minister and setting in motion the reforms that would transform the Indian economy. In the case of Babri Masjid, he has been accused of not taking adequate action. However, the state government in Uttar Pradesh at the time must also share the blame for failing to protect the mosque. In spite of criticism now, Rao will be remembered as the prime minister who helped India become a powerful nation. K. Vittal Shetty Bangalore APROPOS BJP latest:

Letters to the

Post script

NITI BHUTANI

Vaulting demand, limited seats: DU has to consider how best to bridge the gap
have to choose cutoffs strategically. However, this decisionmaking has to be seen along with the preference ordering of the prospective students across various courses and colleges. For one, in a situation where college A is strictly preferred to college B, A would ideally declare a cut-off higher than that of B. But in reality this may not happen. Even though extensive consultation between colleges is allowed before the cutoffs are finally declared, things might go haywire either on account of some exogenous factor (for example, a prior commitment on admission criteria made by a particular college), will get some applicants, but if A is unable to fill up its seats and reduces its cutoff in the next round of admissions, B will witness a mass exit of students to A. Whole classes of students shifting from one college to another has become quite common, especially in popular courses like commerce and economics. The musical chairs in the university can be contained through consultations among colleges. The objective here is to minimise the risk of filling many more seats than sanctioned or not being able to fill enough. An extremely important issue that the present admission policy that matches the preferences of the applicants with that of the university, for instance. The university could first arrange applicants in descending order of their CBSE marks, or a weighted average of CBSE marks and a standardised test score. Then, starting top down, it could invite one group of applicants for admission and start filling up seats based on the students preferences and seat availability. The procedure would be repeated with the next group and so on until seats get filled. While there might still be withdrawals, the university, using data on the average number of withdrawals from past years, could keep a margin of that many more seats at the start of admissions. This is just an idea, and many may disagree, but the point of this article is to initiate a discussion on viable alternatives. The need of the hour is to simplify procedures and bring about uniformity in admission criteria. Even though colleges want to retain autonomy, why should students of the same university, studying the same course and taking the same exams, be subject to different admission criteria? DU needs to streamline procedures to attract the best talent to what is still considered the top ranking university in the country. The author teaches economics at Hindu College, Delhi University
express@expresindia.com

Making the cut

Federer moments
T IS not often that a player considered to be one of the greatest ever to have picked up a racket is deemed to be an underdog going into a tournament he has won six times. But that was precisely the position Roger Federer found himself in before his eighth Wimbledon final against the great British hope, Andy Murray. Federer hadnt won a Grand Slam for two years and had been facing a barrage of criticism, with many implying that his time was past, that he would never again ascend to the heights of the mid-2000s. With his virtuoso game to win his 17th major title, Federer has proved his critics wrong. Rumours of his diminishing skills were rather exaggerated anyway. In 2011, Federer made the quarterfinals at every Slam. He won the last three competitions he entered that year, including the

There isnt a more beautiful sight in sport than the master in full flow

tough ATP World Tour Finals, even beating bete noire Rafael Nadal en route. This season, he has won four titles besides Wimbledon, and made the semifinals at both the Australian and French Open, only losing to two of the other three top players in mens tennis. Still, the sense that he could not now contend with the likes of Murray and Novak Djokovic not to mention Nadal, who he had trouble beating even at his peak was pervasive. Against Murray, he once again reminded observers that there is no more beautiful a sight in sport than Federer in full flow. With the athleticism and grace that make his tennis look so effortless, Federer unleashed an array of shots that defied belief producing many of what David Foster Wallace memorably called Federer Moments... when the jaw drops and eyes protrude.

S the season of admissions in Delhi University (DU) draws to a close, the age-old system of cutoffs has raised several questions. Could procedures be simplified and the process of admissions made smoother for prospective students? Has the university been able to select the most deserving candidates? The system of declaring cutoffs emerged in the 1970s and even today there is no denying the fact that it is one of the more objective, controversy-free instruments of admission. The cut-off mark works as an equilibrating mechanism that helps close the gap between the demand and supply of seats. Recent debates on cutoffs have revolved around how qualifying marks are going through the roof and a large number of students are unable to get seats. However, the real culprit here is the the limited number of seats available to cater to the demands of a rapidly growing young population. If a large number of students score between, say, 95 and 100 per cent, the cutoff will just be doing its job of balancing demand with limited supply. As pointed out by the principal of a leading college, the story would be the same and a large number of people would still get left out if marks had been in the range of, say, 65-70 per cent and the cutoffs had been lower. What gets played out during admissions is a game where the players that is, the colleges

An important issue that the present system of cutoffs does not address is that of quality. A standardised test score applicable to all courses must be used.
or simply because a college may choose not to consult with others. So it may turn out that college A, in the first round of admissions, declares a cutoff of 98 per cent and B declares 98.25 per cent. In this case, all students who qualify will choose college A over college B and the latter will not receive any candidates. A more serious problem that the university has to contend with has been described as a game of musical chairs between colleges, as well as between departments within a college. To illustrate, in the above example, where college A is preferred to B, suppose A initially declares a higher cutoff than B. The latter does not address is that of quality. With CBSE scores not generally regarded as good indicators of a students ability, some DU departments, such as English and journalism have entrance tests. The Common Aptitude Test for English (CATE) allows even a student with 45 per cent (in the general category) or 40.5 per cent (in the OBC category) to seek admission. An entrance test score or a standardised test score applicable to all courses (similar to the SAT score) must be used to assess the ability of the student beyond her examination-oriented training. Alternative admission procedures could also be implemented. A centralised process

Great game

ROGER FEDERER is back

William Butler Yeats

WORDLY WISE

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.

N THE bad old days, tanks on the streets and gunshots were the tell- Stroessner, blocked most of the presidents initiatives. As a result, tale signs of a Latin American coup detat. But the recent rush by Paraguays most serious troubles were never addressed... Paraguays conParaguayan lawmakers to impeach President Fernando stitution certainly allows lawmakers to remove a president who Lugo has rightfully raised concern of a new kind of constitufails to do a good job, but only after a fair trial. He didnt get tional coup that threatens the regions fragile moves toward one... Paraguays lawmakers insist that their goal was to restore democracy and civilian rule. Lugo was swept into office in 2008, order to an out-of-control country. Yet thats hardly the result bringing an end to six decades of one-party rule and promising to PRINTLINE theyve achieved. By railroading Lugo, the legislature sucenact agrarian reform and help the poor. Four years later, howceeded only in igniting a political crisis at home and abroad. ever, little had changed. The Congress, controlled by the Colorado Party, which supported the brutal 35-year dictatorship of General Alfredo From the Los Angeles Times

With the impeachment of President Lugo, the constitutional coup arrives in Latin America

The Paraguay precedent

where he belongs at the top (Great beats Britain, IE, July 9). The Swiss master played some of his best tennis to win his seventh Wimbledon title. Lesser players might have been daunted by the overwhelming home support for his opponent, Andy Murray. But the veteran Federer systematically demolished Britains number one. His signature backhand volleys and forehand crosscourt winners were a treat to watch. At 30, Federer ties with Pete Sampras for the maximum number of Wimbledon wins. There is a good chance he could break even this record. Ganapathi Bhat Akola
AFTER 16 Grand Slam

wins, I had thought, Roger Federer should retire while he was still in top. His recent losses had backed this notion. However, he still had a point to prove, which he did after decisively winning his 17th Grand Slam title this Sunday. S. Rajagopalan Chennai