KOTHARI INSTITUTE

DATE- 5May2014

NATIONAL NEWS

1. Remembering Tipu Sultan 2. Astra successfully test-fired from Sukhoi 3. White tiger may land in tight corner 4. Bhagat Singh not named in FIR for Saunders’ murder 5. 2G spectrum allocation case: Court records statement of A Raja

Business

1. No magic wand for new government to wave 2. Preparing for the budget 3. ‘Bandhan will show that the poor are also bankable’

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1. Moscow to give peace another chance 2. Desperate Chinese villagers launch ‘citizen government’ 3. Fresh sanctions on Russia likely by May-end

EDITORIAL

Commissions of discord

Dear students here are the news from “THE HINDU” and “TIMES

OF INDIA”

NATIONAL NEWS

MYSORE, May 5, 2014

Remembering Tipu Sultan

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

On May 4, 1799, the ruler of Mysore fell fighting the British army

The sequence of events that unfolded on May 4, 1799, has been narrated by contemporary historians and reproduced in the Mysore Gazetteer.— PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

The summer heat and dust brings alive memories of a historic battle that culminated on May 4, 1799, on the banks of the Cauvery at Seringapatam (Srirangapatna).

For it was the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in which Tipu Sultan, who was the scourge of the British and an impediment to their imperialist ambition, fought the British army and died.

Failed negotiation

The sequence of events that unfolded on the fateful day has been narrated by contemporary historians of his times and reproduced in theMysore Gazetteer , which notes that Tipu Sultan tried to negotiate with the British through General Harris on April 20 only to be told that he should cede half his territory, hand over four of his sons as hostage for compliance of British diktats, apart from payment of Rs. 2 crore.

The treaty, Tipu Sultan was told, should be signed within 24 hours.

Unacceptable treaty

The Mysore Cavalry commanded by Kammar-ud-din Khan was beaten behind the last line of defence near the Seringapatam Fort and the British reiterated the terms and conditions of the treaty, which was unacceptable to Tipu Sultan.

B. Lewis Rice describes the last day of the battle in the Mysore Gazetteer in the late 19th Century as per which more than 2,490 European soldiers and 1,887 soldiers from

various contingents of the native kingdoms raided the Fort and breached on May 4, 1799, at 1 p.m.

General Baird and his contingent took heavy shelling from a battery of musketry and rockets fired by Tipu’s forces, but it was not enough to repel the invading forces that entered the fort. One of the important casualties was his General Syed Gafur.

Buried among the dead

On learning of his death, Tipu Sultan mounted his steed and headed to the northern ramparts of the fort.On noticing a large British contingent, he turned east and headed through a gateway where his horse was struck by a volley of bullets.

Tipu Sultan fell and was buried among a heap of dead.

“While he lay with the lower part of his body buried underneath the slain, the gold buckle of his belt excited the cupidity of a soldier who attempted to seize it. Tipu snatching up a sword, made a cut at him but the grenadier shot him through the temple and thus terminated his earthly career,” the Gazetteerrecorded.

British were unaware of Tipu’s death

The British were oblivious of his death and when Tipu Sultan was not found in the palace, General Baird sent a search party that discovered his body among the dead.

The news of Tipu’s death and the capture of Seringapatam, according to the Gazetteer , reached London on September 13, 1799.

HYDERABAD, May 5, 2014

Astra successfully test-fired from Sukhoi

Y. MALLIKARJUN

The all-weather missile has a 60-km-plus range and single-shot kill probability

Astra missile is seen separating from Su-30 aircraft in the historic first trial conducted on Sunday.— PHOTO: Special Arrangement

Marking an important milestone, for the first time an Indian missile, Astra, was successfully test-fired from a fighter aircraft — the Sukhoi-30 MKI — from a naval range in the Western Sector on Sunday.

The test-firing met all the mission objectives and the air-launch was captured by side and forward looking high-speed cameras and the separation was exactly as per simulation, according to a press release from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Astra is India's first Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air missile and has been designed and developed indigenously by the DRDO. The 60-km plus range missile possesses high Single Shot Kill Probability (SSKP) making it highly reliable.

Astra is an all-weather missile with active radar terminal guidance, excellent ECCM (electronic counter-counter measures) features, smokeless propulsion and process improved effectiveness in multi-target scenario, making it a highly advanced state-of-the-art missile, the release added.

Congratulating the team, Avinash Chander, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister and DG, DRDO, observed that the launch was a major step in missile aircraft integration. He said this would be followed by launch against actual target shortly. “Many more trials are planned and will be conducted to clear the launch envelope. Weapon integration with 'Tejas', Light Combat Aircraft will also be done in the near future”, he added.

V.G. Sekaran, Director-General (Missiles and Strategic Systems), who chaired the Flight Readiness Review Committee, described it as one of the proud moments for DRDO and the entire country. Dr.K. Tamilmani, Director-General (Aeronautics), who oversaw the entire flight safety in the program, said the quality of integration and performance was high standards. This was the beginning of the phase for demonstration of launch over a wide air-launch envelope.

Director, DRDL, S. Som, said “it is a first of its kind and a good achievement”.

Astra's project director, S. Venugopal said the missile was comparable with the best in the world. He said that to completely clear the launch envelope about 20-30 trials would be carried out in a continuous fashion. The air-launch envelope would cover various aspects including altitude, speed and the angle of attack. He said Sunday's test-firing from Su-30 MKI was preceded by several weapon integration trials conducted between November 2013 and February this year. The missile underwent rigorous testing on Su-30 in captive mode for avionics integration and seeker evaluation.

He said the Mk-II variant of Astra with a range of 100 km is planned to be tested by this year end.

He said the air launch was the culmination of effort by a dedicated team from the Missile Complex, Hyderabad, EMILAC (Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification) and the IAF. HAL carried out modifications in Su-30 along with IAF specialists, while many Indian industries played an important role in the production of reliable avionics, propulsion system, materials, air-frame and software passing stringent airworthiness requirements for the missile.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, May 5, 2014

White tiger may land in tight corner

G. MAHADEVAN

Crammed for space:The tiger enclosure at the Thiruvananthapuram zoo.— Photo: S. Mahinsha

Even though officials at the Thiruvananthapuram zoo are excited over the imminent arrival of a white tiger from the Delhi zoo, the reality that there just isn’t enough space to house these majestic cats is something the zoo cannot wish away.

The zoo now has seven tigers; four of which are male. The oldest tiger is aged 17. One pair is scheduled to be given over to the Nagaland zoo. That still leaves the zoo with five. This number would go up by one when the white tiger is brought over.

Ideal situation

Under ideal circumstances the city zoo should only house three tigers.

“We are talking about one of the most solitary of animals, one that roams over a vast territory. If we have six tigers we can only let out three at a time and that too if we have two enclosures,” the zoo vet Jacob Alexander told The Hindu .

And this is why the zoo is now planning to carve out one more ‘enclosure’ from the current, sprawling facility into which the cats are let out now. “This way we can let out two females in one space and a male in the other,” Dr. Alexander explained.

The fact that a Bengal tiger was killed by its mate recently in Delhi only appears to have added a sense of urgency to the city zoo officials. In fact, the zoo officials have decided to wait for one whole year before allowing the white tiger into the same enclosure with a resident male.

Even though the city zoo and its Delhi counterpart had already agreed that they would split the cost of flying over the white tiger, the Delhi zoo reportedly wanted this agreement in writing. Accordingly the city zoo wrote out such an agreement, had it scanned, and emailed the same to the director of the Delhi zoo. The plan now is to fly down the tiger and fly back a jaguar in the same cage.

However, if there occur an undue delay in flying the tiger over, the zoo plans to fetch the animal by road. “We may have to take an air-conditioned van there to bring the tiger

over. Bringing a tiger over would be easier compared to transporting deer. We need take far fewer breaks or stops,” Dr. Alexander added.

But then, by dividing the present enclosure into two, would the zoo really find an answer to its space problem or would it end up having two cramped facilities for the tigers?

LAHORE, May 5, 2014

Bhagat Singh not named in FIR for Saunders’ murder

Over eight decades after his hanging, Lahore police searched the records of the Anarkali police station and found the original FIR

An archive photograph of Bhagat Singh in jail in Lahore.

Bhagat Singh’s name was not mentioned in the FIR for the murder of a British police officer here in 1928, the Lahore police have found, in a major boost to prove the legendary freedom fighter’s innocence in the case 83 years after his execution.

Imtiaz Rashid Qureshi, chairman of the Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation, had filed a petition seeking an attested copy of the First Information Report (FIR) registered against Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru for allegedly killing John P Saunders.

Bhagat Singh was awarded the death sentence for killing Saunders and was hanged at Shadman Chowk in Lahore in 1931, aged just 23.

Over eight decades after his hanging, the Lahore police searched through the records of the Anarkali police station on a court order and managed to find the FIR of the murder of Saunders.

Written in Urdu, the FIR was registered with the Anarkali police station on December 17, 1928 at 4.30 p.m. against two ‘unknown gunmen’.

A police official of the Anarkali police was the complainant. The complainant-cum-eyewitness said the man he followed was “five feet 5 inch, had Hindu face, small moustache, having slim and strong body, wearing white trouser [pyjama] and grey shirt [kurta] and also wearing small black christi-like hat.”

The court handed Mr. Qureshi a copy of the FIR.

Mr. Qureshi said special judges of the tribunal handling Bhagat Singh’s case awarded the death sentence without hearing 450 witnesses.

Bhagat Singh’s lawyers were not given the opportunity to cross-question them, he said.

Mr. Qureshi also filed a petition in the Lahore High Court seeking reopening of the case. “I want to establish Bhagat Singh’s innocence in the Saunders case,” he said.

The High Court has referred the case to the Chief Justice for constitution of a larger Bench to hear the case. — PTI

� Written in Urdu, the FIR was registered against two ‘unknown gunmen’

� Petition filed in Lahore High Court seeking reopening of case

THE TIMES OF INDIA

2G spectrum allocation case: Court records statement of A Raja PTI | May 5, 2014, 11.47 AM IST

The stage for the recording of evidence of Raja and 16 other accused, including DMK MP Kanimozhi, was set earlier

when the court had supplied a draft questionnaire containing 1,718 questions running into 824 pages to the

accused.

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Monday recorded the statement of former telecom

minister A Raja, a key accused in the 2G spectrum allocation case.

Special CBI Judge O P Saini started the recording of the statement of the accused by

saying that it was a "direct conversation" between the accused and the judge.

"Now the statement of accused will be recorded. It is a direct conversation between the

accused and the judge...you (accused) may chose to reply or not reply," the judge said.

The stage for the recording of evidence of Raja and 16 other accused, including DMK

MP Kanimozhi, was set earlier when the court had supplied a draft questionnaire

containing 1,718 questions running into 824 pages to the accused.

Meanwhile, the special court which was also scheduled to record the statements of

promoters of Essar Group and Loop Telecom, who are facing trial in a case arising out

of the probe into the 2G spectrum scam, deferred their deposition before it to May 19.

"I think there will be no time for you today. The matter is adjourned for recording of

statement of accused to May 19," the judge said.

Essar Group promoters Ravi Ruia and Anshuman Ruia, Loop Telecom promoters Kiran

Khaitan, her husband I P Khaitan and Essar Group director (strategy and planning)

Vikash Saraf are facing trial in the case along with three firms — Loop Telecom Ltd,

Loop Mobile India Ltd and Essar Tele Holding Ltd.

All of them have denied the charges levelled by CBI in the case, arising out of the probe

into the 2G spectrum scam.

In the case involving Raja and 16 others, the court had on November 27 last year

concluded recording of prosecution evidence after deposition of CBI's superintendent of

police Vivek Priyadarshi, the chief investigating officer, got over.

The court had recorded statements of 153 CBI witnesses, including Reliance ADAG

chairman Anil Ambani, his wife Tina Ambani, former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia and

attorney general G E Vahanvati, running into over 4,400 pages.

Besides Raja and Kanimozhi, former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja's

erstwhile private secretary R K Chandolia, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman

Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech Ltd MD Sanjay Chandra, Reliance ADAG executives

— Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair — are facing trial in the case.

Directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd Asif Balwa and Rajiv Agarwal,

Kalaignar TV director Sharad Kumar and Bollywood producer Karim Morani are also

accused in the case.

Besides these 14 accused, three telecom firms Swan Telecom Pvt Ltd, Reliance

Telecom Ltd and Unitech Wireless (Tamil Nadu) Ltd are also facing trial in the case.

They have been arraigned as accused in the first two CBI charge sheets filed on April 2

and 25, 2011 respectively.

The court had on October 22, 2011 framed charges against the accused under

provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with offences of

criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, faking documents, abusing official position,

criminal misconduct by public servant and taking bribe.

The offences entail punishment ranging from six months in jail to life imprisonment.

In the case involving promoters of Essar Group and Loop Telecom, the court had

framed charges against them for the offences under section 120 B (criminal conspiracy)

read with section 420 (cheating) of the IPC, while substantial charge of cheating was

made out against Essar Group Director (Strategy and Planning) Saraf only.

During the recording of evidence in the case, which had commenced on July 26, 2012,

the court had recorded statements of 95 CBI witnesses, running into 1,056 pages.

BUSINESS

May 5, 2014

No magic wand for new government to wave

RAGHUVIR SRINIVASAN

The national highways project of the Atal Behari Vajpayee government was a tremendous boost not just to infrastructure but to the overall economy itself.What will be the equivalent for the new government?

The wheels of commerce, to borrow a cliché, have been grinding ever so slowly in the last few weeks ever since the country went into election mode.

Businessmen and CEOs that you speak to uniformly have a single response to any question you pose and that is: “we are waiting for the next government.”

This probably reflects their frustration with the outgoing dispensation and its policies which have not exactly been industry-friendly. Yet, the statement is alsoa reflection of their expectations from the new government. Indeed, a survey report of industry body, Assocham, released last week shows that expectations of India Inc. from the next government are sky high.

“The expectation level is soaring by the day among different segments of the economy — stock markets, industry, trade, multilateral institutions and foreign investors’, says the report based on a survey of 450 CEOs from different sectors such as manufacturing, banking, IT, real estate and finance. The survey respondents expect the new government to bring down prices (inflation), interest rates, create jobs and revive manufacturing, all in the next few months.

Nothing wrong in the expectations at all except that it is unrealistic to imagine that they will all happen in the near-term. There is a clear danger here that the weight of expectations will be too much for any new government to bear and whatever it does will fall short, which will, in turn, fuel disappointment and disillusionment.

The biggest assumption underlining these expectations is that we will have a stable dispensation taking charge once the results are out on May 16. All bets on a quick return to growth will obviously be off if we are to get a wobbly coalition government next. However, getting a stable government does not mean that the economic problems will go away immediately. There is no magic wand for the new Prime Minister to wave and immediately cure the economy of its serious ailments. A strong government will only be the first step in a long journey to get the economy back on rails.

Issues

Let’s take a few of the issues that need to be addressed by the new government immediately. Price rise is the foremost amongst them. Rising food prices have proved an insurmountable problem over the last three years. The problems lie on the supply side and it is futile to assume that the next government can increase supply of food commodities immediately.

While foodgrain can be released from the overflowing warehouses of the government, the same cannot be said about vegetables, fruits, milk and other protein foods. Prices of perishable commodities always rise during summer and the first indications were provided in the inflation data of March which showed a spike in consumer prices.

With warnings of an El Nino strike this year, the predictions for the monsoon are not very favourable too. This is bad news for a new government inheriting the inflation gift.

Rest assured that inflation will not be tamed for the next few months. Assuming that the new government acts immediately to reform the agricultural products chain and procurement policies, the benefits will begin to be felt only by the end of the next few quarters.

The issue of interest rates is linked to inflation and those expecting rates to fall immediately will obviously be disappointed. The RBI’s actions reflect the sum total of the government’s efforts on the fiscal side and the new dispensation has to do a number of things right before the central bank can be willed into softening rates.

The second important issue that India Inc is waiting for the government to address is the slowdown in manufacturing. Consumption, the most important indicator of economic health, has slowed down visibly and that is clearly reflected in the sales of industries such as automobiles, consumer durables and electronics. The government will have to think of stimulus measures to revive manufacturing such as duty reductions/concessions in the first budget that it will announce in July. Reducing income tax to put more money in the hands of the people to spend is another option.

Of course, given the not-so-comfortable position on the fiscal deficit front, there will not be much leeway for stimulus measures.

Yet, the fact is that even if such measures are announced, it will be at least two, if not three quarters, before the benefits are begun to be felt.

Whichever party forms the new government, it will have to necessarily focus on infrastructure growth but here again, the benefits will be felt only over the medium-to-long term. The national highways project of the Atal Behari Vajpayee government was a tremendous boost not just to infrastructure but to the overall economy itself as it created demand for downstream industries and generated jobs. What will be the equivalent project for the new government? Will it be inter-linking of rivers if the NDA forms the government, as opinion polls seem to indicate?

Stiff challenges

The challenges on the economy front for the new government will be stiff and getting growth back on rails is a long-haul project. Those building up expectations now — including the markets — would do well to remember this.

raghuvir.s@thehindu.co.in

May 5, 2014

Preparing for the budget

C. R. L. NARASIMHAN

The budget is the most important economic statement of the government. Over the years, it has ceased to be a mere statement of revenue and expenditure but also conveys the thrust of the government’s macro-economic policies.

As everyone knows, the Finance Minister presents the budget at the end of February. This allows sufficient time for Parliament to debate and approve the budget proposals for the financial year commencing April 1.

The budget process for fiscal 2014-15 will be different from any normal year. An interim budget was presented by P. Chidambaram in February. Essentially, in the nature of a vote on account, the interim budget was intended to get Parliament approval for expenditure that will be incurred during the first few months of fiscal year 2015. This is meant to accommodate the election schedule and the formation of a new government, whose urgent task it will be to present a “full “ budget by July for 2014-15.

The new finance minister will be constrained by time. The budget exercise usually starts months ahead of its actual presentation (in February). This time that luxury will simply not be available. The finance minister will have very little time to nominate and get acquainted with key officials who will be responsible for the budget preparation.

All these suggest that the first budget of the new government, whatever be its predilections, would substantially resemble the interim budget of February. There will not be any time to prepare a fresh set of numbers, different from the interim budget. For

very practical reasons, the new government will stick to the projections of expenditure and revenue in the interim budget.

Yet, there is something special about the first budget of a new government, which, if opinion polls are correct, will be formed by a political combination that will be different from the one that has been in power for a decade. The July budget will be keenly watched for the likely course of fiscal policy over the next five years.

The very large expectations raised by political parties will challenge the new finance minister.

There is no doubt that some of those expectations are overblown. Like those from the foreign institutional investors who have pumped in large sums of money into the stock market. If the poll results do not vindicate their optimism in a Modi-led NDA government how will they react? Many other sections of society — industrialists and common man alike — clamour for a government which is ‘decisive’. Will such expectations be partially at least met in July?

Game changer this budget may not be but the Finance Minister would do well to lay the framework for a more transparent budgetary mechanism that will involve some honest accounting.

The next round of official national income statistics (GDP) will be available only in early June. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) next review of monetary policy will be released by that time. Inflation data — both CPI and WPI — will be released by the middle of this month. Whatever statistics that have been released do not present a particularly flattering picture of the economy although most forecasters think that the economy is on the mend and that GDP (gross domestic product) growth will finally move out of the sub-5 per cent growth trajectory during the current year.

The validity of election-eve official claims will come under scrutiny. Mr. Chidambaram has claimed that he is leaving behind an economy in good health. The current account deficit which threatened macro-economic stability last year has come down to very manageable levels (from around 4.7 per cent of GDP last year it is projected to come down to below 2 per cent).

On fiscal deficit, the government has claimed credit. The Finance Minister has said that on no account will the deficit breach the self-imposed red-line and that the interim budget’s estimate of the deficit at 4.6 per cent of GDP will hold good.

On the face of it, the success claimed in addressing the twin deficits is remarkable. Yet, in both, it is not the actual numbers so much as how they were achieved that matters. The current account deficit (CAD) has come down essentially because of the government clampdown on gold imports.

The restrictions on gold imports cannot continue indefinitely. Already a large portion of the bullion trade has shifted underground. Besides, a healthy reduction of the CAD is best achieved through increased exports and not through imports reduction. It is noteworthy that non-oil imports too have fallen, not a good sign because it indicates a continuing slowdown.

Much will be said about the other ‘achievement’ of the UPA-II government in fiscal consolidation. Here again, it is the quality of fiscal contraction that matters. It is not healthy to cut Plan expenditure or shift subsidy payments to the next accounting period or claim revenues that strictly accrue during the next year.

None of the above blemishes in fiscal management are special to the UPA II’s ways of managing public finance.

Yet, when claimed as big achievements during election time, they do require special scrutiny.

The next finance minister should sift the dodgy numbers from the genuine ones and overhaul fiscal policy.

narasimhan.crl@thehindu.co.in

The next finance minister should sift the dodgy numbers from the genuine ones and overhaul fiscal policy.

May 5, 2014

‘Bandhan will show that the poor are also bankable’

INDRANI DUTTA

Bandhan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd (BFSPL) took many by surprise when it got one of the two

banking licences from the Reserve Bank of India.

The IFC (International Finance Corporation)-invested microfinance firm has, in the past, won many awards. However, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh the Chairman and Managing

Director admits that he too was not prepared for the giant wave of support and adulation that came his way after the announcements made by RBI earlier this month. .

It has been a busy, busy phase since then Mr.Ghosh spoke to The Hindu about his plans to scale up operations and bring Bandhan’s 55,000 clients onto a formal banking platform.

What are your plans for launching banking services?

BFSPL is a microfinance organisation, which is also registered as a non-deposit taking NBFC.

We have been working for over a decade with women, giving them business loans for taking up a host of activities. Our aim has been capacity building and we provide loans starting from Rs.1000 and going upto Rs.5 lakh for business activities and from Rs.1000 to Rs.10,000 for non-business activities such as building a sanitary latrine) and children’s education, among others. We also give pension and there are 55,000 borrowers across 22 states, covering 173 un-banked districts. About 75 per cent of Bandhan’s coverage is in rural areas.

With the proposed launch of banking services, we will cover all our clients at one go and 50 per cent of the coverage would be in un-banked areas. This perhaps will be the largest single-sweep coverage of un-banked areas….

What is the business model you are contemplating?

We have a very viable model in our micro finance business and that model should work for the bank too. The loan portfolio stood at over Rs.6200 crore in 2013-14 against Rs.4400 crore the year before.

We are targeting Rs.7500 crore this fiscal . We will maintain our profitability, which is around Rs.200 crore.

We will need investments in setting up the IT infrastructure and also for the branch roll out, but that should not be a problem.

We have a capital base of Rs.1100 crore. However, initially profit will be modest.

What will be your areas of opportunity?

We will merge the existing microfinance business with the bank.

But our thrust area will be medium and small scale sectors. Reaching the un-banked areas would be one of the biggest areas of opportunity. We will target the poor and the segment just above that.

We would like to show that the poor can also be bankable. Our entire loan portfolio is directed at priority sectors and our recovery rate is 99.5 percent.

As we graduate from a MFI to a bank, our range of services will also expand such as accepting deposits and remittances. As we start taking deposits it should become possible for us to offer loans at rates lower than the present 22 per cent.

.You have a sizable manpower. How do you plan to utilise them as you roll out banking services?

We have nearly 13,000 staff who reach credit at the doorsteps of our borrowers. They are in regular touch with our clients and we hope to utilise them to raise deposits too. About 95 per cent of employees are from poor families and rural areas. We have trained them up to their present task. We will, of course, need fresh recruitments at key places and some at senior positions. But I would like to train up these youths too.

What are the challenges ahead?

My father was a sweet-maker and we were a family of eight including all the siblings. My family could not afford my education beyond my Masters. After my father’s death, as the eldest son, the task of running the family fell on me. I started my career with a NGO based in Bangladesh (just across the border from where we stayed in Agartala) and it was the biggest of its kind in the world. After that I worked for several such NGOs. I saw poverty and deprivation close at hand... I realised from the way my mother used to run our home with limited income, that women were the best money-managers. This also inspired me to start my own venture.

I started Bandhan in 2001 with money borrowed from a money lender at nearly 80 per cent annual rate of interest. We have grown year-on-year andBandhan’s client base, its branch network and loan portfolio give me immense strength.

But yes, I do foresee some challenges. And one of these is the integration of this workforce with the senior banking professional that we will need to hire. It may be a culture shock on both sides.

indrani.dutta@thehindu.co.in

INTERNATIONAL

MOSCOW, May 5, 2014

Moscow to give peace another chance

VLADIMIR RADYUHIN

Dialogue likely on steps to implement the Geneva accord

A boy rides a bicycle near a barricade outside the city hall in the centre of the eastern Ukranian city of Kramatorsk on Saturday. —PHOTO: AFP

Russia hopes to initiate peace talks in coming days between Ukrainian authorities and rebellious eastern regions even as Kiev presses on with its military crackdown on anti-government protesters.

“I think new efforts will be undertaken in the next few days to bring to the negotiating table Kiev’s authorities and representatives of the southeast in order to resolve problems that cause suffering and death in different parts of Ukraine,” said Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, who looks after the former Soviet states.

The statement came hours after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier discussed the possibility of Ukrainian talks on the phone.

Moscow said the two Ministers agreed “to assist in launching an equal dialogue” between Kiev and eastern rebels “on practical steps” to implement the Geneva accord. The talks are to be mediated by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mr. Steinmeier “agreed with the need to immediately halt violence and begin implementing the agreements under the Geneva declaration of April 17.”

The Geneva accord called for an end to violence by all sides, disarmament of irregulars, and an “inclusive” constitutional reform Ukraine acceptable to all regions.

However, shortly afterwards, Kiev moved the army and the national guard against the protesters in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking southeast. Ukrainian authorities and protesters gave conflicting reports on Sunday on the situation in the Donetsk Region, which has been the flashpoint of armed confrontation in recent days.

Kiev claimed to have retaken Kramatorsk and a few smaller towns on Saturday while rebels said that overnight they restored control over the towns.

In Odessa hundreds of residents forced their way into a police station and secured the release of a majority of anti-government protesters arrested following deadly clashes with nationalist radicals on Friday in which 46 people died.

Ukraine’s Acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who visited Odessa on Sunday, accused Russia and “pro-Russian separatists” of waging “a real war, a war to destroy Ukraine and its independence.”

Moscow said Kiev was “incapable of setting up dialogue without outside help.”

AFP adds:

OSCE head, Swiss President Didier Burkhalter, will visit Moscow on Wednesday for talks on the crisis in Ukraine, the Kremlin said. Mr. Burkhalter will fly to Moscow on May 7, the Kremlin said in a statement after President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. — AFP

BEIJING, May 5, 2014

Desperate Chinese villagers launch ‘citizen government’

ANANTH KRISHNAN

When the villagers of Jitan, a small township in China’s central Henan province, were facing a threat to their lands from a powerful developer, they turned to Beijing for help.

When their petitions fell on deaf ears, the villagers decided to take matters into their own hands: three farmers, out of desperation, quietly set up their own “government office”, and using copies of official seals, began issuing “orders” in the style of government directives, asking local developers to prevent their land acquisitions.

Remarkably, for six months, the citizen-run government office — perhaps the only one in one party-controlled China run by ordinary people — saw unsuspecting developers follow their orders, assuming that the directives were from the Communist Party. The office even sent out recruitment notices. Ten aspiring civil servants applied.

Fighting for rights

For half a year, China’s only people-run government office appeared to work as a government should: it helped fight for villagers’ rights, and blocked developers attempting to forcibly acquire farmland.

However, last month, local CPC cadres discovered the three-person office and shut it down.

The three farmers — Zhang Haixin, Ma Xianglan and Wang Liangshuang — may now face three years in jail, charged with impersonating a public office and fabricating official documents, the Global Timesreported.

Their story has shed light on how far China’s villagers, desperate to hold on to their land, or at least to receive fair compensation, are willing to go in an increasingly futile battle against powerful developers, who often have close ties with local Communist Party cadres and leaders looking to boost their coffers.

The story of Ms. Zhang (46), who led the effort to establish a “people’s government”, began in ‘007, when she started petitioning provincial government officials against local leaders who were visiting her restaurant but refusing to pay, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

Blocked petition

Her blocked petitions led her to organise fellow citizens who were fighting for justice, as she led groups of petitioners to the provincial capital, Zhengzhou, even paying for their travel.

When their efforts failed, she decided to set up her own government office. She studied land policy and the law, closely examined official documents and then started issuing orders using copied official seals.

Her “government” operated out of her one-room apartment that sat down the street from the local government office.

Remarkably, their office functioned for a year, issuing orders that helped protect villagers’ rights — and, some would argue, fulfilling the role that the local Communist Party government had failed to perform.

However, earlier this year, a property developer discovered their office and reported it to higher authorities.

The Dengzhou city’s prosecutors said the three have now been charged with using fake seals and issuing fabricated documents.

Ma Xianglan, a farmer from a village near Dengzhou, told the SCMP that Ms. Zhang was seen by many as someone who, for villagers, “could get things done.”

“Soon as I saw her, I was disappointed. She was chubby and tanned, standing at 1.6 metres,” Ms. Ma said. “But when we began to speak, my doubts began to clear as her speech is well paced and she knew a lot about land policy.”

A lawyer told the Global Times Ms. Zhang could face a jail term of three years. For the villagers of Henan, though, she is anyone but a criminal.

Their office functioned for a year, fulfilling the role that, some would argue, the local government had failed to perform

MOSCOW, May 5, 2014

Fresh sanctions on Russia likely by May-end

VLADIMIR RADYUHIN

The United States has indicated the timeline for imposing new sanctions on Russia: end of May, when Ukraine is to hold presidential elections.

“If in fact we see the disruptions and the destabilisation continuing so severely that it impedes elections on May 25, we will not have a choice but to move forward with additional, more severe sanctions,” U.S. President Barack Obama declared after talks in Washington with German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week.

With Moscow strongly opposed to any elections in Ukraine in the backdrop of Kiev’s ongoing military crackdown on anti-government protests in the east, further sanctions appear inevitable.

The first two rounds of Western sanctions have targeted Russian officials and businessmen close to President Vladimir Putin. They had little direct effect on the Russian economy, but spurred an outflow of capital that may total $150 billion this year and increased the cost of borrowing for Russian companies.

Penalising industries

Mr. Obama said that the third round of sanctions will penalise selected Russian industries, such as energy, defence and finance, including trade credits. The U.S. has

already introduced restrictions on the export to Russia of high-tech dual-use products and technologies, which currently stands at about $1.5 billion a year.

Experts said the ban will mainly affect Russian research institutions and some high-tech companies, but not the defence industry, which is largely self-sufficient.

The Russian energy sector is unlikely to be targeted by Europe, which heavily depends on Russian supplies.

The threat of sanctions has prompted Moscow to seek greater diversification of its energy exports. When President Vladimir Putin visits Beijing later this month, the two countries are expected to sign a deal on Russian gas supplies to China, which already imports over 15 million tons of Russian oil.

Europe’s business is strongly opposed to sanctions. Last week Germany’s business empires, including BASF, Siemens and Deutsche Bank, issued a warning against escalating sanctions .

Even Kremlin critics admit that Russia’s resilience to sanctions may be greater than the West’s capacity to maintain them.

Russia’s resilience to sanctions may be greater than the West’s capacity to maintain them

EDITORIAL

May 5, 2014

Updated: May 5, 2014 00:17 IST

Commissions of discord

Often a ruse resorted to by governments to quieten rumblings set off by politically embarrassing controversies, the appointment of commissions of inquiry inspire little confidence among the public. There is a general perception that these commissions toe the line of the regime that appoints them. On the legal side, they can only come up with fact-finding reports that need not be accepted by the government of the day. In this backdrop, the ongoing bickering between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the UPA government’s apparent desire to appoint a judge to head a commission to inquire into the Gujarat surveillance case is only of propaganda value. An inquiry ordered by a regime at the fag end of its tenure — especially after four-fifths of the general election is over — against the principal leader of the rival political formation will command little credibility. Secondly, the commission itself may not take off in the two weeks left for counting to take place. It needs a presiding officer and a secretariat, and must be given time to make a list of people to whom statutory notices will have to be sent. If the same party or alliance is returned to power, the process may continue, but otherwise it may make little headway after the elections.

BJP leaders have said that even though the decision to order a judicial inquiry was made in December 2013, the government has been unable to find a judge to head the panel. Their claims that no judge is likely to take up the matter at this stage of the electoral process, and that the next regime will review such decisions, have added to the political colour the episode has taken. The government’s stand that it has the power to name the head of the panel anytime before May 16, when counting is due to begin, ought to be backed by an explanation for the delay in appointing the commission. There can be no dispute that the matter to be probed represents a serious political, legal and moral issue. And that the probe ordered earlier by the Gujarat government also lacks credibility as it has made little headway. The only thing that can be said with any moral and legal certainty is that the parties should avoid giving the impression that they are using the issue to score political points. The main questions — why and on whose orders a young woman was kept under surveillance both within Gujarat and outside, whether it was done with her consent and on a request from her father, and whether the legal provisions providing safeguards against indiscriminate telephone tapping were complied with — remain unanswered. The whiff of political controversy should not take public attention away from the issues of privacy and state surveillance on private citizens that this episode has raised.