Daily News Mail - News of 14/05/2015

Politicians lose space in govt. ads

• In a landmark judgment holding that taxpayers’ money cannot be spent to build the “personality cults” of political leaders, the Supreme Court on 13 May restrained the government from publishing the photographs of political leaders, Ministers or prominent persons in government advertisements.
• The court said such photos tended to portray a government project as the achievement of a particular individual and thus paved the way for a “personality cult.” Such personal glorification and image-making at public expense was a “direct antithesis of democratic functioning,” it held.
• And that too, pointed out the judgment by a Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and N.V. Ramana, when not a day goes by without one government ad or the other being published to coincide with some event or occasion.
• The court, however, drew an exception to this restraint in the case of the President, the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India.
• In their case, the judgment said, they have to decide for themselves whether or not their photographs should appear in a government advertisement. By this, the judgment, in a way, makes them personally accountable for the publication of their photographs.
• Besides this leeway, the judgment only gives space for publishing the photos of “acknowledged personalities” like Mahatma Gandhi to commemorate their anniversaries.

Guidelines

• The verdict relies on guidelines on ‘Content Regulation of Government Advertising’ framed by a three-member committee, led by legal academician N.R. Madhava Menon. The panel was set up by the Supreme Court in 2014.

Some modifications

• The judgment, while accepting the panel’s guidelines that covers all forms of advertising, including on the Internet, introduces modifications, too.
• In fact, the Madhava Menon Committee wanted the exemption accorded not just to the President, the PM and the CJI but also the Governors and the Chief Ministers.
• Again, the judgment differed with the recommendation to impose a special curb on government advertisements on election eve.
• Drawing a distinction between “government messaging” and “politically motivated ads” in this context, it said such a curb is unnecessary on election eve provided the advertisement serves the public interest and facilitates dissemination of information.

Xian offers a historic backdrop for Xi-Modi tryst

• Before leaving for this ancient city, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the Chinese media on 13 May that his visit would set a “new milestone” for Asian relations.
• Mr. Modi left New Delhi for the three-day visit at night, and as he and President Xi Jinping meet on 14 May to set about trying to rebuild trust after a year that has been known more for the India-China flashpoint at Chumar, bad blood over India-U.S. moves on the South China Sea and China-Pakistan infrastructure projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, they will have a historic background to make that start.
• To begin with, Xian is in Mr. Xi’s native Shaanxi province, where his family hails from, and is a way of returning Mr. Modi’s gesture when he invited the former to visit Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar first. Mr. Modi will be accompanied by Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.
• Xian is also replete with historic significance for the India-China relationship. It is the place where China’s first Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who unified China and constructed the first Great Wall, was buried.
• Emperor Qin reigned in China from 221 BC, around the time King Ashoka ruled over most of South Asia and Buddhism spread from India. He planned his own mausoleum, comprising an army of terracotta warriors which were made by more than 7,00,000 workers.

Silk route

• Xian is the starting point of the ancient Silk Route that stretched from Ch’angan(Xian), as it was known (city of eternal peace), to Istanbul, and is Mr. Xi’s most important project at present. The Silk Road economic belt and the 21st century Maritime Silk Route that make up the “belt and road” initiative that China is preparing to spend billions on is yet to receive India’s approval. Through the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB), the Chinese hope to integrate the economies of Eurasia, with Russians as their core ally. In parallel, the Chinese have embarked on the 21st century Maritime Silk Road, which hopes to establish a string of ports, industrial parks, tourism hubs and smart cities along the coast. These ports, in turn, would be linked by economic corridors which will connect with specific hubs along the SREB. In fact, visibly discomforted over the project that will reach out to all India’s neighbours, Mr. Modi has set about with his own neighbourhood initiatives in the Indian Ocean (Mausam project), and land connectivity (through SAARC).
• Our trade with China has grown phenomenally in the last decade and so has our trade deficit ($44.7 billion at last count). The Chinese market has been resistant to entry by our pharmaceutical exports and our service industries. An unequal relationship is an uneasy relationship. 
• Sources say Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi will discuss more confidence-building measures to ensure “peace and tranquillity” on the border.
• Finally, on the Prime Minister’s sightseeing list are the Little Goose and Big Goose Pagodas that became the home of traveller Xuan Zang, who returned to Xian in AD 652 after spending 18 years in India studying Buddhism. Xuan Zang’s legacy is immense in China, and Mr. Modi has taken a keen interest in finding the places where he lived in India, especially an excavation site next to his hometown of Mehsana. “In so many ways Buddhism brought India and China together for thousands of years of peace, so why not now? If there is a ‘Made in China’ [product] in every Indian home, there is a ‘Made in India’ place for Buddhism in every Chinese home,” BJP MP Tarun Vijay, who travelled to China ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit, said .

Ancient manuscripts

• Officials say Mr. Xi will show Mr. Modi some of the ancient manuscripts prepared by six visiting Indian scholars that are kept at the Big Goose Pagoda as well.
• Mr. Modi will leave for Beijing late on 14 May evening, ahead of his meetings with Premier Li Keqiang and the signing of several bilateral agreements. The agreements include railway lines, providing trains as well as a rail academy for skill development, a joint venture in outer space and cultural ties. Deals estimated at $10 billion would be signed, Chinese Ambassador Le Yucheng said.
• Much will depend, say analysts, on how the meeting between Mr. Xi and Mr. Modi goes, one reason officials remain tight-lipped about the exact outcome of the visit.

Mausoleum of the first Qin Emperor

Preparedness as the key

• The recurrence of a major earthquake on May 12 — this time measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale — with its epicentre near Kodari in Nepal, barely a fortnight after the devastating temblor in the landlocked country, has once again raised questions about preparedness for such disasters in the subcontinent. 
• India is divided into five seismic zones, with Zone 5 being the most active and earthquake-prone. The Himalayan regions, the Assam and Burma region, and the Bhuj region in the west fall in this category. While the time of occurrence of a big earthquake cannot be predicted accurately with existing technology, the foreknowledge of potential danger areas can help mitigate the impact of a disaster. 
• The reason for earthquakes occurring in Nepal is known: the movement of the Indian tectonic plate against the Eurasian plate. Along the Himalayas lie two fault-lines: the Main Boundary Thrust and the Main Central Thrust. Running parallel to the Himalayan ranges to a width of 100 km to 120 km, this region has a history of earthquakes. In the last 120 years, there have been four major events: 1897 (Shillong), 1905 (Himachal Pradesh, Kangra), 1934 (Nepal-Bihar border), 1950 (Arunachal Pradesh, then a part of the North East Frontier Agency or NEFA).
• The movement of the Indian tectonic plate against the Eurasian plate has created accumulated stress. This stress is released in a manner that makes predicting earthquakes impossible. When a major event happens, part of the stress is released at that point but accumulates in a different part of the belt. Thus there is no natural escape for the region from susceptibility to earthquakes. The best-laid plans for disaster mitigation following quakes can go awry, but some lessons can be learnt from the past. However, as the gap between the occurrence of major earthquakes in a given region could stretch over more than a lifespan, memories can fade and mitigation plans may not be grounded in lived experience. The real advancement that has been made recently in India is, for instance, the setting up of many seismological stations, especially after the Bhuj earthquake of 2001. Measurements from these stations and global positioning system data now tell us the Indian plate is moving north at a speed of 5 metres a year. This would contribute to stress accumulation and to seismic activity even in Zones 2, 3 and 4. 
• We need to accept earthquakes as a reality and do everything in our power to redefine development plans, especially in terms of building quake-resistant buildings. 
• There should be systematic resort to “disaster drills” to educate the public on what to do during an earthquake. Preparedness is the key to managing any more such disasters.