A politician who also cooks

Krishna teerath, Congress MP, Delhi

One cannot miss her trademark large bindi, and invariably, almost as soon as he boards the DTC vehicle, the conductor of the Delhi Transport Corporation would stand up and refuse the money for the ticket. She’d pay nonetheless, for Krishna Teerath never enjoys any free rides anywhere. And she is not one of the lowly politicos or first-timers who have to prove a point or two here and there.

As chairperson of the Central government’s women’s empowerment committee, Krishna Teerath has the rank of a minister of state, which entitles her to all the paraphermelia and strappings of power, like a red-beeacon car. Besides, she was once a minister in the Government of Delhi and even ruled over the house as Deputy Speaker. As such, she has been allotted an official residence as well as a vehicle. But she prefers the bus, travelling to Kalka Mandir from at Karol Bagh, a distance of a minimum of 30 km.

And recently, people saw her taking the metro to get her daughter’s horoscope made from an astrologer at Chandni Chowk. Says she: “I used to commute by bus when I was an MLA. Even now I prefer the bus while on personal work, And somehow they recognise me and ask, “Why, Madam, you travel by a bus?” Does she realise, though that it is her carriage and the trademark bindi that gives away who is really in the bus rubbing shoulders with the man from the street? Teerath is one grassroots level leader who has her own mass following. She scored three straight victories to become MLA and in the last Lok Sabha elections, she became an MP from the reserved constituency of Karol Bagh on a Congress ticket.....Continue

Pax Americana - Does the world need America?

Jamie F Metzl
Executive Vice President of The Asia Society
It has become popular to suggest that when the dust settles from the global financial crisis, it may become clear that the US-led post-war world has come to an end. If so, the global system that has secured peace, security, openness, and economic growth over the past six decades could be in grave danger.

Inspired by American leadership since World War II’s end, Europe, then Japan, then much of Asia and the world rose to new levels of prosperity; the world economy globalised upon the foundation of international institutions, norms, and standards; and foreign students educated in American universities returned home with new ideas about free markets, entrepreneurship, and democracy. The US military’s protective umbrella gave large swaths of the world a vacation from war, making it easier to focus on economic growth and regional integration.

America not only took the lead role in building the institutions of a globalising world – the United Nations, World Bank, IMF, NATO – it also became the model of inspiration for many other countries. After eight years of compromised American leadership, a botched war of choice in Iraq, failure to take the lead in global efforts to address climate change, Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo Bay, running up a $10 trillion debt, and igniting a global financial crisis – America’s once-glittering model has lost a good deal of its lustre and it’s leadership has been questioned by many.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

You are accessible and easy with the people, but there are questions about your capability as a tough administrator. How do you explain this?

I did not need that kind of stuff. I believe in team work. Everyone – from a political leader to an official – has worked together in dispensing of their responsibilities in complete cooperation. And you can see the results.

Any dream of achieving something that you had not in the first tenure?

Not really. We had tried to work for the welfare of all classes and communities. However, this time around the priorities would be slightly different, like reaching potable water to some towns, which is a challenge. We have plans for agricultural projects like making available interest free loans for farmers. We need to make better use of the youth force in the state, hence the need for technical and technological training for them. Young girls will be trained into nursing, and so forth. And especially, we will extend the rice for Rs three per kg needs under the Chief Minister’s Food Programme.

You had announced a metro rail project in the election manifesto, so will that fructify? Do you need funds for that?

The pressure on communication in the Raipur-Durg-Bilaspur corridor is immense, and a metro rail system could be the best way out. And this can be done. We need a proper plan and strategy for this. Money for the heavy investments can be raised from other resources. In fact, this is not the first time that we have started a large project. We are going to lay the longest power transmission line in the country and you shall soon see that happen.

Naxalism is a major headache, with at least one person being killed every day. Why is that we rarely talk of this issue, unlike the way terrorism is a major talking point?

Naxalism is a challenge for the entire country. So far as Chhattisgarh is concerned, the results of giving the menace a good fight has fetched results. For the last five years, we have consistently raised this issue at the Centre, and the tribal communities here have given us the seal of their support for this. True, some critics have questiond the Salwa Judum movement of arming villagers to fight naxalites, but the people of the tribal belt of Bastar have massively supported us by giving us 12 of the 13 seats there, which will help us further in fighting Naxalism.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

The canine commandos

Even as the nation was mourning its martyrs in the dastardly Mumbai attacks of 26/11, dogs found themselves, willy-nilly, the subject of hospitality debates – houses to visit and not to visit. And this, when a little over a month back, the Kerala Police Academy had demonstrated a better way to avail the services of canines in terror situations.

On October 19, twelve dogs in coloured attire marched through the amphitheatre of the Police Academy at Thrissur, Kerala, for their Passing Out Parade. The new battalion saluted the guest of honour, Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. Annie, the Labrador, proved her obedience and training by welcoming the minister with a bouquet of flowers. Canines can be made to play a key role in detecting and thwarting the evil designs of criminals, by sniffing and tracking. They warn about and expose planted explosives, IEDs and weapon caches, espy drugs, and also track down victims trapped under debris in natural calamities. With such abilities, they are best utilised by the Police, Railways Protection Force, airports and Defence Forces.

In the early days, there was no systematic training for canines in crime detection. The success of crime detection with the help of canines depended on the breed of the dogs. Later, the dogs and their handlers were trained at the BSF Academy at Tekanpur in Madhya Pradesh, the first dog training school in India. But owing to the high costs involved, apart from the language and climate impediments to training, the Kerala Police Academy at Thrissur took it as a challenge to train dogs to give more teeth to counter crime and terror in the state.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian

Politics with martyr's blood

It looks like Indian politicians and political parties will never rise from the political mire they love to indulge in. The opprobrious manner in which our political fraternity behaved during the action on the roads and iconic buildings of the 'city of dreams' is a standing example of the unethical – and true – face of Indian politicians.

When the entire nation was mourning on the last day of the gruesome terror attack in Mumbai on November 29, the two major political parties Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were busy sledging. Eying the Delhi and Rajasthan assembly elections, the BJP issued huge newspapers advertisements, accusing Congress of being “soft on terror”. Congress retaliated by saying BJP is trying to “milk a national tragedy”. For Congress, strengthening its hold on the traditional minority and backward community vote banks is crucial. And the BJP is trying to woo the backward communities and even a part of the minority vote bank using the national tragedy as a powerful tool.

The point both lost is simple: the people of India hated this sledging. They were disgusted with the politicians, one and all, and this provoked the mass protests, silent but explosive at the same time. SMSes ran thick and fast: “Tell Raj Thakrey that the 200 NSGs were not Marathi manoos, but south and north Indian bhaiyyas, sent to ensure that he sleeps well,” was perhaps the most poignant one.

And it was Raj who (it seems) first realised the mass disgust and chided the BJP for playing politics with the blood of martyrs. He had a word of praise too for Congress boss Sonia Gandhi in this context. But she herself stooped as low as she could: insiders say she was furious when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reportedly asked leader of the Opposition LK Advani to visit Mumbai jointly. That would be the perfect gesture in a democracy facing a national crisis. But Gandhi wanted nothing of that… may be Advani would hijack the prime ministerial platform to denounce Congress? In a glaring show of partisanism, she decided that she would accompany Singh.....Continue

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The Sunday Indian