Meet Bulbul Sen, a bubbly retired young Indian Revenue Service (IRS) Officer of 1977 lore. The year 1977 was the year when than Prime Minister Indira Gandhi chose to end for a variety of reasons the state of emergency in the country and announce schedule for the general election. Mrs. Sen can be identified with the post-emergency ethos which included triumph of freedom of expression and expansion of space for several sections including that of the Indian women. The ladders Mrs. Sen has managed to navigate since than in this men dominated world should be a source of inspiration, envy and pride for the multitude of Indian women fighting against all odds. Mrs. Sen is MA, MBA (Slovenia), Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration (Paris) who has been trained at premier national and international institutions in Public Administration, Management, Tax Administration & Tax Policy and WTO-related commercial law, like the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, National Academy of Direct Taxes, Nagpur, Institute International Administration Publique, Paris, the E.U. Secretariat, Brussels (Internship) and the International Centre for Public Enterprises, Ljubljana, Slovenia (for MBA, with specialisation in WTO issues).

She has varied experience in Tax Planning, Tax Management, WTO issues, Human Resource Management, administration while working in various technical & administrative posts in the Income tax Department and on deputation as Joint Secretary (Tax Planning & Legislation) in the Department of Revenue, Director in the Ministries of Commerce (International Trade Policy Division) and Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs. She also has experience in monitoring the performance of PSUs and handling consumer affairs, while Deputy Secretary/Director in the Ministry of Food, Civil Supplies & 7 Consumer Affairs. Her international experience includes representing India at various international conferences, including the Geneva and Seattle Ministerial Conferences of the WTO (1998 &1999 respectively), the Conference of SAARC Commerce Ministers, Male, the Maldives (1999), the Cartagena Protocol on Bio-Safety, Colombia (1999), the South Summit of the Group of 77 Commerce Ministers, Havana, Cuba (2000) as part of the Indian delegation headed by the then Commerce & Industries Minister ; the annual meeting of Commonwealth Tax Administrators, London, 2005, as head of the delegation; as also the Expert Group Meeting on Transparency, Competition and Objectivity in Public Procurement t, Luxemburg, Austria, 2012, as a member of the UNODC, South Asia Office’s team of Indian experts on Government Procurement. She has published articles on Tax Policy and Public Procurement Policy in several newspapers and journals. Her published books include one on the implications of joining the WTO for the developing and developed countries and the major chapters of a study on public procurement in India. Ms. Bulbul Sen is also a director on the Board of Heavy Engineering Corporation Ltd.

A chance meeting of the scribe with her over two weeks ago left him wondering if she has actually been so long in the public eye for so long. Going by the long list of her accomplishments and the yearning to do more like any other fresher, she is more than a match in enthusiasm to any new entrant to the field of revenue services.

This scribe came into telephone contact with her on the evening of October 4 rather accidentally. Mrs. Sen’s husband is a former Secretary in the Union Water Resource Development Ministry who presided over the February 2013 notification of the Cauvery Tribunal water sharing award mainly between Tamil and Karnataka with the Kerala thrown in. The acrimonious discourse between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on the sharing of waters of Cauvery in this year rainfall deficit prompted the old fashioned All India Radio rooted in the tradition of facts are sacred but opinion is free to get Dr. Shyam Kumar Sarkar, to notify the original award in 2013 to its studio for a firsthand account of what actually happened.

The onerous but joyous moment to talk to Dr. Sarkar at one of the multitude of studios of the AIR headquarters on the Parliament Street fell into the hands of this scribe. Mr. Sarkar graciously agreed to be interviewed by a novice on the subject and that is how a bond emerged with the veteran bureaucrat that led this scribe to Mrs. Sarkar.

Days after the interview, the apex court had modified its own order taking into account the difficulties put forth by the Karnataka government in translating the order into reality. This scribe had called on the mobile number of Mr. Sarkar for a low down on what it meant. The phone was picked up by Mrs. Sarkar who wanted to know if this scribe would care to listen to her for a few sentences before she passed it on to her husband.

Her voice was so gentle and persuasive that it would have been difficult for anyone to say no and this scribe did not even entertain such a thought. A few sentences later Mrs. Sarkar introduced her as an ex-IRS officer currently engaged in a project that no one has attempted in the post-independent history of India. It was about procurement of goods and services through various means and sources by the mighty government of India and how she along with her another colleague friend was in the process was actually engaged in an exercise to draft a policy which does not exist till date!

This was getting rich. Look at her credentials. She until a few years ago was a former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Delhi. Currently Mrs. Sarkar is a Consultant, Global Compact Network India which is a 13 year plus registered non-profit society functioning as the Indian Local Network of the UN Global Compact, New York. It is the first Local Network in the world to be established with full legal recognition. The India Network ranks among the top 10, out of more than 90 Local Networks in the world. It has also emerged as the largest corporate sustainability initiative in India and globally with a pan India membership of 230 leading business and non-business participants and 341 signatories, strengthening their commitment to the UN Global Compact Principles by becoming proud members of the Local Network in India.

Minutes into the talking Mrs. Sarkar wanted to know about possibilities of a wider audience for her novel project on public procurement in general and procurement policies in India in particular. A meeting was fixed up the next day. Madam Sarkar turned up with one of the books on public procurement she had penned during her bureaucratic career and an abstract of project she was working on for months now along with another colleague in the Global Compact Network India.  Sooner than later it would be a full-fledged book, a ready reference on matters pertaining to public procurement.

According to Mrs. Sarkar India’s maturity as a democracy and an economy lies that even as it faces external challenges through increased belligerence of Pakistan, cross border terrorism, slowing down of global economic growth and so on, it is steadily carrying on with its own economic reforms program. The quiet progress on General Sales Tax, the passage of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016, recent interest rate cut by the RBI are but some of the manifestations of the phenomenon.

Yet there remains one area in which government needs to take an important initiative. That is in the area of public procurement, or the system of government contracting being followed by India. This is still governed largely by the dated General Financial Rules (GFR), last consolidated in 2005. Businesses today feel that these rules are not able to encompass the complex needs of a modernizing Indian economy, especially in its tendering modes; its transparency rules which should be especially helpful to promote the small scale sector, the backbone of our industry; in its lack of provisions to encourage sustainable public procurement, in its lacuna in having an adequate mechanism for redressing the grievances of bidders and suppliers; in its market access provisions to balance the competing needs of maintaining openness and promotion of domestic industry and so on. They also feel that there are a plethora of public contracts rules, which are often not in harmony with each other, and therefore create confusion, which gives opportunity for both inefficiency, on the one hand and corruption, on the other”.

She bemoans that these rules, like the General Finance Rules, are binding only on the government procuring authorities, and not on the suppliers, and, therefore, are inadequate to ensure a level playing field for all players engaged in the procurement process. The need of the hour for the Business and Industry is an updated single, overarching Public Procurement legislation to clear the uncertainty and confusion on public procurement in India, which have led to so many avoidable of procurement scams.

Mrs. Sarkar says the Manmohan Singh Government attempted in vain a policy on public procurement through the Public Procurement Bill, 2012. Businesses, including the major central PSEs, private sector majors and the SMEs, in a consultation on an appropriate public procurement regime for India held in June 2016, by the UN Global Compact India (of which these enterprises are members) have expressed the need for a government contracting law which, while treating the Bill of 2012 as a baseline document, will be more angled towards enhancing ease of doing business.

Incidentally, just a few days ago the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s online citizen engagement mygov.in platform has sought public views by November 15 on modifications needed for `The Manuals on Policies and Procedures for Purchase of Goods, Works and Consultancy, 2015. On October 21 in response to a mail from this scribe bringing this announcement to her notice Mrs. Sarkar responded with a cool “Thanks, I am aware of this public consultation by the Procurement Division, Deptt. of Expenditure, GOI.

A posting on the website says that Ministry of Finance had prepared these manuals in conformity with the General Financial Rules, 2005 and contained broad generic Guidelines. It has been now decided to revise these Manuals. Changes are sought to be made in consultation with all the stakeholders and individuals, Industries Bodies and all other stakeholders are free to send their views on MyGov. Separately, ministries/departments have been asked to send their contributions.

The initiative is significant as Government organization procures a wide variety of goods and services and executes works to perform the duties and responsibilities assigned to it. In 2006 to reduce scope for subjectivity and to improve objectivity and transparency in decision making, the Government had prepared a set of three Manuals on Policies and Procedure for Procurement of Goods, Works and hiring of Consultants in conformity with the applicable directives contained in the new General Financial Rules, 2005.

These Manuals deal with clear guidelines for Public Procurement in tune with the imperatives of a growing and liberalized economy introduce quality in public procurement. A separate Chapter at covers the Outsourcing/ Procurement of Other (non-consultancy) Services, and points out areas where Manual of Policies and Procedures for Procurement of Consultancy and Other Services ii policies and procedures are different for such outsourcing/ procurements.

Similarly, this Manual of Policies and Principles for Procurement of Consultancy and Other Services owes debt to many preceding documents of Ministries and Departments of Central and State Governments, The World Bank Group, Public Sector Undertakings and Autonomous bodies and would welcome use of new ideas and materials developed here in a similar spirit.

BHUJIA BARONS is the remarkable story of one family and how its patriarch Ganga Bishan Agarwal or Haldiram as his mother called him gained a reputation for making the best bhujia in Bikaner. Fast forward a century and the Agarwal empire has built a behemoth of snacks and sweets establishment integral to Indian culture. Quite literally the 1984 November riots following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi gutted their establishment in Chandni Chowk in the national capital which went up in flames in front of their own eyes. One of the brothers Manohar saw everything that he had ever worked for, everything he had ever saved up, was right there, in those two small floors above the Sikh baker’s shop. His security and the future of his children was fast evaporating into a dark and sooty sky. 

Manohar felt a growing determination and would not give his father or grandfather the pleasure of saying “”you should have listened to me””. He silently vowed not to accept defeat but to rise again like a pheonix from the ashes. Generations of hard working members of this Agarwal family became the ‘Behemoths of Bikaner’ with revenues of more than Rs 5000 crores which is much greater than McDonald’s and Domino’s combined. 

Authored by Pavitra Kumar, an Army officer’s daughter married to Dr Aditya Raghunathan, living in Lakeville, Minnesota, vividly recalls the Agarwal family story in detail. It begins in dusty, benign Bikaner and traces the rise and rise of this home grown label, now one of the most recognised brands in the world. It all began way back in 1918 when patriarch Haldiram began making and selling a new snack — the bhujia with special ingredients that everyone knows and loves in Bikaner. This family revolutionised the snack food industry through original and ancient recipes coupled with innovative selling and marketing techniques. As with most family businesses, this too has seen its share of divisions over the years. It has in its ranks the odd black sheep as well.

Marwari families have stood strong for centuries on the bedrock of their established traditions, the most important being deference to elders. Seniority has always equalled wisdom for this community. Breaking this heirarchy is almost considered an unspoken form of heresy. If Haldiram gave an order, everyone in the household would hold their opinions, swallow hard and follow his edict. 

The brand name is used by three completely independent businesses run by Haldiram’s grandsons namely Haldiram’s Nagpur, Haldiram Bhujiawala, Haldiram’s Prabhuji and Haldiram in Kolkata; and the best known Haldiram in Delhi. 

The Haldiram Agarwal family are a bunch of very private men who hold their loved ones very close to their hearts, and their secrets closer still. These men run their business empires with benevolence, humility and originality, while tightly holding the reins of all operations. 

Visionaries, they share a common desire to learn from their mistakes and stay one step ahead of the future. In their fearlessness they have grasped ideas both good and bad, and taken a leap of faith in themselves and their abilities — to set in motion huge tidal waves of change. 

From their early start in the dusty lanes of Bikaner, their adventurous foray into Bengal, Nagpur and Delhi, to the firm launch pad of international expansion, their struggle continued as they fought to define their brand inside the gritty walls of courthouses. These are ordinary men who have achieved extraordinary feats. 

Most professionals within the Haldiram team admit that while they are developing processes within the company and enhancing existing norms, it has also been a remarkable learning experience for them to grow with the family. Haldiram’s is at the delicate cusp of emerging as a strong player at the national and global processed food industry. There are immense opportunities for professionals to be harbingers of this change and drive the company towards growth and success. 

Rarely can companies boast of multiple generations of the same family having worked for them. The Haldiram family have supported their community through the ages by inviting workers from their hometown to work with them when they have moved to other big cities. 

Haldiram’s grandsons currently at the helm of affairs realise succession planning is the key to their future success as also understanding the role of family members in the business. Ashish Agarwal recalls how he had struggled to play ‘boss’ right after passing out of management school. This business was built on the foundation of strong relationships. “”I came in the door eager to prove myself and ended up alienating several of our key contractors simply because I was too authoritative for them. Instead of seeking to first understand, I sought to change. That was the first lesson for the boss’s son.”” 

At a young age, the heirs are given the responsibility of thousands of crores of Rupees, yet there is no structure, documentation or process in place to help initiate them into the processes of business. Another grandson Pankaj Agarwal points out a lot depends on the people themselves. For instance if a fresher is brought in, trained in-house and then expected to make dosas for customers, it will be a huge challenge for him as he won’t know what temperature he has to keep the girdle plate on for the ‘perfect product’. 

Pankaj demonstrated a keen sensitivity to the challenges of the work force, driven by the desire to help facilitate them. The author found this a refreshing perspective to come across. Standardisation will help the organisation prepare itself for further expansion by setting up processes which can be easily replicated at newer outlets and factories. Delhi is the largest at approximately Rs 3000 crore annual revenue, with Nagpur approximately (Rs 2000 crore) and Bikaner (the Bikaji brand Rs 1500 crore). 

Family members wonder whether the Delhi Branch’s success is due to the ingenuity of their leaders or just luck of having bagged the capital as their territory. While each of the siblings loves the brand in similar ways, it is unfortunate that they continue to fight over their branding rights and territories. Even while being harassed by family strife, they try to make a better impact on the communities around them. They have built hospitals and schools and spent lakhs of Rupees on sustainable energy plants, indirectly helping the country become a better place. These youngsters of the Haldiram family maintain they are passionate about Haldiram every day that drives them.

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator.)

The Silk Road : A Biography From Prehistory To The Present Day — is a remarkable book because for thousands of years it has been a traveller’s history with brief encounters in desert towns, snowbound passes and nameless forts. It was the conduit that first brought Buddhism, Christianity and Islam into China. Today its central section encompasses several former Soviet Republics and the Chinese Autonomous Region of Xinjiang. The ancient trade route controversially crosses the sights of several foreign kingdoms, buried in sand and only now revealing their secrets. It provides introduction to its languages, literature and arts coupled with rich history of this dynamic and little known region. 

Author Jonathan Clements is an expert and written many books about China including a history of Beijing and biographies of Chairman Mao and Marco Polo among others. There is a concrete identifiable Silk Road today. It is the name of the motorway that curves along the northern reaches of the Taklamakan Desert, with signage helpfully written in English so that tourists can feel they are getting somewhere. Only a handful of men and women travelled its entire length. For most of the participants in the trade route, the ‘road’ if ever there was a real one, was only to the next town or oasis. 

The ‘Silk Road’ is a modern idea, dating only from 1877 when Ferdinand von Richthofen published a multi-part atlas of China. He spoke of a single ‘Silk Road’ but spoke of it in the plural as Silk Roads. Many writers prefer the terms ‘Silk Routes’ to point out there is no single identifiable road but a number of well travelled paths and tracks, worn by caravans over the years. Towns provided these caravans to grab new supplies, rest a little and graze their animals. But the pathways between them fluctuated on the basis of weather, war and local politics – even the towns of the Silk Road could fall in and out of favour, left high and dry by the ebb and flow of trade and drastic changes in the water tables or water courses. 

Richthofen drew his line joining China to the Mediterrenean. Now was the traffic all in a single direction! Much of the silk that headed west from China was intended for Ferghana valley in what is now Uzbekistan, where it was traded for the region’s highest priced horses. No coins of the Roman Republic or early empire have ever been found in China. In fact much of the material Richthofen assumed to have reached Rome down his Silk Road may have trickled south from Xinjiang, through what is now India and Pakistan, and then by sea to Roman Egypt. There is a reasonable case to be made that the Silk Road began in Xian and ends at Colchester, the old Roman town of Camulodunum, where a tiny fragment of Silk, no bigger than a postage stamp has been unearthed and displayed in the local museum? Or Marseilles, the old Roman town of Massilia where ships from eastern Mediterrenean would unload their wares. 

The author argues that its real end is in Samarkand in what was then Sogdiana and is now Uzbekistan, the city from which eastern goods would scatter north, south and west to reach their final destinations. The Silk Road spans a much smaller area, from Xian or Luoyang, through the sand blasted Gansu Corridor that plots a trail around the mountains of Tibet, and across the fabled deserts of Xinjiang to the nexus of Kashgar, from which it leads through mountain passes out of the Chinese world and into Central Asia. None of the people involved in trade on the Silk Road regarded themselves as part of a long route stretching between China and Europe.  

The very inhospitability of the Silk Road has often made it a dumping ground for refugees, prisoners and exiles. Entire tribes feeling the steppe conquests of the Kyrgyz or the incursions of Arab invaders have been uprooted and settled among the oases. Even today, it is difficult to draw a map of the region. The mountains stay in the same place, of course, but the areas between them are literally formed from shifting sands, which can in turn block and reroute rivers. Sometimes they flow into a depression in the ground and form new lakes, for a season, or for a generation, before vanishing only to appear a few miles away. 

One of the greatest dangers to the old town of Kashgar is the simple likelihood that a single earthquake might turn it back into dust. Not for nothing is Xinjiang often called the ‘Crossroads of Asia.’ For much of its history it has been situated between four powerful cultures. To its east there is China, the ancient culture of the Yellow river, and has made use of its jades since prehistoric times. To the south the Buddhist realms of India and Tibet, which often extended religious influence over the faithful in the desert oasis. To the West through the mountain passes of the Pamirs, Central Asia which adopted a distinct and powerful new identity in the middle ages to form an Islamic influence that superseded the Buddhists. To the north the northern empires of the steppes, that long, wide strand of grassland have their narrowest bottleneck. Some inevitably turned southward instead, creating periods of Xinjiang’s history when it has paid tribute or protection money to nomads. 

Several influences have created in Xinjiang a hybridity of cultures and races that is without precedent. The author says Marco Polo, one of the most famous chroniclers of the Silk Road, and indeed one of the few people who claimed to have travelled its entire length, did so in the late 13th century, in the dying days of its influence. If one travels the Silk Road today, one not only sees the ruins of desert Cathay but the geological and geographical features and the sites of rebellions and revolutions and short lived republics. The story of the silk road by the 18th century turns in upon itself, and becomes the story of the rediscovery of the slik road as explorers like Hedin and Stein, Pelliot and Mannerheim set off to investigate one of the few regions of the world as yet unmapped. 

Historical accounts have an inevitable bias towards civilisations that leave a footprint. The Silk Road, therefore, is a slippery historical object. Entire civilisations have risen and fallen on the Silk Road leaving perilously little evidence of themselves. The destruction of the Buddha statues in Bamiyan by the Taliban in Afghanistan is a determined effort to wipe out idolatory in the name of God. The vandalism of these ancient Buddhist monuments is only the latest and most memorably in the slow attrition of all Buddhist culture from the Silk Road. Interestingly, Mao has largely sneaked away from public places. Earlier one was used to finding a statue of Chairman Mao in every city in China. Mao has ceased to be a great unifying influence. A gripping and highly informative book about this little known region.

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator.)

NEW DELHI: The topic Sikh radicals or pro-Khalistani elements does come up from time to time but the Sikh community living in Canada is by and large peaceful and Canadian security agencies take such inputs emanating from anywhere seriously, Canadian High Commissioner in India Nadir Patel said on Friday.  

In an interaction with members of the Indian Association of Foreign Affairs Correspondents (IAFAC) here, the Canadian High Commissioner said that both the countries had stepped up security and terror dialogue at the level of the National Security Advisors (NSAs). 

The High Commissioner said that Indian diaspora of nearly 13 lakhs was very strong and vibrant in Canada. Of these, five lakh are from Punjab and three lakh from Gujarat alone. He said that nearly one lakh Indian students were studying in various streams in Canada’s universities and they could find employment in Canada after completing two full time years of study. 

The High Commissioner said that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government was encouraging youngsters with new ideas and technologies and start ups with fast tracking their visa and immigration process. 

He said that Canada was a strong supporters of India for entry into the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) as well as reforms in the UN Security Council and India’s membership to it. 

Prime Minister Trudeau’s government had taken over nearly 18 months ago and relations with India are at present at an all time high in all fields, including trade, clean energy, investments, aviation, tourism and infrastructure, he said. Cooperation in non-traditional fields like fashion technology, design, films and communications also had a lot of potential, he added. India and Canada are already holding four strategic dialogues, he said while admitting that there were areas of “disagreement” as well but that has not affected the robust and thriving ties between the two countries.  

As Canada has embraced diversity, multi-cultural ethos, the country’s cabinet is “very young” with 50 per cent women in it as well representation given to four Indian-origin Canadian nationals who are ministers. He said that Canadian Prime Minister is likely to visit India either later this year or early next year. Canadian Defence Minister is scheduled to visit India in another two weeks, he added. 

Mr. Patel said that Canada was keen to have more cooperation in defence sector and research. He said that nearly a thousand Canadian companies were doing business in India of which 400 companies have direct presence in India.  “Very few people know that Delhi Metro coaches are from Canadian company Bombardier and the bulk of french fries are from McCain, another Canadian company. But this is only tip of the iceberg, there is tremendous potential to expand the bilateral trade,” he said.

The recent decision of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to grant permission for phase-2 clinical trials for clot specific streptokinase (CSSK) is a major step forward in testing the efficacy of this lifesaving drug for heart patients – a first of its kind in the Country (patented new biopharmaceutical molecule).

Phase two of clinical trials is carried out to test the efficacy and side effect of the drugs on human beings. 

CSSK was discovered in the Chandigarh-based Institute of Microbial Technology, a national laboratory of Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). A US based pharmaceuticals company Nostrum Pharmaceutical LLC subsequently acquired rights from CSIR for further clinical development of this drug. 

This is being described as an excellent example of `Make in India’ and paves the way for more foreign collaborations for use of indigenous technology Research and Development in the pharmaceutical sector in the future overcoming the general perception of red-tapism in India.

This drug and its associated protein engineering technology was discovered and developed at CSIR-IMTECH, Chandigarh, by the R&D group of Dr. Girish Sahni, who was Director of the Institute and is now the Director General of CSIR and Secretary, DSIR, Government of India.

CSSK is a novel biotherapeutic molecule that has been generated by a recombinant DNA and protein engineering technologies with a innovative clot busting function, and will be used to treat acute myocardial infarction (heart attack). At the pre-clinical level, the drug has been successfully tested on monkeys where it has established, among other things, animal toxicity. Similar tests have been performed successfully on rats and mouse.

In the first phase of clinical trials, CSSK was successfully tested for safety and tolerability in healthy human volunteers. The current approval from DCGI to continue further clinical development of this molecule under on-going Phase II on heart attack patients will help define the precise therapeutic dose of CSSK needed in a phase III setting.

Congratulating Nostrum Pharmaceuticals for the progress so far, Dr Girish Sahni, DG, CSIR and Secretary, DSIR hoped that the current approval would help the company take the project forward in an expedited manner. He said “Nostrum has shown commitment towards developing this molecule for. Clinical  application and regulatory approval, and the success achieved so far has nurtured the hope of successfully developing India’s first ever patented new biopharmaceutical molecule, which will help save lives of cardiac patients all over the country”. 

According to Dr. Anil Koul CSSK is an excellent example of translational medical research carried out at CSIR-IMTECH and hopes that this success would continue to inspire scientists not only in the CSIR institutes but across the country to orient their research towards fulfilling unmet needs in the area of drug discovery and development.

Dr. Nirmal Mulye, President of Nostrum Pharmaceuticals LLC of Somerset, New Jersey, USA thanked CSIR-IMTECH and the role of Dr. Sahni and his teal all throughout the years for their support iim the on-going project. He said “We are glad at receiving this approval from DCGI and also thankful to CSIR-IMTECH for their unstinted support. Ours is a great example of a public-private partnership that has resulted in the development of a new bio therapeutic drug molecule which will address a very critical need of the patients across the country especially for those belonging to the poorer sections of the society”.

Four generations of Streptokinase were developed in CSIR-IMTECH by Dr.Girish Sahni. Two of these drugs i.e. the first two generations of bio generics were licensed and were successfully commercialized. They account for 50% of market share of clot busters in the country.

This success story from CSIR is a true example of cutting edge basic research leading to impactful translational research, creating a portfolio of drug molecules, a couple of which were successfully commercialised and the others are on the path of emerging as the global first. 

The Judiciary has been constrained and hampered by the staggering number of pending cases which has worsened and complicated matters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assurance to the Chief Justice of India J S Kehar that the Executive will share its burden has been widely seen as a positive gesture. It has the portends of bringing about a radically changed environment between the Executive and the Judiciary. 

PM Modi drew attention to the use of technology and digitalisation in the judicial system which will facilitate reducing the backlog. He was speaking last Sunday on the second of April at a function marking the 150th anniversary of the Allahabad High Court.

There is one serious glitch if the lawyers refuse to cooperate even as it becomes incumbent on them to help tackle this humongous problem of ever increasing backlog of cases. 

Lawyers must rise to the occasion rather than resorting to flimsy grounds and putting a spanner in the works. Genuine efforts must be made not only to tackle this issue hanging fire for an interminably long period but to provide justice to those suffering for decades for no fault of theirs. 

Justice delayed is justice denied. Sadly a legion of people have died waiting for the courts to decide their cases and render justice. The unjustifiable methods adopted including the obnoxious tendency of lawyers seeking repeated adjournments on flimsy grounds has been highly frustrating for the litigant.

At one point of time the previous CJI Justice T S Thakur had highlighted the delay in appointment of judges at public functions as well as during judicial hearings. At one point he wondered if the government wanted to bring the judiciary to a grinding halt by its reluctance to fill up vacancies. 

The Prime Minister’s latest remark of the Executive joining hands with the Judiciary should go a long way in providing a healing touch. The gravity of the problem of backlog of cases cannot be wished away. Use of technology can help in both liquidating the arrears along with expediting filing of documents and serving notices.  

There are indications that the government and Supreme Court Collegium might be close to reaching an understanding about a new Memorandum of Procedure for judicial appointments. If an understanding is reached on the MOP then the serious crunch of filling up the direly needed judicial vacancies at various levels can be speeded up. 

Appointment of judges coupled with filling up of vacancies and perking up the infrastructural facilities remains crucial to the speedy disposal of the backlog of cases. There were 437 vacancies in the High Courts alone on March first, 2017. Then there are the subordinate courts. There is no doubt great urgency and speed will have to be shown in making these judicial appointments. 

There are nearly 2.2 crore cases pending in the courts all over the country. Showing the way, 15 of the 28 Supreme Court judges have agreed to skip the summer vacations. Earlier, Jthe CJI had himself set an example. He did not break for summer heading a Constitution Bench hearing the National Judicial Appointments Committee case. Whether the High Court judges follow suit remains to be seen. 

It is suggested that the Centre and the States can prepare their own lists of obsolete laws and wield the axe. Frivolous cases needs to be deterred. Then there is the issue of Lawyers going on strike as evidenced on March 31 amid efforts to discipline them. They would harm their own interests if they fail to self regulate. 

At some stage outside intervention cannot to avoided. The days are not far away when institutions and parties might become the target if they fail to deliver. 

On its part the apex court is shedding its opposition to transparency by consenting to the proceedings being recorded. The process of reforms undertaken by CJI Kehar must be supported by the Modi government and those outside it.

(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator. The views are personal.) 

Udhampur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that  40 years of bloodshed in Jammu and Kashmir has not benefitted anyone. He exhorted the youth in Kashmir valley to choose tourism over terrorism for ensuring the state’s development and well-being.

Addressing a public meeting after dedicating India’s longest road tunnel that links Kashmir Valley with Jammu, Mr. Modi reminded the stone-pelters of the valley that stones can be used for better purposes — building infrastructure. He said that Kashmir Valley would have  been on the top of the world tourism list had terrorism not spread. 

Mr. Modi also hit out at Pakistan eyeing Kashmir, saying, they can’t even take care of themselves. He said that his government is committed to ensure fast-paced development of Jammu and Kashmir, which would show the people living under occupation in the other parts of the state how they are being destroyed.

The Chenani-Nashri Tunnel is an all-weather route that reduces the distance between Jammu and Kashmir Valley  by 31 kilometers. Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti were also present on the occasion. 

The 9-km long Chenani-Nashri Tunnel was built at the cost of Rs. 2,500 crore rupees. It bypasses the snow-bound upper reaches of Patnitop and reduces the journey time by two hours. 

The tunnel is equipped with world-class security systems and smart features like Integrated Traffic Control System; Surveillance, Ventilation and Broadcast Systems; Fire Fighting System; and SOS call-boxes at every 150 metres. There is also a parallel escape tunnel, with ‘Cross Passages’ connecting to the main tunnel at intervals of 300 metres.

As the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has chalked out its plans in striving to establish a Hindu Rashtra. It has slowly but surely begun to spread its wings by assuming the political leadership in the states. It started with Haryana and now has its chief ministers firmly ensconced in Uttarakhand and crucial Uttar Pradesh.    

Winning a landslide in the most populous state in the country makes the BJP the frontrunner in the upcoming general elections two years later in 2019. This has been possible in great measure to the RSS workers chipping away tirelessly on the ground facilitating the Lotus party in winning elections particularly in UP after a gap of 14 years. 

It all began with the installation of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister in May 2014. The RSS has since fine-tuned and consolidated its strategy after a setback in the assembly elections in Bihar in 2015. Winning the recent assembly elections in UP, Uttarakhand coupled with quick thinking in forming governments in Goa and Manipur has paid the BJP rich dividends. In Punjab the Congress won comfortably. 

Modi’s relentless campaigning as evidenced in UP puts him in a league of his own rendering his opponents as mere also rans. The trend of RSS men taking over the political leadership in the states is ominous. The hardliner from Gorakhpur — Yogi Adityanath being catapulted to the chief minister in Lucknow — was only waiting to happen.  

The Yogi has made the right noises so far. At the same time the crackdown on unlicensed slaughter houses cannot be questioned. The result has been a meat crisis all over UP forcing meat sellers to go on strike since Monday last. There is tension in certain parts of the state as it is mostly Muslims in the meat trade. 

The Yogi, who has begun work in right earnest, has asked all departments to prioritise tasks that can be achieved in the first 100 days of his government. Simultaneously, he needs to ensure that he does not project himself as a radical Hindu zealot out to harm the minorities. He also needs to send an unambiguous message that violence against and intimidation of ordinary citizens by political parties or pro-Hindutva squads or the cops themselves will not be tolerated. 

While the Prime Minister says India is now a nation that meets the dreams of its youth, Adityanath has invariably undermined the choices, freedoms and rights that the youth are entitled to in a civilised society. 

The RSS wants to quicken the pace of saffronisation now that the BJP has a majority of its own in the Lok Sabha. During the Prime Ministership of Atal Behari Vajpayee from 1999 to 2004 the RSS was helpless as the BJP led NDA government was a 26-party disparate coalition. An understanding reached by the NDA was that the Vajpayee government will steer clear of implementing the controversial three-point agenda of the RSS. These pertained to building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution according special status to Jammu and Kashmir and implementing the Uniform Civil Code. 

The keenness of the RSS to bash on regardless in the prevailing circumstances with Modi as the Head of Government is not surprising. Its leadership has been emboldened with the staggering win in UP reminiscent of the outcome in the 2014 general elections. It is clear that this assembly win is no flash in the pan.

What is becoming apparent is that it will not be easy to brush aside the RSS as evidenced in Gujarat when Modi was the chief minister. Under these circumstances Modi might be compelled to contest the 2019 general elections for a second term as Prime Minister on the Hindu card. He has been known to be a fighter and has not thrown in the towel in the past. 

The Prime Minister has affirmed time and time again that he will abide by the provisions of the Constitution. What cannot be lost sight of is that this country has the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia. It is not easy to get rid of them. 

The RSS has ensured installing its key men in historical and research organisations to rewrite history in keeping with its own perspective. The development agenda being pursued by Modi has to be dovetailed with the Hindutva agenda of the RSS.   

Development is bound to be the dominant theme coupled with Hindutva and pro-poor programmes with variations in the schemes connected with the “garibi hatao” slogan of the late Indira Gandhi during her Prime Ministership. 

Modi has sent the opposition to the dog house in UP twice in a span of three years. Be that as it may the Congress as well as the regional parties like the SP and BSP have been made toothless. 

Having spent more than a week in office Adityanath has shown he means business. Jharkhand, another BJP ruled state, has also decided to shut down illegal abbatoirs. At the same time it has become necessary for the Lotus party to assure the people that their focus is on development rather than whipping up anti-Muslim hysteria.   

The SP is in a shambles in UP because of the conflict in the Yadav family. With Patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, his son and erstwhile chief minister of UP Akhilesh Yadav having called separate meetings, a split appears inevitable.  

There is mounting clamour in the Congress to restructure and overhaul the party. The leadership of Congress Vice President and heir apparent Rahul Gandhi has failed to enthuse the party. It has gone from bad to worse as evidenced in UP. 

(T R Ramachandran is senior journalist and commentator. The views are personal.)

Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari on said that former President Dr. A.P.J. Kalam was a “man of technology’’ who not only contributed to the progress of defence research organisations but had a way with younger people and motivated them.

Speaking after releasing the book “The People’s President A P J Abdul Kalam’’, written by S,M. Khan who had served as Press Secretary to Dr. Kalam during his presidency from 2002-2007, the Vice President said the book presents an insider’s account and is an important document chronicling different aspects of Dr. Kalam’s life. “Dr. Kalam always showed an eagerness to reach out to the younger generation and students,’’ he said.  It was in July last year that Dr. Kalam collapsed and died following a massive heart attack while delivering a lecture in Shillong. Ironically, he breathed his last among young students whom he much adored and loved to spend his time interacting with them and teaching them to keep their dreams alive and realise them.   

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley described Dr. Kalam as an “unconventional President’’ with an “unconventional mind’’ who always had a vibrant air of positivity around him. “He was not cynical and exuded positiveness and was very positive about India’s bright future and wanted to see India as a developed nation by 2020,’’ the Finance Minister said.

Mr. Jaitley also recalled his numerous interactions with Dr. Kalam during his presidential tenure at Rashtrapati Bhavan, saying his style and simplicity charmed the people. He recalled Dr. Kalam’s interaction with students in Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) in Delhi University when moments after emarking in his car he rushed back for an impromptu photo session with the 20 students who had asked him questions. “Such was his simple and spontaneous nature and unconventional approach as President,’’ he recalled.

Another interesting anecdote, Mr. Jaitley said, pertained to the dissolution of the Lok Sabha in 2004 by the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Mr. Jaitley said that he and the Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee had to spend quite some time with Dr. Kalam answering his queries relating to Constitutional provisions. He described Mr. Khan, the author, as a balanced, fair, conscientious and committed civil servant who has served in different capacities in the Indian Information Service and is currently Registrar General of Newspapers in India (RNI).

Mr. Khan said that he had made an attempt in the book to pen down various facets of Dr. Kalam’s life during his tenure in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Dr. Kalam was an inspiration for scientists and it was his vision of the series of missiles that produced Agni, Prithvi, Trishul and Nag, Mr. Khan recalled.

“Dr. Kalam’s accessibility and generous humanism made him immensely popular among people. He developed a grip over legal, judicial and constitutional issues. He was the first President to have returned a bill to the Lok Sabha for reconsideration under Article 111 but when Lok Sabha sent it back to him, he took just a few days to sign it and did not sit over it,’’ Mr. Khan said.

He narrated an incident when a student asked him about population growth in the country. “I am innocent. I have not added to the population,’’ was Dr. Kalam’s witty reply . However, later he explained the problem in detail. Another question which he faced often was about the highlight of the Indian civilization to which his answer used to be “real open mind, tolerant mindset and pluralism,’’, Mr. Khan reveals in the book which is replete with many such instances.

While Dr. Kalam was at ease with students and children, he also enjoyed his breakfast sessions with MPs in Rashtrapati Bhavan. He studied Quran and Gita with equal ease and attention and also played Veena.

About 700 years back Patan was the capital of a powerful kingdom.The greatness and splendour of the town have been described by a number of poets and chroniclers. Anhilpur covered an area of eleven kos; and within this had several temples and schools. It had 84 squares, 84 bazaars, and a mint to manufacture gold and silver coins. Different castes lived in their respective localities and there were specific areas where ivory, silk cloths, diamonds, pearls, rubies, aromatic bath oils and other merchandise were sold. 

There was a separate market for bankers, Doctors, artisans, goldsmiths, sailors, bards, genealogists, each had a market of their own. The description might be exaggerated but it is undeniable that Anhilpur-Patan was once a prosperous, sprawling and attractive town. Seated here were Kathis of the lineage of Raja Karan — terrifying figures over six feet tall, strong limbed, cat eyed and brown haired; Kolis, short statured but well built, bow and arrow at their waists; dark and vigorous Bhils, professional looters and fearless warriers; and Rajput soldiers of more refined visage and superior status but valorous nonetheless. 

Madhav was effectively the ruler being Karan Raja’s Prime Minister. He managed all the business of government. The King was a mere puppet and Madhav the defacto ruler. In the book “Gujarat’s last Rajput King — Karan Ghelo’, Dalpatram Dayabhai like many other liberal Western educated Gujaratis including the author Nandshankar Mehta was convinced that whatever the drawbacks of British Rule, it would restore Gujarat to its former glory. Lamenting the passing away of a glorious past he wonders who would believe that the indolent weak and the decadent Rajputs of today descended from the valiant race that once ruled the land? Who would believe that the weak starving illiterate Muslims of today have descended from the Muslims of yore? And as for the Marathas no trace of their former glory survives. However Mehta does not despair and prays under British rule Gujarat may rise from the ashes once more to become a garden of paradise, the abode of Lakshmi, the storehouse of all virtue. 

The story of Karan Vaghela is a tale of love and passion, revenge and remorse. The Raja was brave but thoughtless and a pleasure loving Rajput King, abducts Roopsundari, the wife of Madhav whose brother is killed as he tries to protect her. In revenge Madhav goes to Delhi where he persuades Sultan Allauddin Khilji to attack Gujarat. The attack succeeds and Karan loses not only his kingdom but his wife Kaularani and a few years later his daughter Devaldevi as well to the Turkish sultan. He gains the epithet ‘Ghelo’ (foolish). 

The Turkish conquest was a turning point in the history of Gujarat, and it was not long before the story of Madhav’s betrayal, the humiliating defeat of Karan Vaghela and the fall of the great city of Anhilpur-Patan. Khilji’s invasion was recorded in contemporary Jain chronicles. Karan Raja’s story was not confined to Gujarati sources alone. The events that led to his fateful second encounter with Khilji’s forces and the capture of his daughter Devaldevi were described in considerable detail by Amir Khusrau, Khilji’s famous court poet. Then there is the tragic romance between Devaldevi and Khilji’s son Khizr Khan after she is brought to Delhi. 

Mehta’s historic novel Karan Ghelo in 1866 was a runaway success. As the first modern novel written in Gujarati, the book was a landmark in literature. It remained immensely popular right into the twentieth century and until a few decades ago was used as a textbook in Gujarati medium schools. Interestingly the novel has never been out of print. It has caught the attention of academics seeking to probe the roots of Gujarati regional identity. 

The second half of Karan Ghelo is based in Baglan where he managed to establish himself with the assistance of Ramdev, the Maratha ruler of Devgadh. Here he lives a solitary life, his only consolation being his daughter Devaldevi. Kaularani, now a favourite of Khilji, asks the sultan to get her daughter Devaldevi back either willingly or by force. The sultan orders the generals to secure Devaldevi. 

When Karan refuses to give her up he is attacked by the sultan’s forces. In need of Maratha support Karan reluctantly agrees to marry Devaldevi to Shankaldev, the prince of Devgadh, though he deems him to be inferior in status. Before she can reach her new home she is captured and taken to Delhi. 

The author sees Devaldevi’s clandestine meetings with Shankaldev from her point of view. Her feverish longing reveals Devaldevi as more than just a prize to be fought over by Turks and Hindus but a young woman capable of independent thought and feelings. The blossoming of love between Devaldevi and Shankaldev gives Mehta an opportunity to make an impassioned plea against arranged and child marriage in particular. They reflect the reformist agenda of the 19th Century with which the author was so closely involved.

Mehta was part of the English educated intelligentsia of the nineteenth century Gujarat. He joined hands with other colleagues to establish the Manav Dharma Sabha and was an enthusiastic member of the 

Buddhivardhank Sabha which was set up in Bombay in 1851. Both organisations were strong champions of issues such as women’s education, widow remarriage, and the removal of the caste ban on foreign travel. They were vocal in their condemnation of untouchability and challenged superstitions, the belief in magic spells and ghosts and spirits. Perhaps even more daring is the manner in which Mehta portrays the relationship between Madhav and Roopsundari. As a woman who was abducted and had to become part of the kings’s harem, she is a fallen woman, a ‘polluted commmodity’. Yet Madhav does not reject or abandon her after Patan falls and she is rescued. On the contrary the two embrace passionately…..laughing and weeping with ‘joy’, their love as strong as before. The couple undergo the mandatory purificatory rites and treat it as a mere formality.

In the first edition of Karan Ghelo, the author disclosed his intention of writing the book to draw as accurately as possible a picture of how things were at the time of the story — the manners of the men and women of the time and their way of thinking; the principles of government of the Rajput kings of Gujarat and the Muslim emperors of Delhi; the heroism and the pride of caste of the men and women of Rajasthan and the passion and religious fanaticism of the Muslims. A highly readable book which provides the flavour of age old love, passion and palace intrigues of the times.