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Republican National Convention Enlists First Sikh Speaker

By HEATHER TIMMONS

An American Sikh is scheduled to speak Wednesday at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., the first time the party has invited a Sikh to speak at a national convention.

Ishwar Singh, head of the Sikh Society of Central Florida, will give the invocation on Wednesday evening, according to the most recent schedule available. Tropical Storm Isaac has disrupted some of the Republicans' convention plans.

“I want to educate the people, so they know about Sikhism,” Mr. Singh said Monday night by telephone. Mr. Singh said he was contacted by the party after the Aug. 5 shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin that killed six people. The gunman, who was killed by the police, was an Army veteran and white supremacist who some believe confused turban-wearing Sikhs with Muslims.

Mr. Singh said he thinks the Sikh vote in America is split. “I think you're going to see everyone has their own opinion,” he said. “I won't say we're all Republicans or Democrats, you will see individuals like everywhere else.”

Mr. Singh moved to the United States in 1970 from Indian Punjab to study biomedical engineering, and he has worked as an engineer for much of his life. He runs a gurdwara, or Sikh temple, in Orlando, Fla., which has about 300 families as members. After the August shooting, the gurdwara held an open house for the local community that drew almost 600 people, he said.

Mr. Singh said that anti-immigration elements of the Republican Party receive outsized attention. “The majority of people who I deal with today who are Republican are open-minded about everything, but there are some people who are rigid, who are vocal, who try to control the whole thing,” Mr. Singh said. “That can happen with any party.”

“There are a lot more diverse people in the United States who are open-minded then there used to be,” Mr. Singh said of the changes he has seen since he immigrated. Thanks to mixed marriages and other factors, “the dynamics of the whole thing is changing,” he said.

Still, some Sikhs had not been expecting such an invitation. “I remain surprised,” Rupinder Mohan Singh wrote on American Turban, a blog about Sikhs in America. “If this turns out to be the case, it would be a touching gesture in the wake of the Wisconsin shooting on behalf of the Republican Party to the country's Sikhs and other minorities.”

At an Iowa fundraiser this month, Mitt Romney, who will formally receive the party's presidential nomination this week, mistakenly referred to Sikhs as “sheiks” when speaking about the shooting. A spokesman said he had “mispronounced similar-sounding words” and that the mistake came at the end of a long day of campaigning.

Mr. Singh is the first Sikh to speak at a Republican National Convention, according to available records of past speakers. He said th e party contacted Nikki Haley, the Republican governor of South Carolina whose family is Sikh, about enlisting a Sikh speaker for the convention, and that Ms. Haley's father referred the party to Mr. Singh.



Legislators Jeer India Prime Minister on Coal Deals

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

“India's Parliament became a noisy stage of political theater on Monday, as opposition lawmakers shouted down Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's attempt to rebut claims that his government had awarded sweetheart coal deals to power companies, the latest scandal to hit his administration,” Jim Yardley wrote in The New York Times.

“Resign! Resign!” some Bharatiya Janata lawmakers screamed, as Mr. Singh, almost inaudibly, moved for the house to accept his written statement.

“Manmohan Singh, leave the chair!” went another chant.

The confrontation on Monday suggested that the current “monsoon” session of Parliament was likely to be little different from several other sessions during the past three years, in which political tactics trumped substance. This session, which ends on Sept. 7, has an ambitious docket, with important bills pending on food security, corruption and land acquisition. So far, though, not a single one has been passed in the lower house. Last week, Bharatiya Janata lawmakers forced repeated adjournments, shouting and protesting over the coal scandal.

Read the full article.



Legislators Jeer India Prime Minister on Coal Deals

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

“India's Parliament became a noisy stage of political theater on Monday, as opposition lawmakers shouted down Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's attempt to rebut claims that his government had awarded sweetheart coal deals to power companies, the latest scandal to hit his administration,” Jim Yardley wrote in The New York Times.

“Resign! Resign!” some Bharatiya Janata lawmakers screamed, as Mr. Singh, almost inaudibly, moved for the house to accept his written statement.

“Manmohan Singh, leave the chair!” went another chant.

The confrontation on Monday suggested that the current “monsoon” session of Parliament was likely to be little different from several other sessions during the past three years, in which political tactics trumped substance. This session, which ends on Sept. 7, has an ambitious docket, with important bills pending on food security, corruption and land acquisition. So far, though, not a single one has been passed in the lower house. Last week, Bharatiya Janata lawmakers forced repeated adjournments, shouting and protesting over the coal scandal.

Read the full article.



Pankaj Mishra\'s New Book, \'Ruins of Empire\'

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Pankaj Mishra's “flair for the grace note is matched by a sometimes ferocious instinct for the jugular,” Jennifer Schuessler wrote in a review of his newest book in The New York Times.

“Now Mr. Mishra seems poised for a fresh round of intellectual battle,” she wrote, with the publication of “From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia.”

Some on the right have dismissed the book as a polemic, but Mr. Mishra brushes aside the term. “If your writing collides with the conventional wisdom, there's going to be some kind of friction,” he said in a telephone interview from his home in London. And when it comes to the mainstream m edia, he added, “there are still very few people presenting perspectives other than that of the West.”

“From the Ruins of Empire,” to be published in the United States next Tuesday by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, is a richly detailed account of late 19th- and early-20th-century Asian intellectuals' often bitter responses to what one Japanese scholar quoted in the book called “the White Disaster.”

Read the full article.



Morsi\'s Syria Plan Suggests Regional Approach to Foreign Affairs

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Did President Obama watch Egypt swing from pivotal ally to potential opponent? Versions of that question have hovered around the presidential campaign from the early Republican primary debates through Mitt Romney's comments on his recent trip to Israel about the Islamist electoral victories in the wake of the Arab spring.

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But the debate has taken on new intensity this month as President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood - Egypt's first elected president and first Islamist leader - has for the first time consolidated his power, pushing into the background his country's Western-friendly military leaders and taking his first steps into foreign affairs.

Mr. Morsi's willingness to visit Iran for a meeting of the so-called Non-Aligned Movement set off alarms from commentators in Washington and Tel Aviv that Mr. Morsi might seek cl oser ties to Iran, an enemy of the United States and Israel that Egypt under Hosni Mubarak helped keep in check.

But his first major initiative in foreign affairs - a bid to include Iran along with Saudi Arabia and Turkey in a four-nation regional contact group to help resolve the Syrian conflict - indicated that Egypt's future course may be more complicated than a simple win or loss for the West. (“Egyptian Leader Adds Rivals of West to Syria Plan,” Monday, Aug. 27)

Unlike Mr. Mubarak, Mr. Morsi displayed an appetite for regional leadership and regional solutions independent of the United States or any other great power. His success in such efforts would surely diminish American influence in the region.

But he also showed a pragmatic willingness to reach out across ideological lines: although some Westerners tend to think of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey as four Muslim states, the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood is also a longstanding opponent of the Saudi monarchy and the Iranian Shiite theocracy, which are both inimical to each other. And Mr. Morsi's move, accompanied by explanations from his spokesman, clarified that he sought conversations with Iran to obtain specific strategic objectives, not because he sought closer diplomatic ties with Tehran as a goal in itself. What's more, his aim - a regional solution that could end the Syrian bloodshed - is one that both the United States and Israel might welcome.

With the end of the Mubarak dictatorship, the United States has surely lost a reliable client. A more democratic Egypt will surely be more responsive to Egyptian public opinion, which is cynical at best about America's role in the region. But Mr. Morsi's Syrian gambit suggests that the loss of American influence may not be a gain for any rival, merely an Egypt with its eye on its own region instead of any global power.



Multiple Clips of Syrian Helicopter Crash

By ROBERT MACKEY

In video uploaded to YouTube Monday morning, activists and rebels could be heard rejoicing as a Syrian government helicopter crashed outside Damascus.

As my colleague Steven Erlanger reports, Syrian rebels claimed responsibility for shooting down a government helicopter during fighting in the eastern suburbs of Damascus on Monday.

At least eight video clips uploaded to opposition activist channels on YouTube appeared to show the craft exploding in flames and plunging to the ground in the neighborhood of Qaboun, where Syrian state television reported that a helicopter had crashed.

Video said to have been recorded on Monday on the outskirts of Damascus of a Syrian government helicopter exploding in flames before crashing.

Restrictions on independent reporting inside Syria imp osed by the government of President Bashar al-Assad make it difficult to verify the authenticity of images posted online by opposition activists, but the various clips do appear to show the same event.

Perhaps the clearest images of the helicopter plummeting down were posted by an activist from Saqba, an area about 20 minutes from central Damascus which reportedly slipped from government control some months ago.

Video of a helicopter crash from the SaqbaRavo0 YouTube channel, which documents the uprising against the Syrian government on the outskirts of the capital.

A very brief but dramatic clip of the craft coming down in flames was uploaded to the JobarRev YouTube channel.

Close images of a helicopter crash uploaded to a Syrian opposition activist YouTube channel on Monday.

Another clip, apparently recorded close to the scene of the crash , was posted on the FreeQabon channel.

One of five video clips showing a helicopter crash on Monday outside Damascus posted online by opposition activists.

Later on Monday, video was added to the same channel apparently showing a piece of the helicopter's fuselage on the ground, the smoking wreckage of the craft and gruesome images of what the activists identified as the hand of the dead pilot.

Video said to show the wreckage of a Syrian government helicopter after it crashed outside Damascus on Monday.

Three more distant views of the helicopter's crash, and a photograph of a Free Syrian Army fighter identified as the man who shot it down, were included in a post on the British blogger Eliot Higgins' Brown Moses blog.



Gulf Coast Braces for Tropical Storm Isaac

By CHRISTINE HAUSER and JENNIFER PRESTON

Tropical Storm Isaac churned toward the central Gulf Coast in the United States on Monday after a weekend of flooding in southern Florida and destruction in Haiti, where at least 19 people died, according to The Associated Press, from the effects of its violent winds and torrential rains. Another five died in the Dominican Republic, The A.P. said.

As our colleagues Randal C. Archibold and Lisa Armstrong reported, the storm in Haiti caused mudslides in rural areas, and in the camps housing about 400,000 survivors of the January 2010 earthquake, the storm downed trees and power lines and shredded tents.

The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti posted a slideshow of photographs highlighting the aftermath.

The United States Embassy also posted photos on Twitter from Port-au-Prince.

By early Monday, Isaac was on the move headed toward New Orleans, where the deadly Hurricane Katrina struck seven years ago this week.

The storm spared Tampa, Fla., the site this week of the Republican National Convention. As Lizette Alvarez and Campbell Robertson report, hurricane forecasters said Isaac's winds and rain will hit an extensive area of southeast Mississippi, southwest Alabama and the western part of Florida's panhandle by Monday evening.

The governors of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama declared states of emergency. The Louisiana residents of Lafitte, Barataria and Grand Isle in Jefferson Parish were ordered to leave on Monday morning, as were all 50,000 residents of St. Charles Parish, and much of the population of Plaquemines Parish.

In New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said the city was prepared and he urged residents to hunker down for the storm if they were not planning to leave. He and other officials outlined their emergency plans on YouTube, which is projected to reach hurricane force winds Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service's latest forecast.

Emergency officials also turned to Twitter to deliver updates.

And people shared their own tips and reminders on preparations.

The city's beloved football team, the New Orleans Saints, offered advice before the team departed early for a scheduled preview game against the Bengals in Cincinnati, urging residents to sign up for alerts from the city.

The intensifying storm revived memories of Hurricane Katrina for many people, including vows the city had learned its lessons.

One of his followers replied, “They do.”

Tips, sources, story ideas? Please leave a comment or find me on Twitter @nyt_jenpreston.



Gulf Coast Braces for Tropical Storm Isaac

By CHRISTINE HAUSER and JENNIFER PRESTON

Tropical Storm Isaac churned toward the central Gulf Coast in the United States on Monday after a weekend of flooding in southern Florida and destruction in Haiti, where at least 19 people died, according to The Associated Press, from the effects of its violent winds and torrential rains. Another five died in the Dominican Republic, The A.P. said.

As our colleagues Randal C. Archibold and Lisa Armstrong reported, the storm in Haiti caused mudslides in rural areas, and in the camps housing about 400,000 survivors of the January 2010 earthquake, the storm downed trees and power lines and shredded tents.

The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti posted a slideshow of photographs highlighting the aftermath.

The United States Embassy also posted photos on Twitter from Port-au-Prince.

By early Monday, Isaac was on the move headed toward New Orleans, where the deadly Hurricane Katrina struck seven years ago this week.

The storm spared Tampa, Fla., the site this week of the Republican National Convention. As Lizette Alvarez and Campbell Robertson report, hurricane forecasters said Isaac's winds and rain will hit an extensive area of southeast Mississippi, southwest Alabama and the western part of Florida's panhandle by Monday evening.

The governors of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama declared states of emergency. The Louisiana residents of Lafitte, Barataria and Grand Isle in Jefferson Parish were ordered to leave on Monday morning, as were all 50,000 residents of St. Charles Parish, and much of the population of Plaquemines Parish.

In New Orleans, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said the city was prepared and he urged residents to hunker down for the storm if they were not planning to leave. He and other officials outlined their emergency plans on YouTube, which is projected to reach hurricane force winds Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service's latest forecast.

Emergency officials also turned to Twitter to deliver updates.

And people shared their own tips and reminders on preparations.

The city's beloved football team, the New Orleans Saints, offered advice before the team departed early for a scheduled preview game against the Bengals in Cincinnati, urging residents to sign up for alerts from the city.

The intensifying storm revived memories of Hurricane Katrina for many people, including vows the city had learned its lessons.

One of his followers replied, “They do.”

Tips, sources, story ideas? Please leave a comment or find me on Twitter @nyt_jenpreston.



Image of the Day: August 27

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Parody, or Actual Government of India Statement?

By HEATHER TIMMONS

The government of India's sometimes uncomfortable relationship with technology in general, and the Internet in particular, came to a head last week, when officials confirmed they had asked Internet service providers and social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to remove certain items and block some users in a response to violence in Assam.

The move was widely criticized by analysts and citizens â€" after all, social media sites have controls in place to remove both users who are impersonating others and using hate speech. Making the situation more puzzling, some of the items the government asked to be removed included those debunking fraudulent material that sought to incite violence.

The Indian government has a long history of curious engagement with the Internet and has passed tough laws limiting free speech on the Internet. Late last year, the minister of communications, Kapil Sibal, asked social media sites to screen user content before it was posted.

Perhaps not surprisingly, a number of satirical Web sites and parody Twitter accounts have sprung up recently that poke fun at the government's stance on social media, the Internet and technology. Sometimes they are hard to distinguish from the real thing.

Can you identify which of the statements below come from actual government statements, and which are parody?

1. “Any normal human being would be offended” by some of the content on the Internet.

2. “Twitter is for the bird-brained.”

3. “In this new era, all you need is a computer which can be connected to the cloud, with that, all your software and documents will be there. But until now, no one has studied yet …whether during rain or during a storm, will there be aberrations in it?”

4. In an attempt to reach social media users, new members of Parliament, to be called to be called e-MPs, will be no minated by Twitter and Facebook users through a public poll.

5. “Prior permission is required before hyperlinks are directed from any Web site/portal” to the Web site of the prime minister. That permission must be obtained in writing.

6. “The prime minister's office had requested Twitter to take appropriate action against six persons impersonating” the office. “When they did not reply for a long time, the Government Cyber Security Cell was requested to initiate action.”

7. Following up on its prosecution of Google, Facebook and other Web sites over “objectionable” and “offensive” content, the Delhi High Court has now decided to ban all telecasts of the ongoing India vs. Australia test series on the same grounds.

8. “I've just about got the hang of Google search. I'm yet to learn how to send an e-mail.”

1. Actual statement, minister of communication and information technology, Kapil Sibal, during a December 2011 press conference.

2. Parody, a tweet from “Dr. YumYumSingh” on June 13.

3. Actual statement. Vishwa Bandhu Gupta, a former income tax commissioner, in an August 2011 interview.

4. Parody, a March article from the satirical Web site “Faking News.”

5.  Actual statement, from the prime minister's Web site.

6. Actual statement from the prime minister's office, August 24.

7. Parody, from a January article on The Unreal Times, a satirical Web site.

8. Actual statement, from Shobhandeb Chatterjee, chief whip in the Trinamool National Congress, in an August interview with the Times of India.



Starving the Future

Emerging economic powers China and India are heavily investing in educating the world's future workers while we squabble about punishing teachers and coddling children.

This week, the Center for American Progress and the Center for the Next Generation released a report entitled “The Race That Really Matters: Comparing U.S., Chinese and Indian Investments in the Next Generation Workforce.” The findings were breathtaking:

- Half of U.S. children get no early childhood education, and we have no national strategy to increase enrollment.

- More than a quarter of U.S. children have a chronic health condition, such as obesity or asthma, threatening their capacity to learn.

- More than 22 percent of U.S. children lived in poverty in 2010, up from about 17 percent in 2007.

- More than half of U.S. postsecondary students drop out without receiving a degree.

Now compare that with the report's findings on China. It estimates that “by 2030, China will have 200 million college graduates - more than the entire U.S. work force,” and points out that by 2020 China plans to:

- Enroll 40 million children in preschool, a 50 percent increase from today.

- Provide 70 percent of children in China with three years of preschool.

- Graduate 95 percent of Chinese youths through nine years of compulsory education (that's 165 million students, more than the U.S. labor force).

- Ensure that no child drops out of school for financial reasons.

- More than double enrollment in higher education.

And the report also points out that “by 2017, India will graduate 20 million people from high school - or five times as many as in the United States.”

As I have mentioned before, a book written last year by Jim Clifton, the chairman of Gallup, called “The Coming Jobs War,” pointed out that of the world's five billion people over 15 years old, three billion said they worked or wanted to work, but there are only 1.2 billion full-time, formal jobs.

This should make it crystal clear to every American that we don't have any time - or students - to waste. Every child in this country must be equipped to perform. The country's future financial stability depends on it.

As if to underscore that point, the Center for American Progress pointed out that “between 2000 and 2008, China graduated 1.14 million people in the STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, subjects; the United States graduated 496,000.”

But instead of dramatically upping our investment in our children's education so that they'll be able to compete in a future that has more educated foreign job seekers, we seem to be moving in the opposite direction. A White House report issued last Saturday noted that:

“Since the end of the recession in June 2009, the economy lost over 300,000 local education jobs. The loss of education jobs stands in stark contrast to every other recovery in recent years, under Republican and Democratic administrations.”

Not only is our education system being starved of investment, but many of our children are literally too hungry to learn.

A survey of kindergarten through eighth-grade teachers released this week by Share Our Strength, a nonprofit that seeks to end child hunger, found that 6 in 10 of those teachers say “students regularly come to school hungry because they are not getting enough to eat at home,” and “a majority of teachers who see hunger as a problem believe that the problem is growing.”

The report quotes a teacher in the Midwest as saying, “The saddest are the children who cry when we get out early for a snow day because they won't get lunch.”

It is in this environment that Representative Paul Ryan proposes huge cuts to food assistance programs. As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities points out, Ryan's plan “includes cuts in SNAP (formerly known as the food stamp program) of $133.5 billion - more than 17 percent - over the next 10 years (2013-22), which would necessitate ending assistance for millions of low-income families, cutting benefits for millions of such households, or some combination of the two.”

Representative Todd Akin, he of “legitimate rape” infamy, even said earlier this month that the federal government should stop financing the National School Lunch Program altogether. That man is just a font of humanity.

We will need to make choices as we seek to balance the nation's budget and reduce the deficit, but cutting investments in our children is horribly shortsighted.

And, as we pursue educational reforms, beating up on teachers - who are underpaid, overworked and always blamed - is a distraction from the real problem: We're being outpaced in producing the employees of the future.

We're cutting back, while our children's future competitors are plowing ahead.



From the Prime Minister, a Lengthy Defense on Coal

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke to India's Parliament Monday about a recent report from India's Comptroller and Auditor General concerning the allocation of coal assets in the country. The report alleges that the government lost out on nearly $34 billion in revenues by selling coal assets in private negotiations, rather than auctioning them. The prime minister and other central government officials dispute this figure.

The prime minister has been criticized recently for failing to address his critics and fully defend policies and decisions. In Monday's statement, he presented 32 separate points related to coal allocations.

Here is his full statement:

I seek the indulgence of the House to make a statement on issues regarding coal block allocations which have been the subject of much discussion in the press and on which several Hon'ble members have also expressed concern.

< p>2. The issues arise from a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General which has been tabled in Parliament and remitted to the Public Accounts Committee.  CAG reports are normally discussed in detail in the Public Accounts Committee, when the Ministry concerned responds to the issues raised. The PAC then submits its report to the Speaker and that Report is then discussed in Parliament.

3.  I seek your indulgence to depart from this established procedure because of the nature of the allegations that are being made and because I was holding the charge of Coal Minister for a part of the time covered by the report. I want to assure Hon'ble Members that as the Minister in charge, I take full responsibility for the decisions of the Ministry. I wish to say that any allegations of impropriety are without basis and unsupported by the facts.

4.  Allocation of coal blocks to private companies for captive use commenced in 1993, after the Coal Mines (Nationalisation ) Act, 1973 was amended. This was done with the objective of attracting private investments in specified end uses. As the economy grew in size, the demand for coal also grew and it became evident that Coal India Ltd. alone would not be able to meet the growing demand.

5.  Since 1993, allocation of captive coal blocks was being done on the basis of recommendations made by an inter-Ministerial Screening Committee which also had representatives of State governments. Taking into account the increasing number of applicants for coal block allocation, the Government, in 2003, evolved a consolidated set of guidelines to ensure transparency and consistency in allocation.

6.  In the wake of rapidly growing demand for coal and captive coal blocks, it was the UPA I Government which, for the first time, conceived the idea of making allocations through the competitive bidding route in June 2004.

7.  The CAG report is critical of the allocations mainly on three coun ts. Firstly, it states that the Screening Committee did not follow a transparent and objective method while making recommendations for allocation of coal blocks.

8.  Secondly, it observes that competitive bidding could have been introduced in 2006 by amending the administrative instructions in vogue instead of going through a prolonged legal examination of the issue which delayed the decision making process.

9.  Finally, the report mentions that the delay in introduction of competitive bidding rendered the existing process beneficial to a large number of private companies. According to the assumptions and computations made by the CAG, there is a financial gain of about Rs. 1.86 lakh crore to private parties.

10.  The observations of the CAG are clearly disputable.

11.  The policy of allocation of coal blocks to private parties, which the CAG has criticised, was not a new policy introduced by the UPA. The policy has existed since 1993 and previo us Governments also allocated coal blocks in precisely the manner that the CAG has now criticised.

12.  The UPA made improvements in the procedure in 2005 by inviting applications through open advertisements after providing details of the coal blocks on offer along with the guidelines and the conditions of allotment. These applications were examined and evaluated by a broad based Steering Committee with representatives from state governments, related ministries of the central government and the coal companies. The applications were assessed on parameters such as the techno economic feasibility of the end use project, status of preparedness to set up the end use project, past track record in execution of projects, financial and technical capabilities of the applicant companies, recommendations of the state governments and the administrative ministry concerned.

13.  Any administrative allocation procedure involves some judgment and in this case the judgment was that of the many participants in the Screening Committee acting collectively. There were then no allegations of impropriety in the functioning of the Committee.

14.  The CAG says that competitive bidding could have been introduced in 2006 by amending the existing administrative instructions. This premise of the CAG is flawed.

15.  The observation of the CAG that the process of competitive bidding could have been introduced by amending the administrative instructions is based on the opinion expressed by the Department of Legal Affairs in July and August 2006. However, the CAG's observation is based on a selective reading of the opinions given by the Department of Legal Affairs.

16.  Initially, the Government had initiated a proposal to introduce competitive bidding by formulating appropriate rules. This matter was referred to the Department of Legal Affairs, which initially opined that amendment to the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act would be necessa ry for this purpose.

17.  A meeting was convened in the PMO on 25 July 2005 which was attended by representatives of coal and lignite bearing states. In the meeting the representatives of state governments were opposed to the proposed switch over to competitive bidding. It was further noted that the legislative changes that would be required for the proposed change would require considerable time and the process of allocation of coal blocks for captive mining could not be kept in abeyance for so long given the pressing demand for coal.  Therefore, it was decided in this meeting to continue with the allocation of coal blocks through the extant Screening Committee procedure till the new competitive bidding procedure became operational. This was a collective decision of the centre and the state governments concerned.

18.  It was only in August 2006 that the Department of Legal Affairs opined that competitive bidding could be introduced through administrative i nstructions. However, the same Department also opined that legislative amendments would be required for placing the proposed process on a sound legal footing. In a meeting held in September, 2006, Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs categorically opined that having regard to the nature and scope of the relevant legislation, it would be most appropriate to achieve the objective through amendment to the Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act.

19.  In any case, in a democracy, it is difficult to accept the notion that a decision of the Government to seek legislative amendment to implement a change in policy should come for adverse audit scrutiny. The issue was contentious and the proposed change to competitive bidding required consensus building among various stakeholders with divergent views, which is inherent in the legislative process.

20.  As stated above, major coal and lignite bearing states like West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and Rajasthan that were ruled by opposition parties, were strongly opposed to a switch over to the process of competitive bidding as they felt that it would increase the cost of coal, adversely impact value addition and development of industries in their areas and would dilute their prerogative in the selection of lessees.

21.  The then Chief Minister of Rajasthan Smt. Vasundhara Raje wrote to me in April 2005 opposing competitive bidding saying that it was against the spirit of the Sarkaria Commission recommendations. Dr. Raman Singh, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh wrote to me in June 2005 seeking continuation of the extant policy and requesting that any changes in coal policy be made after arriving at a consensus between the Central Government and the States. The State Governments of West Bengal and Orissa also wrote formally opposing a change to the system of competitive bidding.

22.  Ministry of Power, too, felt that auctioning of coal could lead to enhanced cost of producing energy.

23.  It is pertinent to mention that the Coal Mines Nationalisation (Amendment) Bill, 2000 to facilitate commercial mining by private companies was pending in the Parliament for a long time owing to stiff opposition from the stakeholders.

24.  Despite the elaborate consultative process undertaken prior to introducing the amendment Bill in Parliament, the Standing Committee advised the Ministry of Coal to carry out another round of discussions with the States. This further demonstrates that the decision to seek broader consultation and consensus through a Parliamentary process was the right one.

25.  The CAG report has criticised the Government for not implementing this decision speedily enough. In retrospect, I would readily agree that in a world where things can be done by fiat, we could have done it faster. But, given the complexities of the process of consensus building in our Parliamentary system, this is easier said th an done.

26.  Let me humbly submit that, even if we accept CAG's contention that benefits accrued to private companies, their computations can be questioned on a number of technical points. The CAG has computed financial gains to private parties as being the difference between the average sale price and the production cost of CIL of the estimated extractable reserves of the allocated coal blocks. Firstly, computation of extractable reserves based on averages would not be correct. Secondly, the cost of production of coal varies significantly from mine to mine even for CIL due to varying geo-mining conditions, method of extraction, surface features, number of settlements, availability of infrastructure etc. Thirdly, CIL has been generally mining coal in areas with better infrastructure and more favourable mining conditions, whereas the coal blocks offered for captive mining are generally located in areas with more difficult geological conditions. Fourthly, a part of th e gains would in any case get appropriated by the government through taxation and under the MMDR Bill, presently being considered by the parliament, 26% of the profits earned on coal mining operations would have to be made available for local area development. Therefore, aggregating the purported financial gains to private parties merely on the basis of the average production costs and sale price of CIL could be highly misleading. Moreover, as the coal blocks were allocated to private companies only for captive purposes for specified end-uses, it would not be appropriate to link the allocated blocks to the price of coal set by CIL.

27.  There are other important technical issues which will be gone into thoroughly in the Ministry of Coal's detailed response to the PAC and I do not propose to focus on them.

28.  It is true that the private parties that were allocated captive coal blocks could not achieve their production targets. This could be partly due to cum bersome processes involved in getting statutory clearances, an issue we are addressing separately. We have initiated action to cancel the allocations of allottees who did not take adequate follow-up action to commence production. Moreover, CBI is separately investigating the allegations of malpractices, on the basis of which due action will be taken against wrongdoers, if any.

Hon'ble members,

29.  From 1993 onwards, successive governments continued with the policy of allocation of coal blocks for captive use and did not treat such allocations as a revenue generating activity. Let me reiterate that the idea of introducing auction was conceived for the first time by the UPA Government in the wake of increasing demand for captive blocks. Action was initiated to examine the idea in all its dimensions and the process culminated in Parliament approving the necessary legislative amendments in 2010. The law making process inevitably took time on account of several fac tors that I have outlined.

30.  While the process of making legislative changes was in progress, the only alternative before the Government was to continue with the current system of allocations through the Screening Committee mechanism till the new system of auction based competitive bidding could be put in place. Stopping the process of allocation would only have delayed the much needed expansion in the supply of coal. Although the coal produced thus far from the blocks allocated to the private sector is below the target, it is reasonable to expect that as clearances are speeded up, production will come into effect in the course of the Twelfth Plan. Postponing the allocation of coal blocks until the new system was in place would have meant lower energy production, lower GDP growth and also lower revenues. It is unfortunate that the CAG has not taken these aspects into account.

31.  Let me state emphatically that it has always been the intention of Governmen t to augment production of coal by making available coal blocks for captive mining through transparent processes and guidelines which fully took into account the legitimate concerns of all stakeholders, including the State Governments. The implicit suggestion of the CAG that the Government should have circumvented the legislative process through administrative instructions, over the registered objections of several state governments including those ruled by opposition parties, if implemented would have been undemocratic and contrary to the spirit of the functioning of our federal polity. The facts speak for themselves and show that the CAG's findings are flawed on multiple counts.

32.  This, in short, is the background, the factual position and the rationale of government's actions. Now that the report of the CAG is before the House, appropriate action on the recommendations and observations contained in the report will follow through the established parliamentary pr ocedures.



Is a Youth Revolution Brewing in India?

By SAMBUDDHA MITRA MUSTAFI

Among the world's major countries, India has the youngest population, and the oldest leaders. A startling four-decade gap between the median age of India's people and that of its government officials most recently reared its head with a heavy-handed and widely-maligned crackdown on free speech on the Internet.

History shows us that generations with an exceptionally high youth ratio create political movements that shake up their systems and leave a profound impact on history. America's baby boomers â€" the 79 million people born between 1946 and 1964 â€" led the charge in the civil rights movement and the sexual revolution.

In China, out of the stormy Cultural Revolution emerged the country's current crop of leaders, who have taken it to remarkable heights of prosperity and power. More recently, in the Arab Spring there is evidence of a strong correlation between the ratio of the population under 25 and the urge to overthrow unresponsive governments.

Whether India will follow the same path may become apparent in the very near future.

There are some signs that the beginnings of India's own youth revolt are stirring â€" the “India Against Corruption” protests, which swept Delhi on Sunday, involved a about a thousand protesters, mostly young men, who broke through barricades meant to protect their elder politicians' homes and battled with the police.

The India Against Corruption political movement unleashes youth disenchantment against the establishment, using new means of communication like Twitter and Facebook as its fuel. Still, it is headed by an iconic 75-year-old Gandhian â€" call it shades of a youth movement, with the structure of a traditional Indian family.

India now has around 600 million people who are younger than 25, and nearly 70 percent of its 1.2 billion population is under 40. It is an unprecedented demo graphic condition in the history of modern India, and in absolute numbers it is unprecedented anywhere in the world. It also comes at a time when much of the developed world and China have aging populations.

The country's median age of 25 is in sharp contrast to the average age of its cabinet ministers, 65, which is a far bigger gap than in any other country â€" Brazil and China are next with age gaps just under 30 years. In the United States the gap is 23 years, and in Germany it is less than 10.

Beyond the Internet crackdown, there are other disturbing signs that the age and thought gap between the majority of India's citizens and their aging leaders is stifling India's teeming youth.

We see this at play when the chairwoman of the National Commission for Women tells women to “be careful about how you dress,” after a young woman was sexually assaulted in public by a group of men in Guwahati.

We see it when a police officer wielding a hockey stick cracks down on Mumbai's buzzing night life, and is defended by the state's home minister. We see it in the inability to overhaul the country's jaded bureaucracy that stifles fresh ideas.

Most tellingly, perhaps, we see it in the lack of political will to open up key sectors of the economy like retail to foreign competition, under the populist pretense of protecting existing jobs. This protectionism is far removed from the economic realities of the past two decades â€" India has been one of the clear winners of globalization. But as one writer put it, “The decision-makers in the Indian political class are still stuck in the mental framework of the 1970s, which is when they were blooded in politics.”

Because of these protectionist policies, millions of young Indians risk losing out on new jobs and technology that could substantially improve their lives.

Some may dismiss these as mostly urban issues, issues that do not affect India's vast rural youth. But the increasingly aspirational rural youth crave the lifestyle of their urban counterparts â€" and if they are not given the opportunity to get there quickly, they will have the incentive to rebel. The elite youth have the money, but crave the higher living standards of developed nations. And both groups care about jobs.

“The future of our country is today's youth and it is our responsibility to work for our country. It's a need for our country to elect right government. Educated youth are desperately needed in our politics” Neha a member of “Youth ki Awaaz” or voice of the youth posted on the online forum.

India's youthful population can be viewed as a double-edged sword â€" capable of bringing great benefit to the country in the decades ahead, but with extensive demands that, under current economic conditions, the country looks unable to fulfill.

A recent IMF report suggests that India's demographic dividend alone could contribute two percentage p oints to its annual G.D.P. growth for the next two decades, if the country adopts the right policies. A surge in the labor force with the right age structure, higher productivity due to urbanization, a low ratio of dependent people and an increased number of women joining the work force all add to this demographic dividend.

A 2010 Goldman Sachs paper projected that India's industry would need to create nearly 40 million jobs by the end of this decade to absorb this huge increase in the labor force. Aided by the demographic dividend, India could clock economic growth of 7 to 9 percent until 2030, possibly wiping out absolute poverty as we know it today, though the poverty line would then be readjusted.

Projections like this are dependent on several internal conditions â€" in India's case, that means changing its archaic land and labor laws, creating better trade opportunities and making huge investments in education and skills training. The state of the global eco nomy will be a key external variable.

Another study shows that India will have 12 percent of the world's college graduates by 2020, more than the United States, and second only to China, which will have a staggering 29 percent share. These graduates, their innovations and their patents will be the main drivers of the knowledge economy.

In simple terms, India's huge working-age population could be its biggest economic strength going forward.

Yet if you look at the pace of economic and social changes in India, you begin to wonder if the country's geriatric political elite have grasped the enormous opportunities and challenges that the country's youth represent.

Some commentators now fear that India's much touted demographic dividend is on the verge of going horribly wrong â€" that the economy may not produce enough jobs to absorb the fast-growing labor force, leaving millions of young people feeling bitter and betrayed.

Until now, most of India's young people have preferred to be silent bystanders or armchair critics of the political system, rather than actively participating in the process. A big turnoff has been the entitlement culture in the country's politics â€" of the 38 youngest members of Parliament, 33 have parents who are also politicians. But then, this entitlement culture is not restricted to politics â€" you see it in every profession, in every Indian household to an extent.

While India's affluent parents are as well-meaning as any in the world, critics say the easy inheritance they give their children breeds smug, conformist individuals, under constant pressure to live up to a legacy, rather than chart their own course and fulfill their own potential.

The most glaring example today may be Rahul Gandhi, heir apparent of the governing Congress party, who at the age of 42 is still struggling to step out of his mother's immense political shadow.

Between the 1960s and 1990s, East Asia went through a demographic transition similar to that we are seeing in India now. Aided by the opening up of their economies, the Asian tigers and China registered high growth, rapid poverty reduction and social development.

In spite of this “miracle,” many of these countries saw violent student movements against autocratic regimes, especially when faced with financial shocks.

India's demographic equation puts the ball firmly in the court of its young majority.

Faced with the prospect of a bleak future, will youthful energy challenge its sworn enemy â€" the status quo? Will India's younger generation strike back to install its own leaders and ideas? Or will it still remain aloof or just give up, and fall in line with the elders?