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Notes by vineetpunnoose on www.kiwipaper.com

Content

The Fortaleza Twins 1

BRICS Bank Future Hinges on Governance 1

When the Government Leans on Judges 4

Scuttling Inconvenient Judicial Appointments 5

Once More in Gaza 7

India and the Israeli War on Palestine 8

Dispute Settlement in Bilateral Investment Agreements 9

End of the Planning Commission? 11

Neglect of the Working Emigrant 12

Why Women Need 498A 13

Could the Kingdom Still Be United? 14

Ad-hocism in the Decisions to Modify Labour Laws 14

Decentralised Energy Generation 16

Law Commission Report on 'Death Penalty' 20

Modi and Modified Crops 22

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Notes by vineetpunnoose on www.kiwipaper.com Page 1

The Fortaleza Twins Sat, Jul 26, 2014BRICS bank, Fortaleza, EPW, international, brics,

The sixth summit of the BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South

Africa - in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza on 14-16 July attracted a lot of attention for

two reasons - the agreement on the New Development Bank (NDB) and the treaty for

the establishment of a BRICS Contingency Reserve Arrangement (CRA). A number

of commentators have held that the establishment of the NDB and the CRA is an attempt

to replicate the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with China

now in the lead at Fortaleza in July 2014 just as the United States (US) was at Bretton

Woods (New Hampshire) 70 years ago in July 1944.

the NDB was based on the principle of equality between the BRICS member-countries

and, moreover, the BRICS bank's presidency will be rotated among the five member

countries. This is, of course, most unlike the IMF and the World Bank, where, in the

case of the former, the president is chosen by the Europeans, and in the latter, the USchooses who is to occupy the post.

The BRICS member countries, taken together, presently have a voting share of only

11% in the IMF even though their combined 2013 gross domestic product share in the

global economy is more than 20%. The Declaration calls for the implementation of

proposals to increase the voting power of the BRICS and other emerging/developing

member countries in the IMF, as also, a review of the shareholding at the World Bank.

Nevertheless, the tensions notwithstanding, there is a clear complementarity between

the CRA and the IMF, both of whom will be virtually coordinating their lending

arrangements for "Parties" facing actual or potential short-term balance of paymentspressures. In the

Interestingly, the NDB has already been endorsed by the president of the World Bank.

It will be providing finance for infrastructural investment and "sustainable development"

projects, both public and private ones, this through loans, guarantees, equity participation

and other financial instruments. The NDB's operations, it must be noted and this is

stressed in the "Agreement on the New Development Bank", will be based on "sound

banking principles". Will it then operate like the World Bank and the International

Finance Corporation? The question being asked, however, is whether the NDB's loans

will have neo-liberal conditions attached to them, like the World Bank's loans.

BRICS Bank Future Hinges on Governance Sat, Jul 26, 2014BRICS Bank, BRICS, EPW, international,

The New Development Bank (NDB), conveniently described as the BRICS bank, will

come into being two years after the idea was set in motion at the BRICS summit in

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India. For the bank to become operational will take another two years though.

This is not another regional development bank. It is a bank of economies that are seen

as becoming more important in the global economy in the years to come. Of the five

countries involved all but one are hungry for cash to finance growth. The one that has

cash to spare, China, is willing to spread it around in order to win friends and influence

people.

So the idea has plenty going for it. The mission - of financing infrastructure in the

BRICS and other developing economies to whom membership will be available down

the road - is laudable. How well the bank shapes up will hinge on whether it can get

its governance right.

One could say the same of the leading international organisations of the world as well

- the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the

World Trade Organisation, etc. Nations come together under the banner of an institution

not because of a shared ideology, political structure or culture but because they have a

common interest in doing so.

However, the NDB is not just about inducing change at west-dominated international

institutions. It is, first, a serious opportunity to show the world that it is possible to run

a multilateral institution (whose members vary in their political and economic clout)

along egalitarian lines. Second, it has the potential to reduce, over time, the dependence

of the NDB's member countries on the IMF/World Bank as also western financial

markets.

On the first point, the bank has got off to a great start. A sticking point in the earlynegotiations was China's seeming attempt to dominate the institution by contributing

the highest share of paid-up capital (something it can easily afford). This has been

resolved by the decision that all members will contribute an equal amount in capital,

$10 billion (bn) each. Of the $50 bn in initial capital, $10 bn will be in cash, to be paid

in instalments over seven years; the rest will be by way of guarantees.

The bank's capital will eventually go up to $100 bn. In addition to paid-up capital, the

NDB will have a Contingency Reserve Arrangement (CRA) of $100 bn intended to

help members tide over liquidity crises. China will contribute $41 bn, Brazil, India and

Russia $18 bn each and South Africa $5 bn.

Equally impressive are the compromises reached on the location of the bank and on

positions of leadership in the bank. India yielded to China's insistence on locating the

bank at Shanghai and, in return, gained the right to nominate the first president. (The

presidency will be for a term of five years and will rotate among the members.) A

Brazilian will chair the first board of directors and a Russian the board of governors.

In respect of the second point, the NDB's potential to reduce the developing world's

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dependence on the leading multilateral agencies and western markets, three questions

arise. One, in what way will the NDB meet the expectations of member countries? Two,

can it provide funds that are large enough to make a difference? Three, will the NDB

be a worthwhile alternative to the present sources of funds?

China is in the happy position of not requiring funds from the bank. It would be more

than happy to use the bank as a means of improving the returns on its surpluses that

are today overwhelmingly parked in US government securities. It will also be looking

for opportunities to promote yuan-denominated trade among the BRICS economies

and the broader developing world. Indeed, the other promoters too will want to facilitate

greater use of their currencies for trade. Although this possibility has not been flagged

at the moment, it could well become part of the bank's mandate.

India, Brazil and South Africa could use the funds available from the NDB to meet

their large requirement for infrastructure. Russia has its own compulsions. Given its

vulnerability to oil price fluctuations, it could use access to an alternative pool ofliquidity. In the near future, it would welcome any means available to offset the impact

of US sanctions imposed following Russia's annexation of Crimea and its intervention

in Ukraine. So, yes, the BRICS bank is well placed to cater to the differing needs of its

members.

One should not underestimate the potential for growth if the bank gets its act right. An

article in the Washington Post notes that CAF, a development bank promoted by Latin

American countries in order to bypass stringent rules on infrastructure lending, today

funds more infrastructure than the World Bank and the Inter-American Development

Bank together ("What the New Bank of BRICS Is All About", Raj M Desai and James

Raymond Vreeland, Washington Post, 17 July 2014).

The IMF and the World Bank enjoy the highest rating. The NDB's rating will be derived

from the five sovereigns that have promoted the bank and hence is likely to be lower

- at least until such time as the bank is able to build up assets of the highest quality

(also unlikely, given that emerging market risks are perceived to be intrinsically higher).

This does mean that NDB funds will be costlier than those of IMF/World Bank.

Which raises the question: what does the developing world have to gain from borrowing

from the NDB rather than from the World Bank or, for that matter, the international

capital markets? Well, for one thing, neither developing country sovereigns nor companies

enjoy ready access to the latter institutions and markets. It is not as if funds are available

from them on tap or in the amounts they would like.

Second, we do know that borrowing from the international agencies comes with strings

attached: it is linked to purchases made from or contracts given to western nations.

Once these costs are factored in, the lending rates of NDB may not compare unfavourably

with those of the international agencies. Third, financial markets may be cheaper but

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they often seize up. A BRICS bank could turn out to be a reliable provider of funds.

In sum, the NDB is an idea whose time has come. Its initial structure is promising and

refreshingly different from that of the IMF-World Bank. Whether it succeeds in the

long run hinges entirely on the quality of governance. Since the stakes are high - bringing

about a change in the international financial architecture, no less - the promoters have

every incentive to put their best foot forward.

When the Government Leans on Judges Sat, Jul 12, 2014EPW, polity, judiciary, supreme court,

Prior to 1993 the executive had the upper hand, with the requirement of consulting the

judiciary but not obliged to accept its views. The Second Judges Case virtually reversed

this position, and in the Presidential Reference of 1998 set down the details of the

collegium system. The names are to be put forth by a collegium consisting of the ChiefJustice of India (CJI) and his four senior-most colleagues. The government may return

a name with objections; but if the collegium still reiterates its choice, the appointment

must go through. The judiciary has the first, and last, word.

The 1993 decision itself was accepted without much protest by the political class, which

was surprising since it was a major constitutional shift achieved without amendment.

Over the years the executive has largely accepted the appointments proposed by the

Court. Where there was a difference, the judges prevailed.

Gopal Subramanium, however, was in a different category. He has never been a judge

before; he fell under another category envisioned in Article 124, viz, advocates. SinceIndependence only a handful of judges have come from this source - notably Chief

Justice S M Sikri, Justices Kuldip Singh and Santosh Hegde.

The collegium system has been criticised by almost everyone but the collegium for

being opaque and non-transparent without giving even legitimate stakeholders like the

Bar a chance to scrutinise the proposed appointees. The judicial commission under

discussion contemplates members other than the CJI and two senior judges; the law

minister is on it, and the prime minister has a say in appointing two more. The judiciary

has been wary of sharing its turf, and has resisted this proposal. Given the recent

happenings, will it dig in even more? And will other players scent a warning in the

winds that blew last month? This government blocked an appointment without being

on the appointing body; what will happen when it is part of it?

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Scuttling Inconvenient Judicial Appointments Sat, Jul 12, 2014EPW, polity, judiciary, supreme court,

Consider the facts: four names including those of Gopal Subramanium (along withanother former solicitor general, Rohinton Nariman, and two high court chief justices,

Adarsh Goel and Arun Mishra) had been unanimously recommended for appointment

to the Supreme Court in early May by the five-member collegium headed by Chief

Justice of India R M Lodha.

The attempt to undermine the independence of the judiciary originated in 1973, after

the Kesavananda Bharati 5 judgment (which struck down some constitutional amendments

by saying that the basic structure of the Constitution could not be amended). At that

time, judges were appointed by the government in "consultation" with the Chief Justice

of India as provided for by the Constitution. The government then said that it was not

bound by the advice of the Chief Justice. Successive Congress governments thereafter,especially during the tenure of law minister, H R Bharadwaj, appointed judges who

had proximity to the government. The subversion of the independence of the judiciary

by the appointment of convenient judges became a major issue, especially with increasing

corruption within the executive.

The issue of the manner of appointment of judges was first raised in S P Gupta's case

6 in 1981. The question was whether the government or the Chief Justice should have

primacy in the matter of appointment of judges, especially because the independence

of the judiciary had been declared a basic feature of the Constitution. In that case, the

majority held that primacy in judicial appointments was with the government and itcould disregard the opinion of the Chief Justice of India in the matter of appointments

and transfers of judges and chief justices. But as this led to more brazenly partisan

appointments, the issue was referred to a larger bench for reconsideration.

Finally in 1993, the view in S P Gupta's case was reversed by an innovative judgment

in the Supreme Court Advocates on Records case, 7 which wrested the control in the

matter of judicial appointments from the executive and vested it with the judiciary. The

words "in consultation with the chief justice" was interpreted to mean, "with the consent

of the chief justice". The meaning of chief justice was interpreted as a collegium of the

Chief Justice of India plus three senior judges of the Court. In fact, a new elaborate

procedure was laid out by the Court for appointment of judges, in which the role of thegovernment was reduced to returning a name recommended by the collegium for

reconsideration. If the collegium reiterated its recommendation, the President would

have no option but to go through with the appointment. High court appointments would

also go through a similar procedure, except that the recommendations there would

originate from the collegium of the high courts.

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In 1998, the Supreme Court further tweaked its judgment of 1993 in a Presidential

Reference on this issue. 8 The collegium was widened to five judges. Consultation with

other judges in the court who came from the same high court as the proposed nominee

was also provided for. But the control over the appointments continued to vest with the

judiciary.

This system of appointment of judges by the judiciary did lead to the depoliticisation

of the judiciary to a large extent and did substantially improve its independence. But

the process of appointments was still shrouded in secrecy and with the control over

appointments in the hands of sitting judges who had little free time in the midst of their

judicial work, coupled with the lack of transparency in such appointments, led to

nepotism and arbitrary appointments.

There were also serious voices like that of Justice Krishna Iyer who called this an

incestuous system and a snatching of appointments by abuse of judicial power. 9 Even

Justice J S Verma, the author of the original judgment, came to say that he did notanticipate that his judgment would lead to such poor appointments by the judiciary. 10

The Committee on Judicial Accountability 11 (a voluntary body of senior lawyers and

retired judges) proposed a bill for the constitution of a full-time and independent body

called the Judicial Appointments Commission for the selection of judges to the high

courts and the Supreme Court It was proposed that such a body could be constituted

from among retired judges or other eminent persons who would be selected in the

following manner: The chairman to be selected by the collegium of all judges of the

Supreme Court. A second member by the collegium of all chief justices of the high

courts. A third member by the union cabinet. A fourth by collegium of the leaders of

opposition of the two houses of Parliament along with the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

A fifth by a collegium of the chief election commissioner, the comptroller and auditor

general and the central vigilance commissioner. Each of these members of the Judicial

Appointments Commission would have a tenure of five years and would thus be

independent of the government as well as of the sitting judiciary.

This body would be mandated to function transparently and would have to publish the

persons shortlisted for appointment for the information of and comments by the public

before the final selection was made. Being a full-time body, it would lay down the

criteria for selection and would be mandated to go about its task in a structured and

rational manner.

A National Judicial Commission Bill of 2013 12 was eventually introduced by the UPA

government, which sought to create an appointments commission in which the

appointments pie was sought to be divided almost equally between the judiciary and

the government. The proposed commission was supposed to have the three senior-most

judges of the Supreme Court along with the law minister and two eminent persons

nominated by a committee consisting of the prime minister, leader of opposition in the

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Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. Thus, the commission was still conceived as

largely an ex officio body of people who would have little time to devote to appointments

and it also did not lay down any standards of transparency in making the appointments.

This bill too ran into a lot of criticism from various quarters, particularly from judges

and the legal community. It was therefore not taken further and has now lapsed withthe dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.

Once More in Gaza Sat, Jul 19, 2014gaza, EPW, international, Israel, Palestine,

The Government of Israel uses its propaganda machinery to manufacture "facts on the

ground" to justify its massacres, and it invites indignant reaction and largely harmless

retaliatory rocket strikes from the Hamas which controls Gaza.

In the western media, the current wave of bombing has been justified as retaliatoryfollowing the abduction and killing of three Israeli youth in the West Bank in early

June. Defiant statements and minor actions by the Hamas are shown to be equivalent

to the Israeli bombings. But Hamas has always maintained that it did not violate a 2012

ceasefire before the latest bombings by Israel began. This has clearly ignored the fact

that Israel is internationally recognised as an occupying power in Palestine since 1967.

As an occupying power, Israel is bound by international conventions enunciated under

"Occupation Law" to use law and order measures to treat actions by the citizens of its

occupied territory.

In 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council's Goldstone Commission had

clearly indicated that the Israeli actions in Gaza amounted to crimes against humanity.

This, however, led to no international sanction against Israel. The only meaningful

action therefore is to seek an end to the occupation of Palestine and to remedy its policy

of racial apartheid against the Arabs.

Manufacturing an "external threat" is a way to emphasise the need for a large military

budget. The military campaign in Gaza is also a response to the formation of a unity

government by the Hamas and Fatah after years of internecine conflict between the

two. The Hamas-Fatah reconciliation of April 2014 has reunited Gaza and West Bank

under a single political authority for the first time since 2007.

Israel's repeated and renewed acts of brutality in Gaza and the West Bank (in the latter

it continues to propel Jewish settlements) are being enabled by the US blocking all

demands in the UN Security Council for Israeli accountability. Meanwhile, the Indian

response to the bombings also alludes to the false equivalence between the Israel and

Hamas actions. There has been a steady dilution over the years in the Indian position

on the self-determination of the Palestinian people. The present response is in line with

this revisionism.

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India and the Israeli War on Palestine Sat, Jul 19, 2014palestine, EPW, international, israel,

On 8 July 2014, Israel launched what it termed "Operation Protective Edge" against

the Palestinian people living in the Gaza strip. The reason for this operation is contentious.

Israel claims it attacked Gaza because of the abduction and killing of three Israeli

teenagers by Hamas, and to end Hamas' ability to fire rockets into Israel. Hamas denies

that it had anything to do with the abduction and killing of the three teens, and says

that it had continued to honour the 2012 ceasefire Hamas says it fired its rockets after

Israel conducted major sweeps in the West Bank to arrest its supporters, and after

Israel's air strike on 7 July killed nine Palestinians. This is a case of two competing

narratives.

The facts, however, are clear. Israel has continued to build illegal settlements acrossthe West Bank, encaging the Palestinian population behind walls and battlements. The

teenagers who were killed lived in Gush Etzion, one of these settlements.

The sheer density of the attack on Gaza - with hundreds of tonnes of explosives dropped

on the 1.8 million people who live on 365 sq km - is bewildering. It is not the first time,

since Gaza is the favoured destination for Israeli aggression.

The United States (US), for instance, has decided that Israel has the right to "respond"

to Hamas - despite the evidence that it was Israel that was the one who started the

fighting here, that Hamas has denied that it was involved in the abduction and killing,

and that Israel has not bothered to prove any Hamas culpability. Israel, as an occupyingpower over Palestinian lands, cannot claim that it has the right to self-defence under

international law against those whom it has occupied.

Jordan, unlike the US, is acutely aware that the region is on political tenterhooks - with

the arrival of the Islamic state in Iraq and Syria threatening the kingdom directly. 4 The

region cannot afford more instability - something that is guaranteed as Israel threatens

to continue the bombing of Gaza, and escalate this in the days and weeks to come. The

vocabulary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) intervention in Libya -

humanitarian intervention, responsibility to protect (R2P), no fly zone - has no purchase

when it comes to Israel and the Palestinians.

Such disregard for the asymmetry of the conflict led the MEA to call "upon both sides

to exercise maximum restraint". But who are the "both sides"? There are the Israelis -

as the occupying power - which has now taken to massive bombing raids on Gaza; and

there are the Palestinians, among whom are a slew of militants whose resistance is

hardly of the same calibre as that of the occupying power.

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After Israel's "Operation Cast Lead" (2009), the UN Human Rights Commission formed

a special panel chaired by South African jurist Richard Goldstone to study accusations

of human rights violations by Israel. The report found that Israel's blockade of Gaza

is illegal, berated Israel for targeting civilians, and accused it of major violations of

international law for, among other things, using white phosphorus bombs (chemicalweapons).

India, Brazil and South Africa (the IBSA bloc) subsequently had an even stronger stance

against the Israeli war. It took the public demur of the Palestinian ambassador and a

forthright statement from Brazil and South Africa to move India to a more reasonable

position. India, which once led on this issue, is now either reticent or forced.

Israel acts against the Palestinians with impunity because it knows that it will be protected

by the US. There will be no serious investigation of Israeli action. India's acceptance

of the US-Israeli narrative suggests that it too will join in the immoral charade of making

noises about "both sides" and "at the same time" when it is clear by the facts that arecognised occupying power has acted once more as the aggressor. "Operation Protection

Edge" will end soon. It will be followed by another operation, and then another. More

generations of Palestinians, with their eyes on the last sky, will wonder why the planet

has betrayed them.

Dispute Settlement in Bilateral Investment Agreements Sat, Jul 12, 2014EPW, international, Bilateral Investment Agreements,

The investor-state dispute settlement provisions, which are generally part of bilateral

investment promotion and protection agreements, are increasingly being called into

question by governments of various nations, especially those in developing countries.

In the recent past, multinational corporations have begun using international arbitration

clauses in the ISDS to challenge governments in countries where they invest and operate,

thereby challenging national public policy decisions. With the global tide going against

ISDS provisions, can India find a more opportune moment than now to take a call on

this important issue

A bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement (BIPA) is a form of

international investment agreement (IIA) aimed at protecting foreign investment. The

first BIPA was signed way back in the 1950s. But the 1980s and 1990s were witnessto a dramatic proliferation in the BIPAs signed: from fewer than 200 in 1980, there

were almost 2,000 BIPAs by the end of the 1990s (UNCTAD 2000). Developing

countries, in particular, were under pressure to enter into BIPAs in order to remain

competitive as a destination for foreign investment and also to project themselves as

reform-minded economies

The most controversial aspects of IIA s , including BIPA s , are the investor-state dispute

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settlement (ISDS) provisions that allow investors to subject host foreign governments

to international arbitration if they believe that they have been subject to expropriation

or discriminatory treatment in that country, among other grounds. The ISDS mechanism

was origi- nally designed to depoliticise investment disputes and allow foreign investors

a fair hearing before an independent, neutral and qualified tribunal ( UNCTAD 2013a).mechanism being widely criticised as unethical, unfair, undemocratic, unsustainable

and even unconstitutional, giving undue power and benefi t to multinational corporations

( MNC s ) over host governments and public policy, ISDS mechanism include lack of

legitimacy and transparency; contradictions between arbitral decisions; difficulties in

correcting erroneous ar-bitral decisions; questions about the independence and

impartiality of the arbitrators; and costs and time of ar bitral procedures

the total number of ISDS cases stood at 514 Strikingly in 66% of the new cases in 2012

the respondents were developing or transition economies (UNCTAD 2013a), which

went up to 73% in 2013 (UNCTAD 2014).

foreign investors challenged a broad range of government measures, including changes

related to investment-incentive schemes, alleged breaches of contracts, alleged direct

or de facto expropriation, revocation of licences or permits, regulation of energy tariffs,

allegedly wrongful criminal prosecution, land-zoning decisions, invalidation of patents,

among others (UNCTAD 2014).

Coming to India, the country has already lost a case of international arbitration involving

White Industries of Australia in 2011. More recently, companies like Deutsche Telekom,

Vodafone, Sistema, among others have served notices to the Indian government under

various BIPAs currently in force The interpretative statement issued by the North

American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Free Trade Commission, clarifying among

other things, the "minimum standard of treatment" is an example of this approach.

However, in order to qualify as authoritative, the interpretative statement corresponding

to a BIPA needs to be endorsed not only by India but also by the partner country

concerned mportantly, even if India opts to terminate the existing BIPAs and renegotiate

them in line with the new model BIPA under preparation, under a "sunset clause" the

existing BIPAs will continue to apply for another 15-year period in respect of investments

made prior to the termination.

opportunities for India for reforming the BIPA regime by terminating the existing

agreements and renegotiating them as per the new model. While many of India's BIPAsfollow the more flexible "anytime termination" model, allowing India to terminate the

agreement unilaterally (after giving notice) once the initial period is over, some of the

existing BIPAs follow the "end-of-term" model.

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End of the Planning Commission? Sat, Jul 19, 2014planning commission, EPW, economics,

Some would answer this question by asserting that a Planning Commission simplycannot have any role in a neo-liberal regime. The country has moved away from the

"Nehru-Mahalanobis strategy" 1 which visualised substantial public investment, and

hence the need for a "plan" to effect such investment. With the public sector displaced

from its leading role, any particular "public" engagement in development projects that

may still be required in a neo-liberal regime (through public-private partnerships for

instance) can be planned and executed by the concerned departments. There is no longer

any role for an overarching body like the Planning Commission.

even a government that lacks the will to take the country out of the vortex of globalisation,

and hence willy-nilly has to pursue a basically neo-liberal policy trajectory can still

have a national planning body that provides a counterpoint to neo-liberalism. Such aPlanning Commission can be concerned with working out ways of preserving what

remains of the public sector, with preventing the decimation of peasants and traditional

petty producers that neo-liberalism brings in its wake, and with providing amelioration,

by formulating welfare schemes, against the immiserisation of the people through

inflation and unemployment.

It signifies a change in the nature of the bourgeois nation state, from an entity apparently

standing above all classes and "looking after" the interests of all classes in varying

degrees, to one which is exclusively devoted to the interests of globalised corporate

capital on the grounds that what is good for it is good for all and vice versa.

Such a full-fledged neo-liberal state is characterised not just by a set of policies that

fall under the rubric of neo-liberalism. It has a set of specific institutional features as

well. These include: the "autonomy" of the central bank; the elevation of the Ministry

of Finance to the status of a super ministry dominating all others; the manning of the

central bank and of the finance ministry by ex-employees of the International Monetary

Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, or of certain other global financial institutions (who

usually go back to their parent bodies at the end of their tenures with the government);

the organisation of training programmes for the bureaucracy, especially of the home-grown

segment of the financial bureaucracy, by these multinational institutions or by universities

in the metropolis acting on their behalf; and a general increase in the power of thebureaucracy over the elected political representatives of the people on the grounds that

the latter are corrupt and cannot be trusted with key economic decision-making (which

is often enough true, except that the "corruption" itself is usually a consequence of the

privatisation spree unleashed by the neo-liberal regime, and tacitly acquiesced in by

the very members of the global financial community manning the government, who

then use it to discredit the "politicians").

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Neglect of the Working Emigrant Sat, Jul 26, 2014diaspora, social, EPW, Emigrant Indian,

India receives the largest amount of remittances in the world, an estimated $70 billion

in 2013, a large part of which is not from professionals but from semi-skilled and

unskilled migrants. Yet, the attention given to the issues experienced by Indian workers

abroad is woefully inadequate.

Among the millions of Indian migrants abroad, it is the unskilled and semi-skilled

workers in west Asia who work and live in the most difficult of situations. The Indian

missions in west Asia receive complaints every day about poor working conditions,

non-payment of wages and even of ill-treatment. At times the consequences of migration

are unimaginable. In 2012 The Guardian reported that 500 Indian workers employed

at construction sites preparing Qatar to host the 2022 Football World Cup had died,deaths that were later confirmed by the Government of India. Workers in west Asia,

especially the construction and domestic personnel, have some common complaints:

the promised wages not paid, passports are confiscated by employers to prevent mobility

or departure from the country, work hours are very long, the living conditions are

abysmal and there is often a hostile working atmosphere. There is never any question

of these workers being covered by the labour laws of the host nation or having the right

to form unions. This state of affairs is worsened by visa "brokers" and unscrupulous

recruitment agents thanks to whom many of these workers find that they are "illegal"

entities in these foreign countries. In the periodic crackdown on such illegal workers,

thousands are forced to come back to India, turned overnight from economic providersto burdens on their families. The government has often taken steps to deal with some

of these problems. However, given the complexity and the magnitude of the task, much

better planning and a more thought-out response are called for.

central trade unions in India point out that the fanfare about the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

(PBD) is only about the better-off non-resident Indians (NRI), mostly professionals

working in the developed countries. They have for long advocated a migration policy

that will take care of the rights of Indian workers overseas, especially women, who are

the most vulnerable to discrimination and abuse. Kerala which sends the largest number

of workers abroad has a dedicated government department as well as facilitation centres

to deal with the problems faced by the workers. However, it is the centre that must takethe initiative on a number of crucial issues ranging from exploitation by recruitment

agents, the absence of reliable data on overseas Indian labour, and the need for education

of the prospective migrants about what to expect in the destination nations to larger

ones like negotiating labour agreements.

The Government of India signed a labour cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia in

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January this year that provides a number of safeguards for Indian domestic service

workers in that country. This month the two sides arrived at an agreement on the mode

of recruitment and payment, age limit and minimum salaries. It also provides for a joint

monitoring mechanism and the success of the agreement will depend on how far India

takes this aspect seriously. Such agreements with other countries employing Indianlabour and across all sectors, not just domestic service, would go a long way in providing

them with some support in what often are hostile conditions.

Why Women Need 498A Sat, Jul 19, 2014social, EPW, divorce, 498a,

By stressing on the "misuse" of this section, on the one hand, and insisting that the

police should not resort to automatically arresting those charged under this section, on

the other, the Court has unfortunately reinforced many negative and ill-informed views

about the value of this provision for women subjected to domestic violence.

When it became evident that these deaths were the result of concerted harassment of

these new brides for dowry, a specific provision that made such harassment a cognisable

and non-bailable offence was enacted into law. In addition, Section 304B introduced

in 1986 recognised "dowry deaths" as any unnatural death of a young woman within

the first seven years of marriage. These additional remedies were introduced to enhance

and strengthen the existing Dowry Act, 1961. Since then, women have used Section

498A not just in instances of cruelty relating to dowry but also to deal with other forms

of violence in their homes. Until 2005, when the Domestic Violence Act was enacted,

this was one of the remedies available to them.

Before a first information report (FIR) is registered, the police try and get the woman

to reconcile with her family rather than pursue the complaint. Only if she persists does

the question of arrest even arise. If a case is registered, proving "cruelty" and "mental

cruelty" is extremely difficult in a court of law where this must be established "beyond

reasonable doubt".

Supreme Court appear to have overlooked these realities as well as the fact that the

number of proven dowry deaths has steadily increased despite the law. Instead, they

mention the 2012 National Crimes Record Bureau data that establishes that although

93.6% of cases filed under 498A were charge-sheeted, there were only 15% convictions

What is disappointing about this particular ruling is that it has reinforced the negative

aspects of 498A that have been part of the campaign of groups like Save the Indian

Family without actually addressing either the infirmities in the law, such as the inadequate

definitions of "cruelty" and "mental cruelty" or the difficulties women face in going

through the process of proving their cases in courts of law. There is precious little

available to women who face cruelty inside their homes. Just because a law is ineffective,

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or even if it is sometimes misused, does not mean it is not needed.

Could the Kingdom Still Be United? Sat, Jul 26, 2014

scotland, uk, EPW, international,

"Yes" or "no", the September vote on independence for Scotland will change the face

of the United Kingdom. A vote for separation will be the result of a peaceful and

democratic process, and it will pose questions for what will remain of the "United"

Kingdom.

A "yes" vote would not only see a new, small independent European country born out

of an impeccably democratic process but would trigger tough questions and debate in

England, Wales and Northern Ireland too, with international reverberations well beyond

that.

Whether from a "Unionist" or independence point of view, the referendum debate has

triggered a flowering of political, social and cultural dialogue and debate in Scotland,

with wide participation, intensity, passion, acrimony and argument.

Scotland has always retained a different legal and education system to the rest of the

UK. With devolution in 1999, its policies on health, universities, social policies and

more have tended in the direction of a much more mainstream European Social Democrat

and/or Christian Democrat mould than the neo-liberal policies of the current

Conservative-Lib-Dem coalition, or of their Thatcherite predecessors

Ad-hocism in the Decisions to Modify Labour Laws Sat, Jul 26, 2014msme, labour laws, EPW, economics,

The Government of India too has announced its decision to amend important legislations

and has called for public comments.

The history of Indian labour legislations shows that most of them were made due to

strong demands by the working class from the Bengal, Bombay, and Madras presidencies.

The state has made amendments to three central government labour legislations - the

Industrial Disputes Act (IDA), 1947, Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act(CLRA), 1970, and the Factories Act, 1948 - in an attempt to liberate the corporate

sector from the stringent requirements of the law.

According to the changes proposed to the IDA, the government's prior permission will

not be required for effecting retrenchments in establishments engaging up to 300

workers.

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The amendments made by the state government have also increased the percentage of

workers needed for registration as a representative union from 15% to 30%. Today

many states do not have a law obliging employers to compulsorily recognise any trade

union for the purpose of collective bargaining.

Without following the provisions of the Act, the Supreme Court in the Steel Authority

of India's case (2001) rejected the claims of workers and virtually legalised outsourcing

of labour. It ruled that the

Hence no trade union seeks a government notification on abolishing contract labour as

it will eliminate the workforce in question by providing it no employment.

The removal of the ban on night shifts for women workers also raises considerable

concerns, even among women workers. The Factories Act prohibition on employing

women for work at night was struck down by the Madras High Court in R Vasantha's

case (2001). The state did not effectively challenge the judgment. The net result is that

female workers are employed in three shifts in Tamil Nadu, and have in a sense become

camp coolies, contrary to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) norms.

By the amendments proposed to the Apprentices Act, 1961,the state government will

be sharing the cost of apprenticeship. If a company having less than 250 workers hires

apprentices, the state will absorb half the cost, and if it has above this number, the state

government will absorb a fourth of the cost. Under the Act, in no case have employers

absorbed trained apprentices as regular workmen. After the successful completion of

training, apprentices are left high and dry.

proposed major amendments will include relaxing restrictions on night duty for womenin factories, subject to certain conditions, and increasing the limit of overtime to 100

hours (now 50 hours) in a quarter.

Before tinkering with the existing labour laws, one must know their history. The colonial

government never wanted to extend labour legislations that existed in the UK in the

early years of the 20th century. After the first world war, colonial India was dubiously

made a member of the ILO. After lot of hue and cry, a Royal Commission of Labour,

which came to India, observed in its report (1929),

Its opinion was that the unionisation of workers alone would improve their economic

conditions. Therefore, the first phase of labour legislations introduced (1923-45) weremerely regulatory. In the second phase, after the second world war, a nationalist

government began making laws that affected the relationship between capital and labour

(1946-51). After the Constitution of India was enacted and the state was obliged to

make laws in terms of the directive principles of state policy, a number of welfare

legislations were enacted in the third phase (1952-86). The legislations made during

the second phase show that most of them were as a result of unionisation in a particular

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sector. They covered an identifiable group. The government made sector-wise and

segment-oriented laws relating to plantation labour, mine workers, beedi and cigar

workers, motor transport workers, and so on. Each of them had their own peculiarity

and the service conditions for each industry were unique.

The economic reforms and the dilution of labour legislations have brought unprecedented

misery to the working masses in our country. Ever rising prices have eroded the real

value of their wages, which have put their health in jeopardy. Fast shrinking public

health services and the lack of medical insurance for the poor have added to their

problems. There are no jobs that provide a sustainable income for workers. Whatever

is on offer is contractual or casual in nature with long hours, terrible work conditions,

and no security. To top it all, the fundamental right to organise and agitate for better

wages, better working conditions, and a better life is being crushed systematically. The

working class certainly did not bargain for this parivartan (change) from the new

government.

Decentralised Energy Generation Sat, Jul 19, 2014Decentralised Energy Generation, EPW, power, electricity, economics, energy,

New technological and financial solutions have made decentralised distributed generation

more viable and sustainable. However, the energy delivered is still very expensive in

the absence of financial subsidies, and it is the mechanism of the subsidy and not the

quantum that is the issue.

Hundreds of off-grid communities, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in India, as

in other developing countries, are getting clean reliable electricity for the first time.

Much of this is from the decentralised generation based on renewable energy sources

Entrepreneurs with varying business models are finding ways to reach electricity to

far-flung villages and communities. While many of the entrepreneurial solutions are at

market rates, there are several that depend on grants and loans to help with the steep

capital costs

The implications of this are enormous: the universal access to clean energy for lighting

that has been elusive for decades might be finally available for many and is perhaps

cheaper than kerosene that they are now dependent on. The off-grid solutions,

predominantly based on solar photovoltaic (PV) lighting, are meeting the meagredemand of these households, by supplying safe and reliable electricity. government.

Hence, it has to ensure that these energy solutions are sustainable, affordable and

equitable However, as the cost of generation from decentralised generation is higher,

for every unit of electricity consumed these new consumers are paying a higher tariff

than their grid-connected fellow citizens.

As the numbers go, worldwide there are around 1.3 billion people without a reliable

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clean energy source for lighting; India alone has over 400 million. Add to this the

hundreds of millions who face blackouts and brownouts, and, according to affordability,

depend on kerosene for lighting or use diesel as a backup for grid According to the

Ministry of Power almost all of the 6,00,000 villages have been electrified or grid

connected. But, alas, reliable electricity is unlikely to be available to many of thesecommunities anytime soon.

For decades, decentralised generation at the household level has been primarily based

on solar PV solutions. However, at the community level, it has been decentralised

micro-grids which can be based on any combination of locally available resources such

as - solar, hydro, wind, and biomass. The recent plunge in the price of solar PV panels,

60% to 80% in five years, has made PV-based solutions more affordable for electrification.

In turn this has made the rural lighting market an attractive sector for entrepreneurs.

Solar PV solutions for decentralised generation come in three sizes - (i) solar lanterns,

in terms of luminosity, a perfect substitute for a kerosene lamp, (ii) solar home lightingsystems that can take bigger loads, and (iii) a micro-grid to power a village or a

community. The first two options, based on direct current (DC), are for households,

and the choice and configuration are decided by households depending on their need

and economics. The third option can be based on DC or alternate current (AC) depending

on the load. The advantage of a micro-grid, particularly based on solar PV, is that as

demand increases, additional PV panels can be easily installed. Moreover, when reliable

grid does arrive to the village, micro-grids can be integrated and can continue to augment

or abate the grid.

The only big drawback of solar-based generation is that while the electricity is generated

during the day, most of the demand for lighting is after sunset. This makes it necessary

to have a battery bank. Batteries are expensive and need to be replaced, at least a couple

of times during the 25-year life of the PV panels.

A smaller battery can be planned if the micro-grid is hybridised with another locally

available renewable energy source, such as biomass. The recent switch by solar lighting

developers to adopt light emitting diode (LED) has helped in further lowering the

lighting load. For the same lumen, the wattage of an LED light is about half that of a

compact fluorescent light (CFL) and almost one-eighth of that of an incandescent light.

This has meant, for an equivalent demand, the use of LED lights implies a smaller PV

panel and battery size, and lowered cost. Further, the reduction in size has aided modulardesigns that are more amenable to plug and play.

Today's solar lanterns are nifty and come in several sizes and configurations. Typically

a lantern is provided with one LED-based bulb, ranging from a fraction of a watt to

couple of watts, along with an outlet to charge a cell phone. The PV panel and battery

are sized according to the hours of operations guaranteed by the product. A two-Watt

LED light and a simple cell phone charger ("not the smart one"), operating for five-six

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hours a day, will only consume a very small fraction of a unit (kWh) of electricity.

The home lighting systems are designed to meet more diverse and larger loads, anywhere

from 20 watts to a few kilowatts (kWs) - a few lights, an outlet to charge a cell phone

and perhaps even an appliance or two. These in principle, can be customer designed to

fit the demand. The service providers offer products of varying quality and quantity of

lights and include options for additional loads for households or small businesses. Many

living in the sweltering heat could use a fan. A radio or a television is not quite a luxury,

but do add to the load. For a few hours of usage, this profile will work out to be at the

most 1 kWh per day.

In a solar PV-based micro-grid, PV panels are set up in a community land and low

tension transmission cables carry power to load centres. These power plants can be

efficiently sized and designed to power households, community and commercial loads.

A 50 kW PV system will approximately suffice to provide basic amenities (under 1

kWh per day per household) for around 150 households in addition to supporting amodest community load (street lights, drinking water pumps and couple of buildings).

hough the PV prices have fallen, adding the costs of balance of systems including

batteries, smart meters and transmission cables the overall systems cost is still expensive.

The advantage here is that the installation costs can be distributed across the community

and the beneficiaries of the power from the plant can jointly take responsibility for the

operations of the plant. Even so, historically, micro-grids have not been successful

largely due to inadequate support systems - high capital costs, financing difficulty,

poor service and maintenance and, finally, difficulty in collecting tariffs from end-users.

At the household level, smart meters ensure end-users do not overdraw electricity and

increase their load. When deployed in several strategic points in the grid, these meters

can be programmed to detect theft and provide mechanisms for system operators to cut

off delinquent customers or clients who play foul. Finally, the cellular phones are used

by customers to transfer funds to pay for the system. The advances in metering techniques

and the near ubiquitous distribution of cell phones have enabled these new business

models to succeed.

Last mile challenges contribute heavily to the costs as do battery banks to power

households after sunset. As a result the cost of generation, even if spread across the

households, is typically very high. It has been established that households are more

than willing to pay for reliable electricity, particularly when it is cheaper than kerosene.However, this does not seem to be a level playing field, when the poor have to pay a

higher price for a unit of electricity they consume.

Though technology is simple and these micro-grids can take on additional community

loads such as street lights, drinking water pumps, health centres and schools, it is unclear

who will foot the expensive community bill. There are solutions, where an anchor

commercial client, such as a cell tower or a shopping complex, pays a higher tariff

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bringing down or "socialising" the costs to the community. Today the cost of generation

from diesel is more expensive than that from solar. With the gradual removal of diesel

subsidy in India, the economics of solar looks more favourable.

All said, the micro-grids have several difficulties to surmount. The first challenge is

the upfront high capital needed to set up. The next is the financing difficulties, which

are seen as a major bottleneck for overall scaling up of generation from renewable

energy. Once the plant is set up, a business model is needed to support an entrepreneur

to stay and operate. The final challenge is to collect tariffs from the users who are

economically strapped.

The new financial innovation powered by the internet, crowd funding or crowd-sourced

funding has enabled a wide pool of small investors, dispersed around the world, to

provide equity to fund a project anywhere in the world.

Next is the financial innovation for the end-users. With smart meters operating wirelessly

and cash transfer with the touch of a cell phone, pay-as-you-go models have emerged

to enable end-users to decide when they want energy and how much they want. There

are prepaid models where the smart meter is tripped and power supply is shut off when

the money runs out much like the prepaid cell phone's talktime.

Historically, utility scale generation plants based on fossil fuels and other conventional

energy have enjoyed financial subsidies and tax write-offs for years. Moreover, the

infrastructure is often built by public works. Furthermore, transmission and distribution

losses are substantial in utility scale generation and distribution. In India, the utilities

lose around 25% of electricity due to technical and commercial (theft) losses, and this

results in loss of revenue. In the case of micro-grids, technical and distribution lossesare minimal. Similarly, loss due to theft can be closely monitored and prevented.

The new technological and financial solutions have made decentralised distributed

generation more viable and sustainable for the long run. However, the energy delivered

from the distributed decentralised plants is still very expensive in the absence of financial

subsidies. Typically while most grid-connected households pay somewhere around Rs

4 per unit (kWh) of electricity delivered (cost is even lower for the lowest tariff slab

where most of these consumers will fall), the rural poor pay typically well over Rs 10

per kWh depending on the service and the business model they have been provided.

Against this backdrop, renewable energy generation receiving subsidies today shouldnot and cannot be disputed. Several governments like with India's Ministry of New

and Renewable Energy (MNRE) do offer financial incentives for decentralised distribution.

The problem is not even with the quantum of subsidy, it is often the mechanism of the

subsidy that is the issue. Traditionally, governments have offered capital subsidies for

decentralised generation and feed-in-tariff for utility scale generation. It has been

well-established that capital subsidies as well as donor-based programmes impede the

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to death as a result of the decision, and for two of them - Rao and Ram - the Supreme

Court's admission of its own error had come too late.

the court pointed out that even after its declaration that Ravji had been erroneously

decided, it had continued to render irrelevant a criminal's socio-economic background

in determining the sentences of numerous convicts.

In a letter dated 1 July 2012, the group implored the government to commute the

sentences of 13 persons in seven different cases to life imprisonment. Capital punishment

in each of their cases, the retired judges pointed out, had been awarded based on a

now-admittedly flawed application of the law. "This matter goes to the very heart of

our Constitution and the system of democratic government", they wrote, "because it

involves the taking of lives by the state on the basis of judgments admitted to be

erroneous by the Supreme Court."

Recently, the Supreme Court had to intervene to commute to life imprisonment the

sentences of 15 convicts on the death row. In Shatrughan Chauhan vs Union of India

9 the Court ruled that an unreasonable delay in disposing a mercy petition filed by a

person on the death row was tantamount to torture, and was valid ground for commuting

his or her death sentence. 10 For instance, in the case of Gurmeet Singh, one of the

petitioners before the Supreme Court, there had been a delay of more than seven years

in the disposal of his mercy petition by the governor and the president. As a result,

Singh had spent 26 years in custody - more than double what most convicts sentenced

to life imprisonment undergo.

There is, the commission believes, a woeful lack of research on the issue of death

penalty in India in spite of the glaring iniquities highlighted in the Supreme Court'sjurisprudence.

The challenges in Bachan Singh were made on three primary grounds. First, the death

penalty infracted the six freedoms comprised in Article 19(1) of the Constitution. Since

capital punishment served no clearly identifiable social purpose, and since its deterrent

effects were unproven, at best, it was argued that it could not represent a reasonable

restriction on the right to human dignity of an individual. Second, it was contended by

the petitioners that capital punishment contravened the right to life and personal liberty

guaranteed by Article 21. Post Maneka Gandhi vs Union of India , 13 the procedure

established by law through which the right to life and personal liberty could be curtailed

had to be just, fair and reasonable. In other words, our Constitution, according to the

Supreme Court, guaranteed not merely procedural but also substantive due process.

And the death penalty, the petitioners in Bachan Singh argued, was opposed to the

fundamental tenets of due process - which required the state to treat each person's life

with equal importance. Third, and finally, it was argued that the vice of arbitrariness

permeated the law of capital punishment in India. In bestowing the court an unhindered

discretion in determining when to grant the ultimate sentence, the law, according to the

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petitioners, violated Article 14 and its guarantee of equality.

The majority of judges in Bachan Singh , however, rejected each of these submissions.

14 Curiously, the Court concluded that penal laws could almost never infract the rights

mentioned in Article 19(1). As Justice Sarkaria wrote,

Second, the Court held that neither Section 302 of the IPC, which allowed courts to

sentence people to death for committing murder, nor Section 354(3) of the CrPC,

violated Article 21. Therefore, even if the death penalty violated a person's right to

life, it would be justified so long as the procedure fixing such punishment was just, fair

and reasonable, in accordance with Article 21

However, with a view to guiding the sentencing process, the majority in Bachan Singh

further ruled that in cases of murder, the death penalty ought to be the exception as

opposed to the rule. Capital punishment, according to the Court, could be inflicted only

in the gravest cases of extreme culpability, and in making the choice of the sentence,

in addition to the circumstances of the offence, due regard must be paid to the circumstances

of the offender, also.

In Machhi Singh vs State of Punjab , 18 a three-judge bench of the Court fell into a

trap that the majority in Bachan Singh had been careful to avoid. It sought to define a

"rarest of rare" case by providing concrete examples of different categories of cases

where the community's "collective conscience is so shocked that it will expect the

holders of the judicial power centre to inflict death penalty". Consequently, as opposed

to the death sentence being awarded only in cases where the alternative option was

foreclosed by a supposed inability to reform the offender, capital punishment was

considered the appropriate penalty for murder purely on the basis of the nature andcharacteristic of the crime.

Modi and Modified Crops Sat, Jul 26, 2014environment, EPW, GM crops, transgenic crops, Genetic Engineering Approval

Committee,

It is curious that the GEAC has chosen to clear the way for some 15 GM food and other

crops to undergo controlled field trials. These include rice, mustard, chickpea, cotton

and brinjal. The introduction of GM mustard was strongly opposed several years back

and the field trials were cancelled. Bt brinjal was also cleared for trials but withdrawn

in the face of objections from the Ministry of Environment and Forests based on the

views of farmers at a series of public hearings around India. Despite this, and the fact

that the Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments against field trials of GM crops

in the absence of adequate regulatory systems, the GEAC has chosen to go ahead. In

fact, the Technical Expert Committee (TEC) set up by the Supreme Court to look into

this issue has recommended a moratorium on field trials because it believes the regulatory

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system is inadequate.

One camp argues that the technology, which involves introducing a "foreign" gene, is

dangerous because once introduced, it is irreversible. In other words, once you have a

GM crop, you cannot reverse the process if you find that it is causing harm. These

groups have also questioned whether GM technology does, in fact, increase productivity

as is claimed by the promoters of the technology. They also point out that the environmental

costs might outweigh any benefits that the introduction of such a technology brings.

The other argument revolves around food security. In India, as in many other parts of

the world, a few multinational corporations, principally Monsanto, have a virtual

monopoly on the GM technology. If a country's food production becomes overly

dependent on seeds and other inputs from a handful of such companies, will it not

compromise its food security?

The third argument is about the suitability of GM food crops for a country like India

where the majority of farmers own small plots of land. To make them dependent on a

technology with high initial costs, and without an assurance that it will guarantee higher

yields, is placing them at a great risk. This has already been evident in the spate of

farmers' suicides witnessed in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra in the course of the

last decade where farmers fell for the hard-sell of Bt cotton and got entrapped in a

debilitating debt cycle due to higher costs without commensurate returns.

And the clinching argument is the absence of adequate regulatory and monitoring

mechanisms to ensure that the field trials are conducted following safety protocols and

that they do not infect surrounding areas. The record in this regard has been less than

satisfactory in India. In fact, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture(PSCA) had called for a ban on field trials precisely for this reason. The basic norm to

be followed includes ensuring that there is a 20% non-Bt refuge area around the trial

area. Yet, field trials of Bt cotton demonstrated the absence of adequate monitoring of

compliance of such rules.

Another important criticism of the entire process of field trials is the absence of an

independent authority to assess safety and suitability as well as a liability regime that

can fix responsibility for damage. The GEAC tends to rely on data from those very

private companies whose products it is supposed to assess. Surely credible field trials

needed to assess the safety of GM crops are not possible under these conditions. Finally,

labelling and public awareness about GM crops are particularly poor and will allow

private companies to mislead people.

EPW July (1)

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