DMK’s Hindi Denial

The subtext of the tug of war over National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) between the Centre and DMK is substantially about the three-language option that can theoretically include Hindi. At present, state-run schools in Tamil Nadu simply do not offer the Hindi option at all, something that severely disadvantages students from the state when they travel to other parts of the country for study and employment. The state government’s refusal to implement the PM SHRI schools initiative is suspected to be a reflection of this concern apart from issues of funding and autonomy that DMK has raised. The DMK government says it can accept the PM SHRI schools but not NEP. This has led to withholding of Central funds as rolling out NEP is a key part of the Modi government’s education policy. The standoff might have been avoided if the DMK government had played its cards more subtly, seeking changes in the language relating to the scheme’s MoU that states are required to sign. Meanwhile, many students in Tamil Nadu learn Hindi in private schools affiliated to CBSE. As Census 2011 shows, the number of Hindi speakers is rising in southern states and more people are becoming bilingual and even trilingual. Observers feel the Tamil Nadu government might have played its cards more adroitly even while claiming to have protected the state’s “cultural” values. As a recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin showed, cooperation is possible with the Centre speedily clearing funding for Chennai Metro. Now, newbie actor-politician Vijay has declared that the three-language formula will never be implemented in the state, making it all the more harder for older political parties to find a solution that would benefit Tamil Nadu students and skirt the slippery terrain of identity politics.

Ranking Blues

Official regulations allow personnel from the armed forces to use their ranks after they leave service with the proviso that the nomenclature be followed by “retd” to clarify current status. The office bearers of a housing society in Noida, drawn largely from the IAS were faced with a dilemma when a resident asked for communication to him to be addressed by a reference to his rank in the armed forces at the time of retirement. With both communities being hierarchy-conscious, the society office bearers sought advice on the matter. Should the resident be addressed by his rank or not? Reading the relevant rules revealed that while the use of rank is indeed permitted, it does not imply that others must use the reference too. There is nothing mandatory about a retired armed forces officer being addressed by rank. The society promptly communicated the same to the resident, stating it would be best for promoting equality among members to use a common honorific. The episode springs out of a Yes Minister script—the BBC series that took a humorous and sardonic view of the bureaucracy’s ability to spin words and interpret rules to its benefit. Whether the request to be referred to by rank warranted a prolonged investigation is a fair question. But as things transpired, the resident was clearly at a disadvantage given the composition of the society’s office bearers.

Arms and the Army

In 2012, the then Army vice chief told a parliamentary committee that the force was so short of ammunition that stocks covered limited war-fighting while also highlighting resource constraints for other programmes. Since India cannot match the mega defence budgets of neighbour China despite the threat posed by the communist nation in tandem with Pakistan, striking a balance between security and development is always challenging. But measures taken by the Modi government to open defence production to the private sector are yielding results. India is finally developing the capacity to mass produce ammunition shells used in artillery weapons and production will increase by end-2025 as new facilities that can manufacture at scale become operational. Besides supplying the Indian Army, the ammunition business has a growing world market with massive amounts of explosives being used in the war in Ukraine. Despite the threat of sanctions by the US, Indian companies are actively searching for partnerships with Russian private and government sector firms since the defence sector in the former Soviet Union offers quality and much better costs along with fewer regulatory and legal compliance issues.

Brussels Red Tape

The European propensity to insert various non-tariff issues into the discussions about an FTA with India has drawn an impatient response from New Delhi. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal advised EU negotiators that there are numerous existing agreements and protocols to deal with issues like labour and climate change. “Everything does not have to be part of the FTA,” he is understood to have told the EU negotiators. An FTA would benefit both economies but the slow pace at which the Brussels bureaucracy moves has led to the question whether the EU understood it could not dictate terms or force India to accept binding requirements amounting to political and economic values it wants to impose on others. Now, states like Germany, France and Poland are seeking bilateral solutions to boost trade and security cooperation as they do not want to miss the opportunities offered by a fast growing economy. They also recognise the role India plays in keeping the Indian Ocean Region a safe and stable route of passage for shipping to and from Europe.

A Cracker of a Deepavali

Every year, courts, governments, activists and the media undergo a farce during the Deepavali holidays. This year, too, the ban on firecrackers in Delhi and surrounding areas was violated with impunity not just on the day of the festival but for the next two days as well. The effect on pollution was not pronounced since helpful winds dispersed the emissions. As some media reports revealed, the ban on firecrackers has only spawned a vast illegal trade with the incendiaries being smuggled in various ways. The problem is that the proposed ‘green’ crackers have not found takers due to a lack of supply and no effort to popularise them. Consequently, the ban and the manner of its implementation have achieved the opposite effect with free and unregulated availability of fire crackers. What is more worrying is that the incendiaries do not carry any guarantees of quality checks since they are not sold by regular retailers who can be held responsible for the products. The post-Deepavali hand-wringing, with the courts bemoaning a rise in pollution is a disappointing but predictable denouement of this annual play.

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