Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, in conversation with Anil Sharma, another employee of Newsband. Dinesh hasn't worn socks because it is rainy season

K R Bhat rejoins Newsband, Dinesh Kamath welcomes him

Former Editor of Newsband K R Bhat has rejoined Newsband as the Editor of its weekly supplement 'In New Bombay'. Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, feels relieved about the fact that henceforth K R Bhat will be there to share his burden of bringing out the Daily Newsband regularly. Dinesh Kamath welcomes K R Bhat. 

Prakash Koshy, Sub-Editor of Newsband, quits Newsband, Dinesh Kamath bids him good bye

Prakash Koshy (Front) and Dinesh Kamath (Behind)

Prakash Koshy, Sub Editor of Newsband, has left Newsband for some personal reasons. He was a great helping hand and a moral support for Dinesh Kamath, Editor of Newsband, who will miss him. Dinesh Kamath wishes Prakash best of luck for the future.  

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (India today) that was published in Newsband

India today

India has turned 65 years old on 15 August 2012. India is still young. Our country is growing fast.

For both India and Pakistan, August 15 is a great day. The people of both these countries are found to be in jubilant moods on this day.

But the question is has either of the two countries achieved success to the extent they should have?

Jawaharlal Nehru, who was the first Prime Minister of India after independence, had seen a vision of future India. But India is still far away from making that vision a reality. India is moving too slowly towards achieving the dreams that our past leaders had seen. On economic front, we have yet to achieve a lot.

The condition of Pakistan is worse than that of India. Even Pakistan has failed to fulfill the dream of its founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Pakistan, in fact, was expected to grow into a secular and democratic modern nation. But till now most of the time the country was under military rule.

As compared to Pakistan, India definitely has performed much better during the last 65 years, whether it is polity, economy or society. India has succeeded in remaining a democratic and secular nation through out the last 65 years. Not once India was under military rule. That speaks volumes about the clean intentions that people of India harbour in their minds. Indians always opposed terrorism and even today Indians are totally against any kind of terrorist activities.

Indians possess the power to make and break governments. When Indians found a certain government too inefficient, they managed to replace it by another government. This has rarely been the case in Pakistan. Pakistanis, unfortunately, enjoyed the privilege of replacing government only sometimes. Their voices most of the time went unheard due to domination by military.

On economy, Pakistan actually did better than India in terms of per capita incomes until the 1980s. But India recently has stopped seeing Pakistan as the competitor. India has her eye on China. India is trying to race with China and rightly so. India knows that Pakistan cannot match her owing to it being heavily dependent on foreign aids. India, in fact, is concentrating more on exploiting creative energies of her own people.

The common thing about the two countries is, both are not totally free from the curse like poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and gender discrimination. India can call herself developed only when these curse are totally driven away. How much more time will India require to achieve the status of totally developed country?

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Prevent manufacture of fake drugs) that was published in Newsband

Prevent manufacture of fake drugs

Sleep is very necessary for every human being. Hours of rest can give one mental peace.

But natural sleep is better than artificial one. The prescriptions for sleeping tablets and drugs are supposed to have a soothing effect but can be addictive and even fatal at high doses. Till now, the need for such artificial inducements for sleep was associated mainly with the tension-ridden environment of the Western world with its marital and employment problems. Now we find many Indians too taking drugs to get good sleep.

A survey revealed that one out of every 20 Indians are plagued by sleep disorder. Along with the induction of the Western focus on a jet-setting lifestyle, long working hours, recourse to alcohol for ‘relaxation’ and families from where parents are excluded, upper and middle class Indians have become prone to bouts of angst and melancholy that can make it difficult to sleep easily.

There is little doubt that those who are lower down in the social and economic scale also suffer from anxiety and depression because of their greater physical strain and monetary hardship. However, their far more active life enables them to sleep more easily. This privilege is denied to the more affluent because of their sedentary ways.

It is necessary, therefore, to study the sleep patterns of individuals in present-day India before prescribing medication since it is a problem that is likely to grow rather than diminish, especially in the higher echelons of society. What is more, young people may begin to experience the ill-effects of a frenetic lifestyle in greater numbers. A healthy nation must not only eat well, but also be able to sleep well.

There are some companies which indulge in making and supplying fake drugs which promise good sleep. Such companies also manufacture drugs which are supposed to have magical powers. The Food and Drug Administration deserves all support in its crusade against fraudulent firms manufacturing, advertising and selling medicines that have magical powers. Television channels should be penalized for telecasting advertisements promoting such drugs to control baldness, diabetics, obesity and to improve sexual prowess.

The Drugs and Cosmetic Rules, 1945, specifically prohibit manufacture and sale of such drugs. The exact size of the illegal business is not known but it is definitely worth hundreds of crores of rupees. In one case, a capsule that claims to have aphrodisiac properties was found to contain nothing but roasted chana powder. The only major expense involved was in advertising these products, which were primarily directed at gullible people. Even if the victims do not repeatedly buy the medicine, the company would have made its profit and would have found other victims.

These companies which manufacture such drugs and media firms which promote such fraudulent companies need to be severely dealt with by the authorities.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Shinde should tackle terror problem) that was published in Newsband

Shinde should tackle terror problem

Sushilkumar Shinde, the new home minister, has a task of tackling terror problem. The Pune blasts mercifully did not claim any casualties but are a chilling reminder that terror is far from over in India despite the relative calm in recent times. The miscreants have succeeded in conveying the message to Shinde that he will not have an easy ride.

After the catastrophic Mumbai terror attacks, the home ministry had put in place several measures to tackle terror. Indeed, home ministry officials claim that several attacks were averted by these efforts. We have several agencies to look into different aspects of terror, the National Investigation Agency, the Intelligence Bureau, the Research and Analysis Wing to mention some. But what seems to be lacking while dealing with external security threats or internal insurgencies is coordination among all of them and a certain amount of intelligence sharing. We need much greater technological input in the fight against all forms of terror and certainly much greater human intelligence. The lack of coordination again between the Centre and states has also helped those who want to perpetrate terror. When the Centre alerts the states, some chief ministers feel as if their egos are hurt. They feel that this is encroaching on their powers, quite ignoring the fact that security cannot be held hostage to Centre-state equations.

Another aspect which emboldens purveyors of terror is the painfully slow investigative process. When ever a terror attack occurs all that the police do is round up some suspects and then find that the cases against them hold no water. This has hampered the investigation process considerably. There is rarely any methodical investigation into these incidents, leading to a lack of faith in the whole system on the part of the common man.

It will take the new home minister a while to come to grips with his portfolio. 

He should concentrate on making the whole system effective, bring about improvement in the investigation process and prevent further terror attacks thereby making the citizens of the country feel absolutely secure and safe.

Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Improve Indo-US defence trade and India’s indigenous capabilities) that was published in Newsband

Improve Indo-US defence trade and India’s indigenous capabilities

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta’s visit to India in early June was the best thing that happened for India. Deputy Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter was chosen to deepen bilateral defence trade. The move was a good one and would be strengthened if India responds correctly. Part of Carter’s mission will inevitably deal with technology transfer which is arguably India’s top strategic objective for defence trade.

It is true that in the past Americans were reluctant to transfer technology to India. But paradigm shift has occurred within the US administration on technology transfers to India since 2005.

Unlike Russia, France, or Israel, technology is a strategic, rather than a commercial commodity for the US and is not parted with lightly. It will take more time to build US confidence on transferring technology to India - but it will grow over the long term as the relationship deepens.

However, no amount of foreign tech transfer will ever make India self-reliant in defence production. Based on a year-long examination of bilateral defence trade, here are several reforms India may consider.

Indian government should allow its own private sector to compete in the defence market. Defence minister AK Antony’s recent decision to invite private companies to compete against the public sector for the Army’s Tactical Communications System was a good start.

While private companies are eager to contribute to Indian defence needs, they currently do not have a compelling financial incentive to build the necessary infrastructure for defence production. As a result, many large Indian firms are thinking of pulling out of the defence sector altogether which is unfortunate because it deprives the Indian warfighter of potentially obtaining the best quality defence equipment through free and open competition.

Second, India could encourage its private sector to engage in basic defence research. India is blessed with copious amounts of technical talent in the private sector but has not adequately tapped into this rich resource.

Third, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) should speed up its decision making process and improve transparency. While MoD decision-makers are deliberately slow in shepherding defence deals partly to ward off potential charges of corruption, defence readiness can be harmed in the process.

Fourth, India should consider increasing the rate of Foreign Direct Investment to a level above 50%. Doing so would help Indian firms gain greater exposure to American industrial practices, obtain more access to American technology, and help India towards its goal of industrial self-reliance in defence.

Lastly, it may be worth establishing a national commission to examine the most optimal way to use offset resources.

Instituting the needed reforms will not only contribute to closer US-India defence trade ties, but, most importantly, will significantly contribute to improving India’s own indigenous capabilities and – ultimately - its national security.