Indian valour in Great War extolled
Prime Minister Narendra Modi rescued the contribution of Indian troops in the Great War of 1914-18 from the condescension of his country’s political establishment; he did so appropriately in Australia. It was a masterly stroke of diplomacy; his words were uttered at the right place at the right time. The setting was Australia’s War Memorial, where he laid a wreath on Remembrance Day to honour the country’s war dead, many of whom had fought with legendary courage at Gallipoli. He chose the moment to recall the bravery and courage of Indian soldiers who had also died on the same battlefield for the same futile goal of evicting the Turkish forces from their entrenched position on the higher ground. ANZAC Day is a poignant time for Australians and New Zealanders who, jointly, bore the brunt of the Allied assault. By referring to the role of the Indian troops who fought on the entire front, from Europe to the Middle East, where they played a leading role in the liberation of Iraq, Syria and Palestine from the grip of the Ottoman Turks, Mr Modi brought home to the people of Australia that Australian and Indian troops had been comrades in arms then, and in World War II, as fellow members of the British Commonwealth. Such awareness should do much to deepen the India-Australia relationship and take it to new heights of common endeavour. Mr Modi’s decision to break the mould with his public recognition of Indian valour in foreign fields will go a long way in dispelling the claustrophobic anti-colonialism and its hypocrisies that have bedeviled the country’s political discourse over the past decades. If Indian soldiers are to be excluded from their country’s official narrative because they fought under the colours of the British Empire, then the same standard should apply to numerous civil servants, police officials, railway men , medical personnel, educationalists, who also served the Raj. General Joginder Singh, the former Chief of the Army Staff, in a newspaper article, issued a vigorous call for the recognition of the performances of Indian soldiers in both World Wars. They helped save, did they not?, the world and India from the scourge of Hitler’s Nazism and the predatory fascism of Imperial Japan. The Indian Army, Air Force and Navy operate today from the foundations established during the Raj. Are we expected to forget the yeoman service rendered to the Republic of India by Air Chief Marshals Subroto Mukherjee, Aspy Engineer, Arjan Singh, Field Marshals Sam Manekshaw, Cariappa, Generals Thimayya, Kumaramangalam and JFR Jacob plus several Admirals of the Indian Navy?
India’partnership with Australia will surely be cemented by closer security ties including naval, army and air exercises. The architecture will be complete with deeper trade and investment ties. A long ending trade pact should be concluded by the end of next year and closure applied shortly to a civilian nuclear accord. Mr Modi told Australia’s business community that the time to enter India was now, that it was the propitious hour to spread its wings in India where there would be opportunities galore for new entrepreneurs. India and Australia have come in from the cold. About time too [See page 12]
Visit to Fiji
Prime Minister Modi’s trip to Fiji opened a new chapter in what was once a fraught relationship. He was accorded a warm welcome by Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who said: “This is a visit of the leader of the world’s largest democracy to Fiji, a nation which has just instituted the first true democracy in its history.” Replying, Mr Modi said: “The tides of history brought our people here, forging the timeless link that makes our relationship unique.” Addressing the Fijian Parliament, Mr Modi offered Fiji an Indian line of credit worth $75 million for the rejuvenation of its ailing sugar industry. He promised more scholarships to Fijian students to study in India. Mr Modi proposed an annual summit between India and all 14 island nations of the Pacific region, whose were present in Suva to join in the welcoming ceremony – surely the opening chapter to a brighter relationship for all sides.
Indian economy in revival: OECD
The Paris-based think tank, Organization of Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) in its Economic Survey of India has posted evidence of its economic recovery – the fastest among the emerging economies. The OECD upgraded its Indian growth forecast in fiscal 2015-16 to 6.6 per cent from the earlier prediction of 5.7 per cent. Its figure for the current fiscal ending March 31, 2015 is 5.4 per cent. However, for India to achieve the 8 per cent plus growth of 2002-09, the government must undertake a series of deep structural reforms; it warms that while absolute poverty in the country had declined over the past decades, overall poverty was stil unacceptably high, as were social and economic inequalities. The Survey explained: “New reforms, some of which are included in the package presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, need to be implemented to put the country on a path to strong, sustainable inclusive growth.” OECD Chief Economist Catherine Mann released the report in Delhi last week in the presence of the Indian Government’s recently appointed Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, which surely carries a potent message. The decline in inflation, said the report, was encouraging but consumer prices are higher than those in the OECD and BRICS areas, the report said. Proposals for the restoration of former high growth levels include tax and labour reforms; freeing up of funds for infrastructure development; early implementation; reduction of structural barriers to job creation; switching expenditure from subsidies to social, physical infrastructure.
The widely acclaimed survey of global fund managers by Bank of America Merrill Lynch for November shows high investor confidence in Indian equities. According to the survey, global emerging market investors’ exposure to India is now around three standard deviations above the mean relative to its history, while it is about 2.5 standard deviations above the mean for Asia- Pacific investors. By that yardstick, India comes across as the most preferred market for both emerging markets and Asia-Pacific investors. Taking the entire picture into account, the future trajectory of the Indian economy spells hope of better things to come. Roll on, the tide of the future.
Neurosurgeon’s tale of despair and fulfilment
Robin Sengupta, neurosurgeon extraordinary, with a Newcastle hospital has an Operating Theatre named after him, is today an emeritus consultant, His journey to eminence has been long and arduous. It began after the subcontinent’s Partition, in Chittagong, then part of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), where he was born and received his early schooling. Coming from a family of modest means, he earned his pocket money, from which he paid the school fees, by selling fruits and vegetables at a local market. He bore these travails manfully, but was driven by an unquenchable ambition to be a doctor. Opportunities were scarce, as were institutions of higher education. Those that did exist fell short of the generally acceptable academic standards. So he packed his bags and made his way across the border to Calcutta, which had several good medical colleges. The problem for the youthful Sengupta was that he had no Indian papers, but he eventually got a small refugee stipend, which went some way to pay for a room and board in one of the poorer districts of the teeming metropolis. The next step was admission into a reputable medical college, most government-run. In the absence of the required papers, he didn’t qualify for admission. He eventually made it to the non-government National Medical College, from where he took his degree. Thence to England in 1961 and an internship at a Britrish hospital, leading eventually to a coveted FRCS from Edinburgh. Specializing in micro-surgery, he returned to India and worked for a while in a Delhi hospital, before returning to England because of a lack of facilities in India at the time (mid-1970s). It was at Newcastle that Mr Sengupta operated on the wife India’s President Venkataraman, who had suffered a brain haemorrhage. Others of the great and good from across the world heads came knocking at his door. He retired in 2002, aged 65, returning to his roots in Kolkata, where, at 78, he is busy putting his experience and diagnostic skills at the service of his patients and, happily, still going strong.
