Anti-sedition law under attack in India and why Americans should care

Many thanks to CPJ for this report.

With new focus on sedition law, India poised at juncture

Although it is the world’s largest democracy, India has retained its colonial-era sedition law. But with a national debate ensuing after the arrest of 25-year-old political cartoonist Aseem Trivedi on the antiquated sedition charge and others, members of the Indian government have been forced to do some soul-searching.

Government ministers formally initiated a review of the law, news accounts reported on September 14. The law, which was introduced by the British in 1870 to guard against rebellion, states that anyone who “brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in India” could face life in prison. The legislation falls under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code.

Read rest of article.

Why is this important to Americans?

Bottom line is that the cartoonist in question attacked government leaders and institutions for corruption. And for pointing out the growing nature of corruption in India, the cartoonist was jailed.

Corruption directly affects jobs across national borders. Take the situation in India.

India has bought $12 billion in goods and services from the United States January-July of this year. (Exports to the United States from India are at $24 billion for a trade deficit.)

Here are the top-10 items the U.S. exports to India (2011 numbers):

America’s exports to India amounted to $17.7 billion or 1.4% of overall US exports.

1. Chemical fertilizers … $3.1 billion
2. Civilian aircraft … $1.7 billion
3. Diamonds … $1.7 billion
4. Telecommunications … $652.1 million
5. Other petroleum products … $581 million
6. Non-monetary gold … $500.5 million
7. Organic chemicals … $487.6 million
8. Other industrial machines … $443.2 million
9. Other chemicals … $411.3 million
10. Steelmaking materials … $372.3 million

Source: Worldsrichestcountries.com

To be true, India’s protectionist trade policies prevent more U.S. (and European and Chinese, etc) imports. But corruption is also a major issue.

India is ranked in the half of “More corrupt” countries according to Transparency International. (#95 out of 182 countries.) It shares a score of 3.1 with Tonga, Swaziland, Kiribati and Albania. That makes India “more corrupt” than Liberia and Panama.

The simple point is that less transparent/more corrupt countries make it difficult for companies to do business there. U.S. law forbids the payment of bribes under very tough penalties. Other countries are not so particular about bribery. (See the “Bribe Payers Index” from Transparency International.)

Reports about how other countries deal with individuals who attack corrupt practices is important to Americans. It gives them — and particularly American businesses — a better idea of what kind of government/social system they are dealing with.

American support those who fight corruption overseas is good for the American economy. American companies can compete well against firms from other countries in terms of quality and skills. Having to compete against corrupt government officials and institutions makes it difficult for honest companies to do business overseas and grow.

And let us remember that most of American international trade is done by small-medium enterprises. These same companies are the driving force for the domestic economy.

Bottom line:

• Enhanced anti-corruption efforts around the world means opportunity for more jobs for Americans.
• Anti-corruption activists in other countries often criticize government leaders and institutions.
• Laws that provide for jail terms for government criticism weaken anti-corruption efforts.
• Weaker anti-corruption activities around the world mean fewer American job opportunities.

Therefore, more publicity and support for people like cartoonist Aseem Trivedi helps fight corruption in India and could mean more jobs for American exporters.

It would be nice to see more reporting on this.

Indian state seems to miss point of FOI/RTI

The whole purpose of freedom of information/right to information laws is to make government more transparent and less corrupt. So I hope some one can explain the thinking behind the government of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India.

The Uttar Pradesh cabinet voted July 31 to exclude Lokayukta, the anti-corruption agency, from the scope of the state’s Right to Information Act, according to a report from FOI/RTI watchdog freedominfo.org.

According to the Indian newspaper OUTLOOK:

The government believes that since The government believes that since Lokayukta is an investigating agency there is need to keep its secrecy intact, official sources said.

Any disclosure of on-going investigations could prove detrimental, they said adding the Lokayukta also has judicial powers.is an investigating agency there is need to keep its secrecy intact, official sources said.

Any disclosure of on-going investigations could prove detrimental, they said adding the Lokayukta also has judicial powers.

Freedom of information advocates in India say the move by the UP government not only violates the Indian RTI laws but also the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, which India signed last year.

Predicting Indian monsoons can help Main Street USA

Scientists in the USA, Britain and India are working to “crack the code” of the summer monsoons in India.

The monsoons are necessary for crops in India. All told, 75% of the annual rainfall comes in the June-September period. These rains are needed to ensure good crops, especially the all-important rice crop.

According to an Al-Jazeera story, the reason for better understanding the monsoons is simple:

This would help India conserve depleting water resources and agricultural output would get a boost as farmers would be able to plan their crops better. Armed with more precise forecasts, state governments would be better prepared, in theory, for disasters such as the recent floods in Assam

Besides the international cooperation effort on the scientific side, there is also a direct connection to better agricultural planning in India and U.S. consumers.

When the monsoons are on time, India buys several million tons of fertilizer from the global suppliers. When the monsoons are not so great, those tons sit in warehouses as excess material.

The United States is another major buyer (and producer) of fertilizer.

Better predictions of the monsoons will allow Indian farmers and fertilizer importers to better determine how much fertilizer will be needed in any given planting season.

Depending on how much India buys often determines how the price moves in the global market. So when the U.S. buyers start talking about making purchases the price is often determined by how many tons India bought or are planning to buy.

Simple equations:

• Good monsoon season in India=More fertilizer purchased
• More tons of fertilizer purchased by India=Higher prices to the US (and other international) buyers
• Higher fertilizer prices=Higher food prices.

See how easy that was to go from the monsoons to an American grocery store?

And you think CNN has it hard covering an election…

Many thanks to CPJ for this and to Roy Greenslade for placing it in his Guardian blog.

Indian election crowd attack journalists

Covering election counts in India can be rather scary. A group of Indian journalists, numbering maybe 100, were forced to lock themselves into a school after being attacked by 4,000-strong crowd.

TV equipment, cameras and vehicles were damaged in the melee at the school, which was being used as an election centre, in the city of Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.

Rest of story.

Brazil (and others) need to learn lesson on freedom of information

The Brazil looks to be the first country to take advantage of the Twitter country-specific censorship plan.

Brazil has a zero-tolerance law on drinking and driving. And I mean ZERO! (I used to tell people — with just a hint of sarcasm — that gargling with original Listerine would put enough alcohol in your system to violate the law.) If a person bends the needle too far, that person’s car is confiscated then and there. Depending on the level, the person gets a ticket and is forced to take a taxi home and deal with the situation later OR the person is arrested and tossed in the local drunk tank.

Either way, not a pleasant situation for party goers. (And Brazilians do like to party.) The upside for the economy are more jobs for taxi drivers, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.

One thing about laws like this. People are always looking for ways to get around them.

The latest in Brazil is the use of Twitter. People post the sites of the police “blitzes” where the roads are blocked and breathalyzer tests given. It seems the Brazilian government construes this action as encouraging drunken driving.

Last week Brazil filed papers to force Twitter to block all references to blitzes.

Let’s put aside the stupidity of Twitter’s new censorship policy. (It seems to be a blatant attempt to get into the growing Chinese market.)

Let’s focus on the stupid idea the Brazilian authorities seem to have, that being the idea that the problem will go away if the means of communication is blocked.

They only have to ask the Iranian, Chinese and Venezuelan governments how well that is working.

Each time these governments are doing all they can to preventing independent views from getting wide circulation. The new Twitter policy will make that easier.  But people will find a way to still communicate despite the censors.

Brazil is a relatively young democracy. Its media have fiercely protected their rights, even making it politically impossible for the highly popular ex-president Lula to use a “social control” panel to limit what the media publish/air. Even President Rousseff seems to be backing the move. (At least she has not stopped it.)

So there are still the vestiges of the Brazil of the generals. All the dictatorships have learned that blocking access to information one way only leads to multiple other ways to get the same information out. The desire for facts — whether larger political issues or the location of a police drunk driving barricade — is human nature. And information technology keeps changing to fulfill that need.

Twitter was wrong to implement its country–specific censorship plan. Democracies — and economic powerhouses — such as Brazil and India are wrong to think it will help their country. It only puts them in bed with dictators.