India's winter of discontent; Record air pollution in Beijing

1 India’s winter of discontent (Irfan Husain in Dawn) Despite India’s many complex social problems, its people justifiably take pride in the economic progress their country has made in the past two decades. But even this image of a thriving economy has taken a battering of late. Last August, the world’s biggest power cut hit 700 million Indians, underlining the fragility of India’s infrastructure.

William Dalrymple, the well-known historian, is a friend of India’s, having lived near New Delhi for years. Many of his books are about the country. In the 12-18 October 2012 issue of the New Statesman, Dalrymple has written a devastating cover story, After the Blackout, in which he discusses the stark contrast between India’s aspirations and claims and its ground level reality:

“Sixty-nine per cent of Indians live on less than $2 a day, and roughly 35 per cent on less than $1 a day. India ranks 66th out of 88 vulnerable countries listed in the Global Human Index. India has the highest number of children dying in the world. Every year, 1.7 million children under the age of five die from easily preventable illnesses such as diarrhoea. Of these who do survive until the age of five, 48% are stunted due to lack of nutrients: child malnourishment is sadly something for which India wins the gold medal every year…”

And yet, India has ambitions for lunar exploration, as well as sending a rocket to Mars. Its military budget has tripled in recent years, and it is now set to be one of the ten top countries in terms of defence spending. Massive corruption scandals, too, have badly damaged India’s image. While this is a universal curse, the magnitude of some of the scams has been mindboggling. The 2G airwave auction reportedly cost the exchequer $40 billion.

Despite all the current gloom, Dalrymple sees hope for India, provided it can find the will to carry out the difficult political, social and economic reforms that are so desperately needed. The whole region — and the world — needs India to succeed.

2 Record air pollution in Beijing (Tania Branigan in The Guardian) When it comes to air pollution, the long-suffering residents of Beijing tend to think they have seen it all. But this weekend, instruments measuring the levels of particulate matter in the city's famously noxious air broke all records. The Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Centre said levels of PM2.5, tiny particulate matter, had reached more than 600 micrograms per square metre in many areas, and Reuters said it may even have hit 900 – its worst-ever reading. The World Health Organisation considers a safe daily level to be 25.

The artist Ai Weiwei offered his own succinct commentary on the city's atmospheric conditions by donning a gas mask in a photograph posted on Twitter, his salt-and-pepper beard and tufts of hair sticking out around the device amid the smog. Children and the elderly were urged to stay indoors and some residents who ventured out wore face masks as the acrid murk entered its third day.

Breakneck economic growth, reliance on coal, dramatic expansion of car ownership and the widespread flouting of environmental laws have all contributed to China’s air pollution problems. But the intensity of the current problem appears to be weather-related. The monitoring centre said the heavy pollution had been trapped by an area of low pressure and warned that the problem was likely to continue until Tuesday.

It also urged people to avoid outdoor activities and said children and elderly people should not venture outdoors. Beijing began publishing PM2.5 readings early last year. The smog even led the flagship evening news bulletin on television, which traditionally begins with an anodyne account of leaders' activities and achievements.