In 2012 last Q, eurozone recession deepened; South Asia's corruption blackhole; In India, kisses are on the rise; Horsemeat and globalisation

1 In last Q, eurozone recession deepened (BBC) The eurozone recession deepened in the final three months of 2012, official figures show. The economy of the 17 nations in the euro shrank by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, which was worse than forecast. It is the sharpest contraction since the beginning of 2009 and marks the first time the region failed to grow in any quarter during a calendar year. It followed news that the economies of Germany, France and Italy had all shrunk by more than expected.

A recession is usually defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction. In the first three months of 2012 the eurozone economy failed to grow, but then in the second quarter of the year it contracted by 0.2% and it shrank by 0.1% in the third quarter. The GDP numbers sent the euro lower. It fell to a three-week low against the US dollar of $1.3320. Carsten Brzeski from ING said: "These are horrible numbers, it's a widespread contraction, which does not match this positive picture of stabilisation and positive contagion."

2 South Asia’s corruption blackhole (Maria Waqar in Khaleej Times) South Asia has recently witnessed a stark rise in anti-corruption superstars in politics. Widespread anti-corruption protests led by iconic activist Anna Hazare in India in 2011 were momentous because for the first time in history, the Indian people pressurised their government to pass a piece of anti-corruption legislation: the Citizen’s Ombudsman Bill.

A similar demand for rooting out corruption has spawned across India’s border. The anti-corruption movement in Pakistan is heralded by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. His party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has amassed a huge following among the country’s youth, is famous for pledging that he would eliminate corruption in 90 days if he is elected as Pakistan’s prime minister.

Scientifically, it is actually very difficult to calculate how much money is lost due to corrupt practices in a country, because many illicit dealings — ranging from every day bribes given to the traffic police to millions squandered in infrastructure contracts — cannot be tracked and measured. Hence, the term “black hole” often used to describe financial losses due to corruption, is apt because it alludes to immeasurability of the money lost due to illicit dealings.

Since the extent of corruption cannot be determined, it’s definitely overambitious of South Asia’s activist-politicians to have its elimination as the foremost goal on their political agenda. In fact, the goal of eradicating corruption is as much an appeal to populism — and therefore unrealistic — as that of eliminating poverty. So let’s be clear about something: corruption cannot be completely weeded out — not in 9 years, let alone 90 days. However, the incentive for high-level official corruption can be significantly reduced if anti-graft institutions are made truly autonomous and are given full leeway to investigate these cases. 

The anti-corruption activist-politicians in South Asia are probably right when they say that rampant corruption is the root of all the problems in their countries. But the use of public office for private gain is not something that is not a blight that can be exterminated. In fact, it’s an inherent part of the lives of Indians and Pakistanis — from paying off the clerk to get a driving license to silently witnessing colleagues and friends embezzle public funds, they partake in corruption every day. So they should not allow some fiery populist slogans to let our hopes get too high — undoing a well-entrenched norm can take years, even decades.

3 In India, kisses are on the rise (Gardiner Harris in The New York Times) India may be the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, the ancient how-to manual on kissing and sex. But for many years, Indian couples did not widely embrace kissing, at least not in public. Now that is changing. The Mahabharata, an epic poem written 3,000 years ago, is believed to include the first written description of mouth-to-mouth kissing. But anthropological studies done over the past century in India and elsewhere in Asia showed that kissing was far from universal and even seen as improper by many societies, said Elaine Hatfield, a professor of psychology at the University of Hawaii. 

Sanjay Srivastava, a professor of sociology at the Institute of Economic Growth at Delhi University, said: “Until recently, kissing was seen as Western and not an Indian thing to do. That has changed.”  In India, most marriages are still arranged, and the rate of sex before marriage is low, according to a government survey, so passionate kissing among the unmarried has long been discouraged. Many married couples refrained as well, at least in front of other people. But recent studies, backed by interviews with sociologists and psychiatrists in India, suggest that kissing’s popularity has risen considerably.

Chastity is viewed as highly desirable in India, and Indians, as a result, have also tended to view outward expressions of love, be they physical or verbal, with suspicion, said Dr. Roy Abraham Kallivayalil, president of the Indian Psychiatric Society. “I don’t tell my wife that I love her,” Dr. Kallivayalil said. “My father has never in 88 years told me that he loved me. We don’t do that.”

Dr. Avdesh Sharma, a psychiatrist practicing in New Delhi, said that his younger female patients are far more insistent than their mothers were that their emotional needs be met. That often involves kissing, he said. “The terms and timing of intimacy used to be initiated and decided entirely by the man,” Dr. Sharma said. “That is no longer true.” Indeed, while arranged marriages are still the norm in India, a growing share of young couples say that their views play a role in the process. If a young woman does not like the man her parents have picked, many families now offer her a veto.

4 Horsemeat and globalization (Khaleej Times) The widening horsemeat scandal in Europe has actually shown the dangers of globalisation. When commerce is conducted irrespective of borders, a serious problem affecting one country can easily spill over to others. The issue has actually shown the complexity of the meat supply chain, which involves several EU countries — a fact that makes it difficult to find out exactly which country or part of the supply chain is culpable. Upon investigation, the supply chain of the meat led back to traders in Cyprus and the Netherlands and abattoirs in Romania.

The crisis is actually a reminder of global epidemics of deadly influenza that have struck the world in the last decade. With uninhibited movement of people and goods across borders, the world has become increasingly interdependent and hence collectively vulnerable to disease, terrorism, environmental degradation and other crises. It seems like it’s time to revise our concept of security in a rapidly globalising world.  Let’s face it: You are more likely to die after consuming some shoddy imported meat, than get killed in a nuclear war!