Developing South Asia

SAARC is one of the poorest regions of the world. Home to one fifth of the world, all eight South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries are still developing. They have attained varying degrees of development and poverty alleviation. But they do share many problems and many concerns.

It is in this context that South Asians should welcome the proposed SAARC Development Fund which is likely to be endorsed at the Colombo Summit next month. The proposal was in fact brought at the last Summit in New Delhi, but the final Charter will be ready at this year’s summit.

This will fulfil a long-felt need as South Asian countries have traditionally relied on Western and increasingly, Eastern aid for developing their countries instead of pooling their resources and helping each other. With the establishment of the Fund, SAARC countries will be able to rely on each other.

SAARC countries must also strive to increase intra-region trade, which is low even with the operationlisation of several free trade agreements among individual countries.

The full implementation of the South Asian Free Trade Arrangements in just a few years will address this problem to a great extent. ‘Trade, not aid’ should be the SAARC countries’ motto and ambition.

SAARC is also still in its infancy in terms of developing people-to-contact. In spite of nearly all SAARC countries having the same cultural background, intra-regional travel has not developed much.

The easing of visa restrictions (or altogether visa-free travel) and more affordable flights/ferry links and accommodation would spur more South Asians to travel within their region.

SAARC should also consider having a SAARC Visa for non-South Asians, similar to the pan-European Schengen. This will enable them to travel all over South Asia on a single visa, saving money, time and the hassle.

Another excellent proposal that will be passed at the Colombo Summit concerns the establishment of the South Asian University. This too, is a long-felt need. This will give an opportunity for future leaders and intellectuals of South Asia to receive higher education in an atmosphere that will reinforce South Asian unity.

It may even help save foreign exchange that could otherwise end up in the West. SAARC does have a long way to go before it reaches the level of the European Union, but we do see a renewed commitment on the part of all South Asian leaders to take SAARC in that direction. It is a sign of better things to come.

The future is online

Where does privacy begin and end on the Net ? Is it possible to control the Net ? How does one deal with the countless number of websites that solicit and display private information ? And can anyone seek information on individual users from websites ? These are questions that are yet to be answered.

We pose these questions in the light of a US Judge’s order to Google to turn over YouTube user data to Viacom. The verdict has sparked an outcry from privacy advocates in the midst of a legal showdown over video piracy.

Viacom, owner of movie studio Paramount and MTV Networks, requested the information as part of its US$ 1 billion copyright infringement lawsuit against the popular online video service and its deep-pocketed parent, Google.

Judge Louis Stanton of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered Google on Tuesday to turn over as evidence a database with usernames of YouTube viewers, what videos they watched when, and users’ computer addresses.

This is a monumental task, given that YouTube counts tens of millions of users all over the world. Millions are logged onto YouTube any second of the day.

The verdict has far reaching consequences for the future of the Net as a whole, not just video sharing and social networking sites. There is no doubt that the Net is literally a convoluted web which has personal details of millions of people, stored in so-called ‘secure’ sites and servers.

Increasingly, most people are turning to the Net to manage their lives, from online calendars and to web-based calling. As the Net grows and the number of users rises, there will be more such details online.

Besides, the Internet should be not be seen as a threat to other forms of entertainment. It complements them. For example, those who see a good movie trailer on YouTube will naturally be inclined to see the full film at the theatre. The future is online and the Net is likely to conquer any challenges to this momentum.