RIR is a unique publication that highlights the vibrant multi-faceted partnership between India and Russia that spans their growing collaboration in diverse areas ranging from defence and energy to culture and trade. The features try to bring out that special bond and sense of affinity which brings Indians and Russians together in a rapidly changing world. You can get a print edition of Russia & India Report with your copy of The Times of India today, or get a digital copy sent to your e-mail address. You can also log on to: www.indrus.in
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Sakhalin: Crown Jewel of Far East A blend of natural beauty, tradition and modernity P.08 Festive colours light up Kullu Come to Roerich Estate, a sacred ground for admirers of visionary painter Tourism poised for a big boost Getting more Indians to explore marvels of Russia P.03 Distributed with BANGALORE ● MUMBAI ● NEW DELHI ● WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011 A Report from The Tmes of India. In association with Rossiyskaya Gazeta Russia India REPORT ...Marching towards a common future Polls: Eyeing the big catch The anti-nuclear protests at Russia-built Kudankulam plant in Tamil Nadu has left Armenia and ex-Soviet republics bewildered. It's time for India to learn from the mistakes of others. With parliamentary polls set for December 4, political parties are tomtoming their agendas and slogans. But ideology has been replaced by a thirst for power. Kudankulam: Let's not miss the bus... The ancient town of Metsamor in the Caucasus, near the site of the active Armenian Nucle- ar Power Plant, is thousands of miles away from the con- VLADIMIR RUVINSKY RIR ALEXANDER YEMELYANENKOV RIR Energy Separating politics from facts Politics Liberal Democrat? Communists or Right Cause? Take your pick CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 struction site of the Kunadku- lam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu. But it’s with a mix of bewil- derment and sympathy that the town’s residents have learnt that the nearly com- plete energy project, badly needed for the region’s devel- opment, has become hostage to politicking by environmen- tal groups and to gullible yet misinformed locals. From left to right: President Dmitry Medvedev, “A Just Russia” leader Sergei Mironov, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, Lower House Speaker Boris Gryzlov. P.07 RIA NOVOSTI PHOTOXPRESS SEE PAGE 6 Juggling China and Eurasia OPINION Russian Prime Minister Vladi- mir Putin visited China soon after announcing his candi- dacy for the 2012 presidency. In another signature initia- tive, he unveiled the idea of a Eurasian Union of ex-Soviet nations in a keynote article he wrote for Izvestia. Is Putin turning to East? Find out... What can you think about a party calling itself Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR)? A bastion of liberal and democratic values? But in Russia, the LDPR is a self- named“party of statists” . And the state is the chief spokes- man for the interests of people and civil society. Moreover, the so-called“liberals”seek sup- port from the nationalists.The party’s leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, recently an- nounced that his party will initiate a law“On State Sup- port for Russian People” . And what can you expect from the Communists? Protecting the interests of ordinary people and working for a classless, atheist society. The Russian Communists (CPRF) are ac- tively engaged in business, and support the Orthodox Church. KOMMERSANT VICKTOR SOLOMATOV
Transcript
Sakhalin: Crown Jewel of Far EastA blend of natural beauty, tradition and modernity P.08
Festive colours light up KulluCome to Roerich Estate, a sacred ground for admirers of visionary painter
Tourism poised for a big boostGetting more Indians to explore marvels of RussiaP.03
Distributed with
BANGALORE ● MuMBAI ● NEw DELhI ● WEdnESday, OCTOBER 26, 2011
A Report from The Tmes of India. In association with Rossiyskaya Gazeta
RussiaIndia
REPORT
...Marching towards a common future
Polls: Eyeing the big catchThe anti-nuclear protests at Russia-built Kudankulam plant in Tamil nadu has left armenia and ex-Soviet republics bewildered. It's time for India to learn from the mistakes of others.
With parliamentary polls set for december 4, political parties are tomtoming their agendas and slogans. But ideology has been replaced by a thirst for power.
Kudankulam: Let's not miss the bus...
The ancient town of Metsamor in the Caucasus, near the site of the active Armenian Nucle-ar Power Plant, is thousands of miles away from the con-
vladIMIR RuvInSKy RIR
alExandER yEMElyanEnKOvRIR
Energy Separating politics from factsPolitics Liberal Democrat? Communists or Right Cause? Take your pick
COnTInuEd On PAGE 2
COnTInuEd On PAGE 4
struction site of the Kunadku-lam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu. But it’s with a mix of bewil-derment and sympathy that the town’s residents have learnt that the nearly com-plete energy project, badly needed for the region’s devel-opment, has become hostage to politicking by environmen-tal groups and to gullible yet misinformed locals.
From left to right: President dmitry Medvedev, “a Just Russia” leader Sergei Mironov, leader of the liberal democratic Party vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, lower House Speaker Boris Gryzlov.
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Juggling China and Eurasia
OPInIOn
Russian Prime Minister Vladi-mir Putin visited China soon after announcing his candi-dacy for the 2012 presidency. In another signature initia-tive, he unveiled the idea of a Eurasian Union of ex-Soviet nations in a keynote article he wrote for Izvestia. Is Putin turning to East? Find out...
What can you think about a party calling itself Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR)? A bastion of liberal and democratic values? But in Russia, the LDPR is a self-named “party of statists”. And the state is the chief spokes-man for the interests of people
and civil society. Moreover, the so-called “liberals” seek sup-port from the nationalists. The party’s leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, recently an-nounced that his party will initiate a law “On State Sup-port for Russian People”.And what can you expect from
the Communists? Protecting the interests of ordinary people and working for a classless, atheist society. The Russian Communists (CPRF) are ac-tively engaged in business, and support the Orthodox Church.
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bookmarks02 Russia india RepoRtin association with rossiyskaya gazeta, russia tHe times of india wednesday_october 26_2011
www.rosatom.ru The State Atomic Energy Corpora-tion ROSATOM www.sitronics.com Website of Sitronics JSC, the largest high-tech company in Eastern Europecooperation
in brieffinancebrics forge stock exchange alliance
telecomsitronics to set up r&d centre in india by 2012
Five of the world’s larg-est emerging markets have forged an alliance to cross-list their respective equity-based products. At the 51st Annual General Meeting of the World Federation of Ex-changes (WFE) in Johan-nesburg, Brazil’s stock ex-change BM & FBOVESPA, Russia’s MICEX, Hong Kong’s exchange corporation HKEx, Johannesburg’s JSE, India’s
Sitronics Telecommunication Solutions, a leading provider of a variety of telecommuni-cations, utilities and EMS so-lutions in Russia & the CIS, is set to launch a R&D centre in India by 2012 that will help provide OSS/BSS solutions to its clients in Russia, Eu-rope and Africa. Sitronics has launched a centre of compe-tence in India in collaboration with Sistema Shyam TeleSer-vices (SSTL, an MTS brand). “We now have 60 people working there, and we have several sites, in Delhi, Mum-bai and Chennai. The cen-tre is helping MTS to trans-form the parameters of OSS/BSS systems to match the re-quirements of the market,”
Defencekalam, a pioneer in many ways
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former president of India and founder of the Brahmos Aerospace joint venture, turned 80 on October 15. Kalam, better known as the “father of the Indian missile programme”, organised many Indo-Russian collaborative R&D projects. In particular, as head of the De-fence Research and Develop-ment Organisation (DRDO), he initiated the creation of Brah-Mos. In September 1993 the
Indian government, at the initia-tive of Kalam, floated a pro-posal (memorandum) to create a joint venture with NPO Mashi-nostroyenia for the develop-ment and sale of guided anti-ship missiles to member-states, as well as third-party countries.In February 1998, Kalam signed an agreement to implement the project. The creation of the joint venture marked the dawn of a new era in Indo-Russian coop-eration. rir
National Stock Exchange NSE and the Bombay Stock Ex-change have announced an al-liance. In the initial stages, the members of the alliance intend to set up a cross-listing of de-rivatives, ie, each exchange will be able to launch futures on the other members’ index-es. The alliance’s purported goals are to improve liquidity and attract global investors to emerging markets.rir
said Mikhail Bondarenko, the company’s general director. In 2012, it will be transformed into an R&D centre with help of Tech Mahindra. The centre will provide services to Sitron-ics clients located in Russia, Europe and Africa. Under an MoU inked with Tech Mahindra on Oct 18, Sitronics will act as a supplier of Operating Sup-port Systems (OSS)/Business Support Systems (BSS) and its partner will act as the distribu-tor of these solutions for Indi-an companies. “We hope Tech Mahindra will help us to intro-duce solutions not only in In-dia, but also other countries,” said Timur Vikulov, head of the Sitronics representative office in India. cnews
kudankulam: why repeat costly mistakes of others? The perplexed reaction to the protests in India is almost the same among residents in Rus-sia, Armenia, Belarus, Lithua-nia and Ukraine. Instead of cel-ebrating the successful completion of a signature Rus-sian-Indian project, sabotage attempts have been made under the guise of populist slogans, burying years of efforts by thousands of Indian and Rus-sian workers, engineers and scientists, to say nothing of bil-lions of rupees invested in this promising venture.“This is reminiscent of the po-litical passions that swept across the former Soviet repub-lics in the late 1980s. The Arme-nian NPP was shut down in 1989 for political reasons...” says Vladimir Grachev, a re-nowned ecology expert. “For six years the population of Armenia and the entire post-Soviet Trans-Caucasus region suffered from power shortag-es,” adds Grachev. Eventually, a majority of people voted to re-start the power plant. It was brought back online in 1995 with assistance from Russia, and is now generating around 40% of Armenia’s total elec-tricity output. In June, after the Fukushima disaster, IAEA ex-perts conducted a thorough in-spection of the Armenian NPP and recommended extending its service life.Unfortunately, the anti-nucle-ar rallies of the 1980s led to the suspension of several nuclear power plants in Russia. Bring-ing them back to life 10 or 15 years later required a lot of ad-ditional public spending. Thankfully, Russia has proved capable of doing this. But take the Bulgarian government, which to this day hasn’t been able to raise financing to re-sume construction of the Be-lene NPP, which was sabotaged at a very early stage. At another Bulgarian NPP, the Kozlodui, built by the Russians, political pressure has led to premature shutdown and with-drawal from service of two per-fectly operable VVER-440 power generation units. Simi-lar units have been running problem-free at the Paks NPP in Hungary and at nuclear power plants in the Czech Re-public. Two similar units at Fin-land’s Loviisa NPP have set a record in both the length of ac-cident-free service and eco-nomic efficiency.Sensible politicians in Vilnius
the EU and has been begging them for funds to build a new nuclear power plant at home. Both the Baltic and the Ku-dankulam NPPs are totally dif-ferent in terms in their design and execution from the genera-tion of nuclear power plants that include the disaster-rav-aged Fukushima. The Russian project epitomises a blend of active safety systems and ad-vanced technical solutions based on “passive” protection principles. These solutions have already been implemented in the first two power units of the Kudankulam. According to the World Nuclear Association, this brings them as close as possible to the fourth-generation proj-ects in terms of the “overall likelihood of a significant dam-age to the active zone”.What’s more, the Kudankulam project takes the region’s spe-cifics into account as much as possible. It uses time-tested technology, systems and draws upon the experience of design-ing, manufacturing, and oper-ating other power plants with
the kudankulam atomic power project has become a hub of protesters of all stripes.
water-to-water reactors. It also makes an allowance for the pe-culiarities of local tropical ocean waters that contain large quantities of sea plants, shell-fish, and marine fauna. The Ku-dankulam’s hydro technical fa-cilities perform a wide range of functions and comprise cus-tom-developed fish protection systems.Above all, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) decided that, given the arid climate and the needs of the local developed agriculture, the plant wouldn’t be consum-ing water from the local lakes but would rather be self-suffi-cient in terms of fresh water supply. The design comprises a seawater desalination system.By the way, “big waters” from the Indian Ocean once came dangerously close to the shore where the power plant is locat-ed. It was behind the Kudanku-lam’s dependable breakwaters that the local population was hiding back then. Is the human memory span really that short?
" We all remember and are saddened by the tragedy that took place
in Japan… Our goal is not to get scared and shut down ev-erything. Conversely, our goal is to use the latest technolo-gies that would preclude any chance of unwanted develop-ments."
the Quote
Vladimir PutinIn An InTERVIEW duRIng hIS ChInA VISIT
continued from page 1
" The problem is not on-ly that huge amounts of money have been
spent on the project (expen-ditures exceed Rs 131 billion). This power plant has become the largest investment project in India's history. It's launch would directly impact the de-velopment of manufacturing
Sergei Kondratyev ExPERT, InSTITuTE Of EnERgy And fInAnCES fOundATIOn
a roster of safety solutions
1. Dual containment and pro-tective shieldings.2. System for passive heat re-moval from the reactor vessel.3. Reactor core meltdown trap.4. Passive system for fast high-pressure boron injection.5. Additional vessels ensuring prolonged passive feed of bo-rated water into the reactor.6. Passive filtration system for the inter-containment area.7. Closed technical water in-take structure – essentially a breakwater.
AP
and services in Tamil Nadu, one of India’s most developed re-gions ranking third or fourth in terms of industrial production. Electric power consumption there has increased by a factor of 1.4 over the past six years, with the shortfall reaching 5% and rising to 10–12% during the peak hours.”
also are speaking today of the need to learn from others’ mis-takes. They regret that they had succumbed to pressure from the European Union and shut down two problem-free power units at the Ignalina NPP with-out any apparent reason. Now Lithuania has to buy much more expensive electricity from
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03bookmarks Russia india RepoRt
in association with rossiyskaya gazeta, russia tHe times of india wednesday_october 26_2011 society
en.rian.ru/opinion/20110707/165073751.html More on Russia's plans to expand its tourism industrywww.visitrussia-yar.ru/en «Visit Russia» International Forum in Yaroslavl
elena krovvidiRIR
twice as many russians visit india than vice-versa! russia needs to package its tourism marvels by providing more information to attract a larger number of indian tourists.
indo-russian tourism set for a surgetravel 120,000 Russians come to India every year, but only 50,000 Indians visit Russia, comprising of only 5,000 tourists
Indo-Russian tourism cooper-ation has registered a surge, driven by a slew of important initiatives. Last December, during President Dmitry Med-vedev’s visit to India an agree-ment to ease visa requirements for students, business people and tourists was signed. In Oc-tober this year, the Russian Parliament ratified a bilateral visa simplification pact. The same can be said about Indian initiatives, with Indian am-bassador Ajai Malhotra intro-ducing new rules according to which tourist visas to India will be processed within three business days and will be valid for six months for three or multiple entries. During the recent visit of Indian Minister for Tourism Subodh Kant Sahai to Russia, a decision was taken to hold an Indian-Russian Tourism Forum, and organise regular tourist road shows in both countries. But the difference in tourist flows is striking: compared to 120,000 Russians travelling to India every year, there are only 50,000 Indian visitors to Rus-sia per year, and tourists make just 5,000 of that number. This is a challenge for the Russian tourism market. So what do Indian tourists find appealing in Russia and what turns them off? Here are a few points that matter to In-dian visitors.
Firstly, Indians don’t feel like travelling to the land of eter-nal cold and communism but they are eager to breathe in the atmosphere of history in the Russian Golden Ring cities, enjoy the Moscow Circus per-formances, admire bridges in Saint Petersburg or marvel at the astonishing beauty of the Baikal Lake. “In tourism business, it is cru-
cial for a country to learn to present itself as a tourism des-tination,” says Reghunathan Pillai, the president of the In-dian tourism company DR Tours and Services. “Dissemi-nating information on what a country has to offer and break-ing the negative stereotypes are key factors for attracting and maintaining a steady in-flow of visitors." So a lack of reliable informa-tion on Russian historical monuments and cultural leg-acy, added with misguided ideas about costs and safety of travelling, prompts Indians to have second thoughts about making this country their
will climb evey mountain: russian winter is not as cold and scary as it is often painted. it's not easy to frighten indians.
travel destination of prefer-ence. Pillai believes that Rus-sia isn’t promoted abroad the way it should be whereas the Indian Embassy in Russia pro-vides a lot of opportunities for people wishing to visit India to find answers to their questions about travelling to this coun-try. Yana Khrustovskaya, General Director of Russian INCOTUR tourism company, says that a small number of Indian eater-ies in Russian cities is another common problem that Rus-sian tourism companies fre-quently come across with while organising tours for In-dian groups. The deficit of In-
dian restaurants in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and espe-cially in smaller cities and towns gives a monopoly posi-tion to a few restaurants ca-tering to the Indian palate. Khrustovskaya says this means expensive Indian meals compared to the food chains offering Russian and Europe-an cuisine. Despite common stereotypes, severe climate and crime rate do not frighten Indian tourists as much as they are believed to. True, tourism companies emphasise the need to take warm clothes or warn visitors to be careful. But still safety isn’t such a big issue for trav-
Disseminating information about the country and breaking negative images hold the key.
" The flow of Russian tourists to India is ris-ing by the year. During
the last tourist season, from November 2010 to April 2011, 65,000 Russians visited In-dia. This year, we expect over 80,000. More good news for Russian tourists: India has re-cently resumed its practice of issuing six-month tourists visas for Russian travellers, which had been annulled several years ago.
" It is also very important that this is a reciprocal process as the number
of Indian tourists coming to Russia also rises every year. Despite comparatively low numbers, growth is impressive still: some 5,100 Indian tourists visited Russia last year, and Russian consular services in India issued 5,400 tourist visas from January to September 2011, and there will be more by the end of the year.
" Indians are becom-ing more interested in travelling to far-off
locations, including to Russia. And India’s tourist potential is huge, with its middle-class estimated at over 100 million people. Many Indian compa-nies send their employees on corporate tours, as encour-agement. Such tours to Russia numbering 200-300 people have become a common prac-tice already.
" There are certain prob-lems, including the lack of affordable hotels
in Russia. It is also difficult to find vegetarian cuisine in Russian cities, while many In-dians are vegetarians. Besides, many hotel personnel or even guides in Russia do not speak English, to say nothing of Hindi. Was it not for such an-noying problems, the number of Indian tourists to Russia would rise sharply.
" An annual international tourist exhibition will be held in India in Febru-
ary 2012. For the first time, our companies will exhibit together under the aegis of the Russia Federal Agency for Tourism. We hope that after the exhibition the number of contacts will surge.
the Quotes
Vasily ProninHeaD oF tHe ConsulaR DIVIsIon oF tHe RussIan eMbassY In new DelHI
elling in Russia. “It’s not so easy to frighten Indians,” says Pillai with a smile. “Once they set their foot somewhere, they are very comfortable with ex-ploring new places and new opportunities.” But one of the things visitors need to know to be able to set their foot in Russia is that they will be able to find appropri-ate accommodation there. With a growing number of middle-class Indians travel-ling with families every year as well as numerous business conventions being held at the hotels, there is a growing need for building a better infra-structure. At the moment, there is a severe shortage of comfortable hotels at reason-able prices, even in Moscow, not to mention far-off loca-tions such as Siberia or the Altai mountains. As for travelling off the beaten path, mountain climbing in the Altai Mountains is becom-ing more popular among Indi-an lovers of extreme tourism, as well as visiting the Baikal Lake within the frames of ec-otourism, in spite of its loca-tion away from the main-stream tourism destinations. The requests to visit those places are not so frequent, adds Pillai. But still Indians express their desire to stray off the main tourism destinations and explore unfamiliar routes. In a country with a rich and varied historical legacy and stunning natural landscapes that can easily compete with the Swiss Alps, the prospects for tourism development are very inspiring, and the re-straints that hold it back can be overcome with time.
Full interview onwww.indrus.in
in the economic times every second Wednesday
Business RepoRt
November 9
www.indrus.in
WEBSITE of the embassy of the Russian Federation in India
www.rusembassy.in
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bookmarks04 Russia india RepoRtin association with rossiyskaya gazeta, russia tHe times of india wednesday_october 26_2011
en.rian.ru Ria Novosti news agencywww.themoscowtimes.com The Moscow Times newspaper themoscownews.com Online newspaperPolitics
names and games Politicians Play
The paRliaMeNTaRy vOTe iN DeceMbeR is alMOsT ceRTaiN TO be
DOMiNaTeD by The RuliNg “uNiTeD Russia paRTy” aND will seT
The sTage fOR a pResiDeNTial elecTiON eaRly NexT yeaR.
elections
Political parties hardly reflect their names in Russia. “Right Cause” party supposedly unites right-wing liberals. But its manifesto focuses on social protection and anti-clerical-ism. The lack of a clear ideology is often compensated for by the colourful personality of the leader. The “United Russia”, which is headed de facto by Prime Min-ister Vladimir Putin, the for-mer and possibly future presi-dent, claims to be centrist. Popularly referred to as the “party of power”, this name re-flects something completely other than “the ruling party” – the party that wins the elec-tions. Rather, it seems the situ-ation is somewhat skewed. The party has power not be-cause it wins the elections; the party wins the elections be-cause it has power. And the word “power” means the party has gathered together the country’s entire “ruling” elite. Seventy of the country’s 85 governors are members of the party, as are the State Duma
speaker, a large number of ministers, and key govern-ment officials. Experts say that “United Russia” is a party sans ideology, one that pro-motes any slogan the authori-ties put forward. In the last decade, the number of political players in Russia has become less and less, and those who have stayed have learned to be more “obedient”. “This, firstly, is because real politics is concentrated in the hands of ‘United Russia’, which does not tolerate com-petition and, secondly, it is be-cause there was no public de-mand for an independent party. Instead, the public men-tality demanded strong fig-ures, party leaders, and this is why they became even easier to control,” says Alexei Mukh-in, head of the Center for Po-litical Information. Legisla-tive barriers to the creation of political parties, meanwhile, have grown ever higher; the threshold for entrance into the Duma has been raised to 7% of the vote, and the procedures for registering parties for elec-tions has been complicated further. The minimum turnout
threshold has been abolished, as have the “against all” field on ballot papers, the direct election of governors and may-ors of large cities and mem-bers of the upper house of par-liament, and the results become more predictable.Formally, seven parties will be vying for seats in the Duma in the December elections, four of which are currently repre-sented in parliament: “United Russia”, LDPR, CPRF and “A Just Russia”. Polls show that “United Russia” is set to win by a landslide, followed by the CPRF and the LDPR.According to political analyst Alexei Chesnakov, “A Just Russia” party was created by the presidential administra-tion under the leadership of the former speaker of the Fed-eration Council, Sergey Mironov, as a “niche group” in response to public demand for a party committed to environ-mental issues. After Mironov began his “independent game”, he was removed from the post as Speaker, and the party began to lose popularity. Chesnakov says that the battle of ideas, political competition
and meaningful discussions have given way in recent years to a Duma in which every-body’s place has long since been confirmed. Having lost the post of speaker, Mironov became a fierce opponent to “United Russia” and Putin.Surveys of Levada Center showed that nearly half of Russians are in favour of maintaining the status quo in Russian politics, and the other half is thirsting for change. The election campaign is not built around an ideology, but around the confrontation be-tween the “party of power” and everyone else. But now the stakes are higher than ever be-fore. The term for deputies in the State Duma has been in-creased to five years, while the presidential term (starting from 2012) has been increased to six years. Putin and his team, therefore, could stay in power for another 12 years.“United Russia” does have the highest rating: according to re-cent polls, it has the support of about 35-40% of the popula-tion, although the number of its supporters has dwindled recently. It is critical for the
continued from Page 1
Innovations are sometimes born in distressing times. In 1994, when the budget for all of Russia was commensurate to that of New York City alone, the Russians devised the Elec-tions State Automated System (SAS). It was tested a year later. Before this, electoral rolls were printed on type-writers and ballot papers were hand-counted (in 1993, for ex-
ample, it took 12 days to count the votes). The system's speedy development and launch was helped, of course, by Soviet technological innovations. But world-leading IT companies HP, Oracle, and Cisco Systems also contributed."With the creation of the Elec-tions SAS, we became pio-neers. And to this day, not a single country in the world has a system like ours," says a proud Mikhail Popov, head of the Federal Centre of Informa-tion Technologies under the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation. It may sound a shade exaggerat-ed, but the facts remain that
Tech-savvy polls: get ready for optic scan voting systemthe SAS has served more than 20,000 election campaigns without major technological failures.In 2009, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed that the system be upgraded to enhance the transparency of the electoral process and strengthen public oversight. Last year, a state programme was launched to introduce electronic vote counting, es-tablish a secure network for data transfer and storage, and create infrastructure for re-mote voting via mobile phone for those who cannot make it to polling stations. This is par-ticularly important in Russia,
where the closest inhabited lo-cations may be thousands of kilometres apart.Many polling stations are now equipped with webcams. In theory, voters can watch the counting of votes without leaving their computers. But the effectiveness of this mea-sure is limited by Internet pen-etration rates: according to Yandex, Russia’s most popular search engine, just 40% of the population aged 18 or older (that is, those eligible to vote) has access to the Web.One of the major technical in-novations that will be in opera-tion for the December State Duma elections is an optical
scan voting system. All you have to do is bring your ballot to the scanner for the Russia-wide data network to record all the information from it. This, of course, increases processing speed, but more importantly, it prevents possible fraud. If vio-lations occur, there is documen-tary evidence to prove them. In previous elections, "ballot stuff-ing" has been observed, but not a single fraud case has ever reached the courts.It is interesting to compare the Russian system with its for-eign counterparts. The Ameri-can system was developed by Diebold, which created senso-ry terminals (e-voting ma-
chines). The European system, called E-Poll, is technically perfect, but it is being imple-mented slowly. A pioneer in the automation of elections is India, whose first prototypes were tested as far back as 1989. However, the huge population of the coun-try coupled with poor Internet connectivity in rural areas and a shortage of computer sys-tems have made progress slow; a fully automated system is still in the future. This is also true of Brazil, which along with India is considered a leader among the "new econo-mies" in developing automat-ed voting systems.
party that the voter turnout exceeds 50%, as this will allow it to proclaim that the choice was made by the majority. Polls show waning confidence in the government’s legislative institutions – the State Duma and the Regional Legislative Assemblies. According to the Levada Center, 52% of respon-dents are ready to participate in the December elections (ver-sus 53% in 2007), and the num-ber of undecided has increased by 5 percentage points. Politi-cal analyst Aleksei Mukhin says the most significant issues for society are social justice and nationalist ideas. Social justice, he says, is the domain
of “A Just Russia”, but “United Russia” has started to use these slogans actively. The Liberal Democratic Party, the Com-munist Party, and “Right Cause” are all seeking nation-alist support: LDPR wants to protect “Russians” legally, the Communist Party advocates “Russian socialism”, and even members of “Right Cause” are against immigration from the Caucasus. And Putin – in order to improve the rating of his ruling party – has created the so-called All-Russia People’s Front, a social movement, non-party members of which can run for seats in the Duma on “United Russia” party lists.
aleksei morozovRiR
russia's electronic voting system has a better track record than in many countries considered more "developed".
in association with rossiyskaya gazeta, russia tHe times of india wednesday_october 26_2011 Politics
eng.kremlin.ru President of Russia official website premier.gov.ru/eng The official website of the Prime Minister of Russia english.ruvr.ru Voice of Russia website
andrei Volodin sPecially foR RiR
as russia gears up for the december 4 polls, it’s time to look at the experience of india and the west in evolving a multi-party system and forging a dynamic opposition.
On December 4, Russia will hold its parliamentary elec-tions, which will undoubtedly impact the future of the coun-try. It’s easy to understand that the elections will place on re-cord the public’s dissatisfaction with its present-day “misera-ble” standing and the society’s hope for changes for the better.This year has witnessed a “global wave” of social and po-litical unrest and social insta-bility, writes American econo-mist Nouriel Roubini. The common characteristic of these protests is that “they express the serious concerns of the world’s working and middle classes about their prospects in the face of the growing concen-tration of power among eco-nomic, financial, and political elites”.In Russia, the society is becom-ing ever more insistent in its
demands for concrete action on the part of the government for the country’s modernisation and a sharp strategy of mid- and long-term development. The basic load-carrying struc-ture of predictable develop-ment, both in the West and East, including India, is the middle-class, which, as Eric Hobsbawm once noted, should comprise of at least 50% of the economically active popula-tion. In India, this figure is slightly lower, just over 30%. However, the impressive abso-lute value of this stratum – over 300 million people – makes the national political system that much more predictable. During the Soviet era in Rus-sia, the middle class was formed under the influence of the industrial development of the country, especially in the 1970s and 1980s. In particular, middle-class came to embody the ideas and practices of the democratic and political trans-formations. Later, this “Soviet-made” middle-class, with its extraordinary intellectual and spiritual potential, was subject to “decomposition” caused by “liberal reforms” and expatria-
possible employment and rela-tively equal, i.e. politically safe, distribution of the national in-come. These will make possible tran-sition to a two-coalition politi-cal system generic not only for India, but also such highly de-veloped countries like Germa-ny, Italy and Austria. However, it is important to remember that such complex multiparty system is not going to be creat-ed by orders from above – it comes as a result of patient compromise and unforced his-torical development.
tion of a considerable part of conscious people. Unfortu-nately, this situation, i.e. actual loss of the middle-class, the main proponents of the civil society, makes the future be-haviour of the Russian political system hard to predict.While evaluating the current position and opportunities of the political parties in Russia, we should adequately take into account both western and In-dian experience, and the histo-ry of one of the oldest parties in the world – the Indian Nation-al Congress (INC). The Con-gress is more than just one of India’s leading parties. The INC evolved from a “debating soci-ety” for the colonial elite to a party for the masses supported by the people from all socio-political groups of Indian soci-ety, largely thanks to the na-tional movement leaders and, first of all, to Mahatma Gandhi. The compelling strategy that Gandhi introduced during the struggle for independence – the tactic of “pressure-compro-mise-pressure” did not only bring the cherished sovereign-ty nearer, but also nurtured democratic traditions, such as
tolerance and insistence on truth, in the minds of the Indi-an masses. Over the last two decades, greed has squeezed out any remnants of the con-cept of service to society. Both Indian and Western expe-rience have shown that sus-tainable and “organic” democ-racy is achieved by diversifying the economy, which we should undertake after two decades of liberal reforms. Unlike India, Russian politics has a weak-ness in that opposition, in the modern sense of the word, i.e. a responsible and forward-thinking political force, is yet to be formed. Of course, the Russian left have already come a long way from their rock-bot-tom image in the 1990s (culmi-nating in rallies, which bran-dished slogans such as “Put Yeltsin’s Gang on Trial”) to putting forward ideas for re-modernising and re-industri-alising the country. Although not everyone understands the tools of the country’s transfor-mation, I am sure the future of Russia lies beyond a left-of-center policy in the way this is manifested in India and West-ern Europe.I firmly believe that not one po-litical party in Russia is cur-rently able to single-handedly cope with the socio-economic problems afflicting our coun-try even as these problems are complicated by external cir-cumstances (the world crisis). This is why we need to elabo-rate tools for cooperation be-tween the parties that will be transparent for the society. This
work is all the more essential since - as the Indian experience shows - the lower segments of the social “pyramid” shall move from passivity to the state of organised activity and then the “Russian system” shall not be in a position to stop them from turning into a mighty and an independent political force. The Indian experience shows that it is possible to avoid po-litical risks through timely transition from “reforms” to development, i.e. economic growth based on industrial-scale production, to maximum
Mood of the nation 41% of those Polled on oct 8-9 would Vote for united russia, down from 50% in January 2011, an oPinion surVey said. communists (15%), liberal democrats (13%) and a Just russia Party (7%) haVe a fighting chance to enter Parliament.
the Polls
Multi-party system: What Russia can learn from the indian experience
bookmarks06 www.cdi.org/russia/johnson Johnson’s Russia List www.russiaprofile.org Analysis of business, eco-nomic, political and cultural trends en.fondsk.ru Strategic Culture Foundation magazine
Russia india BusinEss REpoRtin association with rossiyskaya gazeta, russia tHE Economic timEs wednesday_october 26_2011opinion
Eurasian drEam: is it rEal or just an ElEction slogan?
Putin modEl of china diPlomacy
sergei markedonov
SpeCiALLy FoR RiR
Fyodor lukyanovgAzetA.Ru
this year marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union, and it
has become clear that the for-mer Soviet republics, regard-less of their attitudes towards their common past and each other, are linked by thousands of different threads. And it has become clear that indepen-dence, in and of itself, does not guarantee a new state econom-ic prosperity, adequate domes-tic policies, or successful inte-gration into global structures.Is it wise to talk about creating structures that will unify at least some of the former Sovi-et republics? Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin seems
everyone is trying to guess how Russia’s foreign pol-icy might change after
Vladimir Putin takes over as President. Most expect Putin’s Russia to resume its anti-Western policy. It is symbolic that Putin’s first visit in his new capacity as future presi-dent was to China and that, in his first keynote article, he offered to create a Eurasian Union of ex-Soviet nations. The question of how the ‘west-ern’ and ‘eastern’ combine in Putin’s vision is much more subtle and complex in nature. In the eyes of observers, Putin-2 of the second term (2004-2008) completely overshadowed Putin-1 of the first term (2000-2004) with his strongly pro-Western agenda, from close co-operation to prospects for European integration and con-cessions to the US (the closure of military bases in Cuba and Vietnam, loyal position on Cen-tral Asia) and advances to Tokyo on settling the Kuril problem. The result, however, was dis-appointing. Who should be held responsible? In retro-spect, one can hardly blame Putin for not trying to bring Russia into the western orbit during his first term. The lack of the desired result shaped Putin-2 as the author of the anti-American speech in Mu-
to think so. Just after Putin an-nounced his intentions to re-turn to the presidency next spring, he published an article in the newspaper “Izvestia” entited "A New Integration Project for Eurasia – A Future That is Born Today”.Moscow holds geopolitical and economic leadership in the territory of the former So-viet space. But make no mis-take – Putin is not calling for a return to the Soviet Union. “It would be naïve to try to revive or emulate something that has been consigned to history, but these times call for close inte-gration based on new values and a new political and eco-nomic foundation,” writes Putin. In fact, he emphasises on the need for a close exami-nation of the experience of a
nich. The foreign policy mes-sage of Putin’s second term was: so you don’t want to treat us like equals? Then I’ll make you! And he did. What was the role of the East-ern pallet, especially China, in Russia’s foreign policy of the 2000s? The early Putin was largely pro-Western, but at the same time, Russia was also building ties with Asia, espe-cially China and India, creat-ing regional structures of varying cohesion, from the Shanghai Cooperation Organ-isation to BRIC. By doing so, Moscow was making it clear to the US (in terms of military and political activities) and Europe (in terms of energy) that it had alternatives. However, regardless of Mos-cow’s relations with the US and Europe, China has emerged as Russia’s major neighbour, wielding a strong influence and is likely to wield an even stronger one. Putin is not one of those who is fascinated by China and he is fully aware of the risks in-herent in the rapid and very impressive growth of the Asian neighbour. But he also under-stands that Russia will have to seek ways for peaceful and friendly coexistence with Bei-jing. Second, there is no anoth-er growth and development engine in Asia that could rival China. Finally, if Russia wants to upgrade its Far East region, it can't do so without China.
Lofty phrases about moderni-sation and technological alli-ance with China in practical terms mean institutionalisa-tion of the existing model: Russian raw materials in ex-change for Chinese products. The issue is the conditions, not the essence. Instead of dream-ing about Silicon Valleys, Rus-sia should go ahead with real modernisation, focusing on ef-ficient use of raw materials
all articles appearing on page 6 do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of the editors of rossiyskaya gazeta and russia india report.
putin understands Russia will have to seek peaceful and friendly co-existence with Beijing.
and market diversification, in terms of both geography and product range. It is not the US and Japan that should be cho-sen as models but rather Aus-tralia and Canada, as highly developed nations with their growth based on natural re-sources. In this sense, China is vital, with its growing con-sumption and excess cash. Putin has made no secret about his view of hydrocar-
bons as Russia’s main resource and guarantor of political weight in the 21st century. Out of caution, Moscow chose to abandon its slogan of being an energy superpower, but the es-sence has not changed. Unlike in Europe, where Rus-sia has been pursuing pipeline diplomacy since the 1960s, it is only beginning to feel its way in Asia. One overture is Moscow’s recent proposal that Pyongyang become Russia’s main partner in constructing a trans-Korean gas pipeline, in exchange for a rethink on the nuclear programme and a peaceful settlement. Yet Rus-sia’s ability to promote its goals in this way is rather lim-ited: unlike in Europe, where Moscow has a solid footing, it is only beginning to gain po-litical weight in Asia. Putin’s visit to China, therefore, turns a new page. His next term’s agenda will be dominat-ed by efforts to develop a model of peaceful coexistence with Beijing – one that should work for decades. Soon, commenta-tors will have to change tack and stop seeing visits to Beijing in the light of Russia’s ties with Europe and the US. Rather, they will consider whether Russia can use its contacts in the West to strengthen its posi-tion in China.
Fyodor Lukyanov is chief editor of the magazine “Rus-sia in Global Affairs”.
united Europe, and points out that the proposed Common Economic Space will be based on the principle of open bor-ders between its members.Putin also discusses the Com-monwealth of Independent States, and many of his assess-ments are spot-on. Looking back, it’s clear that the CIS helped solve problems, such as dividing up the common So-viet armed forces and estab-lishing national military bod-ies. But many problems such as trade policy were left unan-swered. The member countries focused more on building bi-lateral relations, which under-mined the CIS' effectiveness.In general, Putin’s article over-looks the changes that have occurred in the post-Soviet space in the last 20 years. A
common history cannot serve as a unifying factor over the long-term. The post-Soviet space is now more integrated into the global economy and politics than it was in the early 1990s. Important global play-ers such as the US, the EU, China, India, Japan, Turkey, Iran, and multinational cor-porations have all staked their claims in the region. And the region is more fragmented. Even within the customs union that exists between Russia, Kazakhstan and Be-larus, which became opera-tional in July 2010, there are disagreements, although these are more political than eco-nomic. It is important to note that economic cooperation is just one aspect of integration. It’s unlikely that the European
Coal and Steel Community would have become the Euro-pean Union of today had the Europeans not resolved com-plicated political issues.Despite its aspirations, Putin’s text is still essentially a cam-paign manifesto, and it indi-cates that the Russian leader-ship may not fully understand the strategic implications of integration beyond the con-text of elections. The article is heavy on optimistic slogans and goals, but short on mech-anisms and resources for achieving them. And the lon-ger Putin takes in proposing a detailed rationale for his pro-gramme, the more the West will see it as a threat.The West has viewed any at-tempts by Moscow to bolster its activities in the post-Soviet
space with caution. This ex-plains both the hard-line re-sponse from Washington and its NATO allies towards recog-nising the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which is the first case of re-drawing borders in the region since 1991. A new integrated structure in Eurasia is not in itself a bad idea. It could support and en-courage their development. But such a structure requires not only optimistic predic-tions, but also serious reflec-tion on the mistakes of the past and ways to properly ad-dress them.
Sergei Markedonov is a visit-ing faculty at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC.
07bookmarks Russia india RepoRt
in association with rossiyskaya gazeta, russia tHe times of india wednesday_october 26_2011 heritage
www.roerichtrust.org The International Roerich Me-morial Trust websitewww.haffkineinstitute.org The Haffkine Institute for Training, Research and Testing
ajay kamalakaranRIR
not many know about dr waldemar haffkine, who came to india in the late 19th century to develop a cholera vaccine that saved thousands of lives from the killer blight.
the russian doctor who saved mumbai from plague
medicine Haffkine Institute was set up in India in 1925
Tucked away in a corner of central Mumbai, amidst de-caying 19th century buildings and industrial mills that have seen better days, is the Haffkine Institute for Re-search, Training & Testing. The institute, which started off as a plague research laboratory, is named after Dr Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, a noble Russian scientist who saved thousands of Indian lives from the devastating epidemic.Born in Odessa in 1860, Dr Haffkine was educated in Berdyansk and St Petersburg. He initially worked in Russia under renowned biologist Dr Ilya Mechnikov, who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1908. It was, however, at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, where the Russian doctor made his first big scientific breakthrough.With cholera pandemics sweeping parts of Europe and Asia in the second half of the 19th century, Dr Haffkine de-ployed his scientific ingenuity and managed to develop a cholera vaccine in 1892. What’s more, the good doctor risked his life by testing the vaccine on himself. Unfortunately, the medical establishment in Eu-rope did not care to recognise this act of courage and achievement. Dr Haffkine, therefore, decided to move to British India, which was in the throes of several epidemics.The cholera vaccine devel-oped by Dr Haffkine in Paris was used in March 1893, when the Russian doctor fought what is described by the Haffkine Institute Mumbai, as a “lone battle” against cholera in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Thousands were inoculated in Kolkata and the news about this benign Russian doctor spread across the country. He then spent a winter in Assam, inoculating workers in tea gardens. He also treated peo-ple in the Gangetic Plain, and often had to deal with reluc-
tant patients, who were most-ly daily-wage labourers. Inoc-ulation against cholera produced a reaction that last-ed for two days. This initially discouraged labourers who were reluctant to lose two days of pay. A report by Dr Haffkine’s colleague cited by the American Society for Mi-crobiology showed that the mortality rate among those in-oculated in Assam’s tea gar-dens was as low as 2%, com-pared to 22 to 45% among those who weren’t inoculat-ed.The next stop for Dr Haffkine was Bombay (as it was known then), which was battling the bubonic plague. The city’s gov-ernor Lord Sandhurst invited the Russian doctor to come to the city and work on the plague vaccine.The plague created panic in Mumbai and official figures cited the number of plague-related deaths in the city be-tween October 1896 and Janu-ary 1897 at 3148. The British panicked during the plague and used the “sanitarian” ap-proach, where they scoured Mumbai for daily plague cases, dumped any “native” suspect-ed of having the plague in a
hospital, put all of their family members in “segregation camps”, while washing their walls and drainage lines with lime. This was probably the first trial run of the usage of concentration camps by the British, according to Dr Kal-pana Swaminathan, an ortho-paedic surgeon, who is the co-author of “The Quarantine Papers”, a book that evokes the agony of Mumbai during the days of the plague. The British went as far as dragging people out of local trains and arrest-ing any “native” who took the main north-south road and sent him off to the camp, if he didn’t have a pass.According to research con-ducted by Edythe Lutzerkand and Carol Jochnowitz for the American Society for Micro-biology, Dr Haffkine felt the British attempts at disinfec-tion were “hopelessly inade-quate to the epidemiological realities of plague, and there-fore, ultimately futile.” He was also upset by the misery and upheaval that the segregation camps caused the residents of Mumbai, who were “far more terrified of camps and hospi-tals than they were of plague.”
dr waldemar haffkine.
With death-toll mounting and panic spreading across Mum-bai, Dr Haffkine and his Indian staff had to act fast. They worked for three months before a breakthrough. It was the usage of unconventional meth-ods that finally led to the vac-cine being invented. “Experi-ments are being made in my laboratory with regard to the growth of plague microbes in or a particular product of milk, largely used by the native com-munity - ghee or clarified but-ter,” Dr Haffkine told the Indian Plague Commission. “The ad-dition of ghee to artificial culti-vations increases greatly the fertility of the medium, but we are investigating now to what extent the microbes grow in ghee itself, in the form in which it is used for food.” These exper-iments worked and Dr Haffkine tested the plague vaccine on himself, before inoculating pa-tients in the city. According to Lutzerkand and Jochnowitz, Dr Haffkine subjected himself to “fourfold auto-inoculation and experienced a painful week of febrile reaction”, before announcing his findings to the authorities. Volunteers from the Byculla jail were inoculated with the plague vaccine. While seven members of the control group died, it was said that the vaccine reduced risk by upto 50%.The doctor‘s empathy with the “natives” didn’t endear him to the colonial power. In fact, re-peated pleas to the British to suspend segregation orders and travel restrictions for those who had been inoculated fell on deaf ears. He worked on anti-plague inoculation around Mumbai for the next five years, but the British were eager to get rid of him from the city. He spent the last eight years of his profes-sional life in Kolkata as an in-dependent researcher for the Indian government. Most of his ideas, including a call for the preservation of the anti-rabies serum, were rejected by the au-thorities.The 55-year-old Haffkine left India in 1915 and spent most of the remaining 15 years of his life in France. It wasn’t until 1925 that the institute where he worked in Mumbai was re-named in his honour. He died in 1930 in Lausanne, Switzerland. While the prevailing anti-Se-mitic climate in the Czarist Russia prevented him from being hailed as a national hero at that time, his vaccine saved thousands of lives during a cholera epidemic that gripped the Russian Empire in 1898. But recognition eventually came to him in many different ways. Dr Joseph Lister, the fa-ther of modern sterile surgery, lauded Dr Haffekine as “a sav-iour of humanity”.
sergei yakovlevSpecIally foR RIR
the roerich festival in kullu valley has become a sacred meeting ground for admirers of the russian visionary painter and lovers of art and culture.
Roerich festival lights up Kullu Valley in October
event estate set for 20th anniversary
The birthday of Nicholas Ro-erich is always a special mo-ment in the Kullu Valley, also known as the Valley of the Gods and spiritual home of the visionary Russian painter-phi-losopher.The three-day festivities early October, organised by the exec-utive director and curator of the International Roerich Me-morial Trust (IRMT), Alena Adamkova, were varied. Hun-dreds of residents of Naggar and nearby cities and villages as well as guests from different corners of India and abroad gathered at the Roerich Estate on October 9, Roerich’s birth-day. By tradition, the day began with a Prayer for Peace (Shan-ti-pooja) at the memorial stone on the grounds where Roerich was cremated, under the lin-dens planted by this remark-able Russian family who lived some 20 years in the Kullu Val-ley. On the little square by Ro-erich’s house-museum three flags were raised: the Russian flag, the Indian flag and the fa-mous Flag of Peace. In the ex-hibition hall, guests were treat-ed to an exposition of paintings (Dreams of India) by eminent Russian artist Pyotr Toropov.Minister-Counsellor of the Russian Embassy in India Denis Alipov lauded to the IRMT for preserving the lega-cy of Roerich in India and put-ting his ideas into practice. He stressed that the Russian side would continue to help turn the Roerich Memorial Trust in Naggar into a world-class cul-tural and educational center. Festival guests were shown the
latest publications by the Trust, which has published some 30 books, albums and re-prints.In 2003, on Adamkova’s initia-tive, the Helena Roerich Col-lege of Art was created.Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin is a life trustee and vice president of the IRMT. He was personally acquainted with Svyatoslav Roerich and his wife, the for-mer Indian film star Devika Rani Roerich. He has actively participated in the work of the Trust for more than two de-cades.For residents of the Kullu Val-
ley, the festivities at the Nicho-las Roerich Estate act as a bridge to the world of culture. Hanging in the picture gallery are 49 original works by Nich-olas Roerich and his son Svya-toslav Roerich. Since 2010, the house-museum has functioned under the honorary patronage of the Co-Chairmen of the Rus-sian-Indian Inter-Governmen-tal Commission. In 2012, the Roerich Estate will celebrate its 20th anniversary as a public institution. Plans have already been approved for an interna-tional competition for a statue of Roerich to be placed on the estate. “This is a very important event for which we are doing everything to prepare,” said Ad-amkova, who was awarded the 2010 Order of Friendship for her tireless efforts to develop Russian-Indian cultural ties.
the guests enjoyed a picturesque kids' dancing programme.
an international competition will be held for a statue of Roerich to be placed on the estate.
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Full version onwww.indrus.in
BOOKMARKS08 RUSSIA INDIA REPORTIN ASSOCIATION WITH ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA, RUSSIA THE TIMES OF INDIA WEDNESDAY_OCTOBER 26_2011
russia.rin.ru Find more information about tourist op-portunities in Russia panoramio.com/map/?tag=Sakhalin Photos of Sakhalin Feature
AJAY KAMALAKARANRIR
Most Indians know Sakhalin due to the ONGC gas project Sakhalin I. But this island has much more to offer: it blends beauty, tradition and modernity seamlessly.
Sakhalin island: Crown jewel of Russia’s Far East
Region The real charm of this beautiful land lies in its spectacular nature
With unspoilt nature, a unique history and a multi-cultural population, Sakhalin, the Rus-sian Far Eastern island, has a lot more to offer than just oil and gas.Sakhalin is synonymous in India with a hydrocarbon project, where the Indian oil major ONGC has a 20% stake. But not many know about the picturesque island that has been transformed by an eco-nomic boom and also boasts of two Indian restaurants cater-ing to a small Indian commu-nity.The island, which stretches 948 kilometres from north to south, shot into prominence largely due to the discovery of oil and natural gas in the late-1990s. Top players in the ener-gy arena, including Exxon-Mobil, Shell, BP and several Japanese majors, set up shop on the island. This trans-formed the island from what some in Moscow (a 9-hour � ight away) called ‘a rock be-tween some oil and fish’ or worse, a ‘Katorga’ (the Russian word for penal entrenchment colony), to a modern and an international hub with some of the best infrastructure in the region.While the island has turned into a magnet for business, the real charm of the island lies in its spectacular nature, which includes a sparkling coastline, untouched forests, towering mountains and volcanoes in the nearby Kuril Islands.
Besides an expansive coast-line, Sakhalin has 16,000 lakes, including the Tunnaicha Lake, which is about 30 kilo-metres away from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the capital of the region. Tunnaicha, which is surrounded by mountains and is a stone throw away from the Sea of Okhotsk, is a spectacle, especially in winter, when the
which has some of Sakhalin’s 10 high altitude lakes. The Mo-hovoe Lake on Mount Spam-berg is probably one of the most isolated large lakes in Asia. It takes a good three days to trek up to the lake, which has enough diverse species of � sh to be an aquarium. A red-dotted fish locally known as 'Malma' is difficult to catch, but according to many lucky � shermen, tastes much better than any of the salmon species that come to Sakhalin’s rivers every year for spawning. For those who want to experience the beauty of Spamberg and don’t have it in them to trek three days to get there, there is a helicopter service.Sakhalin is famous for its sea-food, and in the summer, � sh-ing enthusiasts try their hand at catching the Cherry Salmon and North Paci� c Salmon. A weekend by the river is also a great place to soak in the mar-itime Russian culture. Most places in central Russia are devoid of the sea and a differ-ent folk culture has blossomed in the Far East. There have been several stories of large brown bears attacking camp-ers, but that’s only likely to happen in the early spring months, when hungry Sakha-lin brown bears wake up from hibernation.Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is a city that has been rapidly mod-ernised but not Pepsi� ed with a McDonalds in every corner. During the days of the Soviet Union, the island was strictly off-limits to foreigners and special permissions were re-quired for Soviet citizens to visit. Yet, the sight of a person with non-Slavic features wouldn’t shock a local, like it would in other parts of the re-
top layer of the lake freezes over. Ice-� shing on lakes and the sea is a favourite pastime in Sakhalin, where tempera-tures drop to -40 Celsius in the winter.The southern part of the is-land has several lakes and la-goons that are popular with � shermen including Busse, a lagoon known for its delicious
scallops. Busse is a one-hour drive from the world’s largest gas-liquefying plant, which is operated by Gazprom. After the snow melts in late-April, the series of lakes in southern Sakhalin known as the Tyeplie Ozero (warm lakes), are a great place to camp out and swim.Adventure-seekers should head to the north of the island,
gion. This is primarily because the island has a Korean mi-nority. The Koreans were brought in as bonded labour-ers to Sakhalin by the Japa-nese, who occupied the south-ern half of the island. When Soviet troops liberated south-ern Sakhalin in 1945, the Ko-reans were stranded on the is-land. A majority of them took up Russian citizenship and are fully integrated into the soci-ety. Indians, who often com-plain about ‘bland’ food, will be more than happy to enjoy the spicy Korean food, which is an integral part of Sakhalin cuisine.Multi-culturalism has histor-ically been a hallmark of Yu-zhno-Sakhalinsk. The island also has a small population of indigenous people, who are di-vided into a few tribes, each with a unique culture and lan-guage. Multi-culturalism has historically been a hallmark of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. The city, which was called Toyohara during the Japanese occupa-tion, has a small collection of Russo-Japanese architecture. The former residence of the administrator of Toyohara is a rare example of this fusion in architectural styles. With growing commercial in-terests, Sakhalin is connected to Japan, South Korea and China through direct � ights. While there are several � ights from the island to the Russian mainland, a true adventure seeker should take a 12 to 20-hour ferry ride to the main-land and traverse the great railway lines of Russia, includ-ing the Baikal-Amur line and the Trans-Siberian.
Ajay Kamalakaran is the ex-editor of The Sakhalin Times from 2003 to 2007.
The Indian connectionThere is a tiny but visible In-dian community on the island, most of them being techni-cal staff with the oil compa-nies. To cater to their palate, Indian entrepreneurs started Taj Mahal and Bombay-1, res-taurants which serve authen-tic Indian food and are also a popular with the locals for wedding lunches. The beauty of the island has charmed In-
dians who don’t seem to mind sub-zero temperatures. “I pre-fer the minus 30 degree win-ter to the humidity of Kolkata,” says Paritosh Sen, who works for a Sakhalin-1 sub-contrac-tor. Sen has lived on and off in Sakhalin since 2002 and says that he can’t stay away from the island for too long. Sen is fluent in Russian and enjoys being a part of the small and
open society of Yuzhno-Sakha-linsk. The isolation of the place is something that bothers Soumini Venkat, who moved to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in 2007, when her husband got a job with an oil company. “It’s dif-ficult and expensive to get to India from here,” says Venkat, who hails from Madurai. The easiest air connection to Sakh-alin is through Seoul.
Three quarters of the island is wild terrain of forests and mountains, islands of seals, clear rivers and lakes.
