Yet it hints that a conspiracy of silence

Singh's statement has come in for flak, and deservedly. For
one thing, it doesn't address the substantive issue of
whether or not VIPs exploit their proximity to power-wielders
for personal gain. Yet it hints that a conspiracy of silence
should be maintained either way. For another, the comment
suggests that politicians scratch one another's backs on
graft: one who blinks at another's misconduct expects the
favour to be returned. This can only bolster public
perceptions that politicians are less serious about fighting
corruption than getting away with it, with one another's
help.

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Throwing the rulebook at critics is another political stock-
in-trade. The Congress-ruled Haryana government has defended
the ill-timed transfer of Ashok Khemka, an IAS officer
looking into the Vadra-DLF real estate deals, saying removal
of officials is its "prerogative". Surely a better
explanation is warranted since the bureaucrat shunted out had
ordered a probe into Vadra's land dealings. Playing down
calls for such investigation, the Congress's contention that
Vadra is a private citizen isn't credible. It's unlikely he'd
have the ruling establishment's backing had he not belonged
to the Congress's first family. If anything, controversies
involving close relatives of powerful leaders occur across
the political board, highlighting the need for clear norms on
disclosures of their incomes and assets.

After the early blow

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A downpour followed by continues drizzle ensured the game

ended 14 overs into the Scorchers innings -- they were 91 for

two at that stage.

The Australian outfit was asked to bat first after the coin

landed in Gambhir's favour at the Kingsmead.

Pace spearhead Brett Lee vindicated Gambhir's decision,

removing the experienced Herschelle Gibbs in the very first

over of the match.

The South African got impatient a tad too early as he tried

to loft one over the infield only to be caught by Iqbal

Abdulla at covers.

After the early blow, Shaun Marsh and Simon Katich added 70

runs for the second wicket to put Scorchers in a much better

position.

Not only did they keep the scoreboard ticking by taking the

singles and twos, the duo also managed to find the boundaries

on a fairly regularly basis till Marsh was trapped in front

by Jacques Kallis.

Kallis fired one in the block hole, Marsh missed it prompting

the Knight Riders players to go up in appeal, which proved to

be successful.

Marsh hit three fours and a six but gobbled up 40 balls to

score his runs.

Experienced Katich was unbeaten on 43 off 32 balls while

Mitchell Marsh was giving him company on five when play was

halted. 

would welcome their overthrow

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Calls for a new "concert" of nations including Russia, China, the United States, Europe, and other great powers are unlikely to be successful. The early-nineteenth-century Concert of Europe operated under the umbrella of a common morality and shared principles of government. It aimed not only at the preservation of a European peace but also, and more important, at the maintenance of a monarchical and aristocratic order against the liberal and radical challenges presented by the French and American revolutions and their echoes in Germany, Italy, and Poland. The concert gradually broke down under the strains of popular nationalism, fueled in part by the rise of revolutionary liberalism. The great power concert that Franklin Roosevelt established at the U.N. Security Council similarly foundered on ideological conflict.
And now, once more, there is little sense of shared morality and common values among the great powers. Instead there is suspicion and growing hostility, and the well-grounded view on the part of the autocracies that the democracies, whatever they say, would welcome their overthrow. Any concert among these states would be built on a shaky foundation likely to collapse at the first serious test.
 Can these disagreements be overcome by expanding trade ties and growing economic interdependence in this ever more globalized world? Clearly economic ties can help to check tendencies toward great-power conflict. Chinese leaders avoid confrontation with the United States today both because they could not count on a victory and because they fear the impact on the Chinese economy and, by extension, the stability of their autocratic rule. American, Australian, and Japanese dependence on the Chinese economy makes these nations cautious, too, and the powerful influence of American big business makes American leaders take a more accommodating view of China. In both China and Russia, economic interests are not just national, they are also personal. If the business of Russia is business, as Dmitri Trenin argues, then its leaders should be reluctant to jeopardize their wealth with risky foreign policies.