Busy

A bit occupied with work. Shall start posting regularly again in a couple of days

National Pride R.I.P

Don't mistake me! I am not unpatriotic and I respect the Indian Flag as much as anyone else, if not more. As a youngster, in the pre-Jindal days when the National Flag could be hoisted only on August 15th and January 26th, I used to look forward to hoisting the flag in the house. These days used to the high points of my year. I would hoist it a minute after the National Flag was hoisted in Red Fort on Independence Day or in the Rajpath on the Republic Day. And father drilled in me to lower the flag before the sunset as the law of the land required. The young boy in me, then and now, filled with pride on seeing the tri colour flutter in the gentle breeze.

But I cannot but feel that the prestige of the Flag is lowered more than even this Republic Day. First, the RD Parade has long outlived its utility and is more of a case of a President hoisting the flag amidst invited/screened/secured guests and unprecedented security. The common man cannot even dream to be part of the parade other than watch it on TV. Any national day celebration that do not involve the common possess hardly any value. Second, the shameful happenings in Srinagar, where the BJP cadre was not allowed to hoist the Indian National Flag on Republic Day in Lal Chowk, which is very much an integral part of India and the local Government, ably assisted by the Centre, using security forces to PREVENT the Flag being hoisted. What has this country come to?

The Flag is flown half mast when someone dies, to allow the invisible black flag of death to fly over it.

I am depicting my national flag being flown at half mast this Republic Day to indicate the death of National Pride.



Disgusting silence by the media

It is disgusting to note that the so called 'secular' and 'liberal' media who pull all stops to defend M F Hussains right to insult hinduism by painting nude portraits of gods, or support Arundhathi Roys right to make a secessionist call on behalf of Kashmiris, or the right of Binayek Sen to facilitate Maoist to kill thousands, are quiet about the right of Indians to hoist Indian National Flag in Srinagar, which, as far as I know is Indian Territory. The silence by the media and the intellectuals is damning and one has to really doubt their patriotism.

Muscat Photos -5

Muscat is extremely well planned. The Capital City resembled a medieval ages town in 1970 when Sultan Quboos took over the reins of the Country. The City, as it is today, is a testimony to the Rulers foresight, careful planning and personal attention to minutest things. I have seen many cities, but for sheer order, cleanliness and beauty (both natural and man-made), Muscat stands head an shoulder above all of them. There is a feel good factor about Muscat.

The City has many parks, big and small. The grand daddy of them all is the Qurum Natural Park, dotted with manicured lawns, flowers, lake, stable and playing area for the kids - all well maintained.

Warped priorities

With the Bharatiya Janata Party  planning to hoist national flag in Srinagar  on the Republic Day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh  on Saturday said parties should desist from scoring "political points" or "promoting divisive agendas" and peace should not be disturbed in the "sensitive" Jammu and Kashmir 

Er!! When did hoisting Indian National Flag in India on Republic Day constitute 'scoring political points' or 'promoting divisive agendas'?????

The trouble with Congress and UPA leaders is that they dont have a sense of national pride. Adopting a no-nonsense stand that Indian National Flag will be raised in Kashmir by anyone, come what may, will send a strong signal to the separatists that we mean business.

Just a Topic for Discussion

The other day, in a hotel where I eat at times, couple of staff were in an animated discussion about the money stashed away by Indians in Swiss Bank and how it could be used to facilitate growth. They got around to ask me whether I thought it was feasible for India to recover the money.

My answer was an emphatic 'NO', much to their disappointment.

I said 'no' not because there is hardly any political will to recover this money, as every single damn politician has stashed away the money, as well as businessmen and these guys will never lift a finger to recover $ 1 in the foreseeable future. You just have to recall how Qutrochi was saved by Congress to unfreeze his bank accounts containing bribes paid by Bofors.

The other reason is that procedurally it is next to impossible to recover the money stashed abroad. The Swiss Banks are governed by the law of the land. Though they could be forced to reveal the Bank Account details, asking them to return the money to Indian government is just not possible, because you need to prove legally that a finanical crime has been committed, and the money stashed in an account is indeed sleaze money that belongs to the people of India. You need to do this for each transaction in each account. This is not even an herculean task, it is an impossible task. We cant get a Quottrochi extradited or a Warren Anderson brought to justice despite strong cases against them. How do you expect us to then conduct an investigation (we do not have the skill sets to investigate white collar crimes), establish a case and then conduct the trial to get a favourable judgement?

So, while the topic on money stashed away in Swiss Banks makes for good drawing room discussions, it will remain just that - a topic for discussion.

Benchmark of Integrity

The Centre today strongly defended the appointment of controversial bureaucrat P J Thomas, facing a corruption case in a Kerala court, as Central Vigilance Commissioner, saying he was an "outstanding officer" with "impeccable integrity" in the affidavit filed before the Supreme Court.

I thought I knew the meaning of the word 'integrity'. To be on the safe side, I looked up the word in a Dictionary and it threw up 'adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty'.

Here is a guy, who threw all his priciples to winds and sided with the then Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran in 1990's and imported Palmolein at considerable loss to exchequer, and later sided with the Rs 1.76 lakh crore scamster Telecom Minister Raja, when Thomas was Telecom Secretary. He put hurdles after hurdles in the line of investigations into the biggest scam India has seen. Likewise the Palmolein scandal was the biggest scandal then that affected Kerala and rocked the whole State. And the Centre wants us to believe this guy is an 'outstanding officer' with 'impeccable integrity'.

If Thomas is the benchmark for efficiency and integrity for this disastrous government, I shudder to think the calibre of other top officials.

Muscat Photos - 4



Muscat has invested heavily in Roads and Flyovers. It is a pleasure to drive in this city




A panaromic view of Muscat city from Bowsher Heights. The Sultan Quboos Mosque, 3rd biggest in the world, can be seen at a distance 



A Ferris Wheel at Qurum Natural Park silhouetted against the evening sky



Muscat Photos - 3




A Tower and the Sultan Quboos Sports Complex silhouetted against the evening sun

 

NOTHING or 'NO'SINGH

Everyone who is anyone knew the Exchequer was being looted by the Telecom Minister for more than 3 years and gross impropriety was being committed. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING

The prestige of the Country was at stake when the ruling party politician in charge of Common Wealth Games was indulging in corruption and handling things incompetently. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

The prices of food items have gone up by nearly 100% in the past 3 years. Inflation is in double digits for nearly 18 months as per Whole Sale Price Index, and we are not even talking about Retail Prices. What do you do as the leader and supposedly a top economist? NOTHING.

The Minister responsible for Farmer Suicide, ruin of the Agriculture Sector, Foodgrains rotting, Scarcity of essential food items begged to be relieved of your portfolio 6 months ago. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

A major terror attack, which had the whole world supporting and grieving for you, happend 2 years ago and the finger clearly pointed to your neighbouring bully. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

There are many vacancies in the Council of Ministers for months together. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

1/4th of the Country is under the control of the Maoist. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

The Fiscal Deficit is spiralling and you are a 'top' economist. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

The Pariament is paralyzed for a whole session by the opposition and you, as the head of the Government, have the obligation to ensure smooth functioning of the Parliament. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

60% of the Country lives below the poverty line. You have an economic background. What do you as the leader? NOTHING.

A Corporate Lobbyist is caught with her pants down on a telephone tap which implicates many ministers, politicians and industrialists, apart from casting aspirations on your ministry formation. What do you do as the leader? NOTHING.

A................................................ bloody hell!! The list is endless. And the answer is always NOTHING or should be say 'NO'SINGH?

Silence is golden

Been silent on the blog front as there is hardly anything new to write about.

The problems facing India - inflation, interest rate hikes, corruption, misgovernance et al - keeps coming back to haunt you month after month like a never ending mega serial.

So for now................................ Silence!!!!

Loot and then hide behind SC/ST status

This is becoming a pattern.

No one grudges a person from SC/ST or any caste or tribe any position in India. We have had Presidents, Supreme Court Judges, Governors, Top Government officials, Ministers et al from the under privileged category.

But what is galling is some of these people indulging in blatant corruption, and then try to hide behind their minority or underprivileged status.

Telecom minister Raja did it. As did Mayawati. As did. As did Justice Dinakaran. Now Ex CJI K G Balakrishnan. The guy is proving to be extremely unworthy of his position, both ex as CJI and as Chairman of NHRC. His relatives, brother and sons in law, have amassed crores of wealth during his tenure as CJI. He also refused to take any action against Justice Dinakaran and misrepresented the complaint against Minister Raja, fellow Dalits. Now he is indirectly using The SC/ST All India Confederation, which today came out in support of former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan, alleging there was a conspiracy behind the concerted attack on the NHRC chairman, whose relatives are facing charges of amassing disproportionate wealth."The campaign against Balakrishnan is part of a conspiracy by forces that seek to resist the ascension of persons belonging to SC/ST sections to high posts in the country," K Ramankutty, president of SC/ST All India Confederation, said at a press conference here.

These worthies, by supporting the scums in their midst, are doing a graver injustice to their people and they dont seem to realize it.

Wrong Priorities at every turn

It is amusing, at the same time sad, to note that we, as a country, have our priorities mixed up.

When wealth was the deciding factor in establishing the superiority of a Country in the 60's, 70's,80's and 90's , Indians waxed eloquent about the importance of knowledge while showing utter disregard for the word 'wealth' or 'profit'. We set up higher learning institutions of repute like IIT's, IIM's, REC's, IISc, IIFT, TISS, BITS, IRMA and even the level of education offered by the limited Engineering and Medical Colleges of various Universities was excellent. Due to the averred 'socialist' policies pursued by the Government, we scoffed at wealth accumulation and profit was deemed to be a dirty word. The perception of an industrialist was that of a scum or a thief. The resultant stagnation in the economy set us back by a few decades.

Now, when it is clear that we are in the era of Knowledge Economy, we Indians are funnily chasing the dollars at the expense of quality education. Our university syllabus are out of date, not forward looking and a degree is obtained with minimum effort. Heck! there is hardly any effort required. The higher learning institutions mentioned in the previous chapters have diluted their quality - REC allowing inferior students from NRI quota to study is a case in point - and we are churning out graduates and post gratduates in hoardes who are hardly employable and who lacks the skill sets required to succeed in the Knowledge Economy. Knowledge is a premium with our younger generation. And we are likely to miss out on the opportunity to grab the world leadership once again. India, or Bharat, has a rich tradition that is based on a solid foundation of Vedic Knowledge. It will be a travesty of justice, if we do not put it to use now.

Need to promote Indian Economic Model

This is the beginning of the new decade. (Despite the hype, year 2000 was not the beginning of the new millenium, it was year 2001. Hence 2011 marks the beginning of the second decade of the Millenium).

The past two decades have been spectactular, as it has seen the collapse of the two dominant economic models - the communism in 1990's and the capitalism in 2008. It would be naive to assume that the underlying philosophies behind both the models are wrong. Like anything else, the system is always good. It is the people who man the system who allow it to collapse. In the case of communism, it was the lust for power of the communist politbureau members and the top brass, while in the case of capitalism it was the greed of the top bankers that ensured ruin of the systems.

This is where the ancient Indian philosophy that lays considerable stress on ethics and value system comes to the fore. As one of the emerging economies, we need to sell our unique economic model built on the above two pillars to the outside world. We have a rich heritage, a treasure cove of knowlege, corporate governance models in our upanishads, vedas, and books like arthasasthra. The knowledge in them can be universally applied across eras. Before we promote them globally, we need to understand our own heritage, imbibe them and implement them.

For that we need a great leader who will show us the way? But where is he?