Fidget Day

'Fidget' Day is here

Do not expect any miracle in today's Fidget, oops sorry .........budget.

The Government is presenting its 3rd budget and with no major elections in which Congress has a big stake in the horizon, the Government need not dole out sops to get votes. That will come next year when UP goes to polls. TN, Kerala, Assam, Bengal etc do not matter.

Pranab Mukherjee is a conventional politician with a slightly left of the centre ideology (that is, if he has one). He do not see eye to eye with the troika of MMS, Montek Singh, PC with respect to the economic philosophy. With Congress hell bent on splurging money on non productive social sector reforms, and with the PM considerably weakened (counting his days till the next Presidential election), Pranab Mukherjee is expected to give a status quo budget.

Anyway the budget do not matter when the real centre of money is elsewhere - the parallel economy and Foreign Institutional Investment.

This Government will continue to blunder along. Even the PM has started accepting that 7% inflation is acceptable, and we are grateful it might only be 7% as against 15% - a case of Stockholm Syndrome, though in a different context.

As long as the FM is not expected to give a performance appraisal of his previous years budget projection vs performance, we will continue to see irresponsible expenditure with no long term vision. Forget about long term vision, this Government is so short sighted that it cannot see clearly the tip of its nose.

So, on this fateful day dont Fidget. Just sit back, try to comprehend (if that is humanely possible) Pranab Mukherjees Benglish ( we just Mamata speak the other day, God help me), listen to all the idiots anchor know alls on TV and the self proclaimed 'experts' talk endlessly trying to make sense of something which they dont understand a word of.

Corrupt officials - A competitive advantage for Congress party?

Indira Gandhi initiated the concept of Committed bureaucracy and Committed judiciary. While she was able to achieve the former, she did not make much headway with the later.

This UPA government/ Congress Party has mastered the art of allowing ministers, politicians, judiciary and bureaucrats to make money through illegal means and then lowering the boom on them to suit the party's purpose.

The Congress Party has abused the CBI to such an extend that the organization has lost all credibility and its nickname Congress Bureau of Investigation is quite apt. The CBI first allowed Qutrrochi to take away the loot by unfreezing his bank accounts, then let him go and finally has filed an appeal in the SC to withdraw all the cases against him.

The CBI cases against Mulayam and Mayawati were used to cobble up majority in the parliament whenever the Government was under a threat. Now, the Congress Party has allowd DMK to loot the country on the 2G scam, and is now using the CBI case against Raja and Karunanidhi family to bargain for 90 seats in TN. Raja would not have been arrested but for the fact that TN seat sharing talks are currently going on. Compare this with the go slow on arresting Suresh Kalmadi, Sheila Dixit and M S Gill - all Congress party men who were involved in the CWG scam. (On this topic, it is disgraceful that both the President and PM did not deem it fit to grace the opening and closing ceremonies of the just concluded National Games in Ranchi. The reason given is that they dont want to be seen on the same dais as the tainted Suresh Kalmadi, the IOA Chief. But the worthies forgot one thing - that they were insulting the thousands of athletes who have sweated out all these years to be there at the National Games. Either the Government should have had the guts to ask Suresh Kalmadi to not attend or alternatively the President and PM should have attended irrespective. The same worthies attended the CWG games where the same Kalmadi was the OC Chairman and he was as tainted then as he is today. Why did the President and PM not boycott CWG Games?)

The Congress party appointed a tainted Navin Chawla as the Chief Election Commissioner and it was his brief to deliver the last lok sabha poll to Congress. Widespred tampering of voting machines has been whispered around and there is a serious question mark over how P Chidambaram won when he was trailing till the last round in Sivaganga.

Next, the party chose another tainted person, Thomas for the post of Chief Vigilance Commissioner. A guy against who a request for prosecution in a corruption case was pending and a guy who opposed a vigilance probe into the 2 G scam when he was telecom secretary.

Now, it looks like the Congress party had its 'committed' judiciary in ex Chief Justice of India, K G Balakrishnan. That he was corrupt was known to everyone. That he was reluctant to take action against the blatant corruption of a fellow judge Dinakaran, and despite this tried to push him up as SC judge is well known. He also did his best in stonewalling the proposal to have the judges reveal their assets. The matter was taken out of his hands when couple of fellow judges took it upon themselves to voluntarily declare their assets, which made a mockery of the stand taken by the then CJI.  The post of National Human Rights Commissioner was kept vacant, overlooking his honest predecessor Justice Sabharwal, for one year to enable KGB to become the NHRC on retirement. It is interesting to note that KGB had quashed the case against Sonia Gandhi regarding her nationality and the false affidavit she filed in the Lok Sabha of her Educational qualifications. Now, the skeletons are tumbling out of the cup board. His sons in law and brother have been found to have amassed wealth during his tenure as CJI, and the IT department is silent on whether he himself has amassed wealth. Even if he hasn't, it is clear that his relatives benefitted hugely by 'arranging' for verdicts against cash payment.

And above all Congress ensured that a honest APJ Abdul Kalam was not re elected as President, but was replaced by Pratibha Patil, against whom there are cases of swindling and against whose husband, there is a case of murder.

So Congress has the damocles sword hanging over all the key functionaries who can create problems for the party and are using it shamelessly to further its interests.

The saddest part is that most of these posts are protected by the Constitution, and unless the person resigns on his own, there is nothing much anyone can do. And these guys are thick skinned enough not to resign.

The charade goes on.

Prime Minister or Crime Minister?

'PRIME' MINISTER?

'CRIME' MINISTER?

OR

Judicial inadequacies

The Godhra Train Carnage occured on 27th February 2002, in which 58 people returning from Ayodhya were burned alive. The verdict has come today, 22nd February 2011, in the Trial Court - a full 9 years after the incident. Now the appeal starts. First in the HC and then in the SC. This delay is what makes a mockery of our justice. During the past 9 years, the victims family members would definitely have been reliving the harrowing experience every day. Now they have to endure for another decade before there is closure in the case. Ditto for the accused. There were many who were acquitted including the prime accused. And many of them were in the jail as undertrials all these years. Is it not unfair on them too.

Recently there was a case in Kerala, where the erstwhile Electricity Minister R Balakrishna Pillai, a retired Board Chief Engineer and a Contractor were sentenced by the Supreme Court for corruption in a case that took 30 years. I know the concerned ex-minister well, for he was the bete noire of my father who is no more, but retired as an Executive Engineer in KSEB. The concerned minister had harassed my father no end, and we all knew he was corrupt to the core even then. My father died thinking there was no justice in this world, when the minister was allowed to go scot free on many a corruption scandal. The saddest part is that the ex Ministers sentence was reduced from 5 years RI to just 1 year, citing 'delay' in the case. The said ex minister is 76 now, and the retired CE could not be jailed because he is 81 and bed ridden with dementia. If only, the minister had been punished severely 15 years back, it would have sent a strong message to other ministers to not indulge in corruption, which is rampant everywhere. Any punishment is a deterrent not only for the guilty, but also for the society at large.

Compared to this, the Kasab case has moved quickly. In a couple of years he has been found guilty by the trial court and then the HC. But it will be a few years before he is finally hanged. He can appeal to the SC and then there is the question of mercy petition to the President. He will be 30 in the waiting list of mercy petitions as and when he applies, and Government has adopted a policy of 'first come, first served', only hitch being President taking a decision on the mercy petition only once in 3 years, which means a decision on Kasab will be taken only after 90 years. Even otherwise, no one expects him to be hanged for at least another 10 years. And last heard, the Government has already spent Rs 45 crores on keeping him alive!!!

Our Courts are understaffed. There is a distinct shortage of judges from SC down to the munsiff courts. This when the need of the hour is more courts, as the population has increased drastically. Our current judicial infrastructure is not a great improvement of what existed 40 years ago. More modern courts, fully staffed, computerised and time bound trial are the need of the hour.

Will someone listen?

Next PM????

It looks like Dr.Manmohan Singh is here to stay, at least for one more year.

The next Presidential Election is due in mid-2012 and Dr.Manmohan Singh is the odds-on favourite to be the new President. For one, Congress can claim the moral high ground that he is clean personally, second, that is the easiest way of easing him out and more importantly, he will be another rubber stamp President that Sonia Gandhi wants so desperately. He will never go against her wishes. The fact that he is regarded positively by the West (because he does whatever USA tells him to do) is another positive factor in his favour. Anyway, Congress cannot continue to have him as PM till the next elections, as he has become a political liability.

In such a scenario, who will be the next Prime Minister.

Though Congressmen would cry hoarse over Rahul Gandhi to take over, it is not likely at all. He has refused to be part of the Government and as no administrative experience. It looks like he is more comfortable with grooming himself to take over his mother's post as Congress Chief than to become the PM. He can enjoy as much power as her without being held accountable.

Then who? The self proclaimed front runners are Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram. Though Pranab Mukherjee would be the best choice, given his admirable political and governance skills, Sonia is wary of him and would definitely apply the veto. P Chidambaram would make for an articulate PM. But he has made far too many enemies within the Congress due to his, what they call, 'intellectually arrogant' behaviour. He doesn't suffer fools easily, and Congress is full of them. And he is pro-reforms. An image that Congress doesn't want to carry to the next elections. They want someone with socialistic credentials who will indulge in welfare economics, and the consequences be damned. PC wont play ball on this.

Though Digvijay Singh is trusted by both Sonia and Rahul, and trying his best to shore up the minority vote bank through his periodic trashing of the majority, he is viewed to be more useful in the party, and anyway is not as pliable as the mother and son want him to be.

That leaves only one candidate. The man who is highly trusted, personally loyal, is honest to a fault, is politically savyy, leads an austere life (even his worst enemies wont say he is corrupt) and has the experience of being the CM of a State. He will never be a threat to the first family and will vacate the seat readily if asked to do so anytime. The only drawback is that he is a Christian. Or maybe it is an advantage, as India never had a Christian PM or President for that matter. Despite being accused that both Sonia and him are christians, he might still get the nod. I am not saying it is the best for the country - it is not.

But, in my opinion, the person most likely to be the next Prime Minister is from my home state of Kerala - Mr. A.K.Antony, the current Defence Minister.

Not Lame Duck .....................but Dead Duck

Manmohan Singh is a classic example of Peter's Principle in action.

He was a typical bureaucrat who climbed up the ladder by serving his political masters, turning a blind eye to all the wrong doings that was happening aroud him, and follow the CYA (cover your ass) philosophy to the dot (In India, you cant reach the top of the bureaucracy if you dont do as above).

Then Sonia Gandhi decided to apply the Peter's Principle. She decided to raise him to his level of incompetence. She felt that his sterling qualities, as listed above, is exactly what she wanted, to rule the country by proxy. And she was proved to  be right. Only thing is that the position of PM required him to be totally different from what he was till then. He has risen to his level of incompetence.

We teach in Management Classes that the skills required at a lower level is not what is required at the higher level. A person can be a top salesman, but a lousy Sales Manager, as his selling skills that made him such a success as a Sales Person, is totally useless when it comes to Planning, leading and controlling a team of Sales people.

This is precisely what happened to our PM.

The very skills that made him a success as an official - subservience to his political masters, covering his ass, just voicing his opinions but allowing others to take decisions, looking the other way when everyone indulged in corruption, and remaining behind the scenes - became a liability. He had to lead from the front, tackle issues head on, but he didnt, or couldnt.

And add to that his amazing ability to be less than truthful when it suits his purpose. Remember the lies on the Indo-US nuclear deal, his lies on the economy, his repeated lies on inflation, and on corruption. Look how conveniently he lied on 2 G scam, S-band Scam etc yesterday and on a few other issues. He was virtually saying, I am innocent, as I didnt hear anything, speak anything, see anything. And was like a complaining school kid - 'no one is telling me anything'!!!

It was a pathetic performance. The press conference was supposed to bolster his image. And he had around him TV editors, most of whom are his chamchas. Still he came out looking silly. And his media advisor was ridiculous when he shouted down Arnab saying 'this is not an interrogation of the PM, show him courtesy'. Excuse me, but the journo in question was just asking a routine follow up question on his stand on the differing view points taken by the CAG and his own telecom minister on the 2G Scam. So, the message is very clear. PM will tell you what he wants, and he is beyond questioning. That is not how it is done in any mature democracy.

Our PM said he is not a lame duck. He was not lying for once.

He is not a lame duck prime minister.

He is a dead duck prime minister.

Comments on PMs mumblings.................

The Prime Minister at last graced us (!!) all by agreeing to ask a few choice questions asked by a collection of hand picked TV editors (mostly his chamchas, note that the press which is more inquisitive was not invited). As usual, he mumbled his way through the session. Some of the 'low (high)lights of his monologue with my cryptic comments are given below;

•We are here to govern effectively - PM! please look up the meaning of the word 'Govern'. Anyway, what we need is someone who will lead us to become a superpower, and not someone who would just Govern. Even that you cant do, since you dont even know the meaning of the word

•Committed to economic growth but we have no control on international events - True. You have NO CONTROL over ANYTHING

•Food inflation should fall to no more than 7 per cent by March.- Pray! Which March? And is an inflation of 7% even acceptable? How many times in the past have you given deadlines like this, just to slunk away when nothing happened?

•We should not weaken the self-confidence of Indians - The self confidence of Indians are so high that some of them, who sit with  you in your cabinet, brazenly loots the country to the tune of few thousands of crores. If that is not self confidence, then what is?

•Parliament has not been allowed to function in the last session for the reasons I can't understand but we are making an honest effort to make sure that the Budget session is successful - You cant understand why the Parliament is not allowed to function? You must be daft, as every Indian other than you know why. It is because, my dear MMS, your colleagues have looted thousands of crores, and everyone wants to know the truth, which you are hell bent on preventing from coming out.

•We shall prevail and provide our country an effective government - Like that past 7 years? God help my country 

•Raja had assured me that he was transparent in the 2G spectrum allocations - And you believe him? What do YOU THINK? We are not interested in what a criminal like Raja thinks.

•2G licences allocations were not discussed with me. The decisions rested with A. Raja - Of course. No one discusses with poor papa anything. They all discuss with Sonia, who take a big cut.

•We must get rid of corruption from every walk of life, be it judiciary or the government - We should get rid of you and your Government at the earliest.

•I conveyed my concerns over 2G allocation to Raja through letters - And when he went ahead and disregarded your concerns, you locked yourself up in the toilet?

•PPP model to usher in new wave of infrastructure reforms - So true. Only, PPP do not mean Public Private Participation, but Public money for Private Prosperity

•I am not afraid of appearing before PAC or even a JPC. - Then, why were you adamant about not constituting the JPC?

•I have never thought of resigning. I have a job to do - Hang on. Hang on. Ask someone to give you a Fiddle, which you can play while the Country is burning.

•PM hints at blackmail by BJP, says that he was asked to get charges against a Gujarat minister dropped or face personal attacks - I never knew MMS had such a weird sense of humour. I can imagine BJP going up to PM and blackmailing him. If they did so, why didnt you have them arrested? Last heard Black Mail is a serious cognisable offence in this country. It is not that. He doesnt have anything to attack Modi

•This has been a great learning experience for me - At what cost? A few lakh crores?

Muscat Photos -6



The Childrens Scientific Museum in Muscat, adjacent to Qurum Natural Park, is worth seeing. It is aimed at children in the age group of 8-14 and has some nice exhibits that explains various aspects of Science. The best part is that the Museum is interactive and allows the participants to actually try out the experiments. 

This is a demo hot air balloon. Pressing a button will start a blower and the paper balloon goes up till the roof



The wall showing optical illusions



An exhibit showing how the human brain sees our body and how much importance it gives to each part





The visitors can actually try out various scientific exhibits on display



Accept if you goof up

One of the problems with Indians is that we are loathe to accept we goof up.

Take the case of our External Affairs Minister S M Krishna (touted as polished, western educated bla bla) who goofed up big at the UN Security Council Meeting yesterday by reading out the Portugese Foreign Ministers speech instead of his own. Anyone who saw the TV footage is in no doubt that he made a blunder and switched over to his speech on being prompted by India's permanent representative in UN. What is galling is that the Ministry is making it out that it is routine for the Foreign Minister to read out from another Country's Ministers speech (even if it is salutations). This is plain silly and deserves all the ridicule that it gets. S M Krishna goofed up. Why can't he just put his hand up, say he blundered, owe up the mistake and get on with laugh. And have a laugh at his stupid mistake. We would have happily laughed with him and told him ticked him off politely to be more careful in the future. That would have been the decent thing for him to do. But no. He has to make a bigger fool of himself by trying to convince us that what he did was correct.

From Foreign Minister to PM/Finance Minister. Both Manmohan Singh and Pranab Mukherjee do not have a clue as to what causes inflation, and how to control it. Instead of serving platitudes that steps are being taken to control prices on a daily basis, why dont they just say 'We dont know how to tackle this situation, but we are trying our damnest'. And then 'try' to do something about it.

Ditto in the case of CVC selection. It is known by now that MMS and P Chidambaram goofed up big by pushing P J Thomas's nomination through as CVC, despite a corruption case hanging over him, and despite his known stand on Telecom Scam. And the leader of opposition had agreed to any name other than Thomas. When the s**t hit the fan, MMS and PC could have diffused the situation by saying that, "It appears that we made an error of judgement (which can happen to anyone) and did not have any malafide intentions." The matter would have ended there and then.

A timely acceptance of one's mistake in all humility can diffuse a situation very quickly. And again, it is the decent thing to do.

To err is human, but to justify it is daft.

Tihs ins't dffiulict !!!

Don't delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you can read it.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the first and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? - surocerd form web

We are in for very bad times.............

The Finance Minister expressed surprise at the latest Industrial Production growth figures which is a paltry 1.6%, down from the double digit growth sometime ago. He has promised to dig deep into the reasons for this mess.

I am surprised that the FM is surprised!! You have a doubtle digit inflation, and you keep on rising the Lending Rates, and add to it the investor losing confidence in the stock market due to fear of which company is going to be exposed for corruption next, and you have a classic recipe for slowing down of industrial growth. The interest rates are almost reaching the 1980 proportions, a far cry from the promise made by P Chidambaram and the PM in the begining of the term of UPA 1 to bring the rates down to less than 3%. The high cost of capital (due to high interest rates) and the less disposable income available with the consumer (due to spiralling inflation) has finally started to slow down the economy. That industrial growth will be hit if you raise lending rates is fundamental economics. No sane businessman will invest when the cost of capital is high, especially when he has more avenues open overseas, where the cost of capital is very low.

The country and government is paying the price for the financial indiscipline of the UPA regime. Unless and until we practice fiscal prudence, we will not turn the corner. We are in for bad times...........very bad times.

Discredit the PM to save the Queen

Till a few months ago, it seemed that Manmohan Singh could do no wrong. He was the darling of the middle class, chatteratti, media and foreign Heads of the State.

Suddenly, everyone has found out MMS could do no right. He is held accountable for 2 G Scam, ISRO Scam, Black Money Scam, Inflation, Food prices etc. etc.

I hold no brief for MMS. In fact, I had been a trenchant critic of his lack of leadership and governance.

But, somehow, when the media, most of whom are on the payrolls of Congress, starts upping the ante against the PM, one sees a sinister hand behind this.

No one accuses MMS of corruption. Ineffective - yes, Weak - yes, US Centric - yes, Incompetent - yes, Lacks leadership - yes, Personally Corrupt -No.

Compare this with the Congress Party headed by Sonia. Everyone knows that they take a huge slice of all corrupt deals in this country and that Sonia has dubious links with many, and is accused of siphoing off money abroad.

Thus, when one scandal after another hit the Government, it was obvious that fingers will be pointed not at MMS, who is personally clean, but at Sonia, whose reputation is not squeaky clean.

Hence the orchestrated campaign to discredit the Prime Minister, for the queen must be saved at all costs.

And in the bargain, another non-Nehru-Gandhi PM is put in the bad light, perpetuating the myth that only the dynasty can rule India.

Such are the crooked thinking of the Congress.

Curse of Talent

The vast majority of the people are content to find through trial and error the easiest way of doing whatever it is they do for a livelihood, and to do it that way for the rest of their lives. Then there are those supremely gifted people, who are easily bored even by the results of their own abilities, people who wish each hour to be as different from the next as they can possibly make it. This is, normally, when extraordinary ability is allied with an incredibly low boredom threshold.

This could be called ‘the curse of talent’.

But they are the people who change the world !!!
P.S: The thought is not mine. I read it on the web, and thought should be shared with you

Brace for another petroleum price hike

With crude oil touching $ 103, amidst fears of instability in the Region due to the uprising in Egypt, Indians should brace themselves for another round of petroleum product price rise. The oil companies will cry hoarse about under recovery and then rise the prices by Rs 3-4. The impact on prices will be scary.

More than 50% of the Petrol retail prices comprises of taxes. The government can hold the prices at the retail level but at the same time give a higher recovery to the oil companies by reducing the excise duty. But the Government finances are in such a mess that they would rather welcome the bonanza in increased tax revenue that comes with a petrol price hike, than easing the misery of the common man.

This government has become lame duck and there is no hope of salvation in the near future.

Soft underbellies of constitutional authorities

You have Ministers who are corrupt beyond imagination. )And you encourage corruption in the allies ministry with the hope of having a stick to hit them with during seat negotiations, as in Tamil Nadu. Congress is pleased as punch that Raja was corrupt, for they are using it to bargain for 100 seats in TN)

You had a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court till recently whose only interest it seems was making money and protecting the corrupt.

You appointed an erstwhile Chief Election Commissioner who was indulging in rampant corruption since three decades ago.

You appointed a Chief Vigilance Commissioner who has the sword of palmolein case and sanction for his prosecution hanging over his  head.

And finally, you have a President, who has looted money from Co-operative Banks, and whose husband is a key suspect in a murder case.

All the above worthies, who are constitutional authorities, supposed to be people of integrity and expected to uphold the law of the land without fear, have soft under bellies.

Is it any wonder that there is rampant corruption in the country and no one is punished for it?

Inflation

The Government has been unable to control the spiralling inflation and appears to have no clue as to what is causing it.

The root cause is not one but many.

One has to go back to the year before the General Elections in 2009. During the last couple of years of UPA 1, the Government had artificially reigned in the inflation by controlling the petroleum prices with a view to the elections. Also, P Chidambaram, in his avatar as Finance Minister, had allocated a whopping Rs 60,000 crores to write off the farmers loans. The sting in the tail was that much of this money was to have been paid in 2010 and 2011. PC thought UPA will never be reelected and wanted to get the credit, but pass on the burden to the next Government. But UPA got elected again and was caught holding the baby.

Just prior to the election, the Government announced the pay revision for government employees. Any pay revision normally triggers inflation, as there is more disposable income, and in addition, the employee gets a bulk amount as arrears.

The NREGA has seen lot of money being allocated. But the implementation is so tardy that nearly 80% is siphoned off. This has resulted in black money getting accumulated, which adds to inflationery pressure.

Government totally mismanaged the agriculture sector as any investment in that sector wont result in the kind of marginal GDP growth that MMS wanted. Hence, he went in for investments in the Industry sector, which sent a wrong message to the farmers - that it doesnt pay to farm in India. The labourers started moving away to the much more lucrative industry sector, adding to increased input cost of labour in the agriculture sector. Also, while the retail prices have gone up, most of it have been gobbled up by middlemen, with the farmer hardly benefitting. These disincentives over a period of time has created supply side constraints leading to higher food prices.

The Government, to cover these expenses, printed more notes. Add to it, the black money finding its way back to the market and you have far too much money chasing too few goods.

The structural problems in the economy has to be rectified to tackle the root causes. How is for another post.