RAJADHARMAM

Lawlessness

2012-01-26T17:43:00.001+03:00

The Salman Rushdie incident was quite in the expected lines. An election is due in a State having a sizeable Muslim population, the National Governing Party desperate to scrap for every single seat it can get to showcase the 'vote catching ability' of its leader to be, Forward Hindu votes not significant, the Hindu OBC votes aligned with one of its rival Samajwadi Party, and the Dalits firmly behind Mayawatis BSP, Christian vote insignificant, a Central Government that has nothing to boast of, the only thing that could be harvested is the Muslim vote. Hence, the collusion with Muslim fundamentalists to ask for a ban on Rushdie visiting India, on a two decade old issue, which even, Iran (the originator of the Fatwa against Rushdie), has forgotten long long ago.

Another expected response is from the so called secular, liberated intellectuals who jump in with their candle lights and fiery speeches whenever they 'think' the freedom of speech is jeopardised. But this 'freedom of speech' as far as they are concerned is only when Hindu's object to anything defamatory written or said about them, but never extended to when Muslims or Christians, ask for a ban. Thus the expected response was exactly as expected - No response!. The Arundhathi Roys, Mahesh Bhatts, Girish Karnards, Aruna Roys have all gone hiding.

It was really amusing to read the articles in newspapers and watch debates on TV. Every sentence against ban on Rushdie was unfairly hyphenated with the M F Hussain issue. Both of them apparently insulted religious sentiments - Rushdie by writing about Prophet Mohammed and Hussain by painting Hindu Goddesses in a deregatory manner. But the parallel ends there.

Rushdie was virtually threatened and browbeated by the Government, and asked to stay out of India. Even his speech via video was banned. This was Government sponsored ban. The authors who read from his banned book in the Lit Festival were hounded out.

As against this M F Hussain absconded on his own to Qatar, not having the guts to face the Legal system in India. There were hundreds of cases filed against him, which was strictly in accordance with the law, and the right of every citizen who feels insulted by the painter. True, there were hundreds of cases. The popular refrain was that the 90 year old man would have to run from court to court for the rest of his life. This is pure humbug. He had the right to ask the Courts to club all similar cases into a single case and fight it, which he should have. Instead, he ran away like a common criminal. There was a non bailable arrest warrant against him. And our Government, instead of asking the Indian Embassy in Qatar to revoke his passport, and extradite him back to India, soft footed and encouraged him to settle down abroad, and finally take a Qatari citizenship, thus facilitating him to break the law of the land!!.

Thus the two cases cannot be hyphenated. In the case of Rushdie, Government colluded with the complainants and ensured he did not enter India or speak over video, but in the case of M F Husain, the Government sided with the peretrator of the offence, Husain, and allowed him to break the law at will. The Government responses were as different as chalk and cheese.

The Muslims, if they were offended by Rushdie, could have approached the Courts and have a decree passed that withdrew his People of Indian Origin status, that enables him to enter and exit India freely, and also to proceed against him legally for offending their sentiments. But they knew they dont have a leg to stand on, as the Case would have been inadmissible, since the incident happened 25 years ago, and Rushdie has visited India many times since.

Heck, it was never the Muslims who objected to it. The fundamental clerics played right into the hands of Congress, who used them as a pawn to get political mileage. The Congress was upto its old games - divide and rule. And the loser is the ordinary Muslims, who are again viewed as anti progressive, when in reality they dont care one way or other about Rushdie. So much the pity.

Now my take on this. I am for freedom of expression, but with restraint. Any freedom comes with many responsibilities. If you abuse the freedom, then you have to expect retribution. But the recourse to hurt sentiments lie in getting the violator punished by a Court of law. And in India, it takes a quarter of a century to get a guy convicted. So we are back to the root cause - poor legal system and delay in delivering justice. If people like M F Hussain, Rushdie, Arundhathi Roy et al will know that they can be behind bars in less than 2 years, with no special facility inside the jail, then they are likely to think twice before they put pen or brush on paper. What we have now is lawlessness.

Every person is entitled to get Neethi and Nyayam

2012-01-17T04:52:00.000+03:00

The latest controversy over the Army Chief V K Singh approaching the Supreme Court to rectify his Birth Date has aroused extreme reactions amongst the people.

I find it amusing that many berate him for going to the Court at all to amend his Birth Date and in his words 'to protect his honour'.

Somehow, as a nation, we dont seem to believe in individual rights, and a person's option to take the perfectly justified judicial recourse for a solution to his grievance. V K Singh has all the rights to approcah the Court - frankly, that is what the Courts are for, in the first place. And why one should confuse his filing a case to protect his rights, should be clubbed with the 'honour' of the nation and morale of the army is besides me.

I am sure V K Singh going to the Court will have no impact on his performance as an Army Chief nor on his interactions with the Ministry - why should it? Any professional can have a disagreement but can work without affecting his productivity. I have difference of opinions with my Board of Directors and Colleagues on many issues, but we carry on gamely, putting the particular issue aside.

We, in India, seem to think that going to the Court against someone is an offense and something undesirable. It is not so. Neethi and Nyayam are ingrained in our culture. Every single person should get both Neethi and Nyayam - and that includes the Chief of Army Staff.

Creating leaders for tomorrow

2012-01-15T08:49:00.000+03:00

One of the understated features of Gurukulavasa based education was the judgement and care shown by the Guru before upgrading the skills of his students. Special skills that can be used to harm others, like advanced archery or swordsmanship, was imparted only after ensuring that the student has attained sufficient maturity and responsibility to use it only for the good of others and not otherwise. Thus an Arjuna was trained in special asthras which was denied to a Dussasana. Thus, there was a clear incentive for the student to be ethical.

This is lacking in our educational system. In schools and colleges, all the students are treated alike, irrespective of their ethical standards. The knowledge imparted is same. I cannot understand why schools cannot recognise good students showing great promise both on the character front and on the education front, by grouping them into one section and put under the best teachers or even perhaps expose them to eminent people from various walks of life. This way, the best students are motivated, others have someting to aspire for, and the school helps create a generation of future leaders, who not only have special skills but greater exposure, are ethical and ensured to put their knowledge to the betterment of the fellow countrymen.

Remembering a great son of Bharath

2012-01-13T07:48:00.001+03:00

On the occasion of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekanda (Oh yes! Our 'Secular' Government has forgotten him as his Hindu identity doesn't suit its political needs. Have you seen any event or government sponsored program on the great man's 150th birthday. I bet you don't), I am reproducing his Chicago Speech addressing the World Parliament of Religions on September 11, 1893, (The highlightings are mine)

Sisters and Brothers of America,

It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions, and I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.

My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: "As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee."

The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: "Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me." Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.

The World's Parliament of Religions has become an accomplished fact, and the merciful Father has helped those who labored to bring it into existence, and crowned with success their most unselfish labor.

My thanks to those noble souls whose large hearts and love of truth first dreamed this wonderful dream and then realized it. My thanks to the shower of liberal sentiments that has overflowed this platform. My thanks to this enlightened audience for their uniform kindness to me and for their appreciation of every thought that tends to smooth the friction of religions. A few jarring notes were heard from time to time in this harmony. My special thanks to them, for they have, by their striking contrast, made general harmony the sweeter.

Much has been said of the common ground of religious unity. I am not going just now to venture my own theory. But if any one here hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, "Brother, yours is an impossible hope." Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God forbid.

The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth, or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant. It develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant.

Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.

If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world, it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written in spite of resistance: "Help and not fight," "Assimilation and not Destruction," "Harmony and Peace and not Dissension."

More than a Century later, Swami Vivekananda's thoughts still hold good, and more so.

Let us salute one of the greatest sons of Bharath!

And the Mahabharath Awards go to............................

2012-01-09T05:39:00.003+03:00

I was engrossed in typing an official mail last night, when there was a tap on my shoulder. With a jerk, I turned around and found to my relief that it was my dear friend Budhirakshasan, who has been out of touch with me for more than a couple of months now.

"Hello BR, Happy New Year"

"Swamy. How have you been keeping"

"Am fine BR. Tell me what is hot in Delhi"

"Grrrr... Swamy ........You are pulling my leg........It is damn cold in Delhi"

"Err.......I am not talking about the weather............but am out of touch with Delhi news since you disappeared"

"Ha........Swamy........You know the Republic Day is a fortnight away, and it is time to announce the National Awards"

"Will Sachin get the Bharath Ratna?", I asked the million dollar question.

"Poor guy. He would have, if India had done well in Australia. The popular mood is against Cricketers currently and the Con Government do not want to go against it. All Makens effort have come to nought"

"Then who gets BR.........you?"

"Me? Are you out of your ****ing mind Swamy"

"He he............Bharath Ratna is BR and you are BudhiRakshasan, BR"

"Hmmmmmmm.......trying to be funny eh?...........I know the UPA Government is crazy, but even they are not that crazy......But Manmohan Singh...................."

"What? MMS to get BR?"- I was so agitated I almost fell down.

"Relax Swamy. I know how you feel. He is not getting BR, but he is being given another award"

"Whew" (I wiped my brow). "So is he getting Padma Vibhushan?"

"No no. We have only Mahabharath Awards from this year.He is getting the "Dhritharashtra Award""

"Eh?"

"For seeing no evil, hearing no evil and supporting his corrupt kaurava ministers till the end"

"Umm....... "Shikhandi Award" would have been more apt

"You have a point there Swamy", BR was quite appreciative for once.

"How about the other awards BR?"

"Sakuni Award goes jointly to Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi for trying to discredit Anna Hazare and ensuring Lokpal never saw the light of the day"

"The Uthara Kumaran Award goes to the Rahul Gandhi for running away from every single issue without joining the battle"

"Gandhari Award goes to Sonia Gandhi for being silent and turning a blind eye to the misdeeds of all around her"

"The Draupadi Award goes jointly to Jayalalitha and Mamata Bannerjee for their tenacity and perseverence"

"The Dussasana Award goes to P Chidambaram for his crackdown on Baba Ramdev that led to the death (killing) of Rajbala"

"The Jayadratha Award goes to Sharad Pawar for being publically humilated with a slap"

"And.........................................."

"Thanks BR. I have heard enough for a day. My head is spinning"

"Yadha yadha hi Dharmasya................................Sambhavami Yuge Yuge" - saying thus BR vanished

One Minute Extra!!

2012-01-06T10:10:00.000+03:00

Certain things stay in your mind. One such is from the Arthur Hailey Classic 'Airport'. Joe Patroni, the maverick Head of Maintanance of Transworld Airlines, is tasked with removing an Aircraft stalled on the runway three zero, stuck in ice. Time was running out for him, as another aircraft, which has had a mid air explosion of bomb wants the runway desperately. Joe has been told that if he is unable to extract the Aircraft by a specified time, he has to quit when the Tower tells him to do so, and the Snow movers and Ploughs will take over and push the Aircraft aside, thus damaging it beyond repair. Joe, who loves Aircrafts, and looks upon them as Engineering marvels, just couldn't digest that an Aircraft could be pushed aside using Snow movers and Bulldozers.

Joe knew he was running out of time. Three previous attempts to get the Aircraft unstuck has come to nought. He would have loved another hour of shovelling around the tyres. This time, he gets into the cockpit, with an Assistant named Ingram. He starts the Engine and gives full power, trying to shake loose the Aircraft, to no avail. He had almost reached 70% power, and with the Aircraft still stuck, the vibration was unbearable. Then the Tower tells him to quit and evacuate the Aircraft, meaning the Ploughs will move in. Joe disregards the instruction. The Tower is frantic, and Ingram reminds him of the Towers instructions. Joe looks at him, chewing an unlit Cigar, and grins telling him ' Son, can't hear a thing. Let us go for broke", and as an aside to himself says "When those **** s in the Tower tells you that you have run out of time, there is always one minute extra". He goes on to give full power, and the Aircraft gets unstuck, making him a hero, despite the Tower and the Airport Manager Mel Bakersfield seething with rage at his disobedience. But as Mel thinks to himself 'I can get Joe into trouble for disobeying Tower's orders, but no one in his right mind will question such success'. And one more legend is added to Joe Patroni ( I am quoting the lines from memory, having read these a couple of decades back).

Though the one minute extra available has been in the back of my mind all these years, I realized its value only when I restarted playing Tennis after a quarter century. I have a Coach who is a good task master and with his help I have reconstructed both my backhand and forehand, no mean achievement. And he always asks me to wait a bit and not to rush the shot. I went back to the one minute extra of Joe, and decided that I will wait 3 seconds extra before hitting the shot. The results were remarkable. I cut down on unforced errors and have really added sting to my shots.

Is it like that at work and life too? Are we rushing things? Should we just take a step back, reflect on issues impartially and then take a decision? I have always been a spontaneous decision maker and have not regreted it. But I am just wondering whether I should take that one minute extra! At least, I want to give it a try. So should you.

Iruttu kondu otta adakkuka

2012-01-04T07:41:00.001+03:00

There is a saying in Malayalam "Iruttu kondu otta adakkuka", which means "blocking a hole with darkness", which serves no purpose other than to camouflage the defect, while the core issue of closing a hole remains unsolved.

The Indian stock market has been facing a major crisis of confidence. This is reflected in the falling stock indices. The root cause is the policy paralysis at the Government level, the Global economic prospects, the downgrade of projected growth of Indian economy, the runaway inflation, rising fiscal deficit which means Government investments in economy in the near future will be severely curtailed, and a general feeling of despondency amongst the investors.

India took the FII route in early days of reform to attract overseas capital, while China opted for the FDI route. The FDI is more permanent as an investment, while the ills of focusing on FII is there for all to see. Firstly, it encouraged Black Money to be routed back to India through the Mauritius route, but more importantly we witnessed a flight of capital at the first signs of Global economic crisis, as witnessed in 2008.

The Global economy is in a much worse state than it was in 2008. Then it was only a few financial institutions that were affected, but now dozens of countries are in serious trouble, and some of them major consumers, and 'developed'. The recovery is going to be painfully slow.

The Government is going one step ahead in its idiocy and allowing Foreign investors and individuals to invest in Indian Stock Market. If the FIIs are not keen to invest in India, what makes the Government think individual investor will? Even if some were to do so, they are likely to take the money out more quickly than the FIIs in case of any negative indicators flashing.

Like many decisions of this lame duck UPA II government, this one also tries to pull wool over the eyes of the citizens without any intention to create long term benefit for them.

This is what I meant by saying at the beginning, 'Iruttu kondu otta adakkuka'

Some Economy related thoughts

2012-01-02T12:53:00.000+03:00

The year just gone by hasn't been great for India, economically. The Government obviously gets blamed when things go wrong, and it did go horribly wrong last year. That is par for the course, because the Government is quick to accept credit when the economy does well.

Though, it is easy to blame the Government for the mess the economy is in, the fact is that our economy runs on auto pilot and is not very dependent on Government initiatives. Services constitute 55-60% of the GDP and this sector is by and large independant of Government interventions. Inflation was in double digit throughout the year, but this normally should be good news for the Corporate Sector, as in the short term, inflation means addtional revenue.

So why did the economy become sluggish. Global economic situation is very bad. USA is in trouble, as the sins of 2007 are fast catching up. Eurozone is in a melt down. Japan is still recovering from the Tsunami and Earthquake, and even Chinese economy is splitting at seams. There is hardly any demand for our products and services, and with internal consumption sluggish, due to higher interest rates and inflation, and with Government not willing to make any bold (or even routine) initiatives, the Corporates lost confidence. The current crisis is more of crisis of confidence than a crisis of economics.

The Government can think of stimulus to increase the demand. Allowing the Rupee to devalue by not intervening is one option. This would make Indian goods and services cheaper, boosting demand. Agreed imports will become dearer, but that can be compensated by supporting CAPEX importers with soft loans. Investment in the Agricultural sector will have a direct impact on stimulating the local demand. Sector specific easing of loans can be made available to select manufacturing sectors, that are critical to the growth. While it is tempting to suggest reduction of interest rates, one has to keep in mind its impact on inflation. But since an increase in interest rates did not contain inflation, one really wonders whether a decrease in interest rates will have a negative impact on inflation. One has to wait and see.

In short, have confidence in our Corporates and people, show that you are taking meaningful actions in a calibrated way, and you will have the economy up and running again.

This is assuming that the economy was performing purely due to internal competencies in the past. I had always suspected that the black money pouring in through the Mauritius route as FII was more responsible for Indian economy doing well in the past, than because of strong fundamentals.

Ohm shanthi shanthi shanthi

2012-01-01T06:23:00.000+03:00

For all my readers

Ohm santhirasthu
Ohm pushtirasthu
Ohm tustirasthu
Oham vrudhirasthu
Ohm ayushyamasthu
Ohm arogyamasthu
Ohm dhanadhanyasamruthirasthu

Ohm shanthi shanthi shanthi!!!

Singing National Song with Deep Regret!!!!!!!

2011-12-30T00:07:00.000+03:00

There is a scene in one of P G Wodehouse's Books on Bertie Wooster and Jeeves, where Jeeves narrates the rioutous scene on a village school annual ceremony. He explains the scene where Bertie Woosters friend Augustus Finknottle, under the influence of liquor while addressing a village school gathering, enters into an argument with the parent of a student, leading to an acrimonious exchange. Jeeves abruptly rounds it off by saying " Then they sang the National Anthem". Bertie wonders how the two antagonists can think of singing the national anthem when they are about to come to blows, and Jeeves clarifies to him that the Principal decided to end the charade by asking the School Band to sing the National Anthem as a prelude to closing the function. The absurdity and hilarity of Bertie wondering ("Jeeves! Surely not..............." were the words if my memory serves me right) how they can think of singing the national anthem at such a time is beautifully illustrated by PGW.

I was reminded of this, when I was watching the absurd proceedings in the Rajya Sabha, just prior to the Mid night adjournment. Vice President Hamid Ansari was in the chair, and the decibel level in the house was at its peak. The time was already past mid night, and Ansari was admonishing the members as to how they are lowering the dignity of the house (as if it has any dignity left!!!), and how proceedings couldnt continue because of the din. Then he abruptly said, "I have to say with deep regret........... (Pause).........National song" and then 'Vande Matharam' was played.

The first absurdity was the VP, hassled, having no control of the House. The second was the need to sing the National song (which is a practice) after the members (mainly the Government) having done its best to not pass the Lokpal Bill, which was being watched by everyone in the Nation. And the third absurdity was Ansari's words in effect coming out as he is asking National song to be played with 'deep regret'!!!

What else can we expect from a bunch of criminals, clowns, self serving politicians led by a nincompoop Prime Minister who gives a damn about Nation and the people they are supposed to represent???

Greetings in poor taste

2011-12-23T09:53:00.000+03:00

Come New Year time, my Mail Inbox is flooded with E-Greetings, either in the form of E-Cards or in the form of Mail Greetings.

I have reservations regarding both. The E-Cards are sent through E-Card sites, that offer them free. What the sender doesn't understand that nothing comes free in life. The E-Card sites makes a living out of selling our E-Mail ID's, both the Sender's and the Receiver's to Marketing Companies. This results in these companies sending unsolicited promotional offers to us, which adds to SPAM. Thus, by sending E-Greetings, the sender is condemning himself and the intended receiver with an year of SPAM.

My main grouse with the New Year Greetings send as a mail, is that the sender does not take the trouble of sending a Personal Mail, but rather drafts a one liner like "Wishing you and your family a Happy New Year" AND THEN SENDS IT TO ALL IN HIS ADDRESS BOOK as a single mail. Thus my e-mail ID, which is personal and given to the sender in confidence is revealed to all in his address book, which is incorrect. It also adds to SPAM, as many in this address list sends a one liner reply greeting to the sender, using the reply all option, which means my ID automatically gets registered in his address book. Come another occassion, this guy starts sending bulk e-mails. Leave this aspect. The idea of sending a greeting, is to indicate to the receiver that he is remembered on a joyous occassion, and the sender wishes him from the heart. But I cant understand how wishing 100 people from the address list, without even knowing who is in the address list, gives an impression that the sender remembers me!!!. I have nearly 700 plus people on my gmail contacts!!.

The greetings have to be personal, and marked only to the intended recipient. Can't we spare one hour in an year to remember our friends and to send personal greetings?

Anything other than this is in poor taste.

Re 1 Rice Gaffe

2011-12-14T07:17:00.000+03:00

The Food Security Bill is on hold for now. This pet project of the Sonia led National Advisory Council (a wasteful body, comprising of a few left liberals, including a know maoist sympathiser on bail, and who has absolutely no accountability to anyone) basically called for nearly 60% of India's population to be given food at highly subsidised rates of less than Re 3 per kg. This would have resulted in increasing the subsidy burden of the government by another One lakh crore, though more realistically it is closer to Two lakh crore. On the one hand Government has been taking a tough stand on reducing subsidies on Petroleum products or fertizers claiming it cannot afford, and on the other hand it wants to increase the subsidy on food. We do have a major supply side constraint on food. The farmers are not getting fair prices for their produce making them move away from farming. The area under cultivation is dwindling, and with the Government hardly taking any initiative on the second Green Revolution, the per acre productivity has remained stagnant. With the Food Security Bill in place, Government would have found it extremely difficult to increase the support price of food grains, adding to the woes of the farmer.

And would the poor have benefitted. Not in the way Government expects. If Sonia and NAC thinks that poor will buy and consume Re 1 or Re 2 rice, they are living in blunderland. Poor have more dignity than what these clowns assume they have. And the basic food the proposed bill is aiming to give are essentially Giffen Goods (google it if you dont know what a Giffen Good is), the purchase of which wont be compromised by the poor (and consuming poor quality Re 1 rice is a compromise for them). And this beats the fundamental economic principle that the same good should not have differentiated prices in an undifferentiated market!

I was reminded of a story narrated by a Tamilian Taxi Driver. He used to depend on small roadside hotels and iddly shops to eat iddly and dosa, while on duty. As anyone knows, some of these small roadside iddly shops serve delightful iddlis and dosas, and are very inexpensive. But ever since the Tamil Nadu Government started doling our Re 1 rice, the quality of these iddlis and dosas have deteriorated sharply to such an extend, that they are unpalatable, as per this guy. The reason? The poor happily collect their Re 1 rice from the Fair Price shop, and then, instead of taking it home to cook, they make haste to the nearest iddly shop to sell it at Re 4 or 5, pocketing the difference (because the Re 1 rice is of such a poor quality that no one will even dream of eating it). Thus, if he gets 35 kg of rice, he makes a profit of Re 140, and use it to buy 10 kg of higher quality rice, which he doesnt want to give up, as it is a giffen good!. The shop keeper is pleased because he gets rice at Re 5, against the market price of Re 15, and his cost of inputs have gone down substantially, increasing the profit margin, which was getting squeezed due to inflation. But in the bargain, quality is given a go by, which affects his business in the long run. But hey! who cares. One of these days the Economic PM shall allow FDI in Food Retail, which will anyway make him redundant, like the FDI in retail will do to the petty shop owners!

Preoccupied with work

2011-12-12T06:41:00.000+03:00

Really preoccupied with work. Do not just have the mindspace to come up with a blog post. Bear with me

The classic diversionary tactic!

2011-12-05T16:46:00.000+03:00

So the FDI in retail sector is rolled back!

The government and congress party has achieved its purpose of diverting the attention from 2G, Corruption, P Chidambaram, Jan Lokpal, inflation and the crumbling economy.

Half the Parliament session is gone. Now even if the opposition wants to, it cannot stall the parliament anymore on the above issues, as the public mood is against the MPs now.

And Congress and Government lost nothing as anyway FDI in retail was never a critical issue.

Remember the old adage of where to hide a leaf? In a forest.

Likewise how to hide a problem? Create another problem as a divertionary tactic!

FDI in retail ..... Unwise and untimely

2011-11-27T22:33:00.000+03:00

I doubt the sincerety of the Congress party in allowing FDI upto 51% in multi brand retailing. The timing stinks.

The economy is in a mess. Government is cornered on corruption. It has given up on controlling inflation. Its credibility is at the lowest. Anna Hazare is waiting to pounce. It faces a whitewash in UP. Some of its ministers are in jail. The PM is a lame duck. And the parliament is in session,with opposition belligerent.

The Congress needs a diversion badly. It knows all the political parties are against it and there will be a big hue and cry that would drown the protests against all the other issues. And that is why they went ahead with the hasty decision to allow FDI in retail.

The western world doesnt have money nor do they have the markets with purchasing power anymore. The western retsilers desperately need the Indian market than we need them. We opened organised retail to Indian Corporates a while back and it ended up in disaster. Neither the consumers nor the farmers benefited. The same arguments that is offered in favour of FDI was trotted out then. But the ground reality was different. Hence, my pessimism on the new initiative. Also, the current food inflation has its roots in the decision to allow corporates to enter organised retail.

That the indian supply chain fron farmers to consumers is rotten is beyond doubt. But is the FDI route the solution? I doubt.

What is eequired is an initiative involving the private sector in streamlining the supply chain.

But this callous government, an uncaring PM, a secretive irresponsible party chief and a psychofantic party is interested in filling its coffers at the expense of common man.

I do not agree .................................

2011-11-25T08:03:00.000+03:00

Why cant our MPs discuss matters of national importance like inflation, rupee depreciation, 2G scam, black money etc in a civilized manner inside the parliament. Government creating diversionary tactics or irritating the opposition with a non consequential issue and the opposition boycotting the proceedings or blocking the working of the House has become a rule than an exception.

It is not that our MPs are incapable of quality debate. One has to only witness the debate on lokpal bill and Anna Hazare last session to know how good they are at it, when they want to or more cynically, when they feel threatened.

Is it because we, as a nation, are intolerent to any any thoughts other than ours. Just switch on any national english news channel program that debates current issues. It is a slanging fest, sans any rules or valid points. He or she who shouts loudest gets more air time. Just contrast this with any debate on BBC, and you will know what I mean.

This intolerence has led to the creation of a generation of people who just wouldnt listen to others. This needs to be corrected at school level. Kids should be encouraged to debate, taught to argue logically and educated in the art of disagreeing to agree, without losing their composure and decorum.

After all, did not Voltaire say that "I do not agree with what you you have to say, but I Will defend to the death, your right to say it"

Where is the next Gandhi to liberate our bright young students?

2011-11-17T22:38:00.000+03:00

Despite all the noise made by the Education Minister, Kapil Sibal, on overhauling the education system in the country, the vested interests have ensured that he didnt make much headway.

The higher education is in such a mess, what with the UGC proving to be highly ineffectual and corrupt. The problem with our higher education is not just that it is far too rigid and structured, but it just does not provide an opportunity for the student to explore different areas of knowledge. That it fails to provide the necessary soft skills required for the student to be employable is another major lacunae.

Let me give you an example. Let us assume that a student wishes to enroll for B Sc Mathematics. He has very limited option other than to opt for the combination of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, with English and a Regional Language. In some colleges they offer Statistics instead of Chemistry. I did B Sc Physics, with Maths and Chemistry as subsidiaries. I can understand the logic of tying Maths with Physics, but to date dont know why I was burdened with Chemistry, which I hated. I could have and would have opted for Accountancy or even Statistics. Or for that matter, why couldnt I have studied Psychology?.

The above is possible if the Universities were to go by the Credit System. In such a system, the student shall have the freedom to get a Bachelors or Masters by adopting any combination that gives him the total credit required for a course, as it should be.

Why Indian Universities opted for the rigid system long long ago was to basically support the nascent Colleges that have limited seats, and fewer students. Hence, the University was forced to adopt the rigid structure so that the Colleges are able to have sufficient occupancy levels for each class.

But in todays scenario where the Colleges are overflowing with students, any College can easily have an academic calender that can schedule lecture for varying subjects, with the students being given the option to choose the topic and the lecturer of his choice.

The British had a vested interest in cloning our bright young minds. They did not want to encourage creativity and individuality, but rather wanted a sea of youngsters who are obedient, rigid and ideally suited to work as subordinates of the highly structured British Administrative System.

It is a pity that 64 years after independence, we have not yet liberated our students from the shackles imposed by the British, whose strategic objectives were totally different, and who never had the students and India's interests in mind.

But then we have replaced White Sahibs with Brown Sahibs!!!

Where is the next Gandhi to lead a movement that shall liberate our bright young students?

IPL and Congress Party

2011-11-11T20:47:00.000+03:00

Congress wanted to use IPL 2 which coincided with the 2009 General Election as an advertising platform, as it felt it could gain a competitive advantage amongst the younger voters, apart from promoting Rahul Gandhi as a youth icon. But Lalith Modi, the IPL Commissionaire would have none of it. He didnt want his baby to be a medium for political dog fighting. Also, he was sympathetic to the then Rajasthan CM, Vasundhare Raje Sindhia. Congress never forgave him. First they thought they had Modi cornered by refusing to give security clearance to IPL at the last moment. But They under estimated Lalith Modi. He shifted IPL 2 to South Africa in 2 weeks, and cocked a snook at Chidambaram and Co. Congress was mad as a hatter. They bided their time. Also, they couldnt bear that they didnt have a hand in the pie of the richest event.

Come IPL 3, they ensured Lalith Modi was hounded out, and ED filed a stew of cases against him. Lalith Modi was no saint. But 2 years down the line, the cases against him has reached nowhere. So the real purpose was for congress party to control IPL. Modi was replaced by the timid Chirayu Amin, who in turn gave way to,guess who? Rajiv Shukla. And who is he? He is a Congress Party General Secretary, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and a close confidante of Sonia Gandhi!

This is a small example of how Government abuses its power for petty gains!

India, a land of gluttons!

2011-11-07T17:54:00.001+03:00

This is the season of ridicule.

PM says inflation is a sign of development and high food inflation is due to increase in yhe prices of egg,milk and meat, rather than foodgrain. His claim is that rural india is eating more healthy food. If that were true how is it that the latest figures show 76% of indians malnutritioned? All the indices of poverty are on the rise.

The PM who rarely opens his mouth on any issue-major or minor- waxed eloquent on the need for hiking petroleum prices and warned of hikes of other petroleum products. While conceding that there could be under recovery for oil companies which justifies the hike, why hasn't the government not taken the decision to forego its share of the additional revenue by way of taxes? More than 50 % of the petrol price are taxes. This gives lie to the government claim and inrentions. And the PM did not even have the guts to make the statement while in india. He gave the conference when he was abroad, giving lectures as tohow IMF, set up to support developing economies, should bail out rich european countries, who are in a debt trap because of overspending! He really is one rotten economist.

Our FM,Pranabda, doesnt concur with his boss. His take is that the food inflation is high because of the festive season, as if festivals are here for the first time in india's history.

He, PM and Montek Singh all want us to believe that indians are swallowing food by buckets leading to food inflation!

When was the last time any of them visited rural or semiurban india? If they had, instead of sitting in the ivory towers of Delhi, they would realize why everyone in this country have nothing but contempt for them.

Hike before it is too late

2011-11-04T08:28:00.000+03:00

Why did the government raise the petroleum prices?

(if you believe that oil companies took an unilateral decision in hiking the prices, as UPA spokespersons tell you,then you are as cuckoo as them!)

Congress party knows that,with assembly elections to 6 states coming up in 6 months time,this is the last chance for them to raise the prices and mop up additionalvrevenue. Remember, government stands to gain 50% of the hiked price as revenue throughtaxes whenever there is a price hike. With revenue collections not likely to meet the targets for the fiscal, and with spiralling expenditure, and government unable to print more money in view of inflation,any additional income is welcome.

With opposition unable to organize popular protests, and limiting their activities to mouthing meaningless criticisms in the TV studios,the Congress party and UPA is getting away with murder. They think that the common man has a memory span of 3 days in this era of visual media, and would forget this price hike by april, when the assembly elections are due. They have not learned from history. The aam aadmi has a long long memory, and has shown that their retribution is severe.

Never have we had such an uncaring, unpopular government. Not even during the Emergeny period.

Need to recalibrate peoples expectations

2011-11-03T08:31:00.000+03:00

With the demise of both capitalism and communism, world is desperately searching for a viable economic model.

But the question that remains is whether it is a case of these two models being flawed or like in most instances, it is the failure of the people who man the system. There is a saying that any system is only as good as the people who man it. While the power hunger of a chosen few land the repressive measures they adopted in their countries led to the demise of communism, sheer greed for money and the urge to grow rapidly led to capitalism being discredited. Both the models are great in principle, but both had utopian visions - a totally welfare state with no private enterprise where the resources belong to people and the wealth is equitably distributed is wonderful to dream about, but hardly practical to implement. The system needs someone to man it, and they took advantage. At the other end of the spectrum, no governmnent intervention and survival of the fittest is what any human being wants, but such a system lacks control mechanisms, that could and did lead to anarchy.

So, is mixeed economy the answer? I doubt, as it is at best a compromise and I dont believe in compromises.they dont ever produce the desired results.

Maybe, just maybe, the solution lies with reshaping the economy that currently depends on large business houses doing large scale production, to smaller business clusters that better use resources and ensures equitable distribution of benefits. But for that to happen, we need to manage the peoples expectations and retune their mind set away from thinking only in terms of economic growth as the only path to happiness, but rather to learn to live within means but be happy, as our grandparents were.

National consensus need of the hour

2011-11-01T10:12:00.000+03:00

There must be something drastically wrong with our system of governance and planning if we cannot find solutions for a problem, that has become chronic over a period of 3 years - I mean the inflation.

The warning signs were there in late 2007 and early 2008. I was going through my blog posts during the period, when we were echoing the same sentiments about inflation, as we are doing now. You may read those posts just by typing 'Inflation' in the search window of this blog.

If there is one thing that affects people across the country, it has to be inflation. High inflation also has a direct bearing on the election results. And Congress is aware of it. Then why are they on such a suicidal mission of not doing anything about it.

Well they can't do much, even if they want to!

A good amount of money, that should have otherwise gone for plan expenditure, is being spent on unproductive, wasteful social sector spending like NREGA. I am not against social sector spending, but the delivery mechanism is so corrupt, that the cost benefit analysis of such schemes reveals a dismal picture. One can safely expect a waste of 40% in any average inefficient organization. But in this case, the waste is close to 85%!!. An organization cannot expect to not land in a financial crisis with such an amount of waste!!!

Then there is the case of Government unwilling to adopt cost cutting measures to bring down the fiscal deficit. There is absolutely no will to do a Governmental re engineering, that will downsize various departments and ministries, and help to abolish redundant posts. The Ministry itself is bloated with 80 odd ministers, out of which nearly 55 dont have anything to do at all.

Finally, the tax cuts and rebates given to the industries. Much is made of the subsidies given for petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG, along with those given to the farmers and the poor. But this pales in comparison to the tax benefits given to the industrialists, who have become billionaires at countries expense. It is one thing to support the poor, but quite another to pamper the rich. The argument that rebates given to industrialists motivate them to create more jobs just does not hold water, as the figures on unemployment do not reflect the additional job creation.

There needs to be a national consensus if we are to really grow as an economy, on the way forward.

Or else we will end up like Greece.

Alarm bells are ringing loud and clear, but is there anyone listening?

2011-10-25T12:37:00.000+03:00

The RBI on Tuesday hiked repo rate by 25 basis points. The 13th hike since March 2010 will put further pressure on economic growth. The 12 previous hikes has not had any impact on controlling the inflation, and neither will this. The new repo and reverse rates are 8.5% and 7.5% - This is way too high, and very alarming. We are almost back to the state of financial anarchy of the late 1980s. The Government spending is uncontrollable, the fiscal and revenue deficits are increasing, and the black money in circulation is on the high. One of the reasons why the repeated rate hikes have not had an impact on the inflation.

Food inflation rose sharply to cross double digit levels at 10.6% for the week ended Oct 8 as against 9.32 per cent in the previous week. The headline inflation based on the wholesale price index was recorded at 9.72 per cent in September, according to the latest official data - And one has to understand that the period is just post harvest, when the inflationary pressure should be at the lowest, due to increase in supply.

Inflation has remained almost near double digit since January 2010, despite an aggressive monetary tightening by the central bank and the claims of a series of fiscal measures by the government - That is precisely my point. The 12 previous hikes has not had any impact whatsoever, then why hike again. The saddest part is, while the RBI (Government) is tightening the monetary policy on one hand, the moment inflation starts coming down, they do everything to ensure it stays high. Just see the recent interview with the Economic Advisor to PM, Rangarajan, who said that Government is waiting for the inflation to come down, so that they can increase the Diesel price. This is absurd. I can understand why the Government wants to increase the Diesel price, as it wants to cut down on subsidies. But this Government has done precious little to reduce wasteful expenditure. Money has been thrown down the drain on unproductive social sector programs, just because it is suggested by Sonia Gandhi and her non constitutional National Advisory Council comprising of unelected representatives, all of whom have an agenda of their own. The Revenue deficit is spiralling because of the undeserving sops given to industries, who have used them to cover their weaknesses rather than increasing productivity. Between the irresponsible socialist 'do-gooders' and the 'crony capitalists', the treasury has been bled dry, leading to the current fiscal mess. And add to this the supply side constraints. Food inflation is high because we have a non functional Agriculture Minister, who want to relinquish his post more than a year back!!! While the world has grown leaps and bounds in high tech farming, Indian farming is, by comparison, at primitive level. The so called Green Revolution of late 1960s is almost half a century old. We have hardly seen any new sustained effort to improve our farm productivity. The Government just sits back, hopes for a good monsoon, and then do nothing. The rural marketing system is a disgrace, and agriculture sector is totally neglected as it is not glamorous, along with Education and Health Care. But these are the three areas that make a difference to the majority of the population. But hey! who cares?

However, the rate hike has shown its negative impact on the economic growth. Industrial production has slowed down considerably in the past few months. It was registered at a sluggish 4.1 per cent in August rising a bit from the 3.8 per cent seen in July -- its lowest in almost two years. GDP growth slowed to 7.7 per cent in April-June period, the weakest in six quarters.With rising cost of inputs and high interest rates, industrial output is likely to remain subdued in the coming months. According to a recent survey by the Confederation of Indian Industry, business confidence, especially among smaller firms, has declined in recent months - This is no surprise, as the rate hike is meant to affect the industrial growth rate. Our much pampered industrialists are busy investing overseas, after taking all the benefits from this country.

The economy is being sustained by Services and black money. As a country we have been spending more than what we can afford for the past 5 years. This is not sustainable. It will be at least another 6-8 years, and that too after a concerted effort on the policy makers part to enforce fiscal discipline and to have a clear cut long term strategy in place (which is not even being discussed about) for Indians to feel comfortable.

As of now, I dont see a light at the end of the tunnel. The way ahead is dark, and littered with thorns. The alarm bells are ringing loud and clear. But the Government and the policy makers are playing deaf.

Sathyameva Jayathe

2011-10-23T05:25:00.001+03:00

Quarter of a century ago, when I was Sales Officer of HPCL in Coimbatore, a Sales Area notorious for adulteration and corruption, I decided to take on those Petrol Pump owners and Tank Truck owners who were party to the adulteration. A few of my colleagues in our own storage facility were also involved in this. It was a racket. Diversion of Kerosene, adulteration of Petrol with Kerosene, adulteration of Diesel with Kerosene, replacing original lubricants with duplicate ones and finally Short measure while delivering were quite rampant. Not all the dealers were corrupt, but at least 35% were, with another 25% being fence sitters, happy with the extra money they make by indulging in short delivery of 25 ml per litre, a relatively minor offence. My predecessor Sales Officers have over the years turned a blind eye to this racket, and some in fact benefitted by it.

I decided to clean up the Sales Area. I called a Dealer Meeting and read the riot act. Few took me seriously. Then I deliberately did an inspection of the biggest crook, who was also politically powerful, and suspended Sales for 15 days. Despite getting threats against my life, and considerable pressure from my superiors, I stuck to my decision, and the Retail outlet stayed suspended for 12 days, when in view of an impending festival, I lifted the suspension unilaterally. But this act of mine sent a message to other dealers who felt, "If XXX couldn't get the suspension lifted despite his political and official connections. what chance do we have, if we get caught?".

Added to this, I also suspended one LPG distributor and found considerable malpractice in another's dealership.

I had a relatively smooth period for the rest of my tenure. But when I started the campaign, my father advised me to maintain highest standard of ethics, and be especially careful with small issues - like accepting dinner invitations, using the car of a dealer for official/personal use, taking small favours from dealers etc. He said that I am more likely to be caught on such things which will undermine my moral right to fight corruption. I was very very careful. If I went with a dealer for lunch, I ensured that I took him out another day, when I paid. Even when I took a stamp from a dealer for Rs 2, I paid for it. And when I filled petrol in my car, I paid and collected the receipt and kept it with me as a record. I booked my own hotel rooms while travelling and paid for it. Of course it helped that I had no vices, for I am, then and now, a teetotaller.

And I never regretted the advice I received. I have tried to maintain this high level integrity through my life. While I was teaching, my students knew that it doesnt pay to try and influence me. Obviously, when you teach a lot of students, some are bound to be closer to you than others. But come Assignment valuation time, all the assignments were treated equally. In fact, I used to be a little tougher on students who were close to me. Though, there were some odd allegations of favouritism raised by some disgruntled students, who got poor grades, none of it stuck on me as those who heard them laughed it off, for they knew I was bloody objective while doing valuation.

I was reminded of this, when read stories about how Kiran Bedi fudged her Airfare bills, or Arvind Kejriwal still owes IT Rs 9 lakhs. When you take a moral high ground, as the Anna Hazare team does, it is important that you be impeccably clean, because the whole fight is at an elevated ethical level. Any tiny slip or crack is bound to have serious consequences. One can laugh off saying the amount involved is small, but it is not the question of amount, but the thought and action behind it. Kiran Bedi is not lily white. There were allegations how she misused her position to get a medical seat for her daughter some time back. And despite Kejriwals honesty, he still needs to explain how he ends up owing the Government so much money. If he doesnt owe them, then he should defend himself by dragging the Government to the Court. Small things do matter.

Though I fully admire Anna Hazare and his mission, I still do feel that the cause they took up was good in intentions, but week in Objectives and Goals. The Jan Lokpal Bill, which is imperfect (but a great improvement on the Governments Jokepal Bill), is not a panacea for the ills of corruption. Corruption in India has deep roots. While it gets you good TV time if you take on the powers that be, sending a few politicians to jail (which should happen in any case) will not make a dent. What is required is creating considerable awareness about the ills of corruption at all levels. One need to have a mechanism to handle corruption at the village level or at any government office level. This is going to take time - at least a generation. The first step would be to reduce bureaucracy. Second step will be implement local self governance. Third step would be to go for e-governance in a massive way. Why should a villager be dependant on village officer for getting a Caste Certificate.? He should be able to print it out for any kiosk. What is the need to have a police verification before issuing a passport? Everyone knows it is a sham. Either make it a proper verification or scrap it. Why dont we privatise Electricity Distribution? The power theft in India, with the connivance of the EB employees, is close to 20% (The loss to exchequer as per a latest report is Rs 70,000 Crores per year!!). Privatise it, and the private party will ensure this is taken care of, as such high losses will have an adverse effect on the bottom line. Why should the LPG consumers be tied to a particular distributor? Since Gas cylinders are standardised, he should be able to pick up a cylinder from any distributor of his choice. Why is the Government pouring money on loss making State Road Transport Corporations? The Private Bus operators are running much more efficient services and making profit too. The STRCs are haven for corruption- from purchase of vehicles, to appointments, to theft of fuel and spare parts to god knows what. Ditto for Air India or Doordarshan, which no one watches. Why do we have check posts on the State Boundaries. Is it not simpler to have a uniform tax structure across the country, and allow free flow of movement of goods. We are talking of Globalization and reduction of import barriers. What about reduction of removal of Trade barriers between States? Charity should begin at home. The corruption in check posts is disgusting. Abolishing them will also allow the government to reduce its fuel import bill, as the fuel lost in check posts is mind boggling. In fact, if you abolish many of the taxes, and rationalize the tax structure, life will be cleaner for the citizens. Finally, reduce the number of ministers and ministries. Once Government adopts the role of a facilitator, it is suffice if we have just 15 ministries and a total of 30 ministers. In any case 50 of the 80 odd ministers have no work, especially the junior ministers. Reduce the ministries and corruption will reduce exponentially. Finally, allow legal funding of political parties. The illegal fund raising by political parties is the root cause of corruption in India. We have a case of accumulating disproportionate assets against a CM, that is being heard in Bangalore. But why have we never heard of a case of disproportionate spending by a political party. Every election, EC goes about videographing the constituency. Even a kid knows the money spent by each candidate is way way over the limit set by EC (which is ridiculously low). But to date, not a single candidate has been disqualified for this reason. We have laws, but the implementation is poor.

Finally, increase the number of courts and judges 4 fold. I am sure a rapidly growing country like India can fund it easily. We need speedy , timely justice to fight corruption. And rewamp our judicial process. There are far too many appeals, far too many adjournments and delaying tactics. You would have noticed that I have not mentioned about revamping the police force. I did so deliberately, because even the creator Brahma cannot do anything about our current police force, which is politicised, corrupt and a disgrace to our country.

This is the country which has as its motto 'Sathyameva Jayathe'. Let us ensure it is so. Corruption is anti sathyam. Lack of ethics is again asathyam. Let us not leave it to others to solve the issue of corruption. Let us make a beginning at home. Let us all maintain highest level of ethics and probity in our lives.

Master at Mouthing Inanities

2011-10-20T06:24:00.000+03:00

I had taken a decision to not criticize the Prime Minister, as it is futile to do so. But I couldn't hold back when I read the inanities he mouthed yesterday regarding inflation management. The article is produced below, with my comments within brackets,

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today expressed confidence that inflation would come down by the year end - (And he took care to not mention how much it will come down to. Well, even if it comes down by 0.0001%, he can claim credit for it!!!!)

Talking about inflation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said the meeting he had held last Saturday with top officials, including Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, RBI Governor Subbarao and PMEAC C Rangarajan was aimed at discussing steps that could be taken to check price rise.

"The purpose of that meeting was to explore ways and means of how we can bring about a moderation in the rate of inflation," he told journalists accompanying him back home from Pretoria after a three-day visit. - (This inflationary trend started in 2007. And he is holding a meeting after 4 years to 'explore' ways and means of how to bring it down!!!)

The purpose of that meeting was to "understand from the experts in the Government of India the various forces which are at work, which have been fuelling inflation, and how we can bring inflation under control," the economist-Prime Minister said - (Now it gets better. Government is, finally, trying 'understand' the various forces at work!! And this guy is 'supposed' to be an economist!!!)

Giving an overview of how the government planned to curb inflation, Singh said, "we have several instruments, the monetary policy instruments, the fiscal policy instrument, public distribution instruments. We have to use all these instruments together to bring about credible price behaviour." - (My dear PM, any one who knows the basics of Macroeconomics knows about these instruments. Why, even my MBA students knows about this. The problem is Monetary policy instruments have not worked, as evidenced by the failure of 20 odd interest rate hikes in the recent past. Our interest rates are nearing the 1991 high!! Less said about the fiscal policy, the better. Government has failed to control wasteful expenditure, has taxed anything and everything, and its fiscal and revenue deficits have raised at an alarming rate. It will take 5-7 years to bring the deficity under control. Finally the PDS- Congress party has been responsible for systemmatically destroying the PDS system in the country through 1990's and 2000's. In most of the States, with the exception of Kerala, TN and West Bengal, the PDS is in shambles. Again, streamlining the PDS distribution system cannot be done overnight. It took Congress party 15 years to destroy it, and you can well imagine how many decades it will take to rebuild it. The long and short of it is that you nor your high flying economic team, who sit in ivory towers like Montek Singh Ahluwalia, has no clue as to how to contain inflation)

Asked when an impact of these measures could be felt, he replied, "Well I am confident by the end of the year you would see some positive results."

He said factors, both on the side of demand and on the side of supply, have led to "an inflationary environment" - (And pray tell us, WHAT these factors are? This is a typical bureaucratic reply, that there are 'factors', without naming them, which one would expect from an 'economist' PM)

The international environment has also not been very helpful because of the energy price rise, and the fact that the exchange rate has recently depreciated, Singh said, adding that complicates the task of controlling prices.- (Of course, of course. When you dont have a clue, blame energy prices and exchange rate, both of which common man has no clue about. But the Energy Prices are high because you have taxed them to the eyes and beyond leading to higher inflation, while exchange rate depreciation is a direct result of an economy on crutches, and because we are just not exporting enough. And why are we not exporting enough? Because the inflation and higher interest rates have made our production non competitive!!! Inflation leads to higher wages, and higher interest rates pushes up the cost of capital. Even a kid knows this)

On criticism of the RBI's monetary policy, the Prime Minister refused to comment, saying it would not be proper on his part as the subject is the "preserve" of the Reserve Bank.- ('Preserve' of RBI, my foot! RBI Governor doesnt even breathe without the consent of the Government. Who is our PM trying to fool?)

One has to learn from Manmohan Singh to learn how to mouth absolute meaningless rubbish inanities

In the name.......................

2011-10-17T06:27:00.001+03:00

"Mumbai priests use iPad for daily prayers - Technology and religion may be unlikely bedfellows but the Catholic Church, for one, is encouraging the union. After the Vatican's approval of an iPad application that encompasses the missal (a liturgical book containing prayers, instructions and texts for the celebration of Mass), city priests are eyeing it. While the iPad has still to make deep inroads, the missal available on the internet from various Catholic organizations has become extremely popular. It is noted that an increasing number of priests in Mumbai are now using the internet and iPad for the Catholic missal as well as to fine-tune their sermons" (Times of India)

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit and...........Steve Jobs!!!!"

PM's insomnia

2011-10-15T19:55:00.000+03:00

Was sitting at home in front of the laptop when 'poof', our dear friend Budhirakshasan appeared out of thin air.

"Where have you been all these days BR?"

"Oh! here and there"

"What is brewing in the corridors of power in Delhi?" (As you know, BR is the ultimate fly in the wall)

"Manmohan Singh is worried"

"Obviously he would be. The economy is in deep trouble, the 2G scam is getting uncomfortably close, even his pet Nuclear deal is in trouble with all the protests against N Plants in the country, the Chinese are aggressive in the border, there is an escalated terror threat perception, Global recession is bound to affect India, Anna Hazare movement has eroded his credibility and finally there is the Rahul Gandhi Sword hanging over his Prime Ministership and then there are the rogue coalition partners, not to mention the Brutuses of his own party"

"No No Swamy! You have got it absolutely wrong. He has never worried about any of those things and never will"

"Then................"

"He is worried stiff about all these stories of Narayanamoorthy and Anna Hazare for the Presidentship in 2012"

"Why should he be?"

"Ah! MMS's only aim now is to somehow pass the next 9 months till the Presidential election, when he will be 'elevated' to a post for which he feels he is eminently suitable. He has proven to be the 'ultimate rubber stamp' since 2004, and is 'Her Majesty's pet Poodle'. He had always felt that these two qualifications would ensure a nice sunset for him. And now, suddenly he has competitors in Narayanamoorthy and Anna Hazare. And this makes him lose sleep for the first time since a terror attack during UPA1 when he had insomnia worrying about the welfare of the terrorist."

"I never thought of it from that angle. But if he is elevated to the Presidentship, then who will be the PM? Pranab or P Chidambaram or AK Antony?"

"None. Pranab is too smart and efficient for the liking of queen bee. PC has a mind of his own - a definite disqualification. Antony would have been ideal. He is another MMS in the making, but he is a grassroot politician - a rare species in Congress top ranks. Also, his being a christian will be held against him."

"But there will be still 2 more years to go for the Elections"

"The best bet is Meira Kumar, the current Lok Sabha speaker. She is Babu Jagjivan Rams daughter, a woman and a Dalit. And she will do the bidding of the G- gang (oops! family) without any murmur. For a party that has made a mark out of symbolism, there could be none better than her. Also, she will be an ideal foil to counter the MMJ threat"

"But MMS is surely no threat"

"Swamy!!!! not MMS, but MMJ - Mamatha, Mayawati and Jayalalitha"

'Poof' and he was gone.

How does the food price get inflated?

2011-10-14T13:01:00.000+03:00

The food inflation has been hovering at around 10% even post kharif harvest. This is the official figure, which is based on wholesale price. The situation on the ground at the retail level is much much higher, and varies from 15-35%. The Government talks of higher demand due to better pay in the rural areas (due to income from NREGS!!!). Or in other words, the rural india is eating more, as per the wizards sitting in Delhi. If such is the case, then logically, the farmers should be getting higher returns from their crop, which in turn logically means better wages for the farm workers. And if they do, then the poverty levels should be lower in the rural areas. This is not the case. Rural India is struggling to make both ends meet.

So where is the problem.

The problem has always been with the inefficient agricultural marketing and distribution system. There are many levels of middle men, who, without providing any value added service, take a huge margin and thus pushing up the prices.

I used to give the examples of the Coconut pricing while giving lectures on Macro Economics for MBA Students. A coconut is purchased from the farmer in a thanjavur village for Rs 2. By the time it reaches the local mandi, the price becomes Rs 3.50, and Rs 6 when it reaches Thanjavur, a District HQ. The State Capital Chennai is 300 kms away, and the selling price ranges from Rs 15-20. And when it is exported to, say, Kuwait, it is sold at 0.400 fills, which is approximately Rs 70. The only value addition is removing the husk, and then there is the transportation cost. But by no stretch of imagination one can have a selling price of Rs 20 (In India) for a product (which is non taxable) which costs Rs 2.

The above example is only illustrative. The story is replicated in the case of all agricultural products. The support price for a Grade A paddy in Tamil Nadu is Rs 11 per kg, which means this is what the farmer gets. But the retail price of rice, when sold in bulk, is Rs 35 (at least for the rice that comes out of a Grade A Paddy). And this is in rural Tamil Nadu. The price is higher in cities. The value addition is limited to converting the paddy to rice, which doesnt cost more than Rs 2 per kg.

For an unbranded product, a reasonable marketing cost should be around 30%. Which means if the rice were to be sold at Rs 40, then the farmer should get 70% of this, which is Rs 28. But he gets Rs 11. Of course one has to add the cost of processing the paddy to rice. Even then he should get Rs 26. And this 30% marketing cost is inclusive of the margins. So where does the difference between Rs 11 and Rs 26 go to?

It goes as supernormal profit to the long line of middle men, who dont add any value, and who ultimately fund the political parties. One also has to understand that hardly any tax, either excise or sales or income, is taxed on anyone in this chain.

Why the Government cannot proactively create a well streamlined marketing system to market the rural produce, is beyond by imagination!

Ask Why Should'nt I? , instead of Why Should I?

2011-10-10T20:18:00.001+03:00

Three decades ago, when I missed an Engineering seat by just a couple of marks (those days there were only 6 Engineering Colleges in Kerala with a total intake of around 1500 students in a year), it was as if my world has suddenly become dark. I was one of the top students in the district, a National Merit Scholarship Holder for 6 years, but a freak illness led me to underperform in the Pre Degree Exam. I was bitterly disappointed, and my father was empathetic. Not bearing to see me not become an Engineer, and he was an Engineer, he offered to get me a seat by paying Rs 25,000 under the Management Quota in our home town Engineering College. I was all of 17 then - a puny, lean lad weighing under 40 kgs. Rs 25,000, though a big amount, was definitely not beyond our financial capabilities, as we were reasonably well off.

But I had a mind of my own even then. I looked at him squarely in the eye and told him that I wont join any course which I have not got through Merit. It was my choice and he respected it, though my mother demurred. But he silenced her with a look and I could see that he was quite pleased. Not because of the money, but because I had a strong value system, and I was prepared to go any length to uphold my values. I joined B Sc Physics, then went on to do MBA (getting one of the 7 merit seats in University of Calicut with a Scholarship of Rs 20,000 to boot. In fact, I actually paid for my MBA and handed over more than Rs 6,000 from my scholarship to my father on completion of the course, after my expenses) and later in my life M Phil. There were only two institutions offering MBA in 1984 in Kerala- DCMS-Calicut University and SMS Cochin University. SMS was the older and more reputed of the two institutions, and much sought after. I had already joined DCMS, as the SMS admissions were delayed due to a legal wrangle, when father travelled 140 Kms to my campus to show me the SMS admit card. I knew he wanted me to join SMS. I looked at it, and told him I am continuing in DCMS, for Reasons 1,2, 3...... He didnt mention about SMS again in his life.

It was not that he was a weakling. He was extremely tough, very hard working, a seasoned professional, a top Senior Engineer in Kerala State Electricity Board, a hard task master and dreaded by his subordinates. He was also highly opinionated. But he let us choose our destiny. In fact he did the same with my brother, who after his BSc Chemistry, joined MSc Chemistry in the prestigious Christ College in Irinjalakkuda, studied for a month, quit, joined NSS Engineering College, studied for one year, quit, joined SMS Cochin for MBA, studied for 6 months, quit and joined Indian Overseas Bank as a Probationary Officer at the age of 22. And never once father tried to change his mind, though he always regretted that my brother did not do a Post Graduation, despite getting his chances.

This was not the case only with me. Almost all my friends took decisions on their own. When I joined Pre Degree (+1 now), B Sc and MBA, my father nor anyone else ever accompanied me. I bought the application, went to fathers office to get the SSCL book and Marklist typed (no photocopies then) and had them attested by one of the Gazetted Officers. And I went alone for all the admission. In fact, we could hardly see any parents in the Admission Hall, except the parents of some girl students coming from the rural areas. Even they stood under the trees, far away from the Admission Hall. Contrast this with what is happening today!

I really feel, this was the foundation in which our characters were built. We were opinionated, spoke fearlessly, had a mind of our own, had strong beliefs, and stood by our beliefs.

Why am writing about this? I was watching a Regional Channel yesterday, where a leading poet-teacher, now retired, lamented that today's children have less strong value system, and are afraid to voice their opinions. And this is the reason for the general fall in the ethical behavioural standards in the society.

Recently, while searching for the Engineering College seat for someone close to me, one of the options was a leading college in South Karnataka, well reputed. Another close relative of mine had graduated a couple of years ago from that college. When he was asked for his opinion upfront, he did not give any negative opinion. Ultimately that college, as an option, was discarded. Later, this boy rang up and asked what happened. On being told that it is now out of the list, THEN he opened up and said the College has a lousy culture, and a haven for drug addicts, and he himself found it very difficult to survive 4 years!!! This boy is now employed in one of the leading private sector firms in India. I was furious when I was told of this. I said "What the bloody hell! Why didnt he tell this upfront?". If I were in his place, I would have told straightaway that this is the situation and I wouldnt recommed the college. I really had nothing but contempt for him, for having not given the right feedback, which he should have as a relative and well wisher.

I could understand him. He adopted the 'Why should I?' attitude, while we, then and now, always take the stand "Why Shoud'nt I?". And the difference between the two is tremendous.

Today, no one talks about Merit. This is what happens when our UGC and State Governments do not put emphasis on creating 'Gurus' or 'Quality Teachers', but rather allow the Institutions to recruit Teachers and Lecturers by accepting Lakhs as Bribe. Till such time we reverse this trend, pay excellent salaries to the teachers and professors, recruit talented people in a transparent manner without asking them to pay lakhs, our kids and society will continue to self destruct itself.

Ask Why Should'nt I? , instead of Why Should I?, every single time.

How much lower can Congress sink?

2011-10-10T06:26:00.000+03:00

Nothing exemplifies more the criminal nexus between the Politicians and the Big Business Crooks, and the Congress partys attitude towards corruption, than this shocking statement from the Law Minister of the Country, Mr.Salman Khurshid

At a time when the judiciary is seized with cases concerning corruption, black money and the 2G spectrum scam, Law Minister Salman Khurshid has said that the judiciary needs to understand the “political economy” in the country.

Speaking to The Indian Express, he said: “What will affect the functioning of the government is if other institutions do not understand the kind of political economy we are faced with today: what is needed to encourage growth and investment? If you lock up top businessmen, will investment come? What optimal structure should be put in place for investment to come?”

Asked if he meant the judiciary when referring to “other institutions”, he replied: “Yes, judiciary is as important a player in the entire effort. Each of the three wings — judiciary, legislature and executive — has to understand the political economy and respond to it. The judiciary can’t be immune to the demands of society in changing times. The judiciary has been making positive interventions in the field of environment, fight against corruption, protection of human rights and social welfare, but it also has to understand the political economy.”

Mr. Khurshid! Judiciary is not locking up HONEST BUSINESSMEN. It is locking up bloody crooks who, in association with the ilks of you, have bend every rules, looted the country of thousands of crores and have not delivered.

For every crooked businessman who is jailed, there are thousands of other honest businessmen who are allowed to operate without any hindrance.

Or is it the Honourable Law Ministers take that people like Ramalingam Raju, Maran Brothers, Hasan Ali, Suresh Kalmadi et al should not be judged by the law of the land, just because their jailing for trial will prevent investment?

It is such a ridiculous and shocking thought process from a senior minister who is constitutionally obliged to uphold the law of the land as the law minister. He is virtually exhorting the Judiciary to go soft on Businessmen. If that is not contempt of court, I dont know what is. Well, what else can one expect from a Minister of a party, which once talked openly about committed judiciary????

How much lower can Congress sink?

Let us fly!

2011-10-09T18:52:00.003+03:00

There are lot of similarities to developing a blog and bringing up your child. Both reflect your thoughts in a way and is a mini replica of you.

It is said that the The first four years of a child's life is quite critical for the development of the child and one has to take care to inculcate the right value system in him/her.

When the child is 5 year old, there is a bit of sadness. For, he/she wont be with you all the time, as he/she has to attend the school. The child is no longer dependent on you totally, and he/she sees the world through a wider prism. New friends, new environment, new knowledge - and the child is no longer the same any more. It is as if a part of you is suddenly detached from you.

But once the initial shock dies down, you can sit back and enjoy the child attaining a personality of his/her own. The child is in the process of becoming a boy/girl and then a man/woman.

The blog Rajadharmam you have been patronising, has completed 4 years, and is celebrating its 5th birthday today. When it was born the first sounds were 'Hari Sree Ganapathaye Namaha: Avignamasthu"

Well, the time has come for the blog to break free and explore new worlds. The bird is ready to flee from its nest.

"When your children are young, give them roots.

When they are old, give them wings to fly"

More variety in topics, more original thinking, and less verbose posts shall be the order of the day. At least I hope so!

Let us fly!!!

Vakdevathaye Namaha!!!

2011-10-06T07:53:00.000+03:00

AUM VAGDEVYAI CHA VIDMAHE

KAMARAJAYA DHEEMAHI

TANNO DEVI PRACHODAYAT

Making the poor feel guilty

2011-10-03T06:53:00.000+03:00

There is an anecdote that talks about how US President while travelling in a train in an Far East Asian Country, claimed how one could see till the horizon industries if one were to travel in USA. To this his Russian counterpart claimed that in Russia, one could see wheat fields instead of industries. Noticing that Indian PM Nehru was quiet, they turned to him and asked what could one see till the horizon, if one were to travel in a train in India. With an impassive face Nehru replied "Shining Bottoms".

It is sad that 65 years after independence, we have still not made any progress. In fact, it has got worse. We tried to cover up during Common Wealth Games as I wrote in the blog then. Read it here.

Yesterday, on Gandhi Jayanthi Day, our Rural Development Minister, Jayaram Ramesh, said 'Open defecation is a blot on Indian Society'.

And typical of our uncaring ministers, he has just blamed the people without giving one solution to the problem. And he is the Rural Development Minister!!!. People dont defecate in the open because they love it. They do it because they dont have proper toilet access. And while we have lakhs of crores to give as incentives to Industry and the rich, we dont have a few thousands to build toilets in every house in India. A 5 year plan to ensure there are toilets in every house in India, will easily solve the problem. And it wont make a dent on our excequer. Instead of doing that, he is doing what Congress has been doing all these years - making the poor feel guilty.

What else can you expect from a party and government that has abdicated all its responsibilities towards the people of this country?

Omana Thingal Kidavo...............................

2011-10-01T06:28:00.001+03:00

Omana Thinkal Kidavo.................by Irayimman Thambi has always been my favourite, as it must be of many malayalees. Any parent who hasn't sung this lullaby once to their kids, just dont know what they have missed. Over the years, with the advent of TV, people have started to pay less attention to the lyrics - even of such a wonderful piece as Omana Thinkal Kidavo...........

For all those who love this song, I am reproducing the lyrics so that you may sing it correctly next time to your toddler (my apologies to my non-malayalee readers)

I leave it to your sense of Neethi and Nyayam

2011-09-30T07:07:00.001+03:00

Case 1- Suppose I am in a room where my colleagues are conspiring to rob a bank. For some reasons, I keep quiet, though I am fully aware of the plan. They go ahead with the plan and get caught. The right thing for me to do would have been either to stop them or to intimate the police. I didnt do both. Am I guilty then, for being a mute spectator to the conspiracy? You bet I am. (If you have any doubt, ask Sudheendra Kulkarni - LK Advani's aid in the cash-for-votes scam. He didnt take the money, he didnt offer the money, he was not directly part of the sting but only facilitated the expose - but he is behind bars now!!!).

Cartoon sourced from web

Case 2 - You are a senior manager in an organization with joint responsibility for creating a major policy that could generate revenue for the company. You consciously do not follow sound advice, but support a decision that has been viewed with apprehension by the advisors and warned by them that it would cause loss to the company. You still go ahead, over ruling them and prompty the company loses millions of shareholders money. Do you expect the company to still retain you? Definitely not. Company will, at the least, suspend you pending an enquiry, and block all your service benefits and think of recovering a part of the lost money in the event of your being found guilty.

Replace the protagonists in Case 1 with Dr.Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, and in Case 2 with P Chidambaram, the Home Minister, and see what should be done, and compare it with what is happening currently.

I leave it to your sense of Neethi and Nyayam.

Investment Advice

2011-09-28T10:39:00.000+03:00

Where to invest in these troubled times?

Equity - Too risky and unstable in the current scenario. But if you are prudent, you can wait and watch, and buy good scrips with long term potential/holding. But do not indulge in short term trading.

Debt Instruments - Considering that the interest rates are rising and expected to rise further, it is worth parking some money in one year debt instruments like Fixed Deposits with Banks.

Mutual Funds - Strict no on generic MFs. You may try sector specific Mutual Funds that have good prospects. Lay off infrastructure based MFs. I am worried about Infrastructure sector, due to the policy paralysis. Land based, precious metals based MFs can be considered.

Gold - I wish I am wrong, but I get a bad feeling about investing in Gold now. I have always been a proponent of Gold as an investment, but I feel the current prices are on the higher side and unsustainable in the medium term. Wait for the prices to fall, and then invest, but with a caveat - never invest in Gold Ornaments, but invest in Gold Bars, coins or Gold Stocks.

Land - This is the ideal investment as of now. Invest in small pieces of land that you can sell easily. Look for lands in Tier B and C cities or outskirts. Avoid buy large tracts of land as this would affect your liquidity.

Buildings - Strict no.

Modern chicken and egg story

2011-09-26T11:42:00.000+03:00

How Indian bureaucracy harasses honest citizens is illustrated as follows.

Suppose you buy a new Flat in a town, which is not your native place. And since it is a flat, your registration document is only pertaining to the land. Now the problem starts. You dont have any proof that you are living in that Flat. Suppose you want to open a bank account. Well you cant, as Banks want a proof of residence. Suppose you want to apply for a telephone. You cant. As they want a proof of residence. Fine. Now you think you can solve this by changing the address in your passport or driving license. They want, not one, but two proofs of residence. Only way for you to have it is by applying for a ration card or voter id. And in India, you can forget about getting yourself enrolled and issued one for one year.

It is a typical chicken and egg story

Bear with me

2011-09-25T21:46:00.002+03:00

A bit pre occupied with work, and mind is blank.

Shall be back here in a couple of days. Bear with me

Aam Aadmi - No place to go to!

2011-09-22T10:29:00.001+03:00

Fundamental economic theory propounds that inflation is caused due to excess money chasing fewer goods. Hence, Central Banks adopt the stand of increasing the interest rates to suck the excess liquidity out of the system. How this works is as follows.

When interest rates rise, Banks offer higher interest to the depositors, which makes it attractive for the investors to invest in Bank debt instruments like FDs', rather than in other areas like Stock market, land etc, and they curtail spending to save. If the Central Bank also decides to increase the SLR and CRR, then Banks are forced to retain additional cash in the system. Another consequence of raising the interest rates, are that Banks are forced to raise the lending rates, making it unattractive for the industry and business to go for debt financing for their expansion schemes. The alternate route of raising through stock market is ruled out as investors, as I said earlier, has moved away from the more risky stock market to the less risky debt instruments. Thus industry is starved of funds, forcing them to cut production or at the least withhold expansion plans (you have to remember that an inflationary economy is good for the industry, as they are getting more value for their products in the market). The reduced production, coupled with liquidity being sucked out of the system, means economy slowing down, less money chasing less goods (same goods) leading to reduction in prices.

But then with RBI increasing the interest rates 12 times in 18 months the inflation has not come down one bit. Why is this so?

One of the reason is that Government has allowed Indian industry to raise money, through equity or debt, from the Global Markets which are currently under recession, and the western countries have abysmally low interest rates. Thus the industry has enough and more money to fund their expansion, and this money finds its way to the market one way or other, leading to further inflation. And with double digit inflation prevalent, they are laughing all the way to the banks, as their products are selling at higher rates day by day.

Only people who are affected? The common man, mainly the middle class, who find their EMIs on housing and vehicle loans going up month after month, with no relief in site.

I was once the franchisee of a leading IT training company in the 1990's. Their only objective was to ensure that whenever I clear by debts and start earning some profits, by introducing either a syllabus change or introducing some scheme, they will ensure that the money is taken from my pocket to theirs. At least I had the option of exiting the business then, which I did, but the aam admi of India has no place to go to.

PONC around us

2011-09-19T11:52:00.000+03:00

Philip Crosby, the Quality Guru coined the term PONC - Price Of Non Conformance.The price of nonconformance puts a Rupee (Dollar) value on all waste and wasted effort caused by a lack of quality. Examples of the price of nonconformance include reprocessing, expediting, unplanned service, computer reruns, inventory, customer complaints, service after service, downtime, reconciliation, and warranty. In manufacturing, PONC typically falls between 20 to 25 percent of sales, while in service/administrative organizations, PONC averages 30 to 40 percent of operating expenses. This means that a company making $100 million typically will spend $30 to 35 million in nonconformance costs. And if the company is making a net profit of 20%, i.e $ 20 million, just by reducing waste by 50%, the company can earn an additional profit of $ 15 million. We do have PONCs even in our personal life. For example, every time you buy from a hyper market, you end up buying 20-30% more than what you actually want. Often companies talk of reducing cost, when actually they should be concentrating on reducing waste.

I was exposed to PONC early in my career when I attended a Quality Management Program.

Recently, on a visit to India, while noticing the happenings around me, I was amazed at the price a common man has to pay as PONC in every walks of life.

The Government Schools did not offer the kind of quality education that they were supposed to give. This resulted in parents having to pay higher fee to put their children in relatively expensive private schools. This is a PONC. Further, the private school is not doing a proper job of teaching, forcing the students to take private tuitions. Another PONC.

The Government did not use the tax revenue properly in building good roads. This resulted in roads disintegrating at the first sign of rain (God! I was in Kerala recently, and the roads were an absolute disaster. And I am talking about NH47!!). The time lost (it took me 3 hours to cover 117 kms from Palghat to Nedumbassery Airport), the damage to the vehicles (I saw a jeeps axle breaking into two in front of my eyes), and the fuel wasted are all PONCs. And just because the Government did not do its job properly and squandered the money elsewhere, they had to go in for Private Players like L&T to build roads. And these private operators collect tolls, which we have to pay!!. Another PONC. While admitting that the roads built by private operators are very good, it begs a question as to why the Government cannot or did not lay such roads in the past. The technology and skill sets are available!!.

There are many such cases one can see around us. The Inverters one has to keep in the house just because the Government cannot ensure 24x7 supply of uninterrupted power, the Voltage Stabilizers we use at home because the the Government cannot supply unfluctuating electricity, the higher price we have to pay for Bottled water, because the State cannot supply pottable drinking water...........................the list is endless.

Wish we could do something to reduce all these waste, as that would mean our country growing at > 15% per annum

Divine Retribution

2011-09-13T11:44:00.001+03:00

Of the two key people involved in the Cricket Match Fixing Scam at the turn of the Century, Hansie Cronje died a tragic death in an accident.

But it was felt that Azharuddin got away scot free. He even became a Member of Parliament. Now the long hands of divine justice has reached him too in the form of an accident which has left his teenaged son fighting for life.

I can cite many examples of such retributions from my HPCL days, where the crooked amongst the petroleum dealers, who made pots of money through adulteration, paid heavily at some stage in their life - one had his painter daughter married off to an industrialist, only to find that he had send her to a living hell, for the guy was a wife beater. Another had a film actress swindle all his wealth, yet another was forced to kill his wifes secret lover and later on in his life saw his only son commit suicide after a failed romance. Then there was the case of one of the officials from HPCL, who after an era of corruption, having retired had just driven his family in a car from Kerala to Karnataka, only to find his only son having died in the car on the way. With hospitals refusing to even check him, as it was a DOA case, the old man was forced to drive all the way back to Kerala - a 10 hour drive, with his dead son leaning on the shoulders of his wife. He also had the mortification of seeing his daughter, whom he married with great fanfare, being tortured by his son in law, who turned out to be drug addict.

The long hands of divine justice catches up with you in one way or other.

What the poor wants - Life with Dignity and basic amenities

2011-09-12T10:08:00.001+03:00

The Governments, both at Centre and State levels, have got its priorities absolutely wrong.

The politicians and law makers assume that giving one time doles like TV, Grinder, Mixie, Laptop, Sarees during festival is the way to root out poverty, and win votes. They think the poor wants nothing but this.

They are sadly mistaken.

What the poor wants is not rotten rice which is sold at Re 1 per Kg. They buy it from the PDS, but promptly resell it to the street side hoteliers, who make iddly and dosa in a push cart. The poor go out and buy rice at market prices for their consumption, as the rice given at Re 1 per Kg stinks, and infested with worms.

What the poor wants is to live with dignity. They dont want to be told that they are being given a charity and are living on doles. They want reasonable quality goods made available at affordable prices.

They want their paper works to be done without hassles at the panchayat office level.

They want the Courts to give them speedy justice, as they cant afford a lengthy legal process. They would appreciate the State giving them good legal aid at reasonable prices, so that they are not fleeced by the lawyers, who make deals with the counter party behind the back.

They want to be able to go to the Police Station without fear and register a complaint. And they want the confidence that action will be taken against the offender, whoever he might be.

They want their children to get good, decent, simple education at Government Schools. They want these schools to have basic infrastructure, adequate teachers and books at subsidised rates.

They want reasonably affordable medical care at their door steps - in the primary health centres and district hospitals.

They want clean water, sanitation, drainage, electricity, and good roads (even if they are not black top).

They want micro financing to help them tide over their financial requirements

They want a workable small savings scheme, and someone to guide them as to how to make their money work.

They want a shelter with basic amenities.

They aren't asking for much.

Is it not a shame that, 64 years after attaining independence, they are still waiting for these things, which should have been made available to them decades ago? Their plight is worse off than what it was all those decades ago.

But I am afraid someone from Government will read this, and then pass a Right to Live with Dignity Bill in the Parliament - as if passing a bill will solve everything.

Evide thirinjonnu nokkiyalum, avidellam pootha marangal mathram..............

2011-09-09T07:29:00.004+03:00

Onam is special to Malayalis not because it is just a harvest festival from a bygone Agrarian era. Those days harvest denoted the end of the 4 months period of toil in the field, during which people were forced to tighten their belt just to survive. The harvest brought paddy, vegetables, money, dresses etc to the household, and one is always happy when one has plenty of those. The month of Chingam is also hence considered auspicious to commence commercial activities, housing projects, and more importantly, now that rains are behind and there is plenty of money around, one can plan functions like Marriages, House Warming et al. Onam signifies prosperity, abundance, plentifulness. Even the nature expresses this wonderfully by decking the entire State with lovely flowers. With harvest on, there is considerable activity, jobs for the poor, disposable income on hand to fulfill their long standing wishes. It is the season of hope, a period to satisfy one's needs and to enjoy the fruits of one's labour. It is also why Onam is the festival looked forward most by Malayalis.

Much has changed at the ground level as the State moved away from an Agrarian Economy to a Services Economy, or rather a foreign inflow driven economy. But still there is joy abound as the whole State is on a holiday mood, people take a welcome break, have additional income from the annual bonus issued at around this time, and the NRK's (Non Resident Keralites) fly home in droves with suitcases bearing gifts to their nears and dears.

The period before this Onam has seen Kerala get copious rains, the Dams are full, the harvest is good, and there is much to look forward to.

Let People be Happy for the ten days at least. There is much to worry about during the rest 355 days. This is the time to recharge one's batteries and hope for a bright future.

The beauty of nature during Onam is wonderfully captured by Changampuzha in Ramanan

Malarani Kadukal Thingi Vingi,
Marathaka Kanthiyil Mungi Pongi
Karalum Mizhiyum Kavarnu Minni
Karayattoralasal Grama Bhangi
(A loose translation - The forest of flowers is thick and dense, and the nature is radiating with the brilliance akin to those emanating from Emerald (Emerald is green and here the simile is with the greenery of Kerala). The heart and eyes are attracted and shining at this sight of blemishless beauty of the rural areas)

But the lines which has stayed in my memory from this poem, right from childhood are,

Evide thirinjonnu nokkiyalum
Avidellam pootha marangal mathram
Oru kochu kattengan vannu poyal
Thuru Thure poomazha ayi pinne
(Wherever you turn to and look, you will see only trees/plants in flowering state. And by chance if there were to be a gentle breeze, then it will be a rain of flowers)

Ha! Only Changampuzha can pen like this!!!! The description of the rain of flowers as Thuru thure poomazha ayi pinne has stuck a chord in me, never to be erased. It captures the beauty of the nature during Onam, like nothing else.

Here is wishing an year of peace, prosperity, abundance to all my Readers.

Alright for many innocents to be killed to save one guilty of heinous crime

2011-09-08T08:26:00.000+03:00

HUJI, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, an Islamic Terrorist Organization has claimed responsibility for the Delhi Blast on Wednesday, in which 11 people died and about 80 injured. The note states that unless the sentence of Afzal Guru, the mastermind of the 2001 attack on Parliament House who is currently on death row, is ‘repealed,’ the group will continue to target the courts, including the Supreme Court.

Now, 11 people paid with their lives and many injured just because the Government dragged its feet on hanging Afzal Guru, who is in the Death Row for the past 7 years!!!. Congress party, which plays vote bank politics to appease the minority community, is squarely responsible for this tragedy and cannot wash the blood of these innocents off their hands.

Our justice system goes by the principle that even if many guilty goes unpunished, no innocent should be punished.

But here we have a situation where it is more like 'it is alright for many innocents to be killed to save one guilty of heinous crime'.

What a tragedy!!!!

How long must we suffer such fools like Ghulam Nabi Azad?

2011-09-07T21:40:00.001+03:00

How mindless, callous and insensitive the UPA Government is can be deduced from this news report (the highlightings are mine)

Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad faced the ire of angry relatives who alleged that there was delay in the handing over of bodies of those killed in the Delhi high court blast. The relatives surrounded Azad at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and complained to him that despite a ten-hour wait, they were not handed over the bodies of the victims. N K Gupta, relative of Nalini Aggarwal (55), alleged that the family got a confirmation of her death at 12 noon but the post mortem was not conducted till late night.

Azad told the angry relatives that no one expected such an emergency. He told them that the authorities were doing whatever they could do.

"We are taking every step to ensure that such things don't repeat next time," Azad said.

No one expected such an emergency in the National Capital, which has seen repetitive bomb blasts!!!!! If the Government had a disaster/terrorist attach management system in place, it would have been ready for ANY emergency. This is the problem with the Government. They know people like to move on after a couple of days of noise (have you heard anything about the investigation on the Mumbai bomb blast?) and will forget about this blast too. Damn emergency preparedness. That is for cows.

The real punch line is the one in the tail. Instead of assuring that Government will ensure that there wont be any terror strikes in future, here is the idiot confidently telling that he will ensure bodies of the deceased will be released to the relatives without hassles NEXT TIME when there is a terrorist attack. That means he is expecting many more terror attacks. Why should we suffer such fools?

1000 and still counting.............................................................

2011-09-06T09:43:00.000+03:00

My initial plan was to commence blogging on the New Years Day of 2008. But like many other things in my life, on a whim, I decided on October 9th, 2007, to create a blog. I was new to blogging, and had absolutely no clue as to how to go about it. Google came to my assistance and identified blogspot.com for me as my domain. This blog was thus born.

It was called Raja's World for the best part of a year and a half. I was never too comfortable with such a generic name. On the auspicious occassion of Makara Sakranthi, 14th January 2009, I rebranded it as RAJADHARMAM. And it has stayed that way since.

In my first post, I had written,

What can you expect in this blog? A wide range of topics ranging from current affairs to management to music to sports - critically analyzed. Raja's world will make you think.................................. This blog is my Gurudakshina to all those who taught me academically, professionally and in real life. May the Gurushishya parampara endure..............

Nearly 4 long years down the line, this blog has reached the landmark of 1000 posts. And as promised, I had indeed critically analyzed a wide range of topics. I also hope that I have prodded my readers to think differently, challenged their conventional wisdom and made them view issues from a different angle.

Did I ever think I would be still here writing my 1000th post? Frankly no. Because I never thought, I had in me enough material to write so much about. I have heard that Marathon runners enter into a zone after a few kilometers, which makes them forget their tiredness and propels them forward. I know how they feel now. I have been bloody tired, battered and bruised during this journey lasting 4 years. Many a time, I just wanted to give up blogging, as I found myself short of new ideas, thoughts and feared I was being repetitive. But I persisted. Perseverance was never my virtue during my young years. I used to start new things, but give it up once the novelty wears off. But as I grew older, I just hated to give up anything. Maybe the influence of the powerful Saturn (Saneeswaran) in my horoscope.

My stats show I have readers from all over the world - India, Middle East, Holland, Canada, USA, South Africa and even tiny Portugal. Stats also show that my readers are more interested in blogs related to traditional ancient wisdom , mythology rather than on current affairs. This is a bit surprising.

Despite pressures from my friends and well wishers, I have refused to monitize my blog or link it with blog rolls or other blogs. I have always had a steady readers numbering 3-40 per day. I am thankful to my readers for coming back again and again. I hope at least a few of these posts would have provided stimulation to your brain cells.

I bow my head in pranam to my Gurus and Goddess Saraswathi. This 1000th posting would not have been possible without their blessings.

Let the marathon continue............................................

Moral and Ethical bankruptcy of Politicians

2011-09-02T19:20:00.000+03:00

The Anna Hazare movement exposed the ethical and moral bankruptcy of all our political parties.

Here was an issue which is dear to the people of the country, irrespective of the rich, middle class or the poor - Corruption. Here was an issue, which they could have and should have supported whole heartedly, and won the hearts of the people, whom they claim to represent. But all of them missed the big picture. The issue was one of corruption. By turning it into a movement against the parliamentary democracy system, and the need to protect the parliaments integrity, they came across as self preserving unethical bandicoots. Congress was shown up as downright thugs. The BJP was leaderless and did not take a firm position till the end. When they did, it was too little too late. The Yadav clan was vociferously opposed to Anna. So too was Mayavati. The so called moral guardians of the nation, the Left, put up a weak case of supporting the anti corruption drive, but was dead against the Anna mode of protests - but never gave an alternate option. The southern parties blew hot and blew cold. The Shiv senas and Akali Dals were not to be heard at all.

This could be the beginning of the end of our current parliamentary system. The disillusionment with our politicians is complete now. And for the second time, a leader from outside of the political spectrum has come up.

Though the gains of the Anna crusade was minimal, this could yet result in some long term structural changes in the polity.

And that couldnt be too bad either

Idiot Inside

2011-08-28T07:20:00.000+03:00

Brace yourself!!!

If you thought you have had enough of a bumbling, incompetent Manmohan Singh, you are in for a shock.

The PM-in-waiting Rahul Gandhi is proving to be a disaster.

The anti corruption crusade of Anna Hazare was the ideal opportunity for Rahul Gandhi to exploit what he thinks is his core constituency - the middle class and the youth. Apart from of course the poor, who are affected most by corruption. But he was nowhere to be seen for the first 10 days.

Then on the 11th day he came out to voice 'his' opinion(!!!) in the Parliament, reading from a prepared speech, violating zero hour rules. Instead of taking a statesman like stance, he attacked the Anna movement, tried to come out with what he called a game changing solution (tom tommed by his chamcha media cronies) of bringing Lokpal as a Constitutional Authority. Idiotic, to put it mildly. But then what else can you expect from someone who has lived in ivory tower throughout his life, and who has no idea about the popular sentiments. His proposal, despite Congress making all efforts to get support using paid cronies speaking in TV studios, was dismissed with the contempt it deserved.

And to compound the shame ( a la M S Dhoni team in England ), he gave a miss to the Parliament on Saturday, when the Lokpal issue was being debated, and was not to be seen at all. He also shirked his duty as an elected member of Loksabha by not voting on the resolution. He was taking an insurance in advance. Should anything go wrong in the future, he can claim that he did not support the resolution. Should it go right, no one will remember that he did not vote. So much for his leadership (sic) qualities!!!

After this, do you want to have anything to do with him playing an active role in the country in the future?

The balance of power has shifted

2011-08-27T10:05:00.000+03:00

For long, the politicians had the upper hand. They dictated policy making, most of which benefitted them and their parties, rather than the people. They, who dont miss an opportunity to claim the primacy of Parliament, did everything in their capacity to ensure Parliament didnt work, lawy making held hostage to petty party politics. In a way, the cart was before the horse.

Now, the horse is firmly in front of the cart. The agitation for Jan Lok Pal bill has shaken the politicians out of complacency, made them debate issues of national importance in Parliament, and made them understand that in a democracy, it is the people who comes first and foremost. The politicians and parliament are only a means to achieve an end.

Anna Hazare's crusade may have many drawbacks, but we have to thank him for putting the power back where it should be - with the PEOPLE.

And that is no mean achievement. We owe him a great debt.

The Shikhandi of Indian Politics

2011-08-26T06:21:00.004+03:00

The PM said he was "hurt" by charges levelled against him and although he had made mistakes, he was not guilty of misdemeanor. "In the course of seven years as prime minister, I may have made mistakes. Who is above making mistakes? To err is human but to accuse me of evil intentions, of conniving at corruption is a charge I firmly repudiate," he said.

This has been the problem during the past few years. Manmohan Singh has adopted the stand that he is uncorrupt, assuming that corruption begins and ends with Financial Corruption. This is not true.

I am reminded of a discussion with a very senior Advocate long time back. We were discussing corruption in the judiciary.He said that while financial corruption was rampant in the lower levels of the judiciary, as one goes up the ladder to the Supreme Court, the corruption is more moral in nature. The SC judges could be, and were influenced by appealing to their political ideology, personal beliefs and exploiting their lack of ethics. For example some of the Judges believed in capitalism, and this resulted in them giving judgements against the common people, in favour of the big business. He opined that this corruption was more dangerous than the financial one (of course,this dialogue took place Pre-CJI Balakrishnan days!!. Balakrishnan took financial and moral corruption as CJI of India to abysmal levels).

Manmohan Singh, likewise is morally and ethically the most corrupt Prime Minister India has seen, and we have had some really rotten ones. His only interest has been to protect his, his masters (that includes Sonia Gandhi, big business houses and the USA) interests. And he has totally disregarded the common man. Why should he, when he has not been elected once by them, and do not have any intention of going back to them?. He has not just stood passively, but as is being revealed, actively facilitated many scams, including the 2G and CWG, that resulted in the systemmatic loot of the country. He has shown absolute moral and ethical bankruptcy.

The UPA, in general, and Congress, in particular, has put him and his financial integrity, as a front, while going berserk with looting India.

Can you think of an analogy from our scriptures? I can.

In Mahabharatha, on the 10th day of Kurukshetra War, Bheeshma was the General of Kauravas, marshalling the troops brilliantly. The Pandavas were flagging. It was then Krishna advised to have Shikhandi in Arjuna's chariot, with Arjuna hiding behind Shikhandi. Shikhandi was a Eunuch (no disrespect to Eunuch's here). Krishna knew that Bheeshma will not fight Shikhandi, which is precisely what happened. Using the opportunity, Arjuna attacked Bheeshma, now weaponless, and incapacitated him, thus taking him out of the equation. Those days what was being fought was Dharma yudha, with both parties following strict rules and fighting ethically. It is said that Dharmam died that day, and the last 8 days Adharmam ruled roost in the battle fileld.

Manmohan's situation is similar. He is the Eunuch in the Congress/UPA chariot.

P.S: This post should not, in any way, be taken as disrespectful to the unfortunate Eunuch Community. The term is used only to explain the concept of a person who is neither this or that. I have great respect and empathise with the Eunuch community, who are ostracized by the society, and are forced to tackle immense physiological and psychological problems on their own. May god bless them.

Lokas above and below Earth as per Scriptures and layers as per Modern Science - Coincidence or ???

2011-08-21T23:36:00.000+03:00

In the previous blogpost I wrote about my interpretation of the concept of Heavean and Hell, as probably would have been envisaged by our wise forefathers.

As per hindu mythology, depending on whether you follow Vishnu puranam or Bhagavath Geetha, there are 7 Worlds (Loka) above the Earth (including Earth) and 7 below (excluding Earth).

The Seven Worlds above the Earth are Bhur loka (Earth), Bhuvar Loka, Svar Loka, Mahar Loka, Jana Loka, Tapa Loka and Satya Loka.

The Seven Worlds below the Earth are Atala Loka, Sutala Loka, Vithala Loka, TalaTala Loka, Mahatala Loka, Rasatala Loka, Patala Loka.

I am not going deep into descriptions about these 14 lokas. Depending on which puranam you follow, there could be minor changes in the nomenclature.

But what is striking is the similarity between the various layers of atmosphere above us and the lokas(there could be a mismatch of a number here or there - it is the concept that is important). If you analyse the atmosphere above us, we see Earth, Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere and Exosphere. These layers almost match with the concept of Lokas above us in the puranas!!!

Now coming to lokas below Earth - We have the Crust, Mantle, Outer Core, Outer Core of Molten Metal and the Solid Metal Inner Core. Again view the near similarities between the Lokas below the Earth as per the scriptures!!!. This just cannot be atrributed to a coincidence. How did our forefathers, who did not have access to modern scientific equipments were able to create a concept of 14 lokas above, below and including earth, which is as close to reality as possible? It is sheer genius.

Heaven and Hell

2011-08-20T06:51:00.001+03:00

As a child, I have been told many stories about how doing bad things would ensure that I be roasted in hell, after my death, while doing good deeds would ensure that my soul is liberated and I would enjoy the bliss of heaven. It was always like, "you will go down to hell" or "you would go up to heaven" as the case maybe.

I have always thought that our forefathers, who did not have the technological assistance that we have today, were much wiser and had a better understanding of our environment. Even those that were not visible to the eyes. This knowledge has come from deduction, and not induction. Our knowledge today is through scientific analysis (which is an inductive process) while theirs was more Analytical and inductive. It was based on putting two and two together. It is also why, while our current scientists and rationalists scoff at Astrology, which is deductive by nature, I have personally experienced Astrological predictions coming true so many times, that it is impossible to discount it as pure chance.

Coming back to the concept of heaven and hell, were our forefathers thinking in terms of the core of the earth, which is molten in state with a temparature above 5500 degree celsius where everything will be burned to cinders? See how similar it is to the concept of hell, which is blistering hot, uninhabitable and burns everything beyond salvage!!!! We also talk in terms of all the pressures of our sins weighing down on us. It has to be. The pressure at the core is phenominal - 330 to 360 gigapascals ( 3300000 to 3600000 atm)!!!. It is also down from the surface of the earth, i.e. around 5000 kms. Thus the term going down to hell or roasted in hell is quite apt.

Contrast this with the concept of heaven. When we talk about heaven up there, we always talk in terms of soul being liberated, a state of bliss, a sensation of floating not being weighed down by anything. A sense of lightness and unattachment. Is not outer space like this. There is no gravity. The earth looks wonderful from up there. The weightlessness and a sense of being liberated?? It is also cool, in contrast to the core of earth which is blistering hot.

The wisdom of our forefathers and how they passed on complex natural phenomena through story telling is amazing.

The mess created by 'Bean Counters', Bureaucrats and Lawyers

2011-08-16T23:29:00.001+03:00

In 1970's the US industry were controlled/led by 'the bean counters'- a deregatory term for Finance people, who lacked strategic vision, but evaluated each proposal purely on Financial terms, resulting in disastrous consequences. The companies lacked the vision and imagination to look beyond their noses and completely ignored viable, but risky ideas that would have taken US industry to a different level. This weakness was exploited ruthlessly by the Japanese, who went on to rule the world. They in turn had their blind spot - depending too much on Process Control people, which in the end produced the exact end result - yielding space to competition. Both US and Japanese industries are in doldrums. Companies have to be led by right brained visionaries, who possess entrepreneurial spirits, who are willing to take a risk and be ready to innovate. Any Company failing to appoint such a person, does it at its own peril.

I was reminded of this analogy watching the Central Government totally botch up the Anna Hazare issue. Instead of winning over Anna Hazare to its side by giving concessions on Lokpal Bill (even conceding most of his requests - pray tell me what will happen if PM was to be brought under the Bill's ambit? Precisely nothing. We already have a Chief Vigilance Commissioner, Chief Election Commissioner and many Lok Ayukthas. How many politicians have been indicted or punished so far by any one of these. I include CEC because many of our current MPs and MLAs have won their seats through blatant election malpractice, including our current Home Minister P Chidambaram. How he overcame a deficit of 5000 votes in the last round of counting is an open secret to all but the CEC and the Courts. And we have a PM, who has given a bogus address in Assam, and is representing Assam, which I dont think he has even visited. Also, we have the classic case of Sonia Gandhi deliberately giving false information about her educational qualifications to the EC, and she is roaming free. The less said about CVC and Lok Aukthas, the better. And the political class will find ways to 'manage' the Lokpal head similarly), the Government took Anna head on, little realizing that he was echoing only common people's sentiments. The ordinary man is fed up with malgovernace, inflation and corruption. They were waiting to be led. And in their eyes, Anna Hazare was doing a 'Nishkama Karma'.

The Anna Hazare movement had to be tackled politically. But it was tackled as a pure administrative matter. And there lies the failure of the Government. But what can you expect from a Bureaucrat Prime Minister and 2 Lawyer Ministers, the contemptuosly dismissive PC and the blatantly arrogant Kapil Sibal (apart from 2 lawyer motor mouths who brief the media - Manish Tiwari and Abhishek Singvi). The country is being run by the modern day 'bean counters' - lawyers, who like to think always that they are smart, and others dumb, and they can spin a story when one doesnt exist, just because they are trained to speak smartly. It is also why the Government will bite the dust in this fight. It just doesnt stand a ghost of a chance of taking on and winning the battle against Anna Hazare, because the fight against corruption is a fight between Dharmam and Adharmam. And Rajadharmam shall always back Dharmam to triumph in the long run.

I was asked by a friend of mine through E-mail as to what I think about the PM and whether Anna's current protest will result in a Revolution. The reply I wrote to him is reproduced below,

Revolution ?? No chance. Anna Hazare protest is more for the TVs and Delhi Centric. For a revolution to happen, someone has to take this message to the masses, who doesnt give a damn whether PM is in Lokpal bill or not. What they are interested is in the corruption happening in their village offices, RTO offices etc that affects them directly. As such they dont have much stake in this high level fight.

Anna Hazare' constituency is the TV watching Upper Middle Class, who are generally apathetic to Indias problems. And they have absolutely no morals. They dont mind paying bribe to get their thing done. And anyway they dont vote. Congress knows this well. It is why it has taken the police-jail route.

But PM and Congress made a big mistake. This has brought them so much negative publicity that it will be herculean for them to get out of this mess. It is amusing that while terrorists, separatists and maoists who kill people are allowed to road free and govt. enters into dialogue with them, they cannot do with a person who is holding a peaceful protest.

Regarding our PM, anyone who reads my blog knows what I feel about him. He doesnt deserve to be a Peon, leave alone the PM of India. That sums up everything.

The country is being run by a bunch of arrogant lawyers like Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tiwari and Abhishek Singh Manuvi. What else can you expect from them?

P.S: Do not be surprised if there is a twist in the tail as far as this Anna Saga is concerned. The Government perhaps has deliberately botched up the issue, and created a situation that is tailor made for Madam Saviour, who is in a hospital bed in US, to issue instructions to release Anna and score another brownie point, at the expense of her own government. Somehow, I have a gut feeling, that this is what is likely to happen

Satyameva Jayathe

2011-08-16T07:15:00.000+03:00

One of the key dharma in Hinduism is to be Truthful always.

There are many interpretations to this. As a kid we are told that we should tell only truth, and nothing but the truth always. As we grow older, there is a doubt as to how we can tell the truth always. Some truths hurt people. Then is it wise to tell truth?

One of my relatives, who is an elderly lady, made it a point to tell bluntly on anyones face what she thinks about them. Most were uncomfortable with this habit of hers. But not me. I was from the same stable. The beauty of the situation was that this lady never minded if unpleasant truths about her were told to her. I, who was much younger to her, often used to tell her "Mami, your cooking is trash today" or like once when she sang a devotional song and asked my opinion, I retorted with "Well! you need to pour some oil down your throat as the sound is very scratchy". She took it with aplomb. The problem she and me faced, was that others just did not want go hear the truth. It made them uncomfortable. I used to be brutally frank with my students and used to blunt feedbacks. My logic was that students should be aware of their limitations, and my feedback should spur them to correct themselves. But the flip side was my students never wanted to know the truth about them.

Thus one needs to refrain oneself from telling truths all the time but use truth judiciously. If not telling the truth will result in a benefit for others/or telling the truth hurts others, it makes sense to keep quiet. Thus you need not tell untruth, but can avoid telling the truth for a broader cause.

Even Yudhishtiran, called Dharmaputra, the epitome of truthful living was forced to tell a half lie, "Aswathama hatha kunjaraha", by Srikrishnan during Kurukshetra as telling that would result in the mayhem caused by Dronacharya, and ultimately leading to the triumph of good over evil. In the same Kurukshetra, Srikrishnan was prepared to break his vow of not taking arms during the war for a greater good.

Thus the interpretation of 'Sathyam vadaa' means lead a life of truthfulness, but dont blurt out all truths, use truth judiciously, ensure that revealing truth do not hurt others and is for the benefit of the society and mankind. What is not acceptable is telling untruth for personal benefit.

Satyameva Jayathe!

Spectacularly pedestrian speech

2011-08-15T07:40:00.000+03:00

The key portions of PMs speech on Independence Day with my comments in brackets at the appropriate places.

"With government facing attack over multiple scams, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday promised a strong Lokpal to end corruption in high places and asserted that hunger strikes will not help address the problem, in an apparent reference to Anna Hazare's agitation (Strong Lokpal? The current version floated by his Government in the Parliament is a joke on the nation - toothless and one that would ensure no one gets punished. Hunger strike has had the effect of the whole nation being made aware of this monster that is eating us and dragging us back to medieval times. The PM is in denial mode here)

Addressing the nation for the eighth consecutive year on the occasion of Independence Day, Singh said no government has a "magic wand" to deal with the problem of corruption which needs to be tackled on many fronts and asked all political parties to "stand shoulder to shoulder" in this fight. (Dear MMS - you dont have ANY wand to solve even the smallest problem, neither does your Super PM. Why should the other political parties stand shoulder to shoulder with you when your party has not shown any decency in discussing any issue of any importance with them for the past 7 years?)

A day before Hazare was to embark on an indefinite fast demanding a strong Lokpal, he made it clear that only Parliament can decide what type of Lokpal legislation can be enacted. "I am aware of the differences of opinion on some aspects of the bill. Those who don't agree with this bill can put forward their views to Parliament, political parties and even the press. However, I also believe they should not resort to hunger strikes and fasts-unto-death," Singh said. - (But the JanLokpal committee did put put forward their views in the joint panel. Instead of discussing the merits of their version, you took every opportunity to trash them and hounded them which ended in their hardening their stance. After that, will any decent person come forward to discuss anything with your government?)

Acknowledging that corruption is a big obstacle in national transformation, he said the menace should be discussed in a manner that should not create an atmosphere in which country's progress comes into question - (Note that he only mentions that corruption should be DISCUSSED, but did not promise any ACTION)

He also admitted that funds meant for welfare of common man end up in the pockets of government officials - (What about politicians? And we have been hearing this story about 85% of money meant for social sector getting diverted to many pockets since Rajiv Gandhis time. This UPA government has been in power for 7 years!! Have you taken a single step to solve this?)

Speaking from a bullet-proof enclosure amid rains, the Prime Minister touched on a variety of subjects including the sensitive land acquisition issue, naxalism, terrorism, economy and inflation. Unlike in the past, foreign policy issues found no mention in his 40-minute speech on the 65th Independence Day from the historic 17th century Mughal monument of Red Fort - (Even on an independence day, he has to speak from the shelter of a bullet proof enclosure!!! Independence also means that all of us should be able to walk free on the road without the fear of being attacked by terrorists. And that includes the PM)

It is not right to bring the judiciary under the ambit of Lokpal as this would go against the independence of the judiciary, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said. PM admitted that we do need a framework in which the judiciary becomes more accountable. "It is not appropriate to bring the judiciary under the ambit of Lokpal. We believe that any such provision would go against the independence of the judiciary. "It is with this aim that we have introduced the Judicial Accountability Bill in Parliament. I am confident this bill will be passed soon," he said - (We have enough bills and laws. The Government thinks mere passing of bills means the issue is resolved. They give a damn about implementation. And there in lies the failure of our nation. Judiciary, like politicians, live in denial mode. If they are not, then they would have taken action against the corrupt Ex Chief Justice Balakrishnan and Justice Dinakaran, long long ago. And they are only the tip of the iceberg)

In short, the PM's speech has been spectaculary pedestrian. He doesnt convince us. What the heck, he doesnt convince himself.

And he definitely doesnt inspire us. What a shame!!!

Hey Captain! It may not matter to you, but it does to us.

2011-08-14T17:39:00.000+03:00

Like Hindustan Motors, the makers of Ambassador Car, who were totally ignorant of a concept called Product Life Cycle, which finally led it to a comatose situation, the Indian Test Cricket Team has been on borrowed time for a while.

The middle order was ageing, and ageing quickly. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman are into their late 30's. They have done stellar service to Indian Cricket. But they are at the fag end of their career and needs to be phased out over a period of one year.

Harbhajan's decline was visible to everyone other than his friend Sachin and Indian Selectors. Any decent cricket fan knew that he cannot take wickets, given even a square turner. At least he used to keep the runs down with his negative fast, flat leg stump line. Even that is no longer true. Bhajji is typical of the current Indian Team and Board. He has refused to accept there is a problem, even when it was staring on his face (I still remember a homily of my HPCL GM - "Son, we know you Sales officers will have problems in your Areas. We are not interested in that. What we look for in a Review meeting is whether you are AWARE that there are problems, doing something about it. It is the attitude and thinking that is critical for us). Bhajji has lost his flight, spin and doosra, and with it his effectiveness. He needs to be send back to the Domestic Cricket for a year of grind. When even Ranji players start thrashing him, he will understand how far he has come down.

We really need to look into why our medium pace bowling, where we were supposed to have riches a few years back, is bare. Why do we have highly paid coaches if the batsmen cant last 75 overs as a team, bowlers get thrashed for 700 runs in a helpful track and fielders drop catches by buckets. Heads must roll.

M S Dhoni has never lost a series before. But his Test Captaincy is average. He is just not pro active enough. Also his Wicket Keeping has been abysmal.

The long and short is that our players are just not working enough on their game, with the exception of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman. They are holding on to their places by virtue of their reputation. This is a sure road to disaster.

The fans have reduced the rating of Indian Team from AA to BB- after this England tour.

But will things change. I doubt. 15 years back, we saw the emergence of two wonderful players in an England Tour - a certain Sourav Ganguly and one Rahul Dravid. When was the last time an exciting talent hit the Test Scene in India after that? I can't remember. Therein lies the root cause.

We dont mind if a better team beats us. But what is galling is the way we lost without even putting up a decent fight. And to add insult to injury, we have a captain who said 'it doesnt matter if we lost the No.1 spot". Well it was clear it didnt matter to him or his team, but 'IT DOES MATTER TO US FANS AND THE NATION".

For making that one statement alone, which shows his mindset, MSD should be sacked.

"Upakaram cheythillengilum, Upadrivikkathirunnal mathi"

2011-08-12T09:52:00.000+03:00

There is a saying in Malayalam,

"Upakaram cheythillengilum, Upadrivikkathirunnal mathi"

A loose translation - If you can't help, at least try and not to do any harm.

Indian industry must be uttering this sentence a million times a day while thinking about the Central Government.

The Indian Governments led by Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai, Rajiv Gandhi, VP Singh etc did their best to stiffle Private entrepreneurship for decades. They had a vice like grip over the Private Sector using the Licensing system and other draconian controls. In 1991, P V Narasimha Rao (the credit has to go to PVN and not to MMS) had no option other than to liberalize, privatize and globalize the economy. Whether out of compulsion or not, he was imaginative enough and bold enough to dismantle the existing non performing, constrain creating system. This one act provided the filip for our private sector to unleash their entrepreneurial skills. They fully grabbed the opportunity and took Indian economy to greater heights. It is to A B Vajpayees credit that he understood that the role of Government in the future is to be one of facilitator to the industry, than an owner or controller of the industry. He was clear about the need for infrastructure development and connectivity. Though Rajiv Gandhi ushered in the Telecom revolution, ABV's initiatives saw greater broad band and mobile connectivity, which has created a revolution in the corporate and personal lives. Apart from this Vajpayee kick started the National Highways project - the Golden Quadrilateral and the N-S & E-W Corridors. It is to the eternal shame of UPA Government that they have dragged their feet on the project which should have been completed in 2007, but is not likely to be completed in this decade. He also wanted to connect the rivers, but this too has not seen the light of the day under the new government.

Despite the UPA government putting every conceivable road blocks in the way of economic growth - rising interest rates, credit squeeze, dragging feet on second generation reforms, diversion of funds to non productive social schemes like NREGA (which has resulted in lack of funds for infrastructure development projects), poor fiscal discipline, rising revenue and fiscal deficits, double digit inflation, approvals being denied, labour law amendment defered, agriculture being ignored ............ the list is endless- the economy has grown at around 7-8%. And this during a global recessinary period.

This is not an anamoly. Our economy is growing DESPITE the Government, or rather INSPITE OF the Government. The growth is driver purely by Private Sector initiative, who are fighting a losing battle of late, what with government totally apathetic to their basic needs of providing funds at competitive interest rates, and making basic investments in the right infrastructure projects (while it is welcome that our Airports are being upgraded, that should be the least of our priorities. The priority has to be to upgrade the Road, Rail and Ports that facilitate movement of goods). And the Government has not made much investments in the next generation Internet Connectivity. While our current connectivity might be sufficient for data transmission, the future needs of the IT sector for higher bandwidth is not being talked about at all. This will result in our country losing its competitive edge in IT in the long run.

While one can cite Ambanis, Tatas, Mittals, Dhoots etc as people who have benefitted from Government support, the fact remains that only a chosen few have got the support from the UPA Government, for obvious reasons. The facilitation for the industry by the Government has to be broad based and all encompassing.

Of late, the Government, which is clue less on inflation, is taking retrogative steps by increasing bank rates steadily, raising tax rates to cover up its poor fiscal performance, not making investments in infrastructure and generally dragging its feet on all policy matters.

Is it any wonder the industry is asking it to leave things as it is, and not worsen it?

MMS saved by the bell

2011-08-09T09:16:00.001+03:00

Dr.Manmohan Singh's patron saint, the US, has come to his aide inadvertently.

MMS and his government has been reeling under the accusations of numerous scams, lack of governance, inaction, mismanagement of the economy, spiralling inflation and the real prospect of a drastic drop in GDP growth. They were struggling to explain to the country the reasons behind this (to be fair to them, they have no clue as to this themselves) and with parliament session on, would have been in deep trouble answering an aggressive opposition.

But with USA economy in shambles, Eurozone crumbling, US credit rating reduced to AA+ leading to fear of double dip depression worldwide, MMS can heave a sigh of relief.

For a while now he has run out of excuses as to what is going wrong with th economy. He has blamed terrorism, rural people eating more because they are earning more under NREGS (which is a joke as more and more people are dropping below the poverty line and malnutrition figures are on the rise), supply side constraints (whatever that means!! Well it means that we are not producing enough to meet our demand. And what do we do to increase supply - not only nothing, but we further take steps to reduce supply by increasing the interest rates!!!!) and so on.

Now he is safe. With US ruled by a bigger Asshole than our PM (What a wimp Obama has turned out to be. He rode to power promising change. But US citizens never that it would be a change for the worse. Under Obama, US has lost its Military No.1 position, Moral No.1 position and now Economic No.1 position), and US economy likely to be in doldrums for a couple of years at least, MMS is safe. He can blame the US led global recession for all his economic ills.

Some people are born lucky - like our PM. He has become a PM for 7 years when he has not won even a municipal election in his life, he is being hailed as father of reforms when actually the only thing he did was to follow the orders of Narasimha Rao (MMS actually baulked at implementing reforms in his draft first budget which was thrown at his face by Narasimha Rao who then read the riot act to him to prepare a budget which changed the Indian economic scenario), and he is hailed as one of the best Prime Ministers of India(sic) when to all effect, he has been the worst.

P.S: Though everyone seems to be worried about the Stock Market crashing (which doesnt mean much anyway for most of the people other than a handful), the real worry is the rise in our Revenue Deficit from about 1% + in 2008 to 3.4% currently, and the Fiscal Deficit from 1.5% + in 2008 to 4% + now.

Slight redesigning of the blog

2011-08-04T18:14:00.000+03:00

Have done some work on the fonts and the width of the reading area, to make the blog easy on the eye and look professional. The design templates in the background is being retained, though I was tempted to go for a bland look. Then thought it would differentiate the blog from a standard newspaper blog.

Enjoy your visits to this blog.

Want better governance?

2011-08-04T12:29:00.000+03:00

Want better governance? Implement the following,

No security for anyone, including the Prime Minister - Remove the black cats and Z-level security for all, and just see how the internal security of the country, the police and the intelligence community are made to work professionally by the powers that be. The much needed reforms in the Police will be implemented like lightning when the politicians become afraid of their lives. As of now, they live in ivory towers, without a care in the world as to how many common people are killed by terrorists. Have we heard anything on who was responsible for the latest Mumbai blasts?

Do not provide accommodation to the Ministers, politicians and Government Servants - Let them hunt for houses, enter into rental agreements and pay rent like you and me. They will then appreciate the plight of ordinary people.

Withdraw privileges on Travel - Let them all travel cattle class by Air India or by Indian Railways or by State Road Transport Corporations. I dont have to elaborate on this.

No overseas medical treatment - Not even in super speciality hospitals in India. Why should Sonia have her surgery in US? She can get herself treated in any of the Government Hospitals in India, and being alloted a bed in the General Ward or in the Paid room. Then she will appreciate what a common man has to undergo to get treatment and the quality of it.

I can go on and on. But I presume you get the drift. Our politicians, ministers and their party chiefs are so away from the reality, have lost touch with the common man, and lead such an elite life that they dont know and can't understand their plight. Gandhiji was sent on a bharath darshan by Lokamanya Tilak, which opened his eyes to what the real India is (Quite unlike the promo tours of Rahul Gandhi). And that was the foundation for his National Leadership. It is time we insisted our 'leaders' undergo some of the hardships that you and me undergo.

Debt Trap

2011-08-02T10:54:00.000+03:00

The interest rates have gone up steadily. The manufacturing sector has slowed down. Grains are rotting, despite bountiful rains and it is still pre-harvest period. The Government is rudderless. There is a capital flight from the country. Despite all this, the GDP is growing at 7%.

This appears to be paradox. But is it?

The GDP is growing despite the Government. Post liberalization, the industry is less reliant on the Government, and the Government policies have little impact on the economy in the medium term. Or let us say it has only marginal impact. The industrial and services sector are self sufficient which leads to them contributing a bit to the GDP growth.

There is another reason. I had written about this before. Despite the real income coming down over the past couple of years, people are buying more because of the credit facility available -either as Bank loans or through Credit Cards. In effect, they are paying from the future income anticipated. Thus the money supply is much more than what it should be. It is a debt driven growth, which cannot be sustained. One has to just look at USA to know where we will end up.

In the past the debt entrapped only the Central and the State Governments. Now it is extended to you and me. Still doubtful? Try preparing a Balance Sheet on your personal Assets and Liabilities, and see where you stand.

Need India Specific Solutions

2011-07-29T17:20:00.000+03:00

The UPA Government is contemplating allowing majority FDI in MBR/MPR (Multi Brand Retailing/Multi Product Retailing). This will open the doors for Carrefours and Walmart to enter our market.

This could prove to be the deathknell for the nearly 8 crore small businessmen, and the grocery shop next door.

In Al Khuwair in Muscat, where I live, there are very few neighbourhood grocery shops, mainly because Government do not allow them to employ expatriates, unlike Kuwait. Omanis dont fancy sitting and managing a small shop. But still there were 3 reasonable grocery shops where one can get almost all that is required for day to day living. Their major competitor was Lulu Hyper Market which was about 4 kms away. But with Carrefour opening up in Bousher, and Mars already opened in Al Khuwair, these 3 shops found the going tough, and closed down one after another. One of these has been a landmark in Al Khuwair for nearly 20 odd years. These shops used to give reasonably personalized services, had ample parking space and was very convenient if one had to purchse some milk, vegetables, or tea bags. But these hypermarkets have swallowed them, made them non-competitive and I find it extemely inconvenient to go to a hypermarket to buy things which I might need for a day or two. It is a waste of time and effort as billing takes anything between 10-20 minutes, and one has to walk the length and breadth of a hypermarket in search of things. In addition, there is absolutely no one to guide you, in case you want some advice about a product. These hyper markets use salesmen only at the White Goods section, and every there most of them are uncaring and dont give a damn whether you purchase or not.

The entry of giants into organized retail will, contrary to Government claims of reducing food inflation, lead to a vice like grip by these retailers on our cost of living, apart from throwing many out of their livelihood. It is true that our Farm to Retail logistics is very inefficient, and controlled by greedy middlemen, who ensure neither the consumer nor the producer is benefitted. But the remedy to that is not FDI in Organized Retail, but a strengthening of the Distribution Channel and more effective Rural Marketing. Why can't we find India specific solutions to our problems, rather than importing solutions that dont seem to work at all.

The 'Loss' incurred by Oil PSU's during the past 5 years!!!!

2011-07-26T10:47:00.000+03:00

Petroleum Prices have been raised at the drop of a hat in India during recent times, citing losses incurred by the PSU's IOC, HPCL and BPCL, as the reason for the hike.

I just did a quick review of the P&Lof these three companies for the past 5 years, and what I found do not show the Government or the PSU's in good light.

The Reported Profit after Depreciation, Tax and Adjustments in Rs Crores are given below;

As figures above show, the PSU's are not, and have never been sick, short of cash during the past 5 years, including late 2008-2009 when oil prices were so high, and the government refused to raise the prices because of elections.

Then what is the real reason for the hike in Petrol prices. Ha! That is another story. The tax content on Petrol is approx. 45%, which means government gets nearly Rs 30- 35 as tax on every litre of petrol sold. And this is big money. Money that allows government to splurge on non-plan, unproductive expenditure. The government's financial discipline is so poor, that we are back to the bad old days of pre reforms. Just look at the inflation and the interest rates (which has again been raised by 50 base points today).

The citizen is paying the price for the reckless spending and loot of this Government.

But dont believe the Government next when they dole out the excuse of loss making Oil PSU's as the reason for hike in Petrol Prices

The investment dilemma for the Indians

2011-07-25T11:18:00.000+03:00

The Indians are in a dilema.

First, their savings have dwindled due to the spiralling inflation. And to add to their misery, they just dont have any avenues to invest and make the money grow.

Let us look at where people used to invest traditionally.

Gold - The Indians - rich or middle class or poor - always were crazy about Gold. But they always used to invest in the wrong gold tools - jewlellery. The best investment in gold is either gold bonds or 24 carat gold. But Gold has become prohibitively costly to the middle class and poor, and has ceased to be an option at all.

Real Estate - With land being scarce, and controlled by land mafia, people are wary of investing in land because of fear of reprisals from real estate lobbies and the mafia. Also, land prices are not going up, and hence there are hardly any returns short term. Then it is illiquid.

Stock Market - The stocks have been flat for while now, and is likely to be so till the next elections as this government doesnt invoke any confidence in the investors. Also, the small investors have been shortchanged and have been least protected. Insider trading is rampant, and FII's rule roost. Things are not all that rosy on the equity front. Stay out of stock market for now, unless you want to invest in blue chips or select stocks as a long term investment. But do a thorough research before you do so. And most middle class dont have the skill sets to do such a research.

Bank Fixed Deposits - This is apparently attractive as the interest rates have rised steadily. But, the interest rates are still less than the inflation, which means your net wealth is decreasing if you are investing in FD's or Debentures. With inflation showing no signs of receding, despite bountiful monsoon for the last two years, and this year (and government having no clue as to how to tackle the inflation), it just doesnt make sense to invest in any instrument which doesnt meet the hurdle rate of 18%, i.e if your investment is giving an annualized return of < 18%, your net wealth will erode.

So where does one invest?

A tricky question. But I think the only option is to think a bit aggressively as a venture capitalist, and invest in early growth companies that require funds. These could be your friends company that has a good idea, or some small private limited companies having a good product or service that is struggling for funds. The risk is higher, but then so will the returns. But do proper due diligence before you invest. On the flip side, the GDP is growing, and with higher lending rates prevalent, entrepreneurs are not keen on debt financing. Hence, there is an opportunity for you if you are smart. But spread your investment across three or more sectors and in different ventures.

Tough times call for innovative thinking. This is the time to think out of the box, and think differently, and to take a bit more risk.

"Heightened" level of Security

2011-07-24T08:53:00.000+03:00

Just 3 days after the latest Mumbai blasts, all the Airports and major towns' security level were raised to the highest. Or so claimed the Government.

But the reality is a joke. And a bad joke at that.

Listen to a traveller who boarded the flight from Chennai International Airport on 16th of July.

"The Airport is in a mess and a disgrace to the Country. Leave that aside. There was hardly any perimeter security. Anyone could walk upto the main gate with impunity and a couple of bombs if required. There were just two Security people at the main gate checking the Passport and Ticket. They did not even compare the photo in the passport with that of the passenger. On entering, there was a free for all. The visitors who had come to send off the passengers were just separated by a small partition, which some of them were seen to jump over with impunity. There were NO, I REPEAT NO, security personnel in the check in counter area. The most bizarre thing was that the Check in Baggages were NOT SCREENED at all prior to Check in. This has never happened to me in any airport in the world. The passengers were allowed to check in the baggages without either them or the baggages undergoing the security screening. Maybe they were screening once check in was done. But if something were to be found in the bags, then how do they apprehend the culprit?. The security check post immigration was alright, but one couldn't see anything special about it. And there were again no security personnel in the Aerobridge"

God save our country!!!

Lack of Pride as a Nation

2011-07-23T18:30:00.000+03:00

The latest Mumbai blasts are already forgotten. This time we dont even have a clue as to who did it, there was no prior intel (In fact, has there ever been any prior intel? We never get any news of the police and IB busting a terror attack!!). The politicians made some perfunctory statements, the TVs carried the news for a couple of days, and then no one cares.

We don' value lives. The Government or the people don't feel that our national pride is dented when even a single person dies. Contrast this with what Israel does! They took on the Hezbullah just because 2 of their soldiers were caught by them. What happened in the war is immaterial. What is important is the message Israel sends out. Touch one of ours, and you are in for a fight. Ever wonder why Israel has not had a aeroplane hijack since Entebbe 1976? The message is loud and clear, and the recrimination swift. And damn international outrage.

Every country frames its policy based on self preservation, and preservation of the rights of its citizens. Look how US fought Pakistan tooth and nail to get their alleged CIA operative acquitted, look how Libya managed to get the Lockerbee bomber released, look how even Pakistan called the US Ambassador and gave him a demarche in the Fai Arrest. And contrast this with India's meek acquiescence everytime we are trampled on, be it terrorists, jehadis or even tiny nations like Bangladesh.

We shall regain our glory as a great nation, when we take a decision to stand up and be counted.

And that wont happen as long as the current government is at the helm.

Ostrich Mentality

2011-07-20T11:23:00.000+03:00

The Government has taken an Ostrich like stand towards terrorism. It is clear as daylight to even a casual observer that Government inaction (gross negligence, tacit support - you may call it by whatever name) has led to the proliferation of Indian sleeper units of terrorists that have sprouted up during the last decade. It extends from Kashmir to Kerala. The influx of gulf money and the indoctrination the NRIs get there has been transformed into terror units that work in tandem and in isolation.

The Central Government has refused to accept that there are Indian terror cells. It is ever so convenient to put the blame of Pakistan, so that we dont have to take any action, other than crying foul over Pakistan not doing anything. This is why, we hardly dug deep into the support given by Indians to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. We have hardly convicted anyone within India during these past 15 years. Even the two who are convicted, Afsal Guru and Kasab, are leading royal lives in the jail, at State expense when they should have been dead and buried long ago. All one has to do to know how we pamper terrorists is to see the kind of medical treatment Abdul Nasser Madani gets in the Karnataka Jail, or earlier in Coimbatore Jail. He is undergoing high end ayurvedic treatment that he could perhaps not afford were he out of the jail!!!

We need to clean up the internal threat and sleeper cells on a priority basis, strengthen our intelligence gathering, and give police a free hand - but most importantly put behind bars motor mouth idiots like Digvijay Singh (and his master and mistress) who does more damage to our fight against terror by making reckless statements, than the ISI.

The threat, of late, is from within. Earlier we realize this, the better

ASSHOLE

2011-07-14T19:05:00.000+03:00

At the latest Mumbai Blasts site, Manmohan Singh said, "Government will do everything to prevent attacks in the future"

ASSHOLE

Ministerial Medal Hopes!!!!

2011-07-10T17:38:00.000+03:00

The Sports Minister Ajay Maken is in the news a lot these days, because of the exploding doping scandal in Indian Athletes.

Here is an excerpt from an interview of yesterday:

What kind of impact will the doping saga have on India’s chances at the London Olympics?

India’s image as an upcoming sporting nation has taken a hit. The girls who have been caught — we were expecting them to win medals at the Olympics next year.

Now, we know that politicians love to tell the worst absurdities and get away with it. But to tell that our women's relay team is a medal prospect in the upcoming London Olympics is stretching things a bit too far.

Can the honourable minister answer how many athletics medals have India won in Olympics in its history?

If we discount Norman Pritchard in the 1900 Paris Olympics, our tally is a good nice ZERO.

Katrathu Kai Mann Alavu, Kallathathu Ulagalavu

2011-07-07T08:25:00.000+03:00

The policy of giving marks liberally in the School exams, leading to a ridiculous situation of students getting 100 out of 100 in all subjects is disquieting.

One can understand a student scoring full marks in a purely quantitative paper like Mathematics. But to give the student full marks in English, History, Geography or even Physics is counter productive.

There are many pitfalls to it. I have personal experience of this as a teacher. Many of my faculty colleagues used to give nothing other than A grade (maximum grade) in the MBA Assignments, irrespective of the quality of the assignment. This led to average student becoming complacent, and refusing to push themselves, and the good students losing interest. The good students did not find any incentive in working hard, for they know it shall not result in any differential grade for them. Either way, the faculty was doing a disservice to the students.

The purpose of an examination is to give a proper feedback to the students, to help them identify their areas of strength and weakness, and take appropriate corrective steps. By giving near full marks, students get a false sense of feeling of knowing everything , when their ignorance level is very high.

As Avvaiyar wrote

"Katrathu Kai Mann Alavu, Kallathathu Ulagalavu"

meanign roughly "What you have learned is a mere handful; What you haven't learned is the size of the world"

Let us bow our head in reverance

2011-07-05T10:58:00.000+03:00

The amazing thing about the One Lakh Crore plus treasure found in the cellars of Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum is not the value of the treasure, but the fact that the Royal Family, who were the guardians of this treasure, had not even dreamt of using it for their personal purpose.

The Travancore Kings always ruled on behalf of Lord Padmanabha. They called themselves Padmanabhadasa. Even today, when the Royals leave the temple, they make sure to remove the dust from their legs, for they dont want to take with them even a small dust particle from the temple, that belongs to Lord Padmanabha.

In this era of Rulers looting public money, and emptying the treasury, should we not bow our head in reverance to the generations of Tranvancore Kings, who had jealously guarded the public wealth without any compensation. If this is not 'Nishkama Karma', as mentioned in Bhagavat Geetha, I don't know what is.

The worth of the treasure outstrips the public debt of the whole State of Kerala, which stands at around 80,000 crores. But to put things in perspective, this is only 70% of what A Raja and DMK stole in the Telecome scam (Rs 1.76 lakh crores)!!!

There is a debate as to who should be the custodian of this treasure unearthed.

Should there be any discussion on this? Who, other than the very people who guarded it zealously all these years? The Travancore Kings Family?

I recommend a visit by our PM, Cabinet Colleagues, Various CMs, their Colleagues to meet the Family members, and go through the carefully documented chronicles of what was once, the most prosperous of Kingdoms, to understand Rajaneethi and ethics/probity in public life.

Let us stand up, bow our head in salute of the Royal Family who showed us how a country has to be ruled and how peoples money should not be misused.

How much longer should Indians suffer such fools?

2011-06-29T18:30:00.001+03:00

This must take the cake for the most absurd statement made ever (my comments in brackets)

Defending the government's decision to raise prices of petroleum products, the Plan panel said on Wednesday it would suck money from the system and ease inflationary pressure in the long run.

"As we are raising the prices, that will pull money away from the system. That would have a softening impact (on inflation)," Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia told reporters" (Extending the same logic, the government can increase the price of every product, resulting in all the money, savings of the common man sucked out(!!!). Then no one will be buying anything, and Montek wont have to worry about inflation at all!!!!!)

Asked his views about when the inflation numbers are likely to moderate, he refused to make any guess.

"The Finance Ministry has said that if the monsoon is normal and agricultural production is good, then price pressure will decrease. But I do not want to give a forecast," the Plan panel chief said. (Well at least that is a relief. The idiot and his bosses Pranab Mukherjee and Manmohan Singh has been claiming in the last few years that inflation would come down post Kharif, which has not happened. At least tha AH is now admitting that he doesnt have a clue, which he doesnt anyway).

GOD! Why must Indians suffer such FOOLS? How much longer?

A walk in the Street recommended for our good Doctor PM

2011-06-25T11:54:00.000+03:00

There used to be a practice of erstwhile Kings (the great ones at least like Bhoja Raja, Vikramaditya, Krishna Devaraya, Shivaji) going out incognito and mingling with the common man to get a feedback on their rule and more important to get a real feel of how life is out there in the streets.

It is sad that our current rulers live in their ivory towers protectd by Black Cat commandos. If only Manmohan Singh would swap his dress for that of a common man and go out to the streets of Delhi or to the hinterland, he will know how his economic policies have screwed up the life of the common man.

On the back of another interest hike by the RBI (the interest, which has put a heavy burden on the home loan EMIs for the middle class, we have the Rs 3 hike on Diesel prices (this is on the base price, add the excise duty and the state taxes, the real hike will be close to Rs 5) and the Rs 50 price hike on LPG cylinders. Both these are highly inflationary.

It is true that we have to reduce our subsidy burden. But contrary to what many think, we should not be cutting down on the subsidy that goes directly to the common man, but cut the subsidy given to the rich industries. The amount of subsidy given to industries by way of tax exemption and soft loans is bind boggling. And anyway the industries are the biggest loan defaulters and tax evaders. We have to target them and not the common man.

In fact the common man will be too happy to pay higher taxes provided the rich industrialists are also made to pay, and if the Government can ensure that the taxes collected are used in a judicious,transparent manner.

MMS - go out and take a walk in the street, as you used to do, before you became someone, by default.

Change or be Changed

2011-06-18T18:11:00.000+03:00

Prior to 1990's the Indian Private Sector was unwieldy and overstaffed. They were one step ahead of the non performing Public Sector, but just. I still remember everyone's apprehensions when the Economy was opened up by Narasimha Rao (I refuse to give credit to Manmohan Singh. The story goes that P V Narasimha Rao asked his then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh to prepare a reformist budget immediately on assuming charge as PM. MMS presented a draft budget, which was 'status quo' at best. A furious PVN read the riot act, and told MMS what the Budget should contain specifically. But Congress dont want to give credit to PVN, or for that matter any PM who is not from the dynasty. Hence, they have conveniently ignored his contributions. Even MMS will be trashed in due course). We all thought then that foreign owned MNC's will storm the Indian Industrial Scenario and gobble up our existing private sector. But Indian businessmen were smarter. During 1990's, they leveraged the IT, trimmed their fat, and were lean, mean and fit when the MNC's finally landed ashore. The rest is history. They beat back the MNC challenge, while at the same time, Indian businessment transformed themselves into Indian MNC's and attacked the Overseas giants in their own market, and beating them in their own game. Today, Indian business is very competitive, albeit a little unethical.

But our politicians have not changed with time. They still have a mindset that they are the brown sahebs and they have the god damned right to do anything they want, once they get elected. Every action of theirs is not transparent, and their behaviour is rent seeking. They have forgotten that they are the servants of the people. The people were patient, but have run out of it now.

While, the people may not have turned out in great numbers for the protests by Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev, there is still an undercurrent of hostility against the politicians. If they see the writing on the wall and be proactive, it is good for them. Or else, they will be forced into change they dont like.

Why the Congress flip flop on inclusion of PM in the Lokpal Bill?

2011-06-14T11:37:00.000+03:00

Congress has been flip-flopping on including the Prime Minister under the to be proposed Lokpal Bill, while the Civil Society is adamant that he should be included.

In fact Congress had included PM in the Lokpal Bill in their watered down version that would have gone to the Parliament, before Anna Hazare went on fast.

Contrary to what many people think, the change in mind on Congress's part has nothing to do with protecting Manmohan Singh from the 2G Scam or other Scams.

The Congress objection is based on the assumption that Rahul Gandhi shall become the PM one day, and they want to protect him at all costs. Rumours are afoot that the dynasty has much to worry about regarding Black Money stashed abroad!

M F Husain was an absconder from Justice - It is as simple as that

2011-06-10T09:38:00.000+03:00

It is strange how Media twists the facts to suit its ideological (if any!) leanings.

Have a look at the reporting of M F Husain's death.

Keeping aside the merits of the case that he hurt the hindu sentiments by painting hindu gods nude (and never apologising for it when people expressed their resentment), the fact remains that M F Husain fled the country to avoid a non bailable arrest warrant. Which means that he was an absconder from justice!!.

Almost all the pseudo secular media are using the word 'living in exite', 'was keen to come back' , 'injustice meted out to him' ................bla bla bla

The truth is that M F Husain did not respect the law of the land. If he had conviction in his argument of freedom of expression, he should have faced the courts and got a favourable verdict. He also had the fortune of having a very favourable Government at the Centre that would have ensured his safety. But he chose to cock a snook at the law and constitution of our country. The Government, instead of rescinding his passport, and asking for his repatriation, chose to keep mum and finally he accepted a Qatari citizenship. How Qatar can give citizenship to an absonder from justice is a moot point. And unlike many great artistes, M F Husain did not die in penury. He was immensely rich and led a comfortable life till the end.

I have always held that Indian laws have to be enforced strictly for us to be a world power. If Husain had been brought back and asked to face the court (irrespective of the judgement), that would have made sense.

It is immaterial if he was a great painter or not (the jury is out on that, but let us say that he was a talented, successful painter).

What we have is a case where a guy accused of a crime, fleeing the country and claiming that he is being victimised, and everyone else supporting his claim.

This is ludicrous.

Nishkama Karma

2011-06-08T12:34:00.000+03:00

I was talking to someone on 'Nishkama Karma' yesterday and he was very skeptical about the whole concept. He, who belongs to the new generation, just could not understand how one can work without anticipating rewards. Much explanation from my side convinced him a bit but not wholly. I had to assure him that one has to work without expecting any returns, and the returns will come in due course.

I have been doing 'Nishkama Karma' in Muscat for nearly 8 months, and today was rewarded big through the award of a major contract when I least expected it , which reinforces my faith in the concept.

So all of you out there "Do your duty diligently and with passion. Do not work with an aim to be rewarded immediately. Rewards will follow, though you may have to wait for it.'

The great thinkers who gave us these wonderful concepts were indeed wise.

Branding losing its relevance?

2011-06-06T08:38:00.000+03:00

Throughout the second half of the last century, Branding was used as the product differentiator. Most of the products were manufactured in house, with very limited outsourcing. This ensured that the Firms could tweak the product features to match the Brand perception. Thus Merc was known for its style and engineering perfection, Nikon for its unmatched quality of the Camera, and Sony for its vivid picture quality.

But with increase in competition leading to thinner margins, Organizations took the easier route of outsourcing to keep the price tag competitive. This resulted in many leading brands becoming marketing organizations rather than manufacturing organizations. The products were manufactured in remote China or Vietnam or Korea to leverage the cost advantage. The joke is that a IBM Laptop is made 100% in China and the only thing American about IBM is its brand name on the Laptop. Well! even that embedded logo is made in China!! This is true of all the other Computer manufacturers and products manufactured by organizations in other sectors.

The brands started losing control over their product features and process advantage, leading to them being forced to market the product based on Product features than on Brand equity, built over a period of time. Thus we have a scenario where consumers buy a laptop based on the product features like RAM, HDD capacity, Processor, Screen Resolution etc than on whether it is manufactured by HP, IBM, Compaq or Dell. Their refrain was "Well, it doesnt make any difference what the brand is, as all of them are manufactured by the Chinese".

The same is true of the Automobile industry. Toyota lost its competitive advantage of producing cars of quality, when they failed to control the quality at their outsourcing units forcing them to recall millions of vehicles and plunging the company into deep trouble. Many of the leading car manufacturers have a history of vehicle recall to replace defective parts, all of them outsourced.

The move to outsource non critical component manufacturing has started to bite the leading brands, as consumers are quite unwilling to pay a premium for a differentiation that actually do not exist.

So we are back to the pre branding era, where all products were commodities.

Midnight Madness

2011-06-05T11:29:00.000+03:00

Why did Congress and UPA swooped down on Baba Ramdev in the middle of the night but allowed Anna Hazare to take the fast to its logical end? Surely, Baba Ramdev was not resorting to violence?

This is because the cause which Baba Ramdev was fasting for hit the Congress where it hurts most - Sonia and Rahul - who and their cronies are at the top of the list of black money hoarders having accounts in Swiss Banks. The Government will do anything to protect their interests.

Baba Ramdev has a huge following, that is essentially lower middle class in nature and hindu. This is not the western biased, candle light protesting so called pseudo secular 'intelligentia' whos is dumb. This is the real India, that is burdened with high inflation and struggling to make both ends meet. This mad action by the Government is bound to have serious repurcussions. Frankly, would the Government have dared to do something similar if it were a fast organized by a Christian Priest or an Imam? Look at the weak kneed response of the Government to the sedition speeches made in Delhi publicaly by the Kashmir separatists?

The Government is taking the Hindus for granted. We are seeing the first signs of Hindu consolidation in Kerala, and it has already happened in Gujarat. Maybe, just maybe, yesterdays high handedness of the Govenment might result in the law of unintended consequences coming into play and lead to a change in the mindset of the people.

Let us wait and watch how the scenario unfolds.

Congress Fascism?

2011-06-01T19:45:00.000+03:00

"If we are scared of Baba Ramdev, he would have been in jail by now" - Digvijya Singh was quoted as making such a statement by the leading TV channels.

Does this mean that Congress will put everyone whom they see as a threat in Jail irrespective of whether there is a case against them or not?

If this is not Fascism, then what is?

Product Strategy for the second decade of the millenium

2011-05-31T09:44:00.003+03:00

Prior to the Japanese flooding the market with electronic goods in the 1970's and 1980's, consumers world over looked for durability and value for money while making purchases, of electronic goods in particular and other products in general. The marketing mantra was to provide technically durable products that were durable, relatively expensive, once or twice in a life time purchase (a radio was expected to last a life time, ditto a watch. Father bought a HMT watch for my brother, who is 8 years elder to me, in 1971 on his passing the 10th standard. This was passed down to me, and I wore it till mid 1990's!!!) and more important repairable. It was sufficient for the product to perform adequately.

The Japanese changed all these. It was also partly due to technological advances in the field of electronics and later on digitalization. Masters in the art of miniaturizing, the Japanese went ahead with the concept of focusing on high performance, quality, and less and less on durability. This had its roots in their culture and the terrain they live in, which is seismologically extremely unstable. The Japanese never wants anything to last a life time, for they are not sure when the next earth quake will strike. What they want is to enjoy high performance while it lasts, before the next quake hits them. But their emphasis on quality and performance meant that the products were technologically and performance wise far superior to those of the Western Competitors', albeit expensive. The product life cycles were also much shorter. More importantly, they were more keen on the customer replacing the product with a new one, than getting it repaired in the event of a malfunction. But these products were at least repairable. Most products lasted 3-4 years at best. Thus, the products did not just have the high initial cost, but also had high usage per day cost, for it depreciated very fast. This was not a sustainable model, as the Japanese found out soon.

While Japanese focused on the differentiation strategy, the Chinese quickly found the achilles heel of the Japanese - the customers seething dissatisfaction as to having to pay a high usage per day cost. Using their competitive advantage of cheap labour and government controlled capital, the Chinese flooded the market with products that does work adequately, but is ridiculously cheap. They took away the concept of repair and mainternance totally out of the equation, and encouraged customers to go in for newer, cheaper, not necessarily better products every 6 months or one year, and discard it once it is used. Customer's fed up with having to pay a high price for the Japanese products, found the low usage cost per day concept very appealing, which led to high levels of initial purchase. But what about repeat purchase? This is one area which the Chinese ignored, much to their peril. Most customers of the Chinese products were one time customers, who never returned to make the repurchase, forcing them to seek out new customers as a strategy, which is very expensive as compared to retention of customers. Add to this the cost of customer dissatisfaction, and we are reaching an era of customers totally shunning chinese products. And as Nirma found out in their battle with Surf, once you get the tag of a low priced, low quality product, it is extremely difficult to change the perception even if you come out with a high quality version. Chinese will struggle in this decade to maintain their market share, as customers will turn their face away from them.

So what is the alternative? It could be a combination of good quality, reasonable price, slightly longer product life cycle and less rapid technological changes. I suspect customers are getting tired of adjustments they have to make with rapid technological changes that lead to newer gadgets at very frequent intervals. What they would like is for a relatively frill-less product, sans unwanted features (most gadgets have features which one never uses! just go to the menu of your mobile, list down all the features you see there in a piece of paper, tick all those you have used during the past one month. I just did, and the % was less than 10!!!) which will bring the cost down, but retains the quality of the main features. Better,efficient functioning of the core functions at affordable prices with the manufacturer taking a reasonable margin will be the way forward. The add ons can be made optional and at a price.

Still skeptical? Type http://www.google.com/ and see what I mean. The home page is totally uncluttered, and it does its core function - searching - very very efficiently. Ditto with gmail or gtalk or for that matter most google products. And no one can deny that Google is very successful, both technically and commercially!

Of criticisms and meaningful debate

2011-05-26T10:56:00.000+03:00

Problem with Indian Education System, which in turn defines the culture of the country, is its inability to introspect or to accept well meaning criticism. This is not limited to Education sector, but is almost a national trait. When one doesn't view criticism positively and introspect, one falls into the trap of mediocrity. And the negative reaction to criticism stifles intellectual debate, that can open the doors to new avenues.

Debate about the shortcomings of the existing system, and about future directions is a mark of a healthy society. We, as a nation, have become so immune to any comment that is even minutely critical. And to make the matters worse, there is section of the intelligentia and the media that rams down the throat of the nation their views on what is right, which is mainly status quo.

India gave a list of 50 wanted terrorists to Pakistan, but some of them are found to be residing in India. This embarassment should have led to a thorough debate on the effectiveness of the co-ordination amongst various intelligence organizations. Something good would have come out of it. Instead, the Home Ministry treated the matter with utmost disdain, and even refused accept the blame for the goof up. If you dont have the heart to accept your mistakes, you will never improve.

(I was fortunate to be brought up by a father who encouraged criticism. I had the right to call him an idiot. He will look at me sternly and say "Fine. Now either prove it or withdraw your statement", which means I have to defend my criticism of him. This led to two things. On the one hand, I was not restrained from criticising something which I felt need to be criticised, but on the other hand, I know I cannot get away by making wild criticisms or allegations (as Rahul Gandhi made in UP the other day) without backing it up. And he was a fair man. If he finds merit in my criticism, he will sit down and correct himself, though he will sulk for a couple of days. That was more out of vanity, for he was a proud man

It is why it is so sad that the Central Minister Jayaram Ramesh's remarks about the quality of IIT and IIM staff was met with so much derision by the academic circle. There is much merit in JR's remarks. Our top Engineering and Management faculty need to contribute much more in basic research and not just be satisfied with imparting their knowledge alone. They should look for new frontiers and in turn should inspire their students to have more social awareness and to find workable solutions to nations problems

Project Ass Kicking

2011-05-22T09:30:00.000+03:00

There is an apocryphal (meaning 'unauthenticated') story about how the Bureaucrats in the Defence Ministry in Delhi sat on requests for Defence personnels personal equipments and accessories needed to survive in Kargil. When the new Defence Minister tood charge ( if my memory serves me correctly, it was George Fernandez), he was quietly seething about this delay, and promptly arranged a Kargil trip to the non performing bureaucrats, comfortably sitting in Delhis A/C offices. On their return from Kargil, where even breathing in the cold high altitude climate is a torture, the files were cleared lighting fast.

I was reminded of this story when I heard the laughable parameters set by the apex body Planning Commission of India to describe those who are poor.

According to the Planning Commission, any family earning Rs 20 or below in the urban areas, or Rs 15 or below in the Rural Areas only can be construed to be Below the Poverty Line!!!. If urban family earns Rs 21 or the rural family earns Rs 16 per day, then they cease to get the benefit that accrues the BPL families.

This when the UN is talking about setting the cut off for poverty as $ 2 per day or Rs 90 approx., per person!

All I can recommend is to kick Montek Singh Ahulwalia and his team, who dreamed up the new definition of poverty, to the street and ask them, with their family, to live for a month on Rs 20 per day in Delhi. When they come back, the poor will get the justice they deserve. Sometimes simple direct action makes a huge difference.

I am more than willing to finance this project ass kicking.

Who wants an enemy when we have ministers and politicians like these!

2011-05-21T09:54:00.000+03:00

I would have laughed out loud if it were not such a serious issue.

India, with great 'care', and after 'much due diligence' and with much fanfare hands over a list of 50 most wanted terrorists who are supposed to be hiding in Pakistan, to the Pakistan Government. Then cries hoarse that Pakistan is not doing anything about it.

Now, it has come to light that at least 2 in that list is in our own country, one running a shop in Mumbai and other, hold your breath, already behind the bars, arrested by the very same agency that prepared the list !!

Pakistan has always pooh poohed our dossiers, claiming they are figments of imagination. Now, they dont even have to be defensive about it. Everytime we open our mouth on the wanted criminals being sheltered in Pakistan, they will ask us, with s snigger, to look in our own backyards.

The tragedy is that no one at the Home Ministry or External Affairs ministry feels he is responsible for this. This is being passed off as an insignificant issue. Well, the nation losing its moral advantage over Pakistan and losing face internationally is indeed insignificant for our Congressmen.

The other joke is that while the number 1 in the list is Dawood Ibrahim, his brother, a noted don, is merrily roaming around in Mumbai, as witnessed by him being shot at by other gang members recently. Surely, we can arrest him and send him to Tihar jail?

The role of Indians in the 26/11 mumbai attack was never investigated thoroughly. We are adopting an ostrich liky policy to terrorism. Blaming Pakistan is easy, but we do have home grown terror cells. Kerala is the breeding ground for many such. But there the Congress is in power with the Muslim League, which harbours many of these criminals.

God help our country from our own people.

Who wants an enemy when we have ministers and politicians like the UPA, Congress and Muslim League Ministers?

Interesting times ahead

2011-05-18T10:00:00.000+03:00

Our 'Clown Prince' made a bizarre claim after going to Noida to empathise with the farmers. He took pictures of a heap of ashes and claimed that 70 farmers were burned by the Police. Further, he claimed that many women were raped. He gave the pictures to the media and took it up even with the Prime Minister as a proof against Mayawati Government's atrocities. Now it appears that there were no traces of human bones or flesh in the ashes, and no women has been raped. The hugely emabarassed Clown prince has gone underground, and his apologists have been trotting out the excuse that he has been 'misled' by his team. Some farmers loose talk was taken as gospels truth by the PM in waiting and tom tomed.

The whispers have been going around for quite a while that the 'Clown' Prince is not well endowed in the portion above the neck and is frankly deficient. And the rich little poor guy, who only wanted to have a good time with his South American girl friend and never too keen on doing a days hard work is finding out that he is inadequate. His father was sincere, but naive. The son is plain dumb. I dread to think what will happen to India if he were ever to become the PM. We have suffered enough with the ineffectual MMS for the last half a decade, and we deserve better.

The signs of Congress not coming back to power in 2014 is good as of now. With Congress likely to get a drubbing in UP and AP, and having made a mess of Karnataka, lost its base and ally in TN, in power by the narrowest of margins in Kerala, which means they will have less number of MPs in the next election, and opposition in power in most of the States, there is a good chance that they will be reduced to double digits in the next Lok Sabha. Before that they will be in serious trouble in the Rajya Sabha, where they will be in a minority.

Who will be the next PM of India? It looks more and more like one of the Regional Party head will lead the country with BJP support - most likely Nitish Kumar or even Jayalalitha, unless Narendra Modi decides to enter the National stage, which doesnt look likely at this stage. And this alliance may get the support of Mamata Banerjee or a resurgent Left (Mamata will make a mess of West Bengal as she has done with the Railways Ministry. Her track record as a minister is poor. She just do not possess the administrative skill of someone like Jayalalitha. In such a scenario, the people of West Bengal will revert back to the Left) or even Mayawati (who is sure to retain UP and become much stronger).

The next few years will see lot of realignment of forces in the country and could be quite interesting.

Business - Government vs the Landholder

2011-05-15T08:45:00.000+03:00

Globalization has not helped the Indian poor. This is evident from empirical data. In fact the concept of Globalization is being questioned after the economic meltdown in 2008. Even the champions of Globalization, the US and the rich EU countries, are looking inwards and tending to adopt protectionist policies. The Indian economy has been taken over by the big business, who in cohort with the Government, has looted the country and hit at the poor on the only thing they possess - land. What is happening in India is land grabbing of the first order. This is organized crime at its best. I fail to understand why Government should acquire land for billion dollor worth businessmen at a pittance. Government is not a real estate broker. These businessmen dont blink when they have to buy multi million dollar machinery from abroad or even million dollar yachts and private jets. But when it comes to paying market price for the land they want from the poor, they start talking about social benefits and run to the governments aid. The businessmen should negotiate directly with the landlords, agree to a price which could and should be above the market price. When the industrialists acquire a company, they do a valuation which is based on Discounted Cash Flow, taking the future cashflows in to account, and a premium over DCF. They should adopt a similar approach when they buy land. The land might be a factor input for the industrialist, but for the agriculturalist it is a recurring revenue generating asset, much like a business is to a businessman.

We need to have a national debate on the structure of the economy we should adopt. While we need industrialization, we have a problem of insufficient land to further this dream. We missed the bus on industrialization 3 decades ago. Maybe we should look at investing in LDCs, export raw materials from India along with technical labour and have the LDC as a manufacturing base. As long as we stick to the whole excercise in the realms of business, we wont be accused of colonisation. But we are not even thinking about alternate options of economic development. And therein lies the failure of our policy makers.

A Take on Assembly Elections

2011-05-14T09:05:00.000+03:00

The results of this round of Assembly elections, and the previous ones clearly indicate that the average voter is demanding Governance and accountability. While they accept a certain level of corruption, they are not prepared to accept those who loot the country.

The latest round of election results was a test case for the Congress and the UPA. The left secular brigade of the Congress has been brainwashing Sonia and Rahul (or the other way around), that the way to win elections is to indulge in populism, giving freebies and not to bother about development. This was the mantra used by Indira Gandhi to great effect in 1970s. But 2011 is not 1970. TV, Internet and Mobile has empowered the people with information. They are hearing and seeing how good the governance in other parts of the Country and compare it with theirs. If freebies can win election, DMK should have won hands down,because frankly they have really masterd the art of giving free color TVs, LPG Stoves, rice at Rs 2 etc and 100% of the people have availed this. But still they got routed.

Many attribute corruption and bad governance to DMKs rout. This is a convenient explanation and may not be true. While no one can deny that there was a mood against the DMK, the inherent Vote Share of the AIADMK front was higher to start with, with AIADMK having 32% and DMDK of Vijayakanth 10%. As against this the Congress vote share claim of 10% was an exaggeration. It was more like 5%. With DMKs 35 % core votes, cumulatively they were always playing catch up. This is what happened to NDA in 2004 and why UPA won in 2009. The alliance vote share was higher. The only debatable point is that the DMK-Congress front did not get any of the marginal votes - votes that are not normally dedicated to either parties.

In Kerala, CPM must be wondering 'if only we had not had the infighing between the CM and the Party'. The issues took up by VS Achuthanandan struck a chord in the minds of the people. It was dear to their hearts. VS is an old communist - a dying breed that understood the aspirations of the common man and the poor. Unlike Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, Pinarai Vijayan coterie, VS knows what people want and they see in him a leader who is willing to fight their battle. He did it when he was in the opposition and when he was a CM, but was shackled by the party. The LDF had done sterling development work that targetted the poorer 40% of the society - a category that is often neglected and paid lip service by the national parties. But still LDF lost because people expected /demanded more development. But there is no disgrace in this defeat.

For Congress, these results are a huge set back. In Calcutta, Mamata dont need them any more. Nor is she keen on continuing in the centre,as she doesnt want another power centre in the Trinamool in Delhi. She will pull out at the first opportunity. DMK wanted Congress in TN as they were depending on the outside support of Congress in the State. This is not true anymore. If Congress continue to humiliate DMK and fail to protect Kanimozhi or Rajathi Ammal from the law, then they will see no benefit in continuing at the Centre. Kerala has shown that people are not enthused by Congress and Jagan smashed them in AP. Even in Karnataka, they lost all the 3 bye elections to the beleagured Yeduriappa. With Manmohans image in tatters, and Rahul Gandhi proving to be more of a liability (all the cadidates he chose personally and campaigned for lost spectacularly in Kerala and TN) this could be the beginning of the end for Congress.

Dont follow advice,traditions blindly...................

2011-05-10T09:53:00.001+03:00

I had blogged about how one should acquire knowledge.

Achaaryaath paadam aadatthe

Paadam sishya swamedhayaa

Paadam sa brahmachaaribhya

Sesham kaala kramena cha

This is from smruthies. A loose translation is as follows,

A person can get one quarter of knowledge from Achaarya – the teacher, Another quarter by analyzing self,

One quarter by discussing with others and the last quarter during the process of living by method -addition, deletion, correction, and modification of already known aachaaraas or new aachaaraas.

Aacharaas have to be followed based on their merits available from self experience. One should not follow an aacharaa just because a teacher or elder taught you without giving a reason for it.

I have seen numerous cases of people blindly following a tradition or aachara or belief just because they were told to by elders and they never questioned why it has to be done.

I still recall many in Tamil Nadu not venturing out to do anything on Ashtami and Navami without ever knowing why. I have seen people look at the watch to move to exactly 9 am on Monday so that they can leave the house as the inauspicious Rahukalam (7.30 -9 am on Mondays) gets over by then, without realizing the rider -Rahukalam 7.30-9 am is applicable only when the day has 12 hours, sun rises at 6 am and sets at 6 pm. The actual Rahukalam has to be adjusted pro rata depending on the actual time of sun rise and the number of hours in a day. For example, if the sun rises at 6.30 am and sets at 5.30 pm (as can happen during winter), then the Rahukalam for monday will be from 7.52 am - 9.14 am!!!

So dont follow advice, traditions blindly. Find out the real reasons and meaning of each tradition/aacharas by questioning, form your own opinion and then act accordingly.

What is in the news................................

2011-05-09T18:56:00.000+03:00

"We did not invite Osama to Pak": Gilani - Nope. (You didn't invite Osama, but when he came uninvited, you offered him food, shelter, assistance and everything else!!)

The Supreme Court on Monday put a stay on the Allahabad high court order partitioning the disputed land in Ayodhya into three parts. The SC said it was "something strange" on the Allahabad high court's part to order partitioning of the disputed land at Ayodhya as no party had sought it. The partition of disputed land has "opened a litany of litigation", it said.- (Predictable. SC wants the issue to prolong for another three decades. Rightly or wrongly, Allahabad HC gave a verdict that was accepted by a tense country. The judgement may be legally not strong, but had lot of commonsense. But then commonsense and our legal system are quite divorced. Let the drama continue and country burn for another 30 years)

"We are playing together for Mumbai. He is a great guy and is enjoying his moment," Harbhajan said about Symonds. When Harbhajan was asked about the newspaper report, he said, "We have always been friends. Thanks to all of you (media) for making it such a big news."- ( Birds of a feather ............... or is it 'Monkeys' (oops sorry Ma........ki..) of the same type flocking together?)

Rendamoozham

2011-05-05T10:12:00.001+03:00

I was pleasantly surprised to read the news that the wonderful malayalam book 'Rendam Oozaham' written by the much respected M T Vasudevan Nair in 1983 is being made into a film.

It has been one of the books that has had a profound influence on my thinking. I was in the final year of my Under Graduation program, when the book hit the stands, and was an immediate best seller.

The book is about the Bheeman, the second of the Pandavas. The narration is a different take on Maharbharatha, as seen through the eyes of Bheema, who, as fate would have it, had to play second fiddle throughout his life - and hence the title ' Rendam oozham' or Second Turn.

Bheema was second in the line to become the King, but was under the shadow of Yudhishtira, considered to be the upholder of Dharma. Bheema was not less intelligent, but Yudhishtira always treated him as good only for physical valour, but deficient in thinking, much to Bheemas chagrin. Likewise he loses out to Arjuna in his quest to get Panchalis affection, who was married to all the 5 brothers. Panchali always resented Bheema, looked up at him as uncouth but prefered Arjuna. Bheemas valour knows no bounds, but it is always Arjuna who gets the credit. Thus throughout his life, Bheema came second best - An amazing take on the great epic.

But what impressed me most was the demystifying of the Mahabharatha by giving logical explanation to many events and acts considered superhuman. Thus we have the spear given to Karna by Lord Indra, as a quid pro quo for removing his kavacha and kundala with a proviso that it can be used only once, depicted as a spear that can be launched from a mechanical gadget on a one time basis, but that cannot be refitted with another spear. Logical explanations such as this, helped me and people of my genre to get explanations for the unexplainable in the epic. The book made us think out of the box. The brilliant drawings of Artist Namboothiri depicting the various characters added to the enjoyment of the book.

And the reader would share the anguish of the Second best, as we all could identify with Bheeman, for we had been second best many a time in our life.

Rendam Oozham gave a more humane and plausible view of Mahabharatha and for that I am thankful to MT, a writer whom I admire.

Now let us await the film, which is likely to be multilingual, thus benefitting even the audience in other parts of the world.

'Deflated' Air India

2011-05-01T09:09:00.000+03:00

The reason for Government entering a business mainly has to do with either disinterest and lack of investing capacity of the private sector, or to serve a social cause to make available essential commodities/services to the poor. And the Government makes the investment using tax payer's money.

By that account, Indian Government has no business continuing to run Air India. The Airline is a disaster, a monument to mismanagement, hated by all Indians, whome it is supposed to serve, for poor service and discriminatory treatment, and a drain on exchequer. Today, the Private Sector is more than willing to invest in the ever growing air traffic sector, and the sector anyway do not come under the category of essential commodities/services that benefit the poor. Only the upper middle class, rich, business people, governmnet servants, politicians and airline staff and family use the flights, and of course the tourists and NRIs.

Talking of Airline Staff, one fails to understand why the Airline allows this nonsense,

According to Air India, an employee’s family, entitled to travel free with him/her, includes: spouse, children, step-children, parents, brothers, sisters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law and even grandchildren up to 12 years. Even those who have retired are entitled to passages.This has led to a situation where former Air India employees, currently employed with private airlines, avail passages on Air India!!!!

This benefit to employees who are paid one of the highest emoluments in the Country!!. This is the same Government that baulks at releasing the overflowing food grains to the needy poor, despite an instruction from the Supreme Court to do so. The privileges are not the only reason why the Airline is in trouble. Ministerial interference, poor planning of routes to favour private airlines, sheer incompetent management, horrible attitude of the employees and absolute lack of customer care are some of the others. The Airline is in red by about Rs 18,000 crores and at the rate they are losing money, all the money recovered from the 2G scam may be required to bail them out. Even then, the Airline may not turn the corner.

Take those last few steps

2011-04-27T12:15:00.000+03:00

It is amazing how just a couple of sentences spoken long long ago stays in your memory.

I was crippled with a herniated disc when I was in my early 20s and was bed ridden. The pain was excruciating and I couldnt even turn around in the bed, forget standing up (We take so many things for granted - like our ability to stand up, walk, run. I appreciated the value of all those when I was bed ridden, unable even to stand up, all those years ago).

My good family doctor refered me to an Orthopaedician in Coimbatore. Dr.M V Daniel had headed the Ortho department in CMC Vellore and since his retirement was doing private practice in Coimbatore. His treatment was part psychological and part physiological, with emphasis on the former. Courteous to a fault, I learned Customer Relationship Management from him (that is for another post).

He admitted me in his clinic, and in a few days I started walking again, but with a list to the left side and in pain. One day, he called me from the Verandah of the Clinic, asked me to come out of the room. He then told me to walk the length of the long verandah. I did so but with difficulty. When I was about 5 steps away from the end of the Verandah, I turned and returned to where the good Doctor was standing.

He looked at me with searching eyes and told "I am unhappy you did not take those last 5 steps, which you could have, but decided to return not attaining your goal. This is a flaw in your character. I hope you will correct yourself"

That statement stuck my heart like a sharp arrow. I was always very good at commencing things, but had a bad habit of not seeing it to logical conclusion. But since that fateful day, I made a conscious effort to change myself, and today I take every single issue, small or big to the logical conclusion.

49 (O)

2011-04-25T10:51:00.000+03:00

A simple amendment to The Representation of the People Act should cure most of the ills plaguing our Electoral system.

First, dispense away with this first past the post principle, where a guy who gets say 28% of the popular vote (which means 72% have rejected him!!!) gets to become the MP or MLA, only because the second best candidate got 27% of the votes. The winning candidate should get at least 51% of the votes to get elected. If this means having two rounds of elections, then so be it. The second round can be held after eliminating all the candidates from the third place down, and as a straight shoot out between the top two. With EVMs, this should not be difficult. The first round can be held at least two months prior to the final round.

Second, educate the electorate on the 49(O) option available to them. This is an interesting option, though not widely known. Instead of staying at home and not voting, a Voter can go to the Polling Station, and then decide not to cast his vote, and decide to record this fact. Though the original purpose of this clause is to prevent someone from misusing the vote. But this can be a powerful tool as it tackles one of the major problems that face the voter - having to choose between two rotten candidates. Imagine a scenario where majority of the voters excercise the 49(O) option!!. This will mean the political parties having to withdraw undesirable candidates and give the electorate clean, acceptable candidates!!!

Worth a try, isn't it?

PMs non-starter peace initiative

2011-04-24T08:54:00.000+03:00

It looks like our PM has been on a back door diplomacy with Pakistan Army Chief Kayani for the past 10 months. Manmohan Singh has failed spectacularly as a PM on all fronts, economic, governance, in tackling corruption and overall is being held in contempt by the politicians and the officialdom. Even the middle class that supported him is wary of him. Now during the last one year of his reign (surely he will resign in time to contest in the next Presidential Election in 2012), he sees peace with Pakistan and the ensuing Nobel Prize as his only option to leave a lasting legacy. But knowing Pakistan, and the saner elements in the Indian officialdom, he is doomed to fail. On the issue of making peace with Pakistan, even those senior advisors in the PMO dont see eye to eye with MMS, and the people of the Country whom the PM is supposed to represent dont want peace with Pakistan at any cost, and definitely not at the cost of India's self esteem. We are paying a heavy price for electing a nincompoop as our PM, and I just hope the PM doesnt succeed in his half witted attempts to make an illusionary peace with Pakistan.

The Education Mess

2011-04-20T10:16:00.000+03:00

Kapil Sibal started of with a missionaries zeal when he took over as the Cabinet Minister for Human Resource Development which handles Education in India. But two years into the job, nothing has happened and the rotten system remains the same. With Sibal more interested in protecting the corrupt like Raja, and throwing mud on anti-corruption activists, at Sonia Gandhis behest, the status quo is mainitained in the Education sector and last heard the minister was talking about "political parties, civil society and media must reach a consensus for formulation of policies to take forward higher education in the country", which actually means he has no clue as to what is to be done, and he has no intention of doing anything. Some of his comments yesterday(with my thoughts on it in brackets) are given below,

"Our country cannot make progress without providing education to its youths, particularly at the university level and for this political parties, civil society and the media need to rise beyond 'politics' for formulation of the national higher education policy" ( The biggest stumbling block to progress in education is the Congress party itself. It has ruled the country for nearly 80% of the time since independence, and year after year, it has taken care to starve the sector of adequate funds. Also, it has packed the policy making academicia with left leaning pseudo secular 'so called liberals', who have blindly aped the Western Education system without even adapting it to Indian situation and have totally ignored the tremendous wealth of knowledge in our Vedas and upanishads. In fact some of the modern scientific concepts were in existence centuries ago in India)

"There was a serious need to promote higher education in the country given the fact that the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in the universities in the country stood at only 14 per cent as against a minimum of 50 per cent GER in the developed countries" (This malady is known to all decades ago. Our higher education is in shambles with hardly any emphasis on quality. What prevents the Ministry from setting up exclusive higher education oriented quality Universities that concentrates only on PG and Doctoral programs?)

"It was only by ensuring improvement in the GER in the universities that a country can produce intellectual property and generate the real wealth" (Why the GER is low is because of the reasons mentioned above. The higher education scenario in India is not intellectually stimulating and the top Indian students had been migrating to US for decades now, with Government turning a blind eye to this)

The country needs 40,000 to 45,000 colleges in 2020 as against 26,000 colleges at present and 1000 universities by 2020 against 700 universities at present if it wants to treble the GER from the present figure of 15 million to 45 million by that period (What we need is not quantity, but quality. We made a mess of our education system by stressing on quantity over quality in the UG level to such an extend that most Engineers are unemployable, skillwise)

He said it was not possible on the part of the Centre to fund the required infrastructure for higher education given the resources at its disposal, Sibal also advocated public-private partnership in this sector (Government does not have money for Education alone!! Recover some of the loot, repatriate the money stashed in Swiss Banks and you will have enough to fund the infrastructure development ten times over. Also the private sector teachers, lecturers are paid poorly, and the teaching profession do not attract talent. What prevents the Government from linking major projects given to industrialists with a rider to start a world class university as a pre condition for getting the contract?)

He expressed concern at the shortage of teaching staff in the universities and colleges and said the varsities should run post-graduate and doctoral courses to produce teachers (See comment above. Pay pittance and you get trash. Pay well and you get the best. Simple philosophy)

Sibal was also concerned with lack of quality education in certain universities and colleges in the country and said in order to address the issue, the HRD ministry has created a National Knowledge Network (NKN) under which the students of a particular university can attend classes in another university or college on the internet. (Does it exist? What is the % of utilization? I bet it is not even 1%. 99% of our colleges dont even have projectors nor do they use slides. Then where is the question of attending classes on the net?)

Complicating a simple system

2011-04-18T10:44:00.000+03:00

Any change to a system should lead to greater efficiency and speedier solutions. But what if the change leads to worsening of the system?

Take the case of Electronic Voting Machines in the elections. The EVMs were supposed to speed up the election process. And one of its major advantage was its ability to announce the result, technically, within a couple of hours of the last vote being polled. As such, with elections in TN and Kerala over on April 13th, one would have expected the result to be announced within a few hours. Heck! The results were being announced within a day in the good old days when the paper ballot was being used.

But our Election Commission wont have anything of it. They have complicated a simple system (a trade mark Indian trait), clubbed elections of 5 states, spread it over 5 months, and announced that counting will start only after all the elections are over. I fail to understand how the results of Kerala will affect the West Bengal Assembly Elections. I can understand it influencing in a Parliament election, but frankly Kerala elections wont even affect the results of the neighbouring TN, leave alone WB. The surprising part is that, no one is raising their voice against the stupidity of the Election Commission.There is another flip side to this. The people have voted one way or other, and in some cases the incumbent party in power would have been shown the door by the voters. But the party and its CM continues to rule for a further period of one month, during which they can do lot of damage. Imagine DMK knowing through its own exit polls that they may lose. They can use the one month period to destroy all evidence of wrong doing and corruption, as they are still in power. The ministers can also take any decisions as they deem fit, as they are not covered by the election commission guidelines as the polls are over!! Imagine how much damage they can do by favouring their cronies!!!

Either Election Commission should conduct the polls within a span of 3-4 days or they should allow separate counting of votes.

P.S : I heard that the political parties in TN have deployed their party cadres to keep a vigil on the EVMs to avoid them being 'tampered'!!! Gosh! which era are they living in!!!! The 'tampering' of EVM can be done by tinkering with the software 'much before' the first vote is cast. How it is done is by writing a program that will ensure all the 3rd, 5th, 7th , 9th vote cast will automatically be logged against a particular party. What can a physical vigil do to prevent this??People are so naive.

Doing things 'Correctly Wrongly'

2011-04-16T11:34:00.000+03:00

It is bad enough that we have a Prime Minister who is not elected directly by the people. It is well known that MMS has never won even a Municipal election. He contested only once and got beaten royally in Delhi. He validated his PM post by getting elected to Rajya Sabha from Assam, of all places. The Rajya Sabha was designed to give proportional representation to the people of a State, and in spirit the RS seat should go to a local. MMS has falsified records to show he stays in Assam, when he has never done so, and got elected twice from Assam.

But the PM of our Great Democracy doesn't seem to think much of democracy nor about his responsibility as a citizen of this democracy. He didn't cast his vote in the recently concluded Assam bye election, where he is a registered voter!!!!.

Do we need any more evidence to 'prove' the 'democratic credentials' of the PM of this biggest democracy in the world?

Really, our PM has to have his head examined or change his advisors. That is assuming he can't think for himself.

I used to remark of an acquaintance of mine - "He does everything correctly wrongly"

This is true of MMS.

Invest in Mixie and Grinder Companies!!!

2011-04-14T10:14:00.000+03:00

Budhirakshasan looked exhausted after a gruelling day monitoring the polling in Tamil Nadu.

"BR. What news from the ground level?"

"Swamy, do you know that the hottest selling book in Tamil Nadu is 'Das Kapital'?

"What the heck has Dravidian parties got to do with Communism?"

"They are the true communists. They have literally taken to heart the concept of equitable distribution of loot (err...sorry 'wealth')"

"umm"

"Communism calls for taking money from the rich and distributing amongst the poor. DMK took money from the rich industrialists by way of kick backs and during election time distributed as cash to the tune of Rs 5000 per voter. If that is not equitable distribution of wealth, then what is?"

"You have a point BR"

"And they are also ensured of the Minority community votes"

This baffled me "eh?"

"The minority community has more voter per family, thanks to the higher birth rate in the community. Imagine a family of 8 voters getting Rs 40,000, while a small majority community family of 3 gets only Rs 15,000. Now even Arundhati Roy or Teesta Setalvad can't accuse the politicians of discriminating against the minorities"

"That is an interesting angle"

"There is only one hitch"

"???"

"Latest census figures show that Tamil Nadu has one of the best records on population control, second only to Kerala. But now the people have an incentive to be more reproductive"

"Bigger the family, better"

"By the way, if you are into stock market, invest in Mixie or Grinder companies. You will hit a jackpot post elections. These companies might soon be raising more capital to fund their expansion plans!!!!"

Proposed Constitutional Amendment

2011-04-10T07:10:00.000+03:00

My friend Budhirakshasan informed me that a Constitutional Amendment of the Third Schedule of the Constitution of India is to be introduced in the Winter Session of the Parliament. It is expected that the Amendment will be passed unanimously. It is also felt that the Amendment is necessary to keep in line with the changes that have taken place in the political and governance scenario.

If you are wondering what it pertains to, then it is about changing the wordings of the oath of office taken by the Ministers of the Union Council of Ministers.

The current clause is as follows,

THIRD SCHEDULE

[Articles 75(4), 99, 124(6), 148(2), 164(3), 188 and 2191

Forms of Oaths or Affirmations

I. Form of oath of office for a Minister for the Union :

I, Mr./Ms....................................., do swear in the name of God that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge my duties as a Minister for the Union and that I will do right to all manner of people in accordance with the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.

The proposed amendment is as follows,

I, Mr./Ms....................................., do swear in the name of God that I will bear true faith and allegiance to myself, my family, my friends, my business cronies, people who funded my election/party against the law established, that I will uphold their best interests at all time, that I will unfaithfully and unconscientiously discharge my duties as a Minister for the Union and that I will do wrong to all manner of people in violation of the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, but with affection or ill-will.

I told you so....................

2011-04-09T09:01:00.000+03:00

I am not one of those who say 'I told you so'.

But in the case of Anna Hazare fast, I have to.

I am still skeptical about the whole issue. Read some excepts from the media below,

A senior government functionary conceded that the manner in which the PM handled the issue and the government's ineffectiveness in nipping the entire movement in the bud speaks volumes for the mismanagement within the government.

Till as late as Thursday night, the government was hopeful that the issue would be sidetracked once the Indian Premier League started, according to a senior functionary in the Prime Minister's Office.

Since Sonia Gandhi's public appeal to Hazare on Thursday to end his fast, there has been a flurry of political activity, with the Congress president calling a meeting of the core committee on Friday morning before she left for Assam.

So, once again, PM Manmohan Singh has mishandled an issue and the Queen has intervened to do the damage control. How many times have we seen this drama being enacted.

There are many unanswered questions,

The panel contains 50% from the Government and 50% from the Civil Society. Fair enough. But why is it that no one from the Opposition Parties is in the panel? Why did the Government call an all party meeting before announcing the deal? Surely, the Government cannot hope to pass the bill without the Opposition support in both the Houses of Parliament.

There is this funny statement that Government thought an agitation on Corruption will die down once IPL starts. I dont believe it, but I dread to think of the implications if that were to be true. How juveline!

It is also amusing to see Rahul Gandhi going underground when the agitation was on. He was in the forefront during the IPL later stages. Doesnt tell much about the priorities of the PM in waiting.

My other worry is that the Scams like 2G, CWG, Adarsh Housing etc will be pushed under the carpet now, with Government taking the moral high ground that they are enacting an act against corruption.

While 2G Scam is being monitored by Supreme Court, it is noteworthy that the notional loss to exchequer as per the Charge Sheet is around 40,000 crores and not 1.76 lakhs crore. There is a huge discrepency here. The Government has been dragging its feet on the CWG Scam as it involves only Congressmen. The Shinglu committee report that indicted Delhi CM Sheila Dixit , Lt General and Kalmadi is buried for now. Kalmadi has not even been arrested. No effort has been made to chase the money trail. Only some poor third level bureaucrats have been taken into custody so far. The probe will reach no where. And everyone has already forgotten the Adarsh Scam.

Enacting a Lok Pal bill with teeth is to prevent future scams, but what about the current mega scams?

Will the culprits be brought to justice? Why is there no mass movements against these Scams?