China and India - Apple and Orange

This week China got its new leader selected (read chosen). Though everybody is talking how challenging the
term will be for Mr. Xi, how it has become much better than India in a few years in terms of growth and how
Mr. Hu has made China the biggest Asian Economy, in my opinion it is never too challenging for a country like China. In a country which has a single leader and can impose any decision he or she takes without needing anyone's approval, it becomes lot easier than a country like India. People also talk about how China has moved so much faster than India and India can't even imagine to catch it with its problems like infrastructure, red tape, low human development indices etc. I really want to pose some questions to those people. One is how easy is it for a country like India to implement any decision which is floated by its ruling party, let alone the leader? Then,How can we be so sure about the red tapism in China? Recently the "Doing Business Report" said that India is even below many developing countries. In Human Development Index India has ranked low. I am not saying India has nothing to improve and it is at its best. My point is that India is an open country, more open than many democracies. Media is quite open and every information which anyone knows, ends up with everyone. From what I have heard and read, China blocks any information from internet which it thinks can threaten its economy (read, leaders) and the situation of people in China, especially in manufacturing sector is quite bad (remember, China is mostly manufacturing based economy). So, I don’t quite understand how China scores better than India on so many fronts keeping in mind the opaqueness its economy and people have. There are no doubt that there are multiple benefits of having a single leader but the benefits of democracy for its people at large cannot be argued.
Comparing India with China is like comparing apple with oranges. Though both are fruits and you can discuss which one will be better for which condition, it is difficult to compare the growth and people.

RIL - Risk or Benefit?

The new "revelation" by Arvind Kejriwal that Congress and BJP both work for RIL and have given the organization considerable benefits. Two arguments are given for the same. One is that, RIL is not producing 80 Million Metric Standard Cubic Metre Per Day [mmscmd] gas as per the agreement. The second is that the price for gas was increased from initially decided $2.4 per Million Metric British Thermal Units to $4.25. Though there have been some differences from what was initially decided with RIL there are multiple issues when it comes to a project like gas exploration. It is high risk, long gestation period and very high fixed/sunk cost activity. Such projects are high risk not only in terms of manpower usage but also that after years of investment and exploration, one may not find substantial amount of natural gas. Such risks are carried by the exploration firm and would not be compensated when such thing happens. Not that KG Basin is successful, obviously RIL would be earning a lot of money at such prices decided. But it is also true that a private firm has not decided to become part of such work for philanthropic purposes and expects high gains. Also, high gains come with high risks and someone who has taken risks should be compensated with high returns (as the risk-return theorem says). Asking RIL to sell the gas at very low price would not make any sense because it is RIL which has incurred the costs and taken risks. I am not saying that KG Basin has become RIL's property now and it can charge the any amount that it wants to but should be properly compensated for the risk and costs incurred.

Inertia to spend more money affecting reforms in India?

The UPA Govt is on reforms spree. The LPG and diesel prices, FDI in retail, insurance etc etc. It was long expected and a welcome step. Business Houses and bourses took it very positively day it was announced. The middle class has had mix response. Some people were happy that Govt has taken positive steps for the economy. Some have been critical on the fact that already burdened under high inflation the high prices of LPG (also limiting number of subsidized cylinders to 6 per family) and diesel will be a big pressure on them. People who have their retails shops are also threaten with opening up on FDI in retail.
There are 2 category affected from these reforms. For FDI reforms, one , there are people who are only consumers and the others who are consumers as well as sellers (shop owners). Then in the other category, for LPG and diesel reforms, there are those who are poor and really would be highly affected or would suffer. Then there is middle class and upper middle class who have this habit of living in this subsidized world and though can afford these changes but are not mentally prepared.
In the first category, consumers welcome the retail opening up and sellers are opposed to it. Obviously there are impacts to these mom and pop stores because of FDI in retail. People have more options, they are choosing from shops and buying has increased and money is been divided between different sellers. but saying that such steps would stop the charm of local sellers and brands is baseless. Taking an example of Delhi, the markets of Chandani Chowk for clothes, Khari Bawli for masalas, markets of Lajpat and Sarojini Nagar, Connaught Place and many other wholesale markets are still very famous. The idea is to give consumer something extra in design or less in prices.
For the second category, as already mentioned, as people those who can afford but have the habit of living in subsidised world, easy prices, not getting exposed to world prices, we have assumed it to be our right and we dont want to move to higher prices, No matter how much we talk and discuss that there are no reforms, Govt. is not working etc etc.
I am not sure how much of India's population is financially ready for these changes but we sure are not mentally ready for this and we never will be, until imposed upon us.

Rahul Gandhi - Will he ever be ready?

Once again Rahul Gandhi has decided not to play an active part in the politics and current ruling party. After much discussion and expectation, he has said that he would work for the betterment of the party overall and not take any "minister" position. there can be three ways to look at it. Either Rahul Gandhi thinks that he is contributing more to the party as his current role. Or he is afraid to play active part in politics. Or he wants to delay his entry to politics for some reason, The first scenario, in my point of view is quite unlikely as his earlier work to manage the party and improve its image has not worked the way he has expected. So probably he has some new strategies in mind which he thinks are going to work and are better than the old ones.
The second scenario is I think possible as after the death of Rajiv Gandhi, none of the Gandhi family has accepted any ministerial position. Or probably Rahul himself is not interested in doing this work.
In the third scenario, which is most expected may be Rahul wants to try each of his management technique before he jumps into politics. but I think all the image cleaning or improvement in the work  which he intends to do can be done in a better way if he himself play part in some ministry. If Rahul himself plays a ministers role there will be multiple benefits. One, will get exposed to real "politics" that a politician has to face. Two, if he does well, he can improve his party's image and three, he can prepare himself for the big role that he is expected to play in future for UPA.
The only thing that I want to ask Rahul Gandhi is ready to play the role or if he ever will?

Innocent or Brazen!

These days every other politician is been named in some corruption charge. It started with India Against Corruption (IAC)'s charges against UPA Govt. Ministers, going to BJP and then it backfired on them. Now every Tom, Dick and Harry in politics has a corruption charge in his/her kitty. and whats more is that every politician has got this favorite dialogue "If charges are proved, I shall quit". First Gadhkari and now this Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, MoS in Kolkata. Sometimes I wonder if they all know that proving of charges is going to take enough time and during which we can easily serve, so a lot more corruption, accumulate more wealth and may be if investigation goes against me, I can easily use some money out of this to save my soul.
Its not just about how brazen these politicians have become, who are involved in such petty things, it also how slow our judicial work (our courts) and investigation work (the CBI!!) has become. Its the mixture of all this that has reduced the credibility of all the politicians (good or bad) and confidence of people in our chosen parties!

Walk the talk!

The visit of British High Commissioner, James Bevan to Gujarat is a little unexpected. For the last 10 years they had banned Gujarat and the CM, his visits and their investments for the state, since their 4 citizens were killed in the 2002 riots. Though it is obviously difficult for a country (which actually itself is surrounded all over from economic problems) to ignore a state like Gujarat (which is attracting a lot of investments due to its high rate of growth in most of the sectors), but the way the 2002 riots have been ignored or not worked properly on, ideally it did not make any sense to lift the ban and go ahead with them.
I am not a judge here or a person who has got any insights on how much involvement Mr. Modi actually had in the communal riots but, if he had, isn't it so easy for a person to get away with  whatever he has done, however heinous it might be?
The bans by some big nations on any country or state for anything bad or wrong it has done are imposed to show how the actions by some particular state/nation are condemned strongly. If in the period of 10 years any influential country can lift the ban from any nation(without having valid reasons to do it), then how can we expect nations like Israel or Sudan or Iran to change their positions. Or how can we ensure Assad will do what is expected!
I feel that countries should be more responsible in  words and  actions.

Toilets in all schools - Is that enough?

The Supreme Court has ordered all schools to have toilets within 6 months of time. Though it its definitely a welcome attempt, I have realized (from my experience) it does not work to its fullest of intention.
The Govt. of India scheme known as "Nirmal Gram Puraskar" wherein all villages get a monetary award who are able to maintain cleanliness in the village including proper sanitation facilities in households, schools, anganwadi centres and other public buildings. Though monetary benefit makes them work towards the cleanliness and sanitation, the toilet facilities are still not proper. Even though toilets are constructed, they lack the water facility and sewage systems. Due to all this the students are not able to use these facilities and are forced to go outside.

SC's order is very important but it is also important to see how well it is being implemented and is actually useful, not just to comply with the orders.

Please be responsible

Though it is yet to be confirmed whether Sonia Gandhi's medical expenditure is spent from exchequers money but it may not come as a surprise if it were true. Sonia Gandhi is head of the ruling party and it is very well possible that that members (or may be Sonia Gandhi herself) assumed that all the money for her surgery or medication should come from people's money. I am sure its not just Sonia Gandhi but many other politicians or senior party members (by senior I mean those who are powerful or those who are to be pleased within a party) who are using exchequers money
It is a valid point raised by the journalist in picture. But now he is backing out from the authenticity of such claim. either he is afraid to accept the fact or he is just one of the irresponsible journalists, who just publish articles for the sake of it and not to uncover the truth. The Editor of the magazine has also shamefully said that many papers have published the story and why is his paper being discussed as if indirectly saying "I just published it because it was already published in so and so paper and I have no information or source of my own".
Mr. Modi on the other hand, has also quoted something from a newspaper, for which he had no surety of authenticity. and he has also said that if proven wrong he would apologise even though he is no proof of what he has claimed.
In this episode there are so many irresponsible parties who do not understand what they have claimed. I don't know who is right or wrong but one thing I know for sure, please people do not misuse your position.

Are we ready for a no corruption society?

Team Anna has finally decided to float their party. Though it is good news that people who have been fighting against corruption have finally decided to fight from within. There are many view points as to whether the team will actually deliver what it has been asking for, for many months. There is also skepticism as to whether the team will actually come to power.

 The Lokpal Bill that Team Anna is talking about has been much discussed in the Parliament and different people have different opinion about it. Not only the Govt. officials but many other people have problems related to the bill. As Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy has pointed out “you could say that the Maoists and the Jan Lokpal Bill have one thing in common – they both seek the overthrow of the Indian State", and "While his means may be Gandhian, Anna Hazare's demands are certainly not. Contrary to Gandhiji's ideas about the decentralization of power, the Jan Lokpal Bill is a draconian, anti-corruption law, in which a panel of carefully chosen people will administer a giant bureaucracy”.  Though people might say a lot of good or bad things about Jan Lokpal Bill, it is here to stay.

But all this is important only when we realize what they are pitching for and what if, they really deliver what have been asking for. Let us be true to ourselves and ask “Are we ready for a no corruption society?” Are we not creating and indulging into corruption in everyday’s life? How many of us take bills from the chemist to save the sales tax? And how many of those chemists are paying that VAT to the Govt. The big chunk of traders in Delhi are not paying their sales taxes properly and saving themselves crore and crores of money. The bribes offered in offices, hospitals and courts to get your work done earlier than it ideally should be. This was just an example. There are numerous cases of such things happening in our daily life and we might need to understand that if all this said above, actually happens not just politicians and sarkari babus but we all have to improve ourselves. We have to understand, that corruption happening at the sarkari level is not just done by politicians but people like us. I just want to say that now if we really want to take this thing forward and if those of us who have supported Team Anna, lets try and be corruption free at individual level.

The ultimate solution to power problems

The North India is time and again facing power related issues and this time it has been quite large with grids failing. Though the government is working on the grid failure, the ultimate problem lies in finding the alternate solution to the problem. The traditional sources of power have now become incapable of increasing energy requirements of the country. Though problems also lie in selling the electricity and politically correct prices due to which government electricity firms are making losses. One solution discussed widely is the privatization of transmission of electricity, which is though a feasible solution but not long term.
I think its time we move to greener energy. By green energy I am not going to talk about something which is good in black and white and not possible in near future. What I am talking about is Solar Energy. Though it is very common in north India for firms to have solar panels, I have seen houses with Solar Panel in South India. Major energy usage in most of the states is industrial but if the government can subsidies solar panel rather than electricity for households, it will ease a lot of pressure on energy demand.

A country like India, which in most of its parts has high incidence of solar rays, it becomes a long term investment to work in the area of solar energy. It can be made mandatory for most of the firms (meeting some specific criteria) to install solar panels. I, as a household entity would very much like to invest in solar panel which not only ensures my regular energy supply but also reduce my electricity bill.

Team Anna - Whether the intended will be achieved?

It has already been 2 days since Team Anna started its Anshan against
corruption. Team Anna in the past, had another Anshan for the Lokpal Bill
wherein government assured that the bill will be passed in time. Though it was
introduced in the parliament and we heard and read so much about it nothing
substantial happened. This time again Anna Hazare is on indefinite fast and
government seems not at all bothered about the same. We can't blame them,
even janta this time is not worried about corruption. It is no doubt commendable,
that Team Anna is doing all this for the country and against corruption but it
cannot also be ruled out that government has its own handicaps while trying to
pass this bill. As Ambika Soni has rightly mentioned that a bill cannot be passed
in 4 days and resorting to such measure equals blackmail. It is very difficult for
a coalition government to pass a bill by keeping all parties happy. It has been
the case with most of the bills presented in the Parliament in the last one year.
It is not to say that all people within government are ready to pass every bill
presented. Team Anna already gave a lot of time to the government. to get this
bill passed but now that nothing has happened it is also correct on his part to
take such extreme measures. For Team Anna such “blackmail” is not only for
the ruling party but for all parties involved in the process. All parties while playing
this game should also understand that the bill should be sincerely presented and
discussed in the Parliament.

My worry is only one. Team Anna and general public involved (whoever is
doing it with right intentions) are working too hard to get this bill passed. The
government has its own limitations and in between all this, the situation has
become a child’s play for everyone watching. I wonder whether the intended will ever be achieved.

Harry Potter and the motivating author!

It been almost 3 years since I finished reading my last Harry Potter and I have never appreciated a pure fiction more than this. Not only as everyone always says about Harry Potter books that it has taken magic to a new level. I always feel so motivated after watching this movie or reading the book. For me it has been a motivating story. If you closely see what the characters of the story, especially the main characters have been through, how they come out of the things you feel your life to be too small and too easy and ofcourse the writer J K Rowling, her every act, every part of the story is so logical. sometimes I just find myself appreciating how good she is. How clear her thinking process is. She has shown every relation, every emotion and every incident so clearly as if its hers. I really look forward to more of her work and I want to thank her for writing such beautiful thing and I m glad I read it!

Organising Games - Overrated!!

Olympics are here and so are the issues related to it. I have been reading many articles on mismanagement, infrastructural issues and athletes facing problems. I was forced to think of the time, when Delhi organized the Commonwealth Games and there was so much clamor. It was not just from outside but skepticism was inside - within us. Most of the people I know have these words to say - India can never come out of this disease called corruption, It can never organize something properly, it is going to be a shameful event for us.
I am not saying that issues that London has or is facing are same as what Delhi had faced but I think that while organising such events, there are bound to be some kind of mistakes. Many papers mention that there might be proper preparation from London's behalf but their people are not briefed properly. The flag issue with North Korea shows the same. Apart from this, it is the third time London is organising Olympics and that too after 64 years whereas It was the first major event for India.
It is important to be aware of the problems that one can face during such events but it is also important to celebrate and praise what a country has achieved.
The article is for those people who put their heart and soul for the best of the events including the Commonwealth and Olympics!

Another Afghanistan?

It has been said that it is easier to take someone's benefit in their weak moments. Al-Qaeda is exactly doing the same with Syrians and though we all talk so much about Syrian people and their sacrifices, we have closed our eyes towards what really is happening. The "Jehad" word comes from fighting for what is right and I suppose initially when it started in Pakistan and Afghanistan, it was actually for right reasons. But now that Syrian people fighting for what is theirs, they have become easy targets for such terrorist organisations. Its been more than a year since Syrian people are fighting for freedom and nothing has happened. The angst among people have caused hundreds of people to die and here we are, oblivion to what is happening. I Just hope Syria does not become another Afghanistan!