Sleepless in New Delhi...!

20 Seconds read: Star- struck

2012-01-31T12:12:00.000-08:00

Once in my childhood Maa (mother) slapped me for playing evil. I was sad and started looking towards stars. "I was one of those stars," so I believed. One of my cousin had died few days back and whenever I asked Mom, where she has gone. She uses to raise her finger towards a star. Loadstar…!

Today is exactly 25-years since she's a star, a rockstar and me the mortal.

Omita knows it better

2012-01-30T05:36:00.000-08:00

How a 73 batch IIS officer has emerged as India's most powerful bureaucrat

I have been twice to the Finance Ministry. First in 2004 when I was still trained as a journalist and again in 2010 while assisting my boss for pre-budget interview with the Finance Minister. The secrecy was in the air as Babus were too busy with their files. “Dada” as Pranab Babu is lovingly called reached our interview set exactly on time, even before our anchor reached the spot. During the interview, I discovered a lady in her mid-fifties sitting among us, almost guiding finance minister on “what not to say.” We left the finance ministry in a huff after that as I have to rush with the tape to the studio. The lady slipped out of my mind.

After a week I spotted the same lady on TV screen standing authoritatively beside Pranab Da. It’s then when I asked my boss- Who’s she? With a grin on his face he replied –“aap nahi jante?”. She is Omita Paul. Paul, a Bengali surname, made me believe for a moment that she is better-half of our FM..! And that’s true, pardon my ignorance but that’s exactly the first thing which came to my mind.

Fast forward 2011, Economic Times published a story titled, “Why North Block can't do without Omita Paul.” The newspaper quoted Pranab Mukherjee saying to his officers, "Omita knows the way I want to express it." Pranab was informing his officers on how Paul was indispensable when it comes to writing his budget speech. Pranab’s comfort with Paul speaks volume about the kind of working chemistry Omita has with her boss. Her relation with Pranab Babu goes back to late 70s when this 1973 batch Indian Information Services officer was under secretary in the Commerce ministry and Pranab Babu was Finance Minister with additional charge of Ministry of Commerce and Supply. Omita was OSD in the Planning commission from June 91 to May 96. Not surprising it was the same time Pranab Babu was deputy chairman of the plan panel. Moving forward Pranab was Commerce minister from June 93 to Feb 95. Omita was OSD to the Commerce minister during the period. In 1995-96, Pranab Da was holding the External Affair portfolio, Omita was OSD to the Foreign Minister. Between 1996 and 2004 Congress was out of power and Omita was relegated to the Information services job. From the post of DPR in PIB to ADG in DD, Omita was left out of policy making process until a fine day in 2004, when NDA lost to UPA in the General election held that summer. Smiling Pranab Babu enters Defence Ministry on 23^rd May 2004, and in November the same year Omita was assigned the duty to advise honorable Raksha Mantri. Omita was back with a bang. From OSD to Advisor of the Union minister, it was a huge promotion of sort. Pranab Da took her along to MEA and finally she landed in the Finance Ministry in May 2009.

“Madam,” as Omita is addressed by officers in NB - with love or with contempt- has carved out for herself an unprecedented space in the ministry. Though largely unknown to the aam taxpayers of this country some developments have brought into sharp focus the nature of Paul’s “overwhelming role” in the Finance Ministry. And slowly revolt is brewing against Omita Paul. Some officers are up in arms though still not openly but they are speaking up their minds in private conversations. They are questioning Paul’s expertise in managing micro financial niceties. Her qualification is under severe scrutiny. More than bureaucrats it’s the technocrats who are feeling “insulted” as FM puts aside their recommendations over Paul’s on many vital issues.

It is also interesting to note that how Omita Paul describes her role in the ministry. Talking to journalist in June this year she said, “It's a description of herself that Paul says she fails to recognise. " My job is to advise the FM and whenever I'm asked to work on something, I do it. My job is not different from any other bureaucrat ." Perhaps while describing her role Paul conveniently forgot to add that it was she who pressed Pranab Babu in taking back his resignation on the issue of Fin Min’s 2G note issue. And Pranab Babu obliged..! Can Ms Paul explain which other bureaucrat in the country has the guts to press the finance minister to take back his resignation?

Why was Bhave not given extension?

The exit of CB Bhave from SEBI also put the role of Omita Paul under scrutiny. Bhave is widely credited for improving the quality of operations and investigations at the market regulator. After completion of his three-year term Bhave was given extension for next two-year. But this decision was quickly rolled back and UK Sinha was made the new SEBI chief. Paul out rightly denied any role in Bhave’s affair. She said, "The suggestion that I or any bureaucrat can influence that is absurd. You are making me out to be more powerful than I really am. It would certainly not happen under this finance minister. He does not interfere in appointments or functioning of these institutions."

A PIL filed in November this year by a group of retired high-ranked government functionaries — including former CBI Joint Director BR Lall, former Chief of Air Staff S Krishnaswamy questioned the appointment of Sebi chief UK Sinha, and especially the creation of a selection panel that gave too much power to the finance ministry, and possibly done under the influence of corporate interests.

“There are clear indications that there is a nexus between the ministry of finance and major corporate players and that free and fair functioning of Sebi is no longer possible”, said former Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam, who represented the petitioners. The PIL said the denial of an extension to former SEBI chief CB Bhave was indicative of the ministry’s attempts to influence the market regulator. Among other things, Abraham said that Mukherjee’s office, and especially his advisor Omita Paul, were trying to influence many cases before Sebi, including those relating to Sahara Group, Reliance, Bank of Rajasthan and MCX.

Why income –tax exemption for members of UPSC?

Former Delhi Police commissioner and husband of Omita Paul, KK Paul is a member of UPSC. In the 2011 budget proposals Mukherjee granted income-tax exemption on certain allowance to members of UPSC. As a result, UPSC members came to enjoy an exemption hitherto reserved for posts such as the chief election commissioner and judges of the Supreme Court. As usual Paul said she has nothing to do with this. "There was no file on that which I would have seen. I have nothing to do with it." "I'm amused even by the suggestion that I need to be involved in something like this. UPSC is a constitutional authority.

I had a cursory glance at her Biodata and on record she doesn’t have any experience or formal education to be the advisor to the Finance Minister. Paul is M.Sc in Chemistry from Punjab University. She did her Bachelors in journalism (and possibly this degree would have helped her in getting her IIS job). She has also attained Advanced professional programme in public administration at IIPM, New Delhi (This is also a must for every bureaucrat in the country). Interestingly her qualifications also include ILO symposium on information technologies in the Media and Entertainment Industries. ..! Her CV credits her with editing books including Work Culture in India and Executive Motivation and Human Resource Planning in Airlines –an Asian Experience. Do these qualifications qualify anyone to hold sensitive and important post like advisor to the Finance Minister of largest democracy?

No one would have questioned the credibility of advisor to the FM if finances of this country would have been managed well. But looking at the mess country’s finance are in, some questions naturally arises as to who is advising our Finance Minister?

Can beggars be choosers?

2011-12-11T02:12:00.000-08:00

Sourced From: Dan Ariely's blog

One day a few years ago I passed a street teeming with panhandlers, begging for change. And it made me wonder what causes people to stop for beggars and what causes them to walk on by. So I hung out for a while, engaging in a bit of discreet peoplewatching. Many people passed the beggars without giving anything, but there were a few who stopped. What was it that separated those who paused and gave money from those who didn’t? And what separated the more successful beggars from those who were less successful? Was it something specific about their situation, or their presentation? Was it the beggar’s strategy?

To look into this question, I called on Daniel Berger Jones, an acting student at Boston University who had just finished hiking around Europe. Not having shaved in months and already looking pretty scruffy, he was ready for the job (plus as part of his training to be an actor I figured it would be good for him to learn how to beg for money – at the time he did not see that particular benefit). So I found a street corner and placed him there to take on the panhandling trade. I asked Daniel to try a few different approaches to begging and to keep track of the approaches that made him more or less money. (Of course, after the experiment was over we donated all the money that he made to charity). The general setup was what we call a 2×2 design: When people walked by, Daniel would either be sitting down (the passive approach) or standing up (the active approach) and he would either look them in the eyes or not. So there were times when he was 1) sitting down and looking people in the eyes, 2) sitting down and not looking people in the eyes, 3) standing up and looking people in the eyes, or 4) standing up and not looking people in the eyes.

Daniel got to work, scrounging for money. He stayed on his corner for a while, trying the different approaches. And it turned out that both his position and his eye contact did, in fact, make a difference. He made more money when he was standing and when he looked people in the eyes. It seemed that the most lucrative strategy was to put in more effort, to get people to notice him, and to look them in the eyes so that they could not pretend to not see him.

Interestingly, while the eye contact approach was working in general, it was clear that some of the passersby had a counterstrategy: they were actively shifting their gaze in what seemed to be an attempt to pretend that he wasn’t there. They simply acted as if there was a dark hole in front of them rather than a person, and they were quite successful at averting their gaze.

At some point, something very interesting happened. There was another beggar on the street – a professional beggar – who approached young Daniel and said, “Look kid, you don’t know what you’re doing. Let me teach you.” And so he did. This beggar took our concept of effort and human contact to the next level, walking right up to people and offering his hand up for them to shake. With this dramatic gesture, people had a very hard time refusing him or pretending that they did not seen him. Apparently, the social forces of a handshake are simply too strong and too deeply engrained to resist – and many people gave in and shook his hand. Of course, once they shook his hand, they would also look him in the eyes; the beggar succeeded at breaking the social barrier and was able to get many people to give him money. Once he became a real flesh and blood person with eyes, a smile and needs, people gave in and opened their wallets. When the beggar left his new pupil, he felt so sorry for poor Daniel –and his panhandling ineptitude– that he actually gave him some money. Of course Daniel tried to refuse, but the beggar insisted.

I think there are two main lessons here. The first is to realize how much of our lives are structured by social norms. We do what we think is right, and if someone gives us a hand, there’s a good chance we will shake it, make eye contact, and act very differently than we would otherwise.

The second lesson is to confront the tendency to avert our eyes when we know that someone is in need. We realize that if we face the problem, we’ll feel compelled to do something about it, and so we avoid looking and thereby avoid the temptation to give in and help. We know that if we stop for a beggar on the street, we will have a very hard time refusing his plea for help, so we try hard to ignore the hardship in front of us: we want to see, hear, and speak no evil. And if we can pretend that it isn’t there, we can trick ourselves into believing –at least for that moment– that it doesn’t exist. The good news is that, while it is difficult to stop ignoring the sad things, if we actively chose to pay attention there is a good chance that we will take an action and help a person in need.

Religion in the 21st century

2011-12-10T03:24:00.000-08:00

Note: Sourced from Philosopher’s Beard
Once upon a time religion was in the world and made the world. Religion made the messy chaotic world legible to human understanding and amenable to human purposes. It fixed things in place, like the stars in the sky and the distinction between men and women. It ordered the flux into the cycle of life: the turning of the sun, seasons, and harvests; birth and death. It explained and justified the social order: why one man is born to wealth and power and another to be a serf. It told us with all the force of a mighty and all-encompassing metaphysics what our lives really meant, and how we should act, think and feel. But no more. Religion has been brought low by its old enemies, philosophy and politics. Religion persists and is even popular. But it is now in the mind, a matter of personal belief projected outwards. In short, religion is now secular.

I focus here on the trajectory of the Abrahamic style of theological religion (other forms of religiousish behaviour require their own accounts). This kind of religion rests on a metaphysical unification of the divine, the social-order, and nature. It gives us an enchanted world and a guarantee that we know our true place in it. The enemies of theological religion have always been philosophy and politics because both present inherently secular ways of grappling with the nature of the world that bypass religion. Their rise has shattered both enchantment and Truth. Religion still creeps about the place, but in a thoroughly subordinate role.

Philosophy is always trying to see the world - natural, social, and ethical - from a non-orthodox perspective. Philosophers are those annoying people who are always saying, Yes, but..... As in Yes of course God exists, but just suppose that the heavens are like a giant clockwork mechanism that goes automatically after it's been set up? Wouldn't that be an interesting way of looking at things?

Religions can be seen as rich communal storehouses of knowledge about subjects as diverse as ethics, agriculture, hygiene, economics, etc that provide access to more wisdom about how to live than any one person could ever come to on their own. (That is a significant reason for its attractiveness even in the modern world, apart from the social club benefits.) But its metaphysical constraints (the ultimate answer is always that God did it) mean that religion can't compete with philosophy in the theoretical knowledge game.

Philosophy constantly spews out alternative approaches to understanding the world, most perniciously by creating dedicated collaborative epistemic communities interested in particular subjects - previously. (Every major academic discipline, from physics to economics to mathematics was started by philosophers.) These lovers of theoretical knowledge for its own sake leave the speculative orientation of philosophy behind as they develop specialist methodologies and employ them systematically upon different bits of the world. If they are given space and freedom (universities) they generate vast quantities of robust theoretical knowledge about how the world really works. Religion of course knows this full well, and always strove to keep the keys to knowledge to itself, for example in medieval Europe by exercising tight control over literacy, libraries, and universities.

But the Enlightenment let philosophy out of its bottle for good, and since then it has succeeded to an astonishing degree in producing much much better accounts of how the world works than any religion. It has convincingly shown that all religions make serious mistakes about matters of fact (astronomy, history, medicine, etc), and about how facts are connected (evolution, cosmology, etc). The sacred triangle between the divine, human society and nature just isn't out there, so, obviously, your prayers cannot affect the weather or your marriage prospects. It has shown that the world is actually much more complicated than religion ever claimed - exposing the limits of religious knowledge communities. But at the same time it has shown that the world doesn't need God, gods, or spirits to make it work. Even in ethics, it has shown up the inconsistencies, biases, and questionable foundations of religious teachings and identified a plethora of alternatives that beat iron age patriarchal tribal mores hands down. (How many genocides does God order in the Old Testament? Death for picking up sticks on the Sabbath?) Religion can cope with atheism since atheists at least take religion seriously enough to argue about. Naturalists though don't even find religion compelling enough to consider (any more than fairies or UFOs), except as an object of study, for example by anthropologists and sociologists.

Politics is about earthly power and has an underlying Machiavellian pragmatism that has always been in tension with religious accounts of the divine, true, social order. Politicians are the ones who have bright ideas like this. Hey, what if I stop killing and torturing the people who disagree with the official church about the Doctrine of the Trinity. Think of all the money I would save and all the extra taxes I could raise.

The pragmatism of politics is a threat to theological domination of society in more than one way. (Hence the truism that the separation of church and state actually protects religion.) On the one hand religion can easily be corrupted by politics if it is seduced by the possibility of using direct earthly power to make sure the social world follows the divine script properly. The exercise of that power can't be done without yielding to the logic of politics and becoming embroiled in the profane arts of government (like the Borgias, or Khamenei). And then people will stop taking the clerics' heavenly status claims seriously. On the other hand politics can reach out to religion as a source of legitimacy for its own Machiavellian strategies - blessing kings, wars, and taxes for example. Here the seductions themselves are earthly - access to the king's court, monetary rewards, and legal privileges for your clerics. Sooner or later you're selling indulgences to build gorgeous palaces and your clerics are raping peasant children with impunity. And then, again, the people tend to lose faith.

Despite these tensions, politics and religion can co-exist in a reasonably stable arms-length relationship since each recognises that it needs what the other does and can't replace the other (churches need funding; kings need right as well as might). So even when the relationship broke down (e.g. in the Protestant Reformation), it tended to come back. That is, until politics invented something new and enormously powerful: large nation states combined with democratic government. These replace kings, whose legitimacy as rulers was always based on a dubious metaphysics of divine social order (backed by raw ruthless power), with professional politicians. The legitimacy of political power holders now depends on their ability to appeal to the people, not the clerics; the legitimacy of their actions depends on their adherence to temporal constitutions not divine law.

Since these forces were fully unleashed religion has been forced to adapt. Out went the mighty all-encompassing metaphysics in the face of the top-down scrutiny of querulous university academics. Out went the claim to absolute truth in the face of the bottom-up revolution of peasants wanting the right to their own opinion. The new religion is individualised, marketised, and deracinated.

Individualisation
Liberal democracy is all about dealing with the fact of reasonable disagreement, that as soon as one relaxes totalitarian social control one will find that other people have completely sincere beliefs and judgements that differ from yours. Luther of course when he said 'Here I stand. I can do no other.' didn't think he was making a plea for individual freedom of conscience. He thought he was right. But when lots of people start thinking they have the right to stand up for what they believe, one has to find a modus vivendi (or face interminable civil war). One has to find a way to live in the same political society as people whom you believe are utterly - metaphysically - wrong. The trouble is that once you set up some rules for keeping the peace - state neutrality on religious matters, no religion in the public square, etc - they do much more than keep the peace. One ends up finding one's Lutheran, Catholic or Jewish neighbours actually very pleasant. It becomes harder and harder to remember that the really important thing in your relationship is that they're going to hell. Politeness comes to matter to you and you decide to keep your revelation to yourself so as not to be an ass. Instead of religious credos being too dangerous to utter in public, mentioning them becomes something of a social gaffe, like blurting out your taste in pornography.

Meanwhile the damned philosophers are busy creating a secular intellectual space open to all and independent of any religious dogma. Religion's storehouse of wisdom is bypassed and then surpassed by towering cathedrals of secular knowledge. Then it is subjected to criticism. Of its science, history, ethics; even of its literary status! If you try to talk about miracles and divine providence these people ask if you also believe in UFOs or fairies; and ethnographers ask if they can study your interesting sub-culture.

Contemporary religion takes place in the mind of the individual. Beyond this inner world you must act as if your beliefs were irrelevant. Outside, the world turns according to a godless physics, biology, economics, etc. In society your talk and actions are dominated by the fact of pluralism, so you must behave with a careful neutrality that the godless can go along with.

Marketisation
Pluralism and individualisation also brings markets. Of course, marketing is nothing new to the theological religions, but previously they were often in the comfortable state of being monopolies and being able to charge above the going rate in your attention and property for their spiritual services. That meant that they tended to set a 'price' for their services that maximised their profits, even though it left a great many people unserved or underserved (the deadweight loss of monopoly). Indeed in the heyday of religion most people probably weren't particularly religious because they weren't the core market and the core product wasn't designed or priced with them in mind.

Nevertheless there was some innovation. The invention of the afterlife for example is a brilliant way of getting even more out of your present customers. As Pascal pointed out, by extending people's utility function into eternity you alter their cost-benefit analysis in favour of greater commitment to the church in this life (however much you discount future well-being, eternity trumps present consumption). Likewise monotheism's visceral distaste for polytheism is typical monopolist protectionist behaviour (3/10 commandments are about monopoly and trademark protection). If you have a choice of gods you can play them off against each other, as the Greeks did, by switching to a different god whenever one fails to deliver. Multiple gods means market competition between divine service providers and lower prices for the ordinary consumer (and so also more freedom to think for yourself). Under monotheism when your prayers aren't answered, it's your fault and you need to pay/pray more.

Monopolist religions used their excess profits to invest in R&D (among other things) in their principal technology - theology. On the one hand they were able to train and employ the best minds of their time. On the other hand this was quite inefficient for society as a whole since all those great minds were only allowed to think about one area. And it turns out that when great minds take up the serious study of God, they raise at least as many problems as they solve (which then have to be kept quiet - Luther!).

The modern state of affairs requires religions to compete with each other like regular companies in a free market. Monopoly profits from captive consumers are a thing of the past. Since people tend to think all religion is pretty much the same thing (different paths to the same ultimate truth) all the religious denominations are desperate to avoid being fully commoditised, like pork bellies, as fully substitutable with each other and compared purely on price. So they strive to differentiate themselves, like supermarkets or airlines. They identify and target distinct types of customers like single mothers, high-flying business types, or specific ethnic groups, and then woo them with free lunches, parking, daycare, and sermons they like to hear. To increase retention rates they pay close attention to customer feedback and tweak their offerings to meet changing tastes. (Latin isn't working for us anymore.) They have to come up with competition strategies against new start-up religions and franchise operators moving into their areas.

All this marketing is of course quite profane. The success of a religion is now judged in terms of the numbers of 'bums on seats' it can corral into its services, and the amount of money those bums can be persuaded to give up. Not by the truth of its theology. The True religion is all mixed up in the marketplace with the mass of heresies and trivial spiritualisms (like horoscopes and crystal-ball gazing), which are distinguishable only by the success of their marketing. And the marketing affects the content of religions as well, turning them into a set of recognisable hack genres like self-help and personal-growth, or horror (fire and brimstone; that one with the snakes). Many of the fastest growing religions hardly bother with theology at all, because their customers don't have time for all that wordy stuff.

One of the interesting consequences of this is that modern religion has diversified its offerings to supply every consumer niche, rather than demanding that the spiritually inclined accommodate themselves to the True church. Tastes which went somewhat unrecognised and uncatered to before are now met by specialist operators. For example, fundamentalists eschew the established religious providers altogether and start their own co-operatives to meet their peculiar concerns with purity. So in some countries with a thriving free market for religion (most prominently, America) there is probably more religious activity than ever before.

Deracination
Contemporary religion has been deracinated - separated from its cultural context. In the enchanted world religion was always felt as much as thought, because it was literally embedded into the social landscape and rituals of everyday life. That gave religion a solid foundation, and helped make defection difficult to even imagine. It also protected religion from theological excesses by requiring a religion that a human society could actually live by. But now that the enchanted world has shattered, theology can no longer depend on the solid foundations of social practices. Almost the whole of Western Europe, for example, enjoys its quaint Christian culture (history, holidays, recipes, nice old buildings, church weddings) as part of its national identity, but hasn't the faintest interest in Christianity. We are basically Christian naturalists, perhaps the ultimate insult to the old-time religion. Religion for us is an ethnic identity thing, not a belief thing.

On the other hand, the falling away of the cultural roots of religion means that those people interested in personal spirituality have more freedom than ever to download and try out a new theology. That drives the thriving market for religion already discussed. But it also has implications for the kind of religion that people can have. In particular accessing the wisdom of religion about the human condition (all those brilliant minds focussed on analysis and commentary for generations) requires more than reading the sacred book by itself (or in the case of many evangelicals, the few quotations they like). The reason many fundamentalists are so unpleasantly and rigidly righteous is that they are people of the book who lack the lived culture of the book. They mistake religious knowledge of the kind one can get by reading a book like Euclid's geometry, for religious wisdom, which requires a much deeper immersion and personal subordination to the culture of that religion. Fundamentalists, and their worried observers, make an even bigger mistake in believing that religious movements based on literalist readings of sacred texts constitute a revival of old-time religion. Instead they are a fundamentally modern and secular phenomena of individuals searching for meaning in their own lives and fitting together a personal theology from bits and pieces of texts that suit them, and then joining clubs that see things the same way.

Conclusion
The secularisation thesis actually happened, though not exactly in the way 20th century sociologists predicted. They thought levels of religiousity would decline as religion lost its hegemonic dominance over society, whereas in fact it is the nature of religiousity which has changed. Contemporary religion is a thoroughly secular affair. It is matter of individual conscience, and as such hard to distinguish from secular 'religions' like veganism, environmentalism, or socialism. Religious individuals, like socialists, see the world a certain way, but they recognise that others see it differently and they understand the significance and legitimacy of religion in terms of private personal belief. The deinstitutionalisation of religion in liberal societies has led to cut-throat competition which has shifted religions from price-makers to price-takers. Religions now recognise that the customer is always right and make offerings to the customer (instead of vice versa). Religion has been cut free from its cultural base and now floats freely, as bite-size memes that anyone can download from the cloud when they feel like it and assemble for themselves.

When coal minister meets with tiger..!

2011-12-03T02:39:00.000-08:00

This is absolutely crazy! Indian newspapers have largely ignored this bizarre spectacle for some reason. In a country where bureaucracy has its own customs, having a mascot meet a minister is unheard of.

Greenpeace activists, some dressed as tigers, demonstrated outside the central headquarters of the Ministry of Coal in central Delhi on Wednesday, until Minister Prakash Jaiswal agreed to see them. Greenpeace has been protesting India’s coal policy, citing damage to forests in central India.

After about an hour of demonstrations outside the ministry’s headquarters, the group was invited into the minister’s office, a spokeswoman said, where they presented him with petitions signed by 112,000 people asking for changes in India’s coal policy. Minister Jaiswal has asked the group to come back for a longer meeting next week, the spokeswoman said.

In particular, Greenpeace has been investigating the impact coal mining is having on Maharashtra’s Chandrapur region, near the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve. The forests outside the reserve are shrinking because of mining and industrialization, a Greenpeace report says, which is impacting the reserve animal population, who use the forests as a corridor to travel to other reserves.

The amount of coal India produces fell far short of government plans in the last fiscal year, a fact the ministry blames in part on the difficulty of getting the necessary environmental clearances to mine.

Is it “End of Good Times?”

2011-11-16T01:37:00.000-08:00

It was month of April, 2004. April 7, 2004 precisely. "I am that mysterious buyer," roared Vijay Mallya at a press conference in Bangalore as he unveiled the legendry Tipu Sultan’s sword taken away after the British assault on Srirangapatnam on May 4, 1799 which saw the end of the 'Tiger of Mysore.' “Oh..he made the country proud by getting back the sword”, mumbled my father. Perhaps Dad himself has never before heard the name of this “savior of our national honor.” And rest they say is history. Vijay Mallya’s arrival on the national conscience was grand and grander were the ways in which he ruled the national imagination for seven-years.

Postscript: "To write the epitaph of Kingfisher airlines constantly is not fair," Vijay Mallaya told reporters on November 15, 2011. So, what actually happened between April 2004 and November 2011?

Mallya’s rise incidentally coincided with India’s own rise as an economic super power. With one of the world's most expensive yachts and a cricket and Formula-1 team, Mallya soon became "King of the Good Times" for his zooming lifestyle. Mallaya symbolizes the resurgent India. For Indian middle class, he was what everyone wanted to be. He was the emblem of new India - flashy, high-risk, rich, flaunting and never ashamed of it.

Worth $1.1 billion, according to Forbes magazine, Mallya’s lifestyle fascinated many Indians, including the nearly 700,000 that follow him on Twitter. But now India’s “Richard Branson” is in deep trouble. Mallya’s business interest includes liquor, IPL and F1 teams. But it was his aviation dream that perhaps made him a power in business world to reckon with. His Kingfisher Airlines, accounts for nearly one-fifth of flights in the Indian sky at any given point in time. He literally transformed the flying experience by focusing on services like good food, personal screens on domestic flights. On each flight, Mallya appears on a recorded message on the inflight entertainment system, boasting of hand-picking each of the airline's hostesses who "have been instructed to treat you in the same way as if you were a guest in my own home", writes Reuters. Mallya’s innovation touched the flyers and the company was doing brisk business so much so that last year the company even applied for flying in international skies.

And now board members of Kingfisher airlines are considering a sale of property to raise funds for the airline. The airline has cancelled more than 200 flights in the past week, raising fears it could go bankrupt. I enquired with one of journalist friend as to what ail Kingfisher? She promptly blamed it on the “extravagant and pompous life-style,” of Vijay Mallya. And this sentiment is shared by many others including Shiv Sena’s Bal Thackeray. "Mallya's flamboyant lifestyle is responsible for the debts that Kingfisher Airlines has incurred," Bal Thackeray said.

Type Vijay Mallaya on the Google and the first suggestion it prompts is “Vijay Mallaya’s car collection, his yacht, and his house.” So did Mallaya flounder all his wealth which he earned from Kingfisher? By all indication it seems so…! He flies around the world, take our MPs on his personal plane for cricket matches across the globe, dines with global celebrities which includes soccer stars, F -1 drivers, Hollywood stars and not to say voluptuous models. His 312-foot yacht, the Indian Empress cost almost $89 million. Mallya also owns a Scottish whisky company. News reports suggest that he “once personally flew in his private jet from New Zealand to Scotland with three bottle of whisky found left from British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1907 Antarctic expedition.” His vintage cars have envied the rich and the famous. And not the last, the most waited calendars of the year- The Kingfisher calendar. Often appearing flanked by almost nude models in photoshoots, Mallaya almost barred himself in family homes.

Mallaya in a live televised press conference on Tuesday blamed high fuel costs, fierce price war between a handful of airlines for all the ills. He has also sought soft loan from the government. But the sentiments against any financial help are very high. Main opposition party BJP has vociferously opposed any such move by the government. The All India Bank Employees' Association has also voiced its sentiment against the bailout. Rahul Bajaj is more critical of the issue. He said, “Those who die must die."

It’s very strange to see Kingfisher in red despite the fact that civil aviation industry has seen passenger growth rate of 20 per cent this year. Good pitchers, as Don Cooper once said, after a tough outing, bounce back. Real good pitchers don't let too many poor games get in there. Hope Vijay Malaya will take this crisis as a lesson and will walk with a little more caution in times to come. Kingfisher’s failure will do irreparable damage to India’s growth story. Market runs on sentiment and India can’t afford to fail Kingfisher as it will lead to a huge perception crisis. Let’s wait and watch.

And for the government there are issues which need to be regulated in order to keep the aviation sector in good health. Fuel costs are high internationally, so government can’t do much and certainly cheap money and not cheap fuel is the biggest hindrance. The FDI limit is 49 %, but intriguingly it bars foreign airlines to invest in domestic sector, a regulation which is flawed and at worst demoralising. Secondly its high-time government should privatise Air India. When one player in the industry can use taxpayers’ money to stay afloat and keep fares low, the rest of the industry will have to compete on its terms. A weak Air India will keep the rest of the industry weak, too. And lastly our airports need investment and upgradation. Barring Delhi & Mumbai most Indian airports are run on public money. Privatise airports as well. This will increase competition even among airports.

Rahul Dravid - Perhaps the last classical batsman

2011-11-14T06:08:00.000-08:00

Is he most under applauded batsman India has ever seen? Below are a few facts -

Not many can bat for 835 minutes (its not a typo) like he did in this epic match in Adelaide, or when he batted for 12 hours for his 270 in this match. Not to mention the Adelaide victory was the first for India in a generation and the Pakistan series ended up being India’s first ever series win there.
Ask any bowler and he will name Dravid in the top 3 of “most difficult to dismiss” players, and yet he is the first to be dismissed by the viewers and critics!!
He is the player who has formed the platform around which many big names have hit knocks of a lifetime. May it be Sehwag’s triple century , or Laxman’s 280, or during many of Sachin’s tons, he was the player at the other end. Cricket is a game of partnerships, and he has shared 19 century partnerships with Sachin (a world record), 11 with Laxman, 10 with Ganguly and 10 with Sehwag.
In many pitches that appeared to have landmines buried on a good length, Rahul Dravid has waged a war. Ducking, weaving, blocking, watching partners come and go, jabbing, leaving, ducking, weaving… Not many have batted for more than 600 minutes (like here when he scored a double when all others struggled to get even a fifty.
You need to see him sweat during a match to understand his concentration levels. Right in the beginning of his career, he batted 541 minutes in the first innings of this match and followed it with another knock in second innings while the rest struggled to put bat to ball.

Revenge...!

2011-10-14T12:32:00.001-07:00

Click the pic to have better view

After Jatt boyzz..!

2011-10-13T11:31:00.000-07:00

GoM accepts Chawla panel recommendations on natural resources

2011-10-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

Ms. Roopshree Nair is finance correspondent with news agency Press Trust of India (PTI). Her job is to keep close eyes on Finance Ministry. She covers Dept. of Economic Affairs and Dept. of Revenue.

New Delhi, Oct 13: The government has accepted most of the recommendations of an expert panel on allocation of natural resources that favours a move towards market-linked solutions, according to sources in the Finance Ministry.

The committee headed by former Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla was formed earlier this year to suggest and recommend ways and means for distributing natural resources like minerals in a transparent manner.

The Group of Ministers (GoM) has accepted all recommendations of the Chawla Committee, except one, that relates to seeking permission of the Supreme Court to evolve guidelines for de-reservation of land currently classified as forest land.

Recognising that the proposed Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation Act (MMDRA) is a significant step towards modernising and reforming India’s mining industry, the panel has recommended that sections on bidding should be broad-based and allow states to move towards clear and appropriate bidding processes.

The proposed Act should not preclude any form of open, transparent and competitive bidding, it said.

The committee has also recommended making amendments to the draft MMDR Act such that an independent regulator is tasked with reviewing licensing systems and towards designing a more competitive bidding process.

The panel also calls for the incidence and structure of royalty to be reviewed “through a transparent process” to represent a fair value for the mineral, as it is the primary source of revenue.

The panel has also suggested that for large mining leases, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) as in the case of ultra mega power projects (UMPPs) could be established in which all preliminary clearances for mining can be embedded.

It also recommends that for minerals likely to be found as surfacial deposits without making use of high technology, state governments should be incentivised and enabled to take up exploration so that adequately prospected ore bodies can be put to bid.

Besides, on the petroleum sector, the panel recommends expediting the creation of a National Data Repository (NDR) by linking databases of National Oil Companies (NOCs) and other private firms to share the data for blocks for which information has been submitted to the government.

All other information with the Director General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) can be structured as a common database, it added. On the issue of de-reservation of land which is currently classified as forest land, the government is understood to have said that this may not be accepted because the Supreme Court has in a past order clarified that forest will not only include forest as understood in dictionary sense, but also any area recorded as forest in the government record irrespective of ownership.

Moreover, sources added, many areas which are currently barren are important and unique wild life habitats. The sectors examined by the panel include land, mining, coal, petroleum, natural gas, telecom, forests and water.

What has killed 500 children in India?

2011-10-10T07:44:00.000-07:00

Country's national child rights commission has ordered the government of Uttar Pradesh to report on the status of an encephalitis epidemic that media reports claim has killed as many as 500 children in the poverty-afflicted state over the past two months, the Times of India reports.

In a letter to the state chief secretary, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights ( NCPCR) said that the issue amounted to violation of 'children's right to life, survival and development,' the paper said.

Almost always first reported as a "mystery virus" or "mystery fever," epidemics of encephalitis have become an annual ritual in northern India over the past several years, seemingly without any aggressive government action to combat the problem.

Jobs, well done..!

2011-10-06T05:08:00.000-07:00

The real challenge before me or anyone else is to write about Steve Jobs that isn't already written.

3 Apples changed the world, 1st one seduced Eve, 2nd fell on Newton and the 3rd was offered to the world half bitten by Steve Jobs. That’s the way God carved the world as it is. Jobs, as we know was not a computer scientist- ignorant of both hardware and software before he made Apple what it is today. From PC to MP3 player to ubiquitous smartphones- all existed before Apple got there.

Then what really was Job’s contribution in making Apple what it is today? The answer is- he just reinvented the entire industry. Jobs did something that few would have dreamt of achieving. He rigorously experimented with both old and the news technology, be it PCs or the old world music – with incredible fastness.

The most cherished and acknowledged CEO of his age Jobs defied many tenets of business astutely. He never believed in consumer research, never did he conduct any market survey. With simplicity at his sleeves, he rarely flaunted his’ corporation clout. He believed in the wisdom of his instinct. His intuition about Apple was nearly flawless and we saw the products always lived up to his towering claims.

This year Apple’s market captalisation crossed that of Exxon Mobil, making it the planet’s most valuable company. This feat but does not come without initial hiccups. For nearly first 20-years of his career, Jobs lived with notorious reputation of being associated with many products that failed in the market. The failures were so immense that he was handed pinkslip by the same company he co-founded. Steve was literally kicked out of the Apple. The impression was palpable -Jobs lost to indomitable Bill Gates. But then this was only true for those years until iPod arrived at the stage. Jobs legacy would have died unnoticed, unsung -but that was not to happen.

Born in 1955 in San Francisco to an unmarried graduate student and adopted at birth by Paul and Clara Jobs, Steven Paul Jobs grew up in Silicon Valley just as it was becoming Silicon Valley.

Time magazine claims that the company was co-founded with Steve “Woz” and Ron Wayne on April fool’s day in the year 1976, i.e. 4-years before I was born. He was 21-years old. Woz loved computers and Jobs wanted to make money out of it. The inside of their first product Apple II was more of Woz’s technical genius and Job’s style statement. In times when PCs were looked as ‘moronic’ machines, Apple’s design was fresh elegance in the offing. Apple II soon became the bestseller.

Jobs was source of inspiration for his co-workers. Hardworking and perfectionist to core he always liked to have intelligent people around him. Those who didn’t fit into this were brutally shown the doors. Some call him autocratic, but that’s the way geniuses are.

In 1985, Jobs was handed over the pinkslip after his failure to boost the company’s Macintosh sales. Post-Apple Jobs started Pixar- an animation film company. After initial shocks in 1995 Disney released Pixar’s first feature, Toy Story, which became year’s top-grossing movie and gave Jobs his first taste of success. Meanwhile Apple’s fortunes were drowning faster than expected. 1996 saw Jobs returning to Apple.

During his first months back at Apple, Jobs dumped board members, cut staff, slashed costs, killed dozens of products and accepted a $150 million lifeline from perennial bête noire Microsoft. Jobs rolled out an advertising campaign — "Think Different" — that got people talking about the company again. And he presided over the release of the striking all-in-one iMac, which came in a translucent case crafted by Jonathan Ive, the British industrial designer who would be responsible for every major Apple product to come. In 1998, it became the best-selling computer in America.

Little by little, Jobs started acting less like a turnaround artist and more like a man who wanted, once again, to change the world. Then came the iPod, and rest they say is a history of innovations and reinventions.

Thank you Jobs. You made the ugly world of technology, beautiful for us.

Jobs died at 56. I have 25 years left to achieve what Jobs did. Let’s see.

Can Modi and the BJP win the next election?

2011-09-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

Modi’s past matters; those who think he can translate the support of his fans into electoral success may be disappointed

Indians vote for parties, not individuals. And the last time Indians overwhelmingly voted for one party was in 1984 in that extraordinary election following Indira Gandhi’s assassination, giving a huge majority to the Congress. Since then, no party has secured a working majority on its own, and prime ministerial aspirants have been compromise candidates, whom most coalition partners will accept, and equally important, dislike least. There is no reason to think the next election—scheduled for 2014—will be any different.

That’s worth recalling because of the emerging myth, that because on 12 September the Supreme Court “exonerated” Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi (it did no such thing), he is now free to pursue his national ambition, if that. Citing his economic track record, Modi’s many fans believe the time has come for him to move to the centre, and lead a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government. Modi hasn’t made such claims.

And yet, immediately after the Supreme Court verdict, Modi went on a three-day fast to promote amity and harmony—an odd choice, since by his own claim, Gujaratis have been living harmoniously and amicably for the last decade, except for a few troublesome days in early 2002 with which, of course, he had nothing to do and about which he doesn’t like being reminded.

The verdict hasn’t ended Modi’s legal problems, because it was not a ruling on Modi’s guilt or innocence. The riots of February-March 2002, following the burning of a compartment carrying Hindu kar sevaks, continue to cast a shadow over Modi.

In the decade since, prosperity has increased in Gujarat. Modi’s supporters eagerly mention the praise he routinely gets from business leaders for streamlining procedures, enabling quicker business decisions, and highlight the investment in social and physical infrastructure. With the BJP’s leadership unsure about who would lead the party—there is the eloquent Arun Jaitley, the feisty Sushma Swaraj, and the still-eager Lal Krishna Advani dusting off his Toyota to start a new rath yatra—Modi may feel his time has come, because of disenchantment with the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance. That a US diplomat calls him incorruptible in a memo released by Wikileaks adds to Modi’s stature for his fans, but the US still won’t issue him a visa. (That’s because of Modi’s poor record in protecting minority rights and religious freedom in Gujarat. In the same memo the same diplomat raises these concerns; a bristled Modi responds by complaining about the conduct of the US army in Abu Ghraib—as if anything connects the two, or as if one justifies the other).

Modi’s past matters, and those who think Modi can translate the undoubtedly passionate support of his fans into electoral success may be disappointed. Collective bliss, even if aided by the applause of tycoons and endorsement by The Economist, which likened Gujarat with Guangdong, doesn’t translate into an electoral majority. For that to happen, first, the BJP needs a majority of its own. Its share of the popular vote in 2009 was 18.8%, giving it 116 out of 543 Lok Sabha seats. It needs to at least double that to come anywhere near forming a majority. The highest share the BJP has ever enjoyed was the year it formed the government in 1998—25.59%—but even then its share was less than the Congress at 25.82%.

Besides votes, it will need an acceptable prime ministerial candidate, a condition Atal Bihari Vajpayee fulfilled.

If Modi’s fans are vociferous, for his foes, he remains radioactive, and unless he can show that the BJP’s performance in 2014 is entirely his doing, other leaders will see him as a regional satrap. So, the BJP has to win, win big, on its own terms, and Modi has to show that he alone got those votes—more than the party has ever won, to get more seats than it has ever won. For that math to work, the BJP’s other leaders—and those outside, like Nitish Kumar—would have to rein in their ambitions.

And then remember this: Chief ministers have rarely made effective transitions from the state to the Centre. Of the 13 prime ministers, only five have been state chief ministers—Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, H.D. Deve Gowda, and P.V. Narasimha Rao. Of them, only Rao completed his prime ministerial term. None necessarily had a great record as chief minister. Think also of chief ministers who were stalwarts in states—Jyoti Basu in West Bengal, Mohanlal Sukhadia in Rajasthan, Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra, Laloo Prasad in Bihar. None made the transition to the top in Delhi.

This means ruling the state and the Centre are different; that the record at the state has little bearing on potential at the Centre; and to succeed nationally, the candidate needs wide acceptance, an ability to compromise, and the skill of forming coalitions with those with whom he disagrees.

That’s not how Modi is usually described.

If Gujarat were really Guangdong, none of this would have mattered.

We did it. How dare you take away this credit from us?

2011-09-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

Al-Qaida has sent a message to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, asking him to stop spreading conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks.

Iranian media on Wednesday reported quotes from what appears to be an article published in the latest issue of the al-Qaida English language magazine, Inspire, which described Ahmadinejad's remarks over the 11 September attacks as "ridiculous".

In his UN general assembly speech last week, Ahmadinejad cast doubt over the official version of the 2001 attacks.

"The Iranian government has professed on the tongue of its president Ahmadinejad that it does not believe that al-Qaida was behind 9/11 but rather, the US government," the article said, according to Iranian media. "So we may ask the question: why would Iran ascribe to such a ridiculous belief that stands in the face of all logic and evidence?"

If Novartis wins, cancer patients lose

2011-09-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

It’s a battle, cancer patients across India are watching with bated breath. Losing this case in Supreme Court will make a potent anti-cancer drug Glivec® almost inaccessible to poor patients of blood cancer. A Division Bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Mr. Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Mr. Deepak Verma on September 6, 2011 transferred this case to another bench of the court. This is the latest happening in the case which has held the nerve of cancer patients and activists alike since 1999.

So, why is Glivec®- an anti-cancer drug whose patent is with Swiss pharmaceutical giant Norvartis, so important? And what will be the ramification of SC’s judgment? Let’s first understand what this wonder drug is– Imatinib mesylate is a new crystalline form of anti-cancer drug which Novartis sells under the brand name Glivec®. The original molecule of this drug is patented out of India. Companies like Natco, Ranbaxy and Cipla produced and sell Glivec (Imatinib mesylate) to myeloid leukemia patients for about Rs.8,000 per month, affordable, to some extent. But this was stopped in 2004 when Madras High Court stayed local firms from selling Glivec® copies. Novartis sells the same drug for about Rs.1.2 lakh per month.

Novartis claims that it should have an exclusive right on production and sale of this drug as it holds the original patent in the United States. The company in 1999 filed for the patient of this wonder drug at Chennai regional patent office. Further in 2004 Madras HC stayed in local companies from selling this drug.

The turning point in the whole episode came in 2005 when India amended its product patent law to comply with its obligations under the TRIPS Agreement and consequently, Chennai patent office rejected Novartis’s claim of exclusive patent in 2006.

While refusing the patent, the Controller General of Patent office sighted Section 3(d) of India’s new patent law that doesn’t permit any modified form of an invention that was known prior to 1995. Patent right can only be given if the claimed modification results in increased “efficacy.” The same year Novartis challenged Section 3(d) of the Indian Patent law in the Chennai High Court which was dismissed in 2007.

Between 2007 and 2009, the case was hanging with the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) and finally landed in the Supreme Court. Having lost its case in the lower court, Novartis is now asking the Supreme Court to interpret “efficacy” clause in Section 3(d) of Indian patent law in a way that will allow it exclusive patent.

Interestingly, the one reason cited by Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) in not giving the exclusive patent to Novartis was “excessive pricing” of the drug. The IPAB felt that the high price of life-saving drug Glivec® will make it almost unaffordable to ordinary cancer patients. It was perhaps for the first time that the tribunal used the price of a drug as a reason to reject a patent appeal.

There are approximately 2 lakh chronic Myelogenous leukemia or blood cancer patients across the country with 40,000-50,000 people getting affected each year. A patent on the new form could give Novartis a 20-year monopoly on the drug, thus “ever-greening” the patent. This could be dangerous.

A report published in Mint on July 5, 2009 quoted Novartis’ view point on the issue. Defending the company’s claim it said, “Novartis has provided Glivec at no cost to more than 37,000 patients in 80 countries.

In India, more than 11,000 patients currently receive their medicine through this program.” But this cannot be an excuse for high price of this life prolonging drug. Even if the apex court rules against Novartis, the company has the option to move to the international judicial bodies. Until then, fingers are crossed. Hope, patient will prevail upon the patent.

But, why are the titans clashing?

2011-09-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

Rajiv K Mishra

The reasons for the Chidambaram-Mukherjee fued are difficult to fathom.

Everybody knows Chidambaram was rather reluctant to relinquish finance but the UPA leadership needed a strong, efficient mascot for the home ministry in the aftermath of 26/11 and Chidambaram was the choice of both Sonia Gandhi and the prime minister. Rahul, too, is favourably disposed towards Chidambaram and is understood to have approved his move to the home ministry.

The problem was compounded when Pranab was made the finance minister. Like Chidambaram, Pranab Mukherjee had also held the finance portfolio more than once in the past. Both think of themselves as some kind of finance whiz kids and brook little interference in their ministries. After Chidambaram’s exit, most of his chosen officials were also shunted out. Worse, Mukherjee also made sure that none of the ex finance minister’s suggestions and recommendations got accommodated in his regime, either in successive budgets or any other policy initiatives and key appointments.

It is common knowledge in the finance ministry that the surest way to get a proposal shot down in north block is to somehow attribute the same to Chidambram.

There were other reasons for the mutual mistrust and dislike.

Mukherjee has always been a little resentful over Chidambaram’s better rapport with the Gandhi family. It’s no secret that Mukherjee has never been able to score as highly on the loyalty test as a Manmohan Singh and a Chidambaram with the first family of the Congress. The finance minister’s detractors ensured that the Gandhi’s never forget the momentary spark of ambition he had shown in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination when he was indiscreet enough to let his ambition of becoming the prime minister get the better of him.

That one false move has been like an albatross around his neck ever since, used by his detractors to pull him down whenever Mukherjee looks destined for better things.

Mukherjee’s supporters also suspect Chidambaram of getting the finance minister’s office bugged. Chidambaram was also blamed by the finance minister’s supporters for his embarrassment in the Baba Ramdev fiasco and Mukherjee’s exclusion in the early rounds of negotiations with Team Anna last month.

Mukherjee also suspects the home minister and people close to him as targeting one of his close aides through the media. (Read Omita Paul)

In short, there are a number of personality issues between the two, which is quite a pity really because there’s no turf war between Chidambaram and Mukherjee who come from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal respectively. Their interests don’t clash other than their common passion for the finance ministry.

Mukherjee was itching to get even with Chidambaram and the 2G scam seems to have provided him with an opportunity.

The government and the Congress will not desert Chidambaram in a hurry because if the home minister goes, the next target is the prime minister himself. So Chidambaram will be defended almost to the last man unless the Supreme Court takes a contrary view.

But the real worrying factor for the government and the Congress is that there’s nobody who can probably act as a stern referee in this issue and if need be call the warring ministers and read them the riot act.

The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, is a curious bundle of contradictions. There are times when he simply looks disinterested. On other occasions he comes across as powerless. He certainly does not have the political authority and clout required to effectively intervene in a fight which involves heavyweights like Mukherjee and Chidambaram.

So Manmohan Singh can’t play a decisive role in ensuring a much needed truce at this stage.
The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, is the only person who could have made a meaningful intervention. But with nobody (outside the family) in the know of her health status, it’s anybody’s guess whether she is in a position to mediate.

It all looks very gloomy from the UPA’s and the Congress’ perspective. Already crippled and under attack on the issue of corruption, lacklustre governance and weak leadership, the ruling alliance has now to face the trepidation of two of its giants sparring like suicide bombers in a meaningless ego tussle.

It's Nitish vs Rahul in 2014

2011-09-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

This statement was on the expected line, with script well written in advance at 1, Anne Marg. JD(U) spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP, Shivanand Tiwari’s criticism of Narendra Modi’s fast came as no surprise to political pundits. Tiwari cleverly chose the same phrase which former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee used on April 4, 2002 suggesting Modi to follow the ethics of governance. Tiwari said, “Modi had failed to discharge raj dharma in Gujarat.” He further questioned the partisan approach adopted by the Modi government in delivering justice to the 2002 riot victims. “When he can't do justice to five crore people in a state, how can he do justice to 125 crore in the country?", said Tiwari. JD(U) president Sharad Yadav also took a dig on Modi’s fast by saying that, "it has become a fashion for people to go on fast."

Old rivals
It is not that Narendra Modi is ignorant of the fact that he has a tough competition or to say only competition from Nitish Kumar. From time to time, Modi has shown conciliatory gesture towards Bihar CM but Nitish has remained unmoved by such moves. Immediately after the devastating Kosi floods of 2008, Gujarat was the first state to send aid to Bihar. But after an advertisement published in Bihar dailies purportedly by Modi, claiming Gujarat had donated liberally to Bihar after Kosi floods, Nitish quickly signed a Rs. 5 crore cheque returning aid to Gujarat with full media hoopla. The second controversy added more fuel to the already existing fire with the publication of Kumar’s photograph with that of Narendra Modi in another advertisement. Nitish got irked and canceled the dinner party he had thrown for the BJP’s leaders at his residence. Nitish in no way wanted to be seen along with Modi so much so that he said strict “no” to Narendra Modi’s campaigning in Bihar during the 2010 state polls.

Advantage Nitish
More than the personal rivalry it’s Nitish’s compulsion not to be seen standing along with “communal” Modi. Though not enough numerical strength in the House, but Lalu Yadav’s RJD is still a force to reckon with. RJD’s Muslim-Yadav combination formed bulk of the vote bank on which Lulu directly or by proxy ruled the state for 15-years. In spite of being an alliance partner with the BJP, Nitish during his six-year rule has kept his secular image intact and further has dented RJD’s Muslim votes. The Bihar chief minister has successfully projected himself as a moderate, secular and progressive leader who believes that any association with Modi would adversely impact his secular appeal and further his ambition for the top job at South Block.

Now coming back to Shivanand Tiwari’s jibe, let’s enquire into what actually prompted the statement at this juncture when elections are 3-years away. Modi’s fast in no way was hurting Nitish’s secular credentials. Nitish by avoiding Ahmadabad had already sent strong message to the minorities that he by no means supports Modi and his fast. But that was not enough. Spin masters in Patna must have realised that mere abstinence won’t help much. A strong and open missive to secular forces was need of the hour, so that no doubt remains that, who stands where. In short, Nitish wants to see himself as a rallying point for non-congress forces in a post election scenario in 2014. Anti-BJP clamour is also growing in JD(U) with some senior leaders suggesting Nitish to snap ties with the BJP.

Where Modi looses
Firstly, Modi’s Prime Ministerial ambition will not go unchallenged within his own party. 84-year-old, L.K. Advani is still nurturing Prime Ministerial ambition. This octogenarian is still rocking and will very soon embark on a new Rath yatra. Then comes Sushma Swaraj, Jaitley, Ananth Kumar and Venkaiah Naidu, collectively called the Delhi Four ( D4). Though, a Sanghi at core, Gadkari also adds to distance between Modi and his PM candidature within the BJP. Modi is distant six in the list of PM candidates in his own party. For a moment let’s assume that RSS will vociferously push Modi’s candidature, but will it do at the cost of antagonising other senior leaders in the list. Further, even if under RSS’ pressure Modi is projected as the candidate for the top job, will the already depleted NDA’s composition be the same as we see it today? JD(U) which after BJP will bring the maximum number of seats will be the first party to dump the alliance. Many others will follow for sure.

Nitish the PM
Like US, in India we don’t have approval rating mechanism. So let’s rely on the “most definitive” mood of the nation survey conducted by India Today during August this year. The India Today poll reflects, “corruption to be the single biggest reason for the erosion in support of the UPA government.” The finding of the India Today poll gives 29% votes to the UPA, 27% votes to the NDA and 44% votes to the others if elections take place today. UPA is still 2% above the NDA despite “earth shattering” allegations of corruption against the incumbent. The situation will more or less remain the same in 2014 as experts feel that worst is over for the government and spin masters are out in damage control mode. Or even if the government’s fortune goes further down it won’t add to NDA votes. This situation will give impregnable lead to Nitish Kumar, the favourite poster boy of development and secularism.

Migrants influx in Delhi - But where are they coming from?

2011-09-15T02:38:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge.

How US newspapers remembered 09/11

2011-09-13T10:57:00.000-07:00

Let’s stop worrying..!

2011-09-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

Starting afresh has always been a challenge to me. Be it relationship, writing, job or any other thing I think of. Life is accustomed to a particular way of living, loving and moving. The challenge from the days of Adam’s remains the same. Over the time we have been programmed to act in a particular way we call lifestyle. The style sheet I follow barricades new ideas & inventions. Of late status quo has become my obvious definition. In short, I fear change!! Stagnation is the buzzword.

Practice does not always make perfect. Practice does make permanent. In a way practice though good, plateau our lives. After certain time in a particular job we need motivation, time and know-how to move up the ladder. Getting all three essential components at a particular instance is tough and there lies the challenge. Some have motivation and know-how but no time. Others have plenty of time but in the absence of motivating factor they get dumped.

Goals we choose must be very specific. We should be clear in mind and heart about what we really want to achieve and improve. The target we choose must be broken down into baby steps, logical as well as achievable. Choosing a goal too high is risky and fraught with possibilities of failure. Giant leap might prove lethal in achieving our target.

The next challenge is to get a genuine and accurate feedback. Beating around the bush won’t help. Imagine practicing calligraphy blindfolded. No feedback and worst wrong feedback is fatal. One traditional source of feedback is Guru or master or a coach. The important feature that distinguishes between a good and a bad coach is the ability to give exact feedback. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to find a good Guru.

After you start getting accurate feedback about your improvement in a certain area, it’s time to identify the ‘next-step’.

So, let’s stop worrying. Take action! Set ourselves a goal; let’s find a Guru who can give us accurate feedback.

Delhi Police has a lot to answer for

2011-09-07T10:50:00.000-07:00

The deadly Delhi High Court blast on Wednesday morning is a clear indicator that indigenous terror groups, or so-called remnants of Indian Mujahideen, have re-grouped. They have overcome difficulties with improvised explosive device (IED) hardware, and they now have the capability to strike at regular intervals all over the country. The national capital is no stranger to terror attacks and a large number of them are still lying unsolved with the Delhi Police. This question the Delhi Police must answer now that innocents have been killed and scores injured by a brief case bomb on Wednesday.

Notwithstanding the claims of Delhi Police, key perpetrators are at large in the following cases: Diwali bomb blasts on October 29, 2005; Jama Masjid bomb blast on April 14, 2006; Mehrauli blast on September 27, 2008; Jama Masjid firing and car bomb blast on September 19, 2010 and explosion outside Delhi High Court on May 25, 2011.

Unsolved terror cases embolden terrorists to take chances with the law enforcement agencies. It is not without reason that the Home Ministry handed over the investigation of the latest blast to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The Mumbai police could take cover after the blast on July 13 by saying that it had got no prior intelligence, but the Delhi Police does not have that convenient excuse.

The fact is that the Intelligence Bureau had alerted Delhi Police once the National Security Guard’s (NSG) final report in July on May 25 Delhi High Court explosion indicated that it was no crude bomb but a lethal device. The NSG found the device contained nearly 1.5 kg of ammonium nitrate, which was mixed with PETN explosive and diesel fuel oil. The device had a timer with two detonators. Delhi was fortunate that the detonators caught fire and the exploded but not the core charge. At that point, top Home Ministry officials alerted the Delhi Police that the incident could be a dry run for future attacks in Delhi.

Either the Delhi Police’s special cell, which is in charge of investigating terror cases, did not take this advice seriously or they simply had no clue about the culprits. It does not take a rocket scientist to predict that Delhi is a top target for terrorists in the sub-continent after Mumbai. Even the Jama Masjid car bomb on the second anniversary of Batla House encounter was enough to give sleepless nights to security though in this incident the detonator had caught fire too. The 13/7 Mumbai blasts showed that indigenous terrorists may have had overcome the detonator difficulty and the Delhi High Court blast on Wednesday only confirms it.

It is entirely possible that forces across Indian borders either helped them technically through Skype calls or even supplied them with detonators through sleeper spy modules. However, the response of the Delhi Police was predictable after the May 25 incident: teams were sent out to Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh to find out whether friends of deceased terrorist Atif Ameen were still active and technical inputs were used to scan through call data records. While one hopes that the NIA nails the culprits behind the heinous attack in Delhi, the Madhya Pradesh police did teach a lesson to our law enforcement agencies this June in how to fight terror.

The arrest of 10 Students’ Islamic Movement of India men, who were out to target the three Allahabad high court judges who gave the Ayodhya dispute judgment, was done on the basis of manual intelligence and pavement thumping, not stand-off software and technical intelligence. The arrest of Abu Faisal alias Doctor, who ran Alpha Medical Store in East Andheri, Mumbai, along with his mentor Izzazuddin of Karneli in Madhya Pradesh revealed that Abdus Subhan Qureshi, the key Indian Mujahideen mastermind, module was still alive. This self-help financed module was found to have linkages with a cleric in Saudi Arabia with Izzazuddin as the link man. The NIA will have to think de novo if they have to solve the latest carnage in Delhi. The Delhi Police model does not work anymore.

Why I trust Team Anna...!

2011-09-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

You can sleep on railway platforms with a reynolds pen in your pocket to become an agent of change.

Uff...Someone tweeted this.!

2011-08-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

Source: Selected from the tweets minutes after US quake.

Swiss black money list out..!

2011-08-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

So, can someone blackjack Julian Assange? Yes, someone more smarter did and perhaps he/she is an Indian. Click the picture below.

Sonia Gandhi was “receiving treatment for an unspecified cancer for at least eight months”, claims UK’s Daily Telegraph

2011-08-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

While Indian news organisations were afraid of speaking about Sonia Gandhi’s illness, Dean Nelson of London Telegraph first confirmed the news that Congress President is suffering from cancer. Dean reports, “Sonia Gandhi, leader of India's ruling Congress Party, is to undergo surgery in the United States, amid reports that she is suffering from cancer.

He further writes, “Sources close to Mrs Gandhi, told The Daily Telegraph she had been receiving treatment for an unspecified cancer for at least eight months”.

The Indian daily Kolkata Telegraph elaborates the story. In its report titled “At facility in Manhattan”, the newspaper writes, “Sonia Gandhi is an

unlisted patient at Sloan-Kettering in Manhattan, according to sources in New York.”

Telegraph report also says that, “All the arrangements for Sonia’s surgery and treatment have been made by Pulok Chatterji, her long-time confidant who is now India’s executive director at the World Bank headquarters in Washington.”

Indian diplomatic outposts in New York and Washington have been completely shut out of Sonia’s treatment and other arrangements. This is said to be a reflection of the Gandhi family’s desire to keep the government at arm’s length from what it considers a private affair and, in part, to prevent speculation based on ill-informed leaks.

Tehelka’s Iftikhar Gilani was first to break the news of Sonia being admitted to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. The news however was pulled out of the website for reasons unknown to me.

Is baar nahi aa paaunga

2011-07-02T02:09:00.000-07:00

Vancouver riot 'kiss' photograph sparks mystery

2011-06-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

Couple caught on camera by photojournalist during riot following Canucks' loss in Stanley Cup decider

Amul's utterly butterly tribute to J Dey

2011-06-15T06:16:00.000-07:00

करो सही, डरो नहीं

Hares and tortoises

2011-06-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

Which countries have had most, and least, GDP growth per person since 2001?

FOR all its faults, GDP per person is still the measure that gives the best indicator of economic progress or lack thereof. The countries where GDP per head grew fastest between 2001 and 2010—Equatorial Guinea, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan—are all rich in natural resources, and were beneficiaries of the past decade’s boom in commodity prices. China is an exception to this rule, which makes its growth even more impressive. And while it usually helps to start relatively poor, a bad start does not necessarily result in success later on. Haiti and Zimbabwe have both explored how much ruin there is in a nation over the past decade and show little sign of improving. They are two of only 15 countries that have seen negative growth since 2001. Slow population growth also helps: although America's economy has grown considerably faster than Japan's since 2001, Japan’s population has shrunk while America's has risen. This means that income per head in Japan has grown almost as rapidly as in America over this period.

The unsung heroes who perished before J. Dey

2011-06-13T06:21:00.001-07:00

Just a small request..!

2011-05-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Summer is here and its going to be equally harsh to the animals around us. Kindly do your tiny bit by keeping a bowl of fresh water out side your balcony or garden.

"Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened."

-rajiv

Barack Obama has emerged looking like a cold-blooded killer – and it turns America on

2011-05-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

We got him! From the White House Situation Room to the storm-struck towns of northern Alabama, the triumphant cry went up on Sunday night: America had found its number one enemy. And Barack Obama had fulfilled a promise.

Before Osama bin Laden was killed, the president’s critics liked to portray Obama as a wimp. From radio shock jocks to Fox news, they branded him a bookish academic who hid behind his desk. He was comfortable on a university campus, or working as a “community organiser” – but not when dealing with folks in Baghdad, Kabul, or Islamabad. Obama preferred thoughtful seminars to action, ran the myth, and he would never make Americans proud.

How they must be eating their words now. As of last Sunday, the world knows that this man can kick ass when he wants to. A political Clark Kent, Barack Obama has emerged from the commando raid in Pakistan looking like an action hero. There are hints of ruthless cold-bloodedness in those White House photos. The raid played out like a cowboy film starring John Wayne, where the hero is a man of few words but deadly action.

Obama’s new tough-guy image has led to a surge in his popularity. Now that he’s shown his people what he’s capable of, his rivals – as Mike Allen notes today – will find it hard to make a competence case against him during the 2012 presidential race.

In the future, no matter how much his critics mock “the professor”, Americans know that their President got rid of Osama bin Laden. He’s no retiring academic, but a man of action. Hail to the Commander-in-Chief.

Testimony: How much did the US hated Osama..!

2011-05-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

India Inc's moment of truth

2011-04-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

It was not surprising to see India Inc openly coming out in support of Anna Hazare. In recent memory we have not witnessed any such move when Industry top guns lent their voices to a mass movement against rampant corruption. The reasons were obvious. India has seen sharp decline in foreign investments, instrumental in driving the growth. Few including the RBI attributed it to Jairam Ramesh’s “environment sensitive policies”. The RBI recorded “almost 36 per cent” dip in inward FDI during the first half of the current fiscal (April-September 2010). In fact, ‘green’ policies dictated from Paryavaran Bhavan were important factors in discouraging the FDI and negating growth. But, there is definitely more to it. Governance deficit has been the hallmark of UPA’s second avatar. Confidence in government is at its lowest ebb. The hollowness of rhetoric coming out from Red Fort & Burari has so far failed to ignite confidence in the hearts & minds of ‘aam-admi’. Not to talk about corporate who have invested billions in the economy, to earn their fortune by joining the India’s growth story bandwagon.

The first indication of the depth of this rot came from Tata group Chairman Ratan Tata, who during a lecture in December last year said that his company did not enter the airline business as he was not comfortable with the idea of bribing a minister. Though Tatas were quick to withdraw the remark, but by then Pandora’s Box was already opened. Since than many industry bigwigs have openly admitted to the decay in the system. Latest to speak on this corrosion is Infosys’s Mohandas Pai, who alleged that his company was asked to pay a bribe by the government officials to clear projects but it refused and said files “go missing” when “palms are not greased.” If companies like Tata & Infosys have had been the victim of this corrupt system, it is really surprising to see that how common man has survived all this while. This also demands the question- Are these corporate really a holy cow, devoid of any ills which is necessarily a must virtue for minting quick money? Experience says, the ability to manage the government of the day has been an important foundation to business accomplishment in India. Post liberalization decline in this trend was palpable, as licenses were almost abolished with the parallel emergence of ‘new sectors’. With the passing time foreign money also swelled the economy which among other things sterilized the economy of previous ills. The success of this ‘new economy’ hardly needed any support from the authorities. Noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor made an interesting observation on this accomplishment, he said “the new IT backed economy succeeded in India because Babus were IT illiterate.” Unfortunately, this bonhomie didn’t last long and the year 2002 saw Tata-VSNL deal mired into allegation of corruption. BJP’s Arun Shourie was at the time the disinvestment minister, and later telecom minister. He was accused of causing loss to the exchequer by giving surplus land to the Tatas almost free of cost. Since then this connivance of corruption between Netas and industries has grown by leaps and bounds.

Corruption, in India has traditionally been linked with the Politicians & bureaucrats. Rarely accusations of malpractices have been labeled against corporations. White-collar crimes have always escaped public perception. But the Radia Tapes have unfolded before us how corruption is all pervasive across India irrespective of sectors or professions. In one of the tape India’s top business tycoon is quoted as claiming that the Congress party was his dukaan. Same applies for other parties including BJP and the Left; nothing is there to indicate otherwise. Many of the corporate houses are openly seen lobbying with the politicians. Remember Ratan Tata while deposing before the PAC described how ‘chemistry problem’ with Dayanidhi Maran led him to endorsing A Raja & subsequently writing paeans praising him. Tata indirectly accepted the corporate-politicians unholy nexus which has definitely existed since long. Will ‘chemistry problem’ of any individual determine the composition of the Union cabinet? Ratan Tata’s acceptance is just an indication of how deep is the rot! It also goes on to show how symbiotic is this unholy nexus.

Recently, going through an Indian Express article on corruption, I found an interesting comment. It says, “We are in a society where if you steal thousands you are labeled a thief, if you steal lakhs you are labeled entrepreneur and if you steal crores you are a lawmaker.” This truly reflects the impression society has about ‘entrepreneurs’ and our ‘sacrosanct lawmakers’. The mood was also reflected in CAG Vinod Rai’s address to industry body CII where he candidly expressed that prevailing "Business practices of some corporate houses have become the subject of increasing public scrutiny for their perceived ethical deficit. Corporate India needs to go through a phase of reflection and soul searching." He categorically pointed out that recent scandals had tarnished India Inc’s image. This apt statement by the head of corruption watchdog at the gathering of industry captains comes at a time when corporate India is struggling with its image make-up exercise.

Also, this calls in to revisit the process of donation to the political parties. Almost all big corporate houses make such donation which is 100% tax free. This has also been a shortcut route of cozying up between Netas and the business houses. In spite of many efforts from Election Commission, there are still some grey areas. One of the root cause of corruption in India is lack of transparency in the decision making process. Corporate bodies have been making hue and cry on missing opaqueness in the due process. Still few others from the community take it as a blessing to make a killing. There is also a prevailing demand that industrialists should have direct access to the Prime Minister and other Ministers and they must get rid of the ‘Radias’ which has already done irreparable damage to their credentials.

It has been said that the legacy of India's corporate corruption rests in the archaic tax regimes of Nehruvian era. But that has long gone. One of the premise on which Indian economy was opened was that it will reduce monopoly and at the same time will promote competition among players. That has happened and India has tasted fruit of economic liberalization. But at the same time we have seen corrupt corporate practices as never before. Before rallying behind Anna’s crusade on corruption India Inc must do critical examination of its own motives, actions & beliefs. Else they risk loosing the gains of economic liberalization.

Why govt’s defence of CVC does not hold much water

2011-01-27T05:38:00.000-08:00

The Government has come out with a bizarre defence of beleaguered CVC (Chief Vigilance Commissioner) PJ Thomas. In a shocking disclosure, the Govt told the Supreme Court that it was not aware of charges against Thomas in the Palmolien Oil import scam.

As far as I know, before the appointment of any candidate to the exalted office, the EMPANELMENT COMMITTEE (EC) forwards the name of potential candidates to the Top committee, which includes the PM, Finance Minister and the Leader of Opposition.
The EC, in-turn, before recommending the names, consider three points, which are:

1. Who is the senior most candidate?

2. His record from Ministry of Personnel (MoP). (Experience; taint, if any).

3. A check of his antecedents by the Intelligence Bureau. (Crime record; cases, if any)

Only after being satisfied that all the above three parameters are met, the EC recommends the candidate for further perusal to the Top Committee.

Now the questions to be raised are:

1. Did PJ Thomas’s record with MoP fail to mention the fact that he was involved in the Palmolein oil import scam?

2. How did the IB fail to report that PJ has a taint on his career?

3. Sushma Swaraj is on record saying that she “brought this fact to thenotice of Prime Minister and Home Minister in the meeting.”

Why then, did the Govt. override Opposition Leader’s objection?These are many of the few questions the Govt need to answer to the nation. Its affidavit in the apex court that Thomas is an "outstanding officer of impeccable integrity” does not hold much water in the eyes of the public; let alone the SC, which definitely has more wisdom and prudence. The UPA Govt. must understand the fact that India cannot afford to have a ‘sacrosanct’ head of top surveillance watchdog (CVC) vouching for his integrity in the apex court.

NOTE: TOP COMMITTEE

(a) the Prime Minister - Chairperson;

(b) the Minister of Home Affairs - Member;

O Son! One day you will be the CM..!

2011-01-03T12:18:00.001-08:00

Pls. don't read much into it..!

2011-01-03T12:09:00.001-08:00

Someone, Someday at Rajiv Chowk Metro station.

Les Misérables

2011-01-03T11:54:00.000-08:00

First, let me confess, I am writing these lines from the comfort of my room. I don’t have an Air Condition, but the room-heater has made the atmosphere salubrious. Room thermometer reads 15.C, comfortable enough for home sapiens to dwell, eat and merry. Each day, I spend 10 hours in my office. The management has designed the ambience in a way that to extract best out of me. On last day of every month my account is credited with the salary, the amount of which is petty for some but jackpot for majority in this country.

Every day while returning from the office I find 10-year-old Sattu selling something near the IIT fly-over. Baloons, flowers, books…. Each day I wish to help him, but haven’t done anything from him yet. Like my fellow countrymen, also my favourite pass time is to indulge in blaming the government for every problem, India has. Isn’t India a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Dint’ we have a Child Development ministry with an army of bureaucrats ‘preying’ on our taxes? If this is what we see in the capital, one can better imagine the situation in Rahul Gandhi’s ‘other India’! I am happy, Sattu is not begging, he is an ‘entrepreneur’, not Naxalite. And that’s the only relief for statisticians on the Raisina Hill.

Coming back to me. Will I make any difference in their lives…! Will try..for sure.

Explaining Arnab to my kid brother

2011-01-03T06:47:00.000-08:00

“We will be back tomorrow with more direct questions,” the man signed off in his characteristic combative tone.
“Bhai, how come we always see this man on this channel?” my 11-year-old cousin Soofiyan asked, “Are they short of people on their staff?”
I responded by reminding him to recite the new rhyme that he had just learnt. But I could not suppress a smile. He persisted, “No, first you answer my question.”
So I told him.
I told him that the gentleman “the nation is watching” was Arnab Goswami, head and the lead anchor of Times Now, and that he was quite wrong in concluding that the news channel was short-staffed.
“Hmm…and why is he angry with everybody?” my 11-year-old cousin continued with his questions. “He is not angry,” I explained in a condescending tone, “You see, there is so much corruption, violence and crime in our society. Like all of us, he is also frustrated with all this, and this frustration just comes through when he interviews people.”
“Interviews people?” my cousin asked, clearly unimpressed by my air of superiority, “You mean, he is not the one being interviewed? You actually mean all the other faces listening to him are there to be interviewed? But I see only him talking and the others listening.”
I retreated with a feeble protest. “No, no, it is not always like that. He often gives them a chance to speak.”
“Them meaning those faces in the boxes?” he enquired.
“Yes,” I said, relieved at an easy question for a change.
You see, Soofiyan is too young to understand the charisma of the man he was referring to.
How do I make him appreciate the fact that the gentleman setting the agenda for the nation every single day does listen to all the people he invites to discussions? It is just that he seeks the one voice that agrees with him. Until he finds that voice on his prime time show, he is forced to reject all the others. It is a fair deal.
But before I can heave a sigh of relief, comes another question, “But why does that girl sit with him through the programme? Is that a backup plan, like having two pilots in an aeroplane?”
“Yes, sort of, she's his co-anchor,” I said with a straight face, hoping to evade the next question.
“You mean she isn’t one of the guests? If she is a co-anchor, why doesn’t she get to ask any questions? She just looks at the screen strangely and nods her head vigorously every time he says something.”
Before I could gather my wits, I was saved by the next question. “And, why does he keep saying ‘Tonight I will be direct, tonight I will be direct’? Tomorrow night will he be indirect?”
“No, he just wants to show how bold and blunt he is,” I said simply because I had to say something.
"OK, one last thing. How does he know that everybody watches him every night?” Soofiyan asked.
“Who told you so?" I countered a tad irritated by now.
“He did. He does so all the time. He always says the nation demands to know....the whole nation is watching tonight...How does he know?"
Tonight it was my time to be direct. "I have no freaking idea how he knows that," I hollored, "Now go back to your freaking poem."
The whole neighbourhood heard it. I still don't know about the whole nation, though!

DANISH for Governance Now (http://www.governancenow.com/views/columns/explaining-arnab-my-kid-brother)

Our System killed Aarushi

2010-12-30T05:45:00.000-08:00

It’s ‘Closing Bureau of Information’, someone twitted. WSJ India put the headline ‘Who Killed #Aarushi?No one, it seems.’ As the news of CBI closing the Aarushi case spread, the angst was quite palpable on the Internet. Many conspiracy theories were floated since the time this heinous crime was committed in May 2008. Many believed, it was an honour killing, while a smaller section of people opined that it was an outsider’s act. At that point only God knew, who the perpetrators were and how Aarushi was killed. Then on June 1, the same year CBI took over the probe in the case. People hoped something would come out. But, after 31 month of so-called Investigation, CBI failed to do what it was meant to do. The tunnel ended without finding any light.

Aarushi’s murder mystery is not the only case where the country’s premier agency, CBI, failed. There are other instances too. Ruchika Girhotra case, clean chit to Moninder Singh Pandher in Nithari case are some of the recent examples where CBI failed to stand up to the expectations. In both these cases the accused were rich, powerful but they never commanded the clout necessary for closure of their respective cases. At least for an observer like me who stands outside the system had the impression that justice will not be denied to the poor & helpless victims of these ‘mighty’. Nevertheless, CBI filed the closure report in Ruchika case saying the allegations levelled against Rathore were unfounded and baseless. The Nithari case also met the same fate. The investigation agency stated it did not find any evidence suggesting the children had gone missing from Nithari as the DNAs did not match.

And that’s not the end to the shoddy work CBI has been doing. The agency in October this year filed an application before the chief metropolitan court in Delhi seeking closure of the Bofors pay off case against Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi. In 1984 anti- Sikh riot case, in April this year, a city court let off senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler after accepting CBI’s closure report giving clean chit to him. The case of Quattrocchi & Tytler is understandable. Both issues were blot on the ruling party led by the Congress. The clean-chit must have come from the political bosses in the North Block who in turn must have received orders from No. 10.

Policing in multi-cultural country like ours has never been an easy task. Investigation still more difficult & daunting. With poor police-public ratio & obsolete investigation technologies it’s always a Herculean task to unfold the mystery of a crime. If this is not enough Government interference has always been there to use CBI as party’s policy tool to score Brownie points against the opposition. Remember the use of CBI during the UPA 1’s trust vote in 2008. The malaise is epidemic irrespective of the party in power. The harsh reality is that arresting those responsible for committing the crimes being investigated by the CBI, including corruption, is the last priority of any Government, notwithstanding the proclamations of the high and mighty regarding zero tolerance towards corruption. The plain truth is that no Government, irrespective of the party in power, wants an independent investigating agency or, for that matter, any independent institution which may not be willing to toe its line.

As on April 24 this year CBI has 9,000 cases pending in courts. 5,900 staff chasing 9,000 cases. Close to 2 cases each on the head of every CBI staff from Director to the orderly. At any given time there is 30 per cent vacancies in the Bureau. In Delhi alone, there are a total of 1,389 CBI cases pending in courts of which pendency in the six courts of special judges is at 927. Of these, 171 cases have been pending in courts for more than eight years, 51 cases for more than 15 years and 39 cases are awaiting closure for more than 20 years. Additionally, chargesheets have not been framed in 119 cases dealt with by the CBI, as per a Delhi Cabinet note.

Talking about forensic expertise to deal with type of cases CBI does, the recent Medical Council of India (MCI) dictate have also dealt a severe blow to the discipline of forensic science and toxicology. The council slashed by one-third the requirement of qualified forensic teaching faculty in medical colleges across India. The move will cut over 300 teaching posts of forensic faculty in around 300 medical colleges. India is short of over 5,000 medico-legal experts for criminal investigations. Unlike other countries, in India, 90 per cent medico-legal work is being done by simple MBBS doctors with no forensic expertise.

If the current mess, in which our premier investigation agency is, persists, Aarushi’s killer will never be nabbed. We will have many more Nirupama Pathak. Innocent & poor will always be prey of ‘Pandhers’ roaming freely in our society. It’s high time now government must free CBI from its clutches. Vacancies should be filled immediately. Also need of the hour is better forensic technologies, that must be made available sooner the better. CBI needs teeth not just to show but also to bite when needed. Remember, as William Shakespeare wrote in King Lear, "Fear of death is worse than death itself". Time has come when our investigative agencies should inculcate confidence in the hearts and minds of the aam aadmi. At the same time, perpetrators must fear death. India can’t afford to have a ‘clueless’ CBI.

LESSONS FROM BIHAR POLL RESULT

2010-11-24T04:20:00.000-08:00

His nickname is Munna, he is an engineering graduate and a teetotaler and today the 59-year-old Nitish Kumar is Bihar's man of the moment. But how he did the magic! Let's decipher..!

Bihar has shown the way, Development can fetch you votes as well.

It is high time leaders doing identity/ religion based (RJD, BJP) politics should re-think & re-invent their ideology.

Nitish Kumar successfully eroded the basis of the RJD’s electoral advantage by, first, winning over a section of the Muslims and, secondly, by retaining the support of the upper castes as well via the BJP. It was clever tactics where the BJP was made to act strictly in accordance with the script written by Nitish Kumar by excluding the minority-baiters and also keeping the upper castes on board.

3 cards, which worked for Nitish were Women empowerment, MBC & good law and order.
There is definitely dent in Lalu’s Muslim-Yadav equation. Nitish lured Muslim at least towards JD(U) candidate & softened their stand towards the whole NDA.

Nitish Kumar made it abundantly clear that he has nothing to do with its pro-Hindu agenda. Nitish Kumar ensured that Bihar remained riot-free throughout the last five years. And Bhagalpur riot convictions was a feather in his cap.

Lalu-Paswan failed to see writing on the wall. They failed to see Muslim voters have evolved since Ayodhya. They know what is good for them.

It was election based on Imaginary vs Real issues. On the one hand Nitish was ready with his implementation card at the same time RJD & INC were scaring minorities with Gujarat (Modi) ghost. Issues in Gujarat found no taker in Bihar.

Congress\ Rahul Gandhi's claim that Nitish misused funds sent for Bihar hurt the Bihari sensibilities. Nitish's rebuttal found takers as he said it's not Centre's\Congress's money.
Nitish evoked Bihari pride\ sub-nationalism in place of Lalu's parochial rant for Backward Caste & for M-Y.

No taker for Dynasty politics….Rabri, Sadhu, Subhash all out.

Barkhagate & after..!

2010-11-18T13:45:00.000-08:00

What public tweeted for Barkha

RT @maheshmurthy: Bad enough 4 @bdutt to b incompetent, causing deaths in Kargil 99 & Taj 06 bit.ly/dbwz48 much worse to be integrity-less
@BDUTT ur Audio with Nira reveals everything... Well We all knew that was secret, now is in open.
Wiretap on lobbyists,journalists reveal backroom deals & networks of power reflecting how dis country is run. Its sad day@bdutt
@BDUTT hahahahahahaha bechari
@BDUTT I think u better stop expressing authoratative views on other matter till ur scam clears up.
@BDUTT Sorry, you shouldn't have got into the mess. You lost credibility, can't help it. Just sad
@BDUTT well thts the very thing most tweeps feared after hearing ur voice on the tapes.tht ur objectivity & independence hd been compromised
@BDUTT but what about your and vir's recorded conversations..r u going to have a program on that 2..???????
What is incomprehensible or unacceptable is the fact that the media who has comments on everything is super quiet on @BDUTT. #barkhagate
गोलमाल है भाई सब गोलमाल है !!!!! @bdutt @virsanghvi @ndtv #india #scam
I don't know whether @BDUTT is guilty or not.. But surely now she has had a taste of her own medicine. Sensationalism, that is.. #barkhagate
@BDUTT Mind boggling article @OPEN - Response from ur side2 shallow! Free Media now looks even more imp. You to for sure would loose face.
RT @ayubsami: @bdutt Barkha Dutt is talking about PM's integrity. What about her own? Hello NDTV! Some introspection time.. #barkhagate Bravo Open!
RT @bhaskarchat: The type of open lobbying @bdutt @virsanghvi did with corporate lobbyists are punishable in the US. Can anyone file cases in India?
RT @whistlepodu: @BDUTT @sinmani On Sunday 6 Pm there will be a Candle light march at India gate for the Sacking of Barkha from NDTV and Vir Sanghvi from HT
@BDUTT it appears u hv actively helped form UPA govt -- how wud I ever believe that u will be impartial while reporting against the govt
@BDUTT Is it ethical for a you to act as an interlocutor between two political parties just becoz u want to get more information?
RT @roadside__romeo: @jhunjhunwala @BDUTT barkha has fled to pakistan & appiled 4 asylum on arrival at karachi airport,amid fear of being stoned 2 death in
@BDUTT Did you convey DMK's message to Ghulam Azad/Ahmed Patel after ur convs with Ms Radia? Is it ethically OK 2 becom part of the story?
@NDTV: @BDUTT Today you must be hurting badly. - The X Tapes, obviously authentic, has ripped the fig leaf of... http://bit.ly/dw9u4E
@bdutt mam sm1 4m ajtak told me ur n vir's name way back in may..I asked 4 clrifiction 4m u n vir on twitter bt didnt get any reply..cont
@bdutt always looked after u 4 ur integrity..bt whn circumstances put a question mark on it..feel like I cheated myslf..
@BDUTT Brakha mam, cnt believe u support A Raja..dnt knw mamwht shud i say..read open today.I dnt mind u supportin sm decent prsn..bt Raja??
@BDUTT pls explain your role during that time. Why the hell u have to make azad talk to someone in DMK? From newsbreaker to newsmaker?
#Barkhagate Narayan Rao Group CEO/ED, NDTV "we reserve the right to take appropriate action" I hope he meant against @bdutt & not openmag
RT @sinmani: #Radia tapes are shameful.. cant belive the arrogance of @virsanghvi @bdutt!! i'll never ever read counterpoint or watch ndtv again!
RT @sinmani: @Javedakhtarjadu ur take on ur favr. anchor @bdutt #radia tapes scandal? Such self righteousness on screen but a congress broker otherwise!
The bigger they think they are, the harder they fall. How does one say schadenfreude in Hindi? @bdutt #barkhagate
@BDUTT y dint you make the X tapes as a breaking news ???
@BDUTT What goes around, comes around . Kargil War 1999. Taj 26/11/08 #india
@BDUTT Unless I have missed, NDTV has not done even ONE story of BReaking News on the 2G story - not even one !
@BDUTT please dont do this ma'am..it just makes it worse..ur defending the morally indefensible..
@BDUTT u get paid by congress who which wanted to get rid of raja this time.that is the reason.just tell us is the voice urs?
@BDUTT my sis wanted to be like u. She had ur pic as DP but everything has changed now. Accept it nd retire.
@BDUTT apni to aise vaise kat jayegi tera kya hoga munni jo badnaam ho gayi lol!!!
@BDUTT BTW, there is a thesis that the Open Story today was orchestrated by the Govt to deflect attention from PM. Any thoughts?
Last time @bdutt & @ndtv sued blogger, had post deleted bit.ly/dbwz48 What will they do now: sue earth & delete the web?
Why has @bdutt suddenly woken up at 3 AM to tweet of her attack on Raja? We are not debating Raja here. Insomnia coupled amnesia perhaps.
@BDUTT what about moral responsibility?
@BDUTT do you guys go after narendra modi and RSS because they refuse to pay you money like your pals nira radia and A.raja do?
@BDUTT Journalism is retrieving & broadcasting, not seeking & exchanging or simply peddling info. Ur take on this is same as that of Raja.
What public tweeted for Barkha
RT @maheshmurthy: Bad enough 4 @bdutt to b incompetent, causing deaths in Kargil 99 & Taj 06 bit.ly/dbwz48 much worse to be integrity-less
@BDUTT ur Audio with Nira reveals everything... Well We all knew that was secret, now is in open.
Wiretap on lobbyists,journalists reveal backroom deals & networks of power reflecting how dis country is run. Its sad day@bdutt
@BDUTT hahahahahahaha bechari
@BDUTT I think u better stop expressing authoratative views on other matter till ur scam clears up.
@BDUTT Sorry, you shouldn't have got into the mess. You lost credibility, can't help it. Just sad
@BDUTT well thts the very thing most tweeps feared after hearing ur voice on the tapes.tht ur objectivity & independence hd been compromised
@BDUTT but what about your and vir's recorded conversations..r u going to have a program on that 2..???????
What is incomprehensible or unacceptable is the fact that the media who has comments on everything is super quiet on @BDUTT. #barkhagate
गोलमाल है भाई सब गोलमाल है !!!!! @bdutt @virsanghvi @ndtv #india #scam
I don't know whether @BDUTT is guilty or not.. But surely now she has had a taste of her own medicine. Sensationalism, that is.. #barkhagate
@BDUTT Mind boggling article @OPEN - Response from ur side2 shallow! Free Media now looks even more imp. You to for sure would loose face.
RT @ayubsami: @bdutt Barkha Dutt is talking about PM's integrity. What about her own? Hello NDTV! Some introspection time.. #barkhagate Bravo Open!
RT @bhaskarchat: The type of open lobbying @bdutt @virsanghvi did with corporate lobbyists are punishable in the US. Can anyone file cases in India?
RT @whistlepodu: @BDUTT @sinmani On Sunday 6 Pm there will be a Candle light march at India gate for the Sacking of Barkha from NDTV and Vir Sanghvi from HT
@BDUTT it appears u hv actively helped form UPA govt -- how wud I ever believe that u will be impartial while reporting against the govt
@BDUTT Is it ethical for a you to act as an interlocutor between two political parties just becoz u want to get more information?
RT @roadside__romeo: @jhunjhunwala @BDUTT barkha has fled to pakistan & appiled 4 asylum on arrival at karachi airport,amid fear of being stoned 2 death in
@BDUTT Did you convey DMK's message to Ghulam Azad/Ahmed Patel after ur convs with Ms Radia? Is it ethically OK 2 becom part of the story?
@NDTV: @BDUTT Today you must be hurting badly. - The X Tapes, obviously authentic, has ripped the fig leaf of... http://bit.ly/dw9u4E
@bdutt mam sm1 4m ajtak told me ur n vir's name way back in may..I asked 4 clrifiction 4m u n vir on twitter bt didnt get any reply..cont
@bdutt always looked after u 4 ur integrity..bt whn circumstances put a question mark on it..feel like I cheated myslf..
@BDUTT Brakha mam, cnt believe u support A Raja..dnt knw mamwht shud i say..read open today.I dnt mind u supportin sm decent prsn..bt Raja??
@BDUTT pls explain your role during that time. Why the hell u have to make azad talk to someone in DMK? From newsbreaker to newsmaker?
#Barkhagate Narayan Rao Group CEO/ED, NDTV "we reserve the right to take appropriate action" I hope he meant against @bdutt & not openmag
RT @sinmani: #Radia tapes are shameful.. cant belive the arrogance of @virsanghvi @bdutt!! i'll never ever read counterpoint or watch ndtv again!
RT @sinmani: @Javedakhtarjadu ur take on ur favr. anchor @bdutt #radia tapes scandal? Such self righteousness on screen but a congress broker otherwise!
The bigger they think they are, the harder they fall. How does one say schadenfreude in Hindi? @bdutt #barkhagate
@BDUTT y dint you make the X tapes as a breaking news ???
@BDUTT What goes around, comes around . Kargil War 1999. Taj 26/11/08 #india
@BDUTT Unless I have missed, NDTV has not done even ONE story of BReaking News on the 2G story - not even one !
@BDUTT please dont do this ma'am..it just makes it worse..ur defending the morally indefensible..
@BDUTT u get paid by congress who which wanted to get rid of raja this time.that is the reason.just tell us is the voice urs?
@BDUTT my sis wanted to be like u. She had ur pic as DP but everything has changed now. Accept it nd retire.
@BDUTT apni to aise vaise kat jayegi tera kya hoga munni jo badnaam ho gayi lol!!!
@BDUTT BTW, there is a thesis that the Open Story today was orchestrated by the Govt to deflect attention from PM. Any thoughts?
Last time @bdutt & @ndtv sued blogger, had post deleted bit.ly/dbwz48 What will they do now: sue earth & delete the web?
Why has @bdutt suddenly woken up at 3 AM to tweet of her attack on Raja? We are not debating Raja here. Insomnia coupled amnesia perhaps.
@BDUTT what about moral responsibility?
@BDUTT do you guys go after narendra modi and RSS because they refuse to pay you money like your pals nira radia and A.raja do?
@BDUTT Journalism is retrieving & broadcasting, not seeking & exchanging or simply peddling info. Ur take on this is same as that of Raja.
What public tweeted for Barkha
RT @maheshmurthy: Bad enough 4 @bdutt to b incompetent, causing deaths in Kargil 99 & Taj 06 bit.ly/dbwz48 much worse to be integrity-less
@BDUTT ur Audio with Nira reveals everything... Well We all knew that was secret, now is in open.
Wiretap on lobbyists,journalists reveal backroom deals & networks of power reflecting how dis country is run. Its sad day@bdutt
@BDUTT hahahahahahaha bechari
@BDUTT I think u better stop expressing authoratative views on other matter till ur scam clears up.
@BDUTT Sorry, you shouldn't have got into the mess. You lost credibility, can't help it. Just sad
@BDUTT well thts the very thing most tweeps feared after hearing ur voice on the tapes.tht ur objectivity & independence hd been compromised
@BDUTT but what about your and vir's recorded conversations..r u going to have a program on that 2..???????
What is incomprehensible or unacceptable is the fact that the media who has comments on everything is super quiet on @BDUTT. #barkhagate
गोलमाल है भाई सब गोलमाल है !!!!! @bdutt @virsanghvi @ndtv #india #scam
I don't know whether @BDUTT is guilty or not.. But surely now she has had a taste of her own medicine. Sensationalism, that is.. #barkhagate
@BDUTT Mind boggling article @OPEN - Response from ur side2 shallow! Free Media now looks even more imp. You to for sure would loose face.
RT @ayubsami: @bdutt Barkha Dutt is talking about PM's integrity. What about her own? Hello NDTV! Some introspection time.. #barkhagate Bravo Open!
RT @bhaskarchat: The type of open lobbying @bdutt @virsanghvi did with corporate lobbyists are punishable in the US. Can anyone file cases in India?
RT @whistlepodu: @BDUTT @sinmani On Sunday 6 Pm there will be a Candle light march at India gate for the Sacking of Barkha from NDTV and Vir Sanghvi from HT
@BDUTT it appears u hv actively helped form UPA govt -- how wud I ever believe that u will be impartial while reporting against the govt
@BDUTT Is it ethical for a you to act as an interlocutor between two political parties just becoz u want to get more information?
RT @roadside__romeo: @jhunjhunwala @BDUTT barkha has fled to pakistan & appiled 4 asylum on arrival at karachi airport,amid fear of being stoned 2 death in
@BDUTT Did you convey DMK's message to Ghulam Azad/Ahmed Patel after ur convs with Ms Radia? Is it ethically OK 2 becom part of the story?
@NDTV: @BDUTT Today you must be hurting badly. - The X Tapes, obviously authentic, has ripped the fig leaf of... http://bit.ly/dw9u4E
@bdutt mam sm1 4m ajtak told me ur n vir's name way back in may..I asked 4 clrifiction 4m u n vir on twitter bt didnt get any reply..cont
@bdutt always looked after u 4 ur integrity..bt whn circumstances put a question mark on it..feel like I cheated myslf..
@BDUTT Brakha mam, cnt believe u support A Raja..dnt knw mamwht shud i say..read open today.I dnt mind u supportin sm decent prsn..bt Raja??
@BDUTT pls explain your role during that time. Why the hell u have to make azad talk to someone in DMK? From newsbreaker to newsmaker?
#Barkhagate Narayan Rao Group CEO/ED, NDTV "we reserve the right to take appropriate action" I hope he meant against @bdutt & not openmag
RT @sinmani: #Radia tapes are shameful.. cant belive the arrogance of @virsanghvi @bdutt!! i'll never ever read counterpoint or watch ndtv again!
RT @sinmani: @Javedakhtarjadu ur take on ur favr. anchor @bdutt #radia tapes scandal? Such self righteousness on screen but a congress broker otherwise!
The bigger they think they are, the harder they fall. How does one say schadenfreude in Hindi? @bdutt #barkhagate
@BDUTT y dint you make the X tapes as a breaking news ???
@BDUTT What goes around, comes around . Kargil War 1999. Taj 26/11/08 #india
@BDUTT Unless I have missed, NDTV has not done even ONE story of BReaking News on the 2G story - not even one !
@BDUTT please dont do this ma'am..it just makes it worse..ur defending the morally indefensible..
@BDUTT u get paid by congress who which wanted to get rid of raja this time.that is the reason.just tell us is the voice urs?
@BDUTT my sis wanted to be like u. She had ur pic as DP but everything has changed now. Accept it nd retire.
@BDUTT apni to aise vaise kat jayegi tera kya hoga munni jo badnaam ho gayi lol!!!
@BDUTT BTW, there is a thesis that the Open Story today was orchestrated by the Govt to deflect attention from PM. Any thoughts?
Last time @bdutt & @ndtv sued blogger, had post deleted bit.ly/dbwz48 What will they do now: sue earth & delete the web?
Why has @bdutt suddenly woken up at 3 AM to tweet of her attack on Raja? We are not debating Raja here. Insomnia coupled amnesia perhaps.
@BDUTT what about moral responsibility?
@BDUTT do you guys go after narendra modi and RSS because they refuse to pay you money like your pals nira radia and A.raja do?
@BDUTT Journalism is retrieving & broadcasting, not seeking & exchanging or simply peddling info. Ur take on this is same as that of Raja.
@BDUTT talking to all hues of politicians okay...but those tape almost sound like you are acting as conduit between congress & DMK via Nira
@BDUTT Every explanation you give on Twitter will be torn apart tomorrow, when day breaks, and you would be made to look more culpable.
@BDUTT If Ashok Chavn should resign on accusations and prove innocence, as does Raja and as should Yeddy, then why not should Barkha Dutt?
no @bdutt defamtion is not won so easily. u need to works the black rugs. and believe me you will fail
BDUTT hahaha staying with politicians u've learned their language very well..now using it for ur own defence!!LMAO

Can Walmart really help us beat inflation?

2010-10-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

Mike Duke, CEO of Walmart Stores, would like us to believe that allowing companies such as his to retail farm produce here will help control food price inflation, which is increasingly becoming a source of discontent among our people.

Duke’s argument: A good part of our food produce is wasted as it travels from the farm to market, because we do not have a well-developed supply chain and adequate cold storage facilities. By allowing foreign investment in multi-brand retail, India will be able to tap into the expertise of global retailers such as Walmart and cut wastage of farm produce, which, in turn, will boost supplies and help contain inflation.

Several newspapers took Duke’s suggestion quite seriously. Some even headlined it, because they are as ignorant about the reality in their own country as a foreigner of Duke’s kind.
Duke is not the first to make such a suggestion. The ad campaigns by our homegrown retailers such as Big Bazaar and Reliance Retail also make similar assumptions.

That if consumption of potatoes totals 100 tonnes and the farmers are producing the same amount but are able to reach only 80 tonnes to market (because the rest is wasted in transit), then demand exceeds supply and triggers an increase in prices. Companies such as Walmart, Duke would tell us, will help ensure much than 80 tons actually reach the market, cut the demand-supply gap and reduce inflation.

If we, for a moment, concede ground to Duke’s line of argument, we may still ask what happens when consumption grows to 110 tonnes. Unless potato production grows to the same level, a gap between demand and supply could trigger a price rise. So the solution then would be to produce more, and I doubt if Walmart or other organised retail firms can help here.

The real problem lies elsewhere. Food prices are going up because cost of producing food is going up. Seed and fertiliser prices have gone up more 50 per cent in the past three years. Diesel prices and power tariffs have increased in a similar manner. Farmers are paying more and more for water, which until some years came almost free.

If that is not enough, hiring farm labour has become a nightmare for producers. Earlier this month, mills in Maharashtra agreed to pay cane-cutting workers 23 per cent more than the rate negotiated for 2009-10. As my colleague Harish Damodaran at Hindu Business line put it: “Sugarcane is not an exception: The story is the same, whether one is hiring hands for transplanting paddy, harvesting wheat, picking cotton or plucking apples. And it is not just labour rates, but actual scarcity.”

The only way we can contain food prices in the face of rising input costs is by enhancing productivity.

We need to figure out how to produce more with less water; how to mechanise production at a cost that is less than hiring labour. We will need to make technological breakthrough with respect to crop yield. I do not remember when was the last time we came up with a new variety of paddy or seeds for common vegetables, except for the controversial Bt brinjal.

It is a pity that focussing on the real problem is not a priority for the government, for our ministers Sharad Pawar and Subodh Kant Sahay, who are busy hosting visitors such as Duke. And then there are journalists like us who are always so ready to fall prey to fallacious recipes such as the one that came from the Walmart chief on Monday.

RAHUL MAHAJAN is natural outcome of a weak PM!

2010-08-07T18:15:00.000-07:00

I have seen eight of the fourteen PM India had since the independence. But never before I have been ashamed of any Prime Minister. Manmohan Singh is a nice human being. A great economist. A caring father & a loyal husband. But India does not need any one of these characteristics. We need an administrator who can rule the country with great care & an iron fist whenever situation arises. In the last six years PM has hardly been seen on the front page of any newspaper or cover page of any magazine other than the Oath ceremony or trust vote. Which type of PM he is, who never ignites confidence in the people of this country.

His failures are many and success few. Be it Kashmir, Diplomacy, Inflation, Corruption, Naxalism, CWG Mess….the Blue Turbanator has always punctured our expectation to the extent to believe India don’t have any constitutional position like the Prime Minister! When the Kashmir is burning God only knows where Manmohan Singh is! Or if he is there he must be sleeping. Doesn’t as a citizen of this country we have a right to expect that he speaks out…at least something. Mr. Prime Minister your lackadaisical attitude is leading us to believe that you might be branded as the weakest PM India ever had. Let me warn you, your image is eroding faster than expected. Forget Deve Gowda or Gujaral, they never posses the mandate you have. Sir, it’s your constitutional obligation to ignite faith in the people of this country which unfortunately is eroding. As the Prime Minister candidate we have given you the mandate to rule or ‘mis-rule’ not ‘miss-rule’. India is getting the impression that they have elected a PM who is constitutionally obliged to serve 10 Janpath. We are feeling cheated, left out in lurch.

See, how Rahul Mahajans & Rakhi Sawants are filling the void you have created in the media. They are counting your weakness as their blessing! Unfortunately we unlike West don’t have firms to measure weekly approval rating. I can bet your’s would have touched nadir within a year of UPA –II. Please do something for this country sir. Your proverbial “Aam Aadmi” is in great trouble. Pressed by monster headed inflation, pissed off with mess in the CWG, ashamed by rampant corruption, fearful of Naxals. We have voted for ‘haath’ not your ‘laat’. Please don’t let Rahul & Rakhi eat up your legitimate space. Wake up Sid!

WikiLeaks and continuity

2010-08-07T17:14:00.000-07:00

The Reaction of revelations on Wikileaks was unbearably lighter than we have a right to expect — not because the story isn’t sensational or troubling enough, but because it’s too troubling, a mess we cannot fix and therefore prefer to forget…. The mental model on which most investigative journalism is based states that explosive revelations lead to public outcry; elites get the message and reform the system. But what if elites believe that reform is impossible because the problems are too big, the sacrifices too great, the public too distractible? What if cognitive dissonance has been insufficiently accounted for in our theories of how great journalism works…and often fails to work?

Why did I stop!

2010-05-08T02:34:00.000-07:00

Haven’t written anything since long…started blogging in Hindi sometimes in 2008. But could not carry it much forward. Laziness coupled with professional commitment…excuses, nothing important to write, lack of ideas….many reasons which I have made of late in my defence. But none of them was convincing enough to stop me forever. Though they were successful me holding me temporarily. I am at it again….will write…what are journalist meant to do!

Is Madhuri Gupta, so different..!

2010-05-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

I have little sympathy with Madhuri Gupta – the Indian mole from foreign services who betrayed the country for revenge or money or both. I am sure most of us are going to express plenty of dismay at the sad development. And the development is sad all right, deal as it does with sold out patriotism. Reprehesible as Madhuri’s act may be, just think about it. Exactly what has Madhuri done? She has indulged in the worst kind of betrayal – the betrayal of the country for money. What do you think every other mantri, every other government babu and every other Indian is indulging in today, if not betraying the country? What right does a corrupt country like ours have to expect only Madhuri to be above board? Isn’t she merely a member of the same corrupt population? Who is not betraying his country for money? The policemen whom you have to bribe if you want to file an FIR? The Government mortuary keeper you need to bribe in order to claim the dead body of your child who died in an accident? The ayahs whose palms need greasing if you want to take your new born baby out of the government hospital? Sundry petty officials whose beaks need considerable wetting before you get your motor license, passport or ration card? The tax man who needs his consideration to give you your refund check? The inspectors who for the right consideration will give you a fire-safety clearance irrespective of your violations? The municipal officials who will regularize your illegal construction for a consideration? The Government regulators who would not approve or accredit that engineering college unless you pay that sum he writes out on a slip of paper? The bank manager who will not release that government approved loan without a consideration? The IPL honchos who will not let you win your bid fair and square? The private secretary or the peon of the Minister who will not let you into the latter’s room without your slipping that Rs 500 or Rs 100 bill respectively? The Minister who will place every conceivable obstacle in the path of your project in his constituency unless you grease his machinery first? Or the one from under whose beds one recovers suitcase full of cash? The judge who may give you a favourable judgment for a fee? So why should we be surprised if a frustrated lady in External Affairs dispenses national secrets for a consideration, whether revenge or money? What is it in her conduct that is so very different from the rest of us as a people? Yes, we may fancy ourselves to be superior to Madhuri Gupta because we did not sell ourselves out to an outsider. But come on, it is simply that her job involved being in Pakistan. Had she been posted within the country, she too would have still sold her country, like all the rest of us. Is her offence any worse than all those who have stashed away some ridiculous sums running into lakhs of crores of rupee equivalent in the Swiss banks, which we hear so often about? When our politicos and other heavyweights siphon the wealth out of the country, where exactly is the difference between Madhuri and these others? Yes, what Madhuri has done is sad and reprehensible – but to my mind no more and no less reprehensible than all the rest of us who are forever bleeding the country dry. If as a people we are truly shocked at Madhuri, we have no option but to look inwards and join hands to clean the system that we live and grow up in.

10 LESSONS FROM THE TIGER SCANDAL

2009-12-14T12:38:00.000-08:00

The story of Tiger Woods is tragic but it is not unfamiliar. A public figure, at the height of his career, is caught in moral failure. Like Bill Murray’s character in the movie, Ground Hog Day, we awaken to the same scenario over and over again until lessons are learned and results change.

The following are 10 lessons we can learn from the Tiger Woods affair:
1. Success without grounding and accountability is failure.

2. Money and fame are not equals to character and honor.
3. Public performance and private life are not exclusive of one another – good judgment is the common thread.
4. Few things command greater respect than a person accepting full responsibility for his actions.
5. When marital vows are honored, heartache is kept at bay.
6. Forgiveness is so powerful that it is at times one’s only hope.
7. Today’s secrets are tomorrow’s revelations.
8. One’s greatest legacy is one’s family.
9. It is never too late to do what is right.
10. The greatest comebacks are found not in the arena of sports but in matters of the heart.

THE LIBERHAN ' TRAGEDY'!!!

2009-11-24T03:09:00.000-08:00

Now, Liberhan report is out in the public domain for the scrutiny. See, how our Gen Y has reacted on the issue. It’s high time we the journalist needs to introspect. We have been put in the same league as are our politicians. Some Tweets…:-)

Is it possible that there were two different Liberhan reports: One leaked, the diluted version tabled?
Liberhan took 17 yrs/8 crores and PDFs follow same trend.Size 129 MB on NDTV,80 MB on Hindu
'Joke of d Year' - Media sections, now, fighting over their 'Exclusivity' on 'Trash'
17yrs 8 crore rs ...nw nothing against those who are behind the demolition of babri masjid...justice liberhan ?????
If I was the government of India, I would ask Liberhan for my money back. 17 years, 9 crores spent and complete rubbish ...
Liberhan has nothing to gain by leaking it now,anyway our HM is sick of talking to Naxalites & terrorists,would rather,prefer to quit
amusing 2 C sections of other media now claiming the Liberhan report 2 B "exclusive". Come on guys!!
m wondering which party does this Liberhan report benefit. BJP,Cong,SP or Left...God!!indian politics is too unpredictable.
who slept with Liberhan that it all leaked so early.....and then such a shoddy anti-climax to the whole event! lol
Liberhan no detective, politician nor a chess player, it was then PM N.Rao who outfoxed Advani by not stopping him nor dismissK.Govt
The #Liberhan report is expensive, took a lot of time coming up, got leaks in it and sunk fast. Kinda like Titanic.
Tragic day for Cong-sucking sections of media. Liberhan has turned out to be the ultimate dud.
Thank god its not a bollywood movie. This thing would have bobed biiger than Nuclear Bomb! Major Buzzkill!
Haha! You dont read my tweets closely. I just said that Congress is a long term player.Liberhan switch would be turned on-off
Now that you agree Liberhan is anti-climax, will you question why the PM is out of the country on 26/11 ?
Liberhan report could always haunt the BJP and remain there as an impediment in evolving into a viable alternative to the Centrists
May be a generational shift. But the issue here is what is more relevant today- Dalai, China, 26/11 or the old ghost called Liberhan?
liberhan has swished his sword left, right and centre - read comment about "shortsightedness of the Supreme Court" !! ref sec.163.2
LIBERHAN COMMISSION...its shame on you. What were you doing last 17 years..? Whom did you want to satisfy.. or you wanted only comfort..?
Kalyan Singh paints d clearest picture of the liberhan commission report yet! 17yrs on...is this worth d time we're giving it?
Liberhan Commission on Babri Masjid: "No punitive action against any criminals..!" Sad that all talk about report leak, not on barbaric act.
It is amusing to see how the politicians are using the Liberhan report to pander more than usual.
no mention of punitive action against any top brass leader in Liberhan ATR hs spilt water on BJP's grand plan rebuildn Hindutva agenda
The liberhan report is out - U must have been born in '92 ,The Babri Mosque was demolished that year by Hindu fanatics
Liberhan is trending.. someone finally notices after 17 freakin years. well better late than never

'Global warming' and '9/11': words that define the decade

2009-11-20T00:01:00.000-08:00

Terrorism, economic turmoil and climate change have shaped the 2000s, not only affecting how people live but their language, with "global warming" and "9/11" topping a list of the most used words of the decade.

The Global Language Monitor, which uses a math formula to track the frequency of words and phrases in print and electronic media, said "Obama" came third in the list with the surname of U S President Barack Obama used as the stem for other words.

"Bail-out" was listed fourth after the bank bail-out was one of the first acts of the financial crisis, "evacuee" came fifth in the wake of Hurricane Katrina devastating New Orleans, and "derivative" featured fifth.

"Google," "surge," "Chinglish" meaning a hybrid of Chinese and English, and "tsunami," after the 2004 Asian disaster that left 230,000 people dead or missing, followed.

"Looking at the first decade of the 21st century in words is a sober, even sombre, event," said Paul JJ Payack, president of The Global Language Monitor.

"For a decade that began with such joy and hope, the words chosen depict a far more complicated and in many ways, tragic time. Nevertheless, signs of hope and renewal can be found in the overall lists."

Payack said the top phrase of the decade was "climate change" followed by "financial tsunami" and "Ground Zero."

Technology's impact on the past decade was reflected in the list with "Twitter," the micro-blogging site, one of the most used words while "blog" and "texting" featured on the list.

Hollywood continued to flex its muscle, with "Slumdog" from the Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire," referring to child inhabitants of Mumbai slums, making its mark in global language. U.S. comedian Stephen Colbert's "truthiness," defined as truth that comes from the gut not books, came in at No. 25.

62 YEARS AFTER.....

2009-10-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

WORLD IS HUNGRY

2009-10-26T11:43:00.000-07:00

I've compiled a database of useful facts and figures on world hunger.

GLOBAL HUNGER

1.02 billion people do not have enough to eat - more than the populations of USA, Canada and the European Union; (Source: FAO news release, 19 June 2009)

The number of undernourished people in the world increased by 75 million in 2007 and 40 million in 2008, largely due to higher food prices; (Source: FAO news release, 9 Dec 2008)

907 million people in developing countries alone are hungry; (Source: The State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, 2008)

Asia and the Pacific region is home to over half the world’s population and nearly two thirds of the world’s hungry people; (Source: The State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, 2008)
More than 60 percent of chronically hungry people are women; (Source: The State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, 2006)

65 percent of the world's hungry live in only seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia. (Source: The State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, 2008)

CHILD HUNGER

Every six seconds a child dies because of hunger and related causes; (Source: State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO, 2004)
More than 70 percent of the world's 146 million underweight children under age five years live in just 10 countries, with more than 50 per cent located in South Asia alone; (Source: Progress for Children: A Report Card on Nutrition, UNICEF, 2006)
10.9 million children under five die in developing countries each year. Malnutrition and hunger-related diseases cause 60 percent of the deaths;(Source: The State of the World's Children, UNICEF, 2007)
The cost of undernutrition to national economic development is estimated at US$20-30 billion per annum;(Source: Progress for Children: A Report Card on Nutrition, UNICEF, 2006)
One out of four children - roughly 146 million - in developing countries are underweight;(Source: The State of the World's Children, UNICEF, 2007)
Every year WFP feeds more than 20 million children in school feeding programmes in some 70 countries. In 2008, WFP fed a record 23 million children.(Source: WFP School Feeding Unit)

MALNUTRITION

It is estimated that 684,000 child deaths worldwide could be prevented by increasing access to vitamin A and zinc(Source: WFP Annual Report 2007)
Undernutrition contributes to 53 percent of the 9.7 million deaths of children under five each year in developing countries. This means that one child dies every six seconds from malnutrition and related causes. (Source: Under five deaths by cause, UNICEF, 2006)
Lack of Vitamin A kills a million infants a year(Source: Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency, A Global Progress Report, UNICEF)
Iron deficiency is the most prevalent form of malnutrition worldwide, affecting an estimated 2 billion people.6 Eradicating iron deficiency can improve national productivity levels by as much as 20 percent.(Source: World Health Organization, WHO Global Database on Anaemia)
Iron deficiency is impairing the mental development of 40-60 percent children in developing countries(Source: Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency, A Global Progress Report, p2, UNICEF)
Vitamin A deficiency affects approximately 25 percent of the developing world’s pre-schoolers. It is associated with blindness, susceptibility to disease and higher mortality rates. It leads to the death of approximately 1-3 million children each year.(Source: UN Standing Committee on Nutrition. World Nutrition Situation 5th report. 2005)
Iodine deficiency is the greatest single cause of mental retardation and brain damage. Worldwide, 1.9 billion people are at risk of iodine deficiency, which can easily be prevented by adding iodine to salt(Source: UN Standing Committee on Nutrition. World Nutrition Situation 5th report. 2005)
WFP-supported deworming reached 10 million children in 2007(Source: WFP Annual Performance Report 2007)

FOOD & HIV/AIDS

In the countries most heavily affected, HIV has reduced life expectancy by more than 20 years, slowed economic growth, and deepened household poverty. (Source: 2008 UNAIDS Global Report on the AIDS Epidemic)
In sub-Saharan Africa alone, the epidemic has orphaned nearly 12 million children aged under 18 years.(Source: 2008 UNAIDS Global Report on the AIDS Epidemic).
WFP and UNAIDS project that it will cost on average US $0.70 cents per day to nutritionally support an AIDS patient and his/her family.(Source: Cost of Nutritional Support for HIV/AIDS Projects, WFP, July 2008)
Assistance for orphans and vulnerable children is estimated at US$0.31 per day.(Source: Cost of Nutritional Support for HIV/AIDS Projects, WFP, July 2008)

AID SPENDING

In a 1970 UN Resolution, most industrialised nations committed themselves to tackling global poverty by spending 0.7 percent of their national incomes on international aid by 1975. Only Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Denmark regularly meet his target(Source: DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) facts map, 2006-2007)
The 22 member countries of the OECD Development Assistance Committee, the world's major donors, provided USD 103.9 billion in aid in 2006 - down by 5.1 percent from 2005(Source: OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2007)
The largest donors were the United States (US$24 billion), Japan (US$18 billion), the United Kingdom (US$13 billion), Germany and France (US$12 billion each), the Netherlands (nearly US$6 billion), Spain and Italy (just over US$4 billion each) representing 80 percent of the total(Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2007)

Nepal: In deep crisis

2009-05-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

The old ‘Hindu Kingdom is again in chaos. The crisis that was brewing in Nepal has come to the fore. Army chief Rukmangad Katawal was sacked by Maoist prime minister Prachanda & it was immediately followed by the president's decision to veto it. Now Prachanda has resigned. Barely a year after democracy had begun to take roots, the experiment of a coalition government of ultra-left and more moderate forces is in peril.

Sacking the general three months before he was to resign was bad enough. That it was done because the general was resisting Maoist attempt to bring their cadre into the army is worse, because it indicates a more systemic fault. Though it is not a case of democratically-elected government fighting the men in uniform, the country is awash with rumours of a "soft coup". This is hardly encouraging for a nation where democracy is nascent and monarchist forces continue to hold sway. Besides although the Maoists have given up their violent ways, they have not totally disbanded.

Existing constitutional procedures suggest that the appointment of the army chief was the prerogative of the king. As the monarchy stands abolished, the power rests with the president who has exercised his authority and stopped the army chief's sacking. The prime minister objected. It is clear that both have not worked out a modus vivendi to ensure that the system functions smoothly while the constitutional issues are worked out.It is of utmost concern that this political and constitutional battle should not rock the Nepal state or undermine its fledgling democracy. It is for this reason that India's Nepal-watchers are worried. There are encouraging signs, in that the rest of the political parties barring the Maoists are coming together to find a political solution. All efforts have to be made to ensure that Nepal does not return to political and social turmoil.

India has failed to evolve a Nepal policy which keeps abreast of changing circumstances in the Himalayan nation. The crisis in Nepal comes at a time when India is in the midst of elections, which means there is no clear policy thrust in New Delhi on how to handle the situation in Kathmandu or indeed in other troubled neighbouring countries. But the foreign policy establishment must step in to ensure that forces inimical to India's interests do not emerge in the shake-up. This is a delicate moment for Nepal and bears close watching by India.

the city never sleeps...

2009-05-01T01:54:00.000-07:00

I walk around, it's 10 past midnight here

And I'm movin' to the sound of people drownin' out their lives

This little voice that says "Hey, we should settle down,"

"But we never listen," we say to each other"

Just wait 'til they see me now

I'm, I'm feelin' so alive

Don't you wish it was like this every night?

The city never sleeps

And you and I, lets fly away this time and get on with our lives

But don't look down,

You'll never feel your feet touch the ground

If it's all the same

I'd rather never leave

It feels too good

To hear the sounds, see the sights on India Gate.

Cuz now I see millions

Of people

Swimming out their lives

And they all came from nowhere

They all say, "Just wait 'til they see me now

I'm, I'm feelin' so alive

Don't you wish it was like this every night?

The city never sleeps

And you and I, lets fly away this time and get on with our lives

But don't look down

You'll never feel your feet touch the...

Now I'm, I'm feeling so alive

Don't you wish it was like this every night? T

he city never sleeps

And you and I, lets fly away this time and get on with our lives

But don't look downYou'll never feel your feet touch the ground

They'll never touch the ground..........