Vishu Kaineetam in Digital India

As a child growing up in Kerala, the most awaited, exciting  and perhaps the period of epic proportions was the days leading to Vishu (the  Hindu New year celebrated in Kerala and few other parts in India).  It has always been the time leading to impending happiness arriving in the form of ‘Vishu Kaineetam’.  From time immemorial, on the Vishu day, all elders in the family will give 'Vishu Kaineetam' to all those who are younger to them in age, usually in the form of new coins. In olden days, it used to be a major event that required micro level financial planning for a kid.  I still recall maintaining a scrapbook with  noting and calculations of estimated collection (including the potential targets), the collection of the previous year, any new targets, end use of money etc.  To quote from a Bryan Adam’s song, “Those were the best days of my life.”

Let’s cut to the present, the situation in today’s India which is Digital India and I wonder how do we handle this payment/ receipt, which is predominately in cash? We have not received an email or SMS from the Government on how to handle this ‘difficult situation’ of transacting in cash. As on date, there is no circular from the Government on how to make and receive Vishu Kaineetam and related reporting requirements.  As I sit down to ponder over the developments in India in the past few months, I was wondering whether someone would come up with a regulation to handle Vishu Cash payments. My thoughts ran wild as I ended up drawing an imaginary circular from the Government to control the menace of black money, which will arise through the traditional Vishu Kaineetam ritual. It will perhaps read like this…

• This circular is aimed at curtailing the menace of black money being generated, circulated and laundered through the age-old tradition of Vishu Kaineetam
• An individual is entitled to give Vishu Kaineetam of maximum Rs. 500/- per person with an aggregate limit of Rs. 5000/- to all persons.
• The Vishu Kaineetam can only be paid during 2 days starting from April 14, 2017 and ending on April 15, 2017.
• Any payment in excess of Rs. 300/- per person should be paid through net banking or digitally using PAYTM, Bhim etc. or such other digital payment modes to be notified by the Government in this regard
• Vishu Kaineetam can be given only to close Relatives. For this purpose, Relatives will be the donor’s spouse, sisters, brothers, father, mother, daughter and son
• Remittance from abroad towards Vishu Kaineetam should be through proper banking channels and should comply with the conditions stipulated by Reserve Bank of India in this regard including the reporting requirements stipulated therein
• Within 7 working days of Vishu, every Donor who has made payment in cash towards Vishu Kaineetam and every recipient should report the transactions online in the attached format quoting the PAN number, Aadhar Number of the recipient and payee.
• Vishu Kainettam to any persons who does not have PAN / Aadhar will not be permitted. However, Vishu Kaineetam to kids below the age of 3 will not require Aadhar or PAN and for such payments, the Aadhar/ PAN details of the parent or guardian to be quoted while reporting online
• The Government reserves the right to amend the contents of this circular without any notice whatsoever and …
• This could be a never ending list…so let me pause here! But trust me Bankers have already sensed some business here.   see this... http://keralaitnews.com/5792/federal-bank-to-offer-digital-kaineettam-on-vishu

While I agree that I may be going overboard with this but think about it…. Aren’t we living in a situation like this now?  Nothing surprises us anymore.

Coming to the reality, I was just using the festival atmosphere to dwell on issues, which are troubling me, and I believe, troubling the middle class off late.

The age-old tradition of milking the same cow continues with imposing restrictions after restrictions on the middle class while the lower strata of the society and the upper strata are relatively insulated. 

While I appreciate and applaud the bold move of demonetization, the way in which it was rolled out is quite amusing. What started off as a fight against black money, counterfeit currency and containing militancy, took different narratives over a period of time and now rests at ‘Making India Cashless’.  I firmly believe that the whole thing is being overdone and it is a question of time for the flaws to emerge, if not emerged already.  For e.g., By-elections cancelled due to cash for vote scam in one place and postponed due to Militancy in another.  On the cash for vote scam - Where did this money, which runs into crores come from? How did they get so much cash in new notes? On the Militancy issue, as per media reports, the by-election in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency recorded 2% turnout with an overall voting percentage of 7% (a historical low). People do not expect answers to any of these as we are used to these and we will manage.  Oh Darling Yeh Hai India… Sab chalta hai!

Another development, which didn’t make any sense, was the farmer loan write-off. While I do respect and understand the trouble the farmers are going through, it is a crime to write off Rs 30,000 Crore plus of loans without any diligence. I am sure other governments will follow suit and the middle class will bear the brunt.  The people who are repaying loans (including the farmers who repaid) look like fools.  What is the incentive for honest borrowers?   I take the liberty to borrow the Hon’ble Reserve Bank of India Governor Mr. Urjit Patel’s view here.  He has gone on record to say, “The populist farm loan waiver program set to be rolled out across Uttar Pradesh poses another risk for inflation, undermines an honest credit culture”.

On one side, you are squeezing every penny out of the middle class, predominantly salaried class who can be cornered and then using the same money to write off huge loans.  What economic sense does this make?

The nail in the coffin would be the obnoxious power given to the Banks.   Banks, Private and Public are given a free hand to squeeze money from customers by way of minimum balance requirement, transaction charges beyond xx number of transactions etc. 

If the intention is to bring more people into banking folds, this does not add up. It’s just insane!

This list of grievances will go on and on, so I would prefer to stop at this.   Having said that, I had and will continue to support the initiatives to curb black money and revive the economy, but the lackadaisical manner in which it is being done, with no tangible result in sight really pains me.   We are constantly living in the world of promises and we will get used to this.  As they say… this too will pass.  But, anxiously awaiting the Ache Din…….

Going back to the beginning……… Happy Vishu and let us enjoy Vishu and Vishu Kaineetam till it gets regulated.

AAP – No more the messiah of the ‘Mango People!

Year 2015 - assuming AAP comes to Power in India

Army Chief’s SOS to Prime Minister AKji - Sir, we have information from the Intelligence Bureau that our neighbouring country is planning an attack in the next 24 hours.

AKji - Oh no.  Tell them to hold on.  We need to conduct a referendum through our website / Facebook /Twitter/ WhatsApp / other social media and ascertain public opinion on this. We will need 3 days and tell them to wait.

Army Chief (replies in astonishment) - Err… Sir,  that may not work. It is a war situation!!

AKji - Oh!  What do we do now?  How is the situation with our nuclear arsenal if the public feedback approves of such usage?  Can we keep it ready?

Army Chief - Of course sir. But we don’t have power supply to use the nuclear weapon as the suppliers are going through a CAG audit and they have also refused to supply power till we pay them.  Besides, the head of the unit is on suspension pending an enquiry being conducted under by the Jan Lokpal. We have been given to understand that this position is vacant since an honest, qualified person has not been found so far.

AKji – Yes, yes! I remember!  He was the one who shares his surname with that big industrialist and we strongly believe that the industrialist controls him.   What do we do now?  Can we speak to the Pak Army or ISI to delay this?

Army Chief (exasperated) - That won’t be possible Sir. They do not report to you.

An irritated AKji – How is that possible and why was I never told about this? What did the Congress and BJP Governments do about this over the last 60 years? I’ll do a Dharna in front of the Pakistan High Commission to protest against this and give the Pakistan Government 48 hours to pass a resolution ensuring their Army/ISI report to me with immediate effect.  I will resign if it does not happen. Also, send 15 questions to Pak Army Chief, seeking answers in 24 hours.  Else, it will be clear that he is corrupt.

Army Chief (aghast) - Yes sir! But how will sending questions, sitting on a Dharna and proving that the Pakistan Army is corrupt help us in the situation we are in, an impending War!!

AKji - Arre… don’t you get the point?  Once they pass the required resolution, I can order them not to attack. If they don’t pass, I’ll resign. If the Pakistan Army Chief does not reply, it is clear that he is corrupt.  Let us get an auto rickshaw to go to the nearest Metro station and from there to the Dharna venue.  (AKji calls his press secretary and says) - ensure that the entire media is alerted about my rickshaw travel and metro travel. Where is my muffler!

Army Chief fainted…………...

What has happened to India? Nothing yet, considering this is only a highly exaggerated imaginary situation!

This piece (of my mind) is in no way an attempt to point fingers at AAP and its credibility or the intelligence of its leader.  If I had a vote in the Delhi assembly elections, I would have definitely voted for the AAP as their intention was quite promising. However, as an AAM AADMI, I feel dejected looking at their naïve and immature way of handling of things.

Running after Referendums:

Looks like the party has collectively failed to realize that people vote and elect representatives because they don’t have the intelligence or time to govern. A leader is expected to be decisive and lead but if the leader keeps going back to the public in the name of referendum (through their websites and social networking sites which form a small percentage of public), it leads to nothing but chaos and delays, Imagine this: if this trend continues, the day isn’t far when each home could have a voting machine installed for the mango people to have their say on policies and issues!

Focus on 'what's not possible' rather than 'what's possible' 

Can choosing a lost cause and quitting be termed a success? I am not a political analyst, but it is elementary that with the numbers AAP had in the Delhi Assembly, passing the Jan Lokpal Bill was a non-starter from the beginning.  The chances were as bright as an Indian football team winning a FIFA World Cup! AAP garnered public support by convincing the Aam Aadmi of how corrupt the Congress, BJP or for that matter every other political party was (incidentally, both the Congress and BJP never denied they have corrupt leaders; but their defense was that the other one is more corrupt). During their short stint at power, the party sounded redundant as they kept on singing the same tune without doing anything about it.

Instead, they should have grabbed the opportunity and proved a point to the world of what they were capable of by completing the term or rule Delhi for couple of years.  Efficiency is as important as honesty! There was plenty of opportunity to clean up a whole lot of things (streamlining power distribution, water supply, school admissions, development work etc., to name a few). Jan Lokpal, though important, is not the only issue. Jan Lokpal is necessary and they could have sent it to the Central Government and blamed the Congress. I am sure the AAM AADMI is smart enough to understand that a one- year-old party can do only so much. On the flip side, the feeling one got during the short AAP tenure was they somehow wanted the Congress to withdraw the support.

Of Press Meets, Dharnas and Accusations…

After a point, TV Noise, I mean News Channels were nothing but AAP TV! All they did was call for press meets and accuse someone or the other of corruption.  The debate here is not whether the people accused by AAP are corrupt or not? The point is what purpose did it serve? Most of AAP’s tactics of free power and waivers are nothing beyond populous politics – something similar to what a state like Tamil Nadu followed – dolling out freebies without worrying about the long term impact to the exchequer.  Yes, they managed to hold Delhi to ransom by holding a dharna, resulting in sending few Delhi policemen on leave.  No one knows what happened to these policemen who went on leave. Did the people of Delhi benefit from this? The answer is a vehement NO!  Strangely, when they consulted the people on forming the government, they did not do so while quitting!

They should also realize that the MY WAY or the HIGHWAY Approach does not work in a democracy.

Just like that light at the end of the tunnel, I hope the AAP gets a little practical and sensible. They have definitely lost their head start that is wading but still promising, at least in the cities.  To add to that, if they fail to win a few seats, they will face a humungous task of keeping their high profile members together as most of them are corporate leaders in their own right and for them, dovetailing will be difficult.

On a concluding note, what comes to my mind is Abraham Lincoln’s quote “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power”. Does it not reflect the current picture of AAP and a faltered one at that!  

Why I may choose to not get on board Chennai Express…

Dear King Khan,

I have been an ardent fan of your work all along, watching your movies. Be it your misfires like Guddu, Dil Aashna Hai or Badhshah to all your blockbusters or even the recent lukewarm flicks like Ra.One and Jab Tak Hai Jaan… 

However, I cringe to say that this fan might just skip your latest masala-Rohit Shetty-shtyle take on cinema in the South. The reason may be a mere assumption or a gut feeling that you, along with Rohit Shetty are out there on a mission to spoof Tamil Cinema and expect high praise and applause!

I have to admit that I don’t know the premise, story or the director’s so-called vision for this movie. Having said that, the promos easily give an inkling of what’s in store. We all know your history and histrionics at taking a dig at south Indian cinema and their characters (the ‘enna rascala, mind it’ shenanigans in OSO or the ambitious Ra.One where you play a south Indian father and mess up the character royally), giving me all the more reason to fear the look and feel of Chennai Express. Incidentally, being a south Indian, I haven't come across the terms 'enna rascala' or 'mind it' outside of your movies.

Traditionally, south Indian characters were stereotyped in Hindi Movies, be it Mehmood in Padosan or Mithun in Agneepath, and now Chennai Express is giving more than mere hints (through Deepika’s dialogue delivery, the lungis, the fat goons and the likes) to take this stereotyping on a larger scale. What is interesting to note is that actors in your league (the likes of the Dabangg Khan, Aamir the perfectionist, or Rowdy Kumar) have all done movies inspired by the south, paying homage of sorts, but never once caricatured them and gotten away with it!

Your version of South Indians is quite different from what it really is.  I have come across two online articles and strangely, both are inspired by your movies.

http://www.firstpost.com/living/yenna-rascalla-south-india-for-non-madrasi-dummies-985309.html?utm_source=hp-footer

&

http://heartranjan.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/the-world-of-south-indians-according-to-shah-rukh-khan/

My heart skipped a beat almost when recent news reports confirmed of a “tribute” to superstar Rajnikant through a music video titled ‘lungi dance’ by an uncanny combo of yours with Honey Singh. I wonder if this should be called a master stroke in marketing or a disaster in waiting! Why in heaven’s name Rajnikant would need an endorsement of any kind from you, still worse, from Honey Singh??!!

Let me set the record straight. I am an avid movie buff; watch every kind of cinema and my views do not in any way reflect the quality of Hindi movies. With your by now infamous well oiled promotion strategy well in place and the  songs topping the charts,  it is a no-brainer that Chennai Express will make its way to the blockbuster club (which strangely is Rs.100 Crore nowadays without giving any weightage to the cost of production).  But I would prefer not to 'get set po'  and be content with the fact that I did not contribute  to the impending atrocity!

Off late, I can see your sincerity turning into desperation for a blockbuster. But please don’t look for shortcuts like Chennai Express!  You should know that there is a sea of difference between paying a tribute and making a caricature of something. 

While I choose to miss the train this Eid, I am confident that the screen will once again light up with another memorable portrayal, just like the innocent Sunil from Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa or the flirtatious Raj Malhotra from DDLJ, the confused yet determined Mohan Bhargav from Swades or the intense Kabir Khan of Chak De!

Hope you scorch that screen again for your fans!

-         A humble fan from south India!

Kamal’s Wish-waroopam!

I have, in the past, expressed my thoughts on the entire mockery of the Censor (now Certification) Board, censorship issues and its seriousness when the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Aarakshan went through a fate similar to Vishwaroopam. While the thoughts and irking remains the same, the tamasha played out and the hardship of one of the most respected entertainer in the country made me revisit the issue.

To put things in perspective, Vishwaroopam is a well-made slick entertainer, easily comparable to international standards. To quote a review from firstpost.com – ‘Perhaps this is the first time that Kamal looks justified in his life-long obsession with the technical flourish of Hollywood’.

Does it offend Muslims? Since the plot is about an Al Qaeda attempt to explode a bomb and the protagonist’s mission to prevent it, the filmmaker ended up showing their background, training methods etc.  Unfortunately, Al Qaeda has Muslim members and they could not have shown that differently. Yes – the film could have possibly offended Jihadis and I am sure the protesters were not Jihadis.  In fact, there is a scene in the film in which the protagonist offers prayers (namaz) before he goes for the final kill. Should they not be happy as the story is about a good Muslim who takes on terrorists? 

Why did they protest? My answer is simply another question – why did they not protest vehemently in other states as they did in Tamil Nadu? Are the Muslims in Tamil Nadu different from Muslims in other States? The answer lies in the fact that Kamal gets hurt only if this movie not released or delayed in Tamil Nadu.  The impact won’t be much if it is banned elsewhere. For the record, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have more Muslims in terms of numbers as well as percentages as compared to Tamil Nadu.

Logic behind the ban?  While the reason behind the ban in itself is debatable, what was amusing is the ‘significance of 2-week ban’. What would have happened if Kamal has not gone to High Court?  Could he have released the movie after 2 weeks?

Did protesters achieve anything in the entire process? No, would be my answer considering cutting less than 10 minutes does not change the concept. On the other hand, the movie got huge publicity in northern India and had a decent opening for its Hindi version, which would not have happened otherwise.  However, the real reason behind the protest still seems extremely unclear to me! 

Do we need a Censor Board?  In spite of the Supreme Court’s decision on ‘Aarakshan’, which stated that the UP government had no powers to suspend screening of the film on the ground that it may cause breach of peace, States continue to hold filmmakers for ransom. The latest we hear is that the Centre has set up a committee to revisit the Cinematograph Act and recommend measures to enable the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to deal with “contemporary requirements of certification”. I am certain all of us would agree that the problem in hand is not the way films are censored or the lacunae in Cinematograph Act. The problem is the harassment created by fringe groups and the onus of States to protect their filmmakers. 

Click on image to see a satirical take on
future film certification, doing rounds
on social networking sites

On a lighter note, the Committee should look at having members from all religions / castes in the censor board.  Yes, protests can emerge even from sub-sects within these religions / castes! How can we solve that problem? It’s simple - by increasing the number of members to accommodate all of them. Or – why not reservation in the censor board also so that everyone is represented!  Another option would be asking the filmmakers to show the movie first on Doordarshan and give time to viewers to object. After addressing all the objections, the film can be allowed to release. It might take a few years or it may never see the light of the day at all. But how does it matter, after all peace and harmony is solely dependent on the kind of movies being made!

Looks like these things are here to stay as the latest we hear is some Christian groups protesting against Mani Rathnam's  Kadal…… which just hit the theatres.

Why do I think India is backpedaling?

While there are quite a few reasons to this, the one reason that can be singled out (and also the one that made me think this way) is a Constitutional Amendment passed by the Upper House of the Parliament today, which is, The Constitution (One Hundred Seventeenth Amendment) Bill, 2012.

This particular bill seeks to amend Article 16 (4A) of the Constitution of India, to enable the Government to provide quotas in promotions for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. 

To understand the background of this charitable backward amendment, read: http://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/constitution-one-hundred-seventeenth-amendment-bill-2012--2462/

Clearly evident in the aforesaid background for this amendment, whenever the court struck down any law, the legislatures were quick and alert to immediately change the Constitution with unanimous voice and complete absence of debate on the floor. 

At the cost of getting slightly technical, let me try and analyze relevant parts of Article 16 of the Constitution:

Article 16 (1) – There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.

(By this proposed amendment, the purpose of this article is being defeated as there is discrimination against people who are not SC/ST)

Article 16 (2)– No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the state

(The bill being passed today does the exact opposite)

Article 16 (4A) - as it read now: -Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for reservation in matters of promotion, with consequential seniority, to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in favour of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes which, in the opinion of the State, are not adequately represented in the services under the State.

Proposed Amended version of Article 16 (14A)

“(4A) Notwithstanding anything contained elsewhere in the Constitution, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes notified under article 341 and article 342, respectively, shall be deemed to be backward and nothing in this article or in article 335 shall prevent the State from making any provision for reservation in matters of Promotions, with consequential seniority, to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in favour of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes to the extent of the percentage of reservation provided to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the services of the State.”

Now, what does Article 335 say:  The claims of the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes shall be taken into consideration, consistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration, in the making of appointments to services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of a State

In effect, the slight restraint in the form of term ‘efficiency of administration’ is being done away with by over-riding the provisions of article 335.  

It’s an all out effort to please the vote bank at the cost of efficiency which was built-in through article 335. SC/ST gets quota even in promotion without being efficient to the administration or the country.

While I agree that there is nothing new as promotions in reservations for SC/ST, what is being done is giving sanctity to the whole thing.  Earlier, The Supreme Court while deliberating on the issue of validity of Constitutional amendments in the case of M. Nagaraj Vs. UOI & Ors., observed that the concerned State will have to show in each case the existence of the compelling reasons, namely, backwardness, inadequacy of representation and overall administrative efficiency before making provision for reservation in promotion. 

If you read the statement of objects and reasons for the proposed amendment, which reads as ‘There is difficulty in collection of quantifiable data showing backwardness of the class and inadequacy of representation of that class in public employment. Moreover, there is uncertainty on the methodology of this exercise”, it is clear that the amendment is to bypass the Supreme Court direction and have an impediment-free reservation in promotion to SC/ST.

We are all for helping the under privileged, but should it not be restricted to provide them free education as long as they want to study and necessary infrastructure?  Why in job and then in promotion too?  Continuation of reservations even after 50 years of independence in itself is proof enough that the strategy of uplifting the under privileged through reservations has not worked.

This in all probability seems far more dangerous to the country than the highly debated FDI in Retail Bill and the never ending debates. This particular bill, which many term as quid-pro-quo between UPA and BSP for BSP’s support for FDI in Retail, is going to do more damage and deteriorate the country’s fabric in the long run compared to FDI in retail.

Alas! We can’t change the way politicians function.  For me, this is the most backward of bills passed in recent times.  Did the parliamentarians debate this? Yes, for some cosmetic changes and most parties were for this.  It was passed with an overwhelming vote of 206 in the 245-member House. The people who voted against had a more draconian demand – to make ‘Muslims’ also eligible along with SC/ST.

I also recommend Arun Shourie’s “Falling over Backwards: An essay against Reservations and against Judicial populism”, for anyone who is keen on some insight into this disastrous trend of RESERVATIONS.  
Read more at http://www.indianexpress.com/news/affirmative-activism/989733

End of the day – it’s all about votes at the cost of efficiency, growth and development! 

Miscellany…

Here's my take on some issues that made for eye-grabbing headlines, expressed in no particular order...

The End of Kasab!

How does it get any better any than this! Not the hanging in itself, (which, in my humble opinion is overdue) but the manner in which he was executed.  It is difficult (and rather disastrous to imagine the kind of circus the media would have indulged in had there been a prior notice). The fourth estate would have gone berserk as always and the issue would have ended up being trivialized. End of the day – it was good riddance of bad rubbish without media intervention for once!

The Aam Aadmi Party!

Mr. Arvind Kejariwal (messiah of the ‘mango’ people) has arrived with his party for the people, by the people and of the people, christening it as the “Aam Aadmi Party”!   

Rewinding a little, the events prior to the launch of the party have urged me to think that news channels should now have a separate corruption bulletin, something on the lines of a “SportsCentre”, “World of Sports”, or “Weather Update”. The said special can highlight the day’s exposé, a status on the last few exposés and so on. Throw in a Top-10 of Exposés as a highlight and interested people can keep tab, while others can stick to regular news! There is some reprieve these days considering these revelations have slightly lost their steam!  

 

If it sounds absolutely cynical and irresponsible to make the issue of corruption look trivial, that is certainly not the intention. Corruption is an ultimate evil and needs to be addressed. The point that I am trying to ascertain is that the aam aadmi is beginning to lose interest in these “startling exposés”, considering they are going nowhere besides ‘Breaking News’ on TV. It is not front page news anymore, none of these seem to reach a logical conclusion and the ones named in them are not going to get hurt, barring, maybe, minor electoral setbacks. 

What I think is being missed in this ‘press-conference-driven-system-clean-up-act’ is, we Indians are almost used to corruption and there is no element of shock or surprise to this.  Probably one of the sensible comments was made by a Union Minister was when he stated that the amount mentioned in a so-called scam was too low for a Union Minister to get involved in.  While he may have defended himself (read clarified) later by saying he was misquoted, but come to think of it, what he said made perfect sense and I’m sure the majority public agrees with him. Public is already of the opinion that such things are a part and parcel of politics and “yeh chota mota corruption toh chalta hai boss”!!  

What the Aam Admi Party could rather do is focus on what they can offer other rather than mere exposés. At the end of the day, you do need capable people to run government not just clean people!

Parliamentary functioning!

What amuses me is the childish behavior of politicians, especially the so-called Opposition. In India, Opposition takes the word ‘opposition’ a bit too seriously – they HAVE to oppose everything.  It is understood that there are few contentious issues, for instance ‘FDI in retail’. Why can’t they conduct regular business and agree on agreeable things like passing a simple economic legislation like Companies Bill? Why stall the functioning of parliament for an issue which they don’t have a consensus on or rather an issue on which they don’t want to have a consensus on?  It’s funny but that’s democracy for you. Latest is the opposition wants two separate voting and discussion on same issue of FDI in retail.  It is hard to imagine the time that gets wasted and of course, the taxpayer’s money.

Tendulkar and the ‘R’ Word!

Disclaimer – like the millions of other Indians, I also like Tendulkar – but the way things are unfolding is nothing but disappointing.  To see THE MAN struggle and allowing every Tom Dick and Harry (including me) to debate on his calling the shots is appalling. Let’s hope he goes out on a high and not like this.

Indo-Pak Cricket Diplomacy! 

In spite of a thousand debates on this, it still does not make any sense.  The only beneficiary of this is the BCCI considering the moolahs they get to make from this one. As we all know, cricket diplomacy has not helped the two countries improve their ties in any way.  It’s just a gimmick.  And yes, India and Pakistan have been playing against each other on other tournaments, which should be enough to cater to a cricket fan’s appetite.  We are under no moral responsibility to revive or help Pakistan Cricket by offering to play a series with them.  The only outcome can be some law and order problem in the country which, we have in plenty anyways!

The Sahara Saga!

Another news making headlines these days is the Sahara saga.  To re-capitulate, Sahara Group has raised huge sums through issue of OFCD (optionally fully convertible debentures) and it is alleged that they violated several statutory provisions of Companies Act and SEBI regulations. Strangely, while the whole world knows Sahara gets funds by running these finance schemes, SEBI got to know about this only when the group initiated listing of two of their companies and filed prospectus with SEBI.  The concern here is the OFCD issue through which the funds were raised were actually cleared by the Registrar of Companies and it appears that they are not being held responsible in any way for this mess!

Apart from the legalities, I happen to read an interesting piece on how companies like Sahara succeeds in an article titled ‘Why the poor are willing to hand over their money to Sahara’ which is worth a read…

http://www.firstpost.com/business/why-the-poor-are-willing-to-hand-over-their-money-to-sahara-438276.html

A few more thoughts in a probable Miscellany 2!! 

ABSURD…… Is that the right word?

Free mobile phones to every BPL (below poverty line) family with 200 mins of talk time p.m.!

If things go well (for the UPA and disaster for the nation), that’s how the beleaguered UPA attempts to woo the voters. The scheme is supposedly termed 'Har Haath Mein Mobile’ (a mobile in every hand). 

Would admit – that’s some kind of innovation even for the ‘been there - seen all Indian public’.  





 UPA is trying to take the nation the Tamil Nadu way where ‘free’ was the key word in last few elections.  DMK started with free TV and AIADMK followed by offering mixers/ computers etc. free.  Disaster is a mild word in these kinds of situations.

There has been a lot of debate / shows on ‘cash for vote’ during election times (of course by the media for the media).   What is striking is how this is different from ‘cash for vote’.   The minor deviation is ‘whose cash’.  Here it is the tax payer’s money.  If the idea is to grab votes… why not from their party fund?

See the timing.  We are looking at a general election due in 2014 and  this weird benevolence will take its own time and may fructify only in 2013.  Voter’s memory will be fresh and what more can the UPA ask for!  A bulls-eye! 

Consider the economics of this benevolence which is estimated at Rs.7000 Crores.  Isn’t it peanuts compared to a 2G scam /coal-gate / CW scam and the list goes on.

The only saving grace, if it’s not posturing… is the report that the Finance Ministry is not keen with this proposal.  



I somehow feel that the whole thing is ‘absurd’ and that’s why that word is in the title of this blog.

Oh I forgot......... What about ‘ROTI, KAPADA AUR MAKAN’.  

Come on… thats no big deal when you have a mobile phone and 200 minutes of talk time per month.  ho jayega.......