Going Bonkers

India is Going Bonkers. Period.

The events of the last one week or so have left me completely disillusioned. Every single day I hear some news which confirms one fact - there is no dearth of people waiting to be climb the pedestal of stupidity.

Going Bonkers

Let me start with our Honorable Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The railway budget was presented on 14th March by the then Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi. A bold man (or so he said) that he was raised the railway fares for the first time in 9 years.

His actions were appreciated both by the PM and FM. They lauded his "progressive budget".

However, his boss - Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress - saw red, and had the Railway Minister sacked in the next 10 days. Her appointee cancelled the fare hikes across majority of the travel classes.

And what did our PM and FM do? They kept mum. It is an absolute shame to see the minister presenting the budget not being responsible in the Parliament to answer questions on the budget. It's an absolute disgrace for the Government of India. 

As for Mamata Banerjee, she should be crowned as the alter ego of the communists.

And just a few days back, the GoI announced India had 5 crore less poor people. 

As per them, if you earn Rs. 28 per day, you are not poor. It means that if two people work in a family of 4, then Rs. 56 is sufficient to get you out of the poverty bracket. 

Rs. 56 for 4 people certainly means that the person is living in difficult conditions. Our Government thinks otherwise. 

All through our lives, we are taught to aim for the skies. However, our Government and its educated policy makers are setting an abysmal targets to show themselves in better light.

Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission had the guts to say "Whatever way you measure, poverty has come down." 

Mr. Ahluwalia :- "Whom are you comforting with such rosy words? If the poverty would have increased, you would be out of your job. And aren't you ashamed to say that in a nation of 125 crore people, with all the machinery and money at your disposal, all you can do is get 5 crore people out of poverty? And that too with a scale which appears to have been set in Athenian times?"

A couple of days later, another scam came to light. We, Indians, lost a whopping 10.67 lakh crores ( 10670000000000.00 INR or 209 Billion USD) thanks to the GoI (again) not auctioning coal blocks. "Coalgate" was born.

Coalgate

Now, I am completely flummoxed by these numbers. Is the coal really worth so much that we could have got 209 Billion USD? And if yes, why on this very earth didn't we try to earn this money, which could have solved a multitude of other problems?

Or is the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) exaggerating the figures? 10.67 lakh crores is too huge an amount to be true.

Consider this calculation. 

• India's population is 125 crores

• Number of poor people - 30% = 375000000 = 37.50 crores.

• Distribute 10.67 lakhs crore rupees among the 37.50 crore people. Each of them would get Rs. 28453. For a family of 4, it would mean Rs. 113812.

Wouldn't this be a very substantial security for someone who earns just Rs. 28 a day?

Only God knows the truth in this case. The stand of the GoI is standard, as it was in other scams. They comfort us by sayhng India hasn't lost so much of a money. 

If anyone can play agony aunt, its the Government of India.

And if such puzzling news was not sufficient, the Indian judiciary too decided to join the circus. In a verdict given in Delhi, non consummation of a marriage on the wedding night was cited as a reason for a divorce.

Now this is completely mind boggling. Will the courts decide what people do before or after marriage? For something which is a very personal and mutual choice?

Maybe you can't blame the courts and the judges. When everyone around is playing a joker, everyone else would also love to join the party.

And today, our distinguished Army Chief let the cat out of the bag by telling the world that he was offered a bribe of 14 crore rupees for purchasing sub standard vehicles. 

I was attempted to be Bribed  - Army Chief

For most practical purposes, this incident would have happened more than 6 months earlier (after all, the Chief was busy fighting with the Government over his age for the last 6 months or so). And our honorable Defence Minister sat on this matter for a long long time, without initiating any action.

And today, when the matter became public knowledge, the minister ordered an inquiry. Once again, this is a very shameful response. It seems that the Government of India needs to be rapped on the knuckles to get into any action.

Or they love Status Quo.

Or to say it in a very sarcastic way, I would quote my friend.

~~

We Indians work on the "Principle of rockets".
It doesn't mean we aim for the sky.
It means that we don't start working unless our tail is on fire.
~~

Be it Lokpal, Coalgate, the Army Chief Bribe, each of the instances would reflect such my-tail-is-on-fire action.

All in all, the events of the recent past have made me realize that remaining sane in such insane times would be extremely difficult. Possibly one principle would work - Blinkers On.

P.S. I need some Ice Gate keep myself cool. Is Ice Gate in the offing?

Flying Elephants

A friend told me something yesterday, and it goes as below :-

"If you want 'quality', 'low cost', and 'shorter time to deliver'... I can give you only Two".

I would like to add the below.

The person who made the demand (which prompted the above response) can be sometimes (or many a times) unreasonable. Maybe, the person is bound by his internal unreasonable compulsions. 

In such a case, you can reply back to him, "Tell me a way to make a baby in less than 9 months, and I will give you Quality, and Low Cost, all in a Short Time".

If a stunned silence doesn't follow, then the sun will not rise in the east tomorrow morning.

Unreasonable Demands - Flying Elephants

P.S. Flying Elephants exist only in cartoons.

The World Crisis 2012

The world has become a giant inter tangled mess. The Mayans, some ages ago, had predicted that the world will end in 2012. By God's grace, I hope, the Mayans are wrong. However, the current custodians of dear earth - you, me, and our fellow earthlings - are not making things easy.

Every single day, we are living under the threat of war. Every single day, we are living under the threat of a collapsed world economic system.

The World Crisis 2012

Let us have a look at the United States of America. In 2008, Obama said - "Yes,  We Can." He held a promise to transform America. Surprisingly, he was also awarded the Noble Peace Prize in 2009.

And as Obama comes towards the end of his tenor in 2012, the world is anything but a peaceful place. Obama did not remain true to the promise he showed 5 years back.  

Obama was served a tough hand at the beginning of his Presidency. He exhausted a major part of his energy and resources in dealing with the most terrible recession in the last 80 years. The wars in Iraq, and Afghanistan, the war on terror in sovereign Pakistan, and military missions in Libya did not help the cause.

Afghanistan is still a dangerous place. It looks like Taliban can be back in Afghanistan, this time as official rulers, with the blessings of the USA. 

Some elements in the US Senate also wants Baluchistan to be a separate nation. And who does America think will rule them? Will it be the Pakistan Taliban? Pakistan, too, is offended by this attack on their sovereignty.

As if the pressure of war was not sufficient, the world is also cornered by an boiling economic crisis. Greece is on the verge of a collapse. Greece has been granted loans exceeding 100 Billion USD. Such numbers are mind numbing.

The Euro Zone also risks being disintegrated. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, said that the existence of the Euro Zone is important to avoid the risk of war.

Merkel said, “Nobody should believe that another half century of peace in Europe is a given - it’s not. So I say again: if the Euro collapses, Europe collapses. That can’t happen.”

These comments paint a grime picture of the future in Europe.

Hungary's debt ratings have been cut to "Junk". Spain, Italy and Ireland owe foreign debt which runs into Trillions of Dollars. Have a look at this chart to understand more details.

The worst part is that the major economies - the USA, the UK, France, Germany, along with the relatively smaller but significant European nations - have lent to each other, thereby creating a web. A collapse of any of these economies will trigger a domino effect and cause an unbearable strain on the world economy.

Civil wars were the order of the day on 2011. Across Africa - from Libya to Egypt - ordinary people have overthrown leaders who had ruled their countries for decades.

The situation for Russia is slightly similar. Vladimir Putin, who has been the President for 8 years, and the current Prime Minister for 4 years, is once standing for the Presidential elections in March 2012. People are not happy with this action from Putin.

The victory of his party in the state Duma elections resulted in several protests in Russia. In my opinion, Putin will come back to power in 2012. If this triggers another round of protests in Russia, it may snow ball into a conflict between the rulers and the ordinary citizens.

And any turmoil in Russia will have a far reaching impact in Eastern and Western Europe.

In this big economical and political maze, war is once again raising its dirty head. The tensions are rising in the Middle East.

The oil rich Middle East countries provide fodder for the energy hungry nations of the world. From America to Japan, from India to the UK, most nations rely of the oil from the Middle East to keep their world going.

Iran has been ambitiously trying to explore nuclear energy. Maybe it estimates that it needs to have the wherewithal for survival once it runs out of oil. Maybe it is trying to build a deterrent against the super powers who can behave like vultures for its oil.

Their public position has been that the nuclear know how is for developing nuclear energy. This has not gone down well with America and Israel, and their buddies.

In the last few years, 4 of Iran's nuclear scientists have been killed. They have been assassinated. The fingers of suspicion are pointed towards Israel.

Last week, some anti-Israel supporters got together and triggered blasts in Delhi, India and Bangkok, Thailand. A similar bomb attack was foiled in  Tbilisi, Georgia. The perpetrators of the crime are not known. However, Israel has pointed fingers towards Iran.

This blame game can blow up into a war. If Israel looses its cool and bombs Iran, and Iran retaliates, it will be pure mayhem.

World politics is looking like a fight between some kids, where nations are being asked to take sides. The USA has been breathing down India's neck to cut all ties with Iran. India is not showing the inclination to do so, putting its national interests first.

Japan and China do not want Iran to go to war. They are dependent on its oil. The UK, too, has told Israel to avoid war. America says that war is not the only option currently. Well, even if it's one of the options, it still spells doom.

Iran too has been flexing its military muscle. It threatens to close the Hormuz Strait, the narrow piece of sea through which 20% of the world's oil makes its way to the nations across the world. And just yesterday, Iran sent a warship into the Mediterranean.

If Israel puts its prestige first, only God can save us from a war. A war which will send the price of crude oil through the roof. A war which will create an  unbearable pressure on the already stretched world economy. A war where nations would have to takes sides and prove their allegiance.

Well, the last thing that we want today is a war.

History teaches us many lessons. And in these difficult and dangerous times, it would be important to recollect the reason for start of World War 1. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by a Yugoslav nationalist triggered the World War 1. 

A small match stick can light a fireball. And we can all hope that the leaders of our great nations possesses a calm head to douse the match stick.

After all, we can live in peace. And their is no greater victory than peace. 

A war is a dark blot in the annals of history. Peace is an eraser which can prevent the creation of these dark blots.

On a side note, at the end of 2012, when we welcome the new year 2013, we can take the pride that we have proved the Mayan's wrong.

Shame Shame Puppy Shame

Well, it's Thursday evening. Thoughts about lack of common sense are bubbling in the mind. To crown it, I came across a few instances which made me shout "Shame Shame, Puppy Shame" as I caught on with the news on today's newspaper and the 9 PM news.

Shame Shame Puppy Shame

News1

The talking point these days is about Iran going nuclear. Iran says that it intends to develop nuclear know how for peaceful and energy purposes. The world - led by America and its allies - are convinced that Iran intends to develop nuclear weapons.

As Iran demonstrated its progress in nuclear technology, the news set off panic reaction across the world. 

Isn't it shameful of America, UK, France, and Israel to demonize Iran when they themselves have 1950, 160, 290, and 200 odd nuclear war heads in their own backyards respectively?

Nuclear Energy

News2

In the light of the same nuclear developments in Iran, the European Union plans to stop import of oil from Iran from July 2012.

Why does the EU plan to stop import starting July? Why not today? Isn't is shameful that they trying to serve their own interests by getting oil for the next six months, while they build contingency plans?

News3

The Finance Ministry of India has written to certain Public Sector banks in India indicating that they are wrong in overstating profits and that they should make appropriate provisions for bad loans.

The first thought that came to my mind is - "Why didn't the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India's Central Bank, make this observation?". The later part of the article said that RBI wrote to the Finance Ministry and they in turn wrote to the banks.

Isn't it shameful that the regulator does not do its regulatory and observatory work? Why do they need the Finance Ministry to do the work it has been assigned? 

What's worse is that the overstating of the profits has been happening for the last 3 years. Isn't the regulator at a failure of identifying such gross errors? If such a overstatement of profit (can it be called cooking of books?) was done by a corporate organisation, it would have been pulled up.

News4

A hopeless Arnab Goswami anchors the news hour on Times Now - day in and day out - at 9 PM IST. His job is to bore news watchers. He has made watching news a sad experience. He sets a wrong impression of the techniques of debating on young impressionable minds.

Isn't it shameful that a poor, incompetent anchor is made to host prime time shows?

Just one thought can summarize these four instances - Shame Shame, Puppy Shame.