MONTH-IN-PERSPECTIVE
NEW DELHI: ‘Let not the ambition of handful mock the toil of masses’ is a statement attributed to some well known thinker. Therefore our leaders and their hangers on should think twice before having grandiose visions for the time they live in. At the end of the day, every development should mean to make a difference to the last man on the growth ladder. If it has only helped those who are no more in need of assistance, who are already better off, then the very purpose of ‘change for better’ would be lost.
Bullet Train, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious project is reportedly not going as planned. The 508km long Ahmedabad-Mumbai high speed rail project couldn’t get even 40% land it needed by December 2018. The government had set a deadline for December 2018 to clear the land acquisition roadblock for this project. The total land acquired in both Maharashtra and Gujarat is only 537 hectares against the 1387 hectares needed for the project. While Gujarat has given up some 45% of its 940 hectaers needed, Maharashtra has given up only 15% of its 431 hectares requirement for the project. This clearly shows that those affected in Maharashtra are clearly reluctant to give up their land. It was an open secret that it was a Gujarat centric development project that PM Modi had proposed, rather than with the larger national picture in mind. In the union territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, reportedly the government has failed to acquire even a single piece of land where some 10 hectares land was earmarked to be acquired for the project.
It is pretty well known that there are rumblings of discontent among land holders, which include mainly farmers. But Maharashtra Chief Minister Fadnavis is singing ‘Aal is well’. He had even sacked an Information Officer of Maharashtra who had earlier responded to an RTI query that things are not ‘All is well’ as stated by CM, regarding the status of Bullet Train project progress.
But since it is an ambitious project of PM Modi, it has to be pushed, is the dictum CM Fadnavis is following. After all he has to protect his seat in the Sachivalay. It was on 14th Sept. 2017, two years ago, that PM Modi and Japanese PM Abe had laid the foundation stone for this hugely capital intensive project at over Rs.120000 crores ($17 billion) which works to over Rs.230 crores per K.M of railway line, something a country like India can ill-afford. Surely this is not ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’. This is the ‘Vikas’ of only a small section of Indians. And they NDA III remembered to speak about their hundred days of 2019-24, while conveniently not remembering ‘A next generation infrastructure’ inaugurated over 730 days ago, is having starting troubles. This is the usual Yeh Mera India
New Delhi: After most political parties have lost out during Election 2019-24 BJP has emerged as the single largest party. It should be happy. But No. It wants to poach. In Karnataka they managed to come back, Goa opposition is finished. In Maharashtra MLAs are deserting Congress and NCP. Pawar is increasingly becoming powerless to stop the exodus. Some of these MLAs have been with their old parties for years with many victories as MLA. But all are pessimistic about the future of Congress, NCP and other political outfits. Hence looking for better future with BJP. But BJP is not being selective. They have opened the door wide for all and sundry to come in. This approach can kill the opposition. Probably that is what BJP wants. But this is dangerous for the political health of the country.
The other day Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis had stated ' We are very brilliant. First, we bring in the sons of key political leaders into our party, so naturally their father automatically follows suit'. He patted his own back. But he is also creating another dynasty of aayarams. So all these party hoppers are in Q to serve the Indian nation interminably, on and on. Can we, as general public, do anything to stop this rot! Oh poor Mother India!
New Delhi: Hullabaloo about the newly imposed fines for traffic violations and non-compliance is on expected lines. We are Indians. Most of us cannot distinguish what is freedom and what amounts to recklessness. We want to have cake and eat it too. None thinks why in the first place these increased fines became a necessity! We are the most indisciplined society and the road users in the world. Don't we remember Emergency days! All government employees were in the office, dot on time. Nobody left office before time. All buses and trains ran on time. It was a minor revolution.Ofcourse there was another side too to the emergency that is besides the point. We lack-from top to bottom-a sense of responsibility and accountability. Force, unfortunately, is the only language we understand. Therefore there should be no leniency in implementing the new provisions of steep fines.
However there is scope for a bit of rationalization of these fines structure. All offences should be recorded. Fines for first time offense should start at say 1/3rd. Repeat offender should be fined without any mercy. This gives an incentive to be compliant and respectful of laws. In any case there should be no dilution of the latest act as some state administration is trying to act Independent in the name of fairness.
NEW DELHI:As those businessmen who only worry about making money and more money doesn't matter the country, so are the Super-rich of India. But what is an issue of concern is the misplaced concern our government is showing for the welfare of these super-rich. Buckling under media hyped pressure our government had rolled back surcharge on long and short term capital gains. But nobody is listening to the cries of desperation of striking teachers in Mumbai who are paid a salary of 4000/6000 per month. Can you believe Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has not paid subsidies for the last 15 years. Striking teachers were even lathi-charged by the police, most of whom were women. So the approach of these governments is more often anti people and pro money-bags. In the past Narayana Murthy of Infosys used to ask government to tax rich people more just like rich in America publicly demanding to tax them more. These days he too is quiet.
The government on it's part is also not considering the reduction of GST on automobiles. Maruti 800 or Alto is not same as BMW, MERCEDES, JAGUAR etc. You can't have 28% GST across the board on all cars. Strangely it's the capital market government helped not the auto sector which needed intervention.
NEW DELHI: Leaders across the commerce and industry were unequivocal in hailing the decision of Finance Minister to reduce corporate tax to 25.17% including surcharge. That is an effective reduction of close to 10%. By any stretch of expectation it is huge relief to business community. The government is set to lose revenue close to 1.5 lakh crore. How this revenue reduction can be bridged is not clear. But surely this should be a booster doze to new investments - both domestic and foreign. No wonder share market has zoomed. Reportedly Sensex soared by 1900 points.
While it is hoped that this concession will really help the economy it is surprising and even disconcerting as to why similar benefit was not considered for individual tax payers! As against the rate of 25.17% for corporate, the rate at highest level for personal tax is around 43%. This is pretty stark and clearly unfair. A similar treatment will only boost saving and therefore investment. Hope government comes up with some proposal to address this disparity.
NEW DELHI: It had to come some day. But it took 100 years to come. It came after all. Not exactly the way it was expected. Little over 100 years ago, on 13th April 1919 on the day of Baisaakhi a crowd of Indians had gathered at Jalianwala Baug to hear Indian leaders. To snuff out Indian freedom movement Gen. Reginald Dyer had ordered to shoot the unarmed crowd. Some 400 died, close to 2000 were injured. Actually it stopped when the shooting party ran out of cartridge. Or else it could have been horrendous. This incident left a deep gash in the Indian psyche of the time. No doubt Gen. Dyer was court marshalled but officially no apology came from the government of Queen of England. It has still not come. But the civil society led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the temporal head of Church of England, probably bitten by the pangs of conscience, decided to reach out to India and Indians. Archbishop Justin Portal Welby, on a tour of India accompanied by wife Caroline visited the site of 1919 massacre. “I feel a deep sense of grief, humility and profound shame having visited the site of the horrific massacre today. Here a great number of Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Christians were shot dead by British troops in 1919”. It was a kind of revisiting the history but with a purpose to reach out to the national hurt. Surely this would make some difference but incomplete until a proper apology from Her Majesty the Queen of England.
UTTAR PRADESH: How is that Uttar Pradesh has so many bad men in power? And how is mahant yogi adithyanath as the chief minister of UP couldn't stop the rot in public space? There was this print media report about one Swami Chinmayanand, a former union minister from BJP stable accusing 'BJP leader raped me for one year'. Shockingly it was a post graduate law student who accused this politician. She had also mentioned about other girl students being the victims of this lecherous animal. This matter surprisingly was never discussed in the 24x7 electronic media. Here the question is how and why it took so long? It could be that the female student was scared like other students who suffered but are scared to come forward to complain.
Better late than never, she has more stories about the rot in UP administration. Police had refused to file an FIR against this powerful 3 times MP from Shahajanpur where the local district magistrate had even threatened her father 'you must see against whom you are complaining!'. So where does helpless exploited women go? Only Supreme Court is the hope? It is a matter of some satisfaction and hope that this animal called Swami Chinmayananda, not the original Swami of Chinmaya Mission, has been arrested by SIT formed on the instruction of Apex Court. Reportedly even SIT had initially dragged its feet.
After MLA Sengar this Swami comprehensively exposes the party with a difference. Shame on you Amit Shah. Shame on you Yogi Adithyanath. It's time PM Modi pauses before he speaks again about 'sabka vishwas'. What ‘vishwas’ these suffering girls of Uttar Pradesh can have in the administration of UP?!.
MAHARASHTRA: When it comes to national interest most Indian businessmen don't give a damn. We all know China is an unfriendly country to India, if not an enemy. We have heavily negative balance of payments in favor of China. Despite both these factors our businessmen have continued to import from China without any check. And comes this report from Mumbai '4 arrested for misleading customs authorities on dates imported from Pakistan'. India had hiked duty on all imports from Pakistan to 200%after the attack on CRPF bus in Pulwama, Kashmir, in which 40 were killed.
Two Pakistan businessmen who recently managed Indian citizenship-a Kataria & a Makhija-both Sindhis from Karachi had routed the Pakistani dates consignment through Oman only to evade customs duty hike. The estimated loss is to the tune of about Rs.9 crores by merely mentioning the country of origine of these dates, as Oman instead of Pakistan. For these businessmen the windfall gain was more important than the boycott of Pakistani dates.
KARNATAKA: Knee jerk reaction or can even be called 'barking up the wrong tree' by our governments represented by our MLAs or MPs is fairly known.
It is sad that VG Siddhartha of Coffee Day fame committed suicide. Of course primarily it was the failure to cope with the pressure of his financial ups and downs that led to this very unfortunate incident. And he was neither the first one succumbed to such situations nor will be the last one. His death became a big news and remained in front page for quite some time because he was rich and famous besides politically connected. Surely there are many such instances of untimely deaths which do not even become a news let alone make it to the media space. That's a fact of life.
Siddhartha jumped off the Netravathi river bridge on the outskirts of Mangalore city. And comes this MLA from Mangalore coming up with the proposal to have CCTV on the Netravathi bridge. Here the question is how are you going to stop people from committing suicide if they are hell bent or desperate to end their life by installing CVTV on a bridge! Surely none should die before their time. You are talking about such things because the fellow was a celebrity otherwise there are any number of issues a people's representative can get worked up. Here we are not talking about issues relating to Mangalore becoming a smart city. Mangalore has very slim chance of ever being a smart city. But there is enough scope for MLAs MLCs or MPs to be truly useful to citizens if they have clarity in their priorities.
KARNATAKA: So one more IAS has left the order. The last one K.Gopinathan left ostensibly for denial of fundamental rights in J&K. The present S.Sasikanth Senthil left decrying compromising democracy and declaring 'It cannot be business as usual anymore'. Surely being IAS they represent the cream of Indian social scene. They are intelligent, well educated and have a strength of personality. But quite frankly it's not convincing if not an entirely bogie call. K.Gopinathan is not an Indian from Kashmir. He is an Indian from Kerala. His reason for giving up IAS sounds rather strange if not ludicrous. Similarly for S3 or SSSenthil, former DC of Dakshina Kannada for raising the bogie of 'crisis of democracy' in India or some part of India sounds enigmatic if not downright irrational. It is as if he is the only one 'disturbed by the unprecedented compromise of democratic principles within the Indian nation'. Of course there are all kinds of posts in social media which probably also include some idiotic barbs.
India is a dynamic country by any stretch of imagination, by its own right. Although it's a messy democracy it has its magnificent positives. It is also true it has its equally magnificent negatives. But the fact is it has not balkanized on fissiparous tendencies despite being a society of half-a-dozen faiths, some 27 officially recognized languages with over 1500 dialects from Kashmir to Kanya Kumari, Kutch to Kohima. Both these gentlemen could have contributed better to the larger pan-Indian picture by remaining within, rather than being out of it. However it appears, prima facie, reasons were different. This is height of dishonesty.
KARNATAKA: Many in BJP think they are intelligence incarnate. Many times they end up almost saying 'aa bail mujhe maar' inviting problem when there wasn't any.
Recently two government officials have resigned from IAS for reasons they publicly stated. The reasons they gave may be reasonable for them. But it was their freedom of choice they were exercising in giving up the coveted position. Prima facie the matter should settle there. Of course since they gave their reasons for quitting to the media it became a subject of debate.
These two gentlemen opened a pandora's box by their resignation giving reasons which at best can be called 'irrational' and at worst 'preposterous'. One may be pardoned to infer that these reasons showed BJP government at the centre in poor light. Be that as it may, BJP spokespersons should have just ignored the development as if not of much significance. But 'No'. The arrogance of power ,as if, forced them to react. And comes the front page print media report "Officers quitting due to intolerance" ascribing to BJP's Organizational General Secretary BLSantosh. How does intolerance become reason to quit is difficult to comprehend. This heightened reaction certainly makes one wonder if there is truth in the accusation levelled in the media about BJP being shown in poor light by these resignations. It looks to be a case of over-reaction from both sides.
KARNATAKA: The reported news about Member of Parliament A Narayanaswamy (AN) being denied entry into a village in Tumkooru district in Karnataka is most disturbing and is the height of stupidity. Pemmanahalli is a village some 150 km from Bengalooru on Karnataka Telangana border. It has some 150 golla families. Gollas are supposed to be cowherds constitutionally classified as Yadavs under other backward class or OBC. It is another matter that they are far more backward educationally, financially and of-course even politically than this Narayanaswamy. Yet they did not allow this AN to enter their Godforsaken village saying 'AN is untouchable and therefore his entry would bring misfortune to the village'. Clearly this was the height of ignorance and stupidity.
Lack of education could not make them understand that this AN represents the ultimate in Indian politics as an elected representative of the nation's highest legislative authority. They are stupid because he was there -lock,stock and barrel- to what the central and state governments can do for them with help from willing NGOs, and they told the MP to take a walk or in plain terms 'get lost, we don't need you'. It was indeed a sad day for an evolving India. May be Pejaavar seer of Udupi Matts, who has developed a penchant for such village family visits could plan a visit to this village which is otherwise in a great need of help from the 'powers that be'.
KARNATAKA: A foreign tourist reportedly assaulted a security guard in Hampi for having stopped him from entering an ASI protected monument in Hampi. Security guard Dharmaraj was a SI level police officer employed by the security agency. Other guards at the site over-powered the attacker and rescued Dharmaraj and according to the report the foreigner left in a huff. Here the question is why this tourist was not detained for the police to come and take him into custody.It is another matter that following Dharmaraj's complaint this foreign tourist was caught after 9 hours of search and put behind bar. That the attacker turned out to be a Chinese is not surprising at all.
Chinese are known to be mostly bullying types especially with sub-continental crowd. But what is galling and therefore questionable is the ineptitude of Dharmaraj & company who are from the police force not to have acted on time! Fortunately the fellow could be caught. What if he had sensed trouble and left Humpi surroundings to a safer distance? These police personnel who are quick to fix a poor Indian only on suspicion and beat him up in custody badly, are incompetent when it comes to bullying foreigners. Something the police higher-ups need to recognize and act. Will it ever happen!?
KERALA: In the cacophony of boisterous noises from likes of Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri and media hyped likes of Dhoni, self-effacing gentlemen like Sanju Samson do not make news. Sanju is one of India's finest cricketers. A hot property in IPL circuit, Sanju is a quintessential darling of cricket lovers due to his very composed, non aggressive calm behavior and those exquisite delectable shots that brought him acceptance in IPL. However BCCI or Indian selectors did not recognize him as a India material. Most he could reach is INDIA-A team. He was in the news recently for all right reasons.
Playing against South Africa 'A' in Thiruvananthapuram he hit a blistering 48-ball 91. He was the man-of the- match. He donated all his match fees to the Groundsmen Welfare Fund. Due to excessive rain all five matches were played with reduced overs and could be played because of the hard work only by groundsmen. Of all the people, local MP Shashi Tharoor commended " what sets Sanju apart from others; not just talent but spirit ".Two cheers and all the best to Sanju Samson.
WORLD: At times judges do go bonkers! Don't they ! Remember the case of Alister Pareira ! On Jan 12 2006 driving under the influence of alcohol, well past midnight, runs over 15 labourers sleeping on the pavement near Liberty Cinema in South Mumbai. Seven of them were crushed to death. Session court in Mumbai sentenced this inebriated young killer of 7 hapless poor men for a mere 6 months in jail. Here comes another report from New Jersey in the US. 'Teen from good family deserves leniency in rape case: Judge' A16 year old girl in an alcohol fueled pajama party was intoxicated. A drunk boy of 16 sexually assaulted the girl in the dark basement where the party was held. He videotaped the assault on his cell phone and shared it with friends.
Having briefed by the defense, the judge James Toriano of Superior court in Monmouth county did not allow the prosecution to try the 16 year old as an adult stating ' the young man came from a good family, attended an excellent school,had terrific grades and was an Eagle scout. Prosecutors should have explained to the girl that pressing charges would destroy the boy's life ', and dismissed case with mild reprimand. Of course both the above cases have traveled further to higher levels to be made accountable appropriately by the process of the law of respective countries. But the question is why some of the judges interpret the same laws differently to privileged class and act differently!
WORLD: On 6th Sept. Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's founding father passed away in far away Singapore. He was the President of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2017. He was toppled by the army led by Emerson Mnangagwa. He ruled for over 37 years almost as a dictator until he was ousted in November 2017. 37 years are close to 4 decades. He died at the age of 95. Zimbabwe belonged to all its citizens. There would be many who served the nation wanted to have greater national role. In fitness of things Mugabe could have relinquished after may be 15 years of his unchallenged rule when he was past 70 years of age. But 'No'. He continued until he turned 93.
Those who want to serve only they will give up power but those who enjoy power never give up unless you are pushed out. Ambitious people always end-up being dethroned. No wonder his family on record has stated 'He was bitter. You can imagine, the people that you trusted, the people who were guarding you, the people that were looking after your security are the same people that turn against you'. Clearly Mugabe failed to realize that it's time for a dignified exit. He had famously replied “where are they going?”. When an interviewer had asked Mr Magabe “Mr President, when are you bidding the people of Zimbabwe good bye? In the process he not only lost his place in the history of Zimbabwe as a statesman to be fondly remembered but also a space in the tribal folklore of his countrymen.
MAHARASHTRA: Until couple of years ago, except RSS and some Hindu organizations, not many knew this Manohar Bhide of Shiv Prathistan. He is also known as Sambaji Bhide or Guruji Bhide. It was only after the Bhima-Koregaon riot that erupted on Jan.1 2018 general public heard about this gentleman. Actually he is accused of being the prime suspect of the riot. There are controversial details about his background. One source tells of his being an Astro Physicist, a professor at Ferguson college Pune, a consultant with NASA etc. These are high profile details. However there are others who debunk all this.
While he is still not being questioned for his role in the riot at Bhima-Koregaon, he is in the news again for his observation on the failure of Chandryan 2. According to Bhide, if ISRO had consulted Indian Lunar calendar they would have accomplished their goal of soft landing on the moon.
He mentioned at an event at Solapur in South Maharashtra that 'even NASA studied Indian Lunar calculations in detail and launched their satellites on Ekaadashi day when all elements of the universe are in synchronization. There is no match to this almanac,' he avered.
Writing under a column LOONY TUNES a newspaper from Mumbai had rubbished all these claims without really going through these claims thoroughly. Ofcourse, as usual opposition has called for action against him under Anti Superstition Black Magic Act, while an advisory committee on Prohibition of Sex Selection Act has asked the government to file a case on his statement that eating mangoes from his orchard in Nashik helped couple conceive sons. Sounds little far fetched. Indeed India has all sorts. However it will make lot of sense to know the truth on this man, not merely for astronomy but also to find out solution to the Bhima-Koregaon issue permanently.
MAHARASHTRA: In WhatsApp there is this post making its round comparing Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. It spije about some 146 castes among Christians. Probably belonging to different denominations, being very strict in not going to any church of other sects. But despite Roman Catholics not entering Syrian Christians church or vice versa or any of their 146 - not sure if this number is right- churches belonging to as many castes having similar practices, there is no visible hatred between denominations.
Talking about Islam, these WhatsApp posts talk about some 13 castes or groups like Sunny, Shia, Ahmadiya etc. It is true that there are counties with problems between sunny and shia. In Indian we have not witnessed such visible issues. In Pakistan Ahmadiyas have suffered greatly at the hands of Sunni Muslims. But in India no such things have happened. It is true that there have been terror groups like Al Qaeda, LeT, ISIS etc. which bring bad name to Islam. The purpose of these WhatsApp posts was to tell how Hinduism is better than Christianity and Islam by saying a Hindu would go to any temple, which are innumerable all across the country. Similarly while Islam talks about 1 Allah, 1 Quran, 1 Nabi, also has some 13 castes and there's violence among its different caste denominations, etc.
But there are some very serious issues which blind adherents of Hinduism should ponder to rectify.
No doubt there are some positives in all faiths. They are not exclusive for one religion. It is also true that there are Christians writing against Islam and Hinduism, so also Muslims writing against Hinduism and christianity. But as an Indian, I feel it's my duty to tell my Hindu brethren that there are some huge social malaise among practitioners of Hinduism which need corrections. There is this story of Payal Tadvi, atudent of post graduation in gynecology in a Mumbai medical college. She belonged to some backward class caste. So called higher caste female students continuously harassed this Dr.Tadvi and mentally tortured her that she committed suicide in her hostel room. A young life, still in twenties was snuffed out by three of her colleagues, whi made her life hell by their bad and cruel conduct. Ofcourse all three accused are in jail, denied bail, pending court judgement. Surely such things like caste atrocities of this nature is not heard of among Christians or even muslims. This is something those Hindus who keep social media postings glorifying Hinduism should understand.
Bullet Train, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious project is reportedly not going as planned. The 508km long Ahmedabad-Mumbai high speed rail project couldn’t get even 40% land it needed by December 2018. The government had set a deadline for December 2018 to clear the land acquisition roadblock for this project. The total land acquired in both Maharashtra and Gujarat is only 537 hectares against the 1387 hectares needed for the project. While Gujarat has given up some 45% of its 940 hectaers needed, Maharashtra has given up only 15% of its 431 hectares requirement for the project. This clearly shows that those affected in Maharashtra are clearly reluctant to give up their land. It was an open secret that it was a Gujarat centric development project that PM Modi had proposed, rather than with the larger national picture in mind. In the union territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, reportedly the government has failed to acquire even a single piece of land where some 10 hectares land was earmarked to be acquired for the project.
It is pretty well known that there are rumblings of discontent among land holders, which include mainly farmers. But Maharashtra Chief Minister Fadnavis is singing ‘Aal is well’. He had even sacked an Information Officer of Maharashtra who had earlier responded to an RTI query that things are not ‘All is well’ as stated by CM, regarding the status of Bullet Train project progress.
But since it is an ambitious project of PM Modi, it has to be pushed, is the dictum CM Fadnavis is following. After all he has to protect his seat in the Sachivalay. It was on 14th Sept. 2017, two years ago, that PM Modi and Japanese PM Abe had laid the foundation stone for this hugely capital intensive project at over Rs.120000 crores ($17 billion) which works to over Rs.230 crores per K.M of railway line, something a country like India can ill-afford. Surely this is not ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’. This is the ‘Vikas’ of only a small section of Indians. And they NDA III remembered to speak about their hundred days of 2019-24, while conveniently not remembering ‘A next generation infrastructure’ inaugurated over 730 days ago, is having starting troubles. This is the usual Yeh Mera India
New Delhi: After most political parties have lost out during Election 2019-24 BJP has emerged as the single largest party. It should be happy. But No. It wants to poach. In Karnataka they managed to come back, Goa opposition is finished. In Maharashtra MLAs are deserting Congress and NCP. Pawar is increasingly becoming powerless to stop the exodus. Some of these MLAs have been with their old parties for years with many victories as MLA. But all are pessimistic about the future of Congress, NCP and other political outfits. Hence looking for better future with BJP. But BJP is not being selective. They have opened the door wide for all and sundry to come in. This approach can kill the opposition. Probably that is what BJP wants. But this is dangerous for the political health of the country.
The other day Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis had stated ' We are very brilliant. First, we bring in the sons of key political leaders into our party, so naturally their father automatically follows suit'. He patted his own back. But he is also creating another dynasty of aayarams. So all these party hoppers are in Q to serve the Indian nation interminably, on and on. Can we, as general public, do anything to stop this rot! Oh poor Mother India!
New Delhi: Hullabaloo about the newly imposed fines for traffic violations and non-compliance is on expected lines. We are Indians. Most of us cannot distinguish what is freedom and what amounts to recklessness. We want to have cake and eat it too. None thinks why in the first place these increased fines became a necessity! We are the most indisciplined society and the road users in the world. Don't we remember Emergency days! All government employees were in the office, dot on time. Nobody left office before time. All buses and trains ran on time. It was a minor revolution.Ofcourse there was another side too to the emergency that is besides the point. We lack-from top to bottom-a sense of responsibility and accountability. Force, unfortunately, is the only language we understand. Therefore there should be no leniency in implementing the new provisions of steep fines.
However there is scope for a bit of rationalization of these fines structure. All offences should be recorded. Fines for first time offense should start at say 1/3rd. Repeat offender should be fined without any mercy. This gives an incentive to be compliant and respectful of laws. In any case there should be no dilution of the latest act as some state administration is trying to act Independent in the name of fairness.
NEW DELHI:As those businessmen who only worry about making money and more money doesn't matter the country, so are the Super-rich of India. But what is an issue of concern is the misplaced concern our government is showing for the welfare of these super-rich. Buckling under media hyped pressure our government had rolled back surcharge on long and short term capital gains. But nobody is listening to the cries of desperation of striking teachers in Mumbai who are paid a salary of 4000/6000 per month. Can you believe Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has not paid subsidies for the last 15 years. Striking teachers were even lathi-charged by the police, most of whom were women. So the approach of these governments is more often anti people and pro money-bags. In the past Narayana Murthy of Infosys used to ask government to tax rich people more just like rich in America publicly demanding to tax them more. These days he too is quiet.
The government on it's part is also not considering the reduction of GST on automobiles. Maruti 800 or Alto is not same as BMW, MERCEDES, JAGUAR etc. You can't have 28% GST across the board on all cars. Strangely it's the capital market government helped not the auto sector which needed intervention.
NEW DELHI: Leaders across the commerce and industry were unequivocal in hailing the decision of Finance Minister to reduce corporate tax to 25.17% including surcharge. That is an effective reduction of close to 10%. By any stretch of expectation it is huge relief to business community. The government is set to lose revenue close to 1.5 lakh crore. How this revenue reduction can be bridged is not clear. But surely this should be a booster doze to new investments - both domestic and foreign. No wonder share market has zoomed. Reportedly Sensex soared by 1900 points.
While it is hoped that this concession will really help the economy it is surprising and even disconcerting as to why similar benefit was not considered for individual tax payers! As against the rate of 25.17% for corporate, the rate at highest level for personal tax is around 43%. This is pretty stark and clearly unfair. A similar treatment will only boost saving and therefore investment. Hope government comes up with some proposal to address this disparity.
NEW DELHI: It had to come some day. But it took 100 years to come. It came after all. Not exactly the way it was expected. Little over 100 years ago, on 13th April 1919 on the day of Baisaakhi a crowd of Indians had gathered at Jalianwala Baug to hear Indian leaders. To snuff out Indian freedom movement Gen. Reginald Dyer had ordered to shoot the unarmed crowd. Some 400 died, close to 2000 were injured. Actually it stopped when the shooting party ran out of cartridge. Or else it could have been horrendous. This incident left a deep gash in the Indian psyche of the time. No doubt Gen. Dyer was court marshalled but officially no apology came from the government of Queen of England. It has still not come. But the civil society led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the temporal head of Church of England, probably bitten by the pangs of conscience, decided to reach out to India and Indians. Archbishop Justin Portal Welby, on a tour of India accompanied by wife Caroline visited the site of 1919 massacre. “I feel a deep sense of grief, humility and profound shame having visited the site of the horrific massacre today. Here a great number of Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and Christians were shot dead by British troops in 1919”. It was a kind of revisiting the history but with a purpose to reach out to the national hurt. Surely this would make some difference but incomplete until a proper apology from Her Majesty the Queen of England.
UTTAR PRADESH: How is that Uttar Pradesh has so many bad men in power? And how is mahant yogi adithyanath as the chief minister of UP couldn't stop the rot in public space? There was this print media report about one Swami Chinmayanand, a former union minister from BJP stable accusing 'BJP leader raped me for one year'. Shockingly it was a post graduate law student who accused this politician. She had also mentioned about other girl students being the victims of this lecherous animal. This matter surprisingly was never discussed in the 24x7 electronic media. Here the question is how and why it took so long? It could be that the female student was scared like other students who suffered but are scared to come forward to complain.
Better late than never, she has more stories about the rot in UP administration. Police had refused to file an FIR against this powerful 3 times MP from Shahajanpur where the local district magistrate had even threatened her father 'you must see against whom you are complaining!'. So where does helpless exploited women go? Only Supreme Court is the hope? It is a matter of some satisfaction and hope that this animal called Swami Chinmayananda, not the original Swami of Chinmaya Mission, has been arrested by SIT formed on the instruction of Apex Court. Reportedly even SIT had initially dragged its feet.
After MLA Sengar this Swami comprehensively exposes the party with a difference. Shame on you Amit Shah. Shame on you Yogi Adithyanath. It's time PM Modi pauses before he speaks again about 'sabka vishwas'. What ‘vishwas’ these suffering girls of Uttar Pradesh can have in the administration of UP?!.
MAHARASHTRA: When it comes to national interest most Indian businessmen don't give a damn. We all know China is an unfriendly country to India, if not an enemy. We have heavily negative balance of payments in favor of China. Despite both these factors our businessmen have continued to import from China without any check. And comes this report from Mumbai '4 arrested for misleading customs authorities on dates imported from Pakistan'. India had hiked duty on all imports from Pakistan to 200%after the attack on CRPF bus in Pulwama, Kashmir, in which 40 were killed.
Two Pakistan businessmen who recently managed Indian citizenship-a Kataria & a Makhija-both Sindhis from Karachi had routed the Pakistani dates consignment through Oman only to evade customs duty hike. The estimated loss is to the tune of about Rs.9 crores by merely mentioning the country of origine of these dates, as Oman instead of Pakistan. For these businessmen the windfall gain was more important than the boycott of Pakistani dates.
KARNATAKA: Knee jerk reaction or can even be called 'barking up the wrong tree' by our governments represented by our MLAs or MPs is fairly known.
It is sad that VG Siddhartha of Coffee Day fame committed suicide. Of course primarily it was the failure to cope with the pressure of his financial ups and downs that led to this very unfortunate incident. And he was neither the first one succumbed to such situations nor will be the last one. His death became a big news and remained in front page for quite some time because he was rich and famous besides politically connected. Surely there are many such instances of untimely deaths which do not even become a news let alone make it to the media space. That's a fact of life.
Siddhartha jumped off the Netravathi river bridge on the outskirts of Mangalore city. And comes this MLA from Mangalore coming up with the proposal to have CCTV on the Netravathi bridge. Here the question is how are you going to stop people from committing suicide if they are hell bent or desperate to end their life by installing CVTV on a bridge! Surely none should die before their time. You are talking about such things because the fellow was a celebrity otherwise there are any number of issues a people's representative can get worked up. Here we are not talking about issues relating to Mangalore becoming a smart city. Mangalore has very slim chance of ever being a smart city. But there is enough scope for MLAs MLCs or MPs to be truly useful to citizens if they have clarity in their priorities.
KARNATAKA: So one more IAS has left the order. The last one K.Gopinathan left ostensibly for denial of fundamental rights in J&K. The present S.Sasikanth Senthil left decrying compromising democracy and declaring 'It cannot be business as usual anymore'. Surely being IAS they represent the cream of Indian social scene. They are intelligent, well educated and have a strength of personality. But quite frankly it's not convincing if not an entirely bogie call. K.Gopinathan is not an Indian from Kashmir. He is an Indian from Kerala. His reason for giving up IAS sounds rather strange if not ludicrous. Similarly for S3 or SSSenthil, former DC of Dakshina Kannada for raising the bogie of 'crisis of democracy' in India or some part of India sounds enigmatic if not downright irrational. It is as if he is the only one 'disturbed by the unprecedented compromise of democratic principles within the Indian nation'. Of course there are all kinds of posts in social media which probably also include some idiotic barbs.
India is a dynamic country by any stretch of imagination, by its own right. Although it's a messy democracy it has its magnificent positives. It is also true it has its equally magnificent negatives. But the fact is it has not balkanized on fissiparous tendencies despite being a society of half-a-dozen faiths, some 27 officially recognized languages with over 1500 dialects from Kashmir to Kanya Kumari, Kutch to Kohima. Both these gentlemen could have contributed better to the larger pan-Indian picture by remaining within, rather than being out of it. However it appears, prima facie, reasons were different. This is height of dishonesty.
KARNATAKA: Many in BJP think they are intelligence incarnate. Many times they end up almost saying 'aa bail mujhe maar' inviting problem when there wasn't any.
Recently two government officials have resigned from IAS for reasons they publicly stated. The reasons they gave may be reasonable for them. But it was their freedom of choice they were exercising in giving up the coveted position. Prima facie the matter should settle there. Of course since they gave their reasons for quitting to the media it became a subject of debate.
These two gentlemen opened a pandora's box by their resignation giving reasons which at best can be called 'irrational' and at worst 'preposterous'. One may be pardoned to infer that these reasons showed BJP government at the centre in poor light. Be that as it may, BJP spokespersons should have just ignored the development as if not of much significance. But 'No'. The arrogance of power ,as if, forced them to react. And comes the front page print media report "Officers quitting due to intolerance" ascribing to BJP's Organizational General Secretary BLSantosh. How does intolerance become reason to quit is difficult to comprehend. This heightened reaction certainly makes one wonder if there is truth in the accusation levelled in the media about BJP being shown in poor light by these resignations. It looks to be a case of over-reaction from both sides.
KARNATAKA: The reported news about Member of Parliament A Narayanaswamy (AN) being denied entry into a village in Tumkooru district in Karnataka is most disturbing and is the height of stupidity. Pemmanahalli is a village some 150 km from Bengalooru on Karnataka Telangana border. It has some 150 golla families. Gollas are supposed to be cowherds constitutionally classified as Yadavs under other backward class or OBC. It is another matter that they are far more backward educationally, financially and of-course even politically than this Narayanaswamy. Yet they did not allow this AN to enter their Godforsaken village saying 'AN is untouchable and therefore his entry would bring misfortune to the village'. Clearly this was the height of ignorance and stupidity.
Lack of education could not make them understand that this AN represents the ultimate in Indian politics as an elected representative of the nation's highest legislative authority. They are stupid because he was there -lock,stock and barrel- to what the central and state governments can do for them with help from willing NGOs, and they told the MP to take a walk or in plain terms 'get lost, we don't need you'. It was indeed a sad day for an evolving India. May be Pejaavar seer of Udupi Matts, who has developed a penchant for such village family visits could plan a visit to this village which is otherwise in a great need of help from the 'powers that be'.
KARNATAKA: A foreign tourist reportedly assaulted a security guard in Hampi for having stopped him from entering an ASI protected monument in Hampi. Security guard Dharmaraj was a SI level police officer employed by the security agency. Other guards at the site over-powered the attacker and rescued Dharmaraj and according to the report the foreigner left in a huff. Here the question is why this tourist was not detained for the police to come and take him into custody.It is another matter that following Dharmaraj's complaint this foreign tourist was caught after 9 hours of search and put behind bar. That the attacker turned out to be a Chinese is not surprising at all.
Chinese are known to be mostly bullying types especially with sub-continental crowd. But what is galling and therefore questionable is the ineptitude of Dharmaraj & company who are from the police force not to have acted on time! Fortunately the fellow could be caught. What if he had sensed trouble and left Humpi surroundings to a safer distance? These police personnel who are quick to fix a poor Indian only on suspicion and beat him up in custody badly, are incompetent when it comes to bullying foreigners. Something the police higher-ups need to recognize and act. Will it ever happen!?
KERALA: In the cacophony of boisterous noises from likes of Virat Kohli, Ravi Shastri and media hyped likes of Dhoni, self-effacing gentlemen like Sanju Samson do not make news. Sanju is one of India's finest cricketers. A hot property in IPL circuit, Sanju is a quintessential darling of cricket lovers due to his very composed, non aggressive calm behavior and those exquisite delectable shots that brought him acceptance in IPL. However BCCI or Indian selectors did not recognize him as a India material. Most he could reach is INDIA-A team. He was in the news recently for all right reasons.
Playing against South Africa 'A' in Thiruvananthapuram he hit a blistering 48-ball 91. He was the man-of the- match. He donated all his match fees to the Groundsmen Welfare Fund. Due to excessive rain all five matches were played with reduced overs and could be played because of the hard work only by groundsmen. Of all the people, local MP Shashi Tharoor commended " what sets Sanju apart from others; not just talent but spirit ".Two cheers and all the best to Sanju Samson.
WORLD: At times judges do go bonkers! Don't they ! Remember the case of Alister Pareira ! On Jan 12 2006 driving under the influence of alcohol, well past midnight, runs over 15 labourers sleeping on the pavement near Liberty Cinema in South Mumbai. Seven of them were crushed to death. Session court in Mumbai sentenced this inebriated young killer of 7 hapless poor men for a mere 6 months in jail. Here comes another report from New Jersey in the US. 'Teen from good family deserves leniency in rape case: Judge' A16 year old girl in an alcohol fueled pajama party was intoxicated. A drunk boy of 16 sexually assaulted the girl in the dark basement where the party was held. He videotaped the assault on his cell phone and shared it with friends.
Having briefed by the defense, the judge James Toriano of Superior court in Monmouth county did not allow the prosecution to try the 16 year old as an adult stating ' the young man came from a good family, attended an excellent school,had terrific grades and was an Eagle scout. Prosecutors should have explained to the girl that pressing charges would destroy the boy's life ', and dismissed case with mild reprimand. Of course both the above cases have traveled further to higher levels to be made accountable appropriately by the process of the law of respective countries. But the question is why some of the judges interpret the same laws differently to privileged class and act differently!
WORLD: On 6th Sept. Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's founding father passed away in far away Singapore. He was the President of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2017. He was toppled by the army led by Emerson Mnangagwa. He ruled for over 37 years almost as a dictator until he was ousted in November 2017. 37 years are close to 4 decades. He died at the age of 95. Zimbabwe belonged to all its citizens. There would be many who served the nation wanted to have greater national role. In fitness of things Mugabe could have relinquished after may be 15 years of his unchallenged rule when he was past 70 years of age. But 'No'. He continued until he turned 93.
Those who want to serve only they will give up power but those who enjoy power never give up unless you are pushed out. Ambitious people always end-up being dethroned. No wonder his family on record has stated 'He was bitter. You can imagine, the people that you trusted, the people who were guarding you, the people that were looking after your security are the same people that turn against you'. Clearly Mugabe failed to realize that it's time for a dignified exit. He had famously replied “where are they going?”. When an interviewer had asked Mr Magabe “Mr President, when are you bidding the people of Zimbabwe good bye? In the process he not only lost his place in the history of Zimbabwe as a statesman to be fondly remembered but also a space in the tribal folklore of his countrymen.
MAHARASHTRA: Until couple of years ago, except RSS and some Hindu organizations, not many knew this Manohar Bhide of Shiv Prathistan. He is also known as Sambaji Bhide or Guruji Bhide. It was only after the Bhima-Koregaon riot that erupted on Jan.1 2018 general public heard about this gentleman. Actually he is accused of being the prime suspect of the riot. There are controversial details about his background. One source tells of his being an Astro Physicist, a professor at Ferguson college Pune, a consultant with NASA etc. These are high profile details. However there are others who debunk all this.
While he is still not being questioned for his role in the riot at Bhima-Koregaon, he is in the news again for his observation on the failure of Chandryan 2. According to Bhide, if ISRO had consulted Indian Lunar calendar they would have accomplished their goal of soft landing on the moon.
He mentioned at an event at Solapur in South Maharashtra that 'even NASA studied Indian Lunar calculations in detail and launched their satellites on Ekaadashi day when all elements of the universe are in synchronization. There is no match to this almanac,' he avered.
Writing under a column LOONY TUNES a newspaper from Mumbai had rubbished all these claims without really going through these claims thoroughly. Ofcourse, as usual opposition has called for action against him under Anti Superstition Black Magic Act, while an advisory committee on Prohibition of Sex Selection Act has asked the government to file a case on his statement that eating mangoes from his orchard in Nashik helped couple conceive sons. Sounds little far fetched. Indeed India has all sorts. However it will make lot of sense to know the truth on this man, not merely for astronomy but also to find out solution to the Bhima-Koregaon issue permanently.
MAHARASHTRA: In WhatsApp there is this post making its round comparing Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. It spije about some 146 castes among Christians. Probably belonging to different denominations, being very strict in not going to any church of other sects. But despite Roman Catholics not entering Syrian Christians church or vice versa or any of their 146 - not sure if this number is right- churches belonging to as many castes having similar practices, there is no visible hatred between denominations.
Talking about Islam, these WhatsApp posts talk about some 13 castes or groups like Sunny, Shia, Ahmadiya etc. It is true that there are counties with problems between sunny and shia. In Indian we have not witnessed such visible issues. In Pakistan Ahmadiyas have suffered greatly at the hands of Sunni Muslims. But in India no such things have happened. It is true that there have been terror groups like Al Qaeda, LeT, ISIS etc. which bring bad name to Islam. The purpose of these WhatsApp posts was to tell how Hinduism is better than Christianity and Islam by saying a Hindu would go to any temple, which are innumerable all across the country. Similarly while Islam talks about 1 Allah, 1 Quran, 1 Nabi, also has some 13 castes and there's violence among its different caste denominations, etc.
But there are some very serious issues which blind adherents of Hinduism should ponder to rectify.
No doubt there are some positives in all faiths. They are not exclusive for one religion. It is also true that there are Christians writing against Islam and Hinduism, so also Muslims writing against Hinduism and christianity. But as an Indian, I feel it's my duty to tell my Hindu brethren that there are some huge social malaise among practitioners of Hinduism which need corrections. There is this story of Payal Tadvi, atudent of post graduation in gynecology in a Mumbai medical college. She belonged to some backward class caste. So called higher caste female students continuously harassed this Dr.Tadvi and mentally tortured her that she committed suicide in her hostel room. A young life, still in twenties was snuffed out by three of her colleagues, whi made her life hell by their bad and cruel conduct. Ofcourse all three accused are in jail, denied bail, pending court judgement. Surely such things like caste atrocities of this nature is not heard of among Christians or even muslims. This is something those Hindus who keep social media postings glorifying Hinduism should understand.
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