Rahulji is right

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/india/modi-does-not-know-what-people-want-says-rahul-1222734.html


For perhaps the first time in his life, Pappu has spoken something sensible. He says Modi does not know what the people want - and I completely agree.

People do not want trains that are clean. They prefer to keep their trains and stations filthy and stinking - and then blame the government for inaction. Stop providing good services, Mr. Suresh Prabhu! We, the people need inefficient Railways and nightmarish travel. Nothing more.
People are very unhappy that cooking gas subsidy is being credited directly to the common man's bank account. The middlemen, totalling roughly 3 to 4 crores connections across the country, who were looting the taxpayer, by getting gas connections in benami names and using them in restaurants and commercial places, are now losing out. Stop this high handedness! Let poor people go to hell. Allow the middlemen to thrive.

People are so used to living in darkness, after 69 years of Independence. That is not a matter of shame for them. In fact, it is a matter of pride that we can survive without electricity, twiddling our thumbs in darkness. Stop taking us forward, Mr. Piyush Goyal. We do not need you to make every village electrified by 2018. We do not want energy-efficient LED bulbs. We prefer to be in the 19th century under Congress's eternal promises of a better tomorrow.

People want to see parched tracts of lands that continue to remain unirrigated. People want to make that hundreds of thousands of crores accounted for as spent on irrigation projects, remain unaccounted, swelling the coffers of netas, and leaving the poor farmer to destitution, and suicidal death. People do not want urea coated with neem anymore, because neem-coated urea cannot be used by those sharks, who bought subsidized urea in the names of the farmer and used them for manufacturing products, now stand orphaned, in one go. People DO NOT want any agricultural reforms at all. They prefer hunger, instead.

People want to continue on the path of corruption. Practically every other citizen, willy nilly, ends up benefitting from, and also suffering from endless corruption, starting from simple land registration to scams in coal blocks and army purchases. People do NOT want transparent systems that will make the process eliminate corruption over time. People prefer to create more Vijay Mallyas, instead , and loot the country. The corruption that the Congress had so carefully groomed and institutionalized, needs to continue.

Move over, Mr. Modi! Stop trying to provide good governance. The people need to continue in the dark ages. They do not deserve you. They deserve only Pappu!

More diplomacy, please

Urgent need for actions in Diplomacy ============================ The media is going ga-ga over External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's efforts to bring back Indian citizens in trouble, outside of the country, back home safely. She has done a wonderful job of making sure that distressed Indians outside of the country, are brought back safely, over the last 22 months. Quite laudable. So much so, that even the normally pugnacious Opposition was all praise for her efforts in this direction, in the recently concluded session of the Parliament. But, in my opinion, while these gestures are welcome, and show that the safety and security of Indians outside the country is taken seriously by this government, and rightly so, there are bigger threats to the country looming, and I expect Sushmaji to move away from tactical initiatives, to more strategic ones. In my view, these "rescue missions" can easily be handled by the minister of state, or even the secretary of the govt, and only the ones that need escalations be brought to the attention of the minister. The minister is better off, spending her precious energy and time on diplomatic affairs that are more strategic in nature. I am yet to see anything concrete on the strategic areas in Diplomacy, something that is the core responsibility of the ministry of External affairs. It is an open secret now that until 2014, the Chinese authorities has been making strategic investments ( money) , to develop and cement relationships with countries that border India. Even a school child will tell you that those investments had been done with two objectives in mind: One, to develop alternative markets for Chinese goods and services over the years, and to reduce over-dependence on the USA/ Euro zone markets, only if only by a little margin. Two, and more importantly, by forging strong partnerships with India's neighbours, China hopes to "checkmate" India geographically and strategically. The Congress government was busy twiddling it's thumbs, even as China invested in the Gwadar port in Pakistan, to extend the silk route, to culminate in an entry port into the Suez area directly. This, they hope, would cut short long route around India/ Srilanka/ Singapore for Chinese goods that need to be exported to Euro Zone. The Chinese, understandably, have also invested in 6 lane expressways across the Paki terrain, to complete the logistics. But even more ominously for India, they are busy developing the Gwadar Naval base at their own expense, blessed by Pakistan. What was our response then? Look the other way! Given our uneasy relationship with Pak all these years, our response to them must be guarded, and this government, in my opinion, is taking the right steps. The Chinese did their best to do an encore with Sri-lanka. And nearly got away with it... until Modiji took over, and reversed some of the earlier SL Govt decision for Chinese cooperation. While the Congress was busy pandering to anti-Srilankan sentiments to capture Tamil vote-banks, the Chinese happily flooded the Srilankan markets, in the meanwhile, with their goods. I expect the government to come up something more substantive , diplomatically, assuage the lankans, and hold their hands, the big brotherly way. They progress, we too progress. Myanmar has had China as their leading trade partner for long now. And China supplies all arms to their military junta. After the NDA govt took over, the Myanmar reversed some of their earlier decisions, which is good for India. In Nov 2014, they cancelled the project to lay 1500 km of railroad from Kunming in China to Yangon. Earlier, China had invested $1B of its own money to lay a pipeline to carry natural gas, from the Andaman sea to Kunming. I understand that the capacity utilization of that is hardly 20%. It is very clear now that Myanmar's every move shows that they want to move away from China. Myanmar also renegotiated the terms harder, for Chinese investment in Hydro power plants in Myanmar. I strongly feel that China is using Myanmar to build it's own maritime reconnaissance system that can spy on India's movements in the region, and also to deny India the strategic space it would have otherwise got. Whether these pushbacks by Myanmar are because of the Indian Government's actions or was it suo moto, is unclear. Nonetheless, it is good for India. The heartening news is that there are multimodal transportation projects, being sponsored by India now, that would run from Mizoram into Myanmar... and a host of similar initiatives, that would bolster India's relations with Myanmar. However, that Myanmar now sees two "suitors", she would try to play one against another, and India needs to do a fine-balancing-act. Which is where I expect the minister to step in, and devise appropriate strategies for the long term. Same story in Bangladesh. With elections in WB and Assam around the corner, xenophobia could reach a crescendo, and that would not be in the best interests of Indo-Bangla relations for the short term. The long term solution lies in India sealing the border, like that with Pak, and actively investing in, and tapping, the manufacturing power of Bangladesh in select sectors like Textiles, something China has been doing very successfully so far. Maldives is being largely ignored by China so far, but if they build another naval base there, a la Guam, then the naval "encircling" of India will be complete- and a huge security threat for India. But the biggest nightmare right now is Nepal. Over the years, China successfully infiltrated Nepal with Maoists, and India did nothing about it ( India is unable to deal with it's own Naxal problems, so , forget helping Nepal). The Maoists overthrew the monarchy and set up their own govt. Today, Nepal is practically a communist ruled country, with big bro across Tibet as the back-room boy. Nepal has been voicing anti-India tirades of late. The Modi govt dared Nepal to blink first, by cutting off supplies of petrol and diesel. Nepal cowed in, but the anti-Modi Indian media was quick to call that a diplomatic blunder, bu in my opinion, in fact, it was the opposite. To add fuel to fire, China now proposes to extend the Lhasa Railway line, all the way into Kathmandu. That, I am certain , will end Nepal's reliance on India. But it will also pose a security threat from China to India, over the long term, for the Maoist puppets ruling Kathmandu can be expected to be sympathetic to any Chinese aggressions. India certainly faces a serious Diplomatic/ strategic challenge in Nepal. It is high time that the ministry starts big measures on these pressing strategic issues. I am sure they already are doing it covertly. This is a government that works, and foreign relations should hopefully see an uptick in the coming months, riding on the hugely successful foreign trips of the PM and the minister.I realize that India does not have the kind of spare forex that China possesses, to invest big-time in neighbours. But it is not always about investments only. It is an issue of how one is able to balance relationships with investments with neighbours, and as responsible "big brother" in the region, what sort of comfort feel we provide them. The sooner we do this balancing act, the better. Else our ambition of becoming a global superpower in the truest sense of it, will remain on paper. P.S.: All information for this article, have been obtained from public domain only.

On the occasion of Holi

In a Holi act, A section of people
Throw coloured water on fellow humans
In the name of culture.

In a "holy" act, a few individuals
Bomb Brussels, to blow up fellow humans
In the name of religion.

Is the red-shed of the bomb
Any more radiant than
The multi-colour of the Pichkari?

Why do these men want
The world to turn colour-blind?
Why do these mean want
The world to see only red?

Why do these men want
The world to forget the Pichkari?
Why do these men want
To give a new meaning to
"Painting the town red?"

கன்னியின் காதல்

Confession of a woman in love

ஒரு கன்னியின் கதைப்பு
==================

தோகை மயிலே நேரில் வரினும்
மோக வலையில் விழேனென்று
ஆக மட்டும் அடம் பிடித்தேன்
பாகனுக் கடங்கா யானை போல.

அறுதி யாய் என் வாழ்வினிலே
சுருதி கூட்டச் சுரமாய் வந்தாய்.
உறுதி எல்லாம் கரைந்தது
பரிதி முன்னே பனி போல.

A half-baked analysis of India's defence spending, by The Economic Times

My dear Economic Times (ET)

"Defence spending slips when NDA is in power, Rs 11,595 crore unspent " Screams your article ( below). Also, goes on to add, in the article, that " This utilisation pattern is not unique to this BJP government. In the past too, utilisation rates have been dismal - hovering around 90%when the NDA was last in power. "

Dismal??? Oh come, on, give me a break, ET!! Pray, explain to me, why is this non-spending of 10000 crore considered "dismal"??

While I understand that babus are used to blowing up all the money allocated in a financial year, just because the budget has been allocated, whether the need is genuine or not, can you argue that spending 100% of the budget, and not saving on it, is always the ideal thing to do? And why should NDA blindly follow the Congoons in this?

Yes, I acknowledge that the defence forces are in dire need of modernization and funds infusion, and returning unused money on the face of it looks silly. But why dont you peel the onion, and see where the money has been returned from, without spending? Where are the details of that? And without stating the details, how can you conclude that returning money= "dismal"?

It is quite possible that the money may have been returned, due to various factors:

1. Delay in finalizing orders for specific equipment or project, for which this may have been earmarked. Yes, technically, the money can be diverted, but then going back the next year to get funds for the same becomes an issue. People working in South Block can vouch for this.

2. Import substitution may have resulted in saving money.

3. Better negotiation, lesser corruption may have resulted in lower costs.

4. Or simply, a more consolidated approach to purchasing may have resulted in a management decision to wait for collective bargaining.

My dear ET, Without going into details of any of this, how can you blindly conclude / indict the NDA government? Are you trying to use this as yet another "economic" ploy to berate Modi?

If you really want to do a comparison of budget vs actuals, break both down, find out the key areas where the money was originally meant to be spent, and point out specifically which areas amongst those "key defence priorities" that were left unspent, resulting in possible security threat for the nation, and I will accept it. Note that " key defence priority spend" will not include things like liquor for the army canteen wink emoticon

I would rather wait for defence analysts or the CAG to point out specific lacunas in our defence engine that has resulted in returning this money unspent, rather than trying to gather from your half-baked analysis, ET!

Goaded by the Congoons, I know you are keen to berate Modi, and show him in poor light, at every possible turn, but , in this instance, you are cutting a sorry figure. You are trying to tell the country " if you continue to elect BJP, they will fail to protect you and the country, but ignoring Defence. So , vote Pappu and his Congoons back to power ASAP, so that the Quattrochis of the world can be happy, and the Swiss Banks can be happier".

Stop pulling the country down! If you are eager to malign Modi, then better luck next time!

 http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/defence-spending-slips-when-nda-is-in-power-rs-11595-crore-unspent/articleshow/51216838.cms

Superstitious me

For a good part of last fortnight, my left eye had been twitching vociferously. This is not the first time this has happening. It has been there. On and off. Since my childhood. The only question usually was - is it the right eye or the left.

I still vividly recollect my mother telling me " Oh, the left eye twitching? For boys, that is not a good omen at all. Hey Muruga! Protect my son from all evils!".  Over time, I came to believe in that, and thought that the left eye twitching would mean impending trouble.

With youth dawning on me, the rationalist in me overtook mom's voice. And, over the years, I have read about remedies for twitching  on the internet. They ranged from applying hot fomentation, applying tear drops and yes, relaxing and sleeping well. Until the last few years, I had been practising the last two of the suggestions. And soon enough, the twitches had vanished - only to return last fortnight. With all that has been happening over the last few years for me personally, this time, my mom's voice had got a boost, inside my head. Was I going to stare at some trouble and disturbing situation very soon? God, help me!

But soon, the rationalist overpowered mom again. I told myself that I would get over this quickly. After all, I knew what to do. Soon, despite my irregular sleep, I had succeeded calming my mind and relax a lot, in spite of pressures from all quarters. The results were there to be seen. The twitching had stopped completely, since yesterday.

I heaved a sigh of relief. And dismissive of superstitions - " all these superstitions are leading the individual down the wrong path. Negative thoughts were unnecessarily gathering in my mind, and the recent traumas are adding fuel to the fire. I am glad I used my brain to overcome this physiological symptom. Bad event? My foot!" I am learning to get rid of all superstitions in my life one by one, since none of them, including this eye twitching being a bad omen, is working. Hail science! To hell with superstitions!

❤️ D ❤️

PS: ...   and , oh, yes! I forgot to mention...   something really terrible had happened at the workplace today, involving me and a colleague, and I am still rattled by it.

Shaking up a behemoth

This article dt. 5th Feb in "The Businessline" made interesting reading.

In spite of almost 7000 km of coastline, hardly any water-transport worth it's name exists in India. And inland waterways ( rivers) are practically being ignored. Result? This is putting undue stress on the frail infrastructure of the country in terms of Railways and Roads. Minister Nitin Gadkari is finally changing things for the better, making sea-transport within country attractive. There is no big superpower worth it's name, that does not have good water transport infrastructure. Hence, this is a welcome step.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/logistics/cars-from-chennai-take-the-coastal-route-to-gujarat-hyundai-takes-lead/article8199234.ece

I was talking to an old friend of mine, who works in the Rail Bhavan in Chennai.  Some of the facts about the Indian Railways that he shared, were quite revealing:

1. In the past 2 decades, passenger traffic doubled and freight traffic, the roti-and-dal earner for the Railways, tripled. And rail network hardly increased by 5%. It is, therefore, no surprise, that the Railways are bursting at their seams with massive supply constraints. So much so, that many corporates are switching over to road transport, though it is a lot more expensive ( even today, it takes only Rs. 1.38 to move one tonne of freight by a distance of 1 km)

2. So, why cant the Railways spend more on building capacity additions, and invest in much needed rolling stocks, safety equipment etc? The answer is that there simply is no capital available to invest. 2/3rds of the total costs of operation go towards staff costs , and is expected to worsen, with the implementation of the 7th Pay commission recommendations. The Railways are run out of budgetary support, which means every rupee for investment needs to come from taxpayer money, and there simply isn't enough of that left, for the Railways. Alternative ways to raise funds, like privatizing are being stiffly resisted by the uber-unionized workforce. They can, of course, borrow from other countries for modernizing the Railways. But then who will invest? There are enough and more countries willing to extend long term credit, for building new lines, investing in state-of-the art rolling stock and safety equipment. But they don't do it for charity. Which means, the amount has to be repaid. But without proper accounting and accountability, how will repay happen?

This bring focus to the root of the problem. Cash Accounting.

Believe it or not, until recently, the Railways have been doing Accounting using the Cash Accounting methodology, which is based on cash flows, rather than accruals, which is the globally accepted system. Accrual basis is used in most countries and corporates. This renders it impossible to prepare GAAP-compliant balance sheets or P&L statements. Without which, external investors will find it virtually impossible to evaluate key parameters like Return on Capital Employed etc.. and so, private investors will think 10 times before investing. Matters get further compounded with the fact that project-based accounting is non-existent in the Railways. Result? You will never know how much exactly has been invested in a particular project - say, the electrification of railway line in a certain sector. Which is also why, in recent past, separate corporations like Konkan Railways, DMRC, CMRC etc have been created, to circumvent this issue at the project level. Being separate legal entities, booking keeping is mandatory for them, and it is easier to set up accrual-system of accounting there, than changing the behemoth called the Indian Railways.

But hold on!  Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has undertaken path-breaking measures here too. He has hastened the switch over to the accrual system of accounting. We, the people, go gaga over his new initiatives like cleaner stations, swanky rakes etc... but fail to give him credit where it is really due. To me, this is one of the most important steps towards making Accounting and Accountability in the Railways a top priority, so that future funding of investments becomes smoother.

http://www.financialexpress.com/article/economy/indian-railways-to-hasten-shift-to-new-accounting-system/115792/

The average speed of movement of passengers is 35 kmph, and that of freight is 26 kmph... is which abysmal, by global standards. Which means, a goods train will take upto to a week to go from Chennai to Ahmedabad. No wonder, Hyundai decided to literally ships their cars to Gujarat!

The only way this can be fixed is by massive investments in capacity expansion and fleet modernization. Change in Accounting, to Accrual system is the first step. The bigger challenge lies in shaking up the labour force to become more productive, and involve the private sector wherever possible , something the Trade Unions will oppose tooth and nails. But without these much needed reforms, the Railways could soon become as symbolic as the 1920's steam engine parked outside the Rail Bhavan!