aamadmivoices

Sunday, October 8, 2017

VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 222 Date: 09.10.2017

skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

Contents:

1. Nature's Fury Makes A Mockery of India's Smart City Programs

2. Capital Punishment For Rape of Minors

3. Why Modi, Shah, Jaitley & Co. Behave the Way They Do?

4. GST On Track To Become A Big Mess

5. Stray Cattle & Dogs Not Welcome In Goa Or Across India Too

6. President Kovind Should Have Avoided Inaugurating Shirdi Airport

Nature's Fury Makes A Mockery of India's Smart City Programs

Nature's fury over the last couple of years has made a mockery of India's Smart City programs. The latest to meet problems is Hyderabad which was inundated last week by incessant rain over a single day. The 2nd or 3rd time the flooding has been happening for the city in the last 18 months. Each of our Metro cities that are part of the Smart City program have been facing similar problems with excessive spells of rain or cloudbursts notable among which is Bengaluru which with a couple of inches of rain has most of the roads in some areas completely waterlogged brining normal life to a standstill. The city has also discovered over the last few years that houses, commercial complexes, hospitals etc. have been constructed over storm water drains clogging discharge and/or reducing the capacity of rainwater evacuation. Thus where the focus for our first and second level cities should have been to have proper infrastructure for water, sanitation, sewerage and transportation to improve the quality of life for the common man, we have the Smart City programs looking at wi-fi Internet access etc. the peripheral things which by right should be at the bottom of the list of things to do. It is time we learnt the lessons that Nature is teaching us and recast our plans for the modernisation of our cities. It has been brought out by many studies mostly by NGO's that our city planners rarely concentrate on our below the ground systems specially sewerage and drainage which has been now brought to the fore now by Nature. One hopes that our authorities will take notice and start correcting the situation. The same applies to the fact that 80% or more of our water bodies are contaminated which has again been brought out by the foam formation in Bengaluru lakes where one again hopes will get the authorities thinking on ways and means of preserving our water bodies which generally form reservoirs at times of flooding and thus can help in reducing the severity of inundation of habitated areas.

Capital Punishment For Rape of Minors

Incidents of rapes of minors is registering like clockwork across the country including in school premises where normally one would expect children to be safe. Something needs to be done on this on a priority basis. The first option could be to fast track all these cases and amend the laws so that capital punishment is given to the perpetrators. If within a span of 3 months from the occurrence of the rape the attacker is hanged, it will send a message out to likely rapists that the government means business and they better be wary and desist from their heinous plans. Long term considering that the majority of the cases are occurring in our Metro cities, we need to look at stopping migration from our rural areas into cities in search of work or jobs. Such people leave their families back home and not finding a release of their sexual urges tend to commit rape including those of minors who one can say are soft targets.

Why Modi, Shah, Jaitley & Co. Behave the Way They Do?

It is time for some psychoanalysis now when it comes to the Indian political leadership.

Let us start with Narendra Modi. After the Nov 8th 2016 misadventure of demonetising the high value currency notes Modi went into a shell somewhat awed by what he had sprung on the unsuspecting Indian populace after seeing the unending queues at banks and reported deaths of people in these lines. Consequently if you recall Modi was supposed to make some dramatic announcements over New Year's Eve in 2016 that people had believed would be to ease the pain that they were facing with Demonetisation or some other earthshaking economic measures. Nothing happened to the scale of people's expectations and the announcements were rather inconsequential.

Just about a week back, a similar context arose and with the economy in doldrums people were expecting a major revival package to be announced. Indications were seen in the press that after Modi and Jaitley reviewed the economy with the officials from the relevant ministries a major economic package was in the offing. But nothing happened again and not even the Modi-Jaitley meeting with the economic ministry officials took place. It was only Jaitley who met the officials and came out with some lame remark about the economy. Though Modi came out thereafter with an announcement of again the badly conceived Saubhagya scheme of providing free electric connections to the poor and some other schemes but none of them carried much weight.

The third recent major happening within the government was the Cabinet reshuffle. This had been a long time coming after the two resignations that of Manohar Parrikar and Suresh Prabhu and a lot of hype had been built into the announcement. But it again turned out to be a damp squib and the only change worth noting there was the elevation of Nirmala Sitharaman as the Defence Minister. This would be the second time after Indira Gandhi had a woman Defence Minister but even that milestone was devalued by saying that with the 3 Service Chiefs there is not really much to do for the Defence Minister except to deal with foreign suppliers of defence equipment. So what was Manohar Parrikar doing in the highly touted Defence Ministry at that time stated to be a very important and critical Ministry? Was he just twiddling his thumbs? And is that the reason that he decided to move back to Goa as Chief Minister?

Thus if you see Narendra Modi does all the groundwork, building up for the big moment and then just before the arc lights are switched on, he gets cold feet and retracts from implementing the momentous measure. Except for Demonetisation he has not really belled the cat on any single initiative since this BJP government came to power in 2014. And even on Demonetisation he failed big time. In contrast when it comes to making speeches at election rallies that is long on wind but is short on actual content, Modi is in his element. Because here there is a deniability and nobody in India takes election promises seriously, which Modi very well knows.

This speaks of a personality who is unsure of himself and would rather not be held accountable. This is probably because of his lack of formal education and the absence of support of a family network that generally rounds up perspective and makes a person more confident and sure of himself. Or the scale of the debacle of Demonetisation has really shocked him that he is hesitant to come out with anything big? The lack of the family support network tends to make an individual behave rashly at times like we have seen happen to Modi in the Demonetisation exercise. These personality faults and also the refusal to publicly accept his mistakes also lend to the tendency to avoid media since with more than half of his present term getting over Modi has not held a single press conference. But for the Demonetisation time when he came on national TV he has not addressed the nation on any issue or one does not recall of his having spoken to a collection of people in the country like industry or trade associations except recently when he addressed the company secretaries gathering. While in contrast you will see him when abroad making it a point to address PIO's or NRI's who throng these meetings on a curiosity or nostalgia basis and Modi can then revel in the adulation without having to deliver on any count. The avoidance mode towards local people is also reflected by his radio addresses called Maan ki Baat where again it is a one-way interaction and Modi gets a chance to mouth platitudes. These are all to shore up his image and re-instate in people's minds that his intentions are good. Thus to protect himself Modi creates a shell around himself of aloofness, a difficult to access manner and an abrasive attitude to being questioned or towards dissent. These traits we have all seen in his behaviour in public life more so after 2014 upon becoming the PM. The intolerance to dissent we have seen in the Vidarbha MP reporting that in one of the party meetings he was abruptly put down by the PM when he wanted to raise the issue of farmer's woes in his constituency. A confirmation of the reticence and hesitation to address any issue is what we have seen at every crisis point that was in front of the nation since 2014 like the intolerance issue, the student unrests in JNU & Osmania University, the beef eating and cow issue, where on the last issue Modi has spoken only as a matter of last resort leading in the interim to a conclusion that he is behind these issues or it has his and the BJP's tacit support.

There are many who talk of Modi's foreign policy successes but the perceived achievements are because of India, the country and not the man, Modi. India commands a certain degree of respect now and that is where other countries want to deal with India keeping in mind that position. Any other person in the PM's chair would have been able to do the same. Modi's hugs are being talked about to be a trademark signifying warmth and bonhomie but they are being not so warmly received by some international leaders like Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin who are seen visibly to cringe away from the supposedly warm embrace. The hug is now being taken as in some African and Polynesian countries, the form of greeting that is rubbing cheeks or rubbing noses which some world leaders consciously avoid. The warmth shown by Modi in his personal interactions has backfired or should one say not reciprocated in instances like with Nawaz Sharif and Chinese leader, Xi. Even President Abe's recent visit to Gujarat where he was accorded a tumultuous welcome could be considered wasted since he went back and called for a snap poll in Japan. And media there is reporting that at this time Abe's approval ratings are on a slide. So if Abe does not come back to power all that was invested in his Gujarat visit may be considered wasted though Modi can claim that the Bullet Train project, which is not very desirable, was cleared by Abe. Modi's behaviour in his foreign policy overtures is an over-anxious tendency while showing a little more reserve would possibly have resulted in more stable gains for India.

There is another trait in Modi's character and that is he likes a winner since one can say that in his conceit, he considers himself a winner. That one can assume is the basis of his relationship with Amit Shah, the BJP President since Shah has been delivering him every election, more or less except notably Delhi, that has been held since the 2014 general elections. The relationship with Modi for Shah is important for him since otherwise he will get embroiled in the criminal cases that have been chasing, some amounting to murder. This is the reason why Shah has ensconced himself recently as a Rajya Sabha member since apart from his relationship with Modi, this status can give him some semblance of protection from the judiciary.

Thus Modi emerges as a person who in his childhood was deprived of warmth and understanding and because of that struck out on his own making the party as a foster home and its then leaders of the RSS, his heroes. This kind of explains his inability to settle down in married life and staying away from his wedded wife even after achieving the highest post in the country, that of Prime Minister. Those schisms from childhood lead Modi to act most times as a loner, emerging selectively in the limelight at timings of his choice to address matters of also his preference. These tendencies sometimes make him go overboard characterised by rashness, bravado, daring etc. etc. call it what you will. And then realising the enormity of what he has done retreat after that into a shell, incommunicado and with no explanations for his actions or clarifications on the next course of action. These are clear indications of a repressed individual who is sometimes unable to control his precipitate actions and who does not admit the adverse results of his actions and refuses to take responsibility for them. These emerge from a childhood where parental care and support was lacking and in later life the deprivation of a family net around him that rounds perspective, builds rationality and clarity in actions.

We will now turn to Arun Jaitley who exactly fits the bill of the Hindi saying - Andhon Me Kana Raja. The BJP faced with a paucity of leaders who can be considered as ministerial material has in Jaitley a man for all seasons. That is the reason why Modi dumps portfolios on Jaitley without blinking an eye and more so because he has no choice. Jaitley had started off with the Finance and the Defence Ministries and then divested Defence when Parrikar came into the Cabinet and was reverted with the portfolio when Parrikar decided to return to Goa. And only lately has he given up Defence to Nirmala Sitharaman upon her appointment after the last Cabinet reshuffle. Jaitley always nattily dressed and fond of a turn of phrase is considered a good communicator and that is why the BJP falls back on him in Parliament to turn the tables on the Opposition. An advocate by training Jaitley's burning urge is wanting to be known as an economist and he therefore prefers the Finance Ministry to any other. Jaitley revels in the technical financial terms that are the bread and butter of the Finance Minister and rolls them off his tongue spiritedly, one wonders maybe without fully understanding what they mean. Bereft of a popular base and having lost the elections from Punjab for the Lok Sabha, Jaitley has to be content with being a perennial Rajya Sabha bench warmer. Knowing fully well about his indispensability in the Cabinet to Modi, Jaitley lately is troubled that for all his efforts in the Finance Ministry the Indian economy equated to the elephant is showing very definite and consistent signs of wallowing in the mud for a longer time than it is desirable. Jaitley also knows that Modi knows about this and the charmed life that Jaitley has led in the Finance Ministry may be at risk. Otherwise why did Modi not to turn up for the meeting for announcing the revival package for the economy the other day, is what Jaitley is mulling about? This is more so in the context of the upcoming State elections particularly in Gujarat which is very important for Modi & Shah to win. Any signs of the economy catching a serious cold will jeopardise the elections and hence the urgent modifications to the GST rules. This is being done as many would say not because the GST needs it but more the Gujarat elections need it. As a minister Jaitley instead of being sympathetic to the people's plight has been behaving more in the confrontational manner and tends to take the admonishing path than the helpful way of a pat on the shoulder and suggesting that we walk the difficult way together. Even last week at a conference of income tax officials he stated that the Indian people are largely of the tax-avoiding kind. Such comments are not going to win him many friends across the Indian population. Jaitley was at the forefront of the India Shining campaign when the last NDA government was in power and it looks like he is doing a re-run of the same thing little realising that at that time the NDA lost and there is a big chance that the same thing could happen again. That's what happens when people get drunk on their own perceived achievements, they act without caring for the problems and sensitivities of others around them.

Others in the Cabinet are mostly unknown quantities but for the cheerleaders like M A Naqvi and Ravi Shankar Prasad who at the drop of a hat and without analysing the situation and using their minds jump to the defence of the Prime Minister whenever Narendra Modi says or does anything.

Concluding one would have to say that with this kind of a leadership at the helm of the country where can India go but only downwards.

GST On Track To Become A Big Mess

With the GST mess following on the back of the Demonetisation debacle, Arun Jaitley seems to be aiming at breaking the record of the maximum number of circulars issued for any economic measure by the government and its agencies. With Demonetisation holding that pedestal earlier, GST inclusive of the newspaper advertisements on FAQ's should be close to dislodging and claiming that position. What with Jaitley stating that the government may be open to reducing the number of slabs under GST the stage is being set to expectation which may set off more confusion and less compliance among the small trader community which is the current bottleneck. Thus one cannot understand why the government cannot think through a measure before proceeding with its implementation. The fact that the GST council had to carry all the States along is being cited as the cause for the structural lacunae but this could have been all ironed out and then the measure put in place. Where was the hurry to rush through GST claimed to be 'the biggest financial reform since Independence'?

Stray Cattle & Dogs Not Welcome In Goa Or Across India Too

Note: This must be a common problem across India since the newspapers carry stories of children & elders being attacked by stray dogs particularly in Bengaluru & Kerala. On our occasional travels we have seen stray cattle on the streets of most cities now.

One of the leading dailies of the country recently carried an article - Cow: From Mata to Menace - which highlighted that for all the lip service that the saffron brigade pay to the sacred cow, the actual situation on taking care of the bovine animal leaves a lot to be desired. We see this situation in Goa too where stray cattle are seen on our roads. This is a menace to those walking on the roads as also to traffic particularly at night times. With all our roads not properly lit, these stray cattle loitering on the roads will be the cause for accidents which will not only hurt these animals but also become the cause of human fatalities. These animals have to be taken off our roads on a priority basis since the authorities cannot talk on one side of wanting to reduce road accidents and on the other hand leave these stray cattle as impediments to traffic flow.

It is not only stray cattle but also dogs that need to be taken off our roads and neighbourhoods since they are again a menace to traffic and also a danger to people by way of dog bites and possible rabies transmission. The other day the papers carried a report that the first charter flight that landed at Dabolim bringing Russian tourists was greeted by dogs when they came out of the airport. But for the fact that it is amusing to see that in Goa even dogs like tourists, we need to get serious about taking off the stray canine population from our neighbourhoods. Continuing on a tone of levity, one would not be far wrong to assume that the dogs exceed in number the human population in Goa.

President Kovind Should Have Avoided Inaugurating Shirdi Airport

President Kovind inaugurating Shirdi airport is completely irrational and out-of-context with the reality of the sacred place. One is sure the President knows that Shirdi is a place of pilgrimage for Sai Baba's devotees. Sai Baba lived a very simple and austere life and that is what needs to be made an example of to the devotees. In Maharashtra there is also a 'wari parampara' of devotees going on foot from Alandi to Pandharpur a distance of some 300-350 Km. to pay homage to Lord Vitthal and his consort, Goddess Rakhumai. This kind of pilgrimage is also there in Northern India. In fact this is the way that devotees need to come to Shirdi and not by plane as the airport signifies. However, there is no objection to having an airport at Shirdi since the business and trade community can avail of faster transit and the connectivity it will offer. But President Kovind inaugurating the airport sends a wrong message on his choice and judgment. He needs to be careful about choosing the kind of functions he goes to in the first few months of his Presidency to build his stature and credibility since he is a relatively unknown figure outside the saffron brigade. By inaugurating the Shirdi airport President Kovind is sending out the message that he subscribes to the present BJP government program of polishing up the India Shining initiative which panders to the rich at the cost of the poor.

****************************

Sunday, October 1, 2017

VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi

Issue: 221 Date: 02.10.2017

skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

Contents:
1. Should Jaitley Go?

2. Mumbai Stampede: The 'Chalta Hai' Attitude Should Stop

3. A Lesson In How Not To Increase Revenue Generation & Try And Legitimise The Economy

4. Saubhagya Scheme Free Power Through Solar Power

5. Media Turning Out Old Hash in Dawood Extortion & Hyderabad Arab Marriage Stories

Should Jaitley Go?

Yeshwant Sinha is absolutely spot-on in relation to his critique of the present government's handling of the economy which has failed to arrest the slide and is moving towards a crisis. The problem with the handling of the economy has been the lack of knowledge and experience on the part of Arun Jaitley in financial matters. Being an advocate and a good public speaker means Jaitley is very attracted to the turn of phrase. Thus you will find him these days talking of cashless economy, squeezing the availability of high denomination currency etc. etc. with which he is enamoured. Whether he understands any of this is a debatable matter since going by what has happened since 2014 one must conclude that his knowledge of finance is passable at most. Until Nov 2016 there was very limited financial reform activity and even the Big Bang Demonetisation measure is suspected to have been engineered without keeping Jaitley in the know though later he picked up the baton smartly and made a brave attempt to prove that he is part of the PM's A team. Then the measure of GST followed which was great in concept but again suffered in structuring the rates and in implementation. That both would greatly impact economic activity was misjudged and then overlooked in the obsession of defending these measures. It was a case of trying to do too many things, too soon. The compulsion was also to show that the government was serious in its attempt to implement economic reforms. That the Economic Advisory Council was set up just last week also indicates that the PM is probably not too happy with Jaitley's functioning and needs more heavyweight economists to give him a better feel of things. Not only that last week it was reported in the press that the PM & Jaitley would review the economy along with the officials and after that a stimulus package was to be announced. But that meeting did not happen because the PM failed to turn up and Jaitley came up with a lame excuse. The stimulus package was also not forthcoming since it was only the Saubhagya scheme of offering free electricity connections to the poor which was announced and that is a populist measure with an eye on upcoming State elections like Gujarat. In fact the best thing is for Jaitley to go, but then who will be the Finance Minister? This is in fact the BJP's problem, they do not have enough bench strength to bring about changes in the Cabinet. Modi also has no clue of finance and economic matters which is apparent from the fact that while launching the Saubhagya scheme, he could have remembered his Make in India initiative and offered solar packs to the 4 crore targeted families making it a force multiplier for the fledgling solar power equipment industry and catapulted it to world status with these massive volumes. This was yet another opportunity lost is what we will have to sadly conclude because of lack of grasp and bad judgment like the earlier Demonetisation and then GST.

Mumbai Stampede: The 'Chalta Hai' Attitude Should Stop

Why do we always wait for accidents like the latest stampede on the Parel - Elphinstone foot overbridge at Mumbai before we wake up to the need to improve facilities or provide additional infrastructure? It is not only with the Railways but we saw the same thing happen with the Ryan school in Gurugram post the child Pradyuman's killing that the CBSE inspection team came with a list of do's and don't s against the school. Why were these issues not brought up after the last inspection in which case maybe the child would have lived? Going back to the Mumbai stampede, the Railways was clearly aware of the high pedestrian traffic over the bridge, otherwise how have they released a tender on the same day for an additional bridge at the same spot. This 'chalta hai' attitude that we commonly have should be stopped forthwith and wherever anything has to be done should be implemented before the matter reaches crisis point. Commenting on the Mumbai suburban railway network, though it is the lifeline of the city, it is fast becoming a death trap with the pressure of the rapid and massive increase of commuters and is in need of a serious and comprehensive review of services to meet the burgeoning demand.

A Lesson In How Not To Increase Revenue Generation & Try And Legitimise The Economy

The problem faced by this BJP government vis a vis the economy are two fold. The first is that the revenue coming in from taxes is low and the second is the existence of a parallel economy variously called the black money economy which is purported to be as big as the white economy but does not come under the tax net. With tax revenues being low resources for any activity become scarce and then the government has to start the process of rationing which becomes difficult considering the many competing areas that desperately need funding. Not only that because of the lack of resources big development plans have to be kept in abeyance. As for black money various governments have tried multiple means to check and control it but sadly with little success. The ground situation and the objectives as put out above look good but let us now examine how the present BJP government went about it.

From 2014 there was lot of sabre rattling being done on the populist agenda of bringing back black money from Swiss banks which had seized the public mind. But nothing really happened on it since the Swiss will always stick to their secretive laws and those Indians that have stashed their black money in Swiss and similar tax friendly havens keep their ears close to the ground and are agile to move their ill-gotten wealth to other locations before even the stodgy Indian tax authorities have made their first move. There has been much talk about the Swiss offering access to accounts that are considered illegal or black which will happen only if per Swiss law the account holders are believed to be linked with criminal activity and will be given only on prospective basis and not retrospective. Given with no success on the black money issue, the BJP government latched onto the leak of information from banks like UBS and Standard Chartered Bank that claimed some Indians had monies with them. The monies stated in the accounts looked small and included many legitimate accounts opened by individuals and corporate entities with due permissions from RBI. Added to this, there was pressure mounting on Modi's government to deliver on its election promise of transferring Rs. 15 Lakhs into each citizen's account upon recovery of the elusive black money. This figure indicates that the BJP government was well aware of the size of the black money hoard abroad. Lately the Basel-based Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has released data which shows that offshore wealth held by Indians in tax havens has surged nearly 90% since 2007 to $62.9 billion (about Rs 4 lakh crore) in 2015-about 3.1% of the country's GDP in 2015, the latest year for which data is available. Also, contrary to popular belief, Switzerland is no longer the preferred destination for this wealth. Over 53% of this Indian wealth is now held closer home in Asian tax havens like Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Bahrain and Malaysia. Swiss banks hold 31% of Indian wealth, down from around 58% in 2007. Thus as you can see Narendra Modi and his government have been firstly, unable to stem the growth of offshore wealth held by Indians since it continued to grow even after 2014, secondly, they have been barking up the wrong tree and thirdly, have painted themselves into a corner with their loud claims to bring back black money.

There was a need therefore to do something drastic that would show that the government was serious about black money. What was there if the black money holdings abroad were getting stuck in procedural wrangles, there was enough opportunity to do something closer home and that my friends was what prompted Demonetisation of the Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 notes on Nov 8, 2016. Enough has been said and written about the why's and wheretofores's of Demonetisation and its consequent effects on the economy deleterious or whatever, we will not go through that here but stick to the strategic intent of the government in announcing Demonetisation. The idea was good but the implementation was bad because the mechanic had forgotten to bring his wrench so there was a leak and in the first fortnight after 10th Nov 2016 the leak became a hole through which all the black money escaped. This left the government looking for pennies to justify their intent and look for alternative stories to divert attention from the trauma of Demonetisation unleashed on the unsuspecting and gullible Indian population.

That is where the government commenced State sponsored financial terrorism on its people to justify their errors. The first assumption in this approach was that all Indians are crooks and none of them pay their income tax correctly. The second assumption was contrary to our judicial system where you are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty, here you were presumed guilty of not paying proper income tax until you proved that you had. In line with this premise the government warned in no uncertain terms to those who were depositing the excess cash they had in the demonetised notes and more than the limit of Rs. 50,000 that they would have to define the source of these funds. In the absence of proper explanation these funds would be taxed at penal rates was the finger-wagging admonition. This affected small businesses and housewives since the measure was sudden and small businesses had not been able to adjust their billings and receivables pattern to move away from cash and were caught napping. Here the amounts were not black money but money caught in the gap while moving from one accounting entity to another and required the consent of the buyer and the seller and could also involve having the say-so of third parties. From that point onwards until today you will find the raucous orchestration from the Finance Minister down to the officials where the recurring theme is - We will get you! In this you would have seen that almost 2 lakh entities who deposited more than Rs. 2 Lakhs or more are purportedly on the IT man's radar as reiterated recently to track down the total quantum of Rs. 3 Lakh Crore suspected deposits. Similarly more than a lakh of individuals who took advantage of the black money declaration schemes have to be investigated. You can therefore see the extra load on the IT authorities given their existing work and the backlog of past cases that is already on their plate. So the question that arises is whether the tax authorities will be able to deliver on this work load in any meaningful manner or will we see again selective assessments and corruption on the table.

Immediately after Nov 8th, 2016 mostly abroad in the Gulf where there is a large Pak population it was being said to Indians that your Prime Minister snatched away even the money that was in your wallet. Similarly all the people like elderly people, servants and women who work as maids etc., people in villages essentially those who have no access to the banking system, found that their nest-eggs and/or comfort money for exigencies and emergencies was in one swipe converted to ZERO. A government is supposed to be sensitive to the needs of its people but in one fell stroke it reduced a large proportion of the population temporarily to beggars. Many could not take the shock because of their lack of understanding of what was happening leading to increased stress and maybe this led to some of the 100 odd deaths that occurred due to Demonetisation at that time.

The much touted feature of Demonetisation wiping out black money has been turned on its head since the many 'mules' used by the black money holders to exchange at the authorised limit of Rs. 4000 and then Rs. 2000 nullified that premise. The little that was unearthed in raids around the country by tax authorities or thrown away is nowhere close to the estimated level of black money in the country. Arun Jaitley has been making a lot of noise, reminiscent of the old saying that an empty tin with little in it can make a lot of din, related to these minuscule amounts that have been recovered along with the amount of some Rs. 4,600 crores in the new black money declaration scheme that recently closed. Like where is Rs. 4,00,000 crores of black money stashed abroad as mentioned above and assume an equivalent if not reduced figure of Rs. 2,00,000 crores of black money within the country. Compare this with the Rs. 400-600 crore seized here which includes the assumed tax to be paid on the amounts deposited under the black money declaration scheme. These are just drops in the bucket. But these may not come in easily since they will be contested and possibly end up in our law courts making the tax revenue stream uncertain. But for Jaitley even these amounts are important in a revenue context since he is following the principle that every drop is important to fill the revenue bucket.

Consider what happened in the first few days after Nov 10th, 2016 when the commercial banks opened their doors to transactions. It was found that the Jan Dhan zero balance accounts that the government had got the people to open, who had no access to the banking system before, showed a remarkable spurt in deposits. In the 'heady' days then, when the RBI was looking at drafting its one circular per day as per quota bound to the government, realised that a lot of the surplus cash and funds that were with people was finding its way to these Jan Dhan accounts. This money was being deposited by the long time retainer or acquaintance or someone the account holder ran into the street or just simply unknown persons into these accounts for and on behalf of the rich persons. Some Jan Dhan account holders found that without their knowledge they had become richer by tens of Lakhs of Rupees overnight. Obviously this was a convenience arrangement and the account holder would benefit to some extent but not to the full amount put in his account. By end of 2016, the deposits in the Jan Dhan accounts had risen to Rs. 75,000 crores since Nov 10th, 2016, though the RBI tried to combat this trend by limiting the amount to Rs. 50,000 that you could deposit into these accounts and also imposed a withdrawal limit of Rs. 10,000 per time. Inspite of that the fact remains that to a large extent other than the 'mule' system that was used to exchange black money to white, the black money holders utilised the Jan Dhan accounts to convert their money to white is a fact. Though Jaitley claims that every Jan Dhan account with large deposits will be investigated and taxed, it remains in the realm of possibility and with chances to get mired in the labyrinth of our legal system. Thus you will see that Demonetisation that was done to catch black money was turned on its head by those having black money to convert their black money to white at no cost to them purely because of the ineptness and lack of imagination in this government. Even this mess was attempted to give credit to the government by none other than the noted economist Jagdish Bhagwati who is supposed to have the right ear of PM Modi on economic matters who said that this was an example of re-distribution of wealth from the rich to the poor and needs to be lauded!

Now let us look at the insensitiveness of this people's government that was elected with a thunderous majority by the people in 2014. There has not been a single word of commiseration or sympathy to some 100 odd persons who died in the queues to exchange the demonetised notes from either the Prime Minister or his lackeys down the line. Not only that the stories of the impact on the lives of people and on the economy because of Demonetisation that has come out has been mostly from the urban areas and the organised sector. The data on the unorganised sector coming in on a six monthly basis was not reflected whenever the impact of Demonetisation was assessed. Neither were job losses counted in this sector because of the severe crunch on cash faced after Nov 2016. When the data came in it was seen that not only had many businesses in the small and tiny sector had to close down but across the sector there were massive job losses. This was over and above the impact that we had seen in the micro finance sector, farmers unable to sell their produce in mandi's because of no money with the wholesale buyers etc. etc. Thus a popular government that came riding on the promise of creating jobs, but took away jobs and left livelihoods from the people because of the single measure of Demonetisation, leaving them helpless in the face of rising inflation. This was the irresponsibility of this government in showing a complete lack of sensitivity towards the common people in implementing a government policy measure. The problem at the lowest level of the pyramid that of daily and casual labour who were thrown out of jobs from small business, building contracts, microbusinesses etc. because of Demonetisation would have been much worse but for the government MNREGA scheme which showed peaking in enrolment over the quarter immediately after Nov 2016. If this safety net had not been there the misery unleashed by Demonetisation would have been all the more.

Moving forward the government has been claiming that the formal economy has been expanded. No doubt there is merit in that logic but at what cost? With the expansion of the formal economy as claimed it is proper to expect a growth in tax revenues. But then only time will tell if the inventive Indian will find a way to beat the new system. The government thereafter in July 2017 steamrolled and put in place the GST in its attempt to have more and more transactions into the formal economy. It is a well intentioned measure but has had its own problems at the time of implementation which has been more the haste in putting in place the new system leaving again the trade and businesses in needless stress.

We will now look at the manner in which the Demonetisation measure was projected, define the measure of success on these indices and how the government has now changed track. This is just to highlight the fact that the government in its intent to deliver on its stated objectives falters and tries to change the narrative and in that process taking on more than what it can handle and ultimately ties itself inextricably in knots in the manner of a kitten with a ball of wool. The Demonetisation objectives were to catch black money within India as much as possible, to hit out at corruption, combat counterfeiting and make it difficult for counterfeiters to copy the new notes and make the funds available with terrorists including Red terror worthless. As outlined above, the black money escaped from the government's hands like water put in a bucket full of holes. Corruption remained unaffected since new funds asked for came in the new currency and the old currency stocks with the corrupt went the escape route for black money. As for counterfeiting within 2 months of the new currency launch of the Rs. 500 and Rs. 2000 notes, fake notes were seized within the country believed to be made in Pakistan and then in Bangladesh. As for the Red and terrorist funding where these funds were being extorted it came in the new currency while their existing horde was legalised like the black money as above. So but for touching the proverbial tip of the iceberg on all counts nothing much was achieved by Demonetisation except to putting a brake on the economy and making people's lives difficult.

This required the new narrative of the cashless economy, the squeezing of availability of high denomination currency and the continued fight against corruption. With the unending lines in front of commercial banks to either exchange or withdraw money, the government wanted to take advantage of this people distress and push them towards a cashless economy. With no choice the people had to play ball and cashless transactions peaked in Dec 2016 but since then they have tapered off to pre-Demonetisation levels. The problems on this initiative are many but bad network connectivity and problems related to geographical coverage are main. As for squeezing high denomination notes, the government has no need to do this deliberately since the new Rs. 2000 note has not become popular with the people but it is highly regarded by black money holders and those who have the habit of stashing away currency. Earlier and closer to just after Nov 2016 whenever you went to draw money from ATM's the predominance was of the new Rs. 2000 note but you will notice lately that this incidence has reduced. The reason is that banks in some areas of the country are finding that the new Rs. 2000 note is not being circulated! No prizes for guesses here as to who is capturing these notes for safekeeping. So the high denomination currency squeeze is happening on its own without the government having to interfere with it. Both cashless operation and a lesser dependency on cash transactions will happen at a slower pace than what Jaitley wants. It is not like closing one tap and opening another which case is the way Jaitley thinks it is since he does not factor the diversity of the country both in economic terms and geographical spread. People need time to change and be comfortable with the transition to the new system and no amount of incentivisation or pushing from the government will make this happen.

Concluding in overall terms the strategy to expand the direct tax base in the country though conceptually good was fallacious in terms of implementation and marked by an unseemly haste that resulted in multiple intermediate objectives colliding with one another and where the master responsible for the transition should have had the finesse of a conductor leading a symphony orchestra, we had the hamhanded playing of the leader of a wedding band in Delhi. This irresponsible attitude of the present government has cost many lives, resulted in snuffing out fledgling and small businesses, thrown out lakhs from jobs and has almost brought this country to a shuddering halt. One hopes that the government will learn that - There Is Always A Better Way.

Saubhagya Scheme Free Power Through Solar Power

Narendra Modi's Saubhagya scheme to provide free power to the poor is clearly a populist measure. Though the intent is to be lauded, it would have been better if solar power was provided to the families which would have given an additional fillip to the solar power industry. Though the scheme offers solar power packs in remote areas where regular electricity is yet to reach, it would have been better if this was done across the board. With solar power prices at a record low, the industry in India would have been propelled to greater savings in cost by supplying under this Saubhagya scheme thus putting it on a firmer footing and in turn generated more jobs which is the crying need of the day. Thus it would have given a boost to the Make In India program. The surplus power situation which is driving the Saubhagya scheme could have been kept in reserve for industry when it picks up from the current slump.

Media Turning Out Old Hash in Dawood Extortion & Hyderabad Arab Marriage Stories

The newspapers lately carried 2 pieces of news. The first about a racket in Hyderabad where marriages were being arranged of impoverished Muslim girls to aged Arabs from the Gulf. The second was upon the arrest of Iqbal Kaskar, Dawood's brother, it was reported that the Don continued to be involved in extortion rackets in Mumbai & other places in India! Is this all new?

Marriages of poor Muslim girls to old Arabs have been happening for the last 50 years or more in Hyderabad. An organised syndicate has been thriving on this and the agents sell these marriages as a bonanza to the targeted girl's family and extract their pound of flesh from the dowry that the Arabs give. Girls were sold like this for as little as Rs. 50,000 sometime in the past. Wherever the marriages have progressed to the stage where the poor girl is taken to the Gulf, it is fine because she becomes the financial mainstay for the rest of the family in Hyderabad. She herself may be suffering sexual attacks from other male members of the Arab's family which is fair game in that part of the world since her husband is old and cannot or is unwilling to object. Additionally she is treated as a menial considering that wives from India are looked down upon in the Gulf in a kind of a throwback to our own caste system. She is thus treated as a servant after the male members get tired of her but the woman now is unable to open her mouth for fear that the money train may stop and her family back home be forced back into penury. Sometimes the old Arab does not take his local bride with him back to the Gulf but abandons her in Hyderabad. This becomes a bigger problem for the girl and family since apart from the dowry that the Arab had paid, there is no other money coming on a regular basis. The police and government in Hyderabad have been well aware of this kind of racket with the police customarily looking the other way for a consideration. So the present racket is not new, it has been existing in the past and maybe the new version is being played out now.

As for the Don's activities in Mumbai the business community mostly the real estate and the diamond industry can spell out the details of the extortion attempts they face. This was very apparent even from the time of the Bombay blasts when Abu Salem was ruling the roost on behalf of Dawood which mantle then fell on others ultimately now resting on Iqbal Kaskar's shoulders. The police from the beginning when Dawood was in India were aware of the rackets but preferred to play possum since the moolah train was made accessible to them and they could draw upon it comfortably and in leisure. The media is after taking out these stories from their archives, dusting it out and then putting the same old story with new characters and a different plot now. Proof that Dawood continues on his muscle-flexing and extortion rackets is there again in today's, 24th Sept, papers where activist, Damania claims he received a threatening call from the Dawood gang.

*********************************

Monday, September 25, 2017

VOX POPULI
by
S Kamat
as
Aam Admi
Issue: 220 Date: 25.09.2017

skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

Contents:

1. Oil Prices In India Going Up & Up While Internationally They are Down, Down

2. Trying To Reduce Rape & Attacks On Minor Children

3. Tightening Safety & Security Of Children in Our Schools

Oil Prices In India Going Up & Up While Internationally They are Down, Down

The manner in which the government sold the scheme on daily change of petroleum product rates to the public was transparency. However, at this time when prices within the country of petroleum fuels is going up & up while internationally prices of oil are going down, the Finance Minister has said that the government needs to make up for lost revenue in the past and if the public want any price reduction they should contact their States since sales tax on petroleum fuels across the country ranges from 25-40%. So where is the plank of transparency? Has it been thrown out of the window in a matter of months that the daily change of rates was set up? The government in this way will lose its credibility for two reasons, one for going back on its words and second, the show of irascibility by Jaitley inspite of being a senior minster. He is increasingly showing his upset face because for him none of his initiatives seem to be working for the economy.

Trying To Reduce Rape & Attacks On Minor Children

After the murder incident in the Gurugram school of young Pradyuman, a number of incidents have been reported by the media across India of crimes against children mostly girls like a minor being molested in a Bengaluru school and another middle school girl thrown off from the 3rd floor in Eastern UP. It is almost as if like termites, these cases are emerging from the effect of the rotten sexual perversion mite that is infesting our society. Such incidents have been reported across India even after the public outcry and awareness raised post the abhorring Nirbhaya rape case in Delhi during 2013. These cases can be variations of personal enmity, childhood rivalries, carelessness of the victims etc. etc. But the underlying theme in the majority of the cases is sexual depravity of the Indian male. Added to that is the indulgent attitude shown when incidents occur from the perpetrator's families if they happen to be wealthy or politically well connected to get their people off the hook from the clutches of the police and the justice system. This attitudinal change has to be brought about and a sense of respect for the women in society drilled into the minds of boys and men through school and college. Another reason for such incidents against women occurring lately with increasing regularity is the depiction of our women in our cinema. Where Indian television is taking the moderate route in projecting women, cinema has been going overboard in showing women in various stages of dress to undress to pander to the supposed box office and also to ape the Western culture influence on our society. In fact the celebrated item number in our films should be voluntarily given up by our filmmakers for at least 2-3 years to stop the salivating aspect of our films. In making our society safe for women, the women themselves also need to pitch in and contribute their mite. This means that they need to understand that for the sake of all Indian women, they will have to dress moderately when they appear in public and limit anatomical exposure to the extent of decorum and decency that is generally accepted in the surroundings in which they normally live and work. This advice particularly applies to women who are in urban surroundings and who consider themselves elite or trendsetters and in the name of women's empowerment under which pretext for them anything goes. This can be applicable when they are in their homes and family surroundings but when they come out in public they need to dress appropriately in the larger interest of other women in our society particularly those in our villages and semi-urban areas who may not be as privileged as them. We can then see if the number of rapes in the country and the attacks on small children reduce.

Tightening Safety & Security Of Children in Our Schools

There was a time when children once entrusted to the school for the day were considered safe and secure as much as in their homes. This included from the point they were dropped off at the school gate and/or when picked up by the school bus and until the child was delivered back in the hands of the family. Pradyuman's shocking murder at the Ryan school in Gurugram has shaken the foundation of these beliefs and smashed them to smithereens. Whatever be the circumstances how anyone can take the life of an innocent 7-year old defies any sensible person's imagination. The accusations of sexual abuse are also very disconcerting. It is very important that the child's killers should be caught and punished so that our society is reassured that such things will not take place again. For this the school system should institute suitable measures for the safety and security of the children by having a dialog with police, security consultants and the parent-teacher bodies. The Ryan school given the information put out by the media seems to be an established school but having the bathrooms without grills on the windows etc. and continuing operations with the facilities in unfinished state are a clear sign of irresponsibility. The school management should be hauled up for this and suitable punitive measures imposed on them. The CBSE board under which the school functions should also be reprimanded since it is not only when instances like this of the child's murder happens that they wake up to the lapses of the school management but that in their periodic inspections they should have brought these issues to the notice of the school management in which case maybe this particular incident would not have occurred. In any case society needs to get to the bottom of is child's murder in school premises and the way things are going of playing political and legal football the case should not go the way of unsolved cases even though the bus conductor, the suspected perpetrator has been arrested.

******************************

Monday, September 18, 2017

VOX POPULI
by

S Kamat

as

Aam Admi

Issue: 219 Date: 18.09.2017

skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

Contents:

1. Get Rid Of Stray Dogs

2. Bullet Train Not Wanted, Need For Safer Rail Services Is Paramount

3. Do We Have An Indian Prime Minister of the US of A In Narendra Modi?

4. Improper Content In The Media & On The Net

Get Rid Of Stray Dogs

We will never have the Swachha Bharat Abhiyan become successful unless we also decide to rid our villages, towns and cities of stray dogs. Our roads and streets are today full of dog pooh (excreta) randomly distributed. This is disgusting and fills one with nausea when one comes across this mess. Thus you cannot have a Swachha Bharat unless stray dogs are removed from our environs. This will then also save people from being attacked by these dogs and reduce the incidence of rabies by way of dog bites. As for pet dogs, this practice by owners to have them shit on the streets should also be banned. One cannot understand why the owners cannot toilet train their dogs or have them shit in their own houses. Some cities one is told like Mumbai particularly South Bombay has instituted fines for people having their dogs shit on the streets which should be expanded and like abroad owners should be forced to pick up their pet's pooh and dump into streetside garbage bins. Pet owners mostly have their dogs shit near the entrances of houses of neighbours they most dislike and the above rule of picking your dog's pooh will foster improved understanding and brotherhood in our society!

Bullet Train Not Wanted, Need For Safer Rail Services Is Paramount

The RSS has correctly gauged the public sentiment of disappointment with the incumbent BJP-led NDA government at their conclave at Mathura. The present government is going on the same lines as the earler NDA government and polishing the India Shining platform by launching the Bullet Train project among others. As far as the Railways are concerned with derailments being the order of the day which very soon will average 1 per day, we just do not need high speed trains like the Bullet Train. It is obvious though that it will run on dedicated separate tracks and will cater only to hi-end customers and curious other passengers. In the same manner the Railways are planning to introduce coaches with plexiglass dome roofs on some of the scenic routes around India with the first starting on the Goa-Mumbai route. Such facilities are completely out of context since the need of the hour is safety, convenience and cleanliness of our train services. With the creaking infrastructure of tracks, rolling stock and signalling, the emphasis for the Railways should have been on safer and slower trains until such time as improvements are implemented and progressively move up to higher speed trains and the frills like Wi-Fi, LCD screens and chef-created meals.

Do We Have An Indian Prime Minister of the US of A In Narendra Modi?

What's with our Prime Minister? Have we become a permanent member of the US fan club? This is being stated since Narendra Modi thought it fit to remember the 9/11 terror incident at New York but one does not recall him making any mention at the anniversaries of the 1993 blasts, the 2006 & 2008 train bombings and the attacks in 2011 on the Taj Hotel, the CST terminus made infamous by Ajmal Kasab and all in Mumbai. There have been other terror attacks across the country including on Parliament with varying number of fatalities and our Prime Minister remembers only 9/11in the US of A. We need to restore some balance of judgment here since are the lives of Indians that were lost not worth recalling as those that were lost in 9/11.

The balance of judgment issue as far as Narendra Modi is concerned comes to the fore again in this context since he relates to another 9/11 when Swami Vivekananda had made his famous speech in Chicago and surmises that if the 9/11 terror incident perpetrators had read the Swamiji's speech then things could have been different. First the 9/11 similarity in dates is what is called happenstance while Modi needs to read up more on the Taliban & IS ideologies and their indoctrination methods as well as expectation of action from their members to understand that they come from a diametrically opposite world than Swami Vivekananda. The Swamiji's words and thinking would be akin to pouring water on a rock as far as the radical Muslim movement is concerned. It is said that the Taliban chose the date 9/11 to send across the message to Western civilisations led by the US to get down on bended knees and seek help by dialling 911.

In the same comment Modi in trying to score brownie points with Bengalis, credited Rabindranath Tagore with the national anthem of three nations - India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. While being correct in the first two, Modi was wrong on Sri Lanka since though there was a connection that the Sri Lankan poet had studied in Shantiniketan and was greatly influenced by Tagore, the latter had nothing to with the Sri Lankan national anthem. The issue here is one of being correct and the credibility of the Indian Prime Minister. Modi should realise that it is one thing to make election speeches and yet another to make statements as PM since the latter will be weighed internationally and anything incorrect will erode the image of Modi as well as the office of the Indian PM.

Improper Content In The Media & On The Net

In our adolescence in the 1960's as is natural pornography was very much on the top of our minds. In Calcutta where one grew up it was difficult to get pornography and you had to sheepishly stand looking the other way after having whispered to the book-stall owner opposite the New Empire cinema adjoining New Market that you wanted pictures of girls - naked! Then you would be given hurriedly and surreptitiously an issue of the German photo magazine Kamera or some such or an old, tattered copy of Playboy, being assured that the centre-spread was intact. Money would change hands and the deed was done. Since we were then in hostel in a college located some 120 Km. from Calcutta accessible by train, this buying had to be done on our way back to college after a visit home for reasons as you can understand of tact, diplomacy and unwanted beration. Thus while on the train back to the hostel one could hardly wait for the two hour journey to end so that one could look at the 'goodies'! The same was true for any of the bestseller books that were coming out one after another at that time like that of Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 on his escapades or shall we say sex-capades, since there would be surely a couple of pages describing Bond with the girls. It was only later that Bond films came with famous scenes like Ursula Andress (we used to say Undress) emerging from the surf in her bikini as a sea-goddess. There were also soft porn books of authors like Ted Mark which was again a series with many titles describing the spy hero who like Bond was more into his sex-capades that were exotic as well as exciting. One of these books had to just come into the hostel and word would spread like wildfire amon close group of friends and sometimes other hostelmates also queuing up for their turn to read. The person who was the owner of the book or had bought the book would be treated like a lord and treated to free tea & pakoras and cigarettes at the hostel's favourite tea shop - Chedis, by those in the queue for out-of-turn allotments. Those were the days when pornography was in demand because it was hard to get and in short supply.

But nowadays the scene is completely different, since you have to only open the newspapers to see ads of Jockey innerwear or Enamor brassieres to get a more than normal view of the anatomy of both sexes. Apart from the Internet where you can access both soft and hard porn, even if you are reading newspapers on-line you will have the ads of sites of koov.com or stalkbuylove.com disturbing you with pics of girls in various stages of dress to undress! It's a difficult world out there for young parents who have children going to middle school and above, what with papers carrying pics with exposure, porn on the Net and to deal with games like Blue Whale. The explosion of communication and its rapid movement to the cellular phone is not necessarily a boon and can be traumatic at times for those families who have to face tragedy because of the free access of content that is now available. Nothing can be done in terms of control of this kind of content unless it is voluntary and done by those putting out the content within the country recognising the mores and values of our society. As far as Net content coming from abroad, you have less options except to censor porn sites and maybe even ban them. But overall with society being driven by the money motive, the attitude is generally to get on with it and those that do not like what we do, can stay away or face the consequences since we are not directly responsible for the consequence of our actions. Times were better when pornography was less available and accessible since there was a charm to it, an excitement in the furtiveness and the feeling that is aptly described for the female form is that what is hidden is more exciting than what is bared. One hopes we learn on these matters as we go along.

*********************************

Sunday, September 10, 2017

  VOX POPULI
  by
  S Kamat
  as
  Aam Admi
Issue: 218 Date: 11.09.2017
skamatblog.blogspot.com or aamadmivoices.blogspot.com

Contents:

1.  No Mention Of Roadblocks Being Set Up To Trap Gauri Lankesh's Killers

2. Cleanse Yourself First Before Claiming Insult From The Written Word

3. Reliance Jio's CSI - Corporate Social Ir-Responsibility

4. Celebrating Independence Day

5. On Human Fatalities As A Measure O Development

6. On Nirmala Sitharaman As Defence Minister

No Mention Of Roadblocks Being Set Up To Trap Gauri Lankesh's Killers

The sad killing of Gauri Lankesh at Bengaluru has all the signs of a contract killing with the modus operandi similar to the earlier killings of Dabholkar, Kalburgi etc. Following the media reports on the investigation into the killing, one is rather surprised why there is no mention of roadblocks being set up in and around Rajarajeshwari Nagar and all 2-wheeler riders searched as soon as the police became aware of the incident. The police were informed as is reported within 30 minutes of the incident and given the traffic congestion around the Rajarajeshwari Nagar area, there would have been some chance of apprehending the attacker or at least the 2-wheeler recovered, in the event that it had been abandoned upon seeing the roadblocks. From the papers it seems overemphasis is being placed on the CCTV coverage which has its own limitations because of low light levels. As part of SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) our police across the country are better advised to institute roadblocks around the incident area in circles of increasing radius immediately after they receive information so that there is some chance of catching the perpetrators of such terrorist incidents which will only be on the increase.

Cleanse Yourself First Before Claiming Insult From The Written Word

Sometime back there was a news item in the papers about one of Vishnu Surya Wagh's collection of poems being considered for an award by the Goa Konkani Academy. The latest position on this is not known. In any case it was stated that in the poems he has insulted the GSB (Gowd Saraswat Brahmin) community using derogatory language bordering on pornography. It was also stated that persons critical to any community should tone down their comments and language in the manner that is generally accepted. A women's activist organisation, Bailancho Ekvott, is reported to have filed a FIR about Wagh's book because of its pornographic content. There was also another news item in the papers wherein it was stated that the GHRC has been seized of a matter by the women's activist organisation, Bailancho Saad, about Hindu women being disrobed before cremation.

Both these issues are being taken up together since on a cultural or societal basis they are somewhat connected. Now Goa Konkani Academy is a literary institution and that one would believe it is fully competent to assess what is pornography and what is not as well as judge whether any book is deserving of its award. This is an internal matter and constitution of committees not being proper as raised in the report is again an internal matter. A broader comment is that world over pornography finds its place in literature so why not in Konkani? About the content of Wagh's poems being offensive to a particular community, it is a matter of subjective judgment. If the GSB's are deeply hurt by the book, then the appropriate action to be taken by them would be to get the book banned in which case it would automatically stop the further 'perceived' hurt and also not be eligible for an award by the Goa Konkani Academy. Now as far as the hurt caused to the GSB community, is it widespread or only to those persons mentioned in the news item? This will determine what action can be taken since sometimes some individuals tend to take a rigid and stubborn stand which is not what the community believes. This position then ends up being detrimental to the people at large and to the language as a whole. Looking at the matter in a broader context, we need to recognise that there is no single mechanism to be critical of other communities than what you belong to. People inclined to be critical will use the method and the language that they are comfortable with. This method and language also reflects the class and status of that community that is broaching the issue.

If we go back in history it is a fact that the GSB community came into the Konkan and lorded over the local people with religion and temples being the primary tool to show their superiority. Even as late as a few years ago we had eminent Konkani literary personalities leading movements for freeing entry of people of all classes into Goan temples. We have also read news items where Brahmin priests refuse to perform pujas in the houses of those considered to be lower class communities. Thus these feelings of segregation are entrenched into our psyches and for those able to express their resentment over these issues like Wagh, it comes out in their writing through anger and frustration. We cannot wish these matters away and need to recognise them as fact. Maybe there is a need to express our regret to these other communities in a large-hearted manner while at the same time making our religion as free and universal as possible. This will alleviate to some extent the ill-feelings.

In the same context one would have though that the report about disrobing Hindu women in Goa prior to cremation was a mischievous report. But considering it has gone up to the GHRC there must be a grain of truth in it. If it is happening then it is shameful and immediate steps should be taken to put an end to it. It is not a matter of religion but that of the status of women per se which demands that we respect women and more so when they are dead and do not insult them by exhibiting them disrobed in front of a public audience. Where we have lived most of our lives in Eastern and Northern India and in Dakshin Kannada where we come from, women when dead are taken for cremation wearing their best attire more so if they die while their husbands are alive. Even the age old practice of sati, since abolished, required the wife to dress in her finest and climb onto the funeral pyre of her dead husband. During the process of sati and thereafter the woman was elevated to the status of a goddess. That was the kind of respect given them. Thus in Goa if a woman after her death is insulted and shamed in front of prying eyes of the public at large then it is utterly shameful and a black mark on the community for having carried this practice into the 21st century.

To those who have commented about being insulted from Wagh's book which is of relatively recent origin while keeping silent about the practice of disrobing Hindu women at the time of cremation, we need to tell them that the latter is a bigger shame to the community than poems can cause. So it is time that the community cleansed itself of these historical and structural ills rather than express umbrage about lesser matters.

Reliance Jio's CSI - Corporate Social Ir-Responsibility

Reliance Jio has been crowing to themselves on the rise of its subscriber base & the massive bookings received for its Smartphone offered at Rs. 1,500 refundable deposit. In the process of doing this it has sent all its rivals in the mobile telecom business in various kinds of financial trouble. However Reliance Jio emerging from the large corporate group of Reliance Industries led by Mukesh Ambani is already showing signs of CSI - Corporate Social Ir-Responsibility instead of CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility true to the legacy of its parent. In its zeal to lay fiber optic cables it has, at least in Goa, made a mess of the road surface by making haphazard and zig-zag lines that run along the side of the road and at places leaving the trench that they have dug unfilled. The width of this trench is just about that of a 2-wheeler tyre and many accidents have happened and will continue to happen when particularly at night the tyre falls awkwardly into this trench. This slipshod work is completely irresponsible on the part of Reliance Jio which given the technological and financial clout it commands should have set standards for the cable laying among other things. Reliance Jio needs to re-visit the cable laying and correct the flaws since roads are continually in use and should not be left damaged. Not only that in Alto St Cruz where the road meets the University Road at Bambolim, Reliance Jio has appropriated a traffic circle right in the middle of the road and put up its mobile tower there. This has been objected by the locals since the circle should have been used for an overhead mast traffic light since it is a 4-road intersection there which is quite busy through the day and night. The Reliance Jio tower has been there for a year ignoring the protests since it could have been either moved to the side of the road where enough space is there or a masthead light affixed on top of the mobile tower which would have been a pro-active way to resolve the issue. But the problem with the Reliance group is that any of their actions are characterised by the arrogance of money. It is said that suppliers to the group are asked to forgo their contractual balance payments sometimes ranging up to 10% as donations to the group with the suppliers being asked why they cannot do this gesture to the Reliance group. This coming from a group that is headed by the richest man in India, Mukesh Ambani! Thus it is time that the newest entrant, Reliance Jio, to the group show some CSR - Corporate Social Responsibility and not CSI - Corporate Social Ir-Responsibility.

Celebrating Independence Day

Every year we make such a big thing about Independence Day. There are two premises here on whether we should continue to institutionalise these celebrations. The first is that of age, for an event that happened in 1947, 70 years later we are still wanting to celebrate it? Is this proper? Since what we should be doing is it not to seriously introspect as to where we stand today and review our nation's achievements, failures, joys and disappointments. Continuing to celebrate the getting of independence re-instates the fact that we had been subjugated in our collective consciousness, a reminder of bondage which may not be a necessary thing for our youth and those born after 1947. Just after Venkiah Naidu became Vice President, it was reported in the media that he was the first VP born after 1947. Thus when out topmost leadership is beyond 1947 why do we need to carry this baggage of Independence Day.

The second is that these Independence Day celebrations are a deliberate tool used by our politicians to brainwash and sway our minds to this day. This is done only to serve their personal and political ends. This is more so to the vast majority of illiterate citizens who are easily swayed by the sight of the unfurling tricolour. The politician tries to associate himself in some way with the national flag flying high from the mast, though he himself would not have had anything to do with it. This fact is true for the entire Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that is currently ensconced in government since none of them were involved in the fight for freedom from the British. This deficiency has been accentuated all the more by one can say the forced retirement of the senior leaders like LK Advani or Murli Manohar Joshi who by virtue of their age could have claimed some link to having secured our freedom. But to cover up this fact the BJP has been desperate to appropriate the heritage of our eminent past leaders like B R Ambedkar and Sardar Vallabhai Patel for which there does not seem to be any reasonable logic.

Thus, the reason for celebrating Independence Day does not exist since it is much behind us, we have leaders now who were born after Independence and we have a party, BJP, in power today and most likely to win in the 2019 elections that has had no link to the freedom struggle. So let us put 15 August 1947 behind us for all time to come by just recognising it as a token day when the British left the shores of India so that we could steer our own destiny given the intractable problems like Pakistan that they have left us to fend with.

On Human Fatalities As A Measure O Development

There has been unusual rain over the last month in India particularly in the cities of Mumbai and Bengaluru which grabs media headlines though when large parts of Bihar and Assam have been facing recurring floods, it is ignored. And then there was the deluge that accompanied Hurricane Harvey that inundated Houston with 40ins. of rain. If you compare fatalities between Houston, Mumbai and Bengaluru in that order considering the intensity of rain that fell along with the lives lost in the rural areas of India, you will find that Houston with just 40 deaths is much lower than any of the Indian locations with some 300 in Bihar being the highest. Even in U.K. and Europe with calamities faced with unseasonal flooding and forest fires the human loss of life is at a minimum. The lesson in this is that development means to keep human fatalities at the minimum when faced with natural or man-made disasters and does not relate to only construction of roads and bridges. Infrastructure does not automatically guarantee saving human lives but what is required is a frame of mind to recognise that human lives are precious and need to be saved. In contrast we in India measure the scale of any disaster by the number of lives lost and the amount of media attention, visits of ministers and politicians, relief, compensation etc. is measured by this norm. Is it because human life is cheap in India?

On Nirmala Sitharaman As Defence Minister

Nirmala Sitharaman came as a rookie some 5 years ago in the role of a BJP spokesperson and initially was fumbling around for the proper words and proper arguments on many a TV panel discussion. But as time passed her combativeness and command on the language asserted itself and she became one of the preferred speakers for the party. Progressively she became a Minister for Commerce & Industry where one must say her performance was not so exceptional what with exports refusing to move on a growth path and industry remaining in the doldrums for one reason or another. Hence her elevation to Defence Minister is a surprise, more so because it is a male ministry. The fact that after Indira Gandhi she is the first woman Defence Minister only serves to garner brownie points for the government on a public relations platform. Since if memory serves one right Indira Gandhi was the Defence Minister when she was also the Prime Minister. That is a different cup of tea as anyone would admit. So Nirmala Sitharaman has her task cut out for her and it is very important for herself and this government that she performs well. Concluding one would wish her all the best in the onerous task of taking on a man's world and show that she is capable of dealing with the portfolio. An aside to the recent Cabinet re-shuffle is that it is apparent that the BJP continues to suffer a paucity of capable leaders to fit into ministerial slots. This may be a welcome situation for the duo of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah since then they can have their own way on most things.

*********************************