VOX POPULI Issue N 021

 







VOX POPULI  

by 
AAM ADMI 

Issue No. : N 021
Issue Date: 27th Feb 2023

Contents:

1. Putin's Misadventure In Ukraine Turning Costly 

2. Gujarat Government Seeks Death Penalty For Godhra Convicts While Releasing      Bilkis Bano's Rapists

3. India's Defence Strategy 

Putin's Misadventure In Ukraine Turning Costly 

With the continuing Ukraine war Putin is weakening Russia. He is exposing the  vulnerabilities of the Russian military apparatus. This will be costly for him and his country in the long run. With the anniversary of the war behind him and no tangible signs of victory being seen, Putin is indirectly building another power centre within the countries that can be seen to be under the influence of Russia. With the West led by the US arming Ukraine, the country will emerge as a rallying point for those countries that are inimical to Russia in their region. With glasnost having dismantled the old USSR the Ukraine war may be the next turning point for the demise of Russia as a world power. Biden's sudden visit to Ukraine last week is also a slap in the face for Russian intelligence and to its leadership. Cosmetic gestures like pulling out of the nuclear treaties by Russia are only seen as petulant and have no real meaning. In the eyes of the world Putin should realise that Russia has lost the Ukraine war, the faster he understands that it is good for him and the world.

Gujarat Government Seeks Death Penalty For Godhra Convicts While Releasing Bilkis Bano's Rapists

The Gujarat government has asked for the death penalty to be restored on 11 Godhra convicts who were sentenced to life imprisonment for setting the coach of the Sabarmati Express on fire killing the passengers in 2002 which set off the Gujarat riots. This is completely irresponsible considering that the case was closed after sentencing and there is no need of the Gujarat government, technically the prosecuting authority, to ask for a change in the sentence. In contrast the same Gujarat government sometime back released the rapists, coincidentally again 11 in number, in the rape case of Bilkis Bano of the same time in 2002 on counts of good behaviour before completing their life sentence. In fact these rapists were garlanded upon release from prison and were feted by the local BJP leadership. This kind of biased communal action by the government will lead to serious doubts about the intentions of the present dispensation to support certain communities by design and condone their heinous criminal actions leading to anarchy in the country.

Postscript: In Oct 2022 the police in a village in Gujarat's Kheda district publicly flogged some persons who were disturbing a Garba function while the public cheered. The police has now in court claimed that this was done to maintain peace and communal harmony in the area and some of the policemen involved have said that they were only doing their duty. This is shameful where police go beyond the law and then defend their actions. Not only that the higher police officials have also supported this action. This kind of atrocity is nothing short like they have in Shariat law which is condemned around the world and which we ourselves call barbaric. We should not descend to this kind of action and remember human rights and protect it in our society.

India's Defence Strategy 

Rajnath Singh, our Defence Minister, has been talking of scaling up defence production. This has been echoed by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who has gone a little beyond and set an ambitious target for the exports of defence equipment.  The emphasis on defence production for our national needs and strategic self-sufficiency is acceptable but we should not export any arms and armaments. As it is we are one among the Top 5 buyers of armaments in the world which is not a good thing and we should not compound this further by exporting arms to encourage and sustain wars abroad. We are the land of Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of non-violence, and we should protect and nurture his philosophy of Vasudeiva Kutumbakam and propagate it around the world. As for the threats that we face from our neighbours it is only China and Pakistan in that order. The other countries - Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan - have all their own problems to contend with except for Bhutan, a peaceful country with which India has had excellent relations. Between China and Pakistan the latter is a spent-force beset with economic travails and an unstable political scenario. One wonders if Pakistan will dare a conventional war since it may not be able to sustain it for more than a few days. The only option it has are its nuclear weapons which given its ramifications of use, it may not invoke. Thus the principal threat in the short-term is China where we have been seeing incidents across our north and north-eastern borders. With China if there is a war India cannot win and therefore we have to prop up our defensive positions. It is only to that extent that we need to reinforce our arms infrastructure and additionally to keep a vigil on our extensive maritime boundary and the outlying islands of our territory like the Andamans and Lakshadweep. 

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

If you have any issues with this blog, you can revert to :

S Kamat

Mob: 07218698906

Email: kamatsrinivas@hotmail.com

VOX POPULI Issue N020

 





VOX POPULI  

by 
AAM ADMI 

Issue No. : N 020
Issue Date: 20th Feb 2023

Contents:

1. EAM Jaishankar should note that in thought, word and deed India under the BJP is aping the West

2. The BBC Raids Are An Exercise To Show How To Throw Mud On Your Own Face To Make The Lotus Bloom More Luxuriantly! 

3. BJP Needs Tipu To Be Woken Up For Karnataka Elections

EAM Jaishankar should note that in thought, word and deed India under the BJP is aping the West

EAM Jaishankar has said lately that Westernisation is not an index of modernisation and progress  any more in India. This is clearly a contradictory statement considering the ground situation across the country. We seem to be following the Western development model of building highways, expressways, launching Vande Bharat trains and getting ready to welcome Bullet trains which a High Court judge recently has said that it is a pride for the nation while dismissing a petition against the land acquisition for the project. These projects have disrupted the normal lives of common people creating nuisance by way of congestion and in some cases splitting villages. In urban and semi-urban areas it is difficult for pedestrians specially senior citizens to cross a road thus making them lead a truncated life or taking the choice of the longer way around spending more energy, time and money. Rarely are working pedestrian lights seen at our crossings in our towns and cities. We have these new Vande Bharat trains being launched with metronomic regularity across the length and breadth of India to catch one would assume the Assembly election schedules in some of the States. But these trains come with tickets that are higher priced which our common travellingpublic can ill afford. Therefore in some sectors these trains are running almost empty. What would have been better is that the existing train network both for rolling stock and services should have been improved to be timely, more comfortable, clean and with proper hygienic food. This would have benefited the larger travelling population rather than cater to the aspirational segment which thinks it wants air travel comfort on trains. We also have Malls selling all kinds of things as in Western countries. These sell everything under one roof with most of these sales being on lowest price strategies for goods which are close to expiry dates or beyond. Such Malls have rung the death-knell for small neighbourhood grocery stores which have gone out of business or are fast going to shut shop. Thus the social fabric of the Indian way of life has been distorted beyond imagination by these projects that ape the West. We are told that this is progress and development. If that is so then it is best that we avoid it. We need to do things the Indian way and not blindly follow the West calling it modernisation and progress. EAM Jaishankar is either blind or saying things just for the sake of saying them to salve his nationalistic conscience that is very much in demand these days. We should not project the wrong thing which is becoming a habit with the BJP. They seem to be following the Goebbel's doctrine in most things ranging from history and other matters where he had postulated that a lie repeated a thousand times will become truth. The BJP in any case is increasing its emphasis on Hindu religion on the lines that fascist Germany did with the Nazi philosophy. Just like Nazi Germany tyrannised the Jews the BJP is laying the groundwork for its attacks on Muslims. Thus EAM Jaishankar should note that in thought, word and deed India under the BJP is aping the West.

The BBC Raids Are An Exercise To Show How To Throw Mud On Your Own Face To Make The Lotus Bloom More Luxuriantly! 

The BBC issue relating to the IT raids on its offices in India is a clear sign of retaliation by Modi's government for broadcasting the 2-part documentary covering the Gujarat riots in 2002. It was the culmination of bad handling of the matter. If the defence of Modi was that the courts including the Supreme Court has given him a clean chit on this matter then why succumb to the 'colonial mindset'? It was Modi who showed that he had the colonial mindset by trying to take protective action when the white man raises a finger at you. One must admit that the BBC raised more than a finger at Modi. If you had the armour that the Indian courts had given you then should you not have brushed off the allegations as a figment of the BBC's imagination and moved on? But this could not be done because everyone including Modi knew that there was more than a grain of truth in the documentary. Then true to a person with no formal education but with vast power that the elections had bestowed upon him the Modi machinery went into action. They banned the documentary resulting in a furore across the country ranging from Opposition parties, activists and even students. Some of these people got hold of the documentary and tried to show it but then the police got involved the clashes happened, Sec 144 was imposed near some Delhi college and a minority university. So many people got involved with inflamed passions which was a sheer waste of time for everybody on essentially a non-issue or a dead issue. Indirectly the extra importance given to the issue revived it. This should have been avoided. If the matter had been ignored calling it a 20 year old matter and we are past that then it would been a sign of sagacity and wisdom. But when the leader is insecure you have total mishandling of any matter. Coming back to the IT raids the department cannot give a clean chit to the BBC, they are compelled 'to find something or anything'. This is the dilemma that the IT department finds itself in. The interim press release from them on the raids does not go into any specifics of any offences that have been found. Obtusely one can think that possibly this was done to show the BJP muscle that we can take on even a world renowned broadcaster like BBC before the State Assembly election drums start rolling. But how stupid can you get! 

BJP Needs Tipu To Be Woken Up For Karnataka Elections

Amit Shah started the Tipu rant that those that follow him like the Congress and the JD(S) cannot do any good for the State. This is now echoed by the Karnataka BJP President Kateel at an election meeting saying that Tipu followers will be banished to the forests. In one sense you can say that the latter's statements are very contextual since Kateel was speaking at a place where Hanuman was believed to have been born and a monkey even he is revered as God belongs to the forest and that is all that he knows. It is also good that he welcomes people of other beliefs and faiths to his abode which none of the present brood of BJP leaders would dare do. In any case, coming back to Tipu, firstly one cannot understand why the poor fellow who has died almost two centuries ago in tragic circumstances while fighting the British, needs to be woken up in his grave just to give the pleasure to the BJP rabble now to make him an election issue. Secondly, why elections are to be made communal jousting grounds is incomprehensible but one guesses that with the BJP around, there is not much choice on that. Thirdly, Tipu Sultan and his father, Hyder Ali are integral parts of Indian history and no one can deny their position therein. They secured this place because of their exploits on the battlefield including against the British and their beneficial rule over their kingdoms. Tipu and Hyder Ali protected and nurtured the Mysore kingdom and its very existence would have been in danger but for them. This they did initially on behalf of the Hindu Wodeyar dynasty for whom they fought. Thus those who by speeches and words alone today want to get a place in history and with no substantive action or deeds to their credit have no right to speak against Tipu. The first resistance to British rule in the then India was by Tipu who was being seen as a threat to the expansion of the British into South India. After inflicting heavy defeats on the British, it was because of treachery from within his ranks that he lost and was captured by the British, valiantly fighting until his last breath. The British dreaded him which with the present BJP you cannot say since they were the opposite with their then leaders during the last stages of British rule whom the present lot revere, supplicating themselves and giving mercy petitions. In fact the BJP did nothing to get the British out of India which they will now claim that they were not in existence then. But even then they talk today with misplaced sentiments of national pride and invoke nationalism at every step which is completely hypocritical and false as also insult and slander people and organisations which fought for India's freedom. You will notice that all these communal agendas come out mostly at the time of elections while at other times these issues are not at the top of their agenda. Thus the people should discount the BJP rantings with a large pinch of salt and concentrate on issues that are local and/or critical to them while casting their vote. 

Postscript: See the malicious and self-seeking interest of the BJP in this issue. For whippping up communal frenzy and with the purpose of winning the elections they will use Tipu, a Muslim, but at other times they will look the other way as far as this community is concerned.

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

If you have any issues with this blog, you can revert to :

S Kamat

Mob: 07218698906

Email: kamatsrinivas@hotmail.com

VOX POPULI Issue No. : N 019

 

VOX POPULI  
by 
AAM ADMI 

Issue No. : N 019
Issue Date: 13th Feb 2023

Contents:

1. Chinese Balloons Floating Irresponsibly Over The Rest Of The World

2. Talking of Colonial Mindsets

3. The Aussie Mind Games 

       Chinese Balloons Floating Irresponsibly Over The Rest Of The World

The Chinese balloon floating free over sovereign nations underlines risks that are unknown. The first obvious risk is it is spying and attempting to map the nations over which it would have passed, in this case the US. With relations between the two countries none too good it was obvious that the US would not sit quietly and watch the balloon float by. That a Chinese balloon was overhead would lead to fears as to what it would contain. After the Covid pandemic there is less of trust with China who refused to take responsibility that the virus emerged from its wet markets in Wuhan and later caused havoc around the world. Thus with a Chinese balloon in the sky there would be fears that it could be spraying unknown things which could lead to disease and pestilence. The US therefore has every right to shoot it down. Even then the US was hesitant as to what could happen in the process of shooting it down whether it would let off another explosive, conventional or atomic, resulting in greater disaster and more pollution. If China were responsible they could have informed the countries in the likely path of the balloon about the object so that people would be aware and there would not be unnecessary scare. This China does not do and then takes objections after the US had shot down the balloon. This is not taking proper responsibility. The US are well within their rights to refuse China to give back the balloon debris since they took the trouble of shooting it down and the object was in US skies. There is another Chinese balloon that the US claim that they shot over Alaska with another one reported earlier as  floating in the skies over Latin America and we have to see what happens to that. As for India, we have to be told by the US that similar Chinese balloons were floating across India and only then will we look up at the skies! It is like those times when the Pakistani terrorists launched a drone attack on an army camp on Jammu and we did not shoot it down because these items were not part of the SOP!

                                           Talking of Colonial Mindsets

There was talk of a colonial mindset still persisting in the UK when the BBC documentary on Narendra Modi's involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots  was aired, in trying to arrive at a rebuttal of the content shown. However, now we ourselves are showing the same colonial mindset in the context of the Hindenberg report that has come out on the Adani Group Cos. As a consequence of the report the Adani stock started going downhill at an alarming rate wiping out half the Group valuation in a matter of days. Now this was a report done by the 'whites' and why should we have bothered if the Adanis were doing things the right way and there was no wrongdoing. That the stocks fell show that we as Indians still take cognizance of what the foreigners say which goes to prove that we also carry the 'colonial mindset'. Otherwise why should we have bothered about the report. We would have brushed it off and carried on as if nothing had happened. Thus we have to remember that when we point fingers at others, there are four other fingers that still point back at us.

                                              The Aussie Mind Games 

On the cricket field, India needs to be wary of the mind games that the Australiam team and its management are playing. Appearing as if they are scared of India's spin attack led by Ravichandran Ashwin is only to lull India into thinking that they have the Australian team on the backfoot even before a single ball has been bowled. This is not true since the likes of Steve Smith, David Warner, Labuschagne, Khwaja and the free hitting Travis Head are all strong in the mind and are capable of taking the Indian bowlers including the spinners to the cleaners. However, they are not resting alone on mind games but making sure that their batting practice covers what they are likely to see in the Tests by getting a bowler who has a similar action like Ashwin to bowl at them in the nets. Thus the Indian cricket team should not take it easy in their preparations for the upcoming series otherwise they will see themselves lose badly.

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

If you have any issues with this blog, you can revert to :

S Kamat

Mob: 07218698906

Email: kamatsrinivas@hotmail.com

VOX POPULI Issue No. : N 018

VOX POPULI  

by 
AAM ADMI 

Issue No. : N 018
Issue Date: 6th Feb 2023

Contents:

1. The Adani Mess-up with Postscript: The Finance Minister & The Finance

     Secretary Needs To Pull Up Their Socks

2. Changing Perspectives & Manufacturing Benefits

3. Re Problems With Indian Medications Abroad: Are We Safe In India?

The Adani Mess-up with Postscript: The Finance Minister & The Finance

 Secretary Needs To Pull Up Their Socks

The Adani stocks continue to take a beating as a consequence of the Hindenberg report on its operations. It is reported that the losses in the falling stock are near US$ 120 billion wiping out half the value of the Adani Group Cos. The surprising part of this story is that despite this massive impact our Secretary, Min of Finance has described this whitewash as a 'storm in a tea cup' and that it will subside in a few days. On what basis he is saying this is not understandable and which crystal ball he is looking into to make his prediction. Maybe he is saying this because in a short time Adani will have nothing more to lose! However, the lack of concern from the Finance Secy is stunning since government entities like LIC & SBI are exposed to the extent of Rs. 56,000 crores in the Adani Group Cos. The government and IRDAI have put out statements that the exposure of LIC & SBI are within the norms and are only to the extent of some 0.2%  of their total loan portfolios. The issue is not that but the risk of the government losing this money which is a substantial amount of public funds. We have seen how from Mallya to Choksi to Nirav Modi the government has failed to recover their investments since the pledged assets never compensate fully to the extent of loans taken and the process of recovery is cumbersome and time consuming. The RBI has again called for the banks to inform it of their exposure to the Adani Group Cos. This is a good step. Thus it is best that all banks and government investment entities have a mechanism of regularly monitoring their exposure to loanees with checks and balances on their operations and the quality of assets along with red light markers that will trigger a more exhaustive review. We have seen too many of financial failures lately and this is no time to sit idly by and watch things change for the worse like a spectator. 

Postscript:

The Finance Minister & The Finance Secretary Needs To Pull Up Their Socks

With the exposure of the State Financial Institutions like State Bank of India and LIC in the Adani Group of Cos. in the region of Rs. 57,000 crores, this is not the time for the above august personages to be blithe about the entire matter. The Finance Minister can say that India is too big to fail from the Adani collapse and that the two prime financial Institutions of the country are not overexposed in their loan portfolio to the Adanis, but the Rs. 57,000 crores is nothing to be ignored. At the same time the Finance Secretary can abstain from making vacuous and immature statements that the Adani meltdown is a storm in the tea cup. For the public it is important that the Adani exposure is secured and therefore the Finance Minister and the Finance Secretary should make concerted efforts to recover the money since it is the public that elected Nirmala Sitharaman to Parliament so that she could become the Finance Minister and the Finance Secretary's salary is being paid by the public which he needs to justify and do his job rather than indulge in innocuous statements.

Changing Perspectives & Manufacturing Benefits

The semantics involved in the presentation of the Annual Economic Survey and the Union Budget are rather amusing. There was a time when GDP growth expectations would be in double digit levels and one would be talking of 10-12% growth in a matter of fact manner. Thereafter we slipped and growth of 8-9% became the norm which qualified as normal. However, this year we see that 6-6.8% predicted for 2023-24 is described as robust growth. While just earlier during the Covid times we were fighting to maintain a growth rate of 7% and taking umbrage when the IMF, World Bank and other multilateral agencies were projecting an India growth below 7% against. But we are now taking the 6-6.8% growth as 'robust'! But in one sense it is good that our government is recognising the worldwide recessionary trends currently prevailing and settling for a reasonable growth rate. 

It was also said that the Budget presented for 2023-24 has nothing for the poor and the SME sector. As this information we have the redoubtable FM wading into the action and a headline in the papers saying that she will have a session with the BJP MP's to educate them on how the Budget benefits the poor and the SME sector. Another 'jumla' on the way! 

The other thing was that Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting the Union Budget in Parliament when she came to the phasing out of old, polluting vehicles stumbled with a slip of the tongue and said that she will 'replace old political ......' for '.....old polluting...'. Sometimes the truth has a tendency of slipping out!

Re Problems With Indian Medications Abroad: Are We Safe In India?

We have been lately having problems with our medications being found to be below par and not up to medical standards around the world. In Uganda & Kazakhstan there were reports of deaths amongst children after taking cough syrup made in India. The medication was being made by pharma Cos. near Delhi. The operations of these Cos. were then sealed pending investigation. There are now problems being reported from the US about eye drops from a Chennai Co. that have bacterial contamination as a result of which a number of people have lost vision and there has been one death. The contamination seems to be across different batch nos. of the medicine and after testing by the CDC on bottles that had been opened by users. Apart from the loss of face that India encounters, there is a greater concern as to whether whether the same medicines were being sold in India and whether Indian lives were put at risk particularly of children as in the case of the cough syrup incident. There is a saving grace that the eye drops are not sold in India. As much as the pharma Cos. involved and the government take these matters seriously when foreign countries report these issues, one is not sure if Indian instances are taken with the same import since the attitude taken is that the complaints are spurious and in any case Indian lives are cheap. This is being said since in the media one has not heard of anything about any cases from the cough syrup that happened quite some time back abroad. The Drugs Controlller needs to be seized of these matters and conduct enquiries against these pharma Cos.to make sure that Indian patients are safe.

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

If you have any issues with this blog, you can revert to :

S Kamat

Mob: 07218698906

Email: kamatsrinivas@hotmail.com

Vox Populi Issue N017











VOX POPULI  

by 

AAM ADMI 

Issue No. : N 017

Issue Date: 30 Jan 2023

Contents:

1. Indian Industry & The Adani Conundrum

2. India Going On Top In White Ball Cricket 

3. More On The Shankar Mishra In-flight Peeing Incident

4. With The BJP Government Everything Is Chargeable!

Indian Industry & The Adani Conundrum

It seems Indian private industry is rotten to the core except for some names like the Tatas, the TVS Group and maybe Birlas, with scandals dotting its growth over the years ranging from scams, falsification of accounts, avoidance of taxes and duties, selling of quotas during the licensing regime which all maybe in a large part has led to the generation and growth of black money or the second economy as it is called. Lately after the liberalisation of the economy in the 1990's there was a more permissive attitude and industry scandals did not create headlines too much until starting from Mallya the muck started hitting the roof. After that we had many others with bigger amounts that were scammed than Mallya like Choksi, Nirav Modi and others and now finally we have Adani. The Reliance shenanigans of Dhirubhai Ambani with his financial wizardry are well known but the mantle that was put across the elder son, Mukesh, to carry on the Ambani tradition has been well worn by him and the Reliance group has today legitimised most of its vastly diversified operations though the younger son, Anil, finds himself in rough waters for his forays into industry. People like Adani fail to realise that when they want to grow big, they will have to come into the limelight where arc-lights are focused on you. It is then difficult to hide anything, even a wrinkle in your operations will be visible. Chanda Kochhar and her husband made the same mistake at ICICI which being listed on the New York Stock Exchange had to submit regulatory reports from which the loans to the Videocon entities came up to the surface. These were pointed out by the US auditors and then the whole thing unravelled which we saw being played out with Kochhar and her husband arrested and subsequently released on bail. Similarly, Adani can preen as the 4th richest person in the world but he has to keep his books clear. Like it is said that Caesar's wife should not only be above suspicion but also appear to be above suspicion. The problem is people in India do not realise this and believe also that abroad you can get away with tactics they use here. That is first intimidate and throw your weight around, second flaunt your connections and third, buy your way out. Adani has also been threatening to sue Hindenberg which if he does in the US, he will be stripped naked and he will not even have the proverbial fig leaf to cover his privates. So Adani has to work out his retaliation plan giving a lot of thought to it but first he has to put his own house in order as far as his Cos. are concerned. A few months ago even in India a report had come out that the Adani Cos. are highly over-leveraged. There is one thing in all this that defies explanation and that is why did Hindenberg release the expose just before Adani was going to the public to raise funds of some Rs. 20,000 crores. That issue is in a mess now. If Adani solves this puzzle then he will know who his real enemies are. 

India Going On Top In White Ball Cricket 

The new crop of young cricketers are doing exceedingly well with Surya Kumar Yadav (SKY) named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year in the T20I format and Mohammed Siraj whose name is included in the ICC Team of the Year in the ODI format. In addition Siraj is currently topping the bowling rankings in the same ODI format. White ball cricket has changed the way cricket is played and these youngsters have made it their own. This augurs well for Indian cricket in times to come. 

More On The Shankar Mishra In-flight Peeing Incident

On the Shankar Mishra in-flight peeing incident, we see in the newspapers first the Air India Association responding to the de-rostering of the crew and the pilot as announced by the DGCA by objecting to the action. In its rejoinder the Association is trying to defend the crew and the pilot involved but they do not at all mention about the victim. This is rather sad. Further Air India has also got into the act and advised the DGCA that the action by the aviation body is excessive and that they will assist the pilot in his plea against the punishment. Here again there is absolutely no mention of the plight of the victim, who being an Air India customer is left in the lurch while at other times the management jargon mouthed is that - Customer is King (or Queen, in this instance). In addition, Air India has been fined another Rs. 10 Lakhs for not reporting the other in-flight peeing incident in Dec 2022 on their Paris - Delhi flight. Thus we see that the principle followed as above is every man or woman for himself or herself, and God save the victim or let them stand up for themselves. In all this the victim, a senior citizen, that too a lady, is left wondering what happened to the Tatas who has allowed her to be bounced around between the perpetrator, Shankar Mishra, the police and the courts and seriously consider keeping quiet accepting that it is common practice on Air India that passengers can pee on each other in flight. Overall, Tatas have completely mishandled the situation. Chandrasekharan when he made the public statement that Tatas could have done better in the matter should have put his words into action. Unfortunately nothing like that was done. Tatas are losing face in this matter and maybe it is time that Ratan Tata stepped in to recover the situation.

With The BJP Government Everything Is Chargeable!

I have been going to Delhi since 1970 off and on for business and stayed there for 3 years from 1988-91. From that time I have known that the Republic Day Parade is a time for joy and celebration and that the parade was free. It was only that if you reached late then you had to stand for the entire duration of the parade since all the chairs for the general public would be taken. Therefore I was shocked to see that for the current parade they sell tickets. Though the rates are nominal it is not correct to charge the public for attending this event. The celebration that India is a republic should be free for its common citizens. Not only that there was a new item in the papers that the number of common people that would be allowed for the parade this year would be limited to 25,000. We talk of a revamped Kartavya Path (the earlier Rajpath) which is bigger and better as we are told and we still limit the number of those who want to come and see the parade? Isn’t this contradictory? 

The other thing was that among students a painting competition was organised mostly for the Kendriya Vidyalayas on the theme of Pariksha pe Charcha which radio broadcast by the PM will be aired on 27th Jan. However the students have been asked to contribute money for their participation for the competition to offset the cost of paper and painting materials. Many of the students could not pay the entry fee and finally the schools decided to take out the cost from the Building Development Fund to which the students contribute through their fees every month. Why the government cannot fund even such things is not understood? 

Both these matters are a shame for the country where you are asked to pay for everything. Things which were free earlier and the others for which the government incurs a nominal cost and are towards a good cause are being made chargeable.

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

If you have any issues with the contents of this blog, you can respond to: 

S Kamat

Mob: 0 7218698906  

Email: kamatsrinivas@hotmail.com

Vox Populi Issue N016

 







VOX POPULI  

by 

AAM ADMI 

Issue No. : N 016

Issue Date: 23 Jan 2023

Contents:

1. True Democracy vs. India's Managed Democracy

2. The Modi Agenda 

3. DGCA Fines Air India But No Compensation For The Victim

4. Lessons From The Joshimath Disaster & Others

True Democracy vs. India's Managed Democracy

Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is fined for not wearing a seatbelt while in a car. He obediently pays up after tendering an apology, advising the nation that it is important to wear seatbelts and that it was a lapse on his part. In contrast, Tejaswini Surya, the Karnataka BJP MP attempts to open the Emergency Door in flight and there is endless dialogue on whether it was the Cockpit Door or the Emergency Door, whether he did tender an apology to Minister Scindia or to the in-flight crew, whether the plane was taxiing or in flight. There is also no remorse from Surya for his action which could have endangered other passengers on the flight and in any case delayed the flight by a couple of hours thereby causing disruption and inconvenience to the co-passengers. That is the difference, my friend, there is true democracy in the UK while in India we manage democracy.

The Modi Agenda 

Narendra Modi has been talking that the Amrit Kaal for India has come. There is nothing special in that since the march of time is inexorable and it is but natural for India to reach the milestone of 75 years. However, even in this for a civilisation that is one of the oldest in the world to partition it for the sake of some trivial intent from an event of colonial import like the independence from the British yoke in 1947 talks of limited minds that insult the greatness of our civilisation. The occupation of the British of India for some 200 years was an aberration and has little significance in the context of our country’s 5000 years or more history and therefore we should erase it from our consciousness. We need to take it into our stride and move on ignoring it. As for the Amrit Kaal, hyperbole is easily mouthed but the situation on the ground as far as the country is concerned is not very good which Modi should realise and there are many improvements in the quality of life of infants, children, women and the poor that needs to be achieved. Come election time and with 8 States scheduled for polls in 2023, as usual we need to give Modi some leeway for big lies since all of us are still waiting for the Rs. 12-15 Lakhs to come to our bank accounts since 2014. 

Modi has also been talking about thinking big and that we were talking in the past about India’s poverty and the need for aid. It is always easy to be loquacious when you never intend to deliver what you are speaking about. Reality cannot be ignored is the policy that our founding fathers and previous governments followed. India had been looted by the British and a fledgling democracy had been left to fend for itself. You could not talk without exposing our poverty and the need for aid was crucial to grow. And because our past leaders did that we are today in the position that Modi can stand up and blow his own trumpet. Without that aid like the PL480 and others there would have been no Green Revolution, no setting up of the infrastructure of industrialisation, the fruits of which our present generation are enjoying like bumper harvests and overflowing granaries with food grains being stored in the open, we are also able to feed rats. Because the foundations of an industrial State were laid, we are talked about today as having one of the largest technical pool of people in the world. By denying this Modi is making the cardinal mistake of not recognising the efforts of millions of Indians who strived hard to put India on the map of the world so that future generations like Modi can live and enjoy a modicum of comfort and hold their heads high with self respect. These are the people that Modi is insulting. It is said that if you deny history you are rootless and will soon become a drifter. Modi suffers from that danger and if he does not correct his ways, he will go down that road and there will be no one to remember him. Thus give credit where it is due, criticise when it is necessary, encourage when required and most importantly stay rooted. These are the characteristics of great leaders which Modi has to learn though it may be a little late now. However, poverty has not gone from India of which Modi needs to be reminded. His government touts very loudly that India now feeds 800 Million and gives them free food grains. But this is given to those who are below the poverty line. Thus there are definitely 800 Million poor in the country out of a population of 1400 million. Thus more than 50% of the country is poor and deserving aid but Modi prefers to ignore it, not talk about it. 

In the first few years after 2014 when Modi got elected, he was never seen in India flitting in air planes around the world that it was said that once at that time when he made that rare visit to the Lok Sabha, he was looking for seat belts to clip on and armrests to lean upon. But over the last 6 months or so, you see Modi everywhere at Chief Ministers conferences, Chief Secretary conclaves, DGP meetings with physical as well as virtual presence and flying across the country mostly inaugurating new trains and announcing many projects, many of which may not see the light of day. He is also talking about employment this year when it was not heard earlier from him ever since 2014. And mind you he was the person directly responsible for the closing down of lakhs of industries in the MSME sector and the loss of jobs and livelihood on a larger scale in the unorganised sector and among daily wagers consequent upon Demonetisation which led to disruption in money supply leading to uncertainties in the business environment. The Demonetisation exercise was the largest pogrom in human history after Hitler's attempts to wipe out the Jews in Nazi Germany where the number of dead cannot be exactly established but in terms of unleashing misery and depriving people of livelihood, millions of people were affected by Demonetisation and even today remain affected though so many years have passed. What is the reason for this present hyper activity by Modi? The answer is plain and simple. It is elections that triggers Modi's hyper mode and there are 8 State elections during 2023. On the heels of that are the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. All these are crucial for Modi and the BJP if they are to lay the foundations of a 50 year rule of the BJP at the Centre in India as Modi has often prophesied. 

Like they say there is always something that will disrupt the well laid plans of mice and men and in the context of Modi has been the airing recently in the UK of the BBC report on the Gujarat riots of 2002. Truth and water leakage will come out at some time or the other since it always finds a way out. That is the nature of the BBC documentary. We in India know what the truth is despite the courts giving Modi and his henchmen a clean chit but are helpless to do anything. But putting the past behind us, we move on. But the voice of the world cannot be stopped. If there was no truth in the BBC documentary then there was no need to ban it in India. By the very act of banning it Modi and his government are giving credence to it. In normal circumstances it could have been dispensed off as old history. Like they say the truth hurts somewhere or the other. However, the timing of airing of the BBC documentary is curious. Why now? Why in a year when there are 8 States going for elections. The BBC as an organisation has no agenda but then who is behind this?

DGCA Fines Air India But No Compensation For The Victim

The DGCA has fined Air India Rs. 30 Lakhs for the Shankar Mishra flight peeing incident along with fines on the AI In-Flight Operations Chief of Rs. 3 Lakhs as also de-rostered the pilot for 3 months. In all this the disappointing thing is that nothing has been done for  the poor lady who was the victim and pee'd upon. Has she been given any compensation by AI? This is rather sad for someone who has had to suffer a disgusting experience and thereafter deal with it for no fault of hers and thus wasting her precious time. Our systems for dealing with issues is completely wrong, we do not go to the crux of the issue but remain on the periphery and indulge in action to garner headlines. Should our aviation authorities and AI not have considered this and compensated the victim, a senior citizen and a lady to boot? In fact the DGCA from the fine it receives from Air India should give a substantial amount to the victim. The same time that the above news came out we are told that AI has upped the ban on Shankar Mishra to 4 months. In fact the ban should be for life and on all airlines and not just limited to the airlines of the Air India group. 

Lessons From The Joshimath Disaster & Others

The Joshimath disaster should be an eye-opener for the government to not pursue an indiscriminate agenda of development involving construction of hydro-electric projects in the hills of the lower Himalayan region. In the Chamoli district where Joshimath is located, two other towns that of Karnaprayag and Gopeshwar have reported similar cracks and subsidence which supports the argument that the damage to the environments is not limited to just Joshimath. A few years ago with heavy rainfall during the monsoon we had seen massive floods and landslides in the hilly regions of Kerala and Coorg where rampant felling of forests had resulted in weak topsoil and consequent landslides. The hillsides had been cleared of trees and vegetation and damaged to make way for commercial development mostly tourism like resorts and for building individual dwellings. People move in like it is a gold rush whenever business opportunities like tourism and plantations are seen in any area resulting in an undue stress on the land and the environment. The government and authorities have to assess how much of these new activities that the land can bear and only allow establishments to be set up in the area in a limited way. If we do not do this then we have seen how the consequential costs are far higher than the marginal monetary benefits that people obtain by such random and rash development. The Joshimath-like situation is believed to have been created by the building of many hydro-electric projects in the region under the ostensible reason that they are much more nature-friendly than alternate means of power generation like with coal etc. This is not necessarily true if you look at these projects on an overall or total cost basis. Thus a holistic approach needs to be followed for planned development which takes into account almost all aspects of perceived benefits and disadvantages so that the future is more assured for our future generations that will follow. 

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If you have any issues with the contents of this blog, you can respond to: 

S Kamat

Mob: 0 7218698906  

Email: kamatsrinivas@hotmail.com

Vox Populi Issue N015

VOX POPULI  

by 

AAM ADMI 

Issue No. : N 015

Issue Date: 16 Jan 2023

Contents:

1. Vande Bharat Trains Are Like The India Shining Slogan Which Came A Cropper

2. The Governor vs. Chief Minister Confrontation In The States

3. The Shankar Mishra In-Flight Peeing Incident

Vande Bharat Trains Are Like The India Shining Slogan Which Came A Cropper

Prime Minister Modi is on a binge to flag off Vande Bharat trains in different States. After Kolkata, he was in Bangalore and now in Hyderabad to inaugurate the  Vande Bharat train to Vizag. All in the span of a few weeks. One would believe that with elections on his mind the Prime Minister wants to be in the news as also signal that he is pushing progress and development. But this seems to be in line with the earlier BJP program promoted by the Late Arun Jaitley of - India Shining. That did not work and in the ensuing elections the BJP lost. This should not happen once again. The reason this is being stated is that the Railways should put out statistics on the occupancy of Vande Bharat trains since the Bengaluru - Mysuru train is running at below 50% occupancy. The travelling public seems to feel that the fares are not competitive and too high compared to luxury buses plying between the two cities. This may be the situation across the country where the Vande Bharat trains are running. The problem with the BJP is that once they are in government for a few years they become very elitist and want to hold their meetings in 5-star hotels and cannot live without air conditioning even for party conclaves held in tents set up in the open. Thus the Vande Bharat trains being equated to air travel is a similar initiative. It will serve the rich but not the Aam Admi who will have to suffer rickety coaches, dirty toilets, unhygienic food and then delays in train schedules because a Vande Bharat or Rajdhani train has to be given priority on the rail track. The Vande Bharat trains when first started on the Mumbai - Ahmedabad route killed some cattle mostly in Gujarat in its initial runs. Thus our Gau Mata Bhakts should recognise the bad omens of the trains being Gau Mauts. The government therefore has to re-orient itself and improve the standards of basic services before they introduce fancy services for which there will be few takers and justifying the economics of which is difficult. Moreover these services take away resources from much needed essential services. 

The Governor vs. Chief Minister Confrontation In The States

The Governors of Tamil Nadu & Delhi are yet again at loggerheads with their respective Chief Ministers. While R N Ravi in Tamil Nadu seems to be disregarding all conventions that are required to be followed by the Governor like in the instance of delivering a speech in line with the government’s draft which is supposed to have been pre-approved by him and then walking out of a convened Assembly session. In another instance he has gone and suggested that Tamil Nadu's name be changed to Tamizhagam and even used it in the Governor's invitation for the Pongal function. Now this is an overreach. No one person can decide the State's name even if he is the Governor. It has to come from the people and get approved by the State Legislature and also the Centre. Thus one would be compelled to say that Governor Ravi does not know what he is doing. In a similar manner at Delhi, the Lt Governor does not give quickly an appointment to the Chief Minister for a meeting with him. How will matters of State progress or get decided if the two most important persons in the State do not meet? There was also a news report a few days ago that said that the Delhi Lt Governor had refused permission for some teachers who had been sponsored for training to Finland. Then almost a day later there was a denial from the Lt Governor that he had not refused this program. Thus it is felt that senior and educated people holding high office should not fight like children. Governors should understand that they hold a titular position while the Chief Ministers are elected representatives of the people and thus should get precedence on matters unless they are found to be deliberately flouting government or Constitutional guidelines.

The Shankar Mishra In-Flight Peeing Incident

The Shankar Mishra peeing episode on a lady senior citizen on an Air India flight is getting curiouser and curiouser. What happened was unfortunate for the lady who was just returning from New York and this sad incident occurs for no fault of hers, catapulting her in an instant into a media circus. She must be cursing the day she boarded the flight. She has become the focus of attention not only within her family and social circle but also the larger public. It is a matter of grace that her name has not been released which would have added to her embarrassment and discomfort. Not only that Shankar Mishra's  family has been contacting her to add to her miseries. 

Her tormentor, one needs to call Shankar Mishra just that, had firstly no business to drink to excess since a person needs to be clearly aware of his capacity to hold liquor. This too when he is drinking on a flight which is a relatively public place and not in the privacy of his home. To keep changing his story as it has appeared in the newspapers that he admitted to having pee'd on the lady first, apologised to her while weeping and pleading her to think about his family, as reported of a wife and daughter. Offering to settle the case by  requesting the Air India crew to set up a meeting with the victim and also paying up the victim's air fare, as said in the newspapers. Mishra is also understood to have said that what he did was revolting but it is not amounting to outraging the modesty of the woman. These acts and statements are clear admissions of guilt. Not only that the perpetrator of an offence cannot comment on what charges should be brought against him. Depending on the crime, the law will set out the charges against the accused as per established jurisprudence. After doing all this, Mishra has the temerity to claim that after having a few drinks on the flight and getting drunk, he does not remember anything and what he did after the incident as recounted earlier was out of the pressure of anticipated consequences of his actions. He has now gone beyond this and said that he never pee'd on the lady and she must have pee'd herself. Now in such matters he should limit comment only as to his actions and not hypothesise on the action of the victim. This is first implied denial followed by outright denial which is a shame, further  compounded by his clear intent to obfuscate the issue. The next thing that Shankar Mishra and his lawyer would possibly claim is that since the incident happened in flight, the law of the country that the plane was overflying at that time would apply! That the man is completely confused is clearly established and that he is not even thinking of his and his family position in the social circle and society that he moves in. How will his daughter, if she is school-going, show her face to her classmates in school? How will his wife, if she is working, show her face at her workplace? The first thing that Shankar Mishra should have done is to cover his face and not have his full photos appearing in newspapers. The second thing is to take this issue off the media and not feed the gossip mills as is being done now. What purpose Shankar Mishra is pursuing is completely baffling and that too after having held a senior position in a large US Co. 

If you analyse this incident the larger blame is with the airline, Air India. Immediately the incident happened they should have put it under wraps. Initially they should have been sympathetic to the victim, crew break or no break, seat available or not, they with the pilot, the leader of the crew, should have provided relief to the lady senior citizen. Isolated her from Shankar Mishra and refused his overtures to have a meeting with the victim clearly stating that the law would apply and that he needs to wait for that. This would have protected the country's name and that of the Indian flyers who are right now on social media carrying the tag of being the worst flyers. Air India has therefore failed miserably in their handling of this incident. The old Air India work ethic seems to be prevailing and the Tata culture does not seem to have permeated into the Air India staff as yet. 

As for resolving this issue it is best that Shankar Mishra keeps shut and takes his punishment quietly and as dictated by law and as for Air India the de-rostering of the crew is an over-reaction. They had nothing directly to do with the incident and it was only their handling of it after occurrence in which they are at fault and therefore just a warning would have sufficed. 

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

If you have any issues with the contents of this blog, you can respond to: 

S Kamat

Mob: 0 7218698906  

Email: kamatsrinivas@hotmail.com