Are we really smart?

As a race we don't stop gloating about the fact that we have a rich culture, have a  long histroy, that we concern ourselves with bigger and better things namely, why we exist, why we are born, how to reach nirvana etc etc.

We may be good at pleasing the Gods but we have failed the humanity. Proof of pudding is in its eating, the proof of superior intellect is in first managing the mundane wordly affairs seamlessly, something that people can touch and feel. We have failed miserably there. Our superior intellect can not guarantee that we provide basic amenities to our people.

Major part of country plunged into darkness. The funny thing is, everybody who is a somebody in this area, knew that this is coming, but nobody did anything. It is a known fact that most of the utilities that buy electricity - State Electricity Boards - are broke. These utilities can't invest in basic distribution infrastructure. They can't pay the power generation utilities, which in turn can't setup more power generation capacity neither can they upgrade their power transmission infrastructure. The cycle is broken. It is a known fact that politicians use promises of free electricity to get votes. It is understood that it is populism at its worst, that hurts country's long term growth, but it is still done. It is a known fact that theft of electricity is widespread and is done with full connivance of the utility employees. But it still happens with impunity.

Can we call ourselves smart? I leave that question for the readers to answer. But smart or not, we definitely are a prime example of a dysfunctional state.

Literary Sojourn: Book Review : Andy Leelu

Literary Sojourn: Book Review : Andy Leelu

Irrespective whose gun booms, it is our blood that spills!

CRPF gunned down Maoist.  17 people were killed. Debate is ragging whether these were Maoist or simple villagers. Irrespective whether these were Maoist or villagers, it is a matter of grave concern that we in our own country kill so many of our own citizens.

Why do people in the Naxal belt take to guns? How are Maoist able to recruit so many in their ranks? The reason is not difficult to find. Oppression, casteism, feudalism is rampant in rural India. Governance and rule of law is confined to books only. Law is used, and abused by the powerful as and when it suits them.

All of us have had our brush with the government agencies - whether law enforcement or otherwise -  one time or the other. We  know how difficult is it to deal with them, so much so that an average person does everything possible to avoid them. Keep this in mind, that we are talking about educated people in large cities where media is active. If this is the state of affairs in cities, imagine what it must be for the uneducated, poor people living in rural India. What recourse is left for them? Any self righteous person would take to gun to protect the honor and dignity of his own, his family and his community.

It is critical to address the basic issues that make people leave their regular life and take to gun. It is difficult for me to believe that all these people, who join ranks with Maoist have a deviant mind. It is tragic that the only way we seem to be trying to solve the problem is by having a bigger gun then them!

‘Personal Cloud’ to Replace PC by 2014, Says Gartner »There's no doubting the cloud invasion. But the research firm Gartner believes the personal cloud will replace the PC as the center of our d...

‘Personal Cloud’ to Replace PC by 2014, Says Gartner »
There's no doubting the cloud invasion. But the research firm Gartner believes the personal cloud will replace the PC as the center of our d...

Social Networks - A Novelty

I remember, in early '90s when the first wave of techies went to the US, on H VISA, the first thing that most used to do was to start forwarding emails with jokes, to a long list of recipients. I guess, easy access to internet and email was something that led to people doing that. It probably was also a way to keep in touch. Over a period of time, novelty wore off and email chains, with jokes, stopped. I am wondering, if social media is also going thru' the same phase. People are experimenting with it. All sort of things get written, get shared, from trivia to very thoughtful. I reckon, over a period of time fatigue will set in, just like the joke emails, the usage of social networks for exchanging trivia will reduce. Anyone buying this line of reasoning? :)

Before Status Quo takes over

Manmohan Singh,
Finance Minister,
Government of India

Subject: 6 things to do before status quo takes over

Sir,

Congratulations on taking over the additional charge of Finance Ministry! (Thank God, Pranab Mukerjee is out and so, hopefully, the 1980's economic thinking).

People expect change. They have high hopes from you. Don't let this opportunity slip by. If you wait, status quo will take over. Here are some of the items that you may want to start with.

Get rid of the changes in tax laws with retrospective effect. Make a statement, or come up with a policy stating that changes with effect from back date won't happen going forward.  

Get rid of GAAR, it is arbitrary, ambiguous and open to interpretation. If you must tax transactions that happen abroad but involve assets in India, then make it mandatory for the asset to change hands in India as well, to a newly registered entity. Let that asset gets valued independently and then tax it as per exiting norms. What I am proposing may not be best possible solution, as I am not an expert, however the idea is to take out ambiguity, arbitrariness from proposed GAAR.

Untangle the wires in telecom sector. One of the showcase sectors of our economy, a sector that is an enabler for larger economy, is now bogged down in procedural and legal hassles. The guilty must be punished, but please don't look at maximizing the money thru' auction  and cripple the growth of this industry. Don't kill golden egg laying goose.

Announce a plan to completely get rid of diesel subsidy. Put a timetable in place, clearly showing, when the entire energy sector is going to get decontrolled and deregularized. The money thus saved, should help reduce fiscal deficit and some should get pumped into research for renewable energy.

Implement GST, all the work has already been done. Give it a final push and get it implemented. Roll out multibrand FDI initiative, at least let those states that want to implement it get started. But ensure that those states don't go back and force the businesses to shut down, when the government changes. That will be a kiss of death for the Indian economy.

Put better administrators in charge of government departments. Put some kind of status reporting mechanism in place for all government employees. Hold them accountable. Inefficiency is rampant. Meetings get pushed. Leaves are taken in good measure. Holidays are plenty. Now and then there is a strike.

You know more than anyone else, it is a lot about sentiments and feel good factor. Restore it.


Your Truly,

Dieselification of the economy and its Long term impact

With diesel heavily subsidized by the government, the impact is clearly visible -People are figuring out a way to replace other fuel with diesel, wherever possible. It is for everyone to see that the sale of diesel cars is growing much more than that of petrol.

It is so short term and so foolish! Two things - First, government cannot continue to subsidize it for ever, that is clear. 2nd, diesel (as a fossil fuel) is going to ultimately run out, that too is clear.

By subsidizing diesel, government is doing two things - a) Burning a hole in its pocket, running a fiscal deficit that is scaring the investors away and hence slowing down the economy. b) Channeling money, R&D, effort, time and energy of other enterprises (government owned or otherwise) in an area which anyways is not a long term bet.

We as a nation would be much better off if  we put in these kind of resource in researching alternate form of energy, something that is going to last long term - fusion reactors, bio fuel, efficient solar panels, safer fission reactors, efficient wind turbines, harnessing wave energy, tapping geothermal energy. So much can be done, only if we set our goals right.