As far as I think, petrol price hike should not always be an unwelcome decision, though in this case I would prefer to think otherwise. The decontrol of petrol prices was a logical decision. It follows the principle that the user pays. Petrol is anyways consumed by lower middle, middle and upper classes. So the user pays philosophy is tenable in this case for the simple reason that one who uses/consumes should pay up and the government revenues meant for the poor and downtrodden should not be used to bail out the oil companies’ losses on account of selling petrol. Also this would prompt a lot of people to use public transport and reduce carbon emissions ultimately leading to a situation when we have good public transport system in all big cities and India’s reduced import bill. I am not day dreaming till yet!!

So why in this case the petrol price hike is unjustified? For the simple reason that this hike has come at a time when the international crude prices are relatively stable in dollar terms for a while now. So the question of increasing the domestic prices vis-à-vis the increase in international prices is invalid. The reason behind the oil companies’ under-recoveries is that the rupee has plummeted against the dollar to its lowest levels in the history causing the imports to become costlier. Assuming that 50 Re per dollar is a safe level; we are losing 6 re per dollar because of rupee sliding to 56 against the dollar. Thus, a simple translation into 6 re hike in petrol prices. In absence of it, the hike would have been just Re 1.5.

So why is the Rupee going down? Well the simplest answer is policy paralysis of the government. The other one is the decadent politics of the country. Today the situation demands a complete overhaul of the system. New constitution, new democratic system, new IPC, CPC, CrPC and a new government run by literate, honest and experienced professionals. JAI HIND.

The disaster called IPL....

The Indian Premier League has become a vulgar show of wealth, power, extravagance and hoopla surrounding a game which is otherwise considered to be a gentlemen’s sport. It has impacted a lot of attributes of the Indian society and Indian cricket in a very negative manner.

This has become a pompous show of wealth and nothing else which goes against the basic Indian philosophy and ethos of sacrifice and renunciation. Our spiritual leaders who led an austere life and believed in the principles of “Sanatan-Dharma” taught us to lead a simple life and share our wealth with the poor and needy. Donation, sacrifice and service were considered to be the virtues of a great human being. What we see today in IPL promotes absolutely the opposite. What used to happen in the after match parties was well evident in the page 3 coverage of such parties which ultimately had to be stopped. The cheerleaders are paid to spice up the tournament with their bodies, to strut their stuff for mainly male audiences in a country where every adult woman has suffered the predatory gaze (and worse) of Indian men.

What economic benefit has IPL brought for the poor and downtrodden of the country? The amount of electricity wasted in an IPL match could have lit up thousands of villages or run hundreds of pumps for days.

The mad rush of moolah has attracted e’one from politicians to filmstars, from cricketers to industrialists. No one sees the obvious conflict of interest in ministers and BCCI office bearers’ connections with the IPL franchisees. We see ministers without any sense of accountability, industrialist with misplaced priorities and opposition leaders with no sense of responsibility sitting along with film stars and other influential people in the IPL franchisee lounges and watching IPL matches.

Swami Vivekananda, MK Gandhi and now Anna Hazare have time and again exhorted our youth to stand-up and participate in nation building. But, what our youth is doing? – watching IPL matches in Restro-Bars!! What can be expected from such a young generation?

Any tom, dick or harry can hit sixes in the IPL matches played on the placid Indian tracks but what happens to the Indian team when it goes to foreign countries; 4-0 whitewash. How can players focus on improving their game in midst of all the glare, glamour and razzmatazz? Today also we don’t have the replacements for T’kar, VVS and Dravid in test cricket.  But how will we get it, if the players are only happy playing the IPL and chasing the money. Thus IPL in the long run will hurt the quality of cricketers in the country which will only result in a national ignominy whenever the team goes outside to play.

Why shud air india be bailed out? The govt has come up with a plan to bail out air india by infusing 30000 crore over the next 5-6 years. I would like to ask here that what purpose will be solved by bailing out air india? and that too at the cost of whopping 30000 crores. Our country is a developing country and we need to spend the hard earned money of taxpayers with utmost caution. Air India is not serving the poor, It never will. It will not give free services to poor to lift them up from their vilages or slums in case of medical/ any other emergency and drop them to AIIMS delhi. It wil serve the elite only. But who knows whether the elite itself wants to be served by Air India. As far as i think It is option of last resort for most of us. the reality is that the Netas want Air India to serve them indefinetly and get free upgrades and all the benefits for free; and where they get their boarding passes without standing in the queue. With the little business knowledge I have i can say that Air India; even if balied out; will never be a huge profit making entity. it might not even be able to pay its interest on its loan. SO whether the govt bail it out again and again. whats the logic in spending 30000 crores and then earning some petty 200 crores profit thereafter? If you keep these 30000 crores aside and If economy grows at 9% then this 30000 crore will become 60k crores in 8 years. If you invest this in Air INdia it will become Sifar. But the netas want their business class travel intact. the merger of AIR India And Indian Airlines was one of the most illogical business decisions I've seen. Then again the subsequent purchase of 38 Boeing 747s without any business plan. What are you trying to do with all this? Look at the staff of air India; devoid of professionalism and just paying obeisance to netas and bureaucrats and satisfying their inflated egos. Again, the pride of operating a national service is now lost. There is no dearth of airlines which can cater to the needs of those handful of people who are blessed enuf to afford airtravel. In fact the undue preference given to Air India by govt and dfferent agencies distorts the level playing field.

NCTC: my thoughts

NCTC

One of the biggest dangers that India faces today is that of terrorism. Terrorist activities are on a rising trend and their means and measures have increased, operational strategy has improved and ability to inflict harm has multiplied tremendously. Thus we need to have strong anti-terror body. One solution is to have a central agency such as the NCTC. Such an agency can act as a coordinator between the various state governments, and central & state governments. Experience shows that lot of terror activities can be nailed down with proper intelligence sharing. Such an agency can be helpful in coordinating the anti-terror and anti-naxal operations, intelligence sharing between states and can act as an intelligence repository. The aim of such an agency should be to help the states in jointly fighting the menace of terrorism and not to dominate or subvert the local law & order mechanism or impinge upon the federal structure. Thus before its establishment the government should take into confidence all the states governments regarding the scope, purpose and powers of such a body.

On the other hand, no one should out-rightly reject the demand for creation of such a body as this is a pressing need of the hour. The politicians should not oppose the creation of such a body for satisfying their false egos under the alibi of federalism. Federalism was adopted in our constitution due to the large size and diversity of our country. Its purpose was to devolve powers to the states so that they can be better administered. Federalism’s basic principles will never go against the principle of united INDIA and when the time comes national interests will take precedence over the provincial interests.

Thus a meeting should be called asap to resolve all the issues surrounding creation of NCTC. SOP should be finalized, a steering committee should be formed to run it and all other modalities should be completed to pave the way for creation of such a body.