Nuclear Deal:The Positives fallout & New Hope

If you have been watching the news channels in the past few days, you would have seen excerpts from the debate in parliament about nuclear deal between India and the United States. The debate appeared to be a soap opera, straight from the Ekta Kapoor production house. With friends turning foes, back stabbing alliances for mutual benefit and money so on.

But all jokes aside, I would like commend all the politicians who spoke during the debate highlighting the pro’s and con’s of the nuclear deal. I would like to mention that Advani is not on that list as his speech had nothing to do with the deal and represented everything that is wrong with Indian politics. He could not rise beyond the issue of petty politics and think about the country.I even praise the left representative who presented the views of his party.

Watching the debate on TV was an eye opening experience in a way. As it made me feel that the future of Indian politics may not as bleak as one may fear. Among those who spoke for the deal, people such as the Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rahul Gandhi and Omar Abdullah stood out for their content and oratory skills.

I know there were a lot of events that occurred that brought shame to the home of Indian democracy but I for one do not want to dwell on them. Focusing on them is a job that seems to be very well carried out by news channels. I would like to focus on positives such as emergence of young leaders who inspire hope for the future. My two personal favorites were the speeches from Omar Abdullah and Lalu Prasad Yadav.

Our railway minister’s speech was one that was humorous and comic but at the same time was very calculated counter attack on every point raised by the opposition. In the case of Omar Abdullah it was very evident that he was speaking straight from the heart. His passion and his choice of words echoed the feelings of every simple Indian.

Also I would like commend the prime minister, who showed that he is man of his word and backed the deal to the hilt. He showed that he will not compromise on his beliefs and ideals to satisfy the petty needs of coalition politics. I honestly believe he is a man whose integrity cannot be questioned and only has the best interests of the country at heart. His track record speaks for itself and this deal will only add to his legacy.

But the words that give me most hope are the one’s spoken by Rahul Gandhi. He finished by saying India is an emerging world power and it is time we start thinking like one by questioning how we may impact the world and not how the world may impact us. I am an optimistic Indian and believe that this is no false dawn.

Bandh: Holding a Country to Ransom??

In the past few weeks I am sure all of us have seen the protests and bandh's about the petrol price hike, the Gujjars demand for ST status, the protest against inflation, renaming of brands and institutions that have the name Bombay to Mumbai and any many more.

Off late, the frequency & reasons for these protests and manner in which they have been carried out have gone beyond boundaries of common sense.

Let us start with path carnage left behind by the Shiv Sena in Mumbai. After getting bored of vandalizing Archie's outlets, Shiv Sena activists damaged and demonstrated against all Organizations and institutions that have name Bombay in their title. The Shiv Sena wanted institutions such as Bombay dying, Bombay stock exchange and the school Bombay Scottish to replace the name Bombay with Mumbai. The reason being Marathi Pride. Is the Marathi pride so superficial? Does the issue warrant the destruction of Property? Is the issue even worth protesting?
Next up is the Gujjars protests. This community based mainly in Rajasthan wants the government to change it's status from a backward caste to that of a schedule tribe. Yes, they want to be moved further down apparently non existent caste system. This is to ensure a greater bite of the reservation pie.

Now somebody explain to me how can this justify the blocking of national highways, blocking the railways and damage to public property. The other day it was announced that the railways has incurred a loss of 6.5 -7 crore's due to the actions of the Gujjars. Bringing the life line of the country to stand still is no way of putting forth your issue. You can not hold the country to ransom to forward your personal ambitions.

Recently in West Bengal a bandh was called for to protest the hike in fuel prices. The left was behind this action, the same political organization which is in power in the state and supports the central government. That sounds ok rite? So now comes the disturbing part the airport was also closed. Yes, that is right the closure was supported by the state government.

These bandh's more often than not are politically motivated. I have to go to work this Saturday because last Friday some wise political organization wanted to protest the hike in fuel prices and called a bandh. These apparent "wise men" actually thought there would be no rise in prices of fuel despite the fact that internationally the prices had doubled over the last 12 months.

The fact is, these protests, demonstrations and Bandh's call them what you want; have become nothing but a public inconvenience to common people i.e people who are not politicians. The only way we can ensure these people are punished is by ensuring they do not get to positions of power. The only way that can happen is if people like you and me exercise our right to vote and vote for the right people.

What is a Garib Rath ? The truth

Yesterday I day I was travelling from Bangalore to Hyderabad on a train named as a Garib Rath. The Garib Rath is the railways version of a low cost airline. At least that is that they want us think.

The Garib Rath is a completely air conditioned train that has only A/C 3 tier coaches and a few A/C chair car coaches. I guess the railway’s is trying to eat into the Volvo road travels market. A train meant for the “Garib” or what the government likes to call the “Aam Admi”(common man ).

So now the interesting facts about the train firstly, each bay of every compartment has nine berths. Now how is that you ask? well, the railways have introduced a side middle berth. So now you have another reason not to take those crammed side berths.

Just to get a better idea of what I am saying. Imagine you are on a side lower berth and about two yards from your face there is another berth. The side upper has been pushed further up to make space for the new berth.

Fact number two, if want the bedding which you receive in an A/C coach you have to pay for it. The fee is RS 25/-.

Now comes the fact that disturbs me the most, the number of tickets available in tatkal for Garib Rath is nearly 40% of the total. I do not know how many tickets are normally to be given under tatkal ? But on train that is meant for the “Aam Admi” 40% of tickets priced at nearly twice the normal rate (Rs 824/-).

Now judge for yourself is this Garib Rath a train for the “Aam Admi”? But lets also give credit where it is due, our honorable minister for railways. As the Indian railways has also learned the tricks of the trade when it comes to profit making. The Garib Rath, you will feel Garib when you get of it.

May be we may have to soon pay for this too.

Oil Prices:Price Hike in India

The price of oil around the world has more than doubled in the last 12 months. In India we have largely been unaffected by it but that is all about to change. Petrol prices could go by RS 3.50 to about RS 10 in the coming days. Petrol prices going up will further push inflation in India. This petrol price rise may be the first of many to come in the future.

The price of oil stands above the 130$ mark and analyst it may reach the 200$ mark in the future. No one in the world had seen this coming and its timing could not be worse. Most of the nations in the world are already experiencing a sharp rise in inflation and this sudden rise in oil prices has further deteriorated the situation.

In India we have already begun to feel the pinch of inflation with rise food prices and now the oil price rise is going to hit us hard. The government is trying very hard not to hike petrol & diesel prices with elections due in a year. But losses that are being inflicted upon the public sector oil companies such as Indian oil, Hindustan petroleum and Bharat petroleum have forced the government to act.

The government recently conceded that a hike in the price of petrol and diesel was imminent. The question now is by how much ? The finance minister is reluctant to reduce the taxes imposed on the oil as it would drastically increase the annual fiscal deficit. But to impose the burden on the common man would be some thing unreasonable.

So now the question is when the price rise comes, how much will it be? I believe the it will depend on how much the finance minister is willing to compromise and how much the allies are willing to risk by passing the buck on to the common man.

We in India cannot shy away from this rise in oil prices, one way or the other we are going to pay more for petrol and diesel. To blame the government for it in my opinion is stupid and unreasonable. As this is a global phenomenon and it is beyond the control of our government.

And as far as the white house is concerned, I have only one thing to say in response to the statement "Many developing nations like India or China are having greatly increased demand, which obviously is having an impact on price"

Guys grow up and stop cribbing, first the food and now this too. Does competition make you uncomfortable??

But million dollar question is by how much? So lets wait and see what the wise men of India decide.

POLITICS OF DIVISION: A STATE CALLED TELANGANA?

Come may 29th the question of whether or not the state of Telangana will be or can be formed will be decided on. A referendum of sorts will take place as the Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) resigned from its 18 assembly and 9 lok sabha seats.

The by-election for these seats are going to indicate as to how strong is the want for statehood is. The Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) gave up all these seats, to protest the lack of support for statehood from ruling congress party in the state and center. As the congress had become hesitant to support the cause despite the issue being a part of the common minimum program between the two during the 2004 state elections in which they were allies.

Now that is as far the politics of the issue goes, now let us look at the practicality of it. The Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) by resigning their seats a year before the actual scheduled elections are not proving anything.

All they have achieved to do is, to reaffirm our faith that politicians really do not think much about the country, state or people. Not only have resigned but also have decided to contest the same seats again. What are they trying to prove???

Election costs run in to crore's and in today's time of rising prices, one is forced to wonder if it is required. Further, gimmicks like the leader of Telangana Rashtriya Samithi (TRS) mr K C Rao sleeping in an tribal hamlet, taking bath in a canal etc. Point to nothing but desperation on part of the politicians.

The reasons for statehood may be genuine but the actions to acquire are certainly not. I fear to think what Mr Sardar Patel would say if he saw his work of putting together a united India from 565 princely being undone by his fellow Indians.

CHINESE ATTACK INDIAN GOVERNMENT WEBSITES

The ministry of external affairs has revealed that Indian systems in the embassy in China have been compromised. The Chinese have been constantly trying to hack in to Indian government websites.

This is was brought to my notice the other day,when I was watching the news. "Indi-Chini Bhai Bhai" well the Chinese have done to us again.

The Chinese have been trying for some time get their hand on sensitive Indian information. The information which deals with matters of national security, like designs for new weapons military protocol etc.

What is further baffling is that, these actions of hacking are government backed and sponsored. The Chinese government has an organized system and divisions to carry out such operations.

The irony of this whole issue is the fact that India leads the world in software development but we use Chinese software to protect our national securities.

Thus we have have given away our technological advantage on a platter. May be its time that we as Indians got our act together and take care of our country first.

INFLATION IN INDIA: RISING PRICES

Rising prices of essential commodities, volatile stock market and opposition parties protests that cause traffic jams are all due to rising inflation. Inflation appears to be the buzz word on the street.

The "common man" as the news channels put it appears to reeling from the effects of inflation. Food prices are on the rise. Officially the figure now stands at 7.52%.

The government is being held responsible for failing to act, I would like to step in at this juncture and make a few points that we need to keep in mind.

Firstly, the government has taken measures to curb inflation, with few changes in policy. But does it not take time for it to effect. This is not a problem with quick fix , so we need to be patient.

Secondly, this is a global phenomenon and every one all over the world is feeling the pinch. The inflation we are experiencing at this is a result of the action of market forces of supply and demand.

At the moment in India the production of food commodities has not increased much in the past few years but what has increased is the population, purchasing power and standard of living. In other words supply has remained stagnant but demand was increased exponentially.

Thirdly, it is true that steel prices have gone up drastically but contrary to common belief cement has not risen by any measure. The price of cement has actually fallen in certain states such as Andhra Pradesh over the last 6 months.

One needs to understand that in countries such as China the food prices have gone up by 23%. Therefore in comparison we are actually doing pretty well.

If we are aiming for 8-9% or more every year, there are going to be consequences that we have contend with and may be higher prices may be one of them.

HYDERABAD UNPLUG

Hyderabad Unplug is an initiative by the people of Hyderabad to raise awareness about global warming. From 7.30pm to about 8.30pm the citizens of Hyderabad are urged to switch of all appliances.

Following on the heels of world earth day, where people carried out a similar gesture. This Hyderabad specific gesture hopefully meets with the same amount of success.

Just a recap for all you people, these extreme temperatures and changing weather patterns that we are experiencing is a result of global warming.

So let us please in our own little way help preserve mother earth. Because together we can definitely make a difference.

For further information on Global warming and its effects please use wikipedia(click on it) or watch the movie (click on it; a must watch) An inconvinient truth

PSLV: INDIA LAUNCHES 10 SATELLITES

Today was a monumental day in the history of ISRO ( Indian Space Research Organization). They have successfully launched 10 satellites in one go. This is better than the previous record of 9 which was held by Russia, they done so just about a year ago.

The Polar satellite launch vehicle took off from Srihari Kota at around 9.30 am this morning. The was a little concern preceding the launch due to the development a slight low pressure in the bay of Bengal. But it was decided that the launch would go ahead.

Out of the 10 satellites put in space 2 were Indian and the remaining were for foreign clients.
Of the 2 satellites placed into orbit by India CARTOSAT 2-A, is a next generation remote sensing satellite which has ability to identify objects to the greatest detail like never before.

With this successful mission India has established itself as one of the big players in the field of space research. It has been a long journey from the early failures of the Rohini rocketin 1979 to development of completely indigenous launch vehicle capable of launching multiple satellites. I' looks certain that India's Chandrayaan mission is on course to be a resounding success.

T.V JOURNALISM vs SENSATIONALISM

Of late there has been an explosion of news channels on the Indian television. At fore front are channels like NDTV, CNN IBN, TIMES NOW and quite a few Hindi one's too. I am no expert on journalism but as a normal person who uses the television to stay abreast with happenings of the world. I just feel that the line between covering stories that need to be covered as a case of responsibility and the one's that boost TRP's is getting absurdly blurred!

It was not that long back when, the American journalistic media was the laughing stock of the world. For running stories about Paris Hilton & her lets say "adventures". The point being she seemed to be getting more air time than mr. bush or even news about the war in Iraq. Of late news about Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan seem to be all over place. Starting from when they heard of their sentencing. For God's Sake! One channel covered Salman's flight journey from Mumbai to Jodhpur. Seriously, I am sure there were better stories than that. One news channel actually ran a piece which was about what would be Sanjay's diet, what would be his clothing his room etc. Guess what? They were the same as the remaining inmates of the prison. Common guys it was not always like this.

At the end of the day, I know that it necessary to go this way because at the end of the day money rules. But you should also remember that TV has great impact on society, so please look at the Bigger picture guys. You have a greater responsibility to society.