Home Minister Shivraj Patil resigns

http://www.livemint.com/2008/11/30121747/Home-Minister-Shivraj-Patil-re.html

Shivraj Patil's resignation comes as a congress-scappegoat kind of situation to keep the media-opposition-citizenry at bay.However is resignation the just answer? For someone who has been willfully being letting easy on terror situations such as the Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Jaipur- Delhi blasts, the Mumbai attack was the last straw. But should he not be tried at the courts for failing to do his duties while at power? How many more men must dies in Bomb Blasts ( as in Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Delhi) or in Terror Attacks(as in Mumbai) before we idenify that it is people like Shivraj Patil and there callousness to such events which result in the same destruction patterns repeated time and again.This man deserves being punished in the courts of law... or will it be his allegiance to the Gandhi clan which will over ride all national concerns yet again.Are you listeing Mrs Sonia Gandhi?

US suspects Kashmir-based group behind attacks: Official

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/US_suspects_Kashmir-based_group_behind_attacks_Official/articleshow/3774358.cms#write
I wonder just how many more 9/11s and innocent lives will it take for US and the international community to understand that it is the Al Qaeda and LeT which have perpetrated the terror. I wonder when the sense will dawn on the inetrnational community that Pakistan is under anarchy and is being run by a cartel of extremists, ISI and terror organizations. Pakistan will never be able to fight this cancer. It will take an international effort to get rid of this. Do we want more of such attacks happening at Paris, London, Brussels and other trade centres or can the civilized world move towards a definitive and coordinated attempt to get rid of this?

Can politicians ever stand united against terror?

As every Indian i too am deeply hurt by the terror attack on Mumbai. My response to a discussion on NDTV.com: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/mumbaiterrorstrike/Election_Story.aspx?ID=NEWEN20080074624&type=News

My heart fills up with pride for the valiance of the army, navy, NSG and Maharashtra Police men who have braved death. At the same time, i am ashamed of the political resolve in the country. In times of distress, two senior leaders L K Advani and Manmohan Singh could not present a united face of the Indian Politics to the extremists and the nation at large. I seriously hope that R R Patil, the Maharashtra Home Minister was inebriated when he made the comment on "such small incidences". Repeatedly, incidences such as blasts in Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi and now this terror attack at Mumbai. Our Home Minister is quick to "react" with his high level meetings. There is no end to this terror. As an Indian, i wonder to who or what purpose am i paying my taxes?
In days to come this will become an electoral issue with BJP, BSP, SP and others attcking Congress for its failure to tackle these situations. Question is... even when BJP was at power was it able to do anything post the "Attack on Parlaiment". So under what assumption will it be attacking congress for its "failures"?
The Elections are also a farce because for an ordinary citizen in the country the choice is betwen the devil and deep sea. WHy cant we have an accountable system on these issues? When will the qabbling political class wake up an address the real issues rather than bickering over each others short comings. Is this what you call a democracy?

Thats what Delhi wants

I have been an avid reader of the Times and the Eco Times before Mint made me migrate from ET. However there was this interesting survey amongst Delhites that HT conducted along with another agency. Felt compelled to write my thoughts on the same.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=6b3c1530-26be-44f1-803f-4b297b025666

Delhi, the capital of India sees Paani, Sadak and Bijli in that order, to be the biggest electoral issues. Other issues such as security and environment do make it to the list at lower berths. This is a marked departure from the initial thoughts that after the faithful blasts in Delhi, people would look at Security as the number 1 concern.

Isnt that a shame? The capital of the country is the showcase to the world. Yet here we are in the capital of 125 crore 4th largest, 1 trillion dollar economy nation that is still battling the essentials of the Maslow's Hierarchy. Its been 60 years and Delhi Jal Board is yet grappling with solutions of providing safe and continuous water to its denizens. Only a few days back, i remember reading that top ranking officials of the DJB being remanded to judicial custody on charges of not being able to do anything about releasing sewage into Yamuna. DJB has not been able to take care of its biggest asset, The Yamuna and on the other hand there is no solution to water shortages. I commend the judiciary for taking a first and firm step in punishing corrupt officials. I only hope such sentences and issues are brought to its logical conslusions in long incarcerations for public officials defiling the power vested into them.

Any city should have 7% of its area under metalled roads. Thats one of the tennets of city planning. The corresponding number for Delhi is 3.5%. There have been flyovers and toll roads and expressways made but the progress has not mainly been in line with the population of vehicles. One interesting case of road planning is Singapore city, which has White, Yellow and Pink number plates for the city vehicles on which taxes are paid. The Pink ones are offlimits inside the city, the yellow ones are allowed to move only in certain times and the white ones have free access. This allows to keep the heavy trucks and slow tempos off the road! In Delhi, you only need to send the weekly Hafta to our friendly neighbourhood traffic constable to do everything and more within or without the law permitting it.

Electricity is a national problem and will continue to be as long electrical subsidies are free for farmers and Transmission losses are not attended to. We dont have policies to deal with electrical theft and otherwise our populist measures suck out electricity in the farmlands more than the requirements.

One question that hit me: If Delhi struggles for these basic amenities 60 years after independence, what might that state of the interiors be?

Again, the need for accountable systems and sharing of information in public through internet and other medium is necessitated. Hope we are able to get into that mode fast for this country'e sake.

Hope in the horizon, obstacles in the vicinity (Part II)

Thus in true sense, amongst the drivers of the economy, it is the service sector which is getting all the growth for India. India is woefully short of adequacy in manufacturing and agricultural sectors. This is not a revelation but an accepted truth across the nation.By and large this has been because basics such as healthcare, drinking water and infrastructure has not been distributed equally and in overall terms are in-adequate.

Thus the state and central governments need to prioritize on building roads, providing safe water and health care, meeting the power needs of the country, work on irrigation projects for year round water supply to farms and bring business revenues under the tax net.

India has had a political record where good governance and populist measures have not gone hand in hand. It is time to realise that Good governance translates to longer terms at offices if you are working right and working at the basics. Else the divide between the elite class in the cosmopolitan (India 1) and the masses (India 2) will keep increasing. An India 1 and India 2 story is amusing but dangerous in its long term effects where there will be constant constraints at growth and we will not be able to realise the full potential of India. It also risks a civil unrest. Getting these two Indias together will fire the growth engine. That would ultimately take India to its glory story 10-15 years in the future.

Hope in the horizon, obstacles in the vicinity (Part I)

Historic changes in the world order have more been the outcomes of events such as the World Wars, Cold War, Atom Bomb, Iraq Conflict,9/11, Taliban, Serbia - Croatia etc. The uprising thats shaken the world this year is not as violent as any of the earlier events. However, the change ushered will be as dramatic or more. Yes, we are talking of the Financial crisis which has made headlines through the second half of the year and from the looks of it will be visible through a large part of 2009. Many of the western economies are under seize and there is a domino toppling effect is being felt world over from Australia to Africa. The reaction predictably is that of disbelief, shock, awe and despair. Billions have been lost to stock exchange crashes, industries are fumbling on bankruptcy, Retrenchment and job cuts are regulars on news headlines and economies are in doldrums.

Many governments world wide are giving of special packages to industries and banking sectors to support them collapsing. Economists and politicians are divided on opinion as to how to overcome the crisis. A $700 billion aid sanctioned by US treasury has been follwed by largeese by other government treasuries (predominantly the Europeans). In the deep dark hour, two economies, that of India and China are being looked at with some hope. While Recesseion cannot be ruled out given the global nature of trade and forex inflows and outflows, these economies are some what insulated from the spine breaking consequences. True that they have their share of problems in terms of Inflation, Infrastructure and others, but their ascendance to higher pedestals and status in the world economy is unmistakable.

From an Indian Stand point, China is far ahead of India in economy terms. The Dragon has started flying even while the tiger takes baby steps forward. However, the walking tiger is also huge encouragement.

However a few things that India needs to address (and is addressing it as well)

1. India's ascendance has been lopsided in terms of service economy. Software and brainware is where India scores higher than China.

2. Manufacturing, however has not been India's forte. That is where China whacks us and most of the westernized economies of the world.

3. There are improvements in the Agricultural sector, but the pace is frustratingly slow.

I appreciate the Government's efforts in terms of supporting Infrastructure. The basics of roads, railroads, electricity and sanitation needs to be in place as early as possible. Sadly our improvement in these aspects has been much behind schedule. "Bharat Nirman" (see pic), a congress project has been a failure due to lack of political willingness and corruption. Irrigation and health services have improved but the gap between India and other nations (Even African nations) is woeful. According to a study in the year 2000, Israel had 100 times less arable land than India and its produce was 10 times more in terms of yield. Similarly, according to a recent article, manufacturing units in Tax haven Tamil Nadu are operating lesser shifts not because shortage in demand but because of inadequacy in power supply.

Development Areas & Metrics Target (2005 - 2009)/Achievement (2005- 2008)

Irrigation (Area in Million Hectares) 10/5 (50% achieved)

Drinking Water (No of Habitations) 603639/385353 (64% achieved)

Roads (No of Habitations Covered) 66802/20871 (31% achieved)

Roads (Upgrade & New Connectivity) 340316/146905 (43% Achieved)

Housing (Houses in Millions) 6/5.04 (84% achieved)

Electrification (No of Villages) 125000/48176 (39% achieved)

BPL Households 23/2.29 (10% achieved)

Telephone Connectivity (No of Villages) 66822/51973 (78% achieved)

(to be continued)

An accountable political system

For once the French president has gone beyond Carla Bruni in making a statement about Dollar loosing its sheen as a global currency.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Forex/Dollar_is_no_longer_the_worlds_king_pin_currency_Sarkozy/rssarticleshow/3710105.cms

Only some time back i came across this feed as well on India and China. the asian super power economies also failing to bail out the world economy. (The fairy tale thought that India and China will undo the evils of a banking disorder worldwide is a chimeric one. Feels good as an Indian though.)

Then there is a also the clamor from the Indian contingent to honour it with greater status than the Bretton Woods accorded it. This was a part of the G 20 meet and it seeks to undo the historical mistake of under rating India's role in the world economy.

On The home turf, there is also Nandan Nilekani who is writing about how India is climbing on its world superpower status. All this makes me proud. Feels good that a nation which had lost some of its stature in the world after the 1800s is gaining it back in 2000s! The Indian Business Community and the Indian Intellect has a healthy contribution to this achievement. While the governance has made some contribution to all of this, yet it is far from being an active agent ringing the change in.

Governance in India is still a far cry from a Obama-esque "change" philosophy to turn the country into a better place and the citizens a better lot. It is governed by the politics of religion and regionalism. A 123 agreement which was the only natural way forward tok an year to get through the parliament. Hygiene and Healthcare are stil tottering way behind the world living indexes. We dont have enough doctirs, enough medicals, enough health centres to impart a basic level of hygiene to our citizenry. Our country is electrified only on paper. Education and literacy levels are moving upwards but most of it is not even basic. We dont have roads, we dont have drains, we dont have drinking water, we dont have a sound irrgation system. At the end of it all, the representatives in the democratic government are a corrupt lot with no accountability to his people and the system.

Can this change? Yes it can. WIth the advent of IT as a media, there is no beter way to ask for systems of accountability. Can ministers be answerable to media and the public on questions answered in open forums on the net? Can there be an independent assessment of developmental projects and efforts of these lot of ministers? You may need to create provisions in the constitution but it can be done.

So why does it not happen that way? Lack of political consenses. When a corrupt party judges another corrupt party, it is basically collusion to fake it before the Junta.

Media has been playing a role in establishing such systems but the efforts have not been concerted and probably few and far between. It is time to ask for such accountabilities to be mandated from the representatives of the people in the parliament.

Without that, we shall always be "just short" in terms of realising our potential ever and always.